Heya! I'm back! Big thanks to my reviewer! You're awesome. I won't talk much here, because it's late as I type this, so here we go:
Breeze xxx: 53 pts
JenniferAdams: 30 pts
Okay, I don't own Gone, other wise this story would be VERY different because Brianna would be in it in body instead of in spirit. But, no, because MG killed her...*cries hysterically* Okay, I'm done now.
Chapter 3
"I'm afraid I've sort of taken over the room," Lauren was saying as she began clearing books off of the beds. The rooms at Headline put Coates Academy to shame. The walls were long enough to link the beds up length-wise across them and still have standing room. Against one wall was a long, squat dresser, and beside it, in the corner, was another door. One bed was pushed into the back corner of the wall also holding the entrance, and the other was set up in the same manner on the opposite wall. Beside the beds, taking up part of the final wall, were two large night stands, and between them was a small book shelf. At the foot of the bed on the opposite wall was a large window that most likely looked out into the small (or at least compared to the rest of the school) courtyard in the middle of the girls' dormitories, but she couldn't be sure because it was covered with a thick, black material that had been stapled roughly to the windowsill. "That's what happens when you live by yourself for a year."
"What's with the window?"
"What?" Lauren nearly dropped the books, but managed to steady them, only barely. Dekka gestured to the window in response, as soon as Lauren's attention was back on her. Lauren looked at it and frowned. "Oh...that." She hefted the books and plopped them on the bookshelf, back facing Dekka, and the girl got the feeling that Lauren's timing had been very deliberate, a fact that she considered proven true when Lauren didn't immediately turn back around, but instead, stood in front of the case with one hand still on top of the books while the other swung at her side in small motions. She was trying to gather herself. "Personal preference," she said at last, turning back to face Dekka, her smile in tact, except that now, it didn't look quite as genuine. Maybe it was just Dekka's imagination, but it seemed slightly forced now, where as before, everything had seemed real. "If you want to take it down you can, but, uh, you'll have to do it yourself, because..." she sighed. "Because I just can't..."
Dekka stared at the window. She definitely wanted it down, for the same reason she had been reluctant to enter her first class. If something were to break out in the courtyard, then there would be only two options. She could ignore it, which was as un-Dekkaish as a thing could get. On the other hand, she could go try to help, but she would be rushing blindly into it and that was something that she had grown to despise. Sure, it wouldn't stop her from coming to help, but it didn't mean she liked the idea any better. However, Despite her strong desire to take it down, Dekka found her feet taking her instead to the bed that Lauren had cleared for her.
She put a hand on the plain, black comforter. "I guess this is mine?"
Lauren nodded, flopping down on the floor, leaning against her own bed. "I've sort of been sleeping in this one for four years, so it's kind of become a comfort thing."
"Yeah, I get it." Dekka nodded, taking a seat on the edge of her bed.
Lauren smiled, which had returned to its usual honest cheeriness. "Lunch?"
"Sounds good," Dekka replied, getting to her feet. Lauren, however, shifted only to tug at the side of her bedside table, and the front swung open, revealing it to be a small mini-fridge.
Lauren's smile turned into a wide grin when Dekka raised an eyebrow at her. "The school's not technically allowed to let us have outside foods in our room, but none of them really support that law, so a kid a few years ago came up with this, so that we can have these in our rooms without the school getting in trouble from the state." She reached into the the fridge absently, asking, "You don't have anything against sandwiches do you?"
Dekka couldn't help a smile. "I'm not picky when it comes to food."
"Me either," Lauren laughed, pulling a loaf of bread from the fridge.
She removed her two pieces and handed it to Dekka who had taken a seat across from her, leaned against the corner of the bookcase. "I spent quite a bit of time in the ICU when I was younger and they weren't exactly keen on letting me eat all that much, what about you?"
The question surprised Dekka, and she had to remind herself that Lauren hadn't heard all of the horror stories from the FAYZ. She was blissfully ignorant, yet not, in a way. She had this aura, like she could understand any situation no matter how impossible it seemed. Like Dekka could tell her about her nightmares about the bugs, and how she constantly relived Brianna's death, and Lauren would be the only person in the world who understood any of it. It was almost as though someone had taken Sam and changed him into the form of a girl. A girl with, now properly pony-tailed, dirty blond hair and thoughtful hazel eyes, and a smile that could turn a room bright with ease, pulled up a little more towards her ears on the left side, not too drastically. In fact, it was almost unnoticeable, it most definitely wasn't something she normally would have noticed.
