Yeah, I know I'm late. With college applications and assessment deadlines, my life's a little hectic, but I hope it wasn't too long a wait for you guys. Besides, this is 11,000 words! I think that makes up for me being late.
Responding to 'A Simple Conundrum', I fixed the problems you said, but feel free to respond if you notice any problems. As for your questions, I'm happy to see you paying so much attention, but I do have a counterargument to what you said.
For one thing, the RRB have selective hearing. It'd be pretty annoying if you heard everything all the time, so they use their heightened senses whenever they feel like it's needed. So after several years, they could've gotten a bit more relaxed and don't use their powers as often. Also, Blossom yells out to Buttercup right at the start of the bell, meaning even if they had been using their senses, the bell might've blocked out Blossom's voice when she yelled out to Buttercup. Thank you for your review though, it was very thoughtful
Note: there is profane language (thus the T rating) and there's a legend if there's any confusion. I also decided to change the chapter number to chapter 4 because FanFiction can't have a 3.5, so here's chapter 5!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Powerpuff Girls in any way, shape or manner as the rights belong to Craig McCracken.
Chapter 5: Nothing Is As It Seems
As the class went through its daily clamor, the instructor casually walked to the front of the room and calmly raised his hand as the room turned silent.
"Alright. Now before we start today's lesson we're going to have a few new students arriving to our class, and they should be here-"
A loud thud interrupted his brief statement as the three girls burst through the door and toppled over each other in a cluster of papers and books that flew daintily to the floor just as the late bell rang. For a moment everyone was stunned, however Brick Jojo stared at their newcomers with unusual suspicion as the strange feeling inside of him grew.
"Nice going, Blossy." Buttercup muttered under her breath as she stood up.
"Me? This is all your fault!" Blossom sharply retaliated.
"Well maybe if you didn't stop right in front of the door I wouldn't have hit you!"
"I don't think a 5'6 redhead is hard to miss!"
"Ladies?" The girls turned their heads to see the entire class staring at them and the teacher looking anything but amused. "I assume your performance is over?"
"Yes sir!" Blossom responded quickly. "We thoroughly apologize."
"Don't let it happen again. At West Coast High we expect nothing but the best in students, both in academics and punctuality."
Blossom swallowed a lump in her throat at the sound of his harsh tone. She knew which teacher she was going to be avoiding. "Y-yes sir, we understand complete-"
"That's Mr. Hollingberry to you."
"E…Excuse me?" Blossom sputtered as she tried to ignore her sisters snickering from behind.
"You heard correctly!" Mr. Hollingberry looked angrily towards Bubbles and Buttercup. "Does it sound like I'm making a joke!?"
"N-n…no!" the redhead stammered trying to keep what was left of their reputation. "We just aren't accustomed to such a… a unique name like yours."
"Well then I assume you did familiarize yourselves with the winter report."
"What!" she cried. "We're new here we didn't-"
"I informed your guardians well before you were supposed to arrive that you needed to turn in a report of at least 3500 words. What they didn't tell you will reflect poorly on your fist grades. In fact, without this grade, there might not be a chance for you graduating this year."
"P-please Mr. Hollingberry," Blossom begged through her shaky voice, unsure of how to accept failure on the first day. "If there's a chance we might be able to make this up in any way…" she stopped as she saw her teacher –and the entire class– collapse in laughter.
He breathed out in between his bursts of laughter, leaving the three students in a mix between confusion and complete humiliation at the cruel joke. "Oh man… I'm sorry. I just… I just lost it when she said it herself…! Mr. Hollingberry…!"
When he finally composed himself he turned to his new victims with a wide grin. "I was actually going to end it at Mr. Hollingberry, but seeing how gullible you guys were, I wanted to see how far I could go with it. But fear not, you aren't alone! All of these kids fell for the same prank on the first day. So I don't see why their laughing!" he spoke loudly as he glared at his students. Blossom noticed that the only person who wasn't laughing was a tanned student with long auburn hair that kept his eyes locked on her, sending chills down her spine.
Okaaay… Creepy..
"By the way that entrance you did five minutes ago; Genius. I love the spontaneity of it! Who wants to come in walking anyway!" The teacher snorted. Blossom managed a shy smile, unsure if whether or not their instructor was giving them a compliment or just being sarcastic. With a second glace at him, she thought he looked pretty young for a teacher. He had dark curls a couple inches long hanging over his pale face with worn out ripped jeans and a leather jacket.
The teacher turned with his arms raised to the class. "Any inquiries for our fabulous new students!?" he asked.
For a moment the students looked like statues as an uncomfortable silence ensued. Brick almost considered raising his hand to see where they're from, but realized how absurd that might've been; they would've easily recognized him if they saw him before. How many guys do you see with hair below their shoulders? But in the back of his mind he knew he felt weird about these girls, almost anxious in a way.
A hand shot up in the air.
"Are you guys narcs?" Butch called out before the crowd burst into fits of laughter, breaking the stiff atmosphere.
"Do we look like narcs to you?" Buttercup demanded as she turned to glare the jock, who sat in the back row next to an empty seat.
"Look, I'm just voicin' out the class opinion here," he said with a smirk on his face.
Murmurs spread throughout the class in agreement. Coming to school in the middle of January wasn't what you would call normal. Blossom sighed in disappointment at how things were turning out. Five minutes haven't even passed and everyone thought they were undercover cops.
The schoolteacher dismissed their suspicions as he faced the three once again. "Let's start this over, now shall we?" He held out an outstretched hand to introduce himself. "Mr. Harvey. English instructor, part-time waiter, bartender, and agent to a local band called The Reckless, but enough about me! Your name?"
The other two couldn't respond, so Blossom naturally had to be the first. "Uhh… Well my name's- AAH!" Mr. Harvey suddenly grabbed her hand and practically threw her in front of the class.
"Why so shy? Announce your name! You hold the spotlight!" And with that Mr. Harvey vanished into the background, leaving her and her sisters in a daze.
When Blossom finally turned to see the class, she noticed its irregular shape for one thing. Rather than the typical square classroom she was accustomed to, it was actually bean-shaped, with the windows coming off the rounded edges of the classroom. The seats were aligned in a curved direction facing the front of the room which was elevated by a few steps so that the teacher stood a few feet above the students. The teacher's desk and the curved board stood behind Blossom as she began to introduce herself in an elated tone.
