In Progress Hey, Bulldog

[Alexi]

This is a Phantom of the Opera fic I wrote. Warning: Erik is not the usual sexually appealing beast he is usually portrayed as. :D

Summery: High School AU; It's Christine's senior year, and she's excited. The Fall play is coming up, and she is ready to try out and impress Ralph, the school's hearththrob. But when a new kid comes and catches her attention, how will she choose between the two?


Chapter 1

The morning was crisp and cool as Christine walked up the steps to her school. It was the first day of the new school year, her senior year, and she was excited to get it started. At least, she was the night before, but now as she walked into the semi-crowded hallway of El Camino High School, she realized how much she would miss the long summer days of lazing in front of the television with her best friend, Meg, watching reruns of Law and Order and talking about the hot boys at the rec centre pool and playing silly karaoke games.

She was genuinely excited to start theatre again this year. It was the year the school put on its musical. She had been in the musical in her sophomore year - the school only had a musical every other year - and had loved it, despite only being in he chorus. This year, she’d try out for the lead. She had been practising all summer long with Meg and had taken a few dance courses to get in shape.

Of course, the musical tryouts wouldn’t be until January, and it was only September. It seemed like ages until that golden time, but she could be patient in the mean time and try to guess what musical the school would choose. Perhaps it would be Hair Spray, if the sheet music had been released to the public yet. She and Meg had seen it the week it started in theatres and instantly fell in love with it. Or maybe it would be Phantom of the Opera, though the chance that her number one favourite musical would be chosen from among the hundred available would certainly be slim. She and Meg joked that they were destined to be in that musical at some point in time, as their names matched the characters.

She hummed the famous theme as she walked down the halls, past the students reuniting with their friends and catching up on gossip. She would also try out for the annual Fall play, which was rumoured to be Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She’d aim for the part of Mina, although she certainly hoped she’d get Lucy. But whatever she got, she’d be grateful for.

Passing countless forest green lockers, Christine thought what her last year of high school would be like. She hoped it wouldn’t be drama-filled, as her junior year was. She was constantly competing with Charlotte, the school snob, for lead parts in theatre class and the attention of the school’s heartthrob, Ralph. He had been quarterback in the junior varsity team last year, and was said to be quarterback this year in varsity. He tall, muscular, blond, with a sexy smile. Everything a girl could want.

When they were all young, Christine, Charlotte and Ralph had been inseparable friends, but time went on and they all grew up and went into different cliques. Christine had lost her father in the seventh grade, and went into a period of silent depression that locked her out of the popular group.

Now, Christine had come to accept her father’s death and was living happily with her adoptive parents. High school had been a fun time in Christine’s life despite the drama, and now it was almost over. This was the final stretch. What would this year bring?

The bell rang and kids rushed to their first classes. Christine followed the flow of students to her first class, English, which was as boring as any class on the first day of school could be. The teacher, a Mrs. Throp, had spoken about the school rules and dress code, the bell schedule, passed out the syllabus for the year and emergency contact cards for each student’s parent to fill out and return the next day.

Christine said her hellos to people she recognized at the end of the class when there was an extra ten minutes to spare. Sara Carhille, a girl she who also shared theatre class with Christine, asked her if she would be trying out for the Fall play, to which Christine answered yes. Sara then told her that the play had been changed from Dracula to Frankenstein.

“Where’d you hear that?” Christine asked, wondering at the back of her mind which part she would try out for in that play. She wasn’t very familiar with the characters.

“I heard Jessie talking about it,” Sara answered. Jessie Wheeler was on the student committee that decided which plays and musicals the school would put on, headed by Mrs. Giry, Meg’s mother. The students each threw around ideas for which play to put on, ran them by Mrs. Giry and, after figuring if they could be fit into the budget, voted on what would be chosen.

“Did she mention any other plays?” Christine asked, wondering if she should hit the Blockbuster on her way to school to rent a copy of Frankenstein. Sara shook her head.

Christine ran into Meg on her way to second period physics, and quickly told her the news about the play. Meg was also thinking about trying out for the Fall play, and took the news rather well.

“I’ve seen Frankenstein so many times, I could quote it all right now,” Meg stated happily, but saw the forlorn look on Christine’s face.

“I haven’t seen it, Meg,” Christine said. “I don’t know anything about the characters.”

“That’s no prob,” Meg reassured her. “For one thing, it’s only a rumour. And if it turns out Frankenstein is the play, just come on over and we’ll watch it together. You’ll be an expert in no time.” They exchanged a quick hug and rushed to their respective classes, Christine glad to have such a great friend.

She had met Meg in the eighth grade, when it turned out they had the exact same classes together, and became quick friends. She helped Christine accept her father’s death and got her interested in music and theatre. Christine had been in the middle school band, playing flute, which carried over into her sophomore year, when she decided to give the flute up to instead take up acting on the stage, which was her true passion.

Second period was not unlike first, with the teacher, Mr. Bristol, going over rules. School rules, lab rules, class rules, by third period, Christine’s head felt like it would explode with rules. She knew the importance of them, but that didn’t make them any less redundant after a while.

