Pretty Little Devils Part 19

PERSONALBLOG.

HAPPY2BME.

IT'S HYSTERICAL!

THEY'RE RIGHT TO BE AFRAID. I'M RIGHT HERE, BUT THEY CAN'T SEE ME. THEY'RE TOO CAUGHT UP IN THEIR STUPID LITTLE LIVES. I LOOK LIKE THE REST OF THEM, BUT I'M THEIR WORST NIGHTMARE. THEY'VE HAD FAIR WARNING. NO MORE KITTY CATS AND HORSES. I NEED MORE. TIME TO MOVE UP THE FOOD CHAIN. IT'S SHOWTIME, GIRLZ!

CHAPTER NINE.

"Do you guys mind if I eat with him today?" Hazel asked. She stood facing Sylvia.

This was a total break with PLD tradition, and she wasn't sure how the others would respond. But she needed some air-some time away from the group. Matty was the perfect antidote.

"Did something happen to your scrunchie?" Sylvia asked, squinting at Hazel's ponytail. "It's, like, faded or something."

Hazel's stomach tightened. It was her replacement scrunchie, and she'd had it for weeks. No one had said anything about it until now.

Sylvia turned to Megan. "Did you give her a bad scrunchie?"

Megan, who had been devouring a turkey sandwich, froze in mid-chew and said around her food, "What, bad? It was the only extra one we had."

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Sylvia made a motion of opening and closing her fingers like a sock puppet. "It's decla.s.se."

Megan blinked. Scowled. She looked at her plate and then at her sandwich, as if she were considering throwing it in a huff. Fuming, she swallowed and said, "I gave her the scrunchie you gave me."

"G.o.d, are you having cramps?" Sylvia asked. "You're so cranky, ma pet.i.te. I just asked you a simple question."

"I washed it," Hazel jumped in.

"Oh." Sylvia scrutinized it. "In what, bleach?"

"I don't know. Whatever we use at home," Hazel replied calmly.

"Well, what's done is done." Sylvia nibbled on her salad and studied Hazel as she chewed. "So now, Mattise...I think we can make an exception for amour." Her smile was generous and kind. "Go on and sit with him."

"Thanks," Hazel breathed, relieved to get away from Sylvia's scrutiny.

Her heart picked up speed as she walked to the table where Matty sat alone, waiting for the verdict. He looked wryly pleased as she came over to him, took off her backpack, and sat in the chair next to his.

"So the queen bee gave you time off for good behavior?" he drawled, taking her hand.

"I had to pay her a dollar," Hazel said. When she saw that he believed her, she snickered at him.

"I'm going to go get some rolled tacos. Want anything?"

"Yeah, I want something, but it's not on the menu." He gave her hand another squeeze. "When you get back, let's talk about homecoming, okay?"

Homecoming? Oh my G.o.d! It was only a week away, so that had to mean...

Hazel maintained. "Okay."

She could feel his gaze on her as she headed for the serving area. Sylvia gave her an encouraging nod, looking genuinely pleased for her.

You have no idea! Hazel wanted to tell her.

Homecoming! She wondered what to wear. She wondered where she'd get the money to buy a dress. She had finally paid off the phone. Maybe she'd be able to afford something nice.

"Rolled tacos with guacamole," she told the cafeteria worker, a wizened Asian woman with the requisite hairnet.

"Chicken or beef?" the woman asked, grabbing a plastic plate and a pair of tongs as she ranged over a large metal tray.

"Chicken, and-"

"Ellen, just listen!" Hazel turned. It was Brandon, shouting, causing a commotion.

Ellen had risen from her chair at the PLD table. Brandon was about a foot away from her, reaching out his arms. Sylvia looked placidly on.

"No," Ellen responded. "It's over, Brandon. Just leave me alone."

The cafeteria fell into dead silence as Ellen ran for the exit.

Hazel left the food line to intercept her. She caught up as Ellen disappeared inside the girls' room. Hazel entered and heard Ellen sobbing, locked in one of the stalls.

A freshman girl stood at the sink, applying her lipstick. Hazel gave her a look. "Can you go, please?"

The freshman frowned, obviously disappointed that she was not going to get to watch the fireworks. She touched the side of her mouth, popped her lipstick into a hobo bag, and sidled out. The door shut behind her.

Hazel checked below the doors of the other stalls. No feet. She and Ellen were alone.

"El? It's me," Hazel said, knocking gently on the door. "What happened?"

"He...he's not good for me," Ellen wept.

Hazel waited. Ellen kept crying; the toilet paper roll rattled. She blew her nose. "Sylvia convinced me. He...the PLDs come first."

My G.o.d. Sylvia did this. She played her.

