Pharaoh - Chapter 1: "Unraveled"

Chapter One: “Unraveled” 1

The girl quickly placed her winter hat on her head and then pushed her black glasses onto her fair face. She grabbed a necklace with a ruby jewel on it and then put it around her neck. Afterwards her brown eyes searched the nearly empty bedroom for some other pieces of clothing that she might need before heading out in the cold weather of New York City. When she found nothing else she needed she silently walked down stairs and left her house without saying a word to her father whom was watching TV in the living room.2

This girl’s name was Renee Robertson and needless to say, nothing exciting ever happens to her. Her life is the same old same old, everyday, day after day. She is the geek who is interested in learning and everyone else in her neighbor are the popular group who party ever day. So where was she headed now? She was heading over to the new museum that had just opened close to her house. In her history class they had mentioned the new museum and some of the exhibits that they had. Unlike her classmates, Renee was excited about seeing the exhibits and so here she was; being her old boring self, heading off to learn on a Sunday.3

A sigh escaped her lips as she looked both ways and then crossed the street. She couldn’t figure out why she liked knowledge so much. Even her father had said she was a little bit weird. He and she both wondered why she couldn’t act like any other normal teenage girl.4

Renee covered her eyes to protect them from the sudden icy wind that blew her brown hair every which or way. When the wind calmed down, she sighed once more and could only imagine how bad her hair looked now. This meant, even if she did meet a cute guy and even if he was the least bit interested in her, he’d be turned off when he saw her tangled hair. 5

Renee rolled her eyes at her thoughts and then entered the newly opened museum. To her surprise, even though it was the museum’s grand opening, there was close to no one there. Renee started to walk around the museum, not bothering to wait for a tour guide, and glanced at all the exhibits. Maybe it was just her but seeing all the exhibits usually brought a smile to her face and even now a small smile was forming on her lips. Perhaps she was a nerd, always seeking knowledge where ever she went, and smiling at anything that hinted towards knowledge. Renee stopped in her tracks and then suddenly frowned. She had never thought of it like that before and now that she did, she realized that she really was a nerd…a geek…why couldn’t she enjoy things that other people enjoyed?6

Renee’s honey brown eyes traveled over to a closed exhibit. She glanced over at the name of the exhibit and smiled once more when she realized that it had something to do with mummies. She quickly hurried over to the closed exhibit and even though she knew she shouldn’t, she stepped over the neon yellow ‘keep out’ tape. She stood in the doorway for a moment, looking back at the hallway to make sure no one was watching and also thinking twice about going into the exhibit. Finally when she got enough courage, Renee walked farther into the exhibit and then faintly gasped when she saw all the tombs. Her face lid up at once as she hurried over to one that looked as though it was made out of gold. Without thinking twice, she placed her pale hand onto the top of the tomb and slowly rubbed her fingers across it. She wasn’t sure if it was real gold or not but she did know that it was extremely shiny as if someone had been polishing it for weeks and it was smooth. 7

Renee was in her own little world when she heard someone’s voice from the doorway of the exhibit. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Renee quickly ducked behind the tomb and tried to calm herself down so that whoever it was would not hear her. 8

At first one of the people were whispering so low that she couldn’t hear a thing they were saying but later on in the conversation, she assumed one of them pissed off the other and then the female voice rose a little louder. “What do you mean you lost it!?” she slightly shouted and then quickly lowered her voice, but Renee could still hear her. “Find it we need to get--” the woman was cut off by a noise that was heard from outside the exhibit. They must have heard someone coming because they ran off at the speed of light.9

Renee quietly sat on the ground, breathing a bit heavy, frightened that those people could have seen her there. She slowly stood up when she decided the coast was clear and then walked over towards the door way. She paused for a moment, since she wasn’t sure if the coast was completely clear yet and then turned around to looked at the golden tomb once more before leaving. 10

Renee eyes widened and she let out a piercing scream when she saw a figure emerging from the tomb. Suddenly, Renee’s body felt like it weighted a ton and her knees became weak from under her. Her legs went out and she came crashing down to the ground, staring helplessly at the bandaged figure. The bandaged figure grabbed a piece of the cloth that was wrapped around it and started to unravel itself. This was the final straw for Renee. She quickly closed her eyes, silently said a quick pray to god, and hoped that she was seeing things. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw that the figure had almost completely unraveled himself.11

For this guy to be wrapped up in all that cloth and for him to be in the tomb, didn’t that mean that he was a mummy? The thought of a mummy coming alive would have made Renee laugh if she wasn’t too afraid to do so. She noiselessly stared at the young man and then closely looked at his facial features. From the side, which was all she could see of him at the moment, his skin was slightly tanned and huge golden earrings hung from the boy’s ears. Renee was sure that it hadn’t been there before but when she took a doubt look at the boy, she could see that he was wearing what looked like a golden crown. 12

