Author's Note - And now, to introduce the most arrogant OC I have ever created. Teh KIKEH. Guaranteed to get on your nerves by the end of the fic.
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Initiation
Part One
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For the third time in about twenty seconds, Rudy turned to stare at the clock on the wall. There were still two hours remaining in the school day. Two hours until his doom, when Reggie Bullnerd was going to pound him flat, just like he'd sworn that he would.
With a gulp, he shot a nervous glance at Reggie, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Maybe the preteen tyrant had forgotten about their little "appointment". But these hopes were soon trampled upon as Rudy realized that Reggie was staring straight at him, his face twisted into a hideous grin as he pounded his fist against the palm of his other hand. He clearly hadn't forgotten.
"Only two more hours, Tabootie!" The bully hissed under his breath, so Mr. Wilter wouldn't hear. "I hope you've got an ambulance standing by!"
There was an audible whump as Rudy's forehead hit the desk in front of him. Maybe he'd just die right there, and save Reggie the trouble.
It was a gloomy day. Everything seemed slow, dreadful, and the entire city was curtained with depressing gray clouds that seemed to linger in the sky. The less-than-pleasurable weather was only foreshadowing the dawn of a very significant event: a short, but seemingly endless era of time that Rudy and Penny were about to wish they could forget. But first, they had to meet the girl responsible for it all. And that time was drawing ever nearer.
"A-hem!" Mr. Wilter, at the head of the class, cleared his throat. He only did that if he had an announcement to make, or if someone was misbehaving. "Rudy Tabootie! Sit up and get your head off your desk!"
Without hesitation, Rudy obliged. His teacher was a frightening person when provoked.
"Students, I have an announcement." Apparently, Mr. Wilter wasn't finished talking. "As of today, we have a new student joining our class. She just transferred here from a school in Texas. Everyone, this is Kiki Callisto." He gestured towards the door.
Every head in the room turned. Standing in the doorway, fidgety in the spotlight, looking as if she had a million other places she'd rather be at the moment, stood a rather tall girl clad in light tones of purple. Rudy took a quick glance at her, hardly caring, and promptly returned his attention to his desk, where he started to doodle on a piece of notebook paper. Penny, however, kept her eyes on the new student in the doorway. She was curious to see how the newcomer would react.
"…Where do I sit?" The girl asked, in a monotonous voice that clearly reflected her boredom.
"…Hmm… There's a free seat between Penny and Michelle. Why don't you sit there?" Mr. Wilter motioned towards the empty chair.
"Mmmkay." Kiki plopped down in her seat, set down her stuff, and instantly she had melted into the crowd of other bored schoolchildren. All thoughts were drawn away from her existence and refocused on the lecture Mr. Wilter was giving.
"The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776." The schoolteacher droned, in a voice devoid of any emotion. "Remember that - 1776. There's going to be a quiz on this come Friday."
Penny hated to disrupt the lesson, but she'd already memorized the main ideas of the lecture. She leaned over in her chair to whisper to the new student. She couldn't help herself. It'd been months since the last new kid. In fact, Penny herself had been that last one. Besides… There was something about the new kid's aura that just enticed Penny to learn more about her. "Hi, Kiki. I'm Penny Sanchez."
Kiki waved, but didn't smile. She was either shy, nervous, or genuinely uninterested. "Hey."
Penny shot a quick glance at Mr. Wilter. The ramblings continued; something about Thomas Jefferson. She turned her attention back to Kiki. "…Was it fun living in Texas? I've heard that it doesn't have nearly as many deserted regions as common depictions can lead people to believe…"
The other girl blinked, a little confused, but never took her eyes away from her desk or the things upon it. Not knowing what to say, she replied, "You know, it's really not any different from here in Minnedakota County." With that, a very bored Kiki started to fiddle with the zipper on her binder. "And before you ask, people in Texas don't always speak with that ridiculous accent."
"I wasn't going to ask about that." Penny glanced over her shoulder. "What're you doing?"
"Drawing."
Kiki started to doodle on her paper, reminding Penny very much of what Rudy did to occupy himself every day.
"Is it a hobby of yours?" Penny tried to catch a glimpse of Kiki's handiwork.
"I guess so."
"Do you draw anything in particular?"
Kiki hesitated. "Eh… Mostly just… mythical stuff… You know, stuff that doesn't exist. Dragons and phoenixes and creatures like that."
"Fascinating."
Penny leaned over in her chair to see what Kiki was drawing. Instantly, she was amazed. True, Rudy was also a talented artist, but he was more of a cartoonist, and he didn't like realism, nor did he show much interest in mythology. The new girl was obviously his opposite. The long, winding snake on her paper seemed like it had sprung forth from an old book of Greek legends. "That's incredible!" She mused aloud… Emphasis on the 'aloud'. "I can't believe you did that without looking at anything!"
Suddenly, Penny paused, sensing something wrong. The room seemed… quiet all of a sudden. Maybe because Mr. Wilter had stopped talking.
"A-HEM. Penny Sanchez! Usually you're not the one setting a foot out of line. I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to stay after class."
Penny quickly faced the front once more, flushed with embarrassment. Kiki never once looked up, or paid any mind to what was going on. She just kept on drawing.
"And you! You should know better than to be drawing cartooooons during my lecture!"
"Uh-" Kiki quickly covered her paper with her arms, and glanced upwards in alarm. But Mr. Wilter hadn't been addressing her. He'd instead been talking to a boy a few seats over. Her shock slowly melted away as she lowered her gaze to her paper once more…
…Huh?
