[i]"I, uh, changed a lightbulb last weekend...that's science, right?"[/i] Val laughed; at least someone else was managing to maintain a sense of humour in the face of this madness and she glanced up at tall figure she was walking alongside, as he continued [i]"I dunno. I'm not big into school. I'm already twenty and I'm still finishing twelfth grade. They say I don't apply myself, but I don't see the point. I just want to get my diploma and go."[/i] Twenty? She tried to mask her surprise under nonchalance, but suddenly, she became painfully aware of how out of her depth she was, with this guy she barely knew, in this shadowed hallway where she couldn't even see ten paces ahead of herself. She knew they were approaching the cafeteria by the change in corridor deco and the whoops emanating from the wide doorway ahead. When Cecil mentioned about liking PE, she opened her mouth to supply that she, herself, liked jogging in her spare time. However, as they were about to reach the source of the sound, she decided against it and shut up swiftly. 


Instead of the confused, tentative group of kids she'd expected to stumble across, she found herself caught in the glare of an intense, white light of half a dozen phone screens combined. The sickly stench of smoke hung thick in the air and she resisted the urge to sneeze, slowly edging closer to Cecil. The stark glow ploughed towards them, accompanied by low, rough voices and barks of laughter, and Val felt the icy grip of fear seize her limbs. Given that the voices were not entirely unfamiliar - though she couldn't identify any one of them by name - she guessed that this particular event wasn't a direct product of the freak eclipse. No - she recognized the smell, that hung in the shadier parts of school, where people like her steered clear. 


[i]"Oh, it's just CC! What's up, Cec? Wanna smoke up with us?"[/i]


The advancing party seemed to relax, at this announcement but Val felt as though she'd been kicked square in the gut. Cecil was part of this group - of course; why else hadn't she seen him around her part of school? It had been Cecil's suggestion that they come to the cafeteria - what if he had planned this all along? And now she was trapped, caught in the thick of it. Her heart rate rocketed, as the sickening shock begun to override the paralysis the initial panic had induced in her body. She'd thought...well, she didn't know what she'd quite thought of him, but for some reason, it wasn't this. [i]Stupid, naïve kid[/i], Val admonished herself. 


The only glimmer of reassurance that Val received was the detachment in both Cecil's tone and posture. When he refused the loud-mouthed one's offer of - well, Val wasn't exactly well versed in street culture, but she guessed that whatever it was, wasn't of the medicinal variety - Cecil seemed unfazed at the guy's annoyance. As they spoke, Val edged back silently until her back hit the wall next to the doorway. She considered making a dash for exit but Cecil hadn't yet given her reason to doubt him, and so she found herself glued in place.


"Where do you think you're going?" a voice sneered to her left and jumped, as a hand clamped around her upper arm. She shook it off violently and scurried back into Cecil's shadow. Running seemed out of the question. Her only hope was that Cecil wasn't too deep in - and by the way he turned to search for an answer in her, she grimaced. If Cecil didn't know how to convince these guys - his [i]friends[/i] - to back down, what hope did she have?...But her three elder brothers hadn't taught her to give up. She pushed up the sleeves of Cecil's jacket, in a bid to look a little less ridiculous and stepped forward, before the doubts took over. She hoped she looked significantly more confident than she felt. 


"Look, guys," she said, with as much volume as she could muster "We'd really like to stay, really...but actually, we just dropped by to warn you. You know how everyone's gathering in the auditorium to figure this freaky shit out? Well - news just in - some nerds have just about calculated the origin of this weird blackout and they've worked out what those creatures are, and trust me; it isn't pretty. I'm guessing you heard...the screams."


She paused for dramatic effect, high of her own adrenaline - never mind the joint - and when they didn't outright shoot her down or laugh in her face, she continued. After seeing the effect those wails had had on various students (which seemed as much mental torture, as physical), she was counting on the fact that these people seemed like they had more mental demons than most. In all honesty, she was lying through her teeth and surprised by how easily the untruths wove their way into her speech. 


"It's not an eclipse, like they've been saying. The military-" the slightly more believable of the wacky theories she'd just been recounting to Cecil was the first thing that came into her mind "- have been using this area for nuclear weapons testing. You remember the eye tests they made us all do last week?" A routine check, as part of 'Love your Retinas' week, as Val recalled correctly "Well, it was to check that no eye damage had been recorded in the local population, due to the radioactive testing they'd been conducting at night. You know, in that abandoned warehouse a block down from this school? It's a top secret trial that they've been running - I mean, war's more important than us civilians, of course. But there's been an explosion - a leak. They've locked this area down and they're sending SWAT teams in, as soon as they can. It's messed up local wildlife pretty bad and it's causing hallucinations in some people, which will only get worse. But the main concern is that radioactive waste has been found in another cafeteria's food supply, and that it's all contaminated. So if you want to stick around, be my guest. But don't blame us when the government descend and lock all three of your glowing, green, skeleton arms into specialised handcuffs. We're out of here."


She let what she had said sink in, her heart still pounding like a moth trapped in a jar, hoping that the mix of scientific jargon and blunt words would be enough to make them pay attention and listen. Her second eldest, sports-star brother regularly brought his teammates home, where they drowned themselves in alcohol until the early hours of morning. If she wanted any sleep whatsoever, she had learned that the best way to convince them shut up was to not hesitate, not even for a second, look them straight in the eye and shout. Of course, she'd interjected a slight bit more subtly into the current situation but stuck to the basics. If it worked though, it was a freaking miracle. And she said so.


"If this works," she hissed to Cecil, once again seeking comfort in his shadow and tugging him away slightly as the gang exchanged glances among themselves "I'm dropping out of school and pursuing a career in Hollywood. But if not...I've no idea what I just said but I'm sorry if I just destroyed your street cred, there..."