◤ chapter five: ❛ miracles can
happen ❜ ◢

⋆

         WHILE SABRINA WAS ONE OF HER FAVORITE PEOPLE, HER LUNCH TABLE WAS NOT INCLUDED. With Sabrina, her lovely Sabrina, came Flash Thompson, Betty Brant, Liz Allan, Cindy Moon, and sometimes Briar Stark – when her friends decided to skip and left her at school or when Liz wanted to talk to her about something involving student council.

         Toni didn't mind Flash. He was snarky and snappy and while that short fuse annoyed so many others, Toni didn't find herself minding it. She just wasn't overly fond with his burning hatred towards Peter Parker which made so sense at all. When it first got out that Peter had an internship at SI, he immediately refused it and went straight to Briar to refute the statement and call Peter a liar.

         "How am I supposed to know?" was Briar's response, a look of disgust and annoyance gracing her features, "I barely even know how many people are employed there, how am I supposed to know their names?"

         She remembered laughing at that. Briar had a point and after that call out, she made it known that if anyone came to her asking about Peter's status as an employee (intern, really) of the company, she would murder them – while wearing heels and looking fabulous, like always. And Toni liked Briar. They had never really spoken, she had to admit that, but Briar wasn't immediately terrible and she didn't take shit from anyone which Toni could respect.

         But then there was Betty Brant and Cindy Moon. Toni often grouped them together because there wasn't much to say about them separately. Betty was too controlling and obsessed about being a journalist and Cindy was too controlling and possessive over her studies and Liz. God, she felt so bad for Liz, having a stalker like Cindy. It made her glad that she was so unlikeable no one barely even glanced in her direction.

         That left Liz, who was probably Toni's favorite after Sabrina and the one she knew the most about after her best friend. Liz was sweet – everyone knew that and loved her for it – and she cared so much about everyone, cared so much about this school. Toni could never imagine having so much school spirit. And Liz tutored her a little last year, so that helped her opinion.

         But Toni didn't sit with them every day. Most of the time, she sat with Atlas and his friends. She didn't really count them as her own, she was a floater and was only close with Atlas out of the group and really she couldn't understand how he could stand them sometimes. On days when she was so fed up with them, she switched to sit with Sabrina and the girl happily made a place for her.

         "So, Homecoming's coming up," Liz announced, as if everyone there wasn't already aware of that fact as she sat down, the elegant smile that always graced her features still present.

         "Ugh, I know," Cindy gushed, "I'm so excited for it! I think Andy McMillian is going to ask me on Friday because that's what Jenna Kennings said. And I trust her."

         Toni couldn't help but snort. "Andy McMillian also got caught with Penny Eaton having a quickie last week," she brought up, staring right into the eyes of the deflating Cindy, "And he spied on the volleyball team when they were changing after practice one day. So your source is probably wrong and you shouldn't want him to ask you anyway."

         Cindy sighed, crumbling in her chair and, ever the peacekeeper, Liz brought her hand to touch the girl's shoulder and comfort her. "It's alright. I'm sure that someone else will ask you who's better than Andy."

         And even though Toni knew that it was probably considered rude for interrupting the conversation she clearly wasn't apart of and getting a twinge of happiness at the sadness of Cindy, but well, Andy's also an asshole and she was saving her at the end of the day. So, well, she didn't feel bad at all.

         "Maybe you can get Jason to take you," Betty offered, picking off a piece of tortilla before chewing on it, "He's been stalking me ever since we started doing the news here and it's super annoying. Like, yeah, he can make a great co-host sometimes but I'm not interested in him at all and he just can't take a hint. Maybe if you make a move on him he'll leave me alone."

         "Wow, love you pretending to be helpful and selfless when really trying to do something for yourself," Toni sarcastically said, sipping at her water.

         Sabrina hit her harshly. "Toni!" she hissed, "You can say things like that!"

         "What?" Toni questioned back, feigning innocence.

         Betty glared at her, burning holes into her eyes. "Like you wouldn't do the same thing," she snapped and Toni just rolled her eyes. Yeah, she would and she's not ashamed to admit it.

         Toni already knew she was a terrible person and now it was her duty to make others realize that. Betty was one of those because she thought of herself as an angel. Ugh, as if.

         "Sabrina," Liz changed the subject, looking at the underclassman, "I was wondering if you looked at the different themes. I'm thinking more City Lights but Jessica thinks that Fine Art would be a better pick."

         "Oh! I'm not sure. I really like Fine Art but I'm not sure how we do that so I think City Lights is our best bet," Sabrina said, biting into her sandwich.

         Liz nodded, writing it down in her notebook where she kept track of all her information. Toni looked over to Atlas and sighed, wishing that she could be there smoking with them outside rather than sitting here discussing the Homecoming dance. But Toni's never been big on dances, not like Sabrina or Liz, and didn't really care if she was asked or not. What was the big deal?

         But that's just her and if she wasn't best friends with Sabrina – and if the girl didn't force her into going dress shopping forcing her into attending – she probably wouldn't even go.

