Ashville Academy
~ Hi angels! Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy chapter number four! ~
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story, minus the own characters. I also don't own rights to the song lyrics.
Here's some replies to reviews!
Grace Of Flame - Thanks a ton, angel. Very sweet (:
RoseQuartz1 - Haha hey hon. Thanks!
HidingBehindACurtain - Aww this review absolutely made my night. Thank you so much, you're an angel! ^_^
Nelly - Thanks! (:
AN: This chapter is a lot shorter than the others so I apologize for that, but I assure you that the next one will be longer! Enjoy, guys!
Previously; "You know, over the years of us being enemies I learned a lot about you, Brick. I learned that you were like me in every single aspect to be seen. Which is why I know that like myself you are a fantastic liar." Blossom replied bluntly.
"I didn't say that you had to believe me," Brick's voice raised slightly. "But you're right. I am like you in every aspect. So why don't you take a moment to think about everything that I just said." His tone softened. "I wanted freedom from the life that I was given, are you going to sit there and tell me that not for even a second you wished that you could be normal too? When you were out saving Townsville, knowing that no one but yourself could get the job done, you didn't feel at all trapped, wishing that you could be seen as a regular human from the eyes of your peers?"
"My situation is different." Blossom muttered as she looked down at the table.
"How can it be any different? We both wanted out, Blossom."
"Yes, I wanted out, okay? I wanted this," She waved her arm around the room for affect. "But that does not make what you said true. You might sound sincere but you were raised to deceive. I saved lives, day after day, I deserve this chance to be seen as normal, but all you ever did was cause the messes that my sisters and I had to pick up. You have been evil since the day that you were born, and right now I can't see anything but evil."
"I thought you might understand. Of all people, I never thought that you would so closed minded," Brick rose from his seat and shook his head at Blossom. He turned on his heel, heading for the door, before turning around one last time. His red eyes fell onto the book sitting in front of her. "Good luck with the assignment, Utonium."
XoXoXoXo
You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve,
And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground.
Dig them up; let's finish what we've started,
Dig them up, so nothing's left unturned.
- Bastille, Flaws
Wednesday, February 6th, 2013. 7:02 a.m.
(Blossom)
Blossom Utonium's POV
My eyes checked the clock for the second time in six minutes. It had just passed seven in the morning and my head was doing turns. I was sat on my bed, my work notepad sitting on my raised knees, a pen in hand as I continued writing my English assignment. I was half-way through - again. I kept starting over because it didn't look right. It didn't feel good enough each time. Even as I skimmed over what I had wrote this time I could still find fault with so much. I didn't realise how hard it would be to write a book review for one of my favourite novels. That seemed easy in my mind.
In some ways it seems like it would be easier if I was getting Buttercup's help or even her opinion. But no, she was dancing. Yes, dancing. It was seven in the morning and she was blasting Bastille from the plug-in speakers in her iPod and jumping around the room like an idiot. I was surprised that no one had complained about the noise but I guess it didn't matter, all of the second years would have been up by now, and if they weren't, they had to be because class stared in under an hour.
With all of the music I was finding it hard to concentrate. My head was all over the place, pounding with the warning of an upcoming headache. I turned to Buttercup, my eyes lit in annoyance, and yelled at her over the music.
"Buttercup, would you please turn that music down and do something productive rather than dancing around?" My voice was laced with irritation, just enough to get my point across.
Rolling her expressive eyes, Buttercup did as she was told. She turned the music down enough for me to be able to hear my own thoughts.
"Yes, boss." I narrowed my gaze at her and she smiled at me. "Lighten up, sis."
I suppressed a sigh. "I can't 'lighten up'. Im stressed. I have to get this project done - on my own, might I add. And then there is the matter of the three Jojo brothers that won't leave us alone."
Buttercup pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Being stuck in an elevator with Butch was totally not amusing."
My eyes grew wide and I practically leaped up from my lying position. "You were stuck in an elevator with Butch?"
"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that."
