Another chapter! Classes have started up at university again, and I'm busy sorting out a flat for next year too, so updates may be (even more) sporadic for a bit. I will try to avoid this, however.
Reviews really help my morale, so please leave one, if you feel so inclined.
13
Today was not going well. It wasn't going well at all.
And the worst part was that it was only quarter to nine, and Brick hadn't even shown up yet.
"Princess, for the last time, there is nothing going on between me and Brick. I don't even like him; in any sense of the word." Blossom massaged her temple and hoped against hope that the other annoying ginger person in her life would just leave her alone. Unfortunately though, Princess, just like Brick, was as persistent as she was annoying.
"Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes narrowed and one of her smug little smiles playing over her lips. "Because I know our readers are all just dying to know." Blossom took a deep, cleansing breath and told herself that Princess, while being a super sized pain in the rear-end, was still just an average human, and therefore it was not appropriate to punch her hard enough to throw her through the next three walls with force to spare. However tempting that prospect may be.
"I have told you everything I'm going to tell you, and if you dare make up one of your flagrant lies to put in that silly little gossip column of yours, I swear that I will hunt you down and make you pay." She punctuated this statement with an extra-frosty glare and swept away down the corridor to her first class before she was tempted to elaborate on what exactly 'paying' may have consisted of.
Honestly, why can't things just go right for a change? she moaned inwardly, reaching out to push open the classroom door. However, just as her hand hit wood, the door swung open for her, and she looked up to find Brick grinning down at her, holding said door.
"Oh fantastic," she said acidly, pulling away from him and heading for her desk. The classroom was empty, and so unfortunately there was no one there to distract him, or for her to use in order to ignore him. Instead, she resorted to slamming her bag down onto her desk just a little bit too hard, hoping to convey the message that she did not want to talk to him.
"Yeah, 'good morning' to you too," he said conversationally, flinging himself into his seat. "And a 'thank you' wouldn't have been bad either." She glared at him briefly before turning away and staring resolutely out of the window. She hoped he wasn't going to bring up her ignoring him at the house last night, mostly because it was his own stupid fault and why should he whine at her for it? She gave a quiet, almost inaudible sigh; she really did think about these things too much.
"Saw Princess had you cornered out there. Was she trying to get you to spill the story too?" Blossom noted that Brick sounded distasteful when mentioning Princess' name, which actually surprised her a little.
"Were you eavesdropping?" she asked suspiciously. He scoffed.
"Hardly; the less I hear of her voice, the better. The little cow grabbed me last week and tried to ask me the same thing." Blossom thought back to the previous Thursday when she had seen Brick and Princess outside the staff room; that must have been why Brick hadn't said anything to her as he had passed her.
"I thought you would have loved to share that story," she said. Maybe it was baiting him a bit, but he had done the same to her enough lately; she reckoned that she should get a turn.
"You kidding? Public displays of affection are one thing; spilling a fake story about how loved up we are for that third-rate rag of a school paper is something else entirely." Blossom turned to look at him then, surprised at how sincere he sounded. He shrugged casually in response.
"I never liked her anyway; all money and no class." He sniffed dismissively, and as a few other students started drifting into the classroom, Blossom turned back round to face the front of the class, wondering if he really was as bad as she thought he was.
Besides, that last comment about Princess had made her smile, just a tiny little bit.
xxx
Bubbles was staying home, since she was still randomly transforming every now and then. They had discovered that watching TV with her was a nightmare; they'd had about three different actors on the sofa with them in the space of fifteen minutes after dinner last night, and so they had all unanimously decided that she was better avoiding school. Buttercup had laughed it off, but Blossom could tell that she was the most disturbed out of the three of them.
"It's not just the transforming thing," she was saying, in between mouthfuls of the burger she had chosen for lunch. "It's more like, all of this new powers crap. I don't even know where my head's at most of the time now." Blossom took a sip of her orange juice and frowned slightly.
"I thought you said it was getting better." Buttercup made a noncommittal noise.
"It is a bit," she said thoughtfully, "but I still have to be really careful when I'm at basketball or the dojo, you know? It's totally affecting my performance having to keep making sure that I'm not making all the guys go crazy." She took another bite of the burger, quite viciously this time.
"Maybe the meditation will help with that," Blossom suggested, but this only got a shrug and a slightly irritated noise. Buttercup really wasn't a meditating person.
"I'm just sick of not knowing if what I'm feeling is really what I'm feeling, and I really don't like… y'know, the other thing." Blossom smiled, a little awkwardly.
"It'll get better once you get more control. Besides, it could come in handy someday." Buttercup made a face, which then hardened into a stony glare over Blossom's shoulder.
"Bloss, heads up."
