Hate Me

by Leen Elle

  Professor Lyon pointed the seat next to me, "You can sit there, Miss Federer. And please refrain from being late again the next time. That's alright with you isn't it, Miss Lachey?"

  "Hoo, boy! Goth girl's gonna get it from the Ice Queen!" There was a whoop from the corner of the classroom. I switched on my deathliest glare and turned around to fix the source of the noise with it. He shut up pretty quickly. I smiled at the professor and nodded, giving Sierra a friendly wave. She gave me a tentative smile back warily before perching onto the seat. Calista leaned over and greeted her with a genuine grin. At this, a warm smile spread across Sierra's face. So that's why she had been so wary, she thought Calista was mad at her.

  We breezed through the experiments easily, and true to my words, there was an explosion. Except that this time, it wasn't supposed to occur. Some happy person decided to throw calcium hydroxide into a frothing purple mixture 'just to see the reaction' and 'never expected it to blow the test tubes to smithereens'. As we trooped out of the laboratory, I turned to Sierra, "Aren't you in Grade 10? Why is it that you joined our lessons?"

  "Umm... Madam Pince reckons that my intelligence is on par with the Grade 11 students. So, yea. I'll be taking the some classes with you guys I think," she explained, not sounding too happy about it. "Anyway, I'll leave now so you girls can catch up or something. Bye."

  Frowning, Calista looked around. What girls? She mouthed. Just then, I spotted Belinda and Leila walking towards us and apparently, they had bumped into the younger girl when she walked off. Sierra was back with us, and looking slightly flustered. Belinda chirped, completely oblivious to Sierra's situation, "We bumped into Sierra just now so I invited her to go shopping with us for the dance." Judging by the look on her face, Sierra hadn't exactly agreed to Belinda's suggestion.

  "Why don't we go to our lockers first and meet back here again later?" I suggested, smiling warmly at Sierra. "Sierra, you're coming with us, right? Don't mind Belinda, she's always like that." The younger girl looked at us hesitantly then nodded. Leila laughed and walked off to her locker, the rest of us following suit. As I replaced the books neatly back into my locker, slotting them into the right spaces. Looking around me, I noted that the other girls weren't done, and seeing as Sierra's locker was the nearest to mine, I walked towards it.

  What I saw and heard next surprised me, for Cecilia and a bunch of her followers were clustered around Sierra in a half circle. As I neared, I could hear Danya sneering, "So you think that just because the Ice Queens invited you to hang out with them, you're cool? Well let us tell you this, you're not."

  "If the Ice Queens are willing to talk to me, it's their problem then, isn't it?" Sierra replied in a chilly tone. I was impressed, her cool demeanor could have easily contested mine. "Besides, I never thought that I was cool. In fact, I think I'm pretty damn hot."

  I wanted to laugh right out at the expression on Cecilia's face. She scowled, "Look, kiddo. You're hanging out with the Ice Queens, so you better drop more good points about me… umm, us to them."

  "And what if I don't?" Once again, I was taken aback by her emotionless response.

  "You know what I can tell your parents… don't you?" At this, I could tell that Sierra paled, even under the corpse white make-up she had on. A smile I didn't exactly like flitted across Cecilia's face. "Yes, you do know what I can tell them. Remember what I said, and don't try to get too cocky with me."

  With that, she whipped around on her heels and flounced off, the rest of the cheerleaders following after her. I watched as Sierra took a deep breath to calm her shaking shoulders. Approaching her, I tapped her shoulder gently. She jumped and turned around, her eyes wide. When she saw me, she relaxed visibly, letting her lips turn up at the corners when the others arrived.

  "What happened?" Belinda asked curiously, studying our expressions (mine was impassive; Sierra's scared).

  Sierra looked at me in the eye, her gaze barely wavering although her voice quivered when she asked, "Did you hear the whole thing?" I nodded gravely, then recounted to the girls what occurred earlier on. Calista scowled angrily, "Those bitches would do anything to be near us. Goodness, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought they were lesbians." (A/N: I'd like to clarify here that I really have nothing against people who swing the other way.) There were murmurs of agreement.

  We walked along towards my car, chattering about what to buy later on. We were singing along to the radio when suddenly, Leila spoke up, "Say, Sierra. When Cecilia mentioned that she could tell your parents something, what did she mean?"

