Author's Chapter Notes:
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Emily Hubbard rushed down the street and bumped right into someone. “Excuse me”she said
“It's ok, Em, it's me”Nicky said to her. “Your in a rush to get somewhere”
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow”she said but he grabbed her hand gently. She turned back to look at him.
“Call Mikey”he said. She sighed and he wondered why she thought that was such a chore? “He was upset because he hasn’t seen you all day-“
“I’ve been busy. I have a life outside of him you know-“
“Alright, alright. Tell him that. He’s getting paranoid and dramatic…you know how he gets, well you know him better than me….so…..call him and calm him down”he warned her. She only nodded.
“I’ll talk to him”she promised and walked away quickly.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“This is Clayton Millner from Miami, Florida. He is a new addition to our class so make sure to make him feel welcome”their teacher told them. “How about you have that seat over there next to Miss Brewster”
Rita froze as Clayton walked toward her. He was cuter than he used to be. Then Kitty, who was sitting behind her, kicked her in the leg. “Stop!”she whispered to her. Kitty just smiled and kept gesturing towards Clayton. Rita turned around just as he sat down next to her.
“Hey Rita. It's been a long time”he said to her
“Yes, about 10 years”she said with a nod, trying to sound disinterested as possible. She didn’t want to be a tease.
“Yes, it has been that long”he said with a nod. “And you look better with age I see”he said and winked at her. Kitty heard this and kicked her again.
Rita winced but covered it up with a smile. “Thanks Clayton. That’s sweet of you to say”
“My pleasure”he said,”I'm just being honest”he said. “Oh and while I'm still being honest….I would love to take you out sometime”
Kitty kicks her again but misses her leg and kicks the wooden leg of her chair. Kitty winces in pain. “Thank you for the offer, Clayton, but….I'm so busy with rehearsals. I will have to pass on that”
Clayton nodded,”Your still dancing?”he asked her. She nodded. “I bet you are the best and most beautiful one there”he said. Then the teacher told them to partner up with someone on an assignment. Before he could ask her, she turned to Kitty. He gave up and partnered up with someone else.
“Have you heard of subtlety?” Rita hissed at Kitty
Kitty laughed and then stopped. “Wait…..what?”
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Michael was in a bad mood for most of the day. Emily was still nowhere to be found. It was like she was avoiding him. Nicky told him that he talked to her yesterday and told her to call. She never did. He stayed up late and made sure and was scolded by Pop when he woke up to get a glass of water. Why did his best friend have to remind his girlfriend to call him? What was going on? He shuffled along slowly down the hall to his next class when he saw her. He brightened up and ran to her. “Emily!”
She stopped and looked at him with a shocked expression. “Oh hey Mikey”
“Where have you been? I have been looking all over for you-“
“I have been really busy Mikey-“
“Too busy to call?”
“Look don’t get paranoid ok?”
“I'm not-“
“I have 3 tests to take today. I have been studying-“
“Ok that’s fine I didn’t know that”
“Ok, I’ll see you later”she said and rushed into class. Mikey scratched his head. Was it him or did she just run away from him? He wasn’t paranoid before, but he certainly was now.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Dahlia couldn’t concentrate on any of her classes. The day went by slowly because it must have known that her plan couldn’t be hatched until school let out. She wanted to pull her curls out in anticipation as she stared at the clock. Then finally the bell rang and she literally ran out of class. She went into the girls bathroom and sprayed Ma’s favorite perfume on her and applied Ma’s favorite ruby red lipstick. She took it from her room this morning, she probably wouldn’t notice. She waited for the bathroom to empty a little and then fluffed her hair so it would have more volume and unbuttoned the front buttons of her shirt so her cleavage would show. Unfortunately, she didn’t have breasts like Ma and Rita did. Sometimes she thinks it was intentional that she was left out of the “beautiful boobs” department. She took a deep breath and looked at the clock, she didn’t have much time. Ma picked her up from school now and took her straight home. She didn’t even trust her to be by herself anymore. She walked out of the bathroom and headed straight to Mr. Harrison’s classroom. He was about to leave. “Mr. Harrison! Can I speak with you?”she asked sweetly.
