This whole thing is coming along rather slowly and it's sort of starting to irritate me. Part of me wants to jump ahead and just get to the good stuff but that would leave plot holes and that just can't happen. I do have to establish the relationships between certain characters so just bear with me, I guess.
Skipping ahead a couple of years here…
Cado Pro Suus
-Seven Years After Enrollment, October, Dusklit Park-
Most of the leaves had fallen off the trees by the end of September but the few that still clung were old, brown, and withered. The leaves on the ground, however, danced in the chill autumn wind, spinning in flashes of red, orange, yellow, and dark violet. It was a glourious sight, one of natures most gorgeous dances, but the four seventeen year old companions walking down the sidewalk that wove through Dusklit Park were more interested in their converstation.
"You're telling me that you—Thomas Majors, the class flirt—!"
"Hey!"
"You're telling me that you don't have a date to the Halloween Dance!?" Sarah gave a short burst of laughter that cracked the crisp air.
"And what's so funny about that?" Tom snapped back, ducking his head down to avoid a gust of wind, "You don't have a date either!"
"Yeah, well, neither do Peyton or Kaz!" Sarah turned to look over her shoulder at the two other boys, "Why don't you guys have dates yet?"
Kaz shoed his face into the upturned collar of his sweeping black trench coat and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "none of your buisness." Peyton didn't say anything and merely smiled at Sarah.
"If you're so eager for me to get a girl, fine!" Tom looked around wildly, gaze flickering around at the few other people wandering through the park, and saw Krystella and Klay sitting on a bench, sharing a coffee, "Hey! Krystella!" The dark haired girl looked up with a glare, "Want to go to the Halloween Dance with me!?" Krystella's eyebrows rose slowly and she had a quick, whispered conversation with Klay. Then she nodded, "See! I can get a girl!" Tom faced Sarah again with a triumphant grin that quickly fell away, "What?"
Sarah had stopped walking and was looking at Tom with cold hurt etched clearly into her pretty face. She shook her head at him, eyes sparkling, turned on her heel, and walked away as quickly as she could without running. The wind grabbed at her golden hair as she turned a corner of trees and disappeared from view.
"What's with her?" Krystella had appeared besde Tom, looping her arm through his with a whisper of a smile on her lips.
"Dunno." Tom shrugged, utter confusion flickering in his eyes as he looked off to where Sarah had vanished, "Say, wanna go hang out somewhere?"
"Sure." And they drifted off together. It looked wrong somehow. Klay stood up, coffee in hand, gave Kaz the finger and sneer to go with it, and left as well.
Kaz rolled his eyes and turned to tell Peyton he thought everyone was acting up but the other boy was looking downtrodden. His gaze was fixed on the sidewalk and, after a moment of silence, he shuffled off with his head down and his hands in his pockets. Kaz was left alone in the chilly fall wind. He'd never seen Peyton act like that before.
"Well, thanks a ton guys." The Goth scowled when he realized no one was coming back to hang out with him, "Nice to know I'm loved too." He stomped down the path, too annoyed to pay attention to the dancing leaves. Or to where he was going. He almost ran into someone coming the opposite way.
"Oh, sor—Mercy!" Kaz's words got stuck in his throat and his face felt warm despite the cold air.
"Hey Kaz." She wasn't looking at him but rather at her hands.
"Um...eh..." Kaz tried to remeber what it was exactly he was going to say her but his mind was completely blank.
"I was looking for you." Mercy's voice was solid but her hands were shaking with nerves, "I...I wanted to...to ask you...to ask you if—."
"Mercy, would you go to the dance with me?" Kaz blurted out and his coat suddenly felt tight and hot. He shifted uncomfortably.
Mercy was staring at him as though trying to process exactly what he'd said. Then her face turned pink and she smiled,
"Yeah."
Kaz nearly swooned as he felt a grin split his face. Mercy wove her fingers in Kaz's and they continued down the sidewalk. Kaz felt like he was floating rather walking.
"So, what're you going as?" Now that the big question was out of the way, Mercy seemed to have settled back into her usual demenor.
"I...um...I hadn't really...thought about it."
"I can have a friend of mine make a costume for you."
"Tiffany?"
"Tiffany couldn't sew to save her life, no offense to her. No, the one I'm talking about is Jo-Jo."
"And she sews?"
"He."
"What?"
"Jo-Jo's a boy. He's a couple of years older than me and he's a Public but," Mercy shrugged, "He's cool. In fact," She smiled as Kaz, "He's a little like you."
"How so?" Kaz just managed to squeeze the words out, swept away as he was by Mercy's smile.
"Well, he likes to draw a lot but that's mainly fashion stuff. And he's kind of funny. Oh," Mercy suddenly turned red, "But he's also...um...gay."
"What!?" Kaz balked. The happy, floating feeling suddenly departed and he was rudely slammed back to Earth, "Y-you think I'm…gay!?"
"No!" Mercy cried, looking upset. She yanked her hand from his and wrung it together with her other hand in a disconcerted fashion, "Jo-Jo…I only meant that as s difference!" She looked at the ground, even redder than before, "I'm sorry, Kaz."
