"You're so nice Mikey, we love you," Tracy said.
"I especially love you because now we didn't have to raid my pantry," Charlotte said.
"Sure..."
"What are we going to do now? It's still early, it' s not even nine yet."
"Let's get coffee!" Frank said.
"I like coffee," Tracy said.
"I hate coffee, I'll get a bagel or something," Josie said.
"I'm not paying for it, I only have fifteen dollars left."
"We'll all owe you ten dollars okay?" Gerard said.
"Okay."
"So coffee then?"
"Yep."
While their coffee was being made they sat down on the chairs and sofa in the coffee house.
"Can't help but dislike this place a little..." Charlotte said. "I mean, I know it's not the coffee house's fault I got fired... but the damn gift certificate..."
"Let it go Charlie."
"I'll never get the black mark of being fired from a grochery store off of my record."
"You're record's clean, one black mark won't hurt you," Josie said.
"Yeah."
"Charlotte, hi," Simon said as he and a few of his friends walked into the coffee shop.
"Hello," She said.
"So, this is who you're hanging out with tonight," he said, glancing toward Frank spinning quarters on the table.
"Mmhm," She said.
Simon said nothing else before getting in line behind his friends.
"My dad can do that with an egg," Tracy said as Frank continued to spin quarters.
"Nice, raw or hard-boiled?"
"Raw."
"Mikey, and Bob!" An employee said, shoving two coffees forward and reading the names on the paper cups.
Bob got up and got both coffees. He gave Mikey his and sat down.
"You know Denise?" Tracy said.
"Yeah, he's got that uncle who's into Voodoo."
"Yeah, Ti-Ti."
"He was telling us our futures the other day," Josie said.
"Denise?"
"No, Ti-Ti."
"Right."
"So we all asked basically, what we were going to do with our lives."
"What did he say?"
"He said that he saw Tracy behind bars multiple times and in front of flames."
"So you're going to Jail then Hell?"
"I guess," Tracy said. "But I want to be a chef, so maybe the flames are from-"
"Burning the food? Not that great a chef if you're burning the food are you?" Josie said.
"He told you that there was sharp objects in your future. Sharp objects piercing through flesh."
"Piercing through flesh. Maybe I'll be working at a tatoo parlor or something."
"I could never do that," Charlotte said,"What if someone wanted you to tatoo some place you'd rather not see, much less touch?"
"All part of the job I suppose," Josie said.
"What did he say about you Charlie?"
"He said that he saw me sitting with great works of art."
"Well, you are really into art."
"Yeah, so it's not that bad I guess."
"I dunno, I talked to Ti-Ti once," Gerard said,"He said he saw me on stage with a bunch of lights. I'm all,'Nah, man I'm going to be a comic book artist' and he's like,'No, I see you on stage'."
"Who knows? Anyway, it was just for fun, and Charlie and Tracy wanted to check out a few of the books he had," Josie said.
"I made a voodoo doll of my sister once.. I think my dad was going to send me to therapy," Charlotte said,"I think the only reason he didn't is because it didn't work."
"I made a voodoo doll of my brother," Tracy said,"I stuck a pin in it's stomach and the same night we had to take him to the hospital to get his apendix removed."
"Are you serious?"
"Yep."
"You haven't made any other voodoo dolls have you?"
"No, but I want to make one of Mindy."
Charlotte scoffed,"I'm babysitting for her little brother Sunday."
"Why isn't she babysitting?"
"She's got a date and her parents are going to dinner with my parents."
"Fun, fun," Tracy said sarcastically.
"Yeah, well they're paying me ten bucks an hour."
"That's nuts," Ray said.
"I know, that's what my parents said. But I don't care, her brother will be asleep most of the time they're gone and I'll make at least fifty bucks."
"Forty bucks, ten of it's mine," Mikey said.
"Right."
"Gerard, Tracy, Frank, Ray and Charlotte," the employee said, putting the five coffees forward.
