We're sat in art class, the one class that neither Luke or I are any good at. Fortunately, Clyde is amazing and willing to help...in his own Clyde "too cool for art" Langer way. Wellllll. Usually. Today he seems to be in his own world. He's been doing a drawing of K-9, and it is really awesome. Luke and I have kinda just given up on our own thing and are just sat watching Clyde draw. "I don't know how you do that!" Luke exclaims, sounding more like an entranced toddler than you would expect from him. "You've either got it, or you haven't, Luke-y boy." Clyde says, a cross between factual and patronising. "You see, art isn't something that you can learn." He tells us. "You've been watching kid's films with Jonathan again, haven't you?" I asked him, grinning innocently at him when he glares at me. "Kung-Fu Panda is a classic and you know it!" He defends himself quietly. Luke grins at me and then brings us back on topic. "Surely, it's a matter of bio-mechanical transference of what the eye sees to paper? In the end, it all comes down to geometry." Luke reasons. Clyde massages his eyes as Luke speaks. "I mean, he's not entirely wrong. But there's also a need for hand-eye coordination, imagination, and the ability to sit still for more than half a second." I point out. Luke considers this while Clyde sighs. "See, that's your problem. Both of you. You work up here, you're all science and logic, and Spocky stuff like that, but you can't break art down into maths." Clyde lectures us passionately. "Everything comes down to maths." Luke and I chorus. "See, not art. Art is in the soul. You don't think it. You feel it." He tells us, going back to K-9. "He's been watching more Star Wars than me." I mutter to Luke as we turn back to our papers. I kid you not when I say that a five-year-old could have done a better job at this than me. I swear it was meant to be a rainbow! Suddenly, the door of the classroom opens and in comes Mr. Chandra. "Morning 11T" He calls as he walks in. Everyone dashes to get off the tables. "Someone's in trouble. That's Dad's serious face!" Rani sings as she sits in her chair opposite us. "Yeah, like he's got any other sort." Clyde hisses back. I kick him under the table. before turning back to face the front. "All right, you lot, settle down. If I may, Mrs. Taylor?" He asks before sitting on her desk. "I have an important announcement to make." Rani grins at us. "Told you." She hisses. "I didn't disagree!" I hiss back. "Concerning you, Clyde Langer." Okay, he's definitely messing with Clyde now. "Me? Oh, what have I done now?" Clyde has never looked so nervous in his life! For once, I don't think he's expecting to get picked on! Also, what is going on? "Ah, no, no, don't tell me...I turned up. All I have to do to get some teachers back up." He says sarcastically. I roll my eyes at his dramatics. Mr. Chandra's even smiling a bit, so it's definitely not that. "You aren't in trouble, Clyde. For once, quite the opposite." Mr. Chandra gets up and moves to stand in front of our table. He turns the paper in his hand around to face us. The writing is quite small, but I think it's an award of some sort. "I've just had an email from a Mr. Harding, curator of the International Gallery." "Who?" Clyde asks quickly. Mr. Chandra carries on as though Clyde hadn't spoken...so business as usual then. "Tomorrow morning, this entire class will be the first members of the public to see the Mona Lisa in the UK." Mr. Chandra has started pacing around the class, the way he normally does when he's excited. "And all thanks to Clyde!" He says, pointing at Clyde. "You won first prize!" He tells him. Wait! Clyde entered a competition? Why didn't he tell us?! We all start clapping and cheering for him. Hang on...he looks confused. Did...he not enter himself? "Wait, wait, wait, wait, as much as I appreciate the adulation and missing double maths tomorrow-there's been a mistake. I never put my work in any competition." He tells us. "Someone did." Mr. Chandra and Mrs. Taylor looks confused about this. I have a bad feeling about this. Well, not bad, but I think I know what happened. I turn to look at Luke. He looks sheepishly at me. Clyde seems to agree with my instincts as he replies. "Well, I wonder who." We both stare our best friend down until he breaks. "They were looking for the country's most promising young artist, and you really are good, Clyde!" Luke rambles quickly. "Brilliant." Rani amends. "And I knew you would never put yourself forward." Luke has a point there. "Well, it's not good for the image, is it? Some nerdy competition?" He sounds really self-conscious. "Well, neither is having Luke and I as your best friends. Your image will survive. Plus, you're the reason we're missing maths tomorrow. No one is gonna think you're less cool because of this." I reassured him. "I've gotta text Mum!" Rani exclaims, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "How many times? No mobiles in the classroom. Or at the gallery tomorrow." Groans ripple throughout the classroom at that. "Their rules, not mine." Mr. Chandra mutters, going back to his conversation with Mrs. Taylor. "You're not annoyed with me, are you?" Luke asked quietly. I nudged him gently, just to let him know that no one is mad at him, because did anyone else's heart break when he sounded like that, or am I just a pushover when it comes to Luke? "Are you serious? It's the Mona Lisa!" Clyde exclaims, sounding more excited than he did a second ago.
