You're not sure what it is you should do. You don't know which would be the better option. Would grabbing one of Lucy's flunkies really help you with Paulina compared to grabbing the girl herself? But then is grabbing Lucy actually a possibility? Have you, in an effort to make things up to Evie, possibly bitten off far more than you can chew? You let these questions tumble back and forth in your head through the rest of eighth period. Once the bell rings you take a deep breath and decide to approach Mickie.
"Hey," you greet her in as friendly a voice as possible before she can get to the door. She ignores you and walks out the door. You follow her and call out to her again but still there's no reaction. Finally, in frustration, you call out one more time but reach out to grab her shoulder.
"What," she grunts as she turns and knocks your hand off. Her face isn't one of anger though but the same expression that rests somewhere between disinterest and annoyance as if she has better things to do and you're keeping her from doing them.
"I need to talk to Lucy," you tell her. "About Paulina," you quickly add.
"About who?" Her voice matches her face. She'd rather be anywhere else than talking to someone like you.
"The girl that's been trying to get her to join the basketball team."
"Oh, the annoying girl," she replies with a bit of realization. "You don't just barge in and demand to meet Lucy because she has a lot of shit she needs to deal with. Tell me what you want to tell her and I'll tell her for you and if she thinks it's worth her time then she'll talk to you."
She begins to walk away but you follow her pleading your case. She seems to be having none of it and, in fact, seems to be actively ignoring you as she walks out the doors and turns to head towards the portable. She's about a quarter of the way there when she finally stops and turns to you.
"Look, I told you you what was going to happen," she says in clear frustration, "so either do it or fuck off because you're getting on my nerves."
"Who's getting on your nerves?"
The voice is unmistakeably a girl's but there's an authoritative quality to it that makes the both of you freeze up. Standing behind Mickie is the towering figure of Lucy. You want to take off the other way fearing that you've made a mistake. Mickie, however, doesn't seem to miss a beat.
"It's this chick," she says in exasperation. "She's demanding to talk to you and won't fucking leave me alone about it."
"You told her the rules," Lucy asks.
"Yeah of course," Mickie replies, "but she keeps insisting that she talk to you personally about that girl from the basketball team."
Lucy's gaze, stern and hard, turns towards you. "Do you know her," she finally asks.
"She's, uh, she's one of my best friends," you reply nervously.
She continues to stare at you but, to your surprise, you think you see a softening in her look as she looks back at Mickie. "I'll talk to her," she says to the surprise of both of you. "Tell the other girls to take off. I have some other things I have to take care of anyway," she tells her.
"Lucy," exclaims Mickie in shock.
"Just tell them," Lucy says. She doesn't yell but she doesn't need to. Mickie simply nods and heads off to the portables. Lucy looks back at you and you're not sure if you can read her expression. "I'm guessing you don't want to talk here," she says.
"Y-yeah," you reply nervously, "can we talk by my car?"
Lucy simply nods and it's the odd sight of the intimidating Lucy Gibbon and the mousy Evie Cummings walking through the halls of the school and out towards the parking lot.
* * * * *
"You wanted to talk about that girl," Lucy asks once you've gotten to your car.
"Paulina," you tell her as you unlock your car. You check the back seat to make sure Dane's stuff is still there and then check your bag to grab the mind band which you'll use first. It's smaller and easier to hide so maybe you'd have a better chance of getting that on her.
"Right, she seems like a nice girl," she replies.
"She is," you say nervously but firmly. "That's why I don't want you to hold it against her. The recruiting I mean."
"Why would I," she asks and it sounds like genuine confusion in her voice. "I get why she'd want me on the team."
"Well I don't think it's her," you say as you emerge from the car. You place the band in your right hand. "I think it's the coaches. So I don't want you to, you know, take it out on her."
"Take it out on her," she says and you can see a look of genuine shock on her face. "Is that what this was about," she asks and you noticed more pained look on her face. "I like that you have her back like that but I wouldn't take it out on her."
