Harmony High

William Franco

And I thought for a second there Allen was just a crazy, obsessed person. But no. Avery made him like that, by kissing him at that party and giving him hope! Uh I cannot believe this.

"Avery!" I took a deep breath, slowing down my heart. "How could you? What the hell was going through your mind?" I yelled.

She was scared, I even caught a tear run down her cheek. I shouldn't be that harsh, but what she did hurt me.

All I wanted to do was run to Allen and punch him in the face. I wanted her to tell me who she really loves. She can't love me if she went off and kissed him. Fuckin' hell. It's not fair. I want to punch her feelings away. Not punch her physically, but mentally. I wanted her to leave. I couldn't look at her.

"I..." she sniffed. "I felt sorry."

"Pity doesn't solve anything!"

Shutting her eyes, she took a deep breath and made fists.

"Will. I was in love with him. He was my boyfriend. And he still loves me. I needed to show it-" I cut her off. "No you did not! You didn't have to show him anything. It's over then it's over!"

"If you're not in love with him anymore." I added.

"I used to love him Will! I still have feelings. But not strong ones. They are there telling me that Allen and I were an us and it's fresh."

Sting. My heart. Oh God does it hurt. I want to pull it out and stomp on it until the pain subsides.

"If you still have feelings for him then go and kiss him again! I'm done!" I yelled, regretting everything.

Tears stung her eyes as she ran out of the house. I shook my head, feeling my own tears develop before my eyes. I regret what I said without a doubt but I didn't want to live this way either.

Opening my eyes, I punched the wall out of anger. Pain surged through my hand fire to a candle.

"Dude, what the fuck?" I saw Chris walk up to me, angry.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry. She just made me so angry! She kissed him at the party!"

"She cheated in you?" he looked surprised as his anger subsided.

"Yeah," I answered bitterly. "And then she had the nerve to run after him. If she still likes him, why is she with me?" I asked more to myself.

"I don't know dude. But she loves you. I know that."

I looked him square in the eyes. Only truth past them.

"I doubt it," I whispered.

When Emmett didn't respond I looked him in the eye. "Thank you for trying to save me." I said. He gave a slight nod. I pulled him down to me and gave him a kiss on the cheek as thanks. Short, quick, just for thanks. But Matt returned at the wrong time, he opened the door right as it happened. He dropped the water he was bringing me and charged in at Emmett. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" he screamed pinning Emmett to the wall, holding him up by his shirt collar. He went to punch Emmett in the face, but just before his fist made contact, "Matt!" I screamed. He let Emmett go and ran over to me. "Carly, what the hell?" He demanded, anger and sorrow in his eyes. "Matt I just gave him a kiss on the cheek! He tried to save me from that monster! From what happened! You should be thanking him that he wanted to save your girlfriend!" Tears started blurring my vision when Matt wouldn't listen to reason. "You're blowing this all way out of proportion!" I said. "How could you?" he let his tears fall, "We're through!" "Matt wait I-" he slammed the door before I could finish. I let the tears roll down my face. I started hysterical crying, burying my face in a pillow, sheilding myself from the world. Then the nurse came in. "Visiting hours are over." She escorted Emmett out, he had a slight look of guilt on his face as he waved goodbye. I just kept crying my eyes out.

*******************************8



I walked in just in time to see Carly kiss Emmett. I just lost it. I dropped the water and lunged for that guy! Who did he think he was!? Carly tried to calm me, trying to explain, but I didn't want to hear it. I dumped her and ran home crying. I spent the whole night not sure if I should be regretting my choice. I was crying all night, but she kissed another guy, that's unforgivable. I mean, if I kissed another girl, I wouldb't expect her to forgive me, ever; but then again I wouldn't kiss another girl, because I am way too in love with Carly. Obvioudly her love for me wasn't as strong as she claimed.

Lena

Man, I felt bad. The thoughts that Avery actually left for Allen even after he had made out with Jane was too bad. Will was a nice guy. A really nice guy and I couldn't believe she would ditch him. I didn't believe a single word of what Will said. Going after Allen. They must have kissed during the party but sure it wasn't a deepening one, I suppose.

Chris and I ran back down. I wanted to aid Chris more because his jaw was aching. He had an ice pack down there. He stormed across the stairs.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Chris asked Will, angry.

