1 PART ONE- Ch. 1

I hate having to walk home after spending two extra hours in school, and then almost get shot and killed on my way home. I mean I didn’t want to fail my Physics test, resulting with me having to stay after the bell to retake it. There was only two other kids in the classroom besides me. One finished early and the other was still taking it when I left. I didn’t rush it, at least, I’m mostly positive I hadn’t. Not like I would want to get outside anyway. It was seriously freezing! The sky was completely clouded, the air cold, making my nerves agitated. Do you know how annoying it is to play racquetball in this kind of weather? Everytime I hit the ball my palm would scream in pain. The other kids I was with would brush it off like it’s not nothing.

“ Ceena you’re just making it a bigger deal than it actually is!” My friend Knox would tell me. He’s not particularly good at sports, but he did have more endurance than I did. The whole game he went not complaining while basically had a seizure every time I was supposed to hit the ball. I remember after class I had caught him on the stairs to the quad.

“ Hey. How the heck do you not get affected by this weather? You’re literally wearing short pants and a T-shirt right now.” Knox looked down, then back up at me.

“ Uh, I dunno. I just don’t feel it I guess. I feel a bit cold. But not too much.” He said plainly. Every other kid around us was covered in long clothing but him. Including me. I made sure to wear my black jacket, and warm blue pants. But not Knox, he was fine!

“ I’ll never understand how you do it.” I had said.

“ Heh, I don’t either honestly. Maybe it’s a difference of genetics? What doesn’t bother me will bother you?” Knox guessed.

“ What. Are you saying girls get colder than boys?”

“ No. I’m simply speculating.”

“ Oh sure!” At that point we had to split and go to our classes.

Did I rant again? Oops, I do that. It’s just I would rather not be blasted by coldness as my reward for completing a retake test. But here I went anyway! I walked down the stairs and across the quad. Most of the other kids were gone at this point, unless they were apart of some sort of after school activity. Which I wasn’t. I was happier staying home after hours to draw and play games. That was more fun. I passed the math building, climbing down the side of the dirt hill that lead to the school on one side. It was a nifty short cut. Few cars drove by. I guessed they were mainly kids leaving school late like me, or adults returning from a long day at work. I put my hands in my pockets and looked up as I moved along the sidewalk. A flock of birds flew over head, a few more joining them from the nearby trees. People came in and out of the daycare that was oddly close to my high school. I had heard of a toddler who’d proclaimed the F- word to everyone there. Must’ve been awkward for the parents.

I reached the four way cross street section. There were still a good amount of cars waiting to make a turn or keep going. I still had a bit to go before I reached my house. It was located in the neighborhood about a block or so away. I shivered. Even with my jacket on, I was still turning into a popsicle. I remembered the new credit card I had gotten only a week ago. I hadn’t used it yet. There was a small shopping center down the street to the left of me. Maybe there was a place that sold hot drinks? I decided to check it out, my cold body getting the best of me. I walked across the street to the left instead of heading upward. On the other side of the street, a kid was leaning against the street pole. She was darker skinned, with purple hair running down her back. Her yellow eyes focused on her phone. She was wearing a red jacket and dark red pants.

“ Hey Tisha. What’s up?” I asked as I came up next to her. She peered up from her phone.

“ Oh hi Ceena. Not much. Just waiting for this dang light to turn! I swear it takes forever everytime!” She raised her hand in exasperation.

“ Heh, yeah I know what you mean. It takes awhile for me also. Did you have to retake that Physics test?” I asked.

“ No. Man I lucked out on that one! Narrowly got by with a B-.”

“ Really? Nice! I had to do it again.”

“ What grade didja get the first time?”

“ No. I don’t wanna say.”

“ Yes you do tell me!”

“ Agh. Fine. I got… a sixty nine percent.” I said sheepishly. Tisha shrugged.

“ Eh, that’s whatever. All you can hope for now is getting a better score on the retake right? I wouldn’t worry about it.” I sighed in relief.

“ Thanks. Yeah, I think I did better this time. Are you going home?”

“ Yup. You?”

“ I am. But I think I’ll get something hot to eat first.”

“ Huh. From where?” I pointed to the shopping area down the sidewalk.

“ Oh. Alright.”

“ Do you wanna come?” I offered.

“ Naw. I’m gonna show these guys that a girl can handle the cold!”

“ But not by risking your health!”

“ What risk? I ain’t risking anything! You should do it with me! We are strong enough!”

“ Yeah, but no. Just because I’m female shouldn’t mean I have to prove myself.”

“ Alright, suit yourself. I’ll talk to you later!” Tisha waved as the light turned white. I waved back and continued down the sidewalk to the center.

I wasn’t surprised that Tisha wanted to be so challenging. Ever since realizing that girls have certain prejudices against them, she was constantly trying to prove herself. I could respect that. It was one of the reasons I was good friends with her.

