Chapter Ten: Teenagers Scare the Living Shit Out of Me

New Year's Eve passed with little excitement. Aradia didn't even bother showing up to Feferi's party, having expected some sort of interrogation from Equius. And then, she remembered what Damara told her, and an idea came to her. There was bound to be some sort of confrontation between her and the Zahhak boy, so Aradia decided it may as well be on her terms.

apocalypseArisen [AA] began pestering centaursTesticle [CT]

AA: equius
AA: lets do something fun today
AA: lets go to the archery range
CT: Ah
CT: Yes, that would be quite enjoyable
CT: But may I ask… why this sudden suggestion?
CT: I have not seen you in some time
CT: I was beginning to worry you had lost interest in me
AA: just been busy
CT: I see
CT: Very well then
CT: But I was not under the impression you were interested in archery
AA: not particularly
AA: i just want to break something
AA: makes me feel better
CT: Er…
CT: So be it
CT: Shall I have Aurthour pick you up?
AA: naturally
AA: the afternoon wouldnt be complete without aurthour
CT: Then I will see you shortly.

Equius kept true to his word, and the car showed up on Aradia's street within 20 minutes.
"Bye Damz, I'm going out!" Aradia called to her stepsister as she slammed the door behind her. Her emotions were out in full force, and it was almost overwhelming as she'd spent several months feeling nothing at all. As she all but sprinted towards the car, Equius swung her door open and climbed in after her. In a weird sort of way, Aradia felt sorry for him. A boy so insecure in himself that he had to manipulate a girl into dating him. A boy who had never been able to enjoy what he really had passion for, with an overbearing father and a distant brother and no mother to be seen, just like her.
"Hey Equius, can I ask you something?"
"Of course, er… darling," Equius faltered. Aradia choked back a startled cough. Equius never attempted to use pet names. He must have been more worried about losing a grip on her than she'd realized.
"What happened to your mom?"
Equius let out a short, airy gasp before clearing his throat. With a slight adjustment of his glasses, he spoke. "Much like your mother, she got sick. A couple years ago, now."
"Oh. I'm… sorry to hear that."
"Likewise. I haven't seen my mother in quite some time, but it cannot compare to what you must have gone through."
"Wait… seen her? I thought…."
Equius caught Aradia's narrowing glance, and realized the jump in logic she'd made. "Ah! No, that isn't to say… my mom did not die. She was cared for out of our home for a time, but her illnesses have made her very weak and she's been essentially living in a hospital for nearly two years. My father refuses to accept this… but enough about that."
Aradia sat through the rest of the car ride in silence. Though her mouth wasn't moving, her mind raced through a thousand words and thoughts a second. She related to Equius, and they weren't terrible friends, but all her resentment towards him was sent bubbling to the surface, and the tension between them was palpable. They weren't meant to be a couple, and Aradia had been essentially swindled into it. So today it would end.
They arrived at the archery range. As was routine at this point, Equius got out and opened the door for Aradia. Aradia stepped out, not sparing Equius so much as a sideway glance as she strutted over to the main part of the archery range. She knew how bows worked, and took no hesitation in showing off her skills. Before the instructor could utter so much as a word, and before Equius had quite caught up, Aradia knocked an arrow to her bowstring and hit the target- a bale of hay with a plastic printed target tossed over it- head on. Not quite a bullseye, but impressive nonetheless. Equius raced up behind her, looking on in shock as she beamed. The instructor muttered something about rules under his breath before looking up at the two.
"Hold on there, you two," he said, "Now I assume this isn't your first time but you can't just go breaking protocol like that. There is some safety stuff that I am legally required to tell you. First of all… well, there's only two of you, so you can both shoot at the same time, but wait until everyone's done before going to collect your arrows. When you…"
Once the orange-haired man finished explaining his safety rules, Aradia lifted her bow once more, Equius following the same movements beside her. As one arrow launched into the air, the other fell flat onto the ground, accompanied by the loud snap of the bow breaking in two. Aradia couldn't help but to snicker at Equius's misfortune as he grimaced up at the archery instructor.
"…I can pay for that, sir…"
The man looked completely shocked, shook his head, and returned to his office, presumably to call his boss. Aradia moved closer to Equius, weaving her fingers into his, wrapping both their hands around the bow.
"That's okay, Equius, we can share a bow."
"I… er…" his hands grew clammy with his sweat, but he let himself stay in Aradia's grip as she knocked another arrow, letting him pull it back. It sailed finely into the air, meeting another nearby arrow in the target.
"Don't pull so hard. Relax, Equius," Aradia purred. Equius turned on his heel, facing her.
"You're…making me a bit nervous…"
That hit a nerve. "What could you possibly have to be nervous about, Equius?" Aradia's cooing, calm voice was slowly turning harsh. "Could it be that… hmmm… you worked with Vriska to cheat at Seven Minutes, and have been manipulating my emotions through this entire relationship?!" Her hands were both in fists, both balled in Equius's shirt collar. Had Aradia possessed enough strength, she would have thrown him across the archery range, but instead was only able to push him enough to stumble.
"I… er," Equius bent his knees a bit, inching closer to her as she turned away in anger.
"How could you possibly think that's acceptable?" Aradia was angry, yes, but she was also crying, tears from deception and dishonesty and fury. "How could you think that's a good way to get a girl to like you? That's not how to show you care, why couldn't you just have talked to me?!"
"In all honesty, you make me nervous. I have never… been so intrigued by someone."
"So you talk to me! You don't lie to me!"
"I intended to. My intention was to ask you to Homecoming, but I got nervous, and Captor beat me to it… and my, er, helpful neighbor offered her hand. I didn't want to… I didn't want it to be like this."
Aradia was facing him again, tears streaming down her face and hands tight, muscles clenched but not quite a fist. "I could have… been with someone who actually cared, Equius. And now he has someone else." Anger dissipated and all Aradia could feel now was sadness.
Equius had slowly drawn closer and was now in an uncomfortably close proximity, looking down at Aradia. "I do care…"
Aradia's heart twisted, emotions blurring, until a fit of rage overtook her. She slapped Equius, hard, his cracked glasses flying off.
"DON'T. LIE. TO. ME!" she screeched, another slap across his cheek with every word. She thought it would be enough to make her feel better, but it wasn't. She wanted to confuse him, mess with his head a little, so she pulled him in by the straps of his tank top and gave him a long, rough kiss before pushing him away again. "Take me home," she said as he stumbled and fell onto the ground.

