I can't believe it. I really can't. This, my dear friends, is the final chapter of But I'm a Prep. *blinks* It's kinda weird. When I first started this thing back in July, I didn't know any of you. Not really. And now... well, I adore you all! *beams brightly* Okay, enough of this. I'll save the sappy crap for the end and get you to the fic! XD But keep in mind that I LOVE YOU ALL. Anyway.
Disclaimers: I own Newsies. Really. I do. *shifty eyes* Okay, no I don't.
Warnings: Language, slash
But I'm a Prep!
Chapter Ten
I was getting impatient.
That part of Racetrack had rubbed off on me.
I knew from that night at the Cocksucker that I wouldn't be able to act right away. All I had were the vague ideas of an outline of a plan. And even when the other members of the Lodging House put in their two cents and managed to piece together some kind of a strategy, I knew that in order for it to really work, I'd have to wait until the True Directions graduation. I knew that.
But, dammit, I hated just sitting around!
So, I bided my time by spying on the TD crew. And, eventually, most of my fellow lodgers decided that they'd take great pleasure in helping me out.
Knowing that they were willing to help made the waiting easier.
A little easier.
It was still hard. Very hard. So, I still jumped up from my chess game with Risk when I heard the front door shut. As I raced towards the door, I realized that I wasn't the only one interested in what was going on at TD. Risk was right behind me, Raven was bolting from the kitchen, and Heels, Snoddy, Twitch, and Fidget were flying down the stairs in some kind of odd, inadvertent Brady Bunch parody.
Mr. Kloppman beamed at us all. Today, his suit was made completely out of bright neon green material with huge blue and orange frogs in it. He had random leaves stuck in the neon green band on his hat, and there was actually a live frog sitting calmly on his shoulder.
"As you know," he began as we all settled into the various colorful, mismatched chairs, "I am your supervisor and the resident responsible result. As a responsible adult, I have no choice but to condemn the spying that you do on Miss Medda Larkson. However, due to some strange phenomenon, whenever this spying occurs, I find myself temporarily blind, deaf, and unaware of everything occurring around me, and, therefore, I have no proof that this practice actually happens." We all broke out into wild grins at that comment. "Carry on!" He tapped his cane on the floor and wandered off, humming a random tune under his breath.
We immediately focused our attention onto our "undercover agents" for that day: Snitch, Swerve, and friendly girl with red-brown hair nicknamed Stutter.
"Let's cut to the chase," Swerve said. "They went through with Step Five today."
My heart drop.
"That B-Bebop girl w-w-wouldn't do it," Stutter added. "She quit."
"Good for her," Shot murmured appreciatively.
"But the rest of them did it?" I blurted out.
"As far as I know," Swerve replied quietly.
"Even Race?" The trio exchanged glances. Finally, Snitch nodded.
"Even Race."
I felt my heart drop even lower into my shoes, but I nodded, I'd never expected him to actually go through with it. I'd always thought that he'd end up tearing out of the place to come find me, and we'd run off into the sunset and get a house with two-point-five adopted children and all that crap.
Actually, all I really wanted was for him to stand up for me. For him. For us.
Guess I expected too much.
"Are you okay?" Risk asked gently. I stared at him before swallowing the lump in my throat and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll be good."
Risk eyed me skeptically for a few seconds like he didn't believe me, but he let it go.
"Now that they've all passed, they can graduate. The ceremony's tomorrow," Swerve said bluntly, jamming his hands in the pockets of his black, baggy jeans.
"Tomorrow?!" Raven yelped. She looked at me sharply. "Do we have enough time to do this?" I shrugged.
"Probably not, but we're gonna do it anyway. There's no rhyme or reason or plan to it; we're just gonna let it happen."
My fellow conspirators nodded grimly.
You're probably wondering what exactly my master plan was. Then again, I shouldn't really call it my master plan. It's not fancy or complicated or anything like the "master plans" you see in movies. All we were going to do was crash True Directions' graduation ceremony. Now, that may not sound like much, but we were planning on trying our damnedest to steal back our respective significant others and, at the same time, let the parents know that this program didn't do shit. We could take Medda herself down if everything went well.
