Chapter 12 (Junkie)

The eating contest was postponed to the next day because no one expected to have lunch at nine in the morning. The bets were not enough and Henry wasn't going to compete for mere change. Lunch was a rather short and boring one for the students as they walked out of the cafeteria grumbling to themselves. Sally stayed put on her bench.

"Are you okay?" Nikolay asked. She had been acting weird since she got to school.

"Yeah, I feel good" she said smiling sheepishly

"Let's get back to class" he said

"Ah! I hate Ian!" She yelled throwing her head backwards

"How can he question her decision to cover up our tracks?" She asked

"Who are you talking about? What tracks?" He asked

"Shut up! I'm not done" she hit him across the face

"Ouch!" He winced

"Are you high? What did you drink?" He asked looking into her tea cup

"You..... you look handsome" she said winking at him. Nikolay couldn't help but smile at her cuteness

"Nikolay..." She called

"Yes?" He asked

"Do you want to kiss me?" She asked

"Huh?"

"In this world, I've been to places you've never been to and I can tell when a guy wants to kiss a girl. So I know that you.... right now. You want to kiss me" she said

"You're sick, let's get you to the infirmary. Don't know what you drank" he said trying to pull her up

"Oh, look at you playing hard to get" she laughed

"After you asked if Ian and I slept in the same room. You think I don't know what you meant?" She asked trying to get up. She nearly fell but he caught her by the waist

"See? You find me attractive, don't you?" She asked

Nikolay was speechless

"Yes, I find you attractive" he said finally

"Fine! Since I'm in a good mood, I'll let you kiss me. But just one kiss and you can't tell anyone about it, okay?" She said

"If you tell anyone we'll be in trouble. Here I go!" She said and kissed him

He stood there fixed to the spot. After a minute of lip smooching she fell on the floor and began mumbling words he didn't understand

"What just happened?" He asked himself

"Nikolay Diego what are you doing here?" Mrs. Andre walked in with some Police officers

"Um.... Sally's sick" he said bending over to lift her up

"We are testing students for drugs, cooperate with us" a Police officer said

"Why?" He asked as his other classmates walked in through the door

"We got a lead that a student in this school purchased hard drugs, we're only here to..." The Officer stopped when he saw Sally

"What's wrong with her?" He asked walking towards her

"She's sick" Nikolay said

"No, we've got her" the officer said

"What?!" Nikolay asked

"She's under the influence of hard drugs" The officer said as a female officer carried her out of the cafeteria

"What are you going to do with her?" Nikolay asked

"We'll detain her for now and when she's conscious we'd question her" the Police officer said

"Can I come with you guys? I'm her brother" Ian said

"Yeah, sure" the officer said they walked out amid whispers from students

"Who ever knew that Sal did drugs" Legend said looking at Nikolay. Her time to paint Sally black had come.

"She always acted weird. Always using curse words, plus she said she went to juve" Emma said

"She didn't even write her answers on her script and she rang the lunch bell at nine" Sandra said

"I have to say she behaved more weird today" she added

"Sally Hall rang the lunch bell?" Mrs. Andre asked

"And we thought there was a malfunction" she said

"Can we stop talking about her?" Nikolay requested

"We don't know what really happened so let's not jump into conclusions" he said and began to walk out

"Nikolay, what were you doing here with her?" Legend asked stopping him

"Things that you can't imagine" Nikolay said and walked away

"Oh........." The students cooed as they made side talks

"Nikolay's cool" Ray said and walked away with him

"Ah....." Sally groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Her hands automatically went to her head. It felt like it was going to split if she made a wrong move. The environment where she sat was noisy. It definitely wasn't the school. The students made noise non stop but this kind of noise was annoying to her. She had been in a place similar to it.

