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

in the jet. The time read 9:15.

What?

“It’s nine in the evening,” I replied with a look of disbelief. Selena shot up so fast, it was enough to act like a Halloween scare.

“What?” she was scared at first, but then a look of understanding took over her features. Then she relaxed. I, on the other hand, looked worried. She noticed it and gave me a frown.

“Why are you like that?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s nine, Selena,” I answered. “We left at around eleven, and now it’s nine in the evening.”

“Uh huh,” she said while she gave me a weird look.

“Wasn’t the flight supposed to be six hours?”

“Emery,” she said calmly, “it has been six hours. Have you forgotten that New York and London have different time zones?”

I wanted to repeatedly hit myself on the head when she said that. 

I couldn’t believe I forgot time zones! So that had to mean that London was five hours in front of New York’s time. That made so much sense.

I felt the plane suddenly tilt forwards. In an instant, I found myself clutching the seat.

“Relax, Emery. We’re landing.” That had me calm down.

Minutes later, once the plane had landed, Selena and I rose up from our seats and proceeded to head towards the exit of the jet. Before we could, a burly man entered the plane. He had worn a black shirt with yellow words ‘SECURITY’ printed on it, and also wore a pair of black denim jeans. He also wore a pair of dark glasses, and I felt his eyes land on my cousin and me.

“Emery Davis and Selena Trentstone?” he asked for our names, and we nodded in confirmation. “The Ordinary Brothers have sent a couple of bodyguards and me to get you. Your luggage is currently being loaded into a car. You are to follow me, and I would take you to them,” Selena clapped her hands in excitement with an excited squeal once the guard finished talking. 

I couldn’t tell if he gave my cousin a weird look. 

Anyway, we proceeded to follow him towards the jet’s exit.

I took a momentary peek through one of the windows. It was dark outside with the moon and the city lights as the only sources of light to illuminate the area. 

It would have been great if we had arrived earlier in the day so that I could get a clear picture of my surroundings.

Once I stepped foot out of the plane, I was immediately hit by the cold London air. New York at the time was colder, but the cold in London could still do a number on me.

“Why is it s-so c-cold?” Selena said in a stutter while she struggled to find heat by rubbing her arms. The burly man didn’t reply. We nonetheless continued to him. 

The only things that I could see were the distant buildings, the light poles illuminating the area around us and a tarmacked road lighted by fast-moving vehicles.

The three of us continued walking, and we came to a stop at a limo. He opened a door for us, and with haste, Selena and I entered the vehicle. Once we were all in, the air around us significantly warmed.

“Finally! I don’t think I would have made it through the cold for a minute longer,” Selena said as we pulled off from the spot the car was parked. 

We were in London. At the time, the thought barely affected me. I was still tired from the jet ride. The only thing I wanted to do when we reached wherever we were going was to bath, have a meal and sleep.

CHAPTER 23

Liam's P.O.V

It was a cold night in London, and my bandmates and I were exhausted after a busy day. We were in the dining room area of the large hotel suite we were sharing, waiting for our bodyguard to enter. He said he had something important to tell us.

"Hey, guys! So this is the news about your schedule for next week," Trevor said as he entered the suite. 

The words that Trevor said made us groan. The lads and I had a week-long break that began on that day before we continued with our European tour.  I mean, couldn't Trevor have waited for the next day to remind us about the tour? We were exhausted after a busy day, and we couldn't wait to eat before going to bed.

"You're going to listen to me anyway," Trevor ignored our groans as he checked the papers on a clipboard that he came with.

"To begin with, I've been chosen to be the tour manager. The last one had to quit because his wife gave birth recently. Yay for me," he faced us with a bored look before turning to his clipboard. "Management is in the process of hiring more security personnel for this tour. You know how your fans can get. Also, we have people joining us."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Who will be joining us?" I inquired.

Trevor stared at me as if I had grown two heads. Then he checked his clipboard again.

"I momentarily forgot their names. Okay! These girls, Selena Trentstone and Emery Davis... they are coming with you on tour."

The boys and I stayed in shocked silence as we processed his words. He couldn't have said it right. For a moment, I thought he mentioned Emery and Selena.

"They're coming?" Logan asked in surprise. He wasn't the only one with that feeling. Trevor gave him a weird look in reply.

"Yes--" Trevor began to speak, but he was cut off by the ringing of his phone. "Hold on," he said before taking out his phone. He answered it with a 'hello' while moving further into the room for privacy.

"Wow. Emery and her cousin are coming?" Zane asked with wide eyes.

"According to Trevor, they are. I did not expect this to happen," Ethan said. "I mean, I thought Emery would flat out refuse to join us on our tour."

I thought so too.

Apart from the fact that we bullied her in high school, there was the thing with her mother having passed away three months ago. We had been concerned about Emery's well-being, and so the guys and I had been calling Selena to check on her and Emery. She seemed fine, unlike Emery who was mostly at her home in New York.