The young man slowly turned his head towards Renee and then narrowed his crystal jade green eyes at her. Renee was completely captured by the boy’s eyes and his perfect facial features. She almost wished she would have met him under different conditions. When Renee stared harder at the boy, she noticed what looked like grayish bags under the boy’s eyes. It seemed as if he had been up all night for two straight weeks in a row, or for even more weeks than that.13

The boy pressed his top lip and bottom lip together, as if he wanted to say something but refused to let himself say it. Once Renee finally snapped herself out of her little daydream world, she quickly jumped up to her feet and then hurried to the exit of the exhibit. Just as she had turned to leave, the boy was in front of her and she let out another scream before bumping into the boy and then falling to the ground.14

“Please don’t hurt me!” Renee quickly shouted. She wasn’t sure if her pleading would be any good but at least it was worth a try. She was still uncertain who this boy was but the thought of him being a mummy was out of the question. He must work here or something; probably there to scare her since she had entered the exhibit without permission. “I know I shouldn’t be in this exhibit but I couldn’t help but look in here. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Renee continued to shout but the boy only looked down at her with confusion written all over his face. After she spoke he seemed as though he was trying to concentrate hard on what she had said. 15

Unless…Renee didn’t even want to think of it as a possibility but what if this boy was a rapist and he was planning on raping her. Renee’s eyes widened as the boy reached down towards her and she let out another scream, tightly closing her eyes shut, and waiting for the beautiful boy’s hand to make contact with her but it never happened. Renee slowly opened her eyes and then noticed that the black haired beauty was gone and in his placed stood a security guard.16

Renee let out a sigh of relief; she never thought that she would be so happy that a cute boy was replaced by an old geezer. Renee smiled but that smile slowly disappeared when she saw the security guard fold his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. “Uh, ooppps,” Renee said with an innocent smile, “must have slipped into the exhibit.”17


“I don’t believe you!” a voice roared over the sound of music. Renee knew this voice way to well and she always hated hearing it when it was pissed off like this. This voice belonged to her father and when her father was like this, she wished that she could just crawl up into a ball and hide in a corner of the room. “You were trespassing at the museum? What was going through your head? Oh god, please don’t tell me that now that you’re seventeen you’re going to hit the rebellious stage. Are you going to start acting like your sister now?” Renee’s father asked her.18

And great, the rebellious chat that Renee knew and loved to hate. Every time something went wrong in their life it always seemed to go back towards her older sister Tiffany. Back in her teens, Renee’s sister was a bit of a rebel. If they said left she’d go right, and if they said jump she’d lay down. She did anything and everything to break the rules and do the opposite of what others did. Where was she now? Well she was supposed to be going to college to be a nurse but of course she saw a guy that she liked and without thinking twice they got married. Now she has two children at the age of twenty two. It took her nearly two years to tell their father that she was married, another year to tell him that she was pregnant, and another year to tell him that she had two children. He wasn’t too happy about being the last to know all of these things. 19

“Dad…” Renee complained. Must he really go through all of this whenever she got in trouble? “I already told you, I d-dropped my necklace and I had to get it. You know how important the necklace is to me. It’s the only memory I have left of mom.” Renee added. Renee knew that if she changed the topic to her mother than her father would back off. She could already see his mad face turn into a frown and she watched as grief covered his face in a matter of seconds. Renee’s mother had died two years ago in a fire and all that was left of her was their memories and her necklace.20

Renee’s father glanced down at the ground and then left out a sigh. “Alright…but why were you screaming?” he asked, he wanted to end the conversation but he was also curious about why she had been screaming. “The security guard told me that you were screaming bloody murder.” He added, his gaze returning to his daughter’s face. 21

“I uh,” Renee struggled to think of a response to this. Looking for a necklace would not involve screaming. “Well, uh, I fell and then the security guard scared the living daylights out of me.” Renee finally said. She quickly nodded her head, as if agreeing with herself and then she stared at her father as he became silent once more.22

Renee’s father continued to frown but then nodded at this response. “Okay,” he mumbled and Renee would have cheered if it wasn’t for that it would give her away, “but Rei,” he added and Renee held her breath as she waited for him to continue, “next time be more careful. Understood?”23

Renee let out her breath and then quickly nodded. “Understood. Now I better go and…uh, clean up. Yeah…See ya dad!” Renee said and by time she finished saying all of this, she was already upstairs and quickly heading to her room. Renee let out a sigh of relief and turned around and at once her eyes widened. There in her room, wearing one of her father’s outfits; was the boy from earlier. Renee went to scream but when she tried, the boy sighed and then snapped his fingers and in a result, nothing came out of Renee’s mouth when she tried to scream. Now she looked helplessly at the boy who stood up from her bed and slowly walked towards her. All that she wanted to know was what the boy wanted and what he was going to do with her now.24