         "Who are you taking?" Betty asked Flash, turning the attention of the table to him, "Well, who are you thinking of taking?"

         Flash shrugged, not really interested in the conversation. "I don't know. Maybe Hannah would be willing to go with me."

         "Or you could ask me," Betty suggested, "You know, just as friends. It'd be fine."

         He looked at her and smiled, nudging her back. "Yeah, alright. But don't expect me to get you flowers or anything or a fancy meal."

         "Who needs flowers anyway?" Betty questioned before laughing before turning to Cindy, "See? It's easy to ask anyone you want so go after Jason or someone. You don't have to wait."

         Cindy sighed, not satisfied with that answer. She was the type to wait and be disappointed when no one asked her. Toni couldn't stand that type of person. "Maybe," Cindy half-heartedly agreed, though she was sure that the girl wouldn't take Betty's advice.

         "I'm having a party Friday night," Liz brought up, eyes looking away from her notebook to her friends. Or, well, friends and Toni. They were friendly but Toni didn't consider them friends. "You should all come and spread the word."

         "Ooh, Liz Allan – Miss Perfect herself – is throwing a party? Will there be alcohol?" Toni teased in good nature, already deciding that she would attend. There was no reason to skip anyway.

         Liz blushed, "Oh, stop. I'm not perfect."

         "Well, then the resident golden girl," Toni corrected herself, still the same teasing smile on her face.

         "I'll definitely be there," Cindy quickly agreed and Toni had to hide her face of annoyance. God, that girl was such a kiss ass.

         "Flash and I'll be there too," Betty agreed, and instead of making a noise of objection which Toni suspected, Flash just nodded.

         "Yeah, it'll give me a chance to show off my DJ skills. I've been practicing a lot lately and, not to brag, but I'm pretty good at it," Flash gloated.

         "Can't wait," Sabrina said, because she's a nice person and would never dare make a snide comment about someone even if it would be so easy to do. She then looked at Liz, "I'll be there."

         All eyes turned to Toni since she was the last one who still hadn't agreed. "Geez, stop staring at me," Toni pushed them all of it, "I'll see you guys there and I'll get Atlas, too."

         And Caden, she thought but didn't mention because one, they didn't know who that was, and two, she didn't know how'd they react to a drug dealer being there. Well, more like she didn't know how Liz would react. Yeah, she knew that Liz was fine with her and Atlas, seeing as she didn't immediately react in disgust, but they weren't drug dealers – Caden was and that was a big difference from just regular drug users. She didn't want to create tension or drama so she kept that to herself. It's not like they'd even notice him there what with everyone else.

         "Great!" Liz chirped, excitement beaming from her, "Can't wait to see how it turns out!"

         The conversation broke up after that, with Liz talking about Decathlon with Betty, Cindy, and Flash since they were on the team and Toni conversing with Sabrina.

"So, who do you want to ask you to Homecoming?" Sabrina asked as she brought a spoon full of yogurt to her lips.

         Toni snorted at her friend, reaching up to place the hair that fell before her face back behind her ear. "Please, like I care who takes me to the dance," because she really didn't care if she went alone.

         "In AP Euro, Kevin said that he was thinking of asking you because he's had a crush on you since middle school but wasn't sure if you'd say yes," Sabrina mentioned.

         "Ew," Toni made a face of disgust, "Like, no offense to him but Kevin's kinda weird. He Naruto runs to every class and I can't deal with that. I was kinda planning on skipping out early and doing something with Atlas anyway since he's going alone."

         Sabrina pouted, "You can't skip, I'll be left all alone."

         "You won't be alone, they'll still be there," Toni nodded at the rest of the table.

         "Yeah, but you won't and you're my best friend," she argued, "I wouldn't be able to go on without you!"

         "Dramatic much?" Toni questioned before breaking up into a smile to let Sabrina know that she was joking, "You can always go with us. The Boardwalk isn't too far from here and we were thinking of going – or maybe to Nix' because we'd get less looks."

         "You know how I feel back Nix'," Sabrina mentioned and Toni nodded because she did, "But the Boardwalk might be fun. Better than watch all my friends with a date when I'm forever alone."

         Toni rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't be so dramatic. I'm sure there's plenty of people just waiting to ask you. I mean," she leaned in close so that she was whispering into Sabrina's ear, "maybe Liz will. She's full of surprises – throwing a party, maybe asking you to the dance..."

         Sabrina's face went into a full-out blush, pink being brought will full-front to her cheeks. She hit Toni who laughed and hissed, "You can't say things like that!"

         "Really? Because I think I just did."

         "It's never gonna happen," Sabrina said after she cooled down, "They don't feel that way towards me."

         "Are you sure?" Toni teased, raising an eyebrow before breaking out into giggles as Sabrina hit her again, gaining attention from those at the table.

         "What the fuck is going on here?" Betty asked, breaking Toni out of her happy state as she scoffed at the girl.

         "None of your fucking business, Brant," she snapped at the short-haired girl. It's not her fault that Betty just grinded her gears too much – as did Cindy. But whatever, she was almost an adult and could handle herself. Well, mostly anyway.

