Author note: Thank you for the lovely reviews, and I also wanted to say thanks to those of you who review every time I update, you guys are my heroes.
I could still remember the look on Ned's face when I arrived without Spot's body. The only thing I brought was a compass – his spy's compass.
"Where is the boy?" Ned asked angrily.
"Somewhere in Brooklyn," I shrugged.
"Why isn't he in here?" he shouted.
"Uh, because outsiders aren't allowed in," I answered.
Ned stood calmly behind his desk, and just stared at me. "You failed to do as you were told, Miss Parker, explain yourself."
"Love didn't stop me, Neeley, pride did," I said importantly.
"How did pride stop you from killing the boy, and not the spy?"
"And that's where the revenge comes in," I said, narrowing my eyes. "I don't love the street boy; I just 'like' him."
Ned sat down in his chair and leaned back. "So, if my spy wasn't watching you, you would've killed Adam?" he asked.
I held my head up and smiled slightly. "No," I told him simply. "I don't kill my friends, only the foes."
"So Eve Carter is back," Ned laughed.
"Eve Carter is dead, and refuses to return. Thus, Anomie Parker is born."
"You still disobeyed me. You remember our little deal, don't you?" Ned asked.
"Of course I do," I answered darkly. "And if you even touch Erica, I won't hesitate to rid of you."
I turned around and left the room, not even glancing back. I knew Ned wouldn't hurt Erica, but he will come up with something else. I didn't want to worry about that now, since I still haven't spoken to my friends in almost a day.
I was sure that Spot had no idea of what happened behind him on the docks. He never turned around, or ran away screaming. Just imagining him doing so made me laugh slightly.
I needed sleep, a true and known fact, but sleep couldn't overcome me at a time like this. It was probably nearing 8:00, so where would my crowd be? A. in mine and Erica's room, B. in the main hall, or C. taking a test. I wouldn't know, because Ned keeps pulling me away in the mornings!
First, I decided to take a little walk to my room. I knocked three times, and got three knocks back.
I opened the door and greeted Stephen, Erica, and Cadince.
"Where have you been all day?" Cadince asked, sitting in a chair, her feet propped up on my bed.
I pushed her feet down and sat down tiredly onto my not so comfortable bed, and stared off into space momentarily.
"Anomie?" Erica said.
I did not stir.
"Anomie?" Erica repeated.
Stephen and Cadince switched odd glances, and shrugged to themselves.
"Anomie?" Erica shouted.
"What?" I asked, looking over at her.
She blinked a few times, and then smiled warmly. "You never answered Cadince's question," she said.
"Oh, I was out in Brooklyn," I said, looking over at Cadince.
"Well, you missed the big fight today!" Stephen exclaimed excitedly.
"What big fight?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.
"You see, there was this girl – Amber I think – and she was walking from the main hall and ran into Rachel, who didn't like that at all. So Rachel shoved her, and Amber fell to the ground, and was really angry! And the next thing you know they're rolling on the floor, hitting each other! There was blood everywhere; I swear I thought one would die!" Cadince said.
I got up angrily and stormed out the door. If there was something that really boiled my blood it was my people fighting.
I dragged Amber and Rachel out of their rooms, and shooed away the stragglers who wanted to watch their leader explode at two foolish girls.
I pushed the two against the wall roughly and looked at each angrily.
"Explain," I said, folding my arms over my chest.
Rachel sent Amber a dirty look and flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "She ran into me!" she said.
"No I didn't! I didn't see you, it was an accident!" Amber shot back.
The two girls had cuts and bruises here and there, and now I wished that I were here to at least see some of the fight.
"I don't care who started the fight, you know damn well that you're not supposed to fight another student of this school!" I hissed.
Rachel gulped in fear and examined her shoes. "I was just defending myself," she muttered.
I shot my fiery gaze towards her. "You don't solve your problems by fighting each other, you come to me," I said.
"But you fight the other students," Amber bravely spoke up.
"That's different. I have no intentions on starting fights. Don't question my actions!"
Amber licked at her lips and nodded.
"Now you two know that the 'students' here suffer a great deal of pain. They don't need anyone else making their lives even more miserable. You probably frightened the new kids, which is even worse," I said.
"How do you always manage to survive?" Rachel asked, looking depressed. "I don't think I'll be able to survive the next test."
"Everybody has something to live for, so find your something," I said calmly. "Just don't fight each other anymore."
"Alright," Amber said, nodding.
Rachel nodded as well, and smiled slightly.
"Now apologize," I ordered.
I watched the girls exchange apologies and dismissed them. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. I did fight the other students, but I was their leader, I didn't count.
