What's Behind the Curtain

Chapter 2

Reagan

Hello! This is ILoveQuill77 here. Are you ready for more of Reagan's adventures? Do you even like this story? Well, if you answered yes to both of those questions, then carry on!

I crept into the auditorium/cafeteria. It looked like there had been a few small fires, but the sprinklers had put them out. Seeing that it was safe, or relatively safe, I whispered to my friends, "Come on!" We ran onto the stage, seeing no other place for something to crash into.

"Do you dare me to open the curtain?" I asked them.

"Like I said, no! You could die from radiation or something!" Kaitlyn said, ever cautious.

"Yes! We should open it right now!" Madison said, practically jumping.

"Whatever." That was Katie.

"Yeah! Do it!"

"Sam?" I asked, as I found him coming up towards me. "Just...go away. This is my business."

"No thanks. I'm going in there now, instead of waiting around." He ducked behind the curtain. A blue flash ignited the room, and I heard a thump.

"THEY GOT HIM! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Kaitlyn screamed.

"Who got him?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"I dunno! Aliens!"

"You really think aliens landed at our school?" Katie asked, incredulous. "Well, I think you've gone off the deep end, like me." Katie smiled creepily. (Is that even a word?)

"Aliens are cool. I doubt they killed Sam." Madison put in.

"I agree. We've gotta go see if he's even alive." I said firmly. I pushed aside the curtain, and tentatively stepped behind it.

"FREEZE!" A deep voice shouted. I froze, more out of fear of than what the voice said.

"Okay, uh...please don't kill me?"

"We won't kill you if you don't kill us."

"Deal." I said quickly.

Someone sighed. "Rocket, how many times do I have to tell you that Terrans won't kill us?"

Terrans? Rocket? There's only one...no...that's just not possible.

"Yeah...uh, did you kill the kid who went back here?"

"That was a kid? Oh..." the deep voice said.

"You killed him?!" I paled.

"Hard to say...is there any light around here?"

I felt around the wall and found a light switch. I flipped it.

Standing in front of me was a blond haired man and a...raccoon?

"Is your name Rocket, by any chance?" I pointed to the raccoon.

"Yeah..." the raccoon said slowly. "How'd ya know?"

"Are there any other talking raccoons in the worl-um, galaxy?"

"She shows knowledge, Quill."

My friends came in right after I realized the man standing in front of me was Peter Quill.

They all burst out laughing at the sight of my face. I was standing there, gaping, and my eyes wide.

"Man, I wish I could record this," Katie said, looking like she was wiping a tear from her eye.

Madison looked like she was trying not to laugh.

Kaitlyn just looked scared.

"You-you're Peter Quill?"

"Uh huh...is that bad?"

"No! That's incredibly good! You're a star on Earth!"

He looked confused. "A star?"

"You guys had your own movie! It was awesome! You have fangirls!"

"A movie? How does Ter-I mean, Earth even know about us?"

I shrugged. "Government?"

"Yeah, but why would they even release the notion of us to the public?"

"Money? They probably knew no one would ever believe it, so they probably figured easy funding."

"That's true. And, what are fangirls?"

"Her," Katie said, jerking a thumb at me.

"What?" Peter-Star Lord-Mr. Quill-whatever- looked at Katie. "What's with your hair?" Katie's hair was dyed rainbow and shaved on one side. I thought it was cool, but I don't know if Peter did. Or whatever I should call him. I think I'm sticking with Peter.

"Excuse me?" She rose to her feet.

"Yeah. Why is your hair like that?"

"Because I choose to have it this way," she said carefully.

I shook my head and mouthed no at Peter. He didn't notice, though.

"Why? It's weird," he said.

Katie took a step toward him. "I know more than one way to kill you, you know. I also have a sharp rock in my pocket, I know how to make a knife out of Popsicle sticks, and I also know fencing, and you're going to insult my hair?"

Peter stepped backwards. "Nope. Forget I ever said anything."

Katie sat back down on a bin.

"And you said Terrans wouldn't kill us," Rocket said sarcastically.

"I thought they wouldn't," Peter responded, glancing at Katie.

Not looking up, she said, "We're different."

"No kidding," he muttered under his breath.

I cleared my throat. "Back to my original question, did you kill Sam?"

"The kid?" Peter asked for clarification.

"Yes. I know a number of people who would be upset if you killed him."

Rocket walked over to Sam and felt for a pulse. "Good news-he'll live,"

I let the breath that I didn't even realize I was holding out.

"Bad news-he'll be out for a while. Like, 12 to 24 hours."

"Well, it could have been worse," I said.

"Where's Groot?" Madison said abruptly.

"Inside the ship, why?"Rocket responded.

"I want to see him."

"Fine." Rocket grumbled. "GROOT, THERE'S SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO SEE YOU!"

We heard creaking metal, and then Groot pushed himself out of the hole the ship had created.

Madison and Katie lept up. They ran over to Groot. Groot seemed amused by my friends, and even let them climb on him. Katie sat on one shoulder, and Madison on the other.

Kaitlyn was dragging Sam's body away, most likely to a safer place. So that left me, Peter, and Rocket standing in a circle. That reminded me of a line in the movie, but I decided not to say it.

Instead, I said, "This is awkward."

"Yes it is," Peter replied. "So...where are we?"

"South Elementary School," I looked around. "In the cafeteria/auditorium."

"Oh...did we hurt anybody?"

"Besides Sam, no, not that I know of,"

Peter looked relieved. "Good. Uh...I don't suppose there are any places that can fix the ship?"

"Nope, none, unless...do you know how to?"

Rocket snorted. "You kiddin' me?"

"Sorry. Well...do you have the parts?"

"Yes..." Peter said, seeing what I was getting at.

"Well, why don't you just stay on Earth for a few days?"

"I guess-"

"Why do you Terrans keep calling your planet 'Earth'?" Rocket interrupted. "The rest of the galaxy calls it Terra."

"Um, okay, but we 'Terrans' would like to keep calling it Earth. Also, don't you know that terra and earth literally mean the same thing?"

"No..." Rocket looked like he was pouting. Seeing a raccoon pout is a strange sight.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I guess that could work, but we would need a place to stay." Peter looked around pointedly.

"Okay, but you can't stay here. At least not now. Because once the police and the fire department get here-"

"Are you crazy? We can take them!" Rocket butted in.

I frowned. "That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about what will happen when they find a giant space ship crashed into a school."

"Oh..."

"You're right, uh...what's your name?" Peter said.

Peter Quill was asking for my name! "It's Reagan,"

"That's...actually a really nice name,"

I smiled. Little did he know, that compliment just made my day. "Thanks,"

"Cut it with the pleasantries and get to the point, Reagan," Rocket told me.

"My point is, as I said, that we need to find a place for you to go," I replied. This was going to be tough.

I hope you liked it! Just so you know, Reagan is my OC, so her feelings are pretty much my feelings. It would mean the galaxy to me if you review, favorite, or follow!