After a while they reached Carmen's house, as they were standing in front of the door loud Latin music could be heard. Carmens mother was singing to the songs while she could be seen in the window cleaning around the house. A few kids were running around inside, they were Carmens siblings.
"Damn, when is your mom not busy with cleaning?" he asked her as he chuckled, "She never takes breaks huh?"
"Literally never. I do try to help but she's not always happy with the way I clean or cook things. Classic right?"
"Hehe yeah, sounds like her. You've got a good mom you know?"
"You do too you know. And just like her, you always look out for everyone around you." she said, putting her hand on his cheek, caressing it as she smiled.
"Well, I'm not the only one, you try to help without thinking about yourself most of the time."
he said as he came a bit closer and put his hands around her waist, pulling her closer gently and slowly. As he looked her in the eyes, his already glistening smile would get bigger and bigger. A few seconds later Carmens mother saw them through the window and opened the door. With open arms and a happy expression on her face she hugged both of them from behind.
"Hola mi corazón! How've you been? How's your mama?" Her mother said, grabbing Tyrell's hand and holding it tight in hers.
"Hey miss Garcia, she's okay. Mainly dealing with Nila when I'm not home."
"Ah bueno, and your dad?" She said as she let go of his hand.
"Heh, well you know doctors, working. As usual."
Tyrell said, looking down a little bit and breaking eye contact with Carmens mother. His smile slowly turned into more of a frown. Carmen saw it and grabbed his hand, trying to make eye contact with him once again. As Tyrell noticed her, he snapped back to his former mood and his smile grew again.
"He still works over at the WMC. So, his schedule is all filled up."
"He's a good man for helping the people of our city. I see a piece of him in you, you know. Pero I'm going inside now, come in soon mija." Afterwads she patted Tyrell on the arm, gave Carmen a look and walked back inside leaving the door open.
"Guess I have to go now. I'll see you in school tomorrow alright?" He leaned in a little bit closer.
"Okay, be safe and text me when you're home. Forget to text me again and I will kill you–"
"Carmen! Entra la casa!" Her mother yelled out from the kitchen.
"Ya voy mama! Jeez... okay, see you tomorrow." She lets go of him and walks inside waving goodbye. Tyrell slightly laughed at what she said. After that, Tyrell walked home being wary of his surroundings. When he got home it was already 10 pm. He entered the house and saw his mom sitting on the couch, Nila sleeping on her lap in her pajamas. He noticed his dad wasn't back yet and shrugged it off, this wasn't the first time his dad did a double shift. He walked up to the couch and hugged his mother putting his head on hers for a few seconds before letting go and giving Nila a kiss on her forehead.
"How was it?" His mother asked.
"It was great, I saw Carmens mom again after a while today. She asked how you and dad were." He replied as he walked into the kitchen.
"That's nice, how's she doing? And what did you tell her?" she asked him while yawning and stretching her arms out and around Nila.
"She's doing good. I told her dad's busy a lot with work and he's still working at WMC. She said that he's a good man and that she sees a piece of him in me." Tyrell grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge, proceeding to walk towards the stairs to go to his room.
"She's not wrong." she said as she looked behind her, eyes darting up towards Tyrell already walking up the stairs.
"Yeah...I know. But I don't work my ass off until I collapse all of the sudden. I notice when I need to take a break or when I need help."
"Baby, your dad has trouble with those things because he doesn't want us to be worried. And he has been trying to communicate and give himself some free time."
"Yeah, I know mom" He responded as he started walking up the stairs, "I just hope things will go differently this time." Tyrell got into his room and closed the door. He took his clothes off and jumped into his bed, grabbing his phone from his nightstand. He texted Carmen that he got home.
Tyrell: 'Hey, just so you know I just got home. Goodnight'
Carmen: 'I'm glad, you better not forget to come find me at school tomorrow. Goodnight.'