"My name's Brianne. I'm 16 and the eldest out of us three." She finished her intro with a bright smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."
"Beautiful!"Mr. Harvey applauded from the back of the room. "Take you seat wherever you like." He was pleased to see her voluntarily take a seat right at the front row. It's always nice to have a teacher's pet once in a while "Who's next?"
Bubbles timidly ascended the two steps and stood to face the class. "My name's uh, Brooklynn, and I'm the youngest." She mumbled before taking the closest seat to the windows.
Buttercup sauntered to the front. "I'm Bree. Whatever." She went to take a seat in the back section of the room. Butch raised his head to see the black haired girl sit in the empty seat next to him.
"Taken."
She ignored him and dropped her bag next to the desk.
"I said it's taken." He growled louder.
"Don't see anybody's name on it," she retorted without giving him a second glance.
Before Butch could respond, Mr. Harvey cast a scolding look in his direction. "Blayke! Haven't your parents ever told you not to be rude to strangers! Besides that student's skipped so many times I can't even remember his name."
::Attention Classes::
The intercom went off inside of the classroom as the principal made the daily announcements. As the class waited patiently for the announcements to end, Butch continued to give Buttercup dirty looks for taking his friend's seat.
We will now have a moment of silence as this week marks the ten year anniversary of the tragic incident at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten Care where seventeen children passed in their unfortunate deaths.
As the silence ensued, the lump in Bubbles's throat started to grow in overwhelming remorse; starting a new life in the town that they traumatized would never sit right for her, and to think that she was sitting in a chair that could've belonged to Robyn or Mike made her feel even worse. She looked down at her toes and tried to stay positive. It's been ten years. They couldn't stay in Western Pines for the rest of their lives, right?
She broke her train of thought and raised her head as she noticed something was off. Seventeen students? The young sibling looked at Blossom and Buttercup to see that they had the same confusion. It was supposed to be eighteen students. For something so tragic to Townsville they could've at least made sure they were accurate! She was sure a lot of parents were going to have complaints sent to the school about this.
And that marks the end of the announcements. Don't forget to give our new students a warm welcome to West Coast High!
"I believe we did just that, my fellow students," Mr. Harvey said. "Now before we start – BRANDON!"
Boomer's head shot up from his slumber to see the class staring at him and took notice of the new faces, especially the blond in front of him. His interest broke off when he noticed Mr. Harvey getting even angrier at his distraction.
"Uhhh… sir?" he responded cautiously, uncertain of what to say.
"What is your favorite part of this novel?" Mr. Harvey inquired curiously as he sat on the edge of the edge of Butch's desk, where Butch also stared at him with a raised eyebrow.
Boomer mumbled the first response he could think of. "Umm.. the pictures?" There was a moment of silence as Mr. Harvey considered this in deep thought. The blond teen gulped nervously. There's no telling how his bipolar teacher might react.
The very next minute he gave Boomer a cheerful grin."Great! I thought I was the only one. Now let's begin the lesson!" he exclaimed as he strolled to the front of the class to start the lesson.
Boomer sighed with relief as he sank into his seat, grateful that the odds were in his favor. He glanced towards the new kid whose light blond braids bounced as she avidly wrote in her notebook. The name wasn't familiar to him at all, but she seemed to remind him of someone.
Must be from out of town. He shrugged casually and gazed out the window to look at the courtyard three stories below him as he waited restlessly for the bell to ring.
-Brick-
When the bell finally rang, I swiped my things to meet Butch by the front door. He was leaning on the corner of the wall by himself with his hands tucked into the pockets of his baggy gray cargos. He's kinda been in his own world lately. I mean it's not like he was being more reserved but just distracted, which was still sort of weird coming from him; Butch has to have a crowd with him, and he hated sitting still. It's been like that since we were kids and showed no signs of changing until now, making me wonder if there's really something going on with him.
Butch didn't even notice as I stepped closer. It wasn't until I was a few inches from his face that I decided to say something.
"Hey Butch, you still here?"
He flinched sharply at the sound of my voice like I was never there. "Christ Brick, you scared the piss outta me." he grumbled.
"Don't need that image in my head." I leaned on the curved wall to join him before class started as we looked at the scenery of the school from the windows.
Butch looked at me expectantly. "So, you gonna tell me what's up?"
"You first," I countered. "Since when did you turn into a loner?" I was going to stray off the topic, but it didn't seem fair how he was interrogating me when he's been acting like this for a week.
He shrugged his shoulders carelessly. I'd have to figure out what's up with him eventually, but now's a different subject.
So I figured now would be the best time to ask him, since he's been with me my entire life. "Hey, do you know those new girls?" I tried to bring up the question casually without looking at him, but once you give Butch an inch he'll take the whole fucking mile.
He growled thinking back to the new girl earlier. "They don't ring a bell, even if I wanted to know them," He flashed a crooked grin at me. "So ya got bored with your girlfriend huh? Not like I didn't see it comin." I tried to hit his head but he ducked right on time anticipating my reaction before snickering to himself like his old self.
"Just because you can't keep a girlfriend for two minutes doesn't that mean I can't!" I snapped. "They just looked like they were from here."
"Why put up with a chick for a year when you can bang her in one night?" Butch replied evenly. "But I haven't seen those chicks in my life."
"Forget it." I said shaking my head; he's no help. "Where's Boomer? He's supposed to meet us here."
Butch shrugged his shoulders again before picking up his stuff. "Gotta go. Can't be late otherwise Coach Wendy's gonna have my ass."
"I'll come with you. Art's in the same direction anyway."
As we were stepped through the sliding doors leading to Building Two, I noticed Butch eyeing me curiously. "Why'd you take art anyway? You can't draw a damn stick figure!"
"Since last year I've been banking on whatever A's I can get. This stupid scholarship isn't as easy as it looks. Speaking of which, I'll catch up with you at lunch, gotta see someone."
As Butch left for class I turned to see Cole Spencer as he stood in the shadows of his open locker with baggy T-shirts and sweats. His position was angled against the windows to cast a dark shadow over the entire front of his body, hiding the scowl etched on his face for weeks, but did noting to cover his eyes, hidden slightly underneath overgrown black bangs, matching the slate hue reflected in his eyes. He's been looking pretty intimidating for the past few weeks, but for good reason. So I prepared what I was gonna say and walked towards him cautiously. Here goes.
