Nature needed something to laugh at. That's how telemarketers came into being.
So anyway…have I mentioned how freaky the last episode of 'House' was? God, I love that show. Still, that last one was just out of this world creepy. I mean, even when in the end, when they pieced it together so that it makes sense…it didn't make sense. How can you hallucinate within a hallucination?
I DON'T WANT TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR FOR A NEW EPISODE!
Oh, and in case your bored and want a rant that halfway relates to the actual story, developing Josephina in the story is about a thousand times harder than it looks. It's probably because this is the first real experience I've had managing a girl who's timid. I mean, after chugging out a bunch of butt-kicking characters (especially girls), I figured…dang, it was time to make one who was just plain dorky (poor Jo…). I mean, I wanted her to begin the whole experience with the 'pressure point' student ID a solid two chapters ago. And guess what? She gets about seven lines total so far. Though I must say, it's just as bad for Akiro, who seems to be here, basically, by a combination of a need of balance of the male/female among the OCs, and a whim. Sam's no better either. Those poor kids…they are the triple alliance of unrecognized OCs! Hey, that would be a great chapter!
The big question has been vaguely hinted once and awhile, but now, it's been finally asked outright…WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PUT DUELING IN THIS DARN STORY! While a few duels may receive comment, and their may be 'implied dueling' (hey, I'm going to go kick Chazz's arse in a duel. Don't wait up), I don't plan to write any long, extravagant duels down in the story. First of all, I'd probably screw it up, and even if I didn't screw up, I'd probably make someone mad on who won and who lost (the OC/Canon war is everlasting). Don't worry, I don't plan to drop duel monsters from the map entirely though. In fact, we see such in this very chapter.
Don't worry, they'll develop better as time goes on. But for now, I've got to concentrate on getting us through this chapter as quickly and cleanly as possible, without it turning into a pile of sappy mush.
Oh yeah, and in the original version, Zane was supposed to fall down too (you'll see), but it seemed a little awkward in story coordination, so…he's standing. Good for him. Why did I even write this part.
And does anyone actually read this bit anyway?
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Best Intentions
Part Two: The Next P0W4H L4D33 Move
"Kat's Log, day three," said Kat into a tape recorder, still under Chazz's desk. "Still am deep in Obelisk territory. Resistance has been great, but I have already gathered and incredible amount of data for my ongoing war against the FILTHY Obelisk students..."
"GET OUT OF MY DESK ALREADY!" yelled Chazz.
"One in particular presents the most hostility," said Kat into the recorder. "Still, beyond that, everything goes smoothly. Am trying to guess Chazz's weight. It isn't working out well."
"YOU'RE JUST RACKING UP DETENTION FROM BEING UNDER THERE!" yelled Chazz.
"IT IS A SMALL SACRIFICE FOR UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT TRULY MEANS TO BE ONE OF YOUR FILTHY KIND!" yelled Kat.
"YOU STUPID RA RUBBISH!" screamed Chazz. "GET OUT OF THERE, OR I'LL POUND YOU M-"
"POWAH!"
"Thank you for letting me sit next to you Akiro," said Josephina a few rows behind the screams of Chazz.
"No problem," said Akiro. "I have neither the heartlessness nor the ambition to leave an innocent people to fight off the wrath of Kat."
"Is…is she really that bad?" asked Josephina. "Because…in my old school, I had a problem with…well, becoming a doormat…and well…"
"Hey look! It's the wussy new kid who keeps getting beaten up by the crazy Ra!" screamed a particularly stupid group of gossip girls.
"Yeah, I mean, none of us have ever run screaming from her before!" said another one. "Pathetic!"
"How did she get into Obelisk anyway?" said another. "One word-nepatism."
"I also had a problem with teasing…" said Josephina, as her face fell flat on her desk.
"If it's any consolation, one, they're idiots, and two, they've all been beaten up by Kat at least once," said Akiro to Josephina, then turning around to deliberately yell at the three girls behind him, "and several of them have ran away screaming more than once!"
The girls basically ignored him, but seeing as they weren't going to have any more one-sided fun, they just sashayed off.
"But seriously, how did you get into Obelisk?" asked Akiro.
"You're not making it better!" said Josephina.
"Hey…Zane?" said Chazz, right before class was starting, poking Zane with the non-ink end of his pen. "Psst…Zane? Hey Zane?"
Maybe if I ignore him, he'll get bored and shut up thought Zane, doing his best to read his book, which he was sure was going to be far more interesting than anything Chazz could possibly say to him.
"Come on Zane, it's important!" yelled Chazz, stabbing him harder than the pen. "Zane! ZANE! ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAANE!"
Darn, he really sounds like he means it this time…guess I have no-
"LISTEN TO ME, DARN IT!" screamed Chazz at the top of his lungs. Just as Zane was about to turn around and acknowledge Chazz's existence, Chazz whipped out a huge textbook and used it to smack Zane right in the face.