"We should head to the Cocksucker and let Chaser know what's going on," Heels said, fiddling with the pentagram around her neck. Being as there were no rooms left at the Cocksucker, Chaser had taken up residence at the Cocksucker itself, which offered surprisingly nice rooms for its employees.
"Yeah," Snoddy agreed.
"I'll go."
"Blink, you haven't slept since you had this idea," Snitch said gently. "Why don't you take a break tonight and let someone else go?"
"I'll tell her!" Rebel offered.
I sighed. "Fine."
"You really should get some sleep, Blink," Raven said firmly. "Upstairs. Go. Shoo."
"Are you my mom now?"
"No, but I'm Italian, and that's enough. Upstairs." I made a face in Raven's general direction and, grumbling, ascended the stairs. With a sigh I climbed into my bed.
I was dead to the world within five minutes.
*~*~*
Surprisingly enough, the following day passed like any other day. I woke up, ate breakfast, dodged Twitch (who had decided that we needed to get married), goofed off... the usual. But I went the entire day with a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. As much as I tried to convince myself that everything was normal and life was good, I knew it wasn't. I knew that we were going to try and do something that we probably shouldn't do. I mean, if we got caught... shit would hit the fan.
But I tried not to think about what would happen if we got caught.
If we pulled it off, on the other hand... there'd be no more True Directions. Medda would leave in disgrace. And maybe, just maybe, people would start to see that homosexuality isn't something that can be turned on and off like a light switch. Maybe they'd see that we're learning to deal with it, so they should, too.
And we were just kids. Normal teenagers who went to school and bitched about homework and hung out with friends. We weren't special or anything, and, yet, we were holding our own miniature revolution. If we were lucky, adults just might start to take more notice of kids. They might realize that just because they've lived longer, they don't necessarily know everything. We just might be able to prove that teenagers can do a hell of a lot when they band together.
Still... there were a whole lot of "maybes" and "mights" that I was dealing with. There was still the large possibility that we'd all crash and burn.
But we'd never know if we didn't try.
So when three o'clock rolled around and I realized that there was only two hours left until the ceremony, I was nervous. Believe me, I was practically pissing on myself. But at the same time, I was proud. Really proud. We weren't just sitting around and letting injustices happen. We were really gonna do stuff about it. And that's more than most presidents and senators and various politicians can say.
A soft knock at my door brought me out of my thoughts. I set down my book (the Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling; damn good books) and opened the door.
"Good afternoon, Blink," Mr. Kloppman said cheerily. "Would you mind if I came in?"
"Not at all." He strolled into my room with a large cardboard box and set it down on the floor. Then, he just looked at me for a bit, absent-mindedly tapping his cane on the floor.
"I want you to know how proud I am of you. And the others, of course. This is a big undertaking, Blink, and I know that you know it. But you still plan on going through with it even though you know how big the risks are. I admire that. So, I got you all a present." He beamed, reached into the box, and pulled out a camaflouge jumpsuit. "The way I see it, one can never own too much camaflouge. It's interesting and discreet and quite stylish, in my opinion.
I stared at it in shock before grinning like a madman.
"Thanks, Mr. Kloppman."
"You're welcome, Blink." He smiled at me once more, tipped his hat, and meandered out of the room.
*~*~*
"You ready?" I pulled on my camaflouge jacket, turned to Snitch, and grinned.
"As ready as I'm gonna be," I replied. He sighed and fiddled with the zipper of his own jacket.
"I just hope that Racetrack is worth it."
I raised an eyebrow. "Is Skittery?"
He smiled wryly at me. "I'm doing this for you, not for Skitts."
"I'm so sure." He grinned and smacked me upside the head. "Let's get going." We took our time getting downstairs, though. This wasn't exactly something that we were looking forward to.
