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. ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJj9nt7oWHE
♪ I was made fun of by everyone. ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2Vj1cQl0v
♪ It's something I wish could be undone. ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LkCILOxrr
♪ She asked me. I wish I'd had respond. ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLWEZXh9SM
♪ But hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sWnLRG2sE
♪ Please hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGGMSXBIdV
♪ I'm crying out: We're all worth being loved! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSbiTqwMXX
♪ I have no doubt we're all worth being loved! ♪
♪ Please, I beg you all, let's become friends! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Y0ZqPixKG
♪ Let's not judge each other by what's been! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGDHinBYSt
♪ It was years ago! It came and went! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnZhs65PDG
♪ That's a past chapter! New one begins! ♪
***
Something
***
Once all of them were seated, I asked, "Alright, you ladies ready for this?!"
All of the ladies in the cafeteria, in addition to Xandra and her girls, replied, "YES!" And some of them said, "YEAAAAH!" while others went, "YEAH! WOOOOOO!"
In the previous chapter of Something... after making a plan to reward Xandra for being his 'best friend,' Ikjot had to sing! And what better way to reward Xandra than to play a song by one of her favorite bands: Sulfur and Skull Heads?! Little did Ikjot know, however, that the girls only faked being supportive to make fun of him—again.
At their hotel, Ikjot and Herbertia were left to themselves for the night, via Somer's plan to make Ikjot prove his love interest for her daughter by doing some making-out! Herbertia wondered if Ikjot believed her about what she said about Xandra and her girls being backstabbers; and Ikjot was pressured by Herbertia to state his true feelings, being that he didn't believe Herbertia. But who would have thought that after being called a liar to her face, even though she was telling the truth, Herbertia would still love Ikjot?! Ikjot, you've got gold and you need to keep it. You should also find some way to remedy Herbertia's sadness over losing her beloved knife Dinky.
Back in Sanne, with Tiane having wronged her own family for the last time, Marta knew their only hope was one person: Penelope. Will Marta's plan work? Find out... this chapter of Something!
***
Something25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoB9FMBChl0
1225Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdk9WGelkAE
Ikjot's Reminders
***
Around seven-thirty a.m. in Sanne, Marta and Ram were walking in the rain. While the weather was quite distracting, Marta and Ram both knew there was no time for complaining. They had to make it to Penelope, regardless of the weather's conditions.
One could see that Marta was especially determined—it showed in her face.
In the distance, the girls could see a large mansion on a large land, surrounded by a brick wall with a gate at the front. Marta said, "This is it.... Here we go."
"Yup!" said Ram, nodding sternly.
Stopping with Ram before the gate, Marta pressed a button on an intercom. From there, Penelope's voice came through saying, "Penelope's residence—please go away, if you're a boy."
"It's Marta!" said Marta.
"And Ram!" said Ram.
Simona was in Penelope's bedroom, painting Penelope's toenails.
Penelope told Simona, "Let them in."
With that, Simona walked to a red button on Penelope's wall and pressed it.
From there, the gates opened for Marta and Ram, and the girls headed for the door of Penelope's home... mansion... whatever.
***
By around eight a.m. at my own residence, while Herbertia and I rested, Somer, Julian and 1098 used their hotel card to unlock the door and walk in. We woke up while Somer said, "Hey, guys! Did you have fun?!"
Herbertia nodded and said, "Yeah! Ikjot and I had plenty of bonding time!"
I said, "And I learned that Herbertia is the best girlfriend a guy could ask for."
Herbertia smiled sweetly and blushed to my compliment.
As for 1098, she rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that!" proudly said Somer before closing the door behind them. "Well, we had a blast last night too!" She looked to Julian and continued, "Didn't we, Julian?!"
"That's Clarence F to you, little missy!" said Julian.
With a laugh, Somer replied, "We're inside now, Julian!"
In his normal personality and voice, Julian took off his disguise and said, "Eh, yeah..." before hanging it on the coat rack and teasing, "but you're still a little missy, little missy!"
Hanging up her own disguise, Somer replied, "Oh, yeah?!" She walked to the sink to draw some water. Cupping her hands and letting just the right amount build up in her palms, she continued, "Well... tell me... am I a..." and splashed it in his face with a laugh, "BAD LITTLE MISSY?!"
Now with a wet face, Julian laughed and said, "YUP!" before running to the sink and splashing some water on Somer's face, making her laugh as well. "Which is why I've gotta discipline you!"
"Oh, no you won't!" Somer teased, splashing more water in Julian's face. From there, the two kept laughing as they continued splashing water in each other's faces.
To this, Herbertia laughed.
I smiled.
1098 just remained unamused.
I couldn't help but notice the Effect and told her, "You know, 1098, this is pretty funny!"
"My only purpose is to be a giver of knowledge; not an audience," said 1098.
Overhearing this, Somer looked down with disappointment before Julian would splash more water on her, not noticing her sudden change in mood. Upon noticing Julian, however, Somer immediately got back her fun mood and laughed, splashing water back at him and making him laugh as well.
I continued, "Well... have it your way, I guess. But you know, you're not bound to just being a source of knowledge to someone. What about your own needs? Don't you think they matter...?"
1098 paused with unamusement and said, "Don't you have something to do, Ikjot?"
Just then, I remembered Dinky—Herbertia's knife. I said, "OH! Right!"
"Hm...?" puzzled Herbertia.
Stepping out of bed, I continued, "Um... Herbertia, I was gonna head out for a bit."
"Oh, cool!" replied Herbertia. "Can I come?!"
"Well, I was actually going to go by myself."
Herbertia paused with disappointment... and said, "Oh."
I didn't mean to make Herbertia feel left out. But if I wanted this to be a surprise, I couldn't have her around.
Somer folded her arms and asked, "Curious, Ikjot, why do you wanna go by yourself?"
Well, I guess I had no choice but to spoil the surprise factor. All fake excuses I could think of would have made Somer think I was trying to cheat on Herbertia. So I told Somer, "Um... well, I was planning on getting a present for Herbertia."
"WHAT?!" happily exclaimed Herbertia with glee. "YOU WERE GONNA GET ME A PRESENT?!"
"Why, yes!" I happily said, though still felt a good bit disappointed that it couldn't be a surprise like I originally intended.
Jumping out of bed, Herbertia exclaimed, "OH MY GOSH!" And she hugged me. "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" Then laughed with excitement.
I said, "I love you too, Herbertia!"
Somer thought, That's very cute, Ikjot. But you can't sway a girl with gifts. I at least hope you gave Herbertia an actual good time last night.
"I can't wait to see what you get me!" happily said Herbertia.
"Me neither!" I happily replied.
***
About fifteen or twenty minutes later, I was at a tools store of some sort. From chainsaws, to hammers, to wood, they had it all—even knives. Standing with a male employee before their knives rack, I was trying to remember the appearance of Herbertia's knife and compare it to any knife I'd see similar. Looking all the way down to the bottom of the rack, I finally found one and said, "AHA! There we go!"
"Which one now?" asked the employee. He was a thin and short black bear.
Taking it off the rack, I said, "This one."
"Oh, good choice!" He walked to his counter and continued, "Follow me!"
And I followed him.
From there, he scanned the barcode on the knife and said, "Okay, your total is five dollars, fifty cents."
Digging my hand through my pocket, I said, "Alright..." I pulled out my wallet, unlocked it and pulled out some cash—wait... no I didn't. I was still broke! "Uuuuuh—"
The cashier leaned down to me and said, "Psst... don't worry if you're short on cash—I'll let you have it for free, so long as my boss doesn't know."
"Wow, seriously?!" I whispered back.
"Sure! But, uh..." and he smiled with a wink, "just to make it convincing..." and cleared his throat. "Well, little boy, we don't sell merchandise to non-paying customers here. I'm afraid you'll have to leave!"
Playing along, I said, "Oh, boo-hoo! Woe is me!" and headed for the door with my head down. "I guess today just won't be a good day for me...." I then briefly looked back to the cashier, giving him a smiling wink of my own.
