After Jon left, Karyn moved closer to Tom and kissed him again. But, as disgusted as he was of her, Tom didn't resist this time.
"That's better," she said, smiling.
He looked at her, seeing that she genuinely loved him. Despite what he looked like. Of course, he looked just as much like a freak as she did. But still ... it was a bit of a comfort.
As Karyn rubbed her hand over Tom's leather corset, she whispered in his ear "Let's go back to my place and have some fun."
Tom knew exactly what that meant. "How about we go back to my place instead?" He really didn't want to have sex with her, but if they went to her house, then he'd have to walk out in public twice.
"What about your parents? They don't seem to like me very much."
"Fuck my parents," he said. It stunned him. He had no idea where that came from. He always respected his parents. Why did he say that? Tom feared that he might still be changing in some way. He looked at Karyn, seeing her differently. Suddenly, she didn't seem as freakish as before. What was happening to him?
"That's more like the Tom I know. Not taking any shit from anyone," Karyn said, with a smile. "Come on," she said, getting up off the sofa. She walked to the front door, then yelled upstairs to Sarah that they were leaving.
Tom hesitantly stood up and left with her.
As they walked to his house, Tom held hands with Karyn. It seemed like a natural thing to do, since she was his girlfriend. But it was nice to be doing something that wasn't exclusively gothic behavior.
About halfway home, Tom heard the revving engine of a car approaching, and then a girl yelled out "Hey, freaks!"
Tom turned his head and saw that it was Zoe Gibson, riding in a car driven by Stephanie Wright. The two other passengers were Zelda Whitefield and Sabrina Johnson. They must have been on their way home from the mall.
The car stopped and Zoe continued her mocking. "Hey, why don't you two turn into bats and fly home?"
Karyn boiled with anger. She hated that bitch. "Fuck you, Zoe," she said, giving her the middle finger.
Sabrina sat behind Zoe. She leaned forward and said "Zoe, leave them alone," in a kind and caring voice, that just a few days ago would have been completely foreign to her.
But Zoe didn't want to stop, despite the fact that she knew that she herself used to be Goth just days earlier. The thing was, she liked being mean. Just like Sarah McMillan.
"Come on, Zoe. Let's just go," Sabrina pleaded again.
"Fine. But not because that freak told me to," she said, feeling a bit odd when she said it. From her point of view, Karyn had been a close friend, before she switched personalities with Sarah McMillan. Zoe would never call her a freak. But that's what she was, Zoe's mind told her. She could never be as popular or as good-looking as me. And suddenly, her expression of contempt was reinforced. Zoe hated those Goths.
"See you around, freaks!" she yelled, as the car squealed away.
"I hate that fucking bitch," Karyn said, still fuming.
"She's not that bad," Tom absentmindedly said.
"You're joking, right? You hate her even more than I do."
I do? Tom thought. How could he hate the most popular girl at school? Yes, she could be mean sometimes, but she was totally hot. Every guy wanted to be with her and every girl wanted to be her.
"Uh, right," he said, humoring her. "Of course, I hate her. I was just joking."
Karyn looked at him a moment longer, thinking that he was definitely acting strange, then they continued on their way to his house.
