Hello, friends! Now we're back to world-building as we're going into Vaggie meeting the our other favorite characters :3 Hope you enjoy!
At least what made this academy different was that all of us were just struggling kids within the shitty system. A bunch of fucked ups just trying to make something out of themselves after everyone else turned them away.
I fidgeted with the juice carton that was before me as Charlie sat closely beside me in the busy cafeteria room. She placed a hand over my forearm trying to keep me grounded as we waited for her friends that she wanted to introduce to me.
But it didn't make me any less anxious about those around me.
"Anthony and Husk are some of the kindest people here, Vags." Charlie smiled at me as I used my free hand to raise the juice to my lips and took a quick swing as my leg bounced under the table. "You have nothing to worry about."
Charlie was doing her best to keep me calm, but she had no clue what these kids were capable of.
I did my best to ignore the burning feeling in the scar on my face as flashes of my last moments at Golden Gates went through my mind.
Some people never change. But I'll try this just one more time for her. She's the exception to my rules, but that doesn't mean anyone else would be.
"Sorry, ladies." I snapped my attention toward two boys who had brought their breakfast trays down before them before taking seats across from the two of us. "Anthony here decided that he wanted to try and get another thing of orange juice by pushing his chest together and batting his eyes at the male food line lead."
"Jokes on you, Whiskers, I got orange and apple juice." The pale boy flashed a toothy grin before opening the apple juice and taking a swig of it. "Always tastes better when it's free."
"But everything is free here, Anthony." Charlie rolled her eyes at him as he just shrugged with the same toothy grin.
"But I got extra, Toots." The one he called Whiskers sighed heavily before looking over toward me.
"Sorry about his antics. He's a bit of a show off in the physical sense and thinks he's a male Jessica Rabbit." I couldn't help but chuckle at him as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm Husk. The one that normally keeps this guy in line." Anthony seemed to put two and two together before giving me his full attention with a wide smile.
"So," I swallowed dryly as the flamboyant tall male leaned over the cafeteria table to get closer to me. "You're the little lady that has been keeping our favorite Charlie's attention away from all of us?" He chuckled before reaching out his hand and flashing a large smirk. "The name's Anthony. But everyone called me Angel Dust." I quirked a brow at him before looking over toward Charlie.
"Like the drug?" Charlie's eyes went wide before snapping her attention toward Anthony.
"You've been trying to get people to call you after a drug?!"
"The family drug, sweetie." Anthony continued smirking before running a hand through his hair. "Papa's favorite achievement. Figured he can take away my family, but he can't take away my connections."
So that's why he's here. He's the son of a drug lord stuck in the system.
"Sticking it to the man, huh?" I didn't even realize I said anything until Anthony laughed wholeheartedly at me before turning toward Husk.
"Oh, I like this one. She gets me!"
"We're doomed." Husk chuckled to himself before turning his attention toward me. "I'm sorry in advance." I shrugged in reply.
"Not the worst I've dealt with. Someone tried to get me to be called after 'The best part of the woman' when I was at Golden Gate so could be worse." I used air quotes accordingly as Anthony seemingly choked on the juice he had been drinking.
"Fucking what?!" The taller teen started cackling. "Is that where the nickname comes from? Did he try to name you after the fucking vagina? Where the fuck did that come from?"
"Well my full name is Vagatha, but he thought it was too hard to pronounce and didn't make sense."
"So he tried to name you after pussy?" I shrugged as I looked over toward Charlie who seemed to be in silent shock over the topic.
"That makes so much sense from what I know about Adam." She grimaced as she muttered the words to herself. "Mom said he was a bit of fucking loon but jeez."
"Adam? Wait you said Golden Gates. Do you mean Adam Adam? The second head of the fucking Little Angel's program over there?" Anthony started to look between me and Charlie as I simply nodded in reply. "No fucking way, I heard he was a dick but good God." Anthony scuffed at the idea as he looked over toward Husk. "You heard the stories too right? That he uses the girls there for secret means and shit? It's fucked. Makes me wonder how much of it is true." I swallowed hard as flashes of my memories with Adam appeared in my mind.
"I won't fucking do it." I hissed at the older man as Lute loomed over his shoulder not too far from us.
"Now Vaggie, you know what happens when you defy me."
"That's not my fucking name!" I pushed him back which caused him to fall on his ass.
"You bitch!" Adam quickly got up before rushing toward me and grabbing my wrist. "Lute, grab the ruler!" I thrashed under his weight as I heard his right-hand woman ruffle in his desk. "You could have been a good girl, Vaggie. You could have listened. Now you get punished."
I shook my head gently as echoes of my yelps and Lute as she smacked my fingers with a wooden ruler.
"You can say much of it is." I felt Charlie take my free hand into hers as Anthony's face fell at my sudden change of tone.
"Shit. Sorry there, Vaggie." His voice was concerned and filled with remorse I just shook my head.
"I just rather not think about it, honestly. Being here is better by a long shot already and I would like to keep it that way."
"Well it helps that you've got Princess here on your side," Anthony smirked once more before turning hai attention toward Charlie. "How ya doing, Toots? Been kind of quiet beyond the drug outburst." An embarrassed look took over the girl's face that I personally couldn't help but enjoy for the short moment before Husk nudged Anthony in the ribs. "Hey!"
