Hazel stared. And stared. And stared. Then finally, she stammered out, "Why—How—Don't you have any sense of privacy?!"
"Sure I do. Not around people who horribly lie about the existence of their own siblings though," Cody stated, standing up. "So are you going to tell me what you were thinking or not?"
Hazel felt more furious than she had felt in a long time. This... This demon had treated her rather unkindly since day one, refused to have mercy on her and quit his incessant derogatory remarks, and now he had snooped around inside her house without anyone knowing, thus finding out what she had wanted to conceal the whole day. Did he have no shame for himself?
"Don't you dare tell anyone about this," she hissed, a subtle hint of desperation seeping into her tone. She cursed herself for not sounding as venomous as she had intended to.
An unimpressed Cody raised a questioning eyebrow. "I wasn't going to. But only because it's not my secret to tell. You need to tell them yourself unless if you want to feel tremendous weight on you for the rest of your life."
"I don't feel any weight on me," Hazel insisted.
"Probably because you've been hiding it for so long, you've gotten used to it," Cody countered promptly. "Secrets will only drag you down. I suggest that you hurry and open up before you end up being crushed by all the pressure."
"You can't force me to tell them the truth!"
Cody sighed and rolled his eyes. He seemed to start getting a little irritated at her. "For someone who hates me because I'm difficult, you're not too easy to handle yourself."
"I'm not the one going around insulting people," Hazel heatedly retorted. "Besides, you have secrets too, don't you?"
"Yes," Cody replied bluntly. "And look where secrets have led me. You wanna be like me later on in life?"
No way was she sinking as low as him—wait, was he self-deprecating? Hazel was a little confused at the sudden change in him; until now, he had acted like he was the most flawless person in the room. That feeling only lasted for a moment, however, due to her current anger consuming her.
"You can't just intrude on other people's lives like you own them, you know!" She threw her arms up in frustration. "I don't have to explain myself to you, so you might as well—"
She looked at her arm, only to see that Cody had grabbed it, his grip firm.
"Hazel, honey, are you okay?" Colin called up worriedly. "What's going on up there?"
"Things are fine!" Hazel shouted back before, in a more hushed tone, biting out at Cody, "Let go."
Cody's hold only tightened. "I don't think you get it. I'm not letting go, and I sure as hell am not leaving until I hear you answer me." His voice was hard. "Why are you hiding your brother in here and not letting him outside?"
Hazel held his gaze for some time before dropping it and sighing. "Just...promise that you won't say anything to anyone about this."
Cody nodded, and she took a deep breath.
"Hector was diagnosed three years ago. Before then, he was this...really energetic kid who was always in a good mood, and it...it was just such a shock to all of us when we found out he had cancer. It began sort of minor, but got worse over time. The next thing I knew, he was in and out of school and...and he gets all these seizures very often. But despite everything, he took all this better than me and my dad did. He was still the same, happy-go-lucky little boy from back when he was healthy.
"And... It kept worsening, so I got scared. I became afraid that everyday I would wake up and find out that he wouldn't be here anymore. I wanted to save myself from the pain I would be subject to if that happened, so I just distanced myself from him. I've always been an introvert, so it wasn't hard for me to talk to him less and less. But..."
There was a long pause.
"But it hurt anyway. He tried to talk to me, but I always shooed him away. And it hurt me more than it hurt him." She laughed humorlessly. "Eventually, he stopped knocking at my door. And somewhere down the line, I began to hate the pity that went my way. So I decided that anyone I met from now on wouldn't find out about him. I would hide him away, all because I couldn't bear having people feel sorry for me."
She looked at Cody again. "I'm done now. So please. Say what you want. Anything's fine, as long as it's not pity. I don't care anymore. You can laugh all you want, just please don't say you're sorry."
Cody eyed her, his expression unreadable. Then, with an exhale, he let go. Hazel didn't realize how much his hold had hurt until he released her, and she rubbed her arm gingerly. She noted to herself that for someone so skinny with no visible muscle in particular, he was pretty strong.
"Pity sucks. I'm not going to pity you," Cody said. "But I'm not going to laugh at you either. Not because I never laugh—though that's a minor part of the reason—but because it's not funny. What made you think I would laugh at you?"
Hazel winced. "It's happened before. They didn't laugh in my face, but they did tease me about it. I'm pretty sure they did it behind my back."
"You weren't very popular at your old school, were you? I can honestly see why," Cody dryly remarked.
"And it's those kind of quips that don't exactly make you very well-liked yourself," Hazel shot back. "It's pretty obvious that people at school are more afraid of you than anything."
"I find that better than being made fun of. Besides, I'm aware of it, so you could say it's deliberate," Cody said. "Anyway, I don think you're exactly thinking of his feelings."
Hazel blinked. "His... His feelings?" She looked at Hector. "What...do you mean?"
"You're slow, you know that?" Cody sighed. "How do you think your brother feels about being isolated like this? If you were the one staying in bed constantly, would you want your big sister to keep you in your room when she has friends over?"
