CHAPTER 19: A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING
ME: Thank you for the reviews, guys. I just wanted to say that your reviews make me smile and inspire me to keep writing. I know my updates are sometimes really slow with this story, and it's due to a lot of factors. Lack of motivation, a busy schedule, Writer's Block, etc. But you guys really do make me want to keep writing.
BUTCH: Oh, please.
BRICK: Are you done being sickeningly sappy yet?
ME: *punches both of them* Way to ruin a moment, you two.
BRICK: *rolls eyes* Yeah, yeah. Whatever.
BUTTERCUP: Reviews are cool and all, and so is saying your thanks, but let's hurry up with the chapter!
ME: Oh come on you guys! Are you all that uninterested in what I have to say?
EVERYONE: *awkwardly, unsurely* Umm...no?
ME: *face-palm*
BUTCH: *smirks* Aw, you know we're just messing with you. So anyway, Kuk here owns nothing but her OC's and the story!
ME: It's Kuku! Not Kuk! *kicks him lightly* I'm fine if others call me that, but you saying it just sounds stupid.
BOOMER: *whispers* Kuk~
Chapter 19: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Sighing, the green Powerpuff Girl bit down on her pencil. Mr. Evans was reading something on the board, pushing his glasses up his nose. Buttercup snuck a glance at Butch beside her, who had his cheek resting on his hand. He looked bothered.
Buttercup thought back to outside the classroom before class had started. She had introduced Butch to the new student, Vincent. Butch's reaction had left her concerned. He'd screamed at Vix "why the fuck are you at Pokey Oaks High!?" That reaction was enough to leave anyone concerned.
Vincent had been rightfully confused. "Umm...pardon? I'm sorry, but do I even know you?"
"Don't deny it! You know you do," Butch had snapped back, his eyeballs nothing more than pinpricks.
Vincent shook his head. "I'm sorry, I really don't know you."
"But you're—" Butch had stopped himself and took a deep breath to calm down. "Fine. Let's say you don't know me. Who are you and why are you at Pokey Oaks High?"
"I'm Vincent, Michael's cousin. Michael says he knows you guys, so I'll assume I don't have to explain who he is," Vincent began.
"Which Michael?" asked Buttercup. "There's Ross' friend or Michelle's brother or Antonio's friend—"
"Ross' friend," Vincent stated.
Butch snorted. "I've never heard anything about Danes having a son. Your story sure is off to a great start," he added sarcastically.
"Oh no, I'm not Danes' son. I'm the son of Michael's Uncle Paul."
"Yeah right."
"Well, I can't do anything about it if you don't want to believe me." Vincent frowned.
"I don't fucking care who or what you are," snarled Butch. "Just stay away from us."
Vincent had shaken his head. "I'm sorry, but Blossom asked me to have lunch with you guys."
Butch froze, as if Vincent had struck him. "She...what?"
"She did, Butch; she told me so herself," Buttercup had intervened.
Butch narrowed his eyes. "...Fine. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. And that definitely doesn't mean I have to like you."
The bell had rung then, and Butch stormed off. Buttercup followed, waving slowly at Vincent. "Sorry; he's a little hostile," she had said.
"I know," Vincent had replied, smiling and waving back. His eyes looked like arches as he tilted his head to one side.
Thinking back to his words now, they sent shivers down Buttercup's spine. How does he know? Am I reading too deep into his words? Maybe he said that because the RRB are famous enough that he'd know what Butch's personality is like, Buttercup wondered.
"Okay, now go ahead and work on your projects," Mr. Evans finally said.
Buttercup blinked, snapping out of her dazed thoughts. She turned to Butch, who was still staring off to the side. Buttercup shook him slightly. "Butch; come on. It's time to work on our project."
The green Ruff's eyes widened and he turned to stare at Buttercup. He opened his mouth and closed it like a goldfish. His eyes were distant. One word escaped his lips—it looked like "Damon", but then he seemed to come back to reality. He shook his head. "Sorry, what?" he asked.
"...Butch, our project," Buttercup repeated in exasperation.
"Oh, right. Sorry," he said.
"What's wrong?" questioned Buttercup, raising an eyebrow. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Butch looked taken aback. "No...not a ghost; a—" He stopped. "I mean, Vincent just reminded me of someone."
"I noticed. Who?"
Butch glanced down at his paper, where a doodle lay. "He..." Hesitation bit Butch hard. "He was just some guy I knew from the past. Nothing special."
"Butch," Buttercup stated, completely unamused.
"Okay, fine." Butch sighed, rolling his eyes. "He looks like V—"
"Butch, Buttercup; how goes things over here?"
Jumping, Buttercup spun around with wide eyes to meet Shamus' stern gaze. Ross' uncle seemed to be in a "no-funny-business" mood. "Uhh...fine, Mr. Shamus. We just... We were discussing our project."
