Hey! I'm back! Haven't been able to update everyone since graduation but I'm here now. Hope you haven't forgotten me. Anyway, here's Chapter Four for all of my lovely readers. I hope you like what you read!
Enjoy ^^
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Chapter Four: Friends and Enemies
"Not all friendly faces turn out to be your friends." Entry 20
We only had to make it to the building next to the girl's housing to reach the party, but for some reason it took much longer to arrive than the two minutes I'd estimated. As soon as we'd made it past the electric eyes off the girl in the waiting room, we'd run into two blonde teens outside of the boy's housing. One was tall with beautiful sea foam eyes. His hair was an odd combination of a mullet and Mohawk. The other was much shorter, and obviously younger, with lighter, fairer hair, which draped into sky blue eyes.
"Whoa," Lasey said too low for either of them to hear. "They're kind of hot."
"Lasey was looking at the younger one obviously," Jessica said matter-of-factly.
"What was that?" Her eyes had gotten wide and were ready to kill.
"I'm just joking." She placed her hands up defensively. "But really, they are cute. Right Jojo?" She looked at me expectantly.
"I guess," I admitted. I looked up to see the two boys walking toward us.
"Hey," the tall blonde greeted. He stopped directly in front of me, blocking any advancement to the party. "Are you guys going to the party too?"
"Yes we are," Lasey said pushing past him. "Now if you'll excuse us."
"That's cool. We got invited by some redhead named Shawn."
"Really?" Jessica asked stopping in front of the smaller blonde. "Shawn invited you? I thought Stephen set up the party."
"Stephen knows," the small blonde said, speaking up for the first time. "He said a few of us from Oblivion High could come as long as word didn't get out."
"That makes sense," Lasey said coming back toward us. "I'm Lasey." She held out her hand to the tall blonde.
He took it. "Myde. It's hard to pronounce but easy to spell." He let her hand fall and gestured toward the smaller blonde. "This is Sora. He's like my baby brother." Sora looked up at the older teen and glared.
"You treat me like a little kid all the time. You're what… two years older than me?" He stepped back and crossed his arms. Myde had a look of shock on his face.
"Sorry," he apologized. "And it's more like four years." Suddenly his attention turned toward me. "Anyways… You are?" He extended his hand to me.
"Jojo," I said taking the gesture hesitantly. He was very polite but I didn't know him to trust him with any of my information.
"She's new," Jessica said for me. "I'm Jessica."
"Well, it's nice to meet you ladies," Myde said. "We should head in though." He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the boy's boarding house. It was identical to its sister building except for the fact that it was completely decorated for the occasion. We all nodded in agreement and headed for the door of the building.
"So you guys are from Oblivion High?" Lasey asked.
"Actually," Myde explained. "We're more like transfers there." Lasey and Jess looked at each other thoroughly confused. "We were just enrolled into that school like two weeks ago. When some kid came up to us on the street the other day and asked us to come, it was nice knowing we'd get a chance to meet some kids from another school. I didn't know at the time he went to Destiny High. I mean that school is run off of charity right?"
His comment seemed to make Lasey and Jess really upset. "What's that supposed to mean?" Lasey snapped.
"He means," Sora explained, "that he's glad it was Destiny High." I looked at Sora, who had stopped next to me. "The fact that everyone in that school has gone though some hardship and survived… it's really great to know that people with such strength can still be found in this world." Lasey, over her sudden anger, was staring at the small blonde. She had a strange expression on her face in which I couldn't identify.
"We really should go in," Jess suggested pushing her way to the front of our small group. She sped up the walkway and rang the doorbell. When there was no answer, she knocked hard.
Her hand raised, about to knock again, when Stephen opened the door. He stared right past her and stared at me. He smiled warmly before gesturing for us to come in. "I'm glad you could all make it." I tried not to look at him as I passed, but couldn't help it. He was still staring at me. "Decided to come after all, huh?" he whispered in my ear when he was close enough. I shuddered at how close he'd become. Quickly I followed Jessica and Lasey, not wanting to be left alone with him. I'd have to watch myself around that boy.
...xXxXx...
We'd been at the party for almost two full hours before I wanted to leave. During that time Lasey, Jessica and Stephen brought person after person up to meet me. Several others, including my sister and the boy, Jonathan, from earlier, were also on display. While my sister loved all of the attention she was receiving, Jonathan and I each had a look of exasperation on our faces.
We sat together on a sofa awaiting the next round of classmates and housing members. "Bet you wish you could just leave," he said talking to me for the first time. I looked over to him in astonishment. This was the first time he'd spoken to me.
"A little," was all I replied. "Sorry about earlier. Bumping into you I mean."
He looked at me with not much interest before speaking again. "Don't be. I'm Jonathan. Or Jon if you prefer." He stuck out his hand to me.
"Jomaris," I said taking his outstretched hand. "Or Jojo."
"I figured getting dragged off to a party your first day in a new place has got to be kind of intimidating. Or at least a bit annoying." The way he spoke made me believe that was how he was feeling. He looked away toward a few kids hanging around in a corner with DS's in hand.
