A/N: So yeah...A miniscule change here; I changed 'Rikky' to 'Rikki' because it looked better that way. OH YEAH! I TOTALLY forgot to mention that I do NOT own Judas Priest's amazing song "LOVE BITES", but boy howdy do I wish I did! ):
Also, I'm planning on making some chapters named after a couple of songs that inspired me to finish this story. I don't own any of the titles; if the title of the chapter sounds like a song title that you remember, it probably was named after that song. ;) (From now on, the chapters will be about this long; I'm starting to experiment with long chapters.)
Annnnnnnnnyhow...Read on dudes! :D
Love Bites
Chapter Two: Atypical
The three of us stood there stunned and perplexed with our surroundings; we were standing in what appeared to be a dorm; familiar faint pink wallpaper surrounded four identical beds with people's belongings scattered on the bedside tables. The three of us looked at one another, each knowing perfectly where we were, and shrugging nonetheless.
"Sooo, just a dumb question but, just HOW the fuck did we end up here!" Forrest piped up.
"I don't know, maybe we all hurt our heads or something and this is all a fucked up dream one of us is having?" Bandit was freaking out, "And, and...OW!"
"Pinching yourself doesn't work Andi; it never works in the movies..." I commented blandly. "So, what the hell? Here we are in, uh, Bullworth Academy and no logical explanation to accompany it. Sounds like a bad movie synopsis if you ask me."
"That it does, so don't start with your nerdy rants, Rikki." Forrest whispered, staring at her surroundings with a look of sheer confusion.
"Hey! What the fuck? That hole disappeared, dude!" Bandit speculated; staring at the ground with widened eyes.
"Well, this is strangely awesome, what to do first?" Forrest's voice seemed to have come back to her.
A different voice spoke up, causing us all to jump; we weren't sure just how much they heard.
"You should start by getting into your uniforms." An old voice croaked; we turned to see an old lady we recognized, but couldn't put a name to her. Each of us nodded and went to the closet, shrugging at what we'd find.
We opened it; it smelled like strong air fresheners, perfume, and feet. We grabbed whatever uniform we came out with. Sighing I turned to laugh at Forrest; she pulled out a nerd jumper, the awkward skirt that went either just under her chest or to the floor; just awkward altogether. Bandit pulled out a normal green plaid skirt with a normal white button-up shirt and a matching green tie. I, however, pulled out a light blue criss-crossed sweater vest with a silk white button up shirt underneath it, with a matching light blue plaid skirt. Each of us was not looking forward to opening the closet again, it smelled that bad. Turning from each other, we hopped into our newly acquired uniforms, knowing they belonged to other people, but knowing prefects would be pointing uselessly at us, which would become quite irritating.
I had a lame idea to pass time as I was always first to finish getting dressed. I pulled out my iPhone and was about to text Forrest the word "GAME" when I noticed something else that was quite alarming in its own sense; my phone's date had either went haywire too, or this was a really fucked up dream. Fighting the sudden urge to pinch myself, I spoke instead, not knowing how to explain it to Bandit and Forrest.
"You guys? You guys! Dude, look at your phones." I heard movement stop and turned to see a fully dressed Forrest and Bandit gawking at their phones. "So it's not just my phone?"
"How the hell?" Forrest shakily said, sitting down on the bed.
"COOL!" Bandit piped up, she had always wanted to go back in time, so she was pretty excited. "I am so confused, but COOL!"
Our phone dates read October 3rd, 1986. We all laughed a little nervously before deciding to just bolt out of the room to go see the rest of this place. It was almost nine o'clock, so classes should have been just starting.
We were walking by the library towards the front door after running around the school.
"Should we just go to any class, or...!" Bandit was cut off when a water balloon splattered across the ground just a foot ahead of us. "Well that was slightly startling."
We all looked up to see two boys standing on the arc way above us, both with water balloons held high, ready to throw them. They spoke to each other, which we could hear faintly, even though they must've thought they were whispering.
"Dude, those aren't anyone we know around here." They spoke in a confused matter, "Hey, hey, did you hear anything about new kids?"
"No," The other one stated, "Let's go say hello or something."
