Chapter Text
Back to school already? You wish winter break lasted longer. You sigh.
You're [name], a 16 year old girl living in the town of Landville, Ontario. Your parents are divorced, so you live with your mom.
She does the basic things to parent you, but she can be annoying at times.
You were on the way to school in your mom's car, chin in your crossed arms as you set them on the window, watching trees pass by.
You tightened your backpack straps as you walked out of the car.
"Landville High School"
The sign stood up in front of you, and you wished you didn't have to see it again.
But you still had 2 more years of this God forsaken school till you graduated.
But oh well, let's get through this day.
You walked through the halls to your first class, and sat down at your desk.
After a few minutes, the announcements began on the loudspeaker.
When they were finished, the teacher began taking attendance.
"[name]?"
"Here, Ms. Take." You groggily replied.
The teacher called for a couple other students, but you jolted as a loud "BANG!" was heard from the door.
Everyone in the classroom looked over towards the door, and saw a girl standing in the hallway, right behind the open door.
Her orange jacket was easily recognizable and vibrant, but you couldn't tell if you really have seen this chick before.
The smell of nicotine and alcohol followed her into the classroom as she looked for a place to sit down.
"Karen..Spencer? You actually came today?" Said the teacher in a surprised voice.
The girl, who you now know as Karen, just nodded and looked annoyed, then flipped her off.
How could she just...do that? You could never have the balls to flip off your teacher, it was kind of cool.
The teacher ignored the gesture, and continued.
"Well, since you haven't attended class for..."
"Hmmm, let's see...5 months,"
The teacher cleared her throat.
"You'll probably want to know where to sit, yes?"
Karen didn't answer.
You only had seen her once or twice and never bothered to talk to her. So you didn't really understand why everyone in your class, including the teacher, seemed so scared of her.
A silence ensued, before the teacher broke it.
"I'll take that as a yes...go sit beside...her, in the blue sweater."
Your eyes widened.
"M-me?" You sputtered.
"Uhm, yes. Karen will be sitting beside you, alright?"
You nodded slowly. You were a bit scared to have this girl beside you based on the other people's reactions to her, but who knows...she could be nice. Maybe.
You were taking notes, barley even understanding what you copied from the worn out chalkboard.
Then you looked over to your side and saw Karen lighting a cigarette beside you.
"Are you even allowed to smoke here?"
The girl beside you turned over towards you, the lit cigarette hanging in her mouth.
"No, but everyone here is afraid to tell me to stop, because I made sure to straighten things out any time they tried."
You didn't exactly know what she meant by "straighten things out", but frankly, you weren't sure if you wanted to learn.
You wafted the smoke away from your face and continued to try and take notes.
"Brrrrringgggg!"
The bell chimed, signaling the next class.
The hall was bustling with students rushing to their next class, but as the hallway cleared, you and Karen stayed.
You never attended your math class, which was your next period, since you hated it. You usually hung out in the hallway or skipped in the bathroom if it was too risky.
"So, uhh, what's your name again?" You asked.
For some reason, you wanted to know more about her. She intrigued you.
You waited for a moment for an answer.
Then she turned to stop and look at you before saying,
"Karen Spencer. People here seem to hate me 'cause I've been in the joint a few times, and institutions...not to mention suspended too many times to count." She replied. You were quite concerned, but continued.
"Wow. What'd ya do to get in that much trouble?"
You both stood in the hallway, class had already begun. Guess she was skipping, too.
She put her finger to her chin.
"Well, underage drinking, drug usage, smoking, hm...oh yeah! Also assault, writing a "threatening poem" about one of our asshole teachers, the usual stuff. They put your ass in there for anything."
Your eyes were wide and your mouth practically dropped to the floor.
"What. The. Fuck."
Karen shrugged, as if her crimes were the most unsurprising thing to tell someone you committed.
"At least it's enough to scare people into not bothering me. But I have never had a real friend besides the magic goose livin' in my head cuz nobody talks to me. Unless they're being assholes. But I make sure they don't for long most of the time. Punching 'em square in the larynx usually does the trick."
You were 99% sure this girl was completely insane, hell, a magic goose? Some sort of crazy, that's for sure.
But you felt kind of bad when she said she had no friends.
"I mean, there is Timmothea McNaughton, but her parents hate me and mine hate her. Plus, she's a smug asshole."
You shrugged.
"Some people are like that, I guess."
Karen reached into her pants pocket, and you noticed how oversized her pants were.
"Damn, your pants are really big on you"
Karen grabbed a bottle of cough syrup from out of her pocket after some rummaging around, then replied:
"My ma never finds the right size cuz she gets 'em secondhand. Or stole 'em. Or she's too drunk to know they're way too big for me."
Your eyes widened. You already saw her drinking prescription cough syrup, but that wasn't super surprising considering the...other...substance abuse.
"Oh! Your mom...steals?"
"Yeah, my pa too. And me. We've all been in the joint, but my daddy's usually in there way more often.
But even so, why pay for stuff when you can get it for free, y'know?"
Then she took another sip.
"I guess I can't argue with that."
You stood around for a bit more in silence after that, watching her take more sips of cough syrup.
"You know, you seem pretty cool. Wanna hang out more?"
Your pity for her having no real friends made you want to give her one. But at the same time, you wanted to know more about her. She was definitely dangerous and not mentally alright at all, but you couldn't help but like something about her.
She widened her eyes and spit out some of the cough syrup.
"Me?"
She looked confused. Damn, she's really never had any friends...
"You think I'm cool? For real?" Her eyes were already widened in surprise, and the corners of her mouth lifted. She looked like she was trying to smile, but it came out looking more creepy than happy and friendly. You were a bit scared, but you stayed there.
"Uhm, yeah!" You replied. You were scared what she'd do if you said no anyway.
"Sure, we can hang out. Gives me more time to get away from my asshole parents."
Karen finally achieved two of her biggest goals:
Making a friend, and having someone think she was cool.