Chapter 13: Rattlesnake Roundup Part 3

(Hey guys. Right from the start, I kinda want to apologize for this chapter. Not because it's short. Not because it's sad. And not because it doesn't move the story along because I can assure you it does. It's just that this chapter will focus heavily on building up some of the relationship plots. I know, I know, when are we gonna get to the murder stuff? Well, that's part of the reason I'm writing this chapter the way I am. To get a lot of the relationship stuff out of the way so we can move ahead to the roundup. I promise there are still more kills and gore on the way and hopefully, it will make up for making you sit through teen romance drama. XD

I thank you in advance for your patience and for all the love this story's gotten so far.)

"So then I said, Honey, you're not a fashion victim, you're a fashion genocide!" Jessica and her two cronies burst into laughter once more while Nelson kept walking with them, with a confused expression on his face. "Wait, so what was wrong with her clothes again?" Nelson asked, feeling he had missed something about his girlfriend's story.

Jessica's laughter abruptly stopped as she glared at her boyfriend. "Oh nothing. They were just out of season is all. Not to mention totally reeking of thrift store stink."

Alex and Janey laughed again while Nelson continued to puzzle over the apparent humor in thrift store clothes. Most of his own clothing came from a thrift store and he never found them funny.

"Anyway, I told her that if she was so much as caught dead wearing that in my presence again, I'd leak those medical files of her wetting the bed at age 12." Jessica gently placed her fingers to her lips in mock surprise. "Oh dear! Did that slip out?"

"No way!" Janey and Alex doubled up on their laughter. "Polly wets the bed!?"

"How did you even find that out?" Nelson asked.

"Just one of the many perks of volunteering at the nurse's office." Jessica beamed. "Now shh! I'll lose my leverage." Then she joined in the laughter as well while Nelson rolled his eyes. The quartet was heading for the school on this crisp Wednesday morning. The courtyard was once again bustling with conversing teens awaiting the school bell. Jessica and her entourage had just gotten back from the Kwik-E-Mart with snacks and Squishees in hand, All Nelson's "treat." It didn't take long for the group to get noticed and once they did, the herd of students parted like the Red Sea to clear a pathway for the popular kids. Jessica smiled as her lips curved over her straw, relishing in both the thrill of power she gained from these lowly worms and the taste of her Grape Gateway Surpise Squishee.

One of the other students, a skinny thing with a pointed nose and thick glasses, wheezed as he approached Alex, a single rose in hand. "A-A-Alex Whitney! W-Will you go to the prom with me?"

Alex took one look at the nerd, quietly said "eww." and shoved him to the ground with a single hand before happily humming to herself and rejoining her friends.

"Wowzers!" The nerd awed. "She touched my face! I can die happy!"

"What a loser," Alex and Jessica laughed for a bit before the former's turned into a sigh. "I wish a hot guy would ask me out instead of these nerds."

"You could always blackmail someone into going out with you," Jessica suggested. "All it takes is a little snooping until you find some dirt on them and them blam! You're in stud city!"

"You really think that could work?" Alex asked with hope in her voice.

"Hey, it worked for me." Jessica answered.

Nelson shot her a look but said nothing as he realized she was talking about Polly again.

"You know, maybe I'll just do that!" Alex snapped her fingers. "I'll just "liberate" some medical files from the nurse's office today and get myself a hunk!" She turned to Janey. "How about it, Janey." When her friend didn't answer right away, Alex became confused. "Janey?"

"Huh?" Janey turned toward her friends suddenly. "Oh sorry! I was just..looking at birds"

"O...k." Alex replied, somewhat unnerved by the distant tone in Janey's voice. "Well anyway, how about it, wanna blackmail a boy toy for Prom night with me?"

"Um...maybe another time. I don't feel so good today." Janey turned back toward the other side of the courtyard, much to Alex's chagrin.

"Well fine! More action for Moi!" Alex crossed her arms and turned away in a huff while Jessica sighed indifferently. Without warning, she latched onto Nelson's right arm with a purr. "It's a good thing I already have a hunk to take to prom, huh?" She looked up at the jock. Nelson said nothing nor softened his stern face but he did kiss Jessica on the lips to show his commitment to her.

Janey, on the other hand, was on a completely different planet in terms of thought.

Standing on the other side of the court with his hands in his pockets and his gaze downcast was Milhouse Van Houten. He looked as miserable as ever and Janey wanted nothing more than to go out and comfort him, lift him up from his abyss of loneliness and maybe even-

She stopped herself. She was one of the popular girls now. She couldn't afford to be caught even acknowledging the existence of someone like Milhouse. As much as it hurt her to see him this way, all she could do was keep her distance and hope for the best for the bespeckled boy. Sighing internally, Janey forced herself to look ahead and noticed Lisa Simpson, the girl who had broken Milhouse's heart in the first place, leaning against the school entrance, her nose buried in Carrie by Steven King. She felt a bolt of anger shoot throughout her body like lightning and had to fight the urge to grit her teeth. "That little bitch thinks she's so smart!" She thought. "She really has the audacity to mess with Milhouse's emotions like that!? Where does she get off? Does she think she has her pick of the litter or something because you're dead wrong about that sister!"

The school bell rang and Lisa was one of the first students to vanish inside the hallways. As her clique took their time waiting for the rabble to clear out of the way, Janey thought back to what Alex and Jessica were just talking about. Perhaps, Lisa could be coerced into going to Prom with Milhouse by different means...

Janey's POV

"Oh come on, you tramp! Where did you go?" Janey whispered to herself as she wandered the halls. After splitting up from her friends, she headed straight for the nurse's office with the hope of peeking through the medical records and finding something, anything that she could use to blackmail Lisa. Alas, it would seem the nurse had learned better from Jessica's snooping and had hidden the files behind a locked vault. Janey couldn't believe her rotten luck but nevertheless, she refused to be stopped in her tracks As she headed back to her first-period class, she decided that if she couldn't find Lisa's weakness in the nurse's office, she would just have to sniff it out herself. She was going to stalk Lisa until she found something useful.