Forrest gave a small squeal as the two hopped down from the arc, but landing on their feet rather their faces'. They were both wearing the same uniform as me; although they were wearing pants rather a skirt. They were baked, the air smelled of cologne and weed when it caught up with the two. One was black haired and the other was a brown-reddish haired, both weren't bad looking.
"Hey, never seen you guys...girls! I meant girls..." said the black haired one, "My name's Parker, and this here is Tad." He, in turn, gave us a small wave.
"Cool. I'm Rikki, and these idiots are Bandit and Forrest. You know any place to get weed around here?" I asked, I thought it funny to ask, turning to see a big grin spread across Bandit's face and a small frown start on Forrest's. The two guys checked all their pockets before turning to each other and shrugging.
"Yeah, we know where, come!" Tad spoke up, gesturing with his hand and walking away.
"You guys know I don't like weed, kind of like you both knew I didn't like the thought of drinking..." Forrest started, walking slowly.
"And now you do like drinking, because we knew you wouldn't like it." Bandit concluded, nodding her head with a note of finality. Forrest had a hard time talking Bandit out of something when she said they were going to do something.
"Hey, well, how about I just get used of the fact we aren't born yet before I decide on whether or not I want to do drugs?" Forrest barely whispered to Bandit. "You think Rikki has a thing for that Parker kid?"
"How the hell should I know, we just met them!" Bandit exclaimed, half snorting. "Besides, you didn't see the way he eyed you?"
"Shut up, Andi." Forrest grunted.
"So, where is this place you're taking us to?" I asked Parker, he was cute with his messy black hair and crooked smile. Not really anything different, but cute.
"A friend of a friend of mine, shall we say." Parker smiled back, pointing at a street just up ahead. "Mind waiting here? Don't know if he'll be too happy if I just bring some random people he doesn't know."
"I understand." I half saluted, standing still. Bandit and Forrest bumped into me, and stood still too. Parker and Tad walked off, pushing each other and laughing, and turned down a street. Bandit and Forrest turned to me and raised an eyebrow with slight smirks. "What? Oh, wait, I know what you two are thinking and no, it's nothing like that! God you two, we just met them, did we not?"
Within fifteen minutes, the two boys returned. Smiling and holding out a few bags of weed, out in the open and waving at little old ladies that sat on their porches with looks of shock on their faces.
"Oh hey, I just realized that you guys didn't give me any money to buy it for you." Parker's smiled deflated a little. I responded by giving him four twenties, (which had somehow turned into American money) which earned a tiny chuckle. "It cost more than that, but your humour was in good taste so whatever, besides, I'm rich." He grinned widely, "So, on a different note, how are you finding Bullworth so far? Have you been here for awhile?"
"Actually, we just go in today. I don't think we're enrolled in school yet, though." I felt weird not knowing if I was going to be in school or not.
"But you're wearing uniforms...Oh, right, those jerk-offs point fingers at you all day if you don't wear one. They made Jerry, you know that townie, and anyway they made him get in a uniform once. He did, then he took it off when he was at the Gym, he almost burned the whole thing down." Parker snickered, "Damned townies, you know, if they weren't so poor they'd make it places here."
"Is there any comic book stores around here?" Bandit piped up suddenly. She had always wanted to look at comics when they were actually in stores, no stupid special orders through catalogues or websites.
"Yeah, there's one on that street, it's called the Dragon's Wing or something, I don't know, I never go there. Its nerd infested." Parker smiled, "I think I'm going to go get something to eat, catch you later?"
"Uh, yeah, I'll see you around." I told him, giving a salute-like wave at the two boys before turning a different street. As the two were walking further and further away, Bandit and Forrest turned to me.
"Hey, you're going the wrong way." Forrest tilted her head, "And I thought you knew your way around here..."
"I do, it's just I want an ice cream, not comics." I smirked at Forrest and Bandit, "Hey, I'll catch up with you guys in a bit, I don't feel like waiting around for you to be done with your comic browsing and such...Later!"
"Here it is, Dragon's Wing. Well, let's go in!" Bandit smiled, practically hopping in excitement through the front door.
