Lost In Purple
Chapter 76: Seraphim Part 2
Melanie's POV
"Well I'm sorry but it's starting to become a pattern with you. Why are you always late?" Carrie rolls her eyes.
I have this unexplainable feeling to rescue Johnny from another long conversation about the one mess up he, or more specifically that we've, had. I make sure not to sound aggressive or insensitive though. Can't end up making it seem like I've changed and become some grumpy Karen in just a few short months.
"S-sorry. That's my fault. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until a little bit ago," I nervously chime in.
"Oooooooo, you're gonna blame Melanie now?" Chip says in order to tease Carrie.
"No, because she doesn't deserve to be victimized," Carrie counters with a shake of her head.
"Oh but I do?" Johnny asks with a smile and furrowed brows. Kind of don't know how he's feeling about that one to be honest.
"Duuuuh," Carrie scoffs, "You've been skipping class a lot lately, and or showing up a half and hour late. Not to mention the plenty of other times this year where I've had to ask this exact same thing. I thought you knew how much I cared about you since our freshman year, I mean we've been friends for almost 4 years now."
"Ok, well, I appreciate the concern but there are other things that are more important to me such as Melanie's well-being," Johnny responds genuinely.
"Woah, you're concerned about someone's well-being? Like…who are you?" Nadya asks with a chuckle.
"What is this, pick on Johnny day? All I did was wake up this morning and now everyone's on my back," Johnny scoffs.
Javier laughs while shaking his head. All it takes is him to speak up and now everything's switched back to me being the center of attention. "Well it's kind of difficult to not be mad at you when you've got a lovely señorita standing right next to you, dressed to perfection, and making all of us feel like mere peasants. When did you become so hermosa?"
"Yeah it's so good to see the surprise student of the year," Carrie beams, "I too would like to know how you've decided to reveal yourself once again so fabulously."
Everyone that's gathered around the table waits for my answer, so I just give them exactly what they want. "Um...Johnny's Mom helped me get dressed. It was apparently one of her dresses, and she had a bunch of jewelry and stuff to go along with it."
"God, you don't know what I would give to be able to afford one of those dresses," Rhonda groans, "Like, Empuress eveningwear is so necro that you're guaranteed to be the most beautiful in the room."
The Omega Howl president becomes visibly confused. "Wh-what? What's necro mean?"
Rosie, Nadya, and Rhonda all groan and look down at the ground before synchronously and monotonously saying, "Poser."
Carrie, Britney, Crystal, Chip, and Javier all start laughing which shockingly causes the HSS girls to have grins how across their faces.
"Dude, you really struck a nerve on that one, holy god!" Chip manages to squeak out.
The Omega Howl president shrugs with a smile and leans back in his chair. "Don't know what to tell you man, I'm just a pro at this. Gotta love it though, it actually gets them to pay attention to me."
Rosie picks up a cup full of some red liquid that I want to assume is fruit punch and throws the liquid right at his face, dousing his poofy red hair and suit with a red and sticky film. I have to keep myself from gasping but all he does in response is lick his lips, smile, and say, "Mmm, tasty. Appreciate it, Rose."
She grunts, wishing that his response was completely different. She doesn't have much time to mope though, because the President speaks up once again. "Still don't know what necro means."
"Oh, it's just a way to say that something is deathly cool," I answer.
"W-Woah, since when were you goth?" Britney asks.
"I never was, I just…know what it all means now after looking it up," I reply while folding my hands together and placing them in front of me like a princess, "Just be glad they didn't call you an elitist. That's the one that's reserved for truly awful people."
"You totally should be goth though Melanie, this kind of life would be so bleakly drac for you," Nadya mentions.
Unfortunately I would have to disagree with her. I would have never ended up going to college because of the philosophy that life is meaningless and painful. As a matter of fact, I never would have even left my room at my parents house. I would have simply let life eat away at my happiness because of how careless I would have become. Surprisingly, all the HSS girls somehow haven't fallen into that fatal mindset and can actually socialize instead of telling monsters to go off themselves.
"I'm sorry, but I think the only category of goth I fit in is... um... a Bubblegoth? I know that isn't generally accepted in goth communities, but anyways, it was all because of Johnny that I look like this Javier. I probably would have ended up wearing something casual if he didn't get all of this for me," I explain.
"How much was that dress Johnny?" Rosie asks.
"Oh no, my Mom just gave it to her for free, but I think she was originally selling it for fifteen thousand dollars maybe twenty ," Johnny responds.
I hear the HSS girls groan in sadness, but all I feel is pure rage. Why does he always have to get me things that are worth more than my entire life's net worth? I swear I'm ruining the value this thing by just touching it with my uncultured scales.
"Jonathan Worth- Oh my god!" I fume.
"Whaaaat? It was the only one that was perfect for you!" Johnny laughs.
"Urrrgh, you know what, it's fine," I say while taking a deep breath and rubbing my temples, "I'm just not used to wearing clothes that aren't from the bargain bin."
"Bargain bin? You're that much in poverty Melody?" Britney questions.
"Well yeah, my family is from Cormeadow," I answer.
I can see everyone from PNK, HSS, and OH wince as if they've just been pinched with enough force to elicit a scream. The Omega Howl president even clenches his teeth at the mention of city.
"So then you really haven't been doing that well have you? I mean we know that your family has had some issues recently," Carrie asks.