Maybe the FAYZ had simply made her more attentive to detail among the many other things.
She couldn't seem to put much sarcasm into the next statement, however, as she replied, "There weren't exactly food stamps in the FAYZ."
Lauren laughed. "Fair enough."
The door to their room swung open, and in tromped Chris and Shaena. Chris swung a lanyard bordly around her finger while Shaena carried a box in her arms, covered with what seemed to be a black trash bag. "We bring food," Chris announced proudly. "Figured we would need to make up for this morning, so we came back to school prepared!"
"So you were planning on letting me sleep in and be late?" Lauren pouted.
Chris shrugged, taking a seat beside the older girl, "Gotta get our kicks where we can don't we?"
"How did you get in here?" Dekka wondered, staring back at the doors. "Do they not lock automatically when you close them here?"
"No, they do," Shaena assured.
And in order to answer how they had gotten in, Chris held out her lanyard, revealing two key cards hooked onto it. "Lauren gave us a spare, so that we can wake her up in the mornings, because she sleeps straight through actual alarms."
"That is true," Lauren sighed, giving Chris a sidelong glare.
"What? She was going to figure that much out anyways," Chris rolled her crystal-blue eyes.
Lauren didn't answer, but instead, handed her a can of soda. "What kind of meat did you get this week?" Shaena changed gears lazily, accepting a drink of her own.
"Turkey," Lauren answered, offering a drink to Dekka. When the girl didn't take it immediately, she put it on the floor beside her tauntingly, and Dekka's resolve crumbled quickly, leaving her no choice but to open the can and take a sip as Lauren went on. "I think Neal's convinced I'm getting fat." She thumped her stomach, as though for emphasis, but there didn't seem to be any fat too emphasize. She handed the package of meat over to Shaena for her to examine, while the girl snapped about how she didn't want to hear any self-aimed fat jokes from Lauren.
Chris shrugged as Shaena handed the meat over to her. "Who cares? As long as he's getting real meat instead of that soy crap the serve in the cafeteria."
"It's not that bad," Lauren argued.
Chris laughed. "You'd eat anything. Just like Shaena."
"That's a lie!" Shaena objected. "I don't eat everything! For example, I won't eat anything still moving."
"Gross." Lauren crinkled her nose. Then, she looked at Dekka, and gestured to the fridge. "What's mine is yours. Get whatever you want."
Dekka didn't move to take anything from the fridge, but did accept the bag of turkey when Shaena offered it.
"So, where are you from, Dekka?" Chris wondered casually, popping open a bag of chips.
"California," Dekka replied after a moments pause, in which she had to remind herself that people at Headline weren't as connected with the outside world, they hadn't seen her all over the t.v, so there questions weren't suspicious, they were just trying to get to know her. Sure she wasn't going to give them her whole life story or anything, but where she came from wasn't something for which she could justify not telling them.
"Do you like it there?" Shaena continued, offering the box of chips to her. Dekka picked one out, not caring which she got, and thought about the question, or, more accurately, how she could answer the question without raising to many unwanted questions, or completely lying.
"It sort of hits a little too close to home." Dekka winced at how childish it sounded, and how completely opposite of what she had been going for it was. Her home in California wasn't all that far from Perdido Beach, and, really, no distance felt far enough from the scene of the worst year of her life. That wasn't all though. Her house held too many memories. So many memories of what had been. The time that had led up to her being sent to Coates. So many things that reminded her that, had even the slightest detail of her life gone differently, she may never have ended up in the FAYZ, and accompanying them, came even more terrifying thoughts. Thoughts such as, would she change any of those details? Would she give up meeting Sam? Or Edilio? Would she give up fighting next to them to protect the kids of the FAYZ? Would she give up all of those precious moments with Brianna?
No, she wouldn't. Brianna was one of few things in her life that she would never change. The one thing that was right, and that was a fact, even if the therapist that had been set on her in the beginning tried to tell her otherwise.
