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toxic_cornSeries: When I Was A Boy
Title: Weird, Friendless Kid (9/12)
Author: Toxic Corn
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Joss Whedon but the kids are mine.
Warning: Kidfic. The central focus is NOT Rayne.
Summary: Jamey adjusts to a new role.
Notes: The sequel to Songs From A Firefly. To catch up on chapters of this story, check out the organizational post. I realized how timely this chapter is and I feel the need to say that it was written weeks in advance and in no way reflects any current events. It's just a story I've been wanting to tell since the first series but couldn't make room for it.
Weird, Friendless Kid
“And again, thank you for coming to family day,” the elderly headmaster said, smiling warmly. “Now I’ll set you free to roam the grounds with your student. Enjoy your afternoon.”
Jamey stretched and looked around the crowded room for Nettie. She’d been in the choir singing the welcome song at the beginning of the boring speechifying, not sitting with them like the other students.
“There she is!” Ma said, pointing.
Nettie was making her way through the crush, waving at them excitedly. “Hi!” Predictably, Pop swooped on her first, placing a loud kiss on her forehead.
“Ewww, Daddy.” Nettie rubbed at her forehead but giggled. She accepted a hug from Ma and then turned to Jamey.
Something wasn’t right about her. Something was really, really off. He hugged her and whispered “You okay?” in her ear.
She nodded and pulled away. “The banquet’s in the other room, let’s go claim our spots before it gets crowded.”
Pop didn’t move as she tugged his hand. “Well, hold on, dontcha wanna introduce us to your friends?”
“My friends?” she looked nervous for a second but quickly covered with a bright smile. “I can see them any old time; I just want to spend my time with you while I can. Come on, it gets crowded.”
“Serenity!” a voice in the crowd called. A boy who looked a few years older than Nettie made his way over to their group. “Hey, I just wanted to tell you that you sounded great up there.”
Interestingly, Nettie blushed. “I was singing in a group, Julian, how’d you know which voice was mine?”
The boy grinned. “You kinda stand out.” He and Nettie stared at each other for a long moment before Pop cleared his throat loudly.
“Oh!” Nettie shook herself. “Mommy, Daddy, this is Julian Stewart. Julian, these are my parents Jayne and River Cobb. And my brother, James.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Julian wisely shook Pop’s hand first, maintaining eye contact and not allowing himself to wince as Pop no doubt squeezed his hand hard enough to crush a few bones. “Serenity talks about you a lot.”
“Funny, she’s never mentioned you a’tall,” Pop growled. Ma gave him one of her warning looks but he still loomed over Julian. “What’s a fancy Core boy yer age doin’ sniffin’ around my little girl?”
“Daddy!” Nettie looked horrified and turned to Jamey for help. He didn’t really know what to do since he kind of agreed with Pop.
“Jules!” A careworn man clapped a hand on Julian’s shoulder, snapping the tension in half. “These some o’ yer friends?” The man reached out and grabbed Pop’s hand. “Hiya, ‘m Jerry Stewart nice ta meetcha. Who’s this little lady here? Must be the Serenity girl our boy’s been talkin’ ‘bout non-stop all day.”
Pop’s jaw had dropped but Ma smoothly took over. “Where do you folks hail from?”
“Pomona. Got a nice farm just west of the capital. Since Jules here went away ta school, I’ve had ta hire on extra help. No one’s quite as good a worker as my boy.” The man squeezed Julian’s shoulder, practically beaming with pride. “And no one quite plays the fiddle like ‘im, neither. I was surprised there was a school for him ta go to and luckily his grades was good enough to get ‘im a scholarship. Otherwise, I don’t think we could afford this place.”
Jamey, Nettie, and Ma all smirked at Pop.
To his credit, Pop looked a little sheepish. “You folks wanna set by us at this big fancy dinner?”
~*~
After dinner, Pop still had some work to do on the ship so he and Ma left early. Jamey stayed behind and lounged on Nettie’s bed as she babbled about some of the classes she was taking.
“Nettie,” Jamey interrupted. “Somethin’s bothering ya. What is it?”
“There’s nothing wrong,” she said. “Everything is…” Her eyes filled with tears. “Horrible!”
~*~
Nettie excitedly tossed her bags onto one of the beds, looking around the room. This was gonna be like rooming with Nova on Haven; borrowing each other’s stuff, staying up late some nights giggling, and having someone help her with homework.
She giggled and dashed to the bathroom to have a look around. A real bathroom that didn’t fold into the wall! A shower!
She heard her room door open and left the bathroom to investigate. A pretty red-headed girl was pulling her luggage along on a little cart.
“Hi,” Nettie said, giving the girl a wave. “I’m Serenity Cobb.”
“How thrilling,” the girl muttered. She looked around the room distastefully. “I thought this room was going to be larger.”
Nettie frowned and looked around too. “It seems pretty big to me.”
The girl sneered. “Of course it would. You’re the one who grew up on a transport ship, right?”
