Chapter 11

Sleep eluded me last night as it did the night before. Much like the events of my last slumber, it was met with an odd dream. It started with me walking down the street rather early in the morning. Then with my name being called and being grabbed at. As I turned into the ally, I was met with the same gristly sight.

All my friends' dead, mangled, and hung from the wall with steaks. Upon seeing the culprit, it was myself… no, this wasn't me, it was a demon. But unlike last time, he had a smile on his face. How could someone smile after having done this?

I run, down a never ending street. He walks towards me, holding a stake in each hand. I'm sure that there are more steaks under the cloak he is wearing. Everything I do to avoid him is in vain. Suddenly appearing right in front of me, he just smiles.

His right hand grabs my face and lifts me up off the pavement. It's hard to make out his face, but there it is. That same, demonic smile. He utters the words. "You brought this upon yourself."

My eyes shot open when this happened. The same dream again? This time though, it had a little bit more added to it. I'm scared of this dream now. A sharp pain shoots through my head, causing me to jerk forward a little. The only thing I could do is let out a grunt of pain.

Sweat is dropping down my face; clearly this was one of those dreams.

Looking at the clock, I wasn't to shocked that it read 4:16am. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that I wouldn't get any more sleep tonight. If anything, that was welcome. After that dream, I don't want to go back to sleep, I'm scared to.

My worries would soon come to a halt, as my phone received a text message. At this hour in the morning I thought it would be Neptune. As soon as I looked at the I.D. however, my current hypothesis would prove to be incorrect.

"Noire? What's she doing up at this hour?"

Unlocking my phone, I opened the message. Why the hell couldn't she wait until morning to tell me whatever this is? But upon reading it, I could see why.

"Hey Jack, I know it's early and all, but I was wondering. Could you… talk to me about something? You can say no if you'd like, doesn't matter to me. Or if you're not even awake yet, just get to me in the morning will you?"

I'm curious as to what she wishes to discuss. Perhaps it's just something that can wait until we get to school. Or… if it really is something she really needs. Either way I'm still going to reply. Not like I have anything else better to do anyway.

"Don't worry, you didn't wake me. What is it you need?"

"Well, could we talk over the phone? I'd feel more comfortable that way."

Getting off my bed, I open my bedroom door. It's still pretty dark here, then again, it's almost 4:30. Stepping ever so lightly, I manage to slip pass Maurice's room. With that obstacle out of the way, I only have to tread the living room to exit through a window. I prefer to do most of my things outside.

Finally, I'm outside. Going down to Noire's contact, I click the call button.

*Ring*… *Ring*… "Jack! Th… thanks for calling." There are hints of nervousness in her voice. If she needed help, I would think she'd be straight forward about it.

"No problem, what do you need?"

"I… I sort of like this guy we go to school with. I don't know how to go about it. Neptune would just laugh at me. And the others wouldn't understand. You're the only one I could think of."

It's nice to know that I'm the only one that can help her with this. I wonder who the guy is though. Noire from my observations doesn't seem like the girl who would talk to others about her interests.

"I'm not too keen on the subject, but I'll see what I can do." That first part is true, I've never been in a relationship so I wouldn't know much about it. The only things I know truly are from Maurice. Even then he was vague and cryptic about it.

"Just be yourself, I know that sounds cliché, but it works. This guy totally would like a kind, good looking girl like yourself." Ok, letting my own personal thoughts spill out into this wasn't the best idea.

"You… you really think I'm good looking… and kind?" If I could see her face right now I bet she's blushing. For some reason I've had that effect on women lately.

"Hell yeah I do. You're more intelligent than most people if not all in the school. You also have regality on your side. Not to mention that your work ethic is great. From the few assignments we've had so far this year, you've given it your all. You'll do anything to get the job done perfectly."

Where in gods name is this all coming from? I know I already said she was good looking but now this? My ego must be soaring right now. That or I'm finally learning what it means to be a friend again.

"Thanks, that's very sweet of you. But I don't need compliments, I'm great after all." New observation, she has a very high pride. "That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me." She whispers under her breath.

"What was that?"

"No… nothing! Oh… look at the time, see you at school."

As soon as she hangs up I'm left with more questions than answers. We haven't known each other for that long. Hell, we haven't even talked much. Yet there she was, asking me for relationship advice.

That wasn't even that long of a conversation. What really bugs me is how she hastily hung up when I asked her what she said. This raises the question, 'what was her real motive?'

It was obvious what she said was a lie. Enough of that, I need to get back inside. Just a short conversation and pondering have made it late enough to normally wake up. One things for sure, I need a shower.