He gave me one too. Then placed the packaged knife in a bag. Not taking the bag with him, he walked to me and whispered, "Where do you live...? I can drop it off by your place, when I get the chance."
I whispered, "You know The $40 a Night Hotel not too far from here?"
"Yeah, that's where you live?"
I simply replied with a nod.
He continued, "Awesome! I'll make sure to get it to you."
"Thanks, man! I really appreciate it."
"Great!" Clearing his throat again to continue the act, he said, "Well, kid, what're you waiting for? Amscray!"
I played along and said, "I understand..." and opened the door. "I know when my money isn't good somewhere...." Then walked out—but not before turning my head one last time, to give the guy a smiling wink and thumbs up.
In response, he did the same before his manager shouted from the background, "CORY! IS THAT CUSTOMER OUTTA' HERE?!"
"Uh, yeah, boss!" said Cory. "He's long gone, thanks to me!"
Walking off, I whispered, "I'd better go...."
"I'll get the knife to the hotel as soon as possible," whispered Cory. "Who am I sending it to?"
"Just say, uh..." and I gave it some thought, "Herbertia Jeff."
"Will do! My name's Cory James, by the way."
"I'm Ikjot." And I excluded my last name on purpose; I knew these people had a tough time pronouncing just my first name as it was.
"Cool! Well, I'd better get back to work." And Cory James prepared to walk back inside. "Keep watch for your package!"
Now fifteen feet away from him, I said, "Will do!" and kept walking. "Take care, Cory!"
"You too!"
"CORY, YOU HAVE CUSTOMERS WAITING!" said Cory's boss. "GET BACK TO WORK!"
Nervously going back inside and shutting the door, Cory replied, "Uh, coming boss!"
As for me while I walked down the street, I couldn't help but notice a digital sign above me that was showing today's date. I puzzled, "October first, huh...?" And I narrowed my eyes. "My sister should be arriving to the school in at least a week."
***
Back at Penelope's residence in Sanne, Penelope had cream spread all over her face when Simona placed cucumbers on her eyes. To Marta and Ram who sat in her room, Penelope asked, "So... why have you two come here?"
Marta twiddled her thumbs and said, "Well..."
"TIANE'S BEEN A REAL JERK!" complained Ram.
"Raaaaam!" whispered a displeased Marta.
While Simona wrapped a pink towel around Penelope's head, Penelope puzzled while saying, "Really now...?" Then she reached for a cup of tea and sipped it.
"Um, yes..." said Marta, nodding. "She beat up me, Ram, my parents," and Marta looked down with sadness, "and took our money and food away...."
While having her head towel massaged by Simona, Penelope folded her arms with a determined smile and said, "Sounds like a good whipping to me!" Before Marta could say anything else, Penelope continued, "Don't worry, Marta. I'll have Tiane begging for mercy by the time I'm done with her!"
With a smile, Marta replied, "Well... you did show her a thing or two, back at school."
"That was pretty cool!" happily said Ram.
"Pretty cool...?" asked Penelope. "HA! Please, that was WICKED cool!"
Marta replied, "You know it!" and gave Penelope a high-five.
"So, how soon do you think you can help us?" asked Ram.
With a sly smile, Penelope asked, "Where does this loser live?"
To that, Marta and Ram both paused with curiosity.
Scratching her head, Marta puzzled, "Um..."
"Gee, uh..." puzzled Ram, "we don't know...."
Having Simona unwrap the towel and put it somewhere, Penelope replied, "Uh-huh... then how do you expect me to teach this girl a lesson?"
"Wait!" Marta exclaimed. "Your dad's the president of Sanne, right?!"
"Um... yeah...?" said Penelope.
"Well, wouldn't he know where Tiane currently resides, since he's the government and all?" asked Ram.
"You think just because my dad's the president, he stalks people?" Penelope shook her head in disappointment. "That is so lame...."
"But... doesn't he keep records of people's personal information, i.e. their location, SSN, fingerprints—?"
"Marta, this isn't Fletcher," interrupted Penelope. "It's Sanne. As far as security goes, the only thing we do in the line of that is stopping people from leaving the island. Besides, my dad's too busy focusing on the..." and Penelope admired herself (despite cucumbers blocking her view), "well-being of his bright and shining little angel—a.k.a. me—to focus on anyone else's life! He-he.... Second of all..." Then she became straight-faced. "Wait, never mind. That's really his only reason."
Rolling her eyes, Marta said, "Oooo-kaaaaay... but, you're still going to help us, right?"
While Simona came to blow-dry Penelope's hair, Penelope replied, "Haven't we already been over this? I can't help you unless I know Tiane's residence."
With the blow-dryer being so loud, Marta yelled, "WHAAAAT?!"
Penelope yelled, "I SAID, I CAN'T HELP OUT UNLESS I KNOW TIANE'S RESIDENCE!"
"WHAT'S THAT?!"
"I SAID, NO KNOWN RESIDENCE OF TIANE EQUALS NO HELPING!"
"HUUUUUUUH?!"
"I SAID, I WON'T—!"
"ENOUGH!" yelled Ram. She walked over to the power chord for the blow-dryer and unplugged it from the wall, immediately turning off the device.
"HEY!" said Penelope, lifting a cucumber off her left eye to look the way of the unplugged chord. "SIMONA'S DRYING MY HAIR!"
Unamused, Ram replied, "It can—" before getting an idea, "WAIT! We go to school with Tiane, right? Maybe Penelope can straighten her out there!"
Not appreciating Ram speaking of her in third-person, Penelope said, "Uh... I'm right here."
"That's a really good idea!" happily said Marta.
Penelope shrugged and said, "Eh, whatever.... Just know that by the time I'm done with Tiane on Monday, she'll be begging you to take back your stuff."
"That's awesome!" said Marta, happily with her fists lifted.
"Yeah!" said Ram, nodding and bearing her fists also.
"Only because I'm awesome!" happily said Penelope. "Now, uh..." she went on to say while putting the cucumber back on her left eye, "get out of my mansion." Much to Marta and Ram's curiosity, Penelope used her big toe to press a red button on the floor, causing the floor beneath Marta and Ram to pop-up, shooting them towards the ceiling. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Marta and Ram screamed before the ceiling opened, allowing them to fly through.
To Simona, Penelope shouted, "Simona! Plug back my blow-dryer!"
Walking to the plug, Simona replied, "Yes, Penelope." Upon plugging it back, the blow-dryer was once again blowing.
Bearing an impatient glare while her arms were folded, Penelope awaited Simona's return to pilot the blow-dryer—and Simona did just that, holding it to Penelope's hair and blowing it around once more.
As for Marta and Ram, they landed on Penelope's lawn and rubbed their backs. "Ooooow!" said Ram, regaining balance and still rubbing her back before asking Marta, "Do you think that sometimes, Penelope's rather... strange?"
Also regaining balance and still rubbing her back, Marta replied, "If by 'strange,' you mean 'mean,' then yeah... totally.... Ow."
***
Back in Righteous Korrigan, Xandra was in her home's backyard. Wearing a red band around her head, black war paint beneath her eyes, and holding a bow and many arrows in her right hand, Xandra was obviously prepared to do some hunting the old savage way. Also obvious was the fact that her father was away; she'd never do this in front of him.
From the house's back door, Helena walked outside to the yard and happily said, "Hey, Xandra—" before sadly noticing her attire. "Oh, no.... Don't tell me—"
"Yup!" happily interrupted Xandra. "I'm gonna paralyze some poor frogs..." and she spun around her bow and arrow, "using these babies!"
Helena said, "Xandra, why would you want to go around the yard hurting poor, defenseless frogs?"
Xandra elatedly said, "I know, right?! Poor and defenseless is what makes it so fun!" And she walked away with a laugh.
Helena looked down with disappointment.
