Settling Slowly

Chapter 24 - Pull the trigger

"Hi, Harriet," I said.

She smiled cruelly and then turned and looked down. "Little Idiot looking for hair tips?"

"I've been kinda thinking it's sexy," Josh said. Then he gave me a smarmy smile with his too perfect teeth. His brown hair was too perfect as well and his uniform was too neat. "I totally would."

Harriet's pitting smile turned mocking. "Making progress. It's only taken our resident Little Idiot thirteen years. How do you feel?"

"Glad that one of us finally noticed her no doubt," a guy called Clarence (Clarence? In this day and age?) said.

"If I felt the only way I could feel comfortable with my look was to get people's opinion, you lot are the last people I'd come to for self gratification."

Josh frowned at me.

"It means I don't wake up every morning to please you."

He smiled. "But some mornings?"

I scoffed. "Please. You are well beneath my radar."

"What do you want, Zoey?" Harriet snapped.

Huh. So that was how you annoyed her. I wondered what mocking did to her. So you know what?

I tried it.

"Aww, our resident drama queen upset that I ignored her for a minute? Awww. How... ridiculous and pathetic. " I tilted my head a little. "Turns out dogs do learn new tricks."

"You inferring I'm a bitch?"

"I insinuated, you inferred." Thank you Big Bang Theory for that one.

"Why you... you..."

"Little Idiot. That's what you call me or have you forgotten?"

She looked around at her friends, but they didn't offer any help. Then she looked out at the silently watching crowd of students, but when she saw that this was being recorded, she realised she wasn't going to get any help there either. She scanned a little further out and saw Mr. Rogers. He was leaning casually against the wall and had his arms crossed.

"Sir, have you heard how she's talking to me?"

He held her gaze for a moment before shifting his eyes to me. "Whilst I'm sure everyone appreciates the show, Zoey, cut the theatrics." Harriet smirked, but Roger's hadn't finished speaking yet. "The suspense is killing us."

She narrowed her eyes at him and her jaw set in vicious anger which she turned to me. "Listen you Little Idiot –"

"I'm not an idiot," I growled.

Everyone within earshot went silent and then that silence travelled back through the room as people who couldn't see what was going on realised that something was happening.

"Yes you are," she hissed. "Little Idiot's –"

I lashed out with my broken arm, not at her face, but the bottle she was holding making her jump back. It flew from her hand and smashed against the wall. The silence around us deepened, expectant of a cat fight to break the brittle tension in the air. Tension that had been building up since we were four, tension that had needed to be shattered for over a decade. Tension that was thick, yet so fragile and at breaking point.

"I'm not an idiot," I said again, my voice low and I took a step towards her. "I never have been. But you. You're so afraid of your own flaws you have to take it out on others... and that makes you pathetic. Pitiable."

"How dare –"

"The game's over, Harriet. And you lost."

She stood to her full height and looked down her nose at me. "How do you figure that?"