Everybody Wants To Rule the World

Everybody Wants To Rule the World
Chapter Two
Written By: LadySwan

JT woke up groggily, staring at his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was. He saw Neil sleeping in the cot opposite his. Suddenly, everything came back to him. Memories of the day before, bad guys after them, him and Neil hiding out in Callie's sub, and Glory all worried about him.

He sat up straight. Where was Callie? It took JT a few minutes to realize that it was Monday, the first day back to school. He and Neil were afraid to take a step out of the sub, fearing that the bad guys would be on to them in a flash.

He glanced again at Neil sleeping peacefully beside him. Oh well. So far, none of the bad guys could get them. They were safe for now. JT lay back down on his cot and began to fall asleep again. We're safe now, he thought to himself sleepily.

Outside, watching the sub floating above the water from a near-by but hidden cliff, someone dressed all in black watched the yellow sub through binoculars.

"They're in the submarine." the man reported in his walkie-talkie. "They're safe." But Barek shook his head grimly. "But not for long." he promised to no one in particular. "They are in big trouble for messing with the WTO."


Callie and Jimmy walked down the hallway of Swans Crossing High, holding hands. It seemed incredibly romantic to Callie, but today, she was feeling a bit distracted.

"I hope we did the right thing leaving JT and Neil at the sub. I hope they don't get into any trouble." she told Jimmy. She was worried, and she couldn't hide it. The expression on her face said so.

Jimmy just rolled his eyes. "If trouble doesn't find those two, they'll find a way to get into trouble. They'll probably have wrecked the sub by the time we get out of school." he joked, with a twinkle in his eye.

Callie cracked a smile and swatted Jimmy playfully. "Oh you! Common, JT and Neil couldn't do that much damage!"

Jimmy shrugged. "Probably not, but you never know." He side-glanced her and smiled. "Doesn't really matter, at least the thought made you smile."

At this Callie ended up smiling even wider. She leaned against Jimmy. "Oh, you're so sweet. But I do hope that trouble really doesn't find them. And you know who 'trouble' is. I hope he or they don't find them."

"All we can do is hope until school lets out. Meanwhile, let's concentrate on you, getting to know more of Swans Crossing High." he told her, as they reached the end of the hallway, leading into several different direction.

Callie's forehead scrunched up. "Ooh, I'm never going to remember where's where. SCH is so big! I haven't been to a real school in a long time." she admitted.

Jimmy put his arm around Callie's shoulder. "And that's why I'm here for you." he grinned widely.

Callie couldn't help but smile back. He was the best.

He led her to the registrar's office. "Common, first we have to find you your schedule, and hopefully, we might have a couple of classes together." he said, as they walked to the hall to their left.

I hope I have a lot more than that, James Clayton, Callie thought to herself smiling. A lot more.


Nancy and Mila sat beside each other during Physical Ed class in the hot and humid gym. It was quite boring, listening to their teacher go on and on about how girls should like sports, so Nancy and Mila resorted to chatting in class.

"You know, Ms. Langer is the cheerleader coordinator." Nancy informed Mila, referring to their Physical Ed teacher in front of them.

Mila looked surprised. "Really? Is she good?"

Nancy nodded. "I didn't have her last year, but she's quite famous in this school. I heard she's going to try helping SCH's cheerleaders win this year at the nationals."

"What's that?" Mila asked.

"The cheerleaders from different schools have a competition every year. We didn't win last year though, the captain had the chicken pox, and none of the other girls came to practice, just to avoid it, so it sort of ruined our chances." Nancy shrugged. "But this year we'll win. Because the cheerleading squad will have you."

Mila smiled at Nancy. "Thanks for trying to convince me. It sounds like fun, but also quite nerve-racking. "I've never experienced how it's like to be a cheerleader before."

Nancy put an arm around Mila's shoulder. "Be positive, Countessa. You'll be the best cheerleader Swans Crossing High's ever had." she confirmed.

A thrill went up Mila's spine. She was always up for new experiences, and cheerleading seemed pretty exciting. Mila just hoped she was good enough to make the cut.

