• NOTE: THIS WAS WRITTEN BY TRINITY YOUNG, NOT ME!! SHE IS THE OTHER AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK BESIDES ME, AND SHE HAS GIVEN ME PERMISSION TO POST THIS ONLINE!!! WE CAN'T JUST HAVE A HOLE IN THE PLOT!!!!!


    THIS IS FROM DAWN'S POINT OF VIEW, NOT SKYLAR'S!!!!!

    Dawn-

    Precariously balancing a tray of cinnamon rolls, oranges, and water, I walked in to my room-or I guess it was Skylar’s room now too-and flicked on the light. She jumped slightly, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.
    “Oh, hi Dawn,” she greeted me drowsily. “What time is it?”
    “Time to get up and eat breakfast”, I replied, setting her meal near the edge of her bed. Looking at me warily, she began peeling the orange and inspected it like it might be poisoned. “I knew what you wanted for breakfast,” I added, answering her confused expression. “Mind-reader, remember?”
    “Right…” Skylar was obviously uncomfortable, but she’d learn. Finally forgetting her worries, she sighed and started eating. “These are really good,” she mumbled softly, and I grinned.
    “Homemade. I do a lot of cooking. Apparently I’m good at it, and I’m way better than Mathias.”
    Pushing aside the half-finished plate and standing up, she did her best to give a genuine smile. “So, do we have a plan for today?”
    “Yep, Oscar put me in charge of giving you the grand tour!” Smiling more effortlessly, she followed me out of our bedroom down the hallway where I gestured at doors as we passed them. “Lila and Heng’s room, Felicity and Janice’s room, and the sick room is down the hall”, I rambled knowing she would never be able to take this all in. “After awhile you’ll figure it out. I guess all the girls are sleeping, so you can meet them later. But I’ll warn you now; Felicity has a split personality, so watch out.” Turning around at the end of the hall, we walked back past our room and I lead her the other way to a door. Through the door was a separate hallway. “This is Ivy and Zeline’s room,” I said, pausing at the door as a loud shriek erupted from under the doorframe. Catching a peek at Skylar’s concerned expression, I laughed, “and that is Zeline.” She turned to look at me, taken aback by my harsh reaction.
    I kept walking. As expected, she followed me down the hall until we got to the next door, which I explained to her was Ai and Hailey’s room. At that moment, a seven-year-old girl with jet black hair, violet-tinted eyes, and pajamas to match her irises walked out.
    “Hi Dawn,” Hailey trilled, and turned to Skylar. Rolling her eyes, she whispered loudly, “Is this another one of Sage’s ‘lady friends’?”
    “No, this is Skylar Neumann, and she just joined our circus,” I replied. A surprised look spread across her small face and was quickly replaced by a smile.
    “Oh, that’s good. His friends are annoying.” Grinning at me again, her walked back into her room and shut the door. Skylar looked at me, and I smiled. Lady friends, she mouthed, and I laughed and pointed to the room across the hallway.
    “That’s Carter, Kaleb, and Qui’s room.” She nodded like she understood, so I continued, “Kaleb is German, and according to Mathias he has an extremely colorful vocabulary.”
    “Um, you keep mentioning this Mathias guy? How would he know this when nobody else does? Does he read minds too?”
    “No, he doesn’t read minds. He’s been alive for a while, so he’s learned at least ten different languages. And apparently you haven’t formally met him, but I’ll make sure you do. You two are going to have an interesting relationship.”
    A half scared and half curious look spread across Skylar’s face, but her question didn’t have anything to do with it. “So, why does only…Mathias?” she tried the name and I nodded, urging her to continue, “Know he cusses?”
    “I said he’s German didn’t I?” I repeated, but she still looked confused. “He cusses in German, Skylar.” Finally she got it, and I took a deep breath. If this chick was going to need everything spelled out for her, maybe I’d interpreted this whole thing wrong. It didn’t seem like being best friends was in our future.
    We started back down the hall, and I held open a door to reveal sinks, mirrors, and bathroom stalls. That room didn’t need any explaining.
    “Dawn?” Well, not for anyone but her.
    “Yes?” I replied politely through my teeth.
    “Do boys and girls use the same…” She didn’t need to finish the sentence.
