Chapter Text
What happened to Kylar? Who cares because this story is about Emily.
Emily O’Connor hated going to school. Principal Lynn threatened to have her repeat senior year if she got caught skipping one more time. Better to suffer now then to suffer another year.
Classwork wasn’t too hard for Emily. She was a smart girl, the hard part was having to sit down and pay attention in class.
Only Mr. Burleday could make chemistry of all subjects sleep inducing. The new art teacher always showed up to class tripping on shrooms. Then he’d pop in his Doors CDs and play them on blast.
Mr. Katz was the worst though. He’d constantly go on and on about how you shouldn’t judge people by their skin color or sexuality. But two minutes later he’d tell people to respect the police. The oppressors!
Emily was getting ready to leave after another shitty day at school. But as she passed by Hunter and Crispin she overheard an… interesting conversation.
“Hey, hey Hunter! Where’d you like, get that 3 Doors Down shirt from?” Crispin had asked.
“Stole it from Kylar’s place. He left his house key in the boys’ locker room and now everyone’s been taking his stuff.”
“And he like, hasn’t noticed?”
“Nah, he’s been missing for two weeks. Trody found his key and went to Home Depot to make copies of it. Almost everyone in school has a key. I got a few spares if you’re interested.”
Ari and Karen walked by holding hands as they were ready to leave for the day.
“Hey Ari! Can I interest you and your girlfriend in a key to Kylar’s house?”
They walked by Hunter without even a passing glance.
“Damn, this is really gay! They don’t want to see if his Xbox 360 is up for grabs.”
Emily’s interest in the conversation skyrocketed when she heard the words Xbox 360. Emily loved playing video games. She’d never tell Nicole but there was something she found relaxing about shooting aliens in Halo, killing zombies in Left 4 Dead or goofing around in Grand Theft Auto.
The problem was, Emily’s parents wouldn’t let her play video games. This was in spite of the fact that the one competent psychiatrist Emily had outright told her parents “a hobby like video games would be good for her mental health and controlling her ADHD.”
If she couldn’t get an Xbox 360 for Christmas, this was the best shot she had.
Emily then walked up to Hunter.
“Heard you had keys to Kylar’s house. I want one damnit!” Emily demanded.
“Why would you want to steal anything from Kylar’s house?” Hunter asked dumbfounded.
“Yeah man, if you’re looking for his stash of percs you’re out of luck. No one knows where the drawer key is.” Crispin added.
“Just gimme the key! I don’t wanna waste anymore time talking to you cavemen!” Emily said frustratedly.
Hunter handed Emily one of his keys and she immediately walked away. She then took out her phone and shot Nicole a text.
“Hey sugar, i got keys 2 kylars house. U want to break in with me tomorrow?
Love uuu sugar <3”
While Emily was headed to her car she saw Coach Colby standing around the parking lot. If nails on a chalkboard is the most unpleasant sound, you’ve never heard Coach Colby crying.
“Kylar, you were too good for this world.” Coach Colby sobbed but suddenly stopped. “I know, I’ll pay my respects and stop by his house tomorrow!” Coach Colby said in an elated tone.
Emily then sent another text to Nicole.
“I’m coming over tonite at 9
We need 2 talk about Kylars house”
____________________________________
As planned Emily made her way over to Nicole’s at 9PM. Nicole’s mother was passed out drunk on the couch so she didn’t have to worry about incurring her wrath.
“What are we planning to steal from Kylar’s house tomorrow?” Nicole asked.
“An Xbox 360.” Emily replied.
“Why the fuck would you want an Xbox 360?”
Emily expected this question. She couldn’t let Nicole know she played video games. Her friendship was on the line.
“It’s for my brother. He even offered to pay me $300 if I hand it over to him.”
“If he has that money why can’t he buy one himself?” Nicole asked flatly.
“Because my dumbass parents won’t let him play video games.” Emily said in a frustrated tone of voice.
“I’ll agree to this because I have as much of a reason to break into his house as you do.”
Nicole then took a key out from one of her drawers.
“I’m the only one who has the key to his Percocet supply.”
“Ooh that’s a good steal! How’d you get your hands on it?”
“Kylar invited me to his house on the first week of school. He wasted an hour of my life but I sweet talked him into handing over his drawer key.”
“He’s gotta have enough percs to run a pharmacy. Nicole, can I take some of them with me too?” Emily begged.
“I guess, he’s got so much there’s no way my mom wouldn’t find out.”
“Cool! I’d pop some of his percs but honestly I might sell all of them just to make the money he’ll never even see.”
“Damn, that is so evil of you Emily! This is why you’re cool.”
“Aww thanks Sugar.” Emily said sweetly.
“What was that?”
“Uhh…. since you were in his house, do you know where his Xbox 360 is?”
“It’s in his basement.”
“Then why has no one been able to find it?”
“There’s like a secret door in his basement. No one is allowed to go inside. It’s in that room.”
“And why is that room so secret?”
“It’s his dad’s recording studio. The Xbox 360 also belongs to him and he built a lounge there.”
