Open Minds || Book 1 || Golix [OLD]

Chapter 24: (writer's block sucks)

Cici's POV

     Phoenix seems off, even though we actually just met her today.  And Gol- I mean Gavin has been really quiet since he looked through her memory.  I wonder what she showed him?

     Anyway, we're all walking down the street, Phoenix in the lead.  She said that we could come with her to her tree house, and to meet her friend.  She doesn't seem that bad at all, especially since she fought with that boy earlier for me.

     I don't know what the others have against her, but at least Ben seems to like her.  Well, I do know, but can they at least act like they aren't put off by her, or something? 

     Phoenix turns left and starts speed walking into the woods.  We all glance at each other and shrug before following her.  She doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that there's no actual path.  She then stops before sprinting and jumping, nearly falling over when she reaches the other side of what looks like a stream.  The boys haven't noticed yet.  Phoenix turns to face us.

"Be careful when you jump over the stream, the banks are slick, and it's easy to fall in," she tells us.  I nod, then take a running start before leaping over to her.  "Nice job, Cici.  Now you guys."

     The boys all start jumping over and Flynn is last.  He jumps, but he doesn't land correctly.  His foot catches the bank, and he starts to slide backward.  Luckily, Phoenix saw this happening and reacts quickly.

Flynn's POV

     I feel myself falling backward, and I'm about to shout for help when someone grabs my wrist.  They grip on tightly, and I look up.  To my surprise, it's Phoenix.  She pulls me toward her, away from the stream.  We both fall to the ground, and the others turn to face us.

"Guys!  Are you okay?" Cici asks, running over.  I nod, and so does Phoenix.  We both stand up, but I notice that Phoenix is pale and shaky, Like she had been the one that almost fell in.

"Lass, are you okay?"

     Her head snaps up, and she nods.  "Y-yeah.  I'm fine.  L-let's keep going."

     She turns and begins walking again, and we all share a look.  I can tell that she's hiding something, but I'm not sure what.  We follow her and we come to a tree that has handles nailed into the trunk.  We look up and see that there is indeed a tree house above us.

     Phoenix turns and smiles.  "Welcome to me and Jeremy's tree house.  Give me a second to go up first, I'll call you guys up after."

     We all nod in agreement and she turns around again and begins climbing. 

Phoenix's POV

     I start climbing up, making sure that I won't fall.  My injuries hurt a lot, and it feels like each one of them is on fire, but I shrug it off.  And when I helped Flynn earlier, it reopened the stab wound.  I'll be fine, I've been through much worse.  As soon as I get up and crawl into the tree house, Jeremy spots me.  He smiles, though I can tell that he really isn't feeling the greatest.  I stand up and walk over to him.

"Hey Jere!  I brought the stuff with me!"  I say as I set down the bag.  He groans, but he's smiling.  I laugh at this reaction.

"You didn't get into any trouble with your father, right?" He asks, turning away to cough into his sleeve.  I shake my head and pat him on the back. 

"Nope, he didn't even question why I had the bag with me."

"That's good."  

     I nod, and pull out what I brought, and hand them to Jeremy.  He takes the medicine quickly, and I swear that I've never seen someone so eager to take medicine besides that one time...Anyway, he smiles and looks at me.

"You're in a better mood than you usually are.  Any reason why?"

"So, remember the texts I sent you earlier about there being new kids at school?"

"Yeah.  Why?"

"Because they came with me.  They wanted to meet you."

"O-Oh.  They can come up if they want."

"Okay!"

     I crawl over to the entry and look down.  Freddy is the one that notices me looking down.  "So, are we able to come up?"

"Yup!"

     They start climbing up, and Jeremy watches as they all come in.  I sit down next to Jeremy, smiling.  After they're all in, I speak.

"Well, guys, this is Jeremy.  Jere, this is Feddy, Flynn, Ben, Cici and Gavin," I say.  I feel something in the back of my mind tugging at my thoughts, trying to get me to remember something.  I ignore it, though deep down I know I won't be able to hide from it forever. 

"H-hey," Jere says, waving to the others.  They wave back. 

     After a while, I start feeling dizzy again, and I curse softly.  Ben looks at me.  "What's wrong, Phoenix?"

"N-nothing.  Just thought of something."

"Okay...?"

     The others are all looking at me now, and Jeremy's eyes start glowing green, and he places his hand on my arm.  His eyes widen. 

"Phoenix, you are not okay!  Why didn't you at least tell me!" He says, panicking slightly.  I sigh and push his arm away.  I stand up, ignoring the renewed pain coming from my gut. 

"Jere, I'm fine.  Its only a cut."

     He stands up.  "Only a cut?!  Phoenix, a stab wound is not just a cut!  This is serious!"

"I said I'm fine, I've been through worse," I say, my voice monotone again. 

"Wait, why can't you just heal yourself?" Freddy asks.  I groan and close my eyes, leaning against the wall. 

"I'm still drained from fighting springshit, and I don't feel like passing out from magick overuse again."

     I hear Gavin groan, and he snaps his fingers.  My pain flares again, but then it's gone.  Its been healed.  I open my eyes and stare at him, a bored expression on my face. 

"Thanks, but I would have been fine."

     Then Flynn decides to ask a question.  "What do you mean, you've been through worse?"

Gavin's POV

     I watch as she moves her eyes to look at Flynn.  "Do I even have to explain?" she asks in a soft voice, and Jeremy covers his eyes with his bangs.

"What do you mean...?" Ben asks.  Phoenix closes her eyes. 

"Only two people in here know what I'm talking about, one knows almost the full story," she whispers.  I feel my ear twitch under my hat, and Jeremy tenses.

"What do you mean?" Cici asks.  Phoenix pulls her hood up.

"I told you about my father earlier.  He isn't the nicest..." She says, trailing off.  She pulls out her phone. "Its 4:13, I need to head home.  Call me if you need anything, Jere."

     And with that, she teleports away.  Bonnie looks at Jeremy. 

"It was great meeting you, but we should probably go as well.  See you in school, once you're better!" he says, and nods at me.  I teleport all of us back to the pizzeria.

     Jeremy and Phoenix seem to be good at finding out things.  Maybe they know who we are?  No, they would have said something.  Well, we need to get ready for tonight.  Things should get interesting with only Mike being here again...

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Yay!  I got a new chapter up!  I have a writer's block, as you can tell by the title.  But, I'm pushing through it! Ciao!