“Um, yes.” Nettie sat down on her bed. “I didn’t know people knew about-”
“They don’t.” The girl flipped her hair and opened one of the closets, sighing loudly over the size. “My father found out about all of my roommates before hand. He tried to have me moved but everywhere else was full.” She gave Nettie a look over her shoulder. “Maybe you can find someone to switch with you.”
Nettie narrowed her eyes. “I’m not the one with the problem so I think I’ll stay right here.”
The girl snorted. “Yes, stand your ground. How Independent of you.”
Nettie wasn’t sure how to respond to that so didn’t say anything, just unzipped one of her bags, conscious of the fact that they didn’t match each other like the girl’s bags did. She kept reminding herself that she was in the Core now and they had a different outlook on the war than Cap and the others and the border worlds they visited so often.
“Of course, it’s not so Independent that you’re getting a free ride into this school.” The girl’s face was dark as she glared at Nettie.
“Free ride?” Nettie paused in unpacking one of the dresses Inara had bought her. “I got in on a scholarship. I have to maintain a certain grade point average to stay here, I wouldn’t exactly call that a free ride.”
The girl stomped over to Nettie and for one second it looked like she was going to shove her. Well, bring it. Daddy taught her some moves that she would love to unleash on this bitch.
“My best friend couldn’t get into this school because they ran out of room.” The girl leaned closer. “Because people like you were taking up space.”
“Oh, some spoiled Core brat didn’t get into her first school of choice,” Nettie snarled. “It’s not as if her Daddy couldn’t buy her into some other school.”
The girl’s scowl deepened. “I hope you aren’t suggesting my father bought my way in here.”
Nettie widened her eyes innocently. “I wouldn’t dream of it! I’m sure you’re the most talented princess in all the kingdom!”
“Watch your ass, Serenity,” the girl said.
“You don’t scare me, princess,” Nettie said with a laugh. “I’ve faced vigilantes, outlaws, government operatives and Reavers. You don’t even make the list.”
This appeared to throw the girl off and Nettie started putting her clothes away, smiling smugly to herself.
“You’re a liar,” the girl hissed.
“Look,” Nettie said, suddenly tired of it all. This wasn’t nearly as fun as arguing with Vee. She glanced at the nameplate on the girl’s luggage. “Winifred. How’s about you stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours? Then the year can go on smooth and shiny.”
“Fine,” Winifred snapped.
But things didn’t go smooth and shiny. Things so rarely do, after all. It turned out that Winifred was something of a queen bee and soon she had a large group of minions who did her bidding. And her bidding was to make Nettie’s life miserable.
When Nettie went to go to sleep, she’d often find that someone had short-sheeted her bed. If she stood up in class to answer a question, she’d sit back down to find that someone had put a tack on her chair. At lunch, she’d sit down at a table and everyone sitting there would get up and leave. Once, someone had dumped garbage in her locker and wrote “Cobb’s a slob” on the door.
She stayed as strong as she could and enjoyed escaping for the weekend to Lady’s dance school where she was cooed over and treated pretty much the way she was treated at home. Sometimes those visits made going back all the worse, though.
Once, she was in the bathroom when she heard her roommates talking about some of the less pretty girls in school.
“Jenna’s pretty bad,” Winifred commented. “But you know who’s the worst?”
“Who?” Molly Chang asked, excitedly.
“Serenity Cobb.”
“Oh, I KNOW!” They all burst into mean laughter.
“That nose of hers! It’s so… ugh! I mean, isn’t her uncle supposed to be a doctor? Couldn’t he fix it?”
“You’d think.”
Nettie frowned at her reflection. What was wrong with her nose? The nostrils were kind of flared but… The more she looked, the less she liked what she saw. From that point forward, she usually covered her face with her hair.
That was the way she met Julian.
She’d taken the long way around to class, wanting to avoid getting her books shoved out of her hands, and was walking through the corridor that belonged to the older students. Hunched over with her hair in her face, she couldn’t see where she was going in the unfamiliar area and collided with something vaguely boy-shaped. She hit the ground hard.
“Oh my god! Are you alright?!”
Nettie sat up, feeling a little dazed. She stared stupidly up at a boy with honey brown hair. He was attractive in a not very classically handsome kind of way, his face was too long and his chin a little too weak. But he had warm brown eyes and a sweet crooked smile.
“Yeah, I- I’m sorry. I couldn’t see where I was…” She started to gather up her books, letting her hair fall in her face again to hide her pink cheeks.
“I can help you with that.” The boy reached out and tucked her hair behind her ears. “There. Now everyone can see how pretty you are.” He seemed surprised by her skeptical look. “Don’t you know you’re pretty?”
She shrugged and started to shuffle away.
“Hey, where you going?” In a few short strides, he caught up with her.
“Class,” she said, and started to push her hair in her face again, but he caught her wrist.
“Stop it,” he said, gently. “It looks nice. Do you mind if I walk you to class? This is my free period so you’re not keeping me from anything.”
“Do what you want,” she muttered.
“So what’s your name?”
“Serenity. Serenity Cobb.”
“That’s pretty. My name’s Julian Stewart.”
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
They walked along in silence.
“Are you always this quiet?”
“I never used to be,” Nettie admitted, then bit her lip.
