You’ll Get What’s Coming to Ya

by Kwake

There was once a beautiful Uni named Arabella, or Ara for short. Ara was the most beautiful Uni to ever roam the plains. She was also the snobbiest. Whenever she went to school, a parade of admirers swarmed in after her, and Ara regarded them as puppets for her entertainment. With a wink from her azure eyes and a swish of her golden mane, Ara could make anyone do anything. And if they still denied her of what she wished, Ara would put on such a display of waterworks they would immediately do her bidding. Her eyes would droop, her ears sag downwards, and her mane seemed to lose its color. She sobbed hysterically, and her cerulean eyes watered with huge tears. She looked so pitiful no one could deny her. One day, there was a new kid on the playground. Ara looked up from where she was sitting. She belonged to a club called ‘The Group’, whom she was leader of. Only the prettiest and most popular girls were asked to join ‘the Group’.

Looking up, Ara saw the most pathetic-looking, fat, female Lupe to ever wander the playground. She had black watery eyes, and her belly drooped down to the floor. Ara looked over her, disgusted, then whispered to her ‘best friends’.

“Who the heck is she?” she said with hissing venom in her voice. The other girls looked at the Lupe, then, eyeing her with the same disgust, they shrugged.

“I like, dunno,” a pretty Gelert named Vixen, said. “But she like must have a facelift for her like whole body!” A few of them snickered, and then Ara looked around, casting her piercing glare for silence.

A radiant Usul named Rula spoke up. Rula was the self-appointed vice-president of the Group, so she had her say in almost everything.

“Hey, ya know what I think? I think we should…”

They huddled together in a group, with Ara taking up the most space. All of them got identical evil grins, and an attractive Cybunny named Lenuoi hopped over to the new Lupe, who was trying to pick up her pencils she dropped on the ground.

“Hey kid!” Lenuoi said. The Lupe looked up, and Lenuoi cocked a hip.

“Want help?” she said this as an order, not a question, and the Lupe nodded feverishly. Seconds later, Ara and the rest of the Group surrounded the Lupe and picked up her pencils.

Ara looked around, and she saw that everyone else in the playground had moved someplace else. Ara and her ‘friends’ had done this millions of times to other new NeoPets, and they didn’t want to hang around. This was going to get ugly. With no witnesses, Ara took the lead.

“Say, we noticed you like a mile away!” The Lupe put on her defenses. Her knuckles tightened, and her snout grew firm.

“And?” she asked in a slow, drawling voice. Ara changed the subject. “How’s about you join our club?”

“Club? Like a Guild?” Lenuoi spoke up.

“No, an exclusive club where only the prettiest girls can join, and you look nice enough to enter.”

The Lupe relaxed, then her face lit up. “Really? You mean it? I was the least popular kid in my old school, and now this…” The Lupe could hardly believe it.

Ara smiled inwardly, then put on her sweetest voice: “What’s your name?”

“Millie,” the Lupe said. A few of the group members snickered, but Millie didn’t notice.

“Well Millie, since you’re a new member of the Group, I say we get you suited up with some new outfits!” Millie’s eyes widened.

“Outfits? Really? All I ever had was this bow around my neck…”

“Well now you can have hats, jackets, anything! This offer is only made to Group members!”

Millie stuttered, “T-thank you! I, I don’t know what to say!”

“Just say you’ll be at the Mega Mall, on Korbat 3rd street, right next to the Money Tree on Saturday. We’ll get you some neat accessories, too!” And with that, Ara ended the conversation abruptly, and turned her back on Millie. She trotted back to the school while the other Group members talked to Millie, and Ara smiled with a wicked malice gleaming in her eyes.

The next day was Saturday. Millie could hardly believe it! Her! A fat Lupe, invited to join an exclusive club! Wow! She left the house at 12 PM, and brought some NP with her. Running as fast as she could on her stiff legs, she suddenly remembered: the Mega Mall was closed for renovations! What was going on? At that instant, Millie was thrown backward. Someone had tripped her!

“Hey, Millie,” a snobby voice said. Millie looked up to see the smiling faces of the Group. “Want a new outfit?”

They dragged her through mud, and threw tattered bits of cloth onto her. “There’s your new outfit!” they screeched hysterically. Ara was the one who laughed the hardest, and Millie looked at her with burning rage.

