Nothing eventful happened in reading, F/CE, computer applications, or history… but when lunch came around, things kind of exploded in the Nygel sisters' faces.

Lunch was relatively normal. Bubbles sat with Alexander, but Fabio was gone, sitting with his treacherous, jealousy prone girlfriend Lila Alexander rolled his eyes at her blatant possessiveness.

"How they ever ended up together I'll never know," Alexander remarked, throwing his fork down on his trey. He got to his feet, carrying his half eaten burger to the nearest garbage. "I swear," He said as he sat back down. "The school food gets worse and worse." Bubbles didn't reply, staring at Fabio with a strange squirming feeling in her stomach.

"Hey, Bubbles?"

"What?" Bubbles whipped around to face Alexander. He wasn't the stereotypical gay you saw on TV on those stupid reality shows. He was the super star of the football team, the quarter back himself. For that reason, he was very big with broad shoulders and a toned, muscular body that made every single girl in that school blush. Poor things. They would never have Alexander. It wasn't a well known fact that Alexander's dating preference had changed to men over the past few years. Bubbles, Fabio, and his mother were the only people that knew. Not even his father or older brother was clued in. That was one reason Bubbles and Alexander had always been so close. She hadn't judged him for being gay; in fact, she had been the first person to notice it. For that reason, Alexander and Bubbles had become the best of friends. Before Fabio had known that Alexander was gay, he had loathed him for being so close to Bubbles. But, after being told in sophomore year, he had loosened up considerably.

"Why do Americans have to freak out if you're gay? If you're gay, you're gay." That's what Fabio had said. Bubbles smiled slightly at the memory.

"Hey, earth to Bubbles?" Alexander leaned across the table and lightly tapped his fist against Bubbles' head. Bubbles gasped in surprise, looking guiltily and apologetically to Alexander.
"I'm sorry. I…" Bubbles' voice trailed off unexpectedly.

"Hey, I know. You like Fabio right?" Alexander clarified mildly, gazing across the cafeteria at Fabio. Bubbles blushed bright enough to be seen from outer space. Alexander chuckled grandly, making the girls at the tables around them glare daggers at Bubbles. She smiled at them, laughing inwardly at their fruitless jealousy.

"Any gay advice to offer?" Bubbles joked quietly. Alexander laughed.

"Hey, just 'cause I'm gay doesn't mean I can give you advice on dating. The last time I dated was in sixth grade." Alexander pointed out good naturedly. He sighed heavily. "I think dad's starting to suspect something, though."
"Really?" Bubbles frowned worriedly. "How's he gonna react?"
"Bad," Alexander put his head in his large hands. "He's totally catholic. He's going to kick me out of the house when he finds out."
"Well, at least it's almost senior year. Then you can leave before you have to tell him." Bubbles chided lightly.

"I know, but that's still another year and a half to keep this all under wraps." Alexander peeked up at Bubbles through his fingers. "I… I kind of have a weird favor to ask you."
"Hm?" Bubbles inquired, sipping her water. She picked tepidly at her salad; the lettuce tasted like it had been washed in chlorine. She quickly got up, darting to the trash and back.

"C-could you pretend to go out with me for a while so dad stops being so… ya know… suspicious?" Alexander asked in a very small, very weak voice. Bubbles nearly spit out the mouthful of water. She choked for a second, caught totally off guard in every possible way. "I know, it's really weird. But if dad thinks I'm going out with you, he'll think I'm actually straight."
"Well…" Bubbles drummed her fingers on the table top. Of course, the first boyfriend she would ever have in her life would be gay, but she couldn't just abandon Alexander to the wrath of his Major Catholic father; he was a lot like the Jesuits they were learning about in history. He wouldn't accept anything that didn't coincide with the bible or Jesus or God.

Narrow minded cow.
"Fine," Bubbles sighed. "But only for a little while."
"Fabio, right?" Alexander guessed. Bubbles blushed, saying nothing.

She looked up at the broad, ugly doors that led outside into the murky parking lot where several benches were placed among the trees. She frowned as she watched Lila drag Fabio outside. She unconsciously tightened her grip on the bottle of water, and Alexander chuckled again, making Bubbles blush crimson, her face sending off waves of heat.

