My account is being really weird... I won't go into details but it's one of the reasons this chapter took a little longer to get up. Another reason is also that I write a bunch of stories without posting them :3 I write them because I love writing and I just need to see my ideas in front of me, taking form, but I don't post because it's too difficult to handle any more stories. So at the moment I have an X-Men FF and another Wrriors FF that won't be posted until my current fanfics are completed:) They'll be great though, I promise.
ONCE AGAIN, REVIEW REPLIES WILL BE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER JUST SO THERE ISN'T SO MUCH TO SCROLL THROUGH!
I stared at the body with a mixture of horror and confusion.
So many questions were running through my mind that I literally thought I was going to have a meltdown if I didn't get some answers. First off, why was there a dead body. Secondly, who was it? And finally, WHAT IS GOING ON?!
Okay, the scientists doing experiments on us is a good reason for all this chaos and maybe they decided to throw in another variable, just for the heck of it. But that only brought up more questions like where they got the body in the first place. The bones looked old and if I were a scientist, I wouldn't just go around dumping ancient bones on random islands for giggles.
Maybe when you donate your body to science, that means you're allowing this to happen? Ugh, I am unregistering for that program.
"Whose body is it?" Duncan asked.
We had laid the body out so it was lying on dry rock. If it had flesh and stuff, it'd look like it was sunbathing.
"I can't tell. It's a male though and clearly an adult," I answered. At that moment, all the things I learned from watching too much Bones started coming back to me. I leaned down and picked up his skull and moved it around in my hands, trying to find any hint about what had happened to this man. "Judging by the rate of decomposition, he's been dead for a few years. Maybe around five to ten?"
"How do you know that?" Duncan frowned.
I rolled my eyes and lied through my teeth. "Duncan, please, I took a forensic anthropology over summer. Learning about decomposition is the basics. Seriously, you should get out more." That was a complete lie. I've never taken a forensic anthropology course in my life; I don't even know if those are a thing!
But I'm not about to let Duncan know that.
"Well then what else can you tell me?" Duncan challenged, crossing his arms. "Oh wise one."
I huffed and studied the bones a little more closely. "Let's see... he doesn't have any nicks or breaks in his bones so my guess is that he drowned. Or killed himself. Either way, he's dead now and part of this crazy experiment."
Duncan's blue eyes widened. "So you still think this is just another part of our 'scientists theory?' That this guys just donated his body to science and this is what became of him?"
I shrugged. "Well what other explanation is there? This island is clearly unexplored and I doubt this guy was just a random person, living life to the fullest on some strange, messed up island. This has to be just another variable in the plan, to see how we react in a life or death situation. It has to be."
Duncan still looked uneasy and I completely understood. The 'mad scientists testing on teenagers' was a longshot to begin with and throwing in a skeleton didn't help either. All we could do was try to figure this entire thing out before they threw in another variable; one that could be fatal. "Look, why don't you just study the bones and I'll grab us something to eat, okay?"
"Ugh yeah, no more fish for me," I winced, rubbing my stomach. "I'm not eating anything that came out of the water now."
"What about one of the ones in the forest?" There were plenty of small lakes and streams around our little path to the berry patches. That's how we weren't dying of dehydration; we were drinking from the streams. Let's just hope there isn't any dead bodies floating around at the top of the mountain.
"I guess those are fine. I mean, I have to drink something," I sighed, wrinkling my nose.
"See you Princess," Duncan saluted and started marching away, only to stop and turn around with a quizzical look on his face. "By the way, what made you start liking Princess?"
My face fell when I remembered the dream. My parents thought I was a failure, Duncan thought I was nothing, and even my on-again-off-again friend thought I was nothing more than scum on the bottom of her shoe. "I'll, uh, tell you later."
Duncan narrowed his eyes. "I'm holding you to that." Thankfully, he left.
I picked up each bone, one at a time and started examining them. I found a some small fractures in the guy's knees and on his fingers. It looked like he once had a broken arm that healed before he died. Other than that, he was pretty much spotless. Well, a few missing teeth but other than that, he was fine. Nothing stood out to me that screamed murder.
