As soon as Travis and I enter the school building, it seems as if a celebrity walked in. Everyone turns to stare at us and some even start whispering to one another. I have never felt so self-conscious my entire life. Is this what it feels like to have the spotlight on you?
Some girls passing by giggle and wink at Travis and I'm certain he was the one that caught everyone's attention earlier. It's easy to become popular in this school when you're that hot, though I'm pretty sure Travis' personality makes up for his sudden popularity as well. I'm not saying I'm not good looking or that I'm boring, it's just that the super hot, chiseled appearance is more favored than plain good looks and the people prefer someone that is extra to someone that is ordinary, so...
Travis stays closely to my side as we make our way to our lockers- his is just two lockers away from mine. I spot Chris walking towards us sporting what I believe is a smile. How nice of him to stop by. Note the sarcasm.
"Avan, Travis; just the guys I was looking for."
"Why were you looking for us?"
"I wanted to invite you both to my party tomorrow night, it's invites only cause I wouldn't want the whole school showing up at my house like last time." Chris laughs but I remain deadpan. He knows I'm not a frequent party-goer, I like to be selective about the kind of parties I attend. He hasn't invited me to a party since the first one he invited me to which I didn't attend, so why invite me now? I'm sure it's Travis he wanted to invite but thought that it'd be weird to invite only him so he decided to invite both of us. I don't have a good feeling about this party and it's not just because I don't like Chris.
"I love parties, I'll definitely be there," I hear Travis say as I snap out of my thoughts. Chris turns to me expectantly, I bet he knows I won't come.
"I'd love to come too but have a lot on my plate right now, I have tons of homework, tests to prepare for, and most importantly, I have to fix my faulty invention ahead of the contest. So you see, I am very busy."
"Everyone has homework and tests too, a few hours of fun won't hurt, and as for your contest, it's a couple of months away so you have plenty of time. Come on, Avan," Chris insists.
Why can't this guy just get it and leave me alone.
"Yeah, it'll be more fun if we go together," Travis says.
Shut up, Travis.
"See, even your friend gets it. So, what do you say, you coming?"
I am not comfortable with the fact that he is trying so hard to convince me to attend this party. What's so special about it anyway?
"Like I said, I really have a lot to do and partying is just going to make me-"
"Come on, most of your friends will be there, even Wyndy is coming," Chris interrupts me with a smirk which means he knows exactly what he did. Travis looks at me like he knows I'm going to say yes immediately.
Good one, Chris, well played.
"I guess since everyone's coming, I shouldn't be the only one left out," I say and Chris' smile broadens.
"Great. So the party's at my house by ten," he informs us.
"Isn't that a bit late?" I ask, to which he chuckles.
"We're not getting any younger, dude. See you guys at the party." With that, Chris walks away.
"My first party in a parallel reality, I'm going to have a lot of tales to tell my friends and children," Travis muses.
"How are parties like in your world?" I ask him.
"You need a party license before you can throw one otherwise you'll get penalized by the government. I'm surprised teenagers are allowed to throw parties here on their own, in my world, you need to be at least twenty before you can be authorized to throw a party or any large celebrations," Travis explains as we head to class.
"That's not fair."
"You know what else is not fair? The fact that you can't even attend a party at night unless you're up to twenty years of age. I love parties, which is exactly why I sneak into them despite what the law says. Luckily for me I don't look too sixteen-ish and I have never been caught."
"I figured you'd be the type to sneak into parties you were practically banned from attending," I say jokingly as we enter the classroom and settle down in our seats. I hear some girls gushing about how hot Travis is and I shake my head. Mr. Trainor finally enters the class carrying Billy's cage. That's odd, he's never late to class.
"Sorry for the delay, kids. I was answering to a complaint from one of my colleagues," Mr. Trainor says after setting Billy and his cage on the desk. I'm pretty sure that complaint was about the rat, and as usual, Mr. Trainor must have used his skilled wordery to turn everything in his favor and go scot-free.
After class, Mr. Trainor stops me from leaving while Travis waits by the door.
"Hey Avan."
"Hey?" I reply, not sure of what else to say.
"How's everything going with your invention?"
