Chapter 11
Back in the library, the eight teens were sitting in a circle, chatting about anything and everything...
"...What would I do for a million bucks?" Chris repeated the question that was asked by Velvet. "Hmm, not sure."
"Oh come on, Chris, there has to be something!" the blonde exclaimed. "Would you...have a sex change for a million bucks?"
The others laughed while Chris looked around, shocked. "Wha-N-NO!" he cried. "You kidding, no amount of money is worth throwing away my masculinity!"
"What if it was for $1 million and 99 cents?" asked Alex.
He paused. "...Then, I guess you guys are gonna have to start calling me Christina." he revealed.
They laughed again.
"I'd do that, too!" Maria spoke up.
They all turned to her.
"To be honest, I'd do anything sexual, but I wouldn't have to do it for a million bucks." the redhead continued.
"What?" Jeff asked, shocked.
"No, you're lying..." Mickie began.
"I have! I've done pretty much everything there is except for a couple of illegal things, but for the first part...I'm a nymphomaniac!" she announced.
"That is SUCH a lie." Velvet rolled her eyes.
"Do your folks even know about this?" asked Alex.
"Nope. The only person I told was my shrink..." she shrugged.
"So what did he do when you told him?" asked Jeff.
She had a sick smile on her face. "...He screwed me..."
Jeff nearly choked on his soda, while the others stared at her, wide eyed.
"That's insane!" AJ cried. "If he had sex with a minor, a high schooler, then isn't that considered rape?"
"Nope, I doubt from a legal point of view that what he did could be considered as rape since I paid the dude."
The gang stared at her, speechless.
"...What kind of freak ARE you?" asked Punk.
"Yeah, he's an adult for God's sakes!" Mickie exclaimed.
Maria wasn't bothered, though, as she was enjoying all of this attention that she so rarely received.
"Yep, and he's MARRIED, too!" she continued, smiling.
Velvet shook her head, disgusted. "I cannot believe that I'm hearing this. Do you know how gross that is?" she asked.
"Well, the first couple of times..."
"First COUPLE of times?" Jeff cried. "Maria, this guy did that to you more than once?"
"Sure!"
"Are you insane?" Jeff and Velvet asked at the same time.
"Clearly she's crazy if she's banging her own shrink." Alex announced, matter of factly.
"Well, have either of you girls ever done it?" Maria asked Mickie, AJ, and Velvet.
"No way!" AJ declined. "I'd rather wait until my wedding night, thank you very much."
"Same here. And even if I didn't wait, what you're doing is just wrong on so many levels." agreed Mickie.
"Me, three. Plus, I don't even have a psychiatrist." added Velvet.
"Doesn't have to be a psych. Have you ever did it with a normal guy?" asked Maria.
Punk smirked at this, eager to hear the answer to this.
"Hey, didn't we already go over this earlier?" the blonde demanded.
"Aw, come on, Vel, answer the question..." Punk egged her on.
"No! Look, why should I have to discuss my personal life with a bunch of strangers?" she cried.
"Y'know, whether you have or haven't done it...it still seems like a two edged sword, doesn't it?" asked Maria.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Look, if you say that you haven't done it, then you're a prude, and if you say that you have done it, you're a whore! It's a no win situation. You want to do it, but you cant, but when you do, you wish you didn't!...Right?" the redhead continued.
The gang exchanged confused looks.
"I no understand." Alex shrugged.
"Uh...yeah, she's wrong. I think." Velvet replied.
"Oh, stop being such a tease!" Maria cried.
"Are you being a tease, Vel?" Chris asked, leaning back.
"Chris-oh, can't you all just drop it?" she demanded.
"Come on, I'm a little curious, too. You're keeping something from all of us here and I think that we've known each other here long enough for you to share. So stop being a tease!" Sabin replied.
"Hey, she's only being a tease if what she does gets you hot..." Alex whispered to him with a wink.
"I didn't do anything!" the cheerleader cried.
"And that's exactly why you're a tease." Maria smiled.
"Ok, Grim Reaper, let me ask you a few questions." she turned the tables on her.
"What? I already told you everything about me!"
"Apparently not. Doesn't it make you feel just a bit cheap to sleep around without being in love? Don't you want any respect?" the blonde asked.
"I'd like to know the answer to that, too." Jeff agreed, crossing his arms. He was still shocked that his crush had revealed herself to be this way.
"Look, I don't screw to get respect. That's the difference between us." Maria replied.
"Gosh, hope that's not the only difference." she muttered.
"Aw, just face it, you're a tease and you know it!" Punk announced.
"No, I'm not!" she snapped.
"Sure you are! You just said that you use sex as a weapon, you use it to get yourself respect!"
"I said no such thing! Maria twisted my words up!" the cheerleader retorted.
