Lost In Conversation
Chapter Eleven: Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up
(starting with Chip's POV)
" Ah, come on! You're so slow, pretty boy." A girl who couldn't have been any older than thirteen stretched out her long limbs before looking out over the city below. The Dimmsdale sign stood embedded in the opposite mountain groves mimicking it's distant twinkle town neighbor just above the city's skylines.
" No, you're just too fast... freakishly strong athletic girl." The boy who had been addressed breathed out as he stumbled up the hill stopping just a few feet behind the girl to regain his breath. Using one of his hands to comb back his spiky, jet black bangs his eyes squinted in retaliation of the warm, pollen filled breeze. " How in the world can you so stand this stuff, anyway? Are there wires and spockets under that red top?" He smirked flashing that set of perfect white teeth.
The girl looked back at him with a slightly annoyed look, her long red mane blowing wildly in the wind. " No, that's just what happens when you actually go outside like a normal kid instead of sitting around watching MTV all day." She stuck her tongue out and turned back to the view. " Cool, isn't it? Kinda like you're looking down on a miniature planet." She spoke with a genuine awe, her rosey eyes uncharacteristically soft. Her company looked a bit skeptical at the proclaimation but once he stepped forward shoulder to shoulder with the red head, his expression soon mimicked hers.
He chuckled, " Wow... it actually does. There's the city, the people, then all the trees make up a forest.... the hills are so barren that they look like mountains, you can even see the ocean from here. I just realized how low the clouds are right now too, or are we just up that high?"
"Hmm... a little of both." The girl answered. She looked over at her companion and allowed a bright smile to stretch across her face. The same face that was usually fixed in a permanant scowl... at least, at home... and at school... and around anyone else who wasn't him.
Noticing her gaze, he looked over at her as well and returned the expression. Then his smile lessened, his eyes burdened with the anxiety of the questions his tongue refused to let out around the person they were directed towards. Already the tween had a tongue of silver and a voice of silk that molded each word and syllable into a tool able to melt the stoniest of hearts and dissolve any tight situation that may arise. Yet, always.. always, this very same tongue became a dull knotted ball of wire when it came in range of this often cold but fiery girl. It was a mystery he wanted so badly to solve yet... at the same time, he wasn't sure he was ready for the solution.
" Are you going to tell me what you're going to tell me or are you just going to continue staring at me?"
The boy was shaken out of his pseudo trance and in a nervous tone got out, " Huh? Oh. Yeah... I.... wh-why..."
"Anytime now, Skylark."
Using the taunt to fuel his bravado, he continued on with much more clarity, " Why do you still insist on playing the crazed stalker? We're friends, have been for years... I don't like having to disown you but you're not helping by giving people the wrong idea."
The smile dropped and the softness that had been in those eyes molted into a hard Skylark kid swallowed an imaginary lump in his throat at the sudden transformation.
" Really? I didn't think you wanted anyone to know."
" How could you thi--"
"Actions speak louder than words, Chip. You don't try to correct them or behave like you know me... it's been like that since we started going to middle school. I get it. You're pretty, you're popular, and I'm not exactly the type of girl that a pretty and popular guy would be seen with. I'm the bully, the mean girl, the weirdo... the stalker. It's the status quo and I'm okay with it, really." The hardened eyes softened again and the smile quirked up a little.
" I'm not..." Chip murmured. He wasn't satisfied with that explanation, but couldn't find the strength to press harder so instead he let his hand drift toward hers. The smile on her face gained new life as their hands met and wrapped around each other.
She looked into those turquiose eyes again and spoke. " Don't worry about me. Just as long as you don't forget about me... if you're the only person who ever acknowledges me, the real me... then... I'll be okay with it." Her smile turned into something a bit melancholic then brightened up again. " Besides, we can't waste our youth thinking about social stigmas! We don't have much time left Sky boy, we have to enjoy it all while we can!" With that she swirled around, red strands flying as she cartwheeled down the hill.
Chip couldn't help but grin at his friend's sudden burst of energy. " What do you mean enjoy it while we can? I can't wait until I'm older. License, car, job, my own place... I can go wherever, whenever I want... take you anywhere, buy you anything..." Realizing the hidden meaning those last two suggestions sounded like they held, he let his words trail off and hoped his blush went unnoticed.
