(((.-) Zel ||~.^|| Xelloss {{$.$}} Lina ((.^)|| Gourry ((^.^))Amelia
Seyruun High Jinx
Note: Nods to the creators of Escaflowne, Inu Yasha, Ramna 1/2, and Gundam Wing for the use of their lovely characters.
Chapter 17
THE SLAYERS
Saturday began as a day of rain. The wind had blown in heavy clouds which were
now bursting into tears. Nothing like an afternoon football
game on a sodden field. Right now, Lina and her friends were settling
into mugs of hot cocoa (with marshmallows ||^.^||) and
discussing the songs they knew, or were learning, which could be used for
creating their music video.
"The list goes as follows," said Lina, "and I am only talking
about original pieces here: WE ARE, sung by Zel, and FAIR WIND, GET ALONG, and
EXIT RUNNING all sung by yours truly. I promised Gourry a song next, and then
one for each of the rest of you as the inspiration comes to me. Val, you need
to get to work on that drum logo. Everyone see the design? Val, Filia, and I
came up with it. And, Xelloss, Val tells me if you want, he can order you a
plain replacement in your bass drum size from the new & used music store
where, and get this everyone...Val officially now has a part-time job!"
Everyone cheered. They all knew that Val needed money and a job would add
structure to his life. It also meant a source of equipment at affordable
prices.
"Next item on the agenda...See Amelia, I can do this crap too...I have
here a giant wall calendar. It was Zel's wise suggestion that we all put our
school and other activities on this so that we can plan time for the taping,
practices, and gigs, when they start rolling in. So...you may start, Zel, take
this pen and mark out your activities...I figure it gets updated at every
practice but don't put anything past the 1st of January for now...Why? Because
the calendar only goes for this year, ha ha! Someone
else can bring a new one...Thanks, Amelia will supply
the next year's calendar. Who's next?"
Each band member filled out their schedule for November and December as best
they could. Few knew what family obligations would be imposed around the
various holidays, but we able to make approximations based on past experiences.
"So Sunday is out of the question for everybody. Got
that. Looks like M,W,F, and Saturday, excepting
the cheerleading squad, are clear. Fencing is over except for a few Friday
night tournaments, and archery doesn't begin until spring. Zel's got his
tutoring stuff…Amelia's got a scary, scary set of duties mounting; I'm glad I'm
not in student council. Val's job is T, Th, Saturday
night, and Sundays. See, I remembered, even if you didn't. Gourry? I know your
schedule is flexible, let's not worry about that. Xelloss has karate T, Th,
and those finals coming up sometime. No,
I don't forget a thing, that's right!"
"Like an elephant," Gourry commented.
"Yeah, and I work for peanuts! Now shut up while your fearless leader
enlightens you! And my waitress duties are Sat & Sun. Okay…Filia, Sylph,
you're not too important, so it doesn't matter. Come when you can, we'll work
things out. Whew!" Lina sighed.
"That's all, folks."
"Well, not so," Xelloss piped up. "You forgot, Monday we find
out if we got parts in the play, and if we did, practices will screw over your
whole…"
"No, it won't," Zel silenced Xelloss, since Lina was starting to look
murderous. "The practices will be during our usual acting period. It is
the beginning drama play, that's why Allen Schezar and the other elite
actor-kids at this school didn't try out. It gives us poor slobs a chance to
prove ourselves." He turned to Lina. "It also means that we'd have to
provide our own costumes and props and…"
"I get it, I get it! It's the third-rate production! Even if we do get in,
it's all meaningless since only other third-rate actors could even try
out!" Lina was breathing fire down Zel's neck.
"Well, if you put it that way, it's pretty depressing," Filia looked
tragic.
"No!" Amelia cried, leaping up to comfort Lina. "It's not a
third-rate production, and we aren't third-rate actors! It's our very own, special play for us, the rising stars who will soon challenge the
existing icons of the school! It's an opportunity!"
Waves crashed behind her, glory shone in her eyes.
