Biology was, simply and utterly, no interesting affair.
Victoria spent her time, doodling fluffy kittens, on her sheet absentmindedly, completely entranced by what had occurred a few minutes ago, of which it had already felt unreal, though she felt these anomalies were the norm, and she was the outcast. The dream that Victoria experienced, yesterday, almost made Victoria forget how she had made a new friend, during Health, through mutual humor and enjoyment.
Eric was enjoyable to Victoria, mostly due to his eloquent stringing of words, of which Victoria often didn’t even know how to repeat and pronounce, much less what they meant, though Victoria did have a small trace of ideas. They made some small talk, but it wasn’t really too exciting, with the main topic at hand being biology, a class that Victoria couldn’t wait to be over, with its nasty dissections, and studying of cultures of bacterias multiplying, which Victoria, unsurprisingly, didn’t feel, too, overtly comfortable with. Though, just like with Andrew and Amalya, he was apparently scheduled for the same Art Class, at the same time, as he was. His demeanor and habits reminded her of someone, though she couldn’t put her finger on it.
After biology, not much happened, as Victoria simply went to her homeroom, the dream classroom, where Anterior told her that she will possibly go to the same Art Class, at the same time, too, which was another odd coincidence. Afterwards, she went to her Spanish I Class, where, similarly, Raina tells her, using the word ‘like’, a bit too often, that she may go at the same time, at the same class, as well, and after a few more classes, she gets to leave the cold grounds of the school, to experience the brisk crisp of the autumn breeze. She didn’t consume much, in terms of nutrition, as she simply wasn’t hungry, considering what lay ahead, of which her hype was skyrocketing past new, unthinkable heights, each minute she waited. She entered the school, once more, to obtain some consumables to eat, before leaving the doorway on the first floor, as she traced the Art Bridge, from below, crossing a cobbled street, made of dark chunks of earth, with a yellow line dotting the middle. Next to the Art Building, was a parking lot, enclosed with gothic, spiked fences, with a large, stained walkway, cutting through it, as though the path was made far after the fence's erection.
As she crossed, Victoria came across a grisly sight as she walked past the road; transfixed upon the site of a piece of watermelon, consumed with flies and their squirming children, laying asunder alongst the walk towards the Art Building. Other than that visage, however, nothing else peaked Victoria’s interest during the crossing, and as she went through the door, she was relieved with reinvigorating air, that blew past her, outwards into the endless sky above, as she saw the entrance to her next class, with people slowly coming into the door, or which was sectioned off into an unremarkable corner, next to a metal gate, but it was still everything she had hoped for, and more. The door was decorated with many small hexagons, each made with the use of pointillism, using an assortment of varying colors. Next to the doorway, was a large easel, with a blank canvas mounted on it, next to a wooden table, covered in splatters of paint and oil.
Victoria couldn’t be more excited for this.
This is it! My time to finally shine, like a radiant star, at my favorite hobby. I shall be the best, and no one else will even offer so much of a challenge. It shall be a glorious victory for me, for I am named as such. No longer shall I be constrained by the shackles of my parents; I shall be free as a hummingbird! At least, one that doesn’t need 1000 or more meals a day. My talents shall finally bloom, and I can clip away at the wretched weeds that stunt my growth; that of Lucas and James, and I shall surpass them with every might! Ha, they probably picked something stupid as their elective, like Robotics or something, unlike me, who clearly picked the best ones! Maybe, one day, I can finally enact my retaliation! Lucas, and his dumb ugly watermelon hoodie that he wears everyday, will finally get it! And James, and his silly multicolored hair, will also get it! It’s over for them. And, I am pretty sure Andrew’s in this class, too. Yeah, I will succeed, they won’t. Go, me!
