Chapter 17 Kenny stares at the four of us, his jaw clenched. Arch inches closer and squeezes my hand a little tighter. I squeeze his hand back. "So." says Kenny, "Here's the reason you rejected me." He looks at Arch with disgust. I want to beat him up so bad. "No he rejected you because you're an idlot!" Thorne exclaims. "Shut up, Thomas!" Kenny snaps. Thorne clenches their fists. "Sorry were you talking to me? Funny, cuz I didn't hear my name." "What happened to you bro? You used to be cool until you started painting your nails and acting like a girl all the time!" //He's a transphobic creep after all!// It's an inside joke that only my neurospicy brain understands. "Kenny you little ruptured possum's tumor!" Ivy exclaims Thorne lets out a bark of a laugh, pauses, and bursts into a fit of laughter more erratic than when the principal called them 'young non-binary.' That was when Arch fought Kenny. I have a feeling that might happen again. This feeling is based on the expression on Kenny's face after being called a ruptured possum's tumor. "What!?" He asks. "What. The. Heck. Ives." "I call em like I see em." Ivy smirks. "And I've been wanting to point out how similar you are to a ruptured possum's tumor since the day Julie tripped me in the hall." "That reminds me." Kenny says. "I still owe you a couple good punches. In fact, I think I've got a score to settle with pretty much everyone here." Ivy doesn't waste time. She lets out an anguished cry of a primal animal and leaps onto Kenny, pushing him into a display group of mannequins dressed in outdated clothes. CRASH! Mannequin parts clatter across the floor, and a worker runs over immediately, only to find Ivy, with Kenny in a headlock, sitting up on a mound of disembodied white, plastic people. "What ON EARTH is happening?! OUT! Get out RIGHT NOW!" *** So... we're banned from that store now. It's an awkward bus ride back, to say the least. Kenny massaging his jaw and shooting us dirty looks. I'm holding an ice pack to my best friend's cheek, while my boyfriend glares back at Kenny. Thorne stares out the window with a blank expression. I hand the ice pack to Ivy, deciding that she's more than capable of holding it herself, and sit down next to Thorne. "You OK?" Thorne wipes their face real fast. "I'm fine." They say. Their voice sounds exactly like how I used to say 'I'm fine.' Masking their misery. "What's wrong?" I ask. Treating the 'I'm fine' like an 'I'm terrible.' It's just as telling. "I felt...so good today." Thorne says, voice trembling. "Isaac looked at me in a way th-that made me wonder...m-maybe they...they aren't aroace after-r all." Thorne gulps air, fast and panicky. "And then...we w-went shopping. And I looked in the m-mirror, and for the first time ever, I liked what I saw." Thorne sniffs, as tears begin to roll down their cheeks. "And then along comes KENNY." They grind their teeth. "And he said that st-stuff." Thorne keeps wiping at tears. "And I just- I just...remembered. I'm not supposed to be h-happy. I-m su-supposed to h-hate myself." I hug Thorne. They hug me back lightly, still crying a little. "You're one of the coolest people I've ever met." I tell them. "No way." Thorne says. "Yes way." I mutter back. It's the truth.
A much shorter chapter, but a very eventful one. Now we know what Ivy was going to say to Kenny in chapter 13 before she got cut off. Comment "Ruptured possum's tumor!" and watch it immediately get reported or added to an out of context compilation. I don't think someone would report "Ruptured possum's tumor" but you never know. I have 101 shared projects now btw.