"You forgot-" I sighed and pushed aside my frustration at her nonchalantness. "Are you okay? Did you have a panic attack?"
She pouted her lips and was silent for a moment. I could feel my worry building up in my chest. Buttercup's panic attacks always terrified me. She started having them when she was thirteen. It wasn't long after our powers left. I guess once we lost our power, our bodies weakened and began to function more like normal human's bodies did. Buttercup's dislike for small spaces turned from a mild dislike to a burning, devouring fear.
Whenever she was subjected to confined places her panic set in and she no longer had control of her body. It was painful to watch. Buttercup had always been the strong one, the one with no fear, and to see her like that scared Bubbles and I more than anything we had ever seen before.
After a good fourteen seconds of silence, Buttercup shook her head.
"No. I didn't."
I couldn't tell if she was lying or not. Something was telling me that she was; the part of me that knew my sister better than I knew myself. But if she was lying, that meant that she didn't want to talk about it. I had to respect that instead of questioning her to ease my own worry.
"Alright. Now can you please just turn that music off so that I can get on with this project?"
Buttercup sighed but again did as she was told. "Fine."
She strolled over towards Bubbles' bed and picked up her iPod before shutting it off. Once the music was gone I was free to concentrate completely on my assignment. I looked down at it and re-read the first paragraph again. It wasn't bad. It wasn't perfect. That had to be changed.
I placed my pen to the paper and continued from where I left off. Just when I thought that I could maybe get this paragraph done before class, Buttercup jumped onto the bed, making it shift from the sudden weight. I looked over my paper and gave Buttercup the scariest look I could muster. She didn't seem phased at all.
"So," Buttercup drawled casually. "How is the project going anyway?"
"It's not perfect, yet. I just need to work on it some more." I said before turning my attention back to the notepad. I could practically feel Buttercup doing her famous 'chill out' smile.
"Stop trying to damn hard. Not everything needs to be perfect."
"You clearly don't know me as well as you think you do."
"Yes, I do. I know you better than anyone - that includes even Bubbles. And I know that you'll work yourself silly until it's what you consider perfect. Chill, sis."
I looked at her again and resisted the urge to bang my head against the wall. "I'll chill out when this is finished."
Buttercup rolled her eyes and slid off of the bed without another word. She went straight for her room - probably to get dressed for class - without even bothering to take her iPod. With my distraction gone I looked back at my paper and tried to focus. Although it was hard to focus with Buttercup's words running through my mind.
Maybe I did need to chill out. Just not today.
XoXoXoXo
8 a.m.
When I walked into Social Studies I found that I was in for a surprise. I was happy to find out that Social Studies was a class that I got to share with both of my sisters - and both Daisey and Chase as well. We would all be together for the same class on first period every Wednesday. It almost seemed too good to be true. Which of course proved that it was. When my sisters, my friends and I got into class, I spotted not one, not two, but all three Jojo brothers. Every. Single. One.
It was as if someone had cursed my sisters and I with terrible luck and now we were forced to spend every waking minute with the boys that basically ruined our lives on a daily basis. When I first saw them I wanted answers, understandably, they had disappeared into thin air after all, but now I didn't know I wanted. If they were found to be truly reformed then how would the next two years play out? How could I live a couple doors down from Brick Jojo for that long?
I was definitely cursed.
Buttercup hooked her arm around mine and pulled me forward. It was then that I realised I had been standing there, staring at the three brothers, for longer than I had expected. Buttercup brought me to a table that had three other tables between it and Brick's table and we sat down. I felt grateful that she cared enough to get the table that was farthest away from them. She gave me an encouraging nudge on the shoulder as we sat down. I smiled at her and suddenly forgot why I had been so frustrated with her an hour before.
I watched as Bubbles took a seat near the back of the class with Daisey and Chase. She didn't seem very affected by their presence, and I caught the way that she and Boomer exchanged a glance as she walked by. I just hoped that she knew what she was doing. Bubbles always was one to follow her gut instincts rather than her logical mind - and her instincts were trying to tell her that Boomer didn't lie about being reformed.