“You’ll, you’ll get what’s coming to ya someday!” she spat out.

Rula stepped in front of the group, inches away from Ara. She spat onto Millie’s already tearstained face, and then sneered. “Come on gang,” Ara whinnied. “Let’s go.” And laughing, they trotted away from Millie, who still clutched a piece of cloth.

On Monday, Millie was nowhere to be found. Lenuoi spread the rumor that she was transferring into another school. What really happened was, as the children found out during first period, was that Millie was participating in a foreign exchange program, and someone from Tyrannia was coming to stay in her place. Ara whispered among her Group.

“Who do you think it’ll be?” she said in a high, perky voice. “Wanna do the same thing to her?”

“Sure!” Lyre, a red Chia who just joined the Group the last month, said. Just then, the school loudspeakers came on: We have just received word that our foreign exchange student, Talon, will be put into Class 7-6. Ara and the Group buzzed with excitement. 7-6 was their class! The door creaked open, and Ara got ready to pull another prank.

But what came out of the door wasn’t a girl. It was a dashingly handsome male Lupe, covered with fiery stripes on top of his silver coat. His liquid gold eyes were the same color as his tail, and his muscles rippled underneath his hide. Ara’s mouth dropped open. So did the rest of the girls’ in the class.

Mr. Nepenthe, their teacher, called the Lupe to the top of the classroom. “Class,” the Skeith said in a wheezing voice, “I would like you to meet Talon.”

Talon bowed, sweeping his tail on the ground, as sign of respect in Tyrannia, as the textbooks said. Mr. Nepenthe smiled, and then said, “You’re not in Tyrannia anymore, Talon, and you don’t have to do that.”

“But I do,” Talon replied in an equally handsome voice, “I was raised to be a warrior, and we have to show respect for those of higher status.”

Mr. Nepenthe blushed, and then recovered himself. “Why don’t you tell a little about your life in Tyrannia, Talon?” Talon faced the class.

“I was born into the warrior status, bound to serve the Tyrannian army if there was ever any trouble. We were trained in the highest schools, and had extensive knowledge of the world of Neopia. Our exchange programs allowed us to go to Faerieland, the Haunted Woods and every other place imaginable, and we were required to do two hours of exercise a day. My parents, Lilith and Thore, were both generals in the Tyrannian army before they retired. My sister, Maniple, acts as a scout, and foresees the whole of Neopia, weeding out the bad NeoPets and rewarding the good ones.”

The class applauded, and Talon, bowing once more, looked to Mr. Nepenthe. “Sir, where should I be seated?”

“Sit there, right next to Arabella.”

The class gasped, then giggled. Ara turned a bright shade of red as Talon smiled shyly at her and sat down.

At lunch, the Group crowded around Ara, asking her questions.

“Isn’t he gorgeous, Ara?”

“You are like, SOO LUCKY, ARA!”

“What a HUNK!”

“Did you see his muscles?”

“He’s so cute!” Ara glared at them for silence, then whispered, “Look over there.”

Over There two tables away, where Talon sat, trying to figure out how to eat an apple. Ara stood up, then, brushing her mane behind, trotted over to Talon. Talon looked up.

“Hello, Arabella,” he said. “Pray tell me--what is this strange object the lunch lady has given me?”

“That’s an apple, Talon. You eat it.”

So saying, Arabella turned on her charm and took a bite out of his apple. But it didn’t work quite the way she imagined it would; it always worked with other males. Talon sputtered, and dropped the apple.

“Is it a custom in Neopia to eat someone else’s food?! It is helpful when you tell me what an apple is, and what you do with it, but it’s another thing to take without permission. Or do males of lesser heart than I submit to your charm as easily as the worm crawls upward when rain falls?”

With a huff, he stood up, and casting a seething glare in her direction, stalked towards the playground, leaving Ara surprised, angry, and humiliated in front of the Group.

Ara was crushed. After the incident in the cafeteria, the other Group members saw the difference. No longer was she perky and mean to others. No longer did she have that twinkle in her eye, and no longer could she charm anyone into doing anything. Since Talon exploded in her face, Ara couldn’t lead the Group anymore. No one comforted her. Because Ara had let down her defense, most of the Group members were fighting for leadership, and Rula and Vixen made a tie, being the ones with the most venomous tongues. So, during Ara’s depression, Rula and Vixen took the lead.

