Blossom sat mournfully at the breakfast table, stirring the cereal around her bowl. Today was her first day of d...d...detention. The word felt foreign and wrong. She shuddered at the thought. It left a bad taste in her mouth, and she felt like she needed to shower. How did Buttercup handle getting de...- that - over and over again? Her stomach churned. She hated getting in trouble. Ever since she stole that set of golf clubs, she had sworn she would never again purposely break the rules if she could help it. And now look at her. "Ne'er-do-well," she whispered harshly to herself. As she stared at the bowl of cereal, she contemplated her newfound status as a troublemaker within Townsville's public school system. Perhaps profligate was a better word for her now. It certainly had a better ring to it than ne'er-do-well. She briefly considered wastrel as well, but that would suggest an element of laziness, and she didn't feel that she was quite that bad yet.
She heard rhythmic footsteps coming down the stairs. Someone was skipping - it was most likely Bubbles. Blossom doubted Buttercup was even awake yet. They still had an hour and a half before they had to leave for school, and the middle sister preferred sleeping until the last possible moment.
Sure enough, the ever-chipper blonde bounced into the kitchen and seated herself at Blossom's right side. She drummed her fingers against the table in excitement, and her blue eyes gleamed happily. With a sigh, Blossom set down her spoon and asked, "Yes, Bubbles?"
Bubbles' words flew out in a rapid torrent of excitement, and she barely even paused for breath as she spoke. "OHMYGOSH, okay, so I was messaging people all last night, and I found every witness to, you know, the incident yesterday so that I could have all the facts, and once I did that I started to do some research because I had that most fantastic idea about how to solve your guy problems - don't worry, it's a brilliant plan and I have everything lined up perfectly. I was talking to Boomer and he gave me some phone numbers, and so I texted those people and they're totally on board - well, most of them are, but the ones who aren't don't really care that much so I don't think that they'll, you know, get in the way or anything, so we should be fine, and -"
"BUBBLES, BREATHE! What are you talking about?"
The blonde let out a hmph and rolled her eyes. "I told you last night that the love expert was going to help you fix your awful first kiss, and I never break a promise - well, there was that one time, but that's beside the point! - and so I got started on everything almost immediately and I have everything all planned out and other people are going to help -"
"Who?" Blossom eyed her sister warily. Don't get her wrong, she appreciated the sentiment, but Blossom was generally a very reserved person and the idea of other people knowing about whatever harebrained scheme Bubbles had come up with made her uneasy.
"Oh, don't worry about that right now." Bubbles patted Blossom on the head. "I can't tell you too much about my plan, I know how you get around guys and it's probably better for your confidence if you just don't know what's going on behind the scenes, but don't you worry! I even managed to contact him about it, and we haven't really talked much yet, but I can definitely say that he is very interested."
"WHO?!"
"Blossom, just trust me! I AM THE LOVE EXPERT. I have the whole situation completely under control!"
"Bubbles! I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but I'm not going to just go along with something that I have no information about!"
The blonde giggled in response. "I knew you were gonna say that, but don't worry, I planned for that, too. You don't have to worry about a thing."
"Funny, but for some reason, I am worried about it," Blossom snapped. Bubbles simply giggled at her once more. Was Blossom losing her edge? She was giving her sister her strongest glare, but it didn't seem to be having any effect this time. Why wasn't she listening to her?
"Blossy, you can be pretty silly sometimes. But we don't have time for that right now. Come on, let's go get you ready. Today is just the first day of phase one, after all! Chop chop, we have to get you dressed!"
"No! I am not doing anything without knowing why!"
"Yes you are, now LET'S GO!"
"No!"
The two sisters glared at each other. Blossom could see her sister's cheeks turning pink, and her bottom lip trembling. Slowly, Bubbles's left foot rose and came back down in a massive stomp that shook the house, and Buttercup screamed a curse from upstairs in her room.
A brush was being dragged through Blossom's hair, and she winced with each rough stroke. Her scalp was sensitive, gosh darn it! What was Bubbles trying to do to her?
Buttercup was now curled up in Blossom's bed attempting to sleep through the arguing between her two sisters. She had been unable to resist following the sounds of the argument, but - in typical Buttercup fashion - was too affected by the earliness of the hour to remain awake for the less interesting parts of the spat.
