Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The next morning, Alexia walked into the common room very early, coming in through the lab door.  She noticed Cheater sleeping peacefully on the couch so she shut the door quietly so she wouldn’t wake him.  She could tell that he had been waiting on her to get back.  She could tell that because he was laying facing toward the door.  He must have feel asleep a while before she returned because he was sleeping deeply.

Alexia was exhausted from the numerous tests they performed on her.  Her first thought as she stood looking at Cheater was to just walk to her room and go to sleep.  That is until she realized that Cheater was shivering.  His blanket had been knocked off of him and onto the floor.  She almost had to laugh but didn’t, since she didn’t want him to wake up.  She just gently bent down, picked up the blanket and slowly tossed it over Cheater, making sure not to wake him up.  Cheater mumbled in his sleep and turned over.  Alexia froze, barely even breathing.  He went quietly back to sleep.  Alexia let out her breath.  She slowly backed away and stood gazing at his sleeping form.  He looked so undisturbed, too that wouldn’t last after he woke up.

After a few seconds, Alexia turned and walked to her apartment.  Her hand paused on the door handle for a moment.  She suddenly had the feeling that soon everything was going to change.  Hopefully for the best in her opinion.  She eventually got over her nerves enough to turn the handle.  The door opened with a light creak.  Alexia slowly moved around it and peered inside.  Everything was exactly where she left it.  The bowl from her breakfast that day was even still on the table.  She felt silly for being so nervous.  ‘It’s nice to know that they don’t like me enough to clean for me.’  She thought sourly.  She didn’t have any shoes to kick off since she wasn’t wearing any when they found her.  She was still wearing the same clothes that she had been that day, so she felt really nasty.  Especially after those tests they did on her.  Now she was covered in sweat from them and really wanted to shower.

Alexia made her way into her bedroom stopping only to grab clothes to change into.  She went into the bathroom to shower.  After she was done she gratefully put on the clothes she had found, which were her pajamas.  She slid carefully into bed, extremely tired now, the shower not doing anything to help.  The minute her head hit the pillow she fell asleep.

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Cheater was dreaming.  It was a strange thing.  There was nothing in his dreams that he could really make out enough to remember later.  Then something strange happened.  He started feeling kind of cold.  He slowly started to wake up from the coldness.  Then he felt something soft and warm being thrown over him.  He tried to say ‘who’s there’ but he just ended up mumbling something.  Then he felt uncomfortable so he turned over.  He was so close to waking up.  He could feel a person’s gaze on him.  After a moment, he could no longer feel the person’s stare. He drifted back to sleep.

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Alexia woke up later that morning feeling better, but she was still very tired.  She went and got more clothes to shower yet again, still feeling grimy.  After showering and changing into normal clothes Alexia made her way into the kitchen to eat breakfast.  She grabbed some bread and jelly to make toast.  She wanted to eat quickly so she could go see everyone.  She was sure that they had to be worried about her.  She quickly slipped on some sandals and left her apartment.  The minute she did she was jumped on by Trixie.

“Alexia!  Your ok?”  She yelled happily.

“Yeah Trixie, I’m fine now.”  Alexia said with a soft smile.  Trixie’s smile grew wider.

“Yes!  Your ok!  She’s ok!”  Trixie yelled again.

“Trixie honey, calm down.  I don’t want you waking everyone up.  I’m sure they need their sleep.  They’ll come see me when they wake up ok?”  Alexia said in a low voice.  Trixie looked kind of sad that she yelled and nodded.

“Sorry I was just really worried about you and I’m so happy that you’re ok now.”  She said in a much softer voice than before.

“I know I’m sorry I worried you guys so much.”  Alexia said sighing.

“It’s ok. It’s not like you could have stopped it.”  Trixie said with a small laugh.

“Yeah true.”  Alexia laughed as well.

They were interrupted by a sleepy voice calling out, “Alexia?  Is that you?  Are you ok?”  It was Cheater.  His head was peeking over the back of the couch at them, his eyes still looking tired.

“Yeah Cheater it’s me.  I’m fine.  Have you slept enough though?  I know that you fell asleep last night waiting on me.”  Alexia said with a bit of a smile.  “It’s sweet that you were checking up on me but I don’t want you to be tired.”

“I told you she’d do that Cheater I told you!”  Trixie exclaimed with a smirk.  It was strange seeing a smirk on the happy young girls face.  It was a kind of cute expression on her face though.

“Yeah, I know Trixie no need to rub it in.”  Cheater said with a chuckle.  He got up from the couch and walked over to Alexia.  He stood staring at her for a moment before throwing his arms around her in a hug.  “I was so worried about you.  Don’t ever do that again ok?”

