Title: Broken Melody
Description: A Fic about High School
Description: A Fic about High School
Cat - June 23, 2005 06:13 PM (GMT)
Disclaimer: I do not own or know any of the famous poeple I have used as characters in this story. All the girls I am about to list as the cast are based on the wonderful people who answered my cast-call and gave me their information ^_^ Thanks again! Also, I've never been to Santa Monica so please don't take offense if I mess some (or all) of its geography up. Let's just pretend this is some kind of alternate Santa Monica that was made up from the depths of my mind and I just basically commandeered the name. Savvy? :) Oh, and please don't steal my ideas/plot, which you know isn't the most AMAZING thing in the world, so I don't know why you'd want to steal it in the first place, but it still is mine so yes ^_^
Rating: PG-13, possibly a little higher for language. I'll warn you guys about that at the beginning of the chapter.
The Cast
The Girls:
Kassidy (Kass) Millani Hillard - Nefduliniel
Julianna (Jules) Larson - ~Jewelz~
Evelyn (Evie) Summers - Airefeaiel
Lily Evans - Jaime Girl
Alexandria (Lexi) Morgan - 4everElijah
Jasmine (Jazz) Rose - .Jazz.
Sarah (Sary) Kremblewski - SaryWary
Morgan (Mo) Philips - Blondie
Ronda (Ronnie) Lou Collins - Ayngil
Candace (Ace) Richardson - Just Peachy
The Guys:
Dominic (Dom) Monaghan
Elijah (Lij, Elwood) Wood
Hugh Dancy
Benjamin (Ben) McKenzie
Johnny Depp
Orlando (Orli, Lando) Bloom
Billie Joe Armstrong
Ryan Gosling
Joaquin Phoenix
Viggo Mortensen
Ewan McGregor
Michael Rosenbaum
Jude Law
Begins: The day before Senior Year, 2005.
And so... Once upon an imagination...
Chapter 1: Introducing...
Evelyn, the most sought after and beautiful girl at Santa Monica High, was not in a good mood. In fact, she was in a very very bad mood and it wasn’t likely to get any better. Her boyfriend of seven months, Hugh Dancy, had just arrived twenty minutes later than their agreed time. During that time she’d sat on a bench by the mall fountain waiting for him. The whole time she’d felt like one of those loser girls who were always ditched by their boyfriend. Plus ‘Happy Birthday’ was stuck in her head thanks to her little brother Kyle’s birthday party with all his tiny dorky friends. The combination of looking like an outcast and having such an annoying song stuck in ones head is enough to put anyone in the worst of moods. Most of the time she pretended her brother didn’t exist; it made things easier on her nerves and social status, but today was one of those days when she was forced to admit she wasn’t an only child.
“Babe,” Hugh slung his arm around her waist, “I didn’t know you’d be so pissed. Let’s go look at some Seven jeans... And maybe share a change room.” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Instead of this making her feel better, as the prospect of shopping and fooling around usually would, Evelyn’s mood darkened even more. During the summer break she’d put on weight, so much so that she couldn’t fit into her size four jeans! She’d had to resort to wearing sweat pants until a trainer could be called to help her lose the access weight. Only, her mother and father refused to call one. When Evelyn had told them of her devastating weight-gain their general response was ‘You have five credit cards, buy yourself some bigger clothes.’ As though being a size six was acceptable! No, her parents just didn’t understand. All they cared about was school and grades. She had a 98% average and they were demanding what had happened with the other two percent!! Um, hello, Evelyn had thought, it’s called being human with a social life!
“I’m not in the mood,” she said, with a casual toss of her long, thick black hair. She formed her lips into a pretty, little pout hoping he’d ask her what was wrong, so that she’d have someone to vent to. Not that she was going to tell him about her almost-size-six dilemma. She wasn’t about to tell anyone that.
“I know that face. I’ll buy you an ice cream and then you can tell me all about it, okay?” Hugh said sweetly, hugging her close to him.
Evelyn hid a smile. Yes! She would tell him an abbreviated version, so he wouldn’t get bored, and then he’d focus on making her feel better...
“Okay...” Evelyn said in a tiny baby-like voice, as Hugh steered her towards the Baskin-Robbins. She always got what she wanted.
~*~
“What do you mean you’re cutting me off?!” Kassidy fumed at her best guy friend and daily coffee server, Dom Monaghan. “You can’t cut me off!”
“You’ve had four cups!! Each with espresso shots in them! Kass, you’re going to have a coffee overload!” He wailed at her over the counter, his blue eyes wide and determined.
“I don’t care! I need more!” Kass reached out to grab his shirt front, but he dodged back.
“Look I know you’re upset...”
“I’m not upset!!”
“... but returning to school won’t be that bad!”
Kass let out a sarcastic bark of laughter that caused a lock of her red curly hair to fall into her eyes. She brushed it back impatiently. “Of course it will be that bad! Have you not attended the same school as me all these years!? Or have you just not noticed all of the idiots in our grade?” She caught her breath. “Now give me coffee!”
“No,” Dom replied calmly with a little smile on his face, telling Kass that clearly he was enjoying himself. “It’s our last year Kass and it’ll be our best.”
“You mean our worst,” she said making a face. “What’s with you this morning? You’re being disgustingly optimistic.”
Dom smiled mysteriously. “No reason...” he said in an offhanded way that told her he wanted her to ask him more.
“I’ll ask you about it... if you give me coffee!” she said, not giving up.
Dom’s eyes strayed to the entrance of the coffee house behind her. “There’s a customer. I’ll tell you about it later. Why don’t you be a normal girl for once and go down to the beach, for the one and only purpose of perving on hot guys?” Dom suggested in a low voice, so the customer couldn’t hear. He loved Kass’s company, but he cared about her too much to let her waste her last day of freedom in an almost-deserted coffee shop with him.
“Maybe because then I would have to shoot myself,” she replied tartly, miming putting a gun to her head. Secretly, Kass liked the beach... for more reasons than the shirtless males. She found it peaceful to sit and watch the waves. The beach was always where she got the best ideas for her stories. But her fear of running into anyone from her highschool kept her in the coffee shop with Dom most days... well, that and the fact that she had a major crush on him. Not that she’d admit that to herself.
Dom rolled his eyes, “Well I’m not serving you anymore coffee, so you might as well find something to do... Can I help you?” He asked turning his attention to the customer who had finally approached the cashier.
Kass stepped away towards the door in defeat. She eyed the customer as she went. He was tall and skinny but with a hint of muscles showing through his business shirt. His hair was fashionably long, the tips just hanging above his shoulders. His face was young and smiling. Kass guessed him to be about twenty-five. He’d make a great protagonist for one of her mediaeval times stories. A plot began to form in her head and she knew she had to write it down quickly, incase she forgot it. Before exiting she turned and flipped Dom off jokingly. He smiled and mouthed ‘You too’ at her, as he set about preparing the man’s coffee.
~*~
Lexi Morgan had just lost spectacularly at Alien Invasion Pinball at the only arcade in Santa Monica. She was glad it was considered social suicide to step foot into the arcade, otherwise someone might have seen that sorry display. She wouldn’t have even come here, but she felt she needed a break from her preppy cheerleader self. What better way then to dive into the awesome video-arcade culture, home to the nerds and geeks of Santa Monica High.
“What the hell is Lexi Morgan, the cheerleader, doing here?” A voice behind Lexi whispered vehemently, not intending for her to hear.
“Because...” Lexi span around to flash back a witty comment to the person, but lost her voice when her eyes fell upon one gorgeous male. Adorable messy dark brown hair with natural highlights from the sun, a grin like no other lit up impossibly blue eyes. If there was one feature that Lexi had a weakness for, it was blue eyes. “B-because... I ... I felt like coming...?” she finished lamely and wanted to fall through the floor at his reaction. He was looking at her as though she was the most ditzy girl in the world, and at that moment, she didn’t blame him.
She knew this guy, his name was Elijah... Bark? ... Tree? Something along those lines anyway. He was in her tenth grade math class the year before and she’d cheated off him on a few occasions. She didn’t remember him as the hot sex-god like man that was standing in front of her. How had he gone from Not to Hot(!) in such a short time? Elijah began to turn away and Lexi panicked. She had to spend more time with him! Hell, if she got her way, at the end of the day they’d both be at the beach making out as the sun went down... and he’d profess his love to her...
“Youu whoo? Anybody home? Lexi!”
Crash! Hello planet reality. Elijah was gone; she’d blown her moment. “What?” Lexi snapped, shooting a small glare at her cousin Jasmine before turning back to Alien Invasion. She’d made Jazz come with her. Her cousin had this amazing quality of making Lexi feel human instead of a shopaholic my-life-are-my-designer-shoes brainwashed chick, like some kind of Evelyn Summers clone. At first, Jazz had been reluctant to come, but when Lexi mentioned that Billie Joe Armstrong often haunted the arcade, she’d quickly changed her mind.
“When are you two going out?” Jazz asked with a sly nod at Elijah’s back and a grin for Lexi.
A mischievous smile lit Lexi’s lips. “As soon as he realizes he’s in love with me.”
~*~
“You’ll never guess who I ran into at the arcade,” Elijah said, later that day to his best friend, Lily Evans.
“Mark Hamill?” Lily guessed sarcastically, not looking at him.
“Lexi Morgan.”
Lily gave a very dramatic, very fake, gasp. “And this is a big deal because...”
“She’s a cheerleader!” Elijah exclaimed in utter disgust. “Their kind don’t belong at the arcade! I’m seriously considering that her body might be host to an alien.”
Lily rolled her eyes at him and laughed. He was lying on her bed, reading comic books as she sat in front of her vanity mirror, trying to fix her red hair so that it looked perfect. Tonight, she was going to end her summer with a blast. She’d spent all of her summer days trying to get the sexiest guy alive (in her opinion) to ask her out, to kiss her, to do something that wasn’t strictly platonic. Tonight, Johnny Depp wouldn’t see her as a fun co-worker; he’d see Lily Evans, eccentric party girl.
At the beginning of the summer Lily’s father and mother had bonded together in an annoying parent-alliance, as they were sometimes prone to do, and told her that she was to get a summer job so she could get some work-ethic. As if, who needed work-ethic when they had a seven-digit trust fund? But Lily had complied and gotten a job at the local café, which put on artistic performances each week. She’d seen all sorts of raw talent punching out a jazz tune or reciting poetry. But the major bonus had been meeting Johnny. He was so refreshing to be around; so not like all the other jock-or-not guys at Santa Monica High. He was a year older than her, but had decided to forgo university for a year so he could find himself. And as an added bonus, he was sexy as hell.
She twisted her hair on top of her head and then scrutinized it. It made her emerald green eyes stand out, but she didn’t feel the confidence that she wanted. She didn’t see the ‘Wow’ girl she wanted to see.
She undid it and thought over a different style. “How many times have you done your hair already?” Elijah asked innocently, but Lily wasn’t fooled. She knew that Elijah was waiting for her answer so he could tease her. She and Elijah had known each other since the first day of elementary school, which had been the same day he’d moved into the mansion-sized house next to hers. Consequently, they could read one another like a favourite book.
“Just about as many times as you’ve read Spider-man issue 188,” she smirked at him through the mirror.
“That just makes us both pathetic,” he retorted, childishly sticking his tongue out at her. “Anyway, let’s focus on my problem before I advise you on your hair.”
“And why exactly would I want you to ‘advise’ me?”
“Because I read Anime. No one has better hairstyles than the girls in Anime comics,” Elijah told her with a smug look. “Now, this Lexi Morgan business is a serious problem. What if Evelyn Summers starts hanging out at the arcade next? What will I do?”
Lily snorted with laughter, imagining the most bitchy and preppy girl in the school playing video games next to the most notorious geeks in Santa Monica. “It won’t ever happen,” she said, amused. “Orlando Bloom will start hanging out there before she does.”
“You think Bloom will hang out there!?” Elijah panicked.
“No! I was trying – ”
He cut off her explanation as he scrambled off the bed and started pacing, his foot steps muffled by her lush red carpet. “Perfect, just perfect. He’s going to come in and strut his stuff, and then after he’s had his fun playing in OUR arcade he’s going to pummel us!”
