A/N: I have to go grab chapter eight, but for now, here's chapter 7! Yay!
ENJOY!
Chapter 7:
Vaughn slammed another book shut, looking over to a startled Professor Z. He was growing impatient with this, restless. He hated sitting around, rustling through books. He needed action, adventure, exhilaration, a rush. He wasn't the type of person who researched, he was the type of person who got up and did things. He didn't think and analyze and work things out with his mind, he used sheer force! As far as he was concerned, Josie was in trouble. And here he was sitting in the library flipping through books like a useless lump! But then…at least he was here, trying to do something.
He frowned. He was sitting around searching frantically for any way possible to get Josie's eyesight back and Lucas was off working on an extra-credit assignment! Lucas didn't need the extra-credit, he was already passing all of his classes with highest marks. There was something about that thought that ate at Vaughn.
How could Josie choose a person like that?
But Vaughn knew that wasn't right. So many times before, when Josie was in trouble, Lucas was the first in line to help her. Whether it was his perverse fascination with the mysterious events caused by the black hole or a genuine need to aid Josie, Vaughn wasn't sure. All he knew was standing in that classroom, watching Josie cling to Lucas as though he would shield her from all the bad things, it had ripped Vaughn apart inside. He couldn't help but think, 'that should be me holding her hand, comforting her. I should be the one that she doesn't want to leave her side'.
They'd only been on one date for crying out loud! It couldn't have been that great, knowing Lucas.
"Is there a problem, Vaughn?" Professor Z spoke up and Vaughn was startled. For just a brief moment, he'd forgotten that there was anyone else in the room.
"Uh…no…everything's fine, Z," Vaughn mumbled unconvincingly. Professor Z closed the book he was shifting through, placing it back on the shelf and turning to face his obviously troubled student.
"Josie," he guessed. Vaughn sighed, nodding slightly.
"And Lucas," he muttered. Professor Z raised his brow at that.
"I see," he began, taking a few steps towards the young boy, "You're not handling the Lucas and Josie dating thing very well…are you?" Vaughn was solemn, torn between denying the truth and letting his heart spill out.
"I just thought that…"
"She would wait?" Z suggested. Vaughn frowned.
"I guess," he murmured, "It doesn't make sense. I just always thought that she would…I don't know…"
"End up with you?" Z offered. Vaughn nodded.
Professor Z took a deep breath, walking back and forth once, trying to think of what to tell his student in a situation where he more or less sympathized better with the other party. He had remained stoically neutral in the personal romantic affairs of his science club members, but, undeniably, he found he related more with Lucas. He, himself, hadn't been incredibly popular in high school, his love of science and tendency to be a bit eccentric made him the odd man out amongst his peers. He, like all the others in the club, had known about Lucas's crush on Josie. As well, he'd known about Josie's feelings for Vaughn. But, secretly, a part of him had kind of hoped that Josie would suddenly notice Lucas, and that maybe, the two would hook up. They just seemed suited together, their passions and offset personalities complimented each other nicely.
But he'd overlooked, or simply forgotten, Vaughn's own feelings for Josie. Now, he guiltily faced his student, scrambling his mind for comforting advice.
"Sometimes, Vaughn," Z began, "Things just don't end up the way we'd like them to. But you have to keep in mind that it's not always a bad thing."
"Really?" Vaughn droned, perking a doubtful eyebrow.
"Um…yes. Time moves on and heals all wounds. You have your friends, and they'll be there for you," Professor Z attempted to sound reassuring. But as it didn't appear to be working, he sighed, "Vaughn, you have to ask yourself, why are you so mad that Josie and Lucas went on a date."
"Because they didn't tell me!" Vaughn cried, "Weren't you a little mad or, at least, shocked to find out they went on a date." Professor Z grimaced somewhat at that, clearing his throat and turning away from Vaughn, shame-faced.
"Ah…well…actually," Z stammered.
"You knew about their date?" Vaughn cried, "It's official, I'm always the last to know everything!"
"Vaughn, now you're overreacting," Professor Z assured him, "The only reason I knew about the date was because Lucas wanted my help in setting it up…not being seniors, getting off campus at such late hours was a little…unreasonable."
"You helped with the date," Vaughn repeated indignantly. Professor Z straightened his glasses.
"Vaughn. I need you to help me understand what's really bothering you about Josie and Lucas," he said, "I can't help you any other way." Vaughn sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"It's nothing, Z, don't worry about it."
"If you say so, Vaughn, but you know I'm always here to talk when you need it," Z told him warily. They both startled when the library door opened, turning to the entrance. It came as a surprise to find both Lucas and Marshall coming towards them. "Hello, boys," Z greeted, "Change your minds about helping out with research," he lifted a tome from the shelves, "You can start flipping through Illuminating Science."
