Thanks for all the reviews! I would update every day, but I have too much homework. Anyhow, this chapter is long, but I started it Sunday.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything familiar
Chapter 9: You fall I jump
"Wow, Sophie, you look awesome." Sophie stood at Lok's door on the frigid night of Halloween. The pair was going to the school wide Halloween party on the pier. It had taken Lok weeks of pleading, hours of begging, and seasons of whining for her to come.
Flashback
"Oh come on." Lok's blue eyes sparkled with wistfulness. Sophie was reluctant to attend any party with anyone from school besides Lok, Zhalia, and Dante.
"I don't know. No one really likes me here." Besides, the week is up. " Scarlet, might try something!" Sophie thought this would make sense to her blonde friend. But his heart was set on her having a good time that night. Maybe it would help take her mind off of certain...things.
"Come on, Soph. Please, please, please, pleeeeeeeaaaaaase?" Lok started to jump up and down with every please he uttered. People started to stare at the pair. But they were used to the two doing odd things. Just another normal day watching the lives of Sophie and Lok play out.
"Lok, people are staring." Lok shrugged while continuing to plead. It was normal for him. Zhalia and Dante sauntered outside. Well, Zhalia sauntered, Dante walked. Sophie's blushing face and Lok's erratic, eccentric and irregular pleading drew their eyes immediately.
"Sophie, just say yes. He's going to keep begging you until you say yes." Dante patted his friends shoulder. Lok took a break to say some real words.
"First lesson of kindergarten: Bug someone until they let you have what you want." His never ending mantra of please. It was really starting to bug Sophie. This was worse than her never ending screams.
"FINE!" Lok, Dante, even Zhalia cheered. The blueberry head's reaction surprised the strawberry head.
"What? I don't want to be the only girl with these two immature freaks," Zhalia stated after seeing Sophie's look.
End Flashback
Sophie was wearing a Dark Widow costume. She had a black dress that met her knees with a red corset for a top and a spider web pattern veil. She had the same spider pattern gloves and black tights with black boots. Her face was paler then usual, and her body shook with nervousness and cold.
"Y-you l-look g-g-good too." Her teeth bounced up and down, knocking against each other quickly. Lok was a pirate (Same outfit as the one in episode 12). His called to his mom that they were leaving. Lok bounded down the steps to Sophie's side.
"You cold?"
"A bit. Mostly nervous." Sophie knew she was pushing it going to a party ON A FREAKIN' PIER! WITH THE FREAKIN' OCEAN RIGHT UNDERNEATH YOU!
"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Too bad that that promise was broken.
Break line
The pier was packed, an understatement. Every single student, parent, and teacher was there supervising or partying. Every costume you can imagine from superheroes like Artemis and Kidflash, to villains like Cronus and Cheshire, to classic Disney apparel, to your standard zombie was present. Horror was mixed with Sci-fi. Fantasy co-existed with History. Not a single genre wasn't represented. No one was left out.
You had your witches( the cheer squad, including Zhalia) and your pirates (the football team) and ninjas (the glee club). There was an impressive array of princesses. A stunning amount of genies. A plethora of vampires. All together in the one place you would ever find them, a Halloween party.
The decorations were your classics: bats, pumpkins, ghouls and ghosts. Some were scarier than others. The flying ghosts were certainly surprising a fair few students. The games were what you would expect. There was apple bobbing, teacher dunking, hit-the-ghoul, and a bunch of other Halloween themed things. Sophie was overwhelmed; Lok was overjoyed.
"Are you ready?" The pirate was vibrating with anticipation.
"No." Lok grinned and took hold of Sophie's hand. He dragged her straight to a roller coaster. When the drop came she didn't scream, she laughed. Lok smirked. She was soooo having fun. Next he made her do face paint. She got a spider on her cheek while he got a bat on his arm. They laughed, Ate goodies, went on rides, and just generally had a good time in each other's company. But there was one more game Lok wanted Sophie to try.
He handed her a ball after dragging her across the pier.
"The object is to hit the target so the teacher falls into the tank. If you hit it, you get a prize." Sophie nodded and threw the ball. The next thing everyone knew, Principle Metz was floundering in the six foot tank full of water. Sophie shrieked and hugged Lok. After his shock wore off, he hugged her back. It was nice, he decided. He liked to hug her.
Sophie picked out a fake squirrel and passed if to Lok.
"Here you go. A thank you gift of sorts. For dragging me here." Lok smiled.
"It wouldn't have been any fun without you, Soph." The grin was contagious. No one had ever said something like that to her. Ever. But no one had made her feel quite the same way Lok did. Whenever he was around, she felt good. She felt her life had meaning. She felt loved.
Lok shared the same feelings. He loved being around his shy friend. He liked how she opened up to him, even if that was a little selfish of him. But hey, he was entitled to his feeling too. Just because they were selfish doesn't make them off limits. Besides, it was her own fault if she only liked him.