Those types of feelings were dangerous for everyone involved.
My thoughts were diverted when the teacher made her presence known. Daisey had told me that this was Mrs Khali and that she was the nicest teacher of them all. She looked the part, too. Her amber coloured eyes - a sweet mix of brown and orange - looked so kind. Her hair was a light brown and it was seriously long, almost as long as my waist length hair. Her's reached the base of her stomach in arrow straight, soft waves. She was quite short, maybe the same height as Daisey if she crouched slightly.
She didn't dress like a teacher, or at least she didn't dress like the other teachers here. Mr Doyle wore suits and Mrs Devereaux wore ponte dresses, while Mrs Khali went for something more practical. She had on this white tank top with long sleeves, a black cropped cardigan surrounding it, skin-tight black jeans and comfortable flat shoes. She dressed like any other person you would see walking the streets of Ashville.
Mrs Khali took a step forward and smiled brightly. "Hello, class. We're going to be starting a new topic today, now that we're on the subject of debate. Today we will be talking about the death penalty. Has anyone here heard of the death penalty? Can someone explain it?"
She took a look at Butch and her smile widened. I remember Chase telling me that while Mrs Khali was a sweetheart, she loved to pick on Butch. I had a feeling that Buttercup was going to like Social Studies.
Butch quickly jerked in his seat and pulled Brick - who was sad beside him - by the shoulders to shield himself from Mrs Khali's view. I suppressed a laugh at the look on Brick's face when Butch pulled him in as a shield. Luckily for Butch, Mrs Khali turned her attention to a random student instead.
"Lisabeth," She addressed a tanned blonde sitting near the front. "Do you have an answer?"
The girl known as Lisabeth nodded. "The death penalty is when a criminal is sentenced to death rather than a prison sentence."
I had known the answer. There was just something compelling my mind not to say anything. I guess a part of me didn't want to be pegged as the 'brainiac' of the class in my first week, which was strange because I didn't mind that back in my old school. But if I think about it, it was plausible that this class already had a 'brainiac' as such. Brick. He is the only person I know that could level my intelligence.
They leveled everything about me and my sisters actually. I looked over at them. It was impossible to look at Brick the same way since our talk in the library. I didn't believe him, at least I tried desperately not to, but I began to understand why Bubbles had the same sliver of doubt that I now had. Brick's story sounded so..genuine. It was plausible, and it wasn't just his sincere tone, there was this look in his eyes. The look that my sisters and I wore whenever we told someone in Townsville of our hope to be normal. You couldn't fake that look. Unless Brick and Boomer were just really good actors. I wasn't sure what to think anymore. My head was jumbled, my mind wanted to believe on thing when in fact it was torn with another. I had never felt this indecisive before.
My eyes caught sight of Brick and Butch. They were sat beside each other, while Boomer was sat on the table right in front of theirs, alone. Just looking at Butch made me think of Buttercup. It wasn't his appearance but how he carried himself. One leg dangling over the other, hands behind his head, a bored to death look on his face. Everything about him screamed my sister. It was the same for Boomer as well. He was sitting up relatively straight although he had one of his legs raised so that he could draw on the top of his blue converse shoes. His eyes were so focused on the felt pen drawing on his shoes and it reminded me of how Bubbles looks when she works on her photography.
And then I looked at Brick.
He was sitting up, his eyes on the board, concentrated and collected. He understood what the teacher was saying. He was interested. He wasn't like any other. Just like me. I think out of all of the counterpart similarities that mine and Brick's was the most obvious. Like his brothers, it was the way he carried himself, but so much more. I didn't understand how two people could be similar yet on such different paths. During the year of their creation, my sisters and I tried to work out what the 'counterpart' bond meant. I mean, you couldn't create someone that looked and acted like you without there being a bond between you both. I still didn't know what the bond meant. But there had to be something there to explore. I just didn't think that it was possible to do.
