In homeroom, Selena Sterling’s phone buzzed with a simple text message from Hailey.

I’m in my car out front. Hurry up.

Hailey Green had yet to go inside for homeroom and truth be told, she didn’t plan to. She had far better things to do, plans within plans to work on. The first step of today’s play was simple: she needed Selena. Selena who was going to eventually take her place. The same Selena that was her cousin, the same woman who was meant to be the same person that Hailey had been for her entire career at Beverly Hills High.

The issue today was simple: Hailey was bored. Extremely bored. This led to her not much wanting to play the game anymore. Without the need to maintain an image and a public face, Hailey Green would have much more freedom in what she did do and didn’t do. Her goal was to accelerate things so that Selena could take over… now, and Hailey could graduate early, or at least start taking half days.

But first, she had to wait for Selena to come here, so they could discuss it.

Whilst Sean Sterling had chosen to sit at a table by himself and sleep during homeroom, Selena sat beside Ophelia and her Candies — at least, most of them. The prep tucked a blonde curl behind her ear as she scheduled out her day in a floral-themed planner, a glittery purple pen dancing along with the graceful loops of her handwriting. Much like the rest of her life, Selena’s script was perfectly beautiful, and she had practiced tirelessly to make it so. Anything that she could work to control and perfect, she would, just like her mother.

Buzz. Buzz.

Selena flicked her gaze towards her purse. She plucked out buzzing phone, which was decked out in a pink crystal-encrusted case that had cost more than the phone itself did. Sliding her thumb in the unlock pattern, the contact flashed on screen. Hailey. Sel looked up and around the room before reading the message. O and the T were present — though strangely enough, they were not sitting together, which was something that Sel would have to investigate — but H was missing in action. She clicked the ‘read message’ button and raised an eyebrow at the text. Out front? What was Hailey up to now?

After clicking on the cap of her pen, Selena tossed it into her bag. She tapped out a response to Hailey saying that she was on her way before gently closing her planner and placing both of those items in her bag as well. Instead of getting up to leave without so much as a word, Sel turned to Ophelia. “I have business to tend to. Do let me know if anything interesting happens while I’m gone,” she said, standing up and adjusting her skirt daintily.

“Aye, cap’n.” Lia said, saluting her friend without looking up from the notebook she was carefully marking in with colored pencils. The party had led to a few changes in the scenery of the school, as far as what Ophelia cared about went. She had to prepare herself for some… massive renovations to the shipping wall, and that meant colors and graphs. Whatever. She liked coloring. “Should I ask what’s up? Probably not.”

“Hailey.” Was Selena’s only response, and truly, it was the only response that was needed. She briefly glanced down at whatever Ophie was working on and smirked. “See you later,” she said and then turned on her heel to leave homeroom, not even bothering to look in Mrs. Winship’s direction. The dreadful morning show had already aired, and the crone didn’t much care if you paid attention to anything else for the rest of the class.

The parking lot of Beverly Hills High hosted a plethora of expensive luxury and sports vehicles. The blonde slid on a pair of Gucci sunglasses to block out the glare as she gazed around for a familiar car. She had no idea which one Hailey had decided on today, but she knew enough of her collection to be able to recognize most of them. A blue Maserati caught her eye and she headed in that direction, her heels tip-tapping against the pavement as she walked. Upon reaching the vehicle, she knelt down to peek through the tinted backseat window.

The window rolled down and revealed Hailey Green’s perfectly managed hair, and she smiled at Selena. “Do you have a moment? I’d like to talk. You do? Wonderful. Get in. I have some pancakes, if you’d like one.” Hailey explained gesturing toward the center console where, as mentioned, a short stack of fluffy pancakes that seemed to have chocolate chips in them sat, butter melted over the top of them, and a small pitcher of warm maple syrup waiting. Butler got out of the car, and walked to the backdoor opposite the side of Hailey, opening the door for the Sterling princess.

“Thank you, Butler.” Selena said genuinely and nodded to the bearded man before ducking her head to sit in the back seat with the queen. The pancakes smelled good, but she didn’t feel much up to eating them. Sean’s recent obsession with the fluffy breakfast food led to her having eaten more of them recently than was good for her figure. If Hailey insisted, she might take a nibble, but nothing more. “Of course I have time for you. The morning show was a hot mess, partially thanks to none other than Owen Lyon… I think you would have been amused. What is it that you want to discuss?”

Hailey smiled slightly at the idea of Owen embarrassing himself, truly a rare and incredibly enjoyable sight. She’d have to watch the VOD, but ultimately that wasn’t important right then. What was important was the business at hand. After the door was shut and Butler was back in his place in the driver’s seat, Hailey finally spoke on the matter. “I’m bored, Selena. Very bored, as it happens.” Hailey frowned slightly, thinking about how the day had went so far. “Nothing interesting happens and I’ve already won in almost every scenario. So, I think it’s time we expedite the transition between the two of us.”

Both of Selena’s well-groomed eyebrows gently rose in surprise. One always had to expect the unexpected when it came to Hailey Green… but this was truly unexpected. Of course, she had known that her inclusion in the It girl group would eventually come to this moment, that is what she had always wanted, after all. All of her hard work was coming to fruition, but why so soon? Was she ready? “While you are still here? Are you sure?”

“I’m always sure. Truth be told, I don’t much care what happens after it’s no longer my problem. However, I believe the transition would be easier if I were still around — you could come to me for, ahem, consulting. I’m not much interested in running things anymore. I’m bored of the work it requires, I’m bored of the effort I’ve had to put forth to keep Trixie happy, which hardly works. Honestly, if that Owen boy was so tremendously important to her, why doesn’t she just go back to him? He most certainly would accept.” Hailey shook her head and rubbed her temples with one hand. She let out a long breath and turned her attention fully back onto Selena. “Essentially, I’d like to have more free time to enjoy clubs and my peers and community before I graduate. I’m not sure if I’m going to college and I feel there is a chance I may be missing out on a large portion of my social life by not participating in clubs or general functions. I’m dedicating far too much time to handling my business, so I hope pushing some of it off onto you will assist in yielding me better time management.”

“Of course, that makes sense. I certainly don’t mind being there and helping Trixie to feel better. The whole situation is quite tragic. Love seems far too messy, I don’t know why anyone gets themselves involved in that, no matter how much Ophie talks it up as a wonderful thing. That being said, I don’t think she should go back to Owen… he’s a sleaze. A cheater like him doesn’t deserve our cousin.” Selena caved in to the tempting aroma and took a small bite of the chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. They were heavenly, as was to be expected. “What clubs will you join? Are you going to cheer? You’d look great in the uniform.”

“Off the top of my head, I aspire to start with anime club. From there, I may start a few of my own, but I’ll see what we have in store. One of A Double’s friends is in the anime club, and I quite like them.” Hailey shrugged her shoulders, taking a bite of the pancakes herself. “Do you like them? I used just a bit of beer, to help them rise. I think the taste is a bit noticeable, but… I don’t much care. The fluffiness is just necessary.” Hailey explained, smiling happily at Sel, then addressing the cheerleader question. “I’m not much interested in cheerleading, it isn’t really my style, and the outfit shows off…. far too much. I’m rather conservative, I think.”

Anime club was an interesting first choice, in Selena’s opinion. She did not, however, let those thoughts show through on her face. Most of Hailey’s closer friends knew that she had, well, somewhat nerdy hobbies. Her father’s genes must have come through strong, or perhaps it was just how much she loved him. That mattered not, this wasn’t a nature versus nurture debate. Instead, Sel focused on the food. “They’re very good, I’m always a sucker for chocolate chips. I never would have thought to use beer, good call there. The science is there to make it work, perhaps I should think more about learning to cook. It’s just another form of chemistry.” Selena smiled lightly, admitting her own nerdy interests. “True enough, though, about the cheer uniforms. They aren’t befitting a queen’s modesty.” Thinking on that, Selena wondered if that meant that she should stop cheering. She decided that she didn’t want to stop, so she wouldn’t. “About the transition… have you talked to Ophie yet?”

“No, and I don’t plan to. My decision to phase myself out early is my own. I’m hoping the transition goes smoothly and that nothing comes up to interfere with my actual plan, which includes myself leaving until prom. Ideally the country. I’m confident that nothing will distract me. I’d like to take some time to myself as an attempt to destress and deflate myself from my current mental state — which admittedly isn’t my best. I may not show it, but I’m very stressed.” Hailey explained, taking another bite of the pancakes. “The Elite annoyed and frustrated me and allowed me to fully realize how easily upset I am by what happens at the school. It’s best I distance myself before the inevitable, and likely very soon, boiling point is reached by most of the school board.”

Of course, despite what Hailey was saying, she had every intention of continuing to manipulate things behind the scenes. She just didn’t much care for the target on her back anymore. In fact, it was most likely that the boiling point was reached from Hailey lighting a fire underneath an already volatile melting pot of personalities.

“I just don’t want her to be pissed that, you know, you’re handing me the reigns while she is still around too. But, truth be told, she seems distracted enough with her own… things… so she might not even notice. I like yoga for stress, and hot tea, but certainly a vacation sounds like an excellent plan. Where will you go? Someplace new?”

“Ideally somewhere cold. I quite like Switzerland, so perhaps there. But, again, who knows? Something may crop up that distracts me.” Hailey shrugged her shoulders and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. “Let’s go now, that’s all I had to say. I just wanted to tell you in privacy, since I did say a few things that I’d rather not have repeated. I’d appreciate it if you kept our conversation as private as possible…” Hailey smiled and took the last bite of the pancakes and tapped Butler on the shoulder, leaning forward to whisper something in his ear. He nodded, and Hailey opened the door herself, stepping out. “Come along, Sel. How is Trixie doing today, anyway? I need to prepare myself.”

Selena nodded at Hailey’s request to keep this conversation private. As if Selena would ever be stupid enough to not keep it private, she knew full well the level of social suicide that would occur if she didn’t. Once Hailey indicated she was ready to leave, Sel followed suit, exiting the back seat through the door on her own side. “She seems to be a little better, actually. It might just be an act because we’re back at school now, though. She was speaking with Jamie and Marshall, last I saw. Probably newspaper stuff.”

“I can only hope she didn’t miss the show with Owen. It probably would have felt good for her.” Hailey smiled over her shoulder, and the bell rang, signifying the end of the homeroom class, and beginning of the real school day.

A little before Riley’s show…

Trixie boredly scanned the room, as Jamie responded to her, her focus falling on one of the the newer students at BHHS, Dominica. One of the many students she’d given a tour and a brief overview of the school in general, like the cliques and who NOT to mess with (primarily Hailey and that troublemaker, Lucky). They weren’t terribly close, but they weren’t on bad terms either. Trixie wasn’t blind to ‘shine’ and this girl did hold the charisma, uniqueness, and talent it took to be, well, one of the It girls, but it was out of her jurisdiction to even entertain the idea. Trixie primarily puts all her time and energy in her influence in the school and keeping tabs of mostly everything that goes on in the halls, with little birdies that report to her because they admire her stature. However, ever since the breakup, her little birdies have purposely been withholding information from her, for her health or something.

Jesus, was she that transparent?

No, she wasn’t, but since those she surrounded herself with (and didn’t) had big mouths, everyone in the halls knew about her getting sloppy drunk and leaving the party with some french girl. She had yet to see Hailey or Ophelia’s reactions to that, and that was kind of a relief to her.

Tilting her head, she looked back at Jamie and gave him an inquisitive gaze, “What ‘wasn’t what it looked like’?” Not actually caring about the answer to the question, even if she didn’t know what he could possibly be referring to, she continued, “Well, nevermind that! Now, Jamie.” She leaned in closer, resting her elbows on his desk and putting her chin in the palm of her hands, “Before I go into the important stuff, I was curious about your relationship with Riley Wells. We might’ve had an encounter...” She innocently smiled.

Whilst Trixie was quick to brush off Jamie’s statement, Marshall certainly was not. Did he just… was he mimicking what Riley had said? Mar might be overthinking things, but the quote was eerily similar to the night of the party. And not only did he say it, but the tone he had used, and the look Jamie had given him prior to saying it… The dark-haired dancer looked down at the desk in front of him, doing his best not to show that he was feeling every square inch of that shade. Shade over a situation that he was coming over here to explain before Trixie had shown up. Marsh was pulled out of his thoughts suddenly by Trixie mentioning a relationship with Riley Wells. Oh, shit. Fuck. Damn. Why???

Jamie’s stomach dropped at Riley’s name. Figures. The young journalist pursed his lips, thinking over his answer for a moment. “As far as I’m concerned we’re acquaintances, nothing more.” he said, his voice cool. “Why?” Jamie asked, curious as to what game Trixie was playing, because he knew damn well there was a game. There was always a game.

“He seemed really intrigued about you and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be that concerned about anything else that wasn’t his little morning show.” She paused, her eyes never leaving Jamie’s expressionless face, “Oh. And.” Fixing her posture, and taking her elbows off his desk, she nonchalantly shrugged, “There’s also a rumor going around.”

Oh no. Marshall nearly cringed. Of course there was a rumor, it was BHHS, there were always rumors. Fan-fucking-tastic. He hazarded a glance over at Jamie, making eye contact and almost praying that the feisty sandy-haired boy would have mercy. It might not seem to Jamie that Marshall deserved mercy, but he could hope for it. Additionally, there was the fact that Riley wasn’t out, and it was very uncool to out a fellow gay (or bi, bi seemed right in this situation), whether it be rumored or otherwise.

Jamie chewed his lip. What the hell could he say to this? He didn’t need the entire school knowing his drama with Marshall right now. That would not do. “If I knew what was going on in Riley’s head, I would tell you. But, I’m guessing this rumor has something to do with it,” Jamie said, glancing over at Marshall for a moment to reassure him that, for now, he wouldn’t air their dirty laundry.

“Oh? So there isn’t anything going on between you two? People sighted a very friendly encounter between you and him, so the rumor is you’re trying to convert a straight guy or something. Weird, right?” Though, if there wasn’t truth about that theory, Riley wouldn’t be so concerned with Jamie’s newspaper story. Would he? Trixie wanted to know if Jamie was planning something that involved painting Riley in a certain light. If that is the case, that won’t do, not without a price. Riley was cute. He did a lot for the school, but if Jamie had a personal vendetta against him, oh man, Trixie would love know more. Call it nosey, call it her job. Trixie liked knowing things.

Jamie closed his eyes and groaned out loud for a moment, rubbing his temples in frustration. “Of course, some neanderthal sees me talking to a dude and just assumes I’m trying to sleep with him. Jesus Christ,” Jamie scoffed, his annoyance clear in his tone. “Well you can tell everyone that I’m certainly not trying to get in Riley Well’s pants,” Jamie added, rolling his eyes. What other bullshit could this school come up with?

Marshall raised an eyebrow at Jamie’s response. Now wasn’t that a tasty bit of hypocrisy? Granted, Marsh had no idea if Jamie was also spotted coming out of the same closet as Riley… but, there was an assumption made about him regardless. An assumption that Jamie was defending himself against, so, perhaps now he would be a little more open minded to what Marshall had to say. This conversation had started poorly, but it was looking like something good might come out of it. Marsh exhaled a breath of a laugh and shook his head as he remarked, “Straight people sometimes…”

What a passionate response. Trixie couldn’t help but smile. Was someone having a bad morning? Seemed to be a trend this lovely Monday. “I most certainly will. I’d stay clear of him, if you don’t want to make it on the next post of the Weekend Warrior. That’s like this school’s crack.” Trixie mused, not having checked the newest post on the blog herself.

The toying around part was done and over with. Now straight to business. “I need your help, Jamie. I know this is weird coming from me, but I have a little… project, and I thought you’d be the perfect person for the job.”

Jamie rolled his eyes at Trixie’s mention of the Weekday Warrior. That tabloid fed this school’s gossip addiction, that was for sure. At mention of a project, Jamie’s interest piqued. “And what would that be?” Jamie asked, his annoyance having been shoved aside by .curiosity.

Trixie opened her mouth, only for Mrs. Winship to interject. Her voice resounding in the room, “Quiet down. Riley’s show is about to start.”

“I’ll tell you more after club today just know…” She leaned in close and cupped her hand around Jamie’s ear, just in case Marshall was eavesdropping, “I want to know the full story... This has to stay between you and me.”

Jamie gave a slight nod and a quick glance at Trixie to show he understood. Whatever it was, he was sure it was gonna be in conflict with many of his goals. That’s just how the day was going.

As Selena left the room, Ophelia’s gaze followed her… what? Ophelia appreciated legs, and Selena certainly had legs. While her gaze followed Selena, she noticed something else: someone else was following Selena, and once Selena had left the building, the other person again turned her attentions to the Candyland table. Ophelia looked at the younger girl and furrowed her brow, then the girl across the way buried her face in her book bag. Ophelia turned her attention to the last remaining person at the table: Cassandra. She opened her mouth to speak and then it very suddenly dawned on her that there were only two people at the table.

“...hey where’d everyone go? You know what? Doesn’t matter. Who’s that girl?” Lia asked, blatantly pointing at the young girl who’d been staring at them. “She looks like she should be here, don’t you think? I’ve never seen her before, though…” And Ophelia’s expert sense of fashion was on point as always: for all intents and purposes, the girl looked the part of the preps, or even the Candies themselves.

Cassie let her gaze drift over to the girl and looked her over for a moment. Ophelia made a point. The girl could very easily be one of them. ”Maybe she’s a freshman? She knows how to dress, I’ll give her that. Call her over,” Cassie said, chewing her lip as she analyzed this anomaly.

