Chapter 10 - [Beauty and the Cat Statue]

                                    

                                          
Surprisingly, Aurora warmed up to Atem faster than expected. It was clear that she didn't trust him, especially since this entire story sounded so crazy, but still, she was quick to stop being so hard on him.
     She still didn't entirely believe everything I said to her. And it wasn't cause she didn't believe me. What she was worried about was that I was gullible and falling for some sort of elaborate plan.
     But if that was the case... at least I had her to watch over me, right?
     She told Alec the whole story too, with my permission of course, and on Sunday both Alec and her wanted to hang out at the mall with Atem and I so that they could both get to know him better and find out if he was actually a psycho or not.
     Alec was always really good with people, so he and Atem got along very well.
     Ro told me that Alec would be the best judge of character, so she practically forced me to stay back with her while Alec and Atem walked ahead of us.
     Though Alec, like Ro, was skeptical of the whole Egyptian Pharaoh thing, he really did a good job at talking to him like he was a person who travelled through time. He was good at explaining things and treating Atem the way he wanted to be treated. And you can imagine... being inside a mall for the first time meant that Atem would have a lot of questions. And he did. But Alec answered them without a problem.
     But that was Alec for you. A people person. Even if that 'people' was an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh.
     But as soon as evening came along, I had to grab a hold of Atem and say goodbye to Alec and Ro.
     By evening, both Ro and Alec had both deemed Atem to be okay enough to let me handle alone. They both thought he was strange but they didn't think he'd hurt me.
     So they didn't worry about it when I told them we had to go now.
     "We are walking past your home," Akhenatem said after we left the couple and as we passed my brother's apartment.
     I chuckled, "yeah, Grandma Seetha invited us over for dinner. She told me to bring you too."
     Grandma Seetha had talked to Uncle Ethan... and though he hated the thought of lying to his mother-in-law, the easiest thing to say was that Atem was the son of a friend who was in need of help.
     She also knew that we were now "roommates" because we were both staying at the apartment. Since she was a traditional woman, she wasn't too happy with the thought that I was rooming with a boy.
     But she didn't complain much since she liked Akhenatem and believed him to be a good boy.
     If only she knew.
     When we arrived, she looked so excited.
     She told us that she barely ever had people over these days, especially since Uncle Ethan had been so busy in Egypt this entire summer.
     He was going to be back tomorrow though, since he taught an Egyptian History course during the school year at the University of Oakville and school started tomorrow. 
     I was so excited for that.
     "Have a seat, have a seat!" She said as she took us into the living room. 
     I sat down, but Akhenatem went exploring. He walked around the room, examining everything and I realized then that he's never been in Grandma Seetha's place. 
     I guess she brought lunch down for him.
     So he explored and Grandma Seetha didn't seem to mind it.