A/N: OK, so according to my sister Upset= Mary-sue, despite her doing the same thing in all of her stories, anywho, that is why I am writing this quickit just to take away all that weird sad tension. This kinda pulls away from the plot but still...
There are three things everyone in Northsville seems to agree that they hate. One being Tuesdays, the other being gym class, and heres the big one, swimming during gym class. Today was the day that all the girls of Northville began to loathe these three things when the first monster attack of the week happened.
"Can I borrow someone's towel? Randy threw mine in the pool!" Antoinette shivered coldly as she walked to her asigned locker but couldn't change into her warm clothes due to being soaking wet. "With me in it!"
"Don't sweat it Anita, here borrow mine." Heidi, the older sister of Howard, offered as she held out the towel to the girl, who in turn, grabbed it and wrapped herself up in it.
It wasn't until she was encased in the towel did Antoinette realize that the smell of pool water was strong on her and would more than likely cause a burning migraine later on in the day if it lingered any longer. Quickly unwrapping herself, she opened her locker and grabbed her scented soaps and ran off to the shower area of the locker room and hung up the towel carefully to keep it dry and then uncapped the soap bottle and practically drowned herself in the strawberry scented shampoo (She really hates the smell of pool water). All seemed to be going well until a shriek suddenly erupted from the main locker room.
"W-What happened?" Antoinette called to the others as she tried to wipe the suds out of her eyes but found this was nearly impossible and she would just have to wait for the water to wash them away.
A loud rubble answered her earlier question as another, animal like shriek followed it which she knew were the tell tale signs of an oncoming monster attack.
"Erica!? Why won't you go out with me!" The animalistic like voice bellowed as the sounds of screaming girls and running feet seemed to cut it off.
"Smoke bomb! Are you all decent?" Antoinette was able to clear away the suds and run into the main room to see the newly arrived ninja. The skin around his eyes from under his mask was deep red and his eyes were shut.
She looked behind him to see that the lockers were now destroyed, smashed in and for some reason on fire. Burning what was ever left inside them. Including her change of clothes. Thats when she turned her head and stood frozen in fear at the sight of a blue dragon like creature who was now being faught off by the ninja, who much to her amazement, kicked the dragon straight through the wall and into the pool.
"Well that was cool." Morgan replied dryly as she pushed passed Antoinette, as did all the other girls to get back to the pool and catch sight of the ninja.
"What the hell?" Antoinette muttered outloud as she ran after the others to witness the fight.
"There has to be something this guy is attached to- Oh right! The rose!" The ninja could be heard thinking aloud as he jumped onto the creature's head and kicked something that was behind it's head.
A thicket of green smoke suddenly filled the room, causing everyone to cough loudly and as soon as it cleared, the monster reviled itself to be one of Bash's cronies, looking very surprised when he was dropped into the pools water below.
"S-so did she say yes?" He asked, looking around to find Erica in the crowd of girls, and now boys as the boys ran out at the first sound of a monster attack.
"Smoke bomb!" Came the answer as the ninja suddenly appeared in between Antoinette and who she assumed was Erica. "Just say yes!"
"Um... Yes?" Erica muttered as an exited whoop came from the male in the pool.
"Well, I'd say that went well." The ninja began, not noticing that when he took a few steps back to throw down another smoke bomb that Antoinette was behind him and by accident, pushed her back into the pool.
The pools water, combined with the soap from her hair, got into her eyes, mouth and nose, causing everything to burn as she resurfaced for air. The sounds of laughter hit her ears first, followed by a muffled apology as she was pulled out of the pool by a strong hand.
"Ooooh. Well at least the soap is out." The ninja all but chuckled as he set her down, just in time for Heidi to run up with a towel and the principal. "And you managed to stay conscious this time."
Antoinette growled as she pulled herself out of the pool and ran at the ninja, her intentions set on shoving him in as well but a loss of footing, and the sudden yell of SMOKEBOMB! caused her plan to backfire as she fell back into the pool with a loud splash of water.
