Like I said in the last chapter, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one. I know how it's going to begin and that's about it. Eh, I'll wing it.

Edit: I came up with an idea! Yay for me!

Chapter 13 – Hush

I slept in between Pete and Michael while Henrietta slept on my new couch. I tried to offer her something better, but she said she didn't mind. As for my bed, it's actually rather large and considering how skinny my two friends and I are there was plenty of room for the three of us. Even ignoring how tall Pete and Michael are.

When I woke in the morning, I had no idea what time it was, but I didn't really care. I could feel Michael's back pressed against my own, and judging by the deep, rhythmic breaths he was taking, he was still asleep. So, it must've been Pete who was the one gently stroking my hair. I slowly opened my eyes and confirmed it.

"H-Hey Pete," I greeted softly so I wouldn't wake Michael, "How long have you been awake?" He shrugged slightly, undisturbed in being caught in this affectionate gesture.

"A while now," he replied, "I woke up and I couldn't get back to sleep. I couldn't help but stare at you and Michael. You know, you're kind of cute when you're asleep."

I felt a blush starting form on my face at his words. I shoved my face into my pillow as Pete chuckled lightly and continued to stroke my hair.

"Pete, you're embarrassing me!" I muffled, "And this is so not goth!"

My friend laughed before leaning over and kissing me lightly on the cheek. I buried my face deeper into my pillow. I heard him laugh more, so I lashed out my arm and shoved him off the bed. There was a loud thud that startled Michael awake.

"I'm up!" he exclaimed, nearly falling off. I heard Henrietta moan.

"You guys are too loud," she muttered.

"Heh, sorry, Henrietta," I apologized. I looked over at Michael who was still blinking the sleepies off. Then I leaned over to the other side of the bed and glanced down at Pete on the floor. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"That hurt, you know," he said.

"You shouldn't have embarrassed me," I pointed out. Pete rolled his eyes and got up from the floor then gave me a gentle shove in retaliation.

"Michael, you awake yet?" he asked our friend.

"Almost," the oldest goth mumbled, looking like he was about to fall back asleep sitting up. Michael was not a morning person. Well, none of us were, but Michael in particular was bad.

Meanwhile, Henrietta had gotten up from the couch and put her dress back on before walking over to my bed. She climbed onto the bed in front of Michael, leaned over, and kissed him quickly on the lips. I couldn't help but stifle a laugh as Michael's eyes fluttered open in surprise. Henrietta smirked at him.

"Now you're awake," she said smugly.

"Well, I think this is the first time we've all been awake before noon on a weekend," I mused with a smile. My friends all mulled over this for a moment.

"Huh," Michael said, "Maybe we should go back to bed."

"Nope," Henrietta protested, "I'll sit on you if you do." Michael made some sort of unidentifiable indignant sound.

"Fine," he muttered, "But if I'm going to be awake this early I'm going to need a smoke. Firkle, do you still keep your cigarettes in your nightstand here?"

"Didn't you bring your own pack?" I asked.

"I ran out."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "Yeah."

Smiling, Michael reached into my nightstand and dug out my pack of cigarettes. The brand I got was quite a bit cheaper than the kinds my friends got since I had no money and had to go off of what I saved from stealing from my parents. Michael didn't seem to care though and pulled one out before tossing the pack back into my nightstand.

"So, any ideas on what to do today?" Pete asked as he climbed on to my bed and curled up beside me.

"Eh, I don't know," Henrietta replied with a shrug, "I just feel like hanging out, really."

"Yeah, hanging out is what we do best," I agreed.

Michael suddenly got up from the bed and went over to my new mini fridge and pulled out some bottles that I hadn't noticed he had put in there before. They appeared to be alcoholic in nature. I stared as he brought them back over.

"When did you get those?" I asked. Michael shrugged.

"I brought them over last night," he explained, "I figured we could pop a few open. You want to try one, Firkle?"

"Oh, there's that peer pressure I was told so much about," I said. Before Pete could protest on my behalf, I smiled. "Yes, please!"

Smirking, Michael opened a bottle and handed it to me before passing out the rest. I took an experimental sniff before taking a sip.

"So, what do you guys think about-"

"I'm drunk!" I declared loudly, interrupting Henrietta. My three friends all looked at me in astonishment. Then Pete laughed lightly.

"Firkle, you're not drunk," he said, an amused grin on his face.

"I'm pretty sure I am," I countered.

"You can't get drunk after one sip of beer," he argued.

"Maybe you can't," I replied. Feeling light-headed from my drunkenness, I leaned heavily on Pete, resting my head on his shoulder.

"You're weird, Firkle," Henrietta chuckled.

"You're weird," I slurred.

My friends chatted to each other about something in one of their classes, but I wasn't really paying them much attention. I was too busy being drunk. I was rubbing my head on Pete's shoulder when I felt some one nudge me.

"Huh? What?"

Michael shook his head with amusement. "I asked if you got your homework done for Monday," he said, a grin on his face. I blinked slowly at him.

"Um, yes?" I replied, "Ike and I made sure to get it done before the weekend… for the thing we were going to."

"The party?"

"Yeah, that thing."

Michael smiled and shook his head again. "I think I like drunk Firkle," he commented.

"He's not drunk," Pete pointed out, "He probably just thinks he is."

"I drank the rest of the bottle while you guys were talking," I confessed, showing him the empty bottle. Shocked, Pete took the bottle from me.

