[[Good god, have you ever... I have never... well, anyway, this should be right now, for real for real.]] Most students at Leeview High saw an ordinary school when they looked at the building's bland brick edifice and faded metal signage. For most students, the school's name evoked tortuously boring lectures, uninspired teachers, and the factory-like churning out of a public education. Most students also saw the place where they met their friends day after day; the warm, moist embryo of their adult personalities and cultural niches. Banal teenage lives ebbed and flowed with the synthetic sound of the school bell as classes began and ended, began and ended, lunch and homeroom and class again. For some, high school was a bastion of hope in a dreary, anti-intellectual world. Some excelled at academics in hopes of a better life at some moderate-to-very prestigious university, where better heads prevailed. When Alexander Black looked at Leeview High, he mostly saw a business opportunity. Originally hailing from London, England, Alex had relocated to this New York suburb not three weeks prior. Though it was the middle of the school year, today was his first day at Leeview, and he kept thinking about unloading the forty tabs of acid, brought all the way from England, tucked in the inner breast pocket of his pristine olive green military-style jacket. He didn't look much like the hooligan he really was, but that was all part of the business model. Look smart, act nice, get away with murder. For this auspicious day, he'd chosen a conservative pair of jeans and a chocolate brown button-down, both which fit his slender body expertly. His sandy blonde hair was combed neatly and tucked behind his ears, and a tasteful hint of expensive cologne preceded him. The only outward indication of Alex's deep-down inner maniac was a tasteful, thin, silver nose ring glittering from his septum. He was early, and slightly nervous. He had some connections to the underground in New York from his mates at home, but he'd met none of them in person yet. Essentially, he was alone in this rather large town. Luckily, Alex was charming and socially adept enough that he would have at least a dozen new friends by the end of the week. And that was the plan, that was his mission: help the Crew take over stateside, one gullible American at a time. Alex sauntered right in the front door of the school with his head held high and his gaze level. Nobody issued him a second glance. Groups of students clustered in the hallways, chattering and laughing and screaming and creating your typical teenage din. Alex inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly, scanning the clusters of people for a familiar face, any one of the handful of Crew he'd "met" on Facebook. To the left, in an alcove under the stairs, a crowd of fifteen or so all garbed in black and faintly reeking of pot (Alex made a mental note- future customers there); a dozen feet from them were a group of boys in jeans and sweatshirts looking altogether too "normal"; to the left, around some lockers, a group of girls of varying size and shape, all passing around colorful Japanese graphic novels, some of them sporting cat ear headbands, false fox tails, or both; and then he saw them in the corner: A clean-looking group all dressed in preppy, trendy, expensive clothing, all trying very hard to look nonchalant. These were his people, the elite, the cool, the partiers, the kids that all the other kids thought they wanted to be. Alex recognized one boy from Facebook, who was a self-styled stoner, wearing one of those ridiculous Bob Marley tee shirts and with his hair partially dreaded. "What's good, mate?" Alex called in his thick, chavvy English drawl as he approached the other boy for a hand slap. "Nice to finally meet you." "Yeah, yeah man, good to meet you to. Welcome to America, bro." "Fanks. You're Brian, righ'? From Facebook?" As Alex spoke, some of the girls in the group came to attention, intrigued by his exotic pattern of speech. Alex noticed and flashed one of them a smile. "How you doin', dahlin'?"

Another semester was here and Ellie was all too ready for May to arrive. Being a junior at sixteen was hard enough on her because she was a year younger than everyone else. She could thank her mother for blessing her with a smart brain that had allowed her to skip preschool. One converse stepped in front of the other as she made her way through the hallways. As she scanned the hallways from side to side, she let out a sigh of sadness. She just wanted to graduate already. Although she was one to follow the rules, she also had a party side that came out on the weekends. As she passed by a group of people smoking pot, she inhaled the smell deeply wishing she could just take one hit before going to class. Friday needs to get here. Then, I can go to Amber’s party and get drunk and high. Just gotta make it through this week. There was only one problem. She had to make good grades, straight A’s in fact. No A’s, no college. Her white teeth ran over her lip and played with her lip ring as she continued walking. A smile crossed her lips as she looked over at a couple people and said her usual good mornings. It only took a couple minutes before she overheard a new voice. She stepped dead in her tracks and scanned the crowd with her baby blues. When they fell upon a blonde headed boy with an unusual accent, she felt herself smirk. He was very attractive and she wanted to date him. After all, what’s more attractive than two blondes being together? Her hands ran over her hair making sure it was still up and teased. Deep breath Ellie Grace Miller. Just act natural. Carefully studying his movements, she made her way past him and stepped just right to cause him to bump her books right out of her hands. “Hey!” she cried out slowly dropping down to pick up her books. Her jeans fit around her lower half just right allowing every curve to show and she had on a low-cut shirt that showed off the upper half as well. It was just a matter of time before she would get a write-up for being out of dress code, but she did not care. Her eyes moved up to meet his and she bit her lip nervously blushing,”Sorry. I guess I was walking a little too close..” she told him shyly. She nervously tucking her teeth over her lip ring and let it slip back out. Most of the time she did not even realize she was doing it.

