56 unread messages, from "Crackhead Chat"
The group chat with Blaze and her friends, tastefully(?) named by Julie-Su, had exploded at the news of yesterday evening's event. The conversation had continued long after Blaze had gone to bed excited, apprehensive, and happy. She had yet to check them, as she had been getting ready for the day, but figured the contents of said messages would mainly comprise of squealing from Amy, surprise and happiness from Sonic, furious exasperation from Julie ("And you DIDN'T TELL HIM HOW YOU REALLY FEEL?"), and playful teasing from Sally. Silver had mostly been absent in the chat, despite everyone relentlessly pinging him, and he had yet to read most of them when Blaze had gone to bed.
Blaze stood up, having tied her shoes, and took a deep breath. The butterflies felt more like hornets furiously stinging her insides and had felt so ever since she had returned home from Shadow's yesterday evening.
I have no idea what's gonna happen today . . .
Wanting to hesitate but remembering her bus, she quickly exited her house. She started yet another Friday morning walking down her cul-de-sac to the intersection where her bus would pick her up. And right on time, Blaze paused nervously to watch as Shadow left his house. He paused as well and waved to her. Blaze could practically see his smile from across the street. She waved back, feeling her own smile grow. Blaze continued on her way down the cul-de-sac as she heard his truck start and back out of his driveway. As his truck slowly drove down the street towards her, she found herself stopping to wave again. Only this time, instead of continuing on towards school, Blaze noticed his truck slowing down. Confused, she stopped, watching as Shadow's truck rolled to a stop. He rolled his passenger side window down.
"Morning Blaze! You off to catch your bus?"
Blaze felt her voice catch in her throat but quickly forced it out. "Yeah!" she called back.
"You want me to take you in instead?" he offered.
Blaze hesitated. The bus was terrible for her . . . but so would coming into school indiscreetly with one of the most popular guys in school, no matter how much she liked him. But the simple fact remained: she did like him. The opportunity was being presented to her on a silver platter. Besides, Shadow looked quite chipper, and she didn't want to make him upset.
"Yeah, sure," she called back. Shadow immediately unlocked the doors to his truck, and Blaze walked over. Her limbs suddenly felt all tingly as she pulled the handle to open the door.
Wow . . . it's really happening . . .
Blaze clambered up into the passenger seat on the truck and closed the door behind her. She awkwardly shuffled her backpack off of her shoulders and balanced it on her knees.
"Feel free to put your stuff back there. There should be room," Shadow said, gesturing to the tiny gap between the seats and the rear of the cab. Blaze noted Shadow's bag already crammed back there, and she gently placed her bag on top of his. She then reached over and buckled her seatbelt, awkwardly fumbling with the clasp for a moment. Once she had managed to buckle her seatbelt, Shadow nodded at her and shifted his truck into drive. The pickup slowly came to life once again, and they were off.
Blaze sat against the gray cloth seats and took everything around her in. The truck was quite old, older than any vehicle she could recall being in. The plain gray interior sharply contrasted with the two-tone blue paint on the exterior. The cabin was also quite small; being a pickup truck, there were only two seats and barely any space directly behind said seats. The rest of the vehicle mainly was the flatbed, which was currently open. It made Blaze feel nervous. Was this as close to Shadow as she had ever been?
Well, no, yesterday was the closest . . .
Blaze cringed internally and tried to look around the truck's cabin some more, shoving her embarrassment as far into the recesses of her brain as she could. The truck smelled of a vanilla car freshener mixed with the slightest hint of what Blaze determined was "car:" a whiff of gasoline fumes, the smell of the cloth interior, and other various scents she couldn't quite make out. The dashboard readout had oldish-looking analog dials and an old odometer with manually turning numbers, the first three digits obscured by Shadow and the steering wheel. The front console had no CD player; instead, a tape player, something Blaze hadn't seen in cars in a while. A cassette tape with a 3.5-millimeter audio jack coming out of it sat in the tape deck. It was then she noticed something peculiar. The gear stick, positioned on a center console in between the two seats, was constantly being shifted by Shadow, who barely paid it any mind as they drove towards school.
Manual transmission . . . impressive, she noted.
Blaze watched, fascinated. She had been learning to drive herself and was practicing along with her aunt and uncle. She could barely imagine having to pay attention to that as well as everything else.
"Ever driven manual?"