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
"What?" he asked, taking the air horn away from Chazz's twitching and wide-eyed face and dropping it on his desk.
"Boy, are you in a surly mood today!" said Chazz.
"Well first of all, when beaten by large objects, most people experience being pretty cross," said Zane. "And second it hasn't been a good week! I can't find my student ID at all-"
"Huh?" said Josephina, just happening to capture a small fragment of the conversation (she and Akiro sat about four rows back from the others).
"-someone cut down my favorite tree in the courtyard-"
"What up my brothers?" said Joku, walking into the room, dressed in suspenders, flannel shirt, boots, and a carrying a huge ax over his shoulders.
"-and when I got my test back, it was riddled with stupid mistakes-"
Chazz just whistled to himself.
"-and the spelling was just atrocious…"
Chazz took a sudden interest in the pencil he was absentmindedly twirling around.
"…now that I think about it, it barely…resembled…my…handwriting…" said Zane, slowly trailing off, as Chazz looked at him, smiling sheepishly. For that…Zane gave him a glare that would kill many a lesser man.
"Okay, first of all, IT WAS YOU OWN FAULT FOR SIGHNING YOUR NAME IN PENCIL!" screamed Chazz across Alexis's empty seat, eyes twitching violently. "But more importantly, have you noticed that something's wrong with Alexis?"
"Since when do you make astute observations?" asked Zane.
"I dunno…doesn't something about the way she's acting seem…not right?" said Chazz. "I mean yesterday, she didn't even yell at you for air horning me when I got into that fight some Slifer Slacker!"
"Not to mention she didn't yell at you for picking a fight with that kid," said Zane.
"Is that the point? NO!" said Chazz. "The fact is she's not acting like herself! She must be sick or something…"
"To be honest, I think that she's mad at me," said Zane.
"OH, IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU ISN'T IT!" yelled Chazz.
"I think the reason has something to do with the fact that I'm an older brother," said Zane. "I don't know why, but when she heard that I had a younger brother, she seemed very upset."
"WELL DUH!" said Chazz. "Older siblings are the spawn of Satan!"
"…Excuse me?" asked Zane.
"Don't worry your filthy, heathen head," said Chazz, smacking Zane very hard in the head. "I will make sure that she is not bothered by the untimely horror of your meaningless existence on the planet being an older sibling!"
"One, I am starting to remember why I never agreed to be friends with you," said Zane. "And two, nothing personal, but you have a violent tendency of making things that are already a complete mess even worse."
"Oh come on, it's all in your head!" said Chazz. "Besides, like heck am I going to listen to the pathetic drools of an older sibling who makes us normal people go absolutely insane!"
"Whatever makes you happy Chazz," said Zane, rolling his eyes.
"Morning," said Alexis, walking up to the cluster of desks.
"ALEXIS MAH WOMAN!" said Chazz, shoving both hands on her back and pushing away from Zane and Kat, who was still scribbling notes under the desk. "Just the girl I wanted to see! Come on, I need to have a quick coffee talk with you!"
"Chazz, let go of my back…" said Alexis, as she got dragged a small distance away from Zane. Zane just sighed and turned the page in his book, as Joku once again stepped right next to his side. He reached down the collar of his shirt and pulled out a bunch of tarot cards, as Zane tried his best to ignore him. With a great flourish, Joku shuffled the cards in mid air, until the all fell evenly in a neat pile on his hands. He drew the card from the top of the deck.
"Interesting…very interesting…" said Joku.
"What?" asked Zane.
"Your draw is the 'Decked by a Textbook' card," said Joku.
"Joy," said Zane.
"It foretells suffering…" said Joku.
"You don't say," said Zane.
---ooo---
"Chazz, are the words 'let go' not in your vocabulary, or are you just being weird again?" asked Alexis, as she was shoved by him into a corner that was relatively out of earshot of the general school population.
"None of the above!" said Chazz, as Alexis gave him a look. "Anyway, the reason I dragged you here somewhat against your will is that you just seemed a little unlike yourself. You haven't yelled at…Zane enough lately."
"I'm fine," said Alexis firmly.
"That doesn't sound like the voice of a 'fine' person!" said Chazz.
"Chazz, I'm fine," said Alexis.
"No your not!" said Chazz.
"Chazz, what part of 'I'm fine' is not registering?" asked Alexis.
"YOU LIE!" said Chazz. "You are so not fine!"
"You won't be fine in about five minutes if you don't drop it," said Alexis, turning around to walk back to the desks.
"Tell me the truth…" said Chazz, grabbing her arm.
"The truth is that I'm fine!" said Alexis, ripping it out of his hand.
"TELL ME!" said Chazz.
"I'M FINE!" said Alexis.
"TELL ME!" said Chazz.
"I'M FINE!" said Alexis.
"TELL ME!"
"I'M FINE!"
"TELL ME!"
"I'M FINE!"
"TELL ME!"
"I'M FINE!"
