Status: Being Written and Edited as we speak ;)
Created
Created (Chpt. 24)
Chapter Twenty-Four
Arta caught Adam before he hit the ground and laid his head in her lap gently, kneeling on the dirty cement sidewalk to hold him. In shock, I almost stopped dialing Erik to stare at the expression in her eyes. Was that... Really? It looked like she was really worried about him. Had she put herself aside long enough to care so much about him that it showed in her eyes? I could have sworn I recognized genuine emotion. But upon noticing my hesitation, Arta's head snapped back up and the ice queen I knew and loathed returned just for me. Oh joy.
"Hurry up," she hissed furiously. "Look at him!! We haven't got all day!!" As much as I despised Arta, she had a point. Adam didn't have all day and I was wasting precious seconds, so I punched in the numbers as fast as I could and hopped around anxiously until Erik answered on the third ring.
"'Lo. This is Erik."
"Erik! Omigosh! you need to get down here!" I cried, unsure of what exactly to say to get Erik's butt moving at a faster rate.
"Lissa? What's wrong?"
"Adam! It's Adam!" I swallowed. "H-He... There's something wro-" The phone was wrenched from my fingers by, three guesses. Yeah. Arta. She held it up to her ear with her long manicured-nail fingers and shouted frantically. Ths was not the calm, cool Arta I knew. This was Arta on high stress level. And maybe with true, honest emotion.
"Erik! Adam's collapsed! He was kneeling and holding his head when I came back and then he passed out! You need to get down here ASAP! He could be dying! Bring and ambulance, the police, whatever!! Just save him, Erik!" Wow. Double wow. This was... Shocking. This was not the Arta Clouse I knew!
When Erik pulled up barely five minutes later, Arta was ready to kill. She'd shooed the gawking passerbys and together, we'd managed to lift Adam and laid him down on a bench. Awkwardly, I stood next to him and watched Arta stalk up and down the sidewalk, her high-heeled boots clicking and hair blowing behind her. I could practically hear her grind her teeth together.
Feeling helpless, I leaned over Adam's still body and checked vital signs. Still breathing, good. That meant this wasn't an overheating of systems. A touch to the indicator on his wrist told me he hadn't come in contact with any harmful viruses. So what was wrong?
"Gal," I grumbled, under my breath so Arta couldn't hear. "Computers. What can you do with them?" I wasn't Erik. I was no computer expert. I studied to be a biologist! Shifting my weight, I let out a long breath and looked around. Where was Erik? I honestly wasn't that worried about Adam. I doubted he was in any pain, at least not now. And I had faith that Erik could fix him up.
When Erik finally pulled up, I could see him shoving the worry down and trying to be calm for Arta and my sake, but he only came off as cold and tired, though calm nonetheless.
"You're his best friend, right?" Arta demanded of the silent Erik as he leaned over Adam, no doubt diagnosing the problem. "So you should know if he has any illnesses, any allergies. You know whats wrong with him?"
"I know what's wrong with him," Erik responded solemnly and leaned over Adam, gently shaking him. "Adam," he said. "C'mon, wake up. Just so we can get you to the car. Okay?" Adam's eyes fluttered open and I sucked in a breath of quiet shock to see his eyes were still a cold black. Erik didn't even miss a beat, quickly asking him to sit up and slinging an arm around his shoulder, helping Adam stand.
"I can't see," Adam mumbled as he staggered to the car, leaning against Erik the whole way. "I can't... Why can't I see?"
"It's okay, Adam," Arta appeared on his side instantly, grabbing his hand and trying to help.
Wow.
Maybe... Maybe we'd been successful. Maybe it was possible that Arta could be falling in love with Adam. I wished I could have seen into her head then because for a fleeting moment, I was almost convinced. I nearly believed her little act. That witch couldn't love anyone other than herself. I'd remembered exactly what she'd done to Erik. I wasn't there then, but I could put two and two together and get 'Arta is a user'. She made my stupid, adorable Erik believe that she loved him, but then when she got what she wanted, she tossed his heart and soul to the curb.
