Author's Note: Woohoo! Only one Ax fan insinuated my doom! ...I think that's a good thing. Is it a good thing?
Anyway, I'm going to do something shocking and reveal something: Yes, Mrs. Smith is that Loren.
As for her and Tobias, I'm keeping the lid closed tight on that subject. I meant to have this done by Wednesday, but now I'm getting pretty involved in starting a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) at my school. I'm so thrilled!
I really, really hope none of our potential members get in trouble because of this. But also, I had me some writer's block. It's cured now, though. Yipee!
Oh, and points to anybody who can guess the meanings in Cassie's dream. Pay attention to the colors.
Chronicle One
"Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends." - Czech Proverb
Chapter Seven
-Cassie-
My name is Cassie Branch.
And my life has been turned upside down.
It all started when this jerk, named Andy, called me something I won't repeat. If you have a burning desire to know, I'll give you a hint: I'm a black girl. I'm not a very violent person, but I slapped him.
That was what triggered my first flashback, my memory of turning into a polar bear. And yes, you read that right.
You must be thinking that I'm crazy. I can't that assessment is wrong, but if I am insane, I'm not the only one.
There's four other kids like me. One of them is Rachel Berenson, former queen of the GWHS Prep Squad.
Another one is Tobias Avan, a shy guy who's a friend of Rachel's. I could be reading into things, but I think Tobias might be crushing on Rachel. Also in our posse in Marco Jones, a witty guy who's known for cracking jokes.
Then there's Jake Berenson, Rachel's cousin. He's a big guy. A serious guy. A cute guy. Of course, I've only known him for two days. It's not like I'm going to ask him out or anything.
"What are you thinking about?" I look up from my library book, A Study of Skunks, to Rachel's face.
Rachel is a beautiful person. She looks like one of those tall, blonde supermodels. In fact, I could see her modeling someday, if that's what she ever decides to do. I bet she'd be wonderful at it.
The two of us are friends now, and believe me, no one's more surprised by it than the two of us. I mean, you have me, the vet-in-training that comes to school half-covered in bird excess everyday and then there's Rachel.
We couldn't be more opposite, but Rachel was the first person I ever told about my flashbacks. I guess that created a kind of bond between the two of us. What's weird is that I feel that bond has always been there, it's just now that Rachel and I have discovered it. Which could be true, since we were best friends.
Best friends in a life I don't even remember.
"I'm not thinking about anything." I told Rachel.
She looked at me, hands on her hips, both amused and disbelieving. "Yeah, right." She said.
"I'm not." I protested, wilting under Rachel's eyes. I knew she'd seen through me.
"I bet it's a guy." Rachel teased, now grinning at me.
"I'm not thinking about a guy." I said, my voice rising.
"Oh, so you're thinking about a girl?" Rachel deadpanned. I almost dropped my books. "No!" I shouted.
Rachel started laughing. "You're so easy." She said, her body still shaking with the chuckles.
I glared at her. Rachel waved her hand to fend me off. "It's adorable." She said.
She composed herself a few moments later then turned to me, one hundred percent serious.
"Of course." Rachel said. "If you ever do have a guy to talk about, I'm here."
I smiled. "Thanks, Rach." I said.
"It's no big deal." Rachel said as I went into French.
I watched as Rachel then sprinted to class, trying to outrun the bell before she was late.
Maybe, just maybe, I'd tell her the next time I was thinking about Jake.
French went by quick enough. The seconds melded into minutes, the minutes melded into the block of time before the bell rang. Before I knew, I found myself out of the halls and in my third period English class.
My English teacher, a young little woman with dark blonde hair and eyes that were a hazel kind of blue, looked up at me when I walked into class. I was the first one there, which was kind of normal, to tell you the truth.
Teacher adjusted her glasses and pushed them back onto the bridge of her nose. "Hello, Cassie." She said.
I smiled back at her. "Hello, Ms. McLay." I said, picking up the bell work from the desk Ms. McLay had put in the front of the room. Then I sat in my seat and went to working on the bell work, which was vocabulary, as I waited for class to begin. A few minutes passed and the rest of the class filtered into the room and the bell rang.
I tucked my half-finished vocabulary sheet into my English binder and faced Ms. McLay, who was looking at us.
"Today we're beginning our unit on Antigone." Ms. McLay started. Half the class groaned.
"Now, I'm going to call roll, then we'll all fly off to the library. Class? Don't forget your ID Cards." Ms. McLay said.
I felt around in my back pocket as Ms. McLay called roll. Most of the time, that's where I kept my ID Card.
Except this time it was nowhere to be found. I tried not to panic as I checked the other pockets of my overalls, searching for a tiny piece of plastic. There was nothing at all. Oh god, what was I going to do?
"Everybody ready?" Ms. McLay asked. The whole class nodded and got up, slinging their backpacks over their shoulders and tucking their binders and folders underneath or in their arms. I dragged myself up from my seat, ready to warn Ms. McLay that I couldn't check out any books today because I was card-less. I was the last to leave the class except for Ms. McLay, who walked behind me.
