Greetings everyone and Happy Valentine's Day!
I know there's a lot of negativity about today. Some say it's a holiday manufactured by the greeting card industry. Some say there's too much pressure to perform in your relationship. And some people go so overboard that if their significant other doesn't do things just right, it's the end of the world.
What kind of person are you? Do you like all kinds of flash and a huge production? You know, they come to you with a dozen red roses and take you to an expensive restaurant in a limo or a fancy car. There might even be a public proposal planned. Or are you more laid back? Your favorite person presents you with a single rose and a picnic on the beach or in the park. Or if the weather isn't cooperating, you cuddle up with some Chinese in front of the TV to watch your favorite movies.
Maybe you don't like roses. Maybe your relationship is breaking up or has broken up and you're pissed at the world and especially that asshole you wasted your life on before they broke your heart. So, you get together with some friends and get plastered. Cut up all your pictures, take whatever items they left behind, gifts they gave you etc. and set them on fire (safely) while cursing their name. Or you focus your energy on being good to yourself and your kids if you have them and shower yourselves with love.
However you do, or don't, celebrate the day there is no right or wrong answer. Do what feels right to you and your favorite person/people. Life isn't perfect. Love isn't perfect. If it was, it'd be boring. For those of you having a hard time right now, you can be my valentine and I'll be yours. Just know that you deserve love and you are loved. My heart goes out to all of you. Enjoy your day, everybody!
And now, here is the first chapter of my new work in progress (WIP), Whatever! It's a coming of age story set in 1990s New Jersey (and no, it's not autobiographical. All characters appearing in this story are fictional. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is (mostly) coincidental.
Warning: This chapter has foul language, slurs, and violence
Whatever!
Chapter One
September 1991
Sabrina Moya flung her backpack to the floor and threw herself into bed. She’d survived her first week at Tappan Zee Vo-Tech High School but dreaded the next for her English teacher seemed determined to ruin the rest of her life. The deranged old bat gave the class a group assignment, due in a month, and lumped her together with three of the weirdest girls in the whole school! Not that Bree wasn’t herself weird, having been named after a twee character in her mom’s favorite old movie, but either way Bree was a big ole nerd. Her classmates at St. Anthony’s never did understand her love of reading nor her enthusiasm for science fiction, being a girl and all. But now that they’d gone on to stupidly expensive Catholic high schools while she was starting fresh at Zee Tech, Bree hoped to actually make some friends.
That idea flew right out the window when she learned she’d been paired with Cassie D’Amico, Ivy Barron and Larry Novak. Cassiopeia D’Amico, or Cassie as she preferred to be called, was the most normal of the group. Her rigid posture, crossed ankles and clasped hands on her desk belied her Christian upbringing as did the gold cross that gleamed below the collar of her white button down blouse and the long pleated skirt that rested just below the knee. Her habit of spouting bible verses the first week of school already earned her the nickname Jesus Freak.
Cassie’s family owned a Christian bookstore across town called The Evangelical Emporium and a lot of kids watched what they said and did around her for fear she’d NARC on them. Sabrina always envied Cassie’s thick dark mane of hair, which cascaded in waves all the way down to her behind in stark contrast to Sabrina’s unruly curls that refused to grow past her shoulders before turning into a bushy nightmare.
Both girls had brown eyes but while Sabrina’s hooded eyes were easily dwarfed by the thick glasses she wore, Cassie’s were a large, dominant feature of her face second only to her Roman nose, which made her mouth look smaller in comparison to Sabrina’s full lips. Sabrina was taller with a larger, wider frame that she hid beneath oversized jumpers and tunics while Cassie was slimmer and more petite.
The girls knew each other in passing and Sabrina surmised it might not be too painful having her in the group but the other two girls were just plain bonkers. Both were new to the area and it showed. Ivy Barron was a fragile looking girl, short and slim with big grey eyes, pale blonde hair that was either pleated in a braid or pulled into a bun away from a slender face with sharp cheekbones and a long thin nose.
