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Merope "Marilyn Monroe? He said that?"
Asterope "Yup. I think he wants to see your boobs." Idly, Asterope pushes the costumes around on the rack. I'm sure there's one around here somewhere. I'm not sure if he meant the white halter dress or the pink Diamonds are a girl's best friend' ensemble.. The halter, right?"
Merope "I dunno about my boobs in a halter, Asty..."
Merope "Won't it just be disappointing? You know, all flash and no... meat?" She giggles.
Maia rounds a corner, a Phantom of the Opera costume in her hand, sees the girls and stops short.
Asterope eyes Mero's cleavage critically. "Victoria's secret is that she hates chesty girls, but she can make the less endowed look pretty phenomenal."
Asterope almost runs into Maia, having been fixated on her best friend's boobs. "Oh! Hello there."
Merope "Oh hey Maia! Is that for my party? You are coming? That's so great!"
Maia grits her teeth. "Hi Asty. Merope."
Maia flicks her eyes to her costume, and back. "Uh, maybe. I dunno. We'll see."
Merope "Oh. Well, I hope you can." She smiles, briefly, and then turns back to Asty. "Shall we ask if they have some in back?"
Asterope "Sure!" Asterope flashes a smile. "Good to see you, Maia!"
Maia snorts. "Oh, really? What's good about it?"
Asterope gestures to the costume. "It looks like you've got a boyfriend! Or were you planning to dress up like a mutated dude yourself?" She wrinkles her nose.
Merope "Asty! Be nice."
Merope giggles a bit anyway
Asterope "Gosh Mero-PEE, it was just a QUESTION. I mean, like, those are the two options right? And the dude's a mutant, right? So like, either she's buying it for herself or buying it for some dude, and if she's buying it for some dude, then she has a boyfriend! It's just logic."
Merope "Yeah, but I mean, Maia's clearly not a mutated dude."
Maia "Unlike some girls, I don't have to have my tits hanging out to make friends, thanks."
Asterope '"Unlike some girls, no one would notice if you tried that, sweetie."
Asterope "Mero, if she WERE a mutated dude, she wouldn't need the costume, would she?"
Merope just looks dejected. "I'm supposed to be having a party. Do we have to fight every time?"
Maia "Some boys prefer girls with non-grotesque proportions."
Maia "By the way, Johan says hi."
Asterope "Depends who's on the guest list, I suppose. OH, speaking of guest list-- I ran into Furry, he'll be there with bells on."
Asterope "I know they do! That's why Heka dumped you for me way back when. I'm sure he'd say hi too, you know, if he'd be seen doing so."
Asterope flinches at Johan's name, but keeps the smile plastered on.
Merope "I know Furud's coming Asty, Heka insisted." Merope glares at the shelves. "He's not coming to my half of the party, though. He can stay outside with my brother."
Maia "Oh, what the fuck. Is Heka still telling people we were dating? I'll cut his fucking nuts off -- excuse me, Merope."
Merope "If you're going to cut my brother's nuts off, be gentle, Asty needs them!"
Asterope "It's hard for me to picture all of Heka's crazy jock friends in costumes. I'll have to bring my camera!"
Asterope giggles at Merope.
Maia "Heka gets drunk and makes a move on me, and I turn him down, and all of a sudden I'm the frigid bitch, huh? And of course everybody assumes he's telling the truth and I'M a liar."
Maia "I can't expect better from Merope, I guess, but I used to think you had a fucking brain, Asty."
Maia "Used to."
Asterope "Well, maybe if you hadn't lied to get Mr. Henley fired freshman year.."
Merope "Oh that's it, I'm done taking your crap, Maia. Asty, let's go." She stomps off to the back of the store.
Asterope "After you, sugarbuns." Asti turns in a huff, and makes an arch face at Maia as she goes.
Merope "God, what is her problem?" Merope says to the world at large.
Maia "No--Merope, I didn't--I meant because he's your brother. If you're going to be offended, be offended about the stuff I actually think about you!"
Maia yells after them as they walk away.
Maia Merope steps on something as she proceeds to the back of the store. On closer inspection, it's a sales tag for a Phantom of the Opera costume, theft-deterrent device attached. It appears to have been severed with a sharp implement of some sort.
Merope "Asty! Ohmigod, Asty look at this."
Asterope gapes, then snatches it from Merope and finds the nearest sales clerk. Her voice is a harsh whisper. "There is an UGLY GIRL with NO BOOBS and an UNPLEASANT PERSONALITY shoplifting in your fine establishment."
