Without a doubt the beginning of the first day of school had been a memorable one, Mrs. Wayne welcomed her class and got them all acquainted for the most part, and delivered an important message to her class that bullying and belittling of other students would not be taken lightly around here. It was way too often that kids got bullied into depression. As the bell rang signaling everyone to get to their next class, Mrs. Wayne told everyone that she would see them at the end of the day to answer any questions or concerns they may have. Students have about 5 minutes between classes to go to their lockers, use the bathroom, or change for gym depending on their needs. The second class of the day was Freshman English with Mr. Fridley.

Mr. Fridley was an older teacher, having taught at Arrowsmith High for over 20 years. He has always been an English teacher and he is passionate about poetry, good penmanship, and paper without the fringe. The class was very uneventful, Mr. Fridley did not like "get to know you" type of games and preferred people to sign that they are there on a piece of paper in front of the room. He didn't bother taking attendance, and he assigned homework in the form of reading the syllabus and having it signed by your parent guardian for tomorrow.

Another bell rang and was cue for the next class Mr. Shmiddt is a relatively young teacher and has been teaching freshman Science at Arrowsmith for a little over three years. He is very excited about his subject and likes to have the kids get as hands on as they can. It is not a focus on any science in particular but taking a little bit of each category and learning bits and pieces for future years. "Freshman will be allowed in the science fair for the first time this year!" he exclaims, "Except..." he pauses, "We're only allowed to do volcanoes. Fear not though! We will make it a blast, and show them the freshman deserve to be in the fair too!" he handed out a piece of paper that listed all the supplies needed and that each group would be a maximum of five members. "We will decide our members at the end of the week, and by we I mean myself!" he let out a chuckle, and continued talking about what he had in store for them this year.

The lunch bell rang, signaling it was indeed lunch time. The lunchroom is scattered with round tables that can fit around six people each. The stools are bolted to the table so there is no moving them. However at the back of the lunchroom there are two rectangular tables that can fit up to ten people each, these are usually occupied by popular Seniors, but if you're lucky you might get a spot there. Lunch today is a usual favorite: Pizza, Fries, a cup of fruit, and as always a salad bar available. If you are looking for a cold lunch instead you are more than welcome to grab a bag from the section which includes a sandwich, apple, and a bag of chips. Once you are finished with your lunch you must remain in the lunch room until the bell rings.

"Boom! Half the day is over!" thought Clyde as he moved through the cafeteria.

Aside from a little anxiety in homeroom, the rest of the classes was smooth sailing. He especially liked the fact that Mr. Fridley was all business and no games. Just the type of class Clyde could find himself disappearing into. Nothing to keep his mind on except literature and the occasional thoughts about boxing here and there. Boxing. Oh, how he loved to box. While he waited in the lunch line Clyde smiled to himself and began to shadow box. But catching the worried expressions of the students near him, the tall boy quickly stopped his charade and stuck his hands in his pockets with cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. Today's meal will be a light one, a salad with spinach, bell peppers, broccoli, and chicken breast cutlets. Maybe a banana here and there with yogurt. Gotta keep that nutrition up for training this evening. Then an idea popped into his head.

Lilac was probably going to be at the rec tonight. His heart fluttered a bit at the thought of watching her techniques causing the boy to rub his face to quickly dispel his blushing. Clyde wanted Abby to see why he was so infatuated with the girl. He did not have to hide his feelings away anymore. He knew what was happening to him, this all too strange and mesmerizing feeling in his heart. After all, the internet told him that it was love. Or an oncoming stroke. Hopefully it was the former.

I know now what you have done to me. I am but a fisherman caught in this hurricane, swallow me whole and take me for everything I am. I am weak against this torrent. Would you grant a humble request and spar with me? The sight of your graceful fight makes the blood hum in my veins. Could your fists strike the breath away from my lungs? Your eyes captivate me, ensnare-

"Next."

"Oh! Ah, sorry," apologized Clyde. He was so busy with his internal monologue he had not recognized the gap created in line. With his tray in hand, Clyde casually paid for his meal and sat down at an empty circular table. What was his idea earlier? Oh yes! Lilac. Clyde closed his eyes and rubbed his face as he focused more on his plan than the oncoming monologue building in his brain. After school Clyde would take Abby to the rec to show her Lilac in her natural environment. He got the feeling that Abby was not impressed by Lilac at the carnival. Maybe, with enough luck, Abby could see how awesome the fighter is.

The idea made Clyde smile widely in joy.

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Caleb jolted up in bed at the sound of his alarm, and groaned as he looked in the time. Not even thirty seconds after he'd gone to rest his head on his pillow again for another few minutes of blissful slumber, did his mother barge in and get him back up. "Good morning sunshine! Up and at 'em!" she hollered. Down the hall he could hear his brother getting the same treatment, which prompted him to scurry out of bed and into the good shower.

Down the hall, Jacob was shouting at his dad to go away, but his father wouldn't hear of it, and it wasn't long until he was laying on his bed in a pair of boxers, covering his head with a pillow, while his dad stripped away his pillow and began opening up all the windows to let the brisk air from outside in. "DAD! STOP IT! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!" the youngest McKinnon shouted, wincing against the light as he glared at his father, who only offered up a shrug and a smile, before walking out the door. "Have a good day at school, I'll see you after I get home," he said on his way out, a jovial tone to his voice that somehow made Jake angrier.

With Caleb hogging the twins' preferred shower, Jake took a quick shower in the second bathroom of the McKinnon house, before getting dressed and going into the kitchen for breakfast, where Caleb sat at the dining room table, sleepily munching on a waffle. Jake poured himself a bowl of cereal and then proceeded to sit across from his brother and ate. Their bickering was kept to a minimum today. They were both much too tired.

After breakfast, the twins followed their mom to the car and were off to school, arriving just in time for the bell. In their homeroom class, The twins sat with Lily in the back, and while each one got up and gave their two truths and a lie, though neither of them had anything extremely memorable to say. The time between then and lunch was rather uneventful, and the twins' paths diverged once they reached the lunch room. Jake went over to the other side of the cafeteria and wrapped one arm around Lily's waist, pulling her in and sneaking her a kiss on the cheek. Caleb on the other hand picked up his lunch and took a seat at an empty cafeteria table, where he read one of his many books silently, and munched on his food.

Location: School Cafeteria

The first class had fucking sucked. The second class had sucked even more. Kas couldn’t really understand any of it. Probably a result of sleeping or skiving all through primary school and never even going to secondary school except for those one or two times he was forced to during the short time he was in foster care. Fuck it, he was already making as much money as most parents were and once he could move to a city he’d be making a hell of a lot more. All he had to do was make it another year or two so he could drop out and chase money full time. Thinking about money, he needed to visit Brian to re-up soon. A smile spread across his face for possibly the first time that day when the bell rang signalling lunch time.