Hazel opened her mouth, but snapped it shut again. "No," she sighed in defeat.
"Exactly. And Hector doesn't like it either. Before he went to sleep and you came in here, I was talking to him. He opened up right away, and judging from what I just heard, he talked to me more than he's talked to you for the past couple of years."
Hazel could only nod in agreement, not finding it in herself to talk.
"So what are you gonna do now?" Cody raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to ignore everything I'm telling you, or are you actually going to do something about it? Personally, I couldn't care less, but you'll regret it if things don't change soon."
Hazel slowly sat down on Hector's bed, watching the boy sleep. "I don't know what I'm going to do," she admitted softly. "It's going to be hard trying to fix our relationship. I don't see how..." Her breath caught in her throat. "...how we'll go right back to the way we used to."
"You won't," Cody flatlined. "Not immediately, at least. But you'll feel better if you at least try. Would you rather have him die knowing you did your best, or have him die and feel guilty about being distant towards him for the last couple years of his life?"
Hazel didn't say anything, nor did she look up from her brother's peaceful expression. Suddenly, she stood up and said with finality in her tone, "You're going to help me."
Okay, Cody wasn't expecting that. "Come again?"
"Your'e going to help me," Hazel repeated. "I want him to live life, even when he's dying. But I don't know how. I can't do this alone, so you're going to be here for him too."
"Do I seem like a positive influence for your brother?"
"No. You don't," Hazel frankly stated. "But you're the only other one who knows, aside from my dad. And besides, you said you talked to him. If he was as open with you as you said, then you'll help."
"Touché." Cody raised both eyebrows now. "I see your point. Sure, I'll help. But you owe me."
"How much?"
"A lot. I don't exactly go around offering assistance to people, if you haven't noticed."
"Oh, really?" Hazel questioned sarcastically. "Anyway, what, in full detail, do I owe you?"
"My life hasn't sucked as many balls for the past week, so luckily for you, I have nothing in mind at the moment," Cody offhandedly replied. "But don't think that means I'm going to forget about it. I'll find something eventually."
Hazel was about to retort when Colin appeared at the doorway. "Hazel, what's going on here?" he asked, confused, glancing between his son, his daughter, and that gay one.
"Nothing huge, Dad." Besides Cody finding out about Hector's existence, that is. "Sir Cody Gray was just on his way out the door, down the stairs, and officially out of the house."
"She's right, my entire life comes down to this moment. To be called 'Sir' as if I have been formally knighted by the regal Queen Elizabeth II herself. You know, because I'm so fantastic to the point where I can be compared to Elton John and Paul McCartney," Cody deadpanned.
Hazel didn't exactly like Cody any more than she did before today, but she failed to hold back an amused smile at that.
Colin noticed this and frowned, feeling his instinctual overprotectiveness begin to well up inside of him. He swallowed that feeling; Cody was homosexual, so there was no way he could end up becoming a potential man-slave to his daughter... Then again, teenagers were known for their ability to lie... Colin, you're overthinking it. "Well, it's time for your fellow knight to leave. Everyone else did already."
"Whatever." Cody exited and went downstairs, followed by Colin.
Hazel sighed, remaining in her position on Hector's bed. Cody had meant it when he said he would help, didn't he? Hazel honestly couldn't really picture him ever properly helping anyone without any self-benefits. But if he did end up bailing out, it wasn't too big of a deal. Sure, mending her relationship with Hector would be a little harder without him, but she could most likely manage.
"Will you really do anything I want from now on?" Hector hoarsely piped up from the bed, starting his sister out of her thoughts.
"You're awake." Hazel turned to face him. "Do you feel alright?"
"Really as okay as a boy with a severe tumor could feel," Hector responded. "And of course I'm awake. Both of you were being loud. Especially you, sis."
Hazel frowned slightly once she detected some awkwardness in his voice, despite how casual his words seemed. Well, she couldn't blame him. "He...drove me a little crazy."
"Is he your boyfriend?" Hector asked hopefully.
"...What."
"So he is your boyfriend."
"Hector, I've known him for five days. He's not my type anyway."
"You told me a long time ago that you liked guys with blue eyes," Hector argued. "Or did your tastes change during the time you refused to speak to me?"
He seemingly meant that in a joking way, but those words stung Hazel. "No... I still like blue eyes. And his are really nice," she admitted, albeit a little begrudgingly. "But his personality is a major turn-off. I can't only rely on looks."
"So you think he's cute?"
"Hector..." Hazel's face was beginning to grow warm.
"You're blushing!" Hector accused, sitting up a little. "I hit the target, didn't I?"
"Any girl would get embarrassed when their insistent brother is attempting to play matchmaker!"
"Come on!" Hector whined. "Just say 'yes, he's cute' or 'no, he's hideous'! You know I won't care about whatever you say, Hazel."
"He's not hideous," Hazel promptly replied.
"So he's cute!"
"Hector, have you never heard of the term 'average'? You know, the range between 'cute' and 'hideous'?"