Ophelia thought about it for a moment, then shrugged and nodded, straightening up and staring at the girl that was sitting across from them, still hiding. Ophelia… she didn’t really wanna stand up. She picked up her blue pencil, and threw it across the room, watching it sail through the air and bop the girl in the head, and she immediately whipped her head up, and Ophelia gestured for her to come over. The younger girl slowly stood up and stared at them, grabbing the pencil and headed over to the Candy table, slowly sitting down.

“Uh… hello?” The younger girl offered slowly, holding the pencil out to Ophelia, who accepted it.

Cassie looked up at the girl and smiled, a fake one, one designed to bring the girl in, welcome her. Ophelia had taught her that one. ”What’s your name? I haven’t seen you before,” Cassie asked, tapping her nails on the table.

“What? Really? My name is Kit… I’ve been going to this class, like… you know all year? I just changed my…” Voice. Wardrobe. Shoes. “...hair?” Holy shit this was going so poorly, wasn’t it? It didn’t help that she was tired! But then two of the freakin’ Candies called her over to their table and she had to come… or she’d look DUMB. In front of Selena’s friends!

“You ought to just sit with us. You look the type, so maybe with a bit of practice and effort, you could be the type. Y’know? What do you think, Cassie?” Ophelia asked her friend, finally done surveying the girl in front of them.

Cassie exchanged a look with Lia and then turned back to Kit. ”I like her. Here, take a seat, Kit,” Cassie said, letting Kit’s name roll smoothly off her tongue, her tone sickeningly sweet. Kit may look the part, but the true test was gonna be if she could act the part.

Kit was intimidated, to say the least. She wasn’t ready for this, this was too soon, too fast, too spooky. She took a deep breath, and sat down beside them, then immediately she blazed off at the speed of sound, talking faster than Ophelia felt should have been possible. “To be honest you guys are kind of scary and like I don’t know if I should be sitting here, because wouldn’t Hailey beat me up? But I dressed up like this so that we could maybe be friends? Because I want to be in your friend group because you guys are usually pretty cool! But Ophelia is such a big deal and Cassie you’re like scary pretty and I just don’t know if I can really keep up? I only learned how to do makeup like two weeks ago! And I had my mom dress me at first because I don’t know how fashion works! I like video games. And Netflix. But I wanna be a pretty girl! And like, I want to be the girl that other girls want to…. kiss?” She finally stopped, and Ophelia blinked a few times, before turning her attention to Cassie, shrugging her shoulders.

Cassie’s eyebrows shot up, shocked by the speed at which she could formulate words. This girl had just bombarded them with honesty. This was strange. Honesty was an anomaly in their line of work. ”Well at least you’re honest. What girls do you want to kiss Little Kit?” Cassie asked, smirking at their newest play thing.

Kit was perhaps a little out of breath after her spiel, and she wasn’t sure if she should continue on with the rapidfire honesty… but in the end, maybe it was the tiredness and sluggishness of her mind; Kit decided to go for it. Instead of responding, Kit simply raised a finger, and pointed at the seat where Selena had been before leaving suddenly.

That one even threw Ophelia for a loop, and she furrowed her brow in confusion. “What? Really?” Kit nodded. “Nice. Aim high, way high. I like the moxy.”

Cassie’s smirk was replaced by a mouth open wide with shock. Selena. Now that was ambition. But hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying. ”Ophelia do you think there’s room for our new friend today after school? I like her attitude,” Cassie said, turning towards the other, older blonde. If anything, Kit was entertaining.

“For the meeting? Uhmmm, yeah, totally! Stick with us, Kit. We’re gonna get you that kiss.” Ophelia said, and for a brief second, Kit was the one who was shocked, but she slowly, carefully sat down at the table.

It was going to happen.

Just another Monday morning at Beverly. In the back, leaning against the wall, Lucky Cross, the notorious bad boy of the school, rolled his red die on his right knuckles. He observed the students in silence, while partly staying aware of the girl sitting by the door scrolling through what he’d assume was her creation. The Weekend Warrior. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. Her expression was as giddy as a stoner ordering McDonald’s, as to be expected with everything that transpired that night.

Lucky was fortunate to say he witnessed the growth of the site. The ups and downs for his friend, Roz. Her labor of building something out of nothing. It took time for people to take the content of the site seriously, but with faith and appeasing the general public with words like YOU WON’T BELIEVE, she did it, and he was her witness.

Freshmen year he made a personal pact with himself. He would walk alongside her until told otherwise. She gave him a friend when he needed someone the most and he gave her security. Call it a coincidental meeting of like-minded minds, or two troubled teens not willing to open up to trust fund babies. Regardless of their roots, they built a system, and this system hasn’t failed them yet.

His hazel and honey eyes that were once resting on the board trailed to an innocent face he was growing fond of looking at, though he wouldn’t admit that outloud. An eyebrow rose when he noticed her hair out of sorts, but it was her soulful eyes and the crease of her lovely brow that made her pain evident to him. An understated beauty that drew him in like a wolf was drawn to a careless shepherd's flock. She sat there amongst her friends, attempting to finish what he’d assume was forgotten homework.

How long had he been staring?

Not long enough.

Unfortunately, his moment of admiration was ripped back to reality when Roz raced out of the room. He’d have to find a time later to talk to his lamb or, which would be preferable, she would seek him out. She did have his number, after all.

That would be absolutely delightful.

Exiting the room, right when Trixie decided to make her grand entrance, her body shuddering when their shoulders skimmed each other’s as he left and she entered, Lucky placed his die in his pant’s pocket and strided down the hall whistling Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin. With precise timing, his whistling came to a stop and he found himself leaned against a wall once more, his arms crossed, staring at his friend sitting on the ground, under the stairwell. “I don’t see you celebrating. Wasn’t this your best work yet?” His quizzical gaze examined her on the ground and after a short period of silence, he decided to walk to the wall she was resting on and slide down to the ground, sitting beside her -- to talk to her on the same level. “Do I need to fetch you some food?” Hey, she could be hangry. Why else would her mood take a drastic turn?

Roz Norcross really needed a cigarette. That thought was in her head and it bothered her tremendously, mainly for the simple fact that she didn’t smoke. But it was about the only thing that seemed like it would make sense, given the whirlwind that had swept her up this morning. It all started so well. People were looking at Henry and his ilk with a bit of apprehension and confusion, and it was clearly getting to the targets of the currently highest clicked on article on the entire site. In any other situation it would’ve been cause for celebration, the culmination of effort finally paying off.

And then she had to call that fucking phone number.

She was hoping the voice would be recognizable, but that had been wishful thinking on her part; and now here she was on the floor, slowly tilting her head against the back of the stairwell. If she had gone any faster or harder with it, she’d probably be causing permanent head trauma. Which might not have been so bad. Fortunately, her bit of mild self torture was interrupted by about the only familiar face she cared to see. Lucky was a rare one, someone Roz got on with well. Her partner in cyber crime - or libel - and his brand of chaos was perfectly meshed with her own. She sowed it with the written word, he did it with his actions. And together they ruled the school. In some corner of her mind, anyway.

“Food might make it worse. Let me ask you, what do you know about brunch?” An odd question, but Roz didn’t give Lucky time to answer before she was elaborating. "Don’t know if you saw, but the new post had a generous donation, and I’m talkin’ you and I going on a weekend bender and still having enough to call rides home type of generous. Thought it was a mistake, it wasn’t. Whoever left it wants to meet me Wednesday. For fuckin’ brunch. Who the fuck eats brunch?”

Roz again knocked her head against the stairwell, mercifully it was only one bump before she stopped, turning back to Lucky. “What do you think, worth going or nah?”

A tiny distraction had kept the rebel from keeping tabs on the article. The simple reactions of the student body, from their expressions to their whispers, were enough for him to get a good read on her article’s success. He carefully listened and watched her at a side glance. While she talked, he cooly dug into his jacket and grabbed his flask, offering it to her by placing it on the ground in front of them (never one to carry cigs but always one to have a drink and pills on him), “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t go.”

Tilting his head towards her, he gave a smug smirk, “Plus. You and brunch? Ha. Hilarious. Sucks I can’t be there to watch.” He didn’t want her to think too heavily on this matter, clouding the good that has come today, but he knew this would consume her mind until it was properly dealt with. Roz was admirable in that aspect. One of the most ambitious people he’s ever met.

All jokes aside though. He cracked his fingers one by one while speaking his mind, “There’s no doubt whoever ‘donated’ the cash is someone who’s pleased with the repercussions of your article. Process of elimination, it’s someone who can drop cash without hesitation. That doesn’t limit our options, but if we think of what your article can potentially do to the school and probably already has, we’re dealing with a person who has a motive.” Shifting his body so that he was at an angle to face her more, he added, “You want my honest opinion, Roz? I don’t think you like the feeling of doing someone else’s dirty work. This person wants to meet you. You’d be jeopardizing everything not knowing. What if this person bought the domain to your blog? Then what?”

“Then I’d move the site so fast I wouldn’t have time to archive shit.” Roz shuddered at the thought, the internet was practically the last place left where she didn't’ feel the long arm of greed - and even then it was always behind the scenes just waiting for an opportunity.

There was no hesitation when the flask was set on the ground. Roz snatched it right up and took a hearty swig. It wasn’t even ten in the morning and already she was drinking; she was going to be such a stable adult. The bitter taste of alcohol didn’t do much for nerves but it at least helped when it came to calming down. Lucky was making sense, he always did, it’s what made him effective at being a partner in mischief. Roz set the flask back down. Ever reliable, Lucky was.

“I’m mildly less pissed now. If I was a better person I’d go just to refund their little donation, but I’m not above using some one-percenter’s spending cash. We all gotta eat.” Ever the altruist. She was trying to keep a cool head about this whole thing, but it was clear from her whole demeanour that this was getting to her; this anonymous donation was like rain on a wedding day and ants running around the picnic blanket. But it was also kind of like Woodward and Bernstein. Something suspicious. A lead.

“You know me, Lucky, I didn’t even want to put ads on the damn page until I got the first few bills from the domain. You’re right. I think I need to go. And I’m bringing a camera. I’ll bring you some cantaloupe or something.” She was better, able to laugh dryly at her own remark, but the mystery benefactor would weigh on her until Wednesday. “Well that’s been my morning. Hasn’t been all bad, though. You get a look at Henry? First time I’ve seen him crack open a book. But how’s your stuff? Anything come of your daring scrap on the beach? Woulda written about it, but I’ve got a bit of bias.”

“Better things happened that night, it was more fun and games on my part. A reason to get my hands bloody.” And well, he didn’t get in the fight for the scene. He had something worth getting in a fight for. “And yeah, Henry did NOT look happy. A picture perfect moment, I’d say.”

Something did take surface on Lucky’s mind as he talked. Now deep in thought, he spoke to Roz as if he was also speaking out loud to himself, “I watched the clip you attached to your post. A few times, actually.” With ease, he laid out his hand and a display from his Oracle appeared on it, “Ivy, replay the most recent video.” The scene from the party unfolded before the two. “Ivy, pause.” The clip stopped to where Owen’s left fingers started to tap against each other. A tick, possibly. “Ivy, decrease speed by 30.” The video slowly played and as it played, Lucky zoomed in with his other hand’s pointer and middle fingers on both Ophelia and Trixie noticing that subtle ‘tick’ of Owen’s.

Intriguing.

Soon after, in the video, Owen’s hand turned into a fist. Ophelia began egging him on like an idiot. And then, Owen exploded. While the chaos unfolded, he panned to Hailey in the background, behind all those involved, smiling and then… “Ivy. Pause.” He stopped the clip when Hailey grabbed a hold of Trixie’s wrist. “People are fascinating.” It’s hard to question someone’s intention when they’re someone you think would never do harm to you. If Lucky wasn’t mistaken, all the HOT girls, including Selena, were connected not just by friendship, but also by blood. “Do you ever get curious why something happens? What’s behind the obvious?”

Roz watched the video with almost as much intensity as Lucky had. When it came to posting videos on posts, Roz typically did the bare minimum. She confirmed its validity and looked for obvious signs of doctoring, if there were any obvious signs the video likely went up anyway since clicks were what drew revenue. She watched the fight video and put it up but hadn’t given it much viewing after the fact. The way Lucky was speaking, pausing the video and all that, Roz was getting a feeling that there was a potential story here.

“Curiosity got me a brunch date. You think there’s something more to this?” Roz had barely paid attention to anyone other than Owen and Marshall when she watched it before blogging about it; that had been all she really need to backup the whole ‘gay bashing’ thing that drew in so many wonderful clicks. “You know what I say about this, follow your gut instinct. You want to do some digging? Could be there was more to the fight than I thought. Could be something to exonerate Owen. Could be nothing. Why do I get the feeling we’re not done with New Year’s?”

The day was turning around. Suddenly instead of stress relating to benefactors and brunches there was the allure of a deeper narrative. Like Watergate, only involving high school students. If there was more to the story, then as far as Roz was concerned she owed it to herself to learn the truth. And if there was something more, then maybe the student body deserved to know it as well.

“I always think there’s something more. Even if it leads us to a dead end, we won’t know until we dig. Things just seem like they’re falling into place too… perfectly. One thing, after the other, planned chaos that isn’t something we’ve made. It’s like all we do is add gasoline to an already lit fire.” Lucky grabbed his flask and took a swig of his own before standing up and putting his flask away.

Offering his hand for Roz to grab, Lucky gave a devious grin, “We might as well keep ourselves busy before your big date. The Weekend Warrior isn’t going to write itself and the New Year just begun. Let’s find ourselves a story.”

Kit Thomas was having a helluva day. It all started 28 hours ago.

See, Kit had been awake for that fucking long, so as far as she was concerned, she was still in the same day! But anyway, it all started 28 hours ago… when she proved to the entire Fighting Game Community that she was the cream. And you know what the cream does? It always rises to the top. Kit Thomas, was the cream of the crop.

She had gotten to the Tekken God rank! That meant that she qualified, should she so choose to involve herself, to participate in the qualifiers for the upcoming Tekken World Tour. Well rested, tired as fuck doesn’t matter she’s better than most of the game’s community.

But her most glorious day didn’t stop there! Step one of Make Selena Kiss Me was well underway and was way more successful than she’d thought it would be! She’d managed to infiltrate the Candies, now she just had to ace cheer tryouts later today and then she was going to go to their top secret Candyland meeting! Which, Kit hoped, would include snacks and a place to nap.

Now, her day was getting forever worse. She was having trouble getting through to her next class! She was gonna be late, no matter what. No matter she did, there was no way to get through these assholes, dude. She was small! Half the people that went to school seemed to be veritable giants! She stumbled through the doorway to her science class (chemistry, this semester) no less than four minutes, and twenty-seven seconds late.

Without even looking up at first, their teacher Professor (Kit had once protested to this, she wasn’t much of a professor, she was a damn high school teacher, but she insisted, and the principal didn’t take Kit’s side on this one) Savage, spoke to Kit. Yes, Savage. Kit hadn’t thought that was real either, but had finally yielded after the teacher had yielded and shown Kit her driver’s license.

“Miss Thomas. You’re late. What’s your excuse this time?”

“Look, in my defense I’m super small! It’s almost impossible to get past people in the halls! There’s like seventy-five thousand people in this school, and there’s only one route to get to different classes, man. I never stood a chance! If there wasn’t a passing period, I’d be like fifteen minutes late.” Kit replied. She’d thought that all up on the way, time to see if it worked.

Professor Savage signed and looked up from the paperwork she was on. “Well, your work is usually on point, so I guess it’s fine. But! We’re pairing up for the second half of the school year, and you’re the last one in, so I guess that leaves you with the only person who didn’t pair up with a friend instantaneously: Min-seo.”

“Who? That’s not a real name. You’re making that up.” Kit retorted, looking around the class before she eventually found the only partner-less person in the room. She squinted, and realized that Min-seo (definitely not a real name) was cute. “Oh, her. She must be new. I will take it upon myself to help her attempt science.”

“Please don’t blow anything up.”

“I make absolutely no promises.” With that, Kit went to the desk tucked away in the back of the room, and sat down beside her new lab partner. “Hey, what’s up? I’m Kit. I’ll be your lab partner for the rest of the year.”

The best thing about a chemistry class was that when it came to experiments it frequently came down to numbers; Min-seo might not have been the best when it came to words - and chemistry did have its fair share of overlong words - but numbers remained the same regardless of language. Du gae deohagi du gae still added up to four. When it came to the more experimental side of chemistry, Min-seo wasn’t quite sure how well she’d do, but measuring out liquids and mixtures and making sure they were right and on the line seemed well within her wheelhouse. When Professor Savage announced that there would be partners for the second half of the year, partners who would likely share grades on experiments and projects, Min was quite excited at the prospect. She’d never worked with anyone on a daily basis. The most she’d done was doing Parker’s homework with her and then just doing Parker’s homework by herself so Parker could go off and play but that hardly counted. The excitement carried on her face.

Up until the students paired up and left Min-seo alone at a lab table.

She understood well enough. There were friends in the class who wanted to work with each other. Min’s friends were Henry and Parker and sometimes that Fawn girl that sat with them in homeroom. But all of them were in different grades than Min-seo and in chemistry she had no friends of her own. What she had was the reputation of being a transfer student with a struggling grasp of the language and that made for a less than ideal partner. As she looked around at the different lab stations she couldn’t help but to feel a little hurt. No one had even considered her; her work would just have to be twice as good to make up for the glaring lack of help.

The slightly disappointed Korean glanced up when the classroom door opened and a late arrival stumbled in. Though Min wished Professor Savage phrased it differently, it was unfortunately the truth. Min-seo gave a small wave when her partner glanced over. She seemed...hyper? Hyper Min could deal with, she had ever since she arrived.

