All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't town them, the video games or the anime.
Chapter Seventeen: Mischief Night
When Janine didn't show up to Math Class, Melanie and her roommate didn't think much of it at first. Maybe she'd wanted to cut class, and they couldn't say they blamed her since Math was boring. After the bell rang, Mr. Coleman of course asked where she was, but every girl present could honestly say they didn't know. Except for Jaclyn, who had an idea, given her conversation with Regina earlier, but the girl was smart enough not to mention that.
They were halfway through the class when Gladys stuck her head in and asked to speak to the teacher out in the hallway. Melanie pretended to be reading about fractions, but out of the corner of her eye she watched Coleman step out and shut the door. Although she couldn't hear anything, it was easy to guess what they were talking about.
So when lunch rolled around, she and Kimberly ate fairly quickly, then snuck out of the dining hall and went to the infirmary. When Gladys came to the door and opened it a crack, Melanie simply asked without preamble: "Can we see her?"
"Quietly," Gladys answered. "She's still resting." She then opened the door the rest of the way, allowing the two girls to come in. They walked over to the cot occupied by Janine. She lay asleep on her back with her hands resting on her stomach, and the girls winced when they noticed that two fingers on her right hand were in splints. Her nose was dark purple and appeared to be broken, and the rest of her face was marred with fresh bruises and scrapes. They couldn't see her eyes, since a bag of ice covered both them and her forehead.
Looking at the battered girl caused old memories of a broken foster home to come to the foreground in Melanie's mind, and she found she had to close her eyes and look the other way. This did not go unnoticed.
"Are you okay, Mel?" Kimberly asked.
"Not really," the blonde said with her eyes still shut. "Getting my own ass kicked doesn't bother me. I've learned to take a punch. Or ten. But… I… just don't like seeing other people get their asses kicked. Not when I'm the one she wants." She then heard Gladys coming up behind her and so corrected herself. "Sorry, I meant to say 'butts'. Get their butts kicked."
For once, the nurse didn't seem to care. "I already reported this incident to Ms. Landy," she said. "Janine wouldn't tell anyone who did this, but whoever did do it dumped her on the quad when they were finished."
"They wanted people to see what they'd done," Kimberly said in a low voice.
"What was that?" The nurse asked.
"Never mind, ma'am," the dark-haired girl answered quickly. "I'm just… rambling."
Those words did little to improve Melanie's mood, but she couldn't think about that. Not until she'd had a chance to speak to Regina. Instead, she whispered to Gladys: "Look, when she wakes up, can you tell her I said I'm sorry?"
Gladys looked confused, but in the end she simply said: "I'll tell her, dear. But you two should get to class now. Lunch period is almost over."
"Right," said Kimberly. The girls left the infirmary and let Janine continue to sleep. As they headed down the hallway in the direction of their lockers, Kimberly couldn't help but notice the somber look on Melanie's face. "What's bothering you, Mel?" She ventured to ask.
"Do you think Regina learned about the party?" Mel asked her back.
"I'd say that's a good bet, but I don't think that's what's bothering you."
For a pace, Melanie was silent, grappling with old memories. Then she said: "I just… don't like seeing people get needlessly beat-up. I don't like it. It's… it's personal."
Kim moved into step alongside her and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Mel, did you ever get beat-up by any of your foster parents?" She knew she was violating the agreement by asking this, but ever since the events of Field Day, Melanie seemed to have grown a bit more lax with the rules they'd created.
"Maybe a couple," Mel answered with some reluctance. "But so what? It's in the past now. It didn't kill me, so it made me stronger. And like I said, it taught me to take a punch."
Kimberly found herself overcome with the desire to hug her friend, but right now, it didn't look like Melanie wanted that. So, she scrambled for something else to say. "Janine wasn't your fault, Mel. She was at that meeting, she said 'yes' along with the other girls. So she knew the risks. It was her choice."
Melanie shook her head. "So that's it? I'm supposed to just brush her off as a casualty? Damn it, Kim, I told them that Regina would come after me. That's what she should have done! I'm the one she hates. And this whole party was my idea."
"You can't always predict what people are gonna do, Mel. But I'm really impressed that you care."
She small blonde gave a nervous laugh, reverting to the old habit of running inside herself. "Yeah, you're right. I'm starting to sound like I belong on Lifetime. What the hell's wrong with me, Kim?"
Her roommate laughed. "The reason that you'll always be better than Regina. You care. You can joke about it all you want and try to hide it behind your macho loner bullshit, but you do care. And Regina doesn't."
Melanie turned her head to look at her, and then rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Oprah." But Kim could tell by her half-smile that deep down, she knew her roommate was right. But she would never acknowledge it. Which was one of the many reasons Kim loved being her friend.
With the classes they had left for the day, it was not until after gym period that Melanie was able to get a chance to speak to Regina. She and Kimberly lingered outside the shed by the practice field for a few moments after Hartman's whistle had been blown.
"It's my fight, Kim," Melanie told her. "So please just butt out, okay? I gotta do this myself."
Kimberly didn't argue, understanding where her friend was coming from. "Okay, Mel. I'll honor the agreement."
To her surprise, Melanie gave her a rare hug. "Thanks," she said, and then went to go do what she had to. She entered the locker area to find Regina by her usual spot. Two of her lackeys were absent (already in the showers, most likely), but Lacey and Sunako still lingered by their leader.
When they saw Melanie, they both stood a little straighter, but the taller blonde waved them down. She looked almost bored as she addressed her rival. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be hiding in the dorm showers, so no one can see how small and pathetic your little runt body is?"
As she said this, Regina had finished undressing, and wrapped a towel around her torso, providing Melanie a very brief glimpse of how the other girl was developing. No doubt a deliberate barb, since the smaller blonde was still flat as a board, and Regina knew she hated to be reminded of this. However, Mel was able to ignore the jibe and focus. "We need to talk."
Another bored shrug, and Regina turned to close her locker door. "'Bout what?"
Melanie stood herself up as straight as she could, took another step forward. Both Lacey and Sunako tensed for a moment, but relaxed slightly when Mel did not advance further. "About what happened to Janine."
"Yeah, well, Landy already dragged me into her office about that. Janine didn't rat me out, but I was still given detention for the rest of the week for 'suspicion of unladylike behavior,' so why don't you just get the fuck off my case about it? She wasn't even your friend."
"I don't care about that!" Melanie snapped, her cheeks growing red. "Your fight is with me. If you got a problem with me or with anything I'm doing, then you come talk... to ME about it." She jabbed her own finger at herself for emphasis. "Leave everyone else out of it."
Regina actually smirked at this. "I didn't know you cared so much about them."
"No!" Melanie said almost a little too defensively. "I mean, I told you, I just don't like letting other people fight my battles. This is between me and you. Always has been, always will be."
"Hey, what happened was nothing personal."
"Tell that to the girl lying in the infirmary."
The taller girl's expression became more amused. "You know, for someone who says they don't care, it sounds to me like you're getting soft."
Melanie grew even more flustered by this, but managed to compose herself after a second. "Look, let's just keep this fight between the two of us, okay?"
Regina shrugged yet again. "Well, like I said, Janine was nothing personal. It was business. I needed information. And I could have tried to beat it out of you, but… would you have talked?"
