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.
***
♪ Yes, I didn't talk to anyone. ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zxZRDZhZL
♪ I was made fun of by everyone. ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUyVLmtyFR
♪ It's something I wish could be undone. ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJmTDJm88J
♪ She asked me. I wish I'd had respond. ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlBlwyv357
♪ But hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC44RlR4y0l
♪ Please hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2K5dFT6v0
♪ I'm crying out: We're all worth being loved! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡays1MJdNLN
♪ I have no doubt we're all worth being loved! ♪
♪ Please, I beg you all, let's become friends! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrRTWacB1G
♪ Let's not judge each other by what's been! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6opkDZDBuH
♪ It was years ago! It came and went! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtPbBxD4Bx
♪ That's a past chapter! New one begins! ♪
***
Something
***
In the previous chapter of Something... in order to become a part of Xandra's clique, Ikjot had to devise a plan to get Rye and his boys off of Xandra's back, and what better way than to create a fake diary—one that made her and her buddies seem like angels! Rye and his boys fell for the trick and would go around the school, clearing the bad name that once stuck to the girls.
As for Herbertia, however, her bad name was just beginning! When Ilana and her girls felt Ikjot was cheating on her with Xandra—and he was—Herbertia had to save his rep by saying she herself was a liar! What she didn't expect, however, were the girls to go about the school, telling everyone not to trust her. Ouch!
Little was everyone aware, however, that Xandra and her girls were the REAL villains! In fact, another deed of evil proved that true when Xandra deliberately tortured a baby and her mother—both who were homeless! And thanks to Tiane from the original future, she even has a secret mind-controlling power that can help her evils go uninterrupted! That's right... it's become apparent that Xandra somehow retained her future self despite being back in the past! And that wasn't all! The writings of her real diary, not Ikjot's fake one, revealed her malicious plan: Turn Ikjot's revisited timeline into a horror beyond his imaginations! Watch out, Ikjot... because you've unknowingly made yourself Xandra's mortal enemy! Find out what happens... this next chapter of Something!
***
Something9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcE2n49ap8i
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLNDEWrXk8
Ikjot's Help Isn't Needed
***
At our school, it was nine-thirty in the—okay... around nine-thirty in the morning. See? I'm not trying to seem like some person with perfect timing. Ahem, anyway... all students had been in their classrooms for an hour and a half. In my class, we were doing some sort of activity assigned by Mrs. Ives. At one table, I sat with Xandra, Piper and Helena. At another, however, Nydia sat by herself.
Seeing me try to fold my paper, Xandra said, "Wow, Ikjot, you are such a craftsman!"
"Wow, really?!" I elatedly asked her.
"Oh, absolutely! I've never seen anyone fold a paper so artistically as you!"
To that, I made a warm smile. "Thank you, Xandra...."
Xandra then told Helena, "Wow, sis... you're so pretty!"
"What 'pretty?!' She's GOREGOUS!" said Piper, also folding a paper.
Xandra laughed nervously and said, "Uh... Piper? 'Gorgeous' is my thing to call her.... And yes, Helena, you are absolutely GORGEOUS!"
With a blush, Helena replied, "Awww... y'all are sweet!"
Xandra said, "GROUP HUG!" and they all hugged each other in response.
I would have hugged too... but since I was in an all-girls clique, they might've thought I was creepy—OH, WHAT THE HECK! I tried it anyway!
"Oh, um..." said Xandra with a nervous laugh as I prepared to hug them.
"Oh, um... sorry..." I said, putting my arms down. Regardless, I didn't want to seem like the only person at our table who didn't think Helena was gorgeous, so I said, "But it is true, Helena! You are gorgeous!"
"Awww..." said Helena, looking down with a shy smile.
Also with a smile, Xandra said, "Why thank you, Ikjot! You are so thoughtful—as always!"
Then... I thought about how STUPID it was for me to compliment another girl right in front of Xandra, the actual person who I should've given that compliment to!
Xandra looked to Piper and said, "So, Piper, how's your pyramid coming along?"
Carefully folding her paper all sorts of ways, Piper replied, "Uh... trying not to get a paper cut."
Ah, the paper cut scenario.... My sis told me that Piper once stayed home from school because of one of those things.
I whispered, "So, um... Xandra, why aren't we sitting with our clique?"
"Uh... because we don't want anyone to know about it?" rudely replied Xandra.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQqfmECVfk
Gee... that was odd.
"It's what we do to confuse the guys," whispered Piper.
"No kidding! Boys are stupid!" whispered Xandra before high-fiving Piper. Xandra then whispered to me, "But not you, Ikjot! You're cool!"
I made a soft smile. "You think I'm cool, Xandra...?"
"I don't think; I know!"
I replied, "Aw, thanks! Same to you!" As I held my hand forward for a high-five, Helena reached over the table and gave me one in her older sister's place. Xandra, come on.... Was I ever going to get a high-five from you?
With displeasure, Xandra waved her fist and said, "I sure wouldn't mind giving Nydia a high-five right upside the head!"
Piper said, "I know! She is such a loser!"
"Gee, guys..." said Helena, "don't you think you're taking this a little too far?"
To Helena, Xandra exclaimed, "Did I mention that Nydia called you 'ugly' behind your back?!"
This, however, was a lie—but I didn't know that.
"What?!" exclaimed Helena in a whisper with disbelief. "But... why would she do that...? I thought we were friends...."
"Pfft!" said Xandra. "That's what she wants us all to think...." Xandra then told me, "And, Ikjot, she called you a 'weasel with crooked teeth' when we all know how awesome you are!"
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed, believing her. "How—how could she do that...?"
"She's just mean to everyone!" said Xandra, shrugging.
Piper told me, "Yeah, and she called you 'ugly' too!"
"Man...." I said, looking down and thought, Now I get it. They're not picking on Nydia just because. They're actually trying to protect me because... Nydia's a bad person. Gosh, I... never knew. And maybe she kept my sister Vinanti fooled too?
Xandra told Piper, "We're gonna make her pay, and I've got a plan."
"Wow, really?" puzzled Piper. "What's the plan?"
With her head snobbishly turned up and eyes closed with a small frown, Xandra replied, "Um... I would tell you if you would let me finish...?"
Piper shyly rubbed the back of her head and said, "Oh, um... right."
Xandra continued, "Anyway, we've got P.E. today, right?"
"Yeah...?" puzzled Helena.
Xandra said, "Good, because I'm gonna get Rye to throw a ball at Nydia's face."
My eyes widened with shock.... Did she just... say what I... thought she just said...? I was mad, yes, but... Nydia was a small and fragile person compared to these other kids. I said, "Um... hey, Xandra...?"
"Yeah?" asked Xandra, looking down at me.
I said, "I was thinking maybe we could do something else to Nydia. I mean, a wounded face can heal, but internal wounds are long lasting."
Xandra said, "Oh, cool! So you want us to stuff her with food until she gets a tummy ache?"
I quickly said, "No, I was thinking we could...." Darn! I really wished I had thought out what I was going to say before proposing a plan. The girls intently watched me while I continued, "Um... I was thinking we could..." and I said the stupidest thing, "TICKLE her so hard that she laughs for the rest of her life, nonstop!"
The girls paused, unamused....
"That's unrealistic," said Xandra.
"Well," I meekly said, "I mean, it... wouldn't hurt to try—"
"We should go with my plan," Xandra said with closed eyes and her head turned up, "because I'm awesome and I'm the best." And she opened and rolled her eyes, smiling. "He-he...."
Now that I recalled it, Rye did strike Nydia in the face with a ball; but that happened when my sister was already at this school. In fact, Nydia was still friends with Xandra when my sister arrived. I wondered... what could have been making this incident occur so early before my sister would get here?
Meanwhile, Nydia worked alone on her paper pyramid while Wynfred walked behind her chair. Wynfred quietly revealed a pen from behind herself and poked Nydia's arm with it.
"OW!" yelled Nydia while Wynfred, smiling innocently, quickly hid the pen.
Reading a newspaper at her desk, Mrs. Ives yelled, "NYDIA! That is the fifth outburst you've done this morning!"
