CHAPTER TWO: Missy & Co.
II. Move up in the food chain.
"I see you did the right thing."
Missy's arrogant voice greeted Ophelia at the main door as the girl met her and her cronies.
"It was the only choice I had, wasn't it?" Ophelia replied.
"True," Missy said, examining her nails.
"Where now?" asked Courtney, visibly bored.
"Your house, of course," Missy replied, walking down the stairs without looking back.
Clearly, everyone was meant to follow her. Kara and Courtney almost tripped over themselves to keep up with their leader.
"I was kinda hoping we could go to the mall," said Kara, "I wanted to check out some clothes I need."
"We'll go tomorrow," replied Missy, "I'm in the mood for magazine quizzes today."
Ophelia went with them in silence. She was busy absorbing every little detail from the situation she had thrown herself in.
"Say, Courtney," Missy asked, settling comfortably at the passenger seat in Courtney's red convertible, "that hot pool boy of yours, he comes today, right?"
Courtney smiled without taking her eyes off the road. Kara giggled at the back seat at Ophelia's questioning glance.
"Ah, now I see why you wanted to go to my house today," Courtney replied. "Yes, he comes today at four. I'll ask the maid to bring us refreshments to the pool area, then."
"That's my girl," replied Missy with a triumphant smile.
Just where exactly does this Courtney live?
Courtney took a left into a smaller street after driving for ten minutes, and drove five more before getting to a tall, iron-wrought gate, which opened at her arrival.
It was an impressive, manor-like house with a huge water fountain in front of the main door. Courtney jumped off the car and threw the keys to a man in a white uniform. He waited for the other girls to get off and took the car away.
They followed Courtney into the house, looking for all things as if it belonged to all of them; Missy seemed the most confident; she did not even look at the servants who bowed at their arrival and kept on chatting about the last number of her favorite magazine and the pictures of some 'very hot boys' featured on the front.
Ophelia imitated them while keeping her eyes from going from side to side to absorb everything around. There was plenty to look at: there were sculptures, paintings, elaborate and expensive-looking carpets, and the chandelier over the dining hall seemed bigger than the chairs around the table. The black marble floor shine was almost blinding, and Ophelia wished she had not worn heels that day, since it was also slippery. It was a relief when they finally arrived to the definitely-less-polished tiled floor at the pool area.
Courtney picked up the house intercom and pressed a button.
"Greta, bring us some drinks and snacks to the pool and my magazines, only this month's editions."
"We need to have a party here," Missy said, taking off her coat and hanging it carefully on the back of her chair. "When's your parents' next trip?"
"Not for two more months," replied Courtney, settling down on a chair.
"Pity," replied Missy, leaning back and putting on a pair of sunglasses, "we should have grabbed the last chance we had, if only you weren't such a coward."
"It was self-preservation," replied Courtney. "They called my aunt to stay here, she would have told my parents and they'd have taken my credit card for a month!"
Missy did not look convinced, but she did not pursue the matter either.
"So, Ophelia," Missy turned to face her instead, "you weren't at Polk, where did you go?"
"Call me Phil," Ophelia smiled, "and I went to school in Wisconsin. My parents and I moved here recently."
"Phil?" Missy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Ophelia said. "It started out as a joke back home, and now all my family calls me that. It sounds weird to hear my whole name, all grown-up and stuff."
"Right," said Missy, "so you moved here? How come?"
Somehow, her questions sounded more like an interrogation than friendly curiosity.
"My dad got a better job," replied Ophelia simply.
"I don't let my parents drag me around for work reasons," said Courtney. "They can travel all they want, for all I care. Besides, it's better this way: I have the house to myself and nobody gets in my way."
"Yeah, I wish my parents travelled more," added Kara.
Missy merely smiled.
Refreshments and magazines were brought a few minutes later, and the girls entertained themselves with them for a good part of the afternoon.
Ophelia wondered if these girls were going to do their homework at some point in the afternoon, especially when the handsome pool boy came and every other activity was forgotten in a rush of giggles and failed attempts to look cool. He was handsome, Ophelia thought, but a little bit too old for them; Missy did not seem to mind it much, and she became increasingly flirty with him, all of which seemed to please the young man.
Ophelia tried to fit it as hard as possible, but at times it was downright impossible, and more out of boredom than worry, she made up a lie to escape that place.
