You, Me, And A Boy Named Steve

Chapter 2

"It was the oddest thing." Nicola told her friend - as they spoke on the phone. "He was there one moment, but not the next."

"A boy can not disappear within thin air Nico!" Her friend replied. "Maybe you're just stressed because your parents are finding you a partner."

"I'm telling you the truth! Listen to me Moe, the boy vanished!"

"Maybe you should get some rest. I'll see you in a few days. See ya!" Her friend hung up leaving Nicola all alone on the line.

"Bye." Nicola hung up her phone. She got up and went to her bed. She sat down onto her bed and sighed. "Maybe I am seeing things." She mumbled to herself before falling back onto the cloud-like-bed. Nicola closed her eyes and tried to picture the boy and the white man that she saw the other day. The images were so clear in her mind that she couldn't have made them up.

Nicola had almost dozed off when a knocking at her door caught her attention. She turned to look at the closed wooden door of her room as a familiar voice spoke out from behind it.

"Princess," it was Amar, her father's royal advisor. "The King has requested your presence in the throne room. You have a visitor."

Nicola sighed. She wasn't in the mood to prance around the castle with another husband-wanna be. "I'll be there in a moment." She replied to him as she sat up. She really did not want to move - but knowing her parents - if she wasn't there in 10 minutes: she would be in big trouble. Nicola forced herself up off the bed and wandered out of her room.

Nicola entered the throne room to see her father speaking to the white man she had seen the other day. Her heart began to race as she stared at them, she took a step back and turned to leave, but Amar blocked her path. She turned back around and walked towards her father and Jack faintly smiling.

"Ah, Aashirya. So nice of you to join us." Her father smiled at her. "This is-" her father waved his hand to Jack, but Nicola cut in.

"Jack Taylor." Nicola mumbled.

"Have you two met before?"

"Nope." It wasn't a complete lie, they didn't technically meet each other. Nicola was not going to tell her father that she went to town, she knew her father disapproved of her visits, so she stopped telling her parents about her experiences. "It was just a guess." She tried to make her lie seem natural.

"Well, Jack Taylor is a journalist from America. He is here to write an article about Istania." Her father began.

"I was wondering if you could show me around." Jack took over. Nicola looked at the two and then to her mother, who was smiling and nodding her head.

"I'd love to." Nicola gave a small smile and curtsied.

"Great." Jack smiled, "shall we head out now?" Nicola turned to her father and he nodded.

"Of course." Nicola turned to the door and lead him out towards the town.

***

The two walked through the town. As they did, Jack looked at Nicola. He could tell that she was more than what she was portraying herself to be.

"You were at the thing the other day, weren't you." He spoke in a very American accent. Nicola looked at him surprised that he knew.

"Yes. I was." She replied with her Istanian accent.

They did not say anything after that. They wandered around the town for awhile. Jack would look one way and Nicola would look the other. It was awkward between them. Suddenly the little boy from before ran in front of them. The boy stopped and looked at them before running off again. Soon, a couple of men chased after the boy.

"He needs help!" Nicola spoke, chasing after the boy and men.

"Wait! Princess!" Jack called as he ran after her. He knew if anything happened to the princess, the king would have his head.

The boy ran and then hid behind a pair of trash bins. The men who were chasing him did not see him do this, so they ran past the boy. Nicola, however, did see the boy duck down behind the bins and stopped at the first one. Jack skidded to a stop once he caught up to Nicola.

"Don't run off like that!" Jack huffed, he seemed fit but was definetly out of shape.

"Sorry." Nicola tried to hide her amusement in his huffing. She then turned and bent down to the boy who did not seem to fear her at all.

The boy stood up and looked at them, he then gently grasped the princess' left hand and guided her to an abandoned hut. Jack Taylor followed the two, acting like the princess' body guard. The boy invited Nicola and Jack to sit down, the two did to be respectful to the boy.

"What is your name?" Nicola asked the boy. But the boy didn't respond. He sat down on the cold floor and looked down.

"My name is Steve." The boy spoke. His voice was soft and gentle. Nicola noticed a few bruises on his fragile body that weren't there before.

"Where's your family, Steve?" Jack asked, but the boy kept his head low. Steve did not speak for awhile letting tense silence fill the room.

"I don't have any." Steve lifted his head and looked at Nicola. "What is your name?" Steve did not cry. There were no tears in his eyes, though he seemed a bit sad.

Nicola looked at Steve, she figured that he had remembered Jack's name from the other day. "My name is Aashirya." She replied. But Steve just shook his head.

"What is your real name?" He asked. Nicola was taken back a bit. She wasn't quite sure what he meant. She thought for a moment, and then she realized it.

"My name is Nicola. But you may call me Nico." She smiled a bit. Steve looked at her for a moment and then smiled back. Steve then got up and held out his small, bruised hands.

"Can you help me with something?" His eyes sparkled with a passion that Nicola had once seen before in herself. Both Nicola and Jack nodded at Steve, indicating that they would help him. Steve then smiled brightly, gently gripping their hands. "Let's change the world."

"Let's change the world."

Nicola was confused, and by the looks of it, so was Jack. How could the three of them change the world. But Steve's smile was enough evidence for Nicola for her to put her trust in the small boy.

"How can we change the world?" Jack asked the boy who stood before him. Steve released his grip and looked at Jack.

"Follow your heart, and it will guide you." Steve placed a hand onto the man's chest as he stared into his eyes. Jack was still confused, he might have been even more confused now. But he knew that if Nicola could put her trust in a boy she just met, then so could he.

"Where do we begin?" Jack asked.

"First, we start with the smaller things."