I walked over to the couch and patted Kensey on the shoulder, waking her up. She sat up slowly, towering over me and rubbing her eyes. Popping her back, she slid over, making room for me on the couch next to her.
"Hey, what's up?" she asked, sounding defeated
"I wanted to talk, give you some tips on things." I said "I've been compressed for a while now, and... I think I have some insight on how to help you not get treated like trash."
"Like trash?" she said quietly "I don't even care, I just want this to be over, I want to make it end..."
"What, like, suicide?" I asked, giving her a look
"Something like that, yeah. I don't see how anyone can live like this, to not be a person anymore, forever and ever..."
"Well, you have to." I said "I don't want the suicide statistics for class Bs to go up any higher than they already are, so you need to stick it out and suck it up."
"Telling someone to 'suck it up' is never good advice, Amber." Kensey sighed "I just don't think I can do this, you know?"
"I assure you, you can." I said "Look, I got bought by my high school bully, I was absolutely sure my life was over, right?"
"She knew you before?" she asked, shocked
"She did, we've known each other for like, six years or something. When she walked into the store and made eye contact with me, I felt everything breaking around me, I felt like I was going to drop dead right there."
"I bet..." she said sympathetically
"I'm not going to lie, it was rough at first." I continued "She was mean, I was hit, I was dropped in ice water, I was suffocated, thrown, treated like nothing, I felt like I wasn't even human."
"You're not making it sound worth it..." she complained
"No, look, I stuck it out. I talked to her, I communicated, I built up a relationship with her, and while we had some problems, eventually, we figured out what worked for us, and now? She's my best friend."
"Ach!" Henri barked from the floor behind us, indignant. I hadn't realized she was listening in...
"No, like, not like that, Henri, you know, the way we talked about..." I said over my shoulder to her, trying not to imply that I was dating Marissa to Kensey while still letting Henri know what I meant.
"So- so if I just let her hurt me, and then just talk to her, she'll get better?" Kensey asked "That sounds like a coping mechanism or a syndrome or something, that's not healthy..."
"No, it's- no..." I said "It's more like, you have to build a relationship with her somehow, and she'll value you."
"I don't need her value." she snapped "I need her to treat me like a normal fucking person."
"Well that's not going to happen, so you need to figure out how to play up what she likes about you so she at least treats you like a pet, in a good way instead of an abusive way." I said, getting fed up with her.
"What does that even mean?" she said, exasperated
"Quince likes class Bs because she thinks they're cute, because she sees them as a high class symbol of money, and because she likes bossing people around." I explained "You need to feed that. You need to act cuter, you need to make her feel fancy and impress her friends and peers, and when she says 'jump', you say 'of course!' in a happy voice."
"That sounds... humiliating..." Kensey muttered
"Yeah, a little bit." I said "But I've know Quince as long as I've known Marissa, and longer than I've known Henri, and if you want her to value you, you need to work for it."
"Um, Amber..." Henri said, poking her head up, looking into my house "This does not sound like healthy advice, I think it might be more helpful to try and get Quince to see class Bs differently, not play into her ideas..."
I frowned at her "No, you saw me as less than human, you still kind of do, and we were besties for over five years. Quince isn't going to just magically see her new toy as a person just through conversations."
"I do too see you as human!" Henri said, stamping her foot "You- you are just small, and you need more care and oversight than you did before..."
"Were you giving me care and oversight before?" I asked
"Ja, and you gave me some too, we were there for each other, but now you need more, you are fragile..."
"You talked over me like I wasn't there, several times." I reminded her "You ignored my opinions and feelings."
"Oh for- no!" she snapped "I did not, I just wanted to keep you safe, and I was addressing the reason you were not safe!"
"You didn't ask if I was safe." I said
"You are with Marissa, you're never safe." she argued.
"And now you're deciding that because I'm small, I can't make my own decisions or assess situations." I crossed my arms "Henri, I appreciate that you're protective, but it's coming off as you not respecting me as a person, and you're proving my point."
She leveled a look at me and took a breath, letting it out slowly in a hiss "...I can tell you are not going to listen to me. Amber, I do respect you, and I do see you as a person, that is all I can say."
