RE: Trailer Trash, 5 pt 3 (Patreon)

   The four girls moved to sit in a corner of the living room, with Alicia and Elena joining Tabitha on one couch while Clarissa anxiously took a seat on the adjacent perpendicular one. Several sophomores and juniors from Springton High had arrived that Casey bounced over to talk to, and a few pairs of the youth group boys playing in the room beneath them wandered up the stairs in search of pizza, giving the area a much more lively feel.

   “Sooo, why’d you have it out for Tabitha?” Alicia questioned in a catty voice, scowling over at Clarissa. “What’d she ever do to you, huh?”

   “She didn’t do anything!” Clarissa looked from Alicia to Tabitha with tension in her hunched shoulders. “She just—everyone was saying these things, and I was dumb, and I believed them. I didn’t even know you broke your arm for real until afterwards. They were saying like your cast was fake, because it doesn’t look like a regular cast. I’m so sorry.”

   “Fake?!” Alicia demanded. “What, because I drew on it a bit?”

   “Uh, it actually looks really pretty!” Clarissa said quickly. “I just thought—uh, we thought that it maybe wasn’t…”

   “Clarissa,” Tabitha took a deep breath. “I appreciate that you’re apologizing, and I’m not mad at you. I am still feeling very hurt, though. Everything I kept in that binder was important to me—it’s a personal project I’ve been putting a lot of work into. It may seem like I... overreacted, leaving school like that all of the sudden, but I’ve been under a lot of stress. A lot has been happening, and... having my work stolen on top of everything else just made me feel like I wasn’t safe at school anymore.”

   “No no, you were completely—you didn’t overreact at all,” Clarissa stammered. “You like, you got your arm broken, you—”

   “Fractured her wrist,” Elena corrected.

   “Right, fractured your wrist, and everyone was being so mean to you, and all the girls were saying just all of these horrible things! You like, didn’t overreact at all. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking, I didn’t even know you. They’re, uh, they’re going to hold me back a year. For what I did. I’m so sorry. I really wish—”

   “Holding you back a year?” Alicia laughed, tapping the pilot helmet she set in her lap. “Hah, serves you right!”

   “I… don’t want you to be held back, Clarissa,” Tabitha said, feeling uneasy. “But, what you did was very cruel. I need you to understand that.”

   “I do, I do! What I did was totally messed up, I realize that now,” Clarissa said, sounding panicked. “If I could go back and do it all over— I never would. Wish I’d been on your side from the beginning, everyone just—”

   If you could go back and do it all over… Tabitha found herself lost in thought at hearing the words and fell into a daze even as Clarissa frantically continued to apologize. No one else really ever gets to do that. No one but me, I suppose...

   “—Erica Taylor, and then her friends Kaylee and Summer. And, the other sister, uh— Brittney Taylor. They were always saying that you—”

   “Clarissa...” Tabitha challenged. “Do you actually think that you and I could be friends?”

   The girl froze, shrinking back from Tabitha with a fearful look. 

   “I’m not saying that to be sarcastic,” Tabitha explained. “Or mean. I want you to really think about it. I never wanted any of this to happen. I don’t want you to be held back a year, and start to resent me for that. All I’ve ever wanted... was to have a normal high school life, a normal life with lots of friends. That’s what I want.

   “If you really want to be friends with me—I’d like that. I still feel hurt by what you did, but if you’re willing and we can become friends, I’d feel a lot better about everything than them holding you back a year for what you did. Them punishing you doesn’t help me—I need, um, friends, I’m a mess, and I need all the help I can get.”

   “I definitely want to be friends,” Clarissa latched onto the idea immediately. “Please, please. If we can—”

   “I don’t want you to answer right away,” Tabitha cautioned, holding her remaining hand up. “I’m serious—I want you to think about this. Not just react, or make a decision because you think it’ll keep you from getting held back. I’m willing to talk to them about it, but I don’t even know if I have a say in anything they decide. If you’re just saying things and don’t actually think that you would in seriousness want to be friends with me—that would end up hurting both of us a lot.”

   “I want to be friends,” Clarissa insisted. “Please—I really mean it.”

   “Yeah?” Alicia scowled. “Well, there you go; I don’t trust her.”

   “Alicia, shush,” Elena said carefully. “I’m... honestly not sure about this, either. But, Tabitha—that’s a really mature way to look at everything, at all of this. I do like that.”

   It’s a lot more mature than I feel, Tabitha thought to herself, rising up off the sofa. Never thought I’d be so—angry. Bitter. Like, HOW DARE she want forgiveness, after what she did to me. What they all did. I know that’s not fair of me. But then, also… I feel guilty, too. Because, she DID mess up. And, she doesn’t get to go back and redo things like I do. Not unless… not unless I personally set aside my grievances, and give her that chance.

   Steeling her resolve, Tabitha tossed aside her Flounder plushie and stretched her arms out for a hug.

   It was hard to see Clarissa as one of the cruel high school bullies, right now. She looked like a terrified teenage girl who’d done something stupid and didn’t know what to do about it. The girl nervously stood, stepped forward and awkwardly embraced her. Even though it was a little weird, Tabitha thought she could feel a tiny bit of the hate she’d carried with her into this life wick away.

   I mean, I already knew Elena was kind of one of the mean girls from Laurel, but… Tabitha thought to herself with a bitter smile. This feels… good. Better than all those fantasies about GETTING EVEN or making them pay. Feels like—almost like I’m maybe growing out of being the goblin I used to be.

   “I’m so, so sorry,” Clarissa said in a small voice.

   “I forgive you,” Tabitha said, giving her a comforting squeeze and then releasing her. I really DO forgive her. “It’s okay. Let’s just... put it behind us, alright?”

   “...Really?” Clarissa gave her a doubtful look. “I mean…”

   “On that note... I have to ask,” Elena ticked a finger towards Clarissa. “Ginger Spice?”

   “Uh, yes. I am,” Clarissa shot Elena a thankful look. “For Halloween. This is the Union Jack dress like she wore at the Brit awards last year. I’m, um. I’m a huge Spice Girls fan.”

   “I am, too,” Elena confided. “Actually a little jealous that I didn’t think of doing that for Halloween. My cat idea was super lame, it’s just what I had from last year.”

   “No no no,” Clarissa said quickly. “You look incredible! I’m not good at creative stuff at all, I just, I already had the dress, and I’m always looking for an excuse to wear it.”

   Although Alicia continued to look unimpressed, Tabitha felt a strange sort of relief in seeing Elena making an effort to put Clarissa at ease. The two girls shared Spice Girls small talk while they watched Jack Skellington lament over the denizens of Halloween town misunderstanding him, and more and more people showed up for the party. The couch across from them was eventually occupied by a Green Ranger and his girlfriend, dressed as a traditional witch with a large pointed hat. They also all got their first glimpse of Matthew, who was wearing the iconic Space Jam basketball uniform, as more of the group downstairs dispersed in search of other activities.

   Tabitha wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about the Halloween party. It was fun so far, sort of, but the enjoyment of sitting here with her friends was offset by her trepidation around all of these other people that she’d never met. While she was a bit curious to walk around and see things, she was even more reluctant to abandon the safe foothold of the living room corner they’d laid claim to. When Alicia shared an uneasy smile with her, Tabitha wanted to giggle, because it was both comforting and vexing seeing that she apparently felt the same way about the situation.

   “Oh my Gosh, hey you guys! You all look so great!” Carrie exclaimed with enthusiasm, skipping over towards their couches. “Ugh, Elena! You totally stole my idea!”

   Tabitha looked up with surprise to see that Carrie was dressed almost exactly like Elena had been when she’d shown up at the trailer yesterday. Black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt, with a cat-ear headband and lackluster whiskers painted on her cheeks. Carrie’s chipper smile faltered slightly at seeing that Elena’s cat costume now apparently looked a lot better than anticipated.

   “Really?” Elena mused, giving Carrie a look. “Funny. I was a kitty-cat last year, too, though. Remember?”

   “Yeah—oh, I guess you were, huh?” Carrie made a teasing face. “Hah, well geez—one of us has to go change, now.”

   “Looks like that’ll be you, then,” Alicia remarked dryly. “Ours was a group effort—Tabs picked out her new blouse, and I spent a long time doing ‘Lena’s facepaint.”

   “‘Licia helped with the kitty collar, too,” Elena added, flicking the jingly bell she wore at her throat with one finger. 

   “Hey, I was just kidding,” Carrie snorted. “It’s no big deal if we look the same.”

   “You don’t look the same, though,” Clarissa chimed in, looking from Carrie’s costume to Elena’s and back again. “Like, at all.”

