Choking Game (11 page)

SIXTEEN

Teenage Revenge
@TeenageRevenge
download the best song of the year!

~Getting a little cocky? Or is it something else?~

"What do you know about being cocky? Oh, I forgot, that's your middle name!"

~Very funny! Let me show you what I think.~

Teenage Revenge
@TeenageRevenge
download the best song of the year! #hope #fun #friends #music #musichits1 #YouTube #memories #friendship

"You think I'm hopeful? About what exactly?"

~About finding new friends.~

"Like Angelica and Luke? You think that's gonna make a difference?"

~It already is. You finally recorded your song and posted it on YouTube last night. This is the third day of your little wishing deal, and you're excited you actually did what you wanted to do for so long. Don't deny it! I know you're happy about it.~

"Okay, maybe I am. That doesn't change anything, though."

~Sure.~

"Luke seemed really nervous in math today, did you notice?"

~I did. No clue why. You guys had no tests, and he's a math whiz anyway. He takes tests with his eyes closed. Maybe it has something to do with his one wish. Maybe he hasn't done it yet, and he's nervous about it. Who knows?~

"Look over there! Did you see Angelica? What's going on?"

~Yeah. I caught a glimpse of her running like mad. Did she go to the gym? Let's go! Hurry up!~

"Why? It's none of our business where she went."

~I don't like the way she ran. Something's not right. We gotta go.~

"What the—"

~Shhh! Over there, those three guys. Isn't that Ethan and two others from his football team? What are they doing with Luke? Oh, my God! Ethan has a metal rod! He's gonna hit him! MJ! Stop him!~

"How am I gonna stop Ethan with a metal rod and two huge guys?!"

~You can't let them beat up Luke! He's your friend! MJ! Do something!~

"What are you doing!" Angelica roared. She jumped between Luke and Ethan and grabbed the metal rod.

"Get out of here before you get hurt!" Ethan growled at her.

"What are you gonna do? Hit a girl? With a piece of metal? That'll make you look tough all right," Angelica sneered.

"I said get out of here. Now!" Ethan yelled out.

"No!" Angelica yelled back at him. "Leave Luke alone. He hasn't done anything to you!"

"Not to me he didn't," Ethan scoffed. "He'd be dead if he tried."

"Then what's your problem?" Angelica shook her head.

"Tell her!" Ethan glared at Luke. "Why don't you tell her your dirty little secret?"

"What's this about?" Angelica turned to Luke.

Ethan and his buddies started to laugh and make faces. Luke's face was frozen in half shock, half embarrassment.

"What happened, Luke. Can you tell me?" Angelica whispered. Luke lowered his gaze and remained quiet.

"You're little boyfriend is more like a girlfriend, darling!" Ethan burst out laughing hysterically.

"What do you mean?" Angelica looked from Luke to Ethan and back again.

"He kissed another dude in the bathroom!" one of Ethan's friends yelled out as he made a face of disgust.

Luke did not say a word. His face turned red and his eyes were glued to the gym floor.

Angelica did not blink an eye. "And that's why you three assholes ganged up on him, dragged him here and tried to beat him up with a metal rod? Are you out of your f-ing minds? What kind of a jackass low-life does that? I asked you what did he do to you?! Nothing! So why do you want to beat him up?"

For a few seconds Ethan and his two friends remained quiet. "Shut up and leave. This is no place for pretty girls like you," Ethan said as he came close to Angelica and cupped her chin with his big hand. "You wouldn't want to get this face rearranged. That'd be real shame, let me tell you." Ethan smiled mockingly at Angelica as he blew her a kiss.

"Why are you so riled up about this? Is it because Luke kissed someone else instead of you?" As soon as Angelica said that, Ethan's face filled with so much hatred, one could hardly recognize the good looking, popular jock. He swung his fist against Angelica's face with so much force, her head would have snapped if she didn't duck in time.

"The cops! Run! The cops are here!"

~Where do you see them, MJ? Where are you running? Watch out! You're gonna run into him! Watch out! Ethan's too big! Be careful!~

"Thanks, MJ," Angelica said. "I'm sure he would have killed me if you didn't scare them with the cops. Are they really coming?"

"Of course not. By the time I had called the police, you'd be history. Both of you."

~Good thinking, MJ.~

"What the hell happened here? Can somebody explain?"

~I wanna know, too.~

"I did the one thing I really wanted to do if I only had three days to live," Luke shrugged.

"Who did you kiss?" Angelica asked.

"Gavin," Luke said.

"He's cute," Angelica smiled.

"So, are you like, gay?"

~Why did you ask? Isn't it obvious now?~

"I had no idea," Angelica said.

"Me neither."

~Me neither.~

"It's not like I'm wearing a big sign on my forehead," Luke said. "Frankly, I didn't even think anyone at school cared about this stuff anymore. It never occurred to me I was supposed to advertise it."

"That's not it."

~No? Then what is it?~

"It's not? Then what? What was I supposed to do? Date another guy? Well, that isn't so easy. The truth is I haven't found anyone I really liked until I met Gavin, but I was too shy to tell him," Luke said.

