Strangetown: Chapter Thirteen

[strangetomato]

 

Warnings: language


Chapter 13





Jill Smith kept a diary, and she hid it very well, so nobody was privy to her private thoughts. If someone had managed to find it, however, and was able to decipher her scribbled handwriting, this is some of what it would say.




Dear Diary,

I love Ripp Grunt! There, I said it. He will be mine someday. I just know it. One day we will be together and it will be perfect, and then we''ll get married. Johnny says that I shouldn't get my hopes up because he's a player, but what does Johnny know? He doesn't know Ripp the way I do. He's so sweet.




Johnny's just jealous that Ripp likes me and likes spending time with me too. Johnny thinks he is so important! He always has to be the centre of attention, and he usually is. He's the oldest, the one that's good at everything, the one that's GREEN! It makes me so mad sometimes that he can't even bear to share a little bit of that with me.




He never lets me hang out with him and his friends, even though I really want to. I'm not some dumb little kid like Johnny thinks I am. I'm practically a teenager now too. I could hang out with them. His friends are so cool and interesting (especially RIPP!), and I wish I could spend more time with them.




Well, Ripp hangs out with me sometimes, even though it pisses Johnny off. He's so nice! Sometimes he would play dolls with me. I'd always imagine that it's our perfect house and the dolls are us, living inside it. Ripp always used to make the dolls kiss each other, and I'm pretty sure that he was trying to tell me something.

Ms. Jill Grunt-Smith, Ms. Jill Smith-Grunt, Mrs. Jill Grunt, Mrs. Ripp Grunt... sorry, just testing it out, diary.




Ripp is just so (this part is written in a secret code, created by Jill for this purpose, but it can be assumed that it is a more graphic depiction of his manly virtues).




Dear Diary,

Mom is pregnant again! Oh joy! Another brother or sister to compete with for attention. As if Johnny isn't enough on his own. At least he's away at college now. It's almost as if I get to be an only child for a while, with him out of the house. I don't know what to do with all the attention. Better enjoy it while I can, now that the baby is on the way, I guess.




I've kinda suspected that Mom was pregnant since the last time we had all of the family over for supper. She's been really emotional and sick, so that's pretty much a dead giveaway.




Oh, and Mom and Dad bought me a kitten! She's so sweet. I named her Pita, and she's a little white fluff ball. I'm so happy. I know that it's because of the new baby on the way, but it's still really cool. I just love her.




I'm not sure why my parents think I'm going to be jealous anyway. What's the big deal? It's just a baby. I've had to deal with bossy old Johnny all my life, so it will be great to be the older sister for a change. Johnny - ugh! Now that he's in university, he's an even bigger hero! I love him and all, but sometimes he really just pisses me off.




Dear Diary,

My transition came early, out of nowhere! Oh joy, right? I was just standing on the veranda, and this feeling came over me. I didn't even have time to call out for my parents to come see it, or anything.




It was pretty cool. In a way, I'm glad I was alone, because now it was this special private moment, and I didn't have to have a dumb party to celebrate it. So now I'm a teenager, at last. It's about time my body caught up with my mind!




It sure is great to finally be a woman! I'm kidding, of course. It's such a pain in the hole, and I've been having really bad cramps all day. Boys just have no idea, do they? They're so lucky!




Dear Diary,

Mom is as big as a whale, and she's so weird to be around lately. That is all. I don't know... nothing at all going on in my life. It is boring. My life is boring and it sucks.




Dear Diary,

I am so fucking mad! Pardon the language, but Mom, if you're reading this, then you deserve it. A bunch of assholes at school were giving Buck a hard time again, and one of them called him a fag and then shoved him up against the lockers!




I was so mad! I wanted to kill them all.




Of course, I didn't, but I did tell them right where to go.




I wish I had more of a backbone. I'd get suspended, but it would be so worth it. Those assholes need their asses kicked, and soon, and wouldn't it be so sweet if the little blond "fag hag" was the one to do it?




Why are people so stupid? Buck's not even really gay, or at least, he never said so to me.




I mean, come on, if he was, I think he'd tell me! We're basically the same person. I really don't think that he is, but he doesn't really ever talk about girls, so who knows?




If he is gay, I wish that he'd just come out already, so I can start picking up for him. God, some heads are really going to roll if those assholes try to do anything to him again.




Buck is too sweet. He's way too nice, really. He should have said something, or at least pushed the guy back, but he just turns the other cheek.

I keep telling him that we should just go with it and really show those guys. I wanted to print up some t-shirts with slogans on them, so we could wear them around, but Buck wouldn't even entertain the thought. They would have been awesome. Buck's could have been like "Real men wear pink", or something, and mine could be "Alien and proud - get used to it". Pink and green go so well together too.




Buck is way too shy to draw that sort of attention to himself. He gets enough of it anyway. It's so stupid! Just because he dresses a certain way and is interested in "girly" things, whatever that means! And he's not athletic - who cares? I don't know why they want to make it their business, since it's obviously not. If I ever start choosing my friends based on superficial shit like that, I hope someone smacks me in the face. Besides, I think Buck looks fine the way he is. He dresses way better than those assholes do. They don't have a clue. And so he's a little overweight. Big fucking deal!




Buck Grunt is the best friend I've ever had. He's the best one I'm ever likely to have too. I'd rather sit around and do nothing with Buck for hours than spend even a minute with any of those other guys.




Dear Diary,

Buck redecorated his bedroom and it's so cool! You should see it. I want my bedroom to be just like it. Mine is still stuck like a little girl's room, and Mom doesn't see the need to change it. I hate that yellow carpet so much I could scream. Maybe I could convince her and then get Buck to help me make it over. He's so awesome at it! He painted the walls purple. Yes, purple! It's a lavender. I'll bet his Dad just loved that.




