DW: Yes, yes, it's been a disgustingly long time, so I'm just going to get
back into it.
Irie: She owns nothing but the plot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sora hurled her alarm clock across the room as it sounded. She pulled the pillow over her face in a weak attempt to block the sun's bright rays. She wanted to avoid school, pretend she had the flu. She lay in her small bed, the events of the previous night played over and over in her mind.
"They committed suicide because they couldn't stand to be around you. They
needed to get away from you, so they killed themselves."
She loathed her uncle for his words. She pushed herself off her bed and trudged into her bathroom. She examined the red mark on her cheek, lifted her shirt and checked the bruises along her spine. Sora reached for the make-up by instinct, then paused. She remembered how her friends had pestered her, demanded to know what was wrong. She replaced the makeup and pulled her hair off her face.
'Well, they wanted to know what was wrong. Let's see how they deal with it.'
She re-entered her room and walked toward her closet. She paused as she heard something crunch under her foot. She looked down and saw her crest lying among the shattered remains of her alarm clock. Her weight had cracked the small glass covering on the crest.
'Now it's even more useless than before.'
She thought as she traced the crack with her finger. Sora shrugged and carelessly threw the crest onto her messy bed. She tore her uniform out of her closet and sloppily pulled on the uncomfortable green and white fabric.
Sora entered the kitchen and glanced at the clock, school started in ten minutes. Sora grinned and served herself a large bowl of cereal. She opened an old magazine and leafed through it as she slowly ate her cereal.
Twenty minutes later, Sora left for school.
~*~
"Sora, you're nearly half an hour late. And your uniform...what happened?" Mr. Morgan demanded.
Sora stood in front of the class, her gaze fixed out the window. She had rolled her skirt an inch higher than the rules allowed, her shirt hung un- tucked, and her tie held her bangs off her face.
"Sora, did you hear me? You're half an hour late..."
"Yeah, I can see that." Sora snapped. The class inhaled sharply. Sora had never spoken back to the teacher, let alone snapped at one. Mr. Morgan collected himself and spoke again, an icy tone in his voice.
"Sora, this is your third strike. You will serve detention for the rest of the week. Meet me here after school.
"Whatever." Came Sora's response as she slid into her seat. The bell rang and most of the students left for class. Sora fixed her gaze on Mr. Morgan as he collected his books. He returned her gaze once, and Sora saw a hint of sympathy. She snorted loudly and shoved her hands into her blazer pockets. She started as she felt a small, hard object in her pocket. She pulled it out to see her new, fake ID. Sora smirked at the small card, thought about the freedom it gave her. Not only could she buy alcohol, she could get into bars, clubs. Sora replaced the card in her pocket and tore a sheet of paper from her binder. She began to write a list of places she would visit with her new freedom, laughed at her uncle's stupidity. He had not meant to give her so much freedom, he only wanted beer. Sora heard Tai move to the desk beside her, she turned her head before Tai could say a word.
"What?"
"Just wanted to say hi to my best friend. Is that against the law now?"
"Depends where you live." Sora turned back to her list, added a couple more names.
"What happened to your cheek?" Tai asked carefully.
Sora shrugged, "Something." She replied ambiguously.
"That's not an answer." Tai muttered.
"It is if I want it to be." Sora retorted. Tai opened his mouth to respond.
"Drop it if you value our friendship." Sora warned. Tai's eyes widened as he gazed at the girl sitting beside him. She had changed drastically in the past few days. As class started Tai tuned out the lesson, worried about Sora.
'Why won't she tell me what's wrong?' he demanded himself. 'We've been friends forever, and now, this.'
Sora filled a page with names of bars and clubs she planned to attend. She folded her list and placed it in her pocket, next to her ticket of escape.
~*~
Before lunch, Sora counted out her money. She had enough to buy a good amount of alcohol as long as she didn't eat any lunch. She replaced her wallet and walked past the cafeteria and entered the stairwell that led to the roof. She dropped down on an abandoned crate and stared out at the horizon. She watched people mill around below her, hurrying for one place to another like ants. She grew tired of watching people and slipped off the crate onto the tar roof. She lay on the ground; the sun's heat warmed her sore body. Sora yawned slightly, the exhaustion of the past few days had caught up with her.
'He can't stop me from being free. He just can't'
Sora drifted off to sleep with this one thought on her mind.
As Sora slept, the black figure appeared on the roof, bent over her relaxed form.
