Chapter 20

Didn't Sign Up For This

'She became very worried about Kelly's humanity.'

The room was deathly quiet when Ace claimed the offered chair. The tension in the air was so great that if it were a bowstring it would have snapped long ago. Attention, she could manage, but this? This was pure hell. This was the wrong kind of attention, the unwanted attention, the never-ending attention that only a group of teenagers could deliver in such a way to make someone want to crawl into a small dark corner out of sight and will themselves to cease to exist.

She wished she was elsewhere. The TARDIS in mid-flight as it rattled around as it travelled through the vortex, or some planet in the middle of nowhere hanging on to a rope as it dangled over a thousand foot crevice, or prehistoric Earth surrounded by giant hungry carnivores who think that she might be a tasty treat after all those scaly overgrown lizards. The current situation was just as deadly as the dinosaurs, and Ace swiftly decided that being in a cramped smelly dungeon with her hands and feet tied together without a single can of Nitro was preferable to sticking around here.

Her actions (forced as they were) challenged something sacred that should never ever (To the power of infinity and then add 42 just to be sure) be threatened by anyone who had any desire to preserve their own personal safety. It existed only in one kind of place across the globe and nothing could be more life-threatening for anyone under 20 than daring to defy it.

It was the wonderfully complicated world of high school hierarchy.

She knew it all too well. Nineteen eighty-three, her first day of high school at Greenford High. When you're the bottom of the food chain, you find out that you're an itty bitty fish in a massive ocean. You learn real quickly to stay away from the big fish that rule the school. The idea is straight forward: you leave them alone, and they might do the same to you. The success rate for such a tactic is abominable. It might have worked twenty years before Ace's time, but in the 1980's it was a lost cause so who knew how it'd go right here, right now.

She had never attempted it herself, and now was not the time to try. They're teenagers, a pack of wild aggressive felines that hiss and sure as hell they're not afraid to bite or claw anything that annoys them. But these girls were even more unpredictable and dangerous because these weren't ordinary girls. Elsewhere, if you tried to change things you'd face a potential beating, yelling in your face and perhaps the odd dose of humiliation. Here... Well, if she got out of this alive in a better state than Mr Baily she'd be ecstatic.

There are four very effective methods of self preservation that nearly every species of life Ace had met have; fighting, running, playing dead (More effective when you can pull it off convincingly, admittedly) and improvising. Her chances at the first and second weren't good, and the third wouldn't do a thing to help her. Naturally, after considering her options, she chose the last one.

Beside her, Ace's dictator did not drop her face of stone (That made Ace's insides turn to wriggling worms), and shot a fierce feline look to the whole room. All save one dropped their stares and returned to their own conversations. Unsurprisingly, it was Josey who held the indomitable pair of eyes of them in defiance.

Believing to have made a victory, she resumed her discussion in a loud controlling voice. "Now the freak and 'HG' have finished interrupting..."

Ace yearned to march right over there and throttle her. She'd show her who the real freak was with a solid punch to the face, and had little difficulty imaging herself doing just that. A hand landed on her shoulder firmly pushing her back onto the chair she had not realised she had been leaving. It was a struggle burying her anger and her throat burned as her fury slowly slid down like honey dripping from a spoon, agonisingly slowly.

"She really makes me an unstable piece of sweaty gelignite," Ace said quietly meaning every word.

"Pick your battles," she was quietly told.

Not much in terms of advice, Ace though darkly, particularly when you know how to turn the contents of your pencil case into a mini catapult to fling sharpened pencils over three meters away.

That moment could have forever been recalled for being one of the few times she actually listened to someone's advice and followed the suggestion. Could have been. Any praise she might have earned from the Professor for this was vaporised when Josey tested her boundaries again and took five steps too many.

"After all, she's not just a freak. Even freaks have standards. Not her. Runs herself ragged doing whatever she's told, doesn't she. Nothing more than the Head Girl pet."

Hackles rose. Mouth dried. Lungs were inflated by a sharp breath. Fingers twitched and curled up to form fists, nails digging into the palm of her hands threatening to puncture the surface of the skin and draw blood. Nothing seemed any more vital than shoving the dirtbag out of the window and seeing her guts splattered over the ground.

A semi-familiar urge coursed through her veins; the desire to hunt her enemy down and make them pay. She felt her control slipping, not over her rage but the instincts that once tried to overwhelm her. A battle cry echoed in her ears, "The chase; to hunt in the morning and live until evening-"

She was jerked back to humanity when the noise uncannily similar to the one used by the Cheetah people as a final warning sounded. Just a memory (a shared pack-memory or something maybe) but it was too loud, too realistic, and, with a jolt, Ace was acutely aware that it was human. She was purring, but she mustn't. No turning back if she changed. Sod the school and what anyone thought, if claws grew from her fingernails and she grew a coat of fur she would be dead, not to mention Josey. Drawn to the place of the hunt, she would swiftly die for it no longer existed. Even if she didn't travel there, without a sense of self she wouldn't be Ace anymore. Little more than an animal fuelled by the need to survive at any cost.