"I... I wish I could see you," Adam mumbled in his sleepwalking state. "You're so pretty." Arta simply smiled and looked down a little shyly. That little...!! Acting all sweet and innocent! What a lie! What a... A... I would have stopped right there and cursed her out so bad she couldn't see straight, but that wouldn't help anything. And plus, Erik didn't like it when people cursed, so I held my tongue and fumed silently.
Erik pulled the car doors open and we all climbed inside, all the while trying to keep Adam comfortable and feeling okay. I sat up front with Erik so I wouldn't be too tempted to claw Arta's eyes out. And plus, what's not to love about sitting with Erik?
I could hear Arta talking softly to Adam and his quiet, innocent responses and shuddered. When I agreed to make Adam, I'd never imagined that he would become my friend. While Erik imagined a happy and in-love Arta, I thought of a replacement person to distract Arta and give me a chance with him. Neither of us gave a single thought to Adam's actual feelings... Golly. I felt awful and vowed to push her off a cliff if she planned on hurting him, too. Disgusting woman.
But, still... I glanced inconspicuosly to the back and watched her bite her lip as she studied his face, speaking calm to help him. She acted like she really cared... Did she? Or was she using her sick siren voice to captivate yet another one of my friends?
I turned around, unable to watch anymore and be confused.
"Erik," I asked quietly and prayed Arta wouldn't stop to listen. "What's wrong with him?" Erik's grim countenance, a rare sight, made me shudder just a little. Hardly anything gave my Erik a reason to frown. Was something that wrong with Adam? Or was something different plaguing him?
"I'll explain when we get home," he brushed me off. I swallowed and turned back to the front, feeling a bit hurt at how he pushed me aside. And he was using that voice again. I've only noticed it a few times, but on rare occasions, Erik uses this voice that sounds ten times older than he actually is. It sounds freakily wise or timeless or something. Or maybe just tired. Just tired of life. But either way, it always weirds me out when he talks like that, makes him sound so quietly important and brilliant and I can't help but compare his staggering genius against my own petty common sense. He seemed to know everything sometimes. What did I know? How could I imagine that I deserved him?
Arta caught Adam before he hit the ground and laid his head in her lap gently, kneeling on the dirty cement sidewalk to hold him. In shock, I almost stopped dialing Erik to stare at the expression in her eyes. Was that... Really? It looked like she was really worried about him. Had she put herself aside long enough to care so much about him that it showed in her eyes? I could have sworn I recognized genuine emotion. But upon noticing my hesitation, Arta's head snapped back up and the ice queen I knew and loathed returned just for me. Oh joy.
"Hurry up," she hissed furiously. "Look at him!! We haven't got all day!!" As much as I despised Arta, she had a point. Adam didn't have all day and I was wasting precious seconds, so I punched in the numbers as fast as I could and hopped around anxiously until Erik answered on the third ring.
"'Lo. This is Erik."
"Erik! Omigosh! you need to get down here!" I cried, unsure of what exactly to say to get Erik's butt moving at a faster rate.
"Lissa? What's wrong?"
"Adam! It's Adam!" I swallowed. "H-He... There's something wro-" The phone was wrenched from my fingers by, three guesses. Yeah. Arta. She held it up to her ear with her long manicured-nail fingers and shouted frantically. Ths was not the calm, cool Arta I knew. This was Arta on high stress level. And maybe with true, honest emotion.
"Erik! Adam's collapsed! He was kneeling and holding his head when I came back and then he passed out! You need to get down here ASAP! He could be dying! Bring and ambulance, the police, whatever!! Just save him, Erik!" Wow. Double wow. This was... Shocking. This was not the Arta Clouse I knew!
When Erik pulled up barely five minutes later, Arta was ready to kill. She'd shooed the gawking passerbys and together, we'd managed to lift Adam and laid him down on a bench. Awkwardly, I stood next to him and watched Arta stalk up and down the sidewalk, her high-heeled boots clicking and hair blowing behind her. I could practically hear her grind her teeth together.
Feeling helpless, I leaned over Adam's still body and checked vital signs. Still breathing, good. That meant this wasn't an overheating of systems. A touch to the indicator on his wrist told me he hadn't come in contact with any harmful viruses. So what was wrong?
