Ariana could feel that she had broken out into a cold sweat. Her heart rate increased and the colour from her face drained until she was a ghostly white. "We need to get out of here." She whispered to the girls. They all agreed and rushed off towards cla.s.s. While Lobo closely followed behind her. He stopped and looked at the bulletin board. His eyes grew wide. He quickly grabbed the story and ripped off. He shoved the posting into his pocket before resuming his stalker behaviour."Who would have done this?" Halina asked as she took her seat in homeroom. "I don"t know but I don"t think we should be advertising that we are interested in that story. You never know who might be listening." Ariana whispered as loudly as she dared, scanning the room for any suspicious behaviour.
"Why? It"s not a big deal. No one is getting hurt or causing any harm.... Except after you explained the story further it did make me feel awful about myself." Halina grumbled as she looked at Ariana from underneath her eyelashes. "That"s the problem. There are people who know the meaning of the story. I thought it was weird that so many people were debating about it this morning and now I see why." Ariana whispered with urgency.
"It"s just like you said it"s an eye opener." Edlyn said as she furrowed her brows. "Why should you worry? Halina"s right no one is getting hurt so it"s not a problem." Edlyn continued as she looked up at Ariana"s face. "It"s just a story. Let people talk. They"ll forget it soon." Talisha said as she patted Ariana"s shoulder.
"Words can move people though. What happens if it turns into something ugly?" Ariana asked with a small awkward laugh. "But how ugly can it get? People are weird and I don"t think they will really react over a story about unconditional love. Unless they were some sort of nut job that takes things too far you don"t have to worry." Halina pointed out as a small mocking laugh left her lips.
"Maybe you"re right. Maybe I"m thinking too much or being extra sensitive about it." Ariana said as she calmed down and took her seat. "See! So relax. Talisha"s right it will die down soon." Halina said as she swelled with pride. She finally got something right but missed Ariana"s expression. Something inside Ariana was nagging at her and she couldn"t help but feel that she needed to be careful.
...
Ariana sighed as she reviewed her notes one last time in her room. It had already been a few days and the Giving Tree story had still been a hot topic. It had even reached the faculty and been discussed in cla.s.s. She had gotten used to Lobo and Cayden sticking to her like glue and Edlyn trying to monopolize her attention but something was still off.
With a groan Ariana gathered her notes together then put them back in to her bag. Everyone had already fallen asleep, her Lumas were piled up in their bed and her roommates familiars were fast asleep. Ariana stared at Ophelia hoping to get her to just give her some sort of sign that Otis was willing to talk to her.
Ophelia was deeply sleeping and refused to stir. Ariana dropped her gaze to her hands and wondered if she had built up enough energy to finally heal her Lumas. She closed her eyes and looked inside herself. Standing in front of the podiums she looked at her chibi starbursts. They looked happy to see her but when she took a step closer they all backed away, as far as they could. "Still no good?" Ariana asked helplessly.
Her little starbursts looked down pitifully. "That"s okay maybe in a couple of more days." Ariana said before she opened her eyes. With a heavy sigh she looked back and absentmindedly stared out the window. She wanted to go out for a walk but knew better then to risk her life with the indigo mist creature lurking outside. With a shudder she grabbed her hoodie and slipped it on. She wasn"t ready for bed and she couldn"t go outside so she decided to go to the common area and see if anyone else was up.
She walked out of the room quietly then closed the door behind her as gently as she could. She then walked down the corridor, down the stairs and looked around. No in was in the foyer. With a sigh she turned to the left. She walked down the hall until she reached the gla.s.s door that lead to the common room. There was a group of girls whispering feverishly in a corner on then overly plush, red velvet, sofa and love seats.
However the moment Ariana stepped in the common room the girls stopped talking and looked at her instead. Their glares were cold and vicious, like a pack of wild cats staring down a trespa.s.ser who wondered on to their turf.
"Hi." Ariana said as she brought her hand up and wiggled her fingers. "Ariana?" Vera called out. Ariana let out a sigh of relief when she saw her stand up from the group. Ariana walked up to them happily but the look Vera gave her warned her not to get too close. Ariana stopped in her tracks. "So what are you doing up?" She asked instead, trying to cover up her awkwardly abrupt walking.
"Nothing much." Vera replied. "Just some late night gossiping." Another girl shouted overtop of Vera. "Oh..." Ariana said. Ariana felt really awkward and looked at Vera for help. Vera tried to send a message to Ariana with her eyes. "Actually it"s not so much gossip more like a debate that is keeping us up." A fair skinned girl said as she stood up and place a hand on Vera"s shoulder. Vera"s eyes turned into panic as the word leave appeared.
Ariana took a step back and pointed behind her with her thumb. "Sorry I interrupted you guys. I saw the light and thought I would say hi. So hi.and bye. I"m going to check the want laundry room and see if it"s free. You know, early bird gets to do laundry." Ariana said as she let out a cringe worthy awkward laugh. She died inside she wanted to facepalm herself. "No rush. Why not stick around?" The girls said.