I'm not from this world!
The next morning, Mr Robinson had sought me out. I had ditched Maths and it was the second lesson on my timetable. Jess had ditched it too since we share every lesson. Well it wasn't really Maths for the others students since they had a push over substitute as Mr Robinson had ditched class to 'locate' us. We toyed with him, pretended to go to one place and then went to another. In the end, we managed to completely ditch Mr Robinson in the other end of the school, but we had bumped into the Principal in the process.
"I don't see why you have to cause so much ruckus, Miss Smith," Mrs Weatherman stated as she sat behind her desk in her big chair. "What is possibly so wrong with Maths that you have to have Mr Robinson cut class just so he could return you to it?"
"There's nothing wrong with Maths, Mrs Weatherman, it's just Mr Robinson." I tell her, at least try to but she's not buying it.
"Now what could Mr Robinson be doing that you're so disappointed in him for?" she tells me.
"How about the harassment he constantly gives to me?" I say.
"What kind of harassment, Miss Smith?" she leans on her desk and entwines her fingers, quite interested in hearing what a student could possibly say about the teachers she hires.
"He always makes me out as an idiot in the class, he pretty much calls me a liar when I get an answer correct and he tries to say that I'm making a fool out of him when he's doing it himself."
"I don't see how that is harassment on your department."
"Well I clearly see it as harassment and if something does not get done about it, I'm going to the police."
"Miss Smith, you are thinking too rashly. This does not have to go to the police."
"If you don't sort him out then it will!" I threatened. "I am not going to stand back and allow a teacher to bully me!"
"It looks like your parents and I are going to have to have a serious talk about this, Miss Smith." She threatens.
"Go ahead," I declare, "you'll only find out that I'm telling the truth."
I walk out leaving her to call out my name, but I slammed the door on her, separating us. Jess was waiting for me outside and as she saw me, she smiled and got up to walk beside me. As we got out from the staffroom, we found the corridor was full of students who were emptying the classrooms to go for their break. We automatically steered to go outside to watch the boys throwing around a ball, when Shannon appeared at my shoulder.
"Where the hell have you both been?" she states irritably.
"Principal's office," Jess answers with an equal amount of irritation. Suddenly I knew that Jess had officially had enough with Shannon. It was no wonder she had always refused to join us when I offered her to come along with me and Shannon.
"What did you do?" she says looking at me as if I was always the cause of trouble.
"Who did something?" Katie says as she interrupts into the conversation. She appeared at Shannon's side and shot Jess a clear look of hatred. Had something happened between the three of them without me even knowing about it?
"Alyx," Shannon replied to her.
"What'd you do?" Katie asks as she gasped.
"I did nothing!" I tell them both annoyed. "Why'd you both always assume I do something wrong?"
"Well maybe because you're a complete troublemaker?" Shannon replies and grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop. The glare she sent me instantly made me screw my face up into a glare.
"Oh it must be your influence!" I say to her.
"I've been nothing but the role model in this school!" she says flipping her Barbie blonde hair over her shoulder.
"Yeah right, you're just trying to copy Alyx because she's so much cooler than you." Jess says as she stood up in front of Shannon's face. Shannon flipped her off and looked at me.
"Alyx here is nothing but a fraud," she says moving her head like a badass bitch.
"I'm not the one with Barbie blonde hair or with the fake blue contacts," I tell her. "You know, it's so last year that it makes me disgusted to see someone as ugly as you trying to bring a trend back." Jess holds back her laugh. "But that's not all, Shannon. At least I don't need to cheat on tests, or actually try to seduce my mate's boyfriends with a lap dance that so does not work out for you."
I saw the heat rise to her cheeks as some of her secrets were out in the open. The thing that was even worse for her was how she can't deny it or even say anything to get back at me, because there was not one single thing that she has managed to catch me out on. I've made sure of that. Katie just stood there as if she was the one that had been insulted and not Shannon. But of course, Katie was just a mere servant for the fake blonde that she doesn't have a clue on how Shannon is not only flirting on my boyfriend, but also with hers.
Shannon is such a slut.
"Do I even need to tell you that Shannon is flirting with your boyfriend, Katie?"
"She would never do that!" she said as she slanted her hips and placed her hand on the most raised, trying to appear like a badass but failing so badly that it completely makes her look like a prostitute.
"Jess recorded it because your boyfriend asked her to and did you know that your boyfriend is actually Jess's cousin?" Katie's mouth hung open. I think that picture of 'Scream' would be struggling to compete against that. I think it's called the scream seeming as there's the white faced thing with its mouthing just handing open as if it were screaming.
