It's another AU (haha, @mideoftheshadows), BUT it's a happy one. I swear.
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Do I have to go, Mum?" nine-year-old Joel Smallbone asked.
"Yes,"Helen, his mother, replied, yanking his best."This is a big deal for your sister."
Joel groaned."But I don't-"
"No excuses. Now come one. I still have to do Libby's hair."
Joel pulled on his blazer, buttoned it, and shifted around uncomfortably. He sighed. This was going to be a long night.
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"Maybe you'll meet a girl,"his older brother, Ben, told him as they walked through the door.
"Ben!" Helen whisper-yelled."He's only nine!"
"So?"
Helen sighed, then rolled her eyes.
"It could happen."
"If he becomes a teenaged father, that's on you."
"What?"
Anxious to not hear the rest of this conversation, Joel immediately sped away to a solitary corner. He felt relieved, since large crowds (and awkward conversations) made him uncomfortable and panicky. Then he turned around and realized, he wasn't alone.
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"Are you just gonna keep staring at me?"the girl asked."Or are you gonna say hi?"
Her tone was confident and a bit rude, except for the fact that her voice kept quivering. Also, she held a chopstick out like a weapon.
"Um."
The chopstick went to his throat. Joel snapped out of it.
"Um, I think you watch too many ninja girl movies."
"Excuse me?"
"Nobody does that. It's weird."
"So is the way you speak. Why do you even talk like that? Do you have a speech impediment?"
"I have an accent,"Joel replied, taking a small step backwards.
"So, a speech impediment."
"No, an accent."
Ninja chopstick girl lowered her chopstick. She stuck out her hand instead.
"I'm Moriah,"she said.
"Joel Smallbone,"he replied, carefully shaking her hand.
"Wanna go stab somebody with this?"
Joel stared at her."What are you, an assassin?"
"In training."
"Um, okay, then."
"Come on!"
Moriah grabbed Joel's arm and dragged him off, Joel praying he didn't wind up in Hell for whatever was about to happen next.