She never wore jewelry or makeup but held herself like a queen. Her bearing was graceful and elegant with a posture that would make the penguins at Our Lady of Mount Virgin weep with joy.
She intimidated most of the student body and some of the staff without even opening her mouth. Sabrina thought her stuck up and decided she would talk to Ivy as little as possible.
Larya “Larry” Novak was the weirdest of all, even frightening. She was a troublemaker who’d been left back once already and suspected to be a Russian spy because of her thick accent. Her head was shaved except for a lock of hair that’d been dyed purple and brushed over one of her thickly mascaraed green eyes. Piercings hung from her ears and nose and her purple lipsticked mouth was set in a permanent sneer when it wasn’t spouting profanities. Her attire, an old Army jacket over a dark t-shirt, tattered denim shorts, fishnet stockings and heavy black knee high boots seemed a cross between goth and punk. How Cassie was expected to complete a project with these girls was beyond her but it didn’t matter anyway because her life was effectively over!
Her bedroom door slammed open, making her jump as her older brother, Victor, stomped in.
“Goddammit Rina, why are you such a blabbermouth?”
Sabrina gritted her teeth. She hated to be called Rina and he knew it. Like most of his friends, Victor was tall and lanky, his dark hair was shaggy and fell into his eyes. He dressed in oversized jerseys and jeans that made it almost impossible for him to catch the bus without busting his ass and was the bane of their mother’s existence. Everywhere her older brother went, the girls swooned. Sabrina didn’t get the attraction. Victor was a toad. She lifted her head and glared at him.
“Will you get out of my room?” She snarled, sitting up.
“Not until you tell me why you told mom about me smoking at school!”
“I didn’t say anything to her.”
“Liar!”
“Your sister didn’t have to tell me anything, I could smell it on you from the driveway.” Imelda Fraser came in wiping her hands on a dishcloth before smacking her son in the back of the head.
“And watch your language when there are ladies present.”
“Ow, ma! What ladies? It’s just Sabrina.”
Sabrina groaned inward while Victor squeezed his eyes shut. Imelda Fraser might have been short and stocky but she was a force to be reckoned with and you did not want to cross her. She was religious and old-fashioned and everything had to be just so. It could be a real pain. They knew what was coming.
“Oh really, there are no ladies here? ¿Soy una puta, right? Perate!” Their mother said as she stormed out of the room.
“Me cago en na!” Victor groaned, staring up at the ceiling. He glared at Sabrina and, before following his mother out said, “I’m gonna get you for this.”
A string of Spanish streamed between mother and son as he followed her around the house.
“Ay, ma, you know what I meant.” Sabrina heard her brother say. Flipping onto her back, she rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth.
“Whatever!”
###
Bree awoke to the sound of voices in the hall and jolted out of bed as a familiar timbre started the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Mark Hoffman! What was he doing there so early? Sabrina grabbed her glasses from the nightstand and glanced at the clock. 8 AM, he wasn’t early she was late! She only had an hour to eat, dress and catch the bus to the library across town.
Swearing, she threw on a pair of leggings and a tunic sweater before stepping into her ankle boots and scrunching her socks down. Pulling a brush through her thick curls, she frowned at her frazzled image in the mirror. She never bothered with makeup. Her dad would crucify her if she even thought of putting on lipstick at 14. Besides, what was the point? There wasn’t anything on her face she wanted to highlight or contour anyway.
Sabrina made her way to the kitchen, thankful to hear V and Mark had moved into the living room. The rest of the guys would be arriving soon to watch this week’s episode of MST3K and she could slip out unnoticed. She’d just eat her cereal quietly and go.
As she mulled over whether to have Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Waffle Crisp, a pair of hands squeezed her sides, making her jump. She spun around, groaning as the box of Waffle Crisp hit the floor and spilled out. Standing before her, a lanky boy with long blonde hair that brushed the collar of his Metallica tee and fell into his crystal blue eyes gave her a sheepish grin. The newly formed pencil thin mustache that drove Sabrina insane twitched.
