𝓟𝐫𝗼𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝓢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐞

Chapter #5 - Amy

Chapter #5 - Amy

"You are so bad at karaoke, Kim," joked Renee.

Amy— Kim— smiled and began singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" in her scratchy, off-key singing voice. But internally, she was cringing a bit, and it had nothing to do with her awful karaoke skills. It was the name Renee had called her. Kim. Sure, it was her name now— Kimberly Hallahan— but it was just awfully confusing, having three different names. Amy. Natalie. Now Kim.

It was like having three lives. It was like that. But at the same time, the same life.

So confusing.

And the worst part: Nobody would understand.

Amy's other friend Janie looked at her, concerned. "You alright?" she asked in her British accent. Janie had moved to San Diego a year ago from England, hence why she sounded that way. As a matter of fact, Janie was going back to Europe for spring break— which was around the corner— to visit her family.

"Yeah."

"Then come on! Let's do another karaoke song! It's your turn to choose."

As Amy contemplated what pop tune they should sing along to next, Renee and Janie wandered around the backyard where they had been singing. It was Amy's twelfth birthday, and she was having an epic sleepover party with her closest friends.

But she was also nervous. It was the first time she had friends over at her house ever since she got her memories of Sophie back. She had been putting it off because... it just didn't feel right.

"Ooh, these are pretty," Janie said, looking at the opalescent wind chimes hanging on her front porch. Janie reached for them, but Amy instinctively lunged at her before she could touch them. Her friends looked at her like she had just sprouted a third arm.

"Sorry," she blushed, "Those are just kind of important to me." For reasons she couldn't explain to them. It was hard not being able to tell her friends about her time in the Lost Cities, the time with her sister-but-not-really.

Janie shrugged. "Sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay. Thanks."

Amy grinned and started singing once more, "Girls just wanna have fun! They just wanna, just wan—"

But she couldn't finish the song because her parents— Vanessa and John Hallahan, previously known as Emma and William Foster or Kate and Connor Freeman— were calling for them.

"Janie! Renee! Your moms are here."

The girls sighed. "Bye!" they announced, going to the front gate of the house where their moms were, waving wildly.

"Bye! I had fun!"

Once they both left, Amy began mindlessly gazing at the wind chimes— they reminded her so much of leaping crystals. She did that sometimes when she was feeling calm or tired.

Suddenly, interrupting the peaceful moment, she heard a ring. But not from the phone that she had just gotten for her birthday. It was from her imparter, which was tentatively hidden between two books on her dusty shelf.

As she answered the call, a familiar blonde girl appeared on the little high definition screen.

"Hey," Sophie said, "Forkle let me call you. And I have a favor to ask."

***

"Keefe is in London... and you want me to go find him?"

"Cambridge," Sophie corrected, "I think."

"And you're hoping I can convince my family to go on vacation there?" As Amy said these words, she saw Sophie flinch. Clearly, her sister was worried that this was too much to ask. And in some ways, it was. But it also worked out quite well.

"My friend Janie is going near there for spring break!"

"And do you think you could join her?"

"Well... maybe. But I mean, I get why you guys can't just go find him, but is it possible you could just give me a leaping crystal and have me leap there?"

Sophie said, "That's plan B."

Amy was admittedly slightly annoyed. Sophie and all her elf superhero friends were making her do their dirty-work, seriously? But that annoyance quickly fizzled away to empathy. Sophie's friend— or possibly more than that, as Amy wasn't really sure where things stood— had run away, and she would do everything she could to help find him. She owed that.

"I'll see what I can do. I love you, Sophie."

"I love you too, Amy."

And then her face on the screen petered out.

***

Amy's parents' faces looked so scrunched up in consideration, she swore the creases on their foreheads were like little valleys to ants. As they were thinking, Watson, her dog, and Marty, her cat, were cuddling up at Amy's feet.

"I think that might be nice," her mom finally said.

"Really, Vanessa?"

"Yeah. Wouldn't it be fun?"

Her dad considered it for a second. Finally, he said, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Then pack your bags, we're going to England!" And just like that, the Hallahans— Freemans, Fosters— were going to Cambridge, and Amy would be on a mission to find a smirking runaway elf.