Looka couldn't wait to get home. It was all she could think about. It wasn't exactly home that she wanted. It was Fly Galaxy New York. She had found the game at her house last month. Looka had never been a gamer. She had played, but it had never seemed like much fun to her. Her friends said it was more of a guy thing. She didn't tell them what she had been doing. Sometimes Looka was glad she was an only child. She watched the clock and tried everything she could to will it fast.
"Ms. Marshal, maybe if you focused as much attention on your studies as you seem to be on the clock you could improve your grade. I can tell you right now watching it won't make it go any faster."
Looka turned her attention away from the clock and smiled at Ms. Gonzales. The other students snickered at her. Ms. Gonzales smiled and turned back to the white board. Ms. Gonzales was short and thin. She didn't look old enough to be a teacher. She dressed like a student and in the halls it was hard to distinguish her from them. She had gone back to teaching and Looka had gone back to not paying attention. She had drifted away.
Looka was picturing being back on Pewter. She had stopped there to refuel and get a few adjustments with the money she had made from her last bounty. Looka was hoping nothing had happened to the planet while she was at school. That was what she hated about playing a real time game. She had to go to school and sleep and she never knew what the other players were doing while she was gone. Looka had to admit she hadn't been sleeping much since she started, eating had also gone out. She only concentrated on Fly Galaxy New York. She had been lucky in the beginning, but luck was gone. Looka was skilled and she planned on winning the game. She had joined a team called Mince Works, but she had slowly been plotting an over throw of their now leader Jimrox447. She was planning on taking over Mince Works from now on. The gang was powerful and she knew she could wipe out the others.
"Ms. Marshal. Ms. Marshal. LooKaneesha!"
Looka blinked and she was back in the classroom. Ms. Gonzales was staring at her, so was the rest of the class. Looka smiled again, this time bigger. Ms. Gonzales continued staring at her. Looka got the hint.
"Yeah Ms. Gonzales?" Looka asked. Ms. Gonzales smiled wickedly. Looka wasn't scared.
"Can anyone tell Ms. Marshal here what I was saying?" Ms. Gonzales asked. Looka rolled her eyes as Newport's hand shot up into the air. Newport had her red hair up in a pony tail today. It was low and did nothing for the shape of her face. Looka also thought she could use to get a few of her freckles removed. They were starting to over power her face. Looka wondered if next year she would show up with them all connected and it would look like she was one giant freckle. Looka smiled at the thought.
"Ms. Gonzales was asking you to find the area of the equation board," Newport said. She didn't wait for the teacher to call on her. She turned around in her desk and smirked at Looka.
"Oh, well is that it," Looka said. She hated to show off how smart she was, because, well, it wasn't exactly the most popular thing to be smart. Looka had found people didn't like it if she was smarter than them. Looka wasn't thinking of that now. She met Newport's eyes and smiled. "2x to the third over 5 times 7yx." Looka could find anti derivatives in her sleep. Newport turned back around. Her thin lips looked like they had disappeared. Looka couldn't help it. "Or if you want I can solve for y, 14x to the fourth over five."
"Thanks," Ms. Gonzales said. She wrote the answer next to the problem. Math was Looka's favorite subject. She never admitted it to anyone, but she sometimes made up her own problems and solved them in her head when she was bored. "I'll need to see you after class Ms. Marshal."
Shit. Looka slid down in her desk. She couldn't say that she hadn't seen this coming. Looka licked her lips and looked away. She went back to staring at the clock. She wasn't going to listen to Ms. Gonzales if she had to stay after anyway. She wondered if xHiGhBoix was already on. She had been wanting to face him for a while. She knew he had picked up a bounty on her. He hadn't made his move yet, but she knew it was coming. She had to admit that she was slightly envious of him. He was one of the few players on there who had survived this long with out joining a gang. He was freelance and worked on bounties for the other gangs. He had no loyalties and switched between them all. Looka had been watching for him, but it seemed like he was rarely on.
The bell rang. Looka waited for everyone else in her row to go by then she stood up. She put her backpack on. she hadn't even bothered to open it this hour. Looka walked up to Ms. Gonzales's desk. She leaned on it and watched her clear the board. Ms. Gonzales finished and sighed. She turned around and her eyes settled on Looka. Looka smiled, but it didn't seem to be doing it's usual charm. Ms. Gonzales plopped down in the chair. She sighed again.
