WARNING: This story contains graphic depictions of violence and other mature or controversial themes/topics that not all audiences will find suitable. Please continue reading at your own risk.
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♪ Yes, I didn't talk to anyone. ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2seIaUwL2
♪ I was made fun of by everyone. ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lMF6yEB4Y
♪ It's something I wish could be undone. ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8FVuCT27j
♪ She asked me. I wish I'd had respond. ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdfFdshwhk
♪ But hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxmdvNY9ia
♪ Please hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FVlaPOJzL
♪ I'm crying out: We're all worth being loved! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhPrSixz6r
♪ I have no doubt we're all worth being loved! ♪
♪ Please, I beg you all, let's become friends! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmovgmpPkWj
♪ Let's not judge each other by what's been! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoc7t10nAT7
♪ It was years ago! It came and went! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡussGocFwma
♪ That's a past chapter! New one begins! ♪
***
Something
***
In the last chapter of Something... Herbertia was getting a little uncomfortable about Ikjot and Xandra's friendship, and Ikjot was getting a little tired of Herbertia standing in the way of it; so he decided to trick Herbertia into giving them their space. He told her because she said she trusted him... that Herbertia was proving to have lied by believing that he, Ikjot, would cheat on her. Herbertia, falling into Ikjot's deception, saw the error of her ways and decided to have a change of heart for the sake of keeping their relationship healthy.
Meanwhile, tired of Derick and Mike's dictatorship, Vicky and Vanessa hatched a plan to rob Derick of his rifle while he slept, only for Derick to brutally thrash Vanessa and Vicky for insubordination. It would seem if anything, they weren't in need of an escape... but a hero.
As for Marta, she recovered from her injuries and was back on her feet! But there was little time to celebrate. She knew the only way to end Tiane's madness was for herself, her parents and her best friend Ram to take this tyrant down... once and for all! The question is, can they do it? The battle begins in today's chapter of Something!
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Something21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdD9FnyGs1
721Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYbWHwV9j0
Ikjot Stops a Fight
***
Back at Marta's home, Tiane sat on the couch with a can of soda in her hand, watching a wrestling match on TV. Getting excited about the fight, she crushed the can upon clenching her fist, causing the drink to spill on the floor as she whooped, "WOOOOOO!" and cheered, "YEAH! You go, Brian! Teach that lousy player he's nothing but mud to you. Ha-hahaha! And you can step on him!"
Meanwhile, Marta and the gang continued to walk, making their plans of attack.
Ram said, "Okay, Marta... so how are we going to do this?"
Marta's eyes widened as she said, "Hey, Ram, are you sure you wanna help us out? Not to detour you or anything, but isn't your dad probably worried sick about you by now?"
Ram said with a sly smirk, "Lucky for me, Marta, I have a life-sized doll of me made of straw back at the ranch. My dad won't notice a thing."
And he didn't.... Back at the ranch, this was going on inside of Ram and her father's cabin:
He said to the straw doll while reading his paper, "Well, Ram, I hope you're enjoying your eggs and bacon! They came from the chickens and pigs outside, just the way you like 'em!"
In response, one of the straw doll's straw arms fell off.
"Ah-hahah!" laughed Ram's father. "That's my baby girl! She got excited enough to lose a limb!"
Back to Marta and her crew...
"I wonder how we're going to take Tiane down," puzzled Mr. Grey. "She's pretty tough...."
"Oh yeah...?" questioned Marta with a stern look. "Well so am I when you mess with my family. Knowing how strong Tiane is, we'll all go in there and attack her as a group. It's the only way we'll have a chance."
"We'll have a chance, yes... but will it work?" questioned Mr. Grey.
Marta could only keep a stern expression, keeping her eyes forward as she saw their house in the distance. "It'll have to... because here we are."
Tiane was now in her room, having plugged up two giant stereos to her wall as she struck the cord on a guitar she held. The guitar was plugged to the wall also. She then flipped a switch on one of the stereos, causing it to start playing loud music. She immediately started playing her guitar, which was also very loud, as if she were one of music's most monstrous beasts. Tiane then heard the doorbell ring, much to her annoyance as she rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, great...." She immediately unplugged her guitar and stereos, making her way out of her room and down the stairs. The doorbell rang again when Tiane, still annoyed, said, "Yeah-yeah... I'm coming! I'm coming!"
Tiane then opened the door, immediately widening her eyes to find four uninvited guests who all seemed very displeased. "Oh..." said Tiane with relief before laughing. "It's just you losers! Ha-ha!" She noticed Marta, observing her body and said, "Wow, Marta! Ha-ha! I've never seen those many bandages on one stupid body!"
Marta sternly replied, "That 'stupid body' was hurt because of you, monster...."
Tiane laughed, "Hahaha!" and said, "Yeah! I guess I got a little carried away with trying to improve your looks! Ha-hahaha!" Tiane then looked to Mr. Grey. "Oh! And look at you, Chad! Your honker is pinker than rashes on a cow's nose! Ha-hahaha!"
"Your jokes aren't funny, Tiane..." said Mr. Grey, also with sternness. "And that's 'Dad' to you!"
"Tch!" snickered Tiane, rolling her eyes and giving him that talk to the hand gesture. "Yeah, sure! Just not a capitalized 'dad,' old man! I'll address you and mom however I please!" Tiane then looked to Mrs. Grey with a snide smile. "Oh, Miriam! Look at your face!" She pointed and laughed. "I guess I slapped you pretty hard for it to still be THAT red! Ha!"
Miriam could only reply with a disgusted look to her daughter.
Tiane looked down to Ram and said, "And last but not least, our country girl: Ram!" She got down to eye level with her and teased, "Ha! Where's your red neck? I don't see it!"
Tiane laughed, making Ram groan angrily and reply, "You made me watch my best friend get beat up by you.... I'll never forgive you for that, Tiane."
"Ha!" laughed Tiane, rolling her eyes in annoyance. She said with her typically mean smile, "Well, since you all came all this way... come right in!" She acted as though they weren't going to and grabbed Marta by the arm.
"AH!" screamed Marta as the others feared for her safety.
"Well...?" said Tiane, throwing Marta to the floor inside their home. "What are you waiting for?!" She then grabbed Mr. and Mrs. Grey by their arms and threw them on top of Marta, causing them to scream as she continued, "Come on in and make yourselves at home!" She grabbed Ram by the arm. "You too, country girl!" she said before throwing her on top of them and closing the door behind her. Tiane, now cracking her knuckles, said, "Alright... who wants a beating first?"
"How about YOU?!" said Ram, jumping up and throwing a punch at Tiane's face.
Tiane grabbed Ram's fist, smirked and threw her aside, making Ram scream.
Then Mr. Grey quickly got up and punched Tiane in the face, only for Tiane to grab him by the arm and knee his stomach, making Mr. Grey groan in pain before she'd elbow his back, sending him to the floor.
"CHAD!" exclaimed Mrs. Grey before looking to Tiane with anger. "Why yoooou...!"
Tiane motioned with one hand for Mrs. Grey to come forth.
Mrs. Grey charged at Tiane and threw a punch at her face.
Tiane, however, grabbed her mother's fist before it could land and said, "What's with everyone trying to nail my face? Don't you value your daughter's looks anymore?" From there, Tiane threw Mrs. Grey on top of Mr. Grey before Marta would leap at Tiane, throwing a punch at Tiane's stomach. Tiane, however, caught Marta's fist and said, "And Marta...? Is that any way to treat your sister...?" Tiane giggled while Marta grunted with wide, trembling eyes and shrunken pupils. Tiane kicked her little sister in the stomach, then threw Marta to Mr. and Mrs. Grey.
"AH!" screamed Marta as she hit the floor.