Alex had been partying and hooking up since thirteen, and in the five ensuing years, he'd had several flings, and several "girlfriends," but he'd never been particularly interested in seriously dating anyone. It was mostly his budding criminal life that held Alex's attention. Girls were fun, but required so much... work. Time. Attention. Time and attention better spent pushing drugs, fighting, and drinking. So when this girl bumped into him, spilling her books everywhere, a scathing oath rose to Alex's lips. "Watch it, you f--" and was cut short by the girl's wide blue eyes. In fact, most of the air left Alex's lungs and his usually cold, calculating mind was suddenly befogged by hormones. Animal magnetism, he reckoned, was the name for what he felt: the tingling in his fingers, the queer warmth in his cheeks, the tickle rising to his lips. Very few people had ever caught Alex off-guard, and even fewer of them were female. But this girl... this stupid American girl, with her feathery blonde hair and conspicuous cleavage... had bewitched him, instantly, completely, and without warning. "Ehm...." he said stupidly, as his brain kicked back into gear and he helped her gather her books from the floor. "S'alright, luv," he said with a sheepish grin, clutching Ellie's books to his chest. "Hey, you're Ellie, right?" Brian interjected with his slow smile, his faintly bloodshot eyes roving over Ellie's body without restraint. "I met you at Ahmed's party last weekend, I think. Heeey, man," he said, elbowing Alex's ribs, "this chick can smoke." "You like to par'y?" Alex asked, recovering from the hormonal rush somewhat but still stupidly clutching Ellie's books. The corners of his lips curled in an impish smile as he remembered the acid in his jacket.

Ellie had lost her virginity at fourteen and had started partying the same day. Most people knew her secret, but it didn't bother her as long as her parents never found out. They were gone most of the time for business anyways. Dating had never happened for her. A boyfriend was a foreign concept and she had never even been in a relationship. There was just something about Alex though. They were meant to be together. She could feel it. Ellie blushed even harder as her eyes moved over to look over Brian. With a small giggle, she gently touched his arm and ever so lightly ran her fingers across his skin,"Hey Brian. Yeah, we danced to a few songs together. You held me up for the keg stand too." The word par'y echoed in her ear and she turned her attention completely back to Alex. Her breath caught in her throat before she spoke softly,"Uh, just on the weekends really. I have to focus during the week. I have to get into college somehow." Her eyes moved down his body before she gently reached out to get her books from him. Her slender fingers slowly grazed against his masculine ones and she blushed even more pulling her hand back without her books. "Sorry," she whispered before tucking her hair behind her ears. The warning bell rang and she watched the boy standing in front of her completely lost. "I'm Ellie, by the way," she told him not looking away from his eyes.

"Ahhh, a good girl, izit?" Alex grinned. The way he said "girl" was clipped at the end, the "r" dissolving softly into a faint "w" sound. He pursed his lips playfully. "We'll have to see what we can do about dat." Ellie's touch was electric. He handed her books back awkwardly, jamming both hands in his pockets to try to play it off. The bell rang and Alex, usually quite conscientious about getting places on time, realized he had no idea where he was going, or to what class, and his sulky teenage heart suddenly had no desire whatsoever to find out. Brian had turned away and was gathering his satchel, saying goodbye to the rest of the clique. Another girl touched Alex's shoulder as she passed and said "See ya," but that was it. Alex had completely neglected to get acquainted with the rest of the clique when Ellie had distracted him. There was always tomorrow, he supposed. The rest of the cliques in the hallway began to merge into one thundering herd of humanity, coalescing and throbbing and then disseminating again as the students went to their respective classrooms. "I've got no idear where I'm s'posed to be," he muttered, fishing a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket. His sharp gaze implored Ellie from beneath his serious black eyebrows. He showed her the schedule. "You know where dat is?"