Blossom turned just as Brick slid into the chair next to her. Both she and her sister bristled, and Blossom registered all the whispering and glances flickering in their direction. Buttercup opened her mouth to deliver what was evidently going to be something threatening, but Blossom held up a hand.
"What do you want?" she asked, doing nothing to hide the impatience for him to be gone from her voice. He directed a glare at the group of girls who were staring intently at them before replying.
"Just warning you; Princess is running her stupid story. I'm thinking we'd better stop her before she hits the printers." Blossom's eyes widened and she only realised that she'd accidentally crushed her orange juice carton when she felt the juice running over her hand.
"I can't believe this," she hissed, rubbing violently at her hand with a napkin. "Buttercup, I'll be right back. Come on you." She grabbed Brick's sleeve and all but dragged him out of the cafeteria.
xxx
"How did you find out about this?" she asked him, storming along the hallway in the direction of the empty classroom that doubled as the meeting place for the school newspaper.
"Let's just say I have my sources. Figured I should let you know."
"I'm glad you did; I told her that I-" She stopped herself. There was no need to let him know that she was thinking decidedly non-heroic thoughts at that point in time. However, if this story got printed, then it was going to turn into a repeat of what had happened the day that princess got her first supersuit back when they were at Pokey Oaks, and this time, she wasn't going to have the armour to protect her.
They both hit the door at the same time, and as a result, the thing came close to being knocked off its hinges. Princess, surrounded by her usual gang of loyal subjects, gave a surprised squeal.
"Out," Blossom said, her voice edged with steel. Instantly, the girls all scattered and pushed past them, disappearing down the corridor. Princess also tried to run away, but Brick and Blossom grabbed a shoulder each and frogmarched her back to a handy desk.
"I… I don't know why you're both so upset," she was stammering. "I mean, I wasn't going to run that story. Really. It was just a joke." Blossom slammed both hands down on the surface of the desk in front of her, silencing her instantly.
"Brick, go over there and read what's on the computer screen," she said, her voice quiet, sweet and with the implication that if Princess tried to interrupt her or argue in any way, then she was not getting out of the room in one piece.
"Let's see here…" Brick was muttering to himself. "'Forbidden Love? High School Romance Between Hero and Villain; Princess Reveals All.'" He scanned the rest of the article, deleted it and then turned back to Blossom.
"She's all yours," he said, looking amused, although there was an angry glint in his eyes. Blossom straightened up, stretched, and then faster than Princess could blink, she had the wannabe 'journalist' by the collar of her jumper and suspended several inches off the floor.
"Blossom! Please, I wasn't… I wasn't going to publish it, I swear!" Princess was sweating bullets, clutching at Blossom's hands. Brick leant nonchalantly against the back wall, watching silently. Blossom, for her part, retained an impassive look on her face, her eyes full of contempt for the girl she held in her hands.
"I told you this morning," she said icily, "that I would not tolerate this kind of thing. But you just couldn't accept that, could you? You just had to push it. We've been here before Princess; you do not push me." With that, she dropped her, watching her sprawl onto the classroom floor.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she was shrieking. Brick appeared at Blossom's side, smiling wickedly. Blossom too had a twist to the corner of her mouth, but there was no trace of amusement there.
"You've never been sorry for anything in your life. You're stupid, selfish, spoiled and you have no class, but I'll tell you this much Princess; if you dare do anything like this again, to either me or my sisters, then I swear, you will know the meaning of sorry." Princess gave a tiny whimper as Blossom swept out of the room, eyes still blazing.
xxx
"Did you see the look on her face? Oh man, I think you've traumatised her for life." Blossom snorted.
"Well it's the least she deserved. Honestly, who does she think she is?" She let out an irritated breath, and privately admitted that, underneath her annoyance, she was finding this whole thing just as funny as Brick seemed to be. That look of sheer terror on Princess' face had been immensely satisfying, it was true.
"We… we made a good team in there," she said, hesitantly. She wasn't trying to give him the wrong idea, nothing like that, but she felt she may as well give him some credit. He, for his part, simply gave one of his lopsided smiles.
"Nah, you did most of the work. It was fun though." There was an awkward silence for a moment, as Blossom wondered if she should try continuing the conversation or just walk away. The latter seemed appropriate, but then again, it had been quite nice of Brick to come and tell her about the article thing. As nice as Brick got anyway.
"I should really be getting back. Buttercup's waiting for me," she muttered. He nodded, but said nothing.
"Don't think this changes anything," she added quickly. "I still have no interest in you, save for stopping whatever scheme you have up your sleeve." That made him laugh.
"You know Bloss, that's just what I love about you; that stubborn, fiery streak. Always makes things more interesting." He continued laughing to himself even as he headed past her back to the cafeteria. She watched him go, wondering why her cheeks suddenly felt warm.