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“..And remember, if your nose bleeds again, you have to tilt your head back like this.” A young woman approaching her mid-thirties had squeezed her nose and tilted her head backwards to demonstrate it to the young child in front of her.
The young girl nodded, and looked downwards at the small pack of tissues in her palm the woman had left her as the car drove off without another word. No tearful goodbyes nor farewells, just a drop-off and go. This didn’t irk Clementine in the slightest, however. She was thin and frail physically, but shared a common build with the majority of the other girls that live around here, yet emotionally still for the most part.
“I guess I better make it to my new home.” Clementine thought to herself,
with her own voice echoing within the chambers of her mind. She wheeled her singular bag of luggage on the stone-laced path that was ahead of her. It appears that she would be there in no time, as it appeared to be a 5 minute walk.
She appeared to have made it to the main plaza of Berry Bitty City, as what surrounded her were various buildings and houses. “Uh.. am I.. here?” Clementine said out loud. Suddenly, a hoard of colorful, young girls started running up to her, as if her voice herself had summoned them.
“Woah-” she said before being bombarded by them. “Uhm.. hi. I brought.. fruit?” She took out a basket full of wintermelons, as that was her favorite flavor of bubble tea growing up. The girls squealed in unison as they picked up the fruit from the basket and examined them. Clementine was a little taken aback, but placed a smile on her face to keep the mood nice, up beat and bubbly.
The fact that they didn’t mind her at all and accepted her as one of their own brought heat to Clem’s face, for she had finally felt a new warmth for once. This feeling was called.. hope. This situation that was unfolding in front of her was berry promising because.. maybe she finally met the people who would shed light on those unacknowledged aspects of her character. She was more than just a girl who dances and practices violin routinely, more than just someone shoved in a corner afterwards, she can be more than that, she can be included with all of these girls that seemed to be in the spotlight ever since they stepped onto this world.
All of those euphoric feelings and thoughts flooded Clementine’s brain until..
“We didn’t quite catch your name.” the strawberry-scented redheaded girl said while looking at her with those lime-shaded eyes.
“Oh. I’m Clementine. Clementine Liu.” the pale-haired girl said while naturally staring down at the floor, not used to people being platonically confrontational with her.
“Clementine?” repeated the amethyst-hued girl, with a curious expression on her face before looking at the pink-shaded girl with green highlights in her appearance.
“..Hm? Did I say something w-wrong?” Clementine stated as a sweat bead started to tilt downwards on her cheek.
“No, no! Not at all.” The red-headed girl reassured her.
“It’s just that, your name reminded us, or rather- me, at least, of Orange Blossom!” said the purple-shaded girl.
“Orange.. blossom?” Clementine said slowly, trying to conceptualize what she had just heard.
“Yeah! Right now she’s busy at Orange Mart, but we can take you to meet her if you’d like!” The blonde girl said with a pair of twin green ribbons paralleling down her sides.
She gulped.
“Um.. sure! Let’s go meet this.. Orange, blossom..” Clementine said, showing her true peculiar
nature.
Her adoptive mother had always told her that she’ll be one of a kind with her duo of ballet and violin skills. She had even brought her a custom-painted violin of her favorite colors for her seventh birthday. Despite all of those validating words and experiences that secured her sense of individuality, somehow it felt threatened by hearing another girl with such a similar first name pre-existing. Hearing about this, it challenges everything that she’d lived for right up to this very moment.
The purple-haired girl wrapped her arm around Clementine, which made her heart skip a few beats before calming down, more so than before she discovered Orange Blossom’s mere existence. “My name’s Plum Pudding. It’s berry nice to meet you, hehe!” she giggled.
Clementine was able to let loose a genuine, carefree smile, and once she realized that, it was almost as if a soft stroke of dark cocoa powder spawned across her face. Somehow, she honestly felt safe, albeit flustered that Plum was being so physically clingy already, despite them knowing each other for not even a minute. Still, it made her happy and told her that maybe, she has nothing to worry about, for a bit.
The rest of the girls followed along to Clementine and Plum’s mini journey to Orange Mart. Even though she may have made some new friends just in a couple of minutes, or,
seconds
rather, she couldn’t suffocate the heavy beating taking place within her chest increasing with every step of the way.
Who was this Orange Blossom? What was she like? Did she look anything like me?
Thoughts like that swirled within her mind.
A tanned girl had peered out the window, before opening the door of Orange Mart wide. “Ah! Strawberry, Plum, Lemon, Blueberry and Raspberry! You’re all here!”. Plum had left Clementine alone for a moment to join into the big group hug that was halfheartedly expected from Orange.
“Yep! Along the way, we made a berry new friend!” Strawberry, the red-head girl smiled in Orange’s direction. “Oh really? Who’s that?” Orange asked, not realizing that the
new girl
is standing right in front of her.
Clementine felt her soul enter a whole new phase of sadness from this. Surely, she would’ve memorized the appearances of all of her old-time friends to the point where she could’ve noticed Clem, practically like a particle of salt in a pile of sugar, right?
“She’s right here! Feel free to introduce yourself, Clem!” Plum Pudding said with a excited expression, watching Clementine’s, waiting for it to change. “Oh, uh.. Hiya. I’m Clementine Liu. It’s nice to meet you and everyone here.” Clementine said, while extending her sweaty hand outwards nervously.