“Please shut up…” the boy muttered and then frowned when he heard the words that came out of his mouth. He sighed as he snapped his fingers again, returning Renee’s voice for now. “English is such a repulsive language.” He added before turning his attention to Renee. He seemed to be waiting for something but Renee couldn’t figure out what so she decided to remain silent for the time being. “I suppose you have questions to ask me.” The boy said and then sighed. “Well go on, ask away.” 25

Renee was a bit surprised by the boy’s comment but then see tried to recall all the questions that she had for the boy. There must have been fifty questions she wanted to ask and all she could think of was, “Who are you?” 26

The boy let out a laugh that sounded more like musical notes than a laugh and Renee couldn’t help but laugh too even though she had no idea what was so funny to the boy. The boy’s laughter faded as a smile appeared on his face. “Isn’t it obvious or are people around here that unintelligent?” the boy asked and Renee’s once laughing face turned into a frown and then her eyes narrowed at the boy. How should she know who he was? The boy sighed before answering her question, “I am Kaylen Benjamin Wolfe.” 27

Renee’s expression changed once more when she heard the boy’s name and saw his confident face. Kaylen Benjamin Wolfe? Renee repeated the name over and over again yet and still it never rung a bell. Was it supposed to? “Who?” Renee asked after a while.28

The boy’s confident face fell when he heard Renee ask this question. The dark spots under his eyes seemed to get darker as his green eyes became lighter. The boy let out a sigh and then folded his arms. “Do you mean you really don’t know who I am?” Kaylen asked Renee. “I’m the son of the Pharaoh Lucasical.” He told her but Renee was still confused. 29

Renee would have kept the confused look on her face but after repeating what he had said in her mind, she couldn’t help but laugh. “A pharaoh? As in you’re from Egypt?” Renee asked and then continued to laugh.30

“I thought you knew who I was, after all, you were the one who awakened me.” Kaylen told Renee and Renee instantly stopped laughing. What did he mean by awakened him and how could she have possibility done something like that? All she did was touch a tomb and then he popped out of nowhere. “And that jewel around your neck shows that you were a guard at the palace.” Kaylen added as he wrapped his perfectly tanned fingers around the ruby jewel on Renee’s necklace. If it wasn’t for his crystal jade green eyes capturing her eyes again, she might have slapped his hands away. 31

Renee cleared her throat when she was finally able to pull her eyes away from his. “T-this j-jewel was my mother’s.” Renee tried to explain, she had no idea why it would be familiar to this wack job unless he was a relative of hers or something and she doubted that very much. She knew almost all of her relatives and she knew that she had never met him before. “Another question and try not to laugh…did you really come out of that tomb?” Renee asked the black haired beauty and he slowly nodded his head. “So…are you like a mummy or something?”32

Kaylen let out a dark chuckle when he heard this question. A mummy, him? He didn’t think he was but from the way she explained it, maybe he was a mummy. Kaylen frowned when he thought of this. His memories of what had happened moments before he died came flooding back into his head unexpectedly and Kaylen grabbed his head in pain, trying to stop the sharp throbbing in his head.33

“Kaylen?” Renee said as she placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. When he stood up straight, the boy was about 5’11” but now that he was had bent forward in pain; he was more of her height, a measly 5’5”. “What’s wrong?” she asked him, not sure why she cared so much about what was wrong with the boy. He had scared her, gotten her in trouble, and then broken into her house. She should have been screaming for help or kicking him out of her house. 34

Kaylen let out a sigh of relief when the sharp pain slowly went away. All of his memories leading up to his death had returned to him but now he was trying to figure out why he was alive and how this girl beside him had awaken him. That was when his green eyes caught the ruby jewel on Renee’s necklace glowing a little it. He quickly stood up straight and then grabbed the necklace, pulling it off Renee’s neck and then examining it farther. 35

“Hey, what are you doing!?” Renee shouted as she went the grab her necklace back from the black haired boy but he only held the necklace up high and out of her reach. “Give it back, that was my mother’s!” Renee complained and then blinked as Kaylen had dropped the necklace into her hands and then in a flash he was gone. “Kaylen?” Renee said quietly and then she jumped when she heard the door open from behind her. She quickly turned around, her fist up as if she was ready to fight, and then she blinked again when she saw her father standing there. “D-dad…what are you doing here?” she asked her father who was looking at her like she was crazy. “What’s wrong?”36

“Who were you talking to?” Renee’s father asked her as he raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Kaylen?” her father asked as he walked into the room, searching for what he figured was Renee’s boyfriend. “Where is he?” Renee’s father asked when he couldn’t find anyone.37

“Dad, what are you talking about?” Renee asked her father and then quickly pulled the phone from her pocket. “I was just talking to my school and they were, um, asking me if we had any room in our house for, uh, an exchange student.” Renee struggled to say. Wow, she had pretty much lied to her father twice in one day; new record.38