Selena had suggested that Emery required a distraction. She thought of maybe helping her enroll in a small class, but then she assumed she would fail because of her current emotional state. Then I suggested that she could come with us, her and Selena of course. Selena had remained silent before she started shrieking on the other line. She said she would ask Emery if she wanted to come. I believed Emery wouldn't want to come, but three days later, she was unexpectedly on her way to us.

"Okay. Have a good night, Jared," Trevor said, ending the call as he moved towards my bandmates and me.

"That was Jared from security. He wanted to tell me that the girls are downstairs and are on their way up."

I was excited, but then suddenly anxious. Why was I nervous? It was Emery, a person I knew.

Yes, a girl you bullied in high school.

If anything, the last thought made me think I would make things worse between Emery and me. 

The door to the hotel suite was opened as a couple of silhouettes appearing in my field of view. In came a jumping Selena with her teeth exposed in an excited grin.

"Selena!" Ethan said as he went to hug her. The others followed and hugged her as well. Behind her were a few of the hotel staff. They came into the suite and placed the suitcases in the room before leaving.

Then our attention turned to Emery. She nervously looked at the guys and me.

"Hey guys," she said with an awkward wave of the hand. Nonetheless, we all went to hug her.

Unexpectedly, Emery blushed.

We all proceeded to embrace her in hugs.

"Oh! Hi, Trevor. I'm Selena, and this is my cousin Emery," Selena said with a smile as she turned to face our tour manager with an extended hand. He was shocked that she knew his name. Nonetheless, he shook her hand. Emery even extended hers and greeted Trevor.

"Nice to meet you," Emery said.

"Likewise," our new tour manager replied.

"So, not to be bothersome, but where do we put the suitcases? Also, where are we staying?" Emery asked as she ruffled her hair.

"You'll be sharing the suite with the boys," Trevor said. Emery looked perplexed, but before she could say anything else, our tour manager interjected, "We'll talk about the tour on another time. Have a good night."

He then walked out of the suite.

"We're sharing a hotel room?" Emery asked with raised eyebrows.

"It's like that, but it's not like that," Ethan tried to reassure her, getting a confused look in reply. "It's like one big room that is made up of smaller rooms. We each have a room. Yours and Selena's are near the wall over there," he pointed the direction towards their intended rooms.

Emery sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Ethan," she said before proceeding to drag one suitcase towards one of the rooms. I was confused. Didn't she have two suitcases?

"Hey!" Selena shouted with a pout while motioning to the other luggage that was brought in.

"I've walked a long way with one of your suitcases. Drag the heavy things yourself," Emery said as she opened the door to an empty room.

"But my room is in the same hallway as yours," Selena frowned.

"Exactly!" her cousin replied as she entered the room before closing the door. 

What? That did not make sense.

Seconds later, Emery came out of the room and went to the other unoccupied one. The door opened, and I saw Emery's eyes light up before she moved towards the room. She closed the door behind her.

We waited for a couple of seconds, and we realized Emery liked the room she had entered.

"Here. I'll help," Ethan said, directing my attention to him as he took Selena's luggage.

"Thank you," she said with a smile, following him to the vacant room.

Emery's P.O.V

I had never been in a hotel room. It was my first time, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The size of the area was big enough to fit a small house!

With amazement, I glanced at everything in my hotel room. There was a large queen-sized bed located on my left that was next to the wall. There was also a reading lamp on the right of the bed. In front of me was a brown mahogany door. I walked towards it, opened it and gasped.

Despite there being a toilet in the same area as the shower, I found it beautiful. The room was large with tiles ranging from white to sky-blue placed on the wall. The floors were composed of slightly-roughened ceramic tiles, making the place look more marvelous.

I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

I walked out and started undressing. Seeing that I had spent six hours in a jet, I felt like I needed a shower. 

Once I was in a towel, I went back into the bathroom. I gasped again, noticing something that had not captured my eye.

There was a bathtub!

I ditched the idea of a quick shower and with a grin, I proceeded to prepare the tub. 

I looked around for a bottle of liquid soap. I found a full one, opening the cap and pouring out some of its contents in the tub. It was then that I remembered to check the water's temperature. I placed my fingers beneath the tap, feeling a moderately-hot sensation.

I assumed there was indoor water heating. If there wasn't, I could have just used a fireball to make the water warm. 

Once the tub was full, I dunked myself and sank into the water.

I felt calm and relaxed as I lay in the tub. After a while, I was getting bored of the silence in the area. Remembering something to do, I looked around for my phone. Seconds of turning in the tub had passed before I realized I left the phone outside the bathroom. 

With a groan, I slowly got out of the tub. Water dripped on the floors, and I sighed. I thought about going to the other side of my designated hotel suite and I felt worried that someone would see me.

But then, I had locked myself in.

With a shrug, I walked out of the bathroom. I looked around the room, searching for my phone.

Minutes passed, and I was getting frustrated. Most of my body had been dried, and the cold temperature in the