Blaze jumped in her seat, startled by Shadow's voice. They had come to a stop at a stoplight, and Shadow was looking at Blaze. A small smile crept onto his face.
"Uh . . . No . . ." she replied. "I'm learning to drive right now, but I've never, uh, driven manual. I don't know how and I couldn't even imagine doing it."
"Don't feel bad about not knowing how to. Manual transmissions aren't really common anymore among most consumers, so most people don't know how to. This truck has one cause she's got a history." He gave the dashboard two firm pats. "She's a 1990 Ford F-150 Lariat," he declared, looking over at Blaze, seemingly gauging her reaction.
"1990? Damn," was all Blaze could think to say. She knew very little about cars, except for how they worked roughly. Or, well, how most of them did anyway.
"Yeah, it was my dad's when he and my mom first got married," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck with his gear stick-operating hand. "They upgraded inevitably, so I ended up getting it. It doesn't look like it, but it's in great condition for being 30-ish years old. It's even got A/C, which for some random college guy's pickup is pretty good."
"It's neat," Blaze said, looking around the cabin once again, partly out of interest and partly because she was afraid of looking at Shadow. "I'm definitely not used to being in old cars, though. I think the oldest I've been in was one from 2004."
Shadow nodded in response. "My dad's kind of a motorhead. He worked on some really old cars. Like, 1960s old. So, I'm kind of used to being around old cars. And around manual transmission. My dad prefers manual for a lot of things. Claims it more efficient. "
He placed his right hand back on the gear stick, eyeing the pedestrian signal counting down. Blaze felt her anxiety die down as she listened to Shadow talk. "Is driving manual hard?" she asked curiously.
"At first, yeah. It's one more thing to juggle. Not only do you have to take one hand off the steering wheel while shifting, but you also have to manage the clutch pedal along with the gas and brake. I'm used to it now, but it's definitely got a steep learning curve to it." He paused, laughing for a moment as the light turned green. "Can't tell you how many times I stalled out learning how to drive manual." As he spoke, he brought the truck up to speed, shifting up gears three times with a smoothness and confidence Blaze wished she had with . . . well, just about everything.
They drove in silence for a couple of minutes, with Blaze not entirely sure what to talk about now. She awkwardly fidgeted with her phone, turning the screen off and on again without unlocking it.
"So . . . You ready for school today?" Shadow asked, glancing over at her for a moment.
"I think so . . ." Blaze started. "I'm just a little nervous about . . ."
"About Selena?" Shadow finished. Blaze nodded.
"Heh, I'm a bit nervous myself. Selena is a force to be reckoned with." He glanced over at Blaze again. "But it's gonna be okay," he offered, attempting to reassure her and himself. "I'll confront her after our second period. She's in my math class."
"Selena's taking senior-level pre-calculus as a sophomore?"
"She's a bitch, but I gotta hand to her: she's pretty smart when it comes to math. She scored above the class average on our last test." Shadow looked over at Blaze, who shrugged in response.
"She is kinda calculative though . . . Like, everything she does is carefully thought out and executed, so I guess it makes sense," she added, feeling a lump of disgust forming a bezoar in her stomach.
Shadow sighed. "If only she put her smarts towards something more productive than bullying others." He looked over at Blaze, his expression softening. Blaze nodded, once again anxious. As if he could read her mind, Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder at the next light. Blaze willed her anxiety down as it spiked again.
"We're gonna be okay," he told her comfortingly. The words washed over Blaze, sending a friendly chill across her body. She nodded in response.
We . . .
After a couple more minutes of driving, they finally turned into the school's student parking lot, and Blaze scooched down in her seat as she saw other upperclassman students exiting their own cars. Shadow looked over at her curiously.
"Hm?" he asked, a bit puzzled. Blaze felt embarrassed but remained slouched.
"I . . . I don't want other people to see us . . ."
"It's gonna be okay, Blaze. I won't let anyone do anything to you, I promise," he told her, a kind expression on his face. When Blaze didn't respond, he continued. "Besides, I doubt most people are gonna even notice me at first. I've been out for a few days now."
Her stomach continued to wring itself into knots. "You think so?" Shadow nodded as he pulled into his designated parking spot.
"Act like nothing is up. They can't do anything to you if you don't show them weakness." He reached his right hand over to her and lifted her head with his index finger on her chin. "You're more confident than you realize," he told her. Blaze felt her insides go all gooey upon feeling his touch.