As the slowed milliseconds passed, she felt her throat was dry. Her voice box did not vibrate and made no sound. It wasn't her. Relief flooded into her, she was still human, not a bloodthirsty carnivore, then concern. If it was not her than who-? Her eyes found her nemesis. That would simplify all her problems to something that she was pretty good at doing; defeating aliens and saving the world. If Josey had somehow been possessed by the Cheetah Virus it would be so much easier to deal with. It would serve her right too.

She choked on her own poison when she noticed the deep undertone growl was rumbling nearby. So close in fact that it vibrated through the wood on the desk. Ace was startled to find that it was the girl beside her who was staring intensely at Josey as though lasers would appear and vaporise her. Nothing in the whole Universe could have been bribed her into wishing herself into her enemy's position. This wasn't the angry look the Head Girl had put on display in the dorm on Ace's second day, nor was it the one she wore when she discovered that she'd been followed. They had been different, just expressions of disapproval. This was the real deal, a real full throttled warning.

She became very worried about Kelly's humanity. She could turn more cheetah than the cheetah people, and the black holes she had for eyes showed nothing more than a reflection of whatever peered into them.

The strangest thing happened to Josey. Her entire manner changed instantly from dominating and aggressive to subdued, as though she was a child shrinking away from a reprimanding adult. She stiffened like a bullet had skimmed past her head. Scared wasn't the word but terrified wasn't far of it.

It would take the most oblivious of people not to notice the severity of this warning. The consequences someone might face for ignoring a pointed notice such as this were extreme. Ace could tell just by the suddenly cold atmosphere of silence that blanketed the class.

Another occupant of the room watched the exchange carefully. By their assessment, the nonverbal communication was a warning and an exhibition of the power of their position as pack leader. It was clear who the alpha was in this situation. The other was a power-hungry member of the pack, but not a very determined one at that for the threatening member immediately backed off after hearing that they had stepped too far.

The challenger stood down, though it was predicted that the actions would be repeated in the future.

Their initial assessment had been right. Humans were just like animals. Primitive, arrogant and aggressive; exactly the words to go in the report.

Ace later found herself in a tight spot. The response her class had given to her sitting beside their matriarch had been less than encouraging. However, despite how reluctant and uncomfortable she felt (not to mention a tad of concern over her safety if they decided to hate her) about doing it again, she was aware that any say she might have had in the matter had been snatched away. There simply wasn't any other option now. Sitting alone wasn't her choice anymore because Josey was sure to see that as the result of her rebellion. If she saw it as a success, she would be likely to repeat it. So, really, she had no choice but to keep annoying the Chav.

Why was it that every time she managed to take half a step in the right direction she was shoved back two? She really had to have a word with Kelly about this constant use of her as either bait or a playing card.

Ace was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't really notice she was in the corridor until she'd bumped into someone and they shouted at her.

"Oi! Watch it!"

"Sorry," Ace quickly apologized, identifying the aggressor: Chav, brown hair past the shoulder, constantly chewing gum, semi-permanent sneer, not foe but not really a friend either. Annoying a Chav (particularly this one) was the last thing she needed (She wears fake nails, and Ace guessed they could scratch hard).

She kept walking along the corridor, trying to ignore the same girl's cries again. "'ey! You! 'ook at me!"

Ace mumbled under her breath, pretending not to hear, and continued walking until a massive ball of paper struck the back of her head. Right. That's it. This girl wanted her attention, well she had it now.

"What?" she demanded.

Said girl (Taylor, Ace suddenly remembered) gave no sign of being daunted or threatened by Ace's fiery pupils. She fought through the crowd and eyed her up and down inspecting her like she was an expensive product she was considering stealing.

"Could look eighteen, couldn't cha?"

"Eh?"Ace frowned feeling off balance. The question hadn't been aggressive or Chav like. It sounded... well, like a normal person. But that couldn't be right. Must be hearing things. Reassured by this explanation, Ace found she could cope. Then the Chav was nodding and looked deep in thought. A Chav, deep in thought. One word; wow.

"Ya could. Ya could, couldn't cha?"

Ace blinked and chose to pluck the oddity out by the roots; "What are you bogging on about?"

Taylor hesitated for about a second, taking a deep breath, processing her thoughts. "Lose jacket, blouse, skirt, hair out, lip gloss, mascara..." She pointed from one thing to anyone, pulling words from out of nowhere in one long, almost meaningless blur. "Can ya drive?"

"What?" Ace blinked at her then the question registered. Oh, could she drive? Well...

To be completely and utterly honest, being under 17 in a town in the middle of nowhere made it extremely difficult to find someone to teach you to drive, even in the 1980's. The most effective way was to just observe what drivers did, or have an older friend with a lot of guts. She had a few friends, but she wasn't the most, how should she put it, willing to listen and best follower of instructions. That and the time storm had something to do with her lack of driving abilities.

"I-" Ace began slowly but Taylor cut her off.

"It's 'ettled then. Tomorrow, six thirty in the garage." With that she dashed off with a spring in her step, leaving Ace to wonder what on Earth had she just been dragged into.

