Okay, so, rather late update, but those will happen every once in a while. I am only human.
Thanks to my reviewers! Especially my newest, Kiwi Werewolf, who left an awesome review! ^.^ I have the scores in my notebook, but I left that in my locker yesterday, so I'll just skip that for this chapter, but I am still keeping up.
Now, for what you've all really been waiting for! The chapter!
I own only what I create.
~Not-so-sweet 16~
"Don't you just love stars?"
Lauren glanced over at her room mate, who was hanging half-off her bed, hair falling in a curtain to the floor, and staring out the window. She blond's eyes wondered sideways, and she looked at the stars decorating the black canvas of sky. "I suppose."
"Suppose?" The girl climbed back onto the bed, and put her head in her hand, propping herself up on her elbow. "You don't know?"
Lauren shrugged. "Never really thought about them, I guess. I mean, they've always been just, sort of, there for me. You know? Like, I would miss them if they weren't there, but otherwise..."
"That's sort of sad."
"Why's it sad? Not everyone has the same interests as you, Vi."
Violet laughed. "Stars are a source of wonder. You look at them and wonder what are they really?"
"They're balls of gas."
"Well, you don't know that until science ruins it for you."
Lauren cracked a grin. "You're something else, Violet. You know that."
The dark-haired girl shrugged. "I've been told."
She'd thought forgiving Lauren would be the difficult part. Thought she'd have to fight to not be short-tempered with the girl, but she discovered that the hard part was actually staying mad at her. Lauren was the kind of person that you simply could not stay mad at, whether you rally want to or not. Like a puppy. Like Brianna.
Frankenstein real name was Adam Schranz, a sophomore who was in Biology, and English with little band. He didn't learn his lesson. In fact, the humiliation of having Lauren knock him clean out of the fight in only one hit, seemed to have only succeeded in fueling his hate-fire. He tried to start more drama every chance he got, but, mostly, he was ignored. Most didn't have anything against the GAP kids, and those who did, well, they had no desire to start a fight with Lauren and Julie, who's position backing all of the GAP girls was quite clear. Not to mention all of the others that would be around to back them up in a fight.
Everyone knew that starting a fight like that was just plain stupid...
Okay, well, everyone but Adam.
By mid-November, Lauren was no longer just someone she didn't mind having around, she was someone that Dekka felt she needed to have around, which she she knew was completely illogical. You don't need anyone. She'd thought she needed Brianna. Though she couldn't survive without her. Yet here she was, nearly a year after Brianna's death.
Nearly a year. The words rang in her head, causing physical pain. The ringing became more and more persistent the closer to the anniversary she got. Three weeks now. Only six days after Thanksgiving. She hadn't even realized realized Thanksgiving had come and gone a second time when the wall was still up. Rather amazing how unimportant things that usually held so much meaning became when you were fighting for your life.
But she was not fighting for her life anymore, or, at least not in the literal sense of the term.
And, as it turned out, Thanksgiving was a very popular holiday here at Headline.
"It's the only major holiday that's not limited to one denomination. It doesn't matter whether you believe in the cross, or the Star or David, or the crescent moon and star. You can be buddist, or hindu, or even atheist. None of that matters, because Thanksgiving is for everyone," Noah had explained the week after homecoming. Dekka suspected that the only reason he was capable of rattling off so many different religious references was they'd just finished studying a uni on the religious in World History, but his words were so true, and thoughtful, that she didn't even care.
"You know, you could at least pretend to be paying attention," Chris pouted. She was standing in the middle of her room, hands spread. Dekka, admittedly, had never been in any of the others' rooms before, but she had expected them to look just like her own, since that was how the rooms at Coates had been. However, Chris and Shaena's room was very different. They had taken their bed, and shoved them foot-to-foot across the far wall, and the night stands were shoved in the corners behind the headboard, both spilling over with papers and other odd objects. The book shelf was beside the door and decorated with writing in what appeared to be chalk, and holding text books and an array of, oddly enough, science fiction books.