"You need to actually ask him out or something before Lila gets her fangs in him too deep." Alexander advised helpfully. Bubbles sighed wearily, and shook her head. She would never get the guts to ask out Fabio. Plus, Lila would scratch her eyes out before she let Bubbles within a yard of Fabio.

"I can't." Bubbles replied sadly.

"He's not gonna wait forever, you know." Alexander pointed out sullenly. Her shoulders sagged, and Bubbles stomach twisted into tight double knots. Her skin prickled slightly with jealousy and annoyance.

"I know." Bubbles admitted begrudgingly. "But if being friends is all he wants, then I won't push him."
"Aw, c'mon, Bubbles, put yourself first for once!" Alexander exclaimed wearily. Bubbles smiled faintly and shook her head.

"Hey, freakzilla!"

Bubbles and Alexander looked up at the sound of the awful Jessa Merkin's voice. Her remark wasn't aimed at either of them, but Bubbles stomach plummeted when she saw who was taking the brunt of her insults.

Buttercup.

"What's with you guys ditching Chicago like that?" Jessa sneered, tossing her falsely dyed blonde hair dramatically and pointedly glaring at Buttercup with her beady, flat brown eyes. Her skin bore a spray on tan, and her make-up was heavily applied, her tight outfit leaving little room to the imagination. She was the queen bitch of Mariner High, and Buttercup and Jessa had shared an intense rivalry since they'd met years and years ago. Now, however, the taunting was at the next level. Buttercup's face was a shade of red that did Bubbles proud, though this was out of anger, not embarrassment.

"Fuck off, Merkin." Buttercup growled, incensed.

"Who are you to tell me that?" Jessa shrieked angrily. "It's a good question! Bubbles would've recovered, you idiots! Why would you so stupidly give up your powers and run like the little bitches you are?"
"Don't talk about my sisters like that!" Buttercup roared, lunging to her feet and her chest rising and falling rapidly in rage. Her gloved hands were clenched into fists, the skin stretched over the knuckles stark white and her upper lip curling back away from her teeth. She looked positively murderous. "You don't know anything about us, Merkin, so back the fuck off and I won't kick your ass in front of the entire student body!"
"You slut! Don't threaten me!" Jessa screamed.

"Buttercup, Jessa, stop it!" Blossom suddenly got to her feet, pink eyes burning with irritation and her red hair wild around her pretty heart shaped face. "This is stupid! Just sit down and shut up before this goes too far!"
"Oh, what are you going to do if we don't huh, Miss Goody Two Shoes?" Jessa challenged hotly, thrusting a perfectly manicured, bright pink finger at her in a rude pointing gesture.

"MISS NYGEL! MISS MERKIN! STOP THIS STUPIDITY AT ONCE!" A teacher—Mrs. Bozier—bellowed. She was the meanest teacher in existence, and perhaps one of the oldest what with her snow white, curly hair, dull grey eyes, and pale wrinkled skin that looked like it was going to fall right off her fragile bones. She always wore strict outfits, today in a red turtle neck and a sharp black skirt. She glared menacingly at Blossom, Buttercup, and Jessa, her eyes hard and stormy. "All of you, to the principal's office."

Blossom's mouth literally fell open in shock and dismay, but Buttercup moodily stomped across the room out the metal cafeteria doors, Jessa reluctantly following in her irate wake. Blossom opened and closed her mouth, trying futilely to form words, but before she could push out a sentence, Mrs. Bozier gave her the sharpest, most brutal scowl Bubbles and Alexander had ever had the misfortune to see. Blossom winced and went after Buttercup and Jessa, Mrs. Bozier at her black heels.

For a long moment, there was a dismal silence enveloping the cafeteria like a thick blanket, no one moving or speaking and the only sound that of breathing. How could perfect Blossom Nygel.

And then the bell rang, shattering the silence and causing everyone to flinch. They filed, in a dull roar of noise, out of the cafeteria to their next classes, still shell shocked that Blossom Nygel had been sent to the principal's office.