Whitney High (Starting Now/Closing Soon)

Sophie

I appraoched Bon Cafe and ran inside. I'd promised I would meet my boyfriend, Scott, here...half an hour ago. But I had to grab my Chemistry textbook from Mom's house so I could bring it to Dad's and to my homework tonight.

I spotted Scott, and ran over to the table. Sliding into the booth across from him, I apologized, "Hey Scott, I'm so sorry I'm late."

He tapped his keys against the table, frustration on his face.

"Sophie, I've been waiting here for half an hour for you." He said angrily.

"Scott, I'm sorry." Placing my hands on the table I continued, "I had to stop by my mom's house really quick so I could do my homework."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" He demanded.

I rolled my eyes, only to have my wrist grabbed and be jerked closer towards him, now half laying on the table, "Scott, stop it, you're hurting me."

"Sophie, I'm sick of this; of you're always coming up with an excuse."

I looked around, my wrist in pain from being twisted. People were staring.

"Scott" I whispered "Please. You're hurting me. People are staring."

He glanced around, and dropped my wrist. I shrunk back into the corner of the booth, craddling my wrist.

Scott looked at my wrist, and his eyes got huge, "Soph...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

"It's fine Scott" I said. It was always fine.

***

I leaned against the door of my car, looking down at my feet. Scott pushed my hair from my face, and kissed me on the cheek.

"Soph, please don't be mad. I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry." He said, stroking my hair.

"Scott, I said it was fine" I said dismissively, trying to get him to just drop it.

Scott rolled his eyes, "Whatever Sophie." He hesitated, then grabbed my jaw and jerked my face to look up at him, "Sophie, will you look at me when I'm talking to you!?"

His grip tightened in my my jaw and said, "Sophie, stop it. Why are you looking at me like that?"

I felt my eyes harden and I pushed him away from me, and I said in a flash of anger, "Get away, Conner!"

Scott froze. Oh no....I said Conner, the guy who raped me. "Who's Conner!?"

I looked at the ground. I couldn't tell him. Grabbing me by the shoulders, he shook me, my head banging into my car, "Sophie, have you been cheating on me!?"

Tears streamed down my face, and I said, "No, I'm not Scott, please. It was an old thing, two years ago."

He lifted his hand, and the next thing I knew his hand struck my right cheek "Don't you lie to me Sophie! Stop it!"

Craddling my cheek, I tried to stop my tears.

"What are you doing!?" I heard someone yell, "Get off of her!"

*This can be anyone *

Jessie Jessie pulled into the school parking lot, music blasting in his Infiniti G37 top down. He could see the looks he got when got out. He had insisted that he didnt get such a flashy car but his dad said he wasnt going to shame the family name again. The day went by pretty fast he had got ok teachers this year and the people in his class werent totally boring.

"So,how was your summer Jess?" One of his former teachers asked.

"It was ok, im just glad to be back at school."

The final bell rang signaling that it was the end of the day. Jessie mad his way outside to the parking lot he saw a group of student around his car.He rolled his eyes. He hated this kind of attention he walked over and got his soccer gear he had soccer practice. He turned to head to the locker room to change..

Logan Warner
Day 1 (Afternoon/ Evening)

School had gone pretty much as I'd expected. The teachers had set the ground rules. I have to get a few syllabuses signed. But now was the moment I'd been waiting for all day: the first day of football tryouts. I may not have been all that fast or great at hitting, but man could I throw. I had an arm. And I was looking to use it. This year, I was gonna be the JV quarterback. Once I set my mind to something, I did it. It was like that summer after fifth grade when I memorized the first fourth of the old testament. Everybody said I couldn't, but the world was on my side. And he was now.

The coach made us run. A lot. We did what he called "ladders". It was basically where we sprinted back and forth, first to the ten yard line and back, then the twenty and back, then the thirty and back, and so on. By the time we got to the fifty, sweat was dripping down my back. I wasn't the slowest one, but I wasn't the front-runner either. I needed to be a standout. So I increased the pace, hoping the endorphines would set in. They never did seem to.

