Bad Romance.

[Jill the Ripper]

caught in a bad romance.

recruitment


Lillian likes you may not be mine, but i still love you <3

Lillian Clark if u can't be with the one u love, love the one ur with. (:

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Bored, and covertly glancing around the computer lab to make sure the teacher couldn't see her, Lily skimmed over her Facebook page. It was amazing, really, that the school hadn't thought to block it, yet - undoubtedly, it'd come. The computer lab Lily was sitting in now was brand new, and still had a few growing pains, namely in the form of their uncensored net.

Well, Lily wasn't going to complain. She had the net, sure, but her mother didn't like her to be on it long - and besides, Facebook was the perfect boredom killer when in class. As long as you weren't caught out, you were good.

And, just as she thought that, a shadow fell over the Clark girl and she bit back her groan, knowing full well who'd be.

"Any of your friends comment on your latest news, Miss Clark?" The teacher's voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Lily flinched.

"Um, well, uh -"

Mr. Patrick's scowl deepened, his wizened face unamused. "Do. Your. Work."

"Yes sir," Lily muttered, clicking out of the page, and going back to the bore that were spreadsheets. It could've been worse, he could've handed her a detention.

The end of class didn't come fast enough, and when Lily walked out afterwards, the bright hallway was crowded, everyone talking excitedly.

Of course, she realized. The swim team's first competition was on, today - they were competing against some fancy school on the other side of the city, one that Robert Goethe always clashed against, so school spirit was up, lead by the bullhorn jeering of the football team as they made a ruckus moving down the hall.

Lily slipped in behind them, figuring that she didn't really want to eat, anyway. Besides, odds were good that He'd be there. Her day had been too boring without Him, the compass that she centered everything around.

The noise of the crowd was amplified ten fold in the space of the pool area - it was wide and open, built to accommodate a audience and Lily sat down in the front bleachers, empty space on either side of her, eyes skimming over everyone. The blonde captain of Goethe's team was already waiting for the others, but the other school's - Maryanne Valley - were all together, huddled at the end of the pool, all intent on what their coach was saying.

With interest, the brunette eyed them. There were a handful of swimmers - two girls, and three boys, the leanest, most striking of them being a calm looking redhead that was gazing around him as their coach prattled on. He wasn't bad looking, Lily admitted to herself, though not her type. She bent down to roll up the cuffs of her jeans (it was far too sticky in here, Lily thought), and when she glanced up again the redhead caught her eye, face impassive before one of the girl's on his team said something to him and dragged his attention away.

Lily snorted to herself, brushing her hair back; she wasn't egotistical enough to believe he'd been eying her up with any interest, and even if she was, there'd have been no point to care. The girl that'd distracted him was tiny, pert, a pretty little Asian - the kind that boys preferred over awkward, messy-haired, frumpy things like Lily. And besides, she was in love with someone else.

Speaking of --

A flash of a shirt, that same hair, the familiar stance; Lily's heart lifted, and she smiled to herself, secret. He'd come. Her day, no matter how much it'd dragged on before, was suddenly not so awful.

we are the crowd, we're coming out

[Cerberus.]

They made flyers. The highlighter yellow kind, the ones that are unavoidable to the eyes with bolded letters and exclamation points up the ass. Combined with their advertisements in the usual morning announcements, the student council felt confident they had done their duty to help the newly formed swim team. They predicted a great outcome at their first meet, with the student population excited to face their rivals once more and defeat them.

And now, Julian was smirking outside their meeting room, observing students as they rallied and cheered down the hallways, the football team leading the way. Their efforts had certainly not gone to waste. Those bleachers would be crowded with cheers, and the team would be high on the home team advantage.

A hand was on his shoulder, giving it a congratulatory pat before slipping away.

“Better than we hoped, isn’t it, Julian?” It was Goethe’s vice president, infamous for being quite the perfectionist. Even now, she wasn’t smiling, her lips pursed together betraying what she had just stated.

His dark eyes flickered over the petite blonde, his smile subsiding. “It is. We’re fortunate they’re facing Maryanne, and when we win, the team’s set for a continuous audience.”

“IF we win.” The blonde immediately corrected, thin brows pulling close together.

The president chuckled, “Not one for school spirit are you, Leah?”

“School spirit won’t get you into an Ivy League College.” Leah retorted, her tone sharp, and she turned away, her heels clicking with every step.

Julian tried not to snort, far too amused with the less than pleased vice president. She was certainly not the life of the council, however, she did provide a few laughs every now and then.

“I’ll see the rest of you at the meet.” The youth said with a wave of his hand as he followed the remaining crowd down the hall to the swimming pool area. Before he knew it, he was quickly caught up in their excitement, cheering along with his fellow students about how badly Maryanne was going to be beat.

The meet itself was considerably organized (contributed to efforts by both the swim team, the staff, and the student council), and school participation was just as great as he had hoped. He almost struggled to find a seat on the metal bleachers, his eyes searching the area for one particular face.

He doubted she would show. She really wasn’t one for these sorts of things, but he hoped she would, just so he could catch one glimpse of her face. Although, after searching for a few minutes with no avail, Julian leaned back in his seat with a bitter smile.

[HuntressOfNine]

'According to him, I'm beautiful incredible, he can't get me out of his head.'

6:00am.
@ home, sleeping.


Angelina's alarm went off. It was the same buzzing noise that went off every morning that she had to get ready for school.
Dreading it, she slammed her hand down on the clock; and turned it off. Well to snooze anyways. Rolling back over she
groaned slightly and kept her eyes closed. The beating sun through her window of the morning sunrise wasn't exactly helping
her at all-- in fact, she hated mornings more than anything. Pulling the pillow over her face she buried her head away from the world
that was waiting for her. Waiting for her to wake up with that perfect little smile on her face and to face the day head on.


It wasn't just any morning of course. It was the day of the swim team competition. One that she had to go to no matter what her excuse was of trying to get out of it. The buzzer on the alarm went off again, while these thoughts ran through her mind. A few minutes later, she heard her mother yelling from downstairs.

"Angelina! Time to get up! You're going to be late again!"

Being late was a thing for Angelina. She was rarely on time for anything. Especially school. Groaning once more, she hit the alarm clock and yelled back down to her mother.

"Yes mom-- just give it a break!"

It was like this every morning in the Portray family. Yelling and screeching from up and downstairs, just to get the signal across to each other. Funny thing is though, when the family sat at the table, they never said two words. Throwing the pillow to the floor, Angelina decided to finally crawl out of her bed and get dressed for the day. Pulling on a pair of torn blue jeans and a tank top
of a light pink, she pulled her hair up into a pony tail and head down the stairs.


"Mom, can you pick up some orange juice today? This is the last of it, and you know that I need it."

Angelina stared her mother down knowing that she'd get it.

"Yes dear, anything else you need today dear?"

Her mother mocked her jokingly. Angelina rolled her eyes
and then grabbed her bag from the chair in the table.

"No."

She said back in a snappy voice. With that, she grabbed her keys and quickly bolted towards the door, almost running into it.

Finally, after a half hour of walking to school; Angelina made it. It looked like she was exhausted from the walk, but she wasn't really. In fact, she was just lazy. She was used to getting picked up by her friends, but seeing as she was late; her friends didn't bother to stop by. She wouldn't be ready in time. Walking up to the doors of the school, she walked in and looked around. The musty smell was normal
here, but it was something she couldn't get rid of. Angelina then headed towards her locker and decided that it was time to finally head to class.
Failing as a student, she didn't care much if she were on time or not.

[Whispurr]

Speed and Grace.

