Lucky Number V - The Owl House Story

Chapter 5

The Next Day

Vee slowly stepped out of the locker room with her gym shirt on as she looked up at the clock. 15 minutes before class would start, which meant about 15 minutes before the next fitness test.

The basilisk then turned and scanned the gym to see any of her friends. She spotted them up in the bleachers. They were all talking about who knows what and Vee was just about to go sit with them.

However, something else caught her eye. Past her friends, sitting up against the wall was Audrey all alone. The girl didn't seem sad or depressed or anything, she was just alone observing the gym, much like Vee was.

As if she could sense her, Audrey turned to see Vee staring at her from across the gym. At first, Vee wasn't sure how to respond, but fortunately for her Audrey helped make a quick decision. The basilisk watched as the redhead waved to her with a smile.

Vee then smiled and waved back, before beginning to walk over to the girl.

As she walked, Vee kept her eyes drifting all over the gym, not wanting to look weird to Audrey. The doppelgänger glanced at her friends in the bleachers, who were still talking among themselves, then glanced to the other bleachers, where other students sat.

Vee even spotted the blonde girl with the pink strip of hair. Although she wasn't friends with her, the girl did seem to tolerate the basilisk.

"Hey Luz."

Vee returned her attention to her destination as she looked down at Audrey, who had scooched over to make room for Vee.

"Hey Audrey," Vee said. "What are you doing here sitting by yourself?"

Audrey responded with a look of worry, as if she didn't know how to answer the question. This left Vee confused as Audrey eventually scrambled together an answer.

"I just... needed some alone time before class," she stated. "You know cause today we got the pacer test."

On the outside, Vee gave a compassionate smile to Audrey's statement. But on the inside, she could tell something wasn't right.

Vee slowly walked over to the wall and looked down at Audrey.

"Ok if I sit here?"

"Yeah," Audrey replied with a chuckle. "I scooched over so you could."

"Right, right," Vee muttered as she slid down the wall until she landed on the wood of the basketball court.

The two then sat in silence for what felt like an hour, but with the clock right next to them, it was only a minute.

"So... are you excited for the test?" Vee asked, trying to start up a new conversation.

Audrey gave a nod.

"Yeah, I mean, the mile is a little more fun," the girl answered. "But I do like the challenge the pacer test holds."

"Is it keeping your pace?" Vee asked, both in curiosity and in partial humor. She didn't want Audrey to question her like the day before, so she decided to disguise her question as more of a joke.

It worked as Audrey chuckled.

"Yeah, a little bit," the runner replied. "I mean, when you're running back-and-forth across the basketball court, with shorter and shorter time frames to make it, finding a pace is a bit tough."

"Yeah," Vee mumbled. "A bit."

Another round of silence followed.

Vee at first was looking away from Audrey, not wanting to give too much eye contact. But she could feel Audrey doing the same. The basilisk turned and saw Audrey looking off towards the other end of the gym.