Chapter Four
After a couple more hour of torture, the school bell finally rang, signaling the beginning of recess. All the kids pumped their fists in the air, cheered, literally flew from their seats, and charged for the door, all except for Yo, Fanboy, and Mr. Mufflin. Kyle did eventually get up from his seat after the hyperactive kids left, making his down the hall and to the library, muttering something about 'hazardous numbskulls.'
Yo turned her gaze from Kyle to Fanboy, who had his head on his desk and arms covering his face, "Are you coming Fanboy?" Yo whispered to him as she left her seat. "Maybe you could rest on the benches or something!" His only response was a slight shaking of his head and a small mumble she could only make out as "Nuh-uh."
"O-Okay, well… See you later!" Yo said, at an attempt to sound cheerful, but miserably failing. She quickly walked towards the door, part of her wanting to stay away from the derelict person that was her friend. She walked out, shutting the door behind her softly.
Fanboy had watched her leave, and as soon as the door shut, his head fell back to the desk. Ugh. He was beyond tired. He had practically been unconscious the whole class time, waking up and falling asleep at random times.
Yo stood outside the classroom door, not sure what to do next. Her hands trembled and tears gathered at her eyes as she truly recognized the situation at hand. Fanboy was… dying… on the inside at least. Yo had seen every-
"Hey, Yo?"
A new voice interrupted the Asian girl's thoughts. Her head jerked up and she managed to force a smile on her face, "Oh, hi guys!"
Her three friends, Francine, Lupe, and Cher ran up to her, "Hey, Yo! Are you like, feeling okay? You weren't here at school for like, almost the whole week!" Francine asked in a hurry.
Yo smiled uncomfortably and rubbed the back of her neck, "Oh, that… Well, I felt awful after Chum Chum died, so I just needed to spend some time alone to think some things through. That's why I wasn't here."
Lupe shook her head, "Eh, that's sound really unhealthy. Maybe you should go see a doctor."
"It's called a Psychiatrist!" Cher corrected.
"Meh," Lupe shrugged.
This time Yo shook her head. She sighed and rubbed her forehead tiredly. "It's okay. I mean, I think I'll be able to live through it. I'm going to miss Chum Chum so much though." Yo trembled a bit before continuing, "A-And if I miss Chum Chum that much, I can't imagine what Fanboy is feeling about all this! He's been a best friend to Chum Chum since like forever! I mean, did you guys see him in class? He looked so depressed!" Her friends took worried glances at one another as she went on. "I-I mean, he almost looked like a zombie!"
Francine crossed her arms over her chest, "Uh-huh, well, duh! He's like, super weird!" Yo sent one of her most menacing glares toward Francine. "Well, it's true! That guy is like, off his rocker!"
"Yeah, maybe you should just… keep your distance from him." Cher said, putting a hand on Yo's shoulders.
"Why? I mean, I tried to ask what was wrong, but he just kind of shut down when I tried to talk to him," Yo sadly informed the other girls.
"Eh, that's probably Fanboy's way of telling you that he wants to be alone," Lupe pointed out.
"By doing… What? Slapping my hand?" Yo asked coldly, rolling her eyes as she did, "Gee, doesn't that sound a little weird…?" The Hispanic girl shrugged. "Eh, no promises, but I think you should stay away from him."
"B-But don't you think we have to help? He looked just awful in class! He looked so scared when I touched him. When I did, he freaked out on me."
"Well, of course he did. What do you expect? Well, like, where is he now?" Francine asked, rolling her eyes to herself.
Yo sighed heavily and jabbed a thumb in the classroom door's direction. "He's still inside."
The four girls stood in silence for a moment, trying to analyze the situation. Then Cher rang in her thoughts, "Are… Are you worried that if he gets worse, he'll commit-"
"NO! No, no, that's impossible!" Yo interrupted quickly. She waved her hand and gave a halfhearted laugh, "Come on, this is Fanboy we're talking about here; he would never do something like that! He wouldn't!"
Back in the classroom, Fanboy tried to catch up on his sleep. He knew that recess was only about fifteen minutes, and that wasn't as nearly as enough time, but… It was something. With a yawn, he covered his face with his arms and tried to fall asleep. He felt safer in the sunlit classroom. It wasn't dark, or creepy. No alarming shadows. Instead of hearing floorboards creak, and unexplainable groans, Fanboy could hear the faint sound of children playing outside, and with Mr. Mufflin in the room, he felt that no harm would come while he slept.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mufflin was watching. With an mean ol' sense of heart, he waited until the boy was in a sleepy faraway state before walking over next to him, lean down, and yelling, "What are you still doing here?" Fanboy woke up with a start, and gripped the sides of the desk with his hands. He slowly looked up at his frowning teacher in a woozy hazed expression. "What…?"