Lina looked uninspired.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't wanna think
about it anymore."
"Hey," Val said, looking over the list of songs. "How come only
you and Zelly boy get to sing? I can sing to, ya know."
"Yeah, like a gravel pit," Filia sniffed.
"Hey, I can be all sen-si-tive,
too!" Val protested. He was unwilling to let Filia give him the cold
shoulder, not after all of the indignities he'd suffered to impress her.
"Yeah, right," Everyone agreed.
"I'll prove it, you idiots! Guys, we're gonna do
FAIR WIND, so get ready!" he threatened.
They shrugged and set up. In two minutes, they had refreshed their memories of
the instrumental part, and were ready to add in vocals.
He started in with a good old rock&roll scream,
and then growled out the lyrics in a different sort of way. True, his voice was
gritty and unrefined, but it was evocative of raw emotion and great sincerity.
He sounded like he meant every word of it, even the ones that hadn't quite made
sense before.
"Baby don' be 'fraid!
If you try to fly awaay, with your tiny, shiny
wings..."
"It makes me wish I had wings," Filia blushed.
"Girl, if I had wings, I'd be flying too," Lina shook her head.
"Well, do we have to vote, or do I get to sing it?" he asked smugly.
"I guess I could let that one
go," Lina grinned.
"All right!!"
"So, when do I get a
song?" Xelloss pestered.
"When you write one. I've got an Amelia song in
the works, and Gourry's next, then Filia and Sylphiel, I suppose. But you know, if any
of you want to write your own, it'll go a lot quicker."
"So you haven't even started one
for me?" Xelloss whined. "Lina, I'm hurt."
"Well, actually, I've got this tune. It's weird, and really sixties pop,
but you might like it. When it is coherent, I'll try it out on Val's keyboard
for you. ANYWAY, let's run through the rest of the material and get SOMETHING
accomplished!"
Lina was glad to go home. Even work at the restaurant sounded soothing after
that practice. At least Val was happy. Filia had been snootier than usual, Sylphiel
glommier (as in glomming onto Gourry), Amelia's voice
was scratchy with a sore throat, and Zel was depressing and not talking to
Xelloss, who was annoying and whining. Thank the Gods for Gourry. He never made
any demands and was so congenial, not to mention… easy on the eyes.
~*~
Monday morning announcements reminded, as if anyone needed reminding, everyone
that this would be a short week, ending Wednesday due to the Thanksgiving
holiday. There would be no school sponsored activities, sports or clubs this
week. Play announcements were posted outside the classroom.
"I can't see anything!"
screamed Lina.
"Ahh, I can help," smiled Gourry. He picked
her up and carried her closer.
"What are you doing?!" she cried, blushing with embarrassment. All eyes
were pasted to the list, so no one had noticed, but there would be hell to pay
when they did.
"Now you're tall enough to read the list. What part did you get?" he
asked firmly attached to the squirming girl.
Her curiosity won out. "I can get him later for this," she thought,
then focused closely. "You
are…Bottom, a weaver. Whoa… It's like, the perfect
part. You get to wear a donkey's head!"
"Cool…"
"Okay top of the list…Hypolita, Queen of the Amazons, is Filia!
'Cause she's so tall and poised…soon to be married to Theseus, played by some kid named Ryoga. Egeus is
Duo, the short kid with the pony tail, uh, let's skip these others, we don't
know 'em…main characters."
She scanned through the boring ones.
"Wow! Sylphiel is Hermia, in
love with Lysander, played by (gag) Tatiwaki Kuno of the Kendo
club--what a creep-- and Amelia's Helena! Demetrius is...my gods….Val! Hey, Val! You get to be the biggest jerk in the whole
play! AND you get a love scene with both Sylph and Amelia. Aren't you lucky?"
Val muttered something wicked in return.
She braced herself for possible disappointment. There were the fairies left.
She could be an attendant. "Peaseblossom is Akane, Cobweb is Shampoo, Moth is Ranma, Mustard Seed is Kodachi." Or she could be… "Puck, the best part is…(nuts!) Xelloss?!"
