Chapter 7: Retribution

Can we pretend that airplanes…In the night sky…Are like shooting stars…I could really use a wish right now…Wish right now…Wish right now

I could definitely use that wish right about now I thought as B.O. B.'s Airplanes flooded the rooftop of Ketlar. Kiran had just left and now I was able to let loose and party like a Billings Girl was meant to. I looked over and saw Ariana Osgood and Gage Coolidge downing their 5th shot of Jack Daniels. I rolled my eyes and looked over as I felt someone next to me. It was just Joshua Hollis aka Josh the Boy Scout. He looked pissed and it sure as hell wasn't from the free flow of fermented drinks sitting before him. I made eye contact and saw that I obviously wasn't welcomed back by him. That part was clear from his narrowed eyes and hard, blank expression at me.

"Dude Hollis what's your deal?"

"What's MY deal Noelle?" I heard the exasperated tone in his voice. "Pull the plank out of your own eye before looking at the splinter in mine!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means don't get on my case 'cause right now you are treading in fucking deep water Lange."

"And you don't think I know that?" I said standing up from the bar about to go over and stop Ariana while she was ahead!

"Oh I know you know. You just won't admit the real truth because people believing this half truth is better for your quote end quote reputation," Josh spat back using air quotes at the end.

"It's not about my reputation Josh. It's about sticking up for people. Something I've never in my life seen you do. Other than maybe with Reed."

I knew I had hit home on that one because he stood up suddenly enraged beyond anything and grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the bar. I tried to get away, but his grip was too strong on me. I looked back and saw Ariana looking at us suspiciously as she downed her 8th shot. Josh dragged me inside forcefully, so I could faintly hear the beat of Lady Gaga's Alejandro in the background. He spun me around so hard I hit the wall. I stopped short as his eyes flashed black. I just stared at him blankly almost terrified.

"Josh. What. The. Hell?"

"Noelle I know Ariana killed Reed, not you. It wasn't a big secret that she was always pressing to get her into Billings." He looked like he could kill.

"Alright Sherlock. You're right, but everyone knows I admitted to 2nd degree murder and they're okay with that."

"Not for long Lange. Not for long."

"What are you fucking talking about?"

"Kiran. She's ready to freaking slit your throat Noelle for what you did to her."

"And you know that how?"

"She told me she's through with seeing your face here at Easton reminding her of everything that happened in that dreaded house you call 'home'."

"Oh and I am supposed to believe every word of that?"

"Yes you are Lange. Because I'm on her side. Not yours."

"Hmm I should have known." I shook my head and stepped up menacingly next to Josh near the couch next to the brand new Vizio flat screen TV. I breathed out angrily as Taylor Bell walked into the room coolly with a Coors Light in hand.

"Taylor, thank God you're here!"

"Actually Noelle, I thought you were supposed to know everything," she said acerbically.

"Uhm, I usually do. It doesn't mean every single waking minute I know everything." I said this in perplexity.

"Well then if you were awake, you would have known that Josh and I are not on your side!"

She said that so brusquely I was utterly confused. I was almost in shock as I stood there looking from Taylor to Josh and then back to Taylor.

"Taylor. What is going on?"

"What's going on is while you're sleeping around with Cromwell and lying your ass out of jail, there are people who actually cared about Reed. Like us."

"I'm sorry guys alright I had no idea that Ariana was going to do that."

"But you were up there Noelle. The night she was murdered and you could have done at least something. Anything to stop her."

I sighed. This was so not happening right now. I felt my esophagus start to close up and less and less oxygen flow into it.

"Guys, please I didn't want any of this to happen. You two both know that."

I saw them look at each other then back at me. Josh then spoke up.

"Noelle, it's hard to believe anything you say anymore. Some advice for you: stop while you're ahead. I wouldn't want to have to send a certain picture to your little boyfriend at Yale."

"So that was you. Mhm. I knew Kiran hadn't taken that herself."

I looked to Josh who stood there just looking back at me angrily.

