So this totally isn't finished but.... I've been lazing around with all my fanfics lately so here's what I have so far for the next Diamonds update ;~;
Update: Finished it c: Piper and Peanut interacting is my new favorite thing.
Piper paced back and forth in her dorm, unsure of what to do. It was still an hour until she was to meet up with Bif right outside the girls’ dorm, and meanwhile, she’d been trying to get in touch with Parker.
It’d only been about two weeks or so since the Halloween incident, but she hadn’t seen Parker outside of class once since then. She speculated he’d been ignoring her when he seemingly ‘didn’t hear’ her during English class, and several unanswered texts and phone calls to him more or less confirmed the suspicion.
She hadn’t meant to insult him… it just sort of had worked itself out that way. Piper wondered why Parker couldn’t be just a little bit more sympathetic of her situation; she’d been abruptly betrothed to someone she barely knew, her best friend had not spoken to her for an entire week, and she kept having to cover for Alexis, who’d been missing since the bloody school gates opened. What did he want her to do, stage a confrontation during English class? She felt terrible, he could at least have the decency to allow her to apologize.
Man, what a jerk, right?
It wasn’t like she could even clean the room any more than she already had—it was already pristine. The windows shone brilliantly, so bright that even with the baby pink curtains pulled over them, a fair amount of sunlight still pierced into the room. Her closet had been organized impeccably according to color, and she had placed a fresh vase of rosy, budding peonies on her desk. She polished the wood of the desk about three times—she could now see her reflection whenever she looked into it.
She’d even taken the liberty of organizing Alexis’ closet, and straightening out her desk as well. All that there was left to do was wait.
Suddenly, the door to the room burst open, and Piper’s eyes immediately flew to it, expecting to see Bif. Instead, she found herself staring at her roommate and… ugh, one of those grease monkeys.
“What are you doing in here!” she shrieked, scowling at the boy. He carried Alexis on his back, and from what she could tell, Alexis was wearing only undergarments underneath the ratty, timeworn leather jacket he’d thrown over her shoulders. “What are you doing to her!?”
“Pipe down!” the boy ordered, mirroring her glare as he set Alexis down on her bed. Piper froze when she saw her roommate—covered in ashes, scratches, and dressed only in an unbuttoned white blouse, her black undergarments, and the repulsive excuse for a jacket. That, and she reeked of cheap alcohol and tobacco.
The boy turned to face Piper and eyed her up and down, before scoffing and rolling his eyes. “Alex always says you’re okay, so I need you to take care of her tonight.”
Piper raised her eyebrows at this… this… future mechanic. “Just who do you think you are?” she demanded instantaneously, her voice haughty and sharp. “I can’t just drop everything and babysit my roommate after you… you ‘roofied’ her! I command you to take her to the nurse at once!”
Peanut snickered a little, gazing at this broad. Who did he think he was? Peanut Romano, the guy who’d actually been babysitting her roommate for an entire week. He knew this chick—she was the cousin of that little twerp, Derby, and the girlfriend or whatever of that no good weasel, Bif Taylor. And she actually had the nerve to scream at a greaser?
“Listen, honey,” he started, aggravated as all hell and twice as angry, “I didn’t roofie nobody. Alex is one of my best friends, got that? I mean, if you wanna take her to the nurse be my guest—just know she’ll probably get expelled, ‘cause she’s drunk off her ass by her own accords. And if she gets expelled ‘cause of you, you and your little prep fairy friends are gonna have to answer to me and Johnny—”
“Piper? Is somethi—what are you doing here?!”
Piper and Peanut were both taken aback by the door to the room bursting open, revealing none other than Bif Taylor.
Oh man, this guy? Peanut rolled his eyes—he should’ve known this loser little rich girl would have security. Figures it just had to be the rich kids’ biggest man.
Peanut could hold his own in a fight, sure, but he didn’t know much about fighting with Bif Taylor. Johnny had taken a couple good pummelings from this kid, even, and they weren’t none too pretty.
