Chapter 4: Foo Foo's

She learns of her own powers and starts to accept the world in which she now resides.

                                                       Chapter 4

                                                        Foo Foo's

            Amber woke up to sunlight that peeked in through the blinds from the window above her. The light pierced the darkness of her sleep with a bright red glare and as her eyes adjusted to the light she looked around an unfamiliar room and it took her a moment to remember everything that had happened the night before. She laid there in the bed; stared at the ceiling, and waited as her thoughts of last night dominated her consciousness and made her hesitate about getting out of bed.

 

            She jumped up surprised by a loud noise that pierced the silence. It sounded like something shattered; glass or something fragile smash against the floor so Amber looked around the very plain room for something to use as a weapon. There was a small desk and lamp with papers scattered about it; a small white closet door was slightly cracked open not really showing much promise, there was a small dresser on the other side of the bed, opposite the desk and on top was a picture of a family. An older looking man with graying brown hair, wrinkly face, but not all dry and cracked, more like waves in the ocean, a woman with blond hair, long and bright, she looked about the same age as Joel and next to him she saw Joel who looked younger than he does now; more vibrant and full of life.

 

            Unable to find anything that would work she moved to the door and slowly opened it to the hallway, which lead into a living room that presented itself quite openly, well-lit from the light coming in from outside. Amber opened the door quietly and tip-toed out of the bedroom and down the hallway and hid at the corner of the wall that opened up to the living room and saw that everything was clean. There was no blood; no sign of a battle or struggle at all, no broken glass or scorch marks on the wall and it even looked like it had just been thoroughly cleaned; waxed, polished, it was amazing.

 

            Someone breathed heavily from somewhere in the room so she held her breath and tried to zone in on where it came from and then slowly walked around the couch and coffee table in the middle of the room over towards the kitchen. A counter came out from the wall to create a little alcove for the kitchen where the sink and fridge were located. Amber peeked over the counter and saw Jack on his hands and knees bent over a broken bowl which had cereal and milk that spilled everywhere when it hit the ground. She saw his shoulders slowly rise up and then relax downward as he breathed and she felt pity as she thought about what to do.

 

            Lost in thought and hesitation mostly Amber did not realize Jack had begun to breathe normally and was looking up at her.  A moment passed before her mind caught up with everything.

 

            "Uh.. you okay?" She walked around the counter into the main part of the kitchen and looked around for a paper towel or rag to clean the mess on the floor. On the oven was a light green rag with a diamond etching across it. Amber reached over him and grabbed it then knelt down in front of Jack.

 

            He did not say anything as she carefully picked up the broken pieces and put them in a pile to the side and then wiped up the milk and what looked like Cheerios from the floor.

 

            He still said nothing the whole time she cleaned and just stared at me with a dull gaze almost as if there was no one home inside his head. Amber gathered the pieces of the bowl in the rag and threw them in the garbage under the sink then turned on the water and washed out the rag before she set it on the faucet to dry.

 

            "You're welcome." Amber said. The guy could not even say thank you.

 

            When she finished Amber had barely noticed he already stood up and walked around the counter. His hand never left the counter as he worked his way into the living room towards his bedroom; it appeared he held on for the support to walk.

 

            He stopped a moment before he released his hand from the counter and moved across the living room and not even two steps by himself before he fell face first to the floor with a loud thud. She rushed over to him and rolled him onto his back. His face looked tired and his skin was pale so she put her head to his chest and felt his heartbeat; it was weak.

 

            "Jack, wake up." Amber patted him on the cheek a few times and he did not stir so she looked around the apartment for Joel and even called out, but he did not seem to be there. She got frustrated as she realized it would not be good for him or nice of her to just leave him lying on the floor.

 

            "Why me?" Amber said to herself.

 

            Amber moved around to Jack's head and tried to lift him up to drag him and either he was heavy or she was not very strong because Amber did not get him very far before she fell down and he landed on top of her. She rolled him off her and tried to pull him by his hands and was able to cross the threshold into his room and it was awkward and difficult to try and put him into his bed and eventually just propped him up against his bed.

