“Whether I am or not, I don’t see how it’s any business of yours,” Katherine scoffed as she looked the girl up and down. “I don’t even know you.”
“It’s the talk of the whole school though,” A brunette piped in as she walked over, “Literally the whole school is in disbelief that someone would be friends with Spikes.”
“Why?” Katherine’s brow wrinkled as she turned to look at the brunette. “She has three people she hangs out with literally everyday.”
“Everyone knows she’s only there cause she puts out for Xander,” A brunette boy mentioned as he approached. “Josh, and Derek are friends with Xander. They don’t give a crap about Spikes.”
“That’s awful,” Katherine frowned. She could feel her heart racing, she wished she had a way to get a hold of Spikes to see if she was okay. “I was just in Ms.Sinclair’s classroom because she’s been helping to tutor me. I don’t know why Spikes was there.”
“So then why would you defend her against Jessica?” Another student popped up, the crowd continued to grow. Katherine’s breathing became labored, the spaces between student grew smaller as they surrounded her.
“She was attacking me too?” Katherine started to back away from the students. “That and Jessica is a pretentious twat. I’d even defend a piece of trash if it meant shutting her down.”
“Isn’t that what you already did?” One of the girls laughed.
“Oh be nice,” One of the boys shoved her shoulder with his own. “You’re just jealous of he cause her boobs are bigger.”
Katherine grimaced as the two began to argue. Someone else tried to say something, as something, but she didn’t hear it. There were too many people, they were too close. She took another step back and walked around the mass of student bodies. Spikes was right, she couldn’t wait for this to just fizzle out.
She stormed into the school hall, whispers and odd glances seemed to surround her. Finally her eyes fell on Jessica’s light blonde hair. Katherine was shaking, the air around her felt too thick to breathe in, there were too many people.
She grabbed Jessica’s shoulder, turned her around and slammed her back into the lockers she stood by. Amy gasped loudly, covering her mouth a moment later. Jessica tried to shove Katherine but she didn’t move.
“You’re going to stop it with all these bullshit rumors,” Katherine shoved her against the lockers again, harder than she had before. “In fact you’re never going to talk about me or Spikes ever again.”
“And why the hell should I do that?” Her voice was shrill as she tried to shove Katherine back.
“For one, I’ll destroy that perfect little nose job of yours,” Katherine growled. She was still shaking, still trying to catch her breath, but she shoved Jessica again, “but after that, you’ll get a taste of your own medicine. Except the rumors I start will be true.”
“You have nothing on me bitch!” Jessica was almost screaming, and students were starting to crowd.
“I know your perfect home life isn’t so great. I know your father regularly cheats on your mother, who is an alcoholic and constantly on pain pills. I know your family is on the verge of bankruptcy,” Katherine kept her voice low. She let go of Jessica's arm and whispered softly, “I know that for as much as you get passed around the football team it’s all just a pointless effort to convince yourself it’s who you are, but we both know that men are not the type you prefer.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. Her arms fell to her sides, and Katherine could see her shaking. She looked down at her feet, her nod was barely noticeable.
“You will make all of this vanish before the end of the day,” Katherine growled, her face within inches of Jessica’s, “Or else.”
Katherine spun on her heel and stormed out of the hall. There were still whispers, but they were different now. They were quieter, afraid, and somehow that made Katherine okay with them.
...
“What are you doing here?” Josh scoffed as he eyed Spikes at her seat beside Xander. She turned her glare onto his brown eyes and rolled her own.
“Sitting next to my boyfriend, what does it look like?”
“Don’t you have a new buddy to sit by?” He jeered as he took his seat beside Derek. “I’m sure you’d do better with little miss rich, anyways.”
“Spikes doesn’t hang out with her type,” Xander growled, glaring daggers at Josh, “I’d suggest you stop being such a little girl and quit buying into school rumors.”
“She’s been vanishing after school is out for over a month now,” Josh pointed at her, his glared fixed on Xander, “I know you’ve noticed. Haven’t you been curious about what she’s been up to?”
“He’s not my owner!” Spikes screamed as she slammed her hand down on the table.
