Dead!

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The rest of the week passed by quickly. Very little of interest happened during that week, and it seemed like Heaven was back to normal. Sometimes no news is good news, and that certainly applied here. Everything was much better when Heaven was safe.

To be honest, the two demon attacks that we had so far unnerved all of us. There was always the possibility that one of us would get taken, and what would we do then? If you're not safe in Heaven, then where are you safe? That fear began to subside, however, once it seemed like the demons weren't coming back.

When I arrived home from work one day, I found Dash laying on top of Grandma's couch. I smiled when I saw him, and began stroking him as he purred. I took out my phone while Dash rested next to me, and I saw that I had one new message.

BlackhawksForTheWin: Hey, I'm going shopping for Star Wars action figures. Want to come along?

I rolled my eyes. Did Raj really need more Star Wars junk? I replied to him.

MochaKitty5: Why would I want 2 go with u on ur little nerdy shopping spree?

BlackhawksForTheWin: I thought you liked shopping.

MochaKitty5: Not 4 ur weird nerdy stuff.

MochaKitty5: Or books. I don't like book shopping either.

BlackhawksForTheWin: Come on Ivy. It will be fun.

MochaKitty5: No it wont. I wanna stay home with my cat.

BlackhawksForTheWin: You need to get out of the house.

MochaKitty5: I went 2 a movie w/ Samantha yesterday.

BlackhawksForTheWin: Okay, I'll just take somebody else. See you later Ivy :)

I put down my phone, happy that Raj was finally going to leave me alone. I had absolutely no interest in his Star Wars collection, so it was a relief that he wasn't going to drag me along. I was just getting comfortable on the couch when my phone went off again.

strange_quark: Hello Ivy! Did you know that the Ewok language is a combination of Tibetan and Nepalese?

MochaKitty5: No. Why would I need 2 kno that?

strange_quark: Because we're going shopping for Star Wars stuff.

MochaKitty5: Ur going 2? Bcuz I'm not.

strange_quark: Why not?

MochaKitty5: I'm not that much of a nerd.

strange_quark: So? We can still have fun. Besides, did you know that Dr. Seuss coined the word "nerd"? It was used to describe a grouchy-looking creature in If I Ran The Zoo.

MochaKitty5: I really dont care.

strange_quark: You should care. It's interesting.

MochaKitty5: No its not.

strange_quark: So are you coming?

MochaKitty5: No!

strange_quark: Fine. Let me know if you change your mind.

I lay on the couch for a while, but after a while, this got boring. I needed something to do. I tried messaging Samantha, but she was still at work, and Adam was busy. I picked up The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which was actually kind of funny, but I quickly got bored with that too. It seemed that I had no choice except to follow Raj, Jack, and whoever else was coming along on their nerdy shopping adventure. I messaged Jack to let him know.

MochaKitty5: I'm so bored. I'll come w/ u guys.

strange_quark: Excellent! Meet us at Cedar Creek Comics and Specialty Items. It's across the street from Starbucks.

I immediately knew where Jack was talking about. I passed by that store almost every day when I went to Starbucks. I had no idea why anyone would ever want to go in there, but I started heading over there.

When I arrived at the store, I saw Maya, Jack, Raj, and Henri there. "OH MY GOSH, I FOUND A COPY OF THE TRUE LIVES OF THE FABULOUS KILLJOYS COMIC!" Maya screamed. "I didn't even think that was possible!"

"Seriously, Maya?" I said. "You don't have to get this excited."

"It's super expensive though," Maya said. "Whatever. I'll just read the whole thing here." Maya immediately started flipping through the comic book, and I spotted Henri near the back of the store looking through at sheet music.

"Interesting," he said. "Franz Schubert has completed his Unfinished Symphony in Heaven."

"Did you know that Schubert wrote over 600 songs?" Jack said.

"No, I did not," Henri said. "That is very cool though, but I am sure he wrote more than that here."

"Probably," Jack said. "I'll look it up when we get home."

"Where's Raj?" I asked Henri and Jack.

"He is looking for an action figure of Greedo," Henri replied.

"Who's Greedo?" I asked.

"The green alien that Han shot in A New Hope," Henri said.

"Because Han shot first!" Raj exclaimed. "Hey Ivy. I'm glad you decided to come."

"I was just really bored," I said.

"Look at this!" Raj said. "I got a whole bunch of new action figures, and I got a Han Shot First poster!"

"That's nice," I said. "So why does everyone care that Han shot first?"

Raj rolled his eyes. "Do I really have to explain this to you?"

"Not really," I said. "I don't care that much."

"Basically George Lucas made Greedo shoot first in one of the re-releases," Raj explained. "That doesn't even fit with Han's character! I love Star Wars, but that was such a stupid change. Anyways, I got Greedo, Boss Nass, Bib Fortuna, Mon Mothma, Lobot, and Wedge Antilles!"

"Is it bad that I've seen all of the Star Wars movies and still have no idea who any of those people are?" I asked.

"They're all minor characters, but yes," Raj said. "Then again, I have seen Star Wars more times than I can count. I know every character in the movie, even if they only appear on screen for a few seconds."

"You're really obsessed with Star Wars," I noted.

"I guess so," Raj said. "Anyways, Laura will be super impressed with my finds."

"Who's Laura?" I asked.

"Just a girl who comes to the hockey games sometimes," Raj said. "She's into Star Wars too."

"She sounds like your type," I said.

"We do share a lot of interests," Raj said. "I don't know where our friendship will go, but she's a very nice girl."

"I'm sure she is," I said.

"Where did Maya go?" Jack asked me.

"She's reading some stupid comic," I said. "It was something about Killjoys."

Jack ran off to find Maya, and he came back a few minutes later with her. Maya was still reading the comic book, but she was almost done. "I have to finish this!" she exclaimed.

"Come on Maya," I said. "We have to go."

"No, you can finish," Raj said. "We'll wait for you."

"Yeah, it's like when you listen to a song and you have to finish it," Henri said. "Otherwise, it gets stuck in your head."

Sure enough, Maya finished the comic book a few minutes later, and the five of us began walking home. Raj, Jack, Maya, and Henri had already started talking about when they were going to hang out next. I sometimes felt like an outsider when I was around them, but they were better than nothing.

Besides, real friends like these were very rare indeed.