Heeey guys XXXDDD so this is my second time creating this AN tonight because I accidently clicked on a different link to another sight RIGHT when i was about to finish this...*EXASPERATED SIGH* or howeva u spell it BUT ANYWAY DXD i felt like posting something again tonight AKA MORE AKA ANOTHER CHAPTER because itd make me feel accomplished XXXDDD plus i hate the number 8 =/ lmfao ANYWAY so ya i guess the title for this one is sort of misleading though because not ALL the past is revealed just jeromes that we all already know lmfao XD and a little bit of alices, like who the "brown-haired boy" is that is mentioned so much XXDD but anyway rofl thx to TeamEdmundAndPeter for commenting again and lmfao uh, idk, the character? XD nd also thx to sky651 for ur comment (wait were u lafing at something i said or TeamEdmundAndPeter's comment-which is wuz i thought at first-jst to clear stuff up a bit XXXDDD) nd for also favoriting my story nd THX TO EVERYONE ELSE WHO HAS FAVORTIED IT TOO nd subscribed to it nd me as an author XXXDDD it really makes me ecstatic.
BUT ANYWAY READ AND REVIEW PLEASEEE AND ILL GIVE YOU A FREE CAN OF LAVENDER PRINCESS FABREEZE OR HOWEVA U SPELL IT (i used to get in a 'fight' with one fo my old bffes about it cuz she thought it wuz spelled tht way but i thought it wuz spelt some different way but i cnt remember now nd i also cnt remember wut the past tense of spell it...?)
DUN DUN DUNNN ok ill cut off nd just let u read now XD
Chapter Nine
Past Revealed
"Studying before classes?" Mara's voice snapped me out of my flashback, and I glanced over to see her talking to Mick as he glanced up from his paper and smiled at her, food stuck in his teeth. I partially suppressed an eye roll and glanced away as she continued, "Okay, what have you done with my boyfriend?"
My eyes landed on Jerome to see him glance away slightly, teeth gritted and hand curling up into a fist. I frowned slightly, feeling bad for him as Mick replied saying something that I couldn't care less about and just ignored instead.
"Millington, Millington, Millington…" Classic cheerleader shouts, lightly accented by British accents carried down the hallway and into the room as Mara asked 'what is that?' and they headed out to see what it was. Patricia glanced over her shoulder slightly but then looked back to her iPod carelessly, and Jerome looked down curiously at an envelope that had fallen from Mick's jacket before he picked it up and shoved it surreptitiously shoved it into his pocket before following them, me trailing after him.
"Nice ninja skills, there, Steve Terada."
"Shut up." He muttered at me before focusing his attention to the stupid cheerleaders, uh, cheering at the end of the hall with everyone else watching, while Amber did flips and backhand springs down to us before finishing right before our eyes and fixing her purple and white uniform with a silver, glittery 'A' stamped on it.
"Vote Millington, better be Willing-ton." She said simply to us, slightly brushing her hair back to fix her matching, silver-sequined headband before strutting past us with the rest of her squad. Everyone glanced on in disbelief as I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Classic stupid dumb blonde prep, I thought as I turned to sit on the armrest where Patricia's feet were resting.
"Okay, Amber," Mara started as she walked up to face her, both Mick and Jerome behind her on either side. "what are your actual policies: haircuts, short skirts, and mandatory 'chillax' periods? Because, and I quote, 'who needs classes anyway'?"
I couldn't help the abrupt laugh that left me as all our short attention spans were drawn to Amber's election poster on the wall that said exactly that before she said back, "I see my message is really getting through to you; want a button?"
I snorted at her oblivious stupidity and instead muffled the laughter in my sleeve as I cleared my throat, composed myself and continued to watch the developing fight.
"This is a chance for us to really make a difference!" Mara cried, waving towards the gathering crowd, causing Jerome to glance down and smile approvingly and proudly down at her. "Who's fed up with having textbooks dated back to 1987!"
