Falling From Grace

Chapter 3 First Impressions, Creepy Vibes, and Questions

Cooper couldn't help but scowl as she brushed her teeth that night. She was crammed into a bathroom with four other girls, three of which she knew only by name, who were both welcoming and not-so-welcoming. She was more than a little tempted to "accidentally" spit her toothpaste onto Shelby's hand. Shelby had been sarcastic, and as close to mean as she could manage with Sophie looking over her shoulder as she was introduced to Cooper, earlier in the day. After she'd managed to get away from Peter and his attempted therapy sessions she'd been caught outside by Sophie, who had led both she and Lexis back to the dorm. Juliette and Daisy were nice enough, Jules was a little to perky for Cooper's taste, and Daisy a little on the morbid side, but they were nice enough. Shelby on the other hand acted as if she had one up on Cooper. Again Cooper found it tempting to spit on Shelby's hand.

Luckily, Shelby finished brushing her teeth and left the bathroom before Cooper could give in to temptation.

Lexis moved to the sink that Shelby had just vacated, and looked at her sister's reflection. "How'd things go in the infirmary?" She asked quietly.

Cooper shrugged, rinsing her toothbrush. "Fine. I got bandaged up, Peter tried to figure out why I cut myself, and I ran out. Pretty much the norm."

Lexis nodded, tying her hair back away from her face as she got ready to wash her face. "So...you didn't get any creepy vibes or anything?"

Cooper sighed, tearing her eyes away from her sister's in the mirror, gazing down at her shaky hands. Jules left the bathroom, and Daisy was taking a trip into Daisyland, but even if they'd all been locked into a separate, sound-proofed room Cooper wouldn't have wanted to have the conversation Lexis was creeping towards. "No," she whispered. "I didn't get any creepy vibes, Lex. But I've lost quite a bit of faith in my ability to judge people in these past few years."

Lexis, deciding to abandon her path of conversation, put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Coop. This probably won't be for very long, you know how Mom and Dad can be."

Cooper didn't say anything, just gave her sister a meaningful look and left the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Daisy and Lexis had left the bathroom as well and as everyone was crawling into bed the door of the dorm creaked open and Peter's loud voice could be heard in the hall. "Is everyone decent?"

Cooper rolled her eyes as everyone answered, and pulled the covers up over her head. She closed her eyes and tried to make her breathing as even as possible. She didn't fool anyone. Peter pulled her covers down enough so he could see her face. "What?" She asked, not opening her eyes.

"I never got a chance to have you empty your pockets."

"So?"

"So, whatever you used to cut yourself earlier you still have. Hand it over."

Cooper rolled her eyes and got out of bed. She made her way over to where she'd ditched the pants she'd worn that day and reached into the pocket. She handed the razor blade to Peter, who looked down at it like this was too easy. "There you go, can I go to bed now?"

"This is it?"

Cooper nodded. "Yeah."

"And it comes without a fight?"

"Yeah."

Peter gave her a wary look, but must have decided to not push his luck, as he nodded and headed for the door. "Thank you. Good night ladies."

He received a wave of mumbled grunts in response.

"Coop."

Cooper knelt next to Lexis' bed. "What?"

"Was that really all you had in your pocket?"

Cooper looked down. "What do you think?"

Peter dropped the razor blade that Cooper had given him on his desk and sat down. He stared at it intently for a few moments before the door opened and Sophie entered his office. She pulled a chair up to his desk and sat next to him. "What's the matter?"

"That's the blade Cooper gave me."

Sophie glanced at it, then back at Peter. "She gave it to you? Without a fight of any sort?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. It doesn't seem right, does it?"

"No, it doesn't...What do you think she's getting at?"

Peter shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "I don't know. It could be that she wants help, but doesn't know how to ask for it. Or it could be that she was trying to get us off her back by handing it over. Or -"

"She could have had more than one in her pocket, handed you one and said that it was it."

Peter nodded. "Or that."

"So," Sophie said, leaning back in her chair as well. "What do we do about it? Do we go into the dorm and raid her things, do we wait it out...what?"

"Well, she's probably got it all planned out, and if she's handed this one over," Peter said, gesturing to the bloodstained blade that sat on top of Cooper's file. "She'll wait a little bit before she uses the one she still has, you know, just so its not suspicious."

"That's a pretty well thought out plan."

Peter shrugged. "Obviously, there's more to Cooper than anyone's let on. I think that she's hiding behind Lexis, who wants help, so Cooper's thinking all the attention will be on her sister. Which, is pretty smart, for someone who hasn't been shuffled to a million different schools for troubled kids."

Sophie let out a breath through her teeth. "So...We wait it out, because no matter what she's got planned, she's bound to slip up sometime."

"Everybody stumbles, Soph. This girl is no different."

Lexis grumbled incoherently as she turned towards the window and was blinded by the bright sunlight. She forced her eyes open, and looked around. Shelby, Daisy, and Jules were still asleep, but Cooper was gone. "Dammit, Coop," Lexis mumbled, rolling out of bed and slipping her bare feet into her flip-flops.

Lexis left the dorm as quietly as she could manage in flip-flops, and scanned the grounds for Cooper. She found her a ways off to the left, lying spread eagle on the grass, as if waiting for something. Lexis sat next to her twin, but didn't say anything.

"Go away Lex, I'm fine."

"No you're not," Lexis said, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Do I ever?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lexis laid back, and spread out her limbs like Cooper. She closed her eyes against the bright sun and sighed. "I'm just gonna lay here with you for awhile."

"Whatever."

Peter and Sophie were up early, running as usual. They left Horizon when the kids were all still asleep, and were surprised to see two people awake when they returned. Peter doubled over on the road next to where Cooper and Lexis were sprawled out on the grass, breathing heavily. "What're you girls doing up so early?"

Lexis turned to look at him. "Relaxing. What're you two doing up so early?"

"Exercising," Sophie said, wiping sweat off her forehead.

Lexis made a face. "Looks like fun," she said sarcastically.

"Since you guys are up," Peter said, straightening. "How about you go help with breakfast?"

Cooper opened her eyes and sat up. "How about not?"

"No, you don't get it," Sophie said. "That wasn't a question."

Cooper scowled at her. "Fine. Which plate is yours? You know, so I don't accidentally put any crushed glass in your eggs or anything."

"Uh..." Peter started, glancing at Sophie. "Lexis, why don't you go with Sophie, she'll show you the kitchens. Cooper, you come with me. I have to ask you some questions."

Cooper rolled her eyes, and shared a meaningful look with Lexis. "I don't think I have the answers to the questions you're planning on asking."

"Well, you'll never know until I ask."