Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enjoy.

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Don't Forget About Me

Chapter Four: Lost

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I stalked through the maze that was the library, lost already because of my lack of knowledge about where everything led. Perhaps, I mused to myself, if I'd bothered to actually come in here before today, I'd know my way around a tad easier.

"Crap" I said loudly, as I turned a corner sharply and ran into none other than Lucas Holden. I felt the wind being knocked out of me as I stumbled backwards onto the ground. Groaning, out of pain, out of frustration, I threw my hands down in defeat and lay down on the carpeted floor, closing my eyes, silently wishing this day to be over.

I opened one eye several minutes later to find Lucas standing over me, a look on his face that was somewhere between curiosity and amusement.

"What?" I barked at him as he continued to stare. "Why are you looking at me?" I said, quieter, but still with that same bite.

"Here." He said, offering me a hand to help me up.

I looked between him and his hand before slowly, carefully taking it. Why was he being nice to me? Then I snorted at my own stupidity. I was treating him as if he were the next Dalby. Who was I kidding, Lucas Holden was mean to no one. He was spiteful to some, I thought, considering his behaviour towards Matilda earlier, but what could he have to hold against me? I thought silently, as he led me to another corner of the library.

This corner was not filled with usual non-fiction books that one usually found in our library, nor was it filled with tables and chairs like the front. Instead, this corned housed many beanbags and comfortable chairs, fiction books from every imaginable genre, as well as a kettle, some various hot drink ingredients, and mugs.

It was like a nerd's heaven I snickered to myself.

Luke had settled himself in one of the chairs, and as I met his eyes, he gestured for me to take a seat to. I cautiously sat down in one of the beanbags that faced him, slowly sinking into its soft combines.

Silence was easy with this kid. He was unassuming, quiet, and well, nerdy. There were no awkward moments even though we'd barely spoken. He didn't judge you like everyone else in the entire school did. Probably because he was most used to being judged because of who he was.

Hell, every time I called him a nerd I was judging him. I didn't know him from a bar of soap, and while some of his characteristics were typical of a stereotypical nerd, he had guts. You had to have guts if you were going to take on the teen queen, even with only five people around.

And he'd just shrugged off her harshness. He'd walked away.

"Why do you hate Matilda Hunter so much?" I asked him curiously.

He snorted loudly at this.

Jeez, I didn't think I was that amusing.

"Why does anyone hate her? She's so self-assured. And while that's not a bad thing, she has this false confidence in her so-called 'popularity'. She had this… belief that no one will be able to take her down. And because she believes this, she believes she can treat everyone how she wants. Step on as many people as she wants. Crush as many people as she needs to. Why do I hate her? Pick one of the many times she's trampled something I've said, or mocked me as I walk past her in the hallway. Better yet, pick one of the many times she's simply ignored my existence because she thinks I'm a waste of space." He finished, laughing bitterly.

Perhaps I was going to enjoy spending this quality time alone with Lucas after all.

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Belle looked as if all her Christmases had come at once after I finished my bitter speech. Like she'd never imagined finding, in this school, someone who despised Matilda Hunter anywhere near as she did.

For someone smart, she sure was a bit stupid. She only had to open her eyes and look around detention. Only two people in there liked Matilda… maybe it was only one. Maybe none. I wasn't sure whether she actually liked herself, or just pretended to for the sake of everyone else.

Matilda Hunter had done nothing to gain my friendship, my acceptance or my good word. She had constantly beaten me, kicked me when I was down at my worst, then stepped over me and pushed me away into a corner entitled 'Used and Abused'. That was how she treated people in her world. That was how the queen of queens survived.

I imagined boarding school to be a tough fight for the top rug on the popularity ladder. I imagined that Matilda must have fought like a princess warrior, and literally clawed her way to the top. That's the kind of girl Matilda Hunter was. She didn't like to be second best to anyone, so she would've fought with every ounce of cattiness and bitchiness to get her to the top social position in boarding school.

