Fantasia

Chapter 3

Eragon was stunned. He stood stock-still as the woman, nay, his mother held him tight. So many questions ran through his mind and he had no idea which one he wanted answered first. He wanted to hug back, but his arms would not move, so he just stood there waiting for his mother to let go. Emma and Stephanie were gaping at them, making him feel even more uncomfortable.

There was no doubt that the woman was his mother. She had his hair and eyes and he could feel a certain closeness to her. What he could not understand was how she as alive. He had grown up believing that she was dead, and here she was in the flesh. The longer she embraced him, the stronger his desire to learn the answers.

As he racked his brain for a question, another revelation hit him: Nel was his sister! His mother was the only reason why he did not collapse to the ground, but his head was spinning. His entire world was suddenly turned upside down and the worst part of his situation was that he was no longer in Alagaesia. He was grateful to have met his mother, and sister, but he wished he were with Saphira. In his mind, he envisioned himself soaring through the air.

A shiver ran through his spine. He opened his eyes, not even realizing that he had closed them, and noticed his mother staring at him. Of all the questions that ran through his mind, all he could utter was, "How?"

Selena sighed. "It's complicated. I will explain everything to you later. Come, let us go." She gestured towards the car.

Eragon felt cheated, but began to follow his mother towards the vehicle. His mother was about to reach for the handle when she realized that there was not enough room in her car for another passenger. Frantically, she tried to think of a solution. She could have Eragon squish in the backseat, but the ride home would be very uncomfortable and she did not want to risk getting a ticket either. The police were always out over the holidays looking primarily for drunk drivers.

Her eyes landed on Michelle. Suddenly, another idea crossed her mind. Without hesitating, she spun on her heel and addressed Emma. "Is there room at your house for another person?"

"Yes. We have a queen sized air mattress that we can blow up next to the couch in the living room."

"Great. Do you think your parents are still awake?"

Emma knew what she was trying to do. "My dad might be up. I'll give him a call." She grabbed her phone and paused. "Who did you want to send to my house?"

"Michelle." Emma nodded and dialed her father's number.

Meanwhile, Selena had her cell in hand and was dialing Michelle's father. "Hello, sorry to bother you Mr. Casper, but I need to ask you a question. Would it be all right if Michelle stayed the night with Emma and Stephanie in Chicago? This is Selena, Nel's mother. I would, but there is not enough room in my car. Mhmm. I understand the inconvenience. Let me check," Selena looked at Emma. The girl gave her a thumbs up. "Yes, it is all right with Emma's parents. All right. Thanks. Mhmm. Bye."

"So, Michelle is spending the night with me?" Emma asked.

"That is correct." Selena headed back to the car and opened the door to the backseat. "Michelle, that was your father I was talking to on the phone. We made arrangements for you to stay with Emma tonight."

"What?" It was Nel who spoke. She had twisted around in her seat to glare at her mother.

"Selena, I do not know those girls very well, so please do not make me go." Michelle pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but there is not enough room in my car for all of you." Selena felt awful, but she could not abandon her son to the streets of Chicago.

"What the hell is going on?" Nel was getting upset.

"We have to take Eragon home with us."

"What the fuck? Mom, we do not even know him! I know he needs help, but taking him home with us is a bit extreme, don't you think?" Nel was utterly confused. Why would her mother take a stranger home? It was bad enough that she had hugged him. She figured that her mother was being sympathetic, but taking him home was crazy, and unsafe.

"Watch your language," Selena snapped. "I will explain what is going on soon enough." Cringing a little, Michelle exited the car. As she walked past Eragon, she shot him a dirty look. After all, he is the one responsible for all the commotion.

Nel turned back around in her seat, sitting properly, and crossed her arms. She just wanted to get home and eat a gallon of ice cream while watching cheesy chick flicks. At the love scenes, she would curse Cameron's name and then cry her eyes out, yearning for the love they had. All she wanted was for Cameron to give her a chance, and now, it was futile; Cameron was stubborn as hell and would not change his mind very easily. What she needed was a miracle, or a fairy Godmother.