Julian looked at her sharply. “Is someone giving you a hard time?”
“Take someone and multiply them by two hundred,” Nettie said, bitterly.
Julian swore under his breath. “That’s terrible. You should stick by me. I’ll protect you.”
“I don’t need anyone to protect me!” Nettie glared at him. “Just leave me alone!”
“I’m sorry!” Julian caught her arm before she could dash off. “I didn’t mean it like… I mean, we can be friends.”
“Friends?”
Julian smiled sadly at her wistful tone and nodded. “Yeah. Friends. Does that sound okay to you?”
“I guess.”
“Me and my friends sit at the north end of the cafeteria. I’ll save you a spot at chow time, okay?”
“Okay.”
They stopped outside Nettie’s classroom and stood there a moment uncertainly.
“Don’t let them get you down, Serenity,” Julian blurted. “You’re too good to let people like them get the best of you.”
She found herself smiling for the first time since she’d said goodbye to her parents on orientation day. “I’ll try to remember that.”
He chucked her under the chin. “You do that. ‘Bye, Serenity.”
“’Bye.”
After that, things got much, much worse. It turned out that Winifred had been harboring a crush on Julian Stewart and Nettie was poaching. She was safe with Julian and his group of friends, who quickly adopted her into their circle and made her one of them. But they were older and couldn’t be with her in classes or in her dorm room.
When she’d found that the girls had drawn mustaches on her picture of Mommy and Daddy, she knew she couldn’t take any more.
~*~
“I don’t know what to do,” Nettie wept.
Jamey wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back, almost hoping her roommates would walk in just then. He didn’t care that they were little girls; he’d kill them.
“Shhh, mei mei,” Jamey said, softly. “It’s okay. I’ll tell Ma and Pop and we can get you-”
“NO!” Nettie sat up, rubbing her eyes. “I worked too hard for this. I’m not leaving.”
“But Nettie,” Jamey argued, “you’re putting yourself through hell! Nothing’s worth all this!”
“Yes it is,” Nettie said, all determination.
They stared at each other in surprise.
“I’m not letting them ruin this for me,” Nettie said, more to herself than to Jamey. “I have every right to be here. I’m entitled to an education without harassment.”
Jamey smiled at her, proudly. She’d come a long way since leaving the ship. He rubbed her back and dropped his chin on to the top of her head. “Damn straight you are.”
She nodded. “I know what to do now.”
“Let me know how it all turns out?” Jamey asked hopefully.
Nettie giggled. “You’ll be the first.”
~*~
A few days later, Jamey and Kaylee were putting the finishing touches on the wiring system Jamey had been perfecting for years. He was whistling happily to himself and glancing every now and then at the picture of Emmaline in a bathing suit Kaylee had taken for him the last time they’d been at some swimming hole, when Ben popped his head into the engine room.
“Hey, Jamey. Wave for you.”
He stared down at the wiring and thought of Nettie at the school, conflicted over which to see to.
Kaylee nudged his shoulder. “Go on. I’ll wait for ya.”
“Thanks, Aunt Kaylee.” He kissed the top of her head and dashed to the cockpit where he watched Nettie’s image practically wiggling in excitement.
“Guess what happened?” she gushed.
~*~
Nettie clutched the picture in her hand and approached Winifred’s table. Their laughter died when they saw her, and some of the girls looked nervous. Nettie didn’t look worn down the way she was supposed to.
“Look at this,” Nettie said, casually, dropping the picture onto the table top.
“What about it?” Winifred sneered.
“I think that’s your artistry on my parents’ picture.” Nettie shrugged and laughed. “Drawing a mustache over my dad’s mustache was hilarious but I can assure you my mother doesn’t have any facial hair. So the sooner you get me a new picture, the better, princess.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Winifred said, folding her arms.
“Hm. Yeah, I figured it would come to this.” Nettie reached behind her back and pulled out a little pink book. “Now, what did you write on September sixteenth?”
Winifred turned pale. “How did you get my diary?”
Nettie clucked her tongue. “Honestly, Fred, who did you think you were fooling hiding it under your mattress? That’s the first place everyone looks.” She turned to the appropriate page and cleared her throat.
“Stop that!” Winifred exclaimed, making a grab for the book. “Give it back!”
“Pay for developing a new picture and I will,” Nettie snapped.
Winifred growled in frustration. “Why’s it so rutting important to you? It’s just a picture!”
“A picture of my parents. They mean everything to me and you desecrated that. Don’t you love your parents with everything you have?” Nettie gave Winifred a disbelieving look. “They’re the two people in the ‘verse guaranteed to love you no matter what and you don’t understand why it’s heartless to destroy their image? You’re not really that much of a monster, are you?”
For a moment, Winifred stared at Nettie, mouth opened wide. Then she surprised everyone in the room by bursting into tears and running out, slamming into the double doors so hard they slapped back against the walls.
Nettie hesitated for a moment before following Winifred back to the room. The door was locked and Nettie had to use her key.
