Season 1 - Episode 16 - Act V

Shauna peeled off the blood stained dress and took a hot shower.  She didn’t care that the shower was sort of grimy and smelled of mold.  It was warm and comforting and when she was done, Stan wrapped her up in a big towel and brought her to his bed, which was big and comfy, if a bit lumpy.  He crawled in next to her and ran his fingers through her wet hair, detangling it and telling her how pretty it was.  She closed her eyes and felt him kiss her, touching her body gently but eagerly.  She wasn’t really paying attention and wasn’t sure if he was wearing a condom when he entered her but she didn’t care.  If she got pregnant that might not be so bad because then maybe he’d marry her and she’d never have to go home again. 

Cerise was nowhere to be found.  Terry scoured the living room, passed through the kitchen, ventured upstairs and lingered outside both bathrooms but he didn’t find her.  He was walking through the den and planned to go back to the kitchen to ask Sarah where Cerise might be when he was stopped by Erica, who was hanging out with Andrew, Steven and Chrissy.

“Oh my god, Terry, did you hear?”

Terry ignored her and tried to move on when Andrew stopped him. 

“That catfight!  You way have to hear this, Terry.”

“It turns out,” smirked Erica.  “It was like a lesbian thing, ok?  Those two chicks were total dykes, like big surprise, fashion disaster much? And they were fighting because one of them wanted to have like, a threesome with a third chick who is none other than Cherry the Raspberry.  Yeah Terry, your girlfriend is a flaming dyke.”

Terry sighed heavily.  Erica really never got tired of topping her own retardation.

“Gimme a break,” he said dismissively. 

“It’s true, Terry!  It’s like confirmed!”

“Shut the fuck up, Erica. You’re so full of shit.”

“No, it’s true man, everyone says so,” nodded Andrew.

Steven and Christina looked less than convinced.  Christina even gave Terry an apologetic shrug, fully aware of how insane the story was. 

“Whatever,” said Terry with a roll of his eyes.

“Live in denial if you want, Terry,” snarked Erica.  “It doesn’t change the fact that you’re dating a total lesbian slut!”

“Don’t you ever get sick of making shit up, Erica?” Karine’s voice rang out.

Terry turned to see Karine standing in the doorway, scowling at Erica. 

“No one asked you, Karine,” replied the bitch.

“You’re so fucking out of it,” scoffed Karine.  “You go around accusing people of being sluts when it’s like, hypocrisy much?  Have you taken a look at your own sex life?  You’ll sleep with anybody who’ll have you, even your friends’ boyfriends!”

“Oh my god!”  Erica’s hands flew up in outrage.  “Oh my fucking god!  Am I hearing this?  Are you even serious? You’re accusing me of being a hypocritical, boyfriend stealing slut?  Who exactly is it that fucked Andrew at prom even though he was my date?  ‘Cause it wasn’t me, Karine, it was you and we all know it.”

The look on Karine’s face was one that Terry had never seen before.  She looked nauseous and Terry was worried she’d actually throw up.  And once again, through the power of adolescent osmosis, a crowd had gathered in the room, watching the scene with interest.  Everyone was there to hear Karine’s voice break as she fought back.

“He wasn’t even your date!  He was Christina’s!”

Erica was obviously pleased at the effect she was having on Karine and her own voice remained even and strong and dripping with her patented mix of sweet and sour condescension.  “No, Steven was Chrissy’s date because you couldn’t hold on to your pathetic boyfriend.  So you had to steal mine.  And you just couldn’t wait to jump his bones.  You’re worse than Marla Fitzpatrick.”

Karine’s lips quavered as she accused Erica of being full of it.

“Face it, Karine, you’ve been caught in your lie.  We all know you’re the fucking slutty bitch who goes around sleeping with other people’s boyfriends.  Fact is, you’ve never been able to keep your legs together and you’ve wanted to fuck Andrew since Sec 1.  It’s just too bad you weren’t up to his standards.”

Karine stood frozen in place and said nothing in reply.  Her head merely twitched to the side and she briefly looked over at Andrew, who was watching the scene with an amused smirk.  Holy shit, Karine looked like she was going to cry.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Erica went on.  “Andrew told us.  We know you were a limp lay, more frigid than Cherry the Raspberry.  It’s no wonder you couldn’t hold on to Steven.”

Never in his life had Terry wanted to assault a girl more than now.  If only he could prove that Erica had a dick he’d pummel her face in.  Karine almost said something but instead she clamped her jaw shut and rushed out of the room. 

“Aww, poor little baby, gonna go cry!” taunted Erica.  “I guess some people just can’t handle the truth.”

Terry stepped up to Erica and looked down at her.  He held his fists down at his sides, forcing himself to refrain from hitting her but let all his hatred drip out of his mouth.  “The truth, Erica, is that you are the biggest fucking bitch who ever walked the Earth.  And the only reason you take so much pleasure in spreading lies is because you know you’re such a grotesquely fat, fucking ugly cunt that no one could ever really like you or even stand to be around you for more than two seconds!  You have no real friends, Erica.  People only hang out with you because they’re afraid of the lies you’ll tell if they don’t.  And the only reason guys ever hook up with you is so they can tell their friends they fucked a whore for free.”

With that, Terry turned and went off to find Karine.

Wow.  Cerise certainly was no fan of Erica Mackey’s and she did deserve to be taken down a peg but the acid in Terry’s voice had been borderline frightening.  Everyone was shocked and they all stared at Erica with mouths agape.  She started ranting about what an asshole Terry was but no one was listening.  They were all whispering and giggling amongst themselves. 

Cerise drifted back into the kitchen, where the rest of the group was standing in shock.  Clearly they’d heard everything. 

