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Hii, consistent again. Hope you enjoy, luvs οΈοΈ
π²ππππππ πΊ
Jake fell to the ground. He looked at the girl he ran into, "My bad, I- Alicia!"
"Jake!" she responded.
They both got up as if nothing happened and said in unison, "I've been looking all over for you!"
It was Wednesday, the day after the elfpalsy incident and Jake was feeling conflicted on how to explain to his new friend why he had to leave yesterday while maintaining his secret.
"I wanted to say," Jake began, "I'm really sorry about yesterday. You see, uh, G-"
"Who?"
"My grandpa," he explained, "wanted us to do something and we had to dip real quick."
"It's okay. See, about yesterday . . . I have to tell you something, Jake-" The bell rang. Students began making their way in the halls to class.
"I'll make it up to you," he promised. "Meet Trixie, Spud, and I at the mall. We'll hang out, just the four of us and do whatever. Maybe we can show you around the area and grab something to eat. That sound good?"
Alicia smiled nervously. "Sounds so thoughtful Jake but I-"
"Yes, you can talk to me alone after the whole day's done. I didn't forget."
She sighed and looked down. "If that's the case, I'll meet you there."
Alicia looked up and the boy was gone. She turned left, then right, confirming he disappeared. It was as if Jake was swept away by the crowd.
The rest of the school day went by quickly since it was an early release and classes were cut short. Alicia did have art class with Jake and Trixie. She tried to enjoy the class even though she was burning to tell Jake what she's been hiding.
After talking to one of her teachers about something after school, Alicia made it to the mall, which was close by. She adjusted her white tennis skirt and lime green sweater vest as she walked in the big mall filled with all types of people.
Playing with the collar of the white polo she had under her vest, she looked for her friends. Alicia felt a tap on her shoulder and she shrieked as she turned around, "Stay back, I have pepper spray!" The girl took it out and aimed it at Spud's face, hand on the trigger.
"Whoa whoa, not the face!" Spud pleaded, hands up.
Alicia lowered the spray and felt like an idiot. "Sorry, Spud! I- I didn't know it was you."
Trixie peaked behind Spud's body. "Ooh, girl. Do you know where I can get one of those?" She looked Alicia up and down. "Better yet, where'd you pull one of those out?"
Jake mocked, "Not the face!" The two tried to hold in their laughter.
Spud grumbled, "Next time, you tap her."
"We just playin', Spudinski," Trixie reassured. She wrapped her arm around Alicia. "You okay?"
"Oh, um, barely. I almost spayed Spud in the face."
"It's okay," Trixie chuckled, "I would've sprayed even if I knew it was Spud."
Spud crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue.
"Let's just be happy Spud still has his eyesight," Jake said. "Come on, let's get out of here-" Jake's phone rang. He looked at it; it was his grandfather. He sucked his teeth. "You guys go without me, actually. I gotta pick this up."
Fu Dog was on the other line, "Hey, kid. We got an issue."
"Save it, I'm in the middle of something right now-"
"It's an emergency! Your grandfather, he-"
"G? He's in trouble?" Jake's whole demeanor changed.
"Well, I-"
"I'm on my way, don't worry." Jake hung up and caught up with his friends. "Sorry, guys. I . . . uh, really have to use the bathroom! Yeah, that's it. I'll meet you-?"
Trixie shook her head, knowing he was lying. "Meet us at the skate park."
"Bet." Jake sprinted away.
Spud inferred, "Isn't that the opposite direction from the bathrooms-"
Trixie quickly covered his mouth and smiled sweetly at Alicia. "Maybe he just lost his way. He'll be fine, let's go."
Meanwhile, Jake flew as fast as he could to his grandfather's inactive store. He transformed back into his human self and ran through the door. "G!" he called out. Jake saw Fu Dog at his grandfather's desk, struggling to open a pickle jar. "Where's G?" he asked.
Lao Shi walked in from the back of the store. Jake ran up to him and knelt down to hug him tightly. "G, you're okay!"
"Of course I'm okay," he replied. He glared at Fu Dog, "What exactly did you tell this boy over the phone."
