The Trouble With Stacey - Chapter 5

'What the fuck are you doing here!?!'

Waking up in hospital is never a nice feeling but the bewildement is amplified when you find your partner in crime hovering above you.

'Stacey, I think someone saw me last night!' he said in a half whisper, which came out a bit louder than I think he expected.

'I'm gonna repeat myself - why the fuck are you even here? C'mon Wes and grow a brain. Don't call me, don't think about me and certainly don't visit me in hospital.'

'But, Stacey I think someone saw…'

'Get. Out. Now! And don't contact me until I say!'

Without another word, he left. Thank god. It really got me thinking though – what if someone had seen him bury the body? It was a worrying thought, and one I couldn't get out of my head for the whole day. Soon I was home and Mum continued her fussing as though I had chicken pox or something and by the time 5.30 came around I had had enough. I used my charisma and convinced Mum that 'it would help me come to terms with things' if I went to the BSC meeting. She reluctantly agreed.

I was running ten minutes late by the time I knocked on Claudia's door and was surprised when Logan answered my knock. I was surprised because Logan doesn't usually come to meetings because he's a boy and an associate member. It's a good thing too because ever since he and Mary-Anne have become sexually active they haven't kept their hand off each other. There was a particularly nasty rumour going around a few months ago that they had sex in a school classroom! It sounded pretty legit and was pretty plausible when I told it.

'Stacey!' Logan already sounds pretty dopey because of his southern accent but I think it was the surprised tone in his voice that made him sound like a prize idiot. 'We didn't expect to see you here today.'

'Well here I am. What's your story?'

Before he had a chance to explain, Mary-Anne stuck her head around the door. She explained that they had decided to dedicate the BSC meeting to discuss how to support me. It made me feel guilty, flattered and annoyed in equal measures. Guilty for killing Charlotte, flattered that my friends cared so much and annoyed because it confirmed my fears that everyone at school must be talking about me. It's funny because its not like people don't talk about me at school, its just that usually it runs along the lines of 'Have you seen what Stacey is wearing today, she is so amazing!' or 'That Stacey is so sophisticated, I wish I could be like her!'

This was different.

The surprise of seeing Logan at Claud's however was nothing compared to being a part of what was undoubtedly the weirdest BSC meeting ever. I knew it would be weird the moment I walked in. It more resembled a slumber party than a meeting. Claudia and Jessi were giggling in the corner munching greedily at a plate of brownies. Mallory was plying her red tangle of hair with generous globs of hair gel, all the time staring vacantly into the mirror, while Dawn, who as usual looked like she hadn't washed in a week, had her eyes closed and back against the left stereo speaker It was pumping out the unmistakable sounds of hip-hop outfit Cypress Hill disconcerting, both because we rarely had music on during meetings and when we did it rarely had swearing in it.

It was Kristy however who really captured my attention. She was wearing nothing but an old leather deerstalker cap and her 'Hello Kitty' panties. That's right. For all intents and purposes she was stark naked. She was waving her black brassiere around her head while jumping up and down on Claud's bed.

"Oh my Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhdddd. I can actually feel the music! It's like its coming out of my brain!!!" she screeched.

I turned to Mary-Anne and Logan who looked vaguely embarrassed. I raised my eyebrows, literally speechless.

"Kristy was getting all stressed about the reputation of the BSC and Dawn just wanted to calm her down. Her brownies really did the trick,' she said before lowering her voice to a whisper, 'but I think there might be drugs in them.'

'You think?' I was dumbfounded. This place would fall apart without me.