"You know that I wouldn't," Mel spat back. "No matter how many times you had your goons dunk my head in the toilet."
"Right. So I had to question someone else. Someone who I know has less of a spine than you do. And Janine was part of your little plot, so… unlucky her. Like I said, just business." Melanie's amber eyes burned with a cold fire as she stared down the Alpha, but Regina simply yawned and went on. "But if you wanna keep things between the two of us, maybe you should think twice before organizing anything behind my back. Or involving other girls."
There were things Melanie wanted to say in response, but given her current state, she was afraid of the wrong thing coming out, and revealing further weaknesses to her enemy. Regina sensed that she'd won, and said: "I think we're done here. Now I'm afraid you'll have to pay me for my time." She held out a hand, an expectant look in her pale blue eyes. As she'd been speaking, Lacey and Sunako had moved behind the smaller blonde to flank her.
Now it was Melanie's turn to shrug. "I don't have any money on me at the moment." The white skirt of her gym uniform lacked pockets, so she opened her hip satchel and held it out so Regina could see it was empty. "Guess that puts you shit out of luck."
"No, it means I'll just take something else as payment." She pointed to the petite blonde's neck. "Give me that locket."
Mel's eyes flicked downward to the locket around her neck, the one that Kimberly had given her as a birthday gift, the first time anyone in her life had done that for her. She put a hand over it. "No, I don't think I will."
The three girls edged in closer, trying to surround her. "I wasn't asking," Regina growled.
"I don't care," Mel retorted, and then cocked her left arm back in a swift motion, slamming her elbow into Lacey's solar plexus. The girl clutched her stomach and sank to her knees, gasping for air. Melanie tried to escape through the gap she'd just made, but Sunako was faster, hooking the wiry blonde's ankle with her foot and sending her sprawling to the tiled floor.
From there, it took little effort for both her and Regina to pick her up and slam her against the closest locker door. She spent the next few minutes getting worked over, while the rest of the girls in the room, who were loyal to Regina, went about their business. Finally, Mel was on her hands and knees, coughing and trying not to retch. "Ow," she muttered.
While she was down, Regina snatched the locket off her neck and placed it around her own. "Thanks, runt," she said, and then started towards the shower stalls.
She was halfway there when she heard Melanie say: "Okay, I guess you can borrow it for a while."
She paused, turned to see her nemesis rising shakily to her feet, an odd smile on her face, one that was a little unnerving. Regina tried to ignore it, and answered with: "Who said anything about 'borrowing' it?"
"I did," Mel replied. "Because someday, I will be taking it back." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked towards the exit.
Lacey stepped in front of her, raised a hand. "You're going nowhere, runt," she snarled. Melanie grabbed her outstretched hand and jerked the dark-blonde girl closer to her, slamming her other fist into Lacey's jaw and sending her back to the floor. Then she kept walking.
Lacey rose up, intending to pursue, but Regina called out: "Let her go!"
"But, Gina…"
"I said let her go!" The Alpha gave a cold smile, fingering the locket that used to be around Melanie's neck. "I think we've gotten our point across." She laughed as she turned towards the nearest empty shower stall.
Melanie was outside now, heading in the direction of the dorms with the odd smile still on her face. Not that losing her present didn't hurt, but if there was one thing that today had reminded her, it was that showing hurt was a weakness. She'd need to be more careful about that. Besides, she meant what she said to Regina. The locket was yet another grievance she could add to the list, along with her broken pocket knife.
Someday, revenge will be mine. Then, like I told her, I'll be taking it back. I'll be taking it all back…
On her way to dinner, Mel stopped off in Room 104. It was locked, but she picked it easily enough. And after checking the hiding place, she confirmed what she'd suspected: One of Regina's cunts had already been through there and taken the candy.
Against her better judgment, the small blonde kicked a desk in anger, and the clatter brought one of the custodians running. "You aren't supposed to be in here," he snapped from the open doorway. "Please leave, and go straight to the dining hall, or I'll report this to the headmistress."
"Ah, blow me, sideburns," she grumbled as she stalked past him out into the hall. The man tried to pursue, but Melanie was too fast for him, quickly leaving him in the dust. When she got to the dining hall, Joan Landy asked one of the other girls (a strawberry blonde named Piper who was one of those trying to curry favor with Regina) to say grace, which was a relief, as Melanie would not have been able to muster up the energy to pretend to care. Of course, even then, her mood did not do much for her appetite, and she mostly picked at her plate, even though it was lasagna.
Kimberly could tell something was wrong, but knew from experience that the best course of action was not to put too much pressure on her friend to talk. Eventually Mel would reach a point where she'd be more open to questions, and if they were being honest, Kim's own mood wasn't much better.
Halfway through dinner, the custodian from earlier entered the dining hall, and Melanie saw him go over to the faculty seating and speak to Landy. The headmistress then got up and walked over to their table and informed Melanie that she'd earned two days of detention.
After she was gone, the blonde girl continued picking at her food. As dinner wound down, Kim ventured to ask her what was on her mind, but phrased it with her own question: "Did they get the stash?"
"Yup. Janine really did tell them everything."
"Well, she may not have had to. If she was carrying her invitation, then that told them where the party was."
Melanie seemed unconvinced, but she still said: "Yeah, maybe. Except they knew what they were looking for and where to find it. That wasn't on the invitation."
Her roommate poured a little more milk for herself, and then forked a bite of lasagna. "Mel, you can't really blame her. I mean, I know you would never have talked, but not everyone is like you."
Mel turned to face her, then, one eyebrow quirked. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I just meant that you're tougher than most of the girls here, because you've actually been out in the real world. Meanwhile, take someone like Janine: aside from field trips to Burlington, or other towns, or national parks, everything she's ever known has been inside the fences around this place."
While she was listening, Melanie managed to force down a few bites of dinner, then she asked: "Would you have talked, if you were in her place?"
She knew that Mel didn't like to be touched, but Kim also knew that she was one of the only girls at the school who the small blonde trusted enough to let her. She reached over and gave her friend a pat on back. "You know I wouldn't. But I'm different, too. Before you came along, it was my head in that toilet. So I'm tough, like you." She flashed Melanie a weak smile, one that Mel couldn't help but return.
It didn't do much for her appetite, however, and a few minutes later, she got up, scraped what was left on her plate into the garbage, dropped it into one of the bins for dirty dishes, and went back to the dorms to shower and change into sleepwear. It was shortly before lights out, when she and Kimberly were lounging on their beds, that Janine knocked on the door.
Melanie looked up from the extra work on fractions that Coleman had assigned her, and gave a nod to the other girl's questioning glance. So she entered the room, and for a time stood there staring awkwardly at her slipper-clad feet. The swelling on her face had gone down, though her nose was still purple and her right eye had a fierce-looking shiner.
The silence dragged out until Kimberly asked: "How you feeling?"
She shrugged. "Not bad. It looks worse than it feels. For the most part." Janine held up her right hand, to show the fingers still in splints. "These aren't broken. Just sprained. Gladys doesn't want me moving them until the swelling goes down, which should take a few days."
"Ouch," Kim said, wincing in sympathy. "I'm sorry about that. Hope it doesn't affect your school work."
"Nah, I can still use my left hand. Works just as good as the right."
