V.I.R.A.L

The school bell hand rung as students raced from their seats for freedom. Most, but not all. Zinnia was one such student slumped down in her chair, unresponsive. Serval others looked at her uneasy as even the teacher wasn't willing to step in. She was left alone to her thoughts. She had been back at school for almost a month as October had snuck in. Team Rhapsody's streams had died down dramatically, and there had been talks of them quitting. Zinnia was well aware of the accusations as she was glued to the news day and night. Being back at school hadn't helped her one bit. Many students had kept their distance as an uneasy feeling had taken over the school since Percy's death. As the last of the students left, Zinnia found herself alone, staring at the whiteboard with little motivation to get up. Her attention was drawn as the doors to the classroom slid open. One of her peers stepped in, clearing their throat. "Umm, Zinnia. Your boyfriend is waiting for you."

Zinnia simply nodded as she sighed, standing up, throwing her bag over her shoulder, dragging herself out. She passed by hers and Percy's locker; it had been given to another student in the waiting line to no one surprise. The school had been very hush-hush about the situation, only mentioning him once during the first day back. Zinnia exited the front doors seeing Alton sitting on the wall watching the cars go by. As Zinnia walked over, she stood idly as Alton held out a cupcake. "I wish your classmates stop referring to me as your boyfriend. That's the last thing I need is pointless rumours."

Zinnia sat on the wall beside him, frowning. "You don't have to see me out of school every day, you know…."

"Oh, I know. But I want to. Maybe I should go back to school? I never did finish my exams. What's  school like these days."

"Crap."

"Nothing has changed then."

"Although the school would be so much tolerable if you were there."

"Yeah? Well, I'll keep that in mind. I am a bit shit at maths though, you will have to help me there."

Zinnia gave a half-hearted laugh as she looked down at the cake blankly. "No one talks to me at school anymore. They are all too scared to approach me over what happened with Percy. Everyone is just pretending it never happened."

"Everyone has their own way of dealing with loss. Some use it to help grow. Others are consumed by it. While some ignore it, pretend it never happened to help cope with the pain."

"What category do you come under?" Zinnia questioned.

Alton threw her question away, nudging her. "You should eat that cake made it myself. I would be very disappointed if you don't eat my birthday cake."

"Birthday? But you said your birthday was July 19th."

"I did? Well, umm, I sorta lied. But I didn't intend to."

"I am so confused."

"Well, my father found me and took me in on July 19th. They used that as my Birthday. After my father tried killing my mother and me, we ran away to Sunset peak. My mother didn't want my Birthday to be a reminder of him, so we changed it to today, October 10th."

"You never told me that…."

Alton jumped off the wall licking his fingers. "Yeah, well, why would I? As it is my official unofficial Birthday, I command you to come to the karaoke bar and celebrate."

Zinnia giggled, covering her mouth nodding. "I did promise. Though I wish you told me sooner."

"Ah, it's fine. So, you come to the bar?"

"You kidding?! Like I'm going to miss out on my best friend's Birthday. Although I like didn't get you anything."

Alton chuckled, wrapping his arm around Zinnia, shaking her about. "You kidding me, Zin? You're the only thing I need right now."

****

Gale stepped out of the Karaoke booth seeing Alton and Zinnia wearing a party hat. Gale turned around, whispering into his phone. "Foxtrot, this is Section, the target is secure, I repeat target is secure. Protocol Nightfall is a go."

"You know the screen is turned off." Zinnia pointed out.

Alton sighed, pushing Gale. "Just get inside." Everyone else was there, already drinking, readying the songs as Alton cleared his throat. "I'm back."

Scarlett stood up, bowing slightly. "Miss Trost, a pleasure."

"You don't have to be so formal with me, Scarlett. Besides, we are here for Alton."

"We are?" Emil asked, lost.

"It's his birthday."

"What? Alton, it's your Birthday? Nobody tells me anything!" Gale sulks.

"You didn't tell them?"

Alton places his hands together, looking away. "Forgive me, Zin; this was the only way to convince you to come. I kind of lied. Again, not entirely. What I said about my parents was true, but we moved my Birthday to March 2nd."

Zinnia sighed, shaking her head. "Figures."

"I still made cakes, though. And we rented the room out for the entire evening. We were about to order pizza. Please just enjoy yourself."

