The Gift

Chapter Twenty-Seven-Ambushed

As we were going inside the resturaunt, I decided to finally ask what we were going to do without any money. Cole scoffed.

"Money is for losers. We're already been breaking the law, so why not just add a little stealing to go with it?" He said, smirking. We stood outside the door.

"Maybe we could just eat all of our food, say it was disgusting, and get it for free." Roxxii grinned mischieviously, and I laughed.

"Like we'd ever get away with that. We could just eat and run. Like, you know, criminals." I joked, knowing we were a lot better than actual criminals. But Cher rolled her eyes, not understanding the obvious joke.

"Criminals spend their time killing people or robbing banks, not dining and dashing. Even I know that." She told me, knowingly. Eli sighed.

"You can never joke with the girl, gotta learn that," he told us. 

"Lets just dine and dash," Cole said. Blizzard sighed.

"Always have to do it the hard way. Ranks right up there with taking a wallet from someone's back pocket." 

"Yeah, right. We won't make a scene." Micah said. "We're not that stupid. We won't eat, jump up, and break through the window. We'll just be there one second and not the next," 

"This is going to be fun..." Blizzard said with fake excitement.

"Next time we are going to do this, lets pretend we're hobos. People will pity us and give us their food." Roxxii said as we walked inside Denny's. 

"Alright," I smiled at her as we bunched at the front desk, waiting to be seated. The girl who came over to seat us paled when she saw us, but she shook it off, grinned that big and fake smile waiters/waitresses always did, and said, "How many will be here today?"

"Six," Roxxii blurted. She looked at Blizzard. "He's my pet. He's very polite and I can't leave him outside."

"Okay, dear. Right this way. Booth or table?" She asked as she led us away.

"Table," Micah told the girl, answering for us. I didn't care much, but Cher rolled her eyes.

As we all sat down, me, Eli, and Roxxii all sat on one side, with Blizzard on Roxxii's lap, and Cher, Micah, and Cole all sat on the other side. We all looked at our menus, skimming over them. We all ordered our drinks and food, and then sat patiently while we waited.

"So, what's the plan?" Roxxii asked, sipping her steaming hot chocolate. I shrugged unknowingly. I had no clue what everyone else had a plan to do. What I was wanting to do was eat, leave, and call Jeremy to see if Eli was lying. But I knew no one would accept that. I was going to find a way to talk to them....somehow.

"Nothing. Right now, we just try to get to the Hidden World. Once we're there we can get Nichole to safety. That's it. That's all we have to do." Cole took a big gulp of his water, while I looked down sadly. Once we were in the Hidden World, they would all have to leave me. Where would Roxxii and Blizzard go? Where would they stay? Hopefully somewhere together. They really bonded.

But as I thought about what I'd be doing in a place I had no clue existed until this week, our food arrived, and I was forced to push my sad thoughts away, put a hungry look on my face--even though I lost my appetite--and eat my food.

I listened to everyone talk about different things, not even worried about what Cole had said. So everyone knew I'd have to go in the Hidden World and be left there?

I looked at the waitresses. They were all bunched up in a corner, sneaking glances at us, and whispering uncomfortably. Finally, one of the girls broke away and headed to the phone. She dialed only three numbers, making my stomach plunge as I watched her whisper into the phone, looking back at us.