The School of Change Part 1

Chapter 1 – The First Step
The wall creeps ever closer to me with each step I take. I’m going to run out of real estate soon, and then I’m really going to need to fight. I’m really only delaying the inevitable in the first place. The three boys approaching me are not going to go away on their own.
“Come on,” says the boy with brown hair spiked in the front. His name is Peter, right? I think I recall someone calling him that yesterday. “I asked you out, and you have the audacity to say no? Why don’t you reconsider?”
My heart pounds on my chest. “Like I told you, I don’t know you. I only met you fifteen minutes ago.”
He pulls out a ruler from his backpack. “Listen, kid. I don’t know why you think you have any right to turn me down, but let’s face it. I’m a guy, and you’re a girl. No matter what you do, I’m stronger than you, faster than you, and better than you. So you might as well suck it up and accept me as your boyfriend, or this ruler will be smacking your behind faster than you can measure time with it.”
Such an idiot. I hold up my fists defensively. “You want to try me?”
He throws the ruler down. “Wow, a girl who doesn’t know her place. Come on boys, it’s time we teach her a lesson.”
They charge at me, forcing me back. My real estate narrows and finally collapses, leaving me pinned against the wall with nothing more than my fists to protect me. A steady wind blows, pushing several blonde locks in front of my eyes. Why now?
The boys are going to be on top of me any moment. My arms shake as they charge without any sort of heed for their own safety. Clearly they think they’ll ram into me, and I’ll absorb all the damage from the wall.
I jump to the side. The three of them crash with the force of a raging bull in the wall, crumbling below it. Is that a dent in the brick work?
“You bitch!” yells the one with a brown ponytail. John, right? The former thief? As someone in my distant past told me who I can no longer remember, never trust a guy with a ponytail. “Stop running away!”
Like I’d listen to a command like that. I race away from them, trying to put some distance between us. The dorms are just ahead. If I can only get in them, I could lock those boys out. Or even better, maybe a teacher could walk by and save me.
My feet tangle in the sidewalk, destroying any semblance of balance I might have. I crash face down on the brick path. The sharp pain in my hands informs me that they’re indeed scraped.
“Clumsy one, aren’t we?” asks Peter. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you. I won’t take your first time from you here, but I will take your first kiss.”
His friends laugh as they catch up with him. “And I’ll take your second,” smirks John. “Steve’ll take your third.”
“No!” I shout as they descend on me. “Somebody! Please, anyone! Save me!”
“This isn’t a princess movie, sister.” Peter leans in closer. “Nobody’s going to save you right now. You’re my property, and you will do what I say.” His face approaches mine, and I can feel his breath on my lips. If he moves any close, our lips are going to touch, and he really will steal my first kiss before I can even fall in love!
His lips meet mine, sealing the deal. Tears well up in my eyes as I feel his warm lips embracing mine, with a tongue pushing against my teeth in a desperate attempt to get deeper into my mouth.
I open my mouth ever so slightly to allow him in, and he takes all he can get. Perfect. My teeth chomp down, drawing blood from his vulnerable tongue.
“Yeow!” He jumps back, giving me a moment to breathe. “You bitch! How dare you? And here I thought I was being nice to you, not taking your first time!”
Warmth fills my lips again. I glare at the boy on top of me, this one a black-haired kid named Steve. Peter at least looked good. Steve is a grotesque human being, weighing at least triple what I do. His fat cheeks stop my breath, and his stomach pushes down on me so hard, I’m shocked I don’t break.
“Pay attention to me!” shouts Peter.
Steve chuckles. “You took so long, you weren’t saving any for the fishes.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It works for water fountains, and the mouth produces saliva like a fountain, so I thought it’d work.”
“Well, it doesn’t. Now get over here and help me.”
Steven, like the goon he is, gets off my body and gives me a chance to breathe. But it doesn’t take long until the last bully, John, is on top of me and getting his.
“And what is going on here, may I ask?”
John barely grazed my lips when my hero appeared out of nowhere. “Mrs. Fields!” I shout.
She folds her arms and surveys the scene. “Tell me, Marissa, do you want these guys kissing you? It is after school hours, so if that is what you desire, I have no business telling you what you can and can’t do.”
“No way!” I shout.
She grabs her cane and points it at the boys. “Peter, Steven, and John, you are hereby summoned to my office. We shall deal with your punishment there.”
“And if we don’t?” Peter gets on his feet and hold up his fists, clearly still ready to fight.
“You wish to try me?” she asks.
“Of course I do.” Peter charges at Mrs. Fields, looking for the first opening. She sighs and leaves her entire chest area exposed for him.
But it’s nothing more than a decoy. Peter goes airborne as Mrs. Fields whacks him with her cane. He falls over on the ground and screams in pain, desperate for any sort of assistance. But Mrs. Fields wasn’t going to give him any, and I certainly won’t.
“Anybody else want to try me?”
The other two boys look at each other and then back at her. “Please don’t hurt us!” Steven throws his hands up in the air. “We’ll come willingly!”
She puts her cane back on its rightful spot on her belt. “Good. Be a pair of dears for me and carry your idiot friend back up the stairs.”
“Understood!” They rush to Peter and left him up like he’s on a stretcher before running to the teacher’s offices.
Mrs. Fields kneels down. “Poor Marissa. Are you hurt anywhere?”
I struggle to my feet. “Nothing seems to be broken, if that’s what you’re asking.” I swing my arms around to test them, and bounce from one leg to the other. “A few bruises and a pair of scraped hands, but I’ll live.”
She grabs a hold of my chin and gazes into my eyes. “Sometimes, there are more hurts in the world that your body. Your body will heal, but sometimes trauma and sadness will overcome you faster than you can believe. If you ever want to talk to me about how to get over losing your first kiss, I’m here for you any time.”
She turns from me to head into the offices after the boys.
“Um, Mrs. Fields,” I say.
“Yes?”
“What’s going to happen to them? You know, the three boys and all.”