"Luke's right. And who he likes isn't really any of our business," Angelica said. "But you're wrong about no one caring whether you're gay or not."

"I know. There are always going be jerks like Ethan," Luke said.

"That's not it," Angelica said. "Girls do care. Don't you know having a gay guy as a friend is every girl's dream?"

"Why's that?" Luke asked.

"You get a BFF without the girl competing with another girl drama," Angelica smiled. "It's a dream come true in the friendship department."

"Is Gavin gay?"

~He must be! Why would they kiss?~

"I always thought he was," Luke said. "Now that I finally kissed him, I know he is." Luke furrowed his brows and smiled.

"How did Ethan find out?"

~Yeah, good question.~

"His sidekick was in one of the stalls. We didn't see him. He walked out just as we kissed," Luke said.

"Why would Ethan want to beat you up? What's the point?"

~He's a jerk, MJ. Always has been.~

"I don't know, but I worry about Gavin. He doesn't know what just happened here. If Ethan wanted to beat me up, he'll probably wanna do that to him, too," Luke said.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure he won't," Angelica said.

"And how are you going to do that?"

~I bet she's got something up her sleeve.~

"I have an idea," Angelica said. "Let's go. I have something to show you."

SEVENTEEN

Teenage Revenge
@TeenageRevenge
if you're sick and tired of being pushed around, push back, it's worth it

~I'm proud of you, MJ. It was a scary situation, and you put yourself out there.~

"I'm no hero. Angelica is. She stood up to them, not me. I just made up a cop story. In fact, I was too scared to face them. I don't know if I would’ve had the guts to go and stand up to them the way she did."

~You never know. You did something and got them off their backs. It counts, MJ. It's a start. Allow me to tweet this one.~

Teenage Revenge
@TeenageRevenge
if you're sick and tired of being pushed around, push back, it's worth it #hope #bullying #StopBullying #friendship #courage

"Luke, you need to call Gavin and tell him to steer clear of Ethan. I'll take care of that bully tomorrow when I see him at school," Angelica said.

"Sure," Luke said and picked up his cell phone.

"This is my one thing I wanted to do in my last three days," Angelica said and pulled a piece of cloth off an easel.

"Angelica! This is the most amazing painting I've ever seen! I'm not kidding! What is it?"

~I'm speechless, MJ. This painting would take my breath away if I had any to begin with.~

"Wow! Angelica! What is it?" Luke called out.

"It's called Rumors," Angelica said.

"It's like 3D or something," Luke said.

"I layered a lot of colors on top of one another. I got the idea from how rumors spread. You know, how it usually starts small, a comment that can even be somewhat innocent. When passed on, a word or two are often added, and the cycle begins. A sentence is added next, and an innocent intent changes to a meaning. Even if it’s wrong, the meaning takes on a life of its own until the rumor forms its ugly head and plows through the fertile soil of people's imagination hungry for another story.

"This is my story in painting. I started with a dab of yellow, perfectly good, the innocent color of sunshine. I smeared a bit of gray that clouded its rays and dropped a bunch of blue raindrops all over the canvas. I got mad that one mean cloud just went ahead and covered my sun, so I added more strong rays to shine through the clouds and the rain. It formed a beautiful rainbow that covered every inch of the white base. But it still rained cats and dogs and the downpour of water smeared the rainbow colors. The colors dripped, and in order to catch them, I painted a huge meadow of young, crisp grass to absorb the rain. But the rain just kept on falling as the storm approached with its thunder and lightning. The flash of light struck the wet pools on the ground. In my mind, fire broke out and singed the young grass until it could not grow any taller. It turned to slime as more colors piled up high on one another. The slime churned and oozed; its green color became almost metallic as it resonated the fear and the madness of all the destruction from the beautiful, sunny beginning through the innocent growth until the fire blazed all hope, and the slimy river of rumors flooded the small, vulnerable world inside." Angelica touched her painting and smiled.

"That's one heck of a description."

~Why do I have a feeling she's not talking about her painting?~

"That's what it felt like when I was painting it," Angelica said.

"The way you described it is kind of sad, but this painting is so beautiful. Almost peaceful," Luke said.

"The peace is the end product," Angelica said. "The process was not peaceful at all, trust me."

"So what is this really all about? Can you tell us?"

~Yeah! I want to know!~

"This is what rumors look like in my head. I hate them. They're sinister, often mean and they can destroy you. Most of the time, you can't even defend yourself. There's nothing I hate more than people who spread them. When I hear a rumor, this is what goes through my head," Angelica pointed at the canvas.

"This painting is so amazing, you should really exhibit it somewhere," Luke said.

"That's my next thing to do. I don't know how I'd be able to do it in the next three days though!" Angelica laughed.

"Okay! Time for MJ," Luke said. "What do you have for us?"

"I'll be right back. I need to go get my guitar."

~Hurry up! I can't wait to hear what they think!~

~You seem kind of excited, MJ.~

"That's because I can't even remember the last time I played a song to anyone."

~See? You should have never stopped. Your music is great.~

"I was too upset. Maybe it's a good thing I took a break. I feel more energized, connected to it. I can't explain, it just feels right."

