Fallout
Chapter Seven
(FINALLY…The Morning After)
Belle stood at the door of
the Wesley home, waiting for someone to answer the door.
She knocked again, just as it opened and Belle came face to face with
Nancy Wesley.
"Mrs. Wesley….Hi
there. Good morning."
"Good morning, Belle.
Come on in."
Belle stepped inside the
home, and Nancy continued, "Chloe
told me that you were coming and to send you upstairs when you got here.
But, since you're here a little early, I wanted to talk to you for a
minute."
Belle nodded knowingly,
"Sure, Mrs. Wesley. What do
you want to know?"
"I know what happened
last night. Chloe didn't want to
tell us, but your teacher Mr. Woods called here last night to check that she had
gotten home safe. He told me what
happened at the dance. He said your
brother Brady may be a suspect. Is
this true?"
"No, not at all.
I promise. I know my
brother, and we've talked about it. I
can promise you that he had NOTHING to do with it.
He likes Chloe and wouldn't do something like that to her.
He's not like other people. I
know he seems like a bad boy, but deep down he cares about people."
"So, do you know who did
it, Belle?"
"Actually…yes. "
Belle hesitated, because she knew how angry Nancy could get.
"Jan Spears was pretty much the mastermind of the whole thing.
And, uhm, Mimi. But, Mimi really regrets being a part of it.
She even tried to stop Jan from doing it."
"Well, Jan Spears - I'm
not surprised. I wouldn't put
anything past her. But, Mimi
Lockhart? I know that her and Chloe
have never gotten along, but I didn't think she would stoop this low.
Not after we took her and her family into our home.
I can't believe her." Nancy
wrung her hands in frustration, and shook her head.
"I'll make them pay for this. Nobody
hurts Chloe and just gets away with it."
Belle bit her lip nervously,
"You're not going to put Mimi in jail, are you?"
Nancy sighed, "Well,
that's not really up to me. It's up
to the Salem PD. I am going to
contact Mickey Horton though. No
matter how sorry she is, Belle, Mimi deserves to get punished.
Jan too."
Belle half-nodded in
agreement, "I know that Mimi is ready for whatever punishment comes her
way. She knows she has to deal with
her mistakes now. She feels like
she deserves whatever happens to her."
"Alright, Belle.
Thanks for all your help, and it really means a lot to me the way that
you've been friends with Chloe. She
needs you now, and I need to go make some phone calls.
Go ahead upstairs."
Nancy motioned for Belle to
go upstairs, and Belle gave her a quick smile before heading upstairs towards
Chloe's room. She knocked softly on
the door and waited for Chloe to answer.
"Come on in,
Belle."
Belle opened the door slowly
and found Chloe resting on her bed writing in her journal.
"Hey….Chloe.
How ya holding up?"
Chloe closed the book, and
sat up.
"Well, I've had better
days. That's for sure.
But, you know me. Nothing gets to ol' Chloe Lane.
Chloe is strong, and tough, and cold and emotionless."
"Chloeeeeee . . . I know
that's not true. Far from it, in
fact. I know you play the tough act
so well, but that's not always the real Chloe. You can't handle everything by yourself, sometimes you need
to let it out Chloe. And, that's
what I'm here for. Here to
listen."
"So, you still want to
be friends with Ghoul Girl?"
"Chloe, don't ever call
yourself that again. Ever.
And of course I'm your friend. I
always will be. I know that what
happened tonight wasn't your own doing. So
don't be silly. I'm your friend,
and you can't get rid of me. I'm
like a disease. Trust me, Chloe,
people have tried to invent a cure for this funny feeling called Belle, and they
just can't seem to shake it."
Chloe flashed a big smile at
Belle. "Thanks Belle.
You have no idea how much that means to me."
Belle sat down on the bed
next to her friend and threw an arm around her, "No, I think I do have an
idea. Your friendship means as much
to me, Chloe. That's why I'm
here."
"Well, I'm glad to hear
it…At least I have one friend left."