Oh thank god Bif was here. Piper could have just melted into his arms, had she not also been trying to create a barrier between this Neanderthal and Alexis. Bif was always there for her when she needed him—like just now, when she needed him to assist her in protecting her roommate… it was almost as if he could just sense she needed his help. Could he be any more perfect?
“I’m deliverin’ something,” Peanut snapped, stepping up to this kid in a burst of self-assurance, “rich boy.”
Bif eyed Peanut up and down, wondering he was really serious. Did he honestly think he could take him, or something? He peered over Peanut’s shoulder at the near-naked girl on the bed. She looked like one of this greaser’s kind.
“Yeah,” Bif agreed, nodding and glaring into Peanut’s eyes, “the trash.”
Piper watched in horror as this grease monkey launched himself at Bif, punching and screaming profanities at him. She ran over to them and pulled them apart, panicking in case Mrs. Peabody had heard the scuffle. She’d given Bif permission to come in and pick Piper up, not stick around… and Piper was pretty sure that this greaser boy hadn’t exactly explained his situation to her, either.
And she didn’t want him staining the carpet, of course.
“That’s enough,” she ordered, her voice firm. She placed her hand in Bif’s, allowing him to straighten his back and puff his chest out, before facing the boy. “Now, what is it exactly that’s happening here?”
Peanut took a deep breath, irritated. Alex owed him for this—not only had he had to carry her out of the Tenements, he’d also had to pay for a taxi, carry her into the girls’ dorm via the awning and into the attic, and now he had to explain everything in slow, easy words so that these two idiots would understand.
“Alright, princess,” he began, ignoring the low growl that emitted from Bif’s chest, “your roommate here, my best friend? Yeah, she tends to get pretty out of control when she’s upset. She went down to our hangout in New Coventry—yeah, that place that your daddy always wrinkles his nose at, and she got drunk as hell, and I found her just like this. I need you to clean her up and make sure she doesn’t choke on her own vomit or get caught or somethin’. Think you can do that?”
“Wait, hold on,” Bif interrupted, letting go of Piper’s hand and staring at her. “This is your roommate? I thought you said Alexis was, well, like one of us!”
Piper narrowed her eyes at Bif for a moment. When had she ever said Alexis was like them? All she had said was that Alexis was the daughter of the Yum Yum Market owner, Jim Monroe. She never said Alexis was a prep…
“Yeah, buddy? Well, your girl lied, ‘cause Alex here is all grease.”
Peanut crossed his arms as if in emphasis, he was just about done with this tall-ass pretty boy. He already couldn’t stand him for all his fighting with Johnny, and now he just waltzed in and insulted Alex?
Talk about getting off on the wrong foot.
Bif disregarded Peanut, instead concentrating all his attention on Piper.
“Pipes, you have to switch roommates. I mean, do you really want her attracting filth like this? It’s proven fact that greaser chicks are fifty percent easier than normal girls—you want her turning your room into a… a brothel, or something?!”
“Bif,” Piper initiated unhurriedly, awfully shocked at his reaction, “Alexis is not easy, and she isn’t filth. And neither is, erm… what was it?”
She turned to Peanut, her face still condescending even though she was ‘defending’ him. Peanut rolled his eyes before telling her his name—his real one, not his lame nickname. Only his friends were allowed to use his lame nickname.
Even if it was lame.
“Right,” Piper agreed, “Larry here isn’t… filth, either.”
She may as well have grown three extra heads, with the way that Bif was gaping at her. “You’re… serious?”
Piper nodded leisurely, still not understanding. Bif wasn’t supposed to be this bloody rude. It was not the way he was supposed to be. She wouldn’t mind if he was just being rude to this ‘Larry’ boy, but Alexis was her friend.
Shrugging it off for the moment, she turned to Larry.
“Larry, I would love to help with Alexis, but I’m afraid I have prior plans. Can’t anyone else take care of her?”
Peanut stopped for a moment, staring this prep chick down. Was she serious? Her roommate looked dead, almost, and she was just gonna blow her off for a date?
“Look, I just need to get her showered and clean, and as close as me and her are I can’t exactly just strip her down and give her a bath, at least not while she’s unconscious. Can you handle that? I’ll take care of her after.”
