“My, it sure is a beautiful day outside today,” Katja said to herself one warm morning in May as she opened the kitchen window.
It certainly was a beautiful day outside; it was going to be a beautiful day inside, too. School was about to end soon, especially for the seniors. Today was Class Day. Class Day was a day for the school administrators to announce which scholarships at which college/university some seniors were receiving. The seniors all had to wear their fanciest formal clothes possible. Speaking of…
“Ryan!” Greg called from the kitchen, “You’ve got one more minute to get finished getting dressed or else I’m coming in, do you understand?”
Ryan slowly stomped down the stairs, one loud clonk at a time, until he appeared in the kitchen wearing a long-sleeved, baby blue button-up shirt with khaki pants.
“Ryan,” Greg began, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Ryan stared at the tall black man liked he had smoked a whole pound of crack cocaine and answered uncertainly, “Forgetting what?”
Greg handed him the Class Day and graduation dress codes in order to receive a diploma.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Ryan exclaimed irritably, “I seriously have to shave my beard for fucking Class Day?!”
“That’s what it says here,” Greg replied, pointing to a paragraph.
Ryan threw his hands up in the air and groaned, “Oh, my fucking God! We’re not even in the caps and gowns yet; why the fuck do I have to shave my beard off in the first place?!”
“Because Class Day and graduation are formal events, and nobody wants you to look like a dirty homeless person,” Faustine, who was stirring her oatmeal and writing down her valedictorian’s speech, answered in a flat voice.
Ryan swiftly turned his head to Faustine like an enraged owl and shouted, “Oi, fuck off, Faustine!”
“You know what?” Katja butted in, “I think Faustine’s reason is a good reason.”
“Well, I don’t!” Ryan argued with his arms crossed against his chest.
“Ryan, we’re not going to argue about this,” Greg stated once and for all, “Go back upstairs and shave your beard off.”
Ryan moaned and threw his hands up like a little bitch as he stormed back upstairs and slammed the upstairs bathroom’s door.
At least the underclassmen didn’t have to wear their school uniforms that day.
“I’m so glad we don’t have to wear school uniforms on Awards Day,” Kishi gushed to Anima at the kitchen table. She was wearing a ruby red dress made of polyester, and, for some strange reason, the freckles that were usually splattered all over her face weren’t there. Huh, that was strange.
“What do you mean ‘Awards Day’?” Anima asked.
“You know, when people get their awards for doing the best in a certain school subject,” Kishi explained.
Oh, that. Anima knew she didn’t have a chance at getting one of those. Thank God she kept it simple with a white sailor shirt, a red bowtie, and blue jeans.
Upstairs in the bathroom, everyone heard Ryan scream in agony as he tried to shave his beard off. “Holy shit!” he hollered like a fucking bitch, “I’m fucking bleeding!”
As most of the people in the house (especially and specifically Niklas) stifled their laughter, Kishi turned back to Anima and said-
“Is that why you’re wearing all that makeup?” Anima asked.
Despite the heavy amount of concealer on her face, showing only a slight blush of red, Kishi’s face and ears burned like lava in a volcano. Speaking of volcanos…
“Who the fuck used up all of my makeup?!” Fern erupted from the downstairs bathroom.
Kishi squirmed in her seat and twirled a strand of her hair. She looked down at an invisible watch on her wrist and exclaimed, “Oh, no! We’re gonna be late and miss the bus!”
While waiting at the bus stop, their friends Lidiya, Amanda, and River all looked at Kishi like she was a crack-addicted hooker on the streets.
“Okay, I don’t mean to be that person, but where are your freckles?” Lidiya asked Kishi. She was wearing a white, long-sleeved work blouse with a black work skirt and black work shoes.
“I’m wearing concealer on my face. Doesn’t it look good?” Kishi answered.
“Yeah, but why are you wearing so much makeup in the first place?” Amanda asked. She was wearing a white, long-sleeved work blouse and red tie with a black jean skirt, a black choker on her neck, and black boots.
“In case I win an award,” Kishi answered with an arrogant smile on her face.
River, who was wearing a maroon blouse with bell-bottom sleeves and khakis, wheezed in laughter and exclaimed, “What award, nigga? The only people getting any fucking awards are the super smart kids who have been going to this school they entire lives.”
