Chapter XXXVII:

"Putting An Abrupt End To Reconciliation"

Christy grimaced at the sound of someone vomiting in the toilet cubicle nearest the mirror. She stopped in the middle of applying her lip-gloss and turned her head.

'Mandy, that's so gross,' she said with a wrinkled nose. 'Why do you even bother eating if you're just going to go ahead and do that?'

An indecipherable groan responded from the cubicle, followed by the sound of dry heaving. Christy stuck out her tongue in disgust.

'Your breath is going to stink. You better brush your teeth. I don't know how Ted can even stand next to you after you've been doing stuff like that…'

The toilet flushed and the cubicle door thudded open. Christy looked around, ready to tell Mandy once again how gross she was, but was surprised to see Elliott emerging instead of the head cheerleader.

'Oh, I didn't realise it was you,' Christy said, half turning. 'Wow, I didn't know you did stuff like that too.'

Elliott moved to the sink and washed her hands, looking at her pale reflection. 'I don't,' she replied, voice slightly husky. 'I guess I just must have ate something weird yesterday.' She cupped her hands and caught some of the water, using it to rinse her mouth out. 'I was fine earlier. It just kind of came on. I guess I shouldn't have touched that apple crumble from the cafeteria yesterday.'

'There wasn't any apple crumble yesterday.' Christy frowned.

Elliott shrugged. 'Well that just says everything. God knows what the hell I was eating then.' She rested on the rim of the sink and sighed heavily. 'Man, I don't think I'm going to be able to make the game. I feel terrible.'

'Oh you can't not go!' Christy cried. 'It's the big game. The biggest event of the school year! If you don't go that'll be like… Even the Nerds go to the big game.'

Elliott splashed water on her face. 'I don't know. I doubt anyone will even notice.'

Christy put her hand on her hip. 'You're coming, even if I have to drag you. Bring a paper bag or something if you need to puke again. Although it sounds like you puked up everything in there.'

Elliott half nodded. She needed to go to the game really if she wanted to catch Gary, but she just felt truly awful. She had no idea where it had come from though. Only a couple of hours ago she was with Johnny Vincent brawling with Townies in New Coventry. Now her stomach was turning at the sight of water.

'I guess I could do that.' Elliott said. 'I just don't want to end up throwing up on someone in the stands.'

'Sit on the stairs.' Christy shrugged. 'No one will notice you there, and if you need to, y'know… you just need to go up the stairs a bit. Puke in the trashcan. Plenty of other people do it.'

Elliott grimaced. 'Ew.'

Christy popped the lid back on her lip-gloss. 'How do I look?'

'Great.' Elliott told her without much feeling.

'Awesome.' Christy beamed. 'I'll look out for you. Feel better, okay? Wish me luck!'

Elliott half nodded and grumbled in response. Christy pranced out of the bathroom, leaving her on her own. She couldn't understand where this sudden illness had come from, it was just so sudden. And Elliott was rarely ill anyway. Her mother used to tell her she had the stomach of a bison, meaning she could probably sit and eat raw rancid meat and not feel any worse for it. Edna must be the food-poisoning master.

Although it could always be something else. There was a little voice in the far corner of her mind, reminding her that it had been a few weeks since that night with Gary…

Bullshit, she told the little voice. Stop thinking of the worst-case scenarios all the time. It was just that crazy cook's awful cooking. That's all. And plus, didn't they call it morning sickness because you got it in the morning?

The little voice started to tell her that she knew better than that, but she swiftly silenced it and turned away from the mirror. She felt a little better now actually; the nauseous back flips her stomach had been doing were stopping. She glanced at her watch. The big game was in an hour.

Forget being sick, she was still troubled about that Townie Edgar. Gary had never mentioned anything to her about the dropouts before. In all honesty she hadn't even known they existed until earlier today. What would Gary want with them? They had nothing to do with the school.

It didn't make sense. Which was why she needed to ask him straight up. This all sounded like it was getting way out of hand.