"What the hell am I doing here?" She asked herself as she slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a holding cell

"Are you coming to?" an officer asked

"Coming to what?" Sally asked when the officer opened the cell

"You still seem to be under the influence of the drug" the officer said

"Drug?" Sally asked. They offered her a seat and a cup of coffee

"Here you go, drink this" the officer said

"Seriously? You said I'm under the influence of a drug and you're giving me coffee?" She asked

"What do you want then?" the officer asked

"Not what I want, what would be better" she corrected

"And tea would be better" she said

"Please get her some tea" the officer told her partner

"So Miss Hall, why don't you tell me why you took those drugs?" She said

"Huh? Sorry, is there another Miss Hall here?" Sally asked looking around

"No, I'm referring to you. You passed out after taking hard drugs" The officer said

Sally began to laugh. Drugs? Her? No

"Officer come on. I know I act crazy sometimes but I can never do drugs. Do I look like someone who would take illicit drugs? You got the wrong girl" she said

"Then how do you explain the drug tester here that says you consumed hard drugs?" The officer asked

"Why are you asking me that? Ask the machine"

"Ah my bad, the machine can't talk so I'll answer for it instead. It's because I'm broken" she said talking like a robot

"What a joke" she added

"Miss, you purchased the drug we found in your blood stream today and we have evidence to prove the purchase" The officer said

"Well, someone wants to frame me" Sally said

"Why do you have an answer to everything I say?" the officer asked getting frustrated

"Because the answers are so obvious" she answered

"Why? Does it annoy you?" She asked

"And hey, I thought the first question a Police officer is supposed to ask a detainee is about their parents or guardians?" She added

"I didn't ask that because your brother is here" The officer said

"Yeah right. That brother" she muttered

"You will be handed over to a therapist" the officer said. In an instant, Sally's expression changed. She wasn't the high school girl, Sally. She was now the badass mercenary, Keres.

"I think you need the therapist more than she does" Keres said sternly

"What?!" The officer asked astonished

"What kind of lady dresses like this in the 21st century?" Keres asked drawing attention to them

"Your make up and hair style is profoundly ugly and the height of it is your jewelry choice" she said

"Who wears a complete jewelry set these days? Or are you perhaps behind time?" She asked

"How dare you?" the officer asked

"Well sorry if you take this as an insult but I'm just concerned about your mental health because obviously you seem to be under the influence of something. I wonder what it is" Keres said

"Rashmi, take her back into the holding cell" the officer said to her partner

"Call Father John of the St. Peters Memorial Parish, he'd post my bail" she said

"And, let me explain. You see, Ian, my brother can't post bail because he's under age and that was the reason why I asked you the parent or guardian question but you didn't seem to get me" Keres said

"Rashmi, what are you doing?!" the officer asked her partner

"Don't feel like dirt because a teenager is giving you advice. Hey, you didn't get me the tea again" Keres said turning to the other officer

"You can start by taking off the necklace and the ring, leave just the earrings and the bracelet on" she added. The Officers had no other choice but to hassle her back into the cell

Nikolay sat on his bed thinking about the incident at the cafeteria with Keres. He wondered if she really did consume hard drugs as the Police officers had said. He didn't want to believe that she could be an irresponsible girl who did drugs. He thought she didn't mean the kiss since she was under the influence of the drug. It was Sally. There was no way she would kiss him since she hated him for no reason. He wondered if she was back from the Police station and thought of who to call.

"Ray!"

"Yo!" Ray said yawning over the phone

"Are you sleeping?" Nikolay asked

"You mean, was I sleeping?" Ray corrected

"Um.. do you know if Ian and Sally are back from the station?" He asked

"Nah, ask them yourself" Ray said

"Get some sleep" Nikolay said and ended the call

"Damn it, I can't call anyone else" he said throwing the phone on the bed

"Maybe I should go and confirm myself" he said and took his jacket and keys to his motorcycle. He stepped out of his room and began tip toeing down the stairs

"God darn you Jason!" His sister said startling him

"Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed

"Do you think I can't do without you? They're a lot of guys killing themselves just to get me" Stellar sleep talked. Jason, her boy friend was a complete asswipe who always thanked his lucky stars Nikolay didn't attend their school.

