Nika smiled as she walked along the wide school hallway, brushing newly colored hair out of her eyes. It had been the first change she'd made over the summer.
Visiting the cousin she'd never met over in Europe had been a wonderful experience. Viola had told her that this was the time to change her image. She could start over now. She'd be attending a new school full of people who'd never met her before. It was the perfect time to decide who she wanted to be.
Nika had taken her words to heart and now really did feel like a whole new person. An updated wardrobe gave her confidence, and her black hair had been colored in a rainbow at the ends, showing off her spunky side. Before this, only Dayn had ever seen such sides of her. Now, she'd be able to show the world that she was more than just the nerdy shy girl everyone knew her to be.
College had started about a month before, and she'd already noticed the change. Grey eyes no longer stared at the sidewalk when she went anywhere. Maybe that's why she was getting noticed more often. Or, she at least noticed that she was being noticed. The old shy Nika wouldn't have ever known that she was being looked at, too busy staring at the floor. She'd even got asked out by a pretty nice guy, and she'd see him for lunch later that day.
The only disappointment in her new life was that Dayn had all but disappeared. Between rushing for his new fraternity and getting into the groove of the intense soccer program, she hadn't been able to see him since graduation. It was tough, she missed her best friend. The occasional e-mail between them wasn't how she'd been expecting them to spend their first few weeks of college.
She'd pretended to be fine with it all. She'd made some new friends in the physics department, had joined a club or two… but she was hurting more than anyone knew. Dayn, on the other hand, was apparently fine without her.
At the moment, the subject of her thoughts was walking down the halls with a confident stride that…wasn't him. Dayn was confident yes, but not in the cocky arrogant way he was portraying. It seemed that's what he'd become though, over the last month.
His parents finally appeared happy with him. He was a member of the preppy fraternity his step-father had been a part of in his college days. A fraternity full of athletes and rich sons, all popular and with good looks. His mother was happy he was still doing soccer and taking it seriously. He was everything they'd hoped he would be.
Dayn himself was anything but happy, though he never showed it. He winked at a girl as he walked, smirking when she blushed and looked away. Such flirtation was second nature to him these days, though it didn't mean a thing to him.
Then, dark amber eyes caught sight of black, rainbow-streaked hair and he felt both an old flutter of joy as well as a new stab of pain.
Nika had changed, just like him. But with her change seemed to come the absence of any need for him anymore. It hurt.
Nika was reading as she walked. A fascinating book on various ways to separate and combine particles of matter had her entirely absorbed. It was because of this that she didn't see Dayn until she glanced up to walk around a trash can.
The largest smile she'd had in weeks bloomed on her face in her happiness, and she hurried toward her best friend, her book snapping shut.
"Dayn! I haven't seen you in ages!" she exclaimed, waiting for the hug she knew she'd get.
Dayn unexpectedly froze, and for the first time in his life, he didn't know how to react with her. Members of both the soccer team and his fraternity stood around, some glancing curiously at him and Nika.
He felt torn and he hated it. He smiled a bit, the look rather forced because of the uncomfortable feeling prickling at his skin.
"Hey Nika, how have you been?"
Nika felt her own smile falter a bit and she shook her head in confusion. "Um…pretty good. Classes are fascinating, guys are noticing me…it's still kind of weird." She said with a crooked smile and a shrug.
She looked at him, confused and not bothering to hide it. "You ok?"
Dayn shoved his hands into his pockets, avoiding her eyes behind hair that looked as bed-tousled as ever. He hid the jealousy that reared up at the mention of other guys noticing her. Nika wasn't interested in him, that much was apparent.
"I'm fine. Just tired. Soccer practices are pretty grueling right now." He didn't mention the late-night parties with his fraternity.
Nika nodded slowly. "Oh…" she whispered. "Um…I hope they get better." She said, feeling awkward for the first time she could ever remember with Dayn. She didn't like it. "So how's life? Got a girlfriend already? Some new friends?"
Dayn shrugged, the motion foreign to his personality to anyone who knew him. By now it was an ill learned habit. "Made some friends on the team, some in the fraternity." Though it was harder in the fraternity when the guys were nothing like him. He didn't want to say it aloud though…not when the people around expected him to be a certain way…and Nika didn't need to know such things.
"Don't have a girlfriend, but I'm still looking." He said, ignoring the voice in his head. He'd already found who he wanted, he just couldn't have her. "What about you? Find anyone yet?"
Nika shrugged, hating the way their words seemed to hang heavily in the air around them. She'd wished for ways to escape a conversation before, but never with Dayn…
"No one in particular. A guy in my chemistry class asked me out to lunch today though. His name is Freddie, I think he's in your frat."