But Mila's mind began drifting off to other things she knew she was good at. Like singing for example. That too had been new to her, but she had never expected she would be as good as Owen had told her she was.

But then Mila remembered the awful scene yesterday when Sandy had walked out of practice. Was it my fault, she asked herself. She shook her head. No, Sandy was probably just under a lot of pressure about the first day of school.

Mila shook her head. Forget about singing for now, she told herself. Right now, concentrate on doing your best at cheerleading. And she would, she's be the best cheerleader there, Mila thought confidently.


Glory tapped her foot against the chair in front of her so often, that the girl looked back at her and glared. Glory guiltily threw her an apologetic look and pulled her foot back. Nervously, she fidgeted in her seat.

She was thrilled to be back in school. And now she was finally in high school. There were tons of things to be happy about. New experiences, new teachers, and a whole new school to explore. But Glory wasn't happy. She was worried about JT.

He and Neil had stayed home from school that day, hiding in Callie's sub, and Glory was really worried. The day before when she went over, all they had filled her in on was that they were in big trouble with some bad guys. And what made Glory worry even more was when Neil confirmed that these might be the guys who kidnapped her.

Glory hadn't felt like going to school that day, she wanted to spend all her time with JT making sure he was safe, but there had been nothing she could do to make that wish a reality.

She had heard that the school would be holding tryouts for the cheerleading squad today and tomorrow. Glory knew that if she tried out today, she might have a better chance than others might, but she just couldn't. Not today. Maybe tomorrow, but not today, Today, right after school, she'd go straight to the docks and see how JT was doing.

Glory had made a promise to herself, that right after school she'd go with Callie and Jimmy to the sub right away. She was sure Callie and Jimmy would head straight there, unless they planned to spend some time together alone. Maybe she could get Sydney to drop her off. After all, it was on the way.

But then again, what if by some chance, she wouldn't be able to try-out tomorrow? If she didn't try-out today, there might be no chance for her tomorrow.

It might be ok for her to try-out today. The try-outs were happening during the last period, which was really called homeroom. No one was allowed to leave school until after homeroom. She might only be delayed a couple of minutes, it's not like JT would mind. And she did have her gym clothes with her.

Fine, I'll do it, Glory decided. I go to cheerleading try-outs today rather than tomorrow. JT would have wanted her to.

In front of the classroom, was Glory's English teacher, Mr. Englebert. Right now, he was going on an on about the rules and regulations in his class, and Glory could definitely not concentrate. She and her classmates had heard this speech over and over again, and she wasn't sure how much more she could take.

She had promised herself, that in high school, there would be no goofing off in class, no doodles in her notebook, no daydreaming, just serious concentration. But it was hard with a teacher as boring as Mr. Englebert was.

Glory found her thoughts drifting back to JT and Neil, hoping they were ok. Glory said a silent prayer for them, hoping that this nightmare would end soon.


Sydney and Mila walked down the halls of Swans Crossing High. "I can't believe they're giving us homework on the first day of school! I mean, it's like a rule not to!" Sydney complained.

Mila smiled and shrugged. She had never experienced a real school before, so she wasn't aware of how things were like. "Common, it's not that bad."

Sydney exaggerated a sigh but smiled as well. She put her arm on Mila's shoulder. "So, how's your first day in Swans Crossing High? It's the best, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It's everything I dreamed it would be," Mila smiled. "But still..." Mila's happy smile faded. "It's not the same without Garrett."

Sydney rolled her eyes. "You mean it's not the same without Garrett here to make trouble." she corrected.

Mila made a face. "Oh common Sydney. You know you don't mean that. I mean yesterday you seemed to be getting pretty friendly with him at the pool." she said, her eyes twinkling.

Sydney looked alarmed. "You saw us? Um, well, I guess I just didn't want any long-distance enemies or anything." she quickly said, trying to cover up her surprise.

Mila nodded and smirked, not believing her story for a minute. "Oh Sydney. Common, admit it. You miss him as well."

"Well... maybe in a way." Sydney admitted. But she flashed a big smile. "But I'm sure not as much as you're missing him."

At this Mila had to blush. "Well, of course I do. It's hard when your boyfriend is all the way in France, isn't it?"

