by MB Mulhall
“For me?” Darcy rolled her eyes.
“Riiiight.” Jazz grinned and shrugged her shoulders.
“You can’t blame a girl for trying, can ya?” Darcy shook her head again.
“While this conversation has been interesting and informative, you ladies ought to get to class,” Chaz interrupted.
“Oooh Charles dear, I didn’t mean to neglect you.” Jazz released Darcy and did a little hop to throw her arms around Chaz’s neck and gave him a loud wet smooch on the cheek. He grinned and wiped the slobber off his cheek after she released him.
“I would have molested you too, but let’s face it, Darcy has a much nicer rack than you do.” Darcy saw Chaz’s gaze roam to her chest. Self-conscious, she quickly crossed her arms. Jazz laughed at her actions and Chaz blushed.
“Oh honey, that is only making us want to look more. Mmmm I could motorboat those all day.” Jazz leaned in, but Chaz grabbed her arms and hauled her back.
“Class. Get a move on,” he said, propelling her away from Darcy.
“But Chazzzzzzy my class is over there,” Jazz whined cocking her head in Darcy’s direction. He sighed and let her go. She skipped over and linked arms with Darcy.
“History right?” Darcy nodded. “Goody! We share a class. Let’s go. Toodles Chazzy baby.” The small girl dragged Darcy away.
“Darcy!” Chaz called. She looked over her shoulder. “Should I come meet you after class?” She was touched by his concern, but embarrassed by the attention.
“Uh… if you want.”
“I do,” he said nodding his head. She gave him a small smile.
“All right. See you later then.” She waved over her shoulder as Jazz grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door.
True to his word, Chaz met her at the end of every class and walked her to the next one, using the time to ask how things were going, was she making friends and was anyone being mean to her. She filled him in and was happy to say that while she wasn’t being called on much or having discussions with her fellow classmates, at least they were leaving her alone and the name calling had died down.
When he came to escort her to lunch, she had to tell him nature was calling and she’d meet him there. Not really a topic one wanted to discuss with a hot guy. He offered to wait outside the door for her, but she wasn’t having it. Darcy all but pushed him to the cafeteria, promising she’d be fine for the short time span. Chaz was reluctant but headed off. Sighing, Darcy slipped into the Ladies to take care of business.
After washing her hands, she opened her bag to do a quick touch up. Thankfully, her face hadn’t been involved in any full contact pranks that day, so she just fixed some bleeding lines with her eyeliner pencil. Turning her head side to side, she decided she was satisfied and ready to head out to lunch.
As she was zipping up her bag, the door to the bathroom opened. Entering like a pack of laughing hyenas, half the cheersquad filled the small room with their perky ponytails and padded pushup bras.
Darcy grabbed her stuff and dropped her head, hoping to get out without them noticing. No such luck.
“OOoh look who it is ladies, our resident clown freak. Are you going to entertain us? Maybe you can juggle some tampons.” Darcy rolled her eyes as Liberty flicked her long ponytail over her shoulder. She tried to push through the crowd of vapid rah-rahs, but they got into formation and blocked her exit.
“Where do you think you’re running off to? It’s not like you’ve got anyone waiting for you. Stay and play with us a bit.”
“No thanks,” Darcy said, trying to push through again. She came face to face with her step-sister. “Really, Mandy? Is this necessary?” Mandy kept her mouth shut, but didn’t budge. Darcy sighed.
“Obviously you didn’t learn your lesson Saturday night,” Libby said, leaning against the stalls. “You came strolling into school this morning with the captain of the track team, homecoming king two years running, one of the hottest guys in this school, like you belonged by his side. Sorry to inform you, but you’re not even worthy to stand in his shadow to get relief from the summer sun. You are worthless, an abomination that shouldn’t even be allowed to look at, much less walk next to, the good looking guys at this school. I think you need a lesson in humility. What do you girls think?”
A chorus of yeahs resounded as they closed in around Darcy. She backed up, trying to escape their talon tipped fingers, but it was no use. Several hands clamped down on her arms and dragged her to one of the stalls.