They must have not been told all the details about my absence yet. I create this ultimatum for myself on whether I want to talk about my life for the past few months, and if I had the choice then I would refrain from doing so, but I guess they deserve to know what happened. "Um…not really. My Da-"
"Oh hey, Mel, Bruiser and Chet are waving you down at the buffet. Go see them before they throw a fit," Johnny interrupts.
I'm pushed in the direction of the buffet by his muscular arm and get left stammering uncontrollably out of pure perplexity. No matter how much I try to grasp an understanding of the situation, Johnny shuts me down and urges me to leave even more. He eventually lets me go with enough force to send me quite a distance away from the table, and turn around to watch him join back up with the group. It's obvious that they're all asking him about what just happened too, which is relieving because I didn't want to be the only one to not get the memo. But…what if Bruiser and Chet are actually wanting to see me? They've been absent since we got here, so Johnny could have seen something the rest of us didn't. I don't know, but even after committing to Johnny's directions, I struggle to actually find the two goofballs on campus. Sure enough they're there, hiding behind the chocolate fountain. It seems that they find solace in taking every food item, spoiled or not, and dip them under it. Bruiser acts like he just found the next greatest food combo by dumping chocolate over a chicken drumstick, while Chet nearly spits out a block of chocolate covered salmon.
…Yeah I don't know why he thought that would taste good either. Regardless of their actions, I walk around to see them so that I don't start to feel lonely. They only drop everything in their hands and stare at me as if they've seen an angel falling from the sky. Those bulging and sparkling eyes couldn't grow any larger or cuter.
"That dress is so pretty!" Chet gasps.
"Yeah yeah yeah, you look good!" Bruiser chimes in hyperactively.
I giggle because they remind me of my little cousins whenever they get some sort of gift or random random surprise; They're sudden bursts of happiness are almost infectious to the point where you just want to be extremely happy with them.
"Thank you," I say.
"Is that that one dress Johnny bought you? If it is, you should thank him. Only he could bring out such beauty with such a refined preference in style," Chet asks with that funny little laugh of his.
"Um, not yet but…I'll be sure to thank him soon enough... wait hold on, you knew about this dress?" I reply.
"Yep! That's why Johnny was mad at me this morning! His mom gave him a box and I wanted to know what was inside, so I took it out. Boy... he didn't really like that too much," Chet giggles.
Chet then takes a plate and fills it up with an assortment of foods. Some are bread-based, while others are meat based. Others are jelly based too, which is kind of fun to watch as they all jiggle about on top of his claws. "Anyhoo, make sure you thank him! He gets cranky whenever he's not praised for his amazing deeds! Speaking of which, I have to bring him some goods! Can't have him going hungry because…you know…he needs his energy and all that," He elucidates.
That plate of food in his hand is moved up and over his head like it's some sort of prized possession, and then moved along with Chet as he dashed back to the table. Everyone gathered around the table looks visibly sad but they're immediately shocked to hear a high-pitched screech be directed at them. "Ooooh Joooooohnnyyyyy! I got you some foooooood!"
Bruiser and I watch as many monsters around them intently watch as Chet throws the plate in front of Johnny. His hand is over his face in embarrassment and he gives Chet a quick slap over the back of the head. I'm guessing he's getting reprimanded for being humiliating again.
"Are you alright Miss Melanie? Johnny brought you back and said you weren't feeling good, and that made me feel not good," Bruiser questions.
"Yes, I'm better now. I'm tired, but better. I'm sorry I worried you Bruisey," I reply.
Bruiser jumps up and down a little before saying, "Hehehe, yay. I don't like it when you're sad, and neither does Johnny. He got angry with Chet again because he was being infer-inf-infurry, um…infra-"
"Infuriating?" I ask, already knowing what the whole situation was about.
"Yeah yeah yeah, that word," He laughs while drooling a little bit out his mouth.
I feel like an older sister who's proud of their younger sibling for using an advanced yet not so advanced word. I think that might be the kind of relationship Bruiser and I have developed over the past year anyways. It's cute seeing him get so excited to see me or talk to me like he does. Even though it would be great to think about that some more, I'm only led to more questions about what happened while I was asleep for half the day.
"…He wasn't mad at you was he?" I pry.
"Don't know. I asked many questions and he stopped answering me after a while. And then when I wanted to see you before we left for this dance, he growled at me and wouldn't let me go in your room," He answers with a shrug.
I almost nearly ignore Bruiser myself and stomp over there to give Johnny a taste of his own medicine, a hand to the back of the head. However, I couldn't possibly leave Bruiser just like that. Instead I growl myself and stomp on the ground.
"Ok well, did he at least apologize to Chet like he told me he would?" I ask.
Bruiser nods. "He did, but then he got mad at him for an entirely different... thingy."
"Ugh!" I growl once more, "I guess that's something that can't be changed."
"Meh, I think Chet always has it coming. Very nosy and unfiltered that crab," Bruiser states before turning his attention back to the buffet.
With a swipe of his hand he grabs two plates and passes one over to me. He then nabs almost all the rest of the chicken before drenching it in chocolate, and then scooping globs of lasagna, glazed ham, and a thick layer of vegetable soup all over it to act as a gravy.
"Bruiser…are you going to be ok eating all that? That looks…so fattening," I ask with my hand over my mouth.
That drooling of his changed into those incessant babbling episodes he has when he's excited. His twitching as has come back too, which is comical because it's about food.
"I have gym…I lose weight," He babbles.
"Oh…ok…but do they not feed you at the house or something? I've never seen you like this before," I ask.