"M-A-R-A," Patricia started to call out in a chant, and Jerome and I (what! I was bored-and as much as Mara pissed me off, I could never, ever let the classic prep win, even if she wasn't mean like they usually were or anything) joined it, both of them lifting one of their hands as they finished off, "MARA!"
Mick glanced away embarrassingly as Amber came back, "Who set out with the mirrors and the bathroom making you look like a horror show?" I muttered an 'ooo' as the cheerleaders yelled 'WOO!' and then Amber added, "And by you I mean you, Mara." I raised my eyebrows in a 'WOW she just sort of ruined that there by stating the obvious' sort of way, even though the dumb cheerleaders lifted their arms and yelled 'WOO!' yet again.
And was I the only one that saw Mick smile at that?
"Who's fed up with listening to people who actually have nothing to say."
"Who's sick of living in the same house of the school's classic stupid boyfriend-snatcher?" Amber snapped back in such an angry, British-accented voice that I was sure I misinterpreted what she had said.
The preps in the background simply snapped their fingers as everyone fell back with a silent 'ooh it's over now, she won' while Jerome swung his jacket down from his shoulder, teeth gritted together and frustration along with the need for revenge set across his face.
"You know what? We all know the truth, Amber. You're only running for school rep because you're jealous that Mick likes me far more than he EVER liked YOU!"
Jerome shifted uncomfortably, plain hurt, sorrow and the reminder of the painful memories of Mickara crossing his mind as he glanced down, hands going limp as his jacket swung lifelessly.
"I'm not sure I ever said that." Mick hesitated only slightly as Mara looked wildly around, mouth slightly agape in shock, bewilderment and hurt as my jaw also dropped, along with Mara's and almost everybody else's in the room and I swung my hand up to my mouth to muffle my 'OOO!' because, oh my God, she just got so embarrassed and pwned and just flat out killed just right there!
Amber bounced back slightly on her feet, trying to hide her smile at the thought of her and Mick getting back together and Jerome tried to fight one as well, either wondering if he should be upset or happy for hurting Mara.
Patricia and I shared a look as the bell rang and we both got up to get to our next class, meeting up with Nina and Fabian along the way, and all was going fine until we stumbled across Alfie.
He was sitting at a desk alone in an empty classroom, head in one hand, a distressed, restraining look written across his face.
We all glanced at each other before heading in and sitting all around him, Nina on the desk, Fabian leaning against the one in front of him and Patricia pulling up a chair as I simply kneeled down in front of him.
"Alfie," Nina started as we all settled down. "are you okay?"
"Last night in the cellar," Alfie started, and I slightly leaned back, taken aback as I looked over at all of them, but they barely seemed to notice me as they leaned in closer and focused on his words and I merely thought 'so they HAD gone down to the cellar-Jerome was right. But how did they get there?', and then the little black, old, antique stove crossed my mind, but I quickly marked it to check back on later before shaking it out of my mind and turning back to Alfie myself.
"I remembered." He continued hatefully. "I remembered everything."
"What did you see down there?" Patricia asked what we were all thinking.
"Mr. Sweet…Mrs. Andrews…" His voice trailed off as he named some of the teachers and the others looked at each other, shock and realization dawning down on them while I was left in confusion. "Mr. Winkler….and some other people. They were…chanting…and they mentioned…'The Chosen One'…" He chose the words carefully themselves, as if he barely understood what they meant-which he probably didn't, just as much as I did.
Nina blinked and leaned closer as Alfie continued, "Victor drank from a skull and…it was horrible!" He shuddered at the memory and then hurried to continue with apparently a very important and scary bit of information, "And one was in a mask! A dog mask!" His voice quickly turned more distressed as he spoke, "That's what I dream of. That face just…staring at me! Coming for me!"
He lifted his other hand to his face to help hide the tears he was trying to prevent from falling by squeezing his eyes shut, and Patricia placed a hand on his shoulder as she spoke soothingly to him, "Alfie, it's okay!"
Nina turned to Fabian, ignoring Alfie's hyperventilation as she told him, "I bet I know what he was drinking out of that skull."
He locked his eyes with hers and finished, as if reading her mind, "The elixir."