Upon hearing that, Melanie actually closed her math book and looked up, her curiosity piqued. Janine mistook it for something else, and turned to face the blonde girl, her cheeks reddening around the edges. "Mel, I heard about what Regina's crew did, and… I'm sorry. It's my fault. If I hadn't told them about the party, then…"
Melanie was going to agree with her, when she saw the venomous look her roommate flashed her. What is she, psychic? Mel thought. So she blew out a small sigh and answered: "Relax, Janine. I don't blame you. I mean, it's Regina."
The other blonde was still fidgeting. "Well, I… am still sorry, because the main reason I came here is to tell you… I'm out."
"What do you mean?" Melanie asked, one golden eyebrow cocked.
"I mean, the whole Halloween party idea. I… don't want any part of it. And, I would appreciate it if you didn't come to me if you had any more ideas. You seem okay, but… I just… I can't deal with the pressure of…"
"Being seen with a runt, and Regina's enemy?" Melanie growled.
The girl raised both hands defensively. "I'm sorry, Mel. It's nothing personal. But, I mean… look what she did to me just for coming to a meeting in your room. You promised me she'd come after you, and that… didn't happen."
"Technically, I didn't promise anything. I just said there was a strong chance she'd come after me. I… I didn't expect this."
"And that's what worries me. What else can you not expect? What if her bitches do something worse down the road? I just… I can't take any more chances. I'm… I'm sorry." With a sad sigh, Janine turned and left the room.
For a beat, Melanie stared at the open doorway, amber eyes narrowed into unreadable slits. The silence started to make her roommate uncomfortable, so Kim asked: "Mel, are you okay?"
The small blonde looked over at her, eyes open again, and gave a smirk and a shrug. "Well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that. I wonder who else will be showing up after they learn who did that to her, and why."
Kimberly was not convinced. "Are you really okay?"
"I'm fine, Kim," Mel insisted, perhaps with a little too much force behind her voice. "I thought that maybe my life at this school might be able to resemble normal for a little while. Guess I was wrong. Call it a Family Channel moment of weakness. I should have known better. People are the same, always looking out for themselves."
"Not all of us are like that, Mel," Kim said reproachfully.
"Well, yeah, you and I are different. Because we're better than everyone else."
"Melanie…"
"I said I'm fine, Kim. Don't worry about it. To be honest, I'm more upset over the fact that I lost my birthday present today, but that's okay, too. Because someday I'll be taking it back from Regina." She flashed her friend another smile, and then went back to reading her math book. Kimberly wasn't entirely convinced the girl was being honest, but after a moment, she resumed her own reading. She knew from experience this was just Melanie's way of coping.
If anything, Melanie was not really thinking about the events of today. At least, not anymore. She was more intrigued by Janine's statement that she could use both hands. Me, Kim, Niko, Janis, now Janine. That's five out of fifty. And I thought Kim said this thing was supposed to be rare. How many other girls at this school are ambidextrous? This thought preoccupied her so much that, try as she might, she was unable to finish her reading on fractions before lights out.
Friday, October 24th, 1997
Three girls sat in the library, as it was the one place that they felt they could speak privately without drawing any attention, so long as they kept their voices down. Melanie and Kimberly both had their copies of "Johnny Tremain" out and pretended to be working on their book reports, while Niko was reviewing her notes in her familiar black and white Composition book.
"So… have you girls seen this?" The freckled blonde asked the other two in a low voice, then pulled a folded piece of paper from her uniform's vest pocket and slid it across the table.
Melanie picked it up, unfolded it, and skimmed over its contents. "Regina's Halloween Party," she said aloud, but read the rest of it silently. It contained all the same details that her own invitation had: the time and place, to come in costume, and also advertising games and candy. By the time she was finished reading, it took every ounce of self-control not to scream a curse word, as that would have bought her more detention, and she'd just finished serving a stretch of it.
Instead, she passed the note to Kimberly, who read over it. "Hm," she whispered. "This is clever, even for her. One of those things that I would swear was Amanda's idea, but no. This is all Regina, according to the rumor mill." She looked over and saw Melanie still seething, so she placed a hand softly on the blonde girl's arm. "Come on, Mel, we had to know something like this was coming. Especially after her bitches stole our stash."
"I don't think it's that, Kim," said Niko. "I think she's still bothered by you-know-what." The freckled girl was referring to that fact that since word had spread about Janine's almost public beating, Melanie seemed to have become persona non grata once more, even among the students who were starting to become lukewarm to her. In the last week, several of the other girls who'd been privy to the meeting had come up to her and said they wanted no part of what she was planning.
And now, the trio saw Layla and Zoey approach their table. "Speak of the devil," Melanie muttered, and turned her gaze towards them. "Okay, I know why you're here, so let's just get this over with."
The two girls exchanged a quick glance, and then Layla said: "Actually, we were gonna ask if we could sit with you."
Melanie quirked an eyebrow at this. "Why? If you were smart, you'd be avoiding me like the plague, especially since Regina is threatening to put anyone who's seen with me on Des's blacklist."
"We're better than that, Mel," Zoey said. "Did you think we'd just forget what the three of us went through together?"
"Yeah," Layla affirmed. "You saved our lives. That's more than Regina's ever done for us. Whatever's going on, we're behind you."
Melanie couldn't help but smile just a little. "Well, then why are you still standing there?" She motioned to the other two empty chairs at the table. "Have a seat."
As the two girls sat down, Kimberly couldn't help but rub it in just a little. "So… all people are the same, Mel?"
"Fuck you," Melanie whispered, and then everyone assembled had to put hands over their mouths to stifle their laughter.
After they were done, Zoey asked: "Seriously, Mel, what is the plan?"
The small blonde felt a sense of renewal, of invigoration in light of what had just happened. "Are you girls still working on your costumes?" She asked.
"Zo and I were," said Layla. "We stopped when we heard about Janine, since we weren't sure what you wanted to do."
"You know mine's almost done," said Kimberly.
"Same," Niko chimed in.
"Okay, then," said Mel. "Here's the plan. Finish your costumes. On Halloween night, meet me in another unused room of the Main Hall, at the time Regina's party is supposed to happen. Room 203. Come in your costumes."
"You got it," said Layla.
"Yeah, we're in," Zoey echoed. "Anything else?"
"There is," said Melanie. "Now many invitations did we print for our own party?"
"Not many," Kimberly told her. "Just enough for the girls that you wanted to invite. So I'd say about thirty."
"Okay, then, our main goal over the next week is to find every one of those invitations that we made, and destroy them. Shred 'em, burn 'em, flush 'em, whatever it takes, just make sure we get rid of them all." She then took Regina's invitation back from Kim, and waved it at the others. "But don't touch these. Make sure they stay around."
"Okay, Mel," said Niko. "Why?"
Her amber eyes narrowed into slits, a cold smile crept over her face. "Here's why. Huddle in, so I don't have to talk so loud. You girls are gonna love this."
Friday, October 31st, 1997
The students and faculty in the dining hall stood behind their chairs as Joan Landy addressed them. "Following dinner, there will be an assembly for any who wish to attend. It will be a showing of the movie 'Mission: Impossible'. Attendance is not mandatory. Viewing will start at 7:30 sharp." Her steel blue eyes then fixed on the small blonde girl seated in her usual corner. "Melanie, dear, will you say grace?"