And so now here she was, searching the hallways for her quarry who had managed to lose her within the crowd. Janey had been making it a point to follow Lisa during every break between classes, keeping an eagle-eye view for anything she blackmail her with. She followed her into the bathroom, into the computer labs where she had a brief discussion with the teacher, and into the nurse's office which Janey hesitated in reentering. It was after third period and lunch was not far behind. Janey continued to push through the crowd as she searched for Lisa. "Dammit! Don't tell me I lost her!" Janey cursed.

Just when she was about to give up for the period, she noticed a group of blonde spikes amongst the crowd, heading for the library. Smiling to herself, Janey shoved the students in front of her and ran toward the library. Normally, she and the other members of the clique wouldn't be caught dead near the entrance but today she was willing to make an exception, especially if it meant finding Lisa's weakness. Once she entered the library, she slowed her dash into a brisk walk and looked around. She had once again lost sight of Lisa, this time to the vast array of book-lined shelves. Undeterred, Janey wandered through them, prepared to spend all of fourth period here if she had to.

"Maybe I'll catch her reading something dirty," Janey thought. "Or maybe she's come here to smoke a joint!...Nah, Lisa would never be that cool." As Janey began to ponder just what Lisa could do at the library besides read, she suddenly heard the sound of hushed words being spoken. She flattened herself against the nearest shelf and listened for them. They were in whispers but Janey could most definitely make out one of them as belonging to Lisa. And the other one...'

"Huh?" Janey covered her mouth to keep from gasping. "N-No way!"

Carefully, Janey tipetoed to the edge of the shelf and peered over it. Sure enough, Lisa was on the other side of the room, her cheeks flushed and her gaze locked with the person standing in front of her. What shocked Janey, however, was the fact that this person was none other than Nelson Muntz.

"No way! What's Nelson doing talking to Lisa?" She squatted behind the bookshelf and backtracked a little so that only the top of her head could be seen should either of the other students happen to look in her direction. Janey was too far away to make out their hushed whispers but while Nelson seemed at ease, even eager to be talking to Lisa, the bookworm seemed troubled, her eyes betraying a heavy burden within her head. Lisa seemed to have a lot on her mind but of course, Janey wasn't concerned with that. She was too busy freaking out over the fact that Nelson was talking with her, looking so much happier than he did with Jessica. At last, Janey couldn't take it anymore and sat up behind the shelf, both hands on her mouth. It was all she could do to keep from gasping out loud.

"I don't believe this! Nelson's seeing Lisa behind Jessica's back! There's no other way around it!" Janey could feel her breath getting heavier. "This is big! New shoe sale at the mall big!" Janey gulped and forced herself to peek again. Nelson and Lisa were still talking and while her face and body were still downcast, the middle Simpson sibling was laughing quietly along with Jessica's boyfriend. Janey hid back behind the shelf.

"But why her? Even if Nelson was going to cheat on Jessica, why would he do it with a nobody like Lisa? He could have any girl in the school who isn't gay!" Janey heard a somewhat audible "Smell ya later." and peeked over the shelf one more time. Nelson and Lisa were walking away from each other, waving goodbye. Nelson was heading toward the exit doors on the other side of the library and Lisa was heading toward the shelf where Janey sat.

"Oh fuck!" Janey quickly got up and bolted, not caring at this point if she made a sound or not. She could not let Lisa know she was here, that she knew about her and Nelson. Once she was safely out of the library, she bolted toward the nearest girl's bathroom and into the first stall she saw was open. She slammed it shut behind her and sat on the closed toilet, inhaling and exhaling at a rapid pace. "Nelson and Lisa are seeing each other! There's no way around it!" She thought as her breathing started to slow. "Maybe this is what I was looking for!" She smiled. "Yeah. Lisa wouldn't want Jessica to find out now would she? Jessica would destroy her in a flash! I got my blackmail!"

Feeling exhilarated by this development, Janey left the stall and washed the sweat from her face and arms. The bell for fourth period rang and she knew she would receive a scolding for being late to class again but she didn't care. She had gotten the dirt she wanted on Lisa and now all that was left was to rub it in her face. "This is perfect! If word got out about this, Lisa would be destroyed!"

And so would Jessica

Janey froze in front of the bathroom door, her hand already on the handle. She wasn't sure where that thought had come from. She even looked around the bathroom to see if anyone else could have said it. She was alone. That voice spoke within her head, her own conscious voicing its disdain of her new plan. And as much as she hated to admit it, it had a point. "If Lisa refused to bend and word got out, Jessica would be devastated! Would it really be worth the risk?" Janey shook her head. "What am I saying? Of course Lisa would cave! She has way more to lose than Jessica...right?" Janey sighed. She had only been friends with Lisa for about three years or so in Elementry School before deciding she was too nerdy and drifting away from her. During those three years, however, Janey had learned a few things about Lisa and one of them was that she was stubborn. It didn't matter if 10 people, or 100 people or even the entire world was against her. If she put it in her mind to fight for or against something, she wouldn't budge until the bitter end.

"I...may need to workshop this plan with Alex first," Janey thought as she headed to the bathroom.

Alex's POV

"Ugh! You've got to be kidding me!" Alex whined. It was the intermission period between second and third period and Alex had snuck into the nurse's office in the hopes of finding the medical files of some cute boys to use for blackmail. Alas, it was not to be as the files were safely tucked away behind a locked safe. Alex had tried to crack the code a few times with her ear pressed against the cold steel door but it did no good. She was just about to try again when Nurse Taylor stepped into the office. "Huh? Just what do you think you're doing?" She asked in a stern voice.