She glanced to Kensey "Do not let yourself be taken advantage of, if Quince hurts you or does anything that breaks the rules, let someone know as soon as possible, me ideally, if you can. If you let us, we can get you taken away from her."
"Taken away?" she asked "I- would a different person really be any different?"
"That's the risk." I said "It could be someone who cares for you and tries to help you, or it could be someone who makes you dress up in cute outfits and wait on them or something."
"Ja, that would be so terrible." Henri said dryly.
"Are you still here?" I asked "Go get everyone new drinks, I'll be done here in a moment."
"And you say I do not treat you like a person..." she said, her cheeks flushing, but she stepped away to get the drinks.
I turned back to Kensey "Anyway, just try and be cute, and play up the small and helpless side of things. She might be rough with you, but she's not going to physically hurt you on purpose. By accident? Absolutely, but just help her understand what can and can't hurt you, I guess."
"This conversation didn't help much..." Kensey said "Thanks for talking to me, but I just feel even more conflicted than before."
"Well, if you're conflicted instead of about to kill yourself, than I'd say I did pretty good, right?" I said
"...I guess so." she conceded. "You're going to go back to the movie?"
"Yeah, I wanna get back to Marissa. You want to come? We're watching Freaky Friday!"
"No, I'll stay here." she said, shaking her head "I need to think."
"Well... If you want, the remote is there, maybe use the TV to watch some videos about class Bs to understand more? it helped me a lot." I recommended "Just use the guest account, I don't want my algorithm getting weird."
Kensey snorted "Ok, yeah, I'll try that. Enjoy the movie."
I waved to her, and turned to Henri, who was carefully holding new drinks, two cocktails for her and Tracy, a seltzer for Quince, and the last soju Marissa had bought earlier.
"I don't have hands, you gotta climb on." she said, and leaned towards the house, back to me. I carefully stepped out of the living room onto her shoulder, grabbing on to the shoulder frills to stop myself from falling.
"Be prepared to slide down into my dress if we see Miss Lund..." she pushed her shoulders together, making a gap in her neckline in front of me
I bit my lip, and lay low, sticking close to her collarbone. I didn't really want to go in there, partly because the logistics of getting me out again in front of a group of people was concerning, but also because... it'd be awkward as hell. I needed to be ready anyway, though, and I braced myself. Henri opened the door, turning the knob with the back of her hand, and stepped out, her foot hooking the door as she walked, pulling it closed again behind her.
I looked ahead to see Miss Lund standing in the doorway to the theater down the hall, her back to us as she spoke to the other girls. Henri hissed at me, and I froze. I still didn't want to do that, plus Marissa would be mad, it'd be a mess, I just...
Fuck it.
I slid back and around the back of Henri's head instead, and shimmied into the back of her dress. She tensed up, and leaned forward to give me better traction, and I crawled backwards down her back until I came to her bra strap, and slid into it, letting the band go across my chest, holding on with my arms. This was much better than the other option, and I was even more hidden than before, right? Henri stiffened, and then relaxed, and I heard a sound like a sigh, but she kept walking, carefully moving forward so I didn't fall.
As she got to the door, she stopped "Hello Miss Lund" she said calmly "Did you get to chat with Marissa?"
"Hello Henrietta, I did, yes." she said coldly "Tell me- do you have any pets?"
"My family keeps racehorses back home," she replied "but I've only seen them once or twice. They are more of an investment."
"Good, good." Miss Lund said "And do you have any plans to get pets in the future?"
"No, ma'am, I do not think I will ever get a pet. I think having an animal around would only hinder my plans for the future."
Her plans? What plans? Was she still trying to figure out a way to get me? I folded my arms and held back a huff, she was trying harder, but if that comment meant what I thought, she was still scheming under the surface.
"You have a good head on your shoulders, Henrietta." Miss Lund said "My daughter recently got a pet, as did one of her friends, it seems. I expected it from her friend, her family is... inexperienced in our world, but to see my daughter parade her new toy around like a status symbol?... It pains me. If you can, convince her to dispose of it, would you?"
