[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/JkPtF9c.png[/img][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjEwNi4zMmNkMzIuS2xZcVNTcERLa3NxV1NvLC4w/novox-varsity.regular.webp[/img][/center]
[right][b]Interactions:[/b]  Group, Tuyen[@Fernstone], Daniel [@Drag]
[code]Cornell High[/code][/right]
[hr]

Vicky mockingly let her jaw drop, clutched at imaginary pearls, and mouthed a big “WOW” as Lupe cruised straight past calling her “mommy” or whatever the fuck she always said instead of actually learning names and just went with “bitch” instead. She stared with bemusement as the girls bickered back and forth with one another, refusing to let Vicky get a word in edgewise, throwing her hands up in confusion as Kari chastised Lupe and Vicky for trying to start shit. Like, why was Vicky getting blamed? She hadn’t done anything wrong! 

[color=32cd32]“Drama? I don’t even know what you're talking about,”[/color] said Vicky as Kari shot her a weirdly pained look. She curled some hair around her finger and gave a fake smile as she defensively added, [color=32cd32]“If it’s about that swim team stuff, I was just joking. I do not care.”[/color] 

Lie.

[color=32cd32]“[b]YOU’RE LATE![/B]”[/color] shouted Vicky in response to Daniel’s normal, appropriate volume greeting, breaking their (or, let’s be honest, her) rule of only speaking at church or at camp. 

She had seen him enter the room from out of her peripheries and her eyes had snapped towards him like a hungry lion, desperate to remove herself from any further involvement with Lupe before she got recruited to help extract the giant, tree-sized stick that had been shoved up that loudmouth’s ass or, worse, be asked to help move chairs. Vicky eyed the cupcakes and the sodas, wanting nothing more than to grip and rip a cola after wolfing down the cupcake with the most icing. How fitting that it was the pastor’s son who would try and lead her down the path of temptation. Vicky grimaced ever so slightly as she flashed back to Bible Camp, hand on her hips, smile too wide, shouting out to a group of kids in matching pastel t-shirts.

[i]What do we do when Satan tempts us, Brother Mars?[/i]

Vicky waved away the offer, still unable to believe she had been able to give that presentation to the kids after how drunk she had gotten off of the Bota Box flavored blood of Christ 

[i]That’s right, Sister Prescott![/i]

[color=a79500]"There."[/color]

Tommy passed her phone back to Vicky as she let out a delighted squeal as she snatched it. Seriously, he had fixed it already? Awesome! She was always breaking her phone. Maybe this was a sign that—the phone slid out of her hand, clattered onto the table, and bounced dangerously close to the edge. Vicky stared at the weird, oversized ferret-puppet-robot-thing that was now following Tommy around. 

[color=32cd32]“What.”[/color]

Vicky almost broke her rule again, pointing at the Porter and turning to ask Daniel if he saw it too, when Tyler entered the room. Her whole body tensed and went rigid, her already skintight clothes tightening as she involuntarily flexed. Then Vicky snapped like a rubberband as she deflected his eyeroll with a full body shudder. This fucking guy. The nerve of this fucking guy. Not only had he confidently abandoned her to deal with the cops back at the warehouse party, he had done nothing, nothing, nothing to protect her from the absolute shitshow that came after. 

Not that she wanted him to defend her! That would only have made things worse, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that he was a little fucking bitch and like, seriously, did he shrink his shirt on purpose to look bigger? [i]Ohmygawd, a football?[/i] Was it supposed to be a fucking prop or something? Did he think they would forget that he was the quarterback of their football team if he didn’t carry it around with him at all times? He probably slept with it. [i]What an insecure bitch![/i] Her grip tightened on her invisible softball bat, which she didn’t sleep with, because that would be pathetic. 

It slept next to her nightstand so it could always be in arms reach. 

Vicky had been so distracted by Tyler that she had hardly noticed the weird new kid slip in, but not so distracted that she had not noticed that she had said hi to Daniel before everyone else. [color=8A2BE2]“I can see the future and shit.”[/color]

Like, reflexively? Vicky’s eyes widened as she scooted slightly away from the new kid. She was about to razz Evelynn when Tyler opened his big dumb mouth, saying something like, [i][color=C0C0C0]“Blah blah blah, wah wah wah, I gotta twain, I could be twaining, I’m not a natuwal talent like some people, bitch bitch bitch, whine whine whine, we might need a pwoven weader to step in at some point.”[/color][/i]

Hold up. Wait. Did Tyler just volunteer Vicky? 

No. Wait. Wait, wait, wait. 

HE MEANT HIMSELF!?

[center][h1][color=32cd32][b]“HA!”[/b][/color][/h1][/center]

The meanspirited laugh cut through the chatter followed by a snort that escaped behind it before Vicky could even move her hand to cover her mouth. She failed to compose herself, biting down on her fist to try to stifle the gigglefest, sounding like a muzzled hyena. A proven leader! Tyler? A proven leader! Because what? They’d won a championship? Something unseen and metallic clattered to the ground as Vicky fell back onto the table and kicked her legs. C’mon, be real. Cornell only had the best football team in their division because it was impossible to get a concussion when the whole squad didn’t have a single brain cell between the herd of them. 

