Chapter 32 : Dirty secrets 

“So, here’s how it’ll be!” said Jenny, straightening herself to make herself look taller, to no effect thought Lindsey. “We’ll talk, and no bullshit, no lies, no secret between us! I won’t have my two aces and my soon to be future champion festering in resentment and anger! So be ready to spill the beans!”

“Easy for you to say that…” growled Helena, still glaring at Samantha, who was doing the same to her. “You’ve got nothing to hide, just a pretty life, in a normal family.”

“It’s not because us Hamington are just middle class from Batonrouge that we don’t have our difficulties you know?” grumbled jenny. “It’s just that I don’t play the drama queen and don’t feel the need to speak about it. Usually. But if it’s needed, I’ll start then!”

“You don’t need to!” interjected Lindsey, feeling unsure of revealing everything that plagued her, even to those three peoples she considered her friends, and a Minor she didn’t knew much about.

“Yes, I do. Don’t worry, no one has to say more than she wishes for. And it’ll stay between us. I’m pretty sure that even Shawna would be able to keep it a secret, but if she doesn’t feel able to, she can always wait her turn in your room or something, and be called when we’ll have finished our little talk.”

“I vouch for her. My cousin’s not an airhead, and she doesn’t bond with so many peoples. My mother, my daddy, and me, of course, so she can come to classes’ every day. She won’t be talk about anything we’ll say to anyone.”

“As if I couldn’t pry such memories from her mind without trying” huffed Sam. “It’s not a good idea for her to be a part of… whatever this is you have in mind Jenny.”

“Oh, now you’re talking normally constantly, eh?” grumbled Helena, glaring at her friend.

“I could spaak lika I that if you want. It wouldn’t changa a thing in what I said!” hissed Samantha.

“Stop it! Both of you! Or I’ll have the coach benching you for this year nationals!” yelled Jenny.

“You wouldn’t! We’re the best, you said it yourself!”

Helena was awestruck by this threat and Lindsey noticed that Sammy was even too apoplectic to speak, with or without her “quirk”. She was also quite surprised by Jennifer’s outburst. Somehow, she had taken her for a lecherous, a little airheaded, girl, who was in the club only because of her desire to seduce and have sex with muscular teenage MAJORS. But the fire in her eyes and the determination of her clenched jaws were proof enough that the young Ferrand had been wrong. Still, she decided to try and bring the conversation to other topics.

“Jenny. There is no need to resort to this kind of threats! We won’t be revealing our deepest secrets or whatever. I mean… I spilt the fact that my brother is with Shannon inadvertently, none of you want to trust me with this kind of information!”

“It would have gone public anyway” dismissed Jenny. “You may even have given the Matthewson an opportunity. Plus, as I said, nothing too grievous, which would impact your future. You got long lives before you, girls.”

“We all have, you included” pointed Lindsey.

“And your threat is kind of meaningless anyway” giggled Helena, “considering that my Carlena will be born around the nationals, so it’s not sure I’ll take a part this year.”

“You’re having a Minor baby, not a porcelain doll Hel. You’ll be able to feed her easily no matter what, and she’ll be with the team at all time. I’m pretty sure that your baby will be fine. Now, go and fetch your cousin please!” ordered Jenny. “Or face the consequences: no more Gengis Khan parties for you!”

Lindsey’s bones rattled a little when Helena literally bolted through the house. It was just then that she realized that while she was still smaller and lighter than her cousin, Helena Beaulac was probably also weighting in the several tons, with an insane level of strength. She wondered how strong she truly was, and if she would win in a fight with her billionaire cousin. Perhaps helping Alejandro fall for her would be better for his health… Then again, Shannon can probably hire goons to shot down Helena, no matter the price.

“Someday, I would like for Helena to remember that not everyone is made of hard rock” grumbled Jenny, who was probably feeling the powerful steps of the black behemoth even more than Lindsey.

“Dream on. Giant MAJORS like her never do” laughed Sammy.

“You know other Cyclopeans?” asked Jenny, genuinely surprised.

“Please, don’t call them like that… It’s a very bad name given by a very bad person” complained Lindsey. “My Mama hate the Waid guy who created it, she says he doesn’t understand shit about genetics and how evolution truly works.”

“Well it’s the consecrated term now, sweetie, no matter how much you dislike it. But I could always comfort you if it really hurts you so bad” teased jenny, managing to cradle against Lindsey’s side.

“Urgh, I swear to God that if YOUR revelation is that your lesbian, I’ll kick your ass so bad you won’t be walking straight for the rest of College!”

