Chapter 21
Tomatoes
"I KISSED A GIRL, AND I LIKED IT!"
"AAAAARRRGH!"
"You have been singing that god damn song since 7 this morning!" Amara cried, holding her hair in her fists. "Seriously, Liz, you wanna take 5 and shut the fuck up?"
"I got so brave drinking and… lost my discretion!" Liz continued to sing, oblivious to her friend's pleading.
"LIZ!" Amara, Katherine, Caitlyn, and I screamed at once.
"The taste of her cherry chapstick!" Liz continued, either completely ignoring us or intentionally continuing to be annoying.
"That's it," Caitlyn said. "Where's Becca and her duct tape when you need them?"
I groaned and put all of my mental focus into my sandwich. It had been about two months since I crashed the Jedi Council meeting in Emily's basement. The day after the meeting, the Padawans had kept annoyingly close to me. At lunch that day I chewed Emily out about how I appreciated the protection and all, but I needed my own space to keep my sanity. After a little arguing, I jokingly suggested that perhaps the reason there were Sith in the first place was because they went insane from the constant hovering of the Jedi. She, however, did not take that very lightly, and got disproportionately pissed at me. So, we stopped speaking. Emily got in the habit of eating lunch in the library to "catch up on homework". The Padawans started sitting at nearby tables instead of ours, and they didn't stare at me as much during class.
Getting disgruntled with Emily helped partially free me from the Jedi drama, but it was sad that it had to come to that. As much as Emily had been pissing me off lately, I still missed her, and not having her had left a void in my life. As a result, I started hanging around my other friends a lot more. I went out almost every Friday and Saturday night, much to my mom's disapproval. But I figured that I'd better live it up now, because once parent-teacher conferences happened and my mom found out just how badly I was doing in my classes, there would be no more wandering around downtown on Friday and Saturday nights.
The recent addition of a job into my already crazy life didn't help matters. A week or so after the Jedi Council meeting, my mom walked into my room one afternoon and saw me playing a video game. She was in a bad mood and gave me a massive lecture on how I was lazy and doing nothing with my life. She said that since homework didn't keep me busy enough, she was going to keep me busy with something worthwhile. Then she drove my ass all over town and forced me to apply for a job at every place under the sun. I ended up getting hired at only one place: this tiny little sandwich shop called Deli Land downtown, not too far from the skyscraper. I was not happy about having the job because my boss Ryan was an absolute asshole from the day I filled out the application, but I didn't have much choice in the matter. The job itself ended up sucking epically too. Ryan thus far hadn't felt like training me to make sandwiches (even though, come on, how hard could it possibly be?), so I got stuck mopping the floor, cleaning the bathroom, and washing the tables after people ate. I was never much of a people person before I got the job, but after a couple weeks of picking up other people's messes, I decided that I loathed majority of the human race. Seriously, how hard is it to walk two feet to throw a sandwich wrapper in the trash can? Seriously?
In addition to my already full mental plate, every night I continued to be plagued by the same recurring nightmare with the cloaked person. Every night he got closer, every night I could see more details, and every night I woke up in a cold sweat, sometimes screaming. Given that Emily wasn't speaking to me, and that the last thing I wanted to do was give the Jedi more of a reason to hover over me, I neglected to say anything. So my weeks consisted of waking up from that nightmare, going to school, going to lacrosse practice and/or work, half-assing my homework, and going to bed only to have the nightmare all over again.
As time wore on, I began to feel more and more disconnected from my friends. The knowledge that the Sith were out there and potentially plotting the demise of my planet did not help my already stressful life. Whenever one of my friends complained about their workload or some drama at school, it always took everything in my power not to fire back with "You think YOUR life's complicated? Try putting yourself in my shoes for a minute. I just found out that science fiction isn't fiction, my best friend is a Jedi, my school is crawling with Padawans who never leave me alone, I'm failing Algebra, my manager is a psycho, some crazy Sith Lord is after me, and lacrosse semifinals are fast approaching. Oh, and guess who STILL doesn't have a date to Homecoming?!"