But as Victoria passed through the cheerfully decorated doorway of the classroom, she immediately saw things that shattered her cheery reverie, and things that churned her stomach to a sickening degree. She saw Lucas, sitting in the far back of the room, at a beautifully furnished table, adorned with paint splotches and a seemingly intentional pattern atop its surface, though barely visible. She then looked toward the left, capturing the details of the many shelves, stacked atop one and another, designed like old antique furniture, decorated with anthropological skulls and sketches, along with photographs of historical figures, along with some, slightly more, mythical depictions of certain people, such as the photo of Helen Keller, who wasn’t even real. Above the shelves, she saw shiny, yellow, inflated balloons above the shelves, spelling out corny, encouraging phrases, such as ‘You Shine!’ and ‘Keep up the Good Work!’, as well as odd devices labeled in strange inscriptions, put on the dusty, webbed roofs of the mahogany racks. She looked further to the left, stretching her neck, and saw a tray containing drawing utensils of all forms, ranging from 6B pencils, to a palette containing watercolor paint, to a set of micron pens, all arranged into ordered, little sections, with a darkened closet behind the trays, as well as a paper cutter, lounging atop more shelves, made of a dark steel.
As Victoria looked towards the right, another crack formed in her daydream, as she saw James, resting on a wooden stool, speaking to an unfamiliar figure. But as she processed his and Lucas’s inclusion within this class, her brain went overdrive, as she started seeing more people she had met yesterday, and earlier today. She saw Amalya sitting next to Sebastian, happily chatting about an unknown subject, right next to James. She saw Anterior and Eric next to Lucas, and the other two people she had seen in Computer Science, on both sides of the room, with the jubilant one appearing with his caretaker. Behind them, there was a tank, of which contained a small wooden den, with a small pool of water, though no creature appeared within its enclosure. As she looked around the room more, using her peripheral vision, she had seen that all the stools of the lavish tables were occupied, except for one, at the center, and the entire table was stocked with old faces.
Upon the last table, smaller than the rest, were 6 seats, with the one furthest back being empty, but from her current position, she saw 5 figures. At the front, the spacing was taken by Ariannah, the freaky one, though Malaya was nearby, sitting to the left. On the right side of the table, was, from the closest, Raina, to the most faraway, that being Giulia, the calm one. With that, she saw one last person, and despite having never seen him in real life, she could tell that Andrew, previously, her only friend, was sitting on the left spot, farthest away.
“Hey, um, what’s your name?” suddenly asked a voice, snapping their fingers like a pistol shrimp. It was the teacher, and Victoria hadn’t expected the teacher to appear like such, but was quickly numb to the feeling of discovery, as it followed the same lines and routine she had repeated for seven other classes. The teacher had a thin, short hairstyle, which seemed peculiar, since his auburn hair was stunning, and easily caught Victoria’s eyes, if not some others, as well. He wore a flowery shirt, which contrasted with his basic, brown trousers, and his reflective shoes reminded her of those that clowns wore.
“Oh, my name is Victoria.”
“If you can please, Victoria, take that spot there,” gesturing to the man, approximately around the area Victoria had already chosen as her site. Nodding, Victoria walked quickly to her new table, and placed her bottom on the cyborg seating; half wood, half silvery metal, and looked at Andrew, up and down, as he looked at her, both grinning, as they had never seen each other’s faces before.
Andrew’s skin was a clash between cream and sepia, and was spread across his rounded face, complete with two eyes, each with long, delicate lashes that covered his dark brown iris. His hair was jet black and straight, though curled into neat bunches, and surrounded his large ears, though they never met. His arms and legs glimmered smoothly, due to the hairs that matted thickly across his appendages. Today, he was outfitted with a black vest and a simple shirt, which reminded Victoria of Senor Villegas. Despite his appearance, however, she knew him to be quite timid and stoic, often to his own detriment, though his caring nature was what she wanted to emulate out of all. She also knew that, like her, he was getting adjusted to her appearance as well, as they kept their real identities quite secret, despite being close friends, though with online friends, Victoria couldn’t be so sure.
“Alright, guys, let’s depart from our digital and electronic devices and look at the board. My name is Mr. Acidiski, and I will be teaching you Studio Drawing and Painting!” announced Mr. Acidiski, of which was an odd name to Victoria’s perspective, though it wasn’t exactly uncommon, and had a nice ring to it. He had a soothing, soft voice, one more suited for a teacher of the Peace Building than one of the Art Building, which Victoria expected to be more assertive and punchy, in their voices, at least.
