Author's Note: Sick, extremely stressed, and just generally in a bad spot right now. As if you care.
Disclaimer: For the love of God, I don't own FOP! (sighs unhappily)
Chapter Ten: Love is in the Eye of the Beholder
Breathing hard, Trixie just about falls asleep when the phone rings. Naturally, she's quite annoyed. Who dares interrupt the slumber of the doomed?
In a few hours, as her clock reminds her constantly, her mother will be here, but not for her. For years, she yearned for a mother, someone to love her like no one else has in this cold, aristocratic society...and now that she has one, it's not the one she wants. Is it too much to ask for a compassionate woman in this world of fakes? Can there be a grain of truth in the lies?
Maybe it's her mother calling...the caller ID's out, for a change, so it could be basically anyone in Dimmsdale that got her private line. God, she prays it's her mother...she's never heard her voice...
Outside her room, she can hear her father shuffle around, pulling something down and putting something else away. Idly, she wonders what he's up to, and then decides she doesn't care. No matter how sweet he seemed about the matter before, it was his and his family's fault she has no mother and she won't forget that any time soon.
Unless he's secretly planning a meeting between them? Is that why he's moving things around by himself? (The servants have a tendency to gossip).
Fool, a voice whispers in her head. Stop dreaming and grow up. Everyone's always telling you to be a young woman, but you're pretending that isn't true. That you have a right to a childhood because you're a child. It'll never happen and you know it.
Crossing her fingers, Trixie answers the phone only to discover a huge, unwelcome surprise. More than ever, she wishes her caller ID worked, because if it had, she'd never have picked up the phone in the first place.
"Trixie?" She hears Tootie call clearly and succinctly. Just the sheer pitch of her voice makes her want to vomit. That girl induces nausea in her every time she speaks with her.
"Yes?" She replies, irritated. "Who gave you this number?" Because I'm going to shoot them. How dare they give out my private line...and cause me to hope my mother was going to call. Mom...
"Timmy," Tootie says calmly, causing her to mentally curse. Well, she can't hurt him, that's for certain. No matter how much she'd love to, she just can't. She'll let this slide.
Seriously, though, her cocky attitude becomes grating. She yearns to reach through the phone and strangle its holder, ending the race for Timmy once and for all. What makes this girl think she has a right to him, anyway? He doesn't like her and he'll never like her. It's that simple.
After all, Timmy's telling her everything, isn't he? He'd never hold anything back, would he? But if he isn't...then why would she call her? To cry and scream? No, not unless it was in front of Timmy, which this isn't.
"And who are you?" Trixie snaps, mock suspiciously. Maybe she'll hear 'April Fools' (although April 1st is far away) or something. Maybe her mother will come on soon and tell her she's very good at ventriloquism and she's abducted Tootie, shoved her in a locker, and she'll never hear from her again. Wouldn't that be grand?
"What's the matter? Don't have caller ID?" Tootie retorts, peeved. As a matter of fact, mine's out, but then I'm on the same page as you, aren't I? Oh, God, what a horrible thought, being a simpleton like you. Not only that, but also I'd be an obsessive loser too.
What would anyone see in you, much less Timmy? Why on earth would you even think he'd be interested in you, of all people? Hello, ten year olds find shrines in their honor creepy, not attractive! Loser with a capital l.
"Tootie!" Trixie hisses, sick of dodging around the issue. Yes, she knows whom she is, just not why she called. And, in due time, she'll find that out too. Then, she'll be rid of the pest.
"Why the hell did you call me?" And wake me up?! I was going to have some nice dreams, I think...of my mother cradling me to my chest...things I remember vaguely...
I just cursed, didn't I? Well, I can't help it, she's getting on my every last nerve! If I could, I'd...well, it's not polite for a lady to say that.
"To tell you...to tell you..." Tootie stammers, tripping over her words. Trixie smiles sardonically, noting that the girl clearly needs some public speaking classes. No wonder Timmy doesn't like her, she isn't eloquent. Heh, well, she isn't going to help her, that's for damn sure.
