Noddy strode through the halls, and everyone was looking at him. Girls were fainting, guys were swooning. He was so ON, he was so BACK. He found Duri, and gave her a kiss. Then he found Ji-a, and gave her one too. His life had never been better. That's when all of a sudden, he was stopped by Ray.
"What's up, kid? Howya feeling, now that I've saved your life?"
Ray looked angry. "Not great, since you started spreading all those rumors about Sebastian."
"Sebastian?" Noddy laughed. "Who's Sebastian?"
Ray shoved Noddy in the chest, making him take a full step back. "You know who I mean. You can't just go around calling him 'Vlad the Vampire', that's not even his real name. And there's no such fucking thing as a 'Blood Drive'!! You made that stupid video with ReGURJ!"
"With what?" Noddy shook his head.
"ReGURJ, the program that steals footage from every single video and film it can find, to chew up all their data and spit back out horrid nonsense. Eldritch anatomy, garbled logic, and bald-faced lies. You made it look like he was ATTACKING me! Like he had me CHAINED UP!"
Noddy took another step back, this time on purpose. "Hey, whoah. No, I didn't. I didn't do any of that. I have proof-"
Ray pointed a finger, and took two steps forward to dig it into Noddy's chest. "Cut the fucking crap, Nadal! You never saw me in a WHEELBARROW, being BOOZED UNCONSCIOUS! Sebastian put a bike-lock around my hands because I ASKED him to! We were playing 'escape artist'!"
Noddy sneered, and shook his head again. "That's not what I saw. Why are you covering for him? You afraid he'll bite you again?"
Ray growled with frustration. "AAAUGGH!! You're so fucking inFURIATING!! You said it yourself yesterday, you ASS! You and him used to bite each other all the time! It's called a freaking HICKEY!!"
Noddy's world started to crack, around him. Seams of light formed on all sides, threatening to burst his new perfect life into shards. He got angry back. "You can't just- you KNOW what he did to me!! You KNOW what he did to YOU, you're just... MAKING EXCUSES FOR HIM!! I bet... I bet you're a vampire TOO! You're one of THEM!!"
Ray punched Nadal in the face, and instantly, the world indeed did shatter. Pieces of scenery flung about, like shards of glass. Nobody was cheering for Noddy in the halls. Duri and Ji-a's lips had their kisses reversed. He was still in detention, with a biology textbook at his desk. He'd been sleeping in it, face-down, right on the section about the side-effects of animal products in the human diet. He wasn't even standing up. Nor was Ray punching him, or standing across from him. Ray was sitting next to him, a single desk over. Rex was behind them, making paper wasps. He'd been practising at the whiteboard with them, using an elastic band.
Ray shook off the sleep. "Where the hell am I?" he asked.
Ray crossed her arms. "In detention, dumb-ass," she replied.
"What happened?" he asked her. "I think... I think I jumped out of a window?"
Ray rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'm feeling generous. I'll explain. First: you jumped out of a window, with Rex, because you didn't feel like doing your homework. Then, because you saw me goofing off with Seb, using a bike-lock, you told everyone you were 'saving me' from 'kidnappers'. You spent the whole day sucking shit at track and field, because you wouldn't stop drinking your mom's rum, which you brought from home. You told Byron that everyone was out to get him, and he got so scared his caretaker had to come pick him up, and take him home. You also swore up a storm at all the cadets, and called them 'vampires' because they were wearing sunglasses. It was like, this promotional thing they got from the recruiters. We also had to take immunity shots a few days ago, which could only be delivered into the neck, for some reason. So you said they were 'bitten', and called them a 'dark cabal'. Then, because Duri and Ji-a have the hots for you, you made them generate a fake home video on the school computers, to make it look like you and Seb got into a fight. Then you found him and I smoking in his dorm, which, yeah, okay. I'm probably not gonna smoke again, it tastes like ass. You told me to cut that out, which was... considerate, of you."
Nadal nodded. "Yes, I'm often very... considerate. Go on."
"No, you're-" Ray sighed. "God damnit. Anyway, you and Seb used to date, I guess. I didn't know his first name was really Vlad, and that he was avoiding a bad reputation he'd earned, while he was dating you. I guess you two used to be a couple of bullies, who'd go around punching people and then giving them hickies without asking. Kind of fucked up, if you ask me. But Seb called his friends, and you drunkenly beat one of them up. You just kept wailing on him, poor dork was out like a light for half an hour. He lost a tooth, too. You remember the ginger kid, Trevor B.?"
Noddy squinted. "Trevor's a ginger?"
Behind them, Rex yelped. "OUCH!!" He'd snapped the elastic at his own hands. "Sorry," he apologized. "Carry on, queers."
Ray smirked. "So, yeah. You spread that stupid video around, with all your fake melodrama in it. You really scared the shit out of everyone's parents, too. Made them think it was real. They actually suspended Mr. Carisol over it, even though it never happened. Now my douchebag grandpa is in charge, who I hate so much he makes me wish I was dead. You really screwed the pooch on this one, man."
Noddy almost started crying. "So you're saying... I'm not a hero? I didn't save anyone? I just beat up Trevor and made an ass of myself?"
Ray nodded slowly. "Yep, pretty much. Oh yeah, and you almost got hit by a car for a rubber chicken, and Rex had to pull you back. Gotta say, though, I like your version of the story. The one you made up. It's really dramatic, and kind of satisfying, for something that never happened."
Noddy sighed, and put his head back into his arms, on his desk. "So what are you here for?"
Ray shrugged. "Turns out when your arms are behind your back, you can't stop yourself from crashing into people. I made a guy fall over into his friends, and one of them hit his head on a locker. Everyone got really upset with me. It was kind of a dumb thing to do, but... it's better to own up to it, I think. It's just..."