She grabs her cane and taps it on the ground. “You won’t have to worry about them anymore.”
“You’re going to expel them?”
“What else? They had one last chance with us, but they broke it and lost it. They have no place in this school anymore.”
Even if they had stolen my first kiss, that seems a bit extreme. “What if you give me a chance to reform them? They don’t have to go to jail or anything. I’m sure I can turn them into productive members of society without a problem.”
Mrs. Fields mumbles something.
“What was that?”
“Oh, nothing. But I’m sorry, Marissa. Even if you think you can change them, the rules are absolute. Anybody at Lehigh Academy for reasons of violence or other dangerous crimes will be expelled the first time they are caught – no exceptions. You should be glad, as that means three less people to harass you.”
She thrusts her cane back into her belt. “But it’s more than that. Come to your senses and remember you only woke up yesterday. You couldn’t even remember your own name, so we had to give you the name ‘Marissa.’ Until you’re able to remember more about your life, I don’t think you’re going to be able to change much of anyone.”
She disappears in the distance, leaving me alone on the brick path. My adrenaline fades, and with it comes sharp pains throughout my hands. “Scrapes hurt more than I thought.”
“Doesn’t that look painful?”
A sing-song voice comes from above me. I turn my head up to see a girl with a brunette ponytail and bright blue eyes. “I’m all right, Julie.”
Julie, being the caring girl she is, won’t take that. “Come on, let’s get back to our room. We’ve got to get that treated.”
“I told you I’m fine.” Nevertheless, I follow her. It’s not like I have much of a choice considering she’s my roommate.
“It may feel fine, but you don’t want it to get infected. There was girl in the news who had a scrape like that, and it let her to getting some flesh-eating bacteria and she had to lose her arm!”
That sounds horrible. I hardly remember having an arm, so it’s not like I’d want to lose it on my second day.
I sit down on my chair with a bucket under my hands. Julie comes over with a brown bottle and a bag of cotton balls. “Now, this is going to sting a bit, all right?”
She doesn’t give me a chance to answer before she pours the stuff over my ripped hands. She wasn’t kidding about it stinging. But I can’t cry about something like this. Nothing happens to physical pain when you cry about it. I have to reserve my tears for emotional situations.
“You’re strong.” She screws the cap back on the bottle and returns it to its rightful place on the shelf. “I cried like a baby when I got that stuff poured on my knee a few years ago.”
“Not worth it.” I wash my hands, but it doesn’t do much to stop the stinging.
“What happened? I heard some screaming and came running out, but all I wound up coming to was you lying on the ground with your palms all scraped up.”
I return to my desk and press the power button on my laptop. Well, I shouldn’t say my laptop. I don’t own anything in this room right now, save for the tattered grey dress in my closet that the school found me in.
“Peter and his goons thought it’d be a good idea to steal my first kiss.”
“Did they succeed?”
I nod.
“That’s so awful. I really wish the boys in this school had some sense of self-control. But we might as well wish for pigs to have wings.”
“You don’t seem that surprised.”
She sits down at her desk and powers on her own laptop. “To be honest, I’m surprised you lasted a full day. It was only a matter of hours before they stole mine, and a week before they stole my virginity as well.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.” Her face is dark and gloomy as she recalls such a horrible experience. “This school has an endless supply of guys, and they’re almost all violent criminals kept out of jail by the school system. When they see a new girl, they think of her as ‘fresh bait’ instead of as a human. They’ll be fighting each other for the rights to be your first, I’m sure.”
“Well, I won’t be any of their firsts,” I fold my hands together. “They won’t touch me without my permission.”
“Good luck with that. We see how well that worked out today.”
I flinch as my scraped palms touch each other. She’s right. There’s no way I can ever survive here. “I’m going to need protection.”
“That’s why I said you better start taking birth control.”
“Not that kind of protection.” I squeeze my legs together. “Someone to stop the dirty men who come after me and try and ruin me.”
“And who do you think is going to do that?” She pulls up our math webpage and starts to type in the answers to our homework assignment. “If you’re asking me to, no thanks. I’ve been ‘used goods’ to them for a long time now, and I intend to keep it that way.”
“Aw, really? But you’re such a good friend!”
“Really? You woke up yesterday with no memories of anything that’s ever happened in your life, no records of your existence, and nobody who could come close to identify you. You were thrust in here with me because I had no roommate, and females are pretty rare here in the first place. And now you think I’m a good friend?”
I tap my finger to my chin. “Yep.”
“You’re nuts.” She returns to her math homework, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
She’s right. I really have no idea who I am. Marissa is nothing more than what Mrs. Fields named me, and I don’t even have a last name yet. That doesn’t matter to those guys in either case. They’ll find me, strip off my clothes, and make me scream for mercy.
A blonde hair falls in front of my face again. “Maybe I should cut my hair.”
“Cut it? Why?” Julie turns away from her computer.
I get out of my seat and examine myself in the mirror. “It’s too long. It keeps getting in my face and bugging me. It’d be much better if I could shave it all off and go for a punky sort of look.”
“You don’t have the skin for it.”
“What’s wrong with my skin?”
She gets out of her chair and pulls my arm up to my face. “Punks need to either by pale as a ghost, or dark. You’re on the pale side, I’ll give you that, but not enough. Besides, with those sparkling blue eyes of yours, you’d never pass off the ‘I hate the world’ sort of look.”
A breeze blows in, forcing my hair to the side. “But it’s too annoying like this.”
Julie hops on the counter. “Why don’t you braid it?”
“Braid?”
“Here, I’ll do it for you. Turn around for a bit.”
I obey and she gets to work. She continually tugs at my hair, but never enough to actually hurt me. When she finishes, she nods in approval.
“Looks quite nice. See for yourself.”
When I check myself out in the mirror, I see two long blond braids behind my shoulders. Practically, they’re perfect. There’s no way they’re going to get in my eyes. But, there’s something missing.
