Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or any of it's characters. I do however own Carolynne, Nick, Derek, Harshad, Tabitha, Raina, and Avel (Plus my new characters every chapter, or so).
(This one is a little short, sorry!)
Chapter 17: Clingers + Awkwardness
Iggy
I was sitting with Max, and Nudge at a lunch table. I was bored because Gazzy had already found Emma, his assignment. Yet, I still had to find mine. How could I? I was blind; I couldn't see. I was struck with another thing that made my lack of sight a disability. I couldn't hear anything; it was so loud. The cafeteria was filled with the sound of raucous chatter. It was so numbing and horrible. I felt like I couldn't breathe. Sometimes I liked the music, but this was a bit too much for me. I felt like I was suffocating, and had to leave.
I finished my food, French toast and sausage, and bolted. Max asked me where I was going. I would tell her, but I don't know myself. I just knew I needed to get out of here. "Uh, I found Janica."
She nodded, a hint of confusion in her eyes. I ignored it and raced out of the room. The doors closed behind me, and I drew in a sharp breath. I suddenly felt much better. I told Max I found Janica, but I didn't. What do I do now? I open the cafeteria door and start walking blindly. It was very hard to tell where I was going, because of all of the talking. I used my ears to try to home in on a voice, any voice. It was hard. I hear Nudge's loud chatter and instinctively tune it out.
I hear other voices and tune those out too. In a matter of seconds I am left with one voice and I hear her name. "Janica I haven't seen you in a long time. Do we have any classes together?"
I quickly follow the voice. It takes me across the room; it takes me to my assignment. Almost there, I thought to myself. I stopped and for a minute I wondered why my feet had stopped moving. It was that nostalgic moment where I missed how things used to be. I missed just making explosives with Gazzy. I missed just flying through the blue sky with the flock. I missed not having this amazing amount of tension on my shoulders. Why couldn't Max make up her mind? Why couldn't she leave Fang and come to me? Was I not good enough? Was my being visually impaired a problem? I knew I couldn't fight as well as Fang because of my sight. I knew I could never be second in command because of it. It just wasn't fair; Fang got everything he wanted. I got nothing; I always get nothing. Don't mind me; I'm just the freakin' blind pyro and nothing else.
The moment ended and my face rushed to meet the ground for a cold embrace. Pain shot through my body on impact. Although it was only for a second, it hurt like crazy. I groaned and sat up, reaching my arms out for anything to help me up. The chatter was still deafening and I was lost. I felt something warm on my hand; it was blue. It moved, and I jumped, immediately letting go. "What are you doing?" a girl scolding me. I felt my cheeks redden at my embarrassing mistake; this would never have happened if this place were quiet. I could have felt the vibrations and known I grabbed someone, but this was life, and it isn't fair to me, "Uh, sorry. I didn't know; I thought you were a table."
Her voice seemed to drip with gritty confusion, "You thought I was a table?"
"Yes," I said quietly enough for her to hear me. Here comes the yelling, I flinched.
"What are you, blind?"
"Actually, yes."
She gasped at her mistake, and she touched my face, pushing the short bangs out of my face to get a look at my eyes. When she saw their bluish paleness, her palm grew sweaty on my face. "I am so sorry. It's just that people do these things all of the time, to get me to notice them and- -I'm really sorry; I don't know what else to say, a-"
I took her hand from my forehead, and held it in mine. Then, with all of the charm I could muster, I asked her a question. "Then could you help me get up? The floor is nice, but I would prefer a chair, if I could."
She immediately started to pull me up, and I thought. This is my assignment? Is this Janica? I wish I could see her face right now, but alas, I can't. She invited me to sit with her and, I did. "I never did catch your name."
"Oh, I'm Janica. Janica So," so she was my assignment.
"I'm" I had to catch myself, for I almost said Iggy. "Jeff."
"Okay, I'll introduce you to my friends. Their names are Takada (tah-kah-dah), Olive, and Hema (heh-mah)."
"How are ya'?" Olive replied. Her voice had a heavy Southern accent that I liked.
"Nice to meet you," Takada said. I could tell she was a very controlled person. Her voice was high and perfect.
"Great to make your acquaintance, Jeff," Hema tried. She had a slight Russian accent when she spoke English. It wasn't as thick as Raina's, I remembered.
"Good, thanks-" I was interrupted by the bell's loud ring. We all left for class at that moment, and I noticed that Janica was holding my hand, leading me along. This reminded me of that time, which seemed so long ago. When Max and I were alone in Michigan. She held my hand and I couldn't help but feel surprised. I was surprised at this odd gesture. She comes off as so mean, but maybe she isn't. Maybe she's misunderstood; maybe just like me.
We hung out for most of the day because we had just about the same schedule. I'm guessing Lyn had something to do with that. I smirked at the idea. In art we drew these pictures where you had to mimic the other persons movements. I let Jan lead and I followed. I must have been doing well, because she asked me how I did it. My cheeks heated at the thought of the question. No one has ever asked me that question except…never mind. While I was telling her I couldn't help, but notice an almost silent growl coming from down the table. Was that Max? I chuckled lightly; was she jealous of Janica? That made me a little happy, in a sadist way.
How could I be happy to see Max suffer? How could I be happy from that? Could it be because of how she made me suffer? Could it be how she plays with a guy's emotions, like its nothing? Could it be that she doesn't seem to know what she wants? Tuhat was a part of it. I sat back and acted like I liked her, enjoying knowing that she's angry the whole time. Pkart of me felt bad for using Jan like that, but the better part of me wanted to see her suffer. See her suffer so she could feel what I have. I need to stop thinking about her, and focus on my assignment.