“In this class, we will be taking a close look at the use of drawing tools, such as pencils, charcoal, and pens, but we will use paint techniques, too. If you decide to continue next year, for the more difficult course of AP Studio Drawing and Painting, we will put more emphasis on painting, and trying out different mediums of paint, like acrylic and watercolor!” Once he finished for another breath, Victoria giddily squealed within her head, as she had never had such opportunities before.
“In this classroom, we have many supplies, and you are welcome to take any of them, but be sure to return them. Some of our supplies include the aforementioned tools, but we also have stumps that you can use for blending, tape, glue, scissors, and erasers! We have a pet snake named Jupiter, and she lives inside this tank!” he says, despite the lack of snakes within the terrarium, “but she’s currently getting her annual check-up, and likely won’t be back this week, so sorry about that, but we have to move onward to our activity today!”
“For today, we aren’t doing any art, but we shall introduce ourselves to our tablemates, since you will be with them for most of the school year, probably, unless you have any seating arrangements change requests, or I think you are being a disruptive force within the classroom. Otherwise, you should introduce yourself!” As Mr. Acidiski finished talking, the room was filled with chattering and whispers, cloaking the room in a thin mist of conversational cacophony, but their table became an outlier in their silence, though Raina soon broke it.
“Hey guys, my name is Raina, and, like, I already know one of you,” Raina said, as she looked in Victoria’s general direction.
“Um, yea, and my name is Victoria and I like cats, because, reasons.”
“Ok, cool, but, like, who asked,” interrupted Raina. “I, like, also know, like, a couple of other people in this class, like this person sitting next to me . . . Giulia, this is your que to start talking!”
“Oh, um, yes. My name is Giulia, and I am so happy to meet you guys,” quietly said Giulia.
“And, like, I also know this, like, super crazy, like, prepster.”
“I didn’t want to sit here, with all of you, uh, farts!” blurted Ariannah, though despite her previous attitude, she didn’t seem to want to say it, this time around.
“Nuh uh, what did we talk about there? We don’t use that language. We don’t censor ourselves, we straight cut out bits, so stop with that attitude,” quietly threatened Malaya.
“What. The. Fart,” tempted Raina, likely to bother Malaya, who she had already seen prone to anger.
“Not you starting, too.”
“I will do, like, what I want to do.”
“No, you can’t start with this, you already deciphered what happened to Ariannah, likely.”
“You, like, think, like, I am, like, that smart?”
“Girl, I am assuming your intelligence, in a good way. You shouldn’t really contradict me.”
“Guys, can we calm down?” reasoned Giulia, though many sides were colliding within this table alone, as Victoria heard more arguments and needless drama that were currently happening within other groups, almost as though they were made to create spite and strife.
“Woah, you smell like cow feces mixed with milk regurgitated from a baby’s mouth,” rudely asserted Ariannah, though Giulia’s breath did smell off, with a distinct odor, though not at all unpleasant to Victoria’s opinion. “I think you forgot, the only reason I can’t say what I wanna say, right now, is because you guys happened to sit at our spot.”
“Really, Ariannah? Didn’t we talk about this in the office?” asked Malaya, and despite Victoria having had no knowledge of when they went to ‘the office’, Victoria had a good clue.
“Yeah, but do you really think I care? I am out now! I can do whatever I want!”
“Uh, can you pull out a knife or something?”
“No, but that’s only because I didn’t bring one. Remind me to bring one tomorrow, for self defense, of course.”
“Um, like, guys, like, you should, like, chill. Let’s play the silent game, guys!” suggested Raina, though quite meekly, compared to her usual, confident demeanor.
“I think I shall not partake in this game,” decided Ariannah.
“No, no, I think, like, you should, cause, like, you are kinda ruining the mood and, like, the vibes, y’know?”
“I think I don’t know, so refrain from your blabbering, cause I ain’t going to listen!”
“Okay, I know I am kinda a spectator in this, but like, Ariannah, please shut up,” snapped Victoria. She had enough of the bickering, especially when Andrew hasn’t even introduced himself, yet, to the rest of the misfits that is the table. “Andrew, introduce yourself to us!”