A shiny purple head poked up. "Oh, good! I was
hoping I'd get that one. Clever Robin Goodfellow!"
he giggled.
Lina was not pleased. Now there were the King and Queen of
the fay and the lovers left. Who would she get? "I am…Titania… Queen of the Fairies…" she gasped. Well, it could be
worse.
"Queen? Well, that suits you okay. Who's the
King?" Gourry asked figuring that there probably was one.
It got worse. "Looks like...Oh, no...Zel is Oberon. He's the king." Quickly she added, "But it's
okay, 'cause if I remember correctly, they're mad at each other, so there's no
romance."
"MR. ZELGADISS IS OBERON?" Amelia had just walked up. "But, I
thought he was going to be Demetrius!"
she lamented.
So that's why she tried out for Helena,
Lina thought shrewdly. "No, that's Val. You'll have to be a real good
actress to pull this one off!"
Lina suddenly became aware of the fact that she was still in Gourry's arms.
Turing redder than Zel ever had, she demanded in the smallest voice possible to
be let down.
Gourry looked surprised. "Oh! I guess I forgot!"
"I guess so..." she
muttered, slinking away before any comments could find her. Retribution would
have to be planned later, because just as Zel and the others finally made it to
the list, the bell rang.
Amelia grabbed Zel's arm and wrenched him away.
"There's no time if you don't want to be late for class. You got Oberon! I'm Helena! Here's
my hall. See you at lunch!"
Zel was relieved on his way to English class. "I got a cool part. The one
I really wanted most of all. I can't believe it! And no romance scenes with Amelia! Things are looking up again."
The English teacher was in a discussion with another student so Zel had time to
gossip with Lina. Xelloss was grinning, but silent.
"Amelia told me I'm Oberon. I
didn't get time to check the list so what did you get?"
"Titania. Welcome to the land of
the fairies, my King," Lina leered at him with a scary look.
"Gaaa!" he muffled a cry with his backpack.
"At your service, my Lord. I'm the annoying
hobgoblin, Puck!" giggled
Xelloss, no longer able to contain his mirth.
Zel's face remained buried in his backpack until the teacher asked him a
question. He hadn't suffocated. Foiled again.
For the rest of the day Zel was determined to stay far away from that purple
haired fruitcake. On his way to science, he snuck down another hallway to wait
out the bell.
"Yo, Zel!" called Gourry. "See Van
yet? No? Ahh...he wants to talk fencing with
you. I don't know what…Sure, see you at
lunch!'
"Van, hmm. I know where to find him at lunch. That solves that
problem…better hurry," Zel thought to himself as he sped through the halls
and into his seat just as the bell rang.
He avoided eye contact with everyone, feigning absorption in the lecture
material. Lina figured he was disappointed about the Oberon part and dismissed
his behavior. "It figures."
At lunch Zel had no problem finding the solitary Van at a table by the windows.
"Hey, ran into Gourry. May I join you?" Zel asked politely.
"Yeah! Hitomi and the others should be along
soon, but there's always room for one more. Anyway, it seemed like you were
taking a beating from that Inu guy at the last match, and I found a weak spot
that saved my neck," Van said in a friendly voice.
"Weak spot. You mean other than his head?" Zel smirked.
Meanwhile, Lina's group was engaged in a lively conversation over the play.
Amelia was bubbling with excitement now that the initial disappointment of
Zel's role was over. Beside her, Kiki was concentrating on Xelloss' explanation
of the roles. Suddenly she burst out laughing.
"Oh no, you misspeak. What you said was..." she whispered something
in his ear that caused him to sit up in alarm.
"T-That's not what I meant!" he sputtered. And for the duration of lunch he spoke
English.
Amelia kept looking for Zel. "Miss Lina, where do you think Mr. Zelgadiss
is? He seemed so happy before school when I told him he had the part of Oberon.
Well, not exactly happy, but pleased anyway."