Heels and Snoddy were already waiting for us in the living room. Heels had a completely expression on her face, while Snoddy looked as white as a ghost. Chaser, who had apparently arrived a bit earlier, was chatting loudly with Shot and Stutter.
Everyone shut up when Specs and Dutchy walked in.
It was time.
"Is everybody ready?" Dutchy asked cheerfully, keeping a loose grip on Specs' hand. There was a pause before Snoddy finally spoke up.
"No." Everyone blinked in surprise. "But we're going anyway. What other choice do we have?"
"Amen, brother," Snitch muttered. Simultaneously, Specs and Dutchy pulled identical pairs of sunglasses from the pockets of their jeans and put them on.
It was cute. A little cheesy, a little weird, but cute. And it definitely helped lift some of the tension.
"It's time, guys," Specs said, grinning. "Commence Operation 'Bringing Down the Bitch.'"
*~*~*
The graduation was held, like most TD functions, on the football field. So, when Specs and Dutchy dropped us off, the five of us made a mad dash from the parking lot to a small grove of trees on the outskirts. Several rows of folding chairs had been set up facing a small platform. Said chairs were almost completely filled with parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins... you get the point. Various relatives. And every single one of them was wearing white. It kinda hurt to look at them, but it was the least of my worries. Glancing up at the tiny stage, I saw David and Mush wearing white suits and talking quietly. Medda, wearing her customary vomit pink, was standing at a podium and tapping on the microphone.
"Looks like we got here just in time," Snoddy commented.
"Everyone ready?" I asked.
"Yeah," Snoddy said with a determined look in his eyes. Heels gave me a terse nod. Snitch, who'd been sucking his thumb, removed the aforementioned appendage and nodded confidently.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Chaser said cheerily. "But one question?"
"What?"
"How exactly are we planning on doing this?"
I blinked. "Um... I hadn't actually thought of that."
Heels groaned. "Oh, shoot me..."
"Couldn't we just... you know, run in and disrupt it? Grab them and leave?"
They stared at me.
"Blink, my friend, I love you, but that's an idiotic idea," Chaser said calmly.
"Fine, what were you planning on doing?" I replied.
"Guys, she's talking," Snoddy informed us quietly. We blinked and focused on Medda.
"Welcome, everyone!" she cried, smiling a huge, fake smile. "I would like to say how proud I am of these children. They've worked extremely hard over these past two months in order to overcome this disability. Good for them! Let's begin the ceremony!"
Immediately, David sat down at a keyboard on the stage and began to play. He was actually pretty good, which surprised me. I didn't think that David could do anything but play sports and yell at us.
Then, the remaining True Directions students started their "Walk of Shame" up the makeshift aisle in between the rows of chairs, and I kinda stopped looking at anything else.
"Holy shit," Snitch breathed from beside me.
Speed was the first girl to appear. She was wearing a bright pink dress. That much, I expected. What I didn't expect was for it to be roughly the size of a house. Seriously. This thing was poofier than Medda's hair, and that's saying something. Not to mention it was made of pleather. Dwell on that lovely mental image for a while. Bright. Pink. Pleather. With huge-ass bows all over it. Let's not even talk about the hot pink gloves, shoes, and earrings. Speed as well as Mayfly, who was walking directly behind her, looked absolutely miserable.
Then, came Itey.
Now, I'd never liked that kid. I hated him with a burning, raging passion, as a matter of fact. But I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
He was dressed in a disgusting neon blue tuxedo, also made of pleather. An enormous blue bow tie rested under his chin, and he looked like he wanted to kill something. ... okay, so he always looked like he wanted to kill something, but this time, it looked like he was actually going to do it.
Race was directly behind him. I've got to admit, he looked like a sulky four-year-old in that stupid tux. It was adorable.
We watched closely as everyone marched up to a row of chairs in the front of the assembly and sat down. Medda clapped her hands together and continued to smile.
"When I call your name, please step forward to receive your diplomas. Janel Anders!"
Everyone waited patiently for Speed to step up.
But she never did.
