Before I begin, I want to inform everyone that this chapter is dedicated to the awesome @smileinhope for giving me equally awesome x] feedback on my chapters!
**
|| Nikki ||
Should’ve known that PKU had its own set of popular students. Of course, they have to have a jock (Shane is wearing a letterman jacket, which has ‘PKU Varsity’ on it), party animal (Mcneil's effect on girls and tan suggest a lot of hangouts and beach parties), moody dude (should I even give proof on why Theo fits this description?) and the guy who introduces us to them. How...
clichè.
Simply clichè.
While Alicia is staring stargazed at Jason and Shane, I am trying to snap the rest of my friends out of this silly trance. Starting with... Hana. The newbie.
"Hana! Come on!" I exclaim, shaking her shoulders hard until she stops looking at Shane. When she finally wakes up, she blinks three times and then her eyes narrow. "What was I doing?"
"You were wasting your time," I tell her, shaking my head at her embarrassed expression and point to Erin and Sara, who are still staring like complete idiots. "Help me knock some sense into them."
Hana nods quickly and makes her way to Sara, while I handle Erin. When I'd been shaking Hana, Shane had already backed off, probably thinking that we're total weirdos, but it's a small price to pay in exchange for not falling for our prime suspect.
Finally, all five Maroon Jackets are back to Earth and I give the boys a thin-lipped smile. "Sorry for the... distraction. What time is our class again?"
"First bell is at eight. You should check with Principal Winston for your schedules," answers Mac, gesturing to the door behind him with the words 'PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE' engraved on it. I push past him and open the door, leaving my friends outside.
Before the haunting thought of my friends oggling the boys again enters my mind, I walk up to the secretary's desk and give her a nice smile. "Hi, I'm Nikki Connor. My friends; Sara Williams, Hana Minami, Alicia Denver and Erin West are new here. We were wondering where we could get our schedule?"
The secretary; a blonde, middle-aged lady with steel-rimmed glasses, light blue eyes and frail body parts, called Mrs. Luther, according to the placard on her table; reaches under her desk and retrieves a stack of multicolored schedules. She flips through them and hands me five papers, each full of colored boxes that hurt the eyes.
"Here you go, my dear," she tells me, smiling. I bow my head and take them from her. "Thanks, Mrs. Luther."
It takes her a moment to realize how I know her name.
**
"I've got first, third and fifth period with Nikki," Hana announces after comparing our schedules for a moment. "Except for Thursday when I have P.E."
"I think I'm sharing third and four periods with Alicia and Sara," Erin tells us, looking up from theirs.
I myself had the same first, third and fifth periods with Hana, as said above; second period with Erin--Science and Chemistry Class--and seventh period with Alicia. The sixth period is not yet applicable.
"I hope I share at least one class with Shane," Alicia is saying wistfully. I give her a look and she quickly adds, "You know, to investigate our suspect more."
"This is Phase One of our mission, girls," I tell them. The four of them nod in unison. We're hiding under the stairwell to the second floor, where people can hardly see us and we're hopefully out of sight. "The President wants a status report on our findings regarding Mr. Shane Walker and any other possible clues."
"Are we supposed to like, take notes?" Hana asks. I shake my head at her ignorance. "I forgot that you aren't familiar with our... tools yet."
"Tools?"
"She means the ear and mouth pieces we wear," Alicia explains. She taps her canine and right ear. "Erin made us these devices so whatever we say or hear will be transmitted to the Mission Control screens, where the computer filters useless information from useful ones."
"Oh." Hana tilts her head at us. "Am I supposed to have one?"
"I'm still cloning yours at the moment," Erin replies. "That's why I am not wearing mine today. It's back at the lab, undergoing a cloning session."
"Sorry. For taking away your devices, I mean."
"No biggie. I don't pick up useless information anyway. At least not as much as Nikki and Sara," Erin says shyly.
I open my mouth to speak. "Well, the cloning process shouldn't--"
Before I can continue talking, the bell rings. I really have to get used to being interrupted a lot.
**
|| Erin ||
"Guess we'll have to continue this conversation later during lunch," I say, looking at the students starting to file towards the various classrooms. I look down at my schedule. First class is English. Not a bad start for a Monday morning.
"Yeah. We should," Sara agrees, waving as she dashes off into a classroom with Alicia in tow. Nikki shrugs and says goodbye to me, walking off with Hana.
Poor me. I think I'm alone in a room of strangers for first period.
Telling myself that this is no big deal, I walk out from under the stairwell and into the crowded hallway. "Room 13. That's..."
"There." I whirl around to find Theo behind me, glancing over my shoulder at my schedule and using one hand to point to a door near the water fountain. That was... creepy. How'd he get here?
I take a moment to check if he's right, and when I decide that he is, I look back at him. "Um... thanks."
"No problem. I'm in that same class too, anyway."
Greeaaat. I'm sharing a class with probably the creepiest guy in the school. "Look, you can go ahead. I have to... um... get a sip of water first."
"I'll wait," he says plainly. "I'm usually in at third bell anyway, so Mr. Grayson doesn't necessarily expect me now."
"Okay," I reply, hoping I didn't drag out the 'a'. "Suit yourself."
The truth is, I didn't really mean to drink from the water fountain; I just needed Theo to get away. Hey, don't get me wrong: Theo isn't bad-looking at all--in fact, he looks good in a... mischievous way--but he gives me the creeps.
Just to show that I was telling the truth, I stride over to the water fountain and lean down to allow a stream of cool water into my mouth. I can feel his presence right behind me. In fact, I think if I accidentally stumbled back, I'd crash into him. Finally, I righten myself and motion to the door. "Go ahead."
"Ladies first," he counters, opening the door for me. Hesitantly, I step inside and I can hear him close the door behind us. I face our teacher, a slightly balding forty-year-old man with an easy smile and dark gray eyes. He's really, and I mean really tall, and towers over Theo's head by at least four inches.
"Mr. Greeves. Ms. West. You're almost late," he informs us. As if on cue, the third bell rings and I freeze. I am a self-proclaimed geeky girl with a jock side. I can not be late for the first class of the year, be it a real one or not. Theo just shrugs behind me.
"Sorry, sir," I stammer, and rush to the nearest empty seat, which is in what people call the T-Zone, at the second row. I'm going to lose Theo here. From his appearance--unkempt hair, moody demeanor--and the fact that he doesn't care arriving late, I'd bet he also doesn't want to listen to this lesson.
"Sorry we're late," he says from the chair beside me. Slowly, very slowly, I remove my hands from my eyes and peek at my seatmate.
It's him again.
**
Things to think about:
Q. What's happening? Are we seeing signs of Therin? Or is this ship gonna sink?
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The S.H.A.N.E. Game (editing)
Ação[ highest ranking: #43 Action ] Sara Williams, Hana Minami, Alicia Denver, Nikki Connor and Erin West – can you guess their acronym? – are not as girly and gentle as their names give away. They are the Maroon Jackets. They are the equivale...
