Elaine Roussel, Simone Gibson, Mandy Smith and Paige Willis" on hearing their names the girls moved to an isolated corner each oblivious of each other's knowledge for now, the teacher gestured for them to move close to what appeared to be a ballot box positioned on a large, high table and in that box where sheets of paper, on the top of the box was a hole wide enough for a hand to perfectly slip in, Paige took the call, moved towards the box, and slipped her hand in, picking up a rather random sheet of paper she read out loud "shrubs, orchids, black-eyed Susan, Honey suckle, conifers and red maple"
"okay girls, that all for now, y'all have two hours to get a sample of your designated plants, remember cooperation and good teamwork is the key, you have to meet up back here with your samples when the time is up, good luck kids"
hearing that statement, splitted in several groups everyone made their way into the woods to recover the plants. They'd just began senior year and was welcomed by an impromptu field trip, senior year would come with tougher, harsher and more complex experiences Paige was well aware of how little her chances were and she was well prepared, high school would soon be done this was her last chance to be a part of something great, she was finally going to break out of her bubble which she'd been trapped in her whole life, she was finally prepared to experience the dramas and dilemmas of teenage hood, although she had this plan for a while now, but she needed time to bring it to life, the time she spent picking out her specimens, she had to earnestly observe and investigate the character of those she'd selected, to equally make sure that their goals were in tally, so she picked out individuals that were closely alike, that deeply, truly pursued the same hopes and dreams with one another and here they all were. Well of course she had to bend a few rules to get them all here today, she had stalk each one of them occasionally to know the life's they independently lived outside of school, that included creating various fake accounts on social media befriending them on the cyberspace, she'd message them with some of those fake accounts to gather several details about them, she knew about Mandy natural hatred of snakes and fear of spiders, she knew about Mandy's secret crush on Crenshaw's basketball team caption and occasional bad boy Cody Richards, she knew Simone was Lesbian and was utterly afraid of coming out especially to the girls she'd been in love with since third grade, Tina biles who has been prom queen since anyone could remember, and Elaine several love letters to Lacrosse player Jean Stilinsky but he either threw them away or never saw them. she took the stalking to a much more physical level, she thought knowing more about their lives at home would effectively help to profile their character and upgrade deeper understanding of who they were, she'd grown mastery of it that she was never caught, she grown suspicious of Elaine's dad, she thought he was to involved in his daughter's life way more than a father should be, she'd overheard him once telling Elaine to take care of that beautiful face, maybe she was wrong, maybe she just knew nothing of fatherly roles after all she had lost her dad when she was twelve so who was she to judge if he was abnormal or not, she had known about Mandy being isolated in her home, her mom had her from a previous marriage and adjusting into a completely new family was harder than she'd accepted hence making her submerging into a company of aloneness, and Simone been pretty much a rascal since birth, after all been raised by a single black dad who may or may not be part of an active gang, she couldn't have been worse, she had grown to be tough, that constituted to her not being able to come out as part of LGBT,
she'd taken so many risks to get to this point, to create something beautiful of each apparent ugly lives, and them being able to be picked specifically for this trip? well of course she'd switched the names on the system to make sure they got together, this was her chance to actualize her dreams, she'd waited so long to get to this point and now that they were all here together she wouldn't miss the opportunity.
"so how about we split up to cover more grounds?" Simone spook up
"it's not about splitting up do you know what a Honey suckle looks like?" Mandy asked rhetorically
" okay so how about we chill here and you do all the work smarty pants"
"hey I was just.."
"it's too early to start fighting" Paige jumped in, " I have a pen and paper, Mandy how about you just draw what each plants look like so we'd each have an idea"
arching a brow, Mandy took the pen and paper from Paige and began drawing
" that's a pretty good idea.. um" Simone made a skeptical face trying to pinpoint her name.