"Mum! Guess what?! We're going on a field trip tomorrow!" I call as I burst into the house. "You're what?" William asked as I poked my head into the kitchen. Mum and William are stood around the island with a cookbook open between them. Oooh, right. It's home date tonight. Great, must remember to leave the house, otherwise I'll be watching my mother flirt, which I promise you, is less cute than my grandmother will have you believe. "Going. On. A. Field. Trip." I enunciate slowly. "Alright, I heard you the first time." He muttered sarcastically. "Well, then act like you listen. Anyways, International Gallery, tomorrow, seeing the Mona Lisa. Cool, right?" I ask, bouncing on the balls of my feet. "Well, that sounds like fun. Luke, Clyde and Rani going too?" Mum asked. I nodded quickly. "Yep. It's actually because of Clyde we're going. He won the Gallery's art contest, so is the first to view it in the UK." I explain. I then pretend to have a thought. "Oh, I promised Rani, I would help her with the maths homework due Monday. Better get it done now so we can relax over the weekend!" I call, dashing out of the door. "Love you, Asha!" Mum calls. "Love you, Mum! See you later!" I yell back.
bzz. bzz. bzz. bzz. I groan and turn my alarm off. Five more... nope. Not today. Basically, I lost a bet to Luke, and now I owe him a home-made hot drink every morning for a week. This is day three of seven. I roll out of bed and quickly get dressed. I now have my normal routine on autopilot, so I don't actually have to think. Once the ordinary tasks are completed, I trudge into the kitchen. Fortunately, I'm more awake than I was 10 minutes ago, so I might actually have a coherent conversation should I be unfortunate enough to encounter either my mother or stepfather. Fortunately for me, it seems they've both decided to sleep in this morning, so I simply fill the kettle enough to make two drinks, one for Luke and one for me. For some reason, Luke actually likes the way I make coffee, which I'm told is slightly... unusual. I like to have a teaspoon of both hot chocolate powder and ground cinnamon in my coffee. It's good, okay? Leave me alone. Anyways, I once made the mistake of letting my friends try it, and now Luke tries to steal mine whenever he knows I have it and Clyde and Rani will not hesitate to tell us that we are heathens. I stir the hot water and various powders together in the travel mugs and grab my bag. I grab the cups and walk out the door to get Luke and Rani. For some reason, despite being the least pleased when morning arrives, I'm still always the first out of the house in the morning. First stop, 13. I knock on the door and wait. Luke opens the door, a look of misery on his face. "Are...you, okay? I bring coffee?" I hold the thermos out as a peace offering. Luke attempts a smile as he grabs it, shutting the door behind himself. He still hasn't said anything. We start walking down the driveway. Rani tends to prefer if we don't knock on the door, reminders of time stress her out, plus, we have plenty of time. I give myself until we are on Rani's side of the road before I speak up again. "Luke, if there's something bothering you, you can tell me, you know that, right? I mean, that's literally my job. Well, technically, second half of the job. My job is mostly bother you until you break and help cover the social mistakes I know how to help with. But I'm also here to help talk through emotions. I may avoid mine, but you aren't allowed to pick up my bad habits!" I say. That gets a laugh out of him. "That's better. Now, talk." I turn to him, signifying that he has my full attention. He sighs. "Mum and I aren't talking." He tells me. I blink. Okay...wasn't expecting that. "Oh. Do you want to talk about it?" I offer. He shrugs. "I don't know. She's just being...such a...mum! I don't know how to explain it. It's like, she's always telling me about how making mistakes are human, and that she just wants me to be able to be normal, but when I actually act like a teenager, she gets cross with me! I don't know what she wants from me!" he admits, staring at the floor as if it has all the answers to his questions. I take a minute to think. "Well, what triggered this? I mean, you and Sarah Jane normally seem to have your boundaries pretty well set out, so maybe this is one you forgot to discuss?" I suggest. Luke shrugs. I sigh. "Look, I won't push. But if you want, later, I can listen as you rant about all of this. Lets get through the day, spend the entire school day staring at paint long dried, and then we come back to being angsty teenagers. Agreed?" I stick my hand out for a handshake. Luke smiles reluctantly, shaking my hand. "How do you always say the right thing?" He asked. I shrug. "Dunno. I just try and do what I would want someone to do for me. Remind me that the day should be good, but an offer to talk once it's out of the way." Rani suddenly pops out of her house, signalling the end of our discussion.
We get off the bus as quickly as we can when we get there. I make sure to keep one of my friends in eyesight, simply because the first time we went on a school trip, Clyde got lost, Luke panicked, Rani almost started crying, and I was the only one who was able to function. Since then, I've taken on the role of airport dad. This role seems to include doing headcounts every 5 minutes, being told if, when and where my friends are going if they are wandering off and holder of the snacks. Fortunately, the snacks are not my responsibility this time, as food is not allowed into the gallery. We gather at the foot of the steps, but quickly dash past Mr. Chandra. He must have been going over the rules again. He spent the bus ride lecturing us on proper behaviour in the gallery.
We turn our phones in to the person holding the tray. Clyde is immediately distracted by the freebies on offer. I grab some too, especially the map and the history book. Clyde offers some to Luke, who hesitates. "No, I'll pass, thanks." Luke declines, looking mildly confused. "Your loss." Clyde says, shrugging his bag off to shove them in. "Anyway, what did, uh, Sarah Jane say about me winning this prize?" He asks, trying to sound like he's not at all concerned about how it would change Sarah Jane's perception of him. "Nothing. We're not really talking. She's being such a... mum." Luke explains, using the same words he used to explain to me earlier. "Yeah, well, it's probably best she doesn't know." Clyde concedes, bumping into Mr. Chandra. Oh no, he's mildly done for! Mr. Chandra turns around, about to snap at whatever poor soul just bumped him. Unlike usual, however, instead of snapping at Clyde, he just smiles gently. "Careful, Clyde, even star pupils need to watch where they're going." He jokes. "Sir." "So, how're you feeling? Erm, nervous?" Mr. Chandra's being oddly nice to Clyde. He's probably hoping that Clyde will try and be a better student now. Ha, as if. Clyde likes chaos too much. "Weirded out. I mean, teachers are never this friendly." Clyde responds automatically. Well, I guess from his perspective that would be true. Teachers normally yell at him whenever he interacts with them. "You see, diligence has its rewards." Mr. Chandra says, throwing an arm around Clyde. I have to avoid eye contact with Luke and Rani otherwise we're going to start laughing. "Perhaps you'll put the same enthusiasm into your other schoolwork." Okay, I shouldn't laugh, I shouldn't laugh, really, Clyde's face needs to stop, otherwise I will start. A lady comes up behind Mr. Chandra. "Mr. Chandra? Park Vale?" She asks him. He swings round to face her. "Yes!" He exclaims, far more enthusiastic than we normally see him. "Mr. Harding will receive you upstairs." She tells him, shaking his hand. Not going to lie, I get bored at this point and start fiddling with the sleeve of my hoodie. I snap back to reality when Mr. Chandra calls for us to follow him. And we're off!
On the way, we duck into an alcove advertising the Mona Lisa. Rani copies the pose, attempting to copy the smile. "What'd you reckon, Luke? Who's got the more enigmatic smile, me or Lisa?" her face screws up in fake disgust, prompting a laugh from Luke and I. "I really don't understand. Why is the Mona Lisa so special?" Luke asks, beginning to wander off. "It's just brown." He whines at me. I agree with him, both of us getting distracted by the puzzle box. I tune out the conversation, just join the crowd again. "Clyde!" I hear Mr. Chandra call. I turn around, knowing that we're probably about to move again. I make my way over just as Clyde is introduced to who I am assuming is Mr. Harding. After a brief conversation I didn't pay too much attention to, Mr. Harding starts to walk towards the group gathered. The group moves to allow him past us, but we quickly reform to follow him. I'm grabbed by Rani and dragged along to walk behind Clyde.
