Swords & Axes: A Cheerless Interlude
by The Jessica X

Libby, Sabrina, et al. are © Archie Comics / Hartbreak / Paramount / Whatever.
Adymm and the members of In Absinthia are © me, so there.
This work of fiction is © myself.

Chapter 3: Freakest Days

A few seconds passed before Adymm said, "Are you okay?"

"Sure... I got what I wanted, I guess. B-but..." And before I knew it, the tears were being frozen to my cheeks. "It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough time."

"I know," he said, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Come on, let's get you outta this cold."

You probably don't care because it's not that important, but Murdock's is a restaurant-slash-gift shop that everybody ends up in sooner or later during our free day in Swords Village. There's not much to it: tables, a crane game, and some gaudy merchandise, but it's nice and cozy, and their food is really good.

"You wanna talk about it?" he said when a hot cocoa was in front of me - he'd insisted.

"What's to talk about? Everything's just... well, bad."

"You couldn't maybe try elaborating on that...?"

"This place is a stifling cesspool of rude, callous buttmunchers who could care less about a girl's feelings!" I screamed; the other patrons looked up startled. "Uh, school, not Murdock's," I added, which seemed to calm them down so they could go back to their burgers.

"Smooth recovery, there."

"It happened again, Adymm." I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling helpless - two things I would never have done a year ago. "I'm never gonna get to tell her goodbye, am I?"

"Hey, look," he said uncomfortably, leaning forward. "Maybe it's like, kind of a sign; you haven't been able to tell her goodbye because you're not supposed to. Like maybe you should just be saying, 'see you soon'?"

"Maybe." It's pretty obvious he was just trying to placate me, but it was kinda working. "This whole thing is just bad, that's all."

"Nothing good ever happens in Swords."

"It is a crapfest up here."

We wiled away the rest of the afternoon swapping tales of our respective homes. Adymm kept throwing around alien terms like Stabbing Westward and Depeche Mode that held no meaning to me - remember, I'd never gone any more hardcore than Gordon Gano - but the stories were still pretty intense; he's done a lot of illegal things that made me feel dangerous just knowing about them. He told me I should check out some of his favourite bands when we're emancipated from all this - sounds like a lot of noise, but we'll see.

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A couple months crept by, and they were pretty much the same as the first months; dull and frustrating. Tests, choir, college applications and everything else kept me from feeling the loneliness, but it was still there, just lurking around the corner and waiting to strike me at bedtime, or in the shower, or any other time of the day my mind wasn't filled to the brim with other things.

But then there's Adymm and his relentless pursuit of me; he eventually dialed it down a little (very little), but he never stopped being my friend. We hung out as much as we could without making the administration think we were succumbing to the evils of not working for the Catholic church. Seriously, me in a habit? Ew!

Then one day, sometime in the middle of April I think, I got two very important pieces of mail. The first was from Sabrina, and the second from my so-called parents. I decided to open the second one first, so I could save the (hopefully) good news for last.

Here's what my mother's stupid letter said:

"Dear Libby,

We're sorry to have to tell you like this, but apparently you're not allowed to receive calls or visitors for reasons other than extreme emergencies. I really do wish we could do this some other way, but this is the best we can manage.

Your stepfather has received a very generous job offer that pays nearly double his current salary; not only that, but it's his dream job, and he can't wait to get started. The bad news is that it's in Tokyo, Japan, and in order for him to take it he needs to start in two weeks. Unfortunately, this means we won't be able to pick you up from Swords when you graduate. I will try to fly back and see your ceremony if it's at all possible, but I'm not promising anything; it might take longer than that to settle in.

You don't need to worry about where you'll be living, though - your father says his New York apartment will more than accomodate both of you if you choose to stay in the States, or I'd be happy to wire you the money for a ticket to Narita International (if I can't deliver it in person). Of course, you're a big girl now, and you may not need a place to stay, which is fine, also. I've left instructions with the administration to give you money for cab fare; you'll have plenty to get you back to Westbridge, and we'll be renting a storage garage for your car and all your things, so from there you can drive wherever you need.

Now honey, I know you're probably upset about this, but realise we were put in a very difficult position, and Reed thought this would be best for the family. I hope you'll be able to forgiv-"

...and that's where I crumpled it up and set it on fire. That is, I would've set it on fire if they allowed us to have anything that could create a flame. So I ate it.

Well, they sure did think of everything. Did you see how well-laid their evil scheme was? Not one detail missing or out of place. I wonder how long ago he really did get that offer - a week? A month? Maybe they've known since before they shipped me off to boarding school, and this holy hell I've been in was just a plan to get me out of the way so I wouldn't raise a stink.

Lucky for me it was Saturday and we had no classes, 'cause I could go rant and rave over this with Adymm. It turns out goths are really good at helping you brood and fume over something; we both bitched about our parents all afternoon, him giving me the right-of-way due to the recent letter and all. And when my anger finally broke, he held me while I sniffled (he looked really weirded out by it, though).

Japan. They were running off to Japan, of all the freaking places - and I didn't even get consulted! The worst part was that all this time I'd been missing Westbridge... and there was nowhere for me to stay there, not anymore. My choices were to leave my hometown, or leave the whole country. Perfect.

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I almost forgot about the other package, though - Giselle pointed it out to me the next morning. It depressed me a little, but also kinda cheered me up.

It was a yearbook. Precisely, my Westbridge yearbook from last year. Oh, I went over all the pages for hours! There were pictures of me and the girls cheering, Harvey sitting on the bench looking hot, and Sabrina and I winning that trophy at the science fair; I had to laugh at my slightly-disdainful expression. Then, when I already thought it was the best gift ever, I found something written in the front:

"Libby,

You were a worthy opponent, and a worthier friend; we all missed you this year. And you don't have to keep thanking me! Seeing you change, the way you became such a good-hearted person... that's all the thanks I need. You better look me up when you break outta Alcatraz - I can hardly wait to see you all grown up!

Shake your whammy fanny!
Sabrina "The Freak" Spellman

PS: B.F.F.!"

It was so short, and yet... everything I needed to hear. How does she DO that?!

And it got better - Harvey, Cee Cee, Jill, and even Mrs. Quick and Mr. Kraft all signed it, too (though Mr. Kraft's little note just said "Without you to help me keep them in line, all the students are virulent hellspawn"), along with at least a dozen other kids I knew, and some I didn't know. It was the best birthday present a girl could get, even if it was a few months late... almost like Sabrina had figured out a way to mail pure love. I was on cloud nine for a week.

Eventually, after the pure glow of it wore off, I fixated on the "B.F.F." at the end - I mean, I had come to think of her as my best friend, and maybe she had, too! And before you start chiding me, I know everybody writes that in yearbooks, even for people they hate, but... I couldn't help but wonder if she really meant it. Adymm thought I was being gay again.

But around then was when finals started drawing nearer and the teachers wanted us to know it, so I couldn't really think about it too much after that. But before the tests came something that really killed me - something I would've loved if it were anywhere but here.

Senior Prom. Or, in our case... the Spring Formal.

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END Chapter Three