Andy seemed the most excited, which was strange because I never really thought that he would enjoy being the topic of conversation. But I guess after his time of being popular in the other universe, his opinions had changed. It kind of made me laugh, but in a nice way. He and Sam practically skipped down the street, bright smiles on their faces. Jake and I were strolling behind the pair, hand in hand. He kept glancing at me from the corner of his eyes, and I was unsure as to why. "What's up with you?" I asked him, a light giggle shortly following my words. He shook his head, turning his gaze to the ground as a cheeky smile adorned his face. I nudged him, my elbow softly jutting into his ribs. "What?" I pressed, as he then began to chuckle quietly. He was so warm, so genuine. I couldn't help but smile back at the boy beside me, and when his eyes finally met my own, he welcomed the gesture.
"You just look really pretty." He admitted, adding a tiny shake of his head. He was already blushing, but his news caused me to do the same. I looked down at my clothing choices, appreciative of his thoughts. My father had told me to wear something comfortable, but also that I should try to look formal. I did my best to follow his instructions, and ended up choosing a light pink dress that ended at my knees. The skirt wasn't fitted, so whenever I would turn around, the dress would move with me. I squeezed Jake's hand as a way to say thank you, and as we were slowly approaching our destination, I stood on my toes and touched my lips to his cheek.
"You look really nice, too." I told him, watching as his smile grew wider. Only a few metres in front of us, Sam spun around on his heels, ushering us forward. I peeked over his shoulder, spotting a lonely Felix standing by the door of the police station. I smiled at his presence, and we all hurried toward him.
"This is it." Andy stated, grinning at the Goth who greeted us with a warm smile.
"Everyone's going to be looking at us!" Sam cheered, relishing in the fact that we were now celebrities. It was no secret that Sam liked to be in the spotlight, and the twinkle in his eyes let us all know how pumped he actually was. Felix moved his eyes to me, but I was the one who initiated the quick hug. He still smelt the same, a little unpleasant. It didn't really bother me though, as I was overjoyed to see him again.
"Are you ready?" He asked me, a knowing smile gracing his lips. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head as I returned to Jake's side.
"Are you joking?" I quipped, raising an eyebrow at his smirk. Andy interrupted any further conversation between myself and Felix, but it was lucky that he told us about his plans before actually going along with it.
"This is our chance to tell the world about magic." Clearly buzzed at the thought, he bounced on his heels. Any trace of a smile dropped from Felix's face as he stared at the boy in slight disgust, the unforeseen anticipation startling him.
"We're not telling the world anything." He said sternly, his features suddenly hard. Andy's grin was also gone, due to the Goth's unexpected anger. Sam made a choked sound, like this was a shock to him also.
"We'd be legends, Felix." He interjected, his mouth agape as he looked on in disbelief.
"No, really..." Felix shook his head, a sigh falling from his lips. Then his eyes narrowed, strongly disturbed by the topic and the thoughts of others in our small group. His voice was hard, extremely serious. "I mean it. Magic has to be kept a secret." Sam and Andy shared a strange glance, obviously not actively registering their friend's severity. I turned my eyes up to Jake, only to find he was already looking at me. I could tell by the apprehensive expression on his face that he with Felix on this particular argument, and so was I.
"Guys, he's right." I said, gesturing to the irritated boy in front of us. "We can't tell anybody about this." Felix was grateful that I was standing up for his words, and he sent thankful eyes toward myself and Jake.
Sam clapped his hands twice, capturing our attention. With a large smile, he spoke. "Everybody, chill. This is gonna be sweet."
Inside the police station was packed, and the unexpectedly big crowd made me want to turn around and walk out. It was crazy as we approached our seats at the counter, it was like we were being ambushed. I sat between Andy and Jake, terribly stunned by the loud chorus of questions and the continuous, endless string of flashes from cameras. I think we were all momentarily blinded, and suddenly the general idea of being a celebrity no longer appealed to me. All of our names were mentioned somewhere in the undecipherable amount of words, but the actual questions were lost due to all the noise. "One at a time, please!" This desperate statement came from a police officer, and he stood beside us as he told the crowd to be quiet. As the noise died down, my eyed flickered to my family. They were situated to my left, beside the door. Both of them sent me reassuring smiles, and Blake's encouraging nod seemed to get me on the right track.
"Andy!" A woman from the clump of people called out, waving her hand in the air as all our eyes flew to her. She was the blonde reporter who was assigned to our story, she'd been on the news almost every day while we were gone, and she still continues to make occasional appearances. "Is there anything you want to say to the people who searched for you?" She asked, only watching Andy. I quickly realised that when a question wasn't directed at you, it was like you were invisible.