"TELL ME OR I'LL KEEP UP THIS POINTLESS BANTER FOR AN INDEFINATE PERIOD OF TIME!"
"Would you just be quiet already!" yelled Alexis, finally giving up with a sigh. "Okay…I admit. I'm just a little uptight. Other than that, I am perfectly, one hundred percent fine."
"Why are you uptight?" asked Chazz.
"Because…well, it's a long story," said Alexis.
"You can tell me…I'm your friend…" said Chazz, his eyes swelling up to twice their size, getting all shiny and happy, making him look like he suddenly turned into a two-year-old school girl.
"…promise me you'll never show me those eyes again, and I'll tell you," said Alexis.
"PROMISE!" said Chazz. Not to be foreshadowing, but he will break this promise at least two more times in this chapter. Not to be foreshadowing though.
"Okay…it's just…" Alexis said. She sighed. "It's…well, a few days ago I learned that…Zane was an older sibling and it just-"
"SAY NO MORE!" said Chazz. "I see what happened! You're ticked off because older brothers are nothing more than huge zits on the face of the earth!"
"…excuse me?" asked Alexis.
"Yeah, their nothing but filth!" said Chazz. "If I was the boss of the world, I would make sure that all older siblings would be lined up and shoved over a cliff to a huge pit of alligators! ALLIGATORS THAT WERE RABID!"
Alexis just glared at him.
"And another thing, you are soooooo lucky not to have any older siblings!" said Chazz. "I have TWO! And they are nothing but bad, bad, grandmother-"
---ooo---
"I'm going to go on a limb and say that Chazz's future is going to somehow involve getting a heel painfully wedged up his rear end," Zane said causally, skimming his book. Joku once again shuffled the deck in midair with a great flourish, catching every single card in his hand. He then drew the top one.
"You are correct, my son," he said blankly.
"Don't call me your son again," said Zane. "It brings back that eye twitch I've been trying to get rid of all week."
WHO-PANK!
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
There was silence for a moment. Slowly and painfully, Chazz limped back to the desks, dragging his leg behind him, his eyes trying to hold back pain-filled tears.
"Zane one, eye twitch one," said Zane.
"Right up the left cheek…" said Chazz.
"...Zane one, eye twitch two," said Zane. "I think it goes without saying that you made things worse."
"…I don't get it…" said Chazz. "I mean…she hates you because you're an older brother…and when I tell her I hate older brothers too, she gives me a heel up my-"
"We aren't one hundred percent sure of any of the above," said Zane. "People often do things while being compelled by emotions that they don't even know."
"Like what?" said Chazz. "HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY JUSTIFY THE FACT THAT SHE HAS MAIMED MY BUTT!"
"…don't say 'butt' Chazz, it's obscene," said Zane. "Anyway, the fact is, there could be a dozen other factors in this. She could be angry because she's an only child and she's jealous because we actually have siblings, or she could have believed that we were fellow only children, and now she's just upset. Maybe she IS and older sibling, and that's why she got mad at you."
"Would you idiots stop talking about me as if I wasn't here?" asked Alexis flatly behind the two.
"I seriously tried to make him stop Alexis," said Chazz, pointing to Zane. "But of course, ol' motor mouth over here couldn't keep his-"
"Sit down dent bottom," said Alexis, sitting between their desks in her usual spot, submerging the entire area in awkward silence.
"I…don't think I can…" said Chazz.
"Then don't collapse on my desk," said Alexis.
"I'm utterly amused…" said Akiro, pulling out a video camera, proceeding to tape Chazz's misery to see if he could win money on AFV again.
"He's…the person who owns the ID I found…" said Josephina.
---ooo---
"Kat, get out from under there," said Samantha, on her knees, talking to Kat, who had now draped a huge, white cloth over the top of Chazz's desk, with 'The Fort of Understanding' written in huge, red letters that alternated between being uppercase and lowercase. "It's been almost a week Kat. I don't want to have to drag you out by your throat!"
"NEVER!" said Kat. "I do not care if you are my Ra comrade, Ra comrade! I will not leave this place until I know the dark and divine secrets of the House of Obelisks! I WILL BE DA MASTER!"
"NOW KAT!" yelled Samantha.
"I SHALL NOT BE SILENCED!" screamed Kat.
"Hope springs eternal…" said Zane, two seats away.
"Okay Zane," said Chazz, kicking Samantha to the side, causing her to shriek in shock and pain, and sitting in his chair. "Alexis is just getting madder and madder at us. Any great philosophies Grasshopper?"
"Well, obviously she's too angry at us for us to confront her directly, considering you already tried that and failed miserably," said Zane. "So we're going to have to do this as subtle as possible. You do know the meaning of subtlety, don't you Chazz?"
"Is that word that you always spell with a 'b' but don't pronounce it, right?" said Chazz.
"Well, yes Chazz, but that word in question could also be 'lamb', 'doubt', and a few other words I'm sure," said Zane.