The General is so uptight and strict about shit like that. He must have been surprised to see Buck doing something so bold, since Buck usually just does whatever he should. He'd expect it from Ripp - well, not that, but you know what I mean.

I LOVE RIPP! Love him!! Sorry... just had to write that again, in case you forgot.




Dear Diary,

The babies are here! Yes, babies, as in two! Mom had twins! My family is crazy.




The babies are so cute! I just can't believe there are two of them.




Of course, they both had to be green. Why am I the only one that has to be left out? I feel like I'm the real alien, not the rest of them. It's so unfair! When I tell people I'm half alien, they don't even believe me! I'm just as much an alien as Johnny is. It's like I'm not even allowed to take ownership of it because my skin is normal.

Anyway, enough ranting. The babies are beautiful, and I'm glad that they are green. I'm going to be a good big sister to them.




Jordan is the oldest. He's a blond like me, Mom, and Johnny. They both have Dad's eyes, just like Aunt Lola and Chloe. They were lucky enough to get Mom's nose, or should I say, a nose, period. Not that Mom's nose is all that big. Sometimes I feel like I don't even have a nose, it's so small and button-like. I know it's such a typical girl thing to whine about your nose, but I wish I'd grow into it, or it would grow into my face, or something. Not that I want Johnny's nose, or anything. That thing has it's own area code.




Jolene has red hair, like Dad and Aunt Chloe. She's so lucky! I love red hair, and it looks awesome with green skin. I'll bet she'll look so cute when she's old enough to grow it out.




Mom and Dad are thrilled. They'll be really busy for the next little while, and I will be too, I'm sure. It's going to be a lot of work for everyone.




I still haven't been able to fully get my head around it. Our family just got so much bigger, so quickly. I should be used to having a big family by now, I guess, but twins! It's crazy.




Speaking of twins, it seems to be something that runs in the family. Oh joy! I'm really looking forward to that, except I'm really not. Well, I don't have to think about having kids for quite some time, so I'll try not to worry about it. Imagine me having babies! Too weird.




I'm saying this, of course, because Uncle Vidcund had twins too! That's the third set in our family now. Uncle Pascal dropped in to see the babies, and he told us all about Uncle Vid's delivery.




He was cleaning the kitchen - no big surprise there! Uncle Vidcund is such a neat freak! There was nobody else around in the house, and the next thing he knows, he's in labour! Crazy, right? He just had to have them there in the kitchen, all by himself.




The firstborn was a boy, just like with Mom and Dad's twins, and Uncle Vid named him Orion. He looks a lot like Uncle Vidcund too. Well, except for the black eyes, black hair, and green skin. In the face, though, he seems very much the same.




Uncle Vid didn't even have time to take Orion to a crib before his little sister popped out too!




The younger twin is named Galaxy. Her eyes are so huge! She's really cute.




My cousin, Mint, also had her toddler transition a while back. She's so adorable! A real little terror, but so cute.




She looks so much like Uncle Pascal! She has different eyebrows, though, really curly hair, and these really sunken cheeks that make her look like she's sucking on a lemon. Too cute!




Those alien ears sure are strange, though. I sure am glad I didn't end up with those. It makes me feel a lot better about my nose, in comparison.




Mint is already showing how much she's like Uncle Pascal in personality too. She spends all of her time working on logic puzzles, even as a toddler! It's too cute.




Uncle Pascal is such a good father too. He's really sweet. Don't tell anyone, but he's totally my favourite uncle. He always asks me how things are going with school, and stuff like that. It makes me feel special. All of my uncles are pretty cool, really. That's why I decided to pursue knowledge just like them. One of these days, I'm going to do something really great.




Dear Diary,

Mom is going to invite Johnny and his friends over for dinner some evening in the next few weeks. I'm so excited because I know that Ripp will be coming for sure! (There is another short coded message here.)




I have to buy something new to wear. I hope Mom will give me some money for it, since I've already spent my allowance for this week. Oh, it's going to be so good! Ripp Grunt! He's so hot. I could just die! (There is another length of coded writing here.)






I was reading the Superstar Report (for the music reviews, of course), and I read about a new way to wear makeup so guys think you look like you've just had sex, and that makes them think about having sex with you. I'm totally going to try it. That should catch Ripp's attention. He's going to love it! There's no way he'll be able to resist me.




Johnny said that he's in a band now too. Could he be any more perfect? I wonder how long his hair is now. His beautiful hair. It's so shiny and soft, and when you lean close enough, you can smell the natural oils in it, and it's so sexy! (There is yet another passage of secret code here.)




Dear Diary,

I haven't seen Buck at school for a couple of days now, and when I call him, there's no answer. I went by his house a couple of times, and the van is there, but the door is locked and all the lights are off. What the fuck is going on? I'm really worried about him.




God, I'm going crazy! If the General grounded him, he has no right to keep him from school too, and if Buck is sick, then why didn't he call me? I have such a bad feeling about all of this.




I just hope everything is okay.








  (Continue to Chapter 14...)

Comments

[maybemabel.livejournal.com]

Oh no! What's going on in the Grunt household? Is Buck depressed about his family? But then why wouldn't he go to school? I can't wait to find out.

Jill is totally adorable, and she seems like she's a really good friend to Buck.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yes, very mysterious, isn't it? We'll have to wait and see. I like your suggestion about him being depressed, though, since that does make a certain amount of sense.

I'm glad you liked Jill. She's a nice girl, but she doesn't take crap from anyone either. Buck is very lucky to have Jill there to back him up. A lot of his confidence in himself is a result of her influence.