Alexia was surprised for a moment but melted into the hug.  She smiled to herself before replying.  “I’ll try my hardest on that, but no promises.”

Cheater laughed.  “Ok. Thanks.”

“Anything interesting happen while I was out?”  Alexia asked seriously.

Cheater shook his head.  “No, not with me at least.  I stayed by that door the whole day and listened into their thoughts that way I always knew what was going on with you.  I only ate and slept because Jada made me.  And before you ask, she didn’t talk.  She just told me through her thoughts and her actions and looks.”

“Cheater, you shouldn’t have done that!  You should have just waited for news like normal people.”  Alexia said sighing.  “The thought was nice though.  Thank you.”

“You should thank Jada too later.  She sat next to me the entire time.  That and she kept me from being stupid and staying up the entire time without eating or drinking.”  He said with a laugh.

“I will gladly thank her too.  The minute she comes out of her room that is.”  Alexia said softly, showing that she was unsure when Jada would ever come out of her room.  They were all unsure of it.

Alexia tried to appear upbeat.  “So, anything happen with you Trixie?”  She asked the peppy girl beside her.  Trixie shrugged.

“Nope.  They didn’t do any tests on anyone while you were gone.  All of the scientists were worried about you I guess.  So I don’t think that anyone will have much news for you.”  She informed Alexia.

“Well, that’s kind of a good thing then.  I’m glad my being out for a while meant that nobody had to do tests.  I guess it was kind of worth it then.”  Alexia said with a small smile.  Then Adam walked out of his room.  He didn’t notice Alexia at first.

“Hey Cheater, how’s she doing?”  Then he saw her.  “Alexia!  Your ok!  Thank goodness!  It’s a miracle!”  He said, latching onto her and hugging her tight.  There were tears in his eyes.  Alexia remembered that he was still kind of young to be going through this.  He was only eleven, the same age as Jada.  They should both be in elementary school, not ‘The School.’  Poor kid.  She hugged him tightly to her as well.  She felt very protective of this little boy, and sweet little Jada too.  She had no idea why though.

“Shhh, it’s ok Adam.  I’m ok.”  She said softly patting his back.  After a moment he looked up at her and smiled.  He stayed right by her side though.  “How have you been holding up?”  She asked him softly.

“I’ve missed you.  I was so afraid you weren’t coming back.”  He said softly looking back at her again.  She just patted his back and smiled.

“I’m not going anywhere.”  Everyone heard another door open.  This one was Jared.  He immediately noticed Alexia and went running to her.  Adam moved out of the way for Jared to have his turn with her.

He held on to her tightly and whispered.  “I missed you.  Are you ok?”  She laughed lightly.

“What’s with you guys and asking if I’m ok?  I’m fine I promise.  No need to worry ok?”  Everyone forced a laugh except Cheater.  He tried to but he just couldn’t do it.  He had to break the news to her soon about the next experiments.  He wasn’t sure how she would take it.  Alexia was so unpredictable.

Alexia noticed that Cheater didn’t laugh like everyone else.  She sent him a look that said ‘We’ll talk later.’  He grimaced and nodded, unnoticed by the other kids.  Yet another door opened.  They all turned towards the sound and noticed Jada walking slowly out.  She didn’t run at Alexia like the other kids did.  She just slowly walked towards her.  When she got up close to her she stopped.  Alexia smiled widely at her.  “Thank you for taking care of Cheater while I wasn’t here Jada.  It means a lot to me.  I really appreciate it.”  She said softly.  She opened her arms toward Jada.  “Come here and give me a hug you silly girl.”

Jada smiled widely at her and ran toward her open arms.  After closing the distance between the two girls they hugged tightly.  Then Alexia yelled “Group Hug!”  Then the rest of the kids of the school piled on.  “Ah, this is nice. I feel loved.  Don’t you guys?”  She asked laughing.

Everyone yelled their agreement, except Jada.  It got quiet for a moment as everyone enjoyed the hug.  Then, the quiet was broken.  A very soft voice spoke up, just loud enough for them all to hear.  “I feel loved too…”  She said quietly.  It was Jada.  She had actually spoken.  It was so quiet after that you could hear a pin drop.

Alexia smiled, wiping a tear off her own face.  “Yes Jada.  That’s because you are loved.  We all love you.  Right everyone?”

The all voiced their agreements in a chorus of ‘right’ ‘you bet’, and ‘of course.’  Jada smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes.  “Thank you.”  She said quietly.  Alexia couldn’t help but let another tear leak out.  Jada was talking.  That meant that it wouldn’t be too long before they could get ready to leave the School.  All they had to do now was finish making sure that Jada trusted them, and then they could tell her their plan.  After that they could start telling the other kids.  Then they had to get all their supplies ready, and then comes the most important thing.  The plan to get out.  That would be the hardest thing to do since they didn’t have anyone on the inside.  They would have to take advantage of everyone’s individual skills, not just the unusual ones either.  It would be a long hard time for them to get through, but Alexia knew that when they were working together they could do it.

