Hell on Earth

Chapter Twenty Seven - The New Normal

Cynthia put the headphones to her Walkman on as she headed out of the art room. She was taking Nancy back to the Henderson home today for some girl talk, so she actually had to be at her car on time. She was walking through the hallways when someone grabbed her and pulled her into a small side hall way. She was about to protest when the person took off her headphones. Then, she saw who it was. She was just pissed.

"What the hell, Hargrove?" Cynthia asked him. She was glaring at him and trying to get him to know that she absolutely hated him.

"I thought we could talk about last week," Billy said.

"I thought me attempting to beat the shit out of you was a pretty clear indicator that I don't have any interest in talking to you, ever," Cynthia spit at him. "And I took the beating you gave me as a clear sign that you don't want to talk. So, leave me alone." She tried to walk back out to the main hallway, but Billy blocked her.

"I was just looking for Max," Billy tried to defend himself. "My dad was being a piece of shit, and it got out of hand."

"Don't pull the 'my dad is a piece of shit' card," Cynthia told him. "My dad is a piece of shit too, and I have never once wanted to hurt kids. I was afraid you were going to kill Lucas and Max, I thought you were going to kill Steve, and I bet if you weren't stop, you were going to kill me too."

"You don't know me at all, sweetheart," Billy smirked at her.

Cynthia gritted her teeth, "I don't want to know you, and I'm not your damn sweetheart." She tried to leave, but Billy blocked her again. He put his hands on her shoulders to stop her from moving.

"Just let me explain," Billy said.

"No," Cynthia stopped him from talking. "Get your hands off me or I'll scream." Billy took his hands off of her. Cynthia held her head up high. She wanted to look Billy in the eyes for this. "Listen to me, Hargrove. I don't care what you tell yourself at night to make yourself feel better. All that matters to me is that you tried to hurt the kids I love. The kids you tried to kill are like my little brothers and sister. So, I want you to listen to me, Hargrove, if I ever hear that you are giving Max or Lucas or any of those kids trouble again, I'll kill you. I'll kill you, and I'll get away with it. No one hurt those kids on my watch. You will never come near any of them ever again."

"Cynthia..." Billy started to speak.

"You are going to act like I don't exist," Cynthia told him. "Don't talk to me, don't try and flirt with me, don't even look at me. I hate you and always will."

Cynthia pushed past Billy and back into the main hallway. She could feel her blood boiling on her way back to her locker. She couldn't believe the nerve of that man. She got to her locker and flung it open. Cynthia was angrily and quickly putting everything back into her locker. She felt a tap on her shoulder. Her nostrils flared.

"I thought I told you..." she started to yell as she turned around. Her voice quieted when she saw a tall boy with curly hair in front of her. "Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"Whoever they are, they must have messed up big time," he had a book in his hands. He handed it to her. "I believe this is yours. I saw you drop it in the hallway after your talk with Hargrove."

Cynthia's eyes widened as she grabbed the book, "My sketch book!" She looked back up at the boy in front of her. "I didn't even realized I dropped this. Thank you so much." She paused for a minute as she looked at the boy. He had a Hellfire shirt on. "You're Eddie Munson, president of Hellfire, right?"

"Indeed I am," he smiled at her. "And you're Cynthia Henderson."

"The one and only," she returned his smile. "I have to say, I think the club you help run is really cool."

"You play DND?" Eddie asked her.

"Not me," Cynthia told him. "I can't memorize all the rules and numbers, but my brother loves to play. When he gets into high school next year, I'll definitely tell him to check out the club."

"Always like to hear that we'll be getting new members," Eddie said. "By the way, you're really good at that art thing. I didn't mean to snoop, but it fell so I could see a picture. That monster you thought of is pretty metal."

"I have my moments," Cynthia said. She left out the part where it was real. She grabbed her bag out of her locker. "I have to go. My friend is waiting for a ride." She started to walk backwards so she could still talk to Eddie. "Thanks for returning the sketchbook."

"Not a problem," Eddie smiled as she walked away. "Keep up with the metal drawings."

Cynthia turned around and walked to her car. She was still smiling a little bit. She was glad that Eddie returned her book to her and even complemented her artwork. She really couldn't remember the last time someone had complemented her just because. She got to her car and Nancy was already there.

"What took you so long?" she asked as Cynthia unlocked the car.

"I'll tell you about it when we get to my house," Cynthia said as she got into the driver's seat and threw her backpack into the back seat. "Right now, we listen to the Beatles and we cruise."

Cynthia put in her mix tape of the Beatles and started to drive home.

When she got to her house, her and Nancy quickly made their way to the kitchen. They grabbed some Oreos and glasses of milk and then headed to Cynthia's room.

"So," Nancy said as she sat down on Cynthia's bed. "Spill. Why were you late?"

"Well first, Billy Hargrove tried to talk to me," Cynthia said.

"And I'm assuming you told him to get lost," Nancy said as she dunked an Oreo in milk.

"Just threatened murder," Cynthia grinned. "Then, after that, Eddie Munson returned my sketchbook, so I had a short conversation with him. "

"Eddie 'The Freak' Munson?" Nancy asked.

"He's not a freak anymore than I am a loser," Cynthia raised her eyebrow. "He was and complemented my art."

"Anything else happen?" Nancy asked.

"Nope, he said one of my drawings was pretty metal, and that was it," Cynthia told her. "But you are the one I want to talk about today. I saw how you were holding Jonathan's hand the other day. Are you guys, like, together now, or..."

Nancy turned a bright shade of red, "Yeah, we are."

"When did this happen and why was I not informed sooner?" Cynthia asked.

"It happened when we were trying to get the truth out about Barb, so there wasn't a good time," Nancy said. "Besides, it happened pretty quickly."

Cynthia's jaw dropped and turned into a shocked smile, "Did you guys do it?"

Nancy didn't look at her, "Yeah, we did."

"Oh my god!" Cynthia exclaimed. "I can't believe my two best friends are actually a thing, and they hooked up! This is.. I was not expecting this." Cynthia quieted herself. "Was it good? Did you have a good time?"

Nancy looked at her and nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I had a really good time. Jonathan knows his stuff."

"Did you guys use protection because I'm not ready to be Aunt Cynthia yet," she teased.

"Of sorts," Nancy smiled.

"You did not rely on that alone," Cynthia's eyes widened. Nancy nodded. "Nancy Wheeler, you are one risky bitch."

"You love me though," Nancy teased.

Cynthia couldn't help but laugh, "Only because you love me."