Jayden Blue and the Call of the Wings, A World So Close Book Two
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Together Is Good 1
Chapter 2 – I Was Too Slow 11
Chapter 3 – Did You Hear That? 20
Chapter 4 – Like a Fish Tail 29
Chapter 5 – He’s a Good Runner 38
Chapter 6 – It Wasn’t Me 46
Chapter 7 – Just Let Me Eat! 54
Chapter 8 – Maybe I’ll Just Fly 63
Chapter 9 – Doing the Same Thing 70
Chapter 10 – Lapped Up Their Breakfast 83
Chapter 11 – A Lot to Lose 91
Chapter 12 – The Call of Those Wings 96
Chapter 13 – Cats Sure Are Teasing You 107
Chapter 14 – So Many Good Things 114
Chapter 15 – Where the Crow Flies 121
Chapter 1 – Together Is Good
I just can’t trust them, Jayden thought, peeking over the blanket at his two cats, both silently studying him from the hallway. Shouldn’t they have found hiding places by now?
Halo leaned forward for a moment and wiped his whiskers with a paw wrapped in thick black fur. With his head tipped, the white markings on his head and parts of his ears, altogether forming a neat circle, showed up in sharp contrast to his jet black fur everywhere else. His big green eyes focused on Jayden.
Hex mostly did what he did best: he sat motionless and stared into Jayden’s eyes. If he were to stand up and turn to his right, he’d display the black markings resembling an “x” on his left side. But all he did was stare with bright blue eyes and look entirely white.
Already? he thought, gazing back into Hex’s eyes. You’re trying to put a hex on me before I even get out of bed?
He folded the thick covers over to one side, and his bare feet on the wood floor told him that it must be a cold morning outside. He rubbed his face with both hands and looked again at the cats.
Two pairs of bright eyes looked back. Halo yawned once.
“Fine. I never can figure you two out.”
He stepped around them on the way to the restroom, which was right next to his bedroom on the back side of their house’s upstairs. Before walking in, he looked back down the hall.
Two motionless cats stared back.
He closed the door behind him and several minutes later, opened the door and peeked down the hall.
Hex and Halo were gone.
Okay, here we go, he thought.
Back in his room, he hurried to get dressed, checked that all of his school books were in his backpack, and tossed it onto the bed. A quick run down the stairs, through the dark living room and into the kitchen ended with his mother saying, “Good morning, Jay. Have time for breakfast, today?”
“I better. I sure am hungry.”
“You’re playing that game with the cats again this week?”
“Yeah, Mom. They took a day off last Friday, though. I can’t say why. Where are they? Have you seen them?”
“No, sorry. You’re on your own with those two. Here. I made scrambled eggs today.”
She set a plate with eggs and toast on the table in front of him..
“Wow. Thanks, Mom.”
“Juice?”
“Yes, please. Where’s Dad?”
“Sleeping in again. Another day he’s starting work later. Maybe the cats are with him?”
“Nope. They were just outside my door. They’re up to something really sneaky. I just know it.”
With a stomach full of hot breakfast and cold orange juice, Jayden tread carefully through the darkness of the living room, checking every hiding place within sight.
A pause in his quiet walk up the stairs, with more glances around the living room, revealed no cats laying in wait. He looked up to the top and didn’t see them there either.
So, he hiked back into his bedroom, put on his warm coat, and slipped his arms through the straps of his pack. He cinched them up enough that it wouldn’t flop around on his back if he had to run.
Even though he knew that running would never work anyway.
Never worked any other time.
They were just too fast. Wow, they were fast.
He heard a crash downstairs and then his mother talking.
She must be talking to the cats, he thought. I wonder why? What are they up to? Could it be part of their plan?
He looked all around his room to be sure neither of them was hiding up there. They weren’t there, so he stepped out into the hallway, looking both ways first.
No cats.
He set one sneaker at a time on the carpet runners on the steps and when he was far enough down the staircase, he leaned over to peek into the living room.
“Mom! What’s going on?”
All of the lights were on, and there were no hiding places for either cat. Jayden’s mother was stooped down next to a potted plant laying on its side, with some of the soil spilled into a neat pile.
“Oh, Honey, I think it was Hex. Somehow, he bumped this over.”
She continued sweeping up bits of dirt and dumping them back into the pot.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to use the vacuum cleaner?”
“Yes, it would. But that scares the cats so much that I try not to use it.”