   “Why are you even here?” Carrie made an ugly face at Clarissa. “Didn’t you got expelled? You got caught stealing stuff, or something?”

   “She’s with us now,” Elena said, giving her former friend a chilly look.

   “Oh, huh. Well, cool, I guess?” Carrie blinked. “She’ll fit right in, hah. Guess I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit—I’m gonna go say hi to Matthew, alright?”

   “Yeah…” Elena frowned as Carrie strode on past them into the next room. “Alright.”

   “Sooo—Carrie’s definitely not with us, right?” Alicia asked, drumming her fingertips on the pilot helmet she held in her lap.

   “I guess not,” Elena sighed. “Sorry. I was really hoping she’d… I dunno, get over herself, or something.”

   “She’s part of Erica Taylor’s posse, Clarissa added. “Like, for sure.”

   “There’s no… sides, to this,” Tabitha insisted. “Or posses, or cliques, factions, party lines or whatever. We’re all just teenage girls, okay? This doesn’t have to be some big dramatic thing. Some of us can be friends, we don’t all have to be friends—it doesn’t mean someone’s against us, if they don’t want to hang out. There’s no sides.”

   “Oh, absolutely!” Alicia agreed, throwing Elena an exaggerated wink. “Right, ‘Lena? Definitely no one taking sides. Wouldn’t that be silly and childish?”

   “Sorry, Tabitha,” Elena gave Tabitha a sheepish look. “I did try to talking with Carrie before, trying to get her to come around. We used to be friends, it’s just... Carrie’s—”

   “No, no—I was being completely serious,” Tabitha said in aggravation. “There’s no sides to this.”

   “Yeah,” Alicia elbowed Tabitha and gave another obnoxious wink. “No one’s taking sides—right, guys?”

   “Alicia…” Tabitha groaned.

   “I’m on your guys’ side,” Clarissa promised. “I swear.”

   “Tabitha! Honey, you’re here! I’m so glad you could make it! ” Mrs. Williams called out, stepping into the room with a glass of wine in hand and gesturing for someone to follow. “Sandy, Hannah! Look who it is!”

   “I told you she was here already!” The exasperated seven-year-old Hannah dashed forward, proudly holding up a thick Crayola marker. “We found one! Can I sign?”

   “Of course!” Tabitha offered up her left arm.

   Hannah hopped up on the couch beside her, tucked her legs beneath her, and popped off the top of the marker so that she could write her name. The expression of intense focus the little girl made as she began to draw a small ‘H’ on Tabitha’s cast was precious, and Tabitha couldn’t help but smile.

   “Tabitha?” Mrs. Macintire also rounded the corner carrying a glass of wine, and she lit up upon seeing her. “My word, it’s so good to see you! Look at you, the Little Mermaid! You look amazing! All of you girls look amazing!”

   “Thank you, Mrs. Macintire,” Tabitha said politely, trying not to blush as everyone in the room seemed to look over in her direction. “It’s good to see you again. Thank you so much for inviting us!”

   The plump Mrs. Williams wore a green and purple medieval gown with a collar and frills, had a dash of lipstick on only the center of her lips, and had her hair brushed up into a rather silly-looking bush piles on top of her head. Mrs. Macintire, on the other hand, wore her dark hair down and had squeezed her slender figure into a salmon-colored medieval corset dress at least a size to small with a small cape. The tops of her breasts bulged out from her costume, and the woman looked more than a little tipsy.

   “This girl saved my husband’s life,” Mrs. Macintire boasted, gesturing towards Tabitha with a lift of her wine glass. “She’s gonna—they’re gonna give her a medal and everything.”

   “Or at least a special commendation,” Mrs. Williams spoke up with a twinkle in her eye. “Maybe not a medal, but—”

   “No, they’re gonna give her a medal, or, or I’m gonna throw a fit!” Mrs. Macintire chuckled softly, taking a quick sip from her glass. “They’re gonna throw a big ceremony in her honor, soon as my husband’s transferred back here to Springton.”

   “I just did what anyone would have done,” Tabitha said with a guilty look, quickly turning to Alicia. “Alicia was there, too—she helped.”

   “No no no!” Alicia held up her hands. “I mostly just stood there like an idiot.”

   “You helped talk with the dispatcher!” Tabitha persisted.

   “Tabitha did everything, I was just useless,” Alicia denied involvement. “I had no idea what to do—I was just standing there, bawling my eyes out.”

