Chapter 3: Crabs in a Bucket

“Fuck, that is so good!”

The squad had piled into Stacy’s bedroom for their smoke session. Lis currently was stoned out of her mind and had taken me to the base.

Beth was sitting in the bean bag chair and just shouted, “Holy shit, she actually did it!”

Tracy crawled over me and shoved me backwards to get a better look, “How? I couldn’t get more than two thirds!”

Monica pointed out, “She’s beyond stoned probably has her to relaxed to gag.”

I had to move Lis off me to make sure she was breathing, “That is fantastic.”

A quick glance around the room told me Stacy and Jill were far too engrossed in each other on the daybed to care about the accomplishment.

Lis went back down to the base and my eyes rolled back in my head, “Jesus, that might kill me.” I didn’t last long and soon gave her a throatful.

She eased back and stared at me, the hint of adoration that hinted at her real feelings for me made me a might uncomfortable, “Did I win?”

“You won, my sweet Lis.” I shifted her till she was laying on the bed with her head in my lap looking up at me with glassy eyes.

Beth ordered, “You’re turn, Doz. Get to it before Tracy throws up trying to outdo her?”

“Is it my turn?”

She put on her queen bitch voice, “You said everyone takes a turn and you’d either do a dare or a truth since you won’t drink. No way out.”

“Fine, Hit me.”

Tracy squealed, “Who is your favorite?”

Beth stilled her with a death glare, “What do you want?”

“Like right this minute?”

Lis was nothing, but smiles, “He wants Ms. Crane.”

“Yeah, me and every other male in the school and all of you.”

Lis answered back, “Not me, I don’t like girls like that.”

“Bullshit, I’ve seen you have sex with everyone in this room.”

Lis giggled, “That’s just like masturbation. I don’t get turned on by a vibrator either, but it feels good.”

Beth cleared her throat, “Is that your answer? What your goal in life is?”

My addled brain considered Amanda. She was full of bolstered pose and a demoralizing false nobility. Every step was graceful, preplanned, a part of some larger scheme. Her face echoed Lana Turner. Her clothes were upscale, always three stages above what was required for the moment, professional, fashionable and dual purpose. Her skirts and dress could show off more than her legs when she wanted them to and provide nothing when she didn’t.

Every conversation was a game, pulling and prodding. Every grandiloquent turn-of-phrase had three goals it was leading to. I was at war and I was losing for the first time. Her authority as the newly hired band teacher was just a single piece in her arsenal. During the past month, I had seen her the way no-one had. I had seen the quelled rage, the twisted sense of superiority that hid beneath the charm and faux helpless stare. Everyone around her did everything she asked, everything she implied should happen. I was the only one capable of resisting her and I had little desire to do so. Amanda Crane was hemlock and I was Socrates

So, did I want Amanda? Fuck yes. Was she what I wanted in life? No.

“No. I mean I wouldn’t kick her out of bed.”

And I haven’t.

I continued, “Amanda wouldn’t be what I want out of life though. I want ... Is it too late to switch to the dare?”

Beth just glared at me. “Ugh, Fine. Most of you are too stoned to remember this in the morning anyway. I want someone to look at me and see me. See me as I am and love me for it; not what I can do, not what I know, not my dick ... I want someone to look at me, see me as I am and accept me. I want a partner.”

Jill pulled her lips off Stacy’s tit, “You are such a fucking girl!”

“Yep, definitely not anyone in this room.”

Monday:

The body was found on the playground above the football field on a Saturday. Everyone knew the dragons were responsible, but no one talked about it. The police made some interviews, but it was kept away from my circles. I didn’t know the girl. Her name had been Emily. I’m sure I’d spoken to her in the hall or the gym, but even as small as the school was, I didn’t know everyone and preferred it that way.

I had the ‘core’ of my group in one of the less used classrooms. I’d thought long and hard about who needed to be in this room. I initially considered Erin Barnes, my lab partner who’d transferred in. She’d impressed me with her intelligence, but I didn’t know her well enough to trust her. The same reason left Monica and my little one, Tracy out of the group. Stacy and Jill were the last cuts. I trusted them just fine, but didn’t feel they were necessary as their roles would be minimal in my plan. I summoned a bit of steel and spoke, “We need to slay the dragons.”

Daniel didn’t hesitate, “A direct fight might not go our way.’

Beth offered me a death glare, “I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and assume you don’t mean literally?”

“No, that would be nuts. Fighting them is off the table, but we can get them expelled.”

Alex raised her hand and I had to do a double take, “How? Why? I get they’re assholes, but...”

Scott finished her sentence, “We’re not fucking batman.”

“That girl was the last straw. They’re bullies, okay. They sell drugs, fine. I don’t care if kids get high. The theft and vandalism, fine. It isn’t me or mine getting their stuff stolen. The off-campus fights; fine. The three of us can give as good as we get, but we can’t have them walking the halls of the school if they killed that girl and we all know the police around here are inept at best.”

Lis took offense, “Hey, my dad is good at his job.”

“He may be, but he’s just one guy.”

Alex didn’t raise her hand this time, “Why does it have to be us?”

“Who else will? Unless the police find evidence with the girl the cops can’t do anything. The admins here won’t do anything. We can. All we need is another random locker and vehicle search like the one from last year.”

Hopefully, Alex doesn’t pick up that I sent Adam packing the exact same way.

Scott was surprisingly practical, “They’re not dumb, they aren’t going to keep shit on them.”

Daniel offered, “They don’t have to. I still have the rifles from the bag when we tussled with them in the woods.”

“I thought I told you to turn those in to the deputy’s office after hours?” He just shrugged his shoulders.

Lis decided to back me, “We’d need some drugs too. I’ve got some weed and Molly on hand, but something harder would work better.”

“I’ll pay a visit to Jimmy in that regard. Beth, I need you on info: Schedules, habits, locker combos, and whatever else it takes. Scott, you id vehicles and figure out a way into them. Daniel and I’ll do the planting. Lis, you’ll need to keep an eye on your dad. To make sure they take the bait and do the search and when it’s planned for.”