“You fool! You dare to insult me?" Audrey laughed, as though she was driven by the highs of a villainous pretense. “You do know what I’ve been planning, right?”
“Uh . . . no?” wondered Victoria, thinking fully through, of what Audrey may have hoped for her to eventually reach, though due to Audrey’s difficult and seemingly capricious nature, possibly spurred by the plague known as puberty, it was a difficult task to complete.
“You don’t know?” gasped Audrey, as though shocked by Victoria being unable to complete her impossible request. “It’s rather obvious, uh-”
“Victoria.”
“Yeah, right, Victoria! It’s rather obvious, Victoria, what I have been concocting within the background, this entire time! Ever since the fight, in Spanish I, of course. Do you now understand?” Victoria shook her head, though it barely swayed.
“Ugh, it’s my secret evil plan!” happily announced Audrey, with her foul breath wafting under Victoria’s nostrils, flaring them up, though it wasn’t the only part of her body to react defiantly against such an outlandish concept.
“Uh, did I, like, hear that correctly?” asked Victoria for some clarification, as it appeared to not compute within her system.
“Yes, you heard that correctly! My, and I think I must emphasize this; this is mine, and it is, my, idea, and, my, plan. My evil plan, that is! What do you think about that, Victoria? For insulting me on the first day of school!” Well, you kinda deserved it, but am I really going to sa-
“You deserved it, Audrey, just get over it! It has been two days since we last talked,” asserted Victoria, causing Audrey to gape open, as though a sudden shock went through her empty cranium. “What even is your plan?” asked Victoria, followed by a long silence from Audrey, almost as though, perhaps, her scheme was rather childish and poorly thought out, for despite its title of a plan, nothing was planned out. “May I also remind you, Audrey, that my friends are here, right now. You are alone. I think that should be enough to scare you, back to where you are supposed to be, in your seat.”
“Um, Victoria,” reminded James, despite his complete concentration upon his mobile device. “We are not friends. In any capacity.”
“Ha, ha! So what you said was a bluff! I knew you were dull, but I didn’t expect this amount of idiocy, when compared to my neurotic intelligence!”
“Do you even know what neurotic means?” questioned Victoria.
“Uh, it means ‘smart’, right?” uncomfortably asked Audrey, prompting a small chuckle from Victoria, giving all the information Victoria needed to know about her apparent ‘intelligence’. “Well, um, you know what I meant! Either way, no matter how you think of me, my evil plan shall come to fruition!”
“Must I ask you, again, Audrey. What does your plan entail?”
“It entails a bloody, gruesome murder of your, uh . . . parents! Yes, it shall be done with a, um, can I say this in school?” asked Audrey, once more, as though she’d be censored by some unknown entity, displaying her clear ineptitude, as per usual, though it would be short-lived, as the bell rang, not long after, along with Mr. Justin’s reappearance into the undisciplined room. Despite the lack of a watchful instructor during the period of which he was gone, most students had completed their work, except for two people. After saying goodbye to Amalya, and glaring at James, everyone but Victoria and Audrey had left, as well as another kid, and Mr. Justin, who was preparing the room for Advisory, the next class they were meant to attend, where they were supposed to leave for their respective homerooms, but judging from current prospects, it seemed that they wouldn’t be leaving, for much. She, despite the trivial task, wasn’t able to complete her assignment of learning what a mouse does, in time, and now believed the only chance she had, left, to complete it, was to stay late. This appeared viable, considering the calm attitude of the teacher in the room, as of current, and of Mr. Leo, her advisory teacher, and Dream teacher.
Victoria arose from her seat, the classroom now empty, except for her and Audrey, though Audrey, with her smug expression, seemed to already have completed her work, as though she was supposed to be here, and then it hit Victoria; she saw Raina come here, two days ago. This must be an advisory where the seventh and eighth graders come! That explains a, lot, about Audrey’s and Raina’s behavior, too. I wonder if I’ll be seeing Giulia, too? I wonder who’s this other kid, though. Is he supposed to be here, too? Victoria sighs. Who cares, let’s just go speak to Mr. Justin about this assignment. Hopefully he’ll say yes, and if not . . . Victoria, be brave. Just get this over with. Pushing her chair in, scraping across the floor with a loud sound, she began to walk forth towards the teacher, before facing towards him.
“Hey, Mr. Justin?” initiated Victoria, tapping him on the shoulder with her finger.
“Yeah?”
“Well, um, I need more time to finish my assignment.”
“Well, okay, then. It is the first week of school, after all. I will be lenient now, but don’t think that there will be an opportunity for this, every time. Go back to your seat, and finish your work, and, also, can you tell me what your homeroom teacher’s name, is?”
“His name is Mr. Leo. You know, the Dream teacher, if you’ve ever been to the Peace Building,” casually responded Victoria, though her lips quivered, and she visibly shook, as though the room was cold and icy.
“Oh, well, if he works in the Peace Building, he probably won’t care, considering that I’ve heard, certain, stories from past years, even if this is my second year working here. I will still contact him, mind you, so don’t be surprised if you have to leave, but you can work at home, if you so choose. Now go to your seat; it’s fortunate that no one sits that, at least not of current.”
