Naga Chronicles: Jeremy and the Staff of Reckoning

Chapter 21-28

Chapter 21

Regular Life

Going home meant sleeping in my bed again, and that made me extremely happy. I also missed the a.c. in my house. It wasn't super-hot in Haskya, but it was not cool enough for good sleep either. At a few points in the trip, I felt like sleeping in my underwear, but I was with Imi and then Imi and Jazz, so that was definitely a no go. I barely wanted them to see with my shirt off, but when you're hot and sweaty sometimes it's gotta come off. Imi and Jazz didn't seem to mind. That's probably because I'm 10, though.

Being back home felt great! My mom was cooking dinner, my dad was watching tv and I could just sit on my butt and do nothing for as long as I wanted, and I did just that. I sat with my dad and watched a game. I ate dinner and a lot of it, my parents looked at me like I was an alien. I showered, I have never missed showering so much in my life and then I finally laid on my nice, soft bed and started to doze off. I don't think it was even 8 pm yet, but I was exhausted. Once I realized that I was dozing off, I grabbed my amethyst and charged it. I wanted to stay in my bed and sleep tonight. No traveling for me.

The next morning was uneventful as usual. I got up, got dressed, ate breakfast and walked to school. School again was uneventful. I saw Ryan and we hung out at lunch and recess, talked about video games and our tv shows. The teacher decided to be mean and give us a pop quiz and extra homework. After school is when I panicked.

The end of school bell rang, and we all rushed out the door like the building was on fire. Walkers, like myself, don't have to wait in a single file line at the door like bus riders do and we don't have to go to the cafeteria like the car riders do. We get to just go. However, as I'm about to leave the campus I see my mom's car sitting next to the sidewalk I normally walk down, waiting for me. I walk up to the passenger side window and knock on it. I scared her. She was reading and not looking for me. I laughed, so did she.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" I asked her.

"Well, I wanted to pick you up because your grandparents are coming in today and I wanted us home before they got there. I know you normally hang out with Ryan or go adventuring off lately, so I decided to get you before you could take off." She replied.

"Oh, ok," I say. In my head, I'm freaking out. My grandparents normally stay for weeks at the time and I never get alone time. I'm not going to be able to make it back to Haskya anytime soon. Granted it's really only a couple of hours I would be missing, that is still a lot of time needed to get my crystal for my staff. Well, unless I go while I'm asleep. I think that's what I'm going to have to do, just to let Imi and Jazz know and to let Omah eat. I really hate going while asleep, but I have no choice for the foreseeable future.

When we get home, we pull in the driveway just as my grandparents pull up to it. Talk about cutting it close. Mom and I  laughed at just barely beating them home. I jumped out of the car and ran back to my grandparents' car. I get a stern call from my mother.

"Jeremy! You know better than to run near a moving vehicle."

"I know, I'm sorry mom," I say sheepishly to her.

My grandfather (Pop) smiles at me and laughs a little. He gets whacked in the arm by my grandma (Nanno). That's when I laugh. Nanno gives me a big smile and waits for Pop to get out and open her door. I beat him to it. As my Nanno gets out of the car she looks at me with a confused look on her face. She's staring at my chest.

My mind starts going a thousand miles a minute. "Can she see the sigil? Does she know about my traveling to another world? Oh gosh, is she going to freak out." I can't stop my mind from going into overdrive.

She walks around the car door, closing it and straight towards me. Normally I wouldn't be freaking out, but she was just staring at my chest. I can't tell if she is coming closer to hug me or if she is going to rip my shirt off to see the sigil. She comes closer and closer; my heart is about to jump out of my chest. I swallow hard, there is a lump in my throat that is just not going away.