The Frights of Fiji by Sunayna Prasad (books to read for self improvement .txt) 📕

her.

Jasmine brightened her eyes. “That is scary.”

“Yeah,” Alyssa said. “But I think I’ll find a way to defeat it.” She turned to the other girls. None of them paid attention.

“Did Isabelle say what you needed?” asked Jasmine.

Alyssa shook her head. “But that’s okay. Maybe I’ll have her as a mentor again. Even if I don’t—I’m sure there will be someone to help me.”

“Magic doesn’t scare you anymore?” asked Madison.

“Nope,” said Alyssa. “I actually need to tell my godfather about it at some point.”

“You think he’ll believe you?” Jasmine asked.

“I already told him before I got kidnapped,” Alyssa said.

“Oh,” said Jasmine.

Alyssa continued to eat.

Lunch lasted for about a half hour, and then the waiters took the plates back. Alyssa told Madison and Jasmine that she’d be safe for at least six months. But the two still worried.

Jasmine breathed. “I hope you’re okay, Alyssa.”

“Me too,” she said.

A waitress arrived, holding a whipped-cream-iced cake with lit candles. She headed toward Alyssa. “Okay, make a wish.” She placed the cake down in front of her.

Alyssa looked up, smiling as everyone at her table looked at her.

“Come on, Alyssa.” Madison smiled.

“Okay, okay,” she rushed out of her mouth. “I . . . I’m—”

“You don’t want us to keep staring at you?” asked one of her other friends.

“No,” giggled Alyssa.

“Shut your eyes,” said Hailey from her table. “Pretend no one’s here.”

“Okay.” Alyssa shut her eyes and blew out the candles.

Everybody applauded, and the waitress took the cake back to cut it.

A few minutes later, the same waiters as before carried small plates of cake slices. Alyssa received her piece and took a bite, tasting the fluffiness of the vanilla flavor and the chocolate buttercream filled inside. She ate until nothing except crumbs remained on her plate. Then baskets of fruit and assorted cookies arrived. Alyssa took a few kinds of each.

“Alyssa, you’re really going to eat all that?” asked Hailey from the other table.

“Yeah,” said Alyssa.

“Don’t worry,” said Alex. “It’s your birthday. Eat as much as you’d like.”

“Thank you.” Alyssa ate until her stomach filled up.

Everyone chatted for about ten more minutes until Kathleen and Donald paid the check. The group headed out of the restaurant so that the girls would have their nails painted. Tonight Alyssa would pack. She hoped that Mathias would not meet her in public like Isabelle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

Last night, after everyone had packed up her furniture, Alyssa had occupied the basement. Alex had taken the extra room.

Alyssa’s digital clock alarm went off. She jumped out of her bed and turned it off. The time was six-thirty a.m. Alex wanted to leave at seven so that he could arrive at his house sooner. Despite that, Alyssa crawled back under her bed covers and fell back asleep but the light switch came on. She lifted herself up, watching Alex step down the stairs, already dressed in his day clothes.

“Alyssa, it’s time to get ready,” he said. “The moving van’s already here.”

“Okay.” Alyssa slid off her bed.

“Are you all packed up?” asked Alex.

Alyssa nodded.

“All right. I’ll let you get ready.” He headed back up the stairs.

Alyssa peeled off her long-sleeved pink shirt and striped pajama pants and put on jeans, a tank top, and plaid shirt. She did her morning bathroom routine and took her suitcase upstairs.

“Sweetheart, do you want me to help you take more things upstairs?” Alex asked.

“Sure,” said Alyssa.

She and Alex headed back to the basement to grab more bags of birthday presents, extra clothes, and anything else that couldn’t fit in her suitcase.

“Can we go down now?” asked one of the moving van men as Alyssa and Alex stepped back onto the ground floor.

“Um . . .” Alex turned to Alyssa.

“Go ahead,” she said.

As the workers took her furniture upstairs, Kathleen, Donald, and Hailey entered the basement, still in their pajamas.

“I’m going to miss you, Alyssa.” Hailey hugged her.

“Me too,” she said.

The two let go.

“Don’t forget to call or e-mail me,” said Hailey.

“Sure,” said Alyssa.

“Same here,” said Donald. “You have a good trip, kiddo.”

“Thanks,” Alyssa said. “I’ll keep in touch with all of you.”

She went outside and settled into the front seat of Alex’s car since he had invited her there. Then he drove off.

“Did you put this blanket and pillow here?” asked Alyssa.

“Uh huh,” said Alex. “I wanted to make you comfortable.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

“I still can’t believe what happened to you.”

Yesterday, after the party had ended and all the girls had gotten their nails done, he’d told her about Hailey, Kathleen, and Donald discussing everything they’d known about her and Hailey when they’d been kidnapped.

“I know—it was scary,” Alyssa said.

“Hailey even told me about some ‘white gas.’”

“I know what that is.”

“You do?”

“Uh huh. It’s the evil wizard’s ghost.”

Alex gasped. “Oh my god.”

“But on the bright side, nothing will happen for at least six months.”

“W-what if something does?”

“Then we’ll find a way to resolve it.” Alyssa yawned, covering her mouth.