  Sierra bit her (black) bottom lip nervously before providing a hasty explanation, "Before we entered high school, the two of us were very close although she was older than me by a year. Our parents knew each other because they did business together. And then… I started turning Goth, but my parents weren't too happy about it. Cecilia helped me cover up, though, so it was all fine. I'd just come to school looking like some preppy schoolgirl, then change into my gothic clothes and whatsoever. Until Cecilia became a cheerleader, and she was kinda excited to tell me about it. But before she did, I complained that I thought cheerleaders sucked, and we fell out. It's so dumb isn't it?"

  We nodded in agreement, getting out of the car and into the mall. The first store we hit had the most gorgeous dresses with the most gorgeous price tags too. Although it was not big deal to me, the others couldn't afford it, so we left. It was then that I realized Sierra wasn't looking too happy about the shops that we went too, or the candy colored dresses we asked her to try on. Belinda noticed as well, and with her usual tact, burst out, "Sierra, are you bored?" for one brief moment, she looked totally taken aback, like the rest of us. She burst into giggles, "No! Of course not, it's just that these aren't exactly my style… If you get what I mean." She waved one hand at her clothes.

  "Oh, right," Leila said, furrowing her brows. "So is there some gothic shop here? We can go buy your dress first, I haven't exactly seen anything that I like much." We agreed, looking at Sierra expectantly. She shrugged and led the way towards the escalators, bringing us to the topmost floor of the mall and to a small corner. There were three shops situated there, or so I thought. According to Sierra however, the three shops were actually one big shop which specialized in selling gothic clothing, accessories, and other things. Having roamed the mall for so many years of my life, I was a little chagrinned that there was a shop I didn't know about. Still, I followed the others into the store aptly named 'Dark Culture'.

  While we browsed the racks which were heavily laden with black, red and dark purple clothings, fingered the numerous wrist cuffs with silver studs, stared at the thick slave rings and basically studied this place, Sierra breezed through the racks easily, picking out a few dresses here and there. She disappeared into the dressing room, only to emerge a little while later wearing a dark wine red dress which showed off a fair amount of her shapely legs, as well as cleavage. Without even waiting for our response, she shook her head and ducked back into the cubicle.

  The second time she came out, she had on a black skintight dress with dark purple piping which looked really good on her, but which only Belinda said looked 'tacky'. Sierra agreed with her. I exchanged a glance with Leila. Sierra was a stunningly pretty girl, anyone could see that. The fact that she was a Goth hadn't stopped some jocks in our school from hitting on her, but she had always turned them down.

  For the third time she emerged, wearing a black dress with dark red satin ribbons criss-crossing over her chest. The skirt started mid-thigh in front and ended at her ankles at the back, the red velvet below showing up starkly against the translucent black lace covering it. There was a unanimous 'YES!' from all four of us when we set eyes on her. Grinning, she returned to the cubicle and came out with the dress gathered in her arms, walking towards the counter. And guess who we saw?

  VIPER

  Making my way into the mall, I walked towards the escalator past all the teenagers hanging around in clusters. I spotted the shop I wanted to
purchase things from and stalked towards it. The shop was vast, with a black sign reading 'Dark Culture' in blood red gothic letters. It was the only shop I knew of in this town to sell accessories and clothes for Goths and sometimes for punks. Perhaps that was the reason why all the staff it hired were Goths or punks as well.

  I gazed at the assortment of silver eyebrow and lips rings in their trays. For the thousandth time that day, I wondered why I was doing this when I had a box so full of them that I wasn't sure which rings were for my eyebrows and which rings were for my lips. Oh right¸ maybe it was because my dear but horribly annoying brother accidentally tossed the whole box out my window. Note, it was my window, which meant that he had snuck into my room sometime or other. Frankly? I suspected he did it for sadistic revenge because I scolded him for getting an F for his French. Now, save for the solitary black and silver lip ring which I had forgotten to take out the night before, my face was bare of any ornaments.

