THE GROUP Our lunch table was growing bigger and bigger with every week that passed. Carly and Brooke were the new additions. Everyone was having a group discussion, but my mind was preoccupied. Brooke's eyes were staring me down and I was staring right back at her. Chad and Sandino seemed to be eyeing each other angrily as well. It was so intense that someone had to comment on it. It was Justin. He had been busy with sports and school the past few days that he had missed a lot and it was now time to catch up. "What's going on?" Justin asked, looking around. "Some people at the table look a little...upset." "Let me fill you in brother," Brandon began, reaching out to put his arm around his friend's neck. "Chad is mad at Dino for going after Kahlan... again. And that's why Brooke is mad at Kahlan... but nobody cares because they already didn't like each other anyway." I shifted in my chair, while Brooke rolled her eyes. "Sandino thinks Chad has no reason to be mad, since he and Kah
KAHLAN I sat in a lawn chair in the backyard with the phone to my ear. It was an attempt to relax after the day that I had, however, I had been stuck on the phone for twenty minutes, listening to Tina yell at me. "Your Principal called me. She said that you were the cause of an all out riot!" I scoffed. My principal was obviously a bit dramatic. "I wouldn't think riot is the right word." "I DON'T CARE WHAT IT IS!" she shouted. "We moved here for a reason. You're not supposed to be getting in trouble. You go suspended!" "It's not even a suspension." I said, "She just sent us home for the rest of the day. It's fine." "Is it?" Tina asked. She paused, only to catch her breath. "Are you okay? I heard that young man hit you." "He did, but I've taken on worse," I answered, thinking about Ryan Wingo. She was quiet, not sure what to say. "I can't believe they called you." "You're kidding me right?" She asked. "You're a special case. They call me if you get a paper cut." "I'm so
KAHLAN AND DAMON "You want to be with me?" I spoke the words so softly. I was honestly in disbelief of what I was hearing. "Yeah," he said, "I hope that's okay." He looked genuinely worried. I smiled. "Don't worry. It's okay," I responded. Even with all the things that were taking place with Chad and Sandino, I had to be honest with myself. I wanted to be with Damon too. "So, what do we do?" He stared at me, as if that were the same question he had been seeking the answer to. "I don't know." "I would say you and I should just date," I started up, imagaining what it would be like to have Damon by my side. However, it was hard to do so because we only saw each other at an office, and there were so many factors when it came our relationship. "but our situation is complicated." He nodded. "You would be risking your career for me." He nodded again. "And I'm not sure that's a good idea." There was a moment of silence, and it felt that even though we had put our feeling out there, th
BROOKE "Brooke?" Ella spoke as she tapped on the bathroom door. Her daughter had rushed in there almost twenty minutes ago and had yet to come out, or make a sound. Ella just wanted to be sure that she was alright. "Brooke, is everything okay in there?" She waited and eventually her answer came. "I'm fine." Ella still stood at the door listening, hearing a clatter and the flush of the toilet. The dark haired girl opened the door, mother and daughter stared each other in the face. "Are you sure?" Brooke nodded. "I just don't feel well," the young girl replied, as she walked past her mother and went into her room, closing the door on Ella's face. They hadn't done much talking since Ella and Damon discovered what she had done with his work files. To top it all off, Ella had smacked her. She didn't believe in spankings or anything like that; but she was just so upset with the person that her daughter had become. Usually if she were acting up, she would pick up the phone and call D
DAMON AND CARLY The doorbell echoed over the music. Carly came in from the backyard, her hands dark with the soot from cleaning off her fathers grill. It felt like it hadn't been used in ages. It was a little early for the guests to be arriving, Carly thought as she hurried to answer the door. Any other time she would have to bother Kahlan for the pass code, but Kahlan had entrusted her with the four digit code. 0017. She swung the door open, ready to greet whomever it was with a smile. Her smile turned into a grin when she saw who it was. Kahlan would definitely be happy. "Damon Meir," Carly grinned, "What are you doing here?" Kahlan had told her that he thought it would be a bad idea for him to show up, so it was a little bit of a surprise that he was now at her doorstep. It seemed that he didn't listen to his original thought and just couldn't stay away from his seven-teen year old client. She stared, awaiting his answer. "Um, I just stopped by to check in on Kahlan." The playf