"I would certainly hope so, Miss Utonium. You two are behind enough as it is."
Butch let out something that sounded like a hiss. Buttercup kicked him.
Shamus studied Butch's paper and his eyes widened slightly. But then they returned to normal and he stepped back. Shamus gave a sharp nod. "Carry on." Then he spun around and walked off.
Buttercup turned to stare at Butch. "What was that all about?"
"I don't know." Butch shrugged, glancing down at his paper. He covered the drawing Shamus had seen with his pencil. "Maybe he saw all my work and realized that we weren't fooling around."
Buttercup snuck a glance at the piece of paper, but there was nothing on it. The only thing visible was mostly covered by Butch's pencil. She frowned. Work isn't what Shamus saw, she thought. When Butch wasn't looking and was instead trying to find their model in his bag, Buttercup moved the green Ruff's pencil. Her eyes widened and she stared at it briefly, before shoving the pencil back in place.
"Ah, here it is!" Butch pulled the model out and set it down on his desk. He seemed to notice the sudden silence because he turned to look at Buttercup. "What's the matter, BC?" he asked.
"N-Nothing," Buttercup managed to say.
"If you say so." Butch shrugged and started messing around with some loose popsicle sticks on their model. "I just need some more glue here and..."
The green Puff easily tuned out, still staring at Butch's lined paper. The doodle Shamus had seen had been a picture of a gray creature with white spaces for eyes. It had been chomping down on something black with wings.
Meanwhile, a few desks down, Mike was reading from a sheet of paper. "...And that's how the refrigerator was made," he concluded.
Boomer nodded. "That sounds great, Mike. Glad to see you got that part down."
"What about the model?" asked Mike, leaning forward to stare at the half-painted shoebox. "Is it almost ready?"
Boomer glanced down at it. "Almost. I just need to cut out the 'doors' and then paint all of it white."
"And I have the little pieces of food almost ready." Ross smiled, rearranging his scarf. He glanced down at his backpack and reached for something.
Boomer smelled something salty in the air, so he sneezed. "Man, what was that?" he asked, his nose stuffed. His voice was muffled.
"What was what?" Ross looked up, holding a water bottle filled with reddish liquid.
"I smelled something really salty," coughed Boomer. He sniffled. "Damn my cold."
"Maybe it was someone's project," Mike suggested. "Like, maybe they had to bring in a lot of salt or something. I didn't smell anything, but that could be a possibility."
Ross nodded his agreement, sipping from his water bottle.
"What's that?" asked Mike, pointing at the red drink.
"Tomato juice," Ross replied. "I dislike it, but Uncle Shamus insists on drinking and eating healthy."
"Ooh," Mike murmured.
"Oh, Ross. I nearly forgot to ask you." Boomer sneezed again.
"Bless you," called Ross.
"Thanks," Boomer sniffed. "Anyway, I was wondering if Mike and I can go to your house tomorrow—I can't today, but...tomorrow works. For...y'know; our school project?"
"...Sure." Ross shrugged. "I'm currently staying at my friend Michael's place. I'll just ask Shamus and see if it's okay."
Boomer appeared to choke on thin air. "You're living with Michael?"
Ross blinked, looking confused. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"N-No...I just... Never mind." Boomer stopped himself, thinking back to his brothers' original dislike of Ross, and all the Ruffs' hostility toward Michael and his gang. Could it be...? Nah...
"...Okaaay then?" Ross still seemed unsure. He slowly raised his hand.
Shamus appeared at his side in an instant. "What's the matter, Ross?"
"Hey, Uncle." Ross smiled sheepishly. "Boomer asked if he and Mike can come over to work on our project tomorrow," he said. "Is that okay?"
Shamus glanced at Boomer and the blue Ruff winced under the helper teacher's intense stare. Then Shamus looked back at his nephew. "...Very well," he agreed, nodding.
Ross smiled, giving Boomer a thumbs-up.
Boomer managed to return the smile weakly. He didn't exactly look forward to seeing Michael, Darkai, Sidney, or DJ... But if Ross lives there... Boomer sighed silently. Then I'll just have to live with it.
Shamus walked away and the group of three returned to working on their project.
Vincent finished the worksheet in front of him, already feeling bored. This is too easy, he thought to himself. He had already learned a lot of this, so the fact that he had to redo all of it annoyed him.
But what really made him annoyed was the Rowdyruff Boys' reactions to meeting him. Vincent knew them enough to know that they were often suspicious. But they were also famous, so it made sense that Vincent knew so much about them.
Blossom, the pink Powerpuff Girl, had seemed nice. Brick had seemed irritated when he'd found out that Blossom and Vincent were chatting.
Even Butch had reacted violently to meeting him. Vincent wondered if Butch was always that suspicious, or if it was just because Buttercup had been there. Vincent snorted in amusement.