Her earlier anger from falling in the pool had melted away and was instead replaced by the anger of having to walk down to the principle's office in nothing but a towel and a swimsuit. The principle's firm hand directed her towards the waiting chairs as he had her sit down.
"Now you just wait right here and I'll call your parents to see if they can bring you a change of clothes." He said in his all to annoying voice as he disappeared into his office to put in said call.
"Ugh! This can't get any worse can in...?" Antoinette muttered as she slid further down the seat, her towel sliding down more towards her hips.
"Hm, never took you as a skull and cross bones girl." An accented voice laughed in amusement as a body slid into the chair next to the girl.
"Took you as an annoyance." Antoinette shot back, turning to face Julian and pulling the towel up her bikini top to hide said skull across the left breast cup. "Apparently thats what a lot of people take you as."
"Hm? So thats what you and Randy were talking about yesterday, not that I am at all surprised." He giggled before his face turned serious. "But your little fainting spell did."
"Eh, Felt like being dramatic I guess. Must've been a full moon." She said with a shrug as she leaned back against the chair and rested her head against the hard wall of the office. "So what are you doing here anyway?"
"Detention of course! That dreaded woman said my pet bat was too 'distracting' and 'a danger to others'." Julian cried out in what appeared to be mock dramatics though his actual features read serious.
"You're a freak you know that?" Antoinette piped up suddenly, tightening her hold on her towel.
"Oh, but I do know that." He looked upset, but then smiled simply and shrugged. "But I'm still me."
Antoinette huffed and tilted her head to look up at the ceiling tiles, which were cracked and an annoying cream color that hurt her eyes so she turned them back to the boy next to her.
"Thats deep." She muttered as she snapped her eyes shut and sighed heavily.
"Blame my upbringing. A mother and a father who were just the same and raised me with all the love in the world." He shrugged yet again and shut his eyes just like the girl had.
"It was the same with me, only my parents were into movie nights and lots of family time. That sparked my love of Monsters." She re-opened her eyes and studied the boy's face a bit.
Under close inspection, she came to find that his pale skin tone was in fact, foundation, meanwhile his long eyelashes, which she first thought were either that way due to make up or due to wearing false lashes, were actually natural, same as his eyes which, Theresa had earlier insisted they were contacts. Wait, his eyes were opened? How long had they been that way and how long had they been staring at one another?
"You sculpt your lips." He said suddenly, breaking her from her semi-trance. "With foundation and brown lipstick to make them look heart shaped."
"You wear foundation and set it with press powder, your point?" She crossed her arms over her chest and let her eyes wonder back over to his face and let them settle on his forehead.
"Why a heart shape?" He sounded generally interested as he pointed to her bottom lip and proceeded to swipe across it, testing the durability of the lipstick.
"You sound like Vice, you know that?" She answered his question with another question as she leaned out of the touch. "Though the heart shape had been his idea."
He looked confused as he studied her lips yet again, paying close attention to the sharp outline of it all. Rolling her eyes, she decided it would be easier if she just explained.
"Theres this band me and my buddy both like, and in the cover art to their one album the lead singer had this style of sculpt so we were playing around with make-up and this it stuck." She shrugged and let her towel fall back around her hips and legs. "Ever heard of Nightmare Rally?"
"Eh, I looked into it once, but did not really get into them. So I write my own songs for my enjoyment." Julian responded, seemingly still interested in the girl's lips. "So you did your own make-up?"
"Hell no! If I did then I'd probably look like I got punched in the mouth or something!" She smirked at the thought and then smiled. "Vice does my make-up for me and Mamma-Marci sometimes."
"Mamma-Marci. Thats cute. Just a simple and yet dreadful brand of adorable!" He laughed crazily before turning back to face her. "And isn't this amusing. We've got a good five minutes without wanting to rip each other's heads and guts out."