"Sure thing, Ms. Landy," Melanie answered. "There's nothing I like better." She bowed her head and began: "Hey, God. Maybe you exist, and maybe you don't. And if you do, maybe you're made of spaghetti or something. We don't know. What we do know is that we're eating spaghetti tonight, so thanks, and Amen!"
As usual there was a pause. Then, Joan responded with something new. "I must remind my assistant to schedule some time to meet with you next week, so we can discuss the blasphemy content in your prayers. I think it's gone on long enough. But in the meantime, everyone be seated."
And so dinner began. The girls took their seats while Nikolai's staff put the serving bowls on the tables. "Nothing you like better than saying grace?" Kimberly chided her roommate. "You trying to make Landy suspicious?"
"Hey, I'm in a good mood." Melanie shrugged and took up a good amount of steaming pasta with the metal tongs, then ladled some marinara over it, making sure she got three or four meatballs in there too. She hummed as she set about sprinkling grated parmesan cheese over it all.
"Well, I don't blame you," said Niko. "But… if you're way too cheerful it might also make Queen Bitch suspicious."
Melanie cackled, and then reached for a slice of warm, buttery garlic bread. "Ah, she doesn't suspect a thing."
"I hope you're right," said Kimberly. "Took me a lot of work to get what I needed for my costume. If this operation gets shut down before I even get to wear it, I might have to get creative for our next tutoring session."
"You worry too much, Kim," said Melanie around a mouthful of spaghetti. "I mean, we took care of that thing I mentioned, right?" She put her fork down and looked over at Layla and Zoey, seated at the table opposite them, side by side as usual. Their eyes met over the dining hall, and Melanie held up her napkin with one hand, then held up the other, fingers curled into a fist. She then opened those fingers to mimic an explosion.
The two girls understood, gave her a nod, and raised their milk glasses in her direction. Melanie did likewise, and then resumed eating. "Yup. See? All taken care of. Told ya those two would get it done." She tore a large piece of crust off her garlic bread and dredged it through the sauce on top of her pasta.
Kim laughed as she reached for the tongs and used them to put some salad on her plate. "Complimenting someone who isn't me? You must be in a good mood."
"Duh-doy!" Mel shot back with her mouth full. "It's just the best night of the year!" She fidgeted a little in her chair then, and wrapped more spaghetti around her fork. "I just wish I could get out of here and get to work."
"Patience, grasshopper," Niko said with a laugh. "You sneak out of here before dessert, and Landy will know you're up to something. Considering what day it is."
Kimberly shrugged, and reached for the bottle of Hidden Valley Italian, squirting a generous amount on her greens. "Well, she'll figure out something's amiss when no one shows up in the assembly hall."
Melanie popped the last bit of her bread into her mouth and started cutting one of her meatballs. "But by then, we'll have carried out the plan. I hope."
The girls spent most of the rest of the meal eating in silence, with Melanie in a cat-like state of readiness, while trying to appear like she wasn't. But she was glad she stayed for dessert. Since it was a holiday, Joan had ordered the staff to serve ice cream. And they had chocolate, caramel, and strawberry syrup to top it.
"So, there was an upside to sticking around," Melanie said after licking her bowl clean. "But now I gotta go take care of some business."
"Need any help?" Kimberly asked.
"Nah." Melanie rose from her seat with empty bowl in hand. "I know from experience that one person sneaking around will draw less attention than two or three. Don't worry, I got this."
"Cool. Well, then I'll see you in about an hour."
"Good luck," added Niko.
The small blonde gave a wink, then placed her dirty dishes onto one of the bus trays and left the dining hall. Kimberly watched her go, then moved her gaze over to Regina and her entourage, who were focusing on their ice cream, oblivious as usual. Upon seeing that, the dark-haired girl smiled and dipped her spoon back into her own bowl.
Later…
The lights were off when Kimberly entered Room 203. She paused in the half-open doorway, letting her eyes adjust to the dimness, then she slipped inside. "Melanie?" She whispered as loud as she dared.
There was no answer. But the dark-haired girl did hear what sounded like wet, heavy breathing behind her. "Melanie isn't here anymore," growled a muffled voice. Kimberly spun, and found herself face to face with a figure her height, nearly invisible due to being wrapped in a black cloak. The only reason she could see anything at all was because of the pale white mask, reminding Kim of a ghost, except the features appeared to be more warped, stretched out.
"Boo!" The figure hissed, and then their right hand lunged at the other girl. Kimberly saw the knife, and her training kicked in. She pivoted her body to avoid a stab, grabbed the outstretched arm and then flipped the cloaked and masked figure bodily over her, sending them crashing to the floor.
"Ow," spoke a now-familiar voice behind the mask, and Kimberly rolled her eyes.
"Is that you, Mel?" She asked.
"Who'd you expect, Ghost Face?"
"Um… what?"
"Ghost Face," Melanie repeated, getting to her feet and removing the mask so her roommate could see her face underneath. "You know, from 'Scream'? That horror movie that came out last year?"
The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes again. "I haven't seen it, Mel."
"Kinda jumpy, aren't you?" Mel asked with a laugh.
Now Kimberly couldn't help but laugh as well. "Sorry, Mel. It was dark, and I saw the knife, and… you startled me, that's all."
"Oh, this?" Melanie laughed and turned the blade on itself, and even through the dimness, her roommate saw the blade curl up when it made contact with Mel's chest. "It's just one of the rubber training knives." She tucked it inside her black cloak, then looked at what Kimberly was wearing. "Wow. That's pretty good."
Though her French braid still hung down her back, the other girl had somehow managed to style what was on top of her head so that the left side of her scalp contained a part that was greater on the right, while also giving it a lot more volume than it normally had. She was wearing a pink collared shirt, black tie, powder blue skirt and blazer, with a yellow headband knotted around her forehead.
The small blonde smirked a little when she saw that last thing. "Really? A headband?"
"It's what Linna Yamazaki wears," Kimberly said with a shrug. "You'd know that if you would watch an episode with me sometime."
"Yeah, I ain't gonna do that," said Melanie. "But still, it's pretty cool." She saw now that Kimberly had even managed to scrounge up a pair of glasses, or at least the frames, as the lenses had been removed. "Where'd you find all that stuff?"
"That's my secret," Kimberly answered. She then reached inside the blazer and pulled out three rolls of toilet paper, which she placed onto an empty desk. "And as instructed, I swiped those from the upstairs bathroom in the dorm."
"Excellent," Melanie said in a slow, eerie tone. "I just hope the other girls grabbed some, too."
A short time later, Niko showed up. Her blonde hair had been restyled in pigtails, and she was dressed in green pants and a red T-shirt with a large white horizontal stripe in the middle. In addition to a contribution of toilet paper, she was carrying one of her textbooks, for which she'd made a cover using a brown paper grocery bag. The bag had been decorated with markers to look like a calculator.
She placed her rolls on the desk next to Kimberly, and then saw the questioning looks of the other two. "Penny from Inspector Gadget?" She asked them.
Mel and Kim both nodded, the realization setting in. "Oh, yeah, I saw an episode of that once," Melanie said.
"I've seen more than one," Kimberly said. "That's pretty cool, Niko!"
"Thanks, Linna," Niko answered with a smirk.
"See?" Kim chided her roommate. "She gets it." She then exchanged a high-five with the freckled blonde.
