Chapter 10: Red alert
It was 9.50 am on a Saturday morning, 30th of September. Veronica was heading to her singing lessons as usual, but this time she had Anya with her. Ms. Summers had asked them both to come that morning. They entered the classroom.
"Good morning, girls," Ms. Summers greeted them cheerfully.
"Good morning, Miss Summers," they replied in unison.
"Sit down," she said.
They sat down in front of the desk, opposite to the teacher.
"You two are good at singing. The best in your class," she started. "I was hoping you would sing on Valentine's Day for the whole school."
It took a while for Veronica and Anya to get it through their head. They, performing for the whole school?
Ms. Summers smiled at their reaction. "Well?"
"Of course we will!" Anya exclaimed.
"Good. It will take some work but I think you can do it." Ms. Summers stated.
After the lesson, in Kira's room:
"You talked to Miss Summers, didn't you?" Anya accused, smiling widely.
"I might have," Kira replied and smirked.
"You did!" Anya exclaimed and grabbed Veronica into a group hug with Kira.
They fell on Kira's bed, laughing hysterically. Rei walked by the room and stopped to look at the scene.
"What are you looking at!" Kira exclaimed, but you could see she wasn't really angry.
"Mind telling what this is about?" he asked.
"It's a surprise," Anya stated quickly.
Rei shrugged and left.
"Moving to other subjects," Kira said after Rei was gone. "The new number of Code Red is coming out next Monday."
"I can't wait," Anya replied.
"Well, you should be prepared. Those days are never easy," Kira warned. "Stacy isn't going to be happy."
"I bet not, but still, what can she actually do to us?" Anya questioned.
"Practically nothing but you better be careful you don't let it slip who is writing it," Kira adviced.
"That wouldn't be good," Anya agreed.
"Kitty, tell Hilary that she is missing one important rumor. Give her these papers and the photo," Kira said.
"Sure," Veronica replied and left.
"Now then," Kira started. "Does Ms. Summers have a song for you to perform?"
"Yeah, but the one I'm singing isn't all that good," Anya said.
"Well, since the whole purpose of this is to get you and my brother together, the song must be something that makes him think and most importantly feel," Kira explained.
"You have something in mind?" Anya asked.
"But of course," Kira stated and got out the lyrics of a song.
Anya read them quietly. She started smiling.
"This is absolutely fantastic!" Anya exclaimed.
"Thanks," Kira said and smiled.
"Hope Ms. Summers agrees," Anya said.
"I think she will," Kira replied and smirked.
"We'll find out on Monday," Anya stated.
Veronica rushed in to the room.
"Anyone feel like swimming?" she asked. "It's our turn to use the pool you know."
"Are the guys coming?" Kira asked.
"Hilary is asking them," Veronica replied.
Hilary appeared behind Veronica.
"Well?" Kira asked.
"They all said yes. Although Kai needed a little convincing," Hilary stated.
"Let's do it then," Kira agreed.
They gathered the stuff they needed and walked to the school. There was a separate way in to the part of the school where the pool was. They entered the dressing room and changed their clothes.
Anya was wearing a bright red bikini that didn't leave much for the imagination.
Veronica and Hilary both had swimsuits. Veronica's was powder blue and Hilary's purple.
Kira had something that seemed like a cross-over between a bikini and a swimsuit. It was midnight blue.
They left the dressing room. Anya was surprised by what she saw. There were two pools and a hot tub.
"A hot tub?" Anya asked.
"Yeah, a hot tub. A request from a certain blonde," Kira explained.
"Hey, how about a game of tag, in water of course?" Max suggested.
"Count me in," Kira said.
"Sounds like fun," Hilary replied. "Right Kitty?"
"Yeah," Veronica agreed.
"Fine with me," Anya stated.
"Rei? Kai?" Max asked.
"Sure," Rei responded.
"Whatever," was Kai's usual response.
"You understand of course that it's forbidden to leave the pool," Max stated. "I'll start."
After 5 minutes there was a total chaos in the pool. Anya was trying to catch Kira but wasn't doing very well. She decided to try someone else. The first person to come to her sight was Rei. He smirked at her as he noticed her staring. Then the chase began. At first you could have thought Anya would catch him easily but the gap between them was growing slowly. Suddenly Anya thought of something and dove deep under the water. Unfortunately for her, the red color of her bikini was easy to spot. She was running out of air and she had to come to the surface.
"Hey Anya, what were you doing?" Rei asked, looking like he was trying hard not to laugh.
"Nothing," Anya replied and took advantage of the situation and quickly moved towards Rei, who wasn't ready.
A moment later she got him.
"You're it!" Anya exclaimed.
After that it was Veronica's turn to be chased. She wasn't a very good swimmer but she had an advantage that any of the others didn't have. She could blend in with the water around her, making her extremely hard to see. This didn't help her this time though and she was caught. She went after Kira and Anya who were close to each other. The two of them reacted quickly to it and another chase was ready. Anya looked back at Veronica and suddenly she hit something or, as she quickly noticed, someone. She blushed as she saw who she had hit. It was Kai. Veronica continued after Kira but didn't catch her. It seemed like nobody could do it. Then Veronica decided to try her disappearing. She dove under the water and even Kira couldn't spot her now. Suddenly Veronica appeared behind her.
"You are it!" she screamed out.
"You're right. You got me," Kira stated.
Anya felt a little cold. She told this to Hilary and said that she would go and try out the hot tub. She left the pool and headed for the hot tub. As she got closer she noticed the steam. She could hardly see through it. She sat down in the tub. The water felt so good. She shivered.
"What are you doing here?"
