Thanks to Calm-Waters, thelivingtunic, Ahsoka33, and CloudstarOfShadowClan for reviewing, faving, and alerting so far. This chapter took me a while to get finished. I wasn't sure if I wanted to use this one idea I had, but I ended up using it. Sera belongs to deegirlsjs, and I suppose Lucas isn't mine, either, being as he's based off of a real person. His turtle obsession, however, belongs to me. I own nothing besides Kit, all else belongs to their rightful owners. I do not own the song Heavy In Your Arms by Florence + The Machine.
Next morning brought the usual routine, but with a different feeling hanging in the air. Kit had disappeared again, but she was close by, as the Clockwork was parked behind the garage. She was wandering around somewhere doing something, and Spinner had spent half of the morning trying to find her, until Sherman pointed this out. "Ohhh," Spinner replied, nodding once. "Can't we go talk to her or something?"
"She'll talk to us if she wants to," Sherman replied, fixing something on the Buster Tank. "I think she's got something on her mind, though." Spinner rolled his eyes.
"You're just peeved because you couldn't get a-" Sherman clamped a hand over his older brother's mouth as the brunette walked in. She looked at them both suspiciously, before pulling out a deck of cards, "-date!" Spinner finished. "And what's with the cards?" he added, following Kit as she sat down.
"I'll make you a deal," Kit started, shuffling the cards. "If you can beat me in a game of black jack, I'll stay. But you'd have to hide me from the others. But, if I beat you, I get to leave and I don't have to promise you anything." Spinner nodded and the two shook hands.
"Can Sherm help me?" he asked. Kit shook her head. "Crap, fine! Let's play." Kit wondered if Spinner could beat her; she had been pretty bored over the past three months, so she had perfected her black jack skills. If she won, she was leaving. Secretly she hoped that Spinner could win.
And for a good portion of the game, the boy was holding his own. But in the end things started to go downhill, so she resorted to desperate measures. When Spinner was in the bathroom she had Sherman fix things for him, gaining an odd look in the process. Spinner came back and ended up winning. "Sucker, you're stuck here! With us!" Spinner exclaimed. Kit was a little surprised that she had wanted to stay. Spinner ran off to go get something, so Sherman said something.
"Did you let him win?" he asked, a little amused.
"Yeah. So that I'd have a reason to stay. I had a few reasons why, but you know," Kit replied with a light shrug. Sherman nodded and leaned against the Buster Tank. He hoped that Kit would stick around for a while. The brunette paused for a moment before shifting her gaze to the Tank, and then back to Sherman. In the second that she had looked away and looked back, he had gone from looking slightly amused to thoughtful. She looked at him curiously for a moment. "What're you thinking about?" the brunette asked, nudging his foot with her foot.
He just looked at her like she should already know.
"S'not important," he finally replied, shaking his head. He folded his arms across his chest and waited.
"Just tell me," Kit prompted. She wanted to know what Sherman was thinking. It bugged her when his thoughts were just out of her grasp. If only he would talk to her a little more often. For some reason, she wondered why he hadn't stopped her from going to the first time. She wondered what would happen if she tried to walk away now. She said, "Are you mad at me?" Dark, olive green eyes shifted up to meet her dark blue ones.
"Why would I be mad?"
"I left remember? And I was mean about it, too. I'm hoping you're not mad, but I just kinda needed some time to think. And well yeah," the brunette replied. "I know Spinner could care less but you're not Spinner." Sherman thought for a moment. Was he angry? No, not really. Was he worried? Yes, most definitely.
"I'm just worried," Sherman finally replied. "For Spinner's sake," he quickly added. Blue eyes were unbelieving. They were searching for something, but what, he wasn't exactly sure of that yet. Something from the past, maybe? Or something from the future, possibly. But whatever she was looking for, she wouldn't find it here.
"I understand," she said in reply, voice quiet. There was something in the tone of her voice, and it was something he hadn't anticipated. She looked at him so curiously, that even her gaze unnerved him. The way she seemed to want to know what he was thinking gave him a feeling of uncertainty. And Kit did understand that she was making him nervous. She smirked lightly and turned away, pressing the button on her watch. A few moments later, the Clockwork was in the garage.
She climbed into it, lingering for a moment. She had both feet on her seat, as she stood, half in the car, half out in the open. She smiled slightly as another thoughtful look crossed Sherman's face. Thought provoking, apparently. "Now what're you thinking about?" she asked. He gave her a sideways glance. A question had come to mind and was lingering in the air.
"Did you throw the game just so that you could stay and meet back up with Stanford?"
"I came because Sage called," she said firmly, voice cold. "Stanford doesn't have anything to do with this. We knew each other for what, a month? It was just a little crush. I told Grace that's what it was. The one thing you and Spinner have got to learn if we're going to get along is that I'm not interested in a casual, summer romance. If I'm in a relationship, I want it to mean something. I don't wanna be some charm on a bracelet, always getting replaced by one prettier girl – I mean, charm after another."