Though sometimes I just get nervous that she might end up hurting herself. One time she tried to run more laps than the other boys in P.E. and over did herself and was sick for the next few days. I myself don’t go to such extremes. Like I said, why should I have to? Seems to me like simply doing my work and going about my days was good enough. If anything more of the girls were braver than the boys. They were the ones doing the most amount of school shows and performances. Though there are some good acting boys too. I had seen many groups of girls mess with boys, talking fake romance. Ugh, romance. Something I know nothing about and will not get into it. Despite Tisha’s many words of how to pursue such a thing, I don’t bother. And neither does she. Sure, she talks about it a lot, but she never actually does anything. Who would either of us go for anyway? There’s no one who she or I am interested in. Not saying the other boys are bad, no. But nothing I would be into in that way. What even is that way? I have no clue. Maybe I don’t want to. Plenty of ‘couples’ kissing each other around the school during the day. Kissing, as in in front of everyone trying to get to their classes. Why exactly? I won’t be one to judge. But I’ll abstain from that for awhile.

I reached the shopping center. There was a store for sports, pets, quick groceries, medicine and hospital needs, and a StarBucks. Cause you have to have one of those everywhere you go! I honestly wonder what it was like a few decades ago when this restaurant didn’t exist. Regardless they did have some good hot beverages. I went there for my warming needs. I took a shortcut around the back of the buildings. These were in line with some older buildings that had been shut down for sometime. They were sand colored, the grey doors ripped. Apparently they were old factories or something before. But now they don’t do anything. I don’t know if I was allowed to be here. But I did it anyway. But quietly, so you know, no one found me. Luckily there was no one there. Just some graffiti on the walls. JACOB WUZ HERE. WHAT THE (insert cuss word) IS A LILAC????? And, DEEZ NUTZ ARE TOO GOOD FOR YOU. Were some of the lovely things printed there. Why didn’t the government take action? Maybe because no one even cared about these buildings, so there was no offense to vandalising it. Either way, I entered StarBucks.

Inside was much better than outside. The air modifier warmed me as I stepped in. I sighed with relief. There was a line at the register, which made sense. Some other school kids and adults sat in seats, drinking coffee and eating treats. (that rhymed!) I got in line and peered at the menu. After about two minutes of choosing what I wanted, I settled on a hot chocolate. Simple and good. I got to the cash register. I ordered my choice and payed for it. It felt good to do so by myself. No one else to help or do it for me. I clutched my new drink and went back outside. I sipped some.

“ Ahh! I knew this would do it! Now I can head home!” I said to myself. I began to take the shortcut back to the sidewalk.

Now, I hadn’t expected to see something new, but I did anyway. A man was crouched down next to the corner of an abandoned building. He had a pack and was rummaging through it. He was dark skinned, with sleek orange hair, and black eyes. He had on a pair of red overalls, blue jeans and blue sunglasses, though it wasn’t sunny. He spotted me, and I froze.

“ Hey you kid! Could you help me out for a second?” He beckoned for me to come over. I wasn’t sure whether to be scared or not. He seemed nice enough. But what was he doing around here? I dared to help him out. I came over to him.

“ Ok. What do you need?” I asked. The man got up, and pointed at the door.

“ I need to get this door open. But I also don’t wanna cause a big ruckus.” He sized me up. “ Hmm. Didn’t see ya clearly at first. What are you fifteen?”

“ Yeah.”

“ Ok. Hmm, blue eyes, green hair, lighter skin too. Hmm.”

“ Can I ask what you’re thinking about?” I didn’t know why a stranger was considering my looks.

“ Huh? Oh. No bad reason. I’m just thinking… ah forget it. Can you get open the door?” The man asked again.

“ I guess I could try.” I walked over to the steel door. It was sealed shut. Nothing I could do would open it. I looked at the door handle. It had a slot for keys to be put in to unlock it. I couldn’t use a key. But maybe…

“ Well? Can you?” Asked the man. He had slung his pack over his back and crossed his arms facing me.

“ Hold on I got this.” I opened the top front zipper of my backpack. Inside were the keys to my house. The actual key I wasn’t using. Instead there was a little piece of copper wire that I had forgotten to take off. I slipped it into the hole and twisted it around.

“ You sure that’ll work?” The man asked.

“ I dunno. If Assassin’s Creed has taught me anything. It’s that little pieces of this kind of stuff works when opening locked things.”

“ Are you really gonna let a video game’s logic guide you in real life?”

“ No. I mean, I don’t know. Let’s just see.” I fiddled with the wire. I heard a click. The door opened a little bit. I pulled the wire out. “ There!” I said.

“ Ah you actually did it, good.”

“ What did you need from in there? Isn’t this place closed down?”

