lolz have-a-cookie just cracks me up for some reason. like whenever i read one of her reviews i cant help but laugh, even when shes not joking. and yes, have-a-cookie, you guessed right. it just adds to the plot, dont you think? and thank you to Teh Pwnerer- XD how old are you? like, seriously, do you work in an office or is that an expression? XD
Tiffany lay on her bed that Friday night. Gwen and Mikey were on their first date right that second, which depressed Sparky, who was laying on her bedroom floor. Tabby was hanging out with Ulrich ("It's not a date!! We're just walking around campus!") and Odd and Faith were- you guessed it- at the movies. Together.
Whatever. Odd had a right to date people he liked. So what if he didn't like her? It's gray. She couldn't help thinking. My favorite color is gray.
Sparky was talking about random things, but he knew she wasn't really listening. Hollywood Undead was playing softly from her stereo, and she mumbled along to it. Sparky took out his wallet, which was connected to a chain, and stared at a picture of a beautiful girl with light blond hair and brown eyes. Thick eyeliner, dressed in black. She was pale from lack of sun, and her hair had been to her shoulders. She'd let it grow after her chemo had failed.
Tears pricked the edges of Tiffany's eyes, and she threw her pillow at him. "Put the damn picture away."
"Geez, I'm sorry," he replied sarcastically as he got up and changed it to a different song. She closed her eyes. Sparky and Allianah were dating when it happened. He might have cared about Allianah as much as Tiffany did. She didn't want to cry, but the tears came anyway.
Sparky buried his face in his hands, and Tiffany curled up in a ball. Damn it. She was sobbing again.
Tiffany's running her hands nervously through her hair, and tears are brimming at the edges of her eyes. Dying. Dying. Dying. The rain is pounding impossibly hard against the window. It just adds to the moment. The heat of it. The excrutiating pain of it.
Sparky's crying on her shoulder, and she hardly has the strength to keep her eyes open. She's mumbling incoherently, and she finally says, "Quit it. You're depressing me." He's squeezing her hand so tightly that her fingers are turning white, but she doesn't feel the pain anymore. Tiffany is holding her other hand, and Sparky kisses her fingers.
"Don't go," Tiffany whispered, whimpering. The radio is playing You Found Me, by The Fray, and it's making everything worse. She tries to switch it off.
"No," she says. "I love this song."
"Don't go," Sparky echoes.
"I'm tired,"
she shifts. Gwen is crying, too. Mikey is curled up in a ball on the
floor.(1) "Will you miss me?" "Always,"
Sparky shudders. "Always." Tiffany whimpers. A
strange gurgling sound escapes her throat, and she foams at the
mouth, her body convulsing violently for a moment before it stops.
Her parents wouldn't care, they never did, but all of their eyes were
locked on her body. All of them saw the same thing.
Allianah Fray was dead.
Tiffany left the room when her crying ceased. She didn't want to listen to Sparky's tears anymore.
After Odd's date...
The date had ended with the perfect kiss. The most perfect date, ever, with the most beautiful girl, ever.
Seriously, Odd thought on his way back to his dorm. How perfect can you get? She's hot, and she doesn't even care about what happened to Helen Johnson! He was so excited, but a dark thought crossed his mind. Must be over Tiffany. I guess we just wouldn't have worked out anyway. He thought of her eyeliner, way too thick, and her loud music. It was cute, in a way, but he and Faith really clicked.
He'd never actually met a girl more perfect for him. She loved the same music, skateboarding, even video games! She was smart, pretty, funny... it was as if he'd finally met the perfect girl. Perfect. Completely and-
He stopped mid-thought when somebody ran into him. It was slightly dark, but his eyes had adjusted, and he looked down at Tiffany. Her cheeks were dark, and he realized her eyeliner had been running.
"You got a little..." He let his voice trail off and motioned to his eyes.
She inhaled deeply, sidestepped around him, and ran off. What's her damage?
With Tabby and Ulrich...
"Actually, Tiffany's a nerd," Tabby rolled her eyes as they sat down on the famililar, vacant bench. "She doesn't like anyone knowing about it, but she's an Honor student. She's here because Kadic offered her a spot. Before that, she was homeschooled."
"Oh," Ulrich pondered that. "When did you come to Kadic?"
"Like two weeks after Allianah died last year." She paused and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "And Tiffany's real touchy about that. Might tell Odd to leave that subject alone, hint hint."
"Will do. Where did you go before Kadic?"
"Public school. My mom and dad shipped me off here so they could, like, travel the world and whatnot. Crazy old folks. My mom is constantly texting me. And MySpacing me. And overall, bothering me. She makes me crazy."
"Maybe she misses you?"
"She's having too much fun. I don't even remember which continent she's in right now."
"Wow, looks like you miss her, too."
"What? I kinda do. But I don't really even know her. I was raised by a nanny. She's always going places. She told me she had some life-alterring event happen to her or whatever and that she thinks it's important to live while you're alive."
"That's true, though."
"Please. This life-alterring event was probably tripping down two stairs."
"Sheesh. I wish my parents were speaking to me."
"Bitter. They've probably already forgiven you. They're just making sure you've learned your lesson."
"You think so?"
"It's love, Ulrich. The unconditional kind. That's what you're stuck with."
He laughed. He felt a little better.
"Now," Tabby leaned back in the bench, her expression one of apathy. "What's with this Faith character?"
"Huh? That. Odd's head over heels, if you were wondering."
"This creates tension for Tiffany and Odd, hmmm..."
"Is that why Tiffany seems to really hate her?"
"Tiffany doesn't hate her. She just kept getting in disagreements with Faith before she came to Kadic."
"What are you talking about?"
"You didn't know? Faith Burrell is Allianah Fray's cousin."
"They look nothing alike!"
"Well, Faith has changed a lot, according to Tiffany. Like her hair used to be light brown and she must have colored contacts or something now. And she's thinner, and she hasn't grown an inch. We never caught her name before, but it's her."
"What kind of disagreements?"
"Like Faith and Allianah had never even met or something, and Faith kept insisting that she and Allianah used to play in some sandbox or something, but Allianah had never even heard of her. Stupid little things like that."
"Oh."
They were quiet for a moment, and Tabby furrowed her brow. This was a little suspicious, now that she was actually thinking about it. She would probably look up this girl later or something.
A figure came walking by, its arms folded across its chest and its breath in ragged gasps.
"Take a guess at who that is." Tabby sighed, kissed Ulrich on the cheek, and ran off, thankful that the darkness covered her blush.
(1) Tabby isn't there because she didn't come until after Allianah died.
Hmmm, yes, yes, yes, the plot thickens... interesting... Review? pleaaase?