“Thanks, Mr Justin!” And as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she suddenly hopped a tiny bit off of the ground, perhaps in relief of the removed pressure, or that she’d be able to spend more time on her assignments, or even with her new friends, though Audrey’s presence was an important factor to be concerned over, given her presence in the classroom costing Victoria’s time, in the first place. But perhaps, with more friends, and their considerably different personalities compared to Amalya, they could remove Audrey from bothering her. Maybe, they already have a grudge against her, for whether it was small or not, it simply didn’t matter to Victoria; as long as Audrey didn’t annoy her with her characteristically noisy self, while she was completing her assignment, she’d be fine. But it would be tested soon enough, as when Victoria became seated once more, the people outside of the wired classroom, moving rapidly past the doors, soon moved rapidly in, through the black doors.
As Victoria sat back down, upon her chair, which had dark wheels upon its legs, like most chairs within this room, she saw a lovely piece of blackmail, though she didn’t quite want to activate it, not yet, at least. It was James’s phone, of which he had forgotten to take, while leaving the classroom, either due to the distance to his homeroom, or basic neglectful behavior, occurring due to the recent adjustment towards this new, spacious environment. She saw that it was fully charged, and ready to be used, perhaps, by a person who it did not know. Resist the urge, Victoria! Then, she saw many folks, diverse in their physical appearances, walk in from the thin entrance. Gargantuan kids, who were taller than her, by a long shot, to the miniscule skulkers, who she barely peeped, from behind her darkened screen, of which reminded her of the task at hand. Finish the assignment. She powered on the computer with a quick press, and in the same second, she no longer felt Audrey’s presence within the room, causing Victoria to glance around the room, finding Audrey sitting quietly, as though she had ran out of energy from arguing with her, and rested nearby the old printer, which seemed like, it, too, could use a rest. Before she could focus completely on finishing her late mission, she saw a few notable people, stride in, that she recognized, rather easily.
Firstly, she saw Raina walk in, who were too distinct to be oblivious towards their recent entry, as a few people stood up to greet her, before dawning on Victoria the fact that these may be her friends. Then, she saw Giulia, following shortly after her other friend, though her ingress was met with much less fanfare, which was none, at all. Finally, Victoria saw someone who she hadn’t seen since the first day of school, and who broke up her fight between Audrey and herself, for Kennedy walked in the door. Kennedy’s appearance didn’t differ much from Victoria’s first sighting, and unprompted meeting, of her, and today, she was wearing a basic t-shirt, with a large logo plastered across its smooth surface, along with dark jeans, similarly to the two days before, with another simple combination. Her charcoal hair was tied into tight ribbons of follicles that spanned the length of her head and neck, but didn’t reach much further downwards. She was slightly taller than Raina, but Victoria was somewhat unsure, though she was certainly wider. Her skin was umber like a plantain’s spots, and her eye’s weren’t much different. She quickly galloped towards Raina’s sphere of friends, likely because she was her friend, as well. Their conversation was short-lived, however, as Kennedy walked away, towards Victoria, before sitting to the left of her position, but Raina chased, closely behind, but not to continue their discussion, since once Raina reached Victoria’s spot, she stopped, and began to talk, as Victoria turned backwards.
“Hey, bestie!” greeted Raina, though her title for Victoria seemed rather ill-fitting, since they had only met yesterday, though their definitions of such a word may have been skewed by outside influences.
“Um, hey, uh,” Victoria looked at an identifiable part of Raina. “Tarsier? I mean, hi, Raina!” said Victoria, catching herself before she makes yet another enemy.
“Um, what did you just, like, say?”
“I clearly said ‘Hi, Raina,’” lied Victoria, though this attempt of gaslighting was tactful; a white lie.
“No, you, like, said ‘I mean, hi, Raina,’ which, like, clearly shows, that you, like, slipped up. How, and, like, why?”
“I didn’t slip up, you did . . . at listening, that is. Let’s just leave this; what are you up to, today?”
“Oh, nothing much, but I did see a funny dance on ShakeSound, so that was cool! More importantly, did you, like, see the news, recently?”
“Uh, no? Why?”
“Oh, yeah, they were talking all about, like, yesterday. You know what happened, like, yesterday, right? Cause, like, that was, like, crazy! And they were protecting me, of, like, all people, just cause I like strawberries more than, like, watermelon! They talked about that watermelon boy, and that other guy that got, like, totally stabbed, though I wonder what happened to, like, y’know, the dude who got, like, knocked out by a watermelon boy? Y’know, the, like, girl who was invited by you to our, like, super aesthetic and preppy table? Wonder how she’s doing?”
“Oh, she’s, uh, probably doing fine.”
“What do you, like, mean, by, like, ‘probably?’ It must, like, be a, like, definite answer, or else, I don’t, like, trust it, especially, like, from a rando, like you.” So much for being ‘besties’.
“Oh, um, yeah, also, I was wondering about your friends? Who are they?”