"Hey Cole," I greeted cheerfully, "How's it been for you?"
"Same shit. Different day." he mumbled slamming his locker shut to get to class. I could barely keep up with his pace as I prepared myself for what I was gonna say.
"Haven't been around the soccer field in weeks. What's going on?"
"Dropping out." He kept walking without turning to see my shock. "Cole, you can't just drop!" Saturday we have our first preliminary at Easton Academy and we wouldn't stand a chance even with my powers if Cole wasn't there.
"Don't see what's the big deal, you know why I'm dropping." Cole replied calmly, making me even more irritated.
"And that's exactly what I'm getting at!" I cut his pace so that he could face me as I made my point. "Life deals you a shitty hand sometimes, I know that. But you gotta take it and move on! You can't just drop everything and crawl into a goddamn corner about what happened! And I'm not saying that I've been there, but I know it's not gonna do you any good. It's been six months and I've had it with this crap!"
But when he faced me all I could see was his spiky hair hanging over his face with a look that made me bite my tongue. Looks like I'm gonna have to find an alternate for Saturday. I reluctantly stepped aside and started walking with him at a slower pace as we moved on to a safer topic.
"So how's your dad?"
He let out a growl. "Full of shit."
"Three months and not a word?"
"He's gonna bail, just give it some time." Cole spat bitterly. He sped up his pace to end the conversation, except this time I decided it wasn't worth trying to catch up to him. But before he could disappear into the crowd, he paused for a minute and gave me a somber look, and for just a few seconds he was his old self again.
"Look Brent, I know you've been trying to help lately and I appreciate it, I really do, but I just need to be alone for a while."
"How long do you think that'll be?"
"Long as it takes, I guess." He sighed before turning back into the crowd. "Later."
I suddenly remembered something and ran to catch up with him. "Wait Cole! Do me a favor will ya?" He turned slightly to hear what he could do, after all he owes me for dropping.
"I need you to text me if you don't see Brandon in Drama."
When he gave me a look I explained in a serious tone. "It's been a week since he's done something stupid."
He nodded his head skeptically. "Right." I could tell he was about to say something sarcastic until someone interrupted him.
"Brent!" Then a stunning brunette came marching towards me in dark blue sweats showing off her slim curves. "We're gonna be late for Ms. Edgar's! Again."
"Don't worry babe," I said wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "Mrs. Edgar's class is right below us." I smiled to myself inwardly to see that Cole had suddenly disappeared; he hates being around couples.
"So?" I turned to meet her blue eyes waiting for my reply. "Are we going now?"
Guess I was going to have to talk with him during lunch. I gave her a soft kiss on the cheek as a response before we walked downstairs to our next class.
-Blossom-
"God, that class took forever to end!" Buttercup groaned.
"Well, maybe if you weren't too busy sleeping you would've gotten something out of it."
"Actually, I did learn some things. One: My teacher's bipolar, and two: there's a creeper in our class."
"There you are! I've been looking all over the place for you guys!" someone hollered.
My sisters and I turned to see a girl about our age running towards us. "When I didn't see you in the courtyard I figured you wouldn't show up!"
All three of us exchanged looks, trying to see if one of us knew her. the girl standing in front of us had fair skin for the most part and a pleasantly round face covered by a thin layer of coal black hair. The hair was tied into two messy buns as wispy bangs fell just over her sky blue eyes, round and delicate giving her overall appearance an air of innocence.
"Um, who are you?"
"Oh! I'm sorry!" she giggled nervously and held out her hand. "Becky Stewart. I was assigned as your guide for a few days so that you wouldn't get lost."
"Well I'm Brianne." I said brightly as I met her hand. "This is Brooklyn and…" I took a moment to show Buttercup a look of disapproval for her chosen name. "Bree. We just came from Harvey's class."
She gave us a sympathetic look. "Harvey on your first day? Sounds rough."
"You have no idea," Buttercup mumbled.
"It's okay, you'll get used to him." As we were heading into the corridors of Building Two I tried to adjust my brown contacts without it being too obvious. The Professor suggested there have been accounts of albinism before resulting in pink eyes so that I didn't have to wear contacts, but I decided against it. An excuse like albinism was definitely a stretch that my sisters couldn't afford.
In fact, thinking back on it, we really should have disguised ourselves better to keep ourselves incognito. Unlike me, Bubbles and Buttercup pretty much have their signature trademarks considering their outfits matched their personalities completely. Bubbles had pleated two long braids and wore a casual light blue sundress going down to her knees with low level wedges. Buttercup instead wore her faded green sports hoodie with sweatpants and high top converse.
But as I looked around the hallway, no one seemed to notice a single thing. We came as three sisters, we had completely different appearances, and we looked exactly like the three girls they idolized years ago and no one's even given a second glance. I guess Townsville forgot about us after all, I thought smiling sadly to myself at what was supposed to be a good thing.
I wonder if Becky noticed anything? From a second glance, it seemed as though Becky's whole look was contradicting. Her appearance was friendly enough, but she was wearing a red rolled up flannel shirt with black jeggings and black converse with a small hair pin as her only accessory, making her look a bit unapproachable.
We walked quietly down the hall until our guide started up some conversation as she led us to our classes. "Heard you guys sorta came out of nowhere, any reason?"
"We were home schooled for a while and decided it was time for a change," I replied smoothly.
"So you're all sisters?" she asked skeptically
"Adopted." none of us look alike, so it ould make sense to say we came from the same parents. "But our foster dad's taken care of us since we were five."
"Oh. So, you guys need help with the classes?" With that she took out her own copy of the school map which turned out to be way more detailed than the outdated copy Gladys gave us from the clerk in the Main Office.
My entire mood brightened. We would've been searching the halls for hours without her. "Of course! My sisters and I were just wondering-"
"-Figured it out. Bye" Buttercup rudely interrupted and veered off for her class.
I glared in her direction before turning back to see the poor student looking puzzled as she waited for an explanation. "Don't worry about Bree, she can be… difficult. But Brooklynn and I could really use your help." I definitely wasn't going to let her go with this one.
CHORUS CLASS
"GLORIOUS! Glorious! A new student to embark on the journey which is Music…!"