The door opened again a moment later, and two girls dressed in white sheets with eye-holes cut into them entered. "You girls need to be more quiet," said one of the sheet-clad figures.
"Yeah," said the other. "We could hear you out in the hallway." They then reached down and pulled the sheets up to reveal themselves as Layla and Zoey.
"That's what your mom said last night," Melanie quipped.
"Um, Mel…" Kimberly started to say.
"Yeah, yeah, we don't have moms. I know."
"There wasn't much left in the dorms," Layla said, as she dropped some rolls of toilet paper on the desk.
"Yeah, we grabbed these from the restrooms here in the Main Hall," Zoey added.
Melanie shrugged. "Well, as long as no one saw you."
"Relax, we're good," Layla assured her.
"Awesome," Mel said. "Let me go grab the other part of our plan."
While she turned to one of the cabinets in the classroom, Zoey looked at Kim's costume and raised an eyebrow. "Linna Yamazaki," the dark-haired girl explained. "Member of the Knight Sabers. Wears the green suit?"
Melanie looked up from the cabinet she was crouched by. "It's Greek to me too."
"Not much to talk about character-wise," Layla commented. "I'd have gone with Priss or Nene."
"I didn't feel like dying my hair," Kimberly said. "Anyway, Linna brings a little humanity to the Sabers. Also, I'm impressed. I had no idea you knew about this show."
Layla blushed a little. "Well, we don't… really talk much, do we?"
"Maybe we should fix that."
Before they could continue speaking, Melanie came back with a stack of several cartons of eggs (the fruits of her "errand" after leaving dinner earlier), and set them on another desk. "There's a few more in the cabinet," she said. "Can you girls grab 'em?"
After that was done, Kimberly asked: "And you're sure Nikolai didn't spot you taking these?"
"Nah," the small blonde scoffed. "One of the advantages of working in the kitchen once a week: I know when it's at its busiest. Which is the best time to move around unnoticed, since I've also learned all the blind spots."
"Awesome!" Zoey said. "So, what now?" She looked at the plastic Minnie Mouse watch around her wrist. "Regina's party should have started already."
A malicious smile crept over Melanie's lips. "Now… you girls are gonna learn why the other name for Halloween is 'Mischief Night'." She cackled with glee and fixed her Ghost Face mask back in place. "I figure we got ten minutes tops before Landy realizes no one's coming to the movie. So let's make 'em count. Grab whatever ammo you can carry and follow me. We got a party to crash."
She began to pick up rolls of toilet paper and tuck them under her hooded cloak. The other girls started to follow suit. "What do we do with this stuff, anyway, Mel?" Layla asked.
Another cackle. "Oh, you'll learn soon enough."
Despite the large group assembled in Room 104, things could have been livelier. Of course, Regina and her crew had had less than two weeks to plan a party after hijacking the idea from Melanie, and whereas the small blonde knew a thing or two about Halloween, no one else at Clemency School had ever really celebrated it.
Perhaps this explained the lack of diversity among costumes. From where she sat at the empty teacher's desk, the Alpha found herself looking out over a sea of white, as a majority of the girls had simply gone the generic route of wearing a bed-sheet with eye-holes cut into it, while most of the others had gone the route of wrapping themselves in gauze or strips of linen. It also explained why there were no traditional Halloween games, as Regina had misinterpreted this on Mel's invitation (once more due to having zero experience). So instead of bobbing for apples, there were mostly board games.
Amanda had set up a small stereo to play some music at a low volume, but aside from that, the atmosphere seemed largely subdued. People were talking and mingling, but in lowered voices. Not even the miniature candy bars spread out in bowls on the desks seemed to be doing much to lighten the mood.
Regina's right hand approached the desk, dressed in a basic black witch's outfit, and she'd even managed to swipe a broomstick from one of the janitor's closets. "Well, this is about as lively as a graveyard," Amanda said when she got close.
"Maybe that's fitting," said Sunako, standing off to the side. Her costume, perhaps the most colorful in the room, was that of a character from some anime that Regina had never watched (the girl had explained that she was one of the "Sailor Senshi", whatever those were, but Regina couldn't remember the name of the character). "I mean, it's a holiday for dead things."
The blonde girl eyed her companion for a moment, and the critical look did not go unnoticed. "What?" Sunako asked.
"Change into another costume," Regina said. "I don't like you having a nicer one than mine." The Alpha had dressed rather generically, in a black cape and pair of plastic fangs.
Sunako seemed taken aback by this. "But… I don't have another costume."
"Well, then change into your uniform."
"Um… here?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "No, you idiot! Go the bathroom and use an empty stall! Here?… what kind of question is that?"
With a growl, Sunako stalked off to go find the nearest restroom. After she was gone, Janis, who was standing off to the side in a Jason Voorhees mask, took a cautious step forward. "Hey, you want us to threaten to beat people if they don't start having fun?"
Regina sat back, stuck her feet up on the desk. "Nah. That wouldn't cheer me up."
"What would?" Lacey asked.
"Finding some way to rub this in the runt's face. I don't think we did that enough. We stole her party, but now… I kinda wish she were here so I could gloat more about it."
Amanda removed her pointed cap and scratched her head. "You… want Melanie to see that the party you stole from her is boring?"
The Alpha sat up a little at that. "No, I just… I don't know."
The redhead shrugged. "Guess maybe next time we should research what goes on at a Halloween party. At least Melanie knew something about that."
"Urgh!" Regina slammed her fists on the desk in frustration, causing more than a few heads to turn. "Okay, no one mention the runt for the rest of the night. First one who does gets a beating!"
"But, you were the first one to mention her," Janis piped up.
The brown-eyed girl was about to find herself in a world of hurt, when suddenly, a loud bang was heard. Several of the other girls who were trying to mingle with each other turned their heads in the direction of the noise, which was the windows looking outside onto the school grounds. They showed nothing except the black of night.
The conversation was about to resume when those watching saw something white and round explode against another window pane, followed by that same banging sound and a bright, runny yellow starburst against the glass.
This time, there was no pause. That second bang was followed by several more, as well as more runny bursts on the window. "What's going on out there?" One of the girls asked.
In addition to the eggs bursting against the window, one could now hear what sounded like faint war cries out on the grass.
"Eat this, horse face!" One voice called right before another egg exploded against the window.
Then another, more familiar voice shouted: "Suck my balls, Regina!"
Upon hearing that, the Alpha grew red in the face and leapt from her desk. "Come with me!" She snapped at her subordinates. To the other girls, she said: "Stay in here!" Then, with Amanda, Lacey and Janis flanking her, she left the room and bolted towards the exit doors, throwing them open to the cool night air…
...And was struck in the face by raw egg after taking two steps outside. She wiped the runny yolk from her face and quickly took in her surroundings. Kimberly was standing a hundred feet away, dressed like a businesswoman and holding a carton of eggs. Two other girls several hundred feet off to the left appeared to bombarding the building with them, while a third girl was tossing up rolls of toilet paper, which were catching on the ivy vines and creating long white streamers that stuck to the main hall when the rolls fell back to earth.
But she only looked at the other three for a second before turning her attention back to Kimberly. A good thing, too, as the dark-haired girl used the distraction to chuck another egg at Regina's face.