"Chocolate milk got accidentally spilled on it so it's a bit cranky, but, I'm working on it."
"That's good. The journey is not an easy one and the road is not a smooth one; remember you can't do this on your own so don't forget to let me know if you need any help, alright," he says to me and I just nod. Mr. Trainor can be weird atimes. I wave goodbye to him as I leave the class.
After school, I remind Travis that we have to take a trip to the mall to get him clothes that are actually his size now that he'll be staying here for a while. We go to the mall and once we get in, Travis takes his time to look around.
"Isn't this how malls are like in your world?" I ask.
"Yeah, but not as big or crowded."
"Your universe seems to have a small population which makes it easy for the government to control everything," I observe.
"I have never seen so much stores in one place. Can we go check this one out?" Travis points to a perfumery.
"We're here to buy you clothes so we do not need to make detours at every store we see, it's only gonna waste our time," I tell him.
"I need perfume too, don't I?"
"You've been using mine, so you can keep on using them."
"It won't hurt to check out what they've got," he says and I find myself following him to the store.
The store is painted in white and lavender, giving it a serene atmosphere. Perfumes are displayed creatively in every area of the store and I can tell that the employees put in a lot of effort to make the place look pleasing in the eyes of customers. I'm definitely pleased.
"Fine, you can pick any perfume of your choice, just one." Travis beams as he walks around, looking at different kinds of perfume while I stand by the door, watching him with my arms crossed. Can he just pick one and let us go?
Ten minutes later and we're leaving the perfume store with Travis carrying his attractively packaged perfume. We take several more detours as Travis finds every one of them 'interesting'. We finally make it to the store where we would buy his clothes. The shop attendant welcomes us and leads us to some clothing racks to make our choices, she also shows us the fitting room in case we want to try some clothes on.
After trying on a few clothes, we are finally able to buy Travis new clothes and shoes, and a pair of sunglasses on his insistence. We stop by the snack bar to get ourselves pretzels and oatmeal smoothies before heading home.
When we get home, Ariel is sitting on the sofa with Aimee and quite frankly, I am not in the least surprised. I knew she would come back for Travis, and she's not on uniform so she didn't come here for a delivery.
Aimee springs up from the sofa when she sees us. "Oh good, you're back, I was wondering what kept you guys, Ariel has been here for a while," she says through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, I've been waiting for you guys, got something for Travis." Ariel stands up and carries a pizza box I didn't even notice was lying on the coffee table.
"Thanks," Travis says as he keeps his smoothie cup and shopping bags and takes the box from Ariel. She has never given us free pizza before and now Travis gets one?
"I see you went shopping," she states, peeking at the bags Travis dropped on the sofa.
"Yeah, wanted to get some clothes my size," Travis says.
"You outgrew all your clothes?"
"No, I've been wearing Avan's clothes."
"Why?"
"Cause I didn't bring any of my clothes with me."
"From where?"
"Mexico. I'm a transfer student at Avan's school so I'm living with his family in the meantime."
"Why didn't you bring any clothes with you?"
"That's a story for another day," Travis dismisses the topic and sits on the sofa with the pizza box on his lap. He opens it and takes a slice, and I do the same.
"Hands off, people, this is specially for Travis," Ariel warns but Aimee ignores her and also takes a slice. "You like it?" She asks him.
"It's really good but I'm not hungry now so I'll just keep the rest of it in the fridge for later," Travis tells her and closes the box.
"Before you do that, why don't we chat a little?"
"Now is not a good time for that." Travis stands up and takes the pizza box to the fridge.
"Why not? I have all day," Ariel protests.
"And I have homework," he tells her.
Aimee and I snicker.
"I'm sure you have plenty of time for that, can you give me just a little bit of it?"
"I can't. I'm just not in the mood for a chat."
"Okay, so how about tomorrow? I can stop by if you want," Ariel suggests.
"I'll be attending a party tomorrow."
"What party? Maybe I can come."
"It's invites only."
"That can't stop me."
"Okay! Travis doesn't wanna chat with you, we appreciate the pizza but we are tired of you so why don't you leave and come back only when you have a delivery to make, then we can see less of you and maintain our sanity," Aimee says as she gently pushes Ariel to the door.