"Girls, I'm gonna have to leave," she said, reading a text message that had just arrived to her cellphone. "My mom says an aunt got an accident or something, and we have to go see her at the hospital."
"Is she OK?" asked Kara, with concern.
"Yeah, I don't think it's that serious," replied Ophelia, "but she's got no one else to visit her."
A maid in a black and white uniform arrived at that moment.
"Miss Ophelia's mother is here," she said, bowing.
Ophelia almost rushed to the door after saying goodbye to her friends.
*****
"Hope you had fun in there."
Ophelia's mother did not look very pleased that her daughter had not gone home as soon as school finished.
"I said I was sorry," Ophelia said, clipping her seatbelt. "I'm not grounded, am I?"
Her mother gave her an odd look and changed the subject.
"Ate anything?"
Ophelia nodded.
"Just snacks and fizzy drinks…"
"Oh, Lord…" her mother said, looking concerned.
"Calm down, mom," Ophelia replied, "I checked the ingredients and everything."
She had not, but her mother did not need to know that.
"But what if something sneaks in there? You know how your allergies are! "
"Yeah, I know," Ophelia replied, getting ready for another 'you don't take enough care for yourself' lecture, "I'm fine, mom, you can see it yourself."
"But it can happen later or, God forbid, while you're asleep, and you won't be able to reach us!"
Ophelia sighed. No matter how many times she had heard the same arguments, it was annoying every single time.
"Then what do you want, mom? Should I take my bed to you and dad's bedroom? Or maybe, I should sleep in your bed so you're right there in case I need assistance at an ungodly hour!"
Her mother gave her a shocked expression before turning quickly to watch the road.
"You don't know how it is to live with this worry…" she said, without looking at her daughter.
"I know, mom," Ophelia replied, "I'm sorry, but I'm not a baby anymore, OK? I can take good care of myself."
Her mother just blinked back tears.
*****
Once in her bedroom, Ophelia logged into her email.
Let's see… ah, here it is.
She took out a piece of paper with Martin and Rob's email addresses and wrote a quick email to both of them.
"Hey guys, sorry I had to ditch you today but I promise you we're still doing the English thing together. Send me your book suggestions if you have them and I'll send you mine as soon as I think of something…
Ophelia stopped writing. There was no easy way to say what came next. She fiddled with the mouse cord for a while before making up her mind.
"And… guys? It's better if I send you my part of the work via email, I mean, to keep things digital and all… you know, to avoid printing unnecessary stuff. Gotta keep them trees alive for the sake of the planet, don't we, lol."
Biggest lie she had ever said. And really painful. But necessary.
Ophelia could not help but close her eyes before clicking 'Send'.
*****
It was difficult to face Martin and Rob the next day. The boys waved a sad hello to Ophelia at the hall and she had to ignore it since Missy & Co. were nearby.
"… and I called him yesterday," Missy went on, "and he said he was free this Saturday!"
Courtney and Kara giggled and cheered at Missy's news that she had extricated a date out of the handsome pool boy as they got into English class.
"Isn't he, you know, a little bit too old?" Ophelia asked.
The three girls gave her incredulous stares.
"Older guys are the best of all," Missy said, "unlike the immature losers we have to take classes with. I'm sure you know all about it, since you befriended two of them," she waved derisively to Martin and Rob.
"Yeah, sure, immature losers," Ophelia said, trying to overcome the sudden disgust Missy's gesture had caused in her, "don't remind me, I'm stuck with them for English project."
"What? Impossible!"
"Yeah," Ophelia said, "and I'm sure I can't get in your group since Mr. Reed said only three students per group…"
Missy and her cronies had not even thought of the English project, but all put up their sorry faces. They were happy to have been given an easy way out of not being able to include Ophelia in their group.
"So, do you have any idea what you're going to do?" Ophelia asked, happy to change the subject.
"Uh, no, we don't," Kara said.
"What a drag…" added Courtney.
"Girls, we won't have to do it at all," Missy sentenced, after some contemplation.
Ophelia felt a chill down her spine.
"The losers will do it for us," she added as if informing them that the sky was blue.
"Excellent idea!" Courtney approved, clapping.
"But how are you going to make them do it?" asked Kara.
"Don't worry, I will," Ophelia said, "I have to deal with them anyway."
Missy smiled contentedly and went back to her fashion magazine.
