Authors Note: Okay so this didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. But please let me know what you think. Comment!
Chapter: Stupid
Tap, tap, tap…
The sound of Lulu's impatient heels clicking on the cold floor was all that could be heard in the tension filled room. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were glaring daggers into Maxie's own blue orbs. The air was thick with anticipation and void of understanding. The mess had been made and now, it was time to filter through the scarce remains.
"What? You suddenly have nothing to say? Well ding, dong the witch has finally been silenced." Lulu taunted. Her words shot forwards like burning questions in the form of spears; dangerous, relentless.
"I think our current situation speaks for itself." Maxie replied, rolling her eyes and fixing her dress. Her attitude was that of someone who could simply care less about Lulu's pain or anger. The emotional distance she had formed through out the ordeal rendered her untouchable. The slight movement of Johnny buttoning his shirt was the only thing keeping her focused; his breathing, his presence.
"Lulu are you okay? I heard yelling and-" The concerned voice of Carly Jacks joined the hostile environment. Immediately upon entering the buzzing room, she took note of the scene unfolding. "Oh my god." She muttered, her mouth hanging open in a show of sincere surprise. Her hands quickly moved to Lulu's arm, in a gesture of comfort. Her inner Spencer took hold of her senses and drove her into protection mode. The impact of human contact broke the younger blonde from her reverie. In a single moment Lulu felt the impact of everything she had just witnessed. The reality of the situation came crashing down, crushing her in one lethal dose.
"You bitch. You stupid whore." Lulu whispered with venom, her eyes never broke their lock on her one time enemy turned friend. A glance in Johnny's direction was simply out of the question. Johnny held all of Lulu's hopes and dreams in the palm of his hand; both of which were too delicate for his destructive touch. If her eyes were to meet his, the loss of those hopes and dreams would be too much for the fragile girl to bare.
"This is my fault Lulu. Please, if you want to blame someone then blame me." Johnny stepped forward, shielding Maxie from the onslaught of judgment and critique. The danger junkie's noble defense only proved to fuel Lulu's inevitable anger and rage.
"Are you kidding me? This is Maxie we're talking about. What did she do to convince you to sleep with her? Did she drug you Johnny? Did she pay in cash or credit? I'm serious, is she officially a prostitute yet? What was it this time, you slut?" The blonde rehashed any dirt she could possibly bring forth. Her bitter words were pelted at Maxie, only to bounce off with ease. No one in the world owned up to their faults the way Maxie Jones did. No one.
"You know what Johnny, I had my doubts about you. But, Lulu loved you and she believed that you were good guy. Because of that, I gave you a chance." The sad tone to Carly's voice did nothing to cover the venom lacing each word.
"Lulu was wrong to believe that I was a good guy. And you were wrong to give me a chance." He replied simply. His words were void of emotion.
"I can see that now. I can also see that your intelligence was a misconception. I mean, you must be a special kind of stupid to think that your relationship with Lulu was worth a few rounds with some Paris Hilton wannabe." Slinging insults left and right, Carly smirked with pride. She was a master when it came confrontation.
"I want you out." Lulu spoke, pointing a shaking finger at Maxie.
"Um…" Maxie put a finger to her chin, and let her eyes wander in a show of false consideration. "No." She finally responded as if it were ludicrous for Lulu to even request such a thing. Maxie knew she was being a bitch. She knew that she had already put the poor, pathetic, whiner through the ringer and then some. But being cruel and cold was the only thing that Maxie could do in this situation. Given the current detachment of her emotions, she was left to run only on instinct. It was a well known fact that during a fight, Maxie was instinctually a bitch.
"My father owns the Haunted star you bimbo!"
"My family owns a portion as well Lulu." Johnny reminded her lowly. His eyes were dark and serious. He, much like Maxie, was forging ahead with walls in place. The pair treated the encounter much like a business deal. They had a job to do.
"Throwing around your filthy family name again Johnny?" Carly jumped back in, unwilling to let Lulu fight alone.
"Is this really any of your business Carly? I thought banshees only spearheaded their own vengeful missions. I wasn't aware that it extended to family as well." Maxie's sarcastic insult was met with an intense glare.
"Do you think I would actually walk away from here and leave Lulu hanging in the wind? You'd love that wouldn't you? A leach like yourself can only win if the numbers are uneven. Let's see what you can do when it's a fair fight Miss Maxie Jones." Carly bit out. Carly had always felt an itching urge to bare her claws and tear Maxie to pieces. The blonde was bitter and scornful; two things that Carly herself held as a companion. But the former mob diva was used to being the most hard core bitch in town. And now Maxie Jones thought she could take that title. This would surely be a bloodbath.