"So what do you use sex for?"
Velvet was on the verge of tears. "I DON'T use it at all! I didn't mean what I said that way! You're all putting words into my mouth!"
"Look, just answer the question and we'll let this go, it's that simple." Punk replied.
"Answer the question, Velvet." Alex chimed in.
"Come on, Vel, be honest." Chris added.
"I'm...a little curious to hear your answer." AJ said shyly.
"Yeah, it's no big deal!" Maria exclaimed.
"Guys, come on, just leave her alone." Mickie told them.
"Yeah, if she doesn't want to tell, then she doesn't." agreed Jeff.
"But we want to know! Answer it!" exclaimed Alex.
"We're curious, Vel, tell us!" Chris smiled.
"Talk to us, pinky!" Punk smiled along.
"Come on, answer the question!" Chris and Alex exclaimed.
"It's easy, just one question!" Punk continued.
Their overlapping words finally sent Velvet over the edge.
"NO! I HAVE NEVER DONE IT!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face.
The gang finally quieted down, surprised.
"You HAPPY now?" she demanded, breathing heavily.
"Ok, I may as well bring out another bombshell. I never had sex before, either. I'm not a nymphomaniac...I'm a compulsive liar!" Maria announced.
"Come on, Ria, that's not cool..." Jeff shook his head, a little disappointed.
Shocked and pissed, Velvet snapped her attention to her. "You are such a bitch! You did that on purpose just to screw me over, didn't you?"
"Hey, I would do it! Only if I were in love with that person..." she replied, turning to Jeff.
"How dare you? I cannot believe you, I can't believe how-how weird you are! You don't say a word all damn day, and as soon as you open your mouth , you drop all of these-these outrageous lies all over me!" Velvet continued. "And Chris, I thought you were on my side! Why would you help them egg me on about telling my secret?"
"Look, I'm sorry Vel, I really am. But you're just pissed off cause she got you to admit something you didn't want to admit to!" Sabin replied truthfully.
She looked at him and sighed, nodding a little. "All right, whatever, but that doesn't make this situation any less freakish!"
"What's freakish?" Jeff spoke up. "I mean, if you think about it, we're all pretty freakish! Some of us are just good at hiding it, that's all."
"How are you freakish?" asked Velvet.
Maria spoke for him. "He can't seem to think for himself."
He looked at her and nodded. "Yep, she's right. You guys know what I really did to get in here?" he asked.
They turned their attention to him. "Well, uh...you know that kid who fell down the stairs the other day and ended up spraining his arm?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah, he took a nasty fall. Why?" asked Punk.
"Well...he didn't fall. He was pushed. By me." the Enigma announced solemnly.
The others either gasped or stared in wide eyed shock.
"Jeff! But...why?" asked Mickie. "You're like, one of the nicest guys in the whole school, why would you do such a thing?"
"I'm not proud of what I've done! But y'see, the freakish thing was, I did it for my pop. The reason why I can't really think for myself is because, I wanted some kind of attention from him at home. That's why I aim to please others. But the reason why I shoved that kid down was because I wanted my dad to finally notice me! Ever since we lost mom, all he ever cared about was my older brother, Matt. He never gave a damn about me." he continued quietly, shaking his head. Maria understood where he was coming from and placed her hand over his. "I hated that I had to hurt that innocent kid, I hated it! But something inside of me was just screaming for me to go to that extreme in order to get a reaction out of my pop."
"So what did he do when he found out?" asked AJ.
He let out a bitter chuckle. "Nothing. I told him that I got a Saturday detention for it, and was lucky not to have gotten suspended for it, and you want to know what he said? He said that I deserved a night in prison for what I did, and he gladly sent me here! Probably glad that I'm finally out of the house, not moping around. So, that's my story."
"My God, Jeff, I had no idea..." Velvet shook her head, while the others were still quiet.
"I think your old man and my old man should get together and go partying at Dave and Buster's." Punk joked.
Jeff chuckled back.
"I-I kinda understand where you guys are coming from, too." AJ shyly spoke up. "With me, I just feel that my folks have...given up on me. I mean, I know that they love me, but...it doesn't seem real to me. It's like, I look at myself in the mirror every day, and I just don't like who I see staring back at me, I just don't." she revealed.
Inside, Alex's heart was breaking over hearing this from the girl he was growing to love. "What?" he asked, surprised.
"What's wrong, AJ? Why don't you like yourself?" Velvet asked sympathetically.
"I dunno, I guess...just everything about me is so awkward. The way I speak, the way I look at people...guess that's why I don't have that many friends. But who could blame them? I mean, I'm only friends with the geeks who like comics and pokemon, and stuff like that. Plus, I've got straight A's in every subject, so that adds to my nerdiness. So that brings us to the reason why I'm in here. I was the one responsible for placing that paint filled balloon in Angelina Love's locker." she announced, to shocked looks from the gang.