“Huh, like, why do you, like, already know his, like, name, like, oh my gosh, how, like, invasive!”
“Why do you feel the need to insert so many filler words? Also, aren’t you the one being invasive? You are the one who keeps asking and pushing others into doing some uncool things.”
“No, I am, not!” Raina said, as a cast of bellicose anger settled over her eyes, and the baring of her unusually sharp teeth. Raina then began to make a strange set of noises, of which can only be described as deep growls and sharp roars, which was hysterical to the other table members, even to Ariannah. Victoria, then, began to feel uncomfortable, as she realized many eyes were on them, staring at the source of the commotion, and as she wondered how Mr. Acidiski still hadn’t come to reprimand them, she looked towards his desk, which was decorated with a bonsai tree and a buddhist bell, but there appeared to be no sighting of the teacher, himself. With her realization, many others began to notice the discrepancy, and soon troublemakers would soon make themselves known to the wider masses. People began to move between the stained floors towards other tables, and they were migrating in mass numbers, but despite the odds, their table remained in one piece, though more were to be glued on.
Victoria saw that most people she had recognized hadn’t switched place, and though it was rather ironic that James, Sebastian, and Amalya were seated originally next to each other, almost as a hint to their deceit amongst each other, and Lucas was still ever present, behind her, almost as though ready to pounce and attack. Some recognizable people swapped, though it wasn’t notable, and it was almost certainly to get a better angle of the front of the room, where presumably most of the action will occur, whether it be the lesson or the eccentric entertainment provided by the frontmost group, but it was likely too early to tell, for more activities occurred, now between multiple tables, and of the first to participate, was Lucas.
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“Hey, Victoria! What’s your table been up to? Some drama, I see! What’s it about? Something pointless?” mocked Lucas, though Victoria wasn’t quite so susceptible to his shenanigans after his break-in.
“Not much, and I don’t particularly like or want to discuss anything with or about you.”
“Victoria, like, who is this dude?” queried Raina, puzzled between their connection.
“Oh, yeah, I am Lucas, and I love watermelons! You?”
“Well, I am a watermelon enjoyer, myself, though I much prefer strawberries,” replied Raina, which gave her a slight bit of credit in Victoria’s eyes, as Victoria was a connoisseur in strawberries; a self given title. Maybe Raina isn’t so bad after all.
“Why do you like that weird red fruit?”
“Since I can, and watermelon isn’t even that good, it’s, like, literally, water, and, like, melon, so it’s literally just a watermelon.”
“Does anyone else like strawberries?” polled Lucas. Ugh, this guy. Doesn’t he know I like strawberries, too. I literally told him!
“Well, uh, I do!” said the person, but Victoria didn’t even need to see to believe, for James’s voice was rather unique amongst most others.
“Oh, my, like, god, hello, James! Like, where you’ve been? You’ve been gone, for, like, the entire summer! Where have you been, bestie?” chattered Raina, and Victoria rapidly lost her newfound respect for her, as it seemed the web James spun stretched far greater than she had first thought.
“Oh, uh . . .” sighed James, as he knew his gig was up, especially when his two partners sat close by, listening intently.
“We’ve been making origami boats for you, Amalya, the, uh, entire summer! Me and James!” spluttered Sebastian, trying to not choke back on his own words, which seemed like the beginning of the end for this house of cards.
“We have? I thought we were doing something else during the summer!”
“Doing what?” dramatically asked Amalya, exaggerating the words to a comical degree, though despite the biases, Victoria knew that she was in trouble, too. “I thought you guys were making boats, or hats, or whatever for me. What have you guys been doing?”
“Wait, what?” slowly realized James, as his face began to light up in embarrassment and shock.
“So, like, do you all, like, like, like, strawberries?”
“Oh, yes, strawberries,” sighed James, though the other two sighed, too, as Raina had bought them each time. “I do indeed like strawberries. How about you, Sebastian?”
“Why, yes, I also like strawberries.”
“How about you, Amalya?”
“I actually don’t like strawberries or watermelons, though thanks for asking. I actually prefer eggplants,” giggled Amalya. “Because, y’know, the word, ‘egg’, is in eggplant?” James and Sebastian smiled, too, though Victoria questioned the ulterior reasoning to their response at the joke.
