The Crystal by Jones M (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

my head.

I failed.

I squinted my eyes to see another set of hands join Selena. The sheets were soon completely off me, and I shivered due to the cold morning air.

It was winter in New York. I was in my bedroom in the house I once shared with my mom. The memory of her had quickly shifted my mood.

“Emery, it’s time to get up,” the statement came from Erick. I groaned again. What was he doing in my home? Didn’t he know the policy of not disturbing a person who is mourning the loss of a loved one?

“I don’t want to,” I mumbled, searching for the duvet that I had covered myself with.

“Too bad!” Selena shouted, her loud voice echoing through the room and making me flinch at its volume. “You have been alone for a whole three months, Emery! I can’t let you stay like this. In fact, I’m worried about you. We are all worried about you, and we want to help you move past this.”

After the funeral, I had decided to stay at home because there were things to handle. For instance, there was my mother’s life insurance that was deposited in my bank account, and there was a note from her advising me to use it wisely. Everything that involved her reminded me of her, and so, I had been a crying mess for three good months.

“I don’t know how,” I told Selena and Erick. “She was my mother, guys. How can I move past not seeing her?”

It was bad enough my father died without saying goodbye. Losing my mother left me feeling lonesome.

“Emery, I know what you are going through,” Erick said. I wanted to complain that at least he had his mother, but I thought better of it and kept my mouth shut. “I know it’s hard to lose someone you love, but you need help, Emery. I know you miss your mother, but I know she wouldn’t want you to stop your life just because she’s dead.”

I flinched at the truth that the Prince said. He was right. Even in the dream I had during her funeral, my mother urged me to move past her death.

“What about talking to a therapist?” Selena asked. Erick and I turned to face her with questioning looks.

“My mum is dead. I don’t have a mental problem.”

“But you seem like you do, Emery,” she said. “You need to talk to someone about this. It will help you bring closure to your life.”

I remained silent, thinking it over. I wasn’t sure about therapists offering support to someone who lost their parents, and I was not about to go figure it out.

“I don’t need a therapist,” I deadpanned.

“I know what she needs,” Erick suddenly said. “She needs a distraction, and she needs to be away from this house for a while. Maybe it will help her heal a little.”

“I’m not sure about that,” I stated. I was worried that if I stayed away, something bad would happen to the house. It was one of the things I shared with my mum. I would find it hard to depart from it.

“It’s not a matter of being certain. You should at least try it.”

After a moment of quietness filled with thinking about his point, I found myself nodding to the idea.

“Okay. But what do you have in mind?”

Selena and Erick looked at each other with looks of unease before looking back at me.

“Well, the Ordinary Brothers offered to take you on their tour,” Erick said. I blinked. Then I blinked again.

“I’m sorry. What?” I asked with a hint of disbelief in my tone.

“That was just an offer,” Selena said. “Think about it. We’ll be going to new cities with them, Emery!”

I thought about it. It didn’t take long to figure out my reply.

“No,” I said before getting off my bed and starting to head towards the bathroom.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Selena asked with a tone of disbelief. I grabbed my toothbrush before turning to face her.

“Umm, maybe this will help jiggle your memory. Have you forgotten that they were my bullies in high school?” I stated, making Erick and Selena groan. I ignored them. “Also, what would I be doing with them? They are musicians on tour, doing their jobs! It would be awkward to just be around them, doing nothing but going wherever they go.”

“They said it does not matter!” Selena said. I blinked at her in disbelief, ready to argue with her over what she had just stated.

“It doesn’t matter?” I repeated her statement. “Selena, they are on a freaking tour! They are famous! And might I remind you the problem with paparazzi?” I stated as a fact. “Would you love to hear ‘Ethan is dating Selena’ or ‘Emery slapped Zane Marsh at the VMAs’ ?”

“Why would you slap Zane at the VMAs?” Erick asked with a frown.

“Not important. It was an example!”

“What if you’re wrong, Emery?” Selena asked. “What if what you said doesn’t matter?”

“Oh, it matters,” I replied. “You and I both know how I feel about many people knowing me and trying to get into my business. I would love a life where I’m not chased by celebrity reporters.”

“I do not disagree with you,” Selena said. “It would happen, but we have nothing to give them. They will surely leave us alone. Please, Emery! It's not just for your sake but also for mine. Can we go?”

I pondered her words in my head.

“If you want to go, then go. I am not stopping you,” those were the last words I told her as I headed towards the bathroom with a change of clothes. Once I returned, freshly dressed and ready for the day, I was surprised that she and Erick were still there.

“You’re still here?” I asked, voicing out my thoughts.

“We are not leaving until we give you a distraction!” my cousin shouted. “Okay, maybe you aren’t on board with the tour thing with the Ordinary Brothers…”

“I’m not on board,” I momentarily cut her off.

“…So what else can we do?”

“I could, I don’t know, get a job!” I stated with a sarcastic look of amazement. Selena and Erick rolled their eyes at me.

“Or I could learn computer basics before I enroll in college.”

I walked outside the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen. The duo was following me, not giving up.

“Oh my goodness, guys! Won’t you let it go already?” I spat, turning to face them. They flinched at the tone in my voice.

“Look, I’m sorry,” I apologized, “but I don’t think that going on tour with my ex-bullies is a good idea.”

“But Emery, weren’t you the one who wanted to put the past behind you?” Erick stated, making an excellent point.

“Yes, I did. But that did not mean I wanted to face them everywhere I turn. It’s bad enough they know about Crystalia and are welcomed in the castle. It would be weirder being around them as they do what musicians do while I do nothing.”