Shadow shifted into neutral, applied the parking brake, and turned off the ignition. He unbuckled his seatbelt, reached back, and handed Blaze's bag to her, taking his own. Blaze quickly fumbled with the seatbelt buckle and shimmied out of the truck. Shadow locked his vehicle and then walked over to where Blaze was standing. He watched Blaze shift her bag onto both shoulders. "Ready?" he asked.
Blaze took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
Blaze resisted the urge to either bolt ahead of him or tail behind and walked through the junior parking lot alongside him at what she felt was a comfortable distance: not close enough to look suspicious, but not too far apart either. Were people staring? It was hard to tell. There were only a few small clusters of students around them at the time, and Blaze could feel their eyeballs on her back. Of course, nobody looked too interested, other than a couple of underclassman girls loitering on the front steps, so it very well could have been her overactive imagination.
Once inside the school, Blaze looked over to Shadow, who had walked off to the side and paused, briefly checking his phone. "I'm gonna go drop my stuff off at my locker. Come with?" he asked.
"Uh, sure," she said, shoving her hands into her hoodie pocket, toying with a ball of lint her fingers found.
Blaze tagged along beside Shadow, eyes scanning the hallways. Everything seemed blurry to her at that moment, with her brain frantically running through a myriad of calculations and processes. She could hardly process what was going on. Here she was, violating one of the most important rules she had set for herself: avoid being seen next to Shadow, lest she receive harassment and criticism from others. She tried not to think about it . . . but how could she, with her tall, athletic, imposing crush walking right next to her? Oh yeah, her crush was walking right next to her! How her gelatinous-feeling legs were still functioning was a mystery
They finally stopped outside Shadow's locker, located near a hallway common area, where other students noisily gabbed to one another while staring at their phones. A couple students hunched over a binder and loose-leaf papers, appearing to be studying for a test. Shadow quickly spun the combination dial around on his locker and opened it, slipping off his backpack and jacket. He hung the jacket on one of the built-in hooks on the inside.
"So, what's your schedule?" Shadow asked as he placed some textbooks into his locker and selected other ones to replace them.
"Oh, uh, well . . ." she started. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why can't I fucking remember my own fucking schedule off the top of my head right now? Stupid fucking nerves!
Blaze quickly cleared her throat and deliberately recited her schedule.
"Um, I've got chem first period, geometry second, French third, and then personal finance, lunch, PE, advanced world history with you, and finally English."
"You have PE after lunch? That sucks," Shadow commented, rummaging through his locker.
"It's not terrible usually," she remarked. "Having early-morning chem sucks more, though. I'm never awake enough for STEM classes, and I need to focus on them."
"I hear you," Shadow agreed. "I actually have physics first, so do you want to meet up after homeroom and walk to the science wing together?"
"Oh! Yeah, sure, why not if we're both going there, right?"
"Sounds good," he said, looking over at her and smiling. "Oh hey, we've got time. Do you want to go—"
"SHADOW ULTIMA! OH MY FUCKING GOD, WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU FUCKING BEEN?"
Blaze felt her heart stop. She rigidly turned her head and saw none other than an absolutely livid Selena storming through the hallways, shoving people aside as Alysha and Fiona tailed her. They looked just as surprised as everyone else did.
Shadow took a deep breath and closed his locker, approaching a now stopped Selena, who looked like she was about to explode. Blaze felt her blood turn cold, and she shrunk back against the lockers, hoping no one would notice her.
"Selena—" Shadow began, desperately hoping to calm her down.
"DON'T! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE START WITH ME! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU IGNORE ME FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK! YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT TO SOMEONE! I WAS WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU! AND HOW DARE YOU IGNORE MY CALLS AND TEXTS! IS THAT HOW YOU FUCKING TREAT YOUR GIRLFRIEND? YOU ABSOLUTE PIECE OF SHIT!"
Selena was practically screaming at this point, turning heads from all across the hallway and common space. A few people started filming the scene in typical high schooler fashion, while the rest shrunk back and watched with invested interest. Blaze felt herself scanning for an escape route. She had never seen anyone as angry as Selena was now, and she didn't want to be around for any longer than necessary.
Shadow steeled himself, looking quite stunned but also determined. "Selena! Listen, I—"
Selena didn't listen. She instead planted her arms at the base of his ribcage and shoved him backward. Shadow visibly grimaced upon contact.