"I'm sorry. She just made me so angry! She kissed him at the party!" Will exclaimed, his face screwing up.

"She cheated on you?" Chris asks, slowing down a little.

"Yeah." Will says, annoyed. "And then she had the nerve to run after him. If she still likes him, why is she with me?"

I wanted to tell him that Avery must be feeling something different now. Now, that she doesn't like Allen. All of these thoughts reminded me of the Josie-Chris-Lena thing. Only here it was Allen-Avery-Will thing. I sighed.

"I don't know dude. But she loves you. I know that." Chris said, trying to cheer Will up.

Will stared straight through Chris's eyes. A sharp look.
"I doubt it." I heard him whisper.

I walked towards him. "You shouldn't be too hard on her. Allen hates her now. And if you hate her too... Will, just don't be so hateful. Avery needs you."

"Yeah, and that's the reason to why she was running after Allen." Will snapped.

"Relax. I know its hard to take it in. I know how you feel. But it'll all workout once you talk it out like how me and Chris did. Please, Will." I pleaded. I wouldn't want another break up disaster.

"I'll look into it." Will said, going back upstairs.

After he left, it was only me and Chris there. There was another awkward silence and we looked at each other. Chris spoke.

"Do-Do you want to see another movie? It'll make you feel better." he said, wrapping his hands around my waist.

"No, I'll just... I need to talk to Avery. Please try to talk Will out, love?" I ask him, and stare at him in the eye.

"Anything for you..." he said, tucking a lock or stray hair behind my ears, and touching my face, gently.

He pulled me into one last kiss which turned out to be the sweetest of all and short. I smiled and opened the door to go back home. Maybe, there'll be another time where we can peacefully make-out. Properly. For now, we'll have to fix this.

x--x(At home)

I grabbed the phone to call Avery. She picked up in seconds and burst crying, and I could hear her sorrow between the lines she said.

"Lena! I promise you, I didn't cheat on Will! I'll never do that! Ever. I love Will, not Allen. Sure we kissed but it was just a small one! I felt guilty for doing so! I did have some feelings but its all gone! I swear, Lena. I won't ever do that to him!! I swear..." she cried.

"Shh, shh. I know. Just relax... Chris and I talked to Will. Don't worry. We're trying our best. " I said.

"You believe me, don't you?"

"Of course. Now, take some rest. It'll refresh your mind."

"Okay... Bye."

"Bye, lovely."

Emmett

I think I'm going to try and stop being the hero.

This thought- this problem- came to my attention as I walked out of the hurt girl's hospital room and saw the boy freshmen just staring at me, anger glinting in his eyes. Anger. I just helped his freaking girlfriend and he was angry?

"She was thanking me." I muttered to him. "Sorry if it offended you. I have a girl, you know, and I'm a Senior. Freshmen are sort of off-limits."

The 'I have a girl' part was a lie, of course. No girl for Emmett, but I figured it mght make him feel a little bit better about whatever mess was going on. The nurse led me away, going back to her station as I got into my car.

Cars are particularly good for thinking.

I always liked to be a hero; I loved comic books as a boy, and particularly idolized what little could get of Tonto of Lone Ranger fame- he always offended my mother, but he was the closest thing to a Native American or Mexican superhero to be had. You latch on to that sort of stuff, when you're a mixed kid like me. Comics fancinated me- the logic behind it all, what I would come to recognize as physcology and physics, grew me into a bigger nerd than any other boy around. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of needing to be somebody. Anyway, I tried to become my own superhero, true to an inner promise- defended little ADHD Lacey from bullies, stole back kid's stolen lunch money, little stuff like that. Once I got older, I found girls- they weren't always pretty girls, but always made me feel heroic- who were crying on their doorsteps because of some a-hole. It's almost a complex, really- person in pain, must help. Circa the past week? Jane and that freshmen, Carly.

It never pays off. Superhero's get girls and fame; unless they're Batman, of course, but I'd never really liked Batman anyways. I get scolded, the occasional number, and a hormonal ADHD pregnant sister who thinks I'm over protective. That's not even counting the occasional welt.

So it's decided, I think to myself as I walk nto the school, Emmett Lopez is retiring his cape.

The record lasts about ten seconds and point-oh six milliseconds- or, to put things in less geeky terms- until see a grl with long brown har crying in the hallway.

Here we go again.

