Chapter 39: Ess: To D_ For by warelander
Ess, Merigu, Shosu, and Emii sat together for lunchtime, neither of them willing to dig into what was on their plates.
It was one of those days again. Gogotte got to help out in the kitchen. Anytime this happened a majority of Primp High's students became hesitant to even try any of the food on offer.
This particular group of friends was no exception. All of them just stared at the dubious dish. Never before did a bowl of salad, brown rice and a piece of meat, inspire this much unease, as if there was lurking danger in it starting to bite anyone at any moment. To say nothing of the strange boy's signature mushroom soup, which only the bravest souls even dared to consider trying.
''I-I don't wanna eat this.'' Emii protested, grossed out by the idea of eating any of it.
''I know food is food, but….'' Shosu proclaimed while pushing her own plate away.
''Why does Mr. Zed even agree to let this guy cook?'' Merigu wondered.
''Hey! Papa knows what he's doing!'' Ess spoke out in defense of her beloved father figure.
Despite the bold claims though, Ess was no more eager than her companions to be the first to take a bite and it wasn't as if she was fooling anyone.
Meanwhile, close by, a smaller, blonde boy, with a black coat and sunglasses approached the table the four girls were currently stationed on. Not a single word escaped his lips, he just quietly walked into their direction, not minding any looks he got.
It was when he finally was next to Ess that all of the sudden he fell over, throwing his food tray into the air in a manner that made all his food, almost strategically, fall on Ess head. Her well-done hair taking most of the disgusting damage.
''H-Hey! What's your problem!'' The girl was nearly red in the face with anger.
''Sorry, my bad!'' The boy briefly answered, swiftly taking his tray and running off at a speed that Ess couldn't hope to keep up with.
''Come back, you somewhat familiar-looking twerp! You can't just run off!'' Ess yelled after him, but the boy had already exited the scene.
''Ess…''Merigu attempted to calm her down, hoping the situation wouldn't escalate.
Luckily for her, Ess did listen and took note that some people were looking at her. A small blush crept up on her face, but she was determined to not let it get to her.
''Alright. Nothing that can't be fixed. You girls wait for me.'' Ess tried to regain a composed exterior, still seething on the inside, but doing her best to not explode on anyone.
She took her purse and left the canteen, not realizing that two figures were watching her exit. One was the boy dressed in black, who dropped his coat and glasses, revealing himself to be Panotty and where Panotty was, Jaan would usually not be far off.
''Alright, that went well! And you?'' Panotty asked his partner in pranking.
''Long done back in class! She's gonna be in for a surprise!'' Jaan affirmed, giving her smaller friend a high-five.
''That's what she gets for not giving Yoko a break.'' Panotty muttered to himself, the resentment in his voice being thinly veiled at best.
F1 - Girls Bathroom
Ess quietly grumbled to herself as she approached the sink, no longer feeling any need to hide how agitated she was.
''That little punk! At least I'm prepared for stuff like this.'' The girl declared while digging through her purse.
She soon found what she desired: her emergency shampoo. Just looking at it lifted her mood, in just a bit she could wash all the gross stuff out of her hair and move on with her day.
Without skipping a beat, Ess went straight to work, applying some of it on her hand and turning on the sink. Despite everything, washing her hair did leave a relaxing feeling, enough that she saw no need to even look into the mirror. She just kept her eyes closed and enjoyed the nice feeling of it all. Making sure to not leave any spots out.
After a couple of minutes, Ess felt it was enough, turning off the sink and grabbing some tissues to dry up her face.
In spite of it all, Ess felt better than she had done all day!...at least until she finally looked into the mirror. Her jaw dropped at what she was seeing. She swiftly turned to her shampoo bottle, now finally noticing that the liquid had a different color from usual.
Now that it finally dawned on her what happened, Ess went right back into rage mode, and to make matters even worse, just now a certain someone had to enter the bathroom.
''Yo Ess. I heard you were here so-'' Raina stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her. Ess's hair had become a bright shade of pink, which went quite well with the embarrassment and anger-induced red on her face.
The cheerleader bursted into a laughing fit, the last thing Ess needed right now.
''This isn't funny! Someone replaced my shampoo with hair dye! This is an outrage! Messing with a Tetra's appearance like tha-'' Ess' melodramatic rant was cut short when she noticed Raina snapping photos of her with her phone.
Ess responded with a glare ice-y enough to freeze hell all over. Not that it did anything to impress her friend(?).
''I can't wait until my sister sees this! She's gonna be flattered that you are slowly mimicking her style!'' Raina said, packing her phone away and zipping out of the bathroom as fast as she could.
Ess didn't even bother trying to give chase. It really felt like everyone that day was out to cause her grief and then back off right afterwards.
The anger subsided and gave room for a melancholy feel of defeat. Ess looked at herself into the mirror, sighing.
''Why does this keep happening? I said things would be different this year and yet the humiliations won't end…'' Ess felt like throwing in the towel right there, it felt like there was no point to even try anymore.
She could see them all in front of her in her mind.
Those two pranksters, who won't relent.
Raffina, probably ready to mock her to kingdom come.
The bullies, likely prepared to serve her next wedgie and swirly.
Sig, Merigu, Shosu, and Emii… whose affection and admiration she craved...
Who's affection and admiration she craved….
Just thinking of these four lit up the fire inside of her, just a tad. She now looked at herself with a new expression, one of stern determination.
She knew she needed to turn things around.
But how…..