M. Mufflin shook his head, and pointed to the door, "Leave the classroom, now. This is the only time of the day where I can get some peace around here, and I'm not going to let you ruin it."
Without Mr. Mufflin knowing, Fanboy clenched his fists, his teeth grinding together. He had had enough. With a menacing glare on his exhausted face, Fanboy looked up at his teacher and gave a little growl, "O-Oh, yeah? Well, t-this is the only time of day w-where I can get any peace! I had a-absolutely N-NO sleep last night, or the night before that, or the night b-before that!"
Mr. Mufflin waved his hand as if Fanboy were a pesky fly and looked away, "And who's fault would that be, huh? Just shut up and go outside! Why don't you just go play with the Talking Raccoon, or something?"
Hurt started to bubble up inside of Fanboy, along with anger, sadness, and unfaithfulness, replacing love and kindness. This was an adult treating him like nothing, like dirt. Fanboy could take it from other kids, but from his own teacher; oh, that is where he draws the line.
"He's dead."
When Fanboy spoke that sentence, Mr. Mufflin paused his speech and raised an eyebrow, "What?"
Fanboy growled, tears gathering at his eyes, "I s-said, 'HE'S DEAD!"
Mr. Mufflin froze and stared blankly at the seething eleven-year old.
"What? Why don't you believe me? Well, you be-better believe me! It's the truth! Chum Chum is gone! H-He's d-dead, Mr. M-Mufflin, and I'll never see him a-again!" Fanboy hit his head on the desk, "A-And as far as I know, it's my fault he's gone." He whispered, not caring if Mr. Mufflin hear that last sentence.
"…"
"…"
"What do you mean 'dead'?"
"I'm… I'm leave… leaving." Fanboy muttered to his teacher, who still stood at a halt. The young super hero stumbled out of his desk and clambered towards the wooden classroom door, pushing against it and hesitantly stepped out.
Fanboy was instantly face to face with the four girls, who were ironically just discussing him. The moment they caught sight of him, they stared at him with wide and terrified eyes. Lupe gasped softly, placing a hand over her mouth, Francine took a step back, and Cher looked at the ground. Yo simply bit her lip. Fanboy shook his head in a daze, turned to his right, and started for the double doors that led to the cafeteria. "Wow, you were right! He does look awful! Geez, when is the last time he took actual caring of himself?"
Those two comments made Fanboy stop abruptly and whip around to face the girls. "W-What did you just say?" He asked with a hurt look on his face, mixed in with slight anger and annoyance. He took an unsteady step towards the girls.
The four girls looked at each other in slight panic. They had not expected him to hear that. The boy took a shaky step towards them and put his gloved hands on his hips. "I-If you want to insult me, y-you can do so to my face!" He snapped angrily, glaring harshly at the shock-stricken girls.
It was Yo who shook her head quickly and said, "We weren't; n-not at all, Fanboy! We didn't mean it like that! I swear! We were just uh…" She rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed that they were caught, and that she couldn't think of an appropriate excuse.
"W-Why are you talking about me anyways?" Fanboy asked, quite exasperated. He did want to go outside and snooze on the benches, but now with this situation, he just couldn't let it pass.
"We're not talking about you Fanboy! Relax!" Francine snapped at him.
Undeterred, Fanboy took three more stumbling steps towards the slightly shorter girl and thrust a shaky finger at her face, causing her to draw back cautiously. "I-Is that so? Is it really? NO! Well, I know that's not t-true! I heard w-what you said about me when I walked past you guys! So can you just please just keep your silly comments to y-yourself?"
Francine growled quietly and went face-to-face with Fanboy, them being two only inches apart. With a cruel laugh she said, "Oh, PUH-LEEZE! You stupid weirdo! Who are you to tell me what to do? You aren't the boss of me! You're just a pathetic loser!"
Fanboy took a small step back when his vision started to blur by a couple of tears. He bit his lip as it started to tremble, as a way to prevent him from sobbing in front of the girls.
Francine noticed his reaction and smirked, "What? You don't like that? Aw… What? Are you seriously like going to cry?"
Lupe placed a hand on Francine's shoulder, and attempted to calm the girl down. "Francine! Just let it go!" She soothed.
