Road to Clover (The Breanna Raven Series) (2 page)

My mom tells me
dogs are protective, nurturing, and loving by nature. They are also pack animals and very sociable. According to her, Miss Kiki is no different, but I beg to differ. She has never nipped at me, but she doesn’t look out for me, either. The only two people she is protective and loving towards are my mother and my sister. She completely ignores my dad, like he doesn’t exist, and if we have guests, they’re there on very short borrowed time. My mom sometimes has to put Miss Kiki behind closed doors like the bathroom or my dad’s office so she won’t nip at the visitors. Despite what my mom says and despite that she’s a veterinarian, that maniac little dog is not social.

Anyways, I
head upstairs to my bathroom. A shower and clean comfy clothes are in order. I take off my clothes and slip on a robe. After I turn the shower on, I take the time to consider my long black hair. It’s frizzy and unruly. I have freckles all over my face and neck. Sometimes I like them. Sometimes I wish I could wash them away. For the moment, I love my freckles. One is so big at the bottom of my neck that it almost looks like a bruise. My face is all natural. No make-up for me. I never wear any. It takes too long to apply, and I’m too lazy to spend half the morning putting it on. I rather sleep until it’s time to catch the bus.

I’ve been told by my unperceptive
mom that kids don’t like me because of my unkempt appearance and my refusal to wear make-up. She has no idea how teenagers’ minds work. I know a few kids that come to school almost every single day wearing cartoon character hats and/or costumes. They proudly show up wearing princess dresses with tiaras, full blown superhero costumes, animal outfits with tails, and I’ve seen a guy go as far as wearing girl pajamas inside out. They all have plenty of friends, and from what I can tell, no one cares that they don’t wear normal clothes.

This alone has taught me
that it’s not what I wear. It’s who I am. I don’t kiss butt. I don’t swoon over boys in school. I don’t talk about the last guy I swap spit with or gossip about who stole who’s boyfriend. I’m not a social butterfly, and the kids in my high school have picked up on that. So, they stay away because I send clear undeniable signals that I am not very approachable. I’ll be done with the high school pecking order and judgmental attitudes soon enough, and then my mom can think of something new to nag me about.

I’m the type of girl that is pretty plain. Flashy and stylish
things don’t belong in my life. I like t-shirts and sweat pants. Lacy and frilly shirts can’t be found in my closet, and forget the skin tight jeans. Forget all denim. I like to be comfortable. High heels and flowery sandals are an absolute no-no. Converse is all I wear on my feet, and I wear them with everything. It drives my mom crazy, but I’m happy in my own skin, as it should be.

After accomplishing my mission of getting clean, I’m feeling pretty good, and now I’m hungry. I
start for the kitchen, but I can’t leave my bedroom just yet. I’m forgetting my cell phone. I don’t want to miss Agni’s phone call just in case the moon turns blue, and he decides to call and recite statistics on that happening. That guy only calls after I call him first, anyway. Regardless, I take my pink cell out of my indigo satchel.

I’m back on track for the kitchen, and m
y mind is set on two things, potato chips and soda. I’m always starving when I get home because I never eat the lunch at school. I take the whole bag of chips off the counter and the 20 flavor ounce soda from the fridge. Right when I close it with my foot, I feel a low rumble. The house is shaking a little, but then out of nowhere there is a boom causing the house to vibrate. It scares me. The sound reminds me of the sonic booms that the space shuttle emits when breaking the sound barrier in the earth’s atmosphere. I learn this bit of information from educational films in science. Of course, there’s supposed to be another boom if indeed the source is the space shuttle, but nothing follows.

Okay,
so, what was that about? And for that matter, why was there a sonic boom in the first place? Was it really a sonic boom, or was it something else? The shuttles aren’t flying any longer, and when they have flown in the past, they’ve never landed close enough to where I live for me to hear a sonic boom.

With no one to answer my questions, I move to the entertainment room
, set the soda on the end table, and plant myself on the sofa in front of the television. The remote is barely working, but I manage to get the TV to my favorite channel. Cartoons play twenty-four seven on that particular network, and I’m all ready for a good laugh. I tuck my feet under the throw pillows, and I commence to gorging on my favorite snack.

Miss Kiki is off
of her favorite spot in the world, and she’s whining while looking out the window into the side yard. There’s nothing I can say to ease her mind. She only listens to one person anyway, and that’s my mom. So, I let her complain, and I continue giggling at my cartoons.

The
house phone starts ringing. I’m instantly annoyed. I’ve seen this show a million times, and I can recite every word as the characters are speaking. Then on top of that I know the show will play again. So, why am I upset about being disturbed? It’s because I think it’s one of my parents.

