Chapter Two
Treinta looked around worriedly, anxiously wondering if someone had witnessed the encounter. She heard a quiet moan rising from beneath her and looked down to see Gina squirming in her unconscious state. Treinta took this as a good sign, that Gina was still alive, and hurriedly walked out of the hallway. She walked through the double doors and turned to the hallway where her locker was located. She put away her coat and scarf distractedly, still thinking about the attack. She hoped that Gina was OK.
After she had gotten out all of the books she would need, she closed her locker, spun the dial, and walked in the direction of her homeroom. As she was walking down the hallway, she waved at her friend Josh as he passed by her. He turned around and started to walk with her.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked.
"Oh goodness, you don't even want to know. Today has been so weird. And it's only 7:25 in the morning," Treinta sighed.
"Why? What happened?" Josh inquired worriedly.
"Oy. Nothing. Just a little... coffee withdrawal, I suppose. Nothing major," she said. She didn't want to give any body any clues to what had happened in case something really bad had happened to Gina, but it was hard. She wanted to tell someone what had happened. She decided to keep her mouth shut to Josh though, because he certainly wouldn't.
Then she looked over and noticed Josh had turned around and started walking with other friends. She let out a long sigh and then saw her friend Rena come up next to her.
"Hey, Treinta," Rena greeted her.
"Hey, Rena."
"What's up? Going to homeroom?"
"Nothing really. Yeah, that's where I'm headed."
"Is something wrong? You seem weird."
"Actually, yeah."
"What happened?"
"Well, you know Gina Trenatelli?"
"Pssht. Yeah. Her and her brother are adopted you know."
"Yeah, I know. Anyhow, this morning I was walking down that really cold hallway, off of D Hall, you know what I'm talking about?"
"Yeah. The one near your locker, right?"
"Yeah, that one. So, I was walking a little bit behind Gina, and then she just attacked me out of nowhere and tried to force coffee down my throat! She was practically strangling me with her arm, pressing me up against the wall. I couldn't breathe so I kicked against her and we got into this whole huge fistfight and then I tripped her using one of those judo-trip things they've been teaching us in gym and she slammed her head against the wall. I think she might be unconscious. She wasn't talking or anything when I ran away. What am I gonna do? What if she dies?"
"Wait. Hold on. Gina Trenatelli? Joey's little sister? Curly red hair? Annoyingly hyper all the time? THAT Gina Trenatelli?"
"Yeah, I know everyone loves her! If something bad happened they'd ki-"
"I just saw Gina walking down C Hall," Rena said, looking dubiously at Treinta.
Treinta grabbed onto Rena's armed and turned toward her as they stopped walking.
"What?"
"I swear, she was just right there."
"How long ago?"
"Like, twenty-five seconds before I caught up with you."
"But how is that... that's not... how is that possible? She was on the ground. She was on the ground twitching!"
"I have no idea. Maybe she's been swimming so much that the chemicals invaded her brain and made her invincible," Rena offered.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Seriously!"
"Come on, Rena, that's not really helping. This is really weird! What could have happened?"
"No, seriously Treinta. What if that really IS what happened? I mean, something just like that happened on Smallville last week."
"Well, then how did I 'subdue' her or whatever? I mean, if she's all indestructible and stuff, how did I manage to knock her out?"
Treinta looked at Rena for an answer. Rena looked at Treinta's eyes. She reached over and touched her arm. She looked at her face, and then continued squeezing her arm. She poked her stomach and then was bending over to start squeezing her legs when Treinta swatted away her hand.
"Rena! What are you doing? You can't try and feel me up in front of four hundred people passing by us in the hall!"
"Gees, Treinta! I'm not trying to feel you up! My goodness!"
Rena grabbed Treinta's arm and dragged her over to the gym bridges where no one was standing while Treinta was calling out, "Then what the heck are you doing?"
When they were safely behind the quiet of the double doors, Treinta was still looking incredulously at her friend.
"What are you trying to do?"
Rena leaned her head forward and bowed it conspiratorially. She quietly responded, "I was feeling how much muscle you have."
"What? Hey- are you calling me fat?"
"No!"
"Then what are you saying? I have no idea what's going on in that big head of yours."
