For A Star To Fall

Chapter 27: Teen Talk

Chapter 27

Ana frowned at Emyle and Jordan. "I remember now! Dr. Valin told me that I'm supposed to tell him if I see either of you two around. What kind of mess did you drag Emyle into, Jordan?" Arms akimbo, she stared at them sternly from behind her wire-rimmed spectacles. 

Hastily, Jordan threw up his hands and put them in front of his face defensively, peeking out from behind them and blinking innocently down at the shorter woman. "I didn't do anything, Ana! I swear!"

She moved closer to him, waggling her finger in his face threateningly. "Jordan Ripley! If you clowned around in the labs again, I swear that I'll take away your iPod for a week. And worse, if you messed with Dr. Valin's research, I will confiscate your MacBook and I will never return it!"

Backing away a little, Jordan snorted, but still looked at the ground, bowing his head. "You're not my mom, Ana," he muttered. Emyle heard him say this only distantly, as her mind was whirring and clicking mechanically, searching almost desperately for a solution to this predicament. Jordan was doing quite a decent job of stalling Ana anyway, and keeping her focused on something other than the reason why they were out in the corridor in the first place. She caught Jordan's gaze as it flicked anxiously towards her, and it seemed that Ana noticed it too. 

Most likely she misread it as a plea for a help on Jordan's part and twisted to the side to look at Emyle. She softened her stern tone and said, "Emyle, my dear, did he doing anything bad? Jordan really isn't to be trusted, you know. He loves doing all of his pranks and always finds a way to make people mad at him. A terribly mischievous boy, he is." Ana shook her head in a motherly sort of disappointment. 

Emyle took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come. She had to make Ana go away and leave them alone before she came too curious in what they were doing. In response to what Ana had said, Emyle turned away from her, rolling her eyes in such a way that she was sure Ana would see. She twirled a strand of hair in between her fingers nonchalantly and kept her chin up, with an arrogant tilt that she knew made a lot of people angry. So far, this is devilishly easy for Emyle. She was not stupid. Far from it, actually. She knew exactly how an average American teenage girl talked to her elders. Father had taught her and made her observe them. Pitching her voice an octave higher, she made it sound like a whine when she said, "Oh. My. God. You are, like, so annoying. Jordan, babe, could you, like, get rid of her for me?" She fluttered her eyelashes up at him. 

He stared down at her, sky blue eyes as wide as saucers. She sighed inwardly. He was not making this any easier for her. Fortunately, Ana reacted quickly, marching up to Emyle and staring her in the face. “What did you just say?” 

“I said that you are, like, really irritating and-“

"You, young lady, are extremely disrespectful to your elders!" Ana interrupted her by exclaiming, poking a finger in Emyle's chest. "You cannot talk to me this way! I am very disappointed in your behavior, Emyle. You must-"

But Emyle was already moving, reaching forward and grabbing Ana by the shoulders. If she did not cooperate well with verbal abuse, then Emyle would use a more unconventional but highly effective method. Pushing the slightly taller woman up against the wall with her hand at her throat, she opened the door to Jordan's room and shoved Ana in roughly. Jordan started forward with a murmured "Emyle! Stop!", but she ignored him and pushed him away.  Ana, stumbling a little from the shock of it all, managed to rise from her spread-eagled position on the floor and throw herself forward. However, before she could shout or scream to alert the guards, Emyle clamped a firm hand around her mouth and pulled her closer. She hissed, "If you know what's good for yourself, you'd stay out of our way."