Francine made no effort to listen to her friend and merely brushed her hand off of her shoulder. Now that she was riled up, there was no calming her down, "You seriously have problems Fanboy! You've freaking everyone out with your little issues! And-Ugh, you look horrible! Haven't you looked in the mirror for…? Aw, geez, I don't know…The past month!?" The girl stepped even closer and poked a finger at his chest. Fanboy's eyes widened immediately, and as if as relying on instinct, he smacked her hand away, just as he had done to Yo.
Francine withdrew her hand and stiffened with anger as Fanboy trembled. "Don't…y-you dare t-touch me…" He said slowly, making sure his presage would be understood. "Don't…"
Not surprisingly, Francine had expected Fanboy to back down from her. She was a girl with rank, and now that this… This mistake was staring at her with such a tired yet bold stare, the girl felt that he showed more dominance.
This angered Francine, and when she was furious, she made it clear that she was not to be messed with. With a cruel smile tugging at her lips, Francine stepped forward, ignoring Yo, Cher, Lupe's pleads, and heavily smacked the side his head, right in the temple. He let out a slight gasp and then a whimper of pain but he did not back down.
For a few seconds, all was silent. The only sound that was heard was the heavy breathing from Francine and Fanboy. At the moment of pure madness, Fanboy breath quickened and tears smarted from his eyes.
"Hurt her." The voice came from nowhere, but it was so clear that Fanboy was sure the other girls heard it too. Without a second thought, he obeyed the voice's command.
He snapped. Gripping Francine's shoulders and lifting one of his legs, he kicked her stomach with all his might. With a gasp Francine fell to the ground, arms wrapped around her torso, coughing and gasping, for the wind was knocked out of her.
"Francine!" Yo gasped, bending down to help her friend, as did Lupe and Cher. Yo looked up just time to see Fanboy racing for the double doors. Before exiting, he looked back, and his eyes met Yo's. Tears were streaming down his face, and he was shaking. Then, a moment later, he disappeared behind the said doors.
Yo stared at the double doors, even after Fanboy had left. She felt something warm and wet on her cheek and realized that without even realizing it, she was crying as well.
Meanwhile, Francine grasped her stomach tightly; still gasping for air, while Lupe and Cher patted her back. "*Gasp* Ugh. *Cough* H-He- *Cough* He's c-crazy! *Cough* *gasp* H-He's g-gone *gasp* bonkers! *Cough*" Francine yelled, struggling for breath.
Yo sat stiffly, gaze locked upon the double doors, as if she expected Fanboy to reappear. She knew that wouldn't happen, yet she attempted deep down to believe that he would. After sitting silently for a few moments, she analyzed Francine's words. Her fists clenched tightly with rage, her face grew a bright red, and she spat out furiously, "Francine…. You are such an IDIOT!"
Cher and Lupe gaped at Yo, as did Francine, who still coughed uncontrollably. Yo walked over to Francine and leaned in close to her face, "You are the one who caused all the trouble just now. All because of you! Because you just won't keep your idiotic mouth shut! You were out of control! You said all those mean things to Fanboy because you think that you are above everyone else! This all happened because you are a snobby brat, and because you wanted to be mean as possible! That's what you wanted to do! This is your fault! It's all you!"
Francine didn't miss a beat, and she responded with, "*cough* Well SO-RRY! *cough*, She smirked, "Not really though. I wouldn't apologize to you, or him! Not after what he did to me! Your little boyfriend is a freak! *cough* He hurt you and he hurt ME! Just think, if every person were to bump into that sicko, what do you like, think would happen, you moron? *cough* He's like, going to hurt everyone who touches him!"
"YOU DON'T THINK I'M AWARE OF THAT? I KNOW THAT!" Yo shot back, "That's why I want to help him! I want to help him get over whatever problem he has so he can get better!"
"Help HIM?" Francine laughed, "Yeah RIGHT! He's already an insane weirdo! I saw him, you saw him, they saw him," Francine gestured back to Lupe and Cher and continued, "He's already gone, Yo. You can try everything you can to bring that crazy, mental freak back, but he's already gone. There's nothing that YOU can do!"
"He NEEDS my help!" Yo yelled, not believing that one of her best girl friends could act so evilly. "I'm going to help him whether he likes it or not! I mean, it's not like he invited me to-" She stopped abruptly and immediately thought of the scene from just a few days ago.
"…Hi Fanboy," Yo said in a slightly low voice. Fanboy tensed up and shut his eyes. He certainly wasn't prepared for any attacks he might receive. A few seconds passed. She hadn't killed him yet; now THAT was a shocker.
