Chapter 15 Those Bitches
"Why did you do that?" Brooke asks immediately after they get settled in the car.
"Do what?"
"Why'd you tell Cole that?" Brooke glares at Stephanie.
Stephanie shrugs smirking. "I don't know. Just wanted him to know the truth, I guess."
"Truth? What you exaggerated and FYI, nobody asked you for the truth," Brooke tells her gruffly.
Stephanie bursts into laughter.
"Payback is a bitch."
"He'd think I'm head over heels for him," Brooke whines.
"Aren't you? Suck it in," Stephanie retorts.
"Bitch."
Stephanie laughs, "You described yourself with the perfect word."
Brooke narrows her eyes at her but starts smiling after some seconds.
Stephanie's laugh is contagious.
Then she remembers something and frowns.
"Why did you run off in the morning?" Brooke inquires.
"Run off? I didn't run off, I had to get to class." Stephanie scoffs.
"Oh don't bullshit me, Steph. That's exactly what you did on Saturday."
"No. It wasn't. I didn't wanna talk to him, okay!" Steph exclaims.
"Would you ever want to talk to him, huh?"
"I don't just understand," Stephanie huffs.
"What don't you understand?"
"Why does he suddenly know I exist? Why is he trying to talk to me? Why? Why B? We've been in the same school for three years B. Three years. This is the fourth year. He has never said hi to me. We've never talked to each other before. Why now, B? Can you tell me the answer to that, huh?" Stephanie rambles.
"A lot of people don't know you exist because of the wallflower life you decided to be living, Steph. Chris is one of those people and he found out about you when you guys kissed during the game."
"I get it. I still wanna remain that way but why does he wanna talk to me? I'm pretty sure he kisses new lips every night. Does he want something more from me? Because if he does, he won't get it. He's wasting his time."
"I have no idea what he wants but give it a chance. Get to know him but if he wants - you know-" Steph smiles, "-something more. Let him know he can't have it."
"Sure, B. Whatever you say. Now drive, please."
Brooke grins and starts the engine. She drives out of the parking lot and heads to Stephanie's house.
"So......you and Cole, huh?" Steph smirks.
Brooke tries to hide her goofy smile.
"What about us?"
"You're going on a date," Stephanie raises an eyebrow.
"No, we're not. We're just hanging out. You guys are coming remember?"
"Whatevs." Stephanie flips her off.
"So you and Luke know each other?" Brooke probes.
"Yeah. The day I bumped into Ivy, he came and that stopped her from killing me. Didn't I tell you?"
"You didn't."
"Must have skipped my mind."
They reach Steph's house and she invites Brooke in. Brooke parks and follows her in.
"Mum, Dad. I'm home," Stephanie yells once they step into the house.
"Welcome home hon," her mum steps out of the kitchen to hug her.
"Oh my gosh! Brooke...I haven't seen you in a while. C'mere." She hugs her too.
"Hey Mrs. Valentine," Brooke smiles.
"Karen. Call me Karen. How have you been?"
Brooke answers politely.
"Where's Dad?" Steph asks.
"He went grocery shopping hun. Brooke honey, stay for dinner." Her Mum says.
"Uhm...sure. Mrs - Karen - I'd love to," Brooke replies. "Let me inform my parents.
"Sure....do just that."
\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bell rings for Lunch and it's a Tuesday. Brooke and Stephanie leave the class they just had together.
"Hey, help me hold on to this," Steph gives Brooke her backpack.
"Why? Where are you going?" Brooke asks but still takes it.
"I need to use the restroom. I'll meet you at the cafe, okay?"
"Sure."
Stephanie hurries in the direction of the girl's restroom. She enters and gets into one of the stalls. She lets out of relief as she uses the toilet. She had the urge to pee during her last class but decided to wait since it was almost lunch break.
She hears footsteps as more than one person enters the restroom. She doesn't make a sound.
"You have that guy wrapped around your finger," a voice says.
Stephanie recognizes it as Aspen's almost immediately.
"You mean Luke? Of course, I do. He's like my puppet," a second annoying voice answers.
No other person but Ivy.
"Poison Ivy," Stephanie mutters to herself.
What Aspen doesn't know is that she's also one of Ivy's puppets. Stephanie shakes her head at that thought.
"Lucky you," Aspen sighs.
"That's exactly how I had 'he who shall not be mentioned' wrapped around my fingers," Ivy says.
She refers to Christopher as 'he who shall not be mentioned'.
It's kind of an abomination to mention his name.
"Yeah," her puppet agrees.
Stephanie who continues to listen in the stall begins to wonder who they're referring to.
"Chris is no longer wrapped around your finger though," Aspen speaks again, answering Stephanie's question. She keeps forgetting they ever dated.