Merope "Asty, wait..."
Merope "I mean, um, it might not have been her..?"
Asterope tilts her head in vicious indignation. "What part did I get wrong, Merope? Is she not ugly? Is she not flat? Is she not a really uncharismatic individual?"
Asterope "Who else is looking at Phantom costumes when it's nowhere near Halloween, Mero?"
Merope just frowns. "I dunno, I mean... I dunno."
Asterope The sales clerk looks bewildered and moves off, thinking it's some kind of petty highschool drama.
Maia fishes listlessly through a display of novelty sunglasses, unaware of what's going on.
Asterope stands on her tiptoes and calls across the store. "Hey Maia, did you drop something?" What's in her hand is hidden to the clerk behind her, but from the front, the antitheft device is clear.
Maia looks over at Asterope, and freezes for just a second, before she moves with great poise towards them, casually dropping the bag in her hand into a nearby clearance box.
Maia "What did I ever do to you, Asterope?"
Asterope "You lie. You lie all the time, and you don't care who you hurt. And someday, if you're not careful, someone might want to hurt you back." She tosses Maia the antitheft device.
Maia "Asterope. Do you remember when we were in third grade, and that kid stole the answers to the English test, and hid them in your desk, because he wanted to get you in trouble?"
Maia "And nobody believed you when you said you didn't do it?"
Maia "Except me. Because I knew you weren't the kind of person who would do something like that."
Asterope "Yeah. Yed did it. What a little douchebag he used to be."
Maia "I believed you then. Why can't you believe me now?"
Asterope "I am a GOOD person with GREAT boobs. And I asked you an INNOCENT question about your ill-gotten costume and you called me a slut. I know I'm not a slut, so therefore, you're a liar."
Maia "YOU were the one making FUN of me for liking the Phantom of the Opera."
Merope "You LIKE the Phantom of the Opera?"
Merope laughs despite herself.
Merope "Sorry, sorry... it's just... not very punk is it?"
Asterope "I asked if you had a boyfriend or if you were planning to crossdress! It was an INNOCENT QUESTION."
Maia turns to Merope. "For your information, Andrew Lloyd Weber is awesome, okay?"
Merope "Okay, sure." She giggles.
Asterope "So why not dress as a cat? Cats are sexy."
Merope "You could pull of a catsuit, Maia. You're all skinny."
Maia crosses her arms defiantly. "I...yeah, fine, thank you, I guess, but I want to dress as the
Phantom of the Opera, because he's my favorite character, okay?"
Merope "I'm sure I saw some at the back, all PVC."
Merope "It would look kinda cute." She giggles again.
Maia "That's all there is to it. It's not cause I'm some kind of man-woman thing or whatever, I just like the costume. Why do you even care?"
Asterope "Goth cat! YES. And like, what if Zavi is there, Maia? Don't you want to give him a chance to get your tail?" She giggles.
Merope "It's totally you, Maia. It won't kill you to dress in something girly for once."
Asterope "And you could still do black lipstick. It would be so totally hot! You can dress like a dude any day of the week, but the whole point of costume parties is to dress hotter than what is usually acceptable."
Maia blushes a little.
Merope "you blushed! You luuurve him!"
Asterope claps excitedly. "YAY! It's totally settled then."
Maia "Look, I." She takes a breath. "I'm bringing a boy to your party, and we were both going to dress as the Phantom of the Opera. I can't just CHANGE costumes all of a sudden, it's all settled."
Asterope "Can't you like, at least be hot girl Phantom? You know, something with a corset?"
Maia "I have plans! A life, even! My own friends, desires, goals!"
Maia "Seriously!"
Asterope wrinkles her nose. "You're so weird."
Maia "Aren't corsets for, like...I mean...uh...aren't I too THIN for a corset?"
Asterope "Corsets give you boobs. So then, you can use yours to make friends like I do."
Merope "Asty's the expert."
Merope "Anyway, I found this Monroe dress while you two were arguing." She holds it up.
Merope "So uh, if you wanna come with, me and Asty were gonna go um, boob shopping."
Merope She giggles again. "I mean um, bras, you know, lingerie. We could get you a corset?"
Asterope "YAY! Ras should totally dig that, and we'll make sure you fill it out, and it'll be SO TOTALLY awesome, and um, when he's groping you in a corner, just remember, that's a birthday present from your best friend Asty."
