Chapter 4
We got to what Keenan called the Conference Room. It was the same room that Jon had led me to last night, this time though I took a good look around.
There was a massive round wooden table in the center surrounded by chairs. It reminded me of King Arthur’s round table, I knew that this place was medieval.
There were portraits of people on the walls like in the corridor, the people in them were all smiling and looked like they were all from different eras in time. There were one’s with Greek togas and dresses, Victorian ball gowns and suits, stuff that definitely looked like it was from the sixties and outfits that I had never seen before. I was fascinated by them, one of them was a Fire Girl, someone like me, but which one? No one had my red hair, I’m not the only red head that has ever had a power like this am I?
I know that red heads are scarce but this was ridiculous. Why do I have to be so different? I shook my head slightly and smiled faintly, what had my mother said to me? Never be ashamed to be different from everyone darling, being different is what sets you apart from other people. My mother always knew what to say when I was down, because of my red hair and black eyes, people always set me apart from themselves.
I glanced around the room once more and spotted my dad with Andrew. They were talking quietly to each other and hadn’t noticed us coming in. Andrew looked frustrated, his face pinched and his thick grey eyebrows pulled in. Dad on the other hand looked pained, kind of like when he fell out of bed and banged his head off his locker. It was funny at the time, but now the expression seemed to age him somewhat.
Keenan cleared his throat and they both jumped and turned to stare at us. Andrew glanced between the three of us and frowned, is the tension between Keenan and Jon that noticeable? I moved quietly to stand in between the two. Andrew stared at me and smile slightly, but I glared at him, I wasn’t happy, I now it’s selfish for me to want to take Jon with me, but I need him.
“I guess I know why you’re here, Alex,” Andrew sighed.
I stood with my arms crossed and just stared at him; he stared back but after a few minutes looked down. Sam always did say that I had a strange stare.
“So, I’m going to America?” it came out as a question because I didn’t know if Keenan had been serious or had just said it to annoy Jon, either way he succeeded.
Andrew grinned, it made him look much younger “Yes you are, and Jonathan can go with you if you like,” he finished almost reluctantly. I just raised my eyebrows at him, while Keenan hissed.
“From talking to your father and after watching the two of you last night, I can see that you are inseparable, you make a fine couple.” I made a choking noise at the last part. I glanced to my right at Jon, his eyes had gone huge and he was gaping at Andrew, he looked like he was about to have a seizure.
I looked at Keenan to find him with a similar expression, except of being surprised he looked enraged. Jeez.
“Whoa, Jon and I – Jon and me – we – we aren’t-” I stuttered, mortified, he can’t be serious. With Carla it had been a game, she would never had seriously dated Jon, no matter how much she seemed to adore him. Sure, it would have really hurt her if they broke up but she would have got bored of having the same guy around and pick a new obsession, and then when Jon got a girlfriend, she would switch back to wanting him again. Carla only wanted what she couldn’t have and when she got it she didn’t want it anymore.
Andrew on the other hand was deadly serious; I could see it in his face.
Jon made a choking sound and I looked at him again worried, the poor boy looked like he was going into shock.
“But, you two have such great chemistry, I could have sworn ...” Andrew trailed off.
Jon then took that moment to gain his voice back. “Ya me and Alex have great chemistry, I love her but I’m not in love with her, and I’m pretty sure she feels the same way,” he looked at me and I nodded. I stepped forward and stared at Andrew.
“The way I feel about Jon is the same way I feel about Sam, he’s like the second brother I never had, we have an easy relationship, he isn’t afraid to tickle me or play ruff like a brother would,” I said smiling fondly and slightly annoyed.
This is the second time I have had this conversation in two days, jeez.
“Oh, er, alright then. Do you still want Jonathan to go with you and Keenan to America?” he finished with a gleam in his eye when he said ‘you and Keenan’. What the Hell? The awkwardness seemed to amplify by a thousand at that moment. I decided to break the silence; the looks Keenan was giving Jon were starting to worry me.
