Chapter 22: She's Gone
I hate Ms. Pollock. She gave me a stupid B- in her silly science class. Which is one point closer to a C, which is one point closer to being the pizza shop owner in three years, max. To a lot of bad children here, a B- is something they'd get Newspaper Articles, VIP tickets and a week vacation in Cancun for. But for me? I get a back slap from Zoey, face-jab from Mindy, a body-slam from Cora and a weird nature talk from my mom and Junchi. Ryan? He'd just pep talk me into buying a pair of shoes to make me feel better.
And I would.
All day, people have been giving me the evil eye, bumping into me on purpose and basically shunning me. If you were to ask me what I did wrong, I can't answer that. Because I have no idea. Even Mr. B was quieter and more normal today for first period, constantly eyeing me every fifteen seconds. I mean, I'm not the Mona Lisa or the Blue Boy so everyone can quit staring holes through my body like I can't see them.
"Rose, have you noticed more. . . stares today?" Ryan whispers from next to me at lunch. We're eating puke on a plate and spit in a carton.
"Yeah, but I don't know what's going on. It's probably some dumb rumor or something again." Or maybe someone just found out about my stash of food I hide under my bed and how much is eaten on a daily basis which is a nightmare to think about. Zoey practically runs over to our table with Zack in tow and sits down so fast, her hair isn't relaxed for two full seconds.
"Guys," Her tone is low. "I found out what everybody is foaming out of their mouths for."
"You haven't even told me yet. All you've been doing is making weird, jaguar faces and trying to find Rose," Zack says after letting go of her hand and placing it on the table. Poor child. He's been through so many bank accounts more than likely buying Zoey some food she doesn't need to eat. And then more food to feed her later. She needs some type of sign that says, "Must be fed by the second."
Zoey gives him the hand. "Well, Zack I'm telling you now. Rose; Misty went missing. Nobody knows where the heck she is or anything. All they keep saying is that you were the last person to be seen with her and that you had a fight while you were together. She never even made it home." My airways clog up and I suddenly feel woozy. Oh, gosh. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. They didn't do this. They couldn't have.
They said they'd take care of her for me and me being the under-thinker I am, thought they just meant to scare her up a little bit and keep her mouth shut. Not kidnap her and make it look like I'm the worst person alive in Virginia. This isn't going to be cute on my permanent record. Zoey's face partially relaxes and she let's out a heavy sigh. "Rose. Don't tell me you did something stupid."
I freeze up and gulp. Nothing is worse than someone being in my shoes right now. Not to mention that I actually look guilty to something I definitely didn't do. "No." Well, that was a fail. I completely croaked that word. No hunch there, right? "No, I really didn't. But I'm being blamed and it's freaking me out." Big time. Now that I think more and more about it, I'm starting to think that maybe this is my fault.
Sure, I hate the she-devil, but for her to go missing because of me not being smart about decisions is completely my fault. I told them that I didn't care. When now, I do care. I care a lot. I never thought that I would actually miss Misty. Ryan's arm snakes around my waist. "Rose, if it's not your fault then you're fine. Don't panic. If the cops come to you for an investigation, they'll see that there's no proof besides you two got into a fight."
Those are some inspiring words, but it's not that easy. They have proof. They have all the proof they need and it's on the school security cameras for sure. "I've gotta go." I stand up from the lunch table and out into the hallway. My life is crumbling before my eyes and I can't do anything to stop it. Mean-Butt Misty threatened that she'd get me but I'm positive she wasn't thinking it'd take her harm to get me into the socially inept pit she wanted me in to begin with.
If she wants my homework, I'll give it to her. I don't care. I just want to be normal. If I didn't have this darn telekinesis, I would only have to deal with Misty and she'd still be here, taunting me. Only when I'm in the girl's restroom do I notice that I'm crying. Real tears. And I don't freakin' care who sees me. My fist connects with a stall door from my fury and a dent forms instantly. The tears stream their own track down my cheek and I feel like I'm being lifted from the ground, hovering all over the place.
"Hmm. I see you're learning how to fly, huh? It's about time." Flying? I look down and sure enough, I'm in the air. The voice sounds male-oriented but you can never be to sure with these guys. I turn to fac--oh those dirt-bags! I don't sound like that! The person before me is the other me wearing some of the ugliest clothes I've ever seen in my life.
