Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High.
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Most of the week had passed, and not a single word about Dylan or Ivy's story had been exchanged. Everyone seemed to ignore the situation, but Ivy knew they only did this because she wanted it that way. She had kept her hair that dark, almost black shade of red, and the entire week she stayed in dark jeans and black. Her eyes had returned to their normal silver gray, but there was a darkness about them they stayed behind. She had taken up her dark make-up routine, every day painting her eyes exaggerated shades of black and gray. She was changed now. Everyone saw it, everyone ignored it.
Everyone including Warren.
He would see her and simply ignore her existence, acting as if she were just a shadow. Layla tried to convince him to go to her, but he refused and more often than not burned something when Layla would mention it. Magenta had finally convinced Ivy to go to Homecoming, and Trent had even asked to be her date. She gratefully declined stating that she was going with someone else, but only because she didn't want to go with him. She hardly knew him, and the last thing she wanted or needed at that moment was another Dylan. Everything had resumed normal routine and function, and Ivy and Lash had even returned to the bell tower at Holy Names Cathedral to continue the portrait.
"So you're going to Homecoming Saturday night?" Lash studied the beginnings of his sketch and frowned before taking an eraser to it.
"Yeah. We both told Magenta we would. Were you still planning on going? I heard Taylor and Speed are going together." Ivy stood upright for a moment, and hunched her back over until it popped. She sighed in satisfaction and lifted her leg again.
"Don't remind me. I'd give anything to get away from them." He shook his head in dissatisfaction of his sketch, and erased a little more.
"Why don't you sit with us tomorrow at lunch? If Taylor starts something, I'll burn the bitch." She shrugged, and Lash looked up at her wide-eyed.
"What is this world coming to?" His face brightened as he smiled at her in utter mockery.
She scrunched her nose at his remark before smiling back at him. "Seriously. You should sit with us. I'll even come up to you and ask right in front of her if you want."
"You do know you'd be inviting her to kick your ass?" He returned his attention to the sketch.
"Oh, what-ever! I could totally take her." Ivy smirked at the idea.
Earlier in the week they had begun to bring a small stereo with them so Ivy wouldn't be so bored posing, and just as she hopped down to see how the sketch was coming along, "Oh, score! Britney!" She turned the volume up until, Lash was pretty sure, all of Maxville could hear "Piece of Me".
"I'm Mrs. Lifestyles of the rich and famous, You want a piece of me, I'm Mrs. Oh my God that Britney's Shameless, You want a piece of me..."
She sang and danced until the song almost ended, with Lash staring at her like she was either the craziest person he knew, or the most attractive. Ivy wasn't sure which, and neither was Lash.
"You should go to Homecoming with me." Lash blurted out the words before his brain had time to comprehend them.
Ivy stopped singing immediately and stared at Lash open-mouthed. "I-- Huh?" Her face took on a most bewildered look, that Lash found adorable.
"Homecoming. You should go with me. Like, as my date." He said again, the second time with more self assuredness.
"As friend-dates, or date-dates?" Her face melted from bewildered to considering.
"Date-dates." He repeated her. "What the hell kind of label is 'date-date'?" Lash's face fell into a confused look.
"I-- Don't know?" She put a puzzled smile on her face, before laughing. "Sure, yeah. I'd love to be your date, Jordan."
"Awesome. Otherwise I'd be completely embarrassed." He turned red at the thought as Ivy burst into laughter.
"Next time I'll say no first, then." He threw his eraser at her and pointed to the railing. She stifled her laughter and crawled back onto the rail. "And hey, this way you totally have a reason to sit with us at lunch tomorrow." He laughed and continued on the sketch.
The short walk back to Lash's house was quiet and peaceful. The night was clear, and the stars were brighter than Ivy had ever seen them from the states.
"I remember nights like this in Greece. I would sit at the beach with Demetri, and he would talk to me. He never bothered to ask why I didn't talk back, maybe cause he knew I wouldn't answer, but he talked to me anyway." She looked up at the sky as they reached the fence that separated his back yard, from the empty lot next door.