"Cassie," she said, "Your reports are always very good, you know. I hope you won't disappoint me."
After that I lost my nerve to tell I'd lost my ID Card somewhere.
When we arrived in the library there was a surprise awaiting us. The surprise of Mrs. Reid's History Class.
Ms. McLay bit her lip and went pass me to the librarian. Our class stood there, confused and shellshocked, unable to sit because Mrs. Reid's class had taken up the majority of seats inside the library. Some kids took off their backpacks and put their stuff down, and shoved it away behind them. I looked around the room, myself.
I noticed two boys sniffing around in the Encyclopedias. One of them was a tall, big white guy with brown hair.
The other guy was short and tanned and his hair was dark. Jake and Marco!
"I reserved the library for my classes today, Melinda." Ms. McLay said, leaning her tiny body over the desk.
"Mrs. Reid got here first." The librarian, Melinda I guess, replied in an apathetic tone.
"I had the library reserved two days in advance!" Ms. McLay said, her voice rising a few decibels.
"I told you Mrs. Reid got here first, Tara." Melinda repeated. "So the library's hers. Sorry." She added.
Ms. McLay sighed and got off the desk. "So much for reservations." She muttered. Then she faced the class.
"Okay, I know I told you all to bring your notecards today, but it seems you won't be needing them." She said.
I noticed Ms. McLay give the librarian Melinda a slight glare. "So just go and check out some books."
The class dispersed themselves then. I took A Study of Skunks out of my backpack and dropped it into the Return Slot underneath the librarian's desk. Mom had asked me to check it out to see if there was anything in it that could help with this sick skunk that we'd found at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. There wasn't much.
Then I headed over to the History & Reference section. I wanted to see if there were any books there about Sophocles, the man who had written Antigone. I like to include information about the author in my book reports. It didn't have a thing to do with the fact that Jake and Marco were hanging out there, I swear to you.
I scoured the shelves for any books whose titles began with an "S". As I traced my finger along the spines, someone bumped into me. The person, who I noticed was wearing battered sneakers, just caught their balance.
"Jake, you should apologize to the young lady. No one likes being tripped over." That was Marco's voice.
"You'd know, wouldn't you?" Jake retorted. Then to my surprise, he kneeled down. We were face-to-face.
Both of us blushed, I think. "Um, I didn't hurt you or anything, did I?" Jake asked. He was so cute when he blushed.
"No, I'm fine." I said, and got up off the ground. Jake stood up a second after me. We both smiled at each other.
Jake has a nice smile. I thought to myself. I think I blushed more. There was an awkward silence between the three of us -- Marco, Jake, and me. In the end, it was Marco who spoke up.
"What're you looking for? I mean, isn't Ms. McLay an English teacher? Why are you in the History section?"
I turned to look at Marco; kind of glad I had an excuse not to look at Jake. "I like to study the authors, too." I said.
Marco raised an eyebrow. "You, madam, are a freak." He stated. Jake gave him a playful punch on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" Marco yelped, glaring at Jake. Jake gave Marco a Look. "That was rude." He said.
"So is punching me." Marco muttered as he rubbed the spot where Jake had hit him.
I hid my smile with my hand. Marco scowled at me, but I don't think he was serious. Jake was trying not to laugh.
"Anyway," I said. "I'm looking for a book on Sophocles. If you gentlemen will excuse me?" I asked.
Marco and Jake both stepped aside as I went back to searching the shelves for Sophocles.
That went on for about two or three minutes. None of us spoke as went down the shelves looking for our books.
"Hey, I found one!" Jake shouted.
Half the people in the library must've glared at him, because he went to whispering.
"You found something about Sacagawea?" Marco whispered.
"No, but I did find Sophocles and His Works." Jake whispered back. I got up off the library's carpet.
"Could I have that?" I asked Jake and then I remembered something. I couldn't check out the book anyway.
Jake handed it to me. It was a small blue book, not very long. "Nevermind, I can't." I said.
Jake looked at me, confused. "Why not?" He asked. I might've been imaging it, but he almost sounded hurt.
"I," I said, then I paused, feeling like a dork. "I left my ID Card at home. I can't check out anything." I said.
"Oh." Jake said, sounding dejected. Then his eyes lit up as he pulled out a small piece of plastic from his pocket.
"You can borrow mine." Jake said, giving me his ID Card. "Just, you know, give it back." He added with a smile.
Feeling kind of embarrassed; I flashed Jake a quick smile. "Thanks." I whispered. He just shrugged. It was cute.
I then headed off to the checkout counter. The kid working there didn't even notice the ID couldn't be mine even in a strange, exotic world. He just scanned it through and handed me the book and the card.