Hector sighed in defeat. "Okay. I'll stop prodding." He plopped his head back down onto his pillow.
"...Okay, so maybe he's a little on the good-looking side," Hazel quickly added. "But that doesn't really mean anything!"
"I knew it!" Hector shouted triumphantly. "I want to grow up and look like him so I could attract my future girlfriend!"
Hazel looked weirdly at his brunette hair and equally brown eyes. "Are you sure you'll be able to pull that off?"
Hector's spirits were not diminished. "That's why hair dye and colored contacts exist!"
"Okay... But if you end up acting like him as well, I'm going to literally kill you," Hazel smiled sweetly. "Neither Dad nor I need you cursing and insulting things all over the place."
"Why not?" Hector pouted childishly. "I think it'd be fun if I did that!"
"I don't need two Codys in my life," Hazel laughed. She and Hector certainly were healing their broken bond a lot more quickly than she thought they would. Hector's happy-go-lucky attitude certainly helped.
"But anyway," Hector began, "I have a bucket list of all the things I want to do before I die." He leaned down and pulled an extremely long, thin piece of paper out from under his bed.
"Hector, where in the world did you get that?" Hazel had a strange look on her face. After closely inspecting, she noticed the paper was actually a whole bunch of receipts taped end to end together.
"I collected all the receipts I could find," Hector explained, sounding a little too proud of himself. "Good thing too; I had a lot I wanted to put on here."
Hector, I think all of us would be dead by the time we reach the end of that list. Hazel refused to voice her thoughts out loud, not wanting to ruin her brother' stood mood. Instead, she said, "Okay, okay, we'll get started on your list once the doctor says you're free to get out of the house."
Judging from the wide grin that spread across Hector's face, Hazel found herself feeling grateful towards Cody for opening her eyes and letting her see what she had been making herself miss out on.
Before school on Monday, Conrad approached Jack at his locker. "Hey," he greeted. "You're Jack, aren't you?"
Out of all the things that could've happened to Jack that morning, a guy he barely knew beginning to talk to him for no apparent reason wasn't one of them. "Yeah," he replied wearily. "Conrad, right?"
"Yup," Conrad smiled kindly. "Nice to meet you. Anyway—"
"Why are you talking to me?" Jack cut to the point right away, not willing to deal with anything too troublesome. "You never did before."
Conrad's smile was replaced by a frown. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean," Jack began, his patience beginning to stretch, "why do you suddenly feel the need to talk to me? I've heard things about you from Anton, and I can't say they were particularly nice to hear. Are you just trying to get to him through me?"
Conrad stayed silent for a minute, then sighed and leaned his back against the lockers. "Right. That. You know, I don't get what that guy means when he says I'm out for his blood. I guess I was a little...cold towards him when he stopped hanging out with me and Samson, but I'm past that now. After thinking about it a lot, I realized that it was a silly reason to hold a grudge. I just wish he could see that."
"I fail to see how this is an explanation on why you're suddenly deciding to speak to me," Jack stated.
"Okay," Conrad gave in. "If you want the full truth, you're right that I'm trying to get to him through you. Just not in the way you think. I want to show him that he's safe around me, and I feel as if the only way to do that is to come to you. If he sees you and me talking, then he should be able to get the idea."
"Why me though?"
"Because who else? It's obvious that he trusts your judgment more than anyone else's. If he saw someone like Cody talking to me, I doubt he would even consider that he might be wrong about me."
"I don't think Cody likes you any more than Anton does." Jack stopped, then mumbled to himself, "Well, not that he likes anyone in the first place..."
"That's beside the point. I know you see what I'm trying to get at here," Conrad said.
Jack opened his mouth to answer when Spencer and Anton appeared. "Hey, Jack!" the former greeted.
"...and company," Anton dryly added, glaring at Conrad. "What are you doing, talking to him?"
"Before you get mad, he came to me," Jack defended, wincing once he saw how he was throwing Conrad under the bus.
Conrad didn't seem to care though. "Relax, Anton," he nonchalantly assured. "I'm not up to anything. I promise. I just wanted to ask Jack if he could convince you that I'm not a danger to anyone."
Judging from the look on his face, Anton obviously didn't believe that one bit. "And why exactly would you do that?" he snapped. "If that's really true, then why don't you come to me and say it to my face instead? Why do you have to go to one of my friends and try to indirectly change my opinion of you?"
"I tried to do that, if you haven't noticed. You just wouldn't listen," Conrad muttered.
During this exchange, Cody and Hazel had approached the others. "What are you all doing here?" Hazel inquired obliviously.
"Nothing," Jack quickly supplied, trying to step in front of the glaring contest between Anton and Conrad (Well, it was more of Anton glaring at Conrad while Conrad looked uncomfortable. Spencer only did his best to pretend he was just another passerby). Needless to say, the two newcomers saw them anyway.
"So are we just going to ignore the Japanese guy with fittingly anime hair and the blonde bitch wearing sheep's clothing?" Cody wondered aloud acidly.
