Chapter Two:: Rainbows Take Over The World
AKA: Dancing, Nightmares, and Comfort

"So, at my Rainbow meeting last week," Lisa was telling us, "Janet completely messed up her lines! It's, like, so ridiculous that she did, since it was initiation and we had the sidelines full, but she did! I was sooooo mad!" I have no idea what she's talking about, by the way. The only thing I know is that it's something that happened at her meeting. She's a member of the International Order Of Rainbow For Girls, and is constantly mentioning things to Mark, Trent and I about something that happened. But she refuses to actually tell us anything about it. She goes to meetings for it every second and fourth Thursday of the month (and the school lets her. Weird.) which gets her out of our hair (really, though, we all love her), so we don't complain. Much.

"What's rainbow?" Simon asked when she stopped ranting.

"The International Order of Rainbow For Girls." Didn't I just go over this? "It's an organization that kinda teaches young ladies to act like young ladies, and let them have fun and be crazy at the same time. It's awesome, and fun."

"Oh," Simon replied ever so intelligently, "that's great."

"Okay," Lisa said. "I'm done boring you now."

"Finally," I say. "But really, where are you taking us?" Did I fail to mention that Lisa was leading us in to a part of the castle that I'm pretty sure we aren't allowed to go? 'Cause, like, she is. And I have no idea where we are.

"You'll see." Damn that evil smile. I look over at Simon, who's looking at me with one eyebrow raised. "Yes," Lisa goes on, "you did in fact just say that out loud. Nice to know I have an evil smile though!" This cracks Simon up, the traitor.

A few minutes later, and it seems we're wherever Lisa is taking us. She's stopped in front of a set of double doors, like you would have going into some really important room and need the option of having really dramatic entries. The doors were really, really fantastic. I glanced over at Simon, seeing the same awed expression on his face that I'm sure was on mine.

The doors had carvings on them, done as if from a professional. There were dragons, fairies, unicorns, flying horses, and things I couldn't make out. They were all over the door, and they looked real, creating the feeling that you're looking at a portal to a magical world.

Looking over at Lisa, I saw she still had the evil smile on her face, and was watching us examine the door. "Ready to go in?" she asked us. "The room is even more beautiful than the door."

"Sure," Simon whispered before I could even process what Lisa said. She stepped in front of us, turning down the handles of both doors, glancing back at us once. Then, she opened the doors and led us inside.

Lisa was right. This really is more beautiful than the door itself. It was--or, the way it's looking, is--an old-fashioned ball room, like you would find in rich man's mansion a hundred years ago. There was dark, blood red drapes over what I assume is floor to ceiling windows, and they looked clean and brand new. The floor was wood that was dust-free and looked freshly polished. There were snow-white columns that went up the the two-story-high ceiling, that had beautiful designs on it. The second floor was like a balcony, with no floor in the middle, and clean white railing around the edge. There was a small stage with a clean and polished grand piano, and, well, wow. I could hardly take in the whole room, and how beautiful it is, though I don't see how it could have been used lately.

"Wow," Simon breathed beside me, automatically latching onto my arm with both his hands. "It's amazing!" he explained, turning towards me to see if I thought the same thing.

"It's more than amazing," I said, smiling at him. A second later, I turned toward Lisa, who was stopped in what looked like the center of the room. "How did you find this?" I asked her, incredulous.

"I just stumbled on it," she said, shrugging. "I was looking around. We, um, aren't exactly allowed to be in this part of the castle, which is why I thought I'd come look. Since you aren't doing any pranks or tricks this week, I was bored, and wanted to see what was here. I found a path to get past the cameras and security and whatnot. Actually, I don't think they know about the one I took. But anyway, I found it, and was completely awe-struck. I had to show someone. And it looks new, doesn't? There's no dust, everything is polished, nothing is falling apart. It's, like, amazing. The upstairs is just as fantastic too, there's a set of stairs to the side there." Lisa motioned with her hand to the corner of the room, and Simon's hands tightened a little on my arm.

"Hey Lisa," I said to her, getting an idea. "You know how to play the piano, right?"

"...Yes. Why don't I like the look on your face, Eric Stinley?" She smiled at me, though, without waiting for an answer, and walked over to the grand piano. She started playing after a minute, obviously loving the sound in the huge empty ball room. I disentangled Simon from my arm, quickly running back and shutting the door. Before I could, though, Jade showed up, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yo." I said to him. "What're you doing here?"

"Lisa told me to come," he replied. Looking into the room, he let out a low whistle. "Nice." Taking a second to revise my idea, I leaned up and whispered it into his ear. "As long as we don't scare him too much," was his only reply. I walked ahead of him back into the room as he closed the doors, seeing that Simon caught sight of Jade and waved shyly at him. Knowing Jade would offer a smile in return, I didn't bother to look back at him.

"May I have this dance?" I asked to Simon, bowing and extending my hand. I was hoping he'd get caught up in the magic of the room, and not think too much about my offer. I got my wish, and put his hand in mine. Lisa must've seen us and realized what I was doing, as she slowed to a simple waltz. I led Simon around the dance floor, laughing with him as he tripped on his feet more than once. A couple minutes later, Jade tapped on my shoulder as per the plan, and cut in. He danced with the cute youn--I mean, with Simon just as I did, and Lisa kept up with the same melody.

When we were younger, Jade and I had taken a classical dance class together (our parents idea). Our favorite was the waltz, and we had a ball waltzing with each other as partners at random moments--and we were really good. It's something that I never forgot, and, watching Jade, I realized he never forgot either. The other thing we were really good at was dancing with three people. I'm not sure how we managed it, but we'd come up with a dance set to a waltz that worked for three people. And that was the plan for now.