“‘Strut his stuff’?” Lily laughed, but quickly stopped when Elijah threw her a dirty look. “Sorry. Look, you’ve been taking that Gobu judo crap all summer...”
“Goju Budo,” Elijah corrected impatiently.
“That’s what I said. Anyway, you could defend yourself and what I meant earlier, before you had a total nervy spazz, is that it is entirely unlikely for Orlando to start hanging out there.”
“Therefore...”
“Therefore, Evelyn Summers is not about to waste hours that could be spent shopping or cheering, or whatever it is that those girls do, in an arcade.”
“Promise?” He persisted.
She restrained herself from rolling her eyes, placed one hand on her heart and held the other up, palm forward, in the air. “Promise.”
“Alright,” Elijah agreed, finally satisfied. He picked up on of his comic books that lay strewn across her bed and threw it at her. “Page 137. No need to thank me.”
“Right,” Lily responded sarcastically, flipping to the page. She looked at the largely imprinted Anime girl. “I can’t do this! I’d need five bottles of gel!” She turned and glared at Elijah who was chuckling at her.
“You didn’t seriously think that I would know about that hair style shit, did you? Just leave it down, with that weird curly thing. It looks best that way.”
“Such a help,” she mumbled.
“What are best friends for?”
Hope you guys liked it :) Don't worry if you weren't introduce in this chapter, the rest of the introductions are in the second chappie :)
Rating: PG-13, possibly a little higher for language. I'll warn you guys about that at the beginning of the chapter.
The Cast
The Girls:
Kassidy (Kass) Millani Hillard - Nefduliniel
Julianna (Jules) Larson - ~Jewelz~
Evelyn (Evie) Summers - Airefeaiel
Lily Evans - Jaime Girl
Alexandria (Lexi) Morgan - 4everElijah
Jasmine (Jazz) Rose - .Jazz.
Sarah (Sary) Kremblewski - SaryWary
Morgan (Mo) Philips - Blondie
Ronda (Ronnie) Lou Collins - Ayngil
Candace (Ace) Richardson - Just Peachy
The Guys:
Dominic (Dom) Monaghan
Elijah (Lij, Elwood) Wood
Hugh Dancy
Benjamin (Ben) McKenzie
Johnny Depp
Orlando (Orli, Lando) Bloom
Billie Joe Armstrong
Ryan Gosling
Joaquin Phoenix
Viggo Mortensen
Ewan McGregor
Michael Rosenbaum
Jude Law
Begins: The day before Senior Year, 2005.
And so... Once upon an imagination...
Chapter 1: Introducing...
Evelyn, the most sought after and beautiful girl at Santa Monica High, was not in a good mood. In fact, she was in a very very bad mood and it wasn’t likely to get any better. Her boyfriend of seven months, Hugh Dancy, had just arrived twenty minutes later than their agreed time. During that time she’d sat on a bench by the mall fountain waiting for him. The whole time she’d felt like one of those loser girls who were always ditched by their boyfriend. Plus ‘Happy Birthday’ was stuck in her head thanks to her little brother Kyle’s birthday party with all his tiny dorky friends. The combination of looking like an outcast and having such an annoying song stuck in ones head is enough to put anyone in the worst of moods. Most of the time she pretended her brother didn’t exist; it made things easier on her nerves and social status, but today was one of those days when she was forced to admit she wasn’t an only child.
“Babe,” Hugh slung his arm around her waist, “I didn’t know you’d be so pissed. Let’s go look at some Seven jeans... And maybe share a change room.” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Instead of this making her feel better, as the prospect of shopping and fooling around usually would, Evelyn’s mood darkened even more. During the summer break she’d put on weight, so much so that she couldn’t fit into her size four jeans! She’d had to resort to wearing sweat pants until a trainer could be called to help her lose the access weight. Only, her mother and father refused to call one. When Evelyn had told them of her devastating weight-gain their general response was ‘You have five credit cards, buy yourself some bigger clothes.’ As though being a size six was acceptable! No, her parents just didn’t understand. All they cared about was school and grades. She had a 98% average and they were demanding what had happened with the other two percent!! Um, hello, Evelyn had thought, it’s called being human with a social life!
“I’m not in the mood,” she said, with a casual toss of her long, thick black hair. She formed her lips into a pretty, little pout hoping he’d ask her what was wrong, so that she’d have someone to vent to. Not that she was going to tell him about her almost-size-six dilemma. She wasn’t about to tell anyone that.
“I know that face. I’ll buy you an ice cream and then you can tell me all about it, okay?” Hugh said sweetly, hugging her close to him.
Evelyn hid a smile. Yes! She would tell him an abbreviated version, so he wouldn’t get bored, and then he’d focus on making her feel better...
“Okay...” Evelyn said in a tiny baby-like voice, as Hugh steered her towards the Baskin-Robbins. She always got what she wanted.
~*~
“What do you mean you’re cutting me off?!” Kassidy fumed at her best guy friend and daily coffee server, Dom Monaghan. “You can’t cut me off!”
“You’ve had four cups!! Each with espresso shots in them! Kass, you’re going to have a coffee overload!” He wailed at her over the counter, his blue eyes wide and determined.
“I don’t care! I need more!” Kass reached out to grab his shirt front, but he dodged back.
“Look I know you’re upset...”
“I’m not upset!!”
“... but returning to school won’t be that bad!”
Kass let out a sarcastic bark of laughter that caused a lock of her red curly hair to fall into her eyes. She brushed it back impatiently. “Of course it will be that bad! Have you not attended the same school as me all these years!? Or have you just not noticed all of the idiots in our grade?” She caught her breath. “Now give me coffee!”
“No,” Dom replied calmly with a little smile on his face, telling Kass that clearly he was enjoying himself. “It’s our last year Kass and it’ll be our best.”
“You mean our worst,” she said making a face. “What’s with you this morning? You’re being disgustingly optimistic.”
Dom smiled mysteriously. “No reason...” he said in an offhanded way that told her he wanted her to ask him more.
“I’ll ask you about it... if you give me coffee!” she said, not giving up.
Dom’s eyes strayed to the entrance of the coffee house behind her. “There’s a customer. I’ll tell you about it later. Why don’t you be a normal girl for once and go down to the beach, for the one and only purpose of perving on hot guys?” Dom suggested in a low voice, so the customer couldn’t hear. He loved Kass’s company, but he cared about her too much to let her waste her last day of freedom in an almost-deserted coffee shop with him.
“Maybe because then I would have to shoot myself,” she replied tartly, miming putting a gun to her head. Secretly, Kass liked the beach... for more reasons than the shirtless males. She found it peaceful to sit and watch the waves. The beach was always where she got the best ideas for her stories. But her fear of running into anyone from her highschool kept her in the coffee shop with Dom most days... well, that and the fact that she had a major crush on him. Not that she’d admit that to herself.
Dom rolled his eyes, “Well I’m not serving you anymore coffee, so you might as well find something to do... Can I help you?” He asked turning his attention to the customer who had finally approached the cashier.
Kass stepped away towards the door in defeat. She eyed the customer as she went. He was tall and skinny but with a hint of muscles showing through his business shirt. His hair was fashionably long, the tips just hanging above his shoulders. His face was young and smiling. Kass guessed him to be about twenty-five. He’d make a great protagonist for one of her mediaeval times stories. A plot began to form in her head and she knew she had to write it down quickly, incase she forgot it. Before exiting she turned and flipped Dom off jokingly. He smiled and mouthed ‘You too’ at her, as he set about preparing the man’s coffee.
~*~
Lexi Morgan had just lost spectacularly at Alien Invasion Pinball at the only arcade in Santa Monica. She was glad it was considered social suicide to step foot into the arcade, otherwise someone might have seen that sorry display. She wouldn’t have even come here, but she felt she needed a break from her preppy cheerleader self. What better way then to dive into the awesome video-arcade culture, home to the nerds and geeks of Santa Monica High.
“What the hell is Lexi Morgan, the cheerleader, doing here?” A voice behind Lexi whispered vehemently, not intending for her to hear.
“Because...” Lexi span around to flash back a witty comment to the person, but lost her voice when her eyes fell upon one gorgeous male. Adorable messy dark brown hair with natural highlights from the sun, a grin like no other lit up impossibly blue eyes. If there was one feature that Lexi had a weakness for, it was blue eyes. “B-because... I ... I felt like coming...?” she finished lamely and wanted to fall through the floor at his reaction. He was looking at her as though she was the most ditzy girl in the world, and at that moment, she didn’t blame him.
She knew this guy, his name was Elijah... Bark? ... Tree? Something along those lines anyway. He was in her tenth grade math class the year before and she’d cheated off him on a few occasions. She didn’t remember him as the hot sex-god like man that was standing in front of her. How had he gone from Not to Hot(!) in such a short time? Elijah began to turn away and Lexi panicked. She had to spend more time with him! Hell, if she got her way, at the end of the day they’d both be at the beach making out as the sun went down... and he’d profess his love to her...
“Youu whoo? Anybody home? Lexi!”
Crash! Hello planet reality. Elijah was gone; she’d blown her moment. “What?” Lexi snapped, shooting a small glare at her cousin Jasmine before turning back to Alien Invasion. She’d made Jazz come with her. Her cousin had this amazing quality of making Lexi feel human instead of a shopaholic my-life-are-my-designer-shoes brainwashed chick, like some kind of Evelyn Summers clone. At first, Jazz had been reluctant to come, but when Lexi mentioned that Billie Joe Armstrong often haunted the arcade, she’d quickly changed her mind.
“When are you two going out?” Jazz asked with a sly nod at Elijah’s back and a grin for Lexi.
A mischievous smile lit Lexi’s lips. “As soon as he realizes he’s in love with me.”
~*~
“You’ll never guess who I ran into at the arcade,” Elijah said, later that day to his best friend, Lily Evans.
“Mark Hamill?” Lily guessed sarcastically, not looking at him.
“Lexi Morgan.”
Lily gave a very dramatic, very fake, gasp. “And this is a big deal because...”
“She’s a cheerleader!” Elijah exclaimed in utter disgust. “Their kind don’t belong at the arcade! I’m seriously considering that her body might be host to an alien.”
Lily rolled her eyes at him and laughed. He was lying on her bed, reading comic books as she sat in front of her vanity mirror, trying to fix her red hair so that it looked perfect. Tonight, she was going to end her summer with a blast. She’d spent all of her summer days trying to get the sexiest guy alive (in her opinion) to ask her out, to kiss her, to do something that wasn’t strictly platonic. Tonight, Johnny Depp wouldn’t see her as a fun co-worker; he’d see Lily Evans, eccentric party girl.
At the beginning of the summer Lily’s father and mother had bonded together in an annoying parent-alliance, as they were sometimes prone to do, and told her that she was to get a summer job so she could get some work-ethic. As if, who needed work-ethic when they had a seven-digit trust fund? But Lily had complied and gotten a job at the local café, which put on artistic performances each week. She’d seen all sorts of raw talent punching out a jazz tune or reciting poetry. But the major bonus had been meeting Johnny. He was so refreshing to be around; so not like all the other jock-or-not guys at Santa Monica High. He was a year older than her, but had decided to forgo university for a year so he could find himself. And as an added bonus, he was sexy as hell.
She twisted her hair on top of her head and then scrutinized it. It made her emerald green eyes stand out, but she didn’t feel the confidence that she wanted. She didn’t see the ‘Wow’ girl she wanted to see.
She undid it and thought over a different style. “How many times have you done your hair already?” Elijah asked innocently, but Lily wasn’t fooled. She knew that Elijah was waiting for her answer so he could tease her. She and Elijah had known each other since the first day of elementary school, which had been the same day he’d moved into the mansion-sized house next to hers. Consequently, they could read one another like a favourite book.
“Just about as many times as you’ve read Spider-man issue 188,” she smirked at him through the mirror.
“That just makes us both pathetic,” he retorted, childishly sticking his tongue out at her. “Anyway, let’s focus on my problem before I advise you on your hair.”
“And why exactly would I want you to ‘advise’ me?”
“Because I read Anime. No one has better hairstyles than the girls in Anime comics,” Elijah told her with a smug look. “Now, this Lexi Morgan business is a serious problem. What if Evelyn Summers starts hanging out at the arcade next? What will I do?”