Yo's arms were clenched at her sides, and appeared to be shaking, as if she was trying to restrain herself from doing something dreadful. Her face was red and tear painted, from all the crying. Her clothes were smudged and dirty. Her hair was a mess, sticking out in all directions. Generally, she looked like Fanboy himself; a heap of pitiful sadness.
"W-What do you want?" Fanboy asked, still fearful of her after what she had done to him during the accident. He took a cautious step back.
Yo forced her eyes to stare up at Fanboy, and blinked, still not used to seeing him without his mask. The girl bit her lip, noticing that most of his neon green attire was stained with dried blood. She gazed into his emerald eyes for a moment and held up a hand before speaking. "Wait. I… I want to apologize."
Fanboy was slightly taken aback at Yo's remorseful action, "A-Apologize? Are you serious?"
"Yeah, I want to apologize. I know I should, so here it is," Yo sighed before clearing her throat. "I'm really sorry I hurt you. I shouldn't have even tried. It… It wasn't your fault Chum Chum died, and I was stupid to think so. So yeah, I'm sorry for what I did. It was wrong and it will never happen again."
"O-Oh… Well, thank you for that…" Fanboy thanked the girl, a little surprised that she had bothered to show her feelings of regret towards him in the first place.
"Did you really mean what you said?" Fanboy asked quickly. Yo's eyes widened a tad.
"Um… What do you mean?" She asked slowly.
Fanboy gave her a blank stare, "I'm talking about when you said to Kyle, that you wished it were me dead instead of Chum Chum," Fanboy said it so calmly, so sullenly, that Yo almost thought he was kidding with her. After a few seconds of processing Fanboy's words, she tried to deny it.
"W-What? N-No! I never said that; not at all!" Yo said quickly, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.
Fanboy sighed and kicked the wooden floor lightly before speaking, "Yo, I heard you say it. Everyone heard you say it, because you were very loud."
"Fanboy, I never said that!" Yo contradicted. If there were an Olympic for the 'Worst Acting Performances', Yo would have definitely brought home the gold, "Really! I swear…!"
"You're lying," Fanboy stated.
"…Excuse me?"
Fanboy cast his eyes downward and explained, "You're eyes get bigger when you're dishonest, Yo. They got bigger when you denied what you said."
Tears sprung to Yo's eyes and she sniffed.
"S-So did you really mean what you said?" Fanboy asked once more. His voice trembled a bit.
Yo's eyes casted downward and she pretended to examine the wood patterns. "Yo…" The Asian girl felt Fanboy's gloved hand on her chin as he lifted her head up, so their eyes could meet.
"Would you really want me to take Chum Chum's place and I die?"
Yo stared into Fanboy's emerald eyes for a moment before stuttering, "I… I-I uh… I'm n-not…"
"Well, to tell you the honest truth, Yo: I would take his place!"
Yo froze and stiffened, "W-What…?"
Fanboy nodded solemnly and said, "Yeah, I mean if I could just rewind this whole thing and start over, I would have gladly taken Chum Chum's place."
"Oh, is that so? D-Do you really think you would've taken Chum Chum's place?" Yo asked.
Fanboy nodded, "Yeah."
"Why?"
There was no hesitation in the boy's answer, "…Because it's my fault he's gone."
"…I-It's not really-!"
"Oh, please! If I had assisted him to get across the street quicker, none of this would have happened. He still would be here, and neither of us would be going through this!" Fanboy spat. Yo was silent. She didn't know what to think.
The two were silent for a few moments before Fanboy decided to speak up again, eager to change the subject. "S-So, why aren't you at school?"
Yo let out a gloomy laugh and tossed hair to the side. "I guess the same reason why you're not at school!" She said.
Fanboy bit his lip. "Y-Yeah, I guess so," He could hardly control himself as he held the door open a little wider and he scooted to the side a little. "Do you want to come in then?"
Now it was Yo's turn to be slightly surprised. This was the first time she was actually ALLOWED in the Fanlair. The boys would normally avoid her and keep her locked out, but now she was actually welcome to go in. She considered the invitation, and almost happily said yes, but she stopped.
"N-No thanks…" Yo mumbled, backing away a bit.
Fanboy raised an eyebrow in confusion, "No…?"
She couldn't go in. Chum Chum wouldn't have wanted her to go in. She didn't really want to go in now anyways. The place was just too memorable of her deceased friend. "I can't."
"Well, why not?" Fanboy asked, with slight hurt in his voice. He wanted to be with someone. If Yo was the only person, well, she would have to do. He took a step closer to Yo, causing her to take a couple steps back.