"I think it's different with Stanford," Sherman voiced.
"Oh really?" she asked, looking at him with piercing blue eyes. A smirk threatened to cross her face.
"I'm just saying, you don't make out with someone in the middle of the parking lot and then forget about it," he replied, half expecting Kit to come over and attempt to beat him up. However, the brunette had more sense than that, because Sherman was much stronger than she was. She folded her arms across her chest defiantly.
"I'm not here for Stanford. End of story," Kit replied, dropping into the Clockwork.
"I never said you were, I just asked." With that, the brunette climbed back out and walked over to him. This act showed just how much of a height difference there was. Kit was a good three inches shorter than Stanford, so now she was at most a foot shorter than Sherman. She pulled over a step stool and stood on top of that so that she could talk to him on his level.
"You don't believe me?"
"I never said that, either."
"You meant it," Kit snorted, scoffing once. Sherman shook his head. "Whatever. It doesn't matter." Kit jumped off of the step stool and walked back to her car, slipping in the top, closing it behind her. She put it in gear and backed out, avoiding another conversation. Just then, Spinner walked back out with a glass in his hand. It was filled to the brim with water and a goldfish was inside of it.
"Why is Bigfoot in a glass?" Sherman asked, staring at his older brother.
"I wanted to show Kit."
"She just left."
"Wha?"
"Yeah."
"What'd you do?"
"Nothing!" Sherman defended himself. "She needed a break."
"She just had one!" Spinner exclaimed, water sloshing all over the place. Bigfoot swam around, looking like he was about to have a fish heart attack. Sherman took the glass away from his older brother and shook his head, setting it down on one of the nearby desks where it would be safe.
Later that evening, Sherman and Spinner were sitting in the garage with the Buster Tank close by. They had abandoned work for the rest of the night, and Spinner was now trying to make Bigfoot jump through a hoop made of drinking straws. "Sherm, can you get me a lighter?" Spinner called back to his brother, who was sprawled out on the ground. He was beat and he had been trying to keep Bigfoot out of Spinner's hands all day. Who knew that taking care of your older brother's fish could be such a wearing task?
"Why?" Sherman asked, sitting up. The word lighter coming out of Spinner's mouth never meant anything good. "If you try to set that fish on fire I swear, I'll take him back to the pet store."
"Aww, you wouldn't!" Spinner whined. "But I need a lighter so that I can set the straws on fire! It'll be a little flaming hoop! I can start a fish circus!"
"Spinner, the straws would burn. And if Bigfoot won't jump through a regular hoop, what in the world makes you think he'll jump through a flaming hoop?" Sherman asked, incredulously.
"Oh… I knew that!" Spinner replied, waving the conversation off with his hand. He turned back to his current project. Sherman scoffed and lay back down on the floor, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. All became silent, except for the voice of his older brother. "C'mon Bigfoot, jump through the hoop, boy!" The fish was going to get angry, Sherman was sure of it. "C'mon!" But other than the sound of that, it was quiet. Sherman was on the verge of unconsciousness, so close to letting the folds of sleep overtake him, no matter even if he was on the floor of the garage.
But a slow, melancholy tune began to fill the air. "What's 'at?" Spinner asked, looking up curiously. They opened up the garage door, and found a group of ten people standing outside the garage. Each was dressed in the same thing: Long, white sleeve shirts, smoky gray, sleeveless hoodies, and dark blue jeans, with rips, tears, and holes in the knees. They were also wearing thick black sneakers. However, the most interesting part was that they all had instruments in front of them. The headlights of the Clockwork were shining on the band.
There was a female at the front, standing in front of the microphone. There were two people on guitars, five people in the back, one person at a keyboard, one person at a set of drums, and the female in the front looked awfully familiar. Each person had their hoods up, except for the boy at the keyboard. He had on a striped suit, which was purple with white stripes, and a purple and white striped fedora. He had on black sunglasses, and smart black loafers.
"Ready?" the girl at the microphone started. Everyone nodded. The tone changed into a haunting sort of tune, and she prepared to sing. Sherman and Spinner were both mesmerized so they gave each other quick glances and pulled up the step stools.
The female began to sing,
"I was a heavy heart to carry,
my beloved was weighed down,
my arms around his neck,
my fingers laced to crown.
"I was a heavy heart to carry,
my feet dragged across ground,
and he took me to the river,
Where he slowly let me drown.
"My love has concrete feet,
my love's an iron ball,
Wrapped around your ankles,
Over the waterfall.
"I'm so heavy, heavy,
heavy in your arms,
I'm so heavy, heavy,
heavy in your arms.
"And is it worth the wait,
all this killing time?
Are you strong enough to stand,
protecting both your heart and mine?