For a split second Henri's breath faltered, and I felt a chill. She was exactly the person to stand up to Miss Lund, but in the worst way possible...
"Oh, of course, I will speak to her about it, do not worry." Henri said smoothly
"Thank you, I'm happy Marissa has a friend like you, you're the influence she needs in her life." Miss Lund said "I'm off to bed, I have a full day of appointments and meetings tomorrow, please, stay as long as you like, and you're always welcome here."
"Thank you, rest well." Henri said easily, and I felt her move forward into the theater, the door closing behind her.
"Where's Amber?" hissed Marissa almost as soon as the door was shut
"She is safe, here, everyone get their stuff, I will get her out..." Henri said, passing the drinks out
"Get h-her out?" Marissa said dangerously "Out of where, exactly?"
I heard the clanking of drinks moving from hand to hand, and Henri moved her arms "She is in my bra, she-"
"She's f-fucking what." Marissa said, grabbing Henri, her voice cold and heavy
"No! No! No, in the back, hanging onto the strap, she-" Henri jumped to explain, but Marissa was already spinning her around. The dress bunched up around me, and Henri muffled a shriek as Marissa's hand came into view under me. I pulled my arms out of the strap and dropped into the hand as Marissa hunted for me, and she pulled me out just a little too quickly for comfort. I clutched Marissa's fingers as she stared at me, her face hard and angry. After a second she pressed me against her chest, just below her neck, rocking back and forth on her feet. Her heartbeat was loud enough to hear through her bones, and her hand was shaking slightly.
"Jesus Christ, Marissa, calm down." Quince said "No need to flip up her dress, she was trying to get her out."
"I- No, you don't understand." Marissa said, her voice slightly thick. "My mother said she'd k-kill Amber if she s-saw her again, then yyyou had to go and brag to her about your new toy to her, and Henri was outside with mom, and she came in without Amber-"
I realized with a mild shock that Marissa was holding back tears, desperately trying to save face and not cry in front of her minions. Five drinks and an emotionally charged night weren't helping though, and her hand started shaking even harder. I squeezed her fingers tightly, giving her the best hug I could, and she pressed me into her chest hard, her hand still trembling.
"Oh, that's- gods, that's sick..." Tracy said, her voice shaking too "I don't blame you, do you need a hug?"
"No, w-what the fuck?" Marissa snapped, her voice hard again, the tears covered by the faked anger "I just want to make sure my new t-toy is safe, and- and, nnnot being put places she shouldn't be."
"Full disclosure, I met your mom on the way to the room too." Henri said. I couldn't tell if she was enjoying this, or just being honest, but either way, I cringed.
"She did not see Amber, but that's because I stuck her in my bloomers. I would have done it again just now, but my hands were full."
"...That's... That's gotta be against the law, right?" Tracy asked "That feels like a violation or something, right?"
"It is illegal." Marissa said, her hand shaking again "If I ever hear of you p-putting Amber in your clothes again, I will personally ensure you are incapable of d-doing it a third time."
"Is that a threat of physical violence?" Henri asked, sounding almost happy
"It was vague enough that it could just mean you being banned from her house, I think." Quince said "It wouldn't hold up in court, so don't try, trust me, I know."
"I just- I want- you-..." Marissa struggled to get the words out, her words slightly slurred, still shaken up "Just, please, no more touching Amber at all unless I'm right- right there."
Henri sighed "Ja, whatever, ok. You are way over-reacting, she was over my tights and against my leg, and the bra-strap thing was nothing."
I climbed up to Marissa's neck and hugged it, sitting on her collarbone and leaning carefully to make sure I didn't slip. Her hand moved up to cup me and she took a deep breath.
"My mother is a dangerous person, even to people she c-cares about. Especially to people she cares about." Marissa explained "She'd love it if Amber was killed-"
"She asked me to convince you to 'dispose' of her, ja..." Henri murmured
"...yeah." Marissa said, stroking my back "So w-with that threat over my head, and having you act inappropriately towards her, it makes me v-very angry, and I'm having a hard time c-calming down."
