G.I. Hailee

~5~

Jessie and I run laps with everyone else around the base.

"I don't know what I've been told!" Jessie and I sing.

"Exercise is getting old!" The others shout.

I smile.

"Great rhyme, bad attitude." Jessie says back.

Emma falls out of the formation, so I fill in her spot, beside Luke.

Jessie looks back, and runs back to Emma.

"You guys take five! Hailee, coild you get everyone some water?" Jessie shouts back.

I nod, and grab some water bottles, tossing them to my friends.

"Are you okay?" Luke asks me.

I give him a look. "Why?"

"Well, there are rumors that you wanyed to kill yourself. We wanted to know the truth and if you were okay." Zuri says.

I lean back against the chain wire fence, not drinking any water, because there wasn't any left.

"Well, Darla, she doesn't like me much, in fact, hates me with every fiber in her body. She wants me dead, because of this stupid feud the Prescotts and Shannons have. She filled my head with these thoughts, and I beleived it. I started, and still do, cut myself. That's why my pillow is scarlet. I almost killed myself, but Caleb, who thought the feud was stupid too, and is my friend, he found and stopped me. That was ghe day before you guys showed up." I explain.

Luke comes over to me and hugs me tightly, along with Zuri and Ravi.

I try to fight back tears, but I fail.

I cry into Luke's shoulder.

A girl surrounded by darkness.

That turns to a rainbow.

But, turns to darkness again.

The darkness turns to light, and everything is right in the Universe again.

"Thank you." I say, drying my eyes.

"Don't try to do it again, okay? There's always going to be room for you in our place in New York. You can live there if you'd like." Luke says, putting his hands on my shoulders.

I look into his deep, brown eyes.

"Yeah, I'm moving to New York City with Jessie and you guys. Anywhere with Jessie is my home." I say, smiling.

Emma runs to catch up with us, and Jessie stays behind with dad.

"Here's some water, Emma. You and Caleb like each other, Jessie and Dadla won't let you two be together?" I ask.

Emma nods sadly.

"C'mere, honey." I say, pulling Emma into a hug.
--------

We're in the cafeteria again, and I hand my friends some seconds of the pizza scrolls that Bertram and I made.

"Never saw anyone coming back for seconds of your gruel." Bertram sneers at Cookie.

"Urgh! I don't get it! What does your food have thag mine doesn't?" Cookie says.

"Hmm, let's see. Flavor, texture, fewer fingernails." I sass.

Cookie glares at me, and I help Bertram with the deserts.

Jessie walks into the kitchen.

"Quick, Bertram, get ready to use the blender to drown out Jessie." I whisped.

He nods, and we continue making the deserts.

"I need three gallons of Neapolitan and a weapons-grade spoon." Jessie says.

"Sorry, Jess, tonights desert is mini fruit compotes." I say, giving her a tray to look at.

Jessie takes the tray out of my hand.

"That'll do." She says, and sits on a bar stool.

"You're not gonna beleive what's going on." Jessie says, mouth full.

"We're not gonna care either. We're busy" Bertram says.

Completely oblivious to what he said, Jessie keeps talking.

"I came here to smooth things over with my dad, all he seems to care about is that Hailee and I connect with Darla. All I want to do is xonnect her face with a hornets nest." Jessie rants.

"No!" Bertram and I shout.

"I'm not actually gonna do it. Wouldn't be fair to the hornets" Jessie says.

I breathe a sigh of releif.

"No, I mean don't drown my chicken in sauce! Drizzle it!" Bertram scolds Cookie.

"Oh, you mean like this?" Cookie asks.

I spring out of the way, and the sauce gets all over Bertram and Jessie's shoes.

"Hey! You spilled that on my fake designer shoes! You owe me twenty bucks! Plus shippint." Jessie shouts at Cookie.

"Does this one ever stop yanking about her problems?" Cookie asks.

"No. Just wait until she starts in about her ex-boyfriends." I say.

"Shes single? I'm shocked!" Cookie sneers sarcastically.

Cookie and Bertram burst into laughter.

"Thanks for the sympathy." Jessie says.

"Hey, take it easy, we only made 3,000 of those." Bertram says, reaching for the tray in Jessie's hand.

Jessie stuffs some more compotes into her mouth and hides the tray with her body.