The Death Clock: chapter 8

 

Cat's POV

8

I listened to Isaac on the way to school. He talked about how he liked living with me, how he was so fortunate to have met me. The one thing I wanted him to talk about he didn’t. He never talked about it. I took a long look at Isaac out of the corner of my eye.

Isaac was tall. He was handsome, rugged from living on the streets. His skin was a deathly white. His hair was dark, I was unsure if it was brown or black. Or it had been dark. His hair was slowly paling. Day by day, it paled, unnoticed even by Isaac himself. What did this man think about?

He was so shy, too. Isaac acted awkward just seeing me in a nightgown. I didn’t shut down when I saw him in bedclothes. Let alone with his shirt off. I remember when he said he liked me, too. He said he never wanted to leave me, never again. But he surely didn’t like me the way I liked him.

I had known since the moment that I had met him. When I looked into his dark eyes that had seen too much, I had known. I was going to become close to this boy. I just hadn’t known how close. It made me very upset when I remembered that Isaac had seen me in my underwear and had refused to look at me. I had thought he thought I was ugly. It made me cross that day and it still did when I remembered it.

My eyes snapped open when I felt hands grab me around the waist and chest, pulling me back hard. I fell back on someone before I saw a stretch-Hummer fly past. I looked at the person under me. It was a girl wearing an outfit similar to mine.

The girl was slightly taller than I was. She had thin eyebrows, perched above oval blue eyes that had flecks of gold in them that were on either side of a small nose that had been broken multiple times. Her face was narrow and her mouth was small, full of near perfect teeth, the canines slightly longer than they should have been. Her brown hair went to just below her shoulders and hair covered one eye, the ends of all her hair faded green, not entirely taken out. Her small arms were surprisingly firm, covered in thin, wiry muscle.

"You’re welcome," she said in a voice that was a few notes deeper than a normal girl’s voice. It wasn’t masculine, she definitely sounded like girl. "You and your boyfriend here almost got taken out. You should pay closer attention to the streets."

"Umm… Thank you. Would you mind letting go of me? You’re hurting my chest." I said to the mysterious girl.

She let go of me and together we stood up, Isaac giving me a hand. The girl stood up and brushed the dirt off her outfit. Isaac turned to her, "Thank you for helping Cat. Ow, what was that for." Isaac was on the ground. After he had offered the girl his hand, she grabbed it, pulled him towards her, and landed a sharp punch on the side of his head.

"That’s for not helping this girl," she nailed him again on the top of the head, "And that’s for not helping me up." I just stood there unsure of what to do. The girl helped me, but then she hit Isaac. I did what came naturally, standing up for him. "Hey! Stop. Don’t hit him. Isaac’s arm is broken. He couldn’t have helped even if he wanted too. Who are you anyways?"

The girl looked at Isaac, then to me. "The name’s Valerie. I’m head of the disciplinary system at Paradise High. Nice to meet ya." She pulled Isaac to his feet.

"I’m Cody Turner, but call me Cat. This is Isaac, my-" I started to say before Valerie cut me off.

"Boyfriend?"

I said "No," at the same time Isaac said "Yes." We looked at each other bewildered. Valerie was the kind of girl to only hear what she wanted it seemed.

"Really? Well In that case," she turned to Isaac and put a hand on his. "I’m Valerie Lovelace. Nice to meet you. Want to go get lunch later?"

"No, he doesn’t. Do you Isaac?" I said, spitefully. I suddenly didn’t like this girl. If this is how everyone acted around him, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t like many girls at school.

"Well, if you’re not her boyfriend… then I guess you won’t mind if I do this." She stood up taller and when I moved to separate them, she turned around, while grabbing the back of my head, and kissed me. Right on the lips. She held the kiss for the three seconds that I was stunned. She pulled away from me and smiled.
"You’re really cute, you know. Maybe you would like dinner tonight."

A hand appeared on Valerie’s shoulder. "No. She. Wouldn’t," Isaac’s voice said. It was like steel, laced with venom, yet still at a normal volume. Isaac never yelled, and in this instance, it made him all the more terrifying. Normally Valerie, perhaps, would have turned and said something sarcastic. But when Isaac spoke like that, nobody messed with him. I’ve seen grown men, businessmen and bodybuilders alike, back away and bow their heads when Isaac got angry. He wasn’t Isaac when he was like this; he was someone to be afraid of. Even I felt chills. "Apologize to Cat. Now."

