Peach Girl Fan Fiction ❯ The Beating of Sae ❯ The Plan Begins... ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12 - The Plan Begins…

 

“I hate you Kiley!! You're such an asshole!!” Momo screamed, face red and eyes already getting watery. “How could you be so cruel to me!?” She took off down the hall and ran around one of the corners.

Kiley ran his fingers through his hair and worked his jaw a bit before stomping off in the opposite direction.

The crowd parted for them both.

Sae narrowed her eyes from her hiding place behind a trashcan (she should be in it in my opinion…keh keh…). Is this some kind of trick? What's going on here? Just yesterday they were buddy-buddy and now it's like they hate each other. But… they wouldn't do something like that… those were real tears the psycho-bitch was crying. Serves her right for messing with me. She looked around the hallway to make sure no one saw her as she stepped out and dusted her knees off. As nonchalantly as possible, she made her way through the throng of whispering people. As she went, she heard snippets of conversation from the girls and some of the guys.

“…see that?”

“…had a fight…”

“Wonder what…”

“…kiss and …”

“Kiley's…what?”

“Sae's such a bitch.”

Sae's head snapped around at the whispered comment but could find no one looking in her direction. The only thing she could tell was that the whispers were dying down and the students were walking to their classes. Huffing, she stalked off to class.

Miraki grinned and watched Sae stalk down the hall. “Think she heard me?” she asked her cousin.

Rinshai lifted an eyebrow and shrugged, a grin spreading across her own face. “Dunno, but I hope so.”

 

* * *

 

Momo ran to the farthest stairwell, one that not many people went to, and sat down to cry. That had been the hardest thing she had ever done. She couldn't believe she had been able to pull it off.

The tears were real, though. That she hadn't had to fake. All she had to do was picture Kiley actually telling her that she was a slut…Here I go again…

Fresh tears ran down her face as she pictured Kiley calling her names and making fun of her, pretending to hate her. It made her feel dirty. She knew he was doing it to help her but deep down inside, in a place she stored everything that she didn't ever want to admit, she wondered if he really meant it… if anyone meant it. She knew there were people in the school, Sae at the top of the list, that hated her… thought her a snob or a bitch… or worse. She had never done anything to anyone so she couldn't imagine why people didn't like her. They're just jealous of you, her mind whispered. It was really the only conclusion she could come up with. She felt bad for thinking that way, but she had to be honest with herself. She didn't think herself higher or better than anyone else, but if she hadn't done anything, the only reason she saw for people hating her was because they wanted to be like her.

Momo had talked about this possibility with the cousins, and they had agreed with her. They told her that they had had problems at their old school with a girl that would constantly copy Rinshai, they finally found out that the girl was just jealous and loved everything that Rinshai did…she had even tried witchcraft to be more popular. When Rinshai confronted her, she had admitted to everything and the cousins helped her become what she had always wanted to be. They ended up being good friends after that incident, but it took a long while.

Momo didn't think that would ever happen with Sae. She was absolutely sure that Sae would never be her real friend, no matter how much time it took. Sighing, she wiped her eyes with her shirtsleeve and walked up the stairwell to the second floor bathroom.

 

* * *

Toji saw Momo walk into the girl's bathroom and hobbled over to wait for her. A few minutes later, she came out and almost knocked him down because she wasn't looking where she was going.

“Oh! I'm sorry, Toji!” she exclaimed, reaching out to help him stand up right. He still had his crutches and wouldn't be rid of them for at least a few more days. She blushed and turned her face away when she was done helping him.

Toji wondered what was wrong. “Hey, Momo, what's up? Is there anything wrong?” He bent down to get a better look at her face and saw that her eyes were puffy as if she'd been crying. He became furious at the thought of anyone making her cry. He felt especially bad because he himself had been guilty of it not long before. “Did someone…do something to you?”

Momo shook her head and wiped her hand across her eyes. She lifted her head and he saw that she was smiling. He could tell it was a fake smile but said nothing. “I'm okay, Toji. Thanks. It's just some stuff that's bothering me. Nothing big.” She looked passed him and then waved him goodbye, promising to call him later.

He turned and watched her leave and saw that she met up with her friends Rinshai and Miraki by their lockers. At least she has someone to talk to, he thought. He let out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose in distraction.

“Toji? Tojigamori… Kazuya?” came a soft voice from behind him.

He turned and saw a beautiful young girl standing behind him. She had dark green eyes, pale skin that looked as flawless as porcelain and she was shorter than any girl he had ever seen in junior high. She had to be about 4'. His eyes widened as he put his hand down to grab his crutch so that he could hop around to face her and he tilted his head in question. “Yeah, that's me.”