“This is just so awesome!” exclaimed Vani.  “I’m a legend!  Two fights!  I can’t believe it!  Two fights at my party!”

“God Vani, shut up,” said Cerise in annoyance, rubbing her forehead.  She was starting to get a headache. 

 “What?” he asked innocently.

“Come on, Vani,” said Sarah delicately.  “Stop taking so much pleasure in other people’s pain.”

“But it’s funny,” he insisted.  “I mean it’s Erica Mackey.  She sucks.  Like I’m the only one who thinks it was funny?’

“God!  No, it wasn’t funny!” said Cerise.

“But you hate Erica,” said Vani in confusion.

All Cerise could do was sigh.  How could she explain why she was so upset?  It wasn’t about Erica, it was that this whole night had been one big ball of suck.  Shauna had gotten beat up and for some reason Cerise felt responsible.  She knew that the fight hadn’t been over her, as everyone was now saying but she’d nevertheless played a part in all the misery Shauna had suffered this year.

  And Cerise also felt bad for Karine.  She didn’t know what had really gone on at prom but there was no justification for Erica’s cruel words towards her supposed friend.  And Terry’s subsequent fury had been reminiscent of his behaviour towards Cerise at prom.  He was scary when he got angry, seriously scary. 

“Whatever,” Cerise finally said.  “I’m leaving.”

“You ok, Cerise?” asked Sarah.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she nodded.  “I’ll see you later.”

“Want me to walk you home?” asked Jay.

Cerise nodded and left the kitchen with Jay.  They walked outside and down the long flight of stairs in silence. 

“Karine!” Terry yelled out.

He was amazed at how far she’d gotten.  She could really run, even in heels.  But he had a long stride and managed to catch up easily.  She kept running down the side of the road but he ran out in front of her and swept her up in his arms as she slammed into him.  Karine buried her face in Terry’s chest and cried without restraint, clutching at his shirt.  He held her tightly, one hand on her back, the other stroking her hair.

Footsteps approached. Cerise locked eyes with Terry as she walked by with that goddamn Jason Harris.  She held his gaze until they turned the corner and disappeared behind a row of trees. 

Goodbye, Cerise.

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Act IV

            Karine wanted to feel bad for Porta-potty chick but the fight had been a welcome distraction for her.  It was just like the good old days, when she would throw parties and crazy shit would go down. 

            Hangman rather kindly offered Porta-potty some ice for her nose but she said nothing, instead looking around the room like a deer caught in headlights.  Cherry asked her if she was ok, offering her a box of Kleenex.

            “Fuck you, bitch!” screeched Porta-potty, swatting away the Kleenex box with her bloody hand. 

            She stepped forward and forcefully pushed Cherry with her shoulder, almost knocking her down.  Then she stomped out of the room, waving her red hands about and forcing the crowd to part in disgust. 

            “What the hell?” said Steph.

            “Seriously, what a freak!” said Mel.

            “That was weird,” agreed Sarah.  “Why does she always go after you?” she asked Cherry.

            Cherry shrugged and a moment later Terry was at her side, gently placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

            “Are you ok?” he asked her.

            She looked up at him and for a moment Karine thought they might kiss but she only shrugged.  “Yeah, I’m not the one who got hit in the face.”

            “That was so awesome!” laughed Jay.  “Porta-potty girl was all like, waaah!”   He waved his hands around.  “And then the Glue Sniffing girl was all like wooooo, and then Porta-potty was like aaaack, and then the Glue girl was all hiya!”

            “Shut up, Jay!” yelled Cherry with such ferocity that everyone in the room stopped talking. 

            Cherry stepped away from Terry and pushed her way out of the room, followed by the Green Girls.

            “So that went well,” Terry said wryly, mostly to himself but Karine giggled in response. 

            Jay’s insensitivity was really unbelievable, but apparently it was the norm.  Everyone was talking about the fight like it was hilarious, which offended Cerise more than she might have imagined.  Poor Shauna! 

            Sarah, Mel and Steph comforted Cerise as though she’d been the one who’d gotten injured and she felt horribly guilty for their misplaced concern.  They were all acting like Shauna was insane, like she’d brought the fight upon herself but Cerise knew that Shauna always kept to herself and didn’t deserve all the crap she’d taken all year.  And Cerise was no better than any of these jerks, constantly making Shauna’s life more difficult. 

            “My party is gonna be legend now,” laughed Vani as he entered the kitchen with the rest of the boys, joining the girls at the kitchen table.

            “Totally,” agreed Willy.  “It’s gonna be the party with the cat fight where the Porta-potty girl and the Glue Sniffing girl were fighting over the Cherry girl!”

            “What?” said Cerise in surprise.  “They were not fighting over me!  And don’t call me the Cherry girl.”

            “Well she is your stalker.  Maybe they were fighting over you,” insisted Willy.

            “That had nothing to do with me!  I don’t even know who that other girl is.”

            “That was Wendy Fletcher,” explained Sarah.  “She’s like, a total glue sniffing junkie.  I don’t know what she has to do with Porta-potty girl though.”

            “Maybe it was about you, Cerise,” suggested Jay delicately, seemingly genuine.

            “I hardly think so!” Cerise said in exasperation. 

            “Well then why did she tell you to fuck off when she left?  She was pissed at you!”

            “Seriously,” nodded Vani, impressed by Jay’s deductive reasoning.  “It was all about you!”

            “Whoa!  Two chicks were fighting over you!  So awesome!” said Willy in awe.

            “They were so not!  I don’t even know Wendy Fletcher!”

            “Oh my god,” said Mel.  “They’re probably like lesbian lovers and they were like, fighting because Glue-sniffer chick was all jealous because Porta-potty chick is all stalking you and is like, all in love with you and everything!”

