AN: This story started out as an exercise for a writing group that I'm in. It was supposed to be a 2-3 page one shot about teenage angst. But as I wrote it it kept getting bigger and bigger and the charaters and story just kind of took on a life of thier own. As it was an experiment it has some odd time shifting and changeing charater point of view. I'm going to publish this with an 'M' rating even though it's barely 'T'. But it was supposed to be a basic love scene and these two kookie hormome fueled kids just may get there yet.
That Night
Stacey had finally stopped crying, the hiccups where gone and she clung to the almond eyed Japanese girl with what little strength she had left. Claudia had been amazed when the blonde had first blown into Claudia's bedroom. In the two years that she had stopped speaking to Stacey, or rather Stacey had stopped speaking to Claudia, Claudia's room had changed very little. A half finished sculpture of, something stood in one corner and an almost finished painting of a shadow in another. Drawings in various stages of doneness littered her desk and floor. Hidden from her parents watchful eyes where a box of Ring-Dings and a bag of Doritos and under the mattress of her unmade bed, a Nancy Drew novel, although since turning 16 Claudia was reading those a lot less and Nora Bing novels a lot more.
Two thoughts went through Claudia's mind when Stacey burst into her bedroom. The first thought, riding on a wave of shock and disbelief was to tear into Stacey with her bare hands, a black eye would go well with her deep blues. The second thought fueled by her rising anger was to scream at her, to verbally pound two years of anger, betrayal, hurt and frustration into Stacey. She would let her words do what her tiny fists could never do, her words would be her weapons. But now as she lay next to the blonde, her arms wrapped around her, the only words she had where the little meaningless ones uses for comfort. She didn't want to hurt her now but she wondered how she could hurt someone with words when that someone ignored her. . . laughed at her. . . loved her?
Two years ago when Stacey and Claudia had entered high school Stacey had quickly found "better" friends. Claudia knew, friends who didn't make their clothes from Goodwill cast offs or earrings from bottle caps. Friends who talked about boys instead of art and Nancy Drew cases. Friends who would buy their fashions and not make their fashion. At first Claudia was confused and hurt when Stacey would walk by with her new friends and pretend not to see her. But as Stacey continued to ignore her and the days turned into weeks and weeks to months Claudia finally came to accept that Stacey was out of her life, and besides she still had Kristy and Mary Anne. But even before Kristy started spending more and more of her time with sports and Bart and with Mary Anne spending her time with Logan, Claudia missed having some one to talk to about the things she loved. Stacey may not have loved the same things but she always listened and smiled and offered 'help' with her art projects. Her help usually involved making wild and sometimes obscene suggestions but Claudia would laugh with her and she took it for granted that this was the way it would always be.
Claudia had stopped being angry with Stacey when she realized that the hate was poison, she just didn't need it. She could almost hear Mimi's soft voice telling her to let go. And after two years of being ignored, Claudia thought that the hurting was over, she was wrong.
It had been earlier that day in the cafeteria, Claudia was the fifth wheel, as usual, to the little group of Kristy, Bart, Logan, and Mary Anne. She might not have stood out from the little group but with Kristy and Bart dressed in jeans, Nikes and ball shirts and Mary Anne and Logan dressed in all but identical kakis and sweaters, Claudia's orange tights, short yellow skirt and purple dashiki flashed like a beacon. Out of boredom Claudia scanned the room, her eyes, without meaning to, fell on Stacey and her group of fashion models. They were looking at her and one toady with an overbite leaned over to Stacey and whispered in her ear then looked back at Claudia. Stacey smiled and whispered back, they both laughed and looked knowingly at Claudia. Claudia felt her face burn and her dark almond eyes grew bright with anger, after two years of ignoring her, why the sudden interest?
Claudia had the sudden desire to be anywhere but in the cafeteria but the only way out was past Stacey's table. "Oh well, shoulders back, head up" she thought. "See you later" she muttered. Claudia shoved various junk food wrappers into her brown sack, stood and walk to the door. She almost made it when overbite toady, in a mock whisper announced to her group "I think only dogs can hear those colors". Claudia didn't need to look to place the sound of the loudest laugh. She had heard it and laughed with it a thousand times. She whirled about, her eyes, stinging with tears, bored into Stacey. Even though she had sworn she would never shed another tear over Stacey's betrayal the tears had come. Her mouth worked but no sound came out. Mary Anne, ever true to her friends had seen the exchange and had Claudia in her arms and was hustling her out the door before Claudia could find her voice. As she stumble out into the hall, out of the corner of her eye Claudia saw the red face of Kristy Thomas, her eyes like thunder, locked onto Stacey. She didn't say a word but those eyes made promises to Stacey and her toadies that everyone knew would be kept.
In the hallway Claudia kept her tears at bay, she would NOT cry. Mary Anne looked at her with genuine concern but before she could say anything Kristy tromped from the lunch room and into the hall. Placing a hand on Claudia's arm she almost whispered, "Do you want me to go back in there and kick her shiny white heinnie"? Mary Anne gasped but Claudia could not help but laugh, only Kristy could defuse a bad situation and make her laugh with the promise of violence. "No", she laughed, as she wiped her eyes. "It's okay, really. Besides, maybe she's right, maybe it's time I grew up. How much do jeans cost anyway"?
"NO"! chorused Kristy and Mary Anne. "Don't you dare!" stated Kristy. "Everyday I make a bet with myself that you can't pull off another fashion statement but everyday you put together something amazing, something that against all odds looks fabulous!"
In her quiet voice of reason Mary Anne spoke as always, from her heart "It isn't the way you dress Claudia, its your sculptures, your paintings, the jewelry that you design, and the way you dress. Its your art, its your gift. Its wild and imaginative, impulsive and brave. You inspire me." Mary Anne shook her head slightly and Claudia caught the shimmer of a gold colored popcorn earring in Mary Anne's left ear and a matching silver colored earring in her right ear. Claudia had painstakingly made them for Mary Anne last Christmas, she was surprised Mary Anne had worn them but just assumed that her shy friend was wearing them to please her. Or perhaps she had found the small 'D' Claudia had worked into the gold earring and the small "S" she had worked into the silver one.
Claudia felt the years melt away. Suddenly it was just the three of them playing hop-scotch in front of the Thomas's house. When she had skinned her knee, Kristy had been there to pick her up and Mary Anne had been there to dress the cut and between the two of them they got her on her feet and playing again like nothing had happened. It was the same when Stacey had moved on. How many nights had Mary Anne held her and rocked her while her tears flowed. Kristy had paced back and forth and every third word out of her mouth had been "bitch", the other words, which Mary Anne had chosen to ignore, were just nasty. Claudia looked up but the smile that was forming on her face vanished when in the cafeteria doorway she saw a mass of blonde hair framing that perfect face, how long had she been standing there? Claudia looked into her eyes, there was a look there that she remembered but from when? Stacey opened her mouth, "Claudia. . . " she began.
"Shut it! McGill!" Kristy hissed without turning around "I've got a six pack of whoop ass in my locker and I've been hoping to open one all day".
Mary Anne tightened her arms around Claudia. She and Kristy led her down the hall and away from Stacey but as she turned away she remembered when she had seen that look in Stacey's eyes. Claudia had only seen it once, it was the day Stacey's parents had told her they were getting divorced.