I took them and turned around to see Jake and Marco filing in line with their class. I just stood there like a dork, too surprised to try and say, catch up with Jake so that I could give him his card back.
Thank God we had lunch together.
Our school's cafeteria is, in a word, pandemonium. Maybe it comes from the fact that we're a sort-of-big-ish high school, or maybe our students are just crazy. I'm not all that sure. Either way I had decided that I was going to wait for Rachel until the madness calmed down. Assuming, of course, that was possible.
It was looking less and less possible each and every second. More kids were leaving and entering the cafeteria, random bits of food were showing up on the floors, and there was no Rachel in sight.
Maybe she's with the others. I thought. So I set my eyes upon the cafeteria, looking for a hint of my new friends. It took me a while to see them, but I ended up finding them a small round table in the back of the cafeteria.
It looked like Jake and Marco were joking about something. Tobias sat next to Rachel, discomfort all over his face and intensifying with every little jab Rachel added to Marco and Jake's discussion. I blushed to myself again as I remembered that I still had Jake's ID Card with me. It was then that I decided to join them all at the table.
After all, I had to give Jake his card back, didn't I? We had no other classes together, so this was the best time.
I started walking over to the table where my friends sat but the crashing sound of something hitting against metal jolted me away from my purpose. I jumped up and locked my eyes on a boy. He was tall, but shorter than Jake.
His hair was a dark brown, a shade or two lighter than Marco's almost-black locks. His eyes were a dark blue.
For some reason those eyes made me think of Rachel. They also made think there was something familiar about this guy. Maybe something too familiar. The boy was looking at me now, his face sheepish.
"Sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to scare you. It's just this machine is, well, not cooperating." He added.
I looked at the machine in question. It was a new machine the school had bought just a few weeks ago, but it was already known as "The Clunker" because it was a piece of junk. Only the very lucky could get food from it.
A point in case being the cinnamon bun stuck in slot. I guessed that was this boy's lunch for the day.
"It's all right." I said to the kid, giving him a reassuring smile. "This machine doesn't work for anyone."
"Oh." The boy said. He was, well, I don't want to say that he was checking me out because I don't think it was quite like that, but he was studying me. It caused me to feel very nervous. I was about to say something to him when he spoke. It surprised me how awkward, how uncertain his voice sounded. "Well, can you help me?" He asked.
I blinked at him. I felt confused and a little bit afraid, considering his eyes were still studying me. "What?" I asked.
"Help me." The boy repeated. He gestured at The Clunker. "We could both shove against one side of the machine and see if perhaps our combined velocity would release the cinnamon bun from the slot." He added.
"Um, okay." I agreed, not at all certain if I understood what the boy was asking me to do.
The boy smiled. Again, I was struck with the odd feeling that I had to have at least seen him somewhere before.
"All right." The boy said. "I'll stand on the right side of the machine and you stand on the left. When I count to three, we both slam our body weight against the machine and see if we can release the cinnamon bun." He instructed.
So I did as told, feeling that I didn't have that much choice in the matter. "One, two, three!" The boy shouted.
At the same moment we both slammed into the right and left sides of The Clunker. Both a little shook, perhaps, but no worse for the wear. The boy and I walked up to the machine to see that the cinnamon bun was free.
"All right!" The guy enthused, shooting his hand into the vending machine and pulling out the cinnamon bun.
I watched, surprised and more than a bit disgusted, as the guy snarfed most of the cinnamon bun down in a bite.
"I take it you were hungry?" I asked the guy. He nodded as he swallowed down his hunk of pastry.
Then I asked my next question; one I had to know ever since I laid eyes on this boy. "Do I know you?" I asked him.
It was automatic the way he seemed to pull away from me, if just a little bit. "I don't think so." He said. "I'm new."
"Are you sure?" I asked the boy. "I mean, maybe I'm mistaking you for someone else, but..."
"I doubt it." The boy cut me off, still holding a little less than half his cinnamon bun. Then he smirked, kind of.
"I wouldn't worry about it. Even if we did know each other, it couldn't have been very well." He said.
I frowned at the tall boy. "What makes you say that?" I asked him, curious to know what he meant.
"Just a feeling I have." The boy whispered. His eyes and expression had become almost unreadable.
I think that was what did it for me. I don't like seeing people miserable, in particular if they're all by themselves.
I like to help people out. Call it a virtue or a vice, but it's the truth. And I had a feeling this guy could use it.
"Do you want to meet my friends?" I asked the boy. He stared at me, his eyes reflecting shock and reluctance.
"Why are you suggesting that?" The boy asked, stepping away from me. I hadn't meant to alarm him.
I gave him my widest smile and looked him straight in the eyes. "Because you seem lonely." I said.
He gaped at me, emotions escalating through his face. "Um." He said. That was all he could say.
I waited a moment before I did anything. Before I said anything. "Uh, do you want to meet them?" I asked.
The boy took in a deep breath and then smiled at me. "Yes, I would like that." He said.