Blossom's throat was sore from arguing, but Bubbles had out-yelled her by a long shot and she found herself with some unfamiliar clothes shoved into her hands and a hairbrush being dragged through her long locks. Bubbles was chattering away, all previous frustration apparently gone now that she had gotten her way. The high-waisted dark wash skinny jeans she had been given were a little more form-fitting than Blossom was typically used to, as was the plain black long sleeve shirt, but she had to admit the look was sleek and clean, and that at least fit her personality. At least Bubbles had given her some sense of self in that. Besides, who didn't appreciate a nice monochrome color scheme?
Bubbles ran a few more strokes of the brush through her hair before declaring it perfect. Blossom moved to grab her traditional bow from off the table in front of her, but Bubbles slapped her hand before she could grab it. "No no, not today. I have it on good sources that you need to wear your hair down today."
"Why?!"
The blonde giggled and skipped from the room. As soon as she was out of sight, Blossom grabbed the ribbon anyways and began to tie back her hair.
"Shejusgontakeitout," the lump that was her other sister mumbled from her bed.
"I'd like to see her try," Blossom said, sending a dark look at the doorway Bubbles had just exited through.
Bubbles did indeed take the ribbon out, and now Blossom's hair hung heavily across her shoulders as she walked through the hallways before class that morning. The blonde was humming happily as she skipped along beside her, while the final third of their trio trudged behind, still unwilling to admit that she was awake.
Blossom said goodbye to her sisters as they claimed their necessities from their lockers and went towards their homeroom classes. Blossom, however, remained behind to reorganize the mess in her own locker that she had left behind in her haste to leave the previous day. A few books were shifted and a couple of papers placed into their proper sections. There. Systematic organizational perfection. Having her belongings in order brought a small sense of satisfaction, like she was regaining her footing after the stumbling block that was the day before. Before closing the door, she pulled a spare hair tie from a pouch she left at the bottom of the locker and pulled her hair up. It might not be her typical ribbon, but at least the hairstyle was comfortable and familiar. She closed the metal door and turned to move to her own first class, but stumbled backwards when she nearly ran into a person standing directly behind her. A low chuckle met her ears as she steadied herself and looked up into a pair of burning red eyes.
"Hey, Pinky." Brick's voice was rough as usual, and it caused the hair on her arms to stand up slightly. Was he talking to her? Of course he was talking to her. But why? She was beneath his notice. He had made that perfectly clear before...
She stammered out a response - hopefully it was coherent, but she wasn't even paying attention to what she said as she stared into the blood-red eyes looking down at her. There was his signature smirk gracing his perfect masculine features, and Blossom found herself lost in her own imagination as Brick spoke. It wasn't until he chuckled and leaned against the locker next to hers that she realized he was waiting for a response, and she blushed deeply and looked away to regain her composure.
"Um, I'm sorry, would you mind repeating that," she stammered out awkwardly. Brick laughed outright, making Blossom's face turn even redder - if that were even possible.
"Aw, look, you're blushin'. Is it because of me?"
Blossom's eyes shot up to meet his defensively, and her voice returned to her fully. "No, it most certainly is not! It's just...warm...in here, is all," she told him lamely.
He chuckled again. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say. So, uh, you and Butch, huh? Y'all like a thing, or something?"
"Absolutely not!"
There was that wicked smirk leering down at her again. Brick reached up and grabbed a loose strand of hair that hadn't made it into her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear. She tried to stop herself from shuddering at the contact. "That's good to hear. Ya know, Pinky, I feel like we haven't really gotten to talk much since me and the boys, ya know, gave up crime and all that. How about we fix that some time, yeah?"
The heat in Blossom's face grew to a near boiling point, and she tried to subtly blow an icy breeze from her mouth to cool herself down before responding with, "Don't you have a girlfriend?"
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Anyways, see ya around, Pinky," he said with a chuckle, winking at something over Blossom's shoulder before he turned and walked away. Her eyes blankly followed him all the way down the hallway and around a corner.
Blossom jumped slightly when someone muttered, "asshole" right behind her, and she turned around to see Butch glaring at his brother's retreating form. Blossom's face began to reheat, but from anger instead of awkwardness this time. "You," she exclaimed darkly.
"Me," he responded with a wide grin. Blossom felt her hands curl up into fists at the sight of his smug smile.