Jason dashed across the field, his breath husky; beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he went. Occasionally he would outsmart an opponent with such playful ease that the game seemed quite one-sided. On the sidelines he could hear girls cheering, calling his name in ecstasy. A smirk crossed his handsome features as he went for his final run, fixated on the goal ahead. The goalkeeper, Russell was his name, looked quite scared. A laugh escaped his lips as he readied himself for the shot, his muscles quivering as his legs connected with the ball. With shocking precision and extreme force the ball crashed into the net. The onlookers went wild, and so did his teammates.

„Jason, my man, it doesn’t matter to you if this was just a practice match, you still give it your all.“

Brad, one of his best friends, smacked him on the back with an approving smile. He was right, Jason always gave his best, and he never held back. Earlier this day his team had decided to split into two even teams and practice a bit, of course it was never evenly matched since there was no way he would be able to play on two teams at the same time, so whichever team he wasn’t part of was bound to lose.

„We should go take a shower and head over to the pool, you know they have their little competition thing going on today. “ Jason just nodded and followed Brad to the locker room to clean himself up.

- Later -

All fresh and tidy Jason emerged from the locker room. Together with his team he headed for the pool area, where obviously most of the students were going.

The place was crowded, he never would have thought that an event like this would attract so many people, but as he looked around he noted that the whole thing appeared to be very well thought out. If you went by the crowd you would know which team would win this day, but nothing was decided yet.

His teammates took their seat at the front of the bleachers, laughing amongst themselves and chatting away excitedly.

Jason scanned the crowd, quite a few girls were looking his way, he gave each of them a mischievous smile, just waiting for one of them to catch the bait. Finally a tall blond girl that went by the name Nora walked over to him and took a seat at his side.

„Hey Jason, I really enjoyed our night together. We should do something again soon.“ He grinned at her, lifting his hand to her hair and curling a few strands around his fingers. „Sure baby, how about tonight? “ He asked, knowing that the answer would already be yes. „That would be great.“ She smiled, laying a hand on Jason’s thigh as she bent to give him a kiss on his cheek. „I'll pick you up around six “

„See you then.“ With that she got up and walked back over to her friends, who looked quite jealous.

Brad playfully punched his arm and grinned. „Way to go man!“ Jason just grinned in response.

[shy_girl12]

Angela blinked, realizing it was time to switch classes. She slowly grabbed her things up and trudged out of the room. The hallway was usually noisy to her but at the moment she was drunk enough, nothing really bothered her. She somehow hadn't gotten caught. That or no one really cared as long as she didn't bring the other students down with her. She stumbled into the bathroom to quickly check her appearance. Some girls already chattering inside gave her a quickly glance before scurrying out, a few mean words were mumbled.

Angela smirked at her image in the mirror, all the hateful words were just unavoidable. She fixed her make-up a bit and went on to her next class,history. Nothing made sense today, that would be the alcohol to blame. She was slowly making since of things a little better as the class went on. She could finally look at the boring slideshow her teacher was going through and see that there were people in pictures. She felt herself itching to take a crack at the stuff she had gotten this morning that sat safely in her shoulder.

Her thoughts were once more stopped by the ringing of the bell. She quickly got up this time and headed towards where they'd be having the swimming competition. People had already began taking the better seats. She felt as if she ran around forever just trying to find a open seat, she finally managed to grab one. The person in front of her was the problem. Jason Heart. The name made her roll her eyes, she had to admit though he was good looking, his playboy ways made her dislike him a little. She nearly gagged as a idiotic girl made plans with him the happily ran off. Did she not care about how bad he was playing her?

Angela sat down behind him silently. Just as quietly she leaned forward and blew in his ear, "Still pretty early and already making plans, huh Casanova?" She gave him a pouting face. "Aww, and here i thought you'd make time for me." She laughed and popped her mint flavored gum. People began to mutter around them. She always enjoyed teasing him, at times he might even make a remark back. Angela looked over at his friends with a less friendlier look, "Hey Uglies." She waved slightly.

[thescarletdoll.]

"My God, he's so f--king sexy."
"I know, right? He's just... u~gh."
"Went out with him a week ago. Totally into it."
"Oh my God, you whore!"

"Who're we talking about?" A little voice chimed in, sweet and innocent like a child's but with an undertone of amusement that borderlined mockery. "Ooooh, that dude. Who's he again?"

Tuppence was a girl who really was oblivious to most people and was never good with faces or names, but to not know who the star player of the soccer team was was... was... near blasphemy in the eyes of her group. Of course, neither was it surprising in the least that she didn't know who he was - or cared to remember, despite the gossip that adorned him like a cloak. Oddly enough, her small group of friends took this as a sign of the world still rotating on its axis; after all, the day Tuppence "Penny" Pearson took any interest in a guy would definitely be the day the world was ending. "He's like one of the hottest guys in school, of course. You know, Jason Heart. We do have a class with him."

The look on Penny's sweet face was sincerely puzzled. "We do?" She squinted passed Sasha and then Jennifer. "Still doesn't ring bells. Why's Norma with him?"

Jennifer whacked her red-headed friend on the shoulder. "Why are you even here? You're supposed to be down there where your team is, Pen."

"I was looking for Julian; I haven't seen him ever since... well, y'all know. His B-R-E-A-K-U-P with H-E-R."
"Oh."
"Ouch."
"Yea. Who doesn't know about that?"

Jennifer sighed. "Whatever. You can be his shrink later. You should be down there." She gave a small push. "Gogogogogo."

"Goin'!" Penny bounced on ahead as Norma came back. The group of girls' conversation disappeared amongst the roaring of the crowd.

Penny was scolded for being late for their first match and sent to the showers to get changed into her swim uniform, but that was all. The coach had only patted her shoulder, told her to simply 'kick ass' and then she and her partner-in-crime of a captain took a step forward to say what needed to be said before the match started.

The captain was a boy named Nicholas Denver - a fierce looking blonde boy who didn't look anything like his cousin - who happened to be on the rivaling team of Maryanne Valley. He was of average height, Niko, and had eyes that spoke volumes about his person. With a deep tan and abs that would put a few on the wrestling team to shame, the captain was -in all- a jubilant, loud and often childish sort of guy. "Alright guys, I don't have to tell you how tough it's been getting this team approved. You all know that and have helped from the get-go, but that was just the first obstacle. We've made it. You showed us what you've got at practices. You kicked ass during speed runs. Now, well, its time to show those punkass rich kids who runs this."

Penny smiled blissfully. "What he s~aid. Of course, I say we just go. Who needs all this pressure? When we're in the water, nothing else matters, right?" There was agreement there and smiles... even from the most sober of faces. When the co-captain continued, there was no mistake who'd win in their expressions. "Just remember, y'all. We didn't start this team on a whim. Each of you has talent." She looked at the only other girl in their team, Wynn. "But you. Calm down. Really. We're not swimming a sea here. It's a pool. Tease them a little."

Wynn grinned. "Sure."

Niko put his hand in then, followed by Penny's and then the rest. "Whoever's the slowest today, buys dinner for the rest of us tonight." He winked. "And it's not gonna be me."

[Haku_]

Day

'n'

Night

Stress. Staring face to face with the elaborate schematic that seemed to be written in some ancient Egyptian gibberish, or a piano scale as his teacher had called it, Scott found himself squinting from behind his thick framed glasses with stress building as did some frustration. The look on his face went from that of a confused adolescent, to that of a wise thinker, to eventually the face of an old man struggling to read the sunday paper while passing a kidney stone. Not pleasant. The piano was a beautiful instrument capable of making sounds sweeter than any woman could ever make, but still, it was about as hard to learn how to play it the right way as it was to live twice. Alright.. Sweeter sounds any woman, except one. As the bell rang, saving Scott from yet another headache, after grabbing his bag and heading for the door, he was stopped by a disgruntled piano teacher, Ms.Watson.

