“Mom, you're back!” Olivia called, jogging over to the tall blond woman unloading a dark blue pickup truck parked in the street outside her house. The woman stood up straight, a bright smile on her face.

  “Olive, I didn’t expect to see you out and about. I thought you wanted to spend the day relaxing in your room,” the woman asked.

  “That was my plan, but not long after you left, a family moved in next door,” Olivia explained, turning and gesturing towards me. “This is Tamera, she came over to borrow the guide book, since the school apparently forgot to leave one for her family.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, approaching the pair slowly.

  “Likewise,” the woman replied, flashing a warm smile. “I’m Abigail Taylor, Olivia’s mom. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here to greet you and your family, but I needed to pick up some supplies in town. There are so many little things you forget you need when moving into a new place.”

  She turned and scooped up a couple brown paper grocery bags out of the back seat of the truck before hip checking the door closed. “Would you like to come in? I need to start dinner soon, but I’m sure Olivia would love the company.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I should probably be getting home,” I said cautiously. “I told my mother I was just going for a short walk, and I should probably get back before she starts to worry. I’ll probably see you later though, knowing my mother she’ll want to stop by to introduce herself, and to thank you for lending us the guide personally.”

  “In that case, we’ll see you later,” Abigail announced. I watched as she carefully juggled the grocery bags, dug into her jeans pocket and fished out her keys. Oliva rushed over and grabbed one of the bags before they could plummet to the ground.

  It took a couple seconds for Abigail to get the door open, and when she stepped inside Olivia paused on the stoop.

  “You sure you don’t want to come in? My mother honestly doesn’t mind you stopping in,” she asked.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I really should get back,” I replied quietly. “I’ll probably see you in a couple hours, but if I don’t, would you mind if I stopped by tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely not,” Olivia grinned. “I’ll actually look forward to it.”

  “Alright, good,” I said, letting out the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding in. “See you later.”

  “Bye!” Olivia chirped. She tried to wave, nearly dumping the grocery bag all over the front step before she caught it. The last I saw was her stepping inside and kicking the door closed.

  “She seemed nice.”

  I jumped in surprise, turning and stepping away from the voice directly behind me.

  “Hairy! What have I told you about sneaking up on me?” I snarled at the furry red bull standing right behind me.

  “I didn’t sneak, I walked normally, you were just distracted by your new friend,” Hairy declared. “You seemed like you were having fun, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “Well, I appreciate your discretion,” I grumbled, looking him up and down. “You’re looking calmer, did you finally get used to the neighbourhood?”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “Not exactly,” Angelica said, as she floated over to join us. “While you were out walking around the bad vibes we picked up earlier slowly started to fade. Maybe whomever was causing them moved away…”

  “Or maybe you’re just getting used to the area,” I suggested. “I wasn’t exactly comfortable with the area when we arrived either.”

  “I think there’s more to it than that,” Angelica whispered. I had an uncomfortable feeling, like she was staring at me, evaluating me. I glanced her way, peered at her for a couple seconds, before finally shaking the feeling off. There wasn’t any reason for Angelica to do that, and besides, she didn’t have any eyes.

  “Well, I guess we all got something out of our little excursion then,” I said, heading towards my own house. “I found someone my own age I could actually talk to, and you either got the jitters out of your systems, or whatever was causing them moved away.”

  I pushed open the front door, once again holding it so everyone could pile in while I took off my shoes, before wandering back towards the kitchen. My mother was there, standing over the stove, humming quietly to herself.

  “Someone’s in a good mood,” I chuckled as I stepped up to see what she was cooking.

  “I guess I am,” she said, with a smile. “I didn’t realize how burnt out I was until I’d taken a couple days away from the dinner.”

  “I told you they were taking advantage of you,” I grumbled, as I gently pried the wooden spoon out of her hand and took over stirring the thick soup.

  “And I told you I didn’t have any choice, because no one else would hire me,” she quietly stated.

  “I know, that didn’t make it right,” I replied. Neither of us spoke for several seconds. It took me that long to stop brooding, and realize that I was bringing down my mother’s mood. “Not that it matters anymore, you’re not just off the government blacklist, but you also have a recommendation from the BEI. I’m sure there are plenty of people that’ll appreciate your skills now.”

  “I don’t know about that,” she sighed, as she slowly lowered herself down onto one of the stools sitting nearby. “But it does open a couple doors for me. I’m sure I’ll find something…”

  I could feel her eyes on my back. “You were gone for a while, did you enjoy your walk? Did anything interesting happen?”

  “Actually, yes,” I announced. “I met our next door neighbours, the ones I borrowed the guide from, and I think I made a friend.”

  “Really? That’s strange, not even a month ago you were telling me that you didn't need, or want, a friend your own age,” my mother teased. When I turned and shot her a disapproving look, she just laughed. “So tell me more about this new friend of yours.”

  “I… don’t know much about her yet,” I admitted. “Her name is Olivia Taylor, and she awoke recently. She’s my age, and she’s also a protected student. I guess she and her family arrived here earlier this week.”

  “Is she nice?” my mother prompted.

  “I like her so far. The two of us had a long chat while we walked down to the local market,” I said, before frowning. “The layout of this area sucks, by the way, all the buildings look identical. I feel like if her mother hadn’t been standing outside of her house the two of us might have walked right by.”

  “I’m sure you’ll get a handle on it,” my mother laughed. “I do have some good news for you. I skimmed through the guide while you were gone, and there’s a way to set the watches to lead you to various facilities around the campus, including our house. There’s also an electric bike around back that you can use to get around.”

  “What? Really?” I asked, turning so quickly that I accidentally sprayed some of the soup across the kitchen. I glanced down at the wooden spoon in my hand, then up at my mother. “I’ll clean it up.”

  “I know you will,” my mother chuckled, “and to answer your question, yes, really. It’s only on loan from the school, so take care of it.”

  “I will, you know that I don’t take things like that for granted,” I muttered. Carefully stepping around the mess I grabbed a wet cloth to wipe everything up. When I was done I double checked the boiling pot. “I think the taco soup is done.”

  “Perfect,” my mother said, hopping down off her stool and scooping a couple of empty bowls up off the counter. She held them out, so I could carefully scoop a generous serving into each. While she carried the food to the table, I turned off the stove. The stove at our old place always sputtered, so I waited to make sure it was completely out before heading over.

  “Are you excited for school?” my mother asked as I sat down across from her.

  “I wasn’t, but meeting someone in my class ahead of time, and knowing that not everyone is going to freak out when they meet me has helped,” I admitted. “Still, I don’t know… being in a place where Ruptures form on a regular basis has me on edge.”

  “I’m sure we’ll get used to it,” my mother replied.

  As the two of us dug into our meal our watches beeped, and flashed red. A warning scrolled across it: [Rupture Detected in the Payson Building, please avoid that area until further notice.]

  I grimaced as I read the message, the watch continued beeping for several more seconds before finally falling silent. My mother and I sat in silence for several seconds before I finally reached for my spoon, and took a sip of my soup. “I’m sure.”

  Discord!

  Check out my Stories:

  Support me!

  Finally: Big thanks to all those people that review my draft, the chapters would be a lot rougher without your feedback!