Chapter 5
I woke up with the sun shining down on my face. I squinted harshly and turned away into the pillow. After taking a moment to compose myself, I sat up and threw the comforter off of my body. I grabbed my school uniform and went in the bathroom to change. I was brushing my teeth when I checked the time. It was 7:30, so I should probably help the others wake Robyn up so we can go get something to eat before our classes start at 9. After washing my face, Phoenix came in already changed and grabbed her toothbrush. She glanced at my tie and nodded her head in approval. I smiled and began styling my hair.
After holding hands yesterday, I've come to the conclusion that I will ask her to the dance today. I was determined to go through with it without any interruptions by our team or team SHDW for that matter. I went outside of the bathroom to see Sapphire already changed and sitting on the bed unsure if she should wake the peaceful beast in front of her.
"I'll take care of it." I said. "But I would suggest that you backup...a lot." I emphasized the last part especially. She nodded and carefully backed up behind me. I got a pillow to shield myself and held it up in defense. I sharply inhaled and exhaled. It was time.
"ROBYN, YOU'RE FAVORITE SHIP SANK IN THE NEWEST EPISODE OF YOUR SOAP OPERA!"
Her eyes shot open and she instantly grabbed the nearest thing in front of her, which happened to be my pillow shield.
"YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP. MY VANGUARD WILL NEVER SINK! THE SHIP SAILS ITSELF GODDAMMIT!" She screeched as she threw the pillow in my face with brute force.
"DAMMIT!" I yelped as I was thrown back but I was caught in the arms of Phoenix. My back was on her chest which had forced her to wrap my arms around my stomach. I felt myself blush a little bit but I was distracted by the...vicious growls from Robyn? Seriously, she was growling in frustration that she wouldn't find out what happened to her ship until next Saturday.
"Robyn you should get ready, it's almost 8:00 and you should get something to eat before class starts at 9:00." Phoenix said.
She pouted and got up, grabbed her uniform and slammed the bathroom door making all of us jump in surprise. I sighed in relief that I wasn't injured before class started, but I realized that Phoenix had her arms still around me. She was kind of shorter than me but it felt nice to be held by her. Sapphire was a little dazed to notice that I was being held. After realizing that she was still holding me, Phoenix let go and I could tell that she seemed a little sad to let go.
Robyn came out already changed into her uniform, but as usual, replaced the blazer with her leather jacket. She smiled at us and gestured towards the door.
"Come on, I especially don't want to miss breakfast." She said opening the door.
"You have everything you need right?" Sapphire asked grabbing Robyn's stack of paper and pencil bag.
"Oh yeah...that. Heh heh." She chuckled.
Sapphire rolled her eyes and gave Robyn her supplies and grabbed her own. Since when did Sapphire become the mom of the group? I guess the world may never know.
We walked to the dining hall and there was an even more glorious feast in front of us than the days over break. Stuffed French Toast, rows of sizzling bacon, biscuits, bacon, hash browns, bacon, pancakes of course, bacon, toast and jam and BACON. So glorious indeed. Did I mention there was bacon?
I made no hesitation to rush straight to get a plate and fill it up with delicious bacon, pancakes and toast. I looked over to see Robyn stacking the stuffed french toast and strawberry glaze with fresh strawberries on top. Oh god, I would kill for that plate if it was that last one on earth, but we're relatively early and there's still plenty of stuffed french toast, so I shan't worry...for the time being…
In order to not make myself look like a greedy bastard or pig, I decided to slow my pace down a little bit so that I wouldn't scare Phoenix off with my need to shove this entire plate of food in my mouth. As much as it pained me, I ate as reserved as I could and Phoenix just sat there drinking her coffee and eating an egg sandwich.
"I'm going to get seconds, want to come?" I asked.
"Sure. I'll get some of that stuffed french toast that Robyn's enjoying." She said pointing at Robyn, who had probably eaten 5 of them along with bacon and oranges.
After we got our second plate, that's when the crowd really rushed in and thank goodness we came a little earlier otherwise I wouldn't have had the chance to get a single strip of bacon from those ruthless savages that surrounded the trays of bacon. After eating, we decided to go to our class but maybe we should've put a restraint on how much Robyn could eat because now she was pretty lethargic.
"You better not fall asleep on the first class Robyn." I said.