"How long have you been at the home?" I asked. The girls seemed to have a good feel about this boy, but he was obviously somewhat new to the place being a 'guest of honor' and all.
"Me? I was put here about a week ago. A few of my friends and I were evacuated from base nine after the earthquake along with some people from base ten. They've been here longer though. My first stop was a nearby hospital."
"Wow," I said. "I would have thought you'd been here longer than that."
"Why's that?" He glanced at me quickly, but diverted his eyes away just as fast.
"The girls I was with earlier seemed to know you. I guess I just assumed…"
"That's the thing. Everyone around here just assumes things. They never ask." The air around us seemed to tense greatly.
"Sorry," I apologized. He looked at me with a somber look in his eyes. "I didn't mean to." I quickly scanned the room looking for either Jessica or Lasey wanting to be relieved of the tension. "I should go find the others," I said getting up quickly. As I did, I ran straight into another person. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
"Whoa," the person exclaimed, catching my arm before I could fall. "You okay?" I looked up at the boy in front of me. He had short-cropped hair; black like coal with a bright sheen to it. His eyes focused on me for a moment making sure I was all right before turning to Jonathan.
"What are you doing?" Jonathan asked the boy. He stood up and took the boys place in steadying me. "I thought you were with—"
"Kristina and Cyrah?" the boy finished, crossing his arms. "Yeah, but it turns out being surrounded by girls isn't necessarily a good thing." I was confused. I had no idea who or what they were talking about and I didn't think it would be polite to interrupt them to ask at the moment. Dark eyes focused on my again. "Who's this?" he asked pointing his chin at me.
"Jojo," Jonathan responded letting go of my arm. "I bumped into her on the way back from school." He glanced down at me with eyes that yelled you really ARE a clumsy person.
"Oh. You're the newest resident to the home," the boy stated then stuck out his hand. Attentively I shook it. "I guess it's always nice to meet someone new. I'm Bradley by the way, Jon's friend from base nine. We came here together. More of less." Jonathan nodded and seemed to be in thought, his previous edgy mood gone.
"You guys were stuck with the snow too, right?" I asked recalling the news report that morning after Darius had spent the night. The thought of Darius made my chest hurt.
"Yeah," Jon said. He moved away to sit back down on the couch. "Were you going somewhere?" he asked in return. Bradley plopped down on the seat next to him. He had pulled out a small rectangular game from a pocket. It then occurred to me that he was one of the kids standing in the corner a not that long ago.
"Actually, I was—"
"Jonathan!" a shrill voice said from behind me, cutting me off. I saw Jonathan roll his eyes and look away from whoever it was before turning toward the voice. There stood two girls dressed in clothes similar in color but completely different in style. The taller, and clearly older girl, stood closer to us with both hands on her hips. Her semi-short burgundy hair rested lightly on her neck as her bright brown eyes glared past me toward the boys sitting down. "I told you to tell me when you decided to talk to her," she started. "I was going to introduce everyone."
The girl behind the first sighed and turned to stare at something in another direction. She had pretty, brown hair that billowed down to about her shoulder blades. She also had impossibly dark brown eyes that seemed to reflect all sorts of light.
"You were busy talking to Patterson over there," Jonathan replied with a wave of his hand indicating where she and 'Patterson' had been prior. "But I guess you're here now so go ahead." He let his gaze fix on a group of smaller children playing a game a half a dozen yards away. They all seemed so happy together.
"I will," she agreed and turned her attention to me. The smile she gave me was warm and bright. "Hi," she said in a hyperactive tone. "I'm Kristina, Jon's sister. But not really. We just say that because we're close."
"She started it," I heard him mutter his breath.
"You call me your sister too, so shut up."
"Fine," He said quickly putting up his hand defensively. A humored smirk crossed his face but he said nothing more.
"Anyways," Kristina continued. "This is Cyrah. My little sister, but not really." She tugged on the sleeve of the younger girl's sweatshirt to bring her close. Cyrah in turn put up a hand to wave. She smiled a small smile. "She's not normally this quiet. Once she does start talking to you, it'll be impossible to stop her." The boys each let out a soft chuckle catching Kristina's attention.
"What are you laughing at?" she snapped only making the boys laugh harder. They were obviously a lively bunch.
"Hey!" a new voice called from behind me. I turned around to see a girl with long flowing brown hair. So richly brown that it looked almost black. There was a tint of what looked blue there too. "Cy, have you seen Jess?" Cyrah shook her head no. "I knew she'd disappear." Her gaze suddenly fell upon me. "Who's this?"
"This is Jojo," Kristina volunteered. "The new student staying at the home."
"Oh," the new girl exclaimed. "I've seen her sister around here somewhere." She looked behind herself at a group of small children playing a game. Serene was among them. "She's cute."
"Yeah," I agreed. I always thought my sister was adorable, but I also thought that was only because she was my sister that I thought that.
"You came with Jess and Lasey right?" I nodded. "Come help me find them then." Without a moment's hesitation, I went to her side. "I'm Jazmin by the way," she said and held out her hand to me.