So my busy days turned into weeks, which then turned into months, and before I knew it, it was mid-November. The chilly, foggy mornings of autumn gave way to raw, frosted mornings filled with the kind of cold that always precedes the impending winter. The school was in full Homecoming frenzy, and it was all I could do to keep myself from vomiting every time some guy elaborately popped the "will you go to Homecoming with me?" question to some overly-enthusiastic girl. It was all anyone was talking about: who was taking who to Homecoming, who didn't have a date, who was wearing what, who was going to the Homecoming game, who was going to march in the Homecoming parade… As someone who fully wasn't planning on going (because, seriously, who would want to take me to a dance?), it was getting nauseating. And as if the preppie girls gossiping about who was wearing what dress (because lord forbid if there are duplicates) wasn't bad enough, all the jocks could talk about was the upcoming football match against Eastman High for the Homecoming game. And everyone who was involved in a club was in a frenzy trying to finish their parade floats in a desperate attempt to out-do everyone else. Some of the members of the Star Wars club decided we should have the most epic float possible, and before I knew it on Friday afternoons I found myself roped into gluing crate paper to chicken wire for hours on end.
And the impending Thanksgiving holiday next week did not help the school-wide sense of panic.
It was now Thursday, one week before Thanksgiving and just over two weeks before Homecoming. I was sitting at lunch with my friends, already in a foul mood at the prospect of dealing with Ryan until close that night. Liz's incessant singing served no other purpose than to further sour my spirits.
"I just wanna try you on," Liz sang as she twirled in her seat, flinging her drumsticks around and getting glares from everyone around her, including Katherine, whom she almost hit in the head.
"Liz, you wanna calm down and let us eat in peace?" Katherine scolded. "For god's sake, will you at least attempt to act reasonably mature?"
"Yes mommy," Liz said dismissively, causing Katherine to sigh in disgust.
It was moments like this when I wished I knew the Jedi mind trick. I wondered if Liz was weak-minded enough for it to work.
"No, really, Liz," Amara snarled, "if you don't fucking stop I'm going to sit somewhere else."
Amara crossed her arms in a gesture of determination, causing Liz to stick out her lower lip and whimper. "Noooo," Liz whined, "don't leave me, Mara!"
"Then STOP!" Amara snapped with a roll of her eyes.
I sighed in relief, thankful that Liz's newest antics had finally come to an end. As I nibbled on my sandwich in quiet discomfort, I gazed lazily around the cafeteria. Emily was nowhere in sight, of course, but the Padawans were close by. Ironically, they sat at a table full of hippies, and most of them had their backs to me. I caught Kabea looking at me a couple of times, and every time I glanced at her she looked the other way. Of all the Padawans, Kabea was the most annoying. She was always the most vocal about my "anger problem", and I often saw her griping to Emily in the classes we shared. Of all the Padawans, she alone continued to stare at me when she thought I wasn't looking, usually in disgust.
A couple of my friends noticed where I was looking and decided to divert the conversation down a route I really didn't want to go.
"I noticed the exchange students haven't been sitting with us lately," Arleen observed.
"I noticed that too," Ann commented.
"I wonder why," Arleen mused, placing her chin in her hands.
Caitlyn glared at Liz, who had started lightly drumming the table with her drumsticks. "I wonder why…" Caitlyn replied in mock curiosity.
"No, I don't think that's it," Arleen replied. "They sat here for ages and then all of a sudden left. Emily did too."
"Ya, where is Emily?" Katherine interjected with a disgruntled expression.
"Where do you think?" I answered. "In the library, doing homework. Again."
"There's no way that girl has that much homework," Lita replied. "She's in the same classes as the rest of us."
"Maybe she has a bunch of outside commitments that keep her busy at home," Arleen offered, to which I snorted in reply. The others looked at me quizzically, and I covered up my outburst with a series of fake sneezes.
