Episode 33 – Promises are Meant to be Promises
“Erica. Erica Chavez. Is she not here or something?” Matt’s math teacher said in annoyance. “Alright, absent again for the fifth time in a row.”
Stan was sitting next to Matt. They were at the opposite ends of the class from the teacher. Stan whispered, “Hey, what happened to her?”
Matt responded to him, “I don’t know? She uh never told me anything. I’m not even close to her so why are you questioning me?”
“I wasn’t even questioning you…”
“Then shhhh.” Matt said.
“Something’s wrong though. For the past week, Jen’s been feeling sad and lonely. I went to check your PE class and she’s not even there too.”
“Well then she’s probably sick.” Matt lied.
“Probably.” Matt’s lie seemed to work on Stan.
~~~
During third period, Matt sat next to Danny. He waited until no one was watching so that he could borrow Danny’s cellphone. Once Matt had a hold of the cellphone, he went to the restroom. Once he was there, he tried to click on ‘Olympia’ but it was not working. He said to himself with a blank face, “Oh right. I can’t go in with someone else’s cellphone on my own. Bleh.”
As Matt was returning to his third period class from the restroom, he saw Jen walking out of the girl’s restroom. Jen turned to notice that Matt was still out of class, “Hey, what are you doing out here?”
“I went to the restroom.”
She noticed that Matt had a familiar cellphone, “Isn’t that Danny’s cellphone?”
“How would you know?” Matt pretended to feel annoyed.
“I borrowed it yesterday so I could get a ride home. I got too tired of running after school.”
Matt hid the cellphone, “Well this is not his cellphone. He took it from… uh… Shirley and I’m going to give it back to her. Yeah, that’s right.”
Jen scratched her head, “Really…? Hrm…” She looked the other way, “Darn, I could have sworn that phone was not so girly.” They stopped at Jen’s Geometry Accelerated class, “Hey Matt… Can we talk more during PE?”
“Huh? Why did you say that all the sudden? Of course we always can.”
Jen said sadly, “It’s just that Erica said she’s sick. So, she can’t go to school. She might be moving too so I already saw her one last time last week. I want to see her at least one more time but…” She began to sniffle and tears came out of her eyes, “I can’t do it. I don’t know where she lives. She never tells me anything.”
Matt said to her without being sure of himself, “Don’t cry, Jen. It will all be okay. I’m sure you’ll see her next time some day.”
Jen wiped her tears away, “Are you sure? I wish that would happen. I don’t have any of her contacts. I tried asking the workers in the attendance office for her number and address but they said they can’t exploit it to just anyone even if I am a close friend of Erica. It’s not fair, Matt. It’s just not fair.”
“Trust me, Jen. You’ll see Erica again.”
Jen sighed, “I will trust you. It’s just the thought that makes me really sad.”
“H-Hey, but you said whenever you feel sad, you can always think of Inuyasha. So, think of him..”
Jen shook her head, “Geez Matt… that’s no way to tell a girl when she’s sad. I’m going to class now, see ya…” She moped into class and Matt did not know what to say anymore.
~~~
Moments later, Matt and Danny appeared in Olympia. Danny fell onto the floor from midair, “Owie! Aw… Why did you bring me back here, Matt? It’s scary. Remember the last time we were here?”
Matt corrected him, “You mean the last time YOU were here. Anyway, I brought you along because I was hoping you wouldn’t question me as much as anyone else if I brought them along.”
“Well I still question you. Why me?”
Matt pointed at Danny, knowing that he had an advantage to boss Danny around, “Stop asking questions. Remember, don’t tell anyone that I brought you here today. I’m gonna do something for Jen and hopefully it will work.”
“Really? What is it? Tell me, tell me!” Danny jumped a few times.
Matt yelled at Danny, “Sh! Follow me.” They both were heading towards the lake where Matt was expecting to see Eidothea, who was also Erica in Eidothea’s mind and heart.
Erica turned around from the lake, “Matt, wow you’re here!”
Matt scratched his head, “Man, you’re aging fast.”
Erica sighed, “I know. I’m already a teenager now. But because I’m in Eidothea’s body, I will age as fast as you guys now.”
