Target To Save

Chapter 5 - August 1, 2031

Ivalin's second day of school was just as bad as her first one. It was slow, annoying, and unnecessary. The third day passed in the same manner. And so was the fourth, fifth, tenth, and fiftieth. Every day Ivalin was dragged to school. She would arrive, wait for Kallen, and then they would awkwardly interact, not quite sure where they stood.

At school, she never got to exchange pleasantries with Lyia who was constantly surrounded by a posse she delicately changed to fit into.

Most nights she and Jaizya played a careful game of not fighting and no orders that left things tense. Ivalin would sneak out of the apartment to the diner, and Jaizya would snatch a cancer stick and let it burn because "You'll be the death of me way before this will."

And that was that.

Lyia and Ivalin would sit in a rundown booth at the diner, letting silence filter through their conversation. They didn't talk about anything of importance, but Lyia took every idea with a passion and ended long rants about nothing with a laugh. She'd smile, her eyes twinkling, and Ivalin would look away.

But Ivalin didn't relax. She couldn't. She was on a job, and the job comes first.

So life went on.

Ivalin's head slammed onto the table. "I swear that I will put a bullet into Scear's shoulder if he does not shut it."

Scear's embellished voice carried over the sounds of the cafeteria, and Ivalin groaned as he started to tell a new story.

Kallen laughed, his fingers fluttering. "What did he do this time?"

"What didn't he do?" Ivalin picked her head off of the table and sat it on her hand.

His head turned Ivalin, but his eyes stayed on Scear. "Just don't get caught."

"I would never. I'm offended that you think that's even an option." She picked at the cooked broccoli, her eyes wandering to Lyia every few minutes.

Kallen tore his eyes away from Scear, and followed her gaze. "You just have to know all the possibilities."

Lyia laughed, but Ivalin's head tilted. She didn't recognize the tone. Fake, flashed through her mind, but Ivalin bit her lip. Scear's arm was over Lyia's shoulders. Alex was tucked into his shadow.

"He's the worst, but he's so hot. I hate him." Kallen stared at him, and Ivalin tilted her head.

"What would his body temperature have to do with anything?"

Kallen pointed at Ivalin with a fork. "You're messing with me again."

Ivalin leaned away from the makeshift weapon, trying to calm her racing heart at the non-existent threat, "Not really."

Kallen opened his mouth. Then closed it. "I don't know how to address that."

There was a moment of silence before Kallen shrugged, "Have you-you heard the news about Bleeding Hearts?"

Ivalin's back straightened and she forgot to breathe. "What?"

"You know, the terrorist assassin group. Deflected from the Government in 1776. Ring any bells?" His tone was joking, but there was concern leaking through the edges.

"Yeah." Ivalin cut him off. The metal fork in her hand had snapped in two. Her skin broke. She shoved the pieces into her pocket. "I know."

She clenched her fist, hoping to hide the blood that was dripping out. She could almost feel everyone's eyes on her, and she wondered if she had already failed, but when she looked up nobody was watching.

"Yeah, there's been sightings." Even Kallen didn't seem to notice, his eyes still on Scear.

"Sightings?" Ivalin froze her body tense, her back straight, ankles crossed. She was the picture of a perfect young lady, the one that had been beaten into her.

The bell rang. Kallen dragged his eyes away from the dark letterman jacket, "Come on. You free today?"

Blinking, Ivalin stood up, and briefly checked her hands. No bleeding, just little white scars that were fading by the second. "Free?"

She raised an eyebrow, his eyebrows furrowed.

"You know. Do you have anything to do tonight?" They made their way to the trash cans, and Ivalin struggled to hear him over other students.

"Not exactly."

Kallen nodded. "Do you want to come over? Go shopping, eat dinner?" He didn't seem to notice the other kids, the overwhelming sounds, overwhelming touch.

Ivalin paused. "And the purpose is?" Her fingers tapped on the metal tray, her mind raced with what the purpose and strategy was to waste time on something that wouldn't matter in the end.

"To further our alliance?" He looked at Ivalin out of the side of his eyes, but a smile creeped up on his lips.

"Sure. I'll have to ask Jaizya." Ivalin couldn't help but to let her mind wander to if this is what her life could have been without the Bleeding Hearts. She wondered if it would have been better. She wondered if the late 1700's would have been kind to her, if her mother and father would have loved her, or were her memories just a fiction she wrote when she was young and naive. Would life still work without Jaizya or Mère, or would the world just fall apart without them.

The hallways filled up, and she refocused as the two of them were swept off to class, there was no reason to dream of worlds that did not exist. A group of girls, with skirts too short, Lyia in the middle, Alex off to the side, passed by. They all glanced at Kallen and Ivalin, then giggled. Kallen grimaced. Ivalin quickly looked away.

"Those skirts aren't three-inches to the knee." Ivalin found that surprise leaked into her voice.

Kallen snorted, "And?"

Ivalin gave him a quick glance, her chest tightened, "That's the rule, isn't it?"

Nodding, Kallen gave Ivalin a pitying look which she gracefully ignored.

"Won't they get punished?" Ivalin's memories burned, flashes of panic and blood shattered in her mind, and she struggled to swallow.

"Ah," Kallen's hands ducked into his jean pockets, "Nah, not really. Punishing Lyia Brishell would be very bad for the school. Her and her posse g-get away with just about everything." His head turned to Ivalin, who avoided eye contact, "She's the youngest politician since, well, ever, and exceedingly famous, and rich. Her dad's the governor for Espair, so while he's there parting in our richest state, she's kicking up a storm here." He shook his head, shrugging, "For her, rules are meant to be broken."

Ivalin stalled like a mustang put into the wrong gear. She stared at Kallen, "Rules aren't meant to be broken." She couldn't breathe. Kallen reached for Ivalin's hand, and she flinched back. "They aren't." It sounded like a plea, and Ivalin ignored the bile that rose in her throat.

Kallen took a deep breath, "Sometimes rules don't apply to certain people, and there's no rhyme or reason, and there's nothing we can do."

They walked silently to their next class. The bell rang, the teacher started to teach, and Ivalin took notes, trying to swallow the panic that was taking over.

And the never-ending time-loop continued.