Winifred was spread out on her bed, sobbing her eyes out. She looked up to see who came in and groaned. “Oh my god, go away!”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean t-”
“Oh, I’m so sure,” Winifred choked. “I’ve been a bitch to you all year and you managed to snap me in three minutes. You must be loving this.”
“N- okay, just a tiny bit but… I just wanted you to pay for the damage you caused.”
“Oh, I’m paying for it,” Winifred sniffled. “You never so much as sniffled at all the stuff we’ve been doing to you all year. You rub in the fact that my parents don’t give a shit about whether I live or die and I cry like a baby.” She punched her pillow.
Nettie’s jaw dropped. “Your parents don’t love you?!”
“Why do you think I’m here?” Winifred retorted. “I play the flute a little well but you were right your first day; my dad bought my way in here. They just wanted me out of the house and to have something to brag about to their friends.” She angrily wiped at her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”
Nettie sat down on the bed next to Winifred and they awkwardly didn’t look at each other. “I can’t imagine my parents not loving me.”
“Me neither,” Winifred said. Off of Nettie’s confused look, she added, “I mean, YOUR parents not loving you. I saw you with them on orientation day. Actually, I saw your whole family. How do you fit them all on that tiny ship?”
“We manage,” Nettie said, smiling. “We had two more but they’re not with us anymore.”
“That’s- I’m sorry.” Winifred sniffled and Nettie handed her a tissue from the bedside table. “My best friend Sasha applied here. She’s the only person in the ‘verse who cares about me.”
“I’m sorry she didn’t get in,” Nettie said, feeling guilty despite herself.
Winifred shook her head with a laugh. “It wasn’t a big surprise; she couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. It was just easier to blame you, I guess.”
Nettie nodded. “You know, you’re really making it hard for me to hate you.”
“Yeah, well.” Winifred started to shred the tissue, not looking up. “It’s hard to hate someone so pathetic, huh?”
“I don’t think you’re pathetic. Just angry. Really, really angry.”
Winifred laughed. “Yeah. I guess I am.”
“You should use some of that when you play your flute,” Nettie said. “You’re right that you play it pretty well now but you’re missing something. Some emotion. You can channel that into your music and I bet you’d be fantastic.”
“Yeah?” Winifred raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah.” Nettie nodded.
They were each quiet for a moment before Winifred tentatively said, “I’ll pay for a new picture.”
“That’s all I wanted.”
“And I’ll call off the hounds, too.”
“Okay, I also wanted that but I wasn’t going to push my luck.”
Winifred giggled and then shyly looked up at Nettie. “So… do you think… I mean, could we be friends?”
Nettie frowned. “I’m not really sure I want to be friends with you right now.”
Winifred looked stung but nodded. “Yeah, I don’t blame you.”
“I mean, I could try, but I think I’d be really resentful of you and I just… If we’re going to be friends, it should develop slowly. Let me get used to the idea, Winifred.”
“Okay.” Winifred nodded again and smoothed a hand over her hair. “Could I possibly get my diary back?”
Nettie laughed and stood up. “Lift up your mattress.”
Frowning in confusion, Winifred did so and gasped when she found her little pink book there. “But what-?”
Nettie flipped through the book she was holding, revealing blank pages. “I went out and bought the same kind. I wasn’t really going to read your diary; I’m not quite THAT mean.”
“Not like me,” Winifred said, laughing humorlessly.
Nettie didn’t refute this or agree with it, just tossed the empty book to the girl and turned to leave. “You should find a new hiding place, Winifred.”
“Serenity?”
“What?” She paused at the door.
“Um. Everyone calls me Winnie. So, you should too.”
Nettie nodded. “Okay. I’ll do that.”
~*~
“I’m glad everything worked out, mei mei.”
“And you know the best part?!” Nettie asked, excitedly.
“What?”
“I didn’t need you to save me.”
Jamey smiled and shrugged. “Guess you didn’t. I’m kinda gonna miss saving you, Nettie.”
“Yeah. Well, you just need to grow up.” She winked at him. “Dinner’s in ten and I have to go get ready. Tell Mommy and Daddy hi for me, okay?”
“Sure thing. Take care, Nettie.”
“You too, Jamey. I love you.”
“Love you.”
Jamey switched the screen off and sat back, contemplating his new role of non-hero. It would take some getting used to, but it was satisfying to see his little sister so self-reliant.
Better go be self reliant myself, Jamey thought and went whistling back to the engine room.
END
Previous < Dirty Sunshine : Next > You Brought Me Up
Title: Weird, Friendless Kid (9/12)
Author: Toxic Corn
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Joss Whedon but the kids are mine.
Warning: Kidfic. The central focus is NOT Rayne.
Summary: Jamey adjusts to a new role.
Notes: The sequel to Songs From A Firefly. To catch up on chapters of this story, check out the organizational post. I realized how timely this chapter is and I feel the need to say that it was written weeks in advance and in no way reflects any current events. It's just a story I've been wanting to tell since the first series but couldn't make room for it.
Weird, Friendless Kid
“And again, thank you for coming to family day,” the elderly headmaster said, smiling warmly. “Now I’ll set you free to roam the grounds with your student. Enjoy your afternoon.”