“ Yeah. Uh…” The man scratched his head, as if considering something. Then he sighed. “ Forgive me for this.”

“ Wha-” Before I could finish, he grabbed me around the waist with both arms.

We both hurtled through the doorway. I screamed as he slammed on the ground. He shut the door and covered my mouth. He set down his pack, kneeling down.

“ Shut it now! If you’ll let me explain!” He told me sternly. I was so scared I listened. I closed my mouth, shaking. He slowly removed his hand. He pointed at my backpack. “ Give me it.”

“ Wh-”

“ Don’t ask. Just do it.” I gave it to him. He pulled out my phone and put it in his pocket. Then he set it against the side of a shelf. He sighed.

“ Ah what am I thinking? Doing this to a little girl. Imma get screw up for this…” I didn’t move or say anything. Many thoughts were running through my head. Was I getting kidnapped? Raped? Why had I come here? What if my parents find out? The man sat down next to me.

“ Look. I know you must be scared out of your mind. Let me explain.” He sighed again. “ I’m here on a secret mission of sorts. You said these buildings were abandoned? I wouldn’t be surprised. Perfect kind of place for Plasamic to hide their crap.”

“ P-Plasamic?” I asked.

“ Yeah. I’ll explain more later. We don’t have much time. Basically I need to destroy the contents of this factory. They’re hiding weapons in here…if they get released to the public…” He looked serious.

Now I really didn’t know what to think. Who was he talking about? What contents?

“ I know you have questions. Like I said I will explain. But later. I’m sorry for having to do this to you. I look like a damn pedophile don’t I? Ah god!” He put a hand to his face. “ Just please. I shouldn’t have dragged you here. But now that you are, can you please cooperate and help me?” He did look honestly troubled.

“ Well. If I am stuck here, then sure. What are we doing?” I asked.

“ Ok. Look around.” I did so. There were some shelves extending to the ceiling. They each had multiple rows of boxes. They were labelled as ‘ Dangerous. Keep away from innocent eyes.’ What?

“ What are they for?” I asked the man.

“ Those are filled with weapons.”

“ Weapons?”

“ Yes. This company. They have been secretly making very powerful weapons illegally. The government tried stop ‘em but now they do it undercover. That is why I must-” Another door opened. In came four men and a woman. They each had on purple suits. The woman had a silver suit on.

“ Check around. There are supposed intruders here. Find them quickly!” The woman ordered. They took out rifles. Silver and blue glowing rifles. They started to look around. The color of their outfits was the same as on the boxes. I quickly ducked back down behind the shelf.

“ Who are they?” I asked quietly.

“ They are part of Plasamic. Dangerous people! Now, you need to listen to me carefully!” The man reached in his bag and pulled out two pistols. They looked similar to the weapons the other men had. I gasped.

“ What is...what-”

“ Shh! I know! But like I said work with me! I’ll explain quickly. If you fire just by tapping the trigger, then you will fire a small shot. It will affect them like as if you were punching them. If you hold down the trigger, then you will blow a hole in them. So use whatever mode you like. Just knock them out!” He held it out to me.

I took the pistol with shaking hands. I fiddled with it. I placed my fingers in the trigger hold and wrapped around the handle. I didn’t know what to feel. I was holding a real gun.

“ What- you want me to-” I couldn’t even speak.

“ Please.” The man grabbed my arm. “ You have to help me.” He took hold of his own gun. He looked over the edge of the shelf and fired at a company man. The man was hit in the chest by a blue ball. He fell with his intestines showing. The woman saw this and located the man.

“ Well. It’s you isn’t it? Good to see you Emund. Why are you here? The one who is the intruder are you? Very well. Now we’ll have to kill you after exiling you. Men, fire at him.” She pointed. Emund ducked back down as blue shots fired over head. They hit the wall, leaving burn marks.

“ Damn it. Ok kid. Three left. I don’t know if we can get her.”

“ Does she know you?” I asked.

“ Yes. But again, later. Now.” He looked around. “ We need a plan. Before they reach us. Think of something.” He told me. He crawled to the side of the shelf and continued to fire at the enemies. I was so scared my pants were wet. As embarrassing as that was, I focused on thinking of what to do so I didn’t die.

I looked up. Along the sides of the shelves, were little hinges. Perhaps used for carrying the boxes up and down. If I remembered right from my dad’s work, shipping and managing, those could hold a person of up to a certain weight. The doctors always told me I was too skinny. I took hold of a handle and switched it on. It latched on to my jacket. I was carried up into the air.

“ Kid! What are you doing?” Emund said from down below. I was brought up to the top of the shelf. I saw that all the shelves were connected at the top. I moved along the top of the ceiling by pushing in the direction I wanted to go. I managed to get above the men. They were firing at the far end of the factory. I didn’t know what I was doing. So I dropped down.