"Wow, April, I...I couldn't picture you doing anything like that!" Alex exclaimed, surprised.
"Hey, I can't stand her, so I have to thank you, April." Mickie smiled a little.
"But why'd you do that? She's one of my best friends, actually." Velvet asked, a little hurt.
"It's because she's one of the cheerleaders like you are! Me and my friends have been looked down, picked on, and stepped on by you guys because you think you're all so superior! Just a little fact here - one of your little friends, Madison Rayne, purposely ruined my friend's science project that she worked for weeks on, just because she felt like she had every right to!" the brunette snapped.
"Look, that was Madison's fault, why are you snapping at me for?" Velvet demanded.
"I just cannot stand you cheerleaders acting like you own this place, that's all. It's mean, it's not right, and you girls are nothing but bullies in short skirts."
"AJ, listen to me! I'm sorry if my friends and I've done anything harsh to you and your friends, but I would never intentionally hurt anyone! That's not who I am! Besides, I can't even stand Madison, she's even mean to me sometimes. But just because they've been acting like bitches, doesn't mean you have to bite my head off, too." the blonde continued. "To be honest, a few years ago...I was unpopular, too."
"Wow, that's a shocker." Punk said, his eyes widening.
"It's true. Nobody would give me a second look until I finally ditched my glasses for contacts, got that boob job, and nearly starved myself to get my figure. Looking back, it really wasn't worth all the damage I've done to myself." she shook her head.
"Wow, Velvet...I didn't know." AJ said, a little guilty. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"It's ok. You had every right to be angry." she flashed her a smile.
"Ok, so I guess the lesson learned here is that neither of you two is better than the other, am I right?" asked Alex.
They smiled and nodded towards one another.
"Guess so. So what's your story, Alex? Why are you in detention with us?" asked AJ.
"Not much to tell, dear April. The other day, some kid brought up my past and I had to punch him out. Badly." he replied, staring at the opposite wall. "See, not many young 17 year olds get to hear and go through the disturbing truth of learning that you were adopted, and haven't been told of it for the last 17 years of your life." he revealed next, provoking some more shocked looks from his comrades. "Yeah, it stings. The day my 'folks' told me-no, scratch that-the day I FOUND out on my own that I wasn't related to them, I just couldn't believe it. So I had to squeeze the truth outta them and after seventeen-SEVENTEEN years, they finally tell me that my birth parents pretty much never gave a second thought about me and just left me at the hospital for whoever came by to pick me up instead." he continued, cracking his knuckles at the memory. "Sometimes, I still wonder why they never wanted me to begin with. I didn't turn out that bad, did I?"
The others quietly shook their heads in mutual understanding, while AJ teared up a little and wrapped her arms around him.
"So that's why I became a musician, to just...get away from life and to finally do something that makes ME happy. But you know what? Even though a part of me will be pissed at my folks for lying to me all these years, at least they support what I do." he smiled a little.
"Well, at least things are looking up for you, Shelley, and I think you turned out pretty decent." Chris said with a smile, while the others nodded along.
"Thanks, man. So uh, who wants to share something now?" asked Alex. "How'd you get in here, Mickie?"
"Pretty simple. As you all probably know, I don't like to take bull from anyone, and the reason I'm in here is similar to Alex's. I got in a pretty brutal fight with someone after they called me a 'poor, low class piece of trailer trash'." the brunette announced.
"Oh my God, that's terrible!" AJ whispered.
"What'd you do after the fight?" asked Punk, who was a little upset at this. He wasn't supposed to have any sympathy for any of these people who he barely knew, but for some reason, he felt differently for her.
"Well, my folks were pissed that I got into another fight, first of all, and mentioned that I needed this detention to think about what I've done. But what was there to think about? I mean, I know that I'm a tough girl, but what she said really hurt me! Yeah, I don't dress in name brands like Velvet here, and I don't have all the money in the world! I'm not blonde, I'm not a cheerleader, I don't like dressing in a skirt, and I don't like trying to be the child that my parents want me to be!" she cried, getting more and more upset. "You know why they named me Mickie? It was because my father wanted a boy, and once I popped out, I'm sure I could picture the disappointment on his face. And all my life, I tried to please him, I TRIED to be what he envisioned for me to be! That's why I dress like a tomboy sometimes, and that's why I get into fights with everything and everyone! It's just not fair. I shouldn't have to justify myself for him. I just...I don't deserve this." she said, her voice breaking.
Surprisingly, Punk placed a hand over her knee. "He doesn't deserve you." he said quietly, to her surprise.
She looked at him. "Wow...that's like...the nicest thing you've said to anyone all day."
