Chapter 24

"What the fuck do you dick-weeds want now?" Henrietta crossed her arms as she looked down at the mini-vamps in front of us. We were sitting behind the gym, smoking as usual when the middle schoolers approached us. Now that I didn't have a job, I had a lot of time after my early dismissal to hang out with my friends.

"Our dark leader requests your presence." One of the two spoke up and the other nodded enthusiastically. She was probably new and hadn't learned to act "dark and mysterious" yet.

"Tell him to fuck off, if he needs something from us he can tell us himself." She rolled her eyes hard and turned away from the fence to go back to where she was sitting.

"Our master doesn't have your time to lounge about, per say, he's a busy man!" The same girl stomped her foot in the snow. I couldn't help but think that he was probably in the cafeteria right now with a stupid hairnet on.

"Whatever lame-os, go tell your dork leader to come to us if he needs anything." Pete flipped his bangs out of his eyes uninterested.

"But it's urgent!" The too-enthusiastic girl spoke up.

"If it's really that important I can look for him," I flicked the ash off my cigarette and kicked at the snow. "I have an idea of where he is."

"Yes! Go and do that, goth girl!" The two girls cheered at having their errand complete. I sighed and frowned, putting out my cigarette on the bottom of my shoe and tucking it back into its box for later.

"Whatever, I'll be back." I mumbled and put my hands in the pockets of my sweater. It was actually an old, faded sweater that had a Bauhaus album cover on it, another one of Henrietta's hand-me-downs. I didn't mind her clothes, they were well taken care of and fit me comfortably since the material was already soft from all the washing and drying it went through. At least I'll be able to get lunch.

Walking into the cafeteria when it was busy like this wasn't something I looked forward to. The school's watering-hole was loud, and the tables were so efficiently separated by cliques that they might as well have been labelled. Since almost everyone already had their lunch, I stood in the very short line and grabbed a lunch tray.

"Ah, it's you again! Sophia, right?" Mike loudly announced, waving a ladle around.

"Hey!" Another girl protested as he sent spots of whatever food he was serving over her light-colored sweater. He ignored her.

"I sent my dark children after you, but I didn't think you'd respond so soon, per say. I commend your efficiency!"

"Right." I coughed awkwardly as the other kids in the line in front of me sent me annoyed looks, probably cringing at Mike, and me by association. "So, what was so important? Those middle schoolers won't leave us alone." I put a fruit cup on my tray as I pushed it along the counter.

"Ah yes, my minions are quite persuasive, are they not?" He smirked and puffed his chest out.

"Right, can you just tell me what you want?" I could feel my annoyance quickly growing.

"It's about the vampire's ball tomorrow! You all need the appropriate attire to attend, you know." He was almost vibrating with energy as I chose a baggie of apple slices.

"Does it matter that much what we wear?" He put a slice of pizza on my tray and a scoop of mixed vegetables in one of the little dividers.

"Of course it does! It's a ball, I'm sure even you know what that entails, per say?"

"Right, because I go to those all the time." I rolled my eyes, but he ignored me.

"Meet me at our lair later after school so we can decide on what your vampiric attire for the night will be. But be warned!" He waved the ladle around again as I grabbed a small carton of milk and another one of juice. "Your transformation into honorary vampires won't be easy, or painless, per say!"

"Right." I stared as he grinned excitedly. I'm sure he was having fun with this.

"We will come for you after school, we'll meet you at the front. Now off you go!" He waved me off and, just like last time, he turned around and ran off. I shook my head, wanting to put the interaction behind me, and walked through the cafeteria. I had fully planned to just walk all the way back to where my friends were, even if we weren't allowed to take the lunch trays outside of the cafeteria.

"Hey Sophia!" I turned to the familiar voice and saw Kenneth waving at me. "It's not everyday you join us mere mortals in the cafeteria." He smiled and tilted his head at me, showing off a grin full of crooked teeth.

"I decided to get lunch today." I walked toward his table and stood in front of it, awkwardly carrying my lunch tray as the group of boys stared at me. Sitting together at the table were Kenneth, the fat one, Kyle, the one with soft blond hair, the boy who used crutches, and Raven. He gave me a small smile, standing out in his all-black outfit around his friends.

"Noice, love that free government lunch." Kenneth winked, slurping his can of doctor pepper loudly.

"Heh, fucking poor people." The fat one rolled his eyes, stuffing his face with mac and cheese.

"Fuck you Cartman, you used to live in a hotdog." His eyes widened and he glared at Kenneth.

"Fuck you, Kenny!"

