Here's chapter 4... Thank you xx-RedRoseBlackThorn-xx for being so much help and beta-ing this chapter :)
As my first week passed by, things started to fall into place. Rose and I began to hang out during our free time. We were so different but in ways that it worked out well. She always said things that I could never say out loud, always pushing her boundaries, yet somehow managing to squirm out of trouble. That's how she had been able to get me to the lounge during the out of hours for people who hadn't reached level 1. Rose did most of the talking when she announced to Dimitri that I had a 'very important assessment that's in for tomorrow', which he didn't believe for a second, and after a 10 minute argument, or 'persuasion' Rose's words, I was on my way to the back of the lounge.
The lounge was one of my favourite places here. The centre was shaped as a circle, fully accustomed with sofas and TVs, then it branched off into a narrower hallway with twists and turns that kept you hidden if you wanted. Right at the end was a beautiful stained glass window with a cushioned window seat underneath.
I snuggled up into one corner of the window seat and flipped open a borrowed book from the library, that we were supposed to be getting information from for our 'assessment'.
"Then she says I'm a whore in front her little posse." Rose spat out in disgust, I must have missed the first part of what she was saying.
"Who did?"
"That scrawny Mia bitch. Who does she think she is? Like the next Madonna or something?"
"You listen to Madonna?" I hid a giggle.
"No, but Madonna is old and can still wear leotards without people slamming her so she must be important." Rose put her head in her hands, looking deep in concentration. "Without her little posse what would she be? Nothing." Her head shot up. "Liss, that's it. We need to destroy her posse."
"That's a little harsh." I said, feeling uncomfortable.
"You don't know her. Seriously, she's been making my life here miserable. She thinks she so cool when, um, hello she looks like a friggen American Girl doll on a water diet."
"Have I met her?"
"Not with me, you haven't. It'd be pretty obvious if she was around when I was. She'd be breathing fire. Literally." I rolled my eyes at Rose, giving her a disappointed look. She shrugged it off. "She looks like a piece of fake crap. You smell plastic? It's Mia." Rose groaned. "I don't know how much pain my eyes can take from looking at her."
"That's so cruel, Rose." I gave her the disapproving look again but couldn't help laughing. "You really are terrible."
"Just wait until you see this bitch doing her stupid fucking strut." Rose was practically shouting out now, getting so worked up. I saw Dimitri peek a suspicious look at us from where he was standing in the centre of the lounge and I paged through the book, pretending to study. Rose, on the other hand, snapped out of her Mia rage and flashed him a huge seductive smile.
"How can you have the nerve to do that, Rose?" I asked in astonishment.
"He isn't so bad. He's one of my teachers for anger management." My mouth popped open at this news. The only times Dimitri wasn't with me was during lessons and during the night. Since there was always going to be a teacher in a classroom, most guardians didn't have to stay unless their student was on a red card or something. During the night, we had a night warden so guardians could get some sleep. It never occurred to me that Dimitri did anything else out of his hours with me.
"Dimitri never mentioned that."
"Yeah, he's like that." Rose had a faint pink flush crawling on her cheeks. "He teaches self-defence. They reckon all that physical stuff gets anger out of people."
"If you need someone to get physical with, all you have to do is ask." A new voice spoke from the cramped hallway. Jesse Zeklos. And his creepy friend Ralf Sarcozy. Jesse seemed okay to talk to but I don't think I could bear any lengthy conversation with him. I didn't know why he was in here but he held a rich and popular air to him which made me think he parents could afford to send him here without a problem, which was almost never the case for most of the people here. He was good looking, just not to my tastes which was the complete opposite for Rose; she thought he was the only 'juicy piece of meat in this butcher shop'.
"You wish, Zeklos." Rose spat out the words, but they were laced with a suggestive tone. "You'd have to work harder than that if you wanted this."
"I like a challenge, especially one that has such a good reward." He licked his lips. I wanted to be sick.
"What do you want?" Rose a little more viscously this time but still had that the hook-Jesse-in voice on. She pointed at me with her thumb. "We have business to discuss."
"Oh, yeah? What kind of business is that?" Jesse perked up even more at the chance of hearing gossip while Ralf, at his side, acted like an obedient dog hanging on Jesse's words.
"Business that you boys can't handle. Sorry."
Jesse looked a little insulted, then after a few seconds of self healing his ego, a slow smile spread on his face. "Well, maybe you and I should create our own business then. Meet in the lounge Wednesday night?" His eyes zoomed out from Rose and he seemed to remember Ralf and me still in the room. "Why don't you guys come too? It could be like a double date."
I hoped I didn't look as sickened as I felt at the thought. Sure enough, Ralf might have been a nice person, but so far he didn't seem so. He sat behind me in Chemistry, and more than once I heard him making crude comments about girls in my class. Maybe that was so bad, but it still put me way off. I shot Rose a subtle SOS look.
"Lissa's got an extra activity on Wednesday. Unless you think you can bunk it, Liss?" Rose threw me the same subtle look back. Times like these, I loved Rose so much.
I bit my lip, pretending to consider hard. "I don't think I can; I've got Mr. Nagy and he'd throw a fit. Sorry."
Ralf crooked a disappointed smile. "Maybe some other time, babe?"
"Yeah, maybe." Not.
"It'll just be us then, Rose." Jesse didn't seem half as sad as Ralf. "See you there then."
With that they took off.