“But Sam, we’re in High School” taunted Jenny, putting her arms around Lindsey’s waist.

“THAT’S THE POINT!” roared the Poalini girl, in such an over the top way that it made Lindsey laugh.

“You gals are crazy” smiled Helena, returning with a visibly shaken Shawna cradled in her arms. “Now, don’t go offending or hurting my cutie pie here, or I’ll be really angry. Got it, Samantha?”

“Stop it! No fight in my house!” immediately said Lindsey, with her sternest voice.

“I thought it was…”

“Whatever! ‘Rando’s house my house, okay! Now, since jenny won’t bulge on this idea, everyone’s sit! We’ll do it and then we’ll decide what we’ll do for the rest of the day!”

“Sire, yes sir!” joked Jenny, immediately letting herself fall on the floor, while the others followed suit only after a roll of their eyes.

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“So, as I said, I’m starting” calmly explained Jenny, smiling at the four other girls. “And I may as well go big, tell something MAJOR, right? Right?”

“Your puns are as terrible as ever” sighed Helena, shaking her head in disbelief. “Please, spare us, oh great master, and deliver the news to us.”

“Pff, you wouldn’t recognize comedy gold if it hit you is what it is… My humor’s fine, it got me plenty of peoples in my bed. Including the two most muscular women present today!”

“The point, Janny! Plaase!” begged Samantha, returning to her strange and usual speech pattern.

“Fine, fine… So… I’m a halfsy.”

“… Come again?” asked Lindsey, whose eyes were now bulging out of their socket.

“You heard it right. I’m a halfsy, not a MAJOR.”

Silence fell on the assembly, the three MAJORS looking at each other and then their friend’s extremely serious face as if unable to even process this revelation. Lindsey at least knew that it was completely out of left field. There was no way that a Minor, even an halfsy one, would have been able to pass for a MAJOR for so long, and no Minor would have had the opportunity to become manager of a club in any High School. It was a big prank from the blue-haired girl, a way to shock them before the true reveal.

“You’re too big to be a minor!” suddenly blurted Shawna, who looked positively shaken by Jennifer’s joke.

“Says who? The tallest minor ever was Aino Vahanen, a Finnish woman, who ended being 2m53 (8f3), and I’m 2m45 (8f). And she was also a halfsy. Sure, she lived like, 150 years ago, but still! It happened!” boasted Jenny.

“No way… You’re a minor…” slowly said Helena, while a strange smile crept on her face.

“If you think about getting me in those arms of yours and against your tits… wait later! And you better drop any idea of treating me differently! Because you won’t ever be able to prove that I’m not a MAJOR!”

“What? You just told us you aren’t one! Come on Jenny! You aren’t even a Righter! Just let me cuddle you, please?” begged Helena.

“Come on, really! Can’t you saa sha’s fucking with us!?” blurted Samantha, now glaring at her friend. “If wa can’t prove you aran’t a MAJOR, that’s bacause you are!”

“Or because my certificate of birth was faked by a good friend of my parents, back in Batonrouge” smiled Jenny. “I guess you’ll have to wait for about 20 years to see if I’m telling the truth then. And please, Helena, if you start treating me differently than before, I’ll make your life hell. Believe me.”

“I would like to say that” chuckled the colossal MAJOR.

“You can’t talk to her like that!” suddenly bursted Shawna, before blushing a lot when four pairs of eyes fell on her. “If you’re a minor, you can’t speak like that to a MAJOR” she repeated nonetheless.

“Why not?” asked Lindsey softly. “We aren’t gods, or better than minors…”

“Of course you are!” interrupted the little teenager. “You… you’re stronger, smarter, taller, sexier…”

“Yes, yes! But we aren’t better peoples! By the simple virtue of being MAJORS, we aren’t! In fact, we are the opposite! We are petty, vindictive, temperamental and generally arrogant assholes!”

“Whoa there! I’m nothing of the sort!”

“Ah, Halana, you’re like tha worst of us!”

“You bitch is ten times worse than me!” roared the black giantess, glaring viciously at the mixed blonde.

“Oh yeah! Wanna try to prove it? I’m pratty sure I can kick your ass so bad that you’ll be crying for weeks on end!”

“With or without your super-powers of creepgirl?” sneered Helena.

“And thanks to both of you to prove Lindsey’s point so brilliantly!” shouted Jenny to try and defuse the tension.

“But… you ARE a minor” still pressed on Shawna.

“Perhaps. But I don’t feel like one, not even a halfsy. I’m a MAJOR, at least in my mind. And I refuse to be seen as anything but a MAJOR. Clear?”