That was when it occurred to her that Damon was nowhere to be found.  Everyone else had already woken up because of the noise and had already come to see her.  Everyone but Damon.  ‘I’m sure he’s just tired. He’s probably still asleep.’  Cheater grimaced again over the tops of the other kid’s heads.  ‘We will talk about this later.’  Alexia thought to him. He nodded sadly.  She wondered what that was about but decided not to think about that now.

“So you guys want to watch some TV?  It’ll be a nice chance to spend some time with each other.”  Alexia asked the group.  A few of them nodded and a few said their agreements.  They all made their way over to the couches and chairs that were situated around the TV.  “I think that Jada should be the one to get the remote.”  Alexia said as she located the remote and handed it to the her.  “Pick a show you think we’d all like.”  Jada smiled and nodded.  She channel surfed for a little bit before deciding on some show on Disney channel.  Alexia smiled at her choice.

The group stayed like that watching TV for a while.  Whenever one show went off they would give the remote to someone else to pick something.  Then they were interrupted by another door opening.  It was Damon’s room.  He walked out and sat down on one of the couches nearest Alexia.  “How are you feeling?”  He asked her gently; as if afraid too much force behind his words would hurt her.  ‘Shows how much he knows me.’  Alexia thought.  She definitely wasn’t the type of girl to break when you pushed her too hard.

“I’m fine.”  She said a little bit too forcefully.  She regretted it instantly.  He grimaced.  “Sorry.”  She said quickly.  “I’m just tired of everybody asking me if I’m ok.  It gets annoying.”  He nodded.  She met Cheaters amused glance.  He knew her real reason.  She sent him another look and a thought that said ‘Not a word.  Not one word.’  He nodded.

“It’s ok.  I understand.  I was just wondering how you were.”  Damon asked as he settled down in his seat.  Jada was the one sitting next to him and she shifted uneasily.  Cheater, from his seat right beside Alexia, smiled at her.

“Here Jada, trade me seats.  I know you would love to sit here and I’ve already hogged Alexia for too long. I guess I should share.”  He said with a laugh.  Jada smiled.

“Thank you.”  She said softly to him. Damon couldn’t hold back his surprised face.  Alexia looked at him and mouthed ‘I’ll tell you later.’  He nodded.  Alexia didn’t want to discuss Jada right in front of her.  It wasn’t right, especially after they finally got her to trust them.

After that the group settled back down to watch more TV around lunch Alexia asked if anyone was hungry and when they all loudly voiced their agreement she smiled and led them into her apartment.  It was a bit crowded but some of them sat in the living room. After everyone was settled Alexia did a poll to see what everyone was wanting.  The majority of them voted on pizza, so Alexia rummaged around her cupboards and found a pizza making kit.  She enlisted the help of Cheater and together they made two pizzas, the other from a kit they found in Cheater’s room.  It was just enough to feed everyone.

The group lounged around in Alexia’s apartment for the rest of the day.  They broke off into groups for various board games, even Jada playing some.  They all had a blast.  Around dinner they all searched Alexia’s fridge and found their own food this time, taking turns with the microwave, toaster, and oven.  After everyone was full, they settled back down in the living room to watch some more TV.  Some people sat on the couch, love seat, or the chair and whoever was left sat on the floor.  Since Cheater was sprawled out across the whole two person love seat that left two people sitting on the floor, Adam and Jared.

“I didn’t want to sit on the floor.”  Jared complained.  Adam muttered his agreement.

“Well if Cheater’s butt wasn’t spread out across my whole loveseat then maybe you three could share it.”  Alexia said with a smirk.  Cheater faked an outraged expression.

“I am sorry that I have a bad back!  I need to lie down.”  He said very seriously.  Alexia could see right through it though.

“Yeah, like I believe that!  You’re just lazy!”  She smirked at him.

“Lazy?  Me?  No way!”  Cheater said, still looking stricken.

“Ok then if you’re not lazy then move over and let the boys have some of the couch.”  Alexia said with a smirk.

“Ok, fine.  I’ll scoot over, but I don’t have to like it.”  Cheater grumbled.  He moved over and both of the other boys jumped up and squished together on the couch.  “This is so uncomfortable.”  He grumbled again.

“Too bad learn to share.”  Alexia said with a smile.  Everyone else laughed except for Cheater.  He looked like a sad little kid.