Vincent got up and handed the teacher the worksheet. She seemed surprised that he was already done. He just smiled kindly at her before sitting back down.
One glance at the clock showed that Vincent still had a lot of time to kill. The redheaded boy sighed. Maybe I'll text Michael...
Vincent pulled out his red phone and started typing.
"'What are you doing?'"
It only took a little while before Michael replied.
"'I'm in class; duh. What do you THINK I'm doing?"
Vincent smirked, rolling his eyes. He typed back, "'Duh. I MEAN, what are you working on?'"
"'Some stupid story.'"
"'Sounds interesting.'"
"'Trust me, it's not. I'd rather be stuck in a room with a bunch of rabid wolves than be working on this stupid crap.'"
Vincent raised an eyebrow at the last text.
After a minute or two, Michael's next few texts went a little like this:
"'I mean...'"
Pause.
"'Oops?'"
Pause.
"'I guess?'"
Pause.
"'Vincent? You there?'"
Vincent rolled his eyes and smiled to himself as he texted back: "'It's fine. I was just waiting for the teacher to turn around before I replied.'" It was technically a lie, but he didn't feel like explaining why he hadn't actually replied.
"'Oh. Alright then. Awkward~'"
"'Yeah.'"
"K. TTYL.'"
Vincent turned his phone off. He actually hadn't replied because he knew what Michael had been saying. And Vincent wasn't sure how he felt about it.
Butch tossed his bag over his shoulder and glanced at Buttercup. "So," he began, "what do you think of Vincent?"
"He's okay, I guess." Buttercup shrugged, shoving their poster further into her bag. She looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Butch let out a whistle. "No reason. I was just wondering."
"Okay." Buttercup looked back down as she zipped up her bag.
"I just have one more question."
"Shoot," she said, swinging her bag over her shoulder, "wonder away, Wonder Boy."
"...What..." Butch visibly hesitated. "What do you think of Ross?"
Buttercup froze, slowly looking up to stare at her counterpart.
"I mean...I just wanted to know because they're both new students and—" Butch quickly said, but trailed off when Buttercup started walking toward the door.
"I don't mind him. He's nice." She glanced back at Butch. "That's really all there is to it."
"Oh. Okay." Butch's eyes trailed to the board awkwardly.
Buttercup raised an eyebrow. "Are you coming to lunch or not?"
Butch blinked, looking back at her. "Right. Give me a second." He ran to catch up, smirking as he seemed to get over whatever had been bothering him. He swung his arm around Buttercup. "You know, tomorrow sounds like a pretty good day to work on our project some more..."
Buttercup rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Should I be concerned? What's with the sudden 'tude?" she asked.
"No reason." Butch walked in sync with her. "I just thought it'd be nice to spend some time together."
Buttercup smirked. "Oh, of course."
"Hey, we had a lot of fun at the café, didn't we?" Butch wiggled his eyes suggestively as he met Buttercup's gaze.
She flushed red and turned away. "I guess so."
"And you know, we'll be mostly alone at my place..."
Buttercup coughed loudly, kicking him in the shin. "Don't get any ideas."
Butch released his hold on her, putting his hands in the air. "What's the matter, Butterbabe?"
"It's just going to be a study-night," Buttercup replied, rolling her eyes.
"Oh sure." Butch's expression suggested otherwise.
"Anyway, why tomorrow?" Buttercup continued walking, trying to hide her red face.
"Because me and the family have some stuff we need to take care of today," Butch countered, flying after her.
"Like what?" Buttercup stared at him, surprised.
Butch shrugged. "I don't know. Mojo said he has some sort of business that he needs to do."
"Sounds suspiciously vague," remarked Buttercup.
"Yeah, I know. But family's family—if they ask for your help, you gotta give it, y'know?"
"I guess so."
The two flew to the cafeteria in silence after that. Buttercup and Butch joined the others at their table, where BC immediately sat down with Blossom. The pink Puff was on her phone.
"What are you doing?" asked Buttercup.
"Just stuff." Blossom shielded her phone with her hand in an attempt to hide what she was looking at.
But Buttercup wasn't one to be left in the dark. The green Powerpuff grabbed the phone, prying it from Blossom's fingers.
"Hey!" exclaimed Blossom.
Buttercup looked the phone over. Texts between Blossom and Brick floated on the screen. Buttercup could tell which texts were whose; and not just by the colours of the word bubbles. Brick's texts were short and straight-to-the-point. Blossom's, on the other hand, were long and thorough. The green Powerpuff quickly skimmed over the texts.
"'Hey Bloss. Sorry about this, but I'm too busy to work on our project for Mrs. Avery today.'"
"'Really? What are you so busy with that you're willing to ignore your education?'"
"'Just some personal matters.'"