My hero complex was lonely there for a moment. I almost consider not walking over there, to finally let Jane have her piece in her awkward life, until I notice the large bruise on the sde of her neck. My fists crunch up. Superman would do the same for Lois Lane. Get through to her. You know you want to. You know it.

Hero complex not denied. I feel myself walking over there, slowly, as though I'm hoping she'll see me. She looks so sad, so desolate I just want to... want to hug her. Hugs are good for you, aren't they? Hugs with the untrustful just ruin things, I remind myself, and therefore you must be careful.

If I was clever, I would quote some poem or quote here, but none come into my head. I just want to hug her. "Need some help, Jane?"

William Franco

After what Lena told me, I realized I was over exaggerating. Avery just felt sorry for the bastard... but that really doesn't mean it's okay to kiss him while we're dating. It doesn't mean you still have feelings for the guy. Now that always drove me crazy. Does she like me or does she still like him?

That I was not going to answer on my own.

I woke up to a bright and painful morning. My heart hurt. I think it's because of the fight yesterday, it makes me upset.

Rubbing my eyes, I looked at my cellphone. Four text messages from Avery.

"Will! Fifteen minutes! Get your ass up!" Chris yelled down the stairs.

I shook my head and got up.

School

I stood by Avery's locker and waited for her. Class starts in ten minutes. She could still come here so we could talk.

"What are you doing here?" That voice never seemed to escape me, did it?

Turning around, I saw an angry Allen. Try to say that five times quickly.

"I'm waiting for my girlfriend," once I said that, I saw a tinge of jealousy in his eyes. Oh being a teenager is so fun. "You probably saw her yesterday."

Nodding, he replied. "Yeah, we made out."

"What?!" I yelled.

"Oh, sorry." he chuckled. "I meant made up," he popped the p.

I thought I was going to knock this guy out the second he said that. It would hurt, I took ten years of Kung-Fu. A family thing.

"Sweetie...?" I heard Avery's voice from behind me.

Allen's face lit up even though she didn't say that to him. Guess love never fades. That fucking sucks.

"I wanted to talk to you." I smiled, looking at her lovely face.

"Me too," she smiled back.

I took her to the nearest classroom and shut the door behind us. Thankfully no one used this place until fifth period. It was the computer lab. I do not know why they have restricted times on this place, do not ask me.

All the monitors were off and the blinds shut. It was almost dark, but some light shown through the door. We walked to a set of desks where no computers were, in the back of the classroom.

"Ave, I'm sorry I got so worked up." I started.

"Why was Allen by my locker?" she asked.

Jane Wills

Why was I crying? For the love of God- my thoughts were cut off by a voice so recognizable, my heart jumped.

"Need some help, Jane?"

Looking up, I saw Emmett. He sat down next to me, leaving me enough breathing space. I was a don't-pop-my-bubble person and somehow he knew.

"No, I'm fine." I lied, wiping my face with a tissue.

"What happened?" he said sincerely.

"Nothing, I said I'm fine." I tried to stand up but my legs protested. My emotions were getting the better of me.

"Hey," he said quietly.

I turned my head to face him and saw how concerned he was. It was pleasing to know that someone cared other than my parents. But it was amazing that someone showed it.

That's when his eyes looked at my neck. My hickey. Shit. With no hesitation, I covered it with my hand.

"Let me see it," he looked back at my eyes.

I felt his hand touch mine as he pulled it lightly off my neck. The shocking part was that I let him. I liked the feeling of him touching me. It sounds really weird, but I didn't not like it.

"Who did this?" his voice was getting stern.

He pulled back his hand and looked at me. "Unless... it's your boyfriend. Then I feel kind of stupid..." he trailed off.

I laughed a little, enjoying his concern. "No, I don't have a boyfriend..." then I felt the sting in my stomach again. Drake. Looking away, I couldn't stand to let him see me even more upset.

"Jane, tell me what happened. If a guy... hurt you. I'll make sure he won't ever again."

Taking a deep breath, I said it.

"It was Drake," I shut my eyes. "Drake Ferguson."

