God Save My King (Sid Vicious FanFic)

Ch. 4: Il Est Pourri

"I can't believe you told them I'd go! I have nothing to wear!" Noelle tsked as she tore through her closet, throwing hangers of clothes across the room at me. The pile of discarded clothes beside me began to grow, proving that she did, indeed, have things to wear.

It was the night of the concert and I was entertaining myself watching Noelle worry over what to wear to the event. Never had I ever seen her so flustered and unsure of herself.

Why was she acting so strange all of a sudden?

"I've never seen you acting so..." I paused, dodging some coat hangers that were shooting through the air. "...er, peculiar before, Noelle. Is something wrong? It's just a concert. You're going to get sweaty and gross anyway. What does it matter?"

Noelle came to a halt. She was all in a huff as she turned to face me from where she knelt on the floor of her closet. Her cheeks were red, her hair was plagued by flyaways, and her eyes bore into me, more furious than usual.

"Je dois être belle (1)! Je veux qu'il me regarde (2)! Je veux que Johnny me remarque (3)!" she began to go off on me in French.

I raised my eye brows, grinning in triumph when I heard her say the name Johnny.

Noelle's eyes widened once she realized what had escaped her mouth. She shook her head slowly. "No, Kimmy. It's not what you think..."

"You said 'Johnny'," I began slowly.

"Yeah, right," She grumbled, feigning apathy.

Oh no you don't! You're not getting out of this one.

"Now, I'm not from France, but I at least know that you were just rambling on about Johnny. And what Johnny do we know besides Johnny Rotten?" I asked. "Your ex."

Noelle shook her head. "You're crazy. I didn't say Johnny. I said 'Jeannine'. It's the French pronunciation of Janine. Janine is going to be there and I have to look better than her."

"Uh-huh," I muttered, completely unconvinced. "If you still have a thing for Lydon, you can just say so."

Noelle paused for a moment. Perhaps I had caught her completely off guard with such a bold statement. But, within moments, she had gone right back to sifting through clothes.

"I don't have 'a thing' for Lydon. Il est pourri (4), just like his name implies."

Her voice shook and, for the first time since I'd known her, I could hear Noelle sniffling and I knew that she was crying.

Not wanting to push her on the subject any further, I sat in silence on the edge of her bed, watching her bob in and out of her closet.

It suddenly occurred to me that Noelle had never really told me why she and Lydon had broken up. She hadn't even acted like it had bothered her. I just remember that one day she had mentioned in passing that they were dating and, a few months later, they just weren't. She hadn't even really told me about it. I had guessed that they'd broken up when she stopped going out to all of the usual punk hang outs, and my suspicions were confirmed when John had told me about it later. That was also around the time that Noelle had started hating John for no real reason.

Lydon must have done the dumping...

The thought, for whatever reason, made my heart swell with sadness for my friend. Judging by the way Noelle seemed to come undone around the raucous singer, I guessed that he had seen parts of her that she hadn't shown anyone else. He had thawed through the ice queen's frozen heart in a way that even I hadn't managed after years of friendship.

Now, I was dying to know what could've caused them to split. But I doubted Noelle wanted to talk about it and, even if she humored me with a response, it would be something passive and vague.

"How's this?" Noelle asked.

I pulled myself from my thoughts and looked up at my best friend. As always, she was beautiful; dressed in a long sleeve, mesh top with a lacy black bra underneath, a black, skin-tight leather mini skirt, and fishnets that ended in clunky, black combat boots.

"Hot, as per usual," I murmured, giving her a soft smile.

"I know," she said flatly, looking at herself in the mirror.

Despite her rude remarks, I smiled at it all. Noelle really was a tough egg to crack. Her confidence was merely a façade that she had perfected after years of development. I almost liked Lydon for managing to see passed it. On the other hand, I resented him for whatever pain he had caused in her that was harboring below the surface.

"Now...I have to fix you up," Noelle said, turning to me, that rare smile of hers playing on her lips.

"What? What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" I demanded, motioning to my practical outfit consisting of a baggy shirt, even baggier pants, and old tennis shoes.

"Nothing, si tu prévoie de mourir vierge (5)," she giggled.

"Hey, no fair! I can't understand you!" I countered.

"You don't need to understand French to know that I think you're outfit is ugly. Now, come darling. I've got big plans for you," she insisted, beckoning me with her finger.

She's going to make me pay for dragging her to her ex's concert, I thought warily, getting up from her bed and shuffling towards her as slowly as possible.

"Just don't make me look bad," I begged as I got closer to her.

"Trust me, Kimmy, when I'm done with you, Sid sera incapable de détacher ses yeux de toi (6)."

Translations
1) I have to be nice/pretty!
2)I want him to look at me!
3) I want Johnny to notice me!
4) He is rotten
5) If you plan to die a virgin
6) Sid will not be able to take his eyes off of you