Chapter 14

It is common City legend how Darla Gather from Sydney, Australia ran over and killed the Twisted Bitch of the Freshmen on her first day at City. Libby, upon hearing the crash, went over to the scene and found the girl being doted on by a bunch of freshmen. Rose was in fact so hated that her classmates actually celebrated her death, and hailed Darla as a heroine. Mrs. Grufuld quickly and quietly got her granddaughter acquitted of manslaughter in the meantime.

Elizabeth arrived to find her sister dead, and Darla wearing that precious velvet scarf that represented Mr. Thornberg's love for his younger daughter. Elizabeth immediately disliked everything about Darla, from her silly, country girl pigtails to her annoying Australian accent. Plus, what made it worse was that the scarf (Rose's scarf!) was secured on the girl's impertinent neck by a safety pin with a combination. Libby credited Mr. Oswald, but Elizabeth was suspicious. This whole thing stunk of Mrs. Grufuld.

After making Darla satisfactorily terrified, Elizabeth took Rose's body back to the bleachers to have a proper funeral. She checked her phone and found a text from Fejiro. The dudes were 2 close 2 the bleachers. Had 2 bolt. I'll sneak n2 ur bio class. Sry bout ur sis. Luv u xo. Elizabeth sighed and texted back immediately. K. B careful. Ttyl. 3

She burned Rose's body and had a good cry. She knew she had to get it out of her system before she was face to face with Darla again. Elizabeth felt a certain uncontrollable rage against the girl, and she had to nurture that if she wanted to get back that scarf. She had to be a twisted bitch.

Once the freshmen had all gone to class, Elizabeth made her way back to the student parking lot. Libby was there, staring at Darla's wrecked smart car. "You should be in class," Elizabeth remarked, making Libby jump.

"I'm waiting for them to come and toe this," Libby said, regaining her haughty air. "I have nothing left to say to you."

"Understand this." Elizabeth strode over to the other side of the car, now facing Libby. "She rams her clumsy car into my sister, and now she gets the scarf too?! What kind of screwed up logic is that? I am Rose's sister and her next of kin! This is unlawful!"

"Oh, what do you know about unlawful, Miss I'm-Gonna-Cut-Off-People's-Toes?" Libby softened, now remorseful. "Lizzie, it sucks, I know, to be run over by a car. But accidents happen!" She was trying hard to make everything all better, and Elizabeth knew it.

"Open your eyes, Libby! This is no fucking ACCIDENT! This is murder! And robbery! I'm smarter than the idiotic students you sweet talk!"

"Well, I'm a class official now, so they expect me to …"

"Lie?!"

"Be encouraging! Besides, what exactly have YOU been up to except running around and saying crazy Latin stuff?" This struck a nerve, and Libby knew it.

"It's better than inventing lockable safety pins," Elizabeth said through gritted teeth. "Did Mr. Oswald really invent that? I bet Mrs. Grufuld did and he just took credit for it."

"Well," Libby started, very proud of what she was about to say. "A lot of us are taking things that don't belong to us, aren't we?"

At this, Elizabeth prepared to punch Libby, but then thought better of it. "Ok, I know you're a little slow, so let me spell this out for you. Fejiro could have any girl in this school he wants. But he chose me. Me! Can you wrap that around those ridiculous blonde curls?! He never belonged to you. He doesn't love you, and he never did. He … loves … ME!"

That did it for Libby. She slapped her ex best friend with a loud, "Heyah!" What followed was a fierce series of slaps, kicks, and hair-pulling, all of which the girls would regret later. In five minutes, Libby had Elizabeth in a headlock, and was beating her with her own hat. Elizabeth thought she might suffocate when suddenly …

"Hey, ladies! Break it up!" Elizabeth found herself in the rough arms of a football player. Libby was free.

"Oho, I see!" Elizabeth exclaimed, struggling against the grip of her captor. "You murdered my sister in order to capture me! Very nice, Libby!"

But at that very moment, Fejiro came bounding from the direction of the bleachers. Libby screamed in horror as he put a knife to her throat. "Let the multicolored girl go!" Fejiro demanded dangerously. "Or, I swear, I will slit Libby the Good's throat!" He looked murderous, and Elizabeth was almost as frightened as Libby.

"Fejiro, please don't …" Libby was near tears.

"Hey man," the new quarterback said, turning to the boy holding Elizabeth. "We better not cause Libby Balter's death. Let the Bitch go." Then, to her surprise, the boy released Elizabeth with a hard shove. Fejiro tensed; he could kill the boy just for that. But, Elizabeth was free. He picked up her bowler hat and gently put it on her head.

"There you are, love," Fejiro whispered. "Bet, go, now!"

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, not without you!"

"Hush! Now! Go!" With fear in her heart, Elizabeth rushed for the bleachers.

"Get him!" the quarterback ordered. And before Libby could do anything, the football team wrestled the knife out of Fejiro's hand and held him tightly.

"Stop this!" she shrieked. "This is insanity! In the name of goodness, stop! What did he do wrong? He just … he loves her."

"I am so sorry, Libby," Fejiro said quietly.

"Let's take him to the football field!" the quarterback exclaimed. "Let's pummel him good until he tells us where the Bitch went!"

Libby was frantic. "No! Don't hurt him! Please, don't hurt him! No! Fejiro!" But the football team paid her no mind as they carried Fejiro off to his impending doom.