"LooKaneesha, you know you are so much smarter than this. You could be doing so much better," Ms. Gonzales said.
"I know," Looka said. She dropped the smile. She wanted to seem serious. Looka shifted. She didn't have time for this. Her gang would be waiting for her.
"You have so much potential. I can't just watch you throw it away like this. There is a problem here, and we need to decide on a solution." Looka's eyes widened. That sounded like time.
"Yeah I'm sorry." It was time to lie. "I'm just having a really hard time right now. I don't want everyone to know and feel bad about me so I haven't said anything."
"You can always talk to me. I'm here for you."
"My mom just lost her job and we might lose our house. I can't stop thinking about it, but it's my problem Ms. Gonzales and I don't need no one's pity. I can handle it. I'll pick my work back up. I realize I've been slacking and I'm gunna try harder. I really have to get home and help my mom out now."
"Okay. I'm sorry LooKaneesha. Don't ever be afraid to talk to me and I'll see what I can do for you." Ms. Gonzales smiled. Her smile was filled with pity. Looka didn't notice. She was already out the door. She nearly ran into the three girls waiting outside.
"God, Ms. Gonzales can be such a bitch. I swear she needs to find a boy friend or something," Clari laughed as she caught Looka.
Looka smiled at her three best friends. Clarinet started walking and the others joined beside her. Clari was the tallest of them. Looka always thought that being that tall and lanky would make Clari seem awkward, but it never did. Clari knew how to work her height. Her skirt looked extra short on her long legs. She flaunted it.
"Did you guys see what Penelope Hermer was wearing today?" Sinter asked.
"Yeah. I don't think she even owns a mirror," Clari said.
"It's not like anything would look good on a body like that," Looka said. Her head was only half in the gossip. She walked a little faster, trying to speed up their pace with out being obvious.
"Oh, shut up. Not every one is born with a perfect body like you Looka," Shifter said. She rolled her eyes.
"What ever Shifter. Just 'cause you copy your homework off her doesn't mean you have to stand up for her," Clari said.
"Oh my God, you're not trying to say you liked that outfit?" Sinter asked.
Shifter rolled her eyes again. "Hell no," she laughed. Sinter grasped her heart.
"Thank God. You really scared me for a second there."
"What did Ms. Gonzales want?" Clari asked.
"Nothing, just for me to pick up my grade," Looka said.
"What do have, like a B in that class. Ms. Gonzales can be such a tight ass. She really does need to get laid." They laughed and continued talking out of the school. They walked down to the station and got on a worm. Shift led them down the isle and took a seat in one of the row. Sinter sat next to her and Clari and Looka took the other row facing them. Shifter began picking at her nails.
"So Looka, you coming to my house this time?" Sinter asked.
"No. I'm still ground," Looka lied. It was the easiest reason for her not to show.
"God, when do you get off that?" Clari asked.
"When ever my mom decides I learned my lesson."
"So, just suck up and act real sorry."
"You think I haven't tried that?"
"Fine. We'll call you."
"I can't use the phone now either. I went over last month and my mom took it away."
The worm pulled to a stop and Looka stood up. She waved and left the other girls. As soon as she stepped off the worm Looka took off running. She couldn't wait to get home any longer. She ignored the stares she was getting from the other people. She ran down Fillmore and turned on Stonington. She was glad she didn't live that far from a station.
"Well if it isn't little LooKaneesha."
Looka slowed down at the voice. She smiled at Chad. He was sitting in front of his house. He smiled at her and Looka felt her feet stop all together. She could stop for Chadian. She gave a nice little pose and smiled at him.
"Well if it isn't little Chadian. I thought you were at Heyfield now. You couldn't go that long with out seeing me?" Looka asked. She winked at him.
"Of coarse," Chad said. He stood up and walked out into the side walk between the houses. Looka's breath caught. He was even cuter now than when he left, though she knew that was probably just her imagination. No one suddenly got cuter in a couple months. She really couldn't pick out any one thing that had changed about him. She just missed him. He wrapped her in a hug and spun her around.
"You're going to squish me to death," Looka groaned. Chad let her go. She fixed any wrinkles out of her shirt. She smiled back up at him.