"Marta just got out of the hospital!" said Ram, getting back up with a clenched fist before running towards Tiane. "I WON'T LET YOU PUT HER BACK IN!"
Tiane merely giggled as Ram once again threw a punch to her face, only for Tiane to grab her fist again.
"Uh...?" puzzled Ram with fear and shock.
"I'm getting bored with these redundant moves..." said Tiane before bending Ram's hand to the side, snapping some bones.
"AAAaaaaAAAAAAH!" screamed Ram, trying to break her hand free of Tiane's grip.
"They're really BUGGING me!" said Tiane, kicking Ram in the face, sending her falling to the floor again.
"RAM!" exclaimed Marta in worry before grabbing Tiane in a neck lock from behind, only for Tiane to kick Marta's leg and make her fall off.
Before Tiane could punch Marta, Mrs. Grey grabbed Tiane's arm and said, struggling to pull it back, "Didn't... we ever... teach you... any manners?!"
Tiane snickered and kicked her mother in the stomach before grabbing her by the hair and preparing to punch her. "Take this, mom!" said Tiane, aiming her fist at Mrs. Grey's face before Mr. Grey, from the side, grabbed Tiane's wrist and said, "Eh-eh-eh... it's not..." and he began trying to twist it, "nice to... hit your... mother!"
As Tiane drew back her available arm, ready to hit Mr. Grey, Marta added from behind, "OR FATHER!" while jumping up to Tiane and punching her back.
Tiane, unaffected by the hit, groaned and threw Mr. Grey into Marta, sending them both to the floor.
Mrs. Grey then took the opportunity to grab Tiane in a body lock, squeezing as tightly as she could.
Tiane repeatedly kicked her mother's knee.
"AH!" screamed Mrs. Grey before growling in pain and saying, "I'm... not... going... to let go!"
"Take this!" said Mr. Grey, jumping up and punching Tiane in the nose. To his surprise, however, his oldest daughter remained unharmed.
Tiane laughed and said, "You didn't really think that could hurt me, did you?!" As Mr. Grey stood there trembling with fear in his eyes, Tiane broke free of Mrs. Grey's grip and punched her in the nose, sending her to the floor. Before Mr. Grey could attack again, Tiane kicked him forward, sending him falling into Marta.
"AUGH!" groaned Marta, falling with her father.
Tiane told them, laughing through her words, "Man! You losers are even more pathetic than I thought you would be!"
Ram, holding her broken hand, weakly stood up and said, "You guys... let me handle this...."
"What's this...?" puzzled Tiane with a mean smirk and cracking her knuckles. "Country girl wants to fight me, one-on-one?"
"Ram, no!" warned Marta, standing to her knee. "Remember the plan! You can't fight her alone! Remember what she did to me?!"
"Shut up, sis!" said Tiane. "If this wimp wants to get her tail whipped, I'd be more than happy to give it to her!"
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TIANE?!" said Marta. "WHAT DID WE OR THE FAMILY EVER DO TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS?! WHAT DID I DO FOR YOU TO LAND ME IN THE HOSPITAL?!"
Tiane turned to her and said, "Shut up, Marta! You know questions make my head hurt!" She then turned back to Ram. "Well, come on, wimp! Stop wasting time! I've got three other people in line waiting for a whipping!" Then Tiane looked up to the side, seemingly confused. "Or is it 'whooping?'" Then she looked back down at Ram, smirking again. "Ha! Whatever it is, I'll have fun doin' it to YOU lame brains either way! Hehe-ha!"
Marta thought, Ram didn't get any sleep last night.... I don't even know if she's capable of taking on Tiane without having had any rest.
"Fine!" said Ram, still holding her broken hand. "You want me?" She ran towards Tiane, shouted, "Here I COOOOOOOME!" and leaped with a flying kick.
***
Back in Righteous Korrigan, at the school, my class was having a thirty minute recess break at nine-thirty a.m. (unlike the sixth grade class, Herbertia and 1098's, which didn't). My class was out on the yard with much younger grades, like kindergarten and below. I guess we were the only pre-middle school class that got the privilege to be on the yard at the same time with these youngsters. Man... that statement just made me sound like an old man!
Xandra asked me, "So what was it like leaving your home back in Ultramodern Lionello?" while walking across the yard with some of her groupies: Yam Finau, Helena and Orabel.
Yam Finau wasn't a part of Xandra's clique nor Orabel's, but she was still someone who hung around them a lot. She was a light-gray horse and taller than Xandra who, of course, was taller than myself. And Yam's fluffy and white hair was down to her uniform skirt.
"It was pretty depressing actually," I replied to Xandra. "I lost a lot of things in the storm, but having friends like you makes me feel better!"
Xandra and the groupies all said, "Awww." And Xandra herself told me, "You're so sweet!"
In the process, however, I knew there was still something I was doing wrong.... What was taking Xandra so long to fall in love with me? Was I trying to rush things too much? I just felt like there was something I could do to make her like me even more... and then, I remembered something. Wynfred, three years from now, once told me that Xandra had to come to you first; not the other way around. So how exactly would I get Xandra to come to me...? Let's see... if Xandra was cool, she'd only want to hang around some other cool person as well. But how could I be cool in Xandra's book—besides wearing stuff like jeans, sports T-shirts and sports shoes that Wynfred recommended to me a long time ago? Hmm... AHA! I knew!
Knowing we were far enough away from certain people I was about to mention, I said, "So, Xandra... you told me that Rye and his boys give you trouble, correct?"
"Hmmm, if you remember, yes," said Xandra with a playful voice and smile.
I giggled and said, "Well, I think I could get them to leave you girls alone."
The other girls laughed while Xandra whooped and said, "Hurt 'em bad, Ikjot!" She then laughed and said, "No, just kidding!"
I also laughed and said, "But it was still funny! No, I was thinking that, if I become part of their group, I could maneuver them into being nice to you guys!"
"Hm...?" puzzled the girls to each other.
"What do you think?" I asked them.
"Trust me, they'll never change," said Xandra with a straight face, shaking her head.
"Yeah! They're just jerks!" said Yam.
But I didn't want to take 'no' for an answer. I wanted to show Xandra what I was truly capable of when it came down to swindling people out of their set ways. Even if I failed, Xandra would have at least admired me for my determination, let alone not allowing myself to get sucked into the boys' clique. She'd see me as a hero and someone who cared enough to go to such lengths for her. Sometimes, a man just had to put his foot down when he knew what he was talking about.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnSFppgkNc
I said, "I know... but I could at least give it a shot. And if you're worried about me getting sucked into their clique...? Pfft. Please... I'd get as far away from them as possible before I'd let that happen."
"Wow! You are such a brave man!" happily complimented Xandra.
See? Told ya.
"Why, thank you!" I happily replied, flattered. "Trust me, Xandra, by the time I'm done, those guys won't disturb your peace ever again!"
Xandra happily told the other girls, "I say we let him do it! He is so smart, after all!"
The other girls nodded to Xandra in their happy agreement.
"I know, right?!" said Piper. "He is such a genius!"
I smiled softly and said, "Thanks, y'all!" Walking over to Rye and his boys as they argued with Nydia, I told my girl buddies, "You're so nice, and will do!"
"Come on, Rye!" pled Nydia, seeing Rye holding a stick beyond her reach. "Give it back!"
"Nope!" said Rye, shaking his head. "I think I'm going to break it!"
"Come on, stop!" pled Nydia, reaching for it; but she had no choice but to chase him when he started running. "Rye!" she pled.
"RYE!" I yelled, stopping him in his tracks.
"Huh...?" puzzled Graysen.
"Ikjot?" puzzled Kip. "Cool! He finally wants to hang with us!"
As Graysen and Kip began walking to him, I continued to Rye, "You don't want to break that stick."
