The Bitch War

I typed away at the keyboard on my laptop. I sighed of frustration. Even though this week has been crazy for me, Kora and Brooke have done nothing to each other. How am I supposed to write about this so-called war, when they're at a stalemate?

I deleted what I wrote. It was a bunch of crap, like bird poop on someone's car window. I typed something else, deleted, and went through that process about ten times. Maybe it's not the fact that nothing has happened, but maybe I have Writer's Block.

No. My English teacher always said Writer's Block is a lazy, fail excuse for not being creative and not being a good writer if one were to use it. In a way, I get her point, but at the moment, I don't. Finally, I just decide I'll write about whatever happens today.

Closing my laptop, I get out of bed and get ready for school. Unlike many people, I am a morning person. Frankly, I'd rather get up early over going to bed late.



"Ms. East!" I hear a feminine voice call my name down the hall at school.

I look behind me, seeing a some-what short and plump woman, who, might I add, looked a bit like Adele, the singer. Sadly, though, it was only Ms. Beau.

"Ms. East! Please, you're not in trouble!"

Fine. I stop in my tracks and wait for Ms. Beau to catch up to me. She was in her twenties and had a friendly, warm face.

"Yes?" I ask, impatient. Even though she was my favorite teacher, I wanted to get to lunch so I could talk to Elly.

"I wanted to ask how you were doing."

"Fine. Why?"

"I saw the news. Why didn't you tell anyone your father was hurting you?" she asked gently, knowing it was a touchy subject for me.

"Because I wasn't hurt."

She points to my bruised arm. I instinctively cover it up, by placing my other hand on it. Her stare hardened. Ms. Beau was one of those people who really care about others and don't take no for an answer.

"Ms. Beau, I understand that it's not right what he did to me, but he's my father. I love him, and it's only a phase he went through." A phase of drunk, abusiveness, and neglection for over five years now.

"Serenity, please talk to someone next time. He could have gotten help; you could have gotten help," she replies.

"Sorry," I say.

"M-hm," she says. "By the way, I assume you'll turn the English homework by the end of the day since you seem to have forgotten it was due today?" She smiles. "I'll let you off considering all that happened, but I want it by tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am."

She walks away. I head toward the cafeteria. Once I get there, I am asked a sea of questions by people I don't even know, like I'm some celebrity. I had no idea this many people watched the news. Then again, people are always spreading rumors.

"Rena!" A familiar voice calls. "Over here!"

I turn to the source and see Ryan, Collin, Elly, Kyle, and some of my other friends waving me over. I smile, and tell everyone else to go away, telling them I'm tired and want to be left alone. Suprising, they actually return to their tables.

Sitting down, my friends stare at me.

"What?" I ask, annoyed. Elly elbows Ryan and Kyle, who sit beside her.

"Nothing," they reply.

"Oh, so Elly," I blurt out, "I'm going to get the next piece to you by tomorrow."

"But I don't have time to revise and edit what you wrote tomorrow! That's why I said to give it to me today," Elly replies.

"Neither do I. I have a ton of homework to catch up on, considering how I missed Monday and Tuesday."

"Oh, come on, East. Don't lie! You skipped! You weren't sick."

"I had to deal with reporters, moving into my brother's house, and police. I almost got raped. So, fuck off, Elly," I retort.

"Yeah? Guess what? I missed Monday too. My mom was diagnosed with Huntington's disease on Sunday. That was why I had to leave. That was her news. Her brain is slowly deteriorating, Ren!" I see tears forming in Elly's eyes.

"At least she's still alive!" I cry out. As much as I feel bad and sorry for her and her mom, she still has one. My mom is dead.

"Girls, girls, c'mon," Ryan says. Elly flicks me off and leaves the cafeteria, Kyle running after to cheer her up.

"Way to go, East," one of Collin's friends say.

"Shut up!"

"Jeez, PMS'ing much?"

I say nothing back and get up to leave. Douche. I walk out of the cafeteria, once again about to have a mental breakdown. I never cry. Why am I about to cry? This makes me even more frustrated. Once I'm out into the hall, I head toward the bathroom, but someone grabs my arm.

"Ren."

"Let go," I say, turning around. Collin. I rip my arm out of his gentle grip.

"Ren, please, come on," he pleads. He's sorry; I see it in his eyes.

"What?" I ask, impatient. "What is it? Cause I don't want sympathy."

"What's wrong? You say you're not hurt, you say you're fine, but you're not. Tell me."

I shake my head, closing my eyes. I can't speak. I don't want to. He pulls me into a hug, wrapping his arms around me. The touch is foreign and sends chills down my back, but then I relax in the warmth of his body.

We just stand there. He doesn't ask me to talk. He says nothing. But then, there's a tap on my shoulder. I turn around, but Collin still holds me close to him, as if to protect me. It's two cops.

"Excuse, but do you know where Kora Deys might be? Or even Brooke Harris would do."

"Why do you need to know where they are?" Collin asks.

"We got a report."

"Uh, I think Brooke is in class right now," Collin replies, his grip on my waist tightens a bit. He's worried about Brooke. I mean they are family, as much as everyone hates her.

"Kora is in the cafeteria, to the left in the back corner," I say. I'm always looking for them, to see what they're doing so I can write have something to write about. That's why I knew where she was.

"Thank you." The two policemen walk to the cafeteria. They leave Collin and me in an awkward silence.

I put my hands on his where he still holds me to his body by my waist. He lets go. I turn to him and stare at his blue eyes.

