Chapter 11
Getting up on the day of the orienteering race wasn't a problem for the purple haired girl. Especially when her partner...
Brooklyn gulped as she put on her uniform and grabbed her bag. Thinking about the day ahead was one thing.
Living it was another.
Running down the steps to the ground floor, pushing open the front door of the apartment complex, Brooklyn exhaled slowly. Very slowly. She had to admit that she was nervous...
These boys weren't very tame when it came to being one-on-one with a woman; not even caring & polite Lysander.
Shaking her head free of those thoughts, the purple haired girl strode to her destination with determination to not let anything change the fact that it was just a race.
In the forest.
Alone.
With her classmate.
'BROOKLYN! BRAAAA!'' Hal yelled out from behind the ruby orbed girl, making her stop and turn around.
'So...
Are you just going to pop up in my life everyday now or what?' Brooklyn asked her, which allowed her to receive another ruffling of the hair by Hal.
'Awww you missed me?
Well now don't I feel so important! Hehe!' the blonde replied, ignoring Brooklyn's sarcasm and grinning down at Brooklyn's glare. The petite girl sighed and made a hand gesture, signaling to hurry it up.
'Oh fine miss impatient!
I'm here for one reason and one reason alone!' Hal admitted as she dug in her pockets for something. After waiting an agonizing three minutes exactly, the girl finally found what she was looking for and handed them to Brooklyn.
'...What the heck am I supposed to do with a whistle, a pack of gum, &...?!
HANDCUFFS?!' Brooklyn yelled out, but the blonde was already out of sight, though Brooklyn could still hear her laughter. Ugh...fine i'll take them just in case.., Brooklyn thought stuffing the items into her bag and running off to the school.
'Brooklyn!' Alexy yelled out as he ran over to where Brooklyn was leaning against the wall, checking her phone. The girl waved but was soon attacked by Alexy hugging her, making her 'oof', from the sudden impact.
'Hey! Yesterday was so much fun! And I'm so happy to see you wearing the outfit!' Alexy replied happily. The purple haired girl looked down again at the purple dress, red sweater; he even had convinced her to get a pair of Mary Jane shoes.
Surprisingly, they were comfortable.
Grinning as she brushed down the dress, she couldn't help but notice that he was wearing a pair of white pants and green shoes instead of just jeans. Alexy had to be fashionable...
'I'm not used to wearing a dress Alexy. It feels so weird...and airy' Brooklyn replied swishing her dress back and forth in the process.
'Really?! That just means we'll have to have another shopping session so that you do get used to it!' he replied smartly, grinning down at her as Brooklyn scowled. A pair of black jeans, red sneakers, and any anime tee was just fine to her, but for some reason seeing Alexy happy made her mouth turn into a grin along with him.
Walking down the hallway, Brooklyn almost forgot to ask Alexy if he was going to participate in the race. When she did, Brooklyn was sad to figure out that the blue haired boy was going home, considering that he had just arrived at the school.
'Make sure to tell my brother that I'm going home alright? I'll see you tomorrow Brooklyn! Oh, and have double the fun in the race. For you, and for me!' the electrifying male responded, waving to her as he headed to the front of the school. That's too bad...I would've liked to know that another friend was doing this stupid race, Brooklyn thought as she walked around the school to head to the courtyard. Maybe Armin would be there…
'Armin! Hey, I've been looking for you~' Brooklyn told him as she finally found the tall dark haired male. At the sound of her voice, he turned and smirked, putting a hand on his hip.
'Hey Brooklyn. Ah, is it to do with Alexy? Because of your little shopping spree yesterday, he can't stop bugging me to go shopping again! Not that I'm complaining though' the man admitted, winking in the process. The ruby orbed girl groaned; she hated being teased.
'Yeah yeah whatever. He wanted me to tell you that he went home.
You wouldn't be participating in the race today would you?'
'Ah alright. Hmm? Race? EW no! I hate being outside. I'd rather be playing my videogames~' Armin admitted crossing his arms. The purple haired girl couldn't help chuckling; he looked like a whiny teenager who just had his toy taken away from him.
