Chapter Text
“Okay, here’s the plan.”
If those two nerds think that I’ll let them meet Aubrey, they had another thing coming. The playground was full of club members either running or hitting a ball for who knows what sport they’re training for. Thankfully, there was a place that no one would bother to look.
I gathered everyone in my crew by the back of the school.
Not my first choice of meet-up spots, but there was no time to waste.
School just let out, and I didn’t want Aubrey to overhear about what I was going to do. First, I had to get everyone else on-board.
I needed their help, and they gathered without hesitation when I said it was for Aubrey. They didn’t even hesitate or stall, it was an awesome feeling.
“Today, two jerkwads are going to the park to try and meet Aubrey. We’re not going to let them.” I pointed to the members who will begin the first phase of the plan. “I need Charlene and Angel to stand outside the park and watch for anyone trying to get in. Just shoo them away with whatever excuse you can come up with.”
“Yeah, a mission!” cried Angel.
Charlene tilted her head.
The two were both peas in a pod in the sense that they should never get involved in anything violent.
Charlene was too sweet. She didn’t speak much and always shied away from violence. I’d be more worried for her if she didn’t tower over everyone by at least two feet. She’s always too worried about hurting other people, which I didn’t really get, but I can respect it. She won’t fight unless forced to.
Angel was the complete opposite. He kept looking for fights and well, he can’t fight. Like, at all. It’s more likely he’ll break his fist by punching a tree or something. But I have to keep him close to the action or else he’s just going to complain and do something stupid and get himself hurt.
“And Maverick, I need you to distract Aubrey for a while. Just ask her to help you get some hair gel or something.”
“Let THE MAVERICK show off his charm? No sweat!”
Right, I need to put him in his place first.
“Mikhael, look at me,” His smile twitched, “I swear to god, if you touch Aubrey with even a single finger...” I stared him dead in the eyes. He knew the consequences if he dared. His nervous laughter was the okay I wanted to hear.
Mikheal was… doing something. The new look on him had us all bugged out, but he was so proud of it that it started to loop around to being okay. Well, except for Angel who thought it was the coolest thing. From what Mikhael said about why he’s did all that, well, his parents are almost as bad as mine, and he’s doing the whole look to spite his older brother and sister.
Fighting against your family will always toughen you up,
They don’t take him seriously, so he’s just going to do whatever the heck he wants. I think what he chose to do is dumb, but if he’s fighting back against his parents, I’m going to help him through every step. Within boundaries though…
“I’m going to deal the two nerds directly, while Vance guards my back. They’re wimpy enough that we’ll probably get in and out in like 15 minutes, tops. Any questions?”
Mikhael raised her hand.
“Um, kind of a bad time to ask, but who exactly are these two ‘nerds’ exactly? It sounds like they know Aubrey.” Mikhael asked as he scratched his head.
“Okay,” I took a deep breath. I really didn’t expect that I would have to explain myself so much. “You know those two guys Aubrey used to hang out with? The ones in our grade? The tall brown-haired one, and the short black-haired one?” Everyone nodded, “Well, they’re trying to meet up with her.”
“After that big fight?” asked Charlene.
“Yeah, they’re jerks! These two butt-wipes have no idea what the hell they’re doing." They didn’t understand the what they did wrong at all. “So I need to beat some sense into them.” Some people needed to be scared and threatened before they actually understood what was going on. “Don’t worry, they can’t take me, even if they did, Vance will even the odds.”
I looked back to Vance and he gave me a hearty nod. Could always count on Vance.
“Okay, but why are we beating them up?” Asked Mikhael.
Was he still confused? What else did I need to tell him? Did he forget that… oh wait, he doesn’t know.
“Oh right, I haven’t told you yet.” I looked around to check for any nosy eavesdroppers, and the coast was clear, “Okay, let me fill you in first.”
I told them about the incident with Aubrey the principal a few weeks ago, and it got the reaction I expected.
Everyone was shocked, except Charlene who just looked sad about it all.
Yup, the principal just got on everyone’s shit list.
“So we’re here to get revenge on the principal?!” shouted Angel.