"Hey cool!" Forrest grabbed just any old comic book, which happened to be a Superman one. "Dude, look at this!"
"That happens to be a very serious comic you just moved out of place." An odd voice came from behind Bandit, to which she jumped at. She knew that voice anywhere, but decided it would be weird if she knew right off the bat.
"Not really, you can't have that one there anyways. Kryptonite doesn't exist yet, at least not revealed as Superman's weakness." Bandit frowned. She turned to see a boy that was slightly taller than her with long brown hair, kept up with a red head band. He quirked an eyebrow at Bandit, and turned to the silent boy with black hair that gave a curt nod.
"Where're you from anyways?" Edgar let a slight sneer show on his face, "Krypton?"
"Canada, actually. But lucky us, we moved...here." Forrest put in, "Why do you care anyways? You watching us?"
"Just scoping out your civilian wardrobes," He motioned to their uniforms. "Most people only use their uniforms at school, unless you're like them." He nodded over to nerd walking through the open door.
"And you two might be..." Forrest circled her hand towards the two boys, motioning them to finish her sentence.
"Edgar and Alan Frog..." Edgar solemnly worded, "future Vampire Hunters."
"Yeah, this here is just our cover. We're warriors, fighters." Alan sounded almost philosophical.
"For truth, justice and the American way." Edgar finished; if Bandit and Forrest had the chance, they'd squeal in joy of hearing their heroes speaking, but for Forrest they were a little too awkward for the moment. "And we're willing to do anything to protect those values vampires put in danger."
"O-kay then. Have fun with that!" Forrest smiled uneasily at the two and turned to Bandit. She motioned for her to get a move on, it was clear she wanted to leave.
"Here, read this." Edgar held a comic that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. It read 'Vampires Everywhere'.
"No thanks, I don't read horror comics...no real plot to follow." Bandit tilted her head with a slight smirk on her face, turning to Forrest she said, "I'm hungry; wanna get something to eat, Forrest?"
"You'll like this one, Miss Canada." Edgar insisted, ignoring the girls attempt to leave, "You'll think of it more as a survival manual, once we figure out if what happened to San Diego spread out here too."
"What happened in San Diego?" Bandit inquired.
"Let's just say that we'll be better prepared next time we lay our eyes on a shitsucking vampire." Edgar wasn't about to spout his mysterious past to some strangers who told him what order his favourite comics should go in.
"Our number is on the back. And just pray... that you never need to call us." Alan stared solemnly at Forrest and Bandit.
"You'll be in all our prayers..." Forrest said in an almost whisper, nodding slowly, "Yeah..."
I was picking out what ice cream I liked best and it resulted in having a seven scoop cone. It didn't seem possible, and thus it proved so. I dropped it all not even a few meters away from the counter, in an ice cream store I found in town square. Cussing lightly at the messy goo at my feet, someone held a bowl of a seven scoop ice cream sundae in front of me. I stopped cussing while looking up to see a familiar scarred face standing behind the counter with a red and white striped apron with little splotches of crusty ice cream, accompanying his scowling face.
"You know, I'm not cleaning that." The scarred-face boy stared boringly at me. Clearing up my throat (it felt like my tongue was stuck in my throat), I spoke up.
"Well, it's kind of...well, your job." I was glad my voice didn't break or anything. This Gary Smith character really was good looking... I really was caught off guard by how he actually looked in person. His face spat a subtle look of disdain at my reply. It appeared his manager was headed over; he too was in a splotchy apron, but it was just red and had a pin that read 'Manager'; so Gary picked up a gray cloth and wiped up the melted and messy glob.
"I didn't have to give you that sundae." Gary sounded bored, but something about his eyes made me want to shut my mouth and not reply, so I just shrugged and grabbed a spoon from the cup beside the register. "You have a nice day."
The pure sarcasm in his voice made me want to say something back, but I noticed something about Gary that struck an odd chord; it could've been just me, but he seemed paler than the rest of the people in the store.
"Smith, you're working nights now." The man spat out in a stern tone.
"Actually Mac, I was thinking of just not working...somehow, serving frozen milk just doesn't seem as amazing as it used to be." Gary spoke in a calm matter, taking off his apron.
