From Chex: Belated. Yes. I'm well aware of that. But I'd bet a late chapter is better than no chapter. And, for the record, I warned you all in advance that I might not be too reliable with updates. So I can't be held thatresponsible. Anyway, this chapter is in Bubbles's POV.
"Would you quit smiling like that?" Bell groaned. "You're creeping me out." Homeroom seemed as quiet as usual. Most of the guys were turned in Bell's direction, and so were the girls for that matter. But for different reasons obviously. I've learned that Bell's way of tuning this out is to doodle on her desk, books, homework, anything really.
But hopefully this'll change soon. "I'm just so happy for you!"
She ducked her head so I couldn't see her face. "Yeah, yeah. Just tone it down a little, huh? It's kind of...embarrassing how you're getting all excited. Like a mom or something."
A mom? "Sorry," I gave her an apologetic smile, which she returned, and all as forgiven. Bell's going over to Lacey McHenry's house today for their project. It's the first time she's been over anyone's house since she got here. Honestly, it's the first time she's hung out with anybody but me. I'm so glad she's making friends! Not that I don't like hanging out with Bell, but I've got to stay late and help Rachel practice our new routine. I'd hate to leave Bell alone with Buttercup and Blossom. God only knows what would happen...
Things have been rockier than usual since the, um, soccer incident. Buttercup despises Bell even more than before, if that's possible. And Blossom's kind of ticked at her too. I think it's because Bell asked the Professor if she could go to Lacey's instead of asking Blossom. That seems kind of petty to me, but Blossom's really strict about that kind of thing. She's really strict about anything concerning Bell.
"So, back to you," Bell said, switching topics. "You haven't said a word about..." Her eyes shot over to Blossom, who was probably listening but pretending not to. "You know." Then she pulled out The Book. It's a spiral, sticker-covered notebook that we use for all the things we can't say outloud. We really only use it here in homeroom since we only have this class and lunch together.
She passed The Book over to me. We didn't even talk about what you're wearing. Are you ok with this?
I sighed, which probably tipped her off. No, I'm not really okay with this. The idea of being alone with Boomer for who-knows how long terrifies me. Which is kind of why I've thrown myself into helping Rachael and being happy for Bell. I don't really want to think about it.
And I haven't really talked to Boomer since he asked me. At least aside from polite greetings. I don't know what to say or how to act around him. Especially since he tries so hard to get my attention now. I mean, why does he even want to go out with me? He's never really seemed interested before. In fact, he's never talked to me before this.
I'm just not really into Boomer, I wrote back.
I saw her roll her eyes a little, probably thinking I was being silly again. So cancel with Boomer and say yes to Ryan.
But I'm not that into Ryan either. Besides the fact that Amy would hate me for dating her ex, Ryan's not really...my type. He's too sports absorbed. All he talks about is football and working out. He shows off his muscles too much, which doesn't impress me at all since I can lift more than twenty times his weight. And he's immature whenever he's with the guys. They always make disgusting jokes and act like pigs. And as much as I hate to say it, he meets Buttercup's definition of a stereotypical jock perfectly.
He's not my type at all.
I debated on what to tell Bell. Something crackled over the intercom.
"--that's awesome!"
The room fell silent. The voice was kind of familiar. I couldn't hear exactly what it was saying though.
"Would you shut the hell up?!"
Oh...Oh no.
"What the hell is your problem?" The second voice asked, immediately recognizable this time.
"My problem is you've been on the phone for the past twenty minutes talking about how you're gonna screw Amy! We're supposed to be getting ready to do the announcements."
"I am ready! And besides, have you seen her ass? Total screwability."
God, I really hope they're not talking about the Amy I think they're talking about.
"You're such a man-whore."
"Like you're one to talk! At least Idon't have to go to some skanky club to get laid."
By now the whole class was in hysterics. Bell was giggling uncontrollably, clutching the side of her desk. Everyone else was desperately trying to control themselves so they could hear the rest of whatever they were talking about. I don't get whats so funny about this. But I guess I'm just not amused by stuff like this. There isn't any type of altercation I find funny.
