Chapter Eight: LoquaciousA Chapter by Joshua DonahueForbidden. As Evan returns to school the next day, he is partnered with Summer in chemistry where their relationship really takes off, gaining them an audience.
Previous Version This is a previous version of Chapter Eight: Loquacious. FORBIDDEN
BY: J O S H U A D O N A H U E
Chapter Eight Loquacious I
was feeling better the next day for Hale High---I wasn’t even sure if I was all
that sick, but at least it got me an excuse to procrastinate for a day. Of
course, I tried to act as if I was even sicker than before when my alarm went
off, but my mother caught me. It was at least worth a try though. The point
was, was that I had way too much on
my mind, that I didn’t even feel like dealing with it all just yet. One: the adjusting stage was still lingering with
me, so I wasn’t entirely sure if I was “crazy” or just plain stupid on some of
the things I had already witnessed. Two: the men on my father’s side of my family had
some kind of secret that has to do with their little “club” that they have
going on---not to mention the fact that they wanted me to join because they
weren’t too shy about exposing themselves to me. For all I know, they could be
killers. Three: there was something really, really weird---but
mesmerizing---about this strange girl named Summer. Plus not to mention her rude---but
very odd---friends. I mean, was Summer a freelancer or something who just swung
to whom ever she felt like? Because it was like one minute she didn’t want anything
to do with me, and the next…poof…she
pops up on my doorstep on the first day that I miss school. Odd. And four: the virus that Mitchell had explained to
me on my first day a Hale High was steadily growing into an epidemic. It’s been
plaguing around the city limits, and it’s killing people, and nobody knows what
it is or where it came from. But still, I really needed to focus on solving these
four things and learn why I was the only one that seemed to notice them. Regardless, life appeared to go on because when I
got to HHS; the school moved on like nothing had ever happened to me at all---which
just may have been the case (I wasn’t entirely sure). Still, talk of the
killings proceeded through school. I heard people saying: “Did you hear? Mr.
Wilson was found dead yesterday afternoon. I heard it was because of the virus,
but somebody said it was just a stroke.” There was even an announcement about
it. The information was vague just like the reports however, but they did say
that if the virus continued to spread like this, then school may be closed
until it’s safe again---which potentially every teenager leaped for joy about.
Of course, talks of the “plague” had been going on since I had arrived, but
things were…escalating, it had seemed. But that wasn’t the only thing that was
escalating. In chemistry class, Mr. Wallace reminded us of our
candy lab that Summer had informed me about, and he ordered us to pair up with
our partners. So I moved on up to the table with her and laid my books down
without a word being escaped from my mouth and allowing my nostrils to gather
her scent of Honeydew. But it was she that spoke first. “Hey, Evan!” she said gleefully. I was shocked. I mean, I know she came to my house
and all (which was a biggie for me), but the fact that she was speaking to me
at school, just blew my mind away. “Um…hey, what’s up?” I said skeptically. “How are you feeling? Better, I hope.” She did seem
to have concern written on her face, but it looked like a different version of
concern. “Uh…yeah, I’m feeling better. Just a minor sickness,
that’s all.” Then Mr. Wallace butted in: “Okay, class. I am going
to give you a sheet that explains everything that you need to do for this
experiment, so get the things you were told to bring today seeing as how the
school is currently suffering from lack of funds. Anyways, let’s see who can
get done the fastest, but with the best results. Now, go!” During the lab, we talked just like any other pair
of friends would. But during our conversations as we worked, I caught a few
eye-popping stares directed towards us; I think even a guy or two imagined
scorching me with fire because I got to work with Summer. It was a little awkward
at first because I barely even knew her, and yet, here she was talking to me
like we had known each other all of our lives, and that’s when my friendly side
opened right up to her like an open book. I told jokes, and she laughed at them, and vice
versa. We muttered a few things about school gossip---which I was sure we would
be in the middle of pretty soon, once word got around. “Can I ask you a question, Summer?” I asked her
while we were doing the candy thing, and while we were being pretty friendly
with one another. “Yeah. Sure. Go ahead.” “If you’re so friendly with me now, then why did you
and your friends act so rude the other day in the cafeteria?” I knew I was on
uneven ground now, but I didn’t really care because I was curious and still a
little skeptical about the whole thing. “As for my friends---well, they are always like that
to everyone. Rose especially. As for me---that’s complicated.” “Well, you can tell me,” I urged. “Well, I have to keep up pretenses. What would
people say if we started talking to one another?” she said. “Well, you’re talking to me now,” I pointed out. “True, but that’s different. Besides, we only have a
couple of days to be friends, so we just need to enjoy it while we can. Not ask
questions.” “What do you mean by ‘a couple of days to be friends’?” “Nothing. Just forget it.” I questioned her again about it, because my
stubborn, pig-headed self didn’t know when to quit. “No. Really. I wanna know
what you mean by that,” I said. “Look---Oh, crap! Our candy is well overdone.” She had put too much liquid in it, apparently, and
the candy was more like soup than a hard piece of flavored sweetness; it didn’t
smell sweet as it was supposed to, either. Then the bell rang. “Wanna walk with me to my locker? And then we can
walk together to algebra class,” she said. “Sure.” So I gathered my books and we walked out
together, and down the hall. I wanted to ask her again about what she had
meant. Maybe she was moving or something. As we walked side-by-side, I noticed that we had
gotten ourselves an audience: the entire student body. People were dropping
their jaws, doing double-takes, and staring at us out of disbelief. “You do know that everyone is staring at us, right?”
