Will couldn't believe her luck, which had to be the worst luck anyone had ever had to deal with. Here she actually wanted to be kicked out of school not be sent to juvie or even worse, prison. She already had two big strikes against her and she had no doubt that the book was going to be thrown at her this time. The worse part about it was none of this was her fault though as usual she was blamed for it.
Looking up from her seat in the office lobby, she glared across the room to were Uriah and his loser buddies sat, the brat with a smirk on his face. She knew that there was no getting out of this though, there wasn't anyone to stand up for her as no one cared what happened to her. She pulled her knees up to her chest as she took a deep breath fighting back the tears trying to form.
"Miss Vandom," Tom said coming back out of the office, "Does your mother have another number? She hasn't answered any of our calls."
"No." Will sighed, why were they even pretending to try and get to the truth behind this?
"I guess we will just have to wait until she returns our call then." The portly man said sadly, shaking his head as he adverted his attention to the three boys. "Do you want to tell me what happened again?"
"Yeah, red over there was trying to sell us whatever that stuff was officer." Uriah said with a straight face, obviously trying to look innocent, "She even tried to get us to pay her to sleep with us…It was disgusting."
"I'm sure it was." Tom gruffed as he turned back to Will, "Do you have anything to add to it?"
"They were the ones trying to sell it to me!" Will snapped looking angrily at the unsure face of her parole officer. Sinking back into her seat she sighed as she buried her face back into her knees. "What's the use, you aren't going to believe me."
"I've gotten hold of the boys' parents and they should be here shortly." Missus Knickerbocker said as she came out of the office joining Tom, glaring at all the students present. She had an angry look plastered across her face but as it passed over Will it softened slightly. "How long did your friend say it was going to take to get the fingerprints back from the lab?"
"Well, since we have all parties prints on file it shouldn't take long really." Tom sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Uriah and his goons almost jumped from their seats as the final bell rang signaling the end of the school day, but a glare from both principal and officer cowed them back into their seats.
"There is a zero tolerance policy for drugs here, Miss Vandom." Missus Knickerbocker sighed looking sadly to the redhead, "If it comes back that they belonged to you I guess you will get your wish."
"Gee, thanks." Will grumbled, not even bothering looking up as the door from the hallway opened up and Missus Rudolph came in with a worried look on hr face.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, Will." Missus Rudolph said in regret as Will's head snapped up to look at the older woman in shock, "I just found out about what had happened and I'm sorry but under the circumstances…I have to tell."
"Tell what?" Tom asked as the color drained form Uriah and his cronies and their smug looks disappeared.
"I don't know exactly what you have been told about what happened but I can assure you that Will is completely innocent." Missus Rudolph said as a hopeful look spread across Will's face. "I walked in on them trying to sell Will that stuff then…If I didn't show up Uriah would have raped her."
"What?" Tom growled glaring at the boys.
"It's a lie." Uriah chocked out glaring at Missus Rudolph.
"Well now boys, why are your fingerprints all over this stuff?" A woman officer asked as she came into the office, the hall door obviously left open as she heard everything. The woman dumped a small box full of drugs and a few bottles of liquor on the desk. "This was all confiscated from your lockers while Will's didn't have anything in it."
Will looked on in shock at the amount of drugs that was apparently pulled fro the lockers and couldn't help the feelings that flowed through her. She wanted so much to have even a small portion of what was on the desk though she mentally knew she didn't. It all caused more pain that it was worth, had made her do things she wasn't proud of. Yet the siren call of it was so hard to ignore.
"Well boys, looks like all evidence points to you. Do you still want to stick to your story or do you want to help yourselves and come clean?" Tom asked, crossing his arms and glowering at the three boys.
"But this school has never had drug problems like THIS before." Missus Knickerbocker said in disbelief, while staring at all the contraband on the desk. She never knew this much stuff was pulled from the lockers apparently.
"Sometimes stuff like this is so well hidden that its never found out." The female officer said sadly as Missus Rudolph sat down next to Will rubbing the girl's back.
"You okay sweetheart?" Missus Rudolph asked softly.
"Y-You helped me." Will chocked out. She was shocked that anyone had, especially this woman but she was thankful for it
"Of course I did and I will keep doing so kiddo." Missus Rudolph said.
"We want to talk to a lawyer before we say anything else." Uriah grumbled.
"I don't, it's all true." Kurt said, "I ain't going down for you Uriah. I ain't taking no more of your crap."
"I'm with Kurt." Clubber sighed hanging his head.