As the other students walked by, she just kept her eyes locked on Alex. That was until her books were back in her hands. With a small smile, she looked around at the cleared out hallway. It was just them, alone. She snapped out of her thought as a piece of paper was in front of her face. She read over the schedule and smiled,"Yeah, I have that first period, too. Just follow me." She readjusted her books and her purse before she began walking down the hallway. "Now, this teacher is a bit weird the way he teaches. He gets off topic a lot, but don't worry, I take great notes. So, if you ever need to borrow them, just let me know. I also tutor if you ever need some extra help." Turning into a medium sized classroom that was covered with science posters, she made her way to the middle of the room where she always sat. It just so happened that the only empty seat in the room was right next to her. Her eyes gazed back over to Alex before she motioned for him to come sit beside her. Everything was just working out well this morning. Hearing giggles and whispers, she glanced around the room and saw all the girls staring at him and talking amongst themselves. With a sigh, she looked at him and shrugged,"You are going to have no problem with the girls around here. Seems like they can't keep their eyes off of you." A bit of jealousy could be heard while that sentence rolled off her tongue.

Alex was perfectly capable of finding the classroom on his own, of course, but he knew that one of the best ways to endear someone to you quickly was to ask them a small favor. Even better that their first class just so happened to be together... although Alex was beginning to think that Ellie would be a bit distracting. She was attractive, flirtatious, smart... everything he'd heard American girls were supposed to be. Except that last part of course; all Americans were supposed to be idiots. Thankfully Ellie seemed to subvert that trope. "I do alrigh' wiv biology," Alex drawled, raising his eyebrows at Ellie suggestively. The teacher, a middle-aged man with glasses and wild, thinning curly hair, stood at the front of the classroom and clapped the class to attention. The agenda was hastily written on the board behind him in barely-legible script. "Okay, people, let's get to it! Good morning, welcome, hope you all had a good, safe weekend." He smiled blandly. "I want to take a moment to welcome the latest addition to our happy little classroom. Please welcome Alexander Black, a transfer student from London." The teacher gestured at Alex, and Alex waved. "I go by Alex," he remarked. The class stirred a little bit at hearing his accent. "Thanks for letting us know. Please do your best today, and see me after class so we can get you caught up." "Ello guvna!" a boy in the back called, and the class erupted into appreciative laughter at the disruption. Alex rolled his eyes as hard as he could without getting them stuck.

Ellie turned around and shook her head,"That's just Marcus. Ignore him. His mom did crack while she was pregnant with him." She readjusted herself on the chair before beginning to copy down notes from the board. She raised an eyebrow as a piece of paper was passed to him from Maci, head cheerleader of the school. It read,"Your accent is so sexy. Well, everything about you is sexy. Wanna meet up behind the bleachers later? I'll give you a proper welcoming. ;) xoxo Maci." Ellie watched him wondering what the note said. It was becoming rather apparent that nothing would probably happen between them. Every single girl in school was going to be trying to get his attention by the end of the day. The drama just didn't seem worth it. A sigh escaped between her lips as she started doodling in a separate notebook. She was working on a picture of a sunset over the ocean and a couple holding hands as they walked toward the water. The teacher stopped in the middle of his lecture,"Fiddle sticks. I left my pictures in my office. I will be right back. Stay settled!" He called before he hurried out of the room. Maci made her way over to Alex and sat on the table right beside him. She brushed her brunette hair behind her shoulders before gently touching his hand. "What do you say? Next period is free period.." She told him with a seductive voice.

"Typical American," Alex muttered, before attempting to focus on the lecture. He found himself looking at Ellie every few minutes, almost compulsively, almost as if to make sure she was still there. When the note was passed to him, Alex read it with one eyebrow quirked. He was used to getting attention from girls, but he thought British girls would've waited at least a week to proposition him... probably. But Maci wasn't really his type. He wasn't overly fond of promiscuous girls, they were too easy. While Alex liked to feel like he was in control, he felt like he was above hooking up with a girl that would hook up with just anyone. Plus, Maci had kind of a wonky face. When the teacher left, the room erupted into chatter. Video games, Facebook, lunch time, parties. As Maci approached Alex, Marcus approached Ellie, leaning on her desk and grinning. "Ello," he said, making mock of Alex again when addressing Ellie. "So my parents are gone this week at their cabin, and I'm having a party tonight. I know you don't usually go out on weekdays but maybe you can make an exception. You can even bring your, uhhh, British friend." Meanwhile, Alex crumpled the note in Maci's face. "No fanks, luv, I don't shag wiv slags wot got a propa butters face." He smiled a patently fake smile and turned away to address the boy talking to Ellie. Though he'd only just met Ellie, he felt something ugly and powerful twisting in his stomach already at the thought of another boy talking to her. He fought the urge to say anything overtly nasty, since it sounded like this particular party would be the perfect entree into the Leeview High social scene. "What d'you fink?" he asked Ellie, smiling impishly. "Will you take me out tonight? Show me a propa American welcome?"

