“Yeah.” Lara says while raising her voice. “They’re not a good look on you.”
Lara pushes the door open and invites herself in with Elena marching right behind her. A look of contempt corrupts their otherwise perfectly chiseled faces.
They both take a look around the apartment. It is spacious, modern, and very luminous.
“So…” Lara says with a serious tone. “What’s the deal?”
“Nothing.” Nikki whispers back as her high-pitched voice quickly deflates. “I was just…”
Before Nikki can even string a thought together, Lara is already sprinting to her bedroom. A look of sheer horror wipes any ounce of happiness that resided on Nikki’s bed-ridden face.
“Lara? Where are you going?!” Nikki tries to inquire while trying to remain focused. “The bathroom’s that way.” She points at it and hunches her back.
“You’re in trouble.” Elena replies as she heads towards Nikki’s bedroom.
Nikki’s mouth temporarily opens as she seems to be running out of breath. She closes her eyes in an attempt to keep her composure. However, she accidentally slips on a dog’s toy before chasing after the girls. Unfortunately for her, they’ve already made it to her bedroom.
“What’s this?” Lara asks Nikki while holding onto a gigantic bottle of pills with her hand. A confrontation is about to take place.
“Oh. Nothing.” Nikki says while looking mortified. “That’s just one of my mom’s Xanax prescriptions. I’ve kind of been on edge lately with all that’s happened…”
“Cut the bullcrap.” Lara retorts back while grinding her teeth together. “Your name is written on them, see!”
Lara holds the bottle of pills right in front of Nikki’s face. Nikki starts looking at the ceiling, loses her balance, and gets dizzy. Everything seems to be to be getting too intense and blurry.
Lara, closely observing Nikki, takes the opportunity to make another cheap shot. “Oh great. Now you’ve gone deaf.”
“It’s not like we can understand you when you’re talking either.” Elena adds while looking at Nikki with a perplexed look on her face.
Lara cracks a laugh that turns into a bewildering scream halfway through.
“OH MY GOD!!!” she yells from the top of her lungs. “Why is there blood coming out of your left ear?!”
Nikki immediately touches her right ear and feels a rush of panic come over her. She races to the bathroom to get a good look at herself with Elena and Lara running behind her. Even though they’d never admit it, Nikki’s behavior often enthralled them.
“Crap! Crap! Crap!” she says with consternation. “This is NOT supposed to be happening!”
“Yeah!” Lara replies back. “No kidding!”
Chapter 7
Evan Petrokolova
Evan is sitting on the outer city’s public bus. She’s sitting by one of front window seats near the driver while listening to music out of some red tangled headphones. A look of profound sadness consumes her face. The type of sadness that everyone can perceive even in the distance.
The bus stops and an old lady jumps aboard. The lady is carrying a heavy bag of trash and looks homeless. The seat next to Evan happens to be empty and she decides to take it.
The old lady greets Evan with a genuine smile but all she gets in return is a cold and hateful scolding look. Evan covers her nose with a wool scarf and turns her focus towards the window again. She’s thinking of a better reality that must surely be out there, waiting for her. The image of poverty is downright insulting and she couldn’t bear its weight any longer.
Even though nobody else knows it, this is part of Evan’s morning routine. She sits in the bus with strangers and waits for like it feels like an eternity to get off a few blocks away from school. She holds this secret with great shame and she’ll do anything to prevent anyone from discovering it. Evan’s reputation means the world to her.
Chapter 8
Nikki Wilson
The girls are staring at Nikki with great intrigue as she slowly removes the towel from her head. A thick bandage covering both of her ears comes undone and a deep tissue scar is revealed. Lara and Elena gasp in horror and cover their mouths. They are shocked.
“You got your ears pinned back?” Elena asks while looking dazed and confused. And then adds, “Without me?!”
Elena looks devastated. She sits down on the toilet and waits for Nikki’s answer while gathering her thoughts.
“Sorry! I know, I know!” Nikki replies with a look of surprise on her face. She didn’t think Elena was going to take it so personally. “I should’ve waited for your birthday but it’s still like light years away.”
Nikki knew that wasn’t a solid excuse but she thought anything would be better than simply staying quiet.
“My birthday’s next month, Dumbo.” Elena exclaims with a look of despair.
Nikki could now clearly see that her strategy hadn't paid off. She had to think of something else, something more believable.
“I don’t think we’re gonna be using that nickname anymore.” Lara says while chiming on what was clearly becoming too much of a one-sided rivalry.
“You’re so banned from coming to my Botox Party with Dr. Patel next week.” Elena says with a sour look on her face. “Don’t even bother to show up.”
“That’s ok.” Nikki says sounding defeated. “It’s not like I could go either way. I’ve got to recover from the surgery.”