"N-no eat…only study…hehehe," He laughs before grabbing two slices of cakes and swallowing them whole.
I have to stop him from nearly clogging his throat with food by keeping his hands away from the table. "Hey! Eat your chicken and stuff before that, how do you know you'll finish all of that now?"
"Don't worry 'bout it…you get food before it's all gone. I d-don't want you being hungry," He twitches.
Bruiser waddles away back to Johnny and the others, plopping down on one of the seats and scarfing down everything he grabbed. I start hurrying at making a decision on what to eat, and for some reason I decide on just hitting up the desserts. There's all sorts of cookies, cupcakes, and dessert bars, but I end up grabbing Lemon-Raspberry Tarts, Strawberry Cookie Crumble Cakes, Peach Cobbler, and Espresso Cookies. Hopefully this will wake me up enough so things other than walking and talking. When I feel like I have enough, I take my haul back to the table, weaving my way through the occasional partygoer. Right as I come 5 feet with everyone, the lights around the event change to rainbow and the two-armed pink DJ that's always throwing down some beats crawls up to an already set up turntable.
"OOOOOH SHIEEET! It's time to throw down bros!" The Omega Howl President exclaims.
He wrangles up all the boys and pushes them to the middle of the venue, leaving the rest of us laughing and or brooding. Johnny looks back at me and mouths the words 'I'll be back soon.' He then disappears when almost the entire school surrounds them in order to begin dancing. The wubs are exceptionally aggressive this time around, distrubing the entire environment around us with its' rumbling and high pitched frequencies. It just seems normal to me at this point, so I take a seat where Johnny originally was and face the PNKs and HSSs that have shown up.
"Do you ever wonder if they all ever legitimately, like, grew up?" Rhonda asks with her eye closed.
"Oh don't act like you don't like them the way they are," Carrie laughs, "I for one prefer them to be fun and happy over depressingly serious and dull like most of the older Scarers nowadays."
"Yeah! Also, weren't you all doing the same thing earlier this year at the Scare Games Mixer anyways?" Britney chimes in.
"God! Do you ever just, like, ignore us? Why do you even remember that?!" Rhonda groans.
This might sound mean, but I find it kind of hard to ignore anyone from HSS. While they try to keep themselves from standing out, they're actually the ones that will easily catch your eye. All the leather, makeup, and general ruggedness they exude is just too much to keep them properly within the shadows. I mean, when I first saw them even look at me I thought I was going to be brutally murdered, thrown in a river, and put on the news. There's also an entirely different reason.
"Um…well if I'm being honest, all of you are too cute to not be noticed…and I mean that in a good way, not in the way that...um...y-you know," I remark.
Carrie reaches over to take one of my Lemon-Raspberry Tarts. "Well that's not why I haven't ignored them. I only paid attention to them so that I could mess with them."
Carrie then stands up and runs into the dancing crowd.
"OH I'M SO OVER YOU! WHY WONT YOU LET US BE ALONE AND DEPRESSED?!" Rhonda screams.
Watching Rhonda slither into the crowd is pretty interesting since people constantly slam into her squishy body, sending ripples through her skin. I also thought she wanted to stay in the shadows and not be seen, but it seems she subconsciously has other plans. Rosie and Nadya's dates end up finding them and take them into the fray as well, leaving Britney and I alone at the table. It wasn't very long for her date to show up either and take her away though. What's worse is that I've finished pigging out on all these desserts and now I truly am all alone. Looking around at the other tables, there isn't a single other monster that's just watching the chaos ensue.
While rainbow lights around the venue continue flashing in varying intensities, the hollers of the crowd never falter, and there's me who's just sitting there watching everyone dance the night away. Being the empathetic person that I am, I'm able to be glad that everyone's able to be worry free and let go for one night. I'm unfortunately thinking about taking this dress back to the house in one piece, making sure I don't publicly embarrass myself, and thinking about how my parents are doing back home. Wow. Here I am, sitting at a table during a dance and brooding instead of having fun. There's something wrong with me.
A couple thumps suddenly manifest behind me, causing me to twist my body to see what's going on. A set of three eyes end up right in front of my snout, making me jump and almost scream out in terror. However, I'm able to hold all those erratic feelings within and notice that it's just Bruiser standing idle with his innocent and goofy stare. He then grabs my wrist and begins pulling me into the dancing crowd. "Come come come come come come!"
Everything changes instantly. The near calmness changes to ecstatic disorder. It's like a world in black and white shifted into a sphere of vivid color. Everyone is having so much fun that's it's infectious and what initially looked scary and a tad bit uncomfortable is actually amusing. The sounds I'm hearing are similar to what was happening at the arcade earlier today, an onslaught of sound that savagely surrounds me while every glance I'm able to take at the monsters we weave through is accompanied by the widest smiles anyone could ever see. Arms and legs are swung in random directions by the feel of the beat, along with the never ending barrage of hollers that could likely be heard miles away. It's not that this is all really bad or anything, it's just overwhelming.
After making sure I don't get jabbed in my ribs four hundred times, Bruiser finally halts and throws me into Johnny's arms, which happily grasp ahold of me and turn me so that I can see the rest of the boys dancing while noisily talking about whatever they're minds can come up with. I'm then moved so that Johnny has his left arm wrapped around my waist while he moves his own to make me and him sway with the rhythm. The two of us are then just synchronously dancing to the beat of the drums.
"Well if it isn't MU's most beautiful princess!" Johnny hollers in my ear so that I can hear him.
