Cheer-Streaked: A Westbridge Over-Drama
by The Jessica X

Sabrina & all other characters are © Archie / Hartbreak / Paramount / Whatever. This work of fiction is © myself.

WRITER'S NOTE: I would have updated this Friday, but I took in the new TMNT movie. For those of you laughing at me right now, they were quite a large part of my childhood! I was curious to see what they've been up to in the past decade or so, and I am pleased to report that they've been holding up rather well, so THERE.
Then when I went to update it Saturday, the servers were bogged down - utterly not my fault, there. And, for some reason, when I went to check on the story today I found that this chapter was STILL inaccessable, so I'm going to try replacing the content and see if that helps.

Chapter 14: To Kill A Freakingbird

Shoot, now I've done it - I hit her. I can't believe I just hit her! Okay, so maybe I hate her stupid guts, and her stupid face, and everything about her freakly personage - or maybe I don't, but... I just crossed over the threshold from passive-agressive banter to physical violence, and... how do I feel? Sorry. The remorse surprises me because blah blah blah.

You don't need me to go over that part again, right? One serving of that panicky soliloquy is enough.

The worst part is, nobody made a single sound, so the slap echoed for what seemed like forever. We were both frozen in time, it was so unreal... and I had that forever to think about what I'd just done. Why did I do it? Well, I know why - to stop her from saying any more than the too much she'd already said. But the implications, they were too painful, too tender to touch - my mind reeled just trying to revisit them. Still...

Things came back to life in slow motion. Murmurs started really low, then built as people began moving. Mayday Heyday seemed to think that things were a little too tense, so even though they were supposed to pack up, they started another song. I saw Harvey adjust his tie uncomfortably, and Birkhead's hand was still over her mouth.

"I'm sorry."

For a second, I thought I'd said it... but no, I didn't.

When she straightened up, I could see her cheek was beet-red. Her fingers lightly brushed it, and then wiped a tear (of pain, I hoped) from her eye. "Maybe I was wrong."

It crushed my heart to see her like that; all the light had gone out of her eyes, all the sparkle from her smile. "S-Sabrina-"

"I guess you're exactly where you want and need to be. I'm... I'm sorry I've been so pushy lately."

"Sabrina!"

But it was her turn to ignore me as she walked away. Harvey put his arm around her shoulders and escorted her from the gym, shooting me a look of confusion... or maybe revulsion. I deserved the second one.

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Some stuff happened after that... whatever. Jill and Cee Cee tried to talk to me, but all I could do was mumble incoherently and eventually tell them to leave me alone. I ended up asking Desmond to take me home, which he was nice enough to do.

Sunday happened, too... I guess. There was waaaay too much to think about, so all I remember is my mother knocking on my door a few times to ask how I was... and crying. Lots of crying. Crying for thousands of reasons, the most important of which were the fact that I'd caused that poor little freak pain... who between the two of us was looking less and less like the freak every day.

Finally, Monday morning came, and I hoped I'd be able to lose myself in the swamp of school-ness... but it didn't work. My first class had Sabrina in it.

She wouldn't look at me. I mean, she wouldn't even look at me! I'd killed it; whatever strange, unholy bond we had formed, I'd broken it when I tried to break her face. I spent the whole hour glancing at her, hoping I could catch her eye and somehow tell her I was sorry, but...

I tried to talk to her at lunch, but she put her tray up as soon as she saw me and left the cafeteria. Harvey and Valerie shot me funny looks, then turned purposefully away from me. I didn't know what else to do, so...

"Do you guys have a minute?"

Valerie looked up. I could see the conflict in her face - she had always been desperate to join my clique, but her loyalties weren't there. "Nnno, I'm sorry," she said finally.

"We're kinda having a conversation," Harvey added flatly.

"Oh, cut the crap," I hissed, sitting down. "Could you..."

Now, I really hadn't thought this through; it was weird enough talking candidly with Sabrina, but that wasn't an "I can talk to all freaks like they're people" card. I still felt those impulses - the automatic knee-jerk reaction to be the teen queen, the one that I'd been working on all my life. But I had to supress it if I wanted to get anywhere with this.