"Your parents will be hearing of this, Smith." Mac's eyes narrowed at Gary, who had his hands held up in mock surrender; it was pretty apparent that the two didn't get along; "Your probation requires having and maintaining a job, to teach you humility and how to interact with others properly."
"Well, you've taught me well." Gary raised his hands to gesture at himself and all the other customers he had annoyed or picked at. He turned curtly and pushed past a couple of people and cast a quick stare at me before slipping out onto the streets. Giving my head a slight shake, I left the store as well.
I was headed for the beach while eating thoughtful scoops of ice cream;
'How did this all happen? What's our point in being here? What now?' I couldn't place what seemed to be off while walking along the beach barefoot, with my black converse dangling by their tied together green and yellow laces slung over my arm. I was on the dock in front of the beach clubhouse; sitting on the very end with my feet hanging off the edge.
Smelling a wood fire not too far off, I turned to see that a fairly large group of students had set up fires and they were setting up seats and cracking open bottles of beer or what not; all along the beach. Contemplating for a couple of minutes, I decided to go try making a couple of friends; depending on how long the three of us were to be in the 80's, I might as well had made some friends so it wouldn't be boring. Walking towards the first campfire in sight; I slightly laughed that they were all wearing the same uniform as me and gave a quick wave at the people sitting on plush blue fold up seats with the 'Aquaberry' emblem sewn elegantly on the backs of the chairs. Some of the preps sat on towels with the same emblem on the corners. I watched as a few of the preps turned to one another and started to whisper; I disregarded this and spoke up;
"Hey, how's it hanging?" I smiled slightly, which became an actual smile when I recognized Parker and Tad perked up a little and waved at me. "Hey Tad, Parker!"
"Parker...Tad...You know this, enchanting lady? And you haven't bothered to tell anyone else?" the voice dripped out a broken, fake British accent. It was the guy sitting in the most comfy looking chair with a brown haired girl sitting on his lap; up until Derby had spoke up, she looked completely bored. She was now wearing a look of disdain, while looking me up and down. Looking to Parker and Tad, they had shrunk back a little before Tad cleared his throat.
"Everybody, I would like to introduce you to Rikki...errr..." Tad looked at me to complete my name, which caused the rest of them to stare in my direction.
"Marr; My name's Rikki Marr." I smiled at everyone blankly, I didn't quite think of how they'd react to me.
"Marr? As in 'Mar's Bars'?" Bif Taylor raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "That's pretty cool; and I'm Bif Taylor, by the way." He sat back and smirked a crooked little smile at me.
"Justin"
"Gord"
"Pinky"
"I'm Derby Harrington." They all introduced themselves with looks of a sort of uncertainness.
"We're just waiting here for a few more chaps to come along, anytime now..." Gord was speaking in a docile tone, looking at my shoes with a slight eyebrow raise. "What are those? Those aren't Aquaberry!"
Everyone went silent at looked at me, waiting for an explanation...I guess,
"What? I'm not allowed to wear Converse?" I looked at my dangling converse with green and yellow laces, trying to see what was wrong with them.
"Well, normally, one would wear Aquaberry to remain in fashion...instead of embarrassing one's self by interacting with normal people's social attire." Gord explained as-matter-of-factly.
"Wow, Gord was it? Well, you've proven to be quite the queer. One, its freedom of expression...Two, they were the first sports shoe in the 20's or 30's or something; my point being is that people like us used them for optimal playing and advantage, instead of using a pauper brand that wasn't made for running."
"Yeah Gord; she can wear what she chooses to." Bif sat forward a little and smiled at me, Gord shrank back a little, with the look of disapproval still eminent. I took a seat beside Parker and Tad and took out a little weed. Bif continued to speak, "Ah...Mary Jane does love us all, does she not?" he took a seat on the towels with the three of us.
"Well said..." I commented as I put a couple of joints together in a matter of minutes. Parker smiled a thanks as I passed him the first joint to light.
"So, how'd your parents choose to dump you here?" Tad asked as Parker passed him the lit joint with a stream of smoke flowing out of his mouth.