"So just don't get in her face, shoot her weird looks, and wait until she cracks?" asked Chazz.
"I have a feeling that the huge weight of this is going to fall onto me, but go ahead Chazz, do what makes you happy," said Zane. "Oh, quiet, here she comes."
The two quickly hushed up and pretended to be doing something other than plotting, for Zane, reading that book he's been reading for the fast few days, for Chazz, fiddling with two pens. Alexis didn't even bother to say a word to either of them as she sat down in the desk between them, just dutifully dug out her homework and laid it out on her desk to be checked, as she flipped through her notebook to a fresh sheet of paper. For a moment, except for more scribbling from Kat, there was absolute silence.
"So are you done being a hard-arse yet, or are you still mad?" asked Chazz.
Both Alexis and Zane shot Chazz a killer glare.
"I WAS JUST ASKING! JEEZ!" yelled Chazz.
The ears work perfectly, the mouth is in its prime, but the common sense is DOA though Zane to himself.
"Oh…I get it," said Alexis. "A subtle mind game, a cowardly alternative to a proactive question, which Chazz's ability to be a self-centered brat has charitably provided failure too."
"That's cold," said Zane.
"I AM NOT A BRAT!" said Chazz. "And I don't even know where you get this ridiculous idea that I'm self centered!"
"Look…I just want a little peace and quiet, and to get through this class without any distractions," said Alexis, trying her best to be reasonable. "Is that really too much to ask?"
"Hello! Who cares?" yelled Chazz. "Now tell me about where you got this stupid 'self-centered' thing from!"
He got another glare from Zane and Alexis.
"WHAT THE HECK IS WITH THIS GROUP GLARE THING!" said Chazz.
"Again…is quiet so much to ask for?" asked Alexis.
"I SAID-" Chazz started.
"Just be quiet Chazz," said Zane.
"NO! Since when do I have to listen to you?" said Chazz. "She insults me, you break my arm which has miraculously healed in about a thirty-sixth of the time that would be biologically accurate, and now you just-"
"Look, we're glad that you don't bear grudges, okay?" said Zane. "We're all in a bad mood, so let's just-"
"THERE YOU GO AGAIN!" yelled Chazz. "YOU…YOU…YOU…CUT OF PERSON THI-"
At about the end of that word, the very last, tiny thread of Alexis's patience snapped like a cheep toothpick.
"WOULD YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP?"
SMACK!
With fantastic precision, she snatched a pair of text books from her pile, and then, with a Geometry Textbook in her left hand, and a Cards Safety Textbook in her right, she smacked both Chazz and Zane in the head at the exact same time, shooting both arms out straight to their respective sides, dealing both a blow at the sides of their heads.
"FANTASTIC! FANTASTIC FANTASTIC!" said Kat, scribbling like a mad woman on her notepad, bursting out from under the Fort of Understanding. "SPLENDED! FABULOUS! THAT WAS A POWAH LADY MOVE IF I'VE EVER SEEN ONE! THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR SCIENTIFIC-OW, OW, OW, OW-"
After having exposed herself, she was then dragged by her hair to the other end of the room by Sam. Alexis just sighed in a combination of frustration, exhaustion, and several other negative emotions mixed in such a way that there was no way to describe it.
"I'll need to take a walk," she said, in an oddly reasonable tone, getting out of her chair and shoving it back into the desk. "I just need to cool down…just tell the teacher I'll be back in a few minutes…sorry…"
With that, she just put her hand on her forehead, and made her way out of the room, leaving a dumbfound Chazz and a pensive Zane behind. She then just calmly walked out the door, not with any intention of making them feel guilty or acting like a drama queen. She just simply left the room, nothing more.
"Someone's on hormones," said Chazz, rolling his eyes. "Better go talk to her-"
"Don't you dare move one inch out of that chair," said Zane.
"Excuse me?" asked Chazz.
"Do you see how upset she was?" said Zane. "From a worldly view, we're lucky the most we got out of that little outburst was a textbook through the back of the head and the cold shoulder. When all else fails, just let it go until the dust settles."
"And what do we do after that?" asked Chazz.
"Okay…now here's the crazy concept…we say we're sorry," said Zane
"Sounds pretty wussy if you ask me," said Chazz.
"That's the same thing Custer said when someone told him to skip out on raiding the camp, the captain of Titanic said when someone suggested not to increase the speed of the boat, and what Ceaser said to the crone who told him to skip out on the council meeting," said Zane. "Chazz. Listen to logic. Drop it."
"Yeah, I suppose you're ri-OH GOD!" screamed Chazz, pointing behind Zane.
"What?" said Zane, turning around to see what was behind him, which turned out to be…absolutely nothing. However, what was behind him now was the triumphant sneer of Chazz, and a massive amount of footsteps running toward the door.
