8. Explanation
Angela- supposedly Vivie's best friend- was definitely the opposite of Vivie. Even with the slight trace of hurt in her dark eyes (what was with these people?) she seemed to be a very energetic person. She was shallower than Vivie, taller, and bolder. She was wearing a ring- the ring that engaged her to Luke. Alex couldn't help disliking her.
"Alex Rider," he stiffly informed her. "My flight was blown here in the storm."
"Oh, so you're the Alex Rider I missed out on meeting yesterday! I'm Angela- you may or may not have heard Luke talk about me. You spent the night at his place, right?"
"Yeah, his bedroom is really big."
"Okay, now that the introductions are over, why were you trying to break into Fisher's car?"
"I left a library book in there- well, Luke did. I tried to get him to read it, but Luke would never read for fun. So I wanted to turn it in for him before he forgot about it and it stayed here for the rest of his life. Oh yeah, and Luke's in my car."
"Great, have fun with Farrior. I'm going to your place, so later." Alex Meyer tapped the right side of the car as a reminder to Alex that in the States, people drove on the left side of the road. When they were both in the car and it was running, he asked, "Have you been to America before?"
"On a mission once when I was fourteen."
"Good grief, how many places have you been? I've never left Texas!"
"Oh, I've been all over." Alex couldn't help grinning before he began telling Alex Meyer where he had been.
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Alex's mind was reeling by the time he pulled up in front of Vivie's house. To him (although he didn't tell Alex Rider this), the other boy's adventures were interesting to listen to. In fact, Alex wouldn't have minded being able to do some of those things. But his tone had been bitter, and Alex wasn't stupid enough to say anything the other boy would hate him for.
With his own set of keys, (Austin, Nessa, and Vivie knew that he had them in his possession) Alex let them into the house. "Viv? Nessa? We need to talk!"
Nessa and Vivie were sitting in the kitchen. Vivie looked confused, but she seemed to forget that for a moment as she got up to give Alex a hug. He smiled and sat next to Alex Rider and her. He could feel Alex Rider's fury, and evidently, so could Nessa. A sheepish look dawned on her face as she studied them. "What's up?"
"What's up? Why didn't you tell us that Andrew Yzcheck is the weatherman and to not attack him publicly?" Alex demanded.
"The weatherman?"
"Come on, Nessa, you always watch the weather channel. Don't play dumb."
"Maybe he does Littlebrook's weather."
"What time does the news usually come on?"
"Six? Why?" Nessa was stumped by Alex Rider's question.
"It's six now. Let's take a look."
Sure enough, when Alex Rider turned the TV on, the dreaded face filled the screen. A collective gasp could be heard in the room.
"That's him?" Vivie weakly asked.
Nessa nodded, and Alex thought that Vivie was going to be sick. She certainly did look a little green. Alex squeezed her shoulders quickly, then glared at Nessa to demand an explanation.
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To Alex, Vivie seemed just as shocked about this mission as he was. Vivie seemed to be a nice girl- a little dramatic, a fast talker, but an overall sweet person. He definitely thought better of her than Angela. He was pretty good at first impressions now.
Honestly, he was annoyed with Nessa, instead of Alex Meyer. At least Alex hadn't ever used him. Anything that Alex had ever done to help him had all been of his own free will.
"Well, now that you've found out... I guess that I better tell you. Alan Blunt called me, saying that there was a Scorpia agent here in Fillmore that's trying to do something. He knew about Vivie and the curse... Alex, ask Alex to fill you in... anyway, he thought that he would ask Vivie for help."
"I think it's odd that he's a weatherman," Vivie interjected, her green eyes slightly narrowed.
"Who, Andrew Yzcheck?" Alex Meyer asked.
"Of course... but I thought that the curse was laid through Aaron's mother," Vivie added thoughtfully, seeming slightly worried.
"It was- and if I'm not wrong, that's Aaron's younger twin."
"Sheesh, Angela has a lot of siblings that she never knew about," Vivie remarked.
"What about me?" Angela asked, walking into the room. "Hey, Luke isn't over here, is he? He refused to follow me to the library."
"I can see that," Vivie told her, grinning like she knew things about Luke. Alex wondered why that was. "We were talking about your siblings... and no, I haven't seen him today."
"Farrior is Vivie's ex-boyfriend," Alex Meyer whispered in Alex's ear. He nodded, understanding now.
How could Angela do something like that to someone who was her best friend? Alex couldn't help disliking her even more- even though he had never liked Angela in the first place. But that she would actually do that- that really bothered him. And yet she was the sister of the villain that had ruined her best friend's life. That must be a strange connection to have. He couldn't help but feel bad for her.
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"Anyway, Alan... Mr. Blunt wanted to send Alex over here since I insisted that I absolutely would not ask Vivie to do more than she's already done. When he found out that Alex was going to Washington D. C., he put Alex on a plane that was coming here, hoping that I would get Vivie to do the same."
"Figures, I always manage to find trouble," Alex Rider muttered under his breath, then cursed. That habit was starting to seriously annoy Alex.
"I never said that you had to help, Alex. The same goes for you, Vivie."
"I have a question- how did he know to kidnap Crisee from me?" Alex asked.
"I really don't know."
"Well, this is just great," Alex Rider fumed. "You say it like I have a choice, but I really don't. I'll help."
"What about you, Viv?" Nessa asked. Vivie bit her lip.
"I guess... but what are we supposed to do?"
"Figure out what he's up to."
"Am I allowed to help?" Alex asked.
"Allowed to? Do you want to help?" Nessa inquired.
"I'm going wherever Vivie goes- and Rider's a pretty cool guy."
"Thanks, Meyer." Alex Rider rolled his eyes. He seemed annoyed. Alex noted that.
"Well, I guess you can, if you insist."
"Good." Alex smiled and rubbed Vivie's shoulders. He could tell that she was miffed- Vivie was just like him.
"Viv, are you okay?"
"I just... I just need time to think," she quietly told him, her green eyes displaying her worry blatantly on her face.
"We have tomorrow. Get a little rest, Viv."
She nodded, and Alex hoped fervently that everything would be okay.