"Who is the betrayer?
Who's the killer in the crowd?
The one who creeps in corridors,
and doesn't make a sound.
"My love has concrete feet,
my love's an iron ball,
Wrapped around your ankles,
Over the waterfall.
"My love has concrete feet,
my love's an iron ball,
Wrapped around your ankles,
Over the waterfall.
"I'm so heavy, heavy,
heavy in your arms,
I'm so heavy, heavy,
so heavy in your arms."
The female singer spun around once, and as she pointed to the boy at the keyboard, he gripped the tip of his fedora and tilted it backwards, revealing a little more of his face. The rest of the group followed suit, pulling their hoods down. They did it all in sync, as if it had been practiced numerous times. Suddenly they looked and realized just who the singer was. Sherman and Spinner traded glances. It was Kit. In the back the five were dancing, and one was now clearly seen as Lucas, the boy from three months before.
"This will be my last confession,
"I love you" never felt like any blessing.
(Ohhhh)
Whispering like it's a secret,
only to condemn the one who hears it,
with a heavy heart.
"Heavy, heavy, I'm so heavy in your arms.
(I'm so) Heavy, heavy, I'm so heavy in your arms.
(I'm so) Heavy, heavy, I'm so heavy in your arms.
(I'm so) Heavy, heavy, I'm so heavy in your arms.
"I was a heavy heart to carry,
my beloved was weighed down,
my arms around his neck,
my fingers laced to crown.
"I was a heavy heart to carry,
but he never let me down!
When he had me in his arms,
my feet never touched the ground!
"I'm so heavy, heavy in your arms."
The song began to slow down.
"Heavy, I'm so heavy in your arms."
The music came to a slow stop, and the whole group pulled their hoods back on, in sync. At last, the boy with the fedora put his hat back on and tilted his head down. The rest followed suit. For a moment, Sherman and Spinner sat in stunned silence, as Bigfoot swam around in his little glass. All was silent, and no one moved. The headlights of the Clockwork dimmed and then went out completely. Suddenly, Spinner jumped up and yelled, "That was awesome!" The band breathed a sigh of relief as the guitarists high-fived each other.
Kit pulled down the hood and blushed slightly, looking proud. "It took me a long time to learn the lyrics to that song. In fact I had to take voice lessons to be able to sing this way, too. You were the first people to hear me sing it, besides the band, of course," Kit explained. Sherman stood up.
"You happened to have your band with you?" he asked, a little amused.
"I always bring them with me," Kit responded. "We pretend we're brothers and sisters."
"Makes sense," Sherman replied, after a moment of silence. "Now if you could just teach Spinner to sing like that…" Everyone laughed, even Spinner… That is, until he realized what his younger brother had just had the audacity to say, out loud.
"Hey!" Spinner exclaimed. He started to attempt to sing, but a drumstick flew from the back and hit him square in the forehead. He fell over and curled up in a ball on the ground. Sherman and Kit looked to the source of the drumstick, as a young girl stood up and folded her arms across her chest.
"Drumstick, please?" the blonde asked, ice blue eyes sparkling slightly, in amusement.
"Oh, Sherman," Kit started in. "This is Sera."
"Hey, Sherman. Kit talks about you all the time!" Sera replied, smirking lightly. The rest of Kit's band mates sniggered. Kit blushed furiously as she walked over to Sera and smacked her on the back of her head. "Ow! I'm just tellin' him the truth! It's either him, or his twirpy little – I mean older brother. Are you sure you're not older?" Sera asked Sherman.
"I'm sure."
"Wow!" Sera replied, rubbing the back of her neck. "Mmkay Kit, how long will we be staying here?" The rest of the band murmured their agreement, while Lucas yelled out the fact that he liked turtles. "Say, why don't we stick around?" Kit rolled her eyes and eyed Sherman, and then the passed out Spinner.
"Alright, alright, I did lose that game of black jack," Kit responded.
"Do you have any turtles?" Lucas asked quickly. Sherman pointed to him.
"He's joking around, Sherm. He does like turtles, though. Lucas, cut it out, man," Kit called back to him.
"You betcha, Katczinsky," Lucas replied. "I do, however, like turtles."
"Would you call me Kit? It'll confuse everyone!" Kit demanded.
"Nah, I don't think I will!" Lucas replied. Sera aimed the drumstick and chucked it at her friend, and Lucas was soon lying on the ground, much like Spinner. "I like turtles…" he said in his sleep. Kit nudged him with her foot. She looked up at Sherman hopefully. The taller boy sighed and hoisted his brother over his shoulder, along with Lucas.
"I have deadly aim!" Sera declared, doing a fist pump. Kit rolled her eyes again and followed Sherman back into the garage.
French toast sticks, that chapter took me a couple hours to finish. I hope it was OK. Please review, and tell me what you think!