"Ren, tell me the truth."

"Not now," I respond, "not here." It's not like I want it a secret, but I simply don't want to talk about it here. I'm afraid I'd start crying.

"Then, how about we go on a walk after school?"

"I guess homework could wait." I flash a small smile to him.

As if on queue, the bell rings. Joy, oh, joy. I have math next.



"Where are we going? I still don't know this place at all," I say as we walk away from school.

"I don't know. There's a park around here," he grins. I smile back.

Silence hangs upon us as we both fall into our minds, thinking. A few turns, cross the road, and we're at the park. There's a path that goes into some woods, and a playground. Collin pulls me over to the swings.

"You worried about your sister?" I ask, pushing my swing back and forth with my feet.

"Nah. Whatever happens, Dad will bail her out of jail."

"C'mon. She's family."

"So? We're just blood. Other than that, we're complete opposites. She's throwing her life away; I'm setting myself up for a great life."

"Oh, really?" I say, teasing him.

"Yeah, girl, I got straight A's."

"M-hm."

"I do! I think you're just jealous!"

"Nuh-uh. I have mostly A's."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-uh. All A's, except for a C in math." I frown.

"What class?"

"Trig," I reply, giving a weird glance at him. He stifles a laugh.

"How can you get a C in Trig?"

I frown, and punch his arm.

"Hey!" He pouts, hiding a grin.

"Well, well, well," a snake-like voice calls out from the other side of the playground. "Look what we have here."

"Brooke?" Collin asks. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" She retorts, looking a bit nervous. Collin points to me. She scoffs. "Her? C'mon Collin. You can do way better than that piece of shit."

"Says the piece of shit," I say, frowning.

"Collin, I need a ride home. Now. Let's go,"she demands. Collin, shaking his head, flicks her off and looks to me.

"Wanna leave?" he asks, his eyes piercing.

"I would love to," I smirk slightly at Brooke. He grabs my hand, and at first, I pull away. Then I see in his eyes what he wants to do. He wants to annoy the hell out of Brooke. Seeing us together would practically kill her. I grab his hand, and we walk down a path leading into some woods and gardens.

I hear Brooke follow us. I stifle a laugh, and look to Collin.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing. It's just funny."

Laughing, he replies, "how so?"

"Well, like right now, she totally needs you. I mean why can't she call a friend?"

"Because no friend wants to pick her up."

"Oh."

"Yeah, they just pretend so they're not her enemy."

"I can honestly say I didn't know that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

We walk down the path, looking back to see where Brooke was occasionally. She was always a distance away, but there, following us. As the sun began to set, she started to get impatient.

"Fuck you, Rena! Fuck you, Collin!" When using every insult she could didn't work, she resorted to annoying us.

"Hey guys," she says, splitting Collin and I apart, so she can stand in the middle.

"Go away."

"Aw. I'm hurt. Besides, I can't fucking leave until you fucking take me home," she glares at Collin. Then, she 'accidentally' steps on my foot. I'm wearing flip-flops. She's wearing heals.

"Fuck!" I shout. I grab my foot, and Brooke holds her hands up, smiling.

"Whoops."

"Brooke, for god's sake, I'll take you home. But I drop Rena off first."

"That's fucking stupid."

"You're fucking stupid," he retorts.

With that, we all head to Collin's car. As Collin walks around the car, Brooke approaches me, looking at me like a viper about to strike.

"Listen Rena, back off. Back off this whole bitch war. Back off my brother. I take you down along with that other bitch Kora."

"You'll go down with me," I reply, this time venom dripping from my words.

"I wouldn't try. Kora is going to trial for buying and maybe even selling blackmarket drugs. That's why the cops came in," she explains. She leans into my ear, "but here's the secret, I planted the drugs in her locker. The same will happen to you if you don't stop."

"Thanks for the offer, but no thanks." I get in the passenger seat. She gets in the back seat. While Collin drives, Brooke kicks my seat and pulls on my seat belt, like a snotty kid. When we arrive, Collin gets out with me.

He whispers in my ear, "You know what would really kill her?"

I look at him quizzically, and shake my head. That's when he wraps his arms around me, pulls me close, and kisses me. My first kiss. I panic, but then just like his hug, I melt into the warmth of his body, and kiss him back, our lips crashing together.

It's only a fake kiss though. Only to make Brooke angry. With that in my mind, it makes me angry. Why can't I have a real first kiss? I grab a fistful of hair, and deepen the kiss as he pulls my closer. Finally, we separate, out of breath.

I smile, and look to the car where Brooke is fuming. I had no idea she hated me that much. Has she read what I have written about her? I never thought about that. I look at Collin, "Mission accomplished."

He nods, stands there awkwardly, and leaves in his car. I walk into my mansion of a house, and lean against the door once it's closed. I breathe in deeply, my lips tingling. Today wasn't so bad. Except for the fight with Elly. I'll have to apologize tomorrow.

Then my brother appears, furious.

"Who the heck was he!? Where were you!?" Josh shouts. Shit.

"My...my friend."

"He looked like a whole lot more than a friend to me!" his voice booms.

"I-I," I stutter. "It was fake, to make this one girl mad. Calm down."

"Where were you!?"

"At a park with some friends," I reply submisively

"Well, I've been waiting for you all day, Rena!" Josh shouts.

Then, my dad walks into the room. My dad, standing right here. I thought I was never going to see him again. I thought he was in jail. He says, his voice quiet, sober, gentle:

"So have I."