Parallel

Chapter Four

As the taxi moved around in a steady drive, Allison couldn’t help but steal looks at her younger sister, still not wanting to believe things were going has they actually were. She had boarded a taxi, that was about the most shocking thing she had ever seen her little sister do.

Hope didn’t fail to realize her sister’s occasional glance and she giggled to herself, clearly satisfied that she had take her by a complete surprise.

“Since, when did you start boarding taxis?” She asked as she tilted her head in order to take a proper look at the person sitting next to her who also happened to look like her younger sister.

“Well, change is inevitable” Hope replied as she shrugged her shoulders.

Allison was taken at the response, Hope was clearly surprising by the second today.

“Last time I checked, it was either Frank or no one” she said again not letting the matter off so easily.

“What?” Hope asked innocently as she found the intense gaze from her sister becoming a bit too heavy for her to bear.

Allison chuckled and was relieved that some things were still the same, and decided to stop tormenting the poor girl. She also knew her better than anyone, and was very sure Hope would say nothing she didn’t want to say, no matter how intense the gaze was or something else.

“Well, I guess this year’s difference has already been revealed” she thought to herself. Hope boarding a taxi would probably be her main shock of the year.

After a while of silence and driving, Allison began to feel uneasy, it never took them this long anytime Frank drove them home. Something didn’t feel right.

“Where are we going?” She asked, her question directed towards the driver as she sat straight to get a proper view of him through the rear mirror. Although that didn’t help much, as she neither saw his face nor hear his voice.

“Relax sis, you’ll see-----eventually” Hope reassured her while giggling at her sister’s impatience which hardly ever occurred.

Allison stared at her once again, for a moment, she had forgotten her kid sister was the mastermind behind all of this. She wondered how Hope had actually managed to get all of this into place. As far as she could tell, she didn’t miss a day of school, neither did she skip meals at home, she was almost never on the phone. So, her pulling this off was a total mystery.

Allison was still in thought when the driver pulled over by a side of the road. She peered through the window by her side and saw a large bookstore staring back at her.

The door from across her seat was shut and she jumped slightly at the sudden sound. Looking behind her to see the situation, only to find the seat empty.

She frowned her eyebrows a bit before hearing a gentle knock on her side of the door, she jumped again at the sound and saw Hope looking at with a questioning look. She alighted from the  bus while also wondering why her body couldn’t stay put today.

They both walked into the bookstore with Hope leading the way. Allison stared over the series of bookshelves that was filled the store. A single soul was not in present that afternoon. “The structure was clearly built for more people to come in, but why is it so empty?” Allison thought to herself as they kept walking between the shelves.

“So, you wanna tell me what’s going on?” Allison asked as she placed her hands on her hips, while still looking around the bookstore for signs of anyone who might jump in on her.

“C'mon, its in the backroom” Hope answered as she kept walking, not minding her sister.

Once more, Allison felt confused, “backroom? How did she manage to get access to that” she thought to herself while following her sister closely.

The entrance to the backroom was dark, there was a little space surrounding the area at there didn’t seem to be a light bulb there. Allison stopped where the light still reached her and watched Hope move into the dark space.

“Oh my, I think I might have forgotten the right switch for this part of the store” Hope said as she stood in front of a little box fixed on the wall.

Allison said nothing and just watched her sister fool around with the box of switches. If Hope was trying to get her into that dark space, she shouldn’t even wish it, cause Allison was bent on leaving the spot where she could see things properly.

After moments of hmms and constant staring at the box. Hope finally made her mind and flicked a switch. 

“Hope? What did you do?” Allison asked, clearly not impressed by the sudden darkness that now enveloped the whole store.

It seemed Hope had flicked the wrong switch and all the lights in the store had gone off. Plus the part of the store was far deep in the store and it almost seemed like a total blackout.

“If this is a prank, you have successfully pranked me, turn the lights back on” Allison said as she stood fixated in her spot and spread her hands out as though she were using them to figure out the right direction she would go, if the need came.

There was no response from Hope, and that didn’t exactly help Allison relax. She could hear still Hope running her hands through the box, not sure of what she was doing.