Springing from his seat as everyone else did he quickly headed for the lunch room, shoving past quite a few people on his way there and cutting into the lunch line. He wasn’t in a great mood. To be fair he doubted many of his peers were either. Even the kids who could function in class weren’t all that eager to be there. The ones who were were pretty unique. He picked the hot food, preferring pizza by far to a damn sandwich. Walking back out to the tables he looked around, scanning the groups of people. They seemed to sit in their age groups, same as in England. From freshmen to seniors or whatever. Wanting to piss someone off Kas headed directly for one of the tables packed with older kids, taking a seat between two older girls. He flashed a smile at each of them.

“What’s up?” He asked, taking a bite of his pizza.

Before the ladies could reply some blonde haired, blue eyed, broad shouldered asshole from across the table piped in. The confidence in his eyes was enough to make Kas want to break his jaw.

“I’m sorry, this table is for seniors. The freshmen usually sit over there.” The dude spoke, pointing towards a group of slightly smaller tables at the other side of the room. The people Kas’ age looked largely nervous, uncertain of themselves.

“This table, like every other table in this room is for any fucker who sits at it. You, these beautiful girls sat on either side of me and myself. You got a problem with that maybe you should go sit with my fellow freshmen.” Kas said, giving a false smile, his eyes filled with cold anger.

This time a girl next to the blonde haired dude chimed in. “We have another friend who usually sits there though.”

“Well darling, this is America. My cousin, being the smartass that he is informed me that this country is capitalism on steroids. No offence intended, that part of moving here was actually a plus for me, capitalism being gaining from other people's losses and all I back it fully. I say that to say this though. Fuck that punk! I gained, he lost… Though thus far what I gained is in question. I always thought the polite Brit stereotype was bullshit but you fuckers are making me seriously question that.”

“Yo man, just freaking move!”

“Try fucking make me you Macklemore looking prick! Either step to me or shut the fuck up!” Kas spat, obviously losing his temper. Thankfully his volume didn’t quite get to shouting level and seemed to be drowned out by all the other lunch time noise before it could reach the wrong ears. The blonde kid looked a mix of shocked and scared for a minute before mumbling something under his breath and getting up.

“Works for me.” Kas smiled, taking another bite of his pizza. “Where do ya’ll keep the ketchup?” He asked the girl on his left.

Selene sat through the next few classes peacefully, leaving candies on the desk of the new teachers, whether or not they reacted. It was best to get to know them - she had a feeling Mr. Fridley would not be fazed into improving her grades, and that was fine. Mr. Shmiddt seemed rather excitable, and Selene couldn't help but begin plotting her own science experiment for next year. It was tempting to test if eyeshadow products affected plant growth, but given their costs...

Well, she wasn't ready to take the idea off the table just yet, but hopefully she'd come up with something better. Meantime, better to ponder how to make a volcano interesting. Besides glitter.

When the lunch bell rang, Selene rushed through the halls as fast as the rules would allow her to go. Time was limited before she'd get in trouble, but she wanted to at least say hi to some of the more important staff of the school. The security officer wasn't at his desk, so Selene tore a page from her notebook and left a note with the wrapped sweets. The school's counselor, a one-person office (the school did seem a bit small, Selene supposed, and the middle school only had one as well), seemed grateful for the treats before asking if she was supposed to be in class.

Clearly, giving out the candy was a good idea, as he wrote her a pass so she could deliver candy to the office secretaries before heading to lunch and not have to fear getting in trouble. Of course, she wasn't expecting that, but she'd hardly demur. The office secretaries were much too busy for more than a thank you and a farewell, but Selene understood.

And finally, finally, to the lunch room. She was late, she knew - the line had already died down quite a bit by the time she reached the cafeteria. It was good, since she had decided to at least sample the fare of Arrowsmith High before deciding how often to pack a lunch. She could smell pizza. Despite the warm weather, pizza was almost always good. It was the one dish her elementary school had been unable to mess up. Of course she was willing to wait in line and grab a slice. Sure, fruit cup too - carton of milk, double-check the date and take a sniff and shake. Smelled ok, nothing solid banging around inside. Good to go. With lunch grabbed, she surveyed the tables for a place to sit.

Wynona had been drifting from class to class since homeroom. She was impressed that her two truth and one lie had been guessed so easily. She wasn't a very good liar, which all in all wasn't a terrible trait to have. Listening to the rest of her classmates go up and tell their trio of lines, the young girl made note of the things that were true. It was interesting to find out what people were into despite their outward appearances. You really can't judge a book by it's cover.

By next period Wynona had began to gather a bit more energy as she eventually woke up from the morning haze she had spent most of homeroom in. Mr. Fridley seemed like a complete and total bore, but I guess school wasn't meant to have the most excitement involved. She couldn't believe that he had given them homework already, even if it was just getting a paper signed. She instantly wondered which of her parent's she would ask, knowing that the person she didn't choose would end up getting hurt and ultimately yell and scream at the other. She considered forging the signature to avoid the confrontation at all, but decided to wait until later tonight before any final decisions.

By science class Wynona's stomach was grumbling. She hadn't had much of a breakfast and it was a clear reminder that she needed to eat something a bit more filling. Mr. Shmiddt was energetic as well as handsome. Wynona noted this, as she watched him hop from desk to desk as he explained what was to be learned that year, and how excited he was to be able to have his class in the science fair. Glancing over the supplies list, and the other rules and projects to come, she hoped that this class wasn't going to be too hard. She struggled at Science and Math since elementary school, and even a teacher as excited as he was, wasn't going to help that.

Lunch couldn't have came at a better time as Wynona went to her locker and after a few attempts eventually got it open. She tossed her bag in, not wanting to have to carry it through the lunch line or have to worry about it getting dirty or worse yet stolen while she chowing down. Her brother had told her that when he had gone to Arrowsmith the food was "bomb" and you definitely didn't have to worry about packing a lunch. Granted, Ryon was usually skipping school, so Wynona questioned his opinions on the matter.

Reaching the lunch line, the girl decided Pizza was a good choice, along with the fries, fruit cup, and a salad from the salad bar that was available. It all seemed good, and would at least keep her from starving until dinner time later at home. Her first initial though after typing in her pin code for paying for her lunch and looking up into the mass of students eating and chatting was fear. Her second thought was that there were a lot of opportunities for friendships to come. Her third thought- sit down as quickly as possible so you don't seem like a complete nerd.

Quickly finding an empty table, she picked up her pizza, folded it slightly in half and took the first bite. It wasn't the best pizza she had ever had, but pizza was good no matter what.

It took Selene a bit before she noticed the person sitting at the empty table - a few seconds before she realized she recognized her - and she whisked her tray over to go sit with her fellow student.