"Well boys, looks like as soon as your parents get here we will be taking a ride" Tom said before turning to Will with an apologetic look. "Miss Vandom…I'm really sorry…"
"Save it…I know you don't care either way." Will snapped jumping to her feet, "Can I just go now? I've had enough crap for one day?"
"I guess so, I really am sorry." Tom sighed.
"As am I." Missus Knickerbocker said, her voice a little timid as she looked sorrowfully at the redhead.
"Yeah, Yeah…I bet you would have been more than happy to be rid of me." Will grumbled.
"I'll give you a ride home honey." Missus Rudolph said standing up from her seat.
"Thanks…I really mean it Missus Rudolph…No one has ever cared enough to stand up for me before like this." Will said hugging herself, "I need to be alone though…I'll walk."
"If your sue." Missus Rudolph sighed.
"I'm sure." Will said grabbing her bag from the chair that was to the other side of her. "Thanks though, I'll see you later."
"Miss Vandom…Will...I truly am sorry for what happened but I…" Tom said but was cut off before he could say any more.
"Shove it officer Lair, I don't want to hear anymore lies today." Will grumbled as she turned and stormed out of the office to the surprise and shock on most present, except for Missus Rudolph who smiled sadly at the girl. She was sorry for the girl and intended to do everything in her power to help the redhead in anyway possible.
WITCH
She wouldn't cry, Will refused to as she had already cried enough as it was. She was walking home as the events of the last few hours kept running through her head, as she had come close to paying for something that she didn't do. True she was no stranger to that though she admitted; she had done her share of bad things. She wasn't innocent, not in any sense which saddened her. As much as she kept trying to tell herself that she wasn't trash she knew the truth…She knew she was trash.
"Damn them…I don't need them." Will growled under her breath. She didn't want to admit to needing anyone yet again the truth was painfully obvious. She needed someone to save her sorry ass this afternoon not once but twice. And strangely enough she couldn't feel the normal hatred or anger she would feel to someone whop tried to help her. Of course the hatred she felt was because those people never really wanted to help, they just wanted her out of their hair as quickly as possible.
Missus Rudolph was different though, the elder woman never looked at the redhead in contempt or disgust but instead with a sad yet caring look. Did the woman really care for her and want to help? Lord knew the woman was probably the only one who wanted to help her as not even the redhead's own mother really wanted to help. No, everyone else only acted like they cared and wanted to help while this older woman, a stranger, really seemed to care.
A strange smell drew her attention from her thoughts up to a restaurant whose named sounded familiar. It took her a few moments to remember where she heard it from, that was the place where that strange hyper girl had invited her to this afternoon. Why Will actually believed that Hay Lin actually wanted to be friends was beyond her but she found out the truth when she had heard them making fun of her not once but twice. The blonde had to put the Chinese girl up to it though, the smaller girl just didn't really seem like the type to go out of her way to hurt others.
As much as she wished she could go in there and get something to eat she didn't have any money. And she wasn't about to go in there anyways just so she could hear those girls make fun of how poor she was or how she was a piece of trash. She knew what she was, but she didn't need to hear it too. To be constantly reminded of what she had become and how far she had fallen.
Turning away from the imposing building with a tear in her eyes, she hurried down the sidewalk barely missing the four girls entering the restaurant. It didn't take her long to get home though and surprisingly enough, well not really surprising as it was a normal thing, her mother wasn't home. The woman could be at work but she doubted it, this was the third week at her fifth job in six months. Honestly this was the longest the older woman lasted at any job and Will wouldn't be surprised if Susan came home drunk after being fired.
Dropping her bag next to the door as she kicked off her shoes she walked to the kitchen as her stomach grumbled again. She was actually hoping that there might be something she could make, as her stomach was begging for something hot. Her mother was supposed to go shopping this morning after all before going to work, so hopefully she brought home something good. Pulling open the fridge though made her want to cry, the only things that was in there was a half gallon of milk that was almost empty and three new cases of beer. She couldn't believe this, here she was struggling, trying to overcome the grip alcohol had on her and her mother kept bringing it into the house. It wasn't fair, why did she do this to her?
With tears starting to break free she closed the door with a shaking hand as she checked the freezer. It was even more barren than the fridge except for the building ice and frost. The only thing her mother had bought was beer…BEER! Shuddering with a sob she checked the cupboard and found a half box of Fruity Peebles. It was better than nothing she figured as she tried to gain control of her shaking and tears. By the time she had a bowl from the cabinet and had the cereal poured into it she had it under control until she retrieved the milk and opened it up to gag at the smell from it. It smelled as if it had spoiled a long time ago, making her shudder again as she poured it down the sink and left the carton as she decided dry cereal was better than nothing as she went back into the living room.
