A/N: I do not own the Baby-Sitter's Club characters, or the lyrics to Octopus's Garden. I assure you, this is not a "song fic." The BSC is owned by Scholastic, Ann M. Martin, and possibly some ghostwriters. Octopus's Garden is a song by the Beatles. The majority of the Beatles catalog was sold to Michael Jackson a long time ago. Either way, I do not own the song. Please don't sue me, I'm not making any money off of this.
Rated M for drug use and adult themes. If you are offended by that, please don't read it.
I have not read The Fire At Mary Anne's House, nor any of the Friends Forever books. Therefore, they do not exist to me.
Chapter 1: The Octopus's Garden
We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed
In an Octopus's garden near a cave
The song blares from my clock radio, waking me from a sleep devoid of dreams. I quickly turn it off before any of my brothers wake up, and climb down and out of the wooden bunk bed that I share with my brother Jordan. It is my month to sleep on the top. That means I have a bit more privacy. I reach up and under my pillow, taking the tattered, dog-eared magazine with me as I stumble into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I sigh.
Looking back at me is a reflection of a 15 year old guy. Brown hair, brown eyes. Average height, average weight. Everything about me is just so average. I know I only have a few minutes before the chaos of "growing up Pike" begins.
I lock the doors to the bathroom as fast as humanly possible and pick up the magazine I have brought with me. No one in my family knows about the magazine. Well, she knows about it, of course. But she does not know I still have it. With any sort of luck, she won't know about it.
Flipping past the centerfold, I turn to the amateur shots near the back. The pictures that average people, like my 16-year-old sister Vanessa, send in for cash prizes. However, there is nothing average about Vanessa.
I look at her picture, and feel myself getting hard. I know it is wrong. She is my sister and these feelings are completely wrong. I shuddered bit, thinking of what I have become.
I know why she did it. In a family of eight children, there is never pocket money. Anything we can do for a little extra cash, we do. Personal possessions are scarce. Almost everything I own has been handed down from my three older brothers. Because they are triplets, I often get three of things that I don't particularly like, and nothing of things that I do.
Did you know that identical triplets are incredibly rare? Only one in something like 250 live births results in natural born, identical triplets. I know this because my three older brothers are natural born, identical triplets. Everyone thinks they are special.
Cable TV loves the Pikes. Not all of the Pikes are popular though. Just Adam, Byron, Jordan, Claire, and Margo. TLC snubs the rest of us, only mentioning us at the end of the specials. The Discovery Channel didn't even mention that there are three other children. It's as if we don't exist.
Mallory is my oldest sister. 18 years old, attends Smith. Everyone is so proud of her. She went to boarding school so she could go to a good college and become a famous writer. She published her first children's book when she was my age.
Then there are my brothers that I mentioned before. Identical triplets. It's all I've ever heard. How cute my brothers are. How amazing it is that my parents were that blessed. How fortunate it was that they are identical. How rare it is that they are carbon copies of each other.
Next comes my sister Vanessa. Thinking of the picture, I feel myself get hard again. Damn. She's definitely on her way to being something amazing. She loves poetry. She has always been there for me. I told her not to take the pictures. I told her I would give her all the money I earn bagging groceries. But she's tough, and doesn't want to rely on people. Her dream is move to New York City, become a famous poet and playwright. The best way to describe her would be "modern bohemian."
I would love for her dream to come true. But she's stuck here for another two years. I can't stand to see her suffer like this, under our parent's roof. They tend to have their hands full with their jobs, the triplets, and my two younger sisters.
Claire and Margo. They are 12 and 14, respectively. Mostly, they are pests, always giggling and talking about boys and fighting over stuff. Fortunately, they both attend Stoneybrook Middle School so I don't have to see them all day.
The less said about Margo, the better.
Claire has been working as a children's model ever since she competed in the Little Miss Stoneybrook competition when she was five. When she didn't win, we thought she would just go back to normal. Instead, she began competing in modeling competitions all over town. It took away, but eventually she started to win.
I glance down at the picture again. I feel the familiar longing, and decide to take a shower. Halfway through, one of my brothers starts banging on the door. I wrap myself in a towel, gathering my clothes off the floor, and slip the magazine in the pile of stuff in my arms. I plan to slip it into my backpack later.
When you share a room with three people, it's hard to hide stuff. You find ways. I used to keep money in an old, hollowed out dictionary, but one day Adam tried to look up the meaning of existentialism, and I wound up $200 poorer. Mom and Dad do not intervene unless it's a matter of public safety. They say it is best to work it out on our own. Sometimes, it would be nice for just a little bit of structure.
At breakfast, I sit across from Vanessa. She is dressed in her Stoneybrook Day uniform, which is a plaid skirt, white oxford shirt, and a blazer with the school crest. She somehow managed to alter it so it was shorter then it should have been. Her black, shiny hair cascades down her shoulders.
I make myself a breakfast burrito, but before I eat it, Adam grabs it. He eats it right in front of me. I pick up the box of Cheerios. It's empty. Vanessa gives me a look of understanding, and passes me the rest of her Cheerios. Before I can eat them, mom tells us all to get moving. Fantastic. I can tell this is going to be a terrific day.
Claire and Margo just giggle and beg Jordan to drive them to school in his new car. I don't stick around to find out who was driving whom. If they think I am trying to get a ride, I might not hear the end of it for a while.