Kishi, with her eye twitching, sharply turned to River and asked in an irritated tone of voice, “How do you know that?!”
“Because that’s how all award shows are,” River answered casually, “If you’re lucky, you’ll probably get a little mention for making the honor roll.”
“She’s got a point, Kish,” Lidiya said with an apathetic shrug.
Kishi’s shoulders hunched up as she twitched her eye. “Yeah, well… how would you know I won’t get any awards today?!”
“Because it’s common fucking sense, nigga!” River argued, “How the fuck have you not noticed this shit by now?!”
Kishi and River continued their arguing as they all got onto the school bus (with Lidiya occasionally butting in), yet there was no sign of Penelope anywhere. Weird, was she sick from school or something, or did she have an appointment somewhere and her parents were planning on taking her to school later?
When Anima arrived at school, she noticed everyone, or rather damn near everyone, was wearing their most formal outfits for Awards Day. This was certainly true as she was walking to Ms. Blume’s art class.
“Oh, my God!” McKenna Suzuki sighed heavily to Kyla Wong and Violet Blume, “Awards Day is today!” McKenna was wearing a pink dress with a pleated skirt and magenta high heels.
“Oh, my God, McKenna. We all know you’re gonna win a bunch of awards. Why do you always do this act every Awards Day?” Kyla said. She was wearing a slinky black dress and fancy black loafers.
“I know I’m gonna win the art award for making the highest average in Ms. Blume’s class,” Violet said. She was wearing a white tank top with a long, tan vest that had fringes torn at the bottom as well as blue jeans and brown flip-flops.
“Wait, where’d you get that from?” Kyla questioned.
Violet shrugged. “I looked over at the those files Ms. Blume had on her desk a few days ago.”
Kyla and McKenna stared at Violet in disbelief and awe. Then, Kyla yelped at the top of her lungs-
McKenna sighed and shook her head. “Nepotism at its finest, ladies and gents,” she said to herself.
…
Because the school system wanted to suck every senior’s dick, every other student was required to attend the Class Day ceremony as well. Somehow, Niklas and Marianne managed to find seats together despite being in different homerooms.
“Holy shit, Ryan actually shaved his beard off?” Marianne asked Niklas right before the actual ceremony started.
“Fuck yes!” Niklas replied, stifling his laughter, “And he actually fucking cut himself while he was shaving, and there was blood everywhere on the bathroom floor!”
“Jesus Christ!” Marianne also managed to stifle her laughter somehow. “I wonder what he looks like now.”
“You’re gonna see in a little while,” Niklas said, “It’s gonna be really fucking funny!”
Sure enough, as soon as they saw Ryan walking in the walkway, Niklas whispered a nasty idea into Marianne’s idea, which made her smack Ryan’s ass in three… two… one…
SMACK!
Ryan jumped, swiftly turned around to face Niklas and Marianne, and whispered harshly with clenched teeth-
Niklas and Marianne, clearly not giving a shit about Ryan’s wellbeing, covered their mouths and tried their hardest not to snicker. However, as soon as he left (mostly because some other students were behind him and wanted to get Class Day over with), the two “pranksters” let it all go. Their laughter quickly filled up the entire auditorium, and it took two teachers to drag them into the ISS room, where they continued to laugh. Saliva dripped onto Niklas’s Pink Floyd T-shirt while he held onto his crotch while Marianne wiped some tears of laughter onto her Nirvana T-shirt.
“Did I mention that Ryan screamed like a bitch when he cut himself while shaving?” Niklas wheezed.
That was the funniest shit these two had ever heard of.
After the Class Day assembly had ended, Riley, who had come with Greg, ran over to Marilyn and hugged her. “Girl, I’m so proud of you!” she squealed as she squeezed Marilyn tighter than the tightest skirt hugging against a girl’s thigh.
“Aww, boo! I wish you could’ve been with me, too!” Marilyn replied, squeezing Riley into an equally tight hug.
As soon as Marilyn said that, Riley felt a swift twang of agony punch her in the guts. Yet another reminder of her failures. “Yeah… yeah, me too,” she said quietly, staring at the ground.
“But don’t worry,” Marilyn tried to reassure Riley, “You’re gonna have a job soon, aren’t you?”
