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Post by misa on Jan 13, 2008 17:25:30 GMT
"So you see with the addition of the Z axis and the rotation of the graph, which can be done in any direction, hence emphasising the point of labelling your axis - yes, I mean you Aidan - the graph becomes three dimensional." Satisfied with herself, their teacher emphatically (her favourite way of doing things, as was becoming clear to Misa rather fast) stabbed the board with her chalk and took her seat once more.
"Well, don't just stare at me blankly!" She snapped briskly, "Page 173, exercise 2A. All Questions - Silence! Finished for homework. Additional notes can be found on Page 174."
Misa stared at the page for at least twenty minutes before she realised she wasn't actually reading the questions. It wasn't for lack of trying it was just the fact that the writing on the page refused to make words or any sense. She was just so tired...It wasn't even her fear keeping her up any more. It was her thoughts.
She glanced sideways and saw Madeleine at the other side of the classroom. She quickly looked down at her page again. She hadn't talked to Madeleine since the Christmas Day dream and it was costing her dearly in sleep and more.
She had looked an absolute mess this morning, huge bags beneath her eyes and her face in general pale and drawn. She didn't even have the energy to care, anymore.
The bell rang and Misa decided this needed to end. She would just...pass on the message and see what happened. Nothing that terrible would come of it, right? Before she could go back on her decision she jumped to her feet, pushed everything into her bag and went over to Madeleine's desk. She leant down and, heart thudding at a volume she was positive Madeleine would hear, said,
"Madeleine, can I talk to you for a second?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 13, 2008 18:28:27 GMT
Bloody Z axis.
Things were so much simpler when it was just X and Y. There was only supposed to be an X and Y! Coldplay didn't name their album "X and Y" for nothing, did they? And there was the phrase 'the x's and y's of life...'
Yep, there was only supposed to be an X and Y, as far as Madeleine was concerned.
So last year, when she'd been told by her maths teacher that there was a Z axis, she hadn't been very happy - and from then on, things only became confusing.
Not just in maths, but now that there was apparently an extra "Z" dimension to life, life suddenly got much more confusing.
Madeleine hated the Z axis.
So she was so, so happy that the period was now over.
But although she was bored, Madeleine was finding it extraordinarily hard to be annoyed at the Z axis right now, because it was so much better than it had been last week.
Because Lee was back, and Madeleine had the guy she loved back.
And she had her memoried and secret hugged close to her chest....
As she happily piled her books into her bag, Misa appeared at her desk.
"Madeleine, can I talk to you for a second?"
Madeleine looked up and smiled at her. "Sure, what's up?"
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Post by misa on Jan 13, 2008 19:32:07 GMT
Misa looked into Madeleine's eyes for a moment and she just seemed so...happy. She felt horribly guilty and selfish for what she was about to do. But, why? She didn't know this was going to have any bad effect on her. It might turn out to be absolutely nothing, just a hallucination caused by a point of extreme pressure in her life. It was still a possiblity...
"That's the thing...I don't exactly know."
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 13, 2008 19:37:36 GMT
For a minute, Madeleine had been considering telling Misa the news - she was finding it a little difficult to keep it to herself! A joy shared is a joy doubled, as they say.
Only she was so sure that this joy couldn't get any greater.
Then she looked into Misa's eyes, and saw the worry there. And not only worry... but something like guilt, or even ... shame?
"That's the thing... I don't exactly know."
Quickly sobering, Madeleine was worried, her face grave as she answered this. "Misa, what happened?"
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Post by misa on Jan 13, 2008 19:41:57 GMT
"I have...I...who is Shaun?" She asked afraid that if she contained the question any longer she might cry or worse. There, it was out. There was no way she could walk away from this now. Whatever it was...
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 13, 2008 19:47:31 GMT
What?
Madeleine froze, her elation being covered over by something harder, harsher.
She didn't make it widely known who her brother was - as far as she was aware, the only people who knew who her brother was were Lee and Kira - and she wasn't even entirely sure that Kira knew his name.
She couldn't make it widely known, in case there was an infiltrator who worked out the connection between the current Head of the Warriors and the fighter that had been assassinated almost a year and a half ago.
Not because she was ashamed of him. She was so proud of her brother and what he had done... but she had to keep him secret.