"Hi." Even if the table was empty, it was only fair to ask first, as she stood over Wynona, tray in her hands. "Mind if I sit with you?"

Wynona glanced up as she was asked a question. She swallowed her pizza quickly, practically choking as she called out in a voice a little too loud, "NO!" Wynona paused, before deciding to reconstruct her answer. "I mean no, as in I don't mind. Please sit with me." she told the girl, recognizing her from the previous classes she had been in today.

Selene nodded, taking a seat right beside Wynona. "I don't think we've properly met. Selene - obviously, in your homeroom." She didn't quite know what to make of that outburst, but considering how startled she had seemed... Selene pushed her sunglasses against the bridge of her nose. Yup, still in place. And she had definitely showered before going to school. So it probably wasn't something she did. "Do you know anyone here yet?" It was a bit to the point, but far nicer than just asking 'why are you eating alone', she felt. That was something Nikki would say.

Sadly, she didn't have that much candy left to spare if she was planning on giving it to teachers after lunch too.

"I'm Wynona." she responded, "I remember you from homeroom as well as my other classes. I noticed you." Wynona paused, "Not that you're really noticable. I mean, you're noticable but not overly noticable like a weird noticable." Wynona dug herself into a hole as she shoved another bite of pizza into her mouth. She swallowed "I'm sorry. I'm bad at these things." she admitted, a bit of color streaking her cheeks. Not so much of embarassment but more of overwhelment. Answering Selene's question Wynona said, "I met Lily and Sadie at the carnival yesterday, but besides that- not really." Wynona had transfered from another junior high that some of the others had all attended. "You seem to know a few people though. It was nice to give out candy earlier, I kept mine for home. My mom's in dentistry so she doesn't allow this stuff at home, so I wanted it for later tonight." she admitted, looking at Selene.

Selene nodded as Wynona talked - and kind of, just a tad, kept going. Not that she opposed the clarification. At least she meant well. Not that Selene let her expression change, instead watching her thoughtfully from behind her sunglasses, only breaking the vigil to take a bite from her pizza. A bit greasy, but it wasn't anything they had messed up. She could eat this. Maybe the rest of the food wasn't too bad, but it'd still be better to pack lunch most days, if not cheaper. Instead, she let Wynona finish up before nodding.

"That's fair enough. I won't bring candy every day - gets a bit expensive, except around Halloween." Halloween wasn't her favorite holiday, but the sales made it a good one. She thought it over, trying to decide the best way to phrase what she wanted to say next tactfully. "I did notice, on my way here, that the school has vending machines for soda and candy." If Wynona wanted suggestions on what to try, Selene had some advice to give. Mostly, the brand candies weren't worth the extra quarters. Better to sneak out and buy those in bulk.

"As for Sadie and Lily - Sadie sits next to me, doesn't she? I don't think I know Lily." She paused. "Well, I knew a Lily, but that was before my family moved to Arrowsmith. I doubt she's the same one."

Wynona let out a small giggle when Selene mentioned the vending machines. She hadn't thought of that idea, and the thought of her mother scratching her head as more and more candy wrappers showed up at their home brought a bit of joy to the girl. "Good idea." she commented, eating and nodding as Selene spoke. "They are both very nice girls. It's hard to find that around here, especially on the first day." she commented, hoping that Selene would be another person she could add to her list of 'girls who seem to be nice'.

"Thank you." Selene couldn't help but beam. "Indeed. For what it's worth, Amelia....seemed nice yesterday at the fair. If maybe a bit oblivious about how they worked." She shook her head. "I guess it makes some sense now. She hadn't wanted to talk about it yesterday, you know, and EJ didn't want to tell me." She glanced around, looking for the two. Surely, they wouldn't mind if Selene decided to sit with this new girl. "EJ - he's a sweet guy, just very complimentary. All he wants is to see people smile so, uh - if he flirts? Don't take him too seriously." The wink was implied.

Wynona nodded, recognizing those names and slightly their faces, but not have met them properly yet besides seeing them in class. "No promises." Wynona teased, sticking her tongue out slightly. She could admit to being a little boy crazy at this age, especially since she hadn't had even her first kiss yet alone a boyfriend. "Maybe they will come sit with us for lunch." Wynona added, looking around to see if she could spot the two before continuing eating her lunch.

The remainder of homeroom had gone smoothly. Somehow, Ebony had managed to guess someone's lie correctly, before walking to the front of the class and telling her own. She didn't say anything too personal, unlike some of the others. She told them that she loved writing poetry, she was into photography, and that she was a vegetarian. Anyone could've easily guessed the lie, seeing as though she had her camera around her neck, and someone more than likely saw her scarfing down a large slice of pepperoni pizza at the carnival the day before. The next period wasn't as eventful. Ebony's best and favorite subject had always been English, so she knew she'd enjoy participating in the class. She just wasn't so sure that she'd love the teacher. Their third class with Mr. Shmiddt was going well, that is, until he mentioned the Science Fair.

"Freshman will be allowed in the science fair for the first time this year!" he exclaimed, "Except..." he pauses, "We're only allowed to do volcanoes. Fear not though! We will make it a blast, and show them the freshman deserve to be in the fair too!" Ebony groaned as he handed out a piece of paper that listed all the supplies needed and that each group would be a maximum of five members.

"We will decide our members at the end of the week, and by we, I mean myself!" he let out a chuckle, and continued talking about what he had in store for them this year. Resting her elbow on her desk, Ebony sighed. Not only were they going to have to participate in a Science Fair, but they'd also have to work in groups. Ebony was a friendly girl, sure, but she'd much rather do the project alone. Being the perfectionist that she was, she knew that she'd come off as bossy or annoying whenever they'd start the project. Hopefully, though, she'd be placed in a group with people that she was well-acquainted with. When the bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch, Ebony hopped out of her seat and grabbed her things. Her camera was hung around her neck, as usual, and she had her cell phone in hand. As she and a crowd of students made their way into the lunch room, Ebony reached in her pocket to grab the few dollars that her Auntie had given her a few days ago for lunch. There was a great selection of food, but after a moments thought, Ebony decided to buy a salad. After grabbing a few packets of Italian dressing, she turned to scan the lunch room, food tray in hand.

From the looks of things, she thought, she'd either have to sit at an empty table and wait for someone to come sit with her, or sit at an already occupied table. She couldn't spot any of her friends from where she was standing, so she walked around for a bit, scanning the room one last time before spotting the table nearest to her. The table was only occupied by one person, a thin boy with shaggy, dark blonde hair. She recognized him from homeroom, where, like everyone else, he'd stood up in front of the class. She couldn't remember, however, whatever he'd said for his two truths and a lie. He was reading a book as he ate, something that Ebony didn't really like to do seeing as how she'd always manage to drop a piece of food on some of the pages. Taking a breath, Ebony walked over to the table and sat her tray at the seat across from his, letting a small smile come over her face.