“Oh, well, like, y’know, I am, like, super cool and stuff, so like, I’ve got plenty of friends, want all of their names?”
“Sure, but can the names be people who are in this room, at this moment?”
“Ugh, like, fine. You already, like, know Giulia. She’s, like, a total bookworm. Then, like, we have Kennedy, who’s like sitting two seats away from us. You, like, know her, right?”
“Uh, yeah, sure, I know her.”
“Great! So, like, my other bestie is, like, not here, right now, so like, yeah, very unpreppy, but he’ll probably, be back, like, next week, cause, like, he’s still on vacay, y’know.”
“Yeah, I kinda only wanted info on people who are in this classroom, currently,” reminded Victoria, as she began to open her tabs back up, on her computer, to start on her assignment, which was the only reason she was allowed here, at this time, in the first place.
“Cool, so, like, the last friend I have, like, here, is Mia.”
“Who the heck is Mia?”
“Woah. What the, like, fart. Don’t, like, use that language here.”
“It’s a damn high school! You guys wouldn’t even be here if there wasn’t a special program for you!”
“Woah. Watch your tongue. Anyways, like, Mia, is, like, super coquette, y’know what I mean?”
“Uh, huh,” lied Victoria, again, as she simply didn’t understand what any of the slang, used by Raina, meant, perhaps due to her limited access to the internet, for despite her parents’ relaxed rules, it wasn’t always the case. Perhaps, this was when she fell behind on these odd terms.
“So, like, yeah. Oh, and she, like, gossips, a lot. Don’t say anything too secretive in front of her, or else, like, it’ll spread like a wildfire, well, at least through our cliques. Maybe, it’ll even spread to our entire grade, and the seventh graders below, too! We, don’t, like, talk to the highschoolers, though, unless, you are, like, our friends, of which you are one. So don’t worry about it spreading to your friend groups, as well,” assumed Raina, though Victoria wished what Raina was saying became true, for she had few friends in her life, before this reinvigorating experience, at this new place, though most people, even the newcomers, had found friends, like Amalya, though, she did have a few friends around and above her age, too, like Andrew, and more recently, Anterior, though they clearly had friends, too, outside of Victoria.
“Okay, got it. Can I see who Mia, is?”
“Sure!” replied Raina, before shouting Mia’s name, towards the rest of the classroom, and, soon, one person was beckoned forth by the chant of their name, of which that person was Mia.
Mia was milky white, and thin, though with not a brittle frame, and was certainly taller than Victoria, though not by much; by a few inches, at most. She had small, rounded glasses that appeared to have been glossed over, as though they were opaque, and they sat on her pointy, crooked nose, though small. Her hair was umber and lengthy, though most was tied up into a singular ponytail, that stretched from her stalk-like neck to the top of her body, where she wore a dark, oily shirt, with small accessories layered over. Her eyes were small and beady, squashed between her nose and obnoxiously large forehead, and her mouth was overtly large, as if compensating for her chin, for it was weak. With resting eyebrows sharply pointed and eyes tight and squinting, Victoria could tell Mia wasn’t in a good mood, at the moment Raina called her, anyways.
“Hey, like, bestie,” Raina addressed Mia. “How has, like, your day been, like, going? Never mind that, I got, like, another bestie!” Raina turned towards the back of Victoria’s head, and as though magic was occurring, she could feel the stare, stamping on her red scalp. Victoria, now, desired that Raina, and the new arrival, known as Mia, went away, in order to complete the schoolwork she was meant to have been finished with, already, though like a styrofoam cup covered in electric charge, they kept sticking around, too close for comfort.
“It’s been . . . fine,” responded Mia, though Victoria, despite her limited skill at deducing a person’s feelings, merely on their facial expressions and speech, could easily tell that Mia had been lying, though perhaps, it might have also been the truth, but it seemed that Raina hadn’t noticed.
“Oh my god, great! Anyways, wanna introduce yourself?” asked Raina, as she shifted her head back to Raina, as though in perpetual cycle.
“Oh, um, yes!” awkwardly answered Victoria, who was still very inept at the action of befriending another, as it was still rather foreign, due to how most of her new friendships were made through the assistance of others. “My name is, um, Victoria!” Victoria laughed loudly. “Also I have red hair!” blurted out Victoria, once more. “Isn’t it, uh, cool?”
“Sure, we’ll go with . . . ‘cool.’” replied Mia, though with little inflection on her pronunciation.
“Ok, so, like,” segued Victoria, into trying to get them to leave, in order to finish her mouse related assignment, “Um, can you guys go, for right now?”
“OMG, like, why?”
“Cause, I need to finish my assignment, y’know?”
“Okay, but just so you, like, know, from these past few, like, days, Mr. Justin isn’t even, like, around that much.”
“Why is that?”
“So, like, y’know how Mr. Acidiski left in, like, the middle of class?”
“Yeah?” replied Victoria, unsure of where Raina was leading towards.
“So, like, basically, Mr. Justin has been like, leaving class, too. Like, a lot! I don’t want to, like say it's related, but I think it kinda is, y’know?”
