27Thanks to all those who reviewed the first chapter! :) Hope you enjoy this next one! I'm trying to fit everything into five chapters… so probably I'll make this short and make this a three or four-chapter story.
(You know the disclaimer.)
Previously on "Don't Think"…
"Okay, Dan, go and be random," she said.
"You mean it?"
"No. I mean it when I say don't do ninja moves and get in trouble." She walked away.
Dan followed her gaze and saw Kurt smiling.Oh, so that's why she's in a hurry,he thought as he headed off to his school.
Dan POV
When I got to the café, I saw Amy and Kurt talking at a table, smiling and chuckling. I looked to the side and saw Ian Cobra glaring murderously at Kurt.
I went up to him. "Hey, Ian," I said.
"Daniel," he said without looking at me.
"You're looking at my sister with the look. I can see those animated hearts in your eyes," I accused.
Now he looked at me. "What?"
I did a facepalm.
"Ah, no. You must be joking," he said quickly.
"I know the look when I see it, dude." I must've sounded like Jonah Wizard or Hamilton Holt when I said "dude".
Ian resumed staring at Amy. "Did you come here just to annoy me, Daniel?"
"For the hundredth time, it's Dan! D to the freaking A to the N as in ninja!" I said impatiently.
"Oh, I don't care. So did you come here just to annoy me?"
"No, I'm also wondering how you've been," I admitted. "You didn't show up at the previous reunions. We thought you were… you know."
He chuckled. "Kidnapped? Hah, of course not," he said. "I was too busy, and I couldn't let Natalie go alone."
Yeah, this was a topic Amy would've brought up. But since she was talking to Mr. Perfect imported from South Africa, it was me. I didn't like talking to Cobras, especially the jerk. Well, both of them are jerks. I mean, they left me and Amy (and Uncle Alistair) in a cave a thousand miles away from home to DIE, and now Ian was watching my sister like a puppy waiting for its master to pet it or something.
"Look, you're hopeless," I said, walking away towards Amy and Kurt. "Hey, Ames."
"Dan? You're early," my love-alien-ish sister said, still smiling.
"No, you are. Is Nellie here yet?"
"Ah, no," she replied. "You can get a cinnamon roll if you want."
So I headed to the counter and got a cinnamon roll. Then I went back to the table of Ian Kabra and sat down.
"You don't ask for permission?" he said, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Of course I do," I said as I took a bite of my cinnamon roll. Now that was what you call an awesome pastry. "I don't want to be with Amy and Kurt. I don't like lovey-dovey stuffs."
He smiled and ordered a glass of water. "Still like ninjas, Dan?" he asked.
I gave him a duh look as I ate the rest of my cinnamon roll. Then I felt someone shaking my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Amy smiling. "Nellie's here," she said. I figured she ignored Ian because she wasn't stuttering.
"Ah… well, Ian, see you tomorrow?" I said.
He nodded. "I have to go as well." And to my surprise, he also ignored Amy!
Amy furrowed her brow. "Let's go," she told me.
As we got into Nellie's car, I was smiling to myself. This was gonna get interesting.
Ian POV
"Brother, you have a silly look on your face," Natalie said.
I raised an eyebrow. "I was talking to Dan Cahill a while ago."
"You mean, the ninja-obsessed Dan Cahill?" she asked.
"Yes. Apparently, Amy's with another guy."
"And you're jealous?"
"No."
"You are."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not."
"You are, whether you'll admit it or not," she sang. "You remember that group of girls we bumped into in the Philippines? What was that they kept saying? Ah, now I remember—uuuy!"
"First and foremost, dear sister, you are a Kabra. You're British. And second, you sound exactly like them," I sighed, rubbing my temple.
Natalie cackled and got out of the limo. "Whatever you say, Ian," she laughed.
My sister didn't talk to me at dinner. Probably because she was giggling to herself, or she was thinking of blackmailing me again. Honestly, I think the second option is more likely.
"Natalie, stop giggling," I told her.
She giggled.
"I mean it," I said.
She did it again. Twice. Thrice.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! Will you stop giggling?" I demanded, standing up.
"Ah, I'm a girl, Ian, and girls never stop giggling," she said with a sly smile.
I sighed and headed upstairs. Natalie went up to her room too, no doubt planning her next scheme.
So I had math homework now. I decided to get started.
Half an hour later, I was done with math. I turned on my laptop—we needed to research on the Egyptian gods…
And, of course, I wanted to see who was online in the Cahill chat network. Dan Cahill, Hamilton Holt, and the Starlings worked together to create this website where the Cahill teens (and pre-teens) could chat.
I entered my username and password and saw that the Holt siblings, the Starlings, Natalie, and Dan and Amy were online.
Don't think, I told myself. Just do what comes to your mind. Let your thoughts flow and do what you want to do.
So, without thinking, I opened a chat window with Amy Cahill (that's her username).
IKIanKabra: Hello, love.
Amy Cahill: You really won't stop calling me that, huh?
I smirked. Too bad she couldn't see me.
IKIanKabra: No. It does have a nice ring to it.
Amy Cahill: Are you done with your homework?