“Oh, um, you know, you kinda, shouldn’t explain jokes . . .” explained James.
“Well, I am sorry if my poor joke was so bad. Eggplants aren’t that bad anyw-”
“Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah, well, Lucas, like, we totally beat you, three to, like I think, one,” scorned Raina, though no malice was behind the message.
“Actually, four to one, remember, Raina, I started this, right?”
“Oh, yeah, right. Victoria, is right, watermelon dude.”
“I can make your face look like a watermelon,” warned Lucas, though he wasn’t going to act on such a thinly veiled threat, was he?
“Hey, Anterior.”
“Yeah?” responded Anterior.
“Do you happen to have a, let’s say, sharp object, within your backpack?”
“Uh, I have my trusty ice pick, I guess?”
“Cool, can I have it for a sec?”
“What are you going to use it for?” investigated Anterior.
“Something.”
“Look, if you are going to use it to harm someone, you already know what will happen, don’t you?”
“Yeah, Lucas, if you don’t put that down, I think I might have to do the same thing I did to Ariannah,” stated Malaya, who Victoria realized had been listening the entire time, though everyone else also seemed to have been silenced from the sudden commotion occurring within the center.
“And what did you do to me, Malaya?” asked Ariannah.
“Oh, I, uh-”
“I can say what you did, but it won’t be pretty.”
“Now, now, I think we can talk this ou-”
“You didn’t.”
“Well, sorry if I had to act in self defense.”
“Wel-”
And then we heard noises from behind. Anterior was now knocked out, on the ground, as Lucas held in possession, what seemed to be a screwdriver, though with no spike at the end, but with only a point.
“Time for my evil plan,” said Lucas, as he maniacally laughed in a voice that sounded like Mickey Mouse, before suddenly cracking. “Ugh, whatever. Time to enact my revenge against all who wronged me! Starting with Anterior! And her friend!” finished Lucas, as he moved above Anterior, holding the ice pick in two hands, as though she was a sacrifice, though it was slightly more literal, as people began to shift in their seats, now covered in sunbeams.
Lucas began to maniacally laugh, with a discordant tone, as he began to chant, “Stab! Stab! Stabby stab stab!” The public’s attention completely shifted towards Anterior and Lucas, as he was, indeed, stabbing her . . . bottle, full of water, as it splashed all over her. “Who else wants to be drenched . . . in water, of course!” But for the next victim, there was no choice for him.
“Goodbye, Kenneth, for daring to prank me, that one time, with your fake names and whatever.” I wonder when he’s going to target me, for, you know, breaking up and whatever. Honestly, in hindsight, I wouldn't want to be dating this lunatic, either way. While Victoria didn’t quite know who Kenneth was, she was pretty sure that Lucas was beginning to prepare the maneuver that had somehow knocked out Anterior, though before he could act, someone nearby made him pause.
“You'll now not begin the action of taking Kenneth, my friend, out, thereby compromising his ability to perceive this realm, for in such a case, you shall not suffer the opposite effects of your maliciously planned action, Lucas, the watermelon person,” recommended Eric, who’s complexion now seems somewhat reminiscent of another person nearby, though Victoria couldn’t quite put her fingers on who or what it could be.
“Oh, yeah, Eric? You really think you can defeat me, the almighty person who controls the fruit of water?”
“The amount of delusions crammed within your cranium is rather astounding to note, Kenneth.”
“Well, then, I think you should try to defeat me, with what?”
“You know, Lucas, you’ve created many adversaries within this room, already. Want to malform a greater amount of friendly faces into enemies of yours, or create new allies via beneficial choices that only you can choose to select?”
“You know, you are kinda confusing me, with, your, weird jargon.”
“Well, like you are, like, confusing me with, like, the reason you are, like doing this, cause this is very, like, un-coquette,” helpfully added Raina.
“Fine, then, Eric, I suppose this goblin appearing creature isn’t a friend of yours, now is she?”
“No, I think, not, though friends of my friends also are my friends, indeed.”
“Good, good, I think this loris needs a lesson in playing the silent game.”
