The Girls of Manchester Pt. 01

"If she broke my mom's mirror, that can be addressed at a later time. What we need to do is figure out a plan to keep this Jessica girl away from you. Mrs. Fairhaven told me everything she was planning to do on your behalf. She is going to assign a different locker to you and then talk to Jessica's parents. Jessica will be suspended. In the meantime, I hear you have made some new friends. Bridget and Sarah, was it?"

"Samantha." Amanda replied.

"Such a beautiful name. I hear she has P.E. first period, so Mrs. Fairhaven is going to move your P.E. class to coincide with hers. That way you will be able to have someone with you. In between classes, see if you can find a way to meet up with them so you will never be caught alone by Jessica, ever again."

Amanda nodded, resigned to the fact that she was not being given a choice. She had tried to get to a new school, and she had been refused. Why was running such a bad thing?

"Oh, sweetie. I am just trying to look out for you. Let us give this a try, okay? If Jessica continues, and you feel the same way by the end of the year, we will consider getting you transferred to a different school where you can have a fresh start with new people. How does that sound?"

Amanda nodded again. It wasn't exactly what she wanted right now, but if there was to be any chance of ending all of the torture and humiliation that she had to deal with on a daily basis, she would have to go through every option before she got to the way she wanted things done. It would be only a matter of time before Jessica struck back at her, of this Amanda was certain.

"How about supper?" Abigail asked taking Amanda by the hand and leading her to the kitchen.

Ch. 04: Comeuppance

"Revenge is a dish that tastes best when served cold."

- Unknown

"Oh. My. God. That was hilarious!"

"She is such a crybaby; did you see her start to cry?"

"Yeah, I did. She is so pathetic."

Jessica walked down the hallway, basking in the glow of listening to her friends talk endlessly about how she had shoved Amanda Mondale into the lockers. For something that required so little effort, she was getting a lot of praise. It was a high that Jessica just could not get enough of.

That was the real power behind being known as the queen bitch in school. She did what she wanted, and she was admired for it. This was the way things had always been, and the way they would always be.

Jessica had always been one of the popular girls. From the time she was a small child, she could always find a means to get what she wanted. If it was a guy, she always tried to emphasize her looks. When she got older and began to develop, she quickly learned to master her sex appeal as a means of getting anything she wanted. Not that she ever did anything, but Jessica was not beyond showing a little extra skin here or cleavage there only to leave some hapless sucker breathing in the dust as she strode away with whatever she set about getting in her pocket.

With girls, she took a different approach. She always hung out with the pretty girls, the popular ones. Though some were naive and dumb as rocks, not all of them were. However, she selected as close friends only those girls who could not match her intellect and wit. In her little group, her superiority was clearly established, and Jessica flourished in the amount of attention the airhead wannabes she surrounded herself with lavished upon her. That attention, as now, had become an addictive drug more dangerous than any narcotic, especially so to those who Jessica viewed as being not good enough to be a part of her clique.

Her circle, comprised of only among the most beautiful girls in her grade, suffered no setbacks in that department on Jessica's account. Jessica was five feet, six inches tall with sandy blonde hair and a girl next door face that begged people to kiss her. Her eyes were always so expressive and could be altered at a whim to Jessica's benefit. She had amazing curves for being fourteen years old and already she could tell she was the envy of even many adult women who were not blessed with looks and a body such as hers. Combining her mental and physical attributes, Jessica felt she was what every woman wished they could be. The constant litany of praise she received about her looks only reinforced that in her mind.

Quite often, however, her most particular and enjoyable sets of praise came whenever she messed with Amanda Mondale. Over the years, with the exception of an unfortunate incident in the second grade, Jessica had been able to run all over Amanda and receive absolutely zero consequence for it. With each witty taunt, with each malicious shove, her star rose ever higher in the school hierarchy. At this point, Jessica was at the top of the freshman hierarchy, especially for some of the spectacular ways she found to humiliate Amanda.

Still, it was not spectacular enough. She had been doing the exact same things, pulling the same exact routine on Amanda for years. In all honesty, the routine was actually getting to be a little boring. For the most part, she had just been attacking Amanda's self-image (yeah, right), or the pathetic freak's body with well-timed shoves and the occasional slap or hit. It wasn't just Amanda either, she did the same thing to a lot of girls at school. Between her good lucks, her natural charm, and not to mention her father's prominent status in town (her family lived in one of the largest houses in Manchester), she could get away with just about anything short of murder.