They got their coffee and sat back down. Ray excused himself to the back restroom while they continued the conversation.
"So I'm going to be stuck in Mindy's house for about five hours. Boy that'll just be like a trip to Disney World," Charlotte said sarcastically.
"At least Mindy won't be there," Josie said.
"True, but her aura will remain...."
They left the coffee shop. "I'd offer to keep you company, but I'm babysitting Sunday too," Josie said.
"Who?"
"My mom's friend's kid."
"Josh?"
"Yeah. Damn pain in the ass."
"At least you're getting paid right?"
"Three bucks an hour, and I'll be there about two hours longer then Charlotte will be at Mindy's."
"That sucks for you," Tracy said.
"Are we forgetting something?" Bob said.
"It does kinda feel like we are..."
".... Where's Ray?"
"Shit! He's still back at the coffee place."
They turned to start heading back to the coffee house when they saw Ray about five feet behind them.
"Hi guys, you forgot something," he said.
"We're so sorry Ray," Josie said.
"Yeah Dude, it'll never happen again," Frank said.
"Right," Ray said.
"We'd better head home," Tracy said, checking her watch. "It's 9:30, that's around when all the gangs start prowling."
"The night is still young though," Bob said dramatically.
"Let's go to my place and watch a movie or something," Frank said.
"What movie?"
"Um.... I have an old Amityville thing."
"Okay."
"Have you seen Amityville II? The end's really cheesy, the effects are really lame."
"Totally."
"Of course, then there's always The Nightmare Before Christmas."
"The Nightmare Before Christmas shall pass the test of time."
"Instant classic in my opinion."
"Shit, I totally forgot, I have to go home. I have a dentist apointment tomorrow at seven, and my brother paid me twenty dollars to do the dishes, but I have to finish them before he gets home at ten," Josie said.
"My dad's thinking of moving my curfew to ten instead of eleven if I don't start coming home on time anyway," Charlotte said.
"K, maybe we'll do the movie some other time," Frank said.
"Sure. We'll see you guys around," Tracy said as they entered the bowling alley parking lot and got to the cars.
The phone rang and she walked over to pick it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Charlie."
"Oh Hi Gerard."
"Did I wake you?"
"No, I've been awake since about six, my dog wanted me to feed him."
"Oh. Skippy always buggs Mikey to feed him."
"So what's up?"
"Well, have you done the chemistry homework yet?"
"No."
"Great, neither have I. And I didn't understand a word of the first question."
"Okay, come on over. Mikey can come too if he wants. He can hang out with Buster or something."
"'K. See ya."
"Bye."
She hung up the phone and sighed as her dad came out of his office with his phone glued to his ear. "Yes..... no..... no, that's not going to happen.... Why?... because it would cost the company millions.... If you don't know why then I don't know why I hired you...."
"Dad, Gerard's coming over to study," Charlotte whispered as he got a soda from the fridge.
"Okay, just keep it down, and control the dog," He said. "No, not you Peterson, my daughter..... Yes I have two actually...." He turned to Charlotte and said,"Peterson says he feels sorry for you to have a father like me."
"Tell him I feel sorry for him to have a boss like you."
"She says that she feels sorry for you to have a boss like me..... now back to buisness...." Brad walked back into his office.
Charlotte sat down at their piano. She looked at her old piano books. She had taken lessons for three years, throughout Junior high, before deciding not to persue it anymore.
She lined her fingers up to the keys with her wrists high and tried to play a simple tune.
"And this is why I quit," She said as she hit her eighth sour note in four measures. Buster jumped up on the piano bench next to her and hit some keys with one of his paws.
"You're real talented... like some kind of modern Mozart," Charlotte said sarcastically before lightly shoving Buster off of the piano bench.
A few minutes passed and the doorbell rang. Charlotte opened the door and let Gerard and Mikey in.
"Hey."
"So I get to play with the dog," Mikey said.
"Yep, and he'll love you forever for it," Charlotte said.