“Exchange student from where?” her father asked a bit suspicious.39

“From…umm…Egypt.” Renee quickly said and would have slapped herself on the forehead if her father wasn’t standing before her. Couldn’t see think of any other place? “He’s—” Renee started to say and then was cut off by her father.40

“He?” her father repeated with disapproval in his eyes. “There’s no way I’m allowing some male exchange student to stay in this house.” Her father added firmly. 41

Renee bit the button of her lip as she tried to hard to think of a reason for him to allow Kaylen to stay. She had a couple of reasons in mind but he wouldn’t understand any of them unless she told him the truth about what had happened and that could result in her going to a mental institution. “Aww, dad, come on. If he can’t stay here then he’ll have no place to stay. Pretty please?” Renee said to her father and gave him her famous puppy dog eyes. She knew he couldn’t say no to these eyes; it was only a matter of time before he gave into them. 42

“Fine…” he mumbled and then quickly added, “but he stays in the guest room and you make sure to lock your door.” 43

“Alright.” Renee quickly said and watched as her father walk away but then he turned back as if he wanted to say something. “What?” she asked him and then frowned when she figured out what it was.44

“Danny called.” He said and then left so that he wouldn’t be apart of Renee’s tantrum. 45

When Renee heard the name Danny, the russet skinned god, her world seemed to come crashing down on her and so many emotions hit her all at once that she felt like she was going to drown from them all. The story of Danny her ex-boyfriend was a pretty simple story. Popular jock meet geeky nerd and somehow they fall in love, well at least one of them did; the other only seemed to pretend to so that he could get what he wanted but when he didn’t get it, he left her in a heart beat. They had only been together for four months but still it felt like years for Renee and the slightly memory of him brought tears to her eyes. Hearing his name was no different; his name was like a sharpen knife that plunged itself into her heart multiple times until it felt the deed was done. 46

Renee felt her hands rushing to her face to stop the tears from flowing and then she felt herself fall to the ground but instead of feeling the hard carpet, she felt muscular arms wrap around her and then she felt herself placed into her bed. Through the tears she saw Kaylen standing there once more and she wanted to ask him so many more questions but at the moment she was trying to pull herself together. Renee couldn’t hold it in anymore, she just let the tears flow and let her grief run its course. 47


When Renee finally opened her eyes, she had no idea what time it was or where Kaylen was at this time. She slowly sat up and rubbed her still moist eyes. She glanced around the empty room before hopping off her bed and sleepily stumbling towards the door. She opened the door as quickly as she could, a bit afraid that Kaylen might have wandered down stairs while she was asleep and had run into her father. Wait, what was she thinking? She was worrying that her father might have hurt Kaylen when Kaylen was the intruder. Shouldn’t she be more worried about her father?48

“Dad!?” Renee quickly said when she heard voices down stairs. The sound of panic was obvious in her voice and Renee father quickly stood up from his chair and hurried to the stairs to see what was wrong. 49

“Rei, what’s wrong?” he asked, looking a bit puzzled. Renee was about to let out a sigh of relief when she noticed who was sitting on one of the other chairs. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Kaylen sitting there; she wasn’t sure why she was so surprised but she was. Half of her was hoping that he was only a dream and the other half was hoping he wasn’t. At least half of her will be happy. “Rei?” Renee’s father repeated when Renee didn’t say anything. 50

Renee slightly jumped when she heard her father’s voice again and she quickly looked over at him to see his face full of worry. How did she look, walking down those stairs and calling for her father like something was wrong? Of course he’d be worried. “Oh, it’s nothing…I was just…it’s nothing.” Renee said with a sigh and then her eyes went back to Kaylen whom was watching her with his piercing green eyes. “Uh, who’s this?” Renee asked, trying to pretend like she was surprised to see him though she wasn’t sure how her father had discovered him.51

“You mean you don’t know?” Renee’s father asked his daughter with a surprised look on his face. This made Renee’s heart stop for a moment. Had he found Kaylen in her room? “He’s the exchange student you were talking about earlier. He came here a few minutes ago.” He explained.52

“Oh?” Renee said as she let out a sigh of relief. She glanced over at Kaylen and saw a grin plaster on his face; this made her glare at him. Renee quickly relaxed her face and then cleared her throat before saying, “then you’re Kaylen, right?” Kaylen only nodded to this comment and then he stood up from his seat. At first Renee was wondering why and then she realized that he wanted to shake her hand. She quickly stumbled forward, forgetting that she was still on the second step, and then fell into him. She would have probably fallen on her face if he hadn’t been there and if he hadn’t wrapped his arms around her to stop her from hurt herself. 53

Renee stayed in his arms for a moment, not wanting this feeling of safety to stop. She had once felt this way when she was in Danny’s arms but in Kaylen’s arms she felt so much safer. “Miss Robertson?” Renee blinked and then quickly looked up at Kaylen when she suddenly heard his voice. He slightly laughed and then added, “Are you alright?” 54