"Yeah, I guess all of this sharing has softened me up a little. So changing gears here-" he began.
Maria cut him off by exclaiming, "I can write with my toes!"
They looked at her.
"I can eat, brush my teeth-"
"With your feet?" Mickie asked slowly.
"And play 'Chopsticks' on the piano." she finished.
"I can make jell-o!" Alex announced, eliciting a giggle from AJ.
Velvet turned to Chris. "So, what can you do?"
"Well, uh...I can beat you all in everything since I'm so confident in myself." he shrugged with a smirk. "Look, I can make a 'U' with my tongue, too!" he cried, doing just that.
"Well get down, Arrogant Cockypants." Punk said sarcastically. "But I wanna see what Velvet can do."
"I can't do anything."
"Aw, come on! Everyone can do something." Chris replied.
"Well...ok, there's one thing that I can do-no, never mind, it's too embarrassing." she shook her head.
"Aw, come on! We've been sharing all afternoon, no point in hiding anything else from us." Jeff replied.
"Ok, but you all have to swear on your lives that you won't laugh." she smiled. "Can't believe I'm really doing this..."
After that, she turned around so that her back was facing them, she lifted up the back of her shirt, and then flexed both of her arms all the way back, revealing both of her shoulder blades poking ahead from her skin.
"OH!" Alex hooted, laughing.
"Holy crap, how do you do that?" asked AJ.
"That's awesome!-Sick!" Jeff, Maria, and Mickie exclaimed, clapping. Meanwhile, Punk's clap was sarcastic and slow.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" asked Chris.
"Summer camp." she smiled, but her smile soon faded once they all heard Punk still 'clapping'.
"Amazing, Vel. My image of you has changed for the worse." he said bitterly.
"Don't be such a shit! Don't be mean to her, you swore that you wouldn't laugh!" Maria exclaimed.
"Oh, am I laughing?" he asked disparagingly. "Just look at my happy teeth!"
"You're a prick, you know that?" Chris snapped.
"Yeah, seriously, can't you just shut up before you make things worse?" agreed Alex.
CM turned to Shelley, getting angry since his words began to hit home. "Oh, what do you care what I think, anyway?" he asked in a scornful whisper. "I don't count, right? I could disappear forever, and nobody would give a damn. Your words, remember?" Then, he turned to Velvet. "And YOU! You don't even like me anyway!"
"Why the hell should I when you've been acting like a douche to all of us all day?" she demanded. "Besides, I have just as many feelings as you do, considering that you even HAVE feelings, and it hurts me just as much when somebody steps all over them!"
"Oh, go and cry me a fucking river! You are so pathetic!" Punk snapped, furious. "Don't you EVER, ever! Think about comparing yourself to me, ok? You have everything, trust funds, everything! You're set for life! See, I may have had a beef with everyone here, but at least the person that I can sympathize with the most is Mickie, because she knows how it really is to come from such a shitty background."
While he continued his tirade, Mickie was a little touched that he truly understood her story, but decided not to say anything.
"Like I said, Vel, you have everything and I got shit! You're what, fuckin' Cinderella, aren't ya? School would probably fuckin' close down if you were late for class! 'Oh, dear God, Princess isn't here, it's the end of the world'!" he imitated. "Oh, and by the way, I love those earrings, Velvet."
She was hurt. "Shut up..." she muttered quietly.
"Are those real diamonds, Vel?"
"I said, shut up!" she repeated, angry.
"Bet they are. Did you work, you know, to get the money to buy those earrings?"
"Shut your LYING mouth!"
"Or did daddy buy those?" he asked mockingly.
"SHUT UP!" she screamed, furious. Soon afterwards, his words were getting to her and she began crying, not even realizing when she threw herself into Chris's arms.
"Hey, hey, don't listen to him, all right?" he said, roaming a soothing hand across her back. "Punk, you are one self righteous son of a bitch." he told him, shaking his head.
"Tell me something I don't know. Now Vel, why you hiding? I'm just telling you what you already know! I know he brought you those pretty little earrings! They were probably a Christmas gift! Right? Well, you know what I got for X-mas this year? It was a fan-fucking-tastic year at the Brooks residence! And my X-mas gift was a nice ass kicking from my pop. The old man grabbed me and beat the shit out of me like a homeless mutt. Okay? So you go home and cry to your daddy, don't bring the waterworks over here, all right?" Punk finished.
The room was totally silent, as Velvet wiped away her tears and gained her composure again.
"My God. Are we gonna end up like our parents?" Jeff asked thoughtfully.
Mickie scoffed. "Not me. Not ever."
"But it's unavoidable. Shit like that just happens." replied Maria.
"What happens?" she asked.
"When you get older, your heart dies." she explained.
"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Punk.
"Everything!" she cried back, on the verge of tears herself.