CHILD'S PLAY, quentin beck

XVI. LONDON CALLING

Out of all cities the students had visited with their teachers, London was by far the most touristy one out there. The hotel's restaurant had been crowded with fellow Americans talking about how they preferred Europe over their own hometown, and Josephine was yet to run into an actual English person today.

"I don't think I'll be going on the London Eye anymore, babe," Betty's statement broke the reigning silence as she turned to face Ned. Those two had been inseparable ever since they started seeing each other. Everyone was still wondering how the two of them had managed to get together, specifically considering they barely ever said a word to each other back in America. "Not after we almost died on that ferris wheel in Prague. I can't do that again." Ned didn't respond, he just laughed quietly and nodded. He was happy to do anything she wanted, as long as it would distract him from everything that had been happening.

Josephine blocked out the sounds of the students discussing their plans as she closed her eyes, leaned back into the seat and waited for the bus ride to be over. Despite the cold, rainy weather outside, it felt like a heatwave inside the bus. She might as well have put on a t-shirt and shorts. And the fact that nearly twenty people were stuck together in such a small space didn't help either.

Her mind kept drifting back to last night's events, no matter how badly she tried to ignore them. She thought about the phone she had stolen without thinking twice about it. She especially didn't plan to kiss him, not after finding out the whole thing had been a big, fat lie. The device was still in her bag and Josephine had absolutely no idea what to do with it. Giving it back was out of the question, that would mean she had to go back and see him. And she couldn't exactly call him either.

She thought about Peter, too. He still hadn't called and no matter how many times Ned, MJ, or Josephine tried to contact him, he never picked up his phone. Maybe he lost it. But Josephine wouldn't call herself an optimist, and she was terrified something bad had happened. Of course, she didn't share those thoughts with MJ and Ned. And to say Peter's two friends were worried as well would be an understatement; Ned was quieter than he usually was, and MJ had been staring at the same page of her book for nearly twenty minutes now.

Roger was the first one to speak up as soon as they exited the bus. "We're here," he had announced happily. At least someone was excited about the rest of their stay in Europe. It seemed like everyone else, including Julius and especially Josephine, were just waiting for the trip to finally be over so they could go home. The Europe-trip had been far from successful, Josephine almost started to regret ever signing up for it.

"And where's here, exactly?" Brad asked as he adjusted his sunglasses, despite the lack of sun. He should have brought an umbrella instead. "It all looks the same to me. The whole city." Aside from a sigh, he didn't receive an answer from his teacher, who silently started walking, leading the group somewhere quieter so they could all discuss their plans for the rest of the day. The itinerary hadn't exactly been working out for anyone, so they would have to make some last-minute decisions.

Roger wanted to visit a few museums and he found some students who were interested in that as well. And as Julius tried to talk a few students out of their plan to head back to the hotel and just sleep for the rest of the day, Josephine sat down on one of the benches near the group. She had opened her bag, grabbing her own phone to open some unread messages, not noticing Ned sitting down next to her.

"What do you think's next?" He had asked her, catching MJ's attention as well and resulting in her joining the two. Far enough from the group so no one could hear them talking. He noticed the frowns on both of their faces and shook his head. "Monster attack, you know? There was a water monster in Venice and a fire monster in Prague, and now we're in London. What kind of monster could attack London?"

MJ sighed. "They weren't monsters, just drones." They all knew very well the monsters weren't real, at least not like the ones that attack New York City on what seems to be a daily basis. The first time it had happened, Josephine deeply regretted moving away from San Francisco.

"Yeah, drones that attacked people," Ned told her. "Only earth and air are left, right? Wow, we could really use the Avatar right about now."

Josephine shook her head. "Nope," she spoke up. "When I met Fury, they were talking about an earth-based creature in Mexico. That's where they met Quentin." She looked up at the two students for a few seconds before a new notification on her phone caught her attention. "And a week later, they were in Morocco because of another attack."

"Air?" Ned asked and sighed in defeat when Josephine nodded in return. "Somehow I don't think it's over, yet."

They all left after that. Julius had split the group into three smaller groups and have each one be chaperoned by a teacher. Josephine was left in charge of MJ, Ned, Betty and Flash for the rest of the day. When the other two teachers asked where Peter went off to, Ned quickly said he had gone to find a bathroom and would join their group as soon as he came back.

"Oh! We should all get lunch and then go on a boat tour," Betty suggested. Neither she nor Flash knew why the other three weren't as excited to be here, although Flash seemed too preoccupied with creating new videos for his followers. Apparently, they all loved his new Europe-content.

Ned thought of something to say, but before he could open his mouth, Josephine spoke up. "Great idea," she said. They could hardly stand on the street all day, waiting for something to happen once again. "Let's get going, then."

"And hopefully not die," Ned mumbled, only for MJ and Josephine to hear.

-

OKAY, so, I just wanted to apologize for making you all wait so long for this chapter and for the fact that it's not a very long one. Also, this story is, unfortunately, coming to an end but I am planning a sequel. I'll make sure to update you all on that. 

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you think!