"Mr.Mescudi"

He Stopped with an "Awwwww, Shoot.." type of expression, doubling back against his will to face the teacher. Of course, Ms.Watson, also known as Miss Mary Watson, was one of Scott's more favored teachers, just because she wasn't a total witch, and could play a mean moonlight sonata; not to mention she wasn't that bad looking for teacher. Putting on a big grin and forcing out a little pep, he responded.

"Come on, Miss. Why always with the formalities? Call me Scott."

"Well, Scott...", She retorted with spiteful emphasis, "You were late again today, and I thought we had a talk about that"

That was Scott's problem, so to speak. Or at least to others. To him, it was his only remaining blessing.That was what he was couldn't wait to hurry up and get to.

"And another thing, I thought you were making some real progress after the private tutoring sessions we've been having, but today you really seemed lost. Do I have to tell your dad to watch over you when I'm not there?"

"No mam...", his voice dragged as his head drooped a bit. Truth is, Ms.Watson had been seeing his dad for over a year now. They really seem happy with each other, that's why Scott didn't really mind. Ms.Watson would always offer to help with extra tutoring when it came to things that Scott didn't really understand, like her class for one. Even still, there was an uncertainty about her that Scott couldn't quite trust, and so he just continued to go along with the motions.

She sighed.

"What am I gonna do with you..."

"You can always just let me go with a warning and I'll promise to be good!", He said with a cheeky smile and a boney thumbs up. Honestly, he just wanted to go already.

"Alright..", As soon as the word came out her mouth, Scott turned and dipped out the room. Poking her head out and yelling after him, "..BUT I better see you at the swim meet!"

Lightyears down the hall, Scott crashed lightly into his locker with haste, stopping briefly to catch his breath. As he swung his bag from around his back onto one shoulder, he reached in and rested his hand on plastic bag with a lite, fluffy textured content inside of it. The sudden smirk on his face quickly faded as he thought for a second, turning his back to the locker and sliding down into a outstretched sit. Closing his eyes, his mind wondered for a bit..

I toss and turn, I keep stressin' my mind

Thoughts of the previous night flashed before his closed eyelids. Even, the bruise on his upper right forearm throbbed in pain again, causing him to open his eyes again. Looking around, eyes once wide, then lowered again in disgust, he uttered something else as he stood once more, exchanged bags in his locker, and then walked away towards the swimming pool.

I look for peace, but see I don't attain

Upon entering the Pool area, Scott was overtaken by the atmosphere. Maybe it was the fact that it seemed like the whole school was there; maybe it was the fact he had never really been to too many school events since this is only his second year here; Or maybe it was just the smell of chlorine and axe mixed together in the wrong way. Either way, he walked in, looking through all the bleachers. It was great, you know, only here and there would you actual see some empty silver. Not one to dive head first into a sea of people, Scott decided to post by the entrance doors while everything got started. There was still no sign of Ms.Watson... Uh oh...

Seeing there was just enough time before things started, Scott snuck out back to the outside. This was the perfect time to take a few hits. Always ready for any occasion, like any good smoker, of course, He took out a pre-loaded one-hitter pipe from his bag, took out his mini lighter, and...

'Let it all blow with the breeze, ahah!"

The night is young

[Jill the Ripper]

Around her, the crowd was humming. Nearby she could hear the gossiping, a few girls giggling to themselves about Him, having just sent their friend back to Goethe's waiting Swim team.

Jason Heart.

He was, truly, the only thing that made coming to school everyday worth wild - and even though he was so... free with his flames, Lily could not fault him. The boy'd never notice her, of course - and why would he? Lillian Clark's most striking features were her eyes, and you had to inch in close to realize their violet - not blue - colour.

For a year, year and a half, Lily had been carrying this crush. It'd started just about when her mother had told her about her diagnosis - the young Clark girl had been watching the soccer team, desperate for something else to cling onto that wasn't her mother's illness, when the match had finished and Jason had looked up, grinning at her. And yes, later on Lily had realized that the blond hadn't been smiling at her at all, but a smirking redhead behind her, but it didn't matter. Lily had blushed and smiled back and even if he hadn't of noticed it, that'd been the start of her infatuation.

Really, it'd been harmless. At first. And if Lily kept feeding it on passing glances, or accidental brush-ups and bump-ins, what did it matter? Who was it affecting, aside from just her?

But that was the problem, really. From a silly little crush it'd turned into something... strange, though Lily liked to deny it. Writing about him in her blog wasn't so bad, was it? It wasn't like anyone read it. And, her art teacher had said the little comic book she was keeping - starring Jason, although renamed just J - was very creative. Really, if anything this crush was just... fulfilling her creative side.

He was sitting with Angela McCoy, now, seconds after flirting with some leggy blonde - Lily tried to swallow the green-eyed monster threatening to rage up from her throat, and instead turned her eyes to the pool, realizing that the teams were now gearing up for the race.

Over the loudspeaker:

"Welcome, students, to Robert Goethe's first home team Swim comp!"

The crowd around Lily exploded into a cheer, and with interest, Lily noticed the redhead from the other team's face tightened. The voice droned on, introducing the teams, empathizing good sportsmanship - which went completely unheard in the boos for Maryanne, the Clark girl beginning to feel a little bad for them. She would not have wanted to face off against a team on their home turf, not with such an obnoxious crowd like this.

Robert Goethe's Swim coach was steadying himself, by the pool, holding the starting gun as the swimmers arched themselves in anticipation, and, without thinking about it, Lily leaned forward, already on edge.

"On your marks!" The coach's voice was booming. "Get set!" BANG! The gun went off, and the swimmers dived.

got my flash on, it's true, need that picture of you

[HuntressOfNine]

'Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky, are like shooting stars.'

Finally, after much rummaging through her locker, Angelina decided that it was time to move on to the swim meet; where everyone else was gathering around. She wasn't much for these big crowds, and really, she wasn't much interested in the swim meet either, or the competition. She believed the only thing she was going for, was that she would be able to see, Julian. Julian who she adored as her closest friend from Junior High, and her closest friend in Elementary.
Within mere minutes, she found herself shoving all of her things into her locker and closing it shut-- only having her over sized bag over her shoulder, with a clip for hair hanging off the strap, and her cell phone sticking slightly out of her pocket of her jeans.

While Angelina walked through the halls of the school; she pulled her hair to the side, letting it hang over her shoulder and watched it as it somewhat bounced a bit. Shoving her right hand into her vacant pocket, she let her thumb stick out and loop into the spot where her belt was originally supposed to be. Today, she didn't bother to wear one-- just to feel more comfortable during classes, instead of a piece of metal sticking into her sides, or into her bellybutton. The competition was about to start soon, and she still wasn't there. Of course being fashionably late, was her thing. Nothing was of interest to her, and in fact she considered herself to be a loner. Having Julian as her only closest friend was close enough to not become a social outcast, or a social butterfly. But she did in fact need to meet new people.


Angelina wondered if Julian had his cell phone on. She pulled out hers quickly and started to text him.

'Hey, I'll be there in a little bit. If you save me a seat, I'll greatly appreciate it.'

'I'd like to believe that planet earth turns slowly. It's to say that I'd rather stay awake than when I'm asleep. '



She then folded her phone back into phone her pocket, and finally continued down through the halls, to the outside court of the school. Heading around to the bleachers of where the rest of the school was going to be; she looked around casually not like she was looking for anyone in particular, just someone she knew. Possibly Julian. Knowing that he was going to be there-- she'd hoped that he saved her a seat or something next to him, or even in front of him.

