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Chapter 24 - Gobsmacked
Bucky's POV
The snowflakes floated about in the air like tiny white feathers adding to the thin veil of ice that sparkled on the floor . My breath left a cloud of condesation in the air whenever I talked to Cornelius or Beatrice .
"It's freezing, isn't it ?" I commented , teeth chattering .
"Utterly . At least we don't have Burton anymore . If we did , we'd have been outside this afternoon , being made to roll in the snow until something dropped off . " Cornelius added .
"If we still had Mr Burton , we'd be hiding in the library ." Beatrice pointed out .
"You'd think Carvin would have noticed us ducking behind the classics every time she walked over ."
"Not really - the only things that are in there more often than us are the chairs ." I pointed out .
"Guys!" a snow blurred teenage boy ran over , accompanied by another boy of the same size . Once he was closer to us , I easily recognised the brown hair and leather jacket , despite the huge snowflake stuck to one lense of my glasses .
"Hello , Peanut . Johnny ."Beatrice acknowledged while I yanked my glasses off (they weren't much good in the snow) .
"Hey . How's life ?"
"Fine . I haven't bumped into Christy yet , so ..."
"Christy ?"
"Christy Martin . " Cornelius volunteered . "Red hair , cheer-leader , gob of the century , walked past the cafe while you two were having your little moment yesterday ." Melvin and I had been teasing my friend with that until she gave us the look which blatantly screamed that unless we wanted to lose our dangly bits in a freak incident , we'd shut up . Cornelius , however , was impossible to pacify , not to mention merciless with teasing .
"We weren't having a moment , Cornelius . We were trying to annoy Lola ."
"Sure you were ..." I replied .
"We were trying to annoy her ! Weren't we , Johnny ? Peanut , you were there ..."
"Don't drag me into this ." the second-in-command said , stepping back . The second his shoe touched the snow a white ball of ice smacked him in the face , resulting in a group of laughs tainted with unnatural accents , along with a scarlet mark on the greaser's face .
"Wankers!" Johnny muttered darkly . Before he could stalk over , Beatrice grabbed his collar .
"Let go ."
"No . You have no chance against six boxers , you plonker ."
"But they just threw a snowball at me . I'm freezing !"
"And how will a black eye warm you up ?"
"Can I interupt your domestic?" Cornelius butted in .
"Our what !"
"While I've got your attention , I imagine snowballs would work in the spud gun . Why don't we round up the guys tonight ?" . We briefly contemplated this idea .
"That might work , actually . Good idea ." Beatrice congratulated . "If anything happens , could one of you please come and get me ? I'll be in the girls dorm . " The three of us nodded at her as she ran off after a quiet "Thank you" .
Half a second later , my only female friend slipped , landing in a sitting position on the ice . This was made even worse by Mandy snickering from a few feet away . Johnny - who was closest - walked over to her with notably more caution than my friend had displayed .
"Thanks . " she smiled once he had grabbed her hand and pulled her up , dusting herself off in the hopes of retaining some scrap of dignity . For some reason , Mandy stopped mid-laugh with epression as though someone had just smacked her in the gob - what's the word for that again ? Ah yes , gobsmacked .
"Don't mention it ." he replied , smiling back before he let go of her hand . Not wanting to lose any more of her pride , my friend walked towards the girl's dorms in the hopes of getting there before Mandy whipped out some cutting remark .
"Nice girl , isn't she?" Johnny commented absent-mindedly , smiling at Beatrice as she vanished into the distance ."Now , how many of the gun things do you have?"
Beatrice's POV
"Beatrice!" Mandy shrieked in my ear , leaving a scribbled line on my notes when I had jumped from shock .
"Beatrice ... Beatrice ..."
Just ignore her - She'll get sick eventually .
Sadly , she didn't . Instead she decided to hit me with someone's pillow to get my attention .