An emotion that didn’t look right on her face spread across it. I could tell she didn’t recognize the feeling. I could supply a few names for it. Fear, Terror. Valerie looked me in the eyes and I could see her thinking, save me. "I’m sorry." She said, her lip trembling as she spoke.

"Good," Isaac said as he applied slight, barley more than an ounce of, pressure on Valerie’s shoulder. Involuntarily, her arm rose. Isaac’s hand flew under it and I thought for a moment that he would punch her in the side. He once told me of a nerve that, when hit, sent the pressure to the lungs. My eyes opened wide when I saw Valerie’s face. Then she burst out laughing, falling to her knees, giggling while yelling, ‘Stoppit’ over and over.

Isaac's hand was on her side and was tickling her. This was his way of lightening the mood. I looked around. I saw a parked car across the street, headlights on in the dim morning light. I looked through the slightly tinted window and nearly choked. I could have sworn, without a doubt, that Keizer was driving that car. I could have sworn he had even winked. Before I could look again, I was pulled down to the grass as well, and ended up laughing just as hard as Valerie was.

When none of us could breathe, Isaac helped us to our feet. I looked over and the car was gone. There was no sign it had ever been there. Isaac, walking up behind me, put his arms around my neck and put his head on mine. "What are you looking at, Cat?"

"Nothing. Thought I saw someone," I could tell from the way his arms froze that he knew whom I was talking about.
"I’ll sleep in your room tonight, then." He whispered just loud enough for me to hear. I always felt safe with him around at night. Anyways, it’s not as if he planned to sleep in his room. My room was much softer on his broken arm after he used it all day.

Isaac turned around, "Hey, Val, are you going to the school?"

"Yes. I have to be there to get another Disciplinary Committee. Most of last year’s kids were jumped over summer vacation. Would you like to join? We could use a few big, strong guys. Guys that actually want to actually be there, not be near me. Most guys don’t know I’m batting for their team, so to speak."

"Sure, but on two conditions. First, if Cat’ll let me. And two, you hang out with us sometime. What do you think, Cat?"

"I’d like to hang out with Val, but it’s entirely up to you and her. If you join, I don’t think there’ll be much trouble, though." I was still looking at where the car had been.

"Deal. Where do you two live? Maybe I could visit now and then."

"We live a few blocks over. In the big white house."

"You actually live in Paradise Acres? Wow, you two must be loaded. I live on the other side of the gate." Valerie said, with a look of surprise on her face. Even that didn’t look quite right.

"Ya, it’s a totally different world in here, isn’t it?" Isaac said, laughingly, to her.

"Yes. None of those stupid, smelling gang members. Those guys are idiots. All they do is stink up the town and scare people away. I wouldn’t bat an eye if every one of them dried up and died." Isaac flinched. What had he expected? People outside the gates hated the gang members. It was almost bred into them.

I absently patted his shoulder. Valerie looked at us and said, "What? Did I say something, wrong? You two don’t have family in those gangs, do you?" I went to her and pulled her aside.

"Had. Isaac used to be a member. He’s not proud of what he did. He thinks that somehow, he could have stopped all those gangs. When people remind him of it, his day tends to be bad. Just don’t talk about them, okay. He makes mistakes and gets hurt. I don’t want to see that again."

"Okay. I won’t say anymore. Let’s just get going. I think we already are late."

So we hurried to the school. We arrived just as the warning bell struck and got in as the automatic doors closed and locked. We hurried to the auditorium and took our seats, in the way back. The principle and vice principle, two lean and mean-looking men, greeted the school and introduced the entire staff, even the cooks and janitors. They explained rules and regulations for the school. My interest peaked when I heard them say something important.