Jamey stretched and looked around the crowded room for Nettie. She’d been in the choir singing the welcome song at the beginning of the boring speechifying, not sitting with them like the other students.
“There she is!” Ma said, pointing.
Nettie was making her way through the crush, waving at them excitedly. “Hi!” Predictably, Pop swooped on her first, placing a loud kiss on her forehead.
“Ewww, Daddy.” Nettie rubbed at her forehead but giggled. She accepted a hug from Ma and then turned to Jamey.
Something wasn’t right about her. Something was really, really off. He hugged her and whispered “You okay?” in her ear.
She nodded and pulled away. “The banquet’s in the other room, let’s go claim our spots before it gets crowded.”
Pop didn’t move as she tugged his hand. “Well, hold on, dontcha wanna introduce us to your friends?”
“My friends?” she looked nervous for a second but quickly covered with a bright smile. “I can see them any old time; I just want to spend my time with you while I can. Come on, it gets crowded.”
“Serenity!” a voice in the crowd called. A boy who looked a few years older than Nettie made his way over to their group. “Hey, I just wanted to tell you that you sounded great up there.”
Interestingly, Nettie blushed. “I was singing in a group, Julian, how’d you know which voice was mine?”
The boy grinned. “You kinda stand out.” He and Nettie stared at each other for a long moment before Pop cleared his throat loudly.
“Oh!” Nettie shook herself. “Mommy, Daddy, this is Julian Stewart. Julian, these are my parents Jayne and River Cobb. And my brother, James.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Julian wisely shook Pop’s hand first, maintaining eye contact and not allowing himself to wince as Pop no doubt squeezed his hand hard enough to crush a few bones. “Serenity talks about you a lot.”
“Funny, she’s never mentioned you a’tall,” Pop growled. Ma gave him one of her warning looks but he still loomed over Julian. “What’s a fancy Core boy yer age doin’ sniffin’ around my little girl?”
“Daddy!” Nettie looked horrified and turned to Jamey for help. He didn’t really know what to do since he kind of agreed with Pop.
“Jules!” A careworn man clapped a hand on Julian’s shoulder, snapping the tension in half. “These some o’ yer friends?” The man reached out and grabbed Pop’s hand. “Hiya, ‘m Jerry Stewart nice ta meetcha. Who’s this little lady here? Must be the Serenity girl our boy’s been talkin’ ‘bout non-stop all day.”
Pop’s jaw had dropped but Ma smoothly took over. “Where do you folks hail from?”
“Pomona. Got a nice farm just west of the capital. Since Jules here went away ta school, I’ve had ta hire on extra help. No one’s quite as good a worker as my boy.” The man squeezed Julian’s shoulder, practically beaming with pride. “And no one quite plays the fiddle like ‘im, neither. I was surprised there was a school for him ta go to and luckily his grades was good enough to get ‘im a scholarship. Otherwise, I don’t think we could afford this place.”
Jamey, Nettie, and Ma all smirked at Pop.
To his credit, Pop looked a little sheepish. “You folks wanna set by us at this big fancy dinner?”
After dinner, Pop still had some work to do on the ship so he and Ma left early. Jamey stayed behind and lounged on Nettie’s bed as she babbled about some of the classes she was taking.
“Nettie,” Jamey interrupted. “Somethin’s bothering ya. What is it?”
“There’s nothing wrong,” she said. “Everything is…” Her eyes filled with tears. “Horrible!”
Nettie excitedly tossed her bags onto one of the beds, looking around the room. This was gonna be like rooming with Nova on Haven; borrowing each other’s stuff, staying up late some nights giggling, and having someone help her with homework.
She giggled and dashed to the bathroom to have a look around. A real bathroom that didn’t fold into the wall! A shower!
She heard her room door open and left the bathroom to investigate. A pretty red-headed girl was pulling her luggage along on a little cart.
“Hi,” Nettie said, giving the girl a wave. “I’m Serenity Cobb.”
“How thrilling,” the girl muttered. She looked around the room distastefully. “I thought this room was going to be larger.”
Nettie frowned and looked around too. “It seems pretty big to me.”
The girl sneered. “Of course it would. You’re the one who grew up on a transport ship, right?”
“Um, yes.” Nettie sat down on her bed. “I didn’t know people knew about-”
“They don’t.” The girl flipped her hair and opened one of the closets, sighing loudly over the size. “My father found out about all of my roommates before hand. He tried to have me moved but everywhere else was full.” She gave Nettie a look over her shoulder. “Maybe you can find someone to switch with you.”
Nettie narrowed her eyes. “I’m not the one with the problem so I think I’ll stay right here.”
The girl snorted. “Yes, stand your ground. How Independent of you.”
Nettie wasn’t sure how to respond to that so didn’t say anything, just unzipped one of her bags, conscious of the fact that they didn’t match each other like the girl’s bags did. She kept reminding herself that she was in the Core now and they had a different outlook on the war than Cap and the others and the border worlds they visited so often.
“Of course, it’s not so Independent that you’re getting a free ride into this school.” The girl’s face was dark as she glared at Nettie.