"'Personal matters? Excuse me, Brick; but as I am your partner for this project, I have a right to know what you're doing that is so important. If it's something as silly as "I'm playing video games today", then NO YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DEAL WITH YOUR SO-CALLED "PERSONAL MATTERS". I'd like to know what kind of business you have to attend to in order for me to understand.'"
"'Jesus Christ, Bloss. Calm the fuck down. I only said I'm busy.'"
"'Don't swear! Swearing is rude and immature; there's a reason those words are forbidden. And you still haven't told me why you're so busy today; I deserve to know! I had everything planned and scheduled for the next seven days we're working on this project. So unless you have a good reason, I am NOT rearranging my schedule just for you. Stop hiding things, Brick.'"
"'I don't know, okay!? Mojo didn't say! He just said that the business was important. Oh, and I'll swear if I fucking want to.'"
"No you won't! Swearing is unhealthy and wrong. You're a Rowdyruff Boy, Brick; that means you're a hero now! Back then you were a villain, but now you are not. What will the parents of kids who look up to you think if they heard you swearing all the time? You need to set a good example. Besides, what on earth does Mojo have to work on that's so important? The Professor currently doesn't have any new projects from the government, and he and Mojo are usually partners. Brick, stop lying to me.'"
"'They won't "hear" me swear if I'm swearing in a bunch of private texts.'"
"'Brick, be reasonable. You know what I'm saying is true. You should not be so careless. And please, PLEASE stop lying.'"
"'I am NOT lying.'"
"'Now you're just being ridiculous! You're clearly hiding something, and you're using this phone to conceal whatever it is that you're hiding from me. I consider this qualifying as "lying". You're being rude and unfair, especially when I'm your partner for the project. I should know why you're too busy to work with me. Just tell me and I'll leave you alone!'"
"'They're just personal matters, Bloss. Seriously.'"
"'That's far too vague for me to grasp the understanding of. Again, if you're going to be fooling around with your brothers tonight, then I disagree. That is not important in the slightest. At least tell me WHY you have to cancel our study session.'"
"'I promise it's not gonna be me goofing off with my bros, k? Now please please PLEASE for the love of God and all things holy calm down already.'"
"'Oh excuse me for being concerned! And "gonna" is not a real word. Would it kill you to write out an actual "okay", instead of typing "k" like an uneducated teen? As for calming down, I am incredibly calm. I just don't understand why you feel the need to hide things from your own partner and friend. Just tell me the truth and I'll be well on my way.'"
"'You should be "well on your way" right now! It's not like I called off a date or something. Jesus.'"
Buttercup raised an eyebrow. Brick apparently thinks the same thing as me, after all. She scrolled down.
"'Of course you didn't. That's not what I was implying, Brick, and you know it. I will not be on my way if you won't get out of YOUR way to tell me why you're so busy! Is that so hard, Brick? Stop hiding behind your phone and tell me the truth.'"
"'I can't. I'm sorry.'"
"'Brick Jojo, tell me the truth already! This is unfair and upsetting that you don't trust me enough to share why you have to cancel our meeting. Surely it's nothing that you need to be so secretive about. You're really starting to ruffle my feathers, Brick. Please stop being so suspicious and tell the truth!'"
Buttercup noticed that after awhile (a long while; like a few hours later long), Brick had finally sent a new text:
"'Why do you like this Vincent guy so much? I'm telling you he's BAD NEWS.'"
"'Oh hello Brick. I thought you weren't talking to me anymore, and that you would simply continue to ignore me.'"
"'Goddammit Blossom.'"
"'For your information, "goddammit" is not a word. And that counts as a swear. See, this is why I like Vincent. He's not the kind of guy to say such things. And please don't text me now, Brick. My phone's nearly out of batteries. We're also in class. Students shouldn't text in class. He is not "bad news", YOU are.'"
"'Forget the rules just this once, Pinky. If only for awhile, k (oh I'm SORRY I meant "okay")? And besides, YOU JUST MET THIS "VINCENT" GUY. How do YOU know what he's like?'"
"'He was incredibly kind during our conversation. Unlike you, he is a true gentleman. Not only that, but he has nothing to hide, so I learned a lot about him just through a few words. I found out that he likes reading and writing like I do. He is a smart, talented individual who speaks in a civilized manner. He's far more polite than you ever are, Brick. And he has nothing to lie about.'"
"'...Ughhh you know what? I give up. Just forget it, Bloss. Just forget EVERYTHING.'"
Blossom had been in the middle of typing a new response: "'How can I forget everything when you're acting so suspiciously?'" It was unfinished because BC had grabbed the phone.
Buttercup turned to stare at Blossom, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously, sis?"
"What...? I really do have a right to know." Blossom folded her arms.