"Wimp," he said, but he was smiling. Looka was already picturing getting back together with him. She knew they looked so good together. All the girls would be jealous when she told them. "I dropped out."
"What?"
"Yeah, I dropped out and I'm moving back here. My dad got me a job at the plant."
"Yay, now I'll get to see you more often." Looka felt the sentence die in her mouth as she said it. She didn't want to see more of Chad right now. She was glad to see him and she wanted him back, but the game was pulling at the back of her mind. It was like a pit of worry in her stomach. She had to go check on it. Chad would be here. She could come see him later. "So I guess I'll see you around then?"
"What? You don't want to go do something with me right now?"
"Nope," Looka said. She flipped her hair and sauntered away. She could make playing hard to get and getting to leave one thing. Looka could feel Chad's eyes watching her walk away. She had to admit she was good.
Looka took her time walking the two houses down to her own. She didn't want to make it look like she was in too much of a hurry. She skipped up the three front steps and threw the screen door open. She looked over her shoulder at Chad and smiled. Looka went in the house. The screen door banged behind her. She wondered why they even had a screen door. There was no breeze in this area and she had never seen a fly in her life. Only cockroaches and water bugs survived in the tunnels.
Looka was greeted by the dark dinginess of her house. The front room, which was really more of a porch, was covered in the same buried furniture and the piles of nothingness. Looka didn't even notice, mess had always been a part of her life. Looka could remember the first time she had stayed at Clari's house. She had never seen anything so clean before, not to mention the size. Looka had always lived in Melone Valley. Looka considered Valley the nice way of say the lower tunnels. She hadn't even known of such riches until she spent the night. Clari had taken her on as her Valley Girl project. Looka owed a lot to Clari. Now her Valley Girl accent was almost indistinguishable. Looka could pass for a Height's Girl any time she chose.
Looka pushed on into the actual house. She didn't know if her mom was home, but she hoped to hell that she had gone to work. Looka didn't pause to check. She ran straight back to her room. Some one was sleeping on the couch. She knew it wasn't her mom. Looka sighed in relief knowing she locked her room. She pulled her key chain out of her purse and unlocked the door. The numerous keys jingled. Looka didn't really have any keys she actually used. There was the one to her room, and that was it. She had never known her house to be locked and she didn't even think they owned a key. Looka's keys were all lost keys she had found. She had a fondness for each of them.
Looka's room was considerably clean and empty. It was a sharp contrast to the rest of her house. Looka hated useless things. She liked the clean plain nothingness. Looka liked simple and that was the best way to describe her room. She sighed in relief and flopped down in the middle of the floor. She left the lights off. They tried to keep the energy bill low. Looka grabbed the helmet. She moved closer to the wall so she could get a better signal off the neighbor's connection. She leaned against the wall and pulled the helmet over her head. She felt her body slip into the familiar slack state. Her mind lost connection to it and signed on.
Login: Lookatme17
Password: secretsis
The world flashed black then swam into focus. She was in Fly Galaxy New York. The sharp detail always surprised her. It seemed so much more real than real life. Looka felt like she became another person when she was here. She was no longer LooKaneesha Marshal. She was Lookatme17. She could do what ever she wanted.
Looka looked around Pewter. It looked the same. Apparently it was still in Mince Work's control. She smiled and made her way to the hanger.
Jimrox447: Where r u
Looka rolled her eyes. She was five minutes late.
Lookatme17: I m on my way
Jimrox447: Hurry did u get the grades on ur jet
Lookatme17: Let me check
Looka made it into the hanger. The mechanic led her to her jet. She jumped in and tested it out. She flipped the switch and could hear the power.
Lookatme17: grades go. Where u at
Jimrox447 sent her the coordinates. They were between planets in a neutral territory. She shifted to travel and waited. BadxOne was trying to chat her. Looka signed on. Apparently there were a couple others there.
BadxOne: Jimrox447 is bin a ass
Tendays2NoW09: He thinks we got a chance for Planton and its gone 2 his head
Lookatme17: Hes doin the best he can. I worry bout him stimes
GuNSm0kexX: Mayb hes not the best choice 4 leadr if he can't handle a lil pressure
Lookatme17: u think
KiDCane768: No. he got us this far. He doin good job
Lookatme17: do we just want good we al got talent I think we could b great
BadxOne: U got that right we r goin 2 dominate
Tendays2NoW09: Planton got no chance
Looka reached the stop and they ended the chat. She drew up along side the others. Looka loved the feel of her jet. She loved the control and the power. She couldn't help, but smile when she was in control of it. Jimrox447's jet pulled out of the group and took off for Planton.