She couldn't have been more grateful when Chris's voice brought her back to reality, or at least she thought she couldn't, until she realized that the girl was not pressing the issue of her response. "Yeah, lots of kids around here prefer Headline over their own homes. Most of the kids not on scholarships have bad home lives, and even lots on scholarship. That's why they sent in audition tapes in the first place, anything to get out of their homes for free." Chris frowned thoughtfully. "It's like, their safe haven. Maybe you'll come to see it that way, too, you know, instead of 'the place my parents sent me because they didn't want me at home'." Dekka found herself utterly amazed at how easily the girl had turned the dark subject of kids with horrible home lives into a slightly more joking subject.
"How do you know I'm not here on scholarship and my parents actually adore me?"
"Because, kids who come here on scholarship with adoring parents don't get dropped off all by themselves. Their parents always come in to make sure everything is set up for their kids," Chris replied, not even pausing for thought.
Dekka had no argument for that point, so instead, she changed the subject. "What about you? Where are you from?"
"Oregon!" The two younger girls whooped in unison, clapping their hands together enthusiastically.
"I take it you like it there?"
"People in our town are tons of fun to mess with," Chris laughed. "We're banned from half of the associations in town."
"And you're proud of that?" Dekka raised an eyebrow.
"They're Hell-raisers, of course their okay with that," Lauren giggled.
"Hell-raisers is a bit of a strong phrase, don't you think?" Shaena pouted.
"Whatever," Lauren replied absently, checking her phone. "Back in ten," she announced, stuffing the last of her sandwich into her mouth.
The other two girls jumped into action. Chris shoved the last of her sandwich into her mouth and reached under Lauren's bed, pulling out a small container, from which she produced a curious looking device that she popped onto the top of her half empty can. She proceeded to do the same to Shaena's and Lauren's drinks, and offered a fourth to Dekka, explaining, "They're seals. They keep the drinks fresh. That way if you have to make a hasty retreat, you don't have to waste the drink, but you don't end up with a flat drink later."
Dekka reached out and took it, popping it into place on her can, vaguely remembering seeing the device several times at Coates, from a girl who's father was on the school board. Chris handed the drinks to Lauren who was wrapping a ponytail holder around her half-eaten bag of chips. She placed the bag on top of the fridge, and took the drinks placing them into the device, along with the bread and turkey. Shaena was at work shoving the trash into the trash can set up beside the exit. Chris snapped the container shut and slipped it back under Lauren's bed, as well the box full of chip bags.
Lauren straightened, closing the mini-fridge as she did, and held a hand out to Dekka, silently offering a hand up. Dekka climbed to her feet by herself, politely dismissing Lauren's offer. The girl shrugged and offered her hand, instead, to Chris, who did accept it.
"Careful," Shaena commented teasingly, from her position by the door. "If The Queen of Jealousy hears you're making physical contact with her girlfriend she may start to call you Demon Spawn."
Lauren laughed, and Chris scowled. "Come on, girls, she's not that bad..."
Both girls gave her rather pointed looks that made her wince. "Okay, she's pretty bad."
"'Pretty bad'?" Shaena shrilled, or at least, as close to a shrill as she seemed to be capable of. "She's jealous of me, and I'm not even gay!"
Chris threw up her hands in surrender. "Okay! She's really bad.."
Dekka didn't hear the rest of the conversation, too focused on her own thoughts. Had Shaena just said she wasn't gay? Dekka had almost been positive that Shaena was the fifth and final...what did they call them here? GAP girls? So who was the fifth, then?
"Jazz!" She could hear Lauren's voice vaguely but she couldn't concentrate on it. She was too busy trying to work out the fifth-
Wait? Why did she care? She was still in love with Brianna, and wasn't planning on moving on anytime soon, so why did it matter who was gay at this new school.
"Jazz! Slow down!" A small girl walking ahead of them came to a stop and turned to face them. It was Jasamin, a thirteen-year-old who looked far younger than thirteen. Dekka recognized her from P.E. She had big, sad brown eyes, and short-cut, mousy brown hair. She clutched her books to her chest tightly, as though they were there to protect vital organs from an attack, and not there because she needed them for class. She smiled when she saw Lauren; a real smile, but still the saddest that Dekka had ever seen. It was as though happiness was an emotion unable to work its way into her features.
Dekka mentally scolded herself for thinking she knew how that felt.
