World's Apart

Chapter 2: What To Do

Sarah woke to the sound of her alarm clock, was it really morning already? It felt like she had just fallen asleep only moments ago, and her dream….Oh how she remembered the vivid images of the Goblin King. She had, had a nightmare, one she had not had in three years. It was where the Goblin took away her brother, except this time she did not save her brother and he was turned into a goblin before her eyes, all the while Jareth was laughing at her.

She got out of bed heading for the shower, hoping to cleanse the thoughts out of her mind. She had won, he had lost. Her brother was obviously safe in his room. Now if only her head would listen to logic, then everything would be alright.

She let out a frustrated scream as the water hit her face, why did he have to haunt her in her dreams, too? It was bad enough that she would have to see him later today in all of her classes. Wasn't she allowed a moment's peace too? Apparently not.

Sarah sighed wrapping a towel around her and walking towards her room. She closed her door behind her and nearly let out a scream as she saw the sight of the Goblin King sitting on her bed. He was not in the appearance of a teenager anymore, in fact he was back to tights and all, the only thing that was missing to his usual attire was his necklace, again. Unconsciously she clutched the towel tighter to her, afraid of his presence in her room.

"What are you doing here?!" She hissed at him walking forward so he could hear her without having to yell and draw her parents attention. Despite her fear of him, she would not do anything to draw her parents attention to her. To make them think anything was out of the ordinary with her was unthinkable.

He smirked at her, "admiring the view." Sarah gulped taking a step back as he stood up. He started walking towards her, "now Sarah, I think it's time that we…talked." He laughed lightly as he stood only a few inches away from her. She couldn't walk back any farther, her back was already against the door.

"Jareth stop it! This isn't funny!" Sarah said panic slowly rising. He wasn't listening it would seem, because he closed the gap between them, his hand reaching up and cupping her cheek. "Jareth!" Her voice was rising, he was unpredictable, who knew what he was planning, and her being only in a towel did not help calm her fear of him.

"Sarah," he whispered, "you enter my labyrinth, you forget your fears to save your brother, and now when you face me again, in your own world, you're afraid?" He questioned looking down at her face curiously. She looked away, her anger rising, he was making fun of her again!

Her hands reached up, pushing him away. "You jerk." She mumbled walking towards her closet, "why don't you leave?" She asked turning around to look at him but he was already gone. She let out another frustrated scream, had he come here only to drive her crazy? If so he was on the right track, she felt her sanity leaving her with every second she was with him.

She grabbed clothes out her closet at random, ending up with a green sweater, and blue jeans. She hurried and got dressed afraid that he would be watching her, that stalker! She shivered unconsciously, despite him playing with her like she was a mouse, there was something wrong. Something that he wasn't telling her, that was important.

She grabbed her brush and ran it through her hair, life really wasn't fair, why couldn't everything just work itself out, without all this trouble? She grabbed a couple of hair clips, pinning her hair away from her face. Her thoughts were ridiculous, she knew, it was her clinging to what was left of her old dreams, where everything was a fairy tale. She gave a small smirk, really he brought out the worst in her, she had nearly grown up all the way and now she found herself clinging to the past. What a jerk.

She looked up at her clock, oh no! It was time to leave or else she was going to be late. She grabbed her backpack slinging it behind her and took off running downstairs. "Bye!" She shouted to no one in particular and was out the door. She ran faster now that she was outside, running towards the bus stop. Just as she reached her destination, she saw the bus rounding the corner. She let out a sigh of relief, just in time.

She looked at the other students waiting for the bus stop and she gave a small smile, but no one paid attention to her. It didn't really bother her though, it was always like this. Most of the people in school didn't like her, except for those in drama club, or choir. Even then though, none of them were really close to her. She never let it bother her though, she only had this year left and then she could start all over at college, no one would know her, or her past and she could have a better life. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself.