Jimrox447: U no the drill
They took their positions and followed Jimrox447 in. Looka took the chance to get the feel of the upgraded speed. She could try the missiles when the time came. Looka tilted from side to side in anticipation. She loved to fight, to bump others off, and to get one closer to winning. She noticed the emptiness as they passed. It was amazing how many people had been bumped off. She could remember when she first signed on and the space had been filled. There had been no order then. Every one fought every one. No one even thought of controlling the planets. Now the planets lay empty and unoccupied. They were nothing but symbols of power. They drew near the borders of their territory. They passed into no man's land. They drew up on Planton and the Sand Devils flew off. They took their stance in front. There was silence.
Jimrox447: Go
As much as they liked to think of themselves as an organized group, when fighting ensued they turned into an unruly mass attacking the other side out right and with out much strategy. Looka knew quite well strategy was not one of Jimrox447's strong points. She just had to make it through this battle, then get Jimrox447 alone. Looka set her sights on a Sand Devil jet. The little name label popped up, SandTAll. She fired and watched as he was bumped out of the game. Either her missiles were incredibly upgraded or his shields had been low. Looka smiled at his mistake. He was done. She flew after another. She dodged an attack and got close enough to use her blade wings. It was her favorite attack, that and the flame thrower. She loved to use the close range weapons. It let her show off her flying skill. KiDCane768 messaged her.
KiDCane768: on ur left 5 up 17
She punched in the coordinates and shot it with out thinking.
KiDCane768: thnx
Looka locked her sights on another one. She positioned her thumb over the launch button. It was obvious they were going to win anyway. She might as well have some fun. She swooped in and barrel rolled her wing into them. She pulled back to prevent getting stuck and admired the damage to their life. They were as good as out of the game. A broadcast hit them all.
xXsoljaXx: Surrender
Looka watched as Jimrox447 disengaged his weapon system. Looka was sick of it. Jimrox447 had lost sight of the object of this game. Looka swooped down again and hit the jet one last time. It disappeared. Another broadcast rocked them all.
Jimrox447: STAND DOWN Lookatme17 they surrendered we have Pluton
Lookatme17: NO getin planets is not the point in the game we don't need more territory we need to wipe out the other players
Just to prove her point Looka locked on one of the Sand Devil jets and fired a tracked missile. The jet moved, but missile followed and they bumped out. Another broadcast.
Jimrox447: STOP
Lookatme17: NO
The others didn't move, but Looka wasn't done. She knew they were all watching her as she set her sights on the last Sand Devil. They had already started fleeing and Looka wasn't sure her missile could go that far. She placed her finger over the launch and a missile rocked past her. Looka turned in shock. GuNSm0kexX had shot. Looka turned back and smiled. He was the best shot. She watched at the last Sand Devil was bumped off. The screen went black. Looka could feel her body sitting against the wall. She could feel herself in the cockpit. Her brain strained and she clamped her eyes shut trying to block the pull. It faded and she could feel herself sitting in the cockpit. The screen was still black. She felt a broadcast.
FGNY Admin: CONGRATULATIONS
Looka blinked a couple times. She could feel her heart racing. She had no idea what this meant. She didn't want to get her hopes up. It could be a hack or a virus. The broadcast continued.
FGNY Admin: You, Lookatme17, have made it to the final 100. Your name and other information will now be downloaded. Please remain calm. You will not be harmed. This may take a few moments.
Looka was even more confused by this. It took her a second to realize what was wrong. She could feel something in the center of her head. She concentrated on it, but couldn't. It was like an itch and it was growing stronger. Looka tried desperately to scratch it, but it only got worse. She couldn't reach it and it was growing. She couldn't feel the cockpit anymore. She couldn't feel anything, but the itch. Looka started to panic. The wall returned. She could feel the cold wall and she could smell cigarette smoke. Looka found them a sudden comfort. She ripped the helmet from her head and threw it on the floor. She scratched her head. The itch was deep inside, but she couldn't think of anything else to do. Looka sat and tried to catch her breath. She controlled the panic. The itch was nothing. Looka closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing. She sat like until she was totally calm. She opened her eyes to the dark room.