“Free ride?” Nettie paused in unpacking one of the dresses Inara had bought her. “I got in on a scholarship. I have to maintain a certain grade point average to stay here, I wouldn’t exactly call that a free ride.”
The girl stomped over to Nettie and for one second it looked like she was going to shove her. Well, bring it. Daddy taught her some moves that she would love to unleash on this bitch.
“My best friend couldn’t get into this school because they ran out of room.” The girl leaned closer. “Because people like you were taking up space.”
“Oh, some spoiled Core brat didn’t get into her first school of choice,” Nettie snarled. “It’s not as if her Daddy couldn’t buy her into some other school.”
The girl’s scowl deepened. “I hope you aren’t suggesting my father bought my way in here.”
Nettie widened her eyes innocently. “I wouldn’t dream of it! I’m sure you’re the most talented princess in all the kingdom!”
“Watch your ass, Serenity,” the girl said.
“You don’t scare me, princess,” Nettie said with a laugh. “I’ve faced vigilantes, outlaws, government operatives and Reavers. You don’t even make the list.”
This appeared to throw the girl off and Nettie started putting her clothes away, smiling smugly to herself.
“You’re a liar,” the girl hissed.
“Look,” Nettie said, suddenly tired of it all. This wasn’t nearly as fun as arguing with Vee. She glanced at the nameplate on the girl’s luggage. “Winifred. How’s about you stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours? Then the year can go on smooth and shiny.”
“Fine,” Winifred snapped.
But things didn’t go smooth and shiny. Things so rarely do, after all. It turned out that Winifred was something of a queen bee and soon she had a large group of minions who did her bidding. And her bidding was to make Nettie’s life miserable.
When Nettie went to go to sleep, she’d often find that someone had short-sheeted her bed. If she stood up in class to answer a question, she’d sit back down to find that someone had put a tack on her chair. At lunch, she’d sit down at a table and everyone sitting there would get up and leave. Once, someone had dumped garbage in her locker and wrote “Cobb’s a slob” on the door.
She stayed as strong as she could and enjoyed escaping for the weekend to Lady’s dance school where she was cooed over and treated pretty much the way she was treated at home. Sometimes those visits made going back all the worse, though.
Once, she was in the bathroom when she heard her roommates talking about some of the less pretty girls in school.
“Jenna’s pretty bad,” Winifred commented. “But you know who’s the worst?”
“Who?” Molly Chang asked, excitedly.
“Serenity Cobb.”
“Oh, I KNOW!” They all burst into mean laughter.
“That nose of hers! It’s so… ugh! I mean, isn’t her uncle supposed to be a doctor? Couldn’t he fix it?”
“You’d think.”
Nettie frowned at her reflection. What was wrong with her nose? The nostrils were kind of flared but… The more she looked, the less she liked what she saw. From that point forward, she usually covered her face with her hair.
That was the way she met Julian.
She’d taken the long way around to class, wanting to avoid getting her books shoved out of her hands, and was walking through the corridor that belonged to the older students. Hunched over with her hair in her face, she couldn’t see where she was going in the unfamiliar area and collided with something vaguely boy-shaped. She hit the ground hard.
“Oh my god! Are you alright?!”
Nettie sat up, feeling a little dazed. She stared stupidly up at a boy with honey brown hair. He was attractive in a not very classically handsome kind of way, his face was too long and his chin a little too weak. But he had warm brown eyes and a sweet crooked smile.
“Yeah, I- I’m sorry. I couldn’t see where I was…” She started to gather up her books, letting her hair fall in her face again to hide her pink cheeks.
“I can help you with that.” The boy reached out and tucked her hair behind her ears. “There. Now everyone can see how pretty you are.” He seemed surprised by her skeptical look. “Don’t you know you’re pretty?”
She shrugged and started to shuffle away.
“Hey, where you going?” In a few short strides, he caught up with her.
“Class,” she said, and started to push her hair in her face again, but he caught her wrist.
“Stop it,” he said, gently. “It looks nice. Do you mind if I walk you to class? This is my free period so you’re not keeping me from anything.”
“Do what you want,” she muttered.
“So what’s your name?”
“Serenity. Serenity Cobb.”
“That’s pretty. My name’s Julian Stewart.”
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
They walked along in silence.
“Are you always this quiet?”
“I never used to be,” Nettie admitted, then bit her lip.
Julian looked at her sharply. “Is someone giving you a hard time?”
“Take someone and multiply them by two hundred,” Nettie said, bitterly.
Julian swore under his breath. “That’s terrible. You should stick by me. I’ll protect you.”
“I don’t need anyone to protect me!” Nettie glared at him. “Just leave me alone!”
“I’m sorry!” Julian caught her arm before she could dash off. “I didn’t mean it like… I mean, we can be friends.”
“Friends?”
Julian smiled sadly at her wistful tone and nodded. “Yeah. Friends. Does that sound okay to you?”
“I guess.”
“Me and my friends sit at the north end of the cafeteria. I’ll save you a spot at chow time, okay?”
“Okay.”
