Chapter Nine

“Today has just felt so off, you know?” Queenie threw her words over her shoulder at Lulu as she slammed her locker closed.

Frankie often said her locker used to be a footballer’s locker from the dents and bumps. The blemishes made it easier to spot among the sea of fresh painted blue lockers. The school spent just enough money to cover up the rust.

“How so?” Lulu cocked her head to the side. She leaned against the set of lockers in front of Queenie.

“Ah, right, you’re still new. It feels like you’ve been here forever, not like, you know, a week.” Queenie let out a snort as she patted down her jeans. She whipped out her wallet and put it in the front pocket. “Found it.”

“And thanks again for feeding me lunch,” Lulu purred.

“It’s no problem. I’m still kinda peeved your parents don’t feed you somehow. I mean, my mom is like a ghost to me, but she still buys groceries.” Queenie nudged Lulu with her hip. She tried for days now to dig into Lulu’s family. Not that Lulu didn’t answer any and all questions she asked, but they always ghosted the line of not answering.

The least she could do.

Queenie blinked hard and fidgeted with a shake as if she could wiggle the mosquito voice out of her ear.

“I’ve always just fed myself, on whatever I can get.” Lulu tucked her hands into her jean pockets. She was dressed in a hoodie over a faded T-shirt to defend her from the cold. “Besides, I get my first paycheck on Friday. I can get us dinner at the diner.”

Queenie wore a padded vest over a long sleeve sweater and thick jeans tucked into boots. Yet, it was Queenie who shivered the whole ride to the school, and Lulu who kept her warm.

“Well, as long as you’re my neighbor, I will make sure you get three square meals a day!” Queenie jabbed her forefinger fiercely into Lulu’s bicep.

You don’t treat your REAL friends that nicely...

“You don’t have—” Lulu choked on her words as Queenie slapped a hand to her shoulder.

“Who here is the monarch?” Queenie twirled to stop in front of Lulu in line. She held her stance as Lulu’s lips curled. “That’s what I thought. You’re getting nachos for lunch, I'm afraid, I didn’t pack lunch this morning.” Queenie announced with glee.

Lulu adjusted her thick hair with a brush of her fingers. She resituated the headband over her scalp. “Couldn’t decide what to eat, your royal highness?”

She’s so cute.

“No, couldn’t sleep, woke up late. It’s becoming a bad habit.” Queenie unzipped her vest to let cool air under it. The lunchroom boiled the air with body heat. Her sneakers squeaked against the linoleum.

“Bad dreams still?” Lulu slid closer, her whisper just a breath away from Queenie’s ear.

“I don’t even know if they’re bad, anymore. It’s just strange, and exhausting, like I go to sleep to wake up somewhere else.” Queenie shrugged as she took up a tray from the small table beside the line.

Last night she was in the city beneath the ocean all night, suspended in the water. She could hear voices as they talked in a language she didn’t speak. Yet it calmed her, like being a child again in a room full of adults, smiling and talking. Eyes glowed yellow, bodies danced around her, gold jewelry flashed against the deep ocean black. Then she was in that hand again, unable to see the features of the beast that held her. She drifted through her dream feeling safe. It spoke to her, softly as to surround her in something so foreign but it left her drowning in déjà vu.

“Wait, the dreams aren’t disturbing you?” Lulu garbled her words, eyes wide with shock.

“Weird, right? I mean, they’re strange, for sure, but— I’ll tell you at the table.” Queenie motioned at the staff behind the counter.

Lulu nodded in acknowledgement as they continued down the line, picking up things for their tray and having cheese and meat plopped over a handful of stale chips. For a second, Queenie saw one of the staff with a knife, far too close to someone else's hand. It glistened in the fluorescent lights. In the blink of an eye, the person’s hand disappeared. The knife was left untouched, embedded in a cutting board against the wall. Lulu caught her attention when she raised two cans up.

“Which one you want?” Lulu tousled the cans.