Alfie and I both glanced up at them. "What elixir?" We both asked in sync.
Fabian didn't even look at me as he answered Alfie, saying, "It's a potion they make-it keeps you young."
"Who is they!" I demanded as I stood up. "The teachers!"
"Ankh?" Alfie asked as I hadn't spoken, and they all sat up in interest. "That was another word."
"The Cup of Ankh." Nina spoke aloud to herself, realization dawning on her before she whipped around to face Fabian. "That's the cup that gives you immortality, right?"
"Immortality?" I repeated, now beginning to become scared out of my mind.
They all whipped around to face me, as if noticing me for the very first time and they all gasped in unison, blubbering to come up with an excuse before Amber cut in.
"Uh, hello, very important stuff to discuss." She said as she walked up to us, hands swinging at her side. "So, I've only got twenty-four hours to make sure I win the election factor, hands up: who's gonna help me make Mara lose?"
Nobody replied and it was completely silent in the room as she scoffed and continued, "Some club! You people are so unsupportive! And this could really be my one chance to shine! Thanks. And oh, by the way Alfie, you're fired."
She jabbed her finger accusingly at him, reminding me much of Donald Trump as he slumped against his arms on the desk while Amber strutted back out, but then stopped and turned again to ask me, "And since when were you in Sibuna, anyway."
I shrugged a little, then replied sarcastically while giving the rest a pointed look, "Well, I am into necromancy, I guess."
They all glanced at each other, worried, not sure what to tell me and not able to find any excuses this time.
But then people started to pile into the classroom and the chance to find the truth evaporated as we all sat down and had to get ready to class, although all I could do was run over their words in my mind.
Ankh. Immortality.
What did this all mean?
I guess it was time to ask my favorite eavesdropper at the school.
"Hey, where's Jerome?"
"It feels like we've hit a dead end!" Okay, not exactly the answer I had been hoping about Jerome's whereabouts, but still interesting, and I glanced up to see Fabian and Nina sitting in front of me and leaned closer slightly, deciding to furtively eavesdrop as he continued, "No more clues to go on except for the ever so-helpful 'listen to the voice'!"
"What clues?" I asked, and they jumped to turn and look at me, and I continued angrily, "What voice!"
They cleared their throats and looked away, and I raised my voice and lowered it to a deadly tone at the same time, "You have to tell me what's going on, or else I'll run on to the teachers that you mentioned and tell them all about all that I know about this 'Cup of Ankh' plus 'Elixir of Life' equals 'Immortality' think and how you know about it all!"
They glanced at each other nervously before Fabian turned to me bravely and asked snidely, "And that would be?"
I leaned back, nostrils flaring and defeated as they turned back and started murmuring even quieter amongst themselves again that I had to strain my ears to listen but not speak up. Nina had sighed hopelessly and then muttered the suggestion, "What if it means listen to Sara's voice-on the cylinders?"
"Do you want to do it now-"
"No!" Nina instantly interrupted him, cutting him off as she placed his hand over his as he started to reach inside his bag for something while I sat up, trying to peer over to see what it was before Nina glanced back at me and I hurriedly tried to cover it up by switching my glance over to the board and pretending to copy something down on my piece of paper.
Nina slowly turned to him, saying, "We have to listen to them on the phonograph."
Fabian and I both gave her a confusing look. "Why?"
She hesitated slightly before replying, "I think that's why I was drawn to the attic after my visit with Sara."
'Who is this Sara chick?' I thought quietly to myself in my head as Fabian asked teasingly, "Ahh, is it one of your feeelings?"
"Yes, but do you have to say it like that every time: 'feeelings'?" Nina mimicked his tone of voice and I had to bring a hand up to my face to muffle my slight laughter as Fabian actually did fully burst out laughing before Mrs. Andrews called us to her attention as she attempted to quiet down everybody and start the class.
"Where is everybody?" She asked as she glanced around and placed her bag on her desk, and I was thinking almost the exact same thing with a 'yeah, where's Jerome?' as I glanced around the room and she continued with her ordered instruction, "Page 62, please."