“Great, that’s a perfect timing. Hey do you think it’s possible for you to turn back into Erica? You need to come back to El Monte because Jen is very sad right now.” Matt hoped that Erica would accept and all would go well.
Erica shook her head, “Matt, it’s not as easy as it sounds. I don’t think it is possible for me to turn back into who I was. I really miss her too…”
“Why can’t you turn back?!” Matt began feeling frustrated. Danny was watching them and listening on their conversation. As always, he was uselessly confused about what they were saying.
Erica said in a sad tone, “I told you, I don’t think I can. I think it’s impossible for me.” She began to cry, “I really want to go back but… the people here in Olympia need me.”
“Are you considered their most important Goddess?”
Erica nodded, “I think so. Or at least that’s what the people here were telling me.”
Matt thought about the situation for awhile. He remembered that he promised Jen that Erica would show up at least once more. He told Erica his promise to Jen and Erica became frustrated with what Matt said. “Erica, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking!”
“Why would you promise a girl something that you know won’t happen?!”
“I didn’t think you were not able to return into the normal Erica forever!”
Erica paused, “Normal Erica? So I’m not normal anymore?”
Matt took a step away, “I… I didn’t mean it that way. I meant the original Erica. You know, the Erica that used to be her own body.”
Erica took her pot of water, “You know what, Matt? I think it’s best if you just stop bothering me. I really can’t stand the way you’re pushing things ahead of yourself. I already told you I can’t see Jen, ever.”
Matt frowned. “I get it… It’s alright then…” He gave a huge sigh and he told Danny, “I guess there’s nothing we can do. Let’s go, Danny.” Danny said nothing because he knew Matt was very disappointed now. “See you next time then, Erica…”
As they both vanished, Erica realized that she had acted very angry upon Matt. Her stomach hurt from the guilty pain that she just caused, “Matt… Well, but the least I can do is…” She looked at the pot of water and she started running off, having some of her own plans.
~~~
Matt and Danny teleported back behind the science and computer building where no one would walk at during class hours. Matt fell onto the ground and he started yelling, “Agh, ow, ow, ow!” He quickly ran for shade, “Why is it sprinkling?! It wasn’t like this the last time we left.”
Danny followed Matt under the rooftop at the math building that connected to the science and computer building, “Did the rain hurt you?”
Matt leaned on a stone ledge right in front of a bush, “Sort of.” He used his fire powers to give himself some heat, “It’ll stop hurting though.”
“I know! You can make a fireplace. Here watch.” Danny pushed Matt into the bushes and the flames got in contact with it.
Matt quickly jumped out of the bushes and screamed, “What the heck did you just do?! Hurry, power the bush’s ground level, hurry, hurry!”
Danny panicked as he used his ground powers to make the bushes go under the soil. “Oopsie… Sorry.”
Matt took a look at the soil, “Now people are going to notice a huge empty gap here.” He suddenly had an idea, “Hey this is not a bad idea. Because of the surprise raindrops whenever we come back from Olympia, you can always lower the ground level here and we can use this hole to teleport us away. Then when we come back, you can fix the ground level. Awesome!”
Danny smiled, “See, I am useful after all.”
“Nah, it was my idea. Let’s just go back to class. I’m sure we’ve wasted about five minutes doing nothing.”
~~~
Jen was in her fourth period computer concepts class. She sat down in boredom since she knew not a single person in that class with her. Jen was given a phone call from the guidance office and she had to go there as soon as possible. She did not know what it was for, but she decided to go.
At the guidance office, a girl in green greeted her, “Hello there, Jeanette Phung, right?”
Jen pointed at herself, “Me? Uh… sure. Who are you?”
The girl shook hands with Jen, “I’m Eida. Nice to me you. Your mother is my mother’s friend and she told me that you can help give me a tour.”
Jen noticed Eida’s hair, “Your hair is so green.” She looked at Eida’s eyes, “They’re green too! It’s like Erica’s contacts I saw two weeks ago. But anyway, I guess I’ll show you around during lunch today. Are you a new student?”
“Me? Sure, yes I am.”