In one month, everything we ever thought about them could change. Buttercup came up with a solution to our 'Jojo' problem. We suspected that the brothers came here for a reason - to do something evil, to steal, to destroy, to do what they were born to do. But it's not as if they would stick around for over a month to do it. We knew the brothers well. They were a strictly 'get in, get out' type of villain. They weren't patient enough to invest in one crime for that long. I was amazed with Buttercup's plan, and also how fairly easy it seemed; For the next month we would keep a close eye on the Jojo brothers. If we caught them up to something, we would take them out. They would be out of our lives for good and Ashville would be safe. And then we would go back to pretending that we were normal. And if they proved themselves to be reformed, we would stay out of their way and let them live the regular life that they came here for.
A small part of me hoped that it wouldn't come to the first option. Maybe I just didn't want to find out that I had a small hint of belief for a boy who lied to me. But I would deal with that if it came to it.
"Thank you, Lisabeth." Mrs Khali spoke up, pulling my attention away from the Jojo brothers. She stood back in front of her desk and looked out at us all. "Many people have mixed views on the subject," Her eyes scanned the room and landed on me. I sighed, shredding my plan of not speaking up in class this week. "Miss Blossom Utonium. What do you think of the death penalty?"
I pursed my lips. With this subject I could go on all night, but apparently my answer would have to be short and sweet like Lisabeth's was. "Well, I personally don't agree with it. I think it's an absurd form of punishment-"
I stopped talking abruptly when I heard a snort of derision coming from Brick - and he wasn't sly about it either. I turned to look at him and he looked back at me. My skin was burning with an unknown emotion. He held my gaze until we were brought back to reality by the teacher.
"Brick, do you have a different view?" Mrs Khali smiled at him. Teacher's pet.
"Yes," He looked at me again. I felt like I was about to burst. He was about to argue with me in front of an audience? Things certainly had changed. "If these criminals weren't given the death penalty, they would either get out one day and do something illegal again, or they would be subject to a life in prison, which is a fate worse than death. I'd say that putting them out of their misery is the right choice."
I scoffed at him. "So let's say that someone kills another person, and in return they are killed themselves? They wouldn't actually know or experience that they were paying for their crime, they would just be dead. How does that make any sense?"
In that moment I had forgotten all about the class watching and listening to us. It was as if the whole world was absent and it was just Brick and I, looking at each other and arguing.
"Well," He drawled and smiled. "It would make people less likely to murder anyone, wouldn't it?"
As I narrowed my eyes, Mrs Khali spoke. "It sounds like we have a debate going on," She returned to the top of the class and addressed us all. "Okay class, get your books out. Write down your views on the death penalty in great detail. I expect your work to be at least a page long, and completed by the end of the hour. Do you understand this Butch?"
Looking up for the first time in the class, Butch's face hardened. "Why do you always pick on me, Mrs K?"
"Just get started please, Butch," Mrs Khali ordered. "Surely you don't want another detention on top of the other three that you have this week?"
Butch instantly shut his mouth and began to do his work. Mrs Khali smiled in victory before walking over to her desk and taking a seat. The class grew quiet as everyone began to write in their text books. I was about to do the same when I felt myself compelled to look over to Brick, and our eyes met again.
I gave him a cold stare before turning away again. I was not about to let Brick Jojo get in my head, not again.
11 a.m.
Regular POV
Pushing past some Barbie-lookalikes, Buttercup wandered into the second building. She made a move for the elevator before freezing in her step. Buttercup eyed the elevator with a narrow gaze and remembered how she had spent a good half hour in that place with Butch Jojo - who had to save her from suffocating to death. She shook her head. The elevator was no longer her friend. Buttercup took the stairs instead, her hand sliding up the golden railing, making a slight squeaking sound. She rushed up as fast as her legs would take her.