"Gah! Uh N-Nurse Taylor! Hi! W-What brings you here?" She asked nervously.

"...I work here."

"Oh no way! Really? Wow! That's so interesting!" Alex was sweating bullets at this point, which earned her nothing more than a raised eyebrow from the school nurse.

"Do you need help with your tampon situation again?" Nurse Taylor asked.

Alex's face turned as red as her cap. "What!? N-No! Of course not! I-I was...uh..just looking for my next class." She looked around frantically to drive her point home. "Oh wow! This isn't it! I better go find it! See ya!" Alex briskly walked past Nurse Taylor who watched as the preppy blonde sprinted down the hallways upon entering them. She sighed heavily as she closed the door and placed her clipboard on top of the safe. "I swear if one more girl comes on here trying to find out the boy's penis sizes I..." She let out another sigh that sounded eerily like Lurch from the Addams Family. She had had this sigh all her life.

Alex kept running until she was two hallways away from the nurse's office. Her face was flushed and her body was sweaty. Once she had calmed herself down enough to feel the full weight of her humiliation, she growled and punched the nearest locker. "This is bullshit!" She cried. "How am I supposed to get a date now!?" Her fist began to sting and as she blew on it, she thought she could hear voices speaking from the other hallway to her right. One of the voices sounded like Jessica.

"Jessica?" Alex thought. "Maybe she'll know what to do." Alex turned the corner and raised her hand to greet Jessica only to stop in her tracks. Jessica was indeed in the hallway and she was leaning against the vending machine talking to.

"Bart Simpson?" Alex covered her mouth and ducked behind the corner before either of them could see her. She waited nervously to be discovered and confronted and when that didn't happen, she ducked down and peered behind the corner. Neither Bart nor Jessica seemed to have noticed her as they were still conversing heavily. They both seemed happy to boot.

"What's Jessica doing talking to a nobody like Bart Simpson?" Alex thought. "What's going on?"

Bart and Jessica were both speaking in voices far too quiet for Alex to hear but she could tell that they both appeared to be at ease. Every once in a while, they would both break into laughter. The sight was starting to freak Alex out and she pulled away from the corner and hid with her back flattened against the locker. "What the hell's going on? Is Jessica...seeing Bart behind Nelson's back?" Alex shook her head. "No That can't be it! Jessica would never do that! And even if she did, it wouldn't be with a nobody like Bart Simpson!"

Cautiously, she peered her head around the corner one more time, intending to make out at least a single word from their sentence. As she focused, she found her gaze gravitating toward Bart's buttocks and a blush crept on her face. "Did Bart always have a fine ass like that?" She asked herself almost automatically.

"Huh?" Someone there?" Bart and Jessica both turned their attention toward the corner but by then Alex was bolting down the hallway, having taken off the second she saw Bart turning. "Crap! Did I say that out loud!?" She thought as she clasped both hands over her mouth. "Dammit! Dammit!"

Alex ran through a couple of hallways and stopped near the room where her next class was to take place. She leaned against the wall and panted heavily. She checked her skin for sweat and was thankful to find none. A few of the other students in the hallway with her gave her strange looks but none approached her. She still was one of the popular girls after all. Once Alex calmed herself down, she began to think over what she had seen in the other hallway.

"There's just no way Jessica could be cheating on Nelson! Not with Bart!" She gripped her head as if she had a headache. "Shit! What do I do!? I-I can't just confront Jessica with this can I?" The bell rang and the gathering students herded themselves into the classroom, leaving Alex alone with her thoughts. With another heavy sigh, she followed them in. "Maybe I can ask Janey about this. She might know what to do."

The Lunchroom

The cafeteria was alive with the sound of audible conversation and equally loud chewing and scarfing. Lisa Simpson was currently back in the library, having already finished her home-brought salad while Bart was sitting with Nelson and Milhouse at the same table. At the opposite side of the cafeteria, Jessica and her friends chatted about the latest fashions and mocked those who ignored them. Janey joined in for the most part although she winced whenever Lisa's name came up. Alex was uncomfortable herself but for an entirely different reason.

"Hey Jessica, are you sure you're okay with Nelson sitting with someone else during lunch?" She asked, having mentally replaced "someone else" with Bart in her head.

"Hey, every boy needs some time to play with his friends every now and then, don't they?" Jessica smiled. "Besides, he most likely won't be seeing them after graduation, you know, on account of how he'll be all mine once school ends."

"Uh-huh." Alex and Janey slurped a spoonful of soup at the exact same time, giving each other a look of urgency.

Jessica also took a sip, only to wince as her stomach began to ache. It would seem the soup was not agreeing with her. "Shit! I gotta go powder my nose! BRB!" Jessica got up and walked toward the hallway like a fashion model, wanting to leave no clue to any potential onlookers that she was actually heading for the bathroom.

Once they saw their leader vanish behind the cafeteria doors, Alex and Janey turned to each other and spoke at the same time.

"We need to talk!"

Both blinked at each other and tried to speak again.

"Me first! No me! Me!"

They both sighed in frustration and Janey reached into her pocket. She pulled out a quarter called Tails, leaving Alex with Heads as the only option. Janey flipped the coin into the air, smacked it against her arm with her palm and removed her hand. It had landed with the eagle facing upwards, causing her to smile. "All right! I win!"

Alex grumbled. "Alright, just say what you're going to say."

Janey leaned to Alex and lay her hand against her mouth. She shot a glance over to Nelson's table, making sure the Football Captain wasn't watching. When it was clear he was too preoccupied with listening to Bart's more-than-likely-dirty jokes, she sank back in her seat, looked around and gestured for Alex to come closer.

