Wicked Games

Chapter Two: We Know The Truth

"How are my ladies feeling?" Rhonda burst into the dressing room grinning from ear to ear.

"This outfit is too much." Helga whined. A short Asian woman was bent at her waist as she stood on a pedestal inserting pins into her costume. She winced every time she did it. She was supposed to be a sexy mummy, wearing a handmade strapless dress of white, cream colored wraps. She already had the wraps for her arms and legs finished but her weight kept fluctuating and changing the hem of her dress.

"Maybe if you'd kept eating those salads I told you about." Rhonda wagged a playful finger at her.

"I do though!" She groaned. "Ow Kit!"

"Sorry." The seamstress said none too regretfully. Helga scowled at her.

"This is totally awesome." Lila grinned. A tiny pale girl was putting green makeup on her for practice. Lila was supposed to be Frankenstein's monster. Her lips had been painted a dark red and her eyelids boasted a deep dark purple to go with her almost lime green skin.

"Oh Amelia, that just looks fantastic. Very feminine, I love your style." Rhonda fawned over the makeup artist. She nodded tersely and focused on painting the black stitching around Lila's neck.

"It's a good thing you went legit with this video Rhonda. We're gonna look hot." Lila grinned as she tilted her head back.

"I better look hot if I'm this uncomfortable." Helga piped up.

"That's the cardinal rule of beauty. If you are suffering, you are beautiful." Rhonda smirked. Helga rolled her eyes.

"I'm done." Kit said tartly. "Now go take it off before I have to adjust it again. Go."

She popped Helga on the hip. She jumped down and hobbled awkwardly out of the room.

"Kit, Amelia. Would you give me a moment alone with Lila please?" Rhonda simpered quietly. Amelia and Kit began gathering up their things to leave. Lila looked around nervously as the door shut quietly behind them.

"Lila." Rhonda said softly, leaning on the girl's chair as she stared into the mirror at her.

"I wanted to talk to you while Helga was out of the room for a moment. I hope you don't mind."

She said it in a way where Lila could tell it didn't matter whether she minded or not.

"What did I tell you about hanging out with Arnold?"

The blood in Lila's veins shot through her, her temper instantly rocketing through the roof.

"You said it would be fine if we hung out." Her voice was rising already.

"I warned you." Rhonda snapped, losing her cool. "I warned you if you hung out with him, you'd start having feelings for him. He just is that way. But did you listen to me? No. You're not fooling anyone with your "just friends" bullshit and now Helga's upset." She growled. Lila watched her own face flush in anger. It looked strange under the green.

"She's gonna have to get over it. Arnold is gonna have a girlfriend at some point. You can't stop that." She snarled.

"Like hell I can't." Rhonda said in a low voice.

Lila fell silent. The weight of her words hung in the air, changing the tension in the room. The hair on her arms were standing up.

"This little game of yours is over. You are not to hang out with him anymore. It's done." Rhonda said simply.

"Rhonda-" Lila began to argue but the door opened.

"Thank the gods I'm out of that." Helga said loudly as she walked in. She paused seeing the heated looks on both of their faces.

"Did I miss something?" She asked. Rhonda turned around, clapping her hands together as she gave Helga a smile.

"No, nothing at all hun. We were just talking about the set I have waiting for us next week."

"Finally! When do we start shooting? I feel like we've been practicing the scenes forever now." Helga flopped down into an empty chair.

"The beginning of September. I'll send you guys the address and then we meet there."

"Can we go now." Lila said stiffly. Rhonda shot her a nasty look but hitched on a small smile quickly.

"I'll send Amelia in to clean you up, then you can go." Her voice dripped with stifled hostility. She grabbed Helga's hand and pulled her from the room.

"God knows she needs it." She whispered to the blonde and they giggled all the way out.

HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA

Lila stalked down the sidewalk clutching her purse angrily in her hand. Her destination was only a short way away. She needed to calm herself but then the full of herself face of Rhonda would rear it's ugly head in her mind and she could barely choke back the anger that rose in her. Who did she think she was? The fucking queen bee? Rhonda was so not the boss of her, she could hang out with whomever she wanted and do whatever she wanted. (Realistically, whomever she wanted) She chuckled at that thought as the looming stoop of Arnold's boarding house came into view. She knocked twice and waited. The door opened to reveal Arnold.

"Hey there! Come in." He waved her in and she stepped over the threshold.

"Hey back." The corner of her lip curled up as she walked by him and into the darkened living room they normally watched their TV show marathons in. He followed her in, flipping on the TV as she sat on the couch.

"So how was the music video thing?" He asked plopping down next to her. She groaned.

