Alice "Valerie" Callinder's Story

Dean smiled around the roll in his mouth as he felt the pressure of Chess on his shins. As two light legs fell to either side of his head, he raised his hand to take the joint out of his mouth. He blew 3 rings into the air, all entering each other to make something of a bullseye. Dean was always rather fond of this talent of his, though he blew them as far away from Chess's face as he could. She never liked the smell of the his lovely little herbs, and though he couldn't care less, Dean never tried to intentionally bother her. Though he never said it out loud, he liked Chess's company.

"Twas brillig in the slithy toves..." she began to sing. Dean's grin broadened. Although she claimed to be apathetic, and often was to others, she always seemed to know what he needed to hear, even when Dean didn't know it himself. Humming along with her, though not very well, they finished off the lullaby on a calm and happy note. Dean clapped slowly, interrupting the soft silence that had settled like a blanket in the field.

"Beautifully sung, Chess, as always," he said, "Could you by any chance be a witch or a psychic? I certainly wouldn't be surprised. Just five minutes ago, I used those words to describe our dearest friend Meg. The Jabberwock seems to fit her like a glove, does it not?"

---

Ace stepped out of Accounting, lost in his own mind. Uncaring of students or staff, he walked through the mess, eyes searching above the crowd for familiar blonde crown of curls. There! Barging through the crowd towards Meg, Ace realized that his heart was pounding. That moment of panic he felt when he's lost was already easing off, but it was still uncomfortable. Ace rubbed his chest absentmindedly.

All wandering thoughts vanished however when he caught up to the Queen. "Hello, my Queen," he said to her, and rightly didn't expect a response back. Looking to the side, he saw her brother, small, yet very difficult to miss. Not looking into his eyes, Ace said quietly, "Hi, Cyrus." He looked down then, looking at and following the pair of bright and polished white slippers and the pair of worn out and dirty running shoes to the cafeteria.

What happened next was a blur. Only when he was at the table did he notice the new student. He glanced at the curious passion on Meg's face. Why does she want her so badly? he thought with a frown. Still, it wasn't his place to question it, though the feeling of unease stayed with him whenever he looked at the girl's face.

"Or perhaps you would like Ace here to show you?"

When Petra mentioned his name, Ace looked up from his where he had zoned out. Petra's hands were around the girl's collar. Clearly, he was meant to look intimidating. Baring his teeth into a hideous grin, Ace glared at the girl. "I wouldn't mind."
Clenching his fists, he felt the knuckles cracking and popping rather loudly. He wouldn't mind hurting the girl. Just a little bit to show that Meg was his. Turning to glance at his Queen, he only then noticed the sopping milk stained hair that adorned her face.

Without thinking, he rushed forward, and, while her collar was still held by Petra, grabbed her jaw, thrusting it up to look at him. "Do you know what you just did, girl?" He spit in her face, "You've just harmed the Queen, and I can't have that."

How dare she? Who does she think she is? Ace fumed.

Malia watched the whole scene with light amusement, her lips curling slightly. This should happen more often, this is the most interesting thing I've seen in days, she thought as she watched The Girl pour her lunch down the front of Meg. She liked this girl- she was exiting. Malia leaned against the table as the watched the others reactions. Meg seemed to be only seconds from blowing her top, and her followers were tense. It was so easy for Malia to imagine them as a pack of dogs right then- all of them waiting on their leader to give them the signal to attack. One of them seemed to not want to wait and jumped at The Girl, who Malia had seen call herself Valarie in response to one of Meg's boundary-overstepping questions as she said something about trash.

It was strange, seeing them attack someone so up-close. Malia tended to avoid them and their annoying natures, preferring different places to sleep. They were vicious and they looked threatening, and most of the people around seemed threatened. Audrey stepped up and told them to leave, but Malia knew that that may very well be telling a snail to go faster than a cheetah, from the look of pure hate in the eyes of Petra.

"Or perhaps you would like Ace here to show you?" Malia heard the woman say and Ace responded quickly and, Malia supposed, scarily. He cracked his knuckles and seemed to finally come out of the haze he was in, if only for a moment. He saw his precious queen's milk covered hair and he lunged as well. Valarie had made a target of herself on her first day. That had to be a new record. They normally tried to figure out if the new ones had something they wanted.

Nevertheless, they looked like they wanted to kill and Malia figured the school wouldn't be quiet for days if that happened. Plus Tarrant might be mad (or worse, sad), and he could be frightful. Malia sighed and put her hand into her jacket, extracting her knife just in case. She flicked it open and started to file her nails as she looked at the pair who had Valarie in their grips.

"Honestly, can't this wait until tomorrow? The girl didn't know any better and you wouldn't want to scare her to another school on her first day, would you? That would be boring, right? You won't be able to make her scared and worship Meg if she leaves," she said as she stepped forward. "I would let her go. It's not like you to break someone too quickly" she stopped filing her nails and pointed the knife at them. "She can learn," She added as an afterthought, knowing full well that while her argument was reasonable, they would more than likely not leave and it would be a fight. She didn't enjoy fights, really, but she could fight. She did, however, see pain as something she could feel on an emotional level. One of the very few things she could, so she did go into times when she would crave it.

While now was not one of those times, she wouldn't mind it. So she prepared herself for a fight, her body tensing in a subtle way and her fingers curling around her knife as she pulled it back and held it against her dress in a way that looked clam but a trained eye would see the tightness in her fingers and the way one quick movement would do damage, as well as how it was concealed by her body so no worker would see it. To many people, Malia and her knife would be a normal sight and wouldn't bother them, but Malia did fail to consider how Valerie might respond to her holding a knife.

