By Day One Way
By KTBelle and Tallie V'nessa
AN: This fic was started by Tallie V'nessa, who asked me to write it for her. The ideas and plot are entirely hers, the words, mine, and the characters, Disney's. Tallie asked me to note that this fic was inspired by a line from Shrek: "By day one way, by night another, until you find true love's first kiss..." I promise that I'll get MEG out ASAP and stop stalling, and for all those maniacal Harry Potter fans awaiting the rest of my HP fanfic... I'M SORRY!!
Chapter 1 - The Perfect Week
"What'd you call me, punk?" Ashley Spinelli bristled, brandishing her fists in the face of a fellow fifth-grader by the name of Gordy, whom was shaking in fear and backing slowly away from the outraged girl.
"I-I-I d-didn't s-say a-anything," Gordy sputtered, staring apprehensively at the white, unpleasant knuckles on Spinelli's fist.
"Oh really?" Spinelli scorned, fury radiating off of her like heat from the sun. "What about `Spinelli is meant to be the fifth Ashley'?" Spinelli demanded, catching the neck of Gordy's t-shirt and drawing her fist closer to his face.
"I-I-I m-meant it a-as a j-joke," Gordy stammered nervously, his eyes still not leaving the gruesome fist traveling closer and closer. A terrified little voice sounded in Gordy's head. "Five seconds to impact..."
"Well I've got news for you, Gordy," Spinelli responded, her voice dangerously sarcastic. "I didn't take it as a joke." Realizing his time on earth was almost through, Gordy squinted his eyes shut and prepared for the knockout. But it didn't come.
"Let go!" Spinelli screeched harshly, apparently still dead set on making Gordy tomorrow's mashed potatoes. Gordy cautiously opened his eyes to see Spinelli being held back by T.J. Detweiler and Vince La Salle. "Let me go!" Spinelli repeated, her command even more shrill than the last.
"C'mon, Spinelli," Vince answered sternly. "Why are you picking on Gordy, anyway?"
"You heard what he said about me being the fifth Ashley!" Spinelli yelled, struggling to get away from Vince and T.J.'s firm grip.
"That doesn't mean you have to kill the kid, Spinelli," T.J. replied. "Go on, Gordy, get outta here."
Gordy breathed heavily a sigh of relief. "Gee, thanks, T.J."
"Don't mention it," T.J. nodded, tightening his grip on Spinelli's right arm as she fought to break loose. Once Gordy was gone, hidden in one of the concrete tunnels and sandwiched between his friends, T.J. and Vince simultaneously let go.
Spinelli shook herself off, her anger receding now that her name-caller had left. "I still got it in for that little punk," she muttered.
"Why're you being a jerk today, Spinelli?" T.J. asked, frankly fed-up with his scrapper of a friend.
"Forget today," Vince replied, folding his arms. "It's been like this all week."
"Yeah, no kidding," T.J. concurred. "I mean, three of the Ashleys, Lawson, King Freddy, and now Gordy? What's bothering you, Spinelli?"
"Nothing is bothering me, T.J.," Spinelli replied, teeth clenched. She started to walk away from her friends.
"Then stop being a jerk and trying to kill kids!" Vince exclaimed after her, also fed up. Her anger sparked once more, Spinelli turned back to Vince and T.J.
"Is that what you really think of me? That I'm a jerk?" she demanded, eyeing each of them suspiciously, her voice soft and treacherous.
T.J. was brave enough to speak. "Well, this whole week certainly falls into that category," he said, more bravely than he felt. Spinelli approached him. Something about the way he said that, the way he was looking at her, made her feel angrier than she'd ever been with anyone. Feeling that surging electric adrenaline pulsating through her, Spinelli's right arm shot out and connected so sickeningly hard with T.J.'s face that she could instantly feel his blood. She withdrew, horrorstruck, and watched desperately, helpless, as T.J.'s nose ran red.
He gingerly touched the painful sore spot on his nose where Spinelli had socked him, and in an instant his fingers were slick with his own blood. Spinelli gasped.
"Vince, I need tissue, and lots of it," T.J. ordered his friend, who was staring bewilderedly at his nose. Vince hurried off into the school, probably to gather a roll of paper toweling and alert Finster about Spinelli.
