The Joining: The Saga of the Shards Book One (The Cycle of the Shards 1)

by Chris Stephenson

  Phelps put his hand over his eyes, rubbing his temples. “Kyle…”

  And then Critock, spurred on by a series of sudden thoughts from Kyle, said the words that sent the room into an uproar. “What if God was just an alien?”

  It took a full fifteen minutes for Mr. Phelps to regain control of the class. Many people suddenly took personal offense to the innocent question, one girl that never said anything in the class started crying, and two students were sent outside to think about the words to use in polite company. Critock managed to avoid the worst of it, surprisingly, as the portion of the room that weren’t religious jumped to the question’s defense without him. After the teacher had gotten everyone to finally settle down, and the loudest and most boisterous were properly chastised for their over exuberance, he gave Critock a long look, and then announced the day’s worksheets. As they were being passed from one side of the room to the other, Critock thought to himself about exactly how much of the day was spent on repetition by filling out sheets, and how much education here could be improved with regular lectures. However, he also realized that perhaps Earth wasn’t quite ready for that yet, considering what had happened just then. He received the worksheet, which had nothing to do with the discussion they had been having, and prepared to take his time as he had done in the math class, when he was interrupted by Mr. Phelps.

  “Kyle, could you come up here for a moment? Nothing bad.”

  Sighing, Critock stood. He was hoping to escape without another heart-to-heart from his former target. Not for the first time he wished that the plan had worked the way it was supposed to. Phelps seemed like an agreeable enough sort, and was open minded enough about space and aliens that he probably would have helped Critock a lot earlier and without cajoling. Granted, they still would have had to find a way to get the pictures from the Principal, but there probably would’ve been a way, and probably would have saved his house, too. Or at least he would understand why this had happened. But regrets wouldn’t solve this. If he could go back and change anything he certainly would have changed something a lot earlier than just today. He completed his walk to Phelps’ desk and waited for the teacher to explain why he was summoned before him.

  “You’ve gotten a real knack for stirring up things around here lately, haven’t you?” Phelps spoke, and Critock took a slight step back.

  “I thought this wasn’t bad?”

  “It’s not, it’s a conversation. One that probably won’t end with chairs flying across the room.”

  Critock shrugged. “Well, maybe some things needed stirring up. Maybe not God being an alien, but you’ve got bullies running rampant with nobody giving a damn, and near as I can tell from the worksheets there’s not a whole lot of space for individuality.”

  Phelps sat back in his chair. “You act like you just showed up yesterday. I wish you would’ve been like this sooner. I hope you keep it up.”

  Critock narrowed his eyes, thinking he was walking into a trap. “Excuse me?”

  Phelps spun around in his chair, and stood up, again walking to the window, but still talking. Critock was forced to follow him to keep up with what he was saying. “The world doesn’t pay attention to people that just sit and follow directions and allow everything to happen to them. They don’t take control of their own lives, they just accept what they get and think that’s their life, that they have no say so. Acting up like you did, taking on Brian, and speaking out intelligently showed you have the ability to take control of your life. A lot of people never get that, or they do it for the wrong reasons and just end up in more trouble than they started out with.” He turned, and headed back towards his chair. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, Kyle, but I hope you keep surprising me. You can do a lot of great things. I never said that you had to fill those out…” He pointed towards the worksheets, and the multiple students filling them out, never thinking they might have a choice. “Ask questions, be annoying. You’ll get in trouble sometimes, but you’ll be remembered. If you handle things right, you’ll go far.” He sat down in his chair, and Critock came around to face him again.

  “Take control of your life, don’t let life control you.” Critock said, remembering Kyle’s father.

  Phelps pointed at him. “Exactly. Feel free to return to your seat anytime.” He spun around in his chair again, but didn’t move after that, happy to go back to looking out the window. Critock nodded, and walked back, sitting down and releasing a breath. Yes, he definitely wished he could have joined with Phelps instead. He looked down and glanced at the worksheet. He picked it up, looked at it, and then crumpled it into a ball. Critock glanced to Phelps’ trashcan that sat next to his desk, and launched the worksheet into it. A couple of students that had caught the arc of the paper looked at him strangely, and he smiled at them. He then put his hands behind his head, leaned back, and took advantage of the last few quiet moments he would possibly have before the next bell rang and all hell broke loose.