“Sure?” Mia tried to speak, but was quickly cut off by Raina’s far more amplified voice, opposed to her weak and whispery voice.
“Well, it doesn’t matter, either way, cause, like, all that matters is that he leaves, which he’ll, probably, like, do! But unlike whatever Mr. Acidiski is doing, he will probably come back.”
“Okay, and where are you going with this?”
“Simple! We’ll wait until Mr. Justin decides to take his ‘bathroom break’-”
“Wait a minute. You mean he said that to you, people, too?”
“Yeah? Wait, did this happen to, like, you?”
“Yeah, and then the reason I’m here right now is because Audrey decided to mess with me after he left for his long trip to the restroom!”
“That’s, like, cray-cray! Lemme see if I can, like, do anything. About the Audrey situation, I mean . . .” ominously reassured Raina, as though something would occur soon, with Audrey at the short end of the stick.
“You aren’t planning for anything bad to happen to her, are you?”
“Oh, no! I am totally planning for something bad to happen to her!” exclaimed Raina, who clearly didn’t know how to control her voice, as it attracted many heads to her, even Audrey, sitting far front. When Audrey seemed ready to get up, into a confrontation with Raina, Mr. Justin got up, and began to announce something. Something which interested Victoria, very much.
“Hey, guys! Look up here, for a second!” dictated Mr. Justin, as he waited for heads to turn, of which he got most. “Ok, so you guys know about how Advisory works already, don’t you?” He waited again, for a raise of hands and comments of agreement. “Anyways, do you guys know how Block X and Block Y work, exactly?” Again, he waited, this time, met with more shaking of heads, and the hands from before, hastily dropping, as though in a race for who could be in agreement with the freshest statement, most. “Ok, so basically every week, it flips between two classes. Right now, you guys have Advisory, but by next week, it will be something different! Now, of course, it will be different for each person here, but be warned, there will not be an Advisory next week, but rather something else. Also, be warned that the following week after next week will be back to Advisory, where we will meet again, and get to know each other better. This is just a heads-up, for now. Anyways, I need to leave now, for a break! Behave yourselves!” As soon as he exited, everyone, large and small, immediately began to stop behaving.
As though within a minute moment, the class’s atmosphere vastly changed, from a calming, quiet, and formal place, to a loud place full of havoc and mayhem. Children ran around, and began to chase each other, as though they were in a game, and gossiping and talking increased, not only in volume, but in their volume, as well. And for one, Kennedy was certainly a participant of these new times, and took the chance to begin communicating with her friends, who seemed to be ravenous for the opportunity, though she was not restricted before from such activity, given the talk between Victoria and her newfound mates. It seemed, now, though, not only did a new friend come, Kennedy, but also trouble would soon arise in Victoria's horizon. She saw Audrey getting up from her seat, and slowly crawling towards her location, as though she was missing her legs, like a creepy wraith. Audrey began to spray out mist from her dirty, yellow-toothed mouth, and finally reached her destination, and Victoria was not happy to see her face, once more. Audrey, once again, donning a sporty cap, began to vibrate her voice box in obnoxious ways, starting with:
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“Hey, guys! What are you guys doing?” interrupted Audrey, breaking the spell of calmness, of which would be shattered further, as time went on.
“Uh . . .” thought Raina, seemingly formulating a good lie to tell Audrey, to scare her off, perhaps. “We’re just chatting with each other! There’s definitely, like, no extra detail omitted!” Which was the truth, though the wording made them seem rather guilty of mendacious speech.
“Ok, I believe you,” said Audrey. “Can I join in your conversation?”
“Uh-” attempted to say Raina, but she was quickly cut off by Audrey, who said:
“Great! I will join! Anyways, wanna hear about some juicy secrets about my . . . evil plan?” As Audrey said this, Raina tried to signal her other friends in the computer room, Giulia and Kennedy, to come, though only Giulia was inquisitive enough to notice, or perhaps Kennedy’s nearness already put her nearby. As Giulia walked towards their location, with her steps thumping against the floors of the building, Audrey noticed, despite her usual ridiculous identity.
“Hey, guys. What’s up?” asked Giulia, in a small voice. Raina secretively pointed towards Audrey, followed by Victoria and Mia, too, and Giulia soon knew what was up, as well.
“Yeah, Audrey, we would, like, really appreciate it, if you, like, left,” decided Raina.
“No,” dissented Audrey.
“Yes.”
“No.” As this pointless situation was happening, Victoria tried to get Kennedy’s attention, forfeiting her assignment, even further. Unlike Raina’s attempt, however, Victoria managed to get her notice, as the situation created by Audrey continued, limited in the background of Victoria’s mind.
“What’s up?” asked Kennedy. “Hey, wait a minute . . . weren’t you that person who fought against Audrey, two days ago?”
“Uh, yeah, why do you ask?” interrogated Victoria.
“Oh, never mind. Why are you here, in our advisory?”
“To finish up an assignment that I didn’t complete in class.”
“Why didn’t you complete it? I know it was about the use of a mouse, which should be pretty simple.”
“Well, uh, there were a few distracting elements.”
“Such as?”
