06 | MADNESS

     "OH my gosh, I can't believe you did something like that! You could've died you crazy crackhead." Athena scolded Allie when they arrived back to Harry's house along with Grizz, Harry, Luke, Jason, and Clark so that they may get ready for the party soon. Grizz had taken her back to where her car had been parked so that she may drive it back to where the party would be held.

     "Calm down, wise-girl, I'm alive, aren't I?" Allie joked as she turned back to the brunette with a smug smile as she opened her arms and motioned at her body, making the girl scoff in response. "Just, don't tell Cassandra about it, she would definitely freak out." Athena laughed as she playfully punched the Pressman girl in the shoulder before pulling out the alcohol and setting it out on the counter. "Woah, what happened to biggest fucking mistake?" Allie joked as she recalled what Athena had said the day after she had ingested alcohol for the first time.

     "Don't worry, and it's for the party." Athena then looked over to where the boys were outside by the pool conversing with one another, "there's no way in hell I am drinking ever again." The two girls chuckled before Athena smirked as she tossed a bag of snacks at Allie to go pour into a few bowls, "so, you and Harry have been getting quite cozy lately." Athena gasped shockingly as Allie threw a few pieces of chips in her direction as she rolled her eyes with a blush creeping on her cheeks.

     "No, I don't know, I think he's just using me as a distraction from Kelly." Allie shook her head as she poured the various snacks into bowls. Athena smirked as she moved to stand next to her friend with her arms crossed, and playfully hip bumped her in the side.

     "Well, aren't you using him as a distraction as well?" Allie looked to Athena, who was aware of her friend's crush on Will, before shaking her head and moved to throw away the empty bags of snacks into the trash can.

     "He's made it very clear to me that he isn't interested," Allie spoke curtly as she dusted off her hands and sighed as she leaned against the counter before nodding towards the boys outside and chuckled with a smirk on her face. "So, you and Grizz are getting quite cozy lately," Allie repeated the words Athena had used, making the Parker girl scoff with a smile on her lips.

     "Oh, it's nothing like that." Athena smiled as she leaned against the counter next to Allie and glanced out to where the guys were laughing at something Clark and Jason had done before looking back at Allie. "He's just been there for me, ever since the incident with Emily, as a friend." Athena sighed, pausing for a moment before fully turning to face Allie, "you know, I never realized how much I distanced myself from everyone before, during high school."

     "No, you weren't distancing yourself, Athena, you were busy taking care of your family, of Morgan and Vera. I've always admired how responsible you are." Allie smiled down at the floor as she played with the hem of her sweater, "I mean, that's the kind of person Cassandra would want me to be."

     "Oh, Allie," Athena sighed as she took her friend's hands in her own. "I think Cassandra loves you for the kind of person you already are and wouldn't want you to change into someone you're not." Allie smiled as she pulled Athena in for a hug, thanking her for her kind words, before pulling away as Luke came inside to tell them that people had begun to arrive for the party, which lasted for quite some time until the lights went out.

     "Hey, what happens when they go out for good? Who fixes them?" Gwen asked as she looked to the lights with a worried expression before looking around at the gathered group of individuals who looked back at her. "I'm serious, who turns them back on?"

     "I don't know, and I don't think there's anyone here who knows how to fix the power plant," Athena uttered with a shrug as she leaned against Grizz.

     "Maybe they never go back on," Grizz bluntly stated as he stared off, making Athena look up and grabbed his face with her left hand.

     "Hey, pull it together man, I can't have you blanking out in a time like this," Athena spoke quietly while Jason asked Harry about having flashlights in his house. Grizz sighed as Athena let go of his face, nodding his head slowly in response before looking down at the Parker girl with a small comforting smile.

     "All right, expedition to the hardware store for flashlights. Who's in?" Clark asked as he assessed the gathered group of people though right as Jason raised his hand voluntarily, all the lights in the house had gone off. Gwen cursed as Athena slowly stood up from her comfortable position and looked towards Allie before turning to look at Grizz who appeared to be just as confused as everyone else.

     "We should get home. Before it gets really bad out there, before the streetlights go out." Olivia, the girl sitting beside Grizz and Athena, stated as she looked around at the group of teenagers to which some agreed as they nodded their heads. Harry then suggested that they could all say at his house before the lights promptly turned back on. Athena sighed in relief as she leaned back on Grizz, patting his knee in reassurance.

     "Well, I'm going home," Helena stated as she began to move from her position against the pillar while a few other girls followed her actions as they all began to leave. Athena got back up and went over to where Clark stood and tossed him her keys and watched as he caught them in the air.

     "We can take my car, but I'm coming too, just in case." Clark nodded in thanks as he and Athena ushered a few of the guys outside and all hopped in her car and drove to where the nearest hardware store in the town was, though as soon as they arrived Athena couldn't believe what she saw. Plenty of teenagers had shown up before them to raid the store for supplies and as the group of boys walked in to grab some flashlights, with Athena waiting out by the car watching various kids run out of the store in a rampant state with multiple devices in their hands. Though, as soon as the guys went into the store, they were quick to exit as a fight had erupted when Jason threw a guy out of the gaping hole in the front door and began beating him up with no remorse.