“Like, what’s up with Talon?” Vixen said, reveling in her newly obtained, shared leadership with Rula.

“I like dunno, he’s like the first guy who’s never fallen for Ara.” Rula replied. They cast a glance at Ara, whom, though depressed, was still the prettiest of them all. No male had ever ignored her!

All of the girls in the Group secretly wanted to make Ara jealous, as did most of the girls in the school. They crowded around Talon, flirting with him and put on their most charming personalities right in front of Ara so she could see. However, he resisted their advances and ignored them.

“In Tyrannia I never had this kind of a problem,” he thought. “These spoiled, Neopian brats think they can get away with anything, especially those girls over there.” Talon trotted over to the playground and hid in some of the bushes while the girls swarmed past him, and wondered how the Lupe he had traded places with in Tyrannia was doing.

Millie was doing quite well in Tyrannia. There, no one was prejudiced against her for being over weight, and almost everyone treated her nicely. But the best part of Tyrannia was their schools. No mean girl groups awaited her, no gangs were there to make fun of her, and gym was actually her favourite class. Everyone increased at their own pace, and Millie found herself being transformed from a fat Lupe to a stronger one. She was getting healthier already! She decided to write a letter to Talon, the Lupe she had changed places with.

“Dear Talon,” she wrote, “How are you doing in Neopia? I hope the 'Group' isn’t giving you any trouble. I’m doing fine in Tyrannia. Everyone here is nice, and being fat doesn’t make you a target for bullies or anything. I think I’ll stay here, and you can stay in Neopia! Ha ha, I’m just joking. But really, I love being in Tyrannia. The food is great and the people are better. Anyway, write back soon! Sincerely, Millie”

She packed her letter up along with some Tyrannian foods, and shipped it to the school.

A week later, the package reached Talon. He opened it up; read her letter and chomped on some Farn Plants she had given him, and started writing his own letter back.

“Dear Millie, I’m doing fine. That is, if you call ‘fine’ being chased around by stupid girls everyday, being stared at by the boys, hated by the jocks and having the Group, if that is what you call the Neopians who hang around with that Uni, flirt with you. Neopia’s social system is so different than Tyrannia’s! I wish I were back there. Anyway, it’s great that you’re doing well in Tyrannia. I thought you’d never be able to adapt to our customs. Thanks for the Farn Plants, they were delicious. I’m sending you some apples. Talon”

He started to put it in an envelope, but a swift gust of wind blew it out of his paws and into the bushes. Talon searched feverishly for it, and then caught someone’s scent. Sniffing, he growled. It was that Gelert who followed him around everyday! What was her name, Vixen? What would she do with his letter, and his apples? Sniffing harder, he lost her scent when another gust of wind blew towards him.

Vixen opened Talon’s letter and gasped. Millie? The fat Lupe who they booted out? “He’s writing to her?” she thought out loud. She dashed towards the school yard and read his letter out loud to the Group members, who could hardly believe it. Ara’s eyes opened wide, first with surprise, then fury, then humiliation. But fury and jealousy took over, and she rose up like a tempest and tore the letter away from Vixen’s paws.

“Hey, what the heck are you-"

“I’d watch your mouth if I were you, Vicky,” Ara growled.

“-Okay, okay, sheesh…” Rula and Vixen exchanged glances, and crept towards the back. Leadership had been restored. Ara read his letter once, then again, then one more time, until she had read it three times. She was seething with envy.

“How could Talon like her and not I?” she thought. “I’m prettier, I’m leader of a whole club and he chooses her?” She could hardly contain her rage. Ara stomped on the letter and walked out of the playground.

The next day, the whole school was a buzz. It was only two weeks away until this year’s annual Girls-Ask-Boys-Out Dance. Everyone was wondering if Ara and the others would ask Talon out, but Talon would just snarl at the rumours. He did not know what a dance was at first.

“Dance? Is it a ceremony of some sort?” he asked the teacher.

“No,” Mr. Nepenthe said. “It’s more like a celebration.”

“What are we celebrating, sir?”

Mr. Nepenthe thought a moment. “The end of the school year.”

“What do we do at a dance?”