Zinnia smiled softly, folding her arms. "I know what you are trying to do. You're all doing this for me to cheer me up. But I'm fine. I don't need anyone's help."

Alton turned around, nodding to himself. "I hear ya. That's that. It's over."

Gale slumped in his chair, sighing. "Mission failed; we'll get them next time."

"Can you like stop with the military talk?" Emil barked.

Alton turned around, smirking. "Well, it's time. For Zinnia and Percy, we are officially shutting down Team Rhapsody."

"You what?!" Zinnia screamed. "You can't! Why?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? If one of our teammates aren't happily continuing, then none of us is. We are a team. A family. It's all of us or none of us." Alton pressed, packing his bags. "This is for the best."

Zinnia looked distort as she shook her head. "Don't be absurd. I didn't bring anything to the table. Gale, what are you going to do?!"

"Me? Probably go home. Defend my village like my father before me. None of you will probably ever see me again."

"Emil?!"

Emil shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, who knows? Maybe with Monty gone, I'll go back to the Montagues retake those trials."

Scarlett patted Zinnia on the back. "I'm going home. It was truly wonderful working with you all."

Zinnia turned to Alton, looking desperate. "You? What will you do, Alton?"

Alton smiled, placing his hand on Zinnia's shoulder. "What I always do Zin, get by. No reason to stick around; I've gotten too noisy should probably skip town; I've already sold the apartment."

Zinnia looked like she was about to cry as she shook her head. "Please say it ain't true. Don't go."

Everyone was about to leave when Alton poked his head through. "Oh, Zin, one last thing. Gotcha."

"What?"

Everyone came back in laughing. "How stupid do you think we are to abandon our friend in a time of need? We're here to stay whether you like it or not. We are going nowhere."

"You're God damn right we aren't. You can never escape us." Gale laughed, ruffing her Zinnia's hair.

"I knew she was naïve, but even this was silly." Scarlett mocked.

Alton sat down, cracking a can opener. "So, until you move on and feel better, we are never going to leave your side. Period."

"You tricked me. Again!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Come on, sit. Enjoy yourself. We are about to have Emil sing a song."

Zinnia lowered her head in defeat, sitting on the sofa. "You win. I want a stuffed crust pizza, though I will make all the meats. All of them!"

"Ai, ai captain."

"The hell is this shit? You could have least of chosen me a normal song, Scarlett!" Emil screeched.

"I do not know what you mean. I see nothing wrong with this song."

"It's called 24-hour Cinderella. How does that sound normal to you?!"

"Just sing the song Emil, or else," Scarlett whispered.

Emil felt chills run down his spine as he took the microphone licking his lips. "Here we fucking go."

Alton began scoffing down nuts staring at his phone as Zinnia looked around, feeling slightly overwhelmed. "I can't believe you all went this out of your way for me. No one has ever cared this much."

"Well, what do you expect, Zinnia? We all love you." Alton slurs still on his phone. "You should expect this more often."

"I know we are a team, but."

"Don't think about it too much, Zin. We are all upset about Percy; it hit you the most. So, no matter what it takes, we will help you through it, you're not just a key member of the team but a dear friend, so it's worth it."

"Thanks, Alton." She smiled, cupping her hands together. "Umm, listen, there's something I want to discuss with you. It's important."

"Hmm."

"It's about the orphanage. I'm sixteen now; no one is going to adopt me anytime soon. Obviously, Rebecca won't let me go, nor am I allowed to just move out unless, well. Alton, are you even listening?" She leaned over his shoulder, looking at his phone. "What are you looking at?"

She stopped seeing a news broadcast of a burning building as he looked at her with a smug suggestive look. "So, shall we do it?"

"Excuse me?!"

"The burning building? Save the people? What were you thinking I was talking about?"

"Oh! Nothing!"

"I love yo-." Emil screeched out of tone.

"Emil, pack it up; we're heading out. You were right. You are a shit singer."

"Oh, now you realise! I tried warning you!" He barked.

Scarlett sipped her apple juice, sitting idly. "Where are we going? I was under the impression we were ordering pizza."

Alton showed the burning building on the screen as he flipped his streaming card around, smirking. "What say you all? You all up for a little hero work?"