In the hallway, I pull on my winter coat and pick up my skateboard. There is something heavy in the pocket of my jacket. I pull out Vanessa's compact. In it is a note:
Meet me in our place, 2nd period. Don't worry about your Spanish Test. I called the school and told them you had a dental appointment. Also, look in this mirror. It's called self-esteem and you need some. Remember the banana-fish.
P.S. Good Luck with your debate!
I go over my debate notes in my head while I walk to school. On the way, Jordan passes me in his new Mustang, with Claire and Margo in the backseat. Surprisingly, they do not throw stuff at me. A few moments later, Adam and Byron pass in Adam's Jeep. They yell something obscene at me.
Vanessa drives the other way to school, to Stoneybrook Day School. She received a scholarship for writing some sort of poem or essay. She really is brilliant, I think to myself as I re-read the words she had written on the mirror.
First hour, I have debate. I choose my words carefully and quickly convince everyone of the importance of a strict constitutional interpretation. After class, Ms. Rosenberg tells me that I've made the team. I'm not surprised. Everyone knew I was going to make it. I am the best at debate in the entire sophomore class. Not that that's saying much. Stoneybrook High isn't known for their academics.
After she tells me the details about practice times and competitions, I calmly walk out of school, down the street, to the edge of what used to be Dawn Schafer's property. Dawn Schafer was my babysitter when I first found this place. I do not know who lives here now. She moved to California around the same time that Mallory escaped the Pike household for boarding school.
Even so, I walk into the barn as though I live here. The trapdoor is already open. It doesn't surprise me. I lower myself down the rickety, ancient, wooden ladder. I've climbed down this ladder hundreds of times before, and it still gives me the shudders.
I feel my feet reach the hard packed dirt floor, and I dig around through my messenger bag, looking for my flashlight. Sometimes it's hard to explain to noisy SMS students why I always have a flashlight with me. But that's the price you pay, right?
Before I could find it, Vanessa and her friend Haley jump out at me.
I'll admit it. I yelped a little. It was not manly.
"Nicky!" Haley was excited to see me. I was excited to see her too. Especially the way her white tank top clung to all the right places, if you know what I mean. I guess Haley is my girlfriend. We don't really talk about it, but we hang out a lot. I've done that sort of stuff with her too. She makes me confused. It's a happy sort of confusion, but sometimes, I'd just like things to be simple.
I hold her hand as we make our way down the secret basement passageway, towards the middle. Somehow, Haley and Vanessa procured an electric lamp. It gives us just enough light to see a few feet ahead of us.
We don't really need light for what we are about to do. However, some light would be nice. Haley and Vanessa looked fantastic in their plaid school skirts. Haley opens her fancy leather book-bag and pulls out a small picnic blanket. She spreads this on the ground and we all sit facing each other, with the lamp in the middle. I pull out a lighter. It's my special lighter, it's yellow and shaped like a fish. Vanessa calls it a banana fish. I think she read it in a book somewhere.
"Is this everyone?" I asked. Sometimes Vanessa's boyfriend joins us. Lately he has been hanging around a lot. He's okay, I guess. Doesn't seem like a bad guy. He's not controlling or weird or anything like that. He's just … not right for her.
"I got the stuff from Karen earlier, and Linny said he'd sneak out after he turns in his Calc homework. He's under a lot of pressure, you know." Vanessa gives a deeply apologetic look. "He said to start without him."
Vanessa pulls out a dime bag and her pipe. "You get the first hit, because you've had a terrible week." I look at her, hoping she will shut her mouth in front of Haley. She must have got the message, because she says nothing else. I pack the bowl, hit the pipe and pass it to Vanessa quickly.
"I can't believe you have to go to SHS," she said after she takes her first hit. "Mom and Dad are so lame. They treat you so unfairly, you know. This liberal parent thing is just their excuse to pay more attention to their friends then their children. "
I agree with her, and shrug. "What can I do?" Haley passes me the pipe, and I take another hit. I pass it back to Vanessa. "Wish we could get some music down here."
We talk some more, passing the pipe around. I know I have to keep track of the time. Skipping means suspension. I don't need to be suspended right now. Neither do the girls. Stoneybrook Day doesn't just suspend you for skipping. Stoneybrook Day kids have to go to school on Saturday and help the janitors clean.
After a good ten minutes or so, I realized that Linny had joined us. I wasn't sure when. He sits by my sister. Haley sees me watching them and pushes herself over towards me. She rests her head in my lap. I notice that I can see down her oxford shirt. I try to avoid the potential embarrassment of getting hard and try to think about strengthening my argument on constitutional interpretation. I stroke her blonde, shiny hair. She leans up and kisses me, gently on the lips. I relax while the conversation continues around us.
I look into her eyes. They are big, brown, and have this vulnerability to them that she tries to hide. I know a few of her secrets, things that make me want to hurt other people. It's what you get for being a listener. Lots and lots of secrets.
Eventually, I realize that I have to go back to school. I don't want to, school is too easy. I have very few friends at Stoneybrook High. I hug Haley, and whisper to her that I have to go.
"No. You don't have to go back. You are the smartest kid in that school, you won't get behind. We'll find a way to get it excused." She stands up. "I have an incredible idea."
