Flight Attendant\'s Daughters - ((Another Leaf-Meet-Branch Story=Chapter 3 UP!))

Authors Note ((OFFICIAL SOUNDING! xD))
I wrote Computer Friend's 1-3, a while back as many of you know.
Well, I wanna write another one like that, but different. I will try, to the best of my abilities to make it better.
This is gonna be a bit different.. I have a small plan in mind. >=D

-Branch

Chapter 1

“Yes, I understand you want to vist your friend, Mom, but why can't I stay home?” I moaned and I groaned. Mom says I have a thing for being dramatic, sometimes a little too dramatic.
“For the hundreth time, I don't think your responsible enough to stay home alone yet. Plus, my friend has a daughter about your age. It's time you make some friends other then your book characters.” Mom replied, hands on her hips. She had pulled her lips into a tight line, and her expression was not one of happiness.
“But Mooommmm..” I started again, but I was cut short.
“Annabelle Marie Smith, stop standing in front of the door and let me through. Your going and that's FINAL.” Mom snapped, and I stepped aside grumpily.
Oh, where are my manners? I'm Annabelle Marie Smith. I live the life of a flight attendant's daughter, and unfortunetly for me, my Dad disappeared out of thin air when I was very young. Since my Mom doesn't think I am responsible enough, I have to spend my summer in a tedious daycare with a bunch of little kids. Of course I could stay home, after all, I am almost eleven years old. Yes, I guess I can be a little reckless and literally live on the computer, but still. Anyways, back to my horrible situation.
Mom stepped through the door, holding it open for me. I stomped out, and slammed the door with all my might closed. Mom gave me a cold stare, and walked toward the car. She got in, and started it up. I got in the passenger seat, thanking my lucky stars I was at least tall enough to sit in the front seat. I stared blankly out the window as we drove. Nobody spoke.
I blinked at the bright summer sunshine that reflected off of the cars and windows of huge buildings and apartments. My curly brown hair, looking nothing like my Mom's perfect hair, bounced around as we drove over the bumpy road. I had a nice tan, mostly because of all the sun downtown had been getting this summer. I wore my favorite outfit for the black event, a light yellow t-shirt with dark blue jeans, and a pair of flip flops.
My Mom soon stopped the car at a large brick apartment building. She parked the car, and we stepped inside. The lobby wasn't to shabby, a couple of couches and a front desk, it sort of looked like a hotel. We took the elevator up to the 5th floor, and Mom knocked on the fifth door. Mom's friend got the door, and smiled.
“Hi guys! C'mon in,” She ushered us inside. Once inside, Mom and her friend pushed me down the hall toward an open door. I assumed it was Vikki's, I believe Mom's friend name was, daughter. I had never met her, let alone know her name or anything about her.
Vikki's daughter was my age, maybe already eleven. She was pale, and had freckles dotting her nose and cheeks. She had vibrant orange hair, and was on the computer when I walked in. I waved awkwardly.
“Hi, erm..” I trailed off, not knowing her name.
She smiled, walking over and holding out her hand. I shook her hand.
“Lauren,” She added, nodding to me. “Your name?”
“Annabelle. Or just Anna for short.”
Lauren nodded. I got an odd thought, on account of my penpal, best friend EVER was named Lauren. I had never actually met her though, she was more of a computer friend.
I gaped at her wall. There were pictures of an orange and brown striped cat on the wall, obviously her drawings. Underneith the picture read; Amberstar & Branchstar
“HOLY SNAPPLES.” I couldn't help but blurt out my weird catchphrase. Branchstar was my charrie!
Lauren's eyes widened, and followed my gaze to the pictures. We both stared, and then finally she broke the silence.
“B-branch?” She stuttered.
I was frozen in place, but I managed a slow nod.
“Vixen?” I asked, in total awe. I flicked my brown hair behind my ear.
She narrowed her eyes. “I turned over a new leaf, remember? It's LEAF.” She grinned.
Oh my gosh. I had just met my penpal, from RPC. I HAD JUST MET LEAF!