    “No, but I’ll show you theirs if you want.”
    “No thanks.”
    At the end of the hallway I turned left, showing her the workout room, Melody and Esprit’s room, and against her wishes, the boys bathroom. In the middle of the open area between all the halls and doorways were two sets of stairs leading down to the first floor. As soon as I stepped down off the last step, I saw it happen. Pushing Skylar, I ducked just in time to see a colored bullet fly over my head and splatter on the wall behind me. Stupid boys!
    “Get out here! I know you’re there!” From out of the movie room an extremely tall, well muscled teen stepped out. His natural bleach blond hair was spiked casually and he wore a mischievous smirk, letting the smile reach all the way to his electric, breath-taking blue eyes. Tanned skin contrasted amazingly with the light hair. Following him was a Jamaican man in his late twenties with dreadlocks and outrageous brawn. He would have dwarfed the younger boy if the other hadn’t been so lanky. Both carried paint ball guns. The second beamed as if he had nothing to hide. But it wasn’t either of these individuals who were in trouble. It was the third, a man in his mid-twenties with chestnut hair in a pony tail and a tattoo running the length of his left arm to look as if a crocodile were biting him. Although not nearly as big or well-built as the other two, he had the same smugness, like I couldn’t catch him red-handed no matter how hard I tried. He should know better; I did it all the time. He, too, possessed a paint ball blaster.
    “Boys, don’t you know to behave when we have a guest?” I teased.
    The tall one laughed, “Sure,” and turned to Skylar. “I’m Aaron Caine,” he said and gave a stunning smile, trying unsuccessfully not to chuckle as her mouth fell open slightly.
    “I’m Skylar Neumann,” she stuttered.
    “And these are Andrew and Sage. Andrew is our carnivals ‘muscle man’ and Sage, the one with the ponytail, can breathe fire.” Skylar stared awestruck at them for a second before Sage blew a flare at her, and broken from her trance, she stumbled back.
    “Welcome to the circus,” he said in a deep “Twilight-Zone” voice. It would have been flawless accept for his strong Australian accent.
    Aaron, who had come to stand by me, wrapped his arms around my waist.
    Leaning forward, he kissed me softly and I saw Skylar’s eyes flit over to us and quickly look away again. Gently I pushed him back and winked at him. Then aiming his gun at Sage, I shot a few rounds. None of the pellets missed.
    Sage turned, confounded. “What was that?” he yelled, dabbing at the three colored marks on his shirt.
    My voice sounded to calm next to his snarling. “The first was for trying to shoot me. Too bad your aim sucks.” I heard Andrew stifle a laugh behind him. “The second was for blowing fire in Skylar’s face. It was rude.”
    He was about to shoot back a smarty remark, but thought better of it, and instead questioned, “And the third shot?”
    “Because I felt like it.”
    Sage’s upper lip curled. “Dawn, you know that you suck sometimes?”
    Grinning, I turned back to Skylar. The quicker I dealt with her, the more time I could spend with Aaron. “This is the game room and living room. That door over there is the movie theater. The two rooms along the opposite all from the stairs are the bathroom and the utility. On the right side of that hallway is a door to the practice room.” At her perplexed glance I added, “It’s where we practice for our shows. On the left are Samuel and Robert’s room, Cecil and Leroy’s room, and Oscar’s room. Never go into Oscar’s room.”
    “Yeah,” Aaron interrupted. “The last guy who went in never came out.” Sage laughed loudly and punched Aaron on the shoulder.
    “He’s joking,” I whispered, leaning down slightly so I was on Skylar’s level.
    “I could tell.”
    Sage and Andrew stalked off, now deep in conversation with their voices low. I’d figure out what they were up to, but not now. Pulling Skylar along, I went to the entrance of yet another walkway. I hardly noticed that Aaron had followed us until his arm was around me again.
    “The first door on the right leads to a garden out back, the second to the kitchen. On our left is the library.” The door was barely open, but I saw from the corner of my eye Skylar’s jaw drop at the thousands of books. We headed into the dining room and I watched as a tiny flicker of recognition swept across her face. The office that she’d met Oscar in was visible by the front entrance. “The door on the other side of the dining room leads to the garage. Aaron’s motorcycle is in there, along with Mathias’s van. Don’t mess with his car, or he might bite your head off, and that one’s no joke.” Her eyes flashed again. Maybe she’d finally figured out that Mathias was the guy who had picked her up from school. If she had, however, she wasn’t saying it.
