14 After All [Willow Falls]

Nine

Skylar
I hear my phone ding and walk out off my closet. I see that Amanda has started a group chat with me, Leo and their friends Rory, Tara, Connor, David and of course; Me!
Amanda: Hey everyone! Me and Leo have planned for us all to meet at the diner at 1pm. We all have things to talk about. Anyway, please be there!
I immedently get a reply from Leo and Rory.
Leo: Alright! I'll definitely be there!
Rory: I'll be there too!
I text back: I'll be there also, thanks for telling us!
I still have a few hours until I have to be there, so I decide to tell my parents so they can't plan anything. I find my mom under the sink arranging cleaning supplies. "Hey mom," I say. "Yeah sweetie?" She replies. "Can I go to the diner up the street with a couple of kids later today?" She rearranges a couple of things and then scoots back farther into the cabinet. Her voice comes out more muffled this time. "Sure honey. I'm glad you are making friends already! Before you go, you need to help Abbey organize yalls room. Other than that, you can go." I smile, even though I'm nervous. "Thank you;" I say and then run upstairs. I find Abbey sitting on her side of the room on the floor. I sit down beside her. "What's wrong?" I say. She looks at me. "I want to go home." I sigh and look at the floor. "I think you need a friend or two. Maybe you can make some before school starts, so you'll already know some people." I stop and think for a moment. "I'm going to the diner with a couple of kids later, I'll ask them if they have any sibling your age." She smiles a little bit. "Now," I say pulling her off of the ground. "Let's get organizing. While we do that, you can tell me about the latest Hunger Games book." She grins really big and we start organizing as she chatters away.

Amanda
I keep pacing around my room. I'm all alone in the house, my mom is at the grocery store, my dad is at work and Kylie is out with her friends. I'm really nervous about this, and I have no idea why. I decide to text Leo.
11:27pm
Amanda: Hey
Leo: Hi, Wrud? (A/n wrud means what are you doing.)
Amanda: Sitting on my bed, home alone. What about you?
Leo: Same... I'm sooo bored.
Amanda: Can I come over? I think we need to talk about some stuff before we meet everyone else.
Leo: Sure, I'll be waiting on the porch.
Amanda: K I'll leave in a few mins.
Leo: Okay bye
I slip my phone into my pocket and write a note to my family, in case one of them comes home early. I wheel my bike out of the garage and hop on. It only takes a few minutes to pedal to Leos house, and when I pull into the driveway, there sits Leo, like promised, on his front porch. "Hey," he calls as I park my bike. "Sup." I say as I make my way up the porch steps. I sit down beside him on his porch
swing. "So," I say. "Before we meet with everyone else, we at least need a theory of how Skylar  somehow stumbled upon us, and can smell the apples." He nods. We sit there for awhile, deep in thought. Suddenly, he jumps up. "Oh my gosh!" "What!?" I say, jumping up too. "Didn't she say that her birthday is coming up in a couple of days?" I nod. "What if," he says. "What if she was born on the same day as us?" I stand there and think about it awhile. "But it wouldn't matter unless she was born in the same hospital." We say at the same time. He sits back down. I grab his hand and pull him back up. "Well let's go find out then." He grins and we run towards our bikes. A few minutes later, we are knocking on Skylar's door. We stand there for a few minutes, until a boy with shaggy brown hair opens the door. "Is Skylar here?" Leo asks him. He turns around and hollars up the stairs for Skylar, then leaves. Skylar, along with two little kids, about five come running down the stairs. Hopefully we can find something out. I grab Leos hand. Skylar turns and shoos the two kids away, but they stand there anyway. "Hey Amanda, Leo, what are you guys doing here?" Before we can answer her, girl of the two kids starts pointing at us and laughing. "Ewwww! Look Sammy! They are holding hands!!" The both start giggling and dancing around singing "Cooties! Cooties! They have cooties!" Skylar rolls her eyes and gestures out the door. We back up in order for her to close the door behind her. "So, like I was saying, what are you guys doing here?" I look at Leo. "We were wondering, when is your birthday?" She gets a strange look on her face, but it quickly goes away. "My birthday is this coming Wednesday. Why?" This time I answer. "It may be connected to this, uh, thing that we told you about. Now we need to know, were you born here?" Leo squeezes my hand. Here comes the moment of truth. "Umm, I'm not exactly sure, but I'll ask my mom." She turns and opens the door and goes inside. A few seconds later, she comes outside. "My mom says," Me and Leo turn to look at her. "That I was born here..." Before she can continue, I cut her off. I look at Leo. "You know what this means, right?" He nods, a smile spreading across his face. Skylar looks puzzled. "What?" She says. "What does this mean?" I look at Leo to explain. "Okay, so me and Amanda were born this coming Wednesday, fourteen years ago." He stops and let's this register in her mind. Then continues. "And, we were also born in this hospital in this very town. The same for you." She seems frozen. I continue where Leo left off. "There are still some things we need to explain to you about Angela and Grace and everyone else. Angelina has this sort of enchantment thing, that she has to give to every baby on their birthday. She has ten chances, and her last chance is the baby's 9th birthday. If she fails, the baby is exposed to desieses and illnesses. Anyway, me and Leo are under a curse that our great-great grandparents got into, and well... We might as well explain the rest to you on the way to the diner." She silently nods and sticks her head in the door. "I'm leaving mom!" And then comes back outside.