The lunch room was filled to the brim with kids, like always. I had to shove my way through a large crowd just to get to our table.
"Alice! Buddy!" Zoe shouted from the table.
"Hey." I replied, sitting down.
"Did you see the counselor today?" Skyler asked.
I nodded.
They seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk about it, and went on with their day.
"Al, are you coming with us to go dress shopping?" Zoe asked.
"Maybe, when are you guys going?" I asked.
"Saturday." Skyler replied.
"Yeah, then I can." I replied.
The two of them stiffened.
"What can you do?" Max asked while sitting in the spot next to me.
"Go dress shopping with them on Saturday." I replied.
He tried to look innocent. "I'm free Saturday."
"What's happening Saturday?" Demetri asked while sitting next to Max.
I rolled my eyes.
"I heard we were doing something this Saturday." Peter said, sitting next to Demetri.
I face palmed.
"No, Skyler, Zoe, and I are going somewhere Saturday. I don't know what you guys are doing." I said to the three of them.
"I know where you live." Demetri replied.
"No dip! You live with her." Max said. "Oh, and I know where you live too."
"Whoa, that's awkward, you live with your girlfriend?" Peter asked Demetri.
"Hold up, you dated him?" Max asked me.
I nodded.
"And Peter, I broke up with him." I said.
"Yeah, I'm still confused on why you did that." Demetri said.
"Hmm, maybe it's because you're cousins!" Max exclaimed.
"Wait, Demetri and Alice are related?" Peter asked.
"Well, yeah that's why I said it." Max replied.
Peter mumbled something like, "That's messed up."
Everyone was silent for a minute before Max said,
"Hey, we could always, follow them."
"Or you could stay at home and leave us alone." I added to their conversation.
Then someone hugged me from behind.
"Autumn?"
She giggled.
Then, taking one look at Demetri, she whispered,
"Keep me strong lord, don't freak out, don't freak out."
Max was fighting a laugh, and Demetri just continued to sit there with a bewildered look on his face.
"Oh spare me." Peter said as he got up to leave.
Autumn took Peter's spot, which was right next to Demetri.
Just as she sat down some chic came bounding over.
She had the shortest skirt on that I've ever seen, a pink skin tight shirt, that only came down to about two inches above her belly button. Her long blonde hair was straightened to an extreme extent, and her face clearly had pounds of make-up on it. And just to top it off, she had eyes that were the perfect shade of blue, and they seemed to sparkle. Basically, she had the face a model would die for.
I expected her to talk to Demetri, but she instead went to Max.
She literally came up to me, bumped me off my seat, and sat down. Then she laid her head on Max's shoulder. With her right hand she was playing with his hair, and the other was holding on to his arm.
"Hey gorgeous." She said.
Oh great, she has an amazing voice too.
"Hi angel." He replied.
Hold up. Angel?
I was too baffled to notice Zoe's outstretched hand, waiting to help me off the ground.
I stood on my own, anger fueling my actions.
He's gonna let that chic treat me like that?
I was mad. No, I was ticked. This chic thinks she can just come waltzing up, push me off of my seat, then steal my friend? Nope, nada, not gonna happen.
Instead of doing the million things I had listed in my head, I did something that I have never imagined doing.
Jay walked past, and I grabbed his arm, pulling him over to our table. Zoe, Autumn, and Skyler gave me questioning looks, and both Max and Demetri perked up, their faces unreadable.
"Jay, are you going to the dance?" I asked.
What are you doing! My mind shouted at me.
He nodded.
"Well I was wondering if you'd go with me." I said.
Max's eyes widened, Demetri's jaw dropped, Autumn, Zoe, and Skyler blinked in surprise, and the one girl kept playing with Max's hair.
"Sure." He replied, a smile crossing his face. "See ya later, Alice."
With that he turned, and walked away.
Max stood up, nearly knocking the girl on the floor. She squealed then readjusted herself on the chair.
"What the heck was that?!" Max shouted.
"What, it's not like I'm not single or something. And you clearly have a stinking model kissing the dirt-covered ground you walk on. So why does it matter if I asked Jay to the dance, you clearly have a date." I snapped back. "You even have lovely nicknames for each other. Gorgeous and Angel, together forever. Seriously, why'd you even waste your time flattering me and leading me on?"
This foreign feeling filled my chest. What was that, jealousy? No, I'm not jealous of "angel", am I?
"Leading you on? Alice, I wasn't—"
"Save it. I'm done." I finished.
I started walking away. I didn't know where, I was just walking.
I felt this pull, tugging me, telling me to turn right, then left, winding down an endless hallway.
It felt like it was controlling me. Making me angrier and angrier, telling me to find someone to talk to me. To help me with my problems, to fix everything.
The want to find someone suddenly became a need. I need to find this person. Where are they. They must help me, they have to help me.
The pull abruptly stopped. I was in the middle of a dark hallway, it looked as if it wasn't used whatsoever.
Where are you?! I mind screamed.
"Alice!" A voice called out.
I spun around to see Jay walking toward me.
"Hey," he continued, grabbing my hand. "I wanted to show you something. Come on!"
He started down the hall, dragging me along with him.
We stopped in another dark hallway, but this one had four sets of lockers on the walls.
Jay let go of my hand, and started working on one of the the lockers combination. The door opened with a screeching noise, to reveal what looked like...an experiment.
Before I knew what was happening, big, strong arms shot out from behind me and wrapped around me, keeping me from moving.
Jay grabbed a large syringe filled with orange liquid from the locker, and with a swift motion he jabbed the needle into my right arm.
Something that felt like a cool blanket washed over me, then it was replaced by the scorching flames of a thousand suns.
I cried out.
"Peter, shut her up while I get this ready." Jay snapped.
Peter?
One of the hands covered my mouth.
The fire was replaced with this empty feeling inside of me, and my gut told me that it had no intention of going away.
Jay sprayed some sort of liquid onto a rag, then looked at me.
"You're probably wondering what I injected you with. It's a special syrum designed to temporarily disable your powers for five to six hours. And this..." He said while pressing the rag to my face. His words suddenly became muffled and distant, but still audible. "is to put you to sleep."
A sudden drowsiness came over me, and I became limp in Peter's arms, fighting for consciousness.
"I'm sorry, Alice." Jay said. "But a deal with Rufus isn't easily undone."
With one last breath I collapsed completely, feeling betrayed and hurt.
And my last thought was of Max, and how happy he looked with that girl.
The jealousy came hard and fast, and I knew we'd never come close to that.
Then all I wanted was to hear his voice as he rescued me from my captors. Fighting, for me. Wanting me to survive. Pulling me into his warm embrace.
Then sleep consumed me.
And Max never came.