[Cerberus.]

She had thick, light brown hair touched with a slight wave. Under the lighting reflected by the surface of the pool, her eyes shined a blue-green that complimented her soft features. Her slender hands were wrapped about another, his hand clinging tightly to her own. Julian's jaw tightened, his teeth grinding against one another. The blood was pounding in his ears now, bringing on a consistent ringing that only irritated him further.

She said that she loved him.

There was something in him that screamed for a scene. To make the one holding her precious now to pay for all the pain he was causing. But he didn't, or rather, he couldn't not when there were so many to see it. Instead, he had to hold himself back, tense and frustrated on the metal bleacher. He had an image to uphold here at Goethe as the student body president and getting into fights wasn't acceptable, especially the public ones.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated, alerting him of a new text message.

He ignored it for a moment, only watching HER with unblinking eyes as she sat down with the boy she had brought along. She had sat purposely far away from him, but from an angle that still gave them view of each other. She was probably observing him now, waiting for him to break.

The president refused to give her the satisfaction, turning away to reach into his pocket for his cell phone, the screen alerting him of a new message from Angelina. She was asking him to save her a seat, and he couldn't help but raise a brow with surprise. Angelina didn't seem like the one to spend her free time at a swim meet, and she had about as much school spirit as Leah. Still, if the girl wanted to come, he wasn't going to argue. Glancing to his left side, he made note of just enough space for Angelina to sit down. With a brief look around, he placed his backpack on the empty spot, before turning back to his phone to answer the text.

"All right. I've saved you a seat. You should hurry over. It's starting."

After sending the message, he pocketed his phone just as the swim coach announced the starting of the first race. The cheering from the students was insanely loud, and surely intimidating for Maryanne. Still, Julian found it harder to cheer than before, his eyes continuously flickering to that brown head in the bleachers.

It wasn't over.

[Whispurr]

It was about time for the whole thing to start. The noise in the pool area was growing quite deafening; the people seemed to be overflowing with school spirit. Just when he was about to lean over and say something to Brad he felt the warm breath of a certain blond-haired female, leaning down from behind him to blow him in the ear. "Still pretty early and already making plans, huh Casanova?" She put up a pouting expression while she continued to speak. "Aww, and here I thought you'd make time for me." A scowl crossed his features as his nostrils flared in disgust as he took in the intense smell of alcohol rolling off her breath. “I won’t make time with you until you take enough time with yourself to fix your little problem.”

The blond known as Angela turned to his friends. "Hey Uglies."

“Hey now, there is no need for you to be rude to my friends.” He crossed his arms and looked quite serious, for if there was one thing he hated it was insults. He might have grown up as a rich and spoiled brat, but he never approved of bullying or insulting for no good reason.

“Just leave her be, she’s not worth it.” Brad put a hand on Jason’s shoulder to calm him down. “Fine.” He turned back towards the pool, noting that their team was ready and waiting for the starting signal.

Then the loudspeakers chimed in:

"Welcome, students, to Robert Goethe's first home team Swim comp!"

The students erupted in even louder cheers and shouts for their team. The opposing team was introduced, but he couldn’t understand their names through the continuing ‘boos’. A smirk crossed his features. This was just how the crowd acted on one of his soccer games, occasionally there would even be a crazy fan that thought it cool to run out into the field during a game, mostly butt naked, or wearing some weird costume. He and his teammates always had a good laugh when that happened.

Suddenly a loud “bang” echoed through the room and immediately the swimmers set into action. Students all around him stood up and shouted cheers of encouragement, urging the team on.

He didn’t understand much about this sport, he had only been to a few competitions before, and in none of them he really paid any attention. Brad nudged him on the shoulder and leaned closer. “You are going to the party later on, right?”

Jason smacked himself on the head. “I completely forgot about that, I have to cancel on Nora.” With that he stood up and walked over to the female he had set a date with for tonight. “Hey Nora, I’m sorry but I have to cancel tonight’s date because of the party. I hope I’ll see you there.” He smiled at her, and he could clearly see her expression change from displeased to eager. “Ok Jason, I will definitely see you there.”

Walking back through the crowd he dropped himself back on his spot in the bleachers, giving Brad a thumbs up that tonight’s party was still on.

[N*E*R*D]

Watching,

Waiting,

Wishing...

Layton Lewis sat on the top row of the bleachers by himself, it would seem that the myth of celebrities wearing sunglasses to detract attention from them seemed to be turning into somewhat of a fact as he sat there with his 'Ray-Ban' wayfarers on and his 'Dre Beats' wrapped over his head. Layton's father had signed some new teen heartthrob on his label and Layton had been taking flak from all of the young adoring fans of said heartthrob, asking questions. It was nice that he could actually find a place to find a little bit of solace. He sometimes wished that his parents had regular jobs so that he actually not be branded as 'The Son Of...'

Layton had watched as Lily Clarke had walked into the pool area and take a seat a few rows down and to the left of him. There was quite a crowd gathered for the first swimming meet of the year and the rivalries had already presented themselves, with what he could just make out to be chants from each side of the pool. Lily Clarke was one person that Layton could feel comfortable around, she very rarely asked about his parents, and instead showed a genuine interest in what he was doing.

He also saw Scott Mescudi, and Angelina a few rows over and of course Jason 'Heart-Throb' the sporting God, he smirked slightly as he looked around the bleachers and the girls swooned.

"Welcome, students, to Robert Goethe's first home team Swim comp!" snapped the voice over the crackly PA system. Layton took off his headphones ever so slightly as the crowds raised to their feet in unison, the atmosphere sparked to life. Layton could just make out Lily, seemingly holding a reserved interest as she leant forward in anticipation of the starting gun.

The crowd all stood as the swim coach pointed the starting gun up in the air. The students waited on a breath as the coach tightened his finger on the trigger and a bang reverberated around the bleachers. The crowd went wild as the race began. Layton smiled and pulled his headphones back over his ears, the music blocking out any noise of the events unfolding before him. He looked back over to Lily who was clapping shyly and leaning so far forward that she could have been practising for a dive into the pool. He smiled again as he watched her, not taking any notice of the race. From this angle he could see her stunning eyes... Lily was beautiful, she just didn't realise it! Stomping of feet brought Layton out of his trance like state and he realised that perhaps he was stirring a little too intently at Lily. He turned his head back to the race, and was thankful that he was wearing his shades.

Wishing,

Waiting,

Hoping,

Praying

[shy_girl12]

“Just leave her be, she’s not worth it.” One of the big guys said to Jason. “Fine.” She felt herself frown. Angela was about to respond but the starting of the race interrupted her. They began with a casual: "Welcome, students, to Robert Goethe's first home team Swim comp!" Jason had turned his head. Angie felt her mood darken as she sat back and tried to watched the race. Angela silently listened to the boo's and cheers of the crowd around her. Then there was a bang and the swimmers dove into the water. Angie caught her breath but quickly released it.

Back before she had gotten hooked on drugs and alcohol she had enjoyed cheering on teams. She just happen to get with the wrong people at the wrong time and now it seemed a lot of old friends hated her guts. That thought reminded her of all the trash she took from people now. “I won’t make time with you until you take enough time with yourself to fix your little problem.” He had said. Angela clenched her teeth. She shouldn't care what that jerk thought of her.