“Hello,” I
sing with clear irritation.

“
I’ve been trying to call you since I heard that boom. Your cell phone has a busy signal. Did you feel it? Something broke the sound barrier.” Agni’s voice matches his personality, but it doesn’t fit how he looks. It’s just strange. His voice is deep and stern, but he’s skinny as a stick.

“
Is there a blue moon outside? I can’t believe you’re calling me, Agni.” I’m picking on him, of course, but he doesn’t catch on.

He goes on to inform me, “
The speed of sound is 343.053 meters per second. There aren’t too many things that can break the sound barrier. I wonder what it was.”

I
yawn and answer, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Do you smell gas?”

Sometimes Agni can be confusing. I look at the phone like I’m looking at him face to face. I put the phone back to my ear and ask, “Why would I be smelling gas?”

“
It shook our houses. The wavelengths could have vibrated the gas pipes loose.”

“
I’m sure everything is still intact. I’m going to take a nap now, Agni. I’ll talk to you later.” I hate to cut our conversation short and sound bored with him, but I’m really sleepy. The hot shower has made me no good at this point.

“
Breanna, don’t forget to pick up Chloe at the bus stop. If we got out of school early, she will, too.”

“
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Thanks for reminding me. See ya.” I say before hanging up the phone.

Good ole Agni. He’s always looking out for me. More so than I do for him.
I set up the alarm on my cell phone to go off in 20 minutes. I can always continue my nap after I get Chloe. With the rap song I’ve chosen as the ringer, there’s no way I’ll miss getting my sister off the bus. I notice before putting the phone on the coffee table that I have no bars, and it’s showing a red circle with a line through it indicating there’s no network connection. That’s unusual. Maybe, the boom took out a cell tower. I hope it gets fixed soon.

My eyes are getting heavy as I scoot further down the sofa
. Just as I am about to close my eyes, the house phone rings again, but this time it only rings once. Then the house starts shaking. The rumbling is stronger and feels like an earthquake, but it’s not strong enough to knock pictures off the wall or break the glass statues in the entertainment center. Miss Kiki doesn’t like it, and she darts out of the room to hide someplace in the house. The quake subsides after about ten seconds.

That’s
just really strange. Florida never ever gets earthquakes. I reach for the house phone, and there is no dial tone. My cell phone still doesn’t have a signal. I can’t send a text or make a call. Something is very wrong.

Since Agni holds so many facts in that brain of his, I decide to go see him. When I get to his house, I discover he’s not there. I can’t imagine where he might have gone so quickly. I just spoke with him on the cell phone not even five minutes ago. I go around to the side of the house where the gate opens to the backyard, and I go in hoping to find him back there. The best way to describe Agni’s backyard is to call it a dead grass wasteland with a grill, rusty lawnmower, and cement slab as a back porch. No womanly touches in this place, even though Mr. Green’s fiancé lives here.

I run to the sliding
glass door hoping to catch Agni in the kitchen. As I shield the side of my eyes against the glass, I notice the room needs cleaning. Two empty wine bottles are on the counter. The refrigerator is cracked open, and the table still has dirty dishes.

Agni is a very clean person. I’ve been in his
bedroom, and that thing is immaculate. Everything has a meaning and a place. If I move something, he makes sure to put it back in its exact spot. I bet that kitchen drives him crazy.

Just as I’m
about to give up, I hear whistling and a dog barking next door. I forgot he lets King out to stretch his legs.

The dog’s owner, Mr. Everett Dory, is the vice principal at Wilbur Castleberry Middle School in Titan City.
The school is actually next door to the elementary school where my sister attends. I’ve actually attended Wilbur Castleberry, and Mr. Dory was the vice principal back then, too. He is the one that dishes out the punishment, and none of the kids liked him when I attended that school. I don’t think that opinion has changed much since. Mr. Dory is a big dude and tall, and he’s bald headed. He always dresses nice, has a serious attitude most of the time, and hardly ever smiles. But I have seen a kindness behind his brown eyes. It’s like right below his ex-military hard surface. Agni has always looked up to him. I believe more so than he does his own father.

I run over to that
side of the yard and try to lift myself up enough to see over the fence. I can’t even get my feet off the ground.

“Agni!” I call to him.

King is a massive brown dog, and there is no doubt in his size as he approaches the fence. He’s actually a very sweet dog. I think the neighbors misunderstand him because of his size. My mom’s little dog, who is ten times smaller, is much meaner than King, and she’s been known to bite. Poor King has a bad rep and doesn’t deserve it. I can hear him breathing heavy and whining on the other side of the fence. If I have time later, I’ll go see him, but for now, I have to find out what’s going on with the phones.