"...Ok. I will not hide Amber in my clothes ever again." Henri said, her voice a little subdued
"You really care about her, huh?" Quince said to Marissa "You treat her like she's made of glass or something, I swear you were about to cr-"
"She is a fucking human being." snarled Marissa, just before Quince said something that'd ruin the night "She's my human being, but she-she's still a human being, and part of her being mine is that I have to protect her and care for her. In fact, t-t-that's the whole main point of me hav-having her, not that yyyou'd know with how you treat yours. You're a joke, you'll kill yours in a week, she'll snap like a fucking c-c-cookie, and you won't even care. You'll be a fucking murderer and you won't even n-notice, you'll just get a new one and move on like the fucking brat you are."
I glanced back at Quince, her eyes were wide and her mouth was open slightly, and she took a step back, blinking furiously. "I won't! I'll be careful!" she said, half arguing, half insisting "I won't murder her, even by accident!"
"I don't f-f-fffucking believe you." growled Marissa "But fine, whatever. Just don't try and make fun of mmme when I try to do my job and take care of my human being."
I held tighter to her neck, feeling the blood rushing through the thick vein I was against, her heartbeat loud and fast. I looked out at the other girls, Quince was standing still, her seltzer by her side, biting her lip, Tracy was looking at Marissa with a look that seemed hostile and concerned at the same time, and Henri was looking at the ground, not saying anything. It looked like Marissa had re-asserted herself as the queen of the group, while still defending me and upholding me as a person. I was impressed, and more than a little flushed myself at her display, and I let myself melt into her skin, going soft as she pet me.
"Look..." Marissa said "Let's just watch the f-fucking movie. Just like, veg out and forget about all this, ok?"
"Can I sit on the couch this time?" Henri said, her voice small "My legs still hurt from the last movie..."
"Whatever, yeah, I don't care." Marissa said, stumbling to her spot on the couch and flopping down, pressing me into her neck as she fell so I wouldn't be jarred. Henri looked at the other two girls, then walked over, sitting next to Marissa, their thighs touching. Marissa stared at her, and opened her mouth to tell her to move, but let her breath out in a sigh, and cracked open her last drink of the evening. Six sojus was a ton of alcohol, I was surprised she was still standing, but I got the impression she was a lot more drunk than she was letting on, even with the slurring and stuttering.
As Quince started the movie, Henri leaned in to Marissa's ear and whispered loud enough for me to hear.
"Can we both hold her?"
"What? Like p-pass her back and ffforth? Nnno, that's st-stupid."
"I mean like, we put our hands together and she sits between them, like, here..."
Henri pulled at Marissa's left hand and I let myself fall into it, and she dropped it down where their thighs met. Then, Henri looped her right hand under Marissa's arm, and clasped her fingers with Marissa's hand, pinning me between their hands, my head poking up in front of their thumbs.
"Is this ok?" Henri whispered "I want to hold her, but I know you need to be close to her right now, and I do not want you thinking I'm doing anything bad, I just want to hold her..."
Marissa glared at Henri, and looked down at her hand, wiggling her fingers between Henri's and scrunched up her face.
"...Whatever. I'm only llletting you do th-this so I don't have to worry about k-keeping track of her."
"She's getting kinda drunk." I told Henri
"Fuck you, I'm n-not drunk on fucking 5 bottles." Marissa muttered
"Each bottle is three or four drinks, Marissa." I said "You had the equivalent of like, eighteen shots."
"Oh, f-fuck." she said, blinking. She glanced at her last bottle, open but un-drunk "I guess I'll just s-s-stop here..."
"It is weird you stutter when you're dunk, usually people slur their words..." Henri mused
Quince giggled from the other side of her and Tracy gasped dramatically. Marissa's grip on us tightened and she growled.
"Shut th-th-the fuck up, Henri." she hissed
"Marissa used to have a huge stuttering problem, she couldn't say two sentences without tripping up, it took years of speech therapy to fix it." Tracy said quietly "She's very insecure about it, she used to attack people who'd bring it up."