            “Oh my god!  Totally!  It all makes sense!” nodded Steph.

            “No it doesn’t,” protested Cerise.

            “Whoa!  My party is gonna be the party where a lesbian fight broke out!  That’s so cool!” said Vani, rubbing his hands together in glee.

            Karl cocked his head to the side.  “You know it’s interesting to actually witness the insane rumour get developed.”

            “And to see people start believing it,” nodded Sarah.

            “Fascinating,” said Karl in his best Spock voice.

           

            “She got pretty pissed at that stupid hair guy,” said Terry sadly, leaning against the railing of the front porch.

            Karine snickered as she lit another cigarette.  Now that the excitement had died down, she and Terry had gone back outside.  He still wasn’t smoking though.

            “It’s hilarious that you insist on calling Jason Harris that stupid hair guy.”

            “God, I hate him.  Maybe she’s hooking up with him.”

            “Jason Harris is too clueless to ever hook up with any chick.  Besides, even if they were to hook up I don’t see how that affects you.  Just swoop in and do your thing.”

            “I don’t wanna mess up her life.”

            “Mess up her life?” asked Karine incredulously.

            “Well maybe she should be with him.  I mean if that’s what makes her happy.”

            “Why the fuck would you even think she’s into him?  I mean I’m not saying I disagree but where is your logic?  You’re like, she got pissed at him, oh she must be into him.”

            “Usually she only gets pissed at me,” he mumbled, pouting.

            Karine couldn’t help but laugh.  “Oh hell no!  Don’t tell me her temper tantrums are like foreplay for you!”

            He looked at her in embarrassment and the flush in his cheeks was evidence enough that she’d hit the nail on the head.  God, that was so messed.  What the hell?

            “God, you’re so out of it with that chick,” Karine said with wonder.

            “I know,” he sighed.

            “Ok so hell, no wonder you provoked her at prom.”

            “No, I was upset for real.”  He shook his head.

            “Well whatever.  Just go tell her she turns you on with her fucking bitchy Cherry angel shit.”

            “It’s not that simple,” he protested.  “And don’t call her a bitch.  And don’t call her Cherry to her face, eh?”

            Karine rolled her eyes.  “God, why are you so scared?”

            “I’m not scared!”

            “Yeah right.  Ok, let’s review.  There’s a chick you wanna hook up with inside this house and you’re sitting out here discussing your innermost feelings with your BFF.  Hmmm… kinda lost your edge there eh, Terry?”

            Terry chuckled and crossed his arms defensively.  “Gimme a break.”

            “You’re just a big ol’ scaredy cat,” she teased.

            “I’m not scared.  I just don’t wanna mess up again.”

            “Exactly.  You’re scared.”

            “Are you done?” he asked with a forced smile.

            “Not quite.  I’m still revelling in this.  Go figure I guess, eh?  You fall in love and you crumble into a little simpering coward.”

            “Ok, I get the point.  Thanks for the pep talk.”

            Karine noticed that he didn’t deny being in love.  Such a waste.  Still, it was kind of funny.

            “You know, I think I like you this way.  You’re easier to get along with.  Don’t have that super cool nonchalance thing working for you anymore.”  She poked her fingers into his chest repeatedly.

            “You’re really pushing it you know,” he grinned.

            “No really.  You’re not being all, I’m so cool, I’m so mellow, I don’t give a shit about anything.  You’re being all, I’m vulnerable, I’m afraid, please love me.  It’s adorable!”

            “Ok!  I get it!”

            “No, no, let me enjoy this,” she giggled.  “Look at you, look at how cute you are.  You’re all in pain and all desperate for acceptance.”

            “And we’re done,” he said, pushing himself away from the railing and reaching for the front door.

            “Hee!  Can I watch?”

            “Watch what?”

            “You grovel at Cherry’s feet.”

            “I’m not gonna grovel,” he insisted.

            “What you gonna say then?”

            He paused, considering the question.  “Shit.”

            Shauna had no idea how she would explain the blood stains to her mother.  Probably the same way she would explain how she’d lost her shoes.  Her feet were screaming in pain, blistering as she walked across the pavement to nowhere in particular.  Nowhere in particular turned out to be the dep where she’d met Stan.  She hadn’t realized that’s where she’d been headed but it was as good a destination as any. 

            She hesitated at the door but then walked in, trying to fake some confidence.

            “Well if it isn’t the little prom girl,” said Stan from behind the front counter.  He looked her up and down.  “No shoes, no service.”

            “Gimme some fucking cigarettes,” she insisted.

            “What happened to you?” he asked, “Are you ok?”

            “Got in a fight.”

            “Looks like you lost.”

            “Yeah, I guess,” she shrugged.

            “Come ‘ere,” he said, lifting a section of the counter and walking out to her.  He led her back behind the counter and set her down on a folding chair.

            Her nose had long since stopped bleeding but Stan got a wet washcloth and wiped her face clean, as well as her hands.  He even washed her feet and took the socks off his own feet to give to her.  They were kind of sweaty, but Shauna didn’t mind.  She appreciated the kindness.      

            “Oh my god!  I never even knew Wendy Fletcher was a lesbian,” said Mel.

            “I know, me neither.  I always thought she had a thing going with Ben or Mike,” nodded Steph.

            “I know, I thought it was like a total threesome thing.”

            “Oh my god, she is so kinky!”

            “I guess she’s bisexual,” suggested Vani.

            “Oh my god, totally!” agreed Mel.

            “So she decides to hook up with Porta-potty chick?  Talk about low standards,” said Steph.

            “Maybe her brain is fried from all that glue sniffing,” said Vani.

            “Oh my god, totally!”

            “You’re so right!”