"Sorry I'm late, Miss," A voice called from the doorway, and my head snapped over to see Jerome standing there, back to the door as he slowly backed up to close it and finished off, with a wink towards Mara, "campaign business."
Mara looked at him confusingly, her look questioning as Jerome took his seat in front of Amber, glancing back at her and laughing slightly silently before turning back around, swinging his backpack strap back off over his shoulder as he turned to his work in front of him on his desk next to a still, slightly disgruntled looking Alfie.
'Oh no, Clarke, what have you done'?
The unthinkable.
Unless this was some crazy-ass, soap opera, drama, romance, comedic mystery show on TV, and then it would be obvious that he had posted up dirty campaign pictures to ruin Amber's chances of becoming school representative.
Which was exactly what he did.
***
As soon as the bell rang we all headed out of the classroom, one by one to find pictures of an old, embarrassing school photo of Amber with pimples all over her face and pink-fat-rimmed glasses resting over her eyes along with split-end, greasy blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and a totally nerdy outfit on. Across the top 'VOTE AMBER', was written, and I instantly glanced over to see a smirking, proud and sort of hot Jerome leaning against the wall, greed and victory glazing over his icy blue eyes.
I stood in-between Alfie and Patricia, cracking up along with them as Nina stood off to the side, not amused and instead worried of Amber's reaction-which, if I may say, was actually sort of sad to see when she walked out of the classroom, freezing as her perky smile slowly faded from her face.
"What's wrong, Amber?" Jerome asked in a mockingly, venomous sarcastic voice as Amber walked forward to get a better view at the pictures of her horrid childhood. "Don't like people seeing you before all the acne medicine and braces?"
I couldn't help but grin at his clever remark as Amber ripped down one of the posters right next to a grinning Jerome who continued, as she stared down at the picture with hurt and shock in her face, "What was your policy, 'I'm always looking good', huh?"
He laughed at his own clever remark along with everybody else (well, except for Nina and Amber, duh, of course) as Amber rushed down the hallway, tearing down the posters as tears started to overwhelm her.
"I hate you Jerome, I hate you!" I had just realized that everybody else from our house had stopped chuckling too, no longer amused as Jerome bit his knuckle, trying to but not able to contain his outrageous laughter.
"All's fair in love and politics, eh?" Jerome asked as he stuck one of his hands in his pockets as he waltzed by us, only to be stopped by Mick who stood up to him, getting all in his face and saying,
"You're a really nasty piece of work sometimes, aren't you?"
"I'd be careful if I was you, Campbell." Jerome started as he glared back down at the guy-in his eyes-who was the evil jerk who had stolen the only one he had ever truly loved. "People in glass houses."
He chose the words carefully, grinding them out with poison as Mick stepped closer, growling, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Jerome fell back slightly before regaining himself, spitting out, "Well in my book, it's pretty nasty to keep secrets from your girlfriend."
Jerome shot a pointed look at Mara who's face soon was taken over by worry as Mick slightly fell back, now worried and intimidated.
So what happened now?
I had no idea.
I headed down the hallway back at the house, going over to waltz into Jerome's room to question him about what he knows about Sibuna, the Elixir and Cup of Ankh when I realized the door was partially open by a crack and Mara was in it talking to him-again.
"Come to tell me what a mean, horrid person I am?" Jerome asked as he set a magazine aside, guilt and regret obviously written all over his face and obvious in his voice, even though he tried to mask it over in that neutral way he so often did.
"Listen, Jerome," She started, and I rolled my eyes and mimicked her a little bit before turning back and watching again. "I really appreciate all your help on everything, but I'm not the smear campaign type!"
"I know." He replied, voice soft and quiet, and my heart practically stopped and sped at exactly the same time as my mouth slightly fell agape. I could see his walls being torn down, him starting to show his heart to her and deciding to admit his everything.
He searched for the right words, mouth still open, lips moving slightly as he tried to find his voice before he stood up and pointed at her before sliding his hands back into his pockets, saying, "You know, I wish I could be normal like you;" She looked up at him admiringly, interested in what he was saying as he elaborated, "do the right thing."
