"Epilogue"
By: Seinasu
Disclaimer: Bully is copyright © Rockstar and all others associated with legal rights. The OC belongs to me. Turmoil's themes and characterizations belong to her!
"So far so good, Petey?"
Head Boy Peter Kowalski turned around and saw Jimmy Hopkins approaching him from across campus. Pete grinned at his best friend and replied, "Yeah, so far, Jimmy. The first week of school is really hectic but looks like everything is under control. I'm surprised Earnest and Ted are getting along as dual presidents of the school."
"I can't believe it worked out to a tie," Jimmy said with disbelief. "That was a serious mess. Maybe this year someone with common sense will run for the position this year. Hey!" Jimmy abruptly brushed the back of his hand against Petey's chest. "Maybe you should run for class president!"
Petey's eyes grew big and he shook his head. "No way!" he exclaimed light-heartedly. "Being Head Boy's enough for me. I can't imagine trying to lead people and have them listen to me."
"But you work with Dr. Crabblesnitch."
"That's different from making promises to people that I may or may not be able to fulfill, Jimmy. I just work with the principal and help him sort out the troublesome students..."
His voice trailed off as he saw Gary Smith walking up to them. Jimmy turned around and nodded at Gary. From the way Petey saw things, it looked like Jimmy and Gary were ever so slowly becoming civil toward one another. They'd throw insults at one another from time to time or there'd be a shoving match but nothing more would escalate. It was also in part of Tabitha's presence, who was normally at Gary's side doing anything and everything possible to please him.
"First week of school and already it sucks," Gary said as he walked up to Petey and slapped one of his shoulders. Petey winced at the impact but said nothing as he rubbed his shoulder. "Next year we'll be seniors and just think: ten years from now, we're going to look back on all of this and say that these were the best years of our lives."
"Whatever, man!" Jimmy retorted. "I'm never gonna get into anything that'll make me miss this place that badly."
Petey brushed aside a golden brown leaf that fell from the tree branches off the top of his head. He glanced over at Gary and asked, "Where's Tabitha?"
Gary shrugged. "How should I know? I'm not her keeper."
"Trouble in paradise?" Jimmy teased.
"We are NOT dating, moron," Gary snapped. "I've dated girls that were less dog-like in appearance than her."
"You're still not very nice, Gary," Petey mumbled.
The scarred boy threw a questioning glare at his direction. "Care to repeat that, little Petey?"
Petey shook his head and kept his mouth shut.
Jimmy sighed miserably then gave out a loud yawn. "I gotta get going to the gym. They stuck me with P.E. first period. I just woke up and already they want me running my ass around the football field."
"And yet you have the strength to soldier on," Gary said with mock sympathy. "I surely envy you."
"I can't believe how full of crap you are after all this time," Jimmy remarked testily. "Can you ever talk normal without sounding so stupid and annoying?"
"Does this really bother you?" Gary continued on in the same, rising tone of voice that seemed to end every sentence with a question. "I guess I'll have to keep going on with it then!"
The bell rang in the distance but the shrilled screams of a female was even louder.
"What the hell?" Jimmy asked as he, Petey, and Gary turned their heads over to the Girls Dorm. "Over there..."
Before anybody could say anything, a girl's voice screamed, "IT'S GONE! MY HAIR!! IT'S ALL GONE!!"
As if a silent agreement was made between the three, the boys hurried over to the Girls Dorm where a large group of females were already gathered outside of the building. Pushing his way to the front, Jimmy stopped himself as he saw Mrs. Peabody trying to console a girl with a bald head. On the ground, scattered pieces of brown hair laid in various spots.
Mrs. Peabody lifted her head and fixed a hard stare at Jimmy.
"You have any idea who did this?!" she asked in her gnarled, twisted voice.
"No ma'am," Jimmy answered honestly. "I've never done stuff like this before—never have and never will."
"Let's hope so," Mrs. Peabody said huffily. From seemingly out of nowhere a paper bag appeared in the old woman's hands and she placed it over the bald girl's head. A pair of eye holes was cut out in the front of the bag. "Come now, my dear, we'll take you to the nurse's office and see what Nurse MacRae can do for you."
The sea of whispering and giggling students parted as Mrs. Peabody and the girl walked away from the dorms. Just before turning the corner, the girl wailed miserably, "I wanna go home! I hate this place! I hate it!!"