"Oh yeah, because picking a fight with someone a decade younger than you is really admirable Carly. Why don't you just hurry along to your husband, whoever that is at the moment." With a false-sweet smile, Maxie waved her dainty fingers in a mocking motion. The presentation of careless attitude made Carly's blood boil.
"You little-"
"Just leave! Get out of here already!" Lulu screamed, interrupting the nasty names that were sure to fly from the mother of two's mouth.
"Sorry Lesley Lu, this party just isn't quite over yet. Johnny and I still have a lot of bases to cover. If you know what I mean…" She smirked evilly.
"Maxie…" Johnny sighed, unable to stand looking at Lulu's broken features.
"You know I should have seen this coming." Lulu spun to face Johnny. His words had alerted her to his consistent presence. "Ever since the storm, something has been going on between the two of you." She cried, tears raining down her face.
"Well duh, it's called sex." Maxie's harsh words, felt like a ton of bricks on her nemesis's heart.
"You- you've been sleeping together since…" She choked on a sob and covered her mouth with a shaking hand. Carly wrapped a protective arm around her cousin.
"I'm sorry Lulu, I'm so sorry. We had been fighting and Maxie just- she understood me. She understood me in a way that you never have. Look, the two of us got caught up in a moment and it just happen." He lied, sprinkling bits of truth through out. Maxie did her best to look uninterested, but Johnny could see that she was listening just as hard as the others. Maybe even harder.
"How many times did it 'just happen'?" Lulu snapped bitterly.
"After the storm, things were different between us. Everything was different and I felt like we couldn't go back to how to the way things were before. I won't try to make excuses Lulu. But I truly am sorry." He finally finished, his jaw set and his eyes hard.
"You're disgusting. You are the most disgusting piece of crap I have ever laid eyes on. How could you do this to me, with her? With her of all people? She is shallow and selfish, she's ungrateful and high maintenance. Maxie is a lying piece of trash. She's everything you hate Johnny. You threw what we had away for that, that stupid whore." Lulu ranted. By this point her volume had reached an all-time high.
"Lulu-" Johnny started to speak, but Maxie's hand fell on his arm halted the words.
"Don't bother Johnny, If Lulu wants to play with fire then by all means… I'll light this damn place up." With those final words Maxie stormed past in a blur of blonde hair and attitude. Johnny stood in shock for a moment, this was not a part of the plan. Then again with Maxie Jones, plans were hardly ever reliable. She wasn't your average melancholy young girl. Ice Cream and chick flicks wouldn't fix what was broken. And, to be honest no one was even sure what was broken.
"Excuse me, can I have everyone's attention please." Her confident voice broke through the noise of gambling drunks and spinning wheels. Johnny, Lulu and Carly followed the dangerous blonde tentatively. "So I thought, since this is a party, I might as well put on a show."
"Shut up you little hussy." Carly hissed loudly.
"You see Lulu, dear sweet, perfect Lulu, has a little problem. It seams that her so called friend, that's me by the way, and her boyfriend… him right here." She paused gage the reactions she was getting. The faces looking out at her were hauntingly similar to those at her sister's funeral. The same shock, sympathy, and disgust marred their judgmental feature. They all knew what was coming.
"Well we've been sleeping together behind her back. And wow, that must suck." She smiled widely. Behind her, Lulu ground her teeth together to keep from crying. "But here's the thing, innocent little Lulu, thinks that me sleeping with Johnny gives her the right to treat me like dirt. And I'll admit, I totally deserve good slap in the face. But it's the lies and hypocrisy that I take issue with. I thought this would be an appropriate time to clear a few things up."
"You stabbed me in the back Maxie! You were my friend and you betrayed my trust!" Lulu finally cut in.
"Friends?" Maxie scoffed. "You honestly think that we were friends?"
"Yeah, I did. I have to give you credit I mean, you really had me fooled." She replied, her voice shaking.
"Oh spare me the lecture about loyalty and trust. If I wanted a lesson on moral behavior I catch a Brady Bunch marathon. But you of all people do not get to talk to me about friendship!" Maxie shouted back. By this point she was barley even thinking about her and Johnny's plan. Her emotions, her temper; it was all real.
"Are you actually trying to turn this around on me?" Lulu questioned in disbelief. The rest of the room watched on in silence. Nikolas moved to intervene but Luke's hand held him back. He knew that his daughter needed to learn how to fight her own battles. Though it killed him that she had to be in combat with someone as vicious as Maxie Jones.