“Sorry Bree.”
“Forget it.” She said, willing her heartbeat to slow as she got out the dustpan and brush.
The sight of him on his knees gathering cereal when she turned around melted her heart. He was so manly yet domestic!
“Oh no, I’ll get that!”
“It’s my fault for scaring you.”
“How were you to know I’d be so engrossed in my cereal choices?”
He leaned in and wiggled his eyebrows, eyes twinkling. “Were you?”
Her heart galloped and she laughed breathlessly. “Oh, of course, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know.”
Oh my God! Why did I say that? I am such a dork!
Mustache twitch.
“So I hear and what did you decide?”
“Um.” Think, Bree, think. Work brain, damn you! She reached blindly into the cabinet. “This.”
“Ah, a very mature choice.” Mark said, examining the box of Crackling Oat Bran.
Of course she would grab the old people cereal her parents ate. God, she wanted to die!
"Oye cabron, you getting the chips or what?” Victor clomped into the kitchen. “Oh hey Bree, you coming? The guys are here and the show’s about to start.”
Dwayne and Rudy’s voices mingling with her mother’s at the door told Sabrina she had to get a move on.
“No, I have to work on a class project with my group so I need to get going.”
“So we’ll see you next week?”
“No, unfortunately I’m stuck doing this for the next four Saturdays.”
Mark looked disappointed.
“We’ll miss you.”
Bree’s heart did a flip worthy of an Olympic gold medal.
“You will?”
V reached into a cabinet for a bag of chips and shoved Mark’s shoulder.
“Come on, man, let’s go.”
###
Sabrina jogged to the corner just as the bus arrived and hopped on. It was empty except for a familiar figure lounging in back with her thick black boots perched on the chair in front of her. She was gazing out the window popping her gum. The tinny sounds of a frantic guitar streamed from the headphones she wore. Sabrina debated whether or not to sit near Larry since they knew each other despite the fact the other girl hadn’t seen her. It seemed rude for her to sit up front though since obviously Bree would’ve seen her. In the end she opted to sit across from her, giving Larry a nod when she glanced her way before staring out the window again.
As the bus reached the edge of town a group of boys Sabrina recognized from school got on. Their raucous conversation shattered the peace as they clamored into their seats. Tommy Swanson, a preppie looking blond boy with perfect white teeth grinned as he stalked toward the girls.
“Hey lezzy, how’s it hanging?”
Larry ignored him and the smile faltered.
“Hey, bitch, I’m talking to you!” He smacked her boot and she glared at him.
“The fuck you want, Preppy?” She barked, yanking off her headphones.
He threw his hands in the air.
“Hey, I’m just trying to be neighborly.”
“So, who are you, Mr. fucking Rogers?”
“What was that? I’m sorry, I can’t understand you. See, here in America, we speak English.”
Larya held up her middle finger. “Understand this? It’s American.”
“Well, that’s not very friendly but then you don’t actually have any friends, do you?”
“I wouldn’t brag about your goon squad if I was you.” Larya snorted, gesturing towards a short round boy with a unibrow called Guido and Big Mike, a no-necked greasy haired boy who was as broad as he was tall. Rumor had it Big Mike did jail time and had to repeat a few grades.
Guido clomped over to Larry and stuck a pudgy finger in her face growling,
“What’d you say, dyke?”
Larry’s eyes narrowed.
“Get your finger out of my face before I bite it off.”
“I got something you could bite right here.” Big Mike boomed and adjusted his jeans as he swaggered forward.
Larry raised an eyebrow and licked her lips as she sat forward. Then she reached out and gripped the bulge in Mike’s pants hard enough to bring him to his knees with a shriek. Larry laughed hysterically while Sabrina grimaced. She caught the eye of the driver in the mirror as he pulled the bus over. The bony old man charged to the back of the bus shouting,
“Alright, what’s going on here?”