“That doesn’t make sense. They’re not afraid of anything.”
“Well, Jay, maybe just that one thing.”
“Why? They never got attacked by it or anything.”
“No, of course, they haven’t! It’s just a mystery, I guess.”
“I sure do wonder about that, Mom.”
“Something for you to figure out, Jay. I just can’t imagine Hex being this clumsy.”
“Yeah, since when? They never knock things over,” he said while walking all the way down to near the front door.
“Had to happen eventually, Jay. Anyway, all cleaned up. Oh, you need the lights out, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. Well, they do if they’re going to attack me on the way out.”
“This kind of ruined your game, huh? Maybe you should go back upstairs and start again. I’ll turn these lights off.”
“You’re right! Okay. Thanks.”
Soon, he’d climbed back upstairs and stood waiting at his bedroom door. He gave them what he thought would be enough time to hide themselves, places from which they could pounce on him, then he started back down the steps.
He did all the usual stuff: leaning over to peek into the dark room, walking as quietly as he could, and looking everywhere when he’d finally gotten his hand on the doorknob.
All he had to do was open the door and rush out onto the porch before they could charge at him and jump into him.
He turned the knob.
No Hex. No Halo.
He pulled in the door just a bit, causing a noticeable whooshing sound.
No cats.
He waited, with the door ajar, ambitious Nebraska snowflakes swirling in and quickly melting wherever they’d landed.
Nothing. No shiny eyes in the shadows.
“Huh.”
He closed the door and waited.
There was only the sound of his mother moving plates around in the kitchen.
He opened the door a bit and slammed it shut, sending a puff of snow into the room.
No Hex or Halo.
“Mom. Have you seen Hex or Halo?”
She appeared at the doorway to the kitchen, a coffee mug in her hand.
“No, Jay. Not since Hex told me about that mess he made.”
“He told you about it?”
“Well, no, I heard it. But when I was getting the cleaning stuff, he kept pawing at me, like he wanted me to get going on it. He followed me all the way there too.”
“That’s weird. So, he kind of helped you with it? He kept you company?”
“No, Jay. As soon as I started straightening things out, he disappeared. He’s really quiet! I haven’t seen him since.”
“No Halo either?”
She took a sip while looking around the room, then she turned and looked around in the kitchen.
“That’s kind of odd, isn’t it, Jay? Even I know this isn’t normal for them.”
What are those cats up to? Jayden wondered. All last week, I tried to sneak out without them catching me. Now, what are they doing?
“Mom, I think they changed the game.”
“Oh, you think so? To what?”
“Hide and seek?”
“This week, they’re hiding from you, Jay?”
He shrugged and dropped his books near the front door. Just then, a few quick taps at the door brought him a smile.
“Rayl’s here, Mom. Good. She can help me look for them.”
He yanked off his brown knit hat, revealing his thick and wavy brown hair. His jacket was next, and he tossed that onto the nearest chair. He snapped the door open to see Raylene smiling in at him.
She wore a thick parka and a purple knit hat, and her straight brown hair hung down enough to rest on her shoulders. Thick snowflakes decorated her hair like stars in the sky. She’d only walked over from her house next door, but that was enough to give her cheeks a rosy glow.
Her big dark brown eyes seemed to be smiling too.
“Rayl, I’m glad you’re here. I need your help already.”
“What’s going on, Jay? Did your cats attack you?”
“No, that’s the thing: they disappeared. Come on in.”
Inside, with the door closed to block the invading wind and snow, she set down the book bag that she’d carried in.
“Your coat, too, Rayl. The cats are hiding. No one has seen them since Hex knocked over that plant,” he said and pointed toward it.
“Hex knocked that over? That’s weird.”
She dropped her coat down with her books.
“They’re not upstairs. They weren’t in my room, and all the other doors up there were closed the last time I saw them.”
“Try the lights, Jay. We’d better find them or we’ll miss the bus.”
“Oh, yeah! We’re running out of time!”
“Maybe that’s what they want, Jay? To try to make us late?”
“How would they ever think of that?”
“They don’t like you to leave, do they?”
“No, they sure don’t.”
“This keeps you from leaving. You can’t go until you find them.”
“Wow. I wonder how they could be so smart.”
He hit the light switch, and it took them only a few seconds to confirm that the cats weren’t in the living room.
Walking into the kitchen, Raylene right behind him, he said, “There’s no place to hide in the dining room.”
He flipped on the ceiling light to make sure.