"What're you shocked or something? I'm just being you."
"What the crap did you do with Misty?" This isn't funny anymore, this is messed up.
"You mean what did you do with Misty? You got her out of your hair. Remember? Because she's such a baggage to be carrying on your shoulders. So you got her. You found her in the hallway, took her into the parking lot and drugged her with some Chloroform you've been carrying around for quite some time now. I'm pretty sure that's illegal to be in your hands, by the way. Amd after that, you took her car to an abandoned shed you found and keep her there, alive and aware of her surroundings. I just hope you were smart enough to make sure she won't leave and find her way back here, ya know? That'd be bad."
They framed me? Of all the things they could've done to me, they frame me? How sick is that? I understand that they want me gone or whatever it is they want with me, but that's a little extreme. You shouldn't have to make me suffer along the way.
"Why're you doing this?" I ask, angrily. "I didn't do anything to any of you. I was stuck in a stupid dare and because of that, you're all after me?" The ugly me raises her hands in surrender and backs off from the pink, bathroom wall.
"No need to get all yell-y, Rose. We can handle this situation like we usually do, right?" Instantly, her body disappeared with a high pitch annoying, chalkboard scraping sound and a few seconds later, Indigo appeared in front of me with my outfit in her hand and a wicked smile plastered on her raunchy but pretty face. "Here, Rose. I don't think I'm ready for you to be exposed yet. I want a little more fun. Put it on."
Well, can we say awkward? Your arch enemy gives you your outfit so you can stay a secret? Sounds like a decision some loser makes when they're asking to get their butt whooped. I cautiously take the clothes and change inside of the crunched bathroom stall. Sometimes I think these villain guys are just lunatics from the future with advanced technology trying to test their theory's on "ancient" human beings. That's the most logical explanation I've got.
I step out of the stall and Indigo is standing right in front of me with her hands impatiently on her hip. "Aww! It's so cute on you!"
I grab the hem of my romper and half twirl. It is kind of cute, I guess. "Really?"
"No." You crow-eyed, snapping turtle! I try to look up but when I partially make eye contact, she swings her fist around and it collapses with my jaw with a popping sound. The bathroom floor is a lot harder than I thought it would be and the grime is way thicker than I could have possibly imagined. I couldn't stand eating near the exit doors of the cafeteria. Who puts a bathroom directly next to it? You'll always smell the mixture of weed, poop and people's breath that smell like they floss everyday with spoiled garlic.
The stinging sensation in my cheek intensifies along with the anger that's been bottled up inside of me for millenniums. Towards all the missed TV shows, the pets I've killed including Mr. Bubbles, all of my failed pranks, and my half-anger towards my father. I can feel my eyes heat and my wrist singe from my flower mark burning. For some reason, as I learn more and more about myself through Cora, the flower starts to burn through my clothes when I'm handling "business".
Like right now, I'm taking out the trash.
I motion for the sinks to disconnect from the plumbing and lead it straight into Indigo's side. I'm probably the biggest wimp there is. Normal superheroes would go and fight like they're back in the Greek days. But me? I avoid physical contact as much as possible. Without this telekinesis, I'd be some slave serving shushcabobs to the nitwits in a clown costume.
As the sprays of water and powder dissolve, I stand up quietly, looking for her and any sign of an attack. The worst thing that could happen is for her to pop out of there and pin me to the lockers. No one outside of this bathroom should be able to see me--
Her foot breaks through the smoke and kicks me backwards out of the bathroom doors (which were closed so now there's a broken door) and into the hallway slamming me into the lockers.
So, yeah she was hiding in the powder. Sometimes I ramble.
But of course, this is the perfect time for the class bell to ring, so the hallways are filled with my peers who don't know I'm me. And if they find out, they'll end up like Misty except I won't regret it. Then I'll go to jail and it'll just be a mess.
"Guys! It's Thalia!" Thank you, Benjamin, for pointing out the stinking obvious. Literally. You stink and need to be exterminated by the S.W.A.T. team.