Looka crawled forward and grabbed the helmet. She looked it over. It looked the same. She carefully put it back on and tried to long on. She got on to the network. She tried to get to the game. It was gone. It said there was no such address. Looka moved closer to the wall. She knew it was foolish and that it wouldn't help. She was already in the network. It offered her other games. She searched the Fly Galaxy New York, but there was nothing. She took the helmet off. She felt a sense off loss, like her best friend had just died.
Looka lay down on the floor and tried not to think about the itch. There was nothing she could do about it and besides it was probably nothing. She could think about the message. If it was real it was a total rip off. She had thought she would win a prize or something, and she had thought they were going for the final one, not one hundred. Looka didn't know what to do with herself now that it was over. She couldn't get it out of her head. That had consumed her life, her thoughts, her everything. She had forgotten who she was with out it.
Looka woke up with the itch just as strong. It was harder to ignore now. She got on the worm and joined her friends at their usual seats.
"Oh my God Looka. Did you loose all fashion sense?" Shifter asked. She stopped in the middle of her granola bar.
"Huh?" Looka asked.
"What happened? That outfit is terrible. You look valley."
Looka looked down at her clothes. She blushed furiously. Shifter was right. Looka's clothes looked terrible. They were mismatched and baggy and left everything to the imagination. She could see them all giving her dirty looks. What worried Looka more was that she couldn't even remember getting dressed. She blinked her tired eyes a couple times and tried to wake up a little more. She hadn't slept at all last night. The annoying itch had kept her up. She ran her tongue over her teeth to at least make sure she brushed them. Smooth, she smiled.
"I thought I was going to try for a new look," Looka said.
"Don't." Shifter took a chunk of her hair and held it out. "Did you even brush your hair?"
Looka looked at the nappy chunk. She flicked her head and yanked the chunk away. She grabbed the pony tail off her wrist and put her hair up. She was so not ready for school. Shifter handed her her scarf and she tied it around her head.
"Here," Sinter sighed. She held out an eye liner then reached in her side bag for a mirror.
Looka had hoped school would be a little better, but as she took a seat in her first class she knew it was nothing but hopes. Vinnie's eyes followed her. She sat in the desk behind him and waited for the comments. She glared at him, daring him to comment. He smirked.
"Damn Looka, what you do, fall in front of a worm or something?" Vinnie asked. She rolled her eyes.
"Are you okay Looka?" D'Shell asked. She took her seat next to Looka.
"Yeah. I'm fine," Looka said. She didn't bother to smile. D'Shell was such a suck up it didn't matter.
"Okay, well that's good, 'cause if you ever need anything I'd you know . . ."
Looka gave half a smile and a slight eyebrow raise. She lay her head down on the desk. She barely noticed the itch now. Her ears were slightly ringing, but she could sleep through that. She closed her eyes. Looka had never slept in class before. She liked to always look her best and it was hard to do that when she was sleeping. She was terrified to wake up and find she had been drooling or something, but Looka was tired now. She was beyond caring. She needed her sleep.
Looka could feel how heavy her eyes were, she could hear her mind crying out to rest, but she couldn't relax. She could hear them talking about her. There was the drone of the teacher, but behind that she could hear quiet whispers. They were muffled and Looka couldn't quite tell what they were saying, but she knew they were about her. She lifted her head back up and watched the teacher. The whispers stopped. She looked back and saw Chevron and Hernias looking guilty. They both shifted their eyes away from her. Looka flicked her head back to the teacher. She could at least pretend to pay attention. Class went by faster than ever. Looka was pretty sure it was because she zoned out she through most of it. She couldn't repeat anything the teacher had said though out the whole hour.
Looka walked down the hallway and waited at the corner for Shifter to come around the corner so they could walk together. Shifter was taking longer than usually, either that or Looka was being impatient. Looka like to think Shifter was taking longer. Shifter walked around the corner and shook her head. Looka matched her pace and they continued walking down the hallway.
"Chevron and Hernias are such ho. I heard that they were at Milken's party over the weekend and got totally wasted and experimented together," Looka said. No one talked about her and got away with it.