She sighed rearranging her bag on her shoulder as she boarded the bus. Sarah hated the bus, it was cold, and the kids were noisy. She didn't understand why Karen didn't want her to have her license and a car. In fact her dad had always promised on her 16th birthday she would get a car, two years later though and still no car, because Karen didn't think she was 'responsible' enough. She seemed to trust Sarah enough to watch her son, but not enough to drive a car, how ridiculous.

Sarah slipped her headphones on, listening to the radio as the bus drove on. It was easier to tune the others out, or else they might start to tease Sarah, and she didn't want to deal with anyone right now. Not after how this morning had started out.

'Black velvet in that little boy smile….a new religion that will bring you to your knees'. Sarah loved this song, it was calming and the male version was pretty good, sadly though it reminded her of a certain king's voice, but other than that, it was good.

Calculus went well, Jareth was back in his teenager version and he didn't bother her once. In fact he didn't even make his presence known to her until choir. In choir they had to do voice testing, which they had been informed of yesterday. They were to find a song that they liked and sing a part from that so that the teacher could test what range they were in and also to test the quality of their voice.

Sarah almost had a heart attack when Jareth sang. Not because of how unbelievably good he was, no, but because of the song. It was the same hauntingly, beautiful song that he had sung to her inside the dream world. As he sang she could remember the feel of his arms on her, the way her heart beat, and when she fell…..No, no she wouldn't think it, it wasn't true! The only feelings she had for him were that of fear and such.

'There's such a fooled heart beating so fast in search of new dreams…'

It was torture. She closed her eyes listening to his beautiful voice, proving with every second that he was too good to be here. He was definitely amazing, and for a minute, she forgot that she was supposed to hate him. She honestly did, just like before.

She let out a sigh as he finished and looked around the classroom, all eyes were on him. The girls had dazed looks on their faces, and the males stared on with envy. The teacher even seemed surprised, but she tried to hide it.

"Very good Mr. Crystals!" The teacher exclaimed pointing him in the direction of his section immediately. There was no doubt who would be getting solos whenever they had songs with solos in them. Sarah let a small smirk cross her face as she saw girls go up to him and trying to get his attention. He gave them a polite smile though, and listened to them, despite the obvious annoyance that was showing clearly on his face.

Well, on the bright side, he might become so popular that he wouldn't have time to bother her anymore, and then maybe she could get a moments peace. She picked up one of her books, flipping it open, and looking up at him on occasion to see if he had snapped yet. She had to give him credit, he was doing a pretty good job of handling everyone, but of course he was probably used to this kind of attention already. He was king of the Labyrinth, after all.

The day dragged on ever so slowly. The day hadn't went much better. It seemed like there was nothing he wasn't good at, and it annoyed her. The only time of day she found that she actually was able to enjoy was drama class, and that joy didn't last very long. It had started to rain around lunch time, and it had started pouring within minutes. Now as she sat on the gloomy stage she found herself shivering, from the cold.

The drama teacher was dancing about on the stage, going on about some writer or something but Sarah just couldn't will herself to pay attention. Today was just way to dreary, very odd for a Friday. She was glad though that it was Friday, she had been forced to endure only 2 days worth of school before she was given a break.

"Sarah" Jareth breathed in her ear. She looked at him and shot him a what-the-hell-do-you-want? look. He just gave her a small smirk and stood up, and then pulled her to her feet.

"What are you doing?!" She hissed at him, and then looked around, everyone was vacating the stage and going towards the chairs. "Huh?"

"Come on, we're going to listen to a documentary." He gave her a small push and followed behind her.

Sarah wasn't sure if she should feel grateful or highly annoyed. His ego was already bad enough to deal with. The group had gone into single-filed order, and so Sarah ended up in the second row sitting with the edge on her right side and Jareth on her left. Sarah could faintly hear the beating of the rain on the school roof and found it highly soothing. The next thing Sarah new she was getting well acquainted with her eyelids.

The bell rang sometime later, only slightly stirring Sarah from her peaceful slumber. "Sarah" it was his voice again, it surprised her at how easily she recognized Jareth's voice now.

