2 Saving the World in Style

Chapter 2

Not far from the orphanage, I went through one of the high-class subdivisions to save time walking. "Practice on the day of evacuation?" I heard Mushka ask from behind me.

She lives in the area, being a daughter and an heiress to their company's assets. "There won't be any competition at the shelter, Fran." The brat of our little clique proved to me that she can kick arse and be pretty in our training.

I rolled my eyes. "Hello, Mushka!" I said grinning at her from ear to ear. "Why aren't you evacuated yet?"

"Duh! I'm military!" she said dramatically. "Everybody knows we're the last ones to go! And you haven't answered my query yet."

She looked at me with one of her eyebrows higher than the other, like a ​Maldita​ that she is. She had never changed.

I shrugged. "A military in a mini skirt and high-heeled boots? Talk about saving the world in style." She rolled her eyes.

Flipping her perfectly curled locks, she looked like a contestant in those pageants with her perfectly made-up face. Well, I doubt she wears makeup. She has her dermatological clinic to take care of her skin. So she looked flawless all the time.

I've always been a tomboy. And I'm proud of it! "Well, I enjoy Martial arts, Mushka, you can try and stop me but I am in love with it," I said, in an overly dramatic way. "And besides Alfonse always watches! He loves chicks who get down and dirty, you know."

I grinned at her wickedly and winked. "Why don't you try it? It'll make him fall for you even harder this time." I just know how to push her buttons. And just like that, she snapped. I could see that I got on her nerves already.

She held her left arm on her left hip and fanned herself vigorously. "I'm not desperate to have him and for your information, I AM NOT JEALOUS!" She looked like an irritated barbie doll, I swear I was almost laughing.

I shrugged, smiling. One point for Fran, Mushka ZERO! "I'm not saying that! And you are acting as if you are." I said matter of fact.

She sighed. Oh Yeah! That's her sign of defeat. "Well...I'm not like that." She said, straightening herself. "How is he doing? I haven't had time to visit them lately. Fonse and I are friends, you know that Fran, ever since we're kids!"

She calls Alfonse, Fonse...well that's what everybody calls him. I call him Al, pretty much since I knew him.

"Yeah, I know that Mushka. And I also know that you like him a lot. So much that he deserves to know it." I said sincerely. "We got your back on this...well...Chealsea and I do. Queencie is doing the moves on him." I teased her, grinning.

"What?!" she shrieked. "How can she do that, when she is just a kid!" she was furious.

"Yep! Better do it, before she does!" I said pushing her. She needs a little pushing. She's been keeping what she's feeling for years now and honestly, I can't stand her drooling all over him. Without even trying to confess. I mean he's nice and good-looking. But really, he is not my type!

"So what if I like Fonse?" oh boy, here comes the Royal, or should I say genius pain in the butt. "He's still not your boyfriend. And available for the taking."

Queencie, the five flat tall kid genius who graduated High School at fourteen years old, would introduce herself as a famous boyfriend thief who never really stole anyone...Yet!

She has long and I mean very long dark chocolate hair and a weird set of round glasses to brag about her brain which almost everyone knew about.

Mushka's face, now scarlet, was ready to pounce on the little git. "Don't bother arguing with a genius Mushka," Chealsea warned in her bored tone. "Trust me, it'll be scary if she'll lay down formulas about how she'll make him fall for her."

But the two can never be stopped, they started arguing like kids wanting the same toy at a playhouse. They sounded like little chipmunks.

"Oh boy," I said watching them whilst scratching the back of my neck.

"They'll stop." Chealsea, the one who's always reading, said. She lives and breathes reading but she's a wicked aircraft specialist who had been flying since nine years old.

Well, her father is the Region's Head Corp Commander therefore she can touch all the planes she wants and fly them.

"Things won't be the same again," I said, catching a falling leaf. Miraculously Mushka and Queencie stopped arguing and they looked at me. "Everything will change the moment we step inside that shelter." I closed my palm, saving the leaf for remembrance.

"There's this big possibility that we'll all get separated." I wanted to be strong for all of us. But it's breaking my heart to leave this place behind. The dead silence bothered me. All the three girls are looking at me as if I'm crying which embarrassed me.

"Sorry!" I grinned at them, self-conscious. "I didn't mean to be sentimental and all. I gotta go!" I excused myself. I know! Lame excuse to escape the Hot seat, right? But I heard them talking before I got away.

"It's been two years since her dad and boyfriend died right?" Queencie asked. "I can't believe she hasn't dated yet."

"Stop talking about dating! You're just a kid!" Mushka retorted. I didn't see it but I bet Queencie made a face that irritated Mushka and she made an annoyed grunt.

"Stop it you two!" Chealsea snapped. "Let's do our duties and get on our way! It's going to rain." I heard a sigh from Queencie, I bet she was rolling her eyes as well. Then they started making small talk as they walked in the opposite direction.

Indeed it was going to rain as it started drizzling. It was always gloomy in these parts of the country. I remembered spending time with my boyfriend at coffee shops so we wouldn't have to ride the scooter in the rain.

Those were happier times. The most complicated thing I've got to decide on was what to wear on our date nights and what to write to him as a reply to his mailed love letter. Mind you, we just lived next door to each other.

Two years ago when he died, his grandmother had to leave. She decided to live in a retirement villa in America. She had no one else in our country so she decided to go back to where her family belonged. She would call me once or twice a week, to know how I was. I cried to her almost every time she called for six months straight.

But then again I had to move forward. I had to live. I work as a nurse. People needed me to handle the pressure and still show up. I had to be professional. The first year of losing him was so hard. I was lost. But a routine saved me.

I started going to the orphanage after work to help out. I started teaching and practicing my martial arts with the kids. It became a thing. Then the pandemic started. The phone calls from America stopped. Things began changing, again.

With all the things happening to the world, I still missed him...so...much.