“Not so loud! A teacher could see us.” hushed Vance.
“No need to worry, Master could take her on and the whole school with one hand behind his back!”
“Wait what!? I mean… haha yeah… as THE MAVERICK, I could… uh, totally, there’s no teachers around here right?” The speed at which he turned his head almost tore off his wig, thankfully no teachers were around, “That’s right, with THE MAVERICK on your side, not even a whole gang of bikers can stop me, much less a bunch of pathetic school teachers.”
“Woah, you’re so cool Master!” Angel hooted.
“Yeah I know. The MAVERICK is the ultimate warrior.” Mikhael dropped to a knee, put his hand to his chin and raised his index and thumb.
“Wait a second, Kim, if it’s the principal that did it, shouldn’t we get revenge on the principal instead?” Angel asked.
“We’ll get revenge on the principal next Halloween! Her house is going to be destroyed by toilet paper!” I was getting off topic, back to the two idiots, “I only just found out about the two nerds yesterday, okay? They want to meet Aubrey today, so we have to deal with them today!”
Angel scratched his head, but still cheered on the plan. Mikhael followed suit. But just as I was just about to go over the finer details of the plan, someone I didn’t expect spoke up.
“I don’t think they want to hurt her.” Charlene broke the silence.
Charlene wasn’t much of a talker, but she always speaks up whenever we do anything she isn’t very comfortable with. She could be really stubborn whenever she breaks out of her shell.
I was going to explain why, but Angel interrupted.
“Oh! I know! I know! Are they working for the principal?! They’re the principals’ evil henchmen to do her dirty work!” Angel’s eyes were glittering and he was pumping his arms up and down.
“No, they aren’t working with her.” And everyone was visibly confused. I’m losing them. “The thing is, they’re trying to meet up with Aubrey again.”
“How is that a bad thing? They always looked really close.” She just wasn’t letting this go.
“Right, they used to be close,” And even if they were close, they committed the one most unforgivable cardinal sin. “We all saw that fight. They made Aubrey cry! Their relationship broke then and there!” And if there was one thing I’ve always believed in: “Friends don’t make their friends cry!”
“But maybe they want to apologize?” said Charlene.
I scoffed, and I’ve thought about it a few times, but I could already tell the people they were. They were the kind of people who lived in their own worlds who never thought they were wrong.
“No way. They want Aubrey to come crawling back to them, begging the two to take her back and to make the whole fight her fault. Even if they did apologize, Aubrey doesn’t want it.
“How do you know that?” Charlene was getting firmer with each word.
“Well, she hasn’t mentioned them to me even once, like at all! And she doesn’t need to. I’m her best friend, I should know. She’s done with those two!”
Aubrey and I understood each other. It’s a bond that wouldn’t break.
“Didn’t you only start talking to her a month ago?” Vance said as he chewed on some taffy.
“I mean, yeah, but we bonded so much over that month! There’s just a connection sometimes that happens where two people become super close, super fast!” Our friendship was unshakable! Vance was just jealous that Aubrey’s gotten so close to me. Maybe I should do something for him.
“Anyways, I know Aubrey, and I’ve seen her around those two. Every time they enter the same room as her, she just turns around and leaves immediately! Why else would she do that! She doesn’t want to talk to either of them!”
They hurt her! If they were friends, why would they ever hurt each other! They’re supposed to look out for each other!
“We should at least give them a chance to talk first...” Charlene muttered.
“The last time I let ‘people talk’, the principal ripped into her! No god damn way!” Aubrey has gotten super nervous around teachers after that.
She never said it, but Aubrey began to avoid the teachers after that. I saw her hands shake in their presence. Those moments left deep scars on her heart. And she’ll carry those for who knows how long.
“But they aren’t the principal, and I haven’t seen them do anything wrong.”
“What the hell do you mean! They’ve already done so much crap.” Was I the only one who saw the fight?! “And that’s not even the start of it! You know they came up to me yesterday and asked me to bring Aubrey to them?!”
Charlene stilled.
“They should’ve went to Aubrey instead of coming to me! Those cowards want me to pressure Aubrey to get her to listen to what they have to say! I’m not giving them the satisfaction, and I’m not going to force Aubrey to do something she doesn’t want!”