Like always, I get embarrassed and feel my ears droop. I almost want to talk about how he likely sent Bruiser to come get me and take me out of my comfort zone, but I don't think that's necessarily important. All I know is that I don't really deserve to be called a princess.
"Oh come on, Mel, you know you are at this point!" He reassures while moving his head closer to mine as we still dance.
I put my hand on his chest and lean a little bit away from him with an embarrassed smile since I can see where he wants to take this. "I-I'm still getting used to this."
"Oh? I'd say you already are considering that you haven't noticed all the ladies staring you down since you got on the dance floor," He states.
"What?!" I question while pulling myself closer to Johnny so that I can hide myself.
He laughs and puts both hands around my waist. "My point exactly! You're the belle of the ball and don't even care…which is exactly my type."
He wiggles his brows at that last portion and I can't help but put my palm over his dumb face and push it back.
"Hey! Try as you might, you're not running away from me this time. It's just you and I for the rest of the night," Johnny smirks.
Funnily enough, that's exactly what happened for two whole hours. We danced together to countless songs that changed intensity and speed. From Dubstep to House to Hardstyle, the music just kept the energy high without fail. The other boys had their fun too, but not nearly as long as we did due to them growing tired after a half and hour and sought sanctuary with their dates who I may or may not know. I don't know, I never asked who they came here with. Many other monsters did the same thing, but their places were always replaced by different monsters who needed the room to swing their bodies to the music. None of that interested me as much as what was happening between Johnny and I though. Johnny never let me go the entire time. His eyes were always glaring into mine, and his hands were always on my sides or my waist, gliding up and down with enough force to make me feel all tingly inside. There's also that cocky smile of his that sends shivers down my spine. While I used to hate it, I've grown to be unbothered by it as it lets me know that I'm doing something right; Doing something that makes him feel excited to be around me. As time moved forward, his eyes only grew larger. I could see his pupils dilate more and more as I let myself become more free. My hips swung further and my arms became less tense, letting him move the two of us however he wanted us to. I moved in ways that I never thought I would in public, finally getting the chance to forget about what others think. I honestly think I did that because of Johnny and those eyes that were laced with desire, the desire for me to simply be myself. Little does he know that I mostly only did it all to make him feel as happy as he possibly could.
Even if those two hours of dancing felt like an eternity, we eventually decided to take a break. We didn't want to end up passing out from exhaustion within the next hour, because apparently the Formal is supposed to last until three on the morning. Johnny pulls me off the dance floor and back towards the table that the RORs, HSSs, PNKs, and OHs occupy. Some of them are back on the dance floor while the others are eating or conversing.
"I'll get us some water. Stay here for me, princess," Johnny smiles.
I nod and watch as that purple behemoth saunters away in satisfaction while occasionally greeting some monsters here and there. I'm assuming they're a couple of his classmates…or maybe they're just fanboys of his, but I couldn't really care anymore. He's made it clear that the opinions of others aren't necessarily his priority anymore.
"Melody!" Carrie hollers from the table, "Where have you been?! Tell us everything about your night with Johnny!"
Johnny's POV
Alright Johnny, calm down. This isn't anything new, and you're the one who wanted to do this in the first place…and here I am talking to myself in third person within my head like I'm a psychopath. How else am I supposed to cope when Melanie is around me acting and looking like this though? She's more beautiful than any celebrity ever, and having more fun with me than any other girl ever. I'm having to keep myself from taking things a little too far for this situation…I-I'm losing control of myself, I can't even think straight without staring at her for prolonged periods of time and just fantasizing. That's why this little break from the dance floor was a miracle for me. If I had to endure that for any longer, I would have made a fool of myself, a class clown if you will. Even the thought of that terrifies me considering the legacy that I have to uphold. I'm not talking about the Scaring legacy anymore of course, but the legacy that Worthington's can control their emotions and maintain civility no matter what kind of problem they find themselves in. I can't have other monsters thinking I've deviated from such a path…otherwise they won't take me seriously.
Great…now I'm staring off into nothingness as I get these large cups of water for Melanie and I. There's probably someone who's noticed and thinks that there is something wrong.
…
Meh, whatever, they're not important. I'm just here to have a good time, and there's nothing wrong with having some alone time every now and again, even if it's just for a quick minute or two.
I fill up our cups of water all the way to the top and grasp ahold of them, lifting them up and cautiously carrying them back over to my favorite monster on campus. I feel my eyes grow wide and my heart beat faster after looking at her once again. Seeing her in that sky blue dress is nothing short of exhilarating, especially when it hugs her body in such an enticing manner. It only gets worse when she sits down at our table to talk to Carrie and Britney only for it tighten a bit more. Seeing that damn smile of hers also sends my heart into overdrive because it only means that I've been doing a good job spending time with her.
I take a rough journey back, nearly pushing my way through the crowd of people that all still linger here, and put the water in front of Melanie before lifting her off her seat next to Carrie and placing her in my lap. Melanie responds by smiling genuinely and wiping a couple of dandelion fuzz that's stuck to my suit.
"Oh you two are soooooo cuuuuuuuuute!" Carrie says raising her voice and throwing both of her hands over her shoulder while swooning.
"Ugh! And then there's the rest of us who only got dates so that we could even be allowed at this event! Seriously…why do the Gamma Roar Roar boys have nothing better to do than play games on their phones all night," Britney groans before gesturing to a table of monsters that burying their faces in their phones.