For a moment, Zane didn't do anything. Then, he just turned himself to face the normal direction he should, and dutifully waited for the teacher to come in, as Akiro, for no good reason in particular, just absentmindedly walked up to the desk, staring at what seemed to be nothing for a moment.
Pause.
"Best case scenario, she'll hate every single male for the rest of her life," said Akiro. "Worst case scenario…they kill each other."
Within an instant, Zane was gone.
"True, it's manipulation, but it's manipulation for the greater good," said Akiro in an extremely short soliloquy, staring at the now-empty desk that he was next to. Without moving his head, he looked to the left, then he looked to the right. When the coast seemed clear, he grabbed Zane's pen case, dumped the contents into his coat, put it neatly on the desk where it was, then left.
---ooo---
"Okay…this will be easy," said Josephina, clutching the incriminating student ID in her slightly shaking hands, being about as good at proactive confrontation than as sharks are at being compassionate and maternal creatures (no offense to the shark population). "I just have to give him back his ID. There's no problem at all…The worst thing that he could do is be mad at me…then taunt and insult me, gather a mob…cause a public outcry to indulge me in dejection and humiliation, physically and mentally crush my soul and…in a blind and passionate rage…kill me…"
Silence.
"No, I'll think I'll breach the subject slowly," she said, turning away, when-
"DON'T YOU DARE!"
She was frozen in place, her back hair standing on end at the command from an extremely brusque sounding voice from her side. She very slowly turned to see…to her horror…what looked like a duel monster sitting on her shoulder. It actually was a Silent Magician (Level Four), who wore a long, white and blue magicians outfit, with a little white hat with a blue gem in the center of the brow, long white gloves, blue boots, and a little white and blue magic wand. She had long white hair, and her eyes were a pale purple, and she was giving Josephina a very angry look from her shoulder.
"Um…huh…ah…I'm…" said Josephina, twitching slightly, while staring at the little magician, no bigger than a foot tall-a little over thirty centimeters if you're the metric type.
"Oh stop acting like something that's going to get shot at already," she said, in a very tough-sounding voice. "Frankly, it's been bugging me how willfully pathetic you are. Do you know how annoying it is to have to be in the deck of a person who can't speak a full sentence without stuttering or contradicting herself?"
"I d-don't stutter…but then again…" said Josephina.
"SEE!" screamed the Silent Magician. "Let me put it to you this way hon, it's about as fun for me as it would be fun for you to be associated with a serial killer."
"But…but…" said Josephina.
"Well come on! Spit it out!" said Silent Magician.
"Uh…I don't…want to be rude…but…um…" said Josephina.
"I SAID SPIT IT OUT!" yelled Silent Magician, whacking Josephina with her magic rod, causing Josephina to cry out in pain.
"A-aren't you a hallucination?" said Josephina, tears threatening her eyes.
"Oh, don't tell me your going to cry now!" said Silent Magician. "And, no, I am not a hallucination. Why the heck do you think I'm a hallucination? Couldn't whack you if I was, now could I? AND STOP CRYING OR I'LL DO IT AGAIN!"
"Okay!" said Josephina frantically, whipping her eyes. "I'll…I'll try…"
"NO!" said Silent Magician, whacking her again with the wand, causing her to squeek in pain. "No 'try'! Say 'I most defiantly WILL!"
"I…most def-"
Whack!
"NO HESITATION!"
"AH! I MOST DEFINATLY WILL!" said Josephina.
"GOOD! Now you can that idiot over there to not hit you as he comes careening down the hallway," said Silent Magician, waving her wand in the direction of Zane, who was charging full speed down the hallway.
"WAAAAAAH!" cried Jo. "Ah-ah-ah-PLEASE! Don't-"
BAM!
She got clipped pretty well at the side, as Zane tried to veer to one side to avoid killing her, but the force cause him to knock her over.
"So sorry," he said behind him, as Jo lay on the ground, as swirls danced in front of her eyes.
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM-
"PATHETIC! PATHETIC! PATHETIC, DO YOU HEAR ME? PATHETIC!" screamed Silent Magician at the top of her lungs, pegging Jo over and over again with her magic word, as Jo, giving into everything, was openly crying.
---ooo---
There are only two true motivations in life. There are doing things that are for yourself, and there are doing things for other people. At the back of her head, she vaguely wondered what her motivation was.
"Look, if your going to get angsty, don't just rip yourself off," said Alexis to the author.
She, however, didn't consider the idea of artistic repetition.
"Oh, shut up," said Alexis, as she walked down the familiar growing path that she seemed to almost perpetually be standing on as the sun slowly climbed higher in the sky. She was giving into her feelings quicker and quicker every second, it seemed, and the thought of it made her sick. She was seen as tough, she wanted to be tough, and she felt tough. How easily she was giving into this pressure contradicted the natural order.
She didn't like being pitied, she didn't like being 'gone easy on', and she didn't like it when people gave her cheep sympathy. She did things on her own, and she was proud of it. That's why she hated to admit that she was acting like this. She was begging for attention, which was the exact opposite thing that she needed right now.