“Did you get a brain surgery too?” Lara asks with a defiant tone. “This is the MOST sense you’ve made in months!”
Nikki, used to Lara’s caustic tongue, stays relatively unbothered by the commotion unraveling around her. She puts her bandage back on, examines her ears, and look at herself in the mirror with a solemn face. The surgery already looked good.
“I should probably stay in today.” Nikki says as if she were awakening from a fairytale.
“Yeah.” Elena replies back with a cocky tone. “Nobody wants to see you bleed to death.”
“OK.” Lara says before Nikki can even respond. “We gotta get going. Don’t miss us too much!”
Lara and Elena leave Nikki’s apartment with a look of fierce determination. It’s as if they have somewhere important to go, a special matter to tend to.
Nikki waves goodbye and slowly trudges back to her bedroom before laying on her king-sized bed. She seems tired and there are dark circles protruding under her eyes. A portrait of a Barbie doll is placed right above her bed frame. She puts on a pink sleep mask, swallows a red pill, and instantly falls into a state of trance.
Chapter 9
Vista High
Lara and Elena have managed to arrive to the first day of school on time. However, someone else seems to be running a bit behind schedule.
They’re quietly sitting in the car by the school’s entrance. There’s no music in the air, no talking to be heard. However, Lara keeps making nervous hand gestures. Elena can tell her friend’s patience is about to run out.
“Where is he?!” Lara screams with a look of disgust plastered across her rigid face. “Valet! Valet boy!”
She takes a pause and sips on some coconut water that’s always stocked by the cupholder.
“What is going on?!” She turns to Elena with a look of worry on her face. Lara’s clearly asking her dear friend for some support. “Why is nobody ever on time!?”
Elena is jolted back into reality after seeing Lara’s plea for help. She had been quietly rejoicing in the moments of peace. Lara was always talking up a storm and it was rare for her to get a break from the incessant chatter.
“Being me is such a hard job!” Lara cries while looking exasperated. She takes a deep breath and looks at Elena with agony. It doesn’t take long before Elena takes the bait and comes to her friend’s rescue.
“Shall I do the honors?” Elena asks while trying to not compulsively roll her eyes.
“Thought you’d never ask.” Lara replies with a diabolical grin.
She opens
the car’s glove compartment and hands Elena a tiny golden speakerphone. Without missing a beat, Elena turns it on and makes a bold announcement.
“Valeeeeeeeee-eeeeeee—eeeeeeeet!!!”
The scream could be heard around campus. Every student and every teacher recoiled as if they were looking for cover. In one second, their sweet memories of summer had been completely erased.
Lara and Elena continue sitting in the car when a boy appears out of nowhere. He’s drenched in sweat and his eyes seem to be vacant. He’s wearing his shirt inside out and his clothes are mismatched giving him a messy appearance.
“Where were you?” Lara demands with her usual astounding confidence.
“My bad, Lara. It’s been such a busy morning!” He says while trying to get a breath in between words.
“That’s not my name.” Lara says while shooting him a devilish look straight into his eyes.
He’s so overwhelmed by it all that he fails to listen to Lara’s command.
“How has your summer been?” He says while attempting to force a weak smile.
He thought it was better to get in Lara’s good graces and make small talk. After all, nobody knew or wanted to know just how vicious she could get.
“Call me by my REAL name!” Lara yells. “Don’t ever forget to address me properly!”
The tension in the air was now reaching unprecedented levels. Lara looks like she’s about to burst; the vein in her forehead expanding in size.
“Oh.” He says while trying to think quick on his feet. His eyebrows furrow tightly together as he tries to find the missing piece of the puzzle. This was not going to be easy.
His eyes come to a stand still and they seem to come alive for a fraction of a second. “I apologize, Miss Lagowski.” He takes another breath and adds, “the summer’s been long after…”
“It’s too late for apologies!” Lara exclaims while rudely interrupting him. “You know what happens when you’re late.”
He didn't remember, or at least he didn't want to. We try to forget the bad things that happen to us. It’s a coping mechanism, a way to persevere.
“Give me your arm.” Lara says with a fixated look on her eyes. Her whole body seems to have stopped moving. She’s going in for the kill and he can sense it.
“What…what does happen?” He stutters and struggles to finish the question. His voice is full of fear and can barely be heard.
“Don’t play games with me.” Lara retorts back.
Her eyes seem to be widening. Theres’s nothing holding her back now.
“Arm. NOW!” She commands in what is becoming an epic display of rage.
The valet boy, quickly realizing he’s been cornered, sticks his arm out and places it over the car’s leather steering wheel.
“Not very hard please.” He begs while trying to keep a manly composure.
“Don’t be a sissy.” Lara barks back without displaying an inch of empathy.