"There's no gentle way to put it so I'll just come on right out and say it. Nelson's seeing Lisa behind Jessica's back!"

Alex stared at Janey as if she had just unleashed a giant unprompted burp. "Come again?"

"Nelson's cheating on Jessica with Lisa Simpson!" Janey repeated slightly louder. "I saw it in the library! They were talking and everything!"

"Were they making out?"

Janey stopped in her tracks, her mouth open agape. "Well, not really."

"Then how do you know they're really cheating?" Alex challenged. "Lisa's the biggest bookroom in school. Nelson probably just asked her for help with his homework or something."

"I know what I saw, Alex!" Janey defended. "Lisa's trying to steal Nelson away from Jessica!" Janey slumped down in her seat, gritting her teeth in anger. "That dirty little tramp!"

"I don't know," Alex continued. "Lisa's a lot of things and most of them are lame."

"What are you saying?" Janey asked. "That Lisa doesn't strike you as someone who would steal someone's boyfriend?"

"I'm saying she doesn't strike me as someone who could steal someone's boyfriend!" Alex replied. "Especially the football Captain." Alex stopped speaking and stared at Janey, as if carefully choosing her next words. "Are you sure this just isn't because of Lisa rejecting Milhouse?"

Janey felt her heart drop and her face heat up. "W-What are you talking about? What does Milhouse have to do with this?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You mean you honestly thought all this time that you kept your crush under wraps? Hate to break it to you sister but it's no big secret, not to anyone bothering to look anyway." Alex consumed another spoonful of soup while Janey sat there steaming in her own personal shame. She wanted to prod Alex more, get her to spill out whatever else she knew, whether Jessica knew. But the sheer weight of her embarrassment kept her silent. When she finally managed to speak again, it was a feeble request to change the subject. "W-W-Well what about you? What big thing did you have to say huh?"

Alexx giggled a little as she could tell why Janey wanted to change the subject. Remembrance of what she saw earlier in the hallway and its possible repercussions caused her smile to fade. "Well, maybe Nelson's justified with seeing Lisa behind Jessica's back because..." She stopped to make sure no one was listening in on her and Janey's conversation and leaned closer. "I saw her with Bart Simpson in the hallway!"

"What!?" Janey shouted in a hushed voice.

Alex nodded. "They were in front of the vending machine. Now before you ask, they weren't kissing or anything but the way they were talking and laughing, I don't know. It just sounded like there was something more going on than casual conversation you know?"

"But that's impossible," Janey argued. "I mean I guess on some level, under the right circumstances, Lisa could have a shot with someone like Nelson but Bart and Jessica?" Did someone divide by zero or something?"

Alex shrugged. "I know what I saw.

"Wait! How do you know Jessica isn't just using Bart? You know, playing her little mind games on him?"

"I suppose that's a possibility but something about the way they were talking to each other just didn't give off that impression." Alex was about to suggest she was just attracted to his body (Specifically his ass) but cut herself off. That part and her subsequent fleeing did not need to be brought up again as far as she was concerned.

"Shit!" Janey slumped down in her seat again. "This is big! The hottest couple in school are seeing other people behind each other's backs and it's those lame-o Simpson siblings!?"

"We don't know anything for sure." Alex defended. Despite what she had said, she didn't want to believe that Jessica could be cheating nor be cheated on. "We could be blowing this whole thing out of proportion!"

"Well I say we put a stop to it either way!" Janey slammed her fist on the table. This caught the attention of a few students, prompting Janey to grab Alex by the shoulder and pull her close. "Listen," She began whispering into her ear. "I say we each confront one of the Simpsons and tell them to back off! I'll get Lisa and you chase off Bart! Got it!?"

"I don't know, Janey." Alex said as she pulled herself away from her friend. "We might be overreacting here and-

"Shush! Here comes Jessica!" Janey pointed to the approaching Queen Bee of High School as she made her way back to the table. "Sorry for the wait. What were you too guys talking about?"

"Oh just jumbling our options for prom." Janey lied. She nudged Alex in the ribs which earned her a glare from the aspiring fashionista. Nevertheless, Alex smiled at Jessica and nodded. "Yeah, Nurse Taylor locked away the medical files so we have to get creative."

"I see. Well best of luck to you girls." Jessica said before sipping another spoonful of soup. She intended to purge it from her system before the next period started. After a few seconds of awkwardly staring at each other, Janey and Alex continued to eat their own meals, each mulling over what they had seen before lunchtime and what would come of confronting the Simpson siblings.

A dark cloud loomed over the girl's table for the rest of that period and, as far as anyone knew, Jessica remained unaware of its presence.

Lisa's POV

"Damn headache," Lisa grumbled as she walked down the hallway. "I've taken three aspirins and it still won't go away!"

"Try another one. Then maybe you won't have to deal with headaches ever again." The Beast joked.

"Ugh! You know, maybe if you shut up a little bit, my head would feel better."

"Touchy."

Lisa grumbled in response as she neared a water fountain. She turned to on and practically lapped at the stream of water emerging from the nozzle. It had a rustic taste to it but she didn't care. As long as it distracted her from everything, including her headache, she was grateful for it.

Ever since running off on Clementine the night before, Lisa had been suffering a splitting headache which she could only guess was from the sheer amount of stress she was under. She still hadn't formulated a good enough plan to take out Richard Texan or save the rattlesnakes he held captive and the Roundup was in two days. She was still feeling guilty about hurting Milhouse's feeling the way she did and now Clementine had asked her to the prom, stirring her already messed up emotions even further.

"I'm such a bitch," Lisa thought. "I couldn't even give Clementine a proper answer before I ghosted her."

"Lisa Lisa, murder and lies. Kissed the girls and made them cry."

Lisa sighed heavily as she continued down the hallway.

What? You're not gonna tell me to shut up this time?"