The redhead obviously got the innuendo but gave no indication that she noticed as she ended her wheeling with a back flip and continued her lecture, " Yeah, sure, when you think of adulthood, naturally you think of the perks but what everyone tends to forget is everything else that comes with all that independance. The long work hours, the bills, the added responsibility, the stress, how you no longer have mom and dad feeding you, taking you places, and making sure you're clothed and sheltered, how few and far in between vacations are, how everything you do suddenly counts and there's little room for failure.... and that's not even counting kids. Yeah, they have to reserve the cool stuff for 'adults only', otherwise, no one would ever want to be one. Because when it comes down to it, once we hit the big one eight, there's no turning back. Life is going to start sucking... hard, even harder if it already sucked to begin with. And that's all there is to it. So..."
She offered her famous cheshire grin. " ...enjoy your carless, jobless slice of freedom while it lasts. Now come on, don't we have a play to rehearse for?"
Shaking his head and trying to wrap his adolescent mind around his friend's uncanny logic, he answered, " Yeah, I guess... still can't believe you got the part of the Queen though. I still can't even get over the fact that you auditioned for a drama club event in the first place." The fourteen year old pondered as he started down the hill after his friend.
" Well, you were the one complaining about my lack of afterschool activities. Besides, who else would make a convincing evil Queen witch? They wanted 'Icky Vicky', they got it. And I'll be happy to give' em a show." With hands on hips, she plucked out her still developing chest proudly at this statement.
" Icky Vicky... I just can't get over that name. It would make a really catchy jingle." He then started softly singing, " Hey Vicky, you're so so icky. Just the thought of being around you makes me all so...sicky?" He dodged the fist that came swinging his way and laughed at the half-hearted scowl on her face. Vicky started laughing as well having not noticed that her playful punch had closed some of the gap left between them. Chip noticed though. He went on, " It's really too bad you're so icky... I would have liked you to have been Snow White, then I wouldn't have to 'kiss' Deborah." He shivered involuntarily thinking of the unwanted leader of his... 'fanclub'.
" Heh, now why in the world would you want something like that? I'm sure Deborah is a lot more thankful for the chance to kiss you than I would have been." The redhead teased though her eyes betrayed a different feeling about the situation. Unconsciously, her hand reached out and brushed a few loose strands of raven hair behind his ear. With that motion, her eyes went a little wide as she suddenly noticed how little space there was between them.... and the way her friend's half-lidded eyes were burning into hers.
*ccccaaaaawwww**ccccaaaaaaawwwwww*
A large black hawk swooped past. It cried out desperately, begging for whatever--or whoever-- it was searching for to reveal itself and return to its side. The wind steadily blowed against it hindering its journey but the proud winged creature pressed on unperturbed making it's cries heard over the hilltops.
He made the first move. She made the second. Their foreheads bumped, Vicky's head turned at just the right angle for Chip's lips to just miss hers and lightly brush the corner of her mouth. The latter looked disoriented for a moment and then realization of his past action hit him and he pulled away blushing ferociously.
With her body turned the other way (possibly hiding her own blush) she stated matter of factly, " Save those lips for Snow White, pretty boy. Now, quit fooling around and let's go."
She began jogging down the rest of the way as Chip trailed behind (again) thinking about all the things he wanted to say, should have said but couldn't voice it anywhere else but the haven of his conscious mind, ' I know who you are and who everyone else thinks you are but I want you anyway.... Vicky... what kind of person do you think I am? '
As the young teens faded into the cluster of trees, a mangy crow dropped down picking at the area where the two humans had stood. The hawk's calls still echoing in the distance, the crow turned it's head as if about to answer the brillant creature but instead it turned away and quickly dove into nearby thickets without a sound.
"Mr. Skylark?"
The voice was so shakingly sweet... yet that didn't stop the violent ripple that went through my body at the shock of being brought out of my dream. The force of my nerve-wracked limbs knocked most of the contents of the top of my desk on the floor. Just peachy. As I began gathering the fallen pens and scattered music sheets, I turned my head and divided my attention to the nervous looking girl beside me. " Yes, what is it, Carla?"
She looked at me with large, pale green eyes behind her rimless specs. Fidgeting, she pressed her two index fingers together and tried unsuccessfully to play down the blush that had spread across her freckled nose making her short blonde hair seem even paler against her skin. Her eyes shifted up and down as if she had a thought on her mind then had suddenly forgotten it in an instant. She was always like this, just ridiculously shy. It was even worse when I first started teaching this class, the first day we had to do introductions and I could barely even get a name out of her. She was a sweet girl with a lovely voice but the shyness was just too much sometimes. It looked as though she was so shaken about having startled me that she couldn't form a syllable. I had to swallow the sign that birthed in my throat. " I'm alright, really, you just surprised me is all. Is there something you needed?"
