Cheek to Cheek

Chapter 12

A/N: Eek! It's been so long! Sorry about that! Hope you guys enjoy! And please VOTE, COMMENT, and WHATNOT if you like it! It means a ton to me to see what you guys have to say!

Tabby had told me about a new recruit she thought I might be interested in getting. Her name was Elizabeth Dollens. The only thing I knew about her was that her older brother, Stevie, was gay, and Louie had harassed him about it several times.

“There’s something else you might be interested in finding out about this girl,” Tabby told me as we walked into the food court of the mall.

“What is it?” I asked her. Tabby eyed me cautiously at first, then began to look around. Pretty soon, she spotted a girl in the distance, and waved at her. I recognized Stevie standing next to her, sipping out of a small coke and wrapped in a large, overwhelming scarf.

“You’ll find out for yourself. I’m sure she’ll be more than interested in sharing her little sob story,” Tabby muttered as we approached them. Elizabeth looked like a prep from the start. She was wearing a loose lime green low-cut shirt with a tight yellow pencil skirt. Her face was caked with make-up, and her hair contained so many unnatural blonde little curls, that I figured it must have taken her hours to do her hair.

“Tabby, darling!” she squealed with her high-pitched voice. I was pretty sure my left ear would no longer be able to hear that frequency.

“It’s so wonderful to see you!” she squeaked again. Guess I was wrong. She gave Tabby a small, insincere hug, then looked at me with a rather sour face.

“You must be Kat,” she said with softer voice. I nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I whispered. Stevie took a final gulp of his drink before tossing it in the trash.

“You look awfully familiar. Have we met?” he asked. I smiled at him.

“You probably know me through my brother, Jerry. He’s in your grade,” I replied. Stevie smiled and blushed, adjusting his scarf.

“Oh, yeah... Jerry is one nice guy,” he mumbled, staring and fiddling with his hands. Awkwardly, I nodded in agreement. Tabby grabbed my arm, and we all sat down at a nearby table. Elizabeth flipped her fake hair and took out a small compact mirror from her purse. Just as she was about to check herself out, Stevie grabbed it from her hands.

“Girl, you’re hot enough,” he said, clearly annoyed. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, mouthing ‘whatever’ to him. Tabby cleared her throat.

“Okay, you know what the situation is right now, right?” Tabby asked. Stevie was about to speak up, when Elizabeth lightly slapped him.

“Hey, buddy, she was talking to me. You only came along to buy that hideous scarf. Now shut it,” Elizabeth threateningly said. Stevie glared at her before leaning back on his and crossing his arms. Elizabeth smiled at us in a seemingly harmless way.

“Yes, a butt-slapping contest? You need me to join in,” she said. I nodded.

“Yes, but only if you want to. You have no idea how bad this might get or what you’re getting yourself into,” I chuckled. She gave me a fake laugh and flipped her fake hair again.

“Honey, don’t worry about me. Just tell me who’s on what team, and I’ll see what I can do,” she said, putting her elbow on the chair behind her.

“Well, so far, it’s me, Tabby, Melissa, and Maria on my team,” I explained, “and Jack, Andre, John, and Jake on the other team.” Stevie nearly stood up.

“Oh my God!” he squealed, “Jack who?”

I stared at him carefully. “Uh...” I replied, “Jack Shubbington.” Stevie squealed and placed both of his hands over his mouth, trying to contain himself. If looks could kill, Elizabeth would be stabbing Stevie repeatedly with the glare she was sending him.

“Jack is so dreamy!” Stevie squealed again, “If I had that boy for one day all to myself, oh, I’d die happy!” Tabby and I looked at each other wearily and started to laugh.

“I can’t agree more,” I added. Stevie began to laugh and gave me a high-five. Elizabeth was not amused. Pushing the matter aside, she ran her fingers through her curls.

“Jake? Jake Marks?” she asked. Tabby and I both nodded, which caused her to lean back, look down on her lap, and shake her head.

“Oh, that boy. I feel sorry for the next pathetic little whore he tries to lure in,” she said. Tabby pointed at me.

“You’re looking at her,” she said. Elizabeth gazed at me with a mixed array of emotions. Anger, confusion, and sadness were all evident in her eyes. But there was something else hidden beneath it all. It looked like jealousy... but what was there to be jealous about?

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said, leaning in, “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.” I tilted my face to the side, looking at her questioningly.

“Don’t worry,” I assured her, “I don’t like him in any way what-so-ever.” Elizabeth shook her head.

“You don’t get it. I didn’t either. Jake is one nasty guy. He lured me in with that... that... that devilish charm and that smooth talk and all that crap. I couldn’t resist. You can’t blame me, though, I thought I had changed him from his ways,” she explained.

“You... dated him?” I asked her. Elizabeth looked at me and pretended to stifle in a sob.

“Sadly, yes,” she said, “I did. And things were all peachy and such, too. For a little while...” I glanced over at Tabby, who was looking at me accusingly.

“What?” I asked her. She shook her head. I glanced at Elizabeth.

“What happened?” I asked her. She mockingly put her head over her forehead and pretended to cry.

“Oh, it’s too tragic to tell,” she said, which caused me to roll my eyes, “but we went to a party together, all pumped up to have a little fun. But I guess the fun he had wasn’t the fun I had imagined. I caught him making out with this random chick, Krystal. Completely sober, too.” She wiped her eyes, even though there were no tears present.

“I shouldn’t even say caught. It was right on the couch, in front of everybody. And when I  started to yell, he didn’t even stop to look at me,” she explained. I was bewildered.

All of my notions and feelings towards Jake had been true. He was a no-good jerk who was only in it for one thing. And I was his next pathetic little whore to mess with. All this time, I had knowingly let him touch me like that. I had let him.

“That’s not-” Stevie said, but was cut off by another smack from Elizabeth. She then began to wallow in her own self-pity once more.

“The next day, he spared me the heartache. He hadn’t waited for me like he usually did. But my heart was already broken,” she finished. I felt bad for her; really, I did. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to be used like that. Yet, she quickly straightened her posture out and smiled.

“Which is why I’ll gladly join the team. I want to get back at him. And to do that, we’re going to need to take it one step further,” she said, grinning a sinister smile. Stevie clapped his hands.

“Oh, can I join the team? I’d love to get an excuse to touch Jack’s ass!” he said suggestively. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Of course you can!” I told him. He smiled and clapped his hands again.

“Yay, I’m so excited now. I also heard Louie and Jerry had joined. If Louie gets anywhere close to me, I’ll be sure to make him feel as awkward as I can,” he said. I widened my eyes. They actually joined? I wanted to groan, but instead I tried to continue to smile.

“Yeah, I’m sure Louie would actually enjoy a rough pat on the butt,” I said. Stevie nodded.

“Good. Because rough is all he’s gonna get,” he said, winking at me. I loved Stevie already. I could tell Tabby liked him too, because she was laughing too. And not those fake laughs where we pretend something is funny. It was a sincere laugh though.

However, again Elizabeth was not amused. There was just something about her I couldn’t trust. Maybe it was her smile. Maybe it was her glare towards Stevie. Or maybe it was that jealous look I thought I saw earlier. Who knows? Either way, she was going to help me get back at Jake.