But third period was her oasis. Theatre. She rushed to the drama room, which stood on the edge of the school behind the art department. It was connected to the band room, which was empty this hour. The band director, Mr. Gamble, sat in his office as Christine walked past it, through the big band room filled with brass instruments on the walls and music stands on the floor in front of blue chairs.

Through the door behind the director’s stand was a small hall that led into the theatre room. The high ceiling created a slight echo, which amplified the general murmur of talking students. Two sets of bleachers sat against the far wall facing a small makeshift stage. Christine saw Meg immediately and took a seat next to her. The two girls talked excitedly among the students. The chatter continued a few minutes after the bell rang as Mrs. Giry allowed the students to get all their excited talk out before she started class.

Glancing around, Christine recognized all the usual suspects who had been in the class since she joined in sophomore year, as well as a few newbies, most of them freshmen or sophomores. Always excited to meet new people, Christine was glad to see the new faces. She caught Charlotte’s gaze unintentionally, and shot her a small glare.

Charlotte Winston was the school snob, the most popular girl. She wasn’t the head of the cheerleading squad, but she was the best actress in the school. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean she was the best singer. But she still had landed the lead roll in the last musical the school put on, which was a hit, despite her horrible singing. This inflated her ego to the size of Florida.

Looking away from her arch nemesis, Christine’s brown eyes locked on a newcomer sitting two rows ahead of her. He was a heavyset boy with thick, shaggy dark hair. He was extremely pale from what Christine could see, which might have been exaggerated by the all-black clothing he wore. He sat with his chin resting on his large fist, silently waiting for the class to begin.

Mrs. Giry rang a small crystal bell on her desk which, despite its size, rang loud enough for everyone to hear. The veteran students quickly quieted while the newcomers followed suit or the most part. Those still talking received Mrs. Giry’s stern gaze which seemed to bore into one’s soul, and they quickly shut up.

“Welcome back, students,” Mrs. Giry began. She spoke with a slight French accent, as she was originally from France. She taught the single French 4 AP class, which Christine had sixth period. “I won’t go over the school rules again, as I believe you’ve all had enough of them.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, apparently thinking the same thing Christine had moments ago.

“Instead, I shall start with the role, and then talk to you all about the Fall play coming up soon.” Christine’s stomach tightened in anticipation. She knew the play itself wouldn’t be named, but Mrs. Giry would take ideas from the students to run by the committee later, in case the plays chosen wouldn‘t be able to be fit in the budget.

Mrs. Giry called off names from her list, some names coming off sounding a bit odd in her accent. Christine responded when her name was called loud and clear, for she was rather far back. Meg’s name was skipped, as her mother certainly knew she was here. She and Christine whispered quietly while everyone else’s name was called off.

“Any new news on the Fall play?” Christine asked. Meg nodded.

“I was talking to Jessie, and she said some of the choices were Dracula, Frankenstein and A Christmas Carole.”

Christine raised an eyebrow. “A Christmas Carole? In November?” November was generally the time the Fall play was put on.

“It’s close enough to Christmas.” Meg shrugged.

“There aren’t exactly many good female roles in that.” Christine frowned.

Meg grinned. “Maybe Mom will cheat a little and let some of the girls try for a ghost.” Christine smiled and looked forward when she heard Mrs. Giry had finished with role.

“As you all may know, El Camino puts on an annual Fall play,” she began, folding her hands in front of her. “The student committee has come up with three choices.” She named them, some kids apparently liking the idea of Dracula or Frankenstein, others giving her weird looks for A Christmas Carole.

“Tryouts for the Fall play will begin next week,” she went on, “But right now, I want to know if any of you have any ideas for other plays.” She picked up a clipboard with a Legal pad attached to it. Fountain pen in hand, she asked, “Who has some ideas?”

The students thought for a bit. Christine mulled it over before raising her hand. “Yes, Christine?” Mrs. Giry called to her, and suddenly all eyes were on her.

“How about The Beauty and the Beast?” Christine offered.

“That’s a musical, isn’t it?” Josh Biggs, a sophomore, asked.

“Non,” Mrs. Giry answered. “There was a stage play written for it a few years ago that recently became available to the general public.” She smiled at Christine. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. It would certainly be refreshing to put on a play set in France.” The class laughed along with their teacher. A few kids offered other ideas - from Shakespearean plays like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing to little-known plays like Room Service.

When it appeared everyone was out of ideas, a thick, pale arm rose in the air. Mrs. Giry looked to the new student who had sat there quietly the whole time. “Yes?”

The boy hesitated a moment. “How about Harvey?” he asked in a voice sounding more mature than his teenage looks. Christine had never heard of that play before, and neither had anyone else by their confused looks.

“Harvey,” Mrs. Giry repeated. She looked entirely amazed. “I’m surprised you’ve heard of that, Mr. Adams.” The boy didn’t respond. Mrs. Giry wrote down the title on her pad, which must have been filled with other titles.

“What’s that about?” Meg asked, looking at the boy. He turned and looked up at Meg, his ice blue eyes glancing between her and Christine.

“It’s about a guy who imagines having a six foot-tall rabbit.” The boy’s voice was deep and it echoed along the walls of the theatre room. Some kids snickered. Whether it was him or what he was saying, Christine couldn’t be sure.

