I don't own any of the characters, I don't own the name Higher Ground, I'm not using this for money, yatsa, yatsa, yatsa.
Claimer:
I do however own the characters of Nick and Xan. If anyone wishes to use them in a HG story all I ask is that you mention that they are mine.
Remembering Sammy
May 5th 2000
3:16 am
"Psst."
Xan looked sat up and looked toward the window.
Nick was peering in, "Xan."
"One minute." She said, pulling on her sandals. After a few minutes of fiddleing with her clothes, Xan walked to the door. As quietly as she could, she opened it and stepped outside.
Nick was sitting on the swinging chair, "Sorry if I woke you up."
"It's okay." She said, sitting down. She knew very well what was keeping him up, so she didn't ask. She laughed at the next thought that popped into her head – She never had to ask. They'd always been that in tune.
"Were you thinking about him too?" He asked, even though he knew already.
"Yep. Do you think he can see us?" She asked him.
Nick smiled, then frowned, "Probably. And if he can, I don't think he's too proud of us."
Xan closed her eyes, "I miss him very much. I went through that box that Emily sent me last week."
"Uh huh."
"It had a picture of Sammy in it. I wasn't that far off about what he looked like. He had darker hair and hazel-brown eyes instead of hazel-blue, but he looked a lot like you."
Nick laughed, "Now I remember."
Xan yawned. "We should at least try to get a few hours of sleep." She said, standing up.
"Okay." Nick stood up, and opened the door for Xan. "Night."
"Night." Xan shut the door behind her.
Nick stood there for a second, then looked up at the sky. He could barely remember his older brother – but there was one thing Nick could never forget. Sammy had always loved stars. Xan remembered somewhere in her mind, but Nick always remembered. He looked away in disgust. Sammy had always said if the stars were bright, the next day would be great. Well, the stars had been incredibly brillant the night before he was killed. 'Oh, yeah. That was a great day. What did you see in those stars, Sammy?'
Xan jumped out of her bed and ran around trying to get ready. "Okay – there's no time for a shower, so after school I'll do that. I've got my clothes, I've got my shoes, and I've got my books." She said, pulling on her shirt.
She buttoned her jeans and grabbed her books before running out the door and towards her class.
"Where's the fire, Xan?" Peter yelled at the lone person running across the campus.
"I. Am. Late." Xan yelled back, just narrowly missing running into Sophie.
As Xan dissappeared into a building, Sophie looked at Peter, "She was up late last night."
"You were checking on her last night?" Peter asked, walking towards his office.
"No. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. Nick and her were out on the girls' dorm's porch. That was about three am."
"I'll talk to her later." He said, looking at her.
"So why were you late?" Juliette asked, seeing Xan sit down.
Xan glared at her – She did not like Juliette at all.
Shelby leaned over, "Why were you late?" A bit of curiousity in her voice.
Xan wrote something on a piece of notebook paper.
- Long story. -
Shelby looked up as Scott and Nick approached.
"Hey." Scott said, signing something to Nick.
"When did you learn that?" Shelby asked as he sat down.
"I had a friend who was deaf. And Nick knew the sign language."
Xan laughed, then went back to her homework.
- Do you know what 16 is on the spanish homework? -
"Yeah. It's Lo siento. Por favor habla en ingles."
Peter walked up behind the group of teenagers. "Hey, guys."
A chorus of "Hi, Peter" was uttered, followed by Nick and Scott signing hello and Xan holding up her piece of paper with Hey Peter written on it.
Peter pointed at Xan, "I want to talk to you and Nick."
Xan nodded and closed her books. 'What did you do now, Xan? This is the third talk in five days. You haven't been smokeing or getting high or gotten drunk. Ok, you haven't gotten high or drunk. Maybe that's it. God, I hope not.' Xan thought as she followed Peter and Nick.
Xan and Nick looked at each other and nodded.
Peter continued, "I thought we could discuss why you two were up at three in the morning."
Xan glared at Peter. She was okay with him, but this was pushing it. Now he was spying on them.
*Why were you spying on us* Nick signed.
"I wasn't spying on you. Sophie said she saw you when she went for a walk last night, and wanted to ask. That's all."
Nick looked at Xan. She threw him a 'We'll-tell-him-later' look.
* We'll tell you later. *
"Okay." Peter said, watching them leave. '…Reinforced concrete.' He sighed at the thought of what he had said. Xan and Nick were just like Shelby – a hard as nails exterior and an interior of pain and secrets.
This ends part one of two.
Cassie Jamie
NoahXfiles@aol.com