Sam's jaw dropped and he nearly doubled over laughing, chocolate milk beginning to run down Meg's face and features. It seemed his intervention wasn't needed at all as Valerie showed that not only did she have quite a big bark, but enough bite to back it up as well. 'Note to self,' he thought, 'cold shower after lunch...' He steadied himself before he fell over, using Tarrant's large form to lean on. Audrey picked the perfect time to stand up and Sam quickly occupied her vacant seat as his cheeks began to throb and small tears formed in his eyes at the sight of Meg, fuming in the muck.

Wiping one of the latent droplets forming in his eye, he caught sight of a fly as it passed through his vision and up over them all. Adrenaline was coursing through him due to the event, but the fluorescent lights above them made him feel incredibly tired all of a sudden. Sam rarely had a good night's sleep and it was beginning to catch up to him. He felt as if he could doze off at any moment, but let himself enjoy only the pleasure of a single blink. The blink turned into a few seconds, and then a minute, and still his eyes stayed closed, head inclined to the ceiling above.

Blank.

Sam's eyes opened to a commotion going on somewhere around him and spotted a fly as it buzzed above his head. 'That's one loud fly...' came his thoughts as they drifted back to him. But the sound was too peculiar to be a fly. 'Too....violent...' The fly drifted back down and Sam saw the cafeteria around the table he sat at. The kids all around staring at the scene around the table. The group confronting each other as they stood in front of him. And then he saw Meg, the source of the violent buzzing. And an eyebrow on his face rose higher and higher as he took in the sodding sight of her. Covered in what looked like chocolate milk and pasta, she looked.... 'Delicious...'

Sam wondered slightly what had happened, though his stomach was beginning to outweigh his concerns and drift back to the food covering her. Everyone around him seemed ready to hop up and fly into an all-out brawl. Even Malia had a knife out. At the sight of her though, he really didn't focus too much on the knife she held, a little tighter than someone feigning a casual composure he might add. 'God, I joined the wrong club...'

Helena was beside Sam as well, Audrey was on her feet in front of him, Tarrant stood in front of Meg's usual entourage as well. 'What the hell is going on?' And Sam's eyes fell on the girl at the center of it all and a slight memory crept back into his mind, beginning to bore the letter 'V' into his thoughts. He examined the determined look on her face, the passionately fierce blue eyes that were set on Meg at the moment, her lightly curled golden locks framing it all, and of course, he didn't skimp as he scanned over the rest of her. But for the life of him, he had no idea what the 'V' meant...

His studying of Valerie was cut off as Meg's crescendo of threats finished and she abruptly turned and stalked out of the cafeteria, lackeys in tow. Sam chuckled a little at the droplets of chocolate milk that indicated the exact path Meg had taken out the doors. His stomach pulled at him again as he whirled in Audrey's seat to spot his tray across the table and scooped up the piece of apple pie still on it, taking a rather large bite and allowing a delighted hum to escape him. Swallowing too fast, he began to choke and grabbed a bottle of chocolate milk from the table, no actual idea if it was his or not. He took a deep sip to clear his throat and let out a satisfied sigh...

"Dunno what she's so crabby about..." he said as he gestured to the milk trail out of the cafeteria, "this stuff is amazing!" Now that the distraction Meg posed was gone, Sam went back to staring at Valerie again, she seemed so familiar...

Leaning close enough to whisper to Helena Sam kept his voice low. "Hey, who is that? And what in the hell happened to Meg?"

Insanity broke loose quite quickly after they arrived at the table. First Dean left, trailing snarky comments alone in his wake. Cyrus tensed, prepared to follow Ace outside and lead him back to the group after they'd finished doling out justice, but Meg made no gesture to do so. She just relaxed. Cyrus frowned deeply, an expression that quickly faded into confusion. Later. They'd provide justice where justice was due later. Meg apparently thought this new girl was so important that nothing could get in her way.

Then Sam spoke up. And Tarrant. And then the girl herself. Cyrus managed to keep himself somewhat sedate by watching Petra grab the impertinent little thing by the collar. He pulled off his shirt and held it out to his sister so she could mop the worst of the offense from his hair and shirt, chewing nervously on his lip. Then Ace dove into the fray, and the boy's anger calmed Cyrus a bit. Between them both they could get the job done well enough. He smiled faintly, looking to his sister for a cue as to what to do next. His arms were wrapped around his lower torso, though it wasn't particularly cold in the cafeteria. He mostly just felt small among his club-mates.

And then Meg joined into the mess, quieting everything. She pushed Petra and Ace away, focused on the girl. And then she started in. She was quiet at first, but Cyrus knew it wouldn't last long. He slunk behind Ace, grinning madly. He wasn't lowed to smile when she yelled at him like that, but she wasn't looking at him now and he was positively euphoric at this point, with all the cold, sweet justice floating around, even if it wasn't aimed at him at all. Soon Meg's voice rang through the cafeteria, almost every occupant cowed to a state of silence by her large voice.

Cyrus lingered a moment to retrieve his shirt, which Meg had thrown upon the floor at some point in her tirade. He managed to compose himself as he looked for a few brief moments at the collection of people before him. Some of them were offenders, some of them were not, but they'd all pay by the queen's hand, and it was the new girl's fault. "You'd best watch your backs. Meg isn't afraid to let the heads roll." He said softly to them as he tried not to grin, his eye on the new girl in particular. His bared torso probably told the group just what Meg wasn't afraid to do, a variety of different coloured discolourations spattered his skin, welts and bruises of many different punishments, both new and old.