“Is it a comedy?” Christine found herself asking. The boy simply nodded, turning his gaze to her. She held his gaze for a moment longer than necessary, finding his eyes to be simply beautiful.

“Sounds like a silly play,” Charlotte commented in her obnoxiously loud voice. “Is there even any good female roles in it?”

Without looking at her, the boy answered, “The man has a sister who tries to commit him to a sanitarium for fear of him embarrassing her at her social gatherings.”

“Oh?” Charlotte seemed suddenly more interested. “Does she get him in?”

“No,” he answered. “She gets committed instead.” Christine could hear the amusement in his voice.

Charlotte harrumphed. “What a stupid idea for a play,” she said.

“Harvey is a very good idea,” Mrs. Giry said, capping her fountain pen and setting her clipboard down. Glancing at the clock, she noticed that there were only a few minutes left in the class. The discussion of the Fall play had taken up all the time.

“I remind you again that tryouts for the play start next week. Raise your hand if you think you are interested in trying out.” Several hands went in the air, including Christine’s, Meg’s, Charlotte’s and the chubby hand of the mysterious new boy. Mrs. Giry nodded and let the hands go down.

“There’s no way that fat pig will get in the play,” Christine heard Charlotte mention to one of her lackeys, Brittany Trotter. He saw Charlotte gesture to the boy who had spoken so fondly of the play, Harvey, and immediately felt offended at her rude comment.

She looked at him, but if he heard, he showed no indication of it. The bell rang, and as kids stood up and piled out, Christine stepped down carefully the bleachers to the boy.

“Hey,” she called to him as he stood. He was about six feet tall when he stood, although he stooped his shoulders a bit. He turned and looked at her, his eyes cold. Christine hesitated a little. “What’s your name?”

“Erik,” he answered after searching her eyes. He seemed cautious, a bit defensive. Christine offered a smile.

“I’m Christine. Nice to meet you.” He nodded and turned to go, but Christine out a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, moved away from her, then turned and glared at her.

“Don’t touch me,” he said coldly. Christine stepped back a bit in surprise.

“I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. Before she could get another word in, he turned and stepped down the steps quickly, the bleachers creaking with his weight. Christine followed him out the door, where he turned down a hall towards the art department.

Meg walked up behind Christine and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to her friend.

“Trying to get to know Erik?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You know him?” Christine wondered why she hadn’t mentioned it during class.

Nodding, Meg said, “He’s in my English class. He’s really quiet and a bit weird, but he knows a lot about the classics.” She grinned. “I got to talking to him about Mark Twain.” Meg loved all of Mark Twain’s stories, while Christine found them to be only a bit better than sleeping pills.

“Was he nice when you talked to him?”

Meg shrugged. “I wouldn’t call him friendly, but he wasn’t rude or anything.” Christine nodded.

“He’s a bit weird,” she mentioned as she and Meg walked to their next classes. For Christine, that was statistics. Luckily, lunch was right after fourth period, and then she’d have some time to really gossip with Meg. Maybe get a bit more information about Erik.

She was almost to her next class when she ran smack into Ralph. She gasped and looked up into his pale blue eyes. He smiled his handsome smile, making Christine tongue-tied. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Are you okay?” Christine just nodded and watched him walk on down the hall with his football mates. Her heart fluttering, Christine walked into her classroom, already having forgotten about Erik for the moment.

 

[Dragon_night]

Well, I hate to be the barer of bad news, but...

Well, on whole, your story seems cliche, along with your 'villain'. But that will be explained when I comb stuff out.

On the lighter side, you still have pretty good writing skills, although they do at one point, drop in the story (as I'll explain later), they're at the best near the beginning and the end of the chapter.

But anyway, on to combing (sorry if I sound like an ass here >.>):

Summery: High School AU; It's Christine's senior year, and she's excited. The Fall play is coming up, and she is ready to try out and impress Ralph, the school's hearththrob. But when a new kid comes and catches her attention, how will she choose between the two?

I'm a bit iffy on these kinds of summary's. Why not just show us that during the fic?

Passing countless forest green lockers, Christine thought what her last year of high school would be like. She hoped it wouldn’t be drama-filled, as her junior year was. She was constantly competing with Charlotte, the school snob, for lead parts in theatre class and the attention of the school’s heartthrob, Ralph. He had been quarterback in the junior varsity team last year, and was said to be quarterback this year in varsity. He tall, muscular, blond, with a sexy smile. Everything a girl could want.

Hmm. Not to be insulting, but this entire paragraph is full of cliche. It kind of makes the story seem a bit... predictable, if you know what I mean. This kind of beginning's been done too many times before, and placing it into your story so bluntly reminds me of beginners trying to write.

When they were all young, Christine, Charlotte and Ralph had been inseparable friends, but time went on and they all grew up and went into different cliques. Christine had lost her father in the seventh grade, and went into a period of silent depression that locked her out of the popular group.

Now, Christine had come to accept her father’s death and was living happily with her adoptive parents. High school had been a fun time in Christine’s life despite the drama, and now it was almost over. This was the final stretch. What would this year bring?

Uh... I dunno, but the father's death thing seems like a cheap way to gain sympathy for the character, especially this early on in the story. That, and it seems simi-cliche. Do you really need to say this? Does it affect the story in any way? And if it does, why bring it up now? Why not bring it up when it does affect the character, or near the time it does?