"What's that?" Valerie said.

"Could you guys tell her... I'm sorry?"

They both blinked. "You're... what?!" Harvey said, honestly surprised.

"I'm sorry." It surprised me more than them that I had to fight back tears. "That... I guess that's all."

And I fled before it got any weirder.

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There was no way of knowing if she got the message or not, because a week and a half passed and we never spoke once. Well, I shouldn't say that - I tried to speak to her, but she wasn't listening. Every time, I would tell myself it wasn't worth this, that there was no reason to stress over her so much... and yet, I tried again. And again and again and again.

The halls felt sorta empty the last few days of the term, because all the seniors had graduated and skipped out, so it was just us underclassmen. Everything felt like that. I didn't know what I was doing anymore. Nobody could talk to me, or even mattered. I just kinda stumbled down the halls in a daze. As much as those weeks hanging around with Sabrina had changed me, I almost think the post-Prom solitude changed me more... or maybe just more profoundly.

Right, so you're probably thinking by now that I went overboard on all this - that I shouldn't have been so broken up over a lost friendship. And you know what? I agree with you; looking at it from outside, it seems really childish and lame. What's one freak in the grand scheme of things?

But as I looked back on the few weeks we'd spent in the demilitarised zone, as I replayed those days over and over in my mind, there was no fighting it: she was my only real friend. Nobody had ever truly cared about me on a level that deep before... or been worth caring about. And though she wasn't as trend-conscious as my other friends, I couldn't keep lying about it to myself - she actually had a pretty good eye for fashion, even if it was a bit off the beaten path. Nevermind that none of my other friends know every word of "The Funky Song".

Finally, I came to an inevitable conclusion; I had to make this right. As much as I'd never understand it, Sabrina Spellman meant too much to me to just let her fade away from my life, and therefore I had to make her hear me out.

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RI-I-I-I-I-ING!

School was out for the summer. Everyboy was cheering, notebooks were being thrown around, skateboards were being ridden down the halls - Mr. Kraft powerless to stop any of them. He could be seen drinking milk of magnesia at frequent intervals.

I made it out rather quickly and stood watch by the front door, waiting for my golden opportunity. This was going to work, I knew it! My palms itched, and I would have been sweating... if I did that. Which I don't! Finally, the opportunity came, and I tensed, ready to strike.

"When we get to The Slicery," Harvey was saying, "I'm gonna get the biggest pizza ever invented!"

"Yeah, well I just want to go home and sleep for three days solid," Valerie laughed. "'Cause I got nowhere to be!"

Just as Sabrina was about to reply to that, she stopped short when she saw what was dangling in front of her face.

"Keys?" she asked.

"Yes," I said timidly. "To my car. They're yours, if you want."

A strained smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. "Harv, Val... gimme a second? I'll catch up soon."

"Okay," Birkhead said hesitantly. "If you're sure..."

"Yell if you need me to take her down," Harvey offered, maybe trying to lighten the mood.

"Thanks, guys."

We walked away from the doors and toward the bike racks; all the bike kids had already grabbed them and pedaled off as fast as their little legs could go.

Seconds crept by. There was no easy way to go about the whole thing, so I decided to just jump in.

"Sabrina-"

"I don't want your car, Libby."

"Yeah, I figured that." I slipped the keys into my purse. "Seriously, I know you can't be bought... but I thought it might at least get your attention."

A little chuckle. "Well, yeah, I guess it did at that." She squinted at me; the sun was behind my back. "And now that you got it, what do you want?"

"To apologise."

"Okay, I forgive you. Later!"

I dropped my arms in frustration. "C'mon, Sabrina, gimme a break! I'm trying, here!"

"What? You're sorry, and it's okay now. We can go back to how things were before. Isn't that what you want?"

I took a deep breath; here we go.

"No... no, it's not."

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END Chapter Fourteen