"You...you...YOU GOT CORN IN MY HAIR!" A few students turned around to look at her as she yelled, and Butch's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she raised her fist threateningly.
"Hey, that was an accident, and Butterbitch started it! Why don't yo-" Butch was cut off as Blossom's fist collided with his stomach, leaving him momentarily breathless. "Her name is Buttercup," she exclaimed. A few more students turned to watch the spectacle as Blossom lifted her fist again to bring down another blow, then another. "You...took...my...first...kiss," she grumbled as she peppered his arms and chest with furious hits. "You got me in DETENTION!" Another angry jab. Butch started laughing like a maniac as she rained down blow after blow, which only caused her to hit even harder, drawing on her superstrength more with each hit. Normally she wouldn't condone such violence, especially not at school, but it wasn't like she had never hit a Rowdyruff before. He wouldn't die from it or anything. Any bruises she - hopefully - left would be healed by tomorrow. Maybe the rash action would even teach him a lesson. But why was he still laughing like a maniac?
Eventually, Butch stood up straight and grabbed her fist before she landed another hit, turning her and pinning her arms to her sides as he laughed at her efforts to get free. "Awww, Pinkypie. That was adorable. Now, how's about I walk ya to class?"
With a grunt, Blossom ripped herself out of his grip and turned to face him. "No! Just leave me alone!"
"Aw, but what if I don't wanna?"
"Then I'll kick your butt! And I won't hold back at all next time!" She stood taller and sent him her best glare, but the near-manic glint in his eyes told her it wasn't working.
"Hmmm, kinky," he responded with a wicked smile. She gasped and her face reddened as she realized his insinuation, and she smacked his arm - hard - in response. How dare he? She was a lady!
Butch raised his hands defensively and took a step back, chuckling as he went. "Alright, alright, point taken. Put the claws away, kitty. See ya in detention, lil' Red," he said with a wink before walking away in what Blossom assumed was the direction of his own first period class. She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath before clutching her binders closer to herself and storming off to class. Well, wasn't that just fine and dandy? And to think she had to spend an hour with him after school that day.
The rest of the morning drudged by slowly. Buttercup stopped Blossom briefly between classes to high-five her for "kicking Butch's ass" that morning, and Bubbles pulled her aside to sternly let her know that she needed to talk to her during lunch. Otherwise, classes passed in a monotonous blur, blending into the humdrum of everyday normality that Blossom took comfort in. Aside from a few more eyes being on her than normal as she walked into each classroom, everything was just as it typically was. Wonderful, structured uniformity, the atmosphere Blossom really, well, blossomed in. By the time she entered the cafeteria, the comforts of routine had restored her to a much better mood, and she felt control coming back to her.
Bubbles joined her in the pizza line and huffed as she sent her older sister a dark glare that Blossom chose to ignore. The blonde sighed repeatedly as the two of them went through the line, but it wasn't until they were seated at the table that Blossom finally asked her what she wanted.
"He told me what you did this morning," her sister screeched in frustration. Blossom daintily took a bite of her own pizza and chewed thoughtfully before telling her that she "had no idea" what Bubbles was talking about, which earned another grumpy huff from the blonde.
"He told me what you said to him, and that was not part of the plan. It's a good thing he thought it was cute, or you would have thrown my whole plan under the bus!"
Blossom narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Bubbles, you're not talking about-"
"-and to think I put so much thought into it! Next time you need to-"
"There isn't going to be a next time, Bubbles! I don't know what your 'plan' entails, but I am perfectly happy just being single, okay!"
Her sister's blue eyes softened at the statement and her pale eyebrows creased together in pity and understanding. "Oh, Blossom, I know it can be awkward and a bit confusing at first, but just you wait! Matters of the heart always take a little getting used to, but luckily you have me to see you through it."
Their other sister dropped her lunch tray on the table and joined them, telling Blossom, "you know she's trying to set you up with someone, right," as she sat down.
Blossom let out a terse breath and faced the blonde, who was trying to subtly let Blossom's hair back out of its ponytail. "Look, Bubbles, I appreciate it, but if you're trying to do what I think you're doing, I promise you it's not going to work."