Charlene tried to say something, but no words left her. There. I finally won the argument. It felt disgusting, but I had to do this for Aubrey.
“Trust me on this, I’ve never let you down before right?”
Charlene froze, but eventually nodded. Our years together made sure she knew my word was good.
“So, are you in?”
“Fine… I’ll trust you Kim.” Charlene finally relented.
“I’m in too!” Shouted Angel.
“The MAVERICK will lend you his help.” Mikhael swished his hair.
“I gotcha.” Vance threw away the taffy wrapper he held.
“Thanks guys, I won’t screw this up. So, first things first, we can’t let Aubrey know about this.”
Aubrey shouldn’t risk a thing, and the two nerds could say something that will gnaw at her feelings. The bitch of a principal made sure that I’m never leaving Aubrey alone with people that can hurt her again.
So we ditched our last class of the day to beat the two nerds to the park. Charlene and Angel were in position by the trees. Me and Vance watched and waited for the two to show.
Minutes passed, and I saw two specks slowly creeping up from the horizon.
It should be enough time, and I could feel the tension building up inside me.
My body was already getting pumped, and they weren’t even here yet.
I wriggled my fingers as they got closer and closer. I fixed my glasses one last time and made sure I came off as tough as I could possibly be.
They finally came, with the short nerd hugging his backpack with both hands. Looked dumb as hell he did. There was seriously no saving them. Who still does that?
But now, the moment of truth is here.
Kel and Sunny walked up to us, and I could see their faces making a stupid confused expression, and then their questions forming from a mile away. So they opened their stupid mouths and asked their stupid questions, none the wiser that they aren’t going to see Aubrey today.
“Um, Kim, right? Where’s Aubrey?” said the tall idiot. Sunny just looked around like a dumb pigeon like she was magically going to appear out of thin air.
“Yeah, don’t forget that name punk.” They’re going to fear it as long as they live in this town after this. “You’re looking for Aubrey? Forget it. She’s not coming.”
“Um, why not? Did she say why?”
“No, ‘cause I never told her.”
“Why didn’t you tell he-”
The questions were already annoying as hell. I need to ge tthem to shut up and law down what was going to go down.
“Shut up! It doesn’t matter because you two are never going to hurt her again, you got that?!” I stepped forward and the two stepped back.
“It’s not like we’re going to do anything bad to her!” said Kel. “We just want to talk!”
“Oh so you just want to talk? About what?”
Sunny interjected, “We wanted to be friends with Aubrey again!”
“Oh, you do? Well big whoop dumbass, she doesn’t want to!”
He looked as if something died inside, but shook his head, “No way! She still cares about us in some way! She still wants to be friends! She still cares about us!”
There’s no way that’s true. He must be grasping at straws. “How the hell would you know?!”
“Because I saw her!”
“When did you even meet her!?” I shouted.
“Yesterday!” Shit, what happened yesterday?! Detention. Right, I got detention for calling the teachers dumb asses. Damn it!
“Well it doesn’t matter! You two are shit friends, maybe she only met up with you because of pity!”
“No she doesn’t! Why are you acting like she hates us!”
“Because I know how she feels! Give up!”
“We won’t give up until we meet her, face to face!”
“Oh, so what about an apology then huh? Kel!” I stuck my finger straight at Kel. “Were you going to apologize to Aubrey for that fight in the cafeteria, to say that you were in the wrong? Huh?!”
Kel’s mouth puckered shut. That was all I needed to see.
He wasn’t going to apologize.
I was right. He’s still against Aubrey!
Sooner or later, they’re going to have another fight and his dumbass will say something to Aubrey again that’ll destroy her.
I wasn’t wrong and I’ve heard enough!
I shoved Kel and he landed straight on his ass.
A light shove should get them scurrying off into the distance. Those boneless pansies.
“Ow!” Kel dusted his pant and stood back up. “What the hell!”
“Listen here, you two twerps, I’m fucking serious. Never, ever, approach Aubrey ever again. If I ever see you two go near her again, I’ll beat the shit out of you two.”