Piper sighed for a moment, glancing at Bif and shivering at the frustrated and shocked face he was making. “Fine,” she sighed, looking over at Alexis, who was just now stirring, “I can clean her up.”
“Piper!” Bif protested, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Come on, you know we have plans and you can’t really just waste your time trying to wash this failu—”
“She’s my roommate, Bif,” Piper interrupted, for the first time in her life annoyed with him, “and my friend.”
She made her way over to Alexis, and with Larry’s help, they began awakening her and carrying her to the bathroom. “You can go ahead if you want,” Piper continued, avoiding Bif’s eyes, “and I’ll meet you as soon as I’m finished helping Lexi.”
***
“I want Ricky,” Alexis whined for the eleventh time so far since Piper had started washing her hair.
Getting Alexis into the bathroom had been more or less impossible—she’d woken up as soon as Larry and Piper had carried her into the hall, and started complaining and screaming and asking for someone named Ricky. They barely managed to quiet her down long enough to get her into the bathroom—and then she’d started sobbing.
They had been lucky that the bathroom was empty at this time—most of the girls were out having fun at the carnival or the town like Piper should’ve been—but Larry still had to figure out a way to block the door. Then Alexis had started splashing and throwing water once they’d gotten her into the shower stall in some sort of drunken temper tantrum, and had gotten Piper’s clothes all wet.
It didn’t help that the entire time, she knew Bif was sitting in her dorm room, sulking.
“Alex, you’re not allowed to see Ricky anymore!” Larry roared, crossing his arms and glaring at her, completely infuriated.
Alexis stared up at him, her blonde hair soaked and draped all over her shoulders. She looked so vulnerable there in just a bra and a pair of panties, blood leaking out of the wounds on her torso and mixing with the shampoo-filled water, her eyes watering up with tears.
“Go guard the door, you git!” Piper squawked, immediately feeling defensive of her dormmate as she saw her begin to cry.
Aggravated, Peanut obeyed—mainly for Alex’s sake, though.
Piper looked back down at Alexis, who was now staring at her. She glanced at Alexis’ emerald green eyes for a moment, instantly reminded of Bif, and looked away almost immediately. She didn’t want to think about Bif right now. He was acting so… out of character.
“Why can’t I see Ricky?” Alexis moaned, sitting still as Piper rinsed out her hair.
“I don’t know,” Piper confessed, not bothering to admit she didn’t even know who Ricky was. “But you can see him, dear. Larry’s just… angry. We’ll sort it out soon, don’t fret.”
Alexis sighed and leaned against the stall wall, and Piper gave up with the conditioner—there was no way Alexis would sit still long enough for that. She was mostly clean, anyway—and Larry could take care of her cuts.
“My heart hurts.”
“Huh?”
Piper looked back down at Alexis, caught off guard. Her… heart hurt? Was this some sort of alcohol-induced cardiac arrest?
“I love this boy, but he has a girlfriend, and now he hates me because he thinks I’m just being overly-dramatic. Isn’t that funny?”
Alexis stared back up at Piper with a prim expression on her face, looking troublingly calm for such a statement.
Piper hesitated for a moment, uncertain of what to do. Did Alexis mean Larry?
“I think you should just…”
She stopped, unsure of what to say. What position was she in to give advice about boys? She was betrothed to the wrong man, he wasn’t speaking to her, and now her true love was acting utterly out of character.
“I don’t know, love, men are strange creatures,” Piper admitted, giving Alexis a sad smile.
Alexis nodded, rubbing at her temples and squeezing her eyes shut. “Guys are the worst. But at least you have a boy that loves you.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say he—”
“Everyone done here?!”
Piper was rudely interrupted by Larry, who had decided that now was a good time to step in and take responsibility of Alexis. He rushed over to them and more or less shoved Piper away from Alexis, shutting the water off and taking an almost possessive stance over her.
He picked her up easily in his arms and glared at Piper, as if she hadn’t just spent the past half hour cleaning all the dirt, ash, and beer off of her.
“Lover boy is waiting for you,” he instructed, shoving Piper to the bathroom door, “come on, get going, I gotta get her to the boys’ dorm.”