Lily snorted with laughter, imagining the most bitchy and preppy girl in the school playing video games next to the most notorious geeks in Santa Monica. “It won’t ever happen,” she said, amused. “Orlando Bloom will start hanging out there before she does.”
“You think Bloom will hang out there!?” Elijah panicked.
“No! I was trying – ”
He cut off her explanation as he scrambled off the bed and started pacing, his foot steps muffled by her lush red carpet. “Perfect, just perfect. He’s going to come in and strut his stuff, and then after he’s had his fun playing in OUR arcade he’s going to pummel us!”
“‘Strut his stuff’?” Lily laughed, but quickly stopped when Elijah threw her a dirty look. “Sorry. Look, you’ve been taking that Gobu judo crap all summer...”
“Goju Budo,” Elijah corrected impatiently.
“That’s what I said. Anyway, you could defend yourself and what I meant earlier, before you had a total nervy spazz, is that it is entirely unlikely for Orlando to start hanging out there.”
“Therefore...”
“Therefore, Evelyn Summers is not about to waste hours that could be spent shopping or cheering, or whatever it is that those girls do, in an arcade.”
“Promise?” He persisted.
She restrained herself from rolling her eyes, placed one hand on her heart and held the other up, palm forward, in the air. “Promise.”
“Alright,” Elijah agreed, finally satisfied. He picked up on of his comic books that lay strewn across her bed and threw it at her. “Page 137. No need to thank me.”
“Right,” Lily responded sarcastically, flipping to the page. She looked at the largely imprinted Anime girl. “I can’t do this! I’d need five bottles of gel!” She turned and glared at Elijah who was chuckling at her.
“You didn’t seriously think that I would know about that hair style shit, did you? Just leave it down, with that weird curly thing. It looks best that way.”
“Such a help,” she mumbled.
“What are best friends for?”
Hope you guys liked it :) Don't worry if you weren't introduce in this chapter, the rest of the introductions are in the second chappie :)
SaryWary - June 23, 2005 06:15 PM (GMT)
Yay! Finally posted and I'm so glad. This just means that you'll need to be writing it faster, haha, and therefore my part will come sooner. It's all a selfish thing you see...
You know I love it!
:love: Sarah
You know I love it!
:love: Sarah
Nefduliniel - June 23, 2005 07:35 PM (GMT)
Awesome start hon! I really loved it! My character is so much like me, you have no idea...it's a bit scary actually. I loved it though, keep up the good work!
Luvs,
Jinx!
Luvs,
Jinx!
Ayngil - June 23, 2005 11:21 PM (GMT)
Haha, that's great! Loving it already, hun.
~Jewelz~ - June 24, 2005 12:25 AM (GMT)
....BAH HAHAHAHAHAHA! I love it! Teh hehehe, greatness :P
First of all, the whole thing with Evie's interesting. Whatever shall happen to this popular girl with her handsome boyfriend *pretends to ponder* And will she start hanging out at the arcade and destroy Elijah's life *snickers* Hmmm... interesting, veeery interesting ;)
So Lexi's the nerd-disgused-as-a-popular-person, eh? Very nice. And I love her whole reaction to Lij! Hehehe... LOVED the whole "Bark?...Tree?" thing by the way! Ah ha! *snickers*
Hmm... so Kass's got a thing for my man eh? Nice *laughs* I love how you're already using our little thing about him from the cast call :D Very nice :)
Lily's funny, hehe... And this whole thing:
First of all, the whole thing with Evie's interesting. Whatever shall happen to this popular girl with her handsome boyfriend *pretends to ponder* And will she start hanging out at the arcade and destroy Elijah's life *snickers* Hmmm... interesting, veeery interesting ;)
So Lexi's the nerd-disgused-as-a-popular-person, eh? Very nice. And I love her whole reaction to Lij! Hehehe... LOVED the whole "Bark?...Tree?" thing by the way! Ah ha! *snickers*
Hmm... so Kass's got a thing for my man eh? Nice *laughs* I love how you're already using our little thing about him from the cast call :D Very nice :)
Lily's funny, hehe... And this whole thing:
| QUOTE |
| “Mark Hamill?” Lily guessed sarcastically, not looking at him. |
AH! I just about died! I actually had to stop and laugh hysterically just for good measure! *weeps openly* He was HERE and I didn't even go downtown!!! AHHHHH!!!!! *laughs* Greatness, I love it.
Course, I love any mention of Luke ;) (Really though, Mark Hamill's pretty old, I can't really see him at an arcade *laughs* silly Lily)
Yay! I can't wait for more! :D
4everElijah - June 24, 2005 06:02 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| but lost her voice when her eyes fell upon one gorgeous male. |
that seems to be a common thing with me...
| QUOTE |
| a grin like no other lit up impossibly blue eyes. If there was one feature that Lexi had a weakness for, it was blue eyes. |
*le sigh* so true...
| QUOTE |
| She didn’t remember him as the hot sex-god like man that was standing in front of her. |
I'll bet he is a sex-god :tsk: *coughs* I mean...who said that? Look over there! :eeek:
| QUOTE |
| Hell, if she got her way, at the end of the day they’d both be at the beach making out as the sun went down... and he’d profess his love to her... |
:yes: sounds good to me!
| QUOTE |
| Crash! Hello planet reality. |
:lmao: that was so funny!
| QUOTE |
| “When are you two going out?” Jazz asked with a sly nod at Elijah’s back and a grin for Lexi. A mischievous smile lit Lexi’s lips. “As soon as he realizes he’s in love with me.” |
A wee bit cocky are we Lexi? buwahaha! I love it!
| QUOTE | ||
AH! I just about died! I actually had to stop and laugh hysterically just for good measure! |
*nods in agreement* well that's about all I have to quote for now...lol. I'll be back after next chapter tho! You did a great job portraying everyone and I feel like you know me so well! I loved my whole part...it was quality (which is like my fave word) Luv ya much chicadee! ~Alli~
.Jazz. - June 24, 2005 01:45 PM (GMT)
:eek:
*gaspity*
THAT ROCKED!
Hahaha.
No seriously, It really did. It seemed so lifelike, and the interaction between the characters seemed natural, I could believe Jamie and Elijah were best friends for years, or Jazz and Lexi were cousins and things.
Love it Love it Love it!
And you bet ya, I'll be getting my butt down to that arcade if I heard Billie Joe frequents there. *sigh*
xxxxxxxxx
*gaspity*
THAT ROCKED!
Hahaha.
No seriously, It really did. It seemed so lifelike, and the interaction between the characters seemed natural, I could believe Jamie and Elijah were best friends for years, or Jazz and Lexi were cousins and things.
Love it Love it Love it!
And you bet ya, I'll be getting my butt down to that arcade if I heard Billie Joe frequents there. *sigh*
xxxxxxxxx
darinithlien - June 28, 2005 12:46 AM (GMT)
Cat that was a wonderful first chapter, can't wait for more. It was really good, I really liked it. No rush on another chapter. I have no other idea of what to say right now but keep up the good work, on all your fics. Ciao Bella
Kit-Kat - June 29, 2005 02:21 PM (GMT)
Cat that was awesome! I loke it alot! You describing alli was soo her!!! I mean I hang out with her all the time and that is sooo her!! I thought it was a great start, I wish I had answered the cast call for this story it would have been fun to be in it! I love Elijah freaking out over Orlando coming into the arcade that was classic! and him reading comics was great too! can't wait for more!
~Kit-Kat/Kat~
~Kit-Kat/Kat~
Jaime Girl - June 30, 2005 04:26 AM (GMT)
Sorry it took me so long to get here, I've been crazy lately...but that first chap was awesome!!! Some great introductions, and some awesome characters in there, man. Can't wait for this all to unfold!! :)
Cat - June 30, 2005 01:14 PM (GMT)
^_^ Yay, I'm so happy everyone liked it! I put in the Mark Hamill thing just for you Jewelz! Ehehe, I'm glad you noticed it :) Oh, and I'm glad that I seem to be getting everyone's character to match them, if I'm ever really wrong about something make sure to tell me! :)
I want to say thanks to Sarah for editting for me :) It's really helped. Oh, and I also want to say Happy Birthday Sarah!! :D Hope it's the best.
Sorry, this chapter is a little long, but I wanted to get everyone introduced :)
Chapter 2: Presenting...
DINGDONG
"I got it!" Julianna yelled in response to the door bell. It was her first date with Dominic Monaghan that night and she was uncharacteristically excited about it. Normally she wasn’t very enthusiastic about boys, and tried to forgo dating them whenever possible, but there was something different about this one. Dom was so... so... well, she couldn’t quite put her finger on what he was exactly, all she really knew was that he made her laugh and made her emotions go crazy, but in a good way.
She slid down the stairwell railing and landed in front of the door. After a quick check in the mirror she opened the door. "Hey, how’s it – what’re you doing here?" She demanded, for it wasn’t her date that was standing on her doorstep, it was Ewan McGregor. It was probably the first time he’d ever come to her house.
He looked adorable in his Rolling Stones t-shirt that he’d gotten at a concert. It had been worn so many times it was starts to tear in places. The fact that it looked accidentally fashionable just made him look cooler. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his khakis, and his head was bent down, but he was looking up at her. He looked hot, like a model out of a magazine. Not that Julianna even noticed any of this; she was too busy looking around him to see if Dom was walking up her front path.
"You look nice," Ewan told her in his sweet, smooth voice, ignoring her disappointment. He had the kind of voice that people stopped and listened to, with their eyes closed, just because it sounded so peaceful. "What’s the occasion?"
"I’ve got a date." She opened the door wider and stood aside, so he could come in, and then closed it behind him. Unlike Lily and Elijah, Ewan and Julianna had only met each other in freshman year. It had taken them some time to become friends, because he was painfully shy, but once they had started it was like nothing could stop them from becoming closer to one another. They weren’t best friends, but Julianna thought of Ewan as a good friend; he listened to her rants, and didn’t freak out when she had her weird mood swings.
"Who’s the lucky guy?" He asked with a cute lopsided grin. "Kind of weird to be going out on the night before school starts, isn’t it Jules?"
"Dominic Monaghan," Julianna told him, "and we won’t be out late." ‘Unfortunately,’ she added mentally. She heard the familiar crunch of gravel under car tires. Peering out the window she saw a car pull up in her long driveway. "That must be him!" she said excitedly.
Ewan smiled, happy because she was happy, "Good luck with the date Jules, see you at school tomorrow."
Julianna beamed and waved goodbye to him as she left out the front door, and he went around to the back. She hadn’t asked him to, but she was glad he understood how it might complicate things if Dom saw him there with her. Ewan was good like that; he just understood what she wanted without her having to actually say it. With a light feeling in her heart and a bounce in her step, Julianna met Dom halfway down the path to her door.
~*~
Ronda Lou Collins, better known as Ronnie, was taking out her frustration about summers end by jamming on her bass guitar. That this annoyed her mother to no end was only a slight, coincidental, bonus. It had always been a sore point with her mom that Ronnie was not a girly-girl cheerleader like she was at her age. Every Friday night Mrs. Collins would ask Ronnie why she insisted on playing in that garage band with that odd child, Billie Joe Armstrong, instead of dating a sensible boy. Yeah, right. Her mother’s idea of a sensible boy was a quarterback bound for varsity football team fame. That kind of guy definitely did not turn Ronnie on, most of the time the very sight of such a male gave her a migraine.
Her cell phone vibrated in her jean pocket. Ronnie placed her guitar down gently before flipping the phone open.
"Yeah?" She never answered the phone with ‘Hello’, mainly because it bothered her parents. Wasn’t that the motive for most teenage behavior? To drive their parents insane?
"Gig, eight o’clock, next Friday,” Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead guitarist, singer and founder of their band answered.
"Where?"
"Uh, no where special just... around..." He told her vaguely, and
Ronnie got the sense that she wasn’t going to like the place they were supposed to perform at.
"It’s not some shady motorcycle bar, is it?" she asked. They’d performed in many places considered to be less than reputable.
"Would it be a problem if it was?"
"No, it’d probably just piss my mom off even more. Always a bonus,"
Ronnie joked. She pressed the phone to her ear using her shoulder, and tied her long, dark, wavy hair into a pony tail; she hated when it flew into her face.
