Summary: She's a blond, witty, pig owning, high heel enthusiast destined to be at the top of the high school social ladder. So…what's she doing at the bottom again?
Author's Note: Hey, hey, hey! I know it has been AGES since I last updated but Uni has been monopolizing ALL of my time. On the plus side, I shall be done with it in 3 weeks and then I have 4 months off to write to my heart's content! Isn't that exciting? Anyway, here is the seventh Chapter for you all so if you could review after reading it would be greatly appreciated!
Huge thanks goes out to those who did review last chapter (sana, XxXTwilight-SinXxX, Sinning Angel, Regin, Demon of Selene, Megandary, En-En-chan, musiclover9419, CynicallyCheerful, Drentai Wolf, Azielo, Annika Preminyer, kai's wolf girl, LoveLinkAndRobinHood, and Maya Yin) and to all those who added this story to their favourite and alert lists!
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or anything else that you might recognize (that includes some of the dialogue too which may have been obtained from a variety of sources. Not all of it though, only that which you can identify!).
Chapter Seven – Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
The sky was just turning golden around the edges of the horizon when a soft glow could uncharacteristically be seen emanating from a series of large crystalline windows on one of the upper floors of the Avalon mansion.
This filtering of light was mostly obscured by the thick drapery that adorned the mammoth windows and only thin bands managed to escape through the otherwise impenetrable blockade of material.
Inside the bedroom, sitting upright in the bed and grinning, in a manner that could only be described as wickedly, was a girl around the age of 15.
Her blond hair was reminiscent of a birds nest and traces of sleep could still be seen lingering around her pretty eyes which, combined, were obvious signs that she had only just woken up. Other than that, she was completely alert and conscious, a feat which was practically unheard of before. Waking up at such an ungodly hour as 6 o'clock in the morning was most definitely not one of the girl's strong suits, and all those who knew her could vehemently attest to that little fact.
Which was why it was so strange to see the heiress to Avalon Enterprises wide awake at such a time and with such a foreboding expression on her face.
On second thought that particular look – of scheming evilness – was one that was becoming more and more a permanent fixture in her gamut of frequently used visages.
That didn't exactly divine well for whoever inspired it.
Kurumi threw back the soft white doona and bed sheets and energetically jumped out of the bed. It was finally a decent enough hour to get up and put the finishing touches to her plans!
She had been drifting in and out of a light slumber all night, anticipation and excitement stilting her ability to be consumed and engulfed by the dream world.
After all, today was Friday.
And as such, her opportunity to settle the score with Hiwatari and his merry band of moronic followers had arrived.
The way she saw it, the tally board currently stood at 1:0 in Hiwatari's favour.
She hadn't bothered to include the events that had transpired in Gym on Wednesday as she figured they cancelled one another out. Nor had she included the verbal sparring matches that had occurred in Math and English the day before.
Unfortunately Kurumi had made the gruesome discovery on Thursday that she had to endure both classes with the idiot, a finding which would have been made on Wednesday afternoon had she been in a fit enough condition to attend.
That was another reason to hate the arrogant bluenette.
She had had to forego her precious high heels in support of flats yesterday because her ankle was still sore from the Gym incident and the heels just aggravated it further.
Oh, he was so going to pay.
After all, Kurumi without heels was like Jocelyn Wildenstein...scary and unnatural.
Shuddering at the reminder of it, the vengeance seeking blond returned to the items that she had retrieved from under her bed and lain out delicately in front of her cross-legged position atop the Egyptian cotton covers.
She smirked to herself as she stared at the collection of objects and silently thanked (which she knew she would later curse with every fibre of her being) whatever deity it was that had decided to put her in the same Math class as one Kai Hiwatari. At least this way she would have a firsthand account as to his reaction to her ingenuity.
Oh yeah, this was going to be good.
She also sent her regards to the divine being who had decided to bless her with the absolutely perfect opening she had been given in the Principals' office.
Really, weren't random locker searches just the best?
"Hey, do you have any lip-gloss? I forgot mine at home," Kurumi frowned as she dug through the enormous black and white striped Balenciaga motorcycle bag, desperately looking for the cosmetic in question. Normally she would never have forgotten such an important commodity, but she was rather absent minded this morning, her mind preoccupied with the upcoming events.