The next morning, the nurses wake me up early. I recieve stitches, al ot of stitches. While I am here, I have them check my wrist and knee. My wrist is only sprained, so I am to keep the brace on it and am forbidden from using it. My knee is broken, they put it in one of those walking cast type brace things and send me back to Luna's. When we get to Luna's I have just enough time to grab my stuff before we head to school. She wanted me to stay home, but I need to talk to Matt. We were supossed to get our tickets today for homecoming tomorrow. He needs to know that I still love him with all of my heart. We get to school and I run to his locker. Sure enough, hes there, grabbing a binder. "What do you want? Haven't you hurt me enough?" Ouch, that hurts. I've neer seen him so cold. I can't even calm myself to talk to him after that. The tears roll down my face, and I run off crying. I'm not really watching where I'm going, and I run into none other than Emmett. "What's wrong?" he asks. I just blow him off and run for one of the stairwells that are hidden, nobody uses them. I close the double doors, sit on the steps and cry my eyes out. Once I collect myself, I walk out and head to class. I head down the halls and one of the prissy girls stops me. "You're the b***h that was with Matt! You had eerything with him and you cheated o him!? Talk about a slut!" She looks to her friends who back her up, "You had the guy all the freshman girls want! You kept him from being with any of us and you just abused that!" She screams at me some more before throwing me into the wall. She beats on me for a while and grabs me by my feet, hanging me upside down. Dang this girl is stronger than she looks. She holds me over the railing over one of the main staircases. She's about to let go when none other than Matt runs toward us. "Let her go Lindsey!" he yells. She obeys and puts me down on the ground.

*****************



I wake up thinking what a lousy day it will be. The morning is pretty slow. I go to my locker and Carly comes up to me. "What do you want!? Haven't you hurt me enough!?" I scream at her. Maybe that was a bit harsh. She runs off before I can rephrase it. When she ran off she was crying. She broke her knee, I could tell, yet I just hurt her to the point where she would run on it! Gosh I am such a jerk! I meet up with Lauren in class after I failed at searching for Carly. Some people come in talking about a fight in the hallway. Carly's never late for class unless someone holds her up in the halls. I run out of the room and sure enogh I find Lindsey Johnson, a gymnist, dangling Carly over the rail of the main stairs. It's ironc, everyone picks on us, yet all of the girls find me hot. This world is backwards. "Let her go Lindsey!" I yell. She obeys and sets Carly on the ground. "What the hell do you think you were doing to my girlfriend!?" I scream. "But I thought-" she begins. "Well you thought wrong!" I interrupt. She leaves, her head hanging low. She'll no-doubt get back at Carly for this, she's not one to accept defeat. I run to Carly's side, she's still on the floor. I kneel beside her. "Are you alright?" She nods, wiping her tears. "I'm sorry I overreacted. I'm sorry about everything." I pull her into a hug and she doesn't resist. She buries her head in my chest and I hear her sob more. I let go and wipe her tears. I grab her chin gently, so she looks me in the eye. "Nothing could ever come between us, and I'm sorry I was being an overdramatic jerk." We stand and I grab her waist, pulling her into a kiss. She hesitates a moment, then deepens it. After we stand in the hall kissing for a few minutes, we head to class, hand-in-hand.

Luna

I had just sat down for lunch when I saw Carly heading this way. I got up and went to help her with her stuff with a smile. "Hey, how do you feel?"

She shrugged. "I guess as good as anyone under the circumstances."

"True," I shrugged followed her to the table. "so do you need any help with anything?"

"Nope," she grunted. "Matt pretty much helps me with what ever I need."

As she plopped down on an empty seat her shirt lifted slightly and I saw fresh bruises. The smile left my face. She must've guessed where it'd gone because she hurried to cover them. I looked at her.

"What happened?" I put her stuff down.

"I-it's nothing really." she shook her head and looked down.

I hated it when she looked down. "Pick your head when you're talking to me!"

She jumped at tone of my voice and looked up at me.

"Who did this?" I asked slowly.

The answer was in her eyes as she looked over to a table where a bunch of girls. My gaze zeroed on on a blonde. Lindsey, I think her name was. I stood up.

"Not wise."

I turned to look at Lini. She stares back. "What's not wise?"

She glares. "You know damn well what I mean."

I just look at her until she sighs and stands up.

"Wait!" Carly panics. "Where are you going?"

"To have a talk with miss prissy." I popped my neck.

Lini and I walked over to Lindsey and her little table of followers. They watched as we stopped at their table.

"Can we help you?" Lindsey looked at me with disdain.

