by Leen Elle
"Where're you now? I just arrived a while ago with Raylin and the rest. I couldn't find you and the rest have disappeared…" Jacelyn was asking me over the phone. I looked down at the can in my hand and grimaced, tossing it backwards into the bushes. How could I have even touched this crap in the first place? There was an anguished cry from behind me. I think I may have hit a couple doing something behind the bushes.
"I'm in the backyard. Do you want me to go and find you?"
"No, it's okay. I found you…" I found a small hand slipping into mine as she hung up. I smiled down at her and pecked her on the lips.
"Do you want anything to dri-"
"Viper! Sis! So here you guys are, I've been searching for you for quite some time," Jerome shouted from the back of the house, breaking my sentence. He was making his way towards us at top speed. There was relieved look on the guy's face as he neared us. I grinned when I noticed a disappointed figure disappearing back into the house.
"Annoying admirer?" I asked casually, sliding my arm around Jacelyn's shoulder. He nodded miserably before tilting his chin towards the table of drinks set in the backyard, "I think I need a drink. You two can go enjoy yourselves and you better look after my sister well. Or I'll come after you with a crowbar and grind your bones into dust."
He disappeared off to the other end of the backyard, while I looked on slightly bemused. Jacelyn pulled my sleeve to get my attention and pointed to her brother worriedly, "I think I should go check on him. He looks so disoriented. I'll be back in a while."
Suddenly, I was all alone again while my girlfriend went off to share some sisterly concern with her brother. I walked over to the stone bench in the middle of nowhere and stared at the dark night sky, searching for a star. It was surprisingly silent in this area of the compound, giving me space and time to think about the art scholarship that I was nominated for. Was it worth leaving everything behind and starting anew? I was worried not for myself, but for Melvin. He was a minor, and I would only be turning eighteen next January. How would it be possible for me to bring him along? As I lowered my head in thought, I felt someone sitting down next to me.
"What're you thinking about?" an unfamiliar voice asked. I came face to face with a girl whom I had never seen before in the school. Her hair was a dark red and her eyes were like pieces of jade glinting under the light. I frowned, "Do I know you?"
She blushed and looked down shyly, "No… No, it's just that I was walking around and saw you sitting here looking so thoughtful." She gave an embarrassed laugh and got up. "Well I'll just go off and leave you to your thoughts."
"It's okay, you can stay. I'll be leaving in a moment or so," I told her politely, noticing Jacelyn giving her brother a one-armed hug. "What's your name?"
"Daphne," she whispered, and sat back down. "What about you?"
"Viper," I replied, turning my gaze away from Jacelyn. It had been just two days, but I was already certain that I could not like her as anything more than a friend. Abruptly, there were soft lips on mine and fingers slowly tightening around my shirt. I stood up and pushed away the person kissing me in shock. "Whoa, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Daphne was staring at me in wide-eyed amazement, as though nobody had ever pushed her away before. I backed away in slight fear.
"Daphne Moore! So it was you! And my poor brother thought he saw a fucking ghost! What in the name of hell are you doing here?" At this point, Jacelyn appeared next to me, taking my hand into hers. Her face was ablaze with fury and I could feel her grip on my hand slowly tightening. "Were you trying to seduce my boyfriend, you bitch?"
The meek and mild look on Daphne's face was replaced by one that was dangerous and dark. She began glowering at Jacelyn, whose anger was slowly going out of control. I rubbed her back comfortingly, keeping my eyes on Daphne, who was turning out to be a world-class bitch. She sneered at Jacelyn for about ten seconds, about to say something cutting before changing her mind and walking into the house. I exchanged a look with Jacelyn before pulling her over to the bench.
"So, explain. Who is she, and what did she ever do to Jerome?" I studied her face intently. There was a flicker of hesitation in her eyes as she chewed her lip relentlessly. "Jacelyn…?"