About an hour or so later, Ace encountered Kelly in the dorm. Something about the way she stood hinted that she had been standing there for quite a while. Waiting for her maybe, but that was stupid as Kelly wouldn't stand there for ages just to see her, right? Sure, everyone except Josey had stopped harassing her and left her alone but that didn't make her friends with everyone.

"Taylor seemed happy about something," Kelly commented.

"Yeah, she was," Ace agreed, quickly picking up the subtle hints that Kelly either seen or heard the whole thing earlier. "No idea why. She just ran up to me out of the blue and starting going on about stuff at a hundred miles an hour. Then she tells me to meet her in the garage tomorrow."

Exactly what had revealed Kelly's knowledge (And possibly, her hand) in the matter was hard to say. Could have had something to do with the look she had.

What look, you ask?

Kelly's eyes, car fog lights that unexpectedly clicked on and shone at potentially eye-damaging brightness, beamed as she grinned, the tips of her lips holding up a banner that read 'Oh, I know exactly what's happened', the personification of mischief, the metaphorical cat that got the cream liking its paw with a smirk.

That look.

"That would be it," Kelly said, sounding a little smug.

However, Kelly is like stone, motionless stone, hard stone. Stone cannot be 'smug', so neither could she.

Ace shrugged and, after briefly searching her mattress for traps, lay down on her stomach to watch her. "I don't get it. What's going on?"

She didn't think she'd get an honest, straight to the point answer, but that was what she got.

"Tomorrow we're going into town. Me, Taylor, Chelsea, Chloe and Andrea, and Taylor got stuck with the driving."

Ok, good for you, thought Ace. But... "What does that have to do with me?"

"The driver's not allowed to drink, see? Drunk driver, no way home. So whoever's picked to be the driver hates it, because they can't do anything."

"Sounds like a great job," Ace commented. Sitting in a pub or whatever and just watching, now that was dull.

"It is, isn't it?"

Why are her eyes twinkling?

"Taylor kept whinging about being stuck with it, so I told her, "Find another driver, or you're stuck with it." There aren't many people here who can drive and look the age."

It was then Ace recalled Taylor's muttering about looking eighteen. A bad feeling started to sink in, and Kelly noticed.

"I'm guessing she picked you."

"She didn't say that I was gonna... Argh!" Ace complained, smacking her palm into her forehead then proceeding to face plant into her pillow. "Why do I always get roped into these things?" she mumbled.

"Because," Kelly prodded her slumped shoulder, "people love to wind you up."

"Mmmph?" Had she heard that right? She raised her head to look up. "Really? No. Can't be. Must be something else."

Ace blinked. Was that...? No, couldn't have been. Trick of the light, figment of her imagination. Kelly did not smile, especially not at one of her jokes. That was as likely as the Professor suddenly becoming obsessed with explosives (Wishful thinking and amazing concept, but sadly impossible).

"I am really going to have to do something about it, whatever it is," she finished.

Kelly turned to walk off. "You'll have plenty of time to think about it while on bodyguard and lookout duty."

Her jaw hit the floor. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! Hang about! No one said anything about being a bodyguard!"

The other girl shrugged. "The driver has to keep an eye out for the Police, security guards, whatever might get us into trouble, including ourselves."

Ace did not like the pleased way she said that. "Singlehandedly deal with both you lot and the Police? You must be dreaming!"

"Not 'my lot'."

There was a strong defensive (or was it protective?) tone in her voice. Their eyes locked, as though engaging in a contest of wills to see who'd back down first. Ace saw into the depths of Kelly's pupils. Not empty pits like she'd thought, but layers of shadow blending into whirls of darkness. And then, a light, a speck, just a dot really. As she maintained contact, the dot grew slightly. A defence mechanism activated and turned the spot into a reflective surface that served as a mirror, intending to psyche people too close away.

Ace found she was staring into a mixture of Kelly and herself. She saw that she was not the only one who kept people out. Kelly bore her own shields, uncannily like her own, and words of warning had been painted on them in the blood of her previous opponents (Judging by the colour, they had been numerous but rapidly decreasing in number), daring others to try and force their way in (And few had the guts to do so anymore. So that said a lot about her victories). She could see her own brown eyes in Kelly's and it felt... unusual. It was like there was a ping pong ball bouncing between her shields and Kelly's.

Bounce, bounce, bounce. Ace, Kelly, Ace, Kelly, Ace, Kelly. Back and forth, faster and faster, harder and harder...

Then Kelly blinked and turned away. The ball fell to the ground as though shot by a missile and fell in itty bitty pieces.

As though unaware of the whole thing, Kelly continued, "You've forgotten the Posh Totties. Keeping them under lock and key, I really don't envy you."

Not even sprouting antennas from her head could have made Ace's eyes bulge that much. Forget the battle of wills, this was shocking.

"With them?" Her brains felt loose when she shook her head. "Uh uh! There's no way I-"

Taylor appeared in the dorm and, understandably, gulped as two laser pointer eyes aimed at her. She turned right around and hurriedly bolted, nearly tripping over a First Year as she was pursued.

"I am so going to get you, Taylor!"