Jason had always wanted to be a teacher of some kind.
He wasn't just bit by the teaching bug, he was full on mauled by it, and by the time he was heading off to college, he had his future planned. He'd skipped a few grades - not something he was proud of, exactly, as it offset him from his peers - and soon he was a professor at the local community college, working his way up. He loved ethics. He loved teaching right from wrong. That was why being a parent was something that appealed to him so greatly; the chance to get to raise a child of his very own, and teach them right from wrong? It sounded like heaven. So where did things go so off the rails? When had his own ethics broken down? That was the question Jason was faced with now, as he laid on the bed, looking up at the ceiling of his new fancy apartment, an apartment a teenage girl was paying for, a teenage girl he was murdering people with. Yes, when had ethics become so very easily ignored? That was the difference between him and Kelly, however, was she never once questioned ethics. Right and wrong meant nothing to her. That wasn't to say Kelly didn't have much of a conscience, but she sure as shit didn't seem to care about the little conscience that she had. As she sat in front of her vanity mirror that very morning, brushing her hair and thinking about her plans for the day, the last thing to cross her mind would've been the ethics of her decisions. She was perfectly fine with being what the world considered "evil". After all, society's opinions of teenage girls were low enough as it was, she felt, so why not just kill people too? *** "You here alone today?" Fawn asked as she stopped by Jason's table, where he was seated with his coffee and a small box of pastries. "No, I'm waiting for someone," he said. "You look better than usual," Fawn said. "Do I normally not look good?" "No you generally look like shit," Fawn replied, the both of them laughing. "Yeah, well," Jason said, pushing his bangs from his eyes, "I've come into a bit of luck recently. Things have started to get better for me, which is nice. I'm even going to go bac to school soon, find a new career path. I think I have your coffee to thank for part of that." "Oh really?" Fawn asked, "what makes you say that?" "It really gets me going in the morning," he said, smirking at her, "Nothing helps you face the day like a decent cup of coffee." Just then Kelly appeared by the table and slid into the booth across from Jason. Fawn smiled at her politely, then excused herself while Kelly looked at the box of pastries on the table and then looked at Jason, who just nodded at her, smiling warmly. "Please," he said, "Breakfast is on me today." Kelly smiled back, then opened the box lid and reached inside, pulling out a bear claw and biting into it, her braided pigtails swaying back and forth gently as she chewed. Jason lifted his coffee cup to his lips and sipped from it, neither one of them saying a word for a bit, instead just enjoying one anothers company. After she'd finished eating, she went back in and picked out a donut hole, popping it into her mouth and chewing. "What's your plan for the day?" she asked. "I was thinking of looking at college courses," Jason said, "Try and find something I might like to do. You got any ideas about what you might wanna do with yourself after high school?" "Never really think about it," Kelly said, shrugging; she seemed off, distant and morose, which was unusual for her as she added, "Frankly, much to my parents chagrin, I'll likely not go to college. Opt for something else instead." "Well, you're rich, so I guess you can do that at least," Jason said, "More luck to you in that regard." "I'm not rich, my parents are rich. Just because I was born into wealth doesn't mean I accumulated it. There's an inherent difference there," Kelly said sternly, "I just take advantage of their success like some kind of tick, leeching off its host." "Geez, alright, no need to get all emo on me," Jason said, which made her smirk a little. "Sorry," she said, "I had a bad weekend." She didn't elaborate on that, and Jason felt like it was weird to ask her to. Whatever was going on in her life, it was none of his business unless she decided to make him a part of her business moreso than she already had. But it was true, this had been a particularly rough week for Kelly Baker, and it all started with a girl named Amanda. *** "I'm having a party tonight," Amanda said to Kelly last Friday night, sitting in study hall; Amanda waved her hand like it was nothing, adding, "it's okay if you don't wanna come, but I think everyone would like it if you did. You're Miss Popularity after all." "Well, much as I appreciate the title and the adoration that comes with it, I'm not sure I'll be able to make it," Kelly said, "What time?" "Around 8pm," Amanda