"I… Um… I just can't-" She stuttered, backing away some more, trying to come up with a proper excuse. "I… uh, I can't be alone with ah… a boy!" She finally answered, and she sped off.
As Yo sprinted down the street, she heard Fanboy yell something at her. She turned around for a brief moment and yelled with all her might, "FORGET IT FANBOY!" She wasn't sure that he heard that, but she kept running away from him and that water-tower house of memories.
As Yo ran, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fanboy collapse to the wooden floor, sobbing his eyes out. It was such a pitiful sight that she almost wanted to turn around. But… she couldn't. She was a coward. It made her seem like she was the bad guy.
"…"
He had invited her. He had, Yo realized it. He had distinctively given her a chance to ease both of their pain. It was more than just an invite to hang out; it was a small chance to make things better, yet she had pushed him away.
Yo had felt so horrible about what had happened at the death scene: her trying to strangle Fanboy, so she apologized. It eased his pain about her, but not about Chum Chum. He was still overcome with sadness and depression about his deceased best friend. Yo had been a coward, not accepting his proposal, and just running away. She remembered Fanboy's hurt face when she sent him her regrets, when she yelled at him to just forget it, she wouldn't help him.
Francine noticed Yo's silence and finally gained the strength to stand up. She smirked at Yo's blank and now saddened expression. "He did encourage you to help him, didn't he?" Francine whispered. Yo didn't answer. Lupe and Cher looked at each other in sadness. "It's too late now Yo. You screwed up that invite, and that like, obviously screwed him up. You know that, don't you?"
Yo glared at Francine and finding her voice, she snapped, "No! There is nothing, Francine, which you can do to change my mind. Fanboy is sick, Francine. He's sick like as in a fever. He's dying! So as his friend, I'm going to try to do everything I can in my power to help him. I made a big mistake before, but I hope that I can make up for it. I'm going to help him, invitation or no invitation. I'm going to help him whether he likes it or not! No, scratch that. I'm going to help him whether YOU like it or not! There's nothing you can do to stop me!"
Lupe and Cher smiled at Yo in admiration, but were instantly cut off at Francine's voice, "Well you can help that sicko somewhere else! I don't want either you or him around me! Especially around my friends! What would they think?"
Lupe and Cher looked at each other and nodded in understanding. But their understanding was not in what Francine had said. Lupe took a deep breath and spoke, her voice loud and clear, "What I eh-think, is that you, Francine are a selfish person. Cher and I-eh both think that. Isn't that-eh right, Cher?"
Cher nodded in approval and waved her fists in the air, "Hey, that's right! If you have such a problem with that poor boy, than you are the one who needs help!"
Francine's face went scarlet in fury, sputtering in confusion and anger as the two girls walked over to Yo's side. With grim smiles on their faces, they walked towards the double doors, hand in hand, leaving Francine alone in the cold, dark hallway.
Francine stood silently for a moment, the only sounds penetrating from her was the whistling sound of steam coming from her ears. (Hey, it's a cartoon remember?) Her hands balled up into fists, her teeth grinding quietly as she stood there in stony anger. This was horrible! Her friends had ditched her! All because of Yo! If she hadn't wanted to help that little freak, this wouldn't have…
Wait. This wasn't Yo's fault. This was Fanboy's fault. Francine nodded quickly, a cruel smile on her face. Yeah, this was entirely that little dork's fault. If he hadn't been acting like such an Emo, this wouldn't have happened! She chuckled quietly under her breath at the thought.
Of course, Francine was beyond wrong in stating whose fault this whole situation was. It was not Lupe, nor Cher. They had done absolutely nothing wrong this whole time. It certainly wasn't Yo's fault, though she was determined it was. It was not, though.
Many strange things happen to humans, to make them think that they are at fault. It wasn't Fanboy's fault, though deep down, he was mentally positive that he was at fault for this whole situation. Fanboy's conscious kept whispering to him that this whole awful escapade was his fault entirely, and he was drowning with guilt because of it. Nor was it Boog's fault. A lot would say it was, and do be honest, in the purest moment of honesty, perhaps it was. He, after all, was the one who hit Chum Chum with his car.
However, the true villain, the one who caused all this insanity, the one who caused Boog to crash into the boy, was tragedy. That tragedy is the horrible of all horrible things… It is the thing that caused it. No, it is the thing that is causing it. Causing it? As in present tense?
Yes, this story isn't over yet, the troubles not complete. The tragedy isn't over yet, so stay in your seat. …Hey, that rhymed!