He laughed nervously, "Funny story. I was gonna ask if he could help with this pickle jar-"
"What does this have to do with G?" Jake asked, beginning to grow angry.
"I'm getting there!" He cleared his throat. "He couldn't open it for me so I called you. I was going to explain but you kept interrupting-"
"But you said it was an emergency!"
"See, you kept interrupting. Like that. And it was an emergency. I was trying to make a sandwich, it's lunchtime and it's extremely important to not skip meals-"
"I'm out," Jake grumbled.
Fu Dog rolled his eyes. "Again with the interrupting!"
Jake found his friends sitting at the skatepark. Surprisingly no one else was there. He hoped he hadn't taken too long.
Alicia was talking, "I always thought everywhere in New York City would be busy and crowded. I'm surprised you guys have somewhere to hang out."
"Sometimes there's a lot of people here," Spud replied, "but I guess everyone went home since there's supposed to be a storm."
"There is?" Alicia asked.
"Yeah but we'll be fine, girl. Probably won't happen until later," Trixie reassured. She looked behind where Alicia was sitting and saw Jake jogging to his friends. "Well, that was a looong pee."
"I had to walk all the way over here, too. Remember?" Jake lied.
Trixie crossed her arms. "Jake can I speak with you and Spud for a second?" She dragged Jake by his ear and Spud followed. "Jake, this clearly isn't gonna work."
"What? I just went to pee-"
"Spud and I know you went to do your AmDrag stuff."
Spud scratched his head under his beanie. "Wait, he did?"
Trixie sighed, "Okay, I know you went to do your AmDrag stuff. There ain't no way you can balance your friendship with Cia and still do your thing."
Jake tapped his foot. "Hey, I did it with you two. It's not like you guys knew from the start."
"Yeah, but we found out." Jake began to speak but Trixie cut him off, "Don't even mention your dad because he found out, too."
Jake closed his mouth. She did have a good point.
"You're adding extra stress on yourself. I like Cia too but it's not worth it. She'll find other friends- normal friends. Then live her life and forget about us pretty quickly. We've only known her for three days."
"No," Jake responded stubbornly. "I'll make it work. It's not fair that I have to limit myself to two close friends just because I'm the American Dragon. I should be able to have more."
"So we're not enough?" Trixie asked.
Jake facepalmed. "No that's not it. It's just I've been friends with you and Spud all my life basically. Whenever I meet someone new I keep my distance for this reason. Even Rose, it was so hard being together before we found out about each other. But I have a feeling about Cia." Jake turned around. "Thanks for covering for me, but have faith in me, okay?"
Trixie exhaled. "Whatever you say, Jakey."
Spud trotted behind them. "Why was I dragged here? I wasn't even in the conversation." He slumped.
The four went around the area showing Alicia the places they like to hang out and stories about growing up in the big city. She was having fun, not minding the cold weather or the potential storm.
They stopped at a pizza place to order a large pizza for themselves.
"Y'all wanna eat at my place or what?" Trixie asked everyone.
"I don't know, where do you want to eat, Cia?" Jake asked.
"Me?"
"Yeah, it's your day."
She pointed to herself. "My day?"
He laughed, "Don't act so surprised."
Spud crouched down and wrapped his arm around Alicia. "If you could eat anywhere in NYC," he stretched his arm out, "where would you go?"
"Um, to be honest . . . a roof."
"Really?" Trixie asked.
"Yeah. I always wanted to watch the sunset on one."
"Ohh, well that makes sense." Spud let go of her.
"Let's go to G's store," Jake suggested. "His roof is available."
When they made it to the shop, Fu Dog pulled Jake aside. "You heading to the roof?" the talking dog asked.
"Yeah, Cia wants to eat up there."
"There's something I gotta tell ya before you head up there-"
"Sorry, but not now." Jake began to walk away. "I already had to leave Alicia today, I can't again. Let me just be a normal kid for the day?"
Fu Dog shook his head. "Whatever. Have your fun."