She hadn’t realized it before but she must have been standing there for quite some time and he must have been calling her name for a while before she finally heard him. She could feel her cheeks getting redder by the second and she quickly pushed away from the tanned boy before he, or her father, got the wrong impression. “I’m sorry…I…” Renee decided to let the sentence trail off. She couldn’t think of a good enough reason for her weird behavior. She was surprised that she could ever find an excuse for it. 55

Renee’s father quickly cleared his throat and smiled as both Renee and Kaylen looked over at him. “Renee should show Kaylen to his room.” Her father told her.56

Of course she had to be the one to show him to his room. Renee sighed and then nodded her head. She went to help Kaylen with his bags but Kaylen had already grabbed them before she could. She wondered how heavy the bags were or if anything was really in it. She shrugged her shoulders and then silently started to walk up the stairs with Kaylen gracefully following behind. From the smile that Renee’s father had given her, she could picture him laughing right about now and assuming things that he shouldn’t assume. Renee stopped in front of the guest room and then opened the door. Before she could tell Kaylen that this was his room, he was already inside; his bags in the corner of the room and his self on the bed, a grin flashing across his face. “You’re fast.” Renee pointed out the obvious.57

“Nah,” Kaylen said and then quickly added, “you’re just slow.” When he saw Renee’s face suddenly become red as she balled her hands into a fist, Kaylen couldn’t help but laugh as he lay down on the bed. “Oh, calm down. I’m only kidding.” He added but he continued to laugh. 58

“You’re such a jerk!” Renee shouted; she wanted to show him that this wasn’t a joke but at the same time she didn’t mean to be so loud. She didn’t want her father to come up the stairs and assume anything else. “What is your problem? I mean, supposedly I freed you from that tomb and then I get you a place to stay and this is how you treat me? You know what!? You can take yourself and your imaginary little world and get the—” 59

Renee didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence because by time she had moved her mouth to finish her sentence; Kaylen had hopped off the bed and placed his hand over her mouth. Renee quickly pushed his hand away from her mouth and glared at the tanned boy. Laughter continued to leak through his closed mouth and then his face suddenly became serious. Renee held her breath as she looked closely at the boy. She just couldn’t understand him some times. “I’m sorry.” Kaylen said suddenly, a frown replaced the grin that had once formed on his lips. “I didn’t mean to upset you…it’s just that it’s so easy to tease you.” He added, a small smile beginning to form on his lips once more.60

Renee sighed and looked away, trying to stop herself from smiling after seeing that stunning smile that Kaylen had made. She failed; a smile ended up appearing on her face and then she looked back over at the boy. “So what’s your deal?” she asked him. She wanted to know what was going to happen now. So he was the pharaoh’s son stuck in the year 2007? How believable, even if it was true, was that? And how was she supposed to get things back to normal. Wouldn’t him being here make everything go out of wack or something? “What’s going to happen now?” Renee corrected herself. Her first question had turned out sounding a bit rude and she didn’t mean it to sound like that at all. She just didn’t know what to do now. 61

Kaylen sat back down on the bed and Renee slowly took a seat beside him. Her eyes never left his face as she tried to read his expression. Kaylen let out a sigh after thinking about this question. “I’m not really sure…” he told Renee and Renee slowly nodded since she figured he’d say this. “Why? Do you want to get rid of my already?” Kaylen added with a smile. It was obvious that he was only kidding but Renee went to say something in her defense and then he quickly stopped her. “Relax, relax. I’m kidding.” Kaylen told her and then sighed. “It’s like you’ve never heard of a joke before.” 62

Renee smiled but then frowned. Kaylen’s last comment made her think of a certain someone, someone who she didn’t want to think about again. She tried to keep his name out of her head but without success. Danny. Renee’s eyes quickly went to the ground as she remembered a few things that she had done with him. According to him, she could never take a joke but in reality he was the one always offended by her jokes. Renee took a deep breath to try and stop herself from crying but she could already feel the tears streaming down her face. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and then arms wrapping around her. Renee gradually looked up to see Kaylen hugging her. 63

Renee tried so hard to keep her voice even but it ended up cracking when she quietly said, “Kaylen…” Kaylen looked down at her and then his eyes slightly widened when she buried her head into his chest. She didn’t know why but she completely trusted Kaylen even though she knew absolutely nothing about him. It was weird but it was nice at the same time. 64


Renee didn’t know how long she had been sitting on the couch beside Kaylen and watching television but when she finally snapped out of her daydream, she realized that she was no longer upstairs but downstairs in the living room. Renee rubbed her eyes since they hurt like she had kept them open this whole time, and she might have done just that, and then glanced over at Kaylen. The minute her eyes went on him, his body seemed to tense up. His hand clutched tightly to the remote in his hand and he seemed like he was forcing himself to keep his eyes on the television screen. “Kaylen? What’s wrong?” Renee asked him, her voice surprisingly low.65