"Get her, Thalia! Beat her!" Teenagers are so violent.
When I stand up, blood dripping from my lip, Indigo is in a charging stance and I mimic her. For a few seconds we're just standing here, with a crowd of bad teens who probably didn't wash their hair last night filming us on smart phones. Great more evidence for me to cry about to Ryan in code so he won't suspect anything. Indigo smirks at me and shifts her weight continually as I do. "Feeling confident because of your little fans?"
Please. My fans are making me want to pee on myself. "Shut up and do something."
"My pleasure." Her eyes instantly go a creepy shade of blue and I hear a continuous tone occurring while barely visible waves are coursing through the hallways towards me. The crowd of students all step back in a riot and try to get away but still try to film. Can't they just stop filming since they are practically about to die from what this chick is doing?
Wait, I forgot, I attend school with naturally born idiots.
The waves make their way to me and seem to be knocking the breath out of me with each ring that comes. For the second or third time, I fall straight to the ground gasping for the oxygen I can't have. It should be an easy process but it's knocking more air out of me than I can get in.
"Does it feel nice, Thalia? Although I'm pretty sure the people in this hall know who you are since you have classes with them but they're too caught up in this to pay attention." She gets down in front of me on one knee. "Aww, are you sick of this? Here, let me finish it." She starts to reach out to me to do whatever would finish me off and my eyes dart to the trophy case in the hallway, commanding it to charge for Indigo.
I don't care if the dented Bowling award kills her, she and her puny men are trying to destroy me and that's not going to happen. I'm going to find out what they want, and get rid of them. You can mess with me all you want, but bringing other people into it is only going to make it worse.
Her hand barely grazes my stomach before the trophy makes contact with her shoulder, pushing her from being on top of me. "Thalia! Finish her!" They're all acting like this is a game. Potentially, all of their lives are in danger right now but apparently they don't care whether they live or get run over by a bulldozer driven by the Cookie Monster. I don't think I have the heart to finish her. But I do have the heart to rip her cornea off and shove it under her armpit.
I attempt to get up but a distinct pain arises in my calf. That vein-popping, stained hair freak hurt me! Running on adrenaline, I jolt up making eye contact with Indigo who's lying helplessly on the floor and aim my hand towards the wall next to me. Not sure what my evil conscience will pull from it, but frankly, I don't care. Even if it's an electrocution chair.
A brick in the wall closest to my hand bursts apart in pieces and powder revealing a set of cords being yanked from the inside, out towards Indigo. Cords? I can't shock her with these! They lost the source of power! All I can do is like stran--oh.
Within seconds, the cords are weaving and creating knots around her with ease despite her cries for help. Is she serious? She's going to ask people to help her when she's hurting someone else? That's like asking somebody if you can borrow money that you just robbed them for. It's stupid and gets you shot.
I feel a movement from behind me and I turn around to see Benjamin stone faced and storming over in our direction. What the crap, Ben?! Are you trying to see how fast you can get murdered in front of everyone? Or are you just that big of an airhead? In his hand is a strawberry smoothie from the cafeteria and he looks like he's ready to kill. Or flick. He's not very strong which anyone can tell from his scrawny and lanky build. Not many people actually care for that once the glorious smell of sewage and barbecue chicken fights its way up their noses.
When he's in front of Indigo, her face promptly changed from a look of confusion to a look of horror. "Oh my gosh, child! What do you--oh my goodness! What do you eat? Your dead ancestors?" She starts to convulse inside the restraints of the wires trying to get away from Ben's toxifying smell. Ben don't do something Steve Urkle would do. Indigo will flip your body inside out and hang dry you on a power line.
Benjamin ignores her and spills his smoothie onto her whole body and hits her head with the cup. Oh my gosh. Ben you're so dumb and nasty. Amazingly enough, the wires start to spark and Indigo turns into a big dust-ball of purple powder. Is she done? I know for a fact that Ben did not just get rid of her with his smoothie. . .