"I didn't answer her question. Instead of answering I told her, "Get up."

Her and her little clique start laughing and giggling like they think i'm kidding. I reach over her and dump all of their trays on the floor. That certainly stopped their laughing. I leaned down to Lindsey's ear in and again, "Get. Up."

She gets out of her seat and looks at me with this agitated glare. "What do you want?"

"I wanna know why you attacked my friend." I stepped closer.

"Oh," she put a finger on her like she had to think about it. "you mean that little reject?"

"I mean my friend." I corrected her.

"Well who cares anyway?" she laughs.

"In case you're too dumb to realize, us" I motioned to me and Lini.

the look on her face was priceless. So shocked that anyone would call her something like that? "Do you know who I am?"

"Should I give a fuck?" I raised an eyebrow. "All I know is why you attacked her."

"You wanna know why?" she gave a wicked smile. "Because I thought she was a skank."

All I wanted to do was round house kick that bitch to her face, but I was trying to be cool this year.

"You're one to talk. Fucking every guy in school and calling someone else a skank? Seems a little hypocritical to me." Lini sneered.

Lindsey's face turned bright red.

"Don't like the way that feels?" I teased. "It's kinds like beating up a cripple isn't it? Except you're not a cripple, but you are stupid."

"You bitch!" she swiped at me.

I caught her wrist before it got anywhere my face and twisted until I heard a pop, but didn't let go. She screamed so loud I thought she'd break my eardrums.

"Doesn't feel too good does it?" I squeezed.

She dropped back down to her seat on the table. I moved closer and leaned down to look her in the eye. "The next time You ever wanna fuck with anybody, I want you to think about me. I want you to see my face and remember the pain you're feeling right now. Got it?"

She just nodded. We'll see of she's got it. I stood up straight and smiled. "And stop whining about your wrist. It's just a sprain."

Lini and I headed back to our table and sat down.

"You didn't have to do that." Carly frowned.

"You may not be used to people sticking up for you,-" I started.

"But since you're with us, we look out for each other." Lini finished.

"As far as we're concerned, you're family." I smile.

"And we don't let anyone fuck with family." Lini bumped my shoulder and held out her hand with a smile.

I slapped it with an even bigger smile. "Damn straight."

Chris

I woke up bright and early, before my alarm. No practice today, so I took my time taking a shower and getting ready. I was giddy to see Lena; tomorrow was Saturday, our date. I put on a pair of stone washed jeans, a Led Zeppelin Tee and my black leather jacket. I added my white Ray Bans and a couple spritzes of cologne. I went down to the kitchen, but Will wasn't up yet and we didn't have long.

"Will! Fifteen minutes! Get your ass up!" I shouted down the stairs.

A couple minutes later, a disheveled looking Will scrambled up the stairs and we took off for school.

"I gotta find Avery and talk to her, so I'll see you later," He said as he got out of my car.

I nodded. "Later."

My phone started to ring and I saw it was Lena.

"Hey you," I said, smiling as I answered.

"Hey, where are you?" she asked.

"I'm in the junior parking lot."

"Okay, stay right there, I'm almost to school!" she said.

Sure enough, no sooner did we hang up then Lena's car was passing me, parking a few spaces over. She immediately got out of the car and ran into my arms. I chuckled and held her close. Holding her made me smile. I planted a kiss on her lips as she pulled away.

"Talk to Ave last night?" I asked.

She nodded. "She wants to talk to Will today."

"Will wants to talk to her too. Sounds like things will work out."

"Of course," she laughed. "They're the perfect couple."

"Well," I pulled her close. "They'll be the second most perfect couple by tomorrow."

She giggled and buried her head on my shoulder.

The rest of the day is slow until lunch. While we sit and wait for Matt, Luna notices a bruise from Lindsey's attack. Luna and Lini go over and "talk" to her, but Lindsey ends up with a sprained wrist. She deserves it, but still. Matt sits beside me and we share a quick kiss, but when I see Lindsey staring with jealusy in her eyes I pull him in for a long, intense one. When we finally do pull apart we get up and he buys us our home coming tickets. He already has his outfit, and I'm going dress shopping tonight. I know it's a bit last minute, but I wasn't sure if I was gonna go, Lauren didn't want to, then Matt and I got together and then there was all this drama at home. But what does it matter? After lunch Matt and I head to film class. I leave to go to the bathroom a few minutes after class starts. Sure enough though, when I'm on my way out, Lindsey is there. I notice her wrist is wrapped in an ace bandage. "Just got out of the office. Your friend is getting what's coming to her, they should be calling her down any minute now." she smirks. "Well aren't you just a b***h!?" I look at her. The smirk on her face turns to anger.

