Author's Notes: So yeah, several chapters later we finally have some interaction between Peanut and Lola again.
Chapter 6: Alpha Female
Larry had been cautious about Lola Lombardi for a long time, but he had never really been afraid of her. Now was probably a good time to start, though.
"Why hello, Peanut."
Lola leaned against the frame, looking hungrily at the bedridden boy.
"I'm just Larry now", corrected the boy.
The girl smirked and walked to the hospital bed, hips swaying playfully. Then she sat on the very chair that Johnny had rested on, crossing her legs.
"Can I have a smoke?" she asked innocently as she dug out a cigarette and a lighter. It was prohibited, of course, but did anyone care? This was Bullworth, after all.
"Sure. If you give me one", Larry stated matter-of-factly. It made Lola giggle and shake her head, but she obliged. She leaned over to gently put one cigarette between the young man's lips and lit it, then she took one for herself.
The two took their first drags in silence.
"So. Did you really think Johnny would pick you, over me?" the girl asked as if it were the funniest thing she had ever heard.
Larry didn't even have to contemplate on that.
"No."
"Oh? Then what's with what you said at the Hole?" she inquired and blew smoke straight at Larry's face.
"I just wanted to say somethin' cool for once", Larry then said plainly and returned the favor. Unlike Norton, Johnny, and Vance, Larry had never really had a way with words. He wasn't that great at thinking on his feet and usually felt a bit left out when people indulged in shooting clever quips at each other.
Lola pursed her lips for a moment and seemed to be indecisive about something.
"I wonder. In this kind of situation, should I talk to you like a man, or a woman trying to step onto my turf?" she pondered.
Larry wasn't sure if that was supposed to be an actual insult. Probably not. Considering their roles in this strange, strange play, it was actually a rather valid question.
"Dunno. Take your pick."
Lola snickered.
"Well, anyway. I still got Johnny, and you're outta the clique, apparently. How are you feeling?"
Larry sniffled and assessed his situation.
"I don' think I feel anythin'."
The numb feeling had automatically returned since Lola was close. It was his mean of survival around the turmoil she caused. Lola seemed disappointed and turned her attention to the dreary hospital room instead: it was a depressing place. Larry observed as her mask of a temptress melted and revealed her cold indifference.
"It's typical of you, innit. You could have had any guy, but you just have to have this one. Among others."
Lola rolled her eyes.
"Gotta milk this world for what it's worth", she said with a low voice, unapologetically.
Larry had always wondered if there was a fancy scientific word for people like Lola. People who preyed on people, with no remorse. People who made you feel like you were looking into a two-way mirror without knowing how many people were looking at you from the other side.
"I never thought I'd wanna know this, but... How do you act when it's just you 'n' Johnny?" Larry asked, genuinely curious.
Lola hemmed and blew smoke from her nose.
"That's the best thing about Johnny actually... I don't really have to act that much around him. It's all in his head: he always assumes the best about me, as you've probably noticed", she said and sucked on her brilliantly red lower lip.
"He's a terrible judge of character, isn't he? I mean, look how I've got him dancin' on the top of my palm. I don't even have to raise a finger to make him feel happy, angry, or sad. When he gets too boring, I can either give or deny the kind of sex he wants. Or cheat on him, as we both know."
It was unfortunate, really. In a world where good looks and achievements seemed to be everything, the one girl who didn't care much for them was a mental case. Lola had always been all about emotive guys: her libido was huge, but she wasn't all that picky about the physical side – if it had a dick, she could at the very least consider sexing it up. It was the emotional side that she was most dependent on. Desire, disgust, despair, conflict, anger, and pain were her fuel. Of course, money was a factor too when she was running out of it.
"Yep. Sounds like the Lola I know", Larry snorted.
When he and Lola had become friends of sort, she had started showing her real colors more often. She was strange, and unlike many strange people in Bullworth, she was fully aware of it. She had learned the hierarchy of strangeness and had learned which things you should avoid showing other people. She could be deceivingly normal, if she needed to be: she could switch into a different role on the fly like it was nothing.
One thing that was off about her was that the concept of "missing" other people was incomprehensible to her. Social interaction was one of the very few things she enjoyed, but the feeling of attachment was foreign to her. Threatening her with exclusion was like threatening to take a radio away from a deaf person. She also possessed a narrow range of different feelings: most noticeably she didn't have much empathy. She could tell when other people were suffering, but oftentimes she simply didn't know why she was supposed to care.
Lola knew that she was probably considered a bad person by many. But she thought that since she had been forced to learn so many useless things and to conform to ridiculous social norms, she was "even" with the world around her. Therefore, she usually strove to please only the bare minimum amount of people to get what she needed or wanted. In a way, that was almost admirable to Larry.
The greaser has-been, lost in thought while savoring his cancerous smoke, didn't realize that Lola was observing him. The young man lay on the hospital bed calmly, almost serenely all the while she bombed him with a disapproving look that was begging to be noticed.
"That's just the thing I hate about you", she suddenly said, emphasizing her words with a swing of her hand while holding her cigarette.
The ex-greaser perked and turned his attention to her.
"You are a very passionate guy, Larry. Deliciously passionate. I've seen you when you're with Johnny, following him around like a puppy. Sometimes you're like you're going to burst. But you never do, not anymore", she blurted out.
"I hate you", she added haphazardly before she took another drag.
Larry frowned as he looked at the greaser queen. That kind of careless, half-hearted stab at him was rare and she looked a bit strained. Tired, even.
"So, is that what this was all about, then? Getting a reaction out of me?" he asked.
"Yeah, mostly", she admitted, sounding innocent.
"I'm disappointed at myself. I not only messed up with the dose, I thought you'd be easier to crack. But, at least Johnny's gonna be on the edge for a while."
The ex-greaser inhaled very deep and closed his eyes. He paused before letting himself breathe out.
"I shoulda known", he said quietly. He had been witness to her "plans" so many times before, so why had he ruled out the possibility that he'd be the target of one?
Lola's face mellowed out a bit as she observed the boy's frustration, as little of it she could see bubbling to the surface as she did.
"You know what, Larry? You have your good points, too. Like the way you don't try to make me feel 'guilty' or call me a 'bad person' like it meant something", she said softly.
"That's because I know that you don't feel guilt", the boy stated flatly.
Lola grinned, tugging her temptress act up, like applying makeup. She took her cigarette and stumped it against Larry's empty plate that the nurses had left on the table next to his bed. Then she picked up Larry's very short cigarette from his fingers and did the same for it before standing up.
"Well, I better go. Johnny's angry at me now, but soon he needs someone to comfort him now that he's lost his poor little friend. Ciao", she cooed huskily as she walked to and through the door.
Larry was left alone, again. He took deep, calming breaths and swallowed. He felt relieved that he was out of the circle of abuse, but he was inclined to feel horrible for leaving Johnny, his best friend, his boss, his brother, and his second crush, in it. But, at the same time he suspected that, unlike he himself, Johnny actually enjoyed it and didn't want to leave it behind. Just like Lola was the kind of woman she was, Johnny was that kind of guy.
The young man felt something swelling inside him and soon, amongst the soulless bleeping machines, he wept.
Author's Notes: Um. Yeah. My version of Lola is sort of like a genderswapped version of Gary. I just thought that could be interesting.