"Who did you hear this from?" Shifter asked. "I don't think they'd do that."
"Milken. You know how his mom came home early and crashed the party, well turns out they were in her bedroom and she walked in on them."
"Yeah? I really don't think they'd do that."
"I know, neither did I, but we asked them in first hour and they got all red and embraced. They tried to deny everything, but it was so obvious. Then they even tried saying they didn't go there, idiots, but everyone seen them there."
Shifter shrugged. She didn't seem convinced, but Looka knew she had got to her. She knew Shifter would tell Sinter and everyone knew that once Sinter knew something the whole school knew something. Looka smirked. That would take the gossip away from her drastic wardrobe change. She smiled and walked with a little more bounce. Shifter had Sinter in her next class. Looka winked to her blonde friend and went into her class. Clari was waiting at their group table. Looka sat down next to her.
"God, first hour was so boring," Clari drawled. She pulled out a compact mirror and began checking her reflection. She pulled out some cover-up and applied more to her already flawless face. "Here." She handed Looka the mirror and the bag of make up. "I didn't want you to use it on the buss. It's too bumpy on there and if your gunna put on makeup you have to make it look good."
Looka smiled and took the bag. She began digging through it and applying what ever she found. Looka got distracted and almost forgot to continue the rumor. It would be suspicious if she told Shifter and not Clari.
"Did you hear about Hernias and Chevron?" Looka asked.
"No," Clari said. She was copying last night's homework from someone else's packet. Looka could see D'Shell's name on it. Number came and took his seat across form Clari. He smiled at her and she smiled back. She batted her heavy lidded eyes. Looka leaned in closer to her.
"Milken's mom caught them together in her room when she busted the party," Looka whispered.
"Doesn't surprise me. I was wondering where they wondered off to. They always seemed a little closer than normal," Clari said.
"What you guys talking about?" Number asked.
"Just how hot you are," Clari said. She winked at him. Hombre took his seat next to Number and the table was complete. He looked between Clari and Number and rolled his eyes.
"Don't tell me you two are flirting again. Just get together and get it over with already," Hombre said. He winked at Looka and she giggled.
"Don't be jealous," Clari said. "You can't work it."
Hombre put his hand to his chest in exaggerated shock. Mr. Napalm walked in and the class got quiet. He raised an eyebrow and turned to the front of the class. Looka pretended to take notes for the whole hour. She wrote a word here or a word there. The tiredness had left her and now she was just left in a fuzzy daze. She didn't mind. She could just zone out. Looka did. She stared ahead and pretty soon she couldn't see the teacher anymore. Her mind went peacefully blank.
"Looka close you're mouth you look like a inbred." Clari's voice snapped Looka back to reality. She blinked a couple times before the words sunk in. Looka found her mouth was hanging open. She closed it and Number and Hombre snickered. She glared at them. Apparently the teacher was done lecturing and they were working in their groups now. Looka looked at the packet sitting on the table in front of her. It took her a couple seconds to even understand what the name line meant. She was so not doing this. She flipped it over and let the plane white back sooth her. She hated going to a poor school were they actually had to use paper.
"What's wrong with you today Looka?" Hombre asked. He didn't look like he planned on doing the packet either, not like he could. Looka was pretty sure he hadn't passed one test in this class. Clari and Number were doing it. Number was leaning across the table talking to her. He was pointing something out on her packet. Looka watched his hand graze Clari's and linger. Looka rolled her eyes and turned back to Hombre. He smiled.
"Nothing, I just didn't get any sleep last night," Looka said.
"Why not?" Hombre asked. Looka glared at him. He was asking too many questions for her liking. He glared back and waited. Looka sighed, but it turned into a yawn. She covered her mouth and tried to make it as small as she could.
"My mom was entertaining a few friends and they stayed late." Looka had found that entertaining made her mom's frequent guests sound better. Looka was good at putting things a certain way. Hombre's gaze shifter over her shoulder and she knew Mr. Napalm must be standing right behind her. She put a big smile on and turned around.
"Where's your packet LooKaneesha?" Mr. Napalm asked. He put his hands on his hips and smiled. Looka turned around and grabbed the packet off her desk then turned back to him with it.
"You mean this packet?" Looka asked.
