The Rose Diaries Ch. 07

"We good?" Blossom called to her.

"Ha!" She laughed sarcastically. "Nowhere close. Jasmine, you mind setting up the TV?"

"Yeah sure." Jasmine wandered away further into the room. Lavender's room was quite large. There was a trio of three huge windows towards the back of the room, a large white canopy bed with soft pink curtains, an oversized vanity mirror with discarded cosmetics and jewelry, and a massive media cabinet filled to the brim with CDs and DVDs as well as a flat screen television. Peter's honed instincts told him it must have been around fifty or so inches. It was a variant of a popular model a few years back when Smart TVs were still optional. This one he believed was the dumb version.

Jasmine flopped down on the couch and began to play with various remotes. The TV sprang to life as a Nintendo logo flashed in white across it.

"Wait, so what's wrong Lavender?" Lavender began to talk but the lively musical nostalgia of his favorite game's intro filled the room and grabbed hold of his mind. He mouthed the words with announcer,

"SUPER SMAAAAAASH BROTHERS." The television roared.

"Doll!" Lily snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Were you listening?"

"No, sorry." His cheeks burned crimson with embarrassment.

"You like Smash?" Blossom asked. He nodded quickly with a wide smile.

"Yeah! I used to play it all the time back home." It had been a long time since he had felt this surge of excitement flow through him. He easily remembered the many hours yelling insults and barbs in a late-night frenzy with his friends at his apartment. The only light coming from his TV illuminating the four of them fighting over space on his couch that barely fit two people.

"Me too." Blossom laughed. "I grew up with this, y'know? They used to have one at the library down the street on Sunday nights."

"So, how did you get a N64 in here?" He turned to Lavender who was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Same way I got everything else." She sighed. "Hey, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah." He nodded nervously. Her voice was low and nearly quiet.

"You too, Lily. Hey Blossom," She placed her hand on Blossom's shoulder with a deeply serious look behind her bright eyes. "Why don't you go play."

Blossom nodded quickly turning on her heels and, in a blur, moving over to Jasmine. She laughed loudly as she jumped over the couch with a twirl landing beside her as she squeaked in surprise.

"Come on Jassy! I can't wait to kick your ass." She yelled with confidence burning in her voice.

Lavender tapped him on the shoulder as the three of them sat behind her bed near the dark windows.

"So, who wants to go first?" She whispered as he shifted uncomfortably on the floor.

"I did nothing wrong." Lily growled. "I know Miss K. pulled you aside to talk about me."

"She did. Care to hear exactly what she said?" Lavender offered. Lily clenched her fists in her lap and nodded slowly. He didn't interrupt or join in. He could feel the heat of her anger emanating from her.

"Okay, 'Lavender!'" Lavender slipped into a near perfect imitation of Miss K.'s commanding voice. "'I hate to ruin your party, but I need you to watch Lily closely. She's on my last nerve with her rebellious streak and I'd very much like to know if you can get anything from her. If you can't, that's fine. But if you hide anything from me, I'll give Ivy over to Miss R. to prep for a session with Mr. Black. Got it?'" Lavender cleared her throat as she finished Miss K.'s monologue from before.

"Miss K. said that?" He spoke up. Lavender nodded.

"Of course she did." Lily rolled her eyes. "Of course. She'd threaten Ivy and not you."

"Well, you know my answer." Lavender's voice was back to her own. "I said yes. I can't let that happen to Nicholas. I just can't!"

"I wouldn't let that happen. But I also can't just stop." He raised his hand quietly. "Yes, Doll?"

"I'm lost. Who is Mr. Black? I've never heard of him and he sounds awful."

"I'll put it like this. Mr. Black, and I quote, 'likes his girls to have a little fight in them'. He's temporarily banned after what he did to Clover awhile ago. He used to put many of us on week long recoveries after one appointment with him." Lavender explained with a shiver of fear as she clutched the carpet tightly.

"So, he's a monster?"

"He's so much worse." Lily shuddered as well. "I won't let Miss K. harm Ivy. Look, I can't act on my plans till fall. I'll just stop for now." She offered a faint smile of confidence to Lavender who just shrugged it off.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Now, Doll, let me quickly talk about you before we get back to having fun. I'm really sorry for earlier. Like, I can't stop thinking about it. I shouldn't have done that."

"Yeah. You shouldn't have." Peter narrowed his eyes towards Lavender.

