Shaedowe: is feeling crummy
Myishi: overly enthusiastic Heeloo! And how is my favourite ward today?!
Shaedowe: glares daggers at her Bad, very bad. Very, very, very, very, very bad. proceeds to rant on more about the dumb holidays ending, stupid ffnet which cancelled her review twice and loads of homework etc etc.
Myishi: grins That one always gets her.
Shaedowe: decides to kill Myishi on the spot with her bare hands (unwise) (would leave incriminating evidence) (but would be satisfying) (very satisfying)
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Jade woke up with her head lying on her pillow and her body on the bed. With the sheets and blanket covering her. She gazed about her. She was lying in a peaceful position, with no indication of her midnight visitor. Sighing grumpily, she shoved the blankets off her again onto the floor. Obviously someone had entered her room in the middle of the night and carried her onto her bed without her knowing. And she a few suspicions on who they might be. Few people could move as silently as Reave. She had a feeling – ok, hoped – that he was the one who had done it.
Call it wishful thinking on her part. He probably didn't even know that she existed.
The door clicked open and she turned around, expecting Jazlyn or Nattie. But instead she got someone totally unexpected.
After minutes, but which seemed like hours of awkward silence during which they stared at each other, Jade hurriedly smoothed down her messy hair and broke the silence. "Ah... umm... Hi, Kai..."
That broke the spell. He nodded and made back towards the door, then paused and turned to Jade again. "There's training later."
He opened and closed the door again, as if sensing her reluctance for him to leave. Or, she hoped, her breath catching in her throat, he didn't want to leave?
But the next words didn't exactly fit well there. "Reave sends her regards. Rest and be prepared." And with that, he backed out without a final glance. Not good at all.
She couldn't help it. She flopped onto her bed and wondered if anyone would notice her existence at all without Reave around.
Probably not.
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When she got downstairs to the breakfast table, the table was already laden with every sort of food available. She plopped herself down into one of the last two remaining chairs at their table. As usual Reave was on a diet, skipping breakfast.
No one had touched their food though. They were all staring at Tyson – she was surprised to note that she'd awoken later than him - with a type of fascination people use when watching a killer whale devouring a cute little dolphin. Which was pretty much what was happening.
As she edged closer, Nattie filled her in on the details. Apparently Max and Rei had insisted that Tyson behave like a normal person eating breakfast today, instead of being what he was, which was an elephant with an infinitely huge appetite. But Tyson had refuse and was trying to prove to them he was normal. He was succeeding very very well. Finally they tired of watching him stuffing his face and turned their faces back to their meal.
Now everyone glanced at her. She glanced back. "Hey, you better today?" Rei asked. She nodded and forced a smile. She was watching Kai who, incidentally, was sitting at the other end of the table. She tried to catch his eye but he was looking away, off somewhere far. She was sure he wouldn't be able to see what he was looking for no matter how hard he tried. Who else would he be looking for?
She turned her attention back to her breakfast and, indulged in the excellent culinary skills of the French, she soon pushed everything to the back of her very full mind.
It was better to forget when it came to things she didn't understand.
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"What?!"
"Exactly what I said. No battling. Look what happened yesterday-"
"Yesterday nothing! Yesterday was stupid. Do not talk about yesterday. I'm talking about today. The present! I want to battle!"
"No."
Jade shrugged in frustration. It just wasn't fair. Yesterday wasn't even her fault. She was fine today. Perfectly fine.
"Let her." She spun in the direction of the voice. "It would be good for her."
She could hardly believe Kai would defy Jazlyn. It would do no good to incur the wrath of Jazlyn. But Jazlyn merely looked unsure. "If you think so." Since when had those words been in her vocabulary?!
Jade flashed Kai a grateful smile but he was already looking away. Searching. Looking for something. Somebody. Which he would never find.
Jade blinked back into reality. Of course. He'd done that probably because he wanted to see her capabilities. And because a certain someone had told him so. She shrugged again and turned back to the beydish. Max was now paired with a sleepy Jazlyn. And she would be battling Tyson. Great.
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Jade twirled in front of the mirror, showing off her purple strapless evening gown. She was currently shopping with Nattie and Jazlyn. Who had dragged everyone along. Somehow, Nattie had even managed to convince – or blackmail - Kai into coming.
He was sauntering along somewhere. He'd disappeared earlier on along the way, but would no doubt come back. She hoped. Tyson had dragged Kenny and Max to the Food section. Thus she was stuck with Nattie and Jazlyn. Ok, stuck wasn't a nice word to use about her two best friends. So sue me, she thought.
The dress looked... purple on her. Not just purple, but purple purple. She shook her head. She wasn't making any sense at all. But she looked... extremely pale in the dress. It would also make no sense to buy something that would look bad on her. The price tag flashed in the light. It was expensive too.
She considered the dress thoughtfully. It would make no sense to buy this dress whatsoever. It didn't matter what reasoning she used... it made no sense.
But then, it was just like everything the past few days. The hectic few days.
She changed out of the dress and brought it to the counter. She had decided to buy it.