"I won't. Hopefully that coffee I drank will keep me up for a while." She said.
"You better hope so." Sapphire said.
"Well, we have 10 minutes to get to our first class of the day. Which one is it again?" I asked.
"History. Professor Oobleck." Phoenix said.
"Will always be better than Professor Port." I said. Everyone agreed.
We arrived at our destination and took our seats toward the front of the classroom. Since class wouldn't be starting for a couple of more minutes, everybody started talking and sort of got lost in their own world.
Time passed very slowly and to me it felt like there never was a vacation to begin with. It was pretty sad to think that even though I had gotten closer to Phoenix. I was blanking out, but I didn't worry. Sapphire would let me copy her notes. After all, she has always been the most organized and studious of all of us and Phoenix tutors me. I then thought about how I would get Phoenix alone so that I could ask her to the upcoming dance. I would need a gift...good thing I bought that bouquet of roses yesterday. Now...where do I ask her…? I have tutoring with her today, so maybe I can ask her if we can work at that tree she goes to clear her mind.
Next thing I knew, class was over. Wow, I never thought that planning to ask someone out would take so long. We proceeded to walk to our last class of the day and already was I missing vacation time. God, it was so boring just sitting there and listen to Professor Port blab on and on for what seemed to be hours. I'm surprised that Robyn hasn't fallen asleep because right now, I'm definitely on the brink of passing out. Finally class ended and I swear all of us zipped out of that class as though death was nipping at our heels.
"I told you that I wouldn't fall asleep." Robyn said triumphantly.
"I wouldn't blame you if you did. Man, I was about to pass out." I said.
"Poor Professor Port was still talking when we all left." Sapphire said looking back down the hall.
"Just leave him be. I'm sure that he will figure it out soon enough." Robyn said.
"Jet, don't forget that it's time for our tutoring session. I know you'll need it today since you barely paid attention." Phoenix said.
"Heh heh, yeah…" I said awkwardly.
"We'll catch up with you guys later." Phoenix said.
They waved us goodbye and Phoenix began to lead us towards the library. I followed her until we were out of earshot from the others.
"Hey Phoenix, can we actually study at that clearing you showed me the other day? Near the amphitheater? I'm really not in the mood to be exposed to so many books when I just got out of class." I said.
"Sure I guess." She said.
"But first let me get something. I'll meet you there in 15 minutes!" I said rushing towards the dorms.
"Wait, JET!" She shouted but turned and headed towards the amphitheater. Great just where I needed her to be. I ran toward the dorm and I didn't see either Robyn or Sapphire when I walked inside. I quickly grabbed the bouquet of roses and I ran out towards the amphitheater as fast as I could. I couldn't screw this up, I will succeed this time.
I had finally reached the the hill where below waited the girl who made me feel safe and sound in my darkest and lowest points since my brother's passing. I slowed my heart rate down and walked down the hill. She was sitting on the top of the tree and she looked so deep in thought. It made me wonder what was going on in her mind.
I cleared my throat and clenched the roses behind my back tightly. Phoenix gasped in shock and slipped from the branch she was on top of. Tossing the bouquet of roses that were once being clenched tightly by my hand, I leaped forward and caught her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and dug her face in my shoulder. She was trembling in fear and I could hear her breath shaking.
"It's okay. I got you." I said softly. Her breath began to regulate and the trembling subsided.
"Thank you Jet. Um...what are those?" She asked pointing at the bouquet of roses that I had forgotten about in the midst of calming Phoenix down.
"Oh...the roses." I said putting her on her feet. I walked over to them and picked them up. They were a little bit damaged from the fall but they at least still looked like roses. "I was going to ask you to the dance and offer them to you, but you know, stuff happened." I continued chuckling.
She blushed and covered her face out of embarrassment. I walked up to her and pulled a hand away from her face.
"So now that you know what these are for, I was wondering…" I took a deep breath. "Would like to accompany me to the dance?"
A deep shade of mahogany enveloped her entire face and I waited for her response, although I pretty much knew that answer at this point.
"Of course I would." She said and took the roses from my hands.
I smiled and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm pretty sure we should wear mahogany since it suits your face pretty well." I said.
She gave me a sarcastic look and punched my shoulder playfully.
"Fine." She said.