"Ikjot, my man!" said Rye, walking to me and resting his arm around my shoulder. "What's shaking?!"
But I wasn't going to be fooled by his innocent act. I said, "Come on, Rye. I saw you trying to break Nydia's stick."
"Only because Nydia called me a bad name!" said Rye.
Nydia said with disbelief, "I did not!"
"Yes you did," said Rye.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Rye, I don't believe you," I said.
"Oh? You don't believe me...?" asked Rye, stepping away from me and still holding the stick.
Knowing he would make a run for it, I had no choice but to say, "Just kidding!"
"WHAT?!" Nydia exclaimed.
"WAIT!" I said. "Let me tell all four of you about that stick; it's not your average everyday stick!"
"Yeah, right!" said Rye, rolling his eyes.
"Real smooth, Ikjot!" said Graysen, unimpressed.
Ignoring the fact that they thought I was a liar, I said, "The reason I came to tell you about that stick is because it's the kind that has magnesium inside of it." By saying the word 'magnesium,' they could tell I was probably telling the truth, considering they probably didn't know that word yet. "That's a compound that some people are allergic to." And I had to say 'some,' just so it wouldn't sound too unbelievable; using the word 'all,' I felt, would make them see through my lie. As Rye slowly lowered the stick, I continued, "Now... I'm not saying that any of you, specifically, have an allergy to magnesium; but the side effects could range from hives to trouble breathing."
"PUT IT DOWN, MAN!" Graysen pled to Rye.
"I'm not touching that!" said Rye, dropping the stick to the wood chips.
"That's interesting!" Nydia happily responded to me. "Where did you learn that?"
Man... figures the woman who's usually smart among the men would be inquisitive. I said, "It was one of the lessons we covered back in my fourth grade science class. Our teacher taught us lots of things that many other fourth grade science teachers probably don't. Now, they probably don't over here, but I don't know. For example, natural selection left some chameleons without the ability to camouflage themselves when it came down to hiding from predators."
"That's interesting!" said Graysen. "I've never known a chameleon that couldn't camouflage itself."
With a serious demeanor, I told Graysen, "Well that's because a lot of them were eaten by other animals a long time ago. It's because they didn't have the ability to camouflage themselves like other chameleons that their kind died out during natural selection. Now, after practically everything out there has eaten them, they're extinct these days."
"Wow! You know a lot!" said Kip.
I said, "No-no-no, don't give me credit! It's my science teacher who taught me all of this. Without him, I would have never known! I'm just glad I took classes with him, because he taught us so much!"
"I wish we had a science teacher like that!" laughed Rye.
"Yeah, ours is SO dumb!" laughed Kip.
But I knew they were just being mean. I knew the science teacher at this school and she was very smart, just like any other I had! The only dumb person was me; I didn't know a darn thing about science! Then again, I guess it only made sense since being a cartoonist was always my dream.
"Aw, now I wouldn't say that!" I told Kip with a smile.
"Trust me, she is!" said Graysen with a supposedly serious face.
"Yeah! And so is Xandra!" said Rye to Graysen with a laugh.
"Yeah, she is..." said Graysen with a calm smile.
I supposed they were trying to tick me off. I supposed they wanted me to punch them or something so I could get in trouble. What jerks!
But instead, I did the smart thing and said, "Now just hold on a minute there! Xandra isn't dumb! Why she's possibly one of the smartest people I know! No, she's better than that: She's a genius!"
Little did I know that Nydia had secretly gone over to Xandra, asking her to listen to what I was saying... which is what I had hoped for to happen.
I continued to Rye with saying, "I mean, she has so many friends here! She's the very definition of the word 'success!' If there were a student council election here—"
"There is," interrupted Graysen.
I replied, "Uh... when there is a student council election here, she'll get my vote for simply being a great friend and a good kid! She's my role model!"
Rye quickly signaled to the other students to come and hear what I was saying, possibly in strategy to embarrass me. (Xandra, Nydia, Yam, Helena and Orabel also came to the crowd but stood way in the back where I wouldn't see them.)
I said, "Fine, you want everyone to hear me?! That's just fine with me! Everyone deserves to hear about how great of a kid Xandra is! Her good name doesn't need to be hidden anymore; it needs to be known! Xandra's my best friend! And if you and your boys can't respect her, then maybe it's time I taught you how to!" I then told everyone in the crowd, "Hear me out, and no one tell Xandra this, but we're gonna surprise her by the end of the week with something special!"
And everyone gasped.
I continued, "That's right! I think it's time we did! Show of hands, can anyone tell me what Xandra likes?"
A koala student raised her hand and said, "Well... I know she likes this band called Sulfur and Skull Heads."
I remembered that. My sister told me how Xandra was crazy about that band.
A male horse student said, "In addition, she also likes Tiles of the Wave and Festivities of Doomsdays."
"All bands that fall into the categories of rock, emo, punk, indie..." I puzzled, formulating an idea. "Okay, here's the deal: We're all gonna get in the cafeteria this Friday and sing her a song from one of those bands. She'll need a little music to listen to after a long week of school, am I right, guys?"
Everyone became excited.
"We all get to sing?!" exclaimed a student. "Cool!"
"Wait!" said Rye. "We're all doing this for Xandra?!"
"You get to sing," I said, knowing Rye would get excited over that even though it'd involve singing for someone he disliked.
"Eh, true!" Rye said with an agreeing shrug.
"It'll be awesome!" said Graysen.
"What's going on here?!" exclaimed Mrs. Ives, breaking through the crowd with two other teachers.
"Good morning, Mrs. Ives!" I said. "Me and the other students were planning to sing a song in the cafeteria for Xandra this Friday!"
"Really now?!" asked Mrs. Ives, getting excited.
"That sounds like fun!" said another teacher.
"Should we let her know about it?" asked Mrs. Ives.
"No need to worry about that!" said a student, pointing to Xandra. "She's standing right there!"
Everyone laughed, realizing this as Xandra shyly laughed, waving to us.
"So, whose idea was it to do this for Xandra anyway?" asked Mrs. Ives, walking through the crowd with Xandra.
Everyone pointed to me. Those who didn't know me said, "It was his!" while others who did know me said, "Ikjot's!" and, "It was Ikjot's!"
Mrs. Ives said, "Aw, Ikjot! That is so sweet of you!"
"It's the least I could do for my bestie: Xandra!" I happily said.
Xandra whooped, "WOOOO!" and said, "You rock, Ikjot!"
I said, "It won't be me who rocks; it will be your song! I'm sorry we couldn't keep this whole surprise thing a secret from you, but the song we'll sing is still a mystery! Just come to the cafeteria around..." and I puzzled, "Um... Mrs. Ives, who shall we ask for a good time to have the cafeteria open for our performance this Friday?"
Mrs. Ives said, "You could tell Sister Yedda about this and ask the cafeteria workers if they'd agree. You could also talk to Ms. Pasternak about this—I'm sure she'd love the idea!"
"Will do!" I said, giving Mrs. Ives a thumbs up. I turned to Xandra and said, "Xandra, by the time we're done, you'll be happy upon going home for the weekend. That's all we really want for you!" I would have said, That's all 'I' really want for you. But it probably would've embarrassed Xandra had I done that in front of all these people, especially the teachers!
Xandra happily said, "Awesome! I'm looking forward to it!"
"Me too, Xandra!" I happily said.
...
During lunch in the cafeteria, Herbertia, however, was not so pleased to hear this news.... "Ikjot's doing WHAT for Xandra?!" she exclaimed to Hobbs Sydnor who told her. Ugh! Figures he'd be the one to rat me out... since he's a mouse. Even with my new extroverted self in this timeline, that weasel still had it out for me!