Before Lina could swallow her mouthful of food, Gourry answered, "Maybe
he's with Van. He wanted to talk to Zel about the match last Friday."
"Oh…yes! I see him now. Okay then,
so nothing's wrong, right?" Amelia asked Lina.
"Who knows? With him even good news is fraught with uncertainly, and
uncertainty is certain to go ill for Zel. That's his karma, get it?" Lina
continued chewing unconcernedly.
"So who're those guys that Van's sittin'
with?" Val asked.
Filia brightened with expert information. "Those are kids from Escaflowne Middle School
area. Most of them are part of that Draconian cult. You think my people are
odd? Well we only hope to protect the Earth from the evils of modern
technology. They believe they are descendents of the people of Atlantis who
created the Earth!"
This was interesting information, considering none of them had known anything
about the Cephied Believers. Filia had never offered and was not one to
proselytize, thank the gods.
Gourry spoke up in Van's defense, "Well, Van's a real nice guy. He's a
good sport too. He'd have to be to partner with Zangalus!" He chuckled a
little. Lina knew that Zangalus and Gourry had had a falling out last year. She
never pried, but figured that it was the other guy's fault since Gourry
couldn't possibly offend anyone.
"Miss Filia, I think you'll make a beautiful Queen of the Amazons. If I
remember, you don't really like that old Theseus guy anyway," said Amelia
with a smile.
"Oh I guess so. At least I'll have
fun choosing a great looking costume!" Filia laughed and swung her long
golden hair.
"That's right! We can go shopping together!" Xelloss said cheerily.
"Make that the re-sale shop and
I'll go," Val grunted.
"There's the costumes at my place too!" cried Amelia, "We can
look them over when you come for Mr. Zelgadiss' surprise party. Oh about the
party..." she looked meaningfully at Val.
"I got the gift taken care of.
Don't get yer panties in a knot! I told ya I
would!" Val growled.
"Hey, be nice to Amelia!" Filia chastised, "She's only 14 and
she's very sweet and has done nothing but good for you."
"Umm, sorry…The gift's cool…It's not wrapped or nothin'..."
Val softened to the watery-eyed Amelia.
"That's okay, I've got lots of wrapping paper and I love to fix up
presents!" she smiled.
"Thanks, Filia. That's one less battle for me today," Lina whispered
and gave her friend a wink.
"It's more than that asshole deserves," groused Val some more.
Filia smirked at Lina, and then dumped the remainder of her tea cup, leaves and
all, over his head.
"Gaaa! Shit!"
"Now shut up and stop complaining. I mean, if you're going to be
Demetrius, you'd better learn some manners and be more charming than
alarming," Filia admonished.
His eyes burned a hole in the table, but he kept his mouth shut. Another round to the girls. Xelloss had a copy of the
script.
"How did he get that so soon?" Lina wondered, but he began to chortle
loudly.
"Oh, Lina, Zel gets to call you a wanton
woman for fooling around with...Don't worry, Gourry, she cheats on the
Fairy King with you! 'Course… it's all caused by potions and magic
and evil little me!"
Gourry looked a little puzzled. "What's he talking about, Lina?"
"The plot of the play that you and I and all of our
unfortunate friends will soon be in. You have a rather important role,
and you and I will have several…scenes together," Lina's voice quavered a
tiny bit.
"Oh, that's all right, then!" Gourry smiled, relieved of all concern.
"Just super..." Lina murmured, "And you! Purple
Puck master, shut up too!"
Lunch time ended on this high note.
Zel slipped into computer lab again, on the bell, never turned on his computer,
no instant messaging, and hung out at the opposite end of the room from
Xelloss, helping the other kids. When the class was over, he disappeared out
the door in a flash. Xelloss felt miffed to be sure.
The acting class was in an uproar. Scripts were being distributed at random,
kids were flitting about like insane fairies, and the teacher was calmly
discussing the finer aspects of modal expression in the eye of the frenetic
storm. Zel found a script on the floor and settled into chair to read. Soon
Lina found her way over and sat on the other side of him, the first side being
shared by the wall. Two pages into the script and Lina was ready move on. She
glanced at Zel, who was doing an excellent job of acting like the stone wall
his chair was leaning against. Lina drummed her fingers on her script, rolled
it up, and sent it flying through the air.