“Oh, sunglasses!” I grab my bag thrown over my chair.
“Sunglasses?”
I pull out a fresh pair of sunglasses and throw them on my forehead. Of course, I don’t actually wear them. That’d ruin the look. Instead I leave them right around my hairline and strike a pose.
Julie bursts out laughing. “Where’d you learn to pose like that?”
I break the pose and strike another. “Some website I stumbled across this morning.”
Julie giggles. “Seriously, with that hairstyle, those big blue eyes of yours, and those poses, you look like some sort of idol.”
“Idol?”
She grabs me by the wrist and pulls me to her laptop. “See, like this.”
A girl in a puffy pink dress dances on stage, singing her heart out. “Thanks for coming to see me!” she shouts. “I love you all!”
The crowd, which is mostly men, roars with approval. She blows them a kiss and skips off to the side, where several man in suits lay in waiting.
“She couldn’t have lasted much more than a day,” I surmise.
“What do you mean? She’s been doing this for five years now.”
“Five years? She’s going that long?”
Julie flips to another screen. “This one’s been at it for seven. She’s starting to fade in popularity in any case.”
My jaw drops. “Then if they were that cute and lasted that long, why did you say I’m not going to last more than a week here? Am I not cute?”
She blinks. “Wait a second. We’re talking about two totally different things here.”
“You’re talking about their virginity, right?”
“No, no, no! Their careers!” She flips to another idol. “Though, now that you mention it, most of them probably are virgins. They don’t exactly have boyfriends or anything so they can be ‘everyone’s dream.’ I remember when an idol got pregnant a few years back, and when she came back nobody wanted to see her anymore.”
“That’s awful.”
Julie flips back to her math homework. “That’s life. But it’s not like we should feel sorry for her or anything. She chose to do what she did. No self-respecting bodyguard would ever let a man touch his guard without her permission.”
“Bodyguard?”
“The guys in the suits on the side. Though, can you believe it? They used to only be her fans, but they fell so in love with her that they wanted to make sure she stayed pure through thick and thin.”
I leap up. “That’s it!”
Julie blinks. “What’s it?”
“My life. I’m going to become an idol so everyone in this school will love me and want to protect me!”
“Good luck with that. Can you even sing?”
I clear my throat. Only having two days of memories doesn’t do much for knowing songs, but I did have a vast collection of nursery rhymes. “Three blind mice~ Three blind mice~ See how they run~ See how they run~”
Julie giggled. “I hope you’re prepared to sing something more mature than that.”
“Don’t judge me!”
She folds her arms. “Well, if you’re really doing this, you better prepare to be judged. Men will judge everything about you – be it your appearance, your voice, your dancing, your demeanor, and even the foods you choose to eat. Every aspect of your life is going to be regulated.”
My life seems pretty regulated as it is. “That’s no big deal. But, how was my singing?”
The breeze blows in through the window again, fluttering my braids. But thanks to Julie’s efforts, they stay behind my body, and away from my face.
“Amazing,” says Julie.
Chapter 2 – The Second Step
After the bell rings for lunch, Julie and I race out of the room to the empty classroom down the hall.
“We have forty minutes. Come on, we’re going to spend thirty of them dancing. Move with me! Five, six, seven, eight!”
Julie plows through the dance routine, as she has each of the past two days.
She pumps her fists up and does a slide across the floor. “Why don’t you talk during these sessions?”
I pant. “Too… tired…”
The music stops and she spins around to me. “You’re going to have to change that attitude soon. Idols sing while they dance, not one or the other.”
“Can’t I just move my mouth to the music?”
“Lip-syncing?” She grabs a piece of chalk and scribbles on the chalkboard in the front.
“Top things idols can never do,” I read.
“Here’s today’s lesson. Idols can never lip-sync. I know when you’re faking it, and if I know, the audience will know. They want to see the genuine you, not a recorded version of yourself.”
So much for that brilliant idea.
The warning bell rings for class, alerting us that our practice time is over. We pull out our fruit cups and eat them ever so slowly, savoring how little food we’re allotted.
“Are you going to join me in this idol stuff?” We pass by a group of guys. I can feel their stares on my back. “You can dance pretty well, and you have the looks for it.”
She shrugs. “I don’t see the benefit of it for me. I’m protected from the guys as ‘used goods’ so I’d rather not have and unnecessary attention if I could help it.”
“But it’d be fun!”
We re-enter the classroom – two of the only three girls in that class. “Let’s say that we’ll let you get all the attention at the start, because this whole thing is about you. After that, we’ll decide whether I want to join in on the ‘fun’ or not.”
The afternoon passes by with our usual history and math lessons. At the end of the day, our homeroom teacher walks in to do the usual ending rituals.
“I hope you learned a lot today. Please remember that all students are required to attend dinner at six sharp. Failure to attend counts as an absence on your record, and five absences will call for disciplinary action.” The guys shudder at those words. For them, disciplinary action means time in jail. For the three girls in the back of the class, it meant maybe a detention – nothing too extreme.
She smirks. “Speaking of disciplinary action, those three seats in the front, where Steven, Peter, and John used to sit, will be reoccupied on Monday. If you don’t want to end up like those three, I’d suggest you all follow the rules this weekend and show up promptly for class after the weekend. Dismissed.”
She leaves the classroom, and the guys grumble as they leave the room.
Julie sorts through her bag. “Oops!” she shouts.
“What’s wrong?”
She droops her shoulders. “I had a surprise for you, but I left it in our room. I’m going to run back and get it. You warm up in the practice room, all right?”
“Doing what?”
“I don’t know! Do some stretches or something.”
She runs off. So Julie can be forgetful too. I’ll have to remember that in the future. Then again, who am I to criticize someone for being forgetful? I’m sixteen years old and can’t remember a thing beyond a couple of days ago.
First thing I do when I enter the room is throw open the windows. Julie might lecture me about how idols need to perform under the heat of the tormentors, but I don’t really care. I’ve got to learn how to be an idol first before I can start worrying about everything that idols have to deal with.
