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By the time high school rolled around, people knew not to mess with Aubrey. Hot-headed, destructive - she was somebody most people didn't want to deal with.
But this year, something was different.
People knew that for whatever reason, Aubrey bullied Basil, that meek boy that loved flowers. A bunch of people bullied him, actually, but she and her gang were easily the worst.
So it came as a shock to everyone when they walked into the school holding hands. He still looked timid, she still looked ferocious, but they were… happy.
Needless to say, the student population of Faraway High were really confused.
Aubrey brought Basil over to his locker, ignoring the gawking looks. “See you at third period, Aubs~!”
“Yeah… having you there won’t make history feel so bad,” she said. Times may change, but mediocrity in classes is forever.
“Oh come on, history is not that bad…”
“Tsk, you fucking nerd,” she playfully ruffled his hair. “Be seeing you.”
She shot a glare at some staring students before heading on to her own locker. When she was out of sight, a boy quickly went over to Basil. “What was that?”
“…what was what?”
“You know, that!”
“Oh… um… she’s my girlfriend?”
The guy and some nearby students seemed scandalized. Basil didn’t seem to realize how weird it was, just shrugging and going on to his next class.
Unbeknownst to them, their new relationship was a spark that created a bushfire among the students.
By second period, Aubrey knew something was wrong when she saw some girls whispering and taking quick looks at her. Unfortunately, no one she knew had the same period as her so she couldn’t distract herself from it.
So she got right up and slammed her hand on the lead girl’s desk. “Alright, what the fuck are you talking about?”
The blonde girl that was leading the conversation stammered. “Well, we notice that uh, you’re hanging with that kid you bullied.”
A wave of shame hit Aubrey, but she shrugged it off. After all, her boyfriends did worse, and she forgave them and Basil forgave her. “So what?”
“Are you threatening him?” A pig-tailed girl asked.
Aubrey was taken off-guard by that. “What? No.”
“Did you make him into an errand boy?” A glasses-wearing girl asked.
“I mean, he does things for me sometimes, but no.”
“Then what are you two?” the blonde girl asked.
“He’s my boyfriend. Duh.”
They were silent. Actually, the whole room was silent. Damn, where’s the teacher already?
Then some guy had the nerve to shout out, “it’s gotta be Stockholm syndrome!”
“Yeah… that sounds like it!” the blonde girl said.
“I… I don’t think Stockholm syndrome is a real thing…” the glasses-wearing girl murmured, which nobody heard.
The entire class was buzzing. Some people were asking Aubrey questions. Thankfully, before Aubrey could start swinging, the teacher finally showed up to shut them up, so Aubrey spent her time fuming about an introductory lesson instead of the rumor mill.
Aubrey finally reunited with Basil next period, taking a seat right down next to him. He seemed flustered, evidently having been through the rumor wringer himself.
“So? What’d people say to you?” she asked, giving a sideways glare at some gawker.
“They… they all think you’re threatening me or something. Somebody even called you…” he murmured the last part to himself.
“...What was that?”
“...a girl called you an abuser.”
Aubrey froze at that. To be associated with an abuser was… hurtful. Why, if they wanted to know what an abuser looked like, they could just follow her after school and see what her home life was like.
“Our Aubrey is not an abuser!” Someone shouted, and it wasn’t Basil.
The duo were so preoccupied with their current issue that they completely forgot that Mikha- The Maverick was also in their class and happened to be sitting behind them at that current moment. He was standing on his chair, hand over his heart, defending them passionately.
Christ, where are the teachers? They sure are taking their sweet time coming to their classes.
Without a teacher to stop him, the Maverick went on with his spirited defense. “Basil and Aubrey may not have gotten off on the right foot, but ever since her dear flower came out of the hospital, they’ve been the symbol of love and grace! Why, I admit that I’m a bit jealous!”
Basil meanwhile shook his head with nervous fury. “Don’t mention the hospital!”