"Is it okay if I sit here?"

Clyde quickly rubbed his face and returned to the normal scowl planted on his face. Though, with Abbie around, it was difficult to not smile. It's how close friends are. It was impossible not feeling alive when your best friend was near you. The gal knew how to make a rainy day glow.

"Is my face that obvious?" chuckled Clyde. Not really. The boy still looked like a delinquent. More like a psychopathic delinquent with his constant blushing and random smiles.

"First half was borin'. Homeroom teacher was a little too enthusiastic for my taste. Mr. Fridley is an old school gentleman, right to the point. The way I like it. And, uh, what's his name... Mr. Schmiddt! Yeah, him, he's like homeroom. Full'a ideas 'n stuff, real happy to teach 'n all that jazz."

Clyde gave Abbie a curious glance before returning to his food. For a girl arriving at school when half the day is nearly over she looked a bit on the exhausted side. The boy knew her home life was not something desired, and it made him worry when her usual exuberant persona was not present. But how could he speak his concern? If he was as eloquent with words in his mind as he was with speech, this would be a piece of cake. And suddenly he felt selfish. It was always Abbie that was concerned with Clyde. He wanted her to know that she was not alone in this dynamic duo. It was a team effort. It said so in the contract, after all.

But Clyde also wanted to ask her if she could come along to the rec after school. It seemed rather discourteous to go from asking how she was immediately to Clyde's lack of love life. Perhaps careful wording would be good? Keep the most important topic for last. It seemed like a decent enough idea.

"So, after school, would you accompany me to the rec? I'd like to show ya' somethin' cool, yeah?"

Clyde fidgeted with his fingers for a second before turning back to Abbie.

"You... don't look so well rested for a gal who came to school late," mumbled Clyde. "Everythin' alright? Ya' know, you can always talk to me, yeah? I'll always be here for ya'."

It sounded a lot better and less awkward in his head. Clyde rubbed Abbie's shoulder with his free hand, and though it was a little rough given how he did not known his own strength, he was certain the gesture was not lost on the girl. The internet said shoulder rubs are excellent gestures of reassurance and friendship.

"Tell ya' what, even if ya' don't wanna talk, I came upon some spare cash. Let's get some ice cream! That always cheers people up! I read that on the internet," boasted Clyde.

The boy was proud of his research, though it made him sound like a complete fool.

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Derek thought that the rest of the game went fairly interesting. When the girl started passing out candies though the boy didn't even acknowledge her existence. He felt anyone that took the time to do things like that didn't know how rough it was out in the 'real' world. Already he had three targets. Jakey-boy, Sunglasses, and Sadies(pronounced say-dzees). Jakey-boy was a target because he thought that his ties to the faculty protected him. The two girls because they seemed to easy to give things out to others. Sure he had offered Clyde a sandwich yesterday but he only did that because he pretty much knew who Clyde was.

The next two classes were such a bore though. He didn't pay attention whatsoever until in the science class he heard volcano. Now, that could be fun. So, many pranks could be pulled with a volcano. Yes, they are all unoriginal but he didn't care.

Once the bell rang for lunch Derek went to his locker and grabbed the same sandwich bag from yesterday. He didn't tell his mom though. He led her to believe they had been in the fridge all day yesterday and he had just taken them out this morning. He entered the room trying to see if any of his gang was around. He didn't see any of them at first because his attention had been drawn to a kid his age sitting at the senior table. Derek almost burst out laughing at the sight of the senior acting like a child and would have joined in if he hadn't heard the most beautiful and melodic voice that had ever graced it's sweet sound upon his dirty eardrums.

He turned to see the angel that was the one and only girl he cared for. She knew it. Derek knew that she probably didn't care how many times he said it. But to Derek, Abbie was the epitome of perfection. And if anyone said other wise they'd be going home with a broken nose two black eyes and maybe a noogie for good measure and if he felt generous he'd wash the persons hair for them to get the nasty smell of Derek off. He didn't have the luxury of constant water so he smelled. Often. Either way he realized he'd been standing in place for quite a while.

Usually Derek doesn't bother Abbie when she's talking to someone else but this time the someone else was a person that Derek wanted to make sure was doing better today. So he walked over to the two and sat opposite of them without saying a word. Once they both looked at him he calmly said, "Hey Perfection, Clydesdale. Clyde gotta ask you doin' better today? Gombeen ain't messin' with ya since yesterday?"

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Caleb was stirred from his reading by the sound of a voice. A girl's voice none the less. He looked up to see a girl, curly hair and small grin on her face, standing in front of his table, requesting a spot at his table. "Oh, yeah, sure, totally. Uh just lemme," he said hurriedly, his sentence trailing off as he cleared his things off the table so she could sit down and place her tray down, leaving only his own food and his camera on the table.

Once she'd sat down, he realized two things. The first being that she was also a photographer, and the second being that she'd been in all three of his classes today. "Ebony, right? I'm Caleb. That's uh, a pretty nice camera," he said nervously, dogearing the page of his book and gesturing to the camera around her neck, smiling nervously. His stomach was doing an unnecessary amount of flips as he awaited her response, and for a moment he wished desperately that he could be as calm and collected as his brother.

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Lily had awoken frighteningly early this morning. She'd curled her hair, gotten dressed, done enough makeup to look stunning but not enough to draw the ire of some judgmental girls, and had eaten an amazing breakfast, consisting of a bowl of fruit and a stack of pancakes. In class she'd shown off her chipper personality and had introduced herself to each of her teachers, always one to be ahead of the game. Lily would make sure every authority figure at this school wanted to adopt her by the time she graduated, and with the way she worked, it probably wouldn't be hard.

She was in the lunchroom, searching for Sadie or Wynona, when a pair of harms wrapped themselves around her waist, and pulled her in. Jake, she thought, a grin spreading across her face as she turned around to confirm her suspicions. He planted a quick kiss on her cheek, and she laughed, wrapping him up in another hug. "It's nice to see you too gorgeous," he said, causing her grin to grow even more. "Come on, let's go get lunch!" she exclaimed giddily, dragging a smirking Jake behind her.

Lily and Jake had been dating for nearly a year now, and she could honestly and truly say that she had adored every moment of it. They rarely fought, he was incredibly sweet to her, and while she might not say it out loud because she didn't want to boost his ego too much, he was a great kisser. And sure, he may be a bit of a flirt but honestly, Cass Rowley needed to back off.

"So what did you think of the teachers? I liked Mr. Schmidt. He seemed nice enough," she asked, looking up at Jake. "Eh. Teachers are teachers Lils. If I had to pick though, I guess you're right. Mr. Schmidt seemed like the coolest. Better than that bag of dust we have for English," he said with a chuckle as they moved through the lunch line, earning a smack on the arm from Lily. "That's mean! He seemed nice too!" "You think everyone's nice Lils."