The second thing I do is change my clothes. Our school doesn’t have uniforms necessarily, but with its stringent dress code, we might as well. But nothing prevents us from changing into more comfortable clothes for physical activity.
The door creeks open. “Oh, welcome back Julie.” I lean down to touch my toes.
Footsteps approach me, but Julie doesn’t respond.
“Julie?” I ask.
I pick myself up. Something must be wrong with her.
But Julie isn’t in front of me. It’s Eric, with a huge grin on his face, and his pants unbuttoned. “Surprise!” he shouts.
He grabs me by the shoulders and slams me down on the ground. My head smacks against the radiator, but he doesn’t care. All he cares about is tearing my clothes off of me.
“Stop!” I shout. “No! Don’t!”
But he doesn’t listen as he pulls my shirt off and unhooks my bra. I scream, begging for anyone to hear me. Yet he doesn’t care and licks my breasts, playing with the nipple in specific.
I bite my lip to stop myself from showing him that I actually enjoyed that. Who knew something like that could feel good? But at the same time, this is my worst nightmare.
My dream of becoming an idol and driving away the perverts has come to an end. He’s on top of me, and he’ll be inside me any moment now. He forces his lip on mine – his fat chubby lips connected to his puffy cheeks and three chins. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn’t it have at least been somebody hot? He unzips his pants and grabs my panties, getting ready to shove himself inside me.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” We turn our gazes to the door, where Julie fumes.
“Stay out of this.” Eric waves her off. “You’re used goods, so you better go home before we take interest in you again.”
“Get off her,” she says.
“Or what? You’ll smack me with your purse?” He chuckles. “Oh, unless, are you offering your body instead? Sorry, but this girl is much more amusing than you.”
“I said GET OFF!” She runs at him and leaps in the air. Her feet plant themselves on his head, and he flies off of me and into the wall. When he lands, he doesn’t get up again.
“Are you all right?” Julie kneels down next to me and checks my head. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s just a scratch.” I rub the back on my head. That’s going to leave a nice lump tomorrow. A headache creeps into my head, screaming at me to pay attention to it.
Julie pulls open her purse and pulls out a pair of pills. “This’ll help with the headache. But I don’t know what we’ll do about your shirt.”
“My shirt?” I spot it a few feet away in a heap. But I see what she means – there are a ton of rips and tears on it. There’s no way I can ever wear that again.
Julie takes a gander at the unconscious guy who had attempted to rape me. “I guess we need to get a teacher here before he wakes up.” She dials a number on her phone and informs someone of the situation before returning to me.
“So what’ll I do?” I spot my bra with its broken clasp near my shirt. “I can’t go back to the dorm half naked!”
Julie grabs the bag she dropped at the door and pulls out its contents. “Ta-Dah!”
In her hands is a mostly blue dress which glitters as she turns it. It’s not too long – probably stopping around the middle of my thighs, but it’d reveal the entirety of my arms and the full extent of my collarbones.
“There’s no way this would conform to the dress code. We have to have skirts below the knees and not more than an inch around our necks exposed!”
She lays it on the piano. “We’ll wait until the teachers take care of Mr. Pervert here first.”
As if by magic, Mrs. Fields enters the classroom and takes a gander at the scene. “They just never learn, do they?” she asks.
“Mrs. Fields, this guy, he—” I get up.
“I know. I have eyes too, you know.” She stands over him with her hands on her hips. “Come on, Eric, playtime’s over.” She gives him a sharp kick on the ribs, which makes him gasp and groan.
“What? Where am I?” He rubs his eyes.
“Nice try.” Mrs. Fields points up at the camera in the corner of the room. “We know exactly what you tried to do, so don’t try and make excuses.”
When he sees my hateful face, he hides his face behind his hands. “So it’s to the slammer for me?”
Mrs. Fields shrugs. “I suppose you could say that. It depends. Marissa, did he do anything to you?”
I don’t want to remember that experience, but I know better than to hide it. “He tore off my clothes, and then he licked me, and then he kissed me. But Julie was super cool and came to my rescue!”
Mrs. Fields smirks. “Then I suppose you’ll need to come to my office, Eric. We have some things to talk about.”
She grabs him by the wrist, and pulls at his arm. He has no choice but to follow her.
She takes one last glance at us before leaving the classroom. “One piece of advice, Marissa. Watch your lips. They have more power than you can even imagine.”
She closes the door, leaving the two of us alone.
“My lips?” I place my fingers on them. “Did I say something wrong?”
Julie takes my fingers off them. “In a way. She’s right in any case. You have to be careful about what you say, or your idol career will never take off.”
“What did I do?”
She stands in front of me, and places her hands on her hips. “It’s time to choose between two idols. You tell me which one you’re more likely to feel bad for.”
She hops to the left and turns her face to stone. “He ripped off my clothes, licked me, and kissed me.”
She hops back to the center. “That was idol one. Here’s idol two.”
She hops left and whips up some tears. “That big meanie tore off Julie’s pretty dress that Marissa made for her, defiled my innocent body with his nasty tongue, and then tried to take my first kiss!”
She returns to the center and folds her arms. “So, which idol is an actual idol?”
“The second?”
“Bingo!” She picks up the dress. “You win this dress as a prize.”
It is a pretty dress, to say the least. “I can have it?”
She gives me a thumbs up. “You better have it. I stayed up late the past couple nights sewing it while you slept.”
It’d be a shame to put it to waste. I slip off my skirt once Julie verifies there are no nasty men trying to peek inside, and threw the dress on.
“Well?”
I run the silky fabric through my fingers. “It fits so perfectly. How’d you get my measurements?”
“You’re a pretty heavy sleeper.” Julie winks. I’m not sure if I should be grateful for her assistance, or afraid that she could do whatever she wants to me when I sleep and I’ll never notice.
