distorted dreams

chapter nine;

Jay was awoken by the aggressive vibration of their phone in their pocket. They sat up, groaning softly.

"I thought I put you on silent.." They mumbled pressing the power button and lighting up the screen.

The light practically blinded Jay, but they quickly focused on the words displayed on the screen.

Incoming Call: Mom.

Jay stiffened, realizing that they hadn't called their mom this entire weekend. They glanced up, staring at the sleeping bodies of their two friends. At least they wouldn't be awake while Jay's mom was humiliating them.

Jay slid their finger across the "Accept Call" button, their hands shaking as they pressed the phone to their ear.

"He-" They were cut off before they could even finish their greeting.

"I cannot believe you Jayleen!" The female voice on the other line shouted. "I thought you got kidnapped too! You scared me to death, young lady!"

Jay bit their lip, closing their eyes as their mother ranted on.

By the time she finally cooled down, both Maxwell and Hope had woken up. They exchanged glances with Jay, cringing as they heard the yelling from their phone.

Jay's mother finally quieted down, her voice hoarse from all the yelling. "You are coming straight home after school today!" She muttered.

Jay's eyes widened. "School." They whispered, the line going dead.

They turned around, just in time to see Hope jump to her feet. "We're going to be late!" She exclaimed.

Maxwell grabbed her arm, an idea already formed in his head. "No, we're not going."

Hope shook her head aggressively, frowning. "No. I cannot skip! My mom will kill me!"

Maxwell grabbed his phone looking up at Hope. "Oh, you won't be skipping."

He dialed a series of numbers, holding the phone up. Jay glanced at Hope, who was nervously picking at her finger nails.

"Hello, this Mr. Gardenia speaking. I'm here to call my son Maxwell out for a trip, along with his friends." Maxwell spoke in an impression of his dad, and it was shockingly on point.

"Jay Connor and Hope Ferrara." He stated, looking up at his friend's awed faces.

"Yes, thank you." Maxwell hung up, glancing up again. "Boom." He said, returning to his normal voice.

Jay clapped, smiling and nodding their head. "I had no clue you could do that, but I'm incredibly proud."

Hope hesitantly nodded in agreement. "Lying isn't necessarily a great skill to have, but it definitely comes in handy." She mumbled.

Jay stood up, smirking in a sort of proud way. "Well, we have the day to ourselves now!"

"What are we supposed to do though?" Hope interjected, raising her eyebrows.

Maxwell and Jay exchanged a glance, and Maxwell jumped to his feet.

"We need to train. We need to be able to fight that thing." He said, looking down at the other two.

"Or things.." Jay muttered, though it wasn't loud enough for either of their friends to hear.

Hope already seemed very concerned. "How we supposed to train? We don't even know how these creatures function-"

Jay shrugged slightly, their eyes darting between Maxwell and Hope. "We could just get a good grasp of our weapons and stuff?"

Hope looked mildly annoyed. "I know how to swing a bat." She huffed.