THE GROUP "Party!" Christian yelled obnoxiously, with two packs of beers in his hand. Justin followed behind with a bag that contained a bottle of Vodka. They both stopped in their tracks when they saw an older man on the grill. Damon stared at the half naked boys, and they stared back. "Who are you?" "I'm Damon Meir....Kahlan's therapist." Chris looked. Why didn't fireball warn us, he thought. He lowered the beers down to the ground, then adjusted his green and orange swim trunks , as he thought of something to say. "Well, those aren't beers." Damon stared at them for a few moments, face serious, and then he let out a chuckle. "Hey, as long as I don't see it, I don't know it exists." Christian chuckled. He was just joking around. He remembered what it was like to be a teenager; and he wasn't here to bust the party. "You're a kick ass shrink!" Damon watched as two more guys came to the back, followed by Carly. "Did you meet the guys?" Carly asked, taking the role of hostess
THE GROUP Carly stared Ashley in the face as she talked about James and Brooke and their secret affair. She hadn't known long, but enough time had passed that she should have told Carly. Carly did remember little things that Ashley would say, trying to drop hints. Of course, she also could have picked a better time. Ashley did decide to spill the beans quite loudly, in the middle of a crowded lunchroom. Everyone knew now. If Carly was being honest, it was quite embarrassing. "It's alright Ashley," Carly began, "I mean, it isn't but I forgive you. You at least told me. I'm sure neither James or Brooke were going to. I mean, they kept it to themselves for quite a while; they probably figured they could keep it that way forever." Ashley's eyes then wandered behind Carly, into Kahlan's home. "Speak of the devil," Ashley said quietly, looking at the main entrance of the house, seeing Sandino and his girlfriend walk in. Carly glared as she saw Brooke. Damon and I came down the stairs fu
JAMES Damon and James stood tall, facing each other, their body language somehow showcasing their strength. This felt like a showdown. "You found your way, you can find your way out," Damon growled. "I'm not leaving until I talk to my girlfriend." Carly then appeared at my side, looking scared out of her mind. I felt her hand grab mine. She was freezing. I stepped slightly in front of her. "She doesn't want to talk to you," I said, "so leave." He looked over at Carly, eyes softening. He was a really good actor. "Please, I just want to talk." Carly knew he wasn't going to go away. And if by some miracle he did, he would come back with a vengeance. She let go of my hand and walked up to James. "We can talk right here," She said bravely. He leaned in slightly. "Come on. Just come out with me," He pleaded, so only she could hear his words clearly. "If you don't, I will get my hands on that pretty little friend of yours and I don't mean in a good way." I stared, trying to make
~ELLA~ Ella rushed up to one of the cops on the scene. The waiting around was killing her. The cops had begun to clear out one part of the building. There was an automotive class-taking place, and their escape was out the garages of the North side of the building. Officers were planning on storming through there. That was the last that she had heard of their plans. There were two students hurt, but at least ten evacuated. That gave some hope. There were no fatalities. Ella wanted to help."I'm an off duty nurse," she stated, "I'm here to offer any assistance." The cop looked at her."Do you have your badge?" She pulled out her nursing badge and let the cop examine it. At least he was being thorough."Go on over to the par
~JUSTIN, EMETT AND MYA~ Mya snuck the guys into one of the pool exits. It threw them off course just a bit to get the front office, but as long as they got inside, Justin didn’t care. He would find a way to Kahlan."How did you know this would be open?" Justin asked quietly. He wasn’t comfortable with Mya leading them. As men, they should be protecting her. She should be behind them."They cut the electricity off," she whispered back, "That means that the doors that were usually on manual locks, would open." Justin never paid attention to things like that, so he was glad that Mya did, otherwise, they may have still been outside, trying to find a way in, or they would have given up."How did you know there were
~KAHLAN AND BROOKE~ "It’s been five minutes!" Brooke shouted at me as quiet as she could when I returned to her side. She had gotten loud as if she was angry, but she was scared. She was sweating bullets, her face looking as if she had gotten caught in the rain."I know, I'm sorry," I said, "Did anyone text back?" She shook her head. "Damn it." Brooke looked at me. She wanted so badly for me to have good news for her, but I didn’t."What are we going to do?" she asked as she placed a hand over her belly. I stared down at her stomach. It was more than out lives at stake, it was the life of this unborn child. I couldn't give her an answer; so instead, I looked around, trying to come up with our next move.