Lost in her thoughts, she did not realize that Eragon was in the car, her mother already placing the key into the ignition. Nel rolled down her window to say goodbye to her friends. "I will call you tomorrow and tell you what is going one once I have the details."

"Don't you mean later today?" Emma asked, jokingly.

"Yeah." She waved and said, "Bye!"

Eragon sat quietly in the backseat. He was sitting next to Cameron who seemed lost in his own thoughts. Only Lilly and his mother acknowledged him. "Happy New Year, by the way." Lilly said, breaking the silence.

"Thanks," replied Eragon. To his mother, he asked, "How far is your house from Chicago?"

"Roughly ninety miles which is about a two hour drive. Though, with the lack of traffic and excellent weather conditions, we should be home sooner. We will be dropping off Cameron first. Lilly is staying with us since her mother is out of town and we already made plans."

Eragon nodded, amazed. Saphira was fast and he thought there would never be a creature, or object, faster than her. Already he was proved wrong. He wondered how the machine worked and how hard it was to operate. "So, this is a car?"

"Yes." Selena said. Next to her, Nel rolled her eyes, grabbing her I-pod. Seconds later, faint music could be heard from her headphones.

"They do not have cars where you are from?" Lilly was becoming more fascinated by the second. Her enthusiasm heartened Eragon and he wished his sister would take an interest in him like her friend.

"No, we travel on foot and horses mainly." He purposely left out the dragons.

"Damn, that's practically medieval!"

Selena laughed. "In a way, you are right. Alagaesia is very different."

For the first time in hours, Cameron spoke. "Wait, how did you know where Eragon was from?"

Eragon looked at his mother and then at Cameron. "I told her when I was asking her for help. I was surprised she had heard of…my county?" He lied.

Cameron raised his eyebrows, but made no further comment.

Eragon avoided his gaze and stared out the window. The only thing he could see were the city lights fading way in the distance and he had to admit, riding in a car was fun. Not as fun as riding on a dragon, but still thrilling.

Several times Lilly tried to converse with him, but he did not say much. What could he say? Most of the things she asked he had no clue about. At long last, he asked her a question, taking the conversation off of himself. "What is Michigan like?"

Lilly thought for a moment and then said, "It's all right, I guess. I have not been able to travel much, so I do not know how it compares to other states."

"Oh, " Eragon was disappointed. He wanted more details, not a vague answer like he always got. "I guess I will have to wait and see for myself, huh."

"I think you will like it. We live in a small town, so it's nothing like Chicago, though you can see the city from across the lake on a good day."

"What lake?"

"Lake Michigan." Selena said, joining the conversation. She had remained quiet when she had no navigate through an area of road construction. "Michigan is known for its five Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. HOMES is a great way to remember them."

"So you live on Lake Michigan?"

"Mhmm." She focused on her driving once more.

Lilly was about to say something, but held her tongue, something that happened only on rare occasions. Eragon glanced at her and smiled meekly. It was not his fault he was so ignorant. The rest of the drive was pretty quiet. Nel was listening to music and Cameron dozed off while Eragon stared out the window again. Lilly and Selena talked idly about the club and what had happened between Cameron and Nel. For the first time, Eragon fully understood why his sister was so mad. He was no stranger to heartbreak; he had tried pursuing the elf Arya and faced the cold sting of rejection. He shuddered as he remembered that terrible night in Du Weldenvarden.

The ride felt short for being on the road for two hours, but before he knew it, he was looking at Cameron's house. "Thanks for dropping me off, Selena. Tell Nel that I'm sorry."

Selena leaned over and snatched Nel's I-pod. "Get those things out of your ears and listen to what your friend has to say."

"Mom, why are you trying to make my life a living hell right now?" She crossed her arms, pouting.

"I know you have been hurt tonight, but you are not the only one going through a very emotional time, okay. Now look at Cameron." With a sigh, she did as she was told.

Cameron kicked the dirt and said, "I'm sorry Nel, but we cannot be more than friends. I hope you can forgive me." He walked away before she could respond.

"Bye Cameron," Lilly and Selena said almost in unison.