"Awww, the poor thing is exhausted." It hissed, its voice riddled with sarcasm and irony. The creature stretched out a dark hand and stroked Sora's bruised cheek. The red mark darkened and Sora winced in her sleep as the pain increased.
"You're progressing very nicely, Sora." It whispered and disappeared with a crude laugh. Sora awoke sharply, her cheek throbbed with pain. She scowled at the black roof then glanced at her watch. She had slept through her fourth period class and only five minutes remained before school ended. She stretched and walked towards the stairs, one hand cupped over her injured cheek. She took one final glance at the quiet black roof then re-entered the school building.
~*~
Sora walked quietly to her locker. She hoped to retrieve her books and leave before the final bell. As she shut her locker, Mr. Morgan exited the classroom behind her.
"Sora? Where are you going." He demanded. Sora turned slowly, fuming at being caught.
"Nowhere, I guess." She responded angrily.
"Follow me."
Sora shifted the weight of her backpack and trekked behind Mr. Morgan. He led her to his empty classroom and walked to the blackboard. "Take a seat, Sora."
Sora tossed her backpack to the floor viciously and flung herself into a chair. Mr. Morgan watched her display then turned to the board and wrote 'Detention'. Sora sighed loudly. "What? Just incase I didn't know where I was?"
Mr. Morgan turned to her, his light eyes worried.
"Sora, I think you need to talk to someone."
"I disagree."
"You've changed Sora. I know that people change as they grow up, but I've never seen a person change so much in less than a week."
"These things happen."
"Not without prompting." He replied. "Is everything alright at home?"
Sora blinked. "Maybe."
"You have an interesting talent for being excessively vague."
"Good for me."
The two sat in silence. Sora traced the lines on her desk while Mr. Morgan tapped his fingers thoughtfully. Then, he spoke, "Sora, I know that you've had a very emotional year with the death of your..."
"Don't pretend you know me." Sora interrupted quickly.
"Are you afraid to talk about their deaths?" he asked, gently. Sora turned around in her chair, faced the back of the classroom. She heard Mr. Morgan sigh softly and retreat to his chair. Sora rested her head on her knees, built a protective cocoon. She began to list off the names of the bars she would visit.
'Gabby's, Touch 'n Go, Firkin...'
~*~
Sora ran out of the detention room as soon as her time ended. She sprinted through the school and toward the beer store. She paused in front of the store, attempted to steady her ragged breaths. Finally, she entered the store, calm and confident. She pulled two cases of Labatt Blue from the shelf and tossed them in her small cart. Then, she wheeled around, looking at all the other choices. Eventually she decided on a small bottle of sparkling wine. She wheeled her cart to the cashier, placed her choices on the cashier.
"May I see some ID?" he asked. Sora pulled the card from her pocket and placed it on the counted. The cashier looked at Sora, then the card. Sora stood calmly, regarded the cashier with a look of superiority. Finally, the cashier handed her back the card and punched in the prices. Sora paid and watched the cashier bag her purchase.
"Put the wine in as separate bag." She said. The cashier nodded, followed Sora's orders. Sora left the store and carefully placed the wine in her backpack. The she made her way home.
Sora entered the house three hours later than her uncle expected. She entered the kitchen and was greeted by a slap to the face. She staggered slightly, then straightened.
"Where the hell have you been?" he demanded loudly, Sora could already smell the alcohol on his breath, he must have visited a bar. She held out the bags containing the beer.
"I've been doing what you told me to." She commented dryly. Her uncle snatched the bags from her hand and drank an entire beer in one swallow. He crushed the empty can and tossed it into the sink.
"I wanted it in bottles." He hissed venomously and shoved Sora forcefully. Sora hit the wall, her backpack crushed by her weight. She heard the bottle of wine shatter and felt the cold liquid being to seep through her bag. She cursed angrily as she stripped off her backpack and attempted to remove her books before the wine destroyed them. Her uncle saw the disaster in her pack and smacked Sora so hard she slid across the floor.
"Holding out on me!" He yelled, approached Sora menacingly. Sora felt fear rise, but pushed it down with her anger. She stood, glared at her uncle.
"I can buy whatever I want! It's my money."
"You ungrateful cow!" He bellowed, gripped Sora's shoulder's and shook her violently. Her list of bars and clubs fell from her pocket. He shoved Sora away and picked up the paper, scanned the names. "Bars and clubs? You actually thought they'd let YOU in?!"
"I have ID." Sora spat, without thinking.