"Ugh." She mumbled turning her head deeper into the warmth that she rested against. Wait…something wasn't right, she had fallen asleep in the auditorium right? Then why was she so comfortable?

She opened one eye and was greeted to the sight of the Goblin King himself, whom it appeared she was using as a pillow. "I-I'm sorry!" She was surprised and sat up quickly, relieving him of his involuntary position.

He looked down at her, almost mockingly and then said, "the bell rang, your going to miss your bus if you idle around."

She let out a small sigh and then bolted out of her seat, shouldering her bag, and sprinting as fast as she could towards her bus. As fast as she tried to run she still missed her bus and she slumped against the wall outside, letting her bag slide down to the ground, and stood there under the small area that shielded her from the rain. "Now what am I supposed to do? It's not fair!"

"You say that so often-"

"I wonder what your basis for comparison is?" She finished the line for him.

"So you managed to listen while you were in the Labyrinth, but did you manage to learn, Sarah? Have you managed to grow?"

"Of course I've learned! I'll never take things for granted like I did, again! I love my brother and I realize that now!"

He gave her a small smirk and gazed down at her. She turned her head, seeming to ponder over something for a moment and then grabbed her bag and took off walking in the rain. "Where are you going?"

She turned, walking backwards, "Home. A little rain never hurt anyone." She turned around but not before she saw the expression that passed on his face, was that annoyance? Anger? She really couldn't place it. She kept walking until an arm grabbed her wrist and pulled her in the opposite direction. "Hey!" She screamed at Jareth. "What do you think your doing?"

"Your not walking home." He said, it was not a topic for discussion. She lowered her eyes at him, what was he thinking, and then she knew when he walked straight up to a black car.

"You've got to be kidding me, right?"

"Do I look like it?"

"That's not- oh, do you even know how drive a car?"

"We'll find out, won't we?"

"EH?!" and before she could argue anymore he had managed to shove her in the passenger seat and then he was in the drivers seat. He locked the doors before she could manage to try to escape, and no matter how hard she tried, the door wouldn't open.

"Buckle up." He warned in an almost teasing voice.

After a few moments she relaxed, apparently he was capable of driving, and really well actually. " I could have walked you know." She wasn't really fighting with him anymore, more like just stating the facts.

"I know, but you would have gotten sick." He said matter-of-factly.

As they we're nearing her house Sarah realized she hadn't found herself a date, or anything to do this weekend. She started to ponder over things and occasionally found herself glancing at Jareth. He was supposed to be evil right? Then why didn't she get that feeling now? She was actually fairly comfortable around him, which probably should have been an omen. She let out a sigh, he was now sitting in front of her house.

"What are you doing tonight?" The question was out of her mouth before she had time to even register this as a thought. Please say I have plans she silently begged him.

"I-have something I have to do." YES! She silently celebrated, "but I'll be free later ." Oh for Christ sake!

"Um can you pick me up here at 6?" No! Stupid, stupid, stupid mouth, shut up while your behind! She wanted to cry so badly, it was like watching another person right now ask him these, absurd questions.

"Sure," even he realized something was odd about this conversation, and he showed his concern by raising an arched eyebrow at her.

"Don't give me that look, I don't like you or anything," she said quickly, "I just need to get out tonight, away from that woman, and besides, it gives an opportune time for you to fill me in on what's going on exactly." By god she was a genius! She had avoided complete catastrophe by mere centimeters.

She got out of the car before he could protest and waved goodbye. So what if he liked secrets, it was about time he filled her in on what was going on. She held up six fingers at him and then headed into her house.

She walked upstairs and relieved herself of her backpack, by placing it on her floor and then plopped down on her bed. She closed her eyes and relaxed, unintentionally falling asleep.

TBC

A/N: Yeah I know, long time since I've updated, but my files for this story disappeared and I kind of put it to the side for a while and then couldn't remember my plot to my story. ;; So sad. So I've been procrastinating. I will finish this story eventually. -sigh- kinda mad right now, I don't think I did a good job at keeping them in character…Oh well. -must work on next chapter- till next time! Adios mi amigos!