She grabs me and pulls me out of the bathroom. She pins me to the wall, but I escape her grip. She grabs me from behind. Okay, this ends now. I was hoping I hed left this for good in New York, but I flip her over my shoulder so she hits the ground hard. I pick her up by the collar of her shirt and hold her to the wall. "Got a problem!?" I yell in her face. I throw her to the ground and she gets up and runs away. I turn around and see the principal, who was walking with Luna. Oh great.

***********************



I sit beside Carly and pull her in for a quick kiss. I see that she notices Lindsey staring at us with a jealus look on her face. Carly pulls me in for an incredible kiss. It's long and hot and intense. We go over and I buy our homecoming tickets. We're both excited, but I know she is more than me, but if it will make her happy, then it will make me happy. She talks about how she's going to get her dress after school. After lunch we head to film class, but after the bell rings, the teacher allows her to go to the bathroom. After she's gone a while, the teacher gets concerned. She sends me out to look for her. I happen to see her fight with Lindsey, and win. I don't know what to say. I had no idea she was capable of that. Why didn't she do this to that guy yesterday, I know I sure want to. The principle grabs her arm, only having come in to see Lindsey get hurt. He drags her to his office, and I follow them in. "Matt!" she yells as she runs over and hugs me. She's still in pain from her wist and knee, and being dragged here, literally dragged, by the principle, obviously didn't help. She sits beside Luna and I take a seat on her other side. We discuss what happened and I get her out of trouble. Thank goodness. Because the school doesn't know what's going on, if she would have gotten in trouble, they would have called her mom, then she would know that Carly has still been coming to school, she would drag her home and beat her like never before for sure. We walk out of his office and decide to skip class and have a little time alone. We go into one of the stairwells no one uses and close the double doors behind us.. We sit on the stairs and I grab her waist, pulling her close to me, I kiss her, and after a moment, she deepens it. We sit here kissing for a while, then decide we should go back to class.

Emmett

Drake...? Drake, Drake, Drake? I don't know a Drake, and frantically searched my mind to try and find one. It sounded like an asshile name, a villan name. The way Jane said it, with menance and shame rolled into one, did nothing to dispel my images of an evil sexual abuser.

"I don't him." I say, feeling dumb. I hate feeling dumb.

Jane sighs. "Of course you wouldn't. He doesn't go here. Maybe you've heard about him?"

"No. I don't get out much."

This makes her smile, a bit, before she touched her hickey again and frowned. "No, I guess you wouldn't. We have a history, but it doesn't mean anything anymore. Not after what he did... today." She sighed.

I put a hand on her shoulder, I know I shouldn't- not after how she reacted after I picked her up after Avery's party and I'd just tried to enter her bubble. I just couldn't not touch her anymore. Can't hold it in. "Sounds... pretty awful. He doesn't look like a guy who deserves you." Wait, what? "I mean, if you need any help bashing him in I might be able to try..."

She looks confused at the word 'look' until I look at her hickey. She shrugs off my hand, irritated as I am confused. My words don't match my sensible thoughts. I'm going to fall over my feet if I'm not careful. "I appreciate the offer, really, but you don't stand a chance. Besides, I'm fine."

I raise an eyebrow. "I always stand a chance. Outwitting is a wonderful strategy." I inch closer to her. "My offer still stands. I'm used to getting beat on. You get tired of jerks, after awhile."

She smiles her grim smile. "I still-"

The bell rings, startleling us both. Jane sighs, wiping away her tears and putting her hair over the bruise. Expecting me to leave. To Abandon her. That's my first instinct- job done, walk away, don't get caught with a landless girl. The helpless look under Jane's cold eyes make me stop.

"Anything else I could do? Maybe we could go someplace else to talk?"

Image was less important when I had the most interesting physcology experiment sitting right here between the two screwed-up kids on the bench.

I'll just keep telling myself that, and it'll be okay.