All of a sudden the boy turned and half stumbled half hurried away, as if Meg had just pulled an invisible lead forcing him to come along. He was back to grinning as he grabbed Meg's things as well as his own and followed his sister and the rest of the group out of the cafeteria, clutching his shirt in his fist. He hadn't entertained a second thought when he'd given Meg his shirt, he rarely did, but there was a jacket in his bag he could wear. Just a little bit of luck.

Cyrus decided that it would probably be best to wait for her Majesty to speak, as she would do so when she was ready to. And it probably would also be wise not to mention that her group hadn't had anything to eat. Cy swallowed his grin, returning to a somewhat blank expression, and followed his queen obediently. There would be plans in their future, he knew. Delicious plans. vengeful plans. Justice.

"Please for the love of God take him!!"

Harold's heart leapt at the nurse's desperate plea. He heaved himself up off the ground, stumbling as he threw himself against the door. He'd heard her earlier, could it really be? Was she coming to set this poor rabbit free?

“Audi! Audi is that you?! Hi Audi!” He hollered as he lips brushed against the steel trap on the barred window. Harry's lips twitched a bit at the sound of the locks being unlatched echoed in the room. It was the only sound that came to mind when he thought of freedom. When the door was pulled open he was perched right on the threshold with a ridiculous grin on his face.

"Jamie, I'm here to get you outta here!" Audrey told him in glee, greeting his smile in kind. She walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his bound form in a tight embrace. Then the realization sunk in. She pulled away from him, her gorgeous wide eyes trailing down he snaps and straps keeping in confined in the jacket. "Good God, are they insane or what?" Harold slumped to the side as he was pushed in front of the nurses, grinning from ear to ear. "Get him out-...." She demanded, "Please." The nurses obliged, surrounding him as they unbuckled him. As soon as he was free he slumped to the ground, for reasons unbeknownst to even him. He looked up, fixing his gaze on Audrey's. She pulled him up and he went with her as she pulled him behind her, casting a wave over her shoulder. He giggled a bit, relieved beyond belief that he was out of that wretched room. Hand and hand they made their way to the main hallway, quiet save for their giggling.

Harry couldn't conceal his exuberant attitude any more and turned, hugging her tightly as he muttered, "I missed you. How was tea?”

She laughed as he pulled away and stood in front of her. "You have no idea." He watched as she looked him over, with that quizzical look adorning her gracious features. "How did you get locked in here again, Jamie?"

His cheeky grin turned to one of mischief as he began their steady pace, motioning for her to follow. "The orderlies tried to keep me away from making some Earl Grey for lunch. I had a skillet in my hand,” he gesticulated as such, stopping in the middle of the hall in a position similar to one a person would possess if they were about to throw a javelin. Harry pointed to an empty space in front of him, making eye contact with Audrey. "Orderly,” He flipped the imaginary skillet in his hand and aimed, throwing it mockingly. He smacked his forehead to induce an impact and stumbled backwards as he added, "WHAP! Right in the dome piece.”

Audrey laughed and helped him up again, and as soon as he was upright, his eyes shimmered with enlightenment. "You know what we should do?!" He didn't wait for her to answer, "Race you to class!" They took off down the hall, grasping invisible wheels in front of themselves as they made loud car noises. Vrooming down the hall, Harry made a serpentine, weaving past students as they made their way to Advisory. Audrey began making loud siren noises and Harry bursted out in exuberant laughter. "You'll never catch me alive, copper!" He made a loud screeching noise as he swerved, running smack into a wall, spinning into the center of the hallway. He ran right into a person and all childish gaiety ceased as he watched the girl fall to the ground.

"Oh my God, are you okay?!" He hollered as he hoisted the blonde up effortlessly. He didn't take the time to process who it was, he just desperately wanted to know if she was okay. He grabbed her forearms and turned her around, his gaze trailing up the span of her back, "Do you have bruises? Broken bones? A hernia?!" He grabbed either side of the girl's head, his fingers getting lost in those soft tresses. He turned her head to the side, scanning the back of her skull for blood, "Did I crack your skull open?! Is there blood?! Do you have a concussion?!" He let go of her head and stuck his fingers in her mouth, prying it open and getting uncomfortably close to her to take a peek inside her mouth. "Any broken teeth!? A loose molar?! Did I make you swallow a canine?!" His sporadic questioning stopped abruptly when he finally processed the fact that whoever this girl was, she was okay. "Oh thank goodness," He sighed in relief, pulling his fingers out of her mouth to give her a tight hug, only after planting a sloppy wet kiss on her lips. Wet probably because her saliva had dribbled out onto her chin thanks to his excavation.

He leaned back and finally took in the girl's appearance. He didn't know her. Her long light blonde tresses were unfamiliar to him, as was the startling stormy blue of her tantalizing eyes. She was so pretty! Harry looked at her in awe, "Hey! I've never seen you before!" He stuck his hand out to her, offering up a salutational shake. "Harold James Duffy, ma'am. But you can call me the March Hare." He frowned in focus, lowering his hand before she could have a chance to shake it. "You can call me anything really: Harry, James, Jamie, Jimbo, Marchie. Anything but Harold." He scowled, "I hate the name Harold." He quickly perked up, his bright smile bringing light to his dark brown eyes, "What's your name?" He may have asked but he held a hand up almost right after, stopping her from answering. His smile faltered a bit as he got lost in her eyes once more, "Don't tell me-..." He breathed out, "I'll find out eventually." He shoved his hands in his pockets with a suave confidence, "I'll see you later, blue eyes." He walked away, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek before he wandered off towards the French class where his Advisory was held.

This is a joke, right?