Lara grabs the car keys from the start engine and proceeds to scratch the back of his arm with them. The edge of one of the keys is jagged and sharply pointed.
She digs the keys deep into his skin as his face becomes red with anguish and pain. His skin is visibly scarred and full of bruises. Even though the summer seemed to have removed most of them, some of the scars had been too stubborn to retreat.
“Good boy.” Lara says while exuding a radiant smile full of warmth.
She and Elena proceed to get off the car. They were now officially walking on school grounds.
“Be careful!” Lara says to the valet boy before letting him off the hook.
He discreetly looks at Lara through the rearview mirror and drives away. He brushes the sweat off his forehead and breathes a sigh of relief. The storm had passed.
Chapter 10
Evan Petrokolova
Evan gets off the bus and quickly walks to school with her head down so that nobody can spot her. She makes it past the entrance and clumsily walks up a set of stairs just as she runs into Lara and Elena.
“Look at you!” Lara exclaims out loud; her voice sounding like nails on chalkboard. “You sexy bitch!”
Evan’s been caught off guard but she tries her best to conceal her surprise. She was good at faking emotions. She greets them with a three-way hug and plants a kiss on both of their cheeks.
“Missed you ladies!” Evan says while whipping her long and wavy platinum blond hair back.
Evan was used to acting. She was a master at feigning spontaneity and she could bring any expression to life on cue. After all, she always had a role to play. An appearance to uphold.
“We haven’t seen you since the Pink Party!” Elena says with a genuine sense of warmth. She seems delighted to see Evan again. “What’s been keeping you so busy this verano?”
“Oh.” Evan mumbles while trying to concoct something up. “My family, you know. They just won’t leave me alone.”
She looks down for a second and secretly hopes that the little white lie has somehow magically worked.
“And we aren’t going to either!” Lara proclaims while lifting her arms up in the air.
Lara gives Evan another hug; this one with a deadly tight grip. Their bodies are locked for what seems like a lifetime before detaching.
Lara lets her go and Evan quickly tries to fix her unruly hair. Lara’s hands had tangled a few of them up in a knot. Evan never could really tell if Lara was being careless or doing it on purpose.
“So…” Evan says while trying to find a way to drift the focus away from her home life. “Anything juicy? Is there any gossip to take care of?”
“Not yet.” Lara says while looking pensive. “Things have been pretty dead lately. No pun intended.”
She lets out a manic laugh and a mix of disbelief and pure shock flashes across Evan’s and Elena’s eyes. They both proceed to look down to the ground as if they’ve been chastised.
“Well…” Elena mumbles under her breath. She could not bear the weight of what Lara had just alluded to. “There is this rumor going on with Chloe Weinstein.”
“Oh!” Lara gasps in delight. “Tell us everything!”
“Apparently…” Elena pauses and thinks carefully of how to craft what she’s going to say next. “She hooked up with her latest stepfather over break. In her mom’s lake house in Michigan. And she walked in on them!”
“Oh yeah. That did happen.” Evan says with a deadpan delivery. “I saw some pics of their short-lived affair on Snapchat.”
Evan kept a close tab on everyone through social media. It was a portal into the life that she so sorely wanted.
“I never saw them.” Lara retorts back with a harsh tone.
“Didn’t you block Chloe after what happened at prom?” Evan patiently asks. She always knew how to keep her cool against Lara’s random temper tantrums.
“And so?” Lara quickly answers back. She could make everything sound like a threat in such an effortless manner. It was awe-inspiring; it was also downright terrifying.
“That’s why you couldn't see the photos.” Evan says with a resolute calmness.
“They weren’t all that to be honest.” Elena chimes in. She had to stay relevant in every conversation if she wanted to remain Lara’s #1 sidekick.
“Good Lord!” Lara screams through the top of her lungs. “Why do you have to suck up to me all the damn time? Give it a rest!”
Lara’s scream is heard by other students causing them to start walking around her in order to avoid her deadly gaze.
In fact, whenever the girls walked along the school’s halls, everyone would always stare at them from a safe distance. Nobody ever dared to get too close. They were a force of nature that was part of high school life. Some would say they were like magnets; but instead of attracting people they would repel them.
Chapter 11
Aya Yuki
The bell rings and the girls head to class. By the time they reach the entrance to their designated classroom, Evan oversteps her bounds.
“Oops. Sorry.” Evan replies with a look of panic plastered across her round face. She couldn’t believe she had forgotten about the door rule. Evan took pride in knowing how to please Lara.
She takes a step back and opens the classroom’s door for Lara. Elena is about to follow her lead when Evan cuts her off.
Elena’s slightly annoyed by this gesture. She didn’t understand why Evan was always trying to compete with her. It’s not like she could overtake her position in the hierarchy of girlhood.
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