And at the same time, she felt pathetic for not having the guts to tell them. She didn't have anything to lose by telling the truth, but just admitting that something was wrong, that things actually did make her mad, seemed more like a double sin than a confession. She hated that little spark of attention that sympathy awarded, feeling that it was nothing but a drop of water in your mouth when you were dying of thirst, and yet she hated to admit that she enjoyed it.
It was a guilty pleasure. Just as thinking about it was, as she was doing right now. That made her even angrier.
She needed to go back to class. But she had no ambition to get up off the steps in front of the school, turn around, and actually go back into the room, sit next to them, and face a without-fail stream load of questions, or worse, glances that deliberately ignored her. It was a really nice day…
"ALEXIS! ALEXIS! HEY, ALEXIS!"
Darn. She'd know that nasal-sounding voice anywhere. It was Chazz.
She just took a deep breath, as she heard the running footsteps draw closer, slowly getting up, not even facing him as she got up.
"Hey, what have you been freaky and angsty about lately?" asked Chazz, not caring that she wasn't turning around. "I mean, it was kind of cool for awhile, but now it's just freaky and annoying! What the heck is wrong with you?"
"Chazz, can't you just drop it?" said Alexis. "I just want time alone to cool off. It's got nothing to do with you or Zane or whoever, it's just-"
"It's just what?" asked Chazz.
"Just go back to class, okay?" said Alexis. "You don't need to baby-sit me. I'll be back in a minute. As I've said, drop it."
"OH GOD!" yelled Chazz. "What, are you in cahoots with the freaky white wearing goth kid or something? WHAT IS WITH ALL THE PEOPLE TELLING ME TO DROP IT? YOU'RE UPSET, FOR CRIPESAKE! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S WRONG! IS THAT SO WRONG? IS THAT SO AGAINST WHAT OUR SOCIETY IS BASED ON? I MEAN GAWD! IT'S NOT LIKE I'M ASKING YOU HOW MUCH YOU WEIGH OR WHEN THE LAST TIME IT'S BEEN SINCE YOU WENT TO THE BATHROOM OR ANYTHING! I MEAN, IS IT SO WRONG KNOWING WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON TO MAKE A PERSON BEAT SOMEONE AS SMART AND STRIKINGLY GOOD LOOKING AS ME?"
Silence.
"You know, I'd nearly consider that an astute observation," said Alexis.
"CAHOOTS! CAHOOTS!" yelled Chazz.
"Look behind you Chazz," said Alexis blankly.
"Now what the heck would be behind me that's worth interest?' said Chazz angrily, looking over his shoulder, as with a rapid thumping, he heard Alexis's footstep hammering on the walkway, slowly growing more faint as she ran away.
"HOW DARE YOU USE MY METHODS TO ESCAPE CONFLICT?" yelled Chazz at the top of his lungs, charging after her full speed. Unfortunatly…her legs were much longer than his were.
Her heels continued to hammer onto the pavement at a rapid-fire yet rhythmic pace, her body moving in a way that required little of her own thought to control it, an ancient, almost carnal human mechanism in response to fatigue. Fatigue of the soul? Perhaps.
However, as Alexis gained more and more distance between her and Chazz, and for some reason, physics seemed to work in reverse effect for that moment as Chazz' screams grew louder and louder, she had a good look at just how childish she was being. She was resorting to Chazz's methods, for crimety. This had to stop. Trying to avoid it was over. The dark cloud had rolled in. It was time to come clean. She had done her best to not get things as tangled up as they did, but she failed. Now came the big question of…now what?
"-IN THE BACK CLOSET IN THE BAND ROOM!" yelled Chazz from behind her, as her eyes were somewhat clouded over in thought. "THAT'S WHATS BEEN GOING ON, HASN'T IT? THAT'S WHY YOU TWO ARE SO DARN IN SYNC! YOU AND THAT BLOODY SENIOR GIT-BOY-"
"I'm sorry Chazz…" said Alexis, allowing herself to slow down, the taps on the ground with more time between them. "I've really been acting stupid lately."
"I SHOULD SAY SO!" he yelled behind her.
"I guess it's just stress or something…and I guess we all run into those times when for some reason, we're just feel dirt low for no particular reason…" she continued, as her pace still slowed.
"Look, I'm not Ask Amy, so if your going to start crying or anything like that, do it later!" he yelled.
"I'm trying to apologize to you, you idiot!" yelled Alexis, finally halting her running completely, slowing down until she eventually stopped. "Gah! Honestly! I can't believe you! I can't…"
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU STOPPING F-" screamed Chazz again, but this time, he was completely cut off, because he didn't have the intelligence to stop, so he collided with her, his body slamming into her back, as she screamed in both shock and anger. She fell foreword, as did he, causing them to both collapse in a crumpled heap on the ground, both seeing stars, as well as feeling like killing the other one at the moment, and in too much pain to scream out angry cries of vengeance.