“That leaves only the kitchen?” said Raylene. “Mrs. Blue, you haven’t seen them?”
“No, Raylene,” she said, sitting at the table with her coffee and writing on a notepad. “Not since Hex was tormenting me about cleaning up.”
“He was tormenting you?”
“Yeah. I’d just opened the cabinet,”—she pointed at the door below the sink—“and he was pawing at me and yipping. He was . . .”
She trailed off, staring at the cabinet.
“He was what, Mom?”
“Oh, Jay. That just can’t be.”
“What, Mrs. Blue?”
“When he was pestering me, I got so distracted that I left that door open and followed him to the mess he’d made.”
Jayden smiled and said, “They’re getting smarter. Wow, they’re smart. I think I know what’s going on.”
He walked past his mother, got down on one knee near the cabinet, and turned to smile at Raylene.
“What, Jay?”
Before he could answer, she turned her wide-open eyes to the cabinet and said, “Jay. No, that’s not possible.”
Smiling, Jayden only shook his head and opened the door. They all saw the boxes and cleaning stuff that they kept in there.
He grabbed the top box and pulled it out.
Two furry faces peered over the remaining box.
“Hi, Hex. Hi, Halo.”
Both cats were mostly hidden still, and everyone in the kitchen received careful examinations from pairs of green and blue eyes.
Then, Hex stared at Jayden, and Halo yawned.
“Well, I’ll be,” said his mother.
“Jay,” said Raylene, “how did that happen? How’d they get in there?”
“Rayl, they can’t be that smart. Can they?”
“What’s going on?”
“I think I know what they did,” said his mother. “Jay, that’s unbelievable.”
He smiled at his mother and said, “I’ve been telling everyone that they’re unbelievable!”
Then, he looked at Raylene.
“It’s the only answer that makes sense, Rayl. Hex knocked over the plant on purpose and told my mom about it. While she was getting the stuff to clean it up, he kept bugging her so she’d forget to close the door.”
“And when she left the kitchen, Halo hid in there?” she said.
“Yeah, and then Hex ran in there too.”
“Jay,” said his mother, shaking her head slowly, “they can’t be that smart.”
He shook his head and grinned at her.
“Yeah, they sure can, Mom. I’m never going to beat them at anything!”
Minutes later, all bundled up for the January cold, Jayden Blue and Raylene Hawkins stood on his snow-covered porch to wait for the bus. Jayden kicked snow down over the three steps that led to the concrete walk that led to the sidewalk along the road.
A weak sun was peeking over the tops of the houses across the street, and only some of its light could reach through the thick evergreen trees growing between the sidewalk and the road. Their branches sagged from the previous night’s snow that they’d kept for themselves.
“I’m glad you’re back, Rayl. How are your cousins?”
“I’m glad I’m back too. They’re fine. But one weekend with them was enough.”
“All I did was read that book, the one we had to give reports on. I think my chapter was the best out of all of them.”
“Maybe because you know it so well, Jay?”
“Yeah, that could be. I didn’t, um, go anywhere special, though.”
She turned to look at him, her breath adding white clouds to the steady snow coming down.
“You’re testing me, aren’t you?”
He turned to her and grinned.
“Kind of. It’s easy to forget. You do remember?”
“Yeah, but I still can’t talk about it. Can you?”
“Nope. I tried an experiment, and I still couldn’t.”
“What did you do?”
“I was alone with Hex and Halo, and I tried to talk to them about it.”
“Nothing?”
“Not a thing. I wonder if they can talk to each other about that, um . . . what we can’t talk about?”
She looked back out toward the road.
“Probably. They’re really smart, Jay. The most I can say is that your bedroom has a weird wall in it.”
“Me too. Watch: Rayl, my bedroom has a weird wall.”
She turned back to him and grinned.
“Alright, Jay. What’s weird about it?”
He smiled and shook his head for a few seconds.
“I can’t. I can’t say any more than that.”
“Well, we’ll just have to go back, won’t we?”
“Yeah, Rayl. Maybe after school today? I can hardly even think about school stuff.”
“Why didn’t you go again?” she said, her eyebrows raised high. “You had all weekend.”
“I, um . . .”
He kicked some snow down the stairs and sighed, sending a cloud of vapor out into the cold air.
“It’s just more fun with you. I wanted to wait for you.”
She turned to him with a smile, but he only watched the snow that he was kicking.
“Good. We should always go there together, okay?”
