Disclaimer: Lisi Harrison owns all characters from her original series, the Clique. Sara Bareilles has full ownership of the song King of Anything.
AN: This is for BPYAlpha, who since she deleted her account it "Byeforgood". Now that was just sad for me, so this is for you. It'd be appreciated if you guys listen to the song while reading. Sorry. That's just a thing I do for the mood.
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-King Of Anything-
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Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table
While I look outside
So many things I'd say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by
Alicia shifted uncomfortably in her seat, the café's comfy cushions soothing her aching butt muscles but not her. She could almost literally feel Josh's eyes peeling away every layer of her as he studied her today with the usual half-disgusted look on his face. Her face burned and her frustration flared but she kept quiet.
Josh sighed and finally dropped his eyes to his sandwich. As he took giant bites, she looked out the window, imagining a day when the look in his eyes would be of admiration.
But for now, she'd just blaze away her anger in her head.
You've got opinions, man
We're all entitled to 'em, but I never asked
So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste anymore of mine
And get out of here fast
"Alicia?" His voice rang clear through the phone's little speaker. "Yes, what?" Alicia answered, pulling out a turquoise blouse.
"What are you wearing this morning? Wait, never mind, it doesn't matter. Don't wear anything blue. Wear black." Josh decided. She made a frustrated noise. "Why should I wear black? It's going to be hot today. And Massie said—"
"Fuck Massie." He remarked casually and chuckled. "And, well, I heard that black was slimming, which you might want to try." He hung up before she could retort.
She sat there, refusing to cry. One day, when he would be gone.
I hate to break it to you babe, but I'm not drowning
There's no one here to save
"I don't need your help here, Josh." She hissed between her teeth. "This is not your show." Massie came rushing back, carrying the most gorgeous scarlet and white mini-dress that she had ever seen, a huge grin on her face. It dwindled into a stony frown when she saw Josh. "What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded.
"Taking care of my girlfriend, since she obviously can't." He ignored Alicia's protesting.
Massie glared back. "Yeah, well she's my best friend."
"You guys!" She practically shouted. "I'm right here! Get out of my face, okay?" Massie looked appalled for a second before Alicia added. "Just get out, okay, Josh?"
Kendra appeared on the scene. "It's perfectly fine if Joe would like to watch our rehearsal from the side."
Great. Three hours of fashion-show criticism and sneers from "Joe".
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
Sure as anything, the day had been full of awful remarks and spilled secrets. Josh grabbed her arm afterward. "Zebra-faced the new look for you?" Referring to all the streaked mascara marks. She yanked her arm back. "Can you just leave me alone?"
He ignored her, like usual. "You looked like a flamingo in pink that was hopping her way down. Why don't you try growing a little?"
She wanted to say something. She should have said something. Instead, she just wiped her cheeks and went home, wanting to punch something.
Why don't I try growing?
You sound so innocent, all full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset
And day by day, every day. His eyes widening in innocence as he suggest something else that she should do.
"Do you eat more than your Dad?"
"Your outfit doesn't match. Go change."
"Did your hair catch on fire this morning or something?"
"Did you say something?"—chuckle, chuckle—"But it doesn't really matter anyhow so as I was saying…"
And it always ended with, "You'll thank me one day when you're smart enough to understand." As if she was five.
I'm not the one who's lost with no direction
But you'll never see
You're so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down, just not the listening
"Richard Montgomery." He suddenly burst through the door, holding a bunch of papers in his hand.
"What?" She asked.
"Richard—Montgomery—High—School" Josh repeated slowly as if she was ignorant. Which he probably thought she was. "That's where you're applying for next year."
"But I—I'm going to LaGuardia. Y-you know, LaGuardia Arts & Dance. I already sent in my application." She stuttered.
And who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
"Did they accept you?" His face was starting to redden in anger, as if he could march up to Fiorella H. LaGuardia herself and tell her not to accept a certain Alicia Rivera. "Did they send you back the letter?"
"No." She looked down. "But—but it should be coming soon."
"To tell you that 'thanks for applying, but we don't need no dance-less dumbass', right?" Josh laughed, rubbing her shoulder. Her face heated up. "Stop it."
This went right through his ears as he slapped down the application papers onto the table. "So that's why you're applying for Richard Montgomery." He continued. "I'm going there."
"Josh. I'm. Going. To. LaGuardia." She said calmly.
He stared back evenly. "No. You're. Not. End of question."
All my life I've tried to make everybody happy
While I just hurt and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide
Alicia couldn't sleep. All her life, she'd been dreaming about Joshua Hotz. Since she first saw him at her dad's case when they were both six. But then, she'd been idolizing about him from a distance.
And when she'd finally got the chance to hold him, he knocked her down. She got up each time and he'd just knock her down again. Up until now.
Because the truth was, the view was different once you had him up close and up against you. The truth was, he was a monster.
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
She knew a while ago that the thought had crept up to dump him. But she chickened out; he blew up after just mentioning it. So she figured that when middle school came to an end, it would only be natural for the couples to break up and go to separate high schools, since every BOCD student was expected to get into some fantastic magnet school.
But that wouldn't happen if something didn't change. She didn't just want her choice of high school; she wanted her choice of everything. How dare he tell her what to do every minute of the day?
How dare he think that she needed him, wanted him?
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
"What the heck are you talking about now?" Only he didn't say heck.
"I'm saying that we're over." She snapped. Whoa, that felt good. "Stop wasting my time and go bother another girl. I never asked for your opinion about how I look—BTW, the doctor now says I'm underweight and suspects I'm anorexic, gracias for that, you jerk—and I'm not your damsel in distress. Emphasis on how I'm not your damsel.
"You don't know best about me. I don't think you know best about anything. You still think that tomatoes are a friggin' berry, you idiot. And you don't even hear half the stuff I say. I could've said 'damn you' and you wouldn't blink as you blab on and on and on.
"And you can't forget high school. FYI, yes. I. Am. They accepted. I'm going. You not being there is one of the best parts. I don't give a crap about Richard Montgomery. Because I'm going to dance my butt off and everyone's going to love it. And I will smile, which I haven't done in ages thanks to you.
"And I thought that someday, you might wake up and ask me about how I'm doing, or what I want to do, or hell, at least what I want to wear. But I don't need you to tell me I can decide. I can do that on my own."
He was speechless as he leaned against the door frame.
Let me hold your crown, babe.
"Yeah, and if you ever try to show me off like a trophy in front of your buddies again, touching me and kissing me just to boast, I am gonna fucking bite your tongue. You make out like a dog."
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AN: =] Sorry if it sucked the idea came up in five seconds and I wrote this in, like 30 minutes. Which is pretty #^* fast to me. ^.^ Review or I'll…do something…
!,
~Chocó prep a.k.a Ko
(P.S And if a certain jerk is reading this, I meant it at the end. You really do. Work on it.)
