That night Pippy called Henrietta after pacing back and forth in her bedroom in a panic listening to Rhiannon on a loop.
"Hey, how was the whining session?" She heard the other girl say.
"I need you to stay here tonight, I just can't tell you everything over the phone. Can you come over?" Pippy asked as she kept pacing.
"Anything to get away from this pathetic excuse for a family, all they care about is my little brother anyway, I'll be over soon. I'll bring all three Super Psycho Sweet Sixteen movies, nothing like watching conformist bitches be slaughtered while a proud Goth girl kicks ass."
"I couldn't agree more, I'll see you soon." The two hung up as she continued to try to think straight. Damien was back. Damien wanted to get to know her. Damien was back. Pippy was running her fingers through her hair in confusion before going to her closet, she pulled out a somewhat baggy and faded Superman sweatshirt as well as a black tank top, black pajama shorts, and superman themed Ugg slipper boots with cute little capes on the back of them. She considered these pajama clothes and changed into the comfortable clothes before pulling her hair back into a short ponytail. When she turned to go to the kitchen to make popcorn, she heard something fall in her closet.
Pippy opened her closet again and to her shock, her old newspaper cap that she had worn for years was now on the floor of her closet. She could've sworn that she had thorn in away years ago, yet there it was. Pippy slowly picked it up and stared at it, thinking of how she had been bullied as a child… Once again, she thought of Damien. After a minute she placed the hat on her head, shocked that it still fit. She figured she could wear it again for a couple hours.
Pippy walked into her kitchen to find a note from Marian saying that she'd be working all night at Hell's Pass Hospital, to which was met my Pippy crushing the note and throwing it away. She then headed to the cupboards to get canola oil, salt, a stick of butter, a pot, a lid, and kernels to make homemade popcorn. She then spent the next twenty minutes cooking the popcorn before hearing her phone buzz. She checked, expecting to see a text from Henrietta, but was instead met with Damien's name showing.
Hey Pippy,
What are you up to tonight?
Pippy blushed as she kept a careful eye on the popcorn before texting him back.
Hi! I am making homemade popcorn, my friend Henrietta and I are going to watch a couple of horror movies tonight and then she's staying the night. What about you?
As she waited for a reply, she couldn't help but wonder why on earth she wasn't as scared as she should've been. She knew she was scared, but still, she wasn't nearly as terrified as she should've been, especially since he had almost murdered her once before already.
Horror movies? I never thought you'd be the kind to stomach that. Which horror movies? Also, I'm at Barnes and Noble in Denver, I found a book that made me think of you so I was wondering how you were doing.
Once the popcorn was finished popping, she moved it to a square pan she and Henrietta had used dozens of times for their popcorn before. She then salted the popcorn and placed the butter in a bowl in the microwave to melt before texting Damien back.
What book is it? Henrietta and I are watching the My Super Pshycho Sweet 16 trilogy. It's made by MTV, and sort of parodies their own show Super Sweet 16. It's surprisingly very good, it's about a Goth girl whose father is a serial killer who kills all of the awful selfish teenagers. I didn't use to be able to stand any kind of horror movie, but Henrietta helped me to eventually get over that.
The butter had finished melting and she carefully poured the hot bowl of butter over the popcorn and added a little more salt. Now it was absolutely perfect.
It's called The Hollow Kingdom, it's about two sisters named Kate and Emily who move to Hollow Hill in 1815. The older of the two, Kate, has to find the bravery and courage to marry the king of the Goblins named Marak so she may save Emily. Those movies do sound very interesting, perhaps one day I'll watch them myself.
"I'm here!" Pippy heard her friend say as she walked through the front door.
"Hey, Hen! Marian won't be home for the night so we can play the tele louder if you want. Go ahead and set up the movie, the popcorn is ready."
"No problem." Henrietta responded as she did exactly that while Pippy texted Damien back.
Who's the author? I'm interested to read it myself, now.
Pippy grabbed the popcorn and walked to her friend, handing her the food noticing she also brought a few bags of chips and boxes of Little Debbie snack treats. Pippy grabbed a couple of chocolate cosmic brownie, which was her favorite. As Henrietta was about to press play, she stopped to look at Pippy.
"What's the matter?"
"What do you mean?"