Xandra stopped just before a small frog sitting in the grass, happily commenting, "Awwwww, looooook. Such a cute little freak of nature," and laughed before aiming her arrow at the frog's right leg. Helena just kept watching with disappointment while Xandra released the arrow, allowing it to penetrate the frog's leg and make the amphibian cry a loud ribbit. Xandra laughed at this; but one could see that Helena didn't find it funny.
Upon seeing the assault on their brethren, the other small frogs immediately signaled warnings to each other and started hopping all over the place in a panic, trying to get as far away as possible.
Xandra laughed and said, "YEAH, YOU'D BETTER RUN!" Aiming her arrow at one of the fleeing small frogs, she whispered, "It makes this all the more fun..." and fired that arrow at the small frog's back, permanently paralyzing it—Xandra once again laughed to this. From there, she continued firing arrows at the small frogs, injuring them one-by-one.
Helena looked on in horror and even formed tears in her eyes to Xandra joyfully continuing her cruelty towards the helpless amphibians.
I must admit, Xandra was quite skilled to hit them in ways where they wouldn't die but live with eternal pain. And the fact that her large arrows could penetrate them so precisely indicated that... this wasn't her first time doing this.
"HA-HAHAHAHA!" laughed Xandra, continuously firing arrows at the small frogs. "AH-HAHAHAHAHA! AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Unable to watch anymore, Helena cried, covered her face in her hands and ran back inside.
"AH-HAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Xandra, shooting an arrow into a small frog's foot, causing the little critter to shed a tear. Xandra then looked to the side, overhearing Helena. She puzzled, "Hm...?" and headed towards the back door.
Inside her big sister's room, Helena laid on the bed and was still crying, keeping her face buried in Xandra's pillow.
The door was already open, allowing Xandra to easily walk in and laughingly tell her little sister, "Wow! You are such a wuss...."
To that insult, Helena angrily rolled her tearful eyes and sniffed.
Xandra continued, "You need to toughen up.... Don't you know how pathetic you look right now?" and laughed again. "And here I thought you were supposed to be cool." Laughing again, she teased, "You're nothing but a big crybaby!"
Grabbing hold of her pillow, Helena said, "SHUT UP!" and threw it at Xandra.
Xandra cutely smiled and cringed while the pillow hit her, then laughed at Helena while it fell to the floor.
Helena again turned away from her big sister and covered her face in the mattress.
Continuing to laugh, Xandra said, "Come on! I'm just messin' around!"
"Why did you even invite me over here...?" said Helena, her voice a bit muffled from her face pressed in the mattress.
Xandra laughed, "Because our parents are divorced, remember? How else am I supposed to see you?"
Continuing to cry, Helena sniffed and asked, "Why did you do it...?" And she sniffed again. "Why did you hurt those poor frogs...? You know they couldn't defend themselves...."
"All the more reason to hurt 'em. You know me."
Helena sniffed again, looked to Xandra and asked, "But why...? Why do you have to be so..." and again, she sniffed, "evil...?"
Xandra looked down, suddenly seeming tired in the eyes while maintaining her smile. She said, "You know it's his fault, sis."
Wiping her crying eyes, Helena said, "I know he 'ruined our life' by bringing us back to this time." To clarify, Helena didn't realize she was reliving a time period that had already passed... until Xandra told her so. "But even still... hurting people who have nothing to do with this—"
"He hurt them, sis," said Xandra, sternly looking back to Helena. "You know I wouldn't be this way had he not ignored me that first time I tried talkin' to him."
Helena sniffed and shed more tears, saying, "Let go of the past, big sis... and we all knew he wasn't going to reply to us anyway, remember?"
"Haha!" laughed Xandra. "Yeah, I know!" She folded her arms, saying, "I just occasionally mention that lie as the reason so I can remember to keep Ikjot feelin' guilty unnecessarily. Besides, at least now I do have reason to hurt the kid. That little dweeb's makin' me relive a time period where... I'll be... left unprotected again." Xandra was now looking down, seemingly helpless and hugging herself, yet maintained a strong demeanor.
Helena sniffed and wiped her tears, saying, "You have to forgive Ikjot, sis.... He doesn't know all those things about you."
Xandra looked back to Helena and said, "Are you feelin' well, little sis?" And she shrugged. "You don't forgive him either, especially not in the original past. Remember what I told you? He tried talkin' to you back on that social media website, and you responded, 'Why are you talkin' to me? Not to be rude, it's just you never do.'"
Helena gasped slightly, not making a sound. After a somewhat long pause, she looked down and said, "I... remember you telling me about that, yeah."
"And when he told you that he knew about his quiet reputation and said that he wanted to change, that he wanted forgiveness... you just never messaged him back."
"Well, he... creeped me out. I was... scared of him since he had been... drawing pictures of everyone."
"Exactly," said Xandra, folding her arms with a straight face. Just then, she heard her cell phone ringing. "Oh, great..." she said. "What now...?" Taking it out of her green T-shirt and seeing the caller ID, she laughed and said, "Wow! Speakin' of the weirdo, here he is."
Sniffing again and still crying, Helena said, "Well... answer him. Don't leave him hanging—"
Chuckling and rolling her eyes, Xandra interrupted, "What for? He's a creep and it'll hurt his feelings by me not answerin' anyway."
"You... said, yourself, that he's trying to change."
"Doesn't mean we have to forgive him," chuckled Xandra. And seconds later, her phone stopped ringing.
On my end, I got her voicemail that said, [Hi! It's me, Xandra! And I'm so so sorry that I couldn't answer when you called! I feel so awful about that; I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings! Please, leave me a message if you'd like! And even if not, I'll make every possible effort and more to get back to you! I truly appreciate the time you've given in trying to reach me. I promise to get back to you as soon as possible! Until then, remember you are loved. You are appreciated. And no matter who out there tells you that you're nothing... I'm here to tell you that you are important. You are valued. You are something.]
Wow.... That was so motivational. Of course, someone like Herbertia hearing that would've probably thought Xandra was just putting on an act. I was curious though as to what Xandra could have been doing where she couldn't answer me... on a Saturday, no less.
To Helena, Xandra said, "Isn't my voicemail awesome?" She laughingly continued, "It keeps everyone from knowin' how I really am! Haha!" Just then, the siblings heard the doorbell ring. Xandra had briefly looked the door's way, then back to her sister and shrugged while saying, "Well, go get it already!"
Adhering to Xandra's order, not because she was submissive but because she was a good sister, Helena wiped her face and got out of bed, walked out of Xandra's room... and soon made it to the front door. Helena opened it and saw their father Glendon who greeted, "Hi!" Accompanying him were his youngest and oldest sisters (Nida and Ortrude), and his own father and mother (Uegene and Quintilla).
Nida and Ortrude seemed to be a bit younger than Glendon; their long orange hair hadn't started graying yet but they did have just a few wrinkles in their faces.
As for Uegene and Quintilla, Uegene had round glasses, short white hair and wore an unbuttoned plaid and blue sweater. He walked with a brown cane. And Quintilla had white hair down to the shoulders of her pink short-sleeved polo. She had a yellow skirt that didn't confuse one's eyes too much, despite her lemon-colored fur like the rest of their family members.
Helena hugged Glendon and happily exclaimed, "DAD!" She thought, I know Xandra was wrong for what she did to the frogs... but I've always vowed to never rat her out, no matter what, because she's my sister and I still love her.... I know it's... Ikjot's fault that all of this is happening to us.
As for Xandra... she was hidden behind a wall. Her arms were folded. She looked down and thought while smiling, Man, I'm so bored right now! Guess I'll have some fun with you, little sis.... You always were an easy target. And so, Xandra revealed herself to them all. With suddenly wide eyes and a frown, she quickly noticed her aunts, Nida and Ortrude. Her lips started to quiver. She thought, Seeing them... is what I needed for getting upset enough for this act to work. Then tears started escaping her eyes. She sniffed too.
And so, the parents and Helena immediately grew faces of worry.
"Huh...?" puzzled Helena. Her eyes were wide and turned sad. "Big... Big sis, are you okay?"
"What's wrong, Xandra?" asked Glendon, visibly worried too.
