Monday morning after the dance, Harley couldn't help but feel slightly surprised at the normalness of everything around her, the dance seemed to have never happened, that kiss was forgotten…the only thing that she noticed out of the usual, was, that much to her dismay Max and Lena were now coupled and were looking so disgustingly in love that she couldn't help but cringe every time she looked at them, the way she hung off his arm, looking up at him lovingly with those big green eyes…it was enough to make a truck lose his lunch…
-x-
"You know…don't hate me for saying this, but I do believe they make a good couple" he leaned back against the tree, watching the new 'Hot' couple acting quite Lovey-Dovey…quite disgustingly so
"Pfff" she snorted
"It's true, they fit together perfectly: the coach queen and the engine king…it's made to be…or that's how I feel"
"Well, your feel may be wrong, sooner or later he'll find out how she really is, a brainless, personalityless excuse for a coach!"
"Then what?"
"I…don't know…haven't gotten that far in the story yet"
He laughed
"So you're the storyteller now"
"Yes"
-x-
"Is it true what I've heard?" that voice, it could cut the air like a sharp knife, too bad it felt like that to the ears too.
School was out for the day and Harley was headed over to her tree to wait for JD as he was going to help her with her math homework.
"Well, that depends on what you heard" she bit back a comment, no sense in starting a fight now, not outside with everyone watching…especially Max.
"For one, that you actually KISSED the 'boose…I knew you were getting desperate…but girl, there are limits to how far you can go before you get pathetic"
It were not the words she said that got to Harley, no, it was the tone, that mocking, faux innocent tone, that sugary sweet voice that ticked her off…and the fact that she had insulted JD
"Well, then you heard right" he voice lowered slightly and her gray eyes turned steely, narrowing in annoyance "and really, I couldn't care less what you think of me…Bitch" the last word slipped before she could stop it…oh man, now she was in trouble
"WHAT did you just call me?" the sugary sweet tone was gone…replaced by something nasty and rather bratty…rather unpleasant, but then again, was she ever pleasant?
"You heard me…wannabe Barbie…I have no interest whatsoever in trying to appease you and your henchcoaches, so you can just piss off and leave me alone" she was annoyed and the damage had already been done so she decided: to hell with it, she was allowed to vent her annoyances every once in a while
"Listen girl, I'm only trying to do you a favor, hanging with that 'boose is social suicide, dating him would be even worse…" she cocked one perfect eyebrow "though I see now that it may be useless…you could well be mistaken for freight, so I'm really not surprised you had to turn to the caboose, none of the engines would look at you twice anyway" she said in an offhandedly tone
That was it, that Bimbo kept insulting JD like nothing was more normal
"One more word out of you about JD, and you'll be sorry you ever opened you mouth" her voice was low and quivering dangerously, almost like she was going to scream any minute now
"Or what? You gonna infect me with bad taste" she mocked, her voice back to its whiny tone "you know it's true, he's like every other 'boose, probably insane too"
That was the last straw, no one, and least of all SHE said these things about her friends and got away with it
"You…" she couldn't finish what she was about to say, but stomped over to the offending coach and backhanded her hard in the face "he's ten times better than you could ever…" she was cut off by a hand yanking at her braid…hard!
She let out a yelp at the sudden pain in her scalp; apparently her slap hadn't phased Lena as much as she thought it would, who now had a fistful of her hair and was pulling rather hard…time for more drastic measures, with a twist of her body she delivered a kick to the other coach, hitting her rather hard in the side, Lena let out a 'oomph' followed by a cry of pain as she staggered back, letting go of Harley's hair, a few thin strands sticking to her perfectly manicured fingers…
Harley balled her fists angrily, ready to attack again…
"Harley!? What are you doing?" a voice suddenly called
"what I should have done ages ago" she shot back to the caboose, charging once more and this time aiming a punch at the coaches face, she missed by an inch, then Lena took her chance and delivered a slap to her face, long nails turned inward, leaving deep marks in Harley's cheek, she yelled out…Damn the preps and their claws…she quickly turned, and this time she didn't miss, her fist connecting with Lena's nose.
She let out a scream, falling backwards to the ground, Harley followed, taking a handful of blonde hair, ripping her upwards again
"If you ever mutter as much as a single insult again" she hissed to the now whimpering girl "I will personally hunt you down and murder you"
The she raised her hand again and was about to hit her again…but she found herself stopped by a pair of strong hands pulling her back, then arms wrapped tightly around her from behind and a voice spoke
"C'mon Harley, she doesn't deserve this" JD said softly in her ear
"Yes she does, do you know what she said about you?" she protested, fighting his grip, he was stronger
"To tell you the truth, I don't care, and you shouldn't either" he continued, tightening his hold on her as she struggled
Her eyes were fixed on the weeping Lena, who was being pulled up from the ground by Max, and was now sporting a bloody nose, the look the Diesel sent her was enough to make her shy away 'crazy coach'
Why where they all so blind? Why couldn't they see what she had done? Wouldn't they have done the same?...she guessed not…not judging by the looks they were sending her, it seemed that half of the group shared Max's opinion and were sending her glances mixed with fear and hate, the other half just stared at her, the half that were freight and the low class, stared at her in a mix of respect and nervousness, impressed at the fact that she had actually had the guts to beat up Lena…she wasn't sure she liked that either…
Giving up she slumped back in his grasp, her head hanging in defeat, JD's arms loosened around her as he led her away, away from the staring group…
They moved in silence for a while, Harley thinking over what had just happened…and finally noticing how much her cheek hurt, she brought up a hand, brushing her fingers over the cuts, they stained red
"Shit" Oma was going to notice this, and she'd never hear the end of it, Oma hated it when she got herself into fights, even the slight tumbles with the freight irked her
'Harleen, coaches are not supposed to get into fights, my dear, you are starting to act like the worst of freight' she'd say and do that clucking of the tongue she always did when she was displeased
"So, I guess our study date is called off then" JD suddenly spoke in a low voice, almost as if afraid to break the tender silence
"I'm sorry, I just think I'd like to be alone now…I need to think" she looked up at him, sending him an apologetic smile
He reached into his pocked, pulling out a red hankie, wiping her cheek
"It's all right, I understand…" then he smiled "she had it coming anyway…the thing I don't like is that you attacked her because she said things about Me, you should know by now that I don't care what she said"
"But…I just got so mad…" she sighed as they stopped in front of her home "I should go in, Oma's gonna have my head when she sees these" she indicated to the scratched on her cheek
He nodded and pulled her into a hug.
-x-
She watched him go with a slight smile before turning and entering
"Oma! Vati! I'm home!" she yelled, putting down her bookbag near the door and moved further into the house, looking around for anyone…maybe they went out…she halfway hoped so
"Harleen? Living room, there's someone here to see you" her brow furrowed gently and the grave tone of her grandmother made her slightly nervous, had the headmistress called home…did she know?
She slowly entered the living room, her eyes widening at the sight that greeted her, an older coach was sitting in the sofa, her hair golden and beautiful, face pretty in spite of the few wrinkles, frame was a stunning red color…the coach she had hoped never too see again, whom she had denied from her life, who had deserted her…
"mom?"
A/N: ooo a cliffy...sorta