"Be a good, Angel." Anthony seemed to jump at the opportunity to tease the shorter boy as he draped his arm over his shoulders and placed a hand on Husk's chest.
"Oh, Kitten, you know I'm naturally a very bad boy." A blush took over the shorter's boys cheeks despite his calm voice that responded.
"Get off me, showgirl."
"You could get me off, Tiger."
"Reel it in, Legs." Anthony took his arms back with a small pout before looking back toward me.
"He's no fun." I couldn't help but chuckle at the interaction. However, I took the opportunity to change the subject to free the poor kid beside him.
"I'm guessing you're a performer too? You're quite comfortable in your skin."
"You bet your ass I am!" Anthony adjusted his blazer as if he was getting ready to be photographed before striking a mini pose. "I'm an actor."
"Definitely an actor, alright."
"Hey, making it big means making it big. Doesn't matter on how ya get there." Husk smirked as he now crossed his arms over his chest in a knowing fashion.
"Yes, like all the other greats that fucked to the top."
"Hey, all I'm saying is that if I end up like Judy Garland, I'll be fine with that." I looked over toward Charlie who had a worried look on her face.
"Maybe we should talk about your expectations with fame at some point, Anthony." The boy just shrugged as he put his elbows on the table and flipped his gravity-defying hair out of his eyes.
"I had a feeling that was gonna end in a therapy session, but oh well." He chuckled to himself before continuing. "Hope your new girlfriend here is alright with feeling sessions 'cause that's Charlie's big thing. She loves to get the lot of us into what she calls 'Redemption Sessions' and gathers all the volunteers together to do therapy stuff." I couldn't help but blush at his first set of words as Charlie started to ramble in response.
"Vaggie doesn't have to come if she doesn't want to, like you said it's for volunteers. Not like I don't want you there or anything! It helps a lot of people if they have trouble with regulating and understanding their emotions. Not that you have problems with emotions or problems in general but-." Charlie chuckled to herself for a second before sinking into her seat a little. "I'll just shut up now, don't mind me."
"I would love to join, actually." The words came out of my mouth before I could even register it.
"You would?!" Charlie looked cheerful in my response. The embarrassment was gone from her face as it was replaced with a wide toothy smile that had a genuine sense of innocence to it.
I would?
I couldn't help but smile at her face as I simply nodded in response.
I would.
"That's great! The next one is actually in the next couple of days! We can introduce you to Nifty and Mr. Alastor and the rest of our little group!" I felt my heart flutter in my chest at just how happy Charlie looked. She seemed to be buzzing with joyful energy at the thought of me joining the group. "Oh, this is going to be great! I'll need to set up a new set of bonding exercises! Like trust falls! I love trust falls!"
"Simmer down, Princess, you've got a couple days till Friday. How about you sit on it before jumping the gun and rewriting your agenda?" Husk nodded along to Anthony's reasoning before he chimed in as well.
"You gotta get Alastor's approval before changing the agenda anyway. The adult in charge has to have the plan green-lighted before we can meet."
"Who's Alastor?" Husk gave me a confused look before glancing over toward Charlie.
"You haven't told them about the old man yet?" Charlie shrugged.
"He hasn't been around for me to introduce them. As assistant principal, he's kinda hard to get ahold of during transfer season." Charlie turned her attention back toward me with the same joyful smile on her lips. "But he's great! He's worked alongside Dad for years. He's actually a former student of the program that my mom vouched for back in the day."
"If you look past the seven years he was known as the Radio Demon, sure." Anthony chuckled as my eyes widened at the infamous nickname.
"The Radio Demon? The son of the radio host who went nuts and killed his dad on his live broadcast when he was a teenager? He's the assistant principal here?"
"Alastor has completed the program here and even has a Master's in education." Charlie was very matter-of-fact with her tone before leaning over the table and poking Anthony in the chest. "And you of all people know he does not like being reminded of that."
"Well, who the fuck would forget?"
"Not many, but he's gotten the help he needs." Husk was calm and sipped his milk as Anthony gestured toward him with his left hand.
"Kitten here knows Alastor from some personal connections that neither likes to really talk about, but in my book, if someone like Husk is comfortable with him around, anyone should be."
"All anyone needs to know is that I knew the family when I was younger and I don't blame him for losing his shit."
"Sounds like any one of us, honestly." I relaxed a little bit at the idea as details of the crime rang in my mind.
Journalists said that the Radio Demon came about because his dad would broadcast that evangelical shit at all times and treat his son like the reincarnation of the devil. Saying that he was doomed to ruin the world and it was his job as his father to keep him in place and in line. If the stories are true, Alastor defended himself against his father one night, realized he was strong enough to take on his old man and got blinded in a nasty rage. What happened next is quite a blur as police never let out the details, but all anyone knows is that Alastor decided that since his father broadcasted his life to his followers, he might as well broadcast his death to them as well.
Having him graduate the program must have been one hell of a thing for the system's reputation here. Even more so that he came back and decided to become a part of the faculty. I guess that would also keep the kids in line too. Who would wanna go up against the guy who killed his dad while live on the radio? Not me, that's for sure.
"Well, I guess I'll meet him soon then." Charlie smiled sweetly at this before placing a hand on my shoulder.
"There's nothing to worry about with Alastor. He's a good guy." I nodded along as a final thought echoed through my mind.
I would rather be in a room with him by the sounds of it than Adam anyway.