“Yeah… fine by me” affirmed Sam. “Just don’t expect me to take your bullshit about not returning to the well anymore. I liked this one far too much.”

“You perv” laughed Helena. “But I agree, things won’t change between us. Even if it’s such a shame… I’m pretty sure that you would love to bond with me.”

“And I don’t see why you being a halfsy should change anything for me. I mean, I want Minors to have more rights, how could I not support you?” asked Lindsey, smiling at Jenny, who beamed and cooed at that.

“Wonderful. Now, Sammy, it’s up to you! Explain to everyone why you lose your shit as soon as someone point out that you usually speak like a three years old. A stupid one, at that!”

“You little… I don’t see why I should be the one following suit! Helena and Shawna should do, and together at that!”

“Because otherwise you won’t do it!” explained the blue-haired teen, sounding bored. “I know you.”

“What does that even… you know what, I don’t care. Fine, I’ll do it! But you all better not blabber about it to anyone! Except your brother, perhaps, and only if he can keep his mind shut when he’s with whoever fuck his brain…” she added ominously to Lindsey.

“Hey! You know he’s not like that! You couldn’t even enter his mind without trying!” complained the young Ferrand, a little offended now.

“Yeah, sure… Look, I’m sorry” hastily added Samantha when she saw Lindsey taking a deep intake of air, obviously preparing a rant. “It’s just that… It’s a really touchy subject to me. My dad, he was… he was a soldier. After 9/11, he was sent into Afghanistan, Irak or whatever the country he calls “the sandbox” was. He made two full tours, about 3 years in total, there… And when he came back…”

Samantha made a strange noise and Lindsey realized that she was choking on tears. Her eyes were full of it and her face crumpled as she tried to contain them. The pre-teen didn’t know what to do. She suspected that Jim Paolini had been affected by war, she had seen enough series to know about PTSD and all that. But, at the end of the day, she had lived a rather sheltered life, with wealthy parents –at least, they were wealthy in old Creek, in New Orleans she had already found herself alongside peoples of a lot more fortune!

“Sorry” sniffed Sammy. “So, sniff, before he went to war, I had a defective speech pattern, more or less the one I use today. And when he came back, traumatized, I tried to rekindle it, because it made him feel more at home. I took the habit to do it, to alleviate his mind and… and make him forget what I am.”

“What? Why would you be ashamed of being a MAJOR?” asked Helena, completely lost.

“I’m not just a MAJOR, I’m a Tier 3” mumbled the Iron Girl, hanging her head in shame. “It means that… it means that I fantasize about minors! All the fucking time! Each and every one I see, I can’t help but… but feel a craving for them! And I hate it, and I hate their stupid thoughts about their stupid problems, and I hate how they hurt my daddy so bad!” finally burst Samantha, letting out a powerful wail and sobbing uncontrollably.

“Hey, hey ! It’s fine, it’s fine!” sniffed Lindsey, rushing to her friend’s side to try and comfort her.

“No it’s not! Look at how sad I’m making you all! Even you, a Tier2! I’m a freak, and… Uuuh… Uuuh…”

Lindsey stopped for a moment and looked around her. Shawna was silently crying rivers, her little hands clutching her plump bosom, while Helena’s eyes leaked water, on of her hand securing her cousin while the other tried and failed to hide her face. As for Jenny, she was all teary eyed but somehow managed to keep it relatively together. I guess if she has had to pretend that she is a MAJOR, she has had to learn how to protect her mind, realized Lindsey. As for herself, she could feel her psyche wiring itself on Sam’s mental state pretty firmly, which wasn’t a good thing.

“Hey big girl! You don’t want to ruin your reputation. Who would take seriously an Iron Girl crying like you do, uh?” she tried, hoping to lift the more massive MAJOR’s spirits.

But only did was to make Sam cry even more and suddenly let herself fall completely on her. Lindsey let out of “oompf” when the mass of her friend rested on her. At 2m93 (9f3), Samantha would already have a lot over Lindsey’s own “small” 2m53 (8f3) in terms of weight. But her powerful muscles simply added to it and Lindsey struggled to not be crushed underneath her during the first few seconds. Then she pushed, not that hard, and managed to put Sam back in a relative stable position.

“Let her cry a little, she’ll calm down soon” said Jenny, before blowing her nose in a handkerchief. “Or I hope she will, I don’t want to have a running nose now of all time!”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry” cried Samantha. “It’s just that… I feel so conflicted! Minors fucked up my daddy, and I still think about them all the time! It’s torture!”