"Jason? She's still seeing that ape?" He asked himself

"That little rat" he complained and continued tip toeing down the stairs. He got to the door and inserted the key in the key hole and slowly turned the keys to open the door

"Please don't make any noise" he begged and slowly opened it

He stepped out of the house and shut the door behind him

He walked to his bike and towed it outside the gate past the sleeping guards to the end of the road then mounted the bike and drove off. He got to the church and saw a Police van parked outside

"Are they back?" He wondered

Keres and Ian got down from the van along with Father John

"I will be in my room" The Priest said and walked in

"Darn you" Ian said and hit Keres on her head

"Ouch!" She winced

"How can you consume hard drugs, huh?" Ian asked

"You know this means you will be monitored by the Cops so no more sneaky movements from you" he said

"Are you insane?" She asked

"Do you think I don't know you put it in that water you forced me to drink?" She asked

He had been caught.

"That was... Hunter was worried you'd do something bad again so they asked me to drug you" he said

"I'm sorry"

"Fine, I'll just take a break" she said

"Let's go inside" he said and placed his arms around her shoulder and he led her into the church

"At least she didn't sleep in a holding cell" Nikolay said and got back on his bike and drove back home. He got back home to find all the lights in his house switched on

"Shoot" he said. He walked inside with shaky hands. He was definitely going to be chewed

"Nikolay!" His Father called stopping him

"Yes Dad" he said without turning around

"Where were you?" Diego asked

"Somewhere" Nikolay said

"Where's that somewhere that would warrant you leaving the house by 1.00am?" Claudia asked

"Mom, you don't have to know" Nikolay said

"I know you want to destroy me but I never knew you harbored the thought of having your own family killed!" Diego said

"What are you talking about?" Nikolay asked turning around

"Some people broke into our house and threatened your Dad with a gun. They were looking for something but they never found it" Claudia said

"So, who let them in?" Stellar asked

"Why are you asking me that?" He asked

"Does it make any sense that when you left they came in and as they left you came in?" Diego asked

"What are you saying? That I planned it?" Nikolay asked

"Yes" Diego said

"Look I didn't....." Nikolay started but stopped

"What?" Claudia asked inquisitively

"I forgot to lock the door. I'm sorry" Nikolay said

"You did this on purpose didn't you?" Diego asked

"Honey, how can you accuse your son of doing such? He just explained himself" Claudia said trying to calm him down

"Maybe I should have deliberately let them in, that way I won't feel guilty that some people came into our home to threaten my Mom and sister but obviously not you" Nikolay said and walked up to his room

"Did you hear what he just said?!" Diego asked Claudia

"Please calm down" Claudia said holding onto Diego's hand as he tried to go after Nikolay

"Gosh" Stellar sighed and walked up to her room

Keres got down from the taxi and every student present at Delta High School stared her down. News of her drug intake had spread around the school and a caricature was been made of her. She thought being in Delta High was going to change her school records but it was repeating itself again. She was the talk of the school. The one being pointed at but she didn't mind this time. She wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She walked into her classroom and found her classmates sitting in pairs. The only time they did that was when they had a class project or when they were gossiping. This time, it was definitely gossiping.

"Hey there junkie!" Emerald mocked as she walked into the classroom. Sally tried fighting it off but she couldn't. Her words got to her. It made her blood boil .

"What the hell did you say to her? Repeat it!" She dared throwing her bag to the floor.

"Her? I was talking to you. I called you a junkie, what are you going to do about it?" Emerald asked

"Shove that down your throat!" She said and punched her

"Oh my God!" Sandra exclaimed while Ray and Oscar went to hold her down

"Emma, go and get Mrs. Andre!" Legend said

"Okay" Emma said and ran out of the classroom

A fight broke out between Keres and the other girls in the class. Yes, it wasn't Sally anymore but Keres. Sally couldn't handle the emotional attack but Keres could. She was always ready.