"That's the one."
"Well then it's right here."
"Good. Do it." He turned and walked away. Looka turned back to Hombre and set the packet back down.
"It's great how he never says anything to you," Looka said.
"Yeah, he knows there's no hope," Hombre said.
The rest of the school day went by the same. Looka fell asleep in two of her other classes, but she woke right back up. The rumor spread fast about Chevron and Hernias. Looka was proud. No one traced it back to her. People began claiming they had seen them go into the room together and some even said Milken told them first. Looka let them take the credit. She was enjoying the embarrassed looks on Chevron and Hernias's faces. She couldn't stop smiling at them all through her 4th class. She was glad she had another one with them. Hernias just laid her head on the desk and covered it with her arms. Chevron was glaring at everyone which was doing nothing for the looks they were getting. No one said anything to them. They all just whispered and stared. Looka liked that better. She stayed in a good mood all through the hour. When they got up to leave she walked next to Hernias.
"Karma's a bitch," she whispered to her and pranced off to her math class. Looka no longer cared about her terrible clothes or her hair. The zoned in math and quickly left before Ms. Gonzales could try to talk to her again. She waited outside the door for Clari, Shifter, and Sinter.
"That's crazy about Charmin and Hernias, but I totally seen it coming. I swear Hernias was trying to hit on me one time. You remember that you guys thought I was just imagining things," Sinter said.
"You think everyone's trying to hit on you," Clari said. She sighed.
"It's not my fault I'm irresistible," Sinter said. She fluffed her hair. "Guys are always all over me."
"Apparently girls too," Shifter said. Sinter looked horrified as they all laughed.
"Oh my God, I don't seem like a lesbian, do I?" They all laughed harder. "No for serious. Guys! For serious!" She looked around worried and crossed her arms. They continued giggling while Sinter just looked more and more awkward. "I've had boyfriends. I mean just 'cause I don't have one now . . ." Sinter wander off immediately flirting with the nearest guy in the hallway. They went to the worm with out her.
"Sin's no fun anyways when she gets like that. Its gunna be all she talks about for like a week. Don't blame me if I avoid her," Clari moaned. Looka took the seat next to her.
"I don't even believe the whole story. And I know for a fact Hernias wasn't hitting on her. I remember it. Ugh I hope Sinter at least ends up with a cute guy," Shifter said.
"Why?" Looka asked. "So you can steal him from her."
"That only happened once and we said we'd never bring it up again," Shifter gasped. Looka shrugged. "Besides she was pretty much done with him anyways."
"You still grounded?" Clari asked.
The words hit Looka like a slap to the face. There seemed to be a sudden empty hole in her chest, like a piece of her was missing. She longed for Fly Galaxy New York. She silently cursed herself. She knew that it was nerdy and she tried to push it from her mind. It didn't work.
"Yeah," Looka sighed. She knew that she could never rest until she tried to log on again. Looka became impatient. She couldn't help thinking what would happen if she actually got on, who would be there. Her stop came and she flew off. She didn't bother saying good bye. She ran all the way to her house. She didn't care if she looked like an idiot, her clothes already did. Why not finish the out fit? She was glad Chad wasn't out. Looka banged through the screen door and straight into her room. She could hear some one yelling at her from the living room, but once her door shut behind her they stopped. She grabbed the helmet and made her way to the wall. She leaned against it and looked at the helmet. She was reluctant to put it back on. The itch had just stopped. She wasn't too eager to get it back. Looka pushed her fears aside and slammed the helmet down. She slumped down onto the ground. Fly Galaxy Ney York was gone. There was nothing, no login. Looka ripped the helmet off. She sighed. She didn't know what to do with herself. She slid off her school bag and opened it up. Looka did her homework.
It was an understatement to say that her first hour teacher was surprised. It was even more of an understatement for her other teachers. Looka just let it roll off. She wasn't in a very happy mood. All the joy of ruining people's lives and the itch and tiredness was gone. There was nothing to distract her from thinking about Fly Galaxy New York. She thought about strategies and battle plans, what she would have done after she became leader of Mince Works. She could see it now, how she would use each person's talents. She would get them to work as one to move together and synchronize. Then the realization would hit her again and the loss would grip her. She hated it. Looka felt even worse because she had never felt loss like this, and now it was over a game.