I walked back to my room, and stopped just outside the door. There was a letter, sticking to the wood of our smallish sized door. I ripped it off and read over the sloppy scribbles, which were supposed to form 'coherent' sentences.
"We herby raise our glasses for a toast to Mr. Ned Neeley for his amazing accomplishments of his wonderful and very educated school," I read aloud. Yeah right, real educated… "We invite all of the students and staff to a grand party in the main hall, this Friday at 6 p.m. Casual wear. Sign, Mr. Davis Birmingham."
I scowled down at the piece of paper. Staff, yeah right, those men and women walking around are just a bunch of Ned's damned lackeys, and some are even his spies. I opened the door and stepped in, immediately shoving the note into Stephen's face.
"What's this?" he asked, looking over it.
"An invitation to the most ridiculous reason for a party," I grunted.
Stephen read it out loud so Cadince and Erica could hear, and the three of them burst out laughing.
"Accomplishments?" Cadince laughed. "Accomplishments of what? Murdering kids?"
"Precisely," I said, sitting down lazily on the window sill.
"Do we have to go?" Erica asked, swinging her feet off the side of the bed.
I shrugged, staring out the window. "We probably won't have an option, even if it is a lousy invitation," I said.
Stephen stood up and sighed deeply. "Do you think its some kind of test?" he asked. "For all of the students?"
"And what would Ned plan to do? Have his men take out the students and see who survives?" I snapped.
Stephen shrugged, and yawned. "Well, I'm going off to bed, night girls," he said.
Cadince left soon after, leaving me and Erica thinking amongst ourselves. As I lay in bed, listening to the rain beating for entrance against the window, I imagined the spy dying over and over again. Did he have a family? Kids? Parents?
I remembered pushing his body into the river, after taking his compass, and watched it sink to the bottom, thanks to the few bricks I tied to his body. It wasn't fair that he died, but the blame was on me. Eve Carter was inching back to life with every breath Anomie Parker, the insane murderer, took. And now that Eve's blood was pumping through my veins, and now that I have reached to her low level, I thirsted for revenge.
The next morning I awoke with a sudden jolt, and found myself lying flat on my face on the floor. I didn't remember dreaming, and I didn't even know why I ended up down here. Erica was wide awake now, laughing down at me.
"Are you okay, Nomes?" she asked, pushing the sheets off her body and rising from the bed.
I rose from the ground cautiously and rubbed my head. "I'm alright," I said, glaring at the wall.
Erica laughed all the way to the washroom, all the way through announcements, and all the way to Joy's diner.
"Erica!" Cadince finally cracked. "That's enough! You're making me crazy!"
Stephen chuckled as Erica slid down her chair, hiding her fear. I laughed slightly and shook my head, looking down at the menu that I've remembered so vividly, but only used one to aggravate the waiter.
I looked up when I heard that little bell go off, a sign that someone is entering, and couldn't keep from smiling as I watched Brooklyn's most fearless leader walk up to our table.
"Cromwell," he said, shaking hands with Stephen, acting as if the rest of us weren't even there. I didn't want him to get all soft on me around my friends, so I knew he was only playing along.
He pulled up a chair from another table and sat down between Stephen and I, smirking like usual. I went back to studying the menu, not really even reading any of the words.
"Nomes, do you have any money to spare?" Erica asked, her eyes pleading me. "My dad didn't have enough to give me for the week."
"Of course," I said, with a nod.
The waiter came and went quickly, to avoid being teased. As usual I ordered a coffee, as did Spot Cadince and Erica, and Stephen ordered a big breakfast. Stephen could eat a whole feast by himself and still not gain one pound. But he loved to eat.
I didn't have my menu to keep me preoccupied, so I balanced my chin on my hand and stared carelessly at the door, watching people come and go. Oh, how much I wanted to rip that little bell off and throw it in the bottom of the ocean!
Spot ignored me as he talked with Stephen, laughing like a child, and telling random 'rude' jokes. That little bell dinged once more, and my blood was boiling from listening to it so much.
Jack Kelly, also known as "Cowboy" walked in, accompanied by a curly haired boy, and a little one.
"Jacky-boy," Spot said, spitting into his hand, and shaking with Jack. He did the same with the other boy, and nudged the little boy playfully. If you thought our table couldn't get any bigger, you were wrong. The three boys pulled up chairs and we made room for them.
"Hey Cadince," Jack said, grinning.
He remembered her name? That can't be a good sign.
"Hey," Cadince said, shaking his hand.
"Who are your friends, Jack?" I asked, nodding towards the other boys.