Billie knew from her many rants that Ronnie and Mrs. Collins did not get along. He also knew that Ronnie really loved her mother, but was too busy being a teenager to notice it.
"Well, it’s not. It’s at The A. Dive."
"What?!" The A. Dive was the most popular hang out for a majority of the students that attended Santa Monica High. She made it a point to avoid the place entirely if she could; the people who hung out there weren’t from her crowd.
"I know, I know. But it’ll pay and it’s a gig, so it’s good."
"This isn’t because Jazz hangs out there is it?" Ronnie asked suspiciously, "Because you know I can hook you two up." Jazz was friends with everyone in the student body, but she hung out mostly with the popular preps. She was considered to be the nicest person in the entire school and rivaled Evelyn Summers in popularity; something that Evelyn was aware of, but pretended not to be. Ronnie had gotten to know Jazz in chemistry class the year before. The girl had her Barbie moments, but she was human. And she’d unknowingly stolen Billie’s heart.
"Nah, it’s not about that. I’ve given up on her; she’d never be interested in me."
"Bill, that is not true," Ronnie told him sincerely. Billie was hotter than he thought he was. For one, he was the only guy in their school who could wear eyeliner and look totally sexy, whereas anyone else who tried to pull eyeliner off (and many had) were a complete mockery.
"Please don’t start telling me how I don’t think enough of myself and how I should build up my self-confidence. You’ll turn me into an arrogant arse, people tell me my modesty is endearing. I figure it’s the only thing I’ve got going for me." Ronnie opened her mouth to protest once again, but Billie quickly interrupted, saying he had a call waiting, and hung up.
Ronnie shrugged, threw her bass strap over her shoulder and began practicing for the A. Dive gig. How much damage could be done to her social status with one gig? Her a-list classmates probably wouldn’t even recognize her. And with those comforting thoughts, Ronnie cranked the volume up on her amp to the screaming protests of her mother.
~*~
Sarah Kremblewski had been going out with Ryan Gosling for two months. She knew the exact minute he had asked her out for an ice cream down at the beach. It had been two minutes after she had finished her last exam of the year. Had it been any other day she would have brushed him off with a cold remark and level glare; it went against her principles to date such a popular sportive beau like him. He was so goody-goody; so perfect. She suspected her family would actually approve of him. It was revolting, but at the same time so romantic that she had fallen head over heels for him, and here they were, at the beach again, just like they had been two months ago. But instead of awkward small-talk, as was a first date custom, they were making out.
It was nine o’clock in the evening, but the sun was only beginning to descend towards the ocean. She couldn’t help thinking that as that sun slowly disappeared, so did her summer. And back she’d be in those ugly tope-colored corridors, her bag weighing down her shoulders with the numerous textbooks crammed into it. Then she thought of her friends. She hadn’t spent much time with them that summer; she’d been too busy spending time with Ryan. She missed them, and knew they’d probably be a little peeved at her for ditching them. But they’d get over it; her friends were good that way.
"You okay?" Ryan asked, breaking their kiss. His nose was lightly pressed against hers and she could hear his uneven breathing.
"Just thinking," she said, with a tiny smile. She loved his sky-blue eyes.
He swept a strand of her long blond hair out of her face. "About what?"
"School, friends... Us," she added the last part hesitantly. She and Ryan had made a great couple through the summer; they’d been happy and totally carefree. Sarah didn’t know how to ask, and she was afraid of the answer if she did. What if he told her he didn’t want to be seen with her at school? What if he was ashamed of her? What if this was just a summer fling?
"Us? What were you thinking about us?" Ryan smiled coyly at her and lay back on the large checkered beach towel.
Sarah lay next to him, staring up at the clear sky. "Tomorrow, what are we?"
"Prisoners at the Santa Monica High School Jail." Sarah punched his arm. "Ow! What do you mean what are we tomorrow? We’re the same as today except at school, which will definitely put a damper on our beach trips." He rubbed at the spot she’d punched, pretending like it hurt.
A wide grin spread across her pale face (she was too fair to tan). He wasn’t going to dump her!! Good thing for him too; Morgan Phillips, one of Sarah’s best friends, would have beat on him. Morgan, or ‘Mo’ as Sarah called her, was very protective of her friends.
Ryan pulled Sarah towards him and they lay in the setting sun, oblivious to everything and everyone around them except for each other.
~*~
"You’ll get fat sitting around all day watching DVDs," Mo’s Step-mom told her, looking down her new nose at her. Mo was not fat, she was pear shaped, but she pulled it off like no one else could. Her long blond hair had a variety of highlights in it that drew attention to her.
"Are you speaking from experience?" Mo asked, critically looking
Charlene, the evil step-mother, up and down. Normally, Mo avoided confrontation, but with Charlene confrontation was the only way to survive. She tugged at her earring; a nervous habit. "Don’t worry; I’m sure the extra flub will keep you warm during the winter." She reached out and patted the woman’s arm, making sure that it jiggled when she did. With an evil smirk, Mo hopped down the stairs to the basement where she and her friend, Joaquin Phoenix, were playing Playstation II games on one big screen TV and watching Die Hard (his choice, not hers) on the other, slightly smaller, television set. She handed him the bowl of popcorn she’d been popping in the kitchen when the Wicked Witch of the West had flown in.
"Sorry, the step-mom held me up. Where are we?"
Mo hadn’t had a mother figure in her life since she had been four years old, and that hadn’t even been her mother; it’d been a nanny from the Philippines that had been shipped out of the country because she was an ‘illegal alien’. Since then it had just been Alfred and Morgan Phillips, father and daughter. That is, until the day of her sixteenth birthday when her father had decided to surprise her with an engagement ring and some gross woman wearing it on her bony finger. Well, that lady had come and gone with a mess of documents and now there was Charlene, the new light of her father’s life. Charlene was one of the reasons Mo was counting down the days until graduation.
Unconsciously, Mo pounded the buttons on the small black controller, not even aware of what was happening in the game. Charlene was thirty-two, which wasn’t as bad as it could have been. With all the plastic surgery she’d had done Mo was fairly certain that she was more Barbie than human. Not a nice Barbie though, no, she was devil Barbie from the very bowels of hell. She was constantly shooting nasty comments at Mo and competing for her father’s attention. Alfred Phillips imagined that Charlene and Mo’s little arguments were signs of love for each other. People can become delusional when they take as much medication as Alfred did.
"Dude, are you okay?"
Mo blinked; she was back in her basement and Joaquin was staring at her with a worried frown creasing his forehead. "What?" Mo asked confusedly.
"You just massacred me and didn’t even gloat."
"I had a run in with the monstrosity," Mo admitted, and he nodded as though that explained it all.
"Too bad those things can’t be caged," he said and Mo smiled.
Joaquin knew what it was like, having had a numerous amount of step-mothers himself. Sometimes when either of their homes got too much for them to deal with they’d rent a suite at whatever five-star hotel was at their disposal, order room service, get extremely drunk and spend the night bashing their family. It was their way of dealing with home problems that otherwise could not be dealt with. Kassidy and Dom, the other two people in their little quartet, didn’t know about this ritual and Mo didn’t think they’d understand even if they did.
If it weren’t for school tomorrow, Mo would be checking into a hotel that very night. But there was, and she couldn’t start the year off with a hang over, so Mo put on a bright smile and said, "Play again? I promise I’ll gloat this time."
~*~
Fighting off a yawn, Candace Richardson sprayed begonias with the water bottle she held in her hand. Working at her parents flower shop had to be the dullest job ever. Spray spray spray. Would it ever end? She longed for the halls of Santa Monica High to take her out of this hell. In boredom, she angled the nozzle towards her face and sprayed. Refreshing.
Bells jangled as someone entered the store. With a glance at the clock, Candace fought off a stream of curses that wanted to escape her lips. Of course with ten minutes left until closing someone had decided to visit.
"I was wondering if you could help me."
Candace turned to see Adam Brody, the guy she’d been dating for the past few weeks and she’d been crushing on for even longer. She thought he was the most adorable thing walking on two legs with his curly brown hair and chocolate eyes, his gangly frame screamed geek, but it appealed to her. Unfortunately he attended Saint Robert’s all-boys Private School, so summer’s end meant she’d be seeing less of him and more of the lame polo shirt wearing jocks that attended her school.
"What kind of help did you have in mind?"
A smirk played across Adam’s lips. "There’s this girl I like, and I really want to impress her with flowers. What would you suggest I get her?" He plucked at a fern, as though considering it.
"Well," Candace said, deciding to play along. "It all depends on the type of girl."
"Like?"
"Like if she was classic, you’d get her roses, but if she was more fun and a little different you’d want something like violets or carnations." She couldn’t believe she was doing this. It was so not like her to be so girly, so... corny.
"That settles it then," Adam said, nodding his head, affirming on his decision. He moved closer to her, so they were an arms length apart.
"Oh?" Candace prompted, attempting at nonchalance. She peaked through her blond bangs up at him; his brown eyes held a mischievous glint to them that made her heart pound a little harder then she thought normal.
"I’ll just have to buy both," he said with a fake sigh and a shrug of the shoulders.
She didn’t know why, but she burst out laughing and jumped towards him, enveloping him in a hug and he wrapped his gangly arms around her. She was a good deal shorter than him; so much so that her face was pressed against his chest. It felt toned and Candace grinned to herself; appearances could be deceiving. "You think you’re so hot," she said, tilting her head to look up at him.
"You mean I’m not?" He pouted.
"Shut up." She stood on her toes and he bowed his head so they could kiss. Had anyone walked into Floral Boutique past that moment, Candace surely would have been fired by her own parents.
I want to say thanks to Sarah for editting for me :) It's really helped. Oh, and I also want to say Happy Birthday Sarah!! :D Hope it's the best.
Sorry, this chapter is a little long, but I wanted to get everyone introduced :)
Chapter 2: Presenting...
DINGDONG
"I got it!" Julianna yelled in response to the door bell. It was her first date with Dominic Monaghan that night and she was uncharacteristically excited about it. Normally she wasn’t very enthusiastic about boys, and tried to forgo dating them whenever possible, but there was something different about this one. Dom was so... so... well, she couldn’t quite put her finger on what he was exactly, all she really knew was that he made her laugh and made her emotions go crazy, but in a good way.
She slid down the stairwell railing and landed in front of the door. After a quick check in the mirror she opened the door. "Hey, how’s it – what’re you doing here?" She demanded, for it wasn’t her date that was standing on her doorstep, it was Ewan McGregor. It was probably the first time he’d ever come to her house.
He looked adorable in his Rolling Stones t-shirt that he’d gotten at a concert. It had been worn so many times it was starts to tear in places. The fact that it looked accidentally fashionable just made him look cooler. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his khakis, and his head was bent down, but he was looking up at her. He looked hot, like a model out of a magazine. Not that Julianna even noticed any of this; she was too busy looking around him to see if Dom was walking up her front path.
"You look nice," Ewan told her in his sweet, smooth voice, ignoring her disappointment. He had the kind of voice that people stopped and listened to, with their eyes closed, just because it sounded so peaceful. "What’s the occasion?"
"I’ve got a date." She opened the door wider and stood aside, so he could come in, and then closed it behind him. Unlike Lily and Elijah, Ewan and Julianna had only met each other in freshman year. It had taken them some time to become friends, because he was painfully shy, but once they had started it was like nothing could stop them from becoming closer to one another. They weren’t best friends, but Julianna thought of Ewan as a good friend; he listened to her rants, and didn’t freak out when she had her weird mood swings.
"Who’s the lucky guy?" He asked with a cute lopsided grin. "Kind of weird to be going out on the night before school starts, isn’t it Jules?"
"Dominic Monaghan," Julianna told him, "and we won’t be out late." ‘Unfortunately,’ she added mentally. She heard the familiar crunch of gravel under car tires. Peering out the window she saw a car pull up in her long driveway. "That must be him!" she said excitedly.
Ewan smiled, happy because she was happy, "Good luck with the date Jules, see you at school tomorrow."