Elliott headed into her dorm room and moved straight to the closet. She decided to go down early to see if he was hanging around already. She opened the doors, but stopped in mid-reach for her sweater. Her stomach churned and she ran back to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth.

Just a dodgy meal yesterday. That was all it was. Nothing to worry about.

So much for being early, she thought grimly as she hurried around the campus towards the football field. It had taken about another half an hour to get over her second round of sickness, and by the time she had freshened up and got changed she was ten minutes late for the game. Not that she really cared. She didn't give a damn about the actual game, she just wanted to finally get her hands on Gary again. If she had to she would beat some sense into him. That's if she didn't just end up throwing up on him.

She ignored her stomach flip again and hurried past the large statue that guarded Jock territory. She could already hear the crowd cheering and yelling. So she missed kick off, big deal. It's not like she would be watching the damn game anyway—

She stopped in her tracks at the sound of a loud bang. The crowds oooh-ed dramatically. Someone whooped loudly.

What the hell was that? It sounded like an explosion. Elliott might not know much about football, but she was pretty sure it didn't have explosions. Fireworks, maybe? Nah, Crabblesnitch would never let the students loose with fireworks if he had any say in it. There was another loud bang and it got her moving again. She jogged along the path between the two gym buildings and then slowly came to a stop at the sight before her.

There were maybe half a dozen footballers sprawled across the field, groaning and writhing on the ground. The crowd was going absolutely insane, jumping and yelling and cheering. Elliott stood on her toes and squinted, trying to make out what was happening at the top of the field. She could see about four players still standing, and one figure racing towards them. Someone… in the mascot uniform?

'Go Jimmy!' Algie's voice floated up from the crowd.

'Can't you all be friends?' Pinky cried mournfully from the sidelines.

Elliott squinted more. Jesus it was Jimmy! Jimmy was taking out the whole frigging football team! She jumped as he hurled something at one of the players, the object exploding on contact. Elliott looked around, wondering where the hell the Prefects and the teachers were. Instead of anyone with authority, she saw three of the bullies; Trent, Wade and Tom, leaning against the railings and yelling for Jimmy to get stuck in. Elliott moved towards them, still staring in awe at the sight of Jimmy pummelling a kid clad in padding.

'What the hell is going on?' she cried.

'Man, Jimmy's kicking ass!' Trent hooted. 'He's totally showing those Jock's who's boss!'

'Beat those 'roid monkeys down, Hopkins!' Wade bellowed. 'Yeah!'

Elliott stood in shock, unable to grasp the scene that was unfolding before her. The third footballer went down under another explosive missile, leaving one remaining. Probably panicking, the remaining footballer raced away across the pitch but Jimmy was on him in an instant. He tackled him to the ground.

'He did it!' Tom yelled. 'Go on Jimmy!'

The crowds roared, ecstatic. Elliott pushed Trent aside and climbed up onto the fence to get a better look. Jimmy got to his feet and threw his arms in the air. Simultaneously, the crowds threw their arms up and cheered deafeningly. She watched as little Pete Kowalski ran onto the pitch and celebrated with Jimmy, punching the air.

'Jimmy's done it!' Trent laughed. 'He's the king of the frickin' school!'

Elliott looked at him but she was too shocked to say anything. She only watched as the footballers dragged themselves off the pitch. The away team were still sitting on their benches, watching the whole thing in bewilderment. After a moment the crowds began spilling down from the stands and ran down onto the field. Elliott looked around in alarm as the three bullies hopped off the fence and ran down the stairs, whooping and hooting like hyenas. Elliott remained where she was, staring in disbelief.

'Jesus…' she muttered. She had no idea that this school take over thing had gotten to be so epic. As she watched Jimmy being praised and congratulated by various students, a horrible thought occurred to her. Jimmy had always said he didn't want to rule the school. If he had resorted to this kind of thing just to put a few people in their place, what the hell would someone who did want to rule do?