"Xan...?" asked Quintilla, also worried.
As for Nida and Ortrude, they rolled their eyes while shaking their heads.
Xandra sniffed and said, "Oh, everyone...." She sniffed again. "Helena, she... She hurt so many frogs in our backyard today!" Then started crying.
"AH?!" exclaimed Helena, feeling as though her heart instantly shattered to shards of glass.
Glendon gasped and exclaimed, "WHAT?!"
"Ah?" puzzled Ortrude, soon enough looking back to her niece and saying, "Hurt... frogs?! Why would she?!"
Helena pled to them, "NO, EVERYONE! I WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING!"
Continuing to cry, Xandra said, "She was just so... so violent!" and sniffed. "Never had I seen such... such brutality..." and she paused, covering her face and crying even more.
They all kept faces of disbelief while Glendon looked to his other daughter and asked, "Helena... how could you do such a thing...?"
"But..." Helena told him while she became teary-eyed. "But, Dad... I didn't—"
Glendon said, "I am very disappointed in you, Helena..." and let go of her before walking to Xandra, as did the rest of them.
"Dad..." cried Helena. "No...." And Helena was shocked to see them all hug Xandra.
"Do not worry, our angel..." said Nida.
"There there, Xandra..." said Glendon. "Everything's going to be okay. I'm sorry Helena did what she did...."
Xandra sniffed and said, "I am... too...." And she sniffed again. "I forgive her for what she did.... Sometimes, evil gets the best of us...." Seeing as how upset Helena became from her betrayal, Xandra purposely flashed a sly smile at her.
But Helena wasn't going to keep quiet about something like this. She immediately pointed to Xandra and said, "SEE, EVERYONE?! SHE'S LYING! LOOK! SHE'S NOT REALLY SAD ABOUT ANYTHING!"
Glendon replied, "Helena... I think Xandra would appreciate it if you stopped trying to frame her for things she'd never do."
And Helena became even more shocked.
"Xandra has always been a good person..." said Uegene.
"She would never hurt anyone..." said Quintilla.
No... Helena couldn't just let Xandra do this. She was confused and hurt by this betrayal and told their parents, "XANDRA IS THE ONE WHO HURT THOSE FROGS! I DON'T KNOW WHY SHE'S TRYING TO FRAME ME BUT—"
Xandra only cried more, knowing it would ensure Glendon's trust for her over Helena.
Hugging Xandra closer, Glendon said, "Helena, you've... done enough. Let's leave your big sister alone... okay?"
Once again, Xandra flashed a sly smirk at Helena.
Seeing that Xandra won again, Helena's tears intensified before she'd run off, crying even more, to Xandra's room.
As for Xandra, she kept her sly smirk to Helena.
Still blind to the truth, Glendon said, "I am so sorry for what Helena did, Xandra...."
Continuing her fakery, Xandra said with tears, "It's okay, Dad.... She just... couldn't overpower the evil..." and continued to cry. Xandra then flashed a smile and thought, Wow! That really did give me a good laugh! Hehe!
***
Later that day, Herbertia, Somer and Julian weren't currently in our hotel room. The only people there were myself... and 1098 who was currently taking a shower. She'd finally decided to try it out, realizing she couldn't stand the odor that was beginning to come from her body.
As for me, I sat on one of the two beds, remembering things that shouldn't have mattered anymore. And yet... they still haunted me. They were the reason I was back here now in 2005, not allowed to move on as originally planned... until I would fully gain the respect and love of Xandra... Wynfred... Yosef... Orabel... Voleta... Piper... and Helena.
And so it was... for me... that my reminder resurfaced:
Like the recess yard—the first one with the wood chips and grass fields—our school's cafeteria also had picnic tables outside of it. This was a day when the fifth grade class was going to a skating rink, and I was with my sister at the time; though I was of the sixth grade class (not the fifth grade) back in the original timeline.
Across from us... from left to right... was Yam, Orabel, Nydia, Xandra, Voleta and Helena, all dressed in casual outside clothes and not the school uniform since they'd be going to have fun somewhere; but I didn't notice any of them until they were right next to the picnic table in front of me, preparing to take their seats and face me. I was immediately struck with fear even more than I was before. If there was one thing I feared at this time more than talking to anyone... it was talking to girls specifically.
To my sister, Xandra said with a straight face, "Hey, Vinanti!"
"Hi, Xandra!" replied my sister, happily.
"Hey, Ikjot!" said Xandra to me—and I was surprised that she knew my name, considering we never formally met. I guessed my sister told her....
Again, I was scared of girls, especially Xandra who knew I liked either Ilana—a friend of hers—or Piper, who was ESPECIALLY a friend of hers....
Still, I had to show Xandra that I was at least paying attention to her. So, though it took great struggling and courage for me to do this, I slowly looked up and faced her. However, I was still very shy around girls, so I didn't respond. And might I add, I felt so terrible, so rude about that! But I was scared. Much as I hated this shyness, this rudeness of mine, it wasn't something I felt I could overcome.
Xandra continued, "Do you like anyone in this school?"
I immediately put my head back down, nervously and slowly.... I should have answered, but a question like that just made me too embarrassed to do so. It was bad enough that I was extremely shy around girls... but one asking me if I liked another girl just took the cake. Because of this, I only sat there with my heart pounding faster than a speeding cheetah in a safari desert.
Keeping a straight face, Xandra shook her head while saying, "We won't tell anyone."
Almost immediately, Helena said, "Yeah, it's just between us."
But all I could do was sit there, still looking down at the ground while nervously trembling inside. My heart was still beating at a rapid amount of speed....
Also straight-faced, Orabel added, "Do you like Piper Kough?"
According to my sister years later, Orabel and the others already knew who I liked. Xandra and the girls—minus my sister—were only doing this to make fun of me. But of course... I now knew, thanks to what Xandra told me in the future, that she did genuinely like me and felt belittled, worthless, from me not responding to her. What an evil fool I was for my actions!
I really did want to answer them, but I was so petrified with fear and embarrassment... to the point where it was as if I was a robot without a battery to make me turn on.
Now... my sister probably thought that those girls knew I wouldn't reply. They found my shyness funny and exploitable for their own amusement, which is why they weren't showing any impatience with me not answering. I was easy comedy to them... a factor that I'd never known until a few years later when Wynfred would have revealed that to me. And they felt that the longer this entertainment could last for them... the better.
No... that's likely how my sister saw it but I knew better. Xandra and those girls, they were... kind and genuine, prior to this incident. It was my fault. I failed them... all of them. I was the real monster in all of this. I... was the one who ruined and made them into bad people. It's why Xandra told me I made her feel small; so no. I knew they weren't doing this just to make fun of me. Wynfred was wrong about Xandra and those girls; they were not trying to pry this answer out of me just to make fun of me! Look! Xandra already revealed this much to me in the original future; she told me I made her feel small by not replying to her! So no... what Wynfred revealed to me years later after this incident was now invalid. But... back to the flashback.
"Do you like Ilana?" asked Xandra, keeping a straight face like her other girls were doing.
I still didn't reply. Darn it....
After five seconds of silence, including my own of course, Voleta asked, "Is it Wynfred?"
And... let me just clarify something—the reason they were doing this was because of me. You see, in advance to that very moment of that very day, I told my sister that I liked Ilana who I was in class with at the time—I was technically supposed to be a seventh grader in 2005, but I got held back a year, which is why I was in the sixth grade instead. My sister, however, didn't want me to be with Ilana, because the girls in her class told her how bad of a person Ilana was. My sister discovered that Wynfred liked me, so she told me about it. I, however, was determined to not like anyone who was in my sister's class; I'd always done that before and wanted the trend to stop. That and I wouldn't have had much time to be around them, since we'd be in separate classes anyway. Plus, at this time, I was a sucker for bad girls (I defined a bad girl as someone evil, villainous, purposely mean, et cetera but she still had to look attractive in my eyes too). I'd also heard about Orabel keeping posters of me in her room because she... apparently was madly in love with me, according to what my sister had said.
