Author's Notes: YES! I HAVE RETURNED!!! I finished my other story, so now I can return to putting more effort into this story ( I don't say 'all' my effort because for one, I still have another story I'm working on, and two, I have a job and school to deal with, as well).
But thank you for still loving me!!!!
And now...BACK TO THE SHOW!!!!!
(and yes, the movie title in the chapter title was intentional...)
Chapter 21: They're Gone, Baby, Gone
"Do you think Connie's OK?" Daf asked, from her spot on top of her desk.
"If Nick's there, she'll be fine," Kyle told her, as scribbled some obscene doodles underneath the top shelf of the librarian's desk.
"Why does this guy wanna be her hero, so bad...?" Sean asked, as he sat in a desk at the back and looked over the photocopy of the letter.
Daf rolled her eyes.
"...Just because he wanted to be there for her doesn't necessarily mean he's after the 'hero' title, Sean..." she said "...he's not like you."
"Oh, shut up, bitch!" Sean snapped. "Y'know what...? I'm gettin' really tired of you, you've done nothing but insult me all day - !"
" - You've done nothing but deserve it all damn day...!"
"Oh my God...!" Kyle cried out, then he stopped and looked towards the door.
...Daf and Sean did the same.
But Vernon didn't appear to have heard any of their bickering, so Kyle walked over to the other two.
"...Hey, Fred! Ethel! SHUT UP!" he snapped, glancing from one to the other.
"Don't you mean Fred and Wilma...?" Sean asked.
"No, he means Fred and Ethel!" Daf snapped. "Anybody who's ever seen 'I Love Lucy' would understand that!"
"Well,excuse me for being a little too busy with football practice and trying not to flunk out of highs school to watch TV all the damn time, like you - !"
" - Did I not just say SHUT UP...?" Kyle asked. "Look, you two have been giving me a headache all day, so y'know what...? I'll just settle this right now. You..." Kyle pointed at Daf "...are a pain in the ass, and you..." he then pointed over to Sean "...are an egotistical, chauvanistic jerk, OK...? Everybody happy now...?"
"...OK, wait," said Sean, "so I'm an egotistical, chauvanistic jerk, and she's a pain in the ass...but I suppose you think that makes you the angel in the room, right...?"
"...I never said that," Kyle told him.
"...But that is basically what you implied..." Daf told him "...that you think you're better than us."
Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Are you freakin' kidding me...?" he cried "...you two have walked around this school for three fuckin' years acting like you're better than everyone else, and now, when you think somebody's doing the same thing to you, you can't handle it...?"
Sean and Daf just stared at him.
"Kyle..." Daf began.
"...You two amaze me, you really do," Kyle told them, cutting her off "...and y'know what...? I can't even stay in this room anymore, because your egos are taking up all the space in here, and depriving me of oxygen...so if you'll excuse me,I'm gonna go get some fresh air."
With that, he turned around and headed for the door.
"Kyle, you can't go out there!" Daf exclaimed "...Vernon'll catch you!"
"...Believe me, I'm willing to take that chance...!" Kyle told her, then turned opened the door, and stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Back in the janitor's closet, Nick and Connie were still sitting on the floor, and Connie was now sitting up and wiping away her tears.
"...Feel better?" Nick asked.
"Yeah..." she replied "...thanks, for uh...y'know, coming to see me."
"Sure thing," he said.
"So, uh...I guess ya better get back now," said Connie.
Nick frowned.
"Get back...?" he asked.
"Yeah, y'know...to the library," she said "...y'know, before Vernon checks in again and realizes that you're gone."
Nick snorted.
"Do you really think he'd miss me...?" he asked.
Connie opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything...there was a knock on the door.
"Oh crap, that's probably Vernon...!" she exclaimed, in a panicked whisper "...and you're in here! And you're not supposed to be in here!"
Nick smirked.
"OK, that smirking habit of yours is really starting to annoy me," Connie told him.
"...It's not Vernon," Nick told her, as he got up off the floor, and pulled her up with him.
"How do you know?" she asked.
Nick put his hand on the doorknob, then turned to give her a puzzled look.
"Do you honestly think that Vernon would knock...?" he asked her.
Seeing his point, Connie shrugged.
So Nick opened the door, and the two of them stared into the face of Kyle, who stared back at them.
" 'Bout damn time...!" Kyle exclaimed "...what the hell were you two doing in there?"
"Never mind that, what the hell are you doin' out here...?" Nick asked him.