"Get her!" She snarled at her cohorts, but before they could respond to this, sinister laughter was heard in the bushes behind.
"Mwuh hah hah hah hah hah!" Amanda turned her head in time to see a figure in a hooded black cloak and some sort of stretchy-looking white mask bowl into her and knock her over, after which she did a leg-sweep on Regina, who was still wiping the extra egg from her face, and sent her sprawling to the ground on her back.
It took Lacey and Janis a few seconds to process all this, during which time the masked girl ran over to join Kimberly and accepted a carton of eggs from her. The two girls then continued their barrage on Regina and her gang.
"I think their looks are improving, Kim," spoke a familiar voice from behind the mask, one that the girls of Regina's pack now recognized.
"Yeah, we ought to throw some flour on 'em and fry 'em," Kim said with a laugh.
"Wouldn't be the worst thing Nikolai has ever cooked!" Mel's remark made both girls explode into laughter.
By now, Regina was back on her feet and had managed to regroup her forces. Sunako, who had finished changing in the ladies room, had come outside, and was joined by most of the party-goers, who had let curiosity get the best of any fear they might have had of the Alpha. It was a moment for both sides to regroup, as Melanie and Kimberly had run out of ammunition.
The two friends stood side by side, facing the much larger group, and were soon joined by the other three conspirators of this little plot, who stood at their flanks. Regina, Amanda, Lacey and Janis were still trying to wipe as much egg as they could, but it was starting to congeal in their hair and clothes.
Regina composed herself as much as possible, straightened her cape, and took a calming breath. "You heard me," she snapped at her four cronies. "Let's get those fucking runts and make them suffer!" She then turned to the rather large group queuing behind her. "And as for the rest of you: what the fuck are you doing out here? Back inside, now!"
Melanie pulled up her mask, in order to be heard better, and called over: "Yeah, you girls could listen to Queen Bitch, and go back inside to that boring party. Or… you could join us out here, and have some real fun helping us decorate the Main Hall and Quad. We got plenty of ammo, and if we run out, you can just go inside, and grab a roll of TP from the nearest restroom, and you're good to go! So what do you say?"
Regina, upon hearing that, countered with: "Any girl who sides with them will go on Des's blacklist forever! Now get back inside!"
"How's she gonna know who to punish?" Niko called over.
"Totally!" Kim added. "You're all in costumes. So, like Mel said, come have some real fun with us!"
"It only comes once a year!" Zoey said.
"Ooh, good one," Melanie said, low enough for only those next to her to hear.
There were a few moments of tense silence while both sides faced each other down, the five "outlaws" against the forty-five of Regina and her party. No one moved. Layla whispered to Melanie: "I don't think they're buying it, we should probably book."
"Give it a minute," Melanie whispered back.
Which was the amount of time that ticked down, a little too slow for Melanie. And then, a few of the girls in ghost costumes stepped past Regina and the other members of her pack, and started towards the smaller, but evidently mightier group. They were followed by a few more, and then a few more, and then it was like an exodus, until almost every girl was standing by Melanie and the other party crashers.
For a moment, Melanie was flustered, as she hadn't been expecting this many girls to switch sides. But then she managed to get out: "Wow. Okay, we may not have enough ammo for everyone, since we weren't expecting this. But… like we said, if we run out, just go inside. There's eggs in the kitchen, and toilet paper in the restrooms. Now, let's get you all armed." She pulled her mask back down and started to lead the girls to a nearby pine tree, where they had their stash of ammo secured.
Regina's party had definitely gone south in a big way. "What the fuck are you doing?" She screamed at them. "Get back here! Get the fuck back here!"
"Don't think that's working, boss," Amanda said with a shrug.
"All right, then, let's just kill that fucking runt!" So Regina started to charge the tree, with Janis, Lacey and Sunako right behind her, while Amanda kept a distance of a few paces behind them. They got halfway there when the egg bombardment began anew, only now there was more of them.
From there, things more or less devolved into chaos on the Quad. Some of the girls egged the Main Hall, others were launching rolls of toilet paper at nearby trees or bushes, or at the ivy vines on the side of the building, leaving behind long white streamers that caught in the leaves or branches. And then there were a few brave girls who stood under the pine with Mel, Kim, Niko, Zoey, and Layla and joined them in attacking Regina and her crew.
"Ugh, this is gonna take forever to come off!" Lacey cried, wiping the runny yolk from her eyes, only to have another egg burst open on her face right after she'd finished.
Amanda ducked an egg, then sidestepped three more, maintaining her distance from the rest of her cohorts while looking like she wasn't trying to. "Yeah, tell me about it," she said, though out of all the girls, she'd been hit the least amount of times.
"Ignore the others!" Regina yelled, powering forward under the barrage. "We'll deal with them later. Just get that runt! Bring me her fucking head!"
"You'll have to catch me first!" Melanie called. Then she said in a lower voice to Kim: "I'll draw her away!"
"Right!" Kimberly said. "We've got her cunts!"
So Melanie turned and started running in the direction of the Main Hall, calling out as she ran: "Can't catch me, horse face! You couldn't even catch a cold!" Regina also broke off from her main group and took off after the smaller blonde. Her cohorts tried to pursue, but were intercepted by Kimberly and several others, who kept them busy.
When she got closer to the hall, Melanie was pleased to see that the egging and papering of it was proceeding nicely. Now all she had to do was avoid Regina's wrath until an adult showed up.
"You are so fucking dead when I catch you!" Regina yelled, her face a shade of dark red that Melanie had not seen since the snowball fight. She grabbed one of the few eggs remaining in her carton and tossed it over her shoulder, where it splattered on the ground in front of Regina's shoes. The Alpha jumped it and going, slowly gaining ground.
Melanie pulled out another egg and turned her upper body, aiming a bit more carefully this time. Her second shot burst open on her arch-rival's shirt in an explosion of yellow goo. Melanie tossed her third egg and then she was out of ammo. She came to a sudden stop, turned and tossed the empty carton at Regina.
The larger blonde swatted the flimsy cardboard aside and closed the distance between her and Melanie, grabbing the petite girl roughly by the front of her black hooded cloak. "Now I'm gonna rip your fucking spine out!" She growled, rearing her head back to slam it against Melanie's nose.
"Rip this, you stupid cunt!" Melanie said with a cackle, and slipped out of the black garment into a crouch, leaving Regina standing there holding an empty cloak. The Alpha had been bringing her head forward, and was unable to stop herself. Melanie rolled forward into her legs, making her lose her footing and sending her tumbling onto the grass.
The plucky blonde quickly regained her feet and turned to face her opponent, who looked the most pathetic that Melanie had ever seen her: tangled in two different capes (both hers and Melanie's), covered in dirt and partially congealed egg foam (with a fair number of broken shells stuck in her hair and on her clothes), spitting out a very colorful string of curse words.
"Kiss your mother with that mouth?" Melanie said with a laugh. "Here, you look like you need some help. Lemme give you a hand!" She moved as if to help Regina up, but at the last second shifted position, and landed a swift kick to the other girl's rear end. This sent Regina sprawling into the grass once more.
"Okay, now I'm really gonna help you." Melanie paused for a second, and then kicked Regina in the butt once more. "Not!" She cackled with sadistic glee. "By the way, you have an extremely kick-able butt. I could do this all night and not get bored!"
