Aidan and I dodged swinging arms and spinning dancers as we escaped the dance floor. We lost track of where Tyson was in the room - or if he was even in the room. He had to tell us how to get up to the roof, or how they could climb down.
I mean, we could always teleport, but there were so many people and cameras here. Someone would probably see us.
"There," I said, pointing near the gifts table. Tyson was talking to Bethany and her little group, looking very uncomfortable.
We ran up to him, then slowed down to a walk so we didn't look strange to the three girls. However, they probably heard the sound of my heels, for they turned around as we slowed down. The girls were in matching bubblegum pink dresses. I could tell that one of them - Jade - was very uncomfortable wearing it.
"What, done dancing?" Bethany asked. "Maybe you could spare me one, Aidan."
Jeez, this girl and her undying love for Aidan... just die and leave my friend alone.
"Um... I'm kinda busy right now, Bethany," He stuttered. "We gotta talk to Tyson. In private. If you could just move."
She didn't move. "You can tell him in front of us, or at least me." She waved off her two friends, who, if I saw correctly, was pretty glad to leave. "Honey, we can't have a stable relationship if you keep secrets."
"What relationship?" I asked her. "The non-existent one you keep on playing in your head over and over again? Yeah, not gonna happen now shoo!" Listen, it's not like I like like Aidan but I ain't gonna let him end up with a girl like that.
She gave me a dirty look, her black eyeliner making it more intense. I shot her an equally dirty look as she walked towards her friends.
"What's up?" Tyson asked, licking his fingers. That boy was addicted to the cupcakes, I tell you.
I pointed to the ceiling. "You're foster sister and my cousin are on your roof. How do we get them down?"
His jaw dropped. "How in the world did they get up there? And they're alive?"
"You didn't think they were dead, did you?" Aidan asked his shocked and utterly confused friend.
"Knowing Mr. Miller, Jessica was probably as good as dead. Or badly injured," Tyson said. "Alyssa... she was probably grounded for the rest of eternity."
Before any of us could say another word, a group of boys approached us. They all looked at us - mostly me and Aidan, for a long time. Then, one of them reached out his hand.
"Lauren, Aidan!" He exclaimed. "Dudes, you're alive. How was boarding school?" He asked Aidan.
The boys did a handshake, something I could barely do. Clearly, these two were friends at one point. "Cole! Dude, it's been forever."
"Maybe we'd be closer if you didn't ditch us for that boarding school halfway across the earth." The boy crossed his arms. "You didn't even visit for the holidays. What was that dump called again?"
Aidan bit his lip, probably because he didn't know what his "boarding school" was called. "Um... IEB Academy," He stuttered.
"Sounds like a nightmare," Cole said. Oh, you don't know how bad it really is. He turned to me. "Ms. Lauren Olsen, looking beautiful as always." I blushed hard. "Wasn't there a rumor that you were found dead in the forest?"
"Actually, I was found very much alive, thank you very much," I said with a smile. "If I was, would I be standing here right now?"
"True, true." He stroked his chin. "But you were found, with a bullet wound, were you not? Then, suddenly you move to Paris?"
I laughed nervously. "Yeah, you know, my parents made the decision. To keep me... safe, you know?"
"You're brother graduated from high school here though," He said. When he saw my confused look on how he knew, he added: "Older sister told me."
"Well..." Family, why couldn't you have come up with a better story?
The boy patted me on the back. "Don't worry, Lauren. I'm just playing with you at this point. I'm glad you're safe and okay."
"Me too. Now if you could-" My sentence was cut off when Cole kissed me on the cheek all of a sudden, then walked away casually with the other boys following him.
I was startled, touching my cheek. I looked up at the boys. "What was tha-"
"Never mind him," Tyson said. "Lets go somewhere a little quieter and with less people."
We followed him out the ballroom, away from the music and all that dancing. We stopped near the front entrance of the palace, where Tyson pulled out his phone and dialed Alyssa. He put it on speaker phone.
Instead of the normal 'hello', Alyssa greeted us with screaming. "Get us down from here! We're freezing!"
"How in the world did you get up there!" I asked her.
I recognized the next voice as my cousin's. "We jumped out of a jet. But more about that later, you have to stop them!"
