‘’Sorry.’’ the blond dude said, ‘’I’m Jeremie, this,’’ pointing to the pink haired girl, ’’is Aelita, and this is Yumi.’’ pointing to the black haired girl.  

     ‘’Alis.’’ I told them. ‘’Do you know anything about a group of disappearing kids?’’ 

      ‘’Uh…’’ Jeremie’s eyes were shifting, ’’No. Why?’’ 

      ‘’My pen pal said him and his friends disappeared a lot from school.’’ I told them.   

    ‘’What’s his name?’’ Aelita asked me.   

    ‘’I don’t know his real name, but his nick-name’s Odd.’’ I said.   

    ‘’That’s his real name.’’ Yumi said. ’’And he’s lying about that.’’  

     ‘’What? He’s your friend?’’ I asked.   

    Aelita nodded her head.  

     ‘’Oh.’’ Yumi said looking back at her friends, ’’I might have to live here for a while.’’   

    ‘’You live in the city?’’ I asked.     

  ‘’Ya.’’   

     ‘’If you need a room, mine’s set up for it.’’ I told her.     

  ‘’Thanks.’’ Yumi said.  

     ‘’Why?’’ asked Aelita. They had started to go back to the school and I kept my steep the same. 

      ‘’Dad’s job isn’t doing well so me and Hiroki have to move out. Mom said it would be cheaper and give us some experience at living at a school.’’ Yumi said. 

      ‘’I hope it works out.’’ I told her.   

    ‘’What year are you in anyway?’’ she asked me.    

   ‘’Year 10.’’ I said.   

    That shocked them. ’’I figured you would be in my class.’’ Yumi said.   

    I noticed that I was just about an inch taller than Yumi. ’’A lot of people think that.’’ I told them. I looked ahead and saw what looked like my supposed pen pal. His blond hair was up in an arrow looking way with a purple diamond in it. I waved to him and he waved back.     

  ‘’That’s my pen pal.’’ I said.  

     ‘’Yap, that’s Odd alright.’’ said Aelita.   

     Odd sat his stuff down and waved them over to him.     

  ‘’Hi Odd.’’ I said   

    ‘’Hey Alis.’’ Odd said. We slapped a high five and said, ‘’I was able to get souvenirs for all of you and Ulrich.’’  

      ‘’Ah, right.’’ I said remembering, ’’Your trip to your grandparents. How was it?’’   

    ‘’Great.’’ Odd said. He pulled out a key chain and gave it to me. I looked at it and read, ‘’Welcome to New Zealand!’’

        He gave a shirt to Aelita, a snow globe to Yumi, and a pair of flip flops to Jeremie.

       Yumi looked at her cell phone and said, ‘’I’ve got to get going.’’    

   ‘’Bye.’’ I said and she left for the gate.   

    Once she was gone, Odd said to me, ‘’So you’re going here now?’’  

      ‘’Ya.’’ I said, ‘’My parents finally said yes.’’   

    ‘’I didn’t expect your parents to let you even leave the house let alone America.’’   

    ‘’Dad came with me.’’ I said.   

    ‘’You know when Ulrich’s coming?’’ asked Aelita.   

    ‘’He said next week.’’ Odd answered picking up his bag. ‘’See ya at lunch.’’ he said as he started to the dorms.   

    I looked at my watch and said, ‘’Darn.’’   

    ‘’What?’’ asked Jeremie.   

    ‘’My watch’s still set up for eastern time.’’ I told them. ‘’You know what time it’s?’’ 

      Jeremie pushed up his sleeve to see his watch and said, ’’10:59.’’  

     ‘’Thanks.’’ I said as I fixed it