'All right all right. Just thought I'd ask.
See you then~' she finished turning around to exit the gardens, when she saw someone she hadn't seen in a long time.
'Violette!' Brooklyn yelled out making the other purple haired girl turn to her friend and smile. The two girls hugged and chatted about their summers together.
Violette had stayed at Sweet Amoris, helping her mother take care of a golf course or something. It hadn't sounded like much fun to Brooklyn, but Violette seemed happy enough.
Remembering that it was the race that day, Violette told her friend to go get one of the new school uniforms.
'You can't do the race without it. I'll see you in the forest!' Violette replied excited as she went in the direction of the school building; Brooklyn towards the gym.
Brooklyn went to the gym, but the gym teacher wasn't there. Frowning, Brooklyn backtracked to the school and went searching. He couldn't be that hard to find right? The guy was tall & the buffest guy there; it should be easy.
He ended up being in her homeroom class, and Brooklyn finally found him after half an hour of walking through the hallways over and over...and over again.
The purple haired girl took the uniform tiredly from the blonde man and walked away. So everyone has to wear this? Well, it's better to go in this than a dress.., Brooklyn thought as she went to the bathrooms to change.
Coming out of the bathroom to see Violette & Iris changed and ready to go, the girls told her to come to the courtyard once she put her clothes in her locker.
Nodding her thanks, Brooklyn had started walking away when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning back, she saw Violette look up at her smiling and whispered to go to the staircase. Watching her friend quickly scurry away to meet up with Iris, Brooklyn finally went to her locker & threw her clothes in.
Why does Violette want me to go to the staircase?,
she thought as she jogged towards it, not wanting to be late.
Coming to the staircase, the girl looked around the hall but saw no one around. Well maybe I came too late..., Brooklyn thought, but flinched when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Turning around, it was none other than~
'Ahh you came. I didn't think Violette would actually listen to my plea but~' Castiel started talking and stopped when he was at the bottom step, 'She did now didn't she?'
Looking at the red head with a confused expression, Castiel smirked and put his arm around her shoulder.
'Well see here Brookie, it goes like this.
Because you didn't choose me for the race, I'm stuck with the brat of a school President~' Castiel started explaining, but stopped when he heard laughter.
Turning his head to look down, he saw Brooklyn was the one laughing, and obnoxiously at that.
'OOOH! That's too good! Stuck with Nathaniel! HA! That's hilarious Cassie!' she teased.
She could see Castiel's eyes narrow as he leaned down and suddenly~
'HEY! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!' Brooklyn asked pushing away from the red haired man, her fingers to her lips. Had he just…
Putting a hand through his hair nonchalantly, Castiel looked at her with a blank expression.
'I was trying to be serious and you go laughing at me. What else can I do to shut you up Brookie?' Castiel replied seriously.
The purple orbed girl glared at him; she thought that maybe they could've discussed what went down at Amoris Beach here & now, but this obviously wasn't the time for that..
Again
'I-I'll just...
See you later!' she quickly replied to him wiping her lips off with the back of her hand as she turned and briskly walked to the courtyard.
She couldn't help touching her lips as she walked down the halls, though. It felt...normal, and weird, but comforting too all at the same. Probably because of the past, but that was just uncalled for, Brooklyn thought shaking her head, trying to get rid of those memories.
Watching her walk away, Castiel smirked and shoved his hands in his pockets.
'Cute Brooklyn...; you'll definitely see me later', Castiel murmured to himself as he too walked towards the courtyard, his stride prideful and merry.
Riding the bus to the forest was actually kind of fun once the principal shut up about the rules and what not. Brooklyn got to sit beside Lysander, but mostly chatted with Iris & Violette. Though she did chat with Lysander too, and he revealed that he was nervous about the race, saying that his sense of direction was a bit off. Brushing that comment off believing he was joking, Brooklyn had looked around at the scenery blurring by from the bus.
