LIGHTS OF THE OTHER WORLD

Chapter 5: Grounded

The next day I went all over the school looking for Evanthia.

"Hey Dina, have you seen Eva today?" I asked Dina.

"Nope. I don't think she'll be coming today." She replied. "Oh look", she added, glancing at her watch, "The first class is about to start. We better rush for French."

As I walked towards French class I hoped to see Eva today, I wanted to apologize. I wanted to sort things out. I just wanted to talk to her again.

Thankfully, luck was on my side that day. I saw Eva during Chemistry. I tried to talk to her but she just wouldn't listen.

"Shh. Can we please concentrate on the topics being taught?" Eva whispered.

"Please Eva, don't be mad at me. I had nothing to do with what happ..." I started.

"I know, Cal. I'm not mad at you. I promise I'll speak to you after the class. I really need to understand this concept in Chem." She whispered.

"Okay then." I answered, eagerly waiting for the class to get over.

During lunch, Eva and I sat together, in the corner of the cafeteria, away from the other students.

Eva said, "I'm sorry Cal, I shouldn't have walked away like that yesterday. It was really rude of me."

"I would have done the same thing if I were you. In hindsight, it wasn't even your fault." I replied.

I narrated the whole incident to her, starting from when she left until I got sent to my room.

Eva asked me in a mellow voice, "So, did your grandma tell you why you should stay away from me?"

"To be honest, yes she did." I said and sighed.

"And...", she prompted.

"She thinks you're a bad influence." I said softly, in the hope that it wouldn't offend her.

"Oh. Have I done anything wrong?" She asked, confused.

"No, you haven't. But listen to me carefully, while I was sulking in my room yesterday, as I was grounded, I analyzed the..."

"You're grounded?" Evanthia interrupted.

"Well yes, I am, for two weeks, apparently. But..." I said.

"That's because of me, isn't it? I'm so sorry, Cal." Eva interrupted once again.

"Eva, that's not important. But what I'm about to say is. So, could you please listen to me without interrupting?" I pleaded.

Eva blushed and said," I'm...I'm sorry. Yes, go ahead please."

"Okay, so I have analyzed the whole situation and I have arrived at the conclusion that my grandma is hiding something from me. God knows why. She started acting extremely strange when she noticed your pendent. So.."

"The reason lies with the pendants." Eva completed.

"Exactly." I said.

"But that doesn't make sense. Why would your grandma call me a bad influence because of my pendant?" Eva asked.

" They both look exactly alike. There's something grandma is hiding from me. That's for sure and I need to find out. Will you help me Evanthia?" I said.

"I don't think it's..." Eva started.

"Please Eva, I really want to prove to her that you aren't a bad influence. I don't wanna break our friendship which means so much to both of us." I sighed.

"Okay. Tell me what to do and I'll help." Eva said, with a tense look on her face.

"Don't worry, I won't let you get into any trouble." I assured her and slowly whispered my fool proof plan to her. She nodded and gave me a high five.

In the evening, Dad came home and said that he had gotten three movie tickets. I had called him and asked him to do so, in accordance to my plan. I had somehow convinced him, with not much difficulty, as I was already grounded, not to get one for me. This was quite necessary for my plan to work.

Within minutes, Grandma and Mom got ready. Before leaving, Mom said " Cal, honey, I know you're grounded. But I don't mind staying back if you want to go watch the movie." Most likely feeling guilty for grounding me for two weeks for a very, very minor misdemeanour.

I pretended to be mad at them so that they would leave home as soon as possible so that I could execute my plan without any hindrance. Mom finally gave up and left for the cinemas.

Just as the main door closed and I was alone with Cuddles, I called Evanthia to come over.

Once she did, we split up and started searching for clues throughout the whole house as per the plan.

An hour and a half later, Eva came up to me, panting. "Uh...I..I..couldn't find anything. Are you even sure that there's a clue?"

"There's gotta be something, Eva. There has to be! I'm definitely sure that Grandma is hiding something from me." I replied.

"But we've searched everywhere!"

"Let's search grandma's room again." I emphasized.

We searched everywhere in her room. The bed, the chest of drawers and her books.

Finally, while searching her wardrobe, I spotted a small wooden box kept in the corner. I had never seen it before. It was most unique.

"Eva, you have to see this. Come quickly!" Eva's head popped up behind my shoulder and she glanced at the box.

We took it and sat on the corner of Grandma's bed. "It looks..." Eva started. "Ancient?" I completed. In few seconds, we opened the box and found a letter. We read the first few words and our jaws dropped in shock.