Dayn kept his expression carefully neutral and nodded. He suddenly felt the desire to bash Freddie's head in. So this was the girl he'd been talking about. Dayn's blood threatened to simmer, remembering the many references to Nika's butt and breasts. He forced a smile instead.
"That's cool. Just…be careful. And have fun." He said, feeling a spasm of faint pain and awkwardness. He checked his watch, hating that he felt the need to get away. This was his best friend, he shouldn't feel the need to run away from her. "I need to go. My class starts in five minutes. It was good to see you, Nika."
Nika nodded jerkily, hugging her book to her chest in a manner she hadn't let herself do since she'd gotten here. The insecure shy side she'd been working so hard to hide.
"Yeah…yeah it was fun. See you on the flip side." She whispered in their customary goodbye.
It was the only familiar part of the conversation.
She couldn't meet his eyes nor anyone else's. Instead, she just hurried past him and down the hall, closing in on herself. She needed to get outside. Her own class started soon, but if she didn't get some fresh air, she'd burst into tears.
What had happened? She didn't even know…
Dayn didn't know how many beers he'd had at tonight's party. But looking over at Nika and Chris dancing, he couldn't bring himself to care. Instead he simply leaned grumpily against the window, sipping more of the bitter liquid.
He and Nika had hardly talked for months aside from the occasional awkward hallway conversation. As such, he had no idea what Nika's social life was like anymore. And seeing her with Chris…hurt deeply.
And so he drank because it was there and because it numbed the pain and helped with the stress for tonight at least.
Nika moved with ease, but she wasn't particularly comfortable here. She'd never been big on parties. At least not parties where half the people were completely wasted and the rest were hurrying to join them. Even worse, this was Dayn's fraternity and he hadn't even said hello when he'd seen her. He'd turned away instead…an act that made her heart ache with sadness. Her best friend must really be gone, the old Dayn would never have done such a thing.
She excused herself from Chris, leaving before he could say anything. She wouldn't be accepting an invitation to go on a second date, not if this was his idea of a good first date.
She pushed her way through the crowd, searching for the kitchen so she could get some water. The only non-alcoholic drink in the house. She spotted Dayn and frowned at the look in his eyes as he looked around the room.
"Are you drunk?" she demanded, moving towards him without even thinking.
Dayn had to concentrate for a moment before Nika came into focus. Once he realized what she'd said he shrugged, wobbling a bit.
"What do you care? You're probably used to it with all your boyfriends." His voice slurred slightly. He was torn between not caring at all and caring quite a bit and trying to control it.
He looked at Chris and his frown deepened as he took another drink. "Why you with him anyway? All he wants is sex."
Nika frowned herself and crossed her arms. "I figured that out for myself thanks. Just because I'm trying to find a decent guy doesn't mean I take them all seriously. I have yet to get an actual boyfriend." She pointed out, voice short in her frustration. "And why do you care what he wants? I can take care of myself. Good thing too, since I can't count on you." She scoffed.
Some part of Dayn was more angry with himself than at her, but that part was a weak voice in the fog of intoxication. He just gave her a smirk, bordering on a sneer.
"Yeah, you can look after yourself. I've seen that clearly enough." He snorted, taking another drink and spilling some of it on his shirt. "Go back to your date, I'm sure he's much better company." His amber eyes were even darker than normal, looking like shadowed gold in his anger.
Nika made a face, utterly disgusted with him.
"Sadly, yes he is." She said in a flat voice. She turned and went back to Chris, feeling almost numb as his arm slid around her waist.
What had happened to the Dayn she knew? Who was this fake, and what had he done with her best friend?
She hardly noticed when Chris led her from the room and took her hand, pulling her upstairs saying he wanted to show her his new computer.
Dayn watched her leave, but was soon distracted by a fresh cup of beer being placed in his hands. He didn't really notice Nika leaving with Chris. He knew she wasn't on the dance floor or in the main room, but it was hard to think where she could have gone through the haze in his mind. He wasn't sure why he wanted to find her anyway. He'd sent her away, right?
He took another drink, pushing away from the wall and into the crowd. His steps were unsteady and he literally almost fell on a well-built blond who eyed him up and down after they'd both regained their balance.
Dayn blinked down at her as she pressed up against him, long lashes blinking coyly. "Let's get you off your feet." She said softly, leading him by the hand to the nearest couch.
