Tiny Tinker: Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you like the intro. However, there's one glaring flaw in your reasoning. Being the hard core PPG fan that I am, of course I'm aware that they're six… IN THE SHOW. However, my stories take place in their future, therefore, I write them as being older. Make sense?
Heightened Tensions- Chapter Nine
October rain was drizzling outside of the biology lab window, and the dull gray of the early morning was just starting to brighten with fresh sunlight. Blossom sat at her desk, with her chin resting on her hand, her mind barely focused on the professor who was standing at the front of the room.
The morning announcements were over, and the professor slapped his hands together in barely controlled excitement. He was grinning like a school-kid.
"All right then, you'll never guess what you get to do today," he said to the class, noting the fact that at least 80% of them were still partially asleep. He looked around eagerly, and his gaze fell on Buttercup, who had her head down on her desk in the back of the room. He went silent for a second, before grabbing a wad of paper off of Blossom's desk. The class watched him in silent anticipation, some of the students barely able to stifle their audible giggles.
The professor hurled the wad of crumpled paper, and it smacked against Buttercup's stooped over head, causing her to fling her head up in startled anger. She realized who had thrown it at her, and she cast an angry glare at the professor, who was smiling at her casually.
"Alright then," he continued, completely pushing aside what had just happened. "You guys are really lucky today… because the administration has allowed me to do something really cool."
Of course, the class didn't believe him, because how often was it that the teacher and the class met eye to eye when it concerned with what was cool. Nobody seemed any more interested then they would have normally been, except for Blossom and Bubbles, who conveniently knew what he was talking about.
"You are going to get the chance to work with Chemical X today-"
And the class exploded in a noisy uproar, all of the kids shrieking to each other with unsuppressed excitement. This naturally wasn't that big of a deal to Blossom and Bubbles, or to Buttercup for that matter. They dealt with Chemical X all the time.
And the professor shooed them all to the back of the classroom, and didn't have to tell them twice. The kids were nearly leaping over each other to get a good spot at the low table in the middle of the lab areas, where the professor was going to show them the chemical. There was a very large bottle of the black, oily fluid sitting on the middle of the table, along with various other instruments that were used for measuring frequencies and concentrations
"Now, we're going to study it in its various frequencies, and I'm going to want you to note how it changes in appearance as the concentrations and levels change…" the professor started lecturing as he started handing out safety goggles to all of the students. Blossom tuned him out, realizing this was all old news to her, and slipped her way over to where Buttercup was standing. She had found a spot as far away from Blossom as possible, but she wasn't going to let that discourage her.
"Hey," Blossom said quietly, moving in close next to Buttercup. Buttercup glanced over at her quickly, but then turned away.
Blossom had taken to heart what the professor had told her weeks ago, and ever since then she'd been trying time and again to involve Buttercup in anything they did. She'd initiated video game contests (and had let Buttercup win intentionally), pillow fights, cookie baking, and had even asked Buttercup to be partners with her a few times. At first, Blossom had thought she was breaking through Buttercup's strong barriers of defense, because Buttercup would always tag along and would agree to do whatever Blossom had asked. Despite that, and despite all of Blossom's attempts at making her feel loved and important, Buttercup physical condition didn't seem to be improving. That also meant that Blossom wasn't get anywhere with her emotionally either, and that had just occurred to her within the last week. Buttercup was getting even thinner than before, and her face had become so gaunt and sickly that some people were starting to say that she was going through a bout of anorexia. The rumors even flew that she had become a drug addict, and despite all of Blossom and Bubbles's attempts to halt these rumors where they started, the word always flew back to Buttercup, who took it with a silent reserve that she'd never had before.
It was even worse at home. Her energy was the lowest it had ever been, and she always seemed to look tired and weak whenever they did manage to see her. Buttercup would stay in her room, and even though she would come down to eat, she'd barely touch her food. She'd just swirl it around her plate for a few minutes, take a few bites and then leave it on the table nearly untouched. She'd leave the room, and would leave the rest of the family sitting there silently, exchanging worried glances between one-another with one question on their minds. Should they do something to stop this?
