I DON'T OWN CHARACTERS! Mkay so apparently I lied, so here's another chapter, this might be the last one before I go. Sorry. Again.
It's been 3 weeks since the performance. There are 6 weeks until the final performance, along with the end of the semester, midterms/exams, and of course WINTER BREAK. I getta head home and have Christmas and then New Years. I mean, who isn't psyched for a break from school. Oh yeah, Tuesday of our second week of 2nd quarter was the puppet's birthday, but honestly, who gives a shit?
Star lay in bed. It was Thursday. She was pretending to be sick today. It had been even worse after the performance. Kitten was relentless. And for the first time, Star understood what was going on. She was being tormented by Kitten. The full weight of Kodiak's words had shot her excuses with the harsh reality. Here she was. Laying in her bed pretending to be sick just so she didn't have to go to class today. It was lunch time now. Star's stomach growled, but she didn't feel like getting up. Kitten and her friends had been tormenting Star since Wally's birthday. This had been going on for a little over 7 weeks. In fact in two days it would be 8 weeks. Star was tired.
She couldn't walk down the halls without feeling terrified. It was as if something was pinching her stomach. She'd want to throw up and run away anytime she knew Kitten would be around. The truth was, she was scared. Star was scared to death of Kitten. But today, today she didn't have any new wounds from Kitten stabbing at her. It felt good. It felt so good. Just taking some time to let her wounds heal.
Maybe Star was sick. She had certainly never felt like this before. Heavy. Like her body had been filled with led. All her energy was gone too. Her motivation was so far down the drain she often wondered if it even existed. She felt weak. How did it start this quarter? Oh yeah, that's right.
The first day back to school Kitten and her friends pushed her into a garbage can.
On Wednesday they locked her out of the school in the rain.
On Saturday they stuck gum in her hair.
On Tuesday they sent her nasty letters in class
On Friday they pushed her into the pool
On Monday they stuck chewed gum all over the top of her desk
On Thursday they hit her with spaghetti
On Sunday they hip bumped her into a line of pots in pans when she was trying to help clean the kitchen, resulting in a huge loud mess
On Monday they knocked her books out of her hands and stood on them, then began telling her how worthless she was while she tried to grab her books
On Tuesday they drenched her book bag in gravy resulting in her staying up all night trying to save all her stuff
On Wednesday, in her tired state, they sloshed a paint can and poured the green paint all over her
Now here she was. Now, Star was not weak. No. She knew that, and even if someone, anyone, told her she was, she wouldn't hear them. She grew up with her parents carving that into her head. But they never talked about her belonging. It was her insecurity about the things that make her different that made her vulnerable to Kitten. She could hardly face Robin. She always pretended that she had some sort of accident whenever the girls asked why she was wet or covered in spaghetti.
Star weakly raised up her hand. A little green spark ignited and then immediately died. She couldn't fly anymore. She could barely even get a spark. On Tamaran, even infants could create a bigger laser. Star turned on her side and let a few stray tears slide down her face. She sat up and rubbed the damn things away. Now, what would her family think if they could see her now? She was such a disappointment.
After the bell rang Kole and Jinx sped their way down the hall and towards gymnastics. Jinx walked in the door first and smiled at Kole.
"Haha, I beat you!" Kole stuck out her tongue in response and settled her bag down. They quickly changed into their leotards and Jinx but a jinx on their bags before they locked them up, making sure nobody but them could touch them.
"Hey, how do you Star is doing?" Kole asked, looking at her blank phone screen.
"Sick." Jinx shrugged. She wasn't around much anymore. She started going contra dancing with Wally every Saturday for as long as she could. Even though she wasn't around, even she could tell something was definitely up.
"I've sent her 5 texts and she hasn't responded to any of them." Kole sighed looking at her texts.
"That's weird, Star normally answers her phone." Kole nodded in agreement before the two worried girls walked out of the locker room.
Bee sat at the edge of the pool. Something was wrong. Everything was unbalanced. Without Star it was lonely. Conversations were lonely without her unwavering optimism. People all clustered in their groups of friends, leaving Bumblebee alone as per usual. Now, Bee wouldn't admit it to anybody, but she didn't particularly like being alone. People just assumed she did or they were afraid or they hated her.
Bee lay down on the cool tile of the pool. She eventually sighed and walked over to her towel, picking up her phone. There was a message from Cyborg and a message from Kole. She opened the messages to look at Kole's first.
Cant get star to answer her phn! Do u think u can go and check on her? I'm worried.
Bee looked over at her instructor and walked over to him.
"Excuse me,"
"Yes Karen?"
"I have a sick roommate, do you mind if I head back early and check on her?"
"Well of course, what's her name?"
"Starfire."
"Oh yes, poor girl fell in the pool just the other day."