He paused slightly, giving her a slightly studying look before asking, interest set in his eyes, "Do you remember how you felt when your parents dropped you off here for the very first time?"
"Yeah, nervous…nauseous." She started as she trailed off, remembering the memory as he watched her and the smile that appeared on her face at the mention of her parents, interested and intrigued at the story about her bond with them and how much they seemed to love her-everything he had seemingly never known. "But, I know they weren't abandoning me!" A jolt ran through his body as he fell back slightly, face turning solemn instantly-but Mara didn't seem to notice. "They just wanted me to have a good future!"
Jerome shook his head slightly as he admitted, voice about to break, "My parents…wanted something else…" She stared up at him, confused and wondering as he continued sadly, gulping, taking in a deep breath and then letting it out in a hard, fast gush as he finished off quickly, "…to get rid of me." He took a deep breath and then finished off with hard emotion set in his face and voice, "They left me here, to rot." His eyes flashed away, not able to face her as he admitted, "And I guess that's what I did."
"You're not rotten, Jerome!" She tried to convince him as she set a hand on his arm, rubbing it up and down slightly as he looked back over at her, locking eyes before she looked away and started on the question that was really bothering her-the reason why she came here in the first place.
"I have a question…" Jerome slowly looked back over to her, a surprised, real, joyful, hopeful and such a gorgeous smile playing over his lips as his eyes softened up to true joy as he thought she was going to ask him about, but then his gaze hardened again as his jaw set and he looked away, and I had to bite my knuckle to hold myself back so I wouldn't scream 'AW!' as she continued, "…what you said to Mick about people in glass houses and keeping secrets….is he…" She tried a different route as Jerome stared down at the floor solemnly. "was he seeing someone else while he was away?"
She finished it in a rush to get out and he hesitated, "I so badly want to say yes." 'OH MY GOD HE'S SO FREAKIN' CUTE WHEN HE'S LIKE THAT JUST SAY YES DAMMIT TELL HER YOU LOVE HER!' The inner crazy fan-girl voice inside my head cried as he instead informed her, "But hey, I can't." He tried for a small, tired, and defenselessly sad smile. "I guess you bring out the best in me Mara Jeffray."
'AAAHHH!'
'SHUT UP!' The two voices in my head fought as I watched the most sacred Jara moment of all as Mara continued to speak.
"So, what?" She asked, slightly fed up of all the long waits to find out answers to secrets and partially distressed and just plain flat out tired, too.
After a brief hesitation, knowing he'd regret it later, he tentatively leaned over, reached into his backpack and took out the envelope he had taken from the ground where Mick had dropped it earlier-the one that belonged to him, the one I'd called basically called him a ninja on when he had taken it-and handed it over to her, rubbing one of his hands up and down his face and over his eye in frustration as she quickly read and skimmed and glanced over it.
"He didn't get the scholarship?" She asked, and Jerome quickly, shortly hesitated again before simply answering with a plain, hard 'no' before sitting back down on his bed.
"But…why wouldn't he tell me?"
He glanced up to her, the obvious truth about how he felt written all over in his gorgeous, deep blue eyes as he replied, his voice soft and falling fast, "Maybe some people like keeping secrets…?"
I flung my other hand up to my mouth to muffle the upcoming scream of 'OH MY GOD FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM YOU IDIOT HE LIKES YOU AAAHHH!' and my eyes widened even more as I realized Mara was slowly turning to walk out and I pulled myself back to duck inside boys' bathroom.
The BATHROOM? Way to go, Alice, you could've snuck into your room just fine and it wouldn't have seemed the LEAST bit more suspicious.
"Shut up thoughts." I murmured to myself, causing Mara to wheel around and frown in confusion as she caught sight of me hanging back in the bathroom.
"Alice? Are you alright?" She tried to turn to a little joking side and asked, "Not talking to ghosts or nonentities, now, are you?"
I laughed harshly. "Nah, just…fixing my makeup." I hurriedly grabbed some eyeliner and turned to the mirror to add it on to my already heavily covered make-upped eyelids.