"Oh my gosh, Jason, Clark, get off of them!" Athena yelled as she made her way around the car and attempted to pull, at least, Jason off of one of the poor boys. Athena knew, in comparison to Jason, that she was not strong enough to pull him off of the guy so she decided to do what she could. She punched Jason in the face. It was one of the only self-defense techniques she knew how to do correctly and watched as he staggered back, giving Will enough time to fully push Jason away from the boy as he was able to get up and stumbled back into the hardware store. Athena breathed heavily as she looked around at all of the chaos outside, being pushed and shoved by all the brawls going on around her and knew there was nothing she could do to stop them all. The brunette then spotted Will trying to get everyone's attention right as she heard an explosion behind her, making her gasp in shock as she saw her car in flames. "My fucking car, you assholes!" Athena tried to make her way over to her vehicle, upon remembering a favorite photo Vera kept in there of their parents on their wedding day, before Will quickly grabbed onto her arm and pulled her away from the vehicle and away from the catastrophe.

     "I'm sorry about your car," Cassandra said to Athena upon arriving at the scene with Gordie before turning to face the chaos which had unfolded before them. Will glanced at the Parker girl, who gazed at the flames which had now fully engulfed her car, seeming to be a little dazed as she looked off into the distance. Kelly then came over to the group, a little bit before Allie and Harry joined them, and they all watched together as the teenage youths wreaked havoc over their town.

     "It's complete madness," Athena muttered quietly, not knowing what else to say under the circumstances.

« » « » « »

     The following day, Cassandra put Athena's plan into action and rallied all of the girls in town for a meeting as she had realized that they needed to be the influencers of the town. Athena had arrived with the Pressman sisters being that she had stayed with them the night before, sat in between Cassandra and Helena and listened to what Cassandra had to say.

     "Boys that we thought we knew destroyed those stores, and Athena's car, last night. And if we don't do something, male testosterone is going to be the end of us." Cassandra explained as she hugged Allie reassuringly while she looked around at all of the girls.

     "Is that why it's just girls here?" Helena questioned, to which Athena and Cassandra nodded in response.

     "We decided that it was imperative that we had a meeting amongst us girls since the majority of us weren't involved in the looting of the stores last night and are considered to be highly influential towards the boys." Athena stated as she glanced back at Cassandra, who nodded in agreement, before looking to all of the surrounding girls in which some nodded in understanding of the situation.

     "Right now it's just pillage. But how long until someone's raped walking home one night and no one gives a shit because that's just how it is?" Cassandra emphasized, digging right into the more extreme consequences of not having an organized system.

     "Okay, I'm sorry no one wanted to date either of you in high school, Cassandra and Athena, but this war on men feels a little extra." Gwen stated as she looked between Cassandra and Athena, who sighed as she looked up to the ceiling in an attempt to not roll her eyes as Gwen didn't think about the bigger picture.

     "Shut the fuck up, Gwen." Kelly uttered abruptly before Athena could say anything to the girl herself, making Athena half smile at Kelly's response.

     "Everything that kept us safe is gone. There isn't anyone to say no, and when you stop hearing no, you begin to think you can do anything. Women aren't safe in a world that's run by brute force and stupidity. If we want peace, we need order. And to get order, we need to exert our power." Cassandra finished her speech which made all of the girls, except for Gwen, nod in agreement as they all understood the given message.

     Upon arriving back at the Pressman's house, Kelly had come there soon after and discussed with Cassandra and Athena about the idea of having a prom, to which Cassandra and Athena were a bit hesitant on considering something that seemed to be pretty irrelevant, considering their current situation. Though, in the end, Cassandra and Athena thought it would be suitable for everyone to experience something good during all of the bad and as part of the agreement with Kelly, Athena would help her set up for the party.

     "I taught him how to swim." Gwen spoke as she looked at the poster of Bobby Aronson, "he was the son of my mom's medical partner." Kelly, Grizz, and Athena all turned to look at Gwen quietly before she cleared her throat, "uh, the bar is fully stocked, and there's cake in the fridge. It's seen better days, but could make a nice centerpiece."

     "Ah, yes. The traditional blue and silver prom cake." Kelly responded, reminiscing about her past experience at prom.

     "So, out of this world? How did they know?" Grizz spoke up as he looked out with his hands in his pockets.

     "Seems fitting to me." Athena chuckled softly as she ran her fingers over the tablecloth of a nearby table before looking around at the other three with a distant smile. "It's like some terrible joke," the four of them merely laughed at Athena's attempt at humor before going quiet once again.

• ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ •

n o t e
ughhhh, i'm sorry this chapter is so short in comparison to the previous ones so i'll try to make it up to you guys by filling the next chapter with more content, as well as this cute gif of grizzam hugging . . . i hope you accept my apology :]

K R S V