I whispered in her ear. “Who wouldn’t?” she giggled back. I smirked and walked on with her and down the school
hallway. * * * I,
being headstrong as ever, decided to ask Summer about what she had meant about
what she had said earlier, but it didn’t go so well. I kind of bugged her about
it. She got mad about it, and said that all I was doing was killing time for us
to be friends, and if I was just going to do that, then being friends probably
wasn’t a good idea at all. So, when she had made that clear to my brain, I
decided to let it go…for now. It was our lunch period now. Me and Summer had
walked to our classes together practically all day, so we were still hanging
out at school. We even decided to go to lunch as one. I urged Summer to sit
with me and my friends, but she declined by saying, “Not unless you wanna come
sit with me and my friends up top, and enjoy their very rude remarks and hatred
glares.” “Nah, I think I’ll pass. How about we just sit outside?
There aren’t as many eyeballs out there.” She agreed. So we went to go get our food at the lunch buffet,
and I caught a quick glimpse at the table that I was completely humiliated by
(her friends’ table) and I saw every one of her friends letting off anger
through their visions. It was like they were turned off by me for some reason.
Summer caught me looking at them and she merely said, “Just ignore them. I do.” “Why do they look like they wanna rip my head off
right now, though?” She laughed. “Well, one, cause you’re a guy, and
most of them think guys are a waste of time, especially the conniving guys. And
two, because they probably do wanna rip your head off.” “Oh, right.” I offered to buy Summer a plate, but she declined.
She said she would just get something from the vending machines outside. Still,
I loaded my plate down with enough food for two. As we walked outside I had learned my lesson about
looking at other people who were looking at us, so I didn’t even bother to look
at my friends’ table. Instead, me and Summer went outside, trying to ignore everyone
else---well, I was anyway. After she got her a Minute Maid and a packet of Skittles,
we sat down at one of the tables, ignoring the highly illuminated sun above us.