We are led into another room. "And here we are. In pride of place!" Mr. Harding announces, showing off Clyde's art. I'm speechless. It's incredible! "No way!" Clyde is also in shock. "Is something wrong?" Mr. Harding inquires. "It's just...my work in a proper gallery." Clyde explains quietly. I nudge him gently. "You deserve this, Clyde." I tell him. "We told you, Clyde, it's brilliant." Luke agrees with me. Rani is the one to start the applause. We're all very proud of him. Luke starts chanting "Clyde-y! Clyde-y!" the class joining in. Mr Chandra seems to be debating getting involved, but Clyde decides for him. "Shut up!" He hisses at us. I grin at him as Mr. Chandra speaks up. "Agreed. Some order, please!" he shouts over us. a "Whoo!" is heard in the silence. "Mrs. Taylor." He reprimands the other teacher. I try not to snigger. Mr. Harding starts on a rant about how impressive Clyde's work is, and I do try and pay attention, but I'm distracted by the way the light hits the glass then the floor. To be honest, I don't think art is my type of thing. When I notice pretty much everyone about to head off, we're still staring at Clyde's picture. "They're Sontaran blasters, aren't they?" Luke states like a question. "Well spotted." Clyde says quickly. "That's why you didn't want Sarah Jane to know." I finish the thought. "Yeah. Oh, and don't tell her I've been drawing K-9, either." He gives us pleading looks. We all turn back to the wall. "You know, I always used to play this sort of stuff down." Clyde admits to us. "I thought people'd laugh at me." I really want to punch whoever made him feel like that. "You mean, you thought drawing wasn't cool?" Luke asks, shocked. "Something like that." Clyde jokes. He's being serious though. "Well, it is cool. And believe me, no one's laughing." Rani tells him firmly. "When I was younger, no brothers or sisters...I used to draw, for company." Welp, break my heart, Clyde, why don't you? We had the same coping mechanism. He drew, I read. Wow, that's sadder than I thought it was. "But maybe I could really do something with this." Clyde says, sounding...happy. It's a good look on him. "And so, to the prize!" Mr. Harding calls out to the room at large. We all turn to look at him. "Prepare to meet the Mona Lisa!" He sounds really excited.
We follow him into the hall where the Mona Lisa is kept. I'm jostled around a bit, so I can't hear the history lesson Mr. Harding is giving, but I already knew the information anyways. I may have done some research on the painting last night before I went to bed. "Feast your eyes and lose your hearts!" Mr. Harding tells us, coming to a stop next to the curtains. "I give you...The Mona Lisa!" He pulls on the toggles and the curtains are pulled away. I gasp as I see the painting. It isn't the Mona Lisa at all! It's the assistant lady from earlier! There are laughs and comments from everyone around the class.
We're quickly moved back to reception. Mr. Chandra is taking the register, hoping no one got lost. "There's something freaky about this." Rani declares, looking around. "Oh, here we go!" Clyde starts. "Just because something shady happens, doesn't mean there are aliens behind it." "Eh, knowing our luck." I say. I'm ignored as Clyde asks if his bike was nicked by ET the ASBO. I face palm. "Did I mention aliens?" Rani quips back. "Rani's right. Why would they put a picture of Miss. Trupp in the Mona Lisa's place?" Luke speaks up. "Dunno. Maybe they thought it would be funny?" I suggest. Clyde laughs. "Maybe she's behind it all. Maybe, it's her calling car? 'The Truppmeistress has struck!'" Clyde cackles. I roll my eyes. "Even if this isn't alien, it's weird enough for Sarah Jane. We should call her." Rani nudges Luke. Who...reacts worse than I thought he would. "No! We don't need her! We can...do this ourselves." He says, I think trying for firm, but really just sounding defensive. Wow, he really doesn't want Sarah Jane involved. I'm not the only one shocked, as Rani stutters out an affirmative. "Well, before we do any art hunting, we're going to need to lose Mr. Chandra...and Mrs. Taylor." I point out. Luke seems to have tuned out, walking straight up to Mr. Chandra. "Mr. Chandra!" Luke says as we reach him. "Yes, what is it, Luke?" he asks hurriedly. "I need the toilet." Luke says. "Me too, sir. I'm busting." Clyde pipes up. Nice, I'm not the only one who worked it out. "And me." Rani tells him. When he sighs and turns to me, I just shrug, having crossed my legs to make it look like I'm trying to hold it in. "Okay but be quick." He tells us, not suspecting anything. "Thank you, sir." I say as we start to walk off. "Then straight to the coach!" He calls after us. "Nice one, Luke." Clyde praises once we are out of earshot. "What?" Luke asks, confused. What? Oh. "Nice cover story." Rani agrees with Clyde. "No, I really need the loo." Luke says. Honestly, him being confused should not be this adorable. It's not fair. "Oh, well...like Dad said, be quick." Rani jokes, ushering us in the direction of the toilets.
