There's a big fight in this chapter, you can probably guess who it involves.

A disclaimer here, a disclaimer there, disclaimers disclaimers everywhere! (The disclaimer on Rugrats is included in "everywhere.")

Chapter 11

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Wheel

Look for the rumor mill, and you're bound to find Angelica Pickles. She had no reservations about whom or what she talked about. Anything and everything was just gossip being murmured in a never ending chain of high school girls. Angelica just happened to be the first link. Today it was all about a certain cousin of hers.

"Hey, Nicole. You will never guess what I heard through the stall today. You're gonna die!"

"What? OMG you have to tell!" Nicole squealed with delight.

"A certain Titan, and ex-of-Savannah has a new girl plastered to his side."

Nicole grinned. "Ooh, who? Spill!"

"But, I mean, it's so rude and stuff to gossip...unless it's real, or coming from me! Okay, so get this...Tommy and Kimi Finster!"

"Eww! Talk about totally gross!" Nicole made a gagging sound.

Angelica leered. "Just wait until the rest of the school finds out," She strode out of the girl's room, fully expecting Nicole to follow; and she did.

Lillian had thought about what to say to Kimi all weekend, but everything either sounded too harsh or not harsh enough. But Lillian did know one thing, Kimi was a traitor; they always said "no jock - jerks." This was betrayal, a felony. Lillian was considering her options when she heard footsteps approaching. She noticed Kimi walking towards her. Oh wonderful, here comes Miss Easy-lips. What the hell am I supposed to say to her now?

"Hey," Kimi was acting as if nothing had happened.

"Hey yourself. So...anything happen this weekend? I was with Chuckie, my non-athletic boyfriend for almost the whole time."

"Okay...nothing really went on. Dil and I edited for awhile," Kimi scanned her brain for anything she was forgetting, "Um...yeah."

"There were no big match-ups or anything?" Kimi furrowed her eyebrows but said nothing, "Whatever," Lillian stormed away leaving Kimi curious in the dust.

"Woah, Lillian! What's your problem?" Kimi was now chasing after Lillian, creating a very interesting show.

"Oh, I dunno...my best friend had a great time on Friday night and then lied to my face about it."

Kimi was paler than a phantom. She didn't have to ask Lillian what she was talking about, it was clear as day. "How do you know about that?"

"What, you think I'm following you around or something? I was with Chuckie. But we couldn't really enjoy ourselves. There were 2 sleazy assholes on the bench that were a little hard to ignore; the slobber was getting everywhere."

"Stop."

"Why should I? We made a pact Kimi, no jerks and no jocks. Guess what? Tommy Pickles qualifies as both, easily I might add. What the hell were you thinking anyway?"

Kimi answered meekly. "I like him...okay?"

Lillian's eyes looked like balls of fire. "Wrong answer. I can't believe you! Tommy Pickles! You might as well go straight to Phil, they're both assholes. I would have never done something like this, and then lied about it."

Kimi shook her head; Lillian's rage was becoming contagious. "Hold on a second. Are you crazy? You're dating my brother; my best friend is dating my brother. How do you think I feel about that? You didn't even ask me."

"At least I told you. And you never had a problem with it, so don't even go there."

Kimi was yelling now; she didn't care. Lillian had never been so cruel. "Stop! Of course I had a problem with it. But you seemed happy and Chuckie did too. So, as usual, I didn't say anything and let everyone else be happy. I like Tommy, okay? And if you can't accept it, then just shut up and get out of my face."

"If that's really how you feel...then I guess we're not friends after all. It's a good thing too, cause when Tommy gets you pregnant, I don't want to be the one to help you into cars when you're too fat to fit," Lillian grinned evilly and started walking down the hallway.

Kimi shrieked after her. "Shut up you asshole!"

Lillian whirled around to meet her newly found rival face to face. "Go to hell, Kimi...take Tommy with you! Go to hell!" Lillian continued down the hallway and around the corner, she didn't bother looking back.

"Dammit!" Kimi realized she was late for 1st period and that she no longer had a best friend...things were looking up.

Dil Pickles always felt like a third wheel. It didn't matter whether he was with Tommy and Chuckie or Kimi and Lillian, he was constantly the odd one out. Dil just wanted to find someone he could really talk to; he was hoping that person would be Kimi. With the film contest, he thought it was perfect opportunity. But then Lillian worked with them and Tommy came into the picture. Before Dil knew it, not only was he a third wheel, but a fourth and fifth wheel as well. That's why he loved music so much. It was his turf, his domain. He could be the big man on campus in one aspect of his life...and that was all he truly needed to be happy. He walked into the cafeteria drumming on his thigh and humming his favorite song. He spotted Kimi at her, and recently his, usual table sitting by herself. He slid smoothly into the seat across from hers. "Hey Kimi."

Kimi glimpsed up from the table. "Oh...hey."

"Woah, what's wrong?"

Kimi shook her head. "I didn't do anything wrong. All I did was like someone who happens to be really cool, and I dunno, I didn't think it would matter, I didn't think at all. And then we just had to go to the park where we...and I don't regret it...but I-" Kimi suddenly remembered who she was talking to. Her face turned bright red. "Oh man, Dil, I-shoot."

"You like Tommy. Uh, yeah. Well..." Dil took a deep breath and nodded.

"Sorry, I should find someone else to complain to."

Dil thought about that one person he wanted to be able to talk to. Maybe this was a start. "Kimi, hold on. It's fine, I don't care. Well, I mean, I do care about your-I didn't mean that-"

Kimi laughed briefly. "I know what you mean. You and Tommy are so much alike,"

Dil made a sour face, "Never. I'm not a jerk, or a sleaze."