She checks up at the clock. “Though I guess we better get to dinner soon. That Eric really messed with out training schedule today.”
“It can’t be that late. It’s only… FIVE FORTY-FIVE?!” How did we lose that much time for that idiot?
“Don’t worry, the cafeteria’s close enough. And the faculty knows why you’re dressed like that. Besides, this could be a great idol debut for you.”
“What?! Debut?!”
Julie winks. “They’ll all love you. I’m sure you’ll get your bodyguard tonight.”
The cafeteria falls dead silent as we enter. Every eye is on me right now.
“That’s a nice table over there.” Julie pulls me towards a small round table – maybe with enough seating for two or three.
“It’s right in the center of the cafeteria,” I grip my dress. “Shouldn’t we get something more in the corner and out of the way?”
“We’re getting it because it’s in the center.” She pushes me along, despite my protests.
“Do you want me to get our food? What do you want to eat?” I shake more with every step.
“Food? Why would you want that before your debut?”
“But what else would we do in a cafeteria besides eat?”
Julie laughs. “Get on your platform.”
She can’t be serious. Maybe there’s some other platform around here. “Where?”
She points at the table. “Come on, up! I want every eye in the cafeteria on you.”
No! I don’t want to do this! What if I mess up? What if I get in trouble? What if someone looks up my dress instead of at my face?
An image of Eric’s multiple chins hanging over my face resurfaces, bringing my nightmares back home.
I steel my resolve. I’m not going to let something like that happen to me again. Nobody’s going to do that to me without my permission again. My kisses are sacred, and not to be given out lightly.
I step on the chair and on the table. Nobody moves or speaks – not even the faculty.
“Well, um, good evening.” The lights really are hot beaming off the rafters on the ceiling. “My name, well, my name is Marissa, and I hope this works out well. Can you hear me?”
The attention is gone. The students return to their meals, and the faculty shuffle their papers.
“You call that being an idol?” Julie slaps my leg. “Come on, do you want a repeat of what happened today, or do you want a bodyguard?”
“Come on, can’t you come save me like before?”
She kicks at a chair. “I saved you because I had faith in you. I wanted to see you become the pure idol of this crummy school. Yet you’re going to throw it all away? Maybe I should have let that sicko do what he wanted with you. Then you’d be just like the rest of us.”
I don’t know if I should be hurt by that or what. But, one thing’s for sure. If I don’t do something now, it’s over. Another Eric will come, and I’ll lose the only thing I have left to give in this world.
I straighten my back. “Let’s try that again! Good afternoon everyone! Or, I suppose I should call it good evening now. It’s been such a looooong day, I guess even Marissa can lose track of the time! Tee-hee~” I lightly tab my fist on my head while sticking my tongue out and winking. But that small pressure is enough to agitate my already horrible headache.
The crowd’s attention is back on me. And more than that, they’re smiling! They’re liking my little cutesy play.
“Oh, I’m so happy you’re all excited to see me! You’re such a wonderful audience! I never dreamed I’d get to see so many of you at one time!”
Julie cuts at her throat. Oh, that’s right, I can’t stay cute for too long. I have to actually sing something.
“Well, let’s see, let’s see… I don’t know too many songs yet, so you’ll need to give me a bit more time to learn them, but I can always sing one that I know for now! It’s from a game I’m playing, and I think I know the words. You’ll have to help me out if I mess up! It’s called Starry Heavens by Day After Tomorrow.”
I’m really going to do this, aren’t I? I’m going to sing in front of hundreds of eager students, most of who wouldn’t blink at the chance to get in my skirt.
I take a deep breath and begin. “What will I wish for if I found a shooting star that travels in the sky now~”
The crowd erupts in cheers the instant my voice leaves my mouth. They get up out of their seats and clap, urging me on. Julie gives me a thumbs up.
They like me. They really do! I take a deep breath and continue.
After my performance, I take my seat and several guys run up to me.
“That was amazing! You’re a natural!”
“Can I have your autograph?”
“Where do you practice? I want to hear you more!”
Julie waves them off. “Listen, she’s not your personal play doll. She just finished a big performance, and she needs some time to rest.”
“And who do you think you are?” demands a rather scruffy boy with large muscles.
“Her manager.” Julie folds her arms.
“I don’t know how that can be. After all, I’m her real manager.”
We turn to the left where a girl stands with her arms folded. She’s wearing black leggings and a jeans skirt to go along with her black cap-sleeved shirt and shoulder-length black hair. I knew her as the girl two rows in front of me who’s great at math, but can’t spell to save her life.
“Excuse me?” Julie turns to her. “I don’t think either of us really either know who you are.”
She saunters over to us. “My name is Samantha. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You just met her and are claiming you’re her manager?” One of the guys slams his hand on the table. “Unforgiveable!”
She places her hand on my shoulder. “Do you want these guys here around you? Or should I get rid of them for you?”
“Don’t you dare lay a finger on Marissa!” yells one of the guys. “I’ll hurt anyone who touches her!”
Julie smirks. This is exactly what we want to hear. “Would you like to do that as a job?”
He blinks. “What do you mean?”
“You want to keep people from hurting her, and now that she’s got all these eyes on her, she’s going to need more help than ever. Why don’t you become her personal bodyguard?”
“Really?” he asks, his eyes sparkling. “My name is James! This is Tim and Hank. We’d love to help out however we can!”
Julie nudges her elbow into my ribs. “Really?” I put on my cute act again. “Oh, I’m so happy! Please take good care of me, and I’m really excited about working together from now on!”
“Don’t ignore me!” Samantha fumes. She steps in front of us.
“As I said, I don’t know you.” Julie points to herself, “and Marissa doesn’t either. To be quite honest, you’re bothering us, so go away.”
“That seems a little cruel,” I say. “Let’s hear what she’s got to say.”
Julie grabs hold of my hands. “Listen, I’ll explain more when we get back to the dorm. But you’re best of ignoring her for now.”
