Friendzoned

by Power, P. S.

  Becky scoffed and then tried to chuckle.

  "Yeah, but I want to be a drama teacher, not an actress. It probably won't matter." To her it seemed obvious, but no one else even seemed to listen to her. Not at all.

  Eve changed the subject nicely at least.

  "I've been considering the military. Get in and become a Marine. I know, that probably won't be the only thing I ever do, but I don't have the grades for college really. Not unless one of you wants to help me fake some test scores in the school's computer system?"

  That got a chuckle and Barb leaned forward, her head right between Becky's and Eve's.

  "I can do that. What do you want to trade for it?" She sounded sly, like she was trying to be cute about it.

  "I don't know? I suppose I could stop spreading those rumors about you having gotten pregnant? It's a lot better than the real story, but still, you might want me to lay off soon..."

  Becky let her eyes go wide, since as far as she knew they didn't talk about that topic. Not ever. Instead of pouting or crying from the back seat there was laughter, from the front. It would have been mean, but Keeley just sounded tickled.

  "I have to agree. You didn't need butt implants Barb. Missing all that school to get them was dumb. Now you're going to be there for another half year. Or are you planning to do summer courses to try and make it up?"

  "That one. It was totally worth it though. Becky, have you looked at my ass lately?"

  "Um, why no Barb, I haven't." She blinked in the dim interior of the van. The white seats looking slightly yellow under the street lamps as they made the last turn to get to Keeley's. It was so late that no one else was around at all. "Why, do you want me to?"

  That got a warm hand pushing on her shoulder from behind. It wasn't hard, but it was playful, not flirty. That was good, because she still wasn't totally certain which girls in this group were "friendly" with other girls. She was pretty sure about Hally and Keeley, though they also had guys, or at least Hally did. Keeley had mentioned one, but Becky had never met him.

  Darla was just a mystery that way. She always had a date for the dances, but didn't spend a lot of time with anyone except Keeley, Hally and Eve. Barb was around too, but there seemed to be a bit of distance between those two for some reason. It was like they were only acquaintances, not close buddies.

  Eve loved guys. She bounced from one to the next so fast that it was almost a joke. She seemed to enjoy it though, so Becky tried not to judge. It reminded her a little bit too much of her own mother for comfort. At least Eve wasn't always drunk too. It made it so that she could be dealt with. Being a bit loose was better than that and sloshed all the time.

  Barb settled and spoke, her voice rich and a little throaty, as if pretending to be interested in the idea.

  "Well..."

  That got everyone to make at least a bit of noise, except Darla, who pulled into the driveway of the nice ranch style house. It was new and had an interesting lawn arrangement. It wasn't a real lawn, being made of little stones and just a few plants, but it showed that someone that lived there liked nice things. Her apartment had a dirt patch in the front. True, in part that was her fault, but no one else there cared about it enough to ever do anything either. Her step-dad, Mike, was a lot like her mom in a way. Less drunk, and he slept with fewer other people, but they fought all the time. Her mother and him. Mike actually got along well enough with her, even when he was drinking, being a mellow person that way.

  It took a minute to get in and everyone was quiet, because they didn't want to scare the neighbors and have the police called. Sure, that probably wouldn't happen, but Keeley practically tip-toed in, using her key and holding the door for everyone else. The place was well lit inside, mainly with the kind of lights that were actually designed to make things brighter, rather than the recessed kind that were meant just to make a place seem slick and new. It was really nice inside.

  Clean for one thing. Keeley's mom had OCD, which meant she kept it nice, on a level that very few people would ever bother. It was much better than what Becky was used to. Drunks didn't clean that much really, as a rule. It was like it just didn't occur to them. Go figure?

  Keeley, as she often did, went straight to the kitchen. Because that's what all the non-bulimic girls did, wasn't it? She stayed there for a while, but came out with a tray of sliced fruit and veggies with a dip that seemed to be made of spices and other vegetables. Her stomach growled at the smell, but no one did anything except try some.