"It's nothing big, I swear." Jack turned back to Anton, telling him, "Anton, maybe you should at least try to conceal that hate."
Anton sighed, dropping his gaze. "Whatever." He saw Cody and Hazel. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Passing by," Hazel simply replied.
"Let me rephrase that, what are you guys doing here together?"
"Maybe it has something to do with us sharing our first class with each other. Who knows?" Cody sarcastically voiced.
"Look, I simply figured that Hazel would be trying harder to avoid you. Which was a wise action to take, if you ask me," Anton deadpanned. "So it's funny seeing you two in the hallway together."
"They're dating," Conrad inputted. "I knew it from the start."
"They've known each other for no more than a week, how could they possibly be dating already?" Spencer questioned.
"My relationship with her is no more than of a loyal, handsome knight willingly serving his flat-chested, melodramatic princess," Cody informed.
"...What does that even mean?" Jack confusedly pondered.
"Just an inside joke," Hazel smiled innocently, stomping down on Cody's foot hard, as if to threaten, Say one word about what happened and I'll kill you violently, do you understand.
"An inside joke that spawned after Hazel moaned about how she wants to become royalty so everyone would worship her and love her and execute the people who are mean to her, but her guards fucked up and made me a knight instead of beheading me like they most likely should've done, but then she wasn't happy about it since she hates me and takes everything too seriously, but she struck a deal with me and said that if I hunted down the sole Norwegian who was chilling out at the local Taco Bell full of Mexicans and Spaniards with their golden retriever bitches—I'm not saying if I mean literal female dogs or just a bunch of tanned prostitutes, figure it out yourself—and tell him, 'Hey, because everyone's a racist fuck around here, I'm here to rescue you from these punk-ass whores. Now move you ass before I have to push it until it's as flat as my princess's bust. To give you an idea, it's as flat as the wall over there.' And after the mission has succeeded, I'm officially her top knight," Cody continued.
Everyone else, including Hazel (who had continually dug her heel deeper into his foot until she heard what he was saying about a Norwegian) looked totally brain-dead.
"How do you say all of that in one breath?" Spencer finally asked dully.
Cody opened his mouth, possibly to go into a long spiel again, when the bell rang.
"Well, it was nice hearing your story about your official knighting, but we all got places to go, people to see, one certain person to get away from," Anton hurriedly spoke up, grabbing Jack's arm and dashing off with him, clearly wanting to get as far away from Conrad as possible.
"Hey, wait—" Spencer tried to protest, but the other two were already out of sight.
"Anton runs fast," an amused Conrad commented.
"And you're about to find out that I do too," Cody responded, and the next thing Conrad knew, his feet were being dragged along the floor as some unseen (but very blatant) force pulled him along the hallway rapidly.
"You're not going to hurt me now, are you?" Conrad eyed Cody skeptically as the latter pulled him along.
Cody stopped in front of the performance art classroom and let go of Conrad's arm. "Stay away from Jack and I won't," he replied coolly. "So you might not want to approach him like that again."
Conrad was offended. "What did I ever do to you?"
"Anyone who associates themselves with Samson Fisher gets an automatic denial of friendship from me."
"You're friends with Anton."
"One, no, I am not. Two, at least he had the sense of Samson being a horrible person."
"Samson's not that bad!" Conrad insisted. "You should give him a chance and let go of past grudges."
"He caused me to cut myself with a razor, do you not remember that?"
"Technically, that was something you did to yourself—"
A panting Hazel suddenly appeared, out of breath as she caught up to Cody and Conrad. "Can both of you not leave me like that again? At least give me a warning next time!"
"Wow," Cody deadpanned. "So you're physically challenged in more ways than one."
It took Hazel a few seconds to realize the meaning of his words. "I'm going to pretend like I didn't just hear that because I'm sick of getting angry at you everyday."
"Before you two continue to flirt further, I'm going to head inside so I can let you have your moment in peace," Conrad politely piped up, going into the classroom.
"I hate him," a stony-faced Cody only said. "Anyway, how are things going with your brother?"
"Better than I imagined," Hazel admitted. "He has this 'bucket list' of all the things he wants to accomplish in life though, and it's our job to make sure he fulfills most of that list."
"I'm already regretting this decision," Cody grumbled.
Hazel shot him a look. "I took a peek and ninety percent of it wasn't all that bad."
"What about the remaining ten percent?"
"They were more impossible than traumatic," Hazel informed. "Stuff along the lines of becoming the first cancer patient to go to Mars. We'll leave stuff like that to his imagination."
"And what makes you so sure we'll be able to finish that list of his before he dies?" Cody asked matter-of-factly.
"He's not going to die! He's scheduled for surgery soon," Hazel snapped, not wanting to think of that possibility.
"Doesn't mean it'll go smoothly. Shit happens a lot more often than you think," Cody countered.
"Can you not?"
"Not what?"
"Not say stuff like that! I'm trying to look at the bright side and think of the best for him, and I don't need you trying to ruin that for me! You don't have to tell me that I'm going to lose him soon! It's..." Hazel heaved a sigh. "It's too painful to think about right now."