“Why, I bet you’re all just jealous that you haven’t found yourselves a punk girlfriend or soft boyfriend! Don’t let jealousy warp your conceptions - go out and find your own love!” He pointed accusingly at their fellow classmates, who were a mix of students looking dumbfounded and students just giving Aubrey a look.
“Mav, shut the fuck up.” Aubrey hissed.
“...so, you all better think twice before you make accusations toward one of Aubrey’s boys!”
The room was quiet. In a way, the Maverick did succeed at shutting everyone up.
Until someone said, “One of?”
The teacher finally arrived to the sight of Aubrey grabbing the Maverick by the collar, prepared to beat him up for saying too damn much. Needless to say, she was sent out of classes for the rest of the day.
After school, the rest of the Hooligans were chastising the Maverick for fucking up so badly.
“I… I only wanted to defend them…” he murmured while Kim lightly punched him.
“You made their problems worse, dumbass!” she shouted.
Them and Basil waited outside until Aubrey arrived. She tried to look less pissed off, for their sake. “Hey.”
“I hope detention didn’t treat you too bad,” Basil said, comfortingly patting her on the shoulder.
She scoffed, but appreciated the gesture. “Detention’s nothing. I don’t even get the point of sending you out of classes as a punishment.”
“School isn’t for learning…” Charlie murmured. She was just standing to the side, giving the Maverick disapproving head shakes. In all honesty, he found it more hurtful than Kim's punching.
“...Yeah, what she said. So uh, how are… things?”
Basil tried to put on an optimistic smile for her. It was so blatantly fake that it was actively discouraging. “Um… well… I don’t see how it could get… worse.”
“...Please be specific…”
“Well, the Maver -”
“Don’t call him that,” she sneered. “He lost his nickname privileges for a week.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the Mave- Mikhael begged on his knees, trying to keep a grip on his wig that Vance was trying to pull off.
"You can't walk around acting cool after doing something uncool like that!" Vance sneered.
Basil chose to ignore them, going back to his girlfriend. “Well, when he mentioned that I was in the hospital, uh, they… all thought you put me in there. So if they didn’t think you were, um… an abuser before…”
“...Right…”
“...And uh, some people think you’re cheating on someone to… get me.”
“Christ.”
“But the good news is, they don’t know that it’s Sunny…”
Right. If they knew that she was dating a guy that had his eye stabbed out, the rumors would only get worse. She sighed, trying to fight the feeling of banging her head against the nearest wall. What the hell would Sunny say to this? God, if he knew, he’d probably isolate himself again.
“Hey, Aubrey! Basil! And uh, the rest!” Kel ran up to them, having a smile more sincere than Basil’s. “I heard about all the stuff going on, and don’t you worry, I’ve been trying to put a good word in for you guys! I know that that’s all bull, so I’ve been trying to spread my side of things. And well, people know me, so I’m sure they’ll trust my word!”
Aubrey sighed in relief. Kel was many things to her - most of them negative - but one thing for sure was that the guy was dependable.
“We appreciate it, but I uh, don’t know if it’ll help,” Basil said. “I mean… you saw how fast the rumor spread and, uh, they already thought Aubrey was… a bully. That… that just doesn’t disappear overnight.”
Aubrey groaned. Why did her boyfriend have to be right? “…yeah. It’s going to be hard.”
Kel frowned, unsure of what to say. So he decided to change the subject. “What’s with Mikhael?”
Aubrey watched as the guy in question chased Vance around for his wig. It made her feel a little better. “He lost his nickname privileges.”
Kel scoffed. “As if I’d call him Maverick.” Another positive point in Kel’s favor. “Well, I need to get to practice. I’ll try to clear the air with some of the guys, see if they could help out.”
Aubrey gave him a curt wave as he took his leave. She turned her attention to Basil, who crouched next to her in a slump. She held her hand out to him. “Hey. Everything’s going to be okay.”
