Chapter Text
A few days ago, Gary had been wandering around town, when he came across some stupid spiritual store. You know, one of those stores ran by hippies who believe that rocks have magical powers, or whatever. He decided to walk in, out of pure curiosity (and a pinch of boredom), just to see what was inside.
While perusing through the store, he stumbled across something that caught his eye– a little red and white box. Upon taking a closer look, the item looked vintage, and gave off kind of an eerie vibe.
He brought it to the cashier, asking if it really works as promised, and the cashier replied with a, “Yeah it works. Though, I should warn you, people who buy it usually come back complaining...”
Stupid, he thought. Absolutely childish.
So, of course, he had to buy it as a sort of gag gift for Jimmy.
“A One Wish Willow? The fuck’s that?”
Jimmy and Gary were both hiding in the bus that sits at the back of the school, in between where the old homeless man dwelled and the Greasers’ turf was. It was about 12:00 AM, way past curfew, so they sat in the middle to remain somewhat hidden. Gary sat on the left side seat, and Jimmy was in the seat directly across from him on the right side.
“Exactly what it says on the box, Jimmy. It’s a willow branch, you make a wish, it comes true. Or something like that..”
He inched the tiny box closer to his face, examining the fine print of the packaging. “You’re saying if I break this little stick, it’ll grant any wish I want?”
Gary thought for a moment, before a smirk appeared on his face. “That’s what it says. Hey, maybe you can use it to annihilate those inbred Preps!” He cackled at his own joke.
“Oh, hardy har har, very funny.” Jimmy punched Gary in the shoulder. Gary tenses up a bit, but still manages to maintain his shit-eating grin. “You must think I’m real stupid if you think I’m going to believe something like this.”
Gary felt a twinge of annoyance for a second, before he let go of it. I buy you a gift and you repay me with this attitude? Classic Jimmy. He tries to maintain his grin.
He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “Well, no one’s forcing you to use it. I just thought you might like a little lucky charm.” And no matter how much Gary could try to deny it, he meant what he said. Sure, he had bought the gift as a joke, but deep inside his twisted subconscious, he really did want to do something nice for Jimmy.
Jimmy wonders if Gary was really just trying to be nice, but eventually comes to the conclusion that Gary was teasing him. “I’m not going to make a wish on some stupid toy.”
“Again, no one’s forcing you to.”
“And even if I did, I wouldn’t make my wish when you’re around.”
Gary paused. His grin began to fall. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It doesn’t mean anything.” Gary doesn’t believe that. Of course it means something, it always means something. “I just wouldn’t want to give you a chance to laugh at me, what else?”
On one hand, he knows that, logically, Jimmy means nothing else by what he said. Jimmy is probably telling the truth. On the other hand…
There’s a little voice in his head that whispers to him that Jimmy is lying. Jimmy secretly hates him, is repulsed by him. Thinks he’s just some crazed psycho, just like what everyone else thinks. Just like Pete thinks.
He’s suddenly filled with unreasonable anger, and he feels the need to deflect. To protect himself in some way.
“Yeah, I bet you’d wish for something really embarrassing.” Jimmy looks up at him. “Oh I know, maybe you’ll wish for our little Petey to finally be a real boy! Then you can live happily ever after!” The comment was mean, but Gary didn’t care.
“Shut up, Gary…” Jimmy looks a little uncomfortable from the comment, but not too bothered by it. He rubs his hand over his head and averts his eyes from Gary.
“Is it true then? Is that what you would wish for? If that’s what it is, pal, then don’t be so shy about it… I’m sure femme-boy would just love to kiss your mutated face.”
Jimmy’s face switches immediately, from neutral to shocked. Usually, he wouldn’t care about a joke being made at Pete’s expense, but Gary involving Jimmy in his little joke was just enough to piss him off.
“Fuck you, Gary!” Jimmy throws the red and white box at his face. As it makes contact with Gary, the toy bounces off of him and lands on the floor. “What’s your issue, man? Why do you always do this?”