Jane Wills

I knew he wouldn't know Drake... but I tried. I really wanted Emmett to go up to him and neat him up. But he wouldn't even have a chance to take a breath.

It was nice of him to care, to talk to me. But during our conversation, the bell just had to go off. Wonderful. He would leave me again, just like always. Abandon Janey because she's just not worth your time.

Suprisingly, he kept sitting next to me.

"Anything else I could do? Maybe we could go someplace else to talk?" That was shocking too.

I looked at him, doubting that those words ever came out of his mouth. But once I saw the seriosunessess of his eyes, I knew he had said it.

"No, it's fine. Really. We should get to class." I smiled.

"Are you sure? I have Physics next and I don't have to be there. I'm open."

"It's just," I started playing with my hair. "I would like to... I mean." What? I want to talk to a complete stranger about my problems? What the hell is wrong with me?! "Ugh, yes. I'd like to but only if you can." I let my hair go and looked at him.

Right about now I can see he's Native American. Actually, I always could, it's just it showed now since I really took in his face. The structure and the way he smiled. I liked his smile.

"Let's go, I got the perfect place Jane."

Standing up, he gestured his hand toward me. He wanted me to grab it so I could get up too. I never had that before, but I took his hand and stood up. It felt good to hold hands for that second, my stomach flip-flopped.

"Take me away," I said breathtakingly, joking.

A smile crept onto his face as we walked. I wonder where this place is.

The rest of the day is slow-going. After school I just have Luna drop me off at the mall. I have money with me so there was no point in going home to go out againn. I go through the stores and take my options into consideration, then I find it. The perfect dress. It's silver and ice blue, strapless. There's a black ribbon around the waist. I try it on and it fits and looks perfect. There's only one problem, one of my ugliest bruises on my chest is showing as well as my stitches. I decide to get it anyway, I'll figure something out. I get a pair of silver heels and a silver and black clutch. I get some jewelry to, and an ice blue headband. When I get back to Luna's I put eerything away for tomorrow. i'm so excited! I sit down for dinner with them and actually have a smile on my face. They all seem pretty happy for my excitment. Matt and I are going to have a perfect night together. I decide to turn in early, I have a lot to do tomorrow.

I wake up and look at the clock. 12:45 PM! Oh no! I slept in! Then I realize I don't have to worry about getting up early here. I take a shower and blow my hair out. Instead of putting it straight in its usual bun, I leave it down. I'll straighten it in a bit. I head downstairs to have some lunch. Luna, Lini, and their mom are having lunch as well. Luna looks at me and smiles. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down." she laughs. "No you haven't. I only take it down to wash it and right when I'm going to sleep, when I take my glasses off. I put it up before I even get dressed in the morning. "Well it looks good down." she says. "Thanks." I say shyly, I don't get many compliments and I know I'm blushing. After we finish eating I paint my nails silver with purple designs. I'm pretty good at making nail designs. I straighten my hair, and relax the rest of the day. When it gets later I get ready and just as I put my headband in place the doorbell rings. I think about it for a minute and decide to leave my glasses here. I don't have contacts or anything, but I only got them when I moved here, so I'll be fine without them. they're only for up close anyway.

I hop downstairs to see Matt waiting for me. He looks so handsome and he hands me my ticket. "Are you ready to go?" he asks. We head out the door and walk to the school. Along the way he stops and grabs my waist, pulling me into a long, intimate kiss. "You look so amazing that words can't even describe it." he says. "You don't look so bad yourself." I say. We kiss some more and start walking again, hand-in-hand. We walk into the school and I know that for once in my life, I'm actually going to have a perfect night.

Avery

That night I got drunk. I mean really shit faced drunk. And the weird thing is that my first thought was to call Linnie.

"Guuuuuurl my life is sho fuggin fucked!" I slurred loudly on the phone.

" Dammit Avery and i'm supposed to be the childish one! I told you that getting drunk like that will really fuck you up!" Linnie exclaimed.

"I'm sorry babes its jusht me and Willy pop are no more! And i fuggin love him so much an-" right about then was when I fell down the stairs.

" Talk to him tomorrow Ave. And wear something that shows off those nice tata's." Linnie said than told me to drink some coffee to sober up then hung up.

Next I called Allen while drinking a cup of coffee. As I sobered up i apologized for being a bitch and leading him on. And then I invited him to my party and hung up. I couldnt call Will but I did text him my apologies and put as many sad faces as I could fit into a message. And then my dad called me.