Lash handed Ivy his supplies. "Was he your boyfriend or...?" He hopped over and took his canvas and pencils back from her.
"If I'd been able to touch people, without a doubt. But I couldn't, so he wasn't. He didn't know anything about me, but he still sat with me and kept me company." She jumped over the fence and followed Lash inside.
He dumped his supplies in his room before joining Ivy in hers. She openly left the shoe box out since Lash knew about her powers, and he often fiddled with the syringe, just because he thought it was "fun".
"Are you gonna...?" He acted with the syringe as if he were shooting-up.
She frowned as his display before responding. "Not till Saturday. I've been using it too much, I need a break. But I got my new box today, so I have plenty for a little while. I was worried my doc forgot about me. But he didn't." She smiled playfully, and grabbed the syringe from Lash before he accidentally hurt himself, as he was prone to do when surrounded by unfamiliar objects. She glanced at her bedside clock. "Two hours till it wears off." She sighed in slight sarcasm before attacking Lash, and getting into a mini-wrestling match which had become their custom when bored.
The next morning they awoke in their own beds, unsure of when Lash left Ivy's room, but as he searched his body for burns and found none, he assumed it was before her serum wore off. He showered and changed quickly so he could make breakfast for them before they left. Ivy had a quick shower as well, before deciding on what to wear. White gloves or black? She stared at her black and white polka-dotted t-shirt, and black jeans. White will stand out too much. She pulled on her long black gloves, and her black high-heeled boots that she wore almost every day. She didn't need the extra three inches, but she liked them. After examining her reflection in the mirror, she changed her mind on the boots, and instead pulled on her combat-style boots, and tucked her jeans inside.
Ivy met Lash in the kitchen where they shared a quick breakfast before racing off to the bus stop. On the bus the couple met Layla, Will, Magenta and Zach. Lash fell asleep briefly, and was awoken by a pencil being stuck up his nose by Zach. He hit Zach upside his head before stomping off the bus.
"Have you gotten a dress yet?" Magenta climbed off the bus and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.
Ivy shook her head, her dark red hair becoming loose from her neat braid. "I have a black dress I could wear, but I'm not sure just yet."
"Is Lash going, too?" Layla was interrupted by Speed purposely bumping into her, knocking her school bag and all its contents onto the grass.
Will closed the few feet between them instantly, and helped Layla gather her belongings, but only after telling Speed to stay away from his girl. Ivy looked at Lash who forced a very fake laugh to join Taylor and Speed.
When Lash saw her threatening glare, and knew that he had crossed the line from appropriate fake bullying to asking for his ass to be kicked. He swallowed hard, and tried to give her a small smile that she did not return.
The first half of the day crept by slowly, and when the lunch period finally came around, Ivy could not have been happier. She walked into the cafeteria to find Lash, Speed and Taylor sitting at their normal table, picking on innocent freshmen that were too scared to stand up for themselves, regardless of what their powers may have been. Ivy went straight up to Lash and smiled.
"Hey." She raised a hand in a small wave. "Did you wanna sit with us?" She motioned towards her friends and was as sweet as she could muster, while trying not to smack the dirty look off Taylor's face.
Lash nodded his head. "Yeah, sure." He turned back to a stunned Taylor and Speed. "Later, guys." The two bullies were too shocked to even think to respond, and once Lash and Ivy were a safe distance away, he thanked her.
"Don't ever pick on Layla again. Me, sure. Not Layla." She looked at him with a very stern expression.
"I didn't know he was going to. I'll be sure to apologize. I felt really bad." His eyes dropped to the floor beneath him, and Ivy's coldness melted at his guilt. She took his hand and squeezed it. He looked up at her in such surprise at the gesture, that he hadn't noticed they had reached the table with their fingers still laced together. The entire table fell silent as they saw the two holding hands, and Zach tried not to choke on his soda.
