Chapter 2: Joke

You remember the first time we met up without our siblings, right? We were so giddy at being able to keep a secret from them that the whole time we were together we laughed and never spoke a word to each other the whole time.

It was nice… being able to enjoy each other's company without the hatred or the fighting or even awkward topics.

And before you left, you gave me my first kiss. You looked just as shocked as I was when our lips touched, but that didn't stop you from pulling me towards you to kiss me again.

Buttercup shoves Bubbles out of bed. "Come on, we're leaving!"

"You're going to be late." Blossom reprimands as she steps out of their bedroom. Bubbles flops to her back so she can stare at the ceiling.

"I don't want to be awake." Ever, ever again.

Her face is puffy and there's nothing she can do to make the swelling from crying go down. Her eyes are sore from the pillow she pressed her head into to keep quiet. Bubbles leaves her hair down to distract from her awful appearance and then zooms off to the school.

She's fifteen minutes late, and is given her first detention of her high school life.

The day doesn't go any better than the one before it. It's still the normal everyday sap that she usually loves to do. The only difference now is the comical way she stretches her cheeks to fake a smile or the pathetic laugh she summons for the silly jokes her friends told.

Bubbles sighs as she drops into a desk for after school detention. It makes her nervous to be with the 'degenerates' as Blossom would say. They all seemed to have piercings or tattoos for miles. Who in their right mind wants to harm their body like that?

She can't believe her eyes when Butch Jojo walks into the room and drops into the only available desk left. Moreover, it's right next to hers.

"You look good with your hair down." He comments before turning his attention to the more worthy people in the room. Her face flushes and then she feels ashamed. She notices the way his dark green t-shirt fits to his upper body and his huskier voice than what he had sounded like when he was a kid.

Her boyfriend… ex-boyfriend's brother just complimented her. She can't stop herself from speaking, "I didn't know you went to high school."

He stares her down like she's below him, but he answers nonetheless. "It's a big school. You powerprisses tend to stick to your side and we stick to ours."

Our? "All of you go to school here?"

"Duh." Butch replies with a bored tone as he flicks her books off of her desk one by one. She figures he wants to get a reaction out of her, but there's only one thing that she can focus on. "Your sisters didn't tell you that?"

Bubbles frowns because not only did her sisters know about this, apparently so did Boomer and she was left out of the loop for all of it. She sinks lower into her desk.

"What is wrong with you? You're supposed to be energetic and stupid."

"I am." Her voice cracks as her body violently shakes with sobs. "I am so stupid."

Bubbles launches out of her desk. She trips over her books, but rights herself before she falls onto the floor, then dashes through the classroom to the exit. The teacher tries to yell at her to stop, but she hears none of it.

I'm just the brunt of all of your jokes, aren't I? Silly dumb blonde Bubbles! Look at what we can do to her and she won't ever know.

She collapses somewhere outside of the school behind one of the buildings. Her blonde hair covers her face as she pulls herself into the fetal position and she's glad that she didn't put her hair up today.

She can't stop crying for a good two hours. Bubbles is shaking by the time she calms herself enough to grab her phone.

"I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is blocked from your phone."

That's right. Blossom blocked the number and made sure Bubbles couldn't call it either. Bubbles closes her red rimmed blue orbs and throws the phone in frustration.

Everyone. Everyone was against her.

How long had these secrets been going on? Were there anymore? Was one of her sister's having a wild love affair with Boomer and-

No. No, she was going too far. Her sister's couldn't have done that to her. They must have thought she already knew about Boomer going to the same school. Maybe that was their way of looking the other way when it came to their relationship. Bubbles eyes her broken phone. The screen was cracked and she had even managed to make the keys go flying each and every way.

Just perfect, now she has no way of keeping in touch with anyone.

Bubbles sits back against the building. She let the anger drain from her, even though more doubts keep coming up each time she breathes in. She was going to have to go home soon.

But she didn't want to go home. She wants to see Boomer.

Her hair flies out behind her as she soars through the sky. It doesn't take long to reach the overgrown section of the park and as soon as she lands she sits on the one bench there. She sits and she waits.

No one comes.

What was she doing? She didn't even know. But there was a pull at her heart that said that acting this erratic was acceptable. That it was normal and that if she continues following her heart eventually everything would work itself out and it'd all be okay again.

Bubbles makes a half-hearted excuse to her family when they worry over her when she comes home after dark. No, I haven't seen Boomer. No, I didn't get into any trouble. Yes, everything is fine, I just had detention and lost track of time.

She snuggles up to Octi before she drifts off to sleep. She doesn't notice Buttercup's and Blossom's worried stares or hears their hushed topic of how she didn't eat at all that day. She doesn't hold it against her sister's anymore for knowing the boys went to the same school.

Bubbles just plans to sneak away and see where Boomer hangs out instead… without her overprotective sisters knowing of course.

She dreams of fairytales and happily ever after with a blonde haired boy, instead of having her heart being ripped out. Bubbles truly believes that after she sees him everything will be alright tomorrow.

It has to be.

NOTES:
I love tattoos and piercings, so don't let Bubbles nervousness make you think otherwise. It was for the sake of the story.

Sorry this chapter's short. I'm going on a day to day basis for Bubbles and her day just wasn't that exciting today.