Chapter 2 To Take an Innocent Walk
At about 7:30 that night, Thalassa was leisurely folding some clothes into the duffel bag she had made in Home Economics. She finished with the clothing and moved on to the bathroom. Now onto the formal clothing. Thalassa skeptically glanced through her closet, finally extracting a turquoise pool dress that came down around her knees, and a white blouse to go over it. She swept her hair up into a messy bun, and decided to add a few of her old butterfly clips for good measure. Completely finished, and with nothing else to do, Thalassa pulled out her Discman and pager/cell phone. Using that, she could also check her email, and go online. It was a very handy little gadget. Finished packing, and with no other procrastinations available, Thalassa gloomily trudged out of her room, as though she was walking up to the guillotine. Jenny and the others greeted her, all but Jenny looking very solemn.
"Thalassa!" They all squealed when she stepped inside. Hence the party started. Thalassa was given the job of doing everyone's hair, which she was very good at. She loved to come up with elegant, new styles. Her "masterpiece" that night was Kasmira's hair. Her long, blue-black locks were swept back in a fancy twist, and fastened with a large tropical flower that matched her orange sundress. After two rolls of film had been taken of them, the five girls headed downstairs to set up their sleeping bags, and find all the supplies they'd need for later on that night (i.e., the school directory, two phone receivers, a movie, popcorn, cards, the works).
Just a few minutes later, a game of truth or dare was in full swing. The first dare was toward Thalassa, she had to call a guy and talk to him for at least ten minutes. Of course it was Jenny who shelled out this dare (who else would it be?).
"OK, I'll call Chad." Thalassa said, completely unfazed.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Jenny squealed. "It has to be someone that you're not good friends with."
"Um, OK, then I'll call…. Zac." Thalassa answered, slightly ticked off at the strict rules of this dare. She looked him up in the phone book, and confidently dialed out his number.
"Hello, may I please speak to Zac?" Thalassa asked, amidst a chorus of giggles coming from Jenny.
"This is Zac, who's this?"
"Thalassa Andrews, I'm in your…"
"Math, Science, English, and Health classes." Zac interrupted, without any hesitation.
"Um, yeah. Anyways, I was just calling to chat for a while, so, wassup?"
"Nothing really, I'm watching late-night ESPN. You?"
"Not much." There was a long, empty pause. The conversation lasted for exactly ten minutes and forty-five seconds of on and off chatter. However Truth or Dare lasted much longer than that single phone call, and it mainly consisted of stupid questions. Thalassa quickly tired of it, so she decided to go for a walk. She grabbed her backpack, (it had her walkman in it along with everything else), and slipped out the door while no one was looking.
Thalassa had only gotten a few houses down when she stopped. There in front of her, was a strange, pale blue orb of light. Something compelled her to touch it, so she drew nearer, unafraid. As her outstretched hand came into contact with the light, she felt a jolt of energy rush through her body, and she was pulled off the ground. She looked down, but could see nothing but an endless sea of darkness. Completely blinded for the time being, Thalassa was gently floating through time and space.
She woke up moments later, laying flat on her back on some hard surface. She sat up, and straightened her dress. As she stood up, she retrieved her mirror out of her backpack to check her makeup. 'SMASH!' She heard the shatter of glass as though from far away when the mirror hit the ground. Perhaps this was because the sound of it was muffled by her own scream. Ten strange guys, all of whom were staring at her as though she was a ghost, surrounded her. She screamed again, this time louder than ever before, in an attempt to attract some help.
"SHHHHH!" One of the guys whispered. "You'll wake the commander! Don't worry, we won't hurt you."
"Who are you?" Thalassa asked, for once timid in the face of someone else.
"My name is Fabian. Who are you?"
"I'm Thalassa. So, how do I bust out of this joint?"
"We still have yet to figure THAT one out!" Replied another guy, whom Thalassa later learned to be named Carson. "This place is where we've spent the greater portion of our lives. We've been trained to protect this 'joint'. It's really not that bad, as it symbolizes our loyalty to the planet Jagrebian." He paused for a moment, as though listening for some distant cough of a fly, or something similar in volume. After what seemed like hours, he began to speak, in a softer tone. "I sense that the commander is alert, we must hide you, or you'll surely be tortured. He is quite paranoid of anyone who could be a…"
"What in the name of Gigran is going on here? Who is that… that… girl, and what is she doing in the spacecraft chamber?"
All the guys began to answer him at once, chattering away like a bunch of fast-talking chipmunks. However, Thalassa pushed her way through them, and walked right up to the commander.
"Pardon me, Sir, but I seem to have taken a wrong turn. How far is it to Chestnut Creek Avenue?" The commander looked at her as though she were some daft, inferior being, and replied in a gruff, unforgiving tone, "Curse you, Jargon, for speaking to your superior like that. How dare you think of me as your equal? You will leave now, or face a night in the torture chamber."
"Whoa! What crawled up your butt?" Thalassa shot back, completely insulted by the way that he was treating her. "Dude, we live in AMERICA! Where we are ALL equal! Now if you can't accept that… then why don't you go move to the moon?"
"Which moon?" He asked, clearly getting annoyed by her presence. "Kisper, Freealish, Montague, or Suffain?"
"Um, I have fully, no idea what you're babbling on about, but I was referring to THE moon. It's called 'moon'. Ya know, the one that's made outta cheese? Geez, what planet are you from?"
"I am a native of the Planet Jagrebian." Shouted the commander. "I am the commander here. One more word out of you, and I myself will give you the whipping of a lifetime."
"Child-abuse alert." Thalassa muttered under her breath.
The commander glared at her for a split second, and drew out his sword.
"Whoa, you weren't thinkin' of using that thing were ya? Didn't your mother ever tell ya not to play with knives?" Asked Thalassa, as she stood her ground. She was positive that no one would let him getting away with stabbing her.
Thalassa was unprepared for what happened next. With a flash of light reflecting off metal, and a metallic clang, the sword penetrated the skin in her side, shooting pain up and down her body. She clasped her arm over her wound as she fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Upon glancing at her hand, she saw that it was now covered in thick, warm blood. "You are gonna pay for that one buddy!" She shouted, as she struggled to her feet. Thinking fast, she grabbed Fabian's sword, and sprang to attack. Using one swift kick, she sent the commander banging to his knees. She knocked his sword aside, and using Fabian's, pointed it at his throat. "That my friend, would have been a red card, but it was sooo worth it!" She said shakily, getting dizzy from the loss of blood. "Oh, by the way, this dress is dry clean only, you'd better have it spotless by morning." She limped over to the ten new people in her life, smiled weakly, and would have fallen to the floor, if Fabian hadn't caught her. Unconscious for the second time that night, she could have died, if it weren't for the expert medical treatment that she got from Carson. And sure enough, when she woke up the next day, her beautiful turquoise dress was completely cleaned, with no stains or tears.
At about 7:30 that night, Thalassa was leisurely folding some clothes into the duffel bag she had made in Home Economics. She finished with the clothing and moved on to the bathroom. Now onto the formal clothing. Thalassa skeptically glanced through her closet, finally extracting a turquoise pool dress that came down around her knees, and a white blouse to go over it. She swept her hair up into a messy bun, and decided to add a few of her old butterfly clips for good measure. Completely finished, and with nothing else to do, Thalassa pulled out her Discman and pager/cell phone. Using that, she could also check her email, and go online. It was a very handy little gadget. Finished packing, and with no other procrastinations available, Thalassa gloomily trudged out of her room, as though she was walking up to the guillotine. Jenny and the others greeted her, all but Jenny looking very solemn.
"Thalassa!" They all squealed when she stepped inside. Hence the party started. Thalassa was given the job of doing everyone's hair, which she was very good at. She loved to come up with elegant, new styles. Her "masterpiece" that night was Kasmira's hair. Her long, blue-black locks were swept back in a fancy twist, and fastened with a large tropical flower that matched her orange sundress. After two rolls of film had been taken of them, the five girls headed downstairs to set up their sleeping bags, and find all the supplies they'd need for later on that night (i.e., the school directory, two phone receivers, a movie, popcorn, cards, the works).
Just a few minutes later, a game of truth or dare was in full swing. The first dare was toward Thalassa, she had to call a guy and talk to him for at least ten minutes. Of course it was Jenny who shelled out this dare (who else would it be?).
"OK, I'll call Chad." Thalassa said, completely unfazed.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Jenny squealed. "It has to be someone that you're not good friends with."
"Um, OK, then I'll call…. Zac." Thalassa answered, slightly ticked off at the strict rules of this dare. She looked him up in the phone book, and confidently dialed out his number.
"Hello, may I please speak to Zac?" Thalassa asked, amidst a chorus of giggles coming from Jenny.
"This is Zac, who's this?"
"Thalassa Andrews, I'm in your…"
"Math, Science, English, and Health classes." Zac interrupted, without any hesitation.
"Um, yeah. Anyways, I was just calling to chat for a while, so, wassup?"
"Nothing really, I'm watching late-night ESPN. You?"
"Not much." There was a long, empty pause. The conversation lasted for exactly ten minutes and forty-five seconds of on and off chatter. However Truth or Dare lasted much longer than that single phone call, and it mainly consisted of stupid questions. Thalassa quickly tired of it, so she decided to go for a walk. She grabbed her backpack, (it had her walkman in it along with everything else), and slipped out the door while no one was looking.
Thalassa had only gotten a few houses down when she stopped. There in front of her, was a strange, pale blue orb of light. Something compelled her to touch it, so she drew nearer, unafraid. As her outstretched hand came into contact with the light, she felt a jolt of energy rush through her body, and she was pulled off the ground. She looked down, but could see nothing but an endless sea of darkness. Completely blinded for the time being, Thalassa was gently floating through time and space.
She woke up moments later, laying flat on her back on some hard surface. She sat up, and straightened her dress. As she stood up, she retrieved her mirror out of her backpack to check her makeup. 'SMASH!' She heard the shatter of glass as though from far away when the mirror hit the ground. Perhaps this was because the sound of it was muffled by her own scream. Ten strange guys, all of whom were staring at her as though she was a ghost, surrounded her. She screamed again, this time louder than ever before, in an attempt to attract some help.
"SHHHHH!" One of the guys whispered. "You'll wake the commander! Don't worry, we won't hurt you."
"Who are you?" Thalassa asked, for once timid in the face of someone else.
"My name is Fabian. Who are you?"
"I'm Thalassa. So, how do I bust out of this joint?"
"We still have yet to figure THAT one out!" Replied another guy, whom Thalassa later learned to be named Carson. "This place is where we've spent the greater portion of our lives. We've been trained to protect this 'joint'. It's really not that bad, as it symbolizes our loyalty to the planet Jagrebian." He paused for a moment, as though listening for some distant cough of a fly, or something similar in volume. After what seemed like hours, he began to speak, in a softer tone. "I sense that the commander is alert, we must hide you, or you'll surely be tortured. He is quite paranoid of anyone who could be a…"
"What in the name of Gigran is going on here? Who is that… that… girl, and what is she doing in the spacecraft chamber?"
All the guys began to answer him at once, chattering away like a bunch of fast-talking chipmunks. However, Thalassa pushed her way through them, and walked right up to the commander.
"Pardon me, Sir, but I seem to have taken a wrong turn. How far is it to Chestnut Creek Avenue?" The commander looked at her as though she were some daft, inferior being, and replied in a gruff, unforgiving tone, "Curse you, Jargon, for speaking to your superior like that. How dare you think of me as your equal? You will leave now, or face a night in the torture chamber."
"Whoa! What crawled up your butt?" Thalassa shot back, completely insulted by the way that he was treating her. "Dude, we live in AMERICA! Where we are ALL equal! Now if you can't accept that… then why don't you go move to the moon?"
"Which moon?" He asked, clearly getting annoyed by her presence. "Kisper, Freealish, Montague, or Suffain?"
"Um, I have fully, no idea what you're babbling on about, but I was referring to THE moon. It's called 'moon'. Ya know, the one that's made outta cheese? Geez, what planet are you from?"
"I am a native of the Planet Jagrebian." Shouted the commander. "I am the commander here. One more word out of you, and I myself will give you the whipping of a lifetime."
"Child-abuse alert." Thalassa muttered under her breath.
The commander glared at her for a split second, and drew out his sword.
"Whoa, you weren't thinkin' of using that thing were ya? Didn't your mother ever tell ya not to play with knives?" Asked Thalassa, as she stood her ground. She was positive that no one would let him getting away with stabbing her.
Thalassa was unprepared for what happened next. With a flash of light reflecting off metal, and a metallic clang, the sword penetrated the skin in her side, shooting pain up and down her body. She clasped her arm over her wound as she fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Upon glancing at her hand, she saw that it was now covered in thick, warm blood. "You are gonna pay for that one buddy!" She shouted, as she struggled to her feet. Thinking fast, she grabbed Fabian's sword, and sprang to attack. Using one swift kick, she sent the commander banging to his knees. She knocked his sword aside, and using Fabian's, pointed it at his throat. "That my friend, would have been a red card, but it was sooo worth it!" She said shakily, getting dizzy from the loss of blood. "Oh, by the way, this dress is dry clean only, you'd better have it spotless by morning." She limped over to the ten new people in her life, smiled weakly, and would have fallen to the floor, if Fabian hadn't caught her. Unconscious for the second time that night, she could have died, if it weren't for the expert medical treatment that she got from Carson. And sure enough, when she woke up the next day, her beautiful turquoise dress was completely cleaned, with no stains or tears.