Julianna beamed and waved goodbye to him as she left out the front door, and he went around to the back. She hadn’t asked him to, but she was glad he understood how it might complicate things if Dom saw him there with her. Ewan was good like that; he just understood what she wanted without her having to actually say it. With a light feeling in her heart and a bounce in her step, Julianna met Dom halfway down the path to her door.
~*~
Ronda Lou Collins, better known as Ronnie, was taking out her frustration about summers end by jamming on her bass guitar. That this annoyed her mother to no end was only a slight, coincidental, bonus. It had always been a sore point with her mom that Ronnie was not a girly-girl cheerleader like she was at her age. Every Friday night Mrs. Collins would ask Ronnie why she insisted on playing in that garage band with that odd child, Billie Joe Armstrong, instead of dating a sensible boy. Yeah, right. Her mother’s idea of a sensible boy was a quarterback bound for varsity football team fame. That kind of guy definitely did not turn Ronnie on, most of the time the very sight of such a male gave her a migraine.
Her cell phone vibrated in her jean pocket. Ronnie placed her guitar down gently before flipping the phone open.
"Yeah?" She never answered the phone with ‘Hello’, mainly because it bothered her parents. Wasn’t that the motive for most teenage behavior? To drive their parents insane?
"Gig, eight o’clock, next Friday,” Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead guitarist, singer and founder of their band answered.
"Where?"
"Uh, no where special just... around..." He told her vaguely, and
Ronnie got the sense that she wasn’t going to like the place they were supposed to perform at.
"It’s not some shady motorcycle bar, is it?" she asked. They’d performed in many places considered to be less than reputable.
"Would it be a problem if it was?"
"No, it’d probably just piss my mom off even more. Always a bonus,"
Ronnie joked. She pressed the phone to her ear using her shoulder, and tied her long, dark, wavy hair into a pony tail; she hated when it flew into her face.
Billie knew from her many rants that Ronnie and Mrs. Collins did not get along. He also knew that Ronnie really loved her mother, but was too busy being a teenager to notice it.
"Well, it’s not. It’s at The A. Dive."
"What?!" The A. Dive was the most popular hang out for a majority of the students that attended Santa Monica High. She made it a point to avoid the place entirely if she could; the people who hung out there weren’t from her crowd.
"I know, I know. But it’ll pay and it’s a gig, so it’s good."
"This isn’t because Jazz hangs out there is it?" Ronnie asked suspiciously, "Because you know I can hook you two up." Jazz was friends with everyone in the student body, but she hung out mostly with the popular preps. She was considered to be the nicest person in the entire school and rivaled Evelyn Summers in popularity; something that Evelyn was aware of, but pretended not to be. Ronnie had gotten to know Jazz in chemistry class the year before. The girl had her Barbie moments, but she was human. And she’d unknowingly stolen Billie’s heart.
"Nah, it’s not about that. I’ve given up on her; she’d never be interested in me."
"Bill, that is not true," Ronnie told him sincerely. Billie was hotter than he thought he was. For one, he was the only guy in their school who could wear eyeliner and look totally sexy, whereas anyone else who tried to pull eyeliner off (and many had) were a complete mockery.
"Please don’t start telling me how I don’t think enough of myself and how I should build up my self-confidence. You’ll turn me into an arrogant arse, people tell me my modesty is endearing. I figure it’s the only thing I’ve got going for me." Ronnie opened her mouth to protest once again, but Billie quickly interrupted, saying he had a call waiting, and hung up.
Ronnie shrugged, threw her bass strap over her shoulder and began practicing for the A. Dive gig. How much damage could be done to her social status with one gig? Her a-list classmates probably wouldn’t even recognize her. And with those comforting thoughts, Ronnie cranked the volume up on her amp to the screaming protests of her mother.
~*~
Sarah Kremblewski had been going out with Ryan Gosling for two months. She knew the exact minute he had asked her out for an ice cream down at the beach. It had been two minutes after she had finished her last exam of the year. Had it been any other day she would have brushed him off with a cold remark and level glare; it went against her principles to date such a popular sportive beau like him. He was so goody-goody; so perfect. She suspected her family would actually approve of him. It was revolting, but at the same time so romantic that she had fallen head over heels for him, and here they were, at the beach again, just like they had been two months ago. But instead of awkward small-talk, as was a first date custom, they were making out.
It was nine o’clock in the evening, but the sun was only beginning to descend towards the ocean. She couldn’t help thinking that as that sun slowly disappeared, so did her summer. And back she’d be in those ugly tope-colored corridors, her bag weighing down her shoulders with the numerous textbooks crammed into it. Then she thought of her friends. She hadn’t spent much time with them that summer; she’d been too busy spending time with Ryan. She missed them, and knew they’d probably be a little peeved at her for ditching them. But they’d get over it; her friends were good that way.
"You okay?" Ryan asked, breaking their kiss. His nose was lightly pressed against hers and she could hear his uneven breathing.
"Just thinking," she said, with a tiny smile. She loved his sky-blue eyes.
He swept a strand of her long blond hair out of her face. "About what?"
"School, friends... Us," she added the last part hesitantly. She and Ryan had made a great couple through the summer; they’d been happy and totally carefree. Sarah didn’t know how to ask, and she was afraid of the answer if she did. What if he told her he didn’t want to be seen with her at school? What if he was ashamed of her? What if this was just a summer fling?
"Us? What were you thinking about us?" Ryan smiled coyly at her and lay back on the large checkered beach towel.
Sarah lay next to him, staring up at the clear sky. "Tomorrow, what are we?"
"Prisoners at the Santa Monica High School Jail." Sarah punched his arm. "Ow! What do you mean what are we tomorrow? We’re the same as today except at school, which will definitely put a damper on our beach trips." He rubbed at the spot she’d punched, pretending like it hurt.
A wide grin spread across her pale face (she was too fair to tan). He wasn’t going to dump her!! Good thing for him too; Morgan Phillips, one of Sarah’s best friends, would have beat on him. Morgan, or ‘Mo’ as Sarah called her, was very protective of her friends.
Ryan pulled Sarah towards him and they lay in the setting sun, oblivious to everything and everyone around them except for each other.
~*~
"You’ll get fat sitting around all day watching DVDs," Mo’s Step-mom told her, looking down her new nose at her. Mo was not fat, she was pear shaped, but she pulled it off like no one else could. Her long blond hair had a variety of highlights in it that drew attention to her.
"Are you speaking from experience?" Mo asked, critically looking
Charlene, the evil step-mother, up and down. Normally, Mo avoided confrontation, but with Charlene confrontation was the only way to survive. She tugged at her earring; a nervous habit. "Don’t worry; I’m sure the extra flub will keep you warm during the winter." She reached out and patted the woman’s arm, making sure that it jiggled when she did. With an evil smirk, Mo hopped down the stairs to the basement where she and her friend, Joaquin Phoenix, were playing Playstation II games on one big screen TV and watching Die Hard (his choice, not hers) on the other, slightly smaller, television set. She handed him the bowl of popcorn she’d been popping in the kitchen when the Wicked Witch of the West had flown in.
"Sorry, the step-mom held me up. Where are we?"
Mo hadn’t had a mother figure in her life since she had been four years old, and that hadn’t even been her mother; it’d been a nanny from the Philippines that had been shipped out of the country because she was an ‘illegal alien’. Since then it had just been Alfred and Morgan Phillips, father and daughter. That is, until the day of her sixteenth birthday when her father had decided to surprise her with an engagement ring and some gross woman wearing it on her bony finger. Well, that lady had come and gone with a mess of documents and now there was Charlene, the new light of her father’s life. Charlene was one of the reasons Mo was counting down the days until graduation.
Unconsciously, Mo pounded the buttons on the small black controller, not even aware of what was happening in the game. Charlene was thirty-two, which wasn’t as bad as it could have been. With all the plastic surgery she’d had done Mo was fairly certain that she was more Barbie than human. Not a nice Barbie though, no, she was devil Barbie from the very bowels of hell. She was constantly shooting nasty comments at Mo and competing for her father’s attention. Alfred Phillips imagined that Charlene and Mo’s little arguments were signs of love for each other. People can become delusional when they take as much medication as Alfred did.
"Dude, are you okay?"
Mo blinked; she was back in her basement and Joaquin was staring at her with a worried frown creasing his forehead. "What?" Mo asked confusedly.
"You just massacred me and didn’t even gloat."
"I had a run in with the monstrosity," Mo admitted, and he nodded as though that explained it all.
"Too bad those things can’t be caged," he said and Mo smiled.
Joaquin knew what it was like, having had a numerous amount of step-mothers himself. Sometimes when either of their homes got too much for them to deal with they’d rent a suite at whatever five-star hotel was at their disposal, order room service, get extremely drunk and spend the night bashing their family. It was their way of dealing with home problems that otherwise could not be dealt with. Kassidy and Dom, the other two people in their little quartet, didn’t know about this ritual and Mo didn’t think they’d understand even if they did.
If it weren’t for school tomorrow, Mo would be checking into a hotel that very night. But there was, and she couldn’t start the year off with a hang over, so Mo put on a bright smile and said, "Play again? I promise I’ll gloat this time."
~*~
Fighting off a yawn, Candace Richardson sprayed begonias with the water bottle she held in her hand. Working at her parents flower shop had to be the dullest job ever. Spray spray spray. Would it ever end? She longed for the halls of Santa Monica High to take her out of this hell. In boredom, she angled the nozzle towards her face and sprayed. Refreshing.
Bells jangled as someone entered the store. With a glance at the clock, Candace fought off a stream of curses that wanted to escape her lips. Of course with ten minutes left until closing someone had decided to visit.
"I was wondering if you could help me."
Candace turned to see Adam Brody, the guy she’d been dating for the past few weeks and she’d been crushing on for even longer. She thought he was the most adorable thing walking on two legs with his curly brown hair and chocolate eyes, his gangly frame screamed geek, but it appealed to her. Unfortunately he attended Saint Robert’s all-boys Private School, so summer’s end meant she’d be seeing less of him and more of the lame polo shirt wearing jocks that attended her school.
"What kind of help did you have in mind?"
A smirk played across Adam’s lips. "There’s this girl I like, and I really want to impress her with flowers. What would you suggest I get her?" He plucked at a fern, as though considering it.
"Well," Candace said, deciding to play along. "It all depends on the type of girl."
"Like?"
"Like if she was classic, you’d get her roses, but if she was more fun and a little different you’d want something like violets or carnations." She couldn’t believe she was doing this. It was so not like her to be so girly, so... corny.
"That settles it then," Adam said, nodding his head, affirming on his decision. He moved closer to her, so they were an arms length apart.
"Oh?" Candace prompted, attempting at nonchalance. She peaked through her blond bangs up at him; his brown eyes held a mischievous glint to them that made her heart pound a little harder then she thought normal.
"I’ll just have to buy both," he said with a fake sigh and a shrug of the shoulders.
She didn’t know why, but she burst out laughing and jumped towards him, enveloping him in a hug and he wrapped his gangly arms around her. She was a good deal shorter than him; so much so that her face was pressed against his chest. It felt toned and Candace grinned to herself; appearances could be deceiving. "You think you’re so hot," she said, tilting her head to look up at him.
"You mean I’m not?" He pouted.
"Shut up." She stood on her toes and he bowed his head so they could kiss. Had anyone walked into Floral Boutique past that moment, Candace surely would have been fired by her own parents.
Kit-Kat - June 30, 2005 01:30 PM (GMT)
Hey, that was a good chapter and I am the first reviewer! SWEET!! and I loved Ewan's outfit that was a cool outfit! I can't wait for more good job cat!
~Kit-Kat/Kat~
~Kit-Kat/Kat~
.Jazz. - June 30, 2005 01:58 PM (GMT)
*takes big breath*
*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
Ah!! OMG! *fangirly*
My Billie!! And you spelt his name right! *swoons*
I'll come back and review properly later, I'm just swooning to the max here.
:cloud#9:
*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
Ah!! OMG! *fangirly*
My Billie!! And you spelt his name right! *swoons*
I'll come back and review properly later, I'm just swooning to the max here.