I smiled back at the boy. "All right, then. But first, what's your name?" I asked him.
"Ax." He said. "Ax Isthil."
"Okay." I said. "Let's go meet my friends, Ax."
So then Ax and I went off to the lunch table for what would our first, but not last, meeting.
When Ax and I got to the table, Rachel was the first to notice us. "Who's the guy, Cassie?" She asked.
In an instant, Jake, Marco and Tobias's heads all snapped up to see Ax and I standing at the table.
Jake adopted Rachel's confused look while Tobias saw Ax and almost seemed to wince a little.
Marco, however, was the one that surprised me the most. His eyes grew dark and refused to leave Ax.
Without a doubt, I had missed something. I looked over at Ax, who just looked nervous and scared.
"My name is Ax Isthil." Ax said, leaning over the table to shake both Jake and Rachel's hands. I noticed that neither Tobias nor Marco made any effort to shake Ax's hand. Tobias didn't even look at him, and I wished Marco would stop doing just that. I pulled up a chair for Ax and he sat down, still trying to keep far from the table.
"So you guys know each other?" I asked, looking at Tobias, Marco and a very tense Ax.
Marco's laugh was quiet. "You could say that." He said. Tobias didn't even look up.
"Well, I'm going to go get a bite to eat." I said, pulling away from the table. "Don't get in any fights while I'm gone."
I went through the lunch line and came back a minute or two later with a glass of water and what I was hoping was a Caesar Salad. I don't have an unwavering trust in the school's cafeteria food, call me nutty.
Things had gotten a little better since I'd left. Ax and Jake were talking. Tobias was jumping into the conversation along with Rachel. Marco's glower seemed to have gotten worse by some maniacal twist of fate.
I made certain to sit beside Marco so that perhaps he'd stop his evil glare for at least one second. I could hope.
"It sounds like you've all been suffering some kind of selective amnesia." Ax commented, now chewing on what I guessed was part of the remains of his cinnamon bun. "Sia." He added before he swallowed down his bite.
I guess he must've noticed the weird looks we were all giving him because he looked at the table, embarrassed.
"Sorry." He said. "I do that sometimes, when I get a little hyper."
Marco raised his eyebrows, mockery filling every note of his voice. "Cinnamon buns make you hyper?" He asked.
"Sometimes." Ax answered, and then he went back to looking at Jake. "You say all five of you had flashbacks?"
"Yes." Jake said. "They all seem to be tied in with each other, too. Like, I don't know, reincarnation, maybe."
"Except that doesn't fit, since we're all still ourselves in the memories." Tobias added in. Ax looked surprised.
Then the shock seemed to have faded from his eyes. "Then it couldn't be reincarnation." He said.
I noticed he seemed to be saying it more to himself than the rest of us. Only Marco seemed to have noticed, too.
Two of us then shared a Look, but we said nothing. "Not to mention we don't remember dying." Rachel said.
"Like I said, selective amnesia." Ax said, putting the last chunk of his cinnamon bun down on the table.
"Which means what in English?" Marco asked. It was rather obvious Ax's scientific talk was irritating him.
"Meaning that all five of you have repressed, or in other words forced your minds to forget, the memory of these flashbacks you are all now remembering. It's a common reaction to traumatic events." Ax explained.
"So what you're saying is that we just up and forgot everything?" Tobias asked, voice filled with doubt and shock.
Ax picked up his cinnamon bun again. "It seems like it." He said. Then he took another bite. "Eeems. Seems."
"Thank you for that piece of wisdom, Mr. Stutters." Marco cracked. I elbowed him in the side.
I had to admit, though, Marco making fun of Ax was a lot better than Marco shooting Ax glares of doom was. I think.
Ax just gave Marco a sideways glare and said nothing. I decided to jump into the conversation myself.
"So, aside from a guess, do we have any proof this is selective amnesia at work?" I asked. Everyone started.
"I mean," I started, feeling my throat close up from nervousness. "I mean, are there any symptoms, maybe?"
"It depends on the severity of the case." Ax said. "Of course, amnesia is hard to diagnose, considering the fact that, if the memory loss is caused by an emotional trigger, the person suffering may undergo confabulation."
"Confa-what-in-english?" Rachel asked, looking up from her soda at Ax.
"Um, stories. Making up stories to cover the memory loss." Ax explained, an almost panicked look in his face.
"Could fainting be a possible symptom?" I asked Ax. He looked up at me, his face flushed pale. "Perhaps."
I blinked, shocked by the way that Ax's face blanched. Something, I felt, was not right here. I just knew it.
I picked up my half-eaten Caesar Salad and left the table. I walked off to the trashcans on the other side of the cafeteria and threw away my leafy greens. All of the sudden, I didn't feel much like eating. We had all figured that our memories seemed to have come from a past life, or at least something like that. But Ax's suggestions bothered me, I'll admit it. There was something very disturbing about the thought you'd repressed your whole life.