"Oh…dropped my script. Where could
it be? Hey, Zel? Wanna help me find a script?"
Lina asked.
"No," he said waving his hand without looking up. "You threw it
over there."
"Thanks."
Lina considered throttling him, then kicking the chair out from under him, but
finally decided on giving him what he wanted, and simply left. Gourry was
shaking his head and turning pages. He couldn't believe that his character's
name showed up so much. Lina sighed and sat beside him.
"Ahhh, Lina...ummm…I
didn't think there'd be so many lines to learn," he said worry entering
his eyes.
"Oh there's really not so much to say.
Here's what I do. I take my
high-lighter and color every line to the RIGHT of my character's name, which is
on the LEFT," Lina demonstrated.
Gourry looked confused.
"Here, let me do it for you," she said grabbing the script and marking
away. "There, now you can see exactly what you do. In this part you just
sit. Here you look up and say this…got it?"
His face lit up, "Oh, yeah. Thanks
Lina. It's much clearer now. I'll remember that trick. Hey, here we are
together…and here too…and here."
"Yes! Oberon and Puck mess around with some love potion and...It's
supposed to be funny. I gotta…go now." Lina said in a hurry.
"Class! Class! Just a few words about
costumes!" the teacher called them to silence. "Now then, just a few
guidelines, first the play takes place in Athens,
so dress like ancient Greeks. This should be easy with sheets. Secondly,
Hippolyta and Theseus are royalty and so should be dressed more richly, purple
capes. Thirdly, the rustics, Quince and Bottom etc. should wear more ragged
clothes, tattered shorts, you know."
He took a breath. "Nextly, the Fairy people,
boys and girls, are not Greeks. You should wear bright, colorful clothes with
layers and filmy material for the ladies. If you have specific questions, see
me. There are books of costume photos and sketches from historical plays and
period pieces. Begin memorizing your lines ASAP and gather your costumes,
players all!"
Val picked up a book and flipped through the pages looking for pictures of
Demetrius. He found lots of paintings of half-naked women in long, flowing
Grecian gowns. "Hey, Amelia, Filia? Sylphiel? Oh, girl-ies…I found
some ideas for your costumes!" he grinned as they hurried over to look.
"Mr. Zelgadiss!" cried Amelia, "You've got to take these books
away from Val!"
"That's not my problem," Zel murmured without lifting his head.
"He's entitled to look at any books he chooses."
"That's right, you tell 'em Zel. Here take a
look at these!"
Zel paused, folded over the corner to mark his page. "What have you got there…I
see." And Val entertained Zel until the end of class.
On the way out, Val asked if Zel would listen to the keyboard parts he'd put
together. Zel agreed that it would give some purpose to the day and wandered
off.
Gourry and Lina arrived at the practice place loaded with snacks. Zel was
resting on the damp grass, arms behind his head leaning on this backpack, eyes
closed. Val was leaning on the door to the practice room glaring. Amelia, Filia, and Sylphiel were sitting
apart reading their scripts.
"So…let's go in and get started!" demanded Lina.
"Xelloss isn't here yet," said Sylphiel.
"He's walking Kiki the little
delivery girl home first," Filia said with an affected smile.
"Here he comes now!" cried Amelia. "I think he likes her. I mean
he spends lunch talking to her and he got so nervous at the bake shop the other
day."
"Sorry for making everyone wait!" Xelloss smiled apologetically as he
attempted to unlock the door. "I did bring some croissants!"
Lina slapped him on the back, causing him to drop his keys. "Croissants,
huh? You're forgiven this one time…just don't let it happen again, right?"
Xelloss opened the door, letting Lina in first.
"Hey, why don't you give someone else a key…like Zel or me? You trust us,
don't you?"
"Leave me out of your nonsense," Zel said to Lina as he moved to join
Val by the keyboards.