"Would you even if I did?"

"...No"

Lisa groaned. "Besides, I deserve it. I let my emotions get the better of me and left Clementine alone at the park. I'm such an awful person!"

"It couldn't be helped. She reminds you too much of Issac."

"That's not true! Clementine is nothing like Issac!" Lisa shouted mentally.

"Then why does the mere mention of her name bring back memories from that time?"

"I..I don't know...I just don't know..."

As Lisa approached the library doors, she found herself thinking back to a certain Wednesday afternoon much like the one unfolding around her, three weeks after she had started dating Issac...

"Ugh! Not again!" Lisa complained.

"What's wrong, Lis?" Issac asked.

"Tyrone left another present in my locker." Lisa used air quotations around the word "present" and pointed to her locker. Sitting at the floor of the steel compartment was a dead, flattened rat. One of its eyeballs was dangling from its socket and from its furry belly, one could see the red of its intestines starting to poke out. A picture of Bleeding Gums Murphy that Lisa had taped to the right side of her locker was stained with a few droplets of the rat's blood. Normally, such a sight would have caused Lisa to either run away screaming or vomit right then and there. However, for a reason she could only personally theorize was involuntary desensitization after her run in with the PETA man, she was merely grossed out and annoyed.

Of course, still being the animal lover she was, she did feel pity for the poor dead creature. "Y-You don't think he.."

"No," Issac interuppted. "Tyrone's a beast. No doubt about that but he's no killer. He must have found it in Willie's shack." He turned to Lisa with concern in his eyes. "I thought you said you were going to have your locker combination changed."

"Principal Skinner said the school can't afford to change locker combinations," Lisa replied glumly. "They're barely keeping the electricity on as it is!" As if to drive Lisa's point home, the lights in the hallway started to flicker. Lisa sighed. "I guess I better report this to Skinner."

Lisa reluctantly reached for the rat, only for Issac to gently place his hand upon her arm to stop it. He grabbed it and pulled Lisa a little closer to him, causing her to blush.

"Allow me, my love." Issac said. "You shouldn't be touching such nasty things with your pretty hands."

Lisa couldn't help but giggle meekly. Even at her young age, she was no stranger to being swooned off her feet. But Issac was something different. Something warm. Just being near him seemed to melt the block of ice within her more and more. Even with the added aggravation of Tyrone's meddling, Lisa could happily say that the 3rd grade was an improvement for her, simply because Issac was there with her.

Issac smiled at her, kissed her cheek, and gripped the dead rat's tail with his index finger and thumb. Carefully, he lifted the carcass up, struggling a little due to the dried blood sticking the rat to the floor of the locker. With one final yank, he pulled the rat out of the locker and held it up triumphantly. Lisa covered her mouth, feeling as if she were going to vomit at the smell. But at the same time, she was thankful that Issac had played hero and removed the rat from her locker. A little bit of her mother's sanitization solution and her locker would be good as new.

"Hey lovebirds! Enjoy the wedding present I sent ya!?" Tyrone called out as he stomped past Issac and Lisa, uttering a horrid symphony of laughter, wheezing and snorting. Issac glared at him, once again appearing to be utterly lost in thought. Lisa still hadn't gotten used to that side of Issac and sometimes wished she could read minds, if only to understand what was going through his head at times such as this. "Issac?" She asked.

Issac shook his head, seeming to snap back to reality and turned to Lisa with another warm smile. "Sorry about that." He held up the rat. "I should hurry up and dispose of this."

The bell rang, signifying the last chance students had to get to their next classes. Lisa, not wanting to mar her reputation for never being late, quickly planted a kiss on Issac's cheek and ran toward her next class. "Don't take too long! I'll see you at recess!"

The last Lisa saw of Issac that day before recess was him smiling and waving good-bye to her. After that, she turned toward her next class and didn't look back. She didn't see Issac's warm smile curve into a cold frown within the span of a single second. She didn't see him place the rat inside his backpack and she didn't see him ignore the bell and follow Tyrone into the boy's bathroom down the hall...

Lisa groaned as she gripped her head. She was browsing through the horror section, where she had gotten Carrie, and was looking around for more Steven King books. On a whim, she decided to try and reread his works one by one and wanted to ensure that the next one, Salem's Lot, was there. Within the shelves of the horror section was Christine, Cujo, Pet Sematary and...The Drawing of the Three?"

"Huh?" Lisa picked that book out and looked it over. "The Drawing of the Three? But this is a Dark Tower book! It doesn't belong in the horror section." Lisa fixed the other books back into place and headed toward the Fantasy-Adventure section where the book belonged, assuring herself that the poor soul who placed it in the horror section did so simply because of the author's name A small price to pay for fear-induced infamy, she supposed.

Once she reached the fantasy section, she looked over the shelf and found the other Dark Tower books. She sandwiched The Drawing of the Three within its rightful place between The Gunslinger and the Wastelands. "And Say Thank Ya." She said to herself.

"Uh...Thank ya?"

Lisa nearly jumped out of her skin as the confused voice spoke next to her. She turned to see none other than Nelson Muntz standing by the bookshelf, Animal Farm in hand. "Shit! Nelson!" Lisa pressed her hand against her heaving chest and exhaled. "You scared the crap outta me!"

"Sorry." Nelson responded quietly. "I heard your voice from the other side of the shelf and thought I'd say hello."

"Oh!" Lisa wasn't sure what to say. Just staring at Nelson seemed to cause her face to heat up, something she was all too aware of. From inside her mind, she could hear the Beast laughing. "So um...what are you doing at the library this time of day?"

Nelson shrugged. "My third period was kinda canceled because the sub got stuck in traffic. So I figured I get some more reading done for my report. The classroom was too loud though so I came here." Nelson looked around while clutching his book with both hands. "I gotta tell you, I've never realized until now just how quiet it can get in a library. It's kinda creepy."