They stopped outside Nettie’s classroom and stood there a moment uncertainly.
“Don’t let them get you down, Serenity,” Julian blurted. “You’re too good to let people like them get the best of you.”
She found herself smiling for the first time since she’d said goodbye to her parents on orientation day. “I’ll try to remember that.”
He chucked her under the chin. “You do that. ‘Bye, Serenity.”
“’Bye.”
After that, things got much, much worse. It turned out that Winifred had been harboring a crush on Julian Stewart and Nettie was poaching. She was safe with Julian and his group of friends, who quickly adopted her into their circle and made her one of them. But they were older and couldn’t be with her in classes or in her dorm room.
When she’d found that the girls had drawn mustaches on her picture of Mommy and Daddy, she knew she couldn’t take any more.
“I don’t know what to do,” Nettie wept.
Jamey wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back, almost hoping her roommates would walk in just then. He didn’t care that they were little girls; he’d kill them.
“Shhh, mei mei,” Jamey said, softly. “It’s okay. I’ll tell Ma and Pop and we can get you-”
“NO!” Nettie sat up, rubbing her eyes. “I worked too hard for this. I’m not leaving.”
“But Nettie,” Jamey argued, “you’re putting yourself through hell! Nothing’s worth all this!”
“Yes it is,” Nettie said, all determination.
They stared at each other in surprise.
“I’m not letting them ruin this for me,” Nettie said, more to herself than to Jamey. “I have every right to be here. I’m entitled to an education without harassment.”
Jamey smiled at her, proudly. She’d come a long way since leaving the ship. He rubbed her back and dropped his chin on to the top of her head. “Damn straight you are.”
She nodded. “I know what to do now.”
“Let me know how it all turns out?” Jamey asked hopefully.
Nettie giggled. “You’ll be the first.”
A few days later, Jamey and Kaylee were putting the finishing touches on the wiring system Jamey had been perfecting for years. He was whistling happily to himself and glancing every now and then at the picture of Emmaline in a bathing suit Kaylee had taken for him the last time they’d been at some swimming hole, when Ben popped his head into the engine room.
“Hey, Jamey. Wave for you.”
He stared down at the wiring and thought of Nettie at the school, conflicted over which to see to.
Kaylee nudged his shoulder. “Go on. I’ll wait for ya.”
“Thanks, Aunt Kaylee.” He kissed the top of her head and dashed to the cockpit where he watched Nettie’s image practically wiggling in excitement.
“Guess what happened?” she gushed.
Nettie clutched the picture in her hand and approached Winifred’s table. Their laughter died when they saw her, and some of the girls looked nervous. Nettie didn’t look worn down the way she was supposed to.
“Look at this,” Nettie said, casually, dropping the picture onto the table top.
“What about it?” Winifred sneered.
“I think that’s your artistry on my parents’ picture.” Nettie shrugged and laughed. “Drawing a mustache over my dad’s mustache was hilarious but I can assure you my mother doesn’t have any facial hair. So the sooner you get me a new picture, the better, princess.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Winifred said, folding her arms.
“Hm. Yeah, I figured it would come to this.” Nettie reached behind her back and pulled out a little pink book. “Now, what did you write on September sixteenth?”
Winifred turned pale. “How did you get my diary?”
Nettie clucked her tongue. “Honestly, Fred, who did you think you were fooling hiding it under your mattress? That’s the first place everyone looks.” She turned to the appropriate page and cleared her throat.
“Stop that!” Winifred exclaimed, making a grab for the book. “Give it back!”
“Pay for developing a new picture and I will,” Nettie snapped.
Winifred growled in frustration. “Why’s it so rutting important to you? It’s just a picture!”
“A picture of my parents. They mean everything to me and you desecrated that. Don’t you love your parents with everything you have?” Nettie gave Winifred a disbelieving look. “They’re the two people in the ‘verse guaranteed to love you no matter what and you don’t understand why it’s heartless to destroy their image? You’re not really that much of a monster, are you?”
For a moment, Winifred stared at Nettie, mouth opened wide. Then she surprised everyone in the room by bursting into tears and running out, slamming into the double doors so hard they slapped back against the walls.
Nettie hesitated for a moment before following Winifred back to the room. The door was locked and Nettie had to use her key.
Winifred was spread out on her bed, sobbing her eyes out. She looked up to see who came in and groaned. “Oh my god, go away!”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean t-”
“Oh, I’m so sure,” Winifred choked. “I’ve been a bitch to you all year and you managed to snap me in three minutes. You must be loving this.”
“N- okay, just a tiny bit but… I just wanted you to pay for the damage you caused.”
“Oh, I’m paying for it,” Winifred sniffled. “You never so much as sniffled at all the stuff we’ve been doing to you all year. You rub in the fact that my parents don’t give a shit about whether I live or die and I cry like a baby.” She punched her pillow.
Nettie’s jaw dropped. “Your parents don’t love you?!”
“Why do you think I’m here?” Winifred retorted. “I play the flute a little well but you were right your first day; my dad bought my way in here. They just wanted me out of the house and to have something to brag about to their friends.” She angrily wiped at her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”
Nettie sat down on the bed next to Winifred and they awkwardly didn’t look at each other. “I can’t imagine my parents not loving me.”