Antoinette made a face at the thought and shrugged. She was about to speak when the door swung opened and in entered her dark skinned friend.
"I swear, the things I do for you Anita." He said kindheartedly as he handed her a pink bag with purple wisps on it. "Oh, and your parents were busy so they sent me with your clothes. Probably should've mentioned that first."
"No duh." She laughed as she took the bag and silently thanks him for her clothes. "But I owe you one."
"You owe me six actually." He reminded her as he ruffled her hair.
"Whatever. I'm gonna go change. See you later Vise." She muttered as she took her clothes and headed to the nurses office for a private place to change and once she was out of the room, the two male's eyes locked in on one another.
"See the make-up is holding up. Told you in was a strong formula." Vise said softly with pride hidden in his eyes.
"Yes, you did. And the product does work delightfully well. It almost scares me how well it works." Julian muttered, his usual tone still there but softer as he got up from his chair, having been called into the principle's office now.
"It scares me too." Vice muttered with a shake of the head. "You poor, deluded kids."
"What was that?" Anita's voice suddenly came out from the Nurse's office, followed by her actual self.
"Oh nothing." He chuckled as he looked up at the school clock. "Might as well go home now. Schools almost out."
"Make that seven things I owe you for." She laughed as the two headed out towards the school exit, relieved that at least school was out, but now upset that it was still Tuesday which meant Bash was making dinner tonight, but much to her relief, her phone began to beep and she looked down to see a message from her friend Theresa.
Theresa
Fwd: Hey guys! Monster Klub Pizza party tonight? No need to RSVP! :)
The pizza party ended up being loads of fun and ended with all present going home high off of sugar and yet somehow so tired that they passed out the second their heads hit the pillow. Antoinette had an especially good time saying as how it was just her, Theresa, Randy, and Howard, the only three members of the club who she got along with. Accordion-kid and Joker (as she called them) couldn't attend due to a music recital and a family gathering. As for Antoinette's former-still kinda-tormentor; Julian, well. No one could get a hold of him and just assumed the latter that due to the detention Antoinette informed them all of, he was just grounded from his phone and the party. This only seemed to make the party that much fun because now Anita could talk to Randy about more joyful manners.
"And the pasta was sticking to the ceiling and mom got so mad at us!" Antoinette laughed loudly, along with Randy as she concluded the story.
"Oh geez! Thats bad!" Randy laughed as he held his sides and wiped away a tear. "B-but not as bad as the time I dropped my cousin's wedding ring into dog crap while walking down the isles!"
"That is bad! Did she get mad?" Antoinette laughed in response as she tried to picture that scene.
"Nah, I asked my mom if I could borrow her ring to practice before the real thing and just switched them out." Another tear of laughter was wiped away.
"Couldn't you have just washed the other one?" Antoinette was no longer laughing and now just sounded bored.
"Toni. I was five and stupid." He said coolly but then paused. "Now I'm just stupid."
Antoinette stared at him for a few seconds before they both burst into fits of laughter and the two continued to laugh until Howard busted in through the front door with liter bottles of soda in both hands and Theresa followed close behind with pizza boxes in her hands.
"Hey guys, what are we talking about?" She asked as she set the pizzas down on a nearby coffee table and joined the two on the couch.
Howard scanned the two over. Their hair and clothes had been tousled by an earlier tickle fight but also because they had held their sides from laughing at each other's stories and rolling around on a shag couch (Yes, a shag couch) didn't do them justice and their faces were still red from laughing.
"Oh man! Were you two making out!?" Howard exclaimed as he dropped the soda to grabbed his ginger hair.
"Heck no!" Randy yelped as he jumped away from Antoinette and somehow managed to fall over the top of the couch and onto the floor.
"Sure doesn't look like that Cunningham." Howard said sternly as he took his friend's place on the couch and folded his arms.