:cloud#9:
Cat - June 30, 2005 02:04 PM (GMT)
^_^ Thanks Kat, for some reason I could just picture him like that and I was like 'wow... sexy..' ehehe
Ehehehe, I was hoping you'd like Billie's intro ^_^
Ehehehe, I was hoping you'd like Billie's intro ^_^
SaryWary - June 30, 2005 04:34 PM (GMT)
Hey Catty...wonderful chapter of course. I absolutely love my part. of course, and Ryan...*swoon*.
Keep up the lovely writing...I'm looking forward to more of this story.
:love: Sarah
Keep up the lovely writing...I'm looking forward to more of this story.
:love: Sarah
SaryWary - June 30, 2005 04:40 PM (GMT)
Thanks for the "Happy Birthday's" I feel special!
:bigbounce:
:love: Sarah
:bigbounce:
:love: Sarah
Blondie - June 30, 2005 05:18 PM (GMT)
*comes running in and screeches to a hault*
Okay, I am here!
Wow! Just wow! I love how flowing and real your dialouges are. To me that is so crucial to a story.
Ooooh, I love all the characters. Each one with their own little quirks and personalities. I'm amazed at you excellence with all the different characters. It is a tough job to manage the amount of characters you have and still give them a life of their own. And so far, you are doing an amazing job. Just enough info to give you a base of what the characters are like, but still a bit of a mystery. It leaves the reader wanting more, to find out what makes the characters tick and act the way they do.
Elijah...tee hee. What a perfect picture you painted with him. So dork and cute. I loved the interactions between Lij and Lilly. The best. What was even better was the moment that Lexi was trying to remember Lij's last name. Bark! Bwahahahahaa! That was too funny. :lol:
Love Ronnie's hard arse character. I loved how Billie is really in tune with her and knows that she really does love her mom but the whole rebellion thing is just part of growing up. Very good dynamics.
Lastly...Oh MY Goodness! I lurrrrrrve my character. Mo is the best. Seriously, excellent job with the characterization. I was reading and nodding my head the whole time thinking, "Yep, that is something I would do or say!" Bravo!
Okay, now that I'm all caught up, I'm excited to see what the first day of school holds for all of our girls and boys.
Okay, I am here!
Wow! Just wow! I love how flowing and real your dialouges are. To me that is so crucial to a story.
Ooooh, I love all the characters. Each one with their own little quirks and personalities. I'm amazed at you excellence with all the different characters. It is a tough job to manage the amount of characters you have and still give them a life of their own. And so far, you are doing an amazing job. Just enough info to give you a base of what the characters are like, but still a bit of a mystery. It leaves the reader wanting more, to find out what makes the characters tick and act the way they do.
Elijah...tee hee. What a perfect picture you painted with him. So dork and cute. I loved the interactions between Lij and Lilly. The best. What was even better was the moment that Lexi was trying to remember Lij's last name. Bark! Bwahahahahaa! That was too funny. :lol:
Love Ronnie's hard arse character. I loved how Billie is really in tune with her and knows that she really does love her mom but the whole rebellion thing is just part of growing up. Very good dynamics.
Lastly...Oh MY Goodness! I lurrrrrrve my character. Mo is the best. Seriously, excellent job with the characterization. I was reading and nodding my head the whole time thinking, "Yep, that is something I would do or say!" Bravo!
Okay, now that I'm all caught up, I'm excited to see what the first day of school holds for all of our girls and boys.
Ayngil - June 30, 2005 05:39 PM (GMT)
I love how you portrayed me! You can really tell that her and Billie are close, and they're true best friends.
Oh, and now that I've actually been mentioned... I still don't have a banner!
Oh, and now that I've actually been mentioned... I still don't have a banner!
~Jewelz~ - June 30, 2005 07:02 PM (GMT)
:D!!!
Mmm Dommy....;)
But this Ewan seems sweet... *ponders* Hmmmm...I wonder...
Meh hehe, loved it.
I love all your character intros! I feel like we're getting these great samples, or like, previews, lol, whatever, of how they're going to be and it's already got me doing my whole "Hmm...interesting...verrrrry interesting" thing over and over! Haha! Yay :)
Mmm Dommy....;)
But this Ewan seems sweet... *ponders* Hmmmm...I wonder...
Meh hehe, loved it.
I love all your character intros! I feel like we're getting these great samples, or like, previews, lol, whatever, of how they're going to be and it's already got me doing my whole "Hmm...interesting...verrrrry interesting" thing over and over! Haha! Yay :)
darinithlien - June 30, 2005 08:39 PM (GMT)
:yahoo OMG that was so good! I would actually do that dance but seeing that your sitting right behind and would probably call that asylum on me because you didn't know what i was doing, so i thought it best not to do it.
Though you did know about my obscene happiness with the whole Ewan thing and his voice. Loved the description.
But yes I have to agree with Blondie here on basically everything that she commented on, it was right on target.
yes keep up the good work, I'm still amazed you already posted anyways, great cahppie keep up the good work. ^_^
Though you did know about my obscene happiness with the whole Ewan thing and his voice. Loved the description.
But yes I have to agree with Blondie here on basically everything that she commented on, it was right on target.
yes keep up the good work, I'm still amazed you already posted anyways, great cahppie keep up the good work. ^_^
Just Peachy - July 1, 2005 05:08 PM (GMT)
Ah! Yeah, silly me, just realizing this was up!! Goodness, I completely love it!
Elijah and Lily just crack me up. They're so great together! And Dom and Kass made me laugh, with the way they go back and forth. I always enjoy reading things like that.
Awwww, Ewan was so sweet. What a cutie! (And I'm sorry these aren't exactly in appearance order!) He was really thoughtful towards Jules. Gotta love that.
I felt bad for Mo, but she was hilarious. At least she has Joaquin to relate to her. Their "ritual" was awesome! Heehee, it sounded like fun-- even though, yeah, good release.
Ronnie and Bill seem like really good friends to each other. It's refreshing! But he needs to get some confidence! He and Jazz would be so cute!
Eeee, and "me" and Adam. Heehee, I really love it. And yes, that was like me. I'd totally spray myself in the face, and have internal monologue of Spray. Spray. Spray. That made me laugh, by the way! lol.
Sarah and Ryan... so cute too! I seem to be using that a lot.... but they really were! And I mean it every time I say it!!
Obviously I'm forgetting some, but I really have to scat at the moment. I loved all the characters! They all have endearing qualities that draw you too them. You're a very talented writer!
Looking forward to more!
Tahni
Elijah and Lily just crack me up. They're so great together! And Dom and Kass made me laugh, with the way they go back and forth. I always enjoy reading things like that.
Awwww, Ewan was so sweet. What a cutie! (And I'm sorry these aren't exactly in appearance order!) He was really thoughtful towards Jules. Gotta love that.
I felt bad for Mo, but she was hilarious. At least she has Joaquin to relate to her. Their "ritual" was awesome! Heehee, it sounded like fun-- even though, yeah, good release.
Ronnie and Bill seem like really good friends to each other. It's refreshing! But he needs to get some confidence! He and Jazz would be so cute!
Eeee, and "me" and Adam. Heehee, I really love it. And yes, that was like me. I'd totally spray myself in the face, and have internal monologue of Spray. Spray. Spray. That made me laugh, by the way! lol.
Sarah and Ryan... so cute too! I seem to be using that a lot.... but they really were! And I mean it every time I say it!!
Obviously I'm forgetting some, but I really have to scat at the moment. I loved all the characters! They all have endearing qualities that draw you too them. You're a very talented writer!
Looking forward to more!
Tahni
Nefduliniel - July 2, 2005 04:27 AM (GMT)
Great chapter! I love your character introductions, they're so funny and intriguing. Keep up the good work!
Luvs,
Jinx!
Luvs,
Jinx!
.Jazz. - July 2, 2005 05:49 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Just Peachy @ Jul 1 2005, 06:08 PM) |
| But he needs to get some confidence! He and Jazz would be so cute! |
Damn straight we would be! :lol:
I don't want it too easy for us to come together though, :tsk:
:love:
Jaime Girl - July 4, 2005 08:48 AM (GMT)
Ooh, more fun characters! You're doing such a great job with all these characters, here, darl, I know it's not an easy thing to write so many at once. I can't wait to see how this all unfolds! :)
Frankee_14 - July 4, 2005 02:04 PM (GMT)
:yahoo New Fan!!!! This fic is great so far, your discriptions are :yay: and I love the interaction between the characters, post more soon
Frankee
xox
Frankee
xox
4everElijah - July 5, 2005 05:59 PM (GMT)
Sorry it's taken me so long to review! Everytime I got online I never had enough time to actually read the chapter! I finally finished it! All your descriptions are so awesome and I can't wait to find out what the first day will be like, back to preppy social-ness for me...lol I'm working on chapter 4 of Learning the rules and that should be up this afternoon along with another chapter of LA. yay for me and updating...lol IO need to work on my other stuff tho...but munchers my brain is bogged down with stories...lol Righty well I loved it, but now I must be off to fight the plot bunnies that are taking over. ~Alli~
Cat - July 18, 2005 11:19 PM (GMT)
Thanks so much for all your comments, they always make me really happy ^_^ I'm sorry I haven't had much time to update. My schedule is a little hectic, and I was suffering from a little bit of writer's block... well, not really, I was kind of too busy counting down the days until Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to pay much attention to my fics.
All I have to say, about the book that is, is that the wait was worth it and if you're not a fan of Harry Potter, or you've read the first book but didn't like it, you should read the series just to get to the Sixth Book it's AMAZING. :)
So yeah, without furth ado here's your chapter ^_^ I'll probably have the next part up shortly. And if you still haven't got a baner - so so so so sorry - don't worry, I'm working on them (finally)!
Chapter 3: The Last First Day - Part I
“Don’t forget your lunch money; it’s on the counter,” Orlando told his younger brother and sister, nodding at the kitchen counter as he zipped up his black Jan Sport backpack.
“Has anyone seen my briefcase?” His mother asked, looking around frantically and nearly tripping on the Tonka trucks little Mikey had left on the floor.
“On the stairs. Mikey, pick those up.” Orlando ordered. His little brother bent to do so begrudgingly. Orlando abandoned his backpack on the oak chair (imported from brazil) and grabbed the toast that had just popped out of the toaster. “Here, Lou, eat up,” he told his little sister, throwing the toast on a plate and sliding it over to her. Lou, short for ‘Louis’, began munching away, smearing jam all over her face in the process.
“Make sure to wash your face when you’re done,” He told her, pushing two more slices of bread into the over-used toaster. He grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and began to pour cereal for his own breakfast. His backpack fell to the floor with a heavy clunk as he pushed it aside and collapsed into the chair. The first day of school had crept up unexpectedly on the Bloom family, leaving them all frantic. All, that is, except for one.
“Good morning all,” Julian Bloom breezed into the kitchen/dining area, smelling heavily of expensive cologne and aftershave. The scent of it always left Orlando feeling nauseous, but somehow it enchanted others. His father and mother pecked each others cheeks in their ritual good morning kiss. The toaster spat out the two pieces of bread Orlando had shoved into it earlier and Julian grabbed them, placing them on a china plate for himself and beginning to plaster them with a disgusting amount of blackberry jam.
Mikey’s face began to contort as he fought back tears, realizing he had no breakfast. Orlando made an aggravated noise in the back of his throat. “Easy buddy, let’s fix you up with some Cap’n Crunch, what d’you say?” The child grinned happily, revealing black gaps where he’d lost a couple of his baby teeth.
The first day, and already Orlando was playing nanny. But this was the last year he had to; no way was he sticking around. It was straight off to college for him next September, with no looking back. Santa Monica’s Golden Boy couldn’t wait to leave home.
~*~
As per ritual, Jazz, Lexi and Evie made their debut in the student parking lot, pulling up in Evie’s brand new silver Lexus - thank you Daddy - and blasting music so loud that the old school windows, that were possibly four inches thick, vibrated. All three of them wore the latest Gucci wrap-around sunglasses that other girls at Santa Monica High were on the wait list for and would kill to have. All wore designer outfits that must have added up to a cool two thousand individually.
And Kassidy was so not impressed at this entrance. She would have laughed, except she wasn’t sure if she found it funny or just depressing. She surveyed the student population out on the terrace over her steaming mug of coffee - personalized and monogrammed as a gag gift from Joaquin - and noticed envious looks and glares being thrown at the trio from practically every girl on campus, and the eyes of the guys were visibly checking out the girls and mentally undressing them.