That causes your own double take. "I," you pause, "I don't want to sound rude but you've got a reputation..."
That look stays on Lucy's face. "I know but," she sighs, "but I wouldn't, okay?"
This has taken a rather surprising turn but you think this might help you. Lucy looks distracted now so this might be your best opportunity to get the band on her. So very quickly you spring forward and extend your left hand. Lucy, however, picks up on this instantly and grabs your wrist.
"What's going on," she asks in surprise.
Lucy's quick alright but not quick enough in this case. The left hand was to take her attention so you can swing your right around and slap the band on her forehead. Her grip on your wrist loosens and she collapses to the ground. You let yourself feel good about this. You had your doubts but it looks like you're going to get that mask after all. You go back to Dane's stuff in the back seat and fish his keys out of his pants, unlock the door to his car and toss the keys on the passenger seat. You then wait for the band to emerge and slap the blank mask on her.
Evie's not the strongest around so it takes some effort to get the unconscious Lucy up and into the driver's seat of Dane's car. You grab Dane's mask and then work to get Lucy's own clothing off, a dangerous and not at all easy task given there are still some cars around. You're able to finish just as the mask emerges and very quickly you get Dane's mask on her. You grab his clothes and toss those onto the passenger seat as well then as quickly as possible you're in Evie's car and out of the parking lot.
When you hit a red light you take a look at the stuff in the other seat. You'll have to seal everything and finish it back at the hideout but you can see Lucy's image faintly on the mask. On the mind band, in blue letters, floats a name: LUCILLA AURELIA GIBBON.
* * * * *
"I'm going to need you to drive me back over to the school," you tell Evie as you put the ratty t-shirt on on. "Lucy's truck is over there."
Evie can only nod as she looks at you in amazement. It's not hard to see why either. Lucy is tall, around the same height as Paulina, but while Paulina has a more delicate look to her Lucy has a natural swimmer's build, lean and tightly muscled. That explains why Coach Gossett and Andrea have been pushing for her to join the swim team almost as hard as the basketball team's been pushed on her. Lucy has no interest in sports right now however as other things pre-occupy her time.
Besides she takes boxing classes down at the community center, that's all the sport she needs.
Yeah on a physical level being Lucy Gibbon feels great. You feel strong and tough like you could take on anyone in the school, boy or girl, short of Gordon. You feel like you might have to as well as Lucy gets in more than her share of scraps though almost always emerging out on top. You wonder why anyone would mess with someone like her and it's through a cursory glance of her mind that you're surprised by the answer.
Once you're fully acclimated you head out of the basement, lock up behind you and head back to the school where Evie drops you off. There you see the lone car in the parking lot, an older truck that reminds you a lot of the one you normally drive.
"So, um, is this it," Evie asks as you're ready to get in. You look over at her and give her a quizzical look. "Now that you're Lucy, I mean, is that it? You're just going to go be her and everything goes to... to normal, I guess, where we have to be careful around you?"
You're shocked by that. Does Evie want you to hang around? And while you're shocked, Lucy feels wounded. Evie's scared of her, a lot of people are, but Lucy would never... "If you want me to hang around with you I'll do it. Lucy would do it," you tell her.
That causes a look of surprise on her face. "So I guess that means Paulina's not in any danger," she asks.
You shake your head. "Nuh uh. She never was," you tell her. "I think you have Lucy all wrong."
"What do you mean by all wrong," she asks.
You shake your head. "Look, today's been exhausting alright? If you want to talk we can do it tomorrow but I'm feeling pretty worn out and I just kind of want to get home," you tell her.
Evie accepts this as you hop into the truck and turn the ignition. You say goodbye to her and head out onto Borman. While it was an excuse, it wasn't a lie. You really are feeling worn out and do want to get home. But when talking to Mickie, Lucy had mentioned she had some "other things" to do as well. Well that "other thing" is meeting up with a former member of her gang and you think you should keep that meeting.
Because that former member is Paulina Nowak.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author