Tears streamed down Mike’s face as Guido replied,
“That crazy bitch ripped his balls off!”
“No one told him to stick his kokot in my face.” Larry shrugged.
“That’s it. You, off, right now!” The driver yelled at her.
“What?”
“You heard me, off! I don’t want no trouble on my bus.”
“Then give me my money back.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I paid to go to library. I don’t get off until I get to library.”
“You want me to call the cops?”
“You’re going to jail, bitch!” Mike screamed.
“Oh shut up, piča, I didn’t grab you that hard!” Larry snapped. “Not that there was much to grab.”
“Um, excuse me but if you’re going to throw anyone off it should be them.” Bree said, blushing when everyone turned to face her.
“You shut up and mind your own business.” Tommy snarled.
Bree’s eyes narrowed.
“You made it my business when you started in on her.”
“What are you her girlfriend? You a carpet muncher too?”
“Partner.” Bree rolled her eyes. “We’re on our way to meet the rest of our group for a class project and if Larry gets off now it will delay her getting there, if she makes it there at all. This, of course, means a lower grade for me.”
God, I’m such a dork! She turned to the driver.
“I’ve got your name and number, sir. Should I tell your supervisor that girls can’t ride your bus without being sexually harassed or would you rather see it on the 6 o’clock news?”
“Now wait a minute, I don’t want no trouble.”
“You didn’t have any until these jerks got on. Larry was just minding her own business and everything was nice and quiet up to now, yes?”
The driver fumed a moment before turning back to the boys.
“Out, all of you! Get off my bus now. I don’t want to hear it, get out!” He shouted as the boys protested while filing out.
Bree bit back a smile and glanced at Larry who smirked as she put her headphones on and turned back to the window. In the reflection of the glass, Sabrina thought she caught a triumphant gleam in the girl’s eye.
###
Word of the incident somehow managed to spread throughout the school Monday and trouble found Sabrina while she was at her locker getting ready to go to lunch.
“Well if it isn’t the stronzo who narced on us.” A boy said behind her.
Bree groaned inwardly and rolled her eyes as she turned around to see she was surrounded by the boys from the bus.
“Well, if it isn’t the Goon Squad. I thought I smelled something gross.”
“Probably your girlfriend’s taint.” Guido laughed.
“What do you want?” Sabrina forced herself to sound bored.
She realized that a crowd was forming around the group. While she wouldn’t dare be alone with these dorks, they wouldn’t dare put their hands on her in front of everybody. Would they? She raised her chin, willing her heartbeat to slow down.
Guido’s eyes narrowed and he leaned toward her.
“We got thrown off the bus because of you and we want compensation.”
“Compensation?” She laughed. “Don’t use words you can’t spell, Guido.”
The other kids watching them laughed, drawing the boys’ attention. Sabrina saw the confusion and hesitation in their faces and realized this was just a bluff, an attempt at intimidation in revenge for the incident on Saturday.
Tommy stepped toward her then. He grabbed the collar of her hoodie and slammed her up against her locker. A chorus of oohs rang out but all Sabrina could see was Tommy’s flushed ferrety face and steely grey eyes.
“Listen here, bitch. You get in my business again and you’ll have to get that smart mouth of yours wired shut!”
Sabrina grinned and watched the surprise wash over his face. She brought up her knee as hard she could to connect with his groin. He buckled with a scream and she shoved him away from her. The crowd parted as he fell and Sabrina took off down the hall. Dear God, those boys are going to kill me!
She rounded the corner and slammed into someone. Stumbling back, Sabrina started to fall when a pair of arms grabbed her and kept her on her feet. Looking up she realized she was in the strong arms of Mark Hoffman.
“Sabrina, que paso? What’s the matter?”
Oh yeah, Victor was there too.
