Chapter 9: John Hargensen
(Later at Westover Doctor's Hospital…)
In the back room of a visiting room, Margaret's bed while she was still unconscious the nurse had explained everything they had told, before Margaret was hit in her residence, to try to know their true feelings towards Carrie… just as Carrie began to stir…
As Margaret began to wake up, the nurse noticed slightly that her eyes were glowing.
"Mrs. White. I'm a nurse." Nurse said softly as Carrie came round…
"Nurse? Wha-what happening? Where am I?" Margaret groaned in concern, as she looked around…
"You're in hospital Mrs. White, the ghost exposed you to some of your home, you were lucky to survive that amount of exposure…" Nurse replied calmly. "You told us everything, from what we heard, that serum they gave you at uni, may have been what saved you."
"Okay… where is Carrie?" Margaret asked with slight worry, just as Edward came in…
"Don't worry about Mrs. White, Carrie being questioned down at Miss Desjardin's home…" Edward said as she sat on the opposite of Margaret's bed to him.
Margaret was now worried again, as much as being expelled would teach Carrie… this caused Margaret's eyes to glow again…
"Don't be scared Mrs. White, whatever happens, they will not hurt you anymore… we will all make sure of it." Edward said reassuringly, as Margaret calmed down a bit, with her eyes reverting normal again…
"You're right, Dr. Snell. Fine. Is Carrie okay?" Margaret asked in concern, as she turned her head.
"She was fine." Edward replied.
"Thank you." Margaret replied.
(At Principal Morton's office…)
At Principal Morton's office, Chris along with her lawyer father: John Hargensen, sat at Morton's desk. Miss Desjardin stood behind them, frowning with disappointment over Chris's attempt at playing the 'wounded party'.
"This gym teacher was running Chrissie into the ground and used profanity." John argued. "I believe the term "shitty" was used."
"You're right, Daddy." Chris agreed. "That's what she said. "Shitty." She's really abusive."
"Ms. Desjardin was reprimanded for what happened in class today." Principal Morton reassured. "But you know we've had a lot of problems with your daughter in the past. And now, with what she did to her classmate, Carrie White. The girl was having her... what your daughter and her posse..."
"I'm not going to sit here and listen to half-truths." John interjected. "I know my daughter. She said she didn't do it. I want her prom privileges restored."
Chris could barely suppress a smug smile.
"You can't prove she did anything, can you?" John concluded.
"Well, I believe that there is a video of the incident." Miss Desjardin pointed out. "Your daughter is the one who took it."
Chris frowned, realizing the video was still on her phone. John looked toward Chris; he didn't know about the video. Miss Desjardin and Principal Morton had the upper hand.
"I think a video like that would probably be pretty damning to anyone in it and to the person who made it." Miss Desjardin continued. "Don't you, Mr. Hargensen? I don't know. I'm just a gym teacher, but it seems like a video like that would probably affect college admissions, possibly a lawsuit, tons of bad publicity. I wonder what The Today Show would do with a video like that."
It was in that moment that Chris realized... she really screwed up.
"I think we should just look at her phone and if it's not there, I owe you a huge apology and she should be allowed to go to prom." Miss Desjardin smirked.
John slowly turned toward his daughter.
"Chris." John replied.
Principal Morton held out his hand for her new phone.
"Chris." John urged.
"Daddy, I'm not going to give them my new phone." Chris laughed. "I have personal things on here. Isn't that invasion of privacy or something?"
"Chrissie, if you want to go to prom, just give them the damn new phone and we can be done with this." John spoke impatiently. "I have to get back to work."
"Dad." Chris replied.
"God damn it, just give them your new phone, Chris." John snapped, taking her arm.
"No." Chris replied.
*RING!*
Chris pulled her arm away from her father and stormed out of the office as soon as the school bell rang. But it was all for naught, the reality sunk in like an anchor out at sea. There was no denying it now... Chris was not going to the prom.
(Meanwhile…)
Sue was with her friends while they talked about the dance. Mostly about how the party was going to be disorganized. Next to them were Heather, Nicki & Lizzy, who helped with the design and organization, respectively. The Snerds, especially Sue, found them very nice. So much show they rather enjoyed their company and their opinions.
Heather was there too, mostly to help carry some of the heavy things around. While she was not the typical girl interested in girly activities (Like a school dance), she was most concerned about Chris. According to these girls, she tried to rile them against the gym teacher even at the risk of missing their prom, but they turned their backs on her. Who knows what she would do to them for not supporting her confrontation with Desjardin & Morton? If there's one thing Sue knew about bullies, especially this one girl, she and her friends would have to be extra careful.
Of course, Sue was not wrong. All of a sudden, Sue and the Snerds heard something falling. They turned around and saw an angry Chris, who just entered the gym.
"So, I'm officially out of the prom." Chris spoke, approaching the group. "I thought cock-sucker Morton would lose his job through my dad suing him."
Nicki and Lizzy didn't say anything, but they frowned as they sensed they couldn't expect anything good from Chris. Sue, for her part, put the box she was carrying on the floor and approached the group, standing at the foot of the stairs.
"Jesus Sue, why didn't you stand up for me?" Chris argued. "We could have them by the balls."
Before Chris could answer back, Sue spoke up.
"We deserved it, for what we did to Carrie White. I thought I deserved it." Sue replied.
Nicki and Lizzy looked proudly toward Sue, upon hearing those words. Chris, however, sighed in frustration.
"Desjardin was right." Sue continued. "We did a shitty thing for no reason..."
"BULLSHIT!" Chris interrupted furious.
That comment came as a nasty surprise to Sue and the other Snerds. But not only to them; the students seated at the table behind them turned over the swear word.
"That Carrie goes around saying that everyone but her and her mother are going to Hell, and you stand up to her? Come on!" Chris replied.