Some time has passed since this morning. Right now I'm sitting in fourth hour waiting for class to start. Not surprising, Noire hasn't spoken a word to me all morning long. Every time I look her way, I find her staring at me, then quickly turning away.

The real surprise was that neither Uni or Vert gave me any sass until now. "Hey! Why did you bail on us last night?" I know that tone of voice all too well. It's the I'm pissed off more than you'll ever know voice.

"The same goes for you too Nepgear." Glad that I'm not the only one getting lynched by Uni. Vert is also behind Uni. It's clear that she's disappointed as well.

"You see… uh…" At this point no matter what I tell them they'll see it as a lie. "There was an internet down in our area." Thanks for saving me Nepgear, but next time don't say it so fast.

"Oh… and you two live near each other? Pretty suspicious if you both were trying to tell us that." Damn, Vert's on to us. On the outside, se doesn't look like the deductive type. I would've left that role to Blanc.

"Actually, she went over to Jacks place. Was going on and on about how…" Neptune is cut off by her sister suddenly getting up from her desk. Clearly Nepgear doesn't want something to be revealed to the rest of the world.

"Sis! Please don't tell anyone, I'm begging you!" I've never seen a girl so desperate. This is the fabled high school drama I've heard so much about. I don't know why she's getting embarrassed, we were just playing four goddesses online.

I think she means the accidental hand holding though. Or the fact that back there we had a total moment. So I can see why she would want to keep this private. Now that I think about it, I don't want this to get in the hands of the others.

"Ok, I didn't mean to rile up my little Nep Jr." I can't tell if Neptune is being sincere or just flat out lying. It's impossible to tell with that girl. It's impossible to tell with all of these girls.

"It was none of your business anyway Neptune." Noire finally spoke for the first time today. The sound of her voice was… relaxing to say the least.

"Noire, where have you been? Alone with no friends I guess?" Wow Neptune is cold. Noire has friends. All of us are friends after all.

"I do too have friends!" The amount of anger in her voice suggests that she may actually not have any friends. That's absurd, I'm her friend, and I'm sure deep inside Neptune is a friend too. This is getting too wild even for me.

"Well… Jack is my friend." Oh how I love it when they volunteer me for these sort of endeavors. She's not lying though, we are friends, just haven't gotten close to her yet. I'd like to, but I haven't had a good enough of an approach to do so until now at least. The others bonding moments came naturally.

This however is beyond the normal bonding moment. Noire took my right hand and began to squeeze it. I think this is to signify that we are close even though that's far from the truth. Her face is blushing the shade of a perfect tomato. And how could it not?

I think I know which guy she likes now. Turns out my ego was right after all. No girl would blush this much while holding the hand of a guy she was just friends with. It's only logical after all.

Who am I kidding? This hand holding feels nice. For the first time in many years, I feel alive and kicking. My heart is finally skipping beats. Do I really like Noire in that way? That can't be right, Nepgear is also on my mind like that. And so is Blanc on occasion.

My past self should've known it was going to end like this. Being divided amongst girls and die of a heart attack.

No… I can't do that. They're my friends. If I were to date one of them I'd betray them all. Besides, I don't think I can date them. They've been too nice to me in the past three days to think like this. Not to mention that I've only known them for a short time.

If I were to act on my feelings now, I'd only end up looking like a complete fool. Then they'd never want to talk to me again. I hate the idea of that, but it's more real than anything else at this point.

"Jack… you don't look ok." Noire says to me with concern in her voice. All this thinking is starting to make me light headed. Knowing what the source of this problem is, I decide now is the time to deal with it.

"Um, Noire." My face now pointing down to our intertwined hands. It's strange, at first glance from an outside party, we'd look like an actual couple. Getting the message, she takes her hand off slowly. Then after realizing what she just did, her face turns a new shade of red.

She's panicking, I don't know why she was the one holding my hand. The worst part was… I was enjoying every second of it. Every awkward second of it. I'm not going to go there though. Last time I got attached to someone it ended with them dying in a car wreck. Good times am I right?

Whatever is wrong with her at this point is an unknown. Three days isn't enough time to form a proper opinion of someone. You either have to be desperate, or just plain crazy to go for something like that.

But… why does my heart feel all weird all of a sudden? It's not only with Noire, it's also with a few more of them. That's insane, I can't be think these kind of thoughts this early in our friendship. Oh who am I kidding? These girls are the first friends I've had in years. So perhaps, I'm the desperate one.

Whichever path my life takes me, it'll have to wait. Class is starting, and I need a break from all of this.