Cody didn't look very impressed. "Hazel, exactly what do you think you know about the pain of losing a sibling?"
"More than you!" Hazel shot back without thinking, then stormed inside.
It was only a shame that she didn't glance back to see Cody's eyes widening as his gaze followed her form.
Jack, with a heavy sigh, slumped down in his desk in physics. The bell had not yet rung to signify the start of class, but he wasn't in the mood for getting up and talking to whomever he felt like talking to. He had just gotten back from PE, and considering that Anton was in both that class and first period history, he had heard a lot from the Asian in a ferocious lecture about how Conrad was evil and had always been evil since he was in his mother's womb and got sprinkled with wicked pixie dust.
So stay away from him, Anton had concluded. I don't care whether or not he came to you first. Next time, just bolt once you're able to.
"Whatever you say, you're the one who knows him," Jack mumbled under his breath. He buried his head in his arms on his desk, ready to snooze for a few minutes, when a hand slammed down, causing him to raise his head sharply.
Samson Fisher was looking down at him, an obvious scowl etched on his face.
Jack didn't know how to react. "Wha—"
"I'm only going to say this once, so listen," Samson interrupted, his voice hard. "Do not befriend Conrad Montgomery. If you do, you'll pay dearly. It's time you realized that you can't just waltz in and grab everyone up like they're toys in a claw machine."
Jack blinked, slowly soaking this in. "...Where's this coming from? How do you even—"
"How do I even know? You think I wasn't close by and watching you? I saw you, and I know you were just about ready to jump at the opportunity to make 'new friends' or whatever."
"Do you think that's what was going on?" Jack snapped, standing up. "You think I just let everyone get on my good side that easily? Let me tell you something, and I don't know how much you'll believe me, but he came up to me, okay? It's not my fault that he just suddenly decided to associate himself with me. So next time, why don't you think before you begin threatening and pointing fingers?"
Samson would have responded if the bell didn't decide to ring at that exact moment. "Just stay away from him. You're better off acknowledging what I'm trying to tell you," he said in a low voice before storming to his seat at the back.
What the hell was that? Jack couldn't help but wonder as he sat down again, droning out the lecture his science teacher promptly leapt into.
"As much as I hate to admit it, after Emmanuelle sent that reply back to Phoenix, my inbox has been feeling free of spam," Zander said cheerfully as he and his brother sat down at the lunch table. They were the only ones there at the moment.
It took Spencer a second to realize who he was talking about. "You mean Florence?"
"Sure, if that's what you want to call her."
Jack and Cody came along at that minute, with the former prodding the latter. "I swear, Cody, what's making you so touchy?! You have literally nothing to be upset about!"
"How would you know?" Cody shot back.
"Well, for starters, I got a D+ on our pop quiz the other day," Jack exhaled, holding up his quiz paper, "while you got a much better score, so I'm supposed to be the one moping more."
"The cause for my many diverse moods are not limited to just math," Cody bit out.
"You got a 68?" Zander butted in. "Dude, it's just geometry."
"Geometry isn't easy for everyone," Jack retorted. "We have...proofs and crap."
"If you want to say 'shit,' then say 'shit,' you loser," Cody said monotonously.
Jack glared at him, but decided not to comment.
"What'd you get on your quiz?" Spencer asked Cody.
Cody held it up for the twins to see.
"A... You got a 16?" Spencer questioned in puzzlement.
Cody looked down at his paper, then turned it right side up, revealing that the number written in clear, red ink was actually a 91.
"Aw, man," Zander frowned in disappointment. "And I was about ready to begin laughing at you too."
"Go ahead, I dare you," Cody responded heatedly. "See what happens to you if you do."
Zander decided it was wise to keep his mouth shut.
"Seriously though, you're in a worse mood than usual, but you were fine this morning. What happened?" Jack pressed on.
"I found out your mother sold coke for a living," Cody spoke irritably before stalking over to the lunch line.
Jack gaped after him, before turning to look at Zander and Spencer. "My mother's been dead for the past 260 years...?"
"...I'm sorry for your loss?" Spencer answered awkwardly.
"Ah, whatever," Jack brushed off. "Do you guys know what we're doing in performance art class today?"
"We have it in sixth period with you, how the hell should I know?" Zander flatlined.
"I was just asking, sheesh," Jack murmured. Everyone's in a terrible mood today. "Be right back."
He went off to the lunch line to talk to Cody, only to return a few seconds later. "He said nothing interesting was going to go on, and he added that if I even think of asking him why he's in a bad mood again, he's going to snap my neck right then and there."
"What a lovely image," Zander said wryly.
Florence happened to be wearing formal wear that day. Her outfit included a frilly, sleeveless top, a black, skin-tight skirt that ended just above her knees, and black pumps. Her hair was laced with perfect curls, and she was currently putting lipstick on.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "What's gotten you all dolled up today?"
"Job interview," Florence explained, inspecting her mascara. "Cici put in a good word for me to her boss."
