Chapter 8
It was the infamous Sunday night and Ace hadn't finished her paper. "I haven't even started Blake!" She groaned into the receiver. "I haven't a clue what to write about."
"What's it about?" Blake asked, she was typing up her own essay.
"Roman Mythology. And I hate it!" Ace started clicking away at the keys, hoping some inspiration will come. "I read the whole damn chapter on Roman Mythology. Why couldn't I have gotten Greek mythology? That would be so much easier!"
"Nothing is EVER easy." Blake gave a gasp. "I think I've written a page and a half. I don't have to write any more than that!" She punched delete key and started her conclusion. "There that takes care of that. Look Ace, as much as I'd like to dive into the depths of senioritis with you, I have to run. Calculus is calling."
"Fine. Be that way. See if I dedicate this paper to you." Blake just laughed and hung up the phone. She got up and headed down to the kitchen. The phone rang and she let the answering machine get it. She wasn't going to fall for Ace's "I need inspiration" talk. The voice on the machine however was not Ace. It was the guy again.
"I know you're there Blake. All by yourself. No one to save you. Pity." Click. Blake dropped the box of cookies and ran to the window. Who the fuck was playing these stupid tricks on her! It was 10:00 on a Sunday night… "get a life!" She yelled to the blackness. No one was out there. He was just trying to scare her that's all. But she made sure she locked all doors and windows before heading back upstairs to her calculus.
*****
"What should we do for our project?" Ashley asked Rachel over the phone.
"Sleep disorders?"
"Boring."
"Psychopathic killers?"
"Someone else is doing that."
"Cliques?"
"Everyone's doing something to do with Cliques." There was a long silence and suddenly Ashley had an idea. "Wait! What about we do a documentary of all our friends! Like the whole group."
"Ashley! You're a genius!" Ashley nodded knowingly. (hehe just kidding) "We can video tape everyone at our hangouts and interview them about one another-"
"And we can get Anna on it too! And wow! I like this idea! You up for it?"
"Of course! Who wants to get the video tape?"
"I have one if you want to use it. Wow! I can't wait to tell everyone tomorrow!" Ashley was practically jumping out of her chair. "Ah! I have to go! Bye!"
"See ya! Love you and your idea!" They both hung up the phone at the same time and Ashley headed off to find the right shade of pink nail polish for her toes.
*****
Gen opened up her mailbox to find it stuffed full of letters. She shifted through them till she got to the long awaited letter from NYU. And its big! Gen jumped up and down and ran down her driveway. Her neighbor, who was outside gardening, gave her a strange look but she didn't care. She ripped open the envelope and read the letter.
"Dear Genesee, Congratulations! You have been accepted into New York University with a major in the Performance Arts…." Gen screamed. She couldn't believe it! She ran into the kitchen and tackled her mom. "LOOK! I GOT IN!" She thrust the letter in her mom's face. Her mom squealed and mother and daughter both danced around the kitchen.
"I'm so happy for you Genessee! Wait until we tell dad!" Mrs. Jones picked up the phone and dialed up Gen's father at the office and contined to tell him the good news. 'It's going to be a good week' Gen thought to herself.
******
Blake however was thinking the total opposite. She had lost her major report for her AP History class and she had started getting mail from this freak. To prove that he did indeed know where she lived. She kicked over her trash can and groaned. 'Where the hell is this thing?' she thought to herself while rubbing her sore toe.
"Blake! You're going to be late for school!" Her mom called up to her from downstairs. "Come down and eat your breakfast!"
"I'll be right down!" Blake answered shoving some clothes onto her bed from the floor. "Dammit! WHERE IS MY PAPER!" she screamed alittle too loud.
"What was that dear?" her mother called from downstairs.
"Nothing mother." Blake sighed and picked up her backpack, giving up all hope of finding it. Just as she was exiting her room, she stepped on a piece of paper. Looking down, she saw her wonderful AP history report. "There you are!" Picking it up, she kissed it and ran down the stairs. "Got to run! Bye mom!" she called as she opened the door.
"But wait! You haven't had a nutritious breakfast! You need protein in you so you can concentrate!" Blake just rolled her eyes at her nagging mother. Nutrition seemed to be on top of her mother's list but getting to school was on the top of Blake's.
*****
Anna was getting worried about Blake. Sitting in the hospital room, she couldn't do much for her friend. What information she got was limited, for her friends didn't want to worry her, but she still knew what was going on, and it worried her. This guy sounded serious, with all these calls and now letters.
Things were, however, looking up for Anna. She was almost out of the hospital, the worst of her meningitis was over and her doctor was sure she would be out in a week. Which Anna was very excited about. She could go to prom, and not miss out on getting in on the gossip before the end of the year. She looked out the window, wishing that everyone would get out of school and come and visit her. She hated being all alone during the day, with only the stupid nurse to keep her company. And what company that was. All she did was talk about the weather and her 3 year old. Someone needs to tell her that three year olds don't lead very interesting lives. Anna giggled at the thought and laid her head back on the pillow.