  Rubbing a hand through my un-gelled hair (Ah yes, there was another thing to buy. My gel which Melvin had 'accidentally' threw out the window too.), I finally picked out five of the rings and walked towards the counter. As I weaved through the racks of clothes, I banged into a girl, nearly sending her crashing to the floor. I reached out an arm to support her, accidentally (it really was an accident!) wrapping it around her waist instead. Yanking her up, we found ourselves pressed uncomfortably around each other. I gulped when I looked into her stunning purple eyes, releasing her immediately. Not as pretty as Raylin's gray eyes… You really don't know when to shut up, huh?

  "Umm, I'm so very sorry, hope you're alright," I stuttered, ducking pass her to go to the counter where she was probably headed as well. "Just these rings, please." I handed the rings to the cashier who probably had a thousand piercings and a hundred tattoos. I suppose the disapproving look from him had absolutely nothing to do with my usage of the word 'please'. Then again, majority of the people who came here weren't exactly what I would classify as perfect.

  As he tallied up the amount, I stared at his hair, which was shaved on one side and was neon green and waist length on the other. There was a string of curses dripping from his lips for a moment when he banged a fist down on the till in annoyance.

  "Sierra! There you are!" A very familiar voice called out from behind me. I turned around painfully slowly. "Umm… why is your face so red?" Raylin and the bunch of girls she hung out with were looking at the girl I banged into just now with concern. Shit. I whipped back around to the cashier, my muscles tense and ready to spring me into a record-breaking run. Unfortunately, the cashier was still swearing at the till, and Raylin had just spotted me.

  I could hear her footsteps as she walked right in front of me, an amused smile playing on her beaut- full lips. Don't let me look at your eyes, please don't let me… Too late, you looked into her eyes. Damn me if they aren't the nicest and prettiest gray I've ever seen. Oooh, Viper's turning into a softie. AM NOT! ARE TOO! AM NOT! ARE…

  "Viper? Viper? Did you hear what I said?" She tapped me on my cheek, jerking me back from the depths of her… well this is a little embarrassing to say but… She jerked me back from the depths of her eyes, alright?! I shook my head slightly, avoiding her gaze. She laughed. "Yea well I guessed as much, the way you were zoning out on me. You're still performing during the concert, right?"

  "Ah… uh… yes, I think so," I rattled. My tongue was betraying me, oh no! "So, what're you doing here?"

  "I'm here with the girls to find a nice dress for Sierra. Oh hold on, I haven't introduced you guys yet, right?" Raylin asked gaily, pulling forwards the girl whom I had earlier on crashed into. She gave me a bemused smile. My mouth went dry. "This is Sierra, she's a grade below us but she takes some of the same lessons with us."

  "Yea… right, okay." My voice came out hoarser and colder than I expected. "I… um, kinda know her. Banged into her a while ago. Sorry, er… Sierra." Calista, the one with the plum-colored talons, stared at me. I looked at the cashier pleadingly but dang, the stupid till just wasn't working. I was tempted to just cancel my purchase and make a quick escape, but I just felt completely naked without anything in my eyebrow or my ears. Damn Melvin, may Satan help me if I don't kill him when I get back.

  "Viper? Why're you growling?" Raylin asked. This time, she wasn't the only one who looked amused. The rest of the girls were stifling their giggles and looking in every other direction but at me just so that they wouldn't burst into more cackles I suppose. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks and I was sure my face was a nice rosy red.

  "I… I was just going to ask you if you saw my guitar pick in your house. I may have forgotten to pack it up when I left," I lied, glad that the lie was going smoothly enough. Or so I thought.

  Linda, or was it Leila, turned to Raylin and frowned, "Your house? He went to your house?" Raylin had the panicked look of a deer caught in the headlights. My brain produced the reason pretty quickly; she hadn't told them about my short stay in her house. I blinked, inching backwards some more and bore holes in the cashier's half-bald head with my eyes.

  Please hurry up… I prayed, crossing my fingers behind my back again. Raylin gulped visibly before giving them a quick summary of what had happened and why exactly I had been living with her.

  "What do you mean you forgot to tell us that you were staying alone with a guy at the peak of his hormonal level without telling us?!" Calista exploded, looking for all the world as though she was fit to kill me, or maybe Raylin. "And the fact that he's most insanely gorgeously HOT makes matters worse!"