“Well, a major one was Audre-”
“Ugh,” sighed Kennedy, as though exasperated and exhausted from Audrey earlier. “Audrey,” Kennedy chanted, almost as though it was a spellbinding name, “I can’t stand her. All she does is cause trouble. Last year, for one, she said she beat up, uh, I think a fifth grader named Paulina Naper? I don’t know the full details, like what she did, or how she knew her full name, but I think that’s really twisted.”
“Yeah,” supported Victoria, though the cogs in her brain were turning. Didn’t Audrey introduce herself as Audrey Naper? Did she . . . beat up her younger sibling? What a sick f-. Victoria couldn’t quite finish that thought, as Kennedy soon realized the reason why Victoria had been trying to contact her. She saw Audrey, and her thick, yet long, eyebrows furrowed in the vexing aggravation that was caused from her little snippet about Audrey, though she, too, understood the consequences of attacking her, for it could result in her expulsion from the school, even if she hadn’t seen the fight from yesterday. I wonder what happened to Lucas and Ariannah . . .
Kennedy got up, and moved one seat towards Victoria, closer to Raina and Audrey, who were still in a loop of saying yes and no, in an infinitude, if not for Kennedy’s appearance. As Kennedy got into Audrey’s view, she quickly changed her tune, and began to agree with Raina, to not join the conversation, and an awkward silence soon followed, with them staring at each other intently. With this, gave Victoria the break to complete her mouse assignment, which was labeling what each part did; and a little quiz at the end of the section. There was a little memory section, where Victoria matched the terms and definitions, and she began to think about why this was required to have been taught. Hmm. Maybe I can use some of these techniques when making art, using a mouse. Ugh, when will I ever do that . . . my laptop is already touch-screen, and it already has a touchpad. Whatever. Let’s just complete this. Lost in the mesmerizing task and her own thoughts, the others started to go into a trance, too, except for Audrey, who was just staring directly at Kennedy, as though waiting to pounce, once she left, and soon, she would, with an announcement that disrupted the flow that Victoria had gotten into.
“Guys, I am really constipated right now, so, please don’t start any trouble, or else I might have to enact some toughness on all of y’all. Peace.” Despite Kennedy’s warning, however, because, once she got up, and left the room for the four of them, the peaceful, respectful atmosphere of the setting rapidly dissipated, replaced with a dour mood, due to Raina’s loquacious and truthful nature. She began to tell a number of facts about her little sister.
“Oh, yeah, like, Audrey. You know, about, like, my little sis? Yeah, she’s, like, a total, like, pain, to deal with, like, all the time! I swear to god, like, she can’t stop bothering me with, like, the most trivial tasks, like ever! She also has, like, a pretty, like, dumb name. ‘Suhana’. Like, who, like, names their kid that?” rhetorically questioned Raina, who clearly was dumbfounded by the idea of such a name, though hers was equally as odd, and perhaps, a bit dumber. “Anyways, like, the reason I was, like, telling you this, was because, like, you act like her.”
“I do not act like a toddler, for what toddler can come up with such an ingenious evil plan?” replied Audrey, seemingly blinded from her own hubris and comical insouciance.
“Yes, you do!”
“No, I don’t, primate.”
“Erm, did you just call me a primate?”
“Yeah, and?”
“You know you are one, too, right?”
“I am not a primate! Primates are monkeys!” disputed Audrey, as though she didn’t understand the idea that humans may be primates, too. “And, anyways, how is that related to my evil plan? How dare you divert my attention to such . . . things!”
“Uh, you do know humans are actually primates, right?”
“Stop lyin-”
“We need to stop!” shouted Giulia, which surprised many people, even her friends, due to her usual passive and peaceful style of living. “Guys, we should present our present present to each other; for I have a presentiment, due to my present omnipresent present, about the pre-sent present present that has presented itself to us, in a presentation of present. This sent present, presently present, has co-presented itself with an unpresentable present, for it, as the unpresentable presenter, presents and represents a future present where our presents will be most unpresentable, and this present situation represents our presentence! Pre-send our new present, now,” wisely stated Giulia, though it seemed as though most didn’t comprehend her statement, not even Victoria, who not only enjoyed the visual arts, but the literature arts, as well.
“Uh, like, what did you, just, like, say, bestie?” asked Raina, though her attention couldn’t be divided further, from between her clash with newly formed foes, and her attentiveness towards a now blithesome and carefree Mia, it seemed as though she was quickly unfocusing from the situations, though one would eventually stand out, above the rest, as he arrived to collect what he had forgotten. Victoria heard the door of the room creak, for it was soon the entrance for James, who was likely here to reacquire his device, once more, and as Victoria stood up to attempt to peek above the monitors, that sat on the blended tables, she got a better look at him, than ever before, and he was considerably different, than when compared to his past self. The past self who had done something to Fabian.