"Horrible, as usual. It really should be fun but with Rhonda running around barking orders at you and cramming critiques down your throat, it gets pretty old pretty fast."

Arnold started season three of their current show. He leaned back, intertwining his fingers behind his head.

"Why do you keep doing it then? Why don't you just get out?"

"Get out? Get out?" Her mouth fell open as she stared at him in shock.

"Maybe you don't understand, Arnold. Ditching the trio is basically social suicide. If I left, they would destroy me. No one at school would ever talk to me again. I'd be an outcast."

She shivered at the thought. Yeah, she hated Rhonda's guts, but her fear of the girl's wrath overpowered that a hundred times. No boy would ever look at her again. She would never hear another girl's voice laugh with her. She wouldn't be able to join any social club at school that would look good on her college applications.

"Would that be worse than what you're going through now?" He asked gently. She looked over at him. His blue eyes looked genuinely concerned. It struck her in the heart every time. Her heart swooned.

"Yes." She said quietly. "Much worse."

He sighed softly and looked straight ahead. She stared at him though, the pale light from the TV shining over his face. Her eyes fell across his angular features in a familiar pattern, down from the eyes, sliding down the jut of his jaw, right smack to his cute little full lips. She leaned in, discretely scooting closer to him.

"See, if I did something as stupid as stupid as that, I wouldn't be able to go to the winter formal."

She was leaning in closer. Her breath would caress his cheek any moment now.

"I don't think anything should stop you." He said seriously.

"Nothing at all?" She said suggestively. He turned his face as her breath touched him and she bumped her lips against his. She felt his body jolt in surprise so she threw her hand up around the back of his neck and melded her lips with his. They were soft, softer than most boys with cracked lips. She figured he must use chaptstick regularly. His lips moved questioningly, paused, moved, and finally he stopped, pulling away from her.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused." He said.

"What? What's confusing?" She groaned.

"Is this you saying you like me?" He asked, completely baffled.

"Uh, duh?" She laughed lightly, reaching out to run her hand down his arm. He pulled away though, ever so slightly and she let her hand fall to the cushion.

"I'm sorry, I think I need some space. To think." He clarified, standing quickly and beginning to pace, running his hand feverishly through his hair.

"Are you asking me to leave?" She asked, completely gobsmacked.

"I think so. Am I? Yes. I don't know. Can I just be alone?" He said quickly. She stood, snatching up her purse and stomping towards the door.

"Don't be angry, okay?" He shouted after her as she pounded down the sidewalk. She threw up her middle finger and kept on going. Fuck'im. She didn't need him.

HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA~HA

She was wrong. She was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Lila sat in Rhonda's room at the desk watching Rhonda on her bed sitting behind Helga as she teased the blonde girl's hair. They were laughing about something but she wasn't listening. She was drumming her fingers on the desk. She pulled her cell phone out for the umpteenth time to see if she had any new messages. Nope, none. Usually whenever she stormed out a guy's house like that, it resulted in some response from the guy. Usually there was a lot of calling, voice messages, and texts. Not with Arnold though. She had been met with dead radio silence.

"Lila." Rhonda's voice snapped in her ear. She jumped, looking up at her.

"How are those invitations coming along?" Rhonda snarked, crossing her arms as she looked down at her. Helga was still on the bed, a blank look in her eyes as she stared slightly to the left of them.

"I-" Lila cleared her throat. "I found a few artsy ones on Etsy but a lot of them involve us printing them ourselves. I didn't think you'd like that."

Rhonda stared at her a moment longer than she needed to but nodded her head.

"Then you'd be right on that. Perhaps I'll call my event planner and have her look, since you seem so distracted." She said stiffly and walked back over to the bed,

"I'm not distracted." Lila said quietly. She tapped the screen but it was still blank.

"Right, of course." Rhonda said waspishly. She grabbed Helga's hair again, jerking it perhaps a little roughly as she twisted it into a French braid. Lila sighed and went back to drumming her fingers on the desk.

"Anyways, I've got the shoot ready and booked for next week."

"Oh really?" Helga piped up finally, glee in her eyes.

"Yup, finally." Rhonda giggled, releasing her hair. She stood and strode over to her side table. She rummaged in her side table and pulled out two business cards.

"Here you go!" She handed one to each of them. Lila looked hers over. It had a little Frankenstein monster, Dracula, and mummy head over the top. It read an address and time in inky black lettering.

"Oh I'm so excited! I can't wait for everyone to see it." Helga said enthusiastically as she held the card out with glee.

"Yeah." Lila said stiffly. She flipped the card between her fingertips and glanced at her phone.

Still nothing.