"Seriously, what happened to you guys anyway?"

"I don't really know. We just went our separate ways. He learned how to throw a right hook, and I learned how to play drums. He became Mr. Popular Idiot, and I became the shy one in the corner.

"That's really what you think of him?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Sorry."

"Sometimes I am too...but only sometimes.

Tommy Pickles was facing a problem he hadn't dealt with in many years, a girl. Now he could look forward to lunch and deep discussions about "babes" and bodily functions, oh goody. But to add to the unusual events, today the jocks weren't talking about the attractive girls they knew.

"Chelsea Pierce!" Phil exclaimed and took a chug of Dr. Pepper.

"No way! Tammy Hade!" Sean chimed in with another name as he devoured his sloppy jo.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Tommy had no idea what was going on.

Phil swallowed, then spoke. "Hey man. Check it out, we're naming all the ugly girls in school. Dude, so far we got Chelsea Pierce, ugh, Tammy Hade, gross, and Hannah Gavery, barfed yet?"

Tommy forced a laugh. "Ha, no, not yet." At that point, a surprise guest named Chuckie showed up at the table and tapped Tommy on the shoulder.

"Tommy, hey. I've gotta ask you something."

Sean burped. "Look who it is. Hey Phil, should I kill him now or wait until after lunch? I don't want his dead body to ruin my meal."

Chuckie looked from Sean to Phil and took note of their grimy, sloppy, and food-covered exteriors. "I don't think it's possible to ruin a meal for you. I'm sure you wouldn't think twice about eating the body. Relax, I'm just here to talk to Tommy."

"Whatever," Phil and Sean returned to their conversation, "Yo, Sean, I got one! Kimi Finster!" The two burly idiots slapped hands and cracked up.

Chuckie, upon hearing his sister's name, turned back to Phil. "What're you talking about?"

"Yo, T , Kimi Finster, she's like the gnarliest chick in school, sweet huh?" Chuckie realized what was going on and stared at Tommy, waiting for his answer. Tommy felt like the entire cafeteria was doing the same thing.

Angelica pranced and paraded through the halls of Lifton High School until she was positive her duty was done. If asked why the cheerleader insists on spreading rumors, she would respond by 1st, clawing your eyes out, 2nd, saying that they're not rumors if it's true, and 3rd, explaining that she was just trying to be frank like her mother, Charlotte Pickles, in her world of business sharks and corporate tycoons. But that's beside the point, Angelica Pickles will always attempt to make her peer's lives miserable, but such is life. By the end of lunch that same day, everyone had heard a slightly exaggerated or somewhat tone-downed version of the Kimi and Tommy story...except Tommy himself.

Lunch was drawing to a close, so Kimi got up to throw her garbage away. She knew from Chuckie that the jock table was near the trash bins. Kimi made a decision to go and talk to Tommy. She had everything planned out in her head; she imagined a sweet little scene, the kind you'd find in movie. But Kimi also learned years ago that movies and reality aren't meant to mix. This would only strengthen her belief.

­­­­­­­­­Angelica made an appearance at the jock table before lunch ended. She wanted to make sure her story had gone full circle, meaning Tommy knew that by kissing Kimi, he kissed the whole school too. "Hey, guys. What's up?" Angelica giggled and smiled at the jocks.

Angelica's unusually perky and cheerful manner caught Phil's attention. "Somebody's high," He joked between bites.

Angelica snorted. "Somebody's dead. Kidding, I just wanted to talk to you guys about your weekend. Anything interesting happen?" The conniving cheerleader leaned towards Tommy.

Phil threw his lunch down. "Hell, yeah! Me and Nicole went to this sick party..." Angelica tuned Phil out as he rambled on about him, himself, and nobody else. It was then that she noticed an oddly dressed girl with a nose ring heading for the table.

"Oh my god, it's Kimi Finster!" Angelica cut Phil off and pointed at the theater geek.

Sean didn't wait to finish chewing. "Dude, we were just talking about her."

Angelica attempted to shield herself from her boyfriend's shower of food. "That was gross, ugh," Realizing her mean streak was gaining momentum, Angelica regained her ditzy composure and began acting like an airhead again. "Why were you, like, talking about Kimi Finster, babe?"

"Yo, check this out. Me and Phil were naming all the ugly chicks in school. Kimi was the last one. T, you never said what you thought. Dude, don't leave us hangin'! She's nasty, right?"

Angelica chimed in, "Yeah, Tommy, tell us. Isn't Kimi ugly?" She had mastered the art of putting the pressure on.

By this time, Kimi had appeared behind the jock table, but no one had noticed her. After years of being surrounded by other egotistical maniacs, it took most jocks awhile to notice, hear, or recognize anyone else. She had caught wind of the conversation and stood by waiting to hear Tommy's answer. Please, Tommy, stand up to them. Don't be like them. Prove something, please. Don't be a jerk. Kimi held her breath and waited for Tommy's response.

Tommy rubbed his forehead, he couldn't believe this was happening. "Yeah man, she's, uh, pretty ugly." Chuckie got up and left. He wasn't going to listen to this.

Kimi dropped her trash on the floor. Her leftover yogurt splattered up and down her leg; she didn't even feel it.

"Asshole," Kimi glared at Tommy. She didn't care about her language, Kimi knew no one at the jock table would hear her...and she was right. The table kept on laughing and laughing at absolutely nothing. Sometimes Kimi wondered if they even heard themselves.

What do you think? Angelica is that one person you love to hate. Susie reappears in the next chapter to help an old friend.