The Clichés

Chapter Nine

Vanessa is supposed to be here, in this quiet class, writing an essay on Homer's oeuvre like everyone else. But rather, she has her palm against her chin, and she's listening to all the murmurs around her. Of course, it's about Lucas. Apart from Theo, the nerd, everyone else is busy doing the opposite of what this class is for: whispering, murmuring, chuckling, passing squeezed notes around.

Opinions are divided, which Vanessa kind of likes. Although it's a unanimous belief that Lucas is a bad guy, most of the boys think Carol might be framing Lucas up because what could he have seen in a loose girl like Carol? The girls argue firmly against this: boys like Lucas don't have what it takes to pick; they go for anything, anyone, as long as she's female. There comes a chain of narrations to support their claims.

Vanessa stops listening to them. Something exciting is welling up in her mind, but she doesn't have a grasp of it yet. She pulls out her headphones and clicks on her phone to play Lorde. Perhaps listening to some forlorn melody would help. She knows what she's about to unearth will turn things around for Lucas.

Vanessa squeezes her eyes shut and tries to will a memory forward, any memory with Carol she has. Gradually, Carol's face starts to form in her mind. She's wearing dangling earrings and black lipstick. Soon, her lips are moving. Vanessa lowers the music. At first, Carol's voice is muffled, reverberating across the empty walls of Vanessa's mind. Then, one sentence comes out clear:

Nobody turns me down.

Vanessa is struck by wonder and surprise. She puts her stuff back into her bag and hurries it out of the class. Behind her, the class erupts into chaos.

She goes where she can think and hear her thoughts. The library. Thankfully, there are only a few students there. Few male students who don't know her. She settles into a seat against the extreme end of the hall and wills her mind to create Carol again.

Things are getting clearer in her head now. Carol is angry and swinging her head so that her earrings dangle against her skin, making tiny sounds.

"Can you imagine? He turned his back on me! I only said hi, and that stupid Lucas turned his back on me."

Someone—Vanessa can't make out who—says, "Well, he clearly doesn't think you're hot enough to bother with."

"Fuck you! He knows he wants me. He does. He just wants to embarrass me. But you know what, I'll get back at him. And it will be bloody!"

Vanessa hears herself speak: "Who knows, perhaps it's for the best. You know he's this dangerous guy. Dating him would—"

"Who wants to date him?" Carol is laughing, throwing her head back. "I just want to have some mad fun. By the time I'm out of this college, guess who I'd have become?"

"Who?"

"The bad bitch who has fucked all of Crownston's hot guys."

"It's kind of worrisome if you consider Lucas cute."

"Look Vanessa, I know you're a chaste, Virgin Mary, and all that, so you can't be a reliable authority on hotness. Just shut up and listen."

Vanessa sees herself walking away, and then, she catches the end of a sentence:

…nude pics scandal.

That was two months ago before she became friends with Dylan. She'd pondered on it for a while, had made it to come back to ask Carol what she was saying, but eventually, she waved it off. Neither Lucas nor Carol was her business, after all.

Now, because Dylan is her friend, Lucas has become her business. Perhaps if it happened months back, she wouldn't have budged. But not now. Not especially when she's figured out what actually happened.