The thing that struck me most about him though was that he wasn't wearing any clothes, other than some destroyed, once leather, boots and a rusted compass around his neck. That means he must have been wearing all biodegradable clothing like wool or cotton. I just couldn't ever imagine an entire outfit being completely biodegradable.
Lot's of fabrics today are mixed so not everything would be 100% cotton or wool. Sometimes it's mixed with synthetic fabrics like polyester. And if it was a man, he'd probably have things like elastics in his boxers or even a zipper on his jacket or pants that wouldn't break down. There's obviously the possibility that he was wearing a completely eco-friendly outfit but it's just hard to believe that anyone in the 21st century would wear only a certain kind of fabric, let alone a kind that would break down in about five years.
I played around with the bones a little more and even banged one on a rock a bit. It small piece chipped off. If you drank a little more milk when you were alive then maybe your bones wouldn't be so brittle...
"Hey, what'd you find out?" I glanced up to see it was Duncan, walking towards me with a handful of berries and a big leaf, filled with water. I put the bone down and rinsed my hands off in the water so I could eat my food without getting dead guy on my berries.
"Not much. He only wore cotton, his bones are brittle so that means rigor mortis set in before he dies. Other than that-"
"Wait, wait, wait, what did you just say?" Duncan laughed and I pulled a face.
"Rigamortis set in before he died?"
Duncan burst out laughing and even rolled on the ground a little. Finally, when he caught his breath, he managed to yell out, "I know something science-y that you don't!"
My face turned red and my hands formed fists. "What are you talking about, ogre?"
"Rigor mortis is when your body goes stiff after you die!" Duncan laughed and I scowled when I realized he was right. Even then, I was Princess Courtney, and I was not going to admit that I was wrong.
"No you imbecile, it means your bones get brittle. So if it sets in before he dies, he suffered from a lack of calcium and if it set in after he dies, it means the bacteria are slowly eating at his bones. Take a science class before you accuse me of not knowing something." Maybe I'm the one who should take an extra class.
"Whatever, darling, just admit that you're wrong and we can move on with our lives," Duncan smirked and brushed a pretend piece of flint off his shoulder. That only made me more determined to prove I was right.
"I won't admit I'm wrong when I know I'm right!" I snapped and crossed my arms. "Where do you even get your stupid information from?"
"The Addams Family song. You know, the one that's like, 'when you're an Addams..'" Duncan smirked.
I rolled my eyes. "So you're going to trust a children's TV show over a girl who got the highest mark in her biology class?" Also a lie, I was actually a close second to Sheldon Tanners. The only reason he beat me was because of that one time I was sick and missed an assignment. I tried getting my mark back up but the rat still beat me by the time the semester was over...
"Princess? You there?" I blinked a few times to see Duncan snapping in front of my face.
"I'm here! I was just thinking about something," I sighed and pushed his hand away from my face. "Anyway, that's all I got from the bones but it can't tell me anything else. We'll just have to try to get a few steps ahead of those scientists if we ever want to get off this island."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Duncan grinned and I blanked.
"Uh, no?"
Duncan's face fell. "Oh... well I was going to say that we should explore the rest of the island tomorrow. We explored the shoreline but now we have to go into the forest."
I gulped and looked at the forest in fear. As if on cue, a wolf started howling and I jumped a little closer to Duncan. When I looked up, I saw his eyes had softened and it reminded me of a time on Total Drama Island when he had looked at me for the first time like that. I pulled my self away from him and I swear I saw his face fall a little. I cleared my throat and pretended it never happened. "I want to figure out a little more about the skeleton and the random gifts we've ben getting before we run into the woods in search of some evil lair."
"Yeah, sure. In a few days we can go check out the forest and in the meantime, we'll figure out as much as we can with what we've got," Duncan offered and I nodded, relieved. I really did not want to go into those woods.
After I finished my supper, I faked a yawn and stretched my arms out. "Well, this is too much stress for one day, I'm going to go to sleep." I started walking away but froze when Duncan spoke up again.