“Okay, like, anyone, like, help, I am in kinda of a, unpreppy situation, like, right now,” pleaded Raina for help.
“No one’s coming to help you, lemur.”
“Hey, like, stop being, so, like, rude, cause, like, no one, like, likes you if you, like, do that.”
“Can you stop saying ‘like’ so much?”
“Well, like, I, like, could, but, like, I, like, don’t, like, want to.”
“Alright, goodbye, Raina!” Lucas said, as Raina held her hands over her head, with fists, not high above. Just before Lucas could knock her out with his special move, a knife was held, pointed at Lucas; colored in multiple LED lights, like a futuristic dagger. Victoria looked at the person holding the dangerous weapon, and saw the dark plastic being held by powerful hands, gripping tightly onto the knife. It was Ariannah.
“Want to attack this table? I have a knife," Ariannah factually stated, as Malaya’s mouth gaped open, her mind tainted with new information.
“Ok, and? I think you both need to turn into watermelons!” states Lucas, as he sounds increasingly insane with each word. Has Lucas really forgotten his phase with honeydew?
“Alright, if that’s how you wanna play, then come at me, or are you too scared?” taunted Ariannah.
Victoria thought it started off good for the opposing side.
Lucas struck first, holding his stolen ice pick in a scary position, before lunging at Ariannah in a sudden fashion, catching Ariannah off-guard, before stabbing violently into her arms, causing an obvious reaction from Ariannah, as she shrieked violently. Ariannah, in response, as the ice pick was still plunged deep within her veins, her blood thickening and coalescing into a clot, slashed wildly into the distance, cutting Lucas’s hoodie, perilously near his body. Lucas, like a frightened child getting spanked, fearfully ran away, though there wasn’t much room in the classroom for a cowardly retreat.
“Y’know,” fretted Lucas, “maybe we don’t have to do this! It’s a bit barbaric and violent, especially in a school setting!”
“I think you’ve made up your mind when you punched Anterior out. You need to see the consequences of what you have sowed, for now, you’ve got a bad harvest.”
“I swear I can change, just don’t hurt me!”
“It’s the end of the line for you!” But as Ariannah was about the end the fight, Lucas’s seemingly idiotic fleeing turned out to be a strategic advance, as when Ariannah was about to go for the final blow, Lucas, pulled out the ice pick, and carved into Ariannah’s stomach, and when it retracted, the pick was covered in fresh blood. Despite this, however, Ariannah continued, whether through perseverance or basic adrenaline, it was still over for Lucas, for he had triggered Ariannah’s fury, and karma would pay him a visit.
“It’s over, bitch!”
And with that, it was over, as Lucas collapsed onto the ground, covered in a small pool of watermelon juice, dripping from his body. Victoria’s stomach twisted as she saw the sight of her ex-boyfriend, now laying on the ground, but also with a sense of melancholy happiness, for he was gone, at least for now. But just as Lucas went unconscious, it seemed the source for Ariannah’s energy ran out, for she, too, fell onto the floor below her soles.
“Um, like, should they, like, get, like, help?” asked Raina.
“Yup.” Heads turned and faced towards the new voice, though Victoria already inferred who it could be. Andrew had finally spoken, after the chaos had ensued.
“Well, then, like, can someone, get them, like, help? Like, call the, like, number, for, like, an ambulance?”
“Well, I, for one, think Ariannah deserved it,” decreed Malaya.
“So, like, what you are, like, saying, is that, like, she deserved it? After that dude, like, went psycho? Like, that’s, so, like, uncalled for.”
“Well, that’s maybe because you were scared of him getting you, after you kept nudging him!”
“Well, how was, like, I supposed, to know, like, he would go and, like try to injure me, Malaya?”
“He already knocked out this person next to him, you think he wouldn’t go for another person?”
“Well, like, I don’t think he’d be dumb enough to do that.”
“He was out of his mind!”
“Sorry, if, like, I am not going to, like, take responsibility for him attacking me. Either way, he’s passed out, like, right now, so I think we should just, like, say he’s, like, the bad guy, cause, he can’t, like, defend himself, right now.”
“‘Passed out’, sure, sure! He’s bleeding out!”
