As Kellie and Lisa reentered the room the girls looked them over curiously. “Sorry,” Kellie apologized. “I needed to talk with Lisa real quick.” The girls nodded in response as Kellie sighed. “I was hoping we could all talk. I’m hoping that well any issues you had in the past can get worked out.”
“I do have a question,” Mary Elise said as she looked at the adult Kellie. “How did you do that.”
Kellie sighed as she held up her ring hand. “This ring,” she stated. “It’s magic and lets me control reality and people’s ages. Here let me show you.” Kellie now wished herself to return to her 16 year old self. The girls watched as Kellies muscles lessened while she shrank an inch or two. In only moments Kellie had returned to the 16 year old girl they had all previously seen.
Turning once for to face the group Kellie nudged Lisa gently. “I think Lisa wants to say something,” She announced. Turning she now looked at Lisa who appeared to quite upset.
“I....” She stuttered. “I want to say...I’m sorry Mary. I shouldn’t of done what I did.”
As Kellie watched Lisa and Mary Elise she got an odd feeling that something was wrong. Looking at Mary Elise’s face she could see an almost evil smirk begin to form. As Lisa finished her tearful apology to Mary Elise the introverted redhead approached. Looking into Lisa’s face she smiled before wiping a tear from her face and grotesquely licking it off her finger.
“Oh Lisa I’ve been waiting soooo long to see this,” she grinned. “Finally the high and mighty Lisa O’Toole cut down by a new girl with a magic prop. Your tears...oh your tears taste soooo delicious.”
Kellie gaped in wide eyed terror as Mary Elise smiled sickly at the group. “You know it’s funny,” she smirked. “Claudia I do feel bad about your father. At first I did want to apologize but after so many years I’ve come to the realization that we’ll....it’s better to have no father than to have a cripple.”
Claudia grit her teeth as tears began to leak from her eyes. Kellie for her part just stared as it slowly began to dawn on her that Mary Elise was a sociopath in this timeline. “I should really thank you new girl,” she said sweetly. “I’ve been trying to get back at Lisa for years. You did my job for me in only minutes. You want to hear something funny? You’ll get a kick out of this, trust me.”
Kellie nodded dumbly as Mary Elise smiled in a sick and demented way. “I left out a very important detail on my fight with Lisa. Silly me, I guess I’m beginning to get forgetful. You see Lisa and Kumiko did confront me in the bathroom all those years ago. They wanted to know what happened and to apologize to Claudia. The only reason Lisa attacked me was because I said something about her dead mother.”
Kellie could feel the color drain from her face as Mary Elise told her sick tale, she cursed herself silently. Kellie had so desperately wanted to recreate what she had lost she acted impulsively. The Mary Elise she knew was gone and this dark, twisted version was what remained. She had just helped this girl humiliate her biggest rival.
“Well,” Mary Elise said with sickening glee. “I should probably be running along now. Claudia dear I accept your apology. It doesn’t change anything but it was good to hear anyway. Oh and I suppose I’m sorry as well. Lisa sweety.” Lisa turned her swollen eyes up towards the maniacal face that was leering at her. “Lisa,” she smirked. “Thank you for making my day. Seeing you humiliated after all your years of sticking up for Claudia and the others....well it just brightens my soul just a bit.”
Lisa had no response as she quietly hung her head in defeat. As Mary Elise now strolled past Kellie she turned to her placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a sick grin. “Thanks new girl,” she sneered. “You just helped me take out the biggest thorn in my side and all I had to do was feed you some bullshit lines. I don’t know why you wanted us to make up...and personally I don’t care. All I know is I can’t WAIT for Katie to find out. Oh boy this is going to be fun.”
Mary Elise began humming as she skipped out of the room closing the door softly behind her leaving the others in stunned silence. It was finally Kellie who tried to break the silence as she turned towards Lisa. “Lisa,” She stammered. “I...I...didn’t..I had no...”
