Alicia's POV
I woke up with multiple texts from Jay and Juli. Confused, I looked at the time. I was late for school! I got up and ran to the bathroom. Why didn't mom wake me up? I heard a knock on the bathroom door. It was a hard knock. I turned off the sink and froze.
"Alicia?" A man's voice came through the door.
I didn't recognize it. I looked around the bathroom. I could jump out the window. I grabbed my robe and put it on, tightly tying the string. I went to the window.
"Alicia I know you're in there!" The man said.
I looked out the window. I was on the second floor. The worse I'll suffer is a broken leg if I didn't land right. I looked at the door as it sounded like the man was picking the lock. I pushed the window up and kicked the screen out. I sat on the window sill. The door opened and I jumped. I heard the man curse and run. I landed on a bush. I quickly stood up, my scratches healing instantly, and started running to school. I wasn't quite sure where Jay lived and Juli was farther than the school. Plus they were at school.
"Hey!" A car pulled up next to me. I recognized Jay's voice.
I got in his car quickly. He drove off.
"What's going on? Why didn't you answer us?" Jay looked at me confused.
"I slept in and there was a strange man in my house. I think he worked for the government, he knew how to pick a lock." I said quickly.
Jay's eyes widened. "Great!" He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. He handed me his phone. "Call Juli."
I put in the code he told me then called Juli.
"Jay? Is Alicia alright?" Juli spoke.
"I'm fine, but there was a man at my house. He might've been from the government." I said.
"Crap!" Juli said. "Where's your mom?"
"I don't know. I left my phone on my nightstand." I said.
"We'll go back later and see if they're still here. Maybe send Skyler and Ivelisse to grab your stuff." Jay said.
I nodded slightly.
"Tell Jay to come pick me up, ask if we can hang by his house." Juli said.
"She wants you to pick her up and she wants to know if we can go to your house." I looked at Jay.
Jay furrowed his eyebrows and nodded.
"He nodded." I said to Juli.
"Okay, I'll see you two later." Juli said before hanging up.
I put Jay's phone on my lap.
"How would the government know about you?" Jay frowned.
My heart sunk. "Dad."
"Dad?" Jay looked shocked now.
"I hardly ever see him. Maybe he works for the government." I sighed. "I hope mom's okay."
"She would've wanted you to run." Jay said.
I nodded. He was right. Mom would've told me to run. We stopped by the school and picked up Juli, then Jay sped off to his house. It was a mobile home.
"Is Richard home?" Juli asked.
"Looks like it." Jay motioned to a bicycle.
"He let you have a car and he rides a bicycle?" Juli looked sad.
"Yeah. He'd rather me be safe." Jay said.
"He sounds like a good older brother." I said.
"You'll see." Jay smiled.
We all got out of the car. Juli and I followed Jay to the front door.
"Richard?" Jay walked in.
"Yes?" A man with brown eyes and dark hair looked at Jay from the couch. He stood up at the sight of Juli and I.
Jay nodded. "These are Alicia and Juli." He introduced us.
"Pleasure. I'm Richard." Richard smiled.
"Richard can read your thoughts and talk through minds." Jay said.
"That's cool!" Juli smiled.
Richard pointed at me. "So that must mean you're the shy one."
I nodded shyly. Richard chuckled.
"Alright. What about the other two?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"We haven't contacted them yet. Alicia is in trouble." Jay said quickly.
"That explains the bathrobe." Richard laughed slightly.
"The government was at her house." Jay said.
Richard's eyes widened. "That's not good."
"I was thinking maybe we could send Skyler and Ivelisse to get her things since Skyler is super fast and Ivelisse can go invisible in case anything happens." Jay explained.
"Not a bad idea." Richard nodded. "But where is she gonna stay?"
"I haven't figured that out yet." Jay looked at me.
"Maybe we can figure it out when we talk to Skyler and Ivelisse." Juli said.
"That's probably best. Get the whole team to group up, then discuss the plan." Richard noted.
"I'll text Skyler to see where they're at." Juli took out her phone.
"May I offer you some water?" Richard asked.
"I'll take some." I said almost quietly.
"Sure thing." Richard walked to the kitchen.
"Have a seat." Jay motioned to the couch. "You're safe here."
I sat down. Juli sat beside me. I was looking around the house. Juli stared down as she texted rapidly with both thumbs.
"Skyler said her and Ivelisse are at college. She said they'll come over here after school." Juli looked up.
Richard came back and handed a water bottle to me. I opened it and started drinking.
"They didn't lay a hand on you, did they?" Richard looked worried.
I shook my head. "I jumped out the window." I said.
Richard nodded. "I'm glad you're safe. From what Jay tells me, you're a great person." Richard winked at me.
I blushed a little.
"I'm worried about my mother." I said, changing the subject.
Richard frowned. "Unfortunately I haven't met her, so I can't locate her easily, but I can try."
"Thank you." I smiled slightly.
"So we have to wait for the two others to come, now." Richard plopped down next to Juli.
"Yup. I'm not sure when their college is over." Jay sat on the recliner.
"Not a problem. We can chill here. Let me see if I can find Alicia's mom." Richard put his forefinger and middle finger to his temple and stared off.
I drank the whole water bottle. The running tired me out.
"Are you hungry?" Jay asked.
I nodded.
"Juli and i can go get you food. I'll take Juli home to pick up an outfit for you to wear so you're not just in pajamas. Richard won't bite." Jay stood up.
"I'd appreciate that, thank you." I smiled.
"No problem." Juli stood up.
"Tell Richard where we're going. Here's my phone in case you need to contact us or we need to contact you. We'll be back." Jay handed me his phone.