"Paige, it's Paige"
"yeah Paige" Simone replied giving her a plain Pat on her back
" how about we just introduce ourselves so we'd get to know each other better how about that?" Paige asked
"this is an assignment.. not a date or a slumber party" Mandy replied still making drawings for the group
"actually a slumber party is with people you already are familiar with" Elaine finally spoke up
"thanks for the heads up" Mandy chuckled
"I'm...I'm sorry" Elaine stuttered
"hey!" Simone replied flying over to Elaine and immediately placed her hands over Elaine's shoulders "hey blondie there's no need to apologise and grumpy over there is just being a bitch"
" let's all just calm down..." Paige sighed trying to get a hold of the situation
" I just want to get this over with and get an A, something I'm not so sure you understand" Mandy replied
" get this over with? really? Mandy we all know you don't have a life so just stop acting like you got somewhere to be" Paige blurted out in a not so nice tone, immediately after realizing the gravity of what she'd said and accompanied with the awkward silence it bore
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I'm just trying to.." she tried to apologise
"it's okay, I'm sorry o didn't mean to sound rude, I'm not just used to getting friendly with people" Mandy replied now giving out the papers
"me too, I mean none of us are," Elaine replied
"relax Blondie" Simone retorted
"I'm Elaine, not Blondie"
Paige sighed "why don't we all just introduce ourselves by names"
"I'm Simone,"
"thank you" Paige replied and all eyes were on Mandy now,
"okay guys together we have to retrieve six plants I gave y'all one sample each to find since those are easily located and spotted I can handle the rest, I've got whistles with me, you know just in case we need to find ourselves," she peered into her bag fishing out several whistles and handing them out, " I know this may appear too weird or extreme, but it's essential, once you get the flowers no looking about come back here"
" guess grumpy really needs this A" Simone scuffed
" it's Mandy,"
"great, and Mandy this whistles are perfect if anyone's having trouble finding the plant don't hesitate, we need to have each other's backs"
they all nodded and made their way into different directions
well this wasn't the start she had predicted but it wasn't all that bad, after all they all gotten into oral communication and it's only going to take a short while and their relationship would ultimately flourish, she found herself smiling in cahoots with her thoughts as she taped the plant sample on the large sheet of paper, her predictions about the girls were spot on, she'd initially predicted that Mandy would be a tough nut to crack and it played exactly as she thought, and Elaine would need alot of work concerning the fact that she was to suppressed and appeared really shy, and as for Simone she basically wont have problems blending into the group as she was already free spirited, this was it, she sighed as she approached their meeting spot, she'd met her people.
she sighted Elaine and Simone from far and she could tell they were in a pretty one sided conversation as Simone talked while Elaine sat clenching her backpack which was positioned on her bossom
"Mandy's not here yet?" Paige asked as she joined them
"nope, I figured we'd wait a few minutes before looking for her" Simone replied
"okay, we wait five minutes then we find her using this whistles, we don't have much time yet" Paige concluded.
just as she was about to sit on a nearby tree root, the loud reckless sounds of distant whistles came tearing through the woods and they all knew there was trouble and without thinking they all instantly rushed into the direction where it came from.
Mandy had retrieved the last sample and had taped it on her cardboard, he heaved a sigh of relief as she glanced around, she had to soar even deeper to make sure she got what she believed was a meaningful amount of plant samples, she thought about how the others were doing, she pondered
about her recent interaction with them and it undeniably felt good, she had to converse with actual people and not those little voices in her head and for a moment there she felt like she was a part of something important, thinking about this brief but enlightening experience she realized she'd wanted this feeling to stick around a while longer, maybe she appeared a little bit harsh to them, she decided that when she get back she would apologise again and maybe just maybe they would be friends, then she won't have to sit with lap coats or have to skip lunch time so she won't be reminder how lonely her life was. she lit up with hopes she'd never had since she was seven, when she still believed in the Easter Bunny as she made her way back to the girls.
she'd heard a nearby scuffle in the bushes as she walked towards the group direction, although she was no where close, at first she wasn't bothered by it, it could be a squirrel or a rat, but as the sounds persisted is appeared heavy, more pronounced and directed to where she was. she now felt concerned
"who's...who's there?" she asked facing what appeared to be just bushes, there was no reply and as she turned around to exit the sounds resurfaced once more,
"anybody there?" she asked again but still no reply
"what the heck I'm I doing? it's probably rats, can't believe I'm talking to bushes" chuckling she turned her back and took few steps away from that location, not too long after she retreated she heard a much more louder sound as if something or someone flew out from the bushes and before she could turn backwards to visibly identify whatever it was, she felt a large palm griping her mouth from behind with force so strong that she stopped moving.