Kaylen slowly lower the remote and placed it on the space beside him. He then sighed and looked over at Renee. His jade eyes trying to avoid Renee’s honey ones. Renee couldn’t understand what he was trying to hide. “It will only upset you if I tell you.” Kaylen said and then turned back to the television, not intending on saying anything else on the subject. 66

“What!?” Renee said with a shocked look on her face. If this was about him joking around with her then he didn’t have to hold back on her. She didn’t start to cry because of his stupid teasing, she cried because of…because of…67

Renee sighed and then looked away from Kaylen; she tried to focus her attention on the television screen but it wasn’t working very well. “Look,” Renee started to say but Kaylen didn’t look at her. He was trying to make her stop whatever she was about to say but not looking at her didn’t change a thing. “Back there…I mean when you said that I couldn’t take a joke. I guess I really can’t.” Renee told Kaylen and Kaylen blinked as he looked over at Renee once more. “My…” Renee attempted to say but it hurt too much to. She slightly twitched as she tried again, “Danny” she corrected herself “use to say that to me all the time.”68

“He was wrong.” Kaylen muttered and then turned back to the television screen. 69

Renee raised an eyebrow at this comment. He was wrong? That didn’t make much sense. Wasn’t this whole conversation not about how overly sensitive she had gotten to everything? What was this conversation about? “What do you mean he was wrong?” Renee asked but Kaylen refused to answer. “What aren’t you telling me?” she decided to ask him.70

Kaylen sighed, his eyes traveling over to Renee. “I don’t want to see you cry again.” Kaylen said and then went to look back at the television screen but Renee quickly grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. “W-what are you doing!?” Kaylen asked her. He wasn’t expecting her to do this.71

“Just tell me will you?” Renee asked Kaylen and then let go of his face as he pull his head back. “If it’s not about me not taking a joke then what is it about?” she asked once more. The suspense was killing her.72

“Danny called.” Kaylen said, closing his eyes for a brief moment and then opening them to see Renee’s face in a frown once more; her eyes filling up with tears as he watched her with a frown of his own. “See! This was what I didn’t want to happen. I see what the mere mention of this guy’s name does to you. I hate him and I don’t even know him.” 73

“No! Don’t hate him…I’m just…overly sensitive.” Renee mumbled. She hated people hating other people especially when it was her fault that they hated someone else. 74

“It’s infuriating, you know. Watching pain wash over you like that.” Kaylen told Renee. Renee quickly wiped her tears away and then sighed as she tried to get a hold of herself. “He said…” Kaylen started to say but then paused for a moment. He bit the bottom of his lip as he waited to see Renee’s reaction to his cut off sentence. Renee sighed once more and then looked up at Kaylen to see if he would finish. “…he wants to talk to you. He said it was pretty important.”75

“I rather not talk to that stuck up cocky jerk!” Renee muttered as she folded her arms. Now she was acting like a child. Instead of crying she was whining and instead of being sad she was being mad. Were these changes really much better? Not really. 76

Kaylen sighed as he continued to stare at Renee. “I’ll make sure to tell him that the next time he calls.” Kaylen told Renee.77

Panic quickly covered Renee’s face as she looked over at Kaylen to see if he was telling the truth or not. “Don’t!” she quickly said.78

“But I thought he was a stuck up cocky jerk.” Kaylen reminded her.79

Renee went to say something but then quickly closed her mouth. Maybe it was better to be quiet for a while instead of digging herself deeper and deeper into despair. Renee let out another sigh and then glanced up at Kaylen yet again. “How many times did he call…?” Renee quietly asked.80

“Six?” Kaylen said, trying to remember if that was the right amount. “No it was seven.” He corrected himself and then raised an eyebrow at Renee. “Why do you ask?” 81

“He called me seven times?” Renee asked and Kaylen slightly glared at her when she didn’t answer his question. He didn’t understand why, after this Danny guy had obviously caused her so much pain that even after all of that she still cared that he had called her. He should have kept his mouth shut. “Maybe I should call him back…” Renee said slowly, staring at Kaylen for approval. 82

Kaylen’s eyes seemed to become darker when Renee said this and so did his permanent bags under his eyes. He wanted to yell at her and make her comprehend that Danny wanted nothing more to do with her then the first time he was with her but of course she was still in her fantasy world and who was he to snap her out of it. “Do what you want.” Kaylen muttered, luckily able to control his temper. “The phone is over there…that is if you’re still planning on calling him.” Kaylen added as he pointed to the phone on the table in front of them.83

Renee didn’t seem to notice the anger in Kaylen’s voice because she quickly located the phone and then grabbed it, reaching inside her memory to find Danny’s number, and then quickly dialing it. It rung three times and then someone answered. “Danny?” Renee said before the person on the other line could say hello. Kaylen slapped his forehead and rolled his eyes as he looked back to the television. 84

