It's Complicated

Chapter 6

A/N

So to everyone who reads this (I know there are a few. Emphasis on few), here's the chapter! Finally! But I hope you enjoy it, even if it's not too good. Or gouda ;)

(Read the ending)

Enjoy!

I woke up, but kept my eyes closed. I wiggled my toes. Wrinkled my nose. No pain. Which meant I couldn't get out of my next classes. Dang.

"I see you're awake." I snapped my eyes open and saw Fletcher standing above me, grinning.

"Don't do that!" I exclaimed. "Especially to a patient whose just recovered from being "poisoned!"

"My apologies." He didn't say anything else, so I kept talking.

"So, what happened? I mean, I know I swallowed something bad, but did I nearly die or something cool like that?" He eyed me weirdly, and was quiet for a bit before answering.

"Nearly die or 'something cool like that'? Were you expecting some dramatic resurrection?"

I nodded seriously. "Oh, yes, sir. I'm all about resurrecting. And dramaticness. Or, uh, drama," I added awkwardly. He gave me an amused smile.

"Well, to keep it short, your throat swelled up and you nearly did die, but nothing quite so interesting. You should have come to see me sooner, though," he said sternly. I gave him a sheepish smile.

"Um, how long ago, exactly?"

He stared me down. "As soon as it happened."

"I tried, honestly." At his disbelieving look, I quickly added, "no, really! But Finn wouldn't let me, then I forgot about it because of his electric shock machine and I didn't want to face Karter's wrath."

"You have Combat and PE in a row? Who designed your schedule?" He asked in surprise.

"I wish I knew," I murmured darkly.

"Anyhow, you'll be able to attend your last class. What do you have?" I pulled my timetable out of my pocket, and scanned it for my last class of the day. Oh, no. Why? Why couldn't SOSAC have been last instead of third? And why, you may ask, was I so annoyed at my schedule?

Next up was Epsilon Archery.

Why?

I gave Fletcher a weak smile. "Archery."

"That's not all bad," he said.

I held up a finger. "Epsilon Archery."

"Ah." And this was only my first day of classes! I didn't know how long I had to stay here, but I wasn't sure I'd make it to the end of the week.

I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. "Well, nice talking to you, but I really don't want to be late for another class. So, uh, thanks, and bye," I waved before heading out the door, Fletcher's chuckle following me.

Turned out, there was still ten minutes before the start of third class. I considered finding the others, but decided against it. I didn't particularly feel like explaining everything right now. So I wandered around the field, most likely looking like an i***t, which really wasn't too far off the mark. I sat down on the grass and leaned back, staring up at the sky. I was inspecting a suspiciously Jordan-shaped cloud when a shadow appeared over my face. Which probably meant I'd have to face human interaction. I groaned (which the person wanting to talk to me probably took as a 'can you not? I'm trying to cloud gaze here' and propped myself up on my elbows. "Hi...Renske?"

She plopped (weird word. Plop. Sorry, I'm getting off track again) down beside me. "That would be me. You survive this morning?" I stared at her dully.

"You come to rub it in my face that you won? Because I'm not really in the being bragged to mood-" She cut me off.

"Please. You didn't finish 'til partway through the Alpha class. And before you ask how I know, my sister's in that class. I suppose the whole Epsilon gene doesn't run in the family," she added, before giving me a look of sympathy. "So, are you okay?"

I considered. "Well, I'm not going to die. Even though I ate some stupid plant and nearly did. The whole passing out in Combat was pretty inconvenient as well." She just gaped at me incredulously.

"Combat right after PE? Who the hell did you have to kill to deserve that?"

"You wanna know the worst part?" I asked. She gave a shrug, then nodded. "It's Epsilon Combat."

Silence. Then, "you're not serious?"

"In my dreams I'm not. It's a nice place, my dream world," I said, before regretting it immediately. What just came out of my mouth?

She gave me an amused glance. "I'm taking that as a yes. Well Mr Bigshot, what d'you have next, then? Epsilon Chemistry?" I snorted at that.

"I wish. I'm nowhere near smart enough for that. Oh no, I'm stuck with plain old Epsilon Archery," I said exaggeratedly with random hand gestures. She grinned.