Her uncle's eyes widened, his face took on a red tinge. "You have ID for one purpose only: to buy things for me." He hissed dangerously. "So you'd thought you'd take advantage of my generosity and have some fun, did you? You'll pay for it."
Sora's fear took over, and she scrambled toward the stairs. She sprinted to her room and locked her door, propped a chair against the handle. She quickly pulled a backpack from her closet and began to throw her belongings in it. Clothes, money, pictures, her digivice, her tag and crest...
Sora's hand paused after she had added the crest. Did she truly need it? What had made her pack such a useless item? She reached into her bad to remove it and heard her uncle throw himself against the door. Panic replaced doubt as her uncle, more intoxicated that she had ever seen him, tried to enter her room. Sora threw several more items into her bag and turned to her window as the wood of her door began to splinter. She threw a final glance around her room and saw a picture of her parents on her bed side table. She lunged across the room for the picture and heard a sound that made her stop in terror. A gun shot. She turned to the door and saw a large round hole in her door: the bullet hole. Sora pulled the picture from her table, knocked the phone to the ground in the process. She dashed to the window as the door collapsed and her uncle stumbled into her room.
"You'll pay for everything that you did! You'll pay for the way you ruined my life!" he shouted, waved the small gun over his head. Sora kicked her window open and stepped down onto an ivy covered trellis, prayed it would hold her weight. As she lowered herself out the window, her uncle attempted to steady the gun. He fired once, the shot went slightly wide, skimming Sora's forearm. Sora gasped in pain, clung to the trellis with one arm. He uncle pointed the gun again. Sora knew she could not climb in her state. She took a deep breath and let go of the trellis. She hit the groud with such for that her knees gave out and she fell to the ground, rolled into a tree. She lay, hidden by the tree as her uncle raged by her window.
"If you ever come back here, I'll kill you! You're dead Sora! Dead!" he left the window and thudded down the stairs. Sora picked herself up, cradled her injured arm and ran. She did not realize where she was going until she found herself gasping and coughing on Tai's doorstep. She slowly raised a shaking fist and knocked on his door. Tai opened the door and gazed in shock at his pale, injured friend.
"Sora!"
"I didn't know where else to go." Sora murmured and fainted into Tai's arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
DW: There we go, yet another chapter finished.
Irie: It's taken you long enough.
DW: Oh shut up.
Irie: She owns nothing but the plot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sora hurled her alarm clock across the room as it sounded. She pulled the pillow over her face in a weak attempt to block the sun's bright rays. She wanted to avoid school, pretend she had the flu. She lay in her small bed, the events of the previous night played over and over in her mind.
"They committed suicide because they couldn't stand to be around you. They
needed to get away from you, so they killed themselves."
She loathed her uncle for his words. She pushed herself off her bed and trudged into her bathroom. She examined the red mark on her cheek, lifted her shirt and checked the bruises along her spine. Sora reached for the make-up by instinct, then paused. She remembered how her friends had pestered her, demanded to know what was wrong. She replaced the makeup and pulled her hair off her face.
'Well, they wanted to know what was wrong. Let's see how they deal with it.'
She re-entered her room and walked toward her closet. She paused as she heard something crunch under her foot. She looked down and saw her crest lying among the shattered remains of her alarm clock. Her weight had cracked the small glass covering on the crest.
'Now it's even more useless than before.'
She thought as she traced the crack with her finger. Sora shrugged and carelessly threw the crest onto her messy bed. She tore her uniform out of her closet and sloppily pulled on the uncomfortable green and white fabric.
Sora entered the kitchen and glanced at the clock, school started in ten minutes. Sora grinned and served herself a large bowl of cereal. She opened an old magazine and leafed through it as she slowly ate her cereal.
Twenty minutes later, Sora left for school.
~*~
"Sora, you're nearly half an hour late. And your uniform...what happened?" Mr. Morgan demanded.
Sora stood in front of the class, her gaze fixed out the window. She had rolled her skirt an inch higher than the rules allowed, her shirt hung un- tucked, and her tie held her bangs off her face.
"Sora, did you hear me? You're half an hour late..."
"Yeah, I can see that." Sora snapped. The class inhaled sharply. Sora had never spoken back to the teacher, let alone snapped at one. Mr. Morgan collected himself and spoke again, an icy tone in his voice.
"Sora, this is your third strike. You will serve detention for the rest of the week. Meet me here after school.