"It's true!" Hobbs said while standing beside Xander Lennon, his colleague.
Xander Lennon was a light-brown horse and slightly taller than Hobbs, making him around my same height. But through that face of his with his bowl-cut orange hair, one could still see the inner serpent. "Yeah!" said Xander. "We heard about it from some kids on the yard!"
The two boys then left while Herbertia puzzled to herself confused, saying, "I don't understand...." She grabbed 1098 by the collar of her shirt and continued, "Why would he make an event for Xandra?!"
"Um, because she's his friend...?" suggested 1098.
"I know that! But I'm his girlfriend! Why wouldn't he do something like this for me—?"
"WHAT?!" interrupted Ilana, standing among her colleagues and behind Herbertia. Herbertia and 1098 laughed nervously as Ilana continued, "Ikjot's your BOYFRIEND?!"
Herbertia quickly covered Ilana's mouth and shushed her. "Not so loud...!" she whispered.
"Why didn't you tell us?!" elatedly whispered Xiomara.
"That is so cool!" elatedly whispered Hyacinth.
Herbertia sighed and said, "You guys aren't going to go around the school making fun of us or anything, are you?"
Ilana paused and said with an awkward expression, "Uh, no...? Why would you think that?"
"So I'm guessing you and your girls are one of the few peeps around here who don't make fun of couples?" puzzled Herbertia.
Ilana and her girls looked to each other with awkward expressions before Ilana replied, "Um, no...?"
"Why would you ask?" asked Gylda with a laugh.
"Just checking," Herbertia told them with an unamused look. "Now, you have to promise me that you girls will keep this just between us. Don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Sure!" said Ilana.
"We won't tell anyone!" said Xiomara, shaking her head with the other girls.
"Just curious though, why would Ikjot make an event like this for Xandra and not for you?" puzzled Ilana.
Hebertia rolled her eyes and said, "I'm still puzzling on that too, Ilana." She looked back to Ilana. "But I guess I'm just overreacting."
"Oh no! Not at all!" said Ilana, holding Herbertia's arm with concern. "Did you wanna talk?"
"No!" said Herbertia, pulling her arm away. "I'm just fine...."
"Are you sure...?" puzzled Xiomara.
"We can talk..." pled Ilana.
"Just leave me alone..." said Herbertia as she walked away with disappointment.
1098 followed while Ilana and Xiomara could only look at each other, confused.
As for Xandra and her girls who sat at the fifth grade table in the cafeteria, they were talking about something that happened earlier that morning.
"Wow, seriously?!" exclaimed Xandra to Nydia.
"Yeah!" laughed Nydia. "He told Rye and his boys that my stick could release magnesium upon being broken. Guess what else? They totally fell for it!"
Xandra, Nydia and the other girls laughed. "Wow!" said Xandra.
"MAN! That guy's NUTS!" exclaimed the random roach, still alive but with a broken leg and in a wheelchair.
Orabel leaned down to the floor, unamused while looking at the roach and asked him, "Didn't I kill you yesterday?"
The roach replied, "No, you only crippled me...." He grew an unamused expression and continued, "Jerk."
Then Orabel plucked the roach away (despite having a hoof, I know), making him scream for dear life. She leaned back up to the other girls and said, referring back to me, "He is so sneaky!"
"I know, right?!" said Nydia. "They didn't even wanna touch it by the time he was done!"
"I'm starting to like this guy!" said Orabel, nodding with folded arms.
Xandra happily said, "He is nice—all the more reason to hurt him."
Wynfred said, "I know, right—?" before realizing what Xandra had just said. "Wait, what?!"
"But he is sneaky though," said Yosef, much to nodding with the other girls in agreement.
With a laugh, Xandra said, "I don't care whether he's good or bad. He's still a loser.... Hey! I could get him to join our cliques—just to make fun of him, of course!"
The others agreed as Nydia noted, "Uh, wait... just to make fun of him?"
"Um... yeah?" rudely replied Xandra.
Nydia replied, "Well... yeah, but... that sounds kind of mean...."
Xandra became sad... and told Nydia, "Oh, I see.... I made a dumb idea again, didn't I...?"
"What?!" Nydia exclaimed. "No way! It's cool! It's just that... it seems so wrong...."
Xandra went on to say, "It's okay, Nydia.... I'm just a..." and she became teary-eyed, "big dummy...." And she covered her crying face.
Nydia said, "Well... no...." Seeing as how Xandra wouldn't stop crying, Nydia finally said, "Okay, fine.... Let's do it."
Immediately happy again and having a pleasant smile, Xandra said, "Good!"
"Make Ikjot a part of our clique?" puzzled Helena. "That would be so cool!"
Xandra said, "Helena, you're not part of our cliques.... AND YEAH, IT'LL BE SO AWESOME TO PLAY WITH HIS EMOTIONS LIKE THAT! I'm the one who thought of it, after all." Then Xandra softly chuckled, "He-he."
Unamused, Helena said, "Riiiiiight," before rolling her eyes and giving Xandra a high-five.
***
Later on the yard and during normal recess, which took place for grades four through eight at twelve-thirty noon, Xandra, Wynfred, Nydia and Yosef were in a usual spot that Xandra would go to for talking with other girls in secret. It was beneath a wooden castle of some sort on the wood chips field, with a slide on each end. Trust me, I didn't know what to call it... and I still don't.
"So we're really going to share Ikjot with the other clique?" asked Wynfred.
Xandra rolled her eyes and said, "Pfft! Of course not! We're going to get him before the other girls do...."
"Well, yeah, but... we said at the table that we were going to recruit Ikjot," said Yosef.
"We did say that," Nydia nodded while replying.
"Exactly," said Xandra before signaling to herself and the other two girls. "We're going to recruit Ikjot into our own clique. Besides, it would probably—"
"Hold up!" said Wynfred. "We made this whole thing a promise to Orabel and her clique too!"
"That sounds so mean..." added Nydia, sad. "Why would we do that?"
Xandra gasped... and told them, "Are you questioning me?!"
"Nuh-uh!" said Nydia, shaking her head.
Doing the same, Wynfred said, "Well... no, Xandra... but—"
Looking down with sadness, Xandra said, "I guess I really am dumb...."
Wynfred reluctantly said, "Um, Xandra... it just seems... kind of mean... but I like it!" Wynfred actually didn't like it, but she and the others had no choice but to always agree with Xandra if they wished to remain a part of her clique and be seen as the 'cool' girls, of course. Plus, Xandra knew how to get her way through faking sadness....
Looking down with disappointment, Nydia responded to Wynfred with saying, "I don't."
Quivering her lips with tears forming in her eyes, Xandra covered her hands over her face, cried again and gleefully thought, Good thing I know how to produce fake tears! Hehe!
"Come on, Nydia!" pled Wynfred. "Please, do it for Xandra!"
"Yeah, she's our friend!" pled Yosef.
Momentarily uncovering her face, Xandra said, "It's okay, y'all.... I guess I've just been nothing but a burden to you..." and covered her face again, continuing to fake cry.
"NO-NO-NO, XANDRA!" pled Nydia. "You're my friend and I'll do anything for you!"
Uncovering her face and being happy again, Xandra said, "AW, THANKS!" She continued, "So, yeah, my plan is awesome. Plus, it'll make the boys not want to bother us anymore."
"Um... didn't you already say this at the lunch table?" suggested Yosef—and Xandra DID already say this by the way.
Xandra gasped with disbelief. "Are you questioning me?!"
Yosef corrected herself with saying, "No, not at all, Xandra!"
With a pleasant smile, Xandra replied, "Thanks!" Then told them all, "Okay, so here's what we're gonna do... WAIT! First, we need to make fun of some people."
"Okay!" said Wynfred. "So, who's on the agenda today?"