One moment, she was staring down her nose at the trash-heaped girl, and the next, she was being shoved back a few steps by a girl, who had grabbed the straps of her dress roughly and yanked her close to her face.

"How about I show you how I take out the Trash? Or perhaps you would like Ace here to show you?" Valerie's eyes flicked to the boy, who was grinning a bit madly, his eyes slightly lost. "I suggest you all get lost. And take this piece of garbage with you," the girl said darkly. With a shoved, Valerie was sent stumbling back another few steps, only to find her face grabbed in a vise-like grip by the boy that had been mentioned earlier - Ace. It was painful, almost beyond so, and she knew that she would be bruised the next day.

Why weren't any teachers intervening? Were they just going to allow all of this to happen without even any words at all? What was wrong with this school?

"Do you know what you just did, girl? You've just harmed the Queen, and I can't have that."

She felt oddly brave in that moment, and despite his hold on her face, Valerie felt her lips twitch up in a squished yet daring grin.

"Queen? Queen? Jesus freaking Christ, this is high school. Not a monarchy. What are you, a dumbass?" she asked with a raised brow. It sounded, however, more along the lines of, "Bveen? Bveen? Eus fraking Ist, es is eye cool! Nah a onarfy. Aht o oo, a unass?" It was quite incomprehensible, might she add, but she didn't care. At least she managed to get in the last word with this one.

"Let go of her ..." It was a feeble attempt on Tarrant's part to get the boy to release her, but an attempt nonetheless, and after a few more heartbeats, Ace did so, but she refused to give them the satisfaction of rubbing at her jaw. Instead, she tilted her head back and locked a dark gaze on Meg, a small scowl on her lips.

"Honestly, can't this wait until tomorrow? The girl didn't know any better and you wouldn't want to scare her to another school on her first day, would you? That would be boring, right? You won't be able to make her scared and worship Meg if she leaves. I would let her go. It's not like you to break someone too quickly. She can learn."

Another new voice. But she didn't know how to respond to this. She could learn? She didn't know any better? Oh, God, that was just precious! How hilarious that they would actually buy what the girl was saying and that she could learn to 'worship' this bitch.

“How dare you?” Aw, the little slut-ess was angry. How sad! “You are not fit to be at this school, Honey! You are to be put in a ... A pit, in the deepest, dankest, darkest pit! I shall have you drowned in your sour chocolate milk, and have your guts stuffed with this rotten pasta!" Now that was a bit disturbing. "I shall crush you. I shall pound you! I shall dissect you, Honey! I shall rip out your eyes, shove them in your back pocket, and make you watch me kick your ass! I shall feed you to the termites, and then I shall smash the termites into tiny fragments, and then I shall grind the tiny fragments into dust, and I shall take that dust and feed it to the bloodworms, and the bloodworms I shall feed to the birds, and the birds I shall release into the air, and then shoot them down with my 12-gauge shotgun, and so on, and so on, and infinitum, Honey!" What was this? Some sort of demented version of a science class? What a high-and-mighty bitch. As if she could ever achieve any of that. "I hope you enjoyed your little moment of glory, because you are going to hate every single moment that will come after! You will beg for forgiveness, and when you do I'm going to punish you because I'm big and you're small. I'm right and your wrong and there's nothing you can do about it. You're a pathetic, whimpering little twit. You're the lowest lowlife in the history of civilization. What do you say to that? You can say nothing, and there is nothing you can say, because you are genetically predisposed to ineptitude, and are a no good, good for nothing nobody just like your friends. I shall skiiiiiinnnn you all!” Aw, the poor baby was getting angrier. Somebody forgot to take her nap today. “VERMIN! PUKE! SNOT STAIN, ARE YOU LISTENING? All of these disgusting little slugs will suffer the most appalling indignities because of you. YES YOU! I shall rip the rebellion out of this party of nitwits and devour it whole. I shall hang each and every one of you upside down by your ankles until all of your bodily liquids drain out through your noses and into jars! YES, JARS! Which I shall then hang around the school with your little name-tags, upon which I shall write “WARNING, MAXIMAL IDIOCY TOXICITY”! Honestly, this was more hilarious than the time that her and her sister had put a dead squirrel in their teacher's desk - who, by the way, had an unnatural fear of squirrels.

“Ms. Valerie has allowed her weakness and filth to overtake this miserable collection of excuses for people, giving them the impression that they can be Heroes! You feeble-minded imbeciles! There you are, standing before me like the squits of squits, and you think you've won? You are the excess of inanity. You are the definition of worthlessness. You are a rotting lump of pure WRONG! But I am a match for you, Honey. In me you have met the QUEEN! The ultimate force to be reckoned with. And I tell you that there is nothing I shall not do, no length to which I shall not go, no punishment that I shall not inflict, no fingers I shall not snap, until I've got you all crawling in your own blood and patheticness! I will be watching you. Each and every one of you festering pest-worms. When you turn the corner, when you go to your little smelly dorms, I will be watching all of you, and especially YOU. ENJOY YOUR YEAR IN HELL, VALERIE!”

"One, I don't think that my 'weaknesses' and 'filth' is what caused this. Instead, it was my bravery to stand up to a slutty, high-and-mighty bitch like you," she said, her voice quiet and her eyes a dark and intense blue. "Two, if we're all worthless, than you are nothing, you pathetic excuse of a human being. You aren't human, actually. In all honesty, you must be the offspring of Satan and his whore of a concubine - who must have been your mother, I suppose. So before your mother was, well, your mother, she was a whore. a prostitute. A stripper. Isn't that sad? I can almost guarantee that if one were to flip back in old porn magazines, they would find pictures of your mother splaying herself for all the world to see," she smirked, her racing heart threatening to beat out of her chest. She stepped closer, closing the distance completely between them, and as she stood toe-to-toe with this psychotic young woman, she felt her lips curl up in a smart-ass of a grin. Her eyes narrowed as her voice dropped to a near-whisper. "And I will, Pauper. I will enjoy my year in Hell, because it'll be quite a better one than yours will soon become. This will be the year where you will be knocked off of your high-horse, peasant."

