Rouge exited the cafeteria, heaving a heavy sigh. She noted the brown, wet footprints leading away from the chaos and down the hall, presumably towards the gymnasium locker rooms. She shook her head as she followed the prints.
I can't believe they would do that. That's so gross of them. I knew they were all bitches, but I didn't think they'd stoop that low. And the fucking nerve of the others, to join in! They're fucking lucky they stopped before the teachers returned.
Rouge was just about to turn the corner when she heard a familiar voice . . . a guy's voice. Whoever it was, they were outraged.
"No! No, do not try to pull that fucking bullshit on me! We had a fucking agreement, and you fucking said you wouldn't touch her, you lying bitch!"
Rouge paused and listened intently. She heard a girl's voice arguing back, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Rouge peered around the corner and noticed a janitor's cart just outside of the cafeteria bathrooms.
Hm . . .
Rouge was struck with an idea. She crouched down, unzipped the zippers on her noisy heeled boots, slipped them off, tucked them under her arm, and crouch-walked as fast as she could towards the argument. The argument grew louder and louder as she approached.
". . . I've told you, I had nothing to do with the whole thing! How dare you accuse me and call me a bitch!"
"I have every single fucking reason to suspect you, Selena! You hate Blaze for no fucking reason and do everything in your power to make her life hell for no reason! Why should I believe you now?"
"Motherfucker . . . Alysha and Fiona did that on their own!"
"Bullshit!"
That's Shadow . . .
Rouge slid in between the cart and wall and listened to the argument, intrigued and concerned.
"I'm telling you, Shadow! I had no idea Alysha and Fiona were gonna prank her! I have held to the agreement's terms, and I haven't done shit to Blaze!"
An angry and exasperated sigh escaped Shadow's lips. "That's too bad. Our agreement was that Blaze will remain unharmed while we quote-unquote date. You can pull up that video you took to prove it if you fucking need to."
"I am aware of the fucking agreement! You don't-"
"Don't interrupt me! You just humiliated Blaze in front of half the fucking school! You physically assaulted her, including with hard objects. You could have seriously hurt her! I didn't think you and your fucking friends would go that far, but I guess I was wrong."
"Shadow-"
"I'm not fucking finished! Blaze got hurt, so the deal is off. I'm fucking done with your fucking shit."
"Woah, hold on," Selena said, her demeanor suddenly changing from furious to calm and smug. "I wouldn't say that the deal should be off, mainly since technically I didn't harm Blaze.
Scary . . . Rouge noted. She's fucking mental.
"Hold on . . . what?!" a more and more enraged Shadow barked.
"I said I wouldn't harm Blaze. And I didn't. You can check my phone's messages to see. Alysha and Fiona acted by themselves." She put her hands up defensively. "I have no control over Alysha and Fiona, and the agreement said that only I wouldn't harm Blaze. It never said Alysha and Fiona would stop."
A moment of silence. Rouge could sense Shadow's pure rage from afar without even seeing him.
"Am I wrong?" Selena quipped. "You know, I can show you the video again if you need to review the terms of the agreement." She snickered, smug in her victory.
A banging noise.
"Fucking . . . You're the fucking worst, Selena."
Another moment of thick, heavy silence reached Rouge's ears.
Selena sighed. "Look, I am willing to let this go. Maybe I should have been more clear when laying out the agreement. But you are on thin fucking ice! I don't give two shits about Blaze or what you think about her."
"What the hell do you want from me here, Selena?"
"Take me out to coffee!"
A pause. "You're fucking mental, you know that? That's all you care about right now?"
"I am letting this go, Shadow! I don't ever want to hear you treat me like this again, or the deal is off, and Blaze is no longer protected. Take me to coffee, and let's forget this ever happened. I'll see what I can do about Alysha and Fiona, but I can't guarantee anything."
". . . Alright, fine," Shadow relented. "This is your last chance, Selena. I am done with your bullshit."
Rouge saw a flash of gray and color walk by the crack she was peering out of. Selena stopped and turned back. "That makes two of us," she spoke. "Mystical Melodies Coffee. 4 pm. You pick me up at 3:45. Don't be late." She turned once again and walked quickly back towards the cafeteria.
Shadow didn't move right away. Rouge adjusted her view ever so slightly and saw Shadow standing there, looking green. His left arm was protecting his abdomen, and even at a distance, Rouge could tell he was sweating bullets. He started to walk away but had to stop and lean against the wall for a few moments, grimacing in pain. Rouge had never seen Shadow look that ill before
Shit, he looks sick . . . like really, really ill.
Rouge felt bad. There was one of her best friends, looking awful, and she couldn't do anything about it. At least not at the moment. She was hatching a plan and needed to keep it a secret.