But for some reason they didn't, something in the back of their minds trying to win them over with the thought that she was just going through a phase, and would snap out of it any day now. But the days went by with no change, and the shimmer in her emerald eyes got duller with each passing day. This was not the Buttercup they were accustomed too.
"You're working with me, whether you like it or not," Blossom whispered, and Buttercup shrugged casually. She didn't really seem to care all that much.
They moved over to their usual lab table, with Bubbles and her partner Dexter on the other side. Bubbles was staring at the table top, her gaze unfaltering and dead as if she was deeply engrossed in her own thoughts. Dexter was next to her, tinkering with one of the instruments.
Blossom kept her eye on Buttercup as she came up beside her at the table. Buttercup's hands were folded on the countertop, and her eyes were shut lazily with her head bowed. Ever since the first day of school she'd become very quiet in the class, and she avoided looking around her less she lose her control again like she did on that first day. None of the students in the class could quite figure out what had happened. Instead, they'd just pushed it aside as if it was something that happened every day, but it still weighed down heavily on her family. None of them really knew what Buttercup was going through, but instead of really discussing it, they'd only shushed it quiet like a bad rumor.
She was ringing her hands nervously, a habit which she'd required over the duration of her sudden change in psychosis. They were pale and thin, and she'd let her nails grow to ungodly lengths. It was like she'd suddenly stopped caring about her appearance, and despite her attempts to at least look decent, people could at least tell that she'd started to look as if she just fell into a set of clothes in the morning.
Blossom moved her gaze away and looked back at Bubbles, who was in the same position she'd been in five minutes ago. What was wrong with her family? Was she the only one who wasn't going insane?
But don't forget who you've been chatting with…
She looked around her nervously as if afraid that the people around her could read her very thoughts. She'd been keeping it secret, all her meetings with Him, and it was still so baffling to her how her sisters hadn't even noticed Him's presence around. Maybe he was shielding himself with the knowledge that they could sense him, but even so, he seemed pretty careless whenever he was with her. It was like he purposely did things to annoy her, cavorting around her room like he suddenly owned the place, and she found herself raising her voice a good majority of the times he came around (which was just about every night). Bubbles had noticed something was up the first night, but ever since then she hadn't said a word about hearing Blossom "talking to herself". Either she didn't hear it anymore (maybe he had something to do with that), or maybe she genuinely thought that Blossom had developed the habit of screaming at herself to stay out of her drawers. Not that that was any better.
She was fed up with herself for becoming so comfortable around him so quickly. But, ever since the first night where he'd seemed as if he was more interested in her physically, he hadn't done anything else in that respect. There were no more awkward advances or moments of tense pressure between them, and Blossom really wasn't too disappointed. Yet, she'd gotten to the point where every night she expected him to come around, and found herself almost disappointed if he was later than normal. Did she really think of him as a friend? They did spend an awful lot of time, just talking.
So perhaps she wasn't guiltless of changing like her sisters. There was something up with all of them, and it was starting to get frustrating.
Dexter suddenly shot up from his leaning position on the table, and turned to Bubbles, grabbing her arm quickly.
"Go get some of the Xant-"
But he barely even finished his sentence before he was completely halted by Bubbles, who jumped spastically and let out a small scream of surprise. This in turn made Buttercup jump as well, and almost made Blossom spill her beaker of Xantium all over the counter.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Dexter said apologetically, his eyebrows furrowed as he regarded Bubbles with intense concentration. She had her hand on her chest and was panting heavily.
"No no, I was- er- thinking of something else!"
"Bubbles? Have you been drinking too much coffee?" Blossom asked angrily, readjusting the goggles that sat on the bridge of her nose.
"No! I don't drink coffee-"
"Well, you've been acting like you're in the middle of a war-"
Dexter was watching both of them strangely as Bubbles screwed up her face in defense. Blossom didn't even look up from her tasks as she continued to harass her sister.
"I am not!"
"Yes you are, you act like you're super high-strung, and you freak out whenever anyone touches you or walks up behind you. What's the deal?"
"I'm fine!"
"Then why are you acting like someone's stalking you? You've been coming home late, and every time you look like you've been sprinting for hours."
Bubbles suddenly went very red and her face fell. She didn't say anything else after that, but just looked down at the table furiously.