“It’s like, so good to be back!” Kassidy said, pitching her voice a few octaves higher than was normal and twirling her hair in the most ditzy impression she could muster.
“Like totally!” Mo agreed. The two girls rolled their eyes at each other, conveying their absolute disgust. “The sooner it starts, the sooner it ends,” she said with a sigh, already dreaming of winter break.
“Amen,” Kassidy agreed and the two walked into the school for their last first day of high school.
~*~
“See you two at lunch? I’ve got to check in with the office about the school paper. Details and shit,” Jazz told her two friends rolling her eyes as though she couldn’t stand the thought of being made Editor in Chief for the Saint Monica school paper. In actuality she’d wanted the position since she’d gotten involved in the extra curricular during her softmore year.
Evelyn flipped dark hair off her shoulder and said casually, but a little coldly, “Yeah, see you.” She stalked off, and after giving a little wave goodbye, Lexi followed. For a moment, Jazz wondered what had set Evelyn off. She was no stranger to the girl’s fiery temper and passionate arguments often fueled by her disillusioned vision of herself being located at the center of the universe. Evelyn was a waiting stick of dynamite with a dangerously short fuse. It was quite a shame, Jazz often thought, that Evelyn couldn’t control her temper and her tendency to be self-absorbed; she was a good person but her flaws often irritated Jazz to no end and caused a majority of students - most female - to despise her.
Pushing thoughts of Evelyn out of her already crowded brain, Jazz sauntered off in the opposite direction a slight bounce in her step, causing her ankle bracelet bell charms to ring cheerfully as she went. She passed the entrance to the school doors which lead to the office. In order to get away, she’d told a slight fib to her friends - and, in Lexi’s case, relative - she didn’t have to go over editing details as she’d already discussed them months ago with the guidance counselor. No, she had an entirely different meeting in mind.
She turned down an alley-like path the was squished tightly in between the fresh red-bricked wall of the new gym building and the crumbling grey stone of the academics building. The place was bleak and dark; the sun did not shine here. Patches of moss grew between building and concrete, as did weeds creating cracks that disturbed the other wise smooth concrete path. Despite it’s depressing appearance however, many students haunted the place; for teachers tended to turn a blind eye it’s existence. But it was one student in particular that Jazz had entered the foreboding place to see.
The well-worn path led to a small, heavily graffitied, alcove and standing in there, cooly smoking cigarettes, were Ronda Collins and Jazz’s whole reason for coming in the first place; Billie Joe Armstrong.
“Hey,” Jazz said smiling delightedly. She tried hard not to melt on the spot when Billie flashed her a shy smile. He did not smile at many people, but Jazz had come to notice that he routinely smiled at her appearance which obviously had to mean something. Or it could have just been her infatuation over-analyzing his actions into something they were not. Jazz preferred to believe the former.
“Hey Jazz,” Ronda said. She took a drag of her cigarette and then added, “How was your summer?”
“Hilarious; I had a fun time,” she responded excitedly. “I hear your band had a few gigs this summer!”
Jazz had spoken to Ronnie. She was careful not to look directly at Billie; from past experience she had learnt that when in eye contact with Billie she blurted out stupid, and often embarrassing, things. But it was Billie who responded, even though Ronnie’s mouth had opened to reply.
“We’ll be playing at the A. Dive on Friday,” he said in rapidly, so the it took Jazz a few moments to actually understand what he had said. Two faint pink spots flamed on his cheeks, causing Jazz’s analytic mind to go into over-drive. Was he embarrassed? About what? He’d sounded eager, like he’d wanted her to know so that she would come! Or maybe he’d thought he’d sounded arrogant; Billie was a modest guy and professing that his band had gotten a gig at the A. Dive - which was rumored to be almost impossible - may have been a little to self-promoting for his taste. Then again, it could have just been his excitement that had coloured his cheeks.
“We’re only starting line-up, though,” Billie continued.
“That’s really great! Next thing I know you two will probably have a record deal and be touring across Europe while I’ll be stuck in University shamelessly name-dropping that I knew you,” Jazz teased with a goading smile.
Billie grinned, and shrugged his shoulders modestly. It all seemed too much to hope for, but Billie wished for that almost exact thing to happen everyday. The only difference was that Jazz would be at his side - he didn’t want to leave her behind but he never dared to imagine she would come with him. She only thought of him as a friend and he didn’t see her ever considering him as something more.
“So what classes are you taking this year?” Billie asked, turning the conversation into a safe and secure topic. Although it was a wonder that Jazz could talk about her AP Physic and Math courses and still cause his insides to go completely insane.
~*~
Hugh had come to claim Evelyn’s company and Lexi had snuck away from the two lovers. She was on a mission; a carefully detailed outline that she’d promised herself to follow. Right now she was working on step one; find the target. Only, being popular all her life - all of her high school life at least - Lexi had never paid attention to the common haunts of any other group besides those her own. She didn’t even know who Elijah was friends with. Although, if she remembered correctly from those previous math lessons she had in his company, he did talk rather a lot about one girl in particular; Lily Evans. Lexi knew Lily from their shared passion for the dramatic arts. But the two had never gotten along as they were often chasing the same role of lead female characters and both were very determined individuals.
Lexi circled the perimeter of the school, hoping to catch a glimpse of that delightfully messy dark brown hair and maybe a flash of those startling blue eyes. Her search was fruitless, and she decided to take a quick check through the halls. She’d have to be quick though, the bell would ring at any...
Letting out an audible groan as the school bell rang loudly, Lexi headed toward her first period class. She’d continue her search at lunch. Jazz would help if she asked, but would Evelyn suspect something? She knew the other girl would not accept that Lexi had fallen for someone so below their status and that made her nervous. But what scared Lexi most of all, was that in June she would have agreed whole-heartedly with her friend. She did want to remember the time when she had thought herself better than others based on her appearance and her trust fund.
All I have to say, about the book that is, is that the wait was worth it and if you're not a fan of Harry Potter, or you've read the first book but didn't like it, you should read the series just to get to the Sixth Book it's AMAZING. :)
So yeah, without furth ado here's your chapter ^_^ I'll probably have the next part up shortly. And if you still haven't got a baner - so so so so sorry - don't worry, I'm working on them (finally)!
Chapter 3: The Last First Day - Part I
“Don’t forget your lunch money; it’s on the counter,” Orlando told his younger brother and sister, nodding at the kitchen counter as he zipped up his black Jan Sport backpack.
“Has anyone seen my briefcase?” His mother asked, looking around frantically and nearly tripping on the Tonka trucks little Mikey had left on the floor.
“On the stairs. Mikey, pick those up.” Orlando ordered. His little brother bent to do so begrudgingly. Orlando abandoned his backpack on the oak chair (imported from brazil) and grabbed the toast that had just popped out of the toaster. “Here, Lou, eat up,” he told his little sister, throwing the toast on a plate and sliding it over to her. Lou, short for ‘Louis’, began munching away, smearing jam all over her face in the process.
“Make sure to wash your face when you’re done,” He told her, pushing two more slices of bread into the over-used toaster. He grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and began to pour cereal for his own breakfast. His backpack fell to the floor with a heavy clunk as he pushed it aside and collapsed into the chair. The first day of school had crept up unexpectedly on the Bloom family, leaving them all frantic. All, that is, except for one.
“Good morning all,” Julian Bloom breezed into the kitchen/dining area, smelling heavily of expensive cologne and aftershave. The scent of it always left Orlando feeling nauseous, but somehow it enchanted others. His father and mother pecked each others cheeks in their ritual good morning kiss. The toaster spat out the two pieces of bread Orlando had shoved into it earlier and Julian grabbed them, placing them on a china plate for himself and beginning to plaster them with a disgusting amount of blackberry jam.
Mikey’s face began to contort as he fought back tears, realizing he had no breakfast. Orlando made an aggravated noise in the back of his throat. “Easy buddy, let’s fix you up with some Cap’n Crunch, what d’you say?” The child grinned happily, revealing black gaps where he’d lost a couple of his baby teeth.
The first day, and already Orlando was playing nanny. But this was the last year he had to; no way was he sticking around. It was straight off to college for him next September, with no looking back. Santa Monica’s Golden Boy couldn’t wait to leave home.
~*~
As per ritual, Jazz, Lexi and Evie made their debut in the student parking lot, pulling up in Evie’s brand new silver Lexus - thank you Daddy - and blasting music so loud that the old school windows, that were possibly four inches thick, vibrated. All three of them wore the latest Gucci wrap-around sunglasses that other girls at Santa Monica High were on the wait list for and would kill to have. All wore designer outfits that must have added up to a cool two thousand individually.
And Kassidy was so not impressed at this entrance. She would have laughed, except she wasn’t sure if she found it funny or just depressing. She surveyed the student population out on the terrace over her steaming mug of coffee - personalized and monogrammed as a gag gift from Joaquin - and noticed envious looks and glares being thrown at the trio from practically every girl on campus, and the eyes of the guys were visibly checking out the girls and mentally undressing them.
“It’s like, so good to be back!” Kassidy said, pitching her voice a few octaves higher than was normal and twirling her hair in the most ditzy impression she could muster.
“Like totally!” Mo agreed. The two girls rolled their eyes at each other, conveying their absolute disgust. “The sooner it starts, the sooner it ends,” she said with a sigh, already dreaming of winter break.
“Amen,” Kassidy agreed and the two walked into the school for their last first day of high school.
~*~
“See you two at lunch? I’ve got to check in with the office about the school paper. Details and shit,” Jazz told her two friends rolling her eyes as though she couldn’t stand the thought of being made Editor in Chief for the Saint Monica school paper. In actuality she’d wanted the position since she’d gotten involved in the extra curricular during her softmore year.
Evelyn flipped dark hair off her shoulder and said casually, but a little coldly, “Yeah, see you.” She stalked off, and after giving a little wave goodbye, Lexi followed. For a moment, Jazz wondered what had set Evelyn off. She was no stranger to the girl’s fiery temper and passionate arguments often fueled by her disillusioned vision of herself being located at the center of the universe. Evelyn was a waiting stick of dynamite with a dangerously short fuse. It was quite a shame, Jazz often thought, that Evelyn couldn’t control her temper and her tendency to be self-absorbed; she was a good person but her flaws often irritated Jazz to no end and caused a majority of students - most female - to despise her.
Pushing thoughts of Evelyn out of her already crowded brain, Jazz sauntered off in the opposite direction a slight bounce in her step, causing her ankle bracelet bell charms to ring cheerfully as she went. She passed the entrance to the school doors which lead to the office. In order to get away, she’d told a slight fib to her friends - and, in Lexi’s case, relative - she didn’t have to go over editing details as she’d already discussed them months ago with the guidance counselor. No, she had an entirely different meeting in mind.
She turned down an alley-like path the was squished tightly in between the fresh red-bricked wall of the new gym building and the crumbling grey stone of the academics building. The place was bleak and dark; the sun did not shine here. Patches of moss grew between building and concrete, as did weeds creating cracks that disturbed the other wise smooth concrete path. Despite it’s depressing appearance however, many students haunted the place; for teachers tended to turn a blind eye it’s existence. But it was one student in particular that Jazz had entered the foreboding place to see.
The well-worn path led to a small, heavily graffitied, alcove and standing in there, cooly smoking cigarettes, were Ronda Collins and Jazz’s whole reason for coming in the first place; Billie Joe Armstrong.
“Hey,” Jazz said smiling delightedly. She tried hard not to melt on the spot when Billie flashed her a shy smile. He did not smile at many people, but Jazz had come to notice that he routinely smiled at her appearance which obviously had to mean something. Or it could have just been her infatuation over-analyzing his actions into something they were not. Jazz preferred to believe the former.
“Hey Jazz,” Ronda said. She took a drag of her cigarette and then added, “How was your summer?”
“Hilarious; I had a fun time,” she responded excitedly. “I hear your band had a few gigs this summer!”
Jazz had spoken to Ronnie. She was careful not to look directly at Billie; from past experience she had learnt that when in eye contact with Billie she blurted out stupid, and often embarrassing, things. But it was Billie who responded, even though Ronnie’s mouth had opened to reply.