“There really are such ways?”

“There were ways to resolve other kinds of magic. But can we talk about that later?”

“Why?”

“I’m tired.”

“All right, go ahead and sleep. I’ll wake you up when we stop for lunch.”

“Okay.” Alyssa leaned back on the seat’s pillow, put her blanket on, and dozed off.

 

About five and a half hours had passed since Alyssa and Alex had left Kathleen and Donald’s house. The two had finished lunch at Panera Bread and walked back to the car. During that time, Alex had told Alyssa that when he had attended college, he’d forget a lot of requests and belongings when it came to social situations. Then he’d mentioned that’d been how he and Alyssa’s mom had broken up when he was eighteen and she was twenty-three.

“What exactly happened?” Alyssa asked as Alex pulled out of the parking slot.

“She gave me her wallet so that I could go buy myself some lunch.”

“You couldn’t do it yourself?”

“She was commuting to school, and I was living in the dorms. I had run low on cash, and my debit card had problems. But it was close to spring break, so I did get more money after.”

“Oh. So why was my mom still in college when she was supposed to graduate the year before?”

“She started college a year late. Anyway, I accidentally left the wallet behind. When your mom and I came back—it was gone.”

“Oh no.”

“She actually dumped me for that.”

“So you weren’t invited to my parents’ wedding or—”

“Nope. She also didn’t invite me to your first baptism or even dare to call me.”

“Wow.”

“I didn’t bother to call her either. But I did get another girlfriend later.”

“When?”

“Around the time you were born, which was five years after your mom dumped me. But I only dated her for four and a half years.”

“What happened after that?”

Alex sighed. “She died from a snake bite.”

“Aw, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I was so sad, though, and couldn’t find any other women to date. So I called your mom and talked to her.”

“You still had her phone number?”

“Yup.”

“What did she say?”

“She was actually really nice. And she felt bad for never talking to me, so she invited me to be your godfather and designated me as the legal guardian in the event that something happened to them.”

Alyssa nodded.

“She reconnected with me and introduced me to your father.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“No, this was over the phone a few months before I first met you.”

“Oh.” Alyssa formed a weak grin.

 

Because of traffic, Alex and Alyssa hadn’t left Pennsylvania until now. Only a few minutes after five had passed, and Alyssa’s stomach moaned. But she saw no restaurants outside. Just woodlands and hills surrounded the street.

“Sweetie, are you hungry?” Alex asked.

“Uh huh.”

“So am I. Since it’s your birthday, you get to pick what kind of food you’re interested in.”

“Uh . . . how about steak?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Once they reached a town, Alyssa looked around for places that would probably serve steak. She saw a small diner, various shops, strip malls, fast-food restaurants, and a pottery studio. But a sign for Virgo’s Steakhouse stood a few hundred feet away.

“Alex, can we go to Virgo’s Steakhouse?”

“Okay.” Alex pulled into the parking lot.

The two stepped inside, and Alyssa looked around at the scarlet-and-beige color scheme. Candles stood at each table. Pictures covered every other space on the wall. A waiter sat Alyssa and Alex at a small table and gave them menus. The two ordered their food and drinks. A few minutes later, the waiter gave them their drinks.

“So, Alyssa, I just want to tell you how things are going to work at my house.”

“Okay.”

“The first week, you can relax and get used to my house. But after that, I have some rules.”

Alex told Alyssa what guidelines would apply to her at his place. There would be no leaving dishes in the sink; they must go straight into the dishwasher after being rinsed. Alex had a dog as well, so Alyssa had to help take care of it. She also had to make her bed when she had no school. When school started again, Alyssa couldn’t watch TV until she completed all her homework, and she was forbidden to view any if she had a quiz or test within the next two days.

Alyssa didn’t mind those. But Alex mentioned that although he’d have a cleaning lady come to his house since he didn’t want Alyssa home alone all day while he’d worked, she had to do her own laundry after this week.

“Can I play music while I do my laundry?” asked Alyssa.

“Of course.” Alex smiled.

The waiter returned with the food. Alyssa ate her steak, and Mathias came to her mind. Right. He would see her tonight. But how would Alex react to his presence? Maybe he’d freak out—or he’d welcome Mathias after finding out that he had mentored Alyssa in Fiji.

However, Alyssa still hoped that Mathias would meet her in private. She’d also have to hide the object so that other people wouldn’t find it. But she didn’t own a safe. She had kept her money in plastic Ziploc bags and in her closet. So she would have to resolve the issue when she arrived at Alex’s house.

“Alyssa, there’s an ice cream parlor across the street,” Alex said. “Do you want to go there?”

“Sure.”

“It’ll also be a birthday gift, by the way.”

After finishing, Alex and Alyssa walked across the street since there was no sign enforcing tow-away actions if a person left the property.

The two entered, and Alyssa read the ice cream flavors, creations, and toppings on the menu above her. Besides the classic vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry flavors, others included cake batter, cotton candy, mocha chip, and blueberry. Alyssa picked cake batter with cocoa-cookie crumbs, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.

She ate, but a swish occurred under her feet. Alex had gone to the bathroom about a minute ago, so Alyssa assumed that he would come out in a minute. She picked