"I'm saying maybe you're like, Superwoman or something. Maybe Gina's genes have been mutated or whatever from the mass amounts of chlorine she's been exposed to over the years and she's working it for evil. If you could 'subdue' her as you say, maybe your genes have been mutated by something else, and you're the balancing force. Maybe you're the one who's been sent to save the world."
Treinta stood rock-still and stared at Rena, whose head was still bowed and her eyes were looked up into hers.
"What the heck are you talking about? Did you walk by the potheads in the back alley again?"
"Well, yeah. Why?"
"How long did you 'walk by' them for?"
"I don't know. I waited outside in the alley for a while for Alice and Sarah. They said that they were going to meet me in the back of the school and we could walk to homeroom together. Then I ran into Alex and well, you know..."
"Oh my goodness. You're psychotic. Do you know that? I almost believed that whole like, super-freaky gene thing about Gina too," Treinta said. She pressed her palm up against Rena's forehead and continued, "You're crazy. Don't talk. I have to go to homeroom now. I suggest you don't talk until this little unintentional high wears off and you can speak normally."
"OK. I'm gonna go now. Bye," Rena said and pulled open the doors to walk away. "Oh yeah, save me a seat at lunch."
Treinta followed Rena out the doors, and then parted ways with her at the hallway crossing. She continued straight and walked to her homeroom. She walked in the door and sat down right when the bell rang.
She called out to her homeroom teacher, "Mr. Ski, just so you know I'm here. Just a little late."
"OK, thanks Treinta. Have a good day."
Treinta walked out the door sighing. Mr. Ski, short for Mr. Serpenski, was the highlight of most of the high school girls' days. He was admired by most of the boys for his 'cool' reputation, athletic abilities, and humorous way of teaching, and lusted after by most of the girls, including Treinta.
Treinta was walking down the hallway to her first period class Chorus. She had just turned the corner when she saw something that made her freeze in place. From all around her people started crashing into her. Over all of the, she saw an aura of red, curly hair floating through the hall. The terrible laugh escaped through Gina's mouth and cascaded over her, and bright green eyes met dull green eyes, clashing awfully.
Walking right towards Treinta was Gina Trenatelli. Gina looked at Treinta, smiled her flashing white, straight-toothed smile and waved. All that Treinta could do was stare.
'What the heck is going on...?'
Treinta looked around worriedly, anxiously wondering if someone had witnessed the encounter. She heard a quiet moan rising from beneath her and looked down to see Gina squirming in her unconscious state. Treinta took this as a good sign, that Gina was still alive, and hurriedly walked out of the hallway. She walked through the double doors and turned to the hallway where her locker was located. She put away her coat and scarf distractedly, still thinking about the attack. She hoped that Gina was OK.
After she had gotten out all of the books she would need, she closed her locker, spun the dial, and walked in the direction of her homeroom. As she was walking down the hallway, she waved at her friend Josh as he passed by her. He turned around and started to walk with her.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked.
"Oh goodness, you don't even want to know. Today has been so weird. And it's only 7:25 in the morning," Treinta sighed.
"Why? What happened?" Josh inquired worriedly.
"Oy. Nothing. Just a little... coffee withdrawal, I suppose. Nothing major," she said. She didn't want to give any body any clues to what had happened in case something really bad had happened to Gina, but it was hard. She wanted to tell someone what had happened. She decided to keep her mouth shut to Josh though, because he certainly wouldn't.
Then she looked over and noticed Josh had turned around and started walking with other friends. She let out a long sigh and then saw her friend Rena come up next to her.
"Hey, Treinta," Rena greeted her.
"Hey, Rena."
"What's up? Going to homeroom?"
"Nothing really. Yeah, that's where I'm headed."
"Is something wrong? You seem weird."
"Actually, yeah."
"What happened?"
"Well, you know Gina Trenatelli?"
"Pssht. Yeah. Her and her brother are adopted you know."
"Yeah, I know. Anyhow, this morning I was walking down that really cold hallway, off of D Hall, you know what I'm talking about?"
"Yeah. The one near your locker, right?"
"Yeah, that one. So, I was walking a little bit behind Gina, and then she just attacked me out of nowhere and tried to force coffee down my throat! She was practically strangling me with her arm, pressing me up against the wall. I couldn't breathe so I kicked against her and we got into this whole huge fistfight and then I tripped her using one of those judo-trip things they've been teaching us in gym and she slammed her head against the wall. I think she might be unconscious. She wasn't talking or anything when I ran away. What am I gonna do? What if she dies?"
