Ch. 1.18: Stranger Danger

“You are so immature,” Elysia complains. Luna, Solaris, Zenith, and Nova have been traipsing around the playroom, generally causing a ruckus. It’s distracting her from her very important magazines—how was she going to find out which member of Sim Direction eats grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast if her obnoxious siblings wouldn’t be quiet?!

“Join us, Elly! We’re pretending we’re a herd of stampeding llamas,” Solaris says.

“Yeah! Join us! One of us, one of us!” Luna giggles.

Luna in particular is taken with her younger siblings, possibly because they’re both oddly colored (“They have Alcyonian Syndrome, just like you and me,” her mother explained). She feels like she’s finally in the majority in this household—now Elysia is the weird one, what with her normal complexion and rounded ears. Besides, Nova is like Luna’s mini-me. She’s fairly certain that with enough training, she can get Nova to do her bidding.

“Maker, you are  so childish! We’re going to start high school, soon, Luna. You can’t act like a spaz.” It sounds mean coming out of her mouth, but Elysia is trying to give her sister solid advice. One survives high school unscathed only if one is adaptable and normative.

“If anyone calls me a spaz, I’ll claw their eyes out,” Luna had recently become proud of her claws. More and more girls at school were getting long acrylic nails, so she feels like maybe she started a trend. They were fashionable and they could double as weapons.

“Uggh, you’re so stupid. Go away—leave me alone.” Ignoring her request, the children collapse next to Elysa, forming a tight circle along with their stuffed animals.

“Family meeting!” Solaris declares, “I suggest we begin our conversation by discussing why Elysia is such a wet blanket. Zenith, do you have anything to say about this matter?”

“Ahwahwahwahwah!” Zenith gurgles, “ahwah!”

“Interesting? And you, Nova?”

“Gahrah! Bohs bohs bohs!” She cackles.

“I can’t even understand them!” Elysia scoffs.

“Why not? They’re about as articulate as you,” Solaris smirks.

 “Awwww WAH,” Zenith agrees.

“Babies,” Elysia mutters, “you’re all babies.”

“I don’t know why you’re in such a hurry to grow up, Elly. High school is going to blow,” Luna says, “I’m going to pretend to be a stampeding llama while I can.”

***

“Oh no, Elly, we have the same shoes!”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, different colors, but they’re the same style.”

Elysia looks down at her shoes, “Oh…yeah, you’re right.”

“Oh my MAKER, are you mad at me? I’m SO sorry, Elly, I didn’t mean to wear the same shoes as you, I swear! I didn’t even know you had shoes like this. Please don’t be mad!”

Elysia and Juliet had been friends since elementary school. Juliet—maker bless her heart—is one of the stupidest sims Elysia has ever met. She was easy to read, and eager to please. Ever since Elysia had revealed to the school that Juliet wet the bed until she was 14, Juliet has been even more adamant about making Elysia happy. It was disgusting, really. Elysia didn’t understand how Juliet could be so devoted. She was okay to be around, though—Juliet never bombarded her with any heavy thoughts. Otherwise, high school had been taxing on Elysia. Everyone is hormonal and grumpy, and they think of the weirdest things.

“No, I’m not mad, Juliet. Why would I be?”

“You’ve been acting weird all week, Elly,” her friend Jacquelyn asks. The question isn’t one of concern; rather, it’s accusatory, “what’s up?”

“Nothing, I just feel weird.” She feels lightheaded, her mind fuzzy. She’s having a hard time focusing, reading others. Elysia remembers feeling like this before, years before. It’s a relief not to be able to read minds sometimes, but she depends on it for social interactions.

“Maybe you have simfluenza?”

“Maybe.” Half the school is out with simfluenza. Out of the entire freshman class, only seven students weren’t home with the sniffles. The principal declared it a study-day, though the students approached it as a goof-around day.

“Yuck, what a waste,” Jacquelyn suddenly changes the subject, “look at that—a guy like that talking to her.”

Elysia peers over her shoulder and sees her sister sitting next to a boy she doesn't know. He’s cute, in a way. Not her type, personally, but he seems interested in Luna.

“I can’t believe that. He just transferred to this school. His dad’s like some millionaire-billionaire, and he decides to talk to her,” Jacquelyn sucks her teeth.

