THIEF! Chapter 2
Rush
Liana still felt happy when she woke up the next morning. But, as the day wore on, her excitement began to fade. By lunch she was feeling bored, flat, and empty. "I've got to find a way to get that feeling back," she thought to herself. "But how? That rush was more powerful than any roller coaster I've ever been on."
So Liana tried to recapture her rush. This quest drove her to seek danger. She took midnight runs over rooftops. She did daredevil stunts when no one was looking. Liana pushed herself to her limits and beyond in gymnastics, attempting more and more difficult movements, and always succeeding.
But it wasn't enough.
Apparently, physical danger wasn't enough, Liana thought. She decided to hunt out fear in her school as well. Liana began throwing herself into schoolwork, striving for ambitious projects in every subject. She joined clubs, tried out for the school play, and generally overworked herself to exhaustion. She even challenged strong pokemon trainers! And she succeeded in every attempt.
But it wasn't enough.
By this time, people were starting to notice Liana's new work ethic. They began to gossip about it. The general consensus was that the girl was finally trying to live up to the legend of her older brother. Both Derek and Jenna, however, did not agree with that. They knew Liana didn't care for social standing, or remembrance in school. She must be aiming for something else, but what?
Liana was fast becoming the new star of the school. But that didn't matter to her, since she still couldn't feel the rush again. She had to take extreme measures if she wanted to feel alive again. Liana would confront her crush, and ask him out!
Angel! That was her crush's name, and it certainly suited him! One year older than her, he was nice, popular, and a pokemon trainer too. He was also the closest thing Derek had had to a protégé. Liana would have been content to merely idolize him from the shadows, but she was getting too big a reputation, and this was her last ditch attempt to find her thrill.
Liana walked up to Angel, blushing slightly. "Um, Angel?" He turned to face her, and as their eyes met, Liana felt a familiar sensation. This was the rush! She had found it again! "Angel, would, would you like to go out with me sometime?" She had done it! And the rush felt so wonderful!
Angel smiled gently. "Sure. That sounds nice. I'd actually been noticing you a lot lately." Not only had Liana found her rush, but she also had a new boyfriend.
And most people stopped wondering right there. They thought that the star act was merely a way to impress Angel. Only Derek and Jenna knew better. These two closest to Liana knew that Angel was merely one more step in the pattern she had been following. But what she was really aiming for, they couldn't figure out.
Liana thought that now she would be happy. But something bad happened. As she grew to know Angel more and more, she was less afraid of talking with him. They became more like good friends than a couple. The rush faded, and eventually went away all together. Now Liana was feeling bad. She had lost her thrill, and nothing else could bring it back anymore.
She would have to steal.