Oh no, his incision! Blaze thought to herself, suddenly feeling very worried for Shadow.
"DON'T TRY TO PULL THAT 'LISTEN' BULLSHIT ON ME! YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR IGNORING ME FOR THAT LONG! I THOUGHT YOU HAD DIED!" Selena shrieked. "AND YOUR PHONE WASN'T EVEN WORKING DURING SOME OF THAT TIME! YOU MOTHERFUCKER! YOU DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT ME, DON'T YOU?!"
Selena stepped forward again and shoved him again, lower this time. Shadow visibly winced and groaned, clutching his abdomen. A bolt of lightning went down Blaze's spine, and she suddenly felt her voice growing and her feet moving towards the two of them. There was no resistance, no other thoughts in her head at that moment, except for the image of Shadow being hurt. She quickly pushed past a few people who had started to crowd around the "couple."
"Selena! Selena, stop it! You're hurting him! He just had abdominal surger—"
Selena turned her head slowly, her eyes growing wide as she realized who had challenged her. She looked back at Shadow and again at Blaze. Her look was so poisonous, it immediately killed both the adrenaline in her veins and her plead for Selena to stop.
"You . . . of course . . ." Selena's voice was steeped in anger.
Faster than Blaze could fully process, Selena strode forward and delivered a very painful slap across Blaze's face. "You BITCH! I should've fucking guessed you were behind this!" She slapped her again, harder this time, and leading with the bony part of her palm. Blaze instinctively shut her eyes, and tears of pain oozed out and down across her burning skin. "You fucking dirty, cheating whore! How dare you steal my boyfriend!"
Blaze raised her hands to defend herself, but it was too little, too late. Selena reached forward and grabbed a handful of Blaze's fur close to her scalp. Blaze yelped in pain, and Selena slapped her again, this time throwing her to the floor as she did so.
"They were all right about you, you bitch!" she screamed. "You're a slimy, cheating cum-dumpster who couldn't get her own man to save her life, so you take everyone else's!"
Everything was spinning around Blaze. Time was foggy and slowed. She tried to get up, but couldn't, as Selena swiftly drove her foot into her stomach, delivering a shockwave of pain through her body. Selena leaned down to do who knows what, and Blaze braced herself for a series of impending blows. They never came.
Blaze blinked the pain and tears out of her eyes and looked up to see Shadow, who now looked just as enraged as Selena did. He had latched tightly onto both of Selena's wrists and was pulling Selena away from her.
"SELENA! THAT'S ENOUGH!" he roared.
It was only as Selena was being stared down and restrained by Shadow that she seemed to lose the fight in her. For the first time Blaze had seen her, she looked petrified. She was unable to break away from Shadow, no matter how hard she tried to struggle. The red in her face was slowly draining down to a sickly-looking pink.
"L . . . Let me go, Shadow!" she demanded, going limp and kicking him in the shins. Shadow barely registered these attempts and held steady, his nostrils flaring dangerously.
"Selena! I was hoping to do this under more favorable circumstances, but you've gone too fucking far this time!" he barked.
"Too far? Too far?!" shrieked Selena, once again regaining her will to fight and standing up straight. "You've been cheating on me with her this whole time, haven't you?!"
"I've been recovering from appendicitis this whole time," Shadow explained, his voice becoming very dangerous. "And I've been thinking about our relationship while in recovery."
"Clearly not enough! You didn't even text me back once! And it's cause you were messaging that skank over there, wasn't it?"
"For the love of all that is fucking holy, SHUT UP!" Shadow thundered. "That's your whole fucking issue! I am not dating Blaze! But I am friends with her, and I'm fucking done with your sadistic game!"
Selena went silent for a moment and tried to feign ignorance for the crowd. "I haven't been playing any games!" she retorted, her eyes narrowing into slits. "What are you getting at?" She weakly struggled against Shadow's grip, failing to break through his fingers. Shadow tightened his grip, his knuckles going white. "Ow! Shadow, let go! You're hurting me!" she meekly protested. Shadow ignored her.
"I never agreed to date you under my own free will! I only did it to protect my friend. I never liked you, and I never will! You're a heartless sociopath with only yourself in mind! We made a deal, and you've broken it MULTIPLE times. And I'm done. I'm done playing your fucking games! I hate you, and I'm done dating you!"
