⌜ chapter three ⌟

New Principal is Weeny

Letty reads the headline in the school newspaper and sighs. She hates to admit it, but she's pretty sure she knows exactly who did this. And now she's gonna have to kill one Shawn Hunter.

The brunette goes over to Eric's house after her shift at the poetry place is over, and she sits down at the table with him. The teenager lays her head down and he looks at her, but he doesn't say anything.

"Eric, my son. And his friend who never goes to her own house." Mr. Matthews greets as he walks into the kitchen and gets a soda out of the fridge. "How was your day?"

Letty doesn't reply. She also doesn't look up to see when Eric shows his father the headline of the school's most recent newspaper.

He chuckles. "Well, that's pretty hysterical." He says as he sits down across from Letty.

"Yeah, I laughed at it myself." Eric tells him. "My girlfriend, however, failed to see the humor. She said, uh, her efforts at journalistic excellence have been forever compromised by my limited intellect and profound immaturity." He says as he reads a letter.

"I'm confused." Letty says, still not lifting her head.

"Today's paper." He explains, and she sighs as she sits up.

"Oh."

"And what did you say?" His dad asks as he picks up the copy of the paper that Eric brought home.

"I said, bite me." His son tells him.

"So, you're back on the market. You'll find someone​."

He glances over at Letty, who's staring at her hands on the tabletop, and then turns​ back to his father. "Dad, I was dating the editor of the school newspaper. It- It was a status relationship. It made me somebody special." He says.

It's been about a week since what happened with Rebecca, and he's clearly moved on from her no problem. It never really seems to take him all that long to get over a girl after they break up.

"Eric, I think you're somebody special." Mr. Matthews tells him.

"Oh, you have to. You had me, and you're stuck with me."

"Well, that's​ true. But sooner or later love will softly sneak up on you and wrap you in its gentle embrace." He continues and then his wife walks into the kitchen and smacks the back of his head. "Ow." He mutters as he then rubs his head where she hit him.

"You forgot to clean out the garage." She says as Morgan walks over to Letty and climbs up into the older girl's lap.

Letty grits her teeth and suppresses a groan as Morgan's arm brushes against her side. It's light, but it still hurts. Not that Letty will say anything about it to have her move. That would bring about too many unwanted questions.

"And it's a beautiful thing." Mr. Matthews says, continuing his conversation with his son.

Eric looks back at Letty then, and she smiles at him as Morgan leans her back against the older girl's chest. The brunette then rests her chin on the top of her head, and he can't help the smile that tugs at his lips as he looks at the two of them together. He really likes how much his sister seems to love Letty.

"Oh, look. George is on the cover— Oh." Mrs. Matthews quickly gains their attention, and Letty looks up at her as she reads the headline of the paper.

"Weeny!" Morgan yells upon seeing the word on the paper that's on the table.

"Isn't that the greatest thing you ever saw?" Mr. Matthews asks.

"No." His wife immediately disagrees.

"Second greatest?"

"It says Weeny!" Morgan continues.

"How could this have happened?" Their mom asks Eric.

"I don't know. Molly proofread the whole thing right before..." He trails off, and looks at Letty; she raises her eyebrows in question. "Wait a minute."

"What?" She asks.

"You're lying." Cory says from behind his dad, and Eric looks at him. Letty didn't even see him walk into the kitchen. "You have no proof."

"You were the last one in the newspaper office before the disks went to the printers." Eric says accusingly.

"Cory, did you have something to do with this?" Their mom questions.

"No. I did not do this." Cory says, looking at the paper. "Nor did I do it."

"Weeny! It says Weeny!" Morgan yells again, and Letty puts her hand over the little blonde's mouth. The kid grabs Letty's wrist and moves her hand. "I can read!" She says, and the teenager laughs along with their parents.

» » » « « «

"I-I don't understand this." Jason shakes his head, looking at the book that he has in front of him, and Letty chuckles as she looks at him.

"How can you not— What is there not to understa— Molly, hi." Eric looks at her as she walks past them, moving down the few steps that they're next to.

She turns to look at them. "Get out of my sight, you vermicular miscreant."

Letty quirks an eyebrow as Molly then walks away from them. "Verm... Huh?"

"So, how's it going with Molly?" Jason asks his best friend, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"There's no talking to her. She's a vicious, humorless man-killer who leaves nothing but a trail of misery and crushed hearts in her wake." Eric tells him.

"I say good riddance." Letty mutters.

"Yeah, of course you do." Jason smirks as he looks down at her.

"Do you want to die today?" The brunette questions as she looks at him, eyebrows raised.

"Not really, no." He shakes his head, not at all fazed by the threat. They've known each other since they were kids, and she's never scared him.

"Then can it, jerk." She slaps his forehead, and he glares at her, blue eyes narrowed as he rubs his forehead.

"And what just happened?" Eric questions, looking between the two of them. He has no idea what they were just talking about.

"So, is it okay if I call Molly?" Jason asks, turning to him.

"Jase, I am through with women for my Junior year, okay?" He says as he stands up, and they follow him down the stairs. "The next time you see me about to fall in love with some beautiful, heartless bag of misery, I want you to talk me down."

