March 28, 2010.
A/N: Hullo!
I don't know why, but my Document Uploader is being weird. It won't let me centre any text :( Oh well, I'll just have to do the best I can with what I've got XD
Anyway, big huge thanks to Kyasarin Freakload, who I never expected to hear from unless it had something to do with 'Mew Academy' XD Thanks so much for reviewing and supporting me! It really means a lot; more than you know.
So, here's the next chapter! From here, things get faster :) Enjoy!
Searching for Solace
- THREE -
2006
August
"Where're you going?" Morgan asked, surprised and a little irritable. "Where could you possibly have to go on a Sunday night?"
Gee, thanks, Morgs, Mackenzie thought dryly as she switched the phone from one shoulder to the other. She pinched the hair elastic around her wrist between her teeth and yanked it over her hand.
"I have tutoring on Sunday night, remember?" she replied, throwing her mousey hair back in a messy ponytail. It was long and unruly; it hadn't seen the hairdresser's in many moons. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had layers or a fringe.
"You tutor?" Morgan asked in surprise. Mackenzie glared at the phone. Trust Morgan to have no idea, even though she actually remembered having this conversation already.
"No, Morgs. I get tutored."
"For what? You're smart – as if you need tutoring!" Morgan scoffed. Mackenzie picked up her almost-falling-apart Country Road bag and packed her books into it.
"Methods," she said. "I've failed the last few tests, so I'm getting tutored before VCE starts."
"Shit, that sucks," Morgan commented. She was silent while Mackenzie threw things around for a moment. "You're late, aren't you?"
"Not really," Mackenzie lied. She was the most disorganised person on the planet, coupled with the most forgetful, so running late was a frequent habit of hers. Morgan laughed at the other end of the line.
"Okay, well, I'll go, so you can run around like a crazy chicken without a head, and you call me tomorrow when you've finished school, okay?"
"Alright," Mackenzie agreed, grabbing her glasses case from the bed-head. "Have fun at work."
"I won't. Have fun at tutoring."
"I won't."
"Bye."
"See ya."
Mackenzie threw the cordless phone at her bed and winced when it missed. Oh well; she didn't have time to worry about whether it was still alive. She grabbed her bag, threw on some Keds, and pulled her door shut, donning her glasses as she headed into the lounge room.
"Dad, are you ready?"
"Coming, floss," he called. "Get the keys and start her up."
Mackenzie was fishing around in the glass bowl of keys in the tiny front hall, and searching around for the black and yellow L plates when her mobile message tone rang out. She dug it out of her pocket.
4GOT 2 TELL U. CHECK YOUTUBE. MORE MEW MEW STUFF.
She stared at Morgan's message and made the split-second decision to dart back to her room. Her dinosaur computer had – thankfully – been left on, and it loaded up Google's search engine in a matter of a few long seconds. Mackenzie chewed her lip impatiently as it struggled to open Youtube's page, glancing nervously at the clock sitting on the shelf. Time was ticking by…
"Mac!" her father called. "What are you doing?"
"Two seconds!" she bellowed back. Come on, come on, come on, she begged, and was about to give up and go when at last the page opened. And there it was, right in the middle of 'popular recent uploads': "Dr. Shirogane - Alien Alert!"
She clicked on it and began the second phase of gruelling waiting. Finally, it had loaded and was buffering. Too impatient to let it completely buffer, she hit play, and watched as the same blonde-haired, blue-eyed man appeared on the screen. It wasn't the best quality footage, but it was footage nonetheless. He spoke rapid, anxious Japanese; she had to drink in the subtitles flashing across the bottom.
"To all out there who are watching this, I urge you not to take this lightly. The politicians and intellects have disregarded our warnings. They don't believe us, and they're going to try and convince you, too. We are not lying. I'm sending you this message to warn you all that we will witness a full-scale invasion, and we will witness it soon. We can't tell you when, exactly, but our enemies are coming, and we urge you to be prepared. When it happens, it will be ugly. But we will do our utmost to protect our world and its people. When the time comes, there will be help, and it will be available. Our primary focus now is to set up as many safe-houses as possible. We ask you to trust us, not ridicule us, because when the time comes, you will want to be with us."
The video ended. Mackenzie stared at the screen for a moment. Was this guy for real? This was exactly the kind of thing she'd never believed in. Things like this just didn't happen. Her instinctive response was to close the page and dismiss the whole thing. After all, these scientists were so wrapped up in their crazy work that they'd probably all gone nutty. Having said that, there was a sincerity in his expression that had her questioning everything. Something inside her just wasn't sitting right. She couldn't shake the nasty feeling in her stomach.
