It's not Friday........... but since I wrote more s*t*a*r*s today I didn't think anyone would mind if I posted again :) J
*s*t*a*r*s
Weeks pass and they have all gotten into a rather easy routine, the days of peeling potatoes bring them closer together. Save for Spencer, who is still standoffish, skittish around people, even in class. She never walks close to anyone and in science class when they do group activity she went off and done it by herself. It maddens the other girls.
Rylee, Tegan, Abigail, and Sydney have gotten into the habit of having lunch together. Usually on the lawn, or sometimes they grab sandwiches and eat on their balcony. All of their classes are together; dorm groups are assign the same classes, keeping them rather close at all times. The only class they don’t have together is physical education, when Spencer disappears, having to go work in the library.
“I don’t get it, why doesn’t she have to do this stuff?” asks Abby one afternoon while they are changing after gym class. Rylee rolls her eyes, slipping her foot into her shoe.
“Gotta be a reason,” says Sydney in a lofty voice, her voice sounding angelic in the acoustic room.
“We should leave it?” says Rylee.
Spencer has been staying away from them, badgering her about her absence will only make her pull away more. There is something oddly attractive about the standoffish girl.
“What a reporter you are going to be? Watergate would never have been found out if you are on the case,” shots back Tegan.
“Wench,” laughs Rylee, throwing a sock at Tegan. “If you want to know, why don’t you ask her?”
“I might,” says Abby. She sees that the other girls are filing out they are playing soccer today and Abby doesn’t want to play soccer. Her mouth is dry and she’s already sweating.
Rylee follows them, keeping her eyes down, trying desperately not to let anyone see her checking out the other girls. She sighs, wondering if coming here is a mistake. She vows to go find Spencer after class and maybe she can make some headway with the girl, maybe use the fact that they are both outsiders as a way in. There has to be a way into that lovely little head of Spencer Andrews.
*s*t*a*r*s
Everyone has gone to their next class, but Abby sneaks back to the dorms to get another pill from her dwindling stash. Her habit seems to be getting out of control, and she knows it. But the need, the want is there, always tugging at her consciousness. Her soul simply aches and the drugs make it go away.
Abby sat on the toilet, chewing on the painkiller, the sulfur based pill stings her mouth, but she ignores it. Leaning back, her head arches back, staring up at the ceiling, wishing for it to all go away.
But it doesn’t.
Anguish peppers her thoughts and emotions. It is maddening to be so reliant on something to be able to function but it is Abby’s world. She should tell her mother about what she is feeling, what she’s done, but Abby can’t. Taking a pen from her pocket, Abby closes her eyes, when her eyes open the once plastic pen is now made of stone. Sighing hotly she storms from the room, the pen falling from her fingertips and bouncing on the floor.
*s*t*a*r*s
“Did you file…,” begins Lexie.
“Uh huh,” nods Spencer before Lexie can finish her thought. Lexie watches Spencer move to the file cabinet, yank it open and almost fall over, having lost her balance. Lexie watches her carefully, wondering why the young girl is having trouble with her footing. Spencer rights herself, slipping the files into their rightful place. Spencer looks up at Lexie, who glances away. “Why are you watching me?”
“Just making sure you do your job,” smiles Lexie. In reality, Lexie is seeing the shadow of Spencer’s mother walking around her library. The similarities are striking.
Spencer rubs the back of her neck, moving to the pile of books and going about putting them back on the shelves. When she is out of sight, Natalie slides up next to Lexie.
“She’s off balance,” whispers Lexie.
“She’s not who she is supposed to be, she’s also not bonding well with the other four. Eating lunch alone, skipping supper, very quiet in class,” says Nat softly.
“No, I mean literally. She isn’t graceful, stumbles, trips on her own two feet,” corrects Lexie.
“Oh! Now I feel stupid,” laughs Nat, tucking her dark blonde hair behind her ear. Then, turning to look where Spencer has disappeared to between the massive rows of books, Natalie wonders what could be wrong with Spencer. Jo had kept Spencer’s powers under wraps. Natalie knows it is based loosely on Jo’s lust for blood, but nothing else.
Spencer reappears from between two stacks. Seeing the two professors talking at the main desk, she slips back into the book stacks, feeling uneasy around Natalie Summers. There is something in the way the woman stares at her that makes her, skittish, for lack of a better word. Watching, observing, Spencer notices the way that Natalie stands, the way her hands move when she speaks. All of those things put Spencer ill at ease, and she talks to Spencer as if she knows her very well, and that doesn’t sit well with her at all.
“Who are you hiding from?” whispers Rylee from just behind her. Spencer grabs her chest, taking in a sharp breath. She hadn’t felt Rylee sneaking up on her. Closing her eyes, feeling the thumping of her heart as she tries to calm her nerves, leaning up against the stack of books. Rylee mimics her. Their shoulders touch and, for once, Spencer doesn’t shy away from the human contact. A soft surge of electricity fills her, and Spencer battens it down. It hurts to be close to Rylee, but Spencer is drawn to her.