"You little brat!" Keres said as she dragged Emerald by the hair, pulling her to the front of the classroom

"You don't know who you're dealing with, do you?" she asked

"Sally, let her go" Legend said stepping out

"Oh shut up. Like you wouldn't do the same if you were given a chance" Keres said still holding onto Emerald's hair

"You're all the same" she added pointing to all the students

"A bunch of fucking back stabbing morons who don't know their place" she said

"Sally please stop, let her go" Ray said

Emerald was bleeding from her nostrils and was wincing in pain

"If there's anyone here who doesn't know his or her place it's you Sally" Legend said

"Legend stop it" Oscar said

"You came to this school and flirted with every one. Well, I don't care if you did that but not Nikolay" she added

"So, you guys ganging up on her and calling her a junkie is because of Nikolay?" Keres asked

"Bitches" she said

"What?!" Legend and Sandra exclaimed

"Yeah, you're all bitches" Keres said and left Emerald's hair. She collapsed on the ground in relief

"Well at least we aren't junkies" Sandra said

"Didn't I tell you tell you to shut up your ass?!" Keres asked and went on to attack her

Emma ran towards the staff room screaming for the students to get out of her way.

"Woah, slow down" Ian said when she nearly bumped into him

"No time, before someone dies" she said panting

"Who's dying?" Nikolay asked

"Sally..... she's....." Emma started gasping for breath

"Sally's dying?!" Ian and Nikolay asked at once

"No, she's beating Emerald up because she called her a junkie" Emma said

"Darn it!" Ian said and raced to the class with Nikolay behind him

He walked in to see Keres pinning Legend to the wall. She was chocking her with her hands and she seemed to enjoy doing it

"Keres!" He yelled

She didn't listen and kept on choking her. Nikolay rushed towards her and pulled her away from Legend then dragged her outside the classroom

"Let me go! I'm going to kill that sorry ass bitch!" Keres yelled trying to go back to the classroom

"Calm down!" Nikolay said

"Get off" she said pushing him away

"Ahhhhhhh!" She yelled and kicked a locker boring a hole into it. Her hair was all over the place. She had Emerald's blood on her knuckle. She looked completely insane

"Calm down" Nikolay said surprised at her actions

"Are you okay?" Ian asked Legend who was coughing uncontrollably. She almost died

"Take your sister out of this school and then I'll be fine" she said brushing him aside

"What the hell is going on here?!" Principal Harrison asked walking into the classroom

He pulled the ones causing the chaos into his office after making sure Keres was calm. She was determined to kill someone.

"You'll have to call your parents" The Principal said

"Yeah, I will call mine but I'm not sure she has anyone to call" Legend said turning to Keres

"Legend" Ian cautioned

"No Ian, she's right" Keres said

"I don't have anyone to call because I don't have any parents. So if I kill her right now, I wouldn't have any family members who would be worried about me spending the rest of my life in jail" she said and made to hit Legend but was held back by Ian

"Sally Hall, since you can't call any one...." The Principal started

"She has someone to call" James said standing at the door with Lucia

"I guess you should call your parents" Lucia said to Legend

"Yeah, you can thank me later" Ian said when Keres glared at him. It was his fault the junkie talk began in the school. If only he didn't force her to drink the drugged water.

"Darn it" Legend muttered

"Let's sit" James said

"Oh, young man you attend this school?" Lucia asked as she saw Nikolay

"Yes ma'am" he said nervously. If she ever found out that he knew about her being Keres her reaction would definitely be worse than the reaction she gave when they called her a junkie.

"You know him?" Keres asked

"Yes" Lucia said

"Lucia, come here" Keres said pulling her close

"People here don't know me by the name Keres so when you want to talk to me or about me use the name Sally Hall" she whispered into her ears

"Why? Don't they know you as Maeve or Keres?"Lucia said

"Don't ask questions, just inform James" Keres said

"Okay" Lucia said passing on the message to James

"Um.... How are you related to Sally Hall?" Principal Harrison asked

"Isn't it obvious? I'm her Uncle" James said pissed off

"Oh, my apologies" Harrison said. He was new on the job and didn't want any feud with angry guardians.

"Legend's parents have been contacted and would soon be here so let's start when they get here" he said

"Whatever" Lucia said rolling her eyes

"What did you do?" James asked Keres

"I smashed an ugly duckling's face and they're punishing her for it" Keres said

"That ugly duckling is my friend!" Legend yelled

"And why do you keep mentioning her and she like it was another person I got into a fight with?" She asked

Sally had to return. Legend was beginning to get suspicious and the issue was already resolved. Keres had left quite a huge mark on Legend's neck.