He took her hand, carefully and gently. “I hope so… I just… I just don’t want to see people talk bad about you, anymore. To be honest, I didn’t even like hearing people say bad things about you, back then.”
“…oh?”
“When I looked at you… all I thought about was how Sunny and I ruined you. How we ruined everything…” his eyes seemed to glaze over, his grip tightening. “You were scary, but it was my fault that you were scary. It didn’t need to be like that…”
Aubrey tightened her grip back. “Don’t beat yourself up. Yeah, what you two did was horrible, but… that was the path I chose. If I reached out to anyone, or like, tried to be more like Kel, I wouldn’t have turned out like this.”
“But hey, you never would have met us, right?” Kim butted in, standing at Aubrey’s other side. “And, uh, what was this ‘horrible thing’?”
Aubrey and Basil shared a look. The boss looked at her subordinate, shaking her head. “Sorry Kim. That’s too personal.”
She crossed her arms, moping. “Aw come on, I’ve been your best friend for years!”
She was also crushing on Aubrey for a long time, too. Despite her demeanor, she wasn’t the jealous type; in fact, she saw Aubrey having multiple partners and being approving of her boyfriends' own relationship as a sign that she had a chance. However, she finally felt a bit of jealousy flaring up, knowing that she wasn’t being let in on that secret.
“We should get going… Angel must be waiting for us…” Charlie murmured, setting out to get their middle schooler comrade. Before she left though, she turned to Basil. “O-oh right, Basil um, can you come with me? I was also stopping at Fix-It for gardening supplies and um… you’re the expert…”
“Oh, sure. Um, I’ll see you later Aubs,” Basil said. With that, he got up, gave Aubrey a peck on the cheek, and started following the tall girl.
With those two gone and Vance too busy bullying Mikhael, Kim decided to press on with Aubrey. “Are you sure you can’t tell me?
Truthfully, Aubrey did feel bad about hiding something from someone she trusted so much, but she knew that it was Too Damn Much to lay on someone. In a way, she understood why Sunny stayed quiet for so long. “I.. I think that’s up to Basil.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
So of course, Kim immediately went to Basil. He had just finished meeting up with Charlie and was heading home when she managed to intercept him.
“Hey, Basil!”
:Oh, um, hi Kim…” Basil stammered. While the Hooligans were much better toward him, he still felt uneasy when alone with one of them without Aubrey around. Except for Charlie. He decided that Charlie was cool. “Do you… need something?”
“I just wanna know what this secret is! Aubrey usually doesn’t keep secrets from me, and it bugs me!” she said. “Did it have anything to do with… you and that Sunny kid going to the hospital?”
“...Yeah…”
“Alright, so what happened? Why? I mean, you two are pretty close, right?”
Basil was unsure of how to proceed. He could tell that Kim would be ridiculously persistent if he wasn’t going to say anything, and he couldn’t think of a good lie that she’d be happy with. He mulled over it…
“Okay, Kim, I’ll… I’ll tell you on some conditions. I need to see if Sunny would be okay with it, first. And… you can’t tell anybody else. Not even our other friends. Not even your brother."
Kim slowly nodded. “Okay… that all?”
“Well… do you think you can help with me and Aubrey’s situation?”
Kim grinned. “Bah, come on nerd, do you think I wouldn’t help out, anyway?’ She playfully slapped him on the shoulder. “But alright! I’ll help out first, then you can tell me if your, uh, boyfriend’s cool with it.”
Basil nodded to that, brightening up. “Do you have any ideas on what to do?”
“Well… actually, yeah. It’ll be a bit dangerous, but if it doesn’t work out, I’ll be there, got it?”
There was some truth in Mikhael’s ramblings about people wanting a “punk girlfriend.” While Aubrey intimidated much of the student populace, there were a few people that were sincerely into it. Of course, the ones that were brave enough to actually confront her were coldly turned down. So, seeing as Aubrey managed to find love, there were bound to be a few people that were jealous.