“Doesn’t matter.” Queenie shuffled with both their trays to the register. She glanced back, and her stomach gurgled at the sight of the knife. But then she paid and followed Lulu toward the table Frankie and Theo sat at. The hushed lunchroom grew eerie as she passed by tables full of still students. Their trays were full but they weren’t eating. Instead, they made low guttural mumbles.

Queenie sat down at the lunch table, Lulu to her right. Lulu left only a millimeter between their hips as she cracked open two soda cans and put one in front of Queenie. Frankie sat across Queenie, vision downcast, bags under her eyes a dusty purple. Queenie reached out to touch her hand, but Frankie shifted backward, arms tucked into her lap. Once a bustling, roaring lunchroom full of students’ laughter, it was now a graveyard.

“Is something going on?” Queenie asked.

Lulu shrugged as she dug into her plate of nacho chips and fake cheese. Queenie stabbed at the items on her tray with her fork. She searched the sea of students on lunch. Even the staff within the lunchroom lingered like souls in a cemetery. Hovered over students, shoulders hunched, they practically floated through life.

“Did someone die?” Queenie analyzed Frankie’s hollow expression.

Frankie shook her head. Her hands trembled before she took up her fork and stabbed into her food hard. Queenie lurched to spy on the lunch line where Tonya still waited patiently for food. Tonya lingered on a teetering rope, swaying back and forth on her feet. Usually Tonya wore jeans and t-shirts, but today she was wrapped up in a sweater and sweatpants.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen her get food at school; she must have really been tired this morning.” Queenie rested her fork down against her tray.

Frankie hummed.

Theo twitched from the far side of the table, gripping his fork tightly.

“Theo?” Queenie shifted in her seat. “You okay?”

He was usually peppy, ray of sunshine, but now a bundle of frayed nerves. He didn’t even wait for the group this morning, something she didn’t notice before. She couldn’t remember talking to him for the last few days, actually. As the person who demanded the most attention, it was unusual for him to be so distant. His face twisted as he took a large swig of his milk.

Queenie eyed both of her friends at the table before she pivoted to Lulu with confusion. “Did I miss something?”

Theo slapped his hand flat against the table. “Queenie! Shut! Up! For once! Not everyone can be so chipper! You’re so annoying! All you do is talk! Talk! Talk!” He barked.

Theo’s bleached blond hair caught Queenie’s attention. She had noticed his hair this morning, but he left so fast she couldn’t see it clearly until now. It was cut off, buzzed as close to his scalp as he could get. Theo’s traditional rainbow flag of hair was gone, leaving the bleached scalp and peach fuzz along his bumpy skull.

“Yo, calm your shit.” Frankie shoved her food away.

“Frankie—” Queenie whispered, afraid of the teachers that lurked just a table over.

“No, no! Let her speak.” Theo faced Frankie. “I’d like to have the fake paparazzi tell me exactly how to be!”

“What is going on?” Queenie reached out to grab her friend's hands, but they yanked from her.

Not again...

“Queenie?” Lulu grabbed her arm and tugged her closer. “Are they usually like this?”

They’ve fought like this before...

“No.” She itched, from deep within her skin. An image of teenagers in a room, screaming and crying, filled her mind. She couldn’t make out their faces clearly as her eyes were full of tears. The voices grew louder as the teenagers’ screams fell quiet; she could hear them all chant the same thing. Queenie winced as her skull threatened to split open.

Traitors...

Frankie stood up suddenly from the table and flipped her tray in Theo’s direction. It was a domino effect that sparked the fires beneath every table. All eyes snapped up to Theo who turned his milk over Frankie’s head. A teacher lurched toward them, but a foot caught her ankle. Chaos erupted in slow motion as trays flung through the air and children soared over tables. Screams devoured the tension. Queenie fell into Lulu’s arms as Frankie took up Theo’s tray and beat him across the face with it.

He deserved it...

