Humans And Foes

Chapter 13

** This is my first novel. If you have any tips on how to make the chapter better or make more sense, please leave a comment**

"And the woman in front of us in the checkout line had bright purple hair, like this," Isadora said as she closed her eyes.

Her chin-length blonde hair grew past her shoulders on one side, creating an asymmetrical shaggy style. It then darkened to the shade of purple she was picturing. Isadora let out the breath she was holding and her hair returned to normal.

"Five year old me loved it and wanted my hair to look the exact same," she continued. "I was imagining how I would look with it in my bathroom mirror when it changed. It was only a little bit and it was over so quick that I thought my eyes were playing a trick on me. Apparently it's a lot easier for us to shapeshift when we're young, because we have a much more active imagination."

I nodded, "That makes sense."

I readjusted her hand on the table between us and dipped the small brush back into the nail polish bottle. Isadora examined the pale pink nails on her right hand as I finished painting her left thumb. We had bought a few different colors a couple weeks ago in the town.

When I finished Isadora's nails, I reached down to unweave the paper towels from in between my cherry red toes.

I jumped in my seat when a knock shook the door.

"It's unlocked," I called.

The door opened and Zach leaned against the door frame. Luke was visible behind his left shoulder.

"Hey. We were bored," Zach said. Then he wrinkled his nose, smelling the nail polish. "What are you doing?"

Isadora held up her hands and wiggled her fingers as a response.

"Oh, cool," he walked in the room and sat on the side of the table. "Sign me up."

Luke sat on my bed with his legs stretched out in front of him, looking tired.

"You too," I pointed at him, then gestured at the line of bottles Isadora was arranging in front of Zach.

Zach picked up a bottle of deep blue polish and examined it. He looked satisfied as he handed it to Isadora and she shook it. The small marble inside clattered as he chose another bottle, this one maroon, and held it out to show Luke.

"You like this one?" he asked.

Luke nodded, barely glancing up.

"Get over here," Zach said, leaning over so far I thought he was going to fall off of the table, and grabbing Luke's arm, pulling him to his feet.

Luke stood across from me, took his hands out of his pockets, and placed them on the table.

"What, did you get no sleep last night?" I asked as I shook and unscrewed the maroon bottle.

"Something like that," he responded as I painted the first coat of polish on his right index fingernail. "I was thinking about everything that happened yesterday."

"That is something I am actively trying not to do." I replied, moving on to the next finger. "It's no use worrying, we'll get our answers tomorrow."

"I hope so." Luke muttered.

"It's probably no big deal," Zach chimed in. "We're in a new country, the weather could just be different here."

I nodded, not really believing that that was the case. I looked over my shoulder through the window. The snow was still falling and clinging to my windowsill. I could hear the low rumble of the heater in the corner.

I finished the rest of Luke's nails in silence, and he blew on them to dry them quicker.

Zach carefully pulled back his sleeve, using only the pads of his fingers, as to not smudge the paint. He glanced at his watch before pulling his sleeve back down.

"It's 6:25," he commented. "We should head down to dinner."

Luke and Zach compared their nails as we walked through the door. I turned to knock on Noah's door.

"Yeah?" I heard him call.

"It's Millie," I responded. "You coming to dinner?"

"Hey Millie," he said, swinging open his door. I noticed that he had gotten taller since we had been in France, and was now almost a head and a half taller than me. "I heard you guys having a party without me. Was my invitation lost in delivery?"

"We were doing makeovers," Zach said, holding up his right hand to show Noah. He smirked, "If you came, you would have gotten one too. You could have used it."

I glanced back at Noah and noticed his hair was messy and his left cheek was slightly red. It looked like he'd been sleeping.

"Have you been in bed since breakfast? You weren't at lunch." I commented.

"No," He replied, his ears pinkening.

He made sure Zach was distracted by his nails before he tilted his head slightly toward his desk, gesturing to the book I gave him last night. The bookmark was almost at the end.

"Ah," I responded quietly, smiling. Then louder, "Anyway, we have to go. We're going to be late for dinner."

This got Zach's attention, and he ran down the hall, chasing Luke and Isadora.

Noah and I followed slowly, not talking.

When we got to the dining room, Zach, Luke, and Isadora were already deep in conversation. We grabbed plates of food and sat next to them.

I had just taken my first bite when I heard a girl's voice. I turned to see a girl with long black hair and dark eyes framed by long lashes standing behind me.

"Hi. Millie, right?" she said, then gestured to the seat next to me. "Can I sit here?"

"Hey Amber," I replied, scooting over. "Go ahead."

Amber and her protector Kai had just gotten to L'agence a week ago. Most of us were here now. Only five more pairs needed to be rescued.

I made simple conversation with her, telling her about my time in L'agence and the best restaurants to go to in the town. Before I knew it, people were standing up and leaving, having finished their food. Amber gave a small wave and joined these people, going back upstairs.

I saw Agent Mortez clear her plate and start towards the door and I called to her.

"Agent Mortez, could you bring the five of us to the town tomorrow?" I said, giving her my best fake smile and hopeful look.

She smiled back, "Of course, we'll leave at 9:00."

I dropped my smile and sighed as I watched her exit the room.

** This is my first novel. If you have any tips on how to make the chapter better or make more sense, please leave a comment**