"...What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh, please. You don't have to play dumb. I was there. Blonde dude at X ring a bell?"
There was a loud bang and I heard Buttercup shriek in a very un-Buttercup way. "W-What the hell, man?! Are you stalking me or something?!"
"You wish." There was a crackling noise that sounded like Butch laughing. "So how much'd he pay you? Or was a drink all it took?"
"What I do is none of your damn business! Besides, I thought you didn't go to 'skanky clubs' like that. What were you doing there?"
"I said I didn't have to go there to get laid. Maybe I was just lookin' for some good drinks."
"Or maybe you were just following me like the low-life piece of shit you are."
"Don't flatter yourself, hon. I can, and have, done so much better. I have tactics."
Buttercup barked a humorless laugh. "Ch'yea Right! The tactic of raping anything in a skirt, maybe."
"It's a thoughtful operation--"
"Oh, you're right. It must take a lot of thought to operate something that small."
"What did you say?!"
The room exploded into another round of laughter. Ms. Tank had given up on trying to control the students, which I can't recall ever happening before. Bell was laughing every bit as loud as everyone else. I think she just likes hearing Butch get told off since whatever happened with them happened. She never really gave me any details that day we saw him walking out.
Blossom looked furious. I'm not sure why though. I mean, Buttercup's done worse stuff, right? Yesterday was a perfect example of that. But, now that I think about it, she didn't really get in much trouble for that. I don't even think the Professor knows about it. And she gets to plan the Snow Ball! Since when is that considered a punishment?
There were some loud bangs and crackling over the speaker.
The next thing I heard was Buttercup's voice sounding loud and irritated as usual. "--off! God...Look, Ms. Merridan wants us to start...Why isn't she coming in?"
"I locked the door."
"...the hell? Why?"
"Nn...I always leave the doors locked."
Buttercup snorted. "Well, what the hell makes you think I wanna be locked in a room with you?"
"You've got it so bad for me."
"Oh, fuck off! Let's just do the freakin' announcements and get it over with."
"Like anyone actually listens to those things..."
They proceeded to go over the usual morning announcements in bored, monotone voices. This only made everyone even more hysterical since neither of them seemed aware that the whole school had heard that conversation. Blossom and I were the only ones not laughing. Bell was starting to calm herself down though. She reached for the book and I scribbled something down quickly.
Buttercup's in sooo much trouble!
No more than before.
So I'm not the only one who noticed that she got off kinda easy. That's just because Rugman hasn't called the Professor.
He did call. I blinked and squinted at it. I'm wearing my contacts so I think I'm reading this right.
No he didn't.
Did too. I answered the phone.
Then why doesn't the Professor know?
She shrugged. I didn't tell him.
Of course I asked why, but she just shrugged again and put The Book away. She was pretty quiet after that. I can't help wanting to get inside her head sometimes. She's so nice, but Blossom and Buttercup don't try to see it. They treat her like crap and she's still nice enough to do something like cover for Buttercup. And sometimes I wish she wasn't so nice. Because I know Blossom and Buttercup only want to protect everyone. It's killing me, knowing all their standpoints and not being able to make them see each others.
The bell rang.
"Catch ya later," Bell waved and left, followed by a legion of fanboys.
Blossom caught my arm as I was going out the door. Her face was set in a severe frown, her eyebrows knitted together. She didn't look directly at me. "If you see Buttercup before I do tell her we need to have a talk."
"Okay," I sighed. "Just don't be too hard on her." She left without answering.
Great. Now I've got to try and calm Blossom down before she can get to Buttercup or this is going to blow up into another big argument...
Why do I always have to play peacemaker?
--
"Hey, Bubbles."
Oh, man... "Um, h-hi Boomer." He slid down in the seat next to me, giving me a wide smile. I've pretty much given up trying to avoid him. We have three out of five classes together, and he seems pretty persistent on making sure he can always get the seat next to me.