"She must be super busy at home," said Katherine, "and she must be becoming a bit of an insomniac. I dunno if any of you noticed but the other day she was practically falling asleep in Algebra."
"I was sleeping in Algebra, so I didn't notice," Caitlyn replied, earning a glare from Katherine and a laugh of approval from me.
"But that's so unlike her," Katherine continued. "I've never seen her so out of it before. And when I tried to talk to her about it she brushed me off."
"To be fair," Caitlyn answered, "she's been acting weird for months."
My memories flashed back to that day with the janitor's closet when this whole mess started. I shuddered. It had only been a couple of months, but it seemed like a lifetime ago now. Things were so different back then. So much simpler compared to now.
"Forget trying to talk to her," I said in an attempt to diffuse this conversation. "She won't talk to me or anyone. She's in her own little Emily world."
"Speak of the devil," Ann replied, nodding in the direction of the door, "look who it is."
Everyone looked in the direction of the door to see Emily, with her black hair in a messy bun on the top of her head, trotting into the cafeteria with an armload of books. We all watched as she skirted around the edge of the cafeteria, away from our table, and over to the hippie table where the Padawans were seated. Most of the hippies had stood up and were playing hackie-sack nearby, so the Jedi had the table to themselves. I watched as Emily sat next to Kabea and exchanged a few words with her before they all leaned together to exchange some more secretive Jedi news.
"Wonder what that's about," Amara remarked, expressing the question that was on all our minds. Even I, who knew more than most, felt incredibly out of the loop on my best friend's life.
I desperately wanted to talk to her, to tell her that I was sorry for snapping at her, and to beg her to give me my best friend back. I wanted this whole Jedi drama to be done, for these Padawans to go back home, for the Sith lord to go away, and for everything to just go back to the way it was. My friends had resumed their conversation, but I was too lost in my own thoughts to listen. I stared at Emily intently, hoping that through some power of the Force I couldn't control that she would hear my pleading, sense my desperation, and would do something about it.
My thoughts were interrupted by a baby tomato covered in ranch dressing that came hurtling by and landed in front of Ann. She shrieked in surprise and I looked around to see where the tomato had come from. There, on the fringe of the jock section, a bunch of meat-headed jock guys were jeering and pointing at us.
The jocks pulled back a plastic spoon, ready to launch another tomato like a slingshot, and Ann ducked and covered her head instinctively. Janet rolled her eyes and ignored them while Katherine rolled the tomato off the table. A few seconds later, another tomato flew past us and hit a huge gothic guy sitting at the table behind us square in the forehead. Enraged, he snatched both baby tomatoes and marched closer to the jock section. He then chucked the tomatoes with the full force of his muscle-bound upper body back at the jocks. We heard one of them yell in surprise when it exploded on his face in a burst of juice and seeds. Caitlyn and I ducked as another tomato was thrown past us, hitting a gothic girl in the back. She turned around and ran past us with a half-empty milk carton in her hands.
"Yee-haw!" Liz yelled in delight, grabbing her half-eaten chicken sandwich. "This looks fun!"
She ran over to where the other antagonists were standing and chucked the chicken sandwich at one of the jocks. Her aim was true, and it hit him in the leg as he tried to dodge out of the way. She cackled maniacally and ran back to our table. She looked at the remnants of Janet's sandwich and asked, "are you done with this?"
"Yes," Janet replied nervously, "why?"
Liz snatched her sandwich, ran toward the preppie section, and threw it as hard as she could into the assembled pink throng. Several girls screamed, leapt out of their seats, and stared in horror at the blob of lunchmeat, bread, and mayonnaise splattered across their table. Liz shrieked and leapt in joy as a few more goths and a hippie wearing no shoes grabbed their food and threw it at the jocks. Enraged, the jocks started chucking everything within sight back at them. I ducked as a hardboiled egg whizzed over my head and hit the back wall.
After more screaming, swearing, and throwing food, one of the hippies screamed "FOOD FIGHT!"