Falling into the couch she shoved a small handful of the cereal into her mouth and almost spit it back up. It was past stale making her wish that she didn't eat both eggs left this morning and saved one for now. At least she would have had something that wasn't nasty tasting but she doubted her mother would be bringing anything home. Sighing she tossed the box onto the end table actually hoping that maybe Susan for once would do something good for once and bring something home. Pulling off her socks she started to rub her feet a little before jumping a little as the front door opened.
"Where are you?" Susan demanded angrily as she slammed the door shut behind her.
"What got your panties in a knot?" Will snorted, as she slipped into her uncaring, strong persona. She refused to show this woman any weakness, not after the woman proved time and time again she didn't give a damned about the redhead.
"I can't believe this, you already was screwing around with drugs and trying to whore yourself out!" Susan screeched, alcohol on her breath as she glared at the younger girl who waved her hand as if trying to fan the stench of the woman's breath away. "I didn't raise a whore!"
"You sure fooled me!" Will snapped, "And for your information I didn't do anything!"
"BULLSHIT!" Susan growled as she glared hatefully at Will as the girl picked up the box again and threw it at the woman.
"And what happened to you going grocery shopping?" Will demanded heatedly.
"I was going to go after work but if you want to whore yourself out, you can buy your own shit you little slut!" Susan snapped as she wavered a little.
"Go to hell!" Will said stiffly, trying not to cry. As callous as her mother had been she had never said anything like that to her and it hurt. It hurt bad and she wasn't going to stay there any longer and take it right then. Will shoved past the woman and headed to the door wanting so much to ignore her mothers rantings.
"Where the hell do you think your going?" Susan demanded as Will turned to face her as she yanked the door open.
"Out and away from you!" Will snapped as she stormed outside and slammed the door shut before realizing she was still barefoot. She heard a click as the door slammed signaling that the door had locked itself, causing Will to curse at herself. She carefully tried the door only to confirm her suspicions as it being locked but she didn't have her key on her, it was in her bag and she refused to knock on the door.
"Screw this." Will grumbled as she shoved her hands into her pockets before stalking off down the street before shivering a little. She hugged herself, rubbing her upper arms trying to warm herself up as she felt chilled even though it was actually sixty-eight degrees. She didn't really know where to go, though as she refused to go back home at the moment.
It didn't take long before the redhead ended up walking by the same restaurant as earlier, the smell once again assaulting her senses making her mostly empty stomach to growl again. Hay Lin did invite her over and maybe, just maybe she could bum a snack or something off the girl. It would be nice and warm in there as well which was another bonus.
Then again they would only probably tease her and treat her like garbage. Surely they heard of the debacle near the end of school and most likely blamed Will for it. Why shouldn't they, especially that blonde girl who seemed to already have it out for the redhead. Sighing as her stomach grumbled yet again, she walked into the front door only to be stopped by a Chinese woman about the same age as Will's mother.
"Excuse me miss, but you must wear shoes to dine here." The woman said giving Will a disgusted look over.
"Relax dear, she's here to se Hay Lin and her friends." An even older woman said smiling at Will confusing the redhead a little. "Come along, I'll show you where your friends are."
Will followed the elder woman while glancing back to see the woman eyeing her critically. The older woman was confusing Will though as she surely didn't know the redhead but was treating her as if she did and was being really nice.
"Don't pay attention to her, she's had a bad day child." The woman said with a smile over her shoulder, "My name is Yan Lin and you are?"
"Will…Will Vandom." Will said a little unsteadily as the woman stopped and opened the door into another room just as her stomach rumbled again causing the older woman to laugh a little.
"Go on in child and I'll bring you something to eat." Yan Lin said softly.
"I…I don't have any money." Will said hanging her head a little.
"Child, you are my granddaughters friend and all of her friends eat free here." Yan Lin said amusedly, "Go on in child your friends are waiting."
Before Will could protest the elder woman gently pushed her through the door to what looked like a private dinning area, where there were four girls seated at the table inside pouring over what looked like homework while snacking on some cookies. She recognized all of them from being from the school and she wanted to trust them, trust Hay Lin but she couldn't. She didn't have the luxury of trusting someone as they had always turned against her.
"Who invited her?" The blonde, Cornelia asked as she looked up to see the redhead. Will was about to back out of the door when the brunette girl, she believed her name was Irma glared daggers at he blonde.
"I'm so happy you came." Hay Lin cried happily as she bounced out of her chair and started dragging the girl to the table to sit next to the Chinese girl.
"You can't be serious, you have to know what she pulled at school." Cornelia said in disgust while glaring at Will.