If that was the truth, if I had forgotten everything, what did that mean about my life now? Was it all a fake?
I wondered, which one was my real life? The happy life I thought I'd been living as a vet-to-be, or the life with aliens coming out of a spaceship? Or was it a mixture of both?
And do I want to know? I asked myself. I sighed and leaned up against the trashcan to keep my balance.
I was crying and I had no idea why. I spent a few minutes doing just that as kids and teachers passed my by.
I heard their footsteps coming towards me but it didn't connect with me until I felt Rachel hugging me.
"Cassie, are you okay?" Rachel whispered. I nodded, tears still flowing from my eyes.
"It's just a lot to take in." I whispered, my voice a little choked because of the tears.
"Yeah." Jake agreed, his voice kind of quiet. For some reason, that just made me feel bubbly and warm inside.
"At least you aren't facing it alone." Tobias said, smiling at me.
Marco nodded in agreement, looking kind of embarrassed. "Yeah. Shocker of the century, we're here with you."
Then I looked over at Ax. I hadn't even noticed he was with us until just then. He was standing off to the side.
"I apologize." He said. "It seems that what I've said," Ax paused, trying of what to say, I guess. "It upset you."
"Ax, there's no need--" I started, but he shook his head, cutting me off. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
Then he looked me straight in the eyes. "Thank you, for inviting to me lunch today. I am sorry for what I said."
Before any one of us could have stopped him, Ax walked off out of the cafeteria and went back in the building.
That was the end of our first meeting.
It happened during Algebra.
Rachel and I had been working on a worksheet together. Mr. Luke had paired us together, and I confess, we were a bit more focused on what had happened during lunch than we were on the assignment.
"Do you think Ax could be the sixth kid?" Rachel asked me, making sure to keep her voice low.
"What makes you think he would be?" I asked Rachel, once again struck by the feeling I'd missed something.
"Tobias told me about him in Biology. Jake had sent him and Marco to check him out and see if he was one of us yesterday. He says that Ax freaked, though Tobias thinks part of that might be Marco's fault." Rachel said.
I looked up into Rachel's eyes. "Okay, now I'm confused. Explain." I said.
"Well, you remember how Jake was talking about the sixth kid yesterday?" Rachel asked. I nodded.
"And you remember how he decided Marco and Tobias should go find him, since they were the only ones to remember a sixth kid very well?" Rachel asked me, and I nodded again to press her on.
"So remember how Tobias had gone to the library to see if anyone there was the sixth kid?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, I remember." I said, looking up to notice Mr. Luke staring at Rachel and I.
We did our work for a couple of minutes until Rachel began quizzing me again.
"That's where Tobias met Ax." Rachel said, and I looked up at her, surprised. "He said he seemed familiar."
I nodded. "Yeah, I got that feeling too, when I first saw him." I admitted. "I got that feeling with you and Tobias, too."
"What, you didn't get that feeling with Jake?" Rachel asked, her voice both teasing and curious.
I started. "What?" I asked.
Rachel shook her head, a tiny, mischievous little smile on her lips. "Oh, nothing." She said.
I scowled at her and bent my head back down to my work. "So, Marco and Tobias interrogated Ax?" I asked.
Rachel nodded. "Yeah. Tobias thinks Marco went a bit overboard, though. Says Ax looked ready to hit him."
I gaped up at Rachel. "You're serious? Ax didn't seem like a violent guy to me." I said.
"Me either." Rachel said, scribbling down an answer. "Marco must've been an asshole."
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised." I said, then I looked at Rachel. "But Ax never said he was one of us, did he?"
Rachel shook her head. "No. Not when Tobias and Marco were after him, or at lunch today, but I don't know..."
"It feels like he's one of us, doesn't it?" I asked Rachel and she gave me a slow nod in reply.
After that, we didn't say anything about Ax. Rachel and I just worked on our Algebra assignment in silence.
Until about halfway through the period, that is.
"Cassie Branch." A voice said over the PA system. "Cassie Branch, report to the principal's office."
The whole class stared at me, including Mr. Luke and Rachel. I didn't know what to say, I had no idea what any of this was about. I gathered up my books and put them in my backpack, waved goodbye to Rachel, and left.
I won't lie, I was worried and just a little bit afraid. This Monday, the day that I hit Andy, I had gone to the principal. I'd been face-to-face with Mr. Hendrick Chapman and I didn't like it. He worried me, a lot.
First off, he'd been too friendly. He'd insisted I called him by his first name, he gave me too much leeway for what I'd done. Something about the whole incident had been wrong and I don't think I've ever been more glad to leave a place as I was the moment I had left Hendrick Chapman's office that Monday.
As I was walking to down the halls to the office something almost slipped out of my binder. I caught it just in time.
It was the card Chapman had given me. A small, plain white card with the words THE SHARING on it.
As I got nearer and nearer to the office, I kept remembering bits and pieces of my last meeting with Chapman.