  "Here you go! This will actually burn off more calories than you can get from it, so it's totally diet food." Keeley passed it to her first, so she tried a piece of celery with the dip.

  It practically exploded in her mouth. It was really good. Sweet and tangy at the same time, with just a hint of garlic.

  "Okay," She had to wait and take another bite, closing her eyes as she did it. "Where's the trick? Is it made with pure fat or something? This is sooo good!"

  That got Keels to sit by her, after passing the tray to Hally, who seemed to like it too. She let her leg brush against Becky's, but pulled back before she could stiffen or seem uneasy. It was a very casual thing. Probably not her flirting with her.

  "Thanks. It's a new recipe that I wanted to try out. The trick is using Splenda and vinegar. It gives it a nice sweet and sour flavor. Now, we have snacks, so what do you all want to do? Movie marathon? Or we could go on a road trip?"

  Eve giggled.

  "Sleep? Then we can go shopping in the morning, and maybe see about finding some cute guys to distract Becky from her eternal problem." There was a pause and then Eve rolled her eyes. "You know Becks... Mitch Barris isn't even close to being in your league. You're you and he's a sci-fi geek. He tried to invite me over to play Dungeons and Dragons once. Can you imagine that? Me? If you hook up with him you'll end up a twenty-seventh level Troll."

  Becky didn't say anything for a while and finally the other girl faked going wide eyed. She did it pretty well, as if being a snarktastic witch just came naturally to her. "Oh. My. God. You are a twenty-seventh level Troll, aren't you?" It was a little mean.

  Also a little too close to the truth for comfort.

  "I just thought..." She tried to let it go, but Barb, who looked way to cheery and perky not to be on drugs, shrugged.

  "She just figured that the way to a geek's heart was through his twenty sided die. Naturally. The question there is, can a Cleric really get a warrior mage to part with his virginity by plying him with Cheetos and Mt. Dew? Hmmm?" It was less mean, but more playful and still sounded rude at the same time somehow.

  Becky looked at her hard for a minute and then shrugged.

  "So... you wanted me to check out your behind?"

  Keeley smiled and then shook her head, turning the television on. Nothing seemed that good, not for a late Friday night and she really was feeling pretty tired. Smothering a yawn she tried to keep her eyes open. Normally she was in bed by midnight, but it was the weekend and work had kind of changed her schedule for that anyway. She let herself nibble on some more of that dip, trying not to take it all. It was good enough that even the people that never seemed to care about their weight had some.

  "So, I should work out more? Do you think that would really help?" There had to be some reason why everyone else was thin and she wasn't. Maybe it was that? She wasn't a total lump, but she didn't spend hours in the gym every day either.

  Darla nodded.

  "Probably. We all should. I have some weights at my house, if you want to use them, and we can all go running. That way we won't need club memberships. We can start tomorrow, if you want?" There was an edge to her words, one that sounded a bit pushy, which probably meant that no one wanted to work out with her, and that she actually wanted a workout buddy.

  "I... That might be good. I haven't really done that before though, so..."

  Darla smiled.

  "No prob. Is anyone else in, or just the cool girls?"

  From the response, that last one s
eemed to be the case and the head cheerleader held her nose in the air a bit and looked snooty.

  "Fine, but when prom comes around and you can't fit in your dresses, don't come whining to me. I tried to help you out now, when it would have worked, but no, you all just want to eat bon-bons and watch television."

  That was something that got her attention. As a Senior, Becky had exactly one chance to go to the Prom left. She'd never been asked before, so hadn't gotten to the year before. She'd wanted to go with Mitch and had even dreamed of it, but the guy had just stayed home that night. It was looking to be about the same this year too, which left her feeling a lot less pleased suddenly. There was some time though, so maybe if she kept to her diet and worked out, Mitch would ask her? That...

  Didn't seem like it was going to be the case.

  "I just wish I could get Mitch to notice me. To see that I'm not just some buddy of his. It really isn't that much to ask, is it? I'm not that bad, am I?"