After three hours of classes, all Buttercup wanted to do was take a breather, and maybe find something fun to do. She debated going for a swim in the pool. However she realised that a lot of people did that when they were bored. She prefered to swim alone, in complete solitude. Apart from swimming, the computers - which she could only use once each week, for only one hour, if it wasn't already bad enough - reading, playing football or pool, there wasn't much else that allowed entertainment. She would have asked Daisey to have an all-night match of Zoom Racers 3, if Holiday Sinclair had not found out that Daisey bribed a staff member to get the X-Box and taken it away. Another reason for Buttercup to hate that woman.
When Buttercup got into her room, she noticed Daisey already there. The Australian was sat on her bed with her legs crossed and a familiar looking laptop sitting in front of her. Of course, it was Chase Royale's laptop.
"Did you ask if you could borrow that?" Buttercup asked as she closed the door.
Daisey looked up and a smile set across her lips. "Chase adores me. He won't mind."
Raising her eyebrow, Buttercup gave Daisey a look. She crossed the threshold and strolled over to her own bed. Her legs were about ready to give out from all the walking. She flopped down onto the mattress and lay on her back, her short black hair sprawled across her face.
"Really? Because Rich Boy seems to hate you."
"We have a complicated friendship," Daisey said as she closed the laptop down. She turned to look at Buttercup. "Anyway, he won't notice. He's playing football on the court. I'll just sneak in and put it back while he's in the shower."
Buttercup rolled her eyes but smiled. She placed both of her hands behind her head and looked up at the ceiling. Her boredom was sinking in and she was starting to miss Townsville. She always found something interesting to do whenever she was with her good friend, Mitch.
She still remembered when they became friends. It was at the start of the school year and Buttercup thought that it would be fun to key the principle of Townsville High School's car. Buttercup was sly. She never thought that she would be caught, but she was, key in hand, caught red-handed. She was sent to detention and the only other person there that day was Mitch. She hadn't spent much time trying to get to know him before. They barely knew each other's names. It was then that they striked up a real conversation. Mitch told her about how he landed himself in detention - by writing 'Homework is for losers' on his Math homework sheet. Buttercup found it so hilariously brilliant that she declared that they be friends, and partners in crime.
Her heart broke thinking of him. Buttercup wondered what he was doing at that moment - he was probably sitting in detention, in their usual spot, not so slyly texting Robin from under the table. She missed her partner in crime. She missed the fun and excitement that they caused.
Trying to swallow her nostalgia, Buttercup turned to look at Daisey. "What do you do for fun around here? I've been here for four days and I'm already going insane."
"Get used to it. I hate to break it to you but there's nothing fun in this school."
A sigh escaped Buttercup's pursed lips. "Great. I'll just add that to my list of reasons to die."
Daisey chuckled. "Well, we don't have to stay in here all the time. Remember, we're allowed to go outside on Fridays and weekends."
"I can't wait that long, Daisey," Buttercup moaned. She sat up on her bed, her legs dangling from the side. She looked at the brunette as a pout played at her lips. "I need something to do now."
Daisey looked thoughtful for a moment before she grinned. Her blue eyes lit in excitement. "I have an idea."
Seeing the look on her face, Buttercup raised a brow. "Why do I have a feeling that we're about to get ourselves into trouble?"
"Is there something wrong with that?"
Buttercup smirked. "Of course not," She rubbed her palms at the thought of doing something troublesome. It had felt like so long since she had been mischievous. "What do you have in mind, McCoy?"
A grin spread across Daisey's lips.
"How good is your aim?"
11:15 a.m.
Blossom Utonium's POV
I had escaped from my room and came outside to catch some of the sun. That's right - sun. It was the first time that it hadn't rained since I came to Ashville. And while the sun wasn't as bright and beautiful as Townsville, and the air wasn't hot, I still didn't want to miss out. The fresh air made me think better. So I had climbed up the bleachers looking over-head the football field and found myself a spot near the middle.
For the past two and a half minutes I had been staring down at my half-written paper, unsure of what to write. I had came to a block, were my mind just wasn't coming up with words anymore. I had started again..again. Each time I had written something a little better but I found myself always unable to finish it perfectly. It annoyed me. I was so close to pulling my hair out from the stress.