“Why does his dad need a recording studio?”
“He’s a talk radio host. He mostly appears on sports talk shows but he also hosts a morning politics forum. He talks about shit like the Truth About Watergate or How Obama Will Destroy America.”
“Oh gross! So can’t we just break in there while he isn’t home?”
“That’s the thing. The studio is guarded by a rottweiler all day long. He’ll bite anyone he isn’t familiar with.”
“Shouldn’t he know who you are?”
“He’s also trained to bite anyone Kylar and his dad don’t like. Gays, women, immigrants… racist owners mean racist dog.”
“Damn that’s kinda fucked up.”
“The most fucked up part is the dog is named John Wayne.”
“Who the hell is John Wayne and why the fuck do you know who he is?”
“Some old ass actor who was really racist and shit. Coach Colby showed us one of his movies in health class after we took the final.”
“So glad I didn’t end up in his health class. Is there a time of day where the dog isn’t in the basement?”
“At like 1 in the afternoon every day, Kylar’s dad takes the dog out for an hour long walk.”
“So we show up at 1 tomorrow, right?”
“Nah 1:40. He’ll see us go in if we show up at 1 and we also can’t let him see us walking over there.”
“Ugh why does everyone in this neighborhood live in a cul de sac?”
“Kylar’s dad is a well-off racist white guy. Where else do you think he’d live?”
“So we only got 20 minutes to take the percs and Xbox?”
“Dude, this will only take five minutes. Besides Kylar’s dad and the dog aren’t our biggest worries. The police are.”
“Did Bitch Lynn find out people were stealing from Kylar’s house?”
“Nah, she’s in on this too. Kelly heard her bragging about how she stole some liquor.”
“Wow, that’s actually badass of her. Do Kylar or his dad even drink?”
“Nah they’re those kinds of Republicans. They’ll encourage violence against immigrants but are too Christian to drink. The liquor belongs to his mom who’s always on vacation.”
“Nicole, did you like date Kylar? Why do you know all this shit about him?”
“When I was at his house he was so desperate to keep the conversation going. He felt the need to tell me every single detail about his life.”
For Emily that wasn’t too surprising. Kylar was dumb enough to tell a girl he just met pointless information. Fuck, Emily got sidetracked.
“Okay so what’s the deal with the police?”
“Remember Mr. Lorre?”
“Didn’t we get that guy fired?”
“Yeah, bitch should’ve known to not follow the school’s MySpace page on his ghost account. Anyway the house his wife foreclosed and abandoned is across the street from Kylar’s place. The cops including the school’s security guard are stationed there because Coach Colby and Braxton tipped them off.”
“Of course those losers would. They’re like the only people I ever saw Kylar hanging out with.”
“Yeah and the school’s security guard is a psycho. He used to be a Mall Cop and he shot me five times and threatened to kill Jecka over a $12 CD.”
“Was it at least a good CD?”
“It was an MSI CD, Jecka wanted it.”
“Jecka likes MSI? That bitch seems like the type of white girl who only listens to top 40 music.”
“I thought the same thing too. But then I saw her CD collection and she’s into some pretty out there stuff like Gorillaz, LCD Soundsystem, Deftones.”
“Deftones? You think she'd be into Converge?”
“Okay I knew you were fucked up, but that shit isn’t even music, it’s ear damage.”
“And Blink-182 isn’t? It’s not even real punk rock!”
Nicole looked at Emily disapprovingly.
“Be glad you’re my only friend in school right now. I would’ve ended our friendship right now if you weren’t.”
Emily felt hurt after hearing that, but quickly got herself back on track.
“Okay so we need to find a way to sneak the Xbox 360 and Percocets without that psycho cop seeing us.”
“That’s the hard part. If he just sees us anywhere near Kylar’s house we’re as good as dead. He’ll know we’re there to steal.”
“And we can’t bring bags either because he’ll check them.”
“Fuck and we can’t use disguises because he knows my face.”
“Oh how does this sound? When we get close enough to him I’ll scream ‘someone found a dead body at McDonalds’! He gets in his car and by the time he returns we’ll be gone.”
“That is just stupid enough to actually work.”
“Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I overheard Coach Colby crying in the school parking lot earlier today. He’s apparently going to pay Kylar his respects tomorrow.”
“Dude we don’t even know if Kylar is dead. Overreaction much? Besides, he’ll probably be there at the crack of dawn and leave before lunch.”
“Can we be sure about that?” Emily asked with a worried tone of voice.
“Trust me, he’s usually got shit to do at school on Saturday afternoons anyway.”
For some reason Emily’s worry disappeared. “Aww I’d never doubt you Nicole.” Emily said sweetly.
Nicole stared at Emily blankly. “Uh huh. My eyes are twitching so I’ll probably be out cold in three minutes.”
“Can I sleep here tonight?” Emily asked in an elated tone.
“If you’re okay sleeping in the same bed as me. I don’t want to cuddle with you but there’s nowhere else to sleep.” Nicole said dumbfoundedly.
Emily gestured back to Nicole in glee.