Gazing smugly at the contents of her designer handbag (and the reason why she had required such a huge purse that day), the teen tore her eyes away, closed the zip, and turned towards her mother expectantly.
"Sure," Akiko replied while fumbling with one hand in her one-of-a-kind Fendi bag and keeping the other hand on the steering wheel of the car, slowing to a stop as the traffic light turned red. Able to take her eyes off the road, the redhead pulled out a make-up carrier from within the depths of the expensive handbag and opened it up, "I have vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and toasted marshmallow."
"Anything in there not resembling a breakfast cereal?"
Reaching her manicured hand once again into her purse, the elder Avalon pulled out another tube of clear gloss.
"It has no smell but it changes colours with your mood."
"God, RuPaul doesn't need this much makeup," Kurumi remarked as she took the proffered lip-gloss and proceeded to use it.
"Hey! You know I always like to be prepared for any situation," Akiko remarked as she put her foot on the gas and took off from the now green traffic light.
"Is that why you always carry around a set of divorce papers?" Kurumi asked as she looked at her mother with a wry grin.
"Of course! I mean if I ever got the chance with Brad Pitt, how awkward would it be to know that I was still married?" the redhead explained as she zoomed along, "Preparation is key."
"Uh-huh, and does Dad know about that little fact?"
"Yep, it's an official article in our relationship. It's known as the Brad Pitt clause," the older woman informed the younger with a wink as she slowed to a stop in front of Belmont High.
"How nice," Kurumi said sarcastically as she went to get out of the black Porsche GT2 she was presently sitting in. With her hand on the door handle, she was stopped in her tracks when her mother spoke.
"So, going to tell me what's in the bag?"
Looking back at her mother, the blond girl saw that she was being scrutinized through cyan blue eyes as the elder Avalon carefully examined her.
There was a momentary pause before Kurumi chirped out a cheery "Nope!" and finally opened the door.
"Okay, fine. Have your secrets then," Akiko sulked before continuing, "But I need to know one thing."
Kurumi raised her eyebrow in prompting.
"Should I be expecting a call from the Principal?"
"No, of course not," the blond teen told her mother reassuringly and automatically, "I'm not stupid enough to actually get caught."
"This is true," the redhead said thoughtfully while nodding her head up and down in agreement, "I have taught you well."
"See? Absolutely nothing to worry about then," the younger girl replied while appealing to her mother's ego. Really, Akiko could be so vain sometimes.
There was a pregnant pause as both females stared at one another for a moment as they considered the worth of the statement.
"But on the off chance that something doesn't go exactly to plan and I am apprehended," Kurumi broke the silence hastily, "Just know that it was for a good cause."
"Oh? And that would be...?"
"My honour and pride as an independent individual," the adolescent stated passionately.
"Ooh, that is important," the fire engine red haired woman agreed emphatically with her offspring, "Alright then, so just remember this one cardinal rule if, unfortunately, the aforementioned scenario turns into reality."
"Yes, Obi One Kenobi?"
"The proper way to report to the Principal is 'You wanted to see me, Sir?' and not, 'I have it on good authority that you have no evidence!'," Akiko instructed her daughter cheekily.
"Thank-you for that. I couldn't possibly have figured that out for myself," Kurumi responded mordantly while rolling her eyes as she finally got out of the car and shut the door. She was just turning to walk away from the stationary vehicle when she heard the unmistakably sound of the window rolling down.
"Oh, and Kurumi," the older Avalon called in a sing song voice from within the depths of the car, making the blond stop in her tracks, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
At that, the golden haired teen whirled around on the spot and said to her mother in complete and utter disbelief, "You know that is the absolute worst advice you could possibly give me right?"
Akiko childishly poked her tongue out before stepping on the gas and driving away from the high school and consequently her dumbstruck daughter, who was still standing in the same spot and gawking at the place where the car had previously been.
"Hey, Mari!" Kurumi called out as she ran as fast as she could in her strappy silver Manolo's to catch up with her friend, her bag hampering her even more as it weighed on one shoulder.
The addressed girl turned around at the sound of her name and waited for the blond to reach her.
"Must you be so chipper this early in the morning?" Mariah complained as she surveyed the bright and happy expression adorning the other teen's face. Really, it should be a crime to be so awake at such a dismal hour!
