Nialani and the Astrarians | book one: The Secret of the Flames - chapter 1.part 2

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(+)He had curly black hair, and dark eyes. His skin was a deep brown, and he had a light sprinkling of freckles on his cheeks. But the thing that seemed to make him stand out was that he seemed to be glowing, not brightly but there was something about him that made him ethereal. He looked at her with his dark eyes, the LED lights reflecting off of them, almost like stars in the night sky. He walked up to the counter and ordered a drink, then he glanced back at Nia. Their eyes locked. He frowned. Then she heard a little, small, insignificant voice in the back of her head say, "/This sirrah shall be a grand part of thy destiny. Thy lives shall intertwine sooner or later. Be prepared. Ne'r let thy guard down./" Nia frowned. That voice did not sound like her normal thoughts' voice. It sounded like a man who should've been from the 10th century or something. Her guts twisted and she couldn’t breathe. Something about the voice didn’t feel right. Something about it seemed like a warning. No, it couldn’t have been, it must’ve been her imagination. It had to have been. But what if it wasn’t? /No, no, no I will not go crazy today, maybe tomorrow but not today./ Nia looked up and the boy was gone, the door hadn’t opened, and he hadn’t gotten his drink before her. It was almost as if he had disappeared into thin air… No, not going there … Once her drink was made, Nia paid for it, walked out of Starbucks, thanked the kind old lady, and walked home with March in tow. She pulled out her phone and immediately started texting Mae, still shaken from the odd voice and the eerie feeling that crept up on her as she quickly walked home. /Mae, the weirdest thing just happened to me. (Nia)/ Although it was only a minute or two before Mae responded, it felt like hours. /What happened? (Mae)/ Nia took a deep breath and responded typing fast to get it out. /I saw this dude, he’s around our age, anyways he looked different, because he had shiny freckles, and I heard an old-time-y voice in my head! (Nia)/ Nia didn’t add the part where the voice said ‘Thy lives shall intertwine sooner or later’, because Mae would think they were soulmates or something. For being a twelve year old, Mae had an odd obsession with thinking everyone was one of their friends' soulmates. /Wow. That does sound weird. (Mae)/ Nia sighed and closed her eyes. Of course it was weird! How often does someone see a dude who looks magical then hear a medieval voice in their head? A few moments later, Mae texted again. /Well I’ll see you around five-ish. OK? (Mae)/ /OK (Nia)/ Nia slid my phone back into my pocket and continued walking home. She opened the front door and walked inside. The smell of lemons telling her that her mom was home and reminding her she needed to ask if she could go to Mae’s house. She took the leash off of March and let him run to the back yard to bark at more squirrels. Nia had never liked squirrels, even if they liked her. The way they stared at people like they were always watching, always waiting for them to mess up. Nia shook her head and walked up to her room and started packing her bag for Mae’s house. *** A silver Ford F150 pulled up outside of Nia's house. The back door swung open and Mae jumped out, grinning. “NIA!” she shouted happily. Nia grabbed her backpack and walked out. “Hey Mae.” she said, smiling. Mae hugged Nia and said, “OMG. I missed you so much!” Nia blinked. “Uh, it’s only been like, a day since I last saw you.” she told her. “Oh, I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t miss you,” Nia shrugged and got in the truck, Mae following behind me. Her mom, Mrs. Candell, who looked just like her daughter with her long brown hair and hazel eyes, looked in the rear view mirror and smiled. “Hello Nia, how’ve you been?” “Pretty good.” Nia said. “That’s nice.” She looked forward and began driving. Nia turned to Mae and smiled. “Hey Mae?” she said. She looked at Nia. “Yeah? What is it Nia?” “Remember when Steven ate the freshly planted grass off the field at school?” Nia told her, smiling at the memory. Mae laughed. “How could I forget it? He said it tastes like bitter unripe coffee!” she said between giggle(+)