"Hey, Lauren." Her eyes ventured over to Dekka. "...and Dekka, right?"
That was when Dekka noticed something else. They were no longer in the company of Chris and Shaena. She opened her mouth to ask about them, then changed her mind, and nodded in answer to the younger girl's question instead.
"You know," Lauren spoke, placing an arm around Jasamin's shoulder, which looked extremely peculiar considering the significant height difference. It was made to look even more odd when they continued to walk, which looked more like waddle on Lauren's part. "Between Rose's and Lilah's chattering the rest of us couldn't get a word in edgewise. So how was your summer?"She paused, then added, "I mean, once you get past your psycho dad?"
Jasamin let out a sigh that sounded like it was on the verge of being a laugh. "Not bad. The local ice cream parlor owner agreed to let me volunteer during the summer, so I don't have to spend so much time at home."
"That's really cool!" Lauren grinned, finally deciding that her awkward waddle was to difficult to maintain, and straightening, removing her arm. "He's nice right? Doesn't let anyone cause you trouble?"
Dekka felt like she was witnessing a conversation between two sisters. The comfortable manner they held their conversation, the protective look that came over Lauren's face every time Jasamin's dad came into the conversation, and when she asked about people causing trouble.
"It's a public restaurant. It's not like he force everyone to be polite, although he certainly tries."
"Good." The other girl accompanied the statement with a nod of her head.
"How about you?" Jasamin went on, trying to keep the conversation at it's comfortable pace. "Good summer?"
"There's only so much entertainment you can get out of this place without the rest of the school here," Lauren shrugged. "So where are you headed?"
"Science, you?"
"Geometry. Who do you have?"
"Mrs. Norrell ."
Lauren's nose crinkled. "I feel sorry for you..." She thought a moment, then said, "Mrs. Norrell is right beside Coach Nutcase's room. Would you mind showing Dekka?"
Jasamin shrugged. "Why not? Unless you plan on testing my ability to act as a human punching bag as soon as Lauren's gone, of course." It was a joke, judging by the smile tinted with as much humor as Jasamin seemed to possess, but something about it sounded pained, and all too serious. It sent a shiver up Dekka's body.
"Don't worry," she replied, dryly, "human punching bags aren't really my thing."
That earned two very opposite smiles. They walked to the main builing together, then Lauren split away, off to Coach Urrie's room while Jasamin led her deeper into the building. Dekka tried to memorize the path, but she lost track. Left then through the large double doors in the E wing, down a side hallway on the right, left, the first door on the left into another hallway, left, or maybe it was right?
"Don't worry," Jasamin assured, looking back and noticing Dekka's look of concentration. "The only person who ever memorized these halls their first day was Julie, and that's only because of her photographic memory."
"Oh really?" Dekka wondered calmly, noticing the large G on a door and taking mental note of, split right from the G wing. "How long did it take you?"
"By the end of my first year here, I only barely knew how to navigate the main hallways." She reached out and wrenched open a door, that lead into a still crowded hallway. "And there are lots of off-wings in this school."
"I've noticed."
Jasamin pointed across the hallway to a door, and announced, "Coach Nershall's class. My advice: be careful. There's a reason we call him Coach Nutcase." Then she was gone, disappeared through the door beside Coach Nershall's.
"Third row, fourth desk back," The voice of a familiar salt-and-pepper haired boy called out, spotting her as she strolled reluctantly into the room.
"Are you trying to tell me where to sit?"
"It's only a suggestion." Noah shrugged. "Unless, of course, you've considering ignoring it, then...yeah, I am."
"And what if I still don't sit there?"
Noah laughed. "This is not a debatable conversation!" He clicked his tongue and pointed a marker, which he had stolen from the board at the front of the room, where he was currently stationed, at her.
Dekka considered continuing the argument, but she had a rather nasty feeling that a comeback war with this boy would not go in her favor. Besides, he was the only kid in the class that she knew anything about, and he wasn't a bad person to be around, judging from first period, that is.
"Travis!" A booming voice caused the chatter to die to immediate silence, as everyone's head whipped in the direction of the door, where a large, broad-shouldered man stood, his eyes flashing dangerously at Noah, who was seemingly unphased.