"What about Saturday? We can hang out at the park!" Ariel says to Travis over Aimee's shoulder.
"I've got work to do," Travis tells her.
"Exactly. So, you can leave now, thanks for stopping bye." Aimee finally gets Ariel out of the house and shuts the door.
We all take a deep breath as we sink into the sofa.
"Who is she to you guys again?" Travis asks.
"Just a pushy and annoying pizza delivery girl," Aimee replies.
"I see. She is pushy and annoying," he agrees.
I'm the first to get up. "Let's take these bags upstairs, shall we?"
"What did you buy?" Aimee asks.
"Just a couple of things," I say. She never tells me what she buys when she goes shopping so why should I?
Travis also gets up and carries the shopping bags and his unfinished oatmeal smoothie as he follows me upstairs.
"I haven't been to a party in weeks, I'm so excited for this one," Travis says as he arranges his clothes in my closet.
"Yeah." I don't take my eyes away from my invention which I am fixing. Turns out the chocolate milk didn't do much damage, with the way things are going, I should get this baby fixed by tomorrow evening, before the party. That is what I'm excited about and not some stupid party.
"Wyndy will also be at the party," he states and this time, I turn to face him.
"So?"
"This could be your chance to interact with her, dance with her, have a drink with her, you know, strengthen your relationship and get to know her more. She probably like likes you, but because you keep holding back, she won't be sure if you really like like her too," he tells me and I blink at the truthfulness of his words. He is right; I keep holding back, I have never even had a conversation with her for up to ten minutes, I have never told her how I feel about her, but all of that changes tomorrow night.
"You don't seem mad at me anymore. Does this mean I can still call you friend?" Travis asks me.
I smile at him.
"Sure."
"Ten pm?! That's way past your curfew!" Mom exclaims. She doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that the party starts so late in the night. Dad seems to agree with her too."I'll be back by midnight, I promise. You know I don't like all night parties," I assure them."Is Travis going with you?""Yeah, he really wants to.""Fine, you can go, but make sure you keep your eyes on him.""Sure.""I won't be back by midnight, I'll be staying till the party's over," Austin tells them."You are not going anywhere.""Why?""You've been to three parties already this month, no more until next month.""But Avan's allowed to go.""We let him because he hasn't been to any parties lately and we know he doesn't let himself get drunk at night parties, and we also know he will be back by midnight.""That's not fair.""I'm sorry honey, but you shouldn't be going to so many parties," mom says."We could let you go on one condition," dad offers.Mom gives him a questioning look and he just nods in return, re
"Done! And with four hours, twenty minutes to spare," I say as soon as I'm done fixing my invention and heave a huge sigh of relief. I have never felt so fulfilled my entire life. I now had the chance to participate and win in the contest. And even if I do not win, it's still a huge win for me because my invention would be made known to the world and I would also get to become a recognized inventor thereby becoming a member of the IAI. It's almost like a dream come true."That's great! I'm happy for you friend," Travis says and shakes my hand."And I'm so happy I'm finally back on track to compete at one of the two biggest inventing competitions in the world!" I exclaim."What is the other big inventing contest?" Travis asks."The Global Inventors Contest of course, but it's for adults above twenty which is why they introduced the Global Young Inventors Contest for teenagers," I explain."So what is the grand prize for winning this contest?""Well, there's the huge cash prize of a mil
Austin knocks on the door and when no one answers it, Travis and I join in the knocking so it can be loud enough against the loud music playing inside. Chris opens the door and grins on seeing Austin, then hugs her like they were just seeing each other for the first time in years."I'm so glad you came babe, I thought you wouldn't come," Chris says."I wouldn't miss it for anything," Austin tells him and they kiss. Ew."You look great!" Chris' eyes roam hungrily over her body and I roll my eyes. What a perv."Thank you." Austin blushes. "I kinda had some trouble figuring out what to wear, so I opted for a monochrome look.""And damn you made the right decision," he adds with a smirk.I clear my throat to let them know that Travis and I are still standing there. Chris looks at us and beams. His smile looks so genuine, I almost believe it."Avan! Just the guy I wanted to see tonight!" He yells as he throws his arm around my shoulder. "It's good to take some time off to have fun rather t