”Kit?” She repeated when Kit introduced herself, nodding to show she heard and understood. ”Like Kitty cat or...Kit Kat...candy.” Little devices like that helped Min remember people’s names. She pointed to herself. ”Min-seo.” After nodding she extended her hand towards Kit for a handshake of a greeting. ”I am...happy work with you. Very fun.” With her non-handshake offered hand she gave Kit a thumbs up.

Min-seo was just happy not to have to do science alone.

“Yeah, just like the candy bar! Not like kitty cat. But you can totally call me kit kat. Yeah this is gonna be totally fun. Science owns,” Kit accepted the outstretched hand and returned her own thumbs up. “Science is my jam, so we’re gonna coast through this, don’t worry. I love chemistry too. You might get to see me…” Kit leaned in closely and whispered quietly, “_{...blow something up.} But don’t tell the Prof. She’ll send me to detention or something wack. You don’t speak English too good, do you? That’s okay, I know some Korean! Well, I know like… Korean Soloq phrases.” Kit frowned, realizing that her attempt at being cultural and worldly wasn’t really very helpful, since the only Korean words she knew were things the angry natives said to her when she tried playing on their servers…

“Well, anyway. Do you like science? If you do, you should totally join the robotics club with me! Robots are so cool and like they build battle bots and have them fight in tournaments and stuff, man. We could be a battle bot team, too. They could call us Kit-seo. Wait, you’re Korean, right? Do you know any e-sports pros? I’m gonna be an e-sports pro myself. Dude, you’re Korean. You should be my gaming coach!” As she spoke, Kit reached town into her backpack and pulled her her book and notepad, sitting them on the table and finally, mercifully, giving Min-seo a chance to process everything she’d just said.

There was little Min-seo could do other than smile and nod as she picked up on every other word or thereabouts. Kit seemed excited which was a good sign, but hopefully Min’s comparatively quiet nature wouldn’t result in a barrier to entry. When Kit finally paused long enough for Min to get a word in edgewise, she wasn’t quite sure how to begin. There had been many questions, some of which she picked up on, but the most important one seemed obvious. ”I...like science...yes?” She wasn’t getting bad marks in science, she had gotten a B minus on the first test she took in a science course, but it was too soon to say how she felt about the subject as a whole.

”Coach?” With Min’s accent, she pronounced coach as ‘co-chi’ complete with a blank look and the disarming smile that had gotten her this far. ”I play games at..Henry and Parker sometimes. Very...very fun.” When it came to playing games with Parker and Henry, most times Min came in second and even then only because Parker very often didn’t manage to finish when they played racing things or other three player games.

”You..play sports?” Min was surprised when Kit mentioned sports; not that Min exactly knew the type but Kit didn’t seem to be a sports type of person. Still, Min was impressed, though it honestly didn’t take much.

Kit froze, with the sudden realization that Min couldn’t keep up with what she was saying. Now, it wasn’t Min’s fault. Learning a second language, especially when you’re just thrown into it wasn’t easy. Kit wasn’t exactly being easy, either… Then, she had an idea. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her tablet, standing it on the table. She tapped it and it whirred to life. “Hey, Echo, could you do me a favor? Pull up a blank word doc, and just transcribe whatever I say.”

As she spoke, the tablet reacted, doing what she said. Then, Kit began to speak, pointing at the tablet. “Here, just read what I say, okay? I’ll try to like, slow down too. Maybe I can try to help you out with talking and understanding English. Ask me any questions you have, okay? I wanna be helpful.” As she spoke, the words generated themselves on the tablet and Kit smiled, finally opening her chemistry book.

Initially, Min wasn’t sure what the tablet was for but all became clear. That was actually incredibly helpful and Min was optimistic that this little solution would make working together easier. Min was learning, or trying to, by the day and she was much better along than she had been two months ago, but native speakers just spoke so quickly sometimes and reading it was more palatable.

”Thank you. That is very good help. I am...learning but it...slow.” She was determined to at least sound less obviously foreign before the end of the school year, in addition to simply passing her classes and trying not to get caught up into anything...overwhelming. ”I can do math in...in reports. Math is...best. I will be helpful too. Okay!” Min smiled towards Kit, giving a single nod of encouragement meant more for herself.

“I can understand why you like math. Math is… universal? It doesn’t change. No matter where you go or who you’re talking to, math is constant. But language… isn’t. It changes, even driving to another part of LA, it changes. Isn’t that crazy? Hey, what’s your phone number? If you’re gonna be my lab partner we might have to work on projects together sometime.” Kit explained, smiling as she turned to the assigned page. “Oh, to answer your question, yes. I play sports. I like soccer, and stuff, but I mostly play electronic sports. Like, pro video games? Starcraft. I think that’s the most popular one in Korea…” Kit shrugged her shoulders and began to look over what they needed for their first experiment.

“With my help you’ll be a pro English speaker by the time you go home. If you go home! Maybe you’ll just stay forever. The states own. Have you ever been bowling? Like, to a real, old fashioned, American bowling alley. Where they give you fancy shoes. And they have really greasy nachos. It’s an experience. Trust me, this is where you want to grow up. You’re friends with Henry Green, aren’t you? He’s a baller I think. I bet he takes you on wacky adventures all the time.” Kit smiled and tapped her pen on her paper, writing in her careful, meticulous handwriting, taking notes on the subject. “So, I’m pretty good at this whole science thing… do you have any ideas for what we should do for our actual project, though? No volcanoes. Too boring.”

Min found herself nodding in fervent agreement as she read along; that was what she enjoyed about math and why she had found math to be her strongest subject even before her transfer. Before she finished reading everything, Min tore out a small section of her notebook and wrote down her phone number; Kit raised a valid point, but more importantly it was the first fellow classmate who she had given her number - that was basically like making a new friend. A science friend today was an all around friend down the line.

”Oh! Video sports. My sachon went on dates with video sports player. He was very good.” Back home, Min’s parents didn’t much like to talk about their extended family, likely because of the lack of success her parents’ siblings had found. Still, Min was at one time close to her cousin, before being relocated to Seoul. ”Bowling? No. Is it...fun?” The idea of fancy shoes and greasy nachos didn’t sound immediately appealing but maybe it was an American thing? She would add it to the list of things to try while she was here, somewhere between corn dogs and football.

”Project...I only have...boring ideas...turning gun...gunpowder to caffeine...or….getting salt out of water. Not exciting, just...science.”

“Bowling’s awesome! Wanna go maybe… Friday night? That would work for me, I’ll be free! I sometimes go to Captain Cuddles, but I can skip it for bowling honestly. We can think about our project later! Savage does this thing where she gives you like handouts, but like 85% of her classwork revolves around the project. So just worry about the homework. That’s where most of the book stuff comes in hand. BUT we can link up to work on that after school, or on weekends. I think it’s important, if we’re gonna be partners, to be partners in homework too.” Kit nodded, mostly to herself. She looked down at her notebook, where she’d copied the assigned pages and questions down, then looked again at Min, “If we can decide on a day, maybe we can switch houses and like one week you come to mine, one week I go to yours. And once a week we can get together and work on our science homework and project together! That’d be ace. What do you think?” There. Kit and Min were in similar situations: they both needed friends. And, in this instance, Professor Savage had set up a potential friendship! Sweet.

Friday...as far as Min was aware she didn’t have any outstanding plans on Friday. She did know that Friday’s were often when pizza was on the top of people’s mind. Kit seemed to really like bowling and it could be fun. Should she invite Parker and Henry? She could bring it up. ”Friday? I think...okay. It will be...fun.” Min nodded, as much as a confirmation as she could give. It wasn’t as if she needed to ask parental permission. It was the second part that gave Min a bit more pause.

”My house? My house is in Korea. I stay with Henry. But...it is...okay. I think. He is nice.” In the span of a class, Min had gone from feeling left out to making a friend to potentially going bowling at the end of the week. She was having a very good day. Her potential first American friend made all on her own. She hoped Kit was the patient type.

Ilyana Powers was mentally freaking out, although she looked absent minded as ever, internally she was dying (perhaps it was the forgotten weed on her nightstand). She couldn’t focus on writing, on brainstorming for her dream spectacular. She couldn’t focus on drawing, on her sketches for the spring fashion show, like who was even going to be her model? Why was she only allowed to have ONE?! If she could have it her own way, she would want an entire showcase dedicated to her clothes. She couldn’t focus on painting, on her forever mural, which wasn’t even perfect yet! When was she going to finish it? NEVER. She couldn’t focus on her project for photography club, on following the ‘Day in the Life of’ Quincy Hart, her brother’s apple of his eye (that was recently discovered, in poor taste on her brother’s part); Q doesn’t even know Rose wants to basically stalk her and take a bunch pictures. She needed ten photos that spoke volumes, so that required her to fill the entirety of her memory card. She couldn’t focus on her business, you know, her little etsy shop, on making more STUFF so her entire page wasn’t OUT OF STOCK.


If you couldn’t tell, her mind was frazzled. Her therapy session with Dr. Oliver Thomas couldn’t come soon enough. Homeroom needed to end yesterday so it could be her free period, which was her first period, where she had a nice, long session with her therapist. Just what she needed. Why was the clock moving so slow? Why was the ticking so loud? Why weren’t people as worried as her as how slow time was moving? Where was the timekeeper when everyone needed her?


Hey where did her brother go? Q? Owen? Weren’t they here just a minute ago? Rose urgently looked around the room for A Double. He left her AGAIN. He always LEFT her. After doing her light breathing practices that the Doc told her to do, to slow down her heart when she felt it racing, Rose bit the bottom of her lip.


She hadn’t had a decent yoga session because mommy and daddy were in Japan! She couldn’t slip in their bed and sleep between them. No mommy running her fingers through her hair. No daddy reading her stories and keeping both her and mommy in his arms. She needed to video chat them soon. She missed them. A pout surfaced on Rose’s face.


Who was here? Was she by herself? Oh! Wyatt! Wyatt was here, who basically lived at her place but didn’t, but was always there, so he did.


Partly still in her head, Rose grabbed her bag of jellybeans and shaked it in front of Wyatt, spilling candy all over her desk, to get his attention. Her eyes were like a puppy, with hope that her friend could give her mind some kind of solace.


“WYYYYYATTTT. I has a question!” Rose chirped.


Wyatt had found a great deal of interest in the wood grain of the tables after A Double had vacated the room, going after Quincy. Speaking of, when the fuck had that happened? Wyatt had always known they were close, but he never thought they were this close. Why hadn’t A Double told him? Wyatt’s questions were suddenly shooed away by the screech of Rose Powers. He looked up, eyes wide with shock before settling back down.

"Shoot your shot Rosie,” Wyatt said, grinning and leaning back in his chair, resting his feet on the table. "Wyatt the Life Guru is here to answer any and all questions that you may have,” Wyatt said. While he might not be able to solve any of his own problems, he could very well try to solve those of his friends.

And like rapid fire, the questions rushed out of her lips: “Have you been kissed before? Who was your first kiss? Was it a good kiss? Do you like kissing? Shouldn’t kissing be just with family? How is kissing important in anyone’s life? Would you kiss someone right now if you could? Does that mean love? Like the love we have for food? Are there many ways to kiss? What is EVEN a kiss?” After her words came out faster than her thoughts, she caught her breath, looking at Wyatt goggle-eyed. Waiting for his response, she delicately plucked jellybeans off her desk and ate them.

Wyatt grinned as Rose let loose her slew of questions on the finest and most ancient art of kissing. Ohhhh boy, was this gonna be a job. "Okay, let’s see, yes I’ve been kissed before, because I am a fiery casanova. My first kiss was Ophelia Brycen, she was a lot less scary back then, but, I’m not gonna lie, it sucked. Too much teeth. Yes, I like kissing and no it’s not just for family. And, I guess you could say it means you love someone, but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes kissing is just for fun,” Wyatt said, a certain nonchalance to his tone that kept the conversation from being to incredibly uncomfortable. "Why do you ask?”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. You kissed Ophelia!?” This was news to her! “How come? How old were you? How was she like before she became… well, her?” Totally disregarding Wyatt’s last question, not intentional, but because of her squirrel brain, Rose continued asking everything that was on her mind, “Why’d you do it? Kissing can be just ‘for fun’? That’s weird. I always thought kissing was something sacred! How can you kiss someone if there isn’t any feelings behind it? That sounds kind of sad. Have you had sad kisses?” If this was a game, it would be 99 Questions, all directed to Wyatt.

Wyatt’s eyebrows arched in surprise as Rose launched another barrage of questions at him. He was caught a bit off guard but he quickly came back around. "First off, you answered my question with a question, but if you must know, Lia was fun before she...I don’t know, changed?. Of course, this was way back in middle school, but I did it because I liked her. And sure, there’s plenty of people who kiss just for fun, because kissing’s fun. Thankfully, I’ve yet to have any sad kisses,” Wyatt said, grinning and rubbing his half shut eyes. He then cocked his head and gave Rose a quizzical stare. “But seriously, where’s the sudden interest in locking lips coming from? Don’t tell me you’ve got a boyfriend now! Me and Raf can’t be the only ones without someone to mack on!”


Speaking of Raf… Raf had just made a new friend. His name was Jeremy, and Rafael was pretty sure that they were already best friends. Jeremy had cool long hair, Raf had cool long hair. Jeremy wore anime t-shirts, Raf wore anime t-shirts. Jeremy liked Eureka Seven, Raf liked Eureka Seven. It was a friend match made in heaven, as far as Rafael was concerned. They had talked a while throughout homeroom about their similar interests, which led Riff to inviting Jeremy to anime club after school. Now that he had made a new friend, he was sitting at the table with the usual suspects. Rose and Wyatt had been talking something whilst Riff was totally zoned out, drawing patterns on a piece of paper. It wasn’t until he recognized his own name amongst the chatter that he was brought back to reality.

“Huh?” Raf said, looking up from his doodles, clearly lost from the conversation at present.

“I do not have a boyfriend!” Rose realized her voice went up an octave and with that realization, her cheeks were kissed pink. Defending her innocence, she leaned in toward her boys and whispered, ^{“I do not have a boyfriend, I swear. I-was-just-curious-why-can’t-i-ask-questions?-i-know-nothing-about-kissing-i-just-wanted-to-know.”}

Wyatt put his hands up in mock surrender at Rose’s earnest defense of her virtue. He leaned over to Raf, and filled him in on everything he’d missed while taking a trip to the moon and back. “Rose is suddenly very interested in kissing, but apparently it’s not because she has a boyfriend,” Wyatt explained, his disbelief clear in his tone. “Rose, if you want to know so much about kissing, just kiss someone. That’s what I do. Well, not with kissing, but with everything else.”

“Yeah, Rosa, just kiss someone.” Riff agreed with Wyatt after being caught up with the discussion, and then he nodded his head. Rose was really pretty, she could probably kiss anyone that she wanted. And lots of people probably want to kiss her, too. Raf would. “Why, you like someone? Do you waaaannt to kiss them?” The long-haired boy grinned at his friend teasingly.

Just kiss someone. How could she respond to that? She couldn’t kiss them, they were like brothers to her and that would be weird. And she couldn’t kiss a certain someone because he stole her first kiss! That was not okay. It didn’t matter how close they were at one point in time. Things were different now. They were different now. There was only one way to respond to a situation like this. “Oh look at the time!” Hastily jumping up from her seat, a mess of jelly beans still on her desk, Rose grabbed her bag and RAN AWAY. “Gotta’ see the Doc! Bye guyssss.”

“Ms. Powers, where are you-- oh nevermind.” Mrs. Winship didn’t even bother stopping her student, especially that student, from leaving the room. Rose was usually all over the place, thinking about so many things at once, to the point that her head felt like exploding. Plus, it was Monday, which meant Ilyana had therapy. Something Mrs. Winship was well aware of.

“Oh…” Rafael said quietly, staring after his blonde friend as she practically flew out of her chair and out the door. He looked over to Wyatt guiltily, “Did I say something wrong?”

Wyatt watched as Rose bolted, and then turned to Raf and shrugged. “Y’know Raf, I don’t know if I’ll ever totally understand that girl,” he said, before reaching into his backpack and pulling out a sealed bag of nacho cheese Doritos, poppin them open and offering some to Raf. “Want some?”

Owen had a few things he did that he didn’t much talk about. For starters, he didn’t have much friends, and beyond that point even if he did have a huge friend group, he wouldn’t tell them about his classes and what he was considering to pursue as a career anyway. It wasn’t necessarily their business. As such, only one of his peers knew what Owen did for his last two periods, and that’s because Trixie Kingsley had forced the administration to give her one of his schedules, so they could maximize time spent together. She had often shown up to see him during his sixth period, with a snack, a hug, a kiss and an ‘I love you.’ But not for two months now.

And they were starting to notice.

You see, for some of the later hours in the afternoon, Owen Lyon was an aide for the kindergarten part of the school district. He drove from BHHS proper to the elementary school, where he went to the kindergarten class and just hung out with little kids for a couple of hours. Owen was a reading buddy, a castle constructor, a professional swing pusher, an excellent colorer, allowed to use the real scissors, and he sometimes let them play games on his phone. He was basically their hero.

But they had begun to notice.

Bless their hearts, they thought it was their fault, too.

As Owen put down the timeless classic he’d just now finished (Where the Wild Things Are), he looked around at the kids and grinned. “You guys wanted to hear my favorite book from when I was your age, right? There you go.” The kids nodded, and Owen slid the book into his backpack, and while he looked down, one of the kids slowly raised her hand. One he glanced up and saw it, he called on her. “Yes? What’s up?”

“How come your girlfriend doesn’t come anymore?”

Owen froze, he locked up. He didn’t have a reply, he didn’t know what to say. Why did the kids even care? How did they even notice? Geeze. “Uhm… she’s just really busy lately? She might… never come back. We’re not really friends anymore.” Owen explained, trying his best not to get emotional and to make it as easy to understand for the little dudes as possible. “We had an argument, and now she doesn’t… want to talk to me. Ever again. It sucks a lot.”