Lulu dragged Queenie back as a large teenager flew over the top of the table onto the floor behind her. Traitors. She watched in horror as every teenager, all thirty of them within the lunchroom, wrestling with each other. Liars. Footballers tossed and threw teammates across the floor. Trays beating in glasses and broke noses. Fakers. Queenie let out a squeak of surprise as Theo’s skull was slammed into the table in front of her. She tumbled away weightlessly. Queenie bounced between a hazy memory to the reality that exploded before her.

Queenie gagged as she reached for Frankie’s hands. “Frankie, please, stop!” She squawked.

She should have slammed him harder!

Queenie grabbed Frankie’s forearm. Frankie’s gaze snapped up toward her with fury. Fully planted in reality, Queenie sank heavy to the bench as the roar of the lunchroom filled her ears. Blood trickled down the cut along Frankie’s brow, a tooth fell from her lips. Then she yanked from Queenie’s grip and slammed Theo into the separation between two tables. Lulu wrenched Queenie out of the bench seconds before the whole table snapped up together. A sickening crack filled her ears. Someone yanked the table back down and Theo crumbled to the floor, wheezing for air. His right arm was mangled and covered in his own blood.

He earned every single shattered bone.

“We need to get out of here,” Lulu whispered in her ear. She pried Queenie off her feet and tugged both of them across the floor.

“Let him go!” Leia screeched from the lunch line and Queenie’s attention snapped to the front of the lunchroom. Frankie’s fingers dug deep into the bee’s nest of Leia’s blonde hair.

Rip out every hair! Show her what it feels like!

Leia yelped as Frankie freed chunks of hair from her scalp. Theo stumbled into the mix. His mangled arm flung about at both of them. A lunch lady pulled at the arms of a librarian from over the lunch line counter. Queenie’s feet tangled in Lulu’s as the two barely avoided a body launched into the air. Ceiling tiles dropped to the floor with a clatter. Dust sprayed the tops of students' heads as tables were shoved aside with abandon. Screams filled the air, sharp and sudden, before they were cut short with cracks or thuds.

This is how they truly feel!

It was the shrill giggle that caught Queenie’s ears. Tonya bounced at the front of the lunch line. Tonya ripped the knife from the cutting board and held it close to her face.

“Tonya! Don’t!” Queenie flailed her arms.

Why do you care?

Lulu covered her mouth, cutting off all the words she wanted to say. Sea salt cut through the scent of discarded food and blood. Lulu tugged her close, a low hush in her ear. She acted too late. Tonya peered up from the knife to Queenie across the lunchroom. Tonya bent backward, cackling madly. Queenie and Lulu wobbled backward as Tonya lurched after them.

“Queenie! Wait for me!” She sprinted across the lunchroom.

You’re just overthinking things!

“We should go,” Lulu growled as she yanked Queenie toward the west wing.

Queenie bolted for the door, Lulu at her side. The slap of sneakers against slick tile mixed with the roar of chaos. A hand took hold of a chunk of her hair and yanked her backward. Tonya’s shrill laughter drowned out Queenie’s yelp.

You’re just being dramatic!

“Tonya! Let go!” Lulu landed a blow to Tonya’s left cheek.

Queenie hit the floor with a crack; the light swam in her skull.

Someone tugged her hands, but then a hot cut ran up the side of her arm. In a moment, Queenie held a bleeding bicep, her back to a door with Tonya looming over her. Tonya flashed the knife at Queenie. The lights flickered over her, and a harsh ringing in her ears making everything spin. Queenie swallowed the vomit in her throat.

“Why do you look so scared? You’re the bad guy, remember? Why don’t you remember?” Tonya waved the blade over Queenie’s head.

Bad guy.

A hush fell over them as Queenie pressed her spine to the door. Rage boiled under her skin. Flashes of Tonya cackling filled her skull. Tonya kicked Lulu away. Then she swung the knife at Queenie with her free hand. Queenie danced away from the blade, barely able to keep her feet under her. Queenie focused on her reflection in the knife’s dirty surface.