"I can show you if you want," Jess offered, even getting her phone out of her pocket and already pressing buttons to get it up on screen. Katie was shaking her head and took a few steps back.
"Katie, they're lying, I'd never do that to you." Shannon said turning to face her, a hand over her heart as if she was speaking so sincerely.
One time she used that to play me against Jess, but back then I had no clue that Shannon had hated her so badly. Thankfully a friend of mine in the geek department helped me find out. I hung out with Shannon so I could get all of her secrets and then slap it back in her face. Revenge for all of those that she has bullied before I even came to this school. Until now, I had debated about doing it, but seeing it all unravelling for my so called best friend; I just couldn't taste revenge any sweeter.
"Shannon, I've never known Alyx to ever lie. You…you've lied so many times that it's kind of hard to believe you."
Wounded!
"I believe our work here is done," Jess speaks in a hushed voice to me.
I nod in agreement and we turned, linked our arms and walked away, leaving Katie to throw their friendship back in her face. We stopped at our lockers and exchanged our shoes with our black ones. Slamming our lockers shut, we linked arms again and out into the sun that blazed down on us. Ah, air sweet air! It's so much better than breathing in that corrupted one when around Shannon. I noticed that the sky was clear above us and through the streets, even though it was still school hour, we sang at the top of our voice to a song that Jess had switched on her phone.
We headed straight for the bus stop, Jess kindly paid my fare and we sat on the topside of the bus. She stuffed the earphones in and gave one to me so that we could listen to it on the way over to hers. My mum was told the morning before I left about me staying over Jess's. Jess and I are that connected that we don't need to bring our own clothes over to each others. We can just borrow each other's and the other wouldn't mind at all. Although I've never once slept around hers, so I was kind of excited. Jess and I shared everything and until last night, I was stupid enough for not realizing that she had and always will be my best friend.
We got off on her road and clambered inside her blue door. It was bare whereas mine had a haunted feeling to it that made it more adventurous. But on the other side, I didn't expect to be instantly greeted to a bone welcoming hug from her mother who had immediately scooped me into her arms as she came out from the living room. Jess received the same type of hug I just got and was given a kiss on her cheek. It seemed more like her mother was worried over everything else. She had the same hair as her daughter but had black eyes instead of those dazzling green that Jess has.
"I'm sorry, Alyx," she says to me. Jess was kindly smiling at me.
"Sorry for what, Miss Reese?" I ask slightly confused.
"To not allowing you to sleep around here before," she says with guilt.
"Mum, I already told you that Alyx understands that you've been really busy," but her mum wouldn't let it drop.
"Miss Reese…"
"Denise, please."
"Denise, it's okay, honestly."
"Are you sure?" she asks. I nodded at her with a small forgiving smile. "You go straight upstairs and I'll bring your dinner up."
"You know Jason will only complain because you're bending the rules for me because my friend's here." Jess said to her.
"Well I'm the mother and I'm bending the rules because your friend's here. Besides, I do the same for him and he and his brother owes me for doing what they did the other night."
"Okay, I'm sure Alyx really doesn't want to hear it," Jess said awkwardly. She definitely didn't want to hear it either. "Love you mum!" she said to her, gave her a kiss on the cheek, grabbed my hand and headed for the stairs.
"Expect me an hour or two!" she called up after us.
"Okay, mum!" Jess called at the top of the stairs. She showed me to her room and closed the door behind me. "Well, I'm glad that's over with." She walked into the room and sat on her bed and sprawled against the dark green sheets.
This would be the first time I've been in her room and I'm quite surprised of how much green was in here. Yeah, I've always known that her favourite colour was green, but she was infatuated with it, just like I was with red, white, black and gold. I think it probably goes in that order too. I moved into her room and sat on her bed beside her and I took the chance to glance all around her room. Oak wardrobe, desk, very dark carpet I think it's black, green shaded bed lamps, green curtains and not so surprisingly green wallpapered walls.
"What do you think?" she asks the moment I've assessed the green room.
"Despite the amount of green in here, I don't think I'll ever get tired of it," I reply.
"It's the same with me day in and day out with your red room," she says with a smile.
"What did your brothers do the other night?" I suddenly ask her that she turns red.
"What your brother does, only a lot worse that they went all the way. But the other one nearly drained all the electric because he was gaming all night."