Her eyes brightened to an emerald color when he confirmed his identity and a huge smile spread across her face. She thrust out her hand to him and when he grabbed the paper in it, turned and ran off, full speed, down the hall. He lifted an eyebrow and looked down at the paper. Unfolding it, he read the contents and his eyes widened again. Oh shit. No, this can't be happening…not now. He felt like taking his crutch and breaking it across the lockers. It shouldn't be happening now. What am I going to tell Momo? “Shit,” he murmured and made his way to the main office at a slow pace.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, what's going on with him?” Miraki asked Momo as she pointed behind them at Toji with her thumb.

The blonde turned to look at where she was pointing and saw Toji being handed something by a cute girl. She would have thought it a love letter but the way Toji was staring at the paper made her think otherwise. He looked so hurt…and alone. She wanted to run to him and apologize but couldn't force her legs to move. She blinked away the tears that threatened to fall and turned back to the cousins with a shrug. “Not sure. I'll talk to him later and find out what happened.” She took a deep breath and slapped on a smile that both cousins could tell was forced.

They walked out to the parking lot and got on the bus to go to the cousin's house as they sometimes did after school. They had a project to do together for their history class so it was easier to meet in one place.

When they got to their house, Rinshai turned to Momo and lifted an eyebrow. “So, what was that that I heard in the hall today? You and Kiley fighting?”

Momo blushed a fierce pink and waved her hand in the air. “What are you talking about?”

The redhead lifted an eyebrow as well and glared down her nose at her friend. “Don't pull us around. We're not dumb you know.”

“I…I know. It's just…I…I promised Kiley I wouldn't tell anyone anything, even if they asked, and even if it was you guys…” she mumbled.

Rinshai backed off and crossed her arms. “We're not going to go around saying anything Momo, you know that.”

The blonde nodded softly and sighed. “I know that too. I just… it's just something we're trying to see if the rumors about us will finally go away.”

Miraki leaned back and fiddled with her nails. “Not as long as that girl Sei is still around.”

“Sae, it's Sae, Mira,” Rinshai corrected with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah yeah, her. Whatever. The point is that Momo will never get rest as long as she's around. I think we should put our plan in action.”

Her cousin looked at her as if she had grown two heads. “Our plan?” She shook her head and waggled her finger. “Oh no. This is not our plan, this is your plan.”

Momo looked from cousin to cousin very confused. “What plan?” Had they overheard her and Kiley? No, that couldn't be it. It had to be something different.

“Well, Miraki had this idea, that if we could somehow get into Sae's locker…we could ruin her for good.”

“Yeah, as soon as we get the whole truth on her, we'd have you back on everyone's good side in no time,” Miraki added.

The blonde shook her head. “No. It's nice of you to offer, but it's not right. You shouldn't do something like that. It's just not right. I would feel horrible about it.”

Miraki's hand flew faster than anyone could move and thunked against Momo's head hard. The other girl looked up and rubbed the spot where she'd been hit. Rinshai lifted her eyebrow at her cousin. Mira was violent, this was true, but she had never hit a friend. This was something new.

“Momo, how the hell can you say something like that?!” The redhead's eyes flamed. “After all she's done to you, you'd feel BAD about doing something to get her back?!”

The other cousin now understood. She knew what Mira was doing. Though she wished she was doing it a little quieter, her ears were starting to ring.

“Can't you see that from the beginning she's been using you to get what she wants? She tried to get Kiley when you said you liked him, even if it was just a lie and then Toji when she saw that it was him that you liked,” Miraki stated. “And then she ruined your rep in school, I mean, come on, how blind and passive can you be?!”

Rinshai nodded her head in agreement.

Momo looked at the cousins and continued to rub her head while she looked away. Kiley. Her head snapped up and she knocked it back and forth with her hands rapidly. Nonononono! Don't think about him now… She breathed slowly a few times to calm herself. Toji… ah!! Not him either!! Why are you thinking about them!? You're gonna…you're gonna go crazy!!! Tears fell like a waterfall down Momo's cheeks and the cousins looked at her a moment before they led her over to their couch and Rinshai sat down to hug her. The other cousin got her some water and sat on the opposite side rubbing her back while she cried.

“Go ahead, Momo. You deserve a break. You need to cry,” Miraki said softly. “Just let it out.”

 

* * *

 

Kiley set his book bag on the floor, kicked off his shoes and flopped down on the bed as if he was a puppet and they had just cut his strings. He couldn't help but think of Momo's face as she started to cry. He knew the tears were forced, but her face…that look. He wasn't so sure about this plan of his anymore. He didn't want to cause Momo unnecessary pain, but if it helped stop the rumors about her…

He turned and curled up to stare out his window. The sun was nothing more than a deep orange and pink streak across the sky and the clouds looked like a hand had smudged them. He heard kids screaming and playing outside, cars passing, time passing…and didn't care.

“I hate this,” he murmured out loud. “I hate all of this. I hate everyone…” He turned onto his back and closed his eyes. “But I love Momo.”

He fell asleep a few minutes later and dreamt that Momo was his wife.