“But you made her smile a lot! That means you made her happy!” The young girl protested, and Owen could feel his heart drop. He brought a hand up to his face and rubbed at his eyes, taking a breath to steady himself before he replied.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. I guess I didn’t, though. Maybe things changed.” Owen said slowly. Why did this always happen to him? First A Double, now the kids? Seriously? “It’s okay, though. I think she’s happier now… without me. Really, it’s okay. We’ll be alright.” There. That should do it, right?

Wrong. Dead wrong.

The girl shook her head, “Nu-uh! I heard her say it. She loves you. And she’s real pretty! She’s probably a princess, and you know what princesses say? That love is forever! That’s what Cinderella said.”

“Yeah and Belle!”

“And Ariel!”

“Or Snow White!”

“Or Rapunzel!”

Raised by the screen. He didn’t live in a Disney fairy tale, but he couldn’t say that to the kids. He definitely didn’t want to be the person who robbed them of their innocence, that was something better saved for someone like… Hailey. Hailey would probably enjoy that. “Maybe she’s a princess, but I’m no prince.”

“I bet she thinks you are! Ask her.”

Yikes.

“I can’t do —” Owen was cut off as something was shoved in his face, a bright red flower, probably a tulip or something — Owen didn’t know flowers too well, that was more Isaac’s thing. He did, however, know the kid. Bartimaeus. Ty. Jeramie, the power couple. Their son. “Uhh…”

Luckily, the kid was already talking. “Give her this. I picked it myself. It’s the most beautifulest flower ever. It’ll make her smile for you more. Trust me. If you give her this, she’ll turn back into your princess, and you into her prince. That’s what mama would say! And she’s the smartest person dad knows. I asked him! Trust me. This flower will fix it all for you.” Owen stared at the kid for a little while, before reaching out and taking the flower.

“Thanks kid. I’ll give it a shot.” He looked at his watch and stood up. “Alright, I gotta take off. See ya later, alligators.” In response, the class chimed back, mostly in sync.

“After a while, crocodile!”

Owen shouldered his pack and, gently holding the flower by its stem in his fingers. As he walked out, he let out a long breath and stared at the trashcan, half considering throwing the flower away. But hey, maybe the kid was right. Least he could do, was keep the flower. There was no way he could hand it off to Trixie though.

Maybe Stella or Luna would give it to her for him.

---

And so day one has passed and we enter the time after school. Cheerleading and football tryouts are coming up, including the replacement of Captain O'Connor on the football team. Other than that, you're free.
Do whatever you want.

I hear Captain Cuddles has an awesome special on Mondays, because no one likes Mondays.

But pizza heals all wounds.

As long as there were people like Henry Green in the world, Hana was probably going to have a decent time. It had been less than a week and she was already roughly ten point five thousand dollars wealthier than she was at this time last year. Getting paid six hundred cold cash in school of all places was certainly enough to brighten her mood even as it meant having to stop by her suppliers and endure their lurid gazes and off handed remarks about the way her legs looked in her skirt. But, what a customer wants, a customer gets, especially a customer that was willing to pay without even trying to haggle down. Hana wasn’t able to get the full amount as paid for, but the way she figured it, Henry would soon be too blitzed out on the white powder to even care; hell, she might’ve even saved his life. There wouldn’t be any refunds, however.

As her Uber dropped her off, she assumed the six hundred dollars would not even be missed.

For all intents and purposes, the Green’s lived in a goddamn castle - especially compared to the rather moderate two bedroom apartment that Hana lived in with her sister. To say she was impressed would’ve been an understatement. Henry wasn’t kidding when he brought up Tony Montana earlier - even he would feel inadequate within this place. Still, she couldn’t let herself seem too impressed. She handed the driver a ten dollar bill as she got out and checked to make sure the bag within her purse was still there.

Walking up to the gate was a feat in itself; she half expected some kind of guard station asking if she was on the list. What was the code again? One zero...eight five...three? She pressed those numbers and saw that she was missing a few digits. She cursed herself silently and tried again. One...zero...eight...nine? Why did Henry talk so goddamn fast sometimes?

It was on the third attempt that the gate beeped angrily at her, and seemed to lock itself even harder. Would it be a poor choice to try again? Most likely. From the looks of the place that Henry called home, it seemed likely that a fourth attempt may end in the end of Hana Park, but there was a silver lining. From behind her, trailing up the winding road was a bright blue luxury sedan. The windows were blacked out, and it was impossible to get a good idea of who was driving, let alone of who was in the backseat.

The car pulled up next to her, the rear driver’s side next to her. The window rolled down and revealed the stone cold face of Hailey Green, with the accompanying music pouring out of the window, though Hailey gestured and the music was brought down to a more agreeable level. She smiled at Hana in an almost condescending way. “May I ask why you’re standing in front of my gate?” Despite the smile, the voice was almost venomous. Hailey hated strangers, especially those trying to break into her house, no doubt to pester her parents.

For the briefest of moments, Hana assumed it was the police. It would’ve made sense, strange girl angrily typing at a keypad, clearly not a resident. Turning to the music, and specifically the voice, Hana wasn’t sure this was much better. Still, she made a go of it, putting on a smile before she figured that was a bit unnatural and made her seem like some kind of weird salesperson. Still, Hana was a bit hesitant, not that she didn’t have an answer, just that the sight of a clearly unamused Hailey Green was...not what she expected to see today. It wasn’t exactly intimidation, though it was as good a reason as any for the pause.

”Yeah, why am I not surprised he didn’t tell anyone.” Hana thought about stepping closer to the car, for ease of conversation, but common sense got the better of her. She rolled her eyes, if anything this was the fault of someone else. ”I’ve got a package for Henry. I don’t normally make house calls but your brother seemed really desperate. And he paid up front.” There was the ever present possibility that Hana’s presence was mildly less annoying than Henry’s existence, which would be all Hana needed to get inside anyway.

“A package, hm?” Hailey’s smile instantly disappeared, and she leaned forward, looking Hana up and down, her eyes resting on the skirt longer than they perhaps should have — not that Hailey much cared. After finishing her blatantly undressing of Hana with her eyes, Hailey shrugged. “I didn’t know our school had the type, but I guess you should work with what you get. One isn’t enough? He has to buy another Korean? I can’t stand him.”

After rather blatantly calling Hana a prostitute, Hailey rested her head against the headrest and stared at the ceiling of the car with her eyes closed, considering her options. She could open the gate for this girl, and let her inside to do her dealing with Henry… or she could try something else. Without opening her eyes or looking over at the young woman outside of the car, Hailey spoke. “How much did he pay you?”

If Hana noticed Hailey’s gaze she didn’t comment on it, nor did she seem to react to it. It was different when her suppliers remarked because they were sleazy; with Hailey...well...girls admired other girls all the time. For fashion and such. Even so, the part that irked Hana was the insinuation that the package was some kind of sexual favor. She had standards, and Henry wasn’t even near the top of the list.

”It’s not...I’m not. I’m not the package.” She was flustered. That didn’t bode well. She was not the type to get flustered. A sigh and a moment to calm down after the prostitution comparison and she was a bit more talkative. ”He paid six hundred dollars and was pretty open about it in class. Honestly if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t even be here. No offense, but I’m not exactly the ‘hang out with Henry Green’ type.”

One of Hailey’s eyes cracked open after Hana’s insistence that she wasn’t the package, and that Henry had paid upfront. “You’re not? Unfortunate. And good, you shouldn’t be. Henry Green sucks. It’s exceptionally unlucky that he and I share the same parents.” Hailey paused, and there were a few seconds of silence before she opened her eyes and leaned forward to the driver’s seat. “Butler. Do we have cash? We do? Good.” Hailey pulled her head back and turned to look at Hana.

“It’s your lucky day. I’ll quadruple the six hundred if you get in the car and come have coffee — or something else, if you’d prefer, I’m not picky. Donuts sound good, though. — with me, and don’t deliver Henry his package. Why? Because I’m a petty bitch and I want him to have a no good, very bad, terrible day. This would simply be the icing on the metaphorical cake. Plus, you’re cute and I like your skirt.”

There was a bit of a code that Hana lived by when it came to doing her side job and that was never disappointing a customer. Happy customers were returning customers and returning customers were how money was made. When Hailey made her counter offer, though Hana raised an eyebrow as anyone would when basically offered twenty four hundred dollars...she knew she had to say no.

But then Hailey had to go and say that Hana was cute. Suddenly Hana was self conscious about the skirt, not that she looked bad in it - clearly she didn’t if Hailey Green remarked on it - but because she was sure her knees were shaking. Cute? No one had really called her cute apart from people remarking on a change in hair style or how cute an accessory went with an outfit. ”I like donuts.” She wanted to slap herself. First impressions didn’t get second chances. ”I mean...You don’t have to pay for my company. I’m pretty sure I’d have a better time...what I mean is...Henry’s a big boy, he’ll live without his fix.” In a very flustered and roundabout way, Hana did away with her code in favor of a far better offer cropping up.

“Wonderful.” Hailey smiled, and this was less icy than her first smile. She showed more of her sparkly white teeth, and it seemed to be completely genuine. Hailey held up her hand and snapped her fingers.

Almost immediately, the driver door open and out stepped a burly man, and Hailey glanced over at Hana. “This is Butler. He’s my, erm… butler.” As Hailey spoke, the man gestured for Hana to follow him and walked over to the other side of the car, opening the rear passenger side door for Hana to get in. “This is quite embarrassing, and I do apologize, but… I don’t believe I ever quite caught your name? I’m Hailey — but you probably already knew that.”

If ever there was something intimidating it was Butler getting out of the car. Hana took a step back on reflex, but realized what a ridiculous notion it was. Sure he looked like he could probably kill a man with his hands, but he was on Hailey’s employ so as long as Hana was in good graces everything was copacetic.

”I did know that. I think everyone knows who you are.” She tried to hide her obvious bit of pandering, but did it really count as pandering when it was the truth? ”I’m Hana. Hana Park. You can call me Hana.” What the hell was she doing? What else would Hailey call her? Mentally kicking herself, Hana entered the car, stepping in and finding it immediately comfortable, a far sight more so than her Uber had been. ”Do you mind if we, err...get rid of Henry’s package? I’d rather not get donuts and coffee with you with grams of...stuff.”

Once Hana had climbed into the car, the behemoth shut the door for her and lumbered around the car to the driver’s seat.

Hailey immediately turned her attention to her new plaything; rather, new friend. “Hana? That’s a lovely name. The greatest woman in the world — not counting my mothers, of course — is named Hana. Maybe you’ll be in that echelon too, hm?” Hailey smiled once more, but then it disappeared when she considered what Hana had said, and she held out her hand. “Give it to me. It’s unfortunate that the package of Henry’s I have the privilege of doing away with is drugs and not his ability to have children, but such is life. Actually, just hand it to Butler. He’ll make sure it makes it to Henry later tonight — so as to avoid me dumping it out the window and to avoid Henry yelling at you over something stupid.” After Hailey spoke, the driver’s door was shut almost af if on cue.

While the car began to roll backwards to turn around and head out down the driveway they had come up, a large hand reached back toward Hana, palm facing upwards, waiting for the baggie.

”Please. Henry yelling at me? It would be like...a chihuahua barking at a wolf.” Hana unclasped her purse and took out the duct taped baggie, handing it to Butler without so much as a concern. Caveat emptor, as some pretentious people said. There was something Hailey said that stuck with Hana, and after getting rid of the stuff she had to ask. ”Who is the greatest woman in the world? The one named Hana, I mean.” Hana hadn’t know many other Hana’s, certainly not any ones that would be considered great. But Hana figured her own social circle was remarkably smaller.

”And also I’m not so sure I’d worry about Henry having children. A girl sleeping with him would probably need six hundred dollars just as insurance.” It seemed Hailey didn’t think too highly of her brother, and if it meant scoring some extra points, Hana wasn’t against throwing a loyal customer under the bus. In softball, sometimes you had to go for the steal to win a game.

“I wish I could say that you’re right, but Henry somehow pulls a lot of girls…” Hailey paused for a moment, hooking a lock of her jet black hair behind her ear, before addressing the question that Hana had asked. “Hana Song. Deathadder. She’s a professional wrestler, and she’s my hero. She’s going into the Hall of Fame this year, perhaps five years too late, if you ask me. She deserves it, and I’m hoping to attend. Normally, such a feat wouldn’t be an issue giving my stature and wealth, but… the tickets sold out because someone--” there was the venom in her voice again, and this time Butler seemed to visibly grimace. “—was incapable of purchasing tickets on time.” Hailey’s voice was suddenly like a sour grape, and annoyance rose up inside of her.

She shook her head as if to get rid of the bad vibes, and turned the smile back on. “Anyway, no love loss. I’ll watch my queen get something she deserved long ago from the comfort of my own home. We’ll go to a bakery. How do you like your coffee?”

Hana held her tongue, though it came as a bit of a surprise that Hailey Green was a fan of wrestling. It seemed...out of character, somehow. But then, what did Hana know about Hailey other than what others said about her and how she was essentially the queen of the high school castle? Hana wasn’t privy to such information, all she had was second and third hand information; in that sense it was kind of endearing that Hailey was a fan of wrestling. It made the seemingly untouchable queen feel human. Hana shook her head quickly; she couldn’t think like that. Yes, Hailey was popular but of course she was still human. Hailey was probably used to people treating her like some deity.

And there Hana was over thinking things.

”I’ll have to look her up, she must be impressive to leave that much of an impression. My sister might’ve heard of her, she’s into that sort of stuff. Before she joined the police academy she did amateur boxing.” Surely talking about her sister was a faux pas. ”I like my coffee, and baristas think this is weird for some reason, with some vanilla extract. It’s like sugar in the sweetness but it’s vanilla. It’s about the only way I can drink coffee, otherwise it’s a bit too bitter.”

“Yes, she is incredibly impressive. I’ll have to ask your sister, if I meet her.” Hailey listened to Hana talk about how she liked her coffee, nodding to herself. “I don’t actually much care for coffee? I understand that may seem strange, given that I asked you out for coffee, but I prefer tea. They have a fantastic blackberry raspberry chai tea. You simply must try it. I insist.” Hailey said as the car drove deeper into downtown LA.

Hailey was enjoying this, surprisingly. Hana was being a bit awkward, which Hailey found to be both endearing and cute. Most likely, Hailey assumed, she was intimidating the young woman. Hopefully, in time, it would fade, but for now Hailey was happy to enjoy the effect she was having on Hana. “Tell me about yourself, Hana. What do you do? When you’re not dealing drugs, I mean.”

”Oh, I’m fond of tea. There’s this blend I like, it’s a vanilla chai and oh my god there’s nothing better than having a cup of it while I’m grinding on weekends.” What she meant by grinding she didn’t specify and it seemed she didn’t even notice, or care, that she said it. Her taste for vanilla was certainly rearing its head. ”But I’ll give the blackberry raspberry one a try. I think I can afford to step outside my comfort zone.”

So the donuts and coffee seemed to be turning into tea, which suited Hana just fine. The donuts and drink seemed secondary.

”You have no idea how hard that question is to answer.” Hana laughed just once like a nervous, exasperated chuckle. Talking about herself was not something she did often. ”Well, when I’m not selling drugs I’m selling pizzas. I work at, uh, Captain Cuddles. It’s a good cover for how I can afford things like this skirt, my purse and computer parts. I come from a pretty large family. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Kumiho? It’s a Korean fusion restaurant, well my dad owns it and none of his four kids want anything to do with it. Oh, right, I’ve got three siblings, an older sister and older brother and a kid brother.” Hana paused, realizing she was mostly talking about the non interesting parts of who she was. But it was basically all she had.

”I recently got made captain of the softball team, but it’s off season now which is great. Honestly, softball is fun but if I wasn’t captain I’d probably think about dropping from it this year. It’s not like I’m going for a sports scholarship. So I guess...I guess what I do is find activities to keep me from just holing up in my room on weekends.” Hana was being quite candid; it remained to be seen if she was oversharing or not.

“You work at Captain Cuddles? Good decision. I hope my father treats you well. Daddy runs and owns Captain Cuddles, he’s very fond of it. It’s basically his life’s dream. I’m very proud of it, almost as proud of it as he is.” Hailey smiled warmly, and it seemed Hana had touched on a good spot. Luckily for Hana, it seemed being open was the right move, as Hailey moved to talk about herself in return. “I have two siblings, and two half-siblings. The half siblings are twins, and you know my brother. My sister, Cindy, was traded off for a Korean to satisfy Henry’s urges, which hasn’t worked very well…” Hailey paused and allowed herself to think.

Could she blatantly tell Hana: I play a game that involves total and utter control of the entire student body and people either play or be forced to? No, she absolutely could not. But, she could talk about similarities they may have. “I like to hole up in my room on the weekends too. I enjoy watching anime and movies with my father, as well as playing video games — chiefly different MMOs — either alone or with Butler. Butler plays a healer, as I don’t have any friends willing to do so. I bounce between DPS and tank depending on what I’m feeling. Let’s see… I’m not quite as busy as you may think. I put family very high on my priority list, far higher than a social life. I would rather spend time with my parents than with my ‘crew,’ so to speak. School and the social ladder is like work for me. I deal with it while I’m at work, but I clock out at three thirty. Making an appearance at the stupid Elite party for as long as I did was a chore.”

Hailey paused once more, though this time she simply smiled at Hana. “However, this does have one upside, at least from your perspective: this leaves me with a fair amount of free time. All of which is yours for the taking…”

”Captain Cuddles is a good gig, except when people from school try to swing discounts because ‘they know me’, or whenever your brother brings his…loud friend and she spills stuff by accident. But fortunately there are new hires to handle that sort of clean up.” Hana hadn’t even made a connection between the owner and his family, but it was quite the small world as it turned out. It was when Hailey brought up MMOs that Hana’s eyes seemed to light up and she turned to glimpse at Hailey as if she had said some magic word.