So after Jade and Simon had been dancing for a few minutes (which I spent watching them and looking more around this amazing room), I strolled over and tapped Jade's shoulder. Simon was obviously enjoying himself, laughing and smiling wider than I'd ever seen him smile before, his shyness seemingly gone.

"Follow our lead, okay?" I said to him, moving beside Jade. Si (my new nickname for the younger boy) nodded, and, after Jade and I took his hands, we started dancing. Lisa started playing an even slower waltz, having seen what we were doing, and made it easier for us. That girl is good.

About five minutes later, Lisa stopped playing and came over to us. "We really should go," she said. "Mark and Trent will probably be looking for me--I made plans with them earlier-- and I'm sure someone noticed the infamous Jade Natel is missing."

"Alright," I agreed, albeit reluctantly. Jade and Simon nodded as well.

"You three looked great dancing, you know." Simon blushed, and I giggled while Jade rolled his eyes. "Feel free to come up here whenever you feel like it, as long as you don't get caught. It's beautiful, but I found a couple rooms--which I refuse to show you--that I like even better. It can be a hideout for you three."

It was strange, but as she was talking it was like I felt something...shifting, I guess would be the best word, around me. Maybe it was just that I could see the potential for all that the room could be to us. Or maybe it was something more.

xXx

Jade woke me up screaming that night. It was a nightmare, obviously, and a bad one. I jerked up and awake as soon as I heard it, and looked across the room, faintly registering that Simon did the same. Out of old habit more than anything else, I quickly hurried out of bed and across the room to where Jade was thrashing around under his blankets.

"It's okay," I started whispering to him, over and over, stroking his hair back as I laid down right next to him. He quieted after a couple minutes, and became more still. I looked around, and noticed that Simon had come over to stand beside me, clearly unsure of what to do. "Push your bed over here," I said to him softly, not wanting to wake Jade. "If you don't mind, Jade could really use the warmth of us next to him, it's one of the only things that'll keep him from getting like that again." I saw him nod, and move back to the other side of his bed. I heard it being pushed over after a second (the beds and frames are really light, so he didn't have any problem) and I climbed up onto Jade's bed.

"Stay there," I said as Simon climbed up beside Jade. "and put a hand on his arm or something." Climbing back off the bed, I quickly pushed a dresser against one of the ends of Simon's bed, and pulled the couch the short distance to the other. It really wouldn't help anything to have this bed start moving around while we were trying to sleep on it, especially since one of us would have to be in the small crack between the beds.

After that was done, I climbed back to Jade's other side, under the covers, and I put my arm around him. "You should do the same," I whispered to Simon, worried about waking Jade. I saw that Simon did as I said, and snuggled close to the older boy.

"Is he okay?" Simon asked me, whispering as well.

"Yeah," I told him, unsure if it was a lie. I hadn't heard of Jade having any nightmares last year, and was hoping spending so much time with me wasn't the cause. "It was just a nightmare. He used to get them all the time. We used to be friends, and that's how I know how to calm him."

"Oh..." was Simon's response. A couple minutes later, his even breathing told me he was asleep, his head on Jade's shoulder. They looked so adorably cute that I couldn't help but untangle myself, and grab my sketchbook, a pencil, and a small flashlight, and start drawing them like that.

xXx

Someone was poking me. And that's how I woke up again that morning. I opened my eyes, grumbling to whoever it was that was poking me (the bastard), and saw Jade.

...Why the hell was Jade poking me awake?

Oh. Right. Last night. Beds pushed together. Simon and I in bed with Jade. I knew that.

Mornings should die. Really.

"What?" I mumbled barely audibly. Jade smirked, pleased with himself.

"I didn't want to wake up Simon," he whispered. "He's kinda...wrapped around me."

"Literally or figuratively?" I asked as I looked across at Simon, and saw Jade what Jade meant. Simon was on his side, his arm was around Jade's waist, and I could see he was completely snuggled against Jade. He looked like an angel, with his light brown hair and blue eyes. Jade had his arm around Simon's waist as well, probably to keep it from being crushed or something by the younger boys weight. It made me jealous, but I couldn't tell you just who I was jealous of if I wanted to.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it? I'm not moving him, he's too freakin' cute." He rolled his eyes.

"What happened last night?" Oh. That's what he wants to know.

"You had a nightmare," I told him, biting my lip a little. I always hated telling him in the morning... "You were screaming, and, like, thrashing around the bed."

"Oh..." he said. "I haven't had a nightmare in a long time..."

"I didn't think so...I'm not the reason you got this one, am I?"

"No!" he told me quickly, and a little too loudly. Simon mumbled something, and Jade rubbed his back. "Go back to sleep," he whispered to Simon. Simon just shook his head, and yawned.

"I'm already up," he said. "Is, um, everything okay?"

"Yeah," Jade and I both said, then grinned at each other.

"O..kay." He looked between Jade and I, then down at how he was snuggled against Jade. "I'm, um, going to get a shower." He disentangled himself from Jade, grabbed his stuff, and almost ran to the shower, blushing red as a red apple.

"Well," Jade said to me, smiling, "that was interesting." I sniggered, and he immediately became serious. "What're we doing here, Eric?"

I didn't have to ask, and he didn't have to explain what he meant. I knew. I was feeling it too. We were falling for Simon. Not to mention the small (teeny, tiny) attraction I felt for Jade. "Does it matter?" I asked back, just as serious.

"No..." Jade replied slowly. "I suppose it doesn't."

XxX

A/N:: I'd just like to point out that the International Order of Rainbow For Girls is a real organization. What it is is really hard to explain, but through it's ritualistic lessons it teaches about God and friendship. I wanted to include God in here somehow, so, oddly enough, that's how I did it. No matter what some people think, God loves everyone, no matter what color, race, orientation, or profession. Remember that, would you all?