Sydney's mind drifted off to the beginning of summer when she and her boyfriend, Garrett, had said goodbye for the summer. It was so weird back then. "Yeah." Sydney said with a faraway voice.

Mila noticed the look on her friend's face. She waved her hand in front of Sydney's face. "Sydney, hello? We have to get to class."

Sydney snapped out of it. "Oh yeah. Let's go." They headed down the hall towards their next class, and at the back of Sydney's mind she told herself, 'and now that's all over so just stop thinking about it.' Sydney inhaled deeply and tried to focus on her next class, trying to put her thoughts of Garrett aside.


Sandy walked through the brightly lit halls of Swans Crossing High. Everything looked so cheery. Everyone was milling around, still comparing summers and schedules. Everyone was cluttered around, looking so cheerful, Sandy was beginning to get annoyed.

It had been only yesterday that she had walked out of her own band, and already she felt miserable. She had spent the entire day yesterday moping instead of getting ready for school, and now she was feeling butterflies in her stomach.

"I hope I don't run into Owen or Mila." she mumbled to herself, as she walked over to her locker and began spinning the dial on the lock to open it.

"Hello, Sandy." she heard a voice behind her say.

Sandy whirled around to see who it was. "Saja!" her bad mood disappearing. "Hi! What's up?"

"Ah the merry people running around, trying to get used to the lifestyle change after a long break." he sighed, leaning against the locker next to Sandy's.

Sandy looked at him blankly. "You mean, trying to adjust back to reality, instead of dreaming away from summer?"

Saja nodded.

With a chuckle, Sandy popped open her locker and began putting some of her stuff in. "Yeah, people should learn to deal with reality. Because what happened yesterday is gone, and today is something totally different. They should stop dreaming about yesterday, and remember that it's gone already." she exclaimed loudly, forgetting where she was for a moment.

"Are you talking about summer, or something totally different?" Saja asked her, waving a hand in front of her face.

Sandy snapped back to reality. "Oh. Sorry, Saja." Her face changed, and she felt immediately down again. "Something totally different, I guess." she muttered, looking down.

Saja's face was filled with concern. "What's wrong? I assumed everything was going great in your life right now. The band's getting an offer, right? And--"

"Thanks just it!" Sandy wailed, about to pull her hair. She glanced around and saw people staring at her. She quickly looked away. "I left the band yesterday." she said in a soft voice.


"Prima-donna Mila and love-struck Owen, that's why. We don't seem to get any work done anymore. I had enough with them already; so I left."

Saja placed his arm around Sandy's shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll be ok. The gods are looking down upon you and they will make sure everything will be alright."

Sandy forced a smile. "I hope so."

Saja smiled back. "It will. I promise."

Sandy closed her locker shut, holding a few of her books in her arms, and she and Saja walked down the hall together towards homeroom.


Sydney leaned back farther in her chair. Usually, she liked her Math class, but the usual introduction of the year was really getting old fast. Unluckily for her, only Nancy out of her 11 friends was in that class with her.

Her mind drifted off, barely able to hear the droning voice of her teacher. She began to remember the scene earlier in the hallway, when Mila had reminded Sydney how much she missed Garrett.

It was true, but still. Did Mila have to be the one to bring it up? It was almost as if she knew about them....

No, Sydney told herself, pushing the thought aside. She could never....

Sydney missed Garrett like crazy. Probably almost as much as Mila did, although she'd never admit it. She missed his annoying smile, him pestering her over one thing or another, everything.

It's almost as if she wanted him to be back, torturing her all over again! Sydney pushed away the thought disdainfully. I just miss his annoying personality that's all. If another guy I disliked or something, maybe even Owen or Neil, if either of them were like that, maybe I'd be feeling that way too about them.

Sydney rolled her eyes. What am I thinking, she asked herself. She pushed all farther thoughts of Garrett Booth aside. She had much better things to do than think about her mortal enemy turned friend.

But then looking at her teacher Mrs. Reed, Sydney knew she could not think about anything else in this boring class. She flipped open to a blank page in her notebook. She took out a pen to copy down notes but she didn't feel like it.