said. Kelly had always liked Amanda. Of the girls her age, Amanda was one of the few that didn't come off as bitchy for the sake of a personality. She had auburn hair and deep blue eyes and she knew how to dress well. Fashion was one of the things that had made the girls sort of friends, considering Kelly's fathers business and Kelly being a snappy dresser herself. "I'll try and stop by for a bit," Kelly said, "I personally like to spend my Fridays alone, but it could be fun to come over and see what everyone's up to. But don't hold me to it, alright?" Amanda nodded, grinning. She was just happy Kelly was even considering it, because she'd long since wanted to be better friends with her, but not for the reasons Kelly would've thought. *** "So you started looking into some courses?" Kelly asked, sipping her own coffee now, still seated in the booth. "I have, but I haven't really come across anything concrete just yet," Jason said, opening a pamphlet and spreading it out fully as he sighed; he continued, "I just...I don't know what else I wanna do. I like to teach. I guess I don't have to go back to the same stuff I was teaching, but I also doubt anyone would hire me to teach after what happened." Kelly nodded. She looked around the cafe and sighed. "I don't see any kind of future for me," she said, "People take advantage of me too much for me to trust them, except for you I guess, but even you're on a trial basis at the moment." "Understandable," Jason chuckled. "...I just wish I were capable of trusting people, but everytime I seem to open myself up, someone uses me. They come along and they take me for everything I'm worth, and it hurts, and it makes me feel like people aren't worth my time. Maybe I'm just not meant to be around as an adult. Maybe I'm one of those people who's only meant to exist for a predetermined amount of time, you know?" "Hey, that's dark, come on," Jason said, looking up from the pamphlet now, chewing his lip, "don't say shit like that. You're an extremely bright person, you have charisma to spare, you'll find something you're good at and you'll succeed in spades at it." The problem was, for Kelly, she'd already found the thing she was good at. She'd found it years ago. It just wasn't a viable career path. She sighed and put her coffee back to her lips, sipping again. As she felt the warm liquid go down her throat, she couldn't help but feel like she'd gotten in a rut, and she needed to get out of it, and quick. If only she had something to take her mind off things, like a social event. But not a party. Not after last Friday. *** Kelly did in fact show up to Amanda's party. She was dressed in a tight black dress, her makeup flawless, bright crimson red heels. She looked fantastic, as she always did, and of course, when she entered the house, she turned heads. Not that this was anything surprising, she'd been turning heads since the time she was a child. Always the cutest kid, and eventually becoming an attractive young lady, she'd caught the attention of more men than she would prefer. And not even men her own age, sick to say. As she strolled through the party, heading to the kitchen, she couldn't help but feel out of place. As popular as Kelly was, she was also surprisingly introverted. She didn't mind socializing, but she also really hated having to be 'on' all the time. It exhausted her, and she found better uses for her energy. She stopped at the kitchen island and sunk her hand into a bowl of chips, slowly eating what she pulled out one by one until Amanda sidled up beside her. "Glad you came!" Amanda said, touching Kelly's shoulder. "Oh, yeah hi, well," Kelly said, chewing a chip, "I don't know, I didn't have anything else to do, so I figured I should make an appearance. Your house is beautiful, by the way." "I mean, it's my parents house, but thanks," Amanda replied, making Kelly chuckle as they both turned and started walking back to the living room; Amanda began heading up the stairs, Kelly right behind her as Amanda said, "I wanna show you something, come with me." "Alrighty," Kelly said. As they walked up the flight of stairs to the second floor, passing hanging family photos on the wall by the steps, Kelly couldn't help but glance over at look. Amanda as a child, doing dance recitals and horseback lessons, Amanda and her family on vacation in various popular spots. Kelly smiled at these, because she rarely saw happy family photos it seemed. The girls reached the top of the stairs and headed to Amanda's bedroom, Kelly reaching out and touching the hallways beautiful floral wallpaper with her fingertips. "So what is it you wanna show me?" Kelly asked as they entered Amanda's bedroom. Amanda pulled open her closet and stepped inside. "I'll be out in a second," she said through the door, "I just want your opinion on something." "Well, I'm