"Um, I would know that since I'm the one who suggested it?" said Xandra, rolling her eyes with her hands on her hips.
"You don't have to be rude..." said Wynfred.
Xandra grew sad again and said, "Oh, I see.... You think I'm..." and her lips quivered with sorrow while tears formed in her eyes again, "mean...."
"What...?" said Wynfred with widening eyes. "No, not at all!"
Xandra hugged Wynfred and said, "I LOVE YOU!"
"Um..." puzzled Wynfred, "thanks, Xandra! So, who's on the agenda today?"
With a sly smile, Xandra looked to Nydia and said, "Okay, so... let's start off with Nydia."
Nydia's eyes widened with shock while the others laughed.
Xandra continued, "I mean, she's so poor..." and laughed, "that it's totally funny!"
"I know, right?!" said Yosef. "She doesn't even own a computer!"
"Hey! At least I own a computer!" said Wynfred.
"And have you seen her mom...?" said Xandra.
"Wow, you're going to make fun of her parents...?" questioned Wynfred with shock. "That's low...."
Xandra replied, "Um... I'm kind of in the middle of hurting someone here?"
"I'm just saying—"
"Oh, I see..." replied Xandra, looking down with feigned sadness again. "You think I don't know what I'm doing...." Tears formed in her eyes as she sniffed and continued, "I guess you're right! I mean..." and sniffed again while the tears fell, "I'm such a loser, after all...!"
"No, you're not, Xandra!" pled Wynfred.
"Yeah!" pled Yosef. "You're the best friend ever!"
Xandra said with relief, "Aw, thanks!" and wiped some tears from her eyes. Then she went on to tell them, "So anyway, yeah! Nydia's mom is so poor, I bet she made her clothes from the skin of a pig in their backyard or something...."
"Maybe she is the pig!" laughed Yosef.
"My insult was still better..." snobbishly said Xandra.
"Oh, of course, Xandra!" said Yosef, knowing her disagreeing would make Xandra cry again.
As for Nydia's eyes, they were becoming filled with real tears; not fake ones like a certain somebody's—and that certain somebody could see that! Xandra purposely continued, "So anyway, yeah! I also bet her mom's so poor that she can't afford to lose money. That's why she's so fat, because she stuffed all the change in her stomach!"
All of them, except Nydia who now covered her face in her hands while crying, laughed from Xandra's insult.
"I know why Nydia doesn't have a computer: Her mom ate it!" said Yosef with a laugh, making the others laugh as well.
With that, Nydia ran out of their hiding spot and onto the yard, still having her hands covering her face while crying.
"Wow! That was... cruel," said Wynfred.
"I know, right?!" laughed Xandra.
"I don't know, Xandra," said Yosef. "That was so... mean...."
Xandra chuckled, "I know... which is why we did it. Did you know that girl actually talks to herself? She even plays with worms and has imaginary friends from what I hear! There's no way we needed that weirdo in our clique anymore! We just led her on until today to make fun of her, that's all. Now let's talk about Ikjot!"
Wynfred said, "But, Xandra, I was going to make a joke about Nydia's mom too—"
Xandra gasped and said, "So... my wants aren't as important?!"
Wynfred immediately subdued and apologetically said, "Oh, of course they are, Xandra!"
Xandra laughed and said, "Duh?! I'm awesome!"
"Of course you are, Xandra!" said Wynfred.
"You are the MOST awesome!" said Yosef.
Xandra said, "YUP! I'm the best! Okay, so first off, let's start off with how UGLY Ikjot is! I mean, really! He looks like a rat!" and chuckled.
"But he did make an event just for you," said Wynfred.
With a laugh, Xandra said, "Yeah, but he did that because he's desperate to make me like him—I can tell! I mean," and using her index finger and thumb, she made the letter 'L' with saying, "what a LOSER!"
Yosef said, "But he wants to make Rye and his boys leave us alone.... Should we really make fun of someone that nice?"
Xandra made a sad pout and said, "Oh, okay.... I guess my ideas are dumb, like me...."
"No, not at all!" pled Wynfred.
"Aw, y'all are so sweet!" said Xandra. "So, back to Ikjot, do you see his teeth when he smiles?" She laughed, "I mean, they're so crooked, you could sell them to an old man for dentures!" and the other girls laughed with her.
...I mean, my... teeth did look a bit crooked whenever I'd smile.
***
Minutes later, once she finally decided to stop making fun of people behind their backs, Xandra and her girls came to me while I sat on a swing. Xandra said, "Hi, Ikjot! Wow, you look so noble when you sit on a swing!"
I replied, "Hi, Xandra, and thanks!" before Yosef would give me a high-five. I looked down and continued, "Um... hey, Xandra?"
"Yeah?" asked Xandra.
"I, um... I just wanted to say I'm sorry about embarrassing you the way I did this morning."
"Embarrassed? Why would you say that?"
I scratched the back of my head. "Well... it's just that... it's not like you wanted the teachers involved or anything, or all of those students, or maybe even a party for that matter. All I was supposed to do was get Rye and his boys to respect you... and I blew it."
Xandra shook her head, saying, "You didn't ruin anything!"
"Really...?" I asked in puzzle.
"Of course not!" laughed Xandra. "No one's ever done anything that nice for me before!" And she folded her hands near the front of her legs, smiling down at me sweetly. "You're really kind to me, Ikjot."
I blushed and smiled, keeping eye contact with her (thanks to the pebble). "It's no... trouble at all, Xandra," I replied.
"Yeah! That was really awesome of you!" happily said Wynfred.
"Actually, I wanted to talk with you for a moment," said Xandra before snapping her fingers, making Wynfred rest her arm around my shoulder.
"Really?" I said, standing up from the swing with Wynfred's help.
"Yeah!" happily said Xandra, walking away with me and her colleagues.
I didn't expect, however, for a certain someone and her own colleagues to have been watching us the whole time. "Oh my gosh!" Ilana whispered to Xiomara. "Why is he being so friendly with Xandra if he's Herbertia's boyfriend?!"
"This is bad..." said Xiomara.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXaJ7gFXp6
Man, out of all the things.... Ilana, you'd better keep your mouth SHUT!
Meanwhile, Orabel, Piper and Voleta were watching Xandra and her clique walk me too.
"Here she goes!" said Piper with excitement.
"Ikjot's going to be a part of Xandra's clique AND ours!" said Orabel, also excited.
Looking up at her, I kept my eyes on the beauty of Xandra's orange hair flowing through the wind, and Xandra herself for that matter while she said, "So, Ikjot... me and the girls were talking and..."
"We want you to be one of us!" happily said Yosef.
Xandra playfully nudged Yosef and giggled, "Shut up!" Xandra looked down to me again and continued, "But really though, we want you to be a part of our clique!"
I became filled with joy beyond my imagination.... I couldn't believe it! "Wow..." I said with stars in my eyes. "Really...?!"
"Mhm!" happily hummed Xandra, nodding.
"Yeah! You'd be awesome to have around!" happily said Wynfred.
"I can't believe this is really happening to me..." I said, smiling. "This is awesome!"
"Yup!" said Xandra. "But to prove your acceptance, we'll need you to get Rye and his boys off our back."
I replied with a smile, "Like I said, I will! Give me some time to think of a plan and I should have a solution either by the end of the day or first thing tomorrow morning!"
"Cool! Can't wait!" said Xandra before walking off with her colleagues. "Well, we're gonna get going now." Xandra waved goodbye. "See you around, Ikjot!"
I waved goodbye and replied, "See you around, Xandra! Take care!"
"You too!" said Xandra, continuing to walk off.
I would have jumped for joy from all of this, but that would've made me seem like a total dork in front of everybody. So I kept my glee bottled up... but man, was I excited!
