Chapter 10 - Adoration
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Ben pulled me all the way to the hall.
"So what's my first task?" he still had the smile on his face as he held both my hands.
"Well, you know I have a fear of heights ... right?" I bit on my tounge.
"Yeah..." he looked slightly confused.
I pointed to the ceiling bending my one knee slightly.
"Ah, suppose I could do that" he looked back down to me "Got a ladder"
"Umm ... somewhere?" I smiled showing my teeth.
Ben laughed "You're great help"
"Well I did ask one of the other kids to get one for me and meet me here tonight ... didn't give an exact time tho..."
He shook his head and looked behind me "Well, they came in time anyway"
"Hey, Kristen. We got the ladder you asked for" Robbie was holding the ladder on his shoulder along with his girlfriend, Alice-Jayne.
"Thanks, guys. I owe you one" I smiled as they put it down "You got any plans?"
"Nope. We were wondering if we could help you guys out actually" Alice walked forward. She seemed pretty quiet. It was Robbie I knew. Alice I'd only met when her and Robbie started dating. There were so many teenage relationships starting or already started around here. Couples like me and Ben were kind of rare, though. You know, dating before the invasion and still together now. Loads of things happen to relationships that started before the initial invasion. Like separation, like Ben and I (But I got mine back!:D) arguments and just when some were captured the other would move on as if nothing happened. The very thought of that disgusts me! I'd never just move on from Ben! Like I said as long as he's still alive and wants to be, I'm in a relationship. No matter who came along or whatever happened.
"That's just what we were about to ask you" Ben smiled.
Part of me was afraid of them being funny like some was with Rick. I'd heard a few use the word 'razorback'. Ugh that pissed me off! After everything these kids had been through, they still think they have the right to treat them different. Like they were on the opposite side or something.
"Hey, babe?" Ben clicked his fingers in front of my eyes.
"Huh?" I blinked quickly coming back into reality "Did you just call me babe?"
Ben smirked "Maybe. Alice asked you a question?"
"Oh, sorry, Alice. In a world of my own" I shook my head "What did you say?"
Alice laughed quietly "It's fine. I said what do you want us to do"
"Oh, umm ... Robbie! You still got all both our music and stuff don't you?" I pointed to him.
"Course I do! Lsten to them pretty much everyday" his tone sounded as if I'd asked what was the colour of snow or something.
"Would you two mind being DJs then?" Ben added.
"Oh, my, God! That would be awesome! Of course we'll be happy to" Alice seemed so excited.
"Then you two can go sort out the playlist" I smiled.
Robbie saluted and I laughed. They left and Ben grabbed the ladder.
"You gonna help me with this?"
I smiled grabbing the other end. We put it up directly below the center of the lights. They'd be easy to turn around onto the ball.
"I'll go grab it. Wait here" Ben jogged off.
Not two minutes after he left Jimmy and Cecilia walked in with boxes and one Cecilia was holding looked like a big gift box.
"Kristen! I have amazing news!" Cecilia came running over.
"Hey guys" I paused "What's with the boxes?"
"We went scouting earlier. Just came back. I found a street totally untouched but deserted. I remember there was this shop on it. A prom store. The others agreed to grab everything on the way back. We have loads of boxes of dresses and suits and tux's. And none of the dresses are alike so no one will be afraid of wearing the same thing" Jimmy smiled looking quite proud of himself.
"Jimmy, you are a life saver!" I hugged him.
He chuckled "Just lucky"
"Mmm, and so is Cecilia" I winked at her and she laughed blushing.
"Here. I saved this one especially for you. You have to promise not to open it until tomorrow night. Be more of a surprise" Cecilia handed me the gift box she was holding.
"Umm..." I hesitated but I trusted her all the same "sure. I trust you so I promise"
"Yay! I know you're gonna love it!" she squealed "Oh and here's Ben's"
she handed me another box. I stacked them on top of one another.
"Thanks guys. I honestly dunno where I'd be without you. Fancy hanging out later?" I asked.
"I dunno..." Jimmy rubbed the back of his head.
"Why not?" Cecilia looked at him.
"I just ... I, uh, don't feel up to it" he shruuged.
Ben came back with Hal both carrying the disco ball in their hands. Wow. It looked a lot bigger than I remembered.
"Right. How we gonna do this?" Hal rubbed his hands together.
"In all honesty, I don't have a clue" I scratched my head.
"Umm, well, one of us is going to have to go on either side of the ladder and lift it up together" Hal pursed his lips.
"Sounds like a good plan" Ben nodded.
Hal smiled smugly "What I'm good for, bro"
"Yeah, right" Ben snickered and I laughed.
"I, uh, better get going. I'll see you later, Cecilia" Jimmy gave her a quick kiss before he practically ran out of the hall.
"You don't think...?" She looked up at me.
My arms were folded "I really hope not, Cec'. I really do"
We both turned back to the brothers.
"Here" Hal literally dropped the discoball into my hands. It was lighter than I expected but still massive! I almost lost my balance before Ben caught me quickly from behind.
"Careful!" I stood back up straight balancing it on my one hand and arm "Did you have to?" Ben looked at Hal.
"Watch out for your girlfriend now" Hal teased and Ben narrowed his eyes before laughing.
"Will both of you just get up the ladder and do your jobs?" I gestured to it.
They laughed again "okay, okay" Ben said letting go of my waist that I hadn't even realised he was holding.
Cecilia helped me lift it up above my head to them and they easily fixed it in place.
"Simple" Hal said "Well, if you need me I'll probably be with dad"
"Sure thing" I waved as Ben said bye and Hal left.
Ben hugged me from behind my waist and I looked at him.
"You two are such a perfect pair" Cecilia sighed.