  29

  The bell had rung out its last call that class was over, and Shanna Ewing had finally drug herself out of the Study Hall where she had sat nervously for the past fifty-five minutes. It wasn’t bad enough that the world was coming to an end in a couple hours, or that it suddenly was her responsibility to get the alien that had caused all this onto the most secured computer in the building. No, first she had to almost fall off a second floor ledge! She had thought that in a near-death experience like that she would get some kind of adrenaline boost, but instead all she had was a horrible feeling in her gut, like the horror was just beginning. The fear was overtaking her as she walked towards the office to meet Ky..Critock, and it was like she was walking underwater. She had tried to cover it up with flirting with the alien, which was obviously making him uncomfortable. And it was hard not to, since regardless of who it was on the inside, it was still the body of the boy that she was interested in. So what was the harm if it helped distract her from the end of everything?

  At this point even using her wiles, which was fairly easy considering the nigh-embarrassing outfit she was wearing, probably wouldn’t work to keep her mind off of things. Every minute that drew closer she felt the nervousness in her gut turn almost to pain. Suddenly she wanted to cry, and she hated that. It was such a girl cliché, and she had tried so hard to not be ‘that girl’! Soon she would see Critock, and the wisp, and that would reassure her that she wasn’t alone in this, and somehow they’d all get through it together. And she’d get Kyle back, and then they could do all the happy little dating stuff and actually get to know each other. She found it odd that after only one day she knew the man from another planet better than the guy she had fallen in ‘like’ with after years of knowing her. Once the soldier was gone though, she’d have all the time in the world. Though she still wished that there was a way to keep them both here. For the world’s protection, of course…and…

  Okay, that’s quite enough of that! She thought to herself. For all she knew, Critock’s real look had horns and tentacles and was hideous. But, she did like their conversations, and hoped he would at the very least keep in touch, however you did that when your home was at the other end of the universe. She tried to gather herself, shaking off the influx of inappropriate thoughts that, while they did prove a slight distraction, were absolutely not welcome right now. She was successful in getting rid of them, but as soon as they were gone the fear of imminent death of herself and the rest of the world came flooding back, and every step got that much harder. She rounded a corner and hoped to see Critock and the floating white wisp there. Instead, she saw Claire.

  Oh. Right. Her. The first thoughts were of snark. She had been such a bitch to her for so long for something that wasn’t her fault! How could she speak to her, why isn’t Claire coming to her to apologize? But of all things, it was the fear that convinced her. For all she knew, this could be the last chance. The world could be ending in a matter of hours. There wasn’t time for a real bucket list, but if there was a real chance that she a
nd everyone else were to die, then she did not want the sadness and anger that she felt when she saw her former friend to be on the record. She wanted a friend at the end of the world. She started walking faster, the feeling of walking in concrete gone now.

  Claire was waiting for Daniel, who after saying that he would be right back had disappeared again, as boys often do, she thought. She hated to be away from him, he was her whole world! She reassured herself that he probably just had to use the bathroom or something. Not everything he did was her business, just most of it, she thought and smiled. She turned her head, feeling something approaching, and suddenly had a blast of fear as Shanna Ewing was almost running right at her. Was this it? Was she going to start a fight with her right here? She tried to brace herself, ready for anything.

  Of all the things that could happen, the one thing that did was the one she wasn’t ready for. Instead of a punch or a push, Shanna met Claire with an embrace, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Claire accepted the hug for a moment, flush with memories of their friendship, before suddenly coming to her senses, disentangling herself from the hug and stepping backwards.

  “Whoa, whoa, what the hell, Shanna? You don’t talk to me for this long and suddenly it’s like nothing ever happened?”