“Really? But she’s kind of cute. Cute girls can’t be bad people, can they?”
“You have a lot to learn about this world. Come on, I want to play some video games with you anyways, so let’s finish up here and head back to the room.”
“But weren’t you playing a single player game?” I ask.
“I said, stop ignoring me!” Samantha puts her hands on her hips and scowls.
“Excuse me, miss.” Tim steps in front of her. “You’re bothering Miss Marissa, and we’ll have to ask you to leave her alone.”
“Or what? You’ll hit me? I’d like to see you risk getting yourself thrown in the slammer because you wouldn’t let me talk to her.”
I wave them away. “Go on, tell me what you want.”
She falls on her knees. “Please, let me be your manager!”
Julie folds her arms. “At least you’re asking now.”
“Technically she’s not,” I say.
Julie pats me away. “Sorry, but we’re not really interested in a manager. If you want to be an idol, maybe we can talk a bit, but the manager role is already fulfilled by me.”
Samantha pokes her fingers together. “But I’d be such a great manager. I know all the ins and outs of getting gigs, and I have a lot of people around town who owe me favors and would be so willing to lend us supplies and costumes and music and stuff.”
Julie frowns.
“Are you able to do that too?” I ask.
She grips on her chair. “Not particularly. I had to make that dress myself, after all.”
Samantha jumps up. “Then it’s settled. Julie can join you as an idol duo, and I’ll be your manager.”
“I can’t be an idol,” Julie says. “There’s no question about it.”
“But why?” Samantha grabs a clump of Julie’s curly red hair. “People absolutely kill for these types of curls. Not to mention, you have an absolutely killer body for the role. Your boobs might be a little too big, but you’re keeping your stomach toned so that more than makes up for it.”
Julie slams her fork on the table. “I said no. I’m not going to be an idol, and that’s that. Beyond that, I’m not going to let you be her manager. I’m her manager, end of story.” She grabs my wrist. “Come on, Marissa, we’re heading back.”
“But I hardly ate—”
“I said we’re going back. I have some leftover cake in the refrigerator.”
That is all the convincing I need. I get up out of my chair and follow her, visions of cake dancing in my head.
“At least take my card,” Samantha calls. She flings it in the air, and I grab hold of it.
“How pitiful,” grumbles Julie as we leave the cafeteria.
The cake is delicious as promised. But when Julie and I settle into our seats in front of the television and she flips on the gaming system, I can’t get those events out of my mind. “Why didn’t you want her as a manager?”
She taps on her controller to select the arena we are to battle in. “You shouldn’t trust anyone in this school.”
“But why? She seems a nice enough girl. And she’s right, you’d be a totally cute idol! I’d love to be on stage with you in matching outfits, dancing and singing our hearts out.”
She sets down the controller.
“Aren’t you going to pick an arena?” I ask.
She unbuttons the sleeve of her shirt. “Do you know why I’m still wearing long sleeves, even though it’s approaching the middle of June?”
I hardly know what month it is, so it’s not like I really had any idea. “No.”
She rolls them up and shows me her wrist. All along it are bright raised red marks forming railroad ties, combined with a single thick line running from her elbow to her hand.
“What is that? Did you run into a bush or something?”
She buttons her sleeve back up. “Amnesia really does make you innocent. No, there was no bush that did this to me. I did it to myself one night last year. My boyfriend had broken up with me, my mom had yelled at me, and my grades were spiraling out of control. My future looked as bleak as ever. So I took a razor blade and made the lovely pattern you see on my arm today.”
She averted her eyes. “Please don’t judge me.”
“Why would I? I can’t remember anything past a couple of days ago, so I’m the last person to judge you.”
Julie picks up the controller. “That’s why I’m considered left handed. My right arm is too weak now to really do much of anything thanks to a few severed tendons and ligaments. Kind of ironic. I did something as awful as that because I couldn’t stand my life, and in doing so I made tiny problems become major ones.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re admitting this to me. But why are you telling me this?”
She folds her hands together. “Because you need to know that there’s nobody here who can be trusted to be who they say they are. My dad didn’t want to deal with psychotherapy and treatment for me, so he decided to ship me off to this school, which offered to take me in for free. He couldn’t have a ‘suicidal daughter’ ruin his place in society, after all. But I’m a rather minor case compared to the other girls in here. Some have withdrawn so much that the teachers have to personally drag them to class every day.”
“Samantha doesn’t seem like that at all.” I hold the business card in my hand. “She was super cheery, bright, and wanted what was best for us.”
“She’s a student here, right?”
“I’d assume so. It’s not like we let just anyone into the cafeteria.”
Julie hits the “start” button on the controller. “Then that’s all the evidence you need that there’s something wrong with her. People don’t send their daughters here if they’re ‘normal.’ You’d be best avoiding her.”
After getting beat by Julie fifteen times in a row, I collapse on our floral rug. “I’m so beat,” I groan. “Why can’t I win?”
“Because I have ten years of practice under my belt, and you have two days.” She picks herself up and flops in her bed. “Though I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised by your choice of song at your debut today.”
“Was it weird?”
She laughs. “Well, most people aren’t going to cover a song for a game that came out thirteen years ago for their debut. What made you choose that one?”
I sit on my bed and pull off my debut dress. For the first time since I met her, Julie has no qualms with changing in front of me. It must be because she was trying to hide her wrist before.
I button up my pajamas. “It’s the only non-nursery rhyme I really know.”
“That’s a bit obscure of a song.”
“You gave me the game, remember? It’s not like I have any other game songs or the like to sing.”
Julie smirks. “We’ll have to get you another game someday.”
Chapter 3 – Three’s Company
I really wish I knew what happened to the weekend. Between running all around town and visiting department stores, the pool, and a music shop, I never really got a chance to lay back and relax. We were so busy that we had to stay up well past midnight on Sunday just to get our homework finished.
“Oh, that’s right. We’re getting some new classmates today.” The seats previously occupied by Steven, Peter, and John remain empty as we file into class. “I hope one of them’s a girl.”