Nydia replied, "But, Mrs. Ives—!"
"If you distract the other students one more time, I will have to place you in the hallway!"
Nydia pointed to Wynfred and told Mrs. Ives, "But, Wynfred—"
"NO 'BUTS!'"
Wynfred chuckled at Nydia and teased, "Dork!" much to Nydia's displeasure. Then Wynfred walked away.
That's not even my mind control, fam, laughingly thought Xandra, rolling her eyes. Wynfred's just another jerk like me.
***
Meanwhile in the sixth grade classroom, Herbertia was having some problems of her own.
"Would you mind telling us all why you're such a liar...?" Qinton asked Herbertia in a whisper, since Sister Nylah Zita was currently giving a lecture.
"Look..." whispered Herbertia, "I don't know what Ilana or her stupid girls told you, but—"
"HERBERTIAAAAAA?!" shouted Sister Nylah Zita. "Can you tell the class what aquatic creature swallowed Jonah?"
Herbertia puzzled, "Uh..."
"You would know if you weren't busy talking during my lecture."
"But... but, Sister Nylah Zita—!"
"Step outside, please."
"But—"
"STEP OUTSIDE, NOOOOOOW!" she yelled, pitching an eraser to the floor while her face became pink.
With an exception to 1098, the whole class laughed while Herbertia stood up from her chair and walked out the door.
Sister Nylah Zita commanded, "Herbertia, you'd better SHUT it behind you!"
And Herbertia, reluctantly, closed the door as gently as possible. She would have easily told off everyone, even the teacher, in that incident—but she wanted to keep my wishes of her being on her best behavior. Such a nice girl... yet Xandra kept me so blind to see it.
***
Back at Derick and Mike's shack, sorrow just continued to rear its ugly head over Vicky and Vanessa. While Derick and Mike slept, Vicky used the television screen as a mirror to see her new look: Bald. She could remember the horrific night when Derick had her pinned down, slicing off as much hair as he could with his knife. And, of course, she could not forget her friend who suffered the same faith: Vanessa... who was pinned to the floor by Mike, via what Vicky remembered:
Once Derick was done slicing off some bits of Vicky's hair, he offered his knife to Mike and said, "Here... it's your turn."
"He-he-he..." chuckled Mike. Keeping Vanessa pinned to the floor, he took the knife and held it over her.
"No...!" cried Vanessa. "NO!"
But Mike showed no remorse. He slashed the knife at a chunk of Vicky's hair, chopping it right off onto the floor.
"No, pleeeeeease!" cried Vicky, struggling not to yell—knowing it would make Derick mad. "Pleeeeease, have mercyyyyyyy!"
"SHUT UP!" yelled Derick, punching Vicky in the nose.
"AAAAaaaaaAAAAAAaaah!" cried Vicky, as did Vanessa.
And the guys just kept taking Vicky's hair away.
Vicky's flashback came to a halt as she stood before that TV, crying her eyes out. "When...?" she asked. "When is it... going to end...?" She then looked to Vanessa who was on her knees, looking out the window and also crying aloud. "Vanessa...?" puzzled Vicky. She walked closer and asked, "Vanessa...?"
"Shut up..." said an all-too familiar voice to Vicky from behind. She turned around as Derick, laying on the couch, continued, "Can't you see I'm trying to sleep...? Tell Vanessa to keep it down...." And he turned over.
Vicky paused with disbelief... and said, growing ever so louder, "Keep it down...? Keep it down?! HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO KEEP IT DOWN AFTER ALL YOU'VE DONE TO HER?!"
Derick, now very mad, jumped up from the couch and, like a raging bull, stormed towards Vicky. Vicky drew back in fear while Derick said, "I'M GONNA MESS YOU UP SO BAD!"
Vicky prepared to run before Derick grabbed her by the arm. "NO, PLEASE!" she begged.
"DERICK, STOP!" cried Vanessa. "LET HER GO—!"
Then Mike showed up behind Vanessa, tightly covering his hand over her mouth.
Vanessa shivered, trying to speak though her words were muffled.
Derick pulled back his fist and punched Vicky in the face, knocking her to the floor.
"AAAAH!" cried Vicky as she hit the floor. She then struggled to crawl away.
Derick grabbed Vicky in a body lock and started bashing her whole body against the floor, over and over again.
"AAAAAAAAH!" screamed Vicky. "AAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAH!"
Derick then grabbed her by the head, smashing her face to the floor in the same manner.
"NOOOOOO!" cried Vanessa while Mike laughed.
***
Back at my school, it was ten—ahem... around ten a.m. when we were outside on the courtyards (right next to the wood chips and grass fields, but blocked off by the barbed wire fence) for P.E.
And across from the courtyards, not blocked off by a fence, was another grass field. And between the courtyard and grass field was a toolshed—this is where our P.E. coach and other staff members kept different belongings.
P.E. was the only class we took that required us to wear uniforms outside of our regular ones. These uniforms consisted of very dark-gray shorts with furry gray rings just above the knees, white socks with very dark-gray shoes that had lighter-gray bottom soles. The T-shirts were a regular gray with gold thin linings around the sleeve edges and very bottom of the shirts, and the shirt collar consisted of a thick gold ring around the area just before the neck.
Our coach was known as Wollner (that was his last name) who would instruct us of our tasks for the day. He was a koala with a rather toned body, yet the belly gave away his snacking habits every so often. He wore dark sunglasses with a blue ball cap, a whistle held by string around his neck... and facial dark-blonde hair that framed his mouth, showing he meant business.
Our class stood before him while he yelled, "Alright, everybody!" Then Coach Wollner picked up a basketball from a box that was filled with other balls. "Before we begin our basketball game today," he continued to tell us, "you guys have to make three laps around this whole field!"
You would think we would have complained about that command, but we knew better than to tick off Wollner.
Coach Wollner went on to tell us, "When you're done with that, we play ball." Lifting his whistle, he said, "GO!" and blew it.
From there, we immediately started running around the field.
While Rye and his boys ran, Xandra caught up to them and whispered, "Hey, Rye!" Still whispering, she giggled, "Wanna teach that weirdo, Nydia, a lesson?"
Rye replied, "Pfft! Are you kidding? Of course!"
"You know it!" said Graysen.
Piper also caught up to Rye and said, "We need you to throw a ball at her face."
Rye's eyes widened. "Wow, that's... kinda brutal, don't you think?"
"What if we break something?" asked Graysen.
"Hold up!" said Kip. "Why are we gonna throw a ball at Nydia's face?!"
"Don't mind him," Rye told Xandra. "He likes Nydia."
Xandra rolled her eyes and commented, "So I've gathered...."
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Kip. "No I don't!"
Rye said, "Admit it, dude... you're CRAZY over her!"
"You melt every time you SEE her, bro!" said Graysen.
"No I don't!" said Kip. "I don't like Nydia!"
"Whatever," said Xandra. "So, Rye, you up for it?"
Visibly uneasy about it, Rye replied, "Gee, Xan... I don't know. Are you sure...?"
"It's either that or let Nydia get away with calling you a fathead," Xandra told him.
Rye paused... and responded, "She called me WHAT?!"
Playing along with that lie, Piper said, "Yeah! Yesterday on the yard, we heard her shout it to herself."
Rye paused again... then chuckled with disbelief and said,"I am so pelting her face with a ball."
Xandra told him, "Throw it as hard as you can, so she can bleed... and cry, of course."
With a salute, Rye said, "I'm on it!" and ran off.
Just then, I caught up with the girls and said, "Um, Xandra...? I was thinking, about the plan... y'know, for Nydia?"
With happy excitement, Xandra said, "I know! It is so awesome!"
"Yeah, she's gonna get it!" happily said Piper.
I said, "Um... well, about that. I was thinking that... maybe we could do something el—"
Xandra interrupted, "Dude! Did you know that Nydia called you a 'frog with warts' behind your back?"
"What noooooow?" I puzzled, feeling like ropes tightly pulled my heart strings.
"Yeah!" said Piper. "She said you were some weird amphibian who needed to go back to his forest!"
I grew sad.... I couldn't believe it. "She... said that...?"