After that, we did some basic stretching. From there, we did some passing drills. I did well, really well, but some kid named Jules was obviously better. I pummeled him in the hitting drills. It wasn't exactly revenge, but I wouldn't say that I wasn't smiling. I'll tell the priest at confession. But I was enjoying it for the time being.

At about five thirty, we had to get off the field for varsity. I got out of the locker room quick, in a sweaty t-shirt and the jeans I'd worn to school. I could smell the salty sweat in my dreads.It ran down my forehead and into my dark eyes. But I had to get to Bon Cafe. It was like my own Central Perk, from Friends. Besides, I heard that Ryn Angeli went there alone to study a lot. Maybe we could develop some chemistry over chemistry...

But something in the parking lot stopped me. There was a guy I didn't recognize and a girl I'd seen a few times around school, Sophie or Sophia or something like that. He was yelling something at her. Then, before me or the poor chick knew what was happening, his hand reared back and hit her eye. Her shoulders slumped and her hand went reflexively to her eye.

I started running toward them, my shoes kicking up the little gray rocks of the parking lot. Before I knew what I was doing, I was yelling. "Hey! What are you doing? Get off of her!"

The guy turned around. He wasn't big, but he looked pretty sturdily built, like a small wall of compact muscle. His face was contorted with something. It was like a mixture, one with a fixed ratio like in chemistry. Two parts rage, one part hate. Two parts hurt, one part evil. He started toward me.

"No!" yelled Sophie/Sophia. She was heaving big, ugly sobs. "Scott!"

He got up real close to my face. His nose was kind of crooked-looking, and his breath smelled like cigarettes.

"You think you're some big man or somethin'?" he said, bumping up against my chest. People inside Bon Cafe were starting to look out and stare. Sophie/Sophia shrunk into herself and hid from scrutiny. Scott seemed to swell bigger, an infected wound leaking ugly green puss.

"God didn't put you on this earth to hit that girl," I said, hoping he didn't hear the same quaver in my voice that I did. I needed to be brave, like Jesus at the last supper, looking into the eyes of an enemy who doesn't deserve attention.

"Who the hell are you?" He turned around to the shrinking Sophie/Sophia. "This Conner, slut?"

She shook her head, her body now visibly rocking with her cries. A woman emerged from Bon Cafe. Her hair was bright red, her eyes a bluish color. She strode over to us, her face crimson with anger. "Break it up! Break it up!" She pushed us apart before there was time even to throw a punch. "Fight on your own property. Get outta here! This is a family place!" I nodded to her in the most polite way I could and turned toward Sophie/Sophia. She was getting into a car. Scott gave me a look before getting into that same car with her. I watched the headlights go on and listened to the crackling rocks as they pulled out of the parking lot. I was biting my lip so hard it was bleeding.

"What'r'ya waitin' for?" the woman demanded. "Get outta here."

I turned to the windows. A bunch of kids I sort of knew from school were staring. I nodded and turned around, heading home. I was swallowed up by the black cloak of night.

Sophie

"Sophie, baby, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it." Scott said, unbuckling but not getting out.

"Get out." I said, staring at my hands resting on the steering wheel

"Soph-"

I cut him off, snapping, "Get out of my car. Don't touch me. Don't talk to me. Don't call me. Don't come near me."

He inhaled sharpley, surprised. After a moment of hesitation, he opened the door and said, "See you around Soph."

Turning, he slammed the door shut, and I peeled out of his driveway. Who was the guy who had helped me? I had recognized him from school, but never met him. Why did he help me? He doesn't even know me.

Thoughts clouded my head, thoughts about Scott, about Conner, about the boy who'd helped me, and about Daniel. Tears rolled out of my eyes, and blurred my vision to the point where I had to pull over onto the shoulder and stop there.

Resting my head against the wheel, I let it out, sobbing and not caring if anyone heard. And it felt good.

After nearly half an hour, my phone started buzzing. Flipping it open, I answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Sophie!" I heard Daniel say, and I couldn't help but break into a smile. Lookign at the clock, I realized that I'd forgotten to call him.

"Hey Daniel! Sorry I didn't call you. I got...caught up." I lied...but I guess you could call it the truth, right?

