School Days Chapter Ten: Day

.-*-.

Peggy woke up in a good mood. She put on her tight shirt and pencil skirt and brushed her now short strawberry blonde hair while whistling a country song. Her roommate, Amisi Hasson, watched Peggy as she put on her niqab.

“You look happy to day,” Amisi told her.

Peggy shrugged. “I am happy today.”

“Why?”

The southern girl shrugged. “It’s just one of those days.”

Peggy walked out of their shared dorm room, Amisi screamed, and Peggy’s vision went white.

It was just one of those days.

.-*-.
“Two kids died the other day. Blu Tirips and Diamond Neknarf,” Hecate told them as she sat down.

Kami looked up from her homework. “Blue diamond!”

Hecate nodded. “They died the day we we’re at the house.”

“Why did you guys choose that place?” Kami asked.

Sid shrugged. “Mira got an e-mail suggesting it. I hate foreign languages, what the hell did I write?”

Spirit looked up from his fantasy book. “You sent us there because of an email? And that says ‘I love that dress. May I try on your panties?’”

Franken looked away from his homework. “Spirit, what’s an e-mail?” Sid swore and started to erase the sentence he wrote.

Kami frowned at Spirit. “How do know French?”

Spirit turned to Franken. “I’ll show you later.” He then turned to Kami. “And that’s none of your bee’s wax.”

“Guys…”

Anger flared in Kami’s eyes and Sid started to mutter to himself.

“Guys!”

Everyone in the library turned to stare at Hecate, who ignored them. Spirit, Franken, Sid and Kami looked at her in surprise. Hecate wrote something down on a piece of paper. “Look at the last names of the two children that were killed.”

They all glanced at the words. “I don’t get it,” Sid said before going back to his homework. Kami glared at it, refusing to let it beat her.

Franken glanced at it before going back to his homework. “Their last names are mine and Spirits’ first names backwards.”

Kami blushed and glared at Franken, while Spirit’s face went pale and Sid looked up from his work. “You’re right.”

“Who e-mailed you?” Spirit croaked at Sid.

“I’ve got to go,” Hecate announced and jogged away.

Sid shrugged. “Their e-mail was ‘Raventale@gmail.com-” Sid was cut off by Spirit leaping over the table and chasing Hecate out of the building.

.-*-.
Today is a wonderful day to be alive, Laurence thought. He was very much enjoying her new found freedom. His head swirled as he tried to take in all the new views, and something beautiful caught his eye.

She was sitting in an ice cream shop called Death by the Cream. She wasn’t wearing her usual red flannel button up, but instead a black long sleeved t-shirt with a day-of-the-dead skull print on it. Her pants weren’t her usual boot-cut. They were very baggy jeans, and her cowboy boots were sitting next to her on the seat. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a pony tail.

He crossed the street and was almost hit by a car because he couldn’t tare his eyes away from the full-wall window.

This isn’t good, he thought as he walked in and sat across from Victoria.
She glared at him, letting him know he wasn’t welcome, but he didn’t move.
“Take off your shoes,” she told him.

Laurence blinked. “Excuse me?”

She pointed to a sigh behind the colorful counter. All shoes much be removed after seating.

“Why?” Laurence asked.

Victoria shrugged. “Don’t know, but unless you want a head of strawberry syrup hair I would do it.”

Laurence sighed and took off his shoes. “People in this city are strange.”
Victoria watched as he placed his shoes on the chair next to him. “That’s Death City for you.”

They sat in silence until Laurence shifted uncomfortable. “So, do you know him?”

Victoria leaned her head on her hand. “Who?”

“Lord Death.”

She groaned and looked out the window. “Yeah, I know him.”

“So… what’s he like?”

Victoria thought about it. “He’s funny, but a bit fake.”

“Oh.”

Suddenly her head turned sharply. “Here comes Orange Blossom. Don’t talk about her stripper name.”

Laurence tilted his head. “’Stripper name’?”

“Excuse me?”

The red-eyed man turned his head towards the voice, only for a hand to send it back the other way.

“I’m just teasing,” Orange Blossom laughed as Laurence rubbed his sore cheek. “Not funny.”
The waitress pulled out a pen and a pad of paper. “The usual Viki?”

“Yep.”

“What about you handsome?”

Laurence blushed and flipped thought the thick menu. “Is this all just ice cream?”

“Well?”

“Ummm….”

“He’ll have a Groove Smoothie, and then to finish it off we’ll share a Chaco Volcano.”

Orange smiled. “Nice choice.” and she walked off.

Laurence turned to her, curiosity in his red eyes. “‘Groovy Smoothie’?”

“A vanilla fruity thing. I think you’ll like it.”

A pale hand raked though messy black hair. “‘Chaco Volcano’?”

