A/N A rather depressing oneshot about… school. Depressing and longish. I got this idea awhile back, and have been meaning to write it. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! I worked really hard on it! And (of course) I don't have an editor. Deal with it. xP
I'm super excited for tonight! I'm going on an actual DATE with FRANKIE! Yes yes yes yes! We've been fighting a lot lately, and I've started to get worried. What if he… breaks up with me? That simply cannot happen! I love him too much to lose him! And I'm certain tonight is going to be the best night EVER! I'm gonna wear my fanciest sequined skirt I can find, and do my eyebrows all fancy, and even style my hair a little differently. Oh, it will be wonderful!
But before all of this, I have to go on with the rest of the day… which is awesome. My days are always awesome. Ever since I came to the Frankenstein Place, my life has been nothing but pure coolness!
I walk down the hallway, admiring the rustic look of my surroundings. Even after living here for so long, I still cannot help but admire it all. Transylvanian architect is a lot different than Earth's! I feel so lucky to be the first earthling invited to live with a Transylvanian, even if I'm only considered a "groupie".
As I walk down the stairs, I neglect to watch where I'm going, and run into Magenta. I fall over and tumble down the stairs. Magenta walks over to help me up. I blush, feeling mildly embarrassed. "Woops." I mutter as I accept her hand and she helps me stand up. "My bad,"
Magenta's scowl turns into a small smile. She sighs. "It's fine." She tells me. She then begins walking back up the stairs. "I have to go. Frank asked me to vacuum his bedroom." She rolls her eyes and walks away. I wave to her. Once she is out of sight, I dust myself off, still recovering from my fall. I then proceed to walk to the living room. Everything is going well today. Magenta usually doesn't forgive people so fast… even her best friend (me!). I can't help but admire how… serious she is sometimes. And brave. And… courageous. But everyone from Transylvania is. Anyway, as I make my way to the living room, I find Riff Raff. He growls as he notices me. It's no mystery that I annoy him quite a bit.
"Hello… groupie." he greets me awkwardly.
I wave, trying to stay cheerful. "Hiya!" I exclaim. He rolls his eyes, much like his sister had a few moments ago. "What're you doing, Riff?" I ask.
Riff Raff thinks for a moment, as if contemplating if I'm worth his time. Finally, he tells me, "A project. Investigating some Earth stuff." I practically beam with excitement at this. It's so cool that these people are from another planet! I would have never thought in a billion years that aliens exist… but they do, and I live with them! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!
"Columbia, wake up! This is NOT nap time!" snaps a voice with its standard coldness. The "holier than thou" sound it has to it is even more prominent than usual. The teenager at the desk sits up with a "huh?", looking around with frantic green eyes. The whole class laughs at her, and her cheeks turn a bright pink (even more than her hair). She looks at the ground, and the cold-voiced teacher snaps, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Columbia takes a long moment to fully decide on a good reply. Her thoughts are torn between snapping some sort of smart comeback, and just sugarcoating the whole thing. Finally, she goes with muttering, "Sorry, Professor Smith. That was very wrong of me. I won't do it again." the bitterness in the girl's tone is very obvious. The class snickers once more. Professor Smith nods his head and walks back to the front of the class, clearing his throat.
"Now, as I was saying..." he then continues on with his lesson as if absolutely nothing happened. Columbia growls and looks down, feeling guilty and depressed. This is the third time this week she has fallen asleep in class. And it's only Tuesday. Plus, she's failing four classes. There's a very good chance she won't be going to college next year, and everyone knows it. The worst part is that the girl is completely aware of the fact that the whole mess her life has gotten into is her fault. She spends her weekends partying and her weeknights sleeping. Homework? Out of the question. Studying? Not once. But she doesn't know what else to do with herself.
The bell rings and Professor Smith walks to the doorway, telling the class that he expects everyone to turn in their notes. Columbia's face flushes as she looks down at her sheet of paper, completely blank accept for her name and the word "NOTES" written across the top. She sighs and walks to the doorway, handing her teacher the paper. He stares down at it for a moment, before pulling his signature eye roll and dismissing her. Now it's time for break… the time of school where kids feel it's okay to act like idiots. Columbia hates break. She has hated break since the beginning of the school year. When she is in class, at least she is stuck with the rest of the students and the teacher. Here, she is alone.