Flipping on the light, my breath caught in my throat as I noticed a thick, blue and purple bruise forming around my wrist.

"Sophie, are you okay?" Daniel asked, worry evident in his voice.

Flipping down the mirror, I choked back a scream as I saw my eye and jaw starting to bruise as well, "I'm fine Daniel. Fine"

I lied. I wasn't fine.

"...okay" he said reluctantly, "Hey, I gotta go, me and Sara have a date soon, okay?"

"Okay. Talk to you tomorrow then?" I asked hopefully.

"Definitely. Bye Soph!"

Hanging up, I threw the phone onto the passanger seat and made my way to Dad's house

***

When Dad saw me, he was speechless.

"Sophie! What happened!?" He asked in his thick Norwegian accent.

"It's nothing, Dad. I'm fine. I just...ran into an open locker door is all. Nothing major."

Dad looked worried, but I kissed him on the cheek and assured him, "I'm fine Daddy. But now I have to go do my homework."

Mia

Mia looked down at her watch and gaped. “Would you step on it, Cam, I’m missing my curfew here!”

“No way,” Cameron grounded out. “This here is my baby...” he smiled as he stroked the interior of his new truck. “I’ve gotta be gentle with her.”

Mia smirked with a small shake of her head. “I’ll never understand why guys talk about their cars like they’re girls...you know, Eben does the same thing with his Range Rover evoque?”

Cameron’s eyes went wide in shock. “No way, your brother owns an evoque? Those things cost like $43995!”

Mia frowned a little, a sudden look of worry plastered across her face. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Cameron still seemed in awe. “Man, I never knew Eben made that kinda money...”

“He doesn’t,” Mia bit the bottom of her lip as the million dollar question popped into her head; then where did he get it from?

As they reached Mia’s house, Cameron parked up and looked over at her. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

Mia said nothing at first. She really didn’t know what to think. One voice in her head kept telling her that she was worrying for no reason, that there was a perfectly good explanation behind Eben’s expensive car, but at the same time there was another voice that kept saying that something was going on...something bad...

“Cameron, you don’t think that-” Mia stopped mid-sentence. She couldn’t even bring herself to think that her brother would get involved in something illegal, let alone say it out loud.

Chelsea

She knew she was supposed to study but she couldn't concentrate. Her rent on her apartment was coming up and she didn't have enough money to even cover it. She knew she would have to ask her parents again for money. Her job wasn't paying her enough for all those times she had stayed until 1 am on a school night locking up the cafe. Chelsea couldn't ask her parents because they were already paying for her car. If she kept asking she knew they will beg her to stay with them. Chelsea couldn't think of living there, not with her ex stalking her. No, she felt safer where she was.

Chelsea had to stay at school to recruit new cheerleaders which she felt the team already had enough members. But rules are rules. She couldn't take it anymore. Chelsea stood up, bookbag in hand, and stormed out the library, heading toward the football field. Her cell rang Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" song. "Hey, mom. I'm fine. Don't worry about a thing." There was a pause. She was listening intensely as her mother yelled at her about responsibility and that she is not ready to live by herself and therefore should wait until college. Chelsea hung up the phone on her mother. She made it to the football field on time but there wasn't a lot of people there. She sighed. She missed a couple hours of work only to wait for prissy stuck up girls to show up for a cheerleading tryout. Chelsea couldn't believe it.

"You're late, Fanney. Get your butt behind that counter." Her boss, Tuttie, yelled as she walked in to the cafe. "Candy called and said she couldn't make it. One of the kids are sick. You will have to work overtime." Chelsea couldn't believe it. Today wasn't her day. "But I already stayed two nights in a row. I have school tommorow. I have homework to do. I have a life. And I will be coming to work late again tommorow for cheerleading practice and tryouts. Call someone else." She rushed her words as she went behind the counter and into the back room where the employees like to smoke and hang out. The air was smokey and the the room was dim. Chelsea had to adjust her eyes to the dimness of the room. 'Haven't they heard of sunlights?' she thought as she cut on the light to the bathroom. The employee bathroom which had no door on the hinges and urine all over the toliet seat and floor. No one uses that bathroom and that day she forget to use the bathroom at school and she had to use one really bad. But she refused to use the employee bathroom. Her boss followed her. She placed her bookbag in the locker and put on her apron. "I don't care about your schoolwork. You are staying overtime and you will show up on time tommorow at 5." Tuttie walked out of the room. Chelsea sat on the table and put her head down. She didn't know what she was going to do.