Her face turned beet red (so much for trying to reassure her) and her soft voice stammered, " I... I'm r--r-really sorr-y. I-it's just th-that, umm..."
" She was just worried about you is all, Mr. Skylark."
The stronger and more self-assured voice came from the tall coffee skinned girl that appeared beside her. Demi, despite her height and heavyset stature, was a pure bred 1st soprano and the only person in the classroom (possibly the whole school) that could get an intelligable sentence from Carla when she was like this. Placing an arm around the smaller girl's shoulders, she looked at me through a black rimmed pair of glasses, and continued on, " You've been spacing out a lot lately. Don't cha think we would eventually start to get a little concerned? I mean, you haven't given us a decent scale to do in days and I dunno about the rest of 'em but I'm a little sick of rehearsing 'Flander's Field'."
Well, she certainly wasn't exaggerating. It'd been almost two weeks since the incident with Vicky at the gym and since then I haven't had the heart to drop in on her class again or even bother with my own class. What's worse, lately, I've been having more and more flashbacks of our childhood... which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't occur at the most random times usually when I'm in the middle of doing something that requires concentration... like driving (the speeding ticket tucked away in my wallet atested to that). I started taking more naps during the day so I wouldn't be as much of a safety hazard when I was awake but the extra hours of sleep certainly haven't helped much with the Vicky situation. Now more than ever, she avoided me like the plague. I've ceased trying to make conversation with her during our lunch break and everytime I bump into her during watch duty, she'd find some poor student to harass and hurry away to their class. But... what was it all for? I couldn't for the life of me figure out why in the world was she so upset. Did she not want me th-- well, I already knew that she didn't want me there in the first place but why the hell was she so pissed over me breaking her fall? To be honest, I have no recollection of how I managed to rush down the bleachers and catch her in time, especially considering I've never been a fast runner or particularly athlethic. My tan is mostly do to to artifical lighting ala the tanning bed and a balanced diet coupled with a bit of required weight-lifting was what kept me in shape. Even so, the how doesn't really bother me much, I'm just glad she's safe... although I'll admit, I don't competely regret what happened... it gave me the chance to touch her again afterall...
" Oh, please. You know he's been thinking about Coach Wicker."
I had just finished gathering my things and laid them on my desk when the other more cynical voice filled my ear. The voice belonged to Angie, a pretty mulatto girl with long brown hair. Her desire to sing is what pretty much saved the choral program since she convinced her extremely wealthy parents to donate a generous sum to the school specifically for it. The school was still in need of a choral instructor though, and that's when I came in... shame that wasn't enough to keep me there, though...
" Oh, really? Should've known... why don't you just ask her out already?" Demi asked with a wide grin on her face.
Well, it's kinda hard to ask a woman out when she wants nothing to do with you. As if reading my thoughts, Angie repeated that very same line to the pair across from her. The taller girl's mouth went in an 'ah' shape and then she tried again to lighten the mood, " Should've known that Coach V is a stubborn thing."
She had no idea.
"B-b-but... there's something else..." Carla sputtered again. Demi came to the rescue again leaning in so the shy girl could whisper her statement into her ear. Her brown eyes went wide as she turned to me ready to translate, " YOU'RE LEAVING?!" The rest of class turned their heads towards Demi then to me... waiting... for an explanation to something that I haven't even come to terms with.
Not long after the incident in the Gym, I got a letter in my teacher's mailbox. A real music instructor had been found and hired. She would pick up where I left off the next coming school year. A school choral program usually only needs one director, so I immediately got the indirect message that I was out of the job. I couldn't really complain though, despite my pop star roots, I wasn't exactly qualified enough to be favored over someone with a degree. Letting me direct the program in the first place was pretty risky on the school's part but the whole situation was sensationalized enough that the minor details of my qualifications could be overlooked. Which was not the case anymore. There were still some unfinished details (in other words, paperwork, ugh) that needed to be addressed before the process was complete, but so far, I haven't gotten a damn thing.