“Renee? Hey.” Danny said from the other line. The grin on his face could be heard from the way he said this. “I’m glad you called. I really need to talk to you.” He told her.85

“That’s why I called.” Renee explained, her heart melting every time he spoke. She knew she shouldn’t but she was really hoping that he’d want to get back together with her. “Go on. Tell me.” She added, a smile flashing across her face; a smile that made Kaylen sick to his stomach. 86

“Well…I wanted to talk about us.” Danny told her, his grin only growing bigger as he spoke on the phone. He knew that he could get Renee back and so did everyone else at school. “I’ve really missed you.” Danny lied. He tried to sound like he really cared about her not being around anymore but then he started to laugh and had to pull the phone away from his mouth. As he got himself together, Danny put the phone back to his mouth and then added, “Do you miss me too?” 87

Renee held her breath when she heard Danny say this to her. Was he really telling the truth or was he lying to her again, she couldn’t tell, just like she couldn’t tell the first time. She glanced over at Kaylen who was glaring at the television as he listened closely; the sound on the television seemed to have been lowered too. “I do.” Renee said, wishing that she hadn’t admitted this but maybe he really did miss her. 88

“Really?” Danny asked. “Then…would you go out with me again?”89

Kaylen’s eyes quickly flashed an odd green color as he glared over at the phone and then looked at Renee to see what she’d say to that. She couldn’t be that stupid, could she? Or maybe she really wasn’t stupid…just in love. But Kaylen figured that being in love was worse than being stupid, especially when you loved someone who didn’t love you back. 90

“Of course!” Renee said without thinking twice but then quickly included, “but…I mean, you really want to be with me again?” Renee’s eyes filled with hopefulness as Kaylen felt like yelling for her to wake up but he couldn’t bring himself to doing this. At the though of her getting back with Danny, her eyes had lighten up like a star at night. How could he make that light go away, even if it was going to end up faded away regardless?91

“Yes I really want you back.” Danny instantly said. To Renee it sounded like he didn’t need to think about that question at all. He answered it without hesitation and that made Renee smile. “So, babe, I’ll see you tomorrow at school, alright?”92

Renee just nodded her head since after hearing Danny call her babe again, it seemed to take her voice away or was it Kaylen’s doing that made it so that she couldn’t say anything. Renee cleared her throat and suddenly it was easy to speak again, “Yeah…bye Danny.” 93

There was a click on the other end and Renee slowly lowered the phone from her face, also turning it off. Renee smile grew as she looked up at Kaylen and then suddenly hugged him. “Yes!” she shouted and this made Kaylen roll his eyes. “Tomorrow at school is going to be great…Oh yeah!” Renee said and then stopped hugging Kaylen. “How are we going to get you in school? And we need to get you some clothes.” She added.94

Kaylen shrugged his shoulders at Renee’s comments and then looked away, not wanting to get mad at her for something stupid like this. He only cared about what this guy was going to do to her; if he really did like her then okay but if he was planning on hurting her again then that wasn’t okay.95


Kaylen’s eyes were big as he stared around the enormous mall and at all the unfamiliar things. People crowded the place and walked all over, most of them crashed into him left and right. Kaylen quickly grabbed Renee’s hand so that he wouldn’t get separated from her and be lost in this never ending building filled with stores.96

Renee laughed at how Kaylen was reacting to going to the mall. She didn’t think she’d ever see him not playing it cool since he seemed to always act as though he knew everything. It was refreshing to see him a bit frightened and lost. If it wasn’t for the fear on his face, she might have let go of his hand and purposely make him get lost and laugh as she watched from a distance but she wouldn’t be that mean…at least not today.97

“There,” Renee said as she pointed at one of the stores. Kaylen quickly looked down at her and then over at the store that she was pointing to. He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that this store wasn’t as crowded as the others. “That’s where we’re going to get your stuff from.” She added with a huge smile on her face. She didn’t know why but she was kind of enjoying this. She had never been one for shopping but shopping with Kaylen was different and fun. Maybe it was because she would end up choosing his wardrobe and he’d be the one changing into different clothes every five seconds. 98

Renee dragged Kaylen into the store and then pulled him over to a rack of clothes. She let go of Kaylen’s hand and then quickly searched through the rack of clothes. For a moment, Kaylen was going to grab her hand again but then he stopped and looked around the nearly empty store and then decided that he was safe in here. “What is all of this?” Kaylen asked as he grabbed a bright red shirt and slightly covered his eyes. “It’s all…bright…and yuck.” He added as he put the shirt back in its place.99

Renee blinked at this comment and then frowned as she lowered some of the clothes that she had picked out. “You mean…you don’t like bright colors?” Renee asked Kaylen and watched as he slowly shook his head no. Renee herself loved bright colors. She loved colors like neon yellow, lime green, and blizzard blue. She couldn’t figure out why Kaylen wouldn’t like bright colors. “So…what’s you’re favorite color then?” Renee asked as she started to place the clothes that she had picked out back onto the rack.100