"But I want to talk that thing that came up. You're a virgin, aren't you?" He blushed even harder as he turned away from the two of them.

"Oh no." He heard Lily whisper.

"So?" His voice cracked as he tried to assert himself.

"You don't understand. You've never been with anyone. You're fresh meat in a butcher's shop. You can't let anyone know that. That's a disaster waiting to happen. Want my advice? Let one of us take it."

"My virginity?" His eyes went wide as he turned back to face Lavender.

"Yeah. Look, the others won't care. Sex is our lives. If you give it to someone in this room, you'll be free from what the Misses will do if they find out."

"No. I told you earlier. I'm not fucking gay." He shook his own confusion from his mind as anger took over. "My ass is fucking bloody and sore. So even if I wanted to let one of you do it. Which," He narrowed his eyes as he shot a look of contempt at her. "I absolutely do not want. I can't anyway."

"Yeah, Doll's kind of wrecked right now. Miss K. and R. did a number on her."

"Fuck. Okay, well, I guess maybe if the opportunity arises."

"How's that going to come up organically?" He laughed.

"Dude, I've fucked every single girl in this house. I can actually tell you off-hand which one of us has the biggest dick."

"It's Daisy, right?" Lily asked scratching her head. He looked at both of them with a mixture of disgust and confusion. How the hell could they talk about that so casually?

"Jasmine actually." Lavender whispered to avoid the others from overhearing.

"How the hell could you do that so casually?" He echoed his thoughts to the two of them.

"Because I've long lost the ability to care. You relax, you think of something else, and then it's over. Do I like it? No, I hate it. But when that becomes your routine, you adjust to it. You can adjust to any horror given time. Especially when it becomes "Suck this dick or don't eat" then you really adjust."

"Likewise." Lily sighed. "Then you get stuck in this idea. That maybe, just maybe, you'll say no."

"Yeah." Lavender continued nodding at her addition. "You'll say no. You'll fight back. You're a man!" She struck the floor with a growl. "You don't need to take that shit from a bunch of bitches! Cause you're bigger!"

"And meaner!" Lily raised her hands with each finger curled like she was a lion about to pounce.

"But none of that matters!" Lavender's laugher was shaky and full of learned sorrow. "Cause not only do they put you down easily, but they also know you better than you. So, they keep at it until one day you wake up and that dick makes your mouth water." They both shook with anger and fear. Lily bit her lower lip as she scratched at her pants anxiously.

"But there's got to be a way out. I mean, Lily." She raised her hand before raising a finger to her lips to quiet him down.

"There is. I never said you give up. You just give in."

"Bingo." Lavender snapped her fingers with a forced grin. "We're not trying to discourage you from whatever the hell you're doing."

"Well this is one hell of a pep talk then." Peter shook his head as his stomach lurched.

"Doll," She placed a gentle hand on his leg as it began to shake. She brought her other hand to his face as she lightly tapped his temple with a finger. "Protect your mind. Above all else, keep yourself sane. Otherwise, you'll lose. Just like me."

"So, you're crazy?" He said with a grimace. Lavender laughed sadly as tears began to flow down her face.

"No." She smiled through her own despair. "I'm not s-s-strong." Peter nearly leapt as she uttered those word again.

"Hey." Lily reached out to Lavender to embrace her tightly before stroking her hair. "Hey, come on. It's going to be okay."

"Thanks Lil." Lavender whispered as she buried her head in her shoulder. "You're a good friend."

"Heh." She chuckled. "Being a friend is all I know."

"Cool. So, to recap: Lily don't get my brother hurt with your stupidity. Doll don't give up. Sound good." Lavender emerged wiping her eyes with the back of her hand sniffling loudly.

"Sounds great." Lily smiled giving her a pat on the head.

"Hey!" Blossom shouted from across the room. "If you're done sucking each other's dicks, you should get in on this! It's no fun kicking Jasmine's ass up and down all night."

"I'm on a ten-game winning streak!" Jasmine shouted back.

"Hey man, don't blow my cover. I'm trying to look cool in front of Doll." He couldn't help but snicker as he heard Blossom's response.

Before long, his smile became infectious and the room exploded into loud laughter. His worries would have to wait till tomorrow it seemed. But tonight, he was going to show-off his own honed talents.

Preview of Chapter 8:

"Good evening, I am Mr. Brown."

"Let me save you."

"I can't wait to see you on stage."

"Let's get you dressed and ready for the big show!"

Next time: Doll's Big Debut!