Chapter 2

A Chapter by Mikayla Reed

Cedric woke up squinting his eyes trying to process what he saw in front of him. As his eyes focused, he recognized his little brother's goofy smile grinning over him. Cedric smiled as he sat up and starting tickling the giggling boy, squirming like an eel on the bed. It was just the thing to cheer Cedric's mood after another nightmare that seemed to never end. Doctors tearing into him, unimaginable creatures chasing him, losing the person he cares about most, and always dying in the end. He gently pushed his little brother off the bed, telling him to get ready for school. As he laid in bed for a few extra minutes he glanced at his bedside table, worn from years of use. As he saw the piece of paper laying atop the wood, his face drained of blood. He reached over and snatched the page as though it could walk away at any moment. His eyes scanned the conversation as he read and re-read the words upon the paper. He couldn't process what any of it meant, but he was determined to find out.

Cedric jolted as he heard a knock on his balcony door. Pulling on yesterday's pants that laid crumpled on the floor, he peered behind the window curtain, momentarily blinded by the sunlight. As his eyes adjusted he grinned to see Felicitys face in the glass, her eyes covered with her hands. Their room windows were close enough together that Felicity could swing from her window and land on his balcony.

He opened the window laughing, "Come on in City, you can open your eyes."

She slid her fingers apart, squinting through the cracks, making sure the coast was clear before climbing through the open door. As she took her hands down she yelled at him to put on a shirt.

"And you thought girls took forever to get ready. Boys." She sighed dramatically for effect.

"Um excuse me, what time did you wake up this morning?" He raised one eyebrow as a smile crept on his face.

"4am, but that's beside the point. The point is... well... while you figure out the point I'm going to grab some food. There's nothing in our house since, well, you know." She said as she bounced down the stairs to Cedric's kitchen. He heard his mother say hello as she prepared Felicity some breakfast, not surprised to see Felicity's face in her kitchen..

Felicity's parents were going through a divorce, and as Cedric glanced at the piece of paper poking out from under his pillow, he thought that the conversation was the reason why. He took the paper into his hands again as he reread it. He zoned out as he continued to stare at the page, oblivious to the world around him, oblivious to time.

"What is that?" Felicity snuck up behind him as she snatched the paper out of his unsuspecting hands.

Cedric sighed as he watched her read it, her brows furrowing more and more with every word she read. He saw her eyes dash back to the top of the page as she read it over and over. She then sat down on the bed in a trance as the page fell from her hands.

"Is this conversation real? Did you actually hear it or did you make it up?" she asked me as she slowly came out of her trance.

"I heard it yesterday after I took you home... I passed by the den and I heard your parents talking and I don't know, I just kind of listened in.. I don't know what it means or anything. Perhaps it isn't as bad as it seems."

She laughs strangely, "The worlds last resort? What the hell does that mean? And don't tell me it "isn't as bad as it seems.""

"I don't know City, I don't know what to make of it. The only way to get answers is to ask your mom."

"Afterschool, no coffee break today. We are going straight home. No stops."

"Okay..Let's head to school."

Cedric lift her from the bed by the hands and gave her a hug as she tried to hide the tears. After her shoulders stopped shaking, he gave her some tissues, grabbed their bags, and headed downstairs where his family was eating breakfast.

"Hey mom, I might be late coming home, Im heading to Felicity's house after school."

She barely acknowledged his appearance as she murmured okay, and proceeded to read her morning newspaper in attempt to be rid of the drowsiness caused from lack of sleep.

Cedric bounded out the door with Felicity a couple steps behind him as they climbed into his car.

On the drive over he noticed her unusual silence. Anytime it was broken she glared at him for disturbing her thoughts. After a couple times of attempting communication, Cedric turned on the radio to relieve his nerves. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Felicity perk up as she looked out the windshield. He glanced to where her eyes lead and his breath hitched in his throat. Two men were standing on the corner of a crosswalk, staring at his car, no, through his car and directly into his and Felicity's eyes as though they could see through the tinted glass. They were large, strong men wearing suits with the buzzcut hair. They resembled each other but were also polar opposite as ones glance seems to be as cold as ice and the other seemed to be attempting to light fire to the car Cedric drove.

Cedric grabbed onto Felicity's hand for comfort as he continued driving to school, trying not to look at men whose eyes followed them. After a while, the car reached out of sight of the strange visitors and both Cedric and Felicity relaxed slightly. He released her hand, not realizing that he was still holding it, and pulled into the school parking lot. After finding a parking spot shaded by weeping willows, he allowed himself to glance in Felicity's direction. She was still staring straightforward in her seat, pale as a ghost, looking so stiff he couldn't tell if she was breathing. He brushed his hand against her cheek and she jumped into action as if nothing happened. She unbuckled her seat belt, grabbed her bag from the backseat, opened the car door, and zoomed out of the car without a single word.

Cedric stayed seated for a while, letting his thoughts process the morning. When he noticed he only had three minutes to race to class, he turned off his thoughts and went to class, looking for a seat next to Felicity. When he entered the classroom just as the bell rang, he saw no sign of his blonde haired friend. Confused, he took a seat as Mr. Mavakirck started in on the day's math lesson.

When lunch came with no sign of Felicity, Cedric checked the first place he thought of, the pool on the other side of the building. He bought two lunches and hurried over to where he hoped she would be.

He opened the door gently, peering around the corner, and there in the swimming pool doing laps was Felicity. He smiled softly as he watched her glide across the water, her blonde hair trailing behind her, not restricted in a cap. When she came up for air she saw him watching her from the bleachers. She froze in the water, relaxing as she recognized the person looking at her. She grabbed a towel neatly folded by the side of the pool as she left the water, wrapping the fluffy towel around her wet swim suit.

As she got close to him she shook her hair out like a dog after a bath.

"Heeyy some of us have class you know. I'm going to die of hypothermia now!" Cedric said joking around.

She grabbed the lunch tray from his hands, unwrapping the burger that layer on the platter. She swallowed down a laugh as Cedric joked around. "Watch it, you're going to make me choke!" She started giggling uncontrollably. She sat down at the pools edge, dipping her feet into the water as Cedric followed close behind. When he was close enough she sent a large wave of water his way, splashing him head to toe.

"Okay okay, I submit! But on a serious note,are you doing okay?"

She stared at the floor, turning her head away from Cedric, becoming interested in the water dripping from her hair, forming a small puddle at her side. Felicity looked back up at Cedric, " I don't know how to feel right now. Just taking it one minute at a time I suppose. I will be thankful when we finally get the answers we are looking for."

"I understand.. Come on, dry up, let's head back to class." Cedric smiles at Felicity, offering his hand.

*************************************

"Can you drive any slower grandpa?" Felicity says as they head home for the questioning.

"Hey, I'm already going 5 past speed limit. Hold your horses."

Felicity ignored his words and begam drumming her fingers against her leg to the music-less air.

"What if we don't get the answers we're looking for? what if they are worse than what we expected? what if.. what if...* Her thoughts echoed in her head, bouncing around, causing a headache.

Cedric pulled into Mrs.Jones' driveway and turned off the car. After sitting in silence the two of them left the vehicle. Felicity barged into the house yelling for her mom. Her mother walks slowly down the stairs, looking at her daughter strangely.

"What is it dear? I wasn't expecting you for another three hours." Sandra expressed motherly concern towards the teenage storm rolling into the house.

Felicity took a deep breath, "What experiment are you putting me and Cedric through?"

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