Book 1: The Crown Prince (The Kid Emperor of Occultoria) by Jason W. Chan

  Chapter 3 - A Visit from A Stranger

  When Max returned to school the next day, he couldn’t wait to see Jessica again. Having a guaranteed friend to play with at recess really made the new school more bearable.

  He tried to forget about all the strange things that had happened recently. He just wanted to be a normal kid and have normal friends. Things were going so well at school for him. He was starting to think that maybe he did imagine all those things.

  He dismissed them both as wild dreams.

  A talking cat? Please.

  A ghost in the machine? Impossible.

  The only thing was that real was his budding friendship with Jessica.

  And so, for the next few weeks, he convinced himself that none of the strange things actually happened. Instead, he concentrated on fitting in and so he continued to meet with Jessica.

  Soon, they became very good friends.

  He remembered one very memorable conversation he had had with her.

  It was a beautiful sunny day and they were sitting in their Safe Spot.

  Jessica had her legs stretched out in front of her, her back leaning against a tree trunk. Max was leaning against the tree trunk too, so it was as though they were comfortable enough with each other to lean against each other.

  While drawing on her own sketchpad, Jessica looked up and said, “You think a lot, don’t you?”

  Max stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “What are you thinking about?”

  He was thinking about how beautiful she looked in the sunlight, but of course, he didn’t tell her that.

  Instead, he said, “Oh, you know. Stuff. Just stuff.”

  She giggled. “What kind of stuff?”

  He shrugged. “Art and stuff.”

  She lowered her voice. “I bet other kids make fun of you for thinking too much. Do they think you’re weird?”

  Her comment hit a nerve with him. He had always been a quiet boy but other kids thought he was too quiet. That was why he didn’t have many friends in school. That and the fact that he had switched many schools in the past few years. He wasn’t painfully shy. It was just that sometimes he didn’t know what to say to other kids. And sometimes, he just didn’t feel like talking to other kids.

  He nodded once.

  She nodded too. “Yeah, I understand. I’m that way too.”

  “But you were with that group when I first met you that day.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t really know them that well. I mean, sure I’ve been at this school since kindergarten, but I’m not that close to other kids either. I’m a thinking kind of girl, and sometimes I get made fun of for that too. But I want you to know there’s nothing wrong with that. Thinking can help us get out of trouble, especially since most people don’t think before they act.”

  At that moment, Max looked at her in a different light. She had made him feel better. She had just brought up his utmost insecurity and made him feel better about it. He felt charmed by her.

  He was also flattered that she had chosen to reveal such personal information about herself with him. He knew that she wouldn’t tell that to just anyone. It was a sign that they were fast becoming good friends and it made him happy that they were.

  A comfortable silence passed, broken only by the soft sounds of pencils sketching on paper.

  Max was enjoying drawing in his sketchpad with Jessica doing the same. The two of them had been doing this routine for a while now and he liked it very much.

  All of a sudden, Jessica said, “You know what we should do?”

  He looked up. “What?”

  She was looking at him with a sheepish grin on her face. “We should go to the Louvre Museum in Paris one day. Together. Just me and you.”

  In the bright sunlight, Jessica looked like an angel.

  Max said, “Why?”

  “To see the art, of course. The world’s most beautiful art is all there.”

  “All the way to Paris? That’s gonna be expensive.”

  Excitedly, she stood up, waving her arms around. “No, I have a better idea. We’ll live in Paris. Can you imagine the two of us studying art in Paris? We can be roommates. We can stroll the streets of Paris and have croissants in the morning for breakfast. Then we’ll go to art school, sketch nude models and drink champagne at some snooty art gallery opening every night. Can’t you just see that?”

  Max chuckled. Yes, he could see that.

  She laughed. “And then, we’ll become famous artists.”

  She did this impression of a mime where she placed her hands out and pretended she was trapped in a box.

  Max laughed. “Mimes?”

  “What?” she said, still laughing. “Mimes are artists too. And we can do each other’s mime makeup in the morning and then walk to the Eiffel Tower together and delight tourists with our antics....”

  Max realized that the way she was talking implied that they might even be married by then.

  He asked, “Does that mean we’ll be married? Married mimes?”

  Holding a hand to her mouth, she giggled, “Maybe.”

  Something special happened in that moment.

  For the first time, Max realized that he might just like Jessica more than a friend.

  And he knew why too. She made him feel like he belonged. And that was the most precious thing in the world.