"Oh come on!! This is almost as bad as school!!!" she complained as she rose from her bean bag. She looked over at Cassandra, who had returned to Gaven's side, and sighed. "Why is it we have nothing to do around here..." she mumbled and looked over at Steph who was rereading an Animal Planet magazine for probably he millionth time today. 'I swear he has nothing better to do with his life but get an education..' she thought and looked at Samantha and Keith who were still sprawled on the floor working on their third puzzle. Everyone had something better to do except her. Knowing that she shouldn't bother the sibling moment between Keith and Samantha, or the 'work' of Gaven, she made her way over to Steph.
"Hey..." she mumbled and plopped herself beside him. His corner was basically a small desk and a bookcase with so many books about animals, it was surprising that the thing was still standing. He looked up from his magazine to look at her and nodded in reply. She knew he didn't talk much, which was perfectly fine...that is, if someone was not a part of this club. But, she had to make an exception for him, being that he had joined the club by accident.
"So...what animal might you be reading about this week?" she asked as she peered at the magazine he was holding. He looked at her and showed her the page he was reading about.
"It's about chimpanzees...how they grow, live, reproduce, die, that sort of thing." he replied. She looked at the page and smiled, noticing a picture of one chimpanzee holding a younger one.
"How cute..." she said and nodded in return. He smiled slightly at her pleasure and continued reading the article. She was going to start some random conversation with him but, now that she thought about it, she didn't want to disturb him. Instead, she endured the silence as she continued to peer over his shoulder at the pages he flipped to, studied for a few minutes, then turn to the next page. The club went on and on like this for a while until they began to hear the stomping of feet overhead.
"Either the soccer team is done for the day or it's..." Cassandra said as they all heard the trap door swing open. The footsteps were easy to hear as the body they belonged to carefully made their way down the ladder. Once down, not to their surprise, stood a girl with short hair in the same uniform as everyone else. The minute Luci saw her, she couldn't help but sigh.
"What are you doing here, Shay?" she asked with the annoyance easy to hear in her voice. The girl slowly turned her head to look at her but, before she could send a retort, she saw Steph. It was almost as if someone had taken a pencil and doodled hearts all around her for her attitude seemed to change.
"I-i'm here to see you guys of course!" she said, her body starting to shake from keeping in all of her anger. The club members continued to stare at her (all except Gaven) and, as if the stress had reached it's limit, she burst out in frustration and ran over to Steph. "How is it you can put up with these people!! Did they brainwash you or something? Your such a nice smart guy and all...I don't see how you can hang out with such...weirdos!" she asked, the frustration easy to hear in her voice and completely visible on her face. It took Steph almost an entire minute to finally realize she was talking to him and when he did, he looked up at her and shrugged. This reaction nearly put the club members to bursting out in laughter and Shay to her knees in tears.
"I don't think they are weird. To me, they are just really active people with wide imaginations." he said with a straight expression. This time, Shay couldn't help but burst into tears.
"But they are so weird! They think that plushies will rule the world, penguins are cool, and that boy doesn't even look like he's in high school!!!" she protested. Steph sighed and put his magazine down, causing the club members to hold their breaths. They knew how Steph could get at a time like this and, by putting down his magazine, he was really upset.
"Look." he began and placed his hands on her shoulder. "If you are going to criticize my friends then I would like it if you left. Other than that, if you would like to accept the fact that they are different maybe you can join us." Shay stared up at him dumbfounded and slowly took a step back. With tears still in her eyes, she ran to the ladder and darted up, trying to get away as fast as possible. Luci watched after her until the trap door had shut then looked at Steph who had returned to his magazine with the same casual look as if nothing had even happened.
"Why is it that she's always like that around you?" she asked curiously. Steph shrugged and flipped to the next page of his magazine.
"She confessed her love to me one day and now won't leave me alone." he replied and looked at her. Luci nodded and yawned softly.
"Well, it's getting late. I should probably get going..." she said and stood up. Steph nodded in agreement and put his magazine away. The other members of the club did the same, all except Gaven, and began cleaning their messes and gathering their things. Once everyone was set, Luci waited at the bottom of the ladder for everyone to leave so she could shut off the power. First Keith, then Samantha, then Gaven with Cassandra following close behind, then, as Steph walked pass, Luci felt this weird sensation inside of her that made her crouch slightly in pain with her hand on her chest. He looked at her with a bit of confusion and knelt beside her.
"You ok?" he asked with the slightest bit of worry in his voice. Luci looked at him and nodded as she slowly regained composure.
"I-i'm fine..." she replied and kept her head down as he stood up and climbed up the ladder. Luci walked over to the power box, flipped the main power switch to off which shut down any and all power in the club room, and crawled up the ladder as well. She could see that, as she emerged from the underground room, that Keith and Samantha had already left, Gaven had walked back to the school, Cassandra was waiting for Gaven's return, and Steph stood there silently. With a slight tilt of her head, Luci walked over to him.
"Something wrong?" she asked, being that he had a very concentrated look on his face. He looked at her and placed his palm on her forehead to check for a fever.
"You don't feel warm..." he mumbled to himself. It was a bit obvious that he was concerned about her.
"I'm alright." she said with a smile as she began to make her way home. "I'll see you tomorrow." she said with a wave. He waved in return and began walking the opposite way towards his own house.
Sorry that the pic still isn't up. I haven't really gotten around to getting my camera to work...^^" Oh and the next post will be a comic strip of Pengy's Adventures!! I'm really looking forward to drawing him ^^ I haven't really said anything up until now about this, but Pengy is a real penguin >w< I thought it would make the story more interesting, being that Gaven is trying to prove that plusies will take over the world and all. Well, I hope you like the story so far! Please post any comments you have on it! I want to know what you think of it!!