happy to help," Kelly said, seating herself on the side of the canopy bed, looking at the wall decor and thinking she should redo her own bedroom. After a few minutes, the closet door opened back up and Amanda walked out, in a beautiful swimsuit. She put her hands on her hips and did a little twirl, as Kelly tried to take in what she was seeing. "What do you think of this bathing suit?" Amanda asked, "I bought it because I wanna be a swimsuit model this summer, and I thought it would look good on me, but you know your dad better than I do, obviously, so I figured you'd be the right one to tell me what he'd think." Kelly dug her nails into the bedspread, her teeth gritting. They always fucking wanted something from her father. *** "People are scum," Kelly said, "They pretend they're not, especially when sizing up others, because they need that self esteem boost, but they are. Even if they don't wanna admit it, they are. Whatever it was you might've done, I guarantee they've done equally if not worse things. But we all have to put on a facade, pretend to be better than one another, more moral than eachother, so they never admit to their own sins." "Jesus," Jason whispered. "I say to hell with that, and go back to teaching. Sure, don't teach the same thing, do something different, but don't leave the field you love behind simply because of the opinion of others. Do whatever you want. Everyone else fucking does." "Are you okay?" Jason asked, sounding genuinely concerned. "...like I said, I had a bad weekend," Kelly said softly. *** "You...you want my opinion?" Kelly asked, now slowly standing up from the bed, "You want my unbiased opinion? Really? You sure you want that, you goddamned starfucker?" Amanda's eyes widened in surprise. She certainly hadn't expected this sort of response, but Kelly was fed up with people using her to get to her father, and thus, his assets and connections to the modeling and fashion industry. "I...I just thought..." "You thought fucking wrong," Kelly said through her teeth as she approached Amanda, backing her into a corner, adding, "this was never about me, about our friendship, or even about this party. You just wanted to make me feel like we were friends, like I mattered somehow, so you could - like so many others - use my dad as a way to make headlines in the business. It's people like you that are making my life so goddamned difficult." "I'm sorry, I just thought you'd know best and that maybe you-" Kelly didn't wait for her to finish. She grabbed the pearl handle letter opener from the nearby desk and stood there, gripping it firmly in her fist as Amanda cowered to the floor in the corner of the room. Kelly wanted to hurt her. Kelly wanted to do even worse than hurt her. But...she couldn't. Strangers, or people loosely related to their lives, those were fine. But not someone she went to school with. Not someone people would notice she was around, and wonder what happened as a result. That was too close to home. Instead, Kelly knelt down and pressed the letter opener to Amanda's cheek, her voice lowered. "Let me make this perfectly clear to you," Kelly said quietly, "if you ever come near me or my father again, for any reason whatsoever, you won't have a face worth modeling. And if you think you can go to someone, try and have me investigated for threats of violence, let me remind you just who my father is, how much money we have and how easy it would be to ruin your pathetic little life. So do yourself a favor, Amanda, and keep your stupid mouth shut, alright? Because, believe it or not, I don't wanna hurt you, but if it comes to it, I will have someone do just that. Understood?" Amanda nodded slowly, her eyes watery. "Good," Kelly said, standing upright again, putting the letter opener in her dress pocket and heading to the door. As she pulled it open she looked back at Amanda and smiled, saying, "For what it's worth, it's a nice swimsuit, and you look good in it. It emphasizes your figure perfectly." And then she left. *** "There's nothing you wanna do?" Jason asked, "I have all these different pamphlets for various colleges, and you're telling me that you have no interest in anything?" "I like what I do already," Kelly said, smiling as she raised her coffee cup to her lips again and sipped, then saying softly, "and I'm sick of pretending I'm not." Jason raised an eyebrow, but, unlike most of the people she'd come into contact with, he'd learned pretty quickly not to question Kelly Baker.
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A rich teenage girl befriends a desperate man in his thirties to kill people that get in the way of her or her family happiness and fortune. Slowly, the mans guilt eats away at him, while the girl ego rises to dangerous heights. Archives
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