But, more importantly, I think it's just the way you wrote it that is the biggest problem. Sure, her father died, but is the rest really necessary to have?

Christine ran into Meg on her way to second period physics, and quickly told her the news about the play. Meg was also thinking about trying out for the Fall play, and took the news rather well.

The transition between scenes seem too fast here, and they way you repeatedly tell us what the character is saying instead of putting it into dialog doesn't seem to help. Too much rushing here.

Through the door behind the director’s stand was a small hall that led into the theatre room. The high ceiling created a slight echo, which amplified the general murmur of talking students. Two sets of bleachers sat against the far wall facing a small makeshift stage. Christine saw Meg immediately and took a seat next to her. The two girls talked excitedly among the students. The chatter continued a few minutes after the bell rang as Mrs. Giry allowed the students to get all their excited talk out before she started class.

Something I noticed while reading this, is that as soon as you have the main character talking to other people, the descriptions just starts to lag, and then by this paragraph, it perks up all of a sudden, which kind of screws up the flow, and mostly the constancy of the fic itself. And I think it's about this paragraph:

The bell rang and kids rushed to their first classes. Christine followed the flow of students to her first class, English, which was as boring as any class on the first day of school could be. The teacher, a Mrs. Throp, had spoken about the school rules and dress code, the bell schedule, passed out the syllabus for the year and emergency contact cards for each student’s parent to fill out and return the next day.

That's about when the description dropped a lot. Everything between those two paragraphs just seems iffy.

Charlotte Winston was the school snob, the most popular girl. She wasn’t the head of the cheerleading squad, but she was the best actress in the school. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean she was the best singer. But she still had landed the lead roll in the last musical the school put on, which was a hit, despite her horrible singing. This inflated her ego to the size of Florida.

Okay, this story is starting to look very cliche, and this paragraph seems to describe a cliche villain in a cliche musical.

November was generally the time the Fall play was put on.

This sentence seems kind of ruins the flow you had going before.


~Keep it up!

 

[octobr]

I stopped at high school au.


sry.

Dragon_Night -- ... I'm not sure you grasp that this is fanfiction.




And from my light skimming it seems like this is just a bit of 'look at me i know plays like this one and this one' but hey. I didn't actually read it. It's 2:30 in the morning.

 

[OrangeAipom]

Why are you describing the people if the actors aren't always the same? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm just assuming this because it's a play.

I think you tell too much in the narration. Try to be a bit more selective when it comes to infodumps. I don't know of any examples, but it's a bit long, and you seem to do that lots. Maybe after I sleep I'll be able to find some.

 

[Alexi]

Thanks for reviewing, everyone!

Dragon_Night...Have you seen or heard of the story of Phantom of the Opera? I'm basically trying to create a parallel between the canon universe and a high school setting by putting in all those cliche parts. If I were to write an original high school drama, none of that would be in there. It's all to show the parallel.

And the summer is there for people to read and decide whether or not they want to read this story. More of a headsup then anything else here.

Verne's an example of that. He stopped reading because it's a high school AU.

Verne: Thanks for looking, anyway. ^_^;;; As for the plays, I was just being specific. That, and I'm going through a Harvey obsession at the moment.

AF: Even though all the actors are different, they usually share the same basic physical traits. While I could go from the book's description of her, I don't like blond hair, blue eyed Christine all that much.

Thanks for the crit, all. ^_^ Especially Dragon_Night. X_x Now I dive into chapter two.

 

[Alexi]

Chapter 2

When lunch rolled around, Christine found Meg with the theatre crowd they had been hanging out with for years. They talked and laughed and caught up with each other’s lives. No mention of Erik, or anyone else for that matter, was made. Christine’s fifth period was American government with a Mr. Calhoun, a new, young teacher who liked to joke with his students, gaining a fast liking with the class.

Finally sixth period came, and Christine rushed to her final class, French 4 AP, with Mrs. Giry - who was to be called Madame Giry there. Having worked hard all year in her French classes, Christine was excited to finally have reached Mrs. Giry’s class and quickly slid into a desk the minute she walked in the door. Mrs. Giry smiled at her with Meg at her desk, helping her with something. Of course, Meg had taken French with Christine, and while they hadn’t had the same French classes together until now, they had helped each other to reach the AP level.

Glancing around, Christine saw that the class would be small. She didn’t see anyone else from her theatre class, but she did recognize a couple kids from previous French classes. Meg took a seat next to Christine, a silly grin on her mousy face.

“What is it?” Christine asked her friend, but Meg looked to the door instead of replying.

Following Meg’s gaze, Christine saw Erik’s large form walk in. He sat down heavily in the first empty desk he came to, sighing, looking tired, bored, even a little angry. It certainly didn’t look like he had had a splendid day. White earphones were stuck in his ears, but he quickly yanked them out. He wrapped them not around a small, slick iPod or any other MP3 player, but around a big, round, silver CD player that looked like it went through the war. He stuffed the ancient piece of technology in an oversized pocket on his big, baggy pants.

“Oh wow,” Christine whispered.

“I know,” Meg whispered back. “But there are kids who just can’t afford MP3 players.”