"Mind your business and I didn't know Emerald was part of your clique. Or did you recently appoint her your spokes person so she would have the guts to call me a junkie?" Sally asked

"Wait, junkie? I'm lost here" Lucia said

"Your niece is a drug addict, she took hard drugs yesterday and was arrested by the Police" Legend said

"Oh my God. Is this true?" Lucia asked turning to her

"Yeah. I took drugs but I'm not a drug addict and I don't know how that ended up in my blood stream. But I know it was after I had lunch I began to feel funny" Sally said looking away. Keres knew though.

"Not that, I mean did they really make you sleep in a Police cell?" Lucia asked

"No, they wouldn't dare" Sally answered

"Thank goodness" James and Lucia said

"Are you forgetting the part where I said she took drugs?"

"Hard, illicit drugs?!" Legend asked angrily. She didn't want them to take Sally's side anymore.

"No, but she said she didn't take it purposely. Maybe you put it in her lunch" James said

"Are you accusing me?" Legend asked

"Yes" James said

"What's going on here?" Jared asked walking in

"Dad" Legend said getting up

"So, you've finally reached the point where you disgrace me by having me called to your school because of your misbehavior!" He asked

"Harsh" Sally said

"Please calm down, Mr. Freeway" Principal Harrison said

"What did she do?" Jared asked

"She got into a fight" Sally volunteered to say

"What!" Jared exclaimed turning to Legend

"She's lucky her pretty face wasn't disfigured" she added

"And who are you?" Jared asked

"Me? The one your daughter got into a fight with" she said

"Let's settle this without the kids here" The Principal said. He glared at Sally angrily. She was making the job difficult for him. Imagine taking a job as Principal of a school to be welcomed with a drug abuse situation.

"Leave the room" he told the students

"Yes Sir" they said and walked out

"So, this is who you truly are?" Ian asked Legend

"Why ask me? See for yourself" Legend said and walked away

"Give me a minute" Nikolay said and followed her

"So, that was the reason you asked me not to get involved with him?" Sally asked Ian

"Are you finally calm now?" Ian asked

"Back at the classroom I thought you've finally gone nuts. What was up with you then? Were you possessed by an evil spirit?" He asked

"Just answer the darn question" she said

"Yeah, Legend and Nikolay are engaged. You know, those kind of engagement between rich folks" Ian said

"But that isn't reason enough for you to tell me not to get involved with him" she said

"What's the other reason?" She asked

"There's no other reason" Ian lied

"And hey, you called my real name. Are you nuts?!" She asked

"Well you didn't give me a choice" he said and walked away

Meanwhile, Nikolay was trying to talk sense into Legend's now dense brain

"See? You want to talk to me but it's about Sal. Seriously Nikolay, is that the only name you hear?" She asked

"Maybe" Nikolay said

"I told you yesterday. Don't criticize her if you don't know what truly happened" he said

"What do you mean I don't know what happened?" Legend asked

"She took drugs, the Police caught her and then she was arrested. What in that story isn't detailed enough to tell us the kind of person Sally is?" Legend asked

"Someone put it in her lunch and I'm going to find out who. It better not be you" he added

"Are you accusing me?" She asked

"No. Stay clear from Sally, if you don't want to see me get angry" he said and walked away

"Darn that bitch!" Legend said. They were called to the counseling room after resolving the issue between the adults.