That ride home was quieter than any other ride had been. Aradia had nothing further to say to Equius; she'd made her point at the range. She didn't even let him open the door for her. She stormed out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Nobody was home when she got there; exactly what she'd been hoping the situation would be. Aradia slunk upstairs, locking herself in her bathroom. Not that it mattered at the moment, but she didn't want to be disturbed. She cried, but they were quiet tears. No sobs, no shaky chest, just quiet tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Mom…" she whispered to herself, to the reflection in the mirror. And suddenly, she hated how much she looked like her mom. It was only a painful reminder of how utterly gone her mother was, and how nothing could ever change it. A reminder that Aradia could never find someone who loved her as much as Daniel had loved Rachel. Equius had only proven that, and Aradia felt too broken. Everything about her. Again, sadness turned to anger, and in a furious attempt to change something in her life, Aradia rummaged through the bathroom drawer to find her scissors, and once she found them, she didn't even spare a moment to think about it before taking them to her thick mane of hair. So much of it fell away, leaving it shortened to just above her shoulders.
"Shit…" Aradia muttered to herself. It was such a clear division as she looked at her reflection. One side short, new, waiting for change, the other long and old and weighed down by emotions. Another fell swoop of the scissors, and the rest of that was gone, though she could probably use some evening out in the back. It wasn't going to be pretty when her dad got home, though.