Christine nodded. “I know. But I’m wondering what he listens to.” The girls giggled as the bell rang and sat forward.

The class was hard. The first words out of Mrs. Giry’s mouth were in French, which caught Christine off guard after hearing English all day. Quickly switching gears in her mind, Christine was able to catch most of what she was saying. She asked many questions to the class, which every student was required to answer.

Christine and Meg kept in practise all summer by speaking French to each other and Mrs. Giry whenever they were at Meg’s house. The girls answered in almost-flawless French, along with the other kids in the class. The class was given scripts to memorize by Friday and perform in front of the class - Christine’s first real homework assignment of the year. The script had two parts, and Christine put a hand on Meg’s shoulder to “claim” her as her partner. Glancing at Erik, Christine noticed he was still un-partnered. The number of students in the class was even, so there should have been someone for Erik to partner up with.

Then she noticed that three of the boys were clustered up together. Mrs. Giry quickly yanked one boy away and made him pair up with Erik. The boy looked like he’d rather do anything else but have to be with the new kid, and by Erik’s expression, the feeling was probably mutual.

The bell rang for school to let out then, and as the halls quickly crowded with students eager to go home or wherever it is that they go, Christine and Meg stayed behind to practise their script. Christine watched Erik as he left, white earphones back in his ears.

“He’s an interesting one,” Meg commented, glancing at her script.

“I think you like him,” Christine said, looking at her friend. Meg’s cheeks turned a bit pink, and she kept her eyes glues to her script. “You do!” Christine exclaimed.

Meg groaned. “Maybe I do.” She looked at Christine. “He is pretty handsome.” The girls giggled and chatted about Erik instead of practising French, much to Mrs. Giry’s dismay, but she let the girls get their talk in. She knew they’d have the assignment done on time.

By the time Christine started for home, it was nearly five o’clock. She’d called Martin - her adoptive father - earlier to tell him she’d be staying at school a bit late, but she hadn’t planned this late. She lived about a mile away from the school, and as she didn’t have a car, she had to walk everyday. Sweat trickled down her brow and the back of her neck. The late August heat was hellish, and it didn’t look like it was ready to let go and let Fall cool things down.

She stopped under a shady tree to rest for a minute, sliding off her backpack weighed down with her textbooks. She leaned against the tree and closed her eyes, feeling a slight breeze cool her down. When she opened her eyes again, she felt a bit better and ready to trek on when she saw something on the ground.

She looked down and saw that it was a silver CD player like the one Erik had earlier. Picking it up, it felt hot in her hands, like it had been there for some time. She turned it over, looking for a name on it, and she found one - Erik Adams. This definitely was his CD player, except the white ear phones were missing.

How did it get here? Christine wondered, pressing the latch to open it. Inside was a burned CD with a bunch of number written on it. She thought it odd, closed it, and slipped it in her bag. She’d give it back to Erik the next day.

But she didn’t even get fifty steps away from the tree when she saw someone walking down the path hurriedly. When she got closer, she saw it was Erik himself! She ran the last few steps to him, calling to him.

He must have just stepped out of a house, because he wasn’t sweating at all, despite being dressed and all black and, well…Ah hell, and despite being fat. “Hey,” Christine greeted, swinging her bag over her shoulder to reach the front pocket. “I found something of yours.” She took out the ancient-looking CD player and held it out to him.

He stared at it. “Where’d you find it?” he asked, his icy eyes gazing up at hers.

“Over there, by the tree,” Christine answered, turning to point. He quickly took the player, his thick fingers brushing against hers. Surprised, she looked at him, but he was already heading home. “Wait!” Christine called as she caught up to him. “May I walk with you?”

He glanced at her. “Why would you want to do that?” he asked as if it were an inconceivable idea.

“I want to talk to you,” Christine answered, then added, “We’re going the same way, anyway.” He nodded, but kept quiet. The silence lasted several steps before Christine asked, “So, did you move here recently?” Erik’s nod was the only answer she got. Resisting the urge to sigh, she decided to ask an open-ended question. “How do you like El Camino?”

“It’s alright.” He kept his head down as he spoke.

“Make any friends?” He shook his head, and this time, Christine did sigh. “My friend, Meg, said she got to talking to you about Mark Twain.”

“Oh yeah,” Erik said, looking up at the sky now. “The girl with the blond hair.” He shrugged. “She’s nice, I suppose. But I mainly just don’t pay much attention to other students.”

“Why not?”

“They aren’t worth the time.”

Christine looked at him. “Why say that?”

“Most people are assholes to me,” he said, his eyes narrowing a bit. “Especially football players. So I’ve learned to ignore them.” He stopped in front of an apartment building. “This is where I live.”

Christine smiled at him. “Alright. It’s been nice talking to you, Erik.” He a sort of grunting sound and walked up the three steps to the opened gate. Then he turned and looked at Christine.

“If you hear certain things about me, don’t believe them.”

“What do you mean?” Christine asked confusedly. “What things?” But he didn’t answer. He walked up a flight of steps and disappeared behind a red apartment door.

-

Christine had no idea what Erik meant earlier, and spent most of dinner and her evening shower pondering it. Was he keeping a secret? Were people spreading rumours about him? If that was the case, Christine would bet her life that it was Charlotte spreading them.