”Shut up, you do not play MMOs.” Her tone was both incredulous and excited, and the smile making its way across her face was proof enough. ”Which ones? I primarily run groups through dungeons on my tank but I’ve got all three roles basically good to go. You know if I hadn’t been paid to go to your brother’s stupid party I would’ve just been playing all night. God, that probably sounds pathetic but like...I dunno, it’s just fun. I get to feel strong and cool when I taunt a big monster and just lead people to victory. The money from the party? Finally getting a second monitor.” Of all the things to have in common with Hailey Green, MMOs would never have even crossed Hana’s mind. But Hana spoke with a clear passion and excitement, as if she had found someone who understood, who she could admit to playing them without reprisal.

”I don’t wanna, you know, assume but we should play together. You’re bound to be competent, which is more than I can say for half the people I run with. Careful, though, or I might take up all your time with it.” It took a moment for Hana to process but when when she did she couldn’t walk it back. ”I mean, if, you know, you like spending time with me or…” She couldn’t walk it back, but she could certainly want to put her foot in her mouth.

“While the outcome as to whether or not I enjoy spending time with you is yet to be fully determined, I can say that as it stands, I would be fully okay with playing video games with you taking up the vast majority. Plus, it would probably make Butler happy if he didn’t have to be my pocket healer all the time. I like to call him a healslut. I think it’s hilarious; he disagrees. In a perfect world, I would have a girl fulfill that world, but I don’t. So I just make Butler play a lalafel and pretend. Oh, Final Fantasy XIV is what I primarily play. It’s old, but… I like the classics, I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders and the car pulled to a stop in front of the bakery. Hailey didn’t move, and Butler came round and opened the door for her. “He’ll get your door as well, so don’t worry about it. It’s in his job description,” Hailey explained, and like clockwork, Butler made his way round to her side, and opened the door.

“You shouldn’t try so hard. You’re making a fool of yourself. I’m not going to bite unless you do something incredibly stupid.” Hailey stretched her hands over her head and peeled off her Turtle school jacket, depositing it in the back seat. She adjusted her t-shirt, tugging it down a bit before she was satisfied and she looked to the sky. “It’s a beautiful day. I’m happy the sun is out. I can only handle overcast days for so long before I get irrationally upset. Perhaps some other time, I’ll show you my setup, though be warned, it would likely cause immense amounts of jealousy.”

”Hey, it’s a classic for a reason, and the good servers still have people playing. My healer character on that game is a miqo’te so sorry to say if lalafel is your go-to pocket healer I’m not sure I qualify.” Things were going better, or so Hana thought. She wasn’t stammering like she was in front of the gate and they had had something in common to talk about; even if Hana previously put her foot in her mouth she figured she was at least more positive than negative.

Which is why her smile faded when Hailey offered the advice. If Hailey could see that Hana was trying hard, then Hana was probably trying way too hard. She paused a moment before leaving the car, letting out a deep breath. Don’t blow it now. ”I’m sorry, I just...I have to be a certain way at school and I see you and you’re you and...you know what? I’ll just...I’ll be myself. The girl who gets excited to grind for legendary gear on weekends.” What a novel concept, just being herself. It was worth a shot.

”I might be jealous of your setup but between your brother’s poor spending habits and your quadruple offer I might not be so far behind you before long.”

“Your chances are much higher if you commit to being yourself. I understand where you’re coming from, though. I am rather beautiful, aren’t I? I’ll accept a miquo’te, by the way.” Hailey led Hana into the bakery, and Butler followed them at a slight distance, though Hailey shrugged her shoulders as she kept speaking, “You declined my offer to buy your time in an effort to get in my good graces. While resoundingly successful, it was arguably foolish — there won’t be another offer of money, I’ll be expecting our mutual enjoyment of one another’s company to be enough.” Hailey delicately shrugged her shoulders, and stepped up to the counter, drumming her fingers on it while waiting for the attention of the rather busy attendant.

Regardless of how busy she was, this did nothing to cool off Hailey’s rising ire. When she finally turned to address the Green with a smile and a ‘how are you?’ Hailey’s response was quick, cold and to the point. “If it takes this long for you to bring us our beverages, I’ll own this place by the end of the week and take a great amount of pleasure in firing you.” Hailey’s voice showed the simple truth of the matter: she was salty. Without giving the poor girl behind the counter a chance to respond, Hailey continued to speak. “We want two of the berry chai teas, but don’t use your own water, it’s most likely tap water, which defeats the entire purpose of freshness.” She snapped her finger and Butler stepped up, holding out a thermos to the girl behind the counter, who accepted it while staring dumbly at the demanding young woman.

“Use that. We want hot.” Was Hailey deciding what Hana wanted for her? Yes. “And two creampuffs. Both chocolate dipped. And make it quick, I won’t wait long before I get annoyed. You’ve already tipped the scales by making me waste precious seconds waiting for you to take my order. Honestly, help these days.” She scoffed and shook her head. She walked away, taking Hana’s hand and pulling her to a corner booth, while Butler paid the frazzled barista.

A few moments after Hailey and Hana had sat down, Butler walked over, and shook his head in Hailey’s direction. “She was nearly in tears. There was no reason for that.”

“I’m almost positive my date has homework to do. We can’t waste time with incompetent waitresses. Now shoo.” Hailey waved her hand dismissively at the mountain of a man, and Butler shrugged his shoulders, ultimately walking away and sitting down at a seat a few tables away. Not far enough away that he couldn’t monitor the situation, but far enough away that he couldn’t eavesdrop.

Hailey turned her attention back to Hana. “I apologize for Butler. He can be a little overbearing sometimes. Now, the real fun can begin; we finally have some privacy.”

There was the reason Hana had been trying so hard. Rumors circulated around the school but it was quite another story to see Hailey Green be so...domineering in person. Had Hana been the stammering git she was initially, it was possible she’d have wound up like the clerk; that was worst case scenario for Hana, and her problem really was overthinking it, assuming she’d have to put up the act to keep Hailey interested. But Hailey admitted to liking wrestling. To playing MMOs. And she was almost certain that the jacket left behind in the car was some kind of nerdy reference, which was cute. Why the hell, then, was Hana trying to hard when clear signs were there that the rumors and talk, while not completely unfounded, weren’t all that Hailey was.

”I declined your money because I didn’t want you to think I only came along because I was paid.” Hana followed up on a hanging comment as she settled in the table, sitting opposite Hailey, trying her damn hardest not to blush and melt at the two hit combo that was having her hand taken and being referred to as a date. That’s what this was, wasn’t it? From an outsider’s perspective anyway. Was it a date? When did it turn from spiting Henry to a date? Maybe it always was. Maybe-

Hana shook her head, getting those thoughts out of there. This wasn’t the time.

”And besides, I think you like my company. Enough to take me here despite my incoherent babbling at points in the car. To that point, the way I talked about MMOs? That excitement? That’s who I am. The person your brother knows, hell the person damn near the whole school knows? Let’s just say I’d probably be a lot less noticeable if everyone knew I spent my weekends doing dungeon runs and reading Heinlein and David Weber novels.” Hana was being candid, which in turn had her sounding far more natural; whether or not the real Hana was received well was out of her hands.

”Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but you can understand that, right? I mean, you have your Butler play games with you instead of one of your friends so, and if I’m wrong tell me, but I assume they aren’t aware of that hobby. It’s the same with me. I’ve cultivated this image. Athlete. Dealer. No one really assumes otherwise and I guess I try to like...keep those things separate because in my mind it’s like...the softball captain and the school hookup for party favors can’t be some computer gaming nerd. That...that’s a bit weird, isn’t it?”

Hana let out a sigh like one does after a doctor’s appointment. ”Well, that’s off my chest, and that’s basically me, take it or leave it. I don’t want to have to lie to you to win favor, otherwise I’d have just taken your money and actually been a prostitute.”

Hailey smiled again, and decided she would do her best to maintain the candid, open atmosphere. After all, first dates either went well, or you lied about yourself and resentment built up over the course of a relatonship until it ended in flames. Hailey didn’t much care for flames; she much preferred ice. “You’re slightly off the mark, but only slightly. My friends do know about my habits as far as playing video games, but… They won’t play them. It’s too grindy, too much time for them to be wasting on such a thing. Butler plays because Butler doesn’t have a choice. My family pays him a lot of money and his job description is quite literally to do whatever I want.” Hailey shrugged her shoulders, thinking about what Hana had said, and remembering something she’d mentioned earlier. “You ought to consider being more open and more like yourself. Hiding who you are is just you being afraid of yourself, which can’t be a fun life to live. Look at me. I wore a jacket with a very blatant and large reference to an anime for preteen boys on the back of it.” Hailey twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers, thinking to herself. This Hana girl was something!

“I didn’t mention it earlier, but I figure now is as good a time as any. I think you should just quit the softball team. If you don’t enjoy, and it isn’t really you… why bother? You’re working very hard to keep up an image for the duration of high school, a time in your life which ultimately isn’t going to matter. I understand that may seem hypocritical, given that I’m, well, me. I understand that I have quite the image and reputation. Where you and I differ, darling, is I don’t have to try to maintain it. This is just how I am. It’s all about how your carry yourself. Be confident and true to yourself, and no one will care what your hobbies are.” After speaking, Hailey froze for a moment, then frowned as a sudden realization washed over her. “Oh, darn. I didn’t ask for whipped cream with our cream puffs… How will you ever forgive me?”

Hana was right at the very least: that jacket was some reference. There was a clear confidence Hailey had, and not in the sense of her being the head of the pack that was BHHS. A confidence of self and that was admirable. The kind of confidence and swagger that would have people turning heads even if Hailey had shown up to a formal gala in cosplay. Hana wondered if some of Hailey’s confidence would rub off on her. And then, for a moment, she wondered if Hailey herself would rub on her.

”It’s not that I don’t enjoy it - I mean have you seen how I look in uniform pants? It’s just that I don’t see a future where I’m playing sports or going to Wimbledon. But...you’ve got a point. It’s like a value proposition, how much fun would I be having elsewhere, that kind of thing. Sports just seemed like something I should do because I liked playing catch with my sister as a kid and that jocks were always popular in movies. But looking at me I don’t exactly look like a jock. More a cheerleader. Still, I suppose my whole outward dealer persona wasn’t all bad. Without it, I wouldn’t be in this bakery with you right now.”

Hana thought that final line was in the category of smooth, given that she smirked after the fact. Confidence was key. ”And I wouldn’t worry about the whipped cream. You sorta whipped the clerk into a frenzy so I bet she’ll give us extra just to try and make amends.”

Hailey laughed, and rolled her eyes as a combined response to both Hana’s statement about her own character, and how it’d brought the two of them together, and the comment about the clerk giving them extra. Hailey had to give some leeway though, it was actually kind of true. If Henry didn’t have a drug problem, and Hana didn’t have a drug hook up, then it was possible they’d never be sitting in a bakery together.

“I suppose to some extent you’re right. No, I haven’t seen how you look in your uniform pants,” Hailey pulled a pen out of her jeans pocket and scribbled on a napkin. “This is my phone number. I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep well unless I know what you look like in your uniform pants. I need my beauty sleep, don’t you think? Please, don’t leave me hanging.” Smooth? Maybe. It didn’t matter, Hailey was powerful enough to get her way regardless of how loud or controlling she had to be to do so. She picked the napkin up, but rather than immediately hand it over, she brought it up to her lips, kissing it just well enough to leave traces of her lipstick on it, before finally sliding it across the way to Hana. Then, without even waiting for Hana to accept it, Hailey was back to talking.

“The girl must be new. The people who work here know me better than that. They know to show me the proper respect and to never make me wait. It’s in the first half of my last name. A Green should never be forced to wait… especially not by someone who works as a clerk.” Hailey scoffed again, hooking a lock of her hair behind her ear, and she was off again, this time on a different subject. “Join the cheerleading squad. You would look good in the uniform, and it would please me.” Subtlety? Not Hailey’s style.

It was becoming clear that Hana was still in the minor leagues when it came to damn near everything. Her little bit of smooth talk, or what she had assumed to be, was utterly destroyed by Hailey’s at-bat. Hana was already blinking in surprise when Hailey was writing her number down, but the follow up was like a critical hit. Unless her ears deceived her, Hailey was asking - no, not asking - for Hana to send a picture. That would’ve been bad enough ,but then to go and kiss the napkin. Hana was practically shaking when she took the napkin, careful not to smudge the ink. She wasn’t going to just put this in her pocket - hell she was probably going to frame the damn thing. Her attention was on the napkin until she caught the tail end of Hailey’s continued speaking.

”What? Oh...uh...yes. Okay.” Hana hadn’t fully processed that she had essentially agreed to joining the cheerleading squad, but at that particular moment Hailey probably could’ve told Hana to go rob a bank and she’d have done it. ”I’ll do it as soon as I get home.” She was still thinking Hailey had been talking about the softball uniform.

“What? You can’t do that, you missed tryouts already. But don’t worry about it, I’ll inform Ophelia that you’re a member of the team now. She’ll probably call you tomorrow evening about it, I think their practice begins Wednesday, so just make sure you’re present for it…” Hailey trailed off as a completely different person, a slightly older woman — perhaps Butler’s age — brought their tea and their food to them. She sat the cream puffs in front of each of them, and the mugs of tea. Additionally, she sat down two extra plates, each one having a slice of chocolate cream pie with graham cracker crust.

“Sorry, Hailey! She’s really new. We’ll talk to her.” The woman said quickly and Hailey nodded, eyeing her darkly.

“Please, do so. Now, shoo. Give Butler my thermos.” The woman nodded and quickly backed off, before Hailey turned her attention back to Hana. “The chocolate pie is very, very delectable. You’ll enjoy it, and I’m incredibly jealous you’re getting to experience all of this for the first time.”

”I can’t? But you gave me your number for-” The realization hit Hana at the mention of Ophelia. Did she...was she a cheerleader now? How did Hailey do that? Hana was so focused on the allure of showing off her baseball uniform that everything else just seemed to sound like the adults in Charlie Brown for a little bit. Well...that was one way to tender resignation to the softball team, jumping ship to cheerleading because the hottest girl in school asked her to.

”I don’t have work Wednesday so I don’t see why I couldn’t make it. Ophelia...she’s the blonde one, right? Whatever, I’ll speak to her.” It seemed Hana was going through with it, at least so far as making a mental note for Wednesday after school. Maybe she’d get to do a flip. ”Wow, they’re really good about customer service here. I think that server took an early lunch break.” Hana picked up her cup of tea and took the first sip, her eyes widening and the nod of approval coming out as she set it back on the saucer. ”That is really, really good. And I don’t even miss vanilla. I’ll have to see about getting some for myself. I take it you come here often? The other waitress knew your name and everything. With this tea I don’t blame you.” The period of idle conversation was drawing near, the make or break moment in any date.

No, there would be no idle conversation. Hailey wouldn’t stand for it, that sort of thing bored her, and a bored Hailey was good for no one. Picking up her tea, she sipped at it idly, and then nodded at Hana’s question. “Yes, I do. They have delicious sweets and I enjoy sweets. That woman was the owner though, she likes to keep me happy. I’m famous. Famous is good for business.” Hailey leaned forward and slyly smiled, “if you play your cards right, I may just make you an overnight celebrity.”

Hailey leaned down, holding part of her hair out of her eyes. She leaned closer to one of the cream puffs, but kept eye contact with Hana, slipping her tongue out of her mouth and very carefully, meticulously licking at some of the excess cream that leaked out of the pastry. “Mmm…” She murmured, pulling back and smiling at Hana after the perhaps overly sensual display. “Delicious. And, yes. She’s the blonde one. I still expect my phone to buzz with pictures from you. Either of you in your uniform, or of you wearing less than you are now. I’m not picky.”

Had Hana been in mid-sip of tea there would have been drink spilled on the table from her spit take; fortunately for both parties the only thing Hailey’s rather provocative method of enjoying a pastry was met with Hana biting her lower lip. She couldn’t look away - and suddenly she was jealous of a goddamned pastry of all things. In the scant few seconds between licking and resuming conversation, Hana had forgotten what words were. The owner of the bakery wasn’t about to be the only one interested in keeping Hailey happy.

”Which uniform? Doesn’t matter. I...I think I can arrange that. Maybe you could offer me wardrobe advice.” That was a little joke, and Hana smiled about it; she knew what Hailey was asking, what she was insinuating, and she was agreeing. Girls sent each other photos. It was what they did. ”I might give your phone a play by play of how I get my uniform on. It’s a very involved process.”

The lip bite. There it was, all the confirmation that Hailey needed, and all the motivation in the world to keep it up. Plus, Hana was really making this easy on her… After she finished speaking, and offered a play-by-play, Hailey’s eyebrow slowly raised. This, it seemed, had surprised even Hailey. Good move, Hana.

“I think that sounds look a good idea. I like forward thinking like that, keep it up.” Hailey sipped at her tea, putting it down after she had tasted enough. “You know,” As Hailey spoke she reached across the table to Hana’s pastry, slowly scooping the cream onto her finger, staring at it, “it would be only fair if I return the favor with a few pictures. We’ll see how you do.” Hailey lifted up her finger, covered now in the sweat cream filling, but she did not bring it to her lips.

She raised the finger up to Hana’s lips, and spoke in a firm, commanding voice. “Taste.”