~AMY, CHAD AND JASON~Jason looked, asking himself the same question. What was his problem? The fact that his friend and girlfriend lied to him… yep, that was it."I don't have a problem," Jason answered softly."Well you sure do stomp around like you do," Chad said."I'm upset," Jason replied. "I don't know how I should feel, but I know I don't hate you. Most of me misses you guys, but there is still a part of me that can't get over the fact that you two lied. And when I think about it, I can see you guys in my head, and it just makes me sick to my stomach.""Let us help you get over it," Amy said getting to her feet, "trying to avoid us and staying mad at us obviously isn't helping." Jason looke
~JUSTIN~ Everyone got to their knees outside, at the sound of another gunshot. The group was pushed back further from the school as more people escaped. Now officers had arrived on the scene. They had begun pushing everyone back across the parking lot, closer to the street and the surrounding homes. Justin couldn’t just stand around and do nothing. He was not the type to feel powerless."I have to get in there," he demanded, pushing past Carly. He didn’t even get a few feet, before he was thrown to the ground. He landed on his left knee pretty hard, feeling the pain of the pavement. He looked up and saw Coach Myers on top of him."Where do you think your going boy?" the coach growled."I ha
~KAHLAN AND CARLY~“So you have a date tonight?” Carly asked as we made our way to the front of the school. I glanced over at her as we walked down the hall. I had to stop by my locker to drop off my textbooks. We agreed that to car pool for a while. It saved time and gas money.“Its not a date.” “Yeah, but you want it to be.” She grinned. I looked over at her. It seemed that Carly might have knew more than I did. Justin and I had discussed going out together. As far as I was concerned it was just as friends. Though I wasn’t sure exactly what we were doing. Justin just said it was a birthday surprise.“Its two friends hanging out.” I responded. She looked at me. &l
~CARLY AND JUSTIN~Justin rushed through the crowds of teens pooling into the lunchroom. He was chasing one particular person down, and wanted to get to her before she reached their lunch table. He reached out and touched Carly’s shoulder, pulling her back.“Hey,” she said with a slight chuckle, his force a bit surprising. The last time she was grabbed like that, James was the one with the force. She was able to push the thought away from her mind rather quick. “What’s going on?” He seemed eager.“What do you think I should get Kahlan for her birthday?” That wasn’t a question she thought he’d ask.“Well, what do you think she wants?” She questioned, “besides you naked in a bow?”
~BROOKE AND SANDINO~ Brooke knocked on Sandino’s door. She had heard that he didn’t go to school, and figured now would be the best time to go over, since his mother would be at work. Dino opened the door, looking at her through the screen."What do you want?" he asked. She looked. So far, this was going better than expected. She didn’t even think that he would open the door, let alone speak to her."Just to talk.""I don’t want to talk. Not to you anyway.” He looked as if he had been sleeping the day away, hiding from the embarrassment that she caused."I don’t want you to hate me," she spoke out. Hate was a strong word, but if anyone was going to
~KAHLAN AND JUSTIN~ I stood at my locker, putting away my books when Justin walked up to me. I could feel his presence before I saw her. He stood behind me."Hey," he said. I turned around to look at him. We hadn't talked since what happened in my pool, and since I blurted all my thoughts and feelings at the lunch table. It seemed that our time had now come. I was ready to talk to him and it seemed that he was ready to talk to me."Hi," I said quietly."How are you?" he asked."I'm good," I answered, "You?""Not so much," He responded, putting his hands into his pockets. I looked at him. He did look a mess, as if he were losing sleep