There Were Nine

"I dare you, Todd, to take Luscinda on a date!" Melissa squeeled. Todd was finally one of the popular kids, and it felt pretty damn good. Luscinda was a shy, geeky girl with oversized glasses. Overall, she was a pretty decent girl, minus the glasses.

"Alright, alright. I'll do it," Todd said, grinning sheepishly. If he denied the dare then they would have called him a chicken and spread rumors about him. That was the least thing he wanted right now. They all grinned at him; Melissa, Claudia, Zack, and Kat.

"Do. It. Now!" Zack said, excitement in his voice. Todd nodded, and stood. His hands were sweating, why was he nervous? It's just a dare, and after the date they might do some prank on her. Nothing harmful, just a prank. Slowly, Todd walked towards Luscinda who was sitting alone at her table. She looked up from her book, surprised to see him.

"H- hi... What do you want?" She asked, her voice trembling a bit.

"I was asking if you'd like to go on a date with me." Her eyes widened a little more in surprise.

"O- okay... wait, is this some sort of sick joke?"

Guilt formed a hard ball inside of him. "No, no. Not at all. Listen, maybe we can go catch a movie or something."

She gazed at him, suspicion lurking in her eyes. "Alright."

Todd smiled and said, "okay. See you at eight."

The rest of the school day flew by. It was 7:50, Todd already told the gang about his date, that after the movie he would go on a walk with her, and that they could ambush her then. But Todd didn't like the plan anymore, because after the movie they were walking around town, holding hands. They talked small, nothing too important. She wasn't wearing her glasses, and she looked... beautiful. Her hair in dangling, stray curls over her soft, freckled face. He didn't want to hurt something so perfect. He hoped they cancelled or forgot about it; Luscinda would probably hate him if they did prank her.

They walked together to the outskirts of town, to the abandoned city. No one knew anything about it, not even when or who built it. It was just a big pile of concrete and rubble. He held Luscinda closer. Just in case, he thought. They found an almost flat piece of concrete to sit on. They gazed up at the bright crescent moon; stars skittered the night sky here and there lighting up the night. Magnificent.

Luscinda turned her gaze to Todd, and Todd's to her's. She leaned in and their lips met. Warmth from her lips filled and warmed his body. He wanted to stay this way, right here, with her; forever.

"Hey! Todd's kissin' the dweeb!" Zack's unexpected voice yelled. Luscinda and Todd pulled apart, and looked towards where the voice came from. The whole gang was there; fierce, ready to raise hell.

Luscinda looked at Todd, confusion written on her face. The confusion turned to fury and she pushed him. "YOU LIED! How dare you! You made a fool out of me, Todd Mertens! And I fell for it! I hate you! I hate you!" She pushed him again, but Zack came and punched her on her cheek. She fell to the ground, covering her face, sobbing loudly.

"Oh, shut up, whore!" Kat yelled. Todd tried to rush to Luscinda's aid, but Melissa and Claudia grabbed him by the arms to restrain him. Todd's vision blurred with tears as Zack repeatively kicked Luscinda's side; his boot drenched in her blood. Todd screamed for him to stop, but he continued. Kat picked Luscinda up forcefully by the shoulder, got out her pocket knife, and began slicing one of Luscinda's eye out. The sight disgusted Todd and he vomitted.

"Those pretty, little eyes," Kat whispered coldly.

"STOP!" Todd screamed. He screamed it over and over until his throat hurt. Blood was everywhere; dark and red and ugly. Her left eye socket was an empty black hole with blood flowing out of it. Luscinda collapsed to the ground face down; not moving.

"Don't you ever touch him again," Kat said, now sawing Luscinda's right hand off. The sound was horrifying. Kat threw the hand at the sky, landing about seven yards away. Luscinda wasn't moving, flinching, or breathing. Todd screamed and was free of Melissas' and Claudias' grip; he fell to his knees, cursing all their names. They all laughed. ''IT'S ALL MY FAULT. I could have stopped it, she could still be living. But no, I must fit in, I must be normal. It's all my fault...''