Buster herd Mikey say the word "play." He ran over and got a tennis ball from his pile of toys and set it down in front of Mikey.
"Should we go in the backyard?" Mikey asked.
"Yeah, the door's unlocked," Charlotte said. Mikey took the tennis ball and he and Buster walked out the backdoor.
"Is anyone else here?" Gerard said.
"Dad's in his office, Carly's at a friend's house, and Mom's visiting her friend who lives about an hour away."
"Okay."
"So, what in the first question didn't you understand?" Charlotte said, looking at her homework.
"Oh, I understand it... see my parents were arguing again... and Mikey and I kinda wanted to get out of the house...."
"Oh. I'm sorry. You didn't have to pretend to not understand the homework."
"Yeah... well I still need to do it anyway."
"Right, me too."
They finished the homework in twenty minutes and Gerard started putting his things away.
The phone rang and Charlotte picked it up. "Hello?.... Hola abuela..... ninguna ella no est� aqu�, ella est� visitando a su amiga....... s�...... s�.... S� le dir� .... adios abuela."
Gerard stared at Charlotte as she hung up.
"You speak Spanish?"
"Fluently," She said,"My mom's entire side of the family is Hispanic, half of them don't speak English."
"... You don't look half Hispanic."
"I know. I look and act more white then Hispanic."
"I mean, honestly, you're one of the last people I'd think were anything but white."
"... Thanks?"
Charlotte sighed and glared at a wall.
"Are you upset with the wall or something?"
"No, that's the direction of Mindy's house, I often glare at that wall."
"Why do you hate Mindy so much?"
"Well, it all started when we moved here-"
"Is this going to be a really long story?"
"If you didn't want to listen to why I hate Mindy, you shouldn't have asked," Charlotte said,"Anyway, it started when we moved here. My mom made friends quickly with Mindy's family, and my dad made friends quickly with Ray's family, despite the fact that my dad hates people who work at the post office. My mom would always push me to try and be friends with Mindy. It's like.. she didn't think I could make friends on my own or something... I was happy just being alone, but she kept pushing. Then school started, I already didn't like Mindy just because my mom wanted me to be friends with her. And Now I had a new reason to hate her. She was better then me at everything, man. It's like, I'd get an A, she'd get an A+. Hockey's one of the only sports I'm good at and we both try out for the last spot on the field hockey team, she gets it. And everyone just loves Mindy, everyone wants to be her friend, she's just soooo nice. And this is just Elementary school. Middle School was worse. Puberty was kind to her and hell for me. Every guy I liked loved her. 'Oh, Mindy's so hot. Mindy's so awsome. Let's all go fuck Mindy!'"
Charlotte was clutching the back of the chair tightly, her knuckles turning white.
"That still hasn't changed. My last two boyfriends? One was relieved I broke up with him and went after Mindy, the other one dumped me for Mindy. And she's just been giving me all this shit since we were six. She always boxed me into a corner and pounded me with facts and insults and made me feel stupid and helpless."
Gerard didn't see why anyone would be happy to be out of a relationship with anyone, especially not Charlotte. And now that he thought of it...
"Mindy really is a bitch isn't she?"
"Finally! You see the light! Took you long enough," She said.
"Well, sorry. Maybe I still liked her because when I first came to your elementary school she was nice to me and tried to be my friend."
"Because the teacher told us all to before you even came into the classroom. She was the biggest kiss-up in Elementary school."
".... you're right."
"Yes.. I am."
Mikey and Buster came back into the house and Charlotte said,"Hey, do you guys want to walk down to West Hudson? It's just around the corner."
"Sure."
She walked to the door of her dad's office and knocked lightly.
"Yeah?" He said from inside.
"Gerard, Mikey, and I are going to West Hudson Okay?"
"Okay."
"See ya."
Charlotte grabbed a miniature black leather backpack and took her house keys out of it before putting it on.