"What's his problem?" asked
Filia.
Lina shrugged her shoulders. "I wish everyone would quit asking me
that! For the
umpteenth time… Zel's demonstrating that he doesn't need friends to
exist. Something is bugging him and he can't let it go. He can't share his
problem with us, because that would mean he needed us. If he needs friends then
he's just a normal human being, which on close examination you can tell he is
not. He is a freak, and must be left alone to suffer...blah, blah, blah. Is that explanation enough?"
"Wow, you sound like a shrink, Lina!" laughed Gourry.
"As long as I hang out with you nutcases, I hafta
be!" she shouted. "Speaking of which, Xelloss, did you happen to find
out when Kiki can start her video taping?"
"Yes I did! She's ready when we are. Mondays, Wednesday, Friday, and most
Saturdays will work for her most of the time.
It depends on the delivery schedules."
"So...are you, like, her boyfriend
now?" Filia asked.
"I'd like that, but…she's not old enough. So we're just friends,"
Xelloss smiled.
"I'm sure," she snorted and
flipped her pony tail.
Val and Zel were practicing Lina's GET ALONG piece. Gourry loped over with his
bass.
"Ah…that sounded good when your parts traded back like a…dialog. Yeah, a real good
arrangement. When ya want, I can lay down a
bass line for ya."
"Thanks, Gourry. Probably another run through of this and then we'll try
it from the top with you," Zel said.
Lina was going over the lyrics with Xelloss, Filia, Amelia, and Sylphiel.
"I think your part needs to punch up the song each time the beat goes
Ta-Ta- Ta-Dum-dum. Xelloss can you do a
simple rhythm part for me while I sing the first part and repeat..."
And so on.
"Hey, can we run through the whole song one last time before everyone splits?"
Lina asked.
And so on, and on…
Everyone had packed up and some were standing outside waiting for the Amelia
Van, when Xelloss approached Zel speaking quietly. "We need to talk."
"Some other time," Zel answered curtly.
Xelloss had had enough. He pushed Zel up against the wall opposite the door
with more strength than Zel imagined he had. "Now! You have been avoiding
me for days now. And treating me like shit. I thought we were friends. This
problem isn't my fault or idea or my anything. I'm just as upset as you are and
I think we should…"
Zel's eye flared with anger. He shoved
back with all his weight. "Get your
hands off of me! I said later and I meant it. I'll e-mail you or ...whatever."
"The van's here! Mr. Zelgadiss, is something wrong?" Amelia asked.
"Plenty…" he muttered and scampered away.
On Tuesday it rained hard all day. Most classes seemed to be giving homework
assignments already for over the holiday and tests to ensure a dismal day. The
brightest period of the day was brought to Lina's table by Gourry.
"Ah, Lina...it's gonna
happen." Gourry beamed golden sunshine onto her face.
"Really?
That's good…er…what is, Gourry?" she asked between bites of potato
salad.
"The remodeling job! My dad's gonna
teach me how to do it and I get hands-on training."
"For what?" Lina said quizzically.
"Oh…ah…new rooms for me and my brothers…above the
garage. We're gonna add another bathroom to
the main house for my grandma, and enlarge my sisters' room, too!"
"Oh, Gourry, that's going to be so wonderful…" began Sylphiel.
"…So much work, you mean. But what great work experience for you. That's
what you want isn't it? Construction stuff?" Lina
interrupted.
"Yeah! If I do a good job on this, he'll hire me
for the summer. Then maybe I'll have a job for when I'm finished with school
next year. One that pays good too." He
smiled down at Lina so warmly that her face grew hot and turned beet red.
She couldn't talk. Her mind was working overtime. Was
he telling her that he was making plans for years in advance? More importantly, that those plans included her? She shook her head. No, I'm just reading too much into his smile…which is lookin' pretty damn gorgeous. Aaack! Where did that come from?!
"Hey! Get your hands off my jellyroll!" Lina yelled as her mind re-
engaged.
