Chapter Text
Morning comes, and with it comes Natalie barging into Jackie's dorm.
"Jackie! Look at these fine slippers I got!" Natalie flashes her ridiculous set of fuzzy slippers that look like a dinosaur's foot, plushy claws bulging through the cloth.
Jackie, sitting motionless on her bed with her knees tucked close to her chest, stays silent.
Natalie clicks her tongue. "Come on, man! I know they look like they're from the kiddie's aisle, but I promise you I found them in the adult's section!"
Jackie throws her a somber side glance and shoots her a slow nod.
"Jackie? You good, man?" Nat questions, leaning forward slightly.
Jackie stammers for a moment, before finding the right words. "Do you... Do you know someone named Jeff?"
Natalie snorts. "Pfft! You mean that baseball asshole? Yeah, unfortunately. What's up?"
Jackie covers herself, as if the thought from yesterday sends an unbearable chill through her whole body. "Yesterday, he... He stopped Max and I and, and he threatened me and he told me that he's going to kill Shauna! Natalie! He told me that he's going to kill her!"
Natalie glances around the room, pretty sure that this is a hidden-cam prank. She laughs. "Are you fucking with me right now? Shauna? He's going to kill Shauna? Jackie, don't be ridiculous goddamnit."
Jackie glares at her.
"Okay, tell you what. Shauna made Jeff cry like a baby, Sophomore year. It was crazy!" She waves her hands around in the air. "Everyone was making fun of him for weeks! I nearly pissed myself from laughing!"
Jackie sighs. "What does that have to do with anything?! He obviously changed. I mean, have you seen him? He looks so strong..." Jackie chews on her bottom lip.
"He's a twat, Jackie. All muscles, no brains. I bet my ass I'm way stronger than him!" Natalie clenches her fists in front of her waist in the crab most muscular variation, and contracts her upper body 'muscles' and 'biceps'.
"Hyaghhh! Peel your eyes and behold!" Natalie continues to make exaggerated grunting noises.
"GrrrRAAAAAAAH!"
Jackie bursts out laughing.
Natalie joins in. "You see? It's gonna be fine, Jackie. Nothing to worry about." Natalie reassures, sitting on the edge of the bed and embracing Jackie with an even more reassuring hug.
"Yeah, okay. Whatever." Shauna mumbles to herself, crumbling up her dissertation paper on Hamlet and throwing it into the trash.
It's safe to say that Robin didn't get a wink of sleep due to Shauna's constant mumbling and huffs about the paper. What the actual fuck is her deal? With the sun now rising above the horizon, it's no use to try and get at least some sleep. Robin is huddled in her neat bed under the covers, while Shauna's bed remains unoccupied with the blanket hanging loosely off of the mattress.
Shauna stands up, cracking her back and running a hand down her face. Oh, right. Jeff.
Obviously, Shauna doesn't want to spend a good portion of her life (maybe even the rest of it) behind bars for murder, so killing him is out the window. An idea sparks itself up. During the climax of their friendship, Nat and Shauna used to go around dorms and terrorize fellow students by pulling nonsensical pranks on them. One girl lost consciousness because she thought she was being robbed, turning on the lights to find Natalie standing in the middle of her room wearing some fucked-up mask. The police and an ambulance were called and it was this big-ass scandal that everyone forgot about a week later. That was Halloween, Freshman year. Fun times.
Pulling a little prank like that on Jeff won't do him harm, of course. At least, that's the point. Just a little something to remind him who Jackie belongs to.
Shauna paces around the room with her hands behind her back, kicking air, deep in thought. Maybe she shouldn't have thrown the paper away. The thesis was good, as well as the body, but something was missing in the conclusion.
"Hamlet... Ugh. To be, or not to be, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada..." Shauna mumbles to herself, catching the gaze of an already frightened Robin who tries to pretend that she wasn't staring at her like she's some lunatic by quickly averting her gaze to the fucking ceiling out of all things.
Shauna scoffs, to herself or to Robin, God knows. Robin must've been one of the girls that spread the murder rumor. Well, Robin fuck you. If you want crazy, you'll see crazy.
Shauna directs her gaze to Mr. Whiskers, meeting his smiley face with a scowl. She crosses her arms at him. "What's it to you, Whiskers? Can you do better, hm? I bet not. You don't even have hands, and you can't even talk!"
Mr. Whiskers doesn't respond, still smiling.
"What was that?" Shauna leans closer to him. "Did you just say I suck?" She fakes a dramatic gasp, clasping at her heart. "That's not nice!"
Robin gulps, watching the scene unfold in front of her. Shauna's having a full-blown conversation with a cat plush. The murder rumor might just be true.
"Um..." Robin manages, shoving the blanket off of herself. "I'm - I'm gonna head out..." She chuckles nervously. "Make the most out of the... last day here."
Robin literally bolts out of the room, tripping on air and not giving Shauna a chance for a response. She wouldn't get it anyway.
With Robin now gone, Shauna can breathe freely.
She lights a cigarette and slumps back into the chair, prompting her feet up on the table. She decides to call Natalie, nothing like a premeditated prank.
Natalie picks up on the second ring. "Yo, Shauna! My man!"
Shauna smiles. "Hey, Nat. Doing okay?"
"Yeah, man, everything's cool. You?"
Shauna avoids the question. "Did you cheer up Jackie like I told you to?"
"'Course I did. What? You think I don't keep my word?"
Shauna taps her cigarette, dropping ash onto the wooden desk. "No, no. Just wanted to check. Did you... seriously buy those stupid slippers just for that?"
Natalie scoffs on the other end. "I wanted them long before this. Thanks for giving me an excuse to buy them."
Shauna doesn't say anything. Figures, classic Natalie.
"What's your plan? With the whole Jeff situation? Are we gonna kill him or?"
Shauna shifts.
Now that she can think better about the subject itself, maybe a little scare won't do anything. Shauna wants, needs, to do something more extreme. Something that'll leave lasting damage on him, ruin his life completely.
"I want to get him expelled." Shauna decides.
"Okay..." Natalie drags out the word. "And how are we gonna do that, genius? Jeff's a prestigious student. We're talking like, star-athlete shit. Rich daddy and everything."
Shauna smirks. "You still got that bottle of vodka?"
"Yeah? Why? . . . Oh, hell no! I'm not wasting a whole bottle of vodka on fucking Jeff!"
"Nat, come on!"
"No! That's the last of my stash. And I can't smuggle a new one in."
Shauna sighs and rubs at her chin. What could possibly make Natalie change her mind?
"Look, man. I can't do it, I'm sorry. Won't have anything after losing that bottle."
Oh, right. Of course. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.
"Nat, where are you right now?"
"In my dorm. Why?"
"Where's Jackie?"
"Uh..." Natalie's voice fades slightly as she seems to pull away from the phone, probably to look around even though she's in her fucking dorm. "Dunno, man. I'm guessing she went to the library."
"Okay. I need you to sneak into my dorm. Make sure Jackie doesn't see you."
"Alright, what are you planning now?" Natalie asks, suspicion rising.
"Nat, just go!" Shauna orders firmly and Natalie immediately gets up.
She peers her head into the hallway, looking left and right like she's about to cross the street. "Hallway looks clear." She whispers into the phone.
Shauna sighs. "You don't have to pretend like you're James Bond or some shit. Be normal about this."
"It's more fun this way."
Shauna rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Go."
Natalie tiptoes into the hallway, cautious of her every step and hyper aware of her surroundings. This whole James Bond thing is really digging her. Just need a pair of sunglasses and a suit, and it's perfect.
Shauna listens to her nonsensical detective mumbling with a bored expression.
A sharp sound echoes from Natalie's end and Shauna can make out a faint rustle of clothes.
"What happened?" She questions.
"Dude! Jackie's like, at the end of the fucking hallway!" Natalie whisper-shouts, having ducked behind a fucking locker.
"Okay, and? Natalie, just walk into the fucking dorm. You don't have to be doing all this."
"But, you literally told me not to get spotted by Jackie."
Shauna sighs. "Don't get spotted by Jackie meant not entering the dorm if she's literally inside."
"That's literally the opposite of what you said." Nat complains.
"Nat! Go!"
"Fine! I'm going! Relax!"
Natalie grumbles to herself, stomping into the dorm.
"Okay, I'm in. What now?"
Shauna visualizes the dorm layout as best as she can. "Great. Now, walk over to my side and on the shelf, you'll see a picture of Jackie."
"There's like ten pictures of Jackie on your shelf."
"The one with diamonds on the frame. You see it?"
"Uh... Yeah, yeah. I see it."
Natalie stares at the framed picture of Jackie laying down on the floor with a queen card between her fingers. Diamonds on the frame glister in the morning sun and it makes it feel like strobe lights. It's tucked further away into the shelf, shoved between a stack of books.
"Behind the picture, I have something that'll make you change your mind."
Natalie barks out a laugh. "Yeah, sure, man, sure. So, I just take the photo out or?"
"No, you fucking idiot! Behind the frame!"
"Oh!"
Natalie takes the heavy picture frame and moves it aside, behind it is a small bag that looks like something pilgrims in the medieval times used to stash their coins in.
"You think medieval coins will change my mind?"
