A special thanks to Guest 2019, Wandering-Reader, AShrew74, Skydriane, and another guest for all of their reviews! This chapter is for you guys! ^_^ More character development in this chapter. We haven't reached the woods yet, I'm afraid. That will come in chapter 8. I've dedicated that whole chapter to their escapade through the creepy forest. Five more reviews and I'll get the next chapter out in a jiffy!
Disclaimer: Not mine. Just fan-fiction.
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Chapter 7: Blackmail
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Well, that sure was an intense meeting, Sarah opens the blue metal doors to enter into the high school. Walking along the industrialized carpet, she follows her known path to her locker. Her hands and fingers are trembling and she takes a steadying breath to try and calm them down. They were about to go into the woods after 10 years. TEN. If that wasn't nerve wracking enough…they were looking for Dan who may or may not be with the Goblin King.
She opens her locker, grabs her bag and shuts it with a loud CLANK. The empty hallways of the school are brightly lit, but that doesn't ease the uneasy feeling in Sarah's stomach. This had to be a trap. Were they doing the right thing? Maybe this isn't such a…
Turning the corner, she suddenly comes across Britney, Cody, Jocelyn, and….Stacey!?...on the other side of the hall, surrounding a cornered Emily.
Great. Like tonight wasn't bad enough... Sarah's eyes narrow. Her anxiety turns and begins to focus it's energy on fueling a new emotion: Anger.
Britney's annoyed voice carries to Sarah from the other end of the hallway, "Okay, but seriously? This stalker things is getting a little old."
"That's not what I…" Emily tries before Cody cuts her off...
"Come on, I think her little love note was kinda sweet!" He holds up a piece of notebook paper, his mocking voice echoing in the empty hall, "I don't understand what I did to make you hate me. Where's the kind, sweet girl who braided my hair for the middle school dance?" He smirks evilly down at her.
Jocelyn laughs, "Awwwwwww! Is that true, Brit Brit? Were you and the widdle nerdy best fwends?"
Stacey folds her arms and glares at them, "Real mature, guys."
Britney snatches the letter from Cody, tearing it in the process. She rounds on Emily, her face red with fury, "Guess you didn't get the message this morning, so let me spell it out for you; This sad little crush of yours was funny for a while. But now? It's starting to get on my nerves."
Emily looks smaller than usual, "I'm s-sorry… I just thought… I just wanted to…"
"Britney, let's just go. I'm sure she—" Stacey reaches out.
"I'm not done talking." Britney turns and snaps at her. Stacey shuts up and looks down at her shoes. Britney rounds on Emily again, "Whatever creepy daydreams you´re having about me, you're going to throw them out the window. Because to me, you're never going to be anything other than a pathetic, basement-dwelling—"
"Hey! That's enough." Sarah has finally made it over to them. She clenches her fists, ready to defend her friend, "Leave her alone."
Britney stops mid-sentence. She turns, her snarl turning into a sneer as she looks Sarah up and down. "Oh good, Sarah the 'White Knight' is here to save poor Emily."
Sarah glances over at Stacey bitterly, who is standing silently nearby. She could forgive Stacey for being too afraid to go face Jareth. She could forgive that, because she wished that option was available to her as well. But this? How could she just stand there while her childhood friend is getting torn apart by the wolves?
Stacey looks defeated and doesn't say anything, avoiding eye contact with Sarah. Sarah's eyes flash angrily and she's about to unleash all her disappointment of Stacey's pathetic desire to be in the 'popular group' in front of everyone. But… she hesitates at the expression on Stacey's face. She looks almost more fragile than Emily does.
Sarah decides at the last moment to deal with Stacey's betrayal another time and turns to face Britney head-on who, just so happens, looks as pissed as Sarah feels.
"High school's hard enough without you and your pet vultures preying on everyone!", Sarah steps up to her, unafraid.
Britney hesitates in the full heat of Sarah's attention. Brittney was a very pretty girl. Her straight chocolate hair, smooth and shiny, gleamed from all the beauty products she used on it. She's changed from her cheerleader outfit into a black leather jacket, with a soft pink shirt underneath. Expensive blue jeans for the first day of school, with stylish boots to complete the ensemble.
Britney wasn't from here, originally. She was from Boston, exiled to now live with her aunt here in the boonies of New York. Family problems, Sarah would hazard a guess. Her aunt was one of the wealthiest people here in Westchester. The only one in town with a backyard patio and pool behind her beautiful house. So it wasn't as if Britney was impoverished. She had shown up a little after Jessica had died, and was here while the group slowly began to drift away from each other. Emily, though, became her friend somehow. Britney seemed to not be satisfied with the sweet girl's friendship, however, as she now treated her like the mud on her shoe.
