Forlot - Books 1-3 {Completed}

Chapter Thirty-Two

The new shadow, who turned out to be Maxine, hugged me. "Nigel, I am so glad to see after all this time," she stated.

"M-Maxine? Is it you?" I asked. "The real you?"

She looked up at me. "Does two plus two equal four?"

What kind of question was that? And what did math and numbers have to do with it?

"Um, yes. I know simple math, not complex math."

Maxine giggled softly. "Such as sine, cosine, and tangent?"

I shook my head and rubbed my forehead with my fingers. Just thinking on sine, cosine, and tangent gave me a splitting headache. "No way. Finding those three equations alone is difficult."

"What about imaginary numbers?"

"Oh, do not get me started with numbers that are supposedly imaginary! I mean, what is the deal with those types of numbers? Why do they exist? They are imaginary! They have no role to play in the math world!"

"Nigel, imaginary numbers do matter."

I rolled my eyes. "Let me ask you this. If imaginary numbers have a purpose, then why do imaginary friends not have a purpose?"

"What is your point, Nigel?" Karla questioned.

"On one hand, you are required to learn imaginary numbers if you are going into a field that requires loads of math equations. On the other hand, some parents in the world would like their kids to forget their imaginary friends and have real friends instead."

"Oh, I get it," Maxine commented. "Good analysis."

I blushed again. But it was not because I was embarrassed.

It was because of Maxine and her compliment.

No longer could I deny myself to her. I had to face the facts. I had fallen in love with her.

I wonder if she feels the same...

"Looks like that you two are getting along well," Karla spoke as she picked up the invisible book. "I will leave both of you guys alone. I have to put the book back." She hurried off. "Be back in a flash!"

I watched as Karla disappeared into the darkness. For a shadow, she sure was fast. She should consider running in a marathon.

That is, if I succeeded in leading the shadow people to freedom.

I looked down at my sneakers. The sneakers were getting pretty filthy.

"Nigel, are you alright?" Maxine asked.

I shrugged. "I am just stressed," I replied, not making eye contact with her.

"Stressed? Why are you stressed? Is it because of the math that I reminded you of?"

"No. It...it is something else."

"Let me guess." She gently took my arm, and then sat on the cold ground and made me sit next to her. "You are the chosen hero."

I glanced back at her with a surprise look on my face. "You know?"

"Yes. Karla told me."

"Well, that would explain it."

Maxine scooted closer to me and rested her head on my chest, and I could not help but blush redder.

I rubbed her shadowy back. "It is you. Right, Maxine?" I said.

"Of course," she answered. "I am the same Maxine whom you met on the bus."

I slightly smiled at her. She was the true Maxine. Nobody could impersonate her.
——————————————————————————
I gently grabbed her hand and held it in mine. "I would still like an explanation on that."

"Of why I am alive and well?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, there is not much to tell." She gripped my shoulders and smirked.

And then she began to change.

To blackness.

"Especially when I am not the real Maxine."
——————————————————————————
Except a Nerian.

"So Maxine, how did you get here?" I wondered. "How did you get to Nerquina?"

"Hard to say," she said. "I do not know exactly how I got to this place."

"Just tell me what you remember."

She lowered her head and took my hands into hers. "I remember being conscious while we were on the bus. You and I were chatting, getting to know each other better, and out of the blue, I heard a loud crash. My vision went black, and I soon woke up..." My friend surveyed what was around us. "...and I...I found myself here. In blackness." She paused.

"Go on," I encouraged. "I am listening."

"I then...heard a tapping sound."

"Hey, I heard the tapping sound too when I first came. Turns out, it was Karla."

Maxine nodded in agreement. "Yes. It was Karla. She helped me up and wanted my name for some record. I told her who I was, and she welcomed me to my new home." She sniffed. "I questioned her on what was going on, and she explained in full detail. I had become a shadow. I did not believe her at firsthand, but when I got a good look at myself..."

"...you panicked?"

"Ever so much! I did not want to be a shadow. I wanted to go home with my mom and dad."

I felt bad. "I am sorry."

"I called for Mom. I called for Dad. And when I called for you...Karla became excited."

"Because she knew that I am the hero."

"She told me that after I asked her why she was acting like a lunatic who ate too much sugar. And right then and there, she swore to protect me. She had a feeling that you would show up, so she kept me safe from the bad shadows, including her father, Oberious."

"...what?"

Maxine sighed. "Do not make me repeat what I have already said."

"No, no. I got all that. But...did you say that Oberious is Karla's father?"

"That is what she told me."

"She told me that she was an orphan!"

My friend glared at me. "Then Karla lied to one of us."