Ok, so that was a reasonable enough explanation, but how was I going to translate all that out loud to over a dozen high schoolers without looking like a total spazz? I decided to just let it fall out... that always worked out for me before. " I guess you can say that. It's not like I have much of a choice in the matter but--" Anything else that planned on slipping out of my mouth was drowned out by the lunch bell. It was that time already? How long was I asleep for? Everyone but the trio beside me started gathering their things and heading towards the door. Once the last student closed the double doors, I was back in the interrogation seat.
" Well? Aren't you going to say anything, like, why haven't we been informed of this?" Angie started and folded her arms together in a standard spoiled rich girl pout.
I tried, " I was going to tell you all eventually, it's just--"
"You've been too busy spacing out to give a damn?" Demi snorted in.
Man, just who was the teacher here? I felt like a student being scolded for falling asleep during class...wait...
" B-but... why, Mr. Skylark?" Carla's sweet voice came to my aid. " Y-you've only been here a couple of years."
You're telling me...
" I told you ladies, it's not by choice. The school has found a proper choral teacher who'll be starting in the fall. I was only here to keep the program a float, I'm not needed anymore." Those last few words sounded weak and strained to my own ears. Then...it really hit me that I would be leaving this place.
Demi spoke up, "Hm... well, I guess if you can't help it, we'll let you off this time."
Let me off? I swear, kids these days...
" But... you do know what this means, right?"
" What?"
Angie, tall and haughty, smirked and answered, " We're going to have to give you a going away party, duh."
"Oh... how silly of me not to guess..."
"Aw, knock it off, Skylark. We'll talk more tomorrow. See ya." And with that, Demi lead the other two out (who all at some point had gathered their things without my notice) the steel double doors and waved her goodbye.
Ugh... who in their right minds intentionally have children? I rue the days I ever thought bratty children in movies were cute. Christ, I'm thinking like an old man and I'm not even twenty-two yet... heh, now that I think about it, it'll be the first birthday in eight years that I had to myself.
...and no one to spend it with... not even a horny fangirl...
Face met palm as I attempted to think away my sudden exhaustion. There was still watch duty then lunch, and one last class left afterall then I could go home and wallow in my depression a little longer... oh, and make sure I don't get another traffic ticket. I had enough bills to pay, thank you very much. The tardy bell rang it's warning and that was my cue to set out. As I turned to lock the doors behind me, I heard a weak cough and my attention was turned to the young man leaned back against the wall outside my room.
" Hey, what's up Tim?"
His cyan eyes cut to the side and he had an annoyed look like he really didn't want to say whatever it is he wanted to. But it had to be important, he doesn't usually seek me out like this unless there was something big on his mind still, by the looks of it, it might take some coaxing on my part to get him to say anything. I like talking to the kid but I really wasn't in the mood for one of those conversations. Though my tired mind was telling me to brush him off, my too good for my own good consense beckoned me to move the conversation along. " Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"
" You could say that..." He mumbled still avoiding my eyes.
Ok....?
" Well, what is it? Come on, dude spit it out."
"...."
This needed to speed up. Like now.
"..."
"..."
I mentally smacked myself in the head.
"...."
"... did you ever have a girlfriend who was attracted to someone else...?"
No. Can't say I ever had that problem. Nor did I ever have a real girlfriend to be honest, sure, I went out on a few dates with some random chicks (and took even fewer to bed) and went to some shows with Britney Britney but I'm certain all that doesn't constitute for actual serious relationships... at least, the ones I hear about. But none of those tidbits would help in this matter so I said the next thing that came to mind, " So Trixie's got the hots for someone else? That's rough, man... do you know who he is?"
"... it's a she."
Ouch.
"... and it's Tootie."
Huh?
" Pardon?"
" I said it's Tootie."
Damn, talk about your fucked up love triangles...
" Tootie?! Wh-when did this happen?"
Kicking an imaginary rock, he started sulking. " I dunno... two weeks ago I saw them together and they looked like they were about to kiss, no, I'm sure they were. Trixie won't talk to me about it AT ALL and every time I get up the nerve to ask she brushes me off and Tootie... God, I haven't heard a peep out of her. I've actually been waiting for something to explode or a paper of mine to get chomped up--" Chomped up? "--but nothing un-usual has happened. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I can't believe it but I actually miss the craziness... it's just weird, man. Seriously! I don't think I can take much more of this... y'know? I--i-- sorry for dumping this all on you b-but I just--"
" Yo, calm down. It's fine, it's fine." Thank God, I had the good sense to never date in school. " You've definitely got a lot going on.... um, I really don't know what to tell ya..."