James had dark, sleek hair, at least in the past, of which was still true in the current times, though his hair, at the thin tips, slowly changed from his natural hair color, to a bright, striking blonde, which was likely achieved through the use of dyes and other hair products. His eyes, as though an oxymoron, were narrow and large at the same time, though the colors of his pinprick pupils were the same; inky dark. He was of a decent height; around the same, or maybe a bit taller, than Victoria, though certainly thinner, given bony arms, and his overcompensating clothing, which was baggy, and much larger than he was, with an image of an orange, snake-like mascot, plastered over, though all his efforts were in vain, for he only appeared to be even more thin, with such fashion choices. His skin was milky, and speckled with freckles, and other unwanted nubs, and hung tightly around his neck, which had an appearance of fragility, connected to his small head.
Victoria growled at James, like a feral dog, though with much less slobber, and visibly, what he said earlier stung her, deeply, though she couldn’t do anything about it, if she didn’t want to anger Raina for disgracing one of her ‘besties’. James appeared to be unfazed by such a gesture of hostility, though he certainly did appear to be aware of its occurrence, though the others surrounding Victoria seemed less keen-eyed to such passive displays of aggressiveness. Victoria, now in near possession of his phone, also knew exactly why he had appeared, once more, and he, too, knew that Victoria knew, too.
“Um, oh my, like, goodness! Hey, bestie!” encouragingly greeted Raina, though Victoria couldn’t quite understand how she could handle such a person, though she knew that Raina had no ideas of the skeletons within his closet.
“Hey,” replied James, “uh, bestie.” Ugh, he can’t even keep up his disguise. Not even for his apparent ‘friend’! How can’t Raina see this! Whatever . . .
“Hey, uh, James,” hesitantly welcomed Victoria, attempting to get the favor of Raina, though the reason was seemingly undefined. “Why are you . . . here?”
“Oh, uh, hey, Victoria. I am here to get my phone,” said he, as Victoria quickly grasped the phone, before granting it into his hand, rather forcefully, in order to make him leave as fast as possible, though this goal’s cause was being toppled by James’s own interests. “Why did you hand it to me, so hard?”
“Cause,” replied Victoria, “I can do whatever I want. And, plus, we both know why,” as she grimaced; her face distorted into a deep frown, and eyebrows pointed.
“Oh, are you still angry about . . . that?” said James, attempting to sound monotone, though undertones of laughter still came out, as though giddy of what he had done that Victoria could not remember.
“You dare laugh?” With that, James burst into laughter, as though like a depraved murderer, which was rather apt, for the situation.
“Erm,” whispered Raina, though she talked at the exact moment when the room suddenly became silent, “what did you do, James?”
“Oh, it's just that Victoria can’t take it, when something bad happens to her, when she does something bad!” misconstrued James, in order to make himself appear favorable to Raina.
“Spill. The. Tea,” demanded Raina.
“Ok, fine,” conceded James, though how reluctant he was, Victoria wasn’t quite sure. “So, uh, did you know: Victoria used to bully me,” which sent shockwaves through Raina’s mind, though Victoria wasn’t as amused; though true, it wasn’t the full story.
“Um, Victoria,” pointed Raina, “you need to, like, apologize, right now.” Does she even know what happened to me . . .
“Ugh, fine . . . I, Victoria, hereby, sincerely apologize, to you, James,” apologized Victoria, though it was more transactional than sincere. “Now, you apologize to me, and I won’t have to spill the beans on you, James.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, you know exactly what I mean.”
“Which is?”
“Stop playing dumb. This is serious.”
“I literally don’t know what you are talking about,” James seemingly lied, though Victoria was still unsure about the validity, but regardless, she would soon give a short hint to guide him towards owning up to his mistakes. Or at least, Victoria hoped for, anyway.
“Come on, just, like, do it! You can do it, over, like, phone, or whatever. You do, like, have your phone with you, now, right?” asked Raina, even if she already knew it was true.
“Yeah, but, uh, it ran out of batteries,” which Victoria knew was a lie, but she didn’t want to provoke him, especially when he was only here for his phone, even if she really wanted to hear him utter the words that Audrey couldn’t muster.
“Oh, okay, then. You can go charge it at home, and then message me, bestie!”
With a pause, Victoria said, “if you don’t have your phone fully charged, then what are you even doing in ‘Computer Science’? It’s literally called that because it’s the science of computers! We are in a room with computers.”
“Yeah, James,” unnecessarily added Raina, almost as though she was trying to provoke a reaction from James’s mouth. “This is, like, unacceptable. We are in an age of computers. We are in a computer classroom; full of, like, shiny computers. You could even call it . . . an online sea!” exclaimed Raina, though James likely didn’t enjoy how his friend sided with the enemy, as well as the oxymoron caused by computers near aqueous bodies.
“Okay, who asked, slow loris?” peevishly responded James, directed towards Raina.
“You, like, wanna, like, fight, huh? Cause I, like, hold, like, the knuckles of, like, fury, and, like, be scared! You may be my, like, friend, but this is going to toughen you, like, super up. Might, like, also roll out some inadequate behavior coming from, like, you. For I may be wonderfully coquette, but I get wonderfully crotchety, too! Fear, like, me!” intimidatingly announced Raina, though whether she could back this up, Victoria didn’t know.