Looka noticed both Chevron and Hernias didn't show up today. She was tempter to start another rumor they elopes together or something like that. She turned to Vinnie, but it wasn't worth it. Looka applied another layer of lip-gloss and decided to let it go. The day went by normal as possible. The gossip was basic who's with who, who's wearing what, who did what, thing. Sinter was all over Billy Rightheart. He was nice enough, but basically unimpressive. At least Looka was not impressed. Looka found Chad waiting for her when she got off at her stop.
"You been avoiding me, pretty thing?" Chad asked. He leaned against the back of the bread store. Looka smiled and flicked her hair.
"Maybe," she said. She walked over to him leaned against the wall in front of him. "What you gunna do about it?" Chad leaned forward to kiss her and as much as Looka wanted to she was a tease. She quickly pushed herself off the wall and looked shocked. "With out buying me dinner first? I think not."
Chad smiled and pushed off the wall. "Where do you want to go?" he asked putting an arm around her. Looka smiled and leaned into him. She was glad he was back.
Looka spent the rest of the day with Chad and she spent the night at his house. She was glad he still had a bunch of her clothes there. Looka couldn't stop smiling all the next day.
"What's up with you?" Clari asked. She pushed back from the table and stretched.
"Chad's back," Looka said.
"What!?" Clari yelled. She straightened up and looked at Looka. "So are you two . . ."
Looka nodded smiling. Clari nodded slowly and went back to reading the assigned pages.
"Who's Chad?" Hombre asked.
"God Hombre. Chad Chad, he graduated last year, he's been with Looka for forever," Clari said. She turned the page. She gave them half a glance then went back to the book. "He drop out?"
"Yeah," Looka said. "We went out to Tony's last night and had the best pizza."
The classroom door opened and Valetta came walking in. Looka turned and watched as Valetta scanned the room. Her eyes settled on Looka and Clari she gave a weak smile and walked over to them.
"Do you know where Mr. Napalm at?" Valetta asked. Her eyes flicked between Clari and Looka back and forth. Clari smirked.
"How should we know?" she asked. Looka smiled and watched as Valetta's nervous eyes widened a little bit. Her face fell.
"I'm sorry, I was just wondering. I . . . he needs to call the office and they just wanted me to . . ." Valetta trailed off. She looked at them for a little bit longer then turned and wandered to the front of the class. Mr. Napalm wasn't there, but his phone was off the hook. The receiver was lying next to the dingy yellow bottom. Valetta turned around and nibbled on her bottom lip. Mr. Napalm walked into the room and she scampered over to him.
"The office wants you to call them," Valetta said. She quickly left out the door. Mr. Napalm smiled and went over to his phone. He hung it up and it immediately started ringing. He picked it up.
"Hello?" He paused listening then slammed the phone back down. He scanned the room. Everyone immediately started reading the chapter they were assigned. It was a well know fact that Mr. Napalm was the number one victim of prank calls. He had let a student use his phone, they called their cell phone and sold his number off the caller ID. The rumor was it was Francis Filter, but no one knew for sure. Mr. Napalm picked up the phone and dialed the office extension. Looka got bored and turned back to her group.
"So, you really with Chad now? He didn't seem your type," Hombre said.
"What are you talking about? They were perfect together," Clari said. Her eyes stayed on the paper. "Have you seen them?"
"I don't know he always seemed like kinda a pussy to me."
Clari scoffed.
"LooKaneesha?" They all turned and saw Mr. Napalm watching them. Clari closed her mouth and smiled. "They want you in the office." Looka exchanged a glance with the rest of her table. She stood up.
"I need a pass?" she asked. Mr. Napalm shrugged and shook his head. Looka walked out of the room. She walked down the hall. They were empty. Looka racked her brain trying to think of something that would make her called down to the office. She couldn't think of anything. She hadn't done anything. Looka opened the office door and stopped in front of the secretary.
"LooKaneesha Marshal?" the plump lady asked.
"Yeah," Looka said. She looked around the office, but it was empty. Apparently no one else had been called down. The secretary shoved herself up from the chair.
"Follow me," she said. She started down the short hallway and stopped at the first door. She knocked then shoved it open. "Ms. Marshal's here." The woman gave her a smile and walked back out to her desk. Looka walked into the room.