“Haha, found it!” Hope said, almost screaming as she reached for a switch in the box and flicked it.

“Surprise!!!” the voices came immediately the lights went on.

The sound was so loud and sudden, even Hope jumped slightly as she placed her hand to her chest to calm her nerves. Allison on the other hand, wasn’t expecting anything so loud and sudden. She shrieked and lost her balance as she fell to the floor.

“Oh my! Sorry darling” Mrs. Carter voiced our as she moved forward to help her daughter up.

Feeling embarrassed and out of sorts, she buried her head between her legs and refused her mother’s help to get up. She knew they would prank her and she kept an eye for any sudden movement. But the darkness had taken her off guard, in the end, they had succeeded once more.

She shook her body in the movements of a rocking chair as the little crowd in front of her sang her the usual happy birthday song. She was happy, very happy at the least, but was still too embarrassed to face them immediately.

“C’mon Allison, get up, its your birthday!” a male voice came from amidst the crowd.

She recognized the voice far too well, but she hadn’t heard him sing the birthday song. Perhaps, because she was rather curled up trying to cover her embarrassment. She raised her head to confirm her guess of who owned the voice and her eye shone in amusement.

“Jack! Emily! Logan! What the hell are you guys doing here?” she asked as she identified all three of her classmates standing next to her parents and sister.

“Well, someone brought an idea of pranking a birthday celebrant, we simply couldn’t refuse the offer” Emily said as she walked over to Hope and gave her a hug.

After she and Emily’s brief hug, Hope went over to Allison as she knelt down to hug her neck from behind. Allison held her sister’s arm and couldn’t imagine the trouble had sister must have gone through just to make this so much fun for her.

“Although, it seems the prankster also got spooked by her own idea” Logan said as he nodded to Hope who felt slightly embarrassed by her reaction earlier.

“Yeah, you got that right” Jack commented as they all laughed in unison.

“Thank you guys very much, I really really love you all so so much” Allison said with excitement in her voice, even as she refused to get up from her newly found position.

“Don’t thank us yet, the best is yet to come” Emily said with a smug smile.

“Yeah, maybe this one will get you off your feet” her dad chipped in.

Hope let go of her sister and went to join her parents as they all stared at the girl on the floor with wicked smiles on their faces.

Allison was clearly confused by what they had meant, while still trying to figure out their plan so as not to get spooked again, she noticed a shadow casted over her.

“Hey Allison” the voice came quite casual and calm.

Allison recognized the voice too well to mistake it for someone else’s. That calm, soft and soothing voice belonged to only one guy. He was the only guy she couldn’t talk to without stammering or losing her balance, he literally sweeps her off her feet each time their eyes met in class.

She sat frozen in her position, refusing to believe or accept the fact that her sister had actually gone through the trouble of inviting James over to their little gathering. She didn’t even hear him come in! Did that mean he was inside already? The questions kept popping into her head as she tried to make sense of it all.

She raised her head to seek some form of help or advice from her friends or family. But they all had their smile on, clearly enjoying the show she was making.

The voice didn’t come again, so she was beginning to think it was just a another prank, although the shadow in front of her said otherwise, either ways, she needed to confirm with her own eyes.

Closing on her eyes slightly, she slowly turned her head around to take a steady look at the figure properly. As she made contact, the masculine figure standing over her said nothing as he smiled at her.

Without warning, she let out a loud shriek without intending to. She immediately cupped her hands over her mouth to stop the sound. “His canine, he showed me his canine, for me alone” she thought to herself as she realized she wasn’t dreaming. James Manchester had actually smiled to her, on her birthday! Another scream escaped her lips which came as a shock to everyone,  caused they couldn’t find her reason for screaming again.

She stared at them once more and felt odd. She wasn’t short so she wondered why it felt as though they were all looming down at her. Her eyes widened at the realization. “Oh shit, James is behind me and I’m still sitting on the damn floor”

She got up hurriedly and in a rather clumsy manner which made her lose her balance as she fell backwards. A set of firm hands caught her before the trip was halfway its destination. She stared at him and screamed again.