"- rules will be followed by everyone, including staff. There shall be absolutely no rule breaking this year. Even if it is a staff member committing the crime, they will be taken off the premises. I myself am affected with this rule. There will be exceptions to peoples with special allocation. Furthermore, an old member of staff has-" That’s when I stopped listening. Special allocation. That meant we could get permission to break rules, under the right circumstances. I was going to find out what those were. "Before we conclude, are there any questions?"

I raised my hand. Isaac and Valerie looked at me. The vice-principle called on me. "Thank you. What would give a person those ‘special allocations’ you were talking about?"
"Naturally, you would want to learn of this, I’m glad someone chose to ask now. Only if you get permission by me or someone with higher authority can those be given. You would need a doctor’s, an officer’s or a member of the school board’s say so to even get that. As in a need for wearing something for health. Such as a bandanna, that gives you peace of mind, for example. Are there anymore questions?" Nobody asked any, so they told everyone whose classes to go to. As Valerie went off with a large group, Isaac and I went to the principles.

"I need permission to stay by his side. A doctor told me to stay with him at all times, because his left and right arms are still frail."

"Ah, Ms. Cody Turner. Yes, you’re the late acceptance. You asked for two spots, correct? So this must be Isaac Turner. Am I right so far?"

Isaac looked up and spoke, "It’s just Isaac. I’m from no family. I’m just staying with Cat." I hated how he did that. As soon as a connection between us was made, he shot it down. When a girl asked it was ‘yes we’re together,’ but if a guy asked its ‘no.’ Personally, I thought he sounded better with my last name. Not that I thought about it too much.

"I’m sorry, my mistake," surprised at how Isaac reacted, the assistant principle was taken aback. He recovered, "Well, the doctor had called this morning and got permission for the two of you. Take these cards." He handed us two black plastic cards with a purple X on them. "These give you full permission to break certain rules, such as the dress code and the distance rule. Nothing permits fighting, other than those on the Disciplinary Committee breaking up a fight that is already going on. Now you should be off to Isaac’s classes. Ms. Turner, you are still considered one of his classmates, though you will not be graded, I hope you do participate. Isaac, until your arm heals, you cannot participate in gym. Now go."

We went to room 601, on floor two, hallway 142. It was a class for different pace learners; each student was able to learn at his own pace. The actual teacher’s name was Mr. Gull, and his assistant teachers were Mrs. Brocwell and Ms. Vaa. They all had smiling faces and were happy to meet everyone. Their joy of the new class was infectious. I could have sworn that I saw Isaac smile. The classroom was full of different kinds of people.

I saw jock type boys, cool and pretty girls, quiet and shy nerds. I also saw some who had medical reasons for being here. I saw a kid in the back corner that looked a few sandwiches short of a picnic. The kid’s arm constantly twitched and I saw him talking to himself while staring at a blank spot on the wall, his eyes moving as if following something. Everyone here needed the class for one reason or another, so Isaac fit right in. I, on the other hand, felt weird. Isaac and me went to sit near the middle, between the cool kids and the quite ones.

The teachers split the room into three parts. There was a part for those who learned those who learned quickly, and were past their current grade level. There was a part for slow learners and a third for those who needed one on one teaching. Isaac and me went to the third part. The teacher was Brocwell.

"I think I met your husband. Did he work with the movers?" Isaac asked.

"Actually, yes. I think he told me about some kids who ordered quite a bit of things. That must have been you. Well, Cody- do you mind if I call you by your first name?" She asked.

"Cat’s fine. Everyone else calls me it."

"Okay, Cat. Do you think you can teach him one on one? Just find out what he doesn’t know and build up on that. I have my hands full with these guys." Brocwell said, apologetically.

"Sure thing." So I found out that he knew little to nothing. We started basic, simple math, English, science, and history. I spent the next few hours teaching Isaac the basics. He learned quickly, moving on to middle school stuff, including biology and health. For the remainder of the class, we played a game where we threw a ball and whoever caught it had to answer a question about themselves. The game went on until the lunch bell rang, and everyone left to the cafeteria. One of the pretty girls led us there and talked about all these things that didn’t really interest me. The only thing I heard was when she was talking to Isaac.

"Gosh, that girl you’re with she’s so pretty. I love her hair." And she went on and on complimenting us and being complimented by Isaac. I tried to shut them both out for the whole walk.