"Th-that's not your s-s-s-story to fucking t-t-tell, bitch..." Marissa said, her hand shaking. Henri squeezed her hand at the same time as I hugged her thumb, and we looked at each other, our eyes meeting each others for a moment.
"That's why she started being a bitch to people, really." Quince said "I heard she was almost normal until she found out that being terrible to others made them too scared to tease her."
"I s-swear to the gods, Quince, I will f-fucking murder you. It's not like that." Marissa said, her breath getting quicker
"Mm, bullying people who made fun of her gave her a taste of power, but mommy issues made her go all in. Then of course, the divorce-" Tracy said matter-of-factly, like she was reciting a history book
Marissa stood, cutting her off, and pushed me into Henri's lap
"Hold this..." she muttered, and walked over to the other girls. She was swaying, but she reached out with her hands and braced herself on their heads, looking back and forth between them.
"I'm gonna say th-this once..." she said, her voice dark but shaking, sounding angry and terrified at the same time "If y-you ever talk ab-about m-my past again, I'll f-f-fucking ruin your lives. Quince, I have en-enough dirt f-from Darcy to make your d-d-dad's p-practice close down instantly, and Tracy, I can f-fucking ruin your n-new company w-with j-just a w-word to m-mom. I'll f-fucking bury you b-both."
She jolted, and slammed their heads together with a smacking noise, and they both screamed. I jumped and Henri curled up on the couch and gasped, clutching me tightly. The other two girls whimpered and held their heads, I saw a trickle of blood on Tracy's cheek, from Quince's earring hitting her, maybe? My heart was pounding, and I held myself tightly. This... wasn't the Missy I'd come to love, this was the Marissa who would lash out and hurt people rather than being hurt herself, the one who bought me in the first place...
She turned and took a breath. "Ok... Let's watch the fucking movie now, all of you shut up."
I had just enough time to realize she hadn't stuttered once that sentence before she collapsed to the ground in a heap, face down.
"Stay down, fucking bitch..." hissed Quince "Fucking asshole..."
"What happened?" I asked, clambering out of Henri's grip to look at her "Is she ok?"
"Yeah, your fucking girlfriend is fine, she's the kind of drunk who goes hard until she passes out." Quince snapped "I, on the other hand, might have a concussion."
"She's not my girlfriend, I- I don't know why she did that, does she usually get violent when she drinks?" I asked
"It's pretty obvious there's something between you two, Amber, you can give up the act while she's out..." Tracy said, rubbing her head, one eye closed. She hadn't noticed the blood yet "We've just been playing along because we don't want to tick her off."
"Well, you failed at that." Henri said "She seemed pretty ticked off."
"No kidding." Quince stood up and paused the movie, giving Marissa a light kick. She moaned, but didn't move
"She usually gets more relaxed when she drinks, her need to be the boss bitch wears off. Guess she just cared that much about her stupid fucking villain backstory to fight through the drunken haze."
She walked over to the snack table and brought back ice from a small bucket, wrapping them in napkins
"Fuuuck, she hasn't physically hurt any of us in years..." Tracy moaned "I thought she grew out of that..."
"I- you say you 'know' that there's something between us, what are you talking about?" I asked. I wanted to make sure of what they knew before I said anything that would cause problems.
"Seriously?" Quince asked "I knew before the tennis game. She treats you like a little queen, she's never shown this much care for anyone or anything before. She asked us to stop calling you the Rat, and she asked us to call your minion by her real name, in the same conversation? Super obvi she was trying to get on your good side."
"She was making out with you when we walked in earlier, Amber. I almost said something then, but I wasn't sure how she'd take it." Tracy said
"We- it wasn't making out..." I said weakly
"Then she was straight up getting kinky with you, and as horrible as she is, she's not about to do that with someone who doesn't want it." Quince flopped back on the couch, propping her feet up on Marissa's butt and wiping the blood off Tracy's face with an icy napkin
"They are not girlfriends." Henri said ""They are... something else. I do not understand it, but they have a romantic relationship that involves being physical, but they somehow aren't girlfriends, apparently."