"What did you expect? That's the only option available after going demon mode on every guy that tries to ask you out," I snicker.
Melanie punches my shoulder with enough force to send it against the backrest. I wince and begin to wonder why I'm always being physically harmed for basically nothing.
"John!" Melanie gasps.
"What?! That's all these girls do. If you get close to them, they get hostile, and do that thing where their eyes glow red and hiss at you! If they want something that we have, then they can't be possibility deterrents!" I say in defense.
Carrie sighs in a way that also sounds like a growl, and places her arm on the table to hold her head up. "He's not wrong. But let's just say we have standards, and basically nobody on campus is normal."
"W-well what about Javier or Chip? I think they're pretty normal," Melanie suggests.
Carries arm shoots off the table and she sits up straight. "Oh no no no no no no, I don't think that would work out for any of us."
I notice Melanie's confused expression. One of her ears is lowered while the other is towering to the sky. She's also looking between both Carrie and Britney who are attempting to act as casual as they can but have their little nervous ticks show every now and again.
"You had better give up talking to them about that. One thing you should know about the PNKs is that they're all over Jav," I tell Melanie
"Nope! You're wrong! Stop lying about us!" Carrie denies.
"What is this about lying mi amiga?" Javier suddenly says while popping up beside Britney and Carrie.
Both of the girls have this visible reflex that nearly sends them flying off their chairs, but they catch themselves after screaming. "N-nothing! Oh! Britney! I think I see Crystal trying to get our attention, come on let's go!"
They both scurry off into the crowd using the same excuse Johnny used for me, never to be seen again. So much for telling them all that's happened…well I guess there wasn't much to talk about anyways.
"They're always in such a hurry whenever I show up…do you think they like me Señor?" Javier asks with a smirk and a raised brow.
"What? No! That's preposterous! What could you have poOoOossibly been thinkIiIiing?!" I respond playfully.
This reminds me of all those times when Javier has had too much fun teasing the PNKs. It must have ended up going a bit too far and now they've all got complicated feelings for him. I'm not surprised though. He has this charm that's almost irresistible, he has this brilliant way with words, and he has that swagger that's unrivaled among all the guys on campus.
"Hehe, I swear, those chicas have a new crush every month," Javier chuckles.
Melanie speaks up with a hopeful tone, clearly wanting some sort of hopeful response to whatever questions that are floating in her head. "Do you like at least one of them back?"
"Uuuuhhh," Javier ponders, "To be honest, the only one I have imagined dating was Carrie, but even then I don't believe I would be happy."
"Aww, how so?" Melanie asks.
Three of his arms move behind his back while one stays in front and affluently sways to help illustrate his regal nature. "Miss Williams es…no mi tipo. That whole cheerleading…valley girl personality is not for me. I also think Red has a thing for her, so I don't want to get caught in that crossfire."
This is the first I've ever heard of this, and nearly makes me choke on the water that I've been slowly drinking as all this chaos unfolds. "R-Red likes Carrie?"
"Sí. I overheard a couple of the Omega Howls talking about him the other day. He didn't come to this Formal because he was too late in asking her… Pobre chico… he's been in bed ever since," Javier replies.
"Pfft…he deserves it. After all that creepy stuff he's pulled these past few years and after what he tried to do with Melanie, he can suffer for a little while," I scorn.
Another dull wave of pain pounds through my chest, making me look down to see Melanie's fist smashing against my shoulder. "OW! Can you stop punching me! I'm not your personal punching bag!"
"Jonathan Worthington the Third! While I agree that he wasn't the nicest person to me or anyone else, you don't know what kind of things he's gone through to say things like that!" Melanie growls.
I take a deep breath before exhaling in anger. I really hate talking and thinking about Red, but once I get through my last Scaring final, I won't have to see him or talk to him ever again. So, I'll give Melanie this one, but only because she's technically correct, I in fact don't really know why he changed all those years ago.
"Ok, well I hope that if Red ever makes a move on Carrie, that means he's finally decided to grow up and not act like a pervert," I state before drinking my water once more.
"You and me both, Señor. Anyways, the boys and I are wondering if you were maybe up for some fun?" Javier questions.
"What do you mean by fun?" I interrogate after swallowing my water correctly this time.
"A prank…against a certain someone…because everyone apparently hates him," Javier answers intermittently.
I grab Melanie's legs and lift her up off my lap before standing up and setting her back down on the chair. "Why? How would this be more fun than dancing with Melanie all night long? Like seriously Jav, I'm not going to spike their drink like the JOX, I'm not going to steal their phone like GRR, I'm not going to pour paint on them like OH. We're definitely not doing that last one after already doing that to Oozma Kappa earlier this year."
"Excuse us Miss Everett," Javier chuckles before putting his hand on my back and pushing me along with him, "We'll be back in a few minutes."
Javier guides me through the sea of monsters as I try to look back at Melanie. Unfortunately someone's in the way every time I try to take a glimpse so I get noticeably on edge. Before we know it, Javier and I have joined up with the Omega Howls. They're all scheming away, whispering to each other and laughing every now and again. I could care less about this right now though. All I want to do is make this night as magical as I can for Melanie.
"Jav! I'm supposed to be here with Melanie! I literally dragged here all the way here for this Formal! Why are you taking me away from her!" I complain.
"Calm down Johnny, this won't take long at all. All we want you to do is Scare the daylights out of Professor Yicks so that we can throw that giant cake on the end of the buffet table in his face. It's harmless!" Javier grins.