She promptly stood up and walked out the near by back door for a quick smoke. The door swung open with easy and closed just as quickly as it had been open. Standing outside was the familiar face of Scott Mescudi and from the looks of it, he was quite enjoying that hit. Angie heard things but this was the first time she had actually seen him smoking. "Don't let me disturb you," Angie waved it off casually ,"I'm just her for a quick smoke and breather." Being in that place with all those people made her feel suffocated.

Angie pulled out a cigarette ,lite it and inhale it deeply. After a moment she exhaled and smoke easily rolled out of her mouth. After a few minutes the cigarette was put out, and she made her way to the door. She made her way back to her spot and luckily it hadn't been taken. That was something surprising, girl would have surely died to get close to Jason.

Angela collapsed carelessly into the spot and sighed. This was all a real drag but if she didn't come she'd probably be forces to sit in the detention room with the other idiots who didn't want to come. Angie texted awhile,by the time she looked back up it seemed they were almost done racing. She really could careless. Hopefully this would be over soon, very soon.

[Haku_]

Hyyerr, Oh so High

Let it all blow with the wind, ahah!

Lifted. As the smoke cleared into his mouth, slowly leaking into his lungs, the sudden sensation of elevation lifted Scott into another zone of being, another zone of self. This was the kind of feeling that didn't quite blast you off into to the moon, but prepared you for lift off. It was just what Scott needed to get him through the day without a care in the world... Until the next hit at least. Through the small fog that escaped his nose as he let what breath he held in out, he caught a glimpse of a figure as a voice called out.

"Don't let me disturb you, I'm just her for a quick smoke and breather."

Ahah. Funny as it was, Scott looked on in silence with a long look in his eyes as he watched her puff and go. His glare lingered on seconds after she had gone. Something about it didn't really bother him, but didn't just pass over as nothing either. Probably just sketched from weed, he shook it off and took one more hit before throwing the bag and the one-hitter in the trash. The keys to be a successful smoker is to be a Smart smoker! Never leave a way so they can trace it back to you. Hit it and quit it. Simple. He had been at this for a while now, and so the dos and don'ts were like a bible to Scott. However could he stay high 24/7 and never get caught?

Rule number 2. Upon re-entering the Pool area, he removed the hoodie had been wearing and replaced it with a jacket he had tucked away in his bag. Popping a fresh new piece of Trident layers gum into his mouth, he was feeling like a new man. The key is to get rid of the smell, not to mask it. Most people think it's okay to spray themselves down till they smell like skunks. It doesn't cover it up, plus, you smell like a skunk. That's the beauty of the hoodie technique, aka "Snake Skin". Let the hoodie aborb the smell, keeping your shirt and body odor free, and remove the hoodie to get rid of the smell. Now you're hands still smell, that's why he always kept hand sanitizer in his bag. And also... You're breath probably smells like flavored smoke. So, a nice juicy piece of the best gum in the world should do the trick, to at least make it smell fruity if anything. Add the glasses as the final touch to keep people from staring at your eyes, and Scott was A.Okay.

A new man, Scott was also a late man, a fashion he didn't quite sport very often. The races had begun, and it looked like there was a lead for someone in a Robert Goethe swim suit. Giving a small little fist pump as he walked by, making his way to the bleachers, Scott spotted what looked like a seat. The ol' Backpack sign of "Please don't sit by me". Scott laughed at people who did that, because he'd usually always be the one to have to ask such a kid if he could sit there. This time was no different, but what was odd was who it was with the backpack guarding the seat next to him; That guy, Julian. Gritting his teeth a bit at the thought as he stared down the seat, Scott decided it was not worth it. Returning to his post, he decided he'd rather stand. It was almost over, anyways.

Mr.Solo - Dolo

[Charon]

The swim meet hadn't started yet, but Bryce was still late, as usual, he casually walked down the corridors to the swim meet. 'a few more corridors to go' he told himself as he heard "Welcome, students, to Robert Goethe's first home team Swim comp!" come from one of the announcers at the Swim meet.

When he got there, he slipped in through the back door, trying not to be spotted by any of his teachers who had warned him that if he was late, he would be in detention for the next month.

He got bored of watching the Swim meet, so he pulled out his iPod touch and started listening to Eminem. he muttered the lyrics as he pulled out his phone and started playing a game. After about 10minutes his phone came up with ' Low Battery ' so he turned his game off and started to watch the swim races. On the race he was watching his team had just won, the whole crowd burst out cheering with joy, Bryce quickly jumped up and started cheering. He had found an interest in this competition, infact he had found two, the second - his crush, Lillian Clark. He decided it was time he actually spoke to her, not just a quick "hi" every now and then, so he got up and walked over to where she was sitting.

"Hey Lily, mind if I sit here?" he said as he sat down. He watched another race and then turned to Lily "So, how are you today?" he asked as he tried to make conversation.

Bryce couldn't believe it, sitting with the girl he'd had a crush on since he first saw her a year and a half ago after he'd played his first football match in the school's football team. His best friend Jason introduced him to the football team a few days after he'd came to the school, Bryce was pretty good at football, the second best on the team, after Jason, he'd never be better than Jason but he came damn well close. It was after the match Bryce saw her, she was smiling at something, and Bryce couldn't take his eyes off her. After smiling at some redhead Jason pushed Bryce "come on, time to get changed" he said, and that's how his eyes first set on and then drifted off Lillian Clark.

The school's team had won another race, yet again the crowd roared with celebration and yet again, Bryce joined in...

[thescarletdoll.]

She had watched him and smiled inwardly. He was in his element, their Aquaman. Ahead of the rivaling team by a good arms length, Niko glided through the water like it was nothing at all. As if by being in it, he somehow sprouted wings - propelling him through the pool and back. Soon, his finger tips would touch the wall and that would be cue for her to dive in. Already she heard the yells of her teammates who had already gone before her. Unlike movies where one just listened to distant echoes, everything sorting itself in slow motion - this was real time, and the sounds of a cheering crowd mixed with faint boos from the opposing team consumed all thought of anything else.

Niko was closer now; Penny got into position. The redheaded boy on the rivaling team did the same. He looked at her. She looked at him.

They both smiled.

Niko touched the wall. Penny dove in. Seconds after, Maryanne’s swimmer touched the wall as well and the redhead dove in after. Niko had warned her about him, but even his words were nothing once she started forward - strokes sharp and powerful, surprising from such a thin body and completely unlike the captain’s grace. Her style was intimidating; Niko’s had been an art form, in a way. It was sort of like watching a crossbow release a bolt into a target.

The rivaling swimmer was not one to be upstaged, however. Similar to Penny in his own way, he didn’t need as much power behind his legs or his arms as the girl. He simply… went for the win.

Two fiery heads went neck and neck by the end of the race.

“Come on, Pen!”
“Penny! Penny!”
“GOGOGOGO!”
“Almost. ALMOST!”

There they were beyond the chaos of water swishing and obnoxious cries from the crowd. If she could have laughed in that moment, she would have. They were there… the finish line.

Penny reached out at the same time Maryanne’s swimmer did.

The whistle went off as a hand slapped against the tiled wall.

~

“Annnnnnd, the winner goes to: us!” Niko slapped Penny on the shoulder that following night and hooked his arm around Wynn. “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.”

Tuppence yawned, looking even sleepier than before. Dressed in a pink ‘save the unicorns’ t-shirt with neon yellow leggings and a polka-dotted skirt that could have been stolen from someone in the 80’s; her short, red hair was bound back in several little pig tails up and over her head like liberty spikes. One big, yellow bubble ring on her right middle finger was the least noticeable in this odd get-up. She didn’t seem to realize how kooky she looked ; Niko or her teammates didn’t either. After all, they were used to worse things Penny came up with in her everyday wear. This was subtle compared to most days.