“Of course I want Jon to go with me, why wouldn’t I?” I asked raising an eyebrow. Andrew suddenly looked nervous and glanced at Keenan. Again, what the Hell?
“Oh nothing, I just would have thought that you would like, someone else to stay with you.” he glanced quickly at Keenan again as he said that. Is there something that I haven’t been told about going on? Wait a minute, that’s a stupid question, of course there is.
“So,” Andrew continued briskly, “You will be leaving for America in approximately two hours, Alex and Jonathan your things will be shipped to our whereabouts. You will only need to bring necessities, change of clothes, toothbrush that sort of thing,”
“Okay, how long will it be?” I asked him.
“The total journey will be about eleven hours of travelling,” he said grinning.
I gaped at him, he can’t be serious. “What, with stops of course,” I said nervously, please have stops, please have stops.
“Nope, no stops you can rest while you are travelling. The flight is about eight hours and then the car ride is about an hour, then an hour and a half boat ride to our secret island,”
I nearly cried an eight hour flight with the two of them glaring daggers at each other! Why cruel world do you do this to me? I asked silently.
“Sure okay, ah what time will we get there? To the island I mean,” What time is it now?
“You will arrive about seven this evening maybe later depending if everything goes smoothly.” Andrew said, seven this evening! That means it’s about six a.m. which is impossible because it’s impossible for me to get up that early.
“Ah what time is it?” I questioned.
“Nearly half six,” my dad answered. I nearly jumped out of my skin, I had forgotten that he was even there.
“In the morning?” I squeaked.
Dad smiled, understanding my shock. “Yes kitten, I thought we would have to go to the airport with you asleep, you never were an early riser.”
I blushed at my childhood nickname. Sam had found my love for cats and had started to call me ‘kitten’ and it just stuck.
“I know dad, I know very well.” I replied smiling in remembrance. Sam was an early riser and loved to wake me up at all hours in the morning on weekends. The latest stunt ended with me pinning him to the ground and making him apologize. Dad just chuckled.
Something occurred to me “Hold on what about school?” I asked.
“There will be tutors at the house for you.” Andrew said. Cool, tutors.
“Well, will we go get ready?” Jon asked me looking better.
“Sure,” I replied. I wonder how much if my stuff is here? “Wait! How do I get back to my room?” I can’t remember half of the journey because of Jon and Keenan.
“I’ll take you back.” Keenan said. He didn’t offer, so there was no arguing. Plus, he still looked pissed. Ah, man.
I just nodded, now Jon looked pissed and ready to argue. I shook my head at him and told him not to do anything with my eyes. He looked frustrated but let it be. I frowned slightly turning away from him, why were they so edgy around each other?
Keenan took my wrist and heat shot up my arm, which I ignored, and led me out of the room. I heard Jon following.
“Why can’t Jon take me to my room?” I asked him.
“Because Jonathan has some things he has to take care of.” He replied.
We walked in silence and I took another look around me. This place must be huge, I thought.
Why not make every corridor a different colour so that people don’t get lost, every corridor is the same three colours, cream, brown and beige. The floor was a cream marble and the walls were beige with brown designs. It looked beautiful but, it confused people.
The walls were ordained with portraits of people and landscapes on the left side. One corridor would have only people and another would have only landscapes. The corridors were wide; the doors were only on the right for some reason. Each one was a dark mahogany; lamps were everywhere, no torches like the entrance. Obviously this place has been here a long time and has been modernised to suit the era.
As I walked I noticed that someone was following us. I ignored it at first but the feeling got worse.
“Keenan, someone is following us.” I told him quietly. He had been giving the silent treatment since we left the Conference Room. He glanced down at me frowning and I glanced behind me and saw a dash of blue against the beige walls.
Keenan must have seen something too because he stopped and turned around.
“I know you’re there Nick, get out here,” his tone was playful, something I didn’t even know he was capable of.
