Clouds

Part 2-16 Dye

Part 16

            That night I avoid Lucas’s stare.  I don’t speak much during dinner.  No one seems to notice, though.  Awesome shares most of her dinner with Dakota, and in exchange she eats some of his spaghetti.  I him flirt with her and think of what could possibly be going on.

            Twice Misty seemed to flicker.  What does that mean?  It’s almost like she’s a projection, but that doesn’t make sense.  I know I can’t talk to Awesome about it, though, and she should be smart enough to figure the same.  I’ll find a way to communicate with her later.  For now I need to think about what could be going on, or I won’t have a reason to do anything.

            A few minutes later I feel eyes on my back.  I turn around to see Lucas’s jet black hair and bright brown eyes glaring at me, trying to shoot me with nonexistent bullets.  I smile and turn away.  I can hear his chair scratch against the floor and his feet as he storms over.  The cafeteria begins to hush and people point at him walking my way.  I already know exactly what he’ll do.  Hotheads like him are easy to predict.

            I let him grab the back of my shirt and pull me from my chair.  The A group grows quiet.  Awesome pauses while holding a fork full of spaghetti from her mouth.  Kristin begins to speak but with one look I stop her.  I want things to carry on like they should.

            I stop his fist with my hand as it sails toward me.  I don’t flinch.  Lucas’s eyebrows furrow and he snarls, lifting me into the air.  I stare at him without saying anything.

            “Say something, you little brat!” He screams.  If someone wasn’t paying attention before, they are now.  I don’t give him any satisfaction.  Responding to his challenge would make it worse.  I already have a plan to make him shut up, so I can hold in my laughter until later.

            Lucas lets me go in frustration and storms back to his table.  I take my seat, and slowly the noise level returns to normal.  It almost makes me laugh, what is coming for him tonight.

            It is the day we get a four-minute shower.  Perfect.

            After dinner, we all head up back to our rooms to get ready for showers.  We agree to just meet amongst our floors for that night so we wouldn’t have to get dirty so fast.  I can tell the girls are eager to wash their hair, so while Kristen and Claire skip away I grab Awesome by her arm.

            “Wear this,” I say, handing her a cap I wore earlier.  “We have about ten minutes before showers.  I think you’ll want to see this.”  She looks at me curiously but puts the cap on and hurries after me to my dorm room.

            Dakota isn’t here yet.  He and Roy stopped to get two Cokes from the vending machine. 

            There it is again.  I’m familiar with objects I’ve never seen before.

            I grab the two bottles and hand one to Awesome.  She looks down on it, and a smile creeps across her face instantly.  She looks back up at me and grins, nodding.  We hurry to Lucas’s room, which I discovered from Dakota’s late night blabs.

            “Come on,” I whisper.  “We need to hurry before showers.  This will be easy since no one wants to share a room with Lucas.”

            I am shocked when I use a pin to open his door and find the room to be neat and tidy.  I expected to have to search for his hair products, but it is easy to find them in the medicine cabinet, located in his neat bathroom.

            Awesome takes the shampoo, and I take the conditioner.  We empty the bottles and put them back exactly where we found them, and hurry away.  He’ll be even less suspicious since he uses strawberry products.

            I escort Awesome back to the elevator and we pass Lucas, who had just rounded the corner.

            Talk about good timing.

            We resist the urge to laugh but Lucas just glares at us and I realize that we would look even more suspicious if we kept a strait face, so I smile at him and wink.  Lucas huffs and keeps walking.

            I wave goodbye to Awesome and hurry back to my room, grabbing spare clothes, a towel, and my soap, shampoo, and conditioner.  I am relieved to see it is naturally clear, so I’ll be able to tell if anyone does the same stunt to me.  It is called “Island Wonders”, and I laugh at the name.  I bet the girls and boys have the same brands, since Lucas’s “Strawberry Sensation” was also by Bubbles hair products.

            I make my way over to the bathroom to find it filled with boys.  There are plenty of showers, however, and they are fitted so that there are the showers and then a changing room right beside it, so there is no risk of clothes being stolen.  It feels so fancy and secure with a lock and no space between the floor and the door.

            “Your four minute shower will start in exactly one minute,” Misty announces over an intercom.  I quickly undress and stand with my bath items in the shower, waiting for it to click on.  At last it does, and the water is cool and clear.  It feels so good, fresh water.

            I finish bathing in exactly two minutes and spend the next two relaxing, letting the water spill down my back and front, into my hair and down my face.  I think of the girls and their seven minute showers, only longer so that they have time to completely wash their hair.

            It would be nice if I had a seven-minute shower.  Imagine, five minutes just to relax!

            It is during the shower that it hits me, and I step out early and sit down.  I dry myself so I won’t look too suspicious, and begin to put my clean clothes on.  I sigh and look at the floor, my head spinning.  It all makes sense, though, but how will I break it to Awesome?

            Taking my mind off of my major revelation, I finish dressing a few seconds after the showers click off.  I wave goodbye and look forward to my two minute shower tomorrow, and how I will have a whole minute to meditate on the current situation.

            I meet Dakota in our room that night and we chat for awhile, discussing small topics and the training tomorrow.  At last, when it gets late, we go to bed.  I think of Lucas, and how his jet black hair could possibly defeat dye made for that color, and what he would do when he had to come to training with that color of the night completely pink.

            Heheh pink XD  so this was super short only because it was the last chapter told by Colby (and the second, I think XD ) told by him in Part 2 for awhile.  The only reason this is is because he is much smarter than Awesome and has already discovered something, the second biggest plot twist in this story.  Soon you’ll find out what it is in the very last chapter of Part 2 told by Awesome (it has to end with Emedee because it’s her story, and what happens to her may shock you).  Anyways, I’m keeping my promise, one chapter a day.  The short ones are only short because there isn’t much conversation going on, but they will get much more detailed when I edit later.  Hope you enjoyed!

            -Katie