"Oh, dis is David, and his little brotha Les," he said, pointing to each boy. "David, Les, dis is Cadince and Anomie, you already know Stephen and Erica."
The little one – Les – smiled brightly, holding onto his wooden sword, and tipped his hat. "Nice to meetcha," he said, using a small New York accent.
Cadince grinned – she loved adorable kids – and greeted him. "Hey kid," she said.
"So Spot, has Queens been giving you any problems lately?" curly asked.
Spot said back in his chair, propping his feet up on the table, and answered, "Brooklyn scared dem scabs, nobody messes with da best of New York."
Jack grinned. "Yer next ta Manhattan, Conlon," he said.
Spot sent him a glare and snorted. "Brooklyn is numba one, Kelly. Don't forget it."
Jack laughed, shaking his head, and settled his eyes upon Cadince briefly. He was interested in her, and it was against all the rules. Hell, I was told to kill the guy I fell for; I wonder what Ned would make Cadince do to Jack…
The two of them began to talk, ignoring us, acting as if we never existed. I looked around to see if any of Ned's spies were watching, and seen none, except for a girl walking through the door. She wore a long, frilly expensive dress, and had light brown hair.
She placed her hands on her hips and looked around, standing out in the non-formal crowd. Here eyes landed on our table and she smiled to herself. She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and swayed her hips as she walked towards us, attracting some attention to herself from random guys.
She stopped, and smiled down at Brooklyn's very own master, who didn't seem to notice her until the waiter left after bringing our orders.
He looked up at her questioningly, and then he looked as if a light bulb turned on in his head.
"Cilia," he said, pulling his cap off and fidgeting with it.
"You look surprised, Adam, didn't you ask me to meet you here?" she said, her voice making me cringe. How could someone's voice be so high pitched and ear piercing?
"Yeah, I did," he said, motioning for her to pull up a chair.
She did as she was told and sat down between me and Spot, looking at everybody weirdly.
"I thought we were going to do business alone," she said, giving him an odd look.
Spot's eyes went wide and looked over at me, but I looked away, biting my bottom lip. Now I was confused. Totally and utterly confused. I picked at the bandage on my wrist to keep me preoccupied as I tried to seem as if I didn't mind. I didn't, right? Spot and I were only friends…who kissed about a million times.
Jack and Cadince were still engaged in a friendly conversation that didn't involve any of us, and Erica was sipping her coffee, exchanging a few words with David and Les.
She looked over at me and smiled slightly. "You aren't drinking your coffee," she said, looking down at my cup.
"I don't feel like drinking it," I said disgustedly, keeping my mind and eyes away from Spot's guilty face. High-pitched girl was speaking to him, giggling here and there. I paid them no attention…
But I looked anyways. Cilia had her back turned to me, touching Spot's hand. I nearly fell out of my chair when she attacked his lips with hers, and Erica looked at me oddly. Spot pulled away, surprised, and gave Cilia an odd look.
She continued to talk to him, like we weren't there (hey, everyone else was doing it).
"You should eat, Nomie," Erica said, looking at me worriedly. I must've looked sick, because my eyes were getting ready to pop out, and I was frowning.
I looked over at Erica and shrugged. "I get enough food at my father's house," I said.
I found myself looking back over at Spot, and his face was…relaxed, and he wasn't trying to pry Cilia away from him. Wow, reality hurts. I blinked a few times, and looked up at the ceiling. Oh how interesting it was…
Stephen filled his mouth with the contents on his plate, and greedily swallowed it down. I finally got irritated with everyone and rose from the table.
"I have to go pay a visit to a friend of mine," I announced, laying down enough coins to pay for mine and Erica's drinks.
"Who?" Stephen asked before spooning eggs into his mouth.
"I need some info on my girls – Amber and Rachel – so I'm going to go talk to Trey," I said, ignoring Spot's eyes.
I walked towards the door, biting my lip once more, and dared myself to look back. I only glanced long enough to watch Jack and Cadince laugh at something, and walked out the door.
I guess you can't always win, because if you did, then the world would be a much more peaceful place.
Next Chapter: Anomie is horrified at what Ned has planned for her punishment. He actually has the guts to torture Daniel in front of her?
Author note: Okay, this took forever to get out, and I'm sorry.
IMPORTANT NOTE, MUST READ: Okay, so, I probably won't get to post tomorrow because I'm going to a parade tomorrow for Kellie Pickler because I live in Albemarle, NC…and I like parades…and I voted for Kellie…and if you bash her in front of me, I'll kill you, just ask my friends.