"Well, it's a fine morning this morning after all," Kurumi countered as a lively smile made its way onto her lips.
"I find the whole idea of a 'good morning' a contradiction of terms," the pink haired girl mumbled as they made their way through the double front doors and into the interior of Belmont High. There, they proceeded to fight their way through the ever increasing hoards of congregating students and to navigate the way to their lockers, Kurumi chattering the whole way there.
It was safe to say that she was thoroughly energized today and there was really only one reason for it.
"So, did you eat a bag full of sugar coated candy or are you just excited about today?" Mariah asked as Kurumi stopped her fast paced talking about nothing in particular in order to draw a breath of air so she didn't die of lack of oxygen.
Something was definitely clear.
Kurumi sure could prattle on about zilch when she felt like it. That is, if the fact that it had been, like, a minute and a half since her last breath was any indication.
"No, to the former and yes to the latter!" the shorter girl replied enthusiastically as she took her seat in homeroom, "And you?"
"I guess it is kind of fun," Mariah conceded as she watched the grin on her friend's face grow wider with mischief. As such she couldn't help but add dryly, "Smile Kurumi, it makes people wonder what you're up too."
"Tsk, tsk, Mari. You really aren't a morning person are you?" the blond girl inquired as she tried to dim her brilliant smile a notch, but gave up rather quickly as she deemed it an impossible task.
"No and neither are you," the hot pink haired adolescent said before muttering, "Which I'm sure will be re-instated soon enough."
"Whatever," Kurumi passed over airily as she changed the subject, "I really can't wait for Math. I wish that you were there with me," she pouted without mentioning the reason behind her anticipation for the horridly confusing class.
"Me too," the taller teen pouted as well as she imagined what was to transpire during the time, "Oh, well. I suppose I'll just have to rely on you for a frame by frame recount right?"
"I would be more than happy to oblige my dearest Mariah," the blond answered chivalrously as they hushed their speech as the teacher entered to commence roll call, "Anyway, I totally owe you for getting me Hiwatari and Ivanov's locker information."
"No problem," Mariah responded with a smile as both girls thought back to the events of yesterday.
The road to securing such vital and imperative knowledge hadn't been as hard as one might have thought in obtaining. After Mariah and Kurumi had made the not-so-hard decision that the pony-tailed teen would be the one to do it, all she had had to do was walk up to some Hiwatari and Ivanov supporters, gush about them a little, and the infatuated girls had been more than willing to share the two boy's locker combinations and locations.
Apparently such information wasn't that hard to come by.
And would be invariably invaluable for what was to come later that day.
Kurumi just barely refrained from sighing in happiness.
Today was going to be great!
The bell for third period had just sounded as Kurumi stood between two sets of lockers, concealed from the prying eyes of the last few straggling students who were hurrying hastily to get to class before they were any later.
A few moments later, after the golden haired girl had determined that she was quite alone in the hallway, she stepped out from her hiding place with the aim of being as quiet as possible, less she alert someone to her not-so-good intentions.
She could practically hear the sound of her own background music as she took the piece of paper that Mariah had dutifully written Hiwatari and Ivanov's locker co-ordinates and combinations on and unfolded it.
Walking slowly along until she came to Lucifers metal locker, and keeping an ear open for the sound of approaching footsteps, Kurumi set to work opening the lock that guarded the contents and entrance into the locker. A few seconds later, she succeeded in releasing the catch on the silver lock and managed to infiltrate the cabinet.
Pulling the dull grey door open, the blond teen set to work with her task and performed it as quickly as possible.
A couple of minutes later, she moved along a few lockers until she reached her arch nemeses. Here, she repeated the action of unlocking and opening the door but paused slightly, as if considering, before doing anything to it.
Shrugging her shoulders in an 'oh well' manner, Kurumi unzipped her designer bag, which she had retrieved from her own locker before embarking upon her little incriminating quest, and pulled out the object she had safely hidden in there.
After all, her entire plan would backfire if she was to be found in the possession of such an item.
Placing it inside the conceited bluenette's locker and arranging it for full effect, Kurumi couldn't help but smirk broadly as she thought about how the jerk would react in half an hour's time.
It was going to be priceless.