Julie flops in her chair. “You might as well wish for a unicorn to fly past our window. They’re going to be three more criminal boys given one last chance before they get locked up in the slammer. The next round of psychological evaluations aren’t due for a month, so you’d have to get lucky to find another girl between now and then.”
“How often do they come out?”
Julie counts on her fingers. “Four times a year, so I suppose that’s every three months.” She picks her pencil up in her left hand and jots down the homework agenda listed on the board. Now that she showed me why, I’ve taken particular notice to how dexterous she’s become with it. Even with her technically non-dominant hand, she still writes the most beautiful cursive.
Several windows rattle when the teacher slams the door open. She throws her bag on the ground and sits at her desk. “As you guessed, we have three new students today. Come on in and introduce yourselves.”
One student timidly peeks their head in the class. My heart jumps in my throat. It’s not “his head”, it’s “her head!” She staggers in the room as the teacher beckons to her, along with two other girls. She went for a poof look, pushing the front of her hair up a bit. Another girl with brown hair has it tied back in a ponytail, while the last girl has black hair that she split into a pair of spiky pigtails over her ears.
“The poof girl is Hannah, the ponytail one is Mary, and the pigtails belong to Ashley.” The teacher’s introduction, like mine a week ago, is short and to the point – nothing more than identification.
“U-Um, pleasure to meet you,” says Hannah.
The teacher points at the front seats in turns. “Hannah, you take Peter’s old seat, Mary, you take John’s, and Ashley, you take Steven’s.”
They shake as they move to their seats. I can see why – every guy in class is staring at their rather large assets and drooling. Men are such perverts.
The teacher points back at Julie and me. “Julie, you dealt with an amnesiac before, so why don’t you take them around school with Marissa?”
“Me?” I ask. “Why?”
“All three of these girls lost their memories, just like you. They’re going to need someone to show them the ropes around here.”
Did I really look that timid last week? I suppose it’s for the best. “Understood.”
The day passes, and lunch arrives. Julie shoves her books in her bag. “Why can’t I have a Monday where I can eat my lunch in peace? Come on, we’ve got a tour to give.”
We head to the front of the class where the girls stare up at us. “Are you going to help us?” asks the girl with the black pigtails, Ashley.
“Of course. My name is Marissa. I might not look like it in these clothes, but I’m actually an idol.”
“Idol?”
“Yeah, I sing and dance, and everyone admires me. It’s kind of fun.”
Her eyes sparkle as I mention it.
“Don’t you think of competing with her,” warns Julie. “There’s only enough room for one idol in this school.”
But Ashley doesn’t hear her, and keeps herself transfixed on me.
We tour the school with Ashley following a step behind me. “Are the boys here nice? There’s so many of them,” she says.
“Tch, you wish.” Julie stops at the cafeteria. “Listen, guys are the devil, and the main evil in this school. You know your desks? They belonged to three guys who tried to, well, succeeded at kissing Marissa here against her will.”
“That’s awful!” Hannah places her hand over her mouth. “Who would force something like that?”
“I wonder the same thing every day of my life.” Julie closes the cafeteria door and leads us back to the classroom. “But, you’re girls, so we’ve got to stick together. There aren’t many of us, but as long as you don’t turn into the guys who you replaced, you’ll be fine here. Stay together at all times and come to us if you need anything.”
We split apart for them to do some paperwork while Julie and I return back to class. “They seemed nice enough,” I say.
Julie shrugs. “Girls usually do. But something about them seemed kind of familiar.”
“What did?”
“I can’t quite place my finger on it. But it’s like, I think I’ve met them somewhere before. Though it’s not like I really had many friends in school before I came here, so I don’t know from where.”
We settle in our seats as the French teacher enters the room. For some reason this school thinks that by us learning French, we’ll become more docile and calm. It certainly doesn’t seem to be doing much in the way of helping us yet.
When the day ends, Julie and I sprint to the empty classroom we’ve been using as a practice room. When we get there, three men stand in front of it with their arms folded. It takes me a moment to figure out who they are.
“Oh, hi guys! Thanks for standing guard!”
Tim winks. “We’d do anything for you. Go dance your hearts away. We won’t let anyone get in here without your permission!”
“You’re such a dear.” I think about giving him a small kiss on the cheek in thanks, but I’m not sure about it. As Mrs. Fields and Julie said, my lips carry power. The words that come out of them, and the actions they take, can sway a man’s heart and make him do things he’d never have done otherwise. It’s best to keep my lips to myself and save my real first kiss for someone I really want to have it.
When we open the door, Julie gasps. “What in the world is this?”
Over the past week, we had been dancing in the small area in front of the class where the supposed teacher would have stood, since the rest of it had row upon row of unused desks. But they aren’t in the classroom anymore, leaving us with a full open practice space.
“Where’d the desks go?”
Hank pulls open the door a smidge. “Sorry, did you want them in here? They seemed like a major pain, so we moved them all for you to the next room over.”
These guys may actually be useful at more than rape prevention. “Thank you so much! Marissa is soooo appreciative!”
That cute act is enough to melt their hearts. Julie motions them to close the door. “We’ve got to change.”
They comply immediately, and to our relief, don’t dare try and sneak a peek.
Last week, Julie would pull her gym shirt over her blouse and then take her blouse off from under. But now that I know about her arm, she has no problem taking her top off like I do.
“You can’t see them now!” Hank shouts outside the door. “They’re busy!”
“But it’s important. I need to talk with them.” A female voice. I know that voice; I had heard it on Friday asking to be my manager.
“Samantha?” Julie fumbles in her bag for her shirt.
“Come back here, you slippery devil!” James jumps around outside the door. “You can’t go in until I say so.”
“I’m her manager, not you.” Samantha’s shadow slips past him and the door handle turns. Julie grabs her shirt and tries to pull it on before the inevitable.
She barely makes it when the door opens and Samantha stumbles in.