"Open it."
Natalie pries her fingers and spreads open the entrance. Inside, at the bottom is at least six grams of fucking cocaine. Natalie gapes. Where the fuck did Shauna get this?
"No way, dude!"
Shauna smiles. "So? Deal?"
"Deal!"
"I'm back by tomorrow. And then we'll-"
Natalie flinches and her fingers slip, and she accidentally hangs up when Jackie enters the dorm unexpectedly.
Jackie also flinches, inhaling deeply and grasping at her heart. "Nat! You scared me!"
Natalie quickly hides her hands behind her back, phone abandoned on the shelf. She chuckles nervously. "Uh... Sorry, I was just..."
Jackie widens her eyes, gasp trapped in her throat. "Are you stealing?!"
"What? No!" Natalie replies briskly, but Jackie raises a brow.
"Show me your hands." She demands. "If you're stealing from Shauna, I will personally kill you, not her. Hands, now."
Jackie is throwing daggers at her, brows knitted together with a frown. For once in her life, Natalie doesn't act compulsevly, instead, gives herself some time to think. If Jackie finds out that Shauna has literal hardcore drugs stashed behind her picture, she'll probably kill her. If Jackie finds out Shauna is supplying drugs to Natalie, she'll kill both of them.
"Natalie. I swear to God..." Jackie takes a step closer, and Natalie takes two steps back.
"O-okay, Jackson... Take it easy, 'kay? No trouble." Natalie stammers out and Jackie tilts her head at her.
"I'll tell Shauna that you broke into our dorm. Nat, show me your hands."
Fuck it.
Natalie reveals her hands reluctantly, like someone who got caught with their hands in the cookie jar, the right one holding the small medieval bag.
"What's that?" Jackie crosses her arms, eyeing the bag.
"It's, um..."
Think. Think. Think.
Natalie glances around the room nervously. Her eyes accidentally land on a copy of The Tragedy of Macbeth by Shakespeare laying unattended on Shauna's desk.
"Macbeth! Yes, Macbeth!" Natalie blurts out. "You know Macbeth, right? The Shakespeare play? Lottie and I wanted to recreate this one scene and we really need this." Natalie raises the bag with a smile she hopes is innocent enough to make Jackie drop the subject.
"Oh! I thought you hated Shakespeare? Surprise, surprise!" Jackie smiles, dropping her arms flat on her sides. Her protective demeanor shifted to her usual friendly one. "What scene?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Natalie thinks, but remains silent.
"Ah! You mean the vision Macbeth has? Of the bloody dagger? You mean that, right?" Jackie prompts, carelessly walking over to her shelf of books, fingers tracing the spines, searching for something.
"Y-Yes! Yes! That one!" Natalie says, but on the inside, she has no idea what the fuck Jackie had just said.
Jackie turns to her with a perplexed look. "Oh, really? I didn't know that scene involved needing whatever that is." She points a finger at the bag.
Nat smiles nervously. "Eh, you know, improvisation... and... yeah."
"Well," Jackie shrugs. "Okay." She turns back to her shelf, searching aimlessly.
Natalie exhales in relief, her grip on the bag easing ever so slightly. She takes her phone and makes a beeline for the door, but Jackie speaks again.
"You know," She begins. "Shauna told me once that Macbeth is deemed a cursed play because Shakespeare used a real spell when writing the dialogue for the witches. How crazy is that?"
"Yeah. Yeah," Natalie nods. "That sounds super crazy. Anyway, I gotta," She points at the door and stammers. "you know..."
Natalie doesn't even bother finishing her sentence before bolting it out the door.
Shauna returns Friday afternoon.
Rubbing her temple, she steps out of the van that brought them back, feeling the icy cold upon her skin in an instant.
Jackie is waiting for her by the gate like she's some president. Might as well have laid out the red carpet. Natalie is standing next to her, huddled close to Lottie to keep herself warm. Van and Tai aren't outside, which Shauna is so grateful for. She feels a flush of embarrassment on her face, seeing a horde of people waiting for her like that. Mari and the rest don't have anyone waiting for them, because really, this was merely a few days trip to London, nothing crazy, and, they're not kids anymore who desperately need someone to escort them back to their dorm. This is just ridiculous.
"Shauna!" Jackie chirps, bracing her arms around Shauna in a big hug that knocks the air out of her lungs. "Oh, how I missed you!"
Jackie pulls her head back, but her arms remain wrapped around Shauna's waist. She looks up at her. "How was your trip?"
Shauna sighs. "Boring."
Jackie blinks in thought, lavished by a sad expression. "What? Why?"
The answer to this is as simple as saying yes to a million dollars, but it's not that simple to say that answer out loud to a puppy-eyed Jackie looking up at you, wishing that you had fun for once in your fucking life. After her Mother's death, everything just became pure boredom to Shauna, except for causing unnecessary trouble around campus. Which is exactly her plan for today.
"Just isn't my thing." Shauna replies before shooting a nod in Nat's way which she accepts with a thumbs-up, knowing exactly what that nod means.
Jeff PissPants is about to have one hell of a day.
Natalie snorts a line of coke and tips her head back with a pleased sigh, like she merely tasted a delicious, cold drink on a hot summer day.
"You done?" Shauna questions, standing with her arms crossed near the door.
They're in Nat's dorm, which is obviously cold due to the open window because Natalie doesn't want the smell of cigarettes and weed to out her to potential professors that might check-up randomly, or the grizzly janitor Tom. Lottie had to take an emergency shift at the movie theater because her co-worker called in sick last minute, but the boss promised a higher pay. Jackie went to the library, saying that she concentrates there better, to finish her dissertation on Hamlet.
Despite the open window, Nat's dorm room still smells like an old basement. Earthy tones, must and stale air, with a hint of old wood, all fill Shauna's lungs as she inhales deeply. Strangely, the smell of old basements are highly comforting to her. Reminds her of childhood for whatever reason. Jackie would tear her hair out if their dorm ever smelled like that, she much more prefers to clean it daily with whatever sweet smelling chemicals there are, and various perfumes, much to Shauna's annoyance.
Maybe the basement smell is actually a time capsule to childhood, or maybe Shauna just has low iron.
Natalie wipes her nose. "Yeah." She whoops loudly in delight, shaking her head like a mad dog. "This is fucking great! You want some?"
Shauna shakes her head. "No, I can't. Jackie will freak out."
Natalie leans back in her chair, clicking her tongue. "Man, that girlfriend of yours is acting like your damn mama sometimes."
Shauna grimaces unpleasantly. "Are we doing this or not?"
"Yeah, yeah," Natalie stands up, grabbing the neck of the vodka bottle. "We're damn doing this."
They open the dorm door with a creak, and Shauna peers her head into the hallway, Natalie bends down slightly to take a look as well, moving Shauna's hair out of the way like it's a curtain.
Shauna whacks her hand. "Stop. Nat. Stop doing that and be serious for once."
"What! Don't you remember how much fun we used to have doing shit like this? You be happy for once!" Natalie protests.
"Shhh!" Shauna shushes her briskly. "You want everyone to hear? Keep your voice down."
"Whatever." Natalie concludes with an eye roll.
The hallway is deserted at this hour, most of the students are huddled in their dorms or studying in the library, unlike Jeff and his moronic friend Randy who are out on the field in this icy weather playing baseball.
Shauna and Natalie stare at the field through the hallway window. Jeff is the one swinging while Randy is doing what he does best, standing around and doing nothing. The giant pole lights illuminate the field, but not the woods that are right next to it, leaving only darkness looming in the distance, like a foreshadowing of something out of a horror movie.
"Damn..." Natalie nods as she takes in the scenery of the woods. "Those things look like a black hole, honestly."
"Yeah." Shauna replies with little to no care. "You got the whistle?"
"Yes, sir!" Natalie salutes her with a serious soldier look and Shauna glares at her with a scowl. "Okay... Yes, yes I got the whistle."
"Great, then you'll go into the woods and blow it to get their attention and I'll plant the bottle."
Natalie widens her eyes. "What? Me? I'm going into the woods?"
"Yes? That was the plan."
Natalie grips Shauna's arm in desperation. "Dude! Please, no! I can't go into a darkness like that! I'm gonna freak out!"
Shauna snatches her arm away with force. "You fucking pussy. Get some guts."
"Why don't you do it then?"
"How can I trust that you're not going to trip on something and break both of your legs and get us caught? Huh? Nat, you need to plant that bottle and bolt it back inside and tell janitor Tom or were fucked."
"I'm not gonna!" Nat whines and Shauna looks at her with disappointment. "Swear!"
"Fine." Shauna says through teeth, accepting the whistle from Nat's hand.
Nat acquired the Aztec death whistle from Lottie who bought it at some freaky, mystic voodoo shop when they took a trip to California. The whistle was used by the Mexica people to scare off animals or other people. When blown, it produces a high-pitched shrieking noise that sounds like someone is being gutted alive. Hearing that coming from the dark woods is sure to leave an impact, and the need to help whoever might be doing the screaming.
They sneak out of the building and stand at the entrance.
"Okay," Shauna begins. "Hide in that bush next to the field. Once they're distracted, plant the bottle. Got it?"
