Zodiac Academy (Draft 1)

Chapter 2: The stranger and his accomplice

They'd somehow concluded that the sun was too much for the dry old oak tree. And my name was cleared. I still had the smallest seed of doubt that maybe it was my fault. I mean, how coincidental that I had happened to be thinking about wildfires, and then the freaking tree burned down!

Mom didn't speak to me during the whole ride home, but that's just as well, because dad did all the talking. He laughed and joked about the school having the guts to accuse me of burning a tree. He then said he would've been proud of me for having the nerve even if I did do it, although he strongly encouraged me not to do it anyways. He's awesome.

The next day at school was terrible. I was constantly bombarded with questions about how I'd burned all of the leaves of the tree down. Classmates gave me more attention than ever, so guys, if you ever want endless and undivided attention, go burn a tree. No, no, I'm kidding. Don't do that, leave the trees alone.

They were all disappointed when I claimed to have done nothing to the tree. Thanks, Mr. J for suspecting me and trying to blame it all on the poor girl who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Anyways, I was reading a book by my bedroom window when the sun started to set. Sunsets are calming, whether you decide to take my word on it or not. Try it yourself, although you may want to have a second light source on hand.

I was halfway through the book when the doorbell rang. Weird, I thought. Who could be by at this hour? Advertisers, most likely. I set my book down and made my way downstairs, stopping at the bottom of the stairs to watch my dad answer the door.

"Yes? And who might you be?" Dad said to the person at the door. I couldn't see or hear whoever answered, but it made Dad straighten up. He turned around, looking a little shaken up, or nervous. He spotted me at the stairs and I gave him a questioning look. Dad ignored me and called out further into the house, "Julia, uh, could you please come to the door, honey?!"

Mom was in the kitchen washing the dishes, but she poked her head out anyways. "What?" Dad gestured for her to come to the door, mom wiped her hands on a wet cloth and joined him at the house entrance. She didn't notice me standing there, curious as to what was going on. "Yes?" She said to the mysterious visitor.

Dad turned around, and he had the most serious face on, "Go wait in the kitchen." He said, but only loud enough for me to hear. What for? I wanted to ask, but held my tongue as I passed him.

Walking down the hallway to the kitchen, I snuck a peek behind me, seeing the stranger at the door for the first time. It was a young man, a teenager, he looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was the one talking to dad. There was also a young girl next to him too, about my age, fifteen-ish. Mom fidgeted slightly, blocking my view on the two visitors completely. I had only thought there was one.

I wonder why I was being sent into the kitchen? I found out soon enough. A couple of minutes later, the front door closed and Mom appeared around the corner into the kitchen, followed by the young girl and boy, my stepfather bringing up the rear. The dining table sat adjacent to the kitchen counter, and the visitors sat down there, while mom pulled up a chair for herself and Shayne.

"Skylar, why don't you come sit down?" Mom said, giving me a smile as she patted at the seat next to her. I kept stealing glances at the two random teenagers who were in our house at like, seven p.m. "Okay, um...Skylar, this is Nathan and Alix." Mom gestures to the boy, who had straight brown hair, and brown eyes that twinkled when he gave me a friendly smile. The girl, Alix, waved at me. She had dark blonde hair that was braided into two parts, her light blue eyes felt like she could see right through me.

"Hi..." I say in reply, finding this really weird and awkward. "I'm...Skylar..." I shot mom a questioning look.

She only smiled, "Nathan and Alix are here for...well, you guys can explain." My mother said to the two teenagers. "But I bet you already knew that." Mom says to Alix.

Alix nods, "We did! Or at least, I did...heh..." She chuckles awkwardly, fiddling with her hands.

"We'll get to that later." Nathan says, "I go by Nate, by the way."

Alix leans forward excitedly, "Skylar, do you know anything about Astrology?"