Ms. Hertu couldn't hold her excitement as the new student sat nervously in front of her in the large amphitheatre patiently waiting for her monologue to end, but it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Each new student meant the teacher was one step closer to getting funds directed into the Arts Department, meaning she could actually have a chance at turning Drama and Chorus into two separate classes. It was a wonder how Nora managed to funnel enough funds into the Visual Arts to have such a huge classroom!
"So, my young pupil!" She exclaimed as she turned to face Bubbles, who squirmed uncomfortably at being studied by her new teacher like some new specimen. "Shall I be seeing you in the choir anytime soon?"
Bubbles looked around the room for any help from her fellow students, but no one dared to interrupt Ms. Hertu when she was on recruitment mode. She faced her teacher with dread when she realized she was on her own.
"Well…I-…I…" Bubbles stammered upon seeing Ms. Hertu's heartbreakingly eager face. How could she say no to that?
"…just.. didn't know where to sign up…" She mumbled dejectedly, letting off another excited speech about the "wonders of chorus" and how she was going to "embrace the true love of the arts". It's not like Bubbles hated to sing, in fact she loved it. But she just couldn't figure out how she was going to juggle the Cheerleading Squad and the Dance Team, both teams she really wanted to join as soon as she can.
As the teacher's voice echoed in the auditorium, Cole Spencer sat to himself all the way in the back in the last row of seats. The whole theatre was formed like a stadium except it had a rectangular shape with the front doors at the higher level and the and the stage on the lower level. The front rows sat a few feet from the stage where most of the class sat to face their teacher.
The teenager could see everything happening from his seat above in amusement, almost feeling sorry for the new kid. Seeing her light blond hair and frail figure made him think of Brandon for a little bit. She looks more like his sibling than his brothers do.
Upon remembering his name he scanned the small class that was concentrated by the stage and realized that Brent knew his brother a lot more than Cole ever gave him credit for.
As promised, he took out his phone and texted his friend before he got caught being in the back rows.
-Blossom-
I wasn't sure about taking art, but I have to admit it wasn't what I expected at all.
The art room is located on the first floor and took up two classrooms. Even though it had the normal rectangular shape, it was still pretty unique. The walls were covered in a bright mural and paintings from artists like Escher, Friedrich, and Picasso hung all over the place. I've never fully embraced my love of visual arts until now.
"I see you like the studio." I turned to see Ms. Edgar staring at me with an amused look.
"What? Oh, yes, it's incredible!" She grinned brightly at my response, pleased with my reaction. Her face was angled softly with dark blue eyes coming out through the folds of her wrinkles as long white hair flowed down to the middle of a multicolored tunic accessorized by a golden amulet. I wondered what she looked like when she was younger, but a part of me already knew she must've been a knockout.
"Past students decided to leave me these decorations as gifts;" she had a slight French Moroccan accent when she spoke, making her appearance seem exotic. "said that an art room couldn't be just drab paint," she chuckled to herself.
"By the way my name's Brianne." I took notice of the fact that this was the first time I actually voluntarily introduced myself.
"Oh don't worry sweetie, I already know. It's my job to know the names of my students."
"But Mr. Harvey-"
"-has more nuts going on in his head than squirrels could ever dream about." She retorted. Squirrels? Okay, so she's a little kooky, but every art teacher's that way.
"So after I take the attendance, would you mind introducing yourself to the class?"
"I'd love to," I beamed, happy I was asked rather than dragged.
She stepped to the front of the classroom with a clipboard and pen ready at the podium as she spoke above the mild noise. "Let's take roll. Abby…" I started to make myself familiar with the room. The windows brought in most of the light in the room as spread across the large room. The 8 large tables were aligned in a semicircle at the center of the room. The whiteboard was placed on the left wall and on the right were closets filled with art supplies and two small rooms set as small private workrooms for anyone who wanted to work alone. I wished I could spend every waking minute in this place, I loved everything about this class.
"Brent Jones?" Ms. Edgar called out
"Here." My horror soon turned into relief as he raise his hand in response with his other hand wrapped around the shoulders of a pretty brunette. Thank God, I thought to myself. So he probably wasn't a creeper, but it still didn't explain why he stared at us like that. It was almost as if he was trying to analyze us, like some unknown specimen or something.
"Isabella Martinez?"
The girl under his shoulders raised her hand slightly. "Right here."
"Bella, has anyone ever told you that you resemble Elizabeth Taylor?" Ms. Edgar asked nonchalantly. I couldn't see how she could've compared the two. Unlike the actress, the girl had light brown hair and tanned skin just a few shades lighter than her hair. Despite the amount of confidence shown in her posture, she had an innocent smile that made her look a couple years younger. If I were to compare her to an actress, she would've looked more like Jessica Alba to me.
She gave Ms. Edgar a puzzled look. "No, who's that?"
"A old actress with 8 divorces." I blurted. The class fell silent as everyone turned to see me starting to turn red with embarrassment. "Um, just something I read in a book," I giggled nervously. Definitely not the way I wanted to introduce myself.
The silence was interrupted by Brent's phone ringing. "Brent! You know how I feel about electronic devices!" Ms. Edgar scolded before turning back to the brunette. "On a brighter light, Ms. Taylor was known more for her stunning eyes rather than for her relationships."
Before the girl could mumble an awkward response to the compliment, her boyfriend stood from his seat with a clenched jaw. "Ms. Edgar can I use the bathroom real quick?"
"Sure sweetheart, but be quick, I going to get into my lecture soon."
When he took the pass to leave class, Ms. Edgar faced us brightly. "Now there's reason for the Elizabeth Taylor reference as her peak of fame came right into the modernized era of art…"
-Buttercup-
The coach had to yell above the groans to get her point across. "THAT'S RIGHT LADIES! DODGEBALL; BOYS VS. GIRLS! LOSERS RUN A MILES!" she glared at me. "And you can thank the smartass over here for not knowing how to keep her mouth shut!" It wasn't like I was late to class, I just took more time to change because I came later than everyone else!
"All I was trying to tell you was that it's not my fault I'm late! I'm new here, remember?"
"And what happened to your escort?" Before I could even answer her she already made up her mind. "No excuses! Get to your sides!"
I shot her a look and cursed under my breath before leaving for the other side filled with girls giving me dirty looks when I passed them, but I was better of ignoring them. It's not like they're gonna say a damn thing to my face, anyway.
