Alix: Is there something else you’re not telling me?
Ben: What do you mean?
Alix: Well, when we were talking about you needing to learn more about being a Protector you had a look on your face. Like you had something else to say, but you didn’t.
Ben: I don’t know what you’re talking about
Alix: No secrets remember. I know something was on your mind. Tell me please.
Ben: It’ll sound stupid
Alix: I don’t care. Tell me anyway.
Ben: Fine. With all that you can do how can I be your Protector? You battled the Grynn and can do a ton of awesome stuff. You’re the Chosen One. I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do if you set your mind to it. I can only do the normal Nykara stuff. What could I possibly do that you can’t?
Alix thought about what Ben was telling her for a few minutes before responding to his text. She could tell that it was important to him and wanted to give him a good answer.
Alix: You guys keep telling me that the magic chooses the Nykara. That I wouldn’t be the Chosen One if I wasn’t able to do it, so take your own advice. You are my Protector for a reason. If I didn’t need a Protector, then I wouldn’t have one. Right?
Ben: Well when you put it that way I guess you’re right
Alix: Of course, I am. But seriously, we’re both still learning what we can do.
Ben: So, what were you doing before you started harassing me?
Alix: I was not harassing you, just trying to be a friend.
Ben: Ok, so that makes you a friend who likes to harass their other friends. Got it.
Alix: Ahhhh! You are so frustrating!
Ben: Just doing my job
Alix: Why am I friends with you again?
Ben: Because I’m irresistibly charming
Alix: Nope I don’t think that’s it
Ben: It must be my overwhelming good looks
Alix: No that doesn’t sound right either
Ben: It must be because you were nosy when the new neighbors moved in
Alix: Now that sounds closer to the real reason
Ben: Ok I’ll let you have that one. So, you still didn’t answer my question.
Alix looked back at her texts to see what the question was. As normal, Ben seemed to get the better of Alix and she had forgotten what they had been talking about. Oh yeah, what was she doing.
Alix: I was reading
Ben: Reading what?
Alix: A book
Ben: About what?
Alix: Now who’s harassing who?
Ben: I thought it was called being friendly
Alix: Lol, ok. It’s a new series I found about fallen angels.
Ben: Is it good?
Alix: I think so. The fallen angels are hundreds of years old but look like teenagers.
Ben: I don’t think I’d like to read it but if it was a movie I’d probably watch it
Alix: Expand your horizons. I challenge you to read a book that I give you.
Ben: Challenge accepted.
That made Alix laugh. She knew that would work. Now, she just had to pick out the perfect book to give to him.
Alix: I’ll bring you one tomorrow morning
Ben: Looking forward to it
Alix went to her room to look for a book to give Ben. It was a hard choice. She searched her shelves for the perfect book. Then she finally spotted it. She hadn’t read it in years and it was more of a kid’s book, but it was about knights and quests, so she thought he might actually read it.
Chapter 3
The next morning Shay came in to get Alix. Alix handed her a go cup and made sure to grab the book for Ben.
“I haven’t seen you read an actual book for quite a while.” Shay said noticing the book.
“That’s true. Ever since I got my eReader that’s pretty much all I’ve read. I challenged Ben to read a book of my choosing since he never reads.”
“Really?” Shay said with a twinkle in her eye. “You two were talking last night?”
“Texting. I could tell that he had something on his mind after we all talked yesterday, and I wanted to find out what. Then we just started bugging each other. And, get that look off your face, I was just trying to be a friend, nothing more.”
Shay threw her hands up in surrender. “Okay for now, but trust me when I tell you, I think you will be more than friends one day.”
“Whatever. Let’s get going.”
They went out to meet Ben who was waiting in the car. “So, did you bring a book for me?”
“Yep, here it is.” Alix said handing to him.
“What’s it about?”
“I’m not telling you anything about it. You can read it and see what you think.”
“That’s all you’re giving me?”
“Yep.”
“Okay then. I think I’m looking forward to this,” Ben said with a grin.
“Here you go. I hope you enjoy it.”
He took it and looked at the cover and then read the back. “This actually might be fun to read.” He smiled at Alix. “I thought you’d give me a girl book.”
“A girl book huh. And what exactly is a girl book?” Alix asked him.
“You know, all lovey and romantic and stuff. Things girls like.”
Shay couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, have you got a lot to learn Ben. If you ever want to go on a date with someone you’d better start liking that ‘girl stuff’ too,” she said, using finger quotes.
“Why?” he asked, looking very innocent.
“Do you want to date a girl?” Shay asked.
“Yes,” Ben replied.
“So, if you ask a girl out on a date what are you going to do? I’m pretty sure most girls want some kind of romance on a date. Were you planning on playing football or something?”
Ben almost looked embarrassed. “Um … well, I don’t really know. I’ve never asked a girl out before.”
“Seriously?” Alix finally joined the conversation. “You’ve never been on a date? Even I’ve been on a couple of dates.”