"T-teej, I-I'm so sorry," Spinelli apologized. "I-I d-didn't mean to..."
"No, obviously, you did mean to," T.J. cut her off, fury shining in his deep blue eyes. "You wouldn't do this if you didn't mean to."
"B-but--"
"Here's another person to add to your perfect week," T.J. continued cruelly. "I've had it with you beating up every single person who makes a single comment about you, and I know the rest of the gang is, too!"
"Teej," Spinelli pleaded, feeling tears she had not felt in a very long time come to her eyes.
"Until you can decide to calm yourself down, you can find somebody else to hold you back when you're two seconds away from murdering a kid," T.J. finished, wiping his nose delicately on his sleeve and heading toward the school building.
Feeling as though her very life had been sucked from her body, Spinelli sank onto one of the picnic benches where she had nearly pounded Gordy. Within mere seconds, it seemed like; Murielle Finster was casting a luminous shadow over the small girl.
"I thought I'd never see the day. Little Spinelli, rounding on her closest friends," Finster mocked, pulling Spinelli to her feet by her elbow. "Maybe some detention will teach you to think twice before giving a kid a bloody nose." Head down, Spinelli followed Finster into the school building, while the hated enemies of Spinelli's jeered at her. Spinelli hardly cared. She had just lost the only people alive that knew who she really was; and that in itself was worse than any ridicule.
Meanwhile, T.J. sat watching out the window of Nurse Kraemer's office, holding an ice pack wrapped in tissues to his nose, as Spinelli went into the school after a particularly smug-looking Finster. Feeling somewhat upset at himself that he'd yelled at Spinelli, T.J. sighed and turned to the rest of the gang.
"Guys, I just ended my friendship with one of the first people I ever cared about," T.J. commented gloomily.
Mikey Blumberg put a comforting yet heavy hand on his friend's shoulder. "It had to be done, T.J.," Mikey consoled.
"I know, Mikey," T.J. agreed heavily, "but I just wish there was another way to change her."
By KTBelle and Tallie V'nessa
AN: This fic was started by Tallie V'nessa, who asked me to write it for her. The ideas and plot are entirely hers, the words, mine, and the characters, Disney's. Tallie asked me to note that this fic was inspired by a line from Shrek: "By day one way, by night another, until you find true love's first kiss..." I promise that I'll get MEG out ASAP and stop stalling, and for all those maniacal Harry Potter fans awaiting the rest of my HP fanfic... I'M SORRY!!
Chapter 1 - The Perfect Week
"What'd you call me, punk?" Ashley Spinelli bristled, brandishing her fists in the face of a fellow fifth-grader by the name of Gordy, whom was shaking in fear and backing slowly away from the outraged girl.
"I-I-I d-didn't s-say a-anything," Gordy sputtered, staring apprehensively at the white, unpleasant knuckles on Spinelli's fist.
"Oh really?" Spinelli scorned, fury radiating off of her like heat from the sun. "What about `Spinelli is meant to be the fifth Ashley'?" Spinelli demanded, catching the neck of Gordy's t-shirt and drawing her fist closer to his face.
"I-I-I m-meant it a-as a j-joke," Gordy stammered nervously, his eyes still not leaving the gruesome fist traveling closer and closer. A terrified little voice sounded in Gordy's head. "Five seconds to impact..."
"Well I've got news for you, Gordy," Spinelli responded, her voice dangerously sarcastic. "I didn't take it as a joke." Realizing his time on earth was almost through, Gordy squinted his eyes shut and prepared for the knockout. But it didn't come.
"Let go!" Spinelli screeched harshly, apparently still dead set on making Gordy tomorrow's mashed potatoes. Gordy cautiously opened his eyes to see Spinelli being held back by T.J. Detweiler and Vince La Salle. "Let me go!" Spinelli repeated, her command even more shrill than the last.
"C'mon, Spinelli," Vince answered sternly. "Why are you picking on Gordy, anyway?"
"You heard what he said about me being the fifth Ashley!" Spinelli yelled, struggling to get away from Vince and T.J.'s firm grip.
