Chapter Two Classes, as slow and dreary as they were, granted Maylyn some needed peace. However, every once in a while, a note would get nudged her way, as she had been seated next to Jaylyn. Over the years, the Derbytantes had dwindled down in number, due to changing schools or more or less drawing to other cliches and fads in their own educational areas. Even Bobbysuzeraelyn had taken her leave and went on to pursue something a bit more to her feminine tastes. It was only Maylyn, Jaylyn and Buttlyn now. A loyal trio of sisters that stuck together.
"Shit still playing up with your mom?" wrote Jaylyn, her eyes still glued to the white board, where the lesson resumed on Pre world war 2 Germany.
Sighing, the strawberry haired leader responded, scribbling "I can't bare it any more. I'm thinking of moving out".
Handing it back, she found her friend's face go pale and her eyes widen in her darkened, make-up pampered sockets.
"Where will you go?"
"I haven't really thought too much into it. It's just an impulsive choice right now"
"That's not smart, dude. I can hold you for a few days if you'd like"
The Derbytante leader huffed quietly in amusement, a gentle smile on her tired face. "That's cute as all hell, but it's only prolonging the inevitable. I'll figure something out"
Handing the note back for the last time, she watched as her friend's eyes remained stationary on the piece of paper, an inaudible gulp following, as if she were appreciating those words most intimately, as if they were the last she'd ever read or hear from her.
-
She'd lied.
She HAD thought about it and the consequences of her actions probably weren't going to guarantee a sincerely joyful life. She figured she'd find a cheap place, preferably on the suburbs, get a job as a dishwasher and go from there. There was no certainty at all and it was frightening, but it was something she'd much rather endure than sit around, practically waiting to die in her own home.
Recess was declared by the abhorrent ring of the bell and the group gathered in their usual spot in the hall. Buttercup had barely changed a fraction over the years and that was no exaggeration. She remained the same height, had the same gruff and raspy voice, probably a little deeper now, and still had a roaring passion for Deathball. In comparison to the physical changes the other Derbytantes were going through, she was like an adorable plush doll from childhood, looking up and back at you with a presumed innocence, but a tendency to rip your eyeballs out and make you eat them. Otherwise, her hair changed slightly: she'd often gel it into spikes to match the other Debytantes in her own way, wore baggy jeans, a bland black top and a dark green military jacket.
The fact was this question of whether or not the Powerpuff Girls could or couldn't age, physically speaking, brought a lot of nerve wrecking questions and worries onto the smitten leader. It was weird enough for people before, pondering why she'd let a 'pipsqueak' into the group although she defended that there was no exception for a Powerpuff into their team, but the girls now were evidently teenagers and having a member still look like a pubescent kid was kinda odd. Outside the concerns, the three bonded better now than ever, seeing as it was no longer a half-hearted, vaguely knitted cluster of people and now an intimately bound friendship. They were inseparable, especially Buttercup and Maylyn.
Affectionate pet names coined years ago still ran rampant, catering mainly to teasing the powerpuff's height; such as Frodo Baggins, pint-size, squirt, and twerp. As for the raven haired tomboy, she delighted in calling them losers, weaklings, wimps and making jokes about how skinny they were. Such acknowledgements would be well taken into account for any social worker, as the leader's pale skin was no hereditary trait, but unfortunately an exclamation of her malnutrition and anemia. How she'd managed to keep up her strength in Deathball was nothing short of a miracle.
Coming to the end of another match, their method of play having distorted from dodgeball into a twisted version of dodgeball and piggy-in-the-middle: where it was two against one (usually the two teens against the 'twerp'), Buttercup lunged at the stern leader, bringing her down to the floor. Rough housing and cackling like maniacs, they were torn from their brief, aggressive nirvana by the ring of the bell. Drat.
As twisted as it was, Maylyn always anticipated and looked forward to the play fights. Dare she admit it was the only time she could feel she could have some form of close contact with the puff without it being considered weird. It was weird she even considered such an analogy to begin with.