Libby had moved inside and was holding the door open. The girl stood there; eyes narrow with lips turned up in a sadistic grin. Darcy could imagine the evil aura rolling off the plastic doll look-alike. Libby crouched down so she could look Darcy in the eye.
“I hope that clown shit on your face is waterproof,” she said with a laugh before putting her hand on Darcy’s damp with sweat curls. “I hope you can breathe underwater too.” With that she shoved the back of Darcy’s head violently into the porcelain throne.
Tepid water invaded Darcy’s nose and mouth. In her panic and struggle to break free, she inhaled and immediately started choking. Limbs flailing, she found herself in dire need of air. Was Libby ever going to let her up? Spots began a seductive dance in front of her eyes and her thrashing became more like a halfhearted struggle.
Mandy, who had been standing in the back, not really interested in being a part of it all, noticed her step-sister’s sluggish movements.
“Libby! Let her up before you kill her!” The other blonde gave Mandy a disdainful look, but grabbed a clump of Darcy’s hair and yanked her head out of the water.
Darcy coughed like an Emphysema patient before she could take in fresh air. The spots were still hanging around in front of her eyes along with the long wet curls of her hair. Libby jerked Darcy’s head back so she could look her in the face.
“Hmm, the makeup is pretty much waterproof, huh? Shame…Have you learned your lesson yet?”
“I’ll learn my lesson when you learn to count to ten without using fingers or toes, you insipid twa-” Rage flashed on Libby’s face as she shove Darcy’s head back into the water.
Expecting the insult to have such a result, Darcy was able to fill her lungs with air before her face met the water. She tried to keep herself calm and concentrate on holding her breath, but she had no idea how long she would be able to make it. Her lungs started to burn and she slowly pushed air out of her nose, making bubbles into the water. The pesky spots were coming back and they brought friends and family members with them. Her arms started to go limp as all the energy drained out of her. She hysterically hoped they’d write her a good eulogy that didn’t include the words toilet or swirly, or Devil worshipper for that matter.
With her ears above toilet water level, she could hear some kind of commotion going on, but couldn’t quite make out what it was. Mandy was panicked. She yelled for Libby to stop and tried to push past the remaining girls so she could grab Darcy and pull her out herself. Tears were running down her cheeks, smearing her makeup and making her look very Darcy-like.
“Come on Libby. It’s enough. Let her go!”
“Oh please Amanda, like you wouldn’t be happy if she was out of your life forever? All you’ve done is complain about her since she moved in. I’m doing you a favor.” Distraught by Libby’s comments and actions, Mandy struggled to figure out what she could say to get through to the other girl to make her stop.
“You know Libs, they’re not going to let you out of jail to be homecoming queen or to cheer at the game.” Libby’s lip curled into a sneer.
Suddenly the door to the bathroom swung open and Jazz strutted in. She stopped short when she saw the rah-rahs gathered around a stall and a pair of Converse covered feet sticking out, soles up.
“What the hell is going on here?” Six ponytailed heads swung to stare at her. Libby pulled Darcy’s head out of the toilet so she could lean out the door.
“Get out of here you dumb dyke. This doesn’t concern you.” Jazz looke
d at Mandy who lifted her chin slightly toward the door. The dark haired girl got the message and dashed out of the bathroom.
Momentarily forgotten, Darcy slumped over, her chin on the edge of the bowl. Her hands and fingers had tingly pins and needles sensation from being suspended above her. Blood pumped out a sharp staccato beat in her temple. Her breathing was quick and shallow, which was making her even dizzier.
Libby grabbed a hold of Darcy’s hair again.
“One more time for good measure?” Darcy spit in Libby’s direction. The girl sighed dramatically. “You just don’t learn, do you? Well, I hope you understand you brought this on yourself.”
As Darcy’s head made a final descent, she gathered all the strength she had left and tried to fight them off. It was no use. The cheerleaders were freakishly strong. As her nose touched the rippled surface, the door to the Ladies flew open again, smashing loudly against the concrete wall.
“What the fuck are you guys doing?!”