“You heard her,” Xander muttered and rolled her eyes. “And I honestly don’t give a shit what she doe with her own time as long as it doesn’t cause problems.”
“Aren’t you worried she’s going soft?” Josh kicked the table leg and crossed his arms over his shoulders.
“Friends don’t innately equate to softness,” Xander lifted his silver eyes to meet Josh’s, “Prime example, we’re friends but I’d sell you out for a chicken nugget if the mood struck me.”
“You know what I mean,” Josh’s voice lowered, “You know our next job.”
“What is he talking about?” Spikes turned her glare on Xander.
“Is this girl worth a meal to you?” He looked up at her, his cold silver eyes stared into her. “Derek has been staking out her place. It’s got a pretty complicated security system, but it’s not one we haven’t seen before. Derek says the place is practically empty. He’s never seen anyone but her go in or leave. So again, is this girl worth a meal? Is she worth your rent?”
Spike's heart dropped into her stomach. Her lips parted, but only silence followed with shaking hands. The cat didn’t deserve this, but rent was due in a week.
“No one is worth that.”
…
A soft sigh left Katherine’s lips as she opened her phone again. She’d given her phone number to Spikes over a week ago, and she had hoped to hear from her at some point. But her phone remained silent. No calls, no texts, no messages.
Katherine jumped when Jinx mewled besides her. She glared at the cat as she spoke, “I am well aware I’m probably worrying for nothing. That doesn’t change anything.”
Jinx mewled again as she stretched out on the couch. Katherine reached over and stroked her head. She smiled as her cat began to purr softly. Katherine absentmindedly stared at the tv, her thoughts wandering.
It was quiet, so quiet she might not have heard it over the sound of the tv if she were a normal human, but she definitely heard it. A car door shut.
She didn’t have any neighbors. The nearest house to hers was three miles away. She made her way to the window, careful as she peered outside.
There were four figures, and she recognized them all. Spikes stood outside wearing all black like the other three, but she wouldn’t look at the house. Her eyes stayed at her feet. Jinx mewled and trotted to Katherine’s side.
“It’s Spikes, the gil I’ve told you about,” Kitty grimaced, “I knew things were hard, but I didn’t realize this is what she does.”
Jinx growled beside her, and Katherine glared back at the cat. “She didn’t know where I live Jinx. It’s not as if I hand out my address to people, and she’s never been here.”
They were getting closer to the front door. Katherine could feel her heart racing and her legs shake as she took a step back.
“I don’t know if she even knows if this is my house, but I want to hope that she’s the kind of person who just takes things she can sell and leaves everything else alone,” Katherine thought out loud as she looked around the room. “Go hide, and I’ll come find you later. I’m going to grab some expensive stuff and put it in obvious places. Maybe that’s all they need.”
Jinx growled once more and Katherine rolled her eyes, “Do you have a better plan?”
Katherine almost laughed when her cat turned around and made her way downstairs. She looked out the window again. The four were huddled up, probably discussing their plan. She had at least a minute to follow through on her own.
…
Spikes brushed a strand of her short dark brown hair behind her ear only to have it fall back in front of her face. She didn’t pay much attention as the boys discussed entry and exit strategies. She didn’t even have the stomach to look at the house.
“You ready?” Spikes jumped at the touch of Xander’s hand against her own. She nodded, but still kept her eyes away from his. He released her hand and moved towards the house. The other two followed close behind, but she hesitated for a moment.
She’d meant it when she said no one was worth a meal, worth losing the roof over her head. She looked up at the house, light bleeding through the living room window. She swallowed the lump in her throat and ran to catch up with Xander.
“What if she’s home?” Spikes grabbed the sleeve of his leather jacket, “The lights are on, isn’t that odd?”
“Josh bribed someone to keep her occupied. She probably just leaves the light on so that it looks like someone is home,” Xander pulled his arm from her grip. “You said you could do this.”
“I can,” Spikes growled back, “I’m just not too keen on the idea of getting caught or arrested.”