The black haired boy replied to her question with little hesitation, and he leaned forward in his chair as if she couldn't hear him from where she sat. "Wormholes." He stated, his voice firm and unwavering. My head snapped toward Felix, as did Sam's. It was no secret that Jake was embarrassed by Andy's outburst, as he covered his face with his right hand. Felix mirrored our startled expressions, but his eyes remained on Andy. "Alternate universes, they all exist." The boy continued as if our earlier discussion on the subject had not been clear enough. Felix started to talk over the top of him, trying to silence the forbidden rambling.
"What he means is..." Felix stalled, his head ducking down as he had just placed all the attention on himself. "Thank you to everyone who didn't give up on us, we wouldn't be here without you." This comment went over well with the reporters, as they all hummed in awe and smiled sadly at the five of us.
"It was thinking of my girlfriend Mia that got me through it all." Sam said, suddenly speaking. It was no surprise to me that he would mention Mia, and it was no surprise that he would jump into the conversation without really being directed to. Then again, I smiled, because he was sweet. "I mean... I was pretty scared, but I couldn't give up." This was another good comment, and I could tell from the way the cameras clicked more frequently. I was so transfixed on all the flashes, that I didn't even hear one of the questions that just so happened to be directed at me. Jake softly called my name, making me snap out of the weird trance.
"Yes?" I asked, the apologetic expression on my face doing most of the talking. It was a different person who spoke now, a short man with dark hair.
With no irritation, he repeated the question. "Edith, did you ever think you weren't going to make it?" I had to stop myself from replying with a sarcastic laugh. These people just didn't understand, and it was hard to relate to what they were talking about because they didn't know the real story. It was better this way, although being secretive wasn't really my thing.
"Well, yes." I said, my words a little mumbled. I swallowed, giving the man my most sincere response. "Of course I did, but we're home, so it doesn't really matter." Obviously it did matter, but I wasn't about to let him and everybody else know that there was a demon on our tails for the whole time we were gone. The reporter, along with all the others, nodded in understanding, then moved onto the next question.
"How can you all explain that you have no symptoms of dehydration or exposure?" This came from the first blonde woman, and her newest inquiry seemed to visibly stump all of us, except for Andy. He slapped his open palm down onto the table, giving the group an irrational answer.
"It all comes down to transdimensional quantum physics." He stated, his eyes wide as he stared at the blonde lady. I gasped silently, but recovered before anybody was able to catch on to my shock. Felix shook his head wildly, once again covering Andy's mistake.
"No, it doesn't." The calm edge to his voice was welcomed, because the casual tone would throw the media off our trail. Andy was being irresponsible, and I wondered if he knew it.
"You survived in the forest because of physics?" The woman continued, her pen speeding across the notepad she held in her hand. I sighed, sharing the same wary expression as my boyfriend.
"We survived because we stuck together." Felix elaborated, hopefully silencing the pushy lady. "We didn't go off on our own..." The Goth threw Andy a sideways glance, as we all knew his last remark was referring to the Asian boy.
"Yes, but that doesn't explain why the search party found no sign of you." More words from the same reporter, more curious inquiries. It was insane how much they wanted to know, how much they relied on us for answers. The entire situation was actually quite confronting and uncomfortable, but I never really expected it to be anything else. Felix didn't answer, as he was helplessly gazing out the window. His sudden sketchiness was similar to my own, but the detached look in his eyes told me it was something more than just camera flashes. The lady repeated herself, and although Felix had heard her clearly, he was still weirdly unaware.
"I don't know, maybe they weren't looking in the right place." He responded, his eyebrows furrowing. More words were spoken, but I was having a hard time listening in when Felix's daydreaming was playing on my mind. I wondered what he was looking at, if he was even looking at anything. Just as I turned my attention back to the reporters, the table started to shake. I was puzzled by the abrupt movement, and my eyes wandered to Jake's hands, which were clenched into fists. His face was hard, very focused on something that was indirect to me. Then ground beneath my feet was suddenly unstable, and everybody was realising it. People started to shout that there was an earthquake, and that caused every single person in the room to have a major freak out. It was weird, to say the least. Things like this just don't happen here, we never have earthquakes. I stood up, pushing my chair out of the way as Andy rose beside me. He also looked confused, but there was no time to be suspicious. Felix called me, then pointed to Jake. "Edith, get him." The blond boy was unmoving, still incredibly focused. I grabbed his forearm, yanking him up. Luckily, his eyes drifted to me, and he was thrown back into reality.
He stared up at me with furrowed eyebrows, his features holding fright. "Jake, we need to go." I told him, still pulling on his arm. He quickly registered the shaking ground, and followed my instructions. We all darted outside, away from the anxious screams and the prying eyes.