"Aprons on!"
Ugh, I hated that woman.
"Hairnets on!" Ms. Carmack crowed. "Hurry up! We don't have enough time to mess about."
For a fact, we had plenty of time. Probably too much time. After all, it didn't take long to whip up a sponge cake. I had a sneaky suspicion that we were only allowed to bake in Food Technology because there were no knives involved. Not that that stopped two guys in front of me from having a sword fight with wooden spoons.
Ugh, I hated this class.
"Shane! Miles! Put down those spoons before I give you a week's detention."
I turned around and starting unloading the equipment on the counter that was behind me. The tables used for Food Technology required you to be opposite someone and I surely couldn't stand having to look at either one of them. I was a little smug when I saw I was the only one ready; I had had my points sheet signed by quite a few teachers this past week, which had me steadily towards my Level 1 target, and was hoping she would give a few points for this. Damn. Had I always been such a goody-two-shoes?
After some more scolding the class was set up and weighing ingredients. I pulled open the container of self-raising flour and started spooning it into my bowl.
"This shouldn't be taking so long!" Ms. Carmack screeched so loudly I dropped my spoon full of flour. Oh, shit. She was going to kill me. I scrambled on the floor and blew the flour in every direction, hoping it would spread out so much that she wouldn't notice.
Someone snorted with laughter. It was Christian Ozera. Laying out his equipment on the opposite side of my table. Just like magic, he had appeared out of thin air. The conversation I had with Rose in English flew straight into my mind. He'd burned his parents alive. I was unconsciously staring at him and he seemed to realise, throwing on an evil smile that really freaked the crap out of me. He leaned on the gas cooker next to him, his fingers tapping on the knob.
"Vasilisa, do you need the bathroom?" Ms. Carmack leaned over me. I glanced up at her, looking like a complete retard still crouching on the floor. I mentally slapped myself. Miles went into fits of laughter.
"Don't be stupid, Ms. Girls don't use the toilet."
"Miles, that is a foolish thing to say. You boys have a warped idea of what girls are. Vasilisa is a human being, like the rest of us. And yes she has to use the bathroom just as you do."
There was an uproar of laughter. Please, just let the floor open up and eat me.
"Now, Vasilisa, what is the matter?"
"Nothing, I just…" I squeaked shyly. She took hold of my spoon and started pouring in the flour herself.
"This is taking too long. If nothing is wrong, then stand up and do this properly."
I stood behind her as she did all my ingredients, feeling like a 3 year old who needed help with the simplest thing. Christian was 'as good as gold', with all his food measured and waiting with a bored expression for the next step. It was like the whole evil stare/cooker tapping thing never happened. Just then, he looked at me with an amused smirk that I wanted to scratch the hell off. There was no way I was going to let a boy, let alone one as creepy and messed up as him, try to scare me. I shot back my own form of scary-Mary eyes. He kept his gaze on me as if it were a no blinking match, then looked away with that arrogant smirk still plastered on his face. I took that as surrender.
Baking the cake was pretty easy. Mix the ingredients and put into the oven. I thought it was straight forward until it I heard some ferocious giggles on the table beside me. One of the laughing girls caught me watching.
"Shh! Don't tell Carmack." She pointed to the ceiling, where yellowy gloop was splattered, threatening to drip off.
"Oh my gosh, Camille. What if she sees?" The other went into another laughing frenzy. It took only a few seconds for their laughter to stop when they saw Christian. Camille gave me cold look while the other girl showed more sympathy. Rose was right about the whole avoiding Christian thing.
The oven bleeper went off and I went to get my cakes. A wave of hot air blew out of the oven when I opened it, after wafting the air for a bit I reached for my cake.
Two hard hands grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me back. I toppled over, into the legs of Christian.
"What the hell?" I whispered, too shocked to talk. "Get off me you freak!"
His face changed from a comfortable blankness that I had never seen on him into the usual hatred and scorn. His crystal blue eyes pierced through me and I felt a strange surge of sadness.
"Are you really suicidal or plain stupid?" He spat out in a hushed tone that sent chills down my spine. He grabbed something off the counter and threw it next to me. "Oven mitts."
Oh. I had completely forgotten to put the mitts on. If Christian hadn't saved—cliché, I know, but true—me I would have burned my hands and the metal cake tins.
I could literally see the regret and guilt floating in the air, black and thick and churning, then swooping down seeping into me. Poisoning.
Christian had sauntered off in the corner with an aura filled with everything bad. Hate. Loneliness. Rejection.
Inside of me, I felt something break. The yearning to take all the badness away filled me, bursting out of each and every cell I had. A thin layer of tears surfaced my eyes. I couldn't do anything. There was nothing I could do to make it better.
Getting up off the floor, for the second time today, I took out my cakes. They hadn't risen well and looked a little stodgy. Christian still hadn't come back and didn't look as if he would, so I took out his cakes too. They were perfect. Golden and fluffy. The sides weren't even burnt.
I stood staring at his cakes, hoping the sick feeling of shame would go down. I had treated Christian just how everyone else had, like he was the plague. I didn't even know him. I just believed the rumours. Christian didn't have to stop me getting my cakes but he did. An evil monster, like everyone had believed he was, wouldn't do that. Evil doesn't do things like that.
Maybe Rose wasn't right after all.
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! Virtual chocolate Easter eggs for everyone who reviews! And who can say no to chocolate? :)
