Chapter 6: New

Two weeks later, I made the mistake on tuning in to my town's local news. 
There was a big announcement of five men missing for two weeks. My dad's name was listed. 
I felt really worried because if the "starcatchers" families were freaking out, something bad must have happened. Why wasn't I informed? Probably because I am not part of their group. Sheesh, make me feel like a outsider.
I finished my entire reading of the Starcatchers series. It seemed to be more like a fictional fantasy then a true story. How can 'heavenly' bodies from space crash on earth with no official recored witnesses? It makes no sense.
The only thing that made sense is the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. There had been many rumors in the scientific world that there is a bridge connecting earth to a certain wormhole. It is stabilized by a unknown power source so it might be starstuff. But, how can you move it?
Is there like a communicator to the bridge? If there was, why doesn't the Disney Parks know about it? Weird . . . .
I turned back to the TV and saw a picture of my dad and his groupies. I felt a pang of guilt. 
Where did he go? 
I knew the mission meant a lot to him, but I kinda wish he never went. The apartment has been really lonely and fish aren't the greatest "man's best friends" you could have. 
I sighed as I swung my backpack on my back and locked the front door behind me. 
As I neared the school grounds, Chelsie and Melana came to meet up with me.
"Elysie! Did you hear that we have a new transfer student?" Chelsie said.
"Uh, hello? Yes, I just got here," I pointed out.
"Oh, well sorry."
"They say she a international student from Japan!" Melana said.
"She?" I asked.
"Yup."
Hmmm, maybe I could add her to the J.U.S.S.
We walked to our lockers, threw our stuff in our packs, and headed towards homeroom. As I slid to my seat, my teacher sounded the Aflac duck toy. (to announce that class is in, in the most annoying way possible)
"You all probably already know, but we have a new transfer student from Hokkaido, Japan," our teacher announced.
A girl walked out with medium length hair with perfectly cropped bangs across her face. 
"Class, this is Kaoru Tamura."
Kaoru gave the class a shy smile.
Yup, definitely got to see what kind of skills she got up her sleeve.
After torturous hours of pure bor-learning, the lunch bell finally rang. At lunch, I decided to sit net to Kaoru. Just to interrogate her, of course.
"Uh, konnichiwa," I said, unsure if it meant "hello" or something else.
Kaoru giggled and said,"あなたはにほんごおはなせますか”
"Huh? No no, you got it all wrong. That is the only Japanese word that I know of. Well, besides sushi, sashimi, ramen  . . ." I rambled.
"I knew that. You didn't sound Japanese at all," Kaoru reassured. 
I felt stupid that I fell for it.
After a few minutes of munching and close observing, Kaoru broke the silence.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Elysea Pan, but you can call me Elysie," I replied.
"Pretty name. You can call me Ka-chan."
I nodded, still observing her closely.
"You name is funny though," Kaoru said.
"How so?" I asked, a little annoyed.
"Pan is bread in Japanese."
I thought for a second, then asked,"You are not pulling my leg, right?"
She shook her head.
"Hmm, I didn't know that. Well, in Spanish class, my teacher called me 'wonder bread' because of my last name. Totally not funny," I confessed.
Kaoru laughed.
"It's not a laughing matter," I said.
"Sorry," she said, while fighting bad small giggles. This girl giggles a lot.
"Is your father, by any chance, named Jon?" she asked.
"Yea, why? Do you know him?"  I said.
"I saw the news."
A cloud of silence fell over me.
"You and your mother must be really worried," Kaoru said, trying to break the silence.
"She died when I was little."
"Oh, you are by yourself then?"
I nodded.
There was another awkward silence. There are too many of them to be honest. 
"Before my dad disappeared, he told some thing that I thought was nuts. When he left to go on some vague mission, I wonder if it actually real, what he said I mean. But I don't know where he went exactly," I confessed.
"What did he say?"
I hesitated a bit, but firmed up and said," He said that he was . . .going to Disneyland."
"Interesting. Maybe you should go look for him."
"Why? The place that he is going to doesn't even exist! I will never be able to find him unless he has a GPS tracker."
"Probably you won't need a tracker," Kaoru said in a suspicious voice. First she was the hunted, by I think now she is hunting the hunter (i.e. me).
"What do you mean?"
"Listen close and listen well."
"Um, okay."
"You think that any chances of finding your father is futile, well in your mind, right?"
"Yea."
"You think that your judgement will never pull you through"
"Yea."
"I know someone who can you help you with all of that."
"Who?"
"God."
"God? You mean that "one and only god" that people learn about every Sunday at church? Sorry to break this to you but I don't go to church and I am not planning to in the future."
"It doesn't matter if you go or planning to go."
"Say."
"God is the creator of the universe! The Almighty God! He can do anything because made everything! But at the price."
"What price?"
"You have to give your life to Him and believe in Him."
"That's the second time that I was told to believe in something. There are so many thing people want me to believe in!"
"Whoever told you to believe in something probably didn't deliver the message in a right way."
"You got that right."
"Hmmm, how should I put this . . ."
There was a long silence of hard thinking from both sides. Who is this 'God'? I heard about Him from all the Christians, but have they ever seen Him? 
But then I thought about the video; the men in black. What if my dad is facing them right now? My dad has no capabilities of using firearms and sucks at self defense.  I shivered just thinking about it. 
"Elysie?" Kaoru said, pulling me away from my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yea. Wait. . . . Ka-chan, are you a Christian?" I asked. 
"Yes I am."
"Why do you believe what you believe?"
"I believe in Him because he has done many great things in my life," Kaoru said confidently.
Hmmm, no sign of denial.
"What has He done in your life?"
"It's a long story."
"I have the entire period."
"My mother and father died in a car crash when I was nine. I was in the car too. It was dark and rainy and the car slid of the road and into a ditch. I thankfully made it out alive. I was in that dark place for three days, staying close to my parent's cold dead bodies. Cried my eyes out and prayed a ton for God to get me out of there. Thankfully, He sent two hikers to find me and I was safely transported out of there. It was God who watched over me through that dark time."
"So, you are a orphan?"
"If you want to put it that way, yes. But I am not a orphan but a child of God."
"But, aren't you angry that God let them die?"
"Nope, I know that when they died, that God was in control. Besides, they are in a more better place than Earth."
"I can't believe that you are okay with that whole scenario. I wouldn't."
"Why?"
"I don't want to lose my dad because he is the only one that I have left since my mother is gone."
"Is that your reason?"
"Why . . . yes." What is it with this girl?
"Elysie, you are not in control of what's going on to your dad. God can give and take away."
"Hasn't he taken away enough?"
"I don't know. You can ask."
"Ask who?"
"God. If you knock, the door will open."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Positive."
Then the lunch bell rang.
"Well, gotta go. See you sometime soon." Kaoru said, and ran off.
"That was weird," I murmured to myself.