"I'm so sorry I'm late Miss. I'm still getting used to this school and it's so big that I got lost," Kurumi said as she walked into her Math class ten minutes later and addressed the teacher. In an effort to cover the fabrication and act convincingly, she coupled her apologetic tone with an expression that she hoped was both demure and embarrassed.
And the teacher, Miss. Burghers, ate it up like honey to a bee...or maybe a bear.
Out of the corner of her eye Kurumi could see Hiwatari roll his garnet orbs and sneer in her direction, before turning and whispering something to Ivanov which made the redhead smirk and also stare at her. The blond decided that she'd rather not know what that little exchange was all about as it would undoubtedly cause her to want to murder something, preferably Tweedledee or Tweedledum.
Plus, she was rather partial to her freedom.
Removing her attention from the two cretins in the corner, Kurumi altered her gaze to that of Miss. Burghers and smiled benignly as she was instructed to take a seat.
Unfortunately, the only ones free were situated in the front row and the blond girl had to reassure herself that such a small sacrifice would ultimately be worth it when the time came.
Which would be in about, oh, twenty minutes.
With that in mind, the golden haired teen sat down gracefully in the chair and took out her Math books in order to feign interest in the tedious class.
The teacher had just turned back to write on the board and Kurumi had only just began copying the notes that were already displayed on it when she felt the distinct sensation of something hitting the back of her head.
Looking around she saw a scrunched up piece of paper bouncing off her desk and onto the floor next to the leg of the small table.
Frowning slightly at it, she knocked her pen off the table top with her elbow and used that as an excuse to bend down and retrieve the ball of lined paper.
Using the cover of her Math book (and really, what else was it good for?) she unravelled the paper and found that it contained a note.
You wound me Avalon. A rendezvous in the janitor's closet and you didn't even invite me? And here I was thinking that you were some prissy little virgin, but I guess looks can be deceiving.
So, who was the unlucky guy? And don't even try to deny it Little Miss JBF, the sex hair gives it away. How much did he have to pay for a round of knocking boots or were you just that desperate that you gave it away free?
Kurumi barely managed to avid swinging around violently in her seat and chucking her Math book right at the now laughing bastard who had thrown the note at her.
There was absolutely no doubt in her mind who had sent it.
But she abstained from doing anything at the present moment and acted as if nothing was out of the norm. She pretended that she wasn't burning with the desire to castrate the parasite known as Tala Ivanov and tried valiantly to concentrate back onto what the teacher was talking about.
Four seconds later and she knew that was a lost cause. Seriously, who really cared about injections, surjections, and bijections anyway?
'And what the hell is Little Miss JBF?' Kurumi couldn't help but fume silently as her mind traitorously went back to thinking about the stupid note and tried to decipher what that precise phrase meant. A few seconds later it hit her lightening to a flagpole.
Completely forgetting that she was in the middle of her Math class, the blond teen stood up, pushing her chair back with a loud screeching noise, in absolute outrage and proclaimed loudly, "I am so not Little Miss Just Been Fuc-"
"Miss. Avalon?! Is there a problem?" Miss. Burghers asked, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring at the interruption. At that precise instant she more resembled the metaphoric bear than the bees.
"Huh?" Kurumi said as she realised what she was doing. Coming back to reality, she sheepishly sat back down in her seat as she felt her cheeks redden and heard the unmistakable sound of snickering from the back corner. She addressed Miss. Burghers with a tight "Sorry Miss" before focusing her gaze onto the open textbook in front of her, and wishing fervently that the ground would open up and swallow the infuriating males in the back of the classroom.
Hey, better them than her.
With one last glare at the bowed head of the blond adolescent, the teacher resumed her recited lesson plan and turned away to once again face the board.
From this fiasco, Kurumi had the niggling feeling that she would not be getting the student of the year award from this particular teacher anytime in the near century.
Oh well, ten minutes and it'd all be worth it.
Just then, another ball of scrunched up paper came soaring through the air and landed perfectly in the middle of the Math book the golden haired girl was looking at. Tempted to ignore it, Kurumi quickly succumbed to her curiosity and unfurled the crumpled note.