Around nine o’clock Alexia decided that it was time for everyone to go home for her to talk with Cheater and Damon.  Especially Cheater.  She shooed everyone out until it was just the three of left.  She motioned them into the closet and then into the special room. Then she turned to Damon and Cheater.  “Ok guys, now that we have Jada trusting us enough to talk we have to make sure she trusts us enough to leave, then we have to tell her what’s going on.  Then we have to tell the rest of the kids.  Then most importantly we have to make the plan.”

“Well why don’t we make the plan then tell everyone?”  Damon asked.

“One, because I don’t want to leave them all in the dark.  Two, because we need to be sure that they all agree with leaving with us.  Three, because we might need their help on the plan.”  She said irritably.  What was with Damon and getting on her nerves today?

“Ok whatever works for you.”  He replied calmly.

“I agree with you Alexia.  They should know what’s going on.”  Cheater agreed.

“Ok then.  Now that that’s settled, I would like to talk to Cheater alone if you don’t mind Damon.”  Alexia said with an edge to her words.  She knew by Cheater’s actions that he had a lot to tell her about.  She had been waiting all day to ask him.  Damon nodded and walked out of their special place, shutting the door behind him.  “Is he completely gone yet?” She asked Cheater quietly.  He scanned Damon’s mind and nodded.  “Good.”  Alexia replied.  “Now tell me all the stuff you’ve been hiding from me.”

Cheater sighed.  He knew this was going to happen.  “Which news do you want first?  The strange news or the bad news?”  Alexia grimaced at him.  She closed her eyes in thought for a moment.  Then she nodded.

“Let’s start with the strange news then work up to the bad news.  Ok?”  She said softly.  Cheater could tell she was apprehensive, but that was only because he could read her mind.  She was doing a really good job to hide it.  He nodded.

“Well, when I first learned you woke up, I told everyone.  I didn’t have to tell Damon because he was listening into me telling Jada.  But then again I was telling her out loud and not trying to hide it.  When he found out he didn’t say much.  It might not mean anything, but everyone else was all excited about it, even Jada.  I don’t want to put too much into this in case I might be over-reacting but I still thought you ought to know.”  He said kind-of quickly.  He grimaced.  He wondered what Alexia’s reaction would be.

She slowly nodded her head, her thoughts not betraying her emotions well.  She was trying her hardest to hold in her thoughts and emotions and build a wall between her mind and Cheaters.  By the look on his face she could tell that it was working.  “What exactly did he say?”  She asked calmly and quietly.

“First he asked if you were awake.  I told him that you were and he said ‘Ok.’  That’s it.”  He said quietly as well.  Alexia nodded solemnly.

“We will have to watch him carefully.  We may both be reading too much into this situation but it’s hard not too right now.  With so much going on we have to be careful.  We have to make sure that none of the scientists know about our plans.  That is the most important thing.  But now that we have talked about the strange news, let’s talk about the bad news.”  Alexia finished with a frown.

Cheater nodded slightly before beginning.  “Well, they’re giving you a day of rest then they plan to do three more experiments on you…”  He said, his voice trailing off at the end.  Alexia raised her eyebrow, noticing that he was leaving something off.  She sent a thought clearly to him ‘Continue.’  “Ok… well they also talked about another experiment. I’m not sure what it is though.”  He said looking down.

“I know you know more about it so continue.”  She said slowly.  Cheater thought she seemed to be taking it well.

He smiled at her.  “You always know when I’m hiding something huh?”  She laughed softly.

“Of course I do.  I also know when you’re trying to change the subject.  So keep going.”  She said with a soft smile.  His smile dropped instantly.

“Ok.  I do think I know what it is.  But I’m not sure.  It’s something I learned a long time ago, before you were brought here.  I can’t be sure though, and I don’t want to freak you out if it’s not true.  Let’s just say that if I’m right then we need to get out of here as soon as possible, preferably before they try ‘Experiment C.’”  Cheater said. Alexia let out a huff of air.

“Why can’t I know?  It’s about me after all.”  She said calmly, trying hard to hold in her anger.  She didn’t want to blow up on Cheater.

“Please don’t try to make me tell you.  I’ll tell you if you actually have to do the experiment. I promise.  I just don’t want you to worry if you don’t have to.  Please?”  He replied, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.  She laughed lightly.

“How can you make such a serious situation into something so funny?”  She said through her laughter.  “But fine, I won’t ask.  But if I have to do it you will tell me.  Got it?” She said completely seriously, all traces of the laughter from earlier gone.

“Yes I promise.”  Cheater said with a small frown.  He was hoping that he’d never have to tell her.

“Good.  Now get out so I can sleep.  We have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”  She said with a slight smirk.

“Work?”  Cheater asked with a gasp.  “I don’t want to work!  What kind of work?”  Alexia could tell he was joking but went along with it anyway.

“You lazy man, we have to get Jada to agree to leave with us!”