"Okay you know what? Maybe I will take your advice. I'll see you guys later."

I looked back over my shoulder at Taylor and felt my stomach lurch and about a million butterflies fill it. I was about to puke up the Budweiser and the pizza I had just eaten. I turned sharply and rammed right into Ariana by the sliding glass door. I heard Usher's OMG blaring from the stereo sound system as Ariana gripped my wrist. I knew she had stopped downing shots with Gage and the boys a long time ago.

"What the hell just happened in here?" She said blatantly and surprisingly soberly and looked to Josh and Taylor who were heading out to the couch on the other side of the roof.

"Josh and Tay both are on Kiran's side. They apparently know everything about Reed."

"What do you mean everything Noelle?"

"They know it was you not me that killed her. They are both pissed beyond anything and will do everything to see us go down."

"Well we will have to make sure that they know that we don't go anywhere without us knowing!"

I sighed on the verge of a breakdown: "I try to help you out and all I do is dig myself into deeper shit than I have to!"

"Noelle, look at me!"

I looked up into Ariana's face warily. "What?"

"You are NOT going to break down on this one, alright? This is what they all want Noelle. Can't you see that?" She took a step towards me squaring up to me. "Kiran and them can get to you much easier if there's more drama and confusion revolving around you. She pretty much wants to get you to the point where you're about to give up!"

I inhaled deeply and let out the hot air slowly. "You're right Ariana, the past is the past. I have to focus on getting things straightened out right now! I can deal with Kiran later once she's cooled down."

I heard Ariana smirk, "That's my Noelle! Now let's go, the Twin Cities want to plan some party at Billings next week."

I had to laugh at that one. Since when did London and Vienna not plan parties every day? That would be, never! I followed Ariana outside and walked over to where London and Vienna were standing talking to Astrid and Kiki. I smiled and talked to them for what seemed like hours about some party they wanted to have to celebrate the halfway mark of the school year. I had no problem with it. I caught a glimpse of Taylor and Josh coming over to the bar and let the anger pass over me. Tonight was about me being back and having fun.

Fell in love with honey like my, oh my…Honey looking wonderful; fly, so fly…Honey like a supermodel; my, oh my…Baby how you do that, make a grown man cry?

The music stopped abruptly and I turned around and saw Headmaster Cromwell and Dean Marcus standing by the DJ station cords pulled apart in their hands! I gulped. Shit. This was on me. Everything Billings related fell on me. Fuck. I was screwed. I saw Dean Marcus walk over to me and stop. The only thing I heard was Gage set down his beer bottle. Other than that it was deathly still.

"Noelle. Do you want to tell me what is going on up here?"

"Dean," I started off slowly. "Ketlar and Billings wanted to throw a party for me since it's my first night back here at Easton! They wanted to welcome me back on campus!"

"You know the rules Noelle. No parties on weeknights. Ever."

"I know Dean and I am really sorry. Obviously I wasn't thinking clearly about this at the time."

"Obviously Noelle. And you let them continue to down alcohol at this party when you know darn good and well that it's prohibited here even on weekends?"

"Yes Dean I did and I will take whatever consequence for my actions tonight."

I looked over and saw Gage, Josh, and Taylor come over and stand next to me.

"Well the only punishment I can give is detentions all around and in school suspension for you."

I gulped again. Damn. I hated freaking in school suspension. It was even worse than being in prison for three days. I felt someone elbow me and I looked over and Josh nodded down to his phone. I looked down and saw the half naked picture of me and Cromwell he had taken the other night. I hadn't really looked at the picture, but this time I couldn't believe how Josh captured me in that much of a comprising position. The text read: 'I'm sending this to the entire school and to Dash if you let them give us all detentions'! I looked up at the smug look on his face and turned and saw Cromwell appear behind Dean Marcus.

"Headmaster please I wasn't thinking clearly about this and I don't want everyone else to be punished for my wrong doings. Whatever the punishment, it should just be on me."