The only thing that was the same was the dresser which had been left on the wall opposite of the beds.
The walls were decorated with posters, pieces of music, song lyrics, poems, and the most notable of their decorations was a large poster on the wall, depicting a dull rainy image, with a large spot of pink color on the right. The pink of a little girl's raincoat, as she spread her arms wide and laughed at the rain falling on her upturned face. Dull brown lettering that almost blended in with the rain read: Life's not about hiding from the storm. The the word changed to the pink of the girl's coat as they finished with: It's about dancing in the rain. It was definitely the last thing she'd expected from the Dark and Twisties.
Chris was still looking at her expectantly. "What?"
Lilah giggled. "Guess not, huh?"
"I think it's 'cause they're out of their comfort zone, Shaena joked, nodding at Lauren, who seemed just as wrapped up in her own thoughts as Dekka had been. "They're so used to our coming to their room that they don't know what to do now."
Dekka shook her head. They had been called to the room to discuss the Thanksgiving post-feast party, or, at least, that's what Lauren had called it. Apparently, a pair of room mates were selected every year to host a party after the Thanksgiving feast and this year was Chris and Shaena's turn. Of course, they'd called in all of their forces.
"Sorry," Dekka mumbled, knowing she didn't sound the least bit remorseful.
"You know, you really shouldn't apologize if you don't actually mean it," Chris teased.
"You're one to talk," Shaena snorted. "'Oh Rose! I know you were the one that jumped on m case with no reason, but I'm going to apologize anyways, so you don't cause more drama!'"
"Okay, fist of all, I don't talk like that."
"And second of all?"
Chris frowned, and furrowed her brow, finger still pointed at Shaena, who never stopped grinning. They sat like that for a moment, with Chris's mouth working silently, and Shaena trying no to crack up. At last, Chris dropped hand, and frowned deeper. "Okay, I hadn't thought that far ahead."
Shaena finally couldn't help herself anymore, and doubled over laughing, which caused Chris to cross her arms, trying to appear begrudging. Unfortunately for her, Shaena's laughter was infectious, and she couldn't help a grin.
"Are we almost done here?" Lauren finally seemed to have come back to them.
The laughter stopped, suddenly, and everyone stared at her. Lauren smiled sheepishly. "I really have somewhere to be. Can we do this tomorrow, maybe?"
It seemed that Dekka was the only one out of the loop, because everyone else exchanged knowing looks, and Chris and Shaena decided they were done for now.
Weston and Weslie were waiting outside. Weston nearly when the door opened, since she'd been leaned against the door, trying to listen. "That's a good way to get trampled." Dekka warned when the girl had regained her footing, and was looking up at her.
"What's trampled?" Weslie wondered, pulling her sister aside so the rest of the occupants from the room could make their way into the open of the hallway.
"'To beat down with the feet so as to crush, bruise, or destroy; tramp on.' As defined by Webster," Julie answered as she came out of the room.
Weston's confusion only seemed to grow, so Dekka translated. "It's what they call getting stepped on. A lot."
"Well sure, you can put it that way if you wanna dumb it down," Julie muttered.
Weston gave Brianna's irritated pout. "You know, if you would just let us in, we wouldn't have to stand in front of the door, and Dekka wouldn't have to use big words to confuse us."
"Trampled isn't a big word," Dekka informed her.
"It is in my book."
"That's because you're seven," Chris pointed out, "which is also why you're not getting in. You're too young even if we wanted you here." She flicked her hair and raised an eyebrow expectantly at Weston, who did just as she had predicted she would: argued.
"So? We can still hear the stuff."
"No you can't. There's a chance you'd tell everyone."
"And they won't?" Weston gestured pointedly to the others.
"They're bound by a contract to secrecy. A contract that we can't make you sign, since you're not technically supposed to be helping in the first place."
Weston had no argument. She opened her mouth, closed it with a frown, then shook her head and decided on, "Totally not fair."