But the moment she walked into theatre class the next morning, she was immediately met with Meg. She looked troubled, and pulled Christine aside. Taking her friend’s hands, Christine asked, “Meg, what’s wrong?”

“You won’t believe what I’ve just heard,” she said, squeezing Christine’s hands. “But everyone is calling Erik a Satanist.” Christine stared at Meg as if she had just proclaimed she were a man.

“Why would anyone say that?” Christine asked, her voice rising a bit in anger.

“I don’t know,” Meg said, glancing over at the hefty boy sitting alone in the bleachers, waiting for class to begin. “It’s probably just because he wears black.”

“Where did you hear this?” Christine asked, feeling defensive. “Was it from Charlotte?” Meg shook her head.

“I heard it in second period. Two girl were talking about it.” She sighed. “I asked them where they heard it, but they told me to screw off.” Shaking her head, Meg said, “I bet Charlotte started it, though.”

“It’s so stupid,” Christine said, pulling her friend into a hug. “It’s probably not true, and even if it is, so what? That’s his business anyway.” Meg smiled and nodded. The girls sat down on the bleachers and watched kids file in.

Charlotte walked in, sporting a way-too-short skirt and walked up the metal steps of the bleachers, her high heels clacking loudly. Her lackey, Amy Winters, waved to her, but in order to get to her, Charlotte had to step past Erik.

“Move out of my way, fatso,” Charlotte hissed at him. Erik looked taken by surprise as he stared up at her. “I said move, or are you deaf?” She stomped past him when he moved his legs. He glared after her, and if looks could kill, she’d be a rotting corpse in a matter of moments.

She glared back at him. “Lose some weight and get a girlfriend, fatass,” she hissed.

“Lay off the Doritos,” her lackey joined in with a sadistic grin. Christine could take it no more.

Jumping to her feet, she yelled, “Lay off!” Charlotte and Amy looked to Christine, surprised by her challenge.

Charlotte smirked. “Seems like someone likes the fat boy.” She let out a sinister giggle. “He’s all she can get, since Ralph wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.” Amy joined in her laughter.

Christine looked about to blow, but Meg stood and took her friend’s hands. “Calm down, Christine,” she whispered. “They aren’t worth it.”

“Lesbo,” Amy called out, some kids around them snickering. Meg tensed up then, her eyes beginning to water. That was the last straw.

Christine walked up to the troublesome twosome and slapped Amy in her face as hard as possible, knocking the bitch off her feet. Unfortunately, Mrs. Giry just walked in - she had been talking to Mr. Gamble in his office when Christine passed by on her way in - and only saw the slap. Christine ended up in the principal’s office in the blink of an eye.

She sighed as she sat in the uncomfortable chair as the vice principal called her parents and told them what happened. Since this was her first offence ever - Christine had never even so much as gotten a detention in all her school career - she was let off with a warning and returned to class just before it ended.

Meg seemed pretty much okay, and rushed to her friend‘s side when she returned. Charlotte and Amy gave Christine dirty looks, but said nothing. Amy’s cheek was a bit red where she was hit, and her hair was a bit tussled, but she was fine, just a wounded ego.

The bell rang, and Christine stooped to pick up her backpack she had left under the bleachers. Erik walked up behind her - she felt his presence more than saw him - and stood and turned to him. “Hey, Erik,” she said with the best smile she could muster at the moment. “Are you alright?”

He nodded. “You shouldn’t get involved like you did.”

Christine frowned a little. “Why not?”

“I don’t need you to stick up for me.” His eyes narrowed a bit. “I can handle people like that on my own.”

“I’m sure you can, but I’ve known Charlotte all my life,” Christine tried to explain.

He shook his head. “Just stay out of my business.” He turned and walked away, his hands clenched into fists. Christine’s jaw tensed as she fought to keep her anger under control. Meg walked to her side, and they proceeded out the door to their next classes.

“He’s such a jerk,” Christine said as she walked, glaring after Erik as he headed toward the art department.

“Maybe you really shouldn’t have butted in,” Meg said quietly, keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her. Christine looked at her.

“I’m sorry you got dragged into it.” She put an arm around Meg’s tiny shoulders. Her cheeks turned a pale pink.

“I don’t see why you always have to butt heads with Charlotte.”

“She’s a bitch, and it’s not right to pick on Erik like she did,” Christine tried to justify.

“It’s also not right to hit people,” Meg responded. “Just try to ignore her sometime. You know she wants you to be bugged.” Christine sighed. Meg was right.

“Alright, Meg,” Christine said before she dropped her arm. “I’ll ignore her from now on.” She smiled at Meg, who returned the smile. Then the girls split and walked on to fourth period.

 

[Alexi]

Chapter 3

“We are going to get back at her for that,” Charlotte hissed as she walked out of theatre class. Amy followed her, her face still stinging. “We’ll destroy her.” Charlotte was hopping mad, even more mad than when Christine had stolen a dance from Ralph at the junior prom last year. Her fists were clenched like she was ready to pummel Christine to a pulp.