"I shall call him Springer." Sophie cocked her head in confusion. Lok explained about his real squirrel he had named Springer. It was kind of in memorial.
"Aw, that's so sweet!" The fake pirate felt a blush seep onto his cheeks. Sophie took his hand and electricity seemed to tingle through his hand.
"Now let me show you something." Sophie knew she was risking it, but it had to be done. Sophie led the way down the pier to the very edge. Not many people were around, and the noise was less. You could see the stars.
"This was-is- my favorite spot in the entire town. When I was young, my mom would take me here sometimes. We would count the boats or birds and get ice cream. I always got cherry-vanilla (my favorite!). After she...died.. I only came on the anniversary of her death. She was set out on a small skiff. I watched as she drifted into the sunset. Her boat was caught in a storm and her body fell into the ocean. I wish she was buried here. At least I could still be near her." Small tears curved down Sophie's cheeks. Lok wrapped her in an embrace. She held onto his shirt with her fists.
Deep, shuddering breaths kept Sophie from crying anymore. Lok lifted up chin up.
"Your mom wouldn't have been in the ground. She would have been here. Spirits linger in places they love most. Which includes your heart." Sophie smiled a teary smile. "Now I 'm going to go get us some ice cream. Springer will watch you." Lok set the stuffed creature on a bench and hurried off to an ice cream stand. Scarlet whispered to Rassimov and Wind then sauntered over to Lok.
Lok turned around from getting the cones and came face to face with the head bitch – whoops witch herself.
"Scarlet." The tone the boy adopted was on of displeasure. Scarlet flashed Lok her stunning smile.
"Lok, you look amazing!" Lok was starting to feel uncomfortable. Something was off about scarlet. She was too happy, too victorious. Something was up.
"Thanks, now excuse me." Lok tried to move past but was blocked by Shauna and Susan.
"OMG! You look, like, fantastic." Okay, something was defiantly wrong. Susan never said anything to him, just pushed him down. This was too weird.
"I gotta go." Head down, he tried to barge past, but the three harpies pushed him back.
"Stay! Stay!" At this moment, Rassimov and Wind snuck up behind Sophie and shoved the dreaming girl over the rail. Her scream was drowned by the sound of Zhalia's,
"LOK!" Zhalia shoved past bitch, bitchier, and bitchiest. Lok's sense of foreboding increased at the sight of Zhalia's panicked face.
"Sophie was pushed into the sea!" Those words made Lok's heart still and hands drop the cones. He ran to the end of the pier and threw off his shirt and shoes. As he climbed onto the railing he called to anyone in the now formed crowd.
"Call 911! NOW!" Zhalia and Dante shouted at him,
"Where are you going? Surely you aren't jumping in!" Lok's blue eyes were cold and hard when he looked back.
"Sophie can't swim." Zhalia was horror struck as these words registered. Lok dove into the ocean. The first thing he thought was COLD! Lok swam to the surface and looked around. Someone was shining a flashlight (Peter) at the spot where Sophie went down. Lok dove back under and forced his eyes to see in the dark and salty water. For a horrible second he couldn't see a thing. Then, he made out a darker blob. It had to be Sophie.
Kicking ferociously, he wrapped his arms around Sophie's slender waist and pulled her to the surface. The cold air hit his lungs like a 2 by 4. He heard Sophie feebly cough.
"Lok?" She croaked weakly. Lok felt his heart break at the sound of her voice. She was shaking violently now. He looked at her. The once rosy lips were blue. Striking out strongly, he paddled to shore where an ambulance arrived. Paramedics swarmed the beach, shining flashlights at the pair.
"Hold on Sophie. Hold on." Lok was near tears. She wasn't shaking and her breath was shallow and quick. He even thought she stopped breathing at one point. He finally got to shore and picked Sophie out of the water bridal style. She was so cold. Her skin was ice. Her cheeks were paler than snow. She wasn't breathing. Paramedics put Sophie on a stretcher and carried her away. CPR was being performed on the unresponsive teen as the doors of the ambulance closed. Lok brushed off the concerns about hypothermia, but accepted new clothes and the wool blanket. Zhalia and Dante met Lok in the parking lot.
"She wasn't breathing!" Lok was now in panic mode. Fear and sadness swelled up like a balloon in his chest. He pulled a shirt over his head and wiped off the water with a towel offered by Zhalia.
"Let me drive!" Dante took the keys while Zhalia and Lok climbed into the back. The grim faced auburn haired man floored it, speeding after the ambulance at ridiculous speeds. All the while Lok was praying to every god her knew about, even the Greek ones.
Please don't take her. Please! Tears ran down his face . Zhalia's mascara was running, and Springer lay on that bench forgotten in all the commotion.
Me: DONE! Ha! Now was that awesome or not?
Lok: No, you killed my best friend!
Me: She's not dead! Just not breathing!
Lok: SAME THING! NOW SHE'S MIA!
Me: The sooner people review, the sooner she'll be back.
Lok: REVIEW! PLEASE!