This memory just... hurt so much. These girls were originally excited about the idea of dating me back then. And yet... my shyness ruined it. I failed... everyone. I failed... all of them. It... haunted me for the rest... of my... life.
One day, when my sister told me how much of a snob Piper was, I decided that Piper was bad enough for my tastes and asked Vinanti to tell everyone in her class that I liked her, thinking this was the way to make Piper like me back. In advance, however, my sister had already fulfilled my request of telling her gal pals that I liked Ilana, which is why Xandra and her girls were possibly curious at this point.
"Do you like Wynfred?" asked Orabel with a laugh.
Once again, I said nothing.
Voleta asked, "How about Nydia?"
And I still said nothing.
Finally, the girls had their fill of making fun of me. This was proven when Xandra said, "It's ok if you don't want to tell."
From there, they all stood up while Helena said, "Yeah, it's all good!" She then told my sister, "See you, Vinanti!"
"See you, Helena!" happily said my sister, waving the girls goodbye.
From there, Xandra and those girls walked off, leaving my sister and I to sit alone at our table.
Xandra and her girls had gone over to some other girls, mostly of the sixth and higher grades, to talk with them about something. I wonder if they were... talking about what had just happened between me and them.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UCGBcrp8B
No.... No, they were not making fun of me! Wh-Why has THAT suddenly crossed my mind?! Get it together, Ikjot. They were genuinely trying to be my friends and I rudely, coldly turned them away! I belittled them. I made them feel small! It was all my fault! IT WAS ALL MY FAULT! I WAS A HORRIBLE PERSON! I DESERVED TO DIE FOR NOT RESPONDING TO THEM WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE! I'D NEVER AGAIN HAVE THE CHANCE TO TALK WITH A BUNCH OF FEMALES WHO GROUPED AROUND ME TO CHAT! I... I ruined my... only chance. I wanted the chance again to have all those hotties around me at once, trying to talk to me and I'd... never again have that chance. I'd never be fortunate enough to... ever experience a bunch of hot women... approaching me as a group to talk to... me. I'd never experience that great feeling... again.
***
Ugh, I ruined my life by not responding when I had the chance. It's not like those girls were going to sit on that bench all that time... until seven years later when we'd all be older and I'd finally have the confidence to respond like a normal human being should have. I ran out of time. I'd never have an opportunity like that again... and it was all my fault. I ruined everything... and I ruined my life.
I still don't know why I was so introverted back then.... Maybe it was because I only felt shy around girls. Maybe I'd gotten so used to being afraid of getting in trouble for talking during teacher's lectures that I... applied it to all aspects of the school setting when I shouldn't have. That's what recess was for, right? That's what having lunch in the cafeteria was for, right? Yet still... I didn't even socialize in those settings! And the worst part... is I can't even pinpoint as to why I was like this. Where was a multi-colored pebble to save me when I... needed it most back then? I failed at making those girls value and like me... and I wasn't going to let it happen again, even if that meant... sidelining Herbertia.
Now... per another flashback:
I remembered one day when recess ended. When I made it to my sixth grade line, I had been standing there for a good couple of seconds before Xandra would arrive with Helena. Xandra had her hair in a spunky and short ponytail. While smiling and laughing to me, Xandra told me, "Wow, you're fast!"
Still so darn shy but trying more that time to fight it, I only looked to her and, maybe with the smallest smile thinkable, responded with saying, "Thanks."
How unfortunate... that I still felt too scared to properly socialize with this girl. I... I deserved to die for it.
***
Another time, when I was in aftercare and sitting at one of the long tables we'd eat lunch at, Orabel happily came to sit across from me and said, "Hi!"
Of course, you know the routine: I would say nothing. Why...? WHY...?!
Orabel continued to happily ask me, "Why don't you ever talk?" And she kept herself leaning toward me with just as happy anticipation.
And all I did, in response, was clam-up even more....
Orabel would continue to make suggestions such as, "Can you speak?" and other things.
Finally, I don't know how I did it... but when she asked again, "Why don't you talk?"
I replied, "...Because I'm shy."
"OH MY GOSH!" she exclaimed before calling Wende Trujillo and Xander Nyce to come and hear me for themselves.
My sister told me in the far future, however, that Orabel was only doing all that to make fun of me. In fact, Wynfred would tell me in the nearer future that she and all the girls acted friendly towards me to do the same.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLR72jHQmkX
Of course, the only one among them who never did that... was my sister herself. Vinanti actually cared about me. She wasn't like the others. I wasn't a joke for her to exploit. I just wished I could have... found someone other than my sister who had that same kind of heart for me, so that I could finally have a girlfriend and one who'd accept me for my flaws and all. But with my obsessions over Xandra, and earlier at one point over Ilana, Wynfred, Piper, maybe even Orabel prior... it all held me back from doing the right thing. It held me back from... letting go of my failed past and paving the roadway for my better future.
At least... letting go of the past is what my sister wanted me to do. How the underworld would she understand? She actually retained these people from her fifth grade class as friends. Even when we were adults, they still made the effort to reach out to her... even with us living in a whole different state by that time. And yet... in the year 2016... none of them reached out to me. And by the year 2026... they probably would still have not. And by the year 2036... I'd probably still have been waiting on them. But they hated me based on my past failures.... I knew that.
***
So there you have it... and these were just my instances of not speaking. I had others, such as word getting out that I drew pictures of people—I told my sister to tell her gal pals that I'd draw pictures of Piper, thinking that it would make Piper know how much I truly loved her. But no. It instead caused so many of the other kids to perceive me as some creep....
Now out of the shower and in her robe, 1098 asked me, "Why do you even care for them, Ikjot...?" Feeling confused, I turned my head while she continued, "I've read Herbertia's mind long enough to know she's not hateful.... Unlike them, if you had been quiet around her, she would have forgiven you."
I said, "But—"
"Don't you see...?" she interrupted. "You have to stop living in the past, Ikjot; you can never fully undo the damage of... who you are."
My eyes widened. I wasn't... fully sure what she meant by that. "Who I am? You mean how I'm a frog?"
1098 sighed, bowing her head with closed eyes. Then she looked back my way and said, "I'm not talking about your race, Ikjot. I'm talking about your personality. You can try changing who you are all you want; you can try being more social, expressive... and you still will not be loved by everyone."
I frowned with furrow brows... soon enough looking down at the carpeting. "What would you know about me?"
"I would and do 'know' a lot about you, Ikjot.... I also know that you're playing Herbertia."
My eyes widened. "What...? No.... Now see here!"
"You feel it's okay, don't you...? Just because a countless number of girls backstab you, you want to backstab one in return? Ikjot, Herbertia won't betray you like those other chicks...."
"'Chicks,' huh...? I guess you're getting acquainted with our earthly diction."
"This is no time for games, Ikjot...."
"Look... how can I even trust you, huh? You may not even be what you call an 'Effect.' You could just be some girl we found on the street who's planning to loot everything we have in this hotel!"
"There's no need to get agitated. Just know that I know what you're up to.... It's going to blow-up in your face."
"Look... you don't know what I've been through. I have to be cautious around Herbertia—"
"I know what you've been through, Ikjot.... I can read your mind."
I said nothing. I was just silent for a good bit of time. My eyes narrowed soon enough while I hummed, "Hmph...."
"Look... there's no need to be mad with the world just because of the bad apples you came across."
"Yeah...? Well, it's funny how most of those bad apples, with an exception to some dudes, were girls. Do you know how long I've waited for an honest woman to come into my life?"
"...It isn't completely about that anymore."
My eyes widened. "Eh...?"
"Ikjot... you aren't just mistrusting of Herbertia out of fear for getting your heart broken. You're purposefully mistrusting Herbertia because you don't want to turn Xandra down. Admit your fault here. You're still trying to make Xandra yours, because you're influenced by her looks."
I stood up and said, "It's not just her looks! It's her voice! The fact she's taller than me and had the personality to actually approach me!"
"And so you think no other woman on this planet will ever approach you?" 1098 slightly looked down, ruffling the towel around her head.