"MAC!" her father yelled.
"Coming!" She got up, deciding to think about it all again later, and dashed for the door.
November 20
Mackenzie was struggling. It was hot – summer was just starting – and she was sitting in the middle of her Maths Methods end of year exam. And she couldn't work out the answer. She chewed her lip angrily, frustrated with herself. Unbelievable. She'd had months of tutoring, and she still couldn't get it. Just how much could she fail at life?
She sighed huffily and looked up for a momentary break, and immediately caught bloody Daniel Palmer's eye. He grinned nastily at her and she quickly looked away again. Still causing her hell whenever he could, just like when they were kids. It seemed to be his sole purpose in life. God, she hated him.
The scratching of pens on paper was distracting, as was the abnormally loud ticking of the big round clock up the front. Mr. Gallespi, her maths teacher, was standing by a whiteboard with a marker, crossing off times so they knew how much time they had left, and keeping a watchful eye out for cheating.
Mackenzie stretched her feet under the table, wishing that the stupid exam could just be over already. She didn't think she could do any worse on it. She'd probably already failed epically. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, really) only about half of her maths class had turned up for the exam. They were probably off doing better things with their time; playing X-box or getting high. Or both.
That's when she got sleepy. Really sleepy. As in, the kind of sleepiness you can't fight, and she found her eyelids struggling to stay open. She had to fight to keep them open; they were suddenly heavier than lead. Her brain went foggy, and she struggled to form comprehensible thoughts in her head. She was so tired she couldn't even think straight. The pen slipped from her fingers; she rested her head in her hands. And then she was being pulled – something was tugging at her consciousness. Sleep, perhaps. But she felt the moment where she relaxed and let go like a solid, clear click, and then she was free-falling lazily in the blackness.
And as she fell, something rushed upwards toward her; something that glowed brilliant white and hurt the eyes of her unconsciousness. They rushed together like magnets. They were going to collide; would it hurt? She didn't even have time to think about it. There was a phenomenal explosion of iridescent white light as the two forms collided and merged. Warmth washed through her, and whatever it was seeped underneath her skin and melded into her genetics, adapting easily to her configuration, becoming part of her. She didn't know how she knew; it was just something she had an understanding of, without even knowing what was happening. And then–
"Richards. Richards!"
Mackenzie's eyes flew open. She lifted her head from her arms, which were folded comfortably over her desk. What? She'd been sleeping? In the middle of her exam?!
"Are you feeling alright?" Mr. Gallespi asked, standing over her and frowning with concern. "Do you need to see the nurse?"
Mackenzie flushed hotly with extreme embarrassment. It seemed the exam had been put on hold. Everyone was staring at her. She squirmed in her seat.
"I'm fine. Sorry. I… uh…"
"Face the front, everyone," Mr. Gallespi barked. "Mackenzie, you can resit later in the week. I strongly suggest you see a doctor, get a medical certificate for the day and get some proper rest. Come and see me tomorrow."
He stared relentlessly at Mackenzie, clearly leaving no room for argument, until she caved and started packing away her things. She didn't want to resit – she was feeling perfectly fine now! Although, she reasoned, she probably wouldn't be able to focus for the rest of it. Her head was elsewhere. She had no idea why she'd fallen asleep like that; it didn't make any sense. She'd slept fine last night, and she wasn't iron deficient. It just didn't have a logical explanation.
Ignoring the surreptitious glances from all directions as she collected her things, Mackenzie stalked to the doors and walked out into the afternoon.
November 27
"No, Max, I haven't mysteriously fallen asleep in class yet." Morgan's voice was tired and irritated. "Seriously, just get over it. Weird shit happens all the time all over the world. You were probably just exhausted from studying so much."
Mackenzie listened unhappily. As much as she wanted to believe her best friend, since Morgan turned out to be correct more often than not, there was something about last week that just wasn't sitting right. She just had this feeling. There was something to it. Something significant. Something that was arguing that she didn't fall asleep in the middle of an important exam for absolutely no reason.
"Other people have," Mackenzie replied stubbornly. "I've been paying close attention lately. A few days ago a girl fell asleep in the middle of her Italian exam. And on Monday, three people fell asleep in assembly. Yesterday, bloody Daniel Palmer slept in History. And – this is the weird one – someone fell asleep in the middle of PE. PE, Morgs!"
"Okay, I get it," Morgan replied shortly. "It's weird. So what? The seasons are changing, the weather's getting warmer, which makes people sleepier because their metabolisms are slowing down, and it's exam time, which means people are studying hard."