“Well, I’ve never thought of a favorite color before.” Kaylen said as he tried to think of one that he liked. It was kind of hard since none of the normal favorite colors tickled his fancy. He hated the sight of red, it reminded him too much of fighting and wars. Blue was just as bad, being reminded of the ocean and bodies of water might make others happy but not him. He hated water. Green wasn’t that bad of a color but he still wouldn’t consider it a favorite color, not even close. Green just made him mad since back at his palace he hardly ever saw the color green and constantly they were trying to grow food in order to stop their people from starving but it never seemed to work. Pink was, without a doubt, the worse color ever. Just the though of it made him cringe and he didn’t even need a reason to hate it, he just did. Yellow wouldn’t be that bad of a color if it wasn’t for it was so bright. And so Kaylen decided to think outside the box to find a color that he really liked. “I like the colors brown, gray, black, maybe orange, and gold.” He decided.101

Why wasn’t Renee surprised that Kaylen would pick a color like gold? He was like royalty; of course he’d like gold. 102

Renee nodded at Kaylen and then searched through a different rack, trying to find anything that included the colors he had named. When she finally found something that she thought might be worthy of his picky taste, she pulled it off the rack and then shoved it into his arms. Kaylen unwillingly grabbed the pieces of clothing before they hit the ground and went to say something to Renee but before he could, she pushed him into one of the dressing rooms. “Try those on!” she commanded before she shut the door. Kaylen sighed and then locked the door and started to change into the clothes. 103

Kaylen was almost sure that he look like an idiot in the clothes that Renee had chosen but when he stepped out of the dressing room he was a bit surprised at what he saw. He actually liked the clothes and Renee seemed to approve as well.
After looking carefully at Kaylen’s clothes she forced him back into the dressing room and then ordered him to change into a different outfit. It seemed to take forever, since they went to every store and bought something from every store, but it was fun; at least Renee thought so.104

Renee glanced over at Kaylen after they had gotten their Chinese food and had found a place to sit. Renee placed her tray on the table at the same time Kaylen had and then sat down in her seat. Renee picked up her plastic fork and then dug it into the meat before sticking it into her mouth and then eating the meat. “You alright?” Renee asked when she noticed the look on Kaylen’s face. She was hoping that she hadn’t bored him to death.105

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.” Kaylen said as he snapped out of his mysterious daydream. Renee felt the urge to ask him what he was thinking about but she assumed it was none of her business. “I’m just a bit tired, you know?” Kaylen added with a smile. “I’ve never really shopped before. Usually people just pick out my clothes and don’t bother making me try them on or asking if I like it. It’s kind of like you better like it or tough.” 106

“Must have sucked.” Renee commented after eating a bit more of her food. She couldn’t imagine someone else picking out her clothes and her not having a say in the matter. It bothered her enough when she was little and her mother would force her into little skirts and such but as a teenager it would have been even worse.107

“Not really.” Kaylen said and Renee was a bit surprised to hear this response. How could that not bother him? “It was easier that way. At least my legs didn’t hurt in the end.” Kaylen added with a laugh.108

Renee smiled at Kaylen after he had said this. It was really weird but they had become friends in a matter of hours. She never pictured her being friends with someone like this but their friendship was so effortless, it was great. She felt like she could say anything to Kaylen and she was hoping that he felt the same way. The only thing that seemed to worry her now was how she was going to sneak Kaylen into school and get a file and everything for him.109

That night was a very long night since the minute Renee and Kaylen had gotten home was the minute that Renee rushed over to her computer and started to type up Kaylen’s fake information. For once she was glad that she was such a geek and that she had so many computer geeks as friends. This made it so much easier to make all the fake information. 110

It was about three o’ clock in the morning when she had finished and she was so tired that she didn’t even have enough energy to walk three steps over to her bed. She had faxed all the information to the school and she was sure that everything looked and seemed real; hopefully they wouldn’t ask questions or look more closely at his information.111

“Still awake?” a voice asked a bit surprised and Renee’s head quickly shot up and her heart raced until she realize it was Kaylen who had said this. “I’m sorry; I didn’t realize that you were asleep. I’m sorry that I woke you and startled you.” Kaylen told Renee with a frown on his face.112

“Oh no, you didn’t wake me and you didn’t scare me…that much.” Renee said a he watched a smile appear on Kaylen’s face and then a smile appeared on her own face. Before she knew it, Kaylen had helped her up to her feet and then lead her to her bed. She was tucked in a matter of seconds. 113

“Sweet dreams.” Kaylen told Renee and then was gone in a flash.114

“Good night.” Renee sleepily mumbled even thought Kaylen was long gone. Her eyes slowly became heavier and heavier and soon they closed.