"O.M.G, seriously?" she nodded. "Okay that is totally gross."
"I know and he's right next door to my mum's room and she could hear the lot of it through the night," she and I both shuddered.
"Okay, let's get off the subject," I said hurriedly.
"Agreed…!"
A knock came on the door and disturbed the awkward silence that had crept between us.
"It's open!" she called out and a male walked in the room on response. "Jason, what do you want?" Jess said annoyed.
"Mum told me that you had a friend over," he replied leaning against the wall, looking at me with a smile.
"No you can't ask her out," she automatically said without him saying anything on the lines.
"Is he the guy that did that 'thing' the other night?" I asked as I pointed at him.
"Don't point me in the same category as that filth," he instantly replied. "I mean look at me, do I look like someone who would do that to my own mum?"
I looked at him and I mean really looked. He was about eighteen with black hair and green eyes like his sister. He wore black, I'm assuming that's his favourite colour, but he looked huge in that t-shirt. His muscles just went wham in the face. I must admit that he was much better looking that my stupid flirty boyfriend, Dylan. But this is my best friend's brother and I am so not going there with him. Besides, I'd feel a little weird that I class my best friend as a sister to me and I'm dating her brother, which would make me feel that he's my brother as well. So no… Definitely not going to go there!
"Yes," I reply and Jess laughed.
"How could you associate me with that piece of crap?" he said offended and someone pushed through the door and nearly knocked him over, making me laugh alongside Jess. An even taller male came through the door, same hair and eyes as the two siblings, but he wasn't tightly packed with muscles as the young brother. He looked around twenty, but he definitely did look like a Greg though.
"Yo, Jess and friend," he acknowledges us.
"Yo, Greg," she replies and I nod.
He turned to his brother. "You calling me a piece of crap?" he asks.
"Who else is the one that was bonking his girlfriend in his mum's house?" Jason replied still with crossed arms, and Greg suddenly laughs.
"If you're trying to impress Jess's friend, I think it ain't working!" he continued to laugh.
I felt heat rise in my cheeks and Jess coos as if she was finding it really adorable. Greg and Jason argued, Jess kept cooing and I just felt like making myself smaller and smaller. Okay I'm embarrassed enough to find out that my best friend's brother happens to like me, although it hasn't been said or admitted but I just get that feeling, and I'm actually responding by blushing. I'm supposed to already have a boyfriend but I haven't heard from him in a few days, so I think I might make it officially over between the two of us. But not because I want to go out with my best friend's brother!
Someone pushed the door that was slightly ajar and entered. It was Denise and with a tray of food! Wow what timing. Not only was I getting quite annoyed with this but I was getting quite hungry.
"Greg, Jason, out, dinner's on the table." She walked in and put the tray down on the bed between me and Jess.
"What? They get to eat up here?" Jason complains.
"You can't say anything, Mister."
"But mum…" he complained.
"You nearly drained all my electric, so no buts." Jason huffed and walked out the door as she shooed him out. "And you, don't even start complaining after what you did," she also shooed out Greg who was talking about what he did on the other side of the door. "I don't want to hear it!" she told him and made him go downstairs.
"She has the most amazing timings, not all the time it's good." Jess tells me and started digging in.
"I noticed," I reply and start eating. "But she's an amazing cook."
"Not nearly as good as your mum!" she states. "You have those tastes don't you?"
"What tastes?" I ask before I put a forkful of food in my mouth.
"Where you're able to know exactly what to do to make the food even better," she replies.
"I call it a chef's tastes, but not really. I'm used to my mum always asking me to access her foods, so I've supposedly got these developed taste buds that makes her recipes even better than before."
"I'm just surprised you're not fat! You eat a lot of food, accessing it and all for your mum, and then your breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea… How can you stay so thin?"
"Exercise…?" I reply, although that was definitely not the answer. But it was definitely one way to not get fat.
"I know you don't exercise, you just stay thin, well curvy…really curvy in all the right places," she crossed her arms and pout. "I'm fat!"
"Jess, you are not fat! You're by far thinner than Shannon and she thinks she's got the perfect body," I say with a roll of my eyes.
"Well everything about her is fake anyway," she took her drink and sipped it through the straw. Her dinner plate was empty and so was mine. "What we going to do? And do not even suggest something that Shannon would."
I laugh. "You think that I would even suggest anything that cruel after all we done to get rid of her?"
She grinned. "Definitely not." She gets off her bed. "You want to watch the continuation from last night's Naruto show?"