 

            "Why am I doing this?" She asked herself all the while doing this, but once he was propped she looked at him and it was obvious he needed her help.

            She sighed before the long struggle to lift him onto the bed and finally she got him to lie on the bed after some many tries and then adjusted him so he at least looked like he was comfortable, then thought it was good enough.

 

            Afterwards she sat down on the bed; put her face in her hands then one hand dropped to her legs as her eyes wandered around his room which it did not look much different from Joel's; same desk with scattered papers, small closet door with who knows what inside, a dresser on the other side except instead of a picture there was a small chest. The chest was small; no bigger than a jar of mayonnaise, it was gold and brown, the design looked very old with little silver dots that lined it like a border; on the top was a crest with a shield in the center and what looked like vines or some kind of plant that surrounded the top and sides inside a small square, little 3-pieced plants with a knot that tied them together was dotted in a pattern of diamonds all around the sides of the chest which looked kind of pretty. Amber lightly touched it to feel the material and then picked it up. It was almost like tin, but stronger and it had something shift around inside when she tipped it. It sounded small and as she moved it more there was a softer sound like papers. A small gold-bronze lock with a silver bar was wrapped around the front latch and the only way to open it was with a key.

 

            Her curiosity started to grow as she wondered what was inside and licked her lips a little as her mind tried to guess what secrets a man like Jack held. The chest itself screamed deep and dark, personal, private, mystery, which matched perfectly with what she knew about Jack.

 

            I should not be doing this she thought to herself and usually was not one to invade the privacy of another person and believed strongly against it, but there was something about this chest that seemed so entrancing and important that she could not help but want to open it. Amber fought against my curious nature and put it down.

 

            Amber turned back to Jack and looked at his face which usually whenever she saw someone asleep they looked peaceful and almost happy, but Jack did not look normal. It seemed as if he struggled with something inside his mind like he had a bad dream and could even see his eyes move under his eyelids and every once in a while his eye brows would furrow so she sat down on the side of him and put her hand to his forehead; it was a little hot, but did not seem too bad.

 

            A door from the living room slammed shut which startled Amber so she got up from the bed and walked out to the living room to see Joel enter the kitchen and put some plastic bags full of things inside on the counter. He looked up to see her in Jack's doorway and smiled.

 

            "Feeling better?" He asked.

 

He started to take things out of the bags and put them away in cupboards and the fridge which were mainly food; milk, cereal, bread, and such.

 

            "Yeah." She replied.

 

            "And Jack?"

 

            "He was up a little bit ago, but he's sleeping again."

 

            Joel shook his head angrily.

 

            "Jack you're an idiot." He said under his breath.

 

            "What's wrong?"  She asked.

 

            "I'm not surprised he's awake, but I thought he'd be smarter and not move around in

his condition." Joel said as he looked at me. "But then again, Jack doesn't like to appear weak."

 

            "Do you need help with those?" Amber asked to change the subject.

 

            Joel looked around at what he had left to take out. "No. Thanks though."

 

            She nodded and pressed her lips together flatly before she blew air out and took a look around for something to do or say. Her eyes wandered over to the part of the apartment she had not seen yet, they had a large T.V. with an entertainment system set up against the wall to her left next to the hallway that lead to Joel's room and it was then she saw something that not only confused her a little, but scared her.

 

            On top of a shelf of the entertainment system next to a speaker there was a vase with dead roses in them. Amber walked over to them fluidly with ease like she had not moved at all as just stared at them and wanted to touch them; slowly reach out to touch them, but pulled back before she did and heard Joel speak to her.

 

            "Beautiful aren't they?"

 

            "I suppose. If you think dead is pretty."

 

            "Oh you can't see them yet."

 

            "What do you mean? I can see them fine." She turned to look at him confused even more.

 

            "You see dead roses, right?"

 

            "Yes."

 

            "Well, they aren't. That's just what your eyes allow you to see because your mind hasn’t fully come to the realization what they really look like yet. Dead roses are what I used to see too." Joel walked out from behind the counter and came over to Amber. 

 

            "Well, if they aren't roses then what are they."

 

            Joel smiled.