"We're pranking Professor Yicks? Well why didn't you tell me that? I would have been on board with this instantly!" I exclaim.
Imagining Professor Yicks' face when I pop out of nowhere fuels the fire within me to listen carefully to the plan. There are all sorts of chaperones here tonight, most of them being professors because of last semesters Formal. Apparently after Melanie and I left, everyone got extremely drunk and started trashing everything everywhere. Everyone knows that JOX is the main reason for that, but who really cares in the end? It was an event that the school planned for us to go, hoping it would be like an elementary school pizza party. This Formal is different though. Now we're all having to be supervised by people who have no idea how to have fun, so we're going to have to bring that kind of fun to the chaperones. The plan is simple for me. I have to sneak behind Professor Yicks, let out a psychologically damaging roar, and let everything play out. In a way this will be my first legitimate time performing a scare if we consider Professor Yicks to theoretically be a human child in this situation.
So, I split off from Javier and the Omega Howls, stealthily stepping through the crowds until I find myself plunged into darkness. While everybody is busy talking amongst themselves and dancing the night away, I crouch down and duck behind the tables along the outer edge of the event. The lights flicker in and out as the music sends sound waves all throughout campus. Luckily the music masks any noise I make and my dark purple fur helps me blend in, but my blue suit might reveal me to my target. For the few times that Professor Yicks might see me, I dash behind the tables and eventually end up a fair distance behind him, carefully observing every movement he makes as he stands idle along the trees to the south. I hide behind some bushes and make sure to notice where Javier and the Omega Howl members are, seeing that they're just now picking up the giant,untouched, flat cake that has bright rainbow icing all over it. They begin slowly and casually walking in my direction, acting as if they're deep in conversation. I hop out of the bushes and sneak up behind Yicks, feeling pressure build up in my throat. Once the boys get close enough, I let a deep and rumbling demonic roar echo through campus that causes everyone to turn their heads and see what's happened. Professor Yicks coincidentally had a drink in his hand, which gets thrown up and onto his face due to his intense reaction, blinding him as he grabs ahold of his heart. Our plan then gets executed perfectly as Javier trips the Omega Howl holding the flat-cake, sending it soaring into Professor Yicks face and making this loud 'smack.' Yicks stumbles around for half a second before I stick my own foot out and cause him to stumble sideways onto a table that collapses once his fat torso slams into it, tearing off the white tablecloth and sending everything on it onto the ground.
The intense laughter that follows is something straight out of a stand up comedy night. Every monster to have ever had an issue with Professor Yicks seems to have agreed that this was deserved, and now they all feel vindicated. Every other person hollers in amusement, and there's even a few that roar while throwing their hands up in the air or pointing at Yicks as they laugh uncontrollably. He's able to push himself off the ground and wipe the cake off his eyes so that he can see what's in front of him.
Before he's able to say anything, Professor Van der Slime coincidentally comes up to see what happened. She happens to be Professor Yicks die hard crush, so this opens up another opportunity to mess with Yicks even more.
"Mr. Worthington, explain yourself!" She demands.
I laugh casually before saying, "Apologies Professor, I was just having a little fun with Icky Yicky. He seemed like he was about to fall asleep over here, so I decided to give him a little boost of energy. Although, it seems he's a little clumsier than I thought and he fell over."
"That's our fault too Professor," The Omega Howl members snicker, "I ended up losing my balance and totally threw that cake in his face by accident."
"Ugh! You boys are all supposed to be professional Scarers, not professional pranksters! You had better learn to stay on your feet if you ever wish to be on a Scare Floor! And I can't believe I even have to talk to you about what's appropriate and what's not appropriate at a school event Mr. Worthington! I would have figured with your lineage, you would have enough respect to not pull pranks on your professors!" Van der Slime berates.
I just shrug it off with a smirk. "Sure thing Professor. But just know that he's been questioning my intelligence on Scaring for a while, which I don't appreciate. Considering my lineage, he should know that I'm no push over."
That catches Van der Slime by surprise, causing her to look between Yicks and I for a few seconds before sighing and bending down to help him out. Javier then walks over with some towels and passes them to me so that I can then pass them over to Van der Slime. "Help him clean up would you? I'll send a check for his dry-cleaning in the mail, and if need be, I can stay after class or whatever he's like me to do."
Professor Van der Slime takes the towels from me and begins swiping the cake off of him, whispering several things to Professor Yicks who's extraordinarily embarrassed. I can see him blushing relentlessly underneath the mask of cream, so here's to also hoping that he'll learn to not be so hostile towards his students. They are Scarers after all and will have no problem messing with him in ways he could have never imagined.
I walk away with Javier and see the Omega Howl fraternity follow shortly after. They huddle up with us on the dance floor after being praised by several monsters. They all stick their fists out for fist bumps, which we gladly give them. "Hahaha, he'll be on edge for the rest of the semester now. Whenever he sees you, or anyone else for that matter, he'll think twice before starting an arguement," One Omega Howl member laughs.
"For sure," I chuckle, "Anyways, it was fun, but I have to return to Melanie. You all should return to your dates as well. Can't have them wait for too long now can we?"
"That's true! Hey, we should do something like this again before the year ends!" They say while waving goodbye.
"Who knows, maybe another Professor will refuse to keep their mouth shut!" I state before turning to the table I've occupied and seeing everybody back there eating except for Melanie.