Chapter 2

This was a bit odd. I mean, everything had happened so fast! I used to think that certain things happened for reasons, maybe this was one of them? Who knows.
“So, Lauren, where is your Dad, is he had work or something?” I asked. Though I had done it time and time again, it felt a little weird to be calling my penpal, and long time best friend by her real name.
“Actually, my Dad disappeared when I was young. It was really peculiar, he went to work that day and they said he never showed up. He never came home either.” Lauren explained, shaking her head. She looked like she missed her Dad. A LOT.
I blinked, feeling a little light headed. It was like we were having the same problem, the same life. Our Mom's both were flight attendants, our Dad's both disappeared.. Now I was almost positive this was all happening for a reason, one way or another.
“My Dad disappeared to, Lauren,” I said slowly. I didn't meet her gaze, but let my eyes drift around the room. Her bedroom door was closed, which I suddenly felt glad about. I felt, for some reason, that we needed to keep this to ourselves. “He's been gone since I was three, and the same with you?” I asked.
She nodded, “Exactly, Anna.” She plopped down on her bed, causing the old springs to creak and groan in protest. I sat down next to her, and knew she saw the glimmer or excitement in my eyes. “Anna, we can't just go diving into this mess, you know,” She said, almost sternly.
“I know that!” I said defensively. She rolled her eyes, laughing. “Well, we're figuring this out if its the last thing I do.” I felt a spark of hope flutter in my chest. Maybe we could find out Dad's! But.. It was like a one in a million chance. I pushed the hope away from my mind.
“Are you allowed to walk places by yourself, Lauren?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah.. Why?” She asked carefully.
“Well, because maybe I could come over tomorrow, with my Mom. Is your Dad's work far from here?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nope, just a couple blocks away, actually.” She replied.
“Then, I could come over tomorrow, and we could convince our parents to let us walk somewhere.. We'll say the store I guess. Then, we could snoop around your Dad's work, maybe find some clues or something.” I explained my little plan. I felt a lot like Nancy Drew at that moment.
Lauren grinned, and nodded. She seemed to be thinking over the plan in her head, checking for flaws. “Let's do it!”
***
We talked with our parents, and though it took a lot to convince my Mom, we are going to Lauren's Dad's work tomorrow. I'm so jittery and excited, I don't think I'll be able to sleep!
Let's just hope all goes well tomorrow.

Chapter 3




“Alright, are you guys sure you can manage alone?” My paranoid, non trusting Mom asked for about the billionth time. Lauren nodded. “Yes, Ms. Smith, I'll make sure Anna stays in line.” She smiled at me, and I rolled my eyes.
Mom nodded. “I'm sure you will. Well, be good. Make sure to call us if there is any trouble.” She said, and eyed the cellphone in Lauren's hand. She nodded, and waved her hand in a dismissive manner.
Lauren and I nodded, and we waved goodbye as we shut Lauren's apartment door closed. We were quiet as we waited in the elevator, and didn't speak a word until we were outside. Then Lauren burst out laughing. “Wow, your Mom is completely uptight Anna, your nothing like her!” She exclaimed.
I nodded, almost grimly. “Yeah, she says I take after my Dad. Thank goodness!” I grinned, and we started our walk.
Downtown Seattle is pretty amazing. I mean, you really wouldn't think so just by looking at it. It's super busy, clusters of people cross the crosswalks like birds in a flock. You can find almost any kind of person here. From the classy business type, to rainbow dressed, peace loving hippie people. You get quite the variety, but apparently by the looks Lauren and I got, two ten, maybe eleven year old girls aren't seen walking around downtown much. Heh.
“We're here.” Lauren announced as we came up to a huge building. “I've been to his office before, I know how to get there.” She added as she lead the way toward the elevators on the other side of the lobby. We got a few stares, but nobody stopped us. I saw a flock of people walking form the elevators and they seemed to be heading toward the door. One of them caught my eye, and he was the one that gave us the longest stare, and to my shock it was almost one of hate. He was short, and frail looking. He had balding light brown hair, and was wearing a dark suit. His eyes though, his eyes made me shudder. They were a piercing blue, and he was staring right at us. He also had a scar right over his left eye. Creepy!
I pretty much kept staring at him until Lauren smacked me over the head. "Anna!" She hissed. "Stop staring, it'll draw attention."
"Did you see that guy though? He looked like he hated us, and I don't think we've ever MET him!" I protested in a quiet, defensive whisper.
"Yes, I saw that. Right now, we need to focus on getting to my Dad's office. THEN, we can figure out that weird guy. Got it?" She said with authority.
"Fine, fine," I grumbled, crossing my arms.
We finally reached the elevators, and were the only ones in one. It dinged when we reached the sixth floor. Lauren grabbed me by the arm, towing me along. It was quiet up here, and I only heard our footsteps and the faint typing of keys in the offices on either side of the hall. Finally we reached an office, and Lauren stopped abruptly.
"We're here," She said quietly, and opened up the door. Lauren's Dad's office was rather small and a bit cramped, in my opinion. All it would manage to fit was a medium sized desk on the right side of the room, and a computer ontop. Then, on the left side, a large bookshelf with documents and such.
I saw Lauren's eyes tear up a little, and I patted her arm. "We're gonna find them. I promise."
She wiped her eyes on the back of her hands. "How can you promise something like that?" She asked, almost snapped.
"I just can." I replied, and shut the door. "Where should we start looking first?" I asked. I thought about the computer the first thing I saw it, I don't know why.
"Hmm.. Well, I think the computer. Then the books, and then the files and documents." She said, taking charge once again. I noticed that Lauren didn't like showing her emotions much, and liked to be in charge. That was fine by me, because I hated leading ANYTHING.
Lauren headed toward the computer, and I didn't have anything else to do so I followed. She turned it on, and went snooping through the files and word documents, and looked at the website history.. Nothing. There was nothing suspicious at all, nothing that might lead us to her Dad.
"Books, next," I said, and Lauren nodded, not speaking. She was completely detirmented to find her Dad. I lead her over to the books, and we opened up book after book, flipping through pages. I opened up an old looking one, it was worn and the spine was breaking. I opened it up to the middle, and a picture fell out. Lauren literally dove to the ground to get the tiny scrap of clue.
It wasn't a big picture, and it was of two men. Lauren pointed to her Dad. "That's him, that's my Dad. I don't know the other man, I don't think." She paused excitedly, waiting expectantly for my answer. "Anna?" She waved her hand in front of my face.
"I know who the other man is, Lauren." I said, my voice sounding far away and distant. I stared at the picture once more, blinking.
"Who is it?" Lauren asked eagerly.
"Lauren, the man your Dad is standing with is my Dad." I said, grabbing the picture out of her hands. "Oh.. I've missed him so much." I tried not to get all choked up. I flipped over the picture, to see if there was a caption maybe on the back. I blinked in confusion at the writing on the back.
Scrawled in messy handwriting, it read;