I took it. "Jojo," I replied. The name was coming more natural to me now.
"Well, I guess we should check the rec room. Jess like games." Without saying a word, I followed behind her silently. The recreation room was huge. There was a pool table, arcade games, big flat screen television sets on the walls, gaming systems of all sorts, stereos in every corner and loads of people gathered.
We spotted Jessica on the other side of the room talking to a tall redhead. We pushed our way to where the two were talking. The redhead's gaze fell upon us as we approached. He smiled brightly at us. "Hi." He greeted. He had a small triangle on each of his cheeks.
"Hi," Jazmin replied. She looked at the boy for a moment before asking, "Have we met somewhere before?"
"I don't think so," the redhead said, though his expression was somewhat analytical as well. "I'm Lea. L-E-A. Got it memorized?"
"I'm Jazmin," she said. "I had a brother named Lea before. You resemble him a little." The boy's face seemed to twist slightly then relax. "Anyway this is Jojo." She jabbed a finger at me.
"Nice to meet you both." He stuck out his hand to each of us in turn before stepping away quickly. "I'd love to stay and chat but I have to find some friends of mine." With a wave, he was gone.
Jazmin and I were both looking in the direction he went when Jessica spoke. "What are you guys doing here?"
Jazmin turned her attention back to the small brunette next to us. "Stephen said something about finding to so you can help him with an announcement."
"Oh! I forgot about that," Jessica exclaimed.
"Forgot about what?" I asked turning my attention back to her as well.
She just smiled and said, "You'll see."
...xXxXx...
Jessica and Jazmin led me back to the room where I'd talked to the kids from base nine. They had ditched the corner and the sofa and were playing a card game with several other kids. There, I was introduced to several more people it was 'important I remember.' Eight in all. The four girls were Tionna, Janay, Kaydie, and Amber. The boys were Edgar, Carlos, Brian, and Julio. I doubted I would remember everyone by the next day, but so far, I was doing fairly well.
Several kids were being led to a small platform by time I was being introduced to people. I spotted my sister among them and two others who were new to the home. "It's time already?" Jessica asked from behind me. "Come with me," she said and pulled me along toward the stage.
"What are we doing?" I asked. Lasey waved from where she was sitting with the two blondes from earlier.
"Stephen is going to make an announcement and needs all the new kids to be present."
We stopped on the platform long enough for her to position me next to Jonathan and my sister. "Stay here, okay? I'll be back once the announcement is over." I nodded and she walked away.
"You look extremely uncomfortable," Jonathan said. He was looking straight ahead but talking to me all the same.
"I don't like being put on the spot like this," I admitted.
"We don't have to do anything, you know."
I knew. Nevertheless, knowing didn't help the anxiety that was building within. It had been a problem since I was young. Just knowing people were looking at me made it hard for me to breathe.
"If I could have everyone's attention for just a few moments," Stephen began. The overhead light grew brighter and all eyes seemed to focus on the boy. "As most of you know, the remaining two bases have been cleared of all inhabitants. There are, as of this moment, no one left in any of them. Not even a dead body remains." With a sweeping motion, he gestured to our little group of newbie's. "These are the last new residents from the destruction the home will be taking in. These nine will be the last survivors. With all of our effort, we will make them feel as welcomed as we have felt." There was a loud applause as he finished his sentence.
Just as the applause died down, the lights went out. It was pitch black in the home. Serene clutched my arm tightly. There was obvious chaos all about
"Somebody please get the backup lights!" Stephen shouted from his spot on the platform.
Within two minutes, the lights were back on, but something was wrong. Of the two hundred or so students or so that had previously occupied the room, less than forty remained. Surrounding the room were tall gray creatures with a sort of insignia on their foreheads.
"What the hell are those things!" someone shouted from the floor. The small crowd on the floor started moving toward the platform in effort to get away from the creatures. I spotted Lasey, looking like she was about to hit one of them, and Jonathan's friends from earlier, huddled together.
A fire suddenly came ablaze in the middle of the room. I grabbed hold of Jonathan's sleeve as the fear that had been building inside me finally bubbled out. He, however, stared straight ahead at the fire completely unfazed. "If everyone would please calm down," a deep and stern voice shouted through the commotion, "our little visit will soon be over and done." The noise immediately died down.
I stared in the direction of the fire, the general area I believed the voice was coming from. Behind the fire, standing in the only doorway of the room was a tall figure with flowing silver hair. His expression was blank as he snapped his fingers causing the fire in the room to disperse. The man then stepped forward into the room. He wore a long black coat with matching gloves and boots.
"Who are you?" Stephen asked stepping down off the platform and in front of the crowd. "I don't recall inviting you to this gathering."
"You didn't," the man said simply. "But here I am. And now that I have arrived it is time to take what I came for." He snapped his fingers and thirteen black holes appeared around the room forming a sort of arch. A person seemed to be rising out of each one. All were dressed identical to the first man with the black coat, boots, and gloves. One by one the shadowy figures stepped from the hole as it closed behind them. "Shall we begin?"
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the others.
Review and tell me what you think! ^^