She managed to pull herself back up to a seated position, so absolutely delighted by Tyler’s arrogance that she had tears in her eyes, her sides so sore from holding back the laughter as best as she could that she almost looked pained. It was a fortunate happenstance, because Tuyen had now arrived, even though she wasn’t supposed to be here, Vicky wasn’t ready for her to be here. It no longer looked like she was just almost in pain, and she was no longer struggling to breathe because of the laughter but because her chest hurt, and was Tuyen talking to Daniel? Seriously? Seriously? Seriously? She was talking to Daniel instead of Vicky? 

Then Vicky knew why, she suddenly knew why, it was because Vicky had been ignoring her, and because Vicky had been ignoring her Tuyen was going to give her a taste of her own medicine, or maybe, maybe even, maybe the reason why Tuyen hadn’t come to school was because she had been sick, sick from the betrayal, the betrayal of choosing Gwen and her friends over Vicky, even though that didn’t make sense, that was impossible, that wasn’t fair, Vicky was the only reason they were friends with Tuyen in the first place, and part of Vicky felt a smug satisfaction in knowing that she was so horrible she could even turn someone as nice as Tuyen into an utter backstabbing bitch who abandoned her when Vicky needed her the most, but mostly Vicky felt like Evelynn’s involuntary bodily reaction after she had seen the future, and [i]OHMYGODSHEWASCOMINGTHISWAYNOHELPSOMEBODYSTOPHER![/i]

Vicky drew back like a viper ready to strike as Tuyen approached, wiping away a tear that she could pretend had been from the laughter, bracing herself for what came next. She stared down suspiciously at the peace offering drink as if it was poison, the longlist of ingredients hovering above the date, the fourteenth. It seemed significant, why did it seem significant, why was the fourteenth—Vicky’s glare softened. Tuyen looked pale. Had she actually been sick? Was it that time of the month, or was it like Tommy had said, and time was all fucked up too? She looked back at the date of the drink, expecting it to have changed like it was a dream, but it still said the fourteenth of October.

Why did that—oh.

Sometimes, almost miraculously, Vicky could realize how awful she’d been, and she truly considered that to be a curse. She hopped off of the table, pulled Tuyen into a tight hug, and promised herself that no matter what, no matter how many stupid bitches or dumb boys or scary monsters showed up, her and Tuyen would always be fine and she didn’t need some stupid poopoo powered future sight to know it. She ignored the question about Tyler. He didn’t matter. Ever.

[color=32cd32]“I’m so glad you’re here,”[/color] said Vicky, squeezing tighter. 

Perhaps it was the exact thing Tuyen needed to hear at that moment. Perhaps it was the last thing she had wanted to hear. Either way, it was completely undercut by the sudden piercing sound of a loud sip through a straw right next to Tuyen’s ear, followed not by a yum, but by a contemplative hm. Was that…soy? Vicky pulled away, looked at the ingredients list, did her best not to make a face, set the drink down, and picked up seemingly nothing from the ground. 

She hopped back up onto the table, slid the drink a little further away from her where it would remain untouched. But since it was the fourteenth, and since Vicky was such a good friend, she wouldn’t say anything, even though Tuyen had spoken to Daniel first. What was with all these girls talking to Daniel? Should she be talking to Daniel? She shot him a look. Something was off about him. Different. New haircut? Did he always have such a nice jawline? Distracted, Vicky hooked her foot around a chair, spun it around, and kicked the back of it to signal Tuyen to sit down beside her. Beneath her, but beside her. 

[color=32cd32]“Chill, Tommy. Put your stupid menagerie away,”[/color] said Vicky.

Not taking the bait with Lupe and now squashing some boy beef before it could happen? Wow, see, she really was a natural leader. Kari could hardly wrangle chairs. Plus, that coyote gave her the creeps.

Others might be trickling in, but it was time for show and tell now. She’d pass on asking Evelynn for a demonstration until everyone else had already gone or the room might clear. Striking a finger through the air, her bat materialized with a spark. It was currently pointed at Tommy. 

[color=32cd32]“If the bat’s pointed at you, you tell us what you can do. Weird animals.”[/color] Like a clockhand, the bat ticked over from Tommy to Evelynn. [color=32cd32]“Shitty foresight.”[/color] The bat swung over Tuyen’s head, skipping her, as it settled on Daniel. 

[color=32cd32]“What do you got for us, preacher boy? Are you just here to pass out snacks and try to save our souls?”[/color] asked Vicky, her smile growing wicked. [color=32cd32]“Or is it something else. What does that good book say again, Daniel? [i]Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live[/i]?”[/color]