Her statement was met with a wide, shining smile and the assurance that Bubbles, as the "love expert", always knew what was best. Blossom dropped the subject there, hoping that her lack of interest would lead to boredom on her sister's part. Bubbles rarely dedicated more than a day or two to a failing project, and as long as Blossom didn't respond, the blonde couldn't possibly find any reason to believe her plan was working. Hopefully. Besides, even if she didn't give it up there was always the possibility that Blossom's lack of cooperation would totally - what was it that Bubbles had said earlier? - throw the entire plan 'under the bus' so to speak.
She turned back to her own lunch and began to eat again as the rest of the members of her and her sisters' regular lunch group gathered and began to chat idly. Blossom was happy to see Boomer sit down next to Bubbles and occupy her attention for the time being. The two blondes whispered happily to each other, and Blossom turned to talk to Mike from across the table.
Shortly before the bell rang to release them from their lunch period, Blossom felt a hard elbow jab into her side. Bubbles leaned over and whispered in her ear, "You know he's been staring at you this whole time, right," with a giggle. Boomer nodded from behind and added, "It's true," and gestured in the general direction behind Blossom. Her face reddened, and she looked over her shoulder to find Butch grinning widely in her direction. She also happened to notice that Brick's attention was not focused on his girlfriend, but instead was being directed at her. She cleared her throat and turned back to look at the two excessively positive blues to tell them, "I have no idea what you are referring to."
Bubbles giggled at her sister's seriousness as the bell rang to dismiss them back to class. "Just wait! I promise you're gonna love what we have planned, right Boomer?"
The Boomer in question shot Blossom a sympathetic glance and mouthed "I'm sorry" as his girlfriend led him away.
There it was. Room 104. The school had been dismissed a mere five minutes ago, and Blossom had dragged herself to her assigned doom. The door stood open, a gateway to a hell worse than any other Blossom had ever faced. A permanent smudge on her near-pristine record. She took a deep breath and stepped through the threshold to find...
A perfectly normal classroom, complete with an assortment of mismatched desks and glaring white florescent lights. A little anticlimactic, sure, but Blossom's stomach churned nonetheless as she took her seat amongst her fellow degenerate peers. She purposely chose a desk towards the back, one that had an open seat next to it that she intended to save for her sister. Just one hour, and then she would only have 19 more sessions of detention left (she had a countdown already meticulously drawn into her planner).
Blossom quickly glanced around the room at the other students who had already arrived. Some had pulled out homework to work on, which seemed like a respectable thing to do, so Blossom decided to emulate those individuals. As she reached over and dug in her backpack, someone sat down in the empty seat next to hers. Looking up, she found a pair of deep green eyes smiling down at her.
"Hey, Pinkypants, mind if I sit here," Butch asked as he leaned back comfortably in the seat. His voice was far too loud and far too happy for the quiet, dismal atmosphere of the room.
She grimaced in response. "Yes, I do mind, I was saving that seat for my sister." As she said that, Buttercup walked in and paused for a moment as she looked in her direction, then rolled her eyes at Butch, shrugged apologetically, and sat with a friend of hers on the other side of the classroom.
Traitor.
"Look at that, problem solved," Butch said, grinning down at her.
"You have got to be...ugh, nevermind. Let's just get this over with." Blossom ignored the mumbled "that's what she said" comment and turned to her work in front of her.
A teacher she had never seen before walked in and immediately called role, never once looking up from the sheet in front of him to see if the students were actually present or not. After finishing, he sat down at the front of the room, told the students to "stay quiet and stay busy", and gave all of his attention to the dilapidated computer monitor that sat on the desk at the front.
There really wasn't much left for Blossom to do, as far as homework went. She had finished the majority of her math problems in class and had finished her readings for the week the night before. It was the middle of the grading period, so there weren't any big projects or tests that she had to prepare for. Perhaps she could go through and highlight her notes from class? Or maybe...
She glanced at the book peeking out of her backpack. Really, if the teacher wasn't going to pay any attention to the students, then she could probably get away with just reading after she finished the math work, right? Or was that against the rules? As she finished her final problem, she looked up subtly at the teacher to make sure he was still occupied, then quietly slipped her battered copy of Pride and Prejudice out of her backpack.
Butch snorted from beside her. "Uh oh, watch out. Pufferfish's gone wild. She's got a book."
Blossom sent him a dark glare as she opened the book to the dog-eared page. That was one of the few very messy habits she allowed herself. Some people smoked, some people drank. She folded down the corners of pages in books. She figured it was a mild enough form of rebellion.