Note to self . . . Tell Shadow to fucking see a doctor. Hopefully, his dumb ass will go home early instead of sticking it out for the rest of the day. Of course, he probably won't since he's got that "date" with Selena. Dammit, dude, why would you do this to yourself.
Shadow finally continued on his way back to the cafeteria, albeit very slowly. Once he was out of sight, Rouge shimmied out from her hiding spot and slipped her boots back on. She couldn't believe what she had just heard and seen. She got up and continued to follow the damp footprints towards the gym.
Of course, it all makes sense now. Shadow isn't really dating Selena . . . he's going along with some bizarre contract to protect that Blaze girl from bullying.
She shook her head. Chivalrous. He's got no sense of self-preservation, I guess, at least when it comes to a random girl a grade below him. You learn something new every day.
Rouge inhaled and tried to clear the atomic information she had just been hit with out of her head. She pulled open one of the doors to the gymnasium and had her suspicions confirmed. The footprints led right up to the girl's locker room. Rouge noticed Sonic and a sophomore she wasn't familiar with waiting outside near the door.
Rouge straightened herself up and walked towards the locker rooms. As she approached, she began to make out the conversation between the two boys. The sophomore sounded extremely upset, and Sonic was doing his best to calm him down.
". . . I'm so fucking pissed! Why would they do that to her?! They're horrible people, and I'm so fucking done with their fucking bullshit!" the sophomore was yelling agitatedly. "I don't understand why they keep doing this! We have to fucking do something, or I'm gonna fucking snap!"
"Silver, dude, take a deep breath," Sonic tried to tell the sophomore in an attempt to calm him down. "I'm pissed too, but you need to just slow down so you can-"
"No! Don't tell me to calm down! My best friend was just assaulted by a crowd of students with food and . . ."
He trailed off as he noticed Rouge approaching. Sonic gave Rouge a friendly and confused nod of greeting. The sophomore looked abashed and stared intently at the glistening hardwood floor.
"Just . . . going to help," Rouge told Sonic, a hint of awkwardness in her voice. She pointed to the locker room door.
Sonic nodded, mildly confused, and said nothing. Rouge pushed open the door and walked inside, making her way through the rows of lockers to the bathrooms. Along with the footprints, now there were small pieces of mush on the ground, presumably from the soupy mixture that had been dumped on top of Blaze. Once in the bathrooms, she heard the sound of a shower running and saw steam escaping from one of the stalls.
Rouge poked her head around the corner and saw a group of sophomore girls, a pink hedgehog, a tall squirrel with short hair, and a magenta echidna with sleek dreadlocks. They were all standing around outside the shower, looking frazzled. The sound of sniffling and the occasional sob was emitted from the shower occasionally. A pile of sopping wet clothes was perched on a bench, and underneath it were the waterlogged shoes that had made the tracks that led Rouge to the locker room.
The pink hedgehog sounded close to tears. "How could someone do that to someone? I don't understand!"
"God . . ." said the squirrel. "Her clothes are ruined . . ."
"They can't be washed?" asked the echidna.
"And where would we wash her clothes, Julie?" the redhead replied tersely.
"Dude, I don't fucking know," Julie-Su retorted, sounding on edge.
"Besides, she just had a bunch of sauce and other things that can stain clothing permanently on them. It's probably too late for a lot of it." The squirrel glanced down underneath the bench where Blaze's clothes were.
"Fair, fair," relented Julie-Su. "And her shoes are trashed too. I can't fucking believe it."
"GOD! BOTH OF YOU!" shrieked the hedgehog "Blaze just got fucking attacked by almost all of the popular students at lunch, and you care about her clothes and shoes?!"
"Woah, Amy, hold on, I can care about multiple things at once," the squirrel tried to reason. "And that's rich coming from the same person who was complaining that she had no shampoo even though Blaze can use body wash in her hair."
Julie-Su sat down on the floor, back to the wall and head in one hand. "God, okay, guys, stop," she asked, tired. "Listen to Sally," Julie-Su said to Amy. Amy, who looked angry a moment ago, suddenly got sad.
"I'm sorry Sally, I just . . ."
Amy sniffed and rubbed her eyes with her left arm. Sally hugged her.
"But what're we gonna do about her clothes?" Amy continued, trying to steady herself. "Blaze forgot her PE uniform today, and Julie's won't fit her."
Sally asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a spare change of clothes on hand?"
Rouge hesitated but decided to step forward anyway. "Um . . ." she began.
The three girls jumped in surprise.
"Uh," Rouge said, scratching the back of her head. "I . . . I saw what happened, and I felt awful about it. I just wanted to see if you guys wanted any help."
"O-oh," said Amy, relaxing a bit. "Well, thanks, uh . . ."
"Rouge."