 

            "What?" She asked.

           

            "Nothing, I just thought you of all people would recognize them."

 

            "Why me?"

 

            "Because you made them."

 

            "What?"

 

            "Yeah, when you were a little girl before your dad left and put a veil in front of your eyes, you could create things with your mind. You created these flowers."

 

            "I created flowers?"

 

            "Yes."

 

            "Why can't I see what they look like?"

 

            "My guess is your mind is still trying to remember everything. It's been hidden for so long it might take a while to recover all your knowledge and memories."

 

            Amber looked over her shoulder at the flowers and tried to imagine them as something else, but all she could see was wilted petals.

           

            "Do they have a name?" She asked kind of disappointed she couldn’t see their true form.

 

            "Foo-foo's."

 

            She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

 

            "Foo-foo's?"

 

            "Yep. Foo-foo's." He said with a smile.

 

            Amber again looked back at the flowers and wondered what they could possibly look like with a name like that.

 

            "Why Foo-foo's?" She asked.

 

            "I don't know. You named them when you were just a kid."

 

            "Oh."

 

            Amber kind of stared off at nothing for a little while; Joel did not do anything either and the two of them stood there in an awkward silence. She wasn’t a fan of awkward silences.

 

            "I want to see them."

 

            "Well, I guess there is only two ways for that to happen."

 

            "Okay."

 

            "First, you can wait until your eyes fully open and you are completely awake from your slumber or you can skip the waiting and start believing."

 

            "Believe what?"

 

            "Believe everything."

 

            Amber scoffed a laugh and shook her head before she moved towards the apartment door.

 

            "Where are you going?" Joel asked with his arms folded across his chest.

 

            "School. I'm late."

 

            "You can't go. You're not safe."

 

            "That's a very general statement. Everyone isn't safe." She said with an attitude that just rolled off the tip of my tongue.

 

            "You're not even going to try?" He asked.

 

            "Whatever is going on is too weird for me. So I thank you and Jack for whatever you two did for me, but I'm going back to reality." She then opened the door and did not mean to slam it very hard, but did.

 

            Amber stood there outside their apartment and looked at the floor while she thought about what to what to do. At first thought, she was a little too hasty, but soon her common sense kicked in and pushed everything out of her mind.

 

            School was just how it usually was even though she was in a new school; in a different state, Amber felt completely lost and unfocused in her life and what she wanted to do with it. She looked into a lot of different classes in her spare time that could be taken and none of them jumped out. Perhaps Amber needed to just take a class and see if she liked it or not and then thought that was what college was supposed to help her figure out.

 

            She zoned out while in her general classes without thinking much about anything and the day just flew by so Amber stayed later in the library to look for something to read that interested her. After her classes had ended and since it was a Friday people had left early to begin their weekend everywhere was pretty empty around campus. Amber left the library after a while with a book on animal health so she could look into becoming a veterinarian; she did like animals so perhaps it would be something that she could do.

 

            The large hallway was empty and with every step she took it echoed; it bounced from wall to wall until it quietly stopped before her next step took its place.

 

            Amber passed the bathroom and it hit her without warning so she rushed into the bathroom and went into the first stall. It was surprisingly clean for a public bathroom which she was not used to, but was still cautious as she set the book down and covered the seat with toilet paper. As she felt relief flow through her, she looked around the stall and tapped her hands on her knees while Amber waited to finish then she heard the bathroom door open and footsteps echo in the empty bathroom.

 

            She finished up and pulled her pants up when she realized the footsteps stopped and looked forward to see two shoes that stood in front of the space between the floor and the door. They were a glassy black color with one buckle over the top on each shoe and white socks rose up the legs and disappeared at the bottom of the stall door.

 

            "Uh, it's occupied." Amber said to make sure whoever it was did not try to come in.

 

            The shoes did not move from their spot and the door shook a little as whoever it was tried to open the door and then stopped. Amber rolled my eyes.

 

            "I'm in here. It’ll be a sec." She said louder than before.

 

            The door shook again only louder and harder.

 

            "What are you deaf? I'm in here. Get another stall." She said agitated.