Here it comes. Noddy gritted his teeth, bracing for the blow that he knew was coming.
"...you have to be sober for it. You can't see what you've done wrong if you can barely remember it, and then you can never make it right. I'm sorry your mom's life was so fucked up, but... that doesn't mean yours has to be. I get that you care about her, and that's admirable of you. That's a noble thing of you to be, a good son. But she's not gonna return the favor, she can't."
Noddy didn't want to listen to this dumb bitch anymore. She'd stepped too far. He slapped his textbook onto the ground, and stood up to go stand in the corner. Shoulders hiked, breath hot with rage. "You can't fucking talk about her like that, you little shit. Don't make me come over there, and... and..."
Unexpectedly, Noddy felt something soft at his back, and saw a pair of arms wrapping around his belly. Red sleeves. Then another pair, of black, at his side. Then tears welled up in his eyes.
"GET OFF ME!!" Noddy shouted, and tried to wrest them both off. But they clung tight and stood their ground.
"I just... I just fricking..." he cried.
"It's okay, man," said Rex. "Let it out. We all make shit up, sometimes. The truth is hard."
"You deserve to be able to face yourself," said Ray.
Noddy laughed through his nose. "Who raised you assholes, a fuckin' therapist?!"
Ray patted Noddy's belly, and let go. "Yeah, actually. She's got a few qualifications under her belt, that's one of them. It's surprisingly tough for someone with two degrees to get a job in this economy."
"Huh", said Noddy. That was just like the world today... demanding so much, and giving so little back. She must have been working double-time since graduation, and now she was making the wages of an average gym teacher. It would probably take her decades to pay off her student loans. Nadal looked down at Rex, who still hadn't let go. "What are you doing, man?"
Rex said, "It feels good. I don't wanna stop."
It sounded like what Noddy had said, when him and Vlad were bullying the weaker kids in their respective grades. It made him feel sick and uneasy to hear it again, coming from someone else's mouth. Noddy twisted his waist, and pried Rex off of him. "Yeah, that's uh... that's called a hug, doofus."
Rex smiled. "Hugs are nice."
Ray patted Rex on the head, and messed up his hair. "Pardon him, he's new to having long-term memory."
Noddy sat back down. "I'm... sorry. I'm sorry that I lied. I thought if I made up something... heroic enough, or that sounded cool, I'd get out of detention. That they'd put me back in shop class, and everyone would like me. That Duri and Ji-a would want to go out with me. And maybe my mom would be so inspired, she'd stop drinking. Or even making hooch to begin with."
"Yeah, that..." Ray sighed, and took her seat again. "The fight against addiction never ends, I swear to God. Every time you think it's won, it rears its ugly head again. But I don't wanna sound prosylate, or anything."
Rex sat back down too, and scoffed. "Those girls already like you, and they don't care if you lie to them. All you have to do is make up something for fun, instead of doing it to pull one over on everyone. At least let them in on the fact that it's a lie, early on, so they feel like they're part of it. Instead of what you do, where you let it drag on too long, and then you have to fess up for it later. People don't care if you lie, they care if you try to deceive them. When it's all for fun, they call it a story."
Noddy soaked it in. "That's deep, man."
Rex beamed, "Thanks! I didn't know what a story was until last week. I like them, I think. Even though they're always lying, straight to my face. Makes me wanna punch all the books."
Ray chimed in, "Not ALL of the books are liars. There's fiction, and non-fiction. Just be sure you don't try to pass one of them off as the other, alright? We don't need another... what did you call it? 'Bloodgate'?"
Noddy croaked. "Yyyeeaaah."
Ray laughed, "That sounds like a menstrual cycle conspiracy. Is someone stealing all the tampons? Are they using them to hide the blood of their victims?"
Noddy shrugged. "They're good for nosebleeds, y'know."
Rex blagh'd. "Don't talk about that girl stuff! It turns my stomach. I can't believe you just... BLEED. Out of PLACES."
Ray threw her hands up a little. "I don't! I dunno what's going on down there, but I don't bleed. At least, I don't think I do. And I'm not a girl!"
Noddy blinked. "You're not?"
"No!" Ray responded. "I don't think I should have to be, honestly. Just because my body is different, doesn't mean I should be required to change how I see myself. I dunno. I might like some of the... things... that girls are into. I might even dress like one, one day. I haven't decided yet. But I'm not going to let others lie on my behalf, just because I don't know the truth of who I am. If the day comes when I decide I want to be a girl after all, it'll be my choice. And they'll probably tell me I'm not really a girl, and put me back in the 'other' category. I think people just define you however they want, no matter what you tell them."
"Like... calling you 'Nad-Licker'," Noddy added.
Ray started chuckling.
"Stop that," said Nadal. "Don't laugh at that."
Ray kept laughing, and Rex started too. Soon, there were tears in their eyes, and Ray was pounding on his desk.
"Come on," Ray jabbed, "you so deserve it."
Noddy got red in the face, but after a while, he was laughing too.
"God damn it," he wheezed. "Okay, maybe I overreacted. Maybe that's... pretty funny."
"No lie there," Rex said back.
"I think..." Noddy started to admit, "that maybe I'm not really over what happened with Vlad. And when I saw you two together, I got jealous. Are you and him... dating?"
Ray shrugged. "Don't ask me stuff like that, dude. I'm not even thirteen yet."
After an awkward silence, the ice soon broke again. The three of them sat in detention for the next hour, laughing and telling jokes. Ray helped Noddy with his homework, and Rex perfected his aim. Nadal was still a liar, but from then on, he decided he would use his talents for good. And he would no longer lie to himself, for the danger that he might all-too easily believe it.