"Rouge, yes, thanks. Uh, Blaze's showering right now. She has body wash, but a bunch of stuff got in her hair, and she doesn't have any shampoo."
A quiet voice called out over the din of the running water. "I . . . I normally don't wash my hair after PE, so I didn't bring any . . ." Blaze explained.
Rouge smiled, relaxing a bit. "Oh, I can help with that."
Rouge turned and hurried out of the bathroom to her PE locker. She quickly pulled out two tubes, one with shampoo and the other with conditioner. She also produced a clean towel for Blaze to wrap her hair in. Rouge reentered the bathroom and went up to Amy.
"The scent is lavender," said Rouge. "It's an ultra-hydrating combo, so it should be good for Blaze's hair. Oh, and here's a towel for her hair."
Amy accepted the items and opened up the stall door to Blaze's shower. She deposited the items on the bench next to the shower curtain and then exited. A moment of silence and then a sniffle reached their ears.
"Thanks . . ." Blaze said.
"Of course," Rouge replied.
Julie-Su looked up at Rouge. "Any idea about her clothes?" My PE uniform won't fit her, Blaze left hers at home, and both Amy and Sally got waivers for 10th grade PE, so they don't have one."
Rouge thought for a moment. "She can try mine. I had PE earlier today, so they've been used, but it should be good."
Julie-Su, confused, asked, "You're a junior and taking PE?"
"Well, a PE elective," she explained. A cardio class. Oh! And I think I have something we can use to help stain-treat Blaze's clothes. They've got enzyme detergent in the athletic laundry rooms I can borrow."
Amy blinked. "Where they wash the football uniforms and stuff? You can do that?"
Rouge shrugged. "Dunno. But I know where it is if you want me to grab it."
Amy, Sally, and Julie-Su all looked at each other. "Sure," Sally said, and the other two nodded.
Rouge went back to her locker and retrieved her PE uniform and shoes. She handed them to Sally and happened to closely eye Blaze's clothes while doing so, which were a muddy mess of red, yellow, brown, and gray. They smelled like stale bathwater and a weird medley of room-temperature cafeteria food.
"Gross," remarked Rouge. "They smell horrid." She turned towards the shower. "I'm so sorry, Blaze!"
"It's . . . It's fine . . ." Blaze replied.
"Girl, it isn't. I'm so sorry this happened. We're gonna get everything fixed up." Rouge said, hoping that what she was saying would help Blaze feel better.
When Blaze didn't respond, Rouge straightened herself up. "I'll be back," she told the three girls. She then turned and left the locker room via a back entrance.
As Rouge made her way towards the storage and laundry room in the athletic wing, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
Shit, I'm missing physics right now . . . Whatever. It'll be fine.
Rouge found the laundry room relatively quick and tried the knob. Locked.
Shit.
Rouge sighed and was about to make her way back to the gymnasium, defeated. Then Rouge remembered that Sonic had the code to bypass the electronic lock since he was the football team's captain. She sprinted back down the athletic wing and back around to the main gymnasium entrance, where she managed to catch Sonic before he left for whatever his next class was. She quickly explained what she needed it for, and he gave it to her. She then once again hurried back to the laundry room and punched in the code. The door unlocked, and she searched around for the detergent. After a couple minutes, her eyes fell upon a small plastic bag filled with white powder and a plastic scoop.
Bingo.
Rouge picked up the bag and exited the laundry room, making her away back to the gymnasium. When she arrived, it was starting to fill up with students. She tried to discreetly make her way to the locker rooms again and then loitered by her locker, trying to blend in. Finally, the locker room emptied out, and Rouge made her way back to the adjoining bathroom. Amy, Sally, and Julie sat on a bench, looking awkward. The shower for Blaze was still running.
"Here," Rouge said. "They locked the laundry room. Had to get the code for the door." She placed the bag back on the bench next to Sally.
"Oh, nice," Sally replied, smiling.
Just then, the water shut off, and the four of them heard the sound of the shower curtain opening.
"Blaze? Girl, are you okay?" Amy asked.
Blaze took in a shaky breath. "Not really. I'm marginally better, but I'm not okay."
There were a couple minutes of silence, only punctuated by the sound of clothes rustling. Finally, Blaze emerged dressed in Rouge's PE uniform, hair in a turban, cheeks flushed from the hot water. The uniform was a touch too big, but it was definitely better than the alternative.
Immediately, Blaze's friends rushed forward into a group hug. Blaze hugged them all back.
"Th . . . thanks guys . . ." she said, her voice sad and tired.
She turned to look at Rouge. "And thanks . . . Rouge . . . I don't even know you. You didn't have to do . . . any of this."
Rouge held up her right hand. "I'm gonna stop you right there, Blaze. I did have to. You were ganged up on by a huge group of people, and any decent person would help you out. The fact only your friends helped you out shows everyone's true colors."
