Maraschino 🍒 (gxg)

6

Chelsea was fuming. She went through the rest of her periods absolutely pissed, so pissed that the teachers noticed and didn't introduce her to the class. She tried to calm down, but every time she'd relax she'd get reminded of Manny again and it was a vicious cycle of going back to irate.

She couldn't believe how nasty Manny was. She seemed alright at first. What happened that set her off the edge like that? Did she really hate mystery girl that much, without knowing her? Mystery girl didn't seem like a terrible person -- then again, neither did Manny. Chelsea felt pity for mystery girl; she didn't deserve all of the backlash she was dealt. It wasn't right when she didn't do anything, let alone didn't have any friends.

She wondered if defending someone she didn't know was worth the possible loss of a friend group. All of the other girls weren't too happy to jump at the opportunity for another friend, so who knows if Chelsea would be able to find anyone else to talk to and suffer through the next year with. And truthfully, she had no idea how Stephanie and Carlie would react to what she did; she didn't know how close they all were. Would they all start plotting against her now? Would she have no other choice but to actually start hanging out with mystery girl?

Was this her life, constantly worrying about what other girls thought of her instead of trying to sleep with them?

Chelsea was finally able to relax when her last period finished, and she was back in her dorm. It was the most exhausted she had been in a long time, like she'd been longboarding for hours. All she wanted was her bed, but she had a ton of homework already on her first day. She grabbed all of her books out of her backpack, spreading them out on her desk next to her dresser, and plugged in her headphones.

She didn't realize how long she'd been studying, but the sun was starting to go down by the time Carlie came back. She didn't have a backpack or any books with her. Chelsea gave her a small wave and continued with her work, until she heard humming from outside of her headphones between songs. She turned and saw Carlie was rummaging in her dresser, her lips moving quickly.

" -- Oh, what, are you mad at me for what we said about weird girl? I'm sorry or whatever, if that's what you want to hear. I didn't know you had such a sore spot for her," is what Chelsea heard when she paused the music, a sour taste to the words.

She took her earbuds out. "Sorry, I was listening to music."

Carlie turned around, suddenly not mad at the world. "Oh, my bad. I was just saying, sorry for the shit we said about mystery girl. I don't have anything against her."

"What about Manny?"

"She always has a stick up her ass. She doesn't know how to deal with people that are different."

"She acted like mystery girl did something to her."

Carlie shrugged. "As far as I know, they don't know each other."

Carlie went back to her dresser, and Chelsea turned to her homework, leaving the music off. There was silence for a while until Chelsea spoke up.

"Do you think mystery girl deserves all the bullying she gets?"

Carlie took a moment to answer. Everyone hesitated to say anything besides negative about the girl. "I don't know her, so I can't say."

"Has she ever done anything bad while she was here?"

"Not really. She just kind of keeps to herself and doesn't talk to anyone."

Chelsea shook her head. "I don't understand the hostility, then."

Carlie took a seat on her bed, facing Chelsea; Chelsea spun around in her chair. They didn't say anything for a minute, and Chelsea briefly regretted keeping up the subject. It was like that was the only thing she could talk and think about today -- mystery girl and what exactly made her mysterious. She threw a soda on a girl over her. How can someone be so significant when they didn't even have a name?

Carlie gave her a steady, somber look. "Manny's been through some shit before she got here. Trust me." She said it in a way, like, I know what those things are, and you don't want to know them. "And sometimes..." her sentence trailed off, sobriety in her tone dried up, slowly reaching down to slide off her knee-high socks. She was all cleavage and high-school-girl legs in that moment. "Sometimes people are mean to weirdos, to what they don't know."

Chelsea didn't say anything back. It didn't matter what Manny had been through in the past; she shouldn't treat others like shit. But she wanted to drop the subject altogether, and luckily, Carlie flopped back on her bed and started playing with her phone. No more conversation for the rest of the night.

The next day unfolded similarly -- she was alone when she woke up; she was alone in her classes; and alone when it came to lunchtime. She knew the girls were probably on the roof again, smoking and hanging out, but she still had a serious grudge against Manny. The more she thought about it, the more upset she felt, and she didn't know where to put this unnamed anger, so she tried to throw away the subject when it crossed her mind, distracting herself with doodles or music or staring at classmates. It didn't work.

About halfway through lunch, Chelsea saw Carlie bee-lining for her table, a bored-looking Manny being dragged along. Oh, god, I really don't want to deal with any drama right now.

"Manny has something she wants to say to you," Carlie sang. She nudged Manny, who was beside her, to speak up. There was an uncomfortable silence as Chelsea and Carlie waited for her to talk. She could feel the eyes of curiosity, students watching and waiting for a fight to break out. It was almost a good idea, but she refrained at the cost of losing Carlie.

"I'm sorry or whatever --"

Carlie elbowed Manny again, this time harder, in her ribs.

Manny signed dramatically, purposefully trying to avoid eye contact. "I'm sorry about the shit I said. About you and mystery girl. I was in a bad mood and let whatever came in my head slip out."

So that means you do think those horrible things about mystery girl? Chelsea wanted to ask, but she was done this conversation already; she wouldn't have complained if she never had or never did talk to her again. Chelsea also had the feeling she wasn't really sorry, that Carlie convinced her -- more like forced her -- to apologize. For what reason, Chelsea had no idea, but Manny definitely didn't look or sound sorry. On the flip side, Chelsea wasn't sorry for spilling soda all over Manny.

"It's over and done, I guess," Chelsea finally said, after a pause. Manny didn't seem phased, and made a look at Carlie, saying, I've done what I needed to do, before leaving the table.

Chelsea turned back to her food before Carlie spoke up again. "See? She isn't as bad as you thought."

"That wasn't a sincere apology," said Chelsea. "Not that I care, or wanted one. You made her apologize, didn't you?"

Carlie sighed and took a side across from Chelsea. "She needs to learn to not be so mean. Everyone has their issues but hers doesn't give her an excuse to say whatever she wants. I think you're cool; I don't want you to feel discouraged by the gang."

She seemed more concerned than Manny about Chelsea's feelings and thoughts. It was good to know that Carlie -- if not also Stephanie -- didn't have an issue with her after yesterday, and presumably, the beef between her and Manny was now gone.

"Thanks," said Chelsea. "At least one person has my back here. Nobody else seems helpful."

How comforting. Thanks.

Carlie shrugged. "I don't have anything to gain by being mean."

Carlie stood up from her seat as the bell rang -- fourth period was here. She quickly got lost in the crowd and Chelsea was left alone, again.

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I update when I can, which is usually only once a month. I had about 8 chapters already written out when I first put this out but now it's chapter 6 and I've barely written more. Bare with me as I take time to write something worth reading instead of releasing chapters that have no connection.

Also, sorry for the filler chapter.