The drive from Cameron's house was more lively than Eragon had expected. Nel no longer listened to her music as she talked with Lilly. During their conversation, Nel mentioned that she needed ice cream. "We are all out, so I am going to have to stop at the store if you really want some."

Nel nodded. "Then let's make a Meijer run." She glanced at her friend and began to laugh.

"What?" Lilly was confused.

"I was thinking about the time when we were walking around Meijer's singing "Tiptoe Through the Tulips." Both girls began to laugh hysterically.

"That was hilarious! Remember that guy at the check-out who asked us what school we went to and we were like, Lakeshore. His look was priceless."

"I know! It was great."

Selena pulled into the vast parking lot, the red letters of the building catching Eragon's eye. When the car was in park she asked, "All right, who is coming with me aside from Eragon?"

"Mom, can we just stay in the car?"

Selena nodded and opened the door. "Come on Eragon, let's get these girls some ice cream and you some new clothes." She was about to close the door when she suddenly added, "Oh, and I will grab some pickles and whipped cream for you, Lilly."

"Thanks! You're the best!" Lilly was getting hyper.

Eragon walked behind his mother observing his surroundings. The parking lot was empty save for a few cars. When they approached the doors, Eragon yelped, taking a step back; the doors had opened on their own, scaring him. "How was that accomplished? Some kind of magic?"

"No, it's just science and technology. Come along." Cautiously, he walked through the automatic door another opening when the one behind him closed. Inside, he noticed several things at once; on his left were dozens of fruit stands while to his right, he noticed people standing in line, high pitched beeps coming from a weird device. His mother grabbed a cart and began rolling it towards the clothes department.

"This is a very strange market…Open all day and night?"

"Except on Christmas, yes." She led him over to the men's clothes. "Now, let us find you something more appropriate to wear." She scanned several racks of shirts before her eyes landed upon a blue long sleeved shirt. Quickly she looked at the price tag and the size before handing it to her son. "Here hold this."

Eragon was given several more shirts and some pants before he was told to try them on in the dressing room. As instructed, he exited the room after he had them on, his mother scrutinizing him. "Hmm, the second pair of jeans seems to fit you better. We will take those." They continued to shop for clothes until Eragon had five shirts and three pairs of jeans. Then, she led him to the shoe department. Finding him a pair of shoes was quite simple after she had sized up his foot and found a white pair of Nike's that was on sale.

"There, you are all set."

"They felt weird." Eragon protested.

"I know, but you will get used to them."

They left the shoe department and headed towards the ice cream. "This world is so strange. How did you come to be in this place?"

Selena stopped pushing the cart to look at her son. "Let's finish our shopping and head home first. The answer is complicated and should not be revealed here."

Eragon shivered when they entered the frozen food aisle, a long line of glass doors filled with various items. "More science and technology?" He asked, pointing at the freezers.

"Yes, and they are very convenient," she said, opening a door to grab a half gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. She grabbed another flavor, mint chocolate chip, before she turned to ask Eragon if he wanted some ice cream. "They are on sale; 3 for $10, so I might as well buy three."

Looking through the variety of flavors, Eragon became overwhelmed. "What one do you suggest?"

"Hmm. Well, what about Moose Tracks?" She grabbed the container and handed it to Eragon.

"Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cups and moose tracks fudge." He looked up from the container and shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

"Then it's settled. If you do not like this, then I also have Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Mint Chip." They finished up their shopping by grabbing some pepperoni pizza, Dr. Pepper, dill pickles, and whipped cream. At the check-out, Selena showed her on how to scan and pay for the items. "We have cash, but it's much easier to use a Debit card." She held up a small blue card with white letters that said, "Chase."

She slid the card through the device and pressed a few buttons to begin the transaction. Once completed, the machine thanked them for shopping at Meijer. "Your sister works here; I forgot to tell you that."

They were in the parking lot walking back to the car with their grocery bags. "Really?"

"Mhmm. She has a few days off for the holidays, which is nice." She opened the trunk of her car and placed the bags inside. Eragon returned to his seat and buckled up the way he was shown. Once his mother was ready, they drove off towards her house, a small trailer at the other end of the town.