IKIanKabra: I was just about to do the research.
Amy Cahill: Me too. Actually, I'm reading about how Isis tricked Ra.
IKIanKabra: Ah… she created this snake that bit him, right? Then she promised to heal him only if he'd give her his… secret name.
Amy Cahill: I'm impressed. :) Yeah, that's right. Do you know about the battle between Horus and Set?
IKIanKabra: Horus challenged Set to a duel. The winner would become the king of the gods, and Horus won.
Amy Cahill: So you've been reading about mythology too?
IKIanKabra: I find it interesting.
Amy Cahill: It sure is. Oops… I have to go now. Kurt's calling. See you. :)
Amy Cahill has logged out of Cahill Chat.
I saw no point in chatting with the others, unless I'd like to be tortured with virtual giggles from Natalie, so I logged out too.
IKIanKabra has logged out of Cahill Chat.
The next day, I was early in school, so I decided to read the research that I'd done last night. (I'll admit that I only copy-pasted it; I was already tired.)
When I was just getting to the part about how Isis tricked Ra and Set dismembered Osiris, someone tapped my shoulder. I looked up and saw Amy smiling at me. "Hey," she greeted.
"Hello," I said, smiling back.
"You're reading about how it all began?"
"Like I said, it's interesting," I said with a shrug.
She took her seat in front of me and brought out her papers. "There are tons of versions of the stories," she sighed. "And then everyone's calling the gods by different names."
"That's how mythology is," I murmured.
Amy POV
Wow. Ian Kabra reading Egyptian mythology? That was definitely a first. But he really seemed fascinated by the myths.
Or he's probably just acting. He's a Lucian, after all, a voice in the back of my mind whispered.
I ignored it and took out the leather-bound school journal I kept in my bag, along with a pen.
Date: August 24, 2011
Who'd ever thought that Ian Kabra also liked mythology? Apparently, he also knows about the story of Isis and Ra, and the battle of Horus and Set.
And last night, we chatted on Cahill Chat. I did see him online before, but we never chatted or anything. So that would be the first time we chatted on Cahill Chat.
You think the word "chat" is overused? Not just as the word itself but also as a root word?
Hah. Gotta go.
~AC
So when I entered the café, I saw Dan talking to Ian again on the table with the window. And they were both grinning.
"Hey," I said, walking over to them.
"Hey, Amy," Dan said.
"Hello, Amy," Ian said, chuckling. "Care for a cinnamon roll?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you like cinnamon rolls?"
"Probably since ten minutes ago, when Dan convinced me to try one," he said. "Well, it does taste good."
"I told you so!" Dan held out his fist.
Ian hesitated for a moment, then gently bumped his fist with Dan's.
"I never thought you knew that," my brother said.
"It's necessary for me to blend in," Ian explained. "I have to keep a low profile when I'm walking alone in London. But I don't know any gangster speech, unlike Jonah Wizard."
"Sit down, Ames," Dan told me.
I sat down between him and Ian. "You two never really got along," I said.
"Ah, but people can change, right?" Ian said.
I smiled. But actually, I agreed.
Dan POV
Okay, so once I got to my desk, I went online on Cahill Chat and saw that Ian Kabra was online.
Ninja Lord: What's up, Ian?
IKIanKabra: Nothing much. Just doing more math homework…
Ninja Lord: Hah. You like my sister.
Five minutes passed before he replied:
IKIanKabra: Natalie told you?
Ninja Lord: *evil smile*
IKIanKabra: She is DEAD. Her new Prada bag will have lived a short life and died an unnatural death.
Ninja Lord: No, I was just joking. We don't talk.
IKIanKabra: Oh, really?
Ninja Lord: It's obvious. When Amy sat in between us, you were BLUSHING. I SAW YOU!
I chuckled. Let's see what his reaction will be, I thought.
IKIanKabra: You must've been hallucinating.
Ninja Lord: I don't hallucinate. And I'm just gonna tell you some rumor you've clearly missed out on.
IKIanKabra: Which is…?
Ninja Lord: Amy and Kurt are sort of together. He's been here to Cahill Manor twice already, and they're almost inseparable. I mean, they're always together at school. One of my friends' elder sister told me that. And I'm surprised you didn't notice.
"DAN!" I heard Nellie yell. "DINNERTIME!"
While Ian wasn't replying, I quickly typed my last message for the night:
Ninja Lord: I'm gonna eat dinner now. See you tomorrow at the café.
Ninja Lord has logged out of Cahill Chat.
Ian POV
I stared in shock at what Dan had just told me—or typed to me, rather.
Amy and Kurt are sort of together.
They're almost inseparable.
Since I was done with dinner and homework, I decided to go to sleep early. I got into my comfortable bed and stared at the ceiling, imagining the stars in the sky.
No, I thought. That's impossible. But since you're happy with it, it's fine with me.
Then sleep came to me faster than I expected.
Whee! A longer chapter! :D So, as the summary says, "DAN befriending IAN?" There you have it.
So please leave a review. CC is accepted, of course, but flames—as always—will be doused. Ha.
~Sam