"What is it , Mandy?" I aswered dutifully , with three guesses what it was ; had I done her homework , an insult , or if I could please leave the dorm for a bit so she could spend some time with normal people (although never as politely as that).
"What's going on with you and Johnny Vincent ?"
What kind of creepy psyco-active weight-loss drug is she taking ?I asked myself .
"Nothing ." I replied calmly , returning to my notes .
"Don't give me that . I saw you two talking!"
"And?"
"What do you mean "and"? You were talking to Johnny Vincent ! Johnny Vincent ! And you ! Talking !"
"People have a tendency to talk every now and again ." I stated , trying to revise .
Let's see ... Lithium . Sodium . Potassium . Caesium . Rubidium ... Oh bugger , she's still talking ...
"Well?"
"What?"
"What's going on between you two ?"
"Nothing ."
"Fine . Christy !" she commanded her fellow cheerleader , who was by the desk babbling mindlessly down her mobile phone .
"I'll call you back ." she promised snapping her phone closed . "What ?"
"Johnny Vincent and Nerdy here were talking in the playground . Now she won't tell me why ." . Upon hearing this , the red-head's face lit up with an evil grin .
"Really ? It's funny you should mention that , because the other day ..."
Johnny's POV
Darkness cloaked us with anonymity outside of Harrington House . The snow still fell silently around us , giving us plenty of ammunition . My friends and two of the nerds whispered secretively as we loaded the guns .
"Who's going for the others ?" I asked , lodging another snowball into the gun I was holding . Norton dropped a freshly made snowball onto the pile .
"I'll do it . Observatory?" he checked , looking at the two nerds present .
"Yep . Except Beatrice - she's her dorm ." Bucky whispered , trying to ram another snowball into his gun .
"Which dorm ?"
"How should I know ? Just bang on the first window you come to . " Bucky advised , quickly realising that no amount of swearing at the gun would fit another icy bullet in . Ingesting the information , my lieutenant darted from sight with more grace than normal for a man his size . The people around me chatted animately , misty breath veling the night sky . The months of pranking and fights seemed to bring out the best of the nerds ; Vance liked Cornelius' quick wit , Thad's violent creations prevented Peanut from killing him , and Beatrice proved to be a good listener when needed , along with having a gentle disposition and a pleasant smile - not that I took notice of her appearence or anything .
Beatrice's POV
"You can't deny it now , Beatrice . I saw you two !"
"Crap - I didn't know she had it in her ."
"So how long's this been going on , Spotty?" . Another voice from the corner of the room joined the conversation .
"Mandy ... " Zoe stated , pulling out one earphone ."I am trying ... to listen ... to Metallica . If you're smart , you will shut up so I can ."
"But metal mouth was holding hands with a boy !" . The way Christy said it , you would think I'd had sex with him in the middle of the cafe (to be truthful , I was surprised she hadn't said something like that - Christy wasn't known for her honesty) . The townie , however , was far less impressed .
"Firstly , she got the braces off ages ago , remember? Secondly unless it was Jimmy , I don't give a shit who she hangs out with . Now shut it ." she ordered , putting her earphone back in . She'd have had more luck telling the rain not to be wet . Glancing at the clock , I realised that the interrogation had gone on for over two hours . Realising that I had to shut the cheer-leaders up for both mine and Zoe's sanity , I stood up from my bed near the window .
"Listen . I ... am ... not ... involved ... with ... Joh-"
Tap , tap , tap . The noise from next door's window continued for a minute or so before a muffled conversation began , ending with an irritated first year - I think it was Gloria - declaring "she's next door" before slamming the window back down .Three seconds later , the tapping began on our window . Without thinking , I opened it fully to see Norton , who immediately began speaking to me in a loud (unfortuanately loud enough for Mandy to hear) , steady voice .
"Beatrice , are you busy ? Johnny asked me to come get you ."
I have never wanted to murder anyone as much as I did when Mandy howling out of her microscopic mind with laughter .