"Thalia, I saved us. She can't bother you anymore." His arms outstretch towards me and I'm stuck here frozen in shock staring at him. Ben just close that little mouth of yours before you kill somebody. "We can be together." Wait, what? His face gets all serious and he fast walks over to me trapping me in between his arms with me pushed against the wall. Ew, ew, ew, ew. His odor is going to rearrange my DNA or something. "Don't fight it, Thalia. I've been studying you for a month now and I see the way you notice me whenever I show up in the same place." His face is inches from mine now and his voice lowers to a whisper only making his breath worse. "I can be the man you've always wanted."
This is one of the most awkward situations that I've ever been in once again. As many times as I say this, it seems like things only go downhill. Maybe I'm jinxing myself because none of this crap happens to an average person. None of it. With my eyes tearing up from his smell, I bring my hand forward to try and gently push him away but he fights it, applying pressure to stay in his place.
Little ratchet boy, I'm not playing with you. You need to move your candy wrapper self to the side before I hurt you. The crowd is still where they were before but are looking at us in awe and pure disgust. If only I were them right now. After a few more failed tries at trying to move Ben, it's time to take physical action. I slightly raise my voice to disguise myself since Ben has been "studying" me so much. "Sir." Oh no, I breathed it in. "I'm going to need you to move away from me before I have to move you myself."
"I love it when you're mad. Your arms are beautiful, too. It's like the glow when you're angry." Oh this is flat-out creepy.
Since I don't want a lawsuit for fighting someone without proper reason, I use my eyes to direct him backwards against the wall and make the cords wrap around his hands and feet, binding him. I don't have time for hormonal little boys trying to murder me with a slow, agonizing, paralyzing, death. Even though he's older than me, he's still a little boy.
Before anyone can ask any questions that'll make me question their sanity, I make a break towards the double doors that leave the building and out into the brink of the woods. I turn around to make sure no one's following me, and only see a few students standing outside the school looking for me. I feel like the Jonas Brothers being chased by their hypnotized fans.
Once people see Thalia, it's bye-bye IQ points and hello insanity. That's why I can't keep living this double life. I don't even know how Miley Cyrus did it.
.:*~*:._.:*~*:.♥.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
I walk up to Cora's porch and I don't even get to ring the doorbell before her mom answers the door, cheesing away. For quite some time. . . and she's still silently smiling. "Hi, Rose!"
Well, this is uncomfortable. "Um, hello, Mrs. Road. Is Cora--"
Mrs. Road is shoved to the side by Cora who has an egg roll shoved in her mouth. It's like another Zoey. "Move, mom," She mumbles and shoves out her arm, dragging me inside, ignoring everyone who's around her. I'm seriously about to diagnose her with bipolar disorder. I'm not kidding. At school she was all happy go lucky and when I come to her house because she told me to, I'm being yanked around like I'm some sock monkey in the hands of a snobby, brat child. When we reach her room, I'm pushed down on her bed as she leans backwards, furiously shoving the rest of the egg roll into her mouth and swallows it whole.
You monster.
"What's wrong with you?" Without a word, she digs in her pocket, picks up her phone and throws it at me.
"Read the stupid texts. He won't quit it. Listen. It's still freakin' vibrating. He's a jerk." I guess we'll ignore the fact that you threw a phone at my throat and look at the texts, now won't we? On her screen is Jacob's name and it's constantly vibrating from incoming text messages. So far there's fifty that are unchecked from him. Obsession?
"What the heck is he texting you about?"
"I don't know! It's obviously stupid stuff if it's from him!" Doubt it. I look back at the phone to read a few of his messages.
Jacob
you're pretty ;)
we should go out sometime ;)
you like being spammed? ;)
well i like spamming you. ;)
are you ignoring me core-core? ;)
"This definitely doesn't look like 'stupid stuff' to me, Cora." It's love. "He probably likes you." Truth is, he does like her and every living thing with eyes and a soul can tell. It's one of the most obvious things in the world. You'd have to be either really dumb, or so smart, you don't understand. Which is Cora.
Her cheeks turn completely red at my remark and she crosses her arms. "He doesn't like me! He likes annoying me. There's a difference." Oh my goodness, Cora blushed again. We need Dr. Phil, everybody.
"You like him don't you?"
