Sorry this is so short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I am the mere editor and poster of this work, so I have to wait just as long as you until the author sends me her work. Enjoy and don't be afraid to send a review. We like reviews :)
"Crissi, darling, it's time to wake up," H.G called.
I rolled over to face her. "Where's Claudia?"
"Claudia and Steven got a ping, I'm afraid," H.G answered. "However, it's six o'clock and Arthur will be taking you to school."
I slowly sat up and glanced around my room. Going without Claudia with me to at least drop me off scared me, on top of only Artie taking me to school. H.G left to let me get dressed once she was sure I wouldn't return to my bed. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a shirt that was long lace sleeved and the torso had cuts on the sides and a few in back, black bra, and I pulled out my holey skinny jeans. I then slipped on my DCs and quickly straightened my hair and did my makeup before making my way downstairs. Leena had made scrambled eggs and bacon. I sat down at the table, eating quietly.
"You okay?" Leena asked, placing a glass of apple juice in front of me.
I looked up at her. "Nervous."
Leena looked confused. "You were so sure of yourself yesterday."
I shook my head. "The tests will be easy. It's just," I rolled my eyes. "Claudia's not here."
Leena gave me a soft smile. "I'm sure H.G or Myka would come too, if you would like. They're not Claudia, but it wouldn't be just you and Artie."
"You think?" I asked her, staring at my plate.
I heard her light laughter. "Of course, but you'll have to go ask them now. Artie will be here soon."
I stood up and headed to the small library where Myka and H.G spent a lot of their time. H.G was sitting on the chair and Myka was sprawled out on the couch, discussing, from what I could hear, Oscar Wilde and H.G didn't seem too pleased with the current argument.
"Hey Crissi, everything okay?" Myka asked, noticing my presence by the door.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm just nervous now. Claude's not here." I walked in and sat on the other end of the couch from Myka.
"Don't worry, Artie's taking you," Myka said, trying to sound encouraging.
I raised my eyebrows at her. "That's supposed to be comforting?"
Myka and H.G shared a look before placing their books down. "We'll go grab our coats," Myka complied. I watched as the two made their way up the stairs.
"Where did Steve and Claudia go?" I inquired when Myka and H.G returned.
"They didn't leave the state, the artifacts at a museum and it's closed today. It shouldn't take them long," Myka informed me.
I nodded. "Good. Steve said we could go clean out my dorm after I was done."
Myka smiled. "They'll be back, don't worry."
Just then we heard the door open. "Crissi, ready to go?" Artie's voice rang through the B&B. I grabbed my bag and walked into the foyer with H.G and Myka following.
"What are you two doing?" Artie scowled.
"Coming with you and Crissi," H.G stated.
Artie grumbled. "No, there's inventory to do at the Warehouse, that's where you two are going."
"Artie, Crissi wants more than one person there, especially since you sent Claudia out. Pete can do inventory," Myka retorted.
Artie scoffed. "Pete. Alone. In the Warehouse. No."
"Artie, Pete and I will do the inventory," Leena interrupted. "There's a few diagnostics I need to run. Don't worry. But Crissi's going to be late if you don't leave."
Artie grumbled again before turning around and heading to the car. H.G, Myka, and I followed him out and Leena called a, "good luck" as we left.
Artie muttered the whole way to the school, finally stopping when Myka glared at him. We walked into the school and into the main office.
The principal was waiting for me. "Good morning, Miss Donovan. I trust that you're ready for your placement tests?" I nodded slightly in response; unfamiliar authority figures freaked me out. "You'll be taking them in the library. Jack's going to take you there."
A tall, older guy stood up from one of the chairs. "Hi, I'm Jack."
I bit back my comment, replacing it with a nod and saying, "Lead the way."
I followed him down the hall quietly, until he broke the silence. "So, I've heard quite a few stories about you. What's the deal?"
I glanced up at him. "Parents died when I was little. I lived with my brother, we were in Switzerland for a few years and now I'm living with my sister."
"You skipped past your parents dying pretty fast," Jack mentioned.
I scoffed. "I'm sorry, were you looking for gory details? It's non of your business and I was five."
"Whoa, calm down." He put his hands up defensively. "I'm just trying to get the truth before the rumors."
"Rumors?"
Jack nodded. "They're bound to start flying soon." He opened the door. "Small towns mean anything new and the town flips." I eyed him carefully as he introduced my to the librarian; she pulled out the tests and I went to a table and sat down, pulling a pencil and my calculator out of my bag.
"Well, good luck," Jack said before he headed out of the library.