Every now and then I would look over towards the field and watch as Chase and Butch played football together. I found myself envying Butch Jojo, of all people. He was running around with his friend, laughing and kicking the ball around. He looked so normal and so human. And he probably felt it too. How could Butch act so normal when he wasn't? Didn't it bother him that Chase knew nothing of his past and who he really is? I guess Butch just has no morals. And I hated that. I hated that he and his brothers could just act and not care. I could never do that.
I sighed to myself and turned back to my English paper. I gripped the pen in my hand and tried desperately to write something, anything. I didn't understand why it was so hard. I was usually good at this type of thing.
When I finally felt wisdom coming my way, I could hear someone walking up the bleachers. It was typical, I can never get any alone time to concentrate with all of these students everywhere. I turned my head to see who was distracting my precious work time and my mood went even lower. Of course it was Brick. He had this tendency to always be around at the worst possible times, which is strange because when we were kids, that was usually Boomer's trait, not Brick's.
His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his midnight blue jeans and his eyes were on mine as he walked up the bleachers and closer to me. My hand tightened around my pencil. The end was sharp enough to threaten him with if he decided to stick around. I was in no mood to deal with Brick, and I wasn't particularly comfortable talking to him after that night at the library. He got into my head. Not again.
"What do you want?" I asked in annoyance.
Brick kept a straight face. "Aren't you supposed to be the nice one?"
I'm supposed to be the smart one, actually.
"I'm nice to people that deserve my kindness." I answered instead. With just enough insult in my tone, maybe Brick would take the hint and go do something more productive than talking to me.
A chuckle escaped his lips. "And I don't? I've been nothing but courteous to you for the past four days."
"Being nice to me for four days does not make up for the five years of pain you caused when we were younger." I replied bluntly.
"You have a point there," Brick admitted. I smiled smugly at him before turning back to my assignment. I hoped that he was done and he would leave, but he spoke again, and I don't why my stomach jumped in joy when he did. "But I'm still trying to be civil for the sake of this situation. We're going to be living a couple of doors apart for the next two years. Can't you at least cut me a little slack?"
I looked at him and my face hardened. "I don't owe you anything. Until I believe that you have changed, you're still considered the enemy. And I don't exchange pleasantries with my enemies." I was being harsh now. My words were pure poison and I had never felt this mean before. I don't know why being near Brick changed me so much. Maybe for once I was just acting on my anger.
"I bet I can change your mind."
I rolled my eyes. "What are you going to do? Kill me with kindness?"
Brick's lips broke out in a smile. I caught sight of the way his dimples curved slightly when he smiled and my brain started to do turns. I had always been a sucker for dimples.
"You're almost as smart as me." He chuckled.
"Almost?" I bit out the word like poison. "I am so much smarter than y-"
I stopped talking abruptly when I heard someone yelling. Judging by the Australian ring it was definitely Chase. Mine and Brick's gazes followed the source of the yelling and found ourselves looking down at the football field. I could see two figures spraying both Chase and Butch with what looked like plastic water-soaker guns. I heard the holders of the soakers laugh together and I immediately knew who they were.
Brick's eyes squinted. "Is that Daisey?"
My face hardened.
"And Buttercup."
I instantly rose to my feet and walked past Brick. I began to sprint down the bleachers to reach my sister before she did anything more. They had just stopped spraying Butch and Chase with water when I finally got to the field and they just stood there laughing as the two boys shook off their wet clothes. They had stopped yelling but everything looked like it was about to kick off; All because of my sister.
"Oh, I think-" Buttercup struggled to get her words out because of her incessant laughter. She placed her free hand on Daisey's shoulder. "I think I've found my new partner in crime." She bit out before bursting into another round of hysterics.
"I'm game whenever you are, roommate." Daisey replied, trying to hold back her giggling.