"Hey... Uh... Guys." Layla looked at their hands, before finding their faces.
Ivy looked down at their hands, and quickly pulled away from him. Lash followed her example, and both turned a light shade of embarrassed pink. Ivy quickly sat down next to Magenta and pulled out a bottle of water.
"Hey, did you guys hear? Warren has a date to Homecoming!" Trish Pearl, a friend of Layla's had run up to the group practically bursting with the news.
Ivy felt her face pale, and she turned to look at her friends, none of whom returned the eye contact.
Layla smiled faintly at Trish and nodded. "Yeah, we heard."
"Who is she? She'd better be good enough for that hunk of muscle. How long has he known her? Are they together?" Trish's eyes gleamed at the questions and answers, waiting for someone to say anything about the mystery girl so she had gossip to spread.
"We don't know. He hasn't said much." Will looked at Trish, and her smile faded instantly.
"OK. Well, um, I guess let me know when you hear something. Otherwise we can all meet her tomorrow." She put a fake cheery smile, obviously let down that she hadn't received any gossip, and she excused herself from the table that she had seated herself at, uninvited.
Lash looked at Ivy, who was staring down at her bottle of water.
"I forgot something in my locker. I'll see you guys later." She stood and left, ignoring the goodbyes from her friends. Lash stayed at the table, unsure of what to do.
Ivy could feel a surge of anger swiping through her body, and fought to suppress it until she got outside. Opening the door to the cafeteria she slammed it straight into Warren, who was ready to fight had it been anyone else. She looked up, her eyes black and red, saw his face, and ran right past him. He stayed where he was, and Layla and Magenta came out with Ivy's school bag.
"Did you see Ivy? She left her bag..." Magenta's voice trailed off, as she saw Ivy running down the hallway, and caught on that the two of them had just shared a most unpleasant encounter.
"We can give it to her in PE." Layla tugged at Magenta's sleeve gently, pulling her back into the cafeteria. They smiled quickly at Warren before making a quick escape back to their table.
Will, Zach and Lash sat tensely as the girls rushed back, followed by an unhappy Warren.
"Who told her?" He didn't bother to sit down. He stared at the table top, heat slowly rising from him. Silence answered him, and he asked again, louder. "Who. Told her."
Will hesitantly answered. "Trish Pearl, Trent's date." Warren glared at Will, slammed his fist on the table so hard that the blue plastic cracked, and he left the cafeteria with everyone staring at him.
No one saw Ivy the rest of the day, and after school Lash, Will, Layla, Zach, Magenta, and even Warren stood around waiting to see if she'd show up. Layla had carried Ivy's bag around the entire day in hopes of seeing her, but had no such luck. All the students were scattered on the lawn waiting for the buses to come to take them home.
"She'll make you weep. And moan and cry. To be back in the bosom. To do it again..."
"What the--?" Magenta's voice trailed off, as her head followed the eerie voice to the top of the roof, where Ivy stood, completely black hair slashing around her in the wind. All the students followed her line of sight.
"Praying to stay in her arms just until I can die a little bit longer. Saviors and saints, devils and demons alike. She'll eat you alive."
Ivy stared into the sky, and the light darkened.
"My pulse has been rising. My temples are burning..."
She turned her focus back to the lawn beneath her.
"What is she waiting for?"
Warren took a step towards the building, and Ivy took the step off the building. Most of the students screamed, others ran forwards, Lash stretched his arms as far as he could, but even then could not reach her. Warren began to run forward and Will shot into the sky, but Ivy dropped to the ground beneath her and landed on her feet without batting an eye. She walked straight forward to the buses, ignoring Warren and the rest of her friends, and they could see her eyes were a shade of black that did not exist in the normal world; it was the black of fear and hate that only true evil saw. She entered an empty bus, and when not a single other person went to join her, the bus took off with its lone passenger.
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Ohhh dramaaaaa!
Reviews are welcome!