"Got it."
They part ways and Natalie does as she was told so, crouching in the bushes, nearly losing her balance and making her presence known right here and there.
Shauna sneaks past the lights and enters the woods, standing behind a couple trees, invisible like a thin, white thread.
Jeff's and Randy's bags are left unattended by the light pole closest to the bush in which Nat's hiding in. Now, which one is Jeff's? Natalie squints, trying to make out any features of the bags, but is unsuccessful.
"Fuck..." She mumbles to herself, inching her body closer.
The cocaine in her system makes it near impossible to keep balance in that position, and Natalie hurls forward, falling face first into the snow, creating a loud thud and a few creaks of the branches.
"What the hell was that?" Randy questions with a quiver in his voice, standing behind Jeff like a scared dog.
Jeff takes his baseball bat in a sword-like position, walking closer to the noise. "Who's there?" He calls out loudly and Natalie quickly scrambles up and out of view again.
Shauna blows the whistle, high-pitched noise echoing in the still air.
"Dude! Dude! Dude!" Randy proclaims briskly, moving his limbs like he has a spider crawling on them, further hiding behind Jeff. "What's going on?"
"It came from the woods." Jeff says. "Sounds like someone needs help."
He begins walking towards the woods carefully, and Randy grabs his arm. "Dude! Are you crazy? We should probably call someone!"
"No, dude! It could be too late! Let's go!" Jeff prompts, grabbing Randy by his arm and dragging him along.
Shauna blows the whistle again and both of them jump in place cartoonishly.
Nat peeks her head out, and seeing as Jeff and Randy are already near the entrance of the woods, comes out of her hiding spot, and walks on her tiptoes towards their bags, doing too much again since the snow pretty much muffles her footsteps.
"Where are you?" Jeff calls out into the woods.
No answer.
"Dude. Let's go back. This is insane!" Randy says, nudging him backwards, but Jeff protests.
Shauna watches Natalie through the gap of the two trees. Natalie decides that the red bag is Jeff's, zipping it open, and planting the bottle inside. She turns on her heel and takes off running, but not before tripping twice and falling into the snow.
The two dumb idiots are trying to find the source of the scream, inching closer to Shauna's hiding place.
"Look," Jeff nudges Randy by his shoulder. "Footsteps. They stop at this tree." He points his bat at Shauna, remaining oblivious that he did so.
Shauna takes note that Jeff's shoelaces are untied, messily hanging around the base of his shoe.
"I don't like this man. Let's just, go back and tell someone." Randy tries talking some sense into his friend, but his words are dismissed as Jeff continues walking towards the tree.
It's dead silent now, except for Randy's labored breathing. Jeff is standing in place, listening to any sounds that may be around.
Shauna feels a tickle in her throat and an irresistible urge to cough. Fucking cigarettes. She tries holding it in by placing a hand over her mouth, coughing into her mouth instead.
"Dude, shhh!" Jeff says. "Listen." He prompts his finger up. "Someone just coughed. Where's your flashlight?"
"Oh, um..." Randy feels every one of his pockets, finally finding the flashlight and handing it to Jeff. "Here."
Jeff sets his bat on the snowy ground and tries to figure out how to turn on the flashlight in the pitch darkness.
Shauna feels a flush of heat across her body, unmistakably the sensation of fear. If she's caught, Jeff and Randy are sure to kick her ass, even though she hates to admit it, she can't take both of them. She looks around, trying to find an escape route, but there are none.
She can feel her heart thumping vigorously against her ribcage, silently praying that they can't hear it too.
Natalie, deciding last minute at the entrance that she's not going to ditch her friend like this and leave her all alone at the mercy of these two mouth-breathers, throws a snowball at Randy's back.
He unleashes all the fear he's been holding, in the form of high-pitched screaming, even more high-pitched than the whistle, and buries himself into Jeff who in response drops his flashlight. Jeff makes a move to run out the woods, but Shauna steps on his untied lace and he falls to the ground like a stiff board.
Natalie bursts out laughing.
Shauna bolts it from behind the tree and Jeff attempts to stop her by throwing his bat at her.
"It's fucking Shauna! Randy! Get the fuck up! Now!" Jeff screams at his friend who struggles to get up in the snow.
Shauna collides with Natalie at the entrance of the woods, both of them now running in sync and laughing together. Like the old times.
Natalie isn't sure if she wants to cry or laugh. This reminds her of how close they used to be during freshman year. Three years ago, now four, down by the lake. Natalie pretends that she doesn't care, but Shauna's her best friend, always was and always will be. Shauna is the only person Nat felt comfortable around, enough so to tell her that she's actually from a run-down trailer park, and not some big mansion like Lottie or Jackie, that her dad's an asshole who was never really there for her, that she just wants to get as far away from this place as much as she possibly can.
Shauna didn't want Natalie to ditch America, and her, for some secluded country in Europe, so every summer day, they'd stride down the streets on their bikes, hands in the air, whooping loudly at the joys of youth, stealing snacks from the corner store and then running from the cops all the while the items fell out of their hands, rolling in the grass while basking in the afterglow, stumbling down the street after a night-out, elbow to elbow, singing whatever songs they felt like singing, waking up half the neighborhood, getting high in the bleachers... The best youth an American teenager could have. Something that seems like it only exists in movies, Nat got to experience first-hand. And she'll die on that hill. Whatever happened to Shauna after freshman year will forever be a question Nat is too afraid to ask. It's a question she'll carry to the grave, and maybe, just maybe, Shauna will give her an answer on the other side. The angels weep with joy.
This Shauna that is currently running alongside her, laughing, is the only true glimpse Nat will ever get of her best friend.
The blue and red lights of the police car flash against the building, casting long shadows across the surface, blaring through every window.
Jackie groans and throws the blanket off of herself in a moment of frustration. "Ugh! I swear to God! What idiots are playing cops and robbers at this hour?" She stomps over to the window and draws the curtains open with a whoosh, revealing two police cars, with Jeff and Randy being escorted into their backseats, all of this happening right under their dorm window.
"I'm telling you! Shauna Shipman and her junkie friend planted that!" Jeff's shouting is muffled by the window as he writhes against the officer's arms.
"Yeah, that's right! You better stay outta my campus!" Janitor Tom bellows proudly, pointing his finger at Jeff as he's pushed towards the car.
"What the hell?..." Jackie mumbles to herself, unable to contain the creeping smile that envelops her lips. "Shauna! Come look at this!" She speaks in delight, scooting over to the side to allow place, turning to face Shauna who is sitting by her desk smoking a cigarette, one leg tucked close to her chest and the other dangling loosely in the air. She stands up, dragging herself over to the window with a smile.
"Come! Come! Come!" Jackie prompts briskly, pulling Shauna's arm to make her hurry.
Shauna stands next to her, observing the scene with a pleasant expression. Jackie opens the window and leans forward.
"Hey, Jeff!" Jackie shouts to him and Jeff turns with a sour expression. "What's dad gonna say about this, huh?!"
"Fuck you, Jackie!" He shouts back. "And your faggot friends!"
Jackie spits, aiming towards him, but it lands on janitor Tom instead. He looks up at her like she just murdered his whole family, if there are any left that is.
Shauna snickers and hits her shoulder.
"Oh, my...!" Jackie stammers, covering her mouth. "I-I'm sorry, Tom!" She says briskly before sinking to her knees in a fit of laughter, covering her face. "This is so embarrassing..." Jackie says through a whine.
Shauna leans out the window. "Bye, Jeff! Have a good trip!"
Something shifted that night. Whether it be the mere karma that arrived days earlier, or just unfortunate mood swings that come from time to time, Shauna woke up with a peculiar jitter in her behavior.
Jackie stretches awake, her arms raised high up in the air, mouth making exaggerated strained noises as her back arches. She rubs her eyes and squints against the early morning sun. The bed is already void of any Shauna there was last night, instead leaving an empty space that last night Jackie clung to like a sloth to a tree.
Strange occurrence number one.
Moreover, Shauna is not even in the dorm to begin with. On particular days like these, Jackie would at least find Shauna sitting by the desk, either reading or writing. This morning, Jackie has to satisfy herself with the mere sight of drawn curtains and the morning sun that woke her up instead of Shauna.
Strange occurrence number two.
Jackie narrows her eyes in confusion, sliding them over the whole room, searching each corner and surface to find anything that may give her an explanation for Shauna's disappearance. By the looks of it, the only explanation she'll get, will be from the note left laying on Shauna's desk. Jackie hops out of bed, body protesting at the sudden movement, and walks over to the desk. A green sticky note lay plastered on the desk next to Kafka's The Metamorphosis which is paired with a long torn-out paper from a notebook, scribbled over with in-depth analysis of the novella, pen abandoned in the middle of the sentence. "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into . . ."
Strange occurrence number three.
Shauna always finishes her thoughts on paper.
By the looks of it, Jackie thinks that Shauna rushed out the dorm for whatever reason, possibly an emergency of sorts.
Jackie reads the green note. A simple and direct message from Shauna.
"In a hurry.
Black coffee.
Gray mug.
Careful not to burn yourself with boiling water."
Couldn't be more simple, right?
But, for Jackie, nothing can be too simple.