Before he knew what was happening, her lips were locked on his, and she was practically in his lap. His blood was sluggish and he didn't really think he was feeling anything. Why was he kissing her? How had it happened? Why couldn't he think straight? And why were his hands running down her back, encouraging her?
Nika was still trying to figure out what was going on when Chris opened the door to his rather messy room. She looked at the computer first thing, seeing as that's what he'd wanted to show her, and scoffed a bit.
"You wasted money on the brand, it's too expensive even without the many replacement parts you'll need." She said bluntly. She was in no mood to be her shy little self right now. She turned to head back downstairs, only to have Chris catch her by the elbow and stop her.
She glanced at him and shivered a bit at the look on his face.
"You know perfectly well I didn't want to show you something so dumb." He said, voice not quite clear from the amount of beer he'd had over the course of the night.
"Why not, that's what you said." She pointed out. Chris only pulled her near, lips closing over her throat. Nika grimaced and pushed at his chest, but he only held her a bit tighter.
"Everyone knows the code." He whispered against her skin. "A guy asks a girl to show her something in his room…but it's something else he wants to show her. And the girl agrees if she wants it.
"Well I didn't know your stupid code, and I certainly don't want anything from you." Nika said firmly, shoving him away. "Leave me alone, I never want to see you again." She spat.
The hand on her arm didn't stop her again. She spun and slapped him hard before dashing from the room and down the stairs. This party sucked and she just wanted to leave. She was sure things couldn't get any worse.
She was wrong.
Dayn was on a couch near the door, in a full out make-out session with some busty blond girl. Nika felt something like lightning strike her heart, physically painful in a way that made her press her hand to her chest. Tears came to her eyes, flowing without reserve as she looked away. She pushed her way out the door of the frat house, sobbing.
She ran full out all the way back to her dorm across campus, wondering when life had gotten so horrible.
Dayn groaned as he stared at the sign before him. The words Physics Lab shouldn't hold so much horrible meaning, but they did for him. He'd gotten a D in his science class, just bordering on a failing grade. As a kindness, his teacher had offered him a chance to raise his grade to a C by doing an extra credit assignment over the summer. If he refused, he'd be getting an F.
He didn't have a choice, though he'd rather be doing anything else.
He finally hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder and pushed his way into the room. Most of the students inside looked to be people his fellow fraternity members loved to torment. Now it was his turn to feel out of place.
The lab was divided into two levels. On the main level he was on, there was a workroom of sorts. Whiteboards full of complicated equations lined the walls, and work tables were covered with blueprints and notebooks and tools. A railing edged the area, stairs on the right leading down to the ground level part of the room.
Down there, was a machine that looked like it had been pulled from a movie. A circular platform covered in various patterns of different metals made up the base, though it looked half finished with all the exposed wiring. Two large rings stood vertically on top of it, looking like they might spin or something.
Dayn's breath hitched when Nika swept into the room. Of course…the project manager simply had to be her, the one person he didn't want to be around for any period of time. And now he'd be stuck with her all summer.
Nika's lab coat sat on her shoulders as if it belonged over her striped t-shirt and jeans. She held a clipboard in her hand and she read from it as she moved through the room, somehow not running into a thing though she never looked up from it.
"Alright guys, time to get back to work. I know it's Monday, and I know it's summer, but we've got stuff to do." She announced, taking the stairs to the upper area of the lab.
"Last minute change in plans. Professor Veska got us some extra-credit…volunteers." She said tactfully. "Let's try not to make them feel too dumb." She added with a grin, getting a chuckle from some of her classmates. No one seemed to care that she was younger than half of them.
Dayn wasn't sure about this at all. At this point, he was weighing the options of working under Nika, who he hadn't seen since the party, and taking the F for his class. He knew he didn't really have a choice, his parents would kill him if he failed a class. But the temptation was strong. He took a seat, barely noticing that most of the others were avoiding him.
He ran a hand though permanently tousled black hair, and just tried to remain unseen. He just had to get through the summer and pass this class, then he could go back to trying to accomplish his parent's dreams.
When Nika finally dropped her clipboard on the table and looked around, she froze at the sight of Dayn. She turned away a moment later, hiding her dismay and smiling at the other students.
"Alright guys, you know your jobs. Leaders report to me." She said simply. As the others got to work, she steeled herself and made her way over to her ex-best friend. She chewed her tongue, reminding herself that she had to remain civil…no matter how badly she wanted to just blow up at the guy.
"So you're the volunteer Professor Veska told me about? The one who practically failed his class?" Disappointment laced her voice. He'd used to have really good grades, what pit had he fallen into?