"Alexis…Alexis…" said Zane, taking his usual 'sort-of-cares-but-sort-of-doesn't' kind of voice, mixed in with exhaustion of pretty much sprinting through the entire school (the track team has been after Zane's flesh and blood for a long time now). "Hey…Chazz hasn't-"
He stopped in mid-step, finally catching a look at the ground, to see a dazed and bruised looking Alexis and Chazz, who were laying on top of each other in a tangled knot, both looking as if they had survived the worst spear ball competition of their lives.
Silence. Zane, who was still caught in a frozen sprint position, just slowly let the other foot drop on the pavement, staring at the two, as they were staring back with looks that were both embarrassed out of their minds, and begging Zane either for forgiveness or to forget what he just saw.
"Words cannot describe how much faith I have lost in any divine, spiritual being," said Zane.
"GET OFF ME!" yelled Chazz and Alexis at the same time, scrambling up to standing positions.
"Oh my God! I can't believe this!" yelled Alexis, kicking Chazz off her. "I can't believe this! I just can't! I finally get my act together, and this happens! Darn it! I'm so mad! I-"
"I'm sorry," Chazz and Zane said simultaneously.
Silence.
"JINX!" yelled Chazz.
"What?" asked Alexis, about a split second later.
"Yeah Chazz, we're not in middle school anymore," said Zane. "Nobody says 'jinx' when that happens."
"No I mean…" said Alexis. "I'm the one who's supposed to be apologizing, not you."
"LIKE HECK YOU SHOULD, MAKING ME RUN, MAKING ME FALL, KICKING ME IN THE-" yelled Chazz.
"Chazz," said Zane dangerously.
"Seriously, all I've done is just gotten myself in a bad mood, and I got you guys acting crazy as a result," said Alexis. "So…I'm sorry."
"Nah," said Zane. "We're at fault to. We didn't do anything proactive either…well, Chazz did, but…never mind."
"It would have worked if the world wasn't filled with a bunch of idiost besides me!" said Chazz.
Silence.
"This month, we're going to work on that arrogance thing," said Zane.
"Wait…I need to…tell you guys something," said Alexis. "The truth is…I wasn't really mad at either of you. My brother…disappeared from campus."
"WHAT!" yelled Chazz.
"Disappeared?" echoed Zane.
"Yeah…and nobody knows where he's gone. He just vanished, vanished into thin air. No one can figure out what happened to him. So that's why I got upset. I was just sort of…reminded of him, that's all. I'm sorry."
Silence.
"OH! THAT MAKES SENSE!" said Chazz. "So you hate Zane, because he's a whole-in-the-face-of-the-universe big brother! And you're mad at me because I said that my older brothers were buttheads!"
"So that's what you said," said Zane.
"It wasn't really hate," said Alexis. "I was just annoyed, and the fact that I was annoyed annoyed me, and all the annoyance progressed, and before I knew it, I was annoying just by even halfway being annoyed."
"So it was just a huge misunderstanding," said Zane. "Typical."
"So who's your older brother anyway?" asked Chazz.
"Oh…his name was Atticus," said Alexis.
"Atticus?" said Zane in shock. "No…not Atticus Rhodes right?"
"Yes!" said Alexis. "You know him?"
"…Atticus Rhodes?" said Zane.
"Yes, Atticus Rhodes. He's my brother," said Alexis. "So you do know him, don't you?"
---ooo---
"HEY! IT'S ZANE!" yelled Atticus, bouncing up and down in the chair, ranting aimlessly, the general direction of the conversation heading toward Zane (he assumed). "Hey Zane? Guess what! I had a dram last night! It was cool! It had ice cream in it! What's your favorite flavor of ice cream? Mines black raspberry! I LIKE PIE TOO! I like ice cream on pie too! I once had black raspberry ice cream on black raspberry pie and it taste weird! Hey, I just realized that our uniforms are white and blue? Shouldn't we be Obelisk Blue and White then? Hey, your hairs long! So's mine! We could be twins! Hey, what color socks are you wearing? Are they white? I never wear white! It's too boring! But then again, you're a pretty boring person! HA HA HA! Hey, how come we all have to wear these uniforms in the summer when it's really hot? Do you get hot easily? I am hot! WOOT! Hey, I bet the girls would go nuts if I take of my shirt! You should too! But then again, you probably wouldn't because your so boring! HA! Anyway, My horoscope said that I'm going to fall in love with a Scorpio! Are you a Scorpio? Because it would stink to fall in love with a guy who was boring! HA HA! Hey, isn't it kind o weird that my name starts with the first letter of the alphabet, and your name starts with the last? WE COULD BE TWINS! Or something like that…maybe. So seriously, what's your sock color? Boy, do I really want a cookie right now! C is for cookie, 'cause cookie starts with C…or something like that…anyway…what was I talking about? MY BRAIN'S ON FIRE! NOOGIE TIME!"
