Friday about midnight. Finally home. I should say; finally at the head quarter. We had been driving from dawn until now.

Aaron told me to stay on the bike while he stumbled off. He then helped supporting me when I got off. I felt like I had no power in my legs at all.

He had informed me that we had to go in and make a report before we could go home. He had said a lot of stuff, but I hadn’t really listened. Though the sound of his voice had helped me calm down a little.

He took my hand and led me into the head quarter. I felt like a blind person, just silently following and not looking anywhere I was going.

When he knocked on the door to Jack’s office, I looked up. It was opened immediately, casting light on our faces. I skewered to Aaron. He looked just as tired as I felt.

“Great! Finally! We’ve been waiting for you two!” Jack exclaimed.

“We?” Aaron mumbling asked.

We stepped in, and Aaron let go of my hand. I looked at the other man in the room. He looked like a 30-40 year old Aaron.

Aaron slightly bowed, and I nodded my head as a greeting. Jack closed the door and asked us to sit down.

Aaron gave an account of the mission, and I confirmed some details now and then, and nodded when I felt it was appropriate.

The two men then started asking questions, but I didn’t hear them, only some words broke into my mind.

“Mr. Z2…”

“Dad, you know that…”

“So Y57 was…”

“And may we see the ring then?”

When a question was directed at me, I slowly looked up and suppressed a yawn.

I used what felt like the last remaining of my power to lay my hand on the table.

Jack and Aaron’s dad examined it carefully before letting us go.

“Mr. Z9, I think you should take Miss Y8 home. She seems too tired to go alone,” Z2 said.

“No, not at all, I…”

“…Mrs. Wu, I’m following Wu Ying Jie home. She is still a bit sick, but insisted on going home. Mr. Huang asked me to accompany her, as he was busy.”

It was like I woke up by hearing Aaron’s voice. I hadn’t been sleeping, but in some kind of mindless trance, it felt like. Not literally, but because of tiredness.

“Oh! Xiao Jie, what are you thinking?! Couldn’t you at least wait for tomorrow instead of going home in the middle of the night? You know we trust Alien completely, and you shouldn’t be ashamed about staying at his family’s house, we are best friends, and you know that…”

My mom helped the maid follow me to bed after saying goodbye and thank you to Aaron. She kept blabbering, but at least it kept me awake.

“…and I’ve talked it all through with him, he was just happy to take care of you, you should know how good a man he is. The girl who marries him is very lucky…”

Oh please. Don’t tire me even more with that now. I’ve just come home, and these things already take over my world again? I have other stuff to think about.

“Ohhhh, what a pretty ring! Where did you get it? Are the leaves fake…? They probably are, it wouldn’t be possible to braid them that way without magic, hahaha…”

Thanks, mom. Now silence, please.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep. And slept until Sunday afternoon.

I ate a half loaf of white bread (what, I was hungry!) and drank two milkshakes my father especially made for me. My mom let the palm of her hand brush by my cheek every time she walked past me, and my dad was happily chatting. It seemed like they had missed me a lot, and my conscience slowly build up; I had lied so badly.

Then I had some phone calls to do.

First I called to thank Alien, and explain what Aaron had made up as excuse. He then told me what he had said and told my parents, so we both had the same version of the story.

I didn’t have courage to call Aaron right then, and he might also still have been sleeping. So I sent him a text with the simple message: “Thank you.”

And then Genie. I saved the best for the last.

But while I told her everything about the mission (and she kept on insisting on seeing the Flower Ring as soon as possible), she seemed to be holding something back. Until I asked her how the ballet contest had turned out.

“Gui Gui, I won! Gosh, I’m so happy! But do you know what this means?” She suddenly seemed sad, and I worried asked her what it meant.

“It means that… I have to go to New Zealand. You know, the prize was a place at that school we always wished we could go to, and…”

My mood dropped with the same speed as the sadness in her voice increased.

I had fallen asleep again, and when I woke up, I looked at my phone. I still couldn’t believe that Genie and I would be separated. Even though I could maybe make it into that college, there was no way I could go to New Zealand. Not with the task of finding all the Rings hanging over me.

My phone displayed: ‘Missed calls: Danson (28). Messages in voicemail: Danson (4). Text messages: 8 unread (Danson).’

Maybe he could cheer me up a bit.

***

I know, I know! This chapter is too short. I’ll be updating again tomorrow, k?

It’s just too late to write more now, and I really feel like I need to update today.

This week has been soooo busy -.-‘’ I’ve started school again. Which means I’m now in 9^th grade. Which means it’s my last year in Folkeskole (0^th-9^th grade). Which means I have final exams this spring. Which means TONS of homework.

So I unfortunately don’t have much time to write :/

Short&boring this chapter is, but not they’re at least home (:

Sorry for making George a bad guy. I warn you now; he won’t be the last (muhahaha :D).

(When I make people baddies, it’s not cuz I don’t like them. It’s cuz I need SOME people to be badasses. Might as well grab handsome ones, lol)

Please comment (:

- Blitz

P.S. Crappy Winglin was down again. Oh well. Nothing we can do about it :/