I also imagined not being able to trust your friends would be hard on you too. Being aware that they judged you just as you judged them, and that the slightest slip up would force you into social isolation for the remainder of highschool. And while Matilda appeared to have all the friends in the world, how many of them were her actual friends? I didn't have that many, but at least I knew they accepted me completely for who I was.

Sighing to myself, I imagined how hard it must have been for her to lose her father. He had been well loved by everyone in Summer Bay. And Matilda's affection towards him had been no secret either. During primary school I remember the numerous amounts of times she would run out the gate to be scoped up into her fathers arms as he tickled her, making her giggle and laugh.

Then to be taken from the one place you had left in your heart. Where there may have been no warmth or happiness for you, but there was comfort in the things you knew by heart, comfort in the things that were always there, that had been there for as long as you cared to remember.

There is comfort in things that are familiar, even if they aren't entirely honest or nice even.

And I imagined that it hurt Matilda like hell to have her family, and her life, ripped apart at the drop of a pin.

I imagined that with one simple phone call, she had transformed herself into the ice-queen that we all knew and hated today.

But that still didn't give her any right to be like she was around people. It just managed to justify her behaviour in some weird, twisted way.

Realising that I'd been lost in my thoughts for some time now, I looked up and saw that Belle was wondering around the section, looking around many of the books that were held here.

She was a strange girl, Belle Taylor was. Hardened by something that had obviously happened in her past, she appeared at time to be wise beyond her years, but at other times, she was vulnerable and innocent, no more than a child was.

She turned and gave me short smile, before it turned into a smirk.

I smirked back, and that caught her off guard. Then I asked, "So, have you ready any of the five books in the 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' trilogy?"

She cocked an eyebrow at me before taking her seat again "You mean three books right? Three books in a trilogy."

"It's the longest trilogy out there." I replied cryptically, before launching off into an explanation. Something told me Belle might be a little softer than she appeared to be.

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I looked up from painting a second coat of 'pretty-in-pink' (inspired by the movie, of course) nail polish onto my nails to see Dalby striding towards the back exit. Where in the world is he going? I thought to myself as I watched his back walk powerfully away.

"Hey" I yelled out on impulse. Whatever had I done that for? I hated this boy. Despised him. He'd been an ass to me since we arrived here.

Dalby turned around, a slightly shocked, but amused expression playingon his face. He flashed me one of his infamous smirks before walking back slowly towards me.

"You rang, oh Princess?" he said, sitting down on the table behind me and putting his legs up onto a chair, waiting for my answer.

I blew on my nails, contemplating the situation. As I saw it, I had two choices. I could continue to ignore him, pretending to both of us that I hadn't yelled anything out, then shoo him away when his sitting there became too much.

Or, I could continue with this gut instinct I felt. This, overwhelming curiosity I felt when it came to Eric Dalby. Blowing on my nails one final, sensual time for good measure, I looked up towards him through my dark lashes and said quietly, in an almost seductive whisper "Where are you going?"

He let out a hollow laugh before leaning down and whispering into my ear "Why Princess, you wanna come with me?"

The way he said it infuriated me. It was as if I were too innocent, to naïve to play with him in the big bad world.

How little the people in this world actually knew about me.

But instead of sharing this with him, I decided to mess with his mind a little.

Leaning up, I whispered into his is "Is it that you don't think I could handle you or… that you don't think you can handle me?" I finished seductively, before sitting back into my seat, crossing my legs so my tight skirt inched up a little more, and smirked as his face became shocked.

Who'd have guessed Dalby could be so easy to play? I reflected as I watched him continue to struggle to make sense of what I'd said to him.

Sometimes, males make it so easy for the opposite sex to screw with their minds, because other parts of the body did the thinking for them. I may have been an ice queen, but I still knew how to get my way with guys.

I stood up and adjusted my skirt, before pulling down my top to show a little hint of cleavage. I saw Dalby's eyes drop automatically to my chest for a few moments before they met my eyes once again.

No matter where we were in the world, men would always think about the same three things. Sex, food and sport. In that order. And yet, they still wondered how we had them all figured out, and they had no clue about us. Please, every girl knows if she has the body, she may as well use it.