Jocelyn steps in when Britney doesn't say anything. She smirks, "It's a 'dog-eat-dog' world, Sarah."
"Good thing we're not all dogs like you, then." Sarah doesn't spare a glance for Jocelyn.
That wipes the smirk off Jocelyn's face. She scowls, "Did you just call me a bit—"
"Sarah… you don't have to do this. Just go." Emily's eyes shine with unshed tears.
Britney barks a laugh, half-turning to glance at Emily, "For once we agree on something. I think I've had enough of Sarah's sass for one day. Cody?"
Cody steps forward, pounding his hand with his fist, "C'mere, I wanna show you this really cool thing I found in the cafeteria dumpster..." He grins wickedly.
Sarah can't help but gulp.
Suddenly, Stacey steps in, "No, I've got this guys." She turns on Sarah angrily, grabbing her firmly by the elbow, and steering her away from the scene.
"Wow! Look at Stace, taking initiative!" Cody says proudly, raising his eyebrows. He's clearly impressed by Stacey's grip.
Britney smirks and tosses her silky smooth hair, "Works for me. We're still shopping on Saturday, right? I saw the cutest sweater at J&N the other day."
Stacey's face falls and she turns away to hide behind her curtain of long blonde hair, "Yeah… I'll call you." She murmurs.
Just before Stacey drags Sarah out the door, Sarah glances back to see Emily vanish around the corner, tears streaming down her face.
The fresh wind hits their face as they find themselves back outside the front doors. The fountain gurgles in the distance where they had all been earlier, lights illuminating the jumping water.
Stacey finally lets go of Sarah's arm and Sarah turns to glare at her, "Ow. How are your hands so frikkin' strong?"
Stacey glares back, not missing a beat. "Ten years of gymnastics."
"Gymnastics, huh?" Sarah steps back and looks her up and down, not even trying to hide how repulsed she is by this girl she once called 'friend'.
Sarah lets her have it, "Guess that explains how you're flexible enough to walk with your head up your own BUTT."
"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?" Stacey asks, affronted.
Is this girl a complete idiot like them now? "Open your eyes! Britney and her goons are just a bunch of malicious jerks. They're not your friends!" Sarah yells.
"You think I don't know that?!" Stacey yells back, throwing up her hands, exasperated. "You think…" And Stacey's face suddenly crumbles, looking desperate, "…that I want to be Britney's sidekick? You think I don't know she's literally the worst person on the planet?" Stacey's voice breaks.
Sarah stops. She's so confused. She looks at Stacey, who looks like she's carrying a heavy burden on her shoulders. So she hesitantly asks, "Then why…"
Thinking back to the pep rally, she remembers Stacey's flawless tumbling pass… and how she tripped right after looking at Britney.
"Stacey, is Britney... threatening you?" Sarah asks, watching Stacey's face carefully. It would make a lot more sense if she was.
Stacey freezes, staring wide-eyed at Sarah like a deer caught in the middle of the road before a car smashes it into bits and pieces. Stacey nervously glances back over her shoulder, looking for something. Or someone.
Sarah reaches out her hand to touch her arm, "Stace, you can trust me. Whatever it is… I just want to help."
Stacey had become Sarah's friend even before Emily. They met in 2nd grade in art class when they had been paired together for a project. Stacey and Sarah had NOT gotten along at first. They both were similar in personalities, which translates to being hard-headed and competitive. Both were, very opinionated young girls, and the 'leader' in their minds and as such, they thought they were always right.
Stacey had gotten frustrated with Sarah, who refused to follow her lead in coming up with the school project and had swiped Sarah's arm with her green paintbrush in frustration. Sarah, not willing to back down from a challenge, quickly took a swipe at her face with her purple paintbrush to 'get even'. Soon, the teacher was breaking up a paint fight between the two girls who were covered, clothes, hair, and especially face with green and purple paint. They were sent to the principal's office, who was busy somewhere else. So, they were put in a large conference room with an enormous, stern-looking oval table and lots of comfy business chairs. They were left with the strict instruction NOT to talk to one another.
No one stayed to watch them however, and they they sat there in that empty conference room, covered in paint from head-to-toe, glaring at each other from opposite ends of the room. Then, somehow….in a strange turn of events, someone had started giggling. Which, in turn, made the other start giggling. Soon, the two kids were in a giggling competition and by the time the principal got to them, they were both sitting right next to each other, giggling and poking the different paint marks they had put on each other's faces and bodies.
Their parents had been called, since they couldn't go back to class with paint on their clothes. When their parents arrived, they received a small scolding (which neither one remembers), but no punishment was given since it just seemed like innocent fun. They were good friends after that, and Stacey had been included in Sarah's group which included her, Jessica, Taylor, and Dan. They were soon after joined by Emily, then Luke, and finally by MJ and Sean.