"Damn! Already?" grunted the emerald eyed brat, picking herself up from off Maylyn, brushing herself off. "Just when things get fun around here, we have to return to stales-ville"
"No kidding" muttered Maylyn, disappointed too.
"You guys got time to kill after school? We can continue then" suggested Jaylyn, packing away their kit in a zip bag.
The eager tomboy grinned "Heck, yeah! Maylyn, you game?"
Of course she couldn't say no. Whatever would keep her from returning to the den of misery was a sure 'yes' in her book. "You bet.
-
The dismiss of learning came about with the flood of eager teens pouring out through the gates, on towards home. As Buttercup rolled on after the Derbytantes eagerly, she was halted by two familiar voices and reluctantly turned to face them, hovering just outside the school bounds, by a pleasant scene of trees and flowers.
"You coming with us, Buttercup?" called Blossom, lugging a colossal vintage book in her arms.
"The professor's doing tacos tonight!" cheered the blonde sibling.
Rolling her eyes somewhat, although sure as heck down for tacos, she replied quite nasally "I'm gonna hang back a bit actually. Meeting with Maylyn and Jaylyn at the skate park"
"Wow, you guys are practically joined at the hip" exclaimed Blossom.
"It's a tonne of fun what we do together. I wouldn't give it up for anything"
"I sure as heck don't understand it" the redhead confessed, brushing back some hair, deviating from their held back position "but, if it makes you guys happy, more power to you"
With that, they split and went their separate ways. The Derbytantes enjoyed the freedom of the park, guaranteed as the green hued Powerpuff would scare moody brats and older teens away. The speed, the sensation of ever increasing acceleration was a rush and, just to elevate her even more on her high, Buttercup fished Maylyn up from the pit she'd been skating in and sped her faster and faster. Screw any roller-coaster, to feel speed this phenomenal was something no vehicle or drug could ever match. That as well as feeling herself fade out of reality and feel safe in the heroines arms. She was so strong and there was an intense urge for her to simply lean up to capture her lips.
Catching herself with such a vivid thought, she blushed furiously and Buttercup brought them to a stop.
Chuckling, the tomboy watched the teen struggle to regain stability "Sorry 'bout that. Kinda got swept up in the thrill of the speed"
"Naw, man" said the leader, seating herself down. "That was awesome. I wish you'd give us a ride like that more often. What a rush"
Jaylyn snickered, sitting down with her too "Man, your freakin' out of it. You okay?"
Her heart was thumping hard, almost painfully in her chest, not just from the adreneline, but just being so close to her crush like that. Feeling so secure with her.
"I'm fine"
"Well, it's getting pretty dark now" acknowledged the raven haired rebel. "I better head home. We got tacos"
"Awesome" smiled Jaylyn.
"Good meet up today, guys. I guess I'll see ya tomorrow" sighed the magenta haired maiden, finding planet earth again and rising from her spot.
"Later dude" waved Buttercup, before darting off, a strip of green brushing the sky.
Before she headed off herself, Maylyn was paused by a firm grip on her shoulder. "Maylyn"
She turned to see her friend, staring at her with dead seriousness. "Don't go doing something stupid..."
Their voices dropped into a soft whisper. "You just... you don't know what it's like"
Lightening up a cigarette, the Derbytant member continued "Please, Maylyn. We're friends, sisters almost. You said so yourself... and sisters stick together"
"This whole thing is driving me insane. You gotta understand, I have no choices left. I'm just... so... sick of it"
Nodding, Jaylyn offered her a toke and she participated reluctantly. She hated the smell. "My offer stands" she firmly assured, her eyes not leaving her. "I love you and I don't wanna think this'd be the last time we'd see each other"
"I'll be fine" Maylyn dismissed with a snappy retort.
"Fuck off, dude. This thing... this whole scenario is not fucking okay! You're gonna end up hurting yourself!"
"Well, I can't just sit around hoping for things to get better. I've be doing that for the last seven years of my life. Time wasted... I could've said something"
"You didn't know any better back then. There just has to be a way through this that'd be better" she said, taking another puff. Sighing, the two looked to one another, feeling so crushed. Jaylyn just wanted to help her, but Maylyn couldn't have it. She couldn't bare the idea of dragging someone down along with her through this shit.