            “But I guess Glue Sniffing girl just couldn’t handle it when Porta-potty chick wanted to keep stalking Cerise.”

            “Totally!”

            “Oh my god!”

            Vani was beaming wildly.  Cerise hated to ruin his moment but this was too much for her.  She stood up in disgust and left the kitchen.

            “Ok, I know things haven’t worked out with us in the past and…” Terry bit his lip and furrowed his brow. 

It was undeniably adorable. 

He went on.  “I guess things have a way of getting kind of intense with us.  But the thing is, none of that matters because of the way I feel about you.  I mean, I’ve never felt this way before about anyone.  You mean so much to me, I can’t even explain it.  Ok, I know I’ve done some stupid things and said some, you know, stupid things and I guess I messed up pretty bad at prom.  I was an ass and I’m sorry about that but if you could just give me another chance, I’ll try harder this time.  I think things could be really good between us.  Because, I feel like we have something, you and me.  You know?  And… I dunno, I guess I just wanna try again, you know?  So, what do you think?”

“Ok,” she said.

“So it was good?” Terry smiled happily.

“Yeah, it was great,” nodded Karine.  “She’d be crazy not to get back together with you.  Seriously.”

It was certainly enough for Karine to wish he’d been saying it to her for real, and not just rehearsing what he’d say to Cherry Angel.

“It’s not too dorky?  Or desperate?”

“No, not at all.”

“I sounded like an idiot. I am grovelling!”  Terry sat down on the bench and put his head in his hands.

“No, it was sweet!  It was totally sweet and charming and… and you did that little thing with your eyebrows where you look all vulnerable and you had the pouty lip thing going and… god, if she doesn’t just melt right in your arms then she’s made of stone.  Seriously.”

“Really?” asked Terry with a grin.

“Yes really,” said Karine with a smirk. 

“Thanks, Karine.”

“No problem.”

Terry took a deep breath and walked into the house.  Karine watched him go with longing.  He was the perfect guy and she’d just helped him get back together with his stupid girlfriend.  What the hell was she thinking?

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Act III

            “We seriously do need chips or something,” said Vani.  “I mean people like snacks at parties, right?  We should have snacks.  I mean right?”

            “How the hell should we know?” asked Jay.  “Like we’re the authorities on parties?”

            “We need to know these things,” said Vani frantically.  “We have to be cool!”

            “Why don’t you just go find Terry Trebishitsky and suck his dick some more?” Jay suggested.

            “Yeah seriously,” laughed Karl.  “Could you have crawled any further up his ass with the whole beer thing?”

            “We needed beer!” Vani weakly defended himself.

            “Ugh, why are you so obsessed with beer?” asked Karl.  “Don’t you remember what happened last time you guys drank?  Willy passed out in a pool of his own tears!”  Karl considered this for a moment.  “Wait, that was kind of awesome.  Drink some more, Willy!”

            Willy shrugged and guzzled his beer.  Once he was done he smacked Karl’s arm with the empty bottle.

“Let’s get serious, you guys,” said Vani.  “We have to join the real world.  Not the show, the actual real world.  I mean, we can’t play the game anymore.”

They all looked at Vani in shock.

“We’re not in high school anymore,” Vani went on.  “We’re older now.  We’re at a party… with girls.  And it’s my party!  It’s my house and there are girls here!  And we almost started talking about the game in front of Terry Trebichavsky and Karine Cavalière.  It’s time to grow up.”

Jay scratched his chin and nodded as he declared the concept to be intriguing.  Karl insisted that the game was their lifeblood and to live without it would be like living without oxygen, or Doritos. 

“Karl, you have a girlfriend now and you’re hiding out in a dank basement with three other guys.  You don’t see anything wrong with that?” asked Vani.

“Good point, well made,” nodded Karl.

“Yeah and the rest of us should be getting girlfriends too!” grinned Willy.

“Ok, good luck with that.  I’ll see you guys later,” said Karl with a shake of his head as he walked upstairs.

“Ok men, time to be cool,” said Vani.

“Cool switch, on,” said Jay, turning an imaginary dial on his chest.

“What are we supposed to do?” asked Willy.

“In your case?  Turn invisible,” advised Vani.

“Maybe you should stay down here, Willy.  We’ll send down all the blind chicks with severely low self-esteem,” snickered Jay.

“We’re gonna waste perfectly good blind chicks on Willy?” asked Vani, rushing upstairs.

They joined the girls on the dance floor, which someone had created by pushing all the furniture in the living room towards the walls.  Willy walked off to the kitchen and returned a second later with another beer, which he drank while sitting on the couch and watching the girls dance.  With Sarah’s encouragement, Karl did his best white boy boogie, and Vani got down to his best moves, which consisted mostly of jerking movements best described as a spazzy robot.  Jay mimicked him and they had a spazzy robot dance off, which the crowd encouraged with chants of Hangman and Jewfro.  Jay didn’t mind the nickname but wondered if it was new or if people had been calling him that behind his back for a while.  Either way, hadn’t they noticed his haircut?

Karine sat on the bench on the front porch, smoking a cigarette.  She’d taken off her shoes and folded her legs up under her and though it was warm out, she hugged herself.  She listened to the crowd gathered on the driveway below, discussing their plans for the summer.  She’d always wanted to go to Europe but now it was ruined.  Everything was ruined.  She was ruined.

The front door creaked open and then Terry was sitting next to her.  She silently offered him her cigarette but he declined.  She supposed it was a nice boyfriendy thing to do to quit smoking for Cherry, but she resented it.  Why did he have to change?  Why did everything have to change?

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked quietly.

“What’d Erica say about me when I left the kitchen?” she sighed.

“Nothing.  Just called you a bitch, but everyone knows she was really talking about herself.”