Instead, she got an idea and began writing a letter to Garrett. She had promised him, and this was one promise that was going to be easy to keep.

She chewed the top of her pen. But what would she write about? Mila was nowhere near cheating on him, and the day was completely boring. Sydney just shrugged and decided to write about just that.

'Hi Garrett,' she began to write....


Owen sat down in the music room during his free period. It was his first day in high school, but Owen was feeling pretty down. There was nothing much to study, so Mr. Francis allowed Owen to use the keyboard. Mr. Francis, the music teacher, was a good family friend of the Fowler's.

He sat behind the keyboard and blankly began playing notes at random. Yesterday, Sandy had given him the biggest shock in his life. She left the band. After years and years of being together.

He couldn't imagine what had made Sandy leave. Everything was the same as it always had been. But then a thought occurred to Owen. Could Sandy be jealous of Mila? He shook his head. That was a ridiculous thought.

He missed Sandy in a way, but if she wanted to abandon the band, that was her decision. Besides, he had a singer, Mila. She wasn't that bad. But who would compose the music for the songs? Mila only knew so much about music. She could just write the lyrics probably. Would Owen have to do all the work?

Owen shrugged hesitantly. I guess it's a small price to pay, he decided. But another question popped into his head. Would he continue to let Mila sing Sandy's songs?

Owen shook his head. That wouldn't be right. He had to start from scratch now. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he rationalized.

Owen began playing some more notes again on the piano. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing seemed right anymore.


Garrett was sitting in his plane seat impatiently, waiting for him to end up in France, to just get it over with. His dad hadn't even bothered to get him a Business class seat. He was stuck in the First class area, next to some old man who was snoring pretty loudly.

Exhaling loudly, Garrett picked up his duffel bag from underneath the chair in front of him and began searching for something to keep him occupied. It seemed that Garrett had sorted through his entire bag before pulling up a photo album. Glory had given it to him the night before. It was to remind him of home, when it only seemed to Garrett that it would remind him that everything was happy there while he was stuck in France.

He began flipping through the photos. The pictures started from the beginning of summer, but there were so little happening then, after five or so pictures, it was already the 4th of July celebration.

As Garrett looked at those pictures, he couldn't help but grin. That day had been pretty exciting, he chuckled to himself. It was at that day, Garrett that he had introduced the whole town especially Sydney to Mila. He turned the page.

There he saw pictures of Mila's birthday party. Garrett gazed at them thoughtfully. It had been pretty fun that night. The next picture he saw was one where everyone was slow dancing-- or so it seemed. He noticed that Mila was dancing with Jimmy, so he figured more or less. He saw a red dress in the background and Garrett squinted to get a better look. He was surprised to see that he was dancing with Sydney pretty closely, and almost about to kiss!

Garrett quickly shut the album as if there was something paining him. He took deep breaths to calm himself. That was a long time ago, he assured himself. You and Sydney have gotten past those feelings. Now you're just friends.

Feeling semi-convinced, Garrett opened again the album, and skipped the pictures of the party. The next few pictures were of the Newport game. Garrett began to have a queasy feeling in his stomach. He flipped through those too. The next pictures were taken during Mila's slumber party, probably taken before the boys crashed the party. They were mostly of the girls wearing silly wigs, and Garrett wondered why Glory gave them to him. He remembered that awful night distastefully and practically jerked the next page.

Garrett saw his friends dancing at the Swan Club and figured that was the night of the party. He flipped through the pictures. The party had seemed like fun. Too bad he had missed it, he had been to busy torturing Sydney.

We've come so far from then, he mused. But then again, it was only yesterday that everything changed.... He flipped the page. There he saw pictures of the Nudibranch benefit. Hmm... he thought to himself. Wasn't that day fun?

The next picture was one that was taken when Billy Gunn had come to town. How dare he try stealing my Mila like that? he asked himself angrily. He turned the page.

Neil and Rocket Boy's fund-raiser, Garrett smirked. Oohh, wasn't that fun? He shook his head and turned the page. The last few pictures were from the day before. Glory had hastily put them together. Garrett gazed at them fondly. What a day that was. One weight lifted... and another one added, he thought to himself darkly, as he gazed at his surroundings.