"That'd make sense if it was your school," Mackenzie pointed out. "But it's mine. People don't study at my school. People don't even come to exams, let alone class."
"It's too weak an argument," Morgan said. "Do you have any logical evidence to prove you fell asleep for a specific reason?"
"Well… no…" Mackenzie admitted. She could practically hear Morgan pulling her superior face.
"And seriously, Daniel Palmer? He always sleeps in class, if he rocks up. Honestly, Max, just let it go. You're going to drive yourself crazy."
"Yeah, maybe." But Mackenzie still wasn't content. Clearly, talking to Morgan about it wasn't going to get her anywhere. Ah, crap, she thought, maybe her best friend was right. In fact, she was probably right. It didn't even make sense why she was making such a big deal about it, let alone the actual incident itself. She made the executive decision right then and there to just stop thinking about it.
"I can't talk for much longer," Morgan said. "I'm going out with Blake tonight."
Blake was the boyfriend of the convenient moment. She hadn't been without one since her very first – Tom Crawford – in year eight. Mackenzie rolled her eyes and smiled to herself, shaking her head only because she knew Morgan couldn't see her doing it.
"Fine," she sighed. "Go and flirt the night away. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"
Morgan laughed good-naturedly. "Yes you will. Do something productive with your night!"
Then she hung up, leaving Mackenzie with the thought that, in Morgan-language, 'productive' meant 'wild, drunken debauchery with a touch of boy', which would most likely involve the sacrifice of a few billion brain cells, or her virginity. Something Sarah might consider a good time. She instantly wrote off the idea, opting instead for some Kraft Ezy-Mac and a good dose of Australia's Funniest Home Videos. And then she might watch a chick flick. She wasn't sure, and she didn't mind, but whatever it was, it would have absolutely nothing to do with investigating weird sleeping patterns, or watching Dr. Shirogane's infrequent Youtube updates.
Which, in hindsight, she realised she really should have been doing.
CULTURE NOTE
Country Road - Country Road is a brand of clothing; pretty sure you guys have it...? Pretty much every single public school girl has a Country Road back in some colour or other. It's like a big duffel bag. I don't know why they're 'cool'. I never had one - I was a private school student XD
Maths Methods - the second highest level of mathematics that students can take in their last two years of high school. I took it in year 11 and failed epically.
VCE - Victorian Certificate of Education. Each student aims to pass their VCE when they finish school; without it, it's near impossible to get into uni, an apprenticeship, or a job offer. To pass VCE you need to take six year 12 subjects altogether. Their six individual marks (highest possible is 50, average is 30) averaged is your ENTER score. Your ENTER is one mark that all the universities look at when considering your application. The highest possible ENTER is 99.98, with intellects getting scores in the 90s, smart kids getting scores in the 80s, good scores being in the 70s, okay in the 60s, and not so good in the 50s. Anything below is shameful XD (I got a score of 87.6, for those who are interested :3)
Keds - a style of casual shoe (slip-on) that lots of teenagers wear. I personally have never owned any XD
L-plates/P-plates - In Australia, you can get your learner's permit for driving when you turn 16. (15 and 9 months, or something...) In Victoria, the little square plastic plate you stick on your back window and front window is yellow with a black L in the middle. When you turn 18 you can take your driving test. You have to have logged 120 hours of practised driving in all sorts of conditions, or you aren't even allowed to sit the test. If you pass, you stick red plates with white 'P's on your windows. You have your P-plates for three years altogether; one year on red plates (when you're only allowed to drive one passenger), and two on green (green squares, white letters), when you can take a full car of passengers. Basically, in Australia, it takes a damn long time to get your full license XD
Year eight... - You guys call it 'eighth grade', we call it 'year eight'. In primary school, it's 'grade one', 'grade two', etc. In high school, it's 'year seven', 'year eight', 'year nine', etc. There's no junior-high, no freshman, sophomore or senior. And we don't have separate schools. My school consisted of a kindergarten, primary school, middle school and secondary school all on one campus. Most Australian high schools are just one school with years 7 to 12.
Kraft - a snack company. They make a lot of cheese products.
Ezy-Mac - instant macaroni. You pour 3/4 of a cup of cold water into a jug with the pasta, zap it in the microwave for four minutes, and stir in the sachet of cheese. Done and done XD
A/N: I really like Mac/Max. She's growing on me :3
Anyway, thanks for reading! The next chapter is when things REALLY start happening, so hold on tight! :D
Reviews are love.
Until the next update,
Love,
Cherrie xx