The teacher said, “Well, we dance, have fun, eat and socialize.”

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“What’s dance?”

When Talon finally found out what a dance was and how to do it, he was shocked at the prospect of having to have a female ask him.

“Even in Tyrannia it would be considered a form of embarrassment if the male did not have enough courage to… um… dance with the lady of his choice!” he thought. “I’ll have to tell Claw about this when I get home,” he thought. Claw was a golden Eyrie and his best friend. Right away he set about writing a letter during lunch. In all the weeks he had been here Talon still hadn’t made any friends. But that was okay- he preferred being a loner whenever he was in a new place.

“Raed Claw, Gag en Neopia, Ug em Soooo bod. Ag ook oog yet niet ci! Ugga en Neopia, dere si a hing lledca ‘dance’. Heta irlsga evah ook okk sybo! Owh era you nda Millie dong? H....”

“Hey, whatcha writing about?” Talon jumped. He was writing a letter in Tyrannian language, so that if he lost this letter Vixen wouldn’t be able to read it again. No matter, Claw would be able to read it. He looked up at the person who interrupted him, and bristled. Vixen. In Tyrannia, boys were not allowed to hit girls, no matter how much they angered them.

“But you’re not in Tyrannia anymore,” Talon thought.

“That may be,” he countered himself, “But warriors do not fight unless provoked. She did nothing except… steal my letter. Is that reason enough to fight?”

“I said, whatcha writing about?” Vixen leaned towards the table, her paws near his letter. Talon got up, and, ignoring her, went to another table and continued writing.

“Hey yht irlga amed ‘Vixen’. Hes ooga woo me letre! Ac.” But Vixen slammed her paw down, and Talon looked up again. “Who do you think you are, ignoring me?”

Talon had had it. “Who do YOU think YOU are, running around with your little friends, torturing little Neopians everywhere, thinking you can get away with murder, acting mean to everyone and especially to a Tyrannian warrior prince.” Talon gasped. He’d done it, let out his big secret. But he wouldn’t even let her speak. “Who do you think you are, behaving like a stupid spoiled brat, whipping your hair around everything, looking down on Neopians because they look different? Who do you think you are, making people feel bad, thinking you own the school and everyone in it, when in fact YOU are the people who are low, YOU are the people who are ugly, YOU are the people who will get nowhere in life and YOU will never have any real friends?”

Vixen started sobbing.

“No, don’t you dare cry. I have had enough. Since your leader what’s-her-name Ara came up to me your so-called ‘Group’ has been doing the exact same thing. I will not stand for this. Get your face out of mine and GO AWAY!”

Now it was Vixen’s turn to look up. Talon’s face had contorted into that of a demon’s, and he looked dangerous enough to tear up the whole school. Vixen shrunk back to the Group, her tail between her legs, this time crying real tears. The cafeteria had gone silent, and everyone was looking at him. Talon looked around. “What?” Instantly everyone stopped staring, but Vixen’s eyes bore into his and they locked in a gaze of disgust.

Three days later, Talon’s now finished letter reached Claw. “Dear Claw,” he read, “Here in Neopia, I am soooo bored. The classes are so primitive! Here in Neopia, there is a thing called ‘dance’. The girls ask out the boys! How are you and Millie doing? There is a girl named ‘Vixen’. She stole one of my letters. Sorry for jumping into different topics at once, but let me get to the most important one. Is there any way for Millie to come to Neopia? I’d like to ask her something. Oh, and about Vixen, the girl who stole one of my letters? Here’s a copy. Don’t let anyone but Millie read it. Vixen’s a pretty Gelert, but her looks just hide the swirling mass of darkness in her heart. She has a friend named Ara who is as horrible as she is, but much worse.

And about the dance? It is a special ceremony in which girls ask the boys out to, as my teacher says, ‘socialize, dance, have fun…’ or something like that. I still don’t’ understand it. Do you? And today I let the fact that I’m a prince slip out! Mother is going to "gerash" me! Anyway, I’ll write back later, even though the schools are primitive they give us lots of… ‘Homework’ or stuff you need to do at home. Talon”

Underneath his letter, there was another letter. Claw daintily reached in, and, fighting to resist the temptation of reading it himself since he was an honorable Eyrie, passed it on to Millie at gym.

