Say my Name

C h a p t e r T w o

I sighed vaguely for a moment, glancing at myself in the mirror. I had on a dark plum dress with a leather jacket over it. Sensible heels protected my feet. I grabbed my bag and walked downstairs. Saying goodbye to my mother and father, I went outside to the bus.

I got to school somewhere around seven, about ten minutes earlier. Though my mother and father continued to request of me to stay home, I simply refused, saying that I was fine and I didn't want to miss anything at school.

As soon as I walked through the doors, righting my bag on my shoulder, arms wrapped around me in a gigantic hug. I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Jubillee," I said, exasperated but pleased. "Not only have we seen each other yesterday, but we talked over the phone last night and on the bus this morning, too. You're so protective sometimes."

"I'm just a good friend," Jubilee Giovanno replies solemnly, letting go of me and casting her long brown hair over her shoulder. Today, she was wearing a light, floral pink dress and a dark pink blazer with sky-high heels. Her permanent smile stretched over her face, and I smiled back at her, shaking my head.

"Of course you are. Now, to be an even better friend, I'd like you to help me with my Math homework."

Jubilee rolled her eyes, knowing I was just joking. She and I both had all A's in our classes. Together, we walked towards the library and sat down at one of the tables, talking about what classes we had for the day and about everything else, including Jubilee's current crush- Laurent Jacques, an exchange student from France.

"He's perfect!" she said, tipping her head back in excitement. I rolled my eyes. "Pretty blond hair, beautiful grey eyes. He's a Greek God, Tal, I swear."

I shook my head, though I smiled. "Laurent Jacques? He barely speaks English."

Jubilee looked defense, and was about to say something before glancing towards the door and gasping. "Oh my...there he is! How do I look! I'm going to talk to him!" She stared daggers at me, but I was looking behind Laurent, towards a boy opening the door.

He had rugged brown hair, disheveled and being even more messed up as he ran his hand through it. Behind him stood another boy, conversing with one of one of the librarians as he returned a book. I craned my neck to see the book's title: A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Jubilee followed my gaze, and her eyes widened. "Oh, my..." It didn't look like she was weighing the boys' cuteness, though. Instead, she looked slightly annoyed, and a little afraid. When she saw my confusion, she got up. "I've been looking for that stupid book for who knows how long, and he had it? I'm gonna go give him a piece of my mind."

I knew she was nervous. Her tone had changed. As she walked, I saw her glance, depressed, at Laurent. She flashed him a smile, and they conversed in a bit. I knew Jubilee knew French, and seeing the way her mouth curved, I knew she was speaking it now.

At last, they departed with a simple, "au revoir". Jubilee, more haltingly, turned towards the two boys, who were studying the books on display. One of them was looking on the blurb. I tilted my head to the side as Jubilee sauntered towards them.

I gritted my teeth. I hated doing this- eavesdropping at its worst- but I strained my ears and heard their conversation as if I were standing right next to them.

"What are you doing here?" Jubilee hissed. "I have this handled. Weren't you guys on a mission or something in Paris?"

"Finished," one of the twins' responded, rolling his eyes. "But you have no right to know, trainee. Everly and Evelyn sent us here to make sure nothing went wrong. How is the little brat anyway?"

"Ashton," the other twin chastised. "Watch your tongue." He turned to Jubilee and smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. She softened a bit, and surrendered a smile towards him. "How are you, Jubilee? And how is she?"

"Both fine. I make sure that she's doing fine, and her Guardians make sure she's doing all right at home. We're trying really hard, Anthony, but she getting more and more powerful each day."

"Doesn't look like much to me. And two days left. You'd think she'd look better...more powerful or whatever," the one named Ashton countered, scoffing. Jubilee pushed him backwards, but the one named Anthony moved in between them.

"Guys," Anthony warned. "We can't be fighting amongst ourselves. We have her to protect and the Quaternaries to impress. I know you two despise each other and whatever, but come on. Get over it for her sake."

"He's just so..." Jubilee clenched her jaw, then sighed and turned to Anthony. "How's Naomi and the rest?"

"All fine," Anthony replied, smiling lightly. "Naomi's agitated, of course, but everyone else is fine. Are you okay, though? Any attacks or anything?"

"None. I think the Ouaternaries are watching over her or something, because-"

Ashton said something under his breath and they all turned to look at me. I quickly looked away, pretending to be buried inside my phone. After a few moments, Jubilee was back. I looked up absentmindedly. "Hey. What happened? That took a while."

She looked at me for a moment, then sighed, "Nothing."

I shrugged as if nothing had happened, and looked up just in time to see the twins walking off, towards the back of the library. One of the twins- who was Ashton, I guessed- gave me a slight glare before following his brother through the library. The look sent chills down my spine, and I narrowed my eyebrows. "What the heck?"

Jubilee shrugged, faltering slightly. It looked like she wanted to say something. "Nothing. I don't know what his problem is."

The bell rang, and she hurried off with me in tow.