Columbia sighs and walks down the hallway, deciding to just wait in front of the door to her next class until the bell rings. She passes a row of lockers, each decorated with different stickers and paintings and photos and all sorts of various items. She notices hers out of the corner of her eye, completely plain accept for a smudge of black marker. This small mark used to say "ColumbiaxFrank 4ever!" in large, bubbly cursive. The girl feels tears form in her eyes as she remembers her old boyfriend. They had been practically inseparable. When she had been with him, there had been hope. And a reason to keep living. He had been strange, and lots of kids were frightened by him. He had been a grade older than Columbia, and at the end of the last year he left for college. Now his Facebook page claims that he is "in a relationship", and the pictures on his profile seem to prove this. She has tried contacting him, but he ignores everything. Apparently he's too good for people in high school now.
Tears form in the girl's eyes. She sniffs softly as she continues her walk down the hallway. Finally, she comes to the door that, in roughly four minutes, will open. This will mark the beginning of the next period – Math. Columbia is awful at Math, even more so than the other subjects. She can hardly even multiply and divide, let alone do all that fancy variable work. Algebra? Forget it. Calculus? Keep dreaming. She is currently failing this class more than all the others. She continues to wait, humming a soft tune to herself. She honestly has no clue what song it is. She leans against the door, tapping her foot softly. For a moment, time slows, and she feels completely alone. She is always alone. She watches kids walk past her as if she does not exist. All of them have huge swarms of friends around them, laughing and talking. They all have a reason to live.
Then she hears something that does not sound quite right. A laugh. More of a cackle, really. A bitter laugh with a very dark sound to it. Then more. More laughter, all with the same acidic sound to it. Curious, Columbia follows the sound. She turns down a hallway with a few more lockers, and finds a group of boys. All of them are her age, if not older. She immediately recognizes them as what most kids will call "the bullies". All of them are circled around something. Or someone. One of them yells something very... wrong. And Columbia knows it is directed to someone. The person they are crowded around. The girl realizes it would be right to stand up for whoever these kids are picking on. She narrows her eyes, trying her best to look serious, and pushes through the crowd. A few of the boys begin yelling at her. She ignores them as she fights to the center of the group. When she finds who it is in the center, she is not surprised. Just rather saddened.
His name is Riff Raff. Or at least, that's what everyone calls him. Even his teachers. No one knows his real name. No one even knows if he has one. Rumor has it he has an awful life at home. His arm is still in a bandage from the last time he was picked on. He is picked on every week. And no one ever seems to show him mercy. He is probably the oldest kid in the school – asking personally if he could be held back so he could be with his sister when she graduates – and even the younger grades seem to like picking on him. And he never does anything to fight back. He has been thrown on the ground, and there is a large bruise on his cheek, as if just punched. Columbia's eyes meet his, and she feels slightly numbed by the iciness in them.
"What are you doing here?" sneers one of the boys. Columbia remembers that she is not alone, and that a huge group of boys are surrounding her, probably angered by her pushing to get through. She feels her cheeks burn a bit. The boy looks very annoyed by her lack of replying. "I asked you a question!"
Columbia opens her mouth to respond, but just as she does she hears a yelp of pain behind her and finds that another boy has kicked Riff Raff. The girl's eyes narrow with anger. "Quit that!" she snaps, pointing to Riff Raff. "Quit… quit beating him up and stuff." Suddenly, she looks at the ground and finds herself feeling utterly terrified. No one talks that way to the bullies.
One of the boys takes a step towards her. "Oh yeah? What're you gonna do about it, Columbia?" How he knows her name is beyond her. The fact that he knows who she is fills her with even more fear for some reason. She looks away, sweating a bit. Right then, the bell rings. Relief floods her when she realizes that the boys are leaving.
"C'mon, guys, she isn't worth our time." sneers one of the boys. He mutters something to a kid beside him, who snickers in an awful way, and all of them are gone.
Columbia knows she should get to class, but instead she turns, focusing on Riff Raff. Rather awkwardly, she extends a hand. Accepting her offer, he grabs it and she helps him stand up. He dusts himself up and looks at her. She smiles. "Er… thanks." he tells her quietly. She shrugs.