I looked at Ariana who looked incredulous as I said that. I ripped Josh's phone from his hand and handed it to Ariana who glanced at it and gave Josh the most murderous glance I had ever seen. I felt Josh scrambling t get it back.

"Hollis is there a problem!"

"No Headmaster everything's all good," he said through clenched teeth and then stood still. I gazed in Ariana's direction and mouthed to her "delete it." I looked back at headmaster and took a step forward in front of everyone.

"Alright Ms. Lange, since you were honest about this whole thing; if this place is cleaned up and all of you in bed in the next 30 minutes, then the only thing you'll have is detention with me for two weeks."

I rubbed my lips together and looked up at Crom who had a glint in his eyes. I saw him smile seductively at me and I knew that if it were any other dorm on campus; they'd all have in school suspension starting tonight.

"Now people I expect this roof spotless and every single last one of you in bed in half an hour. You got that?"

I heard a chorus of yeah's and yes's as all the guys scrambled to get rid of the kegs and coolers of beer. I breathed in heavily relived that things didn't get any worse. I got busy picking up red plastic cups and throwing them away among other things needed to get the roof of Ketlar looking the way it had. I saw Trey and Gage and Josh moving the furniture back into the top floor and rearranging it all. Ariana turned to me Josh's phone in hand.

"It's deleted, but remember Kiran still has a copy of it!"

"Alright I'll find her phone and get rid of it later."

"And Noelle when you give this back to him don't start anything. It's too late for that."

She handed me Josh's Droid and laughed. I smiled and took it over to Josh, handed it to him, and went back to Ariana who was grabbing our stuff and getting ready to leave. I looked around and saw that most of the girls including Taylor had left. I sighed and grabbed my Prada messenger bag and went downstairs with Ariana.

We walked back to Billings silently and when we got there we found most of the girls already asleep either from lack of sleep or from alcohol consumption. Ariana and I went up to our room and got dressed for bed. I was about to go into the bathroom with my Clinique face wash when my phone buzzed with a text:

Constance: Noelle, we need to talk. Plz meet me at Hell Hall ASAP!

I texted back like it was 2nd nature.

Me: Is everything okay!

Constance: Yeah just wanna talk to u!

Me: Alright be there in a sec.

I had no idea what his was all about, but I changed back into my jeans and threw on my maroon Easton sweatshirt.

"Ariana Constance needs to talk so I'll be by Hell Hall so if I'm not back soon come get me alright?"

"You got it Noelle. But just be careful okay?"

"I will Ari," I said as I grabbed my iPhone and shoved it into the back pocket of my True Religion Jeans.

I opened the door to our room and crept down the hall almost ninja-like. Everyone else was asleep like they were supposed to be. I looked in and saw Kiki and Rose and Portia all dead out as they lay in a heap on the floor still in their clothes. I laughed to myself. Those girls needed to learn moderation. Especially when it comes to fermented drinks. I sighed and quietly opened the front door and shut it so it didn't even make that awful squeak it normally did. I walked briskly to Hell Hall wondering if Constance was alright. I knew she was just as shaken by the whole Reed thing as Josh and Taylor were, but I had no way of knowing since I hadn't seen her in almost a week.

I rounded the corner and walked to the steps and sat down by the entrance sign to Hell Hall. I looked around and waited for about five minutes for Constance. I pulled out my phone and tried calling her. It went straight to voicemail. Okay, that's weird. If she wanted to talk so badly where was she? I stood up and leaned against the wall.

"Trying to reach someone Noelle?" a familiar voice said.

I froze in my step and slowly turned around and saw Kiran standing on the steps where I just had sat.

"What are you doing here Kiran?"

"I wanted to talk to you Noelle. Can't friends talk anymore?"

"First of all we're not friends anymore. You made that pretty clear. And second I'm supposed to be meeting Constance out here."

She laughed maniacally and pulled out Constance's cheap Sprint flip phone from her pocket. My eyes narrowed so far I probably looked almost Asian. She had taken Constance's phone and used it to lure me out here. God she was such a bitch. She was so going to regret doing that!