Timmy shook his head. " Nah, it's cool. I wasn't looking for advice, I just... needed someone to vent to is all. Thanks."
He was about to turn away but something made me grab ahold of his arm... I dunno, I really felt like I should say something.... well, helpful. I was a teacher afterall. Well, not technically. " Look... I don't really have much experience with these things..." Try Zero, Skyboy.", but I do know that situations like this usually don't just sort themselves out. If you want anything to happen, you're going to have to be the one to make it happen. Waiting around certainly hasn't been getting the job done, has it?"
He nodded. " Yeah, you're right. Thanks, man." He turned to walk away but then he stopped midway as if something else occured to him. Please no more teen relationship drama. " Oh yeah, I meant to ask... are those rumors about you leaving true?" News travels a little too fast in this place if you ask me. The tabloids would be envious.
" Yeah... it's more of the school board's decision. Apparently, being a pop star isn't enough qualification to teach music to high school kids."
" Hm, so what are you going to do?"
Really... I hadn't thought about it much. The whole point of coming back to Dimmsdale was to get away from work I guess... but then in less than a month, I just ended up working in a smaller setting and for ridiculously less pay. Honestly, I just can't imagine sitting at home by myself doing absolutely nothing for months... what the hell is there to do here? ("There's this wonderful thing called "the great outdoors", it's free and it's right outside your front door, might wanna check it out some time.")
" I dunno. Travel, maybe? I really haven't given it much thought, Tim."
" Oh... and what about Vicky?"
Damn, is there anything these kids didn't know about me?
" What about her?"
" You're not just going to leave it like this, are you? After all, situations like yours don't just sort themselves out. If you want anything to happen, you're going to have to be the one to make it happen."
That dose of sarcasm had to be lethal. I couldn't help but smirk at his guile though. Before I could give my reply, something caught the corner of my eye and on reflex I quickly spun around to be met by only a empty hallway. I could've swore...
"Yo, Chip. Alright there, man?"
I certainly hope so...
Rubbing away at another oncoming headache, I got out: "Y-yeah. I'm okay-- I'll be okay. Just worry about your own problems right now."
Shrugging his shoulders he turned again to leave. " Kay then. Later, Skylark." He flicked his wrist in a loose salute and walked away. Once he was out of sight, I opened my door and closed it back. Trying not to let my footsteps be heard I stalked across to the adjacent wall pressing myself against it waiting. A few seconds.... footsteps. I dashed around the corner immediately reaching out for a sleeve, a shoulder, something... and caught a hand. In mock slow motion, a orange ponytail whipped around and a pair of pretty pink eyes followed it only stopping when they met with my own. Then they transformed into crystal daggers.
" Hands off, Skylark."
" What were you doing?"
" My job, now lemm--"
" You're the school eavesdropper now?"
" Don't get fresh with me, Skyboy."
" Or what? You're going to continue avoiding me like a little kid hiding from a mad pare--"
I wasn't sure what happened next but suddenly there was a tight grip on my collar, my vision blurred, my back was in pain... and those rosey daggers were looking up at me, pinning me to the wall. Pants were coming out of that equally pretty and pink mouth of hers which after some moments curled into a smirk.
" Heh, you sure have a lot of mouth these days. I think I might need to re-acquaint you with Old Fivey."
Not at all, I remembered her alright.... so did my left arm which dully ached in response.
" Nothing's changed." She went on. " All these years... and I can still kick your primmed ass even on my worst day."
" Hm, my mistake I guess. I thought for sure that Old Fivey was in retirement since it seems the only thing you can do these days is talk about her like a fond memory." Maybe I didn't remember her as well as I thought or I damn well wouldn't have said that!
Vivky seemed speechless (a rare moment indeed) at first, then those tasty looking lips moved in an attempt to say something but only managed a strangled, " Y-y-you... you.. y..y.." Then, not unexpectedly, her face soon matched the nearby fire extinguisher in color. I think I even saw some white steam blowing out her ears... and her teeth were biting down on her lips...so sensually...
A tighter grip dug through my shirt collar and into my skin painfully telling me that this was most definitely not the time for my thoughts to wander off in that direction. Then it loosened and I was no longer forced to be one with the wall, not to mention be able to enjoy the luxury of breathing again. My attention returned to the angry redhead in front of me and I lost my breath again to the expression on her face. Her eyes resembled small puddles of pink rain and her pouted lips trembled with the ferocity I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing in a long time. Whatever my expression had been it was enough to make her gasp, let go of my collar completely, and back away. Oh, come on! This again? She slowly turned, fully intent on leaving and start back avoiding me like I had an incurable disease. Timmy's sarcastic retort echoed through my ears and without much thought, I reached out for her elbow and after a hazy milli-second of swirling colors, I somehow had switched our previous positions and she was against the wall, pinned between my arms, and looking up at me with wild, bewildered eyes.
