Eternal: Chapter Six, Part 2

Xenia was next on my list, not because I couldn’t find Jake first but because I wanted to save Jake for last. I knew there was probably going to be more for us to talk about; I would like to think I wasn’t avoiding the inevitable, but giving myself more time to prepare for it. I knew the likelihood of that being true was slim to none.

Valetta had found Xenia’s home, school, and even managed to find out her plans for the weekend—which involved some shopping, a movie, and dinner with friends. It was easier for Valetta because she hadn’t changed at all from when they had last seen her, but it was no use being bitter. I would have to figure out how I would talk to her alone and avoid keeping her from her plans for too long.

I sat in the middle of the mall, watching people pass for a while, wondering why I wasn’t seeing her anywhere. Then a group of giggling girls walked past and Xenia’s name was mentioned. There wasn’t a single blonde in the group, though. All of them had either dyed their hair blue or green, except for one girl who had chosen purple.

“I seriously did it;” the purple haired girl laughed, and I knew it was Xenia. Her looks may have changed, but her voice hadn’t—not much anyway. “I was not going out with him. He thinks we dyed our hair to make a statement about society and stickin’ it to the man.”

“But that’s not it at all;” one of her blue haired companions giggled.

“Exactly.”

Xenia whipped her head around for a moment in my direction before turning to her friends. “I’ll meet up with you at the boutique. There’s someone I have to see real quick.”

Her friends agreed and continued on as if this wasn’t unusual for her to be running off for a moment; she watched them for a short while. When they had all done their peeking over their shoulders and were back to laughing and gossiping, she turned around and took a seat next to me.

“She wasn’t kidding when she said you’d look different;” she crossed her legs at the knees, resting her chin on her hand.

“So she told you I was coming?” I asked, turning to face her.

“Of course she did. How else do you think she knew what I was doing today?”

“Makes sense;” I nodded slightly. “Did she tell you what I was coming to talk about?”

She shook her head, the purple locks escaping over her shoulder; she pushed them back behind her ear. “Valetta said she’d leave that for you.”

I debated whether to jump straight to business or not. I didn’t care to, but at the same time, she had already segued into it. But I wanted so much to ask about her hair. It had been a beautiful gold color and now, though still beautiful, it was purple. I was curious as to what prompted the change, especially since it wasn’t just her that had changed.

Then I remembered she was here with friends and my goal wasn’t to monopolize her time. If I had time at the end I’d ask, but she had already cut to the chase.

“I’m beginning my movement soon,” I started, deciding to just put it all on the table and see what she’d make of it. “Right now I’m recruiting everyone, yourself included. Don’t feel like you have to say yes; you don’t. It shouldn’t interfere with school, but you’d mostly be there for opinions and other kinds of input. The only downside is we have two years.”

Xenia nodded slowly, sitting back and crossing her arms, her eyes downcast as she contemplated my words. “Two years, is it?”

“It’s all I can guarantee.”

“And I’m guessing you’re going to say what this movement is about when everyone is together?”

“Of course. As soon as the school year is done for everyone.” I studied her carefully. If she didn’t say yes, I didn’t know who else I would choose. I had my mind set on her helping, but I’d ultimately have to respect her decision.

“I like the sound of a challenge,” Xenia said after a moment. “I don’t get enough of one as is, and it’ll be kind of fun to see some of the others again.”

“You don’t have any concerns?” I didn’t want to leave her with questions if I could help it—other than the main one, that is.

“Nope. It’s straightforward enough. I’m kind of looking forward to it,” she said, nodding her head, sitting forward on her hands.

Silence enveloped us despite the hustle and bustle of the crowds. It wasn’t long before I couldn’t help but ask—I knew if I didn’t soon she would excuse herself.

Eternal: Chapter Six, Part 1

Chapter Six: Turbulent Seas

As I had hoped, Valetta had returned before me.  She gave me all of her information the moment I walked into the apartment.  Mitchell then explained he, Caroline, and Ian had developed a workable timetable but needed direction on how to proceed.

“I’ll get to that in a moment,” I said, glancing over the papers Valetta had handed me before taking the papers Mitchell was offering and skimming over those.  “This should work fine,” I said, nodding.  “Where’s Drei?”  He wasn’t in the room with everyone else.

Valetta, Mitchell, Caroline, and Ian all exchanged looks. “You…he left again,” Valetta replied slowly, almost as if she wished it wasn’t the truth.  “He said he will have returned by the time you finish recruiting.”

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear; I breathed deeply, closing my eyes for a moment. I could deal with the disappointment later. Right now, I had somewhere to be, something to do.

Walking into the living room, I sat the papers down on the coffee table; the others joined me, silently awaiting my instruction.  I couldn’t help smiling; I understood why Caroline loved being in charge so much.  It might be stressful and time consuming, but it was very empowering knowing everyone was hanging on your every word.

“I’m not going to do hack broadcasts,” I said.  “I might work with those later on, but to start, I want a few commercials and a website.”

“What kind of commercials?” Caroline asked, grinning mischievously.

“Not what you’re thinking,” I told her, smiling.  “I want them to be artistic and to introduce the idea of elementals.  The website will go into more detail about our cause.”

“Any ideas for a slogan?” Ian inquired, grabbing a drawing pad out of his bag and flipping it open.

Thinking for a moment, I remembered what Drei had once told me about the only reason the government would be after us.  “Miracles still exist.”

Ian gazed at me a moment before writing it down and starting to sketch.  “I like it.”

“I’m glad.  Caroline, could you buy the server space and domain name for the website?”

“Sure, but I’m not so tech savvy as to know how to set up a webpage.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I said, sitting up.  “You can all work together on that, or anything else.”

“There does not seem to be much to work on, Abriel,” Mitchell said, his hands in his pocket as he regarded me carefully.  “You have not given us enough information for there to be sufficient work.”

“You have enough information to work on concepts.  The execution will be taken care of…”  My eyes scanned over the timetable before me.  “…starting in two weeks.  School will even be out then.”  I studied the timetable a little longer, nodding my head.  “Yeah, that’ll work.  Now, I have to be going.”

If there were further questions, they went unasked. Though that could have been due to a brisk exit on my part. Drei wasn’t there, so I didn’t want to spend time distracted by his absence when I had work to do.