Lindsay Collins

I'm excited. Yes, excited is the word to describe how I'm feeling. Summer was partly dull and partly fun, so I'm glad to be back at Whitney. More guys, more games, more competition. It's life. Though, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't know what I should be doing now. I mean, I'm standing in the hallways, leaning against my locker, and watching everyone pass me. I mean, yes, they do give me a quick greeting, and yes, some guys (and an occasional girl) pass by and check me out, but I don't know what else I should be doing.

Maybe I should go find Briar? Maybe make some new friends?

Where are the cheerleaders when I need them?!

I began moving my feet towards the cafeteria, where most students were. I pulled my curly hair over my shoulder and scanned the room for another blonde. I tapped my foot as I searched. Then, I found her sitting with another girl. I put my hand on my hip and slid into the seat next to her.

"Um, hi Lindsay?" she greeted. I picked a fry off her plate and shoved it in my mouth. Regretting that, I immediately cleaned the grease off my fingers.

"Hi Briar," I said after I swallowed. I whipped out my iPhone to text Mia.

Where are you? - Lindsay I sent the text and put my phone away.

"How were your first classes?" I asked. Briar shrugged before shoving a fry into her mouth.

(Okay, I finally posted- and it's horrible, I know. Please, someone can come and interact with Lindsay too! I'm really stuck. :$)

Mia

Mia got to school the next day with no clue what to do first. Not only did she have her brother to worry about, but when she got home last night her grandma told her some crazy story about seeing Sophie get into a fight with a guy, Scott most probably. Mia shook her head. She’d always known that boy was a scum bag.

Unfortunately, Sophie was nowhere to be seen. Mia had looked for her the whole morning, and by the time lunch came round, she had just about given up. Suddenly, she felt her Blackberry vibrate and pulled it out of her pant pocket. It was a text from Lindsay asking her where she was. Deciding she’d resume her search for Sophie after she put some food in her stomach, Mia decided to head over to the cafeteria. Maybe Lindsay could help her with one of her predicaments.

Mia spotted Lindsay sitting over at the cheerleaders table talking with Briar, and went over there with a small yoghurt.

“Hey, Briar,” she said with a smile.

“Hey, Mia,” Briar smiled back.

“Sorry I’m late, Lindsay,” Mia said, giving her other friend a small hug, “I’m totally swamped at the moment.”

“Why? Is everything okay?” she asked.

“No,” Mia took the seat opposite them. “I have a serious problem.”

“Does it involve our new cheer,” asked Briar, “because I’ve heard it and I definitely see it as a problem...”

“What?” Mia gave Briar a confused look. “No, it involves Eben.”

“What about him?” asked Lindsay.

Mia bit her bottom lip for a few seconds. “You’ve got to promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

“We won’t,” said Briar.

Mia shook her head, “Not good enough, Bri, I’m dead serious. Like, even if someone put a gun to your head and told you to spill...”

Lindsay cocked her head to the side with a smirk. “That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”

Mia gave her a look, and Lindsay and Briar sighed.

“Okay, okay, we promise,” they both groaned simultaneously.

“Good,” Mia said, before lowering her voice so no one around them could hear. “I think my brother is dealing drugs...”

Lindsay Collins

"I think my brother is dealing with drugs..."

Well, that caught me off guard. I think I nearly choked on a fry, because I could feel Briar slapping me on the back frequently. When I caught myself, I immediately drank a nearby water bottle. I exhaled loudly, and turned my attention towards Mia.

"Eben?" I asked. "Eben, your serious?" Mia nodded.

"Wait, why would you think that anyway?" Before I could let Mia answer, I leaned towards her.

"Do you think I could get some?" I whispered. Mia's mouth formed the shape of an O, and Briar simultaneously slaps my arm. I wince and sit back up.