Her savior was clearly not impressed by the scream that had been so close to his ears. He shook his head in disapproval as he balanced her steadily on the floor before he could regain his composure.

She stared at him with wide eyes and turned away to look at the people who had caused the humiliation to her. With her hands still cupped over her mouth, she walked over to Emily and whispered into her ears;

“Is he real?” she asked, her eyes directed at the figure standing across them.

“Why not confirm it yourself?” Emily whispered back as she pushed her back the way she came.

With just a few steps between them, Allison stared at him, and looked back to face her mom, seeking confidence of any sort. Her mom raised her brows in a ‘what are you waiting for?’ She closed her eyes and reduced the space between them as her rate went faster by the second.

They were almost the same height which was a good thing for thing her, she wouldn’t have liked it if he was so much taller than her. Without warning, she raised her hands to her face and pulled his cheeks slightly, checking to see if he was really human and was really standing in front of her.

He said nothing and allowed her play with his face. After a few moments, she dropped her hands and screamed again. James staggered backwards as the sudden shriek pierced through his ears once again.

Emily and Hope walked up to them, as they each took an arm, they bundled her away, leaving him with a smile. The others were also taken by surprise at the sudden burst of scream again, as they all shook their heads to get rid of the still ringing tone in their heads.

“Well, I guess she liked it or him, right?” Mr. Carter asked, his question directed his wife who only stared at him and said nothing.

“Who wants a drink? I know I do” he said again leaving his wife’s side, with Jack and Logan following closely behind him, clearly interested in the drink he had mentioned earlier.

Mrs. Carter stared at them as they went into the backroom. She walked over to James to apologize for her daughter’s behavior.

She stood in front of him and tried to speak but couldn’t find the right words. So, she closed her mouth to think of what to say. Instinctively, James placed his two index fingers into both sides of his ears as he stared at the woman with his eyebrows raised.

His reaction hit her as a shock and made her want to scream, but looking at him again, she decided it wouldn’t be much of a good idea.
With a heavy sigh and a dropped head, she left his front and let him be. She headed to the backroom to go join her husband as she thought she would probably need that drink he mentioned earlier.

Emily and Hope were bringing Allison back, she seemed to have relaxed a bit as they stopped in front of James who still had his fingers placed in his ears. Emily laughed slightly, she gently tapped his shoulder as she and Hope walked away from them, leaving Allison with nothing but a thumbs up.

“Hi” James said, slowly removing his fingers from his ears, but still being prepared for the next sonic attack.

“Hi. Sorry about earlier” Allison replied in a nervous tone as she twisted her fingers into each other.

“Not a problem ------as long as you promise not to scream again” he said as he smiled at her again.

Seeing his smile from a very close up view really made her want to scream, he looked so perfect, the dimples, and the perfectly outlined canine, he was just too beautiful.

“I really can’t promise that” Allison said with her fingers still wrestling at each other nervously.

His eyes shone at her response, he clearly wasn’t expecting it. As he watched her used her fingers against each other, he kept it in mind to be prepared for another sudden scream.

“She looks very happy” Emily said as she walked up from behind Hope.

“I know right” Hope answered as she clenched her hands into tight fists, as though she were a kid that had just found his favorite toy. She was beaming with joy as she watched her elder sister have a chat with her longtime crush whom she now hoped would become her boyfriend.

Emily stared at Allison as she was laughing at something James had said to her. She looked a bit more relaxed than she had been before, so it didn’t seek as though there would be any screams from her again. She sighed at the thought and moved her gaze to the younger sister standing beside her.

She stared at Hope for a longer time as she recalled the day activities and several days before as she had never failed to call them in for practice, all to make her elder sister completely happy. She had even rented a whole bookstore to fulfil that mission. She smiled at the younger girl and thought to herself “what an unusual girl, Allison is quite lucky to have her”

Hope turned to face her as though she heard her thoughts and without warning, she hugged her tightly. Emily returned the hug and was glad her friend had such a cheerful sister.