Dayn hadn't expected a real greeting. He simply looked up at Nika and nodded, but was too ashamed to hold her gaze. He looked at his hands instead, willing her to leave and pass him on to some other student to tell him what to do. He didn't want her to ask, just to treat him like any of the other students, hell, even make him look like a complete moron.
Anything but having her talk to him with the disappointment in her voice.
Nika watched him for a moment before sighing. Unfortunately, there was nothing else for her to do…
"You'll be sticking with me today." She said simply. "I can tell you what's going on better than anyone else here. And I'm only working down in the pit. Easier than working on equations and stuff."
It wasn't that she wanted to spend time with him, quite the opposite in fact. But she was in charge of this project, he was her responsibility. She licked her lips and worked to keep from sighing again. This summer just got a ton more awkward and a lot less fun…
She didn't wait for him to say anything, simply spinning and heading down the stairs.
Dayn held back a groan as he grabbed his backpack to follow her. Nika didn't have to say anything…he'd known her so long he could tell what she was thinking and feeling just by the way she moved and the look in her eyes.
And even worse, he couldn't blame her for the things the was feeling.
He barely recognized himself anymore. He didn't have any real friends, he hated his fraternity with a passion, and detested the many parties. Soccer, once his favorite sport, wasn't even fun anymore. And on top of it all, his grades were slipping and his parents were on his back about it.
But all of that faded into the background with the knowledge that he'd lost his best friend, the girl he'd secretly loved for what seemed like forever.
Nika didn't know – nor care at this point – about the thoughts going through Dayn's mind. She led him to the large machine in the pit of the lab, and showed him how to attach some thin platinum panels to the base of the strange machine. She knew she should be explaining what the group was doing, but she was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that they were stuck together for the next few months. Instead, she left him to his work and moved to an open panel and started to work on the wiring beneath it.
"Nika, we're going to do a test." Someone said from the upper work area.
"Hang on, let me finish these up." Nika called back. "In the meantime, double check your math! The last thing we need is to fry the wiring and have to replace it all. Again."
Dayn ignored the goings on of the other students in the room, finding a soothing rhythm in attaching the panels to the floor of the machine. He was almost surprised at how easily his fingers worked at it, not having done anything like this all year. He started to relax a bit. No, he didn't want to be here. But this wasn't so bad.
He didn't know what to say to Nika…but if he just kept his mouth shut, he should be fine.
As Nika finished up with the wires, she nodded to one of the students in the upper level of the lab.
Buttons were pressed, switches were switched. The test run had been done many times before; no one expected anything to happen. Nika tapped Dayn's shoulder and jerked her head to make sure he stood back from the edge of the large circular platform. The two stood in the middle of the platform, watching as various things whirled and buzzed around them. Slowly, the two rings started to spin in opposite directions, one inside the other.
"It's a general test of the machinery." She explained out of habit. "We're still not sure what powers the thing, so nothing will happen. We just don't want to be touching anything when the electricity is rushing through everything."
Dayn nodded, and it occurred to him that he hadn't spoken a single work to Nika since he'd arrived. It felt strange, and he found himself missing their friendly banter more than he could explain in words. He didn't say anything though, simply standing clear of the revolving rings and wondering what the heck this machine was supposed to be.
Nika was trying to think of something else to say to Dayn when something caught her eye. She frowned, and leaned forward, a bit too close to the spinning rings for Dayn's comfort. He pulled her back without thinking, though he was watching the same thing she'd noticed. Silvery sparks were rising from the base of the rings, converging on the pair and swirling around their feet.
It wasn't a malfunction though…Nika didn't know what was happening. She gasped as the sparks floated upward, eyes wide when her feet left the floor.
She looked down in shock, then at Dayn. It was as if the two were floating in a bubble, suspended in midair. The silver sparks swirled around them in wild patterns and she realized what was happening.
The machine was working!
"Turn it off!" she heard people shouting, their voices difficult to hear over the whirring of the rings around them. "Turn it off!"
But it was too late. Nika and Dayn screamed in pain as their bodies were ripped apart, right down to the atomic level. A painful sucking feeling overpowered them and then, they disappeared.
As always, must remind everyone that I am not the only writer of this story, for my co-author of sorts, go visit Kaisaan Greenleaf!
I know it's moving a tad slow as far as the major plotline goes...but all this build up is necessary, I assure you! Besides, it's rather fun to write. So much of my writing focuses on how people get together, but ripping people art is surprisingly fun in an evil way! Especially as I know what comes next, muahahaha :D
Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed the first real chapter for the story, and please please review! I'd LOVE to know what people think so far!
Your Humble Authoress,
Whisperwings