Garrett shook his head, trying to forget all about that part. He flipped open the album again and tried focusing on a picture of his girlfriend wearing a silly wig. But his eyes were drawn to the picture above-- the picture of beautiful Sydney Rutledge.


Mila stepped onto the lush, green field where cheerleading try-outs were being held. She felt butterflies moving around in her stomach as she nervously approached Ms. Langer. She hesitated a moment before tapping her on the shoulder.

Ms. Langer turned and saw Mila. She smiled warmly. "Ms. Rosnovsky! I take it you're here to try-out for the cheerleading squad."

Mila nodded.

"Ok, this is what we'll do. I will show you and the other girls trying out some cheerleading moves and we'll see how you can handle it. Then, if you make the cut, we'll give you a cheer and you cheer it however you can. You can add your own moves, whatever. Ok?" Mila nodded again. "Good. I hope you brought some clothes for you to change in." she told Mila, looking at tight clothing.

Mila pointed her bag that held her change of clothes. She had called the house earlier, telling her maid to bring some clothes to school. "I just have to change." Mila explained.

"The girls locker room is over there." Ms. Langer told her, pointing it out.

Mila thanked her and headed towards the locker room. Inside, the room was packed with girls changing into their fashionable leotards and chatting excitedly about the try-outs. Mila barely heard them. She was too deep in thought worrying about how she'd do.

Amongst the clutter of the other girls, Mila scurried onto the field, her heart pounding. As she and the other cheerleader-wannabes sat down on the grass, Ms. Langer repeated her instructions that she had already told Mila.

Mila's mind wandered, thinking about Garrett and how he was doing. She wished he could be there to watch her. She pasted a smile on her face. She was going to do this for Garrett. He'd be so proud of her. She looked over at the other end of the girls who were trying out. There she saw Glory, looking a tad distracted. Mila would have waved to her, but she didn't want to get into any trouble.

"Ok ladies! Let's start!" Ms Langer said, clapping her hands and pointing to the area of the field in front of her where she wanted the girls to gather. "Let's start with some simple gymnastics."

Mila took her place, a rush of adrenaline running through her, her eyes were shinning. This was going to be great.


"A straight. I win." Neil told JT, placing his cards down on the coffee table.

JT sighed and revealed his losing cards. JT and Neil sat across each other on the coffee table in the living room playing cards. They had played every game they could think of, all day long. Captain Walker hadn't seen them when he had gone off to work, and JT and Neil were getting bored staying cooped up in the sub all day long.

Today was supposed to be their first day back to school. He was supposed to have introduced Glory to high school and shown her the ropes. But he couldn't. He was stuck, because he had made a big mistake over the summer, and was now he was afraid to take a step outside.

"Do you think we'll have to spend the rest of our lives hiding out in the sub?" JT asked Neil.

Neil, who was shuffling the cards, frowned. "No, it's just for a little while. It's just until... just until...." He frowned. "I have no idea how long we'll be hiding out."

JT frowned as well. He didn't like the idea of spending his entire life hiding out in the sub, "Maybe if we call the police-"

"No!" Neil exclaimed. He looked around. In a lower voice, he leaned closer to JT. "Do you know how many illegal things we've done already? We could get in so much trouble!"

"So what do you want to do? Wait until the people who are after us just go away?" JT asked incredulously. "That's ridiculous. We'll have to wait forever. And I'm sure they'll find us sooner or later."

Just then, the squeaking of the door to the sub, and both JT and Neil looked towards it. "It must be Callie and Jimmy." JT told Neil. "School has probably gotten out by now."

They looked at the mess they had made. Bowls, glasses and plates were scattered everywhere. "Uh oh, we'd better clean this mess up."

JT and Neil picked up as many plates and glasses as they could carry and quickly brought them to the kitchen. After dumping them into the sink, they paused. Silence.

"It's so quiet." Neil commented. "I wonder why."

Just then, grabbing them from behind, were four men dressed in black. Two grabbed JT and placed over his mouth a white cloth, and the two other men did the same to Neil.

Neil tried kicking the man who held on to him in the shin, but the second just grabbed him by his legs. He couldn't move. He saw JT trying to move, but he too was helpless.