He stared at her for a second too long and she took that as a good sign. “Sure”he said as he walked back into the classroom. “Have a seat. How can I help?"
Dahlia sat down and mustered up some tears. Rita had to take acting classes on how to do this but she was a natural. Why she wasn't at a fancy acting school was beyond her. "How do I say this? I feel.....lost and I need a grown up I can talk to. A grown up I can trust"
Mr. Harrison put his bag down and sat on the edge of his desk. He now wasn't in a rush to go since this may have some severity. "Well I am glad you came to me but my question is....why not go to your parents?"he asked her. He met her parents many times since he taught both Michael and Rita and the fact that Dahlia got into a lot of trouble. They were very hands on parents.
"I can't tell them a thing! I admit that I may have done some bad things in the past, gotten into a lot of trouble, but it's now to a point.....of no return"Dahlia said as a tear fell down her cheek. Inside, she was screaming, yes you got him in the palm of your hand! Keep crying! "They don't believe a thing that I say...even when I'm telling the truth. I'm not good enough for them. Rita is a triple threat. Michael is the scholar. Then there's me. I don't fit in with my own family. I feel so......so lost. I have tried talking to my parents. That is why I came to you"
"Well-"
"I know it was you"she said as she uncrossed her legs. She made sure to hike her skirt up so that it was extra short. She may not have boobs but she got the legs from Ma. "I know that you told on me...about the whole smoking thing"
"Well, Dahlia..."he said as he cleared his throat as he forced himself to stare at her face only.
"I'm not mad. It was your duty as a teacher or whatever. I just felt that if you got to know the real me, you wouldn't be so judgmental. You would believe in me"
"Well Dahlia-"
"You wanna know why I was smoking? That would help you understand"she said as she leaned forward on the small desk hoping he would get a good glimpse of her cleavage. She noticed him look down a little and she realized that he must have a nice view. "Pop used to smoke. Ma didn't like it so she made him quit. He explained that it was a stress reliever and I didn't understand what that was but....now I do. I have been stressed out and....Pop still has cigarettes stashed away....I guess for emergencies? I took one......ok fine....I took two"
"Well I'm glad that you are honest with me. But you can't take your fathers cigarettes. It's not allowed on school property, you are too young...."he said. "What you need to do is find another kind of stress reliever, one that wont cause you even more stress"Mr. Harrison advised gently. "Reading, knitting, riding bikes....listening to the radio....what relaxes you?"he asked her
She smiled. This was perfect. She slowly uncrossed her legs so he could another great view of her and turned in her seat so she could slowly stand. She smoothed down her short skirt and walked toward him. “What relaxes me?”she asked him. He nodded as he watched her. His face got red and…was that sweat on his brow? Was she making him hot? Literally? “Sex. Sex relaxes me”she said with a seductive smile as she took the small clip out of her hair so that the rest of her curls could cascade down her shoulders. “Do you like sex Mr. Harrison?”she said as she approached him and put her small hands on his thighs. “I bet you are good at it-“
“Dahlia-“he said as he got up quickly and ran behind his desk. “You are too young to talk in such a manner-“
“Scratch that, I bet you are great at it”she said not listening to him. Loving the chase. “I have to be honest…since we are being honest here. I'm in love with you, Mr. Harrison. I have been ever since I came to this school. I think you are stressing me out. I'm stressed because I can't have you. But I want you….oh I want you oh so bad and I see the way you have been looking at me just now. You want me too. You want something. I can give it to you. I may seem young. But I am a woman. I have had sex before. I am very experienced and I am done with boys. I want a real man and I want you. I want all of you”she said seductively as she literally chased him around his desk. “Now be honest with me. Tell me the truth. Tell me that you want to run away from here. That you would die for me, that you would do anything for me because I would do the same for you. I wont get you fired if that’s what you are afraid of”she said as she cornered him. “It will be our little secret”she said as she grabbed his dick and kissed him hard on the mouth. He struggled, then for a second he kissed her back and she knew she had him…until he pushed her away. “What-“
“Get out”he snarled. “I have tried to be nice, caring. I tried to listen but you wont. Get out, Dahlia before we do something we both will regret-“
“But I wont regret it and you wont either if you just believe-“
“GET OUT!”Mr. Harrison yelled at her. She jumped back in surprise. He scared her. She has never seen him this angry or yell so loud….and yelling was a real big turn off. That’s what Ma and Pop did all the time.