Riley gulped. Why did Marilyn have to bring that up? Okay, no need to panic. Just take a deep breath; she was gonna find something worthwhile soon. “Y-Yeah, Imma have a job real soon. You gon’ be going to college soon, right?”
This time, it was Marilyn’s turn to feel a swift twang of agony punching her in the guts. “Yeah… yeah, I am.”
“Great! We can at least see each other during breaks.”
Marilyn gulped and blinked, her dark brown eyes shifting to the ground, where her feet were shifting her own weight. “Daddy says I have to go to college in Berkeley,” she almost whispered.
Riley’s heart skipped a beat. Berkeley was in the middle of California; Portland was all the way in northern Oregon, bordering the south of Washington state. She may never see Marilyn again. “Damn… I’m gonna miss you so much,” she said, tears stinging her eyes.
Tears stung Marilyn’s eyes, too. She stood still, stiff as a board, for the longest time until she suddenly pushed herself onto Riley and exclaimed, “I’m gonna miss you too, girl!”
The two girls embraced each other for the longest time until they reluctantly let go of each other and stared at each other some more. Finally-
On the ride home, Cereza went on and on about what life would be like in middle school.
“And I can finally wear make-up and own a cell phone and go on dates,” she droned on and on, as if anyone cared.
“And you’ll have to wear school uniforms,” Axel interrupted in a blasé tone of voice, trying hard not to fall back asleep.
Cereza turned her head and gave Axel a nasty glare. “¡No interrumpas mis fantasías, pendejo!” she hissed with clenched teeth.
Axel rolled his eyes and slumped his head down onto his chest, failing to stay awake.
“I don’t see why school uniforms are such a big deal,” Siënna said, “I wore them when I was in school in Belgium, and it wasn’t such a big deal there.”
The high schoolers scoffed at Siënna’s comment because they knew how much hell school uniforms really were, especially for those who didn’t wear them in their home countries. Besides, wasn’t America supposed to be a free country? If so, why the school uniforms?
The only person (besides Siënna and Axel) who didn’t seem to give a shit about school uniforms (or, rather, wasn’t paying attention) was Ryan. There were much worse things on his mind, and Greg could tell by the harsh scowl frozen on his face and how he was positioned in the back- slouched down with his arms crossed against his chest.
“Ryan,” Greg began gently, “Is there something you want to talk to me about when we get home?”
Before Ryan could utter a single sound, Tamie blurted out, “Nikki groped his ass during the Class Day ceremony.”
“Oi, shut the fuck up, Tamie!” Ryan shouted at the fat, alcoholic fuck.
“Ryan,” Greg warned, “Just because you’re upset about something doesn’t make it okay for you to lash out at other people. We’ll talk about your situation when we arrive at home, okay?”
Ryan scoffed and slid further down his seat with his arms crossed against his chest. Yeah, right. Like any of that would be resolved. Looked like he had to take things into his own hands.
Speaking of taking things into Ryan’s own hands, Niklas was still chuckling to himself, even though he had been put into ISS and damn well knowing that Greg was going to get on his ass for that. But Greg wasn’t going to be the only person getting onto Niklas’s ass…
“I’m gonna fucking kill you for this!” Ryan screamed at the top of his lungs as he lunged towards Niklas.
Niklas, forgetting for a second that he and Marianne had “pranked” Ryan during the Class Day ceremony, put his hands up in defense and questioned, “Dude, what the fuck are you talking about?!”
“You know damn well what the fuck I’m talking about, you fucking pervert!” Ryan answered, his face red as a tomato and his breath as fast as lightning, grabbing at the collar of Niklas’s shirt.
Finally understanding what Ryan was talking about, Niklas pushed himself away and loudly insisted, “It was a fucking joke!”
“Does this look like I’m fucking laughing, mate?!” Ryan screeched, his spit splattering onto Niklas’s face.
Niklas wiped the spit off of his face and insisted again, “It was a fucking joke! You do this shit to me all the time! What makes this any different?!”
“I never slapped your ass, asshole!” By that point, Ryan’s face was redder than a tomato and hotter than lava in a volcano. But before a physical fight could break out, Greg separated the two young men and guided them to the Vent Room.
“I need to know what’s going on with you two,” Greg said in a low voice, sitting on a yellow beanbag chair.