Dumbfounded, Jackie is left staring at the note for a good minute. Not that she doesn't understand the instructions, they're very clear actually, it's just the tone. No good morning, no signature, no I love you, nothing. Just an order like she's some maid or something. Jackie runs a hand down her face and sets the note down. If Shauna wants a maid, she better hire herself one, Jackie will not tolerate this. She sits stubbornly down on the chair, tapping her fingers idly on the wood.
Not long after comes a rowdy set of footsteps from the hallway. Jackie turns her head towards the door, expecting, and expecting. The footsteps stop briefly before the door swings open with force, colliding with the wall and shaking the whole room. Jackie shoots up from the chair. Shauna stomps inside with a scowl, white flannel with blue and yellow patterns, and stripes hangs lazily over her figure, pants clearly tailored for men barely clinging to her waist, supported only by a sturdy belt, Converse shoes stained with snow. Each step leaves a trail of snow and Jackie raises her hands in confusion.
"What's wrong with you?" Jackie questions, eyeing the snow trail.
"Where is it?" Shauna avoids her question.
"Where's what? I don't-"
"The coffee!" Shauna yells in a hurry, like she has ten seconds left on earth before she perishes. Jackie flinches.
"I didn't make-"
Shauna groans in frustration, making a movement that looks like she's about to tear her hair out, before she settles to frantic shooing motion at Jackie to get her out the way.
Jackie steps aside, shaking her head at her in bewilderment and anger.
She watches as Shauna nearly tears out the cabinet door from its hinges, swinging it open with force and grabbing the gray mug with shattering effort. She throws the mug on the counter and takes the electric coffee maker and fills it with water. Shauna presses the button for boiling and takes a bag of coffee, tearing it open and jarring a spoon inside to scoop up grinded coffee, missing a portion of the mug and spilling half of it on the counter. She simply blows away the spilled powder, letting it crawl in between the space of stove and oven. Jackie feels like tearing her hair out.
"Good morning to you too!" Jackie says to Shauna who responds only with a grunt.
Jackie crosses her arms.
The coffee maker whistles with steam and Shauna pours the boiling water into the mug. She stirs the coffee with whirlwind force and, again, spills the contents on the counter. She wipes the stain away with the sleeve of her flannel and Jackie chuckles in pure disbelief.
Shauna tries to make a beeline for the door, but Jackie steps in her way.
"You're not leaving until you tell me what's going on." Jackie says firmly, standing stiff and strong like a statue.
Shauna scoffs mockingly, setting her mug down with a strong hand, spilling once again, staining her Kafka paper.
"Jackie, get the fuck out of my way." Shauna says through gritted teeth, looking at Jackie with a scowl.
Jackie blinks.
This look. It's familiar. In a strange and haunting way, but it's familiar. Maybe, too familiar. A distant memory flickers in her brain and Jackie is once again transported to that place in her mind. The unfinished bridge with a dim light shining in the distance. The bridge is now half-way done and Jackie watches as rocks seemingly float and connect with the rest of the bridge, extending and extending it's length. The longer Jackie stares into Shauna's eyes, the faster the bridge builds.
"Move!" Shauna yells, trying to shove her out of the way, but Jackie resists.
The light at the end of the bridge increases, and it's nearly blinding as Jackie pushes Shauna back.
Shauna watches in confusion as Jackie scrunches up her face, shutting her eyes tight and raising her shaky hands in front of her head, lips quivering.
Shauna averts her gaze towards the raised fist she aimed at Jackie.
She widens her eyes and instantly drops her hand down.
"I..." Shauna stammers, probably shocked by her own actions. "I'm sorry..." She mumbles briefly before grabbing the mug and walking out the dorm.
Mr. Scott clears his throat and rubs his chin in thought.
Jackie had failed her dissertation on Hamlet.
Shauna heard the news early in the morning, and having the knowledge of how much Jackie worked for the paper, decided to try and bribe Mr. Scott, not with money, of course, rather with words, into changing her grade to at least a D. She didn't want Jackie to know that she failed, so she disappeared on her and returned only to retrieve her coffee after Mr. Scott needed a break.
His office is small, but spacious enough to fit all the sentimental things into each tiny space available, like the picture of Paul, his boyfriend, with him, taken in front of the Eiffel Tower. Shauna stares at the picture.
"Look, Shauna..." Mr. Scott sighs. "Okay, you know what?" He decides. "Take a look for yourself."
Shauna averts her gaze towards the paper that Mr. Scott slides over to her.
"Does this look like it's worth a D? For goodness' sake, this is a dissertation! Not kindergarten creative writing club."
Shauna takes the paper and reads.
"Hamlet is . . ." The rest is scribbled out in blue pen.
New sentence. "Shakespeare believed that . . ." Again, scribbled out.
Another. "Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous character." The word 'character' is scribbled out and replaced with 'antihero'.
God fucking damn it, Jackie.
Shauna clears her throat and hands the paper back.
"Let's be realistic, shall we? It's not worth a D, isn't it?"
"No, sir."
"Well, then..." Mr. Scott sets the paper aside. "You can go ahead and tell Miss Taylor that she'll have to rewrite it and submit it again or she'll fail the semester."
"Ben, come on..." Shauna says somberly, trying not to hurl down on her knees and beg him right here and there.
Mr. Scott adjusts his glasses with a frown. "It's Mr. Scott for you, and no, Shauna, there's nothing I can do. You've seen it yourself."
Shauna shakes her head lightly, clinging onto the last remaining hope. "Mr. Scott, yeah, sorry. Look... Considering her injury and other-"
"Shauna." Mr. Scott warns her with a strict enough tone to make her shut the fuck up. "Natalie also failed, and what? Lottie isn't here to defend her and justify her writing."
Shauna rolls her eyes. "Natalie wrote that shit in thirty minutes!"
Mr. Scott widens his eyes and opens his mouth to say something, but Shauna continues.
"Jackie worked her ass off! Day and night!" She stands up suddenly. "You can't just... do this! She has amnesia! Of course her writing isn't as good as it used to be!"
Mr. Scott stands up as well, more firmly and quicker than her. "Okay, that's enough! Jackie's writing was never good to begin with! And with that attitude of yours, the only thing that you're going to make me change is your grade!"
Shauna scowls, leaving his office, not before slamming the door shut.
The classroom is quiet with anticipation, angsty students awaiting to hear whether they passed their dissertations or disappointed Mr. Scott as well as themselves.
Mr. Scott clears his throat, solemn as a judge ready to sentence someone to death.
"I've graded your dissertations." He raises a stack of papers in the air and sets them down again. "I'm going to read them in order. From A to, unfortunately, F."
The classroom erupts into quiet chatter, students wondering who are the unfortunate souls that have gotten an F.
Natalie rocks back and forth on her chair, hands behind, already knowing her fate.
Shauna sits at the desk next to her, leg bouncing as she stares at Jackie who fidgets and wiggles in her seat, gleaming with excitement.
Fucking hell.
"Okay, so." Mr. Scott takes the papers back into his hands. "One hundred percent perfection, Shauna Shipman."
Natalie whoops loudly and claps, but abruptly stops when nobody else joins in and Shauna glares at her.
Shauna stands up and walks over to the front of the classroom to take her paper. On the way back, she meets Jackie's eyes, which precisely avoid hers, instead remaining focused on Mr. Scott with that same glint of excitement in her eyes.
Mr. Scott announced the rest of the results, and with the grades moving slowly from A to B, and then to a C, Jackie slouched her shoulders and seemingly clung onto the hope that she at least got a D.
No D's were called out.
"Unfortunately," Mr. Scott adjusts his glasses. "Two of you failed."
Jackie buries her head in her hands.
"Natalie Scatorccio, twenty percent. Bad structure, grammar errors, completely void of any formality, full of vulgarism, but hey, at least you got the theme right."
The class laughs and Natalie waves her hand in the air at Mr. Scott.
"Keep the paper." She announces proudly, earning another set of snorts.
"I'll be sure to frame it." Mr. Scott clicks his tongue at her.
The only person whose name was not called yet, is Jackie.
The whole classroom turns in her direction, awaiting her reaction to the information she's about to hear.
"And last, Jackie Taylor. Zero. The theme was Hamlet and how he impacted Shakespeare's further work, but you just... You wrote a short summary of the play and called it a day."
The class stills.
Jackie blinks once, twice, looking like her favorite coffee shop just fucking shut down. She clenches her fist, knuckles turning white, head hanging low. Her vision blurs and lips begin to quiver.
Shauna looks at her, wanting nothing more than to stand up and comfort her with hugs, kisses, whatever.
Natalie slowly raises her eyebrows in amusement. She holds up one closed fist, making a whistling noise with her mouth, imitating a bomb landing.
"Whhheeeeeee..." She whistles.
The class turns away from Jackie towards Natalie with smug expressions.
Natalie's fist drops slowly toward the desk, her mouth still whistling faintly. Then, she opens her hand wide-
"BOOM!"
She slams her hand on the table, rattling her stray pencils.
Van snickers, placing a hand over her mouth.
Tai whacks her. "Van!"
Mr. Scott sighs. "Natalie."