"So we'll be seeing you a whole lot more at Starbucks then?" Spencer asked.
"Yeah. If I get the job." Florence closed her compact and looked at Jack, the twins, and Anton. "By the way, Zander, is it just me or do you look about ready to break out sweating?"
"Of course I am!" Zander said a little too quickly, looking in the other direction. "It's... It's really hot in here, that's why."
"Really? I think it's a little too cold, as a matter of fact," Spencer contradicted, puzzled. "Maybe you're coming down with a fever..."
"No! No, I'm fine," Zander chuckled nervously, face beginning to grow a little pink. "Excuse me while I... I get permission to go to the restroom..." He hurriedly went to the teacher's desk, then out the door.
Out of all of them, Anton looked like he was the only one who knew what was up with Zander's bizarre behavior.
"What's up with him?" Jack wondered.
Anton looked at him. "Do you really want an answer to that?"
Jack shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
Anton shook his head. "I'm not saying."
"What? Come on!"
"No."
This banter continued on until Zander stepped back in, not looking much better. "On second thought, Spencer, maybe we should get Mom to check my temperature once we get home."
Spencer looked concerned. "You feeling alright?"
"Yeah, just... I'll get better soon enough. With medicine...prescribed to me...vaccinations...and crap."
Florence scoffed. "If you want to say 'shit,' then say 'shit,' you loser."
"Why does that sound vaguely familiar?" Jack questioned dryly.
"Don't get your milk jugs in a bunch, Emmanuelle," Zander retaliated. "Bosses of Starbucks generally don't like it when pretty girls like you swear."
"He thinks she's pretty," Anton whispered to Jack, who began snickering.
"It worked for that bear in the movie Ted, didn't it?"
"That boss was crazy! Ted isn't exactly the first movie I think of when it comes to setting a good example."
"You think I don't know that? Fine, if you want to educate me on the importance of good behavior during job interviews, be my guest," Florence smirked, crossing her (very nice) legs. "Let's roleplay. You're the boss, I'm the client."
Zander smirked back, sitting down. "If you say so, milady." He cleared his throat. "So, Miss Robinson," he said in a formal, business-like voice that sounded nothing like he usually sounded, "I understand that you are interested in a part-time position here at Starbucks, is that correct?"
"I'll tell you what I'm interested in. That dork that's just sitting there," Florence smiled flirtatiously.
Zander turned around to see Jack in the chair behind him. The latter pointed at himself, looking around to make sure he wasn't mistaken. "Who, me?"
"No, not you. I'm talking about the one rising right between my lovely interviewer's legs."
Zander looked down at himself for a second before slapping one hand down between his legs. "Anyway," he continued on stiffly (He became irritated when he heard three certain guys laughing behind him), "let me see your application."
Florence obliged, handing him the folder she had put her actual application in. Zander took it out, eyes skimming through it, before raising his head. "Your references?"
"The only references I have are the references my doctor gave me on your penial issues."
"Stop bringing that up!" Zander shouted. "And I'm being serious here, where are your references?"
"Cici said I didn't need them."
"What if you do? How do you know she's not lying to you because she secretly hates you?"
"She told me she doesn't hate me! And she really doesn't seem the type to lie about things like this."
"I'm going to feel so sorry for you if I end up being right."
"I thought you guys were friends, maybe you should have more faith in her."
"I do have faith in her, which is why I believe that she's the only other one who has enough sense to realize that you're a heinous harpy."
"What the fuck is a harpy?"
Zander took out a dictionary from under his chair, flipped it to the bookmarked page, then read aloud, "'Harpy — 1. a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body. 2. a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; shrew. 3. a greedy, predatory person.' Judging from these definitions, I have to say 2 and 3 are most like you."
"Okay, first off, I don't know what just happened with you and that dictionary and I don't think I want to know either," Florence remarked. "But then again, you're an inexplicable pustule."
"The hell is a pustule?"
Florence reached down and pulled out the dictionary from under her chair, flipped it to the bookmarked page, then read aloud, "'Pustule — 1. a small elevation of the skin containing puss. 2. any pimple-like or blister-like swelling or elevation."
"Did you just compare me to a wart?"
"Were you not listening? A pustule is not a wart. It's a small elevation of the skin—"
"—that contains puss! I get it! Look, let's just drop this before the bell rings and we get busted for verbally attacking each other during class time," Zander decided, crossing his arms and facing forward.
"Guys, I feel the dire need to tell you that the bell rang 45 seconds ago," Jack piped up somewhat nervously.
"What!" Zander and Florence yelled in unison.
"Yeah, Flo, you need to listen more carefully," Bo called rather nastily from the other side of the room. "It'll help you in life, or more specifically, your stupid 'job interview' later or whatever."
Florence would've gotten revenge by shooting an even harsher retort back, but Miss McCarthy stood up, her fingers on both of her temples. "Zander, Florence, I understand that the two of you have some problems concealing your...belligerent feelings towards each other...but please, refrain from doing that again in my classroom."