"Not so fast. You have to tell me what's with the whole Courtney-Princess thing. Your mood swings confuse me and I can't take any more of it!" Duncan yelled, pulling at his freshly dyed mohawk. He really did put that hair dye to good use and may I say that he's looking as hot as ever!
Ugh, I can't believe I just thought that. I do not think Duncan is hot! Not his mohawk, or his piercings or the little bit of facial hair he has on his chin. I especially hate those icy blue eyes that you feel like you could fall into... or his abs... his beautiful face...
Okay, I'll admit it, he's hot. Whatever. Moving on.
"It was nothing, just a weird little dream that made me change my mind about the whole Princess thing," I lied easily. I started walking away again but this time, instead of his voice stopping me, it was his arms. They picked me up, bridal style and started carrying me in the opposite direction. "Duncan, what are you doing, you pig?"
"Tell me what the dream was about."
"No!"
"Tell me," Duncan argued as he reached the same ridge that Duncan used to fish off of. The same one where he found the skeleton. "Or I'll drop you in."
I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms. "You wouldn't."
"Wouldn't I?" he smirked. I could feel his grip starting to loosen so I grabbed handfuls of his black shirt and held on with iron grip. "You'd better tell me before my arms give out."
"It was nothing!" Lie.
"My arms sure are getting tired." His grip loosened even more and by then, I was clinging on for dear life. I did not want to get dropped in the shark infested, body dumping site! "I think I've only got a few more seconds-"
"Fine, I'll tell you!" I shrieked. "Just get me away from here!"
Duncan turned around and carefully placed me on the ground. "You have to tell the truth though, I know when you're lying. If you try lying, the first place you end up is the forest with the wolves and bears."
Another wolf howled and I shrunk back. Okay, maybe I should just give in and tell him the truth. Maybe he'll actually have something helpful to say.
So I told him everything, but instead of saying he rejected me, I used Scott's name. It was plausible, I mean, I was his girlfriend for two hours before I got dumped and Gwen dropped me as well. But even as I said the farm boy's name, I could tell Duncan knew it was a lie. Maybe he could tell when I was lying... Nah, I've gotten away with too much stuff for that!
When I finished, Duncan had a blank face on, like he was still figuring out everything I just said. "So, you're scared of rejection?"
I scoffed. "No! That's not what I said, it was just a stupid dream."
"But in your dream, your parents, Gwen, and 'Scott' rejected you. Believe it or not, I'm actually not a complete jerk and I know what you're going through. From what you say, you have a fear of not being good enough. Your parents put too much pressure on you and now you feel like you have to be perfect. That's why you're so uptight all the time!" Duncan said, grinning like he just uncovered a secret treasure or something.
"Okay, first, I am not uptight! And secondly, I never said my parents put too much pressure on me. You're picking up things that aren't there," I snapped, crossing my arms.
"Oh really? Sorry babe, but I've met your parents and they are about as stuck up as they come. Remember the time your Chemistry mark dropped below an 90%?"
I was laying on the couch, curled up to Duncan with a silly grin on my face. We were watching Monsters, Inc. and even though we both thought it was a little childish, we just wanted to be near each other. At the time, we thought nothing could break us up. Except my parents of course...
"COURTNEY!" I jumped off the couch to see Mother storm in with a piece of paper clutched in her hand. Father was close behind her with a furious scowl on his face. Mother slammed the paper down in front of me, on our mahogany coffee table. "Would you like to explain what this is?"
I gingerly grabbed the piece of paper to see it was my most recent report card. Duncan peered over my shoulder and scanned the marks. "I-it's my report card."
"Yes, but what about the marks on the report card! You have a 87 in Chemistry!" Father bellowed and Duncan glanced at me like he didn't get what the big deal was.
"What's so bad about that? I only have a 66% and she's still on honor roll," he shrugged and I wanted to slap him. That was not the words to calm my parents down!
"Because Duncan," Mother spat his name like venom, "Courtney has never gotten below a 90 and this completely ruins her average. How do you expect to get into any colleges with a mark like that? You may as well drop out and live on the streets because Law School is out of the question."
My eyes filled with tears and I hung my head in shame. "I'm sorry, I'll try harder," I sniffled.
