A/N Thanks to all of you who read and reviewed chapter 1 - I really appreciate it :) Here's the next update, hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2
After an uneventful morning, Spencer was lying on the grass with her head on her bag listening to music. She had no desire to spend her lunch period paying attention to everyone around her gushing about their summer and whatever other banal things they discussed. If she was lucky, she'd fall asleep and miss her afternoon classes.
Her music was loud and her eyes closed. Perhaps if she'd been paying more attention she'd see the turkey sandwich that was about to hit her. "Ow!" she exclaimed when said sandwich connected with her forehead. Her eyes flew open and she found a smirking Sean looking down on her.
"Incoming," he said before laughing hysterically.
Spencer pulled her headphones out of her ears, the look on her face was not the face of someone who was amused. "That's the second time you've hit my head today. What the fuck did you do that for?"
"Because it was funny," Sean explained like she was stupid for asking the question. "And you're welcome by the way."
"Bite me," Spencer fired back.
Sean took a seat beside his friend, ignoring the dirty look she was giving him. The two of them only had one class together and that was at the end of the day. He was glad they could at least spend their lunch time with each other.
Even though Spencer wasn't that hungry, she took the food that Sean offered her. She knew if she didn't, he'd be asking all sorts of questions about why she wasn't eating. Annoying as he could be, it was nice having someone looking out for her.
"You break any hearts this morning?" Sean asked between taking bites of his lunch.
Spencer chuckled, "Oh, you know it. How else am I going to pass the time in this hell hole?" She took a sip of water, "You think this is the year you finally get some?"
Sean rolled his eyes, he was used to the teasing he received from the blonde. "I already deal with one unbalanced girl, why would I be looking to add to my already full time job of looking after your sorry ass?"
Spencer slugged Sean in the shoulder for that remark. "You're lucky I'm feeling generous because the next time you make a comment like that, I'll make sure to leave a mark."
"Like I'm scared of you!" Sean exclaimed in disbelief.
"You should be." Spencer tried to give her friend a menacing look but they both ended up laughing.
"I still can't believe they let freaks like you come back year after year," an unfriendly and unwelcome voice chimed in.
Spencer and Sean both stopped laughing. They looked up to see a group of three girls standing above them with sneers on their faces. Well, to be fair, it really was only the person that made that comment who was sporting an ugly expression. Of the other two, one seemed to be amused and the other seemed to want to be anywhere else right then.
"Good afternoon, Madison," Spencer exclaimed with false cheeriness once she had sprung to her feet. "Look what the ugly train dragged in."
Sean also stood up, but he didn't say anything. He knew that his friend could more than take care of herself. That didn't mean he wasn't going to be ready in case he was needed.
Madison did not appear to have heard the insult that the blonde had hurled at her. "Don't get too close, I wouldn't want you to try and hit on me. Forget about how wrong your 'lifestyle' is, I don't want to catch the many diseases you probably have."
Spencer was horrified. "Please don't flatter yourself, you disgusting piece of trash. If there was a choice between sleeping with you and having to die a horrible death, well at least I wouldn't have to live my life knowing I touched someone like you."
Madison wasn't about to be spoken to like that, especially from a person who she considered beneath her in every way. "And tell me, who would show up to your funeral? Besides your little lackey here?" She pointed to Sean. "Nobody would even care if you were dead."
"Aw," Spencer made sure that every word she spoke was dripping with as much sarcasm as possible. "Is that your way of telling me you're secretly in love with me, Mads? Because, like I said, you and me are never going to happen."
Getting snarky remarks and being told she was a total nothing was something Spencer frequently heard from Madison. The comments had started here and there freshman year, but they weren't too bad at first. Then, the fact that Spencer was into girls became public knowledge and, for whatever reason, Madison latched onto that news and it had been nonstop harassment since. Even after Clay had been killed, Madison hadn't really let up all that much.
It was hard, at first, for Spencer to deal with the onslaught of comments and the isolation of being the school freak. The friends that she had made were scared to be associated with her because they didn't want to get picked on too. The turmoil she faced at home in her sophomore year made her withdraw anyway, so she didn't miss not having a social life. By the time last year rolled around, she relished the times that Madison picked on her. She appreciated the opportunity to get her anger out about everything that happened to her and her family on someone who absolutely deserved it.
Madison was a moron, so getting in a verbal sparring match with her was a piece of cake for Spencer. Although not one to apply herself at school because she couldn't care to, she could overmatch Madison in a battle of jabs and insults any day.
There were moments where Spencer wished she wasn't the one that everyone ignored all of the time. She had her lonely moments. But didn't every teenager? Besides, according to the blonde, everyone at her school was superficial and caught up in problems that weren't real problems at all.
At least she had Sean, so it wasn't like she was all alone. He had actually been fairly popular at King High until he started hanging out with the blonde. But making a choice between being friends with Spencer and losing his social status wasn't even a choice at all. And the two of them had been inseparable ever since.
"Don't make me vomit," Madison sneered in disgust. "I would never touch a sexual deviant like yourself. I can't even stand to look at you."
