I did say I would make a sequel, and here it is! I'm so happy to know that the first story was a great one and landed as a success. Had you all at the edge, didn't it?

Well, wait no more. Here's the premier of the sequel to 'Revisioned', now known as 'Resonance'. Enjoy!

"Now class, can anyone tell me the meaning of this quote by this author?" Our professor Mr. Johnson ranted on during lecture about literature and it's greatest writers.

Hale was in the class next to mine, so unfortunately, we couldn't do much to ease each others suffering when it comes down to terms of boring teachers and lame lectures.

"Psst. Hey! Kari!"

I looked over to my left, and saw my one of my best friends, Nada, wave over her hand in front of my face.

'Guess I must have fallen asleep with my eyes open again...'

"You fell asleep with your eyes open again. You know you'll get caught one of these days if you keep that up!" She chided quietly, not wanting our teacher to hear our conversation.

Nada and I met each other when I entered middle school. I confided in her with just about anything, but so much like I do with my brother. Out of everyone I met and became friends with (and that goes for Hale too), Nada's the only one who didn't think that mine and my brother's odd trips to the mini golf course were weird or childish.

Nada has long black hair and the most brilliant green eyes I have ever seen. She's about an inch taller than me, considering that I'm now 5'5. Her skin is pretty fair, while mine has a slight tan, making it a small shade darker than hers. Just as I'm talented in singing, she's super talented in dancing!

I asked her if she could teach me the ropes to dancing, but every time I tried to match her movements, I flail like a noodle.

In all honesty, she's definitely someone I could depend on. She's also the only friend I know who dared to walk into our house and help with babysitting even!

I yawned silently, my eyes getting glossy from the reaction. "Sorry. This class is just so boring. I can't help it!"

She shook her head, but gave me a hearty grin. "Hey, it's Thursday. Tomorrow is a day off, so no school! Besides, didn't you say that your parents are going to be out of town for a week?"

I raised my head, now interested in our current topic. "Well, yeah. But it's only for a week. Dad's got some important business to attend to somewhere in Maine, and mom is going with him. Why?"

She smiled innocently. "Oh, just wondering.."

I narrowed my eyes at her playfully. "Liar."

"Ladies, would you please save your small talk for after class?" Professor Johnson said sternly. He gave us a serious look before turning back to his lecture.

I glanced over at Nada, who was looking up at the ceiling while whistling silently. I lowered my head and whispered. "What are you getting at? You know you can't hide things from me."

She knelt her head down as well and pleaded. "Can I come over for the weekend? Pretty please?"

I looked up to see that Mr. Johnson finished his lecture and was asking everyone for any questions they may have.

I looked at her and nodded. "Fine. I'll ask my folks, and as always, I'm sure they'll be cool with it."

The bell immediately rang, ending the last class of the entire school day. She squealed and jumped over to give me a hug. "Thank you!"

I returned the embrace while grinning happily. We gathered our books and material and rushed out of the classroom. Hale was standing in the hall waiting for me.

"Hey! What took ya so long, Kari?" He growled, obviously agitated.

"Is it Mrs. Shuck again?" I said giving him a dreadful look. He nodded his head. "The woman talks more than this one here." He pointed at Nada, who gave him a scowl.

"I do not talk that much!" Nada retorted. She punched Hale playfully on the arm. Hale grunted, looking down at his watch.

"So what's the plan, sis?" He glanced down at me with that look he always gave me since we were kids.

"The plan is that we go home and drop off our things, then see what mom and dad have to say. Then hopefully, we can go back to the mini golf course and look around again."

Nada gave us a strange look, but she was already used to that routine. "Again? Kari, you and Hale keep going there like it's a daily ritual. Just what is it that you're looking for over there?"

I brushed some of my short auburn hair behind my ear. "Just something.. We've been looking for it since we were kids. There's always still hope."

Hale nodded his head, a sad look written all over his features. Nada glanced back and forth between me and Hale. In final defeat, she shook her head. "I'll never understand you guys and this weird obsession about visiting the mini golf course."

I gave her a small smile. "Perhaps someday you will."

She gave me an odd look. "Huh?"

I shook my head, not really expecting her to understand what Hale and I have been through. "It's nothing." I said quietly.

'It's something..'

We arrived to our house after we walked Nada to her house. She didn't live far from us and we all lived close to the high school anyways, so the walk never lasted long. I called our mom when we arrived at her house and asked if it was alright for her to stay over the weekend; she complied saying it was alright so long we had her parents permission as well. She asked her mom and dad and the both of them were fine with the plans. We agreed for her to come by tomorrow morning with her stuff.

As we walked up to our house, we noticed our dad's SUV parked in the front and the trunk propped open with suitcases. We also noticed that some of them weren't our mothers or fathers' suitcases.