She was startled at the sudden voice.
"I could ask you the same question," she replied.
"You know, I could think you were following me,"
"Oh please, you know I don't do things like that. It's way out of my style, Kai," Anya stated.
"True," he admitted.
"That question makes me think though," Anya said.
"About what?" Kai asked, not sure if he wanted to really know.
"I could think that you asked that question because you were hoping I would say yes and that you would have been the reason I came here," Anya explained.
"You're wrong," Kai denied.
"Am I?" Anya replied. "Why are you blushing then?"
Anya left the tub. She didn't want to push him away with a wrong move.
Kira was just coming to get her and they walked back to the dressing room.
"He blushed?" Kira asked.
"Yeah, not much though." Anya said.
"I can't believe it!" Kira exclaimed. "My brother actually blushed!"
"Well, believe it," Anya stated.
"I think he is starting to warm up on the thought of you," Kira said and smirked.
"Yeah, I think so too," Anya agreed. "He just needs one big push and he is mine."
"Right," Kira replied.
"I hope Ms. Summers thinks that song is good. It would be perfect," Anya stated. "I can't wait until Monday."
"Trust me. She will like it. You just need to relax," Kira said.
"How can I relax? This is about getting the love of my life back," Anya responded in shock.
Monday morning at school, 9.45 am.
The corridors that were normally quite silent were anything but that today. Some people were laughing while others were deep in conversations. Everywhere they could hear the same thing: Code Red.
"Whoa! I didn't know it would be like this," Anya exclaimed.
"Well, believe it," Kira replied. "This is what it's like every time."
"People really like the stuff in that magazine," Hilary said.
They were talking when a terribly blushing Stacy appeared to the corridor with her friends. Kira giggled.
"Doesn't she look pathetic?" she asked.
"Yeah," Hilary agreed.
The teacher appeared soon after Stacy and opened the door to the classroom. They all went in. Kira had a good time looking at Stacy once in a while. She looked like she was about to lose it. Kira didn't actually help her, just the opposite. She sent smirks to Stacy occasionally, taking advantage of the opportunity to torture her. The bell rang finally, letting them out. They sat down at the cafeteria. Anya had thought that they were clear from Stacy, but she was wrong. Anya was looking out of the window when she heard a loud crash. The next thing she noticed was a broken glass and water around it. Kira was up on her feet and looked very upset as she glared at Stacy, who was leaving the scene.
"She'll pay for that," Kira swore.
Anya and Veronica headed to the library after lunch, since they didn't have classes like the others. They took out their homework and started working on it. Unfortunately they were about to be cut of from their work as Stacy walked in.
"Red alert," Anya muttered. "The bitch is here."
Veronica turned quickly around in her chair. Her eyes widened as she noticed it wasn't just Stacy with her friends, there were two guys with them too.
"We are screwed," she whispered.
"Let's go," Anya said quietly. They took their bags and walked silently between the high bookcases.
"Where do you think you're going?" Stacy asked and smirked.
"That doesn't concern you," Anya snapped.
"True because you aren't going anywhere. Not until I say so," Stacy replied.
Anya and Veronica felt someone take hold of their arms and hold them back.
"Ms. Summers let you have the chance to perform on Valentine's Day," she started. "That chance should have been mine."
"Well, I don't have the power to decide that. It's not my fault she didn't choose you," Anya stated.
"You can say to her that you refuse to do it. Then she will ask me," Stacy replied.
"In your dreams," Anya retorted.
"I suggest you think about it if you value your friend's health and safety," Stacy explained and smirked at Veronica, who looked shocked.
"Fuck you, bitch!" Anya cursed at Stacy.
She felt a hard slap on her face.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that," Stacy snapped. "You've got this week to think about what I said."
She left them and the guys that were holding them followed her.
"What are we going to do?" Veronica asked and looked like she was about to cry.
"We won't give up. We are going to do it," Anya stated.
"We should talk to Kira," Veronica said.
"No," Anya responded. "She will get herself in trouble."
They decided to continue their homework, since they didn't have anything better to do. The clock was 2.45 pm when they gathered their things and went to wait for Kira and Hilary outside their classroom. The bell rang and the door of the classroom opened a few moments after it. Kira came out first, followed by Hilary. They started walking to the classroom where they were supposed to have their next class. Kira noticed something was bothering Veronica.
"Hey Kitty, is something wrong?" she asked.
"Umm..." Veronica started but she noticed the look Anya was giving her. "Nothing."
"Yeah and Stacy is my best friend," Kira replied. "Now, tell."
"Really, it's nothing," Veronica tried again.
"Sure it isn't," Kira said, dropping the subject. You could still see that she didn't believe.
Anya was worried about the English class. What if Stacy did something that would make Kira notice that something is going on? It turned out that Stacy wasn't that stupid. The only thing that connected Kira and Stacy was the same smirking and glaring as in the morning. Anya felt relieved when the clock hit 3.00 pm and the bell rang. Anya and Veronica used the time before their singing lesson to do the rest of their homework.
At 4.30 pm, in the classroom...
"Miss Summers, I need to ask you something," Anya said.
"What is it, my dear?" Ms. Summers replied.
"Could we change my song? I think I have a better one," Anya asked.
"What song do you have in mind?" Ms. Summers questioned.
Anya gave her the lyrics. There was a silence as Ms. Summers read them.
"This is brilliant, my dear. Just the kind of thing we need," Ms. Summers stated.
A wide smile appeared on Anya's lips, lighting up her face.
"Thank you so much," Anya said. "You don't know how much this means to me."
"But I do, my dear. You are trying to charm a certain young man," she replied and smiled.