Stacey turns to Sarah, and she really looks at her. Sarah can see shadows underneath her blue eyes that concealer can't quite erase.
Stacey sighs and says, "Britney's…. blackmailing me."
"What?!" Sarah stares at her in disbelief. Oh, I'm going to make that girl pay…as soon as Cody isn't around, that it. "Blackmail? So, the fall at the pep rally…?"
Stacey sighs again, "Rule one… Never outshine Britney on the cheer squad." She turns angry and huffs, "Closely followed by rule two, Never talk back to Britney, and rule three, buy Britney all the tacky-ass sweaters and ankle booties she wants."
"Jeez, Stacey…what does Britney have on you?" It must be big.
"Oh, just a video that could totally tank my mom's re-election campaign for City Mayor, and earn me the title of 'worst daughter in the entire universe'." Her pretty eyes turn bright with unshed tears.
She sees Sarah's confused expression and explains further, "Britney had a party over the summer. It wasn't really my scene, but I felt like I had to make an appearance, you know?"
"Ah yes, the perils of being popular." Sarah nods sagely and then grins at her with an uplifted eyebrow, trying to lighten the mood.
Stacey doesn't grin back. "The worst part is… I actually had a great night. It was the first time in years that I'd just let go and had fun. But then…"
Stacey sighs, and rubs her temples. "Whatever. You probably don't care about my dumb mistakes."
"Stace, you can tell me anything." Sarah tells her sincerely. "I mean, no pressure, but telling someone might make you feel better." She feels bad for judging Stacey so harshly earlier. She had noticed something odd going on with her, but had no idea… "And I promise I won't judge you."
Stacey stares at her, searching and suspicious. Sarah waits.
Finally she sighs, "…Okay. But if you tell anyone…"
"I won't. Pinkie swear." Sarah holds out her pinkie to her. Stacey looks at it in surprise but she slowly breaks into a smile, remembering when they were kids, and wraps her pinkie around Sarah's.
"Haha, Okay." She shakes her head, smiling, and begins, "It was like, Mid-June, and Britney's aunt was out of town and I guess she let her throw a private party since it was her birthday. I was planning on just mingling half an hour. Do a little dancing for 30 mins, say hi to the birthday girl, and then be back before 11:30. Piece of cake, right? My mom was at a fundraiser/benefit/conference thing until late, so she wouldn't notice. I saw Ben and so I go over to say hi. We flirted a bit… " Stacey blushes, and then keeps going, "Anyways, I went looking for Britney to say happy birthday, and I find her surrounded by Jocelyn and some other girls, badmouthing the squad members behind their backs! She was saying how she's better than all of them."
Stacey glowers and shakes her head, " I called her out on it. She didn't know I was behind her, obviously, and she got embarrassed for being caught. She tried saying it was all just a joke and apologized. Then she buttered up to me and it worked, I'm sad to say." Stacey shakes her head, and huffs, annoyed with herself.
"I lost track of time. It was 12:00 when I realized I had to get home. On my way out, I saw Ben with Cody, and I went over to say good-bye, when I suddenly hear him say my name, talking about me. I listen in…" Stacey sighs, and rubs her head again. Sarah waits patiently.
She continues, "I heard him telling Cody that he thought I was hot... but that he would never consider dating me because I'm boring! And that I didn't know how to let go and have fun, whatever that means." She starts blinking rapidly, to stop her eyes from tearing up. "It hurt, so I turned around and tried to go out the backdoor so they wouldn't see me. Britney saw me though. She saw I was upset and made me go to her room with her to have a 'girl talk'. I didn't tell her at first. But she's an incredible actress, as you already know," she nods to Sarah, alluding to Sarah and Britney's never-ending competition in the school plays. Brittney was probably overjoyed that Sarah didn't act last year, and won't this year either.
"She made me think that she cared about why I was upset, and that she wanted to help me. I eventually broke down and asked her if people thought I was boring and she said 'You didn't hear this from me…but MISS PERFECT is one of the nicer nicknames you've picked up'. Knowing what I know now though, I'm sure Brittney was one of those people who talked bad about me behind my back. She talks bad about everyone behind their back."
Sarah didn't ask if Brittney talks about her. It was obvious that she does. Brittney hated Sarah since she had lost the part of Marian in their high school play "the Music Man" and Bell from "Beauty and the Beast" from the year before that. Brittney was a great actress though and had done a tremendous job in last year's production of 'Into the Woods' as Cinderella. But Sarah hadn't tried out for that play.
"Anyways," Stacey continues, "She complimented me on my 'perfect life' and told me to not care about what others think….and so I- I unleashed the monster. I told her how I hated my life, and how it all is fake."