         "She's just being her usual self," Sabrina smoothed everything over, as she always did when Toni snapped at one of them. It was a common occurrence when she was with them, seeing as she had a low tolerance for people she didn't like.

         "Of course she was," Betty muttered, making a face before returning to her original conversation.

         Toni made a face back at her before rolling her eyes and going back to looking at Sabrina. "You never know," she said before dropping the conversation, "Miracles can happen."

         Sabrina just shrugged, not commenting on the statement before asking, "What did you get on the AP Euro test?"

         "Ninety-five," Toni told her easily, having no problem with sharing her grade with Sabrina – it was with anyone else (including Atlas) that she had a problem. People like Betty and Cindy didn't need to know her grade. "You?"

         "One-hundred," Sabrina said easily, not gloating or holding her higher grade over Toni. Even though Sabrina was on track to be the valedictorian of their class, she never had a big head about it. She worked hard – harder than anyone Toni had ever met – and deserved each 100 she got so Toni didn't feel any pang of jealously or envy towards her friend. Sabrina didn't feel any sort of pride for getter a higher grade either.

         "Nice."

         "Thanks."

         "So, what do you think about staying over at my place on Saturday?" Sabrina asked, "Emery's gonna be back in town after her trip to San Fran and Julius finally has the day off."

         "Sounds good to me," Toni agreed easily, taking any excuse not to stay at her own house.

         She knew that staying over at Sabrina's really meant staying at her neighbor's place. For some reason, Toni had never actually been inside Sabrina's apartment, though she knows the number and floor, and because Sabrina never invited her in, Toni never asked. But she had been to Beckham's place – Sabrina's neighbor who loved with his siblings whenever they were staying in Queens. Emerson, the oldest one, usually stayed in Hell's Kitchen and Julius in the Big Apple because of the law firm he was employed to.

         Sabrina loved them more than anything else, besides Toni of course, and they had been close for years. Most might find it weird – three adults friends with a teenage girl – but they helped her when she was younger and her mom was busy with work and she still went over there every day. Sabrina was family to them and since Toni was her best friend, she knew the entire Avery family and loved them.

         Sabrina brightened at her agreement. "I'll tell Beckham to make enough food then," she smiled, about to ask something else when Cindy slammed her hands against the table and looked at them with wide eyes.

         "Do you guys see who Harry Osborn is sitting with?" she asked them in a hushed voice.

         Toni rolled her eyes at the mention of Harry, still not letting go of her grudge towards him and his attitude. She had no interest in knowing anything about him – especially something as meaningless as who he sat with. It's not like it mattered and it's not like she cared at all.

         "Mary Jane?" Flash looked over, "She's in my art class – so's Harry. They talk sometimes."

         "Yeah, but it's not just Harry," Cindy said, eyes still as wide as before, "It's Mariana Harlan and Johnny Malcolm."

         "So what?" Toni found herself asking, not seeing the problem that Cindy was trying to imply.

         Cindy rolled her eyes. "You guys are so dumb. Johnny Malcolm's uncle got arrested and I'm pretty sure that Mariana's a coke addict," she said as if it were obvious that these were horrible things and an angel like Harry Osborn should never stoop so low as to sitting with the likes of them.

         "Cindy, I'm a coke addict," Toni deadpanned, "Well, I'm a drug addict at least."

         "And Johnny isn't her uncle," Liz continued, looking at her friend, "Cindy, I really don't see why it matters who he hangs out with. MJ probably just invited him and what does it matter if Mariana likes to do drugs? A lot of people do. And it's not like Johnny can choose who her uncle is and whether or not he goes to jail."

         Cindy deflated after being chastised by her idol and Toni wanted to laugh, but refrained. She was cruel, but not that cruel to do such a thing. Well, not right now anyway. She was going to laugh about this long and hard tonight when no one was around.

         "I guess," Cindy said sadly, "I mean, I guess I just imagined him sitting with us or something. I mean, Liz – you're right here and who would want to sit with anyone else when they can sit with you?"

         Liz blushed at the compliment but played it off. She was Miss Perfect, after all, and Miss Perfect couldn't be vain. "I'm not everyone's type, Cindy, and he can choose his own friends," she brushed it off, "They're all really nice."

         Nicer than you, Toni thought snidely at Cindy, but again refrained from saying anything. It's not her place, even if she did take an immeasurable amount of pleasure from it. What does it even matter anyway who Harry spends his time with? Cindy wasn't friends with Harry and neither was anyone else at the table.

         If Harry wanted to sit with them, whatever, Toni doesn't care at all. They're not friends, they're enemies, and she already claimed this table because her best friend's here. He can't have it or ruin her second favorite table with his presence. It's good that he's there because it keeps him anyway and places Cindy in a state of pain, which is always enjoyable for her. Especially as Cindy gazes wistfully at Harry, probably imagining all the scenarios where he would want her before anyone else. Fat chance at that.

         Toni might be a cruel person, but she doesn't have any shame at laughing at Cindy internally. The girl deserves it.