 

            The door began to shake violently and looked like it was about to come off, but it did not stop. She sat there curled up on the toilet without any idea on what to do and got scared as she could only imagine what was going on; was it another vision? Was this even real? Amber started to calm down when the door stopped shaking and noticed the shoes were gone so she sighed with relief. Her heart started to slow down and breath steadied and even laughed a little.

 

            "Help me." The words were ice cold as they entered her ears and rolled down my spine. She paused completely surprised that there was someone there, but could not see any shoes. Amber got down from the toilet and bent down and there was no one in the bathroom.

 

            "Help me." It was the voice of a girl. Amber stopped frozen in place and thought about the door and if she should open it and quickly leave or not. There is no one in here so there is no problem if I open the door and left the bathroom were the words she thought to herself.

 

            So Amber grabbed the book and got up and went to open the door when it flew open and caught her left hand behind it as it slammed against the stall wall. She cried out in pain as she held her left hand as the book fell to the floor. He view moved upwards from her hands to the floor where she saw those shoes again and followed them up the white socks to where they stopped and saw two pale white legs continue up to a small dark blue skirt which lead up to a white long-sleeved white blouse. The girl stared at Amber with these pure white eyes; her face was small and she looked very petite all around; she had blond hair that was long and seemed a little stringy. Amber could not look away from her gaze which seemed angry; very angry and sad. Her face changed in a ghostly flash from anger to rage as she screamed a loud shriek that could shatter glass. Her hands flew up at Amber and grabbed her arms and began to squeeze. 

 

            Amber tried to fight her off but she was too strong and all Amber could do was feel these sharp stings all over her body which started at her arms and coursed through the rest of her body.

 

            "HELP ME!" She screamed as if she were in trouble although she was the one that hurt Amber. She needed help so she screamed and with her eyes closed Amber swung her arms as hard as she could to try and push the girl out of the way so she could escape.

 

            Amber tripped over herself and fell to the ground. She could feel tears on her face as she tried to get up but could not muster the courage and so she crawled as fast as she could. Amber turned her head and opened her eyes to look at the girl. She stood there with those angry eyes; those frightfully angry eyes.

 

            "Please.." Amber could barely mutter. It was hard to breathe as she choked on air; tears, and her own words.

 

            "Don't hurt me." Amber whispered unable to say anything else because of the pain and just could not think as a pulse-like sting coursed through her body.

 

            The girl just stood there; her face changed from anger to sad and back again. She then came at Amber faster than she had seen anything move and put her head down; covered herself with her arms, and cried out for help.

 

            Nothing happened. Amber opened her eyes; face down and all she saw was the bathroom floor which was a pale white color with her reflection that stared back at her. She slowly rolled to her side and looked towards the stall where the girl was supposed to be. Amber turned onto her back and scooted to the wall by the sinks and sat up against it. She scanned the bathroom and it was empty so she lifted herself up slowly using the sink as support.

 

            Amber stood up and got control of her nerves as her hands continued to shake as she tried to turn on the water in the sink. The cool water came out easily enough and then ran her hands through it to try and soothe the pain on her hands and arms where the girl grabbed her. Amber looked into the mirror and saw her shirt had been ripped, my shoulder, two areas in the front, and somehow her back was ripped up a little.

 

            Shortly after looking herself over she stopped and stared at herself in the mirror; eyes were wide and red; small tears rolled down her cheeks and she could barely think; barely move as it was. First thing Amber did was get out of the bathroom the moment she gained some control of her body and stumbled into the hall and looked around for people to see no one was around to hear her screams. Amber did not know where to go, but did not want to stay anywhere near there so she left as quickly as possible to just look for the nearest person.

 

            Outside the school the sun had already began its decent behind the scenic landscape of the city which allowed night to creep across the sky almost like it chased the sun. As she reached the street a taxi dropped someone off so she rushed over and grabbed it before someone else did; thanked the driver, then told him to take Amber to her father's apartment where she felt she would safe there.