"Gal," I grumbled, under my breath so Arta couldn't hear. "Computers. What can you do with them?" I wasn't Erik. I was no computer expert. I studied to be a biologist! Shifting my weight, I let out a long breath and looked around. Where was Erik? I honestly wasn't that worried about Adam. I doubted he was in any pain, at least not now. And I had faith that Erik could fix him up.
When Erik finally pulled up, I could see him shoving the worry down and trying to be calm for Arta and my sake, but he only came off as cold and tired, though calm nonetheless.
"You're his best friend, right?" Arta demanded of the silent Erik as he leaned over Adam, no doubt diagnosing the problem. "So you should know if he has any illnesses, any allergies. You know whats wrong with him?"
"I know what's wrong with him," Erik responded solemnly and leaned over Adam, gently shaking him. "Adam," he said. "C'mon, wake up. Just so we can get you to the car. Okay?" Adam's eyes fluttered open and I sucked in a breath of quiet shock to see his eyes were still a cold black. Erik didn't even miss a beat, quickly asking him to sit up and slinging an arm around his shoulder, helping Adam stand.
"I can't see," Adam mumbled as he staggered to the car, leaning against Erik the whole way. "I can't... Why can't I see?"
"It's okay, Adam," Arta appeared on his side instantly, grabbing his hand and trying to help.
Wow.
Maybe... Maybe we'd been successful. Maybe it was possible that Arta could be falling in love with Adam. I wished I could have seen into her head then because for a fleeting moment, I was almost convinced. I nearly believed her little act. That witch couldn't love anyone other than herself. I'd remembered exactly what she'd done to Erik. I wasn't there then, but I could put two and two together and get 'Arta is a user'. She made my stupid, adorable Erik believe that she loved him, but then when she got what she wanted, she tossed his heart and soul to the curb.
"I... I wish I could see you," Adam mumbled in his sleepwalking state. "You're so pretty." Arta simply smiled and looked down a little shyly. That little...!! Acting all sweet and innocent! What a lie! What a... A... I would have stopped right there and cursed her out so bad she couldn't see straight, but that wouldn't help anything. And plus, Erik didn't like it when people cursed, so I held my tongue and fumed silently.
Erik pulled the car doors open and we all climbed inside, all the while trying to keep Adam comfortable and feeling okay. I sat up front with Erik so I wouldn't be too tempted to claw Arta's eyes out. And plus, what's not to love about sitting with Erik?
I could hear Arta talking softly to Adam and his quiet, innocent responses and shuddered. When I agreed to make Adam, I'd never imagined that he would become my friend. While Erik imagined a happy and in-love Arta, I thought of a replacement person to distract Arta and give me a chance with him. Neither of us gave a single thought to Adam's actual feelings... Golly. I felt awful and vowed to push her off a cliff if she planned on hurting him, too. Disgusting woman.
But, still... I glanced inconspicuosly to the back and watched her bite her lip as she studied his face, speaking calm to help him. She acted like she really cared... Did she? Or was she using her sick siren voice to captivate yet another one of my friends?
I turned around, unable to watch anymore and be confused.
"Erik," I asked quietly and prayed Arta wouldn't stop to listen. "What's wrong with him?" Erik's grim countenance, a rare sight, made me shudder just a little. Hardly anything gave my Erik a reason to frown. Was something that wrong with Adam? Or was something different plaguing him?
"I'll explain when we get home," he brushed me off. I swallowed and turned back to the front, feeling a bit hurt at how he pushed me aside. And he was using that voice again. I've only noticed it a few times, but on rare occasions, Erik uses this voice that sounds ten times older than he actually is. It sounds freakily wise or timeless or something. Or maybe just tired. Just tired of life. But either way, it always weirds me out when he talks like that, makes him sound so quietly important and brilliant and I can't help but compare his staggering genius against my own petty common sense. He seemed to know everything sometimes. What did I know? How could I imagine that I deserved him?
♠ ♠ ♠
Melissa's POV. I really liked writing this! Melissa's voice is veeery fun, especially when she's having a fit about Arta. Sadly, though, Lissa almost makes me use a curse word to describe Arta. Knowing her, she might curse every so often, but I'm not mucking up my PG rated writing to add a foul adjective. No matter how much Arta deserves it. Witch.