"Uhuh." Bee's eyebrow's knitted. Starfire didn't tell her about that. Starfire hadn't told any of them about that.
"Mrs. V can we have an extra sheet for Star?" Argent asked. Mrs. V nodded.
"Is she okay? It's not like her to skip out on class."
"She's sick." Raven answered, elbowing Beast Boy away from her.
"That's too bad, how bad is she?"
"She seems to be doing alright. When we left she was curled up in her duvet (comforter)." Argent answered.
"Star?" Bee asked. The dorm was empty. She walked to Star and Raven's room to see Star with her face in her pillow. "Hey, you awake?" Bee sat down on her bed and Star remained motionless, spare her light breathing. Then her stomach growled extremely loud. "Whoa! You need some food!" Bee sprouted her wings and flew into the kitchen, quickly grabbing some canned soup. She heated it up and flew back to the room. She shook star awake and nearly dropped the soup at what she saw as Star sat up.
Her nose was red and running. There were trails of tears on her cheeks and as she rubbed her tired eyes a few stray ones fell out. Star's face was pale. Her eyes were practically glowing green and all around her eyes were red. Bee couldn't speak. Star spotted the food and grabbed it, gulping it down.
"What the hell?" Star finally looked up at Bee and blinked a few times, some of the color returning to her face.
"Friend Bee," Her voice was hoarse, "Greetings"
"I think you need to see the nurse girl, you look horrible. If you're in so much pain that you're crying, you need help."
"None of the needs friend Bee, I feel much of the betterness all of the readies." Star took in a deep breath and smiled at her. "I will be the healthy by Monday." She smiled brightly.
"Alright Star, but if I see it get any worse, or if it doesn't get any better I am calling the nurse."
And so it went on. Star was sick the whole weekend, but by Monday, she did actually feel as though she had been healed in a way. Bee never left her side. She even skipped school Friday to look after her. The other girls came in to check on her every few minutes, a different one each time. Kade and Lillian even came by to check on her and brought her a cactus. Star entered the dance room. Her safe haven. The took a deep breath and let the sense of convalesce wrap itself around her body.
Star pulled her hair out of it's sloppy bun, letting the fiery locks roam free. She walked up to the center of the room and took in another deep breath. Out there she was an easy target, but in here she was home.
Youtube Video: AlessiaCara - Wild Things - Choreography by Jojo Gomez - Filmed by TimMilgram Watch until 1:58
I lose my balance on these eggshells
She pushed her arms out and then back in violently
You tell me to tread, I'd rather be a wild one instead
Her hands gripped harshly at her face before she span around
Don't wanna hang around the in-crowd
The cool kids aren't cool to me
They're not cooler than we are
She kicked her foot up before bouncing backwards and flinging her limbs up and grabbing her mouth. Then slowly shaking her head.
So hey, we brought our drum and this is how we dance
No mistakin', we make our breaks, if you don't like our 808s
Then leave us alone, cause we don't need your policies
We have no apologies for being
Star ran forward, but didn't move, throwing her arms up in the air. Then she slammed to the ground and rolled around before standing up slowly. Then she hit the ground with her hands. Then she moved her hand like a talking mouth before smashing it to her mouth and walked back.
Find me where the wild things are (oh my, we'll be alright, don't mind us)
Find me where the wild things are (oh my, we'll be just fine, don't mind us, yeah)
She stepped from side to side before running without moving once more. She jumped on one leg before crouching on the floor and making her hands into a sort of cage before forcing them onto her face.
We will carve our place into time and space
We will find our way, or we'll make a way (say hey, hey, hey)
Find you're great, don't you hide your face
Let it shine, shine, shine, shine, shine, shine
She moved her hands out and shifted them, pointing her fingers as though she were a clock. She lifted a leg up before slamming it down on the ground once more and running over to the side. She rooted her feet and swung her entire torso around violently before covering her face. Then she slowly moved her hand away before doing a ballerina twirl.
So hey, we brought our drum and this is how we dance
No mistakin', we make our breaks, if you don't like our 808s
Then leave us alone, 'cause we don't need your policies
We have no apologies for being
In her twirl she kicked her leg up in the air. She beat her feet down on the ground before collapsing and rolling around before getting back up. She made her hand into a puppet once more and then stuck it to her mouth before walking away.
Find me where the wild things are (oh my, we'll be alright, don't mind us)
Find me where the wild things are (oh my, we'll be just fine, don't mind us, yeah)
Find me where the wild things are
She started running in place once more before she stopped and touched her pounding heart.
Mrs. V placed the sheets down on the desks.
"Starting now there are 5 more weeks until what, Jinx?"
"Uh, Christmas!"
"No."
"You give birth?"