 

            Amber quickly got out of the taxi as she threw the money to the driver and pulled out her keys from her right jeans pocket and lifted it up to the doorknob. She then froze as she had this feeling that someone had been glaring at her since she got out of the car so she turned her head towards the street and the night had covered the city by the time she arrived so there were fewer people in the streets, but the ones that were seemed different somehow. Amber looked across the street to see a young couple pass by and there was one man that leaned against an apartment building wall with his arms folded. He wore ripped up jeans; a grayish shirt with a black cotton sweater that was unzipped, his skin looked dark and his hair was short and black, and a toothpick danced around between his lips, but it was his eyes that caught her attention. They were wild and ferocious while at the same time very still, focused.

 

            Amber inhaled and as he moved she inadvertently held her breath; he dropped the toothpick from his mouth and came towards her. She turned back to the door and got the key in and twisted it. There was a slight breeze that flew by her as the door opened and rushed in and gave the door a good slam behind her.

 

            On her way up the stairs Amber looked back at the door to see the man stand there; looked left and then right, then pulled his arm back and thrust it through the door window. The glass shattered into thousands of pieces and scattered about the floor. Her heart pounded hard against her chest as she felt the adrenaline burst through her system and pushed off with her left foot with such power she skipped a step or two before she landed with her right. Amber ran faster than she thought possible of doing especially up stairs and reached the second floor stair case and heard a terrifying growl from below. Amber knew she should not stop, but her curiosity pulled my head over the railing downwards to see the man at the bottom of the stairs on the first floor. He was hunched over a little with his arms outwards and saw his body flex under his clothes. His hands and face were almost visible and they seemed to get darker and fuzzy as he growled; his teeth clenched and saliva started to flow down his chin, his ears grew points at the top ends and his finger nails shot out from his tips into sharp jagged nails. He looked up at her and his eyes were bloodshot red as he let out a nasty howl which shook her to her core. Amber pulled herself away from the paralyzing site and sounds and continued up towards the apartment.

 

            She did not make it very far before she heard a loud crash that came from behind her and this time she did not look as she pushed herself harder to move faster. Amber rushed down the hallway to the door, 7C, it welcomed her with a shiny glint from the dim light of the hallway and her key made it into the doorknob and twisted it. The door clicked and out of the corner of her eye she saw the man crash into the wall of the hallway that lead from the stairs, but he was no longer a man, but a beast, he had a snout that came out from his face like a dogs; his arms; legs, head, and back were covered in hair and his chest a hard, rock-like muscle build of a 6-pack and pecs. He paused as their eyes met and then he pounced towards her without any more hesitation.

 

            The door flew open as she pushed it in hard and ran into the apartment. Amber could not see anything as she moved into the living room and bumped into something soft that felt like a shirt. It stopped her body completely and she did not fall over or trip, a man stood in front of her so she slowly looked up to the face of the man afraid that he had waited there for her while his friend chased her there. Amber flinched as she saw a hairy face and his hands softly landed on her shoulders, but it felt so familiar; soft and firm at the same time.

 

            It was Jack. Amber’s eyes adjusted to the darkness and saw him completely and for a moment, felt relief come over her as he looked back down at her then he looked up from Amber to the door and his eyes suddenly flashed to a serious glare.

 

            "Get down!" He shouted.

 

            His hands pushed Amber to her left and she fell to the ground on her back and the dim light from the hallway was blocked as she saw the creature lunge from outside the apartment at Jack. The creature's fangs slightly glinted from the saliva that dripped from its mouth and the two collided as Jack caught the beast in his arms. They flew back further into the apartment with a loud crash of wood and glass from where the coffee table was and the darkness of the room encased the two of them as there was not enough light from the hallway to see what was going on. She did not know what to do so she lay there silently and terrified.

 

            All she could hear were the low growls from the creature as the two wrestled in the dark. There were small flashes of silvery light break the darkness from where the two fought and then a loud thump of someone or something hit the ground.

 

            The light came on which caught me off guard as she tried to adjust as quickly as she could to see what was going on. Jack held a knife in his right hand and his left hand was raised to the ceiling. The blade went straight out from the hilt a few inches before it curved downwards. The curved blade had blood on it and Jack bent down and wiped off the blood from the blade on the monsters body before returning it to a small holster on the left side of his waist. He then looked at me as he was knelt over the heap of fur.