"Hardcore. I have Med-Sci, which is the definition of yawn-worthy." She opened up her ComTCD to check the time, and stood up, brushing herself off. "Have fun. But not too much fun, once is enough times to nearly die in one day," she added with a wink.

I smirked back. "Wouldn't dream of it." Then I turned to face the other few students heading towards the Archery field. This wasn't fair. Why did I get stuck with the dumb schedule? Stupid Aven, making me all super-enhanced and in the top classes.

I don't want to repeat what happened in Archery, but let's just say I accidentally hit a classmate and got a time-out the rest of the lesson. By the time dinner rolled around, I was shattered.

"Hey, buddy! How'd your first day go?" Antonio asked cheerfully, sitting down beside me. I groaned, and rested my head on my elbow.

"It was horrible," I murmured into the table. I felt a sharp poke on my back, and I jumped up. "Hey!"

"Well, my day was pretty good, actually, aside from PE-"

I interrupted him miserably. "You think your PE was bad."

"Ah, yes, didn't you nearly drown?"

"Who nearly drowned?" D.C. asked, taking a seat opposite us. I raised a feeble hand.

"And it's only day one!" I moaned, before picking up my menu. Hey, food is important! Without food you die! Therefore food is a priority.

Bear grinned at me as a glass of dillyberry juice appeared in front of him. I hadn't even noticed he'd arrived. "Already dying?"

"I basically did." Alex nodded from her place next to him. How had I missed both of them sitting down? Was I really that tired?

"How are you, by the way? You kinda passed out before I could actually talk to you properly," she asked me. I shrugged at her.

"I mean, I'm alive," I said, spreading my hands. Antonio snorted.

"Barely," he said.

"Barely," I amended, nodding my head lazily. "I don't even think I have enough energy to eat." Dix snickered, but managed to hide it. Antonio wasn't so subtle.

Antonio gasped loudly, and his eyes widened dramatically. "J-Oliver Jones isn't hungry! The world is ending!"

I elbowed him lightly. "Oh, hush up. I've had a seriously bad day."

"You don't say?" Alex deadpanned. I smiled.

"I've nearly died, passed out, made some guy in my PE class hate me-"

"Nice work, by the way," Antonio commented. "I think that's the fastest I've ever seen somebody make an enemy."

"What can I say? It was hate at first sight." I ordered a sandwich, because I'd probably starve later on if I didn't. When the bacon-y goodness arrived, my mouth watered.

"Who's the lucky gal or guy?" Dix questioned, taking a bite out of her burger.

"Jet...whatever his last name is," I replied, shrugging. "I don't think the red-headed dude's so keen on me either."

"What was his name?" Antonio mused.

"Beats me."

"Trouble in Epsilon?" Bear asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah," I said, grinning. "You know Alex nearly impaled me in Combat?"

"No, I didn't!" She protested. "I barely cut you! You won, anyway," she added in a quieter voice.

"Well, I fainted, so it wasn't that victorious."

She shrugged. "Let's call it a draw."

Bear and Antonio exchanged a glance. "I don't think I've ever seen people argue that they lost, before."

"No," Antonio agreed. "I don't think I have either." Dix was watching me strangely, and I met her eyes, but she just arched her eyebrows at me. Then I glanced at Antonio, and my eyes widened.

"Dude, you're gonna have to walk all the way to the eighth floor!" I exclaimed, my mouth quirking upwards. Yes, I felt sorry for him. But yeah, it was absolutely hilarious at the same time.

Antonio stared at me flatly, unimpressed. Was I missing something? I didn't think I was missing something, unless maybe he'd moved floors without telling me. "I can teleport."

Oh. The smirk dropped from my face, and the others chuckled.

"Oh, yeah. I knew that, it just, uh, slipped."

"Sure, Oliver," he said skeptically. "I'm glad to know you've got my back. You're a great friend."

"Alright, alright, I get it," I replied understandingly. "You want to break it off. I understand, but why? I thought we were going strong, Toni." That set off a new round of laughs.

"I'm sorry, Oli, but you're just not my type anymore," he answered sadly, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

Slowly, the exhaustion drifted away, and I was left with a feeling I hadn't felt in weeks. I felt whole.

As cheesy as it sounds.

But I'm all about cheese. It's pretty gouda.