Darcy’s hazy head registered that it was a voice she knew, but nothing more. Grips were released and out the corner of her eye Darcy saw Libby being forcefully removed.
With no one left holding her, Darcy’s body slid to the floor. Moments later, she felt herself being picked up and cradled. She wanted to open her eyes and see who her savior was, but her eyelids seemed to weigh a thousand pounds each. She felt herself sinking down again. Whoever had her, had sat down, holding her close. They stroked her wet hair and whispered soothing words in her ear. She took a deep shuttering breath before allowing herself to drift into an exhausted sleep.
“Is she all right?” Jazz asked, kneeling next to them so she could brush the wet hair off Darcy’s face.
“She will be. I bet she fought them like an alley cat. She just needs to rest.” Jazz nodded in agreement.
“Was Liberty really trying to kill her?” Jazz asked.
“I don’t know, but it seems much more than a stupid prank. This was some serious shit. Was Mandy really a part of it all?” Jazz shrugged her slim shoulders.
“She was in here letting it happen. Maybe it went further than she thought, but you’d think she would at least try to help her sister.”
“Girl is dumber than a box of rocks.”
“Oh stop, you know she’s not,” Jazz said, crawling over to the wall so she could lean against it.
The door cracked open and a head popped in. Eyes widened when they spotted Darcy’s position and predicament.
“What happened in here?” Jazz swiftly stood and crossed the floor, pulling the new comer into the bathroom before locking the door.
“If you stand out there with your head sticking in, someone’s going to tell a teacher you’re a peeping Tom or peeping Chaz, as the case may be.” Chaz frowned at her before turning his attention to Judd.
“What the hell did you do to her?”
Judd blinked a couple times, unable to believe his ears. His anger came swiftly.
“Me? What makes you think it was me? This was done by your heinous ex-girlfriends. Step off man, before I kick your ass. I would never lay a hand on a woman.” Jazz gave her brother an incredulous look. He growled at her.
“Dammit Jazz, you know what I mean. I would never physically harm a woman.” She patted his knee.
“I know you wouldn’t. Chaz knows you wouldn’t either. I think he’s just upset. Isn’t that right Chaz?” She looked up and was surprised to see anger all over her friend’s face.
“No Jazz, I don’t know. I didn’t think he was the type to sleep with his best friend’s girlfriend, but we were obviously wrong about that too, weren’t we?”
“Chaz you don’t know that anything ever really happened,” Jazz said. He glared at her.
“They were together. In bed. Half dressed. With a used condom on the floor. What else am I supposed to think Jazz?” She stood up and took time to brush off her bottom.
“I get that it looked bad, but I don’t know, maybe you were supposed to believe your girlfriend and your best friend when they swore up and down that nothing happened.”
Chaz opened his mouth to respond when Judd smashed a clenched fist into the grimy tile floor.
“Enough! We are not rehashing this again right now. There are more important issues to deal with.” Both Chaz and Jazz shut up and looked guilty. Judd sighed and shook out his hand. It was probably going to swell later.
“Does anyone have the combination to her locker? She’s gunna want to change into something dry and my hoodie should still be in her locker.”
“I know it,” Chaz said.
“Go grab it. When you come back, knock three times and Jazz will let you back in. Try not to let anyone see you, huh?” Chaz mumbled something unintelligible and left the room, taking the time to check that the hall was clear first.
Judd sighed again and leaned his head back against the cool wall, closing his eyes.
“Was that really necessary?” he asked his sister, not bothering to look at her.
“Sorry… It still bothers me.” He cracked one eye open and saw her looking at him with a sad expression.
“You think it doesn’t bother me? I tried to reason with him. He didn’t want to hear it. End of story. Please…just drop it.”
“Fine.”
“Thank you… Now, could you get me some paper towels? Some wet, some dry.” Jazz scratched her head.
“For what?” Judd opened both eyes and leaned forward, placing his chin gently on top of Darcy’s head.
“To clean the makeup off. I think if your head had just spent time in toilet, you’d want to clean up too.” Jazz’s nodded in agreement before she started turning the crank to dispense the rough recycled brown paper towels.