"Wow, aren't I happy that I get to write 10,000 words of apology to you and the school" Legend said eying Sally

"Emerald's parents aren't going to let this go like this you know. You would be punished for what you did!" Legend said when she ignored her

"Your Auntie and Uncle have basically nothing so what could they possibly do to stop our parents, huh?" She asked

"I think you should be worried about yourself" Sally finally spoke up

"Your Dad didn't look too pleased about you getting into a fight and worse, losing" she said

Legend blinked furiously trying to hold back her anger

"Is this what rich kids do? Hiding behind their parents skirts?" Sally asked

"Shut up. You should be worried because you might end up in juve again" Legend said

"Again. Thank God you said that word" Sally said

"I have been there before so I don't think I'll be afraid to go there again" she said

"And besides, it was fun" she added

"Shut up" Legend said angrily

"Don't you dare tell me to shut up you little rat!" Sally shouted and grabbed her by the neck again

"What are you students doing?" Mr. Luke asked walking inside to see them at each other's throats

"Get it done and over with!" Mr. Luke said and she let go of Legend's neck

"And Sally, you disappointed me" he added

"That's what I live for Sir. Disappointing those who have high expectations for me" she said smiling

"Good riddance" he muttered and walked out just as Mrs. Peters walked in

"Sally Hall, what happened with your Biology script?' she asked

"What happened to it?" Sally asked

"I should be asking you that because I didn't see any answers on the script" Mrs. Peters said

"Are you blind?" Sally asked

"What?!" Mrs. Peters asked shocked

"Didn't you see my answers there in bold letters?" She asked

"Look, whatever it is that you saw on the script is my answer to the questions" she added

"You need help. Psychologically" Mrs. Peters said

"Doesn't everyone?"

"So, talked to him today?" Ian asked

"Who?" Keres asked

They were in their room watching a movie. After the spat at the school the Priest gave them an ear full and sent them to their rooms not knowing he was doing them a huge favor. It wasn't like there was anything interesting he had seized in the room so sending them up there like normal parents do when they've confiscated their children's games wasn't the best thing he did. The only exciting thing they had was a little television which they had to slap several times before it came alive. And they would pick that over hearing his gospel message anytime, any day.

"Nikolay" he answered

"No, was busy all day writing that apology letter" she said

"Did you want to talk to him?" He asked

"No" she said

A grin crept up his chin

"Anyway, what about the USB key? Any lead on that?" She asked

"No, Hunter's still working on it. Hurricane and Silas went to Diego's house and tried to find it. They even threatened him with a gun and everything, you know" he said

"Does Silas even know where the trigger is on a gun?" She asked

"Gosh, you're good at belittling people" he said

"This USB key. What exactly does it contain?" she asked

"Even Hunter doesn't know. We have to lay our hands on it first to know" he said

"You mean lay your eyes" she said

"Do you even know what it looks like?" She asked

"I don't know" he said

"I mean it's a USB key so it has to look like a USB key, right?" He added

"But have you seen a picture of it or has it been described to you guys? You know, like the color or anything?" She asked

"No" he said

"Then how the hell are you guys going to find something you don't have a vivid image of?" She asked

"Well, no one has the guts to ask that to Hunter" he said changing the channel

"Ask him" she said

"Yeah, nice try" he said

Legend had the worse punishment her parents could ever give her. Silence. Their silence was what she feared the most. She would rather they scolded her non stop but instead they acted like she committed no offense. She thought long and hard what she would do to gain her Father's trust.

"Mom, Dad. I want to get engaged" Legend said

"What?" Franka asked surprised. She got her to finally talk

"I mean, I want to help secure our family's business. I know I haven't been a good daughter lately" she said looking at her Father

"So, whose family do you want to get into?" He asked

"Diego" Legend said. She wasn't thinking of ways to be a good daughter or ways to help the family's business. She was thinking ways to make Nikolay hers.

"The Diegos" she added looking at him to see his reaction

"They rejected that idea a long time ago and recently they've begun to suffer some loss" Jared said

"But they've gotten back on and besides, Nikolay also wants it" she lied

"Would you prefer I end up with someone I don't love and doesn't love me?" She asked

"Dear, she's right. The Diegos are very powerful business people and once an engagement between the two families is announced our company's stocks will rise" Franka said

"Remember they work directly with the government" she added

"That's true and you've come of age now" Jared said

"I would see the Diegos then. And you better start behaving properly in school" he added and walked out of the dining room

"Yes, Sir" Legend said smiling to herself. Nikolay was soon to be hers