A boy that looked a lot like Keenan stepped out of, well, nowhere. He had Keenan’s black hair but he had sharp green eyes. He, unlike Keenan, looked roguish whereas Keenan looks, silent and mysterious, to be honest.
“Well, brother even as a child I could never hide from you, could I?” Nick asked. He stared at me his head cocked to one side and looked curious.
“No you couldn’t, what do you want? We have an hour and a half till we leave,” Keenan replied easily glancing at his watch but I noticed he looked a little tense.
“Not much Charlie, are you guys taking the jet? And I wanted to see little miss Fire Girl over there,” Nick said nodded towards me. I stiffened; I didn’t like him on sight he just gave off this bad vibe that I didn’t like. I have always been good at reading people like that. I wonder why he called Keenan Charlie.
Keenan went a little pink when he answered “Yes we are, why did you want see Alex?” Keenan asked. Hmm, I’ll ask him later about the Charlie thing.
“No reason, oh and I’m coming with you guys back to America, looks like things are about to get interesting,” I didn’t like the way he was smiling at me, like a Cheshire cat.
“I know that, mother and father would definitely not be happy if you decided to go off on our own again,” Keenan replied dryly.
“What can I say, I love adventure,” he said cheekily.
“Can we go Keenan, I want to pack,” I said to him quietly.
“She speaks!” Nick exclaimed, grinning at me. “What age are you, thirteen?” he asked.
“I’m fifteen thanks,” I relied coldly; I wanted to get away from him and fast.
“Hmm, suppose you get contacts and dye your hair, right?”
“No I don’t get contacts or dye my hair,” I snapped at him, I really hated when people do that.
“Come on Alex.” Keenan said to me. He took my arm and pulled me away from Nick gently.
“See you later, Red.” Nick called.
“Not likely.” I muttered under my breath.
“Sorry about that, Nick sometimes forgets his manners,” Keenan apologized.
We had arrived at my room and he opened the door for me, I grimaced at the pinkness of the room, I wanted to go home to my cream walls and green sheets.
“Don’t apologize for him,” I said to him and went to the wardrobe. I took out another pair of jeans and a t shirt that said ‘Death To Barbie’. I looked around for a bag, there was one sitting on the end of the bed someone must have put it there while I was gone.
“I know I shouldn’t believe me but I just can’t help it,” he replied.
“He is your brother right ?”
“Yes, my twin brother,”
“Who’s older?”
“I am.”
After stuffing my clothes into a bag, I went in search of socks and underwear, when I found some I made sure that Keenan couldn’t see them. I noticed a door in one of the walls and stared at it wondering.
“It’s the bathroom; you can get toothpaste and stuff from it.” Keenan said making me jump. I grabbed the bag and went into the bathroom. There I put deodorant, a toothbrush, tooth paste and a hairbrush into the bag.
“Hey Keenan,” I said when I walked out.
“Hmm,” he replied.
“Why did Nick call you Charlie?” I asked him curious.
He cheeks went pink “Nickname.” He muttered shortly looking down. Glancing at me he asked briskly “Are you ready?”
I nodded and we walked back out into the hall. Keenan led the way again, I just couldn’t make my way around. Please let the place we are going to not be like this, I will die.
The walk back was quick and I stopped trying to memorize where everything was.
Jon, dad and Andrew were waiting for us. I noticed that there was an extra bag, must be Keenan’s.
Dad stepped forward, holding a book. My eyes widened I had totally forgotten my book!
“Sam rang me,” Was all he said as he handed it to me. I hugged him in thanks. “Everything is being shipped over, your books, laptop, clothes, shoes and everything.” He smiled sadly.
“I’m gonna miss you dad.”I said simply.
“Well isn’t this nice.” said a snarky voice behind me. I spun around to see Nick leaning against the wall.
“Piss off.” I said to him. His smile faltered under my stare.
“Let’s go.” Jon interceded wisely. I rolled my eyes at him.
“Sure.” I said.
Here we go.