  Shanna looked at her for a moment, and put her head down slightly. “I’m sorry…I don’t know what happened to us but I’m tired of us not talking.”

  Claire shook her head, taking an angry tone. “You do too know. You’ve been hanging around with those sluts for so long that you haven’t had time for your friends in a year!”

  “They’re not sluts! Well…Not most of them, anyway. But I never wanted to hang out with them anyway! They’re not really my friends, I’m just stuck with them.”

  Claire took a step closer. “We spent all of our time making fun of people like that, and now…Just look at yourself, Shanna! Look at how everyone looks at you! I can’t be around you when you’re one of…those.”

  Shanna closed her eyes tightly. “I know exactly what I look like. You think I like looking like the fantasy of every straight boy in this school? You think I like wearing this crap?” She pulled at her skirt and top. “I hate everything about this. Most of all I hate losing you!”

  Claire’s eyes teared up slightly. “Then why, Shanna? Why are you doing this?”

  Shanna sighed. “Have you met my mother? You know what she’s like. You can’t argue with her. You can’t reason with her. She just keeps going and picking and… I’m sorry, Claire. I really really am. You started moving farther and farther away from me after I had to start trying out, and I thought you wanted to do this with me! And after I got on… I didn’t mean to lose you too. Just…My dignity.” Again she gestured at her uniform, causing Claire to giggle softly.

  “Well, that’s certainly gone.” Claire stated, while walking around Shanna. She stopped once she had made a full rotation, looking her in the eyes and sighing. “I’m still here, Shanna. I just…I kinda hate everything about that uniform now. I was jealous, and that just kept getting in the way.” Her eyes teared up, and suddenly she leaped into a large hug, returning finally the embrace that Shanna had started a few minutes prior. “I miss you.” She whispered.

  The two stayed in their hug. Shanna spoke quietly into Claire’s ear. “Promise me, whatever happens here on out, we’re still friends, right?”

  Claire moved back, her hands still on Shanna’s shoulders, both girls’ eyes glistening. “Of course. No more fighting. Besides, I bet you have a lot of dirt on the other skirts. I could use some blackmail material.”

  Shanna giggled, and the two hugged again. Claire smirked within the embrace. “So…you and Kyle, huh?”

  “Yeah….Yeah!” Shanna was suddenly startled out of the moment with her reunited friend, and she pulled back. “Crap, I’m sorry, Claire!”

  Claire narrowed her eyes. “What?”

  “I have to go! I have to…” Shanna started to run off in the direction of the office, then stopped and turned back around to her friend. “I promise, once this is all over, we’ll hang out.”

  Claire nodded, then waived her off smiling. “Go on! Go be with your boy. I’m still waiting on mine.” Shanna nodded, and kept going. Claire watched her run for a moment, then checked her phone for the time. Where was that boy?

  Critock checked the time for the twelfth time as he stood outside the main office doors below the stairwell as Tom floated nearby. “Damn! Where is she?” He looked around as the warning bell rang. The hallways were becoming more and more deserted with every passing second, and it was only a matter of time before their presence there would be questioned. He glanced at the clock at the wall. “Damn!”

  Tom moved near his ear. “Maybe she got held up?”

  Critock turned quickly to the wisp. “I’m about five seconds from getting my sword and going in there, I don’t have time to be ‘held up’.” Almost on cue, Shanna came running around the corner of a hallway, slowing to a stop in front of the pair, breathing heavy from running directly from her encounter with Claire. Critock started to speak. “Where…”

  She put her hands on her knees and bent slightly to try and regain her breath. “Sorry…Ran into….Claire.”

  “Oof. How’d that go?” Tom flew over to Shanna as she straightened back up.

  “It’s fine now.”

  Critock smiled slightly, happy that at least something was resolved from his visit here. “Good. Great. Shall we?” He gestured towards the office doors, his movements almost frantic with his need.

  Shanna nodded. “Yeah, let’s get this over with.” She took one more deep breath. “Follow my lead. Act sheepish.”