“Well, Raina, I don’t know if you can see, or not, but you are kind of in a two versus one match, you understand?” connived Audrey, silently joining James and cooperating with him to possibly bring down Raina, though that was hard to imagine, considering the circumstances; the chance that two fights happening, two days consecutively, and Victoria having been a witness to them, was also a fact that was hard to ignore.
“You know, like, what? Maybe, I, like, will! You ain’t got, like, no muscles, or, like, much fat, either, twiggy, flairless, girl,” said Raina confidently, though Victoria personally prayed for this conflict to simmer down, to, perhaps, a shouting match, rather than it getting physical; she was already a bit sick of the sanguine mess left in Art Class, from yesterday, and still wasn’t completely sure on the status of Lucas or Ariannah, considering real weapons were deployed. She was fairly sure, however, that neither Audrey or James carried any weapons, but their bodies were more than enough for Raina to take, for they were both of higher stature than her. Considering Raina’s physique and posture, though, made it seem like she was more disciplined, in the art of fighting.
“What about me, bestie?” jabbed James, poking Raina’s cheek, which likely only further provoked her, though, due to their friendship, she was likely more able to keep her emotions in control, for now, at the very least, though the strain made by Audrey was rapidly tearing them apart, with James joining Audrey’s side, and Raina joining Victoria’s. Victoria, however, personally sided with Audrey on one, singular goal. To get Raina, away from James, or the other way around. Either way, it seemed that this plan coordinated by both, though neither participated explicitly, would be foiled by an ignorant Mia. Mia tried to step in, between Raina and James, but was quickly pushed out of the way, by Audrey, despite the fact that she was the tallest person who was engaging in such a conversation.
“Like, bro, stay out of this. Anyways, Audrey, your attire is, like, so drab and flat, to be honest, like, how can you even manage such a, like, unaesthetic look?” rhetorically asked Raina, once more, though Audrey didn’t seem to get the message, for she tried to speak, but was quickly stopped with a well-placed finger in front of her mouth; Audrey got a bit antsy, as though she appreciated her personal space, though with her previous actions, it was clear she didn’t respect other’s space. “Anyways, what I, like, want to say, is, like, back off, cause, like, you can’t handle my heat.”
“Can you show me an example?” rhetorically asked Audrey, with a smug expression, though Raina didn’t seem to understand, or either, more likely, she pretended to not understand the meaning, for Raina quickly slapped Audrey, with a quick snap, who’s face dropped quickly, afterwards, as well as James backing slightly away from Raina’s vicinity. When Victoria looked at Audrey, again, her face was of one of begrudging happiness, grinning widely, as though she was trying to mask her true feelings at the time, which to most, was not a secret.
“Well, well, well. It seems like this aye aye and her ‘friends’ are more than just empty, threatening words. Well, if you want to fight like that, be prepared, for my evil pl-” Audrey’s grand and beautiful speech was violently interrupted by a quick punch to the face, from Raina’s hands. Audrey’s nose began to excrete red droplets.
“I guess if my diplomatic part of my evil plan has failed, I shall activate the deadly part of it! You will regret this, Raina! Mwahahaha!” amusingly stated Audrey, quickly devolving the situation, further, into a fight of spite, though it wasn’t quite physical, at this time frame. Not yet, at the very least.
“You, know, like, maybe the ‘evil plan’ that you’ve cooked up in that overcooked brain of yours could be, like, super deadly, and whatever. For you, I believe!” boasted Raina, as she got in a defensive stance, waiting for the beginning attack. And it came, and came fast, and rapidly, as Audrey attacked, with intense heat, though her department in precision was certainly lacking. Raina masterfully dodged the mindless punches originating from Audrey, as though, with one punch, her body would become as soft as a potto, though, it seemed, that while she was great at avoiding the pitiful attacks from Audrey, her counterpart wasn’t so battle ready. Audrey’s face was scrunched up in pain, as gums and nostrils bled, and her ‘immaculate’ skin was bruised and purple, like a squashed, rotting grape. Raina, however, couldn’t perfectly evade, forever, as the merciless punts from Audrey, though weak, but in mass, brutally challenging to upkeep a defense against, especially with no equipment on hand, other than her clothing.
“Hey, like,” huffed Raina, as she was attempting to take a breather, “Audrey. If you, like, want to stop, that would be, like, super, like, preppy!”
“I don’t want to stop! You attacked first! Your reckless behavior has led to this very moment!” screeched Audrey, though no one else seemed to notice, aside from Giulia and Victoria, who were seemingly hypnotized by another fight occurring, not even a day after the last, and the latter even seemed to have forgotten her main task, at hand, in the classroom covered in cables and wires.
“I mean, Audrey, if you didn’t want to see, like, rings, around, your, like, eyes, then maybe you should’ve, like, not messed with this ring-tailed lemur.”
“Mia! Help me! Raina’s beating me up!”
“Ok,” simply said Mia, as though she was waiting for a chance to start fighting, though it wasn’t an impossibility.