“How are we going to do that?” Amy asked, running the memories of failed attempts from the past. They had done everything to Christine that they could think of - from spreading rumours about her having herpes to physical beatings, and nothing had worked. Hell, the two girls Charlotte had convinced to beat Christine up had been arrested. Christine seemed to be unbreakable.

“We’re going to get her with the new freak,” Charlotte said, a grin spreading across her acne-free, perfectly made-up face.

“I doubt he’d be interested in her.” Amy was certain Erik didn’t want anything to do with anyone; he was one of those creepy loner kids who would eventually snap and shoot up the school. He probably collected guns already.

“That doesn’t matter,” Charlotte said, turning away from her fourth period class. She obviously had no intention of going there today. She headed toward a blocked-off area that hid kids from the view of the teachers and staff. It was an area kids hung out when they skipped classes or smoked during lunch. As she walked, she explained her devious plan. “We’ll just say they’re together. The way Christine looks at him, anyone would believe it.”

“She really does have a huge crush on him,” Amy agreed, waving to Lindsey Walker to join them. “She’s so desperate. What anyone could see in that fat freak, I don’t know.”

“Which fat freak?” Lindsey asked as she came up alongside Amy.

“The new kid,” Amy told her. Lindsey made a disgusted face, then listened to Charlotte go on with her plan.

“I’ll start the rumour that they’re dating, while you two find something about him that’ll destroy her.”

“Isn’t he a Satanist?” Lindsey asked.

“I don’t know,” Amy answered. “But does it really matter? The Good Girl look Christine tries to keep up will be ruined if she’s with a Satanic freak boy.” Charlotte grinned again. “At least that’s what the school will know, and that’s good enough,” Amy went on.

“Exactly,” Charlotte said, bringing her hands together in a mock applause. “And you two will find something that will make it seem like he is a Satanist. I don’t want any doubt it anyone’s mind.” Amy and Lindsey nodded in agreement.

“I have Erik in my fourth period,” Amy said, turning to leave. “I’ll see if I can find anything about him now.”

“Good girl,” Charlotte called as Amy melded into the thinning crowd of students. Amy smirked to herself, certain she could find anything - or, if the need presented itself, plant something - necessary to make Christine’s life hell. That bitch would learn not to mess with the big girls.

-​

It soon became apparent to Erik that he wouldn’t make many friends at school this year, but that neither surprised nor bothered him. He was used to being alone at school. He was considered a “loser” supposedly, and that was good enough for him. People at school usually just annoyed him, anyway.

Ever since he was young, children made fun of him for various reasons: he wasn’t cool enough, wasn’t thin enough (he had always been overweight, and it never bothered him; he had learned to accept it), didn’t have the new gadgets or toys or latest fashion.

But Christine, she was something else. Obviously she and that Charlotte girl had a past - it was so obvious, a blind puppy could see it from a mile away. Christine seemed like a proud girl, the type of person who would normally get on Erik’s nerves - but she had gone out of her way to talk to him.

Usually Erik ignored everyone equally, even those who did want to talk to him, but never had such a pretty girl tried to talk to him. Pretty girls only wanted pretty boys, and Erik certainly was not a pretty boy. He knew he was good-looking - many people said he’d be so handsome if he’d lose some weight - but really, he didn’t care; he wouldn’t care if he looked like Frankenstein’s monster.

He was probably reading too much into Christine talking to him. She perhaps did it to appear nice or maybe on a dare. That was probably the most likely reason. Erik had often been the butt end of dares and practical jokes. He’d hated it at first, but now he just let it go over him without thinking about it. He had stopped caring.

Sighing, he sat in his fourth period American Government class, listening to the buzz of student voices as they chatted, waiting for the teacher to finish his phone call. A girl walked in about a minute late and slid gracefully into the seat next to him. She had a slight redness to her cheek, and Erik realized she was the one who Christine had slapped in theatre. She looked a bit tense, and he figured she was pretty angry about the incident.

Finally the teacher, Mr. Beggs, hung up his phone and turned to the class. He began his lecture, and Erik tried to pay attention, but something about Amy took his attention away from the teacher. She was glancing at him ever so subtly, as if watching him. Erik watched her in his peripheral, and noted that she was looking down at his beat-up black backpack at his feet.

Mr. Beggs’ lecture lasted half the period, and the second half consisted of an assignment that required a partner. Erik hated these types of assignments with a passion. He never talked to anyone, and so he never had anyone to turn to in any class for a partner. He sat there, watching at kids paired up with friends, silently cursing his teacher. Then he heard Amy get up and saw her fill his vision.

She sat on his desk, crossing her long, tan legs that were shown off my shorts just long enough to be acceptable by the dress code. Erik looked up at Amy, although his gaze paused at her ample breasts that seemed about to burst out of her tight pink shirt.

“Want to be partners?” she asked, and Erik simply nodded. He didn’t know her very well, although he gathered she was one of those girls that built guys up just to tear them down. He had no intention of dating her, though, or playing into her games, but hey, he needed a partner, so he decided to go along with it today.

-​

The fact that Erik had agreed to be Amy’s partner didn’t surprise her much. It was obvious that he liked what he saw, and normally, she’d be flattered. But this was a fat boy, so it wasn’t much of a compliment. He was probably still a virgin and desperate to make it with a girl. Amy may have been with her fair share of boys already, but she did have standards.