"Yeah, she's just mean like that!" said Xandra.
I took a moment to think things over... and said, "Well..."
With a straight face, Xandra said, "Trust me, busting up her mouth will make sure she never talks that way about OUR friend again! Right, Piper?!"
"STRAIGHT UP, XAN!" said Piper, nodding. "WOO!" Then she rested her arm over my shoulder.
"Wow!" I said, surprised. "You two consider me your... friend?"
"YOU'RE EVERYONE'S FRIEND, IKJOT!" Xandra joyfully told me. "Well, everyone but Nydia's!"
But then, something came across my mind: If Nydia made fun of me behind my back, who did she do it with? I asked them, "Uh... so, just curious, who was Nydia making fun of me to?"
Looking to Piper, Xandra said, "Quenishia."
To clarify, Quenishia Nalleli Wholihan was another girl in our class, besides Nydia, who the cool girls didn't like. She was a fox with brown hair of middle-parted bangs and a short ponytail, red lips and round glasses. She too was a good friend of my sister, back at this time.
"Quenishia...?" I asked.
"Yeah!" said Xandra. "Those two are always making fun of people behind their backs!"
Quite stunned, I said, "Wow, I never would have guessed...."
"Yeah, they fool people like that all the time," said Piper.
Little did I know, however, that this whole thing was a lie. Nydia and Quenishia, if anything, were one of the many victims of Xandra's backstabbing.
Aside from Nydia and Quenishia, there was just one more girl in our class, before I'd give you the complete census of the fifth grade students: Xandy Khúc. She was a short girl bat with short white hair. She might have been the shortest person in our fifth grade class, to be honest. And appearance aside, I didn't know much else about her. All I knew was she was another one of my sister's friends and had a wild side, according to my sister long ago. However, that wild side was something I had yet to see for myself. Was Xandy Khúc wild in terms of being overly energetic? A party animal maybe?
Meanwhile as Nydia ran, Quenishia greeted, "Hey!" from the distance. Catching up to Nydia, she said, "Wow! What's up with everyone hating you?!"
Nydia sighed with sadness... and said, "I don't know! I mean, they don't even wanna sit with me anymore!"
"Looooserrrrs!" Grayson rudely teased Nydia and Quenishia while running between them.
"Very funny, Graysen!" said Quenishia, visibly offended.
After three minutes, once we completed our laps, Coach Wollner blew his whistle and said, "Alright, everyone, that's a wrap!" Seeing that some of us hadn't heard his command, or not heard his whistle, or both, he blew it again and said, "HEY! Didn't you hear?! I said that's enough!"
Upon all of us stopping, now out of breath from our runs, Coach Wollner went on to say, "Okay, listen up!" before showing us a basketball. "We're gonna begin the basketball game." He then pointed to the box of balls before the toolshed. "So everyone, grab some balls!"
From there, we all ran toward the box.
Coach Wollner told us, "Not everyone can get one, which is why we'll have teams!"
Now at the box, many of us—not including myself—quickly grabbed some balls and ran off.
I was the last one to pick a basketball before walking back to the others while Coach Wollner said, "Hang on, let me check something...." He walked to the box to check if there were any balls left. Not finding any, he walked away and said, "Okay, that's all of them...." Now standing before us all, he said, "Alright, everyone, here's how we're going to do it! Since there's fifteen of you, and only five balls—not counting the one I keep for demonstration to you guys—you'll be divided into teams of three!" Pointing to us, he said, "Wynfred, Rye and Xandy—you're a team!" As they got in their respective teams, Wollner continued, "Graysen, Nydia and Kip—you're a team!"
Nudging Kip's shoulder, Graysen teased, "Looks like you're on the same team with Nydia, ey?" and giggled.
"Shut up!" said Kip, following Graysen to Nydia.
Wollner continued, "Quenishia, Ikjot, Piper—you're a team!"
Shoot! I was hoping I would've been on the same team with Xandra, but I guessed Piper would have to do.... I walked to Piper and Quenishia while Coach Wollner continued, "Orabel, Yosef and Xandra—you're a team!"
With an annoyed expression, Xandra shook her head and thought, How dare he not say my name first in that sentence? That simian. She thought that while waiting for Yosef and Orabel to come to her; Xandra felt she was too special to approach them instead. Once they arrived, Xandra turned up her head with closed eyes and said, "It's about time you two got here."
Coach Wollner continued, "Yam, Voleta and Helena, you're the last ones—so you're a team!"
"YAY!" happily said Voleta, hugging Helena. "We get the pretty girl!"
"This is awesome!" happily said Yam.
Holding her hand over her mouth with a sly smirk, Xandra thought, We'll see how pretty she is when I destroy her good looks one day.
Coach Wollner said, "Okay, this is how it's going to work: Each player's goal is to pass the ball to a member of their team, keeping it secured from any opposing teams. Once you've thrown the ball to a fellow team member," and he threw his own ball through a goal, "that person will make it to one of these goals and throw it through the basketball hoop, scoring a point for their team." Then Coach Wollner retrieved the ball and said, "But if an opposing team member catches your ball, their throw will earn a point for their team instead of yours, and you'll have to run one lap around the courts. The first team that makes it to three points doesn't have to run any laps. All teams below that score, minus the lowest scoring team, get to help me put away the balls. And the very last place team will have to run a lap around the courts. Now, are there any questions...?" He looked around and saw Yam who raised her hand (or hoof, whatever). "Yes, Yam?" he asked.
Yam put her hoof down and asked, "So, if I pass the ball to one of my team members, they'll throw the ball through the hoop and earn our team a point?"
Coach Wollner nodded and told her, "That's right, and if an opposing team member gets the ball, their team scores a point and you have to run a lap."
"Will that count for the rest of the team?" asked Helena.
"Excuse me?" asked Coach Wollner, not hearing Helena.
Helena spoke in a slightly louder voice, "I said, 'Will that count for the rest of our team?'"
Coach Wollner shook his head and told her, "No, the rest of your team can still play, but that one person will still have to run their lap."
Giving a thumbs-up with both her hands, Helena said, "Gotcha'!"
Xandra and Piper chuckled from Helena having to raise her voice at him.
To the rest of us, Coach Wollner asked, "Okay, any more questions?!" After two seconds of no one raising their hands, he said, "Okay, GO!" and blew his whistle.
From there, we all started running with our balls.
To Yosef and Orabel, Xandra briefly whispered, "Just run around the courts at random, so it looks like we're participating. I'll catch up to Rye and give him the signal to throw the ball."
With a nod, Orabel and Yosef immediately split-up from Xandra in opposite directions.
As for Xandra, she ran past Rye and said, "You know what to do."
Rye nodded in reply, waiting for an opening to Nydia's face.
Cutting Rye's concentration, Coach Wollner realized that brief proximity between Xandra and Rye. He blew his whistle and shouted, "OKAY, TEAM MEMBERS ARE RUNNING TOO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER! SPREAD OUT SO OPPOSING TEAM MEMBERS STAND A CHANCE AT CATCHING THE BALL WHEN YOU THROW IT!"
Now with Xandra briefly running beside her, Piper said under her breath, "Yeah-yeah, old man..." before laughing with her.
Then as Xandra ran off from us, Quenishia who was holding the ball for our team told Piper and I, "Okay, guys! I'm gonna try to pass the ball to one of you!" She then increased her distance between us.
"Got it!" I said, also increasing mine.
With that, Quenishia threw the ball towards me, only for Voleta to jump in my way and catch it. Being a good sport about this, I shrugged my arms and said, "Eh, the better girl won!"
Coach Wollner blew his whistle and said, "One lap, Ikjot!"
Beginning my run around the courtyard, I said, "Coming right up!"
Now running beside Wynfred, Xandra shrugged and said, "Eh, it only figures Ikjot would lose first. He is a loser after all." And Wynfred and Xandra both laughed to that.
Meanwhile, Nydia had a great distance between herself and Graysen. Nydia threw the ball and said, "CATCH!"
But Kip quickly ran in front of Graysen, catching the ball in his place.
Graysen teased, "Instead of stealing her ball, you should try stealing her heart!"