She slouched slightly as she settled into the story, only to be interrupted by Butch not so subtly placing his elbow on her desk and leaning in her direction. Was it his life's mission just to bother her? Well, technically yes, but that didn't mean she enjoyed him trying to probe a conversation out of her.
"Hey"
"Hey."
"Hey, lil' Red."
"Hey."
"Watchya readin'?"
"Red?"
"You ignorin' me?"
"C'mon Red, throw me a bone."
Eventually, he gave up trying to speak to her. It was a trick that she had picked up from dog trainers. Since most unpleasant behaviors were a cry for attention, ignoring them would, in theory, eventually cause them to stop trying. Apparently that worked with both dogs and Rowdyruffs, not that there was much of a difference. He was still leaning heavily on her desk, though, and she did not appreciate the lack of personal space.
She turned the page, still set on ignoring his presence, when he flipped the page back over and said, "I wasn't done yet. We ain't all genius readers, ya know."
Blossom blinked at him. "...Were you reading that?"
He grinned at her surprise. "Yeah, that's right lil' Red. I know how to read."
"Oh, I never meant to insinuate...sorry," she said quietly, and awkwardly waited until he turned the page for himself. Turning back to the familiar story, she read through the two pages in front of her and then looked expectantly at the Rowdyruff who was still invading her personal space. His eyes were tracing the words on the page, his brows knit together slightly and his tongue poking out slightly as he read. There was something almost...boyishly charming about the sight, and Blossom almost forgot that she was annoyed with him. He flipped to the next page once more and smiled smugly at Blossom.
"I don't know what this is about, or half the words, but that Darcy dude sounds a lot like me," He told her with a wink.
She rolled her eyes at his comment. "You are most certainly not Mr. Darcy."
"Am too. He's tall and cool and kinda savage. Like me."
"Oh please, you being Mr. Darcy would require you to be serious about something for once."
He quirked an eyebrow at her and sent yet another rakish smile in her direction. "I could be...if I had a reason to."
"You know, it sounds like you're trying to suggest something, but I really don't know what it is, nor do I care to. Now, if you'll excuse me," she gestured to the book and turned back to continue reading. Butch inched even closer and followed along at a slightly slower pace than her own, continuing to turn the page at regular intervals.
The rest of the hour passed much like that, and the teacher soon stood and dismissed the bored students. Butch stretched as he stood and looked down at Blossom. "Ten bucks says he and that Lizzie chick hook up by the end of it."
Blossom closed the book and slid it into her backpack. "It was the regency era. People didn't just 'hook up.' But they do get engaged at the end, yes."
He sent her an odd look. "You sound like you've read it before."
"I have," she told him as she stood and swung her bookbag over her shoulder. "It's one of my favorites."
"Huh. Well, alright then. It's been fun, but I've gotta get to football practice before the coach kills me. See ya tomorrow, Pufferoni." With that, he strode out of the classroom. She watched him go, a single question lingering on her mind.
What the heck is a pufferoni?
Buttercup joined her sister at the doorway of the classroom. "Hey, is Butch bothering you? 'Cause I'll kick his ass if you need me to."
"No, it's fine," Blossom assured her. "I can handle him."
"Yeah, well just make sure he doesn't try to handle you," the brunette said with a devious smirk.
"Buttercup! I am a lady," Blossom exclaimed.
"You might be, but he sure as hell isn't."
"No, I suppose he's not," Blossom muttered quietly. She looked in the general direction of the football field as she exited the school, but then shook her head and took off for home with Buttercup.
Hey guys. Sorry it's been a hot minute, but I'm back! I mentioned this in my new story Blaze, but I may as well repeat the whole spiel here. I've been having a bit of a rough time of it lately, and my schedule has been shot for a long time. In an effort to achieve my own sense of comfortable normality, as well as a general sense of productivity, I've given myself a sort of nanowrimo-esque challenge for the next few weeks to give myself some consistency.
I hope this chapter didn't disappoint after such a long break. Thank you all so much for supporting this story so far! I can't tell you how much it means to me. I want to send a special thanks to NyanCart098, GlitzyGirl26, Ricardo Alvarado, and Ash141 for reviewing after the last chapter. As I always say, I really appreciate any and all feedback I can get from you guys.
Thanks again! Until next time.
xoxo
-ICantThinkofanOriginalName-