Meanwhile, Ilana and her girls continued to talk. "Should we tell Xandra?" asked Ilana to Xiomara.
"Well..." puzzled Xiomara.
"I say we wait," said Hyacinth. "I mean, we haven't seen them make out or anything."
The other girls agreed while Ilana said, "Yeah, you're right."
"He should still hang around Herbertia more," said Gylda.
"I know!" said Xiomara. "I mean, he's always around Xandra."
Ilana said with a puzzled laugh, "I know, right...?"
Meanwhile, Xandra and her colleagues were talking to Orabel and hers. "What do you mean Ikjot's not going to be part of our clique?!" exclaimed Orabel, confused.
"Oh, he will!" said Xandra. "He just won't be part of 'yours,' that's all."
"But you told us that BOTH cliques would get Ikjot so we could ALL make fun of him!" exclaimed Piper.
"Well, I lied! Duh?!" said Xandra with a laugh.
"See, that's what I mean, Xandra!" said Orabel. "That's what me, Voleta and Piper don't like about you!"
"Yeah!" said Voleta. "You're always tricking us! Why do you do that?!"
Xandra got down in their faces with a smirk and teasingly said, "Because it was a good laugh for me!"
Orabel then slapped Xandra across the face, turning her head.
Xandra held her hand to her cheek and soon turned her head back to looking down at Orabel. Then looking at the palm of her hand and not seeing the slightest trace of blood, Xandra teasingly told Orabel, "Wow... you call that a hit...?" and chuckled. "C'mon, you have hooves."
Now even angrier, Orabel slapped Xandra again.
This time when Xandra turned back around, she pushed Orabel down to the ground.
Now having wood chips on her back, Orabel got back up while Xandra laughed at her. She pushed Xandra in return, moving her back but failing to make Xandra fall.
Xandra then pushed Orabel.
Orabel responded by grabbing Xandra's shoulders. Xandra quickly grabbed Orabel's and, before many students knew it, the two began slapping each other, occasionally holding on to each other's hair.
"HEY, LOOK!" shouted one young female beaver student, noticing them.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiAYTQpIEv
"THEY'RE FIGHTING!" cheered an older female goose student.
And from there, many students started gathering in a circle around Xandra and Orabel. And many students were laughing and cheering them on.
Being the extrovert I was nowadays, I didn't fear trying to break through the crowd, just to see what was going on—and I did just that. "Excuse me! Pardon me!" I said, eventually making it to Xandra and Orabel with a gasp. I ran to them and said, "STOP IT!"
But neither of them would listen. They just kept going at each other.
Frowning, Xandra bent down to cup some wood chips into her hands and flung them at Orabel's face.
Orabel wiped as many wood chips off her face as she could, then charged and tackled Xandra to the wood chips ground, soon enough rolling around with her.
"Hey, what's going on over there?!" exclaimed Herbertia, sitting at one of the picnic tables as usual.
"Eh..." said a bored 1098. "I don't really care for fights...."
Herbertia then heard a voice, saying, "PLEASE, LADIES! STOP THIS!" which sounded all too familiar to her. "Ikjot...?" she puzzled before running towards the crowd. "IKJOT!"
"Have fun," said 1098. "I don't know how to fight; just give advice." 1098 then picked a water bottle off the ground, which someone already drank out of, and started drinking some herself.
Now seeing Orabel and Xandra rolling in the wood chips, I once again told them, "COME ON, GIRLS! YOU'RE FRIENDS!" But reasoning with them seemed useless. If they weren't going to listen to me by words, I'd have to do one thing.... I grabbed Orabel by the back of her shirt, pulling her off Xandra and holding her back. Then, as Xandra sped towards Orabel to grab her, I held my hand in front of Xandra, stopping her in her tracks.
Xandra said, "IKJOT, SHE'S EVIL! LET ME SHOW HER A THING OR TWO!"
"RIGHT AFTER I SHOW YOU ONE, COW!" said Orabel, struggling to break free of my grip.
"NO!" I said. "THIS IS WRONG! YOU TWO WILL STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY! WITH ALL THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE IN OUR WORLD TODAY BETWEEN WARS, MURDERS AND ALL SORTS OF OTHER UNJUST CRIMES, YOU'D THINK WE COULD ALL STICK TOGETHER!"
Xandra reached her arm around me, attempting to pull Orabel by the hair.
I grabbed Xandra's arm and told her, "I SAID STOP!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Xandra with great fear. "IT TOUCHED MEEEEEEEEEEE!" I blinked curiously before she slapped my arm and commanded, "LET GO!" forcing me to withdraw my grip. She screamed again, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" running to the crowd and pushing her way through. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU FOOLS! MOVE IT!" she said before continuing to run and scream, making everyone laugh at how scared she was of contracting 'loser' from me.
But now I was confused.... I mean, she... hit me...? And she... called me an 'it'? I didn't... do anything wrong so far since returning to this time period so... why the insult?
Breaking through the crowd from the other side, Herbertia said, "GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY HONEY, YOU DIRTY BROADS—" then she paused, realizing I was unharmed. "Oh! Ikjot, you're okay!"
"Um... yes, Herbertia," I told her, still wondering why Xandra said what she said.
Herbertia walked to me and asked, "Hmmm, are you sure?"
"Positive," I said, not wanting to tell Herbertia about it. She probably would have chased Xandra down for a beating and I... didn't want that. I'd get to the bottom of this myself.
"That girl seems to care about you a lot, doesn't she?" Orabel asked me.
Uh-oh. Now Orabel too was noticing my relations with Herbertia. I nervously told Orabel, "Um..."
Herbertia replied, "That girl has a name: Herbertia Naomi Jeff! Get it right!"
Just then, Sister Nylah Zita, Mrs. Queneau Wolper (our science teacher, a golden cat lady with wavy blonde hair), Mr. Nutbrown and Mrs. Hingle—the four staff members on duty—came through the crowd of students.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" asked Sister Nylah Zita with great anger, knowing it had to be a fight.
I said, "Oh, nothing at all, Sister Nylah Zita!" I signaled to Orabel who was still behind me and said, "Orabel and I were giving the students an anatomy lesson! You see, they—"
"IKJOT!" warned Sister Nylah Zita. "You'd better NOT be lying to me—"
"Oh! No-no!" I said, keeping my cool and pointing to the surrounding students. "Why they can tell you for themselves."
"What's he talking about?" said Rye. "Xandra and Orabel were totally maiming each oth—"
Graysen nudged Rye's arm, forcing him to cease his statement.
"OW!" said Rye, rubbing his arm and looking at Graysen with disgust. Rye rephrased, "I mean, um, yeah! Ikjot and Orabel taught us that your... um... BRAIN is located in your... um.... HEAD!"
Everyone paused to Rye's words—me, Orabel, the teachers, all of the students, even some ants, flies and seagulls.
Regardless, Sister Nylah Zita bought it and said, "Very well...." She then told the other three teachers, "Let's go, teachers!" With that, the four of them walked away.
We all sighed with relief, realizing the worst hadn't happened after all....
"Hey, um... Ikjot...?" said Orabel.
I turned to her and asked, "Yes, Orabel...?"
She used her finger to curl some of her hair and told me, "Um... thank you. I mean, really... THANK YOU! OH MY GOSH! You have NO idea how helpful that was!"
"Hey, it's no problem!" I smiled with telling Orabel. "I wasn't just gonna let you or Xandra get in trouble or anything—"
"XANDRA?!" exclaimed Orabel, mad. "FORGET XANDRA! SHE NEEDS DETENTION, A GOOD FRYING IN THE UNDERWORLD AND SO MUCH MORE; OH MY GOSH!"
