Chapter 6 - Strangers in the Night

(...Dimmsdale Mall...30 minutes later...)

Vicky had been driving aimlessly for some time. True to her earlier statement, there was nothing to do in town tonight. She ultimately decided on going to the mall. As usual, parking was a nightmare. Making her way in, she found that the building was packed with people.

She looks up at the ceiling and starts to wander about. During her walk, she pondered an old problem which, recently, became new: Timmy Turner. Down to the bone, she hated him and reveled in making his life miserable. No one quite knew the reason, though. One thing she did love, however (other than the torture): the pay she received from his parents. Vicky may have been cruel and demented, but she was by no means stupid; she knew that the future would beckon her....and that she should have some cash saved for a rainy day.

College was the ultimate rainy day. She had hoped to juggle her education and her twisted hobby, but found, to her dismay, that she couldn't. Ultimately, she majored in English Literature (with a minor in Sociology).

Vicky's reflections on her past cease upon reaching Read All Over, a bookstore. She walks in and heads for the magazine rack.

(...the food court...10 minutes later...)

With a music magazine under her arm and a smoothie in her hand, Vicky walks around in search of a seat. She settles on a table in the middle. So lost is she in thought, she doesn't even acknowledge (much less notice) the person sitting across from her at the table. With painted nails on slender fingers grasping a fashion magazine, it is obvious that the other person is female.

Vicky glances at her 'companion' and is able to make out the top of her head, sporting a mane of dark hair. She looks down at the person's meal: it's a salad, which looks as if it was comprised solely of lettuce, tomatoes and some transparent flavor of dressing. The redhead puts her smoothie on the table and opens her magazine. At that moment, the other woman puts her magazine down. It's Trixie. She notices the woman at her table and takes a bite of her salad. She buries herself in her magazine.

Just then, Vicky puts her magazine down and takes a long sip of her smoothie. She soon grunts; being pretty tall, her legs need their space. She stretches them out, bumping into the petite feet of the girl across her.

"Excuse me!", Trixie shouts.

"Excuse you what? I need to stretch!"

"Then do it at another table!"

"News flash, girlie: this is a free country!"

"And this is my table. I was sitting here first."

Her legs outstretched, Vicky shoots the high-schooler a death-glare before returning to her magazine. With a look of irritation on her face, Trixie scoffs in response. The expression gradually changes to one of sadness. A tear runs down the brunette's face.

What starts out as one tear soon becomes several. Trixie was definitely a person who prided herself on self-image, but at this point, she could care less what people thought of her now. She folds her arms on the table, rests her head down and sobs. Vicky can't help but stare at her from behind her magazine.

'Whoa. Look at that girl go.' Vicky's concern soon melts into superiority.'Who knew I still had it? Although...'

"What's wrong with you?"

Trixie stops crying and sniffles a bit. "This usually never happens. I used to have over my life." She picks a napkin from the dispenser at the table's center. She dries her eyes with it, then blows her nose. "I was so confident..." She squeezes the napkin in her hand, hard. "...then came him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're getting all weepy over a guy?!"

"What? A lot of girls do...I've heard."

"Not me. I've been with a lot of guys. Take it from me. They're nothing but trouble. You're better off."

"This one, though...he was special", Trixie states in a 'he's so dreamy' tone.

"How special?"

"He was my first."

Vicky's eyes widen. "Your first?!"

"Yeah. The first guy that ever dumped me!", she responds harshly. "Oh, don't get the wrong idea. I am not easy. Most guys I've been with only wanted one thing, but they have to work for it like everyone else."

"And that would be...?"

"Money."

"Oh."

"Anyway, guys don't dump me. I dump them! It's the natural order of things." Trixie sighs heavily. "I see him every day. I see him at school, at home. Hell, I even see him in my nightmares."

"Wow. Have you got problems!"

"And to think: he used to worship the ground I walk on." Trixie sits back in her chair and reflects. "You would not believe some of the stuff he did to impress me. It was kinda sweet in a pathetic and futile sort of way."

"Sounds like a loser to me", Vicky says, taking a long sip from her smoothie.

"I swear, for the rest of my life, I'll never forget him; him or his stupid pink hat."

Vicky spits out a mouthful of raspberry passion to her side, almost like she were auditioning for a sitcom. "Did you say 'pink hat'?"

"I sure did."

"That is too weird. I used to torture a twerp with a pink hat. Well, the official term is 'babysit', but it was torture."

"This guy is such a hottie, but he used to have these two buck teeth."

"So did the twerp!"

"And his name,.." Trixie puts her fingers to her chin "I could never remember it: Terry, Tommy..."

"Timmy Turner?"

"Yes, that was it, I think. He has some nerve doing that to me. I'd like to show him something."

With a smile, Vicky extends her hand to the brunette.

"Vicky Flanagan."

The high-schooler can't help but return the gesture. "Trixie Tang."

The two women shake hands.

(...20 minutes later...)

The one-time enemies are now in good spirits, laughing and bonding over their mutual animosity of Timmy.

"He actually told you that he watched 'The Kissy-Kissy Goo-Goo Hour'? Ha! What a girl!", roars the redhead on the verge of hysteria.

"Didn't I say he was pathetic?"

Vicky manages to catch her breath and wipe away a tear. "I had no idea."

"I wonder what he's doing now."

"Probably still charming my clueless parents. He's dating my sister, the worm. I had to get away from there. What about you? What brings you here?"

"Hiding from my dad. Last week, he was all..."

(...the Tang's living room...last Wednesday night...)

As one would expect, the room is beautifully appointed; fancy paintings, expensive furniture. Trixie sat nervously in a plush chair. Standing at the room's other end is her father. The balding Asian man stood silently staring at a number of papers with red marks all over. He turns back to his daughter.

"What kind of marks are these? Are you even trying to learn anything?" He rubs his temples as he turns back around. Trixie can barely make out her father's muttered words: "'Send her to public school', her mother said. 'It will broaden her horizons', her mother said." Trixie gulps a bit as he faces her.

"This will not stand. If these marks don't improve, I will have no choice. You will..."

(...the food court...)

"...pay my own way through college! Can you believe it? How would I even do something like that?"

"Well, there's financial aid, or you could get a job."

"I was born into money! Why should I have to work?"

"I don't know. Maybe you could be a model."

"Maybe. I mean, that's hardly work."

Vicky puts her arms up and rests her chin on her folded hands. "Getting back to you-know-who, you mentioned wanting to show him something."

"Yeah. He can't get away with this."

"Well, I have a suggestion: find a way to break them up."

"I like that. But shouldn't there be more to it than that?"

"Of course. How good an actress are you?"

Trixie runs her hand back through her hair. "I'd say terrific."

"Good, 'cause that's going to be important."

"But wait, what about your sister?"

"What about her?"

"Won't she be crushed?"

"She'll find a way to deal eventually."

Trixie looks at her.

"Let's just say we haven't had the best relationship", Vicky understated. Even though Tootie was her sister, she considered her just another victim. "But don't worry. This puppeteer still knows how to pull some strings."

"What exactly is your plan? How do we go about doing this?"

Vicky looks around the mall. Her face lights up when she stops on a particular store.

"I think we should start with a little shopping", she says, a devilish smile crossing her lips.