She glanced over to the pine tree she'd run from, saw that her girls were still holding Amanda and the rest at bay. But in that moment of looking, Regina found her feet and grabbed Melanie roughly by the collar of her sweatshirt.
"Eep," The small blonde said in that flat monotone she liked to use.
Through the dirt and egg smeared all over face, Regina's smile was like ice. She curled the fingers on her other hand into a fist and cocked it back. "Now you're gonna suffer, you runty little bitch!"
Before she could let fly, the shrill blast of a whistle tore across the quad. Every student froze and turned in the direction of the noise. Joan Landy stood a hundred feet away from Melanie and Regina with her arms folded across her breast. Spread out behind her were a dozen security guards, their Maglites out and shining on the Quad, the bright beams sweeping over the carnage, and the huge mess that had been made.
"WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?" The headmistress began to shout, once more not needing any sort of microphone to project her voice across the lawn. "HAVE YOU GIRLS ALL LOST YOUR MINDS? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
Those students still armed with eggs or paper quickly dropped what they were holding and took a few steps back. Even Regina let go of Melanie and tried her best to blend in with the night. One could hear a pin drop. It was as if even the woods on the other side of the fence had gone silent. "I want answers, children!" Joan's voice bellowed again. "Who is responsible for this?"
The silence dragged out. When no one answered her, Joan raised one hand and snapped her fingers. The security team behind her sprang into movement, forming a perimeter around the Quad, and the students who had all been caught in the act. The headmistress then addressed her charges. "I will get to the bottom of this! There will be an assembly in five minutes. Attendance is mandatory. Any girl who is tardy will go to Solitary for a day!" Those ice-blue eyes of hers narrowed into deadly slits. "Now MOVE!"
Joan turned on her heel and started in the direction of the Assembly Hall. Behind her, the girls all snapped into action and began scrambling that way as well, WITH the strategically placed security guards making sure no one slipped through the cracks. Regina walked far away from Melanie, as she was still tempted to make the smaller girl suffer, but couldn't act due to the adults present. Kimberly fell into step next to her roommate.
"You okay, Mel?" She asked her.
"Oh, yeah," Melanie whispered back. "Horse face didn't touch me. And if Layla and Zoey did their job, then this night will have a great payoff."
Despite the security presence, the two girls managed to exchange a high five as they made their way to assembly.
In the year since she'd been adopted by the older woman, Melanie had never seen Joan Landy looking so angry. She stood behind the podium in the assembly hall, her blue-eyed gaze sweeping the girls, some of whom were still in costume, several of them with raw egg still drying in their hair and on their clothes. For once, Melanie did not try to meet her gaze, just sat there with her mask in her lap and stared straight ahead, trying to look attentive but not too interested.
"Now then," the headmistress spoke after a few tense minutes of silence. "I do not recall authorizing any sort of party, nor do I remember any request for approval of same coming across my desk. And I certainly didn't authorize any of this… vandalism of our home. Our home, my dears. And so… I would like to know who is responsible for organizing all of this?"
More silence filled the hall, palpable enough to be cut with a knife. Another tense minute passed. Joan spoke again, louder. "I asked a question, girls. Who is responsible for this?" No answer. Almost every girl present stared as hard at the floor as Joan was staring at them. "You have one minute to answer me. Otherwise, every girl here gets three nights in Solitary, followed by three weeks detention."
This sparked some shouts of protest from some of those assembled, which was answered rather tersely by the matriarch, who had pulled out a pocket watch from inside her blazer and was gazing at its polished face, looking at the second hand tick by. "Forty-five seconds now, girls."
It was clear that she was not messing around. So when it got down to the last ten seconds, Regina shouted out: "It was Melanie, Ms. Landy! She planned the whole thing!" This was met with a few nods of agreement from those sitting close to the Alpha.
Joan called them all to silence, then turned to face the smaller blonde. "Well, Melanie?"
The girl gave a bored shrug. "I dunno what she's talking about, Ms. Landy. I mean, I was there, you saw me participating so there's no point in denying that. But… the idea itself… I didn't plan any party. This was all Regina."
Regina was almost on her feet. "Lying bitch!" She snarled.
Joan Landy once again silenced the room by pounding the podium with a fist. "Watch your tone, young lady! You know better than to use that language in front of any adult here."
Regina managed not to wither under Joan's glare, but she did blush a little around her ears. "Yes… Ms. Landy."
"Now, then… you allege that it was Melanie, and not you, who planned this party?"
"Yes, ma'am."
The matriarch reached into her blazer pocket, pulled out a slip of paper, unfolded it, and held it out to Regina so she could see what was on it. One of the party invitations that she had printed out.
"Why is your name on this, then?" Joan Landy asked calmly. "This says 'Regina's Halloween Party,' does it not?"
"Um, well… Melanie got the idea first, ma'am," said Regina, fidgeting under the elder woman's steel-blue gaze. "She was gonna throw a party, and I just… took her idea. But it was her idea to begin with."
"It's true, Ms. Landy," Amanda spoke up, a statement met with even more nods from those close by. "She even printed her own invitations."
"Oh?" Joan raised one honey-blonde eyebrow. "Is this true, Melanie?"
"Dunno what she's talking about," Melanie answered with a shrug. "If I had made invitations, don't you think you'd have found copies of them, too?"
"I saw one!" Regina countered.
"Yeah, and then you flushed it, remember?" Amanda whispered in her ear.
"Shut up," Regina whispered back.
"Enough!" Joan snapped. "Now, did anyone else see these invitations that Melanie wrote?"
Not surprisingly, the only ones who answered "yes" were Regina's core bitches. Perhaps it was the overall boredom they'd felt at the party, and the excitement of what happened when Melanie crashed it, but no one else in the hall seemed interested in taking sides at the moment.
Melanie gave another shrug. "Ms. Landy, if they can show you one of these invitations, that would be great. Problem is, they can't because I never made any. But, if you want, you can search my person, my lockers, my dorm room, anything else that'll make you happy. Stick your finger up my ass, for all I care. I got nothing to hide."
"That will be enough," Joan Landy snapped. Once more, that cold gaze swept the room. "Due to all the excitement that has taken place tonight, tomorrow's trip to Burlington has been canceled. Regina, I want to see you and Melanie in my office right now. As for the rest of you: get back to the dorms immediately, clean yourselves up, and get in bed. Ms. Wallace has already been informed that the usual lights out time for the weekend has been rescinded. Once you're ready for bed, you are not to leave your rooms for any reason. If you need to use the bathroom, call Ms. Wallace and she will escort you. Any girl caught outside their bedroom without an adult escort will receive detention. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Ms. Landy," the girls said in unison, though they did not put much heart behind it.
"Is that clear?" The matriarch repeated.
This resulted in a much heartier affirmative, so Joan Landy dismissed them. As Melanie got up from her chair, she flashed Kimberly a wink, and then started off to the edge of the stage where Joan was waiting. Unlike Regina, the smaller blonde was calm and collected, as she prepared to enter the lion's den...
Sunday, November 2nd
The trip to Joan's office in the wake of Mischief Night could not have gone better. Regina continued to insist that Melanie had come up with the party idea first, and had even purchased the candy for it. Melanie continued to shrug and say she had no idea what the other blonde was talking about. At the end of the day, however, the only invitations Joan's staff were able to find listed it as Regina's party, so the Alpha was given two weeks' detention, while Melanie received three days for "suspicious behavior."