"Others did too... but at some point in the future, it just stopped happening! Women just... left me to be alone!" I grunted, looking down and shivering while crying. "I'm nothing.... I deserve to die!"
1098 frowned angrily and picked a comb off the counter, tossing it across my face.
"OW!" I shouted, rubbing my cheek.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, Ikjot...." said 1098, a bit agitated in her voice. "Declaring that you deserve death over something that isn't your fault? Herbertia accepts you whether you talk to people or not. Have you ever considered that you've gone back in time, done all this for a woman who doesn't even care about you halfway as much as Herbertia does?!"
"NONSENSE!" I snapped. "XANDRA WOULD HAVE CARED FOR ME HAD I NOT TREATED HER LIKE DIRT!"
With growing anger in her face, 1098 walked my way... and stopped beside me. "You know... you treat Herbertia like dirt yet she still cares for you."
"Ah?!" I gasped while 1098 headed for the door. Watching where she headed via the sink mirror, I turned to her and said, "Wait, where are you going?"
"To get some fresh air," said 1098, calmly. She was undoing the chain and unlocking the door while she spoke. "I just got out of a hot shower, and all this drama is making me even more heated."
And with that, 1098 opened the door, walked out and shut it so hard that the sound popped my eardrums.
***
At a local park, Herbertia, Somer and Julian walked through the grassy fields. Somer and Julian were in their disguises, of course.
Somer said, "So, Herbertia... how did your night go with Ikjot?"
"Uh... just fine," said Herbertia, still a bit confused. "Curious though," she said while looking down with disappointment, "why didn't we take Ikjot with us? ...I was hoping I'd walk in the park with my boyfriend on a beautiful Saturday afternoon."
Somer said, "Wellllll—"
Julian said with a fake cough, "Somer wanted to know if Ikjot was abusive."
"Julian!" laughed Somer, nudging Julian's arm while he laughed as well.
"Whaaaat?" puzzled Herbertia, looking back up at her parents and now with widened eyes. "No way! Ikjot loves me!"
Julian said with a wink, "Plus, Herbertia's too strong to be abused.... You and I both know that strength!"
Somer said with a laugh, "True!"
"Somer, let's get one thing straight here—" said Herbertia (not calling Somer 'Mom' since they were out in public), "Ikjot would never abuse me! He's a nice guy!"
"Herbertia, you don't know that..." Somer sternly replied. "Remember, you found this guy on the streets. He could be anything."
Herbertia was offended. "Ikjot is not a thing! He's a person, just like you and I!"
"Then why is he doing some other girl's homework?! Would he ever do yours—?"
"Ladies, ladies, please!" said Julian, trying to keep the peace. "This is supposed to be an afternoon of us having fun, remember?!"
With the gals disregarding Julian, Herbertia told Somer, "Ikjot would do my homework for me! I know he would; and what business is it of yours to know what goes on between me and Ikjot anyway?!"
Julian looked down with grief, understanding that neither of them would listen to him.
"I just don't want to see you get hurt!" said Somer, worried. "Don't you see that Ikjot's making a fool out of you?!"
"BUT HE MADE OUT WITH ME, JUST LIKE YOU WANTED! ISN'T THAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU?!"
"HE NEEDS TO MAKE OUT WITH YOU AT EVERY CHANCE HE GETS—THAT'S HOW YOU PROVE YOU LIKE A GIRL!"
"I'LL PROVE TO YOU THAT IKJOT LIKES ME! IN FACT, I'LL PROVE IT EVERY NIGHT! When we get home, I guarantee you he'll kiss me at the door!"
Somer giggled with doubt and said, "Right...."
"HE WILL!" said Herbertia. "AND WHEN HE DOES, YOU'LL KNOW THAT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT HIM!"
Regardless, one could still see the doubt on Somer's face.
***
So many hours later, it was nightfall, possibly around seven o'clock to seven-thirty p.m. when Xandra and her girls—specifically her clique and Orabel and her clique, and Helena—were at the Young Horseflies Hangout. Wait a minute... THE YOUNG HORSEFLIES HANGOUT?! I had no idea she and her girls knew about that place! What a twist....
"You ladies need help with anything, just let me know..." said Jim, the bartender, cleaning a glass.
"Sure thing, Jim!" said Xandra with a pleasant smile. "And, might I say, you're really good at cleaning things!"
Jim blushed, smiling and said, "Awwwww.... It's a livin'."
Xandra and her girls then went walking towards the dance room. Helena said, "Wow, sis, you've been going to this hangout for years now!"
Xandra proudly replied, "Yeah, I have! I've always been comin' here to flirt with the guys."
Wynfred laughed, "Yeah, and you'd only pretend to like them just to make fun of them!"
"True that!" said Xandra, once again with a prideful smile. "And I'd break their hearts on purpose!" she laughingly concluded.
From there, the girls entered the dance room. Seeing all of the guys, Xandra felt great inspiration to be wicked.
"Wow, there's so many single guys in here!" Orabel said in awe.
"Uh... we don't know if they're single, Orabel," politely suggested Voleta.
Xandra chuckled, "Does it really matter? We can go around foolin' guys who are taken, make them leave the girls who actually care about 'em and then those dudes go with us instead... just so we can dump 'em in the end, leaving them with no one!" and laughed.
"Mean as usual, huh, sis...?" asked an unamused Helena.
Xandra laughed with the other girls and said, "Yeah?!"
"You should try scoring a boy too, Helena!" Wynfred happily suggested.
Helena shook her head while saying, "But I don't want to trick anyone!"
"Come on, Helena, you're the hottest girl here!" said Orabel. "What guy would be dumb enough to resist you?!"
"But tricking a guy into liking me just so I can break his heart in the end...?! That's just mean!"
Xandra laughingly said, "I KNOW!" while the other girls laughed too. "Isn't it awesome?!"
But Helena looked down with deep thought.... She knew that it wasn't awesome. Helena looked back up to her big sister and said, "No, Xandra... it isn't." Then turned away and headed for the dance room's exit—being the same door they came in through.
With her girls, Xandra followed Helena and laughingly said, "Aw, come on, sis! This is gonna be fun!"
"Yeah!" laughingly said Piper. "You'll love it!"
Helena said, "No... you'll love it. I won't, on the other hand."
Making puppy-dog eyes at Helena, Xandra said in a tempting tone, "Please do it for me, Helena...?"
"Just because you use puppy-dog eyes on me, doesn't mean I'll help y'all out with this."
Xandra then said in a soft, tempting voice, "Come on, Helena..." and rubbed her little sister's shoulders. "Help us...."
Helena said with disbelief, "I said no!"
Xandra searched her fingers through Helena's hair, temptingly saying, "But you have so much potential...."
"But, Xandra, I don't want to—"
Xandra held Helena's chin with her finger. "Come, my sister...." Xandra then brought her face close to Helena's own. "Cross over to the dark side...."
Regardless, Xandra's temptation just couldn't break Helena. Helena immediately broke away from Xandra and said, "I will never be like you!"
Regardless, Xandra was just as determined to keep the temptation going. She held Helena by the cheeks, got close to her face and said, "But... we're flesh and blood, are we not, dear sis...?"
Piper rolled her eyes. "Come on, Xandra... let's just forget it. She'll obviously never know the beauty of our clique...."
Xandra continued to her sister, "Come on, Helena.... At least give it a chance. Just say 'Hi' to a boy, that's all...."
Helena shook her head and said, "I know what you'd want me to do from there.... You of all people would never support a person to be honest with someone."
"Come now, Helena...." Then, Xandra petted Helena's head, feeling through her licorice hair. "I'm not bad... I am your friend...."
Helena looked down and gave it some thought... then looked back up to Xandra. "If you're my friend, let alone my flesh and blood relative, why did you get me in trouble with Dad this morning...?"
"What's she talking about...?" puzzled Voleta.
"Oh, it's nothing..." said Xandra, keeping her calm smile.