Sue spoke, standing up. "You're such a pig sometimes, Chris. What did Carrie White ever do to you?"
"She's been begging for it since the sixth grade, Sue." Chris justified herself.
"I got to go." Sue replied.
Sue grabbed their things and made for the exit. Chris, however, was not about to let it end this way. Not without her having the last word.
"I seem to remember you were in the throwing with the rest of us. What is it that she was calling her? Freak?" Chris asked in concern.
Sue stopped right in her tracks. She had patience, but she also had limits. Sue also stood still and turned toward Chris angrily.
"I stopped." Sue told Chris.
"Oh, you stopped?" Chris scoffed.
"Yeah." Sue replied.
"Why did you keep running? Hmm?" Chris asked in concern, approaching Sue.
Sue walked away again, but Chris grabbed her by the other arm. The force nearly made her drop all her things.
"Why did you keep running, Sue?" Chris repeated.
"Stop it, Chris!" Sue begged.
But Chris blocked their way, relentlessly teasing Sue.
"You kept running, Sue, little Suze," Now Sue was more than willing to strike Chris in the face, but Nicki and Lizzy held her back. Chris either didn't seem to notice or merely ignored it. Either way, she made it her mission to make Sue as miserable as possible. "because you've been dreaming about senior year and the perfect boyfriend and the perfect pro your whole god-damnit life. You've already booked the hotel, already practiced zones you're gonna make when you and Tommy make love. That's why you had this bullshit change of heart. You don't give a shit about Carrie White, and everybody knows it."
Nicki & Lizzy left with Sue. While Chris was shocked those girls dared to say those things to her face, the moment she saw them leave she assumed she won the fight.
"Okay. I'll see you around, Sue." Chris smirked.
However, turning forward again, Chris was surprised to see Sue in front of her. The cyan teenager was not going to leave without a thing to say to that bully.
(Later…)
School had ended, as Carrie made their way out the front doors, some time later, Sue, Tommy & George emerged from Ewen High School, Sue opened the doors. George stared at a manila envelope in his hands. Tommy ran some calculations on his Casio Micro-Mini Calculator. The score was triumphant sounding.
"You're never gonna to regret this, Tommy." Sue replied.
"My parents left me that house. I was born there." Tommy replied.
"You're not gonna lose the house. Everybody had three mortgages nowadays." Sue replied.
"But at 19 percent? You didn't even bargain with Chris." Tommy replied.
George finished a calculation and flashed it to Tommy.
"Tommy, for your information, the interest rate alone for the first five years came to $95,000 dollars." George replied.
"Will you guys relax? We are on the threshold of establishing the indispensable defense science of the next decade: Professional paranormal investigations and eliminations. The franchise rights alone would make them rich beyond their wildest dreams." Sue replied, as she gestured 'rich' with her hands.
As Tommy shook his head.
The guy's left shoulder smashed George's left shoulder.
"Hey!" George replied, as he turned to him.
A man by the name of Jones Bartholomew, turned to George.
"Sorry." Jones replied.
"Thank you." Georg replied.
"You okay?" Tommy asked in concern.
"Yeah. The guy smashed me. It was an accident." George replied.
(Later at Seward Street Subway Station…)
A man walked down the steps to the Seward Street Subway Station. The subway man sat inside a MTA booth and tried to strike a conversation with people as they walked by.
"Hey. uh, good morning. Okay. Hey, how you doing, sir? Got a Metro… Hey. That's dope jacket, man. I got that jacket." The subway man replied.
The woman had a jacket and walked.
"You know what? It's a sweater. I made a mistake. You have a good day, all right?" The subway man asked in concern.
Jones walked up to his booth and the subway man looked forward to Jones.
"Whoa." The subway man replied, as he continued laughing with a smile. "Hey! How you doing, son?"
"They'll always ignore you. They were walking sewage, concerned only with their own trivial matters." Jones replied.
"Okay. Um…" The subway man replied.
"When the Fourth Cataclysm begins, laborers, such as herself, would be among the last led to the butchery. So, make the most of her extra time." Jones replied.
"You are just a bundle of joy, ain't ya?" The subway man replied, with a smile.
Jones with joy and nodded.
"You have a good day with your crazy ass." The subway man replied.
"Thank you, sir." Jones replied, as he walked away.
"Wow! I wonder what train he taking." The subway man replied, as he read the book.
Jones in the tracks from the security monitor's camera.
"Is he going on the tracks?" The subway man replied, as he watched the security monitors Jones & he sighed. "Oh, man…" He reached for a flashlight.
The subway man stepped down onto the tracks with a Streamlight E-Spot Firebox Flashlight Lantern.
"You want to use the bathroom, there's a perfectly nice bathroom upstairs at Starbucks." The subway man replied.
If he had to go so bad. A glass bottle clinked. The subway man turned to look. Jones ran across undetected by him.
There was cracking and buzzling.
The subway man turned to a Hyper-Ionization Device like the one in Aldridge Mansion sparked atop a panel. The subway man looked at it then saw a figure up ahead.
"Hey, hey!" The subway man yelled at him. "Hey, you're not supposed to be down here, son. Only subway…"
The device unleashed huge sparks and exploded into pieces.
"Whoa!" The subway man replied.
The man he saw was really a ghost. Jones peered out from his hiding place. The ghost growled then turned its head at the subway man…
"What in the sweet hell?" The subway man asked in concern, as he was naturally confused.
"Exquisite." Jones replied, with an evil smile.
The ghost slowly flew away.
"Uh, I'm cool, dude. Yeah." The subway man replied, as he was horrified.
The ghost floated and roared closer to him.
"Forget this, man!" The subway man replied, as he dropped the flashlight lantern and ran off. "Forget this!"
To Be Continued…