"Uh…that's alright, Z, I think we'll pass," Lucas responded, "We actually wanted to talk to Vaughn."
"Vaughn?"
"Me?"
"Yeah," Lucas piped, "We…uh…were thinking. You're dad's got a pretty comprehensive library."
"Yes. He does," Vaughn drawled skeptically, raising a suspicious eyebrow.
"We just thought…well…if there's a solution, we'd definitely find it there. To getting Josie and Corrine back to normal, I mean," Lucas explained, looking hopefully between the other boy and his professor. Vaughn seemed to be considering it. Professor Z obviously wasn't buying the story at all. He was just about to open his mouth to say something when Vaughn spoke up.
"You know…I bet you're right. At least, it wouldn't hurt to look," he looked to Z, "How about me and Marshall go to the estate and…" Marshall exchanged a glance with Lucas.
"Well, actually…" Marshall started, but under the scrutinizing glare of his teacher and peer, he lowered his head, readying to spill the truth.
"Actually," Lucas took over, "Marshall can't leave the school."
"What? Why?" Vaughn looked to Marshall who looked helplessly to Lucas.
"His…uh…well, when I say can't. I mean…he won't…he's…um…agoraphobic," Lucas blurted out.
"What's…angora-phobic?" Vaughn inquired, a scrunched nose.
"Fear of…fur?" Marshall replied.
"No, that would be doraphobia," Professor Z interjected, "Agoraphobia is the…fear of insanity?"
"I think you mean agateophobia, Z," Lucas answered.
"Yeah, Z," Marshall said, indignantly, "Agoraphobia is the fear of chickens and I am scared to death of them."
Lucas shook his head at his friend and Professor Z raised a brow.
"Fear of chickens is alektorophobia," Lucas whispered to Marshall who frowned.
"I thought that was the 'fear of bathing' one and I am scared of chickens…" Vaughn snickered at that and Marshall shot him a dark look, "One attacked me at the petting zoo, alright? It was traumatizing…I still have scars."
"Actually, zelophobia is fear of bathing," Professor Z said, "And it's quite understandable to have a fear of chickens after a bad childhood experience. I can only imagine, how horrifying it must have been at such a young, tender age…"
"Uh…actually, Z…he was attacked by the chicken last year," Lucas interrupted, "And ablutophobia is the fear of bathing. Zelophobia is the fear of jealousy."
"Wait," Vaughn snapped his fingers, straightening, "Is agoraphobia that one fear of getting peanut butter stuck on the roof of your mouth?" His three friends stared blankly at him. "What?"
"That's a phobia?" Marshall questioned.
"Yes," Professor Z answered, "But it's called arachibutyrophobia," then uncertainly, he turned to Lucas, "Right?"
"That's right, but how does Vaughn know about it?" Lucas asked incredulously.
"How do you know about so many phobias?" Marshall returned, turning his wide-eyed expression to his friend. The others followed suit.
"Uh…I borrowed your book remember…" Lucas cleared his throat nervously, shrugging to the others, "Of course, Marshall knows all about agoraphobia but is just kidding around with all of us. Right Marshall?"
"Uh…"
"Right. Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces. Isn't that correct, Marshall?"
"Uh…yes?…yes."
"Since when is Marshall afraid of open spaces," Professor Z demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
"He's…not," Lucas sputtered, "I mean…he is…but he's not…"
"Well. Which is it, Lucas?" Vaughn questioned, his own arms folding over his chest.
"He's not. But he's…doing a paper on it…for English," Lucas finally answered, "Which is why he has a book on it…and for that paper…he has to live a…day in the life of an agoraphobe. If he were to go with Vaughn to the Pearson estate, that wouldn't be very agoraphobic…and you know…that kind of defeats the purpose of the assignment. Not to mention, if his teacher found out…he could get in trouble, or marked down."
"Really?" Vaughn said, unconvinced, "How come I don't recall this assignment?"
"Because…he's doing it as…extra-credit…"
"You two sure have a lot of extra-credit assignments to do today that I've never even heard of," Vaughn pressed.
"Did I say extra-credit? Because I meant…make-up. He's making-up a paper for English," Lucas chuckled meekly.
"Since when has Marshall ever needed to do make-up work?"
"Since he…uh…failed to do the assignment two weeks ago because he was so traumatized by my 'death'," Lucas answered triumphantly, "What's with the twenty-questions anyways, Vaughn? I thought you wanted to get Josie and Corrine back to normal."
For a moment, Vaughn and Lucas held one another's glares, locked in a stalemate. Finally, Vaughn shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets and straightening.