“So,”---I nudged the plate full of food in the
middle of us---“tell me about your friends that wanna kill me.” “I think torture you would best summarize it,” she
joked. “Nah, really, though, they might seem like horrible, rude creatures, but
they’re just worrying that’s all.” “Worrying?” “Yeah. We kind of stick together because we want to
look out for one another. We’re like family.” “Yeah. I’ve noticed.” “Okay enough about my friends. Tell me about you.” She didn’t want to dwell on the subject too long and
I didn’t want to force her, so I let it go. “What about me?” “Well, you’re a guy who just showed up into Hale,
and whom I am befriending, and I know nothing about you. Like where did you
come from? What’s your family like?” “Yeah. Talking to strangers, especially teenager
ones, can be really dangerous in a place like this,” I said with a little
sarcasm to be funny. “You never know.” She smiled at me. It was a
beautiful smile. One that lit up her face and was showing me that she enjoyed
my company. “Okay. Well, I was born in San Francisco,
California. My mother is Elana Woods, and my father was Samuel Woods. My life
was exciting and was one big thrill in California. I lived in range of everything
fun to do. School was great, but the beach was even better. It was one of those
cities that never got too hot or too cold, you know? Like it was spring all
year long.” “If everything was good there, then why did you move
way out here?” She wasn’t snooty or unhappy about it, just curious. “Well…it’s complicated, really.” “I may not be the smartest girl in the world, but I
am sure I will understand,” she said grabbing a Tater-Tot from the food tray
and nibbling it; her other hand handed me some Skittles. “Well, see my father was a construction worker in
San Francisco, and he was always busy. He owned his own construction business,
in fact. Anyways, about six months ago, he---There was an accident. It was a
fatal accident and my father died. See, my father and mother grew up here in
Hale. So we moved here.” By now we had eaten the entire pack of Skittles
together, and the plate of food was still pretty loaded with only a chicken
nugget or two gone, along with a few Tatter-Tots. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to---” “It’s okay. It is what it is. It’s all a part of the
past now, so I try not to look back.” And that was the truth. “Well, let’s change the subject, shall we?” “Sure.” At that moment, a small group of teenagers were
going back inside with empty trays, and I could hear a few minor conversations
from in the cafeteria, and one of them was about the virus, which gave me an
idea for our next topic. “Hey, what’s the deal with this whole ‘virus thing’
going on?” I asked. “I don’t―know. I have only heard about it in the
papers and stuff.” She looked a little too guilty. “Does this sort of stuff happen all the time?” “Usually, no. But it’s a part of life.” “Oh. It’s just…weird.” “Well, this is Hale,” she said with a laugh at her
intended pun. I gave a small laugh too. Then the bell rang signaling for us to return back
inside with all those ignoring gawks that people made at us for hanging out
together. After we disposed of our trash and emptied our tray,
we walked back across the cafeteria and out into the hallways of Hale High.
Luckily, we both had lounging period after lunch, and Summer and I decided to
sit with one another in the courtyard. But as we were heading towards it, Luke
walked up with his cousin (and technically my cousin too), Derek. “Hey, guys, what’s up?” I said casually. But Luke and Derek didn’t really look in the conversation
mood. Their expressions were tense and their fists were balled. At first, I
thought they were looking at me, but they were actually looking at Summer; she
was reacting with the same intensity as them. The trio stared one another right
in the eye like they were having a mental conversation or something, until
Summer abruptly turned to me. “I’m really sorry, Evan, but I got to go. I will
talk to you later, okay? Bye,” she said hurriedly. “Go? But---”But she was already gone down the
hallway. Luke and Derek both stared after her until she
rounded the corner and out of sight. Luke and Derek’s fists eased up as well as their
tension. Then Luke said with force and a hint of anger, “What the hell were you doing with her?” “Just hanging out. Why?” “Why?
Because---Because she is not to be messed with, that’s why!?” Derek just stood motionless behind his cousin. “Says who?” “Says---the entire school, that’s who. She could be
dangerous, and you don’t even know anything about her!” “She isn’t dangerous. She’s just a girl, Luke.
Jesus, what’s the matter with you?” Luke took a deep breath as if to recompose himself
and said, “Sorry, Evan. But I am just looking out for you. There are tons of
rumors about that girl and her friends, and none of them are good.” “Well, I appreciate your concern, but it’s really
none of your business.” Luke looked like he wanted to say something else,
but Derek butted in, “Look. Just don’t get too attached to her, okay? You can’t
trust her. Just be careful, alright?” “ ‘Kay,” I muttered indifferently. They were really
getting on my nerves, regardless if they were related to me. Then Derek pulled Luke away; they both headed down
the hallway, whispering in low murmurs. That was weird, I thought. Not only was Luke freaking out, but that
weird encounter that Summer had with them was totally off the charts. It was
like two enemies staring at one another waiting for their opponent to make a
move. Now things were heating up a bit around this town,
but I didn’t know if I liked the temperature that it was heating up to.
© 2010 Joshua DonahueAuthor's Note
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2 Reviews Added on July 31, 2010 Last Updated on July 31, 2010 Tags: forbidden, chapter, eight, loquacious, love, supernatural, romance, Evan, Woods, paranormal, werewolves, high, school, teenager, teen, nymphs Previous Versions AuthorJoshua DonahueJefferson, SCAboutUPDATE! 06.27.13 Hello, WritersCafe! I realize that I have abandoned my account since the summer of 2013. Since then I have started college, and I have experienced... a lot. However, this does no.. more..Writing
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