The crowd, which had been chattering quietly as this exchange had been happening, all paused in collective astonishment. Selena's color drained from her face as the words Shadow had spoken finally registered in her head. As if someone had flipped a switch, her entire demeanor changed. Her face fell, and her eyes suddenly became desperate.
"Wh . . . what? Y-you're breaking up with me?" she quivered, her voice going shaky. "No . . . no, Shadow, please! I can change! I'm sorry, I really am! I like you a lot, no, I love you! I was only trying to protect you! I don't want anyone else except you!"
Shadow was flabbergasted at both the tone shift and the sheer, hopeless desperation trying to get him to recant. He let go of her wrists and shoved her away from him, disgusted.
"You're not sorry, and you never will be!" he shot back. "No! We're done! For good! If you so much as touch me or Blaze or any of my other friends again, I'll make you regret ever hatching a deal with me!"
Selena rubbed her wrists and became angry once again. "You think you can get away with this? I know where you live! And I have your phone number!"
Shadow laughed disgustedly. "No, you don't. I gave you a Google voice number that no longer exists. And that was my friend's house you dropped me off at." Shadow stared back, hoping she bought the semi-bluff.
A series of "ooohhhhhs" erupted from the crowd. Selena was mortified. She had been beaten at her own game, and the gravity of the situation was clearly beginning to sink in.
"No . . . no, no, no! Shadow! Shadow, please, I'm so sorry! I'll do anything you want, just please don't break up with me! Please, please! God, I can't believe you would do this to me!" Selena's eyes began to fill with tears as she begged for him to stay. "PLEASE!" she held out her hands, starting to sob.
"Fucking hell . . ." muttered Shadow. He walked towards her, and she looked up, confused. "Sh-Shadow?"
Shadow leaned down and looked down at her with his piercing red eyes. "I hate you. I have always hated you, and I will always hate you. I'm not dating Blaze. She is my friend, but I'd rather date her than you in any lifetime. I will never date you again as long as I live."
Shadow had picked his poison well. Selena, upon hearing these simple words, looked crushed. Her face crumpled from surprise into one of remorse.
"FINE! I HATE YOU TOO!"
She started to bawl loudly, hiding her face in her hands. She turned and ran down the hallway, still sobbing loudly. An agape Alysha and Fiona emerged from the crowd and hurried after her, Fiona shouting after her.
"Selena, wait!" She didn't, and the three of them turned the corner out of the hallway they had been in. They were gone.
The crowd broke into a roaring conversation, reeling from what had just happened. Blaze could hardly believe what she had just witnessed. Looking at Shadow, she saw him exhale, releasing all of his anger as he did so.
"Crocodile tears," he remarked, shaking his head in disgust and disappointment. He turned and hurried over to Blaze. His face has once again softened, and he looked worried as he extended his hand out to her. "Are you okay?"
Blaze took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. Blaze shakily dusted her clothes off. "I . . . I'm okay," she quavered, slowly regaining her balance. "She hits hard, but I'm okay. Are you?"
Shadow didn't respond right away, shooting dirty looks to some of the crowd. "Let's go," he muttered aside to her. He scooped up his bag that had been leaning up against his locker and stormed through the remnants of the crowd, down the end of the hallway opposite to where Selena had fled. Blaze had to jog to catch up with him.
When she did, he turned a corner and fast-walked a bit further, before stopping, out of breath. He leaned against the wall, buried his face in his hands, and bellowed in frustration, making Blaze jump.
He slowly dragged his hands down his face and turned to Blaze, looking exhausted but relieved. "Well, it's done. I was hoping that would have gone a lot smoother and without you. Not that I didn't appreciate your backup," he quickly clarified. "Just . . . Just . . . I was just hoping it could've been accomplished without you getting hurt. Fucking hell, it was way too early for that entire fucking ordeal."
"Are you okay?" Blaze asked him again. The image of Shadow wincing in pain flashed through her mind.
Shadow nodded. "Like you said, she hits hard, but I'm fine." He gently massaged his lower-right abdomen, presumably where his stitches were. "All my sutures feel like they're in place."
He sighed and turned to look at Blaze. Blaze noticed beads of sweat on his forehead. "Before that utter train wreck happened, I was going to ask you if you wanted to hang out in the cafeteria for a bit. You know, grab some breakfast maybe?"
Blaze's brain was still coming off of survival mode, so she nodded mutely, and Shadow sighed again, this time out of relief. A small smile appeared on his face.