“
Breanna, is that you?” He calls back. “I’ll put King back in the house, and I’ll meet you in the front yard.”

“Okay,” I say as I step back from the fence.

I run towards the front yard and wait for him. Soon, Agni comes out of Mr. Dory’s house and locks the front door. He makes a beeline straight for me.

I ask
him, “Does your cell phone work?”

He shrugs his shoulders and pulls
his cell out from his back pocket. I stand beside him to see if it has any bars. It doesn’t.

“What about your house phone? Does that work?”

“It should. I just called you with it.” Agni goes towards his house, and I am right on his tail. Maybe, I’m worrying for nothing, but I’ve never known for my house phone and cell phone not to work at the same time. Plus, the strange behavior from the teachers at school earlier that day is not sitting well with me.

We enter his house, and for some reason, there
are shoes right beside the front door. Agni apologizes for the mess, but I tell him his apology isn’t necessary. I can care less as my only concern is why the phones aren’t working. He goes into the first room on the right, and he picks up the receiver. He listens and then puts it to my ear. No dial tone.

“Agni, did you think it was weird how the teachers were acting in school
today? I mean, were your teachers preoccupied with something else other than teaching?”

“Yeah, I did think it was strange. My chemistry teacher always has labs for us, but today, she made us do a worksheet instead.
All of my teachers made me do a worksheet actually.”

“
Did you hear any of them talking about anything strange?”

“No,
I mostly ignored them. I just did the work I was given. Breanna, I have to go check on something. I’ll be right back.”

Agni leaves me in the living room. I don’t have a chance to ask him where he’
s going. I suddenly realize it’s getting close to the time that Chloe will be home. The elementary school kids usually ride home with the middle school kids, and the same bus driver I have picks them up after he drops us off. I can’t wait on Agni. I have to go. I’ll catch up with him when I come back with Chloe.

I step outside the door, and everything seems normal enough. For the most part, the neighborhood is quiet.
The street is still empty. I rush down to Daisy Circle where I got off the bus earlier.

I see one person
is waiting, and it’s Brett. He’s bouncing a basketball and pretending like he’s shooting into an invisible hoop. I stand away from him. He’s ignoring me, and I’m fine with it.

The
women I usually see every day begin to make their way to the curb. They crowd in together and start asking questions about the phones. One lady is a daycare provider, and her name is Mrs. Lois Chase. My mom gets along well with her. I think that woman is underhanded and mean, but she’s always very sweet to the kids she watches after school. She lives all the way at the end of Heather Lane in one of the biggest houses in the cove. Of course, she’s leading the discussion. All of the women look up to her.

Mrs.
Chase asks, “Has everyone heard what’s on the news?”

A
dark haired lady answers, “They were first spotted on the west coast of the United States and Mexico.”

I want to
butt in and ask what they’re talking about, but Mrs. Chase chimes right in before I can say a word. “The news reported that the United States Government is not sure of their intentions or where they come from. They have strange unknown markings, too.”

The dark haired lady is a know it all, and sometimes I try not to engage in any conversations with her when we’re
at the bus stop. Plus, I feel like she doesn’t like me very much. She says to Mrs. Chase, “The government knows exactly who it is, but they’re not saying.”

“
I wish we could find out more.” Mrs. Chase says to the group in general.

All six women murmur at the same time
.

“
Well, the channels should be up again soon.” The dark haired lady says.

“Ha
s anyone heard from their significant others?” Mrs. Sabeen uncomfortably asks.

I like her. She reminds me of myself.
Mrs. Sabeen is an outsider among the women in this community. Some of the mothers don’t speak to her because of something scandalous that happened after a Christmas party at the community clubhouse last year. I believe Mrs. Chase is the driving force behind almost all of the housewives turning against Mrs. Sabeen.

Mrs.
Chase answers dryly, “I spoke to Jack just this morning.”

The other women begin
to answer simultaneously, but the dark haired lady interrupts them with a nasty glare at Mrs. Sabeen, “You would be asking about other people’s husbands, wouldn’t you?”

I guess there is a pecking order to suburban housewives, too. The dark haired lady is
acting worse than Jessica, and I feel bad for Mrs. Sabeen. Nonetheless, she sneers right back at the dark haired lady. I snicker. I think it’s awesome that she isn’t defeated by her.

Mrs.
Chase moves on and says, “I’m sure everything will be fine.”

I hope so, too. I walk away from their discussion. There isn’t anything
I’ll be able to get from them that will be helpful, anyway. Their conversations change to some movie they can’t wait to see that has some celebrity who’s probably ten times younger than they are.

