Hello! Sorry if this took a bit longer than normal, but my laptop hates me.
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Disclaimer : I am not rich or lucky enough to own Bully or any of its characters.
Chapter 19 - Halloween
Hal's POV
Amber pumpkins with sinister grins glowed outside the autoshop on the high, brick wall .The moon shone softly in the black night ,obscured slightly by a cloud of smoke Lefty had just exhaled .
"Has Johnny stopped moping yet?" he asked between drags on his cigarette .
"He cheered up around Thursday .He's normally back with the slut by now."
"Maybe she's out of our hair for good" Lefty coughed ."By the way , any luck with those bike parts?" I asked , staring at the intricate patterns made by the clouds of smoke . After about forty minutes of bike talk and generally badmouthing Lola , a gangly figure wandered out of the darkness .
The girl in front of me was about as tall and nearly as emanciated as Lola ,although this seemed to be the only thing the two shared ; the nerd wore ridiculously huge glasses which covered almost half of her face , her dark blonde hair hung a few inches past her shoulders as opposed to the slut's brown bob and her slightly stooped posture was a world away from Lola's catwalk poses .In a bright green astronomy club dress , she looked about as inconspicous as the grim reaper in a nursery .
"Hello" she greeted me , eyes to the floor. "Um ... has Johnny informed you of what we were planning for tonight ?" .
What the hell was she talking about ? I thought , putting my hand out .
"Nope . I'm Hal , by the way ."
"I'm Beatrice." she responded , shaking my hand ."Do you know when the other greasers will be here ?" .
I shrugged."Ten minutes ?Maybe fifteen?"
"Ok. Do you want me to explain everything now or should I wait until they show up?" .
"I might as well find out now." I said , aching with curiosity (since he ditched Lola ,Johnny had been about as helpful as a partial lobotamy when it came to explaining the nerds' strategy or even why we were helping them ,although an idiot could work out a certain rancid whore was involved somewhere in the matter).
By the time she had explained everything from her friend's injuries to her involvement in Johnny dropping Lola like a hot potato (which resulted in me acquiring a sudden liking for the nerds) to the plans for the night ,Johnny and the rest of my friends -along with hers- had shown up
"Hal , who's the broad ?" Lucky asked ,feeling the need to point at Beatrice despite the fact that she was the only "broad" present .My new acquaintance stepped forward .
"I'm Beatrice .This is Algie , Fatty , Melvin , Thad , Donald , Earnest , Cornelius and Bucky .Um ... Has Johnny explained anything to you all?" she asked , her expression screaming "Please already know - I really don't want to go into a big speech ."
"I can't say he has .Care to explain?" .At this point, Earnest saved her , stating that "Basically,some prep neanderthals beat up our amigo Bucky up , so we did Johnny a favour on the condition that he helped us get back at him ."
"If anyone has a problem with this , then you don't need to help us. We were hoping to get into a few groups and pull various pranks on Bif Taylor and Bryce Montrose ... does anyone not want to get involved" she asked , pausing to allow any objections . There weren't any - no greaser would respond to "want to help us get back at preps?" with "no thanks"
"As long as I don't have to work with him." Peanut insisted , pointing to one of the scrawnier nerds, who was dressed in a lab coat . The nerd scowled at him .
"Why would I want to work with a neanderthal like you , Peanut?" he retorted , emphasising my friend's hated nickname .
"Don't push it , Yardstick boy - just because your friend's woman rid Johnny of that slut doesn't mean you're safe." . One of the fat nerds almost doubled over laughing ,earning him a look from both Beatrice and the nerd leader that blantantly said "Stop laughing or lose your balls" .
"How many times? I am not his broad , or anyone else's for that matter ." the girl stated bluntly .Realising his mistake , Peanut apologised .
"What kind of idiot thinks they would date?" the scrawny boy remarked , glaring at Peanut .
"Thad ,I don't know or care what you two have against each other , but can you just leave it?" the nerd girl pleaded , grasping the boy's collar in the same fashion you would if your pet chiuaua was about to go for an alsation whilst Earnest eyed the candy spray sticking out of his friend's lab coat pocket .Not letting go of Thad , Beatrice passed a piece of paper around .
"Taylor and Montrose are in Harrington House fast asleep ; apparently lower class traditions like Halloween aren't good enough for them .Earnest worked out we'd go into these groups , although it might be better if I switch with Thad. Once we're in the groups, Algie , Cornelius , Bucky and me will explain what we're going to do .I have some stuff in the girls' dorm .I'll go get them now " she said , injecting more venom into any mention of the preps than I thought possible before darting off
Within five minutes , we assembled into four groups , each consisting of four or five people .Not long after ,Beatrice returned holding two buckets containing various objects in each hand . She passed one each to the fat kid who wets himself , the beanpole of a boy and the nerd with a cast on his arm who I guessed was Bucky , keeping hold of one .I still didn't know what we were going to do, but the makeshift gun and eggs gave me an idea .
"Right . If there's any problems ,go to the Observatory and lock the door behind you .If you finish your prank , then go help Bucky's group around Harrington House . Any questions?" she asked the fifteen people in front of her , who each shook their heads."Good luck , everyone. " she smiled before leaving with Peanut , Johnny and Earnest .
