The Other Side

Chapter 9: The newcomers

I woke up the next morning to the smell of blueberry pancakes in the air. I noticed Cole wasn't in bed, and I walked into the kitchen. Cole wasn't there either.

"Strange, where's Cole?" I wondered to myself.

I suddenly heard a quiet tapping sound coming from the hallway outside.

I opened the door and saw a tall boy in a light blue sweatshirt, walking down the hall towards the elevator. The mysterious boy turned around for a split second, looking directly at me, he was wearing sunglasses, ones that looked exactly like Cole's.

The boy entered the elevator, pressed a button and the doors closed shut.

That must be Cole! Where was he going? Why did he leave without telling me? All of these thoughts were spiralling around my head.

The only thing I thought to do was chase Cole down to the lobby, I could not wait for another elevator, so I ran down the stairs.

I ran down all the flights of stairs and finally entered the lobby. I walked to the middle of the lobby and I stood there frantically searching for Cole, I did not see him anywhere, neither did I see a blue sweater on anyone.

A warm hand grabbed mine, I was in utter surprise.

"Could I help you? A voice spoke up. It sounded deeper, not much like Cole.

I turned around, to see the boy in sunglasses and a light blue hoodie. The same one from upstairs, who was now holding my hand.

"Cole? Is that you?" I suddenly snarl at the boy.

"Cole? Who's Cole?" He asked, sounding confused.

The boy takes off his sunglasses. He's not Cole. I have never seen this boy in my life.

"I'm so sorry, I thought you were somebody else," I say, letting go of the boy's hand, and walking towards the elevator.

"Wait! Stop!" The boy hollers at me and grabbed my wrist to stop me from walking away.

"Yes?" I turned around and asked the boy.

"I'm Liam," he said with a smile.

"Hi? Um...i'm Maya - " I say as I am interrupted by a girl who seems extremely irritated.

"Liam!" She says and grabs his wrist. "I told you not to talk to anybody"

As they were arguing, I noticed they did not have any numbers written on their wrists, just like I didn't have.

"You guys aren't from here are you?" I asked.

They both stopped bickering and stared at me in shock. Neither of them said a word.

"Uh...yes we are," the girl said, trying to convince me.

"I know that you aren't," I said, with a small smile, trying to lighten the conversation.

"What gave it away?" The girl asked.

"You don't have numbers," I said.

"Numbers?" The girl said, confused.

"The people from this year have numbers tattooed on their wrists" I explained.

"You're from the past too?" Both Liam and the girl asked in unison.

"Yes, 2019," I said.

"We are too" the girl smiled at me. "So you're Maya? I'm Brynn"

"Nice to meet you - " I start to say as another boy walked up to us.

"What's taking so long, Brynn?" The boy asked, he had dark brown hair, which was slightly long, and he was incredibly tall.

"She's stuck here too, just like us," Brynn said to the tall boy, who was most potentially her and Liam's friend.

"Hello," I said to him with a smile.

"This is Kai" Brynn points to the boy to introduce him to me. "Kai, this is Maya," She tells him.

"Nice to meet you," Kai said while shaking my hand.

"You too" I replied with a smile.

I looked at a clock across the lobby room, it has been ten minutes since I left Cole's apartment.

"I'm sorry to leave so soon, but I have to get going back upstairs," I say to everyone.

"Wait," Brynn says suddenly.

I looked at Brynn confused.

"Do you know how to leave the future...or uh...this place?" Brynn asked.

"Sort of" I responded to her.

"Could we come?" They all asked at the same time, the sounded desperate and eager to get help.

I looked at all of them and hesitated.

"I guess so," I said and smiled.

"Where's Leia?" Brynn asked Kai.

"Leia?" I asked.

"She's sitting over there," Kai said, pointing over to a girl sitting on a bench across the room.

The girl noticed all of us looking over at her, so she walked over to us.

She was a medium-sized girl with short black, curly hair. She had brown eyes and light brown skin and freckles. Lots of freckles.

"Hey guys!" the girl said cheerfully to the group.

"Who's your new friend?" She asked her group and smiled at me.

"I'm Maya - "I started, as Brynn cut me off.

"Kai, explain everything to Leia," she said to Kai. "Where's your place?" She asked, now talking to me.

"Follow me," I said, and I guided them upstairs to Cole's apartment.

I opened the door to Cole's apartment, I walked into the living room, with everyone else following me and piling into the room as well.

"Maya?" I heard Cole say as he was coming out of the bathroom.

He was wearing a white towel wrapped around his waist. When he came out, all I could do was notice and stare at his gorgeous abs.

"Isn't that Cole? The one from the billboard?" Kai whispered to Liam.

"I think so" Liam whispered back.

"Guys, be quiet" Leia snapped at Liam and Kai.

I took a few steps closer to Cole. "Uh..h-hi, Cole," I said to him extremely nervous.

"Who are these people?" He asked me.

"They need help" I answered.

"Help?" Cole said, laughing under his breath.

"They're stuck here too, " I explained.