I giggled "Thanks. Wasn't always like this though"
Ben smirked "Oh, babe, let's not go there again"
"Tell me?" she automatically looked interested.
Ben laughed "We'll explain later. Right now let's try and finish this thing asap"
"Okay" I smiled "Pretty much all we have to do is sort out the wiring. Easy enough"
"I can do that" Cecilia jumped up in her tip-toes before her heels hit the floor again.
"Good. Ben, mind doing that with her? Just plug in the lights and the amps to the stereo"
"Course I don't" he kissed my cheek quickly "C'mon then, Cecilia"
I was just going to put up a flyer and put the dress and suit Cecilia gave me in my room and put the rest of the dresses in a closet for people to pick out.
I drew out a poster. That was easiest. I put it up next to the board with all the missing kids on them. Probably everyone would see it then. Ugh, only thing now is who's going to help me with the dresses...
"Uh, hey. Are you Kristen?" A girl was stood behind me.
She was like a gothic really. She had wavy, shoulder length, black hair with multi-coloured highlights in with side bangs covering her right eye like Cecilia's.
"Hi. Yeah. Anything I can help you with?" I smiled at her.
"Actually, I'm the one who's supposed to ask that" she chuckled "Cecilia told me to come find you and see if you need any help putting the dresses up"
"That girl knows me too well" I rolled my eyes "Sure you can help if you want. You'd be a lifesaver if you did"
"Course I will" she perked up a bit. That shyness started to fade.
"Great! Okay. They don't really need to be sorted but maybe short ones on the side andlong ones on the other" I pursed my lips picturing it in my head.
"Sounds good"
We started walking "So, what's your name?"
"Cassidy. Cassidy Williams" she looked at the floor.
"Nice name" I nodded "My last name's Marshall by the way. So how do you know Cecilia?"
"We're best friends. Well, we were... how about you?"
"Through Jimmy. We're sort of family but like you, maybe we were. Lemme guess, Cecilia with Jimmy all the time?"
"Yeah. Is that selfish?" she looked up at me. She was really pretty.
"No. Course you're gonna feel left out. S'okay anyway, you can always come hang out with me n Ben" that thought came into my head again "I mean if you haven't got a problem with that..."
Cassidy shook her head "Don't worry, I'm not one of those people. The reason I don't like Jimmy all that much"
"What do you mean?" my emotions all went flat.
"I, uh, nothing forget I said anything" I could see the guilt and regret on her face.
I stopped in front of her. I towered over her by at least an inch "No, no. You have to tell me now"
She swallowed hard "I over-heard Jimmy talking to this kid. They were talking about the ... the, um..."
"Don't worry you can say it" I backed up a bit. I suppose I was a little intimidating even if I didn't mean to be.
"The razorbacks. They were saying that they didn't trust them. And ... then you came up in the conversation. About how they didn't know that you could let him hug you and kiss you.." Cass kicked her toes to the floor.
"Let him hug and kiss me" my teeth were ground together. Jimmy went over the line! I went to go find him.
"No!" she grabbed my arm "Please don't say anything yet. Can we just do this first?"
I smiled calming down "Yeah, sure. Good idea" I put my arm over her shoulder "But you need to be more confident with me. Not gonna bite or anything"
"Sorry. I'm not usually like this. Just when I meet someone new" she smirked.
"Don't need to be" I smiled as we started walking again "Let's sort these dresses out"
I took Cass to the costume closet and shoved all the outfits on the shelf and we started sorting the dresses. Me the short ones, Cassidy the longer ones. We were talking about petty things and I came across a dress I thought would be perfect for her.
"Hey, Cass'"
She turned to me "Yeah?"
Overall she was getting more and more confident around me.
I lifted up a short black strapless dress. The skirt was layered and showed about an inch of the netting underneath.
"What you think of this?" I asked.
"It's really nice, yeah" she nodded.
"I meant for you"
Her eyes went wind for a second "Oh, no. I'm not going"
"What? Why?"
"I don't have anyone to go with. And Cecilia will be with Jimmy and you with Ben so I'd just be a loner" Cass looked pretty gutted.
"We're just going to have to fix that" I smiled grabbing these netted gloves that go up to your elbows and black strappy heels "Here, take these to your room and meet me outside"
She looked nervous but did it anyway "okay"
I closed the door and went outside. Fresh air was so perfect. I noticed Matt sitting down on the grass staring at something. I followed his eyeline and saw a young girl. She looked about Matt's age. She was on her own laying on her stomach drawing.
I sat at his side, my arms wrapped around my legs "She's pretty"
Matt smiled "I know. I want to ask her to prom, but she won't go with me"
I rolled my eyes. The way him and Ben were alike... "What's her name?"
"Lily Williams" he ripped a handful of grass from the ground.
"Her sister Cassidy?"
"Yeah, how do you know that?"
"Just met her. Okay then. Wait here" I stood up.
I jogged around the corner and picked up a rose. I took off the thornes and walked back to Matt and helped him up.
"Go give her this. And then ask her to prom" I handed him the flower.
"What, just like that?" Matt raised an eyebrow.
"Just like that" I nodded.
He walked over as I watched him and Cassidy came up behind me.
"Setting up my sister?" she smirked.
I folded my arms "Maybe"
"She has a crush on Matt anyway" she chuckled.
"All the better then"
I watched Lily take the rose and kiss Matt on the cheek smiling. Awh. That was so cute!
Lily walked off and Matt came back to me "Thanks, Kristen!"
He hugged me as I smiled "No problem. Why don't you go tell your brother? He's in the hall with Cecilia"
"Okay!" he seemed so happy.
"Right, just you left now" I rubbed my hands together and Cass looked nervous.