"That doesn't mean you have to kill the kid, Spinelli," T.J. replied. "Go on, Gordy, get outta here."
Gordy breathed heavily a sigh of relief. "Gee, thanks, T.J."
"Don't mention it," T.J. nodded, tightening his grip on Spinelli's right arm as she fought to break loose. Once Gordy was gone, hidden in one of the concrete tunnels and sandwiched between his friends, T.J. and Vince simultaneously let go.
Spinelli shook herself off, her anger receding now that her name-caller had left. "I still got it in for that little punk," she muttered.
"Why're you being a jerk today, Spinelli?" T.J. asked, frankly fed-up with his scrapper of a friend.
"Forget today," Vince replied, folding his arms. "It's been like this all week."
"Yeah, no kidding," T.J. concurred. "I mean, three of the Ashleys, Lawson, King Freddy, and now Gordy? What's bothering you, Spinelli?"
"Nothing is bothering me, T.J.," Spinelli replied, teeth clenched. She started to walk away from her friends.
"Then stop being a jerk and trying to kill kids!" Vince exclaimed after her, also fed up. Her anger sparked once more, Spinelli turned back to Vince and T.J.
"Is that what you really think of me? That I'm a jerk?" she demanded, eyeing each of them suspiciously, her voice soft and treacherous.
T.J. was brave enough to speak. "Well, this whole week certainly falls into that category," he said, more bravely than he felt. Spinelli approached him. Something about the way he said that, the way he was looking at her, made her feel angrier than she'd ever been with anyone. Feeling that surging electric adrenaline pulsating through her, Spinelli's right arm shot out and connected so sickeningly hard with T.J.'s face that she could instantly feel his blood. She withdrew, horrorstruck, and watched desperately, helpless, as T.J.'s nose ran red.
He gingerly touched the painful sore spot on his nose where Spinelli had socked him, and in an instant his fingers were slick with his own blood. Spinelli gasped.
"Vince, I need tissue, and lots of it," T.J. ordered his friend, who was staring bewilderedly at his nose. Vince hurried off into the school, probably to gather a roll of paper toweling and alert Finster about Spinelli.
"T-teej, I-I'm so sorry," Spinelli apologized. "I-I d-didn't mean to..."
"No, obviously, you did mean to," T.J. cut her off, fury shining in his deep blue eyes. "You wouldn't do this if you didn't mean to."
"B-but--"
"Here's another person to add to your perfect week," T.J. continued cruelly. "I've had it with you beating up every single person who makes a single comment about you, and I know the rest of the gang is, too!"
"Teej," Spinelli pleaded, feeling tears she had not felt in a very long time come to her eyes.
"Until you can decide to calm yourself down, you can find somebody else to hold you back when you're two seconds away from murdering a kid," T.J. finished, wiping his nose delicately on his sleeve and heading toward the school building.
Feeling as though her very life had been sucked from her body, Spinelli sank onto one of the picnic benches where she had nearly pounded Gordy. Within mere seconds, it seemed like; Murielle Finster was casting a luminous shadow over the small girl.
"I thought I'd never see the day. Little Spinelli, rounding on her closest friends," Finster mocked, pulling Spinelli to her feet by her elbow. "Maybe some detention will teach you to think twice before giving a kid a bloody nose." Head down, Spinelli followed Finster into the school building, while the hated enemies of Spinelli's jeered at her. Spinelli hardly cared. She had just lost the only people alive that knew who she really was; and that in itself was worse than any ridicule.
Meanwhile, T.J. sat watching out the window of Nurse Kraemer's office, holding an ice pack wrapped in tissues to his nose, as Spinelli went into the school after a particularly smug-looking Finster. Feeling somewhat upset at himself that he'd yelled at Spinelli, T.J. sighed and turned to the rest of the gang.
"Guys, I just ended my friendship with one of the first people I ever cared about," T.J. commented gloomily.
Mikey Blumberg put a comforting yet heavy hand on his friend's shoulder. "It had to be done, T.J.," Mikey consoled.
"I know, Mikey," T.J. agreed heavily, "but I just wish there was another way to change her."