Orange Blossom paused for a moment to understand what was being said, and she shook Clementine’s hand with a painted smile. Clementine could sense that she was just being kind to her, but not exactly the genuine saccharine kindness she’d just saw reflected in Plum’s actions.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Clementine! Please, come on in!” Orange said as she raised her arm towards her face, gesturing a entering motion towards the shop. All the girls walked in, except Clementine. She nervously examined Orange Blossom’s appearance, head to toe. Observing all the colors, and everything.
“Is something wrong?” stated Orange, with a confused expression on her face. “Ah.. no.” Clem replied as she nervously laughed it off. Orange closed the door behind her as Clementine seemed to be engulfed entirely by the overwhelming shades of oranges coming at her through her irises.
“Is this what it means to truly live your life to the fullest?”
Clementine nervously thought to herself. “Nearly everything is orange in this place.. she sure lives up to her name.. and yet I only had puny wintermelons to share with everyone..” Clementine sighed softly to herself, not being able to take her eyes off from the floor.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Clementine had opened the window in the hallway while coughing a bit to get rid of her father’s smoke in the house. Her mother was too busy using the laptop looking for new places for Clem to live on her own now, while her father had just exhaled a cigarette.
Clementine genuinely felt like she was someone who was deeply loved by her two adoptive parents, despite the notable flaws in their relationships. She was sent off to practice ballet with a group of other unnamed girls around her age, and practice her violin with a teacher for several hours during the weekdays. She would come back to a home of disarray, with clothing, books and other effects scattered across the ground, with a dustpan full of broken glass and other broken objects. Clementine would just say “I’m home”, carefully avoiding the dustpan and the other items on the floor before walking upstairs to her room, continuing her studies or taking a nap. That was always her normal, and life in Berry Bitty City was about to become her new normal. Guilt was starting to eat her parents up like moths to a abandoned piece of clothing.
“I don’t understand. All I ever thought was important for a child to know regularly is to hone their skills.” Clementine’s father said, while staring expressionlessly at the ever-changing television screen. “I agree, that’s why I placed her in ballet and music classes so she can feel.. normal.” the mother said as she was sulking in her computer chair.
“Well,” her father got up from his recliner to grab the nearby newspaper on the table, “there’s nothing normal about a lab experiment.”. Clementine’s mother abruptly stopped typing and said her husband’s name disapprovingly. “What? It’s true. In her life, there’s going to be nothing but abnormal encounters and expectations. Hell, it would be abnormal if we found a place for this freak to live!” he said while crinkling the newspaper enough to make a loud rustling sound. “Our daughter is not a freak!” the mother screamed, while lowering her voice enough to not alert Clementine in her room.
“When I said I wanted a daughter, this isn’t what I had in mind. We’re not dying her hair, another reason why she’s yet to be in public schooling as of now. We can’t take her back to the scientists who gave us to her because their lab shut down. She’s a anomaly. It’s best we leave her to her own devices like we’ve been doing for the past eighteen years.” the father said with a strict tone, with his natural depth sinking every word into his wife’s mind. She had nothing more to say. Her dreams of having a cute daughter to take to school, make lunches for and take on trips were destroyed once they saw Clementine’s appearance.
“Still.. even if she may be a freak as you say.. she’s still a young girl. We can’t leave her all alone in this cruel world.” the mother said, with her hands clasped together as she looks down at the pale computer keyboard.
“That’s what you always tend to say. How much longer can we keep this act up?” He said while reading the next page of the newspaper.
Clementine’s mother regained herself and continued to scroll in the local list of neighborhoods they can send her to. “Ah.. there’s one.”
“What?” Clementine’s father said.
“Berry.. Bitty.. City.” the mother said as she clicked on a candid image of some of the girls there. “The girls there seem to have natural.. unnaturally colored hair there, too. I think we found the right place.”
“Good. Tell her to start packing.” the father said as he lowered the newspaper down to look at her.
Clementine’s mother sat in silence for a moment before getting up from the computer desk.
She went upstairs and knocked on Clementine’s door. “Clem, honey! Please come out, we need you for something.” Clementine yawned while rubbing her left eye as she opened her bedroom door, as she has yet to change out of her daytime clothes. “Yes, mother?” she responded.
“Come downstairs. Your father and I need to talk with you.” the mother said to her with a serious, unfeeling expression.
“Oh… okay.” replied Clementine. Somehow she sensed the perception of the lovable world she was living in was starting to crack, before shattering momentarily.
“Hello, Clementine.” said her father, before putting the newspaper aside to pay attention to the conversation. “Hi, dad.” replied the young girl.
“Clementine.. there’s no easy way to tell you this, but.. we decided it’s time for you to move out.” said the mother, while staring at the moving trees outside. Silence rang for a few moments before Clementine could finally find the words to respond. “But.. why? I’ve been good, great if anything, so why?” replied Clementine, with a newly panicked expression.
“It’s because.. your father and I believe you deserve better than the life we’ve gave you. You deserve to be surrounded by people who could come to understand you on a more in-depth level than what we’ve barely scraped the surface on. And, it’s not right for you to come home to a mess all the time..” said the mother, now staring into Clementine’s small, pastel tangerine-colored eyes.
Clementine looked downwards. Her face looked like it was about to shatter. Even though her mother unlocked new opportunities for her, such as learning the wonders of the beautiful violin, and absorbing the articulate and delicate nature of ballet that reflected her particular nature of things.. why would she ever need to leave this world? Yes, everyday was the same, but she found great joy in that.