"Don't lie!" said Helena. "You know what you did this morning!"
Xandra made a sly smile to Helena and said, "You're right, sis... I do know what I did this morning."
"Alright then... tell them."
"I will tell 'em."
"Xan, what's she talking about...?" asked Wynfred.
With tears, Xandra looked to Wynfred and said, "Well..." and sniffed, "I begged my sister to stop killing innocent frogs on our lawn, but..." and covered her face with her hands, crying.
All of the girls gasped with shock to this—especially Helena who knew it was a lie.
"Helena..." puzzled Voleta, "you...?"
"NO WAY!" Helena denied it, shocked. "SHE'S TOTALLY LYING! XANDRA, I DIDN'T EVEN TELL DAD WHAT YOU DID, SO WHY DO YOU KEEP ATTACKING ME LIKE THIS?!"
Xandra kept crying and said, "Oh..." and sniffed, "great...! Now she wants to make me look like I'm a... BAD PERSON...!" and covered her hands over her face, continuing to (fake) cry.
"YOU ARE A BAD PERSON, XANDRA!" complained Helena. "YOU DELIBERATELY HURT PEOPLE FOR NO REASON!"
"NO I DON'T!" Xandra challenged back. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HURT THOSE POOR FROGS!"
"Helena, I so thought you were nicer than that..." said Yosef in disbelief.
Helena pled, "OPEN YOUR EYES, YOSEF—ALL OF YOU! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT MY SISTER IS EVIL?! SHE'S BENT ON MAKING ALL OF YOU SUFFER?! ALL THIS CHANGE IN HER BECAUSE OF THIS ONE GUY SHE'S GROWN TO HATE SO MUCH!"
Xandra grunted angrily and said, "DON'T... ever mention that thing to me!"
"NO!" angrily said Helena, raising a fist. "I'LL MENTION HIM ALL I WANT, SATAN!"
Xandra gasped with a very wide mouth and slapped Helena across the face.
Holding her cheek with discomfort, Helena slowly turned back to Xandra.
And Xandra temptingly said with a smile, "Come on... hit me back."
All the girls watched patiently, awaiting Helena's next move. However, they were disappointed to hear Helena say, "Forget it..." and Helena went walking off. "Find someone else to help you with your evil scheme!"
Xandra laughed and said, "News flash: I've got all these evil friends of mine here to do it!" And Xandra briefly thought, Friends...? HA! They wish.... I'll hurt all of 'em soon enough. Then her eyes narrowed. And you too, little sis... will get hurt as well.
Orabel asked, "So, uh... Xan... what do you want us to do about the boys?"
Turning to Orabel with a laugh, Xandra replied, "We're gonna trick 'em. Everyone, go pick a guy and start flirting with him. Try to get 'em under your fingers, if you can. Then dump 'em... cruelly."
Piper happily saluted while saying, "Absolutely, Xan!" and walked with the other girls.
Watching Orabel walk, Xandra told her too, "Oh, and Orabel..."
Stopping in her tracks, Orabel turned to Xandra with puzzle.
Xandra went on to tell her, "Thanks for deciding to cheat on your boyfriend."
Orabel cringed in discomfort, remembering the boyfriend she currently had. There was a flashback:
Orabel was in her boyfriend's house, riding on his back—literally! The boyfriend, Hermon, was a fifteen-year-old cheetah with spiky and standing dark-red hair, a wide jaw and was at least a good few inches taller than Orabel. "Giddy up, Hermon!" she laughingly said while Hermon ran around on all fours.
"Alright, whatever you say!" laughingly said Hermon, continuing his run.
Orabel pulled out a whip and said, "STOP!" Then struck the whip against her boyfriend's head.
Hermon simply fell to the floor with swirly eyes.
***
Later, she and Hermon sat on his bed. Orabel snapped her fingers (despite the hooves) and commanded, "Hermon! Hug me." And her eyes narrowed. "Now...."
With a nervous gulp, Hermon said, "Yes, Orabel..." and hugged her.
"Aw, thank you, Hermon!" said Orabel with a pleased smile.
"Um... Orabel...?"
"Hm...?"
"...Well... just know that, no matter what, I'll always be your faithful boyfriend.... You'll be faithful, too, right?"
Orabel said with a laugh, "Hermon, just because you're sooooo much older than me, doesn't mean I'll be tempted to find some younger guy!"
"I'm not talking about age-wise, but... in general, if you did have a boyfriend who was around your age, would you be faithful...?"
Orabel laughed again, "Of course I would! Nothing will ever change that...."
To that, Hermon smiled. "Thanks, Orabel...." And he cuddled her. "You're my best friend... ever...."
Orabel moaned and pecked his lips, giggling while she said, "You too...."
And Hermon giggled as well.
***
Indeed, Orabel made a promise to her boyfriend... and here she was prepared to break it for Xandra. Indeed... Orabel often was a... carbon copy of Xandra. Not even giving a second thought about her promise to Hermon, Orabel walked to a boy fox she saw and laughingly asked, "Hey, what's up?!"
Being around Orabel's height and wearing a round sweater hat, the boy turned to her and laughingly replied, "Oh, nothing much!" Then rubbed the back of his head. "Just—"
And Orabel immediately grabbed him around the shoulders, soon kissing his lips. She looked to Xandra with a wink.
Xandra laughed with approval for such backstabbing behavior. Then she looked behind herself and saw another boy—a skunk with glasses, buzz cut red hair and a very thin, short build—leaning against the wall. Xandra pointed to him for Orabel, letting her know that she would go over to him.
Still fooling her own guy, Orabel briefly gave Xandra a thumbs-up.
Xandra nodded and walked over to the unsuspecting boy, set her hand to the wall and, with a straight face, told him, "Hey, what's up?"
The boy said, "Oh, uh... hi."
Xandra thought, A shy one, ey? He'll be fun to mess with.... She then told him, "How's it going?"
"I'm... waiting for my girlfriend to arrive."
Xandra chuckled with saying, "Girlfriend...?"
"Yeah..." he said with a smile. "She's really awesome! Maybe you'd like to meet her?"
"Pfft.... Nah," Xandra said while using her finger to tickle the shy guy's chin. She chuckled while saying, "But, I'd like to meet you...."
He quickly pushed her hand away and said, "Woah-woah, easy there! I'm taken!"
Xandra laughed, "Yeah, I know!" before placing her hands on his chest, touching his purple buttoned shirt. "But don't you wanna cheat...?"
He simply pushed her hands away and walked off, saying, "It's not even on my mind."
But Xandra was indeed the determined type. She grabbed the boy by his shoulders and whispered, "Come on..." before whispering to his ear, "let's get naughty...."
Pushing her hands away again, the boy continued walking and said, "No, thanks. I'd rather be on Santa's nice list this year."
Xandra briefly let go to cover her mouth, following him and giggling while she said, "Wow, loser, you still believe in Santa?"
The boy just rolled his eyes, having no intent on responding to that and kept walking.
Regardless, Xandra would keep trying. Narrowing her eyes with determination, she hugged the shy boy and said, "Come on," and rubbed her finger beneath his chin, "you big, strong man.... Don't you—?"
Breaking free again, the boy said, "PLEASE, STOP!"
And Xandra giggled in response.
Just then, the shy boy noticed a girl pelican with big and round, fluffy brownish hair walking into the room. He exclaimed, "Oh, there's my girlfriend!"
Seeing the girl, Xandra laughed, "That's your girlfriend...?"
"She's not a 'that!' She's a person, and—!"
Before he could say another word, Xandra wrapped her arms around the shy boy and kissed him.
Struggling as much as he could to break free, Xandra was just proving too strong for him to push off.
The shy boy's girlfriend called out, "Vincent! Hey, Vincent, where are you?!"
But Xandra made sure her lips would keep Vincent's mouth shut from replying.
Again, Vincent's girlfriend called out, "Vincent?!" before spotting him and Xandra. The girlfriend gasped with shock. Her eyes became teary as she spoke in a low tone, "Vincent...?"