"That poor girl," Petey said as he scratched an itch on one of his elbows. By this time, most of the girls drifted back to their own activities. "I wonder if someone hates her that much to do... that...?"
Jimmy took note of Petey's drifting tone. "Something wrong?"
"Um…" Petey glanced upwards at the nearby autumn trees and remembered how vaguely familiar the victim was. He could've sworn he'd seen her before, and then suddenly the realization hit him.
Tabitha got into a fight with her last winter over Gary. But she couldn't have done that! Could she?
Petey turned his attention to Gary, who was found standing over by the garbage, mumbling about how geniuses didn't need to take any medication. "Hey, Gary?" he called out to the troubled teen. "You say you don't know where Tabitha is?"
"What is it with you and her?" Gary asked, exasperated. "We're not attached to the hip or anything! As you can see, despite her good reasons to hang around me, she's not here."
"You have an idea, Petey?" Jimmy inquired.
The smaller boy thought for a moment then looked over at Jimmy and replied, "Morbid curiosity I guess. You mind...?"
"Go see where the leech is?" Jimmy asked as he nodded his head. "Yeah, sure. I'll go find her."
Jimmy took off with a jog and was soon out of sight. Meanwhile, Petey was prepared to leave the area when Gary walked over and grabbed him by the shoulder from behind. Turning him around, Gary leaned forward and asked him, "What ARE you thinking, Pete?"
Petey shook his head and answered, "Not thinking much, Gary."
"You say you aren't, but I know the gears in your head are grinding. Mine do that all the time, you know."
"Yeah, I know they do, Gary. I know."
"So where did Jimmy run off to?"
"I... I just asked him to do me a favor. That's all."
Gary relaxed his grip over the shoulder and chuckled to himself. "I see," he said quietly. "Well, I'll find out what's going on. I always do."
Petey laughed nervously. "Sure, Gary. Are you and Tabitha getting along?"
Gary smirked. "Wouldn't you really like to know."
"I don't know. She... seems much happier," Petey said thoughtfully. "I guess all's well that ends well?"
He glanced at his watch and exclaimed, "Crap, I'm late! I gotta get going. So should you!"
Gary watched in amusement as the Head Boy practically sprinted over to the main building. He, on the other hand, was no hurry to get to class even if it was favorite subject.
Petey, Petey, Petey. Who would've thought you would one day grow a pair of tiny little balls. Don't think I've forgotten the day you pushed me. Last winter you tried to defend yourself and your precious position as Head Boy. How bold of you to think you can even comprehend the possibility of standing up to me—your very first 'friend.'
Suddenly his thoughts drifted to the annoying little blonde that was almost like another limb on his body.
Friends? Me and her? Let them think what they want. Friends are for the weak! She's just a liability to me no matter what happens. I can still use her to my advantage. I'll let her live in her fantasy world for a while longer. I wonder if I'm supposed to feel guilty about feeling the way I do? One minute I don't mind having her companionship then the next minute I'm plotting her burial. What a complex mind I have! Nobody has any idea what I have to go through! Well, maybe except the lee—I mean, Tabitha. I have to give her credit for actually wanting to listen to me when I talk. Still, she better know damn well I'm capable of dumping her the minute I see fit... I better get moving if I don't want any of the prefects wailing on me for truancy.
And with that, Gary swiftly took off running.
Jimmy was surprised how difficult it was to find Tabitha. Never the less, it took him at least half an hour before she was spotted over by the staff parking lot next to the Auto Shop. She was sitting on the hood of the broken down bus with her arms wrapped around her chest and her eyes closed in thought.
As Jimmy approached her, she opened her eyes and jumped a little.
"Jimmy!" she called out as she dropped her arms to her sides and turned her whole body to face him. "What're you doing here?"
"Should ask you the same thing," Jimmy replied as he stood in front of her, tilting his head up so he could see her. "You heard about what happened just a while ago?"
Tabitha shook her head and so Jimmy filled her in. After which, she mysteriously turned away.
"Poor girl," Tabitha remarked quietly. "But..."
Bingo, Jimmy thought as he watched her turn her head right back toward him. Her small mouth made a grin that almost stretched from ear to ear.
"I can't believe I pulled it off on my own," the girl began with satisfaction written all over her face. "It was this time that she made me so mad. I couldn't help myself, Jimmy!"