“But mom..” Clementine said, trying to not burst into tears.
“She’s right, Clem. In these eighteen long years, we feel like we barely got to know you growing up, and now, it’s too late. No one else really knows you except us at the very least, and I think we should give the world a opportunity to get to know you.” said her father, with a stern yet light-hearted tone in his voice with his arms crossed.
Clementine’s mother turned around to grab a hair accessory that she’d been holding on ever since Clementine was a child, that she had yet to give to her because it was simply too big for her head. She had added wintermelon seads as decorative beads to the headband, to acknowledge her Chinese heritage and try to accept Clem as her own child. Now seemed to be the perfect time to give it to her.
“Here, a beaded headband with a little sunflower on it. It’s a little distressed, just like how I’m feeling right now but it’s yours, to remember us by.” the mother said while handing it to her. It came from Kansas, the state the laboratory she originated from was located.
Clementine paused as she felt the subtle material of the strings within the headbands, and feeling the wintermelon seeds that were placed within them.
“Mom.. Dad.. do you love me?” Clementine asked, her eyes pooling with tears, trying her best to keep herself together.
“Clem.. I..” the mother was about to say before being cut off by her father. “Yes, Clem, of course we love you. That’s why we’re doing this. It’s for the best.”
Clementine wiped her tears out of her eyes with her sleeve, and sniffled.
“You can still take your violin and ballet clothes with you to your new home!” her mother tried to reassure her.
“But wait.. we have something to give to you.” said her father. He got up and grabbed a medium sized wooden case, and opened it. It was a antique Chinese battle axe, passed down from generation to generation within his family. Placed aside it was a ribbon with a smiley face in the center of it, created by her mother as a extra decoration for Clem, just for a moment like this.
Clementine’s mother’s eye’s wided, before looking into his eyes for reassurance, and then calming down afterwards.
“Wha.. what would I need this, for?” Clementine asked innocently.
“Well.. just in case you need to deal with some difficult emotions.” said the mother, slightly smiling a bit and grasping the thin fabric on her dress. Her father nodded, closed the case and handed it to Clem. When she felt the weight of the axe upon her, her soul seemed to understand what her mother meant entirely.
“Feel free to start placing that in your luggage.” said her father. “I’m here to help you with anything you need.” the mother added on, with a patchwork-like smile on her face.
“..Okay.” Clementine said with a now, serious yet neutral expression. The best thing she can possibly do is to maintain that emotion as she goes through the necessary motions of this task.
Clementine zipped up her pale green and purple luggage bag with white flower graphics on it. She was all packed, in less than 10 minutes because she didn’t really have a lot of belongings to begin with, other than a few outgrown ballet dresses she can leave behind. Some of what she packed besides the battle axe was all of her sheet music, a cucumber and mayonnaise sandwich, and some wintermelons to give to her neighbors.
It was a nice spring day as she wheeled her luggage into the pathway of her house, finally clear of any glass or misplaced items around the area for once. Her father placed her luggage in the trunk and both women entered the car as her father waved goodbye. It was about to be a 2-hour drive.
During this time, the new reality was starting to settle in. Her time as a student was seemingly up. There won’t be anymore violin nor ballet lessons anymore. No more avoiding glass at the entrance of her home. Even though a lot of other girls her age would label her life as “nuanced”, that was everything to her.
The stress compounded on her rattling psyche started to manifest in her nose dripping with newfound blood. “Uh- mommy? My nose is starting to bleed again..” Clementine said over her mother’s shoulder as she squeezed her nose softly.
Her mother haphazardly tossed her a soft tissue pack, not taking her eyes off the road for less than 3 seconds. Clementine was honestly ignorant unintentionally to the cruel nature of her life, because she had something to preoccupy her time, her life with. Now that this routine is changing and she’s being introduced to new territory overall, she was unleashed to the cruel nature without any sugarcoating whatsoever. Considering that this was most likely the last time she would see her mother again, there was nothing more to say.
Clementine grabbed the tissue, covered her nose with it and squeezed it as she slowly tilted her head backwards.
“This is going to be a long ride..” she thought to herself.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Well, nevermind that thought..” thought Clementine. She was here now in Orange Blossom’s house. That place felt as though it was going to collapse downwards on her. It’s not like it could be any worse though.. right?
By the time Clementine had finally escaped her own head, she realized that Orange Blossom had taken over the focus back to her, and all of the girls were discussing amongst theirselves about how they’ve spent the weekend. There seemed to be no entryway for Clementine to enter herself in the conversation. That fact alone seemed to crumble the newfound hope that was born just a few moments ago. It seemed they had already found theirselves a
berry
reliable friend that represented, oranges for crying out loud, so there’s no place for Clementine practically
anywhere
it seems, not even in Berry Bitty City. Even if she brought wintermelons.
While the rest of the girls were busy talking amongst theirselves, Clementine unzipped her luggage and took out the box the axe was residing in and a wintermelon. She placed the wintermelon in the center of the room, and the chatter seemed to die down as the attention gradually went to Clementine to see what exactly she was doing. She opened the box the axe was resting in, placed the ribbon on the top of it and lifted it above the fruit.
“GAAAAAH!” she yelled, as she swang the axe downwards several times as wintermelon juice flew everywhere in the medium-sized market.
The group of colorful girls yelped and shielded theirselves from the juice as it splashed all around.
Clementine picked up a slice and turned to the group of girls.
“..Wintermelon, anyone?”