"Okay, alright…just don't go all prep on us, we already have Amber."
"Trust me, it's all black makeup for me!" I waited until she was far away before muttering 'like I already didn't have enough on' and turned to head to Jerome's room.
I paused in front of the door, hesitating with a raised fist to knock before deciding to walk right in.
He glanced up slightly, eyes regretting, sorrowful and hopeful but then let down and disappointed when he realized it was me, and not Mara.
But his look quickly turned to confusion when I stood there with my hand on the doorknob, my iTouch in the other, playing Perfect by Hedley as I tossed it over to him beside his hand on his bed.
He reached over and picked it up as he stared down at it, listening to the lyrics and then lips slightly parted in a gasp as they connected to him and he realized how much he could really relate to them.
"Thanks, but no thanks." He replied hardly as he gritted his teeth together, his eyes turning to sky-tainted coal as he tossed the music device back over to me right as the singer, well, uh, sang, 'Was it something I said, or just, my personality?'.
I shrugged a little. "Suit yourself." I replied as the music library shuffled when it hit the ground before my Converse and searched through songs before quickly landing on 'Enchanted' by 'Taylor 'Swift'.
He starting laughing abruptly. "You know, I never expected you to be the country kind of girl."
"Shut up." I growled as I quickly tried to change the song or get it to stop, but my fingers kept shaking and I screwed up the password multiple times. "Plus, I'm not. I just like some of her lyrics. And I really just wanted the song 'Innocent' because I can somehow relate to it a little bit actually a lot and it was 'Album Only' so I had to buy the whole freakin' thing and this damn stupid device won't change the song what stupid bitches made it like this!"
I cut off my blabber session my starting to hammer it against the wall as his laughter increased and he insisted, "Come on, toss it to me."
"No way!" I cried as I held it close to myself, cupping my hands over it to protect it when he laughed again.
"Fine, then, just take my advice-click the Menu button twice really quickly and you'll be able to skip, play, pause or go back through songs (not to mention change volume or take pictures sometimes too) without having to put in your stupid password."
"Hm…" I muttered as I tried it and it succeeded, and I raised my eyebrows. "Not bad. Can't believe I didn't come up with that tip sooner."
"Beat ya to it, I guess." He shrugged a little as he leaned back against his pillows, picking up his magazine and continuing to read.
"Fortuitous bastard." I muttered underneath my breath, but he heard me anyway and laughed again, causing my thumb to slip and press 'play' again as Taylor sang 'blushing all the way home'.
"No, that was fortuitous." He consulted, referring to my beet-red face, and I quickly pressed pause again before snapping back 'It was a propitious moment not fortuitous!', causing him to laugh again.
"Anyway, what are you doing here, Alice?" He asked as he glanced over at me, and my normal attitude kicked back in as I strutted over to Alfie's bed and took a seat there on the edge.
"I live here, what do you think, Jerk-ome?"
He laughed harshly. "Oh come on, Lice, you can do better than that-that one's literally been around for ages, more like a fourth-grader quip."
I shrugged a little as I dropped my, for once, silent iTouch next to me and muttered, "Whatever…I'm not in the mood anyway."
"So what are you in the mood for that would bring you here, if it's not to make my life the living hell you already mapped this place out to be?"
I raised one of my eyebrows, slightly impressed. "You certainly do have a way with words, don't you, Clarke?"
"That's why I'm one of the biggest flirts on campus, as you have so helpfully pointed out before."
"Biggest, not best." I pointed out a flaw in him yet again as he literally pointed at me and replied with a simple 'touché' in defeat and agreement while sitting up and setting his magazine aside.
"But seriously, Alice, what are you doing here?"
I shrugged a little. "I thought I might have some useful information for you." I leaned back on my elbows as he raised his eyebrows at me.
"Oh? And that would be?"
I opened my mouth and closed it again, considering if I should actually tell him. Well, I wanted answers, didn't I?
But if Sibuna was that secretive and anxious to have NO ONE find out, wouldn't they NOT want more people to get in on it?
That would include you, bitch.
