Depthless: Under The Library

Chapter Ten// David

David's POV  

Oh-kay. My day couldn't have worsened. First, I humiliate myself be my own carelessness, letting books hit me on the head. Plink, Plonk. Ker-thump. Then I had the absolute pleasure to bump into my old rival, who seems bent on seeking me out every time we clash paths. 

Next, I had stared in shock as my newest friend literally lit up like a star. I had to deal with that one fast. I'm still so bewildered. Millions of thoughts and questions keep flooding my mind, hijacking my head. 

Finally, Nikolay came along and Skye looked upon it as her cue to flee. From duty... from Group Nine... 

"Hey, are you alright?" I whip around, my eyes unfocused, my brain in la-la land.

"Hmmm." I mumble. I hear an exasperated sigh. 

"Come on, DeeDee. It's stil morning. How come you look so tired." Stella smiles and shakes her head at me. 

I stiffle a yawn. I hadn't realized how many times I had yawned that morning. I try to clear my head, for Stella's sake, at least. "Morning? Your brain must be frozen at ten a.m." I tease. "It's past twelve already! Although... I suppose stars can't tell. You just stay put in the galaxy." 

I laugh, dodging her punch. "You missed." I smirk. She huffs good-naturedly. "I'm not a star." She mutters. I laugh, then stop and study her. She declared that with an air of uncertainty, as if she's assuring herself that, not me. i feel uneasy, but I try to shrug it off. Must be morning nerves. 

"I take it you aren't going to elaborate now, huh." I say as casually as I could. I half expected her to grow silent, but instead she turns and looks me in the eye. "David..." 

Someone accidentally shoves her from behind. "Careful." I call out to the guy. who murmurs an apology before sprinting off. Stella shakes her head. "I'm fine." 

"So... about that..." I want her to tell me about herself, to let me into her secrets. But somehow, I knew that eventually, I'd be expected to share mine... and I'm so not prepared to take that step in our friendship, or any friendship, for that matter.

She gives me a shaky smile, then we continue towards the lunch area. "I-- I still don't think telling you would be a good idea." She says testily. 

I shrug. "Don't worry about that. I mean, it's fine with me if it's fine with you. Take you time, we have loads. I don't really expect you to pour out your secrets right now." 

Beside me, Stella is silent for a minute. "I... I guess so." She sighs, looking relieved. I throw her my famous crooked smile. "So. Need me to fill you in on anything?" I whisper. 

"Uh.." She glances over her shoulder. 

"Don't worry. We're the only ones here now. The others... they left ages ago." I assure her. 

She tugs on her long honey brown hair. "I--- I'm just curious about..." She seems incapable of continuing her sentence. 

"You mean Skye and Niko?" I prompt. Those two are on practically on the tip of everyone's tongue. Heck--- even I don't fully understand their problem. 

Stella shakes her head, looking dazed. "No, not them... wait, I mean, I don't really understand them, but the one whom I really want to know about is really..."

As she talks, the volume of her voice creeps slowly downwards, until at last, it stops at zero. 

"What? Who is it? I can't hear you, Stella!" 

She sighs. "I want to know about Kale." She practically screams in my ear. 

My eyes widen. Kale? Of all people... she wants to find out more of Kale? I don't mind answering questions on Skye and Niko, Holly and Theo... hey, if she asked about me (fat chance), I'd happily oblige. But... Kale? The mysterious, nerdy, quiet boy Kale?

I groan. "Stella. Please don't tell me you are interested in that guy." I half joke, laughing a little. I stop as a shy blush spreads across her cheeks. I slap myself in the face. "Really, Starre?" I try to mask my disappointment. She wants to know about Kale. Not me? 

"Look--- I just want to know a few things. It's not what you think." She stares at me. "Promise."

Her eyes are hard to resist. I sigh. "Tell me what you want to know."

She trails behind, absorbed in her thoughts. I wait. "Well... I know he is handsome in a freak nerd kind of way... but who could beat my messy cuteness?" I joke, after a minute's silence. 

Sadly, she ignores me. I chose to let it pass. 

"What's his last name?" She asks. "When did he join? How---" She starts firing all these questions, I could only catch a few. I shake my head, a smile playing on my lips.

"Whoa, calm down, Starre! I've got all you want to know! His name is Kale Caelum. He joined two years ago around... actually, around the same time you did. So... he was new, alone new like you are, Last year, when Alex wasn't president. He's twenty, if you're wondering." I list out a whole bunch of stuff about that guy... whom actually gives me the creeps, though I hated admitting it.

"Kale Caelum." I hear her muttering under her breath. I ball my fists, trying not to get overly upset, though something in my stomach is deciding otherwise...

"Can you tell me why you are so interested in that guy?" I ask, trying to mask my emotions and remain calm.

She doesn't answer. 

"Um... Hello? I demand answers!" I stare at her. She's looking past me, glancing over my shoulder. 

"Oh." I groan. "Don't tell me he's right there..."

"Interested in who?" Just as I expected, I whip around to find Kale right behind me. Stella's been gaping at him all this while? How long has he been here, listening in? I'm not surprised, actually, to find that this guy actually hides in the shadows of the library, lurking about... 

I feel a shiver tingle down my spine. I won't let anyone know it, but this guy is the only one who could give me the creeps. Even if I'm his leader...

Kale nods at me, then heads straight towards Stella, whose eyes widen as he gets straight to the point: 

"I want to talk to you. In private, please." 

A/N: Sorry for the filler chapter, guys. Don't worry! More chapters coming soon! Ah... I have loads of funn stuff planned for the future...

Ahahaaaha !!!!!

P.s. vote and comment, please! :)