Everyone’s faces ranged from confused to astonished. Plum Pudding found herself giggling, which broke the negative impression.
“Erm.. sure?” replied the cheery red-headed girl. Clementine handed her a piece. “My name’s Strawberry by the way, Strawberry Shortcake!” she said as she claimed her slice. “I see.” responded Clementine.
Everyone felt very appeased to try the sudden treat from Clementine’s perspective until she noticed the blue one’s displeased expression on her face. “That.. was odd of you..Clem, is it?” she said with a strong expression on her face. “Aw, come on, Blueberry, don’t say that!” said the blonde one. “Yeah, it was
berry
sweet of her to surprise us with a treat like this.” Plum said with a mouthful of wintermelon. Clementine could feel herself blushing, not from embarrassment or anger, but from Plum Pudding’s saving grace. She liked the blonde one, too, but somehow it meant more coming from Plum.
“After we’re done eating, let’s go, girls.. the timing couldn’t be ever more stranger.” Blueberry Muffin said while waving her hand in the air as she headed for the exit. “W..wait for me!” said Strawberry Shortcake, not wanting to drop her slice. The other girls caught up. Blueberry shot Clementine a sneering look.
Clementine looked back possessed with a strong scorn in her eye.
-
“Well, chunks…” Clementine said. “Great, now I’m starting to talk in fruit metaphors like the rest of civilization here.. but who thinks that’s a bad thing?” she said with a raised eyebrow and a upturned smile. Her smile quickly fizzled away though.. “I did that to get to know the rest of the girls, and they’re gone.. I have no idea how to get them all in one place again. And it’s all thanks to that blue-haired bitch.. she thinks she’s so clever describing me as “odd”. Ugh.” Clem said while rolling her eyes, but once she did, something caught her eye. A Berrykin got it’s foot stuck underneath a small rock. It was trying to pull it’s leg free.
“What the- a walking, talking, breathing strawberry?” Clementine noticed nearby the window.
“Huh.. I have a idea.” Clem says as she places her fingertip to her lips as her eyes move toward the caramel syrup on one of the marketplace’s shelves.
Clementine walked outside innocently, holding something behind her back - the caramel syrup.
“Hey there! Miss! Do you think you can help me out here?” said the small Berrykin, somehow having sweat run down it’s face. “Oh! Well, sure!” said Clementine. Without a moment of hesitation, she pours almost exactly the entire container of caramel over the Berrykin. “AAAAHH! MY EYES!” said the Berrykin, trying hard to swat the caramel out of it’s eyes, but it’s too gooey for that action to be successful. That familiar mesh of colors of those girls started to emerge in front of Clementine’s eyes.
“Umm.. girls! We have a problem over here!” Clementine shouted as she used both her hands to project her voice. The girls found theirselves standing in front of Clementine and the tortured Berrykin lickity-split.
“Oh my!” gasped Orange as she crouched down in front of the Berrykin.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get that gooey substance out of your eyes..!” said the dark brunette, which triggered a dark glare from Clementine’s eyes. “No no, I think it’s best that
I
should help them.” said Clem as she gently pushed away Orange’s helping hands.
“No, no. I think Orange should help because she may understand the Berrykins more than you do. After all, it’s your first day here.” analyzed Blueberry. “She has a point, you know!” said the blonde one. The rest of the girls nodded in agreement. Clementine growled to herself. “Ugh, why is nothing going my way around here?!” she thought to herself.
Orange gently picked up the Berrykin and took it to a nearby river, softly clearing it’s eyes of the caramel liquid. “That sure was strange, but good to see that you’re all better now!” she cooed to the Berrykin. Strawberry and the rest of the girls applauded Orange’s act of kindness.
Clementine’s face was notably agitated, until she noticed Blueberry whispering to the blonde one secretly. “Lemon, I don’t have a good feeling about the new girl..” the sky-tinted girl said to Lemon’s ear. Clementine felt a dark storm brewing inside of her. Was this.. the
difficult emotions
that her parents were referring to?
Clementine ran away so that she wouldn’t have anything close to a panic attack out in the open.
“Clementine?” said Strawberry, but she received absolutely no response.
Clementine clutched her elbows as she pressed her back against a tree. “What was that? Why am I acting this way? Am I acting this way to receive even more attention from them, even though I was just the center of it just a few moments ago..?” she thought to herself in her mind.
“I swear to goodness, I’m going to get rid of that blue one if it’s the last thing I d-”.. Before Clementine could even finish that thought, her ears somehow recognized those familiar footprints of a kind soul.
“Clementine!” said Plum Pudding. Clementine opened her eyes and broke free of the chambers of her mind. “Plum?” replied a surprised Clem. “We were worried about you! What happened? We were about to thank you for bringing attention to that poor Berrykin!” stated Plum Pudding with a pleading expression.
Clementine sat there silently as that familiar cocoa powder-like hue painted all over her face. “Wow.. she must actually really care about me.. unlike my parents..” a thought arised inside of her mind.
“Clementine, are you okay, Clementine?” Plum’s face looked like it was about to cry from this emotional wear on her.
“Ah! Yes, I am!” said a now-alert Clem. “Sorry.. I guess thinking back to that incident just now put me in a temporary state of shock, haha.”
Plum suddenly grabbed Clementine’s soft, yet bruised palm from all of those nights of staying up practicing those elaborate violin pieces.