Lily couldn't argue with that one, and she shrugged before grabbing her lunch. Once Jake had grabbed his own lunch, she spotted Wynona and another girl, sitting at a table, just the two of them. "Oh come on! Come meet Wynona!" Lily said excitedly, speeding over to where Wynona and her friend sat, Jake's hand in hers. She took a seat next to the other girl, the same one who'd passed out candy in their homeroom. "Hi Wynona! Hi Wynona's friend! I'm Lily, and this is Jake, my boyfriend," Lily said, a grin on her face, her tone giddy.

"You're Selene, right? The candy you passed out today was super great, that was really nice of you," she gushed, prompting Jake to jump in. "Don't mind Lily. She get's a bit over excited sometimes," he said, earning a playful glare from his girlfriend. "I still haven't found Sadie yet. I don't suppose either of you have seen her?" she asked, whipping out her phone as she spoke and shooting off a text.

Introductions hadn't been so bad. Well, except for when that aggressive goth guy had glared her right back into her seat during her own introduction. Talk about a withering personality... Even she had been a bit peeved and unsettled. And that was a difficult thing to do to someone like her. But for the most part first period came and went without any large drama after that.

And the whole thing about lockers was pretty cool to a ex-homeschooler like herself. She couldn't wait to decorate it. The second class of the day was Freshman English with Mr. Fridley. He wasn't such a terrible old guy, just very stern and set in how he liked doing things. Being a teaching veteran he had obviously given up hope in learning about every single student that pasted through his classroom. Made sense, she suppose. After all there was only so much the brain could hold... Like a computer's hard drive.

And English had always been one of the more enjoyable subjects anyway. Poetry, true to her name, enjoyed poetry. Though she had been called a few minutes after class, since Mr. Fridley thought that she had been joking about her name. He tried to lecture her on the horrible consequences lying had on her future, but she had just slipped in that it was her birth name. He had to check his chart. Twice. But after that they had a tiny passing chat about how wonderfully descriptive Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities was and then she was sent on her way. No harm, no foul.

Next class was Mr. Shmiddt's science class. Another interesting character, this new and spritely teacher was. His excitement made her bubble with enthusiasm as well, like she were soaking in his energy or something. By the time he spoke on the science fair, she was sitting straight an arrow in her seat, beaming with eagerness. A group project. That sounded wonderful! Then she'd be able to make more friends. Or even get closer to the friends she already had! Maybe even get a best friend out of all of it! Not to mention study parties and invitations to real house parties and even sleepovers. It sounded like a wonderful idea to her, this science fair project.

The lunch bell rang, signaling it was lunch time and Poetry made her way first to her locker, then to the cafeteria. Pizza, Fries, a cup of fruit, and a salad bar were all options available. Or of course a bag with a sandwich, apple, and a bag of chips in it. Either option was fine by her, but she wanted to mingle and let the line die down a bit first before selecting.

Everyone seemed to be in their own groups... Poetry ticked her head to the side and stepped through the crowd as though the ground were made of glass. Blinking slowly, her pale eyes and slow, fluid movements caught more than a few upperclassmen off guard. A few jumped, some stared, but for the most part, without that smile on her face they kept away from her.

Pushing her palms on the air, she fit into gaps of bodies that only lasted for seconds. Practically waltzing through the crowd, she moved with a clever speed. The kind gained when you never had anyone to walk with, so you might as well move quickly to your next destination.

The cafeteria was well crowded and everyone was moving about in a slowly swirling swarm. Standing in the middle, Poetry turned slowly in her spot, scanning over the heads and faces that could be detailed from the masses of blurring colors and expressions. More than a few looked at her with a sneer or smirk at her odd way of moving. But there were a few that couldn't help but watch the dance she subtle set into each step.

Finally her eyes found Abbie-Star@sakurasan. But she was with the Giant@Klaykid and a red-haired boy@alexfangtalon she hadn't seen before. Ah... Busy again then. Best to just do a greeting and then keep it moving. Her still-water gaze also found Ebony@mskennedy615. Who was sitting with a particularly good looking shaggy-haired boy@smarty0114. But perhaps Ebony-Gold was trying to get in some pre-game flirting. Best to just do a greeting there too and continue on. And finally Poetry found Kas. And what was he doing but something she found quite strange. He was arguing with upperclassmen. For someone she knew little of, and what she knew of him was rather well-meaning and decent, she found this curious.

Drifting about she made her way first to Abbie-Star, the brooding Giant and the Unknown Flame of Intensity. With a smile, she put a light hand on the other girl's shoulder, smiled and wiggled her fingers playfully. "Hiya, Abbie-Star~" she hummed, "Sit next to me in the next class we have together?" With a warm grin, she looked to each of the boys, flittered a wave and waltz away.

Then to Ebony-Gold she went. Thusly, she did something similar. Placing a hand on lightly on her friend's shoulder, she grinned with a head tilted to the side. And of course she spared a sunflower smile towards the good looking boy. "Let's sit together in science class next time, Ebony-Gold~ Maybe we'll get to be project partners~" her melodic voice drifted lightly, "Catch you on the flip~"

And now finally she went to where Kas was. Walking as though she hardly touched the ground, she placed both hands on his shoulders, hoping to startle him. With a smile at the girls who looked over their shoulders at her, she once more tilted her head to the side. "Now, what do we have here~" she laughed lightly, "Not playing nicely, are we~? What a peculiar hobby~" She beamed gently down at him, removing her hands as if to proclaim her innocence.

"All that quarreling will give you indigestion~" she hummed, with a wink, "Of course I could just give you a hug to cure you of all your amped up arrgo, Kassy Boy~ Not sure it'd do much for your rep though~"

---

---

The mind is a cruel, cruel thing. This was one of many thoughts that came up in Lilac's mind during classes. Why was it that the mind stretched out boring and unlikable jobs, but shortened the more fun events, like boxing? All of her classes had been affected by the first part of this phenomenon. First it was the childish tasks of the homeroom teacher, then the lack of activity in the old English teacher's class, and finally, the science teacher's overenthusiasm. They all made the classes seem so much longer, which, in turn, made Lilac all the more bored.

But, unfortunately for the friendless girl, the bell for lunch offered little relief. It would just be another period of shrinking into her seat and trying not to get noticed, only this time she had food. She was more sluggish than most other students, who rushed to get in line for food first. This was because Lilac did not plan on getting food from the school. When she arrived at the cafeteria, she dodged out of the way of the line, keeping her head down as she made her way to one of the small, empty tables to the side.

Once there, she shrugged off her backpack and placed it on the chair next to her. She unzipped the small pocket on the front, taking a paper bag from it. She then opened the paper bag and pulled out a Tupperware box full of salad and a ziplock bag with a ham and cheese croissant sandwich in it. She ate her food in silence, glaring down anyone who so much as looked at her table. While much of the time it was a slight disadvantage when it came making friends and such, her always angry eyes were useful at times.