Sighing, Buttercup rolled her eyes as she handed back her sister the phone. "Both of us have said this: he's not dating you, so he doesn't have to have that kind of commitment towards you. If he has personal matters to attend to, then leave him be. You're the one who told me not to pry into the Ruffs' business, after all."
Blossom opened her mouth to protest. "But the project—"
"Give him space; no matter how important the project is," Buttercup interrupted. "You guys still have a lot of time, anyway."
Blossom bit her lip and stared at her phone.
"Come on, Bloss. Let him do his thing, if not just this once. How's about you delete the text and say something else, alright?"
"Like what?" Blossom looked up.
Buttercup took the phone again, backspacing all of the text Blossom had originally been typing. "Here's what not to type," she stated. "Don't type something like 'I hate you' either." BC typed it out as an example. "See? Not this."
"I already know that." Blossom rolled her eyes. "But what should I type?"
"Something like 'okay go do your thing and I'm sorry', maybe?" Buttercup held the phone up. She was about to press the backspace button on the phone's keyboard, but Blossom suddenly let out a small squeak.
"Buttercup!" the pink Puff cried.
"What?" said the green Puff, her brow furrowed.
"You pressed the 'return/enter' button rather than the backspace button!"
Buttercup's eyes widened. "Oh shit!" She glanced down at the phone. Blossom's new text to Brick suddenly looked a little like this:
"'I hate you, Brick Jojo!'"
"Wow, you really pissed Blossom off." Bandit raised an eyebrow at his brother as he read through the texts.
Brick rolled his eyes. "I can't help it. You know we can't say anything about our after-school task. Blossom's just the prying type."
"You were a little bit rude, though..." Bandit furrowed his brow. "And who's 'Vincent'?"
"He's the new kid." Brick swung his red bag over his shoulder, slamming his locker shut. He unintentionally used some extra force because he couldn't help but remember the rage he had felt when he first met Vincent.
"Oh, I see. You mentioned him this morning. What's so bad about him?" Bandit asked. "Blossom seems to have nothing but good things to say about him. Are you sure you're not just jealous?" Just then, Brick's phone vibrated and Bandit glanced down at the new text from Blossom. His eyes widened.
"No, I am not 'just jealous'." Brick glared at Bandit, snatching his phone back. "I'm telling you; this guy's bad fucking news."
"Umm...Brick, give me back the phone."
Brick frowned. "What? Why? This is my phone."
Bandit let out a low whistle, shrugging casually. Despite this, he looked uneasy. "No reason. Just...I didn't get to read the last text over."
Narrowing his eyes, Brick held his phone out of reach. "...Something's up, isn't it?"
"Nope. Not at all." Bandit tried to reach over for the phone again...
...Only for Brick to lean back. "Something is definitely up."
"Seriously, Brick; just give me the fucking phone," Bandit said, exasperated.
"No." Brick furrowed his brow. "I want to double-check my texts."
"Wait, don't!" cried Bandit, throwing his arm forward.
Brick blocked his brother's attempt, turning his phone on. "Now I know for sure something is wrong." The red Ruff slowly entered his password, holding Bandit off. The purple Ruff watched with wide, almost panicked eyes.
"You won't like what you see. I'm warning you," Bandit cautioned.
Brick ignored him, his breaths slowing as he entered the last number to his password. When his eyes trailed down on the page, and he finally noticed the new text, he felt like someone had knifed him. Brick swallowed hard, his gaze shadowing.
"I warned you," Bandit repeated weakly.
Brick nearly dropped his phone, but the purple Ruff caught it. Bandit watched as Brick punched the wall extra hard, and it crumbled, before he stormed off.
Bandit sighed. Someone's going to have to fix that wall. He looked back down at the phone and read the new text over and over again. It seems so unlike Blossom. Is she really that angry?
The text was mostly only three words, but those three words obviously hurt. Bandit closed his eyes. He couldn't erase Blossom's latest text from his mind:
"'I hate you, Brick Jojo!'"
He understood why Brick had been so upset. He just hoped Brick wouldn't do anything rash because of it.
Meanwhile, Brick felt like crushing something in his frustration. He didn't understand why Blossom was so mad at him just because he couldn't tell her why he was busy. She had even gone so far as to say that she hated him. He wanted to reply to the text. Brick wasn't sure if he'd be reasonable or angry, but he knew for a fact that he would reply. The only problem was that he had left the phone with Bandit. But Brick was headed to the cafeteria anyway, where Blossom probably was...
He couldn't help but remember the words of the text: "'I hate you, Brick Jojo!'"
Brick let out a low growl. Well, two can play this game, Blossom Utonium.
When Brick reached the cafeteria, he stomped through the rows of tables. Students jumped when they saw an angry super-powered Brick storming toward them. They all looked scared that he was after them. But the red Ruff only had his glare fixed on one person: Blossom.