“I-I just had a run in with Tommy Swanson and his boys. It’s okay though.”
“The hell it is. This is about Saturday, isn’t it?”
“Carajo, you know about that too?” Sabrina rolled her eyes.
“It’s all over school. Perate, where is that prick?”
He and Mark brushed past Sabrina to where the crowd was approaching with the Goon Squad in the lead. Tommy’s expression said he wanted blood but he hesitated when he saw the older boys approaching.
“Victor please, you don’t have to get involved.” Sabrina cried.
Mark turned around, walking backwards he said,
“It’s okay, Bree, let the men handle it now.”
Sabrina stopped in her tracks, her inner feminist was outraged by the remark even as her insides went all gooey over her manly crush. Cassie and Ivy came running from one direction while Larry rushed over from the other. The four girls watched as the boys squared off.
“What is it, Sabrina?” Ivy asked.
“Those jerks giving you trouble?” Larya asked.
“What's Victor doing to Tommy?” Cassie cried, rushing towards the boys as Victor put the skinny blond in a headlock.
The girls followed her while Mark slammed Guido to the ground in a wrestling move and turned to grapple with Big Mike.
“Mark, no!” Sabrina cried.
Great, her future husband was about to be killed and she never told him she loved him!
“What’s going on out here!” Mr. D’Onofrio bellowed as he stepped out of his classroom. The 6’4” science teacher was a Zee Tech alumnus, former quarterback, and intimidating figure.
The crowd scattered, leaving the Goon Squad, Mark, Victor, Sabrina and her study group standing before him.
“Mike, Guido, Tommy, I should’ve known you’d be involved!” The teacher boomed. “Two weeks into the new year and you’re already fighting. What happened this time?”
Everyone exchanged glances but kept their mouths shut. The boys busied themselves by wiping blood and sweat from their faces and straightening their disheveled clothing. Mr. D’Onofrio turned to the girls.
“Does anyone want to report a problem?”
“No, Mr. D’Onofrio.” They said in unison, shaking their heads.
“Then get to class, all of you!”
They sprinted down the hall as the teacher slammed back into his classroom. When they rounded the corner, Victor leaned into Tommy’s face.
“You’re lucky Mr. D stopped the fight but if you come near my sister again I will fucking end you!”
Still glaring at him, Victor said, “Sabrina, these assholes give you any more trouble you come to me, okay?”
“Okay.” Reluctantly, Sabrina nodded.
Victor might’ve been a toad but when it came to protecting his sisters, his big brother mode went into overdrive. She would have to talk to him when they got home. She was a grown woman, after all, and it was time she fought her own battles.
“No.” Larya said, suddenly.
She grabbed Tommy by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Cassie started to protest but Larry raised her other hand to silence her. Glaring at Tommy she said,
“If you have problem then have it with me. If any of you have problem with me then bring it to me. Leave Sabrina out of it, understand?”
Tommy and his boys exchanged glances and Larya lifted him off his feet. She gave him a good shake, asking, “Understand?”
“Yes! Yes! Put me down!” Tommy croaked.
Larya opened her hand and let him drop. Tommy stumbled and glared at her but she just glared back.
“Fucking dyke.” He spat before walking away with his crew.
“God, Cassie, what do you see in him?” Bree asked her.
Tommy and Cassie had been going together since the fourth grade. Bree thought he was a pain in the ass then and was still a pain in the ass now.
“He said he’d change. Now that we were becoming adults and going to high school, he said he’d grow up and be more mature.” Cassie said. She put her hands on her hips. “Well, if he thinks he’s going to get my flower now, he’s got another think coming!”
Bonus Romance WIP!
When I hit the wall trying to write the above WIP, I dive into my next romance WIP. This one is my favorite blend of Fantasy Romance (I refuse to call it Romantasy on principle. BLECH!) A Knight's Desire (working title) has been a blast to write so far and I'm only a quarter of the way through. So, here's an excerpt from A Knight's Desire.
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