How Things Changed Forever.. PART - II

CH 21: A Nomination was Expected, the Other WASN'T

"Sorry to interrupt you Ray, but Mariah is turning a bit blue. From what I've just heard, I'm sure she is your 'oxygen', but she definitely needs oxygen to breathe, right now." "Kai!" Both of them said in unison, quickly turning to the door. There stood Kai, leaning against the doorframe, his eyes half-lidded and a smirk already blooming on his face. Ray turned red, immediately let go of Mariah and stepped away from her.

Mariah's legs buckled, still weak from last night as Kai mentioned something about 'sudden oxygen deficiency', but Ray came in again and caught her. Mariah sat down on the bed and after making sure she was feeling alright, Ray started once again "What are you doing here?" He asked, still not meeting Kai's eyes, embarrassed to the core.

"Oh, stop with the embarrassment Ray. You act as though your captain here hasn't been snogging his tease of a girlfriend at every chance, in every empty classroom or staircase he or she could find. And if rumors are to be believed, they've gone beyond the innocent kisses." teased Mariah.

"Mer!" Ray chided, glancing at Kai to see how he'd handle the retort, but Kai seemed pretty chill. "A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell." was all he said before getting himself a cup of water. "Well, then there's no problem there – you don't qualify." Mariah sassed back, satisfied with herself.

There was a pause, where Kai no doubt thought of saying something inappropriate, but given that she was his best friend's girlfriend, he must have refrained. But the guy recovered lightning fast. "Yet your boyfriend does, even after what I just saw? The show I just witnessed was anything but gentle, Madame." He retorted, handing her a glass of water. Mariah wasn't expecting the small act of kindness from him, but didn't let it refrain her sharp tongue. "There's a difference between passion and lust, you know..." "They all boil down to the very same thing at the end of the day." "I'm sure both of you have a lot to say on this topic, but if either of you don't want Ray to combust on spot due to embarrassment, I suggest you stop now!" ordered Aunt Rosa, silencing both of them. She made a beeline to Mariah, hugging her tight. "I'm so glad you're all right. I was so worried when Ray called me to tell me about you and your friends."

Happiness suddenly seemed to have seeped out of the room, replaced with tension. In her hurry to make it up with Ray, she had completely forgotten about her friends. Her aunt caught on too late, the damage was done. "Oh my god, where's Isa and Zen. Are they all right? Zen was hurt pretty badly, and what about Lizzie? Did she reach home fine?" Ray took a step forward. "Mer, you still need a lot of rest. We could talk of this later-" He started, his hands raised, trying to calm her down but Mariah got all the answers she needed. "What happened to them! I can't just go l to sleep without knowing what happened to them! I'm not some little girl" She exclaimed, pushing him away, but she was so weak that he didn't even budge. "Tell her Ray, the sleep will not soften the blow." Kai nudged, sounding as though he knew all about it.

"I'm so sorry honey." Her aunt said, hugging her again. Ray took a deep breath before plowing in. "Zen is in a coma, not responding to any of his medications. Isa wasn't badly hurt, but had a complete meltdown when she heard of what happened to him. She had to be restrained and sedated so that she wouldn't hurt herself in grief." "And from what I gathered from Laura and Casey, you guys weren't the only people ambushed. Fifteen to twenty people at the very least were attacked and mugged yesterday after the party, amongst whom at least ten of them are  hospitalized in this locality. People aren't even sure who all made it back home yesterday and who else are yet to be found." Kai quietly added.

******

For a school that had at least fifteen of its students attacked less than twenty-four hours ago, the atmosphere wasn't tense at all. Classes were running as usual, teachers behaved as though they didn't know of anything at all, and even the students were back to normal. The sudden normalcy was kind of jarring to Hillary. But when she did voice it out to Aubury during their lunch break, all she said was "People get attacked everyday, die every now and then on the streets. You can't lead a life if you let that bother you that much. And anyway, except for one, no one's seriously hurt." The apathy would seem harsh if it wasn't true.