"You got it, and can I call her?" He asks, and they both laugh. Eric turns away from them, and Jason wraps his arm around Letty's shoulders. "You're not a heartless bag of misery. When are you gonna tell him how you feel about him?"

"And why would I do that when he's got a new girlfriend every week?" The brunette questions, quirking an eyebrow. "I'd like to keep my best friend, thank you very much."

"Well, I'm not leaving you. And I think Miller might be infatuated; he won't leave."

"No, but you've gotta stop Eric from falling for yet another girl." Letty points at their friend and the girl with the large, curly black hair and a dress that stops just above her knees. "And that one didn't even take a week. I'll see you guys around. Good luck with that, Jase."

"Hey— Scar!" He calls after her as his arm falls back to his side.

The next day, Letty's standing by her locker in the school hallway with the boys. She's going through her notebooks while they talk, and then a new voice gains their attention — a girl with a high pitched voice and a southern accent.

"Now, after school, you can drive me down to the mall because I have no idea where anything is yet. And while I'm investigating the finest stores, you can take my new kitten that Daddy bought me and have him neutered. Who's your little Georgia peach?"

Letty starts to laugh at the odd nickname, having no idea who the girl is or who she's with, but then Jason quickly puts his hand over Letty's mouth. He points in the direction that it came from, and the three of them look over to see Eric and the new girl that he bumped into yesterday afternoon. There's that same big, curly hair; she's clad in a pink dress again.

"You are." Eric says with a smile, and Miller quirks an eyebrow as he watches the exchange.

"And who's my little Yankee Doodle?"

Letty then grabs Jason's hand and pulls him with her so that they're closer​ to them; Miller follows. Jason smiles, waiting to mock his best friend for what just happened.

"I am." Eric says, still smiling widely, and the girl kisses his cheek before walking away from him.

Jason and Letty both start busting up laughing. "Ooh, on the cheek!" He cheers mockingly, and the brunette at his side puts her hand over her mouth.

"She's a Senior." Eric says, turning to face them as Jason adjusts his books. He's annoyed when he sees his best friend holding Letty's hand, and Miller then slings his arm over the brunette's shoulders, furthering his annoyance even more.

"Is that why you're getting neutered?" Miller asks, an amused smirk on his face.

"The cat's getting neutered."

"Yeah." Letty nudges his side. "She already had Eric neutered. That was yesterday's appointment." The brunette says, and her friends laugh as they start walking away from their very whipped friend.

"Hey, hey." Eric calls after them, and they stop, looking back over at him. "This happens to be a relationship between two complete equals."

"You know, my little puff pastry." The southern girl says as she walks back over to them, and Eric quickly turns to her. "There's just a lick of Winter in the air. Would you mind — before picking me up — driving around the block for forty minutes while the heater's on so the inside of the car is all nice and toasty? Would you do that for me?" She asks, and he hesitates. "Say, yes puddin'."

"Yes." He says, and she leans closer to him, waiting for the rest.

Jason takes a step closer to them, pulling Letty with him, which brings Miller as well. "I believe the woman wants puddin'."

"Puddin'." Eric reluctantly adds, and Letty puts her hand over her mouth so that she won't laugh.

"Oh, you know," Jason starts after she walks away. "I hope that when I get a girlfriend, she respects me the exact same way she respects you. And if I do, I want you to... Drive your car around the block for forty minutes till the heater gets all nice and toasty." He mimics her accent, making Letty laugh. "Then I want you to run me over. Would you do that for me, puddin'?" He asks, and the brunette then tugs on his hand as she pulls him away from Eric.

» » » « « «

"Miss Black, can I talk to you for a minute please?" The teacher who stopped her fight with Harley asks as she walks by his classroom.

"I don't really have a minute. See, half an hour after your work day ends, mine starts." She tells him. "I gotta get going."

"I'll make it quick." He says, and she sighs.

"Yeah, okay." She nods and then walks into his classroom, taking a seat at one of the desks.

"I've seen you with Shawn Hunter a lot." He says, and she nods. "You two related?"

"He's like family, but no, not technically speaking." She tells him.

"But you're close?"

She nods. "We grew up together." She explains, and he nods.

"I assume you saw the newspaper." He says, and she doesn't say anything. "I'm not asking you to rat him out. Just talk to him. He's not a bad kid, and he'd do a lot better if he applied himself."

"Why are you telling me this?" She asks, confused. "I mean, I care, and it's not something that I don't already know. But why?"

"I could talk to a parent." He nods. "But what good would that do?"

"Actually, it'd probably do more harm than good." She admits.

"He looks up to you. I can see it when you talk." He tells the teenager. "Plus, I've heard Cory tell him, Scarlett's gonna kill you, and then he gets mad and defensive."

She takes a deep breath. "Um... I'm really not a role model. I'm the last person that he should ever be lookin' up to."

"It's my understanding that you have two jobs and fairly good grades." He says, and she nods, not seeing his point. "And you think that you're not a good role model?"

"I do what needs to be done because I don't have a choice." She tells him. "I'll​ talk to Shawn, I always do. But if you really care about what happens to your students, help him find someone else to look up to. Believe me, it's in his best interest." The brunette quickly gets up and walks out of his classroom.