"Hello," he grinned, not moving his hand, which was grasping the marker, pressing it against the board creating another of what must have been his poorly-done doodles.
"What do you think you're doing?" The man snapped at the boy, who's grin never faltered.
"I just thought your room could use a little livening up, is all." Noah shrugged. "Why? Do you not like it?" He gestured to the board.
"Don't touch my board!" The man snarled, yanking the marker away from the boy. "Go sit down!"
Noah turned and headed for the seat in front of Dekka, snickering the whole way while Coach Nershall grumbled about insubordination as he cleared the doodles away.
When he was done, he slammed the board cleaner back onto his desk and glared at the class, most of whom were holding back laughter. "This is not amusing!"
"That, my friend, is a matter of opinion," Noah commented in a voice strained from trying not to laugh himself.
Coach Nershall jabbed a finger in his direction, snapping in a not-so-calm voice, "Shut up!"
The boy gave his head such an abrupt nod that Dekka wondered how he didn't end up with whiplash, and replied, in a very military-like tone, "Yes sir!"
For a split second, Dekka was sure the teacher was going to clear all of the desks between himself and Noah, and lay the boy out, but the next next second he had gotten his face back into a semi-composed expression, and said, in a voice wavering between calm and utter insanity. "One more word out of you, Travis, and I swear..." And there he let the threat hand, having its desired effect on most of the room, as every student turned, with wide eyes, to look at Noah, bu the boy, who the threat was actually intended to intimidate, seemed unphashed, and he didn't miss a beat.
He drew a line across his lips with his thumb and forefinger, and mimed turning a key in a lock at the corner of his mouth, then, as though purely for the purpose of seeing how far he could push the teacher, he reached over the back of his seat, and pretended to drop his invisible key onto Dekka's desk.
Dekka felt frustration well up at him dragging her into the conflict, which was only made worse when she moved her hand over the place that the key, had it been real, would have landed. She clenched her fist and had to bite her lip to stop herself from saying something she may regret in the face of the teacher watching them carefully. It was bad enough that he was risking his own life by testing this man's temper, but why was he bringing her into it?
"Come on, Noah, leave the puppy alone" a girl that Dekka recognized vaguely from Biology, sighed.
Oh yeah, that's why.
"Yeah!" A blond boy in the seat beside Dekka's put in. "Mess with Christie! That's tons more fun!"
The girl huffed, sending dusty colored curl floating lazily into the air. "Have you ever been stabbed with a pen before Nick?"
"No," the boy replied, "but it sounds like I would hurt."
"Wanna find out?" Christie offered, wielding her small, purple pen threateningly. "Then keep on talking about me."
"Would all of you just shut up!" The coach's boom brought the class back to silence. He let out an irritated breath. "Okay! As you've probably noticed, there is a book on your desk, that is your book, and will be your responsibility for the rest of the year, so I suggest you keep up with it. Open it up and write your name on the inside cover, then wait for further instructions, but no side conversations while you wait."
Dekka moved to do as instructed, but was interrupted by a piece of paper being slipped onto her book. She paused and glanced at Noah, who was turned back around. She considered ignoring the paper, but curiosity go the best of her, so she unfolded it.
You were supposed to laugh, not look like I kicked you dog or something.
Dekka looked up and found that Noah had turned his head, and, judging by the glint in her pale green eyes, he was smiling. She gave him her most intimidating glare, and crumpled the paper in her hand.
Noah turned back around, so Dekka opened her book and began putting in her name, sure that he was done, until she was presented with a new note.
Nice try, but you don't scare me. Compared to some of the things I've seen, you're like...a fluffy bunny.
Dekka came very close to giving a derisive laugh. Whatever he had seen couldn't even come close to the things she had. Had he seen bugs eating him form the inside out? Had he seen kids eaten by coyotes? Had he seen a girl's head smashed by a giant cement block of heard the screams of children burning alive? Had he seen the heart of the girl he loved burned away?
But she held back. She was trying to put those awful memories behind her, and she couldn't do that if she was using it as ammo.
So instead, she stood, giving him a pointed glare, and threw the papers away. She was sure he would get the message this time, positive he would leave her alone. She was proven wrong, however, when she arrived back at her desk to find a third note.
I've been told my head is as thick as my grin is wide. It'll take a little more than that to get me to back off.