Half of the cafeteria leapt out of their seats and went to join the fray. Amara and Taylor cheered, grabbed some food, and went to join Liz. The preppie girls shrieked in terror, covered their bottle-blonde heads, and ran away.
"I'm outta here!" Kristen cried, grabbing her stuff and running out of the cafeteria with Janet, Ann, Lita, and Katherine close behind. Caitlyn threw herself over her laptop, swore loudly, and threw an empty lunch tray in the direction of the jocks. Arleen tugged at her sleeve and told her to get out of there before the fight got any worse. Caitlyn grabbed her laptop, cradled it under her sweatshirt, and followed Arleen out of the cafeteria.
I ducked to avoid an open bottle of PowerAde that came sailing toward my head. It sprinkled me with blue liquid on its way by and hit some geek cowering against the wall. I looked over at the Padawans and saw them hiding under the table, with Kabea and Thykos using the Force to divert food away from them. Caught up in the heat of battle, I strongly contemplated joining the festivities.
A jock girl I recognized from the Varsity lacrosse team ran over and threw an apple as hard as she could at a crowd of geeks next to us. Some geek guy with thick glasses that were smudged with food deflected it with a three-ring binder and sent it crashing to the floor near our table. A few moments later, Liz, with her mohawk covered in avocado, ran over, grabbed the apple, and threw it back at the jocks. It skimmed off the side of a preppie girl's arm as she ran by trying to get out of the cafeteria.
I saw an orange roll by my feet and decided that it was time to have some fun. I grabbed it and ran toward the jocks, chucking it as hard as I could into their battle lines. At first it looked like I was going to miss, but the orange seemed to curve and hit a football player as he ran by. It cracked and sent orange juice dripping down his torso. He swore and threw a sandwich as hard as he could at me. I easily dodged it and ran back under the table laughing manically.
To my disgust, Emily, with a displeased look on her face, half crawled over to our table and knelt down to speak to me for the first time in months.
"Come on," she said, tugging my arm, "let's go before we get in trouble."
"Oh, look to decided to grace us with her presence," I jeered sarcastically. "Your timing is impeccable."
"This isn't funny, Lia," she insisted.
"No, it's not," I snapped, shooting her a glare that made her lose her cool demeanor for a moment. "But you wanna know what is? You abandoning our friendship for months for your Jedi friends, only to show up at the most inconvenient time and order me around."
"I've been busy," Emily snapped back. "In case you forgot, I have a galaxy to protect."
A tempting banana peel landed nearby, smearing the floor with a brownish-yellow ooze. "And I have a fight to get back to," I said as I gave Emily one last glare. Ignoring her protests, I burst from under the table, grabbed the banana peel, and threw it at the nearest preppie. It hit her in the face, causing her to trip and fall on her face. Emily rolled her eyes and half crawled out of the cafeteria without another word, with the Padawans close behind.
Soon there were only a couple dozen participants left, mostly goths and jocks, taking out their hatred for each other with various food items. The teachers on duty were trying desperately to do their jobs, dodging edible missiles and screaming for us to stop. Eventually they called for reinforcements, and before we knew it what seemed like half the staff had descended upon the cafeteria. Most of us continued fighting, until we heard an unmistakable voice roar above the fray.
"ALRIGHT YOU PUNKS, BREAK IT UP!"
That voice stopped me mid-throw, causing me to instantly drop the celery stick I was holding. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach and my limbs went cold as I saw the heaving bulk of the Schlatinator lumber into the cafeteria. He had a similar effect on everyone else, and we all lowered our chosen projectiles and cowered back in fear.
"WHO STARTED THIS?" Schlatinator bellowed, causing my insides to shrivel up. The jocks pointed at us and we pointed at the jocks, the cafeteria suddenly so silent we could head food sliding down the walls.
"FINE THEN," he growled, "I'LL CONSIDER IT A GROUP EFFORT."
Everyone's expressions, jock, goth, and hippie alike, visibly sunk as we realized our fate.