"She… We were in the same high school before we moved here. Did you know that she used to be from our current school? She transferred over a couple of years back." Jacelyn said haltingly, playing with her hair. "She was Jerome's ex-girlfriend. They were together for almost half a year… Until Jerome broke up with her for… a personal reason. It's not my place to tell you what reason that was but… she was really bitter when Jerome broke their relationship off. She did something terrible to get back at him but I think she still holds a grudge, and I don't think her intentions of coming back are good."
She moved forward to lean her head on my shoulder, her voice cracking as she whimpered again, "I really, really don't. I'm worried for my brother, Viper. It's this twin vibe thing. I just know he's feeling really bad now but I can't do anything about it. What if she tries to harm him…? Or… Or…"
"Shhh, it'll be alright. She won't dare to do anything. Don't worry." I murmured to her, patting her back and stroking her hair. I wasn't making much sense to myself, but she seemed to calm down and simply continued resting her head on my shoulder.
RAYLIN
I swayed my hips to the music and grinded with some faceless guy, before catching a glimpse of the clock on the wall. I had been dancing for more than two hours already. I slowly inched my way out of the crowd and collapsed into an empty chair wearily, reaching down to massage my aching ankles. A hand holding a plastic cup appeared before my face, "Fruit punch?" I accepted the cup and looked up to see Jerome grinning down at me.
A girl danced up to him and trailed her hand down his abdomen seductively but all she got in response was a nervous smile and my step-brother taking a step closer to me. He pushed her away gently and she went prancing over to another guy standing in the sidelines. I rose an eyebrow, surprised. It was the first time I saw a guy without a girlfriend pushing away such advancement. He took the seat beside me and we sat together in silence, letting the noise from the dance floor wash over us. I downed my drink and was about to ask him if he needed a refill when I noticed that his drink was still untouched and he was staring listlessly into the crowd. I leaned over and gave him a nudge, "Penny for your thoughts?"
"I'm sure my thoughts are worth more than a penny…" He trailed off when he saw my expression. "Alright, I'm just thinking about some things."
"Do you need to talk about it?" I offered carefully. He was playing with the cup in his hands and by the looks of it, it was going to spill in another five seconds. "You look really upset."
He seemed not to hear me as he shifted his attention from the cup to a spot in the distance. I trailed his gaze which landed on a pale girl with dark red hair cascading down her back. She was throwing her head back and laughing loudly as she attempted to moonwalk in her silver heels. There was something familiar about her, although I couldn't place a finger on it completely. I glanced back at Jerome, who was biting his lip and looking as though he was going to crush the full cup in his hand. Slowly, I took the cup away from him and shook his shoulder gently to get his attention.
"Rejection blues? Did that girl reject your offer to dance?" I asked lightly, keeping an eye on the girl.
"Her name is Daphne. She used to be from your school…" He replied in a way that did not answer my question at all. His reply though, was certainly the reason why I found her familiar. He let loose a heavy sigh and cast his eyes downwards. "She was my ex-girlfriend. I don't know what she's doing back here."
"She was from my school, transferred to your school and now she's back again?" I repeated in slight confusion, before returning to the conversation at hand. "But why the break-up, if you don't mind me asking? Did she bring it up?"
"No, I did."I did a doubletake at his answer and frowned. Why then, was he so upset? As though reading my mind, he went on talkin
g. "Raylin, there's something that only one person in this town knows about me, and that person is Jacelyn. I think you deserve to know, and because you're trustworthy enough. Back in my old town, Daphne found out in a way that I didn't want her to, and soon enough, the whole of my old school found out about it. Some students were sympathetic, but majority of them were disgusted, and very discriminating. You could say that my problem was one of the reasons that we moved here."
Despite him saying my name, I had a feeling that he had forgotten my existence as he once more gave Daphne a wistful look. "Raylin… I'm gay."
I found that my voice had gone missing when I tried to reply. I gaped for a moment of two before looking down at his cup of fruit punch and deciding to drink it. I noticed his penetrating gaze on me as he asked worriedly, "Are you homophobic? Because if you are, I won't take it personally."