“Come, I’ll take you back to the rest of the girls. And don’t mind Blueberry, not sure why she’s so
fussy
today, ahaha!” reassured the purple-shaded girl. Clementine couldn’t hide her flustered nature anymore as she stammered in her speech before being led by Plum to the rest of the Berry Girls.
She found herself with the rest of the girls, now. “We were wondering where you disappeared!” said Strawberry with a concerned expression of her face. “Um.. sorry, I just had to do something.” explained Clementine, hastily. “What was that?” she thought very quickly, confused as to that emotional episode that just happened.
But once she saw Orange Blossom’s face, those dark clouds had seemed to form within her once again. She was the trigger, the catalyst for these dark emotions. But what did Orange Blossom do wrong except.. being born in Berry Bitty City, and having similar souls among her that care about her in more shades than one..?
That was exactly it. She couldn’t stand their similarities and yet Clementine was the one who had to get fucked over, here. Why couldn’t her parents raise her in this city? It was starting to feel like it was too little, too late with them. There was no use reminiscing on dried split milk, but the pain was still there. Why not me? Why can’t I take her place?
A golden light bulb would have raised above Clem’s head for this very moment, this epiphany. Since their names are coincidentally similar, she can take Orange Blossom’s place, and it would be as if nothing truly happened! How would this master plan go into gear, though? She would have to find a way to make that orange blot on Clementine’s existence disappear, for long enough that Clementine can become the girls’ new bestie.
“..just in case you need to deal with some
difficult emotions
.” Her mother’s words resonated within her. “That’s it! Why don’t I just use the axe?” thought Clementine. She softly clasped her hands together, in and out again until she noticed Blueberry staring at her. “She is so weird.” she said to the girl who had a mixture of fuschia and purple hair. Plum looked at Blueberry with a disapproving look, which gave Clementine’s heart a gentle sensation of landing on a soft pillow.
She was convinced, all of this shivering of her heart and these soft, tranquil moments of relief was love itself. However, she couldn’t preoccupy herself with just that all the time, although in a perfect world, that would be nice. It’s just that, someone would realize the holes in her plan and patch it up before it could ever come to fruition - no pun intended. That someone was
Blueberry Muffin
. She ought to get rid of her before she could ever zero in on Orange Blossom. Besides unpacking, Clementine Liu had her work cut out for her.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was a brand new day in Berry Bitty City. Clementine had already unpacked her belongings, and she was living in a giant fruit-sized building - specifically, a grape, which is almost nothing like a wintermelon in the slightest, except for it’s pale green shade. It’ll do for now though, of course.
Clem stretched as she yawned. The first thing on her mind was to get rid of Blueberry Muffin via the axe. She grabbed the axe and held it against her back.
Oddly enough, the moment Clementine stepped outside, Blueberry Muffin was standing in the center of the plaza, with her back turned against Clementine. “How the berry can I get cell service around here..?!” questioned a frustrated Blueberry out loud, while raising her cell phone above her head.
Clementine planned to sneak up on her, so she wouldn’t become anymore suspicious of her. Blueberry’s back was turned, not realizing what was going to happen next.
Clementine slashed her back with the axe horizontally which caused Blueberry to scream in pain as her clothes got slashed open, too. Her shrieks were silenced by the loud plunging of the axe on the side of her neck. She fell down face first, choking on her own pool of blood as it squirted outwards. Her eyes remained open for some time before finally closing.
Clementine stared downwards at her hard work. She noticed the blood dripping from her cupid’s bow, and then her hands started to uncontrollably tremble. She couldn’t breathe as her nose started to drip with that red liquid once more. She impulsively dropped the axe to her feet.
“What.. what have I.. d-d-done?” she said while placing her hand on top of her bangs, letting her nose drip on her clothes. “Aah.. my nose is.. bleeding.” She softly pinched her nostrils, completely forgetting the advice that her mother told her before leaving her all alone in this berry big city. It finally started to sink in that she killed someone. Shouldn’t this be a good thing though, because she had become successful at her goal..? To get rid of Blueberry Muffin.
No time to contemplate emotionally about the choice that has been already made, though. She needed to somehow get rid of this evidence. Clementine placed her hands beneath Blueberry’s armpits and dragged her to a quiet area where no one could find her. Coincidentally, there were sharp water sprinklers near this area, along with empty baskets to harvest fruit, so she had placed her face down in this area with a basket above her head, that way people could believe she got “cut” by these water sprinklers. The smell of fresh fruit could hopefully drown out the scent of her as well. “Good enough, I suppose..”
Clementine exited the area within a feverish panic. “I need a cigarette”, she thought, even though she’d never smoke and probably never will for her entire life. Just before she was about to enter her house, a familiar voice greeted her. “Hiya, Clementine~!” Plum Pudding had greeted her by waving her arm. “Shit-!” Clementine thought hastily. She turned around with a makeshift smile in the moment, completely not reflecting her genuine feelings at all. “Hiii, Plum!” she said while baring her teeth.
“How are you today?” she said with a genuinely happy tone in her voice. It was always simple for Clementine to sense the genuine kindness that radiated from Plum Pudding’s aura. It was nothing like the other girls’ energy,
especially
Blueberry Muffin’s, but she’s gone now.
Clementine had looked Plum up and down. She noticed her legwarmers. “I really need some of those..” thought the fellow multi-colored girl. She realized that Plum must’ve done some kind of exercise or was even a dancer like her. This shifted Clementine’s distressed and distracted mood to a happy and fluffy one. “I’m okay, how are youu?” said Clementine, with happy closed eyes.