"ALL OF YOU FORM A LINE, NOW!"
We all scrambled to comply, even Liz, who was terrified into a rare silence.
"ALRIGHT YOU DELINQUENTS," he screamed, "MARCH! TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE WITH THE LOT OF YOU! MARCH! NOW!"
Before I knew it, all twenty-six of us were crammed into the waiting room outside the principal's office, where we awaited him to come out and deliver our final sentences. Several times I wondered if I should've listened to Emily and gotten out of the cafeteria while I still could. But as I looked around at Liz, Amara, Taylor, and a bunch of other people I recognized, I realized that in a strange, uncharacteristic way it felt good. I felt like a rebel, and I liked the feeling of doing something bad. It felt good to openly disobey Emily and the Jedi. Despite the ridiculousness of this whole thing and my fear of the Schlatinator, this act of defiance felt oddly…good? It was a strange sensation for me, as this was the first time I had ever gotten in any kind of serious trouble. But some part of me, hidden deep down in the inner depths of my mind, felt exhilarated. It was intoxicating.
Eventually the principal emerged from his office and delivered the final verdict. We were all to receive detention for the next two weeks. According to his testimonies, since everyone's stories were so conflicting, he couldn't pinpoint who should receive suspensions (which was absolute bull shit). So we were all sentenced to detention, starting tomorrow afternoon.
My heart sank when I realized the repercussions of this. I was going to have to tell Ryan why I had to be late for work everyday and deal with his bitching. The Schlatinator certainly recognized the people who were on his teams, so we would likely have to endure additional torture once we resumed going to practice. And I was going to have to tell my mom.
Suddenly, the act of rebellion didn't feel so good anymore.
By the time the ordeal was over, my Chemistry class was almost finished. Mr. Godette informed me that I would have to do extra work to make up the lab I missed during detention tomorrow, and Katherine nagged my ear off for the rest of class. When art rolled around, we all had to stop what we were doing and listen to another one of the principal's "proper social conduct" blah blah blah lectures over the intercom.
Needless to say, school couldn't end fast enough. As I packed up my stuff, dodging my Chemistry book and a lacrosse ball as they came tumbling out of my locker, I saw Emily passing by out of the corner of my eye. She had a look on her face that could curdle milk, and she determinedly strode forward with all the confidence of an up-and-coming Jedi.
"I hope you're happy," she grumbled as she stormed past.
I didn't even have a chance to respond, so I stuck out my tongue at the back of her head as she passed.
I let some of the crowd disperse out of the parking lot before trudging outside. It was drizzling and tremendously cold, and my breath billowed around me in a white cloud. I was dressed nowhere near warm enough and certainly not appropriately for the weather. Shivering, I hugged my arms to my chest as I trotted over to the bike rack. It was cold enough that some of the drizzle was partially frozen in spots, and I ended up slipping on my way across the courtyard. I caught myself on the bike racks to keep from falling, but judging by the laughing that was coming from across the courtyard, I knew people had seen it. Grumbling, I unlocked my bike and sped out of there as fast as I could.
As I rode home, I brainstormed how I was going to postpone telling my mother what had happened at school. I certainly wasn't in for another round of grounding: no, my mother was likely going to kill me when she found out. I contemplated not telling her at all but realized that there would probably be an eventual email home telling her of my guilt. I sighed as I resigned myself that I was going to have to be the one to tell her because hearing it from me was infinitely better than hearing it from the principal. Maybe I could make it through the weekend before telling her and get one last night of fun in before my doom?
As I pedaled, I noticed my tire slipping a few times, especially as I turned corners. I was long overdue to put the studded tires on my bike, as I had been too busy to get around to it. Now I was regretting it, particularly as I came to the bottom of a large hill and attempted to make the turn onto the main road.