The following week, Ara was dateless. She couldn’t find any guy who would go out with her. Since Talon had put her down in front of everybody at lunch, the other guys were more resistant to her charms. Nor could any of the Group members. They whole group seemed to be falling apart. And what’s more, none of the others would believe Vixen when she told them that Talon was a prince. So she was left to brood, alone, and stare daggers at him whenever he walked past. Ara had kicked Lenuoi and Rula out of the Group, because they were trying to ‘steal her place’. Lyre was mostly ignored because she was the youngest, and the remaining two group members, Ara and Vixen, had their own problems to worry about.

The breaking point finally came when both of them had to ask out Dum and Mud, the school’s dumbest boys to the dance, or go dateless, which was even worse. Dum was an ood-coloured Buzz, and Mud was a mud-coloured Quiggle who always had his webbed fingers up his nose. Ara could hardly hide her happiness the morning before the dance when she heard the latest rumour: Millie was coming back! And because Millie was coming back, Talon would be gone, and she would reign supreme again! She was soon to be surprised. She went out to the playground to tell her newest friends, a purple Meerca named Rachel and a Blue Mynci named April. But before she could get there, someone stopped her.

"Hello Ara."

Ara whirled around from where she was standing. "Who are you?" she gave the girl a seething eye-over.

"You'll get what's coming to ya," the girl said quietly.

Ara's eyes opened in horror. "Millie? But... you're..."

"Prettier?" she said quietly.

The trip to Tyrannia certainly changed her. She was no longer fat--the gym classes there must certainly work. Her colour had changed from a pale yellow to a sleek, golden shine. Her watery eyes were burning with liquid fire, fire that spread through Ara's bones and made her heart stop.

"Surprised, Arabella? Heh. Funny how a couple of Farn Plants can do to ya... A couple of Farn Plants and some compassion."

Ara stepped backward. Now that she did not have a group of worshippers at her beck and call, she was helpless. "You know, that really hurt, what you did to me," Millie said in a slow, drawling voice dripping with revenge.

"Hey, I was just playing, I didn't mean... anything... by it..." Ara stepped backwards once more.

"What's wrong? Can't face me without your pals?"

Ara looked around. A group of NeoPets was forming around them, and excited whispers sprang up from the middle of the crowd.

"Here's your outfit back." She dumped a pile of ripped cloth on top of Ara's head. "Remember? I saved it."

The silence that followed was deafening. Finally, a green Chia stepped up. She was small, and had a bruise on her left paw. "Hey Ara, remember me? It's that 'little pip-squeak' that your friends stomped on when I asked for your autograph." The Chia was burning with rage. Suddenly, dozens of voices followed the Chia's.

"Hey, it's me, the green slime you wailed on, remember?"

"Hey Ara, remember our last date? You dumped me in front of the guys, and only because I told you my family was poor."

"Ara, remember me? She kicked me in my shins once just because I accidentally tripped you."

"Hey, Ara!"

"Ara!"

"Remember me?"

"Remember this?"

"Ara!"

"ARA!"

Ara started sobbing, but the voices kept coming. But the loudest voice of all was a whisper that came from the middle of the mob:

"You'll get what's coming to ya."

And she did.

Epilogue: The next day, Ara didn't come to school. Her mother had phoned and told the principal that she had a fever. Millie was suddenly the star of the school. She was the bravest one to stand up to Ara, and had even survived. What's more, she and Talon had simultaneously asked each other to the dance! It took a long while, but Millie managed to teach Talon how to waltz by the time the night was over. Talon and Millie returned to Tyrannia, where Millie's parents had found a job working as furniture salespeople, and made a huge profit. Talon visited Millie every day, though he got in trouble once or twice when sneaking out of the house. Claw stays best friends with Talon, and Millie teaches him how to dance. He grows up to become a Tyrannian dance teacher. Lenuoi, Lyre, Rula, Vixen and the Group members scattered. They were jeered at in the hallways, and the pets whom Ara had tormented long ago have formed their own group, called the "Innocent". And as for Ara, she was broken into a million pieces and scattered to the wind. With her spirit gone, she walks the hallways, being hit by thousands of bubblegum blobs each day, and never bothers anyone ever again. And Mud and Dum? I don't know, you figure it out.

The End