Because she was already tearing across the field, hand in hand with Chaser.
"Go Chaser!" Snitch cheered softly. I grinned wildly before glancing back up at the stage.
Medda's smile never faded, but it did look like her eye was twitching a little bit. "Ooookay... Ashleigh Bennett."
I stared directly at Race as Mayfly accepted her diploma and sat back down, looking pretty damn disappointed with herself. I finally decided that I'd better do what I could before it was too late. So, I shimmied towards the front of the audience on my stomach to avoid being seen.
Finally, I found myself at his feet. "Race," I hissed. "Race!"
He looked down at me, and his eyes widened to the approximate size of a watermelon. "Blink, what the fuck are you doing here?!"
"I came to rescue you, dumbass!" He glanced quickly over the crowd, and I followed his gaze.
It was that guy, Mr. Snyder. And Avi was sitting right next to him.
"I can't, Blink," he whispered. "I just can't." Then, he stood up to receive his diploma.
I stared after him in shock. With my jaw still brushing the floor, I glanced behind me. Mandy was sobbing happily into Heels' shoulder. Snitch and Skittery were just looking at each other with these adorable embarrassed smiles on their faces. Swifty and Snoddy were making out like crazy. Chaser and Speed were long gone.
And I was left alone.
No way. No way was I gonna let that happen to me.
So, I did what could be called the bravest or stupidest thing I'd ever done.
I stood up in the middle of the ceremony.
"Racetrack."
He stopped, stared at me, and dropped his diploma in shock. But he looked me straight in the eye, which was admirable.
"This isn't right. It isn't."
"Isaac Cliffton, what the hell are you doing here?!" Medda snarled. I ignored her like I'd done a million times before.
"You know that this is wrong." With that, I turned to the crowd around me. "You've been wasting your money and your children's time. This place doesn't do anything. It doesn't work." Surprised murmurs immediately shot up. "All it does is keep your children or grandchildren or nieces or nephews or whatever from being who they are. And it makes them so miserable that it isn't even funny." I focused my attention back on Racetrack and ignored Medda, who was screeching at me. "You can sit here and live a lie if you want to, but I won't. I can't wait around for someone who is too scared to admit who they are. And that's kinda sad because I really-" The words caught in my throat for a second, but I went on to say what I did because it was true. "I really love you." His jaw dropped. "I really, actually, for once in my life love someone. But I can't just sit around and wait for you to decide one day that you're ready to stand up for yourself."
That's when David started chasing me, so I turned and ran as fast as I could towards the parking lot. I vaguely saw Specs frantically directing the various couples towards the van.
"Blink, where's Race?" he yelled. I swallowed thickly, fighting tears.
"He's... he's-"
"BLINK!" I turned around.
There was Race, flying towards me as he simultaneously tried to rip off the bow tie around his neck.
And Avi was right behind him, smiling like an angel.
I hardly had time to think before he was on me, his arms around my neck, his lips on mine. We were together. Together. The word sounded so good to me that I could hardly stand it.
And I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt that good.
"I love you, too, you know," he whispered, resting his forehead against my own.
"I know." Avi smiled serenely at us both.
"I think we're supposed to get in the car now," she said quietly, gesturing to Dutchy who was honking at us.
I walked towards the car, my hand clasped with Race's and my arm around Avi's shoulder. I was happy. Really and truly happy.
And, for the first time since I could remember, I felt like I really belonged somewhere.
End Chapter Ten
End Fic
Well, everyone... this is it. *sad smile* This fic has taken up the majority of my time for the past four or five months, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Seriously, guys, I'm practically crying here. But, never fear! Two pieces of good news. A new fic, the one I mentioned before, will be out soon. It's called "Angelsight," and it's my masterpiece. I'm also re-doing "As the Curtain Falls," because I don't like the way it turned out. ^_^;; On to the shoutouts. But, before I do that... huge, massive, incredible thanks to the NJL. Without your... ahem... support ("Are you writing? Huh? Are you? Are you? Are you? How about now?"), I probably wouldn't have finished this. Now, on to the shoutouts!
geometrygal: Argh! Stoopid parentals! .O My parents get like that, too. They don't like how much of my time I spend writing, so that's the first thing that gets taken away when I screw up... anyway! *points* THERE YOU ARE! XDDD Anyway, hope you liked it, and thanks for reviewing!