“I can do it myself,” Darcy said, opening her eyes. Jazz stopped cranking and Judd lifted his head.
“How long have you been awake?” he asked, his voice quite quiet. She looked up at him.
“Long enough.” He sighed again and looked away, releasing his grip so she could stand up.
Darcy stood like a colt on new legs. Jazz hurried over and put an arm around her waist, leading her to the sink. Throwing on the taps, Darcy leaned over the sink to splash water on her face. She unconsciously recoiled when the cold water hit her skin. Judd was immediately at her back, moving her away from the sink.
“I think it will be less…traumatic my way,” he said tearing off the paper towel his sister had turned out and ran it under the warm tap. The rough texture of the paper was more welcome than the cold water. Darcy stood still and allowed Judd to clean her face. She was surprised by his gentle nature.
A sharp triplet of knocks sounded at the door. Darcy automatically turned towards the sound and Judd’s finger went directly into her eye.
“OW!”
“Well shit. Sorry. You shouldn’t have turned!” Darcy smacked his rock hard bicep.
“It was instinctual!” Judd put on an evil grin.
“At least it was my finger and not my…sword?” Darcy’s head snapped to look at Jazz, who had the decency to blush.
“You. Did. Not. Tell. Him. About. That!”
“I…well…he’s my twin! We talk about, well, everything,” Jazz stammered along and Darcy face-palmed herself.
“I have to say, I prefer to think of it as a fiery sword than a python. Snake names for one’s junk are sooooo cliché.”
“Oh. My. God. Shut up already!” Judd laughed at Darcy’s embarrassment. He leaned in close.
“As one of my fellow riders, you’re welcome to gaze upon its fiery glory whenever you’d like.” Darcy’s eyes went wide and she shoved him away with both hands.
“You are a dirty, dirty boy!” He laughed loudly and gave her a smarmy wink.
“You like it.”
Darcy rolled her eyes and their witty banter was disrupted when three rapid fire knocks came at the door again.
“Oh shit. Forgot about him,” Jazz said, hurrying to open the door.
Chaz entered, stormy face and all. When
he saw Judd leaning close to Darcy he tossed the shirt he had retrieved at his ex-friend’s head. Judd caught it single handedly.
“Thanks for leaving me out there.”
“Sorry. Minor crisis. Darcy got poked in the eye,Jazz said before starting to giggle uncontrollably.
“A finger! Jesus Jazz, it was a finger!” Darcy exclaimed, blushing furiously. She grabbed the paper towel out of Judd’s hand and turned her back on everyone to work on removing the rest of her makeup. She’d have to go the remainder of the day without it since she didn’t bring her white cake stuff with her. Sighing, Darcy wondered if she was ever going to have an event free day at her new school. It certainly wasn’t looking like it.
“So…I guess I’m no longer needed here, huh?” Chaz caught Darcy’s eye in the mirror. She turned slowly.
“Thanks guys, for everything… but ya’ll should probably go before someone busts in needing to pee and freaks about you being in here.”
“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to leave you alone in here again. Those damn chicks tried to freakin’ drown you.” Judd crossed his arms over his broad chest. Jazz took her brother by the hand.
“She’s right Judd. If someone catches you, either of you,” she said turning to look at Chaz, “you’re going to be in deep shit. I’ll stay in here with her and you guys can watch outside to make sure no one comes in.”
Both boys grumbled, but couldn’t fight with the logic. Judd leaned forward and gave Darcy a kiss on the top of her head, ignoring the daggers Chaz was shooting him.
“We’ll be right outside.” She nodded her head and resumed taking off her makeup. Jazz leaned against the wall in between two sinks, one foot propped up behind her.
When the makeup was gone, Darcy turned and shucked off her wet t-shirt. She glanced over her shoulder and tossed the shirt over her head, directly at an unaware Jazz. With a wet splat sound, it landed on Jazz’s head, crushing her expertly messy hair style. The pixie-like girl squealed like a pig, flailing to get it off. Darcy doubled over with laughter.