"You said on the phone earlier that you needed me to be here, and then you just grabbed four brownies. I know for a fact you need more chocolate when you're nervous or overthinking something. On top of that, you're wearing you Pip hat for the first time in years. So what's up?" Pippy knew there was no lying to Henrietta.
"Okay… so, do you remember Damien Thorn from when we were kids?"
"I think so. He's the Antichrist who set the playground on fire, right?"
"That's him… um… he's sort of, back in town? First he ordered some coffee while I was at work, but I didn't recognize him. Then today, I saw him at the group therapy thing, and Henrietta… he is so bloody handsome! His voice is so mature and deep and velvety now, nothing at all like when we were eight. I had a dream about him last night where we were… well, um… snogging, so to speak. He says he wants to get reacquainted with me and get to know me again… as stupid as this sounds, I can't stop thinking about him." Pippy explained while staring at her phone.
Clare B. Dunkle is the name of the author. You know, I read very fast, so I'll finish in a day or so. We could meet up during this week so I can give you the book and hang out with you, maybe buy you lunch?
"Is that who you're texting? Damien?"
"Yeah… Um, Hen… I think he might have just asked me out."
"What!?" Henrietta said moving to get closer to Pippy to read the text message herself.
"Oh, he's smooth." She said smirking slightly after reading it, causing Pippy to blush.
"What are you talking about?"
"He wants to meet up with you, even offering to buy you a meal, just for a book? Sure… a book about Tantric positions maybe!" The dark haired girl busted out laughing so hard at her own joke that Pippy was worried her nose ring would fall out. The blonde's face grew a bright shade of red, unbelieving of the things her friend was implying.
"D-Don't be daft, Hen! This is serious… he is the Antichrist."
"Well now look who's spontaneously so judgmental. He didn't exactly choose his parents, you know. You were friends as kids, you could give him a chance, see if he's boyfriend material. I know you hate being alone, and from what you've said, maybe he's not some stupid Twilight sparkling bullshit soul mate… but he could be at least the key to you losing your state of permanent virginity. You being transgender shouldn't be an issue, if he remembers you."
"That is true, Mr. Mackey outed me in front of the others there, but Damien seemed to have been able to recognize me regardless of that anyway. You do have a point, he also did say he was bored of everyone not caring to know him as a person… But Henrietta, he also set me on fire."
"Ugh, you are so picky. This is an amazing opportunity. Besides, it's one fucking meal, it's not going to kill you. After all the bullshit you deal with? You've earned a date with a handsome prince."
"Of Hell." Pippy pointed out before taking another bite of her brownie.
"A prince, all the same." Henrietta said before swiping the phone from Pippy's hand.
"Bloody hell, are you on crack?! Give me my phone back!" the blonde said trying and failing at retrieving her phone.
"You'll thank me in time, I'm just helping you get out of your own way." Henrietta finished before handing her phone back to her after a minute.
Pippy panicked as she looked at the text message she sent Damien.
My school is having a half day on Wednesday and I'm off work that day, so I'd love to meet you that day for lunch! Where would you like to go?
"Hen! Why did you do that!?"
"Because you never would've done it."
Great! How about the Panera on North Academy Boulevard in Colorado Springs? Does 1 P.M. sound okay to you?
Well, there was no going back now. Pippy blushed more as she considered what to say in response. She could say that it was just Henrietta texting him instead of her… but she knew in her heart she didn't want to do that. Even though it was wrong, she really did want to see Damien again. She tried to remember how long it would take her to get from South Park High School to Colorado Springs, it'd be an hour and a half if she were lucky enough to avoid traffic.
Would 2 P.M. be okay, actually?
Both Pippy and Henrietta watched the phone as if it would reveal all of life's answers.
Yes, that'll be fine. I'll see you then!
Pippy was about to text him back before Henrietta once again swiped her phone.
"Not again! I already said yes! Hen!" the girl yelled weakly grabbing for her phone easily being blocked by the Goth girl.
"Yeah, but I'm going to seal the deal." She retorted as she sent the text and showed Pippy.
It's a date, then! ;)
The blonde fell to the floor tightening the hood of her sweatshirt tight around her, making her resemble Kenny, as she groaned loudly before letting her hood back down.
"He'd never want to date me, Hen! He knows I'm transgender, nobody would want to date a transgender unless they're also transgender."
"That's not what he's saying."
"What!?" Pippy crawled to her friend taking another bite of her brownie as she looked at the text he sent back.
A date it is, then. ;) I look forward to it.