Luna is very uncomfortable with the stranger sitting next to her. Her friend Lydia usually sits there, but since she’s out sick this intruder has taken over her seat. In Luna’s experience, boys only talk to girls when they want to tease them, and she’s having none of it today, even if the boy in question is kind of cute.

“What are you reading?” his voice is deep for his age. He sounds almost like a full-grown man, which clashes with his baby face.

“A book,” Luna mumbles.

“What kind of book?”

“The kind with words.”

“…what’s the title?”

“Maker! Can’t you take a damn hint,” Luna raises her voice a little, “I don’t want to talk to you!”

“Fine,” he replies, “I’ll stop trying to be friendly.” He’s quiet for a moment before leaning over and peeking at her book. “Oh, The Bell Jar! I can dig that—it’s a pretty fun read, if you’re into morbid shit. How many times has Esther tried to kill herself so far? I started to lose count once it hit the double digits.”

Luna giggles—she doesn’t know why she finds that so funny—and leans back in her chair, “only once. To be honest, I don’t really like it so far. It’s too weird, and I don’t like Esther. Like, she makes such a huge deal about…” she pauses, embarrassed.

“About what?”

“About being a virgin. Which isn’t a huge deal, right? I mean, I don’t think it is and I’m—whatever. I didn’t really want to read this. My mom’s boyfriend gave it to me. He said he thought I would like it. I guess he’s trying to ‘bond’ or whatever. He wants to talk about it at dinner tonight.”

“He gave you The Bell Jar? He’s really grasping at straws, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Luna laughs and snorts a little, “oh, maker---umm—that wasn’t me.”

“Dude, calm down,” the boy raises an eyebrow.

“What are they laughing about,” Jacquelyn sneers, “Whatever. I’m over him.”

“Over him?” Juliet is confused. Were they even an item?

“He obviously has bad taste. I mean, look at her and then look at me!” Jacquelyn flips her ponytail and puts her hand up. “Whatever,” she reiterates. She looks at Elysia. “HELLO, I’m talking, Elly.”

“Sorry…what were you talking about?”

Jacquelyn rolls her eyes. “What is up with your sister? I mean, she shouldn’t even be in the same room as us, right? She’s diseased—we might catch something from her.” That’s right, Elysia remembers, I spread that rumor that her disease is contagious. She doesn’t know why she feels compelled to be such a bitch sometimes.

“I was wrong about that,” she explains, “it turns out that it’s okay. We’re not going to like turn blue or anything.” There—she righted that wrong. Juliet and Jacquelyn stare at her. Oh shit. she can tell they’ll turn on her next.

“Um, but she is adopted, though. From like Simvania or something. I heard she’s cursed and her family died at the hands of a vampire or something.” Sorry Luna, but every girl for herself.

“What a freak,” Jacquelyn declares, “she’s so weird and I can’t believe he chose her over me.”

“Tell me something,” the boy asks Luna.

“Sure.”

“Is that Jacquelyn girl staring at me?” Luna nods with a strained smile.

“Umm—yeah. I don’t think she’s stopped staring since class started.”

“Like, OH MY MAKER, she has totally been following me since I got here and it is sooooooo annoying,” he says in a falsetto voice. Luna giggles. From across the room, Jacquelyn narrows her eyes and leans forward, listening closely. She can tell when someone’s talking trash.

“Your glasses are a little shiny. It’s like to attract wild idiots.”

“True, true. Should I worry for my safety? Am I going to get mauled or anything?”

“Nah, you should be okay. She’s a bitch, but she’s harmless.”

“Did you hear that? That bitch just called me a bitch,” Jacquelyn sneers, “did you hear?” Juliet nods vigorously.

The bell rings, signifying lunch. As they pack up their books, the boy turns to Luna. “Hey, I know this is weird, but I think my mom packed too much food for me. She always does. Do you want to go to the library with me during lunch and chill out? It can be like a picnic, except depressing.”

“Sure.”

“By the way, I’m Quentin. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Luna,” she replies, “but my friends call me Lulu. Actually, I prefer Luna. Please don’t call me Lulu.”

As they walk down the hallway, Jacquelyn and company storm after them.

“Hey,” she calls out, “Lulu, hold on a minute. I have to talk to you.”

“Keep walking,” Luna mutters, “she only ever wants to pick fights.”