“I’m doing dandy, thanks for asking, hehe! Say, would you like to hang out? Every berry seems to be busy, and I can’t contact Blueberry Muffin for some reason. Guess she’s preoccupied..” Plum said before a sad sigh. Clementine stared at her with a concerned expression, hiding the blood splatter on her chest by holding her shoulders. “Umm.. sure! Let me just change my clothes because I’m all sweaty from dancing and such, ahahaaha! Hahaha!” she said with happy irises. “Ohh, you dance too?! Wow, we have something in common! That’s amazing, Clementine!” chirped Plum. “Mhm! Okay, see you in a bit!” said Clementine before panickly running off to her house.
“Okay!!” replied Plum, eagerly standing there waiting for Clem’s return.
Clementine entered her house and swang the door close behind her, with her heart rate beating erratically. “I need to find a way to calm down.. especially around.. herr..” she said in a hushed tone. She gulped any newfound saliva in her throat. She was once a focused, cold blooded device to a blushing, puffing mess. Was this feeling.. love? Clem looked downwards at her palms, that surprisingly calmed down a bit more after acknowledging Plum. Could Plum Pudding be the cure to her difficult emotions? Her mind settled on fixating on her, but her emotions could be a completely calm, resting note on a pond if there wasn’t something else bothering her. Orange-Fricking-Blossom. If it wasn’t for her, Clementine could’ve been considered a hero for saving that strangely alive strawberry, but instead, Orange Blossom had to save it instead!
“Ugh..” she thought to herself. She can’t keep her newfound cutie waiting any longer. She promptly changed into her main outfit, stuffed her stained clothes into her luggage and opened the door. “Okay, Plum, we can hang out now..!” said Clementine, really loudly. “Oo, yay!” smiled Plum.
The two girls walked side by side to each other. Plum’s sweet scent calmed Clementine’s soul down yet intensified her heartrate. It didn’t intimidate her nor made her feel smaller compared to Orange Blossom and Blueberry Muffin’s scents.
Maybe Plum is her favorite fruit, truly at heart,
she thought? Her mind flashed back to that heart-throbbing memory of Plum grasping her hand and taking her to the friend group that’s more closeknit than the uptop crust on a blueberry pie. What if she tried doing the same thing to her?
Clementine shyly grabbed Plum’s hand. Plum Pudding looked down, a bit surprised as she looked downwards, but then looked at Clementine’s face and made a happy expression. “GAAAAAHHH!” thought Clementine in her head. Plum’s happy face was truly really adorable to her. “Um… so, Plum? What t-type of dancing do you, um, do?” the pale-haired girl asked the lilac beauty. Her ponytail swang in the air as she turned her head around to answer, “Well, I like to mainly do ballet, although I can do other forms of dance as well!” she chirped happily. “Mhm, mhm.. okay.. I.. can only do ballet.. haha.” said Clementine, shyly. “Ooh! Well, there’s nothing wrong with that! Ballet is such a articulate dance that you can dedicate your heart and soul to~!” Plum said as she raised her arm up, intimidating a ballet dance move. Clementine giggled.
Even though she had done something berry,
berry
bad, and that’s putting it rather lightly, she finally found someone that helped her feel like she belonged in some type of way, alternatively from belonging in a group. She found it easy for negative influencers like Blueberry Muffin and Orange Blossom to weed their way into her mind, especially because her life has drastically changed so much, she needed a mainstay distraction to remain in her mind. That distraction was Plum Pudding. Could she conquer the Berry Girl friend group now, without the smartest one in her place, or does it need a few more altercations? The thought of Orange Blossom made the wires of her mind scramble and twist together with a sparkling rage. She doesn’t want to be her friend, she wants to be her, breathe in her skin and take her place. However, there was like no need to think about that though. She was with Plum Pudding now, the one and only. Her heart truly had a crush, and no one could criticize her for that, especially not now.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Plum and Clementine spent the entire day together talking about whatever, and they became closer in that fact. Still, it’s not like those pleasant emotions that were born from those interactions were a fine replacement for those raging emotions towards Orange Blossom. She knew the perfect way now, to cope with these
difficult emotions
.
It was a brand new day, with the same consistent type of weather. Clementine slammed open the doors to Orange Mart, with her shiny axe behind her. “Oh, Hi Clementine. What brings you here?” said a preoccupied Orange Blossom, with a orange-themed cell phone between her shoulder and her ear. Clementine slowly brought the axe in front of her and held it, which caused Orange to drop the cell phone, frozen in fear.
Clementine took steps closer and closer to a icey Orange, while holding the axe brazenly. She chased her into the corner of the orange-themed shop.
“Take anything you want! Just please, don’t hurt me..!!” Orange Blossom said while cowering in the corner with winced eyes.
Clementine strikes Orange Blossom on her waist, creating a notable gash.
She grinned while doing so.
Orange let out a fleeting yelp as blood quickly seeped out from her newfound wound before losing consciousness and falling to her side.
Clem senselessly continued to bash her deceased body with more and more strikes until all the negative emotions had left her body. Even though Orange had already left this world with that initial strike and she wasn’t around to feel these additional blows, Clem did it for her own emotional catharsis. “Hah.. hah.. hah.” Clementine huffed. She let a feeling of relief wash over her. Now, there was only one orange-themed girl alive and well. Was that really how it.. should be, though?