"It just must be wonderful to be perfect Lulu. You and your flavor of the month get to embark on some storybook romance. All the while you self-righteously look down on me and my life. You get to do whatever you want, and the rest of us are just supposed to cheer you on. And god forbid, I have the nerve to act out or do something you don't approve of. You like to think that every aspect of my life is your business." Maxie's words grew more and more grave. Her voice rang through out the room like the crack of a raging fire.
"You sleeping with my boyfriend is my business."
"You started judging me long before Johnny was screaming my name."
"You drugged my brother! You ruined my relationship with Logan!"
"And you ruined my sister's marriage, you destroyed the last good thing in her life. After Georgie died I had nothing, nothing at all. My job was the only thing that I had to look forward to and you tried your best to make sure I lost that too." Maxie yelled back, the hairs on her neck standing on end.
"We've both hurt each other Maxie, that doesn't excuse the fact that you betrayed me." Lulu's voice shook as she held back a fresh wave of tears.
"I didn't betray you Lulu, that would require our friendship to be even half way balance. I was the one who covered for you at work. I was the one who visited you while you were in Shady Brooke. Hell I begged Johnny to go see you because you were so pathetic and helpless with out him." Her rant began to gain speed. "And you know what? I didn't get a thank you. I didn't get a 'gee Maxie, you're not so bad after all'. No, you continued to judge me and insult me. You continued to be a disaster that I had keep track of."
"That is not how things were." Lulu ground out defensively.
"Isn't it?" Maxie's low, eerie voice prickled at people's skin. "You look at me like I'm beneath you. You talk to me like I'm stupid. I've been screwing your boyfriend for weeks Lulu. Sometimes we were right in your own apartment and you never even noticed. Now who's stupid?" Gleaming with pride Maxie turned around and began her march out the door.
"Now the party is over." She shouted with out sparing a glance backwards.
00000 00000
One hour, and six minutes after Maxie exited the haunted star, leaving a trail of burning embers in her wake, Johnny entered Jake's bar. Most people had chosen to make a hasty retreat after the theatricals of the young love triangle. Lulu quietly informed Johnny that she would find him when she was ready to talk. After that, not another word had been spoken in regards to the torrent affair or massive blow up.
"Whiskey, Coleman. Just give me the whole bottle." Johnny's deep voice registered in the older man's mind. Johnny took a seat at the bar and waited for Coleman to return with his request. To his left, a pair glinting eyes observed him.
"Rough night eh mate?"
"You could say that."
"Pretty impressive though." Ethan Lovett let his intrusive thoughts be known. Johnny fought to hold his tongue. He was in no mood to swap stories with some foreign hot shot.
"If you say so."
"Which one do you think you'll end up with?" He questioned, smiling obnoxiously.
"Neither."
"Yeah? Well then you won't mind if I take a crack at the hot little minx who caused all the trouble?" His slimy smile and innuendo laced words nearly sent Johnny over the edge.
"You don't want to get involved with Maxie." He slowly informed the other man as Coleman returned with Johnny's request. Pouring himself a large glass of whisky, he downed the burning liquor in one gulp. The remedy slid down his raw throat like a savior in the form of a mistake.
"I like a challenge." Ethan continued to boast.
"She isn't like other girls." Johnny told him, meaning every word. "Looking at her you'd think she was fragile, breakable. But she's already too damn broken for anyone to make a difference. You can't break her and you can't fix her. And if you try, you'll only end up hurting yourself." He finished sinking another glass of the intoxicating liquid.
"I'll take my chances."
"No, you won't." The words came out more firmly than Johnny had intended. The possessive quality of his voice took him by surprise.
"I thought you said you weren't planning on ending up with her." Ethan questioned, in sincere confusion.
"I'm going to end up alone. One day I will be completely and irreversibly broken and alone. When that day comes it will be at her hands and her hands only. She's the only woman who can see me well enough to kill me. But until that day comes, she's mine." With those final words, Johnny flung his glass across the bar so forcefully that it shattered into a million pieces.
"Hey, Zaccharra!" Coleman shouted.
"Sorry man, I'll pay for it later just- just put it on my tab or something." Shaking his head in exhaustion, Johnny stood up. He gripped the half empty bottle of alcohol in one hand and used the other to steady his wobbly steps. Ethan looked on in curiosity.
"Okay there mate?" He asked, offering an arm to help. Johnny shoved the other man's arm away and looked up with furious eyes.
"I'm fine. And I'm not your mate." He snapped before exiting the smoky bar and pulling out his phone to dial a now familiar number. She answered on the third ring.
"I need to see you." It wasn't a question or a request. Johnny Zaccharra needed to see Maxie Jones and there was nothing else to it. They had some unfinished business to attend to.
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