"No, I…" Kaz thought his face probably matched Mercy's by now, "It's not your fault. I misunderstood you. Everything cool?"
In answer, Mercy smiled, reached up, and kissed him on the cheek.
-October, Rowan Drive, The Goswillow Home-
Kaz was still in a pleasant daze when Mercy knocked on the door of a tan colored, two storied house in the suburbs just along the park. The door opened and a woman with curly brown hair that had fashionable streaks of gray in it smiled at them.
"Mercy!" Her voice was low but sweet, "How are you? And who's your handsome friend?" Kaz was too stupefied to react.
"Mrs. Goswillow, this is Kaz." Mercy's grip tightened on his hand and Kaz grinned goofily, head in the clouds, "He needs a costume for the Halloween Dance and I was wondering if Jo-Jo would help."
"Oh, I'm sure he'll love to help you." The woman, probably Jo-Jo's mother, smiled again and let them inside, "Joseph so does love his sewing."
Mercy led Kaz through a spacious living room and up a flight of carpeted stairs. She stopped outside a white door with a neat little sign painted in black lettering that read "Joseph's Room." She rapped her knuckles on the door and it opened, revealing a tall, skinny boy with curly, dark brown hair and small hazel eyes.
"Heeeyyyyy! It's Mercy!" Jo-Jo bent down and squeezed the girl into a hug, "Long time, no see, Girlie!" Then he noticed Kaz staring at him with glazed brown eyes and whispered, "This one yours, Mercy?"
"Um…I…well, I…guess so." Mercy flushed pink.
"Hey there, laddie, I'm Jo-Jo!" The older boy held out a hand and Kaz reacted on good manners and instinct alone. Jo-Jo grabbed him into a hug that lifted even the lanky Kaz off his feet. And also snapped him out of his daze.
"Whoa! Hey! What!?" Jo-Jo set Kaz back on the floor with a burst of laughter like the ringing of tiny bronze bells, "Oh, uh, yeah…hi, I'm Kaz." He rubbed the back of his neck to hide his embarrassment.
"Come in, come in!" Jo-Jo ushered them into his room, "And sit anywhere you like!" Kaz looked around. The room's walls were painted a beautiful blue, like the sky on a clear day, the ceiling was pure white, and the cream carpet was thin underfoot. A bed piled with rumpled sheets was in a corner, a computer sat on a small desk against the same wall, and a large closet; probably walk in by the looks of it; was partially open. The rest of the room was taken up by piles of fabric, sketches of clothing designs, a huge desk where a box of pins, scissors, and some fabric lay, and a rather new looking sewing machine. Just to be safe, Kaz and Mercy sat on the bed while Jo-Jo plopped himself into his computer chair.
"So Kazzy-boy, Mercy tells me you're an artist, eh?" Jo-Jo grinned, "I'd like to see your stuff sometime, she tells me it's really goooooood!" Kaz stared at the carpet, embarrassed again, "Alright, alright, I'll quit picken'! What brings you here to the Privates, anyway?"
"Kaz needs a costume for the Halloween Dance that's coming up," Mercy said without hesitation, "I was hoping you'd make one for him like you did for me."
Jo-Jo made a dramatic gesture, throwing his hand across his forehead in a Shakespeare-ian sort of way, "Mercy, darling," He drawled with a fact accent, "You ask too much of me!" Kaz sniggered. Jo-Jo arched an eyebrow at him, "Oooooohhh, think it's funny do you? On your feet!"
The next hour or so was spent with Jo-Jo taking measurements and discussing ideas with Mercy and Kaz feeling completely out of place in his dark clothing in this bright room. They stayed for lunch and had some of Mrs. Goswillow's wonderful meatloaf and then Jo-Jo locked Kaz out of his room so he could finalize everything with Mercy.
"It's going to be a surprise!" The older boy assured him with a pat on the shoulder, "And you'll love it! Trust me!" And he winked and shut the door.
Kaz slouched down against the wall in the hallway at the top of the stairs. Well, now would be the perfect opportunity to sort out everything that had happened. It had happened so fast…
Tom had asked Krystella to the Halloween Dance (why anyone would ask someone like her anywhere was a mystery to him) and Sarah had…Sarah had what. Kaz frowned, trying to scrounge up a memory of the earlier events. Sarah had looked upset about the whole thing. But why would Sarah care who Tom went out with? She'd said herself that Tom was nothing but an egotistical, stuck-up flirt.
And then there was the way Peyton had been acting.
Peyton was the most optimistic and up-beat person Kaz knew. Sure, Peyton could get really nasty if you got on his bad side but he was friendly and charismatic and got along with pretty much everyone. But he'd actually looked depressed. What had caused that?
Kaz couldn't figure it so he moved on to something else: how he felt about Mercy.
There was no denying it, he liked her. But how much he couldn't say. He felt like he was wandering in a beautiful field of flowers where if you brushed up against the wrong flower, it would grab you and suck the marrow from your bones.