"Wh-what's wrong with you?! Move!"
" No, what's wrong with you?! Every since I came back to Dimmsdale, it's been like this. Either you're mad with me or you're avoiding me. What is it?! What did I do, V? Tell me!"
" NOTHING! Ok?! That's what you did! You've done absolutely nothing! You did nothing when the popular kids teased me in middle school. You did nothing when th-that guy from the record company took you away from me without a word of goodbye. You didn't call, no email, not even a postcard! Just how did you expect me to react?! I was just supposed to be all happy to see you and just forget that it'd been eight fucking years since I'd heard a peep out of you? Huh?! I really... (hiccup) I really thought...." Sobs accompanied the tears that had already fallen, hindering her ability to finish the sentence.
Ok, so she had a good point. A REALLY good one that I honestly couldn't say anything to counter it. Truth be told, there was nothing to say. What COULD I say that could possibly excuse the fact that yeah, I did kind of get caught up in my career, extremely caught up and never thought to drop a hello to an old friend. My best friend. The best friend whom I realized after coming back and seeing her all grown up and looking just absolutely perfect...that I had been and still am in love with her. Again, not exactly a get out of jail free card. So I just watched her cry her rose tinted eyes out for a few moments more before she went on,
" The popular kids, I could care less about. I didn't even care if you were embarassed to be seen around me. Bu y-y-you promised, Chip. You PROMISED me you wouldn't forget! That's all I asked for, that's all I wanted... for you to remember me, remember everything we did together... remember how close we were..." She trailed off, holding me in place with those dewy drops. Great, yet another power she had that left my tongue knotted and useless. If I could just... Her fingers long and elegant like a pianist (I honestly wondered for a moment if she played) reached out and their smooth tips brushed my cheek. They were so cold and trembling so bad... my own hand automatically clasped them. So soft... I just wanted to keep them there-- keep her there with me from then on. I wanted to tell her that amongst other things but... damn, this is getting old and frustrating on top of that. Why can't we just--
That doll like hand capable of bringing down a hammer of pain onto an unexpecting twerp dropped like a lead ball from mine and the vicious (though not so now) redhead it was attached to shook her hung head. " What am I doing...?" She muttered to herself then she looked back up at me effectively freezing my body in place. " Tell me Chip. Did you ever...?" She began but shook whatever thought she had away.
It took a while for the question to register, the voice it came from sounded so foreign... so unlike the shrill half-shouting I'm used to... but once it did, she had already slipped away from me and was walking away.
" What? Did I ever what?!" But she was out of sight and my words only ricocheted off the walls back at me. Suddenly my throat tighten and I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.... I'd let her get away... AGAIN. That damn woman is just so...
SLAM!
I jumped and a blonde cheerleader--- (wait, wasn't that that girl that hung around Trixie a lot?) came screaming and crying down the hall. Without any sense of direction, she nearly ran into a trashcan but instead made a beeline for what was probably her locker quickly opening the door and shutting it again with a hanky in hand. The whole spectacle was so random and completely bizarre but in a way, I guess it summed up my interactions with Vicky pretty well. I watched her for a few seconds more but as I was about to turn around her baby blues caught mine. Oh no, I've had enough teen and adult drama for one afternoon. As expected, she started back her crazy sprint this time on a dead shot towards me. God, I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I run when I had the--
" Mr. Skylark! Oh, Mr. Skylark!"
Her grating voice instantly brought images of a wet cat getting his tail run over by a truck over and over again. But I did my best to hide the twitch that threatened the corner of my eye and temple flashing my best smile. " Yes, Miss... (damn, what was her name Vivica, Valerie? Ve-- Veronica! Yeah, that's it.) Veronica?"
She finally ended her very theatrical stroll through the halls, breaking down in front of me. " Oh, Mr. Skylark! My life is officially OVER! HOW CAN HE BREAK UP WITH ME?! I'M POPULAR!!! I know I shouldn't have dated him in the first place... Trixie told me not to, THE WHOLE SQUAD told me but he was sooo cute!"