"Huh...?" puzzled Nydia.
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" said Kip, running towards a goal.
Graysen yelled to Coach Wollner, "HEY, COACH! Don't I have to run a lap now?! Kip took my ball!"
Now sitting on a chair and reading a magazine, Coach Wollner replied, "Isn't Kip on your team?"
"Yeah!"
"Then you don't have to run a lap."
"Okay!"
As for Kip, he threw the ball through a goal, scoring one point for his team.
Noticing this, Coach Wollner yelled, "OKAY! That's one point for Graysen, Kip and Nydia's team!"
With a whoop, Kip ran to Nydia and Graysen, giving them a high-five.
Voleta, who stole the ball from me, was being chased by Quenishia and Piper until she found a goal, threw the ball through the hoop and scored her team a point. Voleta whooped, "Wooooo!" while Coach Wollner yelled, "THAT'S ONE POINT FOR VOLETA, HELENA AND YAM'S TEAM!"
Catching up with Rye who was still holding his ball, Xandra whispered, "Come on! Throw the ball, already!"
"Just out of random while Nydia and her team are still celebrating a victory?!" whispered Rye. "Coach would know I did it on purpose!"
As Nydia's team once again got moving, Xandra whispered, "Okay, she's running again! Now's your chance!"
Running from Xandra and towards Nydia's range, Rye whispered, "I'll have to draw closer...."
From the distance, Xandy Khúc, who was on Rye's team, shouted, "HEY, RYE! PASS THE BALL!"
Xandra, again catching up to Rye, whispered, "Tell her to run to the left—that's where Nydia's headed."
Nodding to Xandra's command, Rye told Xandy Khúc, "GO TO THE LEFT! I CAN'T PASS IT FROM THIS ANGLE!"
With a nod, Xandy Khúc quickly ran to the left—but it wasn't far enough.
Observing Nydia who was now being chased by Orabel and heading towards a goal that was practically on the other side of the courtyard, Rye yelled, "GO AS FAR AS YOU CAN! I'LL THROW THE BALL EARLY AND YOU SHOULD CATCH IT WHILE YOU RUN!"
Little did Xandy Khúc know, however, that Rye was aiming the ball at Nydia.
Rye threw it in her direction and said, "GO!" signaling Xandy Khúc to start running as fast as she could to catch up with it.
Now, Xandy Khúc did note the angle of Rye's throw and laughingly said, "WOW! YOU'RE A LITTLE FAR OFF!" Then, her eyes widened as she noticed something disturbing: The ball was about to hit Nydia right in the face! Xandy yelled in panic, "NYDIA, WATCH OUT!"
"HEY, NYDIA!" yelled Kip in panic too.
Overhearing their warnings, Nydia stopped running for a moment. As she started to turn her head, it was already too late—the ball struck her right in the face! Soon, everyone stopped playing as they could hear Nydia's loud cry of pain. Minus myself, Graysen, Kip, Yam, Quenishia, Xandy Khúc and the coach, everyone else pointed and laughed at the busted teeth, blood and tears of Nydia who laid on the ground.
"I'M COMING, NYDIA!" yelled Kip, running over to her.
I hadn't noticed what was going on until Graysen, who brought his run to a halt, exclaimed, "WOW!" and laughed, "Look at that!"
I stopped running as well and looked to Nydia, struck with fear in my eyes as I saw her condition. And what I found truly detestable were so many of my peers laughing about it! Kip was the only one by her side when Coach Wollner quickly jumped out of his chair and shouted, "NYDIA!" And the coach ran to Nydia and kneeled to lift her slightly by her back. He looked to Kip and said, "GO GET HER SOME ICE!"
Kip immediately ran in response to do as Coach Wollner commanded.
I didn't... understand. I was so... hurt and confused by this. Most of my peers... including Xandra at the center of them... laughing at Nydia. Yes, I... knew that Nydia made fun of me for being a frog but... was I not supposed to feel guilty over what I saw? Brutalizing her over... something so trivial as insulting a lot of us behind our backs... and laughing at her pain; this just felt so... evil.
I looked down. I didn't know... what to say. I hadn't... disrespected Xandra nor anyone else this time around, so... why were they... acting like this?
Xandra briefly stopped laughing, looking my way with a smirk. She thought, Prepare yourself, Ikjot. This is only the beginning... of the bad timeline.
***
Back in Sanne at Marta's house, the battle against Tiane continued.
Kicking Mr. Grey in the chest, Tiane caused him to crash into the wall.
By now, Ram and Mrs. Grey were too brutalized to move.
But Marta still had some fight left in her. Leaping towards Tiane from the other room, Marta managed to grab her big sister in a headlock, only for Tiane to immediately elbow her in the stomach.
Marta could only cough in pain as Tiane picked her up by the hair and prepared to throw her.
"No...!" weakly begged Mr. Grey. "No, please...! Put her... down!"
Tiane giggled and threw Marta as hard as she could right into Mr. Grey's face, causing them both to grunt while falling to the floor.
Tiane walked forward, looking down at all of them with disappointment. She complained, "Man, this is getting lame! I was expecting better from FOUR people!" and laughed.
By now, Ram, Marta, and Mr. and Mrs. Grey were all tuckered out, beaten bloody and weakened. Tiane's brutalization had been going on for days, so one could only imagine how they felt by now: Defeated.
Tiane said, "Well...? Aren't we gonna keep this up?" Her eyes narrowed. "Or am I gonna have to pound you guys until you move again?"
"You... monster...!" said Ram, still weak and unable to move.
Tiane giggled and kicked Ram in the face with great strength.
Ram spat blood while rolling across the floor. She soon slammed into a sidewall.
With tears in her eyes, Marta weakly pled, "Stop... it...!"
Tiane then repeatedly stomped on Marta's head.
"AH! AH! AH!" cried Marta, feeling many bones crack in her skull.
"You... MONSTER!" said Mrs. Grey, using the little amount of strength she had left to crawl towards Marta.
Tiane looked to Mrs. Grey and purposely fell to the side, elbowing her in the back.
As tears flew from her eyes, and blood from her mouth, Mrs. Grey cried, "AAAAAAH!" before falling face-first to the floor.
Folding her arms, Tiane laughed, "HA! And they say 'stepping on a crack breaks your mother's back.' What a bunch of baloney!" Seeing tears fall from Mrs. Grey's face, Tiane teased, "Aw, what a crybaby! HA! You're pathetic!" Tiane laughed as she kicked Mrs. Grey in the nose, causing blood to spill onto the floor. Blood was all over Tiane's shoe too.
While Mrs. Grey cried in pain and Tiane laughed, Marta—with tears in her eyes—weakly pled, "Stooooop!"
Tiane dashed towards Marta and kicked her in the face, making teeth fly out of her little sister's mouth.
"AAAAAH!" screamed Marta before covering her face and crying.
"HA!" smugly scoffed Tiane. "Weakling...."
***
Back at the school, it was eleven forty-five a.m. when I was in the cafeteria and checking up on the decorations. The tables had balloons tied to their legs, the radio was at the very end of the room, and a huge banner hung from the ceiling that read, 'WELCOME, XANDRA!'
While I stood next to Kyra Xaver who showed me all this, she told me, "Well, Ikjot, what do you think...?"
I said, "Beautiful! Just beautiful! The decorations, the banner, the radio prepared to play the CD—you all really did your part! At three o'clock p.m. today, it will only be fair of me to do my part too!"
"Well, you seem pretty dedicated!"
"Oh, I am! After all, Xandra is my best friend! I'd do anything to make her happy!"
"I'm glad to hear that!" Next thing you know, Kyra leaned down to me and asked in a low tone of voice, "You like her, don't you...?"
She laughed while I replied, "Wha—? Nope! No, she and I are just really good friends. You see, I've come to find that many people just don't see her for how sweet she really is, so... that's why I'm giving her this." Of course, that wasn't true. I did like Xandra more than a friend. I just... couldn't find it in me to admit that to her mom. I guess the pebble wouldn't always give me such confidence.
***
Later during recess, I walked around the grass field, waiting for Xandra to show up.