"And yet you sought me out," Spencer replied, her tone icy cold. "Why are you so obsessed with me, Mads? You know, we often hate what we are. So—"
"Shut your fucking mouth!" Madison snapped. "How dare you speak to me like that!" She couldn't stand when Spencer got the better of her. "I'm warning you."
"You're warning me of what?" Spencer asked clearly amused. This was turning out to be a bright spot for her in an otherwise mundane first day of school. "Who's going to stop me? Your mindless minions?" She pointed to the two girls standing on other side of Madison. "Please, you three are about as scary as a pussy cat." The blonde watched in delight when Madison's eyes bulged out of her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't say the word pussy around you. We both know how much you like that."
Madison was beyond pissed off. She had come over to remind Spencer what a loser she was. Not to get humiliated. "At least I have a family who loves me." That's the thing about picking on somebody for so long, you learn a lot about them. "A family that isn't messed up like yours is."
"Go fuck yourself!" Spencer shouted angrily. Madison was crossing a line that she should have been smart enough not to cross.
"Oh, touched a nerve, did I?" Madison asked smugly. She felt back in control of the situation. "What are you going to do? Run to mommy? Too bad she left when she found out what her daughter was."
Spencer was seeing red. "If you say one more word, I swear—"
"My bad," Madison held up her hands in mock surrender. "Was that in poor taste? Maybe your daddy can be of assistance. Well, we all know he's generally in no condition to be of help to you."
"Madison!" One of the girls who was standing by the gloating girl exclaimed in horror. She wanted no part of this whatsoever.
"Mind your own fucking business!" Spencer barked at her. She then turned to Madison, the vein on the side of her head looked ready to burst. "If you say one more word to me I will mangle your face so nobody recognizes you. Granted, that be an improvement, but I still suggest you move your fat ass long so it doesn't have to come to that."
Madison was never one to do what she was told. Especially when she was having so much fun. "Maybe your broth—"
She couldn't get the rest of her insult out because Spencer lunged at her.
Lucky for Madison, Sean had no desire to see his friend get in trouble so early in the school year. If it was up to him, he'd let the blonde do what she wanted to Madison, but that girl was not worth the trouble. He grabbed Spencer before she could land one punch.
Madison laughed as she watched Spencer struggle against the hold Sean had on her. Today was going to be a good day after all. "Until next time, Spencer. Hopefully by then you'll have learned to mind your manners."
Spencer continued to try and break free from Sean, but he was much stronger than she was. It wasn't until Madison was out of sight that he let her go. "What the hell, Sean?" Spencer asked after she had whirled around to face her friend. "You should have let me punch that smirk right off her vile face."
"I was only trying to help," Sean pleaded. He hadn't seen Spencer this upset in a very long time. "You know what would have happened. You would have been the one to get in trouble, not her and it only would have made thing worse."
"I don't care!" Spencer yelled. She was so mad she wasn't thinking rationally. "Do you understand that? I don't fucking care. After what she said, she absolutely deserved for me to pound the shit out of her."
Sean hated to see Spencer this out of control. It scared him more than he would ever tell the blonde. "Just calm down, OK. I'm sorry."
Spencer wasn't in the mood to hear any excuse from Sean. Not when she was still so enraged. She hated Madison, but she hated it more when Madison got under her skin. She bent down to get her stuff; she needed to be on her own. "Whatever, I'll see you later."
Sean watched helplessly as Spencer took off for god knows where. He hoped what happened at lunch wasn't an omen for what the rest of the year was going to be like.
"Well that was fun," Madison said gleefully when she was sure that Spencer wasn't coming after her.
Sherry, one of her closest friends, laughed. "You're so bad, Madison, I love it."
However, the other girl who had been there to witness the exchange between Madison and Spencer wasn't amused at all. In fact, she felt sick to her stomach.
"What's your problem, Ashley?" Madison asked when she noticed the frown on the brunette's face. "Don't tell me you feel sorry for that piece of trash?"
"It's not that." Ashley hated that she couldn't stand up to Madison. So often she would have it on the tip of her tongue to tell her friend what a bitch she was. There were many times that Ashley couldn't figure out why she hung out with someone as vile as Madison could be. But she'd long ago made the choice between being right and being popular. There was no turning back now.
Madison wasn't going to let this go, "Then what is it?"
"I just remembered that I have to head straight home after school," she lied. "My mom wants to me to go shopping with her."
"Well that's too bad, you know cheerleading tryouts start today. As my second in command you have to be there. Tell your mom that you can't make it," Madison ordered. She wasn't going to let anything or anyone ruin her senior year.
"Sure, Mads, no problem," Ashley replied, happy that she had gotten away with the story she made up.
Madison put her arms around the shoulders of her two closest friends. "We are going to own this school. And anyone who stands in our way is going to fucking regret it."
Ashley smiled brightly, but inside her stomach sank. She had a bad feeling about what that meant.
She saw Spencer storm past the three of them without saying a word or acknowledging their existence. Ashley was happy that Madison was too busy checking herself out in a compact mirror to notice.
Ashley watched her former best friend until she could no longer see her.
She didn't think it was possible to hate herself any more than she did already.
