SONG:
BODY ELECTRIC by LANA DEL REY
(Instrumental) Because it has the right attitude for this chapter. Can you tell I'm obsessed with Lana Del Rey yet?
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• Samantha Ried•
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CHAPTER SIX : THE TALE OF KYLE MACKEY
Thursday, Sept. 19th
After I washed my hair, I wrapped it up in a pink towel. It was clearly cheap and I longed for mine back at home. Everything in Nebraska just pissed me off.
With a sigh, I put on some of Alyson Ward's pajamas and picked up my phone to check for any messages from central control.
As soon as I opened them, I saw a two from Gina, one from Strawberry and a strange one from an unknown number. I clicked on it and read the message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" The shock I felt made my voice come out in something less than a whisper.
My shaking fingers dropped the phone.
I wasn't exactly sure how to react. Should I kill myself? Should I kill everyone?
Then the rampage began.
I stormed down the stairs getting angrier and angrier with every step.
Let us take a moment of silence to commemorate the lives of a noble table lamp and three glass cups that died at the hands of a raging teenage bitch.
The living room was turning a troubling shade of red as I struggled to get a handle on my rage. It hadn't been this crazy in a while.
"Sam! Calm down," Martha tried. Her voice was too shocked to be considered soothing. She and Jared ran down the stairs to see what had caused me to blow.
"Don't touch me," I warned when Jared's hand grew too close to my back.
He jerked it away.
I took a deep breath and the reddish tint was almost gone.
"Why is there glass on the-"
"Stop. TALKING!"
Martha and Jared shot each other terrified looks. It wasn't like I was really going to kill them or anything. The familiar feeling of annoyance took the place of my rage and I was back to my usual self.
My guardians sighed in relief.
"Are you oka-"
"No, I am not okay."
Jared nodded. "Okay, okay. What happened?"
Anger shot up my body for a brief moment as I recalled the reason for my mini rampage. "Aaron fucking Fode happened."
Martha furrowed her eyes brows. "Ummm-"
"Can I talk!?"
"YES! Shut up, Martha," Jared interjected, happy to not be at fault. Martha was too scared to throw anything back at him.
I cleared my throat to begin again. "He's blackmailing me."
Martha opened her mouth to speak again, but Jared put his hand over her lips. Good.
"I have to go to some stupid party at his house tomorrow night."
"Why," Martha gasped. She'd fought her way out of Jared's restricting hands.
I just rolled my eyes. "Because he saved me from getting detention with Mr. Mackey."
Amid my brain's search to find who was truly at fault for my emotional relapse, my mind went to Kelly, Gina, and Emma.
"URGH! Those stupid rats decided that they had the right to give my darkest nightmare my current phone number for some dumb ass reason. They will be so unbelievably dead in the next twenty four hours that-"
Being so invested in my speech, it took a while to realize that at Mackey's name, my fake real parents straightened their backs and looked like spies.
"What?"
"We didn't get any information on Kyle Mackey back from central control."
My petty Aaron problems were pushed into a filing cabinet titled later. I hated Mackey ten times more. "Why the hell not?"
"You don't need the specifics," Jared winced. "It has something to do with someone emitting white sound."
White sound?
"And that would be..."
He sighed. "It messes with communicators. Just forget it. But it appears that he is very likely to have had relationships with students."
I wouldn't forget it. I placed the new information into a different filing cabinet.
Who would try to mess with the communicators?
The matter at hand seemed more important at the time. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of it.
"EW. He's a teacher."
Martha scoffed. "A hot one."
Jared and I looked at her with identical faces of disgust. I never realized that Mackey was hot. I rarely see anyone as even attractive. Most people looked the same to me. Two eyes. Two ears. Two legs. Nothing to go crazy over.
Except George Cloony, because...you know.
But I guess that was an upside to being a misanthrope. Cute high school boys and alleged pedo hot teachers couldn't distract you. Maybe I really was suited for this job as a spy.
"So what do I do?" I was all too ready to begin my real work.
"Well, the issue is that there's no proof. We think that he gives students who...give him what he wants, extra credit, but that's only a theory."
The only way to prove a theory is to test it out. "Any ideas?"
Jared looked at me very seriously. "Sam, this isn't some simulator. It's your real life. Think about that before you respond to what Martha has to say."
I automatically looked at Martha.
"I was thinking you could be bait. Gather enough evidence to incriminate him."
My nose crinkled when I understood her meaning. I was going to have to seduce a pedophile. After thinking it over, I'd found that landing Mackey in prison was worth almost any sacrifice. But how far would I have to go to get him a long enough sentence to satisfy my sadistic needs?
"I'll do it...."
Martha grinned. "You'll make an excellent F.Y.I.!"
Jared scowled. His concern made me want to shove him off a building. No one should ever be worried about me.
"But I'd need help. Logistically, one person can't gather enough evidence to incriminate him for everything he's done. Especially me, since I refuse to let him touch me. And we would need more bait to prove that Mackey's gone down this road multiple times."
My parents did nothing but gawk in response, so I kept going.
"But who?"
Martha was composed first. "Well, I could play a suspecting parent." She threw a glance at Jared who seemed to be thinking about something very serious.
There was silence as Martha and I waited for him to come around.
"What," I inquired. Prolonged silence gave me anxiety.
"Nothing." His sigh contradicted this. "Just don't do anything about Mackey yet, okay? Not until we get in touch with central control and we all know that you're safe." His eyes were gleaming.
I could tell it was a command.
My reoccurring problem with commands was that I took them as challenges.
"Fine," I promised.
Insincerity was my second nature.
*
My bitch smile was plastered on my face at full power. Three little mice were about to get quite an earful from me.
"Hey Aly," Kelly called, waving at me from across the quad.
When the three of them took in my smile I could easily taste their unease. Kelly dropped her hand to her side.
Though they were used to my fake grins, this sinister mega watt smile was definitely scaring them.
The others greeted me when I finally reached them.
Emma, poor Emma, looked the most distraught of all. She had a bead of sweat forming on her forehead and she was running her hands through her strawberry hair like crazy.
Aside from all of their terror I could tell that not one of them knew why I was contemplating ways that I could murder them and stay scott free for about a month.
I decided to clue them in. "Guess who I got a text from?"
Kelly, Emma, and Gina all reddened.
Bingo.
"UH, about that..." Emma trailed.
"Well," I snapped.
They flinched.
"He asked really nicely..."
"Why did you give my number to him?" There would be no good enough reason to spare them.
"Well, now I know that this is kind of stupid," Kelly said in a strangled voice, "But we thought you were just playing hard to get."
I blinked.
They seriously thought that I liked Aaron Fode? They were being honest. All of them had attested that he was very attractive. Since they thought that I was normal, it was normal for them to think that I liked him.
Alyson Rose Ward was normal no matter how much of a freak Samantha Reid was.
With a sigh, I relaxed my bitch face. Hopefully I wouldn't have to make new 'friends.' I searched my mind for an appropriate lie to excuse my behavior.
Did my cat die? Was it my time of the month?
"I'm sorry guys." I gave them my best puppy dog face.
I didn't know much about being cute, but my expression seemed to work wonders on them seeing as their faces softened considerably.
All was already forgotten for the moment, but I needed to keep lying anyway just to make sure they didn't question me later.
I shoved a lock of my long brown hair behind my ear. "It's just that before I moved here, there was this guy..."
Jackpot. All three of their faces lit with understating. Gina even hugged me. I put on a brave face and hugged back despite the burn it caused. I thought about what it'd be like to dig my nails into her skin.
"But that's no excuse. I shouldn't have taken it out on you," I lied more.
The girls looked horrible guilty. Emma vigorously shook her head.
"We promise to not try to set you up until you're ready," Kelly gushed.
I wistfully smiled and nodded. "Thanks."
It wasn't easy, but I managed to get Gina's boa constrictor arms off of me. "I should get going now."
"I could walk you to your first class," she offered.
I put extra sadness in my voice. "No. I need to be alone for a while." With a great sigh, I made my way to English with my head down looking dejected.
I could feel the helpless stares of Emma, Gina, and Kelly on my back.
Suckers.
*
True to their word, the girls gave me my space for the rest of the day.
They still forced me to sit at their lunch table and stared at me with pity in their huge dumb eyes the whole time. But they did all by me soft cookies, including the girls that I didn't pretend to like, so I didn't make too much of a fuss.
I love food.
The day was going generally well. I didn't want to speak too soon, but I was starting to like St. Peter's better than Jefferson.
My only qualm was that at my old school, Samantha Reid was infamous. Nobody was brave enough to talk to her, because she threw icy glares that could freeze a man solid.
But Alyson Rose Ward, icy as her glares were, couldn't manage to shake off admirers nearly as easily thanks to Aaron Fode. Since he had undertaken my wrath yesterday and lived to tell the tale, I was a constant target for frivolous flirting.
Thankfully, guilty Gina fought most of them off because I still wasn't over my ex boyfriend from back home. If it had come from anyone's lips but mine, it would be unbelievable.
On second thought, I had one other little (enormous) problem with St. Peter's. It was my eighth period. In general. I hated the teacher with such a passion that it made me want to mutilate his skin.
And besides that I had to sit next to stupid, manipulative, blackmailing, Aaron Fode because someone decided to give his students assigned seats.
I walked into the classroom with Gina a few feet behind me.
Aaron was already at his seat, staring at the door so he could gawk at me as I walked in. I decided not to give him the satisfaction of me snapping at him to stop, so I silently sat down.
He was still staring.
"I'm sure you're excited about tonight," he joked. I didn't nor would I ever think he was funny.
