10. DAY OUT
That night, I watched movies on my laptop until the wee hours of the morning. I told Jack about the addition to our outing to the mall. He was pretty much excited that Ashton was joining us. I told my dad and Jay about my plans for the weekend and who I was going to be with. They didn’t say much about it, I knew that they would be working all day in the lab and I’d be out of their hair.
I slept for a few hours and woke up midmorning. I tidied up my room and then went downstairs to help myself to some breakfast. I wanted something to make me feel energetic since I was to practice earlier that day, before going out. I found my dad in the kitchen.
“You slept late last night”, he commented.
“Umm, yeah. I was just watching some movies and I got too carried away with them. So I slept around two in the morning.”
“Honey, you know that you need enough rest or else you’ll tire yourself and that won’t be good for someone like you”, he said with concern.
“Yeah, dad, I know. It doesn’t happen all the time though, so you have to stop stressing.”
“Alright. Oh, and I’ll need to check your chip sooner rather than later. Maybe we might add some powers to make you stronger”, he paused. “That’s what I’ve been working on for some time now. And it seems to be pretty much good and ready to be tested. So what do you say?”
“Umm, can we talk about that later? I have to go for practice now”, I said while eating my cereal. I didn’t want to talk adding powers because I already was a freak with the less powers I had.
My dad seemed to understand and he let it go, for now.
“No problem. You’ll find me in the backyard waiting for you”, he said while walking off.
“’Kay.”
I finished off my breakfast quickly and washed the bowl I was using. I then went to the backyard and found my dad waiting for me, already in position of what we were going to practice.
We practiced for a while before Jay came out to watch. He liked seeing these powers of mine that I was using for practicing. He was even giving a few pointers here and there for interest’ sake.
After a few hours, we ended the practice and I went inside to take shower. I got myself ready for the visit to the mall with Jack and Ashton. I still had that feeling inside me each time I thought of Ashton, an uneasy feeling. It seemed that I was falling for this guy that I don’t know much about. I decided not to let that get into my head and cloud my vision of proper judgement.
After an hour or so, I went back downstairs and I found the rooms empty there. My dad and Jay were down by the lab. I heard my phone vibrate in my pocket and I took it out to see who was calling me. It was a number I had never seen before so I took a few seconds before answering it.
“Lina hello”, I answered.
“Hey, it’s me”, Ashton’s voice said.
“Oh, hey. What’s up?”
“Nothing much, I was just checking up on you, that’s all”, he said.
“Umm, thanks, I guess”, I said in a hesitant tone.
“Yeah sure, no problem. I also wanted to know if we’re still on for today”, he said.
“Yeah. I’m almost done with what I was doing. In a few minutes I’ll be out of the house and heading to the mall.”
“Oh, ok. Don’t forget Jack”, he said and then laughed.
I laughed and said, “I won’t. I mean, he’s the one who made this whole trip happen.”
“Alright then, I’ll see you in an hour or so”, he said.
“Sure. Bye”, I said and then hung up.
I went over to the kitchen and filled a glass with water. I drank half of it before Jack appeared on the wall.
“Hey kid”, he said in a happy tone.
“Sup buddy?”
“None much. Was that Ashton you were talking to a few moments ago?” he asked.
“Please don’t tell me you were eavesdropping on my conversation.”
“I wasn’t, I just couldn’t help overhearing it”, he said with a smile on his face.
“Yeah, it was him.”
“Ok. Are we going now?” he asked.
“In a few minutes. Let’s get down to the lab and tell them we’re going out now.”
“Sure thing, kid”, he said and then disappeared from that wall.
I went down to the lab and found my dad and Jay working on something from my dad’s cyber-desk. From their minds I could see that they were working on something related to the capsule that is down here in the lab, the same one as the one in my room, the one I sleep in. They were adding the extra abilities that my dad had mentioned earlier on, so I blocked their minds out of my head because I didn’t want to hear anything much about it.
“Hey dad, we’re heading out now”, I said as they turned to look at me.
“Oh ok. Need anything?” he asked.
“No, thanks. I’ll see you guys later. Bye Jay.”
“Bye, kid. Take care of yourself out there. I have a feeling that Kyle Simpson is in town”, he said.
“I’m sorry, you said who and what now?”
“Kyle Simpson is the guy heading the organization I was telling you about. It’s called Ariel Forensics. They –”, I interrupted him before he continued.
“Sorry, Jay, but can we talk about this later when I get home? I really have to go.”
“Lina, baby, you have to know all this because there are risks out there now. It’s no longer like before”, my dad came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
“I know that, dad. And I promise you that I’ll listen attentively when I get home, ok?” I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back.
I went up on my toes and kissed his cheek. “Love you, dad.”
I went over to his desk and took the tab while he answered, “Love you too.”
“C’mon Jack, let’s get out of here.”
“Alright, kiddo. Andy, Jay, stop worrying. I’ll take care of the kid. As soon as there’s any kind of threat, I promise you that I’ll notify you and we’ll come back home immediately”, Jack said.
“Ok, Jack. But remember, don’t stay out too late or else I’ll show up at that mall and get you home myself”, my dad said.
“With me in tow”, Jay added with a smile.
“Ha-ha, very funny. I get the point though, so we won’t stay out late”, I answered and headed out to the elevator.
“Bye”, I called over my shoulder and then went upstairs with Jack on the tab.
We went into my room to retrieve my wallet and some things I might need, like a jacket. After that, we went downstairs, out of the door, went to the garage, got into the car and drove off.