"Maybe if you listened to the facts and not the rumors, Corny." Irma snapped at the blonde.
"Don't call me Corny!" Cornelia snapped, "And what would you know about it?"
Will couldn't help staring in shock at these girls. Here this blonde was verbally attacking her and before the redhead had a chance to defend herself Irma had defended her.
"Ignore them Will, they're always like this." The dark skinned girl Taranee said with a small smile as she took Will's hand and squeezed it gently.
"Because my dad told me, Corny!" Irma snapped, "Will had nothing to do with what happened, that creep Uriah attacked her!"
"What?" Will asked in shock as she snapped her gaze up at the two bickering girls.
"My dad's a captain on the police force." Irma said rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "He…He said he was really sorry for what happened and really hoped that you were innocent, but he had to do his job."
Will was about to get up as her eyes were watering, did these girls know her whole past? If this girl's father was who Will was thinking they probably did.
"Please don't go." Hay Lin said grabbing Will's hand pulling her back into her seat, "We really want to get to know you."
"Yeah, right." Will sighed as Yan Lin brought a platter of food in giving each of the girl's a plate filled full of rice, sweet and sour chicken, green beans and two egg rolls as well as a glass of Pepsi leaving a pitcher in the middle of the table with a bowl of fortune cookies.
"Thanks Missus Lin." And "Thanks Grandma." Four voices chorused simultaneously.
"Th-thank you." Will said surprised, this was the most food she had seen in awhile at one time. True she ate at school, she was on the free lunch program but they never really gave her much at her old school and Heatherfield wasn't much better. It was like they gave the students on free lunch much smaller portions than the students who paid.
"Your welcome girls, enjoy your meal." Yan Lin smiled, especially at the redhead before leaving the room.
It didn't take Will long to dig in as her stomach grumbled again embarrassing her but she hid that fact as she concentrated on her food, as the other girls minus Cornelia had small talk for several minutes about the homework and unfairness of it all for their biology classes, as they had the same teacher but at different times. Apparently there was a substitute today and she was left instructions to have the students outline the entire chapter of their text book and answer the questions at the end. Will had to agree that it was unfair though she didn't intend to do it anyways.
"So Will, what was your old school like?" Irma asked around a mouthful of rice earning the girl a slap on the back of the head courtesy of Taranee who frowned slightly.
"Swallow first, sheesh." Taranee grumbled earning a giggle from everyone, surprisingly even Will herself before the question hit home. What was she supposed to do tell them that she hated it. That she knew she messed up herself but one of the biggest scandals and the thing ended up getting her expelled was not her fault. It was that bastard who thought he could take whatever he wanted from her. When it came out though she was the one blamed for it because they knew the way she was and a part of Will had wondered if maybe it was her fault but she knew it wasn't.
"It…It was okay I guess…Nothing spectacular." Will said softly not wanting to talk about it. She finished her food quickly and picked up a fortune cookie opening it and pulling out the fortune as she popped the cookie into her mouth reading around it as she dodged her own smack on the back of her head from the dark skinned girl.
"You will make a new best friend." Will read as she looked up at Irma who winked at her making the redhead blush a little. Did Irma really want to be friends with her? Did the others?
WITCH
Yan Lin could see a good soul in the red-haired girl but she knew of said girl's past. She saw the terrible scandal that took place not far from Heatherfield on the news and while most people ignored it things like that always bothered the older woman. She never believed that the girl was the cause of it, no Yan Lin was sure that the girl was the victim. Strange thing that said girl had showed up basically on her doorstep.
As she entered her bedroom to take a small break she was shocked when her wardrobe was shaking violently with pink light shining through the cracks of the door. It couldn't be, was the redhead the new keeper? Was all five of them the new guardians? The Oracle said that the new guardians would be chosen soon and as proud that she was that Hay Lin was her successor, she was also worried. There was going to be a long road ahead of these five girls, but she would be there to help guide them.
A small smile played across Yan Lin's lips as she thought of something, she was right about the redhead. Will was a good person and this was proof of it. The Heart would have never chosen a bad person to be it's wielder.
NOTES:
I want to give a special thanks to XV-Dragon for all his help betaing this story and helping with it so thankies a lot!
Sorries for the lack of updates lately people but between writers block and some personal issues it had been very difficult. Hopefully this will be getting back on track now and I still have like 30 e-mails I have to answer which I will be over the next few days.
S: Thankies, glad you liked it.
Aesop: Thankies, glad you liked it. I want to try and keep them in character as much as possible though at times it may be a little hard. Hope you keep enjoying this new Will.