[ 26 ] 2013

Calum was slowly driving himself to the point of insanity, immersed in his books, trying desperately to find an answer. He stopped eating, he stopped sleeping, he no longer had time for that. He was exhausted, dark circles painted his undereyes. The only time in which he could find some rest was when the words in his books became too blurry to make out and his head throbbed in pain and the black marks which created words on a page all blended into intelligable blotches of an unreadable mess. That was when he would collapse on his desk, his forehead pressed against the cool dark wood for an approximate twenty minutes before his alarm would sound, announcing the new school day.

Harley noticed it. And she felt bad for the raven haired boy, though she could not understand his reasons for doing what he was doing. As far as she knew, she was perfectly happy with Jack. But that was all on the surface. Her love for him was artificial, despite her thoughts on it being real.

"Hey," She tapped his arm to get his attention while Jack had gone to the main office to fill out some forms and meet with the counselor about what extracurriculars he was doing. Whilst their teacher read them a scene from Hamlet, in which Ophelia becomes mad and drowns, Calum was using that time to catch some sleep. He had plenty about delusional people when it came to Harley. Ophelia and Hamlet were just going to have to wait. With his head down on his desk, and Harley not paying attention to him, he thought it was a perfect opportunity to zone out for a while. When he lifted his head to look at her, she continued, "Ashton told me you've been going through all this trouble to help me."

Calum scoffed. "So you talk to Ashton now?"

As though she hadn't heard his words, she said, "But you don't have to help me. I'm perfectly happy the way I am now."

"You're not." Calum told her. "You're not happy, you just don't know it."

"So now you know when I'm happy and when I'm not?" She eyed him with an eyebrow raised in question.

The teacher looked right at both of them and cleared his throat to get their attention. When neither of them turned, he resorted to calling their names. "Calum, Harley," He began, setting his book down on one of the empty desks and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Since the two of you are so very interested in talking, why don't the two of you come read this dialogue between Hamlet and Ophelia?"

"I'd rather not." Harley shook her head.

But the teacher gestured for the two of them to go in the center of the room. "Come on."

Calum rolled his eyes and got up from his seat. Harley hesitated for a moment, but soon left her seat. She was thankful that their class was small, with nine students, and that she wouldn't have to perform the scene in front of more people. Cindy clapped for her friend happily, trying to encourage her, but it only served to make Harley more embarrassed.

The teacher handed them each a copy of the story and they opened it to the correct page. Before they could begin, the teacher explained, "In this scene, Hamlet talks with Ophelia and makes her believe that he is no longer in love with her. After their conversation, Ophelia becomes mad. Okay, Harley and Calum, begin..."

"Uh," Calum looked at the old english words on the page. "Are you honest?"

"My lord?" She read off her book.

"Are you fair?" He continued.

Their scene continued in a back and forth conversation between Ophelia and Hamlet. The teacher stopped them every few lines, asking them to sound more alive because they sounded dead.

"I loved you not." Calum was asked to repeat the line for the tenth time. But he couldn't find a way to say it convincingly enough. The truth was he did love Harley. Saying otherwise, even if it was reading off a book, didn't feel right to him.

"I was the more decieved." She read.

And after a few more lines, the teacher let them return to their seats. When Harley sat back down, she whispered to Cindy, "Oh my gosh, that was so embarrassing."

Calum rolled his eyes. It seemed the more time she spent with Jack and the popular kids, she was sounding more and more like Cindy Hemmings.

At lunch, Calum went to sit with Niall and Andrea. As they ate, they watched the populars pass them by. Harley was with them, and Hazel was with them as well. Luke walked by Hazel's side, talking to her about something amusing because she was smiling wide. Andrea commented. "Its funny how Luke doesn't want Harley anymore, but you still have no chance with her."

Calum didn't even retaliate. He was too tired to do so.

Surprised at this, Andrea observed. "This is really affecting you, isn't it? You didn't even flinch after what I said."

The raven haired boy shrugged.

A line from a song his mom used to play when he was a child was repeating in his mind.

How will I ever wake up if you're no longer here?

"What if we help you get her back?" Niall suggested.

Calum raised an eyebrow at him. "How would you do that?"

"Remember how you suggested, various times, that Jack should die?" Niall began to explain. It was something difficult, but with three of them taking part in it, he thought it could work. "Maybe we could kill him, and then you could bring his soul back, just like you did with Luke. Their bond will only last as long as Jack is alive. So, we kill Jack, the bond breaks, and we bring him back. Easy."

"But then he would need the blood of an original to live..." Calum pointed out.

"Exactly." Niall grinned. "And then he could just fuze his own blood."

A smile appeared on Calum's lips in that instant. "Niall, you're a genius!"

"I know." said the Irish boy proudly.

"Now here's another flaw to your plan." Andrea told the two boys, remembering an important detail about Jack Quimby. When they two looked at her, their smiles dropping, she continued, "His special ability is healing. So, if you stab him, he can just heal himself and he'll be okay."

"Not if we paralyze him with chrysanthemum." Niall countered.

"And if we paralyze him," Andrea said, thinking of the others. She knew that as his sister, Hazel could get in the way of their plans to stop them. Then there was Harley, who was delusionally in love with Jack. If anything were to happen to him, she would probably interfere. And others who could spoil the plan were the hunters: Michael, Dempsey, and Paul. "We need to paralyze all of them, or else they could interfere."

But Calum had an idea that he was sure could work. "We could get them all at Paul and Dempsey's house, under the excuse that we found a way to help Harley, a way that doesn't involve killing Jack. Then Niall will bring the cookies he baked, which will be laced with chrysanthemum."

"Why me?" Niall argued.

"Because no one will believe Calum and I are nice enough to bake cookies. They'll never suspect you." Andrea explained. And she was right. Of the three, Niall was the most kind hearted.

The three continued planning over their lunch hour and agreed they would get everything ready in a couple of days. In the mean time, they would all act as though nothing were happening. They needed to stay under the radar if they wanted their plan to be successful.

-

finally an update. i had so many things to do. finals, and all this studying for them. but in the end it paid off because i got all A's and one C. HONOR ROLL...and now i have summer school, and a summer job, and my sister's wedding coming up. i am not trying to excuse myself because i've been a terrible author, i would just like to apologize. AND GUYS, MY TEAM MADE IT TO THE LIGAMX PLAY OFFS. TODAY IS THE FIRST PART OF THE SEMI FINAL, AND THE SECOND PART IS ON SUNDAY. if my team does well today, i can guarantee there will be an update tomorrow because i'll be in a great mood. GOOO CHIVAS!

i swear if my team wins the final (the last time they won was in 2006), i will fucking twist & shout. it will be the greatest moment in my life. because when they won in 2006, i don't really remember it since i was like ten years old. this time i would truly enjoy it. and they have to win so that they can be tied in number of trophies with club america. chivas deserves it.

anyway, thank you all for continuing to read and vote and supporting this story. it means so much to me.

i love you.

-clary xx