He gave up on the snow and turned to her with a grin.
“Yeah. Together is good.”
Still smiling, she looked out toward the road.
“Oh, look. I shouldn’t be surprised,” she said and pointed.
High above the sidewalk, on one of the snowy branches, stood the crow they’d seen before.
“It’s him. He started all of this.”
“I don’t think so, Jay. He didn’t create all of that. How could he?”
“So, he just kind of reminds us, too, like Hex?”
“Maybe. If it wasn’t for him, would you have ever noticed anything?”
“Hmm. I wonder.”
They saw first the thin trails of powder falling from the crow hopping from branch to branch. When he’d found an open space large enough to spread his wings, he cawed three times and lifted off.
Jayden and Raylene watched as he flew straight toward them, dipping low first, his wings chasing up snow from the drifts, then angling up sharply.
They watched his flight as long as they could, which was only until they were looking straight up. They both wanted to watch him fly over Jayden’s house, but they couldn’t make their eyes go there.
They both looked back out toward the street.
“That is so strange, Jay. How we can’t look in that direction.”
“No one can, Rayl. We sort of did, though. We did more than just look.”
“I remember. I really do. Hex and Halo did too.”
“I wish we could talk about it, but we can’t. Maybe it would help if we could give it some kind of name?”
They both looked out at the steady snow adding to the trees and roofs and ground. The flakes were so thick in the air that almost all sounds were held back, leaving them alone inside their own personal snow globe.
“I have an idea,” said Raylene.
“You do? What to call it, you mean?”
“Yeah, Jay. Let’s call it ‘where the crow flies.’”
“He sure can fly, Rayl. Especially there.”
Chapter 2 – I Was Too Slow
“Bus is here, Jay.”
He looked to the left at the ice-crusted yellow bus as it rolled quietly on the layer of packed snow carpeting the street. The snowfall muffled its engine, but they could still see two wispy trails of exhaust smoke waving behind it like stringy flags.
“Great,” said Jayden. “This should be a fun week at school.”
“What do you mean? You’re done with your book report—you did that last Friday. What else is going on?”
“I have no idea what to expect from Tommy.”
“Oh yeah, you really let him have it, Jay! That was fun. I still don’t know how you came up with all that to say to him.”
He held out his gloved right hand and rotated it a couple of times.
“I really felt like I was holding that sword, Rayl. I can’t talk about how I got it, but you remember, right?”
“Oh yeah, I remember. I can’t talk about it either. That sword helped?”
“It changed everything.”
“Do you still feel it?”
He opened and closed his hand a couple of times, then let his arm drop.
“Only a little bit. I suppose if I need it again, it’ll be there. At least, I hope it would be.”
“Well, it sure helped with Tommy. He looked like he was going to cry.”
“I could have said worse to him, I bet. You know, though, Rayl, he looked so relieved when I didn’t call on him. He actually smiled at me.”
“I didn’t see that! Wow, he’ll probably stay away from you from now on.”
“Maybe not. I kind of smiled back at him. We might end up being better friends after that.”
“Jay, that’s even better. Very kind of you. So, what else is going on?”
“Running, that’s what.”
“Running is right! We better go!”
She scurried down the stairs and did her best to run through the deep snow toward the bus parked at the end of Jayden’s walkway, and Jayden raced along right behind her, watching her hair swinging below her hat.
With one last whistling wind carrying in a cloud of snow, the bus door clanged shut. Jayden and Raylene found their usual seat, close to the front, and most of the other seats were already filled.
Amid the chatter and laughter, the driver put the vehicle in gear, and it jerked to a start, bouncing everyone back and then forward. Jayden’s house was the last stop, so the drive to the town’s only junior high school was a short one from there.
“Okay, Jay. What about running? What are you talking about?”
“For gym class. As if being a blue jay in that class isn’t enough, soon, we’re going to start running.”
“So, what’s wrong with that?”
“I’ve never been good at that. I just don’t like it. I don’t even understand the point of it.”
She stretched off her mittens and set them on her lap. Before saying anything, she blew on her cold fingers a few times.
“Jay, maybe you don’t like it because you’re not good at it?”
“That could be.”
“Or maybe you’re not good at it because you don’t like it? Which came first?”
He turned to her with a grin and said, “Guess it doesn’t matter, does it?”
She laughed and said, “Nope. Anyway, no one’s running outside anytime soon. That snow just keeps falling.”