  “Sheepish?” Critock questioned, but she was already at the office doors, opening them as quickly as she could to move in. Glancing at Tom, he shrugged, and followed her in.

  They entered just in time to see Shanna resting her hands on the front desk and leaning over to talk with the secretary that sat there, an elderly lady that looked like she was well past retirement age. She was talking as quietly as she could, and Critock could detect a slightly sweeter tone to her voice that typically wasn’t present in his conversations with her.

  “Pleeeease? We just need to go in there for a second. Mr. Tompkins said I could!” Shanna gave the secretary her best sad eyes.

  “I’m fine with you going into the print room, Ms. Ewing. It’s him,” She paused, nodding towards Critock. “That I’m not sure about.” Critock effected a hurt expression as Shanna answered.

  “Oh, he’ll be fine. I’ll take responsibility for him. We just need to check one thing. Please?” She smiled at the secretary. Shanna knew just how to convince her, as she had said once that Shanna reminded her of her granddaughter.

  As predicted, the secretary folded. Sighing, she waived the pair off. Shanna smiled at Critock, and started heading down the hall. After a beat, both he and Tom followed.

  Once they were fully in the narrow hall, Critock looked toward Shanna and whispered. “Print Room?”

  “It’s right across from Tompkins. When are you going to trust me?” She smirked, then led him to the right. There was nobody in sight, and the print room was deserted as well. She grabbed Critock’s hand and pulled him into the alcove, pushing him to the side so the pair would be hidden from the wall.

  Tom followed the pair, and noted that she had pushed Critock against a filing cabinet, and was staying close to him. “Uh, guys?”

  “Keep an eye out, Tompkins should be leaving any minute.” Shanna said while staring down Critock. Tom emitted a sighing noise, and floated back towards the door. A moment passed, and then two, in which Critock was getting increasingly uncomfortable with Shanna’s proximity. Finally, they heard the creak of a door, and Tom rushing over to whisper that he was there. They listened intently for his footsteps moving out of the room, a pause, and then moving farther and farther away. Critock went to move, and Shanna placed a hand on his chest. “Wait.”

  “Wait for what?” He h
issed. “He’s gone!”

  “I know.” Shanna smiled. “Just letting Kyle enjoy the moment.” She smiled, and then moved back and around the corner, glancing quickly to check for anyone there. There was none, so she moved right to the door and turned the knob, pushing it open as she spoke. “Luckily, Tompkins never locks his door.” She passed inside as Critock followed.

  “Well, it’s not like anyone’s going to bust into his office and look at his pictures.” Tom spoke as he flew over their heads and to the computer, already sitting on a screen asking for a password. Critock waited for Shanna to move to the computer as well, and then closed the door behind them, locking it.

  With the locking sound, Shanna looked up. “What are you doing?”

  “In case someone wants to barge in on us. Not taking any chances. Get us in that thing.”

  “Okay…Give me a minute.” She looked at the screen, and typed a few keys. “No…that’s not it.”

  “What’s not it?”

  “The password. I need to figure it out.” Shanna started looking around the room for anything that would give her an idea or hint to get in.

  “What? Don’t you know it?”

  “No, of course I don’t know the principal’s password. Hold on…” She tried another combination of letters and numbers, and was met with a red x and a quiet horn sound. “Damn it.”

  Critock and Tom were both looking around the room, helping Shanna look for a clue. Tom happened upon a series of pictures of cars, and as he looked closer he realized they were all one specific car. “Try ‘Firebird.’”

  Shanna shook her head. “Has to have a number involved, or special character I suppose…”

  Critock rolled his eyes, and glanced at the pictures with Tom. “Try 72. 72firebird.” Shanna nodded, and she began to type. After she hit the enter key, she was met with another x, and again when she typed a slightly different way. Frustration overruling her fear, she attempted to put the 72 right in the middle of the word. As she hit the enter key one more time, she threw her hands up in triumph as the password screen disappeared and was replaced with the standard loading time.