Hale and I raised our brows at one another as we approached the front of the house. The front door was wide open as we saw, to our surprise, Aunt Jackie fumbling about with our mom, looking unsure and frantic.

'oh boy... here we go...'

"Hey, mom. Hey, Aunt Jackie. What's going on?" Hale glanced at the both of them, curious as to what the commotion was all about.

"Oh, Hale! Kari! Thank goodness. I'm sorry that I came here without any notice, but you see.."

Our mom intervened, putting a hand on Aunt Jackie's shoulder to calm her down. "Aunt Jackie had some trouble going down in on of her restaurant branches in Maine, so she's coming with us. I asked her to come here to watch over you two, but with this, it changes everything. So, I must ask you two if you could do the favor of watching Marie while we're away. It may be longer than a week depending on how your father's errand goes, as well as your aunt's."

"Oh, okay. That's not a problem." I assured them both. Marie is our two year old cousin, and a cute one at that! She's still learning her words, but has made a lot of progress. She has a bob hairstyle and chestnut brown eyes. Aunt Jackie didn't think that having a kid would change her wild lifestyle, but on the contrary it did.. and for the better.

"Marie is in her play-pin in the living room. Please take good care of her." Aunt Jackie asked with worry.

"Don't worry. We will. Just leave her to us!" Hale grinned a toothy grin. Aunt Jackie smiled at him and then gave us both hugs and kisses good bye.

Mom did the same and approached us both with the same loving gesture. "We'll try not to be gone for long. Tell Nada hi and be careful when she gets here, okay?"

I nodded. "Yes, mama. I'll be sure to tell her." Both she and our aunt walked out of the house and headed to the car. Moments later we heard our dad rush into the house from the garage door. "Oh, hey kids!" He quickly gave us hugs and kisses too. "Take care and guard the house. Don't let any strangers in!"

"But dad, Nada's coming over!" I called out to him as he was about to head out the door.

He turned around and smiled. "Oh, well she's alright. Just no one else though, am I clear?" We nodded our heads as he closed and locked the front door. After a couple minutes we heard the SUV's engine start up and then driving away. They were gone.

Hale made sure the door was securely locked while I made my way into our living room. Inside a small purple play-pin was Marie, who was already fast asleep and sucking on her thumb.

I carefully picked up her sleeping form and took her upstairs. I went into one of our guest bedrooms at the end of the hall, where we had a spare crib whenever Aunt Jackie came to visit and stay for a whole weekend or so.

I gently placed Marie inside her crib, minding her tiny head.

'She looks so adorable when she's asleep!'

I quietly left the room, leaving the door ajar in case of anything. Hale was inside his bedroom, spinning his basketball above his head. I leaned against his bedroom door frame. "What are thinking about, Hale? I haven't seen you like this since we were kids."

He stopped spinning the ball and looked over at me, his eyes filled with some sorrow. "Do you think we'll ever be able to go back there again? It's been six years already, Kari."

I gave him a sour look, scaring him a little. "I have faith that we will, Hale. I'm not giving up, not yet."

I glanced down at my rose engraved bracelet that I received from Nawt that very night. "I can't give up!"

He noticed the item on my wrist and smiled wryly. "Nawt gave that to you, didn't he?" I looked up at him, completely taken aback.

"So now you ask about it? Why didn't you before? You've known I had this for the past six years."

He sat up on his bed and chuckled at me, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't bother. I knew he was the one who gave that to you. He was very fond of you, after all. He liked you."

I tilted my head inn confusion and sighed. "I know. I just wish I knew more of what I truly felt.. no.. what we truly felt, back then."

He got up. "We?"

"Me and Nawt." I bit my lip, trying to hold back useless tears. Hale walked over to me and placed his right hand on my left shoulder. "We'll get back there. Like you said, we must have faith, and once we do get there, you can then find out." I raised my head as he gave me a warm and loving smile; the smile an older sibling would give to comfort their younger sibling.

We made our way downstairs and started to prepare some dinner for ourselves. I prepared some fruit salad with almonds and pecans along with a roll of bread for the both of us and some milk. Hearing Marie wailing from upstairs, I took her spill proof cup that I filled with apple juice earlier and a small bowl of fruit salad and rushed up the stairs.

After a while, I got her into her pajamas and she went straight to sleep again. For a toddler, Marie sure does sleep a lot.

I went to my bedroom and got myself ready for a shower. After a good ten minutes of blissful showering, I got out and dressed myself into a comfortable pair of thin gray sweatpants and a pink camouflage tank top. I used them as pajamas since they were the most comfortable articles of clothes that I had available.

I walked into the hall and right into Hale's room, which was right across from mine. He already took his shower and was staring out into nothing from his window. He wore a teal and navy shirt and black and gray camouflage pants. Hearing me enter his room, he turned around and greeted me with a smile.