"Stop who?" Aidan asked. "Were you being followed by Institute guards?"
There was a long pause and a lot of shuffling from the girls at the other end. "More like we got a ride from them," Alyssa responded. "A few of them are already there, some are on their way. There's supposed to be a bomb in the cake - one that won't harm Aidan and Lauren because they're evolutians. Everyone else is done for."
The three of us looked at each other in shock. After Jessica said 'hello' three more times after we went silent on then, Tyson spoke. "Alyssa, why didn't you just call and tell this information?"
Jessica responded. "Well, none of you - or, Tyson, you weren't answering your phone. Spencer answered me once but said something about being mad at Lauren and not answering again."
I bit the inside of my cheek. I was right. Mom was attacking on the palace tonight.
I really didn't want to be right. I didn't want this future telling thing.
"Okay," I started. "Listen. Tyson's going to get you two off the roof - you do know how to do that, right?" When he nodded, I continued. "Aidan's going to defuse the bomb because he's good at technical stuff. I'm going to get Spencer and see what we can do about these guards."
Aidan gave me a look asking you-sure? He knew that things were still rough between us. I nodded, assuring him I'll be fine.
"Okay, lets do this," Tyson said. "The Institute ain't getting what they want today."
It was impossible to find Spencer in the crowd.
The dance ended and now, people were setting up for the actual party part of the night. Friends were now talking with each other in small groups. Princess Taylor stood at the top of the stairs where her dad's throne was sitting. She looked uncomfortable as Bethany asked her several questions.
At one point, I met her eyes. I could tell there was a part of her that really wanted me to come and save her, but somehow she knew I was busy.
I finally found Spencer with a group of people his age. They all held glasses of champagne and were laughing.
Champagne at a seventeen year-olds birthday ball... okay. It was probably restricted to adults though.
"Spencer." He looked up at the sound of his name. I walked over to him and his group of friends.
"What?" He asked, a bit harshly. Even his friends noticed the difference in how he was speaking to me.
"Dude, that's your... really hot little sister," One of them said. I shot him a dirty look.
"No." I shook my head at him. "Just, no." I turned back to Spencer. "You see, I was right. And now we have to stop this."
"Tell the king," He said as he took a sip of his drink. Kassandra elbowed him, taking the drink from his hand and gestured him to go with me. Being a good boyfriend and all, he followed me without hesitation.
"You can do this yourself, Lauren," Spencer stated as we walked out the doors of the ballroom. "Leave me alone."
"Stop being so bitter, Spence," I told him. "Act normal."
"I am normal, Lauren. Maybe you forgot."
I turned around, stopping both of us from walking. Anger filled my veins, my blood boiled. "Listen, I don't know what evil creature took your place but this isn't how my big brother acts."
"Lauren, just leave me alone." He told me. "I know you're totally capable of doing whatever you need doing by yourself. You don't need my help, you really don't."
He turned his back and started walking towards the ballroom. No matter how many times I called his name, he didn't turn around.
Frustrated, I stomped out of the palace, into the cold winter air. There were two guards at the entrance, telling me to go back inside and at least grab a sweater. I told them I'd be fine.
I knew I was fine out in the cold with a sweater on, I wasn't sure about having nothing at all - and wearing a silk, basically sleeveless gown. I could already feel the chill on my feet, snow somehow getting into my heels.
It was lucky that it wasn't snowing tonight. There were less ways to get cold because it wasn't.
I closed my eyes and focused on warmth. I knew that I was able to create heat. Fire. If I could get that warmth in my bones, there would be less of a chance for me to freeze to death.
Slowly, I was able to feel the fire in my bones, helping me keep warm. Hopefully, there wasn't an actual flame in there, ready to grill my bones.
Outside, it was much more quieter than inside. It gave me more room to think. To focus on myself. Though I was more comfortable with my abilities, I do still think a lot before using them. They aren't as natural to me as it is to Tyson and Aidan.
I walked around the palace, not sure what to do about the guards invading the palace at this point. They were after me and Aidan, that's all they wanted from this. And they're willing to hurt a room full of people to do so.
Why are we so important to them?
I stopped walking and closed my eyes. They want me to lead an army. They want me to rule.
