Disclaimer: Oh, my God, they killed Kenny! No, actually, I don't own FOP, but, if you look out the window, Kenny's dying again. Crocker ran him over.
(Don't own South Park either).
Chapter Eight: Battlegrounds
Lunch- before now, a time she could pretend none too politely to be interested in Trixie and her interests. Now, a time of warfare. Girl against girl…all for one prize- Timmy Turner.
Long ago, in what felt like a galaxy far, far away, she'd spent time in the cafeteria pretending to be politely interested in whatever Trixie had to say. In fact, it'd been just yesterday that they'd pretended to be friends, how ironic. Now, she could tell she had no business getting anywhere near the popular table, but that hardly mattered. For now, she had her objection and she had to strike while the iron was hot.
Trixie was nowhere to be seen, something that caused her a bit of unease. Where on earth could that girl be? Was she plotting something sinister while her back was turned? It'd be just like her.
Veronica believed Tootie was out of the running, but she couldn't be sure. Until she knew for certain, she couldn't be too careful around her. After all, she was an enemy.
Cautiously, she slid into the cafeteria and surveyed her classmates, rival (as Trixie was missing), but most of all, Timmy. He was chatting with his friend, A.J., who kept brandishing the heart Tootie gave him. A smirk flitted across her face- the poor boy was obviously smitten. She almost pitied him.
Well, if those two got together, that'd leave Timmy for her, which wasn't half bad. If only she had an easy way to dispose of Trixie…but time would tell. Nonetheless, she felt as though this would be a long, drawn out battle with a lot of dirty fighting.
She didn't approach him just yet, preferring to keep her distance. For now, she'd hunt her prey and then strike. Although she'd spied on him many a time, this was somehow different. Now he would be looking for her to look for him. Too bad she couldn't play hard to get.
Shaking her blonde hair out, she flashed him a thousand watt smile and walked, shaking her hips from side to side, into the cafeteria. Not only did she have Timmy's attention now, but half of the student body. Excellent, she could use this (even if she'd need a janitor to mop up the drool).
Her walk was confident as she strolled past the wannabes, the never-bes, and, of course, the former 'friends' of hers. Most stared unabashed, but a few snorted derisively. Fine, let them snort and be jealous. She had a job to do.
Timmy stood in line, his eyes not on her as she'd hoped but on the food ahead of him. Well, if he wanted a show, he was going to get it. There was no way in hell lunch lost out to her.
Swallowing hard and trying not to think about the fact that Trixie was missing. Maybe she'd pop up and annoy her. Hopefully, she didn't have something serious in mind.
"Timmy?" She called sweetly, but he ignored her. Around his neck, she could still see the pink string of her heart. At least she knew he hadn't thrown it out.
Since when was lunch that important, anyway? Weren't things like girls much more important? And how dare he ignore her when she was standing right behind him!
Stifling the urge to give him a hard poke in the back, she instead waited patiently for him to choose between tuna surprise and meatloaf ("or is it?"). Whatever the choice, he was bound to get a bad case of food poisoning, since she didn't eat the elite food of the popular group. If only she were as popular as Trixie- then, by proxy, he could be popular too. Nah, but never mind, popularity wasn't everything.
"Timmy Turner?" Veronica murmured in his ear and what a nice ear it was. Perfectly pink and perfectly shaped, as if hewn by the gods. Good Lord, was she in love with his ear? Then again, she loved everything about him, so why not?
The poor boy jumped about five inches off the ground and, in the process, threw his lunch tray upon some poor lunch lady's head (a pink milk cartoon and a green carton went flying- why did only he have those?). If it weren't for the fact this was an entirely serious matter, she'd laugh just as the kids behind her were doing. His face went scarlet.
Meanwhile, seeing as everyone's attention was fixed on Timmy, A.J. vanished from the line and to the back of the cafeteria, where her eyes did not follow. Whatever he was doing, she cared little. Let him talk to Tootie; unless the girl was seriously out of the competition, she wanted her dead- in terms of the student body, that was. A social outcast.
"I see you still have my heart," Veronica purred, and, faced with the fact three quarters of the student populace was gawking at him, he had no other recourse, so he merely backed up. However, in the far back of the line, separated from him, Chester shoved or otherwise coerced others to let him go to back his friend up.
"Yeah, he still has your heart, you crazy vixen! You're not winning Timmy over with your charms, you witch!" Chester called. Timmy slapped a hand to his forehead while Veronica frowned.
"Do I know you?" She snapped, shoving him aside and placing a hand on Timmy's shoulder. The brown haired boy gazed at her, but his thoughts were indiscernible. Whether or not he liked this treatment remained to be determined, although he appeared to be silently pleading with the pink and green milk cartons, both on the milk tray, to come to his aid. No, that was ridiculous, utterly absurd. There was nothing unusual about those pink and green milk cartons- she was just imagining things again.
"Well, uh, no, not really," Chester professed, shoving his way again to grab Timmy's arm and try to yank him away from the 'crazy vixen'. His efforts were proving futile so far.
It was on the tip of her tongue to call for the guards to disperse of this interloper, but then she recalled the guards were not hers but in fact Trixie's and she couldn't call them to do her will. Wait a minute, though; they usually hung around with the popular kids' table. They were strangely absent and she didn't like the looks of this at all.
"Then what do you think you're doing, interfering with-" The words died on her lips as the loudspeaker came crackling to life. Every eye fell from her to the speaker.
…
It'd taken some gusto, but she'd managed to weasel her way into the principal's office. Be it threats, intimidation or blackmail, she knew she'd get her way eventually. Now, there was only a matter of selecting the most juice material to use.
