Chapter 24: February 14

Riley hummed lightly as she did her homework, setting aside her pencil every now and then to flip music channels on her phone. Snow still fell, but it was lighter now then it had been earlier that winter, and the warmth that radiated from the heater in the corner of her room slowly pulled her into a comfortable slumber.

Her eyes closed and a scene seemed to be laid out in front of her. A beautiful green meadow could be seen beyond a wall made of stone. Opening the gate and stepping on the grass, she looked down in surprise. Her feet were bare and strangely splattered in paint, yet this did not seem to bother Dream-Riley. Looking up again, she saw small slabs of marble covering the grass, and gazing around, she noticed that the grass was turning yellow, and shriveling up into flames. The flames were coming nearer and nearer, and she ran, but it seemed as if her movements had become slow and lethargic. She felt herself grow heavy, and finally dropped to the flaming weeds. "Riley, Riley, Riley, Riley, Riley, Riley, Riley, Riley. Not the tree. Not the sea. Not the tree. Not the sea-." The phrase was repeated many times, until Riley felt a shock that wasn't supposed to be in her dream.

"What? Why am I buzzing?" Her dream self wondered.

Opening her eyes again, Riley looked around the dim room, wondering how long she'd slept since the sun had set. Her phone buzzed another time, and she opened the text message from Will.

Hey. Going 2 the dance? I wanted to see you earlier, but my science teacher was making me redo a lab.

Riley smiled and tried to visit Will, but it felt as if he was busy and she let go, choosing instead to send a quick reply and wandering to the minds of the other sensates. She'd become accustomed in tuning in to their feelings. It seemed as if today, they were all happy… except for one.

Riley shook off her blanket and pushed aside the textbooks as she stood from the bed. She'd tried to help conciliate Kala and Wolfgang, yet it seemed as if the two refused to talk, let alone link together.

Daniela knocked on the door and peeked in, smiling widely.

"Hey! You've been sleeping since forever. Erity was about to come in here and turn on the lights and I was all like, 'hell no, girl!"

"Hi Daniela. I'm getting ready for the dance." Riley turned on the room's light and winced.

Daniela jumped in excitement and threw open the closet doors. She inhaled happily, as if the recent shopping excursion over winter break could be smelled in the air.

"Isn't it wonderful that they're making the winter formal today? I think it's super awesome. I mean; it sucks for anyone that's not going to have a date, but whatever."

"Who are you going with?"

"Well… I'm planning on finding Lito there. Ugh, he's going to drop when he sees me in my outfit," Daniela replied smugly, throwing dresses on the bunk behind her.

Riley bit her tongue to keep herself from laughing. Clearly, Daniela did not know very much about whom Lito was actually interested in. Slipping into a dark purple dress her friend handed her, Riley looked in the mirror. She didn't think she was nearly as pretty as most people told her she was. Sometimes she would stare at her pale reflection and wonder why Will was with her. Would he still have found her attractive, even if she weren't part of his cluster?

"So, uh…" Daniela moved in front of the mirror to do her makeup, and Riley snapped out of her train of thought. "Have you and Will, ummm, ya know?" She winked at Riley in the mirror and applied a thick coat of shiny gloss to her lips.

Riley felt herself growing embarrassed, and went to sit at the edge of the bed. "Well… not quite."

Daniela turned her eyes sparking in intrigue. "'Not quite?'" she asked, her voice almost drooling in future gossip.

Riley tapped her foot impatiently but smiled. "You know what I mean. I just don't think it's really necessary right now."

Daniela rolled her eyes and brushed through her hair with a small comb. "You're eighteen, for goodness's sake! I can't believe this is coming from someone who sneaks cigarettes on campus."

Riley stopped her nervous tapping and looked at the girl in shock. "You know?"

Daniela took a cigarette from her purse and lit it after throwing the comb on the bed. "Duh."

Riley had wondered why her stash had been inexplicably dwindling the past few weeks.

Daniela puffed out her last breath of smoke with a cough, opened the window, and threw the cigarette out into the night. "So. Are we going?"

/

Kala walked cautiously into the school's indoor gymnasium. The white floors were so clean she could nearly see her reflection peering down in curiosity. All around were tables set with bouquets of flowers, as well as a frightening amount of heart-shaped confetti. Students were already inside, swaying to soft music as the DJ prepared himself.

Across the gym, next to the stand of food, she saw Capheus standing with a rather grumpy looking Sun. Kala walked over and waved to the both of them, though she felt bothered by the dance as well.

"Hello. Are you liking the dance?"

Sun looked at Kala murderously, and turned away to survey the large amounts of teenagers coming in. It was a small gym, as they didn't have more than a few hundred students at the Board, and already the crowds seemed to be forming around them. The DJ welcomed the students to the "2016 Winter Formal," and sounds of cheers and whistles bounced off the walls and filled the stuffy air as people began dancing.

Capheus handed the girls cups of juice, and they drank simultaneously. Kala blinked several times, feeling buzzed by the sudden and much needed energy the juice provided her. She talked with the other two teenagers for a little while, until she saw Daniela, Will, and Riley walk into the gym. She waved them over, and handed each of them a cup.

"It's really good!" she yelled over the music.

"Yeah," Will answered. "That DJ's pretty good, too. I can see you doing that one day, Riley." He wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.

Riley grinned. "I don't think so."

Daniela moved excitedly to the music, watching the others around her. "I'm going to go find Lito."

Will's eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously behind Daniela, doing a cutting motion across his throat.

Capheus stepped in front of Daniela and said, "Are you sure? You should stay with us, you know."

Daniela sighed and passed them. "I'm good." Leaving the others, she wandered out of the gym, smiling at a security guard who watched the festivities. She walked past him and up the stairs, hoping he wouldn't see her as more students coming in distracted him.

One of her friends had texted her that Lito had walked up to the second floor, and she wandered the hall, regretting her choice of stilettos.

"Lito?" she called out, opening each classroom door. "Are you there?"

She finally came to a stop at the end of the hall, wondering if she should check the other Wings. She turned to do so, but heard a strange noise coming from the janitor's closet at the end of the hall.

"What the hell…" She frowned and placed her hand on the doorknob, its metal cold to the touch. "Lito?"

She opened the door, and was greeted with the sight of Lito pinning a curly haired boy against the wall, and kissing him.

Daniela stepped back, and clasped her hand over her mouth in surprise.

The curly haired boy opened his eyes in shock, and pulled away from Lito, whose expression changed from one of passion to horror as he turned to look at the sudden entrance.

Daniela tried to close her mouth and say something. Finally, "Oh. My. God." She paused and then slowly smiled. "Oh, this is great. This is really, really great."

A/N: Here is Part 1 of the Valentine's Day Special Chapters. I'm changing update time, because I realized it's not very convenient for me as a writer or all of you as readers (Saturdays are just so busy). I will be posting on Sundays now. Also, I'm thinking that this fanfic should be done around the time that the characters end school. It's crazy how fast everything seems to have gone by! Anyways, I hope all of you have a GREAT weekend.

~C.o.D.