" Hey pumpkin, I'm so sorry i haven't called in awhile your mom has been such a handful." My dad said tiredly onto the phone.

" Its cool pops. Oh Daddy by the way i thought that I should tell you that I'm throwing a really expensive party this weekend and that i'm charging it all onto the Visa liquid." I told him twisting a peice of hair around my finger as i spoke.

" I don't care hun just know that you owe me one of your prize winning omelets as soon as I come home" My dad said with a smile in his voice.

" You've got it dad! Oh and by the way i'm dating Will." I say in a hurry.

" Oh yeah Will. The kid you used to hang out with in middle school right?"

" Right! And omg dad he has gotten so much cuter! His eyes just-"

" I don't need to know that much pumpkin." My dad says laughing " But just know that I hope I won't have to get the shotgun out." My dad said with a laugh but an edge of seriousness at the same time.

" Ha ha dad very funny. But tell mom I said hi oh and tell aunt Bebe that she still owes me my money" I say with a laugh.

" Sure can do. Love you Avery; I'll see you next week."

***************************************************

The next morning

" Why was Allen at my locker?" I ask with a confused frown.

" He's your crazy ex, babe." Will says with a smile and a shrug.

"Willy...I'm so sorry. I love you so much. I truly only kissed Allen out of pity, but I love you. You have to-" Will cuts me off with a soft kiss.

"Avery, I love you more than any girlfriend i've ever had," He says pulling away for a second " Your mine, okay? Not Allens, not that ex d-bag Jakes, just mine. I love you." He says hugging me tightly.

I can't respond because i'm crying so hard into his shoulder so all I do is nod. As he pulls away I whisper " Lena and Chris are trying to become the new perfect couple, so you know what that means." He smiles wickedly and kisses me passionately. " Definitely."

************** LATER************

" 1,2,3,4!" I yell at the cheerleaders " 2, 2, 3,4!"

Their panting and sweating all over the place and Linnie, my co-capton, smiles at me as she checks the girls out from the back. Having a bi bestfriend is weird but pretty damn funny. I shoot her a thumbs up and i watch as softly smacks a cute red head on the butt. The red head jumps but than turns around and smiles at Linnie.

" NO NO NO!" I scream at the girls. "What type of fucking triple spiraling back flip was that! This is how you do it!" I then proceed to do three back flips and just to show off end with a perfect cart wheel and a split.

" Thats how you do it." I hear Will say from behind me.

Chris

After school, Lena went shopping for a last minute dress for tomorrow and Will went to Avery's practice, leaving me home alone. Lena sends me plenty of pictures of the dresses, each one prettier than the last one.

So which do you like best , she asked.

Hard to say. You looked beautiful in all of them, I replied.

Haha XD I guess it's gonna be a surprise then she said.

Fine by me Surprise away!

I went in the kitchen and grabbed a banana for a snack, checking my messages online. I had a new one. I was surprised to see that it was from Allen.

Hey Chris, sorry about your jaw. I got a little angry and I wasn't thinking straight and... I dunno man. Just wanted to say sorry. Hope it doesn't hurt too badly and no hard feelings, right?

Nah, no hard feelings, I typed. Didnt hurt too bad anyways haha. It's cool though. Just don't show up unannounced. And I wouldn't go after Ave if I was you.

I paused, unsure if the last part was too harsh and if I should erase it. I decided against it and sent it. I relaxed and settled into the couch when there was a knock on the door.

"Porca puttana! Sono i Nazisti! Sono venuti a prendermi!"* my grandfather yelled from his room.

"No Gramps, it's just the door," I sighed.

I loved my grandfather, but his dementia made him relive growing up during WWII all over again. Growing up in Italy, he and his family were paranoid that at any second the Nazi police would grab them and take them to a concentration camp to die slowly. I felt bad for him.

"Yes?" I said throwing open the door.

There was a tall, thin man standing in the door. His brown hair and green eyes looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't remember where from.

"Chris? Oh my God it's been so long!" he said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" I asked.

"You don't remember me? Figures, it must have been years..." he laughed bitterly.

"Seriously, who the heck are you?" I asked again, feeling irritated.

"Chris, I'm your dad."

*Translation: Holy fuck! It's the Nazis! They've come to take me!