“If you get any closer, Mia, I think, like, I will have to declare that our friendship is, like, a total, like, farce! So, like, back off, girly, cause, like, you’re already in hot wate-'' Which, as though as payback for what she had done to Audrey earlier, Mia slapped Raina on the face, with a loud, clearing snap, that began when her hands made contact with her petite face. The other reason, seemingly plausible, though Raina didn’t know, due to a lack of context. For the truth that Mia had been holding inside her the entire time, was beginning to unravel before her eyes, but by her hands, as she was stepping in to protect her . .
“You know why I am doing this? It’s because, number one, we aren’t besties, anymore, and number two, I want you, to. Get. Away. From my family!” shouted Mia, making many students in the room turn toward the voice that pounded on their eardrums.
“Um, like, what? You and Audrey are related?” suddenly spoke Raina, as she opened her mouth, paralyzed by such a major revelation that seemed too beyond the bounds of reality to be true.
“Well, guess what?” snorted Audrey, as though the bottom half of her face wasn’t covered in her own, raw fluids. “We are also related to your bestie, also known as . . . James!” which, after finishing, made Raina’s mouth open a tiny bit wider than before.
“Uh, okay. Be so, like, for real! Is this real?” asked Raina openly, to which no one responded, for not only did they know, they also understood that Raina had fully processed this, too. Giulia tried to interject, though was quickly silenced by the force of the others who surrounded her, but it seemed that Victoria had a bit more energy and power to back herself up, for she soon came into the dangerous fray.
“Um,” prodded Victoria, trying to worm her way into the feckless, foolish scene, “may I just say, that, uh, regardless of what your affiliations with each other are, you should, like, maybe, stop this nonsense?” pleaded Victoria, as though her original mindset of completing the assignment was resurfacing, however unconscious it may have been.
“Well, it seems, like, I have friends, now, like, too! Now, scram!” bluffed Raina, which made Giulia frown, as though she wasn’t trying to deactivate the malignant situation at hand, too. Despite the seeming emptiness of such a threat, James quickly fled, considering how he was likely only supposed to be there for a short duration, and the fact that everyone, there, was a grade level or more above him, giving the air of superiority and authority, to Raina’s hand, as well as the benefit that James was also Raina’s friend, as much as Victoria hated it. With the dispersal of James, Mia, who seemed to appreciate her already jeopardized friendship over continued drama, left next, leaving Audrey, there, alone, though it seemed she was rather confident, still, despite the loss of her lackeys, though she did try to motivate them to reappear back on to the region, though they left, faster yet, despite their apparent familial ties.
“Audrey,” voiced Giulia, “if you could explain to me, how are you, and James, as well as Mia, related, if you all have different last names? Were you, perhaps, being untruthful about your relationship with them?”
“No, you fool! It’s clearly due to the fact that I, Audrey, am an orphan, and so are they!” revealed Audrey, which quickly took the current happenings in a depressing turn. “We all live at the same orphanage, and naturally, due to our tendencies, we bonded! Over our shared, and pure, malevolence! Mwahahaha!” Victoria could vaguely hear, from a distance, Mia shouting ‘no’, though it was deeply unclear whether she heard correctly, or not, for she had now become focused on her recent, or old, assignment, realizing that there were only five minutes left on the clock. But with that realization, soon came another; Kennedy must be returning soon, hopefully to deal with Audrey, once more. And as though on cue, Kennedy bounded back through the door frame, to meet them once more, with her expression souring as soon as she laid her poignant eyes on Audrey's powdered face, with her mouth acting in accordance. With this advent, Audrey quickly shrank, and slinked back to where she came from, as though a worm, and silence quickly followed, with everyone looking at each other. Everyone sat in peace, as Giulia got up, to pack away her things, and Kennedy returned to her spot, though it was still within earshot. The assignment was almost complete. Everything was so quiet, even with the talking in the background. Raina would break the silence.
“Well, it feels like we just waded through, like, a sea, y’know?” Kennedy, who remained near, turned her head to her, as well as Victoria, who was near complete with her assignment. “But, like an online one, y’know? Not like the one I was talking about before. But this one,” Raina spoke, with a minor pause in between. “That type of stuff . . . it’s, like, it almost always only happens in, like, the internet. Where people hide. But it seems like we were just in an ‘online sea’ before you came, Kennedy,” Raina said, with a nod from Kennedy, showing her approval. “It just seems, like, . . . these people would be the ones to mask their utter . . . weirdness.”
“But, Raina,” said Victoria. “They did hide. Mia hid as a close friend. James hid as an innocent. Audrey hid behind her seemingly friendly demeanor.”
“But . . . they all revealed it, didn’t they? Do they have anything else to hide?”
“Maybe, but I don’t know the psyche behind people like them.”
“You know, like, they are still in this room. It’s weird. We’re all people, and none of us are no less ‘people’ by being rude or obnoxious, but, maybe the fact that these people . . .”
“I get what you mean, Raina.”
“Yeah. Maybe there’s been an online sea, here. The entire time.”
“Sure, Raina.”
“Also, I was wondering something. Can I ask?”
“You may.”
“What happened between you and James?”
. . .
Mr. Justin came back into the room. The bell rang, afterwards.