Now Gary’s smirk has completely fallen. A train of thought swirls around in his head, going from I’ve said the wrong thing, to Jimmy is upset, and finally concluding with, Jimmy likes Pete more than me.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you and Petey were the best of friends!” It’s the same as always, Jimmy and Pete teaming up against me. “I’ll be sure not to make fun of your boyfriend next time…”
Jimmy gives him a dirty look, obviously annoyed by Gary’s outburst. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?” He just looks at Gary for a second, before standing up and moving to walk away from the whole situation.
Before Jimmy can fully leave, Gary turns to him to yell one final remark. “Don’t forget who was your friend first, Jimmy-boy!”
Jimmy stops dead in his tracks. He stands still for a moment, as if contemplating what to say next. Then, he finally breaks the silence with, “...Don’t call me that.” He then storms out of the bus, upset and done with Gary’s bullshit.
Gary, on the other hand, felt righteous in what he said. Jimmy’s just a little traitor, like always. He turns to Jimmy’s former seat, planning to stew in his own misery for a moment, before he notices the little unsuspecting box still lying on the dirty ground.
The One Wish Willow.
When Jimmy had stormed out, it seems he had forgotten to bring Gary’s little gift with him. Hm. Gary looks around to see if Jimmy is still nearby, and, once assured that the boy is long gone, he leans forward to pick up the trinket. He examines the box closely, reading the inscriptions on the front and back. There were two main sentences on the front of the box, AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS! and You only get ONE WISH.
“Tch, how stupid.” And how stupid it was, indeed. Gary didn’t believe in this fairy tale wish bullshit, and even if he did, what would he even wish for?
Gary mulled it over for a good moment. If I could have anything I wanted, what would I wish for? Many possibilities ran through his head, he could wish for his parents to die, for Happy Volts to be burnt to the ground, to finally take over the school!! If this thing were real, he could have anything he wanted.
And yet, in his still-lasting period of frustration, there was only one thing he wanted. He wanted Jimmy. Gary wanted to bend Jimmy to his will, to show him who’s the real King of Bullworth. He wanted Jimmy to worship him, to give him his undying loyalty.
So, not wanting his purchase to go to waste (or at least that’s what he tells himself), Gary hastily rips open the tiny package. A little jingle plays as he does, one that sounds less like a friendly chime and more like a sound effect from a horror movie.
He slowly pulls out the aforementioned One Wish Willow from the box. He weighs it in his hands for a while, using his thumb to slowly trace the little holes in the wood. Before making his wish, he reconsiders his actions for a moment. What if, he thinks, What if this is real? What if this toy really works?
He then shakes his head, reminding himself, It’s not real. It’s just a stupid toy. And so, with no thought put into his wording at all, he finally makes his wish.
“I wish Jimmy was loyal to me and only me.”
Gary snaps the twig, which just makes a little crunch sound.
For the first few seconds, nothing feels different. It’s still nighttime, the crickets are still chirping, and the school grounds still look the same as ever. Gary scoffs and decides that clearly he’s stayed up too long and must be delirious. As he’s moving to leave, he hears something that makes him freeze. Or, rather, the lack of hearing is what petrifies him.
Silence. Pure, unfiltered silence, as if someone had come up behind Gary and placed noise cancelling headphones on his ears. The crickets, who, moments before, had been practically screaming with their chirps, now made no sounds at all. As if they had all disappeared.
The air felt different too, like something had been moved out of place, but he just couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong. It felt eerie, creepy almost. The hair on his neck began to stand up, and goosebumps were climbing up his arms and legs.
At that moment, Gary decides that something is off, and that it’s definitely time to go back to his room. He quickly jumps up from where he was frozen and makes a sprint towards the Boy’s Dorms, wasting no time at all.
He manages to get past the prefects and the teachers before finally making it to the building. He’s about to run through the gates, when he sees something that brings him to a screeching halt. It’s dark outside, so he can’t really see well, but from what he can see it looks to be some guy standing at the front porch, blocking the doors.
The guy’s just standing there, staring directly at him, not saying anything. He doesn’t even budge in the slightest, as if he’s a statue.
“Who’s there?!” He calls out. No answer. Gary steps forward and squints his eyes to get a better look at who it could be. Suddenly, he recognizes the shape of the figure.
“Jimmy??”