Jake made his way to the roof and saw that everyone already took a seat near the edge. The sun was beginning to set, casting shadows of the other buildings in its way. He smiled, finally feeling calm.
He sat next to Trixie and took a slice. She asked, "Why'd you take so long? Don't tell me . . ."
"Nope," Jake whispered. "No AmDrag duties. Just us and the sun." He took a bite of the stringy cheese pizza. "Having fun, Cia?"
Alicia turned her head to look at her new friends. The sun hit her brown skin. "This is per-" Suddenly, a big zap of lightning hit a cellphone line. The sparks flew in their direction towards the building. Rain started to pour and a clap of thunder followed.
Jake yelled, "Inside! Hurry!" He pointed to the door that led to a flight of stairs back inside.
Alicia ran behind them but slipped and slid on the wet ground. She shrieked as she hit the side of the roof's safety wall and flipped backwards off the roof. The three stopped running.
"Alicia!" Jake yelled and did the only thing he could in that situation. He transformed into the American Dragon and flew down to catch her just before she hit the ground.
She held him tightly, shaking and sobbing. He flew back to the roof and transformed back, running carefully inside. Due to shock she passed out. The four made it safely. Lao Shi and Fu Dog ran to Alicia.
"Is she hurt?" Lao Shi asked.
"No, but she's out cold," Jake informed, still holding her.
"What happened?" Fu Dog asked.
"She fell off the roof," Trixie answered. "But Jake caught her."
"Yeah," Jake hesitated, "in my . . . dragon form."
"Was she awake when you caught her?" Fu Dog asked.
"Yeah, she held onto me."
They laid her on the couch. Spud took off his windbreaker and used it as a blanket for her. "Have her drink some of this," Lao Shi gave Jake a potion. "It'll slow her heart rate."
Trixie put the potion to her lips and let some fall into her mouth.
"Maybe we can convince her she was seeing this?" Jake nervously suggested.
"How will we explain how she survived the fall?" Lao Shi countered, a bit disappointed in Jake.
Jake could see the disappointment in his grandfather's face. "How else was I supposed to save her? Was I supposed to let her fall?"
"You're the magical protector, not the human protector."
"Are you serious, G? She a hundred percent would've died!"
"The secret of the American Dragon is highly important!" Lao Shi raised his voice. "I already allowed your friends to know because you were careless once. I can't let you to continue to be careless."
"Careless?" Jaked yelled. "This is what you call careless?"
"Yes! We can not let humans know about the magical world! It already almost caused me being your master at one point."
"He is the magical protector," Alicia coughed. Everyone quickly looked at her waking up. She continued, "He protected me after all."
Jake crouched down next to the couch. "What do you mean, Cia?"
"I'm not really human," she explained. "So I guess it counts."
It was silent for a bit. Trixie broke the silence, "Wait, what? You're not?"
"No," she coughed again. "I'm a witch."
"Cool!" Spud beamed.
"I wanted to tell you, Jake. I wanted to talk to you because I knew you were to American Dragon, I just didn't know if your friends knew." She looked at Trixie and Spud. "But when I saw them cover for you when you had to leave, I suspect I was the only one who 'didn't know'."
Jake sighed a sigh of relief. "So you knew all along?"
"Yeah, witches can tell who's magical and who isn't."
"I knew I had a feeling about you! Didn't I, Trix?" He smirked at Trixie.
"Shut up, Jake," she said, not wanting to hear how he was right.
Lao Shi relaxed a bit. "If that's the case, then I'm sorry Jake. You listened to your instincts and did the right thing. That is what I taught you after all."
"It's okay, G. I see where you're coming from. Being my master is a handful sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Lao Shi couldn't hold in his laughter. "More like all of the time!"
"Damn, that kind of stung." Jake smiled.
I hope you enjoyed! Now we know a bit more of who Alicia is. I know this fanfic is rated T but barely has T related themes like I warned in the beginning. Next chapters have more of that so if that's what you're waiting for, I got you. Nothing too much but since we're done introducing characters and what the story's about we can get onto the interesting themes. Hope you enjoyed!