The Joining: The Cycle of the Shards Book One

32: Plan Part Two

The bell had rung out its last call that class was over, and Shanna Ewing had finally drug herself out of the Study Hall where she had sat nervously for the past fifty-five minutes. It wasn't bad enough that the world was coming to an end in a couple hours, or that it suddenly was her responsibility to get the alien that had caused all this onto the most secured computer in the building. No, first she had to almost fall off a second floor ledge! She had thought that in a near-death experience like that she would get some kind of adrenaline boost, but instead all she had was a horrible feeling in her gut, like the horror was just beginning. The fear was overtaking her as she walked towards the office to meet Ky..Critock, and it was like she was walking underwater. She had tried to cover it up with flirting with the alien, which was obviously making him uncomfortable. And it was hard not to, since regardless of who it was on the inside, it was still the body of the boy that she was interested in. So what was the harm if it helped distract her from the end of everything?

At this point even using her wiles, which was fairly easy considering the nigh-embarrassing outfit she was wearing, probably wouldn't work to keep her mind off of things. Every minute that drew closer she felt the nervousness in her gut turn almost to pain. Suddenly she wanted to cry, and she hated that. It was such a girl cliché, and she had tried so hard to not be 'that girl'! Soon she would see Critock, and the wisp, and that would reassure her that she wasn't alone in this, and somehow they'd all get through it together. And she'd get Kyle back, and then they could do all the happy little dating stuff and actually get to know each other. She found it odd that after only one day she knew the man from another planet better than the guy she had fallen in 'like' with after years of knowing her. Once the soldier was gone though, she'd have all the time in the world. Though she still wished that there was a way to keep them both here. For the world's protection, of course...and...

Okay, that's quite enough of that! She thought to herself. For all she knew, Critock's real look had horns and tentacles and was hideous. But, she did like their conversations, and hoped he would at the very least keep in touch, however you did that when your home was at the other end of the universe. She tried to gather herself, shaking off the influx of inappropriate thoughts that, while they did prove a slight distraction, were absolutely not welcome right now. She was successful in getting rid of them, but as soon as they were gone the fear of imminent death of herself and the rest of the world came flooding back, and every step got that much harder. She rounded a corner and hoped to see Critock and the floating white wisp there. Instead, she saw Claire.

Oh. Right. Her. The first thoughts were of snark. She had been such a bitch to her for so long for something that wasn't her fault! How could she speak to her, why isn't Claire coming to her to apologize? But of all things, it was the fear that convinced her. For all she knew, this could be the last chance. The world could be ending in a matter of hours. There wasn't time for a real bucket list, but if there was a real chance that she and everyone else were to die, then she did not want the sadness and anger that she felt when she saw her former friend to be on the record. She wanted a friend at the end of the world. She started walking faster, the feeling of walking in concrete gone now.

Claire was waiting for Daniel, who after saying that he would be right back had disappeared again, as boys often do, she thought. She hated to be away from him, he was her whole world! She reassured herself that he probably just had to use the bathroom or something. Not everything he did was her business, just most of it, she thought and smiled. She turned her head, feeling something approaching, and suddenly had a blast of fear as Shanna Ewing was almost running right at her. Was this it? Was she going to start a fight with her right here? She tried to brace herself, ready for anything.

Of all the things that could happen, the one thing that did was the one she wasn't ready for. Instead of a punch or a push, Shanna met Claire with an embrace, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Claire accepted the hug for a moment, flush with memories of their friendship, before suddenly coming to her senses, disentangling herself from the hug and stepping backwards.