As soon as the girl had spun away, Valerie raised her hand and waved with a sarcastic happiness after her. "'Bye now! I hope to see you soon, best friend!" she sang, before she turned and moved to the nearest seat their table, easily lowering herself into it. It was then that she noticed that Audrey had turned to Sam, her hand gripping his chin and forcing him to look at her.

"Sammy, that is Alice Valerie although she likes to be called Valerie." The girl pointed at Valerie, whose expression was more then puzzled. "When we entered the lunch room I dragged you over to her because I had never seen her before, and she is a new student. I hugged her and then you went to get my lunch for me after you introduced us, and also your lunch. First you grabbed a cheeseburger but decided I wanted a hamburger, and then proceeded to get me fries,a soda, and chocolate brownie. You piled your own plate with these and also two more hamburgers and a salad.While you were there you spoke to Helena and also said hello to Malia. When you returned, Tarrant was here and Valerie winked at you and asked us all for advice, to which you promptly said that she would get a crash course of what you should avoid, since Meg and her entourage were approaching the table. Meg was harsh, like she always is, so Valerie poured milk down her hair and threw her pasta at her shirt. She then screamed hell and a half to her, left, and now we are sitting here."

What the Hell? She just basically relayed everything that had happened only moments before. But why? Why would she have to tell Sam all of that? Unless ... No, that wasn't possible. That girl was before was merely pulling her leg about people being crazy at this school. But still ... No! Kick that silly thought from your mind this moment, Valerie!

She's talking to a table, Valerie. Open your eyes!

It was true; Audrey was whispering to the table. Valerie couldn't help it; she stared at the girl with what could only be called astonishment, and after a few moments, began to blink.

"Y-yeah, you better leave! Damn cowards!" Tarrant again. God, too many things were happening at once. She just couldn't take it much longer, and when Tarrant looked ready to throw an apple after the retreating group of psychopaths, she had had just about enough. It was when he dropped his hand and instead took a large bite that she was pushed to her limits.

"Are you all crazy?" she asked, looking around the table with astounded eyes. "That bitch just threatened all of you because of me, and you're holding conversations as if it never happened? Audrey's talking to a damned table for crymony's sake! Sam's acting like he's high, and Tarrant! Jesus Christ, you're acting drunk! This chick has a knife," she pointed at Malia, "And the only sane on is shaking in her boots like a frightened fucking rabbit!" She spun the finger on Helena. "What is wrong with you all!?"

With that, she launched up, slapping her hands on the table. "I've been here for less than an hour and I already want to return home! This school is for nuts!" She grabbed her bag and the bottle of water that she had brought with her, threw her bag over her shoulder, and took off from the cafeteria.

She was stopped by Tarrant as she passed him, his arms pulling her into a tight hug. "I'll see you around, alright? Maybe after school today?" Yeah, right ... If I had it my way, I'd be gone already. But I'm not going to leave and give that bitch Meg the satisfaction of thinking that she's won. Oh, no. That bitch is going to have a long year.

Instead, she smiled, all the while those thoughts running through her mind. "Yes, you will. I'll be at the Tennis fields if you want to hang out or something. I really need to practice," she said, lifting her hand and flicking his nose. He slowly released her after that and left the room as the bell rang. She followed suit, unsure of where she intended to head to, but decided to just wander. If she got lost, she'd undoubtedly manage to find someone to help her out of the maze of halls.

She hadn't taken one step before she was collided into by a hard figure. She was sent tumbling to the ground, landing hard on her bag, and her water bottle went flying to somewhere unbeknownst to her. After a momentary lapse in vision, she shook her head and managed to focus. She saw shoes first, followed by jeans, the bottom of a shirt, a neck, a jaw, and finally the entire face of her assailant - who was by this point freaking out over knocking her over.

"Oh my God, are you okay?!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her up, causing her to momentarily fly in the air before she landed on her feet - only to find his hands gripping her upper arms. "Do you have bruises? Broken bones? A hernia?!" Her head was grabbed by his in a surprisingly-gentle grip, but was moved back and forth quickly enough to give her whiplash. "Did I crack your skull open?! Is there blood?! Do you have a concussion?!" That was when he crossed the lines. He shoved his fingers into her mouth - Dear God, where had they been? Was that ... Was that ... It was! It was dirt under his nails! Gross![/b] - and was prying her lips apart as he peered inside. "Any broken teeth!? A loose molar?! Did I make you swallow a canine?!" [i]If you'd just let me answer, you'd know that you didn't and that I was fine! Holy shit, kid, slow down! Finally, as if he only then realized that she was alright, he released her. She worked her jaw, which had been extremely sore in the first place and was now throbbing with pain, and swiped at her lips. Dumbass ... "Oh thank goodness."

And then he kissed her.

What was wrong with this school!?

She shoved him away, stumbling back to rub roughly at her mouth with the back of her arm, an annoyed look on her face.

"Hey! I've never seen you before! Harold James Duffy, ma'am. But you can call me the March Hare." March Hare? Where the Hell did he pick up that nickname? At this point, she had already learned that it was best just to go with whatever he did and said, and not even bother to get a word in. Instead, she reached to shake his hand, but found herself gripping air. She didn't even bother to look to see why.