Which Kim absolutely wanted to exploit. The plan was that on this second day of school, Basil will get into some fight with one of those people, and Aubrey will bravely rush in to save him, showing their love to all their classmates. Aubrey, in the meantime, was not told about this plan - it needed to feel authentic.
It was the passing period between second and third. Basil went through the first two periods politely trying to ignore the prying questions and concerns from his classmates. “Well, maybe this will stop them,” he thought.
Kim followed closely behind as Basil walked, planning to jump in if the plan goes south. Their target was a classmate that was a bully himself, somebody volatile enough to start a fight over something petty. He was also a big simp for Aubrey, which made him an easy target altogether.
Basil approached him.
And had the nerve to bump into him.
Immediately, the bully got mad. “Hey, watch where you’re goi -” The bully turns to see who bumped into him and froze. He recognized who Basil was, alright, and it only made him madder.
“I’m sorr-” Basil was going to spout an apology on impulse, but the bully was not having it. Basil was suddenly slammed into a set of lockers, grabbing the attention of everyone in the hallway.
“You think dating Aubrey gives you the fucking right to disrespect me?” the bully snarled. “Nobody bumps into me, especially not some scrawny wimp!”
“I-I’m sorry…” more impulse apologies. Basil could see Kim positioning herself behind the bully, just in case.
“Is that all you can say? Man, I don’t know what the hell Aubrey sees in you. Thought you were one of those prisses that only likes boys.”
”Get your hands off of him!”
Basil looked down the hall and saw his guardian angel approach.
The bully was taken off-guard, allowing Basil to escape from his grip. With him out of the way, Aubrey eagerly shoved the guy down to the floor. She stood over him with an intense expression on her face.
“Nobody lays a finger on Basil, got it!?” she was shouting at him, but her words felt directed at everyone watching. “If I see any bruises on him, you’re toast!”
The bully…
Just seemed flustered by the whole interaction.
Aubrey sneered with disgust. “Oh, I remember you now. You were that damn annoying guy that kept trying to get with me last year. Well, I wasn’t interested before, and I sure as hell ain't interested now.”
“Come on, what do you see in him anyway? Don’t you want a tough guy?”
“Basil is tough.”
“Yeah right. He’s paying you, ain’t he?” He slowly sat up, chuckling to himself. “That’s it, right? He’s paying some girl to go out with him so that he doesn’t look like a fa-”
Aubrey shoved him back down, one hand on his neck and the other hand prepared to punch. The students watched, either shocked to see a fight or hyped to see one happen. Kim stood back, feeling that Aubrey was doing a good job at showing her devotion. But then...
“Aubrey!”
Before she could strike the bully, a hug had come up from behind.
“Don’t punch him, I don’t want you to get into trouble…” Basil said, face digging into her back, openly cuddling her in front of everyone.
Kim blinked. This was not part of the plan.
His hug made Aubrey feel warm, though the fire of rage burned stronger. “Why not? You know what he was about to call you.”
“I know, but I don’t want anyone getting hurt over me, so please…”
…
Aubrey let go of the bully’s neck.
“Okay. For you,” she said. They stood up together. Basil exited the hug, only for Aubrey to pull him into one of her own. "Did you get hurt?"
"I'm... a bit shaken, but I'm fine."
"Good, good..."
As for the bully, he was standing back up. Everyone's eyes were latched on this blatant public display of affection. Jealousy swelled back up, seeing Basil in Aubrey's arms...
So he stomped toward them, hand balled into a fist. He took a swing at Basil...
Aubrey caught the punch before it could land.
She gave him a horrible, FURIOUS look. If looks could kill, Basil would have to find some more jump rope to repeat his mistake again.
"Hey! You guys! Stop fighting!" A teacher arrived to the scene, glaring at Aubrey and the bully. "What's going on here!"
Kim quickly spoke up. "That guy was taking swings at them!"
Unexpectedly, another student spoke up. "Yeah, he tried to punch that guy but his girlfriend saved him!"