She smiled slightly.  “I bet Steven thinks it’s about him.”

“Yeah,” Terry nodded.

“So how come you’re out here with me?  Shouldn’t you be making out with your little Cherry Angel?”

He chuckled softly and shrugged.  “Dunno what to say to her.  I dunno what I’ve got left to offer.”

Oh come on.  It was so ridiculous for Terry to be unsure of himself.  What the hell had that fruity bitch done to him?  Karine took one last drag off her cigarette and tossed it onto the driveway below.  Someone screamed out in protest and Terry and Karine stifled their giggles behind their hands. 

Karine turned to Terry.  “Just offer yourself, fuck.  Who can say no to you?” 

“But that’s just it.  She does say no to me.  Like, all the time.  She’s not like other chicks.  Which is, you know, exactly why I like her.”

“So you like her because she rejects you all the time?”

“Well ok, she doesn’t reject me all the time.  But she’s just cool is all.  ‘Cause she never acted like Christina or all those other airhead chicks who don’t even talk to me but just stare at me and smile like idiots.  Cerise was always you know, real or whatever.  I mean, I could talk to her, same as I talk to you.”

Oh wow, pour salt in the wound why don’t you.  Karine lit another cigarette.

“We do that a lot don’t we?” he chuckled.

“Do what?” she asked.

“Talk.  You and me.  It’s all we ever do.  Remember when we used to actually do shit?  We used to party all the time.  Now we just sit around and talk.  We’ve become boring, Karine!”  He nudged her and wiggled his eyebrows comically.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point,” she laughed.

“Ok, so enough!  Enough talking about her.  Time to do something!  If I want her, I have to go get her!”  He shook his fist and growled.

“You’re a man of action!  Go, go get her!  Again!” she smirked.

“Ok, but what about you?” he asked, his eyes full of concern.

“What about me?”

“You ok?”

“I’m fine,” she insisted.

He must have known she was lying because instead of leaving he put his arm around her and rubbed her arm. 

“Since when are you so concerned about me?” she asked quietly.

“Always,” he whispered and kissed her on the forehead.

She rested her head in the crook of his arm and closed her eyes, comforted by the safety of his embrace.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” said Sarah.  “They’re friends.”

“Yeah, really good friends,” said Cerise between gritted teeth.

Cerise hadn’t intended to spy on Terry but she had a perfect view of him from the living room window.  It was dark inside as they’d turned off most of the lights for their dance party, but outside the porch light was on.  There he was with his arm about Karine and he’d even kissed her forehead.  Was it normal to kiss a friend like that?  Did Terry even care that everyone could see him being affectionate with Karine?  Was he trying to tell Cerise they really were over or was it as innocent as Sarah supposed?

“Terry likes you,” Sarah went on.  “Even Karine has said it.  You’re the only girl he’s ever put any effort into being with.”

“Really?”

“I’ve known him since Sec 1 and until you I’d never seen him stay with a girl for longer than a month.”

“But I think Karine is into him,” Cerise fretted.  “And it’s like, how am I supposed to compete?  It’s like, what Karine wants, Karine gets.”

“You know Cerise, it sounds like you’re making excuses.  I mean, if you want Terry, you should just go for him and not worry about Karine.”

“I guess you’re right,” she nodded.

“So the question is, do you want him or not?” asked Sarah.

It was a fair question.  And the answer was yes but somehow it was more complicated than that.  Because even though she knew she was an idiot for it, she also sort of still wanted Jay.  No, she didn’t.  She knew he was a jerk and would never want her.  Well no, he wasn’t really a jerk, it’s just that he didn’t know she liked him.  Maybe if he knew he’d be receptive.  No, probably not.  He was obsessed with Karine.  Why was it always about Karine?!

Jay held a box of crackers and robotically danced over to Cerise and Sarah.  He offered them the box and they both declined.

“Yeah, I don’t blame you,” he said.  “They’re expired.”

Sarah and Cerise laughed as he stuffed a handful into his mouth.  He scrunched up his face and smacked his lips as though they tasted bad while Sarah and Cerise giggled. 

“You’re so gross!” Cerise laughed.

He stuffed another handful into his mouth and let them dribble out in crumbs.  “I dunno wha you’re talkin’ ‘bout,” he mumbled as the crackers fell onto his shirt and the floor. 

He leaned towards them and they both squealed and pushed him away.  Sarah ran for cover but Cerise stayed there and let him accost her with the crackers.  She stuck her hand into the box and pulled out a handful, stuffing them in her mouth and crunching them loudly.  They actually weren’t that bad.  She let her mouth hang open and the crackers dribbled down to the ground.  Jay cackled and stuffed his mouth again.  By now the boys and the Green Girls were watching them and everyone laughed uproariously as Cerise and Jay let a pile of cracker crumbs grow at their feet. 

This was all she’d ever have with Jay, wasn’t it?  Jokes and laughter and being one of the guys.  And maybe that was enough.  After all, who in their right mind would want Jason Harris when they had Terry Trebichavsky?  Assuming he was still available and she hadn’t completely fubared their relationship.

Shauna had locked herself in the upstairs bathroom with a couple of beer bottles but they were empty now and people kept pounding on the door.  She gave serious consideration to climbing out the window and walking across the roof, maybe plunging down to her death.  She was at least three storeys high if you considered the incline of the hill.  There were a bunch of people on the driveway.  How funny would it be to land on them?  Maybe she’d take out a bunch of people with her.  Murder/suicide at graduation party rocks Beaconsfield.  Awesome.

She opened the door and slunk out of the bathroom while a couple of girls sneered at her.

“Oh, of course it’s Potty-potty!  God, why does she love toilets so much?  What a freak!”

