Chapter Three
Alice POV
"You little thief!" "You're a pretty one aren't you?" "Let's show her what happens when we are disobeyed." "No one has ever wanted you, not even your own flesh and blood, you father abandoned you and your mother died because she couldn't stand the sight of you." "Orphan whore!" "I want you to stay away from dirty little street brats like her" "No one wants you" "Why would anyone want you" "No one wants you"
*gasp* *pant-pant-pant* My eyes shot open as my body tensed from the echo's of my nightmare, which had consisted of a string of things that I had heard from many people and strangers all my life. Then I noticed that there was a weight on my right arm, Amy had decided to migrate to my bed again, this time instead of just sleeping with me, she was using my arm as a pillow. Why she decided that I made a good pillow when she had a hoard of fluffy stuffed animals with her, I don't know, but since it was in the middle of the night and nowhere near time to get up, I just stole a stuffed elephant and used that as an extra pillow and fell back asleep, curling around Amy who snuggled more securely into my side.
"Hey, you stole Elephant Bob!" was the first thing I heard when I woke up, my pillow being yanked from under my head. "You used me as a pillow, I say we're even" I said to Amy, sticking out my tongue at her. "Why are you in my bed, again?"
"I wanted to make sure you stayed put, and you're really comfy" said Amy unrepentantly. I just rolled my eyes, gaining a small smile, and shook my head. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen." She moved her hoard back to her bed, making sure that I saw Elephant Bob get placed in the middle under everyone else, for extra protection, like that would stop me. I might just seal him back, that elephant was really comfy and cuddly.
In the kitchen, it was about the same as yesterday morning, except the stove didn't blow up, but I still lit it for Jen again. Hedwig was sitting on the back of my chair, having rested from the long journey, waiting for my replies as I didn't get a chance to write them last night. "Made a decision yet hot stuff?" asked Ryan as Johnny glanced between my hands and the stove, a glint in his eye. I could tell that Amy was listening avidly, even as she drew something in her sketch book.
"Maybe, why?" I asked, suddenly suspicious. Did they decide to rescind their offer? "Cause kill joy over there won't let us play with you until you decide to stay, seems to think we'll scare you off or something." Luis just rolled his eyes while Jen snorted at the stove. I just raised my eyebrows "You all are crazy, If I was scared I would have left already. I'm afraid that you're stuck with me now." I replied
"Yay!" yelled Amy, right in my ear. "Hey, I use that ear drum you know." I mumbled, a small smile on my face as Amy tried to strangle me with a hug. Ryan and Johnny exchanged money as if settling a bet, while Luis and Jen just smiled and started eating. As I sat there, I recalled what Harry, had written me.
Of course you should, if nothing else it would stop me from worrying about you. Your lonely, and you do your best when you're surrounded by people who you care about, and who care about you, and don't you shake your head, they do care. They took you in off the street, they could have easily left you there, but they didn't, so they are obviously good people, and they offered you a place to stay, when they could have just as easily let you go. They obviously see something in you that only few do, like me. It's time for you to start having some fun, instead of worrying about everything and everyone. Live a little, isn't that what you always tell me before you tell me off about one thing or another?
I snuck off to write back to Harry, Ron and Hermione, telling them that I would be staying with the traveling bunch of crazies. I had just tied my letters to Hedwig and sent her off when someone grabbed me from behind and quickly and efficiently dragged me off into a room, threw me in and closed the door behind them.
"Did you really have to kidnap me?" I asked Ryan and Johnny, who were both making sure the door was locked and fortified. "Amy won the contest to see who got to have you first, so yes we did." I just snorted as they walked over to me and began firing question after question at me. I answered as best as I could, and was happy that they didn't even bat an eye at my sarcasm, they even busted out into laughter at some points.
A couple of hours later found me encased in fire as they tried to study the flames I produced. "So, how did all of you come to stay in this tent together?" I asked, as this wasn't really that hard for me at the moment and I was getting bored. "Well, Jen and Amy's parents were performers that traveled in a group with Luis's mom. Johnny's mom, my mom and Luis's dad were all siblings. When Johnny's and my parents passed away, their parent's took us in. A couple of years ago, they were in a horrible wreck. We stayed with the performing group for awhile, but it was too painful, so we just took the tent we always used and separated, which unfortunately got us noticed more than we would have liked." Said Ryan, as he made notes.
"Oh" was my elegant reply. "So, Jen and Amy are sisters, and you two and Luis are cousins?"
"Yep. What about you? You implied that you have been living on the streets?" asked Johnny. "Yea, My mom died when I was about 4, and I never knew my dad. According to my mom he was a good for nothing monster who didn't have the guts to stick around or something. We weren't doing well when she passed, and they just stuck me in an orphanage, passing me from home to home. I was sick of that, so a year ago I ran away and try to stay off the governments radar. Don't trust them all that much." I replied, my mood dropping a bit. They could tell, so they moved on to happier topics, like when my birthday was, Halloween, turns out that Amy's is three days after mine.
Another hour and 2 small explosions later they let me out, when I was ambushed by the other three. Turns out that they had an extra room that I could stay in instead of bunking with Amy, but she looked so sad that I decided that would share, and just keep that room as an extra. She then dragged me back to our room so we could redecorate it.
"So, now that you know I'm staying, are you going to stop coming to my bed in the middle of the night?"
"No, now that I know how comfy you are, you are now my official pillow." Replied Amy, sticking her tongue out at me. I just laughed, and pushed our beds together, stealing Elephant Bob in the process, which lead to an epic tug of war fight. The others had come in when they heard our shouting, but they left laughing when they saw the two of us tugging the elephant back and forth between us.
That night, as we settled down into bed, I couldn't help but notice that it felt like a little bit of weight that always had sat on my heart was gone.
As time passed, the weight got smaller, but was still there, as we celebrated my 12th birthday, in which Amy gave me Elephant Bob as a present and for Amy's 11th birthday, I made her a shiny necklace with a rose pendant on it, as she had become obsessed with drawing them lately. I got into mischief with the boy's and Amy frequently, much to Jen and Luis's chagrin. I also managed to get into some trouble with Jen, but Luis is to never know about that one.
A year passed as we traveled out of the UK and into Europe, selling Amy's art and the Boy's weaponry, as well as a few Jewelry pieces that I had managed to make. We managed to get over to America, and it looked like we might still be In Malibu for my 13th birthday.
A/N Hello everyone, this is Alice. I hope that I got this written for you in a timely manner. I'm not actually very good at producing whole chapters like this, I'm more of an idea person and editor, or at least I would be an editor if someone actually sent me her chapters *hint with a grin* Next chapter will be mostly Amy's handy writing work, and the Avengers start showing up. Please review and let us know what you think, even though this is mostly just a filler chapter, getting you some more info and moving time along.
Amy here. The next chapter should be up soon. Perhaps later tonight… depending on how quickly I finish typing the chapter. So... REVIEW!