“You could scare me to death doing that. I’m hiding from our dorm mistress,” admits Spencer. Turning her head, just a breath away from Rylee, Spencer feels her heart jumping at the closeness.
Rylee steps back quickly, not wanting to freak Spencer out about how close they are. She trips over her own two feet, stumbling backwards. Spencer grabs at her, pulling Rylee’s arm, the motion twists her and puts all of her weight on her left leg, sending her tumbling down next to Rylee. They both land with a resounding thud alongside each other.
“Ouch,” laughs Spencer. She is reminded of the old slapstick comedies that she had once enjoyed as a child.
“You coulda let me fall,” giggles Rylee. “I didn’t hurt myself, but very gallant of you for trying to save me.”
The two girls lie on the floor, giggling. Rylee sits up first, looking down, and seeing that Spencer’s left leg is unnaturally askew. “Spencer!” Rylee whispers in panic.
“What?” laughs Spencer, thinking her valiant effort to be chivalrous hasn’t gone very well.
“Your leg…”
“Shit!” grumbles Spencer, sitting up and pulling away from Rylee. Reality wipes the smile off her face and she scurries away from Rylee even farther.
“You have a… a fake leg, that’s whatcha been doing in the bathroom every night?” asks Rylee.
“You’ve been watching,” begins Spencer in an almost angry voice. Why hadn’t she known that Rylee had been awake during her nocturnal visits to the bathroom? First Rylee had snuck out of their room the first night and her energy leaving the room had awaken her – then when she’d been stuck downstairs, Spencer had felt Rylee’s fear. Today Rylee had snuck up on her with no effort.
“Not watching, noticing, observing,” corrects Rylee. “I thought, at first, you are doing drugs. Then, I figured you couldn’t be you’re too lucid for that. I tried to figure it out, but this, is much nicer than you being a druggie,” smiles Rylee. Her eyes find Spencer’s, her gaze begs Spencer silently to let her in, to just give her a glimmer of her true self.
Spencer pulls up the pant leg, straightening the leg out and grits her teeth, having nothing to lose now, Rylee knows. “It doesn’t fit right,” admits Spencer in a tone filled with anger and loathing. “I never got one that fit quite right. State doesn’t care if it fits, as long as I have one, nothing else matters. The stub might heal better if I didn’t wear it all night, but….”
Rylee says nothing, standing up and offering her hand. Spencer takes it reluctantly. Standing up, she swallows, giving Rylee a hot look. “I’d prefer if you didn’t say anything. I’m already the odd man out.”
“Only because you want to be,” counters Rylee, feeling the heat from Spencer’s body as they stand close, whispering to each other. “I mean it; we want to be your friends.”
“I don’t have friends, I don’t need them,” says Spencer curtly. Her proximity to Rylee is driving her crazy. She moves away, leaving Rylee thinking that any progress they might have made is now swirling around the toilet bowl. Spencer moves to the desk, giving Natalie a steely look.
Natalie sets her jaw, wondering why this girl is so hostile. Leaning over the desk, meeting the gaze that Natalie is giving Spencer.
“You can stare me down all you want, Spencer. I know who you are, and you are most certainly not your mother,” with that, Natalie sashays away, angry with herself for no apparent reason.
*s*t*a*r*s
They got out of English late and Sydney is rushing to get down to the doctor’s office. Darting around the corner and seeing that there is no one around, Sydney closes her eyes and disappears. In the same instant, four stories down, in a small alcove next to the kitchen, Sydney reappears. The air is filled with static electricity and Sydney grins. She loves to just jaunt, or shimmer somewhere. She doesn’t do it often, but she is late and it is warranted.
Rushing towards the office, instead of being five minutes away, she is now five seconds away. Walking into the office – her hair tussled slightly – Sydney smiles at the doctor.
“You’re late,” says Doctor Hathaway.
“I know,” says Sydney with a shrug. “I was busy, class got out late.”
“I got orders from your regular physician for a viral load test, want to do it now or later?” asks Doctor Hathaway nicely.
“Now is fine, is he worried?” asks Sydney. “My viral load is nil.”
“Standard six month test, don’t worry, Sydney, you’ve got a long life head of you. They are making progress every day,” assures the Doctor.
Sydney rolls up her sleeve, feeling the world crushing down on her. What if she has full-blown AIDS? She knows it is virtually impossible, but she never knows, you never know what will or can happen in life.
Sydney feels the soft pin prick of the needle and grimaces. How had she ever been so stupid? Sydney sighs, watching at Dr. Hathaway finishes, sliding the needle from her skin again.
“All good, I will let you know the results moment I get them, but I don’t want you to worry,” says the doctor.
“Right, no worries,” smiles Sydney.