The Hijinks War

13. Salty

"Funny," he said in a clipped tone. I thought it was, and then the ensuing image in my head of both him and Jackson doing wildly inappropriate dances made me wince. Thanks for that, Katia! 

"We need to discuss something, kiddies." She washed her gaze over Jess, Ashley and I as her blue lackeys entered. "Leave."

Though he grumbled that she was ordering around his soldiers, Kellen ushered us through the door, slamming it shut behind us.

"Ugh, I can't stand her!" Ashley grumbled. Jess hushed her as we strained to hear through the closed door.

"What are we going to do about the new Headmaster?" Katia asked.

"What makes you think we need to do anything?" Jackson drawled lazily.

I could imagine Katia looking at him as if he was inconveniencing her by speaking. Sure enough her voice came across as patronizing, "Kellen, this conversation really only needs to involve the two of us."

Before we could even begin to panic that they'd catch us, Katia directed everyone else into Jackson's room.

"If you wanted to talk alone, why'd you bring your Smurf posse with you?" Kellen huffed. 

"You're the one who restarted things, Kellen. You had an out... "

"What? And play the guy that fell apart after his girlfriend messed around on him? Really, that tart meant about as much to me as Jackson's sneakers do. They're fun to use once in a while." 

"You're disgusting, Kellen." Katia said what we were all thinking about his gross toxic male bravado. Maybe she couldn't hear past it, but Jess and I had spent enough time being invisible in his dorm to share a small frown at his sad attempt at hiding his hurt.

"You brought it up, Katia." 

"Whatever, Kellen. I'm not here to talk about that anyways. What does the new Headmaster mean for Hijinks?"

I could almost hear Kellen shrug. "Nothing."

"What about—?"

"What about what, Kat? It's not like we prank within the school anyways, it's all out here on our own time. So we go on, if he's really as nuts as he seems, then we meet again and rehash the Code. Other than that, get out of my room. I still haven't forgiven you for the pictures." 

"Kel, I..."

We heard him move across the room and open a door and yell, "If you have boobs, get out!" 

-.-

Phones went off, a surge of rings and beeps and buzzes throughout the cafeteria and like good little sheep, we all looked as if of one accord and took in the newest update. Not like we didn't already know—coffees all around the hall were being spit out.

Hadn't I already told myself I was looking for a way to get out of this mindless lackey thing? It was harder than I'd imagined it would be; some things were so ingrained in me that I couldn't help myself. Like the need to spy on everyone constantly, or checking my phone anytime there was a hijINKs update whether or not I cared. The worst was involuntarily gauging Kellen's or Katia's reaction or mood.

I looked around the table at my friends with annoyance; I knew I wasn't the only one who hated being treated like a peon. They were all discontent, but none of them, not one of them, ever stepped even remotely out of line. My need to break out of the stupid assigned role, made me unhappy with my friends' complacence. I had to say or do something soon, or I'd explode all my anger on them.

-.-

The update on my phone went ignored for a whole twenty minutes, and I was pretty proud of myself for it too. Then Jess plucked my earbuds out and decided to tell me about it. Apparently a few Thunderbird freshmen had gone full tilt and come back from break with a heavy arsenal of pranks. Needless to say they were wiping the floor with the Hellhound freshmen. They'd racked up our points by two since classes let out and it wasn't even close to dinner yet.

I glanced at Jess and rolled my eyes. "I told you I don't care, Jess."

She yanked me from my seat and led me to a far corner of the library in search of a book and some privacy. "Nicole, you've been kind of off since Fight Night. I was trying to give you some space, but now I just want to know what's going on with you? You used to love squashing those Hellhound turds. We used to plan missions together."

I didn't respond. I had to be careful what I said, as much as she was my best friend, she was also Jackson's sister. Her loyalties would always lie with blood. She took my silence for reluctance to talk.

"Nic... There're just so many things... you go running till you pass out, you skip out on meetings when Kellen calls us. You had that whole thing with your dad when you told him off... Are you guys okay, by the way?"

We were so far into the back of the library that the space between the racks was a claustrophobic narrow path. Books touched our shoulders as we pressed on, and the towering shelves blocked the light, so it was dim. I knew this far in, I didn't need to worry about people overhearing my secrets.

"Please talk to me, I feel like we don't talk anymore."

The look Jess wore when she turned, and her fingers caressing my hair out of my face, made me crack. Suddenly all those things that I had kept to myself came careening out of my mouth like a geyser. I didn't really know what I was saying, or in what order.

I ranted about Kellen and Jackson and their orders, and being expected to obey without question no matter what I'd been doing. I vented about feeling like a sheep every time there was a hijINKs update I didn't want to check but still did because my phone had beeped. I raged about Fight Night, and their brilliant decision to tell my father—the patron saint of domestic violence victims—that I'd been beat up by some meathead boyfriend.

Jess let out a sound somewhat between a sigh and a chuckle and enveloped me in a hug. We stayed pressed to each other between the dark stacks of musty paper for quite a while before leaving. For the first time in the history of our friendship, Jess joined me on a run.