Amanda, however, was her favorite target. She was a complete pushover, a total loser, anything more than two minutes in the summer sun turned Amanda into a side of bacon. Not to mention that ridiculous-looking red hair. Red hair was for clowns or cartoon characters and Amanda had freakishly red hair, disgusting freckles and horrible body posture. Amanda could never get into sports or participate in P.E. because she had to use an inhaler. What a lame excuse, the real reason likely was that Amanda knew Jessica and her friends would level her in any sport. She couldn't even walk with a little dignity. All of these reasons, contrived in her mind, caused Jessica to continue to do the things she did to Amanda.

"Hey, Jessica!" A voice came from down the hallway. It was Leigh, one of her friends.

"Hey, Leigh." Jessica beamed," What's up?"

"You will never guess who has their locker next to mine." Leigh said, looking around conspiratorially.

"Amanda?" Jessica guessed. "So, what?"

"She just ran into the bathroom a couple minutes ago about to cry her heart out. But anyway, I happened to see that she had still left her combination on the back of the lock to her locker."

Amanda raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the possibility.

"She hasn't left the bathroom for, like, ten minutes and Melissa said she heard Amanda in there, crying."

Jessica's face broke into a grin that would have made the Cheshire Cat nervous. Featuring Amanda herself as Alice, there was about to be a very rude awakening from the depths of Wonderland. Jessica started walking down the hallway with purpose, her mind intent on doing something memorable. Though she did not know exactly what she was going to do, she knew she had a chance to really get inside of Amanda's head. All it would take was a prompt in the right direction, then Amanda would break down like the pathetic being Jessica always knew Amanda was.

Jessica arrived with her pack of friends, and as expected, people got out of the way. Whenever she showed up with her group, nothing good ever came of it. This was especially so whenever Jessica had that particular gleam in her light brown eyes, that gleam had always been a harbinger of bad things to come, and few cared to be involved in whatever it was that had to be crossing Jessica's mind.

"Which locker?" Jessica asked, turning to Leigh.

Leigh pointed out a locker and Jessica immediately moved towards it. She fumbled with the lock so she could take a look at the paper with the combination. Satisfied she could remember it, she turned the dial several times and the lock popped open. Jessica's smile grew that much wider as she removed the lock and opened the locker door. Jessica peered inside to see everything inside studiously neat and organized. The girl was so pathetic that she had even arranged her textbooks in alphabetical order!

"What a loser..." Jessica murmured to herself as she suddenly hit upon an idea. Amanda was always studying, always writing in her notebooks. Amanda was always a nerd, always getting the highest grades in class. "Not anymore."

Jessica pulled out one of the textbooks then turned to her friends.

"If any teachers come, let me know immediately." Jessica ordered. A couple of girls moved off to fulfill Jessica's wishes while the rest watched, practically salivating over the juicy gossip they would be spreading everywhere about this.

Jessica opened the cover and began ripping out the pages. Frantically, several at a time, she had almost denuded the book of all of its' guts before moving onto another. Jessica smiled as she continued tearing apart the books which Amanda would need to get any grades whatsoever. She would hit the girl where it hurt the most, her nerdiness.

Jessica listened to the gasps and laughter behind her with immense satisfaction as she continued her vandalous efforts. Quickly enough, she had finished with the books so she then started pulling out notebooks. The first one she pulled had a cover nearly complete with doodles and designs.

"Amanda clearly had too much time on her hands today. Well, it looks like she is about to have a lot more time than even she bargained for."

Once again, gasps and laughter rang out from behind her. She could tell a large crowd was starting to gather around her. They all watched in either utter or shock, or awed amazement at Jessica's boldness to do such a thing. The watched and listened as pieces of paper were shredded, the covers were ripped apart. One by one, Amanda's brand-new notebooks where reduced to a heap of shredded wastepaper at Jessica's feet. Jessica turned to Leigh.

"Is she still in the bathroom?" Jessica asked.

"I think so." Leigh replied.

"Go in and say something that will bring her out. I don't want her to miss all of this." Jessica ordered.