Their faces were just precious. It was like they didn’t even know what hit them.
“But we just want to talk to her, not fight you!”
Again with this shtick. God damned cowards. I knew their type. They only say pretty words and never take any action to back up their shit. Just complaints to their parents about, ‘boo-hoo the kids were mean to me today’ instead of picking up their shit and finally begin looking after themselves.
“And I said no. What the hell are you going to do about it?”
They’d go about their stupid little days, never fighting for a god damn thing and just letting whatever happen to them. When conflict comes to them, they won’t ever fight, just run away and complain how violence wasn’t the answer, and then solve nothing.
“You can’t even take care of her! You two will never be around Aubrey ever again, I’ll fucking make sure of that. You are the worst friends she could ever have!”
I went straight to Sunny’s face and let myself tower over him.
With that, I made everything clear. Those two pansies would pee their pants and run home. They both don’t have the guts to pull ever fight back.
Which is why I didn’t expect his fist to fly straight into my chin.
_
“Woah! Sunny!” Kel did a double take at Kim and I.
My heart was thumping out of my chest.
To be honest, my body moved before my brain.
Mari told me to never use violence! And I agreed!
Who knew I had it in me? I guess I’ve just never gotten that angry before.
I apologize for nothing though. Kim was completely wrong!
If Aubrey was ready to do this for me yesterday, then I got to be ready to do it too.
“She’s wrong Kel. We are Aubrey’s friends.”
“Uh…” He looked into my eyes, and then nodded, “Okay, fine, we’re doing this then.”
Kel had my back, and I couldn’t help but smirk.
But a shuffling sound made me turn around.
Ah. Dang. Maybe I should have paid more attention.
Kim sprung back up.
She started cracking her knuckles.
And her snarl scared me a bit.
“Okay,” She spat out a wad of gum, “maybe I had you pegged down wrong. But I’m not going down that easy.”
“Yeah Kim! Let’s get them!” And Vance starting charging towards me.
But before he could get to me, Kel socked him in the gut and knocked him down.
“I got him Sunny!” Kel yelled.
I would’ve helped Kel, but a more pressing problem made herself known.
With a roar, Kim started running towards me and her left arm winded up to hit me.
I barely managed to dodge right, but I could see her other fist pulling back to follow up.
That one I managed to block, but the pain shot up my arm. For a girl her size, Kim hits hard.
There was probably no way I was winning a straight on brawl, I needed distance, so I started back-pedaling as fast as I could.
Kim kept running and swinging at me, but if I just keep backing away, then she won’t be able to get into range for any good hits.
It was a solid idea until I backpedaled into a wall.
My eyes were on Kim the entire time, I couldn’t see where I was going. And the concrete wall made sure I couldn’t run.
I needed a new plan.
Okay, I couldn’t just keep running and taking hits the entire time, if I just randomly punch again, something could happen right?
I let my fist of hope soar through the air!
And then Kim caught it dead-on.
Ah crap.
She started squeezing, and it hurt bad. I had to pull my fist out before it got turned into paste. But she suddenly let go while I was trying to do that, and I shifted too much of my weight.
I tripped over my legs and fell.
Kim was waiting for that and I could see her wind up a punch.
Then it was like seeing a flashing movie screen, bursts of whites and blacks. Then the pain of sharp rocks being pressed into my face came. Specifically around my eyes.
It took a second or two before I could think again. I could barely put strength into my legs.
“Get up.” Kim spoke as if she was talking to a worm.
I only took one hit so far, but it felt like everything was spinning.
Even though my legs were quivering like leaves, and I had to use the wall as support, I managed to get up. But I had no idea what to do. Kim had more strength and experience than me in a fight, so I didn’t know a way to fight back, much less win.
My back was still against the wall and I held it for support. Thankfully, Kim seemed to be letting me catch my breath. Maybe hitting someone while they were down was beneath her.
I saw Kel and Vance fighting from the corner of my eye, and I couldn’t say that Kel was winning. All the sports he played doesn’t seem to help in a fight I guess.
Kel frantically dodged as Vance charged through. But Vance just turned around and charged again.