“We’ll be playing at the A. Dive on Friday,” he said in rapidly, so the it took Jazz a few moments to actually understand what he had said. Two faint pink spots flamed on his cheeks, causing Jazz’s analytic mind to go into over-drive. Was he embarrassed? About what? He’d sounded eager, like he’d wanted her to know so that she would come! Or maybe he’d thought he’d sounded arrogant; Billie was a modest guy and professing that his band had gotten a gig at the A. Dive - which was rumored to be almost impossible - may have been a little to self-promoting for his taste. Then again, it could have just been his excitement that had coloured his cheeks.
“We’re only starting line-up, though,” Billie continued.
“That’s really great! Next thing I know you two will probably have a record deal and be touring across Europe while I’ll be stuck in University shamelessly name-dropping that I knew you,” Jazz teased with a goading smile.
Billie grinned, and shrugged his shoulders modestly. It all seemed too much to hope for, but Billie wished for that almost exact thing to happen everyday. The only difference was that Jazz would be at his side - he didn’t want to leave her behind but he never dared to imagine she would come with him. She only thought of him as a friend and he didn’t see her ever considering him as something more.
“So what classes are you taking this year?” Billie asked, turning the conversation into a safe and secure topic. Although it was a wonder that Jazz could talk about her AP Physic and Math courses and still cause his insides to go completely insane.
~*~
Hugh had come to claim Evelyn’s company and Lexi had snuck away from the two lovers. She was on a mission; a carefully detailed outline that she’d promised herself to follow. Right now she was working on step one; find the target. Only, being popular all her life - all of her high school life at least - Lexi had never paid attention to the common haunts of any other group besides those her own. She didn’t even know who Elijah was friends with. Although, if she remembered correctly from those previous math lessons she had in his company, he did talk rather a lot about one girl in particular; Lily Evans. Lexi knew Lily from their shared passion for the dramatic arts. But the two had never gotten along as they were often chasing the same role of lead female characters and both were very determined individuals.
Lexi circled the perimeter of the school, hoping to catch a glimpse of that delightfully messy dark brown hair and maybe a flash of those startling blue eyes. Her search was fruitless, and she decided to take a quick check through the halls. She’d have to be quick though, the bell would ring at any...
Letting out an audible groan as the school bell rang loudly, Lexi headed toward her first period class. She’d continue her search at lunch. Jazz would help if she asked, but would Evelyn suspect something? She knew the other girl would not accept that Lexi had fallen for someone so below their status and that made her nervous. But what scared Lexi most of all, was that in June she would have agreed whole-heartedly with her friend. She did want to remember the time when she had thought herself better than others based on her appearance and her trust fund.
Nefduliniel - July 20, 2005 02:11 AM (GMT)
That was great! You seem to have my character figured out! So far, that is exactly how I was at the beginning of every year of high school! Can't wait for more!
Luvs,
Jinx!
Luvs,
Jinx!
Jaime Girl - July 20, 2005 07:53 AM (GMT)
How kewl! I worry about poor Orli though...must suck having to play parent to his siblings!
.Jazz. - July 21, 2005 03:13 PM (GMT)
Oh my gawsh.
I did actually read the rest of the story, but that bits a blur after the "Jazz and Billie-sex-on-a-stick" scene. *sigh*
This is exactly how I wanted their little "relationship" to be.
And I am SO glad that Jazz isn't OTT. She has this great bubbly, perky personality that doesn't make you want to throw up.
It's really great Sweetpea! I'm loving this whole story.
<3
I did actually read the rest of the story, but that bits a blur after the "Jazz and Billie-sex-on-a-stick" scene. *sigh*
This is exactly how I wanted their little "relationship" to be.
And I am SO glad that Jazz isn't OTT. She has this great bubbly, perky personality that doesn't make you want to throw up.
It's really great Sweetpea! I'm loving this whole story.
<3
darinithlien - July 22, 2005 02:11 PM (GMT)
Great chap Cat, haven't seen you in a long time. Hope rowing and everything is going fine. I can't believe you missed charlie and the chocolate Factory it was hilarious, but thats expected with Johnny Depp.
Anyways back to your story and your chappy, i absolutely love the way you write it is awesome with the amount of description you give is the right amount. I know you know that i'm going to ask for another chappy but that is always the case. Don't rush yourself i know your schedule, relax.
I'm writing along reply cuz i feel like i haven't talk to you in ages. I'm gonna start rambling soon but i'm at my dads this weekend if you want to something (talking about the sixth book for instant).
G2G, Ciao Bella.
Anyways back to your story and your chappy, i absolutely love the way you write it is awesome with the amount of description you give is the right amount. I know you know that i'm going to ask for another chappy but that is always the case. Don't rush yourself i know your schedule, relax.
I'm writing along reply cuz i feel like i haven't talk to you in ages. I'm gonna start rambling soon but i'm at my dads this weekend if you want to something (talking about the sixth book for instant).
G2G, Ciao Bella.
SaryWary - July 24, 2005 09:47 PM (GMT)
Hey Cat,
I'm sorry it took me so long to reply but as you know, I've had limited time. That was a great chapter but I keep picturing the school as ours and it's confusing me, hehe. I want to find out what happens to Orlando's character since he hasn't been talked about much so far...and of course I hope my character is in the next chapter (it's the self-absorbedness in me!).
I'll talk to you about the story at rowing. Keep writing, you're too good to ever stop!
:love: Sarah
p.s. I'm getting further in HP, you proud?
I'm sorry it took me so long to reply but as you know, I've had limited time. That was a great chapter but I keep picturing the school as ours and it's confusing me, hehe. I want to find out what happens to Orlando's character since he hasn't been talked about much so far...and of course I hope my character is in the next chapter (it's the self-absorbedness in me!).
I'll talk to you about the story at rowing. Keep writing, you're too good to ever stop!
:love: Sarah
p.s. I'm getting further in HP, you proud?
4everElijah - July 26, 2005 10:01 PM (GMT)
Ok, don't have time to actually reply right now...am only online for a short time. I'm printing it and I'll read it as soon as I get off...but I shall return later to fix this as an actual post even though I know I'm already going to love it! Luv ya much chickadee! I'll try to update on some of mine eventually. ~Alli~
Kit-Kat - July 28, 2005 01:15 AM (GMT)
Hey cat! first thing I want to say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :D I hope it is a great one! * I saw that your birthday was today on the b-day thing* ok and I also wanted to say that was a good chapter!! It was really cute how Orli took care of his little brother and sister *sigh* but yet really tough b/c he has to be like Mr. Mom there, but still cute! (sorry, I am an OB fan can't help it!) and I liked how this story is coming along, can't wait to read more!
~Kit-Kat~
~Kit-Kat~
SaryWary - July 28, 2005 06:32 PM (GMT)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
:laola:
:fairy: Make a wish!
:love: Sarah
:laola:
:fairy: Make a wish!
:love: Sarah
Cat - July 29, 2005 01:51 AM (GMT)
^_^ :D Thanks so much for the Happy Birthday(s)!!!
I have to say that I feel a certain superiority over others now that I'm 16. Sure, older people may frown down at me and wonder 'what does she know? She's only sixteen. She's not even legally permitted to drink.'
And my response would be to those people 'What do you know? You're senile.' Plus I'd mention the whole being allowed to drink in various countries in europe and such.
I'm in a bit of a weird mood at the moment; I just saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Johnny Depp always makes me weirdly giddy and just odd in general. Or perhaps someone slipped something funny into my cake.
Thanks so much to everyone for their reviews ^_^ I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far. I'm hoping my writing will pick up again soon. I've had my life taken over briefly by 'The official Drivers Handbook' and a sport known as 'rowing'. But it'll all be over by next Friday, so I'll most likely laze about on the Saturday, to recupterate, and then start spitting out chapters like some kind of chapter spitting machine.
:tease
I have to say that I feel a certain superiority over others now that I'm 16. Sure, older people may frown down at me and wonder 'what does she know? She's only sixteen. She's not even legally permitted to drink.'
And my response would be to those people 'What do you know? You're senile.' Plus I'd mention the whole being allowed to drink in various countries in europe and such.
I'm in a bit of a weird mood at the moment; I just saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Johnny Depp always makes me weirdly giddy and just odd in general. Or perhaps someone slipped something funny into my cake.
Thanks so much to everyone for their reviews ^_^ I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far. I'm hoping my writing will pick up again soon. I've had my life taken over briefly by 'The official Drivers Handbook' and a sport known as 'rowing'. But it'll all be over by next Friday, so I'll most likely laze about on the Saturday, to recupterate, and then start spitting out chapters like some kind of chapter spitting machine.
:tease
Blondie - July 29, 2005 03:59 PM (GMT)
Eeep! Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. Real life has been so chaotic, and like you I was eagerly awaiting the 6th HP book. I have to agree with you, it was brilliant. I died a million deaths reading it.
Okay, enough of that.
Hm...poor Orlando, playing the nanny to his family because his parents are too busy to care or what not. I don't blame him for wanting to get out of there as soon as high school is done.
Hahahaha, I died of laughter over Kassidy and Mo's reaction to the "popular" girls entrance to school. Like oh my god, it is so totally cool to be popular. :lol:
You are doing an amazing job with all the characters. I think Billie and Jazz are so cute!
Okay, enough of that.
Hm...poor Orlando, playing the nanny to his family because his parents are too busy to care or what not. I don't blame him for wanting to get out of there as soon as high school is done.
Hahahaha, I died of laughter over Kassidy and Mo's reaction to the "popular" girls entrance to school. Like oh my god, it is so totally cool to be popular. :lol:
You are doing an amazing job with all the characters. I think Billie and Jazz are so cute!
4everElijah - July 30, 2005 01:12 AM (GMT)
First off...must post my birthday wishes also even though they are a bit belated... I feel bad :)
Second off, I wanted to post a new post with my quotes b/c you know they always take up like 12 pages...
Second off, I wanted to post a new post with my quotes b/c you know they always take up like 12 pages...
| QUOTE |
| Santa Monica’s Golden Boy couldn’t wait to leave home. |
I'll bet...but it's so cute!!! *le sigh*
| QUOTE |
| pulling up in Evie’s brand new silver Lexus - thank you Daddy |
:lmao: that was so hilar!
| QUOTE |
| from past experience she had learnt that when in eye contact with Billie she blurted out stupid, and often embarrassing, things. |
are you sure I'm not related to her in real life because she sounds an awful lot like me around males...
| QUOTE |
| find the target. |
The target? I feel like some odd female American version of James Bond...
| QUOTE |
| Letting out an audible groan as the school bell rang loudly, Lexi headed toward her first period class |
My only thought at this point in time... :ups: :ups: :ups: lol
| QUOTE |
| and then start spitting out chapters like some kind of chapter spitting machine. |
:yahoo yay! that makes me so happy to hear that!
I'm almost done with my new chapter for Light through the branches and I won't make promises but I think it's going to be up tomorrow along with another chapter of Learning the Rules...yay for me...not! lol, righty well I'm glad you're finally 16, join the club! lol Party party...~Alli~
Cat - August 2, 2005 03:36 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| The target? I feel like some odd female American version of James Bond... |
Well, when it comes to Elijah I'm not so sure you aren't! ;) No, you're just a little determined, that's all eheheh :)
| QUOTE |
| I'm almost done with my new chapter for Light through the branches and I won't make promises but I think it's going to be up tomorrow along with another chapter of Learning the Rules...yay for me...not! lol, righty well I'm glad you're finally 16, join the club! lol Party party...~Alli~ |
Hey, it's past tomorrow! :( But they'll be up soon yesh? *hopeful look*
^_^ Indeed, I think 16 will be quite a party!
I know I've been slacking off, but (!!!) I used my spare moments of today to make a banner!!
I hope you like it Ronnie ^_^ Sorry it took so long for me to get done.
And Blondie and Just Peachy I haven't forgotten about yours!! I'll work on them as soon as I have another spare moment :) Thanks for being patient!
Ayngil - August 7, 2005 02:53 AM (GMT)
I do like it!
One question, though. Where'd you get that pic. It looks cute, and I don't have it.
One question, though. Where'd you get that pic. It looks cute, and I don't have it.