“Ok, like, so is Ariannah! Like, why do you care about, like, Lucas, like, so much?” questioned Raina, which made Victoria’s head begin to start turning, once more, as she had seen them sitting together in Computer Science, as though there were a secret kept hidden, behind her back.
“Because I am dating him!” And with that, the ball inside Victoria dropped.
“Ok, like, do I, like, care? This is probably, like, been only a few days, cause, like, you guys are, like, kinda too, like, young, to be doing this.”
“We’re seventeen!”
“Ok, like, does it look like I, like, care?”
“It’s the age of consent here!” And just like that, another ball inside Victoria dropped. Lucas told her that he was only fifteen, the same age as her.
“Okay? You guys certainly don’t act your, like, age, getting into, like fights, which is, like, super not aesthetic, which, like, kinda show that you can’t keep these relationships, like, stable, if you, like, condone this sort of behavior. From, like, your own, like, boyfriend!”
“Look, we’ve been together for a few months now, and Ariannah deserved it!” The final ball dropped.
“You don’t, like, say ‘they, like, deserved it’. They could be dead, like, right now.”
“Look, if you care about Ariannah so much, then why don’t you call an ambulance?”
“Could say, like, the same thing, between, like, you and Lucas! Why don’t you call it for him?”
“As a matter of fact, I will!” said Malaya, as she pulled out her glittery phone, decorated with peeling stickers, before rapidly tapping on it, as a small voice began to emanate from its speakers. “Uh, yes, I am Malaya, and, uh yes, I do have an emergency! Um, it’s about this crazy person, yes, uh, their name is Ariannah, and she stabbed my boyfriend, like, yes, it’s urgent, come now, yes, thank you,” she stated, as she clicked the ‘end call’ button. As though with coincidence, the bell rang, and Mr. Acidiski never returned, but it seemed that the dangerous fight was enough to stifle the critical thinking part of the brain, as mostly everyone simply began leaving through the door, though some stayed behind, to think about the heavy ramifications of what had just happened, though some had their own issues. One of them was Victoria.
What just happened. Lucas was cheating and lying on me, the entire time? I thought it was all just a theory! A head theory, even! How did it all come true; what the hell? Please tell me this was a dream! What was that knife Ariannah pulled out, and did Luc-c, ha, he really want to harm Raina and me? This is just a fever dream, no, what is happening to my reality, she asked herself, as tears began to flow down her cheeks, of which no one left noticed, except for one person. It was Andrew.
To Victoria, and her usual mouthy antics, Andrew seemed mute and unresponsive, though through digital text, it was another story. As she began to leak teardrops for her sockets, Andrew put his hand on her shoulder, perhaps to show solidarity, or some other form of reinforcement to endure the truth that had been given, but either way, it worked, as his hand stabilized her movements and slowly made her still as a rock. Although surprised at the lack of responsibility that was shown from Mr. Acidiski, who had still not returned, she was equally as shocked by the part done by the school, or the lack thereof, of allowing such violence to occur, especially when someone may have been in a moribund state. After a few minutes of Andrew comforting her, and his own, silent way, she quickly stifled herself, and wiped the remaining wetness that remained, stuck on her sodden, cracked face. Once her face was dried, she began observing the people who remained, at least those who were definitely alive; Eric and Kenneth, whose name she’d only identify due to Lucas. It seems that they were leaving, soon, too, as they both raised out of their seats, before slowly walking towards the entrance of the room, though Eric stopped next to Andrew.
“Warmest greetings, eldest brother, me and my dearest friend desire that you and your friend complete your wanted objectives and obtain your desired items, but I sense as though we must depart, soon, or we will not be able to meet our scheduled time for the bus stop,” said Eric. “So come with me and Kenneth.”
“Okay,” muttered Andrew, as Victoria began to see the connection between the two.
“Well then, I suppose it has been agreed upon. Let’s move before help arrives for these two.”
And thus they began to get up, along with Eric and his friend, as sirens began to blare and approach, and students watched in terror above, in their glass bridges, Victoria and her newfound acquaintances, as well as her old friend, all walked out, only their footsteps audible, like a snake’s hiss.