"You can call me anything really: Harry, James, Jamie, Jimbo, Marchie. Anything but Harold. I hate the name Harold." He was scowling one moment, and then smiling the next. What was he, bipolar? ]b\"What's your name?"[/b] She opened her mouth to answer, her lips parting, but found herself shushed by his raised hand. "Don't tell me ... I'll find out eventually." God, she was getting tired just listening to this guy! "I'll see you later, blue eyes." Blue eyes? She finally gains a nickname other than Blondie and it's Blue-Eyes? It was ... Sweet.

Valerie blinked as the boy took off, letting out a heavy breath after he dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"I ... I can't keep up with this," she groaned, dropping her forehead onto the nearest row of lockers as Tarrant walked up. "What was that about, Val?" She managed a tiny shake of her head, her arms hanging down beside her comically. "I ... I don't really know," she whispered dumbly, completely lost on what she was supposed to do at this point. She stood like that for a few moments, before pushing back from the lockers and rubbing at her temples. "I'm going to my dorm to get unpacked. I just need time to myself for a little while. I'll be at the Tennis fields when you get out," she said, already starting away, her lost water bottle forgotten. "Crazy asses ..."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Malia was pleasantly surprised they had left. In her head, the whole encounter had been much bloodier. Of course, most of the encounter had been in her head, as she had zoned out a few minutes after she had said what she wished to say. She had, however, pulled herself back in when they left instead of fighting.

"'Bye now! I hope to see you soon, best friend!" was the first thing Malia heard when she came back from la-la land, and it only took her a few seconds to realize it had come from Valerie. That was a mistake, and one Malia was looking forward to seeing the repercussions of. Maybe it was better if this girl didn't know the ins and outs of the school- it was slightly amusing to watch it all play out, and Malia was a sucker for anything that made her feel.

The apathetic girl's eyes followed Valerie, seeing her as she took note of Audrey explaining the situation to Sam. Must look pretty strange to her, Malia thought dryly as Audrey then took up a conversation with the table. Normally, Malia would have put this off without as much as a smile, and Malia still did that. But the new girl looked... confused. That was an emotion that as far as Malia could tell, no understood all that much.

"Are you all crazy?" Valerie just about yelled and Malia was going to ignore it, as she stood nothing to gain from answering, when she followed it up with "That bitch just threatened all of you because of me, and you're holding conversations as if it never happened? Audrey's talking to a damned table for crymony's sake! Sam's acting like he's high, and Tarrant! Jesus Christ, you're acting drunk! This chick has a knife," Malia looked up at the mention of her and waved the hand that held the knife with a straight face. "And the only sane on is shaking in her boots like a frightened fucking rabbit! What is wrong with you all!?" she finished and Malia looked back down, deciding it was better to just ignore it.

Anything she said wouldn't be sugar-coated or with the slight possibility of being a joke. Most things she said she said only when she thought it would further her interests or if she felt herself or anyone of her friends (or anyone connected to her friends) was threatened. So, she reasoned, anything she said then might not be the best thing.

"I've been here for less than an hour and I already want to return home! This school is for nuts!" Valarie said and Malia only nodded in agreement as she left, only to be stopped by Tarrant for a moment and then she was off again. Malia took her leave as well, folding her knife back into her jacket and going back to her table. She quickly grabbed her bag and thew it over her shoulder, its contents sloshing awkwardly as she left the cafeteria and began walking. This was advisory, but Malia didn't really ever go to it. This was prime sleeping time, when they wouldn't stop her from really just doing what she wanted, and she would not have it disrupted by other students loudness.

Malia quickly made her way through the maze of classes and hallways before getting outside and pushing herself to a full run, rushing past the beautiful scenery. She had never really stopped to admire the trees and flowers, but she had tried in the past. She even sketched it from time to time, but it always ended up fantastical instead of what was really the thing, and she always fell asleep watching it. So she had stopped trying long ago. Once inside the Dormitory, she quickly opened her door and was greeted by her bed, which was piled high with all manner of large pillows. Her bed was visible through the door and farthest the window, and she loved it there. She could sleep no matter how bright it was, and it was right next to the loft area that she liked to hang out in if she wasn't with the Tea Club or sleeping. It was great if she didn't want to be found, and she liked to type and draw up there.

Malia left the door open- it wasn't as if anyone would interrupt her, and she would have to get back to class on time. She quickly set her clock for ten minutes before Advisory was done and climbed into the bed, laying on top of it. She didn't want to have to fix the bed any before she left, so she covered herself with a soft blanket and curled into herself and fell asleep.

Everything seemed to begin happening in a chaotic rush as Sam sat there, recovering slightly from his memory lapse only moments ago. Helena and Audrey filled in the pieces perfectly, and it all seemed to fall back into place, if just slowly. When he was first evaluated, his doctor's seemed to have trouble explaining exactly what was happening with his memories, but Sam had surprised them all when he explained his understanding of it. Like a complete puzzle, Sam's memory seemed to be shaken up and completely scattered at times, only having a single piece left on the board, his sister. Piece by piece though, the picture could be put back together, and eventually, restored with only minor gaps and missing fragments.

The bell was a gunshot to begin a race in Sam's mind, his body reacting on its own out of repetition and rising to leave as Valerie seemed to be having a slight breakdown. 'If only she knew how right she was...' He thought before turning and offering a hand to Helena, hoping to comfort his friend as she still trembled slightly. "Don't worry," he consoled the brown-eyed girl as he pulled her to her feet, "they come near you, I'll kick their asses so hard they'll need to unbutton their collars to...well, you get the point." Not his greatest line, but he meant it. Flashing a smile to Helena one last time, he left everyone in peace, not much reason to stick around now that his sister was already gone and Valerie was no longer entertained by them all.