Xandra then stopped kissing Vincent, giggling while grinning in his face as she did.
At this point, Vincent was filled with teary eyes and cried, "MARLENE—!"
"NO!" said Marlene before turning around and heading for the exit.
Running after her, Vincent cried, "BUT, MARLENE—!"
"JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!" said Marlene, crying. "I NEVER WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN!" And she ran out of the hangout.
Noticing what was going on, Orabel stopped kissing her own boy. She told him, "Hang on," then was walking Xandra's way. "I'll be right back."
"Can I come?" that boy asked Orabel.
Orabel laughingly told him, "No, just wait up for me."
"Okay!"
All of Xandra's girls came back to her while Vincent had nothing but a stunned and disappointed expression, realizing his relationship was over.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWruuXo9nBa
One last time, Vincent cried in a low voice, "Marlene..."
Xandra and her girls laughed at Vincent's misfortune.
Still crying, Vincent turned to them and said, "WHAT?! YOU FIND SOMEONE ELSE'S PAIN FUNNY?!"
"UM, YEAH?!" laughed Xandra. And her girls laughed also.
Vincent angrily said, "YOU'RE ALL NOTHING BUT HEARTLESS MONSTERS!" Then pointed to Xandra. "ESPECIALLY YOU!"
Walking towards him with her girls, Xandra chuckled, "Oh, yeah...? Why don't you prove it?"
"What are you talking about...?" asked Vincent, standing his ground.
With all of them now no more than a foot before him, Xandra laughed with the girls and replied, "Fighting me...." She tempted, "Let's go...."
"I don't fight females.... I'm not that type of guy."
Orabel laughingly teased, "WOW! So you're a wuss boy!"
Vincent said, "No—"
"Maybe he's just intimidated by girls!" teased Wynfred.
Xandra laughed and punched Vincent's left arm.
Vincent yelled, "OW!"
At the same time, Xandra teasingly said, "Maybe he just wants his ex-girlfriend to come n' defend him."
"Stop it!" Vincent pled.
Piper punched Vincent's right arm and mockingly said, "Oooh, stop it!" and the girls all laughed.
Pushing him with a laugh, Wynfred teased, "Why don't you fight back?!"
Voleta pushed him and teased, "Yeah, fight us!"
Yosef pushed him with a laugh and teased, "Come on! Do it!"
"Yeah!" teased Xandra before punching Vincent's left arm again. "Fight us!"
"No way!" said Vincent.
"Come on, do it!" teased Xandra, punching his arm once more.
Vincent said, "Hit me all you want, but I will never fight back!"
Xandra rolled her eyes and said, "Fine," before saying to her girls, "Let's go, y'all," and led them out of the dance room.
Vincent rubbed his arms from their hits.
"Hey, Xan, why did we leave...?" puzzled Orabel.
Xandra said with a sly smile, "Watch and learn..." and walked to Jim's counter. Jim was cleaning a glass before Xandra said, "Um, excuse me, Jim?"
Turning around to see Xandra and her girls, Jim walked to them and replied, "Oh, hi, girls! What can I do for ya?"
Xandra continued, "There's this," and shyly chuckled, "really mean guy in the dance room."
Knowing she and the other girls would have to back-up Xandra's lie, Orabel nodded while saying, "Yeah!" She stopped nodding. "He started trying to hit us and stuff," and she laughed with disbelief and shrugged, "for no reason!"
Greatly angered, Jim asked, "Oh, really?!" and immediately jumped over his counter to enter the dance room.
Xandra and her girls chuckled to their plan working. "Wow!" laughed Xandra. "That's exactly what I was gonna say, Orabel!" Then Xandra gave Orabel a high-five.
"You know it!" said Orabel with pride.
Inside the dance room, Vincent sat on a bench, crying to himself about his loss.
Jim briefly looked back to Xandra and her girls and, wagging his finger forward, wanted the girls to enter the dance room.
Upon noticing, Voleta whispered to the other girls, "Hey, guys, he wants us to go in."
"Jim?" puzzled Xandra before looking to the dance room. She smiled and told him, "Hey, Jim!" and walked inside, followed by her girls.
"Okay, which one is the guy?" asked Jim to the girls.
Xandra searched the crowd and saw Vincent who was crying on the bench. His pain made her smile—a smile she made without Jim seeing it. She pointed to Vincent and told Jim, "That's the guy... over there."
Jim looked to where Xandra pointed and saw the crying boy. Pointing to Vincent, Jim looked to Xandra and asked, "That guy?"
"Yeah!" said Xandra with a nod and sad frown—only because Jim was looking at her.
"That's the one!" said Piper, also with a sad nod.
Walking over to Vincent, Jim replied, "Okay, I'll take care of this...." And upon making it over to Vincent, Jim grabbed the crying boy by the arm.
"Huh...?" puzzled Vincent with shock, still with tears in his eyes.
"Huuuuuuuh?" Xandra teasingly mocked Vincent's puzzling to her girls, making them all laugh with her.
While lifting Vincent up from the bench and walking him through the dance room, Jim told the boy, "Hey, buddy, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."
Xandra and her girls laughed at the injustice being done to Vincent.
"But I didn't do anything!" pled Vincent.
Xandra teasingly mocked to her girls, " 'But I didn't do anything!' " and they laughed again. They made sure Jim's attention was on Vincent, not themselves, before making such faces—and their laughs weren't audible with all the dance room noise, so long as Jim wasn't standing close enough to hear them.
Exiting the dance room and escorting the boy to the main entrance, Jim told Vincent, "You young men are all alike, aren't ya?! Taking advantage of young girls, abusing 'em, just because you think you can!"
Vincent then noticed Xandra and her girls who were laughing and making fun of him the whole time. Vincent told himself, "No way...." Then he told Jim, "Listen, you've gotta believe me, sir! I would never do whatever those girls said I did! They—"
"Those girls are my long-time patrons! They would never lie to me about anything!" Then Jim opened the exit door and told Vincent, "Amscray!"
Vincent, knowing he couldn't win, looked down with sorrow, tears and walked out the door.
"What a loser!" laughed Xandra while her girls also laughed.
WOW! How unfair can Xandra get?! Vincent was completely innocent! Regardless, it looks like Xandra won this round—again.
Meanwhile, Ikjot still doesn't trust Herbertia... which is why he cares not for being a faithful boyfriend to her. But of course... his true reason for not trusting Herbertia... is likely because he still doesn't want to give up Xandra. Will he grow even the slightest brain cell and realize the mistake he's making? So much for traveling back in time to do things right this time... right, Ikjot?
Meanwhile, Marta and Ram can only hope that, come Monday morning, Penelope will take down Tiane... once and for all! Will their wishes come true?
Will any of these proposed questions be answered? Find out... next chapter of Something!
***
In the next chapter of Something... Xandra is hurting her own little sister once again.
"YES!" laughingly said Xandra. "YES! KEEP IT UP! YOU ROCK, LOGAN! WOOOOO!"
And Ikjot finally reveals his true performing passion to Herbertia! How will she take it? Don't miss it... next Something!
***
Something25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ963tkhbq6z
1325Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhibfnzcJp
Ikjot's Wacky Side
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♪ Yes, I didn't talk to anyone. ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXXznchHKc
♪ I was made fun of by everyone. ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIJXJhrCxO
♪ It's something I wish could be undone. ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPs8ltXuG1
♪ She asked me. I wish I'd had respond. ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SGbvAE1pg
♪ But hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauuWAOcPIK
♪ Please hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQLQyFhIFD
♪ I'm crying out: We're all worth being loved! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDn9vUxWEo
♪ I have no doubt we're all worth being loved! ♪
♪ Please, I beg you all, let's become friends! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzb1TPA5RuR
♪ Let's not judge each other by what's been! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQDjPsM9RH
♪ It was years ago! It came and went! ♪25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhDZs0HCvi
♪ That's a past chapter! New one begins! ♪
***
© 2013 Trerchry.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81atsDIJ0N
All Rights Reserved.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAoq3mIyXf