Damn it! It's only been a couple of minutes, how could she have gotten bored and disappeared in such a short time? She shouldn't be difficult to find either, but no matter where I look, I can't see my to find her magenta scales nor can I find her sky blue dress. I catch Javier by the back of his suit collar before he himself walks away. "Jav, do you know where Melanie went? Didn't we just leave her at our table?" I ask.
Javier twists and turns his whole body around several times before making eye contact with me. "No Señor, I can't seem to find her anywhere."
I growl at myself and begin looking in places that are just outlandish for any monster to hiding at, but knowing Melanie, she could find comfort hiding anywhere as long as nobody lays an eye on her. I try to see if she's taken refuge underneath any tables or behind any trees, but have no luck.
"Here, why don't we ask the PNK and HSS girls," Javier suggests.
He stomps over to our group with haste, not even looking back to see if I'm following him. At least I know there's someone here who worried for Melanie just as much as I am. At least there's someone here that's normal enough to think about others like he does. After looking around for a bit longer and finding no trace, Javier returns with a serious look.
"Ok Señor, you're going to have to promise me that you'll be calm," He states.
The urge to send my fist square in his face after hearing those defensive words pour out of his mouth is astronomical. What's the purpose of hiding any details about Melanie's whereabouts from me? Does he even know how serious this is for me, to know that something could have happened to her once again?
"What the hell does that mean? If you've found something out then you had better spit it out Rios!" I growl as I point at him.
"I understand what you're feeling right now amigo, but if I tell you what I found out, you have to promise that you won't go and murder somebody," Javier replies.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop me, I say, "Well with the way you're talking, I just might! If you say that she's in any bit of trouble, I'm one hundred percent going to be slitting thr-"
"No no no! I refuse to let you do that!" Javier rebukes.
"Then tell me!" I hiss.
"Fine! Rosie said that she saw Melanie walk away from the table as two guys she's never seen before tried to talk to her. After that she couldn't see where she went. Then, Nadya said she saw her talking to some hefty dark pink girl with spikes all across her head. She doesn't know where she ended up after that either," Javier divulges.
I look around frantically, attempting to match any dumb, insignificant monster to that description. I can't even identify Melanie's location either. There's so many female monsters that look the same…all of them with the same kinds of dresses, body shape, face shape…and I have to figure out which one of them I have to turn to red mist.
"Nadya said that happened on the west end of the venue towards the School of Door Technology just a minute or two before we pranked Professor Yicks," Javier adds.
I don't even dare to look back once I lunge in the direction of the School of Door Technology. Flawlessly, I navigate through the ocean of tables that are filled to the brim with monsters. Some are chugging down what I assume to be spiked fruit punch, some are playing phone games and not even paying attention to anything around them, and some are simply talking like rich politicians on their night out on the town. None of them even notice me pass by them after the years of stealth training I've had, and I soon find myself drowned in darkness. The rainbow lights no longer illuminate my figure and the music slowly begins to fade away as I look further beyond the venue. I did not see Melanie anywhere within the crowd, so I'm left to assume that she ran away like she usually does when she gets upset. This time, it's within the back corner of campus where not even streetlamps light up the walkways, and where the trees block out everything's gargantuan image.
Once I pass by the walkways entirely, finding nothing, not even a single soul on the benches that line them, I finally see a faint blue glow showing itself from behind the Door Technology building. Racing to what I presume is Melanie, I drop down onto all fours without any care on how loud the thumps my limbs make when they make contact with the earth below. The petrified branches all around me rustle and snap as the summer breeze rolls through. None of it phases me; None of it is important. Rounding the corner of the brick building, I see her, slumped and sitting on the ground while glowing blue and crying. Her hair floats and her voice sounds like it has a reverb added to it. When she looks up at me, I see the same kinds of tears rolling down her face as when I first saw this happen to her.
"Mel…what happened?" I whisper gently as I crawl up to her, pick her up, and place her on my lap while sitting up against the wall.
I don't get a response and watch as Melanie tries to lean away from me as far as possible. She places her arm over her eyes in order to hide how she's feeling, hesitant to admit what went wrong. It doesn't take long for her to raise up a piece of her dress that's been ripped off, showing off her leg that…honestly looks amazing…but I know that's not appropriate to say. I'll admit that she's lucky to be wearing slip shorts underneath too, but it's clear that's she's upset because her dress is ruined and not that her lower half is exposed.
Melanie sniffles and sobs before weakly saying, "C-can you…stop l-leaving m…"
Her voice fades out and I can just hear the tail end reverberate within the air. She lowers her arm and clasps together the two parts of her dress to close the portion where I could see her leg.
"I-I'm sorry, I should ha-" I mumble before being cut off.
"No…I-it's wrong to blame you. I-I can't force you to be around me all the time," Melanie whimpers.
"I'm not going to accept anything you say about this. The whole reason I'm here is to spend time with you and I didn't do that," I console, "And... I know you don't want to hear this, but I think your dress looks better this way."
"What are you talking about?! H-how is a destroyed dress, that's about to… fall apart by a pull of a string, better than what it was before?!" Melanie asks fiercely.
I press my head against hers and sway back and forth with her, shushing her and listening to her breathing slow from a hysterical pace. The wind picks up again and gently blows against us which is even calming to me.
"Melanie…how have you already forgotten about who you are?" I question.
She shifts her head so that she can show me her beautiful eyes that are now glistening blue, not understanding what it is I'm trying to get at.
"Oh come on princess, you've told us all what you can do…and you've even told us what you would've liked to do," I smile, "You're a Scarer… A Scarer who excels in paranormal techniques, and one that can turn into a living, breathing banshee that roams the world."