"Um, she's right. You seem a bit tense lately-" Dexter said hesitantly, simultaneously backing a few steps away from Bubbles, whose face had suddenly twisted into a snarl.
"How about a little less questions, and a lot more SHUT THE HELL UP!" she roared angrily, and then stomped away and grabbed the hall pass from the front table before she left the room in an angry huff. Blossom sighed heavily and looked up at Dexter, who was staring at the door. Buttercup was snickering under he breath.
"Since when did she start swearing?" Dexter said wearily, his face showing that he felt somewhat hurt and offended. Bubbles never yelled at anyone, and when she did, it always left the victim very shocked and emotionally wounded.
"Sorry, she's been even worse at home. Don't take it personal." Blossom said apologetically, looking Dexter straight in the eye.
"Well, I know, but I wish she'd say what's wrong. If she's trying to hide something she isn't doing a very good job."
"No, I suspect she's just scared, of what I don't know, but I think she's been getting into some tough fights around town. What worries me is that she doesn't bother to ask us for help, but tries to handle whatever she'd getting into on her own," Blossom said frankly, elbowing Buttercup to break her out of her watery daze.
"Well, how do you know if she hasn't said anything?"
"Just a hunch I guess. She came home bleeding one night, and ever since then she's been coming home a lot looking like a complete mess. She sort of avoids the whole issue, and did in fact tell us once that she ran into Mojo. Other than that, we don't know. She's being too secretive. When we do manage to get her to talk, she gets really defensive and yells."
"Bubble-head just doesn't want to be made fun of," Buttercup said suddenly, surprising the two of them into silence. It was probably the first full sentence she'd strung together in a long time.
Blossom smiled lightly. "I wonder where she gets it from-"
"And what is that supposed to mean?!" Buttercup shrieked, but the overall thinness of her voice hampered the entire effect.
"Her stand-offishness. She certainly doesn't get it from me," Blossom said, plugging the electron reader into an outlet on the lab table's island.
"Well, at least some of me has rubbed off on her…" Buttercup said, and her thinned face suddenly brightened into the first smile Blossom had seen for weeks. Blossom regarded her calmly, her own expression a mixture of surprised gratitude and happiness. Maybe she was getting somewhere.
Buttercup almost immediately noticed her staring, and cast her eyes down in embarrassment. Blossom blushed, ashamed, knowing that she'd made her fragile sister uncomfortable.
"What?" Buttercup said in a halting, exasperated voice. Blossom looked down at the beaker full of Chemical X and blinked a few times, watching the oily swirls move about inside the glass.
"It's just so nice to see you smile… again…"
"Don't read to much into it. I'm just worried about Bubbles. I still hate you," Buttercup said very matter-of-factly, but Blossom thought she saw the hint of a smirk on her sister's face. Blossom grabbed Buttercup's hand and squeezed, wincing inwardly at the feel of her sister's knobby fingers. Buttercup didn't return the gesture, but she didn't really refuse it either, which all together made Blossom feel better.
Blossom let her head casually slip sideways and fall against Buttercup's shoulder. She let it rest there, and narrowed her eyes softly as she felt the noticeable lack of meat on her sister. Buttercup didn't squirm away, which was what she would have normally done, but she flinched lightly as Blossom's cheek fell against her collar bone. For some reason, her depression had almost made her more gentle, which was better, except for the fact that it was also eating away at her from the inside.
"All right, that's enough, get off me." Buttercup said coolly, and she jabbed her shoulder up in an attempt to knock Blossom away. Blossom just giggled brightly, and felt her insides grow butterflies of content as she told herself that her sister was getting better.
Blossom looked back at Dexter, who seemed to already be deeply involved in his own experiment. He kept looking back at the door, as if expecting Bubbles to come waltzing back in.
"She'll come back," Blossom said, and she saw him nod, a small frown on his face. She dimly wondered if it was possible that he liked her sister…
But that was thrown from her mind as the class was suddenly silenced by a faint, high-pitched, ringing bell that had started to sound off from somewhere in the classroom. Everyone went suddenly silent, listening to the steady pulses of electronic tone as they sounded off some kind of alarm. Blossom froze, her head cocked to the side as it registered in her brain what it was.
The Hotline.