“You still hate them, don’t you?” Selena asked with a serious expression.

“I don’t hate them. It’s just that I don’t trust them,” I said, opening the fridge to explore the contents in it. I was looking forward to finding a plate or dish with uncooked food, but I found none. My eyes narrowed in disbelief, turning towards the kitchen cabinets.

“Well, you could learn to trust them,” Selena said. I sighed, getting tired of the conversation we were having.

“You are not going to give up, are you?” I asked with a sigh.

“Nope,” she and Erick said.

“Give me a day. I would think about it,” I said. Selena went to counter my proposition, but Erick grasped her hand to stop her.

“Let’s just do what she said. It won’t help if we argue for a long time,” he reasoned. My cousin thought about his words, and she found herself nodding in agreement.

Then they teleported away from the room, leaving me alone in the kitchen with nothing to eat. 

Geez!

The least they could have done was bringing me food.

***********************************************************************************************

Liam’s P.O.V

A scream tore through the hotel room, abruptly waking me up. In an instant, I got off the bed and went towards the door in my room. Turning the knob to open it, I exited the room, rushing to find out where the noise came from.

Logan, Harry and Zane exited their bedrooms. They all looked groggy from sleep, but they were also worried.

“What’s going on?” Zane asked with a look of concern.

“I don’t know,” Logan replied.

“Wait. Where’s Ethan?” I asked. We all glanced at each other before rushing towards the bandmate’s room. We didn’t even bother to knock. Once we were close to the door, we barged through it, worried about Ethan.

He looked shaken up. His knees were brought to his chest as he lay sideways on the bed with tremors racking his body.

The rest of us walked towards him and huddled around him.

“Ethan? What’s wrong?” I asked him. My hand went to touch his shoulder. Once I made grasped it, he flinched from my touch. I frowned at him.

“Ethan?” Logan called out from the door. “Are you alright?”

He kept shaking, and the rest of us were worried about him.

“WHAT’S GOING ON?” Trevor, our bodyguard, yelled as he entered the hotel room. He looked weirdly awake at the time of the night, and he had come into the room with nothing but his black pajamas.

“It’s Ethan,” I replied. “He’s shaken up, probably from a nightmare.”

“Really?” Trevor asked. “Damn! Well, I called the hotel security to come figure out the cause of the issue. I thought it was another fan of yours trying to sleep with one of you. But, I was wrong.”

Trevor was right about the fan thing. There was a time, not even a month ago, where one of our fans managed to sneak into a hotel room we were staying in. She somehow got into Logan's room and started kissing him. By the time he woke up, which wasn’t long, Logan started screaming. After that, there were a series of kicks and grabs (from the girl) before the hotel security took the girl away.

Our bodyguard left the room, probably going to tell the security team it was a false alarm. My attention turned back to Ethan. He was still shaken up. At the moment, Logan had embraced him in a hug from the back, trying to soothe him.

A moment later, Ethan had calmed down and was falling asleep. The rest of us stayed with him for a while, making sure he was deep in slumber. We then quietly got out and headed towards the hallway.

“Guys, I read his mind,” Harry said. “He kept seeing erboons, erwiches, and the bodies of Emery’s mother and Selena’s parents.”

My eyes went wide at the statement. Unlike me, Ethan was traumatized from seeing the dead bodies. I thought it would last for a short while, but I was wrong. Weeks after Emery’s mother had been buried, Ethan had begun having nightmares. They would come every three consecutive days in a week. Despite Ethan’s reassurances about him being okay, it had been two months, and the dreams were not stopping. Neither did my bandmates nor I realize what Harry said was the cause of the nightmares. 

“I don’t know what we are going to do,” Harry continued. “I’m afraid that if this keeps up, it will affect his performance on stage.”

“Wait. Is there a way to reverse the effects?” Logan asked. “Maybe there’s a spell to wipe that memory off him.”

“We’ll have to go to Crystalia tomorrow,” I said.

“Tomorrow?” Harry asked. “We have to be in the studio by tomorrow! We have an album to make, Liam.”

My eyes widened in shock that I forgot about that.

“We could call Selena and see if she can help us with Ethan.”

“That’s a good idea, Zane. So, tomorrow?” I asked in confirmation.

They all nodded in agreement, and we went back to our rooms.

***********************************************************************************************

Emery’s P.O.V

“Hurry up, would you?” Selena shouted through the house.

“Coming!” I shouted back while zipping my suitcase.

Two words: Selena won. 

After thinking over the tour offer for a whole day, I found myself agreeing to it. When Selena heard the decision I made, she shrieked in disbelief before forcing me to get ready to leave for the tour with my ex-bullies.

I mean, I was all for taking a small course on computer classes. But then I figured I could take it months later. There was also the thought of going to new places that had me agreeing to what Selena had proposed.

Anyway, there I was, struggling to close my one suitcase whereas Selena was all packed and ready with two of hers. In frustration, I pushed myself away from the damned thing and used telekinesis to forcefully close it. Once I was done, I walked towards the exit of the house with my small luggage in hand.

Selena was staring at me while tapping her foot on the floor in an impatient manner. She had two red suitcases standing next to her at the door. I rolled my eyes at her.

“It’s about time!” she yelled, her voice echoing through the apartment. I was momentarily worried that one of our neighbors would come to yell at us. 

Once I was near my cousin, I dropped the suitcase on the floor.

“So how is this going to work?” I asked her.

“Well, the boys said that they would send a car to get us.”

A horn blared around the area.

“Speaking of which…” she trailed off, picking up her two suitcases and dragging them with her to the