"If life was fair then my brother would still have two working legs," Chris returned.
"You have a brother?" Weslie cocked her head.
Chris waved a dismissing hand. "Yeah, but he's only my half-brother, on my dad's side, and nearly ten years older than me. I only see him, like, once a year."
"My sister always said that family is family whether it's all-blood, half-blood, or none at all." Weston crossed her arms over her chest.
Chris laughed fondly. "Yeah, I don't think your sister meant that quite as literally as you're taking it kid," she told her, flicking one of the girl's braids over her shoulder.
Weston blew a huff of air. "Don't call me kid," she demanded, replacing the braid carefully. "And if she didn't mean it like that, then what did she mean?"
Chris ran a hand through her hair, frowning. "I don't know how to explain it. You'll get is someday."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm psychic." Chris waved her fingers jokingly, and Weston rolled her eyes.
"You're lying."
"Figured that out all by yourself did you?" Chris offered her mischievous grin, which made Weston scowl.
"I'm going to leave now," she decided, turning and stomping away, grabbing her sister's wrist as she went. "Come on, Weslie."
"Bye!" Weslie called back, waving with her free hand. They waved back, and the little girl turned back around with a satisfied smile, narrowly managing to avoid running into Rose, who was advancing with a scowl of her own. "Sorry."
Rose showed no sign of hearing her. "Where's Lauren?" She demanded.
Dekka was going to point beside her, and ask if Rose was blind, but when she looked, Lauren was no longer there. It was now simply an empty space where Lauren had been standing only minutes before. She frowned at the empty space.
"Hiding from you," Sheana suggested quietly, not missing a beat while Dekka found herself confused.
Her comment earned her a sharp elbow in the ribs from Chris. "It's the fifteenth, Rose. You know Lauren always disappears today."
Rose shot Shaena kill look, and ranted. "Well, she needs to stop! It's been nearly three years now! Get over it so the rest of us don't have to put our business on hold because of you two days out of the year!"
Chris made an exasperated face, and took the girl's arm firmly, but gently. "Rose, what is it you need again?"
Rose turned from her rant to stare at her girlfriend. "What I need I Lauren to show herself. Come on, Chris, I've already said that. You're smarter than you're acting."
"If she really was as smart as you're implying, then she would have left your sorry-ass by now," Julie muttered into her hand, which her head was resting on as she propped her elbow into one of the tall, elegant tables that decorated the halls of the dorm building. Dekka only barely heard her, and was standing right next to her, so it was no wonder Rose didn't even flinch in her direction. She pulled her arm out of Chris's grasp, and shoved the girl aside, which caused Shaena to immediately tense up, fist clenching and teeth grounding so forcefully that Dekka was shocked she couldn't actually hear them, as Chris tried to argue.
"Yeah, Rose I got that, but what is it you need from Lauren. Maybe Dekka could get it from their dorm for you."
Rose actually laughed. "Yeah, go riffling through Lauren's things. That's go over well."
As much as she hated it, Dekka had to agree. Lauren had asked only one thing of her when they had first become room mates: "Don't go through my stuff. If I have is stored up, then it's probably like that for a reason." And even if Dekka did think she could take Lauren in a fight, she would go diggin through her stuff. Lauren respected Dekka's privacy, so Dekka respected hers.
"She's right. And even if I was willing to go through her things, I wouldn't know where to look." The smug look that crossed Rose's face irritated Dekka to such an extent, that she added, "But if Rose needs it, then it can't be all that important. She may have left it lying out, in which case, I doubt she'd mind."
She had to suppress a smile at the scandalize look that over-took the other girl's face. "It is extremely important!"
"Humor me."
Rose shoved crimson curls behind her ears and growled. "I need the plans for the Winter Ball."
Dekka frowned. "How many dances do you have at this school?"
"The Winter Ball is not just a dance!" Rose snapped.
"Once every month, except January and September," Shaena replied over Rose. "The Winter Ball's a little different, though. Everyone's required to go to it."