Ellie looked Marcus in the eyes and shook her head,"I don't know. I really, really have to study for a test tomorrow.." But then, as soon as Alex spoke to her, she felt herself melt. She turned her attention to back to him and smiled as she looked into his eyes,"Uh, sure. I think it would be fun.." She blushed biting her lip. Maci rolled her eyes and stormed off back to her seat. She could not believe that he had just turned her down. No one turned her down. She glared over at Ellie and knew that she was going to have to get some sort of revenge on the blue eyed bitch. Ellie was still staring at Alex as the bell rang. She shook her head and stood up biting at her lip even more than before. Their next class was free period which meant they could do whatever, wherever. Well, within appropriate school boundaries, of course. She pushed her chair in before she picked up her books and turned to Alex. "It's free period. You can go wherever and do whatever," she told him as she started to walk out of the classroom. She was almost to the door when she jumped feeling someone grabbing her ass. It was Marcus. He had run his hand up her skirt and gotten a big handful. "Can't wait to have that grinding on me tonight," he told her as he laughed.

Alex, emboldened by Ellie's lip-biting and fickleness, put his hand on her shoulder and his grin widened. "It'll be wicked," he promised. The rest of the lecture period passed, and Alex didn't take many notes. He kept re-playing in his mind the way Marcus looked at Ellie, leaning on the desk like he owned it or something. Part of Alex knew that he was being ridiculous, of course, it was his first day at a new school, he didn't know any of these people, how could he expect to have any influence? And yet Ellie seemed to have awakened something in him, something primal and possessive that knew no reason or logic, just impulse. The acid blotter still sitting in his jacket made Alex think he ought to go try to meet some people and unload a few, maybe give out some samples to attract new customers, that kind of thing. "Networking." He was about to bid Ellie goodbye (for now), when he saw Marcus approach and grab her ass. Alex lunged forward and grabbed Marcus by the collar, his face contorted in irrational rage. "Da fuck you think you're doin?" he snarled, his face just inches from Marcus's. "Fuckin cunt, keep off, eh?" Alex bared his teeth, his usually sleepy-looking blue eyes now wide and intense. Marcus was stunned speechless, gaping at Alex in awe and fear. Leeview High was not a school that saw many fistfights; they were generally more of a cyber-bullying crowd. The rest of the class looked on as well. Their initial shocked silence dissolved into whispers. Alex let go and took a step back, trembling, with his piercing stare fixated on Marcus. "Y'all stay the fuck away from my party," Marcus said in disgust as he walked away.

Ellie stood there in shock watching Alex closely. "Um, thank you," she told him before clearing her throat. She watched Marcus walk off and she shook her head. That was a mess she had to clean up now. Her body turned back to Alex and she couldn't find the words to form what she was trying to say. "I'll see you at lunch," was all that came out before she walked out the door. She started trying to find Marcus to apologize.

As the adrenaline ebbed from Alex's body, his knees felt weak. His usually strong, confident frame sagged against the wall, his face vacant with shock. Alexander Black never loses control, he thought to himself, and tears welled in his eyes as he sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands. Eight years ago, he'd been living with his sister, Penny, in a group home in London. As many state-run homes can be, it was a rough, mean existence. Alex was a scrawny ten-year-old, still innocent to much of street life, still never yet been in a fist fight. His sister was blonde like him (blonde like Ellie), just fourteen at the time, doing her best to protect her little brother from the cold, cruel world. The group home housed about fifteen other children, a few younger than Alex, and some older than Ellie. The home was supposed to be supervised, but the Council didn't have the funds to staff its homes (or anything else for that matter), so the children largely took care of themselves. The group home where Alex and Penny lived was mostly governed by a trio of boys who were almost old enough to be released from the home. They were all quite large for their age, and living on the fringes of society had hardened them. The kids had the beginnings of an organized crime syndicate. You had to earn your keep. But Penny wasn't much of a thief; their parents had raised them to be honest to a fault. She was pure, too, not exactly prostitute material (and young, to boot, but that didn't stop some other girls). Instead of spending her days thieving, pushing drugs, or selling her body, Penny tirelessly sought out an employer which would hire someone her age. Alex went to school sometimes, but he, too, spent many days on his own looking for ways to earn some money to help his sister. Unfortunately, in that world, the honest ones starved, and were picked off, one by one, by stronger people. And so, one day, the ringleader of Alex's group home decided that he'd had enough of Penny's "honesty" and "virtue," which to him simply translated as a lack of income. The ringleader had grabbed Penny's ass, then her breasts, then beat her brutally in front of the other residents, and violated her too just to make a point. Penny was never the same after that. All the painful memories that Alex worked so hard to suppress came rushing back. The other students simply stared at him and began to walk away, wondering what this psycho's problem was that he would assault another student and then sit on the floor and cry. Brian happened to be passing by and saw Alex crumpled against the wall. He came over and crouched down, bewildered by this ice-cold Brit's sudden, unrestrained display of emotion. "Hey, hey man," he said, gently shaking Alex's shoulder. "What's goin' on?" Alex came to his senses, roughly swiping a sleeve across his face. He swallowed hard, setting his face into an impassable mask of neutrality. "Fuckin' nuthin," Alex said roughly, straightening his jacket. He quirked an eyebrow at Brian. "D'you want to help me do some business?" ****************************************************************************** Two periods later, Alex and Brian met up in the cafeteria. Alex had never explained himself, and Brian didn't ask, per the Bro Code. With Brian's help, Alex had given away or sold all forty tabs, and made just under $300 cash. He'd never so much as held an American dollar before, but he liked the way they looked and smelled. Americans liked to spend money, too, he reckoned. He'd never sold so much so fast. I think I like this country, Alex thought, as he took out his phone to text one of his mates back home that very thought. Brian sat next to him with a tray of food and took out his phone as well only to fire up his Sublime Pandora station. Without wanting to admit it to himself, Alex found himself scanning the groups of students, looking for Ellie so that he could try to apologize.