~I'm really happy for you, MJ. I really am.~

"I believe you."

~Let's hurry back. We don't want to keep them waiting.~

"Nice guitar!" Luke said. "How much did it cost?"

"I don't know. I looked it up on Google and it went for anywhere from $900 to $1,200. Dad bought it for my birthday a few months ago."

~You see? He did notice you weren't playing. Maybe this was his form of an apology. Have you ever thought about it?~

"So you wrote a song," Angelica said. "Let's hear it."

"White — without its shadow — is innocent.
White — without its words — is silent.
White — without its touch — is out of this realm.
White is timeless now.

"Blue — without its skies — is lost.
Blue — without its sea — is cold.
Blue — without its source — is empty.
Blue is the hope in the darkness of night.

"As I lie down in the wilted grass,
I close my eyes and let the raindrops wash my face.
Wash away, wash away,
All the memories of my every day.
Wipe clean the day and the night,
Spare the blue and the white.
The timeless now and the hope of night,
Make up the baby blue blanket of light.

"White — without its shadow — is incorrupt.
White — without its words — is frail.
White — without its touch — is absent.
White is a road to infinity.

"Blue — without its skies — is tainted.
Blue — without its sea — is drowned.
Blue — without its source — is aimless.
Blue is what's left after darkness has gone.
As I lie down in the wilted grass,
I close my eyes and let the raindrops wash my face.
Wash away, wash away,
All the memories of my every day.

"Wipe clean the day and the night,
Spare the blue and the white.
The timeless now and the hope of night,
Make up the baby blue blanket of light.

"Wash away, wash away,
All the memories as I lie,
Under the baby blue blanket of light.
You spared the blue and the white,
You spared my life and my soul,
Wash away my pain and make me whole.
The timeless now and the hope of night,
Two colors, two friends in one baby blue blanket of light."

"This needs to be everywhere! YouTube, iTunes, everywhere!" Luke said.

"I'm actually crying, MJ," Angelica said. "You have such an amazing voice! Your music literally gives me goose bumps!"

"Guys," Luke said. "I have an idea. We need to make a video together."

"What kind of video?"

~I think I know! That's a fantastic idea!~

"Can I use some of your paintings, Angelica? Did you record this song, MJ? If I use MJ's lyrics as a storyline and Angelica's paintings, I think I can come up with the most amazing 3D movie yet! Between the three of us we have so much to tell, we'll have to make like a hundred videos to tell all of our stories! Let's start with this song. I can animate a 3D video like you've never seen before. This is epic, guys! We have so much emotion, anger, fun, dreams and who the hell knows what else, that if we put it into some awesome videos, we'll be famous!"

"Are you serious?"

~Of course he's serious! Look at him! Have you ever seen anyone this excited?~

"I love it! Luke, you're a genius!" Angelica jumped up and down. "I'm in!"

"Me too! What do you say, MJ?" Luke asked.

"Sure. I'm in."

~Ugh! You scared me. For a moment I thought you'd say no.~

"I'll start tonight. I have a camera in my backpack. Can I take some pictures, Angelica?" Luke said.

"Of course! Take as many as you need," Angelica said.

"Will you e-mail me the lyrics, MJ?" Luke said.

"Sure."

~I have a good feeling about this whole project.~

"Let's do this. I'm super excited!" Luke said.

~I really like that Luke dude.~

"I like him, too. He seems genuine."

~Genuine like Stanley?~

"Maybe."

~What about Angelica? Is she genuine?~

"Are you kidding me? She's beyond genuine. She's so cool it's almost unreal."

~She reminds me of an angel. Even her name sounds like that of an angel. If angels exist, I think they look like her, at least some.~

"What are you babbling about?"

~You don't think she's like a human angel? You don't have to have wings to fly, you know. An imaginary flight can be just as exhilarating as a real one. Look at yourself. You barely know her, and I already don't recognize the suicidal loner you were a few days ago.~

"I still am. Nothing's changed."

~If you say so.~

"You know what's interesting?"

~What?~

"Luke. He gets outed kissing a guy at school, he's almost beaten by a bunch of a-holes, and yet he wants to make videos like nothing happened to him today."

~That just shows you everything is about choices. He could have been scared, crushed, or humiliated at the least. Instead, he sees his good pile growing with opportunities to work with talented friends to create videos he loves to do. It's his choice. What about you, MJ? What do you choose?~

"What's there to choose from?"

~Well, you wrote an awesome song. Will you choose to add it to your good pile? Will you help create and post an amazing video with your friends? Or will you choose to put it in the bad pile because you'll lock it up in the drawer and pretend it only exists to remind you that you have no one to listen to it?~

"This is stupid. Why would I pretend my song doesn't exist?"

~Isn't it what you've been doing all this time? Pretending your music doesn't exist by dumping your expensive guitar in your closet and ignoring the tunes popping up in your head? Remember, MJ, stories come in all shapes and forms. They don't have to be happening in the world around you. Stories can happen in your heart and your mind. People chase after events thinking events are the stories that matter. What really matters in the end, though, is what you feel, what makes you happy, what makes you want to live your life for. Those are the best stories of all.~