Brett
is now in the middle of the street bouncing his basketball, and he’s dancing with it and moving it around his waist. He soon grows bored of what he’s doing, and he glances at his wristwatch. I forgot my cell phone at the house. I wish I had it with me so I can see the time, as well.

After what seems like forever,
there’s still no sign of the bus. There’s just a line of traffic outside of the gate. The mothers have stopped their conversations, and there is clear worry in their eyes. Mrs. Sabeen looks at her cell phone. I can tell the connection is still down by her expression, and she is beginning to panic. The black haired lady and the other women decide to leave the corner together. I wonder what they’re going to do. Mrs. Chase stays where she is and so does Mrs. Sabeen.

I decide to go to the front gate and look up
Calla Lily Road. The traffic is at a complete standstill. I look back at the guy in the brick guard shack, and he looks preoccupied. I wonder if he knows what’s going on. I go to the door and knock on it. He nearly knocks me off my feet as he pushes the door out.

The guy looks really upset. I’m not sure if he’s mad at me or what, but he tells me to go away. I try to ask him if he knows what’s going on, but he slams the door shut again.
I’m so annoyed. I can’t find out anything. All of this technology and different devices of communication, and I can’t find out one tangible thing!

That’s all
I can simply do is wait for my sister. I look up the road in the direction where the school bus usually comes from. Now, there are people outside of their cars. They are standing around and talking to one another. This road never has gridlock, and honestly, it’s a little upsetting.

The minutes go by slowly, but
I have no idea how long I’ve been out there. Mrs. Chase leaves. Brett is heading home, too.

Th
e dark haired lady drives up in a car with the other women that left the bus stop with her earlier, and they’re at the intersection trying to get out onto Calla Lily Road. The traffic isn’t breaking for them right away, but after a few minutes, they get on. Now, they’re stuck along with everyone else, and they aren’t moving an inch.

I wish the elementary school wa
s in walking distance. It’s like six miles away, and it’s on the other side of Olympus Bridge. That thing is high off the water, and there isn’t a sidewalk built on the bridge for pedestrians.

Mrs.
Sabeen starts pacing, and she’s crying. I can’t continue to look at her. She’s going to make me cry, too. I turn my back to her, and I’m thinking positive thoughts.

Everything will be fine. Mrs.
Sabeen is overreacting for no reason. The kids will be here any minute.
Of course, I’m finding it hard to believe what I just said and I start pacing, too.

I go back
to look outside the gate and without warning an explosion goes off. I’m jolted to the ground. As I try to get back to my feet, I notice Mrs. Sabeen on the ground, and she’s shielding her head. My heart is in my throat, and I’m trembling. That’s all I can think of now is Chloe, and I pray she’s safe. I hope she’s not near that explosion.

The
aftershock is frightening, and from what I can tell almost no one is moving now. The few people I can see in their cars and on the ground are as stunned as I am. It’s not long before a woman starts screaming. Someone in a car decides to break out of line onto the grass, and they’re barreling by all the cars at top speed.

Then I see it. A fireball
miles down the road, and it is massive and growing. Black smoke is billowing and turning the sky from a clear blue to dark clouded soot. I have never seen anything like it. It’s like watching hell consuming the earth. That’s the only way I can truly describe it. Then I notice a wall of people running away from it. They are screaming. Some have their kids in their arms and can’t go very fast. Others are just hauling tail.

All of a sudden
another car screeches out of the line of traffic right in front of the gate, hits a few people that are running and barrels through into the cove. The metal pole doesn’t do a thing to stop the car, and the guard runs out of the brick guard shack to stand against the wall on the other side of the entrance. Other vehicles follow the first one. They don’t stop for anything or anyone, and they turn down Daisy Circle driving at top speed and nearly out of control. One has hit a parked car, but it doesn’t stop. These people must think the cove is a way out, but it is a completely bricked in community, one way in and the same way out. There are no back gates.

The scene is
getting worse and worse. The fire in the distance has people running for their lives. I mean, everyone has abandoned their cars all together, motor running and everything. I wonder if they know where they’re going, or are they just running to get away? I back up against the brick wall so I’m not trampled. I’m still hoping to spot my sister’s school bus. The one time I really want to see one, and there isn’t a single one in sight!

No one can drive on the road now. Cars that have collided are smoking and not
cranking. Some cars have no drivers. Some people have taken to driving on the grass on both sides of the road, and people are getting badly hurt or even killed. The noise is horrendous, and it’s complete mayhem. The fire has stopped growing in the distance, but that doesn’t mean the danger is over. Fear has absolutely taken over. I need to go back home where it’s safe.