"Well now that we've established that it's me that wants to talk we might as well."

"I'm not talking to you Kiran. You already know the truth and that's all you ever wanted."

I felt her presence right next me as if she suddenly materialized right in front of me. She drew out a 9 mm handgun with no effort and pressed it to my head in one swift motion.

"Who said anything about talking Noelle?"

My breath hitched as I started to freeze up. I looked at her and saw pitch black venom in her eyes.

"Kiran please! You're going to regret this."

"You dead is something I will never in my life regret."

"You won't get away with it Kiran, I promise you that. Ariana barely got away with killing Reed."

I felt her hand and my cheek meet as she slapped me across the face: "Do NOT talk about Reed like you knew her Noelle. You both hated each other with a passion."

"Yes I hated her and never wanted her in Billings, but Ariana did and I wanted Ariana happy. That's what good friends do Kiran."

"Good friends? She left you to starvation and boredom in jail after you saved her ass. You're telling me that's a good friendship. You've got to be fucking out of your mind Noelle."

"I'd say that you were the one out of your mind Kiran. At least I'm willing to do that for someone other than myself."

I heard the cock of the gun and my heart skip at least two beats.

"I'd be careful Noelle what you say right now. You're life is pretty much in my hands."

"Oh is it?"

I felt her press the gun into my head harder. It was actually giving me a headache. I wanted to push her but the rest of my body was paralyzed against the wall. I couldn't move an inch, even I really tried to.

"Yes Noelle it is! I'm just wondering if daddy will deem this 2nd degree murder as well?"

"Kiran please stop. I mean it. I never meant for anything like this to happen! I'm sorry about Reed. I wish I had done things differently. I really do!"

"Ahw! Now you're apologizing. Well it's kind of late for that hun. But I appreciate the gesture."

"Come on Kiran. Let's just go back to the way things were around here. Partying and getting wasted at Fat Phoebe's. Planning for the Legacy?"

"I would love to do that Noelle. The only problems are that Reed, Taylor and I's really good friend; almost sister, is dead because of you and I want the presidency that you have and I'm willing to kill for it."

I breathed in slowly and stared at her.

"I said I'm sorry about Reed and about the presidency I was given and elected for a reason. I can handle the drama and everything that happens at this school."

"Yeah well Noelle if I knew what a fucking bitch you were going to be later, I would have never voted you in there."

"God. Why did I even let you into Billings Kiran? You are nothing but a fucking drama queen who wants the universe to revolve around only her. Well news flash hun: it doesn't!"

I regretted that statement the nanosecond it was out of my mouth. I was pissed. Kiran still held the gun to my head. I regained strength and pushed her away from me and knocked the gun out of her hand. She caught herself on the retaining wall and came at me. She used both her hands and started chocking me. Tears started flowing out of my eyes as less and less oxygen came into my throat. I tried to shove her off of me again, but she had me pinned against the wall.

"Kiran. Get. The. Fuck. Off. Of. Me," I stifled out.

"After everything you did to me Noelle. Not on your little pathetic life."

I tried desperately to get air into my lungs, but Kiran's grip was tighter than a wrench. I felt myself starting to black out. I leaned my head back to try to get more air. I felt my legs giving out. God I hated revenge. Retribution even more for that matter. I remembered a quote from English class about retribution redressing its redresser. HA! That was a little too ironic right now. I felt something hard hit my head, probably the gun. The last thing I heard was Ariana's voice. Then all I saw was pitch black surrounding my body as I completely blacked out.

A/N:

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to read my story. I know that people in reviews were angry at this Noelle, so hopefully this chapter brought some justice. I put more Josh and Taylor in it and they will continue to be in it as Kiran and Noelle cool down with their hatred toward each other. The next chapter will have a twist so please review and tell me what you think of this one. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the punctuation and grammar errors. I'll update as soon as I can!

All the Love in the World,

Jenny Lange :]