Wow. Usually my italicized thoughts were the nice ones.
Anyway, I spoke out loud to Jerome, "What if I told you that my parents didn't want me either?"
What was I getting at here? I didn't know that for sure. But, yet again, everybody did in fact tell me that they had given me up when I was just a baby because they were stupid drunks that didn't ever want me in the first place.
My face sunk at the memory as Jerome sat up, smile evaporating from his own face as he became intrigued. "How did you know about that?"
I hesitated, mouth open, trying to find the right words as I hunched over my nervously clutched together hands. Way to be, Alice-bring up the guy's horrid past and possibly abusive parents when you know that it obviously bothers him A LOT.
Yeah those parts of my thoughts were definitely not nice.
Anyway, I finally resulted in telling the truth to him, which was, "Okay, so, I was actually outside the door the whole time, and overheard you telling Mara about-"
"You eavesdropped!" He cried as he stood up, anger flaring in his eyes.
"I-I didn't mean to!" Yes you did. "I was just outside and-"
"That was for her to hear and her ears only!" He walked forward, voice rising as he jabbed his finger at me.
"I-I know, I-I'm sorry!" I stuttered through my apology as I stood up myself, hands up in defense.
"Then why did you do it in the first place!" He struggled to keep his voice hushed and under control to prevent other people from hearing, and his words caught me at a dead end.
So I decided to take another route.
"Did you not just hear me!" I shot back, trying to take him back to my words as I spit out my next ones, walking forward fast, causing him to fall back again until I had him with his back against the wall. "My parents gave me up too! I know how you feel! Exactly how often do you hear that!"
I waited for a response but didn't get one as he slowly put his arms down, and then asked in a whisper, "How do you know that your parents didn't want you?" My eyes locked with him as anger and frustration quickly masked his voice again as he continued, pointing his finger back at me as he backed me up to in front of the door again, "You can't even remember anything from before you got here, can you?"
I paused, thinking it over. Then I slowly responded, "No…that's not true. Not really. Well, I guess, but," I took in a sharp breath through gritted teeth, eyes clenched shut before I cut off my blabbering and continuing, "I can't remember how I got here. I still hold some memories of in-between that time and after I turned five-I can't remember anything from that time at all, no matter how hard I try."
I opened my eyes slightly more and glanced up at him to see him silent, staring at me before I added in a slight rush, "I know, sounds Vampire Knight cliché, but-"
"But are you really trying?"
I looked up further into his eyes, shocked, and even a little confused, if I may say so myself. "What?" I sputtered.
"If you don't try you won't remember."
I glared at him, voice rising as I repeated, "I thought I already said, no matter how freakin' hard I do, in fact, try." I got all up in my face again as I retorted, "Believe it or not, I care about things and people, Clarke." I used his last name again, even though he told me to call him by his first last night, and I could see in his eyes that it slightly pissed him off. "Even though I wouldn't show it, like you-but I must say, your feelings for Mara are really quite obvious and desperate, and it's almost quite as obvious that she'll never, ever feel the same way about you, so why don't you give up."
He abruptly grabbed my arm and brought me closer so I was almost pressed up against him, and I could feel his breath in angry gushes fall down on to my face as his eyes flamed up with anger, and his voice growled, "You don't know anything about love, Alice-you yourself said you didn't believe in it."
I searched for the words through my head, and then said them quietly and firmly aloud, a determined glare setting on my face again as I uttered them, as if they were well-rehearsed from a script for a dramatic movie, the best written that everybody would love to quote, "How do you know something, as if like a feeling, if you've never felt it."
He stared at me in confusion and semi-shock, before his eyes settled in mine and both the colors melted together before I cut off the emotions rushing through me abruptly by adding, "I'd expect you to feel the same way, Clarke-expecting that besides that you'd never felt anything else, especially from those impeccable parents of yours."
His eyes widened as he let go of my arm and staggered back slightly, my words hitting home, and as if they had actually hit him. He knew exactly what I meant-nobody had ever loved him, just the same as me.