"Jerome!" I exclaimed, appalled that he would think that way. "I… No, I was just surprised, that's all. You look nothing like one. I won't discriminate you. You're still my step-brother and one that I'm proud to have." I grinned at him reassuringly and leaned over to give him a hug which he gladly returned.
"I'm sorry to say that Daphne didn't take the news as well as you did. But I honestly don't blame her. We were happy together for six months. I was happy with her, or so I thought. Until I realized that what I was feeling for her was definitely different from the way she felt for me." He took a deep breath, a look of guilt slowly spreading across his face. "It didn't help that I was checking out other guys, which was really frightening because I was the captain of the basketball team. And, you know, after every training session… The locker room…"
A flush of red was slowly spreading across his cheeks. I nodded to show him that I understood what he was trying to say and patted his arm comfortingly. A kind of comfortable silence fell over us as I sat there digesting what he had said and he continued fidgeting. I was about to suggest leaving the party early when a soft, sneering voice said, "Well, look here, people. If it isn't the fag sitting there with a girl. What happened, Jerome? Couldn't find a guy to suit your tastes in this town?"
I got up and looked at her squarely in her jade eyes, "That's enough, Daphne. Leave him alone."
"And if it isn't the Ice Queen standing up for her step-brother," she shot back in a surprisingly cool tone. I frowned. If she was new here, how could she have known about what the students called me? Seeing my look of confusion, a flash of annoyance crossed her face. "It seems like you have forgotten about me, Raylin Jessica Lachey."
At this point, my feelings were beyond confusion and were bordering on hysteria at the fact that she knew more about me than I about her. I reined my emotions in and folded my arms, my face an emotionless mask, "Would you care to reintroduce yourself?"
VIPER
"What do you think you're doing?" Jacelyn shouted at the figure in front of Raylin the moment we entered the living room where people were still dancing away. "Don't you dare do anything to my brother or step-sister!" All at once, the music stopped and there were murmurs of disappointment from the people on the dancefloor.
"And look, it's the fag's sister with her goth boyfriend," Daphne was saying, folding her arms and twisting her face into yet another sneer. Everyone's attention was suddenly turned towards the cluster of people standing near the doorway – us. Jerome threw his sister and I a worried look. "Oh I forgot, their mother is the tacky wife of Lachey's father. Didn't your daddy just return after so many years, dear? How was the reunion? And don't worry, Jacelyn darling. I wasn't planning on doing anything." Jacelyn lunged forward at the comment about her mother as I held her back by the shoulders. Fag? So Jerome was gay, and that had been the personal reason Jacelyn had mentioned. There was whispering amongst the crowd as they devoured this new piece of news.
Raylin's face was still impassive although I could see her fingers slowly tightening around her own arm as she struggled to remember who the girl was. There was a soft voice from beside Daphne as Danya stepped forward, "What's the matter, Raylin? Have you forgotten the existence of my cousin? Don't you remember the original leader of the cheerleading team? Or did you choose to wipe her from your memory slate because she wasn't anyone important to you?"
There was a slow recognition dawning on Raylin's face as she uncrossed her arms and looked at Daphne with something more than icy coolness.
"Excuse me," somebody pushed past me, followed by two more people as they joined Raylin. The somebody looked back and blinked when she saw me. "Hey, Viper."
"Leila." I gave her a curt nod. "What's going on? What happened between Daphne and Raylin?"
A blank look crossed her face, followed by an understanding one, "I forgot you only joined us this year. Daphne… Let's just say she was the Queen Bee of our year back then. The five of us were good friends. While she decided that she wanted to be a cheerleader, the rest of us were pretty repelled by the idea, but we still supported her anyway. Raylin was the closest to her, and she was the one who told us that Daphne was pegged to be the next reigning 'Queen' of the school, as well as the next cheerleading captain. Of course, we were happy for her."