"C'mon," She said, opening the door and holding Buster back. Gerard and Mikey walked through and Charlotte fallowed. After locking the door she walked down the steps to the porch and they started down the street.
"Ray and I used to walk to West Hudson all the time," Charlotte said,"Before I got other friends and he got a guitar."
"You and Ray used to be really good friends didn't you?"
"Yeah, like best friends. Now he's just a friend I hang out with sometimes."
"At least you're still friends."
"Mmhm."
They started walking along the pathway that ran throught the park.
"Hey!" someone yelled. They turned their heads and saw Tracy, Josie, and Bob walking across the grass towards them.
"What's up?" Charlotte said.
"We were just bugging your old boss."
"How?"
"We kept asking a ton of stupid questions. Like,'If I take this cabbage home and we already have one, can I bring it back for a full refund?'"
"Basically being two bitches and a bastard," Bob said.
"Which one of you was the bastard?" Charlotte said.
She ran as Bob chased after her,"Oh, you're gonna get it Charlie!"
"Shall we chase after them?"
"Crutches," Tracy said.
"Right, we'll walk after them."
After a while they caught up with Charlotte and Bob. Charlotte was on a branch in a tree. And Bob was sitting at a picnic table underneath it.
"You have to come down sometime."
"Yeah I know. I'm just waiting for you to stop glaring at me like that."
Bob smiled and stopped glaring and she lowered herself from the tree.
"Hey, Fro-man's on the bridge with Hoodlum," Tracy said, glancing towards the bridge where Ray and Frank were leaning against the railing of the bridge and looking down at the pond.
"HEY GUITAR ZOMBIES!!" Josie yelled. Frank and Ray glanced over and waved before walking down to them.
"How are we all here at the same time?"
"Destiny..." Charlotte said in a mystical whisper.
"That was kinda creepy... the way you said that."
"I know..."
"You know what I've been thinking about all year?" Josie said.
"How you can somehow sabotage Kenneth so that you can be the mascot instead of him?"
"No... well.. yeah. Revenge. All year... revenge."
"Me too," Gerard said.
"Who hasn't?" Charlotte said,"I love thinking of ways to sabotoge people."
"Like the lacross team," Ray said.
"Or the football team," Bob said.
"Jocks in General," Gerard said.
"Cheerleaders," Tracy said.
"Mindy," Charlotte said.
"Kenneth," Josie said,"It's almost the end of the year... why don't we?"
"Why don't we what?"
"Plot our revenge. The ultimate revenge. We'll give them all what they deserve."
"And then some!" Charlotte said.
"I've been practicing years on my brother and sister," Josie said,"And we can start tomorrow. When Charlotte's babysitting for Mindy. Who's with me?"
"I am," Charlotte said.
"Prepare to feel revenge," Mikey said.
"Sweet revenge," Bob added.
"I don't think we should limit ourselves to Sweet Revenge, maybe some Sour Revenge too," Tracy said.
"With some crushed egos sprinkled on top," Ray said.
"And spritzes of Romance," Gerard said. They all stared at him for a moment. "Well, it would be boring without it."
"Right! So who's ready for sabotage!?" Josie said, throughing her fist into the air.
"Who's ready for Revenge!?" Tracy said, putting her fist in the air too.
"And just for the hell of it.... Who's ready for romance?" Charlotte said.
"You have to put your fist in the air," Tracy said. Charlotte smiled then Frank grabbed her wrist and put it in the air.
"Let me hear you scream if you're ready!" Josie said.
"... we're at a picnic table Josie, not a rock concert."
"Right. Sorry, I was getting into it."
"Okay, so everyone ready for this?"
"I am," Bob said. They all went around the table, one at a time, saying they were ready to plot their revenge.
"Anyone got some paper and a pen?"
Charlotte took out a small pen and notepad from her bag and gave it to Tracy, who had the best handwriting. At the top of the piece of paper she wrote down: Target #1: Mindy
"Trust Me"