Recap: The four of them went to school together, chatting enthusiastically. "Now I won't have to worry about tutoring anymore," Boomer said brightly. "I feel like all my troubles have just gone and left town."

Buttercup slapped him on the back. "I'm pretty sure your brothers will be too chicken to come out now, after those speeches you threw at their dumb faces."

"I'm really proud of you," Blossom said, then looked up as the wind lifted her hair. No more problems…She squinted at the sky. What was that? No more problems… She blinked and it was gone.

No more problems…

Chapter 13: Boomer and the Girls (lol)

The autumn wind brushed past them as they walked the crowded premises of Pokey Oaks High, chatting endlessly and waving at familiar friends who waved at Boomer in a friendly manner to acknowledge his presence. For the first time he felt the 'new-kid-in-school' demeanor as they made their way to the school's double doors, but it quickly wore away and he felt straight at home.

When the time for the warning bell drew near, the four of them made their way to the classroom. "Wait, what about our seats though?" Boomer said suddenly, the tone of his voice quivering only slightly. "I sit at the bench behind you guys, right, but uh…"

"Oh yeah," Blossom said, recalling. "You sit in between your brothers. But then…"

The rest of her sentence could be deciphered through the glances they gave each other.

"…What should I do?" Boomer problematically whined.

"You could squeeze in with us," Bubbles suggested.

"Fine, but I ain't gonna be on the edge," Buttercup snorted.

"Is that even allowed, though?" Blossom worriedly said, wringing her hands.

"Hmm, how about we just hope we don't get noticed?" Buttercup said sweetly. "It's just for first period anyway."

Their eldest sister slowly shook her head as she spoke. "That won't work for long… We need permits of authority…" she repeated over and over with a frown, even as her companions looked at each other, shrugged and disregarded her words; as they walked into the classroom and proceeded without a care; or when she scooted over to give Boomer room when he said, "Excuse me."

The teacher was writing student council titles on the board, announcing that classroom elections were to begin that very day. Buttercup dully twirled a pen between her fingers, imagining everyone else nominating and voting for their friends, but dropped her pen with surprise as she stared up at her sister's hand in the air.

"Ma'am, I would like to nominate myself as class president."

Hearing this, several of her friends' hands twitched eagerly as they waited to thrust their hands into the air to vote for her. Those who frowned upon people who 'arrogantly' nominated themselves quietly sneered as the teacher efficiently wrote Blossom on the board under the Class president column. She then turned to face the class. "Would anyone else like to…?"

"I would," said a voice that indeed sounded arrogant. The class turned their heads to face the redheaded boy who had uttered those words. He had a sleepy look in his half-lidded eyes, and the skin on his left cheek thickened against the pressure of his hand, which supported it. His other hand was in the air.

Blossom did not expect this. She did not even notice or remember that he was there.

"Well… all right," the teacher said, scribbling Brick below Blossom. She turned again straightened. "Anyone else?"

But it seemed that no one wanted to compete with either Brick or Blossom. A bit reluctantly, the teacher went on with the voting, slowly stating an introductory sentence, which Buttercup snickered though, grinning at her sister. She lazily crossed her arms behind her head. "Who would vote for someone they barely know?" she huskily whispered to her seatmates.

This was cold comfort to her sisters. Just because most of them know her doesn't all of them like her, thought Bubbles pessimistically. She squinted suddenly. Wait, why am I thinking these thoughts? Why wouldn't they like her?

She shook her head, disturbing Buttercup, who scowled and complained about the golden fluff she had smacked into her mouth.

Blossom, however, appeared to be having even more pessimistic thoughts. In her head, she was reviewing each and every reason there might be against her winning the election. This did not appear in her face, though. She was looking determinedly at her teacher, whose talk was brief but seemed to slow for Blossom.

Then the moment came. "Those who wish to vote for Ms. Utonium…"

Several hands rose in the air, but it did not appear to be the majority. How many were in the class? Blossom skimmed the small crowd. Twenty-seven students, were there?

The teacher counted each hand, but did not announce the number of raises in favor of Blossom. "And now, for Mr. Jones…?"

The hands dropped, others rose—the number did not look far from the former group. The teacher squinted through her glasses, counting. Then she turned and picked up the chalk, evidently to place a check next to the president…

She slashed out Blossom's name.

Gasping sharply, Blossom placed her palms onto the table, ready to rise to her feet.

And she slashed out Brick's name.

"Eh?" she said inwardly, her knees bent, then fell back again. Her opponent quirked a brow.

"Well… it would seem… that there is a tie."

Oh God, that was clichéd.

Now Blossom slammed her palms onto the table and stood up, her mouth opened in protest, but no words came out of her mouth as she was surprised to hear the simultaneous scrape of the chair behind her. She turned, and saw Butch cursing under his breath, picking himself up from the floor, and Brick, who appeared to not have noticed his brother, standing with resolve. He also opened his mouth to speak, but was once again interrupted by the scraping of another bench, and this time it was accompanied by the simultaneous cries of Blossom's sisters, who fell on the floor.

"Ma'am, I hope it's not too late, but I'd like to nominate myself as president."

Around the room, each and every student besides Boomer himself all had similar looks of WTFness on their faces.