"don't you dare make a sound or else imma snap your neck, ya hear me!"
she heard a masculine voice spoke from behind her and it was a very familiar voice, she knew she had heard that voice somewhere but she couldn't place a face or name to it, her heart raced faster as she tried to struggle with this unknown attacker,
"now, now no need to struggle, I want two things from you, one of which are those samples you've got and err" he paused as he lowered his head towards her neck and sniffs her, she could tell he was tall and really muscular, there was no way she was fighting off this person, whoever he was alone, she struggled to set her mouth loose but the grip was far too strong,
"I said stop struggling.." the voice became more thicker, he'd finally let go of her mouth but he now had his grip on her neck, using one hand to lock her hands backwards, with one powerful swing he launched her on the tree nearby, her face roughly landed on the tree bark, now that her lips were free she could speak now,
"who are you? what do you want?"
he could sense the terror in her voice, and he smiled
"well if you stop struggling I could tell ya"
"look, if you want the samples you can have them, please don't hurt me, please" she cried out as her face was still severally compressed
"nah, I want something else," he replied, he released the firm grip on her neck while keeping both her arms locked, he slowly began raising her cotton gown and then it dawned on Mandy she was about to get raped.
"what...what are you doing.. please..stop" she could barely put into words as her breathing increased
"what now ya dumb or what, now shut the fuck up before I snap your neck" saying this he gave her a violent push sending her backwards away from the tree then hitting her with force back on the tree, from nowhere she finally recognized who it was, although she haven't seen his face yet, but with the way he talked there was only one person who matched his persona with such body mass Levi Newman, only the most notorious student at Crenshaw high, he has been in and out of jail so much that society eventually lost count, one time he beat the life out of a student and got him hospitalized for months, the only reason he got away with it and still walks freely in
school and in town was because it was a well known fact that his mother was banging the mayor, crap! if she doesn't somehow finds a way out of this situation she would be raped or worse dead.
he'd lifted her gown so high up that her undies were visible, now seeing this he let out a loan which left Mandy utterly disgusted, and now she had an idea, she remembered she'd placed the whistle in her front pocket, if she could just free her hand and reach it maybe she could signal the others for help, mustering all the strength and courage she had, she drew backwards a bit and with full forced stepped on the tree now landing both of them fiercely on the ground, Levi back first and her on top of him and it had worked, as he groaned in pain he'd let go of her hand, without hesitation she grabbed the whistle and Immediately began blowing hysterically, but her moment was was short-lived as Levi pushed her away from him launching a blow on her cheek, luckily for her she moved her face in time so it reduced the impact.
"you stupid bitch!" he grunted "you wanna die? you wanna die huh!"
"Levi, stop please.." she begged
"eat dirt bitch" he scooped a palm filled with sand and grass and successfully forced them all into her mouth, she choked for a while trying to vomit what she'd being fed, but that was impossible since Levi took another strong grip on her neck, she was slowly giving up, he proceeded to elevating both her legs and held them up with his massive torso weight and hurriedly, he started lowering her panties as he prepared for action.
she had closed her eyes really tight, loosing both strength and will to fight back, her tears had dried up as she was forced to carry this weighty person above her, as she felt his hand slid into her vagina she let out a pale cry, closing her eyes even tighter, then all of a sudden she heard a loud hard noise, and everything went silent Levi fell numbly on top of her.