I watched him and Juli walk out. Then I was alone with Richard, who wasn't here at the moment due to him searching for my mom. I looked at the TV. He was watching Dr. Phil. My mother used to watch him. I stared at the screen, watching the people he was trying to help.
"Found her!" I jumped as Richard shouted. "Sorry." He chuckled as I looked at him. "She's fine. She's worrying about you."
I sighed in relief.
"She's glad you got away but she's hoping you're fine." Richard added.
I nodded. "Thank you."
Richard furrowed his eyebrows. "Where did Jay and Juli go?"
"They went to get me food and clothes." I told him.
"Oh alright." Richard relaxed into the couch.
We both watched Dr. Phil in silence now. A thought came to me.
"Where's your cat?" I looked at Richard.
"Our what?" Richard furrowed his eyebrows as he met my gaze.
"Jay said he had a cat. I healed a scratch on his arm." I said.
Jay and Juli stepped into the house. Richard had his brows furrowed as he looked at them.
"What cat?" Richard asked Jay.
"That gray cat that used to hang out on my car." Jay said.
"We had a cat?" Richard asked.
"Well maybe if you talked to me more, you'd know I claimed a cat and named her Sparx." Jay nearly shouted.
"Alicia, I got you clothes. Let's see if they fit." Juli motioned to me.
"Sorry." I mouthed to Jay as I followed Juli.
We walked into a room.
"This is Jay's room." Juli said.
"How do you know?" I asked.
Juli pointed behind me. I turned to see a giant blue J over his bed.
"Makes sense." I said.
Juli laughed slightly as she closed the door. "Try these on."
From the room we could hear the brothers yelling.
"I feel like I caused that." I said.
"What makes you say that?" Juli said without looking at me.
I didn't like people watching me change so she studied the knick knacks on Jay's dresser instead.
"I asked about the cat." I said.
"It's not your fault." Juli shook her head. "I was the cat."
My eyes widened. "No way!"
"Shhh!" Juli covered my mouth.
I pushed her hand away to put the shirt on. Her clothes fit me almost perfectly. The pants were a little loose. The shirt had a tiger on it.
"Why don't you stop that argument?" I asked.
"It's not gonna make a difference. He can't know." Juli shook her head.
"Why?" I asked.
"I was running an errand for my dad." Juli sighed. "It was regrettable. I didn't tell my dad anything I found cause I saw Jay at school."
"How do I know you're not spying right now?" I crossed my arms.
"I promise you I'm not." Juli said. "I feel like I can trust you with my life and it may take some time, but I'm hoping you'd feel the same about me."
"I'll decide that on my own." I sighed.
"Don't tell Jay that I was the cat, please." Juli grabbed my hand in hers.
"Fine." I sighed again.
"Great! Thanks! Let's go, we got you some McDonald's." She grabbed my hand and led me out of the room.
The shouting quieted to talking. Jay was sitting beside Richard on the couch. I was glad they seemed to be getting along again. Juli handed me the bag of McDonald's. I sat at the dining table and started eating. They got me a Quarter Pounder and fries with a Sprite. Juli's phone went off.
"Skyler and Ivelisse are on their way." Juli announced.
"Good." Jay stood up. He met my gaze. "What we got you is okay?"
I nodded as I stuffed a fry into my mouth. Jay smiled. I finished my food and sat on the couch between Jay and Juli. Richard sat on the recliner.
"I knew something was funny when you didn't show up to math. I texted Juli and she told me to check on you during lunch." Jay was saying to me.
"Thank you." I looked at each of them.
"No problem. We're a team, now." Juli put her arm across my shoulders.
There was a knock at the door. Richard put his hand to his temple and stared at the door.
"Skyler and Ivelisse." He said.
Juli got up and opened the door. Skyler and Ivelisse walked in gracefully. Hispanic women seemed to walk with grace. Juli shut the door.
"What's going on?" Skyler looked at Jay and I.
"The government came to my house." I stood up, finally acting like a leader and speaking for myself.
Skyler's eyes widened. "What did they want?"
"I don't know. I got away before they could touch me. But my house isn't safe." I sighed slightly.
Skyler looked at Ivelisse then back and Jay. "Where is she gonna stay?"
"We don't have a place for her yet. We decided to meet up as a team and discuss." Jay said.
Skyler started translating what we said in Spanish to Ivelisse. Then they started having their own conversation in Spanish. Richard smirked. Skyler looked at me.
"We can take you in. We have an extra room. As long as you clean up after yourself." Skyler said.
"No problem." I nodded.
"You can come with me on the bus to school." Juli added.
I smiled. "Thank you." I looked at Skyler.
"It's really no issue. We have a big house for just the two of us." Skyler shrugged.
"Is it possible for Ivelisse to make another person invisible also?" Jay asked.
"We've done it before, yes." Skyler put her hands on her hips.
"Alicia left some things behind and I want you and Ivelisse to go get it since you can speed both of you out of there and Ivelisse can make you both invisible in case the government is still there." Jay explained.
"Not a bad idea." Skyler nodded. "Make a list of what you need and we'll get it for you." She looked at me.
I nodded. Juli went to her backpack and handed me a pen and a piece of paper. I wrote down the essentials and where to find them. I handed Skyler the list.
"We'll be back to pick you up." Skyler winked.
She spoke to Ivelisse in Spanish. I watched as she picked Ivelisse up piggy back style and sped off.
"That looks like fun." Juli laughed slightly.
"Now we wait." Jay plopped down on the couch.
"You got a good team going here." Richard looked at me. "Very kind and intelligent. If your mission fails, it's because of the government."
I smiled and nodded.