First day of school after the weekend... The return to hell...
School
She walked into class, dropping her bag on the ground. Her black trench coat sat on her shoulder. The teacher walked to the front of the class, beginning to write on the blackboard. He was already sitting next to me, as always. His black trench coat and slicked-back hair made him look grimy. She knew for a fact that he wasn't, having had to sit next to him for the past four years. He didn't talk much, and most people thought he was a weirdo. Perhaps it was because, back in elementary school, he ranted and raved about aliens. Obsession drew him away. Yet, she couldn't help but feel... She ran nervous hands through her ebony hair. The teacher turned to the class, and the girl looked up at the writing. A field trip... great. She sighed, just now tuning into the teacher's words. "We are going to a campground for a month, for some...nature thing the principal wants us to do..." Several groans were heard. "And!" the teacher added, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "You are to be partnered with the person..." A few people shifted nervously. "I tell you to." More groans. "Kali, you're with..." Her head was resting on my hands. "Dib." A few people sniggered, and she held back her glare at the teacher. Not that she could see it. Her hands were hiding her gaze at the teacher. "We go tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, be here at five o'clock. Tents will be provided..." She said after she had told everyone who they were partnered with. Even better...
The bell rang and everyone filed out. Kali knew where Dib lived, she had a relative down the street, and when she had visited them once she had seen him outside. She watched him walk, and was surprised to see that he went... the longer way. She angled her head slightly, not really sure which way to take. Either would lead her to her home, but... she had a few questions... She turned and ran up behind Dib, matching his stride. "Hey..." she said simply. "..." after a moment... "Hey." Kali sighed. "I'm sorry about... being paired up with you. "It's alright, not your fault..." She smiled slightly, looking into his eyes, then away. She'd never noticed how... She felt a gaze upon her and looked at Dib. He was looking at her... "I didn't know you lived this way..." She said, trying to change the subject. She didn't really like the feeling of someone looking at her. It made her uneasy. He looked away, almost sadly. "Something happened the other way..." she looked down at the sidewalk. Yes, something had happened there. Perhaps having something to do with Zim? Yes... he was the only one that lived that way. He hadn't shown up for school for about six years... Dib didn't say anything, and she knew. "Zim... he... died....?" Dib stopped dead. She stopped with him. "You?" His gaze fell upon the ground. "I... I don't know what you're talking about..." Kali's eyes closed. "Admit it... I'll tell you what happened, why I am alone..." Dib looked at her. "Yes..." Kali smiled slightly. Dib started walking slowly. "My parents used to beat me..." He looked at me in surprise. "Seriously...look..." She removed her trench coat, showing him bruises dotting her arms. She put it back on and kept walking. "..." She narrowed her eyes. "I killed them... My father... and his bitch..." Dib's eyes widened slightly. "You...?" She sighed. "I couldn't take it anymore! My father killed my mother... My brother..." Tears were welling up in her eyes. "His little bitch just watched... laughed and watched... laughed like the sick little bastard she was..." Dib was listening quietly. "How did you survive?" Kali looked at him. "I hid... in the closet... they didn't know I was home... They thought they'd just kill me when I got home, like they did with my mom and brother... and then..." Dib looked at her. "You killed them?" She nodded. "That night... hey didn't know I was there, they must've thought I was at a friend's house... I went upstairs to their room... and..." Dib nodded understanding. "I'm sorry..." Kali felt tears falling down her face slowly, and felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked at him, a small smile spreading on her face.
At the corner of Dib's street, they said their goodbyes and went home.
Dib's House
"What took you so long to get home?" Dib's sister, Gaz, asked from the living room, playing her game. "Why do you care?" He walked into his room, closing the door. He had to pack for the damn school trip tomorrow. At five in the morning...
Kali's House
She picked up a bag and went to the laundry room, then to the dryer. She pulled out all of her clothes, folding them neatly and putting them in her bag. Enough clothes for almost two weeks, she could always wash them... She went to her closet and pulled out her sleeping bag. Black with a single red strip... She rolled it up and put it in a bag.
At nine, she pulled a blanket onto the couch, sitting on it. She put her head on the side and closed her eyes. She felt for the alarm clock and turned it on. It was always set for about four thirty, as she had to get up early so she could dress and bathe and... live her life...
Next Morning
The alarm blared in her ears, Kali sat up immediately, folding the blanket and putting it on the couch. "Why the hell do we need to be at school at five in the morning?" She mumbled for a few more minutes and then picked up her bag, throwing it over her shoulder.
School
An extremely tired group of students stood outside the school. A few were leaning against someone, nearly asleep; a few seemed to be wide awake. Kali and Dib stood next to each other, not making eye contact. They were trying to seem like this was going to be one of the worst trips they'd ever had, even though they had an understanding of each other. The bus came, five minutes late, and the teacher wasn't in the greatest of moods. They all filed in, and their bags were thrown into the back of the second bus...
Campgrounds
An hour later, everyone was standing with their arms full of their bags. The teacher was yammering about how to get around, and Kali was finding it annoying. She'd been here about five times, and knew it very well. A few people were already walking away with a tent. This is perfect, two eighteen-year-old teens of opposite sexes in the same tent... Kali thought as she took the bag with the tent in it.
By a lake
"So this is where we've been assigned to." Dib said, staring at the map that the teacher had given him. "It's better than being around ten people..." Kali said, dropping the tent on the ground. "Why?" Kali shrugged. "I don't like to be around a bunch of people."
later
The tent was pitched and they were waiting for something to do. "I'm hungry..." Dib said, his stomach growling. "Here." Kali said, throwing an apple to Dib. "Where'd you get this?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I brought an apple because I knew that there probably wasn't going to be much food provided." "Thanks" Kali smiled, walking into the tent and unrolling her sleeping bag.