 

            "You okay?" He asked.

 

            "Are you?" Amber asked.

 

            The living room was destroyed; the couch was in a few large pieces, the coffee table was all over the floor, but the T.V. was still intact, blood stained the fabric of the couch and parts of the floor. Jack was still in the same clothes as the other night, but now covered with someone else’s blood rather than his own and he looked at Amber with that gaze he always seemed to have and she slowly got up and looked back at him. 

 

            "How did you turn on the light? There is no switch over there."

 

            "Magic." He answered.

 

            He stood up and walked over to the door and shut it.

 

            "Someone would've heard this. The police should be on their way." Jack said as he looked around at the mess.

 

            "What is that thing?" She looked from Jack to the beast on the floor.

 

            "It's a werewolf." Jack answered.

 

            "They exist?" She said surprised.

 

            "Yes."

 

            Amber looked back to Jack and his eyes were closed, he raised his arm out in front of him and the room shook a little and saw something move by the werewolf. She turned her head downwards and there was no dead monster; the coffee table and couch were fixed and there was no blood anywhere. She looked back to Jack and he looked at her again.

 

            "What? How?" She asked.

 

            "We need to leave."

 

            "Why? Where?" She asked defensively.

 

            "Back to my place. It's safer there. I've fixed the damage it caused outside so there should be no proof anyone was here. It would be best we leave now in case there were more like him in the area. They might know you live here now. More importantly that you live."

 

            "What do you mean?" Amber asked confused.

 

            "Your father protected you by erasing you and your mother from his life. According to the Real World, you're not supposed to exist anymore."

 

            Amber shook her head.

 

            "What?" He asked.

 

            "No."

 

            He looked at her blankly.

 

            "This can't be happening. This can't be real. I'm just a normal girl from Fayetteville, North

Carolina. My mother was a music teacher and my dad was a traveling businessman. They're both dead and I'm just trying to live m..."

 

            “That’s enough!" He said loud and stern.

 

            He went over to Amber and put his hand on the upper part of her right arm and stared directly into her eyes. She flinched from the pain as he grabbed her in the same spot that girl had hit her.

 

            "There are two people in this world; there are those that look the other way, avoid there problems and refuse to accept things for what they really are, those who lie to themselves. And then there are those that take the world as it really is and make the best of it. This is how things are. You need to decide who you are. Choose the destiny that is laid out before you or choose to make your own!"

 

            He did not blink once as he spoke; his eyes were so tense and focused then he let go of Amber. He turned, walked to the door, and stopped right in front of it, then put his hand on the door, put his head down and closed his eyes, and was silent for a moment before he looked back to her. She looked at the ground with her eyes that jumped from one spot on the floor to another randomly as she thought about what to do and to avoid eye contact with Jack.

 

            “I just erased every one's memories in the building for the last several minutes. They won’t know what to tell the police when they arrive, but we should still leave.” He said.

 

            Amber stood there silently still not knowing what to do or say.

 

"Trust me." He said very softly.

 

            Amber looked up to him and his face was towards the door; eyes closed again. She was not sure of what to do, but at the same time did not want to stand here and wait.

 

            "Okay." Amber said.

 

            He looked at me; his eyes looked tired, almost exhausted.

 

            "I will, humor you." She said to try and sound like she still didn’t believe what was going on.

 

            He seemed to accept that as the best answer he would get from her right then so he put his hand out to Amber and she walked over to him and stopped just in front of his hand. She looked at his hand which looked rough and strong as if he used them a lot; they were worn and over-worked. She slowly raised my hand and set it in his; which was softer than she had expected and then remembered in the alley when he put his hand to her face; the soft feel against her cheek comforted her and now as Amber’s hand rested in his the comfort returned, slowly.

 

            There was another feeling; a strange feeling like something had was different, something was there that was not before, but could not explain what it was exactly, but it was there. Something was different.

 

            Once again like last night the current scenery faded and blended into another apartment. The different colored walls and floors stood out first in the change then followed by the couch and television, the kitchen and hallway until Amber was in his apartment once more.