Really? THIS is why she's so upset?
" Come on, it can't be that bad. You just said you're popular, you're pretty, and you're a cheerleader. You can find another guy easily."
Even as I was saying those supposedly comforting words, she was shaking her blonde ponytail frantically. " No, NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! DO YOU KNOW THE REPERCUSSIONS OF BEING DUMPED BY A TRAILOR TRASH HICK?!! THAT'S LIKE THE ULTIMATE DISS! I'M THE ONE THAT'S SUPPOSED TO DO THE DUMPING NOT HIM!!! I'M NOT THE LOSER, HE IS! I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO SHOW MYSELF IN THE POPULAR GIRLS' BATHROOM AGAIN! HOW CAN MY LIFE SUCK SO MUCH??!!!"
Oh, get real.
There was no stopping my eyes from rolling all the way up to ceiling nor the words that rolled out my mouth without effort, " Suck it up, Missy. It's only going to get worse from here. Trust me."
God, I thought the last chapter was the biggest hump to get over and it'll all be downhill from here... never again. That's right, here's another story about why an update took forever so if you honestly couldn't give a shit stop reading here and skip on down to see the very special preview of the next chapter (since I feel the need to assure you that I'm not a complete hack). For those of you who were really eager for an explanation (it was actually just one person -_-), just keep on reading... oh, well I guess you would actually already be doing that... I'll stop now.
Ok, so the flashback in the beginning was pretty much the most unexpected and unplanned part of this chapter and therefore was the easiest to write. It only took me a couple of days after I submitted The Beast and the Harlot to complete. It was the part after that where the problems started. It is really hard to do an entire chapter focused on Chip, because again, his character is the only one who's not clearly established so it's basically like creating a character as I go along which is both a blessing and a curse. I'm actually freaking out a little now because I have to eventually introduce his character in my other FOP fic (shameless advertising, I know). But that's not (completely) why the update took so long. Once I had gotten to the scene with Vicky and Chip, the charger to my laptop went out. What's the significance of this? I'm a broke jobless college student who procrastinates and doesn't back up her shit and isn't able to purchase a charger so I didn't have access to this chapter (or anything on my laptop) for about 4 months. Then January and the new school semester rolls around, and my brother had the bright idea to ask his computer savvy teacher to help me out and he graciously fixed my charger for me. So yay! I was back in business... and had no idea how I wanted this scene to play out. So I've been creeping towards the finish line ever since then and here we are now. What's the lesson for today, kiddies? If the charger to your laptop starts fading in and out and a nagging voice in the back of your head tells you to save your stuff, listen to it and don't assume you're overreacting.
So now I've learned my lesson, I have all my stuff backed up on two computers and a travel drive so this shouldn't happen ever again and I have no excuses for sluggish updates. So feel free to pummel me with "WHAT THE HELL'S TAKING SO LONG?!" PMs when I slack off.
*let's out breath* Damn, this is a long freaking Author's Note, I would've skipped this shit. ;P
Next Chapter: ... It Already Sucks Pretty Bad Right Now (Tootie's POV)
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"Well...?"
Well what?
Who the hell was bothering me when I-- wait...
...where the hell did that voice come from anyway?
I lifted my head from the pillow it's been buried in everyday after school for the past two weeks and switched it side to side trying to figure out where and more importantly who that sarcastic voice had come from. It sounded so familiar... no, it wasn't shrill enough to be Vicky, besides she wasn't home yet... then who...?
" U-um, he-llo. Earth to Four-Eyed Big Boobed."
A dark-skinned woman who was no taller than a ten year-old got into my line of vision. I'm sorry, make that floated since she had wings. Automatically, my body leaped up and my feet started scambling backwards towards the nearest wall. The floating entity blinked at me as if Iwere the floating freakshow then her pretty features twisted in something akin to pain. Th-those eyes...
" Jada?" The name came from nowhere slipping off the end of my tongue.
Floating down to the bed so we were at eye level, her shoulders slouched and her legs spread apart on the comforter as if the weight of the world was on her small back. I heard a long breath being drawn out as if the person hadn't breathed in years. She probably hadn't. Though her long sable hair curtained her face, I knew she was crying. The evidence were the tiny water droplets spotting the fabric beneath her chin. Involuntarily, I swallowed a hard lump that had formed in my throat...my heart was beating... so-so hard...
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It's getting close to the climax, dude! Stay tuned.
With a shorter Author's Note next time,
Ranma Matsuri