  "HEY! I CAN KEEP MY SEXUAL URGES IN CHECK PRETTY WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" I found myself yelling, beginning to get just a tad irritated at being the subject of their conversation as though I wasn't around. Noticing their confused looks, I reverted back to laidback mode. "Eh, sorry. Go on."

  "You could have at least shared him, y'know?" Brenda… Betty… Belliare… Brianna? teased, winking saucily at me. "Raylin, you just introduced me to the theory that perfectionists are selfish, selfish people." By this point in time, I was feeling more than a little unsettled. Suddenly, another Goth entered the shop, his blue-streaked hair covering half his face. His eyes swept the shop quickly before settling on me. He walked towards us abruptly, tapping Sierra on her back gingerly.

  "Excuse me," his voice sounded decidedly feminine. I cringed. "Is he your boyfriend?" Sierra looked at him then back at me, pointing one black claw at me. The other guy nodded. She shook her head and smiled at him, stepping back to clear a path for him. And that was all the encouragement he needed. I widened my eyes in horror when he advanced towards me, placing one delicate hand on my crossed arms and another on my hip.

  "Well aren't you just the cutest thing?" He purred, leaning closer to my ear.

  "Yes, he is," Bessie/Bina/Bella agreed, making things worse. I shot her a death glare, as did Raylin. "He is one of the hottest guys I've ever met, Raylin. So stop giving me that look."

  "Well, my sexy little thing, I'm Matt," he giggled, tracing a fingertip down my chest. "Oooh, those are some nice muscles there!" I could see Raylin trying to hide a smile. I suspect that the people down there (read: in hell) were messing around with my head today, for something possessed me to do something very very stupid. I shoved him aside and grabbed Raylin roughly, sliding one arm around her waist and holding her against me, much to the surprise of everyone else.

  "Hey, that girl over there isn't my girlfriend but this one here is. I don't swing the other way, sorry to disappoint you, mate." I could feel Raylin's breath catch. "Why don't you just move along and give us some… personal space?" I gave her an apologetic look and looked back up at Matt expectantly. He stared at me for a heartbeat before glancing at the other girls, back at me, and finally leaving. In fact, I was pretty sure he sniffled. Heaving a sigh of relief, I let my other hand drop down on her waist. Her waist?

  I leapt back, disentangling my arms from her. Although there was a faint flush to her cheeks, she laughed, "And I was wondering
when you were going to let go of me." It was my turn to blush as I apologized to her, my embarrassment making my voice deeper than it should be. Linda/Leila laughed as Bella/Bina spoke with a distinctive quiver of most likely amusement in her voice, "You don't have to apologize, I'm sure she doesn't mind." Well, it was good to at least know they found me utterly hilarious. They had a weird sense of humor.

  Someone cleared his throat and I shifted my attention to the cashier. He handed me the rings in a small bag. It seemed like the till had been fixed quite awhile ago. I handed him the money and took the bag, sliding past the girls and out of the dark shop. Someone called out 'bye', but I didn't trust my tongue this time. I merely nodded in acknowledgement and escaped. Only to find Matt (does that guy ever give up?) narrowing the distance between us horribly quickly. I realized then that he hadn't believed the act I put on with Raylin back there. And I just proved him right by leaving alone.

  I had to blame my bruised ego for the way I handled the situation. Had I not lost my cool image before the girls just now, my ego would not have been bruised. Had I not bruised my ego, I would not have backed away rapidly, shouting at him, "YOU'RE JUST NOT MY TYPE!" And perhaps he wouldn't have smiled a small knowing smile and start descending upon me with a maniacal glint in his eyes.

  The girls trooped out of the shop, talking merrily, only to see me, Viper the new bad boy of the school, backing away from someone who swings the other way. To be honest, I think my face then, had a look of utter fright.

  Matt backed me against the wall then leant against my chest settling his chin on my shoulder, "Ah… this is comfortable." I sent a pleading glance towards Raylin and gang, bruising my ego all the more. C'mon, who's ever heard of an evil guy pleading for help to get rid of a… another guy?

  That day, I found out that Raylin has immensely good acting skills. She tilted her head to the side to seize the scene, before storming towards us, gripping Matt's shoulder and yanking him back with amazing strength. I let out the breath I had been holding, pushing myself off the wall.