New World

Chapter 4

Katy's house was small. It was a tightly packed between two other houses, with enough space to fit one car in the drive. There was a row of dying plants by the window, and the paint on the walls were peeling. Katy went to the door, and with the key she took out of her pocket, opened it. She looked back and Paelen and gestured for him to go in. He went in. The entrance was very neat. All she shoes were set out in ordered rows and all the coats were on the coat hangers. Katy called out, "Mum! We're home!" Paelen heard someone coming down the stairs. A middle aged woman came down. She was short and plump, the opposite to Katy. She had a kind, warm face and sparkling eyes. 

When she saw Paelen she smile. "Hello! I'm Katy's mum. It's good to see that she's finally got a boyfriend!"

"No no no!" Katy said quickly. "He's just a friend."

"Yes, just a friend." Paelen repeated, not knowing what to say. "I am Paelen the magnificent, by the way."

"Paelen the magnificent," Katy's mum chuckled, "I am Jo."

Paelen bowed. Jo laughed as Katy turned red. "I'm bringing him to my room." She muttered. 

"I won't disturb you." Jo frowned, "Wait, what are you doing out of school?"

Katy paused. "I was feeling stressed, and Paelen offered to bring me home."

Jo obviously caught the lie, but sighed, "Fine. With your grades, you can take a few days off."

Katy smiled and lead Paelen to her room. It was relatively small, from what Paelen knew about bedrooms. There were lots of stacks of books everywhere, and every shelf was full. On the wall, he recognised pictures of Olympus. He was surprised as to how accurate they were. He noticed many items of clothing scattered across the floor. Katy noticed too an quickly grabbed them and stuffed them into her wardrobe. 

"Right," She said, "We need to get you into school."

"What?!" Paelen exclaimed, "I cannot go to school! I do not read English!"

"That's why you need to learn. You can't live on earth without learning to read and write."

Paelen held his hand up in defeat. He wasn't planning on going back to Olympus for a while, so he might as well try for a life in earth, even if it was only temporary. "I shall go to this school you speak of. "

"Yay!" Katy squealed. She was way too excited. Paelen wondered if this was really a good idea.