“Not all week, though. The forecast said that it’s going to warm up. Rayl, it’s all going to melt.”
“Uh-oh. You’ll have to run, then?”
“Yep. It still won’t be like summer, though.”
“Nope. Still winter.”
“Here, anyway,” Jayden said, looking straight out through the windshield, where the wipers were struggling to gather up all the snow that seemed determined to congregate there.
“Oh, right. I know what you mean.”
“Can’t talk about it, though.”
“Nope,” she said with a giggle.
“Why do we even have a homeroom, Jay?”
Raylene had just closed and locked her locker, and she leaned back against it. Jayden already had his math book for their next class.
“I wish I knew. Just to take attendance, maybe. I’m glad it doesn’t last long.”
“Nope. Hey, did you ever—”
“Uh, hi, Jay,” Tommy said with a quick smile and a nod as he passed them on the way to class.
“Oh, um, hi, Tommy,” said Jayden, nodding his head once.
After he’d gone into the room, Raylene said, “Wow, I see what you mean. I didn’t hear any tweeting from him.”
“Yeah, I think he’s done. Doesn’t mean the others are done, though.”
“Oh, that’s right. Still, he was the worst, right?”
“Yeah. So, what were you saying?”
“I was going to ask if you and your dad ever worked on that mirror problem from science class. You remember that?”
“Oh, no, we never did. He asked, but I just wanted to read the rest of that book. Mr. Penton said he’d explain that to us this week anyway.”
“Oh, that’s right. Okay, we better get in there for math.”
“Class,” said their math teacher, Mrs. Gregory, “please take your seats.”
She stood near a large circle drawn with white chalk on the blackboard. A weathered yardstick in her right hand pointed toward the floor.
Raylene, who sat directly to Jayden’s right, whispered, “Jay, she has a sword too!”
He turned to her with a smile but before he could speak, Mrs. Gregory did.
“Raylene? Something you’d like to share with the class?”
“Oh, um, no. No, thanks.”
“Okay.”
Before continuing, she looked around the room at all of the eyes focused on her.
“Today, we’re going to talk about pi. Pi is a very important constant in math, and I’m sure you have all learned about it already. Can anyone explain to the class what it is?”
“Strawberry is the best,” Morton said from the back of the room, causing the boys all around him to snicker and shake their heads.
“Morton? This is not a cooking class. I suspect you already know that. But thanks for sharing your preferences in baked goods.”
He only smiled back at her while she continued to address him.
“With all the running you do, you probably don’t eat too many pies, do you?”
“Um, no. Nope. But when I do, strawberry is my favorite.”
“Yes, so we’ve all heard. Alright. Anybody out there have a real answer?”
I know the answer, thought Jayden. But what’s the best way to say it? It’s easier when I see it drawn on a—
“Yes, Raylene?”
Jayden snapped his head to the right and saw that she’d put her hand straight up.
“It’s a circle’s circumference divided by its diameter.”
Jayden’s jaw dropped as he stared at her. She’d said it way better than he was about to.
“Exactly. Very good. Very well said. And can anyone tell us the approximate value of pi?”
I know this! thought Jayden, so he shot his hand up.
“Yes. Jayden,” she said, pointing her yardstick toward him.
“It’s—”
“Tweet,” whispered Morton, loud enough that every student heard him, but maybe the teacher hadn’t.
Jayden froze, then he spun around to look at Tommy, who only raised his hands like he was being arrested.
He scanned the back row and saw Morton grinning and nodding his head. He pointed at Jayden.
No, he thought. Not him too.
Before making a comment to Morton and continuing his answer, he checked for his sword, and he felt it warm and solid in his right hand. He also felt his back against the stone and the heat from the sun on his face, and he smelled the wildflowers and heard the crow cawing as he—
“Anyone else? It seems Jayden has forgotten.”
Muffled laughter. Some shaking heads.
Oh, he thought, I have to learn to be quicker with the sword. I was too slow, and that got me laughed at!
Julie in the front row got called on, and she said, “It’s about 3.14, Mrs. Gregory.”
“Yes, that’s right. And there are a lot more numbers to it, right?”
“Yes. A whole bunch of them.”
That Julie! thought Jayden. I knew that!
Many minutes later, the teacher said, “Okay, class, we’re almost out of time. I want you all to work through your homework problems and for extra credit, someone can share with the class what a number like pi is called. It’s a certain type of number.”
Jayden looked at Raylene, and they shrugged at each other.