He continued to stare into my eyes as my smirk grew. Suddenly, he pushed me back down into my chair and sat down close next to me. I was shocked at his roughness and my face portrayed this. Now, he was the one smirking.

Damn him to hell, I thought angrily as I finally glared back at him.

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Princess had guts. I'll give her that. She had spunk too, and anger and passion. More anger and passion than I ever would have given her credit for. Her eyes shot daggers at me as I spun her to face me. She thought her trick had worked. Little witch.

The worst part was, it almost did. She's hypnotising, Matilda Hunter is. One smile and you're weak at the knees. One kiss, you'd be falling at her feet. Anything more, you'd be a slave for life.

The worst part? She knows every damn bit. She knows she is irresistible to the general male population, hell, to the general female population. She was a vision, a dream.

Perfection walking.

But her icy, sharp glare, her flushed, angry face, they all showed me a vastly different side to a girl I'd only ever seen laughing, giggling, and throwing her nose up in the air as if she were better than any one else in her line of vision.

Something told me I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to know this side of her. The side that could bite back when bitten, the side that could tear you to shreds with words.

Instead, I smirked at her some more and let go of her wrist that I'd been holding tight. I said to her sharply "Don't play you're little mind games with me. You want something from me? Be honest, for god's sake. The one thing I can't stand in this world is a girl using her sensual, womanly ways to get what she wants. That's just cruel Matilda Hunter. Then again, you are a cruel person, aren't you?" I finished; smirking some more as her face became shocked.

"I'm not cruel. I'm realistic." She said firmly, turning away from my gaze momentarily, before she decided better and turned back to look me in the eye.

"Where were you going?" She asked, without a hint of spite or cruelty in her voice. If anything there was a touch of curiosity, but I pretended not to hear it, because if I had heard it, things would've gone downhill quickly. Who cared why the princess was curious about me and where I was heading in life? She was just another girl, I thought sternly before answering "Well, wouldn't you just love to know?"

"Yep." She replied shortly "I'm bored. And the smell of books is making my head hurt. So whenever you're ready, I'm coming with you." She finished, nodding her head to me before beginning to apply her nail polish again.

My jaw dropped in amazement. Had that really just happened? Had Matilda Hunter honestly just said she'd spend time alone with me just to get out of this room? Was the world coming to an end?

More to the point, why was I beingso... drama queen ...about it?

Sighing heavily, I looked up to see Henry staring at Cassie, and Cassie ignoring everything around her, drawing furiously onto a sheet of paper.

I wasn't going to be forced to spend time alone with the Ice Queen. Everyone was coming with me too.

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I looked up momentarily, catching both Dalby and Henry staring at me. I glared at both, and they both turned away, blushing slightly at the idea of being caught red handed staring at a girl they hardly knew. I smirked to myself before staring down at the picture that had begun to unfold infront of me.

The outline is there now, the detail yet to be filled in. An artist never rushes art. Never rushes something so special, something so vivid. I looked around the room we're being held captive in. There are angles and lines that I'm sure no one has paid any attention too, until now. There are soft spots where the light creeps in through the windows which no one has ever seen, until now.

There are feeling and emotions and past secrets that are hidden in this room, that no one has ever felt until now. And there is a picture being created infront of me that is of a scene that no one would have ever imagined… until now.

But there are details I have yet to find, details that are needed to complete the picture. Details that are hidden beneath layers of skin and muscles, beneath layers of hurt and pain. There are details that need to be seen to be believed, that needed to be captured in an exact moment, then stored in the back of your mind.

Even my own details, I have yet to see. I always draw scenes, or settings. I've never wanted to draw people... until now. I've never wanted to draw myself until now. Because I'm frightened by what I may find hidden beneath all the layers. I'm frightened that I won't be able to recognise myself, and if I'm that far gone, I'm afraid I won't be able to come back to this state of pretending. This fairytale reality that isn't so much a fairytale, but more a make believe world I've created to ease the pain.

