Guardians of Plaxas

Chapter the Third: Opal

I hold my hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh as I hear it again. Quinn's snores, loud and deep.

I hear a snort from below me and lie down to look over the bunk. I see Kaitlynn sitting on her bed, silently shaking with laughter.

"You can't sleep either?" I ask her quietly. A beam of moonlight hits my face and I blink for a second.

She shakes her head as Quinn snores again--the loudest one yet. We both burst out laughing and I suddenly hear movement above me.

Bella Parker looks down over the bunk at us. Her eyes are bright and her mouth is curved upwards in a smile. Her hair is tied up in a ponytail as always, but a wisp escapes and she blows it out of her face.

"He really is loud, isn't he?" she asks.

Kaitlynn and I nod.

Bella was the last person to get picked up in the van, and since we've met her, she's been bubbly and happy. Unlike Kaitlynn, she knew who the mean kids were and who the nice kids were the moment she stepped on the van. She loves playing sports, especially soccer, and she was very excited to go on this "adventure" as she calls it.

Quinn continues snoring, and we giggle like crazy. A head peers around the bunk next to me. "Will you three keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep!" Sydney complains. Her hair is a mess, and I laugh even harder at this. I'd thought of Sydney as the kind of girl whose hair was perfect even when she slept since she got on the van.

"Ugg! You three are such a pain. I wish I was back at home. I want Liam to give me a back massage!"

"Who's Liam?" Kaitlynn asks, curious.

"My personal servant,"

"Ohhh, yes. Right," Kaitlynn nods, like everyone has a personal servant. Bella and I dissolve in laughter again.

"Ugg! You guys are ridiculous!" Sydney cries, and her head vanishes.

Bella rolls her eyes at us and then says, "We probably should get to bed,"

From next to me, Sydney mutters, "Finally!"

Morning dawns early and bright in the van, since two walls are glass. Bella, Kaitlynn and I eat breakfast while playing a game of cards, taking Vernon under our wing since his step brother is glaring daggers at him from across the room.

Red Nails bounces into the room through a secret door at the front that I hadn't noticed before. "Hello children, this morning!" she cries. I tilt my head. What a strange choice of words.

Her nails today, shockingly, are blue. Maybe I'll have to change her nickname to Nails instead.

We look at her with tired eyes and she says, "Oh, come on! It's the morning, children! Cheer up!"

"I never had to get out of bed until nine at home," Sydney grumbles.

"Well Sydney, why didn't you wait in bed until nine?" asks Nails.

"Because some other kids had different plans. They got of bed at eight o'clock. Ugg!"

Nails looks at her and then says, "Excuse me, children, I can't leave the van on autodrive for too long,"

As soon as she leaves, Gabriella turns to Sydney. "Why don't you just go home? You obviously don't like it here that much,"

"I can't! I have to stay in this stupid school until I'm an adult! And then I have to go and guard Plaxas from the rest of the world, and nothing good is going to happen anyway! This is so useless!" She flops on her bed and groans for the next five minutes, much to our chagrin.

Bella looks at us, a frown on her face. "I'm going to guess that the next few days are not going to be fun,"