Stacy's eyes fill with tears, and Sarah listens in utter surprise, "My parents hate each other, Sarah. HATE! They're both having affairs and they don't even try to hide it from me! Every night's a big screaming match between them… except for the nights they're screaming at me for putting one toe out of line." Stacy starts crying, letting her head drop into her hands.
Sarah immediately puts her arms around her, and looks around, making sure that no one else is seeing this. It's dark outside, and they were some of the last people at school. No one is around…
"I'm so tired of having to be the Mayor's perfect daughter every freaking second of every freaking day, when she doesn't even care about me…" Stacey cries.
"I'm sorry Stace." Sarah murmurs, hugging her shoulders. "I didn't know your mom was that bad…"
"Nobody does!" She exclaims, wiping away her tears and trying not to smear her make-up,
"If they did she'd be out of office, like, tomorrow." Stacey trails off, her cheeks flushing slightly as she looks down at the ground.
"So… then what happened?" Sarah prompts.
Stacey shrugs, "Britney comforted me. Made me feel better. The next morning, I woke up to a text from Britney."
Sarah gapes at her, "Don't tell me…"
"Yeah. She recorded the whole thing on her phone." Stacey nods.
Sarah explodes, "After you confided in her!? That's just…HORRIBLE!"
Stacey shushes her, and they look around, making sure no one heard her. Stacey relaxes, and she seems calmer. Or maybe she's just tired from crying?
"It really is." Stacey nods again, and then smiles, "But… you were right. Telling someone about it feels good. I've been keeping that bottled up for months!"
"I'm glad to have helped!" Sarah frowns, "But…maybe Sean is right. Maybe if you told your parents what happened-"
"Sarah, are you insane?!" Stacey looks at her as if she was an idiot, "My dad would ground me for 20 years, and then Mom would murder me!"
Sarah wants to roll her eyes and tell her it not that bad. But she had just gained her trust. She has to tread carefully… "Yeah, but Stacey! This is your Senior year! Your dad can't ground you for 20 years because in one year you'll be an adult." She tries to joke, and prove her point at the same time.
Stacey isn't amused and shakes her head, "If she found out I endangered her campaign? She wouldn't let me leave the house for the rest of the year. And if that video actually ever gets out…"
"But…maybe she can help you get it back!" Sarah tries again. "She's the MAYOR! Can't she get the police force or, I dunno, the Swat Team over to Britney's house and get the phone from her before she sends it?" Seriously. There has to be something we can do.
Stacey shakes her head, "Britney probably doesn't have the video on JUST her phone though. She probably has a back-up on her computer. It's too risky." Stacey smiles sadly, "Besides, the police would need a good reason to break in and confiscate a teenager's phone, and then the truth would have to come out. I can see the headlines now…'Mayor's daughter tells all! Green's marriage, family, and political career a sham'!"
Sarah gets a little angry at her. Where is the headstrong girl I used to know? "So you're just gonna sit back and let Britney take everything from you? That's not like you, Stacey."
"I'll…I'll figure something out. I just don't know what yet."
Stacey trails off as a door opens nearby. Emily emerges from the school, her face wet with tears, and starts walking toward the parking lot. Sarah can hear her sniffle.
"I'd better go after her…" Sarah sighs, starting walking toward her. But Stacey puts her hand on Sarah's shoulder, holding her back.
"No… let me. I've stood by too many times when I should've been helping her. I helped you with Cody and the dumpster, now I need to fix this." She gives Sarah a smile and hurries after Emily. She seems braver. Sarah can faintly hear their conversation…
"Emily! Wait up!"
"What, did Britney send you to y-yell at me some more?"
"No! I…Emily, I'm so sorry. I… I never wanted you to get hurt. I hate the way those guys treat you."
"They why didn't you say something?"
"It's complicated…and totally my own fault. If… if you want, maybe I could buy a cinnamon hot cocoa and explain it all. But, you know, I'll also totally understand if you want to just tell me to go to hell. You deserve better friends than me."
Emily stares at Stacey for a long minute. She looks behind Stacey and sees Sarah standing far back. Sarah gives her a thumbs up encouragingly. Emily looks back at Stacey and Sarah holds her breath to hear her answer.
"…You remembered."
"Huh?"
"You remembered that cinnamon hot cocoa was my favorite when we were kids."
Sarah can't see their expressions, but she can see them wrap their arms around each other in a hug and then walk side-by-side towards Stacey's car.
"Good job, Stace." Sarah smiles softly.
Hitching her bag a little higher on her shoulder, Sarah turns away and continues down the road toward town to meet the group at the hardware store.
Sarah didn't plan on facing the Goblin King empty handed. They were going to need weapons.
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THANKS for the reviews! This update is because of you! Reviews are amazing, like any writer here on fanfiction will tell you. ^_^ Next chapter will be posted after another 5 reviews.