As for Nydia, she sat on one of the swings of the wood chips field. The only ailment for her bloody mouth and nose was a pack of ice, and she was still crying from the pain. Who could blame her?
Spotting Nydia from the distance, Kip prepared to comfort her but immediately stopped in his tracks upon seeing two girl cats approach—one white, the other gray. What made Nydia's situation even less comforting was for those girls to laugh at her condition. The gray cat teasingly told Nydia, "Nice bruises, weirdo!" And with that, the two girls walked off with laughter, allowing Kip the opportunity to go sit with her and be a friend.
Since those two weren't a part of Xandra's clique, I who witnessed the incident felt the motivation to go to those girls and tell them off—and I did.
As they kept moving, I walked to the wood chips field, stood before them and said, "Now wait just a minute...."
"Uh... can we help you?" asked the white cat.
"Yeah, why don't you move out of the way or something?" asked the gray cat.
I said, "I would... but I don't like the way you just treated Nydia over there."
"You don't like the way we treated Nydia?" asked the gray cat, visibly getting more annoyed.
I shook my head and said, "No, I don't. It was mean... and wrong. You see that girl's condition; why would you—"
"Wow, what a loser..." teased the white cat.
The gray cat giggled and asked me, "You're actually gonna stand up for that weirdo?"
I paused... and said, "Well... no one deserves to be treated like an enemy when they did nothing wrong—"
The two girls immediately laughed. I puzzled while the white cat said, "Wow! You are such a loser!"
I said, "Loser...? Me? Please... I'm part of the highest of the cool's clique at this school."
The gray cat giggled and said, "Yeah, right!"
I told them, "Oh, but it's true. Don't believe me? You can ask Xandra herself."
"Yeah, but Xandra's too cool to make you a part of her clique," said the white cat, rolling her paws into fists on her sides.
The gray cat said, "Yeah, Xandra steps on losers like you!"
I said, "I'm no loser in Xandra's eyes. And as for you two, just don't pick on Nydia."
"Oh, yeah?" asked the white cat, leaning my way with a grin. "And what're you gonna do if we do?" Before I could say anything, she drew closer to me and again asked, "Huh? You gonna do something to us?"
Doing the same, the gray cat asked me, "Yeah, you gonna do something?"
Getting rather nervous, I stepped back and said, "I don't want any trouble.... All I want is for Nydia to be safe, that's all."
The white cat pushed me and asked, "Shouldn't you want yourself to be safe?"
I stepped back some more while the gray cat pushed me and said, "Yeah, you talk pretty big to say you don't want a fight."
From behind those girl cats, a familiar voice to my ears asked, "Hey, why don't you two back off?"
The two cats turned their heads and saw Herbertia with folded arms, standing beside 1098.
"Oh, look! It's the liar!" teased the gray cat. I puzzled from her statement while the white cat teased, "Yeah, maybe she came to tell us about her nonexistent boyfriend or something...."
"Nonexistent boyfriend?" I puzzled. "What are you two talking about?"
Rolling her eyes and folding her arms, Herbertia said, "It's nothing, Ikjot. They're just being stupid."
The white cat teased to me, "Oooooh! So you're Ikjot!"
I puzzled, "You've heard of me before?"
"We both have!" said the gray cat with a giggle. "You're supposed to be Herbertia's boyfriend!" And she giggled again.
With widened eyes, I exclaimed, "WHAT?!"
To those two girls, Herbertia said, "WHY DON'T YOU TWO GET OUT OF HERE?!"
Narrowing her eyes and hand gesturing Herbertia to come forth, the white cat dared, "Why don't you make us...?"
The gray cat placed her fists on her hips and dared, "Yeah!"
I said, "Herbertia, we can talk about what's going on later.... Right now, I would like it if you left."
Herbertia replied, "But, Ikjot—"
I whispered to Herbertia, "Remember what I said about couples at this school...?"
Cupping one paw near her ear, the white cat teased, "What's that, you say?"
I told the white cat, "Why don't you mind your own business?"
The white cat pushed me and dared, "Why don't you make me...?"
Despite how much Herbertia wanted to punch these girls, she knew it would get her expelled—something she knew I didn't want to happen. Instead, she had no choice but to maintain her cool and said, "Leave him alone!"
With a laugh, the white cat asked, "What? Your man can't fight for himself?"
With an angry groan, Herbertia said, "He's not my man...!"
The gray cat teased, "You said he was, liar!"
Once again and in an angry groan, Herbertia told herself, "I should give Ilana a piece of my MIND for this...!"
1098 sighed and said, "Ikjot... can we talk for a moment?"
Referring to 1098, the white cat teased, "Ooooh, look! Now another girl's pretendin' to be Ikjot's girlfriend!"
Now unamused, 1098 said, "No, you simian. I'm—"
Now offended, the white cat puzzled, "Simian?" Then she and the gray cat both walked towards 1098.
I immediately stood in front of them and said, "Hey, leave my friends out of this!" Looking to 1098 and Herbertia, I said, "You guys go somewhere safe.... I'll handle this."
Herbertia said, "I'm not leaving my boyfriend—I mean, I'm not leaving you behind to—"
With a laugh, the white cat interrupted, "Wow! You can't stop saying it, can you?"
Before Herbertia could respond, Helena came to the white and gray cats from behind and told them, "Hey, why don't you two back off?!"
Upon turning their heads and seeing who gave the command, the two girls knew their fun was over. With respect, the gray cat said, "Yes, Helena."
Looking down to the gray cat and relaxing an arm over her shoulder, the white cat said, "Come on, let's go." And so she and that other girl cat walked away.
I couldn't believe it! How did Helena manage to make them go away so easily?! Herbertia, 1098 and I were trying forever!
"Wow! How did you do that?!" asked Herbertia to Helena.
"We were trying forever," said 1098—that's what I said!
Helena replied, "Well, I don't mean to brag but I'm one of the cool girls at this school—people listen to me without question because of that."
"That's amazing!" I said. "But... wait, I'm cool too. Why didn't they leave when I tried to make them do so?"
Feeling uneasy, Helena rubbed the back of her head and looked down while saying, "Oh! Well... um..."9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wnGs0vNNu
Believe it or not, Helena was the only person that Xandra would tell her deepest, darkest secrets to—even the ones pertaining to her true, mean nature. Though she knew how mean Xandra was, Helena would never break her older sister's trust by giving any of her secrets away, no matter how dark they were. Helena knew that... Xandra secretly hated me. So to avoid hurting my feelings with that revelation, Helena just told me, "I guess they didn't know."
I said confused, "But I told them that I was."
Helena said, "Hmmm... then they probably didn't believe you."
I gave it some thought... and said, "Well, that makes sense. I guess next time I'll get Xandra to say it herself so they know we mean business!"
"Seriously though," said Helena, rolling up her fists, "if those two mess with you again, let me know.... I'll whip them into shape."
With a blush and a smile, I said, "Well, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for fighting a battle I should have and all—"
"Oh, it's no problem! You're one of my sis's buds, so I'll do anything for you."
"Wow, thanks!"
"No prob—HEY, you're gonna sing today, aren't you?!"
My eyes widened while Herbertia replied to Helena, "Yeah, he's gonna be so cool! He has the perfect song planned for your sister!"
Helena told Herbertia, "Oh, cool!" Then told me, "Did you wanna sing a verse to me?"
I shrugged and said, "Well, if your sis is nearby, I wouldn't want to spoil it for her or anything—"
"Oh, she's not nearby!" Helena confirmed.
Little did I know, however, that she really was nearby... but Helena was supposed to keep her sister's location a secret when she knew that Xandra didn't want to be bothered with me.
Helena went on to tell me, "She's in Mrs. Ives class, helping her fix tables and chairs."
Believing the lie, I said, "Wow! She's so sweet!"
Helena smiled with telling me, "Yeah, she's a lot sweeter than most people realize! So how about that song?"
I shrugged, saying, "Well, okay, but just a sample—just to be safe, of course."
"It's cool," said Helena, also shrugging. "I just wanna hear a verse."