"Well, they just kind of left and before we knew it, we were shipped off to glorious Bullworth." I explained; it was a sort of truth. I took the joint next, and inhaled while the others kept talking.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Parker asked.
"Well, I was thinking of staying in the Girls' Dorms, but it's really pink in there." I frowned, I really didn't like pink, so I wasn't going to stay in any of the rooms...but make a bed out of blankets in the little attic thing in the room no one slept in. But in all honesty, it was gross up there.
"The dorms are pretty cramped and sucky." Bif commented as he took the joint next. I nodded in agreement as some kids that weren't there before were sitting around and chattering. A blond and blue eyed girl that was smaller than Pinky was sitting in the chair beside Derby and Pinky. Another kid I didn't recognize were amongst some kids that I did recognize.
"Who're the rest of them?" I motioned at the group that was sitting around the fire in chairs.
"Well, that one there with the blond hair beside Pinky; that's Madelaine Sporleder. And the ones from the left onwards are Chad, Bryce, and Idalia." Parker nodded at each one as he acknowledged them by name. The girl introduced as Idalia came over and sat on Parker's lap as he finished saying her name.
"I'm his fiancé...and you might be?" Idalia eyed me up and down while putting an arm around a slightly squirming Parker.
"Rikki Marr." I spoke in a calm matter, not wanting more of this 'every girl's after my boyfriend' nonsense I had every day from school at home. "Parker's just telling me who everyone is."
"Well, you could always ask someone else." Her dark blue eyes narrowed slightly as she pulled Parker close to her; Parker looked a little apprehensive at her touch, giving me a small look over her arm.
"I'll remember that next time, Ida." I commented passively, I really wasn't interested in talking to anyone anymore; I was starting to stand up to go when Bif stood as well. "Well, it's been fun, but I must go find my sister and her retarded friend. Ciao!"
"Bye Rikki." The group spoke in an offbeat unison.
I turned to walk down the street towards Dragon's Wing when I heard footsteps closing in on me. I turned to see the tall red headed boy, Bif, smiling at me and giving me a small wave. I returned the smile as I asked a question.
"Hey, what's up?" I smiled upwards as Bif made his way beside me, making me feel quite small; I was barely up to his shoulders.
"Not a lot; I'm just headed to Glass Jaw...y'know, the boxing center. Yourself?" Bif smirked down at me.
"Just headed to Dragon's Wing..." I started.
"Ew, why?" Bif frowned a little. "Its nerd infested."
"I know, but I have a feeling my sister's there still." I continued, disregarding his comment. "She likes comics...not nerds." I explained.
"Ahh, well...why don't you come over to Glass Jaw with me?" Bif asked with a small smile.
"Maybe another time...I gotta find my sister so I know where I'm staying tonight." I sighed; I really didn't want to go to the nerd store.
"Well, maybe I'll see you later at the Harrington?" Bif inquired. "I could see if there's room for you there."
"Oh would you? That'd be great...um..." my smile deflated as I asked the next question, "Do you think my sister and her friend can stay too?"
"Well, if you're asking for three people, I suggest finding another place for now." Bif sighed, "It's not that I don't want you to be there instead, it's just I have to make arrangements. Y'know, hire some paupers to clean out some rooms and make them suitable...That sort of thing."
"I see...well, I'm going in there now." I smiled slightly as I pointed wearily at the nerd plaza in front of us. Smiling in an almost apologetic way, Bif nodded and turned to walk away. Just before he was out of sight, he turned and lifted his hand as if to add on to what he was talking about, but then turned around before he said anything instead. Shrugging, I walked into the door instead of the store; Dragon's Wing seemed to have closed and there were no signs of Bandit or Forrest in sight. Sighing, wondering what on earth I was supposed to do just then, I heard a loud scream from somewhere in the distance.
I stood up and started walking; noting how dark it now was, and wondering how long I really had been out. Checking my phone, the time was apparently ten forty-five; it seemed close to curfew because the Police were looking at me as if to say something. There were two girls in the distance that were running along, with a policeman trudging behind, clearly getting tired. There was distinctive yelling and laughing as the two girls slipped into a trail and disappeared. Making a dash for it, since I had no intentions of sleeping on the streets, I sprung past the cop that had been recuperating; too tired to chase after me too.