"Hey, no prob. It was nothing." she lies. Suddenly, he grabs his backpack from behind him and runs off, waving to her as he disappears around the corner. This reminds Columbia that she should get to class. Much to her dismay, she does not make it in time, and is marked tardy. This is nothing new to the girl, who rarely makes it to class before the bell. As she takes her seat, she hears someone laugh at her, and she turns to see one of the bullies. He gives her a glare that obviously means "we'll get back at you somehow for ruining our fun." Columbia tries her best to ignore this as the teacher begins talking.
XXX
The day is over. Finally. Columbia is now leaving the school, ready for the half-mile walk home. She likes the walk, because it gives her time to be alone and think. She has time to appreciate some of her surroundings… not that there's much to appreciate anymore. Mostly, everything's just dull. There are no surprises in life anymore. The girl sighs at this realization as she begins walking towards the gates marking the end of the campus. Suddenly, she feels someone tap her shoulder. Worried that the bullies have come to get revenge on her, she whips around, covering her face with her hands. She realizes that the person in front of her is not a bully, but a rather meek looking girl with unkempt, fiery red hair.
"Oh… sorry. Did I scare you…?" asks the girl, taking a step back and blushing. Columbia suddenly remembers who this girl is. Her name is Magenta. She is Riff Raff's younger sister. She is technically in the same grade as Columbia, even though she's quite a bit younger. Riff Raff loves her to death. Columbia stares into the girl's emerald eyes for a moment, looking for a hint of bitterness or sarcasm, before smiling.
"No, it's fine." Columbia says in a kind tone. "You're Magenta, right? What're you doing here?"
Magenta looks at the ground shyly. She ponders this question for a moment before looking back up at the girl before her, her wide eyes suddenly sparkling with happiness. "You're the one who stood up for my brother, right?" she asks, a bit faster than she intended. Columbia smiles and nods, suddenly understanding what all of this is about. Magenta smiles back. "Oh, thank you so much! He's always getting picked on. I haven't seen him so happy in such a long time! I… can't thank you enough."
Columbia shrugs, feeling very good about herself but trying to remain modest. "It was nothing, really. I just didn't think those boys were treating him right."
The younger girl shakes her head. "No, you don't understand. You really did something great. He's been thinking about…" Tears fill Magenta's eyes, and she very quietly mouths the word, "Suicide." Suddenly, a loud honk goes off, and Columbia and Magenta both turn to see a car horribly parked by the side of the road. The woman in the driver's seat obviously has a wig on, has had more plastic surgery than Columbia can imagine, is wearing clothes much too young for her, and smoking a cigarette. She glares at Magenta angrily.
"Hey, you, get in the car before I decide to drive away and leave you here! Make you walk the eight miles home. It'd definitely treat you a lesson about humility, eh? And gratitude. Yeah, you could use some gratitude." she calls. Columbia notices Riff Raff in the backseat, his face buried in a book. Magenta turns back to Columbia, a look of sadness in her eyes.
"I gotta go. That's my mom." she explains. With these words, she departs. Columbia waves sadly and watches the car drive away before beginning her walk home, feeling a bit too depressed to appreciate anything. The only thing on her mind is sleep. She wants to go home, lay down, and escape all of this. What this world has come to. Riff Raff holding himself back to be with his sister, but getting picked on to a point where he contemplates killing himself. Both siblings stuck in an awful house with an obviously messed up mother. Frankie off to college, not even bothering to stay in touch with the girl he devoted all of his high school years to. Bullies that can run amok without anyone saying a word. And her, failing her classes, not planning anything for the future. Ready to spend the rest of her life… as a nobody.
The walk home feels much longer than usual that day. When she gets home, a note on the table says, "Dear Columbia, your sister fell and broke her leg. Don't ask. She's at the hospital right now. Everything will be fine, but we won't be home until tomorrow. Love, Mom and Dad." And now she is going to be alone for the rest of the night. In some ways, this is a relief. She will not have to worry about her parents nagging her about schoolwork and studying and other stuff she will never actually do. She has plenty of time to do whatever she wants.
