Shards and Sketches: Chapter II
A Kingdom Keepers Fanfic
Even by lunch, Maybeck still couldn’t wrap his head around Finn’s panicked text from the night before. He’d given the briefest summary possible of how the Overtakers had used him to curse Amanda, though he was sure Jess had been the intended target.
First Charlene, then Willa, and now Jess. Worse than that, Amanda had been cursed, not stuck in SBS, which made it much harder to help her. Charlene’s curse had been broken easily enough, but he was sure Finn would have already tried kissing her, so clearly they needed to think of something else.
He just wished Finn had given them more information. If they knew all the details, maybe they could come up with something during school. But no, Finn wanted to wait until they could actually meet to tell them anything.
Maybeck snuck outside and pulled out his phone. His finger hovered over Finn’s name on his speed dial. He had a few minutes of lunch left. He could call Finn and ask for something, anything to help find a solution, but Finn was probably panicked enough right now, and calling him would just make it worse.
His finger slid down and he hit Philby’s name instead.
“I don’t have much time to talk,” Philby said without so much as a “hey”.
“Yeah, I know. I just wanted to know if you’d heard any more from Finn.”
Philby sighed. The lack of information was probably getting to him too. “No. He said he’d meet us after school thought.”
Maybeck rolled his eyes. For all Philby’s genius, he had a habit of stating the obvious. “Yeah, caught that from his text.”
Philby either didn’t notice the sarcasm or didn’t care. “I’ve got some information too. Raises a lot of questions. None of them good.”
“Great,” Maybeck muttered. “Just what we need right now.”
He was glad he wasn’t the one monitoring the computers. He was the “tech guy” at home, for both the customers and his aunt. He could fix the tv when it stopped working, or build a simple website for the store, but Philby understood computers on an entirely different level. It was like comparing someone who made caricatures for tourists to Leonardo da Vinci. And Maybeck was fine with that (mostly). He’d much rather be doing something than staring at a screen and waiting.
Even now, he could hardly imagine sitting still in class for hours before they could do anything for Amanda.
If he was feeling that way, he couldn’t imagine how Jess felt.
Didn’t she attend the same school as Philby and Willa? “How’s Jess doing?”
“I mean, probably not good,” Philby said. “It’s her sister.”
“Probably? You mean you haven’t actually–” He cut himself off. Of course Professor Philby hadn’t bothered to ask her himself. He should have called Willa instead. “Never mind.”
“I gotta go,” Philby said. “Class is about to start.”
That probably meant Maybeck’s class was about to start too. “Okay. I might be a few minutes late to the ice cream shop.”
“Why?”
“I have something I need to do.”
Philby was quiet for a second, and Maybeck wondered if he’d hung up. Then he said, “we don’t need anyone else going missing.”
“I know. I won’t do anything stupid.” He hung up."
Jess stared at her reflection, making sure no signs of tears remained. When she was satisfied, she stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway.
This must have been how Amanda felt when Jess had been taken by Maleficent. But while Jess had been stuck under Maleficent’s spell for months, Amanda had only been asleep 24 hours and Jess already felt like she was losing her mind.
She tucked her books carefully into her locker, shut the door, and leaned her forehead against the cool metal. How had Amanda survived this?
She took a deep breath and stepped back. She had to head home. Technically, she was still grounded, and besides, she wanted to be with her sister. Unfortunately, it seemed every single person in the school had congregated on the stairs outside. The crowd bothered her, and she wished, as she had so many times before, that she had Amanda’s “gift” instead of hers. Pushing people around would certainly come in handy right about now.
Then she spotted the problem.
Maybeck stood at the base of the stairs, his bike leaning against his legs to leave both hands free for signing autographs.
Why was he there? He couldn’t possibly be there to see her, right?
But of course, she wasn’t the only one of his friends there. Philby and Willa attended her school as well. He must be there to see them. Maybe they were working on a plan to help Amanda.
“Hey, Jess!” Maybeck raised his hand and waved, as if flagging her down, not just greeting a friend. She froze as everyone turned to look at her. She usually didn’t mind other people’s attention, but right now she just really wanted her sister.
He grabbed his bike and propped it back up. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”
She stared at him.
“What? It’ll be faster.”
It would be faster, and right now that was all she cared about. She stepped forward and the crowd parted for her.
He stood on the bike, holding it steady. She hopped onto the handlebars and grabbed on. Her hands pressed against his, warm against the cold metal.
“Can you still see?” she asked as he started riding. He was taller than her, but she was sitting higher.
He grunted. “I have done this before, you know.”
“Right. I’m sure you’ve done this with plenty of girls,” she shot. She didn’t know why she said it.
“And I’m sure you’ve done this with plenty of boys before too,” he said, much more calmly. She clamped her mouth shut.
She waited a few blocks before speaking again. “How’d you get here so quick? Did you get out of class early?”
“My school just gets out before yours.”
That was a lie. Which meant he had left school early for her. Despite the heat of the day, she shivered. She shifted back, just a bit, until her back pressed against his shoulder.
“Any change with Amanda?” he asked. The abrupt change of subject made the reminder hit harder than usual. She bit her lip and forced back her tears.
“Never mind,” he said when she didn’t answer. “Finn wants to talk to us tonight about finding something to break the spell.”
She almost opened her mouth to remind him that she didn’t have a phone or DS, before she realized that “us” didn’t include her. “Right.”
“We’ll email you if we think of anything,” he promised.
A light breeze brushed her hair into her face, and she shook her head to clear it. It was really a beautiful day, and she hated it. She might never speak to her sister again, and the sun had the audacity to shine like it was a day to celebrate.
“It was supposed to be me,” she said softly. She felt Maybeck’s hands clench the handlebars tighter. “It was that stupid shirt.” A tear slipped out and she was glad he couldn’t see her face. “I should have thrown it out as soon as I had that dream.”
“You dreamed about being cursed?”
“I didn’t know what it was.” For some reason, she didn’t really want to tell him what her dream had actually been. “I’ve been trying to tell you guys, it’s not a gift to see the future.”
The bike slowed. Jess turned her head to look back at him. He frowned down at the pedals. She turned back.
They didn’t speak again until he pulled up to Mrs. Nash’s house and the bike skid to a stop. She hopped off the bike and turned to face him.
“Your school doesn’t get out before mine,” she said.
His smile faltered. Then, as he did every time he got uncomfortable, he reverted to sarcasm. “What, did you have a dream about what time my school gets out?”
“I’m just trying to say thank you, Donnie.” She leaned over and brushed her lips against his cheek, then darted inside before Mrs. Nash spotted them.
Next chapter coming soon!