Like now. We're in Art, which is normally my favorite class. I do really good in this class. I always have, for some reason. I can get into art the way Blossom can get into a really good book or Buttercup gets into a match. I kind of lose focus on everything but that one particular thing and suddenly nothing else matters. Which is why I always draw or paint when I'm upset.
But finding that kind of inner peace is sort of difficult when the thing that's upsetting you is sitting less than three feet away.
"Uh, you know Jan usually sits there," I mentioned to him as soon as I saw her walk in. I caught her eye. She looked from me to Boomer, winked, and found a seat two tables away with Alice Beem. (We have three tables instead of desks since it's more convenient to set up easels.)
This isn't good.
Boomer shrugged. "I don't think she minds." He turned in her direction and waved. I saw Jan and Alice hide behind their hair, giggling.
"Boomer..." This is never going to work. He draws way too much attention, which is a good and bad thing. I want Ryan to get the picture so that he'll leave me alone, but I really don't want this to get back to Blossom.
All Blossom did last night at dinner was go on and on about how she can't stand Brick. And I can't blame her, really. He's is pretty scary, rude, and antisocial. But I can only imagine what she'd say (or do) if she found out I had a date with his brother. Especially after she stressed the No Dating Ruffs rule the other night.
She'd kill me. But...
Boomer is cute. Really cute. Almost every girl in school thinks so. And according to Bell he has that "heroic boy-next-door look that's just too hard to resist." (I didn't even try to understand how a villain can have a heroic look.) But I can't let myself fall for that. I'm not supposed to trust him. So I won't. And I'll only go out with him this once to keep Ryan away until I can think of a gentle way to turn him down. That's all. Just this once.
"Boomer, can I ask you something?" I felt him looking at me, but instead of looking at him I focused intently on my sketchpad, trying to make the series of rough lines I'd drawn take some kind of decent shape.
"Sure. What's up?"
"Why do you want to go out with me?" He didn't answer right away and I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked...confused.
"Because you're cute...and nice," he added.
I sighed. Typical. Why do guys have to be so superficial? They only care about the way I look. No guy has ever bothered to try to learn anything about me. I'm not a doll. I'm not around just for show. I have feelings, ideas, and opinions just like everyone else. Does anyone care about that? "Is that it?"
"I told you, I want to get to know you better." He grinned at me again and I tried to think of all the reasons why I shouldn't let that fool me.
I'm not supposed to trust him. I'm not. "Look...I don't know what you want, but you're not getting it from me," I said firmly. Bell told me the key to not getting used is to be direct with guys and don't worry so much about hurting their feelings.
Boomer stared at me, wide-eyed. "I...What? I-I wasn't trying to get you in bed or anything!" He held up his hands innocently. Several heads turned in our direction. I saw Jan and Alice give me curiously shocked looks.
Oh my God! "What? What are you talking about?!" My face felt like it was on fire. God, this is embarrassing. Why did he have to say that of all things? And...Oh man, everyone's staring. "Who said anything about you...us...that?" I asked as quietly as possible, trying to ignore all the weird looks I was getting.
"You...ah, what were you talking about?" he asked, uncertainly.
"Not that!" I was just saying in general. I have no idea why Boomer's acting like this all of a sudden, but I just don't want him using me.
He scratched his head, looking almost as embarrassed as I felt. "Oh..." I turned away from him and focused back on my sketchpad. The lines still weren't making sense. They were just a messy tangle of marks all over my paper. There were holes in the paper were I'd pressed too hard without noticing.
Boomer cleared his throat. "So, um...can I get your number?"
--
I wonder where Rachel is.
Sitting on the bleachers just inside the gym, I set my bag in between two rows and waited. The gym is always open to anyone during the week until about five. Rachel and I have been in here a couple of times since last week. She really needs to work on this routine...
Rachel's been worrying all week that Amy's going to kick her off. And...I'm a little scared she might be right. Amy and the rest of the girls have never treated Rachel that well because she's...a little thicker than them. But Rachel is really serious about being a part of the team. She's been killing herself trying to get this routine down, so even if she doesn't master it I think she deserves to stay on.