“Anyone’s silence can be bought,” Xander growled. He turned to face her and crossed his arms over his chest, “We’re going in and you don’t have to be a part of it, but you’re also not going to be a part of the earnings.”
“I just said I can do this,” Spikes shoved past him. Her eyes were on Derek as he came up behind her and quickly began working on the lock. He signed for the three to wait as he walked in and quickly got to work on the mansion’s security system. It only took three minutes and the system was down and all four of them stepped inside.
“Jackpot,” Xander grinned as they stepped into the living room. There were four tvs in the room with several other items Spikes swore there had to be an unreasonable number of.
“This tv is only available in japan! We’re going to make so much off of this haul,” Josh beamed as he worked to gather as much as he could. He grabbed a turquoise ipod of the table and shoved it in his pocket before grabbing the tv. The other two boys followed suit, grabbing what they could and running it down stairs. Spikes stared at the room, watching items disappear from its walls, watching as the three boys grabbed everything they could. It wasn’t until their third loop that they finally noticed that Spikes hadn’t grabbed anything yet.
“What is wrong with you?” Josh shoved her shoulder as he walked past her. “We’re getting so much crap just from the living room we might save the rest of the house for another time. Have you even grabbed anything though?”
Xander walked up to Spikes, holding the mangled bits of a home entertainment system. She couldn’t read his eyes, but she shook her head softly, “I haven’t.”
“Spikes we need this. Not all of us get the luxury of parents who care enough to make sure we get fed,” Xander’s voice was low. He set down the bundle of boxes and wires in his arms as he approached her.
“There should be a better way than this though,” Spikes finally spoke, her voice was hoarse, “There should be a better way than robbing people!”
“No one needs this many tvs, Spikes!” Xander exclaimed. He waved his arms, gesturing at all of the frivolous items in the one room. “We are sixteen years old, still trying to go to school, and poor. There is no part time job on this planet that will hire poor tattered kids like us and then pay us enough to make ends meet.”
Josh rolled his eyes and picked up the entertainment system that Xander had set down. Derek stood motionless though, watching Xander and Spikes.
“Blade left so she could come back to a clean life. She can’t do that if I’m still doing shit like this,” Spikes explained. She reached out for his hands, and flinched when he stepped away from her.
“I told you she’d gone soft,” Josh stepped back into the room with his arms crossed over his chest, his tone mocking as he spoke, “She just wants to protect her precious new BFF. I mean she obviously has it so hard with her life of riches.”
“You don’t know anything about her,” Spikes turned to him, left eye glowing, “Rich does not equate to an easy life. You should know that more than any of the rest of us. It’s not our fault you had the perfect life and left it.”
“It wasn’t perfect-”
“But it was a roof over your head, your own room, and a guaranteed meal everyday,” Spikes interrupted him. She looked between all three of them, “We all resort to crap like this for different reasons, from different walks of life. Happiness is not guaranteed based on your standing in life.”
“So what?” Xander spoke up, “Do you want us to put everything back?”
“Just take what we already have. They’re just things, but then we leave her alone,” Spikes pleaded with him, surprised by the well of tears behind her eyes, “Derek only ever saw her come in and out of this house. We have no idea why, we don’t know what she’s going through.”
Derek stepped towards Spikes and nodded. He gestured to the door, and went to lean against the frame.
“You said no one was worth a meal,” Xander’s voice was quiet as his gray eyes finally met hers.
“I meant it when I said it,” Spikes’s voice softened, “I didn’t lie, but I think I was wrong. I should be worth more than a meal. I should care enough for principles and people to mean more than a meal.”
Xander sighed heavily and ran his hand along the side of his head. He looked at her and back to Derek and Josh who stood by the door. He muttered quietly, a small grin on his face, “Okay.”
Spikes’s shoulders fell as a smile broke across her lips. She took a step forward, aiming to kiss him when Josh spoke up behind them.
“To bad it’s not okay with me,” Josh almost growled as he turned his glare on Derek, “Set off the alarms.”
Derek nodded, smashing the box the alarm system was controlled from and immediately setting it off. Josh grinned with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Good luck getting out of this one Lovebirds.”
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