Breaking the story

Mayday

"You're in my seat," Rowan said in a snobbish tone, glowering down at me. I blinked, surprised that he was suddenly here. We were on the bus again, ready to travel back. The dark seats were striped with red and blue, and small numbers.

"I'm in my seat."

"I've got number twelve," he muttered, barely looking at me now. I felt some part of me break, knowing he didn't remember everything properly.

"So you don't remember anything then? I'm not surprised," I snapped, losing my temper. I wanted to flush my stupid visions down the toilet.

"Remember what?" He asked. "That we were partners in the treasure hunt?"

He shrugged as if it didn't matter.

"Never mind. And I'm taking this seat. You can sit on the floor for all I care."

I sat down on the seat and put my head against the window, ignoring him. I knew I was being unfair but it hurt. Just like everything in this damn place.

I heard someone sit down beside me and saw an obnoxious strand of red. But I didn't say anything to him. I heard him breathe, in and out.

"Beatrice.." He said and I looked at him. "..it's nothing."

It was nothing. Maybe in some other world we'd been something. But right there on that bus there was only me and Bloom's horrid brother who didn't care about anything. I cast my eyes over the bus and noticed Lucas wearing a similar expression. Jenny sat near him, her entire body angled towards him. But he was staring darkly out the window, watching the sky dim. For some reason, at that exact moment, I saw us all as players on a great board. All of us in position, moving against each other in different ways. There was Bloom, making her move against Jenny. Grace sat curled next to Elijah, already having played against me. But what was the next move? I could only glimpse Nathan's expensive shoes but I wondered...who was he playing against? Because none of us knew what game we were really playing. And what the prize at the end was.

Back at the school: 

I breathed in deeply, letting the smell of paper chill me out.

"This is better than drugs," I said to the golden book shimmering on the table. "Not that I know what that's like."

Waters of love dulled and then glowed brightly again like a lightbulb. Was that agreement I sensed?

"I knew we were on the same page," I said, chuckling to myself. That pun was awful but the book appreciated it. It flickered again. The library was empty as per usual. There was no Rowan here to annoy me. Or make me feel....nothing! I wasn't there to think about him.

I opened the cover and let out a dramatic sigh at my character bio. Then I paged my way through the story, seeing the scene by the pool...the dancing...the treasure hunt. I stopped right there, examining what the book showed me.

There I was, walking beside Nathan and Rowan. We all wore rather dark expressions as if something horrible had happened. And then...the creature burst from the trees, a whirling ball of fur and teeth. I threw myself in front of Rowan and took the blow. Huh. This wasn't the same as the last time I'd seen the book. I'd definitely changed it.

"Victory is mine, book," I told it with a wink. This was good news.

But what came next...

I turned the pages, surprised an entire two chapters were now complete. The next scene showed Jenny and Lucas having some sort of date. It looked deadly boring. Jenny was smiling shyly whilst showing Lucas some sort of menu. He was glaring at it haughtily, no doubt ready to launch it at someone. True love at its finest. But I did feel a bit sorry for Lucas. Maybe he could change something? I'd need to warn him.

I flicked the pages and saw the rise of the evil CEO mother. The fearsome...hold on, I had to check her name...Gretchen Foxe. God, even her name sounded like retching. She was just the same as all those evil mums in K-dramas, throwing bodyguards left and right to stop Jenny and Lucas interacting. I wish I'd had some of them when Elijah was following me around. And...next page. Oh no. Heavens no. Elijah was apologising to me and explaining that Grace blackmailed him because of some deal they made...that was getting changed.

I flicked forward to the next chapter which was surprisingly filled in. It seemed the book was making plans.

I traced the figures and made out myself...lying on the ground. Jenny was sobbing and in my hand, like some awful parody of snow white, was an apple.

"I thought we had a bond, book," I whispered and the book dulled unhappily.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday," I hissed to Lucas, pulling him aside. I felt Grace and Iris staring at me from their oh-so-exclusive lunch table I now didn't sit at. "We need a team brief."

He put down his ham sandwich and let me pull him away from the view of everyone. He looked significantly less moody so maybe he'd taken my advice. But that was irrelevant!

"What's wrong?" He glanced around suspiciously and I realised he must be on the lookout for Nathan.

"I'm going to die in the book! Thanks to some poisoned apple. We need to change it now," I said quietly, panic making my heart pump harder. Now that I was thinking about it, I could sense every beat and every rush of blood. His eyes widened and shock crossed his face.

"A poisoned apple? What sort of storyline is that?"

"A ridiculous one. But I really don't want to die, especially here, so we need to do something!"

"Okay, okay. We'll do something." He nodded, his eyes drifting to Bloom. "You don't think anyone else is going to die?"

"Thanks for your concern," I snapped, noticing his worried look towards Bloom. Could he be any more obsessed? "You have a date with Jenny next. Let's try and change that."

He looked back at me, his attention restored.

"How?" He asked stupidly. Did I have to do everything around here?

"Hmm." I calmed my breathing and thought about it. The scene had started with a menu Jenny was holding that he snatched. What if...we swapped the menu out and gave it to...Nathan?

"We can give Nathan the menu Jenny was holding," I said, triumphant.

"You want to drag Nathan into this? I thought we were avoiding him," he said.

"Since I'm trying to avoid my impending doom, the menu idea is all I've got."

"I'm sorry, Beatrice," Lucas said, looking sheepish. "I didn't mean to ignore the apple thing.."

"It's okay," I said, breathing out. At least he cared enough to apologise. I glanced back to the cafeteria and noticed Jenny watching us, a strange expression on her face.