Andrew Smith & I, working on the case

"What case?" Lauren voiced my thoughts. "The only thing I can think of is a detective case, you know, like a mystery." She said, raising an eyebrow.
"Holy Snapples! Lauren, I think your right! You have to be. They disappeared, I don't know why, but maybe it has something to do with the case or something!" I said.
"Maybe someone wanted them out of the way, or didn't want them working on the case.." Lauren said, right before the door burst open. Lauren snatched the picture out of my hands, and shoved it in her pocket. The person who had opened the door was the guy with the scar we had seen before.
"You little girls shouldn't be in here," He said, his voice was quiet, but deathly sounding. "Come on, I'll escort you outside." He took Lauren and I roughly by the arm, and dragged us outside.
Once we were outside the building, we started running home. "We have to find them. That guy didn't want us to, I have a feeling he was eavesdropping.. Now we have to figure this out." Lauren said before we reached her house.
I nodded my agreement.
---
We begged, and begged, and begged. Now I'm spending the night with Lauren. We can talk about all that has happened. I have a feeling that we shouldn't be doing this, but we have to find our Dad's.

cool, I read it on my iPod... ISH COOLIO!

Ooooohhhhh!

xD Fun Fun!

Lol, nice :P

No one ever puts me in a story :(:(:(

Jk :3

Thanks guys! You really like it? :D I'll write more soon.

xD Thank Rebecca! Yeah, I did have them meet rather quick, and I agree that the plot line is a tad bit used. I'll try and make this as awesome as possible, though I am far from as good a writer as some. =D Thanks for the input guys, I'll go work on Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 is UP! Sorry its alot shorter, and has more talking then the last one, I think. ENJOY! ;D

I like it :)

The only thing I really noticed that is super important when writing, the whole story you are using the past tense(stoppED, washED, was, did), but the last two sentences are in present tense(stop, wash, is, does). It's important to chose a tense, I personally prefer past, and to stick with it. You shouldn't have more than one tense in one story unless you are doing present tense and a character is talking about the past/having a flashback, or if you are doing past tense, and person will speak in present tense.
Just a little of constructive critism.

Thanks, Cookie. I often switch back and forth without realizing it.. Sorry.. ^^" I'll work on that.

Great! Your getting trusthful inputs too. xDD

Chapter 3! I NEEEDDDD that chapter!

xDD I'll work on it soon. :D PRomise.

I KNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDD CHAPTAH 3!

I'm glad you guys like it so much.. ^^" I'll work on it soon, I have to go somewhere soon though, and will start it later today or tonight. ((I haven't been sleeping well lately, so I figured I might as well stay up and do SOMETHING. xD))

CHAPTER 3.. UP! ;D Hope you guys like it.. Sorry if you don't. ^^"

I like it Branch! Very evil... xD

I know, very. xDD Guess what the dudes name is?? CREEPY DUDE WITH SCAR! xDD Just kidding. LOL.

ITS MISTEH T.T
:P
But you did it again, Branch. Last 2 sentances again xD