Amy scooted her desk closer to his as Mr. Beggs handed out the assignment, and she leaned forward toward Erik for him to catch a glimpse of her cleavage. “So, Erik,” she started, picking up her purple pen. “What are you about?” She watched him as he glanced at her, looking shy and almost cute in a strange sort of way.

“What do you mean?” he asked quietly.

“Well,” she said, thinking quickly. “Tell me about yourself. You seem like a pretty cool guy.” She couldn’t read his expression, but figured he didn’t buy it, since he didn’t answer. She reached out and touched his arm. It was surprisingly hard, the muscles strong. “Come on, Erik, talk to me.”

“We have work to do,” he muttered, flipping open a book.

“All work and no play,” Amy said with a smile. She flipped the book closed, and he let out a frustrated sigh. Was he some kind of workaholic? What guy would prefer to do school work instead of look at the hot girl coming onto him? Shy guys, she told herself, and Erik was definitely the text book definition shy guy.

Leaning forward just a bit more, she brought her full lips to his ear and whispered, “Just talk to me, Erik.” He looked at her, his dark blue eyes looking so deep and wise that Amy felt herself lost in them for a moment. She pushed the feeling away and smiled at him.

Just as he was about to say something, Mr. Beggs called him up to his desk. Amy stifled an annoyed sigh as Erik stood up and walked over to the front of the class. She glanced down at his old black backpack. The thing looked like it had been through a war, and was held together with black and silver duct tape.

She picked up the abused pack, surprised at how heavy it was. She wondered if he carried his life in it. She sat it on her lap and unzipped the small front pocket only to find pens, pencils and erasers. She moved up to the first big compartment and unzipped it. Inside were several folders in different colours, a French 4 AP book and a very old silver CD player.

In the second part, she found gold. Among the two black binders and English text book was a small black book. She picked it up and her heart nearly stopped beating. Printed on it were the words, The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey. An upside-down pentagram was printed behind the title, and inside the pentagram was a ram and weird symbols. This was the proof Amy had been hoping for, the proof Charlotte wanted.

Glancing at Erik quickly, she looked inside the cover and saw Erik’s name printed in careful script in the corner. Oh, even better. She gripped the book, and it felt warm in her hands, like something alive. A chill ran down her spine as she thought of what Charlotte could do with this. Amy quickly slipped the book into her own bag and put Erik’s backpack back before he turned and saw her. She gave him her best smile as he sat back down.

All through the class, any attempt Amy made to extract any kind of information failed. Lunch followed class, and she met up with Charlotte, Lindsey and couple other girls. Upon showing Erik’s book, with his name inscribed, to Charlotte, the biggest smile crossed her face. She took the book, turning it over.

“This is all we need,” she said. “This is perfect.”

“Are you sure?” Lindsey asked, leaning forward. “There’s probably a bunch of other things we can get him on.”

“Like what?” Amy asked, looking at Lindsey. She had known Lindsey longer than anyone else had, as they had grown up together, as neighbours, and were, by anyone’s definition, best friends.

Lindsey shrugged her small shoulders. “Whatever. He’s pretty weird.” A smirk crossed her eyes for a split second. “I’m sure there’s plenty of great things in his house.”

“Where does he even live?” Casey Waters, a junior sitting next to Amy asked.

“No,” Charlotte suddenly said, slamming her hand down on the table, making uneaten food jump up. “We are not breaking into his house or anywhere.”

Lindsey frowned. “I can do it, and he’d never know it was any of us.”

“No.” Charlotte was adamant, and Lindsey gave up.

After lunch, as everyone disbanded to class (or other places), Lindsey caught up to Amy. “Ames,” she called, using her nickname. Amy turned around and looked at her small friend. While Amy was tall and built strong, with broad shoulders, a large chest and hips a bit too wide for her liking, Lindsey was the complete opposite. She was a petite girl, with long, flowing blond hair that spilled over her small shoulders and down her back. She looked almost like the fairy princess she had dressed up as one Halloween a long while ago.

“I think we can get away with breaking into Erik’s place tonight,” Lindsey said as she walked alongside her friend. Amy looked at her, and nodded.

“I don’t see how it’d be too hard,” Amy agreed. “But I doubt he goes out much.”

“Then tomorrow, during school,” Lindsey said with a wry smile.

“But Charlotte said-”

Lindsey cut her off. “Who cares what Charlotte said? She’s a wimp.” Lindsey flipped her hair over her shoulder. “So, we gonna meet up tomorrow?”

“Sure thing,” Amy said, mostly because of the look Lindsey gave her. It unnerved her. Ever since they had gotten into Charlotte’s crowd, Lindsey had gotten much more nasty. Sometimes it was cool; other times, it was unnerving.

“Good,” Lindsey said brightly. “I’ll get his address in sixth period.” Lindsey worked as a sort of temp in the office during sixth, and had access to every student’s information. It would just take a quick flip through some files to find Erik’s address.

Amy nodded. “I’ll meet you in there after school, then.”

“Yeah, alright.” Lindsey turned and disappeared into a crowd of students, leaving Amy with an almost guilty feeling, but she pushed it away. She knew what she had to do, and she’d do it, despite what her feelings told her.