"Shut up and drop it. No I don't. We're here to talk about tonight anyways." She comes over and snatches her phone from me, tossing it on the floor. Honestly, she should be careful with her cell phone throwing problem. That thing is a Nokia. Also known as the demon phone that never dies. You can probably drop it from an airplane onto a concrete landing and it'd break the ground.
I watch her as she goes over to her drawers and pulls out a large sheet of paper that looks like it has Morse Code written all over it. "This," She holds it up. "Is the game plan for tonight. Look." The sheet of paper is laid flat on her bed and I might as well be reading an algorithm from Einstein because this is ridiculous. How on Earth does she expect me to know what "T.M.D.M.S." is supposed to mean? I'll tell you what it means, it means, This Map Doesn't Make Sense.
"Rose, don't go get your weird bras in a twist. This isn't so complicated. I just drew this stuff on here to make it look busy." She let out a sigh and crumbled the paper in her hands, throwing it in the air and facing me. "Just forget it, I can already see you getting freaked out. All we're doing is sneaking into the science lab while the football game is going on, getting the stuff you said spilled on you, and we're out. Got it?"
So. Much. Responsibility. I can't even keep a fish alive for more than thirty seconds and you see where being "sneaky" got me in the first place. I'd rather someone just take a straw and jam it up my nose. Anything besides repeating history. Shouldn't that cursed science lab be finished from being "under construction" already? They know what happened, why it happened and who potentially could've done it. What more do they freakin' want? They're just trying to find ways to torture my conscience as if she doesn't torture me enough without their help.
"Cora, is Rose here?" We both turn toward the door to see Cora's handicapped brother, Damien rolling around the corner. "Oh, hey, Rose! Haven't seen you in a while."
"You haven't seen her because she's been busy smoochin' all up on her bo--" I clamp my hand over her mouth. If only she knew I weren't because I'm being a pansy.
"What your sister means is, I wasn't here because I was surprising you! Don't you love surprises?" He perks up in his chair.
"Yeah, I love surprises! What is it? Can we go somewhere?" He's so innocent, it makes me want to grab a soft blanket and just cry on him. No one at the age of eleven should be stuck in a wheelchair. It just seems wrong.
"Sure! Where do you wanna go?"
He ponders for a moment thinking about it while rolling back and forth. "I want to go get ice cream. And I want to go for a stroll in the park or something. Can we do that?" Aw, precious. This only makes me want to have kids even more. But they have to have my genes and be one boy and one girl. I want the girl to be older and to have a mole on her left cheeks with zero dimples. I want the boy--
"Rose?" Oops.
"Yeah, sure, Damien. We can go for ice cream and a walk." Next to me, Cora starts lazily clapping her hands.
"Woo. Ice cream. Awesome. Now we gotta go. See you later, Damien." Well, I didn't know that Simon Cowell had a child by the name of Cora Road.
.:*~*:._.:*~*:.♥.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
Number forty-three grabs the football and runs to the end of the field scoring us another point. Or however many we get, it's not like I'm actually paying attention or anything. I'm too busy internally committing homicide to Cora and gawking at Ryan while I'm doing it. My life consists of me becoming a miserable failure at everything while tending to make friends because they pity me on the way. Ryan turns to me.
"You hungry? It's halftime so I'm gonna go get something to eat." Please don't talk to me when you're dressed handsomely, Ryan. Okay? It'll keep me planted in my spot and not have the urge to attack you to the ground in a never ending hug of death. For whatever reason, it's really cold tonight so my cheeks are already tinged pink. Which is good so he can't see me blush.
"No, I'm fine. Me and Cora have to go to the car really quick though." I tale a glance back past Cora on the bleachers to make sure we're leaving practically unnoticed. The last thing I need is for me to be caught by them while I'm climbing the side of the school. It's not really the best thing to get caught doing, especially since people think you've grown the guts to make someone go missing. Which isn't really good to put on a college application.
Zoey's over there making out with Zack so I'm just going to take a wild guess and say that they're dating, and Mindy is flirting with some dude that no one cares about.
I wrap my jacket tighter around me as we approach the dark shadow of the school building. "Cora, why do we have to break in? Couldn't we just cut class and sneak in the room or something? Besides; it's cold."