After the bell above the door had finished its ringing, Mrs. Gregory said, “Till tomorrow, class.”
I don’t know what that is,” Raylene said after she’d set down her tray at the table in the cafeteria. “Jay, you can have that. I’ll trade you for some fries.”
“Huh? Trade fries for some mystery food? No way, Rayl.”
“Had to try!” she said with a big smile. “Science was fun today.”
“I liked hearing about how airplane wings work. It’s complicated stuff. I bet my dad understands all of that.”
“He probably does. Well, Jay, you have gym next. Think Tommy will behave?”
“I’m not worried about Tommy anymore. It’s that lousy Morton. Did you hear him tweeting?”
“It was just once. And it was just a tiny little tweet.”
“Doesn’t make it any better!”
“When I heard it, I thought you’d let him have it, like you did with Tommy.”
“I was going to, Rayl, but I wasn’t quick enough. I have to be quicker with that sword.”
“Oh, I know what you mean. You can’t take time to think about it, right?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
He sighed deeply and pushed the tray to the side, almost every plate emptied.
“You didn’t eat your mystery food, Jay,” she said with a grin.
“No one should!”
Before Jayden had finished changing into his gym clothes, Tommy passed by him in the locker room. Two steps away, he stopped and turned enough to look over his shoulder.
“Jay, let’s try shooting some foul shots before Coach starts class, alright?”
Jayden slammed his locker shut and said, “Sure, Tommy. That sounds good.”
They walked out into the gymnasium without saying any more, and Tommy was the first to grab up one of the basketballs. He dribbled himself over near one of the hoops and bounced the ball toward Jayden, who was close to the foul line.
“Go ahead. Shoot a few,” he said.
“Thanks.”
Jayden missed the first shot, Tommy got the rebound, and he passed it back.
“A swish! Nice!” said Tommy.
“Shoot a few yourself, Tommy.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
He dribbled and stood at the foul line but before he tried his first shot, he said, “So, you sure got the better of me in English last Friday.”
He stood there, bouncing the ball and waiting for Jayden’s response.
“I kind of did, didn’t I?”
Jayden smiled and nodded, and Tommy smiled too.
“How did you do that? Something changed in you. You’ve never been like that before.”
It’s the sword, Jayden thought, smiling on the inside. The one I found in my shadow. No way am I telling you about it, though!
“Oh, I just wasn’t thinking. That all just kind of came out.”
“Well, I’m done with—”
The coach’s whistle got them all into a line, with some laughing and some elbowing their neighbors. He rearranged his blue ball cap and began the roll call.
Oh, good, thought Jayden. That’s one name done.
The coach called the second name, and that student made his presence known.
What am I going to do? he wondered. If Morton starts to—
“Blue—”
“Tweet,” said Jayden.
“—J?”
All eyes were on Jayden, who wore a big smile and was as surprised as the rest of them. Coach Kurt couldn’t hide his smile as he waited for Jayden to answer the call.
“I’m here.”
He felt a hand from each side smack his back, and encouraging laughter broke out quietly up and down the line.
A voice to his left said, “That was good.”
A whisper to his right said, “Didn’t see that coming!”
The bus door got jammed up on shards of ice that had slid off of the roof when it opened. The driver muttered something under his breath, got up from his seat, and kicked the offending pieces out onto the parking lot.
“See?” said Jayden. “It’s already starting to melt.”
“Good. I like beaches. Why can’t we have a beach here?”
“Um . . . because it’s Nebraska?”
Raylene giggled and said, “Well, I can wish anyway. How was gym class?”
“Rayl, it was amazing! Right when Coach was calling my name, I was the one that tweeted!”
“You did that, Jay? That sure is amazing! What happened?”
“I think everyone is done with the tweeting. It was good.”
“Maybe you should have tried that a long time ago?”
Jayden watched the driver take his seat and buckle himself in. He gave Raylene’s question some thought and after the bus rocked to a start, he shook his head and smiled at her.
“No, I couldn’t. I think it only worked because I used that sword on Tommy.”
“Oh, you’re probably right. No one else would want to go through what he did. Nice job, Jay!”
“That did work out well. Hey, we really do need to go back.”
“He won’t turn the bus around for us, Jay. There’s no way that—”
Jayden laughed and said, “No, Rayl, not school. Where the crow flies, remember?”
“Oh, I sure do. Yeah, let’s go. I’ll come over after dinner, alright?”
“Perfect.”