Burn- A Gone Series Fanfiction

Chapter Four

"DIANA WANTS ME TO HANG OUT with her."

Dekka's face was creased with doubt as she turned her attention away from the poem she was reading. Their conversation wasn't exactly out-of-place with the various murmurs around their English classroom. Thankfully this time, there'd been no 'get-to-know Andrea' situation, and Andy had been able to take a seat next to Dekka in peace.

"What?"

"She says she wants me to make friends."

Dekka snorted. "Well hanging out with Diana Ladris is not the way to go about that."

"She seemed alright to me."

"Did she? Did she also have a special glowing ring hovering above her head? Was she playing the harp?"

Andy shot Dekka a stern look.

Dekka sighed. "Look, all I'm saying is she's a conniving little manipulative queen bee. If she's offering something to you, she's expecting something in return."

"Like what?" Andy frowned.

Dekka ran her hand along her hair and focussed back on the writing on her page --or at least, she pretended to. She shook her head ever so slightly. "I don't know," she muttered, "all I know is she's up to something."

"You sound like a mad conspiracy theorist."

Andy returned to her book, trying to make sense of the poem they'd been given:

The Lesson

I keep on dying again.
Veins collapse, opening like the
Small fists of sleeping
Children.
Memory of old tombs,
Rotting flesh and worms do
Not convince me against
The challenge. The years
And cold defeat live deep in
Lines along my face.
They dull my eyes, yet
I keep on dying,
Because I love to live.

Maya Angelou

None of it made any sense to her, so she highlighted each line in a different colour and then started circling the words she found interesting. Collapse. Rotting. Cold defeat. She underlined the word 'love' and then circled the title a few times for effect. That seemed like enough work for one day.

---

After school, Dekka headed back to their room with Andy in tow.

"What do you guys do for fun around here?" Andy asked, watching as some geeky looking kid gave his notes to a much older guy in the hallway.

They reached the dormitories and made their way along the central path to the stairwell. A young girl with ginger hair came running down and almost bowled Dekka over.

"Watch it, Brianna!" Dekka growled, once she'd overcome her initial shock.

The girl, Brianna, merely shrugged and continued off down the hallway, a soccer ball in hand. Dekka turned to Andy. "She's a maniac."

Andy watched the girl disappear around the corner ahead, presumedly stopping by someone else's room. "I gathered that," she muttered.

Another girl gave Andy a strange look as she passed down the hallway at the top of the stairs. "She new?" the girl asked Dekka, who nodded.

"She has a name," Andy retorted, with an eye roll. "It's Andy."

The girl paused and smiled sheepishly. "Zara," she said, and accompanied her introduction with an awkward wave.