No need to contemplate that. She needed to hide the body somewhere, now. Clementine noticed a large cabinet, and when opened there were oddly no shelves inside, so she picked up Orange Blossom’s body the best she could and stuffed her inside, then quickly closing the doors of the cabinet.
“O~kay, now that’s done… I need to change my clothes. Again, but I’m not in my house…” Clementine thought out loud.
Suddenly, she gained a idea. “What if I..” she let the sentence trailed off a bit as she approached Orange Blossom’s dresser. Resting on top of it was Orange’s signature flower that she’d place horizontally in her hair, to the left, specifically. “try this on?” she said with a smile that was full of guilty pleasures. She stood in front of the full-body mirror that was in the center of her room, and gently placed the blossom inside her hair.
She stared into her irises, taking in her altered appearance. “Wow.” She moved her face around to see it in slightly different angles, almost with an obsessive nature. “I like this. I like this a lot.”
Before she knew it, she found herself wearing Orange Blossom’s exact clothing coordinate. She peered into her eyes once more, with a shy nature only in appearance into the mirror’s reflection. She then spun around giggling with newfound joy and glee as she discovered that they were the exact size. “It’s not like I should be enjoying this, but it’s a dream that wouldn’t have came true if I didn’t deal with my
difficult emotions
!” she said with a smile.
She was just about to leave the room until she made a harrowing gasp. “I can’t possibly let anyone see me like this!” she realized, quite loudly. Clementine ran to Orange’s bed and took the blanket off her bed. She wrapped the blanket around her as she took her time walking downstairs, making sure to not trip. “I can’t let anyone see me like this.” she thought as she paced herself.
She took a glance at the night sky in the circular window. “Oh wait.. it’s night time. No one is going to see me for quite a while.” she thought out loud.
She jumped into Orange Blossom’s citrus-scented mattress, with the blanket still wrapped around her. “Ah.. and so my dreamy, perfect life begins. Day 1..” she said before softly nodding off to sleep moments later.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Aaannd our final actress for the Strawberry Shortcake live action series has been chosen!” said a man getting up there in age as the announcer. His voice echoed within the chambers of Clementine’s mind.
“Presenting.. Clementine Liu as our Orange Blossom!!” Two orange flowers slid in opposite directions, presenting Clementine wearing Orange Blossom’s clothes, with blood still staining her cheek. Her pupils shrank immediately as she realized she was visible to a whole audience.
The crowd roared with applause and cheering.
Light orange tinted eyes open up. Those eyes were Clementine’s. She sighed before opening her mouth.
“..I’m awake. What a strange dream.” Clementine thought to herself.
“Oh well. It reminds me of my overarching goal~! Ah.. I wonder how the rest of the girls will be without Orange around! I could finally become more acquainted with my new friend group..!” No more distractions~!” she hummed to herself as she went downstairs.
As soon as she was going to grab the doorknob, the door to Orange Mart swung open. “Huh?” Clementine smiled to herself, as the giddyness was so affectionate that it kept her safe from entering a state of complete utter shock. “Hey Orange, I brought the-” Lemon was going to say until she noticed that the person answering the door was Clementine. “Oh! Umm.. hey, Clementine! You’re.. in charge of the store now?” Lemon tried her best to string her words together in a understandable tone, trying to seek clarity from her fog of confusion. “Y..yes!” agreed Clem.
“Then why are you wearing a giant comforter over you? It’s not that cold outside.” Lemon Meringue questioned. “Well.. uh..” before Clementine could even invent some kind of answer, Lemon made herself at home, but accidentally stepped on Clementine’s (or rather, Orange Blossom’s) comforter and pulled it down.
“Shi-shi-shi-shi-shit!!” paced within Clementine’s thoughts. Lemon shrieked in fear and confusion, acknowledging the sight beyond her eyes. “Um..um..um.. why are you wearing Orange Blossom’s clothes?!”
Clementine wanted to strangle her for doing that, really, but instead she kept calm and picked up some spare wood. “I can explain. Really.” she expressed in a monotone tone. All Lemon could do was watch in awe. “Noooo way. I’m telling the other girls that.. Orange Blossom’s been replaced!” Lemon described almost in a sense where she was about to tell a teacher for something someone has done wrong. On purpose.
Clementine calmly put a piece of wood against the door, locking it.
“What are you doing?” asked a now confused and nervous Lemon.
“Hey.. hold still. Lemon.” Clementine said with a smile. While she was grabbing the plank of wood, she also grabbed the axe that was tucked beneath a table with a long tablecloth draping against the floor that was nearby the door. It was hiding behind her back, until now.
In one swift, smooth motion, Clementine plunged the axe down on Lemon Meringue’s forehead and pulled her weapon back. Blood sprayed all over Clementine’s face but that didn’t faze her in the least, as Lemon collapsed to her knees, and then landing face downwards, soon to be in a pool of her own blood. She couldn’t even scream, didn’t have the chance to.
“Hah.. hah.. hah.” panted Clementine. She wiped her face and her hand was imprinted entirely with Lemon’s blood. She felt a complusion to throw up, and faint afterwards, in that exact order but she held back.
“I took another girls’ life.. aren’t I supposed to find a feeling of purpose and peace within them?” Clementine asked herself as she slumped downwards against a wall. “Is this really helping me with my
difficult emotions
, mother?” she asked generally, expecting no response. “The more people I get rid of, the more alone I become. Maybe this is for the best.” she picked up the axe and started to gently caress it, not caring about getting the blood smeared all over her.