He turned his phone off and put it beside his pillow, closing his eyes and trying to go to sleep. After a few minutes he sighed, feeling like he wasn't able to sleep. Opening his eyes, Tyrell saw the deep blue abyss called the sea again. He gasped and darted his eyes around, remaining calmer this time. He would lift his hand up to his face and lean his head to the right in confusion, everything had been feeling so real the last couple of times he'd had these dreams. A huge shadow would slowly emerge above the boy, making the water lose most of its light. Tyrell looked up towards what caused this sudden change in the water, once he saw the underwater creature again his eyes widened with shock and fear. His body would start shaking, while in this state of distress, Tyrell would clench his fists and try to calm down. He gulped and started breathing heavier, but suddenly the creature's tail would swing down towards him. Right before the tail could hit him his arms would go up in an attempt to defend himself, but right at that moment Tyrell would wake up. He was sweating and looked around his room in disbelief. Tyrell checked his body to see if anything had happened to him, but nothing was there. No damage, no scratches, no wounds. The boy would sigh and shake his head, wiping away the sweat and getting up out of bed. He put on his clothes and left his room, walking towards the stairs. Before reaching them, Tyrell saw the door to his parent's room open and walked over to see if his dad had come home yet. As he put his head into the room, he saw his father in bed laid out, snoring and drooling with one arm and leg off of the bed and his face all up in the cushions. Tyrell chuckled and walked in there, noticing the curtains were still open as well. He closed them and put the blanket over the rest of his body, looking at his father with his eyes narrowed. Looking almost worried, but still having a small smile. He left the room and walked downstairs seeing his mother and Nila eating breakfast at the dining room table. Nila was eating bacon with some eggs and pancakes, his mother was eating oatmeal with strawberries and banana mixed in.
"Alright mom, I'm gonna head to school I'll see you guys later. Don't forget to give dad a hug for me, okay? And don't let Nila near my snacks, you know how she chows anything down so fast." Nila smiled at him showing her little sharp teeth and sticking her tongue out after. Tyrell did the same, adjusting his bag and throwing a peace sign while walking towards the door.
"Good luck baby. Say hi to Carmen for me." His mother said right as the door closed. Tyrell walked towards the end of the street, Tyler was waiting for him and gave him a fist bump. He grabbed his phone and texted Carmen that he was on his way with Tyler, expecting her to meet them at the school's entrance. As they arrived after about 15 minutes, Carmen wasn't waiting for them. The huge sign in front of the school said, 'New Kingdom High' surrounded by 15 feet trees. This was one of the only schools that mixed non-anima users and anima users together. A large lake with blooming plant life could be seen directly next to the school, the windows were covered by long thick vines that spread out all over the building. Tyler shrugged off the fact that Carmen hadn't shown up yet and walked in anyways, Tyrell looked around once more and checked his phone. He still hadn't received an answer, he started breathing a little heavier and tapping his finger on the screen out of anxiety. He put his phone away and shook his head, walking into school. People were talking loudly in the cafeteria, Tyler walked over to the vending machine like always to get his daily snacks. The food in the cafeteria largely consisted of all kinds of fruits like bananas, mangos, apples and so on. Next to that were certain meat choices like hotdogs, chicken, ground beef and even pork chops. A number of small insects had flown past Tyrell's face, as he dodged just in time and tried to identify what they were, he noticed that those were Dragonflies. The Dragonflies flew around the cafeteria almost like they were racing to see which one would return to wherever they came from faster. A white girl with braces and a lollipop in her mouth, light brown hair in a messy bun with a relaxed oversized outfit on was surrounded by a few students. The Dragonflies flew back to her as she stretched out her arm and one of the green colored ones got there first.
"Okay guys, Moss was the first one to finish! Those of you who bet on the others need to pass me the money they used to place their bet or the snacks." The girl with braces said.
"Not fair Abigail! Anima users can control whatever they summon and communicate with them telepathically. You probably scammed us anyway. That one even has the better nickname in comparison to the other ones." One of the students said as he gave her a few bucks. As did the other students around her. One of the teachers noticed the girl organizing the betting and using her anima. As the teacher walked over towards her from behind, she tapped her on the shoulder. The girl turned around as the teacher stood behind her with crossed arms. She had a pixie haircut and wore a brown suit with loafers, she also had earrings shaped like the wings of a bird.
"Miss Henderson. You know you're not allowed to use your anima without permission in school, right? How many times have I reminded you of this rule young lady!"
"Oh, hey miss Falconer I was just... Showing them... A little trick?"
"Principal's office. Now."
She took a deep breath and grabbed her bag, walking towards the principal's office with the teacher, hiding the cash she just got in her back pocket. As Tyrell facepalmed, he stood near one of the bigger groups of students in the school cafeteria waiting for Tyler, Carmen's name was dropped in their conversation. He heard this and immediately darted his eyes towards the group, a small frown formed on his face, he started walking over. As he got closer, he heard her name again from one of the students in the group while looking him directly in the eye. The other members of the group turned their heads to the side to look at Tyrell approaching, the biggest one of them had his back turned towards him with his hands in his pockets. It was one of the guys in Tyrell's grade, Jamar. A tall, mixed-race guy with short curls and a backwards baseball cap on. As Jamar noticed the people in the group staring at Tyrell behind him, he chuckled and turned around to slightly look down towards him.