In baseball terms, Hana had done a base hit; her remark about a play-by-play seemed to go over well and she would, of course, follow through on that. The pizza man always delivered, after all. But for as self-satisfied as Hana felt from her successful at-bat, along came Hailey with the home run. It wasn’t even subtle and Hana didn’t even care. Her proud little grin turned into a mesmerized little stare, her lips forming a little ‘o’ like one does when thoroughly surprised and desperately wanting to see what happened next.

Her eyes flicked from the cream-covered finger to Hailey, as if gauging to see if this was some kind of elaborate joke; maybe as Hana went for it she would have her nose booped and covered in cream and laughs would be shared. The question was then was that what Hana wanted to happen? The answer was clear as her gaze returned to the finger and her still-surprised expression made it easy for her to give the cream a taste. Like a lollipop, not an ice cream cone.

”Very sweet.” She pulled back, bringing her palm to cover her mouth and check if any got on her lips. ”And the cream wasn’t bad either.” Smooth as a bumpy suburban road, that was.

“Smooth.” Hailey reached out toward the chocolate pie that had been given to Hana, and put it on the plate her own was on, looking up. “Daddy likes the chocolate pie. So I’m going to take your piece for him. I hope you don’t mind, darling.” Hailey smiled and took the last sip of her tea and snapped her finger. Butler came over from his table, with boxes. He boxed up the pie and the cream puffs, before handing Hana a box. It was up to her if she wanted to take anything back, not him.

“I do apologize, Hana. I’ve had an absolutely lovely time, but I must cut it short. I need to get home and change into something more comfortable. Besides, our real fun won’t begin until you’re home in your bedroom, on your bed, with the door locked, desperately waiting for me to respond to your texts.” Hailey spoke matter-of-factly, as if there were no question that it would happen. Butler finished his task, and left the building, going to get the car started. Hailey slid out of the booth and stood in front of Hana, holding out her hand. “I can only hope you’ve had as nice a time as myself. Maybe we’ll come back here sometime. Who knows? I’d much prefer a date to Captain Cuddles, but alas… we can’t have a pleasant, romantic evening at your place of employment.” Hailey shrugged her shoulders, and waited.

So, was this the end? How much time had passed? Was it good? Bad? Hana didn’t know, she’d never done this before, though she did let out a laugh when Hailey mentioned changing into something more comfortable; it seemed they were both going to be doing some changing. It was immediately followed by a quick, subtle lip bite and a not-so-subtle flash of red. Hearing it put so bluntly was...well it made Hana all the more determined, like a challenge of sorts. But still, the comment had rendered her flustered, which was why she could only dismiss the offered take-home box with a wave of her palm.

That same palm was then used to get out of her seat, using Hailey’s hand to aid in the process. Her knees weren’t shaking like they were back in front of the Green house, but she did need a moment of standing or else she was in danger of falling forward from excitement. ”Well, we could always get a Captain to go.” Hailey had used the ‘date’ word. So this was a date? If there was a second one did that mean they would be dating?

”But I wouldn’t mind coming here again. With you. I hope your father enjoys the cake. Am I...are you going to drop me off at my place or should I call a ride?’ The rush of information, the use of the ‘date’ word, and the prospect of another had sent Hana’s thoughts into a bit of overdrive, now that the date was effectively coming to an end all the thoughts she had pushed aside were rushing to the front of her mind. ”I’m just going to assume yes. Maybe a little part of you is curious about where someone like me lives.”

“Yes, I’m going to see you to your house. What kind of a person would I be if I abandoned my date after I drove her halfway to nowhere in the center of Los Angeles? Come along.” Hailey tugged Hana out of the bakery and put her in the backseat, before climbing in herself. Butler shut the doors, and they were off. “You can tell him where we’re going. He’ll get us there. But then, back to me.” Hailey explained, leaning back in the seat and patiently waiting for Hana to speak with Butler and then turn her attention back to what mattered.

Hana didn’t want to keep Hailey waiting too long, she had seen what happened to those who did, and so quickly gave the address. It wasn’t the fanciest apartment complex in Beverly Hills, but it was cable ready and didn’t have any bandwith caps, plus she didn’t pay any rent until she was eighteen and her sister would start charging. After repeating the address, Hana leaned back. There was still the ride home to leave a good impression.

”I just want to say thank you for asking me to join you. It was much more interesting than if I had just dropped off the package. It’s not every day I get to spend with...well...with you.” A bit cheesy, but Hana was on cloud nine at the moment, and that’s all that mattered.

“We’ll see how I feel after tonight, and you just might spend so much time with me you get sick of it.” Hailey replied with a smile. Then, she went a step further, taking her hand and reaching over across the way to Hana, resting the hand on her thigh and giving a squeeze. Was it a step too far? Perhaps, but it did send a simple message: Hailey liked her enough to touch her. “So far, though, you’re certainly on the right track. Keep at it.”

”I don’t think I could get sick of you.” Hana tried to keep her cool but there was the very real instance of a very attractive girl currently squeezing her thigh. She was practically frozen in place but she was not at all complaining. If anything at that moment she would’ve been fine with Butler going well below the speed limit just to make the trip that much longer. And yet, Hana didn’t seem to have the confidence to return the favor and touch Hailey - other than placing her hand atop the hand that was on her thigh.

”Well, it’s like I told the softball team before every game. Play to win. But then, this has already been more enjoyable than any softball game. All we get winning there is a pep talk.”

“You’re going to get a far tastier treat from winning here.” Hailey explained with another squeeze of Hana’s thighs, and it seemed like Hana’s enjoyment would be cut short, due to Butler driving slightly above the speed limit, as the car was already coming to a stop in front of the apartment complex. “I suppose this is where we say goodbye, hm?”

It was great while it lasted as evidenced by Hana still grinning ear to ear and not exactly in any hurry to get out of the car; granted the door wasn’t yet open so that gave them a few more seconds by Hana’s count. ”Hopefully not for the last time. Maybe next time you can see my uniform in person.” Hana was past being coy and nervous; hand on thigh was as close to a sign of ‘success’ as there could be.

As Hana spoke, Hailey slowly and casually drew herself closer and closer to Hana, listening to her words. When she was inches away, and Hana finished her statement saying that next time Hailey could see her uniform in person, Hailey smirked and spoke softly. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Hailey hand slid further up Hana’s skirt, and her free hand found its way to the back of Hana’s head, pulling her in for a soft, sensual kiss — nothing sloppy or pushy, not yet.

The word that came to mind was unexpected, but as with the thigh Hana wasn’t complaining, she was far too shocked to do anything other than enjoy the kiss. It might’ve been painfully obvious from how she tried to place a hand on Hailey’s shoulder and only wound up groping the air but this was Hana’s first kiss. With another person. And despite her awkward hand gesture, she gave back, not just letting her lips lie still like a fish. It was nothing like how she had so often written about in her little stories; it was better. Hana closed her eyes for the duration of the kiss, well aware that she was mostly reacting to it, hoping that her lack of experience wasn’t too obvious.

And when it was over, she could still taste the strawberries on her lips.

Hailey pulled away and licked at her lips, smiling at Hana as she fell back into her seat properly. “Wednesday morning. I’ll be here to pick you up at 8:40. I have a brunch meeting; it’s unfortunate that I’ll have to conduct business, but that will be our second date. Now, run along, Hana. I believe you have some pictures to take. Do you still have my number?” As Hailey spoke, the door was opened on Hana’s side by Butler.

Did she still have Hailey’s number? Of course she did. It was gently situated in the palm of her right hand, the one she hadn’t used to hold Hailey’s hand or grab at the air behind Hailey’s back. ”Wednesday. 8:40. I’ll be here.” That was really soon and Hana practically leapt out of the car. She gave a final wave to Hailey and was heading up the stairs to her apartment before the car had even driven off.

Hana entered the apartment, closing the door hard behind her. Abby Park had been watching television while sprawled out on the couch and jumped up at the noise. ”Oh, hey, Hana. Welcome back. How was school?”

Hana didn’t respond, having taken off her shoes, damn near tripping over herself to do so, and was now making a beeline for her room. ”What? School? Yeah, it was fine, sis. Look, lotta homework. Don’t come in. Gotta concentrate. Call me when dinner’s ready.” Hana zipped into her room, shutting the door and locking it behind her.

She unfurled the napkin. The number was still legible. And the imprint of lipstick was still very prominent. Hana brought the napkin to her lips, kissing the lipstick - it was a pale imitation but she still had that taste of strawberries to make it all worthwhile.

And then a minute later Hailey Green’s phone lit up with a message. And it continued to buzz with new ones all the way home.

By the time they’d arrived at the gate, Hailey’s mind was made up. “I’m going to keep her, Butler.”

“I had a feeling.”

The library. One of the safest places on campus, but along with safety, there were secrets. Lots and lots of secrets. It was like a double edged sword, because even if it brought a Darling sanctuary, it was also a place where scandalous and dangerous things happened. And yet, Joy didn’t care about any of that. Even if there were days she did get in on the ‘scoop’ or spot something she probably shouldn’t have seen, she wasn’t one to brag about someone else’s business. At the moment, she was preoccupied putting away books and listening to Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars, which her uncle played all the time, for as long as she could remember. With all the school drama happening, it was nice to get away from all that and more.

Be in her own world.

Before the morning show, she wanted to talk to Damian about what happened the night of the party since she couldn’t remember a thing, like was she even still a virgin? The morning after consisted of her rushing home, not really seeking answers until today. Classic Joy. However, once the morning show happened, Joy was genuinely worried about her friend. Finding answers could wait. Unfortunately catching him free wasn’t an easy task, she spent most of the morning trying to find an opportunity to talk to him and never finding an opening. Everyone felt superbad for him and weren’t afraid to show it. By now, maybe he thought people were pitying him too much? She didn’t know.

Regardless, here she was, going through row after row of neatly lined up books, rolling down the aisles with no care but herself. Just her, her cart of books, and music. Joy was dancing, twirling, and putting the books away based on the colour coded dots on the spine, the alphabet letter they started with, and obviously, the genre. This song was her jam.

Almost turning into the fantasy aisle, Joy subconsciously and nervously stopped when she saw Damian holding The Hobbit and trying to put away the book himself. Rather than the logical thing and go down the aisle to say hi, she left her cart at the end of the aisle and scurried down the neighboring one, to the left.

What was she doing? Wasn’t this her chance to talk to him? Why did she stop working...?

Just like the room in its entirety, the bookcase was basic, worn down, but still held history, integrity, and comfort. Besides the super computers, the library was one of the more ancient rooms for the sake of ‘design’, with scratches still on the wood and the architecture screaming early ‘2000s’. As quiet as a mouse, she went to the spot she assumed Damian was and pulled a book off the shelf so she can see him (or well his back). Could she get an idea of how he was feeling from a distance? Why was she nervous? Using the opening in the bookshelf like a peephole, she watched the ex-captain of the football team in silence, all the while her phone was still playing Jericho’s Favorites in her ears. The song playing now? Immortals by Fall Out Boy.

Damian was currently experiencing the worst day of his life. He wasn’t sure that he could sink any lower than this? There would be nothing good to happen to him, his life was all downhill from here. All he had left was muscular arms and a charming smile and money from his parents and a dog. They’d taken football from him, and they’d sent him to detention and they’d punished him by forcing him to join the dance committee.

His life was over. It wouldn’t get better than this! It surely couldn’t. All this for a party, where he didn’t even get laid! Sure, he’d gotten touched a little bit, but Joy had ACTUALLY THROWN UP ON HIM before he’d even gotten his hand all the way up her shirt. Then, the party didn’t even work, and the Weekend Warrior happened…

If Damian ever found out who was in charge of that, he’d slap them around. They were stupid, far too stupid to be in charge of something that so many people read. Did they even pay attention to reality? Their enemy was the SAME PERSON. This entire social ladder thing was bullshit. Damian was at the top of it, for some reason, and he’d planned to use that to his advantage TO GET RID OF IT, but noooo. They went and ruined that too.

Then, on top of that his fucking mother showed up and got on the morning show and SCREECHED to everyone about the end of his life. And today? Today he got his book report back, which he’d done on the Hobbit. And you know what? He got a fucking C+. A C+. Seriously? Now his grade would be dragged down to at least a fucking B+, instead of an A, so he was going to have to desperately try and fix that before the year ended or he was FUCKED.

Why did he even try? Honestly. Maybe death was the best option after all… He had to call Ender. Ender would know what to say, probably. So would Dad, but his mom was right! Dad was gonna beat his fucking ass. Damian went to shove the Hobbit on the shelf, and when he did so… he slammed too hard.

Sometimes, Damian forgot his own strength. With the slam of the hardcover book on the cheap, wooden shelf, Damian shattered it. “Motherfucker.” He hissed, as the books fell to the ground in front of him.

Oh! This was her chance. She wanted to let out a eep when he almost knocked over an entire bookcase, but luckily it was just the books that fell and a shelf that would require a repair job. An entire bookcase tumbling would cause other bookcases to tumble and that would be a bitch to explain to Ms. Perrywinkle. Like a ninja, making sure no other person, particularly of the female race, made their way to help Damian, Joy tiptoed to the other side and found herself on her knees helping him pick up the books, “I can take care of this.” She slid a book toward her pile.

“No, it’s fine, I got it.” Damian hissed rather harshly, not entirely seeing who it was. He stacked up a few of the books before he looked up and his face softened slightly, and he let out a sigh. “Oh, sorry, Joy. I didn’t realize I did that. I broke the shelf,” he said in a positively miserable tone, looking down at the stack of books and putting them aside. Then, Damian just sat down and put his head in his hands. This was it.

Any other girl would’ve probably felt the sting in his tone, but Joy wasn’t like most girls. “I know someone who can fix it. It’ll be like this never happened.” Sitting on her knees, she carefully watched him. He who was dominated by defeat and sadness, very unlike the Damian she knew. What Melody did this morning was a bit uncalled for, but it was Mel… she was one of the most dramatic people Joy has ever been blessed to know. With intention (and slight anxiousness), Joy crawled her way beside him, sat upright, and leaned her head on him, knowing very well of his quirk. He was having a moment, and she didn’t necessarily think it was a bad thing. People were allowed to get sad. Even strong boys like Damian. “Want to talk about it? I understand if you don’t. I’m sure a lot of people have been asking if you’re okay.” When obviously, he was not.

As she leaned against him, Damian froze up and resisted the urge to move away from her, slowly looking up at her. “Hey, uh, Joy. I… I really don’t like being, uh, touched, really.” He explained in a shockingly awkward voice, his eyes shifting around a little bit. He wasn’t used to having to explain this, but here he was. Explaining it. It was one thing to be touched like, sexually. It was another thing to be used as an unwilling pillow.

Lifting her head off him, she glanced up at him and gave him a tender simper, “I know. I remember.” Even after all these years, there were some things that didn’t change, but she got what she wanted with making him uncomfortable. Pushing herself up, leaning her head closer to his, she put his head in her small hands. her dark gaze locking with his light. Perhaps the party ignited something new in Joy, she didn’t know, but she knew what could make him feel better. Friends or more? They’d discuss that later. Her lips brushed against his - roughly, urgently. There was no need to push away, and for once, Joy was one of those individuals creating stories in the library. If there was something Mitty told her, lust and desire could make anyone forget their problems - at least for the moment.

Well, it seemed like it was working! After all, she got off of him… and then she put her hands on his face, and Damian was getting ready to protest while she stared at him. But, he didn’t have a chance to before she stopped him by pushing their lips together, which took away his ability to speak. That was not what he expected, like at all. Damian, for once in his life, was taken off guard. He shifted a little bit, wondering if he should break it, but instead he slid his arms around her, and melted into it. Yeah, Kylie was right. It worked.

Locked in the present. Whatever he was worried about, whatever she was concerned about, evaporated. They had time to kill. It wasn’t like many people ran to the library during the ten minutes given to get from one class to another. She savoured his lips and her breathing quickened, matching his. A kiss like this was like a promise.

A promise of much, much more to come.

Was Joy aware of what her future had in store for her? Absolutely not. His warmth that radiated from his body simply brought her closer in - was it odd that this felt natural to her? This thing called kissing. And she kind of… liked it. A lot. Closing her eyes, seeing only darkness but letting him take the lead, Joy hadn’t realized that she was practically on top of him.

While her eyes were glued shut, Damian’s were wide open… and he may have been the reason she was now ontop of him. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really ten minutes left. Damian had taken his sweet fucking time getting here, and that meant that something was due to end their fun… and it did.

Ringgggg!

The bell rang and Damian broke away, wiping his lips and staring at her for a few seconds, catching his breath. Then, he spoke lightly, “...being touched like that is okay.”

“I like it.” Joy blunty responded and then pulled off him. “We should do it again sometime.” Her eyes rested on him, not unblinking but slowed. Her assured aura had a warm, inviting, and charming effect, as she adjusted her shirt a wee bit. “Like tonight, if you’re free.” Ballsy, Joy.

Was he free? Damian considered it. Not really, he should probably go home so that he could face his mother. BUT, there was one thing his father had always told him: ‘it’s better to ask your mother for forgiveness, than permission.’ So, he’d cross that bridge when he go to it, and he’d just text Trevor later.

“Yep.”

“Good.” Joy was well aware of Damian’s predicament (having seen the morning show). Was this her being selfish? Maybe. Or testing the waters, seeing how far he’d go for her! Only time could tell. After licking the bottom of her lips teasingly, she stood up and smirked, “My place, around eight.” The time she put Lil’ Boss to sleep. With her dismissive words, she lightheartedly shooed him away, “You’re going to be late for class and I have to clean up your mess.”

Damian hopped up to his feet effortlessly, and nodded to Joy, turning to walk away, before he froze as something came to his mind. Turning to look at Joy over his shoulder, he carefully asked. “What about your parents? Do I need to come in through the window? I will, but if I’m coming to make out with you, I definitely don’t want Ender to see me.” Hell no, dude. Jude? Maybe. Ender? No fucking way.