"Yeah, sure…!" I say with a smile.
"I only got them in English, so we're going to have to watch it from there."
"It's fine by me," I say and lay down watching her forty inch screen on the stand. She presses the play button; she skips it to the episode we were on last, and plays it. Since it has started we are too engrossed in it to be answering anything. Especially mobile phones, were the annoying ringtone that I put on to say its Shannon sang through the episode we were watching. It stopped long before the episode finished, but Jess and I were pretty much pissed that someone tried to disturb us.
The next episode was now playing, but Jess pauses it when Shannon's ringtone interrupts us again. I dug in my jacket for the phone and gaze at the caller ID. Okay, so it wasn't Shannon, who I expected to call and not this one. His name is spelt out on the screen and it fills my whole body in guilt although I've done nothing to feel it. I look up at Jess, begging for help and she motions for me to sit. I place the phone between us as I sit on the bed. She nods at me to go ahead and I press the answer button and quickly switch it on loudspeaker.
"Alyx…" his voice filled the room that my own voice clogs my throat making me unable to answer.
"Yeah…?" my voice was shaking and filled with dread that I look at Jess, who nodded at me encouragingly.
"We need to talk…"
"What about, Dylan?" I say closing my eyes, hoping that this talk could wait for another time.
"It's about us," I could hear that he really didn't want to speak about this either.
"Oh? Is something the matter?"
"Shannon tells me that you're seeing some guy although you're going out with me." My voice completely clogs my throat at the mere mention of her name on his lips.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I was really glad that my voice didn't shake that time.
This was one conversation that I knew I could pull through with. I had done nothing, I had not cheated on him, and instead it was the other way around and Jess and I had come caught him at it. Once on our own and another when we were together…so that makes it three times so far! But I don't think it's that low of an amount. I think he may have cheated on me with Shannon. Those three times that he was caught at it, none of them had been her. So, God knows how many mouths he's kissed, because I certainly don't.
"Are you saying Shannon would lie to me?" he asks as if he couldn't believe he was hearing this from me.
"It's possible considering she's lied to all of her friends. She even flirted with Katie's boyfriend when he was still seeing Katie."
"I can't believe you're saying this about her."
"I can't believe you're sticking up for her. Wait scratch that, I can believe it since you've been caught red handed with cheating with three other girls. So it may be possible that you've cheated on me with her as well."
"Who the hell says that I've cheated on you?" he demanded angrily.
"Jess caught you at it once, I caught you at it once and we both saw you at it together." I said angrily.
"That was a misunderstanding!" he tried to explain.
"I'm not buying it! The video that Jess recorded of you shows you were beyond friendly with her, to the point that I can guess you went all the way with her. The one I caught you with showed the same intimacy. The one where both Jess and I caught you was just the same as the two before. So I know there was no friendliness and if you try to say it was, I'm calling you a liar."
He inhaled sharply; he knew he had been caught red handed and he was not getting off the hook.
"Dylan, we're over!"
"But you can't break up with me!"
"It'll ruin your rep in school? Sorry pal, but I just did break up with you," and I pressed the end button. "That was much easier than I thought it would be." It really was much easier than I thought it would have been. I don't feel no guilt or threatening tears for losing him. I guess I had already prepared myself for this day.
"I'm sorry, Alyx, but I knew he wasn't any good for you."
"I know you told me so, I guess it was what everyone expected from me that it just happened."
"You didn't go all the way with him did you?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm fifteen!" I exclaimed in an outrage of insult. "And I'm really not a sex fiend like Shannon."
Jess giggled. "You're so right. When did you say she lost hers?"
"When she was thirteen and it was with an eighteen year old. I feel so sorry for that dude. He thought she was sixteen and she got him done for being a paedophile. He was a great person; he treated me like his little sister. Thankfully my mum and dad bailed him out."
"You convinced them didn't you?"
I nodded. "They were a little afraid that he might have been one, but you know my parents. They knew all along what type of person Shannon was. That was why they were even more insistent on helping him. His parents abandoned him although they had thought she was sixteen as well and they allowed them to do it. In other words they wanted nothing to do with him and blamed it all on him. So my mum and dad took him in like a son."
"Will you ever see him again?"
"Yeah, he's coming over soon to say hi to everyone. Shannon has completely forgotten about him, so has everyone else around here. That's why he's able to come back now, but I sent him pictures of Shannon so he knows who to stay away from."
"I'd love to meet him."
"I'll introduce you to him when he comes over."