In particular the violent migraine he'd had before I left his office. Call it paranoia, but I felt there was something off with that migraine. Maybe something off with Hendrick Chapman in general.
Cassie, cut it out. I chided myself as I got to the door of Chapman's office. I twisted the doorknob.
You sound like a conspiracy theorist. I walked into Principal Chapman's office.
Mr. Chapman was the only person there, besides me of course. He was sitting in his chair, looking at me.
"Hello, Cassie." He said, a wide but insincere smile covering his face. It sent chills down my spine.
Mr. Chapman gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat, you're welcome here." He told me.
So I sat down as far from him as the chairs could let me manage. Mr. Chapman smiled again, his eyes bright.
"I bet you're wondering what this is all about, aren't you?" He asked me, and I nodded. I was quite confused.
"Well, first things first, I wanted to thank you." Mr. Chapman said, and I felt more confused than ever.
"You've been quite influential in helping Mr. Brewson and some of his friends 'come around', as I believe you put it this Monday. They've become valuable assets to the cause, thanks to you." Mr. Chapman said.
"The cause?" I asked. Something about the phrase sent a shiver of fear through my body.
"Oh!" Mr. Chapman said, his face tense with surprise, but then it relaxed. "The cause of a more opened mind."
"You're saying that my slapping him caused them to be more open-minded?" I asked Chapman, shocked.
Mr. Chapman nodded. "Yes it has, believe it or not. I wanted to thank you for that, Miss. Branch." He said.
Then Hendrick Chapman's voice grew quiet and soft. "I also have something else I'd like to inquire about."
Feeling a wave of doubt crash through me, I asked "What do you want to know, Mr. Chapman?"
Mr. Chapman smiled again. "Hendrick, remember?" He said. "And I've heard something interesting about you."
Hendrick Chapman kept on talking before I even had a chance to ask him what he was babbling about.
"I've heard, from another student, that you've experienced an odd fainting spell. Is this true?" Chapman asked.
I was too shocked by the question to lie. "Yes, it is true." I said.
Chapman shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and then looked at me again. "I see." He said, soft but strong.
"Is there--have you been having any problems at home, Cassie?" Mr. Chapman asked. "Is everything okay?"
Was Chapman insinuating my parents beat me or something? "Everything's fine!" I protested.
"Lower your voice, please. I didn't mean to startle you. Now, is that the truth? Is everything fine?" He asked.
"Of course it is." I said. Chapman was unaware that I was gritting my teeth. "My parents don't mistreat me."
"All right, then. Is there anyone at school, then? No one's harassing you?" Chapman inquired.
Except for you, no. I thought to myself. "No one's harassing me." I said. Chapman's eyes glinted.
"So then what in the world could cause a healthy young woman such as yourself to faint for no reason?" He asked.
I got up from my seat then. "I don't think I want to answer your questions, Mr. Chapman." I said.
Mr. Chapman glared at me. I almost jumped when he did. There was something dangerous in that glare.
"Whatever you choose, Miss Branch." He said. "Do you still have that card I gave you?" He asked.
Why in the world was he asking about a card? "You mean the white one?" I asked.
Chapman nodded. "Yes, that one. Maybe we can talk about this at The Sharing. I think the place would suit you."
"I'm not so sure it would." I said, slamming the office door behind me.
I didn't tell Rachel about what happened, even though she tried her hardest to pry it out of me.
The last thing I wanted was for Chapman to start going after any more of us.
I didn't mention it to my parents, either. Not that they asked, of course. I mean, what kind of parent suspects their child is getting harassed by the school principal? They did ask how my day went, and I told them it was okay.
Which wasn't a total lie. It had been nice hanging out with Jake and Marco at the library, after all.
Then I went up to my room to start working on my book report for English. That, and look after my newest patient.
She was a little tiny mother skunk. I suspect that she might've gotten into a fight with a nasty dog.
We have no idea what happened to her babies, either. I'd been keeping her in a cage on my dresser, next to my bed. Lucky for me, Mama Skunk didn't seem to want much of my attention at night.
As I looked at the cute little skunk in my room, it came to me.
Flash!
"Well, this is more than slightly insane." Marco said. "We're going to raise little skunk babies."
I sat down on my bed, hard. Another flashback! This one hadn't caused me to faint, though.
Then again, it didn't answer any other questions I might've had, like what was the identity of the sixth kid.
I shook my mind to clear away the flashback and I pulled something out of overall pocket. Jake's ID Card.
With everything that had happened at lunch today, I'd forgotten to give it back to him. I'd have to, tomorrow.
I looked at it, holding the card up in front of me. There was a picture of Jake, smiling, on the left side.
It was a good picture, or at least I think so. Now that I thought about, Jake didn't seem to smile all that much.