Kaz shuddered, What a pleasant thought… Then he frowned, drawing his knees up to his chin and wrapping his arms around his ankles, And what about those dreams? They stopped for a while and now they're back, clearer than ever. He put a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes, and dug into the far reaches of his mind to retrieve his most recent night visions. But even those were hazy.
He recalled peering into a room in the darkness of night with the feeling he should be in bed and staring at the back of some monstrous red beast with dark spikes running down its back and thick, spiked tail. But there had been something about the way the monster had been leaning over the table, shoulders hunched, that had made him feel sad.
Kaz opened his eyes and stared at his palm as thought it would have the answer he was looking for. To no avail. That had been his clearest dream; the sharpest images and the most prominent feelings. Kaz had felt as though he was looking at another world through another person's eyes.
And it scared him.
"Kaz?" The boy jumped and looked up. Mercy was standing over him with a bundle in her arms, "Are you okay?"
"Huh? Um, yeah, sorry. Why?" He stood up and stretched his hands over his head until he heard his spine give a satisfying "pop."
"You had a really weird look on your face."
"Oh…um…I was…thinking about stuff and I—."
"That's your costume, Kazzy-boy!" Jo-Jo came bounding out of the room and slung an arm around Kaz's shoulders, indicating the bundle Mercy held, "Perfect thing you! I swear it!" He smiled and Kaz forced one in return, "I'll see you two loverbirds around, eh? Right? You'll come visit me, huh?"
After they had assured Jo-Jo that they would visit him again after the Halloween Dance, Mercy and Kaz left Rowan Drive and headed back for Dusklit Park. It was getting dark and they had to make it back to campus before time was up or face detention at the hands of Mrs. Saline.
Kaz flashed his keycard against the computer at the gate and the two stepped through, heading for the dorms. They stopped at the iron fence separating the two buildings and looked at one another. Kaz had his costume under one arm. With his free hand he slowly reached up and brushed some of Mercy's beautiful mahogany hair from her face. She blushed and smiled.
"Do you wanna hang out again tomorrow?" She asked in a soft voice.
"Sure, uh, yeah." Kaz suddenly remembered something, "Oh, but Tom, Sarah, Peyton, and I were all going to the arcade because, well, we always go to the arcade on Sunday. " the he remembered something else, "Actually, it just might be you and me…"
"Why?" Kaz didn't answer, "Kaz, you can tell me what's wrong."
Kaz chewed on his lip. He'd been keeping things to himself lately; he hadn't talked to Tom or anyone else about the dreams in almost three years. He didn't want to argue with his best friends.
"Kaz," Mercy put a hand on his arm and he melted under her touch, "You can talk to me. I'm right here, for you."
It was corny, but coming from her it didn't seem to matter. Kaz spilled out the story of what had happened in the park earlier that day, unable to explain the cold sensation that turned his heart, and even told her about his dreams. Mercy was silent for a few moments and Kaz was sure she was going to laugh at him or roll her eyes and call him crazy but she just said,
"I don't know how to explain your dreams, Kaz, sorry. But," She hid a smile that Kaz frowned at because he didn't understand what was so funny, "No, I'm sorry, I can't say!"
"Hey, what!?"
"This is something between you guys," Mercy said firmly, still smiling at him, "You four need to figure it out for yourself. It's what siblings do" And she pecked him on the cheek and skipped off.
"We're not exactly…siblings." Kaz murmured to himself as he fumbled with key to his room. The spot on his cheek felt hot but his eyelids were heavy and he wandered into the room just as darkness fell. After setting his costume safely in the dresser in his room, he scanned around for Tom. But Tom wasn't in the kitchen or the living room so Kaz knocked on his best friend's door. There was a muffled thump, a high-pitched yelp, and the door opened just a crack so that Kaz could see Tom's blazing blue eyes and messy black hair. It looked messier than usual.
"Hey…Kaz…" Tom's words were slightly slurred, probably because he'd been asleep.
"Um, Tom, I just wanted to make sure you were okay about—."
"I'm fine…" Tom closed his eyes and made an odd grunt like he was stretching. A small crack, "Sorry, my leg fell asleep." He blinked blearily and grinned, "You goin' to bed?"
"Nah, I'll watch some TV. See you in the morning."
"Yeah…" The door closed sharply and Kaz rolled his eyes, walking over to sit down on the couch with a heavy thud. He flicked through several channels before settling on one he liked.
Translations: Cado Pro Suus- Fallen For Her
And that's where we're going to end it for now. It's not the best ending in the world but if I kept going then this chapter would be too long.
Soooooooo, how many of you are all "FINALLY!!" about the whole KazxMercy thing? (gigglesnort) They're just so cute together!
Dude, I just thought of something! If Tom and the gang learned to walk through those time tunnels (the ones from "Out of Time") correctly, they might be able to use that to see what the M'Arrilians are planning and stop them! ……Yeah, like they'd ever think of that on their own…
Wow, talk about ranting.
Well anyway, thank you all so much for reading and please keep doing so! I hope you're enjoying this! And please keep up all those wonderful reviews! Sorry, I can't answer all your questions, otherwise I'd ruin the story! But those reviews are awesome! Please keep it up! Reviews bring more chapters and help me think of something witty to type here! XD