Dekka was quickly growing tired of this and stared up at Noah, who was smiling in the stangest way. A mischievous innocent air about it that made disliking him like she wanting to do, very difficult.
So she scribbled back a note, hoping that humoring him would provide a better outcome.
What exactly is it you want?
How about a smile?
Dekka shook her head. She wasn't that kind of person who smiled just because she was asked too. Noah didn't look away. She sighed and glanced around, half-hoping for someone to come to her rescue, but no one seemed to be paying them any mind. She looked back to Noah, and game her haed another shake.
He didn't budge.
"Talent?"
"What?" Dekka looked to the coach, who raised an eyebrow.
"Are you here?"
Dekka considered making her own sarcastic comment to match his, but thought better of it. "Yes."
"Travis."
"Present."
"Unfortunately."
The students around snickered, but Noah seemed far from caring.
The teacher finished calling roll, then launched into a long spill about his rules, and expectation, and other things. The man made several obscene references, even going as far as labeling himself the dick-tator of the class room.
Needless to say, Dekka was move than relieved when the bell rang, announcing that her time stuck in the room with the, clearly, half-insane man was over.
Noah stood, slinging his back pack onto his shoulder. He stood in front her desk patiently as she grabbed her bag and checked her schedule. She glanced up at him. "What are you doing?"
Noah shrugged. "Just waiting. Is that wrong?"
Only one person had ever stood, staring expectantly at her like that, having decided to leave only when she was as well.
But she was dead.
"Why?"
Noah laughed. "Are you naturally this intrusting or do is it just me?"
"I don't even know you."
Noah smirked, and gave a taunting bow. "Noah Travis. My dad is the chief of police at the Charleston Police Department. I have two older, Kris and Hunter, who have both are graduates of Headline Academy. One is a music major at UCA and the other owns a martial arts dojo in Charleston. My mother died when I was nine, along with my baby sister. I play trumpet in the Headline marching and concert bands. My favorite pass time is making people laugh, and I have this nifty little talent at imitating noises and voices I hear. It's freaky, but usually people are to busy laughing to notice how freaky it really is. There. Is that enough for you to trust me?"
Dekka sighed. "Well, if you're so set on hanging around, then how about you make yourself useful? Do you know how to get to Mrs. Lee's class?"
"This is my eleventh year at this school, I know how to get everywhere." He turns and begins to walk towards the door. Dekka let out a breath, and wondered how she'd ended up in this mess. Yes, it was a mess, because she was trying to be angry at her parents for abandoning her again. She was trying to miss Brianna, and hate herself for letting her get killed, even though a logical part of her brain told her there was nothing she could have done. She was trying to be the same gloomy Dekka that no one talked to or messed with, and instead Noah was trying to be her friend, and making it very difficult to find a reason not to be. Lauren, too, with her welcoming air that made Dekka want to completely open up to her despite the fact that she knew nothing about her.
Mrs. Lee was was two doors down a across the hall. At least that was easy to remember.
Noah stuck around, and it turned out that it was his class, too, as well as Lauren, Lilah, Christie, and a boy that Dekka had recognized as Nick, from their fifth period class, but, as it turned out, his name was Austin, and Nicolas was his twin brother, which made Dekka feel slightly stupid.
Mrs. Lee was a plump, wispy haired woman, that started class by introducing herself and sharin a story about going to a workshop for teaching that summer, and finding out that sarcasm was actually considered a form of bullying. She laughed and told them that she had been a smart allec for forty-eight, so it was far to late for her to fix that, so they would just have to deal with her bullying. This produced a small wave of laughter, and the perfect opportunity for Noah to start his favorite pass time. Mrs. Lee handled him far better than Coach Nershall had, and their casual banter speckled the class period, providing a very entertaining class, that fact, even Dekka couldn't deny. Well, she could, and did outwardly, because if Noah was going to insist on harassing her until he got a laugh, she was at least going to make him work for it.
After she was done sharing her sarcasm story, she hung up a poster, that read in large letters, Don't Be Stupid. This lead to her sharing stories of stupid things she had seen kids do in the past, and that had lead up to this phrase becoming her motto.
When the class was over, Lauren looked at Dekk'a schedule and raised an eyebrow. "You're in band?"