A few minutes later, we are sneaking through the gallery, trying to avoid detection by the police. Clyde pulls me back before I accidently cross the doorway into the hall that was meant to hold the Mona Lisa. Oh, yeah. Check before passing. I forgot...not for the first time, and knowing me, not the last one either. "We'll never get passed them!" Clyde whispers to us. "There has to be another way in." Rani says. I pull my map freebie out of my bag when Luke realises that we need one. "Got it. This way." I say, walking off in what I hope is the right direction. You never quite know how accurate these things are.
"This place is like a maze. Or, finding your way through level 4 of Alien Devastation 3." Clyde jokes, having grabbed the map from me as we entered back into where Clyde's painting is hung. "I thought you said we could find your way with that map?" Luke inquired, looking over my shoulder once I wrestled it back from Clyde. "Men and maps!" Rani cries in frustration. "Hey! I can read maps. I was in the cubs." Clyde puts a hand in the air, three fingers together. I don't get the reference. "Well, until they kicked me out. But you don't want to hear about that." Clyde tacks on at the end. "Sorry, I can read maps, but in my defence, this is a very confusing layout, and I don't think this map has been updated in a while, so I may have misread it. Sorry." Luke bumps my shoulder gently. "Hey, not your fault. No apologising if you tried." Luke tells me. "Thanks." I say simply. "Clyde." Rani speaks up behind us. "Yes, my painting would look great in your lounge. Just get your dad to make me an offer." Clyde deadpans, not looking up from the map that I am lucky to still be holding. "I don't want your painting, Clyde. I want to know what happened to the gun that was in it." What?! I turn around sharply. "Galaxia's gun!" Clyde cries out in shock, almost stumbling up to the painting. "Who's what?" I ask. "Okay, so I gave them names. Can we move on now?" Clyde hasn't looked away from the painting. "What matters is..." "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" An angry voice from behind us interrupts. We all whiz around to see Mr. Harding. Oh no... we're done for. "The police are conducting an investigation! They don't need a bunch of school children roaming round, disturbing evidence!" He shouts at us, coming closer. "Yeah, well it isn't just you're precious Mona Lisa that's been stolen now, is it?" Clyde demands, a protective fury seems to have settled. "One of the guns in Clyde's paintings have vanished." Rani tells him. "Look." I tell him, moving so he can get closer. He walks towards it, almost as if he's in a trance. He raises a hand and gently touches the area the Sontaran blaster hand been an hour ago. I can barely hear the muttered, 'it's dry' that he lets out. "It wasn't painted out, Mr. Harding. It was taken." Luke tells him. "Whatever we're dealing with...I don't think it's just an art thief." I explain...kind of. Well, I can't really just tell him that it might be aliens, now, can I? "Oh, you better believe it, sugar." someone announces from behind me. People really need to stop sneaking up on me, it's getting on my nerves. I turn around and gasp. Is that the Mona Lisa? It looks like her, even dressed in the dress she wears! And she seems to be holding Clyde's gun... why is it always guns? Why can't someone's weapon of choice be a block of cheese? Just once I'd like to deal with someone who isn't carrying a gun! I may have missed something, because we seem to be stood in silence, just being held at gun point. "Who are you?" Mr. Harding asks. Seriously? He put in all that work to have her here, and he doesn't recognise her? Ouch. She doesn't seem impressed. Fortunately, she points the gun away from us. "Pft. And I thought you were supposed to be an art expert!" She exclaimed sarcastically. "I am the Mona Lisa." She declared, with all the arrogance of 'I am Ironman'. That was accompanied by an attempt at a sassy finger snap but ended up looking like a year 7 girl. Oh, the hand on the hip just rounds up the look. I glance at my friends to see that they look no more impressed than me. "No, but really?" Mr. Harding prompts. "Yes. Really." She counters, looking rather offended at the lack of response she got. "You can't fake this kind of class." She tells us arrogantly. Oh boy, here we go. "You can't be the Mona Lisa, you have to be some sort of alien manifestation." Luke, ever the pedant, pipes up. "Ooooh, and why's that then?" And now the gun is pointed at him. "Well, probably because Lisa del Giocondo died in 1542, the painting took Leonardo da Vinci approximately 4 years, of which he worked on, and off as other commissions came and went. Therefore, you are more likely an alien, as the original Lisa would be buried in Italy, and you don't look like a reanimated corpse." I ramble, pushing Luke behind me. Hopefully, that would distract her enough for her to put away the gun. "Oooh, someone's done 'er 