"Gods, I can't believe she's so homophobic that she won't even admit she has a girlfriend." Quince sighed, rubbing her head with the ice
"She's not homophobic?" I said, confused "I thought you were homophobic, what? You said shitty things about me being queer..."
"I'm homo-apathetic, at best." Quince said "It's a good tool to use against people, but I don't actually care. It's a power move."
"I think most people are like that." Tracy said "I noticed people seem to just go with whatever the majority thinks, if they don't have a horse in the race themselves. I think if Marissa had been more open about liking girls instead of poorly hiding it, there'd be a lot more openly queer people in school, and way more allies."
"I was kinda open about it..." Henri said "I had one of those cute bacon colored pins to show I liked girls, but it got pulled off my bag within a week."
"Yeah, because you're a loser." Quince said "If a loser is gay, they get picked on, if the school queen was gay, she'd make it cool to be gay or tear everyone else down with her."
"Is Marissa gay?" Henri asked "I wondered if she just liked having power over Amber instead of like, being gay gay..."
"If you're a woman that likes women, you're gay, even if you only like domming them, Henri." I said
"She's absolutely just regular gay." Quince said "Or- I don't know, Bi, I guess, with a lean towards girls."
"How are you so sure?" Henri asked
"She'd never look at us in the showers, like, ever. Everyone looks a little, but she never did, eyes down, glare on her face." Tracy said "And she'd go quiet when we talked about bodies and stuff, and she'd always make sure we alllll knew when she had a crush on a guy. Over the top, talking about them like she didn't quite know what she liked about them. Oh, and it was always these little subby twink boys too, I think one is even a girl now?"
"Hm..." Henri said, eyeing Marissa's sleeping form "Part of me wonders if I would have had a shot if I'd tried to go after her. After Amber turned me down, I gave up hope finding love in high school, but if I had been dating her..."
"No, she would have shredded you." Quince said "At best, you'd have been someone she strung along and pretended to like so you'd do stuff for her."
"She said if I wasn't around, she would have gone after Amber, and claimed her..." Henri mused "I wonder if she would have come out or if it'd have been an open secret..."
"Can we please not talk about her like this?" I asked "I feel really shitty about this, you guys are acting like she's this 'idea' instead of a person and talking about her like she's not here..."
"Oh I'm sure you know allll about not being a person, huh lil baybe?" Quince said in a mocking tone
I sighed and let myself fall back into Henri's lap. They were being less guarded and more open now that Marissa was out of the picture, but they were still terrible.
"Whatever." I said "Look, I like Marissa, she likes me, I'm fed up talking about queer this and gay that, it's not a big deal. It sounds like no one here cares, so can we just drop it?"
"I like talking about queer stuff..." Tracy said "It's great gossip material."
"What time is it, anyway?" Henri said "We've been arguing and stuff all night, all we did was watch one movie and eat pizza, the rest of the time we just argued."
"It's uhh, just after eleven." Tracy said, checking her phone
"Wait, it's only eleven? I thought it was like, two at least." I asked sitting up "You guys got here after seven thirty. That means... Marissa drank eighteen fucking drinks in four hours?"
"Uhh yeah, I guess?" Quince said
"That's- that could be lethal!" I said, alarmed. I thought back to the mandatory drugs and alcohol class I'd taken in college and felt my heart rate rise "Henri, pull out your phone, we need to check this..."
Henri pulled her phone out from under her skirt, unlocked it and handed it to me. I typed quickly, using my palms to get the touchscreen to read my taps, and entered her stats into a BAC calculator website and shrieked when the results popped up.
"What? What happened?" Tracy asked
"This said her blood is like, oh point forty six!" I said, panicking "It says she'll go into a coma and die!"
I shook my head "Oh gods, fuck, we need an ambulance!"
"An ambulance?" Tracy asked "She's passed out drunk before, I'm pretty sure she'll be fine..."
"I'm not calling an ambulance because of this bitch." Quince said "Let's just make sure she's face down for the night and play a game or something."
"No, it- it says she could just stop breathing, we need to get her help!" I shouted "She's not used to this kind of alcohol, she had way too much!"