"What?" Dekka frowned, then remembered the day she and her parents had sat with the counselor working out a schedule for her. She remember answering no to the questions of: "Do you play an instrument?" "Do you like art?" "Do you sing?" The counsilor had then proceeded to tell her that if she wasn't going to be a member of one of the programs, than she would have to be what was called a helper, which translated to someone who sat in the class, and helped out when it was needed and what not. She remembered telling the woman that she wasn't partial to art or choir or band or the media center, so she didn't care where they put her. The woman had said that the band had lost their only helper last year, when she graduated, and asked for permission to put her there, because apparantly she couldn't do so without permission. Dekka had nodded, whatever.
"I'm a helper...I think that's what she called it."
"Oh," Lauren cocked her head and smiled. "Cool. We were expecting to be helperless this year, with Kimberly graduating last year and all."
"We?"
"The band," Lauren answered. "Mr. Burkly's couldn't get back today, so we don't have to go to seventh period. I mean, we have to go back to the dorm building, since they won't let us just wander around the school while class is going on, but we don't have to do go to the band room." She frowned thoughtfully. "That's bad word choice. I would choose going to the band room over going back to the rooms, but we can't, because Mr. Burkly has the keys to the band room, so they can't open it."
So they went back to the dorm building. There were two, one was for the guys and the other for the girls. The girls' dorm building entered first into a large lobby, which brached off into the hallways that lead to the dorms by way of staircases and elevators. The dorms were set up in a large box shape around a courtyard that put the already large lobby to shame. Lined it a low wall that had bushes growing over behind, and over the top of it. It was littered with benches and picnic tables, and randomly placed trees.
A large group of students congregated to the lobby of the girls' dorm building, boys and girls alike. Dekka assumed they were all band students, and found that she recognized many of them. Her entire first period class was there, for example, which she learned was not a coincidence. Mentoring classes were set up to include only kids from the same programs. Lauren had laughed at herself when she explained this, claiming that she now felt stupid for not realizing before that Dekka was a member of the band. Dekka had tried to object to that, she didn't play an instrument, but Lauren waved her off, saying, "You travel with us, help us load the trailer, sit in class with us. You're a member."
Soon after the bell rang for seventh period to start, Dekka realized someone was beating on something. She frowned. "What is that?"
A series of whoops the crowd, and Chris called, "Go, Beat!"
Lauren grinned and looked at Dekka. "His name is Alexander, but everyone calls him Beat, because he's the best percussionist at Headline. He can recreate any rhythm he hears."
Soon after Beat started, manh other kids began beating out rhythms, including Shaena, that fit perfectly with this rhythm to create an interesting cadence. Then, suddenly, a long note rang through the lobby, and they looked to see Jasamin standing atop a table, a saxaphone pressed to her lips as she blew out a series of notes to match the beating of what could only be the percussionist. That started a chain, kids began leaving and returning with their own instruments, fitting themselves into the mix. As more joined in, Dekka realized what they were playing. It was the Spider-man theme song, and Dekka almost laughed as she was reminded of the spider-man head that Toto the truth teller had talked too. Toto had been annoying, true, but the sheer innocence that he had carried with him had been almost comical in the midst of the anything-but-innocence of the FAYZ.
The song shifted, and soon Dekka realized that they were playing movie themes from Marvel movies. She smiled, because it was nice to think of them as simply movies with theme songs, and not actual events. She was no longer in the FAYZ. People no longer had creepy powers like canceling gravity, or shooting light from her hands, or super speed. That was movie stuff. They were just guys in tights with cool theme songs.
Then they stopped, all at once, silence filled the room, like the moment when the hero dies and no one knows quite what to do, or say, because the hero doesn't die!
But the hero did die. The FAYZ wasn't just some movie that she watched on cable. It was real. She could really cancel gravity, and Brianna was really a small thriteen-year-old with the power to run at super speed, and take on any fight even if the chances of victory were slim to none.
And there really was a green, killing light that had flashed and burned a hole straight through Brianna.
Dekka felt the unwanted tears coming, and knew she had to escape. Get away from the cheerful voices and laughs as the kids joke about their spontaneous break into song that usually only happened in movies. Yeah, sometimes movies get some details right. They just never get the part where a hero dies.
"Are you okay?" Lauren called as she turned to go, a look of concern etched into her features.