“But what did they do?” managed to ask Lindsey even as her throat tightened.

“He was… he was in a mission to lib… liberate some peoples, including minors, from… from insurgents, or terrorists, or… or whatever. And… and there was a fight, and there was a young kid, a min… a minor, daddy said he wasn’t older than six or seven… And there was an explosion, and daddy stumbled back and he… he crushed the boy to death under his boots!”

Samantha let out another wail even while Lindsey felt her stomach starting a revolution. She had to gulp down several times to keep its content inside and not throw it. As Sam’s sorrow begun to abate, if only a little, she heard the others struggling to. She didn’t dare to look at them however, since she didn’t feel so great herself. Suddenly, jenny’s idea to defuse the tension seemed rather terrible, but the young girl couldn’t skip it, and she decided that the best way to change the mood was to take the Tier 3’s mind out of it.

“It’s terrible… but it’s not your father’s fault, or your, or anyone…” she started. “But me? I scarred my brother for life when he was at his most vulnerable.”

“What are you talking about? He seems to like you pretty much,” asked Helena, even as Samantha’s managed to get a little over her pain to look at the youngest member of the group.

“It’s true, but it’s probably because he has forgotten about it, or put it somewhere he doesn’t think about… But I know I hurt him good” explained Lindsey. “You see, after the Incident, when… when a MAJOR crushed his arm into a pulp and tried to beat our other brother, also a MAJOR, to death… ‘Rando… Alejandro, sorry, was in the hospital for months, and then, when he came home, he was secluded in his room and my parents refused to let me see him.”

“That’s awful…” whispered Jenny, yet loud enough to be heard.

“No, it was necessary, I realize it now. My brother… he doesn’t trust MAJOR as a rule. Not at all, not even today. But me? I was two when the Incident happened, and barely four when I… I barged into his room one day. I was still small enough to use his door in the door, and I went in. before the Incident, he always played with me, and we laughed a lot, I remember that much. But here he was, frozen in place, behind some… construction, made of wood, or matches, I don’t know…”

“And then what?” asked Shawna, leaning forward, a morbid fascination on her little face.

“I assumed he was just surprised to see me, you know? We hadn’t seen each other for almost two years by then! Two years… So I… I rushed to get him in my arms. I rushed through the construction, I completely bulldozed it, it was so fragile, and I took him in my arms to hug him. And then he screamed.”

Lindsey shuddered. Just talking about it, that one moment where she had been too young, too stupid, to truly grasps what had happened to her ‘Rando. Even today, years after the fact, it made her feel dirty, a little sick even. The way Alejandro had screamed, as if he was about to die, the utter terror he had released… everyone in the house had felt it. No one had ever told him so, but her Papa, her Mama and even Alaric had felt his psychic wail of utter terror. And none of them were Tier 2.

“To me, it was as if I had been hit in the face, stronger than I’ve ever been before or since… He wasn’t just screaming, he was absolutely, completely, terrified. I… I’m a Tier 2, so I knew exactly what he had in mind: I was there to crush him to death, to finish what the… the monster who had hurt him so bad had started. My Mama came in and made me leave the room, and my Papa calmed me down, because I felt so horrible but… But that wasn’t the worse of it.”

“What could be worse than… than that!?” exclaimed Helena, horror etched on her face. “I mean, girl! I’m a Tier 2, I know what it is to have a Minor projecting his mind out for all to hear! And that… God almighty… I hope I’ll never experience it myself…”

“I hope you won’t either… But yeah, there was something worse than that…. For the next few days, I kept crying, because I was certain that I would never be allowed near ‘Rando ever again… and then, he came into my room.”

“What? He has a death wish or what?” asked Jenny, baffled at what Lindsey had just said.

“No. He has a heart of gold, underneath all his defenses. He knew he had made me sad, and he came to say sorry… He said to me… Eh, it’s almost funny in retrospect” chuckled Lindsey, new tears welling in her eyes. “He said that he was sorry he had made me sad and that he would try to be better, so I wouldn’t be… And I’ve never been able to tell him how terrible it made me feel… How… how utterly despicable that I only cared about me not seeing him, during all those days…”

“You were a kid. You shouldn’t hurt yourself so much about it” affirmed Shawna, her voice strangely strong. “I… I hadn’t realized what he had endured. I still don’t like your brother, or his ideas” she hastily added. “But I understand them. I… I want to speak my mind too, but I… I need to talk about our families’ past first and…”

“We need, little baby” interrupted Helena, putting a hand on her cousin’s small shoulders. “We both need to do it. Together.”