Sure enough, an argument ensued as soon as Aradia came down from her room. She'd been upstairs for a while before everyone got home; given herself some time to cool down, but once she was down the stairs, all eyes were on her. Damara didn't say anything, and simply continued setting the table for dinner.
"Aradia, you… cut your-"
"What in the hell did you do?!" Daniel Droog yelled, completely cutting Hana off.
"Jesus, it's just a haircut, Dad."
"You did it yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Aradia, why on earth would you want to do that?" Hana asked, trying to keep a calm tone. Aradia shrugged.
"I'unno, needed a change of pace. I like it."
"Well, if you like it…" Hana's voice trailed off, looking back at Daniel, who merely shook his head.
"No television tonight. That's your punishment. If you wanted a haircut you should have told me," Daniel was being stern, moreso than usual, but it seemed almost unwarranted.
"What does it matter? Is it your hair, Dad?"
"Don't talk back to me."
"I think it suits me, and besides, it's not like I can just grow it back instantly because you don't approve."
"You should have thought of that before acting so recklessly."
"Whatever! You're so content pretending that everything's normal, while I'm upstairs hating how much I look like Mom. Open your eyes and see that I'm… I'm not okay!"
"Aradia, my intention was never to intrude on your life-" Hana began to say, but she was once again cut off.
"Leave me the fuck alone, Hana! You're not my mom!" Aradia yelled, more angry tears burning in her eyes. Daniel was seething at this point.
"That's it, young lady, go to your room! You're grounded!"
Aradia stomped upstairs and slammed her bedroom door, but there was still so much she'd wanted to say. She'd never felt so much anger in her life than she'd felt in this one day, and there had to be a better way for her to get it out. Of course, not all her issues had been dealt with. She still needed to find a way to pay Vriska back.

School started a few days after that incident, and in those few days, Aradia had not been permitted out of the house, so school provided an odd sense of relief; some of the first social interaction she'd see in a couple weeks. But of course Vriska would be at school, and of course that's exactly what Aradia had been counting on.

It had been noticed by everyone- including the teacher- that Vriska had been skipping English class, bumming smokes in the girl's restroom, Aradia assumed. So she excused herself just before class ended and made her way to the nearest bathroom. Sure enough, Vriska was in there, a somewhat disgusted grimace slapped across her face as Aradia walked in the door.
"Droog? What the hell happened to you?" Vriska asked, for once showing a smidgeon of concern rather than just taunting Aradia.
"Suffice to say, Equius and I had a little falling-out."
"Oh reaaaaaaaally? What a shame." Vriska's taunting voice was back. "You two seemed to hit it off pretty we-ACK!" Vriska's snarky comment was met by a harsh, unbridled slap across the face. Aradia's full fury was let out while Vriska was still in shock. A knee in the stomach further beat Vriska down. Aradia gripped Vriska's collar, pulling her close enough for another punch across the face, knocking her glasses off, and then gave her a half-push, half-throw out the bathroom door into the school's main hallway. Vriska fell onto the ground, clutching her prosthetic arm, a black eye forming and blood mixing with spit as it dribbled down her chin.
"Don't! Screw with me, Serket," Aradia screeched. Classrooms were beginning to let out for lunch, students spilling into the hall. The first face Aradia recognized was Feferi's sister, Meenah, coming out of the same class as Damara. The next face was Tavros, who looked utterly appalled at the state of things. The boy made eye contact with Aradia, and then she left as quickly as she could to find a place to hide.

Damara was in shock when she left her art class. Aranea's little sister was lying in the hallway with blood on her face, glasses missing, and clutching her prosthetic arm, something probably having come loose. And the culprit of the beating was Aradia, who left the scene moments after students appeared in the hall. Meenah snickered next to Damara.
"Guess Aradia's just as crazy as her stepsister, ain't she?" Damara grit her teeth as Meenah laughed, and without any hesitation, punched her as hard as she could.

Both Aradia and Damara wound up in the principal's office that day.