At the party, it was no different. Nicholas had a big house, had a damn good sound system, and wasn’t at all shy about using his home as a victory party. His parents were hardly ever home anyway, and his sister spent most of her nights with her baby daddy. There were no problems at all; he even went so far as to invite Maryanne Valley’s team for a night out. His cousin didn’t mind and even helped with some of the food and drinks; his teammates however… they chose not to participate and flipped Niko off at the get-go.

In the end, almost everyone who had been at the swim meet today came to celebrate a night with some underage drinking and possibly a good dance or two - or more, depending on who was dancing with who. And what kind of dancing it was.

Niko was already obviously tipsy, having taken a shot or two before the initial gathering and then doing some more. He was going to engage in a game of beer pong before his cousin steered him away from the table. Now he was happily chatting with his co-captain who was in her own little world, looking for someone she hadn’t seen at the meet. “Drink with me! Or have pizza. We have a lot of pizza.” He glared dully at his cousin. “I told you not to order pineapple. It’s nasty as ****.”

“You’re a mean drunk,” Wynn noted. “I happen to like pineapple.”
“Because you’re Hawaiian. You’re supposed to like pineapples and coconuts.”
“Correction, you’re an ignorant, mean drunk.”

“I’m not mean!” He looked at his cousin, petulant this time. “Tell her I’m not mean. You know I’m not mean. She likes ****ty pineapples. It’s not my fault she likes ****ty pineapples. What girlfriend would put their boyfriend through trying a pineapple, banana smoothie? **** that, dude.”

“Drunk asshole.”
“****ty pineapple eater.” He kissed her. “I love you.”
Wynn smiled. “You smell.”

Tuppence rolled her eyes and ducked under Niko’s other arm. “I need to find Julian.”

There was nothing more to say at that point. Niko’s loud whoop of victory was all there was. Wynn pleaded silently to his cousin to sober him up and almost reached out to bring Penny back - but with a brave smile, she bore her boyfriend’s… behavior for the night.

Meanwhile, Tuppence went in search of her prey. Shrink time.

[Cerberus.]

The meet had ended well beyond expectations. The win was flawless, and the cheers so loud, they echoed in Julian's ears even after they had left the swimming pool area. The noise volume only increased as the swim captain announced a victory party at his place that evening, and the news spread like wildfire. The president himself was hesitant upon attending, considering the amount of work still left to his responsibility to mull over, and the idea that SHE might be present. It was difficult enough seeing her with someone else on school property, however, on somewhere without any limits, that was harder to bare.

Then again, HER presence made it all the more tempting to go.

And when the youth stood on the captain's front step that night, he realized there was no going back as loud music and the strong scent of alcohol greeted him. He felt as if he was being pushed inside, while gazing at fellow classmates drinking and talking loudly amongst one another, trying to hear their own voices over the speakers. Something in him frowned against this kind of behavior, but he said nothing, knowing he was the last person who could judge such things. Instead, he offered a grinning smile, brows uplifted while others reflected his gesture. Sweet victory with liquor always brings about a damn good mood.

His smile grew somewhat bitter at the thought as eyes flickered over chestnut colored waves and those familiar clear eyes.

She was with someone else now, a differing boy from the one at the swim meet. This one was a bit taller, thinner with striking blonde hair and dull gray eyes. His hands were wrapped about her waist, holding her much too close for his preference. He could feel a slight twinge at the corner of his lip, his grin slackening as the blonde pulled her closer to his person, lips moving as she giggled.

For a moment, Julian felt his composure snapping in two, the image he'd perfectly sculpted being shattered into nothing. Then, he stiffened, her dark lashes glanced in his direction, waiting for him to move. Her eyes knew him all too well, her expression expectant of something foolish, but Julian turned away, jaw tight and knuckles white. With a swift movement, he slipped out Nicholas's back door, a plastic cup filled to the brim in hand.

Outside, the noise indoors was muffled behind thick walls of stoned brick. A few persons were dotted about, but, for the most part, the yard was empty and, after slipping away to the deserted left side of the house, the president allowed his perfected facade to slip away. He drank about half of the liquor in his hand before placing the cup down near his feet to light a cigarette. And, after a few long drags of smoke, he finally felt at ease, foot propped up against the wall behind him, eyes looking up towards the small clouds of gray slowly dispersing before him.

Nothing like the threat of dying just a bit quicker to make one feel more alive.

His posture only stiffened when he saw a gleam of red, fitted into a ridiculous style upon someone's head under the faint light of the yard. Slowly, he removed the cancer stick from his lips, muttering something quietly under his smokey breath. Dark eyes gazed over her, acknowledging that she had been spotted, and that it was best to come forward or to leave the way she came.

[HuntressOfNine]

The phone vibrated in her pocket as she was just at the entrance of the bleachers and looked about for Julian. There he was, sitting slender and looking so beautiful from away. Of course he'd look more beautiful up close and personal, but the image of him was perfected in Angelina's mind. Pulling the phone out of her pocket, sliding it open, she read the text message from Julian.

"All right. I've saved you a seat. You should hurry over. It's starting."

Angelina just barely getting to the meet, was up to finding herself sitting next to Julian. As she got comfortable, she looked over at him and gave him a bit of a nudge.


'Hey, is everything okay with you? You seem kind of well... distant lately.' She tilted her head looking slightly at him and wondering if he was still thinking about that girl that
broke his heart. Speaking up again, 'She's not worth it, hun. If she didn't love you in the first place, she's not going to love you now.' Those were never really the words that were
comforting, but there was really nothing else to say to make him feel any better. Of course, she was more interested in getting Julian to like her the way that she liked him. It wasn't exactly going to be easy.

'Say, are you going to that party later on tonight? Cause if you are, I could be your date or something-- that's if you want.' Angelina put the question right out there, not even thinking that he might possibly have a date already. She didn't care though. She knew that she was like his best friend and that if anything, he'd tell her if he had a date. Her thoughts were hoping. Maybe, it would be like-- clock striking twelve, and he'd fall in love with her. With the thoughts running through her head, she pulled out her bottle of water and popped off the cap, while clenching it slightly in her fingers.

The meet was ending just as she was getting there. Unfortunately, she didn't have much of a chance to sit with the boy of her dreams, but she wanted to make every effort that he was going to be okay, so she'd hang around just a little bit more before he actually had to go to class, or whatever it was about to do.

'Beautiful girls all over the world. I could be chasin', but my time would be wastin'. But they got nothing on you, baby.'

[Inaralyn]

Abigale awoke to the too familiar sound of her father returning from work. The car door slamming was a little too loud for her pounding head to take, and last nights activities seemed a little less than worth it now. She'd definitely slept through school, she saw when she looked up at her alarm clock, something that was rare, even though she despised school with a passion. She went for the entertainment, for the boys. It was her main 'feeding ground'. Teenage boys with crazy hormones?

Enter, Abigale.

She listened reluctantly to the sound of her father's work boots on their hardwood floor, the 'Clunk-Clunk' sound made her hangover-headache hurt even worse. She waited patiently for the next part...

"ABIGALE PARKS, do NOT tell me you're STILL IN BED!!!"

Abigale groaned to herself and rolled off her down feather comforter, onto her shaggy carpet floor with a loud, painful crash.

"**** that hurt..." she rubbed her right knee absent mindedly with her left hand, and her eyes with her right. "Yea, Pops... I'm up here... I don't feel well..." She smiled to herself.. It wasn't a total lie...