“No, I’m not. How dare you,” Queenie whimpered, throat raw and stinging hot.

Liar! Crybaby! Dramatic!

“You lie, every day, pretending like it’s not your fault.” Tonya slashed at Queenie wildly, “but you’re such a bad liar. You just don’t want to!”

Face the truth—

“Shut up!” Queenie bared her teeth. Blood dribbled down her fingers to the floor. It felt like a volcano, the air hot enough to melt skin. The lunchroom stood still. All eyes seemed to turn to Queenie. Fat tears welled in her vision as she clutched her arm tighter. Pain shot up her bones into her skull.

Kill her...

“You gonna cry? Huh? You cry baby faker! Show us your real face? Huh? You’re making me do this!” Tonya lashed forward, only to be flung back by a kick to the abdomen. Her fingers clawed at Queenie’s foot as she fell back.

Queenie’s boot fell from her foot to the floor as she lumbered forward. Lights swirled around her. The rage that lay dormant within her for so long broke free.

Go on… kill her… you’ve always wanted to.

“I. Said. Shut. The. Fuck. UP!” Queenie loomed over Tonya, before she planted a firm stomp to Tonya’s nose. A satisfying crunch under her bare foot ran shivers up her spine. Her lips cracked upward as she reared back to stomp again. Mania blinded her to the world around her.

Two hands shoved her backward into the west wing’s doors. The cool metal shocked her system. The whispers in her ear stopped as the roar of fury crashed into her. Anger felt like caffeine, racing straight to her heart and pumping hot through her veins.

“But you are! Aren’t you! That’s what he always said, wasn’t it—” Tonya’s voice cracked as Queenie slammed her palms against the metal doors.

Something within her snapped hard enough she could hear it in her ears.

“Fuck you!” Queenie screeched and shot away from the door. Queenie fought against an arm that held her back by her stomach. “I’ll kill you!”

“Just like you did him?” Tonya’s voice deepened, wearing a bloody grin.

Queenie foamed at the mouth as Tonya scrambled to her feet. Knife in hand, Tonya hovered inches from Queenie. Her heart beat loudly in her ears. Lulu barely pulled them apart seconds before she shut a pair of doors between the two. The physical barrier was a switch within Queenie’s body, as she dropped to the floor with a gasp. Her lava like rage froze to fear and gutted her there on the hallway floor. Tears fell down the side of her cheeks in long streams as she scrambled back from the doors. A darkened hallway greeted her as she stared up at Lulu. Her insides lay on the floor, empty and hollow, the fear filling up every crevasse within her.

“I don’t know… what came over me.” Queenie gasped for air, hyperventilating. She felt so angry, so raw and without restraint. Like a side of her that she buried deep within her was forced to the front. The mask she crafted so gracefully cracked. It crumbled away when she searched Lulu’s expression for any sign of disgust.

You don’t want her to see the real you…

“No-no-no-no- That wasn’t me out there,” she blurted out as she skittered further back on the floor. Queenie winced further back as Lulu matched her step for step.

Liar… liar…

“I’m not lying,” Queenie slowed to a stop.

You just wanted someone to save you again...

“Shh. It’s okay, you were attacked,” Lulu cooed as she dropped to her knees and stayed still in place.

Queenie watched, deer in headlights as Lulu put out a soft hand toward her. There was not an inch of disgust nor a flicker of disappointment in her features.

“I’m not, that’s not, I didn’t mean, she shouldn’t have, it’s just that, I can’t—” Queenie babbled over and over.

Then the blood pooled at her hand, and she yelped. Lulu jumped to her side in the blink of an eye, pushing the fabric aside to examine at the slice. The voice fell silent.

“It’s not very deep; that’s the good part.” Lulu pressed against her cheek with her own. She gingerly pulled clothing away from the skin.