She didn’t say a word and ran out of the classroom and found the nearest bathroom. The lipstick was smeared on her face and she washed it off quickly. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. He was supposed to declare his love for her. Move them to Long Island or maybe as far as California. He could teach elsewhere, he was a wonderful teacher. Was… being the keyword. He was an asshole. He didn’t have to yell like that. Why did he lead her on? Why did he kiss her back if he didn’t want her around!? She looked at herself in the mirror. Her olive skin, dark eyes, long dark curly hair. She must be ugly to him. She could bet a thousand dollars that if Rita did the same thing with her boobs and blue eyes and newly dyed dark blonde hair he would run away with her in an instant. She hated how she looked. Everyone did. She wasn’t even allowed in some restaurants. She got angry and then she punched the mirror so hard that she cracked it. Unfortunately, she was still staring back at her. She ran out of the bathroom and down the hall. She then stopped when she saw Ma walk in. Shit.
“Dahlia Elizabeth Brewster, where have you been!? I have been waiting for 20 minutes!”Ma said as she marched up to her angrily and pulled her by the arm. “What did I say!? You meet me outside of school every day. You wait for me. Not the other way around”she scolded. A few students that were still lingering in the halls on the way to after school activities stopped to stare and whisper. Ma then sniffed her. “Is that my perfume? My Chanel perfume!?”she asked her. “Oh you are going to get it, Lia, just you wait”she said angrily as she yanked her by her arm all the way to the car and scolded her all the way home.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Dahlia’s punishment was extended for another eternity when Ma found her lipstick and Chanel perfume amongst her things. She would be a modern Cinderella until she was an old maid. No allowance. She got nada. She had to clean the bathroom and then she had to do every last assignment while Ma basically watched her like a hawk. Then it was time for dinner to be served and Dahlia helped Ma cook and clean up the kitchen. “Your father is going to be very disappointed when he hears about this”Ma said as they heard the doorknob jiggle. Then Rita and Pop walked in and Dahlia started to feel anxious, she knew her death was coming. Pop walked in and gave Ma a kiss. He then kissed Dahlia on the head. “How was your day?”he asked the both of them.
“Not good”Ma said. “We need to talk”
“What’s wrong?”Pop asked.
“Dahlia stole my lipstick and my Chanel perfume”Ma said. Pop sighed…..and then World War II Part 2 broke out.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Michael’s day was now a lot brighter now that Emily was around. She said she had been very busy with tests the past few days and he really didn’t care. He missed talking to her and having her around for those 24 hours. It felt like eternity without her. He decided to stop being paranoid. What did he have to worry about? They were now walking home from both of their club meetings. He had another Newspaper meeting and she had a Ballet class. “…..so I am going to make a petition because everyone on the newspaper and basically everyone that goes to our school, besides some of the teachers, are completely ignorant and incompetent-“
“Thanks”Emily said half disinterested, half offended.
“Not you of course”Michael said as he kissed her cheek. “I was hoping you would be the first to sign it. It’s a petition for the President to sign so that we can go to war and end this neutrality bullshit that he is on. It may be working for other countries but we can't just stand by. Emily, do you understand that we are one of the top 3 countries as far as economy and military intelligence and after all that recession bullshit that is saying something. We are too powerful to be ignored, we are too powerful to be stopped. We have to help Britain and France, be their allies. We have to go to war and stop Hitler-“
“Go to war?! Mikey, that is the most stupidest thing I have ever heard”Emily snapped
Michael stared at her in shock. “Wow, Em, that was rude-“
“You know what's rude!? The fact that I have to stand here and listen to you preach about Hitler this and Hitler that day in and day out and now you suggest we go to war!? Are you insane!? Killing innocent soldiers for someone else’s ignorance!? I can go on and on about how stupid of an idea that is but I won't because you are just going to make such a long winded argument that I’ll be bored to tears!”she yelled at him. “And that’s a huge problem, Mikey. You bore me. All you talk about is Hitler and not about anything I like. You are obsessed with him! If you like Hitler so much….go and fucking marry him!”