Which was a pity, since he had a nice smile. Of course, there was other information on the card. It read:
George Washington High School Student ID
Jake Berenson
Grade: 10
DOB: 01/14/82
Number: 011121
I put the card next to the Mama Skunk's cage and then I lay down to do research for my book report.
It was about three hours later, I think, when I fell asleep.
I was running in a field, but this was unlike any field I had ever seen in my life. The grass was blue.
If it wasn't for the individual stalks of grass I would've thought I was running in a deep ocean.
The field seemed to stretch on and on forever. There were no people in sight. I kept on wandering.
I walked past fields of blue flowers -- bluebonnets, blue lilies, blue tulips and odd enough, blue roses.
I walked and ran for what had to have been miles. In the end, I was too exhausted to go on. I was lost in a world of blue. I sat down in the middle of the blue grass next to a long, tall and strong brown tree.
The red sun began beaming down on me, filling my body with a comforting warmth. From the tree popped out a bright orange all of the sudden. I seized the fruit and began unpeeling it, already feeling much better.
Beneath me appeared a blanket covered in a black and light blue checkered pattern. I lay down on it and rested.
After I had finished my orange, I fell asleep now sated, comforted, shaded and warm.
I was awoken a moment or two later by something rubbing its furry nose against mine.
When I opened my eyes, I was face-to-face with a large gray wolf. I backed away and the wolf walked closer.
The wolf went underneath my arm and rubbed against me. My fingers trembling, I began to pet its fur.
That was when I noticed the chain of small, pale green jades around its neck. They were connected to something.
With one of my hands petting the wolf's back, I picked up the jade chain. In the middle hung a small blue box.
The wolf then stood up again. I knew at that moment what it wanted me to do.
I packed up my blanket and the other orange and stick that seemed to have fell on it while I petted the wolf.
I put it all in a white bag, which I then loaded onto my back. Then I got on the wolf and we began to run.
The sun seemed to run with the wolf and I as we sped through the blue field. The contents of my bag stayed put.
I had no idea where the wolf was taking me, I just knew that I had to go. It was that or something much worse.
As we rode, my overalls began changing until they formed a dark green, silken dress fitted to my body.
My shoes faded away to reveal my bare feet. The muck and grime on my skin went away as well.
The only thing that I had kept was the white bag. And the sun, I suppose, considering it was still with me.
The wind began blowing hard as the wolf kept running across the field. The sky grew dark and filled with clouds.
By some strange miracle, however, the sun had stayed put. Its red glow was like a horrible omen against the sky.
I almost fell off the wolf as it stopped running. I looked up and found that we were in front of an enormous beehive.
Two bees flew out of the hive! These, however, were no ordinary bees. They were the size of torpedoes.
They also had human faces mixed in with the features of a bee. I recognized them both in an instant.
The bees were Mr. Chapman and his daughter, Melissa. They knocked me off of the wolf and onto the grass.
My bag ripped apart and out flew the blanket, the orange and the stick. The sun stopped moving.
Then a miracle occurred. They all transformed.
In their place were a tiger, a gorilla, a grizzly bear, a hawk and something not unlike the alien in my flashback.
As I lay there watching on the ground in the dark (the sun had transformed, after all) they, and the wolf, charged.
They began attacking the beehive with everything they had. I shut my eyes.
Then I heard it. A voice, loud but not unkind, amused but serious, familiar yet strange, speaking to me.
USE YOUR STRENGTHS, ISMENE.
Then I woke up.
It was the dream that convinced me, the image of Mr. Chapman as a bee. I wasn't going to be knocked down.
I wasn't going to let him harass me, or have the chance to do so to my friends.
Tomorrow, I was going to The Sharing.
Oh, Minions! =) (Reviewer Response)
Neri - Um, Ax and Tobias as brothers? Uh, well, um...I can't tell you. **hides** You'll just have to see.
I can tell you why Tobi isn't living with Loren, though -- she doesn't remember him. At all. And, sorry, Elfangor's dead and he's looking to stay that way. I'm sorry. Nope, Tobias isn't leader. The whole "go interrogate Ax" thing was Jake's plan. The bird may be a bit more assertive here, but Jake's still the one in command.
And Ax has no idea about his middle name. Or even that's he's an Andalite. Um, until he remember a little of it last chapter, anway. But it's still gonna be a long way off before he finds out everything. Gah! I thought I fixed the Champ/golden retriever thing! I have to go fix that now! And Rachel will live, don't worry. So will Tobias, for that matter. I'm not going to kill off any of the Animorphs. Um "-chan" is a prefix used for someone either younger than you, or that you either add to the name of a female friend or your lover, male or female. It's just something a lot of anime fans throw into their nicknames. It doesn't really signify all that much. And the story of Jinako is a long one, but here we go. It's the name of the first character I ever made up. Her name was Jinako Aino and she was supposed to be the daughter of Minako Aino, Sailor Venus. And guess who Jinako was? That's right, Sailor Sun! Oh, my early, early days of fic-writing...when I made it up, I didn't know Jinako meant anything, but according to my Japanese dictionary, it's something like "Character (as in the letter kind) Child", and I liked that.