There, in the same handwriting as before was a simple sentence that was enough to make the teen want to punch a certain redhead right in the face, preferably with the intent of breaking something.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Instead, she settled for revolving around in her seat and glaring passionately at the laughing boys located behind her in the back row. Ivanov even had the audacity to blow her a kiss, which would have made the blond burst a vein in her forehead had the words of a certain pink haired friend not come floating through her mind at the moment.
"Smile Kurumi, it makes people wonder what you're up too."
Calming herself down, Kurumi let a smile the size of Russia grace her features and happily observed as the smug expressions on Ivanov and Hiwatari's faces were immediately wiped off in order to be replaced with rather disconcerted ones.
Chuckling under her breathe, she slowly turned back around to face the front of the room and bide her time until the grand finale took place.
Glancing at the clock she saw that there was only eight minutes and 36 seconds until she would have her revenge.
She couldn't wait to settle the score, and even more so now after Ivanov's little fun this lesson.
He was soon going to regret slandering her.
After all, the worst thing that could happen to a perennial playboy was to raise questions about his sexuality right?
And as for Hiwatari?
Well, it turned out that his permanent record had come in handy in the scheme of things.
The resonating sound of a sharp 'knock, knock' echoed around the classroom as the door to the area opened and Mr. Kent stepped in.
Kurumi quickly turned her head at the sound and failed in suppressing the wicked grin that stretched itself across her pretty face.
Showtime.
"Please excuse the interruption Miss. Burghers," the Principal said to the teacher who nodded her head in understanding. She then directed her focus onto her pupils as she spoke to them collectively.
"Everyone, please leave your things where they are and follow Mr. Kent in an orderly fashion."
Following that pronouncement, every student in the room got out of their seats as fast as humanly possible, all eager to escape the confines of the horrid class, and made their to the door in the most dysfunctional of manners, Miss. Burghers screaming at them to be quiet.
Now, there was a contradiction if Kurumi had ever seen one.
Walking along with the rest of her peers, the blond girl acted dumb as to what was going on and shrugged her shoulders dutifully when questioned by a classmate.
She was seriously getting good at this whole acting thing.
"But if I had to guess," she started to say as they both rounded the corner into another corridor, a hallway where most of their lockers were situated, "I'd say random locker searches."
The other teen stared at her baffled until she followed Kurumi's pointed finger and her gaze fell upon the two sheriffs standing by the rows of lockers, waiting for Mr. Kent to return with the students.
"Why would they do this so early in the year?" the nameless girl inquired as she stared bemused at the two figures in their distinctive uniforms.
"Maybe to catch us off guard?" Kurumi suggested idly as she viewed the people around her, searching for two in particular. She located them easily enough as they were leaning against one of the walls seemingly bored with the whole state of affairs. Apparently they were under the impression that they had nothing to hide.
Well, weren't they in for a nasty shock?
Just then Mr. Kent instructed the surrounding students to line up along one of the walls and to come forward when their name was called in order to open their respective lockers so that they could be searched. As he said, they were beginning these kinds of things early in an effort to stem untoward and generally illegal behaviour before it got out of hand.
This declaration was met with copious amounts of eye rolls. The overwhelming consensus from most of the adolescents gathered seemed to be 'how stupid did the teachers think they were?'
The Principal disregarded this evident lack of conviction by starting to call names off of a list he was holding in his hands.
A few minutes later, Mr. Kent called out "Kurumi Avalon" and the well-heeled teen responded by stepping forward, calmly opening her combination lock, and then stepping back from the cabinet so that the two sheriffs could search the interior. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she was then allowed to re-attach the lock and fall back to her position on the wall.
This process continue for awhile until the Principal called one of the two names that Kurumi had been bouncing up and down with excitement to hear.
"Tala Ivanov."
Said boy ambled at his own pace to his locker and undid the lock at such a slow speed that Kurumi was sure the Earth had rotated around the sun five times before he was finished.
If she didn't know any better, she would have said that he was doing this on purpose.
Damn him.
Finally, the agonisingly slow seconds had passed wherein he had entered his combination, unlocked the door, and lazily stepped back. He didn't even bother watching the proceedings as he turned his back on Mr. Kent and the two members of the sheriff's department in favour of talking with Hiwatari.
And then, all of the golden haired girl's waiting had been undeniably worth it.