"Well, alright then!" Clearing my throat, I sang, "♪ Keep the soooorrow beyond tomoooorrow. ♪" Hearing that first verse, Helena elatedly widened her eyes while I continued, "♪ On you, let it bestoooow. Don't let it goooo! ♪"
"OH MY GOSH!" exclaimed Helena. "That's one of her FAVORITE songs! How did you know?!"
"Wow! Seriously?!"
Giving me a high-five, Helena whooped, "WOOO!" and said, "YEAH!"
"Sulfur and Skull Heads, correct?"
"YEAH! That's her favorite band!"
"Well, then I guess I made a fine choice when choosing what song to sing for her."
"Heck, yeah!" Helena then realized something and looked to Herbertia. "Oh! Are you and Ikjot in a relationship?"
Rolling her eyes, Herbertia said, "Not this again—"
"Now, Herbertia, be nice..." I said.
"I would if Helena would stop being mean!" complained Herbertia.
Moving her hands and drawing back, Helena said, "Oh, no, not at all! I'm just asking, since I've been hearing about it throughout the school."
Herbertia puzzled, "Have you been hearing that Ikjot and I aren't in a relationship, or that Ikjot and I are in a relationship?"
"First guess."
"Phew...!" said Herbertia, wiping her forehead with relief. "Then, no, we're not in a relationship."
I was growing curious while Helena told Herbertia, "People say you lied about being in one. Is that true?"
Herbertia paused.... Looking down with a sigh of guilt, she replied, "Yeah... I did."
Wow, good thing! I really didn't need word getting out about her and I being in a relationship, just so Xandra would think I was taken—and I was, but I didn't want Xandra knowing that.
Helena puzzled... and said, "Well, you don't seem like a bad person or anything; you seem pretty nice! Though... I don't see why you would lie about being in a relationship with someone—I mean, not to be rude or anything—"
"Oh, no, not at all!" said Herbertia. "Actually, the reason I said it was because I thought it would make me one of the cool girls." She looked down with guilt. "I see now, however, the error of my ways...."
Placing her hand on Herbertia's shoulder, Helena said, "Well, now that I know the truth, I can clear your name so people can stop hating you and stuff!"
"Wow! You can do that?!"
"Sure!" said Helena, briefly nodding. "Everyone knows me as a pretty nice person they can trust, so it won't be a problem!"
From what I gathered, Herbertia must've accidentally spilled the beans to someone that she and I were in a relationship. Then, realizing her mistake, she went so far as to call herself a liar, just to undo the damage. Of course, my assumptions may or may not have been entirely correct. Perhaps she called herself a liar for a different reason but, regardless, she did all of that for me.... What an amazing girl!
Meanwhile, as I said before, Xandra was indeed nearby. She was beneath that wooden castle—her usual hiding spot—backstabbing with Wynfred and Yosef, as usual. The girls were giggling with one another before Xandra whispered, "Did you know that Ikjot's so stupid, he makes Rye seem smart?!" and giggled with the others.
"How could Rye be smart when he's so DUMB?!" teased Yosef.
"Yeah, but I'd say Nydia's even dumber!" teased Wynfred.
With a laugh, Xandra said, "I know, right?! I bet she'll have a concussion that makes her even dumber after getting hit by that ball this morning!"
"She totally deserved it," said Yosef. "I mean... she's a loser!"
"I know, right?!" said Wynfred. "She talks to herself all the time!"
"Yeah, she thinks that imaginary friends are real and other dumb stuff..." teased Xandra. Crossing her eyes and looking stupid, she mockingly continued, "Oooooh, look at me!" And Xandra's Nydia impression caused the girls to laugh. Xandra went on to mockingly say, "I'm one of Nydia's imaginary friends! You can tell because I'm just as dumb and weird as she is!" The girls still laughed while Xandra continued to mockingly say, "My family may be poor, but my imagination is rich! DUH?! I'm stupid, just like my friend Nydia! I'm also a weirdo! DUH?!"
"OH, and Quenishia's dumb too!" teased Wynfred. "She's just so UGLY!"
With a laugh, Xandra teased, "I KNOW, and just look at her eyebrows! It makes her look like some prehistoric native or something!"
"She doesn't have a unibrow though, does she?" asked Yosef.
"No, but they're really big and bushy," said Wynfred.
With a laugh, Xandra said, "And she's totally ugly! I mean, hello?! What guy is ever gonna wanna date HER?!"9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMaNaPvOZn
"She's totally ugly," said Yosef.
"Yeah, she is!" teased Xandra. "I bet her father was a caveman, and her mother—a cavewoman! HA-HA!"
With slight shock, Wynfred asked, "Wow.... Talking about people's parents again...?"
Xandra gasped and said, "Are you questioning me?!"
"No, not at all, Xan!" pled Wynfred.
With her head turned up and eyes closed with a small pout, Xandra said, "Good!" Then looking back down at them and continuing her backstabbing, she happily teased, "Then there's Helena!"
"Helena...?" puzzled Yosef. "But... she's your little sister."
"And she's pretty!" said Wynfred.
Again with her nose to the air (head turned up, whichever), Xandra said, "No she isn't.... I'm pretty."
Unamused, Yosef said, "Yes, Xan."
"Whatever you say, Xan," said Wynfred, all the same.
With a pleasant smile, Xandra replied, "Good! Anyway, Helena's such a loser! She thinks she's cool and everything, but she is so NOT! Hello?!"
Faking agreement, Yosef said, "Um... TOTALLY RIGHT, Xan!"
"She is definitely not cool!" said Wynfred.
With a laugh, Xandra replied, "She's a total loser! Hey, I'm gonna go act friendly with Orabel and her clique—just to make fun of them."
"Okay, Xan!" said Yosef.
"Sure!" said Wynfred.
"We're coming too, right?" asked Yosef.
Xandra awkwardly said, "Uh... no? You two are gonna make fun of Nydia."
"Oh, sweet!" said Wynfred.
Yosef said, "Yeah!" before telling Wynfred, "Let's go make fun of Nydia as Xan commanded!"
"Right!" said Wynfred, following Yosef out of the wooden castle's crawl space—
"EH-EH-EH!" said Xandra, interrupting their movement while wagging a finger. "I leave first!"
Yosef and Wynfred both sat back down, allowing Xandra to walk out. Before going any further, Xandra looked back at them and said, "Now you may go."
Wynfred and Yosef replied, "Yes, Xan," before walking out as well and heading to Nydia.
With a sly smirk, Xandra thought, What fools... and walked across the wood chips field. Noticing me talking with Helena, she waved and said, "Hey, Ikjot! I'll be with you in a sec!"
I waved back and said, "Sure thing, Xandra!" before Helena continued her talk with me.
Meanwhile, Xandra made it over to Orabel and her clique. Without any greeting, she immediately whispered, "Hey, did you guys know how much of losers Wynfred and Yosef are?"
"Seriously?" puzzled Orabel with a giggle.
With a laugh, Xandra teased, "Yeah, Yosef looks like some old, skinny anorexic! Oh, and she's ugly too!"
"Yeah, you can see THAT on her wrinkles!" teased Piper.
"She's totally a zombie!" teased Orabel.
Wow... I remembered a time when Orabel told me how mean of a person Xandra was for backstabbing people. Then again, I also remember a time when Wynfred told me Orabel was guilty of it too.
"Well, she sure is PALE as one!" teased Xandra. "Oh, and don't even get me started on Wynfred! She's so fat, she's eaten the words out of my mouth!"
They all laughed before Voleta asked, "She is kinda pudgy, isn't she?"
With a laugh, Xandra replied, "Are you kidding?! She's a bath tub, and her mom is in a wheelchair because she's so fat too!"
Then they all laughed.
"You've really gotta be concerned about Yosef though!" teased Orabel.
"Yeah!" teased Piper. "She's so skinny, Wynfred might eat her one day!"
And they all laughed again.
Little were they aware, however, that Herbertia hid behind a nearby tree, overhearing their words. To herself, she said, "Making fun of people behind their backs, ey, Xandra...?" Herbertia's eyes then widened while she heard Xandra teasingly say, "And of course, there's that loser Ikjot!" Herbertia listened intently while Orabel said, "Well, he's pretty nice for making an event for you and all."