"No shit," Ivy glares at Aspen just as Stephanie imagines.
"You think I don't already know that? And what did I say about mentioning his name?" Ivy chides.
"Sorry."
There's a pause.
"You're lucky. I like a guy that doesn't want to have anything to do with me," Aspen whines.
"Huh?" Steph whispers in confusion.
"You mean Jason. He'll come around. Don't worry," Ivy tells Aspen in a tone that affirms that she doesn't care.
Aspen sighs heavily.
"Let's go," Ivy commands and Stephanie hears their footsteps retreat as they walk out.
"Geez! I thought they'd never leave," Steph groans as she comes out of the stall.
She washes her hands and heads to the cafeteria.
Once in the cafe, she gets a cheeseburger and joins Brooke at their table.
"What took you so long?" Brooke asks with a frown.
"Well, Poison Ivy and her minion were in the restroom and I had to wait for them to leave."
"Those bitches," Brooke says icily and looks at them.
"They were talking about how they have guys wrapped around their fingers or whatever," Stephanie says with a scowl.
"That's so them."
"You know, I don't usually remember that poison Ivy and Christopher dated," Stephanie states, pursing her lips.
"Me too. They're like sworn enemies now." Brooke agrees.
"I heard she cheated on him and Christopher really hates cheating."
"Nobody likes being cheated on, Steph. But that's their beeswax. Let's eat," Brooke mutters.
They begin to eat.
"Have you spoken to him today?" Brooke inclines.
"Nope," she replies, knowing who she's referring to.
"I thought I told you to give him a chance Stephanie."
"He hasn't tried to talk to me today. If you think I'll approach him first, you're insane."
"You're something."
"Why thank you," Steph grins.
They continue eating and Stephanie notices Brooke looking in a particular direction with this dreamy look in her eyes. She doesn't need anyone to tell her who it is as she follows her gaze.
Someone's got it bad.
"Keep daydreaming, B. Keep daydreaming."
\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Aspen is so annoying," Jason groans at their table during lunch.
"I thought you said she was hot," Max asks bemusedly.
"That was before. Weeks ago. She's shown me how psycho she can be. And besides, I didn't say it to her face," Jason specifies, cringing.
Christopher chuckles as he's munching on his fries.
"I wonder what would happen if I say it to her face." Jason shudders.
"What exactly did she do?" Max requests.
"She wouldn't give me space, dude. About a week ago, she told me that she likes me and tried to kiss me right on the spot. Apparently, she has liked me for a long and was waiting for me to realize I love her and ask her out. She said she can't stay away any longer - something about this being the last year of high school. Since then - oh my God - she's been obnoxiously hitting on me every second she gets," Jason rambles with a horrid look on his face.
"And you're just telling us this?" Mac asks in disbelief and Chris chuckles again.
"I didn't think it was serious. And News Flash - I have a GIRLFRIEND."
"But would you be into her if don't already have a girlfriend?" Max inquires.
"Hell no. She's psycho. Ivy too."
Max nods.
"This morning, Aspen was in my first-period class. She sees me and sits beside me with a grin. Then she greets me and tells me her lips hurt." Jason discloses.
"I'm like 'How is that any of my business?' And she tells me to help her kiss the pain away," Jason continues.
"Like that's surprising," Chris scoffs with an eye roll.
"What did you do?" Max asks, obviously amused.
"Mentally, I'm like - what the fuck did she just say? Thankfully before I could respond or even think of a response, the teacher enters," Jason ends his story.
"That's crazy, bro. What do you think Chris?" Max comments.
Chris shrugs and looks around the room. He spots Hazel with Brooke at their usual table. After a few seconds, he looks away.
"So Max, any girl in your life that is preferably not crazy?" Chris asks to change the topic.
He hates talking about or listening to anything that has a connection to Ivy.
Max chuckles before answering.
"Luckily for me, I have no deranged girl hitting on me but there's this girl I like and she's a junior here."
"Do we know her?" Jason asks.
"Yeah. She's my neighbor."
There's a pause.
"Oh, that blonde girl that lives in the house next to yours?"
"Yeah."
"She's cute," Chris comments.
"Have you asked her out yet?"
"Nope."
"What's the hold-up?" Chris asks.
"We're just going on our first date on Friday," Max explains.
"Cool. You better treat her right," Chris points a warning finger at him.
"You know, I'm starting to feel sorry for her future husband with the way she comes on to a guy," Jason reveals still thinking about Aspen.
Chris snaps with a scowl on his face.
"We're still talking about her?"
"Sorry dude."
"And FYI, she comes onto you that way. Not every guy, just you in particular," Max declares.
"FYI? Seriously?" Chris shakes his head, rises to his feet, and walks away. Jason chuckles.