Walking the halls to Mr. Donalds' room, Sam nodded to the people that addressed him in the hallway, but kept moving. The hallways twisted and turned and students packed them like ants running about, some acting in a manner that described the school perfectly, others just trying to get by. Apologizing at every student he bumped into, whether it was his fault or not, Sam finally made it to the doorway and pulled his test from his back pocket, stashed there earlier in the day.

"Samuel," Mr. Donalds addressed him, taking notice of the paper in his hands, "Ah...still doing as well as can be hoped in your classes.[/b] In a school of geniuses, it was obvious most would be progressing in their schoolwork, but Sam's memory was something Mr. Donalds liked to keep an eye on.

"Just checking in," Sam let the teacher hang onto the graded test as he always did and headed back to the door. "If Audrey stops by today, tell her I'll be in the Gym please, as usual." At the approving nod, Sam continued back out the way he had come and looked about. A bit away, he spotted Valerie again. For a moment, he stood there, debating on walking over to the beautiful new student and Tarrant close to her. He had a question or two that was nagging at the back of his still recuperating memory. For some reason, it was recovering much faster than usual, the accounts of the cafeteria almost completely restored. Audrey had always been the centerpiece in that restoration, and this time was no different. But this time, Valerie's piece was more of a focal point for his mind. 'Who is she...?' An idea formulated in his mind though, and he continued walking, opposite the direction the two were standing. Suppressing another yawn, Sam headed West, away from the academy and took a right along the path.

The garden was beautiful this time of year, all of the leaves beginning, or already deeply changing in color due to the oncoming cold season. Unfortunately, most people stayed away. To his surprise though, he found two gardeners busy at work, unearthing and cutting roses from a white rose bush. He stooped to retrieve one of the fallen roses, the red paint already dried on the surface of the petals. The gardeners paused for a second as they saw Sam in the garden and shook their heads before hurrying away.

Continuing on in the maze full of leaves and flowers, Sam wished he came here more often. It was peaceful and devoid of a lot of the bulk of students, but he knew why he didn't. Hair less curled than before, and any trace of food or milk removed, Meg was the Rose in her entourage of thorns as Sam lifted the painted flower to his face to take in the smell. The paint covering the petals diluted and warped the natural scent of the delicate beauty between his fingers. Being ever the observer, Sam couldn't help but see the connection between the flower and Meg as she sat atop her cushioned throne.

Casually approaching the Gardening Club on their own turf, Sam acted as if he was walking through a field of flowers and butterflies, and not at all like he had just stepped into the loin's den itself. "I should really come here more often," gesturing about at the beautiful scenery around him, Sam ignored the vehement looks he may have been receiving from the Queen's hounds, "it must look amazing here in the Spring."

Giving the Rose one last twist before removing it from shielding his face, he looked over to Meg once more, once again ignoring anyone else. "Glad to see you back to your normal self again Meg." He gave one of his normal smiles to the leader of the Gardening Club, still only paying any attention to her. But as his attitude began to grate on the nerves of the guard dogs, Sam threw the rose in his hands in a quick motion, sending it whizzing past their heads into a statue close behind them. The impact showered red and white-hued petals around the area and cut off whatever any of them were about to say. "I really don't care to hear what any of you have to say, be good little puppies and toss yourselves from a window with your leashes firmly anchored." His voice carrying a bit of vehemence to it.

Turning his attention back to the only one Sam even cared to speak to, he changed his tone back to its normal glide. "You're the only one who really matters here, right Meg? I was hoping we could talk about what happened today. Alone..." The last bit he added intentionally, daring any of Meg's lackeys to try pushing him around.

Chess reacted just the way Dean had assumed.

“Though accurate your statement, I find it disheartening that I can't leave you alone without your mouth getting you into trouble.”

He felt the the cold, disapproving look she was sending him without having to turn his head.

“She'll have her little cronies come after you, Caterpillar. Only the insane equate pain with success-- Though I suppose no could accurately accuse you of being in your right mind.”

"That's is only half true, I'm afraid. No one really has their heads in this little world of ours, but the Queen won't have mine. Don't you worry, my dear Cheshire Cat, my head is stored safely away where no one, not even myself, can find it," He said with a lazy grin, looking up at his companion.

Her worry was wholly unnecessary, Dean believed. With Meg off playing with the shiny new victim, the unwilling toy in her sadistic little world, her club's attention would be far away from him. The only thing he had was a front row seat to the show, which he absolutely will take. He still knew very little about the girl, which annoyed him very much. Hopefully this little conflict will shed some light on the girl.

Just as he finished, the bell signalling the end of lunch went off, the metallic, angry sounding ruining the calmness of the empty field. Sighing, Dean swung his upper body up, grabbing the sides of the tree branch with his arms. He hoisted his face up to be very close to hers.

"Time to scamper, my feline friend. Our brains need rotting!"

---

---

---

---

Gripping the girl's face tightly, Ace took pleasure from the thought of the bruises on her face the next day. That'll teach her to mess with the Queen. If not, he wouldn't mind teaching her another lesson... When he felt the angry pressure of light fingertips on hs shoulders that shoved him aside, he quickly stepped back to let Meg through.

Even though he couldn't grasp the words Meg said, they moved far too quickly, and he was already zoning out, Ace could feel the fiery anger in her tone and knew she was reigning down a tirade upon poor little Valerie. A grin spread on his face as he watched Meg do what she did best. Valerie had become the next target of the gardening club, and Ace was excited to take part in the fun.