Pippy made a whining noise in her throat as she buried her face in her hands blushing.
"Be happy, you big baby!" Henrietta demanded as she lightly kicked her friend in the side.
"I am happy, I just can't believe he'd find any kind of interest in me… even though I'm transgender! Maybe I'm reading too much into this?"
"He winked, he was flirting, it's a date. Calm down and eat your brownies, you're starting to sound like that wanna be twilight skank."
"I suppose you make a point… alright, I'll just read into it later when you leave." Pippy responded smiling wide at her best friend, being met with a playful glare.
"I could bitch slap you so hard that there'd be permanent black nail polish marks on your face."
"It's a really good thing they invented concealer, then."
"Fire and Chaos! Fire and Chaos! Fire and Chaos!" rang Henrietta's phone as she picked up.
"Hello? Oh, hey Georgie. I'm at Pippy's house. Wait, what? Again? Did you call Ike? Ugh! That stupid mother of his, who cares you're his boyfriend she should've let you stay the night! What about Evan and Dylan? They didn't answer!? Oh hell, they were probably screwing. Hold on." Henrietta said, Pippy unable to hear what Georgie was saying, but being able to figure out what happened. Georgie's father was never exactly a good father, but when Georgie's mother died, he changed his name from Ferkle to Georgie, and he came out of the closet his Dad became very abusive. They had reported the violence multiple times to the police, but with all the strange things that went on in town distracting them, they had no time or concern with trying to help a domestic violence situation.
"Can Georgie stay here tonight?" Henrietta asked.
"Always."
"Just come to Pippy's house, we'll fix you up when you get here. Bye." Henrietta placed her head in her hands.
"His Dad hit him in the face again, he said he's got a bruise on his chin and a split lip, but he ran to the bathroom, got his emergency bag, and left out the window before he could do anymore." She explained. The emergency bag had actually been Pippy's idea. When she and the other Goth kids realized the police were going to be useless, as well as everyone's parents, she had suggested he keep an emergency large book bag that held a mini first aid kit, tooth brush, tooth paste, travel sized shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, at least 2 days' worth of clothes, an extra cell phone charger, some snacks, a blanket, and a very small pillow. He then hid it in the cabinet in his bathroom, so if anything happened, he could escape for a couple of days. Normally he'd go to one of the Goth kid's homes, or even occasionally to Ike's, Kenny's, or Pippy's.
Georgie was probably the only other Goth kid who genuinely liked Pippy. Evan, formerly Michael, and Dylan, formerly Pete, tolerated her just fine because Henrietta and Georgie liked her. However, Pippy knew that it was Georgie and Henrietta who loved her to bits. Henrietta and Pippy became like mother figures to poor Georgie during times like this.
"I don't understand why one of us just doesn't let him live in one of our own homes permanently…"
"You know we've tried, Pippy. Our stupid asshole parents would rather risk his life instead of take him in… I swear to Hell when I turn eighteen, I am moving into my own apartment and I'm taking Georgie with me. Just a few months left… Is it cool if I smoke? I need a cigarette."
"Right O, just let me get an ash tray." The blonde stood up and quickly got an ash tray from the back patio, bringing it in and placing it on the coffee table where Henrietta was lighting her cigarette and taking a nice long drag.
"Thanks." Henrietta said before pressing play on the movie as Pippy watched the door. About twenty minutes later, Georgie walked in, looking cold as he set his back pack down and immediately walked into Pippy's arms waiting to embrace him. Henrietta finished her cigarette and stopped the movie as she stood and walked to him hugging them both.
"I'm going to murder him." Henrietta swore once all three finally stopped hugging.
"No, you're not, Hen. If anyone takes him down, it's going to be me." Georgie responded as he removed his combat boots and winter coat. The thirteen year old ran his fingers through his hair sighing trying to not cry before going into his back pack and taking out the small first aid kit. Pippy noticed with sadness the boy was still in his pajamas when he escaped.
"Let's go to the loo to fix him up." Pippy suggested as all three went to the large walk in bathroom and had Georgie sit on the toilet after putting the lid down. Pippy carefully examined him, he indeed had a split lip and a bruise, but also a small cut next to his mouth.