"Mr. Ivanov, just what is this?" the Principal asked in a strangled kind of voice as he indicated something that was stuck to the inside of the locker door.
"What?" the devil horned teen said in a confused sort of tone as he approached a spot just in front of his locker where he could clearly see what had provoked that kind of response from Mr. Kent. He wasn't the only one however. The rest of the assembled student body were also craning their necks to get a good look as well.
There, taped to the grey surface was a poster.
A handmade poster.
A poster that was comprised entirely of pictures of Mr. Kent with glittery pink and red hearts attached to every open space that wasn't taken up by images.
It was a poster worthy of an obsessed stalker.
Kurumi had to bite down hard on her lip to stop from laughing out loud at the expression on Ivanov's face. His jaw had literally dropped and he was spluttering incoherently, as the people around him started to whisper among themselves frantically at this juicy piece of gossip or else look on with incredulity.
Covertly, the blond teen moved her eyes from the redhead's shell-shocked countenance to that of his blue haired best friend.
Kai Hiwatari was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and with a knowing appearance as he gradually altered his line of focus to that of a certain shorter girl. Kurumi hurriedly looked back onto the scene in front of her, trying to seem as bewildered as the rest of her classmates at what was occurring, least she be found out already.
Shifting her gaze back onto Ivanov she was pleased to see that he was still having trouble forming a full sentence and had settled with an exclamation of, "That isn't mine!"
"Sure, and I suppose these aren't yours either?" one of the officers inquired as he held up a whip, a pair of fluffy handcuffs, and a magazine that was devoted entirely to male on male action that he had discovered within the depths of the metal box.
"Hell no!" was the shouted reply as the boy being questioned backed away from the offending articles and looked about on the verge of a heart attack, "I am strictly into women!"
"Oh, so does that mean you prefer to play the guy then?" someone yelled out from the crowd of gathered pupils, soliciting raucous amusement from the rest of the people there. Kurumi was almost beside herself with mirth as she watched Ivanov's pale skin turn a mottled red in colouration.
"Who the fuck said that?" he bellowed as he studied the crowd dangerously, attempting to pinpoint where the comment had come from so he could rip the pricks insides out his arse.
"Mr. Ivanov, control yourself," the Principal reprimanded as he tore down the poster that featured him as the focal point and winced minutely as he studied it, a frown marring his lined face before he decided, "Perhaps a visit to the school counsellor is in order."
"What?!"
"If you're feeling confused about your...preferences," Mr. Kent began awkwardly, "Then talking about it will probably help to enlighten you."
"I am NOT confused!" Tala Ivanov barked out as he glared at the Principal heatedly. If truth be told he had the uncanny resemblance to a wolf at that particular moment.
And it pushed Kurumi over the edge.
She couldn't contain her glee any longer and she subsequently broke down into a fit of giggles which, try as she might, she could not stop. This continuous flow of laughter caught Ivanov's notice and the blond watched as everything clicked into place in his head as he put two and two together.
"You!" he accused as he stalked over with a homicidal countenance and a finger pointing directly into Kurumi's face.
"What's the matter Red? Feeling a little blue?" Kurumi asked ingenuously, before she added with an utterly evil undertone and indicating a certain bluenette, "Or perhaps that should be, wanting to feel a little Blue?"
The innuendo was not lost on Ivanov.
Ice blue eyes narrowed perilously as the tall boy towered over the shorter girl, but before he could do anything more, the bespectacled Principal interceded.
"Could you please stand over there, away from Miss. Avalon," Mr. Kent stated in a forceful tenor as he motioned the redhead away from the other teen and over to the other side of the passageway, "Quiet down everyone! We still have several students to get through."
As Mr. Kent said this, Kurumi mentally thought, 'One down, one to go.'
She could still feel the eyes of a very angry and, dare she say, pissed off adolescent boring into her as she simulated curiosity in the locker searches once more. Eventually, the numbers of lockers left unchecked began to dwindle as more and more pupils were cleared of any indiscretions and were free to line up with their fellow peers.
At last the name that Kurumi had especially been waiting to hear was called out.
"Kai Hiwatari."
Said teen swaggered up to where the Principal and the pair of officials stood and, Kurumi was pleased to see, hesitated vaguely before he turned the dial on his lock around to open it. It seemed that he wasn't as stupid as the air around him portrayed.
