Sorry for the late update! I've been in England all week so…
Hm. I have nothing else to say.
Disclaimer: I do not own the GONE series I only own Ashlyn.
Great. Just great. Third day at Coates and I've already been attacked, had my hand catch on fire, and realize something funny's going on. It doesn't take an idiot to notice that there's something different about Caine Soren.
I consider my options. On one hand, I could just continue on ignoring him. Life would be semi-normal. On the other, I could hang around him and find out what's happening.
'Or maybe you could just get yourself expelled.' I consider it briefly. It shouldn't be too hard. Maybe… No. I'm not one to run away.
I guess… I guess that I should go with the second option. I should confront him. That's what I'll do. I get up and reach for the doorknob, then run my hand through my hair instead.
"Come on! Open the door." I'm not a chicken. Open the door, I command myself. Nope. I fall back onto the bed. I should really go. Maybe I shouldn't confront him. Maybe I should just ignore him. But I'm no coward! Not too much! Maybe I should just hang out with him and he'll tell me on his own. No pushing required. No, that wouldn't be like him. He's manipulative. Maybe I could hang out with him and trick him into telling me. Maybe-
I shake my head, confused. Why is it that all of my scenarios involve hanging out with him? A shiver shoots down my back. Why did that just happen? It's probably because I don't trust him. I trust that Drake even less. What about Diana? She seemed just as cold and calculating as Caine, maybe colder. Isn't there somebody here who can tell me something without having to get close to Caine?
Caine smirks. "Diana, I'm telling you, she'll be on our side. She's smart. She'll notice that something's wrong."
"I know that she'll notice, but what makes you think that she'll trust us?"
He narrows his eyes.
"Admit it, Fearless Leader," She says mockingly, "You'll need to convince her."
"I might." He responded. He stares at her thoughtfully.
"Oh no. I know that look. That's your scheming look. Caine, whatever you're going to do, stop it. Stop it now."
"No."
I don't know when I fell asleep, but I wake up to knocking on my door. "Go away." I call into my pillow. I hear a chuckle, and the door pushes open. Caine walks in. "Get out. I'm sleeping."
"No you aren't. You're talking." He responds. I groan and sit up.
"What do you want?" I ask.
"I want you to come out of your room. I want to talk to you."
"What if I don't want to talk to you?"
"You will. Meet me outside in five minutes."
"Whatever." I stand as he leaves.
"What are you up to?" I mutter to myself. There's no harm in going, I suppose. I might as well.
Caine looks up at the sound of footsteps. He smirks smugly at Diana. Ashlyn emerges from the trees.
"What do you want?" She asks.
"Just to make a small proposition." She cocks her head to the side, analyzing him.
"What kind of a proposition?"
"Hang out with us for three days." He replies easily.
"Why would I do that?"
"Because he'll stop bugging you." Diana says.
"Yes. I'll leave you alone if you decide that you don't trust us."
She raises her chin, looking at the two of them. Diana narrows her eyes, analyzing her next move.
"Fine." Ashlyn says, "But just so you know, I will never trust you." She turns and walks away.
Okay, they are really getting on my nerves. I could scream. Or much, much better, I could strangle him. That sounds good. No, it couldn't be that obvious. Hm. Maybe…
I spend the next hour and a half thinking about ways to kill Caine. And after all of the movies and TV shows I watch, not to mention the books I read, I've got plenty of ideas. Then come the doubts. I want to go back on my word. No hanging out. But what choice do I have? I want him to leave me alone. Ooh! I could tell a teacher that he's up to something. I smirk. That teacher wouldn't survive the encounter. I'm really thinking that expulsion in my best option right now. It's not like I want to be here anyway.
Well, I know that I don't run away, but this is just getting out of hand. He's getting on my nerves. I head into the bathroom and splash water on my face to clear my thoughts. I don't bother turning it off. Why not waste water? I pull out a banana and begin peeling. "I'm eating this now. It's not lunchtime. I don't even care!"
Aren't I so rebellious? I chuckle slightly. Oh, yeah. Expelled in no time.
I burst out laughing. No, I need other methods. I could just run away. The thought is appealing. I mean, I wouldn't be missed. A gust of wind unlatches my window and pushes it open. "Creepy much?" The water's starting to get on my nerves. Just before I turn it off, it shoots up and splashes me in the face. Spluttering, I turn the tap off.
"What the hell?" I cough. I need to get out of this school.
I glance at the window. I don't like running. I don't… I can't…
I have to. I look through the window. First things first. Figure out what is going on with me. All of these things keep happening. Experimentally, I raise my hands to the ground several stories below me. The ground… cracks. It cracks. It has a gaping hole in it. Oops.
Wait, oops? I didn't do that, right? I couldn't have…
No. It's impossible. Isn't it?
The next day, I find myself sitting in the lounge. I don't even know what I'm doing. I hear footsteps but don't look up.
Somebody sits beside me. "What are you thinking about?" Caine. Oh, right! Our agreement.
I glance at him. "Ways to get expelled."
He raises an eyebrow. "Why?"
It's my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Hm. Let's think. One: This is the worst school I've ever been to. Two: I've got people following me around." I glare at him. "Three: Weird things are happening."
"I noticed. What's happened to you?"
I look at him. "Why do you want to know?"
"Just curious." He replies smoothly.
"Uh-huh. Well, if you must know, then here it is. Just yesterday, I was thinking about leaving. Then the window was unlatched. I was creeped out, so I went to turn off the tap water, and it splashed me in the face. All I did was reach to turn it off." I don't tell him about the ground.
He smirks smugly. "Really?"
"What are you smirking at?"
"What? Oh. Nothing."
I roll my eyes. This is why I want to be expelled.
"So did you get anywhere with getting expelled?"
"Not yet. All I've managed to do is eat a banana."
He chuckles. He waves at somebody across the room. A boy, Drake, I think, walks over.
"Hey." He says to Caine casually. He sprawls out on a chair and looks at me. "Oh. New girl. Ashlyn, wasn't it?"
I nod.
"Hey, Ash."
"Don't call me that."
He smirks. "Not a chance." Caine glances at him. "So, what were you talking about?"
"I'm trying to figure out how to get expelled."
He perks up. "Really?"
"Yeah. It's not exactly interesting here."
"Yeah. If you want to get expelled, I'm the person to go to."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"What is your advice, oh Wise One?" I ask sarcastically.
He smirks. "Well, for one, threatening teachers. It really freaks them out. It won't get you expelled though. That's nearly impossible."
"How so?"
"This is a school for bad kids. Nobody can get expelled. The next best thing is torture your teachers instead."
I smirk. "I bet I could get expelled."
"How?"
"Well, I could probably hack on to the site and put it on my file or something."
"No, that would be too obvious. It would have to be something else."
"Huh. Well, if I had a set of school rules, I could break them all in order."
His eyes light up and he leans forward. "That sounds fun."
"I bet it is." I reply. We're both grinning at the prospect.
"Think of the teachers' faces!" I laugh.
Caine clears his throat, amused. We look up at him. "What?" Drake asks.
"Class."
"So?"
"I've got to go." I say. "It's chemistry."
"Whatever." Drake says, smirking. I narrow my eyes. He chuckles, and I turn and leave.
This is going to be a disaster.
Sooooo… Thoughts? Please leave comments, they make me write faster. Criticism is welcome!
And the FAYZ will be happening soon, I promise. In a few chapters or less.
And 1000 amazing points to whoever got the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference.