Written in the Stars

Chapter 12

Okay, so here's another update. The regents are finally over! That's what we call tests. I'm taking courses that are for upper grades along with the rest of my class so I had to take both the grade test and the upper grade tests and now they're over!!! Almost summer!!! Also, I want to give a shoutout to AcidicBreeze!!! It's AcidicBreeze's birthday! Okay so we're back on Diana's perspective!!!

The ticking clock. Tapping pencils. The heavy tension in the air. This was one of our major exams that counted for 50% of our grade. And I intended not to fail. But with the intimidating ticking of the clock and the distracting sound of tapping pencils, I just couldn't focus on it.
I don't know why it seemed to bother me now. I used to be able to work with music along side and screaming teenagers. But now by the slightest noise, I'm distracted. I stared at the clock again. Ten minutes. I was on the last question yet I couldn't read it. My brain wouldn't process it. I must have read the question a thousand times. It was barely a paragraph long! Why couldn't I read it?
I absentmindedly started tapping my foot on the floor in an attempt to regain focus. Instead, it added to my irritation as I let out a groan in frustration. I slammed my hands onto the desk realizing that I had caught the attention of the teacher. "Is there something wrong Ms. Green?" I shook my head. "No Ms. Collins. I'm sorry." She nodded her head in understanding gesturing me to continue the test. "Five minutes!" She called.
WHAT?!?! No way time went by that fast. I struggled to focus on my test. I would not bubble a random answer. I would finish this test with a logical answer.
"Hey." I heard a barely audible whisper next to me. I didn't even notice that Jack was there. He made gestures making sure that the teacher wouldn't see. I gave him a confused expression as he continued with the signals. They made no sense to me at all until...
No...
When Jack and I were seven, we were coming back from our "not so secret treehouse." We were going through a spy phase. We pretended to go on missions attacking my mom and his dad and random people on the street. We decided to create our own version of sign language since we didn't know what real sign language was. So we spent the whole night at his house, making one. And we used it until we grew out of the phase. The treehouse which we called the "agency" was taken down because it was unstable forcing us out of the phase. We still used it anyways. We added to it to help each other in the future.
And the language came flowing back. Repeat that, I signaled under the desk. Jack smirked and made his own gestures. Just... clear...your... head... and... forget... why...you... are...here. I translated. I was about to respond when he added, Agent... Green. I smiled and reread the question finally being able to read it.
I quickly bubbled in the answer on the answer sheet just as Ms. Collins called time. "You may go." I swung my bag onto my shoulder. "Thank you." I tell him as we head towards our lockers. "No problem. Feels good to finally use it again."
"So wanna come to my house to finish up that project for social studies? The model is almost done. I just need your help with a few finishing touches and-" Jack outstretches his arms trying to calm me down from ranting. "I'll be there." He ruffles my hair, causing me to slap his hand away playfully. "See you later!" I shout across the hall as we head in different directions.
"SO I GOT THAT SUPER COOL SLEEPING BAG THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! ITS GLITTERY AND HAS A REMOTE!!!! A REMOTE!!!!!" I could see people cringing at Ellie's high pitched voice. "So be at my house at 8. Charlotte your bringing movies." Charlotte pumps her fist into the air. "All my favorite horror movies!" She says in an upbeat mood (which is different from her usual demeanor.) "And I'll bring the super sad movies." She juts out her lip in a fake pout dragging a finger from her eye down her cheek as if pretending to cry.
"Okay then. That's settled! Also my mom wanted to know strawberry or blueberry? She always forgets which one is which." Charlotte, Ellie and I have monthly sleepovers. We call it a best friend tradition. "I WANT STRAWBERRY!!!!!!" Ellie squeals again. "Blueberry for me." I nod. Ellie gasps, sending me on high alert as I stare at her. "What's wrong?"
Charlotte wears the same expression. I follow their line of sight to one of the school TVs, used for morning reports.
There's a picture of the crates. In the boys locker room.
"These were found early this morning. The janitor came for the weekly cleaning and found these in the boys' showers. Here is some input. The janitor appears on the screen along with one of our interviewers.
"How long do you think the crates were there?" The interviewer asks in a professional voice. "Could have been there all week. We don't know. All I know is they weren't here last week. We checked the cameras but they seemed to be down..."
I turn to Charlotte, my expression stiff. "What ever happened to 'I always cover my tracks?'" I keep my voice below a whisper trying not to attract any attention.
"Don't worry, they can't trace it back to us." Ellie slaps Charlotte's arm. "Don't jinx it! Knock on wood!" She said in an unusually quiet tone. Charlotte awkwardly leans forward and knocks on the wooden door next to her locker. "And now we bring in another witness who claims to have seen unusual activity."
The next face that appears on the screen makes me pale. I swear if I weren't clutching my books so tightly, I would have dropped them right there. Rachel Brooks was on the screen talking to the interviewer.
"I didn't see anyone that day. Not clearly anyways. I saw five figures. But that's all." She smiled sweetly to the camera, as if mocking us. And then the TVs turned off leaving deafening silence. The last sentence she said really hit me. "If I ever catch them, then I'll make sure they'll pay."
***
Charlotte had told us that there was nothing to worry about. Rachel couldn't do anything to us without risking that she withheld information on the school. The principal said that it was a major offense and whoever did it would be sent to jail. Luckily, Charlotte wasn't one to give up so easily.
The doorbell rang sending me flying off the bed. That must be Jack. I opened the door welcoming him in. "I will get all of the stuff. We can work in the living room." He nodded sitting down on the couch. I ran upstairs climbing to the top of my bookshelf and pulling the model down.
I grabbed the bag full of paint, and colored paper, running downstairs. I laid it out in front of him. "Wow, you really went all out." The model was supposed to represent a farm. I wanted to be original. So instead of buying most of the material, I used outdoor objects. Half of the farm was done. It was built up of crooked twigs that were stacked up to still look like a farm. This was going to be one of my best projects. If only Jack would stop staring at me though...
***
It took us two hours to finish the project. I looked at it marveling the sight. "It's beautiful!" I said in excitement. "Yeah." He agreed. "Well, I'm going to just get it to my room." I said awkwardly, taking the model upstairs. Looking back at the top of my bookshelf and the model in my hands, I wondered how I got it up there the first time.
"JACK!" I yelled. These are the times when I loathe my height. I was average for my family. A good 5'6. But I was still shorter than most of my classmates. And I was still too short to reach the top of my bookshelf.
Jack came into the room looking from me to the model. "Could you help me get it up there?" I ask, gesturing to the project.
He nodded climbing up, using the shelves to help him up. "Hand me the model." He said. I gave it to him as he rested the model on top of the shelf safely, without breaking anything. He was going to climb down.
But instead, we ended up on the floor. Again. This time he was on top of me. He struggled to get off me afraid, that he would crush me.
He got off as I relished the air, greedily filling my lungs. He offered a hand to pull me up which I gladly accepted. He pulled up as I was still gasping for air. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah-I..."I trailed off. His hand was still in mine. We were unknowing leaning closer. The heat radiating from his body gave me a warm sense of security.
"Uh.." I heard a familiar, feminine voice say from behind me. Jack and I snapped our heads towards the bedroom door. "Charlotte, Ellie!" I said in a cheerful voice trying to cover up what happened.
"You weren't supposed to be here until 8." Ellie checked her watch. "It's 8:10." Jack slipped past me. "Well, Diana. I will see you next tutoring session!" He said leaving my room.
Ellie squealed, waving her arms in the air. Charlotte had her arms crossed over her chest, a smile playing on her lips.
"What was that about?" Ellie said, unable to control her dying fits of laughter. I struggled in an attempt for words.
Usually, I would either divert the conversation in a different direction or cover it up with an excuse because I know it didn't mean anything. But in this scenario, I had a feeling that diverting the conversation would only fuel Ellie's bubbly persona.
And coming up with an excuse? That might be hard. Because I still can't explain what it meant myself. What did it mean?

And there goes another chapter. I added fluff. Thanks to my good mood after some long tests. Thank you to all those who read this. I usually don't ask this but please leave a comment! I could really do with some feedback. Thank you again! And I'll see you next chapter!