As she hurried down the hallway, she could not find Marcus anywhere. SHIT. This was not going to end up well for her. With a deep breath, she leaned back against her locker and stared up at the ceiling. Why had Alex done that? She had just met the guy and he was acting like they were together. Or maybe he just didn’t like when guys took advantage of girls? Butterflies filled her stomach as she felt herself smiling. Maybe he feels the same way I do. Maybe, just maybe, he thinks we should be together too. A bigger grin crossed her face as she giggled. No guy had ever stood up for her before, but why had he chosen Marcus to do it too? What a mess. She wandered off to the library to study before her next class. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the lunch bell rang, Ellie hurried down the hallway to where she knew Marcus would be. There he stood with all his friends laughing and probably making fun of Alex some more. She had always ended up hooking up with him at parties, especially in exchange for some pills. He had that power over her and she knew that if she didn’t go try to make things better for what Alex had done, he would make her life hell. Her eyes stared at his muscular body and dirty brown hair before she finally built up the courage to talk to him. With a deep breath, she tapped him on the shoulder and waited. As he glanced back, she bit her lip, ”Can I talk to you….privately?” She asked him softly staring at him with her baby blues.

Alex spotted Ellie just as Marcus turned around. Having just violated his "lay low" protocol with the other boy, Alex decided to observe for a few moments before trying to talk to her. He wasn't sure that he could control himself around the aggravating Marcus. Marcus grinned a toothy, salacious grin. "Hey babe, where's your pet chimney sweep?" he asked, standing to face her. "He's not gonna shank me for talking to you now, is he?" Chuckling at his own oh-so-witty comment, he put a hand on the small of Ellie's back and led her out into the mostly deserted hallway. Marcus looked around, then locked eyes with Ellie. He licked his teeth. Alex saw the pair exit and felt that possessive pang again in his chest. He stayed in his seat for the moment, but couldn't keep his eyes off the doorway from which Marcus had led Ellie with a hand on her back. There was a faint ringing in his ears. His face was deathly white except for two bright red splotches on his cheeks. Brian noticed, followed Alex's gaze, and laughed a little. "Yeah man, a lotta guys like her. Don't get your hopes up, she doesn't really date." He took a bite of his burger and chewed thoughtfully. "Dude you gotta chill out or you're gonna just fuck this whole thing up. You know that, right? Half the school knows you now as the Chimney Sweep Psycho." Alex snapped out of his Ellie trance and scowled at the news. Bollocks, he thought. Now no one would take him seriously. At least, not without a considerable amount of rep-repairing. "You ever try ganja?" Brian asked with a knowing, crooked smirk. He stuffed the last of the burger in his mouth and stood up, shoving his phone in his pocket. "C'mon, man, we're gonna get your head right so you don't bring the whole Crew down in flames your first day." He led Alex across the cafeteria and out a side door, where they disappeared behind the school and crossed the street to a small wooded area to smoke a joint. Meanwhile, Marcus stood with Ellie outside the cafeteria. "So... what's up?" he said expectantly, unsuccessfully suppressing his wolfish grin.