"You better," Father snarled as he ripped the piece of paper in half. "This is disappointing, Courtney. I expected better from you."
I snapped back to reality when I realized that what Duncan was saying had some truth to it. My parents did put a lot of pressure on me to be something impossible. The wanted me to be prim and proper with 100% written at the top of every test. They wanted me to have a boyfriend who wore suits instead of Converse and would marry me not a day before I'm twenty-five.
In their minds, I'd have kids when I'm thirty and they'd grow up to be lawyers and scientists as well. I'd carry the family name with pride and die old, with ridiculous pension cheques and not a shred of adventure in my life.
And if anyone is like that, then that's just dandy but I'm starting to realize that that's not me. It will never be me because unlike my parents, I want excitement. I wanted to marry for love and travel the world, not knowing what would happen! I want to die in my fifties and encourage my children to be eccentric, not plain. I want someone like Duncan not them.
And there is nothing wrong with that.
3,000 words! Hooray! I just couldn't stop writing once I started :D
So, as I said above, I have a few stories that haven't been published yet, but I'm fresh out of ideas for titles. So, if you want to help me come up with a title for my X-Men fic, leave it in the reviews. The info is in my profile :) I just thought it'd be fun to see what y'all come up with!
Also, I just kind of had an idea to two sequels for this story. They'd be called 'Seriously?' and then the third would be something like 'I'm Done With This', 'Are You Kidding Me?' or 'Honestly?' Tell me what you think is better!
Reviews
Gia Lara - care to expand on that? :)
Scribbler xD - I haven't seen TDROTI yet and I probably won't...ever. So I can't really comment on that but TDI is TOTALLY to best! And I'm so glad I finally got to write that part! I couldn't have Princess leave for good but I also couldn't have her just accept the pet names after everything that happened! And nice theory! I can't really confirm if your theory is right or wrong yet because that would obviously ruin the rest of the story! I can't do that, can I? And I was referring to just in general but the guys had it BAD in TD. Court definitely had it the worst though :'( And I agree, girls suffer a lot but I can think of one area where guys have it worse: if they're ugly, they have to live with it. At least us girls have makeup XD
OfficiallyWhelmedSpitfire - Haha I'm not saying it's not true! I believe it 100%! And Joker is such a well written character that he's just so... I don't have a word!
DannyPhantom619 - I agree with you in the sense that there are a lot of other factors that attribute to happiness but I don't think money is one of them. I admit that I'm well above the poverty line and there's been a period in my life where I literally hated living so I think there's a bit of controversy to that one. But I do agree with you a lot on that one :)
iceandfire105 - Haha I think it's hilarious how you're like frontline in the gender war and the reviewer above you is just like 'nope!' There's two kinds of people in the world XD Trust me, I could too! No offense to boys but they're just... UGH! If there are any guys who read this, I would just like to point out that girls are NOT objects, we do NOT appreciate cat calls, and if you text us right when we start getting over you, there is a 90% chance you will get annihilated! Okay, mini-rant over. I probably just confused everyone out there because my penname is a male name but I'm actually a girl ;D
Jazzy411 - You are like one of two people who actually acknowledged the skeleton. I kind of thought it'd be a bigger deal haha! I haven't seen Little Rascals! Is it any good?
Idk - I meant Flashy as Kid Flash because they had that thing or whatever it was :P The question is just for fun so don't think too hard about it! The majority of people agree with you though!
Artemis Raven Courtney - That's a good reason! Lot's of superheroes are flying all over the place, kicking butt here and there but Batman and Robin are doing it with only themselves. (And some pretty awesome tech) And agreed!
SideshowJazz1 - This may sound odd but reading about diseases and disorders is kind of a weird hobby of mine... If I wondered about a mental disorder, I'd be on that like white on rice! I agree, but then again, it's kind of hard to judge when you don't know the other side of things. I think girls have just inherently difficult lives. Finally, the skeleton won't be revealed for a while but there's going to be another little twist about it in the next chapter.
Question of the Day
What's your favorite kind of story? Ex. Futuristic AU, High School, Continuation, etc.