"Then, Danya joined the cheerleading team, only because Daphne pulled strings to get her cousin in. Raylin knew about it, but said nothing, only because she valued friendship. Don't think that she's some glacier iceberg, she's really a sentimental person," Belinda had overheard our conversation and joined in. "Daphne was also the treasurer of the school council. It's really quite a feat to be able to be in the executive committee of the school council in your first year of senior high but Daphne did it."
"And here comes the exciting part," Calista unwound her arm from around Raylin's shoulder and turned to address us, although her voice was clearly loud enough for the whole crowd to hear. "Raylin found out that Daphne had been stealing money from the treasury and was making Raylin keep the money for her – "
"I DID NOT!" There was an angry scream from Daphne, cutting off Calista, who was barely fazed by her outburst.
" – refused to but being her close friend, she was worried sick for days that Daphne would be caught – "
"She's a bitch, that's what she is!" Danya cut in again, taking a few steps towards Calista. "You better shut your tr - "
" – threatened Raylin who finally decided to tell the principal about it. She pleaded with Madam Pince to let Daphne off easy but she got herself – "
"You're lying!" Daphne shrieked, moving forward and grabbing Calista's hair. "BITCH!"
"Who's the bitch now?" Raylin was unnaturally calm as she gripped Daphne's wrist tightly until her hold on Calista's hair loosened. "I think the audience deserves to know the truth."
" – when she decided to progress to sabotaging another school's cheerleading team in a competition. Madam Pince expelled her but right before she left, she told Raylin to watch out because she would be back to take her revenge," Calista went on cheerfully, not caring that someone had just tried yanking her hair out.
"And poor Raylin was so upset for days that she wouldn't talk to us because she actually missed Daphne," Belinda continued, her mouth drooping slightly as she looked at her friend sadly. "It felt terrible to not have her with us all that time."
"And you, were stupid enough to not treasure her friendship." Leila stared hard at Daphne, who was glaring mutinously back at the girls who looked ready to strangle her. "You were the one who asked Danya to vandalize Raylin's locker, weren't you?"
Before Daphne could reply, Raylin said softly, "Y'know, Daphne. I chose not to remember you because you were my best friend, and I didn't want to remember the way you looked at me when you left. I still don't regret what I did, I still stand by it because what I did was right and it would have been unfair to the rest of the students if I had continued standing by and watching you steal all their money. I – "
I saw the telltale twitch of Daphne's arm and dashed forward in time for her hand to come in contact with my face in a stinging slap. I looked down at her in contempt
as her hand dropped down to her side.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on Raylin." There was a sudden gasp from the crowd as what I said registered in my mind. I shook the thought away angrily. "And you thought that by getting close to me, you could hurt Jacelyn and in turn hurt Jerome, didn't you?" I hissed, fury boiling in me. "You are a manipulative, stubborn and cunning bitch. You threatened someone who treated you as a best friend, and used such underhanded methods to get back at her. It is downright wrong to use a person's personal reasons as blackmail and you know it. You are disgusting."
I watched as her face crumpled and she started screaming and crying, using her fists to hit me, "Who are you, who the fuck are you? You don't even know what I've been through, you don't have the right to…"
"You brought all that upon yourself, and you know that very well," I grabbed her wrists in my hands and held her away. She struggled violently and screamed in my face once more. "Now get out of here because I can't stand the sight of you. I've never hit a woman in my life. I hope you won't be the first and last woman I lay a punch on."
"Back up a minute, mister," Danya stood before me with her hands on her hip. "This is my house and Daphne is my cousin and I will not have you chasing her out of my house so…"
"We'll leave." A strong, clear voice said from behind me. I turned slightly to see Leila and the rest of the girls hugging Raylin tightly. Raylin's face was tearstained but she shook their arms off gently and began walking towards the door. The girls followed after her and there was a sudden shout, "Well, what the hell are all of you waiting for? Let's go!"
I rose an eyebrow when I saw Sierra beginning to shove people out of the door. Suddenly, everybody was filing out of the door willingly. I found myself outside with the other people when Jacelyn turned back and ran towards me.