She was at their usual table in the cafeteria, talking urgently with Buttercup. Brick wondered what they were discussing. He paused, briefly thinking that maybe Blossom actually regretted sending the hateful text. But his quick sympathy faded when he spotted who was walking toward Blossom. Vincent...!
The tall, redheaded male stopped behind Blossom and Buttercup. He paused, before tapping Blossom on the shoulder. She looked up, clearly surprised. Then, looking relieved, she smiled and started chatting with him.
Brick's shoulders stiffened. Of course she doesn't regret it. His glare intensified and he desperately wanted to stomp over and start yelling at his counterpart. He nearly did, but watching Vincent slide into Brick's usual seat and how Blossom welcomed him made the red Ruff think twice. The sight pissed him off too much, and he didn't want Vincent to witness Blossom and Brick's arguing. Not only was their argument private matters, but Brick knew that Vincent would defend Blossom.
Then she would say something about how gentlemanly Vincent was compared to Brick. The thought made Brick so frustrated that he smashed his fist into a cafeteria table. A crack formed. The students there all looked scared, and a teacher approached unsurely. "Mr. Jojo, you know that damaging school property is—"
"I'm sorry," Brick interrupted in a low snarl, his eyes a dark glare. "I'll pay for the damage later. But right now...I'm in a bit of a bad mood. Please leave me alone."
"Sure thing," the teacher agreed, looking relieved as she hurried away. The students followed.
Brick sighed, relaxing. The table collapsed beside him. Staring at the damaged table, Brick felt much calmer. That punch was exactly what he had needed as an outlet for his anger. Brick glanced back at Blossom, and he made a decision right then and there: I'm not going to confront her now. I think I'll avoid her for awhile; at least until I've calmed down. Then I'll talk to her. I don't need her rubbing it in my face that I'm no "gentleman", nor do I want to deal with Vincent. I'll show her I can be levelheaded even when someone I know fucking texts me that they hate me and don't regret it. No matter how big of a bitch Blossom might be, I'm not going to become the asshole she thinks I am. That'll just prove her point about me sucking as a person.
Satisfied with this, Brick started to walk out of the cafeteria. He decided that he would eat by himself in the schoolyard today. He could still feel the aching hurt that came with being insulted, but he chose to ignore the pain. He didn't want to think about it. He knew he'd only get mad again.
He didn't want to think about Blossom, Vincent, Ross and his friends, Vix, or their after school task—he didn't want to think about any of that.
Brick just wanted to forget everything for the moment.
Two can play this game, and I'm going to be the winner.
Buttercup's first reaction Blossom's news about her having sent the wrong text was "oh shit!" Then she could only stare at the text in silence. Still, it didn't take long for her to start panicking. "Okay, I can fix this! All I have to do is tell him it was an accident..." Buttercup fumbled with the phone, her heart pounding. She felt guilty about messing up Blossom and Brick's conversation; or at least messing it up even more than it already was.
"Give me that!" exclaimed Blossom, grabbing the device. "Why did you think it was a good idea to type that out anyway!?"
"I just wanted to use it as an example! You know, to put some emphasis on 'don't do it' by showing you what it would actually look like."
Blossom groaned. "Well, you sure showed me alright. Not only do I know what it looks typed out, I know what it looks like sent!" She buried her face in her hands. "I didn't even send the text and I feel guilty! Brick's going to hate me forever!"
"Hey, look on the bright side. He may hate you for a few days—or maybe weeks...years... Wait, maybe even your whole life... You know what; you're probably right; he'll hold a grudge forever, but still—" Buttercup stopped herself when she saw Blossom's glare that said "you're not helping!" The green Puff smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
"I'll just try and fix this with a new text." Blossom took a deep breath, going with Buttercup's original suggestion. But when she looked back at her phone, she let out a small squeak of terror.
"What's the matter now? Brick didn't already send a reply, did he?" Buttercup furrowed her brow and leaned forward.
"No, it's not that! My phone finally ran out of batteries!" Blossom looked like she was ready to scream in frustration.
"Okay, all we have to do is recharge it—"
"I didn't bring a charger."
"What? Oh come on!"
"Do you have your phone?" Blossom looked hopeful.
Buttercup shook her head no. "Sorry; I left it at home. What about the others?"
Blossom ducked her head in embarrassment. "I don't exactly want to tell them why I need their phones. They'd be able to see the text I send to Brick and will realize what a..." She trailed off.
Buttercup raised an eyebrow. "What a big bitch you were?" she suggested.
"I'm not the one who sent the 'I hate you' text!"
"Okay, okay. You have a point. Sorry," Buttercup apologized, holding her hands up.
Blossom groaned again, burying her face further in her hands. "Seriously; Brick really is going to hate me forever."
"And why's that?"
Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Jumping, Blossom spun around with wide eyes. To her relief, it was just a confused Vincent. She sighed happily. "Oh you have no idea how happy I am to see you!"
"I don't think I do," Vincent admitted, sitting down.
That's Brick's seat. Buttercup bit her tongue to keep herself from blurting the words out loud. She didn't want to be rude, and Blossom had to explain her situation.
"It's just that...well, I made a mistake and Brick's going to be mad at me forever for it. I thought you were him at first. You scared me so bad!" Blossom said, fiddling with her dead phone.
Vincent's eyes gleamed—in concern, Buttercup hoped. "Surely he wouldn't be so immature," he said. "All you have to do is talk to him and he'll see your side. I'm sure you're not in the wrong."
Blossom stared at her feet. "The only classes I have left with him today is Math. And Mrs. Avery's class. But I get this feeling that he won't want to talk to me."
Vincent frowned. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," sighed Blossom.
Suddenly, Buttercup heard a loud crumbling sound. Murmurs immediately rippled through the cafeteria. She turned around and spotted a male with a red hat and the red version of the school uniform. Buttercup's eyes widened. Brick...!
He was walking out of the cafeteria. A broken table lay where he had originally been standing—that was probably the crumbling noise she had heard. Buttercup swallowed. Oh, he's mad alright... She turned to Blossom, pointing. "Look, there goes Brick!"
Blossom looked up, clearly shocked as she watched Brick's red ponytail disappear out the door. "Wait!" she cried, standing up. But Brick didn't stop, and Blossom slumped her shoulders.
"Go after him!" ordered Buttercup.
Blossom hesitated, looking unsure and almost scared. Then she nodded, taking a deep breath before blasting off.
Buttercup watched her sister leave, feeling relieved. "Hopefully they sort things out..." she murmured.
"Why is she so worried about what Brick thinks of her?" Vincent asked, looking genuinely curious. He paused. "I don't mean that in a rude way, of course. I'm sorry if I offend at all."
Buttercup blinked. "Of course not. Or at least, I'd hope not. If you did mean it rudely, then I'd beat you up." She relaxed as Vincent tensed. She waved her hand. "I'm just kidding...mostly. Anyway, Blossom made a mistake. Or at least...she was rude to Brick and I'm the one who made the final mistake."
Vincent unwrapped his burger. "So she wants to apologize as friends? Or is this a lovers' quarrel?"
"Friends' quarrel," Buttercup confirmed. "They're just friends. Bloss doesn't have a boyfriend."
"Oh, I see. I do happen to think highly Blossom, so I half-expected her to already have a boyfriend. This is news to me."
Buttercup felt chills run down her spine. She turned to stare at Vincent, but he was busy eating his burger.
Just then, a purple streak flew into a chair. "There you are, Brick! What did you do; where's Blossom?"
Startled, both Vincent and Buttercup turned to stare at the newcomer. It was Bandit, and his raised voice led to stares from the others. The Ruffs, Puffs, Ross, and all their other friends looked concerned.
"Bandit, this isn't Brick," Buttercup hissed.
Bandit frowned, taking a closer look at who he had thought was Brick. He quickly realized the difference. "Oh." He nodded curtly, calming down. "My apologies. Who are you?"
Vincent paused. "I'm—"
"Let me guess: Vincent, aren't you?" Bandit raised an eyebrow. "Brick told me about you."
"Oh. I see. Then he probably didn't have a lot of good things to say about me." Vincent fixed his bow tie.
Bandit narrowed his eyes. "True."
Murmurs rippled through the table, so Buttercup got Vincent to stand up and introduce himself. "Hello, everyone. My name is Vincent. I'm Ross' friend, and am also a cousin of his friend Michael."
Ross nodded, standing up. "He's telling the truth, guys. I know him."
The Ruffs seemed suspicious at first, but the rest of the group welcomed Vincent warmly. Even the Rowdyruff Boys ended up saying hello to Vincent and welcoming him to their already huge circle of friends.
When Vincent sat down, Buttercup turned to Bandit. "What do you know about the whole deal with Brick and Bloss?"
"Just that he's mad about the 'I hate you' text from Blossom," Bandit whispered back.
"About the text..." Buttercup began quietly, leaning in.
"Yeah?" Bandit furrowed his brow. "I sure hope Blossom didn't mean to send it."
His words made Buttercup's guilt wash over her like a giant wave. "She definitely—"
Before she could finish, however, Butch stood up. "Bandit, I got a phone call from Mojo. He wants either you or Brick, but neither of you would answer the phone."
"Oops, sorry. I have Brick's phone. My own phone is in my bag." Bandit ran a hand through his long brown hair. "Tell Mojo to call me again."
Butch nodded, murmuring into his phone. Soon he hung up and turned to Bandit, giving a thumbs-up. Then he returned to his seat.