Maia "Ras? Ras Alhague? THAT asshole?"
Asterope "You met him already? Today was his first day. I guess he's hard to miss though, all giant and dangerous looking."
Merope "Ohmigod, do you know him? You have to tell me everything!"
Merope "I mean he seemed kinda gruff at first but he's got these really cute eyes and the scar is kinda cool and I don't think he really killed anyone, and we talked on the way here and he..."
Maia "I just heard about him. He was hassling a friend of mine in detention for being black. Racist asshole."
Merope "Oh. Oh!"
Merope "Oh, yeah, um... I was there."
Asterope "What happened?
Asterope "
Maia "So you KNOW then!"
Merope "Um. I didn't see what happened exactly."
Maia "Oh yeah? All that busy detention work got you too distracted?"
Merope "They were sort of... well they were both saying stuff, and then Ras grabbed him.."
Asterope "Did he almost kill him? I hear Ras almost kills people a lot."
Merope "Since when are you friends with Tyler, anyway? You know he brings a knife to school, Maia."
Asterope "He said he was out of the habit, though..."
Maia blinks at Merope, then holds up the antitheft tag with one hand and twirls her other hand carelessly, showing off a flicker of metal that disappears quickly into her pocket.
Maia "He's my bassist, Merope."
Merope "Oh wow, really? What happened to, you know, that guy with the dreads?"
Maia "Steve the Taper?"
Maia "That's the taper."
Merope looks slightly nervous at Merope's knife weilding.
Maia "You really should come to one of my shows sometime if you want to be able to, you know, identify the members of the band."
Merope "Oh, um... ok."
Maia "Tyler's a good guy. Been through a lot of shit. Plays real good."
Merope "Well um, they didn't really fight, I think Ras just threatened him because he didn't like what he said. I think Ty got more detention for saying, um, something when Miss Rose heard him."
Merope nods. "Yeah, I heard about his brother."
Merope looks kinda uncomfortable.
Maia "Oh, yeah. Don't get me started on that. Fuck the po-po, right?"
Merope "Uh... yeah. Um, anyway Ras is kinda intense but he seems mostly nice so I'm sure that whatever it was between Ty and him was just a..a.. just a thing."
Maia "Yeah, well, let's hope so. He's going to be at the party, right?"
Merope "Ras? Yeah... yeah, he said so. He's got a uniform."
Maia "Yeah, that sounds appropriate."
Merope recognises where this is going. "Did... did you wanna bring someone?"
Maia blinks. "Yeah, I was...like I said, I was going to bring a friend."
Merope "Is it... Ty?"
Maia "Uh."
Maia "I mean, don't get me wrong, we're not dating. He kind of...it's just one of those things."
Merope "Oh."
Asterope "He's not bringing a knife to the party is he?"
Merope nudges Asty hard in the ribs. "Um... that's ok, Maia. Yeah. It'll be ok."
Maia blinks at Asterope. "That depends. Is Ras gonna be there?"
Merope smiles, slightly shakily. "So that's all fine and everyone can come and there are no problems at all.." she says, quickly and brightly.
Asterope "Ras is harmless! Well, okay, not.. but he will be, at Mero's party, because he's going to be busy drinking and making out. So there's no need for extraneous cutlery of any kind. I mean,
this is high school, not Bennihana's, right?"
Maia "I promise that neither of us will have knives so far as you know. Unless something happens where it might be useful to have knives for some reason."
Maia "Then it's possible we might."
Merope "Ok great!" says Merope in a fragile sounding way.
Maia "See? Everything is fine."
Merope "So, um, let's go to Vicky's, yeah?"
Asterope "Vicky's. Right." A little bit of the shine is off of Asty's smile.
Maia "Actually, I've kinda got practice pretty soon. But it was...nice to see you guys. I guess I'll see you...later, huh?"
Asterope "later!"
Merope "Byee Maia..."
Maia waves a couple of fingers wanly and walks out, grabbing the costume back out of the bin as she leaves.
Merope After she leaves, Merope takes a deep, deep breath.
Merope "Asty, I am gonna need fantastic boobs if I am gonna distract Ras from killing Ty. I need all of your power, sweetie."
Asterope looks sober. "We'll get you up to a C cup as if our lives depend on it, Merope."
Asterope ****
< HSoS 7 | High School Of Scenes | HSoS 9 >
< HSoS 9 | H So S Timeline | HSoS 15 >
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