“Hmm, what are you talking about?” Quentin says theatrically, “I don’t hear anything.”

“I think it might have been the wind…?” Luna winks.

“Listen up, you bitch—“Jacquelyn tries to speak, but Quentin cuts her off.

“Wow, that’s some stupid sounding wind!”

“Jackie, let’s just leave them alone and grab some lunch,” Elysia tries to intervene, “we could go to Simburger.”

“I don’t want Simburger, I want to talk to your whore of a sister!”

“Gee, that wind sounds like it might need a nose job, too,” Luna’s passive aggressive taunts are cut short when Jacquelyn grabs her hair at the crown of her head and tugs. Luna falls back on the ground, hard.

“Ow, what the hell?” She reaches back and grabs at Jacquelyn’s hand, fruitlessly trying to get her to let go, “leggo!”

Quentin looks on, unsure of what to do. He could easily deck Jacquelyn, but he’s been raised to never hit a girl. “Shit—I’m going to go get the principal, Luna. Hold on,” he darts towards the administrative office.

“Listen here, bitch. You need to show a little respect.”

“Jacquelyn, stop—“ Elysia begs.

“—Shut up! I don’t appreciate your comments, Lulu. You need to apologize. Now.”

“No,” Luna tries not to cry, “screw you!” Jacquelyn pulls on her hair again. Luna feels a few strands rip out. Tears begin to stream down her face.

 “Apologize!”

“Fine—I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please let me go.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Calling you a bitch. Please,” she sobs.

“And?”

“Stop it!” Elysia shouts.

“I’m sorry for disrespecting you,” Luna is crying so hard she’s hardly understandable. Jacquelyn laughs and releases her, pushing her head forward forcefully. Luna picks herself up off the floor and begins running.

“Run home, freak! Run to your freak momma!” she calls after Luna.

“She’s my mom, too,” Elysia says, “and that’s my sister. I mean, we screw around with her, but not like that.”

“She’s my mom, too,” Jacquelyn mimics, “Jeez, don’t be such a girl-scout. Yeah, your whole family is freaks.”

“When did you become so hateful?” Elysia doesn’t remember her friend ever being this cruel. Jacquelyn cackles.

“When did you become so boring?”

“Being a decent person makes me boring? Not everyone can be an asshole like you.”

Jacquelyn growls as she lunges at Elysia. Caught off guard, Elysia gets only a few punches in. Jacquelyn, on the other hand, manages to get a few punches, some hair pulling, some scratches, and a particularly nasty bite.

The fight finishes quickly, and Elysia is obviously the loser. Jacquelyn has no time to gloat, though.
“And what is going on here, ladies?”

“Mrs. McConnell!” Elysia notices the principal standing behind them. “Umm—we’ve just been stretching.” She rubs her back and rolls her neck, exaggerating the movements.

“Yeah. Stretching,” Jacquelyn doesn’t want to ally herself with her new enemy, but she knows the lesser of two evils when she sees it.

“My office. Now.”

“Miss Bee, Miss Santos, you are going to sit here until you’re ready to apologize to each other. Then, only then, will I let you go home. I will also be giving you detention during lunch for the next week. Do you understand?”

The girls nod rigidly. Both silently vow to themselves not to give in, but by 4:00 PM, Elysia is sick of sitting there. “Sorry,” she mutters to Jacquelyn, swallowing her pride.

“Yeah, me too.”

“What was that, Miss Santos?”

“I’m sorry, too,” Jacquelyn says louder, “can we go now?” Mrs. McConnell gestures to the door.

“Out. And I better not see you two fight again. I won’t tolerate it.”

Elysia saunters down the hall towards her locker. Mom is not going to be happy. As if on cue, her phone rings.

“Hi, mom! How are you? Good, I trust? Been keeping busy with the wedding planning?”

“Elysia Bee, you better march home right now,” Polaris sounds tense, “and bring your sister, too.”
“What do you mean? Luna isn’t home with you?”

“No—Solaris told me the two of you got in a fight with some little slut. I mean, girl. Luna’s not with you?”

“Nope. I haven’t seen her since lunch. I’ve been in the principal’s office.”

Polaris is silent for a moment. “Could you check around the school?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, mom. She’s probably in the art room. I’ll grab her and head home so we can be grounded forever and ever.”