Gourry held it above her head, out of her scanty reach. "Hey, I asked and
you didn't say no…too late!" and he popped it into his mouth. "Ouch!
Stop, Lina!"
"I'll say 'YES' if I mean 'YES', and that was for picking me up without
permission the other day. Thought I'd forgotten, huh? Well ..."
"An elephant never forgets!" Gourry finished, proud
of his quick recovery and comeback.
"Ah, that's right!" And Lina rewarded him with a smile. And he
rewarded her with a bag of peanuts from the vending machine.
Zel was watching the entire exchange with a wry smile of his own. Val had gone
to buy another drink and walked past Zel.
"What's so funny?" Val asked him as he sat next to Filia.
Zel leaned across the table so Lina didn't hear. "Gourry's learning. Like
the bird kingdom, some members of humankind are swayed to romance when fed with
enticing snacks. Lina is perhaps of that nature."
"Are you trying to say that Gourry's trying to land Lina with food?"
Val said a bit more loudly than Zel had wanted.
"What was that? I heard my name,"
Lina said leaning their way, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"He couldn't believe Gourry just handed
you food, that's all. Now relax," Zel said glaring just the right amount
to pass as having been truthful.
Filia and Val began to laugh. Zel hid his smile under his bangs. Gourry started
sketching the layout of the rooms on a napkin, while Lina and Xelloss offered
suggestions. Amelia and Kiki spoke quietly together for a few minutes, and then
Amelia turned to Zel.
"Mr. Zelgadiss?"
"Hmm?" he struggled to control his snickering.
"I have an idea. Maybe you could help me out?"
"All right. What is it, Amelia?"
"That new sci-fi movie opening tomorrow night?
Well, Kiki told me that there is a special preview screening tonight at 6:00."
"I know. I'm sure the tickets are long gone. People would kill to get
in," Zel said, interested in the topic-he was one of those murderous ones.
"Well, Kiki's aunt was given four tickets in trade for an order. Her
parent's won't let her date, but if you and I were to come along too…it would
just be a small group of friends. The Van can take us all too. What do you
say?" Amelia's big blue eyes pleaded to Zel for a YES.
This did not go unnoticed by Zel. He was torn. It sounded like double-dating to
him. He and Amelia and Kiki and…Xelloss. He had never
gone on a date either. Amelia was nice and all, but he was almost seventeen,
she was only fourteen, or so he heard. However, he reeeeeeealy
wanted to see that movie.
"You're sure about all this? It's a school night and all. The others can
go?" he asked.
"Do you need to call home first?" she began.
"No, that's all right. I can make arrangements. Yes, I'd like to come
along. Thank you for asking, Amelia," he added politely. Then to Xelloss
he asked, "What happened to going to the dojo?"
"Cancelled," he grinned, though whether his job was cancelled that
night or he cancelled the job for the night, he didn't say. "So is it a
date, I mean, a plan?"
Amelia nodded and began speaking rapidly to Kiki about what to wear. Zel closed
his eyes and sighed, "That probably was a mistake…oh joy."
Whatever Xelloss started to say was drowned out by the ringing of the bell.
That brought another smile to Zel's face, which Amelia misinterpreted as for
her.
Zel rushed off counting all the things he had to get done after school,
"Tutoring…over at 4:00, if I'm
lucky...shop…dinner...change clothes? Is that really
necessary? I guess so…so what do I wear? Xelloss' shirt, she likes that. Ahhhhh! Why am I thinking about that crap? There's
math homework, history, and German. Who needs sleep? Oh, and I have to pack for
my overnight job. Maybe I can drop it
off at his house before school…?"
Then noticing Xelloss walking next to him, he asked, "Umm, would it be all
right if I dropped by early tomorrow and left my…overnight stuff there?"
"Good idea! Make it 7:30 and we
can pick up coffee and donuts along the way," Xelloss added.
"All right," Zel sighed. "That will ensure a super start to that day as well."
****** (((_-) ||^_^|| ******
End Seyruun High Jinx Chapter 17