The sun was setting, and the air was cooling slightly. "It's nine, and I'm going to bed." Kali said, walking into the tent. She removed her coat, folding it neatly and sliding into her sleeping bag.
Dib felt a strange urge to follow her, but stayed outside for a few more minutes.
One Week Later
It was extremely early in the morning, and Kali was swimming in the lake. She had terribly needed to bathe, not that she stunk, but she just felt unclean. Her towel sat on the shoreline, as was her bathing suit. She felt that she didn't need it, because Dib had been sleeping. She sank under the water, wetting her hair. When she came back up, she was looking at Dib. "Ahh!" she yelled, kicking backward away from him. "Where the hell did you come from?!" She said, sinking so only her head was visible. Lucky that the water wasn't clear in her current spot. She looked around nervously, moving slowly back to the shore. She looked, seeing Dib's towel not far away from hers. Oh shit... She turned around to face him, hands still on her shoulders, covering herself. Dib turned around slowly, looking at least three inches over her head. "Sorry, I didn't see you, so I thought you were out taking a walk..." He said, only glancing at her eyes occasionally. Again Kali looked at her towel, realizing just now how much it looked like the shore of the lake. "It's okay..." She could tell that neither she nor he wanted to leave the water, just out of the reason that neither wanted to show each other... each other...
"We've been sitting here for two hours..." Kali looked at her hands; they were turning wrinkly from the long exposure to water. Dib had edged closer to the shore, and was in the water chest-deep. Kali had crawled forward slightly, wishing she had waited to make SURE he wouldn't come. "This is getting annoying." She moved closer to her towel until she was in just enough water to cover her. "SCREW IT!" she said loudly, standing up and walking to her towel. Dib had been looking at his towel, not noticing Kali until she reached down and picked up her towel, wrapping it around her. He turned around, surprised to see Kali walking away from the shore. How the fuck did she get there so fast? After a few minutes, Dib walked up and picked up his towel.
One Day Before Trip Ends, Two hours before sunset
"I'm hungry." Dib said, sitting at the base of a tree. "Yeah, I know. I am too, why do you think I'm climbing this tree?" Kali said from one of the higher branches of the tree Dib was sitting at. "It sucks that we have to leave tomorrow afternoon..."
Five minutes later, Kali climbed down, handing an apple to Dib. "Here, they're good." He took it and bit into it, savoring the taste. "Thanks." Kali bit into her apple again, as she had already eaten some of it up in the tree.
Almost two hours later, they were sitting near a tree, watching the first signs of sunset. It was beautiful, red splashed with purple, blue, orange, and yellow... It was almost magical. Three weeks together had brought them closer than they could have ever thought possible. Kali leaned her head against Dib's shoulder, his hand resting on her shoulder.
Night came faster than usual, and it seemed colder than usual tonight. After the first week, they had noticed that it got colder at night, and they had combined their sleeping bags into a blanket to cover the floor of the tent and a blanket to cover them. Usually they slept with their backs to each other, but sometimes, in the involuntary movements of their sleep, one would awake and be staring at the other. A nasty fright when Kali had first woken up to see Dib's face next to hers.
It was dark outside when they walked back to the tent, side-by-side. Kali took off her coat and sat on the blankets, watching Dib. He sat down next to her, putting his coat next to hers. Without thinking, he turned her to face him and kissed her passionately. Kali, caught by surprise, didn't do anything. After a moment, she leaned into it, enjoying it. She felt his tongue begin to explore her mouth, and then everything just seemed to happen without thinking, like they were thinking the same thoughts at the same moment. Dib leaned Kali back onto the sleeping bags, both helping each other's shirt off.
Five minutes later, Dib was kissing Kali rapidly, nibbling her neck and caressing her soft skin. And yet, innocence was not yet lost. He had one movement, one single movement that would loose their innocence, and yet... he waited. This wasn't the moment....
After a few more minutes, Kali got into the moment, pulling Dib closer, wanting to be nearer. She couldn't help it, but no matter how close she held him, he never seemed close enough. Through Kali's attempts to get him closer, Dib felt as if the moment was near.
The moment arrived. He felt Kali shudder beneath him in the pain of lost innocence, but after a moment, she was even with him again, and then everything just became a blur of released passion....
The Next Morning
Dib awoke the next morning, sitting up immediately. He looked around, not seeing Kali, almost panicking. He dressed and walked outside the tent, looking around again. Kali was sitting in the apple tree, drinking a bottle of water. They were supplied with these every few days, just for survival. They also, with the water, gave everyone some food also, carefully packaged to prevent animals from getting into it.
Dib climbed up the tree and sat next to Kali, who rested her head on him. "Too bad it can't be like this forever..." he said, running his fingers through her hair. He felt her nod, and then shift. "We need to take down the tent... and pack our stuff..." She was smiling happily, yet slightly sad. It was a shame that they couldn't be together forever... she had enjoyed it...
An hour later, they were waiting for the bus with the group, a bunch of people spread out all over the place, either not being able to stand another moment with the person they were stuck with or wanted to be with their friend. Kali was, again, leaning against Dib, who was stroking her back.
The bus arrived, and they all climbed in again, Kali and Dib falling asleep, leaning against each other.
School
They arrived at school, and everyone began to leave, except Dib and Kali. They stood near the school, not wishing to leave each other's side. "Kali..." Dib said, looking at her. He ran nervous fingers through his hair. "Do you... want to come... live with me? I mean, you... don't... have anyone... to ask back... at your... house..." Kali could tell he was nervous. She hugged him, smiling happily. "I'd love to..." They were both eighteen, old enough not to have to worry about being asked about one with the other...