I landed on top of one man. He collapsed under me. I did what I knew from movies. I used the hilt of the gun and struck the back of the man’s head. This hurt my hand a lot. Luckily the man stopped moving. The other two looked at me in surprise.

“ What? Why is there a girl here?” Said the woman. In the confusion Emund shot down another man. I raised my pistol. I shot at the other man, completely missing. It’s not as easy as it is in the games. Thankfully Emund took him down also. He ran to my side. I got up. We faced the woman. Now, up close, I could see her clearly. Her pitch black hair, her hard, grey marble eyes, lightish skin. She scared me with her seriousness.

“ What?” She took a step back. “ Emund, I never thought you would go this far. Using a little girl for your needs. But we have plenty more storage! This won’t mean a thing!”

“ Ha! You’re just frustrated because I beat you again Acunia!” Emund said proudly.

“ Agh! That meant nothing to us then, and it means nothing now! We will carry out our plans to cover land! You can’t stop us!” Acunia left through the door.

I stood there, motionless. I was still processing what had just happened. Emund let out a heavy sigh and put a hand on my shoulder.

“ Kid. You ok?”

“ I-I don’t know. What just happened exactly? You know each other and, covering land?”

“ Ok. I guess I should explain now. Ok. So the Plasamic Incorporated made these weapons using some of the strongest metals on Earth. They made the bullets out of Illium. You know the asteroid that hit just a few weeks ago? The rumors of a new metal being found inside of it aren’t false.” This surprised me. I had heard of it on the news and at school. But like most kids, I didn’t believe it.

“ Really? Is that what it’s made from?” I asked, looking down at the pistol in hand.

“ Yup. They also use plasma taken from other metals. The weapons have configurations inside of them that fuses the metal and the plasma to make a deadly laser shot. The metal melts in the plasma and it becomes the shot.” Emund explained.

“ That sounds like it’s from a video game or something.”

“ Well, where do you think those ideas come from? Doesn’t make it any better.” He’s right. Things in games are cool. But if even a quarter of them was let loose in real life, there would be mass trouble.

“ Oh, that’s true. So then why do they sell these things?” I asked.

“ For money, and power. They think they can get more control over businesses and take over more of the world that way. People will follow them. That plus the fact that they can use powerful weaponry would mean they could control almost the whole world.” Emund twirled his pistol.

“ Jesus. I didn’t know about this.” I sighed. “ How come this had to happen to me after school?”

“ Kid, I dunno. Bad luck I guess. But look. We shouldn’t stay here. Now that you know about all of this, you need to help me. Anyone who has knowledge about Plasamic are in trouble of being assassinated. If you came with me, we could work to stop them. I know where the other manufacturing stations are. Please?” He looked serious and sad, pleading for help from a high school girl.

Considering I was probably in trouble now that I had gotten into this whole thing, and I would be in danger if I just left, I figured I had to help. Maybe I would be in risk of dying. But at least I wouldn’t be an open target if I decided to help him.

“ This is probably a bad decision. But sure. What are we doing now then?” I asked him. Emund seemed to relax in relief.

“ I can show you more about these weapons and my plan at my house. But we need to get rid of this building.” He reached into his bag and produced a medium sized dark green brick. It had a control panel for setting a timer.

“ Is that a bomb?” I exclaimed.

“ Yes it is. We aren’t terrorists if we are using this for the right thing. But the police won’t think so. Meaning as soon as I set this we have to leave quickly!” Emund set the bomb next to the shelf and set it for five minutes. It started to tick down.

“ Never thought I would be around someone who had just set off a bomb.” I said blankly.

“ Never thought I would be the one doing it around a girl. Now here.” He took out my phone and dialed in his phone number and house address.

“ Can you come to my house tomorrow morning?” He asked, handing me my phone back.

“ No I have school.” I said. “ Shouldn’t we be leaving?”

“ Yeah. Ok… how about 6:00 pm?”

“ Uh.” My parents were gonna be home earlier tomorrow. “ Yeah that’s fine.” It was friday tomorrow so I had time to go to a stranger’s house. Emund pulled on his pack.

“ Alright. This has been… interesting kid. Oh, I never got your name.”

“ It’s Ceena.”

“ Last?”

“ Minshel?”

“ Ceena Minshel?”

“ Yup.”

“ Ok got it. I’m Emund. Talk later.” He took my gun from me and ran out the door. I bolted over, grabbed my backpack, and followed out the exit.