 

            Joel was not on the couch this time but he was in the kitchen and the smell of pasta filled the room. Jack let go of her hand and walked to his room and shut the door behind him as Joel's head peeked out from the kitchen and smiled.

 

            "Glad to see you're okay." He returned to his duties.

 

            "Please sit and I'll bring you something to eat. I'm sure you're hungry." He said a little louder so she could hear him better.

 

            Amber looked over to the table where 3 plates with forks, knives, and cups were placed so she sat down at the nearest one to her opposite Jack's room. A moment later Joel came in with a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs which he then dished out a nice serving-size and then himself before he sat down and joined Amber.

 

            "Dig in." Joel said happily.

 

            Amber picked up the fork and started to eat when Joel stood up and returned to the kitchen.

 

            "I forgot the drinks. Anything you want. We have milk, orange juice, some soda, or water?" He asked.

 

            "Uh, milk will be fine." She answered and felt awkward at how casual these two seemed with everything weird that was going on.

 

            He brought over a gallon of milk and poured both of us some then put the milk back and sat down again and started to eat.

 

            "Sorry about Jack. He's still recovering from last night and he can seem... grumpy when he's tired." Joel said after he slurped a strand of spaghetti in his mouth.

 

            "Didn't that old guy that helped him say he would need a few days to be better?" She asked.

 

            "Yes, but Jack thinks he's a fast healer and as I said, he doesn't like to show weakness." Joel laughed to himself.

 

            Amber sat there and played with the noodles for a little before she finally stuck her fork into the bulk and twirled it around and wound up enough for a small bite. It was good and as she chewed her stomach opened up and began to beg for more. Amber was a lot hungrier than she thought.

 

            They sat there and ate. They did not say much other than how good the food was which was like her first date when she was 15. Amber went out to eat with Peter Jorgensen at some Mexican restaurant and the food was good, but they were too nervous to really say anything then he dropped her off at home and that was it. It was kind of funny now that Amber thought of it and how similar it was with Joel. She glanced around the room while she thought of her past awkward dates and stopped at the vase of dead roses that sat above the television. They were no longer dead roses.

 

            Amber set down her fork and pushed back the chair to stand as Joel looked up at her.

 

            "What's wrong?" He asked.

 

            She slowly walked over to the flowers in the vase and instead of dead roses there was a beautiful arrangement of flowers she had never seen before.

 

            The greenish-white petal on the back of the flower rose up from the center and floated downwards to a point and at the center of the flower were three small yellow petals; very small and triangular in shape that went outwards away from each other, below them was a creamy white base that lifted upwards from the stem to the center and out into five petals in the shape of a star with the sixth being the tall greenish-white petal, and on the point of the 5 star-shaped petals the white melded into a beautiful tint of blue.

 

            "You see them?" Joel asked and his voice seemed so far away, so distant that she barely heard it, but she did not have anything to say so all she did was nod.

 

            "They're beautiful." Joel stood next to me and admired the flowers as she did.

 

            "And.. I made these?" Amber asked in disbelief.

 

            "Yes."

 

            "And my father kept these alive all these years?"

 

            "Your flowers don't have a lifespan really. I guess you could say they are forever in bloom."

 

            Amber walked closer to them and reached my hand up to touch them. She had never felt anything so soft and smooth.

 

            "So, when did you start to believe?" Joel asked.

 

            Amber did not answer as she picked up one of the flowers from the vase and brought it to her face. She felt the petal touch her cheek very slightly as she smelled it, the scent that flowed through her nose and into her lungs was sweet and light, it soothed me.

 

            "Did Jack say something?"

 

            Amber thought about the question and Jack had told her to trust him which she thought, subconsciously, that she did. She had felt something change then like something was different not only inside herself, but with everything.

 

            Joel nodded and did not push it any further as he went back to the table and sat down. Amber stood there and held the flower in her hand, the Foo-foo. This is the beauty of the Real World that Jack, Joel, and her father were a part of and now she wanted to be a part of that world too and it seemed like whether she truly wanted to or not she was.