"Yeah, I'm just going to go back to the room," Dekka answered, fighting to keep her voice level.
"You want company?" Lauren wondered, moving to get up off of the chair she was in. Dekka shook her head quickly.
"No! It's fine. I need to be alone anyways."
"Okay," Lauren replied uncertainly, biting her lip.
So Dekka went to the room, and got rid of the tears she couldn't hold back, then forced the tears she could away. She didn't go back downstairs, just lied on her bed and fought away memories that would bring more tears.
She figured she had missed dinner after a while, and remembered Lauren telling her she had free reign over the refrigerator, but she didn't go get anything. She couldn't eat when Brianna was haunting her like this.
Eventually, Lauren came through the door. She was no longer wearing her uniform, instead she was in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Dekka wondered distantly where she had changed, but quickly lost focus on that matter when she saw Lauren's eyes dart to the window, which she had left untouched. A look of relief flashed across Lauren's face, so fast that Dekka questioned even seeing it.
She crossed the room and collapsed on her bed, stomach first, slipping her arms underneath her pillow. Dekka, who was lying on her bed, fully clothed, staring at the ceiling, heard her release a long breath of air.
"Therapists make it seem like if you just talk to them, and tell them everything you feel, that it'll all get better. What they don't tell you is that talking about our problems doesn't make the memories go away. The things that change as a result, don't just magically go back to normal just because you tell someone about it. All you can do is adjust." Dekka heard the girl shift on her bed, but didn't turn to see. "I'm a good listener, if you just want to talk, but I get a feeling you're not the kind of person who just tells all her problems to anyone, so, if there's anything else I can do, to help you adjust, then tell me."
Dekka considered the offer a moment, then, at last, she spoke, "I need light."
"Excuse me?"
Dekka sighed, now regretting even saying anything, because it was stupid, but it was also true. So she turned onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow, and faced Lauren. "I need some sort of light. Total darkness messes with my head too much. Usually the moon or stars are enough that it doesn't bother me, but..."
She refrained from nodding to the window, still covered in the black fabric.
Lauren nodded, understanding, then climbed out of bed and dropped to her knees, digging around under it a moment. She came back up with what Dekka quickly recognized as a large lava lamp. Lauren stood, saying, "My last room mate collected these, and when she transferred rooms, she gave this to me as a sort of 'Sorry I'm totally abandoning you and all gift." She plugged the thing up, and set it on the bookshelf, then look to Dekka, who was watching with raised eyebrows. "Better?"
Dekka nodded. "Yeah."
Lauren smiled and reached over her night stand, flicking off the switch above it. The room when dark, save the light from the lamp, that glowed an eerie green, like the light from a Sammy Sun. Dekka winced, and was relieved when the color changed to red.
She saw Lauren's dark outline crawl back into bed, and her curiosity began to kick in. "What happened to you?"
"What?"
"You said earlier today, that you spent a lot of time in the ICU, then, just now, you sounded a lot like someone who knows those things from personal experience."
She heard Lauren laugh. "Just a plane crash, is all." She answered, nonchalantly. "I'm sure whatever happened to you in your FAYZ thing beats my bad experiences by a long shot."
Silence filled the air, and Dekka was glad it was dark, so that Lauren couldn't see her smile. Who brushed a plane crash off as no big deal, even in the face of the things Dekka had been through? The sheer insanity of it made her want to laugh.
"Hey, Dekka..." She heard Lauren's voice drift from the other side of the room. "Thanks...you know, for not taking the window cover down and all."
So yeah. This chapter had a lot of development going on! Which is good..I personally like development.
Sooo, because my brother insisted that it was hard to tell, I'm going to ahead and give a little pronunciation tutorial...
Shaena is pronounced Shay-na. And later, when we meet her sister, it's pronounced Shay-la
Jasamin. I know that is usually spelled with an e, but I dropped the e, on purpose. Don't worry! ^.^
Okay, question time! 5 pts for each question you answer...
1. What was your favorite scene?
2. Is there anything you would like to see more of?
AND my challenge! 10 pts for the first correct answer, 5 for the ones after, and three for effort!
Who is the fifth and final GAP girl? It is one of the girls we have already met, other wise I couldn't use this as a challenge!
Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! XD