Puppet | [The Gifted]

Chapter 5 - Tales or Tails?

The quiet café of Belleview was filled with old couples and preteens going by their hangout spot, creating a ruckus with their voices only. The staff were annoyed as it was quite early in the morning when these rebel-like kids decided to cause a ruckus that inconvenienced the café shop. As the sun rose up, it was 8 in the morning when the door of the café rang in the quiet place, indicating a new guest. "How can we be of your service?" A lady asks, a faux customer service smile that is only useful enough to get the extra tip the staff needed for. "I reserved a table for two yesterday night." The blonde smiles back with grace, unfazed by the staff lady in front of her.

The lady nods and she guides the blonde girl before saying, "I shall pick up the menus for you to choose." and left hurriedly after. As she was left alone by the table, she settled down slowly by scrolling through her phone but the contents in it however didn't really make the individual all too settled or happy at such an early morning either. She puts her phone down and stares out the window for a bit before fiddling with her bag purse that sat flat on the table. Another ring on the cafe door and that perked the silver haired girl. The steps of their walk were with stride and purpose. As the other individual turns the corner, they can only relax. "Nancy.." She walks quickly to her table and hugs her. "I'm glad you're okay."

"And I'm glad you are too, Alexis." The two broke their hug and looked at each other fondly before Alexis sat the opposite of her. "Did you get some sleep last night?" Nancy starts off. A shake of the head was enough to tell that the girl hadn't slept well last night. "Me neither. With the news last night, it was no doubt I had trouble sleeping too." She adds on, clearly frustrated over the turn of events that plagued their night and their lives too. "My mom didn't take it too well but she was glad I was safe." Alexis complains, a pout on her face. "Well that was on you." She jokes lightly, though it was light hearted, they knew that they had a deeper root of cause to talk about.

The silence was comforting to the two of them, though they didn't look at one another, the other's presence can be felt quite likely. "Here are the menu orders, take your time in choosing." The lady that attended Nancy says as she arrives back with the menus and places them on the table. "Thank you." The two of them say in unison. The lady nods before leaving the two of them alone. Each took the order book and flipped through the pages, looking for what to fulfill themselves up with. "Have you gotten in touch with Amber last night?" Alexis voices out the thoughts that plagued the two of the individuals.

"No, I didn't get to, my family forced me to have no contact since last night, which was needed because of how traumatizing that shit was.' She replies, her voice managed to quiver despite the front she kept on for the whole morning. "Nancy, it's okay. At least we both got out safe with Amber too." Alexis comforts Nancy quickly, taking her cold hands in hers. "It just doesn't make sense.... What's going to happen to us now?" Nancy blurts her worries to Alexis, the only other person in the friend group that wasn't whisked off by her government father in the midst of the events. "I trust Amber will give us some clarity." She responds with ease, knowing Amber for quite some time, she's bound to tell them something if it was that threatening.

"But that's the thing Alexis! She hasn't responded to us for days! Don't you think we need answers soon?" She exclaims with frustration, clearly not too fond of being put in the dark, the secrecy and the lies in between the work-school balance Amber had to face at an early age. Alexis' gaze on her falters, she doesn't know what or how to say to make sure Nancy believes Amber. She sighs and slowly detaches her hands from her, fiddling and picking on her nails, a habit she picked on when she needed her time to think through some situations. Nancy was right in a way, Amber clearly hasn't texted back any new information yet and it's raising such suspicions, deception and fear instilled in the friendship they hold dear to.