Her father sighed loud enough for her to hear, and she listened as walked down the hall to his room, and closed the door. Abigale got to her feet, her head swimming slightly, and stumbled over to her closet. She pulled her favorite outfit, and slipped it on. She might have missed school, but nothing was going to stop her from going to this party. She NEVER missed parties.

~ . ~ . ~ . ~

Abigale walked through the crowd of people standing in front of the house, ignoring a few wolf whistles here and here. She was on a mission, someone was on her mind, and she was determined to get to him tonight. She opened the front door, and shoved through a group of girls.

"Excuuuuse me? I know you didn't just push me" a tall slender girl from her school stepped out from the group, and into Abigale's path. She looked like she was ready to fight, but Abigale was no where near drunk enough to want to punch someone.

"I did, and you're going to get over it, because I'm not going to see you for the rest of the night. Have a nice life" She ducked into the closest room, and looked around intently. Kitchen. Abigale grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels that was closest to her, and took a long swig. She looked around again, willing someone to catch her eye... Displeased, she shook her head, and sat down on the closest counter, and crossed her legs. Someone had to come along eventually. It'd be even better if it was the someone she wanted, but one could only hope.

"Hey there, you look a little lonely" The voice was one that was not familiar to her, which caught her by surprise. Abigale looked around, unable to find the face that matched the voice. She gasped softly when she heard the voice again, this time so close to her left ear, that she could feel his breath on her neck. "In a place like this, there's no time for loneliness..."

Abigale turned to look at the boy, immediately pleased to see that he was a bit attractive. His hair fell to his shoulders in a messy brown shag, his blue eyes were locked on her face, and his muscular arms held him up as he leaned over the other side of the counter.

"Never lonely, my dear. Merely attempting to look welcome to a good conversation" She smiled sweetly to him and leaned back onto her elbows, her cheek dangerously close to resting on his shoulder.

The attractive boy winked at her and held out his hand.

"My name is Richard. Yours must be Angel with a face like that" He laughed at his own line.. Loser.

Abigale cleared her throat and sat back up.

"Do you use that line often? I'll be shocked if you tell me that its ever aided in you getting laid." She slipped off the counter and left Richard leaning over the counter, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Stupid boys..." She muttered to herself as she walked out of the kitchen, and into what looked like the main part of the party, ready for something good to happen...

[thescarletdoll.]

That boy is bad and honestly;
He's a wolf in disguise;
but I can't stop staring in those evil eyes.

In her forgetful world of lost names, busy schedules and other nonsense that went no further than the other nonsense in her head - he had become somewhat of a beacon in her otherwise crazy thoughts. He was tall, handsome - kind of princely in his distantness and the bouts of determination that flickered in dark, dark eyes. She had only met him once, by accident, in the lunch line at school three years ago. Both were reaching for the last juice box, and he, last minute, withdrew his hand and allowed her that small treasure. Tuppence didn’t know why that was the only thing that really stuck in her mind among the other little things about him. The way he walked, the way he smiled, and then the brooding… but it was always the moment when he let her have the juice box that made him a sticky note in her head.

Ever since then, she had talked to him - not so much to be called friends, but enough to not just be acquaintances either. It was an odd relationship at best but then again, it was Tuppence - and Tuppence was anything but normal.

Which was why when she found out about his recent breakup, she felt it was her civic duty to be there for him… even if it wasn’t her place.

She saw his retreating back, leaving to the backyard. The girl followed him in hopes of catching him - to aid him in his rocky path toward single’s freedom. The boy was fast in his departure, but then again, anyone would be in such a crowded place; especially if one had an ex-girlfriend who happened to be with another guy. Tuppence felt sympathy for the school‘s council president; poor Julian was probably beating himself up over the whole incident.

But he wasn’t… or, at least, not from what she saw.

There he stood, in his dark glory, smoking a cigarette after downing half a cup of what was, no doubt, alcohol. He stared at the smoke, took more drags, and just simply acted like this was an everyday thing. This… this… this was totally not the image that surrounded the school council president.

Bit by bit, Tuppence’s imaginary sticky note of juice boxes tore away from her mind.

It was only then, when she felt she was in the wrong to come out after him, he spotted her. She was caught, and the words under his grumbling only solidified this fact. Tuppence couldn’t walk away from this, couldn’t feign ignorance. “I’m sorry,” she found herself saying - and surprisingly enough - stepped forward to meet him. “I saw you come out here, and I… you know, smoking is bad for you. Haven’t you ever seen those tobacco commercials?”

His answer came slowly. With a long drag, Julian blew the smoke from his lips. “Yea, so?”

“So… soooo… just because a girl broke up with you doesn’t mean you have to go kill yourself the long way.” The girl coughed as the smoke made its way into her nostrils. She waved it away with a grunt. “Aren’t you supposed to be the student council president? Last time I checked, he was above all this stuff.”

He walked passed her then, casually taking another drag. “He is,” he agreed. Wisps of smoke seeped from his lips and into the breeze; Tuppence didn’t expect him to walk away. She didn’t even think he was going back to the party, cig in hand. That, of course, did not happen.

The move was as instantaneous as it was painful. All she felt was her back pressed against the wall behind her, a hand wrapped around her throat - fingers gliding over her pulse. Julian looked down at her with absolutely nothing in his eyes. He just smiled, cig dangling helplessly along his lips. “He is,” he agreed again, but this time continued. “and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Tuppence would have been lying if she said she didn’t feel fear in that moment; however, being stubborn won out over it. “What are you going to do? Kill me?” She wanted it to sound like a challenge, but her voice cracked on the words. The meaning of it fell flat.

He took away the cigarette with his free hand and laughed then, soft and uncaring. His eyes gleamed as he pressed his thumb hard against her neck. “Exactly. Tell anyone, and you’re dead.”

“You’re bluffing,” Tuppence croaked. “You wouldn’t do that…” The words trailed away, lost in the firm touch of his hand and her stuttering heartbeat.

His tone was harsh and cold, brutal in its threat. “Want to find out?” Tuppence winced as he pressed her harder against the wall; the edges of the bricks jabbed her back. His fingers dug into her skin, nearly enough to bruise. It was only a moment before his hold slackened, slowly releasing her so that she could breathe again. Julian was close to her, enough to touch, lips merely inches from her own. There was no intimacy there, only danger, only the threat to her life. “If you want to keep breathing, you’ll keep quiet.”

He was serious.

Tuppence got the picture. She coughed and wheezed out promises of not uttering a word to anyone. Julian took a drag then and blew the smoke into her face. The girl coughed and shook her head. The president didn‘t even seem to notice. “Good.” He let go of her then and smiled once more; the gleam in his eye took on a new meaning. There was violence there… and a very dark promise. “See you at school.”

It was only when he flicked away the cigarette bud and turned away, aired out and ready to go back to the party, did Tuppence’s knees buckle beneath her. She stared at his back, disappearing into the crowd of party goers. No one saw what had occurred. No one would even know what happened. All she could do was stare… and stare… and stare… until she realized something wet going down her cheeks. Tears.

The imaginary sticky note was replaced with another.

That boy was a monster.

[Whispurr]

Of course it had been obvious their school would win, the crowd said it all. He looked over at his best friend Bryce; he was talking with a girl whose name was Lily, a rather dreamy expression set on his features. Jason set himself a mental note to ask him about that later, but until then he had other things to do. Pushing Bryce on the shoulder he spoke with a laugh: “Come on, time to get changed.” Shoving his mate through the crowd the two made their way to the parking lot, where his Dodge Ram Truck was parked.