"Since we didn't get the chance to check the golf course today, want to try again tomorrow?" I asked him gently.

He shook his head. "Nada will be here tomorrow morning. Plus, we got Marie to take care of, and asking her to watch Marie for us is out of the question."

I nodded in understanding, not surprised that he practically read that question from my mind off the bat.

"Want to go to the park, instead? Just for fun. It's not like we'll find anything there anyways." I knew just trying again only to have his hopes get shut down, as well as mine, was taking quite a toll on us. So I figured that trying to relax for once would be a nice change.

He glanced up at the ceiling momentarily, then nodded his head with a smile. "Aright. The park it is. But Marie and Nada are coming with us, just so you know!"

I laughed. "Okay, okay! You win. We'll take Marie and Nada with us. I'm sure they'll enjoy it too."

He grinned at me before letting out a loud and long yawn. "Well, it's getting late. I think it's about time we get some sleep if we want to get to the park early enough."

"Sounds like a plan. We need some relaxation anyways." He nodded his head vigorously, his eyes getting wide at the comment. I giggled and bade him good night. He reciprocated the motion and closed his door gently behind me as soon as I made way into my room. I walked over and crawled into my bed. Looking over on my night table, I smiled as my eyes rested on my bracelet.

Little did I know that tomorrow was going to be something completely different.. and completely beyond my most hopeful wishes.

Waking up in the morning was a long start. For one, I woke up a little too early than usual. Feeling unusually motivated and with a strong feeling of assurance, I jumped into the shower and cleaned myself up. I then got out and dressed into my attire, which consisted of a rose pink top that's sewed on top of a black top and a red sleeveless hoodie with roll up jean capris and brown Greek sandals that went up a bit above my ankles.

I grabbed my bracelet and clasped it on my wrist, completing the assemblage of my wardrobe. I then walked out of my room and went to check on Marie. To my surprise, she was wide awake and looked over at me with an adorable smile. "Kar-kar!" she chirped happily, her tiny hands extended out in front of her. I went over and picked her up. I got out a cute yellow tunic just for her and a pair of magenta shorts with white socks and her white sneakers. After dressing her up, I took her small brush and gently ran it down her hair, making her coo in the process. Once that task was over, I picked her up and we made our way down the hall and down the stairs.

On our way, we nearly bumped into Hale, who just walked out of his room, dressed in his clothes. He wore a black shirt with a teal and white sweater on top and dark blue jean pants, along with his pair of white Nike's. His hair never changed from its natural spiky style, and kept it as so.

"Whoa! You guys are up early! What's the hurry?" He gave me and the little girl in my arms a surprised look.

I smiled at him gracefully. "Good morning to you too, Hale. Isn't that right, Marie?"

Marie giggled and pointed a tiny finger at him. "Hay!"

My brother furrowed his brows. "No, but close. It's 'Hale'. You have to pronounce the 'L'." She pouted and replied. "Hay!"

Shaking his head, he glanced over to me. "You taught her that."

I shook my head. "She still calls me 'Kar-kar'. So we're on the same boat." Glancing down at his watch, he noticed it was 7:43 already.

"Well, let's go eat something. Knowing Nada, she'll be here pretty soon." Hale grimaced, remembering the last time she came over early in the morning and ate breakfast with us. He had to wash an extra two plates.

We all went down and got something to eat. I prepared some scrambled eggs with sausage links and oatmeal with cinnamon for all of us, with a helping of banana juice. After we ate, we washed our dishes and brushed our teeth, with me helping to brush Marie's.

Hearing the doorbell ringing, we rinsed our mouths and went downstairs. Having our cell phones, house keys and the baby bag in hand, we walked towards the front door. Hale opened it up and saw Nada right there on the front porch with a duffel bag full of her clothes and items for the weekend.

"Hey you two! Are we going somewhere?"

I nodded, holding Marie in my arms. "Yep, we're gonna go to the park for a while. You want to tag along?"

Nada nodded her head with a bright smile. "Sure! Where can I put my bag though?" I moved my head to my right. "Leave it on one of the sofas for now. We'll take it upstairs when we get back." She nodded , and went inside to leave her bag on the larger sofa. She was wearing blue jean shorts and an emerald green top with a white cardigan and her pair of sky blue flip flops with white Hawaiian flowers printed on them. Her long black hair was tied up in a high ponytail.

"Hey there, Marie! You remember me?" She cooed towards the toddler, prodding her finger into the tiny hand. Marie giggled and cooed with glee. "Na!"

Nada looked over at me with surprise. "She talks! She almost said my name! The last time I saw her, she was just babbling."

Hale called out to us from the sidewalk. "Hey! Let's get to the park already!"

She shook her head, muttering "Yeesh, chill Phil. We're coming." I locked the door and put away my keys in my fanny pack and made my way with Nada, Marie and Hale towards the park.