A/N: I'm not dead! Whoa! I'm so sorry I'm not updating as much anymore! I started going back to school full-time, plus with my kid, and family stuff, it seriously feels like I have no time for anything. But I managed to push one of these bad boys out today and I hope you guys enjoy it! Some serious stuff is going to happen so. Stuff like romance stuff. And *Clementine voice* Kissing stuff... Haha. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and if you're feeling generous, don't be afraid to leave a review! Thanks much, you cutie pies!
Chapter Twenty-Five
"Hey, so, does Alvin know about Rebecca?" Clementine asks, leaning against the doorway of one of the classes.
Luke looks back and forth between Clementine and the flyer on the wall. "Hey look, Clem, the school is having a talent show. First prize is five hundred bucks."
The younger girl rolls her eyes, "Don't change the subject. Now tell me, does Alvin know that Rebecca and Carver have been baby-making behind his back?"
Luke tears the flyer off the wall, folding it up, and stuffing it in his pocket. "No, I don't think so. What does it matter? It's not our business."
"No, I guess it's not, but Carver-" Clementine waits for a couple of students to pass by, before stepping closer to Luke, closing the distance between them, "Carver came to the nurse's office yesterday and he threatened me." She continued in a hushed voice, "He found the pictures that Ben took of me back at my old school and he said he's post them everywhere if I didn't keep my head down."
Luke nods, "Okay. That's not cool, and as soon as I find Carver, I'm going to beat his face in. But what does that have to do with Alvin knowing about Carver and Rebecca?"
"I don't need you to take care of Carver for me," Clementine says, "I can take care of him myself. But what I need is leverage. If Alvin doesn't know about Carver and Rebecca, then I can use that to make sure that Carver doesn't spread those pictures of me. Like insurance."
Luke shakes his head, "I don't know, Clementine. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Sounds like you're trying to beat Carver at a game that he's the national champ at. Blackmail. Threats. Intimidation. I mean, Christ, you saw what he did to Alvin in the cafeteria. What makes you think he ain't gonna do the same to you?"
Clementine grabs Luke's face and makes him look at her. Her amber eyes are glowing brightly with resolve. "The difference between me and Alvin, and me and everyone else in this school, is that I'm not afraid of Carver. He's nothing but a bully and I'm not gonna let him make me into another one of his victims."
"Sounds like you're trying to bully the bully." Luke says, disappointed.
"Look can you tell me if Alvin knows?" Clementine asks, impatiently, "Or should I ask him myself?"
Luke eyes widen slightly, "No, no, don't do that, alright? Fuck. Okay. No, Alvin doesn't know. I know that for a fact. Rebecca had sex with him shortly after finding out she was preggers, and she's going to tell him that the baby is his. I don't know how it's going to work since both her and Carver know that's not true, and Carver is going to have a field day throwing it in Alvin's face."
Clementine grins. She gets up on her tippy-toes and plants a kiss on Luke's cheek. It was the most affection she'd given him since before they broke up and it made his face tingle sweetly. "Thanks, Luke."
He watches as Clementine rushes off to her next class. His stomach flipped and twisted, because he knew that he had given her ammunition for the war she was declaring on Carver. But what really made him nervous was that even though he knew there was no way for this to end well, he didn't really care at the moment.
All he cared about was the way her soft lips had pressed against his cheek, and he wondered how we would be able to get her to do it again.
*Break*
Clementine knew that Rebecca would be waiting for Carver after football practice. She had overheard Rebecca telling the nurse that she had a doctor's appointment today, and, of course, the father of her unborn child was going to be there with her.
"Hey, Bec," Clementine calls out, making her way up the bleachers to where the pregnant girl sat, "What are you doing here?"
Rebecca scowls at the girl, shifting her body away from her. "None of your damn business. What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"
Clementine took a seat next to Rebecca, "Oh, nothing. I just wanted to watch football practice. You know, sometimes I would watch Luke after school, when he was on the football team. He was really good."
Rebecca lowers her eyes, "Yeah, he was. It's too bad he quit though."
"You mean it's too bad Carver blackmailed him into quitting." Clementine corrected her.
Rebecca looks at Clementine, angrily, "What the fuck are you trying to say, little girl?"
Clementine feels a hot wave flow down into her spine. Just the way Rebecca said that made her blood feel a thousand times hotter. She pursed her lips together, but before she could say anything, Rebecca spoke again.
"Speak the fuck up, little girl, or get the fuck away from me."
Clementine grinned, facing Rebecca. "You know, you should probably think about being nicer to me."
Rebecca smiles back at Clementine, "And why the fuck would I do that, you entitled little bitch?"
"Because I know that you're pregnant, and, more importantly, I know that they baby isn't Alvin's." Clementine says, "But Alvin doesn't know that, does he?"
Rebecca narrows her eyes at the younger girl, the scowl on her face deepening. "I knew you were going to be a fucking problem. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew the only thing you were going to do what fuck up everything in this damn school. And you did. If it wasn't for you, Russel and Nate would still be friends with Nick and Luke. Sarah and Becca would still be friends. Luke would still be on the football team. And my Alvin wouldn't be suffering from permanent head damage."
"That's not true," Clementine objects, "You knew that sooner or later that Carver was going to smash Alvin's head in. If putting the blame on me makes you feel better, then good for you. But I'm not going to let that crazy bastard ruin anyone else's life, the way he did Luke's. Or your's."
Rebecca glares at Clementine, "Is that was this is really about? You feel bad about Luke quitting the football team and becoming manic depressed because of you, so now you're going to try and go against the guy he says fucked it all up for him?"
"Yeah," Clementine nods, "This is about Luke. And Alvin. And you. Carver has held something against you that makes you bow down to him, and I'm sure that you guys aren't the only ones. I'm fucking tired of it, Rebecca. What I need from you is something, anything, I could hold over his head that is powerful enough to make him stop. Something horrible enough to end his tyrannical reign over this school. And I know you know something-"
"I don't know anything!" Rebecca cries out, "I don't know anything. Just don't say anything to Alvin, he doesn't even know that I'm pregnant."
Clementine frowns. She leans over to pick up her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. "Well, that sucks. Since you're close to Carver though, I'm sure you can pull something out of him by lunch tomorrow. If not, Alvin is going to get some news that's gonna make him really, really sad." She turns away from Rebecca, making her way down the bleachers.
"You little bitch." Rebecca hisses after her.
Clementine grins, even though she knows Rebecca can't see her.
"I'd watch these steps if I were you," She calls out, "I wouldn't want you to fall and hurt your baby."
*Break*
The next morning, Clementine is woken up by the ringing of her cellphone. She groans, reaching it out for it on her nightstand. She looks at the picture of Sarah that she had set as her contact photo before answering her phone.
"Hey Sarah, what's up?"
"Um, nothing much. Well, actually a lot. Um, okay, so you know how I take early classes, so that I can get into a good college and stuff? At least, that's what my dad said. So, I get to school two hours before anyone else does, well, except for the other kids that are taking the extra morning class-"
"Sarah..." Clementine groans.
"Oh, right sorry. There are flyers and... Damn. Clementine, please. Just get here as soon as you can. I'm gonna try to clean it up, but they're everywhere. Oh, God. Just hurry, please." Sarah hangs up before Clementine can respond, leaving her puzzled and confused.
Clementine rolls out of bed and heads into the bathroom. She washes her face, pulls her hair back into a ponytail, nestling her baseball cap on her head, before getting dressed and heading to school. Even though she wasn't sure what it was that Sarah was trying to say, but she knew that it was urgent. She didn't have time to take a shower and look all pretty. She had to get to the school now.
Clementine felt her heartbeat thrum in her throat and behind her ears as she approached the school. There were papers everywhere, that looked like flyers from afar. But yesterday there were only a few here and there that were promoting the school talent show, but this... This looked more like a PSA.
As she walked up the steps to the school, she was able to see the flyers clearly and she felt like she had been hit in the gut with a wrecking ball. She ran to the door of the school an tore the flyers down. All of them, but there were more. No matter how many she tore down, there were a hundred behind them, like a hydra beast. She stuffed as much as she could inside a trash bin, but there was no hiding them. Soon everyone would see them- see her. And this was only the front of the school, who knows how many were stuck to the walls and the lockers of the hallway. Inside the classrooms and bathrooms and locker rooms. She couldn't do anything about it.
She slumped down to the ground, as horrible memories began to force themselves into her head. Ben Paul throwing her into the bathroom, clawing at her clothes and skin, making her bleed and cry. The awful flashing of lights as he and a group of boys took pictures of her. The same pictures that were on the flyers stuck to every square inch of this school.
"Oh, God, Clementine!" Sarah called out and raced over to her friend, "Are you okay? Where did they get this pictures from? Are these really you? I tried really hard to get rid of as much as I could, but there are so many. I'm so sorry, Clem."
Clementine looks up at Sarah, "Thank you, Sarah." Her voice was uncharacteristically soft; she sounded broken and weak, "There are really me. Some boy took them at my old school and-"
Sarah gets on her knees and pulls Clementine into an embrace. Clementine felt her eyes burn, but she wouldn't cry. She knew Carver would be here soon and she refused to give him that satisfaction. She just clutched the sleeve of Sarah's shirt tightly.
"Well, isn't this nice?" Clementine pulls away from Sarah, and looks up at Carver, who wore the sickest grin on his face. "I actually like these pictures, they're very artful. And the model is actually quite stunning, with slender legs and small, perky tits. I think all our classmates will agree with me, don't you, Clementine?"
"Fuck you, Carver." Clementine hisses, pushing herself up off the ground. She faces him and stares him down, but he's unfazed.
"I might just take you up on that offer," Carver chuckles, heartily. He shakes his head before looking at Clementine again. The look on his face was dark and ominous. "I did warn you, Clementine. I told you to keep your fucking head down and stay in line, but you didn't. I couldn't just let you threaten the mother of my child and get away with it, now could I? I didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice. You fucked with the wolf, little lambchop, and you got chewed up and spit out. And if you ever so much as look at Rebecca or Alvin again, I will send you to the hospital again, and this time, you won't leave unless you're breathing out of an iron lung."