“Date night.” Her parents wouldn't be home until late.

Don't worry, Damian, Joy knew what she was doing.

Hana was having a whirlwind of a day. It seemed a bit humorous now that before she assumed that the highlight of the day would be getting six hundred dollars; and yet here she was catching her breath and trying desperately to fix her hair in the backseat of a self-driving car which she assumed was heading back to where the afternoon’s events had started. Compared to everything that had gone down after school, six hundred dollars was quaint. Hopefully the distraction that was Henry’s interruption hadn’t caused a fiery wreck and utterly ruined...whatever this was between her and Hailey. It had only been a couple of hours and Hana was like a kid at Christmas. Excited. Hopeful. Worried. Optimistic. Though rather than hoping that the big gift under the tree was a shiny new knickknack, Hana was hoping that Hailey would still want to associate with her.

If she didn’t, why would she have sent a car? That was Hana’s rationing.

With her hair as unmused as she could make it in the confines of a backseat, Hana returned to her phone. She had to say something. Hailey’s texts about hanging up didn’t read as requests. What if Hana took too long to hang up? What if this? What if that? Hana’s earlier confidence was quickly drowning in an ocean of hypotheticals. It was up to her if she was going to dive in to rescue it.

’I’m in the car. Sorry I was interrupted. You wouldn’t believe who it was. I’m bringing my uniform. Will you meet me outside so I don’t get locked out again?’ Hana wrestled with the idea of sending an ‘lol’ or thereabouts to set the tone of the message, but ultimately decided against it. As the car continued on its preset course, Hana sent the first of her apologetic messages. She would likely not feel relieved until she was speaking to Hailey and given that verbal assurance.

Hailey, who was still in her bedroom, still half unclothed, stared at her phone as she received another text message. Well, at least Hana had gotten in the car like she’d requested. Hailey was a little worked up, thanks to what Hana had sent her, so she’d just taken the natural next step, and decided to bring Hana to her. Not to mention, there had been that stupid interruption. That kind of thing frustrated Hailey; was Hana not already preoccupied? If they had been physically together, would Hana have answered the phone?

Hailey would never know the answer, simply because she’d explain to Hana that she was never, ever to do that again. She felt her phone buzz with a text message and she read over it quickly, sighing as she sat up. Hailey slapped around off the edge of her bed for her shirt, poking out a reply. ‘What if I just send Butler for you? I don’t much feel like getting dressed.’ She hit send and laid back down. While doing so, she hit a button, sending the command to the gate to open when the car drove up.

She quickly sent another text message. ‘You’ll be spending the night. If you didn’t bring a change of clothes, we’ll deal with it in the morning.’ With that, the ice queen rested herself back against the pillows on her bed, and waited rather impatiently for Hana’s reply.

It didn’t much matter who would greet Hana at the gate, provided it wasn’t Henry of course - she didn’t need to hear the negativity in person too - so Hailey sending Butler was fine as far as Hana was concerned. Though what was more immediately eye catching was the casual admittance of Hailey being in a state of undress. That was somehow comforting, that despite the interruption Hailey hadn’t rushed to return to ‘normal’. It was a small chance, but a chance nonetheless.

However, Hana’s eyes lingered on the second message. No matter how often she blinked it still read the same. Spend the night. Hana was going to be spending the night. With Hailey Green. Somehow she didn’t think it would be a sleepover with braiding hair, sleeping bags, and fawning over boys. Should she call Abby and tell her? No. No, in that moment Abby was irrelevant.

’I didn’t bring a change of clothes.’ Hana’s immediate thoughts on the matter were typed into the message field. ’I think it’ll be okay. I could always just..wear my uniform to school? I’m...I’m excited to spend the night. At your house. In your...in your room. Yes.”

Her awkwardness was showing through even here. In text form.

Once the car passed through the gate that opened itself, it came to a stop in front of the massive structure that the Greens called home. Butler was standing at the doorway, with his arms folded over his chest. The car door opened itself, and the mountain of a man helped her out of the car and led her into the building, while the car began to drive itself away. “Don’t touch anything,” Butler warned, as they walked through the hallowed halls.

Looking over his shoulder at the girl, Butler shook his head. “She had me running around all day because of you. Trips to stores, carting you around… She likes you. Keep it that way.” Butler said, taking a turn down one of the many long winding hallways. He walked up a flight of stairs, and turned again, before he finally stopped at a door, rapping on it with his knuckles. “She’s here.”

There was a soft click as the door unlocked, and Butler pushed Hana toward the door. “Go ahead.” He said, before turning and walking a few steps away, taking a seat on a nearby bench and putting his earbuds in. Finally, some peace.

Hana wanted to apologize to Butler, he seemed to be having a rough go of it - and he probably had better things to do than concern himself with a giggling mess like Hana. It wasn’t an apology that she spoke while being led through the rather ornate and perplexing layout, but a blushing smile and a nod at the seemingly innocuous comment. ”Well that’s good. I think I like her too.” The admission, such as it was, came naturally. She assumed Butler was someone who would keep secrets and it was easier to make such an admission to a third party. Hana had known Hailey less than a day and yet she was constantly at the front of her thoughts.

Hana had found herself with quite the heavy crush.

When the door to Hailey’s room opened, Hana took a deep breath before she was practically shuffled inside, the door closing behind her. Though she was in another’s room and was mildly curious about the decor, she just kept her eyes trained on the room’s primary occupant. ”H...Hey there. Did you miss me that much?”

Hailey had decided to put a shirt on — but that was all the extra covering up she’d done. She stood in front of Hana in a large t-shirt that just barely dropped past her thighs. She was dressed for comfort, and sensuality, not for practicality. She stepped off of the bed and walked over to Hana. Once she stood in front of her, Hailey smiled and wrapped her arms around Hana’s neck, leaning down and kissing her lips again. Almost exactly like she had in the car, Hailey let the kiss linger for a few moments, before she pulled away from Hana and, with the smile still on her lips, replied: “Yes.”

If Hana managed to peel her eyes off of Hailey long enough to take in the room around her, she would find that the decor confirmed that Hailey was exactly what she’d presented herself as. On the walls were posters of Deathadder, the wrestler Hailey had mentioned, and the shelf above her vanity table had no less than four Dragonball Z figures (Future Trunks, Broly, Majin Vegeta, and Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku were the most prominent and largest). The television hanging on the wall, though the volume was low, was playing a rerun of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

Hailey took a step back, letting go of Hana and holding something out, a black lace necklace, with a blue heart pendant on it. “Put this on.” Hailey said, her face suddenly very serious. “And never take it off.”

To think she had been mostly kidding with her comment. When Hailey initiated the kiss, Hana was damn near close to dropping her uniform to the floor and just going all in; she settled instead for a mild re-do of the kiss in the car. The hand that hadn’t been holding onto a hanger held Hailey by the arm for the duration of the kiss; a bit of the direct, sensual contact that Hana had bungled before. If that had been the only event that transpired the whole endeavour would have been worth it just for those wonderful seconds. When finally lips parted, Hana was wordless and slipping back into that stunned silence that thankfully had her coming off as more cute than annoying. Would she ever get used to that? To kissing Hailey? God did she ever hope so.

It wasn’t until Hailey placed the necklace forward that Hana was brought back to reality, the dulcet tones of Rumi Ohishi singing “It’s Just Love” playing from the television being a rather perfect bit of coincidental ambiance. ”Oh my god, Hailey, you didn’t have to...I mean I love it...but...I didn’t get you anything. I...I..it’s beautiful.”

Hana took the necklace, admired the blue pendant in the light, and did as she was told. A perfect fit, the band closing around her neck like a glove, the heart pendant resting snug on her collar. ”I think it matches my eyes. Thank you, Hailey. You didn’t have to…”

Hailey seemed to relax as the necklace was locked around Hana’s neck. Once it was in place, Hailey nodded her agreement. “I think it does to. You don’t have to get me anything; bringing yourself here was more than enough.” She shrugged her shoulders as she strolled back over to her bed and took a seat on the edge of it. She turned her attention back to Hana and once again, the smile was back on her lips. “Of course I had to. You deserve it, and you more than earned it.” Hailey reached up to her hair, slowly twirling a lock of it around her finger. Now that Hana was here, Hailey simply had to get down to business.

“Okay. Let’s see what you look like in that uniform.” Hailey said, gesturing toward the uniform that Hana was holding onto. “But be warned, I’ll be very handsy, depending on how good you look.” Now, Hailey had an idea of how good Hana would look in the outfit, but the truth was? It didn’t really matter either way how good she looked. Hailey was going to get handsy. That was the whole point.

“And I have to stress this, remember that however this night goes is completely on you. I brought you here because of the mood you put me in with pictures,” Hailey went so far as to wink at Hana, leaning forward. “And I’ll keep you so long as you can handle me when I’m in this sort of mood.” The gauntlet had been very blatantly thrown down. No, Hana, this was not a normal sleepover. There would be no makeovers, or gossip.

Right. The uniform. It was still trailing behind her but in the span of seconds after her arrival, Hana had damn near forgot about it. An impromptu sort of fashion show for an audience of one. There was a slight difference from the texts earlier and that was the simple fact that Hailey was in the room with her this time. Being alone but speaking to another was slightly easier than being in such close proximity. There was hesitation, a calming of the nerves and Hana internally shouting at the increased beat of her heart to get it to settle down, but the conclusion was reached all the same. Hailey had already seen all of Hana.

”Hopefully it’s better than the pictures.” She was bad at small talk, but she was trying and talk was cheap anyway. Hana almost asked where the bathroom was so she could go change, but she wasn’t that naive. Nor was she that prudish. ”But you might want to take some for posterior-ity.” Hana was proud of that pun. She wore it on her smile.

What she didn’t wear was her camisole, which she hurriedly removed and tossed aside, though she handled it like she was in her room swapping to casualwear or pajamas, which was boring, With the sounds of mecha anime guiding her, Hana’s dressing down of her shorts was handled with slow shakes of her hips left and right. She was emulating what she assumed a striptease was like, albeit one done in front of someone instead of on someone’s lap. Hana even made a show of slowly leaning forward - after turning her back to Hailey - to pick up her uniform, which she was equally as slow when rising back to a standing posture.

The uniform wasn’t full, she didn’t have her cleats or the socks, but she did have the top, which had the colors of the school and ‘BEVERLY HILLS’ embroidered along the front. Hana didn’t button the top, wearing it like a jacket without an undershirt. But the part that mattered were the pants, navy in color, which she put on agonizingly slowly. It had been worth it, given that the perk of the uniform pants were a rather snug fit particularly in the waist and hips. The pants did Hana many favors when it came to the rear view, but it hadn’t added anything that wasn’t already there, just made it far more prominent.

”So? What do you think? Not bad, right?”

Hailey watched as Hana stripped off her clothes for her, and she did the only logical thing. Wordlessly, Hailey licked her lips. If she had been thirsty from the text messages, now she was hungry. Hana hadn’t quenched her thirst, she’d only made it worse, it almost wasn’t fair. Maybe it had been too long since Hailey had been in a situation like this, or maybe there was an untold connection between the two of them. Or, maybe still, it was the fact that Hana was so obviously virginal; Hailey had a feeling she would soon understand why Shauna liked it so much.

Nevertheless, fuck Shauna.

When Hana was finally done and asked the question, Hailey knew that she couldn’t answer with words. This type of thing required action. She stood up from her seat on the edge of the bed and stepped across the way to to Hana, and helped herself to a handful or two while placing her lips against Hana’s. She gently walked them backward as she broke away from the kiss. “Bed. Now.” Hailey said, spinning them so that she was on top. She pushed Hana back so she fell onto the bed, and crawled on top…

And in what seemed like minutes, the clock struck midnight. Hana’s phone rang, and Hailey grabbed it, tapping the red button to decline the call. When it rang again, she made a face like she might smash it against the wall for distracting her, but she ultimately picked it up and hit the answer call button, placing it against her ear. “Who’s calling at this hour, honestly?”

”This doesn’t sound like Hana.” The voice on the phone was that of Abby Park, Hana’s often overbearing but well meaning sister who had given Hana the benefit of the doubt and waited fifteen minutes after curfew to call Hana’s number. ”This is Abby, Hana’s sister. It’s after one in the morning and she knows she has a curfew. Who is this I’m speaking to, and could you put Hana on the phone, please?”

“She has a curfew?” Hailey asked, raising an eyebrow down at Hana, before speaking back into the phone, “I’m Hailey, Hana’s… friend. Hana can’t really talk right now, her hands are tied…” Hailey said in an apologetic tone, smiling as she looked down at Hana and brushed a lock of sweaty hair out of her eyes. “May I take a message? She plans to stay the night here, though. But we’ll get her to school on time. Perhaps early.”

”I didn’t know Hana had a friend named Hailey.” The surprise was clear in Abby’s voice even through the phone. From her unique position, Hana’s eyes widened, she had a hunch who it was when she saw the time and heard the ring tone, but hearing Hailey mention curfew was all the proof she needed. If she wasn’t actively texting Hailey, she was going to have to turn the damn thing off. ”I’m sure you will get her to school but I’d still like to hear from her. I insist, actually. She didn’t tell me so I’d like to hear it from her.”

Hailey sighed, “Oh, very well.” She reached down and pulled the balled up pair of panties she’d stuffed in Hana’s mouth out and held the phone to her ear. “It’s your sister. Something about a curfew? Hurry up.” Hailey said, looking over her shoulder at the clock. Eventually, they had to actually sleep…

Hana took a moment just to let the air into her mouth with a sudden inhalation. She couldn’t exactly hold the phone or even do much except speak - but when Hailey said ‘hurry up’ Hana had every intention of being as swift as possible. ”Hey, Abs. Hailey’s a friend. She invited some of the team for a little sleepover and I just forgot to tell you. I’ll be home tomorrow. Lov-”

Unfortunately for Hana, Hailey got fed up, and Hana’s mouth was suddenly full again and Hailey pulled the phone away, clicking the end call button. “Mmm, so many distractions, Hana. I think you’re in trouble again.” This time, Hailey went so far to shut the phone all the way off, throwing it off to the side with a shake of her head. She leaned down and kissed Hana’s forehead. “In trouble or not, you’re being wonderful.”

Wonderful. She said wonderful. If Hana was able to move her mouth more freely, she’d no doubt be beaming like she got a passing grade on a tough exam. The compliment was enough to distract her from what sort of trouble she was in - not that she was dreading that aspect either. Trouble had been part of the reason why her hands were, as Hailey suggested, tied but where Hana initially was wary, she’d been pleasantly surprised that she wasn’t hating this, or the notion of trouble. She damn near liked it. But none of that mattered in that moment. What had mattered was Hailey saying that Hana was wonderful.

That feeling was so utterly mutual.

Trevor Odhran Wells had a date. Not only did he have a date, but he had a date with Savannah Matthews, the prettiest girl in all of Beverly Hills High. The ginger-haired jocked was so elated that his feet just might sprout wings and fly him directly off of the football field and towards the heavens themselves. There was nothing, nope, absolutely nothing that could bring him down after that fantastic moment that just took place. Coach could run him ragged, sprints until his legs literally caught fire, and this would still be the best day of his life, he was sure of it.

With this newfound, refreshed attitude in mind, Trevor returned to the drills. He did his best to shake off the residual nerves from the interview, and the distraction that Savannah may or may not still be around and watching him from the sidelines. Coach was splitting the team, and the people who hoped to join the team, into two separate groups. They were meant to mimic the plays Coach assigned to each group and show off their skills and teamwork abilities in this exercise. The boys that were vying for the captain spot were split up evenly among the two “teams”, which happened to put Trevor and Jacob on opposing sides.

Jacob was in the zone. The drills energized him more than they should have. The whole day had made him tense. It didn’t help that the pill was taking effect. His team was getting into position. Out of the heaviest guys he could find he made his defense line. He wouldn’t allow anything to get through. On the other side of the line was Trevor. Jacob wouldn’t call Trevor a friend, but he used to respect the center player. Not today. Today, Trevor stood in the way of Jacob. Today, Trevor was Jacob’s enemy. That wasn’t something he showed clearly, though. He was just pacing up and down his defensive line, never taking his eyes off the redhead. Internally, Jacob was very much seething.

Trevor had the ball gripped in his hands and was squatting down in position. With his knees bent, he chucked the pigskin back to Dean — who was playing the part of the quarterback on his mock team. Now that the ball was passed to Dean, the play was beginning. Trev had to move forward and try to push through the opposing side’s defensive line. He usually played center, so this play should have been a walk in the park, but today wasn’t a usual day. Today, Trevor was a little distracted as he attempted to run through the line… distracted by a flash of red that he saw out of the corner of his eye, sitting up in the bleachers.

And that was a mistake. Jacob did not join his tanks in the center line wrestle. Not when he saw the ball passed back to Trevor. He waited right until Trevor could squeeze himself through the line. Jacob, shot off like an arrow. Crossing the distance in three steps that were more like jumps. Building his momentum like a bull, he slammed into Trevor. But this wouldn’t be just a tackle. No, the moment Jacob walked onto the field, he vowed he’d clear things up. He’d show Trevor who would be captain, who would be the star of the season. So, with all his power, he didn’t just tackle Trevor, he lifted him up, and then he slammed him into the ground with all his might and weight upon him.

In an instant, everything went static. Trevor watched as the ground and sky shifted places outside of his helmet before he actually felt the impact of what had happened. A goddamn train just hit him, that was what had happened. There was no other explanation, it must have been a train, because no one would tackle that hard in tryouts. After the initial collision, there was a second, harder impact — that of Trevor’s head meeting the turf. Trev thanked God that he was wearing a helmet, but even still, his mind went fuzzy, and he had to blink a few times to clear his vision. Grunting, he struggled to sit up under the weight of the other person.