Tapping her fingers against her night table, Trixie watches the clock carefully. If she takes any longer than three minutes to complete her sentence, she'll hang up on her. It's as easy as that.
Idly, as her head is cocked to the outside, where she can distantly hear her father issue orders, she senses Tootie struggle against an internal conflict. She'd be lying if she cared, but it took up her time to keep deliberating. Make up your mind already!
Unbidden, a voice whispers, and tell me if Timmy's been keeping things from me. I think he has...
"What?!" Trixie screams, exasperated. "Why doesn't someone screen my calls?!" Yes, I know I'm acting spoiled, but if she thinks that's what I'm really like, she'll hang up! I don't understand why I didn't hang up to begin with. I have nothing in common with this girl, aside from Timmy.
And, with any luck, she'll give up on him and free him up entirely for me. And pigs will fly...
"Why, so miss pretty can't waste a minute and unfiled nails on those who aren't worthy?" Tootie shoots back, causing her to dig her nails into her palm so deeply, it begins to bleed. She's seeing red by now. What the hell does she think she knows? This pathetic loser knows nothing.
My life is more than being pretty, you know! I have problems, big ones. And I don't appreciate you trivializing them over a boy. You're lucky, you have both parents, but what do I have? A father who only cares when it serves his interests to, and a world of phonies. No one really wants to hear from me, they only hear what they want to. If I had any real ideas, they were lost a long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away...
"And you're just going to hang up on me, aren't you? You'd rather ignore reality than deal with it, that's the way it is with you perfect little rich girls! You have everything you could ever dream of, but you always want more!"
I want to tear your throat out and dance on your corpse, this is her first thought. It's followed by blood thundering in her ears and rapidness of breath. Screw acting like a young adult and mature, she's brought it down a notch. Anything goes now, brat.
Snarling, Trixie retorted, "You have no idea what my life is like." Nor how much I want to kill you right now...words cannot express that.
All she can say at the moment is this. Badly, she yearns to go off on a tangent and scream her lungs out. It'd be worth it, to deafen Tootie forever. If she can't legally kill her, stuff her body in a black bag, and heave it off a cliff, she can disable her.
"Oh, so the fine dining, servants, thousands of clothes, jewelry, maids, and everything I heard about on the movies, radio, and TV were all wrong? You don't have someone to wipe for you? How about making sure you don't have to lift a finger? No? B.S.!"
"That isn't the problem!" Trixie retorts, feeling herself on the verge of blurting out something she'd rather keep secret. Keep cool, girl...the brat doesn't need to know...
"Oh, really? Then what is? I'm dying to know!" Tootie hisses, sounding more like a snake every second.
"What makes your life so horrible, miss perfect? Tell me!"
"My mother's coming to town and she doesn't even know I'm alive nor does she care! She gave birth to me and then that was it! My family threw her out! At least you have your parents, bitch!" Trixie screams, spitting onto the receiver.
"What?!" Tootie chokes, taken completely aback. Whatever she anticipated, it sure as hell isn't this. Silence reigns, beautiful silence. Well, if she's done, she's going to hear her speak her part.
"And people listen to you when you speak! You aren't expected to be perfect every second of the day! No one bases their love of you on whether or not you can talk like a young adult! You have a childhood, damn it!"
"No one loves me, least of all Timmy! You stole him, you charlatan!" Tootie retorts, not entirely certain what the word meant but using it anyway. "You warped him so he could just forget that he kissed me-"
"What?!" It's Trixie's time to choke. Were anyone here worthy of it, she'd pass out from shock. For now, she'll just stare in disbelief. Her Timmy? No...she hadn't wanted to be right!
"When?" Please be a long time ago, please...tell me it was a mistake! Lie to me, damn it!
Tears begin to fall, despite her attempts to staunch them. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back, the final problem. Mom and Timmy...God...
"A-a few weeks before you two became a couple," Tootie stammers.
So he did it to avoid her...oh..."Don't cry," Tootie adds uselessly. "Please...I'm sorry..."
Instead, she hangs up on her. She doesn't need any more of this...
Lying back on her bed, Trixie Tang clutches her pillow and sobs in earnest.