"MICHAELA! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"
"Ugh, Stephanie, is that you?" I groaned.
"You better believe it! But I'm betting you'll never guess what today is!" Stephanie squealed.
"Of course I know what today is. It's July 17, 2015. Right?" I rolled my eyes and rolled out of bed. "Why are you asking?" I dramatically asked Stephanie.
"Because tomorrow is your seventeenth birthday! Aren't you excited?!" Stephanie beamed.
"Stephanie, for the past eleven years, my birthday has been nothing but a few dollars and a vanilla cupcake that could catch on fire at any moment if the candle was tilting towards the frosting. Why would I be excited?" I scowled.
"Well, you're forgetting one thing about this year. We live in the Dreamscaper Society now, and we can make our birthdays as awesome as we want!"
Stephanie had a smile on her face that made me feel uncomfortable to go anywhere near her. I backed away from her a bit.
"Also," She continued. "I believe we have been invited to a grand party at the Northwest family's mansion, so we can celebrate your birthday there."
When I went to the cafe for breakfast, pretty much everyone was staring at me. I could hear them whispering about me. Even Phoebe and Stephanie wouldn't stop gossiping when I walked into the cafe.
"Michaela!"
I turned my head to my right and noticed Nathan and Tiffany, who were waving and seemed to have an empty chair at their table of three.
"Hey," I said, smiling and waving at them.
"We saved you a seat," Tiffany said. "Come on!"
I sat down on the empty seat next to Tiffany and Nathan. "So..." I attempted to start a good conversation. "What's making news today?"
"You mean besides the fact that you're almost seventeen? Happy early birthday, by the way." Nathan chuckled, putting his arm around me. I looked up at him and smiled.
"Thanks, Nate." I said.
"Wait, you're only turning seventeen?" Tiffany asked.
"Yeah, how old did you think I was turning? Thirteen? Fourteen?" I responded.
"I thought you were at least nineteen!"
I am not kidding when I say everyone turned around to face me. Phoebe bit her lip and sarcastically but slowly shook her head. I was pretty embarrassed, but also really close to losing control over my laughter.
"WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT, TIFFANY?" I snickered.
"I dunno, I just decided not to judge a book by it's cover. It runs in the family. Like when the first time Mel and my cousin Alyssa met each other, Mel was positive that Alyssa was seven." Tiffany said.
"How old was she, though?" Nathan laughed.
"Same age as Mel was back then. Three." Tiffany giggled.
"Wow, Tiffany...I can't even- okay, don't ever introduce me to your family. Honestly, they're gonna think I'm like, eight or something. I don't think I'll be able to handle that very well." I said.
"Can do." Tiffany mumbled, sniffing a bit.
I sighed and looked down at my food, disappointed by how gloomy this table had become. I didn't get much to eat, just a cup of yogurt and three strawberries. But that's all I wanted to eat right now.
"So we have like, the perfect outfits picked out for the party, and- oh...hey Michaela." Stephanie snickered, standing next to Phoebe as if they ruled the world together.
"Good to see you again, Stephanie." I muttered. Stephanie looked down at my meal and brushed it off the table with her arm.
"Hey, I was still eating that!" I exclaimed.
"Michaela, how do you expect to get any bigger when all you're going to eat for breakfast is a cup of yogurt and a few strawberries?" Stephanie snorted.
"This is what I ate for breakfast every morning back in Washington DC. I'm just used to eating this, okay?" I replied.
"You only ate yogurt for breakfast until you learned how to cook!" Stephanie retorted.
"I've always known how to cook! What do you expect, my dad wasn't even there for me at age four!" I confronted my best friend.
"It could've been worse." Devon mumbled.
I looked at him, stunned and wide-eyed. "What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"My dad was never there for me," Devon huskily replied. "Not because he was part of the government or anything, but because he hated my guts."
x•x•x•x•x•x•x•x•x•x•x•x•x
No one said a word for nearly ten minutes, but the silence was broken by Tiffany, who said, "Devon...are you kidding me?"
Devon rolled his eyes and left the cafe. Tiffany and I followed him, Tiffany chanting "Devon, wait!" over and over again.
Devon and Tiffany were difficult to catch up with, so I stayed behind and eavesdropped on them.
"Why didn't you just say something, Devon?" Tiffany cried.
"You wouldn't understand, Tiffany! Your life is perfect!" Devon responded.
"THAT'S WHAT EVERYONE THINKS! BUT THEY'RE WRONG!" Tiffany screamed.
"Maybe it isn't, but compared to my life, it is!" I had never seen Devon like this before, and I had to admit, it was kind of scary.
"So you're saying you wish your father thought you killed yourself? You're saying you wish your mother could forget all about you?"
"YES! My father is abusive, and my mother was murdered by him! That's the whole reason I'm here!"
"Look Devon, I'm sorry about your parents, but-"
"But you wish your mother was an abusive alcoholic, and you wish your sister was dead! I see how it is!"
Tiffany kicked Devon hard, and he fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Tiffany grabbed him by his coat and hissed, "How do you know about my sister?!"
"I can read your mind, Tiffany. Mel is the only person you ever think about." Devon replied bravely.
Tiffany quickly let go of Devon, letting him drop to the floor like a ragdoll.
"So you're...you're just like me..."
"A mindscaper."
Tiffany's jaw dropped. "But...how long have you known about this? And why were you keeping this a secret from me?"
"I've known about this all my life. But I've never been afraid of it. There are just some things I prefer to hide from the people I admire."
Devon left Tiffany alone in the room and went back to the cafe. Tiffany was speechless for a long time. But so was I.
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deCIPHERED (Book 1)
FanfictionEver since his beloved wife died sixteen years ago, Agent Powers vowed to keep his daughter Michaela safe from the things that went bump in the night. But when an unexpected business trip arrives, the agent must bring young Michaela with him to a sm...