“The bad part?” Queenie swallowed, resisting the urge to pull away.

“Might need some stitches. Come on, I think I saw a first aid kit at the end of the hallway before.” Lulu shifted to stand up.

Lulu got them both cautiously to their feet. Queenie held onto her arm in absolute silence as they traveled the darkened hallway away from the lunchroom. Her vision swam and forced her to lean on Lulu for stability. They stopped at the end of the pale mural and there was a first aid kit. Lulu slowly pieced Queenie’s skin back together with medical tape, antibiotics, and cotton padding. As she wrapped up Queenie’s arm through her sliced shirt, Lulu stole glances from Queenie.

“I’m sorry, if we had left when you asked, this wouldn’t have happened.” Queenie relaxed with relief as the pain subsided.

“Panic is a heavy thing, weighs down your feet.” Lulu eased the first aid kit closed.

“Thank you, for saving me. What just happened? It felt like everyone lost their minds.” She slid up against the mural. In the darkness, she could only imagine the coastline painting of Rainbow Cove. The school was decorated with mini paintings. The East wing had a depiction of the silver forest, and the waterfall near the cabins of Harperville. A painting of the town map wrapped around the cafeteria, now splattered with blood and nachos.

“It felt like they all lost it, yeah.” Lulu eyed Queenie. “Are you all right?”

“I’ve been better.” Queenie hung her head. She dried her eyes and cheeks with the backside of her good hand.

“Queenie? You all right?” Lulu slid into Queenie’s view, a soft hand under her chin.

Queenie locked eyes with Lulu. The spinning world around her, the frozen wasteland of her insides, the roar of her heart in her ears, it all stopped. “That happened, right? I wasn’t imagining it?” Queenie swallowed.

“Definitely.” Lulu cupped Queenie’s cheeks.

“And you don’t hate me?” Queenie felt the air escape her lungs as Lulu closed the distance between them.

Lulu smiled softly with a shake of her head. Queenie opened her mouth to speak but found her voice trapped within her. Her fingers trembled as she took hold of Lulu’s hoodie and gripped it for stability. A breath of cold, sea air tickled her lips as Lulu stepped in. The air dropped a hundred degrees as Queenie tugged Lulu closer.

Her kiss shocked her nervous system straight to her skull. The crack no longer existed, the pain disappeared, and the tears dried up. Lulu’s kiss stole all the air in her lungs. Queenie pressed her back into the wall as two hands tangled themselves in her hair. With an ease she’d never known before, Queenie slid her fingers over Lulu’s shoulders and cupped the back side of her head. Lulu’s hair was soft, thick enough to lose her fingers in.

Then the door to the west wing opened and the lights broke on over their heads. Lulu pulled back a second afterward, the impression left on Queenie’s lips.

A voice trembled into the hall, “Um, I think this is yours.” And a man, disheveled and clearly distraught, held up her boot. He wasn’t a teacher; she’d never seen him before. He was a Black man with decorated locs, who wore a gray turtleneck under a thick jacket that hung over slacks.

Queenie’s world spun to keep up with all the new information that flooded in. “Uh, thanks?”

“I need you both to come with me.” He heaved for air as he pushed the door open again and motioned out it.

“Of course, Officer.” Lulu rolled her eyes.

“Um, I don’t think I should.” Queenie edged herself backward. She saw the badge last as his jacket exposed it upon his hip.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Lulu squeezed Queenie’s hand.

After a long moment, Queenie followed Lulu toward the officer and the newly emptied lunchroom. Her stomach churned as she treaded out to an empty lunchroom, food and trays scattered like bones in an abandoned graveyard. Glowing orbs peered from the halls, unsettling her the most. Eyes of her fellow classmates, all glued to her as she was marched across the wasteland toward the front office. In the sea of students, Tonya, whose face puffed up red in tears, ripped away from the scene. She was held back from other students, unable to even voice a word toward Queenie.