  Hally grabbed a carrot stick and munched it plain, then turned to look at her, chewing carefully, her green eyes big and soulful under her coppery hair.

  "You've been Friendzoned. It isn't that you aren't good enough, or smart enough, or pretty, it's just that he doesn't think of you any other way. That's your own fault." She took another bite and shrugged, looking at the others then going on, with everyone looking at Becky expectantly. "He probably liked you at first. As in wanted to date you. Then you just treated him like a pal and he finally gave up. You said that he's known you for years, right? So when he looks at you, he sees his buddy, Becky, who happens to be a girl. If you want to get with him, you need to make him see you as a woman first, then as yourself. It's hard, since he's already made his mind up about you." She looked away then, at the TV. Which had ended up on the golf channel for some reason.

  "So there's not a lot I can do?"

  Eve snorted and moved, sliding in next to her and tossing an arm over her shoulders, so that Keeley was pushed out of the way.

  "Hally didn't say that, just that it would be hard. We can help with it though, if you want? Right Keels?"

  The other girl smiled.

  "That would keep him from trying to ask me out. Not that he has yet. He's a bit shy, but you'd think he'd get that I wouldn't go out with one of my best friend's crushes. Of course that would require you to actually let him know about that Becky." Then, a little oddly she made a face and walked toward the front door.

  Just before she got to it, there was a soft knock. Three taps, one after the other.

  They hadn't ordered pizza though, and it was nearly four in the morning.

  A thrill of fear ran through Becky as the girl turned the doorknob, slowly. It was like something out of a scary movie.

  Except that the door didn't creek as it opened. The place was new, after all.

  Chapter two

  Becky stood up, but no one else did. It was almost as if they didn't get that no one sane and normal came to visit at that time of day. Not that she had any clue what to do really. Maybe work her way to the phone so she could call the police? That or at least scream at an operator while she died. That would be comforting. For both of them probably.

  Keeley let the door swing a little wider.

  "Hey, Rebekah. Is everything all right? Come in."

  It was a woman, and she was alone, but for some strange reason that didn't leave Becky feeling any better about the situation. It was hard to put her finger on... Maybe it was the fact that the woman looked like a crazy movie monster?

  She had bone white skin, medium length copper hair, blood red eyes with no whites and so many fangs in her mouth that it was hard to count how many rows of them there were. It seemed to be three. It was hard to tell, through the terror, of course. Her breath caught a little, fear trickling down her spine.

  It was the freakiest thing that Becky had ever seen in her entire life.

  Until the woman smiled, her mouth mainly closed, and waved to the room. It was a friendly gesture, like any of them might have used in the same surroundings. She also had a rich voice and sounded pretty happy.

  "Hi. Sorry to drop by like this, but I had an order come in, and wanted to make sure that we had everything ready for it?" She looked around the room, then locked her eyes on Becky. They were about the same size, in height, so not all that tall, five-seven or so. After a half second, looking a little shocked, the woman held her hand out.

  "Hi. I'm Rebekah, lead singer of The All Vampire Band. Just to clarify, yes, it's all permanent, and yes, a lot of it hurt." She waved at her own face to demonstrate what she meant. "And yes, the whole band is really screwed if we don't make it big. Please buy our music, when it comes out. You don't even have to like it."

  Becky knew that her face had to look tentative. This woman was a weirdo. But, known to everyone else and not carrying a knife, so she could work with the idea. She was a performer. Becky's kind of person, really.

  "Becky. Rebecca, but I don't go by that."

  The other woman looked about their age, with a couple extra years tacked on most likely, since seventeen year olds couldn't get work done like that, but it had to have taken years for it to be finished. It looked like it was all over her body at least. That had to make her at least in her twenties, didn't it?

  "Oh? Wait... The one that likes that boy? Um... Mike?" She made a face that said she knew that was probably wrong.

  "Mitch?"

  "That's the one! We talk about you when you aren't here. Mainly good things." The woman let her face screw up a bit, and then nodded slowly. "Yes... almost all of it has been. There was some complaining about you screaming during horror movies."