"Lindsay! You know your Dad would be so disappointed," Briar scolded me.

"Relax! I was just joking- partly," I assured. Mia rolled her eyes and slapped my other arm. I winced and flipped my blonde hair off my shoulder.

(My god, that's short. xD)

Briar Leeson

"Lindsay! You know your Dad would be so disappointed," Briar scolded Lindsay

"Relax! I was just joking- partly," Lindsay assured.

Briar was no newbie to the situation of drug dealers. She knows many and is friends with some, and would know exactly where to get drugs should she want them. She's come to understand that many drug dealers only do it because they are stuck and have nothing else to do.

Of course, these details she wasn't interested in divulging during this conversation. It's common knowledge that Briar spends more time than she should with the crowds she shouldn't, but not common knowledge what she does in those crowds.

Eben, she knew, wasn't doing this because he had no other choice. He was just being stupid. But, in a weird way, Briar found herself a little protective of him--mostly because she related him to her dealing friends.

"Well, Mia, is he in some kind of trouble with it?"

Mia thought for a second and looked back at her, "I...I'm not really sure. But he's selling drugs, Bri...isn't that enough trouble?"

Briar scoffed a little, "Not really. Not unless he gets caught or gets himself into trouble with a supplier or sells to kids. Otherwise, it's pretty harmless. Stupid, but harmless."

Mia raised a brow and looked from Lindsay to Briar and back several times before leaning forward, closer to Briar's face, as if she didn't hear anything she just said, "Drugs, Briar."

"Like I said...stupid."

Collin Green

Practice went pretty well. Collin was pretty sure he'd reserved himself a spot on the team, since he was faster than most of the other guys and pretty aggressive for a small kid. The coach wasn't really a dick. The guys had been trying to scare him probably. A good thing came out of it, though. Daniel Preston jogged over to Collin after the practice and invited him to a party at his place. "My aunt and uncle ( I live with them) are outta town rekindlin' their marriage or something, and my brat cousins are with a family friend. So my aunt and uncle made the mistake of trusting me, and I'm gonna take advantage of it. You should come."

Collin thought for a second. His mom barely noticed him and Haley around the house anyway, especially with her new hotshot boyfriend to go out with. Plus, it could mean hooking up with a hot piece of ass. And that was not to mention loud music...

"Okay, sure. When?"

"Tommorow, starting at dark."

"Awesome."

He got directions and headed home. First day of school and he was already invited to a party. Maybe things were looking up this year. But there was a little part of him that still didn't feel right. Would making the soccer team and having lots of friends, maybe a girlfriend, really fix anything? He was still so different from everybody. He had one of the worst cases of ADHD ever known. His dad never wanted him. He still didn't even know what he wanted to do in life.

So he did what was natural for him, went and played the piano.

Sophie

I'm not going to school today, I thought to myself as I turned my alarm off and rolled over Besides, my bruises could use a day to heal. And I don't want to see Scott today.

Curling up, I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

Cameron

I pulled up in my new truck, thoughts of Eben rolling through my head. Could he really be a druggie? I'd known him for what seems like forever. I'd never imagined him getting into drugs.

As I hopped out of my truck, I locked it and jogged into the school, pushing thoughts of Eben temporarily away.

"Sophie....Scott....hit her!....someone named Conner....fight....Logan....helped....drove off...." Those were bits and pieces I heard throughout the halls as I went to my locker. Sophie? Sweet Sophie? I'd never really met her, but she's one of the sweetest girls in this school.

***

After grabbing my lunch, I slid into a seat next to Christian, my best friend, "Man, what's going down with Sophie, Scott, Conner, and Logan?"

Shoving a nugget in his mouth, he quickly chewed and swallowed, then answered, "All I know is Sophie called Scott by the wrong name, some name of a guy she used to know. Scott got really pissed and started hurting her when they were in the parking lot of Bon Cafe. Logan Warner saw them and stopped it. Scott almost fought him, but the owner came out a broke it up. That's all I know."

Looking around, I spotted Briar, Mia, and Jen. Did they know what happened to their friend!?