Loea: Aw, thank you! Uber-glad you liked it! *giggles and dances in a circle* See, the thing with the semi-sex is that I couldn't get a happy medium between not at all sex and wild, crazy, animal sex, so it kinda ended up... heavy snoggage with strong allusions to sex. *beams* Sankyuu for the review!
Thistle: I can't believe it's over, meself. ^_^;; Buuuut, anywho, this chapter answered your questions, I assume. XD I love your random pairings, m'dear. Uber-thanks for the loverly review-age!
Magpie1899: XDDDD You have NO idea how huge of a compliment that is! I'M A CONVERTER, WOO! Blink and Race are adorable, aren't they? *giggles madly and dances in a circle* Tanytway, thanks SO much for the compliment and the review, and I hope you keep up with the slashiness! XD
kellyanne: *glomps* It'd get boring if it went on forever. *beams* Don't die! I've got two more groovy fics in the making! ... I've forgotten how fun the word "groovy" is. XD Anywho, thanks for reviewing, my love! *glomps again*
Shotiekins: You basically ARE the reason that these last two chapters happened. I want you to know that. You and Skittles and Lute. *tackle glomps* And, no, YOU rawk. You rawk like a mohawk. ... or something. Either way, I luffle you.
Skittles: *feels uber-special to have BIAP placed in the Holy Grail of Binders* Please direct yourself to the above comment made to Shortie. XD I love you like a fat kid loves cake. Mmm... cake... *wanders off* *lovelovelove*
Fidget: *blinks* *pokes Unconscious!Fidget* I LOVE YOUR LISTS! XDDD I feel so bad for being mean to Itey and Medda, though... Itey's actually my... third favorite newsie (after Blink and Skittery, tied with Dutchy). And Medda's just a pretty cool chica. But, tanytway... NEKKID!SPOT, WOO! *giggles and dances* *loves*
Omni: *comforts* No cry, sillykins! And, yes, there's another story after this. And I'm saving spots for you and Shade and Skittles. *giggles* So, no fear! *glomps* *hearts muchly*
Ireland: *cackles madly* Sappy probably wouldn't be to happy to hear you insulting the love of her life. *giggles* Anyway, I love you! WHEE! Thanks for all your consistent reviews, m'dear! *tackle glomps*
Yoko-chan: MY LOVE! *glomps* *chews on arm* *grins sheepishly* Anyway. I love and adore you. And you need to write. Badly. And you know all about Angelsight. *cackles* *counter-glomps* LOVELOVELOVE!
Aura: YES! FIREEEEEEE! ... ahem. *loves wildly*
Twitch: ... those aren't meant for poking, dearie. -_- And you know damn good and well that you're not allowed to touch Blink! *whips hands* (love ya) Now, you must write. Everything. Now. Or I WILL CUT YOU. *bites* *loves*
Demon: *giggles wildly* SQUEE! *hearts Squee* SANKYUU FOR THE REVIEW! XDDD
Destruct-O Girl: Yup, this was the last one. *sad smile* Ah, well, s'okay! Thanks uber-muchly for the review-age!
Liams Kitten: Eh, s'okay, I don't mind! *beams* I've been wanting to do a Spot/Blink fic for a while now, so I just randomly shoved that in there. *sheepish grin* MONTY PYTHON ROCKS! *dies* *resurrects* I ADORE YOU! *flying tackle glomps* LOVELOVELOVE! And thanks for all the loverly reviews!