"There you go," he said as he treaded back a couple of steps to allow the sheriffs access to his locker and its contents, a hint of arrogance still lacing his tone.
A few seconds of silence passed as the adults present stared into the open locker and processed what they were seeing inside. At last, after what felt like eons, Mr. Kent spoke.
"Well, what is this Mr. Hiwatari?"
"What?" the bluenette asked baffled, and somewhat cautious, as to what exactly he was referring to.
"This," the older man stated as he pulled the object out of the confines of the metal cupboard and showed it to the boy in front of him, "It would appear to be a device they use to smoke marijuana."
"That's exactly what it looks like," one of the sheriffs added as he gazed with a nearly thoughtful expression on his visage.
Indeed it was.
There, in Mr. Kent's hand was a bong.
But it wasn't just an ordinary bong.
It was a bright candy pink in colour and there, to finish off the look, dancing around the base of it on clouds, were figurines of My Little Pony characters.
There was only one way to describe it and that was...unique.
And not in a good way.
All around people gasped and Kurumi watched as the conceited jackass' shoulder's tensed and she was glad to know that she was privy to the precise reason why.
In his permanent record there had been a list of reports that detailed all offences committed during his school career. Of these, there had been a few that were strictly drug related and it was these that had led to the formulation of her retribution. Anymore of these transgressions on Hiwatari's part and the consequences where going to be veryunpleasant for him.
"Back to the office. Come on," Mr. Kent said in a voice that was entirely exasperated as he shook his head at the idiocy of the bluenette. Honestly, hadn't kids learned that if they were going to do those kinds of things, not to bring them to school at the very least?
Some anonymous person from the group of students studying the drama unfolding carefully, suddenly said loudly, "Oh man, Kai's busted."
With that, the rather tall teen turned around on the spot and sought out a particular person with his crimson eyes. Finding the target that he was beyond positive was responsible for his current predicament he scowled deeply at her and drew a finger along his neck in a 'you're dead' motion.
Kurumi, in response, looked around with wide eyes and then did a 'who me?' gesture as if unsure who he was talking to. That act soon disappeared however, when she broke out into a smirk and winked at him condescendingly.
"This isn't over," the slate haired adolescent hissed at the blond as she exaggerated a yawn as if bored with the whole state of affairs.
"You're so cute," he spat sarcastically as he went to move towards her. A hand on his shoulder halted this movement though as the Principal raised an eyebrow at him. Instead the infuriated teen said darkly and threateningly, "Listen, I'll get you for this," before being steered away by Mr. Kent.
"Everyone else back to class please," the light brown haired man instructed over his shoulder to the rapidly conversing teens still standing in the hallway, "Except you Mr. Ivanov. I think we'll drop you off at the Guidance Counsellors office on the way."
"What!?" the redhead growled out embarrassed, still vehemently protesting the diagnosis the Principal had given him. After a pointed look from said man, however, Ivanov begrudgingly followed the foursome, pausing only when his friend did in order to throw a glare at a particular golden haired girl who simply smiled toothily and waved, calling out a bright "Toodles!" before following the rest of her classmates back to their Math double with a visible spring in her step.
"I believe the score now officially stands at one all don't you think Mari?" Kurumi asked euphorically as she stopped at the door to a toilet cubicle and turned to talk to the pink haired teen that was standing near the washbasins in the girl's bathroom.
"I do believe you are correct," Mariah agreed as she grinned at the blond's cheerfulness. Seriously, she had been like this ever since Math and it was rather infectious, "I still wish I could have been there to see it. But your play by play account did give me a sense of realism as I imagined what went down."
"I'm glad I could be of some assistance," Kurumi winked as she went into the cubicle and closed the door, leaving Mariah waiting for her outside.
A couple of minutes later, the evident noise of the door to the bathroom opening and closing sounded as two girl's entered, one, unfortunately, very familiar.
"...I know, sometimes I feel like sitting Amanda down and telling her, hon you're not that great," Holly said to her companion as they continued their conversation, unaware of the company they were with until the bleached haired adolescent spotted Mariah, who was trying to remain inconspicuous. "Oh, look who it is. How's life treating you at the freak show Mariah?"