I took a moment to relax. Myka, H.G, and Artie weren't going anywhere and Claudia shouldn't have too hard of a snag, hopefully. Then, we could go to my dorm and get my stuff, then, I'm free to start the next chapter of my life. After calming myself down, I flipped open the test and began. It wasn't difficult and I took my time checking each answer. I finished roughly two and a half hours later; the librarian took the test, telling me they'd call with the results after they were graded. I walked back down to the office to H.G there alone.
"How'd it go?" she asked, walking over to me.
I shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Where are Artie and Myka?"
H.G placed an arm around my shoulder, leading me out of the office. "Something came up unfortunately."
I nodded sadly, but at least H.G stayed for me. "Do you think Steve and Claudia are back yet?"
"I'm not sure, but if they are, everyone will be at the Warehouse." H.G led me to the car.
I nodded. "So when you say something came up, you mean Pete touched something."
"That was my understanding from the Farnsworth," H.G stated as we got into the car. "Would you like to get some lunch before going to the Warehouse?"
I took a few seconds to think before smiling. "Yes please."
"Alright," H.G smiled back. "To the diner."
H.G pulled into the Univille Diner and the two of us went and had a good lunch together. We walked in and sat down, H.G ordered tea, naturally, and I ordered lemonade, and whatever we wanted to eat. It felt nice, almost like what I could only imagine as a mother and daughter having lunch together. Maybe Artie had been right; after all, H.G kind of was like my mom.
"How are you feeling about starting school?" H.G inquired.
I stirred the straw in my drink. "I don't know. I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to fit in there. I've seen movies and stuff but I've never had to deal with cliques and Univille seems rather clique-ish."
"I never did quite fit in among my peers either. Don't let them get to you. Honestly, you don't need anyone that talks behind your back or thinks they can control you by extending false friendship," H.G advised.
I thought about it for a second, she was right. Honestly, I didn't need friends if things got to be too dramatic for me. I never really had friends, why did I have to have them now? In theory, friends seemed nice, but I also wouldn't just be able to have friends over. I'm sure Mrs. Frederic would have something to say about that.
"What was it like when you were young, H.G?" I asked her quietly.
I watched her shoulders tighten and thought for a moment that she wouldn't tell me, but then she relaxed. "When I was young, before I became pregnant with Christina, I had few friends: one or two at the most. My need to understand and learn how things worked wasn't widely accepted among the girls my age; they constantly scolded me for what they called 'looking for trouble'. When I became pregnant with Christina, my scandalous behavior had become common knowledge, even though I knew whom her father was, he claimed I couldn't possibly know. So I raised her myself. Charles wasn't much help for anything but spoiling her with the money he got from my stories. When I became a Warehouse agent, I had made arrangements for Christina. She stayed with cousins every summer, until that fateful year." I watched as H.G paused briefly. "It's in the past now." Her hand had reached up to her locket. "I no longer feel anger in her death."
I noticed the turn in the conversation, but I couldn't stop myself from asking, "How do you do it?"
H.G tilted her head. "Do what, darling?"
I stared at the table, "Stop being angry."
She gave a knowing head movement. "It can take a great deal of time, and it is not easy in any sense. Something you have to remind yourself of is that you are not alone anymore Crissi. You have all of us and any one of us is willing to listen to anything, anytime. You don't have to keep it in now."
"I'm just so tired of always feeling angry. It never goes away," I told her. I felt so helpless all the time. I never had to deal with the real world until now.
H.G nodded. "Darling, you can't let your anger control your life. It will destroy you. Tragedy happens, and yes it is very difficult, but you're too young to have so much anger inside." She seemed really worried about it. "Promise me that you'll not hold it in when it seems unbearable. We'll find a way to help you, okay?"
I nodded. "Okay."
The conversation ended, perfect timing as our food arrived. H.G and I ate our lunch, talking here and there about random things. Eventually, when we finished, we headed to the Warehouse. Walking through the umbilicus, the sight H.G and I saw when the door to Artie's office opened was priceless. Pete and Artie were completely covered in purple goo and somehow Myka was missing a shoe. The three of them just looked like a complete mess.
"What happened?" H.G asked trying not to laugh. I started laughing, not bothering to hide it. Artie was glaring at Pete mumbling about touching things. He stalked off to his room muttering about taking a shower before he started to see things.
"Pete decided it would be a good idea to go read the Warehouse comic books. Without gloves," Myka told us.
Pete pointed at her. "Hey, you can touch the books without anything happening!"
"No, no, not all of them, Pete. And if you would read the manual you would know which comic books you can touch!" Myka yelled at him.
"You are never going to let that go, are you?" Pete argued.
"No, Pete, I'm not. Your lack of reading it causes problems, all the time," Myka threw back.
H.G walked over to Myka. "Pete, you need to go to Leena's and wash up. Myka, we'll go clean up downstairs."
Pete sighed and left, doing as he was told. H.G led Myka downstairs to the Warehouse floor.