“You’ve dated?” he asked her.
“Not dated like you’re thinking. Shay made me double date with her a couple of times. They didn’t go so well since I was too shy to actually talk to anyone.”
Ben laughed. “That’s funny.”
“Shut up, no it’s not,” Alix told him, and smacked him on the arm. “Did we laugh at you when you said you hadn’t been on a date?”
“Well no.”
“There you go. Quit being jerky and try to be a gentleman, or I’ll tell your mom on you.”
Both Alix and Shay smiled, and Ben quit laughing. They all knew his mom would get on his case if she found out he wasn’t being gentleman-like.
“Alright, you got me. I’ll behave myself,” he said, but he still had that smirk on his face.
“So, being serious for a minute,” Shay said, “why haven’t you ever been on a date before?”
“I guess it’s because I’ve moved so often, I never let myself really get to know people.”
“Okay, that’s fair enough. Has there ever been anyone you wanted to ask out?”
“Yes, but that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
* * *
Alix’s mom was home after school so Ben dropped her off. She had homework to do so she said hi to her mom and went to her room to use her laptop. She had just started on her homework when her phone went off.
Shay: Sooo … what do you think of Ben’s comment this morning about wanting to ask someone out?
Alix: What do you mean? I didn’t really think anything of it.
Shay: He was talking about you
Alix: I don’t think so
Shay: I totally do. Didn’t you see the look he gave you when he said it?
Alix: No, but I’m sure you were seeing things
Shay: Alix! Are you doubting my relationship knowledge???? You know better than that.
Alix: No … but … well I don’t know what
Shay: I told you before Alix he likes you and now I know that he wants to date you
Alix: I still don’t know
Shay: What would you do if he asked you out??? And tell me the truth.
Shay: I’m waiting …
Alix: I guess I’d say ok
Shay: Now was that so hard to admit?
Alix: Yes
Shay: We’ve talked about this before. It’s ok to like him you know.
Alix: I know but it’s weird
Shay: Why is it weird?
Alix: Because it’s Ben and we’re friends
Shay: Being friends is the best way to start a relationship
Alix: How would you know? Your longest relationship only lasted two months.
Shay: I read magazines all the time about relationships and dating, you know that
Alix: Oh Shay, what am I going to do with you? Magazines can’t compare to real life.
Shay: On the contrary I think they give some good advice. So back to Ben, promise me if he asks you out that you’ll say yes. I think you’d have some fun.
Alix: Fine. If he ever asks, which I very seriously doubt, I’ll say yes.
Shay: Yay! My work here is done. Now stop distracting me I have homework to do.
Despite herself Alix smiled. Shay knew that she was the one distracting Alix since it was her that started the whole dating Ben thing. She thought about that for a minute. Dating Ben. Shay knew her better than she knew herself sometimes, and Shay knew that Alix liked Ben. But, what wasn’t to like? He was cute, funny, charming, and easy to be around. In her head Alix could admit that she liked Ben, but saying it out loud was a whole different thing. She decided to try and put those thoughts out of her head and finish her homework.
At dinner her mom brought up their upcoming trip. “Only four days of school left before our big trip to London,” her mom said smiling. “How excited are you?”
“I’m excited, but I’ll be more excited when the bell rings on Friday afternoon. I think we are getting more homework this week because of it. It took me over two hours to do all of my homework today.”
“Well, you’re going to have more responsibilities than the other kids in your class. Being the Chosen One and a high school senior isn’t going to be the easiest, but I know you can handle it.”
“Thanks mom.”
Chapter 4
It was finally the last class on Friday afternoon and they were making a chocolate cake in Culinary Arts. Alix let Ben take the lead and he’d managed to make a huge mess. Alix giggled at him, then helped him fix the mess he’d made. By the end of class, they had a yummy cake.
Just before the bell rang, Mr. Rollins asked Alix and Ben to stay after class for a few minutes. She didn’t think they were in trouble, so she wondered what he wanted. By the time the last student had left the room, Shay appeared in the doorway.
“What are you doing here Shay?” Alix asked.
“My teacher told me I was needed in the Culinary Arts room. Is everything ok?” she asked Mr. Rollins.
“Yes, everything is fine Shay,” he answered. “I just wanted to tell you three how proud I am of you. And I know Karin feels the same way. You didn’t let the events of last week go to your heads and carried on like everything was normal. That is essential to keeping the Nykara’s secret. I know it wasn’t easy, but you’ve been conducting yourselves like seasoned adults. You should be proud of yourselves.”
Alix, Ben, and Shay looked at each other. Of course, it was Shay who had a response. “Thanks Mike. You know without me, these two would have fallen apart and started screaming about monsters in the streets,” she said, with a completely straight face.
“No doubt about that Shay,” Mike said playing along. “All of us would be lost without you.”
“And you’d best not forget that either,” she added.
By now both Alix and Ben were smiling at the two of them. “You sure do keep things entertaining Shay,” Ben told her.