"Spend enough time in here and the silence becomes soothing." Lisa found herself saying. "I can attest that from personal experience."

"I'm sure you can." Nelson nodded. An awkward moment of less-welcome silence followed as both teens struggled to find a way to continue the conversation. Lisa, in particular, was torn between wishing to continue speaking with Nelson and wanting to end the conversation. Simply being near the young jock was stirring up her already scrambled emotions concerning Clementine and Issac. She found herself longing for the days when she could only envy girls with boyfriends.

Her heart felt as if it was being pulled in several directions at once. Things couldn't possibly get worse.

And then she felt herself being watched.

"You feel that too, don't you?" The Beast asked.

"Yeah, someone's spying on me from behind the book shelf to my left.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Christmas? Let's end this stupid conversation and go after them!"

"In a minute. I'm not going to blow Nelson off."

"Hey Lisa, you ok?" Nelson finally asked, snapping Lisa out of her mind.

"Huh? Y-Yeah why?"

"You just look, I don't know, melon corgi."

Lisa couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Do you mean melancholy? "

"Maybe." Nelson shrugged. "You're the word expert not me."

"Well in any case, I'm fine." Lisa lied. "I just...didn't get that much sleep last night. You know, homework and all that."

"Yeah. Homework sucks ass. If you ask me, it should all just disappear."

"Like viruses and parasites!"

"Shut it!" Lisa growled, her mixed up feelings intensified. What was it with the people close to her wanting things to vanish?

"What?" Nelson asked.

"Huh?"

"What did you say?" Nelson asked, his own eyebrow was raised now.

"Shit! I must have muttered that out loud!"

"Nice one."

"Shut it!"

"What?"

"Um..uh...I said shut up! What would we nerds do without homework?" Lisa swung her arm for emphasis and felt her dignity die as her eyes locked with a confused Nelson's gaze. The Beast's laughter thundered inside her skull and if Lisa could see herself at the moment, she knew she would be staring back at a bright red starfish.

"Um...I don't know. Maybe pick up a book sometime." Nelson held up Animal Farm as he said this, his lips curving into a humorous smile. "I hear they're good for you!"

Lisa was at an utter loss for words. Once again, she was torn. Torn between remaining shocked that her gambit worked and Nelson actually making a joke about it and giving into the bubbling feeling of laughter that was dwelling inside her. "Fuck you!" She shoved him playfully as they both gave in to the laughter. They both fought to keep it to themselves given that they were still at the library and Lisa still had her messed-up feelings but for this one brief moment of reprieve, Lisa found herself laughing uncontrollably. The Beast remained silent as her better half chuckled relentlessly.

Finally, the laughter ended with content sighs from both parties, followed by another bout of less-awkward silence. Lisa felt herself blushing again and looked down to the floor, hoping Nelson wouldn't notice. Had she bothered to look up, she would have noticed a line of red appear on his face as well.

"Well, the bell's gonna ring any minute now. Smell ya later!" Nelson walked toward the back door.

"O-Ok! S-Smell you too!" Lisa whispered, feeling her blush deepen as she mentally prayed to Buhdda that Nelson didn't hear her.

"Smell you too?" The Beast asked. "Are we sure you're really the word expert here?"

"Let's just find that spy," Lisa muttered to herself as she headed toward the shelf where she felt the gaze from. A million little guesses concerning the spy's identity rushed through her mind. Could they be a reporter for the school newspaper looking for a hot scoop? Could they be a private investigator hired by Tobias's father? Could someone actually be on to Lisa's dark secret?" All these theories were silenced as she reached the edge of the bookshelf and spotted one Janey Powell fleeing the scene.

"Janey?" Lisa asked. "What could she want with me?"

"Isn't she one of the insecure tramps that like to hang out with that bitch Jessica?" The Beast asked.

"You know, you could just say girls." Lisa offered.

"The point is this could get ugly. After all, doesn't that slab of meat you were just talking to already belong to Jessica?"

"Nelson is not a slab of meat!" Lisa defended. "But yeah, he and Jessica are dating and knowing Janey, she'll blow our conversation out of proportion." Lisa sighed.

"So what will you do about it?" The Beast carried a slight hint of excitement in her voice as if hoping Lisa would decide to silence Janey.

"Nothing."

"What!?"

"There's nothing to do. I've already told you. I don't harm people unless they've harmed animals. It'll be inconvenient if Janey goes blabbing to Jessica but unless she's pairing that with strangling a puppy, I won't touch her."

"Then what ar-

"I'll deal with the aftermath. I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself." Lisa found herself thinking back to that image of Issac tied to a tree. "I've always had to take care of myself." Lisa left the library and headed for her fourth-period class. As she passed by the glass window, she thought she saw someone standing next to the shelves where she was not too long ago. Gasping, Lisa stopped and scanned the library.

No figure. Not even the librarian. Just a bunch of books.

She sighed in relief and headed to class, reassured that whatever she saw was just a figment of her imagination.

Bart's POV

Bart Simpson was at the top of the world. His final year in the hellscape known as school would soon be over and he had left quite a reputation behind for future generations to aspire to. His parents had finally stopped fighting and his little sister seemed all the happier for it. His older sister didn't seem nearly as happy but then again it was Lisa so what could you do? To top it all off, Bart was seeing the hottest, most popular girl in school. Sure, she was still dating the Captain of the football team who happened to be one of his best friends but then again, didn't all sappy love movies have complications like that?

Bart literally had to guess that they did since the most he watched was a quarter of The Notebook with his mother one time.

As Bart made his way down the hall, he noticed the girl of his dreams once again at the vending machine. She had a quarter dangling from her index finger by some string and was scanning the machine for something to drink. Once she found what she was looking for, she flung the quarter into the slot, waited for the machine to read it and drop her prize, and yanked the quarter back out. She was wearing a rather snug skirt and a purple jacket. As she turned toward Bart and drank her beverage, he could she her navel poking out from under her orange-striped tube top.

"Hey babe!" Bart greeted as he walked up to her.

"Hey yourself." Jessica responded without really looking at Bart.

"I see you've learned the ways of the fakeout quarter." He smiled.

"It's really not hard of a trick." Jessica said as she spun the quarter around casually. "After all, it's pretty old school."

"So you've said." Bart chuckled and to his delight, so did Jessica. Per her wishes, the two mostly stuck to the front of the vending machine for their rendezvous. It wasn't exactly a secluded place but as most of the student body thought the machine was broken, they hardly went by it. Jessica had convinced Groundskeeper Millie to fix it and not tell anyone. It was amazing what a little church money could accomplish. Nevertheless, Bart looked forward to heading to this spot almost every day if it meant seeing Jessica.

"So...what's shaking bacon?" Bart asked in an attempt to start a conversation, something that he noticed became harder to do as time went on. If he didn't know any better, Bart would swear that Jessica just wasn't interested in talking to him all that much.

"Ew! That phrase is even older than the coin trick." She replied with muted disgust. "Anyway, nothing much. Just getting ready for the prom."

"Yeah. The prom." Bart grew a little uncomfortable around the subject if only because he wasn't sure what his future held there. Seeing Jessica left him without any real opportunity to find a date for himself and as much as he fantasized about stealing Jessica away from Nelson at the final possible moment, not only did he know this to be impossible but felt guilty for even thinking it. Hastily, he changed the subject. "What about your friends? How are they doing?"

"Friends?" Jessica asked. "Oh you mean Janey and Alex? They're alright I guess. Neither of them have gotten any dates yet so that's lame." Jessica chuckled and, as uneasy as he was, Bart laughed along.

It was around this time that they both heard a voice speak. It was too far away to make out the words completely but Bart was certain the sentence ended with "ass." "Huh? Someone there?" He turned around but whoever it was was already running down the halls. "Huh? Well that was freak-

"Go after them!" Jessica demanded. The sharpness in her voice nearly made Bart jump.

"What?"

"Did I stutter? Go after them! Now!" She snarled.

"Ok ok!" Bart wasn't sure what was going on with his pseudo-girlfriend but it was clear that he didn't have a choice in the matter. He took his skateboard out of his backpack, hopped on, and rode through the halls after the footsteps. They were already faint by the time he started and it wasn't long before he lost them. This wasn't helped by the fact that the school bell rang, causing the hallways to flood with students. Bart had to stop and put his skateboard up before pushing through the crowd in a desperate bid to try and find the culprit. Alas, the trail had already gone cold and before long, the students had already gathered in their classes, leaving Bart alone in the hallway. "Aw crap!"

"What the hell Bart!?" He veered around to see Jessica stomping toward him, her usually lovely face twisted in an expression of undiluted rage. "You were supposed to catch them!"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Bart defended. "The stupid bell rang before I can find them! What's the big deal anyway?"

"The big deal is that I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about us!" Jessica shouted. "All it'll take is one little rumor to throw everything completely out of proportion!"

"Come on, It's not that bad." Bart tried to place a hand on her shoulder for comfort but Jessica slapped it away before turning her back on Bart.

"I'd better head to class." She muttered. "I suggest you do the same." With this, she stormed down the hall as Bart watched forlornly. As she turned the corner and vanished from sight, Bart finally made his own way to his next class which was too far away for him to make it even with the skateboard. Because of this, he decided to simply stroll to class and face the music once he got there. His head hung low and his shoulders slouched. "Man, what's the big deal?" He thought. "Would it really be that bad if people knew about us?"

Bart smacked himself in the face as he realized what he was thinking. "You idiot! Don't forget she has a boyfriend and he's Nelson to boot. You have no right.." Bart produced a drawn-out sigh from his lips and left the hallway.

Unbeknownst to him, as Jessica was turning the corner, she nearly tripped on something laying on the floor. She caught herself on the nearby drinking fountain and looked down to see a half-empty tube of lip gloss. With a raised eyebrow and a voiceless mutter, Jessica picked the lip gloss up and examined it in the light. It was green and white and was a product of the Burns Cosmetics industry, a company that was founded less than five years ago. Apparently, it was apple-flavored.

"Sweet Apple Lip Gloss? There's only one person who uses this," Jessica growled. It would seem she found her little snoop.

Alex's POV (Fin)

It was exactly one period before school let out and Alex decided to use the restroom before it started. All day, she had been agonizing over whether or not to tell Bart to stay away from Jessica. At times, she would convince herself that she had no real proof and in a way, this was the truth. She only saw them talking and that was all. Nevertheless, deep within her gut, she knew better. Even if Jessica had no feelings for Bart, she was still seeing him behind Nelson's back and it was wrong. But...Jessica was the most popular girl in school, the Goddess of High School, didn't that give her leeway to do what she wanted? Alex's head was spinning and she turned on the sink, hoping some nice cold water against her face would make her feel just a little bit better.

"You must think you're real slick, huh?"

Alex opened her mouth to scream but this only succeeded in allowing the water from the sink to shoot into her throat. She gasped and choked and coughed as she spun around and found herself facing an angry Jessica Lovejoy. One with Alex's favorite brand of lip gloss in her hands.

"You might as well fess up now because I know it was you." Jessica took a step forward. "And I know what you saw!"

"J-Jessica! Wait!" Alex tried to talk but her words came out in sputters and coughs as water dripped from her lips. "I-I can explain!"