It took the teacher several seconds before she shakily straightened her crooked glasses and croaked, "W-well—"

"Ma'am, how about we campaign for our positions?" suggested Brick. "This may be a chance for some new students to get to know us better."

"I second the motion," Blossom said somberly, keen on Brick's intentions.

"I go with whatever Blossom says," Boomer said.

There was a resounding noise of approval that circulated about the classroom.

"C-class," the teacher stuttered, her face reddening with the stress, "please do not get worked up over this. How about we count the votes for Brick and Blossom once more? It is only a classroom officer position—"

But the protests that were shot back at her made things apparent that the students wanted a little more excitement into their first days of school. The teacher slumped in defeat and gave in.

After that, the elections for the smaller positions began.

When the recess bell rang, Boomer and the girls (Haha, "Boomer and the Girls" xD) hung back as the rest of the students filed out of the classroom, some classmates politely wishing them luck and giving gestures of encouragement as they passed.

When the rest were safely out of earshot, Blossom hissed, "Boomer, what the hell were you thinking? Running as class president? You didn't have to make things harder for yourself!"

"I know," Boomer said, rather uneasy under Blossom's reproachful gaze. "But I didn't want you competing against Brick on your own."

Blossom sighed, her forehead meeting her palm. Bubbles blushed, lips meeting her knuckles. Buttercup snorted with amusement, arms crossed. "Well, dear Booms," she remarked, "did you give the fact that you'll be competing against Blossom any thought?"

There was a pause.

Buttercup held her stomach, bursting into laughter. Bubbles looked more uncomfortable as Blossom looked more exasperated. "You didn't need to butt in, Boomer; really," the latter mumbled, planting her hands at her sides.

"Well," Boomer said sheepishly, "I got no regrets. Even though we'll be competing against each other it'll be better if one of the two of us wins rather than him, right? The goods are two out of three."

Blossom continued to look at him, brows creased. Whether she agreed with him or didn't, Boomer could only guess. "Maybe," she indecisively said in a stubborn tone.

Buttercup let out an enormous yawn and whacked both president candidates on the back, causing them to stumble toward each other. "Well. This spices things up a bit, ne?"

Bubbles could only whimper.

Boomer's POV

Aw craaaaaaaaap. What the hell was I thinking?

Okay, I have no potential at all to lead anything. Only Brick ever did anything while I was with them. And I learned nothing.

Well, not that I'd wanna learn anything from him. Eurgh.

I guess what really provoked me to run as president was the connection—the um, the feudal connection that always seemed to rise between Brick and Blossom. Ugh. It's always the two of 'em.

I dunno why, but I just had the urge to butt in.

…

Was what I did good? I mean, I don't always act on my own whims. Until lately.

Ehm, not that it's a bad thing. But this is all new to me. So I'm not sure if I'm making the right decisions or not. Why did I even do it?

…Well, I'm not sorry that I quit the stupid RRB group.

And, after a few seconds to ponder while I'm walking down the hall, I realize that I'm not sorry that I butted in on Blossom and Brick, either.

It was way too easy.

It always seemed as if Boomer was spaced out, and today it wasn't difficult to figure out what he was thinking. He was walking aimlessly in the hall, hands in pockets, head bent, and eyes concentrated but seeing nothing. And of course, he didn't see what was coming when he entered a crowd, rather a thin one, but also sufficient enough for him to disappear unnoticed.

So the next thing he knew, he was being yanked away by the collar and was slammed against a wall in a distant corner in campus, at a shadowy place behind the school buildings. He winced, and the first thing he saw when his sight came into focus was none other than the sinister look on Brick's face.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't the traitor."

"What do you want with me, Brick?" He hated the whiny tone in his voice and secretly hoped that puberty would hit him soon. It was late for him (but for Butch, it was all too early lol).

The redhead ignored his brother's question. "Thought that you could gain a standing ground by competing as president against me, eh, next to your little pink princess?" As he said this, he grabbed at Boomer again and slammed him against the wall, where a spiderweb crack appeared at Boomer's head. Cringing and weak-kneed, the blond dared look up at him.

"There's nothing you can do about that."

Brick smirked. "Or is there?" And out of nowhere he pulled a photo in front of Boomer's face.

"Ohmigod!" Boomer yelled, his eyes saucer-wide at the first glimpse of Blossom in her pearl pink button-up blouse, only it was unbuttoned, clearly revealing the bra underneath. The photo was dimly lit but each seemingly erotic feature of Blossom's upper body angle was distinct, complete with her waves of red bed hair strands cradling her face and tumbling over her milky white skin. She looked as if they were in the middle of…

Boomer slapped the photo from his brother's grasp and began to tear it in half. Brick laughed, pausing Boomer and making him seem smaller. "I've got copies. I'm not stupid."

"W-what do you want?" Boomer stuttered.

Brick only smirked in reply.

Rather Annoying A/N: Wow, okay, so this is getting more dramatic as each chapter goes… Hang in there alright, thanks for the motivation… I've been wondering if anyone wanted The Will to Kill updated, since it's been a hell of a long time, but this received the most votes… Anyways, I'll be reviving the poll so you can continue casting in your votes. Keep reviewing, it keeps me going on.

[*squeals* I can totally imagine them in anime form! EEE!]