"Wait. Hold on. Gina Trenatelli? Joey's little sister? Curly red hair? Annoyingly hyper all the time? THAT Gina Trenatelli?"
"Yeah, I know everyone loves her! If something bad happened they'd ki-"
"I just saw Gina walking down C Hall," Rena said, looking dubiously at Treinta.
Treinta grabbed onto Rena's armed and turned toward her as they stopped walking.
"What?"
"I swear, she was just right there."
"How long ago?"
"Like, twenty-five seconds before I caught up with you."
"But how is that... that's not... how is that possible? She was on the ground. She was on the ground twitching!"
"I have no idea. Maybe she's been swimming so much that the chemicals invaded her brain and made her invincible," Rena offered.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Seriously!"
"Come on, Rena, that's not really helping. This is really weird! What could have happened?"
"No, seriously Treinta. What if that really IS what happened? I mean, something just like that happened on Smallville last week."
"Well, then how did I 'subdue' her or whatever? I mean, if she's all indestructible and stuff, how did I manage to knock her out?"
Treinta looked at Rena for an answer. Rena looked at Treinta's eyes. She reached over and touched her arm. She looked at her face, and then continued squeezing her arm. She poked her stomach and then was bending over to start squeezing her legs when Treinta swatted away her hand.
"Rena! What are you doing? You can't try and feel me up in front of four hundred people passing by us in the hall!"
"Gees, Treinta! I'm not trying to feel you up! My goodness!"
Rena grabbed Treinta's arm and dragged her over to the gym bridges where no one was standing while Treinta was calling out, "Then what the heck are you doing?"
When they were safely behind the quiet of the double doors, Treinta was still looking incredulously at her friend.
"What are you trying to do?"
Rena leaned her head forward and bowed it conspiratorially. She quietly responded, "I was feeling how much muscle you have."
"What? Hey- are you calling me fat?"
"No!"
"Then what are you saying? I have no idea what's going on in that big head of yours."
"I'm saying maybe you're like, Superwoman or something. Maybe Gina's genes have been mutated or whatever from the mass amounts of chlorine she's been exposed to over the years and she's working it for evil. If you could 'subdue' her as you say, maybe your genes have been mutated by something else, and you're the balancing force. Maybe you're the one who's been sent to save the world."
Treinta stood rock-still and stared at Rena, whose head was still bowed and her eyes were looked up into hers.
"What the heck are you talking about? Did you walk by the potheads in the back alley again?"
"Well, yeah. Why?"
"How long did you 'walk by' them for?"
"I don't know. I waited outside in the alley for a while for Alice and Sarah. They said that they were going to meet me in the back of the school and we could walk to homeroom together. Then I ran into Alex and well, you know..."
"Oh my goodness. You're psychotic. Do you know that? I almost believed that whole like, super-freaky gene thing about Gina too," Treinta said. She pressed her palm up against Rena's forehead and continued, "You're crazy. Don't talk. I have to go to homeroom now. I suggest you don't talk until this little unintentional high wears off and you can speak normally."
"OK. I'm gonna go now. Bye," Rena said and pulled open the doors to walk away. "Oh yeah, save me a seat at lunch."
Treinta followed Rena out the doors, and then parted ways with her at the hallway crossing. She continued straight and walked to her homeroom. She walked in the door and sat down right when the bell rang.
She called out to her homeroom teacher, "Mr. Ski, just so you know I'm here. Just a little late."
"OK, thanks Treinta. Have a good day."
Treinta walked out the door sighing. Mr. Ski, short for Mr. Serpenski, was the highlight of most of the high school girls' days. He was admired by most of the boys for his 'cool' reputation, athletic abilities, and humorous way of teaching, and lusted after by most of the girls, including Treinta.
Treinta was walking down the hallway to her first period class Chorus. She had just turned the corner when she saw something that made her freeze in place. From all around her people started crashing into her. Over all of the, she saw an aura of red, curly hair floating through the hall. The terrible laugh escaped through Gina's mouth and cascaded over her, and bright green eyes met dull green eyes, clashing awfully.
Walking right towards Treinta was Gina Trenatelli. Gina looked at Treinta, smiled her flashing white, straight-toothed smile and waved. All that Treinta could do was stare.
'What the heck is going on...?'