The Glue Sniffers must have been waiting for her because as soon as she snuck downstairs they were all over her.  They put their arms around her and accused her of not being very sociable.

“Yeah, come on, hang out, Sheila.  What’d we ever do to you?” asked Mike sweetly.

“Floooosh…” said Ben.

“Oh right,” snickered Mike.

They led her to a couch in a darkened room where lots of people were dancing, including Cerise.  It was almost exciting the way they held her down.  She was glad she was sort of drunk, because the tingling sensation that came with fear was mixed with the tingling that came from a buzz.  If she just gave up, what would they do?  Lock her up somewhere again?  And so what if they did?  She’d survive and if she didn’t, maybe that’d be even better.  Let them do it.  Let them kill her.  Let Cerise watch.  Let her join in.  Let her put her hands on Shauna’s throat and squeeze away her breath.  Let her lips come close to Shauna’s and inhale her breath, like a succubus. 

Shauna leaned back into the couch, content to let the fantasy erase reality, when Wendy nudged her in the chest with her elbow, telling her to quit squirming.  Without thinking, Shauna darted up and the Glue Sniffers all jumped up a second later.  Shauna turned around and drew back her arm, clenching her hand into a fist.  She pushed her arm forward and struck Wendy in the face, hitting her in the jaw.  Shauna felt sure her hand would crumble and fall off, so painful was the blow.  She tried to unclench her fist but suddently Wendy had grabbed her hair and was yanking her backwards.

“Cat fight!” screeched Ben or Mike or both. 

Whenever there was a fight, word spread like a brushfire.  Terry and Karine entered the living room in plenty of time to see the Glue Sniffer chick and Porta-potty chick ripping each other’s hair out and clawing at their faces.  Their entire class was in the room, or staring in from adjoining rooms, watching the fight, some cheering them on, like Andrew and some frozen in shock, like Cerise. 

“Holy shit, there’s a fight at my party!  Awesome!” enthused Hangman.

“They’re gonna break something,” Karl mused calmly.

It was true.  They were scrambling around like cats in heat, brawling in the center of the room while onlookers jumped out of their way whenever necessary.  A few knick-knacks on tables had already been knocked over and a tall lamp threatened to topple whenever the girls neared it. 

“This would be way cooler if they were hotter,” snarked Andrew.

“Seriously,” nodded Erica.  “It’s like the fight o’ skank.  Watch out for flying grime.”

“Come on, Wendy!  Kill her!” screamed the Glue Sniffer guys.  “Kill that fucking cunt!”

The rasta guy grabbed Porta-potty by the shoulders, allowing Wendy to pummel her undeterred. 

“No fair, it’s two against one!” said Hangman.

The room seemed to ripple with an intake of breath when Wendy’s fist hit Porta-potty square in the nose and it sprayed blood like a faucet. 

“Oh my god!” said Cerise, her voice trembling. 

Incredible that she could feel so much concern for her stalker, for the girl who’d pushed her off a chairlift, the girl who’d harassed her at her old school, the girl she’d moved just to get away from.  Cerise really was an angel, she was pure goodness and when her hands flew to her face in horror, watching Porta-potty get pummelled, a wave of energy rose up in Terry’s chest.  What a perfect opportunity to be the hero.

He lunged forward and grabbed Wendy, easily lifting her up and pulling her away from Porta-potty.  “Enough,” he said in a strong, deep voice, his peripheral vision focused on Cerise to make sure she was watching.

Wendy kicked out her legs until Terry put her down, put he kept his hands firmly on her arms, preventing her from breaking free.  She called Porta-potty a bitch and spat at her but the spittle only reached the floor at Porta-potty’s feet.

“Oh come on,” whined Hangman.  “Someone has to clean that up, you know!”

“You should get a shamwow,” suggested the fat guy and everybody laughed.

The rasta guy released Porta-potty and she tried to leave the room but the crowd was too thick so she stood there cradling her nose with the sleeve of her ugly dress.  Terry released Wendy and she and her nasty boyfriends pushed their way out of the room, a barrage of insults spewing towards Porta-potty as they went. 

Terry turned to look at Cerise.  She was staring at Porta-potty and not at Terry.  So much for that. 

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Act II

            Hangman was pretty hilarious.  He was seriously the most enthuthiastic little spaz who ever lived.  Terry held a case of beer under each arm and another in each hand, while Hangman struggled with just one case.  Terry walked with long strides and took the steps up to the house two at a time, maybe showing off a little as Hangman rushed to keep up.  Karine smirked knowingly as she stopped Terry and grabbed a few beers from one of his cases.  She walked off to join Erica and Chrissy, who were sitting on the lawn and smoking.

            The Glue Sniffers were also on the lawn, hanging with Porta-potty chick.  Terry hoped they wouldn’t come inside.  Cerise didn’t need to be dealing with her psycho stalker. 

            They walked through the packed house and into the kitchen where Terry dumped the beer on the kitchen table.

            Hangman jumped around like a kid.  “Oh man you guys, it was so cool!  Terry didn’t even get carded!  I thought for sure I was gonna blow your cover just by like, being there!”

            “Yeah, it a major undercover operation,” chuckled Terry.

            “Shh, don’t spoil my James Bond experience,” chastised Hangman.

            Terry started opening the cases and they began an assembly line, with Hangman taking the beers from Terry and then handing them to that stupid loser hair guy, who stacked them in the fridge.  The ones that wouldn’t fit were left on the table and everyone took one, except Sarah’s boyfriend and Cerise of course. 

            With his superiour skills of beer detection, Andrew came barrelling into the room and chugged a bottle in record time.  Hangman started to guzzle his own beer but only managed to get down half the bottle without choking.  Andrew screamed a bit about how they were finally done with school and then asked Hangman where the hell the music was. 