He just kept doing that, and Kel kept narrowly escaping his grasp. If Vance ever hit Kel, he would crush him.
But there was an answer there. I’m heavier than Kim, and that means I have more force! I finally found a way to fight!
I covered my head and charged straight on.
Kim hit me, and it hurt, but I didn’t stop. My legs did their best to pedal myself to crash into her.
So she dodged instead, but I expected that!
My arms reached out to grab her, and I managed to get ahold of her hoodie.
With all my momentum, I pulled her by her neck and she stumbled straight in front of my face.
My hands were full, so I did what came naturally, and slammed my head straight into her face.
And this also was painful, but the ringing in my head meant Kim was feeling the same.
By the time I recovered, Kim was still dozy, so I tackled her onto the ground.
As we both fell, I pressed my arms against her arms, and got ready to hit her again in her stupid face.
That should have been checkmate. I could’ve won the fight. Knocking someone to the ground like that has to be it.
But somehow, someway, we rolled around and I was on my back. Now, Kim was atop of me, one of her lens cracked, ready to wallop me with everything she had.
I took a breathe and braced myself.
I had to win this.
—
*15 minutes ago*
“Aubrey! Tell me if or if not this hat makes THE MAVERICK, look like he’s ready to give all the ladies some holiday spirit?” Mikhael was wearing a green/red jester hat with bells hanging from their tips.
It looked awful.
I didn’t know how to respond. I feared this would happen some day, but never so soon and close to Christmas? Was this an early punishment from Saint Nicolas? Was this what I was getting for Christmas instead of coal?
What do I even say? Being honest wasn’t an option. It would just hurt him and destroy the mood.
“It… uh, makes you… “ The words stumbled out of my mouth. “It looks nice.” The lie felt like vomit leaving my lips.
“I see, well THE MAVERICK will consider purchasing it, he’s going to be someone’s extra special present this year, you hear Aubrey?”
“Yeah… she’s… such a lucky girl…” Who? I’m almost certain this girl doesn’t exist.
Is… is it an inside joke? No one in the gang has ever mentioned her. She wasn’t just a poster on the wall that Mikhael has, right? That’d just be too sad of a Christmas.
The Pandora’s box of this girl’s existence strained my brain. Mikhael took this and kept on talking.
“Indeed, and be still while THE MAVERICK goes to look for other accessories to boost his already inescapable charm. Be careful not to fall for me Aubrey. Wink.” He said the ‘wink’ out loud.
“Yeah… I’ll be sure not to do that…”
“Yes, that’s good. Um, can you not tell Kim I just said that. She’ll have some… choice words for me later if she finds out.”
“I won’t tell.”
“Thanks Aubrey, you’re the best!” Mikhael voice grew faint as he went off to rummage through the accessories scattered across the discount bin.
I could finally catch my breath.
The mall had a more festive scent than usual thanks to the scent of evergreens and peppermint, which brightened the place up and got the taste of mint in my mouth.
Somehow, the Christmas spirit was lightening up my mood. Christmas was always fun, I loved everything about giving and receiving gifts.
Not this year though.
I sighed again. Kim and Vance both tried to invite me for Christmas this year, but I know that their mom has custody that day. From all the bad-mouthing I hear about her mom from Kim, I couldn’t help but think she’d see me as an eye-sore.
Even if Kim doesn’t care, I think her mom still loves her children in her own way. And if she does, I couldn’t ruin that special occasion for her.
Christmas this year was going to be different.
It was going to be dark. A single candle. No decorations. And a festive meal for one.
Well, I still have Bun-Bun at least. I could get her a Christmas gift.
But maybe I can get Bun-Bun some special Christmas bunny food. A carrot with a bow. At least I have her.
Though I still would feel lonely…
A sudden crash broke me out of my thoughts, and Mikhael was standing before a toppled Christmas tree. The ceramic ornaments shattered to the ground like petals.
Everyone in the mall turned to the sound.
“We gotta go!” Mikhael screamed.
I didn’t hesitate and hoofed it with Mikhael.
As we ran away past the glass doors to the mall, the distinct screaming of the candy shop lady could faintly be heard.