But, it's too late because all hell breaks loose. Students laugh, slam their fists down on the table, assault their friends with tugs and shoves, point their fingers at Jackie, and laugh, and laugh.
Jackie stands up briskly and storms out the classroom.
Shauna stands up as well, following Jackie out.
Natalie simply nods her head at the scene she just caused, prompting herself up on the chair.
"Shauna and Jackie, sitting in a tree," She begins to sing.
The class joins in. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage!"
Lottie sighs and gives Natalie an exhausted look. Fucking kindergartener.
After searching the building from top to bottom, and the campus from corner to corner, Shauna finds Jackie in the dorm. She's sitting by the window, looking out at the snowy campus grounds, eyes empty like she has already decided to blow her brains out. A cigarette burns faintly between her fingers, clouds of smoke enveloping her figure, further pulling Shauna into a daydream covered in wisps, sunlight and the smell of smoke.
Finally, Shauna knows what she wants to do for the rest of her life. Her dream job, something that makes her happy. She'd love to stay this way forever, admiring Jackie, full-time. No pay needed, because happiness doesn't come from money.
There she is, her Jackie. The raw and profane version she always loved. The broken beyond repair Jackie. The familiar sad look is back in her eyes and on her face and Shauna couldn't be happier, and grateful for the fact that Jackie's so fucking stupid that she can't even write a simple dissertation.
Shauna decides to clear her throat to announce her presence.
Jackie doesn't flinch.
Shauna walks over to the window slowly, sitting on a lone chair next to Jackie.
For a few blissful moments, it's silent. Jackie's temple rests against the cold window, and Shauna watches her hand raise, bringing the cigarette to her lips which part slowly, chest rising as a deep inhale is drawn, and then falling as Jackie blows the smoke out.
Jackie focuses her eyes on Shauna, but her head remains against the glass.
"This is all your fault." Jackie manages, the lump in her throat breaking her voice into a mix between a whine and a mumble. She extinguishes her cigarette on the window sill.
Shauna scoffs. "My fault? It's my fault that you're fucking stupid and can't manage to write a-"
Jackie scowls as Shauna speaks, her eyes narrowing and lips dropping into a hateful frown. She heard enough from that half-sentence, and she doesn't want Shauna to finish it.
Jackie hastily raises her hand, and slaps Shauna across the face.
"How fucking dare you?!" Jackie yells, standing up. "Whatever nerve gave you the audacity to say that, I swear on every single fucking god there is up there, that I will rip it out of you with my own fucking bare hands!"
Shauna stills, only merely blinking up at her.
Then, she laughs, like Jackie told her a list of good news.
Shauna stands up, arms outstretched slightly, inviting a hug.
Jackie takes a step back.
"I knew she was still in you," Shauna begins. "the old you. The Jackie whom I shaped to my own liking. You've finally let her out." She scoffs in amusement. "Now, I realize that... we're so alike, if not the same. Jackie, you and I, we-"
Jackie slaps her again.
"Just shut up!" She yells. "That is the most terrible thing in my own damn fate! I am, by all means, your reflection! All of my hatred towards you is nothing more than hatred of myself! In you, I see myself as in a mirror!"
The wind blows, curtains fly in ghostly shapes, cold air travels through the room, but it does little to the two burning bodies standing opposite of each other.
"Say you hate me." Shauna demands, more desperately than she intended to.
"I hate you!" Jackie says, meaning every word.
"Say it again."
"God, I..." Jackie stammers. "I fucking hate you!"
Shauna grabs the collar of Jackie's shirt and pulls forward, hurling her right into her lips. Jackie gives in, of course she does, because she doesn't know any better. It's always been Shauna, and always will be.
Jackie wipes her mouth once they pull away and quickly grabs her blanket and pillow, beelining it to the door, stopping half-way out.
"When you decide to be a nice fucking person, come find me."
"You don't want that, Jackie. You don't want me to be nice. Admit-"
Jackie slams the door shut.
The smell of pancakes fills the dorm as Natalie rolls her sleeves up.
Lottie is lying in bed, half reading, half watching Natalie with a smug on her face.
"Please tell me you know what you're doing." Lottie says with a chuckle, adjusting her reading glasses.
"Oh, please!" Natalie waves a hand at her. "You're about to witness the pancake flip of the century!" She says dramatically.
Lottie snorts. "Last time you said that, the campus nearly burned to the ground."
Natalie stammers. "Okay, that was a year ago. I'm a new person now!"
"That was literally last week."
Natalie rolls her eyes, wanting to prove her wrong, as quickly as possible.
"Fine, Matthews!" Natalie announces. "Watch this!"
Natalie gives the pan a dramatic swirl before jerking it upward. The pancake hurls neatly into the air, perfect golden color contrasting with the sunlight and Lottie is impressed, for a few moments only. Only.
The handle snaps clean off the pan mid-motion. The metal base of the pan clatters loudly to the floor, pancake ending up being stuck on the ceiling. Natalie is left standing like the last idiot on earth, holding just the broken handle like a sword.
Lottie bursts out laughing and Natalie scowls at her, dropping her sword-handle to the ground.
"Hey! This all is actually a part of the act!"
Lottie shakes her head. "You fucking idiot. This is exactly why I love you."
Natalie clicks her tongue with a pout. "Aw, I love you too-"
Three sharp knocks emit from the dorm door.
Lottie makes a move to get up, but Natalie raises her hand heroically to stop her; "I got it, I got it."
Natalie opens the door with a smile beaming bright like the sun itself, only to be met with the frowned face of Jackie fucking Taylor.
"Jackie?" Natalie raises her brow, bewildered.
Lottie perks up on the bed, trying to get a look from behind Natalie's shoulder.
"Hey, Nat." Jackie forces a weak smile. "I kinda need a place to stay for a while..."
"What? Why? Did your place burn down or something?"
"Close." Jackie says. "Shauna and I got into a fight and I really, really, can't bear to be around her right now."
Natalie gapes.
The pancake falls from the ceiling, creating a loud splat noise once it hits the floor.
"Oh, no." Lottie says, already standing behind Natalie. "Are you okay?"
Jackie nods dismissively. "Yeah. Yes, I'm okay. Just... need some time to cool off, you know?"
Lottie smiles sympathetically. "Of course, come in. Sorry about the mess, Nat was trying to cook."
Natalie grimaces. "Trying to? Excuse you!"
Lottie ruffles out her hair in response, leading Jackie into the dorm.
She extends her hand out towards Natalie's bed. "You can sleep there. Nat and I will sleep together, 'kay?"
Natalie lets out a faint sob, mumbling to herself; "My precious bed..."
Jackie smiles. "Thanks, Lot."
Lottie bows down slightly in response.
Jackie sets her blanket and pillow on the bed, falling into the mattress instantly and curling up.
Lottie inhales sharply at the sight. Jackie really looks beaten up over the whole situation. "If you need anything, just tell me." She smiles down reassuringly at Jackie, who returns a small, but grateful smile.
Natalie clicks her tongue. "Okay, relax, Lottie. Shauna didn't cripple her or anything. It's just a stupid fight."
Lottie whacks her, prompting the other to swat her hand away.
"What? Remember our fights? We worked it out in like thirty minutes." Natalie snaps her fingers. "Next thing you know, Shauna's-"
A set of sharp knocks echo through the dorm.
"Knocking on the door." Natalie finishes her sentence, walking over to the door, but Lottie stops her half-way.
"I'll talk to her." Lottie says firmly, eyeing the sheepish Jackie who now sits in bed, wide eyes. "Don't worry, Jackie."
Lottie hurls the door open, and indeed, Shauna's standing in front.
Lottie obscures her view of the room, crossing her arms. "What?"
Shauna rolls her eyes. "I know Jackie's here. Don't have to act like you're some fucking saint!"
Lottie looks offended, for a second, before shifting her demeanor to a mocking one. "Flashing your baby fangs again? Look, Shipman. I'm seriously tired of you acting like some fucking queen around this place, so, I'm giving you exactly five seconds to tell me why you're here or I'm hurling your ass out of this hallway."
Shauna scoffs at her, shaking her head.
"One, two..." Lottie begins.
"Nat's supposed to be at the rehearsal. Where is she?"
Lottie raises a brow. "What rehearsal?"
Natalie pops up behind her. "Yeah, what rehearsal?"
Shauna gives her a knowing look, and Natalie mouths an "Oh!" and turns to Lottie.
"Oh, yes! Yes! Mr. Scott said something about Othello or whatever and I'm already late so, I gotta go."
Shauna looks to the side with a sigh, cringing at how bad Natalie is at lying.
Lottie nods slowly. "I'm gonna pretend I believe you."
"Swear!" Natalie triumphs, slipping past her quickly and walking with Shauna down the hall.
Lottie shuts the door, running a hand down her face. "Even a kid is better at lying..."
The 'rehearsal', as they call it, is actually Shauna helping Natalie rewrite her dissertation to make her pass, as well as doing the same for Jackie.
They huddle together in the library, the table lit up only by a candle because electricity is damn expensive, so all the lights shut off at certain times.
Shauna sits next to Natalie who holds a pen above her paper like it's her first time actually writing something.
"Okay," Shauna taps the paper. "Start with the thesis. Something plain."