Aaron was trying to break the ice with me. Once again, sickly sweet, makes me wanna puke, blah, blah, blah. The idiot was turning me into a damn broken record.
I pulled out my notebook and ignored him. I knew that I'd soon have to pretend to pay attention for the rest of my time at St. Peter's. I wouldn't have my first week excuse forever.
"You know, most girls would be thrilled that I'm even talking to them," Aaron tried again. He was getting more interested by my silence.
The words sounded so strange and forced coming from him. He was clearly not the cocky type; just the desperate kind.
I'm the bitchy kind.
"Well I'm not most fucking girls, idiot." I ripped the cap of my pen of with my teeth to keep from swearing any more.
You're not funny, Aaron. Please die.
"I know," he mused. "That's probably why I like you."
Of course that had to sound sincere.
"Are you kidding me?" I had to look at him as I snapped. Aaron flinched back but a slow smile spread across his lips at my outburst.
He opened his mouth, but the bell rang and class began.
Mr. Mackey stood up and greeted the class. We (everyone but me) droned back enthusiastically.
"Okay, everyone clear your desks. It's time for the test."
I looked around cluelessly as everyone around me put their things on the ground. I decided to doodle in my notebook.
"Miss Ward, when I give the class a command it is not a suggestion." The annoying teacher was in my face as soon as I looked up at the sound of my fake name.
"I only had one day of school. I don't have to take your stupid test."
Overkill? Maybe. But it made me feel a little better to be extra sassy.
Aaron couldn't mind his own business and gaped at me.
"You will take my stupid test and that is final," Mackey yelled.
"FINE," I yelled back.
My nemesis grinned triumphantly at me as I put my things on the floor like everyone else.
From the moment that the test was distributed it took five minutes for me to complete. I didn't care if Alyson was supposed to be averagely smart. Teachers were supposed to be averagely not evil.
"Here you go, Kyle," I said with all the venom I could force into my tone.
He narrowed his eyes at me. "You could've at least tried, you know."
I pulled out my phone and turned around in the middle of his sentence and started playing Candy Crush on my way back to my seat.
Mackey sighed and went over to his desk.
"Nice," Aaron whispered to me.
I glared at him.
"NO TALKING," the teacher barked.
At least it's Friday....
*
There once was a man named Kyle whose life was very crappy.
That's because his father's name just happened to be Mackey.
He was a stupid young man.
He drives a fucking Sudan.
I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM.
That is the tale of Kyle Mackey.
Even poetry couldn't quench the hatred I felt toward him. I crumpled the loose-leaf into a tight ball- and hurled it at the garbage.
Was there really a time that I've hated someone this much in such a short time of knowing them? Miss Madigan, perhaps, but I just might hate Mackey more.
While I was forced to believe that Miss Madigan's time as my therapist was all fake and that she wasn't actually some haughty bitch trying to claim that I was insane, Mackey was a pedophile and a sociopath.
He should be in prison for all of his crimes, but he's just a 'registered sex offender.'
I scoffed at the thought of him.
His story is going to end so badly.
I just needed to form a coherent plan to incriminate the shit out of him.
Would it really be believable if I came on to him after showing how much I despised him in class toady? I should've failed that test on purpose, but I obviously aced it.
My ambition was shooting me in the foot.
If I did manage to seduce him, which was a long shot, how would I get proof? It was just absolutely necessary for me to have help. Didn't spies work in pairs anyway?
Martha and Jared were a team.
I pulled out Alyson's cellphone and scrolled down to a contact named Uncle Jim. Just one little call wouldn't kill me. I'd just ask for a partner.... No, a sidekick. I hated teamwork.
At that exact moment, the phone rang, nearly giving me a heart attack.
What could Gina possibly want from me right now?
"Hello," I answered in a cheery voice that contradicted my murderous thoughts. If this girl kept on bothering me, I'd have to write out my plan for her murder in case I forgot it.
"Aly! You sound a lot better!"
FUCK!
I'd forgotten that I'd been pretending to be depressed. "Yeah."
"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted a ride to Aaron's party tonight..."
I gasped. The party! I could go to it and never owe the bastard again, or blow it off and make him even more interested in me.
"Thanks! That'd be great."
I was about to cry. Here I thought I'd have the night to myself.
Gina cheered in the background. "Okay, awesome! Text me your address, alright?"
"Sure."
My eyes unwillingly strayed over to my closet.
"Uh, Gina?"
"Uh-huh?"
"What are you wearing to the party?" I had never been to one in my life. I was almost embarrassed for having to ask.
"Probably this dress I got last week."
"Okay."
So a dress tonight. I glared at my stubbly legs. Amazing.
"See ya in an hour."
"Okay."
"Bye...."
I hung up.
There stood the wardrobe of Alyson Rose Ward. Would its contents prove to be as fabulous as I thought they were a week ago?
Only one way to find out.
END TRANSMISSION