"Whatever." Came Sora's response as she slid into her seat. The bell rang and most of the students left for class. Sora fixed her gaze on Mr. Morgan as he collected his books. He returned her gaze once, and Sora saw a hint of sympathy. She snorted loudly and shoved her hands into her blazer pockets. She started as she felt a small, hard object in her pocket. She pulled it out to see her new, fake ID. Sora smirked at the small card, thought about the freedom it gave her. Not only could she buy alcohol, she could get into bars, clubs. Sora replaced the card in her pocket and tore a sheet of paper from her binder. She began to write a list of places she would visit with her new freedom, laughed at her uncle's stupidity. He had not meant to give her so much freedom, he only wanted beer. Sora heard Tai move to the desk beside her, she turned her head before Tai could say a word.
"What?"
"Just wanted to say hi to my best friend. Is that against the law now?"
"Depends where you live." Sora turned back to her list, added a couple more names.
"What happened to your cheek?" Tai asked carefully.
Sora shrugged, "Something." She replied ambiguously.
"That's not an answer." Tai muttered.
"It is if I want it to be." Sora retorted. Tai opened his mouth to respond.
"Drop it if you value our friendship." Sora warned. Tai's eyes widened as he gazed at the girl sitting beside him. She had changed drastically in the past few days. As class started Tai tuned out the lesson, worried about Sora.
'Why won't she tell me what's wrong?' he demanded himself. 'We've been friends forever, and now, this.'
Sora filled a page with names of bars and clubs she planned to attend. She folded her list and placed it in her pocket, next to her ticket of escape.
~*~
Before lunch, Sora counted out her money. She had enough to buy a good amount of alcohol as long as she didn't eat any lunch. She replaced her wallet and walked past the cafeteria and entered the stairwell that led to the roof. She dropped down on an abandoned crate and stared out at the horizon. She watched people mill around below her, hurrying for one place to another like ants. She grew tired of watching people and slipped off the crate onto the tar roof. She lay on the ground; the sun's heat warmed her sore body. Sora yawned slightly, the exhaustion of the past few days had caught up with her.
'He can't stop me from being free. He just can't'
Sora drifted off to sleep with this one thought on her mind.
As Sora slept, the black figure appeared on the roof, bent over her relaxed form.
"Awww, the poor thing is exhausted." It hissed, its voice riddled with sarcasm and irony. The creature stretched out a dark hand and stroked Sora's bruised cheek. The red mark darkened and Sora winced in her sleep as the pain increased.
"You're progressing very nicely, Sora." It whispered and disappeared with a crude laugh. Sora awoke sharply, her cheek throbbed with pain. She scowled at the black roof then glanced at her watch. She had slept through her fourth period class and only five minutes remained before school ended. She stretched and walked towards the stairs, one hand cupped over her injured cheek. She took one final glance at the quiet black roof then re-entered the school building.
~*~
Sora walked quietly to her locker. She hoped to retrieve her books and leave before the final bell. As she shut her locker, Mr. Morgan exited the classroom behind her.
"Sora? Where are you going." He demanded. Sora turned slowly, fuming at being caught.
"Nowhere, I guess." She responded angrily.
"Follow me."
Sora shifted the weight of her backpack and trekked behind Mr. Morgan. He led her to his empty classroom and walked to the blackboard. "Take a seat, Sora."
Sora tossed her backpack to the floor viciously and flung herself into a chair. Mr. Morgan watched her display then turned to the board and wrote 'Detention'. Sora sighed loudly. "What? Just incase I didn't know where I was?"
Mr. Morgan turned to her, his light eyes worried.
"Sora, I think you need to talk to someone."
"I disagree."
"You've changed Sora. I know that people change as they grow up, but I've never seen a person change so much in less than a week."
"These things happen."
"Not without prompting." He replied. "Is everything alright at home?"
Sora blinked. "Maybe."
"You have an interesting talent for being excessively vague."
"Good for me."
The two sat in silence. Sora traced the lines on her desk while Mr. Morgan tapped his fingers thoughtfully. Then, he spoke, "Sora, I know that you've had a very emotional year with the death of your..."
"Don't pretend you know me." Sora interrupted quickly.
"Are you afraid to talk about their deaths?" he asked, gently. Sora turned around in her chair, faced the back of the classroom. She heard Mr. Morgan sigh softly and retreat to his chair. Sora rested her head on her knees, built a protective cocoon. She began to list off the names of the bars she would visit.
'Gabby's, Touch 'n Go, Firkin...'