'omework." Mona Lisa drawls, her gun now pointing at me. "Yeah, but also, women don't just jump out of their frames. At least, not on Earth." Rani mocks her earlier finger snap, the way we make fun of the year 7s. "Or nick guns from somebody else's painting. Do you know how long it took me to paint that?" Clyde demands, really not happy about it. She lets out a mocking shiver. She then struts up to the painting and examines it closely. "Not bad. Not in my league, o' course." Okay. she's really starting to wind me up. "But then," And here the gun is back on us. I'm really regretting not bringing my stress ball today. "Leo was a bit of a ledge, even back then." She tells us condescendingly. "Although, he did have to blag the oils off his weirdo neighbour to paint me." She does the spinning finger turned into framing her face to show us what she meant. "Okay, fine. Whatever. First, please put away the gun. Second, now that you're out, what do you want?" I ask, trying to not let my anxiety take over. It isn't helpful right now, it's just distracting me. "I've just had five centuries hanging on a wall, sugar. What is it you think I want?" She asks me sarcastically, still pointing that stupid gun and coming even closer, what the heck? "Well, I'd assume a lesson on listening to others." I remark quietly. She ignores me, further proving my point. She just carries on. "It's time I had a bit of fun." She tells Mr. Harding, even though I think it was more aimed at me. "And I think I'll start with some target practice!" She declares, preparing to shoot. "Run!" I shout, grabbing the nearest arm and running. I fail to keep in a scream as the gun hits the pillar we duck behind. I've still not let go of whomever it is I've grabbed.
We burst out of the hall. "Oh, boy! That's it, now I've seen everything!" Clyde shouts as we hurtle towards the main hall thing. I'm clinging onto Rani as we run. I don't trust myself to not switch off when confronted with guns. I can already feel the tears falling as the fear settles in. I tune out the conversation, focusing only on making sure I stay with Rani. The panic attack can wait. It will wait, it's go to. We suddenly stop. I must still be clinging on tightly, as my head is guided towards Rani's shoulder. I know I'm being hugged. I'm vaguely aware of conversation happening, but it's distant. Like I'm underwater, or on a distant mountain. Suddenly, I feel a hand brush my arm. "Asha...hey, Ash. Breath in, 1, 2, 3, 4, hold, 1, 2, 3,4, out, 1, 2, 3, 4. In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4." I think Rani is doing it too, so I try and match my breathing to hers. It takes a few goes, but I do eventually calm down enough to move away. "Hey, you back with us now?" Rani asks gently, brushing away a tear. I nod quietly back. "Okay. Good news, she hasn't followed us. Bad news, all the police and security and... everyone, really, has been zapped into the paintings." Rani tells me. "Oh...well... okay. How are we getting out?" I ask, allowing my usual personality to take over. "Front door." she shrugs at me.
And, predictably, the front door is locked. "We have to find a phone." Rani tells us. "I don't care what you say Luke, what's happened to those people is beyond freaky! We're calling your mum." she tells us, but I'm distracted by the little green car. "No need. She's already here." I tell them. They all gather around and stare at the car. "Right, so time to find her...hopefully before she meets the Mona Lisa." I say, internally planning my search route. "Right, we should make our way back to the place she was originally kept. That's an obvious place for Sarah Jane to start, right?" I offer, turning towards the stairs. the others run after me. As we are about halfway up the stairs, a roar echoes throughout the building. We all falter. "Is it just me or did things just get uncomfortable?" Clyde asked. We all nod. A piercing scream follows a few seconds later. "Mum!" Luke cries. No! I take off running in the direction it came from.
I yank the door open and charge in. There's...no one here? What? But...we heard Sarah Jane? "Mum!" Luke is yelling. I look around, praying she's not turned into a picture. "Luke? I found her." Rani says, staring at a...no... please. It's her. Sarah Jane, in a picture. She looks so scared. Luke looks shattered. His hand traces hers, the touch so gentle, like if he presses any harder, he might break the picture. I place my hand on his shoulder, hoping to offer him some comfort, knowing it probably won't help. "And that." I turn around, not even surprised at this point. "Is how she'll stay. Forever."
A/N: At least it's only a few months this time? Look, I'm sorry. I'm trying, but I kind of have to go with the dopamine. Fortunately, I'm hyper fixating at the moment, so I'm beginning to write more, but I never know how long that phase lasts for. Anyways, as usual, I don't own SJA, I just play with the story. Please let me know how you're enjoying it, I do appreciate feedback.