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Jade sulked in silence. Nattie and Jazlyn had been 'temporarily delayed due to unforeseen circumstances'. She knew what that meant. No doubt Nattie had caught the eye of some cute boy. Or the cute boy had caught her eye. Which ever it was, she still felt like she had been tricked into receiving the worst end of a bargain.
Tyson and the others were still engrossed in the food. Kai was nowhere. She was still mad at Reave.
All in all, life sucked now.
She would be meeting them here as soon as they were done. Minus Tyson, Max and Rei, of course. It was to be an all-girls trip kind of thing. It sounded lame to her. But since when had life decided to be fair to her?
She blinked. She wasn't imagining it. The girl was still there. She was the same girl she had seen at the phone booth she had been to call Nattie. She had been at the dress shop when she had bought her dress. She had been at the burger bar when Jade had gone to have a snack. She had practically been everywhere. She might have thought she was invisible, but she was wrong. Jade had learnt this trick of the trade long ago. It came from being around Nattie. Spying, gossiping Nattie and having to be able to notice her so she wouldn't hear something you didn't want her to hear.
She walked a few more steps. Thunder resonated round the crowded mall and a frightened girl screamed for the sheer thrill of screaming. Jade ignored the urge to yell at her to shut up.
She side-stepped neatly into a deserted alley and hid behind a trash can at the entrance. Soon enough the girl followed her into the alley. Jade waited until she was far enough then leapt out at her, knocking her off her feet.
But nobody would have bet on her for winning a fight. Not even someone as stupid as Tyson, who probably didn't know anything about betting. The girl was stronger too. Much stronger. Her sweet face just proved that looks could be deceiving. Jade gasped as the girl pinned her down with her two arms and pushed her hard down against the ground, elbowing her in the stomach with her knee. Jade struggled but she might as well have been a mouse struggling in a lion's paws.
"What do you want?!" She hissed through gritted teeth and gasped again, only this time it was in disbelief. The girl got up, brushed herself off and offered her a hand, smiling a small smile. Jade considered knocking her off her feet again and making a dash for the exit but the girl waggled her finger in from of her gaze which was facing the exit. "Don't even think about it. I'll kill you if I get the chance."
Jade grimaced at being read so easily. Weakness, Reave would call it. Weakness. But what could she do? She reached for the girl's hand and slowly got up from the dusty ground.
"Sorry 'bout that, I must've scared you bad for you to want to jump me." The girl introduced herself as Arrience.
Jade watched the girl warily. "That's right. But I wasn't scared. I just wanted to know why you were following me."
Arrience smiled a secret smile, as if enjoying a joke by herself. Her wry, mocking smile seemed to say: ah, not scared? Self –denial.
Oops. Somewhere along those lines Arrience seemed to have changed to Reave.
Arrience stuck her hands into her pockets. "I have a preposition to make."
Jade knew she wouldn't like whatever preposition it was she made. But she still listened anyway. Maybe it was because of the fact that she would die if she made one wrong move, and she didn't know Arrience's definition of a wrong move. "Shoot."
"Join us in going back to Ancient Atlantis."
To say this took made her jump ten feet into the air with surprise would have been an understatement. Jade sat stunned. "How... how... how'd you... how'd you know?"
"There are many Ancient Atlantians around still you know. You're not very special." The girl pressed a finger to her lips in a pout. "No, but you are special. You opened Pandora's Door."
Jade head spun. Pandora's Door? Many Ancient Atlantians? Special? Join them...? Them who?
The girl didn't seem to know the turmoil her brain was in. "Just join us, just say yes. And you'll get to go home." The girl's face twisted into a wistful look which disappeared as soon as she looked at Jade. "Well, anyway, yes or no?"
Jade breathed. "I... I... what... what...?" She stammered, blinking rapidly.
Arrience shrugged. "I knew you'd have to think it over. When you have an answer, and make it soon, call. Huh. Think it over. And Derek wanted, I quote, immediate results. Huh. Well, ja ne." She waved, turned and continued out of the alley.
Jade stared open-mouthed after her mysterious stalker. Her jaw was so wide it could have accommodated Tyson eating another Tyson eating another Tyson eating another Tyson that was eating yet another Tyson...
She would have jumped for joy at Made No Sense At All.
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By the time Jade made it back to the house she was a combination of all the lows. Soaked, tired, useless, pitiful, irritated and disgusting. What'd she expect? She was now a walking trash can. Add all of the first latter of those words and you get Stupid. She felt stupidly stupid. She felt idiotic. She felt like... she felt like Jade. Jade the loser. How ironic.
She would have preferred the girl... what was her name again? Ah yes, Arrience, kill her then and then.
At least she wouldn't have to get her pride squashed again.
Kai and Reave were together at the entrance of the house.
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Shaedowe: shrugs ok, I admit that was a pretty lousy chapter. What'd you expect; I typed it out in record time. Hah. Plus I was half asleep.
Myishi: That's why you should review. This would keep her from typing last minute stories. And trying to kill me as well.
Shaedowe: slumps slumps further sleeps zzzzz