Get rid of the king, get a new one.
Make Tyson king. He's gonna need a queen.
"No!" I opened my eyes and yelled to no one in particular. No, this can't be their plan.
But someone's going to need to keep this plan in tact once they're gone.
"Breathe Lauren," I told myself. "They won't get their hand on you."
But there was something itching at the back of my mind. Aidan said that I have every power known to man, every power the Institute has created - they gave to me.
So would that include mind control?
Could I just reach into the minds of a bunch or people and tell them to do something against their will?
I closed my eyes and tried to feel the guards. I don't know how that works but tried to reach out to them.
It wasn't long before the first one came running around the corner, stopping right in front of me. One by one, they all, somehow, found their way to me.
"Ms. Olsen, what may we assist you with?" One of them asked, probably the head guard of this group.
I just stood there in shock. Somehow, I made them come to me and they aren't out to kill me yet.
I cleared my throat, focusing on the group of men in front of me. Gosh, where are the lady guards?
More importantly, what do I want to do with these guys?
I locked my eyes with the guard who spoke with me, a flash of green light circling my vision at that moment. "I want you to go back to the Institute and tell them that Lauren Olsen and Aidan Davis is not here." I wanted to be as clear as possible. "Tell them that if they really want us back, they're going to have to try much harder than this. Understand?"
"Understood." His reply was almost robotic. The men moved in unison as they headed towards the front gate. They won't be a problem anymore... unless they have to tell mom and Mr. Miller who told them that.
I took a deep breath. Finally, this was over. I heard my name be called. Glancing over, I found Aidan, Tyson, Alyssa and Jessica rushing towards me.
"Oh, my gosh!" Alyssa squealed. "That dress looks beautiful on you."
"What the hell are you doing out without a coat?" Jessica asked.
I gave both of them a hug. "I'm fine, don't worry. Everything's been taken care of. This day has been exhausting."
"You're telling me," Aidan said. The five of us burst into laughs as we walked back inside.
Inside, the party was already started. It really did look like one of those high school dances you saw on TV. The first thing I noticed was that the parents and young children were all gone. All the people here at the moment were high school students, mixed with a few older ones.
"Hey Lauren, glad you could come back!" The boy from earlier, Cole, called. "Aye, and you brought friends. Hi, Alyssa!"
She waved back awkwardly. "Why is my ex saying hi to me?" She muttered quietly.
"Maybe he's drunk," Jessica suggested.
"Sing a song, Lauren!" The boy said.
The crowd agreed to that statement.
"We missed you in choir!" A girl I did not know said. "This would be an amazing way to earn your forgiveness after you left us."
"Uh... I..." I turned to Tyson, Aidan and Alyssa. "What are they saying?"
Tyson laughed. "You loved singing. Everyone loved your voice. They probably missed it after all these years."
"I don't know... I lost my memories..." I stuttered. I didn't want to go up there and embarrass myself.
"Something will come to you," Alyssa assured. "You were full of songs when you were younger."
"No... but... I..." Alyssa dragged me on the small stage set up, where a band was playing. The guitarist handed me a microphone.
I turned to face the crowd which was full of unfamiliar but familiar faces. Everyone wore smiles on their faces and they were all watching me.
All. Eyes. Were. On. Me.
There was no escape.
I held the microphone tightly. It was when I spotted Spencer's face in the crowd that I found something to sing.
"It was great at the very start, hands on each other."
The musicians behind me started adding the music, knowing what song I was singing even if I didn't.
"Couldn't stand to be far apart; closer the better."
I noticed the shakiness of my voice, though others didn't. The crowd cheered, becoming more energetic. I could feel the energy in the room, making me more confident on being up here.
"Now we're picking fights and slamming doors; magnifying all our flaws."
The words spilled out of me like a river, becoming so natural. I watched as others started dancing and in the distance, I saw Tyson and Taylor dancing with each other.
"Is the only reason you're holding on to me tonight; 'cause we're scared to be lonely."
-- : --
happy new year/new years eve! can't believe that 2017 is basically over.
the song is called 'scared to be lonely' by martin garrix and dua lipa, if you were curious. i've been hearing it too much lately heh.
well, i'll be back sometime soon :)
~ prantika