---

The rest of the day so far was going great. The game in homeroom ended with no trouble, and the two classes after that were fairly simple. Sadie had heard a lot about Mr. Fridley from Alex and Oliver. Both gave Sadie a few pointers on how to survive the man's class. However, Sadie felt it would be easier for her than for her brothers since she liked school more than they did. Mr. Shmiddt was to be her science teacher. The man seemed very nice so this class should be easy for Sadie as well. She was especially excited at the prospect of participating in the Science Fair and hoped she would be with at least one of her friends.

As soon as the bell rang for lunch Sadie turned to Amelia who was sitting right next to her. "Who are you going to sit with for lunch?" Sadie knew of the capacity at each table in the cafeteria. So, she knew that picky people to sit with for the lunch hour was an important thing because it tended to be that they were the ones you sat with for practically all four years of high school, and Sadie really wanted to sit with as many of her friends as possible.

She loved the day and she was looking forward to the science fair."You obviously, duh" She giggled and rolled her eyes. "Well hopefully Ezera, Lily, Ebony and you" She smiled to her. "So now we need to talk, so earlier today I brought a cupcake and it was a chocolate cupcake but the icing was buttercream and no sugar paper or sprinkles, not as good as your cupcakes because your cupcakes are amazing" She loved school but she really needed to talk to Sadie about something. She looked down. There seemed to be something wrong with her right now but it was because of what was happening at home right now.

"Oh, if you're gonna get a cupcake you have to go with my special Royal Icing. And sprinkles every time-" Sadie was gonna continue when she realized something seemed off. Usually Amelia was happy talking about sweets with Sadie but right now something seemed wrong. Sadie turned the rest of the way to Amelia and whispered after making sure no one was in ear shot, "Is everything okay? Did your dad really come home yesterday?" At this point Sadie's worried face was on. If something was wrong the girl would find a way to help her friend.

She looked down quietly and bit her lip. "Lets just talk about cupcakes Sadie, so I agree and the cupcake was good but as I said yours are still better, someone was just selling cheap cupcakes so I wasn't going to give up on that opportunity so I brought one and ate it but it wasn't as good, it wasn't that good compared to any cupcakes but they were cheap and they are cupcakes and I love cupcakes so I obviously brought it. The icing was okay but buttercream, strawberry icing is way better, especially on a chocolate cupcake with sprinkles and sugar paper, that is just the best" She ranted, obviously avoiding the subject.

It was obvious to Sadie something was terribly wrong. She quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching. She quickly pulled out her notebook labeled, Sadie's Eyes Only. She wrote, *Amelia, please don't avoid the question. Something is wrong. I can't help if you don't let me. Friends are suppose to be there for their friends so let me help you.* Sadie handed the small notebook to her friend with a pleading look.

Amelia read it and she has been holding back tears this whole time as she was struggling not to cry as her bracelet slipped, showing Sadie fresh scars and she tried to adjust her bracelet as quickly as possible as one tear rolled down her cheek. "Can we go and sit down first" She said in an almost weak voice that sounded slightly broken as another tear came down quicker than the first and more silent tears followed quickly as she bit her lip.

Sadie quickly put her notebook away and stood up to stand beside her friend. She made sure no one was looking and asked Amelia, "Do you want to stop by the bathroom first? So, you can take your time?" Sadie was extremely worried now. She didn't know what was going on. She wanted to know what was going on before risking anyone else knowing. Sadie's mind was now in full helper mode.

Amelia shook her head. "I will be fine Sadie, totally fine" she lied. She went to sit at an empty table and she just sat down and went to wipe away her tears, which were falling down her cheeks very quickly. "Everything will be fine Sadie" She cried. Everything will be fi-fine" she let out a sob on that last word, still crying badly. Sadie was her best friend and bo one knew her better than Sadie, not even her own family but that is no surprise at all, considering her past. Amelia never cried and here she was, breaking down, in the cafeteria, in front of her best friend, who already seemed worried about her.

Sadie quickly walked with Amelia to the cafeteria. Anytime she saw someone looked at Amelia she would glare at them as if to say, *Forget what you see.* When they sat down Sadie slid her hand to Amelia's to grab it in an attempt to comfort her. Sadie had never seen Amelia cry like she was now and had no idea what the best course of action was. She never realized things were this bad for her friend. She quietly said, "Amelia, it will be alright. You're stronger than anyone I know. Whatever is going on I know you can pull through. I'll be standing by you the whole way. So will the others. You don't even have to ask. We will be there for you."

"He is back Sadie, I stayed over at a friend's house last night but on my way to school, I bumped into him, he pulled me home because I was way too early and then he got angry, really angry" The tears had made Amelia's conceler rub off on her face and it showed a black eye and a red welt on her cheek. "He was the one that messed up everything and now he is back, he already told me that he was going to make ne just like him, he threatened me not to tell anyone but I have to tell someone" she cried.

Sadie gasped when she saw the bruises. Complete shock shown on her face. "He did that to you? Oh my! Amelia you can't go back there alone. I won't let him turn you into him." Sadie thought for a few seconds and then she decided, "Okay. There are three options. Either you stay at my house until he leaves, I stay at your house until he leaves, or we tell the authorities. I won't let him get away with hurting you."

Amelia looked down quietly. "I was not meant to tell you so the last one is out of order, Sadie you can't stay there, he will not leave unless he is arrested, and staying at yours would be intrusive to your family, none of these could work that well and my father will find me somehow, this is not a big city, it is easy to find people" her tears got worse

"Amelia. I am not giving you an option. You can't be anywhere near him if he hits you. You also know my family loves you. They think of you as family. They'd want to protect you as well. Even if he did come looking for you at my house what would he do. My dad's a cop and Alex is usually at home in the afternoons. I promise you I will do whatever I can to keep you away from him. He doesn't have the right to do any of those things to you. I can call my parents after school and just say you're sleeping over. They'll be fine with it. I just don't want to see you hurting like that anymore."

Amelia looked down quietly. "When I am walking to or from school or just out, it is so hard to get away from him but I really want to Sadie" she whispered quietly, sobs overtook her as she cried harder and put her head in her hands as she cried badly. She couldn't help it as she was really upset right now and you could tell that she was petrified of what her father could do to her at any time, no matter when.

Sadie quickly pulled Amelia into a hug. "Amelia, although I'd rather you tell the authorities, if you don't want someone knowing than you have to be strong. I don't want anyone here to start gossiping about you. It will make things worse." Sadie pulled out of the hug so she could look at Amelia, "And if you're worried about whenever leaving my house or the school someone in my family can just drive you. You have to at least try. If he attempts to do anything while either my brother or dad are around he'd get in serious trouble. They both know how to protect people. So, please. Everyone will do their best to keep him away from you."