"He started the whole thing!" Another one chimed.
Multiple students spoke out, all of them surprisingly in support of Aubrey. The teacher looked at her. He knew that she was a pretty big troublemaker, from her time in his class last year and her general reputation. But given that she was being so vehemently defended in spite of that reputation...
The teacher only turned to the bully. "Alright, you! Come with me! The rest of you, go to class!"
The bully stammered, but he had no real defense for himself, so he ended up following the teacher. With that drama over, Aubrey and Basil went to head to their class, the boy gratefully latched onto her.
On the third day, the school’s atmosphere changed. When Aubrey and Basil walked in with held hands, there were no looks of confusion or misplaced fear and concern. In fact, there were a few apologies and compliments getting thrown around.
The bushfire of rumors burned out, the news of what happened extinguishing it. Aubrey was no longer an abuser, but a protector. Basil wasn’t some abused boytoy, but a genuine lover that’s probably one of the few things that’d get Aubrey to calm down. Even when the bully told school administrators that Aubrey was going to beat him up, they chose to ignore it, since she seemed to be heading in a much more positive direction.
“Can you guys call me “The Maverick” again?” Mikhael whined during lunch. The hooligans were sitting at their own table, a place of danger with a now slightly softened image.
“Nah man. Everything’s fixed now, but that doesn’t change the fact that you messed up,” Vance said.
“It’s only a few more days…” Charlie said.
“...Basil, can you appeal to Aubrey? Please?” he begged.
Basil was peacefully eating a sandwich, wrapped up in one of Aubrey’s arms. He looked at Aubrey, who just shook her head. He looked back at Mikhael, with a slightly smug smile on his face. “Sorry, no.”
As Mikhael slumped into his bread basket lunch in defeat, Kel showed up. “Hey you lovebirds! I’m glad that everything worked out! Jay told me he saw the whole thing! He said that you were like, some knight in shining armor, Aubrey!”
“...Yeah, I sure was, huh?” Oh, to be a warrior knight lady with a harem of boys to protect.
“Did Sunny hear about this, yet? He’d probably love to hear how you two are doing.”
“Oh yeah, I called him last night, actually! He wishes that Aubrey can save him too…” Basil said,
“Wait, what!?” Aubrey’s expression darkened. “You didn’t tell me about this. Is he being bullied too?”
“No… he wants to be rescued from doing math.”
Aubrey relaxed, smiling. “God. We all need rescuing from that.”
“It’s not that hard guys! I wish that Sunny could come here so that I can tutor both of you...”
“...Can you tutor me too, Basil?” Kel asked.
Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Kel, come on, it’d probably be a romantic thing.”
As Aubrey and Kel got into an inexplicable argument, Kim leaned over toward Basil. “Hey, so I’m wondering… did you stage what you did?” She whispered.
“Huh…? No, that was all sincere. I just didn’t want Aubrey to hurt anyone over me…” he whispered back.
“Damn. You really are a nice guy… god, I regret bullying you even more, now.”
“I told all of you, it’s fine. But, um…” he glanced at Aubrey, who had let him go at some point and looked ready to throw hands with Kel over an unrelated subject. “...I also asked Sunny about… that. He’s… fine with me talking about it.”
Aubrey snapped out of her petty rage. “Talk about what?”
“...The thing Sunny and I did.”
Kel heard that bit too, and even he could guess what they were talking about because of the darkening mood. “...Are you sure about that, Basil?”
Basil nodded. “...But… can you be there with me, Aubrey?”
“Sure thing,” Aubrey said. There was a sense of dread inside of her, but there was a strange sense of relief mixed in. She wouldn’t be hiding that last bit of truth from one of her closest friends anymore…
“Then I guess we’ll talk after school, then,” Kim said.
…
The only hooligan that paid attention to the whole thing instead of eating was Mikhael. “...What are you guys talking about?”
“Shut up, Mikhael,” Aubrey snapped. He went back to pouting.