Welcome to My World

Chapter 62 Ezran's POV {

I slowly rotate for Ellis to see, and she nods approvingly. "Good, it fits." She notes. "I was worried it wouldn't."

"You guessed right." I reply, adjusting my tie. "Go put yours on. We have to leave in ten minutes."

Ellis smiles. "I'm planning to go in my jeans."

I put my hands on my hips, imitating my dad. "I wear a fancy outfit, you wear a fancy outfit." I scold, and she laughs on her way out of the room.

As soon as she's gone, I look for a pen. I don't find one.

I'm still looking when Ellis comes back. "So what do you think?" She asks. I turn to see her dress, which looks kind of like leaves. I mimic her approving nod. "Yeah, good one." I say, not knowing what I'm expected to say. "It's very leafy."

Ellis giggles a bit. "Yes. Leafy."

"Time to go, lovebirds." Len rasps, sticking her head into the room. "Nice outfits."

"Hey!" I protest. "We aren't lovebirds!"

So it turns out that the weird girl in the pool is actually a nice person. Her name is Len and she is apparently Ellis' roommate and carpooler. She also knows about Xadia, because... Well, that part was very vague. But hey, we'll need help if Viren is really going to strike tonight.

Len snorted. "Mmmhmm. Pack it up. I'm leaving in 5 minutes with whatever's in the car, regardless if you aren't one of them."

"We'll be there." Ellis answers, pulling on socks.

"Good, 'cause I just got the car cleaned and I'd hate to have to scrape off the remains of a teen who didn't make it in time and got squished on the driveway." Len laughed at her own (hopefully a) joke before leaving the room.

Silence.

Ellis hands me a pen. I thank her. What else do you do when a supposedly Xadian person prophecies your imminent doom?

Make sure said Xadian person doesn't run over you, that's for sure. We grabbed our bags and rushed out before Len even had the opportunity to think about squishing us.

More silence! Len apparently doesn't like karaoke while driving. She nearly mowed down a bunch of old ladies on the sidewalk and they chased us with canes. They shouldn't even be that fast! Besides, we only hit one mailbox, and we didn't even hit any of them!

I swear, Len is like one of those drivers you see zooming down the highway and you think to yourself, 'wow, how did they even get their license?' and then 'do they even have their license?'

We got to Ivywood High after shaking one last persistent old lady and stopping so Ellis and I could empty out our stomachs. There'd been a change of plans, so Len went to mow down more old ladies park the car while Ellis and I checked the three of us in. The boy at the table winked at us when we signed. "Enjoy your date!" He chirped.

"Hey, this isn't a date." I muttered. "This is an extremely high danger mission requiring stea-"

I demonstrated my stealthiness by tripping over Ellis' heel. And she was wearing flats.

Ellis pretended she hadn't seen me stealthily tripping over her shoes and scanned the room. "Rumor has it that Rayla is coming with the shadow. Know anything about it?"

"Asides from the fact that the shadow is the Derek-thing? Nope." I reply. "I don't even know where you get your gossip, Elle."

"Penny. Why?"

I shrug. I don't even know who this Penny person is. I just asked Ellis to keep an ear to the ground. Uh, school corridor. "So if Rayla isn't with my brother, who is?"

"I am."

I spin around to see Len in all her watery glory. My eyes widen. "Wait, you're going with Callum?!" I exclaim.

She shrugs one shoulder. "He asked. It's platonic."

"He- he what?!" Ellis repeats. "And only now you mention this?!"

Another shrug. "Huh."

I grab hold of my temper. "All right, and how will this affect the plan?"

"That's easy." Len answers. "All you have to do is bring Rayla, minus the shadow child, to the east balcony."

I blink. "What balcony?"

She points to a glass door beside the DJ booth under a clump of purple, blue, and green balloons. "The door is locked, but I know the code. That stupid student council never listens. The code is 314303."

Ellis extends her palm to me, and I take out the pen. I write it down on hers, then mine. Then our upper arms, just in case it runs off on the punch or something.

Len nods to us as Callum comes through the doors. "I have to go. I will meet you there no later than 9 PM, alright?"

"Yep." Ellis agrees. "See ya."

Len turns to go, but then of course two things happen. First, Rayla and the Derek-thing come through the doors, and second, something explodes in the middle of the room.

Fun.

^•×•^ ^•×•^ ^•×•^ ^•×•^ ^•×•^ ^•×•^ ^•×•^

What is it with people and screaming? I mean, we scream all the time. Is it meant to imitate an alarm, or is an alarm meant to imitate a scream?

There were alarms and/or screams going off all around me as the dust from the explosion turns black and starts swirling. Even more fun.

Then it starts to make a portal that unleashes weird spirit thingies into the room! I'm having the best time of my life, not!

The spirit thingies fly through the crowd, causing general chaos and passing through people. Some people scream louder, others freeze and collapse to the floor. The ones who collapse are pale, as if the energy has been sucked out of them.

"He's coming!" Len shouts. "Everybody, run!"

Before even one person can make it out, a wave of darkness rips through the room and almost everyone crumples. Those who don't look confused, some start smiling, and some cry. Except for us. Me, Ellis, Len, Rayla, Callum, and Dereks 1& 2 have seen something like this before. Even if not all of us remember.

The Dark Mage Viren steps out of the portal. "Ah, the Otherworld." His smile is cold. "Hello, Selena. I haven't seen you since I killed you."

I think the only reason I'm not totally panicked right now is that he's wearing Mickey Mouse pajamas.

Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for being such a butt and not updating for TWO WHOLE MONTHS. Even more sorry to tell you that updates will be coming slowly. 'Cause, well... I got accepted into a mentorship program to write a novel and get published! But I will be updating WTMW. Climax, almost 3/4ths through Book 1! Yes, there will be a book 2. And 3. Just wanna thank everyone for sticking with this, and even getting more readers! Thanks for supporting me, guys! Hope to see you around! Author out-