"I've been looking all over for you," Austin says as she walks towards us.Did she really have to come here now of all times? This was the one chance I had and she just ruined it."Are you okay?" She asks Wyndy."I'm fine. Avan's been keeping me company while you hang out with your boyfriend."Austin groans. "I am so sorry Wyn.""It's fine, he's been great company," Wyndy says and I smile."What are you guys doing back here? The party's inside.""We just wanted to get some fresh air, the party was getting a little stuffy. Why were you looking for me?""We were just about to play a game of truth or dare and I thought it'd be fun if you joined us.""I'd love to!" Wyndy pipes up and at the same time jumps up from the bench. "Come on, Avan, let's go!""Yeah, come on, loverboy," Austin says sarcastically as she and Wyndy go back into the house, giggling amongst themselves. I sigh and follow them in.♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪By the time we get back to the party, the s
It can't be. My invention was right here before I left for the party. I frantically search my room for it, upturning everything in sight but still not able to find it. Maybe Travis knows where it is. I shake him awake and hold his shoulders."Travis! Travis, get up!"With sleepy eyes he scowls at me and attempts to fall asleep but I continue shaking him. He groans and turns his back to me."Please get up," I plead, while shaking him harder. "We have a huge problem."He pops one eye open and asks, "What problem?""I can't find my invention!""What?!""I can't find my invention!"He throws the sheets off himself and jumps out of bed. "What do you mean you can't find your invention?""I can't find it anywhere in this room! Do you perhaps know where it is?""Of course, it's right there," Travis says and points to the place where it was meant to be and is surprised to see the microwave there."That's a good looking microwave. Whose is it?" He asks."I have no idea, but that is not the main
"This is ridiculous," Austin deadpans as she sits in the 'interrogation chair' in my room. Travis and I invited her and my parents to my room for a harmless interrogation session. It took a lot of convincing to get her to come to my room for her session."Just answer the following questions and you can leave. It won't take more than two minutes," I tell her and she folds her arms."Go ahead.""So, Austin, you are aware that your brother's invention has gone missing and we believe that it is because someone who knows about it must have told someone who isn't supposed to know about it," Travis says and Austin rolls her eyes."Did you really have to wear that stupid hat?" She asks."Yes, it makes me feel like a detective.""Can we just get this over with? I've been sitting here for over a minute and you haven't asked me any questions.""That brings me to my question. Who have you told about Avan's invention?""Nobody.""Think of the times when it must have slipped. You have to tell us so
School seems even more suffocating than ever now that I have to walk through the hallway with a smiling face and act like all is well when all I really want to do is bang my head against a wall and scream out my frustration. I have not been in the best frame of mind all through the weekend and it doesn't help matters that I have to be around so many people.For the first time in my life, I didn't want to go to school. Travis had to drag me out of bed and give me a pep talk before I could even muster the strength to get prepared for school. So here I am, in school, making my way to my locker, but without the usual enthusiasm."Cheer up, friend, you can't be gloomy all day," Travis says.I scoff as I stop by my locker and open it, only to slam it back shut right after."Easy there, don't take out your frustration on the locker, it did nothing wrong."I scoff again and open the locker once more, searching for the textbooks I would need for the first two periods."Is there anything I can
"What do you want Travis?" Austin drawls after the third knock."It's Avan. Can I come in?"She doesn't say anything and I take this as my cue to go in. As soon as I enter the room, she sighs loudly and falls back on her bed."Have you come here to point more accusing fingers at me? Save yourself the trouble and just leave.""I'm here to talk," I say calmly."Have fun talking to yourself."I walk over to her bed and sit on it."I didn't say you could sit.""I didn't ask."She simply rolls over to the other side of the bed and busies herself with her phone."I know you're upset at me, and for good reason. I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did. I'm sorry."Austin looks up from her phone to give me a meaningful stare, I bet she wasn't expecting that apology."Are you here because you want to or because Wyndy wants you to?""Come on, at least accept my apology.""I won't accept it if it's an indirect apology from Wyndy.""It's not."She raises her brow at me and I offer her a smile