Sometimes, you have to go to extreme lengths to save your soul. Sometimes, you have to go to extreme lengths to make sure you continue to live and breath air, to make sure you can still get up in the morning, to make sure you just don't give up on this life, no matter how inviting the next life is.

I turn my head to meet his eyes. This surprises him, his head instantly snaps up from its wresting place on his palm, but he doesn't look away, not like last time. I look into his eyes, the eyes that have so much more brightness, more spark than his sisters do. I search to see whether he knows the same kind of pain I do. I search further and deeper, until he does something that astounds me. He smiles. Its small, barely there, but it's genuine, and its his.

And suddenly, I find its me who can't look at him any more.

But that doesn't matter, because Dalby has chosen this exact moment to stand up and drag Matilda up with him. She scowls at him, be he only laughs his hollow, dry laugh at her, before he addresses Henry and I.

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I groan to myself as she turns away from me. Why did I have to ruin it? She was looking for something, searching my eyes for something. And I had to go and ruin in. It was the closest she'd been to wondering about me, becoming curious about me. And I smiled. Am I an idiot or what? Couldn't just sit there and let my eyes do the talking, no, I had to smile. And ruin everything.

To make matters worse, Dalby is making a scene, involving Matilda and all.

"We're all going on a little trip." Dalby said matter-of-factly. Looking between us, before sighing to himself as neither she or I make a move.

"And when I say all, I mean all!" he says pointedly, obviously hoping to have a little more impact this time.

"It was clear the first time. Repeating it doesn't guarantee anything." She says, before turning back to her work.

"What's your name?" Matilda asks the girl, rather politely for Matilda, might I add.

But the girl still snorts, like it's Matilda has said the most stupid thing in the world.

"If you don't know, why would I even bother again?" She replies shortly, before glaring harshly at Matilda and turning back to her work.

Matilda looks slightly hurt by this. She doesn't like being told off, my sister. And I'm beginning to see another side to this girl before something clicks simultaneously for Matilda and myself.

"Cassie?" Matilda says out loud, as I think it. Cassie Turner. Matilda's primary school best friend. Matilda cried herself to sleep for weeks after she left for boarding school without Cassie. But then, one day, she just seemed to be over it. And Cassie seemed to be forgotten. Even when we came back to Summer Bay, Matilda didn't look for Cassie in the school halls, didn't ring her house, or anything.

"The one and only." Cassie replies snidely as she continues to draw.

For once, Matilda doesn't say anything. Instead, she shrinks back, from fear, from anger, from hurt? I don't know, her face is unreadable, just like Cassie's.

"Well, wasn't that a strange moment?" Dalby says, before coming over to me and pulling me up from my chair.

"Like I said, we're going for a trip. Collect your girlfriend and come one. We've still got to find Dorkus and Taylor." Dalby growls at me before shoving me in Cassie's direction.

But she's already up by the time I've taken three steps.

"I'm only coming because the light is crap in here and I need better so I can draw." Cassie says airily as she floats past Dalby, apparently leading the way to find the missing two.

I tug on Matilda's hand and offer her a reassuring smile which she returns, just, before walking off to be side by side with Dalby, who just stares down at her as she begins chatting away.

Apparently, Matilda has lost her mind.

I'm too lost in my own thoughts to see where we're going. Cassie. Her name is Cassie. The Cassie I've known since the first day of kindergarten, when she and Matilda teamed up against me and told me I couldn't play with them because I was a boy.

I was crushed that day. And she continued to crush me in her own way, as I developed a childlike crush on her.

One that has lasted into adolescence it would seem.

But my thoughts are interrupted as we come to a halt. I look up to see Belle and Lucas laughing with one another, until they notice the rest of us standing there, staring at them.

And is it just me, or do Matilda and ...Dalby bothlook slightly crushed at the conversation we'd just walked into?

I rub my head, before looking at my watch. Ten fifteen. We've still all the time in the world to ruin today for ourselves, I think cynically as Dalby begins to speak.

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AN: Yay. Done. Thanks to xxNicolexx for her patience. Hopefully the story is developing. Hopefully, there will be another update soon. Please review, it makes me happy.