“I don’t know about you two,” Alix started, “but I know for a fact that I really would be lost without her. She’s my rock.”
“Aww shucks Alix, you’re going to make me blush.”
“Okay, knock it off Shay,” Alix told her. “I don’t want you to get a big head. So, is there anything else you needed Mike?”
“No, that was it. Have a good weekend and I’ll see you on Monday.”
“No, you won’t. We are gone to London for the next two weeks to meet the Council.”
“Oh yes, I almost forgot. In that case have an excellent trip.” he told them.
They left the school, dropped Shay off at home and went to Alix’s house.
“So,” Ben said, as they walked in the front door, “do you want to do homework?”
“Ugh, no way,” Alix replied.
“Wait a minute. Straight A student Alix doesn’t want to do homework? Are you sure you’re Alix Dracon? You know, the girl I met in my driveway that reads a lot and ALWAYS does her homework?”
“Ha ha, very funny. Yes, that’s me, but I just can’t even think about doing homework right now. It’s Friday afternoon and we leave for London on Monday! There’s no way I can possibly be expected to think about school when we have an adventure coming up.”
“An adventure huh,” he smiled at her.
“I know it probably sounds a little childish, but I’ve never been anywhere like that before and it’s so exciting to me, you have no idea. I mean, it’s not like I’ve never left Sunset Creek, we’ve been on vacation, but this is so much more. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, I get it. Even though I’ve lived all over the place this is still a trip for the record books. I’ve never been across the ocean either. I’m really excited too. So, if we’re not going to do homework what should we do?” he asked Alix.
She thought about it for a minute. “I’ve got an idea. I think we should look at things we want to do in London and make a list. I don’t know how much free time we’ll have, but I want to see as much as we can with whatever time we do get.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me.”
Alix went to her room to get her laptop and notebook to write things down in. They typed in ‘things to see in London’. They clicked on ‘Images’ and started scrolling through the pictures.
“Ooh, the London Eye, that looks like fun,” Alix said and wrote it down.
Ben pointed to the screen. “I think the Tower of London would be cool.”
“And look, Buckingham Palace. I’d love to see the changing of the guard,” Alix said.
“Since it’s named after me, Big Ben gets my vote,” Ben said smiling.
“Funny,” Alix said smiling back. “I hope we have time to go the Natural History Museum. I could probably spend a few days there.”
“What about Madame Tussauds Wax Museum? That could be fun.” Ben said.
“Yeah, we can take our picture with famous people,” Alix said laughing.
Alix looked at their list.
“Ben, we’re missing one very important thing,” she told him.
“What’s that?”
“Stonehenge. That the one thing I want to see more than anything.”
“Me too. I can’t imagine how big those stones would be in person,” he said.
Alix was happy with their list. Since they didn’t know where they were staying, they didn’t know if they would be close to anything, but just thinking about seeing any one of those things made Alix giddy.
“You know,” she said to Ben, “other than we know what day we’re leaving and that we have the ceremony to go to, we really have no idea about anything else.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, where are we staying? Why are we there for so long if we’re just there for the ceremony? Who will be there? What will they expect of us? Just everything I guess.”
“I understan
d what you’re saying. But think of it as part of the adventure, the unknown, and the mysterious.”
That made Alix smile. Ben had a way of calming her thoughts and making her smile. Maybe it was part of the Protector in him.
“I wonder what kind of plane we’ll be flying on?” Ben asked. “I hope I’ll have enough room to stretch my legs out.”
“I have no idea. That’s actually something I hadn’t thought about yet,” Alix laughed.
“The tickets don’t say do they?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. Let me go get them and we’ll look.” Alix got the tickets from on top of the fridge and they read one.
Alix Dracon
Departing Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport – October 31 – 12:00 pm
Arriving Heathrow Airport – November 1 – 7:30 am
Ben looked at the ticket for a while. “You know Alix, this is the strangest ticket I’ve ever seen. We’ve flown a few times and usually the ticket says the airline, gate, and a bunch more information. This has almost nothing on it.”
“Oh great, more mysteries. Do you think they do it on purpose?” she asked.
“What do you mean? Who?” Ben looked a little confused.
“The Almati Council, the Nykara. Everything just seems so … so cloak and dagger I guess. I can’t think of a better term. Does that sound stupid?”
“No and I get what you’re saying. But Alix, you have to remember that the Nykara have been and will always be a secret. We don’t want the human population to learn about us. We’re meant to live our lives in the background. You probably don’t realize it being the Chosen One, but very few people on this planet will ever know anything about the Nykara world. You haven’t really had a normal introduction to the Nykara.”
“Once again I’m a freak,” Alix whispered to herself.
“I heard that,” Ben said, as he put his arm around her. “You’re not a freak, just special. In a good way.”
Alix could hear the smile in his voice. “Fine. I’m a special freak.”
“Now that’s the spirit.”
Alix smacked him on the arm, but all Ben did was laugh.
Chosen One Page 2