"Well, I was just tryin' to get away from - "
Just then, Daf appeared next to him.
"Hi," she said.
" - Her!" Kyle finished, pointing at Daf "...and the other guy!"
Then he looked back at Daf.
"What the hell are you doing out here?" he asked.
"...What the hell do you mean, what the hell am I doing here...?" she asked. "For one, I wanted to make sure you didn't get caught, cuz then I'd for sure get in trouble, somehow, for letting you leave. And also, if you think that I'm just gonna stay in the same room, alone, with my ex - boyfriend, you are way dumber than I ever thought you were!"
Suddenly, a strange sound came out of nowhere...
"HAKANAGA!!!"
"...What the hell is that?" Connie asked.
"That's Vernon...!" Nick replied, and pulled her out of the closet, checking both ways before he took her hand and pulled her down the hall.
...Kyle grabbed Daf's wrist and followed.
Just as the four teens rounded the corner, They saw Vernon turn and round the corner at the end of the next hallway.
So Nick gestured for everybody to crowd into an entrance way in front of one of the classrooms.
When they all shuffled in front of the classroom door, Nick put his finger to his lips, then thought for a moment.
"OK..." he whispered "...we're gonna have to split up, if we wanna survive."
"What?" Daf whispered "...what about 'divide and conquer'?"
"What about getting expelled and/or eaten by the senile old principal...?" Kyle fired back.
"...He's not gonna eat us!" Nick told them, still whispering "...he may kill us, but I doubt that he'll eat us."
"...Speaking of odd appetites, where's Sean?" Connie asked.
"He's still in the library," Daf answered "...sulking."
"Why is he sulking...?" Nick asked.
"Well, because Kyle - "
" - it doesn't matter!" Kyle cut her off, in a loud whisper "...what matters is that we find a way out of here...but first, Nick needs to get to the office."
Nick suddenly broke out into a grin.
"Why does Nick need to get to the office?" Daf asked.
"You're brilliant...brilliant!" Nick told his friend, then turned to Connie.
"...Stay with them, I'll be right back," he said, then he brushed past her and hurried over to the staircase, that was just across from them, and rushed up the stairs.
"I don;t get it, why does he need to get to the office?" Connie asked.
"...Because he needs to get into the office," Kyle told her.
"...And why does he need to get into the office?" Daf asked.
Kyle smirked.
"...You'll see," he said, then crouched down in front of the classroom door.
"...Now, Daf, gimme a hair pin..."
When the lock finally clicked, Nick stood up and put Daf's hair pin back in his pocket, then opened the office door, and went inside.
Closing the door behind him, he flicked on the light switch and headed for the back of the room...where there was a desk with a stereo and a microphone.
...The area where the student council president usually made the morning announcements, over the PA system.
Nick then took a plastic CD case out of his jacket and flipped it over, looking over the songs that were listed on the back.
He then put it down on the desk and pulled a small walkie - talkie out of his jacket and turned it on, then spoke into it.
"Whadda you think...?" he said, iinto the walkie - talkie "...shall we start with Twisted Sister, or My Chemical Romance?"
"...Twisted Sister..." came Kyle's reply "...always Twisted Sister."
"Alrighty then..." Nick muttered, and put the walkie - talkie back into his jacket, then took the CD out of its case and placed it in the stereo.
Richard Vernon was close to dozing off in his office chair, when he was woken up by a high - pitched squeak coming over the PA system.
"...What the hell?" he cried, then he heard music start to play.
And it sounded like...rock n' roll.
'...We're not gonna take it
No, we ain't gonna take it
We're not gonna take it, anymore...'
"...That son a of a bitch!" he roared, then jumped out of his chair, hurried across the room and yanked the door open, then hurried down the hall.
'...We've got the right to choose and
There ain't no way we'll lose it
This is our life
This is our song
We'll fight the Powers That Be just
Don't pick our destiny cuz
You don't know us
You don't belong...'
Back in the library, Sean listened to the music as he sat on the photocopier, his pants down, and chuckled...and not because the photocopier felt funny as it Xeroxed his rear end.
"OK..." he muttered to himself "...that's pretty impressive, Harrison."
I wasn't originally gonna end the chapter here, but as I look back on it, I think it's actually a pretty good place to stop.
...The next one will be up VERY soon, I promise.
And yes, the song stanze is from "We're Not Gonna take It" by Twisted Sister...one of the greatest anthems for teenagers, everywhere.
- Ace's Buddy