The Abduction of Stephanie

Chapter 24

It is Wednesday, Raven has missed the last two days of school to mourn the loss of her mother but today she would rather be Agnes, too bad Agnes isn’t tough enough to deal with the loss of her mother as well as being tormented by the other students so she puts on her big girl panties and dresses the part of confident, conceded Raven.

Angered at the loss of her mother, Raven is beyond cruel to the other students, making them carry her books and telling people how bad they look in colors like peach and burgundy. She even makes one of the mathletes throw petals at her feet as she walks through the halls and spits her gum out into another girls hair. Raven is on a rampage today, mad at the world for stealing her mother away from her at such a young age.

            She doesn’t even say Hello to Miss Simpson today, walking right past her. She digs into her bag, which is a mess at this point and pulls out a compact to touch up the few blemishes on her skin. She looks to her right, towards the desk where Billy normally sits and thinks what a pity it was that he had to die, he was so cute.

            “Where is Billy?” says Melody to Brianna. “I don’t know. He hasn’t been in school all week.” “Maybe he’s sick.” “I doubt it,” says Raine. “They are saying there might be a serial killer on the loose.” “Raine, just because one girl goes missing doesn’t mean there is a serial killer out there,” says Brianna. “Suit yourself but the darkness has no sympathy.” “Raine, why is it that you never make any sense and always say creepy things?” asks Brianna. “She has a point Raine. You definitely have a flair for the dramatic. Maybe you are the killer,” says Melody laughing, knowing Raine talks a big game but would never even do so much as step on a spider let alone kill someone.

            Raine plays with the blue strand in her hair and says “I would be careful if I were you Mel. You could be next” making a trigger motion with her other hand. “That’s not funny Raine. Stop already.” “Girls, girls, pay attention” says Miss Simpson interrupting them. “I have a new book for you to read and make sure you read it because I’m going to expect full book reports in a couple of weeks.” Miss Simpson hands out To Kill a Mockingbird to every student in the class.

            Miss Simpson is simply glowing today and it seems that each day she is becoming more beautiful, he hair is perfect, her teeth pearly white and her skin is tan even though it is early spring. Her lips even seem fuller than normal and when she speaks the boys do exactly as she says, taking their copies of the book and opening to the first chapter. It is as if she has them under some sort of spell, catering to her every whim as if she is some sort of mythical creature such as a mermaid or siren.

            Raven takes an adamant interest in the way Miss Simpson can get the boys to do as she says and wonders if it ever works on women, then she would be able to get Melody and her goons to do as she says and they would no longer be the competition, not that they are much anymore but they are still a nuisance to her and something needs to be done about them.  Also she needs to find a date for the prom, as Billy is no longer a viable option.

            Raven moves her darks sunglasses from the top of her head to her eyes and looks closely at Miss Simpson’s debonair demeanor. There is just something insatiable about the way Miss Simpson handles a crowd and Raven has to find a way to do the same, it’s her only chance at becoming prom queen. Her thoughts are interrupted when that brown-noser Jasmine raises her hand to ask a question, she is always raising her hand, which is rather annoying to Agnes. Jasmine is a pretty girl, with dark long hair but she has the tendency to bore people out of their minds, not to mention the fact that she walks like a penguin.

            Jasmine asks Miss Simpson a question about the book she handed out. They haven’t even started reading it yet and she already has questions, God she is pathetic. Questions, questions, questions. Who cares? Nobody needs to know everything. Raven makes a note to herself to do something about her and her excessive over analytical bullshit. She remembers that Jasmine peed her pants until she was ten, information that may be useful down the road but for now Jasmine is the least of her problems.

            Raven’s red satin dress clings to her body as she begins to sweat. The loss of her mother is really sinking in now and she needs to cry, only Raven doesn’t cry. Raven is tough, if she cries now she will be right back to being that little dweeb Agnes that everyone makes fun of. She can’t hold the tears back for long as they begin to build up in her eyes. They slowly stream down her face, still unnoticeable to her classmates thanks to the shades, but soon she will be exposed as a fraud. Quickly she raises her hand and asks Miss Simpson if she can use the bathroom.

            Raven hurries down the hall to the ladies room and gets a tissue to dry her eyes, sticking a few extra in her purse in case this happens again later. She washes her face in the sink, the whole time thinking of all the beautiful memories she shared with her mother. When her tears dry up she reapplies her makeup and puts her hair up into a ponytail and thinks of ways that her mother’s death could somehow be Stephanie’s fault, at least that would give her a reason to eliminate Stephanie for good.

            Class ends while Raven is still in the bathroom and her three least favorite people join her there. “Do you have a tampon?” asks Brianna, looking at her friends. “Seriously Brianna?, I knew you were a little bitchier than normal this week” says Melody. “Too bad it isn’t a permanent thing. Guys find it hot.” “Not everyone can be you Mel.” Mel turns towards Raven and says, “What are you looking at?” “Nothing.” “Stop staring at me bitch.” “Nobody wants to look at you Mel, not me, not Billy, not anyone.” “Melody is furious but doesn’t start a tussle.” She has other things on her mind, like finding Billy.

            Next Raven walks right up to Brianna and says “Hey hun, you have a pimple.” Brianna freaks out and rummages through her purse like a raccoon in a garbage can to find her compact. She inspects herself in the mirror and sees one tiny pimple just above her lip. “It’s okay Brianna, I have something that will clear that right up” says Raven handing Brianna a tube of ointment. “Why should I take anything from you?” “Don’t take it Bri, it’s probably a trick.” “Think whatever you want. Don’t use it. Walk around school with a pimple all day.” Brianna applies the cream to the pimple and hands it back to Raven. “Keep it. You need it more than I do.” Brianna sticks the tube of medication into her designer handbag. “C’mon girls. Let’s get out of here,” says Mel exiting the lavatory, her little robots following right after her.

            Within minutes of Brianna’s next class, a plethora of redness sweeps over her entire face. Her classmates start laughing at her as she looks like a maroon Martian. Brianna is oblivious to her condition and the students continue to laugh, no one filling her in on what is going on. “Someone give me a mirror.” The other students ignore her as neither Raine or Melody are in her math class. “Someone give me a mirror now!” shouts Brianna. Finally Melinda hands her a mirror with a big smirk on her face. “Oh My God!” screams Brianna when she sees her reflection and runs off to the ladies room. There she digs through her purse for the tube of pimple cream. She looks at the label and tries to read it but it’s in Swedish. I’m so going to get her back.

            Raven wishes she could have been there to see the look on Brianna’s face when she saw it in the mirror but it will just have to be left to her imagination as she is in a more advanced math class than Brianna. So now the trifecta is complete as she has found a way to embarrass all three of them and had the pleasure of imposing her will on poor little rich girl Stephanie Saunders, who knew high school could be so much fun?

            Raven will eliminate all of them from contention if it’s the last thing she does. The only two options for prom queen at Prince high will be Raven or no one. Raven takes her petition from her bag and begins flirting with nearly every boy in the school to get them to sign, which they all do willingly. Now she is off to find her king.