"Oh shut up Howard." Randy muttered as he rolled unceremoniously over to the coffee table and opened one of the containers of pizza and helped himself to a slice.
Meanwhile, Theresa looked over at her dark haired friend and raised an eyebrow as if silently asking if they really did what Howard had said they did. Antoinette shook her head rapidly 'No' and then reached over to snatch one of the soda bottles and opened it before taking a long swig of it.
"Heck no." She now stated outloud as she handled the bottle to her female friend and then reached over to Randy to take the remains of his pizza slice.
"Dude, get your own." Randy groaned as he tore off a small piece and handed it to her before shoving the rest in his mouth and swallowing it whole.
"Noooo! I am too lazy!" Antoinette groaned in a mocking way as she ate the bit handed to her and then sunk back deeper into the couch, giving Howard and thankful glance when he handed her one of the two pizza slices he had taken earlier.
"Now since I gave you that pizza you have to admit that you made-out with Cunningham." Howard said, sternly taking a bite of his own, only to receive a face full of grease and pepperoni.
"Weinermen, I swear to God if you say we made-out one more time I'mma kill you." Randy growled, coming to Antoinette's aid as it had been his pizza slice thrown.
"Oh come on guys! This is a party. Lets not fight." Theresa said softly as she offered the soda bottle to Randy and then got off of the couch and wandered over to the TV cabinet and began to flip through movies.
"What movie should we watch?" She asked as she picked out a few good ones and held them up. "Grave Punchers Two, Rise of the Warriors two, or Mandy Runningtam: Tenth grade samurai?"
"Woah! Theres a sequel!?" All three demanded for the two separate movies.
"No shit, theres already six movies for Grave Punchers." Antoinette muttered as she studied the cover of her movie of interest. "I like the looks of that second one though."
"Oh heck no! Heidi watched that movie last week and Phoenix's wife was freaking annoying!" Howard yelped, only to get awkward stares from the other. "N-not that I watched it or anything!"
"So does Rochelle's baby die in the end?" Theresa piped up suddenly and just as she asked, Howard answered.
"Heck no! She gave birth to it after the war and takes back her throne!" Howard turned deep red and then sighed. "Spoiler alert, its a boy and it's James'."
Theresa and Antoinette giggled in a fangirlish way as Theresa set the two movies down and now only held the third.
"OK, since Howard already saw that second one I guess we'll have to have a girl's night and watch it ourselves Toni, and since we all saw Grave Punchers I guess that leaves this new anime." She said as she popped out the CD and put it into the player and the episode began instantly.
"My name is Mandy Runningtam and by the name of the Dragon of Flame I will protect my school under the guise of the Samurai! This is an oath I swore and I will not break it!" The main character announced as the theme song began as well as the next three seasons of the show that the kids would watch that night.
"That show was so cheesy! And not in a bad or good way." Randy laughed as he walked down the street with Antoinette, shortly after leaving Theresa's house and shortly after dismissing the offer of a ride from Howard's parents.
"It wasn't that bad." Antoinette said with a laugh. "It was cool at a few points but the battle lines were so dumb!"
"I AM THE SAMURAI!" Randy announced in a high-pitched voice, mocking the female character. "KANTANNA STRIKE!"
"Dude! You should just like her!" The female teased, stopping once just to playfully punch her friend's shoulder.
"Oh shut up." Randy blushed as he put his hand over the hand that had punched him. "But that villain was just the worst."
"I know! She wants the Samurai dead just so she can take over the school district." Antoinette said as she dramatically waved her arms around.
"O'Punch is such a stupid name also!" Randy followed up as he suddenly turned the corner and began to walk towards his house. "See you at school tomorrow Toni! Don't get jumped!"
With a roll of her eyes, Antoinette took off running towards her house, which was already a good mile or five away from Randy's house. It wasn't that she was scared or anything (Well maybe a little) but without any street lights in her area and it getting dark quickly, it would be very difficult to find her way home in the dark.