Sighing, the girl walks down the hallway to her room. She lays down on her bed, feeling immediately comforted by its familiarity. The images of the day – her blank note paper, the small smudge on her locker that represents so much, Riff Raff being beaten up, Magenta's eyes filling with tears, the siblings' mother – slowly fade from her mind. They are replaced with a single thought: sleep. Columbia takes her own advice, snuggling into the pillow and closing her lime green eyes, drowning out the awful world. In only seconds, well deserved sleep overcomes her.
Oh my gosh, we're going on our date in just half an hour! Right now, though, I'm helping Magenta in the kitchen. She's making spaghetti for her and Riff Raff. Or at least, she's trying to. So far it looks more like a bunch of yellow mush in a bowel of water. But I'm sure it will be better eventually – 'Genta's an awesome cook! But Earth food is still new to her, and I'm not sure she knows what she's doing. That's why I'm here. I know all about Earth food. Well, obviously.
So I'm helping her set the timer and teaching her to stir the noodles. She keeps on muttering stuff to herself and glaring at me. I would feel awkward, accept that she always does that. She likes looking tough and powerful, even though she's actually really nice and fun to hang out with. It's all a matter of what mood she's in. Today, she's been in a pretty decent mood.
Riff Raff suddenly walks in. He smiles at Magenta, and nods at me. "Do you need any help, sister?" he asks the domestic. Magenta and I exchange glances, as if she's silently asking me if I can handle it on my own. Finally, she turns back to her brother with a rare smile that she only ever gives to him.
"Yes, I think we could use an extra person." Riff Raff returns the smile and walks over to us. Magenta continues, "The Master wanted us to make spaghetti tonight. I have absolutely no clue what that means. I've just been following the cookbook. Apparently Columbia gets it, though, because she's been really helpful." I can't help but beam with pride. It's not often that I get to help the domestic like this. She usually has everything handled on her own.
Riff Raff understands the predicament we're in and immediately goes to working on an easier way to make spaghetti. After about twenty minutes, we have everything done and the noodles aren't just edible, they're delicious. Riff hugs his sister, congratulating her. Magenta laughs and returns the hug. Then she turns and high fives me. I grin. We're just about to serve the noodles when the kitchen door creaks open. I turn around to see – much to my delight – Frankie. I run over to him, falling into his arms.
Frank laughs and ruffles my hair. "Hey, Columbia. Are you ready to go?" I look up at him and realize that he looks much more done up than usual. I swell with pride as I realize that he's dressed up so much solely because of our date. I nod eagerly.
"Yes, Frankie! Totally!" I let go of him and he kisses me on the cheek. It's impossible to hide my blush. I turn to see Magenta and Riff Raff exchanging glances. Magenta's grinning.
"Well, let's go!" Frank calls. I nod and follow him out. I turn once more to see the siblings waving at me.
"Have fun!" Magenta calls. I give her a thumbs up as I leave. I follow Frank to the front of the castle, where we stand at the doorway for a moment. I can't help but stare into his eyes. I love his eyes.
He smiles at me. "Let's get going, Columbia. Tonight's gonna be awesome." Before I have a chance to react, he pulls me close and kisses me full on the lips. I let out a little squeak of surprise, but don't do anything else. I've never been so happy. Everything's perfect. Everything's always perfect. That's what I love about the Frankenstein Place. I'm with Frankie. And I'm with friends. And I can always expect everything to be perfect.
Columbia wakes up and looks around. Somehow, she has managed to throw her blanket off of her bed, and she is left freezing. She looks up at the clock to find that it is ten thirty at night. The girl sighs and rolls over, hoping to fall back to sleep. She soon discovers that – thanks to the nap she just took – sleep is not going to come. She groans and stands up, deciding to find something to do around the house. Very slowly, Columbia makes her way down the hallway, turning on lights for comfort as she does. She finally makes it to the dining room table where she finds her binder. In it is the homework she hasn't done for weeks.
Thoughts and images swim through her head. Nothing makes sense anymore. No matter how hard she tries, she cannot make heads or tails out of anything. Sighing, Columbia sits down. She opens her binder and takes out a sheet of paper. "Oh well," she mutters under her breath. "Homework's not gonna do itself." The girl sighs, feeling completely and utterly alone once more.
-End
A/N Really quick, before you review – I don't expect you all to be Shakespeare, but PLEASE be a bit mature with reviewing! Thanks! ;)