Holiday: HOLIDAY, WHEE! *huggles* Sugar rocks! AND SO DO YOU! *loves like crazy*
Stage: GO YOU! *waves Stage flags* Avi's a real person, actually. She's in a bunch of my classes, and she really is that sweet. And she talks like that. Only think I changed was her age. *hearts Avi* *glomps da Stage*
Nakaia: *quickly pops swelled ego* SANKYUU SO MUCH! XDDD Happy belated Thanksgiving to you! WHEE! And thanks SO much for the reviews! *huggles*
Cerri: Okay, FFN definitely cut off like... your entire review. But thanks for whatever you were going to say! *beams*
Soaker: Yeah, I didn't like that chapter at all, but what can you do? Those little filler chapters are necessary, I guess. *shrugs* *beams* Thanks for the review!
Gryffin: "MUSES," WOO! That fic is so insane... that's why I heart it. ^_^ Anyway, YAY KLOPPMAN! AND GAY PEOPLE! And I luffle YOU more! XD *tackle glomps*
B-baby: *huggles* YAY, 200! *cackles* Mansex is fun, though you and Funkie write it FAR better than I do. -_- *ish very bad at writing sex, as you can see from the lackage* Pouting!B is all EEP. Which makes no sense. But whatever. *tackle glomps* Much heart-age, m'dear. You are a goddess.
V-channy-chan: *glomps* I MISS YOU. Seriously. I've been neglecting anime fandom, but I can't help it! *whimpers* LAYNE! Tell Layne to get her arse somewhere and get Newsies BECAUSE I MISS HER LIKE CRAZY! *meeps* Sankyuu muchly for the luffly review-age, and I adooooore you! XD
Colleen: Heya, darlin'! Yeah, I heard about Leo. *le sigh* He was a good guy. And Hayden had her baby yesterday at 2:10. Her name's Amalie, but we already knew that. Anyway. I MISS YOU! *huggles* Thanks for the review, my love!
G.A: I LOVE YOU MORE! Davey IS an ass. But I don't like him, so it's all good. ^_^ *much love* I heart you, dearie!
H.W.O: Cliffhangers ROCK! ... when you're not the one reading it. *cackles* RENT IS FRICKIN' AWESOME! *dies* You rawk my sawks, H.W.O, my love. And tankies for reviewing-ness! *giggles and dances*
Angel of Harmony: Wow... thanks SO much! Seriously, that's a major compliment. *beams* Glad you liked it! And, yes, that WAS an Animorphs reference. *giggles* I keep thinking back to that chapter where they meet the Chee when Jake and Marco morphed dogs to get into the outdoor concert and "make sure that Alanis and Offspring weren't Controllers." *hearts that series* I have the TV show opening and everything, even though the show didn't last. Ahem. Enough Animorphs rambling. Thanks so much for the awesome compliment and review and whatnot! ^-^
Tabber Lloydikins: LOVE YOU MORE! *tackles*
Artemis-chan: Thanks, darlin'! Glad you liked it! *beams* *sighs* Yesh, it's over now... and that makes me sad... but it makes me happy, too... so, I understand exactly what you're going through! *giggles* Thanks SO much for all the loverly reviews, dearest!
J-Sparrow: YOU ROCK ME TO THE MOON
G.V: BAD GIRL! BUY NEWSIES! *whips* *sheepish grin* *loves*
Radical Ed: EEEEEP! *flying tackle glomps* I MISSED YOU! Seriously, you and Pizza and the whole crew... kinda haven't been to the anime section in a while. ^_^;; But you rock, dude! *glomps*
Kristan: PENGUIN! *chases it* QUACK, QUACK- wait, that's a duck. What sound does a penguin make? *ponders* *shrugs* *resumes chase* PENGUIN, PENGUIN, PENGUIN! Thanks for reviewing! PENGUIN!
Shadey-love: *loves to death*
Strawberri Shake: Aw, thanks! *beams* I'm glad you like my slashiness! *giggles* Thanks a load for the review!
Well, guys... this is the end. Be sure to check out my other stuff [/plug], and I'll be sure to have my new fics up soon! I SHALL END WITH A QUOTE!
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are staring at the stars." -Oscar Wilde
*~Love, Sita~*