"Damn it, Firkle," he hissed quietly. Smiling, I gently nuzzled his shoulder and he sighed. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Love me," I murmured, leaning heavily on my friend and closing my eyes, "Care for me. Never leave me."

"You don't have to worry about that, Firkle," Henrietta chuckled, "We're not going to abandon you after all this time. Besides, you're way too cute to leave."

"I am not," I mumbled, struggling to stay awake.

I didn't hear anything else they said because after that I fell asleep leaning against Pete. When I woke up again they were still there, but I had a massive headache.

…

Ike was up to something when I came into school on Monday. I could tell. He kept smiling to himself and giving sly looks to the football team all through out the school day. I was slightly worried he was going to get himself beaten up.

I planned to confront him about this, but those thoughts were temporarily pushed aside when I was making my way to lunch. I was about to go into the cafeteria when someone suddenly grabbed me and slammed me against a wall. My breath was cut off when a large hand wrapped around my throat.

"Some of my boys told me they saw you with my girl at the party on Friday," the quarterback hissed at me, clutching my neck and leaning in close, "You know I don't like you being around my girl."

In vain, I clawed at him massive paw, trying to get some air through. "It's not like I had a choice!" I choked, "She came at me! I didn't even want to go with her!"

The grip on my neck tightened. "Sure! Like I'd believe that!" he spat at me, "You're trying to steal Mirabelle from me, you little bastard! You've been trying ever since you met her!"

"I don't even like her!" I argued. But he ignored me.

"You little punk," he growled, "I think you need to be taught another lesson." My eyes widened and my breathing stopped as he reached a hand down to undo his zipper.

"W-Wait! Please don't!" I pleaded, but the quarterback didn't seem to care. He pressed his crotch up against me.

"You feel that?" he whispered menacingly in my ear, "That's your teacher. Why don't we find somewhere more private so we can teach you why you don't mess with me and my girlfriend?"

I felt myself starting to become overwhelmed with fear and panic as the quarterback started to drag me away to who-knows-where. No… I couldn't go through this again! Someone please help me!

"Hey!" a familiar voice rang out down from down the hallway, "Where do you think you're going with him?"

The quarterback stopped, his grip on me loosening ever-so slightly. I was able to breathe again. I knew that voice, because he was my stalker and seemed to always find me when I was in trouble.

Ike marched up to the quarterback and glared at him. I had no idea what he was planning to do. I'm pretty sure the football player could beat him senseless in two seconds flat before Ike could even figure out what was going on.

"What do you want, runt?" the quarterback asked, annoyed.

"You want to get in trouble, hotshot?" Ike wondered, glaring, "I'm not one for standing around and watching my friends get bullied!"

"What if I just beat you up right now to silence you?" the bully threatened. Ike looked unimpressed.

"Do you think you can attack me while holding onto someone else?" he questioned, "Besides, I could run away and get a teacher. If you let go of Firkle to chase me, he would do the same. And if you did manage to beat me up, that would give me a stronger motivation to tell on you. You see the losing situation you're in?"

I looked up in surprise as the quarterback's look of anger started to falter.

"So, why don't you let go of my friend, you go away, and we'll forget about this whole encounter, all right?" Ike proposed.

With a look of silent rage, the quarterback slowly loosened his grip on my neck and lowered me to the ground. As soon as my feet touched the floor, I rushed over to Ike and hid behind him, clutching his arm for dear life. The football player glared at the two of us before stomping away. I let out a huge sigh of relief as he did.

"Thanks for saving me, Ike… again," I muttered, "He was about to do something horrible to me. What are you doing here, anyway?"

Ike looked like he wanted to question me, but thankfully he didn't. Instead, a weird smile formed on his face.

"Oh, I found something, Firkle," he said gleefully, "I found evidence! Proof of the football team's bullying ways. I'm going to show this evidence to the principal and expose them all! That ought to get them off your back!"

My eyes widened and I felt my heart stop at his words. No! Didn't he know how disastrous that would be? Didn't he know what the football team would do to me if they thought I had gotten them in trouble?

I quickly grabbed Ike's shoulders and spun him around, stopping him. A shocked expression met my scared one.

"W-What's wrong, Firkle?" Ike asked nervously.

"Y-You can't tell the principal," I stuttered, "Please don't expose the football team! I'm begging you!"

Ike's expression changed into one of confusion. "Firkle, why are you protecting them?" he wondered, "Why do you keep allowing them to torment you? This could get them to stop!"

I wrapped my arms around myself and looked away. "I… I can't tell you why," I murmured, "But trust me when I tell you that exposing them for the vicious bullies they are wouldn't solve anything. It would only make things much worse for me. They may be a bunch of blockheads, but together they're more clever than you think. There's a reason they've never been caught before."

Ike frowned and opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again. He looked conflicted. Then he sighed.

"All right," he said at last, "I won't say anything. I don't understand why you don't want to stop them, though."

My lip curled up in a sneer. "You think I don't want to stop them?" I scowled, "How I wish they would leave me alone and stop tormenting me! I wish I had never met that bitch cheerleader! But I can't do anything. You have no idea the power they hold over me. Trust me, what you've seen so far isn't even the worst of what they can, and have done, to me."

With that, I turned on my heel and walked away back towards the cafeteria. I didn't really feel like eating anymore, but there was safety in numbers.

Eh, I'm gonna end the chapter there. I was gonna add more, but I'll save that for the next chapter. Anyway, what do you guys think of drunk Firkle? Apparently he gets affectionate when he's tipsy. Who knew? Please leave a comment as I work on the next chapter!