Belle shook her head in
disagreement, "No way, Chloe. It's
not just me. Shawn is totally in
agreement with me. And, Brady -
well he wanted to run over here last night, but decided it might not be for the
best because you might be mad at him. There
are a lot more people who care about you than you think.
Nancy & Craig love you Chloe. My
parents and Shawn parents both care about you too.
My dad and Hope were so worried about you after what happened last
night."
"Yeah, well I guess we
can forget about double dates now. No
more Phillip & Chloe. I guess
it's for the best."
Belle wrinkled her eyebrows
in confusion, "Is that how you really feel Chloe?
Is it over for good?"
Chloe just shrugged and
looked down at her feet, "I don't know Belle, but I guess so.
Phillip will never believe that I didn't pose for those pictures.
And, even if he does - maybe it doesn't matter.
Maybe I don't want him back."
"You don't want him?
I thought you two were in love."
"Were.
Now, I just don't know. I
can't help but feeling that if Phillip really loved me the way he said he did,
that he would have known those pictures weren't something I did willingly.
That I didn't plan it all. But,
he didn't. He never gave me a
chance to explain, he just believed what he saw without even having doubts about
it. I thought he would know me
better than that, Belle. I guess I
was wrong about him."
Belle sighed deeply, "I
know, Chloe. I can't even make
excuses for him either. He just
needs to wake up and realize that not everything is about HIM all the
time."
"I wish he would.
I do care about him, Belle. I
just don't know if I want to be with him anymore."
Belle nodded understandingly,
"God, Chloe. This is just
awful. Shawn is planning on talking
to Phillip today, maybe he'll be able to convince him of what the truth
is."
"You mean, that Jan and
Mimi set the entire thing up. The
video camera, the slide show, the website. Everything."
"So, you know?"
"Well, yeah.
As soon as I ruled Brady out as the prime suspect, it was pretty clear to
me. And, I understand why they did
it."
Belle looked on in shock,
"You do?"
Chloe nodded, "Oh yeah.
Well, Jan just enjoys causing pain to others for her own little twisted
reasons. Mimi - I understand Mimi a
lot better than she might think. I've
tried to be friends with her, and I eventually realized that Mimi's problem
isn't with me. It's with her. She's so insecure, that she couldn't stand it that I could
just come in and be friends with you, Shawn and Phillip - even though I was
'Ghoul Girl'. It's jealousy, which
stems from Mimi's own lack of self esteem."
"Wow.
Chloe. You hit that on the
head. Have you been listening to
your Mom's radio show or something?"
Chloe just laughed, "Nahhh.
It was pretty obvious. Don't
you think? I don't know why Mimi
hates herself so much, she's got a lot going for her."
"Wow, I can't believe
you just complimented the person who destroyed your life last night."
"Me either, but I really
feel like Mimi's actions had more to do with her own problems, and not me.
I'm not ready to forgive and forget or anything, and I may never be, but
deep down I really do hope that she gets the help she needs."
Belle nodded, "Me too.
I love Mimi. I just hope
your mom's lawyer doesn't go too harshly on her."
"Mimi doesn't need jail,
she needs a psychiatrist."
"Right, exactly.
Listen, I gotta go meet my Mom for lunch.
If you need me for anything, just call me, okay?"
"Thanks again, Belle.
I think I'm just going to enjoy some quiet reflection time locked up in
my little tower here. Oh, and tell
Brady that I know he's innocent, if he wants to talk to me - he knows where I
am."
Belle smiled at that, and
gave her friend a big hug. "Will
do. I'm glad you're going to be
okay, Chloe. I'll call you later,
okay?"
"Okay, I'll be here.
Bye Belle."
Belle smiled one more time, and left the room. As she left the Wesley house, she couldn't help but wonder if Shawn was talking to Phillip yet. <If Shawn can get a word in edgewise, that is. Phillip doesn't listen to anyone when he's angry. I hope he cooled off overnight.>