“We’re going to my house, get ready, grab a bite to eat, and then its party time.” He smiled at his friend as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the truck. Turning on the engine with a roar he slowly pulled out of the parking lot, carefully watching the many students rushing by so he wouldn’t accidentally hit someone. Once the road was clear he drove home to his house, which was actually more of a mansion than anything.

“I’m going to take a quick shower.” He didn’t have to tell Bryce to make himself at home, he was the only one that was allowed to come and go as he pleased, and they had spent quite a bit of time here together. He was like part of the family.

Trudging up the marble stairs he walked into his room, which was actually more like a suite, with a living room, bedroom and bathroom connected together. Every piece of furniture was made out of fine ebony wood; his walls were honey coloured, decorated with various paintings in rich red-golden-brown paint. His bed sheets were a typical black satin with honey coloured pillows. He knew his room definitely didn’t look like that of a teenager, but he loved it just the way it was. Stripping off his clothes as he went towards the bathroom, he grabbed a towel from a hanger to the right of the bathroom door and went to take his shower.

About fifteen minutes later he came out of the bathroom all clean and spiffy, wearing a long sleeved button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow, the shirt itself was unbuttoned to about mid-chest, revealing a tight white sleeveless shirt underneath. He also had on dark blue jeans and wore a silver chain necklace around his neck. Picking up his dirty clothes off the floor he dropped them into a basket in the bathroom and made his way back downstairs.

“What do you want to eat?” He asked, opening his fridge and rummaging through it, he pulled out two beers, handing one to Bryce. Settling on eating sandwiches they settled into the living room and watched sports while talking about all sorts of things.

Then it was time for them to head to the party, for that was something he definitely wouldn’t miss. They walked the few blocks over to Nicholas’s house; Jason took this opportunity to talk to Bryce about the girl from earlier. “You have a thing for her don’t you? Lily I mean.” He lifted his shoulders in an ‘I don’t know’ way and looked at his mate. “I think you know what you’re doing, so just go for it.” Playfully slapping his friend on the back he grinned widely as they walked up to Nicholas’s house, where the party was already up and going.

The two of them stepped inside, immediately people around them greeted them and started to chatter away, a girl handed him a beer and he grinned. Yes, this was just the beginning.

[Jill the Ripper]

As predicted, Robert Goethe won the competition. Lily had watched the reactions of the other team with a clinical interest - of them all, the redhead appeared the most shattered, though when Robert Goethe's blond captain came to shake hands, the redhead took it warmly enough.

Perhaps they were friends, Lily mused, after witnessing the redhead smile wanly at something the blond had said. The competitive kind of friend - the girl could see them fighting against each other for everything, in their relationship; approval, other friends, prizes they both wanted.

"Hey Lily, mind if I sit here?"

From the redhead her eyes shifted to the boy that'd spoken, easing himself down even as he spoke. "So, how are you today?" He had a ipod with him, Lily noted - maybe he was just being polite, waiting for the chance to slip back into his music. Violet eyes shifted back to his face; she knew who he was, of course. Being in love with Him as Lily had been meant that the girl could rattle off all the yearbook, gossip-gleaned facts she knew. His favorite subjects, his latest date, his closest friends.

Bryce Mackenzie; tall and lean and bronze skinned, dark-eyed and guarded. A known trouble maker, though it didn't perturb the brunette.

"Fine." She answered, after a pause. They were getting ready for another race, and awkwardly, for Lily had no real skills with the opposite sex, she added, "I'm good."

There. At least she didn't appear rude, now, though she should've asked Bryce how he was in turn, but it was too late, now, a new race was starting and the crowd cheered again. Her new found companion was cheering along, too, and Lily, bored now, decided to leave.

"Later." It was mumbled, and probably lost in the noise, but at least she'd said it. Wedging herself past everyone, she briefly caught eyes with Layton - after giving him a jerky nod, Lily slipped free of the seats, and practically ran down the steps, feeling a keen sense of embarrassment that stayed with her until she had left the pool hall.



"You should go out." Her mother's voice was dry, and Lily twisted in her seat to meet her eyes.

"I don't know," The girl started, dubious. "I mean, will you be okay?"

Smiling, Tracy Clark sat down, pulling her bathrobe closer around her body. "I should think I'd be able to manage." She was too skinny, Lily thought, and she looked tired, but this was one of her better days. From the lounge, Lily could see her friend Mariah look on, wary. Her mother's mood swings were violent, and unpredictable - the chemo, the doctor's had said. It could see Tracy hurtling books and shoes across the room towards her only child one moment, and then sobbing uncontrollably the next, a weakened heap on the floor.

Lily knew her mother was trying to make up for it all, now - for all the stress, all the burdens Lily had to shoulder, now. Tracy's guilt was not a secret thing; her mother before this, before the cancer, would've hated herself for what she'd done. This new Tracy just had to depend on Lily to see them both through.

The Clark girl knew the answer. "Okay," She consented, eyes on her mother rather than her waiting friend. "I'll go."

Tracy smiled, relieved, something akin to pleasure at a job well done. Lily would have a proper teenage-experience, even if she didn't want it.

"Well," Broke in Mariah, "What are you going to wear?"

"Good question." Lily said. What was she going to wear?



In the end Lily had opted for her white shorts, and a pale pink tee, bereft of any embellishment. Mariah had scoffed at her plain wardrobe, having dressed up herself, but that didn't bother the Clark girl. She wanted to be comfortable, and if that meant tennis shoes and a baggy t-shirt that hid her unflattering roundness, then so be it.

"Here, at least do your hair." Rummaging around in her handbag, Mariah pulled out a hairclip - a pink bow, a peachy shade. Catching the incredulous look that Lily shot her, Mariah shrugged. "I had it on today and pulled it out and forgot about it."

Playing hairdresser, she caught a stray lock and pinned it in place with the clip, just above Lily's right ear. "There," She said, smiling. "Not quite like you're going to a party, but whatever."

It didn't really make a difference, in Lily's opinion; if anything, it made her baby face seem even more childish, but she didn't voice it, wanting to get the night over with already.

They arrived at the party a little after it'd been kicked into full swing, Mariah marching up to the open door confidently, waiting for Lily to catch up before striding inside. Someone had cranked the music up - it was playing some god-awful pop song that the Clark girl hated. The singer seemed to think he was huskier and sexier than he really was, and it irked her, but she tried to ignore it as she followed Mariah to their other friends.

The first half-hour was boring, most of them too shy to really get in and mingle, and just when Mariah was getting exasperated with them all, Lily piped up, "I'm gonna go get a drink."

She drifted towards the kitchen - there were pizza boxes piled up on the bench and table, and coolers of drinks, everywhere. Since there was no one to object, Lily helped herself to a red Bacardi Breezer, and, after glancing around, a slice of pizza.

Just as she'd bitten into it, there came an amused, "Enjoying that?" and Lily flinched, turning to meet the speaker.

It was the redhead from the swim meet, watching her and the Clark girl frowned. "I am, actually." She retorted, taking another deliberate bite.

The redhead raised an eyebrow, eyes (gray, she saw) sweeping her up and down. "Yeah, well, you look like you would. Try to remember to leave some for the others, yeah?"

The implied insult stung, and Lily scowled back, about to ask the boy to kindly go **** himself when another slid into the kitchen, drunk and giggling. "Joel! C'mon, man, Bianca's letting people do shots off her body."

Now newly named, Joel scoffed, shooting the brunette before him a derisive look, before following his friend out.

Lily could hear the other boy. "Hey, who was that chick in there?"

"****s me." Joel said, and she was left standing in some stranger's kitchen, cheeks burning.

it's so magical, we'd be so fantástico