Had I known that I would’ve been forced into a building, where I was gonna be given a gun, attacked by men and woman from an illegal organization trying to gain power, I wouldn’t ever come near here. But, like Emund had mentioned, it happened. What is in the past is in the past. I can’t change it. So, even if it seems dangerous, I still have to deal with it and make the right decisions. So I guess my decision is to help this man stop this company. Because if they manage to ship out these weapons it would only spell trouble. Regardless of all that, I was really freakin’ scared. Should I tell my parents? Maybe, but Emund acted like it was bad if others knew about it. I realized that I should probably get home and away from a building that’s about to blow up behind me. I jogged back to my house. Along the way I could hear the explosion go off. It was louder than anything I had ever heard before. I turned to see an orange mushroom cloud rise up in the distance. Cars swerved and drove away, and people screamed and panicked. Why would Emund just set off a bomb like that? Did he have no consideration for others? I would have to ask him later. I managed to get home without anyone stopping me.

When I got home it was about 5:30pm already. Had it been two hours? I wasn’t sure if that was long or not. I came in through the front door. My family’s cat Gina came up and looked at me with her dark brown eyes and bright yellow fur.

“ Hello Gina. Sorry I didn’t come home sooner. Here. lemme get ya something to eat.” I set my stuff down and went into the kitchen. I grabbed her bowl and a box of kitten food. I filled it up halfway and added some cheese. As she ate I did my homework. Just some Math and English, not too bad. By the time I was done, it was 6:00pm. Was I really going to arrive at Emund’s house tomorrow? I checked the house address on my phone. I could call or text and make up an excuse so I didn’t have to go. How would I even get there? My parents definitely wouldn’t take me. I didn’t know where the address was. I put my hands to my head on the kitchen counter.

“ What the hell have I gotten myself into? I don’t know if I should go. But I’m afraid of what’ll happen if I don’t.” I said aloud. Gina finished her food and walked over to the backyard door, wanting to be let out. “ Ok, come on.” I let her outside. The sky was darker now. My phone went off. It was time to let Gina out to walk. I had just done that. It was convenient. Whenever she needed to be walked, we just let her roam by herself. Sure, at first we had to go with her. But like a lot of cats, they do what they want. Gina always comes back however. Makes my job easier. Though one time she did get into a fight with a dog, and my dad had to settle it with the neighbor. I guess stuff like that is bound to happen.

I watched the cat walk around the yard, deciding where to jump out.

“ Gina. What do you think I should do?” I asked her. She simply stared back at me. If you aren’t talking food or scratches then I don’t care. She was probably thinking. How nice it must be, to be a cat. To not have the worries of a human. Like choosing whether or not to fight an evil company. I went back inside, closing the door but leaving the window open slightly to let her back in. She gets pissed when me or my parents forget. That poor window gets so cut up. I went to my room. My room was a decent size. A bed, a shelf, a night stand, small couch, a larger shelf, and a small desk. At the desk, was my computer and a pad of paper and a set of colored pencils, regular pencils and pens. I flipped through the thirteen drawings I had done since getting this pad. I like to draw things from media, like games and movies etc. I flipped past sketches of Sans, Undyne, Chara, Sonic, Carol Tea, Zero, Mega Man, Spider Man, Iron Man, etc. At first I hated my drawings. The proportions were off. But I practiced, using Art class in school and sheer determination to keep trying. Now I think I’m better. The characters look normal. I’m starting to do more full pieces. With backgrounds as well as characters in them. So far it’s a work in progress.

I began to sketch out a city with Iron Man and Sash Lilac in it. Just a random thought that came to me. By the time I had done the outline of Lilac I heard the garage door open. A moment later my dad came in. He was wearing his black and white suit.

“ Hey sweetheart how was your day?” He hugged me and kissed the top of my head.

“ It was ok.” I muttered.

“ Did you hear about that explosion that happened near your school? Some bomb went off or something. They don’t know who did it yet.” My dad adjusted the shutters on my windows.

“ N-no?” I lied. “ What happened?”

“ Like I said. They haven’t got much info on it. They might release more later on or tomorrow. You weren’t hurt?”

“ No. I had gotten home before that happened I guess.”

“ Alright good. I don’t want anything bad happening to you. You know that right?” He ruffled my hair.

“ Yeah dad, I know.” I said back.

“ Good.” He left the room. Now I was even more conflicted. What if I was hurt and my parents were to find out? How would they feel? Should I not go then? But I have to, people are in danger if I don’t. Ugh, why did it rest on me? I had a hard time sleeping that night.

I had a weird dream. I was in, China. Large colorful buildings rose around me. Emund stood in front of me. He was looking at a building bigger than any other. It consisted of three towers connected at the bottom.