"Wanna sit with us Sophia?" Raven leaned around Kyle to look at me.

"Uh, I don't– "

"Come on Kyle, make some room." Kyle scooted over closer to Kenny and I begrudgingly walked around the table to sit next to Raven. I ended up sitting across from the blonde.

"Well, hiya there." He smiled, showing off pearly teeth. I couldn't help but stare at the scar over his left eye, noticing that it was a slightly paler color than the right one. 'I wonder if he can still see properly through it.' Realizing that I was staring like any other conformist, I quickly looked down at my lunch tray.

"Hi." I nodded a bit, opening my milk carton. They continued talking and I slowly ate my lunch, not really comfortable with sitting in the middle of the crowded cafeteria.

Michael was looking off into the distance, beyond the school parking lot and off into the mountains, as he smoked a cigarette. At this point, he'd resigned himself to getting rid of Raven some other way, without the help of his conformist-cheerleader-ex.

He wasn't about to go spilling his guts to her, it was none of her fucking business. And for what? So she could have dirt on him later? Thinking it through logically, he had no idea what he was thinking when he decided to team up with her, there was too much at stake if it fell through, not to mention the potential fallout with Sophia.

Speaking of, she sure was taking her time. That douche, Mike Makowski, was probably boring her with his meaningless talk until her ears bled.

His phone vibrated.

Picking it up, he looked through his texts and narrowed his eyes, flicking the ash off his cigarette more aggressively than necessary.

[Unregistered Number]

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On his phone was a picture of Sophia sitting at a cafeteria table surrounded by Raven and his friends. She was looking down at her lunch tray and sitting next to Raven who was talking to his friend next to him.

There was no message attached to the picture, but he didn't need one to know exactly who sent it and what they were trying to tell him.

"I need to know everything, and until you can be completely honest, don't expect any help from me."

He crushed his cigarette in his hand, feeling oddly like a corned animal.

"He can go fuck himself." Henrietta said simply, elegantly blowing smoke.

"Yeah, everyone knows the vampire kids only shop at hot topic and probably order cheap synthetic accessories off amazon or something." Pete flipped his bangs out of his eyes.

"They're a bunch of posers." Firkle sighed, not looking at any of us.

"What are we going to do then? They want to meet us after school." I said quietly, moving my toes around inside my shoes.

"I couldn't give less of a fuck even if I tried." Henrietta rolled her eyes impatiently.

After our little adventure in the woods, I couldn't help but stare at Henrietta. There was a lot on my mind, and I felt like she held the answer to questions I didn't know how to ask. I'm not even sure exactly why I'm so curious, but after last night I felt… different. She met my gaze and I looked away hesitantly, not sure how to express how I felt.

"Sophia and I have to do something, fuck off and don't come to my house." She suddenly stood up and beckoned me to do the same.

"Ugh, you mean we have to walk home." Firkle complained, standing up and shouldering his black backpack.

"I'm not your fucking chauffeur." Was all she tossed in response, waving away his question.

"Whatever." Michael rolled his eyes. I tried waving goodbye to him, but he turned away from me, making me frown. Sitting in the front seat for once, I rolled the window down a bit as Henrietta drove off, definitely faster than she should be in a school parking lot. Instead of driving straight home, she went into the Tweek Bros. parking lot, a rare treat.

"Alright, what's wrong?" I appreciated that she didn't ask me 'is everything okay?' or say, 'if you need me, I'm here'.

"I'm not… sure." I hesitated, not wanting to impatient her, but also not knowing how to word it.

"You've been weird all day." She got out of the car and she side-eyed me. "Did either of those bastards do something yesterday?" My face went pink at the reminder. "Ah, I see." She drawled, walking inside the small shop. After ordering cold brew for both of us, she crossed her arms her arms over her chest, leaning against a wall. "Just spit it out already."

"I feel… weird… around them." I looked anywhere but her. Trying to get the words out filled me with shame and embarrassment.

"Okaaay? What kind of weird?" She didn't know how deeply I appreciated her patience. I stared at her for a long moment that felt ten minutes long, my face feeling warmer the longer I waited.

"What's sex like?" I blurted out; her eyebrows rose and disappeared behind her choppy bangs.

"This is about sex?" At my nod, her lips curled into a satisfied smirk, looking like a cat that successfully cornered a mouse she was going to play with before eating. "Oh Sophia, you should have said so sooner." As they called out our order, I couldn't help but notice a 'help wanted' sign at the counter, taking a mental note.

"I never thought I'd…. want to." I looked off to the side, taking a sip of the cold brew. It was stronger than the stuff we got at Benny's and the foam on top was sweet.

