Jim Armstrong and the Goblet's Curse

Chapter 34: Until Next Time

The sun shone through the blinds, making a pattern on the floor. I rolled over in bed, then stared at the ceiling. I'd just gotten a good night's sleep, dare I say a great night's sleep. It felt good after the Itinere.

I jumped down from my top bunk, landing lightly on the floor. Noah was already up; I could hear the water running in the bathroom. I took the moment of solitariness to dig out the picture of my sister. It was the same like always, but this time when I looked at her, I didn't wallow in sadness. Instead, I took comfort in her enduring presence in my life. I liked knowing that wherever I was, Cass would be there too. Including Florida.

My father was coming to GreySlash to pick me up today. He'd called me a couple days ago, and even though I was still pissed that he hadn't told me anything about all this Guardian shit, I answered. I mean, he was my dad. I couldn't stay pissed forever.

So anyway, he'd called to tell me that he had booked us a summer trip to Florida. And yeah, I guess it was a little early to be going on summer vacation, seeing as it was only mid May, but hey, if anyone needed a vacation right about now, it was me, Noah and Cecy.

Speaking of Noah and Cecy, I was a little upset that I wouldn't get to finish the year with them, but they had their own plans for the summer too. Apparently Enzo had been saving up to take Sandra, Noah and Macy on a road trip across Canada. He wouldn't divulge information as to how he's saved up enough money, only saying that he'd had "help." I can imagine that that "help" may have come from Caden. I didn't know much about him, but I did know that his family wasn't short on money.

Speaking of Enzo and Caden, I still hadn't told anyone what I'd seen that night, including Enzo and Caden. I would see them in the halls of GreySlash, walking past each other, acting as if they were nothing more than friends and roommates, but I could see in their eyes the desire to not have to hide, to be open, just like the other relationships in the school. It killed me to see it, but I wasn't going to talk to them about it. I mean, how would I even start a conversation like that? Hey guys, one night, I kind of eavesdropped on a conversation you two were having and saw you kiss, and let me just say, it's totally cool, like you do you, but like, I think you should tell people. Yeah, definitely not. My lips were sealed for the time being.

And possibly forever.

Anyway, after learning that the LeFever family was going on a trip, I also learned that Cecy was going up to a summer cottage with a mortal friend of hers. It was amusing to me to think of someone as hard wired and on edge as Cecy just relax, in a cottage no less. But hey, I guess everybody needs a break.

I carefully tucked the Polaroid photograph of Cass back into my suitcase (which, by the way, I had never actually unpacked) and knocked on the bathroom door, letting Noah know that I was going down to breakfast.

***

A car honked from afar and I looked up to see my dad's old Honda Accord parallel park in the street, emergency lights on and blinking. I stood up from the steps of GreySlash, where I'd been waiting,and started towards the car, looking back at the school. I'd hoped that I'd get to say goodbye to Noah and Cedy before leaving, but seeing as it was a school day, they were probably in class. I continued on towards the car, and as I nearing it, I heard voices call out.

"Jim! Jim, wait!" Sprinting down the steps and across the yard, were Noah and Cecy. I stopped walking, and greeted their approach.

"What are you guys doing? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" I asked.

"Yeah, but we had boxing, and we begged Electra to let us out to say goodbye," Cecy explained.

"Yeah, but who cares about that, Cecy's not telling you that she just kicked Erebus's ass," Noah said gleefully.

"What?" I exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

Cecy scoffed. "I wish," she began. "I didn't kick his ass, only barely beat him in a fight."

"Still, it was glorious," Noah said, still smiling like a madman. I was the same.

"Okay, enough about that," Cecy said, punching me playfully in the arm, which actually ended up hurting a bit. "Have a good trip." I hugged Noah goodbye, and then Cecy. As she released me, she shoved a piece of paper into my hand. Written on it were two phone numbers.

"Call us," Noah said. "I don't think I could spend the entire summer cooped up in a car with just my siblings." Cecy nodded. I smiled.

My dad honked lightly on the horn, telling me to hurry it up. "Go," Cecy said, pushing me lightly towards the car.

"See you later," Noah added. I grabbed my suitcase by the handle and continued the trek down to where my dad was waiting. As I felt myself pass through the magical concealment barrier, I looked back once more. GreySlash was gone, as where Noah and Cecy, replaced instead by an ordinary school. I was sad to see it go, but knew I'd be back in a couple months.

I turned around and got into my car. As my dad greeted me with enthusiasm and started asking about the Itinere, he pulled away from GreySlash. Of course, it only looked like an ordinary school now, but I knew it was more than that, and I liked knowing that I was in on that small secret, part of that race of warriors that would protect the earth.

Until next time then, GreySlash, I thought. Until next time. 

OMG GUYS IT'S DONEEEEE!!!!!!! I had the most AMAZING time writing this story, and I hope you had a great time reading it. Thank you to everybody who gave this story a chance and read until the very end. I can't tel you all enough how much it means to me. 

As I mentioned before, this is going to be a series However, I'm not going to start updating the next one right away, because I want to focus on Risk for a while. So the next one is not here yet, but coming soon!

Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH THIS STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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