Natalie makes a line on the paper before abruptly stopping. "Wait. What's the theme again?"
Shauna clicks her tongue. "Hamlet. And how he impacted Shakespeare's further work."
"Ooooooooh!" Natalie exclaims. "Okay, okay."
"So?" Shauna prompts. "Go ahead."
"Hamlet is," Natalie spells out every word as she writes. "bullshit and boring." She finishes her sentence and looks at Shauna with a proud expression.
Shauna feels like vomiting. This is going to be a long day.
"Can you be less vulgar?"
Natalie nods briskly, erasing the bullshit part. "Hamlet is," She begins her spelling again. "Crap and boring."
Shauna whines, burying her head in her hands.
"Got better ideas, genius?" Natalie questions with certain firmness in her voice. It's debatable which one of them doesn't want to be here at all. They're on the same level, but Shauna is absolutely hating every second of this.
"Shakespeare's Hamlet is one of the most popular plays in English literature, next to Romeo and Juliet, with its famous monologue and blah blah blah. Try something like that. Nat, seriously. I'm begging you."
Natalie tries again, and again, with much effort, but ends up with something that is satisfying enough for Shauna.
"To be or not to be. Even today, the question remains. Hamlet was Shakespeare's key to success and . . ."
Jackie was just about to leave class when Mr. Scott called after her.
"Yes?" She turns around, meeting his gleaming eyes with confusion.
"Jackie," He says proudly. "your dissertation is simply beautiful! I'm glad you took up my advice and rewrote it. Congratulations! Straight A!"
Jackie is about to protest, dismiss his claim, because she didn't rewrite no damn dissertation, until Shauna passes by her, shooting her a quick wink before continuing her path down the hall.
"Oh... Oh!" Jackie says, completely forgetting that she's supposed to be mad at her. "Yeah! Thank you, sir." She gives a stupid, weak salute. "Learn from your mistakes, right?"
Mr. Scott chuckles. "Never gets old. But, seriously. This is really good. I thought you didn't have it in you, but I was mistaken. This is Shauna level of wording choices and phrases. Great! She really has an effect on you, doesn't she?"
Jackie swallows thickly. "Guess you could... say that." She smiles nervously.
"Well, then. I won't keep you-"
Mr. Scott doesn't even get to finish his sentence before Jackie is already halfway down the hallway.
Jackie finds Shauna in the dorm, lying in bed with her head prompted up with a pillow, reading something that, by the size of it, looks like a Bible, but it's probably just Dostoevsky.
"You motherfucker!" Jackie exclaims with a smile, hurrying over to the bed with her arms out.
Shauna isn't quick enough in lowering her book, so it presses roughly against her chest, wrinkling the pages as Jackie hugs her tightly.
"Thank you..." Jackie mumbles, the words further muffled out by Shauna's shoulder. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She spits out the words with excitement, pulling away and throwing kisses on every inch of Shauna's face.
Shauna rolls her eyes with a click of her tongue, pushing Jackie away, playfully, of course, because she has to at least pretend that she hates every second of this. "Enough, enough, enough..." Shauna gives out her response to every 'thank you' Jackie has uttered.
Jackie pulls back, looking at Shauna like she's looking at Jesus.
"I'm guessing you're not mad at me anymore?" Shauna questions, almost reluctantly, but she manages.
"How could I be?" Jackie laughs.
Shauna nods. "Okay, great, because like..."
Jackie smiles. "I heard about the fair tomorrow. And yes, I'll go with you."
Now, with everything settled between them, Shauna could really use some sleep, plus, it's a Friday, and, she thinks she deserves a little sleep treat after a long week. And to get a little bit of energy for the cliché Christmas fair with vomit-inducing songs and blinding lights, which she'll be at in less than twenty-four hours. On the other hand, maybe it won't be as vomit-inducing as she fears. She's got Jackie, and, hell, Natalie will be working at the carousel ride. Not that she has a dying urge to ride on a stupid carousel, it's just nice knowing that your friend finally decided to do something with their life, and that you have the power to cut out the power for the ride. Hah.
What Shauna didn't have on her short to-do list crafted for the next twenty-four hours, is the moment where she finds herself standing in front of... well, herself. Not in front of a mirror, or in the house of illusions, but rather quite literally standing in front of herself. There's a person who looks exactly like her, just, standing opposite of her. Like, a literal living person. Breathing and all.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me..." She mumbles to herself, lowering her head down slightly and pinching the bridge of her nose.
Just as she looks up, her replica seems to do the same, looking back up at her like she also just pinched her nose.
Shauna narrows her eyes in confusion.
This is exactly how it felt when Natalie dressed up as a clown one Halloween night and mimed her every fucking move. It was so annoying. This isn't annoying, at that. This is strange and confusing, but entertaining in a way?
Shauna raises one hand, and the other Shauna does the same.
Shauna scoffs in amusement, interest sparking up inside of her. She raises one hand up towards the sky, except there's no sky, just darkness around, with a spotlight pointing at the both of them, like a play. The other one does the same. Shauna takes a step forward, the other one does too. Until, the other one takes another step. And then another. Shauna freezes, staring at herself.
Then, as if she became the other Shauna, she puts her hand behind her back, mimicking the movement of her replica.
"Do you like tricks?" The other questions.
Shauna shrugs. "Everybody does."
The other Shauna perks up, puffing out her chest with triumph. "For my next trick, I will make you..." She thinks for a moment, humming to herself. Shauna watches. "I will make you have a vein-ous breakdown!" The other decides with a smile, and, from her back, pulls out a knife. A knife that seemingly materialized out of thin air because what the hell?
Shauna swallows thickly. She doesn't want to know what she, herself, meant by a 'vein-ous' breakdown, so, when the other starts inching the knife closer to her wrist, Shauna shuts her eyes tight.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up..." She mumbles to herself, over and over again, like she's saying a prayer, until her tongue stiffens.
The other Shauna suddenly, quickly and precisely, plunges the knife into the veins of her left arm. Blood starts gushing out like out of a faucet, dripping onto the floor and onto her clothes, which, by chance, are pure white. She drags the knife back and forth in her hand, making an even bigger hole, spilling even more blood. Her blue, swollen veins are exposed, and Shauna drops the knife. Now that her hand is free, Shauna plunges it into the wound and tries to grab the slippery vein, soaked in blood, with her fingers. After a few tries, she finally gets a firm grip on it and pulls it toward her like a rope in one swift pull. The vein stays in place, which infuriates her, so she pulls harder, and harder, and harder. The vein bursts, blood sprays on her face, but she doesn't seem to be in any sort of pain. She even seems to enjoy it, because the pain she should be feeling is being felt by the real Shauna. She throws the severed vein on the floor, the wound on her arm like a simple black hole from which blood is flowing.
Shauna holds her perfectly fine wrist with trembling hands, ragged breaths escaping her lips with no struggle. She's screaming in pain, already having dropped down on her knees.
"Ta-daa!" The other Shauna beams loudly, doing a dramatic magician's closing act pose.
"Shauna! Hey!" Jackie's muffled voice can be heard coming from, well, somewhere, in the darkness.
Shauna is too out of it to hear it, until she is forcefully pulled backwards, and suddenly, she's back in her dorm, hurling upwards in bed, inhaling deeply and still holding her wrist.
"Oh, God... Oh, my God!" She breathes out. Her head is spinning, heart thumping vigorously, and her wrist still hurting like a bitch.
Jackie is staring at her, wide-eyed, minimal blinking. "Are you okay?! Oh, my fucking God!" Jackie's saying all this like she was the one to experience wrist cutting and vein pulling from her replica.
Shauna doesn't respond, instead, she focuses on her wrist, turning it left and right, searching for any damage. Spoiler, it's perfectly fine. Not a single scratch even.
"Shauna, you're drenched in sweat!"
Jackie stumbles out of bed, turning on the kitchen light and opening cabinets.
Shauna looks weakly at the bedside clock, vision blurry, barely making out the red 3:13AM on display. Okay. That's fine. She's fine. Two hours of sleep is more than enough. She'll manage. Shauna lets her heavy head fall back into the pillow again. What the hell was all that? She has heard, from Lottie, many times that dreams sometimes are a prophecy of sorts, visions even. Alright, so. To get one thing settled in her racing mind, Shauna will end up killing herself by-
"Here, drink." Jackie says, offering (forcing) her a glass of water and a single pill. Probably ibuprofen, no, definitely ibuprofen. She sits on a lone chair next to the bed, like Shauna's some sick, Victorian child.
"Thanks, but..." Shauna takes the pill, downing it with a gulp of water. "I think I'm done with sleeping for the night."
Jackie wants to protest, the words already half-way out her mouth, but she quickly stops herself. "Okay... I understand that... Okay, yeah." She nods. "I'm gonna go back to sleep. That okay? I don't really want to wake up with a he-"
"Jackie," Shauna interjects calmly. "it's okay. You can go back to sleep."
Jackie smiles, nods, then nods again, and slides under the covers quietly.
Shauna wanders over to the window, dragging a chair over and perching herself on it, lighting a cigarette.
Jackie wonders, what the hell is so damn exciting about sitting next to a window all night, chain-smoking until the first light of dawn beams again?