Kurumi, who was still in the toilet stall, was listening intently to what her friend would say in response to such a greeting. She had come to notice over the days that she had known Mariah that she was an incredibly funny and sharp girl who was an absolute blast to hang out with. However, this completely disappeared whenever she was in the presence of those considered to be 'Teen Royalty' where she became shy, introverted, and scatter-brained.
It was a paradox that needed to be sorted out.
"Fine," the blond heard Mariah mumble out in a small voice.
"What are you doing in here anyway loser?" Holly continued amid the snickers of her ally, "Not trying to fix yourself up are you, because we all know that that's a task that's gonna fail miserably."
The hot pink haired girl remained hushed as Kurumi was sure she was painted a bright red by now. Deciding that enough was enough, the teen chose to make herself known at that precise moment by flushing the toilet and unlocking the door to the cubicle she was in.
Playing it nice Kurumi said sweetly, "Oh look what the cat dragged in, and by the hair too," to Holly who frowned and sneered at the obvious insult.
"Shut it Avalon, was I talking to you?"
"No, but I do believe its common courtesy to greet those in your presence," she responded in a tone that one would use when trying to educate a five year old.
"Whatever. Let's go Ver," Holly stated in a disgusted accent as she ordered her pale blue haired, light violet eyed friend along, who was also looking on in undisguised revulsion at the other two teenagers.
'Another minion,' Kurumi thought to herself as she watched the duo turn to leave. Before they were out the door, however, she decided to give her favourite fake blond a piece of advice, "Oh, and Holly," the pair stopped, "If you insist upon being two-faced, at least make one of them pretty."
"What would you know Avalon, you're just a loser. Actually, scratch that. You're both just losers," the plastically enhanced teen jeered deridingly at Kurumi and Mariah, who fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Yeah, we're losers," the Manolo clad girl concurred immediately, "But the coolest losers you'll ever meet."
"Yeah right," Holly laughed mockingly as she looked Kurumi and Mariah up and down, "If you were cool then you'd be hanging with us."
"But if we did, it'd be like Lady and the Tramps," the blond countered wearing an expression of expressed apology. This made the pink haired teen snort out loud and attempt to stifle the sound with one of her hands.
"C'mon, Hol, let's just go," Ver, who had not spoken yet, said as she ushered her friend away from the oncoming fight and out of the bathroom. Holly abruptly turned away with an immature 'humph' and followed her friend's advice.
As the door swung shut, Kurumi turned to Mariah.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Staring at Mariah from the corner of her eye as she washed her hands, Kurumi saw that she was looking at herself in one of the mirrors above the row of sinks with a somewhat forlorn expression. Not liking such a visage and generally curious, she couldn't help but inquire, "Why do you let them do it?"
"Huh?"
"Why do you let Holly and Amanda and their entire group walk all over you?"
The sound of Mariah sighing made the shorter girl focus her sole attention upon her friend as she waited patiently to hear the answer.
"I don't really know," she began slowly as she continued to gaze at her reflection, "It's not like I mean to. It's just that every time they speak to me I can never find the right words to say back, all of my awesome comebacks just allude me."
"Why is that?"
"I guess it's because I can never quite believe that they are talking to me, you know?" the pony tailed teen asked softly as she turned to face Kurumi, "It's like why would they want to, even if it is just to abuse me. Their all so far above me; their beautiful, rich, mostly intelligent, so why would they even want to bother with me –"
She stopped abruptly as her blond friend's angry face was suddenly shoved in front of hers.
"You should never think that you're inferior to anyone Mari," Kurumi stated fiercely as she twirled the pink haired girl around and made her stare into her reflection, placing her face upon the taller adolescents shoulder as her own face lessened its aggressiveness, "You're all of those things yourself and so much more."
"That's easy for you to say. I bet you've never been picked on before because you're ugly," Mariah said as she kept her eyes downcast and avoided looking at herself in the mirror.
"You. Are. Not. Ugly.," the blond enunciated every word with force, "You're a total Snow White and I know a way to prove it to you."
"Uh-huh," was the sceptical reply from the taller girl who was now staring at her with an eyebrow raised and a cynical countenance, "I'm sure."
"Two words, Mari, two words."
"And that would be..."
"Make over."
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