****
Kelli sat in AP History, tired out of her mind, having stayed up all night writing the stupid essay. The only thing she could concentrate was on Trey. She wanted to take him to prom yet she didn't know what to do about it. 'Ask him!' she heard her friends say inside her brain. (inside her brain? Is she going insane?! Stay tuned…) She shook her head and tried to pay attention to what Friedman was saying about World War II. However nothing was sinking in. Thankfully she only had until 7th period to see Trey, and it was lab day. She groaned at the thought but seeing Trey was worth it.
She glanced over at Blake, who looked just as tired, in fact Blake was so tired, she was sleeping. She wanted to waste some time passing notes to her, but seeing how her friend was deep in sleepy land and wouldn't be able to pick up a pen to write her a letter, she disregarded the thought. Friedman was doing a nice job of ignoring Blake's sleeping patterns. She guessed it was because he knew the entire class had been up to the crack of dawn working on his paper. Trey drifted back into her mind. 'I wish I could get the courage to ask him!' she closed her eyes briefly and saw her friends' smirks. 'You fool, ask him, you won't have a second senior prom just for him!' She rolled her eyes at her friends inside her head and then thought about the fact that she did indeed need to be checked into an insane asylum. (Next chapter, life in Silver Hill for Kelli =P )
****
Jack, Ashley, Nina, Vicki and Gabe all sat outside in the courtyard in the unusually hot weather for April.
"I wish this was the weather all year round." Nina smiled, soaking in the sunshine.
"Totally agree with ya. It's always so cold." Ashley picked at her sandwich.
"Its always too cold for you." Gabe muttered at her. They were having another small tiff, which stemmed off of the previous fight they had had. Ashley just glared back. She wasn't too happy with him, and it looked as if it would stay that way to the others. Jack didn't know what to do about it, so like a good boy he stayed out of it. Things had heated up, slowly, but the temperature was rising between Ashley and him. No one was sure what to make of it, whether it was just play, or if it was real.
"You two need to get off your boat and deal with whatever you 2 are fighting about! And I mean now! People are getting really sick of you 2 and Liz also. You guys never seem to be able to get along, and you drag everyone else in with you." Vicki sat defiantly stating what the others didn't want to admit.
"Why don't you just mind your own business?" Ashley hissed at Vicki. "This is between me and Gabe and you are the only one dragging yourself into our problem."
"Um, Ash, no offense but I agree with Vicki." Nina added. "You guys do end up dragging everyone else in-"
"Aren't you guys used to it? This goes on every week! I thought you would just learn to ignore it like I have." Jack shot a quick glance at Ashley. He didn't want to get her against him. Luckily she was fuming at Vicki, not himself.
"If you guys don't want to get involved, stay away. Me and Gabe aren't sitting here talking about whats wrong, we're not trying to get you guys on either side. We're having a conversation, nothing to do with fighting of any kind. That was uncalled for Vicki." Ashley spat.
"I think it was called for. It's time you 2 stop being royalty and face the reality. Don't pout like babies."
"Hey." Gabe spoke up. "Don't tell us what to do. You cry to us about your problems, but we aren't even crying to you guys about ours. Leave us alone!"
"Wow Gabe, that's the longest sentence I've heard you speak." Vicki thrashed back at him.
"Talk about bitch." Ashley glared at Vicki. She couldn't believe that Vicki of all people would butt in like this. "You just want some sort of crisis in your life so you're picking a fight with me and Gabe! Stop ratting on us and figure out your own problems."
With a shocked expression, Vicki stalked off, away from the table.
"That was an episode of Dawson's Creek if I ever saw one…" Jack laughed but caught himself upon seeing Ashley's look. Ashley couldn't help but laugh though. Nina giggled, having butted out when Gabe got involved. Gabe just sighed.
"Girls. You can't live with them, but you can't live without them." Gabe muttered, pushing his empty garbage into the center of the table for the bees to collect at.
"What a way to ruin a perfectly happy day." Ashley said. "Sorry guys about that. I'm not normally bitchy." Gabe grunted but smiled at her. Their fight was over, thanks to Vicki's outburst, which did some good in some ways. Just a typical day at Ridgefield High.
****
Tasha pushed open the school's doors and headed out to her car. The sun was unusually warm, and she pushed up the sleeves of her long-sleeved shirt. As she pushed through the masses, she saw her car, with Chelsea leaning onside of it.
"Hey Chels. Whats up?" Tasha said taking out her keys.
"Nothing. Just wanted to talk. We haven't done much of that lately." Chelsea said, putting on a small, but fake smile.
"I've been busy…"
"Yeah…busy with Jon. Do you normally ditch all your good friends if you find something better?" Chelsea was bitter, and she never got in fights with Tasha, and only on rare occasions. This was one of them.
"That's so not fair Chels." Tasha said, not liking the tone Chelsea was taking.
"Whats not fair? That I'm taking a stand to save our friendship? Fine, I'll just bow out of the way, let you carry on your life and see what happens. You won't keep many friends…"
"Chels! Man, I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt left out. But I have to go meet Jon…"
"No you don't. We're going to Starbucks, and we're talking." Chelsea climbed in the front seat. Tasha just shrugged. 'Might as well' she thought to herself. Afterall, Chelsea was her best friend, and she couldn't lose that.