"Nice going, moron." No sooner had the thought entered my mind I heard a voice coming from the side of the gym under the basketball hoop.
"Scuse me?" I turned to see a girl sitting on the wall glaring at me.
"So you're deaf too?" She stood up and stepped towards me with a scowl on her face. The girl had messy dark red hair and jade green eyes that almost glowed an eerie light with piercings on her nose and the cartilage of her ears. I have to admit for someone a little shorter than me, she looked pretty buff.
She turned to make sure the coach was busy before turning back to me in a harsh tone. "Wendy's gonna have us running miles after the shit you pulled, so you need to say sorry before I end up outside cuz of some newbie!"
"I'm not saying sorry to anyone!" I snapped.
"Oh," the redhead scoffed as she stepped closer. "You're gonna apologize. Now."
I paused in mild surprise at the challenge. "And who's gonna make me?" I said in a low voice.
"Watch it, newbie," she snickered. "You don't know who you're talking to." Ginger probably had a point. I could feel the gym watching us, waiting for the next move to be played and taking bets for a good fight.
"Well what I do know is that you look like a leprechaun on steroids, so I don't think I wanna know anything else about you." When I saw her face twist in rage I raised my eyebrows in satisfaction. This bitch doesn't know who she's messing with.
I'm not gonna have to come to the school today, am I? The Professor's voice kept echoing through my head like a warning; an annoying one, but still a warning. I didn't even want to think about the Professor coming through the main office to pick me up after a fight with that look on his face. I turned back in the direction I was walking from. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't get into a fight, or at least not on the first day.
But as I tried walking away, I felt my arm being pulled backwards a very pissed off redhead who obviously didn't know how to take a joke.
"Take that back!" she gritted through her teeth.
"Get your hands off me!" I yelled yanking my arm back.
"HOW ABOUT YOU MAKE ME!"
"GIMME TWO SECONDS AND I'LL HAVE YOUR ASS IN PIECES!"
I set my fist for the first hit, but before I could swing at her we both turned to the sound of the whistle to see our coach fuming like she was ready to hit the both of us with her clipboard. "GIRLS! TO THE SIDELINES!"
Glaring at each other for a minute, we both eventually separated to opposite sides of the gym as it was being set up for the game. As I sat down I sighed to myself, thinking back to how excited I was to have gym next. Now with my fatass of a coach and a bitchy little leprechaun as my classmate, I'm just counting the seconds till I'm outta here.
A few minutes later I saw four bowling pins at the free-throw line on both sides of the court and a bunch of balls lined in the middle with Coach Wendy at the center line.
"Alright, to explain to our new student, the rules are simple: Each side will have four bowling pins spread out. Whoever knocks out the four pins first wins. You can also win by knocking out everyone on the other side. You can do this either by hitting them or catching the ball being thrown at you. Understand?" Her eyes glanced over at the boys' side, or more specifically at the stocky asshole from my English class staring daggers at me.
"Try not to have too much fun." She sneered.
-Brick-
I strode through the hallways to look for Boomer, growing angrier every time I looked at the text.
::Cole::
Brandon's M.I.A.*
Unbelievable! The kid doesn't know when to quit! I stopped in the middle of the empty hallway, thinking of where to look next until an idea hit.
I turned to make sure no one was around before I fazed from the hallway to the rooftop of Building 2 in seconds. How people made it through life without teleportation is beyond me.
From fifty feet away I could see a thin piece of string taped to the curb of the roof as it shifted slightly. As I approached the string I could see none other than my brother hanging upside down from the building with that piece of string tied to his ankle as he was taking pictures of the corporate buildings across the road from our school. I knit my eyebrows together as I felt the signs of a migraine coming.
"Boomer," he looked up to see me facing him before going back to taking pictures. "just what the hell are you doing?"
"Unleashing my inner genius!" he exclaimed in awe as he continued to take pictures. Christ.
"And you couldn't do that at least standing on the rooftop rather than hanging from it?" I growled as my voice rose.
He looked towards me with a pleading look. "C'mon Brick! You should come down to see these pics! They're incredible!"
"You're taking them by hanging on a piece of string with duct tape!" I yelled losing my patience.
"Then you obviously don't know the hidden powers of duct tape."He said nonchalantly as he turned back to his camera. Six billlion. Six billion people on this planet and I get this moron.
"Were you dropped on your head as a child? I mean for Chrissake Boomer, you could've at least used some rope or something!"
He flew up to the curb with an annoyed look. "Why do you care so much? It doesn't matter what I use! What could they say: I was flying?"
As much as I wanted to argue, I knew he had a point. No matter how bizarre the circumstances, no matter how bad the chances are, people always look for 'the logical outlook'. Anyone would rather believe he was hanging on a piece of string with a piece of cheap duct tape than believe that he was flying upside down from supernatural powers; this was a God given fact that we've tested out since going under our identities. But I wasn't going to admit that.
Instead I whacked the backside of his head to get him to listen. "It doesn't matter Boomer! We can't lose our cover, and you know that pulling dumb shit like this isn't making any of our lives easier. For Chrissake, can't you just sit in you class for one week like a normal student without me having to call on people to spy on you?! You're seventeen Boomer, Grow Up!"
"Kay…" He pulled the string off and looked down at the concrete like a kid getting yelled at by his parents. Sometimes I feel like I'm just that to my younger brothers; a parent yelling at them over the same shit I told them yesterday. And the day before. And before that... you get the point.
I pushed Boomer forward to get him to start walking. "C'mon, I'm taking you to class." When we were on our way towards the staircase, we could hear a whistle followed by a loud noise coming from the Gymnasium and I thought back to Butch who had this class right about now.
"Sounds like Butch is having fun," Boomer folded his arms behind his head, already back to being his casual self.
"Let's just get to class." I was too tired to deal with the two of them in one day and couldn't wait to hang out with Bella after school. I stopped to look up at the bright billowing clouds sailing by and found myself wishing that I could float on across the world without a single thought on what I passed on.
Or on who I passed in the process. What would've happened if those girls never died? It was a damn tragedy, that was given, but of course you can't help but have that 'What If...?' factor. What if they were alive today? Would they be in this same school? The same sports?
Would we still be enemies? I think about this a lot lately as a matter of fact.