"John, just…stop… I don't look good like this a-and you know it," Melanie whines.
"Nuh-uh, never say that again," I say raising my voice, "You do not understand what it is that I'm seeing right now in front of me. I see a terrifying woman who can captivate the collective minds of hundreds of students at once when she's like this, and a badass Scarer that would even send her professors running for the hills. Melanie…do you even know why I chose this dress for you?"
She shakes her head while glaring into my eyes. It almost seems like her scales have decayed and I'm looking at the parts of her that the world couldn't recycle. Her whole body still glows blue, but she looks...dead in a literal sense. There's a part of me that wants to look away because I feel like I'm about to turn to stone or hallucinate dangerously for the next few hours due to her palcing a curse on me, but that's unrealistic thinking.
"I wanted to see you wear this dress because it matches your blue glow whenever you're like this. I didn't want to purposefully make you upset, but I knew that even during a moment when you didn't want to be seen…you would be more beautiful than you have ever been. With this dress ripped apart… you actually look like a real banshee. You look like who you're supposed to be," I explain.
I really didn't plan for this to happen, nor did I want to make her cry, but the sky blue color the dress has made it seem like it was made for her. The ripped section gives it this old and fragile look, and if some more rips were to be made, then you could even go as far as saying that she's some sort of ghost bride from colonial times that haunts anyone that comes near her. She's…a better version of Carina Kennedy. I can see her wearing this and mesmerizing human children before harvesting their renewable scream energy like it's nothing. I can also see her actually being proud of who she is…proud of being someone who isn't self-conscious about some sort of physical change or unorthodox scaring method. Someday…someday she'll be like that.
"I understand that you weren't comfortable wearing such an expensive and…personal dress of my mothers'… but she gave it to you to keep. We can fix it, or have her remake it…there's no reason to be distraught," I continue while looking right at her and pushing her hair back.
She sniffles some more before saying, "…ok."
"…Now why don't you tell me what happened. Javier told me that Rosie and Nadya saw you speaking with some strange monsters," I inquire.
The silhouette of the dress is finally let go, and I can see her withered leg relax while some strings move with the gentle breeze. I'll admit that she's not wrong…the dress could start unraveling if pulled with enough force, but I would rather pay attention to the fact that her entire banshee like figure has evolved since I last saw it, and why I'm seeing it before me now.
"When you…left, some boys started asking me if I needed company…while never even looking me in the eyes, looking me up and down like they wanted something... Th-they kept insisting b-but I said no and left them. Then that…girl, the one that Faust took to the last formal…she ran into me and started yelling at me. She said it was my fault for ruining Faust's life a-and that I deserve all the failure and misery in my life for causing JOX to basically collapse," She bawls.
To me it sounds like she was manipulated into siding with Faust to satisfy whatever needs he had. I feel bad for whoever this girl is honestly. She won't go very far in life if she lets her emotions and logic be twisted so easily. What also doesn't make sense is…why is she here now if she's not with Faust? If she treats him like a god, why even go through the process of accepting an invitation to come here?
"…And then she clawed at my legs and…ripped it apart. I didn't know what else to do but to leave after seeing pretty much everybody staring at me," Melanie concludes with the echo of her voice bouncing back off the trees.
With my arms still around here, I rise to my feet and head back in the direction of the Formal as she inhales sharply. We were meant to have as much fun as we could do I'm going to ensure that we do. I can't help but wonder how Melanie has made this girl so angry at her though. I can tell that she hasn't had much interaction with Melanie by the way she talks. "Have you guys known each other for a while? Is your relationship like the one Red and I have?"
"No…the only other time I ever saw her was before the last formal," Melanie whimpers.
"Mmm, sounds like she's just placing blame…and maybe showing us a hint of jealousy for taking the limelight away from her," I smirk.
"R-really?" Melanie asks.
"Oh yeah," I chuckle, "Faust and the rest of the JOX always siphon everyone's attention and place that attention on their dates like they're queens. This is probably the first time she hasn't had people being peer-pressured into worshipping her…and that's all because of you and your natural beauty. Also, I'm wondering if this girls date was one of the boys that came up to you and she realized that nobody actually cared about her at all."
Melanie looks off to the side, ears lowered and tears still running down her face. "Would it be better if we just left?"
"No," I smile, "I'd rather let her suffer."
The rainbow lights shine against us once again as I take slow steps back towards the dance floor. The music continues bumping, and the collective hum of people's voices reverberates around us. Melanie take one hand and grabs my suit tightly before pulling her head closer to me to hide, but I adjust her so that I can hold onto her with one arm and make sure that the whole school can see her. I know that might sound very malicious, but I still get an uneasy feeling seeing her glow blue. She's scarier than she thinks she is, especially when she's upset. I would like everyone to know one of the reasons why I, Johnny Worthington the Third, chose to be with somebody that nobody knows anything about, and why she should not be messed with. I see some people look at us with uncertainty when we pass by, unable to comprehend why they can't see Melanie's face as her hair floats around to block her face, However, just before we get there, the rainbow lights dim as the music slows to a slow and melodic beat. The rainbow colors turn to a relaxing blue, purple, and white, signaling to several couples that their time on the dance floor is now reserved for those who have a relationship based on love, not friendship. The school all cheers and claps for the DJ as his upbeat set comes to and end, giving everybody a wave as the vibe changes. This is the moment that I was waiting for the entire night.