Not his parents, not his friends, not Mara-nobody. We were both just hated and ostracized nonentities wandering this so-claimed Earth.
'If this is life then what is hell.' The thirteen-year-old voice of me waved back over my head, and that same brown-haired boy from that picture had walked towards me and taken me in his arms like the many times before, comforting me, just like he had saved me from-
I was pulled back into the real world as I saw an intrigued and frowning Jerome in front of me, feeling the warmth of the hand on my face, and I almost silently sighed a little, allowing myself to sink into a bit and then-
I jerked back and he almost did at the exact same time before I glared at him, turned on my heels and marched over to the door, opening it to leave before his hand appeared again a little bit above mine, shutting it again as he slid in between me and the object of my only possible escape.
"Nobody has ever loved you, either." He snarled at me, and I released the doorknob quickly, shocked, as if it had burned me.
But his words did.
"Not your mysterious parents, or any possibly siblings you could've had-but most importantly, nobody you ever knew. None of those dance crews that you've hung with your whole life-not even that boy in that one that you fancied." I froze, shocked by his words. "What was his name? Dylan?"
Fear and reminders of the past rippled through me. My life started to flash before my eyes and he looked merely shocked for a second too, as if he could see it, but I quickly shoved the absurd idea out of my head before going back to my defensive mode and growling, "How do you know about Dylan?"
"Oh I know far more than you could have ever imagined." He replied snidely back, and the look in his eyes practically paralyzed me with fear, and I'm sure he could see it in my face as he continued, "What happened to him anyway? I mean he was your best friend, anyway, right? Isn't that what you always say?"
He shifted his weight position on his face as he leaned closer, the warmth of rage from his body once again beginning to radiate to mine. "Keyword-was, Alice. He was. Not anymore, eh?" Seriously what was up with all the rhetorical questions? "So what really happened? He leave you like how everybody else abandoned you,"
I'm sure you'd know about that Clarke, an angry voice snapped in the back of my head, but I bit my lip to hold it back, his eyes flashing down to the scene and back before he continued once again, "but, then again, you left them, didn't you?" He paused as he either thought it over again or wanted me to remember it and hit somewhere sensitive in me-even though pretty much every he said now did that. "You left all of them-except for that one crew, the ones you trusted and loved most, who made that bet that gave you over to somebody else right? Proving once again that they didn't love you. I bet you Dylan didn't even when he saved you."
My mouth fell agape as a gasp escaped me, tears (things I hadn't felt or shed in years) swelling in my eyes as I was brought back to the memory.
"So what happened to him?"
He fell back slightly, crossing his arms, raising one of his eyebrows slightly as he waited for a response and got one in a broken down voice, "A very literal and sentimental thing that most of us believe to call 'death', Jerome Clarke."
My words instantly sunk into him and he uncrossed his arms, one lip slightly parting from the other in shock and as my eyes were drawn to them, I just remembered how I was practically killing mine by shedding the bottom with my teeth and a burst of blood filled my mouth as I blinked back the unfamiliar feel and sense of saltwater in my eyes, but one unwillingly fell as I stepped around him to the door, muttering an 'excuse me' as I stepped through it and into the hallway.
"Alice, I-I didn't know-"
"No, Jerome, just-" I cut off as I turned to him, shaking my head slightly, causing more tears to fly around all around my with my flailing, tangled, frizzy, dirty and greasy waved black hair as I reached my hand up to my eyes, wiping the streaks of water away, trying to shun the memories as soon as possible as if they never existed and nobody else would never knew they did as I finished off with, "please, just leave me alone."
And with that said I turned and walked towards the front door, ignoring the confused and concerned onlookers from the living room, dining room, kitchen and practically everywhere else from the house as I walked out of it in an attempt to get away.
God, please, just take me away.
='(
lmfao srry but i had to put it in here tht i usually write really late at night and mess up and make typos nd sorta start blabbering so if u find anything tht bothers u or u dnt get or a typo or something feel free to notify me i wuld be REALLY thankfull and in fact any feedback or constructive critcism or just a quick 'awesome' would be amazing. thx XD
R&R! :]