Finally stopping, Brooklyn grabbed her backpack and headed off the bus with the others. Lifting her head to hear the birds calling to one another in the trees, the rustling of the branches as the wind breezed through them, it felt and smelled like a blissful haven in a small area.
Observing the teams scattered around, Brooklyn saw that Kim was with Melody, Castiel was over in the corner with Nathaniel not far from him, and then the triplet witches in the middle {Amber, Li, & Charlotte}.
'Are you ready for this m'lady?' Lysander timidly asked as he came into her view, wearing his normal expression.
'Ah yeah, I think so…
There...aren't bears in here right?' she asked suddenly very alarmed. Lysander looked at her to assess if she was serious or not. When she still looked up at him with a scared expression, Lysander smiled and put his hand on her head gently.
'If there are, I'll protect you m'lady'.
'O-Oh okay...' she replied shyly, looking away flustered.
He really was too nice…
When the two of them finished exploring the first area a bit and chatting with the other teams, Brooklyn was reassured when Violette had asked if there were wolves in the forest. It made Lysander laugh, but at least Brooklyn wasn't the only one scared that a wild animal could be in there.
Coming back to the entry area, Brooklyn was surprised to see a few more kids come for the race. She was even more shocked when~
'Brooklyn! Hey!' a familiar jade haired boy said as he came off the bus.
'Jade! It's been so long!'
'Yeah it has hasn't it?' Jade replied winking at Brooklyn.
'What are you doing here? Are you participating in the race Jade?' Brooklyn asked him smiling.
'Ah well...sort of you could say' Jade hesitantly commented, grinning. Sort of? What does he mean sort of?, Brooklyn thought looking at him curiously.
'Ah I have to go Brooklyn! Good luck in the race! You two Lysander! I'll see you later' Jade remarked as he waved to them and walked towards the principal.
'Curious~' Lysander murmered as he watched the boy walk away.
And I thought he didn't have any curiosity in him, Brooklyn thought grinning up at him. Lysander noticed though, and looked down at her with a curious expression. The purple haired girl just blushed and looked away, thankful to see the principal now ushering everyone near her to explain the race.
After Lysander had grabbed the map, the pair walked off towards the forest. When they had come quite a ways in, Brooklyn stopped and asked Lysander for the map.
'Is something wrong Lysander?' Brooklyn commented.
'I...guess taking the map wasn't such a good idea'.
'...Did you lose it?'
'I put it in my pocket, but it must have fallen out. With this wind, it could be anywhere by now' Lysander admitted bashfully. Brooklyn looked at him, a blank expression visible on her face. The ruby orbed girl sighed and mentally face palmed, not saying anything as she started walking ahead. She could hear Lysander trudging along to keep up. He was obviously sorry, and she should've taken the whole, 'I'm-no-good-with-directions' thing to heart, because then she wouldn't have let him take the map either.
After choosing different paths to follow, the pair finally made it to the first checkpoint. Brooklyn smiled when she saw John Lennon. It felt as though she hadn't seen him in a while {Even if he was her main teacher}.
'Hey! You guys are the last ones here! Did you get lost or something?' Mr. Faraize asked concerned. Brooklyn shook her head.
'No we lost the map...'.
'Ah okay that makes sense. Well in any case, you two completed the first step! The second step is a bit more difficult. You need to find several objects in the forest and bring them to me. Here's the list!' John told them as he handed Brooklyn the list of objects.
'I need to stamp your hands for verification that you got to the second part...but I haven't had the stamper since Amber came through~' John admitted sullen. Brooklyn told him that they'd try to help find the stamper so they could go through, which appeased him.
Luckily it didn't take too long to find the stamper, because Iris had found it underneath a tree nearby. Taking it from Iris thankfully, Brooklyn and Lysander trudged back to Mr. Faraize and got their hands stamped, then quickly went into the forest to find the items...
Finding three of the five items on the list, Brooklyn noticed that she was getting pretty tired, and the sky was getting dark every passing minute.