"Well... maybe you guys just got into a misunderstanding—"
"MISUNDERSTANDING MY—" But Orabel stopped herself. "...Look, don't trust her. Trust me! She's pure evil!"
"Well... maybe it's a misunderstanding—"
"IT'S NOT A MISUNDERSTANDING, IKJOT! SHE LIED TO ME AND MY FRIENDS TODAY ABOUT—" Then Orabel stopped herself again, unwilling to reveal that this whole thing was about seeing what clique could make fun of me the most first. "...Well... you wouldn't understand.... Just stay away from her! Trust me! She's a backstabber!"
Man... here I was again having to choose sides. If I agreed with Orabel and said, Fine. I'll stay away from Xandra, then Xandra would've flipped at me! If I disagreed with Orabel and said, No. I'm siding with Xandra, then I might have chased away a potential best friend and even forced her to spread rumors about me. Oh dear... I didn't know what to do except say, "Um..."
"What?! You don't believe me?!" asked Orabel with disbelief.
Oh man... I didn't know what else to say except, "No, it's not that.... It's just that I think there may be a bit of... a confusion here, is what's going on—"
Orabel interrupted, "You know what? Side with her! I don't care."
"Wait, Orabel—" I pled, only to quickly realize she was walking away. Man... what was I to do...?
The bell then rang, meaning recess was over and the second period of classes for the day would begin.
As I walked with the other students, on my way to the fifth grade line, Herbertia walked beside me and asked, "Wow... what's her problem?"
I sighed... and replied, "I sure hope she doesn't have one or my ship is sunk."
"Not if I sink hers first!" warned Herbertia with a clenched fist.
***
Back at the shack, now ran by Derick and Mike, Derick was watching the TV when Mike came to him, holding a soda in hand. "Hey, Derick!" greeted Mike before putting the soda to Derick's face. "Want some...?"
"What...?" asked Derick, annoyed. "Man, are you ever going to stop drinking that stuff?"
"Well..." said Mike before drinking some, "I wouldn't wanna start now!"
"Ugh..." said Derick, placing the palm of his hoof over his own face. "You big chicken...." He then moved his hoof away, looking around and asked, "Hey, where's the girls by the way?"
Mike stopped drinking his soda to reply, "Oh! They said they wanted to go to the store, so I let them outside."
Derick paused with shock.... "WHAT?!" he shouted in anger.
***
Meanwhile outside, Vicky and Vanessa were running from the shack as fast as they could, hoping their plan of escape had worked.
"Well..." said Vanessa, huffing and puffing while they ran, "I think we can make it out of here after all!"
"I guess so!" said Vicky, doing the same and following behind her. "But where are we gonna go?!"
"Nowhere..." said a voice from behind Vicky before she'd hear a 'click.' Vicky stopped running and turned her head, seeing Derick who stood outside the shack with his gun aimed at them. Mike stood beside him. "HEY! VANESSA!" shouted Derick, catching Vanessa's attention as well.
"No...! It can't be!" fearfully said Vanessa before slowly turning around, showing the same fear in her face as Vicky had.
The girls trembled while Derick said, "You didn't think you'd actually be able to escape, did you...? I said no outings!"
"But..." Vanessa pled, "we were just going to the store—"
"That isn't gonna work!" said Derick. "GET YOURSELVES BACK IN HERE NOW!"
"NO!" said Vicky. "We don't have to! Now that we're out in the open, you're too afraid of drawing attention to shoot at us!"
Derick pulled the trigger on Somer's gun, firing a bullet into a tree next to them. Many leaves fell while birds were heard chirping and fleeing. After a few seconds of the girls quivering in fear, Derick replied, "YOU THINK I WON'T?!" Then Derick just stared Vanessa and Vicky down, letting the fear sink in. He soon told them again, "The next bullet, you won't be so lucky to miss... NOW GET INSIDE!"
But Vanessa knew this was their only opportunity to escape.... She still didn't believe that Derick would go so far as to shoot one of them out in the open. Calling his bluff, Vanessa turned away and kept running.
"VANESSA, NO!" begged Vicky.
"That cow..." said Derick under his breath, aiming the gun at Vanessa.
Mike's eyes widened as he said, "Uh... wait... Derick, you wouldn't really..." But all Mike could see was a snickering, determined Derick, willing to do anything to get his way, even if it meant harming someone else.
Derick once again started to pull the trigger.
"VANESSA!" pled Vicky, seeing what Derick was about to do as she ran behind her.
"DERICK, NO!" begged Mike.
But Derick was too influenced by his own will to listen to Mike. A loud boom soon enough echoed throughout those woods. More birds flew right out of their trees and into the skies.
Vicky, watching on with shock and trembling eyes, could only say, "Vanessa...."
"AAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" cried Vanessa, laying on the ground with her right foot bleeding from the inner bullet.
"Whoooooooooa!" commented Mike with shock. "Derick...."
"VANESSA!" shouted Vicky with worry, running to her. Finally making it to Vanessa, she kneeled down to her, placing her hand on her stomach and said, "VANESSA, DON'T WORRY! IT'S GOING TO BE ALRIGHT! VANESSA—!"
"I THOUGHT I... I THOUGHT WE WOULD ESCAPE, VICKY!" cried Vanessa. "I THOUGHT WE COULD ESCAAAAAAAPE!"
"We managed to get out the house, Vanessa..." said Vicky, petting her head. Vicky sternly looked to Derick and said, "Next time, we'll get out this whole area itself...."
"Not going to happen..." said Derick, folding his arms and still holding the pistol. He set it down to the ground and dared, "Here... come and take it...."
"Uh...?" puzzled Vicky with disbelief.
Derick, with the gun before his legs, said, "Well...? What are you waiting for...? I said you could have it."
"Yeah, Vicky," said Mike, folding his arms. "Come.... Take the gun."
Vicky was unsure about this.... She didn't know whether he was daring her to do this or simply being generous enough to let her and Vanessa go. She chose not to do anything for the sake of keeping herself and Vanessa safe.
But Derick continued to tempt her and said, "Look... if you want to escape, the only way you're gonna do it is if you keep this gun from me. Come and get it, and you'll be able to pull this off."
Vicky, still with a stern expression, finally said, "Derick... I don't believe you."
Derick paused.... He shrugged and put his hooves in his pockets, not caring what Vicky believed or didn't.
***
Back at Marta's house in Sanne, Ram may have had a broken hand but continued to give it her all in taking on Tiane. Ram repeatedly punched and kicked Tiane, only for Tiane to remain standing still and unharmed.
Tiane rolled her eyes with disgust and said, "Man... you're pathetic!" Before Ram could throw another punch, Tiane grabbed Ram by the head and threw her to the floor.
"AH!" yelled Ram before jumping back up and throwing another punch at Tiane.
Tiane caught Ram's fist and smirked.
Struggling to break free, Ram said, "Don't... make light... of me...!" before groaning over and over again.
Tiane said, "Maybe if you'd watch where you're swingin' that hand, I'd make squashed GUM out of you!" Tiane kicked Ram in the gut, causing Ram to cough in pain. Then Tiane threw her to the floor.
"RAM!" screamed Marta in fear.
"I'm... okay!" said Ram, slowly getting up to wipe her mouth. "This bully doesn't scare me, no matter how strong she is." While Tiane smiled with pride, Ram regained her balance and said, "Okay, jerk! Prepare to go down!" Ram ran towards Tiane and kicked at her legs, only for Tiane to jump over Ram and land behind her. "COWARD!" said Ram, running towards Tiane and punching at her back.
Tiane turned around and grabbed Ram's fist, much to Ram's shock, and said with a laugh, "You're so stupid...! Don't you know that punching me from behind won't help you get a free shot?!"