Jessica angrily shoved the lip gloss into Alex's stomach, making it a point to hurt her as she did so. Alex clasped both hands around Jessica's which slipped out, leaving only the lip gloss.

"You better keep your mouth shut about what you saw or I swear," Jessica nearly headbutted Alex as she got in her face. "I will make what time you have left in this school into a living Hell!" With this, Jessica stormed out of the bathroom, leaving a frightened and still choking Alex alone. She studied her lip gloss for a few moments and tossed it into the nearby trash can. It was almost empty anyway and she had more back home.

"I...I think this answers my question." Alex thought as she rubbed her throat., her stomach and forehead hurting as well. "Nelson can figure it out on his own." The bell for final period rang and Alex made her way to hers, hoping to whatever deities were listening that she would never have to face an angry Jessica Lovejoy again.

Janey's POV (fin)

"Alex doesn't know what she's talking about!" Janey whispered to herself. The final bell had sounded and she was walking toward her locker. Much like Alex, she too had been considering what she had seen in the library and whether or not telling Jessica would be the right call. Unlike Alex, who was torturing herself with the potential fallout of her situation, however, Janey had already made up her mind and only grew more sure of herself as the day went on. She was going to tell Jessica what she saw and she was going to watch with glee as Lisa suffered because of it. "Lisa deserves it." She told herself. "She should no better than to reach for fruit that isn't hers."

Thoughts of Milhouse in pain crossed her mind but she refused to accept that had anything to do with it. She was simply protecting the pecking order of this school and that was it.

Janey turned the corner into the hallway where her locker was. To her surprise, it was mostly empty, a lot of the other students with lockers here having gathered their things and left. Janey paid this no great mind and opened up her locker. She placed her school books inside and took out her purse. Using the tiny mirror hanging on the inside of the locker door, she applied a little bit of lipstick and smacked her lips. "With any luck, I can catch Jessica before she leaves." She blinked seductively a few times and chuckled to herself as she placed the lipstick back inside her purse. "Just you wait Lisa! Soon enough, you're going to get yours!" Janey slammed her locker shut...

...and nearly fell over screaming as she found herself standing mere inches away from Clementine Foster. "Hi." She greeted Janey warmly.

"Y-You? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Um..well that's a dumb question, don't you think." Clementine reached into her pockets and pulled out a half-eaten bag of pistachios. She peeled one and placed it on her tongue. "I mean, I go to school here every day, don't I? I think that gives me clearance to roam about as I see fit when it's reasonable, don't you think?"

Janey gulped as she got back to her feet. She had hardly spoken to Clementine in the few weeks that she had been here and none of them left a lasting impression on her. But at this very moment, there was something about the pistachio-eating girl that seemed...off. Her smile was friendly but there was just a glint of intent in her eyes that told Janey she wasn't here by coincidence. It dawned on her that she might have overheard her talking about her friend and fellow band geek Lisa and she decided to go for the throat.

"Alright, be straight with me! How much did you see?" She demanded more than she asked.

"Oh I walked up to you just as you were going on about Lisa getting something that belongs to her." Clementine helped herself to another pistachio. "What might that be, I wonder?"

"It's none of your business is what it is!" Janey barked. "And if this your way of trying to protect your little friend, I gotta tell you, you pretty shit at it!"

Clementine said nothing in response. She simply took out another pistachio and placed it in her mouth, her expression not changing a bit aside from her moving lips.

"A word of advice," Janey said as she slung her purse over her shoulder. "The whole nice girl shtick won't work on me or Jessica. We run the school with an iron fist and if we want something or someone destroyed, it happened without question." She walked up to Clementine and poked her in the chest. "Cut ties with Lisa while you can because once she goes down, she'd sure to bring what few friends she has down with her." Janey began to walk away, smiling smugly as she once again felt in control of the situation, before she could turn the corner, however, Clementine called out to her. "Hey, you forgot to do your eyeliner!"

Janey scoffed as she walked away. "That's the best she could do? Really? What an idiot!" As she continued walking, she began to remember her scare at the locker and realized that she had forgotten about her eyeliner. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Janey opened her purse and reached for her eyeliner. Instead of grazing the smooth glass container of blue makeup, however, she felt something cold and stiff. She pulled her hand out in shock, whimpered, and pulled the edges of her backpack open to see what it was. The sight of it made Janey scream and throw her purse to the ground, its contents spilling out into the halls.

Among the makeup and money, was a piglet fetus from science class.

"What the actual fuck!?" Janey cried as she backed away. Her heart was racing and her skin was peppered in sweat. She felt nauseous like she was going to throw up.

"Amazing isn't it?" Clementine whispered in her ear, causing Janey to scream again. "Hard to believe such a little thing could have grown into a great big boar in another life."

"W-Why...How..." Janey trembled. Her fear intensified when Clementine got in her face, her warm smile now twisted into a sadistic grin. "The how doesn't matter. You don't need to be bored with the details of how I got that pig into your purse. All you need to know is that this is the only warning you're going to get. Stay away from my Lisa or next time," Clementine pressed her lips against the shaking Janey's ear. "I'll make sure your next little gift is still alive when you discover it."

Janey practically threw herself against the lockers in fright. Her teeth were chattering and her knees had become jelly, her legs bending into a weird squat as she sank down to the floor. Satisfied, Clementine helped herself to one more pistachio, flung the shell at Janey's forehead and walked away.

"Don't worry Lisa," Clementine thought. "No matter what, I'll protect you. Your life. Your reputation. Even your little secret. It's all the same to me, my little Animal Avenger."

(Wow. Well that was all over the place wasn't it? Nevertheless, now that I've gotten this out of the way, we can move on to the climax! I don't know just yet how many chapters that's gonna be but rest assured the next chapter will be on the day of the roundup and thing will only get darker from there. Good bye and have a good one!)