'Ah Lysander...D...do you think we could take a break?' Brooklyn replied hunched over. Seeing that Brooklyn was quite tired, Lysander nodded and led her over to one of the trees to sit down for a while. The silverette sat down beside her and looked at her for a while.
'You're not feeling sick are you m'lady?' Lysander asked her as he reached over to smooth some of her hair away from her face. Staring at the ground with surprised eyes, Brooklyn tried speaking.
'N-No just a bit tired…
I don't want to lose the race on the account of me being tired. Do…do you think you would want to go and~' Brooklyn started to say, but was cut off. Lysander's eyes had narrowed and he had covered her mouth with his hand.
'Sssh m'dear..
Just try sleeping. I'm not leaving you in this state' he replied caringly as he pulled the girl closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulders so she could lean on his.
She didn't want to admit it, but having her head against Lysander's shoulder felt very comforting...almost enough to sleep…
Not even knowing it, Brooklyn had sighed out in contentment and closed her eyes to dream of a certain silver white knight…
!~~~!
'Brookie! Brookie c'mon! Let's go get some cookies!'
Ken said, his mouth wide with a smile as Brooklyn laughed and took his hand, pulling him along to go to his house. Ken's house was always full of cookies, teddy bears, and love. All things that her mother banned from being in their household.
'B-Brookie...I love you' Ken admitted once they were in front of his doorstep. The ten year old Brooklyn smiled and leaned down to kiss his nose, grinning when she saw the familiar blush of Ken's.
'I love you too Kenny! Now let's go get some cookies!' Brooklyn replied.
She hadn't known that Ken was seriously in love with her. Who would at that age right? But maybe it had to do with Castiel always telling the ten year old that Ken was joking; that it was only a kid love. He'd grow out of it…
But at the same time...
Castiel didn't grow out of his.
!~~~~!
Blinking her eyes open, Brooklyn focused her eyes on the Silverlight in front of her. I don't remember the sky being so sunny..., Brooklyn thought smiling as she tried moving her arm, but couldn't. Curious, Brooklyn tried focusing her eyes more on what was in front of her.
Wait a minute...it was dark before...not~'
Brooklyn thought, but stopped thinking all together when she realized what this was.
Lysander pulled away gently, putting Brooklyn's head now on his chest as he wrapped both arms around her waist.
He doesn't know I woke up...
Brooklyn thought, her eyes wide with surprise.
She was sitting on his lap...
He just kissed her...
for how long she didn't know.
But he did...
And now, she could hear his irregular heartbeat.
Brooklyn nestled more into his chest, his heartbeat increasing as she did so.
'M'dear...are you awake?' Lysander whispered as he took his hand that was around her waist to glide up her back to the top of her head, starting to pet it.
'M-M-Mhmmm...' Brooklyn managed to mutter out, her face flushed with surprise.
She was too close to him...
Way too close.
But…
it felt nice.
Suddenly, a rustling in some nearby bushes could be heard, making Lysander whisper
'Sssh stay here m'dear~'
and gently put Brooklyn's small body against the tree. He stood up and walked over to the bushes, but was surprised to see a family of turtles underneath it. Lysander gestured over to Brooklyn to come over there and see for herself. When she got there, the purple haired girl put her hands to her mouth in awed happiness.
'Aww turtles! They're so cute!' Brooklyn whispered as Lysander smiled and put an arm around her waist.
The girl looked up at him, with what expression she didn't know exactly, but it made him smile more anyhow.
'I'm happy that you asked to be my partner Brooklyn. You're a very special girl' Lysander remarked openly as he put his hand on her cheek, stroking her face with his thumb. Brooklyn looked up at him blushing, not knowing what to say or what to do. Is-Is this really happening? Why does romance between us blossom in forests?!, Brooklyn thought as she looked into his gold & jade orbs, which were glittering with a desire she hadn't noticed before, but definitely noticed now.
Leaning down, Lysander tightened his hold on her waist and softly pressed his mouth on hers. Not even knowing it, Brooklyn wrapped her arms around his neck and sank into the kiss, not wanting to let go or ever break away from this man. She could feel his hands glide up and down her back, making her heart thump loudly in her ears, her cheeks felt like they were on fire.