"You want to have sex?" She raised an eyebrow again, getting in the driver's side of her car. My face heated up again as I settled into the co-pilot side, pulling my feet up at the edge of the seat when she didn't move to turn the car on.

"N-no, I don't think so."

"You're just curious then?"

"I guess." I curled into a tighter ball, sipping my coffee again. She stared at me, reaching over to flip on the stereo, playing music quietly.

"What do you want to know? Ask away." Though her enthusiasm was sarcastic, I appreciated that she was willing to talk about it.

"I just… don't understand how you can get to that point." I struggled with my words for a few seconds. "Interacting with… the opposite sex… is so awkward, and I always thought sex was gross, but now…"

"Is this about Michael or Raven?" She asked bluntly and I couldn't answer. "Listen," she sighed, looking away. "Sex doesn't have to be super serious. It's kind of fun when you get into it. Well, as long as they're not an asshole who wants all the attention on them, then doesn't reciprocate." She scowled annoyed. I looked at her through my bangs.

"Is it… fun? You and Pete?" She suddenly smirked very satisfied.

"Pete is… both eager and easy to please, so yeah, I'd say it is fun." Her words felt heavy and I looked away. "Just don't pressure yourself, you don't have to jump to sex right away."

"How do you know when you want to?" She stared out through the windshield, taking my question seriously.

"It's not like you know instantly. It's about how your body feels, when you want to, you'll know. You'll also know when you don't want to, so don't let anyone pressure you." I nodded, feeling a bit better. The conversation lulled so I put my cup in the cupholder.

"I'll be right back." She nodded, turning up the music a bit more. I walked back inside and the brunette man who I'm sure was Mr. Tweek turned to smile at me.

"Yes?"

"I noticed your help wanted sign, are you still looking for someone?" I asked quietly, patting my bangs down.

"Sure, you've got to be willing to work weekends and closing shifts though." I nodded, it's not like I had much else to do anyway. "I'll get you an application from the back, wait here." Leaning against the counter I looked at the empty tables, this should be an easy job. Though Tweek Bros. was a well-known coffee shop, the Harbucks downtown stole most of their clientele. Honestly, I'm pretty sure the only reason this place is still in business is because the mayor thinks it adds charm to the town.

"Here you go, go ahead and fill it out and give it to me when you're done." He handed me three papers stapled together and a pen. I sat down at one of the tables and texted Henrietta to wait for me for a few minutes.

Wendy crossed her arms smugly as the goth stood in front of her angrily. He was clearly frustrated and blowing smoke faster than a chimney.

Michael took another puff of his cigarette as he stood across from that fucking cheerleader, having to restrain himself from cursing at the smug bitch.

"So," she started slowly, clearing taking pleasure in how annoyed he looked. "I thought you didn't need my help."

"I don't want your fucking help." Michael loosened his grip; he'd been crushing too many cigarettes lately and it's not like they're free.

"I didn't ask if you wanted it."

"Fuck you bitch, you need me as much as I need you." He sneered and she rolled her eyes.

"No I don't, Stan always comes back. Helping you is just speeding up the process a bit." She waved him away and it was Michael's turn to look smug.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"What do you mean?" She furrowed her eyebrows and uncrossed her arms.

"What I mean is, I want Stan away from Sophia, for the same reasons you should want her away from him." Wendy stared at him for a few seconds before scoffing.

"Are you kidding me? Stan wouldn't like her! She's not his type, trust me, I would know." She flipped her long hair over her shoulder. She was obviously confident, just a tad too defensive.

"Yeah, well, you haven't seen what I've seen and if we don't do something soon, seems like Raven is going to be a permanent addition, and you'll be out of jock arm candy." She glared at him.

"So, you admit you want Stan out of the picture because you want Sophia for yourself." He blushed a splotchy red and flicked his cigarette bud on the floor.

"Why the fuck are you so fixated on that?" She shrugged.

"It's important to know the motivations of someone you're teaming up with."

"No, it isn't." He snorted dismissively. "I really couldn't care less about why you're tired of your chocolate boy-toy."

"Fuck you asshole." She gave him an ugly sneer.

"Right back at you bitch, so do we have a deal?" He raised an eyebrow and held his hand out.

"Fine I guess." She reached out and shook his hand, looking disgusted as she did so.

Off in the distance a camera clicked.

What could the student body president, head cheerleader, and volleyball captain be doing with a moody, antisocial goth?

...

A/N: I love the idea of Sophia and Henrietta having some girl time, although they'd never call it that.