I crossed my arms and waited for Buttercup to stop acting so unbelievably immature and notice me. It took another twelve seconds of chuckling until she finally did. When Buttercup spotted me standing in front of her, she raised both of her hands up in defense as if she was a common criminal. My sister. I couldn't believe my eyes. She was still laughing, slyly gazing at Butch as he shook his head in an attempt to get the water droplets from his hair. She couldn't be taken seriously at that moment. She looked like a child caught with hand in the cookie jar. She looked like a child, period.
I suppressed the growl building in my throat. "Buttercup! What on earth are you doing?"
"I got bored." Buttercup shrugged, like it was no big deal. And it infuriated me.
A sigh escaped my lips. I reached out and snatched the water-soaker from her hand and passed it to Daisey, whom was trying not to laugh at the look on Chase's face. She took the soaker from me and I turned back to Buttercup. I could feel my face going red in anger.
"We came here for a fresh start, not to play around with water-soakers!"
Buttercup took a bold step towards me. Her face was contorted in rage, all of her earlier joy disappeared and she looked ready to argue until dawn.
"We came here because we had to, Blossom! So what if I want to have a little fun? A tiny bit of excitement?" She said with her head high like what she had just said justified anything.
"Look, I'm okay with letting you make a fool out of yourself, acting like a five-year old and I'm fine with doing our project all on my own to save you the task, but I will not accept you thinking that you can do whatever you want." I hissed at her and time stood still after I spoke.
Her face dropped instantly. I felt a twinge in my stomach from seeing her expression. I didn't like insulting Buttercup, I hated it in fact, but sometimes these things just had to be said. And I thought that I could trust Buttercup. She stopped herself from attacking Butch twice so that she could avoid this, and then she just turns around and forgets all about behaving properly because she was bored. How was that right?
I couldn't bare to look at the expression on her face anymore so I turned around. I rushed back over to the bleachers and walked back up to where I had been sitting before. When I sat back down and picked up my notepad, I noticed something.
Something was different.
My gaze fixed onto handwriting different from my own. Slightly messier, smaller handwriting. Recognition hit me like a ton of bricks. I had seen this handwriting before when reading Brick and Chase's assignment in English class. Brick had written something at the bottom of the page. I closed my sight in on the words.
"Don't worry. It's perfect." I read aloud.
I blinked. Turning my attention back towards the football field, I noticed that Buttercup and Daisey were gone, and Brick had taken their place. He was chuckling to himself as he watched Butch and Chase complain about my sister and friend. I tried to meet Brick's eyes but he was preoccupied with the boys.
I looked back down at the words that Brick had written. And I couldn't believe my eyes.
XoXoXoXoXo
13:43 p.m.
Later that day, I knocked on Buttercup's room door. After she had left I had tried to concentrate on finishing our assignment but I couldn't find words. It wasn't because of my shock from Brick's encouraging words, but instead from my own guilt. I couldn't get Buttercup's face out of my mind. That look of sadness and despair that she held - it tore me apart. I had to do something.
Ever since coming to Ashville all Buttercup and I had done was argue and slowly drift apart. We had fought over the Jojo brothers, and now we were about to come to blows over a silly prank. It all seemed so childish. There was no way that I was going to let something as juvenile as this destroy our friendship. I was about to knock again but the door pulled away before I could.
I watched as the door opened and I braced myself for Buttercup's sad face again. Only when the door opened I didn't see the face, instead I saw Daisey, hand on hip and a content grin on her face. She was obviously in a good mood after soaking Chase from head-to-toe.
"Oh, hello Bloss. What brings you here?"
She stepped aside and allowed me to walk past her and inside the room. I strolled in and fidgeted with my fingers, nervous at the thought of seeing Buttercup. I turned to face Daisey and looked around the room.
"Is Buttercup here?"
"Ah. I reckon you want to make amends? She's in the bathroom, should be back any second."
I smiled in appreciation. "Thank you."