"Follow me" I said to Christian, and we headed over to the girls' table.

Sliding into a seat, Christian beside them, I said in a low voice, "You guys heard what happened to Sophie, right?"

*Rumors *eye roll* haha *

Jen Pedersen
Day 2

At lunch, Jen found a table with some of the other artsy kids. All they could talk about was how Logan Warner stopped some guy who was hitting Sophie. The dude got in a fight with Logan, but it got broken up. Everyone thought it must be true because neither Logan nor Sophie was there today.

"It's so weird, though," said Briar. "Sophie never said anything. And what about this Logan kid? I thought he was some church freak."

Jen wasn't that interested. She was looking at Christian across the table. Had he always been so hot?

Christian

Spoiler

Hope this qualifies. ;]

Oh the drama... Would high school be high school without it though? Honestly.

The chatter at my table consisted solely of the hot topic of the day. Or rather, the hot topic of last night. I could get what all the chatter was about, but was there really point enough in having to stick our noses in other people's personal stuff this long? It was only lunch time and it seemed like I'd heard Sophie's name ten jillion times in the past hour in a half. Poor gal.

I was beginning to feel a bit suffocated in the chit-chat at our lunch table. I nudged Cameron in the arm. With some reluctance he peeled his eyes away from a few who were in the middle of breaking down the gossip into smaller, more comprehensible pieces.

"I think I need to take a beat. Come skate?"

His eyes returned to the conversation for a brief second before snapping out of the small talk going on. I knew his head was far more wrapped up in the gossip than mine was. I was beginning to have my suspicions on whether he had a thing for that Sophie girl or not.

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon."

I began standing; my board in one hand, Pepsi in the other. Jen seemed to be ogling my every move. I pursed my lips into a line before gesturing a nod her way goodbye. Cam and I did the same to everyone else before blowing that popsicle stand. And in good timing, too. Enough of the gossip already.

"Those Tensor trucks you wanted? Dude..." I gestured to my board. Suddenly Cam's eyes went jealous. It was about that time again. Time to kick his but in S.K.A.T.E.

Mia

Mia watched the gossiping, feeling more than just a little uncomfortable.

“Listen, guys, I really don’t think we should talk about Sophie like this. Especially since she’s not here to tell us what really happened.”

“Where is she?” asked Briar.

“No idea,” Mia replied. “I’ve been looking for her all day...”

“Maybe she’s skipping school,” Lindsay offered.

Mia nodded in agreement. “Maybe...”

“I just hope she’s okay,” Briar said, a look of worry on her face.

“The threee of us should just go over to her house after school to check up on her,” Mia said three, because Jen's attention seemed to be on Christian.

Lindsay didn’t look too keen on the idea. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Mia? What if she wants to be left alone? I know I would if something like that happened to me.”

“She’s got a point,” Briar agreed.

Mia rolled her eyes, “I get it, I’d totally want to be alone too, but sooner or later I would want my friends with me...”

Lindsay and Briar swapped looks with each other and then nodded in agreement.

“So, it’s settled then, the three of us will go over to Sophie’s after school,” Mia said, feeling half-satisfied and half-relieved all at the same time. All she had to worry about now was Eben...

“I’ll bring chocolate,” said Briar.

“And I’ll bring some of her favourite chick flicks,” Lindsay added.

Mia started opening up her yoghurt. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Briar and Lindsay had their eyes on her, waiting to hear what she’d bring to Sophie’s.

“Oh, I’ll just bring myself,” Mia smirked with a cheeky wink.

Lindsay, Jen and Briar giggled and each gave her a playful smack on the arm.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Mia giggled too. “I’ll bring ice-cream.” She took a spoonful of her lunch and nearly gagged. “This yoghurt sucks.” She turned to Briar. “Can I have some of your fries?”

Lindsay pulled a face. “I wouldn’t if I were you. The lunch ladies practically bathed them in grease.”

“Gross!”

Briar shrugged, and shoved a few fries into her mouth, purposely chewing slowly. “Mmmm, they taste good to me...”

“Briar!” Mia and Lindsay said in unison, before the three of them burst out laughing.