She stopped, as she realizes she destroyed the perfect clothing that she finally got her hands on. “Shit! Urgh…” she grumbled to herself. “I couldn’t even have that for myself,” thought Clem.
She got up as she temporarily put the axe downwards in her place.
She sprung into action as
she walked back up the stairs while humming a familiar song to herself, trying to ease any incoming tense nerves. While entering Orange’s bedroom, she thought to herself, “I guess I won’t be able to wear any of Orange’s clothes anytime soon, unless it’s in private. It’s also been several days now, I don’t think I’ll be able to wear it in my old room..”. She peered out the window. Berry Bitty City was becoming quieter with each passing day, and it wasn’t just because the sun was ready to rear it’s witty face to us.
She took off the outfit she “borrowed” from Orange Blossom, and she was now in her undergarments. She laid out the singular outfit both her mother and her chose for this trip, as the other clothes could be combined for other outfits in the future. What was laid across her bed was a collar made out of fawn hide with a dark brown ribbon in the center of it, a white dress with triple tier-layered skirt and music notes drawn vertically in the center, and a light green cardigan. She also had her signature striped light green and black stockings that had a lace trim on top of them, and she couldn’t forget her light pink ballet flats as well. Beside everything was two hairties with wintermelon seeds in them and the headband that her mother had lended her.
There. She found it a bit humorous to herself that only her undergarments were a light peach tone, and nothing on her outer clothes was orange. No wonder this had happened, she joked to herself inside of her mind. She quickly changed her clothes, folded Orange Blossom’s clothing up and stuffed them under her bed.
She noticed her headband placed to the side.
“Sunflowers. Kansas. Maybe I should return there?” she briefly thought to herself while adjusting it on her head.
“No no, I already put too much hard work trying to just
be
in Berry Bitty City. Plus there was a reason why I couldn’t stay there long and my parents chose
this
place for me..” Clem did her signature pose of putting her finger on her lower lip.
“..So, what the hell can I have in this house to make it mine?” Clementine thought to herself.
She opened the dresser again and saw a pack of unused orange-scented lip balm. “..Fine, I guess I can use this. Fits me, anyway.” Clem grabbed it and stuffed it in one of her stockings.
She sneaked out the house through the window, and went on with her day.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Clementine came from behind Orange Blossom’s house and to the front. She was just about to move on with her day, looking forward to hopefully take her mind off things by spending time with her favorite person, Plum Pudding once more, but instead, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“You!” said the light-purpled shaded girl. “Who, me?” said Clementine, playing dumb and looking around to see if anyone else is around. “Yes, you.” said the fuchsia-headed girl in a stern voice.
“I never learnt your name. Who are you exactly?” replied Clem.
“I am Raspberry Torte. I should be asking what are you doing here, Clementine, near Orange Blossom’s house?!” said Raspberry,
with crossed arms. “Uh, well, she asked me to help out at Orange Mart.” said Clementine increasing with jittery nerves.
“Oh, is that so?” replied Torte.
Clementine nodded.
“Then why did I see Lemon Meringue walk inside and not leave the premises?” said Raspberry, with tears starting to form in her eyes. “I thought I heard a scream coming from there!”
“..Shit.” thought Clementine.
“YOU did something to her! Everything has become berry strange ever since you showed up!” Raspberry wasn’t afraid to point fingers towards Clementine’s nose, which intimidated her a bit. Clementine paused before looking at her with a side-eye, and slowly pushing her hand away from her face. She was beginning to ignore her as she walked towards her place. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going, huh?” said a now frustrated Raspberry. Tears started to flow from her eyes down onto her cheeks.
Clementine promptly grabbed her trusty axe, that she didn’t even get a chance to properly wash and care for. She had to act fast because this is the second time someone is being confrontational
after
the fact. Clem walked outside holding the axe. “Gaaah!!” screamed Clementine as she ran up to Raspberry holding the axe as high as she could.
Raspberry screamed while running away, dropping her cell phone in the process. Clementine tripped, but quickly crawled towards her with the axe in her left hand, and in one swift motion she sliced both tendons on Raspberry’s ankles. “AAAHH!!” shouted Raspberry as she fell down. She hiccuped and sobbed as she couldn’t move her feet anymore. “Please.. no.. not me.” said the fuchsia-haired girl. Clementine stood over her failing body, still holding the axe, and bashed her forehead in with the base of her weapon. Raspberry Torte was dead, and so was three of her little friends, too. Maybe they’ll be reunited some other place, some other time.
Clementine looked around for a place to hide her body. She realized it could be a bit suspicious that the other two girls were found dead in their home, so she got a new idea. She took a match from a box of them from Raspberry’s kitchen and stuffed it in one of her stockings. She carried Raspberry’s lifeless body on her back and took her to another abandoned patch of grass. Clem threw her down on top of the bare patch of land and grass.
She grabbed the match from before, set it on fire with the fabric of her sleeve and dropped it on top of Raspberry Torte. She threw some raspberries from her house over her body so that the smell wouldn’t be too alarming, and people would think she’s making a raspberry dish or something.
Clementine sat down on a spare log near the river that was in walking distance within several minutes away from the flames. “So.. that only leaves one.” thought Clementine as she looked down at her reflection in the water. She narrowed her head down at the subtle thought of her having to bring harm to Plum Pudding’s way, but she can’t remain in this reality, forever..