~*~
Sora ran out of the detention room as soon as her time ended. She sprinted through the school and toward the beer store. She paused in front of the store, attempted to steady her ragged breaths. Finally, she entered the store, calm and confident. She pulled two cases of Labatt Blue from the shelf and tossed them in her small cart. Then, she wheeled around, looking at all the other choices. Eventually she decided on a small bottle of sparkling wine. She wheeled her cart to the cashier, placed her choices on the cashier.
"May I see some ID?" he asked. Sora pulled the card from her pocket and placed it on the counted. The cashier looked at Sora, then the card. Sora stood calmly, regarded the cashier with a look of superiority. Finally, the cashier handed her back the card and punched in the prices. Sora paid and watched the cashier bag her purchase.
"Put the wine in as separate bag." She said. The cashier nodded, followed Sora's orders. Sora left the store and carefully placed the wine in her backpack. The she made her way home.
Sora entered the house three hours later than her uncle expected. She entered the kitchen and was greeted by a slap to the face. She staggered slightly, then straightened.
"Where the hell have you been?" he demanded loudly, Sora could already smell the alcohol on his breath, he must have visited a bar. She held out the bags containing the beer.
"I've been doing what you told me to." She commented dryly. Her uncle snatched the bags from her hand and drank an entire beer in one swallow. He crushed the empty can and tossed it into the sink.
"I wanted it in bottles." He hissed venomously and shoved Sora forcefully. Sora hit the wall, her backpack crushed by her weight. She heard the bottle of wine shatter and felt the cold liquid being to seep through her bag. She cursed angrily as she stripped off her backpack and attempted to remove her books before the wine destroyed them. Her uncle saw the disaster in her pack and smacked Sora so hard she slid across the floor.
"Holding out on me!" He yelled, approached Sora menacingly. Sora felt fear rise, but pushed it down with her anger. She stood, glared at her uncle.
"I can buy whatever I want! It's my money."
"You ungrateful cow!" He bellowed, gripped Sora's shoulder's and shook her violently. Her list of bars and clubs fell from her pocket. He shoved Sora away and picked up the paper, scanned the names. "Bars and clubs? You actually thought they'd let YOU in?!"
"I have ID." Sora spat, without thinking.
Her uncle's eyes widened, his face took on a red tinge. "You have ID for one purpose only: to buy things for me." He hissed dangerously. "So you'd thought you'd take advantage of my generosity and have some fun, did you? You'll pay for it."
Sora's fear took over, and she scrambled toward the stairs. She sprinted to her room and locked her door, propped a chair against the handle. She quickly pulled a backpack from her closet and began to throw her belongings in it. Clothes, money, pictures, her digivice, her tag and crest...
Sora's hand paused after she had added the crest. Did she truly need it? What had made her pack such a useless item? She reached into her bad to remove it and heard her uncle throw himself against the door. Panic replaced doubt as her uncle, more intoxicated that she had ever seen him, tried to enter her room. Sora threw several more items into her bag and turned to her window as the wood of her door began to splinter. She threw a final glance around her room and saw a picture of her parents on her bed side table. She lunged across the room for the picture and heard a sound that made her stop in terror. A gun shot. She turned to the door and saw a large round hole in her door: the bullet hole. Sora pulled the picture from her table, knocked the phone to the ground in the process. She dashed to the window as the door collapsed and her uncle stumbled into her room.
"You'll pay for everything that you did! You'll pay for the way you ruined my life!" he shouted, waved the small gun over his head. Sora kicked her window open and stepped down onto an ivy covered trellis, prayed it would hold her weight. As she lowered herself out the window, her uncle attempted to steady the gun. He fired once, the shot went slightly wide, skimming Sora's forearm. Sora gasped in pain, clung to the trellis with one arm. He uncle pointed the gun again. Sora knew she could not climb in her state. She took a deep breath and let go of the trellis. She hit the groud with such for that her knees gave out and she fell to the ground, rolled into a tree. She lay, hidden by the tree as her uncle raged by her window.
"If you ever come back here, I'll kill you! You're dead Sora! Dead!" he left the window and thudded down the stairs. Sora picked herself up, cradled her injured arm and ran. She did not realize where she was going until she found herself gasping and coughing on Tai's doorstep. She slowly raised a shaking fist and knocked on his door. Tai opened the door and gazed in shock at his pale, injured friend.
"Sora!"
"I didn't know where else to go." Sora murmured and fainted into Tai's arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
DW: There we go, yet another chapter finished.
Irie: It's taken you long enough.
DW: Oh shut up.