"T.G.I.S." Jackie thinks. "Thank God, it's Saturday."
They barely passed and got sight of the first amusement ride and Shauna already feels like vomiting.
For Rhode Island, she can admit, the Christmas fair is fairly well done and prepared. Except for the blasting of Christmas songs, the designs are nice, various rides and attractions are scattered around in the heart of Rhode Island, making everything look polished and perfect, even though most of the things here are purely just cheap plastic material. Christmas lights soar about, and a giant evergreen conifer is perched in the middle of it all, decorated with ornaments and whatnot, with a shiny, giant star placed at the top of the tree. The air smells of baked goods, cinnamon, hot chocolate, and winter's cold. Shauna inhales, hoping to get more of the latter.
"Wow!" Jackie, bundled up in her coat, beams. "Didn't know Rhode Island was this dedicated."
"Mhm." Shauna hums in response, completely disgusted by the whole scene.
The fair is crowded, which further infuriates Shauna. What the hell did she expect? Smiling faces all push past her, and she wants to slap those smiles away.
"We should totally go to that Ferris wheel!" Jackie points towards the giant attraction painted to look like a candy cane.
"Yeah..." Shauna drags out the word. "About that... I'm not really fond of heights."
Jackie shrugs. "That's okay. We can ride Nat's carousel!"
Shauna clears her throat. "I'm not really fond of-"
"Look! There she is!"
Jackie practically drags Shauna over to Natalie, who, to Shauna's amusement, is dressed like a fucking elf. She hides a snort.
"I know I look fucking stupid, but I had no choice." Natalie acknowledges Shauna's snort.
"Look at your big-ass ears! Good God! They could never make me wear that." Shauna says and Natalie rolls her eyes.
"You can go suck a dick." Natalie says, placing a weird shaped pen in her mouth, which lights up at the end when she inhales. Exhaling sprouts out smoke from her lips.
"What's that?" Shauna questions.
"A vape. Smoking during work is prohibited, so I had to figure something out." Nat explains with a shrug, taking another drag.
"A what?" Shauna questions again.
"Vape! Are you deaf?"
"I heard you the first time! Are you deaf? Big-ass ears and still can't hear shit! I'm asking you what's that vape thing."
"Fuck off." Natalie clicks her tongue. "Here. Have a go." She hands her the vape and Shauna accepts.
She stares stupidly at it. "So, I'm just supposed to?..."
Shauna nearly swallows the fucking device.
"Dude! It's not a popsicle! Just place the edge into your mouth and inhale!"
Shauna finally manages to solve the atomic physics of vaping and inhales, sending herself into a turmoil of vigorous coughing.
She grimaces, handing it back to Natalie. "What the hell is that? Tastes like gingerbreads."
"For your information, this is twenty milligrams of nicotine. And for your information, my boy, it's an exclusive Christmas flavor!" Nat explains proudly.
"For your information, Einstein, you look ridiculous with that shit."
Natalie smiles. "Says the person who's about to enter a children's ride."
Shauna looks at Jackie, wide-eyed. "Jackie, we're not about to ride this, are we?"
"Nat, give me two tickets, please!"
The carousel ride isn't exactly the horse-type of carousel, instead of them, there are giant seats with the head of the Rudolph placed atop of each, with their red-glowing noses and all. Shauna sits down with a scowl.
"You look so cute! Look at you two!" Jackie beams and Shauna gives her a perplexed look that drops as soon as she looks to her left. The head of the Rudolph is right next to her, looking at her with a toothy smile, because obviously, Rudolphs have human teeth. His antlers are decorated with Christmas lights that flash every second and Shauna recoils.
"Jackie, please..." Shauna pinches the bridge of her nose as Jackie takes out her camera.
"Come on! Just one picture!" She whines and Shauna rolls her eyes.
"Fine. Just one."
Shauna 'poses', crossing her arms, still scowling, turning her head away from the Rudolph while he continues to stare at her.
"Smileeeeee!"
The camera flash nearly sends her into epilepsy.
"Aw!" Jackie pouts. "It's great! Look!"
Shauna looks at the picture, a scowling girl next to a smiling reindeer. Yeah. So cute.
"Buckle up!" Natalie shouts from a distance, and Shauna takes note of how Natalie refused to let more people in. It's just them on this stupid ride.
The ride starts off slow, and Shauna rests her head on her palm with a sigh, clearly bored by all this while Jackie beams like the fucking star at the top of the tree, taking pictures of everything. Okay. It's okay. She's fine. It'll only be a few minutes and-
Natalie slyly increases the speed.
Shauna perks up.
"Am I imagining or is it going faster?" She questions, already dreading the motion sickness.
Jackie shrugs.
Whatever, Jackie.
When the breeze becomes unbearably cold, Shauna is certain that it's going faster. And faster. And faster.
Jackie sets her camera down and whoops loudly at the sensation, shooting her hands up.
Shauna is wide-eyed, breaking out in sweat and already holding her stomach.
"Jackie!... Can we, um... Can we get off?" Shauna stammers as the ride picks up even more speed.
Jackie leans closer. "What?!"
"Can we...!"
This shit has to be going at least two thousand miles per hour, in circles.
Shauna's vision spins, everything becoming a blur like she's stuck in some fucked-up fog, vomit already clawing its way to her throat.
"Nat! Natalie!" Shauna starts borderline screaming, clutching to the reindeer like her life depends on it. "Stop the ride! I want to get off! Nat!"
Jackie is laughing, and Natalie, observing everything from a distance, can't catch a breath either.
"Natalie! Nat! Please!" Shauna sobs, covering her face.
"Merry-go-round, go round and round and round!" Natalie sings in response to her cries, swaying to imaginary rhythm.
"I'm gonna fucking throw up! Natalie!"
Jackie, finally, frantically motions for Natalie to cut the ride, who pouts before reluctantly doing so.
The ride stops and Shauna immediately stumbles out of it, disoriented, hitting her head on a sturdy sign placed right next to the fucking ride, loud metallic sound echoing in the air. She sucks a breath, placing her shaky hand on the impact zone.
"Yeehaw!" Natalie booms loudly, galloping over to Shauna with the biggest smile, the small bell attached to her elf hat bouncing and jingling with her every step.
"Are you okay?" Jackie comes down from the steps, laughing.
"This was attempted murder!" Shauna whines, resting against a solid wall, palm against forehead in the most somber pose ever.
"Imagine how Santa feels every Christmas." Nat says, adjusting her green hat.
"Santa's not real, you fucking moron."
Shauna gives Natalie one last scowl before turning on her heel and walking away with Jackie.
"Wait..." Natalie mumbles. "Hey! Wait!" She shouts after them, to no avail. "What do you mean Santa's not real? Guys!"
"Shauna! Look, look!" Jackie chirps and Shauna wants to sink into the ground and never appear again.
Jackie is menacingly pointing towards a giant game stand with plushies to win hanging from the top.
Shauna gives an exasperated sigh. "Jackie, please... Can we just go back to our dorm?"
Jackie pouts. "Please! Just this one game and we'll go!"
She'll manage. "Okay, fine, fine."
A tall person stands behind the counter, dressed as Santa Claus. The said person scratches their chin through the itchy fake, long white beard.
Shauna instantly recognizes the long, darkish-brown hair.
"Lottie?"
Lottie turns to them, having been doing something with the game.
"Oh, hby yub guyb! Tbey offbrd exbta mobey ib I db tbis." Lottie says, each word incoherent and muffled by the beard.
Shauna blinks. "Okay... Whatever you just said."
Lottie sighs, pulling down the beard. "I said hey. They offered extra money for this crap, so... I'm here now. One round is five bucks."
"Five bucks?!" Shauna gapes. "For this?"
Lottie shrugs. "I don't make the rules."
Shauna looks at Jackie, nudging her head towards the hanging toys. "Which one do you want?"
"Um... Oh! That one!" Jackie points towards an enormous panda plush that looks taller than her.
Shauna clicks her tongue. "Really, Jax? Where the hell are we putting that?"
Jackie crosses her arms. "On my bed. Obviously."
"So you're just..." Shauna waves a hand in the air. "gonna let a stupid toy take your personal space?"
"Ugh, Shauna! I'm not even using that bed, and besides, I never said anything about your stack of books in every corner of the room."
Shauna rolls her eyes. "Fine. What am I supposed to do here now?"
Lottie accepts the cash with a smile, nimbly stuffing it in her pockets before anyone could even begin to register the micro-movement. "Hit the moving target. Easy as that."
Shauna looks at the now still target. Fucking Grinch, smiling teasingly and daringly at her.
Lottie walks from behind the counter, shooing Shauna out the way as she draws a line on the floor, about a ten feet distance from the game.
"Stand here." Lottie points. "You have one shot. If you miss, ten bucks for another round."
Lottie obviously just made that up.
"You're kidding."
Lottie clicks her tongue dismissively. "Rules."
The item designated to take down Grinch is a small plastic cookie.
"Good luck."
Lottie starts the game, and so far, it's easier to hit a fly mid-air than to take down this ridiculously fast moving target.
Shauna takes her position, right leg perched forward, body turned slightly sideways and right hand already in the air. She watches the target, memorizing the route. She just has to predict its next movement. Nothing Shauna can't manage.