“Nikki slapped my ass during the Class Day ceremony!” Ryan snitched, his face still red and burning from embarrassment and shame.
“It was a fucking joke!” Niklas loudly insisted for the third time, “And it wasn’t even me who slapped his ass! It was Marianne!”
“You think that’s gonna make a fucking difference?!” Ryan shouted.
“Well, you do this shit to me all the time! Now, all of a sudden, I give you a taste of your own medicine, and you get a stick up your ass about it?!” Niklas argued, his own face turning red.
Ryan was about to lung at Niklas again, but Greg held him back. “I’ve never slapped your ass before, you fucking pervert!” he shouted while trying to wriggle out of Greg’s grasp, “You are a sick fuck, and I fucking hate you for this!”
“Ryan, take a deep breath,” Greg told the angry ginger. He turned to Niklas and asked, “Niklas, is it true that you and Marianne decided to slap Ryan on his… buttocks?”
“It was a fucking joke!” Niklas insisted, his face growing redder than ever, “And it wasn’t even my idea in the first place! It was Marianne’s! I just thought it was funny!”
Greg took a deep breath and stared at Niklas right into his green eyes. “Niklas,” he began, “Sexual harassment is not funny. It is not a joke to make; it is a serious offense that hurts other people. I want you to apologize to Ryan right now.”
Niklas balked, his jaw dropped. “But I didn’t do shit to him!” he argued, throwing his hands out in the air.
“Niklas,” Greg warned in a low voice, “You encouraged your girlfriend to sexually harass Ryan. Sexual harassment is not a joke. Now, I want you to apologize to Ryan right now. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Niklas sighed and huffed through his nostrils. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled under his breath.
“What are you sorry for, Niklas?” Greg egged on, “I want you to say clearly what you’re sorry for.”
Niklas growled and repeated clearly, although with his teeth clenched, “I’m sorry for slapping your ass during the Class Day assembly.”
“Thank you, Niklas,” Greg said with a tiny, serene smile on his face. Ryan just glared at Niklas with the same frown on his face until Greg made him shake hands with the young man whose girlfriend had slapped his ass earlier.
…
“I can’t believe this!” Kishi whined on the way home from school, “I didn’t win one award!” Indeed, that was true. River was right; the only ones who won any awards were the super smart kids like McKenna Suzuki and Kyla Wong. Violet Blume was right, too; she won the art award from her cousin’s class. Even River won an award for making straight A’s throughout the year. The only time Kishi’s name was mentioned was when the principal was announcing the names of those who made A’s and B’s all year round.
“Gee, kind of makes all of that makeup not worth it, huh?” Lidiya said more to herself, which made Amanda and River giggle.
Kishi, who had heard that, blushed a heavy red and turned her head. “Oh, like you’re in any position to laugh, Lidiya! You didn’t win any awards, either!”
“Yeah, but at least I didn’t waste my time putting on a ton of makeup and deluding myself,” Lidiya argued.
“Yeah, come on, Kishi. You had to have known that you probably weren’t going to win an award,” Amanda added.
Kishi’s eye twitched, and her fists curled up into balls. “It couldn’t help to be prepared, you know… just in case!”
“Just in case,” River mumbled to herself, making Lidiya laugh in the process.
Kishi stormed over towards her “friends” and was about to give them a piece of her mind when Amanda asked where Anima was.
“I don’t know,” Kishi answered, her face and posture returning to normal, “I did know that she got off the bus with us.”
“Yeah, and she was walking with us for a little bit,” Lidiya added, “I wonder why she isn’t with us right now.”
“Yeah… that is a good point,” River said, “This bitch making it look like a missing person’s report.”
Amanda gulped and replied with, “Well, that really worries me. She’s been doing this a lot lately.”
Kishi gulped and rubbed her hand onto her arm. “Yeah, me too. Where could she be right now?”
Where Anima was at that moment was in the woods, looking for Penelope. She didn’t have the energy to listen to Kishi bitch about not receiving any awards. Besides, Penelope wasn’t on the bus. What was up with that? Her heart started rapidly beating out of her chest, and her hands clammed up. Oh, God! She hoped Penelope’s parents hadn’t found out about them! Her chest tightened as her breathing increased in speed. Where was Penelope?! Was she okay?! Anima’s feet crunched on leaves and branches until she heard a noise that finally relieved her- Penelope’s singing.