"No. No, Ellen," Hazel argued. "Brandon really likes you. You don't have to choose."

"He-he dissed Megan," she sputtered. "If he doesn't respect my friends, he doesn't respect me."

"Ellen, let me in," Hazel said.

Ellen pushed back the stall lock and the door swung open. Her face was pure misery.

"I should have broken up with him that night when he didn't defend Megan," Ellen said. "It would have shown my loyalty. But I was so pathetic-"

"No, it wasn't like that," Hazel said. "Everyone was drinking. And Sylvia-"

The door to the bathroom swung open, and Sylvia strode in. She reached out her arms and gathered Ellen up.

"Oh, sweetie," she cooed. "Poor little El. You'll do better. I promise you. Remember, El, we train people how to treat us." She pursed her lips sadly and looked at Hazel. "Right?"

"Right," Hazel said slowly.

Ellen went to the nurse, gave the standard girl excuse that she had cramps, and went home. She turned down Hazel's offer to come over.

"I just need some downtime," she said on her cell. "But thanks."

After school, Sylvia told the others she wanted to watch football practice, so they went up into the bleachers on the opposite side of the field from Breona and the cheerleading squad.

"Go, Brookhaven, uh, uh, uh!" the cheerleaders chanted.

"They are such total s.l.u.ts," Megan muttered.

Hazel wanted to say something to them all about Ellen and Brandon, but she wasn't sure how to broach the subject. She couldn't believe that Sylvia would be so underhanded. Especially after preaching about their fellow PLDs coming first.

Coach Marano blew his whistle and the team ran through a play. The boys rammed into each other with such brutal force that it made Hazel wince. Brandon was really slamming into the other guys. He was also ignoring the girls up in the bleachers.

I don't blame him, she thought.

"Football is a savage, weird sport," Carolyn declared.

"Plus, boring," Megan said, yawning.

"Mes pet.i.tes, be polite," Sylvia admonished them.

Meanwhile, the cheerleaders were making a pyramid, with Breona at the top.

Hazel watched, transfixed. Who was really the bad guy here? Sylvia or Breona? They both seemed so self-centered. It was hard to tell.

"Do you have any lip gloss?" Megan asked.

"Hold on." Hazel reached into her pack, found her tiny metallic purse, and unzipped it.

"What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you, man?" Hazel's attention was yanked back to the field as Brandon shouted at Matty. He was holding his jaw. Matty held his fist as if he had just hit him.

"Oh my G.o.d!" Sylvia cried.

As Matty lunged for Brandon, Josh and another player grabbed his arms. Coach Marano stomped toward them, blowing his whistle, bellowing for them to break it up.

"You are dead!" Matty shouted at Brandon, struggling to get free.

"Come on, man, don't be such a wuss," Brandon taunted back.

"You try that again and I will kill you!" Matty shouted again.

Stephan came up beside Brandon and hollered to Matty, "Chill, Vardeman, it's a game! Don't get your panties in a bunch."

Matty took a swipe at Stephan, who narrowly ducked away.

"Hey!" Coach Marano stepped between them. He squared off against Matty, getting in his face. "What's going on?"

"He clipped me!" Matty shouted. "I told him I have a bad knee, and he-"

"No way!" Brandon yelled. "He just hauled off and punched me, Coach! For no good reason!"

"You tried to break my kneecap!" Matty lunged at Brandon. Coach Marano held him back. Matty threw his body back and forth, pulling his left arm free. His features were so contorted with rage, he looked like someone Hazel had never seen before.

It was confusing. And a little frightening.

Matty made another fist and the coach bellowed, "You touch anybody else and you are out of this school, Vardeman!"

"My G.o.d. He is really losing it," Sylvia said. "Hazel, your boyfriend is acting like a total lunatic."

"No," Hazel replied. "Something happened to his knee. And Brandon and Stephan are ganging up on him."

"He looks like he's having a freak-out," Carolyn said, making a face. "That's what I call serious anger-management issues."

"I don't know, honey. I wouldn't want find myself alone with a guy like that." Sylvia shook her head. "He's acting like a wild animal."

The coach ordered Matty off the field. As he left, he turned to Brandon. "This is not over!"

"Let's go," Sylvia suggested, rising. "Allez."

Hazel rose reluctantly and the PLDs filed out of the stands. Hazel gazed over to where Matty was sitting on the benches. He gave her a pleading look. She shrugged and followed the others.

They were due at Charlie's in an hour. Sylvia had ordered an emergency soiree-just the PLDs. No one was going to the game now.

When Hazel got to the Pollins house, Ellen was there-already on duty.

Her eyes were swollen from crying; she barely listened as everyone discussed Matty's outre lapse of self-control.