“We’re sorry, miss Marissa.” Tim bows his head. “She was just too uncatchable.”
I give them a cheeky smile. “It’s fine, so long as you did your best.”
“Well, remove her.” Julie points at Samantha with her left arm. This is bad. Why is she in a short-sleeve shirt? She hides her right behind her back as best she can. “She’s not welcome here.”
“You heard her.” Tim grabs Samantha by the collar. “Out!”
Samantha kicks him in the groin, and he collapses outside. She slams the door before any of the other bodyguards can come in, and with surprising strength pushes the teacher’s podium up to block it.
She collapses by the podium as my bodyguards bang on the door. “Sheesh that was exhausting.”
“What are you doing?!” Julie slams her left arm on the ground. “This is harassment! You’re not welcome here!”
Samantha picks herself up. “Isn’t that a weird way to stand?”
Julie’s excitement fades. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Samantha slings her bag over her arm. “It’s like you’re hiding something from me. Something you don’t want me or anyone else to see for that matter. Something on your right arm.”
“Shut up!” Julie shouts. “I’ll call Mrs. Fields if I have to. Or maybe even the police!”
She smirks. “Show me your arm, and I’ll go away.”
“No.”
Samantha reaches into her bag and pulls out a miniature baseball bat. “You’ll have to, or I’ll check it out on my own.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” I shout. “She said no. You’re no better than any of those rapists!”
“Oh, I get it.” She thumps her fist in her palm. “That’s why you have those thugs out there.”
“They’re my bodyguards.” I narrow my eyes.
She shrugs. “It happens to everyone here eventually, no matter how many steps they take to protect themselves. For all the work I did, I only survived eight days before some guy found me.”
Julie bites her lip. “It won’t happen to Marissa.”
“Well, it won’t if you entrust yourselves to me. Any great manager can protect their idols.” She grabs Julie’s arm and thrusts her wrist out in front of her. “And their idols’ secrets.”
Julie screams. “Let go of me! You have no right to touch me! Leave now!”
Samantha smirks. “I suppose I could. I mean, would the entire school love to know about what you did to yourself? I’m amazed you managed to keep it a secret even when all the guys in the school were having their way with you a few months ago.”
Julie averts her eyes. “I was wearing a wrist brace at the time.”
“Of course you were, of course you were. Tendon damage is pretty debilitating, isn’t it?” She places her fingers on Julie’s chin and lifts her head up. “But, that’s all right. I know there are plenty of guys in this school who think scars and disabilities are hot. You’ll be the most popular girl in school again! Wouldn’t that be exciting?”
Julie grabs Samantha’s arm. “I’ll kill you!”
“With that weak grip?” She pulls off Julie as if it were nothing. “Give me a break.”
Samantha places her hands on her hips. “Well, you two have two choices now. Either your little secrets run wild, or you accept me as your manager.”
“Secrets?” I ask.
“Oh, Marissa, did nobody tell you? Girls that try to protect themselves are so much more tempting for guys. If a guy in this school found out you were trying to protect your virginity, he’d be all over you in a second.”
I curl up in a ball.
Julie grumbles. “Not much of a choice then. Fine, you can manage us, but don’t think we’ll like it.”
“Oh, I’m so happy!” cheers Samantha. “Then I guess you two better get to work. Idols aren’t born; they’re made.”
Julie stands up to face her. “I think you’ve got the wrong idea. I’ve agreed to let you manage Marissa, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be an idol. Unless you think an idol can dance around with this on her arm, you’re out of luck.”
Samantha reaches in her bag. “Well, I’ve got just the thing for that.”
“If you’re thinking of putting makeup on it, I’ve already tried it. It’s too deep and red to make a difference.”
Samantha whispers something.
“What was that?” I ask.
“Oh, nothing, just talking to myself.” She pulls out a jar of peach colored cream. “This should hide those marks no problem.”
“I just told you that makeup doesn’t work.” Julie clenches her good fist.
Samantha unscrews the lid. “Wanna bet?”
“Bet what?”
She sticks her finger in. “If this works, you’ll agree to become an idol and dance for me.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“I’ll resign my position as manager and let you two continue as you were. No blackmail, no secrets getting leaked. You’ll be rid of me.”
Julie scoffs. “Works with me. You don’t even have my skin color right, so I’ll declare victory already.”
“Watch and learn.” Samantha picks up Julie’s arm and rubs the cream on it ever so gently. Julie closes her eyes and lets Samantha do her work.
When Samantha finishes, Julie shrieks. “What the, how the, what did you—”
Her arm is completely smooth, as if nobody had ever touched it. Curious, I put my finger on it, and to my surprise it doesn’t even feel like makeup. It’s as if she never had the scars at all.
“The effect should hold for three days.” Samantha hands over the jar. “You don’t need to worry about it getting wet or anything either – it’s remarkably waterproof.”
Julie’s hand shakes. “But it still feels as weak as ever.”
“Makeup is cosmetic. The damage you did inside’ll never be healed, but at least we can make it seem like you don’t have a problem.”
I marvel at her new skin. “It’s like you have the magic touch or something.”
Samantha lifts her hands up. “So, that makes you two an idol duo now. I’m expecting you to work your hardest for me so we can make this work, all right?”
“Yes ma’am!” I salute. Even if she did blackmail us into taking her, she did help Julie. She can’t be a bad person – only a desperate one.
Samantha turns her head over to Julie. “Are you with us, or are you going against your word?”
Julie is still examining her arm, as if she can’t believe what she’s seeing. “How did you do this? I tried every makeup under the sun, but even the best ones didn’t get close to this.”
Samatha winks. “With a little bit of magic. Now, come on. You have your end of the bargain to fulfill.”
“Can I keep this?” she asks.
“If you work hard, sure. I have no problem giving you more either. But for now, let’s dance.”
Thanks to the events from earlier, our training is cut horribly short. But on the other hand, we have a new – if a bit evil – friend.