JT tried thrashing around as much as possible, but nothing worked. The two men were too strong for him. Pretty soon, because of the cloth that was covering his mouth, he began to black out. The last thing on his mind was the picture of Glory worried.


"Hey Garret!"

"Whoa! What're you doing back here?"

"Cool jacket dude. Can I borrow it?"

"Welcome back Garrett!"

Garrett waved to all of his friends down the hall as he made his way to room #302 of Dorm B of his oh-so-favorite boarding school, Une Ecole Avec Murs. His friends were great, but still, he did not want to be here.

He opened the door and entered his room, dropping his baggage immediately. He glanced around the room. It hadn't changed a bit since he had last been there.

Sitting on the twin bed on the left side of the room sat Michel Vanderhorn, Garrett's best friend in France and roommate. He looked up from his book. "Hey! I didn't know you were coming back." Michel was a skinny guy, whom everyone liked to tease. He was always joking around, and he could always take the joking of his friends. He was rarely hotheaded, and he had always been a close friend of Garrett's.

Garrett grimaced. "Well, let's just say my dad got enough of me already. He couldn't wait for me to leave."

Michel nodded knowingly. He too had a dad that didn't seem to care about him that much either. Michel came from one of the richest families in France, but it still didn't make up for his parent's lack of care for him.

"So, while you were back home, we're you able to talk to your girlfriend? What's her name again? Sydney? I still remember when the guys were passing around that picture of her you carry." Michel laughed.

Garrett began to have that queasy feeling in his stomach again. "Well, yeah. For a while anyway. We broke up. No bigge. But

I have a new girlfriend now. Mila Rosnovsky. Ever heard of her?"

Michel frowned. "Actually, yeah."

"Probably because she was a child actress." Garrett informed him knowingly.

Michel shook his head. "Is that why you got her as a girlfriend?" He grinned. "No, actually I know her personally. As in Countessa Mila Bergita Rosnovsky, right?" Garrett nodded. "She's my cousin."

"No kidding." Garrett raised an eyebrow.

"Nope. Personally, I didn't think the poor girl had a chance at getting a boyfriend."

"Well, she was pretty lucky." Garrett replied arrogantly.

Michel threw a pillow at Garrett. "Ego-man!"

"Bonehead!" Garrett challenged, throwing the pillow back.

They were about to start a pillow fight when the dinner bell rang. Immediately, both stood up. Garrett rubbed his stomach. He was pretty hungry.

As they headed out the door, Michel walked behind Garrett, slapping him on the back. Garrett grinned. With friends like Michel, maybe his being back in France wouldn't be that bad.


Callie and Jimmy were riding their bikes towards the docks after school. They had decided to go straight home after school, instead of hanging out afterwards. Callie was too worried about what could happen to JT and Neil to think about anything else.

"Callie, it's like I said earlier. As soon as we see them, we'll think we should have let them come to school with us. We'll see they've made such a mess and..." he trailed off when he saw Callie frowning. "What's wrong?"

"The door to the sub is open, Why is it open?"

Jimmy shrugged.

Slowly, the two made their way inside the sub. Everything was so quiet. Too quiet maybe. They entered the living room, and gasped. It was a mess. Things were thrown around everywhere. Things were thrown off onto the floor... as if a struggle had happened.

Callie and Jimmy quickly walked over to the center of the mess. There they found some more cotton balls. They looked at each other grimly.

"What was it you said about them getting into trouble?" Callie asked Jimmy sadly, as held up the cotton ball. It was plainly obvious. JT and Neil had been kidnapped.

To be continued...
© 1999 LadySwan

PS I have no idea how long it takes for a letter to and from Swans Crossing-France. Use your imagination. Let's say Swans Crossing was so full of rich people that they could afford to send mail VERY fast! =)

PPS, I'd like to thank Melissa Sarantos and Crystal Gal for reviewing chapter 1 of this story! =) Thanks guys! You made my day when you reviewed! =)

PPPS, *I'm getting carried away again, aren't I?* Pleas join our Swans Crossing discussion at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/swans-crossing-people! Thank you!