I see her tying her hair in a high ponytail and grabbing something circular out of her pocket. "Pain is weakness leaving the body." She unscrews the lid and wipes two fingers in it putting it just below her eyes. Oh my gosh, she's gone psycho.
"What the crap is that?"
"A disguise. Something you barely know how to do. Now fly us up there." Yes, I'm positive now. She's psycho.
"You know I can barely fly! I'll end up making us kick a cop in the face!" She puts a hand over my mouth. Ew, she ate a hot dog. Hate those wieners.
"Shut up!" She whisper shouts. "Before you get us caught or something. Just freakin' fly or so help me I will take my toe and lodge it so far into your epiglottis you'll forget how to breathe. Now fly." Her hand yanks away from my mouth and she faces forward.
This is why nobody is quick to pick Cora as their partner for a project because they know they'll be on the brink of death if they even stutter when talking to her about it. When she has a project or a task she feels the need to complete, be sure you stay at least three thousand miles away from her.
Hooking my arm around her waist, I attempt to jump up hoping I'll fly and I succeed.
In hitting the brick wall. "Ugh! Oh my gosh, Rose, really? You could've hit anywhere and you run into a wall? Forget it. I don't have time for concussions, there's an english test tomorrow. I'm climbing." I watch her as she spider climbs the wall in seconds and slips into the science room. She'll get me up there. . .
Anytime now. Anytime.
About two minutes pass and she still shows no sign of coming out to help me. Fine, Cora. Leave me here to die of hypothermia. You're going to miss me whenever you realize you have no one to give you cute clothes anymore. That's right. Bye-bye designer wardrobe. I place my hands in the ladder and hear a shuffle of feet behind me.
"What do you think you're doing, Rose? Going somewhere?" PeepTom? I turn around and my suspicions are confirmed. There he is. . . sitting on the parking lot floor. . . playing with his slinky. When he notices I see him, he looks up and smiles. "It's been a while, huh?" Call my mommy. "Who's your friend?" Her number is 703-55--my thoughts are cut off by PeepTom grabbing my wrists captive. "Did you think this was all fun and games?" His voice went back to the octave it had when we first met. Super sonic baritone. "We've got your little friend where we want her. Misty put up quite a fight but you know she's not the strongest person."
These people have absolutely nothing better to do, than sit around and try to make one girl's life miserable with no motive. They've ruined my life altogether. And I found out last week that they're the ones who killed my second fishy. I planned on keeping that one too. But no, they came in my house and suffocated it. Sick.
His other hand comes up to caress my cheek. "And Mindy's aunt? Don't worry, we weren't gonna kill her. Just shake her up a bit, you know? Just give you a little taste of what we've planned out." His violet-blue eyes turn dark and he slams my head against the building, still restraining my hands. "If you think your life is terrible now, wait until the talent show. That's my favorite part." Crap. The talent show, I forgot all about that. I'm dead. Just like Mr. Bubbles.
PeepTom starts to back away into a darker corner of the building after letting me go. "But don't forget us, Rose! Because we sure haven't forgotten about Jack even though everyone else has."So I'm being completely serious when I make my statement:
I think I peed my pants. Only a little bit though.
I'm not sure if I could've helped it or not. I just know that at some point in the conversation, all of my muscles contracted because I was scared to death and I may or may not have peed. Hopefully not, but if I did. . . there's a first time for everything, right? And Jack. Oh dear, I'm just like the rest I completely forgot about Jack. I don't even know when he stopped coming to school anymore, it's been so long. It's like everyone just suddenly forgot there's a new kid and the new kid slipped out without being noticed. No, that's not weird at all.
*authors note: go ahead. punch me, kick me, strangle me, whatever you feel the need to do. i tried right? lol. this wasn't a "funny" chapter but i think its because i wrote half of it when it was 3 am and thats not really a smart thing to do. Dedicated to ToastedBagels because she deserves a dedication to feel better about some moron who thinks its cool to trash her story that's actually beautiful :'). and she loves food. Photo on the side: Ben's Smoothie....Yeah I'm low on ideas. Lol. Dedicated to Dav-dav. Because we share no life. Chapterly Question: Did anyone else notice Jack was gone? Lol. And what kind of ice cream should Damien and Rose get? :)*