            “Oh shit, music!” said Hangman in a panic.

            “Where’s your stereo?” asked Andrew.

            “Uh, follow me.”

            They skipped off to the next room, where they loudly discussed the music selections available. 

Andrew flipped through a stack of CDs.  “Dude, you’re old school.  Ozzy Osbourne?  He’s so 2002.”

Hangman apologized and said that all the CDs were old, and all the mp3s were lame, since they’d been downloaded by his little sisters. 

“Yeah right,” snickered the skinny Karl Weber guy and the fat nerd and Jason stupid Harris and his stupid hair that wasn’t really that bad anymore since he’d gotten it cut but just give it time, it was sure to get stupid again laughed along with him. 

“So Sarah, your speech was really good,” said Cerise.

“I know, totally!” agreed Mel and Steph.

“Thanks you guys,” giggled Sarah.  “You don’t think it was too depressing?”

            “That’s what made it so good,” said skinny Karl, self-consciously putting his arm around her.  “And it could not have been more awesome when you quoted Star Trek!”

“I know!” agreed Cerise.  “A Picard quote!  Best speech ever, Sarah!”

Really?  She’d quoted Star Trek?  Terry couldn’t think of anything in the speech that had been particularly geeky.

“Yeah, it was pretty hilarious,” nodded Jason Harris and his stupid, curly hair that was already starting to grow out and become stupid and curly again.  “It was such a downer, all the old people were freaking out.  It’s like when Zephram Cochran actually said the boldly go speech grammatically correct and the whole world was thrown into chaos.  Except it was the gym that was in chaos and it wasn’t so much chaos as befuddlement and disapproval.” 

God, he was such a retard.  Cerise laughed though. 

            “But it was like really inspirational too,” said Steph.

            “Totally,” agreed Mel.

            Sarah and Cerise smirked at one another.  Why did they even hang out with the Greens if they knew they were so dumb?

            “I can’t believe you guys won like all the awards!” said Steph.

            “I know, you won like a million!” nodded Mel.

            “You only got more than me because of all those stupid joiner awards.  I mean, special acknowledgment for civic duty or whatever?  Gimme a break!” said Karl with a roll of his eyes.

            “Don’t be jealous,” teased Sarah.

            “Special merit for giving a crap about your community!” Karl went on.  “Medal of honour in being a brown-noser!”

            Sarah laughed good naturedly at the ribbing and called Karl a sore loser.  He kissed her on the forehead and the fat dude and Jason stupid Harris looked grossed out.  Clearly they were just jealous that one of their own finally hooked up with a chick and they didn’t.  Dumb asses.

            Karl told Sarah she was sure to get tons of scholarships and crap to Universities and the Green Girls were shocked that they were already thinking about University, since they hadn’t even started cegep yet. 

            Mel asked where everyone was going next year and they all responded that they’d be going to John Abbott College.  Steph seemed to find this incredible and Karl was a bit less than tactful when he pointed out what a huge coincidence it was that they were all going to the only English cegep in all of the West Island.  Terry didn’t say anything but it actually wasn’t such a no-brainder.  He knew that Andrew, Erica and Chrissy were all planning to go to a cegep downtown.  So h was relieved to hear Cerise confirm that she too would be going to JAC. 

            “It’s so cool, we’ll all be able to hang!” enthused Steph.

            “Depending on our schedules,” said Sarah.  “Do you guys know what programs you’re going into?”

            “Oh my god, totally not at all!” whined Mel.

            “I know, oh my god, we totally have to figure it out!” fretted Steph.

            “Well I’m doing sciences obviously,” said Karl.

            “Me too probably,” nodded Sarah.

            “What do you mean, probably?  What else is there?” Karl snotted.

            “Well I’m also kind of interested in doing something fun like theatre or something,” she shrugged.

            “That’s retard… ridiculous!” spazzed Karl.  “What a waste of your intelligence!  What kind of plebe would do something lame like theatre?”

            “Um, me,” said Cerise dryly.

            “Yeah well…” shrugged Karl.  “Uncomfortable silence.”

            They all laughed and Terry had to admit that these nerds could be fairly entertaining if given the chance.  He hoped Cerise noticed the effort he was making to get along with her friends.

            “We missed you at prom you know,” said Wendy, blowing smoke in Shauna’s face.

            The Glue Sniffers sat on the front porch, Ben and Mike’s arms still locked with Shauna’s, preventing her escape.  Her impractical and uncomfortable graduation shoes had long since fallen off as she was dragged around by the boys and her bare feet felt cold against the concrete of the porch.  She wished she were at least wearing a hoodie, so she could bury her face in it, but she was wearing a horrifying dress her mother had forced on her.  Thankfully it was long enough to cover her scratched up legs but Shauna still felt naked.

            “Yeah, I was really insulted when you turned me down,” sulked Mike.

            “Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” asked Wendy.

            “You got something against me?” wondered Mike.

            “Yeah, what’s your problem, bitch?” sneered Ben.

            Shauna tried once again to free herself from their grip but they pulled her down, angrily asking her what she thought she was doing.

            “Fuck off!” she screamed.

            “Ooh, such harsh language,” laughed Wendy.

            Andrew Lester came out of the house and yelled out to his cuntnugget chicks to get their ipods.  Erica Mackey gave Christina Penna her carkeys and sent her off on the errand.  When she came back, all three cuntnuggets traipsed into the house, loudly complaining of the toilet smell on the front porch.

            The Glue Sniffers laughed but then Erica made some joke about them being stoners and they didn’t think it was so funny anymore.  They were so annoyed that Mike and Ben actually let go of Shauna and when a couple of kids walked out of the house she used the distraction to sneak into the house.  She heard Mike announce his displeasure as she snuck away and turned back to see him pushing one of the kids down the slope of the front lawn.  Better him than her.