Victoria smiled for the first time that day. “A mountain of chocolate ice cream dressed in molten hot fudge. I’ve always wanted to try it, but I would never be able to finish it.”
Laurence smiled, and the door broke open.

“Spirit, you’ve been chasing me for hours,” Hecate growled as she ran up to the counter.

“Hi, I would like a medium sea-salt chocolate and bacon.”

Spirit ran into Hecate and knocked her to the floor. “Small Death by Strawberry please,” he managed before Hecate tackled him.

The bell rang again and Sid, Franken and Kami walked in, stared at the fighting Hecate and Spirit, and walked around them to get to the counter.

Victoria rubbed her face. “Idiots.”

Laurence watched the redhead and the black-and-green haired teens scratched, bit, and roll along the floor. “Do you know them?”

“My students. Oy!”

The two students stopped fighting and started at the double green eyed woman. “This is an ice cream shop. You wanna fight go outside.”

Orange walked between Spirit and Hecate and sat down a tie-dye smoothie in front of Laurence and a bowl of chocolate in front of Victoria. “Groovier Smoothie and Eight Layered Chocolate Killer. Enjoy.”

Victoria picked up her spoon and set into her ice cream. “I love this place.”

.-*-.
Peggy ran. It was almost noon; hours after Nygus had that bucket of paint drop on her. She was the most hated person in the girl dorms, if not the whole school.

So she ran. And cried. And almost was knocked over by Malcolm, who was walking out of an alley at the time.

“Peggy? What’s wrong?” the south African man asked.

She took a shuttering breath. “I did something stupid.”

He chuckled and looked back at the alley. “We all do. I will walk you back to your dorm.”

She smiled and nodded, and they started to walk. “Death Scythe?”

“Oh?”

She nodded at his neck. “Did ya get into a fight? You got a bruise on your neck.”

Malcolm blushed and touched his neck. “It is nothing. It will fade soon.”

Peggy nodded and wiped her eyes. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

.-*-.
“So do you really think that’s his name?”

Spirit gave Hecate a long look. Sid and Kami had ditched them after Hecate threatened to de-underwear anyone who tried to interrupt their fight (after of course they got out of the ice cream shop) and the fight got less amusing after Spirit pushed Hecate into an old lady walking three small dogs, so they left, which left Franken, Spirit and Hecate.

Not that it mattered. The fight stopped as soon as Sid and Kami were out of sight.

“Who?” Spirit asked. They were sitting on top of a large building watching the sun fall asleep. Every so often Franken would wander too close to the edge and Spirit would have to pull him back. That had lasted until Spirit grabbed Franken around the middle and forced him to sit in the older boys lap.

“Laurence Shirei. Sounds fake to me, so I already sent a photo to the friend, so I should have the answer back soon.”

“Does it matter?” Franken asked darkly. Spirit and Hecate exchanged looks of surprise.

“I… guess not.”

Spirit smirked. “Hecate has a problem of getting into other peoples’ business.”

“Hey!”

Franken growled. “You guys are weird,” he said as he struggled to get out of Spirit’s lap
.
.-*-.

“Sorry,” Victoria laughed as Laurence up chucked again. “Here,” she reached to take his hat so she could pull back his hair.

“No!”

Victoria blinked, and then shrugged. “Fine. Not my fault if you can’t hold your chocolate.”

Laurence moaned. “So… much… ice cream…”

“Maybe now you’ll be smart enough to stay away from me.”

Laurence laughed before vomiting again. “I don’t think so.”

Victoria stared at him. “I have to go.”

“Victoria?”

As she left she waved a hand. “Call me Vici, or Tori, or Vick. ‘Victoria’ is way too long, and really only one person calls me that.”

Laurence opened his mouth to call after her, but his head ended up in the trash can again. When he looked up she was gone.

.-*-.
Malcolm waited for Victoria to cross his path before following her. “How was your date?”
She snorted. “It wasn’t a date. What’s up?”

Malcolm smiled and stepped in front of her. “Random Break-in Movie Night!”

Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose. “The whole point of Random Break-in Movie Night is that you don’t tell me.”

Malcolm smiled. “It isn’t at your house.”

“Who’s then?”

“Lord Death’s.”

Victoria crossed her arms. “You’re going to break into Lord Death’s manor?”

“We’re going to break into Lord Death’s manor.”

“Ah.”

“Yep.”

“Well fuck. Let’s go.”

.-*-.
Almost five hours later Victoria was asleep and Malcolm’s voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

“You should tell her.”

Lord Death sighed. “And if I do?”

Malcolm bit his lip. “She’ll call you crazy. She wouldn’t believe you.”

“I know."

“Plus she’s hanging around with that tall guy.”

“Oh.”

Malcolm sighed and shook Victoria awake. “Time to go.” A groggy Victoria followed Malcolm out the door and they left, leaving Lord Death alone. The reaper only sighed.

“He forgot his movie.”
.-*-.