Xandra said with a laugh, "Yeah, like I care! He's ugly, a weirdo and a loser."
With a giggle, Piper added, "He's kinda stupid too!"
With a laugh, Xandra replied, "Oh, he's totally gullible! He's so naive, a fool could make a fool out of him!"
While they all laughed again, Herbertia's jaw dropped from what she heard. Without hesitation, she ran from behind the tree and told herself, "I've gotta warn Ikjot!"
As for me, I continued talking with Helena who said, "So, not to sound racist, but what country are you from?"
I replied, "Well, on my father's side, I'm Indian. On my mother's—"
"IKJOT!" yelled Herbertia while running to me.
I told Helena, "Hang on."
Helena replied, "It's cool! I'm gonna go see if Nydia needs more ice." With a wave, she walked off and said, "Take care!"
Waving back, I said, "Okay, see you!"
Herbertia came to me and said, "Ikjot, you've gotta trust what I'm about to tell you!"
I said, "Sure, Herbertia! What is it?"
"Okay, Xandra is pure EVIL!"
I paused... and said, "What?"
With a nod, she said, "It's true!"
"Hey, where's 1098 by the way?"
Herbertia shrugged. "Eh.... She said school's starting to bore her, so she's trying to find out how to have fun during recess."
Indeed, 1098 was trying to have fun—she was playing basketball with some boys.
Holding the ball, a boy penguin said, "Here, catch!" and threw it to 1098.
Since our knowledge was a part of hers, she knew how to play this sport. The problem was, would it interest her? She caught the ball, still bored in her expression.
The penguin boy said, "SCORE!"
"So... where's the fun in this game?" blandly asked 1098.
With a laugh, the penguin said, "What do you mean?! It's right in front of you!"
1098's only response was to raise her eyebrow.
The penguin went on to say, "It's the ball!"
Observing the ball, 1098 asked, "The ball...?"
"Yeah—"
"Of course.... The ball is supposed to be the object of fun in this sport you refer to as 'basketball,' correct?"
The penguin paused with the other boys and said, "Uh... yeah."
With a nod, 1098 continued, "So... if this is supposed to be fun, why am I not having any?"
Rolling her eyes, Herbertia said, "Anyway... Ikjot, you've gotta trust me! She called you naive!"
"Naive...?" I puzzled. "Who told you that?"
"No one told me that! I heard her and her friends making fun of you!"
"How do you know it was Xandra? I'm pretty sure this could've been Ilana. She has made fun of me behind my back before, after all."
"But it wasn't Ilana—and that girl's been giving me some problems of my own, by the way; but besides the point! Xandra's been making fun of you all along, Ikjot!"
"Well... maybe I did something that made her think I was gullible or—"
"Yeah, falling into her trap was one of those things!"
"But... Herbertia, I—"
"You have to dump her, Ikjot!" She held me by the shoulders, much to my worry. "Please...? She's gonna hurt you—"
I whispered, "Herbertia... remember our talk about couples?"
With a look of intent worry, Herbertia softly said, "But, Ikjot... you've just been hurt by someone. You need me to comfort you...."
From behind Herbertia, an all-too familiar voice to my ears said, "Wow! You're really determined to make us think he's your boyfriend, aren't you?"
As we both looked, I quickly noticed it was none other than... "Hobbs..." I said.
And Hobbs was accompanied by Xander Lennon. "How do you know my name?" Hobbs asked me.
I quickly replied, "Oh! Um... who doesn't know the name of one of the coolest guys in the school...?"
"Uh..." said Hobbs, "someone I haven't met before?"
Seeing how he was getting annoyed, I replied, "Okay, I just heard about you from someone."
"That still doesn't explain how you know it's me."
"What're you? Some kind of a stalker?" teased Xander Lennon, causing him and Hobbs to laugh.
"Can't you see Ikjot and I are busy? Why don't you nimrods take a hike?!" said Herbertia.
"Nimrods...?" puzzled an offended Xander Lennon. Then they both approached Herbertia.
I stood in front of Herbertia and told them, "Hey, she's a girl," while trying to keep my cool.
Pushing me aside, Xander Lennon said, "Get out the way, man!"
If it weren't for me catching myself, I would have fallen on the wood chips. Before I could walk back to them, Herbertia said, "Let me handle this, Ikjot...."
I pled, "But... Herbertia—!"
"Ikjot... if you trust me on this, I won't care if you distrust what I told you about Xandra."
"Wow...! You... mean that?"
Keeping a stern expression, Herbertia's only reply was a nod.
I said, "Well... okay, Herbertia; but... if things get rough... I'm calling the teacher." Yes yes, I know. You were expecting me to say, If things get rough, I'm stepping in. If I said that though, it would've resulted in me getting expelled—and how could I get closer to Xandra if that happened? This was my only chance to finally set things right, and I wasn't about to give it up over someone—i.e. Herbertia—who may have been using me all along.... I mean, was I really going to trust bad news about Xandra from someone who once made me help her steal private property?! Herbertia wasn't exactly an innocent person herself.
Xander Lennon nodded to me and said, "Yeah, that's right. Know your place, Ikjot."
I hummed, visibly irritated by him trying to boss me.
Xander Lennon then looked to Herbertia and said, "Now, what did you call us...? Nimrods...?"
With a smirk, Herbertia said, "If you weren't a nimrod, you would've heard me the first time."
Drawing back his fist, Xander Lennon replied, "Yeah? How's about I take your hearing?" And he swung forward.
As I quickly ran Herbertia's way, I stopped and realized something: Nothing happened! Xander Lennon and Hobbs were just as shocked as I was to see Herbertia remain standing there like a statue! She hadn't even blinked! Woooooow!
Herbertia asked the two boys, "What's wrong? Is that all...?"
Xander Lennon only remained shocked, twitching his left eye.
"She didn't move, man!" exclaimed Hobbs.
Stepping back, Xander Lennon said with a nervous laugh, "I don't know what the heck's going on here!"
Wow... again! I never saw a fearful side of Xander Lennon nor Hobbs before. This girl was good....
"If you two know what's good for you," Herbertia told those boys, "you'll leave Ikjot and I alone."
Storming towards Herbertia, Hobbs said, "Man, I'm not scared of you!" and punched her in the stomach.
But Herbertia only remained still and unfazed... again.
"AH...?!" gasped Hobbs, not believing his eyes.
"SEE WHAT I MEAN, MAN?!" exclaimed Xander Lennon.
Walking back with fear, Hobbs told Herbertia, "You're as hard as a brick wall!"
Again, Herbertia warned, "And if you know what's good for you, you'll get lost before I come crashing down on you like one."
Screaming for their lives—WOW! That was a first!—Hobbs Sydnor and Xander Lennon immediately ran away.
As for me, I couldn't help but stand there in awe.... How did Herbertia manage to remain so still? Was she really as strong as Somer and the others said she was...? I said, "Herbertia... how did you do that...?!"
She looked to me with a comforting smile and said, "Don't be afraid! I'm just really strong, that's all!"
Still stunned, I replied, "So I see...."
Just then, the bell rang, meaning recess was over and all students had to go to their respective class lines. "Oh, darn..." I remarked.
With a nod, Herbertia sighed and said, "Well... we'd better go."
Unamused and holding a basketball, 1098 came to us and said, "I didn't have any fun today...."
In unison, Herbertia and I said, "So I see...." Us both realizing our words, we shyly looked away from each other and giggled. And Herbertia was the only one blushing in the process.
As for 1098, she folded her arms, looked up and said, "Okay, love birds."
***
Back at Marta's house, Tiane laughed as she held Marta by the shirt collar and continuously punched her in the face, making her cry as blood flew everywhere. With Ram, Mr. and Mrs. Grey out of commission, Marta was the only person who could defend herself at this point—and that wasn't saying much.
With tears in his eyes, Mr. Grey weakly pled, "Tiane... stop... please...! She can't... defend herself...!"
Seeing how upset her father was, it only made Tiane put more might into her punches, making Marta cry even louder as more blood spilled.
Shedding more tears, Mr. Grey continued, "Please... I beg of yooooou!"