"Henrietta, could you get an ice pack from the fridge, please?" Pippy asked. The girl nodded before going to do exactly that. Pippy turned back to Georgie and took out a cotton ball and small vial of rubbing alcohol from the first aid kit, using it to clean his cut. Georgie's eye twitched lightly at the sting, but was used to it by now, so it didn't bother him too much. Once Pippy finished, she put a dab of Neosporin on his cut and then placed a black band aid on it with little skulls all over, also from his first aid kit. Henrietta walked back into the bathroom with the ice pack wrapped in a towel. Pippy handed it to Georgie who held it against where he had been hit.
"You're going to be fine, okay? Would you like something to eat or drink?"
"No, thank you. I'll be alright." Georgie reassured her. Henrietta hugged Georgie close before all three returned to the living room to watch the movie together.
"So how have you been?" Georgie asked Pippy as he sat down.
"She's got a new boy toy." Henrietta teased as the two girls joined him on the couch.
"Really!? What's his name? Do I know him?"
"He's not my boy toy, we haven't even been on a date. You probably don't remember him, his name is Damien Thorn."
"Wait. You mean the Antichrist?" Georgie asked, his eyes wide. Pippy blushed, not really knowing how to respond when it was put that way.
"Well, yes…"
"Pippy, you just reached a level of Badass. Are you going to sleep with him?" Pippy blushed harder and looked like she might die at his question.
"N-Not on the first date! I'm not exactly looking for somebody to get in my knickers! He wants to get to know me, and I want to get to know him…"
"Well, I'm sure he wants to get to know parts of you." Georgie said snickering, being met with a supportive laugh from Henrietta.
"Does he know about your situation?" Georgie asked.
"As a matter of fact, he does. From what I can see, he doesn't care." Pippy did admit. She was really impressed with Damien for not being scared off by her being transgender.
"I know this is kind of awkward, but have you done much research about how a transgender girl would sleep with someone?" Henrietta asked, beginning to eat the popcorn.
"Actually, not really. I figured it wouldn't be a likely thing to worry about, since I never thought anyone would really be attracted to me that way…"
"I would think it would be like sleeping with a gay man. I mean, until you get the proper surgery, there's only one place below the belt for him to put his disco stick." Georgie pointed out as he began to delicately eat potato chips, trying not to hurt his jaw too much. Pippy blushed even harder thinking about it that way.
"Again, we haven't even been on a first date! If we were to get that far along, then I will look up such information as needed." Pippy insisted as she opened and began eating another cosmic brownie.
"You're totally going to do him." Henrietta said.
"You better tell us how amazing it was, too." Georgie insisted.
"Stop!" Pippy whined through her mouth full of chocolate goodness.
"We're serious! He's Satan's son, he's probably into all that fifty shades of porn nastiness and he's got like powers and stuff he could use to blow your little virgin mind… You can't tell me you aren't curious." Georgie retorted. Pippy's mind went back to the dream she had where Damien had held her against the wall and bit her while kissing her. She had to admit, she was a little curious.
"I am done talking about this with you two perverts, let's just watch our horror movies, please." Pippy insisted as she picked up the remote and started the movie. The other two shrugged and simply watched the movie in silence. Pippy felt her phone vibrate, receiving another text from Damien.
"Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule." - Charles Dickens. It made me think of you, I hope to speak with you again in the morning, Goodnight Pippy.
The blonde girl smiled thinking for a moment before she responded.
"You have always adored her, ever since I have known you. You brought your adoration and your portmanteau here, together. Told me! Why, you have always told me all day long. When you told me your own story, you told me plainly that you began adoring her the first time you saw her, when you were very young indeed."-Charles Dickens
Goodnight, Damien. Sweet Dreams.
She couldn't help but try to flirt, hoping he'd catch on that the her was indeed a reference to herself. She was very pleased with the next text she received.
"Very well, then, I have never left off adoring her. And she has come back, a most beautiful and most elegant creature. And I saw her yesterday. And if I adored her before, I now doubly adore her." Don't let the bed bugs bite. ;)
Pippy placed her phone back in her pocket smiling as she watched the horror movie.
Her actions had apparently not been unnoticed by Henrietta and Georgie who gave her a knowing smirk.
"Twenty dollars says he gets in her pants before their fifth date." Henrietta said.
"Fifty says she'll be too chicken shit." Georgie retorted.
"Deal." The two shook hands before returning to their movie. Pippy rolled her eyes starting to eat a third cosmic brownie, wondering about what her and Damien's future together could have in store for them.