I never saw the black ice as I turned the corner. My back tire caught on the slippery patch, and I had too much momentum to maintain control. Acting on instinct, I hit the hand breaks in an attempt to slow down, which I instantly knew was the worst thing I could have done. My back tire locked, and I fishtailed out of control. I screamed as the bike spun out from under me, throwing me off and into the street. I hit the ground hard and rolled a few times, feeling the pavement tear at my clothing and skin. I was too dazed to move, in too much pain to get up, and in too much shock to register what had happened or where I was lying. I was dizzy with pain as I attempted to push myself up onto my forearms. I didn't even see the car approaching. All I heard was its horn and having no time to react I clenched my eyes shut and braced myself for impact.
Only it never happened. Through my dazed senses I head the horn suddenly stop and the distinctive sound of tires squealing. That car couldn't have had enough time to stop. I heard a thump of metal, and to my surprise I heard footsteps approaching. I opened my blurred eyes and saw someone approaching me on foot. They wore heavy black boots, and thick black fabric swirled around their ankles as they walked.
Before I could register what was happening, a pair of strong arms scooped me up and roughly carried me out of the road. I yelped in surprise but was too shaken up to do much else. The stranger was strong and obviously male, and by the height at which he carried me he seemed abnormally large. Suddenly stiff with fear, I glanced up toward his face. The hood of a black cloak obscured most of his features, but I was able to catch a glimpse of red skin.
My heart went cold.
He carried me to the parking lot of a nearby business park. He set me down behind some half-dead, frost-covered bushes and knelt on one knee beside me. He kept his hood up, but from this new angle I could see more of his face, and I shrank back in horror. Peering out from the darkness of his hood was the same face I had seen downtown two months ago. His red face was littered with black Sith tattoos, and his yellow eyes glared at me with what looked like an expression of mockery. His thin mouth twisted into a sneer, and I caught a glimpse of his pointed teeth. As he looked me over, I saw a thick, fleshy mass twitch from around his neck. It seemed to come from his head and wrap around the lower part of his neck, resting on his shoulders beneath his cloak. Like the rest of him, it was red and covered in black ink.
Twi'lek, my mind instantly flashed back to my Star Wars knowledge.
"Hmph," he grunted mockingly, his voice piercing through me like a hot dagger. I suddenly had a headache, and instantly my fear was replaced by an unexplainable, intense hate.
"Saeleth" I hissed in return, unsure of how I knew it was him. I could feel my hatred growing stronger within me. "What do you want with me?"
"Oh Lei'na," he replied with a shake of his head, his lekku twitching beneath his cloak, "what a sad state you're in."
I had no idea what he was talking about, but suddenly my hatred boiled out of control. I could feel my anger coursing through me, and I could feel a strong tingling in my hands. I acted on instinct, my hatred both blinding me and giving me focus. The tingling sensation engulfed my entire arm, and the air around it felt hot and charged as if electrified. With a cry of fury, I extended my arm toward him, and felt the air bend around me. Gravity seemed to warp at my command, and my rage channeled down through my arm and burst forth from my outstretched hand. It all happened in less than a second, and I gasped in surprise as Saeleth was hurtled backward. With a grunt he hit the pavement about ten feet away, and he cursed as he skidded to a halt.
I leapt to my feet and charged toward him, my body seeming to act on its own. Before I could get much closer, I was suddenly halted by an invisible force. I yelped as an intense pressure in my throat blocked my airways, and I groped at my neck in wild dismay. I saw Saeleth get to his feet and march toward me menacingly, breathing heavily, his hand stretched out toward me.
"Perhaps you're not entirely lost," he growled. He appeared to debate with himself for a moment before dropping his hand, freeing me from the grip of his Force Choke. I collapsed to my knees and clutched my chest as I gasped for air. The Sith then turned on his heel, and in a sudden burst of Force Speed was gone.
This chapter is kind of a patchwork of stuff I had previously written and new stuff. I tried to keep my writing style consistent through the whole thing. I hope you enjoy! It feels good to write this again. I don't know how consistent I am going to be able to upload, but I'm pleased that I was able to get this out.