*****
Ophelia sighed sweet relief when the bell rang and she could escape into her Forensic Science class from Missy & Co. She had been caught the day before in a flurry of notes passed around, bearing the most idiotic comments. Missy had thought Anatomy was too boring to focus on and had started the round, happily followed by her friends. Ophelia had had to fake interest in what they had to say. She had entertained herself by mentally adding a sarcastic tone to all her written replies; it had kept her from pulling her own hairs off.
Finally a break, thought Ophelia, walking into the classroom. She had been eagerly expecting her first class on this subject ever since she knew it was available for students after ninth grade, and that was five years ago. So she happily grabbed a seat at the front row, around the middle of the class.
"Hi, you're Ophelia, right?"
Ophelia turned around to the friendly voice.
"Hi- yeah, I'm Ophelia," she smiled. "You're… Moze, right?"
The brown-eyed girl smiled. "Damn. I was kinda wishing people started calling me by my first name…"
"No problem," Ophelia replied, "it's Jennifer, isn't it?"
Jennifer smiled.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
Ophelia smiled. "Martin."
"Oh, I see."
The girls fell silent.
"You know, I did not expect to see you here," Jennifer said, "since you seemed to adapt so well to Missy's group..."
Ophelia felt the trap ahead. What could she possibly say now to avoid giving herself up?
"I'm just… socializing, you know… since I don't know anyone else…"
"Right," Jennifer replied, unconvinced.
"But between you and me," Ophelia said, "it's refreshing to have a conversation that doesn't include boys, clothes or skipping school to hit a mall."
Jennifer smiled, nodding.
"But do call me Phil," Ophelia added, "Ophelia sounds too… grown-up."
"OK, Phil," Jennifer said. "I think Ophelia is a beautiful name, but anyway."
Ophelia smiled. Seemed Science would be fun, even beyond the subject itself, after all.
*****
Ophelia and Jennifer walked together to their Pre-calculus class when Forensic Science ended. Once again, Jennifer was surprised to see Ophelia take that class, but refrained from telling her so.
"… and whatever remains, however improbable-"
"… must be the truth," Jennifer finished Ophelia's sentence. "Sherlock Holmes," she added.
"Yeah! I love his stories," Ophelia said excitedly.
"Me too, they're so brilliant," Jennifer said. "I've been trying to get Ned to read them, but he wouldn't listen, and I'm sure he'd love them, too."
"Ned is your boyfriend, right?" asked Ophelia.
"Yeah, you've seen him?"
"Well," Ophelia said, smiling, "it's hard not to notice you guys…"
Jennifer blushed slightly.
"Yeah, we can be very… affectionate."
Ophelia giggled.
"Well, I wouldn't call tonsil hockey mere 'affection'…"
"Shut up," Jennifer said, trying to hide her embarrassment.
*****
Lunch time meant a particularly sad goodbye. Ophelia wanted with all her strength to join Jennifer's group instead of heading to Missy's, but she had to stick to her plan. After all, she had good reasons to do so.
"Listen, we've been talking," Missy told Ophelia, "whether to go to the music store to check out on that hot new counter guy, or to go to the clothes store first to try on the new stuff, what d'you think?"
"I'm sorry, guys, but I can't go with you today," Ophelia replied, feigning remorse, "sick aunt thing, you know…"
"I can't believe you're ditching us to go see a sick woman," Courtney replied.
"I didn't want to, but my mom insisted, and if I don't do it, it's one month without a cellphone!"
The girls agreed that it was a serious issue.
"Anyway, there's no point in asking you, then," said Missy, "and since the vote was two to one on checking out the hot guy, we win. Sorry, Kara."
Kara looked morose. For a split second, Ophelia felt like ditching her 'sick aunt thing' just to spite Missy, but she was not sure if she'd be able to resist an afternoon full of frivolous conversation.
*****
The truth was, Ophelia wanted to get as quickly as possible to her first Science project. It was only too appropriate: human decomposition. The girl sat at her computer and Googled the topic, saving every disgusting picture she could and printing the worst of them, along with pages and pages of theory and explanations. She proceeded to pin the prints to a large message board over her desk.
Perfect, she thought, smiling wickedly. Let's see what the girls think of my 'décor'.
She had invited Missy & Co. to her house the next day and anticipated a few gags at the sight of rotting human flesh and squiggling worms.
Still smiling, Ophelia opened another tab to check her email.
What the…?
A message she did not expect at all was just sitting there, waiting to be opened.