Mason
Ray and I hung out a lot more after that. She sorta took her under my wing, even though she had bruises covering most of it. She had been attacked with some pranks, one being throwing an egg on her head. I came in and found her laughing her head off on the floor, with a wig in the sink. There was also one where they put glue on her shoes. Well, jokes on them, because she had an extra pair. And the one's she was wearing? Suprise! They were Chloe's shoes.
How she got a hold of them, I have no idea.
When I asked her all she did was yell at me on mixing up the 'an' and 'a' in my paragraph. One day, we decided to take a walk around the school. She was particularly quiet that day, so I decided to start the conversation.
"There was an article in the newspaper," I said. I could tell she was paying attention, but she didn't respond. "Something about a man who killed his own wife."
"So I've heard." She said quietly.
"They had a daughter. I think it said she was 7. I feel bad for her."
"5. I was 5," Ray replied quietly.
"I hope she's doing all right." I kept talking.
"Oh, there's another part in the paper about her. She was bullied ever since then." Ray bit her lip. "She's still in an orphanage. She's been getting letters from her dad forever, but she won't reply to them." She was scowling. "All thanks for her good for nothing father. And guess what? The people she's been calling Mum and Dad? Pah! Nothing but fakes." She spat out, hate practically seeping through her voice.
Nice sentence structure, self. Brownie points for life.
"Wow. She told them all of that?" Ray didn't reply. This isn't her. I thought quietly. I went back to what she said earlier. "5. I was 5."
I? I pondered it for a moment. Wait... "Ray," I said cautiously. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"What are you talking about?" She replied. "I-" I felt someone shove me and saw us go flying into a room. I hit a jug and it clattered to the floor.
"Ray?" I heard her click a light on and that bulb flickered on.
"Yeah?"
"Where are we?" I looked around the room.
"The janitor's room near the entrance. Why..." Her eyes widened. "We have to get out of here." She tried to pull the door opened. It was locked. "Oh no..."
"Ray? What's going on."
"We're going to drown." She was freaking out. She was usually calm, but when she knew she was being pranked, she freaked. Pranked...
Wait. "Are we being pranked?"
Ray took a shaky breath. "This room is weird." She said slowly. "They kept books in here before they turned it into a school. It was made to be waterproof." She looked around and stepped on a box. "Which means that water can't get out of here."
"Meaning." I was starting to panic a bit.
"You may want to get on a box." I looked down.
Water was already coming in my shoes. Fast.
Really fast. "Flashlight, Flashlight, Flashlight," Ray was muttering. I found a box and quickly got on. The room already had a few inches of water. And it was going faster.
"Is there another way out?" I tried looking behind shelves, but there was nowhere to go.
1 foot.
2 feet.
3 feet.
The water kept going up, never stopping. Soon, there were nowhere else to stand. A huge wave suddenly came in and knocked both of us into the water.
"Got it!" Ray pulled out a flashlight. She twisted it and dove underwater.
"Ray!" I pulled myself under. Ray was trying to pick the lock. The beam of light was flickering. She pushed herself up. I went with her. We only had a bit of air left.
"Push on the door." She gasped. "I'll try to pick the lock." I nodded and we went under. Her hair billowed around her as we tried to get the door opened. She was also pushing the door. "Amost therr!" She burbled out, which probably wasn't a smart thing. Finally, the door gave way and we were swept with the current. I gasped and heard Ray coughing.
"Ray!" She was swept out further. I ran to her. "Are you ok?" She had a scar running down her hand. She nodded slowly.
"That was the closest it's ever been," Ray said quietly. "Last time, they stopped it halfway." She clutched my hand.
"It's ok- we're ok- see?"
"They tried to kill me." She muttered softly. She was starting to panic. "They tried to kill me! Mason, they tried to murder me!" She shrieked. I pulled her for a hug.
"They wouldn't try to kill you," I said. "Not while I'm here." She wrapped her arms around me. We stayed there for a bit until her breath can out evenly. "Come on," I said quietly. "Let's go. Is there a way back around here?" She nodded and pointed to a quote written on the wall. She touched a few letters and hole opened up.
"Come." We trudged there. We got in and found Poki sleeping quietly. I looked through my bag to see if I had a spare pair of clothes. Ray had already headed to her room to change, so it was just me down here. I found some gym clothes, and went to the bathroom to change.
When I came out, I found Ray sitting on the couch, trying to get the most of the water out with a towel. She tossed me one and I sat next to her. I waited for a bit to say something. "Are you the girl in the article?" She took a deep breath.
"When you looked at the article, did you see the last name?" I put the pieces together.
"Queen." Her eyes were full of tears.
"12 years ago, Smarty." A tear fell from an eye and dropped onto her pants. I wrapped my arms around her.
"It's all right," I spoke gently. "It's ok." We stayed there for awhile before I realized she had fallen asleep. "Don't worry. Your knight in dopey armor is here." A small smile lit her face.
"I know." She muttered sleepily. She didn't respond again. I gave her a kiss on the forehead, but she never noticed.