She focused on that boy again, the adrenaline returning. The tawny brown hair, green eyes, and buckteeth… Was it him?
"Sorry, Mr. Wilter!" He babbled, shoving his paper in his desk and facing the front once more.
"That's more like it, Mr. Tabootie. I don't want to have to give you another detention…"
Tabootie… Had that been his name? She made a mental note to ask Penny about him later on.
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BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG!
The bell signified either of three things: Rudy's imminent doom, Penny's first ever detention and to almost everyone else, sweet dismissal.
"I know this is your first fault all year… But I should really start enforcing the rules." Mr. Wilter explained to Penny. He was, by nature, always a little nicer to the smarter kids because of the good reputation they earned him. "Now, all you have to do is stay behind and tidy up the room a little. Clean the chalkboard, straighten up the desks and sweep behind Reggie's work area. I can't get those gum stains out myself."
Penny groaned, gaping up at the ceiling in desperation as if her detention sentence were a curse to rival death row. "Yes, Mr. Wilter."
Kiki, the only other one remaining in the classroom, rose from her seat, a few used pages of notebook paper under her arm, her backpack slung around her shoulders. She hadn't planned on talking to anyone, but… "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, Penny."
Penny gave a half-hearted wave as the new girl walked outside.
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Rudy tried to slip away, unseen, from the front doors of the school. As long as no one saw him, Bullnerd would have no way of trailing him. He wouldn't get beat to a pulp, and as a result, he would make it home unharmed, without having to worry about his physical being again until the next day. Then, of course, the problem would only repeat itself, but he tried not to think about that.
As Rudy walked along the borderline of the school, hugging the wall as he continued on, constantly looking over his shoulder, he failed to watch where he was actually going. The paranoid little artist bumped into Reggie Bullnerd, who immediately snagged him by the collar.
The smaller boy stared up at his opposition and gulped, forcing a half-smile. "Oh, uh… hi there… Bullnerd." He greeted innocently, in an attempt to cover up his fear, but it came out as a high-pitched squeak. "Didn't expect to see you around…"
"Nice to see you, Tabootie." Reggie responded, with just as much cheer in his accented voice. "Hope you're ready to rumble."
Not another word was spoken as the bully dragged his captive behind the school, where no other students cared to tread, and pinned him against the wall to keep him from running away. Rudy considered calling for help, but he knew none of the other kids would dare to mess with Reggie, and what few teachers they did have at their school never came outside so early. Besides, they were behind the school, and no one would be able to hear him anyway. He was a goner.
All because I called Reggie a moron at lunch today…
"Can't we talk this over?" Rudy pleaded in vain. "Violence never solves anything! In fact-"
"Shut up!" Reggie demanded angrily, the taunting sarcasm lost in his voice. "You've been bothering me for a long time, Tabootie, and we're going to get things settled once and for all! And don't bother yelling for help, because no one comes around this side of the school!"
And, ironically, just as this was said, Kiki strolled by, yes, around that side of the school. Maybe she'd just heard the yelling going on back there, and was avidly curious to find out just what was going on (if it was something interesting, who would want to miss it?) But, on the other hand, maybe she had been trailing them from the start, and was only just now making her presence known. She stopped beside the two boys, staring down (for she was quite tall) at them with a faked lack of interest.
Reggie turned his head and gawked upon realizing that Kiki was watching them. He had not been expecting an audience… "Humina, humina, humina!" He backed away from Rudy uneasily. "We were just…"
"Save it. You were just about to beat him up."
The bully growled. "What gave you that idea?!"
"Other than the fact that you had him pinned against the wall, and were seconds away from punching his face in before I came along?"
Reggie was just irritated, now, and no longer concerned about the possibility of Kiki tattling on him. The consequences were insignificant. He was just angry at her for interrupting what would undoubtedly be the most enjoyable whomping he'd ever given anyone. "Get lost, new kid!" He bellowed, turning his back on her. "Go on home and forget about this, or I can arrange an appointment for you, too!" He never took gender into account when he decided to give someone a thrashing.
He turned to face Rudy again- with only one problem. Rudy was gone. In fact, he was probably almost halfway home.
"RUDY TABOOTIE!!!"
Kiki snorted - from amusement or disgust, Reggie couldn't tell - and began to walk off. "Hey, 'tubby. Better luck next time. Shouldn't turn your back on people like that."
"WHAT?!" Reggie made his way in front of the retreating Kiki, blocking her path with his pompous bulk. "And where do you think you're going?!"
She gave a casual shrug. "Home."
"Then why'd you come around this way? This is the back of the school!"
"I was exploring the school's borders a little more. Wasn't a crime last time I checked." She effortlessly shoved him out of her way. "Now if you'll excuse me…"
Reggie felt his blood boil with rage as he watched her start to walk away. Guided by blind fury, he pursued her, his arm drawn back as to strike…
WHUMP.
No blood was drawn, but it was a crushing blow, powerful enough to stun... He stood there in shock, fingering the already-bruised place on his cheek where Kiki's fist had left its mark. How had she…?
The once-proud bully raced across the pavement, clutching his face in agony. "Mommmmmmmmmmmyyyyy!" Kiki watched him frolic in despair, chuckled slightly to herself, and continued on her way again. Such a humiliating little display was certainly amusing, but she'd seen the likes of that particular situation far too many times already, and it had already lost most of its zip.
She waved to Bullnerd one last time before he and the school were behind her. "It's a shame you had to catch me on a bad day!"
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A/N: Wow. That took longer than expected. ^^;; I'm still plotting, so feh.