Janica So
Age: 16
Objective:
-Find out her connection to the Director
Befriending help:
-Make her feel guilty sometimes
-Don't make jokes
-Be her Tommy Hazard ;)
-You can fake the last one (if you want to) :)
I got most of this when she told me about it, but I was still confused. What the heck is a Tommy Hazard? Is that a person or something? I asked her about it this morning and she just giggled at the mention of it. Tommy Hazard? Is that a joke? If I want to? Want to what? I totally need to ask her about that later, a Tommy Hazard.
I got the rest of it though. She told me about the Director D. He was this really evil scientist that experimented on s-naturals. He tried to find ways to increase their powers, though most of his tries ended in death. This was why finding Nick was so important; she was immensely worried about this happening to him. My only question was: how? I don't know where is doctor is, and I don't know what he's going to do once we find him. I just know he won't take too kindly to being found, he's supposed to be evil. Evil scientists never give up; they always have that I-can-do-it type of attitude, which contributes to their immoralness.
I've already started to befriend her, and it seems to be working. There is only one problem, I think she is starting to like me. Whenever I enter the room the hear her breath catch. Whenever I am near her, she has the overwhelming need to hold my hands or touch me. I think I have a raven-haired wonder on my hands. I feel your pain Fang, I feel your pain. I try to act friendly, but she always mistakes it for something else. There is no stopping this girl. She constantly is grabbing my hand, trying to lead me around to class. I tell her that I am okay; that I can get to class, because the hallways are quiet. She insists that she leads me around. In her eyes, she is paying me back for being so rude to me in the morning. I told her it was okay, but my raven-haired wonder won't take no for an answer!
Nudge's (pov) Flashback
"There were cheers all around. I stood up and Audric, following suit, did too. A smile stretched across my face. He gets to buy me something. I started to wonder what it might be. Then, in the midst of the noise, in the middle of the cheering he shouted at the top of his lungs. I was not expecting this, at least not yet. "Pixies are fierce!"
Laughter erupted from all around the gymnasium. It's not everyday you hear a supposedly emo kid yell about pixies in the middle of class. What made it weirder was that it wasn't an insult. It was a compliment. A compliment for me; this was just about the sweetest thing. I thought we were kidding about the last part, but I wasn't complaining. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen! Ever. The best display of bravery and charm, by far. I stepped out of the circle; I wanted to laugh too. I wanted to scream at the joy I was feeling. It was a familiar feeling I hadn't felt since the fall of the School. This feeling was new and somewhat old. This feeling was buried deep inside of me; this feeling was triumph and I loved it!
End.
I was still full of adrenaline from my win, and also full of joy. After school, Audric said he was going to take me to the Phoenix Nest to get me anything I want, since I won the fight. Along the way, I playfully teased him about losing against a girl. He was surprisingly okay with it, which meant he was a good guy. We stopped and it was a little cut shop that sold, school sweatshirts, foam fingers, food, and other cheery paraphernalia. We looked around the shop, glancing at the stuffed phoenixes and letting out small, jolly laughs.
I was amazed at how much things they could fit into them small classroom. The racks of comfortable, cozy sweatshirts and shelves of furry socks. There were even small snow globes with different countries, and one of this school. I shook it and the snow fell; it was so pretty I wanted to take it and never look back, but one thing caught my eye. I put the snow globe back and was drawn in by the jewelry. There were faux-stone bracelets and necklaces. The stones were glistening midnight blue, pepto-bismal-pink, and a wonderful emerald green.
Overwhelmed by the sight I silently decided I wanted jewelry, something that I could hold onto for a longtime. So, that even when I am flying, even when I am soaring through the clear blue sky, I could look back on this memory and become more content with this crap life of mine. I was eyeing the emeralds, when Aude touched my arm. I turned around; and momentarily, I put the necklace down, and looked his way. His face was expressionless, and I couldn't read him at all. He could be happy, or angry and I would never know. The weird thing was I couldn't feel his emotions from when he touched my arm. Did he have some type of emotional block? "Are you done picking?"
I think I mentally exhaled, because I could feel his emotions already. They were happy, and confused? He caught me off guard, "Um, almost. Give me a second."
I stared at the gems, and one made me gasp happily. It wasn't a gem, but it was a small silver necklace. It was a charm bracelet that could go around your neck. I picked it up, marveling it like it was pure gold. I put a charm on it and said, "This is what I want."
He looked at it and started at the necklace. More importantly the charm I put on it, "A smile huh?"
I grinned happily, "Of course. It reminds me of you; the first time that I saw you smile, hence the smiling face."
"Okay," he said quietly as he paid for my necklace. We left the store and were standing there in an awkward silence, face to face. I smoothed out my skirt, wiping my sweaty palms. I fingered my necklace in my hands. It was so smooth, and cold, and warm all at the same time. If that makes sense.
"Do you want me to—?" he asked.
I nodded and he took the necklace from my hands. I turned around and he lifted up my hair, lacing it around my neck. He clasped it and my hair fell back onto my back. I fingered the necklace again; it's cold penetrating my throat. "Thanks."
I was facing him again, and we were met with another awkward silence. This one was sort of comforting and I stood a minute. "What do you want to do now?"
Damn, I forgot! I have to go to Fang's room for our meeting; I think I'm late. I start to sweat a little. This is totally jeopardizing my mission. I usually don't curse, but I am on a mission. I don't have time to go do whatever with him. I need to get out of here, and go meet Lyn and the others. He's too close to me. I'm getting nervous, ugh. "Uh, I have to go."
"Huh?"
"I'm meeting some friends today," I said nervously. I was being truthful too, to an extent.
"I thought you were new," he asked confusedly.
"I came with some other friends, other exchange students."
"Oh, okay. I'll see you later then," he said, waving at me as I walked away.
"Yeah, see you later."
-:) Review plz!