Amelia cried in Sadie's arms and broke down completely. She put one hand inside of a hidden pocket which is where her blade was as she ran her finger along the blade as she cried. Only Sadie would know where she kept her blade as she cried. "I can't do it anymore Sadie, he has done so much since I was little" She cried quietly. "He will try his best to get me back, I know it" She cried and went back to her original position with her head in hr hands as her body was wracked with heart-wrenching sobs as she kept crying. "I don't want any of you to get hurt because of me, Sadie" she cried

"If anyone got hurt it wouldn't be your fault. Even if you don't want us to help we still will. Me, my family, EJ, all our other friends. We all love you. I'm positive that by saying this I am speaking for them as well. We won't stand by as you go though this. If he wants to get to you he would have to go through us first. And the moment he tries anything all the cops in the city would be right on him. They know who he is. So, you can easily stay at my house and if he shows up anywhere around you all it would take is a few seconds and he'd have so many people around to stop him. There are so many people that would have your back in an instant. You just have to let us help you as best we possibly can."

She nodded quietly. "I am just scared but okay Sadie, I will be okay, one day I will be old enough to live alone and get away from him completely and that will be the best day ever because I would finally be free from everything and I can do what I want when I want to but I know what the responsibility is actually like so that wouldn't be a problem and I could work, I could totally live on my own if I wanted to but I am not old enough yet but when I am I will probably stay in this small town and live here and be happy" She did a small smile but she was still crying badly right now.

"Good." Sadie wrapped Amelia in another big hug and stayed that way for a while. When she finally released the hug she said, "Come on. Let's get you some food. We need to change our focus for now. I like it more when you're happy." Sadie stood up and held her hand out to Amelia.

Amelia hugged her back gently then pulled away. She was still crying but it was just silent tears as she took her hand quickly and put on a fake smile as she silently cried while she went to get some food for her and Sadie. She didn't know what to say as she cried and grabbed her lunch quickly and then went towards where they were sitting. Her tears wouldn't stop and they just ran down her cheeks quickly.

For a lack of a better term, Nathan found English oh so boring, and he generally liked classes that weren’t full of life. But that, that was just an uneventful waste of time. He could appreciate reading, Nathan himself often liked to read, but a syllabus? He didn’t mind having to read it, but it was more so the parent aspect that he worried him. He’d have to find some way to talk to his mother about signing it, but she often didn’t get home until 10 or so… And he didn’t feel comfortable asking his father. Sure, it was just a simple signature, but he knew his father well enough to know that it would be a mistake attempting to interact with him. It gave him shivers just thinking about his father, let alone the scorn he associated with the demon.

Science, however, felt like a 180 degree turn in stark contrast to English. The old man of literature was instead replaced with a rather energetic and pumped younger man. And while his enthusiasm was appreciated by Nathaniel, it also came with unseen consequences. More specifically, it meant that he was excited in placing all the students in random groups for some sort of science project. Nathan didn’t mind science fairs, but having to be stuck in a group of strangers to make a volcano was a less than ideal situation to him. Past experiences with such groups often meant that Nathan had to take charge, soon having to take on all the work while his ‘team’ got the credit through exploiting him. What a lovely first day, he thought…

So when lunch arrived and the students flooded into the cafeteria, Nathan certainly took his time getting there. He didn’t want to sit with anyone, and he assumed the same could be said about him. So, instead of having to deal with the awkwardness that came from attempting to hurry and find a seat, Nathan instead waited for the line to grow, getting in as it reached it’s peak length so that it would take awhile until he would eat. He hoped that, if things would go according to plan, that there would be several empty seats after everyone else found a spot, and he would take advantage of that. If not, he wasn’t opposed to standing...

Blake wasted no time in getting to the cafeteria despite his better judgement. Surely, he thought, cafeteria food in high school would be better, right? Oh, what a pity it would be if that were not so, to which the cafeteria would rue the day they dared serve such slop. Moreover, he would most likely just start having his aunt cook for his lunches after today, for upon receiving pizza with fries his heart ached for better edible material. How was an actor like himself meant to sustain himself with such food? Oh woe was he, who must endure such tasteless garbage!

He chuckled lightly to himself, not entirely sure what thoughts he was attempting to portray, but nonetheless finding it fun to do so. Though, he was serious about having his aunt cook for him, just looking at the food reminded him how school lunches weren’t the most edible of foods. He almost regretted not simply going for the bag of chips, but he wasn’t sure if they were the baked kind or not, and didn’t feel like going over to inspect said bags. He also wasn’t a fan of most sandwiches, so that caused Blake to instead get the only other solution, much to his disdain.

Shrugging off his food issues, he instead looked around the lunchroom in hopes of spotting someone he knew. And as luck would have it, she spotted two people he knew! Ebony, one of his friends whom he talked to briefly yesterday, and Caleb, whom he’s attempted to build up a friendship with. He was already friends with his brother Jacob and her girlfriend Lily, but more so due to the fact he was close friends with Lily thanks to their musical interests. It made him smile just thinking of some of the duets they’ve done together, and it fueled him with reassurance that that was the place he would want to sit.

Making his way to the table, he took a seat next to Ebony, his smile plastered across his face in hopes that it would make his presence more likable. “Hey Caleb, Ebony! I hope you guys don’t mind if I sit here too.” He told them, even though he essentially already made that decision to sit. It was more so a question out of decency.

---

---

After leaving from Mrs. Wayne class and making it through Mr. Fridley's class, Ezera found himself some interest in Mr. Shmiddt as he was able to clown with him about his Government last name sounding like it should've been his slave name. Besides clowning and joking with him, he liked that he had a brotha as a teacher that he could be cool with. Hearing about the science fair, Ezera couldn't help but wonder who he'd team with. Hopefully a group who are super productive. But he was going to trust his nubian brotha in who he chose to team with him.

When it was time for lunch, Ezera put his ear buds in his ear to listen to a few hip hop songs and walked to the bathroom first and when leaving the bathroom, he made it to lunch and got into line and saw what was being served. Ezera was not that interested in what was being served but he was going to act a fool for a moment "Tch! pizza? I don't want no damn pizza....and fries? Hey...excuse me Miss Lunch Lady...If I give you some money, can you order me some chicken?....shoot...in fact....do you wanna have lunch with me? I'll be good company..." The lunch lady started to smile but rolled her eyes Boy.... you are just a baby and you couldn't handle me anyway. "Wanna bet? I bet I could handle you and then some." He smiled at the cute lunch lady in the back. The other lunch ladies were laughing as the main lunch lady laughed as well. Boy get your pizza and get out of here.... She smiled "Well what's your name? Gotta know the nice miss lady that's feeding me. You're wife material." Still chuckling, the lunch lady responded I'm Miss Lunch Lady, now go on, you're holding up the line. "Alright I'll go....but you gon' see me again, Miss Lunch Lady....count on that." he said flirting and moving on with his food to go and find somewhere to sit.