“ Well. It’s up there. In there is their main leader. Once she falls, we’ll be done.” He said. I tried to speak to him, but he didn’t hear me. The dream changed. I was standing at a home, it was bright yellow and small. Where was this? I had never seen this neighborhood before. I woke up in the morning. I got up and did my usual routine for school. Staying in bed five minutes after the alarm has already gone off. Putting on my clothes very slowly. Brushing my teeth. Eating a hot pocket. Checking my backpack for school supplies, only to check it again right before my dad drives me to school. So, about the usual beginning. Except I couldn’t stopping of Emund and Plasamic. Did anyone at school hear about the news? They probably would have, considering the explosion was only a few blocks away. If anyone asked about it, what would I say? Was I about to lie again? I didn’t want to think about that, so I just moved on to my classes.

The four periods before lunch were the normal. P.E. was all about the exciting, blood pumping activity of walking around a track for an hour. Literally. I talked to Knox the whole time about time travel and what it would be like to transfer different dimensions. Made the class more bearable. Second was art class. I only really liked it, besides the fact that I draw at home, because it allowed me to go through a process of building something cool. Like a nice valley or a uniquely designed character. It was fun to create something of your own, and see it go through various stages of development. The history part is ok. Then there’s math and physics. Ugh. WHY did I have to get two of the worst classes in succession? I mean sure there are processes to it which is interesting. But only sometimes. Most of the time it’s all about doing the exact same thing over and over and then getting it wrong and having to do it all over again! ‘Such a fun thing to do.’ But at least I have lunch afterwards so I can rest my annoyance in food. Because we all need that at some point. Today I had brought a tuna sandwich, chocolate bar and Mtn. Dew. It was tasty! I sat at my normal spot. A table under a roof, where me and Tisha always sit. Usually it is just the two of us, which I personally prefer. Tisha has no problem talking to a whole group of sixteen kids. I can do that, but I like just sitting with her and having her full attention the whole time.

About ten minutes after lunch began, Tisha sat down next to me.

“ Hey Ceena, what’s up?” She asked me.

“ Hi Tisha. Not much. You?”

“ Mmm. Same. But I was killing it in Spanish! I got so many of them vocab words right! The other boys were getting so mad cause they couldn’t get it!”

“ Pfft, really? Wow.”

“ I know right.” Tisha certainly liked Spanish, and acting in general. I wasn’t as into it. “ How’s been theater?”

“ Oh it’s been alright. Just memorizing scripts and movements for the next play.”

“ I see, cool! I’ll come watch it.”

“ You should!” The school plays weren’t bad. I enjoyed them. Though the seats are a little too small and it’s always packed with family members. For a bit we sat and didn’t say much. Then Tisha asked what I had feared.

“ Hey so. Were you involved in that explosion yesterday?” I jolted a little.

“ W-what do you mean?” I swallowed my chocolate bar hard. Tisha looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

“ You did go to the area where it was at right?”

“ Yeah I did.”

“ Soooo. Did it have to do with you?”

“ U-uh…” Why was I afraid to tell her? Sure, Tisha could be seen as the type who judges and doesn’t care. But I know from experience I can trust her. She’s the only one who I’ve been able to talk to besides my parents. “ Alright. But don’t tell anyone ok?” Tisha held out her hand.

“ I will not tell anyone. You have my solemn oath on that.” I smirked and shook her hand.

“ Ok good. You sure? It involves me killing people.”

“ Oh what seriously? Damn. Ok, you know I am here for you. Tell me. Also how did ya kill?” I explained to her what had occurred at the abandoned factory. Her expression was serious the whole time. “ Jesus man. And you’re ok from that?”

“ I guess so. I’m just worried about Plasamic. From what I saw and heard… they are trying to take over, company wise. Gain land and control with their weapons or something.”

“ Sounds like a stupid thing to do. What about this Emund dude?”

“ Not too sure about him yet. But I’ll have a chance to learn more today.”

“ Today? How?” I hadn’t told her the part about Emund inviting me to his house afterwards.

“ Yup. Um. He kinda took my phone from me and pleaded with me to join him in his mission thing before giving it back. I don’t know whether or not to go.”

Tisha put her head on her hands, thinking.

“ Well. If it is as dangerous as you say then I dunno. And you said something about assassinations? That isn’t good.”

“ Yeah. But what do I do? Should I go? It could be risky.” I asked nervously. Tisha drummed her fingers on the table. Other kids walked by, unaware of the situation.

“ I mean. If you’re so worried about it. Then I could go with you.”

“ Wait what??”

“ Yeah! This sounds cool! I always wanted to use guns!”

“ That isn’t true. Is it?”

“ No. But that isn’t the point. I wanna see this. Can I come?” Tisha seemed honest about this. I didn’t want her to get hurt but I also needed help. I wasn’t exactly confident about doing it alone. I mean besides Emund, but I had to figure out more if I could trust him.

“ Well… sure. If you stay quiet and safe.”

“ I am good at that.”

“ Like when you performed at the school event and scraped your knee?” I said sarcastically.

“ Girl you know I did that with the full intent on making it to the far lane!” Tisha exclaimed, lightly hitting my shoulder. I rubbed it and laughed.