    As we walked back up the stairs to the second floor, she finally spoke.
    “Dawn, are you and Aaron together?” she muttered, but from the small smile Aaron flashed I knew he had heard.
    I decided to play along with the idea that he hadn’t, just for her sake. “Yes, for a little more than three years. Relationships happen slowly when you have forever. If you rush to fast and have your heart broken, it’ll stick with you for longer than people who live the normal hundred years or whatever.” I didn’t know why I was giving her advice, but she looked like she needed it. I lead her to the stairs by the back entrance to our room. The stairs were narrow, so I let her go up first, following with Aaron still behind me. We walked up into the room we used for parties and movie nights. It worked perfectly, especially for talent shows. A large stage lined a third of the wall with stereos, microphones, and rock instruments set up on top. Instead, Aaron led us into his room, careful not to step on any of the trash or clothes littering his floor. I started to talk to Skylar, but was all of a sudden knocked hard onto Aaron’s unmade bed. Mathias, with a still, lifeless crow in his hands, walked over to the window, opened it, and threw it out. Skylar gasped softly. The fact that she knew Mathias was so plain on her face it was almost comical. His gothic clothes hung off him in a suitable way, making him look as dead as the bird. He didn’t acknowledge anyone but Aaron, giving him a nod. However, Aaron seemed oblivious to his depressing mood.
    “Hey Mathias," Aaron chuckled at the bird grasped tightly in Mathias's hand. “Did Hailey’s cats get another one of your birds? How many do you have left?”
    “Six.”
    The answer was enough to get Aaron talking, but it seemed more like he was having a conversation with himself. Sometimes I really wondered how the two contradicting boys could call themselves best friends. Aaron didn’t need Mathias; he could make anyone smile. And Mathias always seemed better off secluded. It was mind-boggling!
    Skylar’s face was still stuck, so I tapped Aaron lightly on the shoulder, motioned down, and brought her back to our room.
    When we were finally there, she mumbled, “What did you mean ‘interesting relationship’?
    Lying back on the black sheets of my bed, I sighed. “I can’t tell you. It might change your futures. I wouldn’t be able to see what that would do until after I’d done it.”
    She said something quietly.
    “What?”
    Looking up at me sheepishly, she repeated, “I don’t want to be with the ‘chain-man’.”
    “Chain-man? Is that what you call him? That’s brilliant!” Her bewildered expression said it all. If she was going to room with me, I might as well tell her. It wasn’t really a secret, and she knew something was up. “Okay, you have to understand before I say this that I can’t recall Mathias even smiling at me.” She cocked her head slightly, so I continued. “Ever since I came to the circus, he’s hated me. I don’t know why, and Aaron says he does that to everyone, but I think it’s something more. And it’s really difficult to be nice to someone who treats you like that. The peaches that I hang in front of the doors are so he doesn’t bug me. He’s deathly allergic to peaches.”
    “Maybe that’s why he’s so angry. I would be if I couldn’t eat peaches,” Skylar grinned, and I laughed. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe we could be friends, and she and Mathias would stay away from each other. Everyone was wrong sometimes, right? Even if they could see the future.
    Without thinking, I continued, “Yeah, and Aaron is A.D.D., so he forgets a lot that Mathias is allergic and makes him peach smoothies because those are Aaron’s favorites.” We sat on our beds for the next few hours laughing and falling over and telling insane stories. She told me about her old school and her evil math teacher, Mr. Vang, and how everyone called him Mr. Fang. Apparently he was super old and everyone thought he was a vampire.
    I did impressions of everyone that she had met and told her secrets and funny things about everyone in the house, including the nutty things about myself. She almost died when I did an impression of Sage playing paint ball.
    Although Skylar didn’t seem to be nearly as wild and outgoing as I was, something was telling me that we were two of a kind. Who knew if it was the future or just my conscience, but I was suddenly completely positive that this would work. I would make it work.