"What? He's... he's my brother - Misa, how did you know that?"
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Post by misa on Jan 13, 2008 19:58:20 GMT
So it was real. Ken'ichi was still...God, she couldn't even think about it. Just get through this conversation first, then think about what this could all mean for him later. It didn't even make sense, if he was her brother...why couldn't he say this himself? What did it have to do with her or Ken'ichi? Normally she could see connections so easily, it was just one of those things she was able to do. And she could seeing nothing connecting them all - nothing at all.
"I don't know...but, I do know he- he misses you." She said softly.
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 13, 2008 20:06:40 GMT
"He misses you."
Madeleine's eyes closed, and a fierce cold rage rose up in her.
What the hell sort of sick joke was this? How could Misa do this to her... well, how could Misa have known? Had someone told Misa to say that?
Who would do that to her?
Hearing that had wiped her happiness completely from her mind, replacing it with a pool hurt and bewildered anger.
Her voice was strained and angry as she answered stonily. "Who told you to say that?"
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Post by misa on Jan 13, 2008 20:13:47 GMT
Her reaction certainly wasn't what Misa had been expecting. But, what had she been expecting? Madeleine to welcome a piece of information about her brother, who was probably miles away, from a complete stranger?
And what was she meant to say in response - the spirit of my dead best friend told me so? Maybe...But, first there was something she had to know. With a fast sinking feeling she asked the question which would confirm every other suspicion she had,
"Where is Shaun, Madeleine?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 13, 2008 20:27:38 GMT
"Shaun... my brother is dead, Misa," Madeleine growled.
Did she honestly not know, or was she just playing innocent? Madeleine didn't know - and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Curiousity was beyond her now, all that was there was the anger, the pain and the hurt confusion.
How could she do this? It was such a sick joke, no one decent would ever say something like that to her, surely?
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Post by misa on Jan 13, 2008 20:45:12 GMT
Misa heard her book bag drop to the floor, it's content spilling, heard herself gasp and felt her own hand clap over her mouth before the information digested properly. She felt sick, her head was spinning, this wasn't right! She felt her self sway slightly and she clutched the desk behind her for support.
"Madeleine, I'm so sorry," She whispered, staring at the floor, watching with morbid fascination as the ink from her fountain pen dripped onto her fresh notes, staining them crimson in its wake. "I-" No, words failed her. She had no idea what could be said or done to reconcile what she had already said. There was no way to save the white paper from the red condemning ink...
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 13, 2008 20:55:43 GMT
Madeleine dropped to the ground and started to pick up Misa's notes and scattered items, deliberately keeping her face blank as she moved the red pen away from the paper.
Misa looked so shocked...
Was someone trying to play a cruel trick on Misa also? Madeleine felt a rising sense of injustice. What was it, let's play a practical joke on the "newbie"? Misa had been here for a while, and she was just out of hospital... that was so cruel. Look at her, cuts all over her - anyone could see that something was wrong.
Who would do that?
"Misa," she said, her voice low. "Misa, who told you to say that?"
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Post by misa on Jan 14, 2008 16:05:03 GMT
Run, just go - Now! A voice in her head was shrieking at a rising volume. You'll just screw it up horribly, more horribly than you already have, if you try and explain so, just leave! But, she couldn't. The tone in Madeleine's voice told her she couldn't just go. She had to try.
"Do you remember I, I told you about my friend. The one who d- the one who didn't make it?" She said her voice sinking to a fragile whisper. It was strange that suddenly she felt she couldn't say it, but she just...couldn't.
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jan 14, 2008 16:40:27 GMT
Madeleine froze for a second at that, before resuming picking up Misa's books.
Dead? She wasn't... wasn't some sort of pyschic was she?
She doubted that Shaun would resort to that, though. It was so unoriginal.
A small smile passed her lips for a moment, before she was brought back to the moment before.
"I remember," she said softly to the ground.
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Post by misa on Jan 14, 2008 17:04:18 GMT
"Ken'ichi, he...he's the one that told me." She felt her face flush as she said it, knowing it looked worse than normal considering the pallor of her skin but, caring so little she barely thought on it. Madeleine didn't seem to react. Misa dropped down next to Madeleine who was picking up her books for some reason Misa couldn't comprehend.
"Madeleine...he told me on Christmas Day."
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