Daisey raised one of her thin eyebrows. "If you don't mind, can I ask why you snapped at Buttercup? I mean, it was me that suggested we soak the boys. She was just doing what she does best."
"Exactly," Letting out a sigh, I shrugged my shoulders. "She just..doesn't know how to behave. I can't keep looking over her shoulder to make sure she falls in line."
"Maybe she doesn't need to fall in line, have you ever thought of that? Look, I don't know you very well, but I reckon that you're the type of girl who likes her work in on time and her socks arranged in order."
I raised my eyebrow at her. "What is your point, Daisey?"
"My point is that you're a perfectionist, Blossom. You may be able to fix your assignment until it's sparkling but you can't fix Buttercup," She smiled softly at me. "She isn't going to change who she is, and more importantly, she doesn't have to."
I was silent for a moment as Daisey's words set in. I hated to admit that she had a point. I could have been a little more sympathetic towards Buttercup. While being 'bored' isn't a good reason for her to make a fool out of herself and run the risk of getting thrown out, she was going through this huge change, and she's not used to the fact that she can't do whatever she wants anymore. It's like she has no freedom and I just yelled at her like that was alright.
Turning to Daisey, I nodded. "You might be right."
She smiled at me. "Might? Darling, I may be a little slow, but I'm always right. You'd do well to remember that."
I smiled back at Daisey. I was truly thankful for her keen insight. For once maybe I had over-reacted, okay there was no doubt about it, I had over-reacted. I was preparing to go take a seat on Buttercup's bed to wait for her but before I could, the door opened. It was Buttercup, and she didn't look pleased to see me. Her face hardened as our eyes met from across the room. I frowned at the look in her eyes; hurt, betrayed, sad. It was rare to see Buttercup wearing such emotions.
She stepped in and stood beside Daisey, looking at me in question, wondering what I was doing here. She looked surprised. She must have thought that I was still mad at her, and why wouldn't she? I acted like a crazy person out there.
Daisey spoke up to break the awkward tension. "I should probably go make sure that Chase isn't planning revenge. You two walk," She gestured between us. Daisey walked towards the door and stopped before going through. She turned back to us and grinned. "Oh, and no fighting please. It took me just about a year to clean this room." And then she left, leaving Buttercup and I alone.
I took a step closer to my sister. "Buttercup, I-"
"Don't," She cut me off with a shake of her head. "Okay? Just don't. I get why you said the things that you said. To be honest, I have been acting like a five year old. But I was only having a little harmless fun. Come on, Bloss, soaking Butch Jojo with a water-soaker is something that I'll cherish forever."
I stifled a laugh and nodded. "I'll admit that it was a little humourous. Still, I would appreciate that you at least try to act more mature."
Buttercup's face lit up in a beautiful smile. "Let's make a deal. You start acting more care-free and I'll start acting more grown-up?"
"Deal." I didn't even need to think about it.
"So, can we please talk about Butch's face when I soaked him?"
I chuckled. "Well it wasn't a very nice thing to-" I stopped abruptly as I saw Buttercup's face drop. I sighed and nodded at her. "It was priceless."
Buttercup and I laughed with each other as we reminisced over the looks on Butch and Chase's faces. And as we laughed together, I found myself forgetting all about why I had been so quick to get angry at Buttercup. She was basically my best friend. I decided to stick through with our deal. From now on, I wasn't going to be so up-tight. I was going to laugh and smile and have fun, and I wasn't going to think about the consequences anymore.
It was officially time for a change.
~ Wow, it's unbelievable how fast I'm writing these. I think it's because the chapters are shorter than the chapters on my other story, or maybe I'm just way too excited to get into this story. Haha, either way, I'm excited to get started on the next chapter right away. You won't have to wait long, angels. ~
Next Chapter - (Boomer's Chapter) Boomer finds himself coming more and more out of his shell as he spends more time with Bubbles. Meanwhile, Buttercup finally takes a stand against Bubbles when she tells her that she believes the Jojo brothers have changed.
Please review! It will only take a couple of seconds (:
- Allie