The door creaked open and I jumped up, assuming it was Rachel. "Ready to start?"
It wasn't. "Hey, Bubs." Ryan entered, grinning at me. I froze, not sure if I should sit back down or not. "Can I, uh, talk to you for a second?"
Oh, no. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. "Um...sure?" Ok. I should relax. He may want to talk about something completely innocent. He's probably already over me. He might've even asked someone else out.
I sat back up on the bleachers. Ryan leaned up against them, a little closer than I would've liked but I decided not to mention it this time. "So what is it? Rachel should be coming in any minute. We're supposed to be working on the routine for the game next week. I heard the Citiesville team is pretty hard. Are you guys nervous?" I asked, hoping to distract him long enough for Rachel to come in. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to what I was saying. It took me a minute to realize he was staring at the hem of my shorts, which rose up a little when I sat down. I shifted to the side a little and he blinked. "Ryan?"
"Huh?" He sat up straighter and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Oh, right. Yeah. So, uh, I heard you and what's-his-face are dating."
Ok. I guess there's no distracting him from this. "Um, I have a date with Boomer tomorrow."
He frowned. "Yeah. That. Are you sure about it?"
No. Not at all. "What do you mean?"
He sighed and pushed away from the bleachers. "I'm just sayin', you don't...I mean, he doesn't really seem like your type."
You're not my type either. God, I wish I could say that. Just so he'd leave me alone and maybe then I wouldn't even have to go out with Boomer. But I won't. I could never be that...blunt. I bit my lip, turning my face away. "I don't know what you mean."
He groaned, frustrated I guess. He grabbed me by the shoulders. "C'mon Bubs! You don't want to go out with that loser!"
I shrugged my shoulders, frowning, and he let go. "Why would you call him that? You don't even know him."
"Everyone knows them. They're not...normal. And aren't they evil anyway? Isn't that bad for your image?"
I don't believe him! It's one thing for me and my sisters to have opinions about them, but no one else knows them like we do. And they haven't done anything evil in eleven years. Yeah, Brick's scary, but he doesn't outwardly bother anyone. And Butch really isn't any worse than any of the other bullies around here. And Boomer...well, he seems okay around everyone else. In fact, now that I think about it, he does seem pretty nice in class. He doesn't keep to himself the way Brick and Butch do. And he does get along with people as well as can be expected. Some people have a problem with the boys, but I haven't heard of anyone having an issue with Boomer personally.
I laughed a little bit. I can't believe I'm thinking this now.
"Bubs, I'm being serious," Ryan said, trying to get my attention. I guess he thought I was laughing at him. "He isn't good for you."
I smiled at him a little bit. "Thanks for your concern, Ryan. But I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. And I don't think my image will suffer too much." He didn't look too convinced, but he let it go.
For now anyway.
"If you say so, I guess," he mumbled. We both knew the conversation was over, he started to back out of the room. "I'm just worried for you. Let me know if you change your mind. " I nodded and he turned to leave.
"Hey, Ryan," I called. He looked over his shoulder. "Thanks for telling me." He nodded, giving me a look that said he didn't really understand what I meant but wasn't worried about it.
I smiled to myself, swinging my legs over the edge of the bleachers. I think that's exactly what I needed. Maybe I should give Boomer a shot. Sure, he was a little weird earlier, but maybe he's just as nervous about this as I am. I shouldn't hold that against him. I can't believe it took Ryan to make me see things a different way, but maybe I should go into this whole thing with a fresh mind. I think that's something Blossom's told me before. Too keep an open mind on all accounts, or something.
I mean, what's the worst that could happen?
From Chex: I am not satisfied with this chapter. And I doubt I ever will be. This was not how I pictured it. And I retyped it at least three times. But I guess this is the best I can do for now. I feel like I'm in a writing slump. If I hadn't taken so long to update I probably would've held this back, but I guess what I really need is feedback. So please, if you all would.