Chapter 4
Fun
It was two days after the big geometry test. Both Talim and Amy passed. Amy was alone at lunch, though. Talim was home, sick with a fever. Amy was eating her processed soy burger, a little bit sad that no one else was with her.
"Well, this sucks." Amy thought.
She took another bite out of her burger when Ivy approached her. Amy rolled her eyes.
"Hey. Amy. You want to join us?" Ivy said.
"Okay." Amy replied.
She wanted to say "no", but figured that there was no reason not to. She even decided that if Ivy got too insufferable, she'd go back to eating alone. Amy sat next to her brother, Raphael. The other girl with Ivy, Mina, gave Amy a look.
"Where's your friend?" Mina said to Amy.
"She's sick." Amy replied.
Mina chuckled.
"You know, I don't see why you hang out with her. She's super annoying." Ivy said.
Amy thought about saying something, but decided against it. There was no reason to start a conflict. She took another bite out of her burger.
"You should leave her, Amy." Raphael said.
Amy was a little surprised that her own brother suggested this, but didn't show it. Ivy put on a smile.
"If you do, I can hook you up with a real hot guy. You want that?" Ivy said.
"Not really." Amy said.
"What, then? Are you some kind of lesbo, then?" Ivy cut in.
Raphael laughed.
"She's not. She's into both!" He said.
Amy started to get mad. Her stoic demeanor was starting to fall apart.
"Shut up, Raph." She said.
"Cool it, sis. We're just joking around. You know, for fun? Lighten up!"
He gave his sister a slice of bread from his plate as a way of apologizing. Amy reluctantly accepted it.
Once everyone was done eating, Ivy spoke up again.
"You know, the offer is still up in the air. I know some pretty hot guys, not as hot as Raph of course, but…"
"I can find a guy myself." Amy said.
"Really? You can? Homecoming is in a few weeks. I can get you a good date." Ivy said.
"Freshmen can't go." Amy said.
"They can if they're someone's date. I went to homecoming when I was a freshman." Mina said.
Amy thought about how nice it would be to go to the homecoming dance, but shook it out of her head. She gave a polite smile and stood up.
"It was nice hanging out with you guys. See you later." She said.
"Later, Amy." Ivy replied.
"See you at home, sis." Raphael said.
/\A/\A\/V\/V
True to his word, Raphael did see Amy when he got home. He was with Ivy, watching a movie on the couch. Amy was up in her room, listening to music while trying to write poetry. One of Amy's hobbies was taking songs that she liked and rewriting the lyrics. It was a fun timewaster and some of the stuff she made sounded pretty cool. Amy was about halfway through one of her poems when Ivy walked into her room.
"Hey, Amy. How's it going with you?" She said.
"Okay." Amy said.
She thought about turning up the music on her stereo, but Ivy sat down next to her, on her bed.
"Raph fell asleep, during the movie, the ass." Ivy said.
"What were you watching?" Amy said.
"Titanic. Have you seen it?" Ivy said.
Amy put on a smile.
"Yeah. It was okay. Too long, though. Bro's got a weak attention span."
"Yeah. That or, he just doesn't have any taste." Ivy said.
They both laughed. Ivy changed the subject.
"You know I hate your friend, right?" Ivy said.
"You mean Talim? She's not going to bother you, Ivy. She wants nothing to do with you." Amy said.
"No. You misunderstand. I don't care if I never see her again. I hate that girl. That's why I'm making you this offer: if you can get some dirt on her, I'll get you that homecoming date. Sounds fair?" Ivy said.
"I don't know…" Amy said.
Ivy put her hand on Amy's arm. Her fingers were cold. They squeezed her arm.
"You don't understand. I can give you a night of dreams. Or I can ruin your social life forever. I can make you feel pain that you never thought possible. Which will it be?"
"Don't touch me." Amy said.
Ivy put on a sinister grin. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cute, little pink knife. It had the word "valentine" inscribed onto the blade.
"I don't want to have to use this, Amy. You're going to help me crush Talim or…"
She grabbed Amy by the hair. Amy tried to struggle. Ivy sliced a chunk of Amy's hair off and let go.
"…Or I'll scalp you, make you look like a chemo patient. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Ivy said.
Amy was starting to hate Ivy. She was also starting to hate her brother for dating her. She thought about her choices and sighed.
"Okay. Fine. I'll tell you." Amy said.
Ivy nodded.
"Go on. What is it?"
Amy could feel the evil radiating from Ivy, radiating onto herself. She felt guilty, even as she said it.
"Talim has a penis."
Ivy was shocked for a moment. She put away her pink knife.
"Oh. My. Gosh. Are you serious?" Ivy said.
"No. I shouldn't have said that. I…"
"Oh, this is great! I want to see it! No, I have to see it!" Ivy said.
"Ivy, I…"
"This is perfect. Thank you so much, Amy. Really. Thank you."
Ivy gave Amy a hug.
"You are officially an honorary member of The Ivy Fun Club. Congratulations!" Ivy said.
Amy sighed.
"Yay. Go me."
There was not a hint of enthusiasm in her voice.