@MissCapnCrunch@RBYDark@mskennedy615

Coming out, he looked around, not knowing if Amelia made it to lunch yet but he saw a few faces he recognized. His friend Selene AKA= Shadez, sitting with someone he have not met before, this blonde gal he thought looked pretty good. Walking towards the tables he noticed another black girl, which was usually not difficult being that usually if there's a small number of black people in a place, they'd be able to pick each other out in a crowd easily, well...others could too but there's always something about feeling comfort with there being another black student in the same school. He walked pass the table, Miss Brown Sugar was sitting where this boy was speaking to her and continued scanning the entire room for Amelia. He walked over to Where Selene and Wynona was sitting and spoke up. He turned to the others that were at that table "Hey sorry y'all. Don't mean to cut in but is Amelia here? He said asking Wynona and Selene.

@Thane

Before he could get an answer, Ezera saw his gym partner over at the senior table and rushed over to greet him "YO KAS!!!! Man get yo rugby playin, Russian mafia, Euro ho-trafficking lookin ass up and give me a dap, bruh!!" He said with a smile. "Surprised you ain't knocked anyone's ass out yet. No wait...you probably did...tell me you already did." Ezera said.

---

---

Derek could say that he slightly expected the reaction Abbie gave, but he didn't expect her to get so angry so fast. He followed her gaze to were the pox was sitting with shades and two other girls from their mutual class. When he turned back to Abbie he answered, "Really all he did was call him freak unless there was some underlying meaning behind a few of his other words. Other than that he didn't really pay much attention to Clyde. The muppet seemed to preoccupied trying to defend 'his turf'."

If Derek had to be one hundred percent honest he hoped Abbie didn't do anything. Derek wanted the boy to feel safe before the storm. Derek had a plan on how to mess with the prick, but if Abbie confronted the boy now it would kinda mess up his plans. The only reason he didn't say anything was because if she did do anything it would be an interesting show.

Kas just sat in the same spot finishing his pizza and slowly biting away at his fries, which absolutely fucking sucked without ketchup. The atmosphere at the table was a little awkward and he’d occasionally catch someone glaring at him, but they would look down or away as soon as he shot one back. The blonde asshole had yet to return so when someone suddenly placed their hands on his shoulders it did indeed startle him a little. His first instinct was to shoot up off his legs and throw his head back at the same time, hopefully breaking the fuckers nose but luckily he took the time to look at the hands over his shoulders first. Small female hands. He tilted his head around enough to see that this newcomer was the beautiful and fantastical Poetry Sundance. Kas couldn’t help but grin at her presence, a grin that showed no sign of faltering as the girl spoke.

"Now, what do we have here~" she laughed lightly, "Not playing nicely, are we~? What a peculiar hobby~" She beamed gently down at him, removing her hands as if to proclaim her innocence.

"All that quarreling will give you indigestion~" she hummed, with a wink, "Of course I could just give you a hug to cure you of all your amped up arrgo, Kassy Boy~ Not sure it'd do much for your rep though~"

“But you see now darling what point does a reputation have if it doesn’t help me get hugs from my appealing peers?” Kas spoke, his grin turning into a cheeky smirk.

"YO KAS!!!! Man get yo rugby playin, Russian mafia, Euro ho-trafficking lookin ass up and give me a dap, bruh!!" He said with a smile. "Surprised you ain't knocked anyone's ass out yet. No wait...you probably did...tell me you already did." Ezera said.

Kas quickly spun out from the table and got to his feet, laughing the whole time and quickly fist bumping his friend. “I’ve only hit two people in the entire three months I’ve been in this country bro, you giving me too much credit and anyhow, beautiful Poetry here just offered to soothe my aggression.” He smiled, turning back to the whimsical girl.

She was smaller than he remembered, almost a head and neck shorter than him. He leaned his head in slightly.

“You know, I’d tell you to stop dipping into your parents stash but I dip into my own all the time and as far as I know I’ve never spoken like a character from Alice in Wonderland.” He whispered before laughing a little and smiling. “So, can I have that hug Poetry from Wonderland?” He asked, his features softening as his eyebrows raised in that inquisitive way.

Amelia Rashfree

---

---

Amelia was still crying as she looked around the Cafeteria. "I see Ezera probably should go and talk to him" She put on a fake smile and started walking over to where Ezera was, trying to stop crying as her bruises and marks were showing still as she hadn't covered them while still crying as she realised she needed to get some waterproof makeup as she walked up towards Ezera and saw that Kas was there as well as she put on a fake smile even though tears were rolling down her cheeks and her bruises were on full view to them as she ran over to Ezera and hugged him tightly while crying and she then turned around. "Hey Kas" She smiled to him gently. "Heya Ezera" She hugged him again and smiled, still crying.

Clyde could only give Abbie a half-hearted smile as she bottled herself up. But he knew she was a strong girl who could pick herself up. He wished there was something he could do, anything, to make life a bit easier for her. Even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness.



It was Derek. Clyde waved to his new friend, delighted to have another person chat with him at lunch. Now that expanded his friend group to two! That's one more than the previous number. It seems things are looking up-

Wait.

Clyde knew that expression on Abbie's face. That same expression that could cause volcanoes to erupt, the crust of the Earth to slide, hurricanes to form, and terrify Mr. Peterson's poor Pomeranian. A gal named Poetry stopped by momentarily to say hello to Abbie, and Clyde hoped this would distract her enough to lose focus. But as soon as Poetry left, Abbie's expression hardened. The boy could feel sweat forming on his brow.

“Hey now, Ab, uh...”



“Listen, it ain't nothin'-”



“Well, yeah, but... uh... it wasn't nothin' bad. I mean-”



Then she popped her knuckles and cracked her neck. Jesus Christ. Was she really going to kill him this time? There certainly were close calls before. Clyde looked to Derek with a face that read, 'for the sake of God please don't encourage her.'



Say something. Say something. Say something. Say something. Say something.

Clyde slammed his hands on the table ferociously and quickly looked to both Derek and Abbie with wide eyes.

“Woahcrazyweatherwe'rehavingright?”

He looked to Abbie. “I saw Mr. Peterson walking his Pomeranian this morning it was the cutest thing I have ever seen.”

Then to Derek. “My favorite type of flower is the Hawaiian Hibiscus I grow them at home.”

Back to Abbie. “I'm actually lactose intolerant! But I still enjoy a bit of ice cream from time to time.”

Clyde sat back in his chair with his hands in his lap. He felt everything went according to plan. But the air about the cafeteria said otherwise.