“Me neither,” Winifred said. Off of Nettie’s confused look, she added, “I mean, YOUR parents not loving you. I saw you with them on orientation day. Actually, I saw your whole family. How do you fit them all on that tiny ship?”
“We manage,” Nettie said, smiling. “We had two more but they’re not with us anymore.”
“That’s- I’m sorry.” Winifred sniffled and Nettie handed her a tissue from the bedside table. “My best friend Sasha applied here. She’s the only person in the ‘verse who cares about me.”
“I’m sorry she didn’t get in,” Nettie said, feeling guilty despite herself.
Winifred shook her head with a laugh. “It wasn’t a big surprise; she couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. It was just easier to blame you, I guess.”
Nettie nodded. “You know, you’re really making it hard for me to hate you.”
“Yeah, well.” Winifred started to shred the tissue, not looking up. “It’s hard to hate someone so pathetic, huh?”
“I don’t think you’re pathetic. Just angry. Really, really angry.”
Winifred laughed. “Yeah. I guess I am.”
“You should use some of that when you play your flute,” Nettie said. “You’re right that you play it pretty well now but you’re missing something. Some emotion. You can channel that into your music and I bet you’d be fantastic.”
“Yeah?” Winifred raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah.” Nettie nodded.
They were each quiet for a moment before Winifred tentatively said, “I’ll pay for a new picture.”
“That’s all I wanted.”
“And I’ll call off the hounds, too.”
“Okay, I also wanted that but I wasn’t going to push my luck.”
Winifred giggled and then shyly looked up at Nettie. “So… do you think… I mean, could we be friends?”
Nettie frowned. “I’m not really sure I want to be friends with you right now.”
Winifred looked stung but nodded. “Yeah, I don’t blame you.”
“I mean, I could try, but I think I’d be really resentful of you and I just… If we’re going to be friends, it should develop slowly. Let me get used to the idea, Winifred.”
“Okay.” Winifred nodded again and smoothed a hand over her hair. “Could I possibly get my diary back?”
Nettie laughed and stood up. “Lift up your mattress.”
Frowning in confusion, Winifred did so and gasped when she found her little pink book there. “But what-?”
Nettie flipped through the book she was holding, revealing blank pages. “I went out and bought the same kind. I wasn’t really going to read your diary; I’m not quite THAT mean.”
“Not like me,” Winifred said, laughing humorlessly.
Nettie didn’t refute this or agree with it, just tossed the empty book to the girl and turned to leave. “You should find a new hiding place, Winifred.”
“Serenity?”
“What?” She paused at the door.
“Um. Everyone calls me Winnie. So, you should too.”
Nettie nodded. “Okay. I’ll do that.”
“I’m glad everything worked out, mei mei.”
“And you know the best part?!” Nettie asked, excitedly.
“What?”
“I didn’t need you to save me.”
Jamey smiled and shrugged. “Guess you didn’t. I’m kinda gonna miss saving you, Nettie.”
“Yeah. Well, you just need to grow up.” She winked at him. “Dinner’s in ten and I have to go get ready. Tell Mommy and Daddy hi for me, okay?”
“Sure thing. Take care, Nettie.”
“You too, Jamey. I love you.”
“Love you.”
Jamey switched the screen off and sat back, contemplating his new role of non-hero. It would take some getting used to, but it was satisfying to see his little sister so self-reliant.
Better go be self reliant myself, Jamey thought and went whistling back to the engine room.
END
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-13 06:17 pm (UTC)Every time I think this can't possibly get any better, it does. I absolutely adored this part. Nettie is such a sweet, strong girl and she has the bestest brother ever!
Apart from mine, obviously.
*dances around with fic*
no subject
Date: 2006-11-13 10:15 pm (UTC)Man, I teach school, so I see what the queen bee's do all the time. It's hard to watch, and I don't let it happen in the classroom, but sometimes at lunch it's pretty obvious. Sigh.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-13 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-13 11:23 pm (UTC)*dances with you and the fic*
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Date: 2006-11-13 11:26 pm (UTC)The Cobbs are a really fun family to write so I'm glad you enjoy them.
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Date: 2006-11-13 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 12:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 12:24 am (UTC)I've found that now, the people who tried to bully me in primary school all want to be my friend (but only if they see me with teh boy first - is it because he's an athlete?) and all my old friendly-like-creatures are all yay!Bec when we see each other/run into each other. It's kind of nice considering I had about 3 real friends in primary school.
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Date: 2006-11-14 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 02:22 am (UTC)It's funny though, he never notices people trying to hit on him. it took him about 2 years (as far as I know) to notice me doing it.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-16 09:21 am (UTC)It's lovely to see Nettie again and big bad Jayne dog getting all protective.
Nettie's dealings with Fred were inspired as well.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-16 07:01 pm (UTC)I wanted Nettie to sort of "get back" at Winnie but without being really mean, since she's not a mean kid. Thank you for always reading!