"'Belligerent'?" Zander muttered.
"Anyway, class, I'm going to start off by making an announcement. We're going to be working on a new play for the next few weeks."
As the class talked excitedly amongst themselves, an indignant Jack exclaimed, "Cody said there was nothing interesting going to go on!"
"Cici and Hazel said that too! They lied to me?!" Florence gasped, feeling betrayed.
Not so confident that your friends don't lie to you anymore, are you? Zander thought smugly.
Miss McCarthy apparently overheard both of them, as she continued on, "By the way, if you heard from a friend of yours who's had my class earlier, when they said 'Nothing interesting is going to go on,' what they meant to say was my new play, conveniently named Nothing Interesting, is going to go on!"
"Are you kidding me?" Anton rolled his eyes. "That should be as interesting as the title."
"It's a loose adaptation of the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel, which instead of a boy and a girl stumbling upon the house of a witch, it will be a modern version where two teenage siblings discover the existence of witchcraft, which they use to their advantage to climb up the social ladder. However, a real witch soon arrives and the two siblings are forced to save their school. The moral of the story is that social classes do not matter, and to be happy with who you are as a person. Of course, I plan to add all the elements I can think of—romance, comedy, suspense, and probably even a reference or two to other fairy tales such as Cinderella or Rapunzel. So, Mr. Suzuki," Miss McCarthy smiled coldly at Anton, "the title Nothing Interesting is sarcastic. Keep your mouth shut next time."
"Yes, ma'am," Anton calmly obeyed before turning to Jack and whispering, "This play sounds terrible and poorly put together."
Zander heard him. "Jack, use your creative charms to try and convince McCarthy to make a less random play!"
"Charms? What—" Jack began to protest when McCarthy set down a large stack of packets on the front desk.
"These are your script copies up here. I advise you to look over them tonight and begin deciding which role you would like to audition for. Auditions will be held next Monday. That is all, you're free to grab these scripts and discuss them with your peers."
Noticing the pleading looks his friends were shooting him, Jack rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys. Maybe the play isn't as bad as you think it is." He got up and obtained a script from the front before seating himself again. Opening up to the first page, he read the first three lines, causing his eyes to widen and his pupils to shrink.
"Still think it's not so bad?" Spencer wearily asked.
Jack went back to the front page, searching for the writer of the script, and once he found it, he yelled, "Fernando!"
Jack Overland: Fernando Chavez is literally the worst script writer ever. Srsly.
Zander Anderson, Anton Suzuki, Florence Robinson, and 28 others like this.
Fernando Chavez: Hey! I was trying to make it original!
Zander Anderson: There's a difference between original and utterly idiotic!
Fernando Chavez: Just what is so bad about it?
Anton Suzuki: Well, for starters, you made Hansel a mad scientist who "experiments around" with women, which is really vague so I'm trying not to think of anything dirty, and you made Gretel, and pardon my uncivilized diction, a cheerful prostitute who probably ate the shit of her past clients.
Florence Robinson: Wow. I didn't think you had it in you to say something like that. Well done.
Jack Overland: Did McCarthy even look at this script?
Fernando Chavez: ...No... I just gave it to her and she immediately went to make copies.
Zander Anderson: Figures.
Spencer Anderson: So... She wouldn't notice if we ended up not following the script at all? Jack Overland and 2 others like this.
Zander Anderson: Are you suggesting that we improvise our lines?
Zander Anderson: Seems fair enough. It can't really get any worse after seeing Fernando's writing skills. Anton Suzuki and 3 others like this.
Fernando Chavez: You're all so mean to me!
Kayla Suzuki: Andy! I'm telling Mom you said that about Gretel!
Anton Suzuki: What? No! If you do that, I'm telling her that you found out about that by using your phone in class!
Jack sighed as he looked down at the script in his hands on the way home from school. "So are we just going to improvise our lines during rehearsal?"
Spencer shrugged. "I guess so."
"What, did you guys see the script and the horrid quality that went along with it?" Hazel grinned amusedly. "It's so terrible, it's funny."
"Cody saw it too, didn't he? Maybe that's why he was snappish all day today," Zander mused out loud.
"Oh, he just looked at the front page, and then he threw it into the trash once he saw who wrote it," Hazel informed. "So I'm guessing that this isn't the first time Fernando Chavez wrote something this disgusting. But I don't think that's why Cody seemed so upset today. In fact, nothing too bad happened today. He just suddenly got all testy when first period started."
"What happened right before his mood went down?" Spencer asked.
"We had a small argument," Hazel somewhat reluctantly confessed, "involving something I'd rather not mention."
"Wow, what else is new?" Zander caustically wondered. "Come on, there's got to be something more than that."
"Yeah, what exactly did you say to him?" Jack inquired.
Hazel thought back to that morning. "Okay, so we ended up arguing about...the chances of someone I know dying of cancer," she admitted. "He said that they were likely going to die, but I didn't want to hear it and I just...snapped and told him he had no idea what it would be like to have someone he cares about die."