Bandit rummaged around in his bag. He pulled his phone out.
"Bandit, about what I was saying," Buttercup tried to finish.
"Sorry, BC. You'll have to tell me later." Bandit held a hand up as his phone started ringing. It was quiet; which was probably why Bandit hadn't heard it in his bag earlier. Buttercup clamped her mouth shut as Bandit picked up and started talking to Mojo. The purple Ruff even walked out of the cafeteria.
Screw life, man... Buttercup sighed, groaning slightly as she slumped her shoulders. She wanted to follow Bandit and find out what he had to talk to Mojo about...
Meanwhile, Bandit had answered the phone and was busy talking. "So what did you want, Mojo?"
"I wanted to speak to you about the preparations for the time of tonight's job, or task."
"I guessed that. So spill what you need to say." Bandit rolled his eyes as he walked around in the mostly empty hallway. He stopped walking by his locker. "What about tonight?"
Mojo seemed to hesitate. "Bandit, you must do the action of promising me that you will not, and I repeat not, do the action of panicking."
"I promise." Bandit tensed. "What's wrong?"
"They may have found our hunting grounds." Mojo's voice was low, sounding incredibly serious even for him.
Bandit raised an eyebrow. "How is that possible? Our grounds are totally private."
A sigh sounded on the other end. "You know what they're like; they often like to do the act of snooping around and nosing their noses into our businesses. That's the urgent matter of today that I wanted you Ruffs to be ready to do. We need to find a second base that shall be even more secluded and private than our last one, because the last one was possibly found by them."
"This sucks," Bandit remarked, groaning as he ran a hand through his long brown hair. "And after everything that's happened in school too..."
"What is going on at the place where students learn? Michael and his gang of friends are not giving you any big trouble, are they? They really are just Danes' little pawns; I suppose the term would be lackeys; don't—"
"I know, I know. 'Don't let them get to you' and all that stuff," Bandit interrupted Mojo, rolling his eyes. "He's not giving us trouble, per say; but..."
"What is it that is bothering you so that Michael may or may not be involved in? I wish to hear this thing and learn what is wrong so that I know what is going on. Tell me the reason why you are so—"
Bandit tensed, glancing back as he spotted a flash of black. "Oops, gotta go, Mojo." Then he hung up, despite Mojo's protesting. Bandit turned around slowly. "I know you're there," he called.
"Oh come on; wait up! Where did you go?"
He could hear her calling for him, but he didn't bother to answer. His anger hadn't faded, and he just didn't feel like confronting her at the moment. He knew that if he did, he'd most likely just blow up. She'd probably blow up too, and their argument would become a heated explosion. In the end, she'd probably mention how much he sucked as a gentleman again, and nothing would end well in that case. He knew he had a temper, and she did too. Sometimes they really were like fire and ice.
He sighed and slumped against the wall, plugging his headphones into his ears as he started listening to music. His shoulders relaxed and he closed his eyes, losing himself to the beat.
Meanwhile, just a little further off, the girl calling for him gave up. "Oh, I'm sorry..." she murmured.
He wondered if he heard something, which may or may not have sounded like an apology, but he decided that he'd just imagined it.
The girl sighed again when no one appeared in the schoolyard. Then she left.
Back behind the wall, he was almost asleep when a new voice greeted him. This voice sent chills down his spine.
"You didn't even notice me coming."
The boy's eyes snapped open and he turned slowly, meeting a pair of white and green eyes. The person who owned the eyes was smiling.
"Now you're just like the rabbit cornered in a cage; wouldn't you agree, Brick?"
Brick took a deep breath, reaching to remove his headphones. "...Vix," he murmured, "so you finally decided to show yourself." Before Brick could even completely take off his headphones however, his eyes widened as a sharp blade zipped through the air past his head. Locks of his fiery red hair got cut as he jumped out of the blade's way.
Vix just smiled his strangely charming and twisted smile again, wearing his usual white attire. He was holding up another blade.
"And when a rabbit is cornered, the predator will strike," he was saying, getting ready to throw his second weapon.
Brick narrowed his eyes and prepared to dodge.
"This is where you meet your predator, Brick. This is where you see the wolf."
"Well then; I guess you really are a wolf in sheep's clothing, Vix."
ME: There you go. That's where Brick dies.
BRICK: *shouts* OH COME ON!
ME: Hehe... That's what you get for always being a jerk.
BRICK: Screw you.
ME: Well, I'm just kidding about him dying. ...I think. Tune in next time and see if Vix kills Brick or not!
BRICK: I swear to dear God...
VIX: *smirks* Review and maybe I'll spare Brick's life.
BRICK: *tackles Vix; they start fighting*
ME: Well...let me reword Vix's "request": please review, everyone!
BLASTER: Umm...yay? *sweat-drop*