"Could you... give me a free shot then...?" asked Ram with a pleasant smile.
"No!" said Tiane, pulling back her fist and punching Ram in the face.
"AH!" cried Ram, falling to the floor and holding her face.
"HEY! STOP GOING FOR THE FACE, YOU JERK!" angrily said Marta.
"YEAH! What gives you the right to hit people anyway?!" said Mrs. Grey, just as angry. "How would you like it if someone hit YOU?!"
Tiane looked to her mom and teasingly whined, "Aw, boo-hooooo! I'm sorry, mommy! I'll never be a bad person like that again!" Tiane laughed, "HA!" and said, "When are you losers ever gonna learn the only way to do things is to do 'em the hard way?"
"Rrrrrrrrrrh!" growled Ram, slowly regaining balance.
Turning around to Ram, Tiane said, "Oh, look!" She laughed, "HA!" And went on to say, "When is this loser gonna give it up?!"
Breathing heavily, Ram thought, I've gotta' find another way to fight her.... She's so strong and fast, it's making things difficult for me to keep up. How do you beat a girl like that...?
***
By four o'clock in the afternoon, Herbertia, 1098 and I had been home since thirty minutes ago—but not without Somer and Julian escorting us there, just to keep watch of us since we were still so young. But man... lots of kids our age got to walk home by themselves! Why did these two have to be so protective...? Oh well....
Herbertia sat on the bed, doing her homework. She said, "Man, school bites...!" She looked at the eraser on her pencil. "Why do kids have to go through this stuff anyway...?"
Somer and Julian looked to each other with puzzle....
1098 who also sat before her homework, with folded arms and an unamused expression, replied, "Because, according to the advice of Ikjot's parents, if you don't go to school, you can't get a good job."
"YOU CAN HACK INTO MY MIND?!" I exclaimed to 1098 while doing my homework.
"What? You didn't already know that...?" she replied.
Herbertia told me, "Hey, don't worry about that Orabel chick. Like I said, if she does anything to destroy your rep, I'll—"
"You'll destroy her face," interrupted 1098 and I. Then I said by myself, "Yeah, I know...."
Herbertia paused and told me with a sad face, "Ikjot, you've... gotten a little rude since you became an extrovert."
"Huh...?" I puzzled. "What do you mean...?"
"I know what she means..." said Somer with a displeased look. "Ikjot, you need to—"
"Mom...?" Herbertia interrupted, "could you... give us our space?"
Somer and Julian puzzled with curiosity and looked to each other.... They looked back to her, both saying with pleasant smiles, "OKAY!" With that, Somer signaled Julian to follow her out of the room. They walked to the door, opened it, walked out and closed it behind them.
Herbertia then shut her textbook closed, walked to me with her hands on her hips and said, "Okay, Ikjot, what's the deal?!"
"Huh...?" I asked, looking up at her. "What do you mean...?"
"You planned a whole party for Xandra! That's what's the deal, yo!"
I said, "But Herbertia, it's not a party; it's a singing... and I had to! No one else would've done it, had it not been for me...."
Herbertia's expression slightly saddened while she said, "But... Ikjot... aren't you going to plan me a party too?"
"Well... of course, Herbertia. But right now I need...." Then I just sighed. "...I don't know what I need...."
Herbertia rubbed her hand on my chest and said, "I know what you need...." And I blushed and looked to her as she continued, "You need a woman who treats you right.... Someone who you don't have to plan some dumb song for just so she can like you."
"Well... sometimes, you have to do nice things for people so they can do nice things for you in return."
"Well, okay, Ikjot...." Herbertia then slid her hand up and down my belly and said, "But just know, if it doesn't work out... you've still got me, your girlfriend, to be your friend.... I don't need some dumb party to make me like you. I like you because you're... well, you."
"You like me... for being me...?"
"Well... yeah." Herbertia sat on the bed and laid behind me, rubbing my back while she went on to say, "You're awesome... more awesome than Xandra, because you don't need some big clique to make you powerful. You're nice.... You were nice enough to plan a whole event just for one person."
I looked down with a smile and a blush. "Yeah... I was, wasn't I...?"
Herbertia said, "Man... if Xandra doesn't appreciate you doing this for her, then she's dumb...."
I looked to Herbertia and said, "Aw, now don't say that.... I mean, maybe she just wouldn't know how to express her happiness the way another person would. I bet she'd be really appreciative on the inside...."
"Hmmm..." puzzled Herbertia. "Nah.... She seems too extroverted for that." Herbertia sat up and held my shoulders. "So, how was your day at school...?"
I smiled and blushed again. "Wow... no girl's ever asked me that before—at least, not that I recall." I laughed and continued, "And it was okay.... OH! Guess what?!"
"Hm...?" puzzled Herbertia.
"Xandra decided to let me join her clique on one condition: I'd come up with a way to make Rye and his boys leave her alone. When classes let out, she was like, 'It's about time! What took you so long?!'"
"Wow, what a jerk! I mean, what does she mean by, 'What took you so long?!' She's lucky you're helping her in the first place!"
I tried to calm Herbertia down by acting like I was okay with it and said, "Uh... it was nothing really."
"Really now...?" said Herbertia, rubbing my shoulder. "Well, what did you come up with?"
"Well, I told her that I..." And from there, I whispered my plans in Herbertia's ear. Her eyes widened as she heard every word....
Hmmm... what is Ikjot's big plan? Will it work? Little does he know that with all of his hard work, Xandra is only feigning friendship to make fun of him.... As far as she and the other girls are concerned, Ikjot is good for laughs and nothing more. Watch out, Ikjot! This girl is vicious....
Meanwhile, Derick and Mike keep laying down the law to Vanessa and Vicky, letting them know that there's no escape to freedom.
As for Marta and her crew in Sanne, Tiane is making it very difficult for Ram to have success in her fighting. Ram just can't keep up!
And of course, let's not forget those two agents waiting for the right moment to score Ikjot.... What are their intentions? What will they do? Don't miss the next Something!
***
In the next chapter of Something... Xandra has an evil plan brewing, and the act wouldn't be complete without Wynfred and Yosef by her side to help put it into motion!
Looking down with sadness, Xandra said, "Oh, I see.... My idea really is dumb..." and started crying.
Wynfred's eyes widened. "Oh no, Xandra!"
"We promise to do exactly as you say!" pled Yosef.
Sorry, Xandra... but it's gonna take more than fake tears to make Herbertia believe that you're not trying to have Ikjot all to yourself!
Xandra observed her hand. "Yeah, but he's still a loser and we'll still dump him in the end. He's only good for laughs."
Wow, Xandra... that's not a very kind way to act towards the person who's helping to get Rye off you and your crew's backs!
And speaking of backs... let's just hope Ram's doesn't get broken by Tiane! You don't wanna miss this action... next chapter of Something!
***
Something21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgpqYwD2Rh
821Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rfRe0qh9B
Ikjot and the Fake Diary
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♪ Yes, I didn't talk to anyone. ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrshm90LuwA
♪ I was made fun of by everyone. ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7VVrxAWjm
♪ It's something I wish could be undone. ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBaXNa0DJx
♪ She asked me. I wish I'd had respond. ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbo3PtAIjJr
♪ But hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDNt2EuN08
♪ Please hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RiGAYFxvY
♪ I'm crying out: We're all worth being loved! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uwD04BAc2
♪ I have no doubt we're all worth being loved! ♪
♪ Please, I beg you all, let's become friends! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq67kKR0vCZ
♪ Let's not judge each other by what's been! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXGOYSKyiW
♪ It was years ago! It came and went! ♪21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujsZADAP6h
♪ That's a past chapter! New one begins!
***
© 2013 Trerchry.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaaHK3BAxL
All Rights Reserved.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbzwi81aBC