But as always, the what if's end just like that. Questions that were never meant to be answered. All I know are the facts. When the girls left, the villains took over, Him reigning king. It was chaotic, violent, like a catastrophic tornado where each day led to more of what was gone yesterday. Hell the demon LOVED it, loved everything about those times.
But it wasn't before long we started to hate it.
Glancing back over at the exit, I reminded myself of where I was. On top of a roof no one's allowed to be on. Puffing out a gust of air, I followed Boomer to the exit doors trying to forget what could've been.
After two minutes of peace passed, Boomer turned back around with a playful grin on his face. "Are you sure you don't wanna see the pictu– OW! A simple no could've worked too!"
-Butch-
Dodgeball always sounds like hell, but that's what's best about it. That and, beating the shit out of people I don't like. So I was, of course, the first one to get to the center line and grabbed four of the dodgeballs to give em to the others on my team. As I passed around the dodge balls I looked around the gym court to see where the hell Baser** was, but if he wanted to head out early that's his problem.
I tried to see which girl I was gonna go for first. Some guys say we should go easy em, but why would I do that? It's not like they didn't know what they were signing up for! I started with a small brunette on the far right with a curveball straight to her stomach (She was blocking a pin anyway -I think-). Next was a blond I hooked up with at a party last summer (She's a slut). Then I hit the back of a hot Asian who rejected me to last year's Homecoming (She had a fucking hunchback, I'm doing her a favor!).
But they're just target practice. I made sure to keep an eye on the new girl in the corner so that I could have the last hit on her to get back at the way she treated me last class. I figure one straight to her pretty face outta keep her big mouth shut for a few days. And it's not like I'm doing this for myself; she already pissed off half of the entire class for making us do this, so I'm doing this for the greater good!
"What'd I miss?" When I turned around I saw Baser trudging towards me in his gym clothes like he just came off a Crash.
"Dodgeball. Here, hold this one for me!" I tossed him the one I reserved for the newbie and went off to get more dodgeballs when I realized they were all on the other side of the court, and there was no one left but the newbie sitting in the corner. You never go on the other side, otherwise it's an automatic forfeit. But no worries. I still have that one ball left to end this whole game either with a pin, or just nailing her in the face.
But in two seconds she grabbed the closest ball to her and hurled it straight for my head before I dodged it easily. I couldn't say the same for Baser, though. The little bitch had him knocked out. The ball I had planned for her was now in the hands of some other guy trying to make a hit for the last pin. Turns out she's already knocked down two of our pins, and knocked out a third of the guys on our side (including Baser). I admit, this girl's a boss! But there's no way she's winning.
When Baser got up he noticed how pissed I was and glowered at me as a warning.
"Blayke, don't make us run."
"Why the hell would I do that?" Who does he think he's talking to? Of course they weren't gonna win, there's only one of them! I started hurling dodgeballs in her direction. But the more I missed the more I tried to get back at her, and the more she enjoyed the whole thing. How the hell is she so damn fast? I started to get even angrier when I saw her laughing at me. I grabbed as many as I could carry and launched them straight in her direction as fast as I could.
"Why don't you just get out!" But when I turned around I realized we ran out again, and that little gremlin grinned at me evilly, and I realized then that she was just baiting me. Baser was probably giving me the 'I Told You So' look right now. Instead of turning back to his I glanced at our last pin with my fists clenched. She told me off in first period, humiliated me in the second, and now I have to run two miles thanks to her ass.
I glared at her one final time before swearing under my breath. She's done for.
-Buttercup-
I knew dodge ball could get rough, but I wasn't thinking it'd be that bad. It looked like a fucking war zone. Most of the girls were just running from God knows what, but others had a pretty good reason. Turns out the dude with gel spiked hair never heard of being fair and was literally bulldozing through everyone. At least now I knew why everyone was so pissed off at me. In fact, I felt a little sorry for them. This one Freshman was doubled over by a pin after she got hit in the stomach, three girls were hiding behind the bleachers, and two others sat in a corner to massage the areas they got hit.
And in case you were wondering about our coach, she couldn't give a damn for who got hurt. If I get the chance, that bitch was getting one right in her face.
As bad as I felt for all of them, I knew I couldn't help. It would just ruin my plan. The guys were only going for the girls anyway. Sure enough, after a few minutes there was a long line of girls who were hit except for me. I turned to see the jock leering at me with a crooked smile on his face, probably getting a sick kick out of saving me for last.
How flattering.
But I wasn't gonna give him the satisfaction. When he turned around I took the first ball I saw and threw it straight towards that jock's head only to miss and hit the only person holding the only ball at that moment. Not my fault he wasn't paying attention. By the time I reached two pins I barely missed a curveball that whizzed past my face from the spiky haired kid, who looked livid. From there I dodged until he started to run out, which was bound to happen soon. I had to enhance my sight in order to avoid getting hit. If it wasn't for that, I probably would've out by now.
But the look on that jerk's face was all worth it. He looked like he was going to implode on himself when he realized he ran out of balls to throw at me. So with all the balls on my side I could knock down their last pin in no sweat, but I felt kinda sad surprisingly; that was the most fun I had all period.
Suddenly I heard a PLONK! come from my side. I whipped my head around to see the last pin on my side knocked down to the floor next to Ginger, who just came out from her hiding spot behind the bleachers.
"Whoops. My bad!" she gasped.
The coach got up from her chair to make the announcement. "Due to all four pins dropped, the girls forfeit and the guys win! Girls! Prepare to exit the gym!" Her voice was followed by a mix between groans and cheers as I just gawked at the pin. How in the hell did I lose?! I had everything ready and now I have to run thanks to her? For fuck's sake, She was the one who was about to fight me over how much she didn't want to go outside! It wasn't fair!
When I looked at the guy I was aiming at before, he looked just as pissed as I was even though he won. I didn't really know why and to be honest I could care less about that right now.
I turned back at the pins to see the redhead was actually grinning at me like she just won a prize, leaving me at a loss of words.
"Are you kidding me? You're the one who didn't want to run in the first place!"
"Changed my mind," she shrugged. "Thought we could use a little exercise."
I couldn't help but gawk at her. She would rather do something in the hot sun, making herself smelly, sweaty, and tired, just so that I was equally as miserable.
"What the hell's your problem?" I murmured incredulously.
She narrowed her eyes at me in scorn. "A lot of things. You included." With that, she turned back to the crowd of girls and headed outside for the track. I thought about what's happened ever since I came here and realized that it's official.
I fucking hate it here.
-Blossom-
LUNCH
My sisters and I were following Becky as she led us to the cafeteria, but for the first time, it seemed like Buttercup had a boatload of things to talk about.
"So then she says 'Watch it newbie. You don't know who you're messing with.' So I'm thinking to myself 'Of course I know who I'm fuck I'm talking to I'm not blind!'…"
I sighed to myself. It's been the first day and Buttercup's already ranting over some girl she got into a fight with. But when I turned to see the girl leaning on the first floor wall, she looked really pretty. The girl had dark fiery red hair covering light olive skin and bright jade green eyes that hinted at gold flecks in the sunlight. She wasn't nearly as buff as Buttercup made her out to be, but rather had a finely toned body, like someone who exercises daily. Buttercup's description of her just didn't do her justice.
"Why didn't the coach report the fight to the principal?" Becky asked, the only one of us that was interested in her story.
"It wasn't a fight! Jesus freaking Christ were any of you guys listening to a word I just said?!" she screeched.
"Nope." I responded, almost welcoming the glare she sent in my direction. Welcome to my world; where no one cares about what I have to say until it's too late.
But we all grew quiet as we entered the cafeteria building. It was HUGE.
The cafeteria as a whole was circular shaped and had three floors with students entering in from one side, which also had three food lines for each floor. The third floor (which we were on) aligned with the curved shape of the walls and extended five yards from the wall before it was stopped at a glass railing. From the glass railing there was a huge open space in the middle of the cafeteria with seats only on the first floor. The seats in the middle were placed right above a painted mural on the floor of a shark, our school mascot. The walls were painted in royal blue and huge windows spread all around with a big banner on the other end of the cafeteria showing another picture of the mascot with the caption "West Coast Sharks!".
"Well damn," Buttercup muttered.
"Where are we gonna sit?" Bubbles asked, still gazing in awe.
"That's up to you guys. I usually sit in the courtyard with the other half of students, but I wanted to show you guys the cafeteria since you've already seen the courtyard on your way in."
"The other half!? But This place is practically filled!"Bubbles squeaked.
Becky shrugged, unable to explain better than that. "It's a big school. Since you guys are new, you can pick wherever you want to sit."
"Right here!" Buttercup demanded pointing to the table directly in front of the food line. I wondered if it was because of how close we were to the line, or because she was too lazy to pick out anything else.
It was probably both. "Come on guys, we'll set our stuff here and-"
"We can't stay here." Becky blurted.
"Well, why not? You just said we could sit where we want." Bubbles asked innocently. I gave Becky a puzzled look. It was a perfect spot to sit at. The table was right by the lunch line and the balcony railing which had a perfect view of the school.
"Because it's for moi." We all turned to a sickeningly familiar voice.
"Un…fuckin…believable" Buttercup muttered.
Usually I'd try to scold my sister, but I knew I felt the exact way when I turned to see Princess in a yellow J Crew dress with huge amounts of makeup and jewelry and wore heels that made her at least five inches taller than the rest of us with her curly red hair let down in long twists. She was also followed by two identical platinum blond twins that dressed in almost the exact same way as her
I was about to comment on how she's changed, but then I remembered we're supposed to be new, plus I didn't want to boost her ego. So I instead forced myself to smile and hold out my hand. "Oh, I'm sorry. What's your name?"
The girl looked like she was going to scream at the thought of someone never recognizing her. "Where do you live, under a rock?! I'm the reason you come to this school!" I was about to come up with a retort before I realized that what she said was probably true to an extent.
She made a shooing gesture with her hand to us. "I'll let it slide this time though, but only just because you're new." She glared at Becky in disgust. "Shame on you for not telling them the rules around here!"
Becky signed in annoyance. "I was just telling them before you came here." Why was she explaining herself to her in the first place?
"No excuses!" she barked with one of her famous tantrums. But she quickly composed herself by dramatically waving her hand around her face like it was some wand and looked back at our guide in a poised way. "But you'll be forgiven for this time. I suppose it can't be helped. Girls!" The two girls scramble to meet her side. "It's time for the intro!"
The two platinum girls began a long rehearsed introduction to Princess, her accomplishments as an heiress, and why she will be eternally superior to us in all ways possible. Even though she made me sick, I did do a little research on Princess and she admittedly has done quite well for herself by owning three stores under her own name, but then again they were practically snatched from families who just couldn't afford to stand up to someone like her.
All in all, Princess was still a spoiled brat. Just a more sophisticated one.
When the girls finished their 'presentation', Princess triumphantly looked down at us and waited for our applause. "So! how'd you like it?"
Before we could even think about what to say, the blond on her right already beat us to the point. "Ohmigodohmigodohmigod!" she composed herself and excitedly turned towards her partner. "We should be on America's Got Talent!" and soon started a round of squeals between the two.
"I could use a good laugh," Becky snickered with Buttercup smirking behind her.
The other blond whipped her head to give Becky an icy glare. "Why don't you crawl into your little emo corner, freak!"
Becky froze, and opened her mouth to say something, but instead stayed quiet and walked away from the three as they sat at the table. Buttercup soon caught up to her and started to mumble something in her ear. I used my heightened senses to listen to their conversation.
-Buttercup-
"You're not just gonna sit there and take that, are you?"
Becky gave me a depressed look. "I have to. The school may not be named after them, but the Morbucks donate tons of cash because Princess goes here. She untouchable by students, staff, and even some of the assistant principals. The principal's been trying to get us out of her influence, but since she's came here, nobody messes with her."
"Nobody?" With an attitude like that, I'd find it hard not to.
But Becky just shook her head. "Hey, let's just meet downstairs, kay?" when I nodded my head she trudged down the cafeteria stairs to the first floor. I turned back to the three skeptically. Nobody's challenged them?
I felt a sly grin start to spread on my face. "Time to change that."
-Blossom-
I looked in horror as my young innocent sister stepped towards the table the three girls were sitting at that was meant to be for us. Her skin turned into a pale white with her lips pressed tightly and eyebrows scrunched together, something she thinks makes her look tough when really she just looks like a child. This wasn't going to end well.
"Bubbles!" I hissed so that only she could hear. When she saw me I shook my head firmly to show her it's not a good idea, but the look on her face told her otherwise. She timidly poked on Princess's shoulder.
"Excuse me." She whispered.
The three kept on with their conversation. I started to walk towards Bubbles so that I could stop her from doing this. She poked her again.
"Excuse me-"
"What!" Princess now stood with her hands on her hips, impatiently waiting for an answer.
"Brooke, let's go to our table." I said putting a hand on her shoulder, but she never turned away from Princess, her expression innocent yet firm at the same time.
"You owe my friend an apology."
"A what?" she asked dubiously, unaware of ever using that word.
Bubbles kindly restated for her. "An apology. So can you and your friends please say sorry?"
Princess turned back to her duo before busting out in laughter. When she finally composed herself, she turned to Bubbles that way an adult would look at a child who didn't understand something.
"Move kid."
"I want you to apologize." When I tried to turn her in my direction, Bubbles didn't move an inch. She really felt strongly about this.
Princess narrowed her eyes into slits. "I said move."
"You need to say sorr-"
Bubbles gasped as a bowl of scalding hot soup was poured all over her hair and dress. The first floor fell still for a minute and everyone turned to my sister, who looked too stunned to speak. Even I was too shocked to respond before turning to Princess for some sort of explanation. Instead, she crept close to my sister, who was now shaking as tears slipped down her face, and spoke really low to set her point straight.
"Lemme set the record straight, because you're not getting it. This is my school, the people here take my orders, and right now your busy with the smell of my Toscana soup all over you because you just couldn't follow orders. But then again, it kinda suits the look." Princess turned back to her partners for support in her cruelty. "I mean look at her dress!"
"It looks like she got that from Goodwill!" one blond huffed
"Not even! Probably pulled it from their garbage disposal this morning!" the other snorted.
As the girls cackled in laughter from their jokes, Bubbles started to hiccup and couldn't stop shaking as the tears flooded her face in humiliation. She spent hours coming up with the perfect outfit and was now the laughing stock of her entire class. My fists started to clench as my nostrils flared in pure rage. I had to calm myself down before things got ugly.
"You know what? Here," Princess flung five singles in Bubbles's face as we both flinched in shock. "Take these and buy yourself a decent wardrobe. Heard they have a sale at Goodwill this weekend. Breathe. Breathe. Take deep breaths.
Suddenly Buttercup swung her fist across Princess's face in full force just as the redhead was about to sit down, knocking her into the school cafeteria line and breaking right into the glass that separated the students from the lunch ladies. There came a complete silence as everyone continued to stare at us in shock of what she did.
Princess slowly and laboriously staggered up with the help of her twin replicas (she wouldn't let the lunch ladies touch her). When she finally got her bearing the heiress touched her head to see a trickle of blood slip down her porcelain face and turned to stare at Buttercup in utter disbelief, but my sister just shrugged it off like it was a small misunderstanding.
"Oops… Did that hurt?" Buttercup asked feigning pure curiosity.
"You… YOU!" Princess lunged forward for her but Buttercup easily caught her fists and locked eyes with her as a glint in her eye started to appear.
"So you think she got her clothes from a garbage disposal?" I admit I was more than thrilled to see Princess in such a state and almost even smiled, but this was probably going to take it to the next level.
And it certainly did.
The boys sat at the other end of the cafeteria behind the windows as they saw the scene unfold before them on the third floor with their heightened vision. Brick looked up from his lunch and squinted his eyes to make sure he wasn't just seeing things.
"Wow."
"Scary…" Boomer mumbled hiding behind his sandwich.
But unlike his brothers, Butch was in hysterics at the scene. "It's about damn time someone did that! Man I swear she looks better with that garbage than the shit she passes off as makeup! Her and the Olsen Twins look like they belong in a fucking circus!"
When his laughter stopped he stood up to throw away his food with his brothers following suit. "But I give that noob credit. There's only one other person who had the balls to beat up Princess. Speak of the devil!"
He looked up to see Jasper sitting on the edge by on of the windows of the cafeteria with Baser, who was also watching the scene with a scowl on her face. But even when she was pissed off she looked gorgeous to Butch.
"Jasper! You look lovely as always! What do you say to going out with me this weekend?" Butch announced brightly as he stooped a little closer to see if she would approve this time.
"I'd rather gorge my eyes out with spoons." She declared without hesitation. But Butch of course never could give up so easily, especially on someone like her. But for now he move on towards a new topic and motioned towards the third floor.
"What do you think about your competition? Haven't seen Princess this scared since you threatened to have her in a morgue."
She clicked her tongue impatiently. "What competition? She's just as annoying as that brat!"
Butch nodded his head in agreement. "True. Very true. But you gotta admit, she's kinda hot."
The redhead shot him a look. "One, I'm not a lesbian. And two, tell that to someone who cares Blayke, I have better things to worry about, like my lunch."
Seeing she wasn't in the mood, the three of them left leaving Baser who looked at Jasper quizzically. She noticed this and turned so he wouldn't see her annoyed expression, but she already knew it was too late.
"Shut up."
"You do care don't you?" his voice rose in amusement at her sudden animosity.
"Wouldn't you!" she snapped. "This bitch thinks she's the shit now that she went up against me!" It's true Princess doesn't even look at her after what happened, but she never laid a hand on her, something this newbie did on her first day here. Jasper hated to admit it, but she felt a twinge of envy that she wasn't used to having for someone so arrogantly stupid. The girl definitely wasn't stronger than her, and she was just gonna have to teach her how to show some respect. She glanced over to the door the new girl exited from with a sly grin on her face. She was always up for a challenge.
Okay, so this chapter's super long, but I feel like the next chapter might be the same length or less. Now that I'm thinking about it, we may see more of Buttercup as things start to pick up a bit, because this was more of an introduction. Because of my late notice I should have the next chapter up a bit sooner (should; it all depends on how busy I am). I must say that I made a tiny mistake within the first hour of my new chapter being published, something that a select few probably got to see, and for those of you that did see it, it was just that; a mistake and nothing else
But seriously a big thank you for being patient and I'm sorry this chapter seems a bit boring but next chapter I'm kicking things up. Review, Review, Review!
*: Missing In Action
**: It's someone who smokes a lot of pot and coke
PS: If you guys would like an image of the school, I'd be more than happy to send it to you, just give me your email or something cause i can't post it on here. And what'd you think of my OC's so far? I'm always up for criticism