I caught my breath as we were about a full few blocks away from the mall. And the consequences started to hit me.
What if I was banned from the supermarket. It was the best way to make the money last until the next month. Then what would I do for food?
“What were you thinking?!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose! I swear! I was just trying to lean on the tree to see if I could create a suave pose! I didn’t know it would crash just like that!” Mikhael raised his hands. “Do you think they caught our faces? Oh my god, if my parents find out about this…”
I almost began to yell at him, but the words caught in my throat. I can’t lose my temper again.
“Just tell me if you have a stupid plan like that again…” The adrenaline had my heart beating, my face flushed.
“It wasn’t even my plan to hang out with you today!”
What? A cold wave rushed through me. Any fire in me left my soul. Of course… why would I think this time would be any different? I was just being pitied…
“No, it came out all wrong. I didn’t mean it like that! Don’t make that face! Please, please don’t cry! Sorry Aubrey, that’s not what I meant at all!” Mikhael immediately starting waving his hands.
I could barely make out his face between the water in my eyes.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to hang out with you, it’s just that I had to hang out with you to distract you from something!”
Distract me? The sinking feeling in my wasn’t leaving me.
“From… from what?”
I started heaving, and could slowly collect myself. The shock slowly wore off as I sat down and gripped my fists.
“Um. I just need to ask something first. Can I do that?”
I nodded.
“Aubrey, who are those two guys you hung out with in the beginning of the year?” Mikhael wasn’t using his usual overbearing tone, it was much more sombre.
“Sunny and Kel?”
A stone dropped into my stomach. Why was he bringing the two of them up? Did they pass a message onto Mikhael? Were they the ones who put Mikhael up to this?
“Yeah, those two.”
Oh god this is it. A message to completely separate all the things between us. They probably had to tell me about it so that I won’t see Mari and Hero when they come back.
“D-did… did they ask you to do this?”
“What? No, I just need to know something about them.” My fists unclenched. “I was… just wondering. Wondering how you felt about them.” How I feel about all of it? “You don’t have to tell me about them if you don’t want to Aubrey! Your… uh… face is really scaring me right now.”
I was gritting my teeth with so much force, I could’ve crushed metal. I forced myself to relax and calm down. This conversation was going to come up someday, but I really wasn’t sure what to say, “I…”
‘I’ what?
I wanted things to be like the way they were before. But things have changed.
I wanted everyone to be together with me again. But we’re all going our separate ways.
I wanted the courage to apologize to the both of them. But did I even have the right?
Would they even want me back after what I did?
They could get along fine without me. They didn’t want me.
“You…?”
“It’s… complicated. I said something that went too far and I can’t talk to them anymore.”
“Huh? Wait so you don’t… Aubrey, what do you want with them?”
The answer to that question was simple. I figured it out on the first day we fought.
“I wish I could apologize and turn things back to the way they all were before.”
“Wait… so you don’t hate them?” Where’d he get that from?
“No!”
“Oh,” He started to ruffle his blonde hair, “Ohhhhhhhhh… crap.”
“What happened?”
“Well, er, to say. Nothing, yet.”
“Explain!”
“Something is going to happen to them. Like around now.”
“So are they hurt?”
“Kim maybe got the wrong idea. I don’t think anything bad is guaranteed to happen but… you know how Kim gets sometimes right?”
“Where are they?!” I grabbed Mikhael by the collar. “Tell me where right now!”
“At the park! At the park! Please let go, you’re shaking my hair off!”
I ran as fast as I could.
_
I have no idea how long we fought, but we were both gasping for breath. I could feel a swelling on my forehead on the spot I hit Kim’s skull with.
I could hear Kel and Vance still both going at it.
We were both gasping for air, lying flat on the floor.
We both struggled to get up, but I just couldn’t place my legs on the ground.
But Kim got up.
“The difference between you…” she gasped for air, “and me, is that I’ve been doing this for so much longer than you.”
Kim raised her hand, and readied up for the final blow.
“STOP!” A voice we both recognized bellowed throughout the park. “Please, just stop!”
Kim’s body froze.
I noticed something as Aubrey came running up to us.
She was crying.