“ Yeah yeah, of course!” I looked her straight in the eyes. “ But seriously. This is dangerous. We could die from this!”

“ Girl come on. If you are going, I’m coming with you, ok? I already said this sounds interesting. Also, it is the weekend after school gets out. So we got two days to do this! Besides, you know how bad businesses are at making business decisions.” I smiled and shook my head. If there was one good thing about Tisha, it was that she could put me in a good mood.

“ Alright fine. Since you keep insisting.” I finally agreed.

Tisha popped a chicken nugget in her mouth.

“ Thank you. Then, when are we going?”

“ Uh… I dunno. When should we?”

“ Ya wanna ditch class?”

“ What no! We can’t do that!”

“ Ugh, why do you care so much? My fun classes already ended!”

“ So? That’s not a good enough reason! We’re trying to do this without getting in trouble.” I explained. Tisha sighed heavily. The bell rang.

“ Well, if ya say so. Man, I got english next! What a bore!”

“ Bore? At least you read in that class. I have that last.”

“ Lucky you. You’re into that stuff. Not me!”

“ Are you gonna keep complaining? Or just do it?”

“ Oh Imma complain. But yeah let’s go.” Tisha and me packed up our things and headed off for class. She went towards the english bungalows and I went to spanish. It felt better, knowing that I was gonna have my one good friend with me. Sure, I had other kids I talk to. Like Knox. But he was just a school friend, only talking during the down times. Otherwise I didn’t have any close friends. The last one I had before Tisha was back in elementary school. I remember him still.

Since I was a shy kid and mostly kept to myself, no one sat with me during the recesses and lunches. This never really bothered me, since I wasn’t that social to begin with. Then, in fourth grade, me and him were put in the same class. We sat together and it was the first time I felt a connection to someone who wasn’t a family member. Spaik decided to help me when I was having issues on my work. I didn’t ask, he simply offered it to me. He had seen me struggling and took it upon himself to aid me. Then, it continued outside the classroom. We found each other on the playground. Spaik always invited me to play tetherball or soccer. He took things very seriously. Which helped me since that meant I could talk to him about my growing fears, and he’d listen.

“ Spaik, what’ll happen in fifth grade? Apparently we’re getting three classes now?” I had asked worriedly. Me and him were at a bench eating our early snacks.

“ I guess so. Three teachers? Ew.” He said.

“ Doesn’t that make things complicated?”

“ Yeah it does! Three times the amount of homework! Such terror!” He exclaimed.

“ NO!” I said loudly.

“ But, it’s fine. We got this. All it means is we have to divide up our day for each set of homework.”

“ Not more homework!”

“ Yes more! But again. If you just make a schedule. Do one thing at a time, only worrying about that one thing at that moment and nothing else and then moving on, it shouldn’t be bad. Get it?”

“ I think so. Perhaps it won’t be as bad.”

“ No.” Spaik was the one person who talked to me back then. He talked deeply about things but he could also be loud and bubbly at times. We separated because of family issues. In middle school I met Tisha. Her, plus me being more able to talk to people, allowed for those years up till now to be much better. I didn’t think too much about Spaik nowadays. But sometimes he came up in my mind. I entered la clase de español.

The rest of school was overall, normal. Spanish we did a packet over more verbs, which took me the whole period. Then english we did another few pages of the Odyssey, which I finished before everyone else. You know, class favoritism. Put I knew the day wouldn’t really begin until the periods were over. I was sitting in english. Staring at the clock on the wall. School’s about to end. Do I want it to end? I guess so. But then we need to go to that guy’s house. Ugh. I don’t know if I wanna do this. But Tisha offered to come so I won’t let her down, she did seem excited. I guess I’ll see what happens. I thought to myself. Once the bell rang, I walked over to the front of the school, where me and Tisha normally meet to walk home if she’s available for it. Which normally happens about two to threes times a week? Maybe more or less depending on hers or mine parent’s situations. As I waited, I checked my homework. One English, and one math. When I would actually be doing it is another question. I stood there, kids walking by. Either on their phones, talking to friends or simply by themselves. After about five minutes, Tisha walked up to me.

“ Heya! You ready?” She asked.

“ I guess.” I answered softly. Tisha put a hand to her hip.

“ You should really stop worrying. This won’t be that bad. We got each other right?”

“ Well, yeah. But still.”

“ Still nothing. Can we get something to eat first?”

“ You wanna eat? We’re supposed to go to the guy’s house!”

“ I ain’t about to use futuristic weapons until I’m full! You want rubios?” I sighed.

“ Sure.”

“ Ok. Who’s paying?”

“ I can.”

“ K thanks.” I let out a laugh. We left the school, heading to the nearby rubio's restaurant.