In that moment she knew Gary was planning something way bigger than she could have ever anticipated. She looked around frantically. Gary had to be here somewhere. He had to be seeing this. She knew he wouldn't miss it for the world. But the guy was like a ghost, he just seemed to melt away…

There! She spotted him by the tree at the far end of the pitch, arms folded over his chest and watching the scene on the pitch intently. Elliott climbed down from the fence and ran down the stairs. As she fought through the excited crowds she knew this would be her last chance to try and talk to him. Perhaps it was already too late. Maybe she needed to get him before seeing Jimmy destroy those footballers.

By the time she reached the tree he had gone. She looked around, but there was no sign of him. She sighed and slumped her shoulders. A spot of rain landed on her nose, followed by another, and another. Suddenly it was pouring. The crowd on the football pitch began to yell and run back to the stairs for shelter from the sudden downpour. Elliott remained where she was though, watching them all head away and allowing herself to get soaked.

'What are you here for, Elliott?'

She looked around to see him standing by a dumpster next to the path that led to the observatory. The rain had drenched him through and was dripping from the end of his nose. His hair was flat against his head, his hands balled into fists be his sides. He looked furious.

'It's over, Gary,' she told him, having to speak louder than usual over the sound of the rain. 'Jimmy won. He's got the whole school on his side.'

There was a rumble of thunder somewhere in the distance. 'It's not over,' he told her. 'It's nowhere near over yet. Don't you see? This is just another part of the plan! It's all falling into place!'

Elliott pushed her hair back from her face and wiped the rainwater from her nose. It was dripping from her hair and her clothes and her face, and she knew the small amount of mascara she was wearing was now running down her cheeks. 'You need to forget about this! It's destroying you! It's a frigging obsession, Gary, and it's going to end up killing you if you're not careful.'

He jabbed a finger at her angrily. 'Since when do you care anyway? I know your game. You're with that little bastard! I saw you talking to Petey! You're just as bad as the rest of them!'

Elliott took a step forward. 'I'm not, I swear! I want to help you! I care about you-'

'So you keep saying,' Gary spat venomously, and then chuckled. 'You really thought you were something special, huh? You thought I really wanted to rule the school with you? You're just like the rest of them. Just another pawn.'

Elliott frowned deeply. 'Don't you dare say that, Gary. Don't you dare.'

He looked momentarily guilty but the anger quickly returned. 'You're out of this. It's none of your business anymore. And stop following me around! I saw you in New Coventry with that Greaseball.'

'Oh you see everything, don't you?' Elliott yelled, losing her temper. 'You see absolutely everything expect how stupid you are!'

'I am not stupid!'

'Yes, you are! You're a moron! You think you're going to achieve something? Did you see what Jimmy just did out there? He'll do exactly the same thing to you. You're a complete moron if you can't see that.'

Gary just shook his head. 'No. No he won't. He won't get the chance.' He turned and began to stalk away. 'You should keep out of the way if you know what's good for you.'

She chased after him. 'Don't you walk away from me.' She yelled, grabbing his arm. Her fingers were slippery from the rain. 'I'm not finished-'

One thing that Elliott often forgot about Gary was that he was stronger than he looked. That, and he was very impulsive. Looking back she had no idea whether he had meant to do it or not, but the fact was that he did. He grabbed her wrist, pulled it off his arm and shoved her back, hard. She lost her balance and fell onto her back, her head cracking off the ground. For a moment she was just winded, blinking against the rain that poured into her eyes. She turned her head, blinking away the water, and pushed herself up on one elbow. She looked up incredulously at Gary.

'What the hell, man?' she frowned, touching the back of her head.

He gaped at her for a moment, saying nothing. Finally he took a tentative step towards her. 'I… Elliott, I…' He stopped. His eyebrows drew together and the corner of his lip curled up. With a sound that could only be described as a snarl, he turned and stormed away.

Elliott pushed herself up into a sitting position and watched him go, her head spinning from the impact on the ground. She touched the back of her head again and winced at the pain, and then looked at her fingers. The blood turned pink with the rainwater and ran down the side of her hand.

'Guess that's that.' She murmured.