"Awesome, let's go."
They made their way to the cafeteria. The servery served bagels, smoothies, parfaits, coffee, and other various "quick breakfast" items for students in the morning. Still, the cafeteria wasn't nearly as crowded as it was during lunch. There were plenty of open tables for the two of them.
"You want a smoothie?" Shadow asked her. Blaze nodded. "I like the mango ones," she told him. Shadow gave her a small smile and left to go get in line. Blaze scanned the cafeteria and, to her relief, picked out Amy and Sonic. They were sitting by the windows, eating bagels with cream cheese and canoodling.
Blaze shakily made her way over to them. "Oh, hey Blaze! You're here early! Are you . . . Are you okay?" Amy asked, her peppiness quickly turning into confusion and concern as she saw Blaze, who still looked a bit tense and mussed. The sudden realization crashed into Blaze.
"You guys aren't going to fucking believe this," Blaze began, sliding into a seat across from the couple. "Shadow just broke up with Selena!"
"Oh, good," Sonic said, washing down his bite of bagel with a swig of coffee. "It's about fucking time he did."
"That's not all, though," Blaze said, her voice's tempo picking up speed. In what felt like a jumble of words, she hastily recounted the dramatic story of Shadow's break-up. By the time she had finished, both Amy and Sonic's mouths were agape.
"Holy shit . . ." was all Sonic could muster. He sat back in his chair, staring off into space and looking bewildered.
"Ohmigod, are you okay?" Amy blurted out, her eyes becoming saucers as she stared at Blaze. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I . . ."
Blaze trailed off as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Shadow towering over her.
"Oh, hey . . ." Blaze said in greeting. She could almost feel the imprint of his hand on her shoulder, long after he had let go. He sat down next to her, placing a peach-mango smoothie and a straw in front of her. He exhaled, looking just as flustered as Blaze.
"You good, my guy? You've got a lot of explaining to do," Sonic said, looking directly at Shadow. Shadow sighed yet again.
"I guess I do, don't I?" he acknowledged. He rubbed the back of his skull, fingers running through his quills.
Amy and Sonic had already heard the story (albeit from Blaze's point of view). However, they still listened with a vested interest. Blaze had run out of words to say, so she focused on the smoothie in her hands instead.
"Wow," Sonic commented as Shadow's recounting drew to a close. "That's fucking nuts, dude." Shadow nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I'm just glad it's all done," he said, throwing back his head and finishing the last of his smoothie in one gulp. Right on time, the warning bell for homeroom rang, and the four of them stood up and gathered their things. Amy and Sonic departed, waving to Shadow and Blaze as they walked off to homeroom together.
Shadow looked down at Blaze. "Want me to walk you to homeroom?" Blaze found herself nodding without hesitation this time. Shadow nodded, and the two of them exited the cafeteria.
They walked in silence for a bit before Shadow turned his head and asked, "Hey, can I ask a favor of you?"
"Um, oh, of course," Blaze said, once again being flung back to reality (she had spaced out again).
"So, listen," he began, stopping outside of Blaze's homeroom. He looked aside, mildly embarrassed. "You know how we've got that test in history Monday?" Blaze nodded slowly.
"Yeah, well, I didn't do too well on the last couple of quizzes, so I wanted to ask you if you wanted to study over the weekend. I've heard from Sonic you're really good at studying for history, and it'd really help me out a lot."
Blaze couldn't believe her ears. Or . . . she could. With all of the crazy shit flying around her recently, this suddenly seemed to be a lot more grounded. "Oh, of course!" she quickly agreed, and Shadow looked immediately relieved.
"Sweet."
The way he said "sweet," so confidently, cooly, and pleased made Blaze feel all quivery again, but she pushed through it. "Is Saturday okay?" she asked.
"Saturday's great," he agreed. He glanced down at his phone, checking the time. "Shit, it's almost 7:30. Gotta run," he said, backing away from her and shoving his phone into his pocket. "I'll text you!" he called in departure before hurrying away.
Blaze waved back and then made her way into homeroom. She sank into a seat and, with her brain finally fully processing the finale of the morning, felt herself grin widely at her desk.
"Selena, honey, please come out. We want to help you!" pleaded Alysha at a closed stall door. The only reply on the other side was Selena's hysterical sobs.
"Girl . . ." Fiona began, trailing off, unsure of how to comfort her heartbroken best friend.