I wish I hadn’t brought a jacket today. It was hotter than yesterday. The sun burned bright in the sky. Clouds barely visible. Allowing for all the rays to hit me. Good thing was, I had a short sleeve short on under this jacket. I took it off and stuffed it in my backpack. If there is one thing I don’t understand, it’s that my pack gets so full so quickly. Like when I have just my basic school books and what not in there, it’s fine. I can carry it easily. But as soon as I put something else in, like a lunch bag or my jacket, boom! Instantly turns into the weight of a boulder. I don’t get it. At least I was feeling better with my blue T-shirt and orange soft pants. Who said anything about matching? Tisha wasn’t much better. With her purple shirt and black pants. Did she choose the shirt color to match her hair? Possibly. But knowing her, it was a coincidence. She didn’t wear things with much thought normally. Which was fine, considering I was the same. We walked down the street, going past the area where the factory was. We were going to another shopping center across from it. As we pasted, I saw what remained of the factory. There wasn’t much. Just some of the base. Black, charred and smoking. There was at least five police cars around it, yellow tape put up to keep out others. Officers inspected it, and made calls on their phones. I moved a little faster, hoping they wouldn’t see me. If I was gonna get caught doing this, I didn’t want it be now. Thankfully, we made it to rubios.

We entered the building, looking at the menu as we got in line.

“ So. What do you want?” I asked my friend.

“ Hmm. Imma go for them chicken tacos. Love those things. You?”

“ Uh. I think the chicken burrito.”

“ Are you copying me in burrito form?”

“ Maybe.”

“ You sneaky.”

“ Well I mean. I have to get in on some of that chicken too don’t I?”

“ Yeah but if you take mine Imma have to get out my Valkyrie and smash you!” I laughed at her reference.

“ Oh is this Destiny now?”

“ Yup. Now pay for the food please.” It was our turn at the register. I payed for our stuff, with two fountain drink included. Speaking of the fountain drinks. I always have a hard time deciding what kind of drink I want. I inspected the selections.

“ Hmmm. Orange soda, lemon soda, root beer soda. Why are there so many kinds of soda?” I wondered.

“ Are you really going to question it?” Tisha started taking some of all of them. “ Just take all.”

“ Is that allowed?”

“ I dunno. But either way, I’m doing it.” She filled up her cup. I didn’t argue. I simply filled mine with orange soda. We chose a seat in the back outside.

“ What did you do in English?” Tisha asked me.

“ Read Odyssey.”

“ That book is so boring!”

“ You say that about every book you read!”

“ So? Couldn’t the schools find a way to make reading more fun?”

“ How?”

“ Maybe by… adding a virtual reality feature to it so it’s more interesting! And an addition of free games to play.”

“ I am pretty sure it don’t work that.”

“ Well yeah, but it should.”

“ Who knows. Maybe in the future.”

“ Perhaps.” Our food came. I chowed down on my burrito. It was pretty good! Once we finished our food we left rubio's.

“ So you said you knew where this address was?” I asked.

“ Lemme see it again.” I showed her my phone. She thought for a second.

“ Yeah… I think so. Come on.” She headed towards the neighborhood located on the upper hill. “ You know I forgot to bring my bike. Would’ve made this a lot quicker.” Tisha said on the way up.

“ Oh yeah. It would’ve been.” I said. Tisha had recently gotten into riding around on her bike. I had bought one a long time ago. I had pumped it up so we could ride together. It was fun, to race through forests and streets.

“ But then you couldn’t follow me. Since you didn’t bring it. Unless we both brought ours.” She exclaimed.

“ Well yeah. Is it far from here?”

“ Not really.”

It took about ten minutes for us to get there. I had many moments of thought to myself. This is taking awhile. Maybe it’s too long. I could turn back now and it would be fine. Oh wait, probably not. I still would feel guilty then. Ugh. But there is so long to go! Whatever, I’ll keep going. You know how when you are doing something, and then you end up making it worse for yourself? But in reality it wasn’t that bad? That was this walk for me. It was hot outside, like every time I walk home. And I couldn’t stop my thoughts from bringing up the worst possibilities. I wish sometimes I didn’t have a brain. The two of us finally made it to the address, according to Tisha. It was bright yellow and small. One floor with a backyard sticking out.

“ Guess it’s it.” Tisha began to move to the door. I stayed.

“ You sure about this?” I said nervously.

“ Girl I swear. The moment you stop worrying is the moment world hunger is resolved. Come on!” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me up to the front door. “ Go on knock. This isn’t a date or anything.”

“ Tisha, he’s like thirty.”

“ I know. So what I’m saying is, it’ll be fine. Do it.”

“ OK ok.” I knocked. I tried to calm my breathing. Telling myself things to keep me from being too scared. I’m not too sure if it worked or not. The door opened. Emund stood in the doorway.