“You’ve got that right, missy.”

Elysia hangs up the phone. Something’s wrong. It’s an eerie feeling, as if something important has been misplaced. As she walks down the hallway towards the art room, the feeling intensifies, until finally it explodes. She falls to the ground, cradling her head—the pain is so severe it feels like it’s going to split her head open. She can’t see anything except flashes of white light. Finally, an image manifests.

A slide, a jungle gym, and swing, and behind that is a stadium: it’s the playground next to the school, and it’s calling to her.

***

Naomi is nervous. It’s her natural state, but it’s more extreme than normal.  She doesn’t think this plan will work. Opposite of her, Hunter sits on a swing set next to the strange blue girl, the same girl she saw at her neighbor’s home all those years ago.  They’d been observing the strangely colored sims for months, and Hunter had managed to create a fairly detailed dossier on them. He refuses to call them aliens (“they’re probably some genetically engineered government experiments or something,” he insists, “I mean, look at these obviously fake names: Crux Court, Polly Bee, Lyra Pectus…”), but Naomi knows they have to be extraterrestrial.

“And the string says, ‘I’m a frayed knot!’” Hunter delivers the punchline with a cheesy grin. Naomi is used to him brooding and ranting, but he can be quite charming when he wants to. They had been following the girl for days, but they hit the jackpot when she emerged from the high school in tears. “It’ll be easy to get her to go with us if she’s upset,” Hunter had assured Naomi. He certainly does seem to be striking a chord with the girl.

“That a stupid joke,” Luna giggles. This guy is super-old, but he’s nice. She vaguely remembers a school presentation on stranger danger, but he seems harmless enough. Kind of weird, but she’s weird, too. Just about everyone she knows is weird.

“Yeah, I only know stupid ones,” he admits, “So where are you headed after this?” Hunter tries to sound casual, but he’s beginning to become impatient.

“I should probably go home…”

“You sure? Naomi and I are planning to go out for pizza. You could come with us—our treat.”

Alarm bells start to go off in Luna’s head. “Umm, that’s nice and all, but I really should get home,” she laughs nervously, “My mom’ll be pissed if I’m not home for dinner.”

“Seriously, come with us,” he forces a smile.

“Seriously, stop being a creep. I have to go,” Luna stands and starts to walk away, but Hunter jumps up and blocks her way. “Move!”

“I’m not going to ask again,” he grabs her wrists. She struggles, but he just tightens his grip, twisting her skin. The friction burns.

“Oww, stop it!”

“Just shut up! Naomi, go start the car!”

“Hunter, are you sure we should be doing this? This seems like a bad idea!” Naomi is panicking, but Hunter ignores her.

“Hey!” Elysia spots Luna across the playground, “hey, what are you doing?! Let go of her!” Elysia tries to yell as loudly as possibly, hoping to attract someone’s attention. In the meantime, she sprints over to the strange man.

“Stay out of this, blondie,” he snarls.

Elysia grabs his arm and pulls with all her strength, but it’s like a mouse trying to overpower a gorilla. Enraged, Hunter grips her by the wrist, “I said, stay out of it!” He elbows her in the face, bashing her cheekbone. The pain is sharp, sudden, and her vision in that eye becomes clouded. He elbows her again, striking her temple, and she crumples to the ground.

“Help!” Luna screams at the top of her lungs, “somebody, please!” Words give away to shrill screams.

Sick of playing games, Hunter grabs Luna and hoists her onto his shoulder. “Scream again I’ll stomp your friend’s face into the ground,” he warns her. Luna shuts up immediately—she believes his steel-toed boots could easily crush Elysia’s skull. “C’mon, Naynay. We need to hustle if we want to make the rendezvous with Ptolemy.” Naomi follows him dutifully.

She should be afraid, but Luna is seething. “You won’t get away with this. My mom will find you and she’ll kick your pansy ass.”

“Seriously, girl, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut up.”

Elysia, help, Luna focuses her thoughts on her unconscious sister, hoping that she’ll get through to her somehow. Please help! 

But Elysia is dead to the world.

***

Author’s note: I went a little overboard on the school scenes. I was initially going to show very little of the school, but as I made all the random high schoolers, I started to develop a really clichéd, fun-to-write story.

ANYWAY, we’re obviously reaching a climax in the story, so that should be fun. ;)