She throws the cookie full-force, elbow cracking in surprise, wind gushing as it flies... and flies... straight into Lottie's face.
Lottie yelps at the impact, hand immediately raising up to hold the area, chin-level.
"No, no, no, no!" Lottie raps, pulling down the beard and frantically fumbling for her hand mirror she keeps stuffed in her pocket.
She takes it out, flipping it open and smiling widely, checking her teeth. Her golden tooth seems perfectly fine. She clicks the mirror shut and glances at Shauna.
"You're lucky you didn't damage it!" Lottie shouts, loud enough for Shauna to hear every word from the distance. "I'd sue you!"
Shauna beams from a distance. "For what?"
Lottie tries to remain serious, but cracks when Shauna genuinely looks concerned. "For assaulting me on my workplace!" She laughs it out.
Shauna clicks her tongue, once again she interpreted a look too seriously. "Please! Like that pirate cosplay of yours is worth a dime!"
"Can't take a joke, Shipman?" Lottie crosses her arms.
"Can't take a beating, Matthews?"
Shauna wants to beat the shit out of Lottie right here, right now. She can feel the surge of energy from her body all shift towards her fist as it clenches, knuckles running ghostly-white. Jackie notices, immediately shooting a scolding gaze in Lottie's direction.
Lottie shrugs. "Sorry. So you up for another round or?"
"Yeah."
Shauna stuffs the ten dollar bill in Lottie's palm, which she accepts with a smile and once again slides it in her pocket. She crouches down behind the counter, covering her ears and starting the game.
She shoots up a quick thumbs-up. "Okay, go!"
Shauna watches Grinch as he flies across the space, analyzing how his face slowly morphs into that of Lottie. "Can't take a joke, Shipman?" Shauna inhales, the cold air rushing into her system, grounding herself. "Can't take a joke, Shipman?"
The cookie hurls from her fist, beheading Grinch with lightning fast speed and a loud plastic crack, leaving only his fuzzy neck now standing in place.
Lottie stands up quickly, stumbling backwards, nearly losing her balance. "Dude! You broke it!" She whines. "Boss will kill me!"
After leaving Panda Goldilocks, as Jackie named her, in the car, she managed to convince Shauna to take one last final stroll through the fair. Of course, much to Shauna's horror, they end up in a movie theater. And, once again, much to her horror, the only movie that is screening currently is The Titanic.
"Jackie, please..." Shauna begs as Jackie drags her over to the counter.
"Two tickets, please! Oh, front row, please!" Jackie says to the woman behind the counter, who, compared to her enthusiasm is sulking.
"Screening room three. Just down the hall." The woman points a finger somewhere that's definitely not the hall. "Enjoy."
"Thank you so much! Keep the change." Jackie spits out, handing the woman a fucking fifty dollar bill even though the price in total was ten dollars. She grabs Shauna's hand again and continues dragging her reluctant figure into the screening room. By the time they enter, the movie already started, so Jackie mumbles hushed apologies as they squeeze through a row of people that have already taken their seats. Shauna plops down on the seat with an exasperated sigh, sinking into the seat like its quicksand. She rubs her forehead in exhaustion, thinking about how she'd rather sleep and have one of those terrible nightmares again than be sitting here right now. Jackie intertwines their hands together, locking fingers.
"This is my..." She counts quietly. "...two, three... four! Fourth time seeing this movie!"
Shauna nods slowly. "Yeah... okay..." She yawns briefly. "That's... lovely, Jackie. I'm really tired, so I won't be up for any talking during the movie, yeah? Let's just watch the movie in silence, okay? How long is it anyway?"
Jackie hums to herself. "I think it's... Oh! Three hours!" She smiles.
Shauna mumbles a prayer.
Every time Shauna would close her eyes for one blissful second, Jackie would nudge her and point at the screen.
"Now, listen! Jack's gonna say "I'm the king of the world!""
And, indeed, that line is delivered mere seconds after Jackie said it.
Shauna hums. "That's good... yeah, that's good, you know everything." She rests her head back on her palm, closing her eyes.
Jackie speaks again. Shauna's eyes shoot up.
"Hey, did you know that the movie isn't exactly point-accurate about the real Titanic disaster?"
Shauna looks up at her weakly. "Yeah, obviously... It's a movie, Jackie. Now, why don't you keep quiet fo-"
"This guy that's about to shoot two people and kill himself? That didn't actually happen! His family sued the studio for that!"
One guy, another moviegoer, sitting behind them clicks his tongue and shushes her.
Jackie ignores him. "Also! The diamond, Heart of the Ocean you know, wasn't actually that big in real life."
"Shh!" The moviegoer shushes again.
"Oh! And of course, Jack and Rose never existed. It's just for the movie!"
"Lady! Can you shut up?"
Jackie turns to him, raising slightly from the seat. "Well, I payed for the ticket, didn't it? And, dear sir, if I want to talk, I will."
Shauna rubs her forehead.
"Didn't you read the rules? No talking during the movie!"
"Why don't you switch seats then?"
"Lady! Sit down and be quiet, will you? You just talk, and talk, and talk! Do you ever shut the hell up?"
Jackie gapes. "Excuse me? Shauna!"
Shauna stirs awake. "What?"
"This guy's harassing me!"
The moviegoer raises his hands up in confusion. "You're harassing me!"
Shauna stands up and turns to him, woozy from the three seconds sleep she's gotten. "Do we have a problem here?"
"Uh, yeah! Your friend over here is ruining the movie." He crosses his arms.
Shauna crosses her arms as well. "Oh, yeah? Why don't you switch seats then, huh?"
He stands up, towering over Shauna. Easily six-feet-five, and probably a bodybuilder judging by his arms. Fucking damn it. "Why don't you switch seats?"
Shauna scoffs. "You want to get your ass beat?"
She barely finished her sentence when the guy grabbed her collar and pulled her closer. "Fine. Let's settle this in the hall." Shauna sweats at those words, but agrees anyway, because Jackie's here and she has to do some noble act of service by miraculously kicking this guy's ass.
Once in the hall, the man stands opposite of her and Jackie. "So?"
"So?" Shauna repeats, imitating his voice. "You're the one causing a scene right now. Just switch the fucking seats! It's not that hard, I promise you."
"Why the fuck don't you switch seats then?"
"Because I paid for them!"
"Actually," Jackie jumps in. "I paid for them. And sir, really, we don't want any trouble. So, if you could just cut this silly argument a little shorter and switch seats, that would be very lovely."
"I paid for my seat as well!" He contradicts, growing increasingly frustrated by the second.
"Look this," Shauna begins calmly. "If I punch you in the face, would that change your mind?"
Jackie chuckles nervously, taking in his size compared to Shauna's. "Uh, sir, really, it's okay. Just... We'll switch seats, okay?"
"No, we won't!" Shauna says, clenching her fist. "He'll switch them."
"The hell I won-"
Shauna hurls her fist at him, quick and hard. He yelps, stumbling backwards, holding the side of his face.
"Yeah!" Shauna triumphs proudly. "How about that? You switching yo-"
The man returns the punch, sending Shauna flying backwards into Jackie's arms.
"I just wanted to see Leo DiCaprio on my screen!" He sobs. "And I'm gonna do that! Just now! I'm gonna go back in and watch The Titanic!" He covers his face and sobs into it, running back into the screening room like the princess he truly, deeply, is.
Shauna sits on the bed while Jackie sits on a chair next to her, tipping a piece of cloth in and out of a bowl of cold water. Panda Goldilocks sits on the other bed, watching them with her plush smile. He got her pretty good, that guy. A large, already purple, bruise formed just below her right eye.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow..." Shauna winces as Jackie presses a wet cloth against the impact area.
Jackie clicks her tongue with a pout. "I know... He got you pretty good."
"And I didn't even get a thank you." Shauna eyes her.
Jackie chuckles. "Thank you!" She kisses her cheek. "And they say chivalry is dead."
"Sorry to break it to you, but I nearly died back there. So chivalry could have been dead."
"Oh, please!" Jackie whacks her shoulder. "It's not even that bad! Look!"
Shauna looks at herself in the mirror that Jackie shoved into her face, scanning the bruise.
"Yeah, right... Not bad at all."
"It could have been worse." Jackie shrugs.
"Yeah? Like what? A coma? Certain death?"
Jackie laughs. "Now you're just exaggerating it. You know I wouldn't let that happen."
Shauna rolls her eyes with a smile. "Now you're exaggerating it."
Jackie imitates being offended. "Are you doubting me?"
"Very much, yes. Yes, I am."
Jackie punches her, without a second thought, and Shauna recoils, placing a hand on another impact zone that is sure to leave a mark.
"Ow! What the hell!?"
Jackie chuckles lightly, draping her arms around Shauna's neck.
"Now?"
"A little." Shauna decides, leaning in.
Without knocking, Natalie hurls into the dorm.
"Guys! You have to see this! There's a whole ass tree stump in the boy's bathroom! Tom's having a mental breakdown!"
"Nat," Shauna sighs. "Why the hell were you in the boy's bathroom in the first place?"
Natalie shrugs. "Uh... no reason."