The next four days passed in a blur. We were all preparing for Wednesday, which was when I had decided to wager my war.
This Tuesday morning started like any other, except for a few select things. Normally, the girls would be waking up yawning and thinking about how to do their hair. The boys would be sleeping in, dreaming about their lives back home. Today, the girls hadn’t a wink of sleep; for they were far too busy planning about what they would wear when World War Three would break out. The boys were far too busy to think about the lives they so desperately wanted to get back to. They were practicing their punches, wrestling with one another and making sure they could master a KO punch.
Personally, I hadn’t even had an ounce of snooze time since my speech. I was up all night modifying my plan and making sure it was perfect. It was now half past eight, and I had half an hour until my next class.
Fishing for a hairnet in my dresser, I hear someone pacing behind me. I sigh, knowing exactly who it was and why. Without turning around, I hear her nervous intake in breath.
“You know it’s just a cooking class, right?” I say, finally facing Gwen. She lets out an anxious laugh and rolls her eyes.
“I’m pretty sure you know that’s not the reason I’m stressing.” Her eyebrows crease, creating a frown that didn’t match her lovely face. I give her a quick, sympathetic hug.
“Everything is going to be fine as long as we stick to the plan. Do you know what you have to do?”
Her deep thoughts cloud her eyes, and she looked at me with a faraway look. I stand there for a couple moments, knowing it was best to leave her alone.
Since that first meeting, I didn’t organize another one. Not only because I didn’t think I could stomach it, but because of the hassle it took to get everyone together. Instead, I had devised a way to get the messages across.
There was a wall, in one of the staircases. The paint was chipping, the wallpaper barely visible. It was the perfect place. Since then, I would go there with the Sharpie I stole from Madame and wrote a sentence in my encrypted code. After my speech, I had explained to everyone how to read it.
A smile crosses my face as I picture myself and Ryan using these codes at school. Well, my old school, that is. He had come up with it all by himself.
The way it worked was kind of simple really. To someone who didn’t know it, it sounded like gibberish. But if you were listening to the right sounds, you knew what people were saying.
For example, if a person wanted to say “hello”, it would sound like hetegel-letego. Absolute gibberish, right?
Wrong.
After each syllable, said person has to add a “etego” sound. So while it may seem that person has lost their mind and is blubbering like an idiot, think again. It was so effective back in the old days, the teachers, or my parents, even Bea and Anna, they never caught up.
It was the best plan I could come up with. Madame would probably assume some prankster was writing random messages just so they could mess up her wall.
But to us, it was a secret language. A way to communicate outside of her crazy mind.
At first, when I had demonstrated it to all the kids, the look they gave me was sort of priceless. Kind of like I went off the deep end. And who knows, maybe I did? But I didn’t care. Because the most important thing in my life right now was to get each and every one of these suckers out of this school.
So we stayed up until two in the morning. Then, and only then, did they actually start to understand it. I had them practice with me, and with each other until it was spotless. I told them to keep drilling it in their heads. If they wake up and want to say good morning, they would say “gerogood motogornitiging”.
And ever since, each and every one of my army checked that little section of wall for any new updates. So far, there has only been one. I wrote it two days ago.
All it said was, “itigif yutugu catagan retegead thitigis, tetegel metegee itigi atagam setegex-itigy” which translated into “if you can read this, tell me I’m sexy.”
Apparently, I wasn’t such a bad teacher after all, because every person that passed me in the halls said I was sexy.
Anyways, with these messages, anything I had to change would be understood immediately.
“Vivienne.” A deep voice interrupts my thoughts and I bite my lip hard when my mind places a face to the voice and it registers in my head. I turn slowly.
“John.” I breathe, savoring his name on my tongue like a delicacy I was craving. He smirks at me and I walk over to him, staring at his unreadable eyes.
“What are you doing here?” I ask softly, not resisting the urge to run my fingers down his cheek. A sharp intake of breath is heard as my fingers make contact with his face. He places his hand over mine, and pulls me in by my waist.
“This…. Us.” He whispers into my hair. I pull away from him slowly, trying to get away from him. But his strong hands reel me back in and his lips crash into mine. My heartbeat quickens as I tangle my fingers in his hair and wholeheartedly kiss him back, not caring about the consequences.
“Vivienne!” I jump, startled. Like lightning, my hand comes to my lips, a phantom throb still there from the imaginary kiss. I shook my head, trying to get the memory of him off of me like a germ.
Realizing someone was here, I turn.
Whoop-de-do, guess who?
“John! Um, what’s up? What are you doing here?” I ask nervously, not wanting to come closer to him. I might not be able to resist.
His scent passes through my nose and I inhale the inviting, musky smell.
“I, uh, just wanted to make sure you were alright, I guess?” He smirks, the same way he did in my little fantasy and my heart skips a beat. A wary laugh escapes me.
“Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He mentions, sounding a bit worried. I automatically shake my head, all the while thinking, if only.
“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine.” I answer awkwardly, afraid my tongue might betray me.
He gradually nods, his eyebrows going up. “Well, okay then.” He turns around and starts making his way to the door.
Before I could stop myself, I call out to him. “Wait! Don’t go yet.” His eyes, suddenly hopeful, turns back to lock with mine.
Taking a deep breath and putting my urges in check, I walk over to him and grin. “I never really got to say thank you. For saving me.”
Smiling back easily and his eyes full of warmth, he raises my hand and kisses it softly.
Taking a step back, he pretends to lift his imaginary skirt and curtsies.
“Somebody’s gotta protect our kingdom’s queen if she can free her loyal subjects.”
I giggle and curtsy back. The smile leaves his face as a sad thought crosses his mind.
I suddenly feel protective. “What’s wrong?” I ask worriedly.
He gets off his knees and stands to his full height, looking straight down at me. Our closeness bothers me a little, but I do nothing to stop it.
His hand brushes a lock of hair behind my ear and his saddened expression intensifies.
“If only I had met you before he did.” He murmurs, and turns on his heel, leaving me breathless. The spot where he had touched me felt like fire, and I hungered for him to come back.
My mind just split into two in that moment. Eli and John.
What was it about John that drew me in so much? And why wasn’t I trying to resist? What kind of horrible person could stomp on Eli’s feelings like that?
Me.
My eyes start to water, but I push away the tears. Gwen suddenly reappears at my side, and I realize I had no idea where she was.
“Are you falling for John?” Her velvet voice asks the question I so desperately wanted to avoid.
I pick my head up, lips quivering.
“Let’s just do this.”
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A/N: Dun dun dun!!! Chapter 14, everybody. Hope that was a sort of a cliffhanger for ya! If not, don't worry. There's more where that came from. ;)