Michael stared at her in shock. Who was this person saying such rude and absurd things? She sounded just like the other students who opposed him. She didn’t sound like a loving girlfriend either. “Marry Hitler? Are you serious!? You are bored? I bore you?”he asked as he tried to wrap his head around such a fabrication
“Yes, you bore me. We don’t do anything fun, we just talk about Hitler and war and Roosevelt and Germany. Nothing I like. You do nothing for me!”
“I bought you flowers yesterday! Which you didn’t even bother to thank me for! I didn’t have lunch money because I wanted you to have flowers-“
“Oh so now it's my fault that you didn’t eat!-“
“NO! I'm saying that I do think about you! You barely talk to me anymore, Em, and I make conversation by talking about my day which leads to Hitler because that’s my job at the newspaper, reporting about the war. I can't help but talk about it….but fine…I wont talk about it with you-“
“You know what? You don’t even have to do that….”Emily sighed,”Just find someone else that is obsessed with that guy just like you are”
“Find someone else? Emily, stop”Michael said as he tried to get her stop walking but she kept on. “I'm not going to find someone else. I love you, only you”
“And I don’t love you! So….there, now go find someone that will actually love you back”
“You don’t mean that”he said as he chased after her. He grabbed her by her forearms and held her tight so she wouldn’t walk away. “You don’t mean that”
“I should have told you this a long time ago. I want to break up. I can't do this anymore. You smother me and bore me at the same time and I can't take it anymore. I want to break up”
“You don’t mean that. Em, just tell me what I need to do to make things right!? The way they used to be!”he said, not letting her go. She squirmed in his grasp. “EM! JUST TALK TO ME!”he shouted at her
“LET ME GO!”she shouted but he wouldn’t let her go. She then spit in his face and he let go out of pure shock. She spat on him. She spat on him like he was dirt. Like he was just some black boy who wasn’t supposed to be around. She ran off down the street and he didn’t run after her. She was gone. She didn’t want to be with him anymore. She didn’t love him. He felt his world crashing down. His life revolved around her. All he had was her, all he thought about was her and all he wanted was her. Why didn’t he see this coming? Why did he ignore the paranoia? He could have prevented this!
“I'm so stupid”he said as he hit his head against the building he was leaning against. “Stupid, stupid, stupid”he repeated as he kept hitting his head against the brick wall. Harder and harder as blood rolled down his face. And he didn’t stop.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Nicky opened his door and was shocked to find Michael standing there. He always ate dinner at home because it was a family tradition of his….and the fact that his head was bleeding. “Mikey! What happened!?”he said as he ushered him inside
“Quick, hide me. Don’t tell your Mom, or Kitty”Michael said,”I don’t want them to tell”he said. Nicky took him upstairs to his bathroom and helped clean him up while Michael told him what happened. “Everything’s my fault. I'm bleeding right now because it's my fault”
“Something isn’t right and it isn’t you. It's Em. She did this to you. The bitch. She fell out of love with you. Something's up. No one is that busy unless they are seeing someone else-“
“No, no, no, no….I don’t wanna hear it”Michael said. They had only been broken up for 30 minutes, he didn’t want to hear that yet
“Look, man. I get bored with chicks all the time. I make a huge fight with them so they would break up with me so I can call this other girl that I have been talking to. Rosie isn’t the only one…she thinks she is. Emily is sick…just like me. The difference between us is that I'm honest and I say that I found someone else. She put the blame all on you. She’s a whore. I never liked her you know”
“Your just saying that”Michael said. “She’s your best friend”
“No I'm not and she certainly is not. I only became her friend because you loved her so much. You’re my best friend, Mikey. You were there when Dad died…you were there for me a lot….You are my brother and if anyone hurts you. They are dead to me. Emily is dead to us and it's time we moved on”
*_____________________________________*