"Damn, I should've left earlier or at least taken that ride." She muttered allowed as she kept running until she got to the familiar area of woods that she knew lead to the short cut to her house.
Picking up her pace, she kept running but soon slowed as soon as she felt the familiar burning in her throat that came with a lack of air and quickly leaned against a tree to catch her breath with her house luckily within blurry view. With a final deep puff, she began to run again but stopped when she heard something. It sounded like a grunt of pain or something and what ever it was was very close. Well, feeling braver than scared (Or vise versa, which ever), she found herself looking around the area for the source.
"What on-" Rather than walking again, she stayed still until she heard the noise again and when she did, she found herself running around in search of it until she stumbled over something she thought of at first to be a tree root until it moved under her and the pained grunt came from under her. "What the fuck!?"
"Hehe... Hello Miss dread..." That voice was all to familiar and for once, struck more curiosity than annoyance in Antoinette.
"Julian!?" Antoinette demanded as she stumbled off of him and looked him over. "What the hell are you doing here!?"
"Just wondering about the most haunted woods in all of Northsville is all." He laughed as he gestured to the woods around him. "And you?"
"Walking home from Theresa's." Antoinette stated simply as she folded her arms. "Didn't see you there. Where were you?"
"Never got the memo. My phone was taken away from that detention but surprisingly that was it." He said with a shrug as he then hit his pockets. "But I wouldn't have come anyway, social functions don't really appeal to me."
"I figured as much." Antoinette shrugged and then the two were left in total quiet.
"So where do you live?" Julian asked suddenly as he took her hand and waited for her to lead the way.
"W-what? Why you as?" Antoinette asked as she found herself walking in the direction of her home.
"I am walking you home. As I've said before, these woods are haunted and a little girl like you could get hurt." He stated simply, narrowly avoiding a punch from the other.
"Shut up." Antoinette muttered, although not being alone was a welcome change. "I can handle anyone who comes at me. Oh, and I live just over this hill if you must know."
Another lump of silence filled the air as the two walked with their heads bowed, searching for tree roots so they wouldn't trip. The rest of the walked would have lasted like this if the male hadn't spoken.
"Are we friends?" He asked, stopping just ten feet before her front door.
"I guess. I mean, you haven't been acting like a jerk lately so I don't see why not." Antoinette answered as she tried to keep walking. "Why you ask?"
"It is nice to have friends in place of enemies I guess." He said softly. "I have far to many of those."
"I'm too new to have any." She said with a shrug. "And to new to have any close friends. So its nice to start out with friends I guess."
The two smiled at one another, finally finding some equal grounds with one another but this was soon broken up by a flickering light and McFist's yelps.
"No hand holding unless I can see you!" He yelled as he contiuned to flip the lights, getting the wrong idea of the current situation.
"Eh, looks like you just made yourself another enemy." Antoinette laughed as she let go of his hand and walked towards her front door. "See you at school tomorrow 'Pal'."
Julian laughed at this little joke and turned around and waled back in which the way he had come. Finally getting inside, Antoinette pulled out her cell-phone which she hadn't noticed had beeped and smiled softly when she saw a string of messages from Randy.
Randy: Did you get home yet?
Randy: Did you get jumped?
Randy: Oh Geez! Plz tell me you didn't get jumped!
Randy: XD Nvm, just remembered you put your phone on silent.
Randy: Did you get home OK?
With a laugh, she clicked the most recent message and hit Reply.
Toni (Me): Yes Randy, I got home OK.
Randy: Oh thats good. Hey Toni, can you do something for me?
Toni (Me): Sure. Supz?
Randy: Hey,call me and re-tell that Pasta story. My mom wants to hear it ;) lol. That and I want to say Good Night. Feel kinda bad the last thing I said tonight was 'Don't get Jumped'.
Toni (Me): Sure thing Cunningham.