After jogging along the trail, waiting to hear Bandit or Forrest, there was a loud crack as a pang of pain shot through my arms and face. Before I knew it, I was on the ground swearing my head off and cursing whatever happened.
"Dude! That's Rikki! Shit dude!" I heard Bandit's voice pipe up and a rustling in the trees, hearing a soft thump on the ground beside me. Looking up, I half glared at my sister as she helped me up. "You okay Rikki?"
"Yeah, dude! I'm so so so so SO sorry..." Forrest hung her head in failure; she thought the cop was running after them still...so throwing that firecracker made sense at the time.
"No, it's all good...my arms hurt a little though." I admitted, shaking the burning feeling around on my arms. "So, it's past curfew...where are we going to stay?"
"You mean you didn't find anywhere?" Forrest's eyes widened in slight fright.
"Shit dude, I didn't realize I was going to be taking care of you two." I sighed, wondering what we were going to do.
"Well, you're the oldest." Forrest commented. ["You guys..." Bandit was audible, but no one paid attention to her.]
"By two years! Besides, you insist you don't need a baby sitter." ["Hey, shut up!" Bandit tried again.]
"Well I don't, I just-" Forrest started,
"SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Bandit shouted over our bickering. "I have an idea."
Bandit was holding what looked like a comic book, showing us a number scribbled in black marker on the back. She bolted off to find the payphone she knew she saw a little earlier. Forrest and I just shrugged at each other before following Bandit. We heard her finish dialling and saw her bounce a little as she heard the ringing.
"Hello?" Bandit started, politely, "Is this Edgar or Alan?"... "So, we need a place to stay...mhmm."... "There's three of us...yah, my sister." Bandit put her hand on the phone to speak to us.
"I dunno dudes...it might not work." Bandit sighed as she returned to her conversation. "No Edgar, I'm pretty sure I don't want to suck the life out of anyone. Do you guys?"
"Nope." Forrest and I said in a kind of unison, turning to grin at each other.
"Yeah...we'll be real real quiet, I pinky-swear." Bandit smiled as she gave us thumbs up. After a few more minutes of monosyllabic acknowledgements, we were on our way to the Boy's dorms.
"So...how'd that happen?" I inquired, giving my sister a playful look.
"Well, quite like in the movie...dude...it really feels like we're in a movie." Bandit threw a curve ball to avoid what I was going to say.
"Shit yeah..." Forrest smiled absent-mindedly. We found ourselves at the school gates, blinking in the brightness of a Prefects flashlight.
"EVIL DOER!" The Prefect shouted, pointing a finger at us before making a dash towards us. Laughing, Forrest went one way, Bandit another and I got caught in a smelly headlock. I threw my arms at the man until there was enough room between us to stomp on his toes. After he released me, I booked it. Running around and hopping over the wall that led to the side of the building, I caught up with Bandit and Forrest, who were hoisting themselves up into a room that had its window open.
I took a running start and threw my hands up to catch hold of the window sill, trying to get footing to hoist myself up with no triumphs whatsoever. I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me up, almost effortlessly. Looking up, I was a little taken aback that it was Alan Frog pulling me into the room. He let go of me the moment my feet touched the floor and went to stand by his brother. As Bandit, Forrest and I stood up, we felt examined for a couple of minutes before Alan turned to whisper something in Edgar's ear.
"I can see that Alan." Edgar was aware of what wasn't happening to us; Alan had suggested they could've been vampires, but they weren't melting or anything after setting foot in their room.
"Well, I was just saying they could've been." Alan turned cautiously towards us again.
"Could've been what?" I asked.
"Vampires. You would've been melting or something by now." Alan explained, a little sheepishly.
"But...you invited us in already...right?" I pointed out and immediately regretting it; there was a rather large wooden stake that was pressed against my chest in a warning matter. "Ah! Holy shit! I was kidding!"
I ran to Bandit and whispered in her ear. "Where'd you say you met these guys?"
A/N: YEAH! This has been one long chapter, hopefully, you guys won't mind. ;)
Chapter three will be up shortly...so will some reviews, as well? :D ~LN