Lisa said nothing as she stared down at the floor. Shaking her head softly the girl appeared broken, turning she now ran out of the room sobbing leaving Claudia, Samantha and Kellie. Samantha now turned to Kellie glaring angrily at Kellie. “You and I need to talk now,” she growled.
“Sammy,” she whispered. “I had no idea Mary was like that. Lisa..it...it sounded like she was a bully. It seemed like she was the one keeping Mary and Claudia from forgiving each other.”
Samantha shook her head sadly as she looked down at Kellie. “Lisa,” she started. “Lisa is a lot of things. She hot headed, stubborn, unruly but she is definitely no bully. What no one outside of myself or Katie knows Ian how emotional and empathic she is. Lisa would give anything for her friends and her sister. She has always been overprotective of everyone she cares about.”
“And Mary,” Kellie whispered.
Samantha shook her head sadly as she gazed at Kellie. “Lisa isn’t now the only one that calls her Misery,” she said. “Not a lot of people know this. Me, Lisa, and maybe Kumi but she’s twisted. That girl relishes in peoples pain. She feeds a lot of half truths to people and hopes someone bights, guess you did.”
“Damn it,” Kellie fumed. “So tha means?”
“That means you just humiliated Lisa for no good reason what so ever,” Samantha said sadly. “I don’t know what you said to her to make her act like that but when’s Katie finds out you’re going to find out why no one messes with Katie.”
Kellie stared dumbfounded at Samantha and Claudia as they nervously looked at Kellie. “What the hell do you mean,” she said fearfully.
“Kellie listen,” Claudia moaned. “Look I..llI appreciate you trying to help me. I had no idea Mary was that twisted but whatever you did to Lisa, Katie will take personally and believe me Katie is someone you don’t mess with.”
Kellie stared wide eyed at the two girls, fearful of what exactly she hadn’t gotten herself into. “Please tell me,” She implored. “When Katie and Lisa were seven an older girl pushed Lisa into the mud making her cry,” Samantha stated. “Katie attacked the girl for hitting her sister and left her in a bloody pulp.”
“Then their was last year with the volleyball captain,” Clauida added.
Kellie looked at the two girls as they shivered slightly. “What happened,” She’s whispered.
“The Captain was a girl named Megan Fuller,” Samantha said. “Me, Lisa and Katie joined the team and made it to varsity. Unfortunately Megan didn’t like Lisa getting so much attention. Lisa was just a freshman yet the coach non the guys all loved her. Megan decided to knock Lisa down a peg by hazing her unmercifully.”
“Lisa was thrown in mud, ridiculed and had her backpack stolen by some of the girls,” Claudia added. “Lisa wanted to tough it out but at night Katie could hear her sister crying herself to sleep. So she decided to get even.” Kellie began to feel nauseous as Samantha and Claudia gave each other nervous looks.
“No one was ever able to prove it,” Samantha whispered. “Megan’s tires were slashed then someone shoved her down a flight of stairs one day. Megan ended up tearing up her knee and never playing volleyball again. All we know is that afterwards no one ever messed with Lisa ever again.”
Kellie gulped as she took this all in. Samantha and Claudia made it sound like Katie was scarier then almost anyone she had ever met. Messing around with her family was something that one did at their own peril. Now, having threatened Lisa and broken her spirit, she had invited Katie’s wrath upon her. “So Lisa is going to tell Katie what happened,” She’s murmured.
“No,” Samantha said glumly. “Mary Elise will say something. Lisa is too proud to go cry to her sister for help. But Katie is definitely going to see how shaken she is and Mary will feed her worst fears. I can only talk her down so much but you need to make it right before it’s too late.”
Kellie could feel her eyes begin to dampen with tears as she nodded solemnly. In trying to get the girls back together she may have unwittingly destroyed any chance of being with Katie ever again. All she could do now was try to repair the damage before it wasn’t too late.