"oh my goodness.." Simone exclaimed standing besides Paige who held the large rock that was recently plunged into the back of Levi's head
together they pulled Levi off her, throwing him at the opposite side, now picking up Mandy who was laying down,
"what the hell was going on?" Paige asked, as she placed Mandy comfortably resting on her, Mandy was shivering now as she slowly began spitting out the dirt she had trapped inside her mouth, Elaine sat in front of her, wiping her face and arranging her rumpled clothes
"was he trying to rape you?" she asked with trembling hands
Mandy's cries were audible now
"I..I was just..was just walking and he jumped on me, and tried to..I begged him to"
"it's okay, it's okay, were here now" Paige comforted her, patting her shoulders and eventually giving her a tight hug
"I can't believe this just happened" Elaine remarked still in shock
behind them was Simone who was furiously delivering several firm kicks to Levi's already damaged head.
"son of a bitch! dirty bastard!" she retorted while still on foot action
"are you okay?" Elaine asked
"not yet," Mandy stood up, moved towards where Paige had dropped the rock, she picked it up, moved over to Levi unresponsive body and dropped the rock directly on his head.
" now I'm fine" she replied
there was a brief silence that covered their midst, Simone standing totally out of breathe from delivering all those kicks, Mandy starting at what could possibly be a corpse with utter anger and hatred in her eyes, Elaine now holding Mandy's arm to make sure she was alright and Paige lurking behind carefully accessing the environment to make sure there was no one around
"what are we gonna do with him?" Elaine asked breaking the silence
"I think he's dead"
"he better be dead" Simone immediately seconded
"I don't know we can just leave him out here," Mandy replied, as they all turned over to Paige as if seeking for a proper plan.
this was her chance, her golden opportunity to shine, sure things didn't go exactly as she had orchestrated they got better, she would seize this opportunity and gain their trust, she stepped forward looking into their eyes simultaneously
"we can't tell anyone about this and we can't leave him here, he's one son of a bitch but we can't tie ourselves to him"
"so what do you propose?" Mandy asked
"personally I don't give a fuck about what happens to him, but you're right, he's only been able to get away with a lot of shit because of the his mother," Simone added
"what if we make it look like an accident," Paige said as she ran further into a distance, the girls followed behind, they all stopped just like Paige did when she spotted a short cliff with rocks at the bottom,
"Elaine go grab that rock" Paige began to command "Mandy and Simone grab his body"
Paige took the rock and carefully slid it down the cliff till it join with the other rocks, once the body was recovered she also pushed Levi's body down the cliff and watched as it hit bottom,
"now we cover the tracks, we're going dig every dig every sand that contains his blood and stuff in Elaine's backpack, and we act like this never happened"
"what do I need the sand for?" Elaine asked perplexed
"flush it down your toilet when you get home, we wanna get people to think he died over there" Paige instructed
"damn babe, remind me not to mess with you" Simone replied
together they carefully cleaner up the crime scene, Elaine's bag was fully stuffed with bloody sand while trails indicating he was dragged was properly covered, they heard the loud call signalling them that the time was up, after exchanging glances with each other to make sure they were ready to go, they retreated back to base.
they'd sat next to each other inside the bus ride home, the teacher had previously taken attendance to make sure that each student were properly accounted for, he'd noticed Levi missing, after questioning the group where he partnered with, they replied that he'd just wandered off without telling them where he was going, they made several calls to his phone which all went to voice mail, after waiting thirty minutes for him, they had to leave him behind, the teacher concluded that he'd probably just sneeked past him and had gone home or something after all Levi was pretty much a problem kid, but due to protocol he'd made a call to the police do a routine check.
the girls would later exchange numbers and Paige added them to a group she named P.E.M.S, according to their initials.
"I'm sorry guys, I dragged you all into my mess" Mandy apologized
"nah don't be, it wasn't your fault" Simone replied giving her a welcoming smile. Elaine continued biting her lips as it was obvious that she was on edge.
"Elaine calm down, we had no choice" Paige confronted her
" I know, no one has to find out about this, meaning nobody has to say anything right?" Elaine asked
"nobody is gonna say anything just flush that sand when you get home and everything is going to be a-okay"
Elaine nodded in agreement.
Mandy sighs "I'm glad I met you guys today, I'm glad I've made new friends".