Leigh rushed off to the bathroom while Jessica continued to shred a notebook. She then turned her ire on Amanda's school supplies. A pencil box full of pens, pencils and erasers as well as an expensive-looking calculator became her next target. She pulled out the calculator and threw it tithe ground as hard as she was able to. Picking up her feet, she stomped on it repeatedly. She tossed the erasers all about, then took all of the pens apart, tossing the many parts and pieces all about.

She finally took her hatred out on the pencils, pulling the erasers off, then breaking the pencils starting with the finely sharpened points. She noticed one final notebook still in the locker and pulled it out. The laughter and whispers from the crowd told her that Amanda had arrived and was coming through the crowd. She slowly tore apart the notebook, making sure Amanda had enough time to get to the front of the group to see exactly what was happening. That was when Jessica noticed the mirror. It looked ancient.

"What does SHE need a mirror for?" Jessica mumbled to herself. "It's not like she has any good looks to check on anyways."

Jessica heard a slight gasp and turned around. She smiled evilly as she held the mirror in her hand.

"Jessica, please- don't!" Amanda begged, her eyes squarely on the mirror in Jessica's hand.

Jessica felt the raw surge of power in her head. She knew that with the mirror she had struck a raw nerve. The power that gave her over Amanda was absolutely intoxicating to Jessica. She knew she could demand anything of Amanda and Amanda would do it. However, that would necessitate Jessica lowering herself to talk on a somewhat humane level with Amanda. As far as Jessica was concerned, the redhead was not even human. She glanced sideways at her friends who were waiting on edge for whatever was to come next.

Jessica never even really thought about it. The movement was reflexive, almost natural as the tinkling of glass shattering and hitting the floor echoed through the hallway. The sound seemed nearly deafening in the shocked silence of everyone in the hallway. The bell chimed, signaling it was time to head to the buses. Jessica dropped the mirror frame on the floor with a thud and she walked off as her friends followed behind, loudly proclaiming her praises. Jessica merely walked ahead with a smile planted on her face. There was no need to boast, her friends would always do that for her. In the back of her mind, the image of Amanda's face lingered, the look of heartbroken dismay gave Jessica a slight moment's pause. She may have not heard the end of this, but she was willing to bet there would be no consequences for her, yet again.

"Jessica!" A voice rang out as soon as she stepped through the double doors leading to the bus loading area.

"Oh, God." Jessica whined as she saw Michael Winston running towards her. Michael Winston was a cutie in her opinion, however he was dumb as rocks, just like most of his jock friends. Though Jessica had her heart set on becoming a cheerleader, she wondered if the cost of having every space cadet jock in the school trying to hit her up for a date was worth it.

"Hey, Jessica! Wait up!" Michael trotted up to her, trying in earnest to catch his breath.

"What do you want?" Jessica asked, trying to let her tone convey the message she was not interested in talking.

"I was wondering what you were going to be doing tonight."

'Strike One, jock.' Jessica thought to herself. She didn't reply, hoping the silent treatment would have a better effect.

"Hello? Trying to ask if you want to go out with me tonight, you know?" Michael asked, flashing a smile that suggested more than a mere date was on his mind for the evening.

'Yuck. Strike two and- a- half." Jessica thought, repulsed by the thought of Michael trying to shove himself on top of her.

"Michael, no."

"Come on, Jessica. You can't say no to this." Michael said as he backed up, motioning with his hands as though he were some prized showcase on The Price is Right. As far as Jessica concerned, he was no showcase, and she sure as hell wasn't one of those airhead "Barker Girls".

'Strike three, meathead. Time for the bitch to come out.' Jessica mused with a small smile.

"Look, infant. I will say this only one time. Not interested! Tell the rest of your meathead friends the same thing." Jessica replied, shoving past Michael with her shoulder.

"Whatever, bitch." Michael mumbled, his face going red as she brushed past.

Jessica continued toward her bus and got on. She looked around for an empty seat and stopped in her tracks. Sitting in the back of the bus with a couple of her soccer pals was none other than Elizabeth Greene. Jessica felt a rare, cold shiver going up her spine. Elizabeth was truly the only person that Jessica could not charm or manipulate, therefore she was frightened. It certainly did not help that Elizabeth was the only friend that Amanda Mondale had. They went nearly everywhere together and were nearly inseparable.