Jack almost tripped, Spencer dropped the English textbook he was carrying in his arms, and Zander suddenly decided that the gutter by the curb was beckoning for him to stumble off the sidewalk.
"...Why do I feel like I said something wrong?" Hazel hesitantly spoke.
"Let's just say that you're very lucky that becoming upset was his only reaction," Jack replied, recovering himself. "He's more sensitive than he seems at first glance."
Stepping up onto the sidewalk again, Zander added, "You shouldn't say anything like that to him. Really, you shouldn't say that to anyone. It comes off as heartless."
Hazel groaned.
"You should apologize the next time you see him," Spencer advised.
Hazel stopped in her tracks, as they reached the front of her house. "Yeah. I probably should," she relented. She turned to go up the front steps. "Bye."
Jack sighed once she was gone. "God, it's sad whenever someone ends up unintentionally causing painful memories to resurface."
"Ah, they'll be fine," Zander dismissed, as they continued walking again. "She's sorry about it, so she'll try to fix it."
Spencer, on the other hand, remained skeptical. "I don't think Cody's the type to just...accept an apology like nothing ever happened."
"What, would you rather have her poorly attempt to apologize to the Cody from two months ago?"
"I'll admit it, he's right," Jack agreed.
Spencer gave in, rolling his eyes. "Alright, fine. But really, their relationship was never that good to begin with, so there's a smaller chance that Cody will let this slide—"
"Hey!" Hazel called from a few feet behind them. She ran up, then quickly and firmly directed, though slightly out of breath, "Tell me Cody's address."
Six chapters into this story, and out of all the plethora of plots that this story will contain, Cody and Hazel's bonding is the only one that's begun to officially take place. The other major plots will come in soon, I promise. I plan to have Tooth come in next chapter too.
This play called Nothing Interesting is just another reckless decision I've made in life. I did not think of having another performance art project until I was in the middle of the chapter. So this will most likely fail, as every other impulsive instance of mine in this saga has failed.
As for the Facebook segment... Ahahahahahaha. I really wasn't sure if I should include that in there, because I'm not too big on script format in fanfiction (ignore everything I uploaded before 2012). But I figured, since I gave Jack a Facebook in chapter 4... Is it against the rules this way? I don't know, if you can answer this question for me, please do.
My goal is to make Forgetful Guardian have more chapters than Powerless Guardian, despite how long the chapters are already (Let's not forget that Powerless Guardian had 2000 words for each chapter at first). Yes, good, that is what I will do.
I can't believe I'm spending all this time in my life typing chapters that are 7500 words long in like five days. You little ducklings better be grateful or I'm roasting your parents alive.
Replies:
Tigermike83: No, I don't plan on revealing if Cody was telling the truth about their two-time hookup because that really wasn't something meant to be looked into. Cody genuinely lied to save himself and Anton from Colin's rage. As for Anton's reaction, figure that out for yourself :P
Someone: I honestly cannot tell if you mean that in a good or bad way, but for the sake of my optimism, I'm going to assume you meant that in a good way. Thank you very much.
Lil Angel 927: LOL No, your review was relatively short ^^ (though I do appreciate super long reviews) You mean are roses his favorite flower? Yeah, most likely. As for marigolds, he genuinely doesn't like them. The reason why will eventually be revealed (But hey, if you guess correctly, then I'll tell you that you're right). As for Colin, you'll also have to wait and see.
Cat Lunanoff: You have officially inspired me. Allow me to write that.
Sol's Darkness: Is your 'mature' friend Florence? I am being very serious here. What is this turn of events. A sophomore is a sycamore. No, I'm just kidding. It's another name for tenth grade.
Artimes' Thorns: Jack will become forgetful gradually, just so you know. I'm not planning on making him forget suddenly. Stuff will happen that'll cause him to slowly but steadily slip, and the beginning of that should happen soon.
feathered moon wings: I love long reviews, I don't see why everyone thinks I hate them. But anyway, concerning the cover, someone else has agreed to do it and I'm currently working with her on what I want on it. But thanks for volunteering! And Jack did reveal to Cody that he was suicidal at one point in his life, but it was touched on like once before it never was brought up again.
Lolxxx: Soooo... What are the symptoms of dyslexia? I mean, I'm confident that I won't screw this up, but it would be best if I have some references (that are not related to Zander's penial issues).
Like17488: LONG REVIEWS ARE GOOD. But anyway, I appreciate the criticism. About the whole 'downy and dirty' thing, I admit I wasn't really thinking things through... I guess I wanted to convey the idea that Phoenix looks down on Burgess High, but I probably tried too hard with that haha. And now, I will lamely excuse myself by saying that Phoenix people fail at hiding their snobby attitudes. *hides in the corner*
Review! In case you missed it the first three times, I prefer longer reviews. On the other hand, reviews that are only like three words long piss me off (Reviews are not the equivalent to comments. Reviews are meant to hold insight, and not just a 'Cool story bro now bye.' Fortunately, I haven't had any problems with this so far).