The administrator nearby told Jen, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. This girl is visiting only for today so I thought it was best for you to help her around. Is that alright?”
Jen giggled, “Of course! She looks very pretty. It’d be great to have a pretty friend so she could teach me her ways. Heehee. Come on, Eida, let’s go.”
Jen grabbed Eida’s hand and they ran out of the guidance office. Eida was smiling with a grin and a chuckle.
~~~
Sixth period ended and Matt ran out of his English class. He patted his own shoulders to straighten his shirt, “Bleh.” He thought of Shirley, “Always trying to make me hang out after school. I’d rather stay home and finish my homework and focus on school. Geez.” He noticed Jen and a green-clothed girl skipping through the building right across from Matt. Matt blinked a few times in wonder, “What just happened…?”
He followed Jen and he stopped her. Jen smiled, “Hi Matt! Meet my new friend, Eida. She said her mom knows my mom so I’m gonna bring her to my house today and we’ll do a lot of girl talk. You wanna come with us?”
Matt said angrily, “Do I look like a girl to you?”
Jen frowned, “I’m guessing you don’t want to hang out with us…”
Matt sighed, “(That Eida girl looks almost exactly like Eidothea. I got to find out what’s going on.) Sure, fine. I’ll go with you.”
Jen screamed, “Yes! Let’s go then!” She grabbed both Matt and Eida’s arms and she headed for home.
The three of them hurriedly passed through Stan and Kalpesh. Kalpesh fell and said in confusion, “Oomph! Who was that just now?”
Stan stood there, watching Kalpesh who was on the floor, “Dunno. Who cares, let’s go home.”
~~~
In Jen’s house, Jen told Matt and Eida, “Hey, I’m going to get us some food from my kitchen. You guys could wait right here in the living room and watch some TV or something, okay?” She got up and ran towards her kitchen.
Eida said to Matt, “Let’s watch some TV.” She turned on the television set and Inuyasha was already on, “Typical of Jen, right?”
Matt focused on Erica, “How did you know that was typical of Jen to watch Inuyasha all day?” He then grinned, “Erica.”
Erica, as Eidothea’s body, said, “I know, Matt. I just wanted to visit Jen one last time, like you promised her.”
Matt smiled, “You came here for me?”
Erica disregarded his thoughts, “Not for you, but for Jen. I know I’m going to be stuck in Olympia, so I wanted to see her one last time. This helps keep your promise too. I am Erica, seeing Jen one last time.”
Matt looked away, “Oh…” After a moment of silence, he said, “Hey Erica…” Erica listened carefully. “I’m sorry for trying to force you to come back earlier. I was such a jerk.”
Erica shook her head, “That’s alright. I shouldn’t have yelled at you anyway. Let’s pretend we don’t know each other when Jen comes back. Deal?”
Matt nodded, “Of course.”
After the three of them ate some fruits that Jen found in the fridge, Jen went into her room to show Erica her closet. Jen said softly, “Hey Eida… I know today is the only day we’ll see each other. But I’ll ask my mom if you can visit more, okay?”
Erica, as Eida, giggled, “Sure, but…”
Jen took out an outfit, “You should try on some modern clothes. You can have these.” Jen found more outfits, “And these, and these…”
Erica stopped her, “W-Wait. Don’t tell your mom about me. She’ll get mad.”
“Why?”
“It’s personal. Do you promise not to tell your mom about me?”
Jen became silent, then she said, “Okay…” She found more clothes for Eida, “Ooh take these.”
Matt was watching them. He thought in his mind, “I see now... My promise is kept. It still counts if Jen sees Erica right in front of her, at least one more time even if Jen doesn’t know…”
~~~
---- Next chapter preview:Matt: On the next chapter, something terrible is happening to Olympia! Santi tells me what is going on and as we go in, we figure out the reason why it is happening. Then, we stumble upon Shirley.
ShirleyC: I am very disappointed to see that this is happening. And it is all because of you, Matt! You've ruined everything!
Matt: I'm sorry! I've said it more than once already!
ShirleyC: 'Sorry's are not just numbers, Matt...
Matt: *sigh*... Next chapter, Digicells from the Absence!
0 comments:
Post a Comment