Jessica had caught Elizabeth's gaze, a knowing smile playing across the lips of the Senior. They had had a number of altercations in the past, every time over the fact she would not leave Amanda alone. This was the last thing Jessica wanted to have to deal with, so she sat down next to one of the few people she considered nearly an equal, Hope. They had never really talked in the past, and the girl had let her know in no uncertain terms she would leave Jessica alone if Jessica would leave her or her friends alone. On a mutual understanding, they kept as far from each other as they could.

"Excuse, me, Jessica. I was trying to save that seat for someone else." Hope said to her.

"I guess that gesture is a little meaningless now." Jessica said as she felt the bus start to lurch forward. Jessica noted a slight panicked look in the eyes of Hope as the bus pulled to the end of the school driveway. Jessica looked into Hope's baby blue eyes. "Is it okay for me to stay here now?"

"Avoiding someone again?" Hope said, accusingly.

"Not your business, Hope." Jessica replied.

"No matter. I guess you might as well." Hope replied. Jessica noted the disappointed tone of Hope's voice as she fought to keep from turning her head. She knew who was back there. She also knew what was coming. Her house was too far from the bus stop, and Elizabeth was too fast for her to escape even with a long head start. Still, that would not stop her from trying. Elizabeth had brought friends along, too. Were they going to hurt her as well?

Jessica could feel herself start to hyperventilate thinking about the fate that awaited her. She didn't realize how much her worrying was starting to affect her until she suddenly felt cold. When she looked at her arms, they were covered in a sheen of sweat. Beads immediately fell from errant strands of her golden hair. She began to shiver as she tried to surreptitiously wipe away the moisture. Her entire body was in revolt, crying in protest over the pain yet to come.

"Are you okay?" Hope asked her, a curious expression on her face.

"Y-y-yeah." Jessica stammered. She hoped that her face looked a lot more convincing than she sounded at the moment. Her mind was starting to get foggy out of panic. She looked towards the back of the bus, the brown eyes of Elizabeth telling her a story of pain and agony yet to come. Jessica quickly turned back around, her hand clutching at her chest as she fought to breathe normally.

"You did something to Amanda, didn't you?" Hope asked as she followed Jessica's gaze. "When are you going to learn to stop being such a bitch?"

"Not the time, Hope. Can I come to your place?" Jessica asked, panic distorting every contour of her beautiful face into something ugly and twisted.

"No! Amanda did nothing to you and you treat her like garbage!" Hope shouted.

"SHHHHHH- sh-sh-sh!" a wide-eyed Jessica tried to calm Hope down.

"Don't shush me! I am not one of your mindless little pack of pathetic Barbie dolls!" Hope shouted, starting to stand up.

"Okay! Okay. Not so loud, please!" Jessica begged, trying to pull Hope back down and into the seat. Jessica was panicked beyond belief, turning her gaze back towards a red-faced Elizabeth.

"Have fun." Hope said in a sing-song voice.

"You bitch. You would do well to remember this." Jessica said before she realized the bus was coming to a halt at her bus stop. She started breathing heavily as the kids who overheard the conversation started laughing and whispering among themselves. Some were pointing to her, others to Elizabeth as they waited with obvious eager hope that something would happen before Jessica made it off the bus.

The tension all around could be cut with even the dullest of knives as Jessica fought both the urge to pummel Hope for bringing more attention to herself than was necessary, and her body, which was screaming for her to run as fast as she could, but the bus had yet to come to a full stop. When it did, Jessica was the first to get up. She grabbed her book bag and purse, shoving some of the other kids on the bus out of the way as she tried desperately to be the first off, but she was not entirely successful.

Jessica chanced looking behind her to see that nobody in the back had gotten up as Elizabeth slowly sauntered down the middle of the aisle followed by her two team mates. Jessica groaned to aloud to the amusement of everyone around her as she saw the look of expectancy and triumph cloud Elizabeth's fire-fueled gaze. She could practically feel the heat from Elizabeth's stare boring into her head even though half a bus length separated them. She wished the others in front of her would leave the bus faster. She was sincerely beginning to think all of this was in purpose. Hope, Elizabeth, everyone on the bus was in on it as she was desperate to get off the bus for the sake of her own survival.