Never a Person (Class of 09 x Snoot Game)

Chapter 5

The air was noticeably colder as soon as I opened the door. Though the music stopped playing, I could still feel this low rumble. Couldn't tell if it was coming from the band that had just been shat on, or if it was the after-effect of Principal Spears roaring.

Fang sat by herself against the wall, her hand on her eyes while her wings were flopped on the floor.

Wouldn't it be funny if I stepped on them?

In the other corner, the purple bitch wiped her tears, making an ugly cry like a dying seagull.

Reed was the only one who was picking shit up. His energy stood out like a sore thumb; Smiling like usual, and with that weightlessness he always wore. You know, I thought the guy was outta drugs too. So either he was holding out, or he was faking his buzz for some reason.

I stretched out my neck a bit trying to get into character. Then I lightly strolled in, and made a tone like I was at a funeral, all quiet and filled with bullshit.

You know, the last funeral I was at (Mom's) was even more lively than this. I mean, I liked the part where my Aunt pulled out a gun. Cops just rolled in and beat her senseless while I smacked on some cheese and crackers and watched. It was fun.

Wondered which of the girls was gonna pull out a gun here.

But anyway, I walked up to Reed.

Nicole: "...Hey."

He immediately switched on a smile.

Reed: "Ah, sup girl! Missed you for a bit there."

Nicole: "Yeah that, uh... Principle, I think he was? Yeah, I just kinda freaked out and had to leave for a bit."

Naser: "Yeah, he's got that effect on people. Me? I could never do that. Too much bad energy you gotta harness. Bad for the soul."

I cleared my throat.

Nicole: "...I'm really sorry about how things went."

He looked away for a second.

Reed: "Nah, don't worry about it. It was our first show. Didn't expect it to be our big break... I mean, this was less than ideal, but we'll keep moving forward, you know?"

I saw his attempts at keeping his cool-guy demeanor as a challenge, and thought that I could have a bit of fun with it. Time for the autistic dumbass act...

Nicole: "Yeah, but you guys worked so hard. I would just be crushed if this happened to me."

Reed: "We're handling it, don't worr-"

Nicole: "I mean, just devastated! I'd feel like nothing could ever go my way. But it's great that you guys are so confident even after a blow like that. I could never do that."

Reed: "Really, we'll be okay... We've got big plans, and we're not gonna let this stop us!"

Nicole: "Oh for sure, but just jeez. I mean, I've never even had a chance to do something cool like this. And it just blew up in your faces, and you're still going! That's amazing. I wish I was like that."

He didn't respond to that last comment. He just smiled while he continued to pick stuff up. But the girls looked like they were dead inside, just like I wanted. I just needed to push them just a little more and one of them would break.

I saw Fang shaking. She was clearly keeping something in. So I thought I would slide by her and 'check' on her; see how she was doing.

I went over to lean against the wall next to her.