"Yes, and as I said before, extremely important," Rose put in.
"Well then, let's go see if we can find if for you."
~Not-so-sweet 16~
Lauren shivered and pulled her coat closer, but didn't move otherwise. She had to wait. Violet had always insisted on an hour of silence to appreciate the stars. The hour was nearly up now.
She went over everything she wanted to say in her head, as the timer sounded gently, and a smile played on her lips. "Alright, Vi, times up. Now you have to listen to me talk."
She turned her face to the stars, which winked back silently. "Happy sixteenth. You excited? Finally old enough to drive. You always liked that, right? Wanted to be the first woman to be a professional race car driver? Yeah, well, I guess Danica Patrick beat you to the draw, huh?"
The stars offered no response. Lauren fiddled with the hem of her pants, and leaned back on the grainy surface of the roof, Violet's favorite spot. "A lot's happened this year year. Jasamin is now officially a member of our little GAP community. We found that out when we came back for summer band. She talks about this girl she met back home, sounds really fond of her. I told her she should have gone for it. You never know if you don't try, and too late can turn out to be sooner than you think." Finally her eyes fell on the constellation she'd been looking for. Orion. "Ah, found you're boyfriend," she joked, smiling to herself. "Speaking of which, Lilah's been in a standing relationship since June, now. I know, amazing right. It's with some girl she met back home. I can't remember her name right now. Sorry. I'll tell you next month, okay?" Silence. "Anyways, so I have a new room mate. Her name's Dekka. I like her...well, you know, as a friend. She's really-"
She never finished, for at that moment, An agonized scream broke the cool stillness of the night air. A familiar voice that turned Lauren's senses on over-drive. One name echoed in the night air as the cricket started up their songs again, hesitantly.
"Harley!"
~Not-so-sweet 16~
Jasamin sat up in bed, breathing hard. She buried her face in her hands. Of all the nights for he nightmares to come, they chose this one. Lauren wouldn't be back in her room for hours, and even if she was back, Jasamin wouldn't go, Lauren had her own problems tonight.
She threw off the blanket, and decided on a trip to the vending machine for a midnight snack, maybe if she stayed up a bit, he nightmares would get bored with her. Unlikely, but she had to try something.
She slipped downstairs on bare feet, and reached the machines in minutes. The machines were being extra difficult tonight, and it took four tries to get it to accept her money, but she was rewarded with a chocolate bar, and a back of chips.
Satisfied, she began her trip back to her room, but she didn't make it to the door leading out of the caged off area of vending machines. Someone grabbed her shoulder from behind, and spun her around, slamming her into the side of the caged area. She yelped quietly, and felt the food fall from her hand. Blinking hard to will her eyes back into focus, Jasamin clawed at the hand digging her shoulder into the metal bar.
Tears filled her eyes, the first time she'd cried in years. She never focused on the actual face in front of her. It morphed into hard features, with eyes clouded and unfocused. Drunken eyes. The hair turned the same mousy brown as her own, and she heard the irritated, slurred shouts, masked over by the screams of another girl, trying to tug him off of her, threatening to do the unthinkable: Call the police. The threat got the man's attention, and he released the girl. As much as the pressure off of her shoulder should have been a relief, Jasamin never noticed it, for it was nothing compared to the pressure building inside of her as the man snatched her sister's arm, and lifted it so high, she was almost dangling off of the ground.
Harley's face contorted in pain, but she managed to hold back her tears, challenging him to do his worst.
No. No! "Harley!"
Ah, next two chapters we will learn quite a bit more about our characters. More on Violet to come also. Yeah, and you're allowed to hate me for the ending for only a short time, deal? Next chapter, Will Lauren and Adam go round two?
Lol, moving on, let's get some questions, huh?
1. Favorite scene from this chapter?(10)
2. Who already figured out Jasamin's dad was a drunk abuser?(15)
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy, and don't forget the review!