   “Alicia Brooks—I remember you from the news clip,” Mrs. Macintire stepped in to give her a small hug with her free hand. “Thank you for being there. I didn’t know what to do either, for days. I was just, I was just in complete shock. Don’t any of you girls ever marry a policeman!”

   “Don’t ever marry a policeman,” Mrs. Williams agreed, taking another generous sip of wine. “Whenever any trouble happens, that’s right where they have to be. It’s the worst!”

   “It is,” Mrs. Macintire nodded. “It’s all just—they’re the worst.”

   “...How much wine have you ladies had tonight?” Tabitha asked.

   “Oh, would you like some?” Mrs. Williams beamed at her with rosy cheeks. “We can fetch you a glass. It’s non-alcoholic! Practically.”

   “Practically!” Mrs. Macintire let out a giggle.

   “I’ll... think about it,” Tabitha said with a polite smile. “Thank you.”

   “So, I’ve heard through the grapevine that you’re taking a breather from school,” Mrs. Williams said. “How have things been? We’ve all been worried sick about you. Are you going to that expulsion hearing tomorrow?”

   “I am,” Tabitha paused, feeling her shoulders go stiff. “I think… I’m going to request that the school board to be as lenient as possible. To everyone. I don’t like that they’d all get in such serious trouble because of me.”

   The two adult women exchanged glances, and Mrs. Williams took another hearty swig of wine while Mrs. Macintire scoffed.

   “That’s real sweet of you,” Mrs. Macintire said cautiously. “But, me? I hope they get the book thrown at them! Especially that quarter back boy—there’s no justifying what he did, not no way, no how.”

   “Running back boy,” Mrs. Williams corrected.

   “I don’t give a damn what he was, he’s a violent criminal,” Mrs. Macintire shook her head in consternation and quickly downed the rest of her wine glass. “It’s all fine and dandy if he wants to break some boy’s bones playing football, but—”

   “Running back, Sandy,” Mrs. Williams rolled her eyes in exasperation. “He run run runs, he runs away from the big scary bone breaking. From what I heard, he even tried to skedaddle away after pushing poor Tabitha.”

   “Rotten little fucking weasel,” Mrs. Macintire spat fiercely. “They should break his fucking—”

   “Sandy!” Mrs. Williams cut in, giving her friend a gentle slap on the arm. “Sorry, girls—the situation’s just so upsetting, and the Verona has loosened her lips! We just wanted to say that we’re both gonna be at the hearing tomorrow, and we’ll make sure everyone gets just what’s coming to them!”

   “And then some,” Mrs. Macintire growled.

   “Yes, yes, and then some,” Mrs. Williams promised, taking another sip. “Oh, Miss Clarissa—I didn’t see you there. I hope you’re behaving yourself tonight?”

   “...Yes Ma’am,” Clarissa said in a quiet voice, having gone very, very still while the two women talked.

   “Good, good!” Mrs. Williams had a meaningful gleam in her eye for a moment. “Well, we’ll get out of your hair. Come along, Hannah honey. There’s all sorts of snacks and pizza and soda in the other room, you girls just help yourselves, of course. Feel free to roam around! There’s ping pong downstairs.”

   “We will,” Tabitha promised. “Thank you.”

   “I’m all done,” Hannah reported, wiping imaginary sweat from her brow with the back of her hand in a charming little gesture. “Phew!”

   HANNAH MACINTIRE was spelled out in somewhat crooked letters, with part of her last name passing through several of the lines Alicia had drawn because it wouldn’t fit without writing over them.

   “Good job, Hannah!” Tabitha praised.

   “Thanks!” Hannah said with a proud grin, sliding off the couch and running back over to return the borrowed marker to Mrs. Williams.

   “Oh—by any chance, did you recognize our costumes?” Mrs. William asked, striking a dainty pose.

   “You’re the Sanderson sisters?” Alicia blurted out with a grin. “From Hocus Pocus?”

   “Thank you,” Mrs. William laughed, stamping her foot. “Finally, someone gets it! Almost makes it worth putting up my stupid hair like this. Alright, girls. Have fun!” 

( Previous, 5 pt 2 | RE: Trailer Trash | Next, 5 pt 4 )

/// Another RE:TT teaser tomorrow. If content in this chapter version gets trimmed down anywhere, it'll be me further pruning some of these conversations in this section down a bit.