"What'd she do to make you mad? Something to do with Gary?"
"EXACTLY!" Tabitha giggled as she explained. "I told her last year that she shouldn't be so familiar with Gary. So what happened two days ago? I caught her trying to get friendly with him in the gym during club sign ups. Then yesterday I saw her trying to push a love letter into Gary's letter! So I pretend to be all friendly with her and tell her that I would personally give him the letter. Heh, heh, whatever, huh?"
"Yeah, whatever," Jimmy agreed for the sake of conversation.
"So naturally I threw the letter away and deemed her unworthy of Gary's time and attention! So last night I went into town, took an electric razor from the barbershop in Old Bullworth Vale, bought some ear muffs, then snuck into Monica's room—that's her name by the way—put the ear muffs on her and her roommate, stuffed pillows against the door so nobody outside could hear, then happily gave her a new look. Buzz, buzz, buzz! Her hair was surprisingly thick but I had no trouble with it!"
Before Jimmy could say anything, Tabitha giggled some more and announced, "As Gary's official friend, I vow to see that he has the best of everything—especially when it comes to women!"
She wrinkled her nose at the thought of poor Monica who looked like a tall, bald idiot who even dared to dream she had a chance with Gary. She couldn't help but laugh softly under her breath.
"She never had a chance with him, Jimmy. No way! Nobody at Bullworth Academy is worthy of his time. I'll ignore the fact that he's had his eye on a few girls whose names I won't mention for the sake of my sanity."
Jimmy could only shake his head in disbelief. "I can't believe it but I have to because it just happened."
"You won't tell on me?" Tabitha asked hopefully.
"You know I have better things to do with my time. Just don't try any of that crap on me because you know what I'm capable of. You know my price for keeping my mouth shut."
"Nope, I haven't forgotten either of those, Jimmy!"
The boy noticed a drastic change in the small girl's personality. She came off as more poised and determined to keep Gary "happy." She didn't seem to stutter as much, if ever, when she was with someone other than Gary. But there was also something more troublesome and unsettling about her and he wondered (fleetingly) if he would have to keep an eye on her.
"I'm gonna help Gary keep his nose clean because I'm his friend," Tabitha declared as she slid off the bus and dusted her bottom clean. She beamed at Jimmy and added, "No matter who comes in and out of this school, I'll be sure Gary won't get too out of line."
"I'm sure you will," Jimmy replied with a deadpan expression.
Tabitha waved good-bye to the boy and started strolling out of the parking lot, all the while talking to herself.
"Gary won't regret making me his friend. I'll make sure he remains calm and happy. I wonder if he took his meds on time...? Crap, I can't believe I didn't tell him about what I did. Maybe later when we have dinner I'll tell him. I wonder if he'll be proud of me? Maybe he can give me some pointers...? Gary, he is so wonderful and smart! Where did he go? I should start my own clique—the Gary Clique! Got a nice ring to it. Where IS he? GAAAAARY!!!"
Jimmy sighed heavily and gloomily thought, Just one more year after this... Just one more...
THE END
Author's Note: Did this seem like such a cop-out ending to you? Especially for you Gary x Tabitha fans? Heh, well I originally wanted the last story "Benevolence" to be the end of the series, but I also wanted to show a change in Tabitha's character now that she's Gary's so-called friend. Does she still realize that he's not exactly an honest person? Probably, but then again she doesn't care as long as he's apparently happy. As Turmoil once put it, Tabitha's actions borderline stupidity. Not very healthy in my opinion but it's nice to see such a strong reaction she created among you, dear readers.
Gary's still Gary, no matter what he goes through with people. I tried to keep that aspect of his character within the story. He can accept change and he can also adapt to it. But his mind will still think the same thoughts as they did in the game. Someone like him can be difficult to change but maybe someone like Tabitha, who thinks she depends on him, can help him open his eyes a bit more to the world... Or drive him completely insane (if he isn't already so, heh).
Last note to the Gary x Tabitha fans: I am working on a couple of one-shot stories that deal with their time together. I'm hoping to post these in the near future. They're kinda like those writing themes you find on LiveJournal (i.e. 30 themes, 30 hugs). So my thanks goes out to all who've kept up with this series. Special thanks to Turmoil for creating such a good plot device to bring back Gary (and for being so understanding).
Please let me know what you've thought about these stories so far!
