"Can... can I ask what's going on?"

"In the simplest terms... oh boy. Selene had... it's... basically, there's issues with some land she owned in her hometown. I-It's in our name, but we haven't really done much with it sadly. It's in the hands of a family friend now. The Opal woman. But now there's issues with someone else trying to claim the area."

"Oh."

"It's... it's a lot. I know. I'm trying to get it all settled, but with different laws & all-"

"Dad, it's ok. I get it."

"Alright then..." I could practically hear his smile. "I love you Kiddo." he says. "I love you too Dad... come back soon." he hangs up & I'm left alone in my room. I stare at the ceiling, trying to understand it & everything else that was going on. Keep my guard up? What the hell was that supposed to mean? I was so lost when I heard something make a popping sound in the kitchen. That snapped my attention up quickly. "What the..." I waited for a second, listening for anything else. Nothing; my niece probably left a plastic waterbottle downstairs before she left. But then, I heard the doorbell ring & a crash followed soon after. The door was knocked on a few times & for some reason I heard the door open. I cracked my door open slowly to see Jewel Foster, my best friend, talking to a woman in my house. She had her blonde hair in a ponytail & the two front strands were dyed pink. She was wearing a pink tank top with a white jellyfish outline on it. She also had on a pink checkered flannel with jean shorts & matching pink thigh highs. Her shoes even matched her outfit as always; pink Nike shoes that looked clean as ever. "Hi Mrs. Harbor, is Archer home?" My breathing stopped as I heard my friends voice speak. I threw my bedroom door open, which gives me a perfect veiw of the front door. Whoever was talking to my best friend wasn't my step-mom. "Archer... um... well, he is-" "Hey Jewel. Glad you got my text, let's go!" I grabbed my shoes quickly, a mini backpack my niece got me for my last birthday, phone, charger & I shoved past whoever was pretending to be my step-mom. "Have fun you two." the woman said, waving slowly. I rushed Jewel to get into her car. She was moving so slow! Thankfully, she didn't bring up the fact that I hadn't actually texted her. We pulled off & Jewel glanced at me.

"What's wr-"

"That wasn't Mahalo."

"Archer, what are y-"

"Mahalo, Justice & Yuki have been out of the state for days. Her car wasn't even there. I-I know it sounds crazy, but that person had her face, but that wasn't her..."

Jewel glanced at me with her blue eyes. "Okay... okay. Let's go eat alright? We'll go to that cafe you like." she was talking to me like I was crazy & I couldn't blame her.

Thankfully, I was able to get everything out to Jewel over some lunch, where she did think it was weird. "So... ugh, ok, well, first off, it seems like a lot of this is about stuff waaaaay before you were born. Now your dad is running around... somewhere dealing with your mom's stuff-where was she from again?" I huffed. "Mom would say she lived in Camelot. Probably a little European town or something. I mean, I know Mom wasn't from America, not born here at least. Some friends of hers would come to the house acting weird & speaking some weird language I didn't know." Jewel only sighed. "Ok then... but then why wouldn't your dad take you with him? & who was that weird l-" "Archer?" I glanced over to see... oh wow. "M-Mytel..? Hey, what's up!" I went over to him & he grinned softly. "Not much. How are you?" I shrugged. "I'm... I'm ok. Here, come sit with me." I led him over to our table & indroduced them. "Mytel, this is-" "Gwen?" Jewel blinked at him. "Uh... no. I'm Julia. But most call me Jewel." Mytel went red in the face. "O-Oh... right, s-sorry. You look like a friend of mine. Sorry." Jewel smiled. "Nah, it's ok. Not the worse name I've been called. You want some food... um-" "Mytel. Mytel Huntsman. You sure that's alright?" Jewel nodded. "Well... I'll sit for a little bit." Mytel sat next to me. "So, what're you doing here?" Jewel asked, trying to study Mytel. "Oh, just running some errands is all." he said. "Couple things for my place. Well, my dad's place, but he's not home a ton so... my place." His energy was weird; it wasn't like he was trying to show off, but he was oddly confident in his tone. "So... you two know each other?" I shrugged. "Dads are friends." I said quickly; Mytel nodded in agreement. Jewel shurgged. "Well, ok. Mytel, order whatever you want." Mytel smiled politely. "Thank you Jewel." he ordered a sugary latte thing & I chuckled.

"Didn't take you as a sweets kind of guy."

"Oh... well, not really. I guess I have to be in a mood for something more... bitter."

"Pfft... alright then."

Jewel chuckled. "So... how old are you anyway? You don't go to our school." she muses. "I was homeschooled. Graduated early. So, yeah. Sides, I went to a school in a different state." Jewel cocked her eyebrow & looked at me. "Alright..." I rolled my eyes. We chatted for a little while longer & soon, Mytel went his seperate way... hanging out with them actually helped me feel a lot better.