Finally he pulled away breathlessly and kissed her hair, hugging her.
'I-I'm sorry m'lady...
I…Don't know what's overcome me.
I apologize Brooklyn for~' Lysander started saying, but Brooklyn was now the one to pull away, raise her hand, and cover his mouth with it.
'I-It's fine Lysander...' she remarked out of breath and blushing hard, but looking into his eyes with courage now. The silverette smiled at her and kissed her forehead following up by taking her hand.
After finding the turtles, the two went on to find a family of deer as well. Lysander had to take Brooke's hand and kiss it before she would admit to trying to touch them. They ended up finding the other two objects as well, going on to the third step of the orientation.
'Ah Brooklyn! We meet again!' Jade said winking as the two came towards him.
'Jade! Now can you tell me why you're here?' Brooklyn asked him getting down to the point as he grinned.
'Okay okay. I'm here to help out with the race! You have to find the five letters spread around the forest. Come back here once you've found them!' Jade finished winking again. The two walked deeper into the forest to find the five letters.
'Does that guy always have to wink at you? I'm starting to get envious' Lysander whispered to Brooklyn, making the back of her neck tingle.
'I-I...he just does that' the girl made up making a shy face and walking towards one of the letters.
Finding all the letters, Lysander & Brooklyn walked back to where they last saw John Lennon when Amber & her posse showed up, blocking their path.
'Sorry but you two won't be able to finish the race this way. Go around' Amber remarked smirking as the other two crossed their arms.
'Now hold on a second here miss, you have no right to block this route so I suggest you~'
'No right? I have every damn right to do whatever the heck I want! So beat it! I don't care if you're Castiel's friend or not, I'm not listening to you!' the blonde exclaimed getting all huffy. Lysander looked as though he was about to punch her, but Brooklyn beat him to it.
Swinging back with all her might, Brooklyn swung forward and hit Amber straight in the chin, her head snapping back as she fell down. Li & Charlotte ran away, not wanting to get hit too.
'Brooklyn! You can't just hit someone like that just because of a disagreement!' Lysander said upset. The ruby orbed girl looked at him, smiling.
'Maybe not, but this bitch has had it coming to her ever since we met, so I don't have any regrets. I apologize that you had to witness it a second time though Lysander' Brooklyn admitted as she reached into her bag for the gum, a thirsty craving coming into her mouth. Offering it to the silverette, Lysander gladly took some, still upset, and started walking in a different direction.
'Hmm...Hey!' Brooklyn said to herself once she was alone with the blonde witch. The ruby orbed girl shuffled the stuff in her bag until she found the handcuffs. Grinning wickedly, Brooklyn put them around Amber's wrists trying to hold in her laughter so no one would find her doing this.
Once the deed was done, Brooklyn put the bag back on her shoulders and went off to find Lysander.
When she did find him pacing in a clearing, Brooklyn grabbed his hand and led him out of the forest, convincing him not to take the routes he wanted to.
'You two are in SO MUCH TROUBLE!' the grey haired woman said looking more annoyed than Brooklyn had ever seen. Her ruby orbs went from Mr. Faraize, who seemed frightened, to Nathaniel & Melody, who seemed annoyed. Her eyes lastly went to Castiel who was grinning wickedly.
Pouting, Lysander & Brooklyn boarded the bus along with the rest of the students to go home, when Charlotte came out of the forest with a very angry looking Amber.
'BROOKLYN HAND CUFFED ME AND LEFT ME FOR DEAD!' Amber screamed, showing everyone the handcuffs.
The principal looked at Brooklyn now with a murderous gleam in her crazed eyes; Castiel looked very happy in the back seat.
..Why me?
Brooklyn thought as she sat at the window seat and watched the forest whiz by in a blur.
She'd certainly never forget this day.
In a different bus, a green haired male could be seen watching Brooklyn's bus go by, wanting to be on it as well.