After they were finished, Joan had her assistant escort the two blonde girls back to the dorms to get ready for bed. The next day, the school was largely on lock-down. The girls spent all day in their rooms, and were only allowed out for meals, personal hygiene matters, and to answer the call of nature. Sunday saw a slight return to normalcy.
It was mid-afternoon. Melanie had just gotten out of the library, where she'd been serving her first day of detention. She stood at the bottom of the stone steps, hands in the pockets of her parka, her amber-eyed gaze surveying the quad and the overcast sky. Though it was gray, there did not appear to be much chance of rain, but most of the girls were doing things indoors.
"Psst!" The small blonde heard someone whisper to her left. Melanie turned and saw Kimberly peeking from around the corner of the venerable brick building. Her roommate gestured with an index finger. "Over here, Mel!"
Melanie did as asked, a questioning look on her face, though she didn't say anything out loud, waiting until she got closer. She turned the corner, about to ask what was up… And she saw Niko, Zoey, and Layla crouching behind a large bush, trying to stay out of sight of whoever might be tending grounds on the quad.
Kimberly sat down next to Niko and gave the grass to her left a small pat. "Come join us!"
Melanie squatted down in the circle, and finally got her question out: "What's up?"
"Nothing," said Layla. "Just celebrating our success from the other night, but we couldn't do that without including the girl with the plan!"
"How was detention?" Zoey asked.
Melanie gave a smirk of pure delight. "Easiest one I've ever done. Tomorrow I'll be close to the home stretch, while Regina still has, what, eleven days? The fact that she's gonna miss the trip into town next Saturday made my time fly by. In fact, maybe tomorrow after class I'll go and watch her. She should still be scrubbing the windows on the Main Hall."
The girls all shared a laugh, and then Kimberly pulled an open bag of fun-sized Snickers bars out from inside her parka. About half of them had been eaten, but there were still plenty left. "Saved you some," she said, and offered Mel the bag. "Like Layla said, we're celebrating. And like you said, Halloween's not complete without some candy."
Another questioning look was written all over Melanie's face, but she accepted and took several candy bars out, then passed the bag to Zoey on her left. She waited until she'd ripped open one of the wrappers and stuffed the whole fun-sized bar in her mouth before asking: "Where'd you get these?"
"From Regina's party," Kimberly answered. "In the confusion when the adults first showed up, Layla managed to slip inside the Main Hall and grab a bag of these from Room 104."
"Hid them in my sheet," said Layla.
Melanie laughed. "Way to go, Layla!"
By now the bag had made its way to Kimberly, who took two of the small candy bars out of it. "Give yourself a pat on the back, there, Mel. Like Niko said, you had the plan. And it worked perfectly."
"Couldn't have done it without you girls," Mel said with her mouth full. "You got rid of all the old invites, just like I asked. From there, Regina just tied her own noose. And it was awesome!"
"I know, right?" Zoey said. "Did you see how easily most of those girls flip-flopped again?"
The five of them all shared another laugh. After a moment, Melanie opened another Snickers and bit off half. "I wonder if she's gonna blacklist all of them from using Des's delivery service?"
"She can't do that," Kim said with a shrug. "Des would never let her, since that would take a huge chunk out of his profits."
"The five of us will probably be banned from using his services," Niko added. "But things should be normal for everyone else."
"He's an asshole, anyway," Melanie said, and took another bite of candy. "So I don't feel like giving him my money."
"Yeah, he's a bit of a creep," Zoey said with a shudder. "We can probably find ways to sneak in our own contraband."
"I know we can," Kimberly laughed. "We're a bunch of sneaky bitches!"
Layla gave a nervous laugh, but Melanie noticed that she seemed to be fidgeting a little where she sat. Mel gave the other blonde a look that seemed to say: Well? Go on.
"Hey, Kim?" Layla finally asked with some hesitance to her voice.
Kimberly looked over, one black eyebrow quirked. "What's up?"
"Well, I um, I just… wanted to say that, back when Regina and her gang were… bullying you, I… know I never joined in, but I also… kept looking the other way every time it happened. I guess… I was afraid, but… it was stupid of me, and… um... I'm sorry. I just… wanted to say I'm sorry."
"And that's it?" Everyone seemed taken aback by the response, including Melanie. Mainly because her roommate's expression was neutral, unreadable. Then Kimberly started laughing. "That's what you were so nervous about?"
Layla relaxed a little. "Well, yeah. I mean, I wasn't as big of a bitch as Regina, but… I was still a bitch."
"And now you're not," Kimberly told her. "So don't worry about it. We're totally good. I've never lost a minute of sleep over it, so you shouldn't either." She then offered the other girl her hand.
Layla smiled, and they shook. "Thanks, Kim. Maybe we can, um… watch BGC sometime?"
"I'd love to!"
"Now, wait a sec," Melanie said. "I never agreed to share her."
The other two looked over at the small blonde, saw her smiling as well. "No one's gonna stop you from watching anime with us," Kimberly said.
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Melanie fired back.
Zoey looked up from the candy bar she was unwrapping. "You should give one them a chance sometime, Mel."
Layla shrugged. "Hey, she apologized for the whole stabbing thing, Zo. I think it's too much to hope for a second miracle."
There was more laughter from the girls, followed by Mel chewing thoughtfully on some candy. After a moment, she said: "You two girls are all right. Thanks for sticking by us, and for… following through. Plan worked perfectly because of it."
"Our pleasure," said Zoey. "Like Lay Lay said, you saved us from those wolves. We don't just forget things like that."
Melanie blushed a little, looked nervously down at the wrappers around her feet. "Well, I was... saving myself, too."
Kimberly laughed and gave her roommate a pat on the shoulder. "She does this all the time, girls. Pretends she doesn't care and tries to put on this whole 'tough girl' smokescreen, when what she really wants to say is that she likes you two."
The red on her face grew deeper. "Well, I… don't hate them."
"See what I mean? It's cute."
"Ah, fuck you, Kim!" Melanie said with a smirk.
This was met with more laughter. And so their celebration continued. Even after the candy was gone, they stayed hidden behind the bushes in the library, talking and joking among one another. They had no doubt retaliation from Regina would come in the near future, but for now, they were just savoring their victory. By the time the announcement was made for dinner, Melanie found herself more conflicted than ever. Mainly because a very small voice deep, deep inside of her was starting to ask if maybe she should stay at the school after earning her knife…
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Melanie's Halloween costume is in fact Ghost Face, the villain from the "Scream" movies, the first of which came out in 1996. So I imagine that his Halloween costume would still be popular a year later, especially since the sequel to Scream came out in 1997.
And you may have figured this out, but Sunako's costume was Sailor Moon. I've never seen an episode, but I know it aired in America in 90s. Also, it's hard to go to a convention without seeing at least one cosplayer dressed as a Sailor Scout.
And Linna Yamazaki is a character from Bubblegum Crisis, Kimberly's favorite anime. So there is no relation to SNK's Ryuji Yamazaki.
And… I know I say this a lot, but I will try to have the next chapter out in less than a month. But I just started a new job, so we'll see how well that goes. In the meantime, please read and maybe review (if you feel like it).
