Chapter IV, Icky Vicky & Juliet Salmon
Juliet and I are listening to music in the hall, talking about the next Vortex Party she wants me to attend to. Yeah, right. Me and the Vortex Club.
But then we notice Zachary coming up to Victoria and they begin to talk, his hand resting on her arm, probably asking for forgiveness.
''What the actual fuck," Juliet takes the earphone out and her eyebrows twitch with anger.
Victoria looks like she's considering something but soon she just quietens him with her hand gesture and walks away with her minions following her.
''Max, can you chat her up for a minute? Just one," Juliet asks and not waiting for my answer, she disappears into our classroom.
So I go up to the blonde and not sure what to say, I just quietly say hi. She turns her back around and eyes me with her critical look.
''What do you want, hipster?'' She asks coldly and I look down at my shoes.
''I was wondering when is the next Vortex party . . . '' I lie, biting my lip and she lifts her eyebrows in amusement.
''Why? Did you decide to join us?'' She asks mockingly and Taylor laughs.
''Well, I would love to come one day," I answer and she smiles slyly.
''Not a chance, Caulfield," she's about to turn but stops and faces me again. ''You know what? OK, you can come. Friday night. This is going to be hilarious," she says and fully turns her body and I see Juliet showing me her thumb up meaning I'm free to go.
''So . . . what did you do?'' I ask as soon as I'm next to her.
''You'll see," she answers mysteriously and I'm starting to get anxious. I sure do not want her to do anything stupid again.
''Well, I got myself on the next Vortex party list,"' I say and Juliet looks at me with funny expression.
''Way to go, girlie. You won't regret partying with us," she answers and the bell rings, so we take our places.
I'm sitting next to Warren but can't exactly focus on the word he's saying, because I watch Victoria, wondering what the hell Juliet has done.
''Earth to the Mad Max," I hear Warren so I turn to look at him. ''You listening?''
''Yeah. No? Sorry, I totally zoned out," I say tirelessly and look at the textbook and questions we're supposed to be doing.
''Thinking about your boyfriend?'' He asks and I look at him with wide eyes.
''What?'' I say, a bit too loud, because some folks turn around to look at me. ''What?'' I ask, this time in nearly a whisper.
''There's a rumour," he says, fiddling with his pen. ''That you're dating someone in Blackwell.''
''No. There's a rumour that I sleep with someone in Blackwell," I correct him and he looks at me surprised, so I just shrug. ''Long story.''
''So . . . it's not true?'' He asks with hope, his eyes big and I giggle.
''Please," I roll my eyes, and I see him relax. ''We had a pj's party and I had a dare to take a shower in the boys dorms and Nathan saw me," I say quietly and he looks into my eyes.
''And you didn't invite me?'' He asks, clearly offended and we both chuckle.
Ms. Grand asks for a volunteer to work out the questions on the board but as me and Warren didn't do much, we stay low and watch as Victoria raises her hand.
But as she's about to stand up, she can't.
''What the . . . " She tries again, but it looks like her bottom is glued to the chair. Literally.
Oh, so now I know what Juliet did.
''Icky Vicky, it looks like you're a bit sticky,"' Juliet says mockingly and the whole class laughs.
We don't do much for the rest of the class. Ms. Grand spends her whole time to get Victoria off the chair and says that whoever did this is not funny and is going to get into trouble.
Of course Victoria knows who did this, but she doesn't say a word. I feel that she's already planning her revenge on Juliet.
So when the bell rings, Victoria storms out and exits the building, probably to get changed and I shoot Juliet a disappointing look, but she doesn't seem to care much.
''I'll wait for you here," Warren says as we stop in front of girls dorms and I nod, opening the door.
As soon as I step in, I put a hand over my nose, as the unpleasant smell meets my nostrils.
''What's that smell?'' I ask Dana, who stands in the hall and talks to Juliet. I also notice Courtney heading to Victoria's room, giggling.
''Probably Victoria," Juliet makes a mean comment.
''No, seriously. It smells like . . . fish or something," I notice, taking a deep breath in and I grimace immediately.
Juliet raises her eyebrows with amusement. ''Definitely Victoria.''
I watch as Dana walks around, trying to identify where the smell is coming from and I can't help but laugh; she looks like a dog trying to find a bone.
She stops in front of Juliet's room and turns to look at us.
''I don't want to be mean . . . '' She says, covering her nose. ''But it's coming out from your room, Juliet.''
''Yeah, right," she rolls her eyes and opens her room and she immediately steps back, nearly screaming. ''What the fuck?!''
I walk over to her, looking at her room and I see dead fish lying everywhere on the floor.
Juliet walks over to Victoria's room and starts banging on her door, throwing curses at her, but Victoria turns on her music what pisses off Juliet even more.
''Juliet, lock your room in the future," Dana sighs and looks at the mess made in Juliet's room.
''Poor little fish," I say, looking at their sad faces.
As me and Warren head to the campus, we notice Nathan and Zachary arguing and I'm sure it's something to do with Victoria.
Nathan pushes him and spits on the ground, then turns angrily and walks off.
We sit on the picnic bench and begin to do our science homework. I love watching him in his geek mode. He's cute and so focused on his work that I don't want to distract him so I just sit quietly.
I really don't get any of the questions, so he begins to explain everything to me patiently, and I can't help but look at his face when he talks to me.
''Yeah?'' He says and I blink quickly.
''What?'' I ask, confused.
''You're looking at me like you want to say something," he notices and I turn my face, embarrassed.
''No . . . I just . . . Need your help with that question,'' I say, pointing at something random.
''Alright, let's have a look at that," he says and pulls the textbook closer to him.
Smooth recovery, Max.