"Fine then. I'll go to my father's library…"
"And I'll join you," Lucas interrupted, smirking when Vaughn snapped his eyes back on the other boy menacingly, "I'm sure with such a large library, you'll need the help."
"Fine," Vaughn sneered, "Let's go." He stormed out the door, and Lucas made to follow when Marshall caught him under the elbow.
"What are you doing?" he whispered roughly, looking dubiously at Z who didn't appear to hear them but was obviously curious, "I thought we were both going."
"I know…but we couldn't swing it that way, it's too suspicious. It'll be easier for one person to sneak off than two anyways. Besides, you didn't really want to go through with all of this anyways…this way, you don't have to," Lucas replied quietly.
"I don't know about this…"
"I looked at the blueprints, I have a good idea of the areas to check out," Lucas assured him, "All you have to do is look up things on phosphors, not tell Z what I'm up to, and just…act agoraphobic." Marshall narrowed his eyes threateningly at Lucas.
"One of these days, you're going to have to tell me how you know so much about phobias…and why on Earth did you choose agoraphobia! And I'm not writing a paper on it," Marshall seethed, letting his friend go and watching as the door swung shut behind the two boys. He sighed. Professor Z stepped up behind him, arms still crossed.
"So…Marshall," Z started, with his sly yet stern teacher voice, "What is Lucas up to?"
Marshall grimaced, tried to think of a good lie before hanging his head in resignation.
"He's using Vaughn to break into Pearadyne and steal the files on him and the Oubliette project."
-00000-
Josie could hear Corrine shuffling around. Not saying anything was eating away at her and even she was growing restless. The corners of her mouth twitched and her throat itched. She kept clearing her throat but the feeling wouldn't go away. She needed to talk, to say something, anything.
"Will you stop that," she finally roared.
"Stop what?" Corrine demanded, her shuffling ceasing.
"Good…you're finally sitting still," Josie growled, running a hand through her hair and squeezing her eyes shut. She'd taken to keeping them closed, as having them open and not seeing anything was beginning to really get to her. She had already admitted to being scared, but she was on the brink of paralysis from her fear. What would she do if they couldn't find a way to stop this? To get her sight back? Stop thinking like that, she commanded herself. They would get her eyesight back. Lucas had promised.
"I'm sorry, Josie. Jealous that I'm not losing my sight and can still move around freely?"
"I don't know, Corrine," Josie snapped, "But then…I'm not the one with glowing green eyes. Face it, you're the jealous one and the black hole knows it…" She trailed off, frowning, "And the black hole knows it…" The gears in her mind were spinning and she opened her eyes, momentarily forgetting how scared she was as an idea played in her mind.
"Josie, what are you mumbling about?" Corrine asked through clenched teeth.
"We know from experience that for whatever reason the black hole seems to respond strongest to our emotions," Josie clarified, her epiphany even overshadowing her anger at Corrine somewhat, "Marshall turned invisible when he felt neglected and unappreciated. You were stuck in that time-loop, or so you claim…"
"That happened, Josie," Corrine put in indignantly.
"You were," Josie continued unhindered, "Until you learned to accept the bad day as it was. Vaughn was followed around by a storm cloud that was affected by his mood. Do you understand?"
"Yes, will you get to what this has to do with our situation?" Corrine cried, annoyed.
"Do you remember the fight we had in science, when we spilled the unfinished slime on ourselves?"
"Oh. Yes. Faintly," Corrine muttered sardonically, "I mean, it only happened this morning."
"Well do you remember what we said to each other?"
"I remember someone accusing someone else of being jealous."
"Exact words, Corrine. Try not to strain any of those 172 IQ points," Josie muttered angrily. Corrine was quiet a moment, so Josie took the opportunity to answer her own question, "I mentioned something about how 'green your eyes were'."
Corrine lips parted slightly in realization.
"No. No, Josie. I said, "nobody's so blind that they can't see that'. And then you replied by saying, 'I'm not so blind I can't see how green your eyes are'."
Decidedly, Josie turned in the general direction she discerned Corrine to be in. Her eyes widened slightly and she chewed her lower lip, smiling somewhat despite herself.
"Corrine," she mumbled, "I see green."
END A/N: Don't ask where all that phobia talk came from, it was late at night when I wrote that scene and...I thought it was a little funny so...I left it! And I was feeling a little too lazy to rewrite it...ahem.
Anyways, please excuse any grammatical and typing errors, as well as any unbelievable conversations about phobias that might have been mentioned in the chapter. Please, please, please, please, please REVIEW! And as I'm off to fetch chapter eight for all ya'll, stick around, there's more to come.
Thanks for reading.