The three girls had barricaded off one of the girls' bathrooms and had done their best to comfort Selena, who had locked herself into one of the stalls. She was inconsolable, no matter how much her friends tried to coax and reassure her.
Alysha and Fiona looked at each other, trying to get unspoken advice from the other. Both being in the exact same situation, they stared hopelessly at one another as Selena continued to cry.
"God, Selena, please come out . . . You've been in there for 15 minutes!" begged Fiona, turning back to the stall. "We can't help you if you won't talk about it!"
"We want to be there for you! I know how hard break-ups are! Please, just let us comfort you!" Alysha added desperately.
There was suddenly a decrease in the amount of sobbing on the other side of the door. It slowly tapered into hiccupping and sniffling before finally halting into dead silence.
"Um . . . Selena?" Alysha asked, concerned by the sudden cessation of tears.
BANG!
The stall door flung open, nearly striking Fiona in the process. There was Selena. Her eyes were red, and the mascara she had been wearing had been smeared down her cheeks from the tears. She shakily hyperventilated, her hands clenched into fists.
"GOD! I FUCKING HATE HER!" she screamed. Alysha and Fiona were taken aback by the sudden utterance of what had been the first intelligible words out of Selena for a while. She stormed past her friends over to one of the sinks, and she stared at herself in the mirror, still hyperventilating. "I HATE HER SO FUCKING MUCH!"
She choked and started to cry loudly again, sinking to the floor. Alysha and Fiona immediately scurried over to her, crouched down, and embraced her in hugs.
"Oh, Selena, honey, it's not your fault . . ." Alysha comforted, holding her tight.
"Yeah, yeah, girl, you didn't deserve that humiliation. Besides, that Katba girl is totally dating him, and you don't deserve that." Fiona added.
"AAAAAAGH," Selena yelled. "GOD! She's such a CUNT!"
"She is, she is," agreed Fiona, patting her on the back.
The two held Selena for a few more minutes as she squeezed the last of her tears out. When she finally ran out of tears to cry, she gave a massive sniff and was quickly greeted with some paper towels to blow her nose on. She did so and then looked up at her friends.
"Th . . . Th . . . Thanks, guys," she said weakly.
"Of course!" they said at the same time, hugging her once again.
Selena stood up and turned to look at herself in the mirror and groaned when she saw her reflection. "My make-up's all messed up," she squeaked sadly.
"You can borrow mine!" Alysha immediately offered.
"And I'll help apply it!" chimed in Fiona.
Selena smiled shakily before splashing her face with cold water.
A few minutes of sitting on the tiled floor passed, with Alysha and Fiona helping to fix Selena's makeup.
"God . . . I'm never gonna forgive her for this . . ." Selena vowed, her voice still shaky. "This is all her fault! If she didn't have to jump from guy to guy like a fucking disease-riddled prostitute, none of this would have happened!"
"You're right," agreed Alysha, carefully applying blusher as Fiona drew on eyeliner. "I can't believe she had the balls to get with him! And after he'd gotten sick!"
"Bet she was the one that convinced him to dupe you with a fake number," theorized Fiona, opening up a fresh tube of mascara. "Hold still, honey," she said, beginning to gently apply it.
Alysha sat back on her haunches for a minute, still reeling from the shock of it all as well. The trio went silent for a couple more minutes as Fiona finished up Selena's fresh make-up job. When she was finished, they all stood up, and Selena checked herself out in the mirror.
"Thanks, girls," she said, looking back at her two friends. "Wanna ditch?"
Alysha and Fiona looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
They didn't leave right away, though. Selena stared down into a sink, her hands tightly grasping the sides of the basin.
"She's not gonna get away with this!" Selena declared. "She's gonna regret ever toying with me and my Shadow!"
"Right, we'll be backing you up all the way," Fiona said in agreement, and Alysha vigorously nodded.
"We'll make Katba regret ever fucking you over like that," Alysha told her best friend, coming over to stand next to her. "When we're through with her, she'll wish she stayed in her own fucking lane."
Selena sighed in finality. "You guys are the best. Let's get out of here. I've already got something in mind that'll make her feel what she made me go through."
The three girls walked out, Selena in the center and Alysha and Fiona on the other end.
"Spill it, girl," Fiona said. "What's the plan?"
⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ END ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤
A/N: Wow! That was fun to write! :P
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I appreciate you all so much!