Johnny's POV
The fire cackled in the living room of Harrington House , giving out just enough light to show the outline of a huge trophy case , ivory chess pieces and an enormous , probably valuable painting facing us .
"You'd think that the idiots would put a lock on the door with all this stuff here." Peanut remarked , eyeing a gold , engraved , expensive looking vase. "Some of these ornaments must be worth thousands."
"It's revolting when there's babies starving to death in the world . What idiot spends that kind of money on a vase?" I commented , grimacing as I imagined the price tags for these objects .
"I hear inbreeding ruins brain cells , which would explain the catastrophe in Dr . Watts' class last week." Beatrice suggested , cautiously putting our bucket down on the rug before yanking out two torches which she passed to me and Earnest .
"Earnest ,could you and Peanut please go upstairs and get any aquaberry clothing from Taylor and Montrose you can find ?" she requested ."Me and Johnny will set up in the bathroom."
"That's great ,amiga .Which colour are we using?"
"Red , I think."
"Excellent." he beamed as he and Peanut disappeared upstairs as Beatrice ran towards a large mahogany door ,gesturing for me to follow .
The bathroom was almost as grand as the main room ; the room included silver taps designed with a cupid style , along with several initialled dressing gowns (Aquaberry , naturally) plus spotless porcelain tiles . The nerd girl examined the dressing gowns before chucking two in the tub , which was bigger than some swimming pools .Then , she pulled a multitude of rubber bands out of the bucket as well as two medium sized bottles .
"Red or yellow?" she asked me , holding up the bottles.
"Um ... red?" I suggested , still not quite sure what she was talking about .She nodded , turning boths taps on full blast and tipping one of the bottles into the bath . Suddenly , she went very slightly pink.
"Sorry ... I haven't explained, have I?" she apologised .
"Nope. What are we doing ?" I replied , intrigued by the red mixture swirling in the bath water .
"We're tie-dying the preps' clothing ." I nearly burst out laughing at the concept of Bif in the same stuff the music teacher wore , not helped by Beatrice grinning her face off .
"I think they'd prefer the same punishment as Spencer" I commented , blood boiling when I thought of him .
"Knowing them , that's more than likely." . Her smile vanished for a moment . "By the way , I'm so sorry about everything with Lola ." she barely whispered ,as though she felt that saying something quietly made it better .
"It's fine - I just wish I knew why she did it . I mean , I loved her. Isn't that enough ?Why would she just kiss the face off anyone who asked? " I asked , rage at my newly ex girlfriend bubbling . Beatrice paused for twenty seconds or so before saying "I don't know . I wish I could tell you . If it's any consolation , I don't think Tad will be so enthusiastic after the bloody nose ."
The second Beatrice stopped speaking , Peanut barged in holding a pile of blue shirts .
"Is this enough?" he asked , dropping the heap on the floor.
"That's great , thanks ." I told him . "Whose are they?"
"Taylor's. Earnest's getting Montrose's now." . Almost on cue , the nerd leader burst in with an armful of blue vests and a smile the size of Russia .
"There you go .Are you sure we have enough dye?" he inquired , eyes like fireflies at the prospect of the crime he was participating in .
"Let's hope so, Earnest .Are you two going to the tower or helping us? "
"Not sure . Maybe Bucky wants a hand with the egging - I'll go ask him . Are you coming , amigo?" he invited Peanut .
"I think I can concentrate on egging them rather than Thad." he joked , staring at the tied clothes me and my accomplice were dropping into the bath as they started to change to a violet shade .
Maybe forty minutes of chatting and dyeing later , we dragged the clothes out of the freezing water , shaking them the dry them slightly . Once they weren't dripping, we crept up the staircase .
Once we eventually found their rooms , we hung the clothes up , silently laughing . For some reason , Beatrice edged towards the bed where Taylor was laid down , snoring like a foghorn .
"Bloody hell!" Beatrice chortled , after examining Taylor's face.
"Beatrice ,shut up" I implored , looking warily at Taylor , who was thankfully still dreaming of boxing or marrying his sister or something not dissimilar.
"Can you honestly blame me - look at him!" she giggled behind her hand , as though she was trying to shove the laughter back down her throat .
What I saw next was something I shall never forget ; various swear words were scawled on Taylor's face in brown gunk , including the words "I love you , Bryce !" scribbled on his forehead with several vulgar diagrams .
"Where did Algie get the henna from ? We were meant to be using magic marker." Beatrice wondered aloud when I finally managed to regain my self control .Henna? Oh this was just too good.
"So he's stuck with that?"
"Yes ... for three to five days , at least . Good luck to him explaining that !" she chortled, blue eyes glinting with triumph behind her thick glasses .
When by some miracle we managed to put everything back and dash outside the preppie house , we almost doubled over from the madness of the whole situation .
"How the hell did we get away with that?" I gasped between chortles just as a potato flew past my head .
"I have ... absolutely ... no clue" she responded when she finally caught her breath . We stood for a minute in shared, silent delight .
"Algie deserves a drink for the henna."
"He's egging , probably .Do you want to help?" Did she really feel the need to ask me that?
"What do you think ?"