"I'll still come to school" she grumbled. "This isn't the last time, I swear"
With that, she took off, leaving her friend in the harsh spot light of the skatepark. Looking after, watching her vanish off out of sight, the Derbytante follower felt her heart sink.
"Buttlyn... please snap her out of this" she whispered into the night air.
-
A gunshot isn't typically a surefire way of seeing your home is in a safe neighborhood, but it was practically a norm. The neighbor toyed with his firearm out back and had done so for years, always around the time she arrived home. It was essentially a greeting, as she rolled towards the premises, ready for another night in the trenches.
Entering the house, she panned her eyes across the living room and entry way and quietly made her way to the kitchen, starving. Immediately, she delved her hands in to help herself to the contents. She made perhaps one of the strangest sandwiches ever, but she didn't care. The more food the better. The mother never shopped too often and she made what she could of what she could find: a ciabatta slab, jam, with sliced cheese, chorizo, ham, onions, olives and lettuce. She also yanked from a scavenged plated carcass the remains of a roast chicken, a leg. Closing the fridge, with her banquet, she was greeted by the lady standing in the doorway. Presented as a stark black, silent form in the lighteing, Maylyn almost dropped her plate in fear and found herself reeling away slowly, terrified.
"Oh darling..." the mother cooed, harboring a false sense of care, sending shivers down her daughter's spine. "You should have said if you were hungry"
She almost slouched against the kitchen doorway frame, mindlessly scratching at the dried paint, watching it flake and fall like snow to the cracked tiled floor. There was tense silence.
"Why do you not attend your classes?" she continued. The woman's voice was silky smooth and gentle, verbally caressing to the ears, but it was a mask to her true nature. It gave more of a reason for the teen to feel she wanted to retreat into herself, away into a corner, but she didn't. Instead, she was frozen and it was hard to muster the guts to let a single word leave her cracked lips.
"Will you answer me?" the woman shot directly, quietly, her voice still calm and smooth, but it produced the same effect as if she had let out a throat ripping screech: making the daughter inwardly cringe and shiver, anticipating any moment she'd be smacked across the face.
"I d-don't attend... b-because..." she began. "I just feel like my time is better s-spent working a job. I mean... I know I'm not smart... well, as smart as other people in class... and..."
Her ramblings were cut short, as the mother approached her, drifting across the cold, distraught state of the kitchen like a ghost in her china white gown and placed a finger to the girls lips. "It's alright... I forgive you... just don't let it happen again" the woman said like a sigh, that evil, plastic, gentle smile on her face.
Poor Maylyn did her utmost to keep her fear under control, wanting to shiver... wanting to steer away from the embrace the woman was trying to bring her into. The waft of strong alcohol blew her way and she wanted to avert her face to breath normally, but put up with it, for the underlying threat of facing her unbearable pitch or feeling her hand smack across her face again. She didn't wanna lose any more teeth.
"Let me make you some proper dinner..." she suggested, intently nuzzling her, before going to the stove and moving some of the pots and pans to start cooking. Putting the sandwich in some cling film, the woman stuffed the ciabatta back in the fridge.
-
With her belly stuffed with cheap chips, beans and frozen fish fillets, Maylyn retreated finally to the confines and safety, if she could call it that, of her room. Long ago, her mother had managed to bust in, after the furniture had shifted far enough from the door. The pummeled wood swung open effortless and she stepped in, very lightly closing the door behind her. After a brief appreciation of the tampered haven that had been previously invaded, she found tears sliding down her cheeks. Without even finding the energy to sob, they leaked easily down her face and onto the creaky floorboards.
Her legs wobbled, giving way and she fell into an emotionally exhausted slump on the ground. After a while, her brain caught up with the body and her chest hitched and jerked, sobbing, in the dark. The encounter was the last. It was unbearable, walking on eggshells, being constantly trapped in a psychological minefield. She had decided.
Taking what essentials she could snag, bagging it, she took off out the bedroom window for the very last time.
End of Part Two