God, she had such a beautiful singing voice! Anima could just listen to it all day; Penelope’s voice was as smooth as silk, as deep as dark chocolate, and as melodic as a symphony from Mozart. How could anyone not want to listen to this beautiful singing? Anima had to get closer to hear better! So, she tiptoed closer and closer to Penelope as quietly as possible so that she couldn’t interrupt that amazing voice. But, of course, she did interrupt when she accidentally stepped on a stick, making it crack so loudly that Penelope yelped an off-pitch noise and jumped three feet in the air.
“Jesus, Anima! You scared me!” Penelope exclaimed, still tense from the crackling of the stick Anima had stepped on.
“I’m sorry, shit!” Anima replied stumbling back until she tripped on another stick and landed on her ass. Penelope ran over and helped Anima up back onto her feet with the generous grasp of her hands.
“So… where have you been today?” Anima asked after a few awkward moments of silence, “I didn’t see you on the bus this morning or afternoon.”
“My mother was signing me up for track camp today,” Penelope answered in a low sigh as the two girls walked further into the woods.
Oh, yeah… track camp. Penelope had told Anima about her going to one in Troutdale for the summer. Bummer. “So… it’s official,” she said quietly.
Penelope grabbed Anima’s hands and answered, “Yeah, I’ve already told you this before.” She looked down, her brown filled with melancholy, and added, “I’m really gonna miss you, though.”
“Yeah… me, too,” Anima replied quietly. Despite the silence, Anima’s heart was beating loudly and rapidly. A strange feeling weakened her legs, and it felt as if she was about to explode at any second. The two stared at each other’s eyes for several silent moments, gazing at their beauties, until they inched closer to each other, puckered their lips, and… and… and-
“Penelope!” a woman’s shrill shriek pierced the woods.
Anima and Penelope jumped in fear and quickly turned their heads to see an average-height woman with short brown hair and blue work clothes on. That woman looked eerily familiar… why did Anima have a bad feeling in her gut? She glanced back at Penelope, then at the woman again, and… no! It couldn’t be!
Ms. Ross, the principal of that special school Anima used to go to- the whole reason why she was in this situation in the first place! Well, one thing was sure- she damn sure wasn’t going back! Not now, not ever!
“Mom!” Penelope yelped, dropping Anima from her shaking hands, “What are you doing here?!”
“I should ask you the same thing, Penelope Anne Boucher!” Penelope’s mother exclaimed, “What are you doing here?!”
“I was just hanging out with a friend, Mom! What’s wrong with that?!” Penelope answered, her voice cracking and tears running down her cheeks.
“Friends don’t lean up against each other to the point where they’re about to kiss one another,” Penelope’s mother argued, “That’s something lovers do.” She stormed over to Anima and added in a stern voice, “Help me find this person’s parents. We need to talk.”
After being forced to tell Mrs. Boucher where she lived, Anima felt her feet being dragged towards the YouChannell Group Home. Once they arrived, Mrs. Boucher banged on the wooden front door with her fist until Katja answered with a confused look on her face.
“Hello, is this your child?” Mrs. Boucher asked Katja in a stern voice, pointing down at bawling Anima.
Katja stared at Anima for an uncomfortable moment before looking back up at this strange lady and answering, “Yes… is something the matter here?”
“Yes, I caught your child committing highly intimate acts in the woods with my daughter.” Mrs. Boucher pushed Anima towards Katja inside the house. “I’d suggest you talk to her about this.” With that out of the way, she stormed away, gripping Penelope’s wrist and dragging her away from Anima… possibly for good.
Katja looked down at Anima once more and gently guided her into the Vent Room. “Anima,” she whispered, kneeling down to the girl’s level, “Is there anything you want to tell me about? You with that girl- what was that woman talking about with you two?”
Anima’s legs were already weak and wet by that point, but she really didn’t give a shit. She was getting kicked out by tomorrow anyway, so might as well just get it out of the way. So, Anima took a deep breath and shouted loudly enough for the whole house, the whole neighborhood, the whole world to hear-
Katja put her hands to her mouth in a speechless shock.
ManictheMod 
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