Perspectives

Chapter 58

"Seriously, you're going to defile mine too?" Piper groaned, eyeing the yearbook Naomi was currently doodling in. 

Naomi was laid out on her stomach on the floor beside Piper's bed, a black Sharpie in hand which she had poised over the high school year book open in front of her. Her vibrant red hair was pulled into a messy bun atop her head with several strands having fallen loose. She wore an orange tank top and a pair of jean shorts that had clearly been cut by hand. "I'm just adding the appropriate adjustments." Naomi argued as she continued to draw a swirly mustache on the photo of her least favorite teacher in school. 

Piper meanwhile was sitting crossed legged atop her bed, a shoe box filled with old CDs in her lap. Her once long chestnut brown hair had been cut just above shoulder length to account for the increased heat summer brought. She was dressed in jean shorts and a purple t-shirt with the symbol of an alt-rock band printed on the front. "You're so immature." Piper chuckled, rolling her eyes playfully at her friend.

Nearly a month had gone by since Piper had been teleported home for the second time in her life. A lot had happened, including missing the last couple weeks of school to recuperate. She had been dragged into the police station the day after she got home. And then after claiming she had no memory of what had happened to her while she'd been gone, she'd been required to undergo several health tests, both mental and physical. The police had clearly been frustrated by the lack of information she could provide about the strange man and woman that had knocked Piper's mom unconscious before abducting her daughter, but at the end of the day it was better than trying to tell them the truth. 

As much a Piper hated to do it, she maintained the lie for all the adults in her life. The cops, the therapists, and even her parents would all remain in the dark. Of course they were worried and just wanted to help, but Piper was convinced that they were better off not knowing. The last thing her mom and dad needed after everything was to have to start wondering whether their daughter had gone insane. 

After concluding her "improvement" of Mrs. Schneider's face, Naomi glanced over her shoulder at Piper, a suspiciously sly grin on her face. "Should I draw in your mystery man?" She asked. 

Unable to stop herself, Piper's face instantly flared up in red. "Shut up!" She hissed, grabbing the pillow off her bed to throw directly into Naomi's grinning face. 

"Ow!" Naomi exclaimed in indignation. "Uncalled for." She said as she flipped over off her stomach to sit facing Piper. 

"Completely called for." Piper shot back. 

Naomi folded her arms over her chest grumpily. "You never let me talk about your secret giant boyfriend." She pouted. 

Were Piper's mom not at work, Piper would have released a torrent of shushing upon her best friend. But since they were the only two in the house, she simply threw a withering glare at her instead. 

The first week of being back, Piper had tried to sell the same lie she'd told everyone else to Naomi. However, Naomi was apparently way too good at reading faces and body language, because she caught on that something was up pretty quick. Finally after a boat load of deliberating and going back and forth, Piper finally decided to tell her friend the truth. 

At first Naomi had thought Piper was messing with her, but the more specific details Piper provided, and the more genuinely emotional she got as she recounted the story, the more Naomi came to actually believe her. Of course after that she had insisted upon asking a million questions, which Piper tried her best to answer at first, but after a while she had to insist they not make Amasis the main topic of conversation all the time.

Of course Naomi had become particularly fixated on a certain aspect of her story. She took every opportunity to bring him up--to bring Kalen up. The other day when Piper had called a Naomi's dog a "big boy", Naomi had replied with "did you say that to Kalen too?". Needless to say she got a slap on the arm for that one. 

"The next time you bring him up, I swear I'm going to kick you out." Piper threatened, though Naomi didn't look all that worried. 

Just then the ding-dong of the doorbell went off from the front of the house. "Did you order pizza again?" Piper questioned, eyeing Naomi suspiciously. 

"Not that I remember?" Naomi replied with a shrug.

Piper rolled her eyes as she set aside the shoe box and slid off her bed. "You have the memory of a goldfish." She teased.

As Piper headed through the door, Naomi got up to follow, flicking Piper in the back of the head on their way. 

Once they got close, the sudden memory of the last unexpected visitor at the door began to come back to Piper. Seeming to sense Piper's nervousness, Naomi grabbed her bag off a nearby side table and pulled out a can of pepper spray. With a confident nod from Naomi, Piper began to approach the door. 

Slowly, Piper reached for the door knob. She could see the silhouette of a single person through the small frosted glass window at the top of the front door. She took in a deep breath, before grabbing the knob and hastily swinging it open. 

Through the glass outer door, Piper could see that the person at the door was a guy around her age. He had styled dark brown hair and intense gray eyes. She realized there was something familiar about him yet she just couldn't seem to place it. That is until she heard his voice. "Hey again." He said. 

"Kalen?!" Piper exclaimed, the color completely draining from her face. She turned to look at Naomi to check that she was seeing the same thing. 

Naomi lifted her arms in surrender. "I didn't bring him up."