That other man was already getting up, but Trevor pushed at him to get get rid of the extra weight more quickly. Trev was pissed, and sore, and that was totally uncalled for in what wasn’t even a real game. For all he knew, he might actually have a concussion, because he certainly didn’t feel right. After a few more vision-clearing blinks, Trev’s gaze was met with the another’s. Jacob. His usually blue eyes were blown wide and black with dilated pupils, but Trevor was too out of it to notice anything other than who it was. He was fuming. “What the hell, man? What is wrong with you today?!” Trevor barked angrily and got up to his feet as the two of them were still surrounded by other players.

Jacob rolled off of Trevor halfway as he was getting up. The linebacker then shot up immediately, looking Trevor straight in the face. Hate burned inside of him, fueled with every word the redhead spoke. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with him!? “Me!? I’ll tell you what’s wrong with me! You!” Jacob said with pure malice. Quickly getting closer again to Trevor. “You and the idea that you can ge captain. Stay down you pussy! Unless you want to be carried off the field!” Normally Jacob wouldn’t use those words. Not to a team member. Not to someone as valuable as Trevor. The adrenaline in his system made him take it all out against his immediate foe. His fingers were twitching as he moved even closer against Trevor. Pushing helmet against helmet, he spoke again. “Give up now and keep yourself in one piece. So you can still run into your journalist’s arms.” Jacob said much quieter. This wasn’t meant to public challenge. It was a personal threat.

Their helmets clacked together as Jacob advanced. He was being incredibly aggressive, this wasn’t like him. Jay wasn’t the best guy in the world, but he was usually a team player, at the very least. This was ugly, and the things he was saying and doing were triggering Trevor’s last nerve — especially with what he had said to Savannah earlier. Trev pressed his hands firmly against Jacob’s chest and shoved him back with perhaps more force than was necessary. “Keep her out of this. You got a problem with me? Fine. Take it up with me, and only me. You want captain, but this is NOT how a captain acts. Where’s your respect? Your teamwork? Huh?”

Jacob had to take a few more steps back than he thought he would have, which made him smile internally. He could see it in his eyes now — a fire he could recognize — but Jacob wasn’t about to be intimidated. “My respect? My teamwork? Is this what you think we are, right now?” Jacob shot back as he walked back up towards Trevor. “Let’s get this straight, we aren’t a team right now. It’s you against me.” He grabbed Trevor’s by the chest of his shoulder pads and pulled him in close. The grills of their helmets clacking from the collision as Jacob was very much getting in Trevor’s face. “Maybe if I made her a little less pretty you would actually focus on this match.” That wasn’t just a threat against Trevor. It was not something Jacob would say at all. Not ever. But he said it, and he knew why he said it.

Trevor saw red. Redder than his hair, as red as blood itself, that’s the shade that he saw. Jacob did not just go there. Totally blanking out on the fact that they were still on school grounds, surrounded by other players and even Coach himself, Trevor acted on instinct and rage alone. Trev hooked his fingers into the grill of Jacob’s helmet and yanked him close. “Not on my watch, you fucking won’t,” he growled out the words before throwing Jacob back with all of his strength — which was a formidable amount. He watched as Jay fell backwards without remorse. “You stay down.” Trev mimicked Jacob’s word, albeit paraphrased, but with an equal amount of seething anger.

Everything was going exactly according to plan. Of course, he didn’t anticipate Trevor would get this angry over a girl he wasn’t even dating yet, but that wasn’t a set back. If anything, this was just more leverage for the future. Jacob wasn’t about to just lay down for Trevor. Thanks to Trevor’s hard shove, he was now a bit further away from the whole group. He kicked himself up quickly, unclasped his helmet, and threw the thing off to the ground next to him. “I’m right here, Trevor.” He said as he gazed over his shoulder. The faint dot of red behind him was enough as his eyes switched back to Trevor. Would he see her, sitting on the bleachers behind him? They were far away, but how could he miss her? He saw her sitting while he squeezed himself through a defensive line. “How much does she mean to you?” There was no smile on Jacob’s face as he slowly walked backwards, towards the seats where Savannah sat.

He had to force Trevor into a charge. He had to get hit first. But deep inside, something was gnawing at Jacob. The anger inside could not take to be hit another time by the ginger. It demanded to charge first, to slam Trevor against the ground, rip off his helmet, and beat him until there was blood. Yet Jacob remained stone cold. He would not let his anger win out now. The gesture was obvious though. It was more than a taunt or a challenge for dominance. His eyes focusing on Trevor and Trevor alone. Knowing very well that in the eyes of others, he looked like he was just walking away. For Trevor though, he would clearly be walking towards something.

Not one to be outdone in the heat of the moment, Trev unclipped his own helmet and threw it to the ground. Jacob wanted a challenge, it seemed, and Trevor was just lathered up enough to give it to him. He wasn’t so blinded by rage that he would take a shot at the blond’s face, he knew that that would spell out grounds for suspension, let alone being kicked off the team. That said, he had to do something. Jacob was out of line and completely unchained. “That doesn’t matter, it’s not what this is about. Clearly.” Trevor replied roughly before charging at the other man.

The two met like clashing titans. With a sound that rivalled thunder itself, they both hit the turf. Strong arms wrestled and grappled at each other, struggling for dominance. Amidst the skirmish, there were definitely a few sneaky shots to the face and ribs, but nothing with a whole lot of power. Not yet. Trevor slipped up and Jacob got the upper hand — literally, he was straddling above Trevor with his fist raised. There was a sharp whistle that pierced through the wind, halting Jacob’s forward motion and saving Trevor’s cheekbones from a pounding.

Coach.

Oh shit, this was bad. Really bad. Trevor’s mind went into panic mode in almost an instant. His thoughts were silenced by a very irked Coach Moss. “What the hell is going on here? I already lost one valuable player today, I ain’t about to lose two more. Get up, get over yourselves, and get to running. Twenty laps says this little scuffle never happened, got it?”

“Yes, Coach. Sorry.” Trevor replied quickly, keeping his head low in shame. Jesus… twenty laps… that was going to kill him. It was going to kill both of them.

Jamie had been mulling over Trixie’s words all day long, trying to figure out how to deal with the situation with Riley, but also the job she had waiting for him. He’d concluded that the rumors about him and Riley would naturally fizzle out, as rumors generally did. In all honesty, most rumors only held power if there was someone with credibility sponsoring them, and seeing as how he couldn’t seem to find anyone who was, he decided not to stress too much. That problem could be moved to the back burner for now.

Now all that was left for Jamie to deal with was the matter of Trixie’s oh so important job, and perhaps explaining away the Riley drama, if she still had her talons in that one. Once the bell rang signalling the end of the school day, Jamie made a beeline for the newspaper room, stopping to shove some books in his locker before marching over to see Trixie.

The newspaper room smelled like ink and stress, an aroma that Jamie had become used to over the years. Truly, it was an almost comforting smell. High school was a war zone, especially BHHS, but for Jamie, the newspaper room was his realm of control, where he was mostly safe. This was home base.

When he walked in, Trixie was setting up for the meeting at her desk. They had another fifteen minutes before people would actually show up. Just enough time for a chat. ”Trixie, my favorite editor in chief. What’s this secret job you need my help with,” he asked, setting his bag down at his desk.

For the time being, Trixie’s mind was not thinking about what she wanted Jamie to help her with. Her eyes didn’t look away from her papers, one was a printout of the Weekend Warrior post. Moments before Jamie made his entrance, she had talked to their teacher supervisor, the one that essentially was responsible for the School Newspaper Club, but really, at BHHS the students were given full reigns. They simply needed a teacher’s signature on the club application, along with five students joining, before submitting it to student council. Their teacher was Ms. Miley Aspen (sister to that famous voice actor, Rhett Aspen, and dance choreographer, Summer Snyder), who taught AP English Literature, AP English Language, and Journalism, as an elective.

Essentially, Ms. Aspen was not happy about the WW post, slandering students, particularly Damian and Henry. She was never a fan of this gossip blog - and neither was Trixie. Trixie almost lost her position when she destroyed Owen’s reputation on the Black and Orange, but instead, due to favoritism, Trixie simply had a weeks detention and some community service to do. “Everyday, we lose credibility, Jamie. It’s hard to keep the written word alive when you have this stupid blog.”

Like she’s done plenty times before, Trixie color coded the paper with highlighters of every possible color someone could think of. No one besides her really knew what the colors meant, but they were her way of analyzing whatever she was reading. To say she was frustrated was an understatement. She had been so caught up with her own emotions and personal issues that she was neglecting the newspaper, so the last issue was complete garbage. Weak, with stories nobody cared about. “We need exposure and…” Finally, she looked up from her papers and tapped the pink highlighter in her hand, all the while locking eyes with her personal favorite club member, though she would never say that outloud, “We need to take down our competition.”

Jamie nodded and crossed his arms, slowly bridging the gap between the two journalists and taking the paper from her hands. ”You’re right. One small problem with our competition: we have no clue who they are. The Warrior’s been pretty great about keeping their identity a secret, trust me I’ve tried. Whoever it is does a very good job of keeping their identity secret. All that I can get from the blog is that they’re someone who was at the party, and someone who’s got beef with us and the Elite. Which does just about nothing to narrow it down,” Jamie said. Say what you will about Trixie, Jamie respected her. She played a good game, and she was wicked smart. When they worked together, they worked well. It would suck to take her down.

“Beef with us, or just the whole school in general? Like what we are.” Putting her highlighter down, Trixie grabbed the sheet back, rather feistily, stood up, and read lines out loud, “Welcome back all you loyal lovers of honesty, integrity, and the unbiased source of all things excess and depravity...”

She paused and shook her head, grumbling, “Whoever, or whomever, does write this is one hell of a good writer. They use words like that to make their audience think their agenda is good. A political statement. Telling us the truth and nothing but the truth, but really?” This was the most biased piece of shit she’s ever read. She cleared her throat and continued, skipping a line or two, “...so when word got out that no one’s favorite group of trust fundees, drama queens, and spoiled silver spooners… words, words, words... you are nothing more than a pawn in some stupid game of chess put on by those who put themselves at the top….etc, etc.”

Sitting on a desk near Jamie’s seat, she rolled her eyes and grimaced, “It’s obvious these people have a personal vendetta against ‘us’. The majority. Just because most of their popular articles are about us, who are known names at this school, doesn't mean they solely care about ‘Damian’ or ‘Henry’ or ‘Hails’. It’s funny though.” Trixie smiled to herself, placing the paper to her side, “They’re not helping their cause. If anything, they just made Hailey’s day. It’s pretty interesting how paparazzi and celebrity media works out like that. Good or bad rep, these people stay in the limelight. All this did was add fire to the fuel. No solution, just more problems.” Trixie’s words were not that of the T in HOT. Her eyes were genuine and everything she said, was like freshmen year all over again, when she didn’t care about popularity, when she actually cared about taking care of the school, taking care of herself, following the beat to her own drum, “If only the writers knew the people they slandered.” and in a quiet whisper, Trixie spoke to herself, _{“They’re helping the wrong team.”}

Jamie nodded, chewing on his lip as he pondered Trixie’s words. What could they do about the Warrior? ”So then maybe the whole school has beef with them. Which means that if we can figure out who it is, we can get the school to take them down for us, just with a simple leak. The problem is, where do we start?” Jamie didn’t love the idea of going after the Warrior. Sure, he wanted them gone, but he’d seen the power they had. One wrong move and he could end up on the wrong side of their blog. He didn’t envy that position.

“I could say let’s ask questions, but that could get us noticed… and without any leads, we’d be asking the whole damn school. A waste of time. What we could do though, is give them a story they can’t resist. But we’ll discuss this off school grounds. Another time, another date.” Hopping off of the desk, she turned on her heel and gave him her oh so inviting smile, “Which reminds me. What I actually want to tell you. But first, I need you to promise me you won’t tell anyone else. Not Hailey. Not Ophelia. Not Marshall.”

Jamie rolled his eyes. ”And why, would I tell Marshall?” the blonde asked, clearly fishing to see what Trixie knew. How could she have figured anything out from just their interactions this morning? Were they that obvious? He wanted to believe otherwise, but that meant rumors were flying, rumors about him and Marshall. That wouldn’t do.

“Why are you getting so defensive?” Trixie raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. “We both know he has a big mouth, but also with the matter I want to address, he wouldn’t be keen on it. And you two seem close so I just assumed he was someone you’d go to. For advice or whatever.” Shrugging to herself, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, “Unless there is something more?” Did she trigger him by saying her candy boy’s name? Or was he just grumpy today?

Jamie sighed. Did he trust Trixie? Hardly. But, he needed her to trust him. And he knew very well that she needed him for the time being. So maybe, this was one person he could spill things to. ”Me and Marshall...look I had a thing for Marshall but he...has other boys in mind I guess. It’s nothing though, what’s this top secret mission?” Jamie said, making sure to keep the attention from sticking to him and his story. He’d trusted her with the minor details, hopefully nothing that could bite him in the ass.

Pouting at his reveal, Trixie stood silent and softened her demeanor. Marshall was around her a lot. Who was he into that was more than himself? If there was one thing she knew of Marsh, that boy had super high standards. Fantastical and unrealistic. He needed someone to bring him down to Earth. Either way, it was time for her to get straight to business. It was only fair. He told her something personal. Now it was her turn. “The past couple of days I’ve done a lot of thinking.” Gesturing for him to follow her, she went to her desk and grabbed a manila envelope, handing it to him, “I need closure, Jamie.” It took her a couple of months to admit her weakness, but here she was, ready to face her reality.

The sun may have been streaming in and everything around them besides the white paper and the black ink were of a warm color palette, but her mind was clouded with grey. Her facial expression saddened at every moment she kept thinking about him, “In the envelope are the pictures that caused me to… act out. Along with a letter, from me, that I’d like you to read later. I need answers. I need to know more. I need the truth. I honestly have no one to turn to and I’m tired of… crying? I think the only way I can move on is if I know more, even if I have no doubt it’s going to hurt like a bitch. But the people involved, I can’t ask them the questions I want. Everyone would say I’m stupid. Why do I still care about a guy that fucked this blonde chick? I first was curious about why. Why her? Was I not good enough? Who is she? But then I realized, I don’t care who the girl is. I care about why everything happened so suddenly. He isn’t only to blame. I shouldn’t have reacted like I did.”

Pausing to catch her breath, she locked her gaze with her friend’s, “I know him, Jamie. And now that all the blood rage is gone, I can’t help but think something isn’t right. I guess, I’m asking you to help me find out more… I’d say Ophelia and Owen would be your two best bets. I don’t know what else to do and I’m going to be completely honest with you. I’m actually scared. More than anyone can imagine.” If this bit her in the ass, she deserved it. She was tired of this game. She just wanted to be happy.

Jamie was surprised by the magnitude of this job. Finding out what went wrong with one of the major couples at BHHS? Now that would take some major sleuthing. ”I’ll look into it Trix. I can’t promise how soon, but I’ll do my best,” Jamie assured his friend/rival. His voice had taken on a softness that was rarely seen by those at school. He felt bad for what happened to Trixie, no one deserved that. He couldn’t necessarily just go talk to Owen and Ophelia and ask them if they’d like to share anything about the breakup, but he might be able to glean some info from Sel. Or Marshall. Fuck. Marshall would’ve been helpful here. He’d just have to make do.

“You’re a good friend, Jamie.” Trixie, although she was known for having a natural ‘bitch face’, had a smile that transformed her spiked shield that came across as near menacing into a welcoming opened door that led to a secret garden. How she went about things were odd, mysterious even, but everything she did had complete intention.

Her body perked when she heard students approaching. Turning away, she strolled toward the board. Even so, she wasn’t done yet. Suddenly, she swiftly pivoted back to face her friend once more, to give him a preview of what’s to come and something to mull over, “Oh and one last thing. I’m well aware this private project of yours is massive, but…” She paused as the left side of her plump lips tugged upwards, creating a challenging, yet impish, smirk. “It would be one hell of a story depending on what you uncover. Using yours truly as a primary source.”

And then the bad news came.

“We need to make one of our issues before graduation BIG or the newspaper club will be forced to shut down. Ms. Aspen is having a hard time convincing the principal that printed journalism isn’t a dying career pursuit, since now there’s sites that host blogs like ‘The Weekend Warrior’. Regardless of its lack of credibility, it still gains way more attraction than our paper.”

She laughed at such arrogance, “Thank you, internet. There’s a reason I’ve been doing more work with Riley’s club. It’s my backup plan to move school news to tv… Riley’s show is more comedy than anything.” And that would be a bitch to turn ‘serious’, since news wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies. The latina shook her head in annoyance. It was obvious she preferred ink and paper.

“Of course, I’m not going to tell anyone that, for the sake of morale, but I will be setting a competition this semester.” She sighed.

“Along with doing your usual duties for each month’s issues, you all will be tasked on making a front page story for our final paper. HOWEVER, if you guys uncover your story sooner, the better off we’ll be. We can debut the story in that month’s issue and I can talk to the higher ups, having physical proof on why the paper should stay alive. I don’t believe in using Hailey’s help, or the power of our parents’ finances. This club means a lot to me and I don’t want to take the easy way out, because it would diminish what we’ve built and what journalism truly stands for.” Though, she’d always have that one regret. A regret with a name: The Cowardly Lyon.

Nodding to herself, she turned back to the board and started writing a question in cursive: What kind of stories make the front page? Stopping at the last s in ‘stories’, she told Jamie one final thing before club members would start piling in, “If you win, Jamie. I will forfeit my position and give you everything.”

Jamie smirked and cocked his head. ”I’ll give you one thing Trix. You sure know how to give a guy incentive.”