But Tiane just kept going, on and on. It wasn't until seconds later when she finally had her fill... that Tiane dropped Marta who was completely bloody and crying... to the floor. Tiane teased, "Man... you losers are pathetic!" and laughed. "I knew you dogs wouldn't be able to even put up half a fight! Ha-ha!" She walked to Mr. Grey and said, "Oh, by the way..." before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet, "I'll be taking this!"
"No...!" he begged. "That's all of our family's money!"
She said, "Correction: That's all of my money now," and stuffed it in her shirt. "I'll be taking it on my way out."
"What... do you mean...?" weakly asked Mrs. Grey.
Keeping a mean smile, Tiane paused and said, "Man, you guys are such weenies.... I'm movin' out!"
Marta, still weak and beaten, weakly groaned and said, "No...! You can't take our money—"
Crushing Marta's face beneath her foot, Tiane said, "SHUT IT, SQUIRT!"
Marta screamed in pain while blood and teeth flew out her mouth.
"Martaaaaa!" weakly cried Ram.
"Heh..." scoffed Tiane, stepping off of Marta's face and leaving her to cry in pain. She walked into the kitchen and looked behind the refrigerator. Upon spotting the plug, she said, "Ah...." Tiane grabbed hold of that plug, yanked it around and pulled it from the wall. Everyone watched curiously while Tiane, without breaking a sweat, carried the refrigerator in her arms and headed for the door.
"Wait...!" weakly exclaimed Mr. Grey. "What are you doing?!"
Stopping in her tracks, Tiane replied, "Hey, if I'm movin' out, I'm gonna need some food to take with me, y'know," and laughed.
With more tears running down his face, Mr. Grey pled, "But... that food is all we have...."
"We'll starve...!" cried Mrs. Grey.
Seeing how Marta, still crying and in too much pain, couldn't help them get through to Tiane, Ram had to speak on her behalf and weakly pled, "Tiane, please...! Don't do this to them.... They're your family...!"
With a smirk, Tiane said, "All the more reason for me to dog 'em!" and laughed. Opening the door, she said, "Well, so long, suckers!" and walked out, laughing again.
"No...!" cried Mr. Grey, and the rest of them were just as upset.
Tiane briefly walked back in and said, "Oh, and one more thing: From now on, I'm gonna beat up Marta every day she walks home from school. I sure hope you losers will be able to afford her medical bills. If not, too bad!" And with a laugh, Tiane walked back out.
Marta cried even louder in knowing the worst had yet to come.
***
Back at my school, we were five minutes away from the end of classes: Two fifty-five p.m. While I sat next to Kip and listened to Mrs. Ives continuing to demonstrate mathematics for us, I knew better than to watch the clock so she would think I wasn't paying attention.
"So, who can tell me what two hundred and thirty divided by three is?" she asked us.
Darn... that was a problem I could solve—providing I had a calculator or was allowed to use one.
We all puzzled before she illustrated it on the board, writing down the numbers. "Well... first, you—"
BLAH-BLAH-BLAH; like I'm going to narrate a math lesson in a story like this. Once she finished her example, the bell rang. While many of us started packing our things and got up, I was the only one who remained seated, knowing that Mrs. Ives still had to give us our homework assignment.
"Wait!" said Mrs. Ives. (See what I meant?) Picking up some worksheets, she started handing them to each of us while saying, "These are some division and multiplication problems you have to do, and don't forget the assignments in your English workbook. This is all due Monday, and you guys are dismissed."
While I packed my backpack, Xandra, Orabel and their cliques came to me from behind.
With a straight face, Xandra said, "Hey, Ikjot!"
I turned around and said, "Oh, hi, Xandra—"
She handed me her book, worksheet and interrupted, "As your clique leader, I need you to do our homework."
"The homework for all six of you?" I asked, visibly stunned.
The rest of them started handing me the same materials while Xandra replied, "Yup, and we need it first thing Monday morning."
Looking through their books and worksheets, I noted something.... "Hey, girls, are you sure these are the right materials? They all seem completely different from this class."
Xandra replied, "Yeah, Mrs. Ives gave the six of us different homework assignments."
"Wow... Seriously?" I asked.
"Yeah," said Xandra, "and it's way too hard for us to understand."
Orabel laughed with disbelief, "Yeah, she thinks we're like prodigies or something!"
"But that work is way too advanced for us!" said Voleta.
Wait, so... let me get this straight: It's too hard for you guys, yet it's not too hard for me—even though we're in the same grade?! I didn't tell them this, of course, but I'm just saying....
"We need you to do it," Xandra concluded.
I said, "Well, if it's for the sake of my loyalty to the clique, I'll do it! Curious though, I thought your clique was separate from Orabel's, Xandra." In fact, I... would have assumed there'd be no cliques this time around. If I remembered right from the first time I was in the 2005 through 2006 period, wasn't the purpose of these cliques for the girls to backstab people? Why was that... needed if Xandra would no longer become a bad person, thanks to me being friendly towards her and her crew for a change? Wait... perhaps the cliques were different this time; maybe they were dedicated to doing good and not bad things? But... I still didn't consider their earlier brutalization of Nydia as a good act, no matter how they'd try justifying it.
Xandra said, "Oh, we decided to merge—with me as the leader."
"Wow!" I realized. "So... now I'm part of all six of you!"
Xandra whooped, "WOOOO!" and said, "Feelin' lucky, Ikjot?!"
Raising my hand for a high-five, I replied, "You know it!" But it was Voleta, once again not Xandra, to high-five me. Regardless, I brushed that off and said, "OH! I've gotta go to the cafeteria and sing you your song!"
Xandra whooped again, "WOOO!" and said, "Yeah! Let's get goin'!" With that, the seven of us walked out of class and down the hall.
Hold the phone! Xandra wants Ikjot to do her homework?! Scratch that... Xandra wants Ikjot to do both her homework AND the homework for the other girls?! A clique merger—THAT'S a new development! But of course... Xandra knows what she's doing. Evil is indeed present still in this 2005 fifth grade classroom... because this is still the same Xandra from the future! In secret....
Meanwhile, Marta and her colleagues lay on the floor of their home, beaten and broken from Tiane's ruthless assaults—and Marta knows she's in for the brunt of them! What will be her fate...?
Herbertia caught Xandra in her backstabbing act, but made a deal that's allowed Ikjot to not believe it! Does this mean Xandra gets away with murder?
Derick and Mike will continue their abuse, so long as Vicky and Vanessa are helpless to do anything about it. Will the madness ever end?
These are times of peril and bad things just keep happening at every turn. Will any good come to vanquish the evil? Will evil triumph over good?! Don't miss the next Something....
***
In the next chapter of Something... Ikjot makes his performance for Xandra and the gang... but mostly for the sake of impressing Xandra! But Herbertia's not happy when she overhears Xandra and the other girls making fun of Ikjot again!
"WHAT MAKES HER THINK SHE HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU LIKE THAT?!" Herbertia angrily asked Ikjot.
Well, ya see, Herbertia... Xandra sees Ikjot as someone who's forced her to relive horrors she thought were never possible to experience a second time. And now that she has no choice but to endure them again... she's out for blood... next Something!
***
Something9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3FChWhpnw
119Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIPya86bOb
Ikjot Sings
***
♪ Yes, I didn't talk to anyone. ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGlNXv3nTHI
♪ I was made fun of by everyone. ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeH6k55LVe
♪ It's something I wish could be undone. ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQkll9Ts56
♪ She asked me. I wish I'd had respond. ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVjnXheuxm
♪ But hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6h4oDMfnQl
♪ Please hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYlZRQeQn5
♪ I'm crying out: We're all worth being loved! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYTGRBK7uS
♪ I have no doubt we're all worth being loved! ♪
♪ Please, I beg you all, let's become friends! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fqRCRlXOp
♪ Let's not judge each other by what's been! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGNzDJp8Gc
♪ It was years ago! It came and went! ♪9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3X5398wrL
♪ That's a past chapter! New one begins! ♪
***
© 2013 Trerchry.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡny2dCUZCA5
All Rights Reserved.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpJgZDLvKX
