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Chapter 22 Old FriendsAs Misty was getting lost in her own thoughts a familiar, bone chilling, sound of her step dads voice startled her.
"Okay, let's go eat out tonight." He said.
They never ate out when I was there. Misty thought.
Squid put his hand on hers as though he were reading her thoughts.
A few minutes later her mom, the baby, and Eric were gone.
"Come on." Said Misty, beckoning Squid to follow her into the backyard. She popped the screen off one of the windows and pried it open. She crawled though the window followed by Squid.
The walls of the room were painted pink and fuchsia, striped like the Cheshire Cat. The doors were painted black and her ceiling was covered with band posters.
"This must be your room." Said Squid who was examining the door. Which had three bolt locks on it. "Ummm… what happened to your door?"
"I wanted to make sure Eric didn't come in here and mess anything up while I was gone." Then a quiet scratching sound came from the door.
Misty undid the three bolt locks and the lock on the door handle and opened it.
"REEFER!" She yelled picking up a small black kitten off the floor.
"Reefer?" Squid questioned.
"It's his name. I got him for my 15th birthday." Misty said as if she resented what Squid had said.
"You named your cat Reefer?" Asked Squid.
"Yes." She replied shortly.
Misty put her cat down on her bed and he sat down and started purring. She relocked the door and went to her closet. She pulled out a duffel bag and began putting her clothes, makeup, and a few other things.
She slung the bag over her shoulder, picked up Reefer, and turned to Squid. "I'm bringing him with me."
"The cat?" He asked.
"No," she said sarcastically, "the elephant I kept in my bathroom while I was gone.
"Won't your step dad notice he's gone?"
"Yes, but then he'll be happy because he'll think he ran away." Replied Misty.
"But they don't allow cats on the subway."
"Which is why they won't know." She picked up a black purse off her dresser and put Reefer in it. Then she picked up a red bandana and put it over him. He gave a contented meow and lay down in the purse.
"I wanna go see some of my friends before we leave." Misty said.
"Okay." Squid said taking the bag from Misty's shoulder and carrying it. Misty and Squid climbed out through the window and left Misty's yard. They walked more than half way down the street to a house that looked like it had been abandoned. The grass, trees, bushes, and flowers were all dead. The window shades were all pulled down. And there was a pile of cigarette butts on the front porch that looked to be about half a foot high.
Misty knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Asked a voice from inside.
"Just answer the door Hotwire." Replied Misty.
The door opened and a girl around Misty's age stepped out. She had pale skin, short black hair that was spiked up in the back and long in the front, and she was wearing black bondage pants, a green Flogging Molly shirt, and pink Chucks.
"Hey, Jade."
"BLADE!!! You're back!" Said Hotwire hugging her. "And you have a guy with you. A sexy guy. Who is this?"
"This is Alan. I met him at camp." Misty said as Reefer poked his head up from her purse. Reefer had always liked Hotwire.
"Hey Reefer." Hotwire said petting Reefer on the head. "Hey, why don't you come on inside and tell me what happened while you were at Camp."
Misty and Squid walked in through the door. For the way the house looked on the outside the inside was very clean. There was nothing on the floor and the couch and chair were fairly new. She had a small TV but Misty didn't care, she didn't even get to watch TV when Eric was around.
Hotwire went to turn on her stereo. She put in her Brand New and played Misty's favorite song, Sic Transit Gloria.
"So what have you been up to, Blade? Where have you been staying?" She asked.
"Well. . ." Started Misty. She explained the whole thing, what happened at camp, after camp, and how she got all the money. ". . .and I've been staying in a house that Alan bought."
"You two are living together?" Asked Hotwire.
"Well you and Paperclip are living together. Where is old Jacob anyway?" Misty replied leaning against Squid's shoulder.
"He's at Lure's house." Replied Hotwire disgusted.
Misty felt Squid's shoulder tense up at the mention of Lure's name.
"They're still friends?" Asked Misty.
"Yes, even though Jacob will always hate what Matt did to you they've been friends since they were in kindergarten."
"You realize that Matt can't know I'm back don't you?" Misty asked.
"Of course. And I won't tell anyone you don't want me to."
"I can trust Paperclip not to tell. Just make sure that he doesn't, okay?"
"I will." Said Hotwire as Reefer got tired of sitting in Misty's lap and leapt onto the back of the couch and sat there.
They continued talking for a while until they heard a car out in front.
"Jacob must be home." Said Hotwire getting up off the couch.
The door opened and Jacob stepped through and hugged Hotwire.
"Hey baby Jade, have a good day?" He asked.
"Great day, guess who's in town?" She asked stepping to the side.
"Umm… why is Blade's cat on our couch?" He asked.
Misty, who was lying in Squid's lap sat up. "You haven't changed much, have you Paperclip?" She asked.
"Oh no." Said Paperclip.
"Well that's a great way to greet a friend you haven't seen for awhile." Misty said laughing.
"No, that's not what I meant." He said. "I just brought. . ."
"Well, hello there, babe." Said a familiar deep voice. "Nice to see you're back, Misty."
As soon as Paperclip stepped to the side, none other than Lure stepped forward.
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Oooh. . . a cliffhanger. I've been in a very good mood lately so I'm updating more often. Which is good for some of you. But also bad for me because of you damn flamers. Oh well, I do my best to ignore you.
Zero: You have flamers?
Monkey: Yes, I don't think my stories are that bad but, some people just have no taste.
Zero: I like your story. *Grins*
Monkey: *hugs Zero* You're so cute!