           

            Terry could hear Erica’s bitchy voice emenating from the next room and they all peered over to see her ordering Hangman about, insulting his musical choices.  Karine walked in and grabbed another beer and Mel asked her where she’d be going next year.  The answer was JAC, like the rest of them, and Steph declared this to be the best thing ever. 

When obnoxious dance music thumped out of the other room, Sarah and the Green Girls dragged Cerise away to go dance.  Karine remained behind, nursing her beer. 

“Is this on your playlist?” Karl asked Hangman as he drifted into the kitchen.  “Did your sister download this?”

            “No, it’s Erica Mackey’s ipod.  As if I can download anything with an olden days connection.”

            “You still don’t have high speed?  Jesus, how do you live!?  Your ‘rents are so evil!”

            “I know.  They’re afraid more internet would corrupt me.  They already think I’m too much of a shut-in.  They’re all like, exercise, fresh air!” Hangman explained.

            “Are you still banned from gaming?” asked Karl.

            “Uh…” Hangman looked up at Terry and then his eyes shiftily swept through the room, silently telling Karl to shut the fuck up.  “I think we need snacks, don’t we?  We have chips in the basement!” he declared, running off.

            After a beat, the rest of the nerds joined him and Terry and Karine were left alone.

            “So are you ok?” he asked. 

            “I’m fine,” she smiled unconvincingly.  “So have you spoken to Cherry yet?”

            “No, I don’t know what to say.”

            “Well what happened with you guys anyway?”

            “Fuck, I dunno,” he shrugged.  “I got drunk and I was pissed at her for you know, breaking up with me or whatever and I kinda yelled at her and stuff.”

            “Well good.  She probably needed to be put in her place,” Karine snarked.

            “Put in her place?  What place?  Her place is anywhere she wants it to be.  I’m the retard.  I freaked out at her for no reason.”

            “Well there was a reason if she broke up with you because she thought she was like, better than you or whatever.”

            “Where are you getting this?” he asked in confusion.

            “From you!  Remember that night when you came to my place all drunk and you were all like, Cerise thinks she’s better than me?”

            “I was out of it, I was pissed.  It doesn’t mean all that bullshit was true!  I was just venting or whatever.  She never even did anything wrong.”

            “So she’s blameless?  Everything is your fault?  No way!  There’s something wrong with that girl!” said Karine with unwarranted vehemence.

            “No there isn’t,” Terry insisted.

            “Yeah, there obviously is.  I mean, why did this happen to you?!  It’s not fair!  It’s not right!”

            Terry stared at Karine in annoyance.  Was she seriously going to go down this road again?  As he looked at her pained face, it dawned on Terry that she wasn’t talking about him and Cerise.  Something else was going on.

            “Karine, what are you talking about?  ‘Cause this isn’t about me and Cerise, is it?”

            She shrugged and shook her head almost imperceptibly. 

            “Is it about me and you?” he asked delicately.

            “Not everything is about you, Terry,” she sighed with a hint of anger.

            “So then what is it?”

            “God, nothing!  How come I’m being attacked now?”

            “I’m not attacking you,” he protested, trying not to get too defensive.  “I just wanna know what’s going on.”

            “Nothing’s going on.  I just… I don’t know…”

            This whole time she’d been avoiding eye contact with him and when he now tried to take her chin in his hand, she shook him away.

            Erica’s shrill cackle burst into the room, followed a moment later by the bitch herself.  She and Andrew were discussing a plan to go backpacking around Europe for the summer.  Andrew admitted that his parents had no intention of footing the bill, so he might have to get odd jobs along the way and Erica didn’t think he’d be up to the task, being a lazy shithead and all. 

            “Fuck you, bitch, there’s plenty of shit I could do,” Andrew insisted.

            “Whatever,” Erica said dismissively.  “Where we gonna go?”

            “If we go to Italy I know people we could stay with,” offered Christina.

            “Awesome!” enthused Andrew.

            “I wanna go to Scotland,” said Steven.

            “All they have in Scotland is fucking sheep and hills and shit,” sneered Erica.  “We have to go to cool places like London and Paris and Berlin and Amsterdam obviously.”

            “They have cities in Scotland!  Ever heard of Glasgow or Edinburg?” snapped Steve.

            “I dunno man, we gotta do some googling to figure out where the slutty chicks hang out,” chuckled Andrew.

            Terry noticed that Karine’s grip on her beer bottle was rather tight.  Her entire body was stiff and she stared down at the counter as though deep in contemplation.  Chrissy also seemed to notice because she gently asked Karine where she might like to go in Europe.

            Karine looked up slowly.  “I can’t go,” she said as though the words required much effort.  “I need to work this summer.”

            “But we’ve been talking about this for ages!  You said you were in!” said Erica in annoyance.

            “Well I can’t come, ok?” said Karine, her head snapping up.  Her eyes darted around at the others and her hand turned white from holding her beer bottle so tightly.

            “If you need money, you can just find jobs over there, like me,” said Andrew.  “I bet we can do it.”

            Karine almost looked queasy.  “I have to stay here,” she mumbled and walked out of the room.

            “What the fuck is that bitch’s problem?” asked Erica, deeply annoyed.

            “She prob’ly just doesn’t wanna hang out with me all summer,” said Steven sadly.

            Erica scoffed.  “Like she’d give a shit about that.  Like anyone gives a shit about you, Stevie,” she snickered.

            It was a bitchy thing to say, but basically true.  Terry didn’t believe that was the reason for Karine’s insistence on staying home either.  Something was seriously up with her.