"Are you sure?" Henri said, looking worried "It did not look like that much... She was kinda staggering though."
"It's like, a ton, gods, please, can you call?" I asked, pulling on her arm "Please, I can't have her dying on me, we just got together..."
Henri looked at me, and I felt my heart go into my mouth. Quince and Tracy didn't care or thought it was no big deal, and Henri... I watched as her eyes flicked back and forth between me and Marissa, and her breathing slowed. If Marissa was dying, like actually dying, then... I was back on the table, and Henri wouldn't even have to get her hands dirty to do it. She watched Marissa's unmoving form on the carpet, and huffed. I was shaking, she was taking too long, she'd decided to let her go into a coma and die, she-
She picked up her phone and pressed the side buttons, opening the emergency menu and tapped the call button. I fell back onto her thigh with a sigh of relief.
The next few minutes were a blur, me and Kensey were collected and put into Henri's purse, wrapped in a silk handkerchief for the time being. Miss Lund was woken up by Tracy, and Marissa had carefully been moved to the front hall by Parker and Drew. Everyone stood quietly as we waited for the ambulance to arrive, me and Kensey still hiding in the purse, out of sight of Miss Lund. My heart was pounding, and I hugged Kensey without thinking. She stiffened for a second, then returned the hug reluctantly.
Miss Lund broke the silence
"I can't believe she's so stupid she'd give herself alcohol poisoning..." she muttered "I raised her better than that. Her gluttony and hedonism will kill her, eventually."
No one answered, and Miss Lund sighed loudly "I suppose I'll need to go to the hospital with her. I won't be getting much sleep tonight, it seems. Drew, get the car ready."
"I would like to go as well, Miss Lund." Henri said as Drew left the room to pull the car around to the front "I want to be there when she wakes up."
"Alright, you may ride with me, Henrietta." Miss Lund said "Have you had much to drink?"
"I had one and a half drinks, ma'am." Henri replied
"Good, good." she said "You other two, you'll remain here until morning, do you understand? I don't want you driving while drunk."
"Ok..." Tracy squeaked
"But Henri's got my-" Quince started, then thought better of it "-my number, in case she needs to get in touch..." she finished, trailing off.
Sirens filled the air, and I poked my head up to see the ambulance pull around the rotunda in front of the door and two EMS workers climbed out, getting a stretcher out of the back. I glanced around at the others, Quince looked frustrated, Tracy was scared, Miss Lund was angry, but her arms were nervously rubbing against each other, and Marissa was laying face down on a blanket, not moving. I bit my lips and ducked back into the purse as the EMS workers started to load her up.
"Is someone going to ride with her?" one of them asked
"No, we're following in a car." Miss Lund snapped "Get out of here, go... pump her stomach or something, quickly."
I heard the other person scoff, but the doors closed and the sirens started up again, and the ambulance pulled out.
"Come on Henrietta, here's Drew with my car."
I heard the crunch of gravel as Henri walked to Miss Lund's car and got in, swinging me and Kensey onto the floor of the car. She climbed in and closed the door, her leg pressing us against the car door, a barrier between us and Miss Lund. Kensey shifted slightly to get into a better position, and I grabbed her arm, shaking my head. If she saw us moving now, we'd be dead...
"I still can't believe she was so, so stupid..." Miss Lund muttered as the car took off "She's been making poor decisions lately, spending all her money, drinking herself silly, buying that pet... I don't know what to do with her..."
"She is still at that age, I suppose." Henri said "I myself have made some foolish choices in the recent past, I like to see them as moments of growth."
She was really laying it on, wasn't she? I didn't know why she wanted to impress Miss Lund so much, but it seemed to be working.
"I can agree with that..." she said "As long as the mistakes aren't repeated. Speaking of mistakes, did you get a chance to talk to Marissa about her pet?"
"I did speak with her, ja." Henri said "Although..."
"Although?"
"It was her new pet who demanded we call the ambulance, ma'am." Henri explained "She recognized the signs of alcohol poison, and insisted we get her help before Marissa 'went into a coma and died', as she put it."