  That got everyone to laugh, but she let her hands come out and go palms up.

  "It's true, but what do you want? It's scary. Especially the one about the puppets. They were so creepy." She faked a shudder and hugged herself to demonstrate what she meant. "No strings. No strings!"

  The movie really had freaked her out, but she wasn't the only one in the room that had yelped in the right places. Eve liked to act tough, but she'd jumped. Keeley hadn't, just winking and watching as if it really didn't bother her, but Hally had clung to her like she was a life preserver.

  Rebekah looked at her and seemed to be thinking. What that was became clear a bit later, when she turned back to Keeley.

  "I like her. Anyway, I'm not trying to be annoying, dropping by like this..." The words were pretty polite sounding, considering everything, and Keeley let her go into the other room and get some things. When she came out she had several wicker baskets that had flowers in them, sort of pushing out the top, like she was trying to hide something in the bottom.

  Even Becky wasn't falling for that. A Vampire, even a fake one, that needed flowers? At four in the morning? Then again, maybe she didn't go out in the daylight? It would be in keeping with the act. They didn't pass money for the drugs that would have been in with the flowers, if she were writing the scene, but the other girl left right away, just walking into the night. Becky didn't hear a car at least.

  That could have meant anything, including that she'd just parked down the street. Becky normally did, when she visited. Just so she wouldn't get a ticket.

  As soon as the door shut she grinned a bit and turned on her hostess.

  "So, strange vampire's coming around at this time of day for special deliveries? What was really in with those daisies? Drugs?" She was out of options after that, and Keeley looked over at Darla and rolled her eyes.

  "Obviously, what else would you expect? Bottles of blood?" That got more chuckles from around the room, but then the thin and too pretty competition for Mitch's affection wrinkled her nose cutely. "Would you believe it was actually flowers, with handmade soaps in the bottom of each basket? Eve packed them up earlier. There are some other things, I don't know what. Spa packs. Whatever those are. Rebekah sells them in her spare time. Since she's a starving artist, it makes sense."

  It did. Becky shook her head and tried not to s
eem like a freak for the rest of the night. About an hour later everyone started falling asleep, and the floor futons were pulled out.

  It was a bit strange, but she was put right next to Hally, who seemed to be out the second her head hit the pillow. It was a lot more comfortable than it sounded like, the cushions they were on being more than thick enough, and they all got pillows that had obviously been cleaned after the last party. They smelled fresh and a bit like lemons. Given Keeley's mom, that was probably a good bit more intensive than the washing that Becky would have given them. That wasn't hard, because it would have been a single trip through the washing machine for the pillow cases, if that. Sherri Thomson would have insisted on several washings and done the pillows too, even if it was a pain in the rear to get them to dry properly.

  Drifting off was actually pretty easy, even with all the people around. At home there would be crashing sounds, and probably a fight, being Friday. Saturday morning now. Here it was just soft snoring and slightly heavy breathing. Nothing bothered her at all, until nearly eleven in the morning when she rolled over to find Hally cuddled up to her. That was weird enough that she wanted to freak out a bit, but it was just like a little kid doing it. There was nothing going on that was too bizarre or sexy at least. Just the girl holding her like a pillow. It would have been troubling, if she were doing anything more.

  Instead she could just laugh at it. Reaching out she shook the girl a bit.

  "Good morning!" She didn't mention the part that they were both in her bed and it was apparently not something Hally minded, since she just looked at her sleepily, and cuddled closer.

  "Wake me for dinner?" She sounded like a little kid too, which was very cute. With a little pushing, and a slight bit of removing the blanket she was using, from both of them, she got them both up.

  Eve sat too, looking around warily. It was just the three of them in the room, but there were some sounds coming from the kitchen. They were rapid, and soft noises that seemed just a little off for the place. It was more like the sound in the back of a restaurant than anything else. Popping her head in she saw that it was just Darla and Keeley, making them breakfast. Or lunch. It seemed like the overachievers were doing both. It was late enough in the day for it, but was an awful lot of work for just them.