"Yes, but no, that's not the answer. Kole?"
"Exams?"
"Yes! Yes exams. You hear that Jinx? Examssss."
Jinx groaned along with the rest of the class. Oh joy. She survived the midterm but she wasn't sure she could pull off that sorta miracle a second time. Jinx sweat dropped looking at their schedule for the next 5 weeks.
From the moment that schedule was dropped on his desk, the rest of Monday seemed to zoom by for Wally West. Not that he didn't love spending time with his favorite bad luck charm, but he just wasn't feeling all that social. You can imagine his relief once he plopped down on the couch. 5 more weeks until he could go home for the Holidays. He sure missed his parents. Beast Boy flopped down beside him on the couch and groaned.
"Long day?"
"You have no idea dude." Cyborg swung open the door and flopped down on the other side of the couch.
"I am ready to go home and power down!" Cyborg groaned beside Wally. Wally chuckled in agreement. Then Robin walked in, a kissmark on his collarbone peeking over the surface of his black tee-shirt.
"OooOOOOooo, somebody's gettin' sugarrr!" Wally yelled to him from his seat. HotSpot, who was behind Robin, burst out laughing.
"What?"
"Dude you've got a giant hickey on your collar!" HotSpot laughed even more. Robin rushed into the bathroom and let out a groan. HotSpot sat down with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Why does she do this? Now everybody will see." Robin walked back in topless.
"Robin! My virgin eyes!" Wally shunned him. Beast Boy toppled to the floor.
"Ohhh IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" He screamed.
"I will never see again!" Cyborg looked up at the ceiling as though he were praying.
"Really guys?" Robin groaned, "How do I get rid of this thing?"
"Concealer." Wally flipped him a piece sign.
"How do you use that?"
"Well you know KF knows back from his playboy years." Hotspot snickered smugly. Kid Flash rolled his eyes.
"Hey, I learned my lesson! I'm ready for a stable relationship."
"With Jinx?" Robin asked sarcastically.
"Yes with Jinx, I like her a lot!"
"It doesn't seem like she likes you too much." Cy shrugged.
"Just a foot in the door, that's all. One toe at a time." Wally stood up and HotSpot started laughing.
"Did you just quote Hairspray?"
"Yes, yes I did." Wally crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue.
Thursday
Cyborg bounded through the other players in front of him as soon as the whistle blew. Next week they would start preparing for the next competition in dance. Everybody that saw him dancing thought that he was really funny. They had no idea the amount of time and effort it took for him and Bee to work on that routine and Cyborg planned to keep it that way. Something like that wouldn't suit his image at all! He crossed the line and threw down the ball and started dancing as his teammates cheered "Touchdown!"
"Star?" Robbin watched the red haired girl. She was leaned up against the wall. On her right arm was a bandage. "What happened?"
"Oh, the nothings! I got in too much of the proximity to the kitchen stove yester of the day and did some of the burning of my appendage." She held it up to him and smiled innocently.
"Are you good to do some trust exercises, or does it hurt too much?"
"I am the fine!" She pushed off the wall and came to stand beside him. Something was definitely off here. Something about Star was off. He wished he could ask what, but he had to remember that Star didn't trust him like that. Asking would give him no answers. She never thought anything out of the ordinary so he simply couldn't understand what was up with her.
HotSpot watched in awe as Argent balanced the basketball in her head with ease. His mouth wide open. He was laying on the ground of the gym. Argent really was something else. His rival, apparently. They hadn't really competed for a while now. His teammates took up his time in Basketball class and during free period they just hung out and dared each other to do stuff.
"Jesus, what planet are you from?" He laughed as the basketball finally fell off her head.
"I'm a Kiwi, mate, I can do anything."
Beast Boy whistled as Raven got out of the pool. He chuckled as she blushed and quickly wrapped a towel around herself.
"Why are you following me?"
"I'm stalking you." He replied. She was just so beautiful. The water dripping from her purple hair. The way the sunlight hit her gray skin, making it glow while it was wet. The way the water drops clumped on her thick eyelashes, making them sparkle. The way her deep eyes seemed to glow with secrets. "You're beautiful." He blurted out, blushing immediately. Raven's face turned an even darker red and the ladder to the diving board broke.
"Shut up Garfield." She mumbled before walking out the door to the locker room.
Blah
Blah
Blah
Math
Math
Math
X
Y
a leak and an hourglass
What?
Wally turned his head to look at Jinx. She had taken the plus and turned it into two straight lines, then put them on the top and bottom of the X, turning it into an hourglass. Then the made the Y thicker and put a leaf on it to make a Leak. Wally couldn't stop himself from chuckling as quietly as humanly possible. Jericho shot him a look before going back to his worksheet.
He would get Jinx to fall for him.