---ooo---
Zane just stood there, gapping.
"Zane?" asked Alexis. "Zane…Zane…hello?"
She waved her hand in front of his face. He didn't respond.
"Well…I feel a lot better now," said Alexis, exhaling. "Sorry to cause so much trouble for you guys…"
"Aw, whatever, it's not like I care," said Chazz.
"It…can't be…" said Zane. "Sure they look like each other but…it defies all logic."
"We probably should be getting back to class," said Alexis, getting up. "Let's get going guys!"
"Sure," said Chazz, also getting up, as Zane just sort of robotically turned around. "Well, we're going to be completely late by now, aren't we?"
"It'll all work out somehow," said Alexis, smiling the first genuine smile she had in awhile. "If not, then we'll make it work."
"Whatever," said Chazz. "Besides, a detention or two will up the Chazz's street cred!"
"Whatever you say Chazz…" said Alexis.
All three of them walked back to the school, as the sun streamed down on their backs, as for the first time, and Alexis's stomach unknotted to an almost blissful sense of relief. There was just the tiniest bit of weight of her chest from it. She was still utterly embarrassed from having weakness exposed so early in the game, but now, she felt that she was walking back with her head held just a little higher, and her step just a little stronger.
---ooo---
"Father Christopher," said a nun, walking into the private study of a minister who was looking to be in his late middle years. "Remember a Mr. Zane Truesdale, the one who sent us a letter regarding to our movements against 'The DaVinchi Code', saying that it would be wonder if we 'shut up and get over it'?"
"Yes?" asked the minister, turning around.
"Well…he sent us a letter begging us to excommunicate him…" said the nun, holding out the letter.
L33T B0I/IUZ PHIIN!
"HEY! ALEXIS! ZANE!" yelled Chazz, walking into the library, screaming at the top of his lungs, looking all around. "IF YOU TWO ARE GOING TO RUN OFF, AT LEAST TELL ME WHERE YOU'RE-"
He suddenly stopped in horror, feeling the prickly hairs on the back of his head go even more prickly.
"Oh…no…"
Silence.
"I'm…in the library…aren't I?" he said, looking all around, eye twitching in horror, turning around. Yes…he saw them…staring at him…all of them…
Books.
"AH! I AM STANDING ON UNHOLY GROUND!" he yelled, quickly reaching into his coat pocket, and ripped out a vial of holy water, splashing it all over the ground in front of him in a huge cross, then jumping on top of it, sighing at the fact that he was in a safe spot.
"Darn, I used the last of it…" he said, looking at his vial. "Then I have no choice then. When these…books fall asleep, I'll make a break for-"
That's when he glanced at the ground to see the twice-told textbook (ALLITERATION POLICE!).
"Ah…one of your foolish numbers who's separated from the spawn!" yelled Chazz, reaching down for the book. "Finally…SOMETHING TO BURN!"
Know your stars…know your stars…know your stars…
"I'M CLEAN!" screamed Chazz, making a cross with his two pointer fingers.
Chazz Princeton…he's so girly it's not funny!
"WHAT?" yelled Chazz. "WHAT GARBAGE IS THIS? I'm not girly! Where the heck are you getting that from? I'M HARD CORE MACHO!"
Chazz Princeton…is a whimp!
"NOT TRUE!" said Chazz. "Oh, I see! YOU BOOKS! YOU'RE TRYING TO MESS WITH MY MIND!"
Chazz Princeton…cries every time he watches Bambi.
"EVERYONE CRIES WHEN THEY WATCH BAMBI!" yelled Chazz. "Especially since everyone has watched it at least once when they're kids! It's practically a law!"
Chazz Princeton…watches Bambi…
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I'M NOT LISTENING!" yelled Chazz, covering his ears.
…a lot…
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, LALALALA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU LA LA LA LA-"
Chazz Princeton…can hear us loud and clear…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Chazz, running out of the room at the top of his lungs. "THAT'S IT! I HAVE DECLARED WAR ON THIS ENTIRE ROOM! EVERY SINGLE BOOK WILL DIE!"
And now you know…Chazz Princeton…
"I WILL EXCEPT NO BEGS FOR PEACE!" yelled Chazz, running out of the room, cackling insanely. "YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO AVOID YOUR FATE! NONE OF YOU WILL! BWA HA HA HA!
---ooo---
Zane: What?
Alexis: Hey guys! The next chapter's going to be really fun! Because it's open house at Duel Academy!
Chazz: WHAT? NO! I'M NOT READY!
Alexis: Won't it be fun to meet everyone's parents? I wonder what Chazz and Zane's parent are like!
Chazz: Wait…THAT MEANS WE'RE GOING TO MEET KAT AND JOKU'S PARENTS TOO! OH MY GOD!
Zane: Well, this will be interesting.
Alexis: Next time, 'The Apple Doesn't Fall Far'! See you!