"It did?..." Miss Lund said, sounding slightly confused "I'd assumed it would hate Marissa, lord knows her friends do."
"I think she sees Marissa as a protector of sorts, and respects her as an owner." Henri offered
Why was she doing this? She was helping me, trying to make Miss Lund see me in a better light, I didn't understand her angle, but I was grateful she was trying at least.
"...At least the pet knows her place." Miss Lund said more gently. "Still, I can't stand the things. Pets in general, or those subhumans. I'm trying to find a way to eradicate them, you know."
Kensey stiffened, and I had to fight to not react myself, she wanted to- that wording was unfortunate, it didn't do her any favors...
"Eradicate, ma'am?" Henri said, her voice strained
"Well, or at least let them die off." Miss Lund clarified "That new bio-lab I mentioned, I want to use it to produce and sell a vaccine for the compression particles. No new class Bs, if I can help it."
"That- that is very noble of you, ma'am." Henri said, confused
"It's more about the money than the milk of human kindness, but thank you." she said "The only issue is that we need to activate the body's entire supply of the compatible genetic makeup without compressing it in order to vaccinate. We need pre-compressed particles to do the research, but... testing on class Bs is illegal as of yet, meaning we barely have enough testing materials to work with, just what volunteers who let us inject them with the genetic material can give us, but each time someone volunteers, they lose a bit of their height, of course, so the volunteers are very rare."
"I- I understand, why are you telling me this?" Henri asked
"I'm trying to explain myself, I respect you, Henrietta. Once I take over that lab fully, I have people in legislation who can legalize limited testing on class Bs in exchange for a small fee to their families or guardians, we'll frame it as researching a way to help the class Bs, and it'll pass with support from both sides."
"I see..." Henri said
"I'm in the middle of doing all the prep work for this, trying to find subjects, buying up shares, planning the takeover, finding ways to use these pests to make money, and seeing a future of massive profits ahead of us, and my daughter comes down to breakfast with one of them in a fashion outfit like its an accessory and sits it on the table right in front of me, proud as punch. Do you see the problem?"
"I believe so, yes, it seems like a conflict of interest." Henri said dryly
"Exactly!" Miss Lund said, happily "She's taking over the company in less than four years, and here she is, bonding with one of the things that's going to make us richer than god. She's going to love it, and become attached, and when the time comes for her to take over, she'll shut down all the work and research we'll have been doing, all because she can't look at a test subject without thinking of her little... what was its name again?"
"Amber, ma'am."
"Right, she'll just see her little Amber there in the test tanks getting blood and marrow drawn, and she'll get emotional and shut the whole thing down, losing us billions in vaccinations. I heard the particles are evolving, too, so we could let people get new ones yearly, like flu shots, and we'd have the only patent. We'd be a world power, all by ourselves... And all that crumbles if Marissa is stupid enough to get attached to a glorified lab rat."
"I can see how that would be frustrating." Henri said "If I may ask, why not use actual lab rats? Or cows, or monkeys?"
"The compression particles only target a specific mutation in the human body." Miss Lund said "As far as I've heard, it seems they were made to target one person, or maybe a family, and the creators didn't realize the mutation was so widespread."
"I thought we did not know anything about the creation?" Henri asked, sounding interested
"We... don't. But we can study the particles, and they were made for a reason, that's for damn sure. They're designed, and they have signs of being coded artificially"
The car rocked and came to a stop. Miss Lund sighed "Well, I need to go sign some things, I presume. Drew, park the car, I'll call for you later. Henrietta, thank you for the stimulating conversation, maybe we can continue it later, while we're waiting on Marissa to wake up?"
"Of course, I look forward to it, ma'am. I will see you in the waiting room."
I felt Henri get out of the car, and it drove off. After a few moments, there was the sound of a door sliding open, and air conditioning. We swung back and forth for a short while, then there was a flump as Henri dropped into a chair. There was more movement, and the top of the purse opened up, Henri peeking down at us in her lap.
"Good news, Amber." she said darkly
"What's that?" I asked
"I have found someone I want to kill even more than Marissa."
~~~