I used the name first in the Sailor Moon community I hung around with (in fact, Jinako shows up in Sailor Dishwashers, which I can give more info on later) and the name stuck. I also go by felinephoenix around the 'net. You know, I really hope the Chee like cats 'cuz I like the Chee, but I have to kill anyone who hates cats. =P
DJ Eagel - It's okay, I don't care how late it is as long as you review! And the Ellimist is responsible for Ax's human-ness. Though he is a lot like he would be as a human nothlit -- not 100% percent, though, mind you. And, um, thanks! I wasn't sure I wrote Ax all that great. David Schmidt is cool, I wanna see him sometime! Yay, I'm on another favorite list! Par-TAY! And Ax's flashback is from the start of book 8.
Lavendarangel - Glad you liked the chapter, and Ax. He's kind of, like, a more serious Ax. I think.
And Mrs. Smith is the Loren we all know and love, but I'm not saying anything about her and her son. Oooh, and nice scene. I may have to twist some of that to fit into this fic...hmm. Yay, and I'm on another list! Double Par-TAY!
And here's a bag of Cassie and Jake plushies for you. **hands them to Lavenderangel** And I updated soonish, does that count?
Stormwing - Sorry, no insane cinnamon bun rampage. Yet. Wow, I'm starting to think I should get a nickel every time someone compares this to MM4...anyway, I'm glad you like the difference and I liked MM4 a lot, too.
And Ax's parents didn't abandon him, they don't remember him. Elfangor is probably the only one who did.
Puar Briefs - I'm in love with Gohan. =P Everybody seems to be taking the Ax/Loren thing in stride, I'm really glad you guys all like it. And, yep, Ax 'tis |_33+. Actually, you might expect random leet from him, just to warn everybody. Hm, interesting thing about someone calling him "Ax-man". I'm thinking Tobias or Marco should do it. Probably Tobias, considering. Yeah, Marco is pretty dark, isn't he? I always did think he could actually get pretty damn scary if something bothered him enough, but maybe that's just me. I think I should try to make him a little more, say, sarcastic when he's pissed, though. And are you suggesting I sic the Drode on Tobias, or on Toomin?
Ax will be privvy to a hyped-up scene one of these days. I'm just gonna have to figure out when to write it.
And I liked your poems! Woohoo, thanks for the usage of suggestions! **cheers**
EsotericEric - I'm glad you liked the fic so far, and I hope the next chapters don't dissapoint!
HoneyB - Nope, Loren isn't a Controller. She just isn't suspicious of the school principal.
And I wish you the best of luck with your charity effort, that's just freaking cool!
Lisa-Ann - Eeek, so many brats. The horribleness...I pity you now. **pats Lisa-Ann on the back**
Ax as a human, yes, was part of the Ellimist's attempt to make a happy life for his favorite morphing people.
Of course, now we can see how well that worked out, but yes, the Ellimist planned Ax's human-ness.
And I think the formatting is a little better in this chapter. You're right about the others, I'd been so wrapped up in writing them I hadn't even noticed. @_@ Eyes bleeding...and a next chapter should be soonish, God willing!
Doctor Strangelove - Put down that meat cleaver or I'll never have a chance to redeem myself.
And yes, I admit Ax was, um, different...but don't kill me yet. He's going to mellow out and be more like himself as the story goes on. Not like certain short people have anything to do with that, though. **winks** Besides, I'd say he does have some pretty good reasons to be cynical in this fic. Wow, you're right. Ax's story is Hackers-ish. I didn't even catch that until now. **feels stupid** And things on the M/A front will get less, er, frightening as the story progresses. Rachel has a lot to do with it.
Jake/wolves is good. Especially if it leads to him getting his testicles getting torn out by Ax-wolf, Cassie-wolf and Marco-wolf, and yes, I am jonesing for Jake to get some punishment. A lot of it, actually. I'm officially a fan of Willow/whoever's making her happy at the moment, but my favorites are Willow/Oz and Willow/Tara. Or Willow/Tara/Oz, but I'm odd like that. I'm not sure what it is with these blue-haired girls, must be something wrong with the cloning machine. And of course the M/A "explanation" thing was great. I think you should write more.
Oh, and if you didn't get this chap's Buffy ref, I'm smacking you silly with a smelly tuna.
Freak Apple - Yep, Ax is a human. I'd suggest picking up your jaw before any flies get in. =P
He'll still get hyper around food, but not to quite the degree he did before, and it wears off if he gets depressed.
And yep, his foster mom is the Loren we all love and, um, well...I've never met anyone who hates Loren. Have you? And Ax'll get his fill of cinnamon buns, but I don't think I should make him a float. That could go bad.
Gah! I updated, you can breathe now! And I like THE ISLAND, it's cool!