She wanted to hug Blaze but didn't. She continued. "You don't deserve anything that anyone is doing to you. I promise.
Blaze's eyes welled up again. "Th . . . Thanks . . ."
"Oh god," Amy said, gesturing for Blaze to sit on the bench next to her. Blaze put her face in her hands and started to cry again. All three of her friends sat next to her and comforted her.
"God, I don't want to attend class anymore today! I just can't do it!" she cried.
"Well," said Rouge. "You could always go to the nurse's office and claim you're sick."
Blaze sniffed. "I might do that . . ." she said, wiping away her tears.
Sally thought for a moment. "What could we tell the nurse that would make sense?"
"How bout a cold?" Amy suggested.
Julie-Su shook her head. "Good for the nurse, not for her parents. We just want her to leave for a day."
"Good point," Sally acknowledged. "Got any idea?"
Rouge tapped her chin. "What about a migraine? I've used that excuse, both legit and fake, to get out of many a class. They're brutal but usually go away in a day."
Amy laughed. "Blaze doesn't get headaches at all."
Blaze gave a small smile. "My aunt and uncle don't know that."
Julie-Su blinked. "Aunt and uncle? You live with them and not your parents?"
"Wait, I didn't tell you?" Blaze asked. Julie-Su shook her head.
"Is it . . . Cause of . . . Uh . . ." Julie-Su asked awkwardly, not entirely sure if she should ask the question she wanted to.
"Oh no, nothing like that!" Blaze said hurriedly, shaking her head. "My parents are working overseas, and they didn't want me to attend school where they work. They claim it's better here. That's all." She explained. Julie-Su nodded in understanding.
"Anyway," ushered Sally. "You could use the migraine excuse then."
Blaze nodded, then sighed. "Yeah, okay . . . I'll do that then." She sighed again, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. She stood up and unwrapped her turban. "Crap, my hair is damp. That looks weird."
"Stand aside!" Rouge said dramatically. She sat down on a bench and gestured for Blaze to sit down next to her. Blaze slowly did so, and Rouge started to braid her hair.
"It'll be hard to tell if your hair is damp when it's braided up," she explained, her fingers quickly plaiting Blaze's hair.
Sally, Amy, and Julie-Su all stood up. "Well, we'll uh, start stain treating Blaze's clothes," suggested Amy. Rouge nodded, standing up, having finished the braid.
"I'll assist," she offered, picking up the detergent bag. She gestured, leading the girls over to a bathroom sink. Rouge dampened the clothes with water, sprinkled some detergent on her clothes, and started to vigorously rub them together, working the detergent into the clothes. After a couple minutes of rubbing, she rinsed the clothes off in the sink.
"Well, that should do it," she said, clapping her hands in a satisfied manner. "Here," she said, stuffing Blaze's clothes in her gym bag. "Take my bag, wash your clothes, bring everything back. That's all you need to do." She smiled.
"Thanks . . ." Blaze said, stunned that someone as popular as Rouge was as kind as she was.
"Of course, girl," Rouge said. "You deserve kindness."
Rouge turned to leave. "See ya later, girl. Feel better, and don't let this keep you down. You seem like a great person."
She turned and left the locker room.
Blaze and her friends turned to look at each other, all stunned at what just happened.
"She's . . . A lot nicer than she looks," commented Amy.
"Yeah," added Sally. "We'll have to thank her later for all she did."
Blaze nodded, exhausted but a bit cheered up. "Well, guess I'm gonna go home then." She slowly stood up and was once again wrapped by her friends into a big hug. She smiled slightly and sighed.
Rouge slipped quietly out of the locker room and then out of the gymnasium. She whipped out her phone and opened her messenger app to her conversation with Knuckles.
Rouge: hey, bb
Knuckles: hey beautiful, wassup?
Rouge: hun let's go to Mystical Melodies after school.
Knuckles: uh
Knuckles: whats the occasion
Rouge: its about Shadow. Hes goin on a date there w/ Selena after school today
Rouge: I found up whats up. They aren't actually dating
Rouge: hes fake dating her so that Blaze doesn't get bullied
Knuckles: Damn
Rouge: ya. I gotta get in on that
Rouge: I'll meet ya there at 3:30, right?
Knuckles: of course beautiful :3
Rouge smiled to herself. Her plan was simple: get in on the date, record it, leak it to the school. It was sure to cause a ruckus amongst the junior class and expose Selena as a backstabbing sociopath.
Not anymore, Selena. Not anyFUCKINGmore. You are not gonna date him anymore. You think you can mess with my best friend? Think again bitch.
⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ END ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤
A/N: Wow, thanks to the anonymous guest for all the reviews on my story so far! I really appreciate it! Hope everyone enjoys the update!