But, of course she'd taken her journal from her locker. Unfortunately, Tootie's hadn't been found, not even a scrap of it. However, she could always deal with her later. She didn't seem that worthy an adversary anyway.
Veronica was her real problem and, therefore, her real target. Anything she could do to knock her down she would, even if it meant resorting to the most uncivilized, cruelest tricks in the book. Besides, she needed to show those wannabes who was boss.
By the time she was done, Veronica wouldn't dare look at Timmy Turner, much less try to weasel him away from her. He'd be hers for the taking, the trophy after the fight. Sure, it wasn't much of a fight, since she knew she'd concede defeat shortly afterwards, but, as soon as she was done riding on this high horse, she'd dump him. It'd be amusing to see the look on his face when he realized she'd never been interested in him at all.
Relaxing in the cozy, padded chair, she surveyed her stolen kingdom, courtesy of the principal running out with an abrupt (and false) meeting with the superintendent at a far away place. By the time he realized he'd been duped, he'd be gone for over an hour. Plus, she'd disguised her voice on the phone, so it was the perfect crime.
The door was locked, no one was getting in, and, most importantly, no one was interrupting her until she was done. She quite liked this taste of power; it felt damned good. She had the power to humiliate anyone she wished, within limits, and she could if she wanted to. God, she loved this.
Fortunately for her, the loud speaker proved quite easy to work, as it only required one to press down on a single red button and then transmit to the entire school. If it wasn't enough that she herself knew Veronica's deepest, darkest secrets, the entire school would never let her live it down. Just thinking about it gave her a power high.
"Veronica Taylor, seventh grade student at Dimmsdale Junior High, page one of her personal diary. Dear Diary, I saw Timmy Turner today. He was wearing that cute little pink hat that I love so much- I dream of stealing it and adding to an altar (as if I had one).
"Does he have any idea how cute he is? I mean, I know Tootie likes him, but there's no accounting for that freak's tastes. She'd probably like fried spinach or something; she's so stupid.
"But anyway, back to my beloved Timmy. He smiled at me today, or maybe that was at Trixie (that stupid bitch!), I don't know. Whomever the smile was intended for, it made me feel like my heart had come straight out of my chest and was sailing along the air currents, just bobbing about. I don't care if he likes Trixie, I really don't. I'm sure I can make him see things my way, in time.
"Ugh, that reminds me how much I hate Trixie Tang. She's so perfect- or thinks she is. The thing is, her mom left her when she was-" Here, she stopped reading. The breath caught in her chest and she nearly gagged. For the entire rest of the page, Veronica hatefully and quite accurately depicted Trixie's home life. She knew she'd liked Timmy, but she had no idea just how much she hated her. It was almost painful to bear.
Heat spread across her face and she swallowed hard, realizing she had to do something about it, for there was dead air. Besides, it wouldn't do to just stop in the middle of this, despite the badmouthing she herself received. She was sure, if she skipped around, she could find something more that pertained to her.
"It's not my fault my mom's never home. Even if she was, she never notices me. It's like I don't even exist to her- just like Trixie's mom doesn't exist to them.
"I guess that's why we became friends, because we saw something in common. I wish I could say I was really friends with her now, but she's become so shallow and superficial. I don't even see the girl I used to care about, all I see is the girl who turns heads and steals the one person I really care about.
"But I'm not stupid enough to tell her this. After all, I can't even come out and say that I love Timmy Turner, much less that I lost my friend to the popularity and the hype of pretending to be older than we are. How would she react, anyway? She'd probably want to rip my throat out…"
Trixie felt hot all over and the diary fell from her hands. Memories of when they were younger, before she became so boy obsessed and cruel flashed through her mind. Once, a long time ago, they used to be friends. What happened? Did she really want to hurt her?
"I…" However, she couldn't bring herself to read anymore. "I…I'm sorry, Ver…"
Hanging her head, she shut off the intercom.
…
Author's Note: Wow, that totally went in a different direction than what I'd planned, but still good.
Replies to reviews!
LgacyDX- I wouldn't say she was evil, considering what she was like in one of the chapters of Shrouded Silhouettes, but definitely spiteful.
And thanks for reviewing.
Spiritual Magic- Er, thank you. And be sure to check the dictionary for the word 'awesome', for you'll find her face there.
Evilevergreen- Yeah, A.J.'s a sweetie when he wants to be. And I specialize in 'real conversations'- regarding things I've never actually encountered in my life.
Yeah Loi- And now it's Ver's and Trixie's again.
Moonjava- Er, thank you. And, for the record, I don't hate you!
And yeah, I noticed about the using reviews as a message board thing. We shouldn't do it.
Cutie5- Breaks are good…I have a four day weekend coming up. Go me!
And thank you.
MisterBlue- It's my baby Blue! At any rate, yeah, anyone would lash out after something like that, I agree with you.
Yes, but, right now, I think we're back to the Trixie/Ver/Timmy triangle.
warprince2000- How about commenting on the story, my dear?
L.C. Techno- Yes, we have returned to our main plot. What do you think?
And, I know this is random, but I'm pretty thirsty.
Deacon1- Ugh, college. I'm going to be there soon.
Yeah, Tootie's reactions have taken a lot of people by surprise. Timmy doing something kind for her, though? It still seems unlikely.
As far as one of the others doing something mean to her, we'll see. I don't know just yet.
Yeah, of course A.J.'s concerned about her. He likes her, after all.
Ahhelga- Thanks…
And thank you everyone who read and reviewed! If you're reading and not reviewing, review! Lazy people.
