Separated

Chapter II

ELLE

Music: Grand Youth 2000 from Gradius III and IV

At around 6:56 PM (the meeting is scheduled for 7 PM), my mom and I walk into the A Gym of PLMS. There's the odd presence of a huge crowd of chairs set up, and they're about half full. I scan the audience for any familiar faces. The first two I notice are Sean and Shanna, so I go sit by them.

"Hey," I say, taking a seat next to Shanna. Both twins smile and wave back at me.

"What do you think the special announcement is?" I ask, seeing if I can get a quick conversation going.

Shanna just shrugs. Sean also shrugs, but he actually has a verbal response. "I dunno. If I had to guess, some kind of school-funded trip."

"Do you think we'll be eligible for it?"

"We'll just have to see," Shanna answers.

Then I spot Mia and Mackenzie walking towards us, and I start to feel a little bit uncomfortable. I've been feeling that way ever since Mia threatened me like that earlier today.

"Sup," Mackenzie waves.

"Hello Mackenzie, Mia," I reply, nodding at both of them.

"So, what're we talking about?" Mia asks curiously.

"Oh, nothing special," I reply. I figure that since what we were talking about won't matter to Mia, it won't matter if I told her or not. I am wrong.

"Why not just tell me? Is it some big inconvenience to fill me in?" she asks me, frowning.

"Uh, I didn't realize our conversation concerned you."

"It doesn't, necessarily. I just don't get why you can't just tell me."

"We were just talking about what the announcement could potentially be. That's all, Mia" Sean tells her. From the way he says that, I'm not sure if he's covering up for me or not.

"Oh, cool," Mia smiles, "See, it wouldn't have been so hard, Elle."

"Why do you care so damn much?" I say without thinking. I didn't mean for the "damn" to slip like that.

"Because sometimes jumping into a conversation without knowing what's going on is really hard and it would've been great if you could've been nice and just told me, Elle. That's why I care so damn much."

Luckily for me, I hear Sam calling my name from behind and to the right of me. He's sitting with Heath, Luke, Skylar, and Avery, and given how I'd much rather be with them at the moment, I leave for them with a, "Nice talking to you."

"What was that all about?" Luke asks me once I arrive.

"I don't even know," I sigh.

"Shh! It's starting!" Avery hisses. The lights in the gym dim, and our vice principal, wearing a blue dress shirt and khakis (which triggers Sam greatly for some reason) walks onto the stage with a microphone.

"Hello, students and parents," he says. "I would imagine everyone here saw the flyer posted in the hallways during school today, correct?"

No one really responds to that (probably rhetorical) question, so he continues. "Well, our school has been able to scrape together enough money for a special trip we planned just last weekend. We are now able to fund an all-expenses paid cruise for a limited number of students."

Instantly, the mood in the room changes. Murmurs can be heard throughout, and a lot of people begin turning to each other and nodding. There's definitely a lot of interest.