When she finished, turned, and stormed away, he turned to follow, but managed to collide first with the stumbling form of Cyrus.

"Sorry," he said instinctively, then frowned. He felt a rush of an unfamiliar feeling, seeing the bruises and scars littering the back of the smaller boy. Ace didn't want those scars to be there. Frowning, he automatically helped him up, gripping his shoulder and pushed him gently forward, not with the usual violent shove. Composing himself, Ace followed the group, eyes trained to Cyrus' feet as they usually were. He waited for the usual thoughtless fog to come, but... it didn't. Ace couldn't understand why that was until finally it did, and he didn't worry anymore.

Helena put her down as soon as Valerie began to speak. She did find this girl strangely intimidating but yet there was something about her that was possessing.

Audrey had already skipped off somewhere and Sam had followed so now Helena was left quite alone.
She knew where she would be able to find her friends so she decided to follow Valerie who made a point of saying Helena was quite normal.

She queitly followed her out of the Cafeteria and watch her bump into ... him.

Helena's pale cheeks flushed pink. She would never tell anyone how she felt about the boy, he was clearly strange but that was what she liked about him. He was the only mess she never wanted to clean up.
He was Audrey's best male friend which made it awkward. He was always around but Helena never had the confidence to say anything to him other than a quick 'Hello'.

Neverind... she thought before beginning to walk over to Valerie and Harold.

It was at that moment he kissed Valerie. Helena was not sure why but decided not to stick around, instead she ran past the two yelling something about being late.
She had lost the chance of ever getting to know him and all because she was too shy to say anything.

She decided to head off to find Audrey, though she was somewhat shaken.


____________________

____________________

Petra could only laugh when her Queen spat her poisen over the bunch of idiots. Thinking they were all brave enough to protect the pretty blonde girl... it was just pathetic.

Of course she followed Meg straight out of the Cafeteria, making sure that Cyrus and Ace were both Ok. Though she did sense and uneasyness between them.

Once the group arrived in the Garden they noticed some idiots painting Roses.
Petra smiled in delight as her Queen tortured them for their crime. She even got a few punches in before they were sent away.

Petra joined the others in the garden. She didn't love it thier but she preferred it to going to class so she was not about to complain.
She noticed both Cyrus and Ace were in conversation so she drifted off to sleep for a few moments. Only to be rudely awakened by Sam throwing roses.
This guy had a serious problem and it really made her angry.
' Orders? ' she asked waiting for her Queen.

Thwack!

"Damn them all ..."

Slap!

"I hate them ... I hate this school ..."

Smack!

"Why did I have to get dragged into all of this?"

Thud!

Valerie stumbled slightly, her sweaty palm barely managing to keep a grip on the tennis racket. She dropped to one knee, her arm draping over the one that was propped up, and she heaved a few breaths. Sweat tickled the back of her neck, where it made a curvy line down the center. Instead of standing, she dropped to her butt and splayed out across the ground, her arms out in a 'T' and her legs out in a 'V'. She was completely and utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, and really hadn't a clue as to what she would do.

Should she stay?

Grandmother would be angry, but I'm sure she would let me leave ...

No. That would be considered cowardice, and cowardice was frowned upon in her family. Her sister had been weak, according to her grandmother, who admitted that she had only ever expected Valerie to survive, seeing as she had always viewed her as the strong twin.

It was a bunch of crap.

Amanda had been far stronger than she had ever been and ever would be. All that she could do was plaster on a smiling, happy facade and explode at people at the most random of times. Amanda had always been cool, calm, collect; quiet and soft-spoken. Valerie, on the other hand, had been the 'rebellious' one. The one that was too intelligent for her own good.

"Whatever ..." Her voice was a grown as she rolled over, her hands placed palm-down on the ground. Bracing herself slightly, she pushed herself up, grabbed her racket in the same motion, and turned to face the tennis-ball machine, which had run out of balls.

"That's what she said," she snickered, snorting slightly, for it was such a stupid in ridiculous joke, and she was in such an oddly foul mood that she couldn't help the sound. Bending over to pluck up a ball, she rolled it in her fingers, her icy eyes glued to it and seeming almost mesmerized. Out of nowhere, she spun, the ball whipping out of her hand and flinging at the far wall, where it slapped it dropped to the ground, a crack appearing down the center of it.

"Seriously, what's the point? I'm just a foreign, freaking German girl whose entire family is dead. It was unrealistic for me to ever think that I could make friends here, let alone ones that wouldn't judge me for my past ... Well ... Unluckiness, nor for my uncommon mood-swings, yet violent ones nonetheless. I can't believe that I actually thought ... Dammit, I don't know ... This place is so messed up!" She rubbed her hands roughly through her mass of blonde curls, letting out a frustrated growl. Spinning, she lashed out with her legs, kicking a ball and slamming it through the net.

"What the Hell am I supposed to do? Huh, Mama? Papa? What the Hell am I supposed to do at this school? Obviously it isn't just for geniuses ... So what kind of school is this?"

Obviously, there was no answer to her question. Instead, the chirping of crickets, buzzing of bees, and a slight swish of wind was the reply. Nothing that could help her.

As always, she would have to make this decision on her own. Hell, she'd been doing it for nearly half of her life anyway. Why start relying on others now? She was the caregiver, not the caretaker. She dealt out the protection; she didn't not receive. It was merely her way of life, and if that changed, she probably wouldn't know what to do with herself. Hell, she could barely handle not having an answer from the freaking heavens.

Maybe she was crazy too.

"... Nah ... But I'm still confused as Hell and royally pissed at Grandmama," she said with a sigh. Valerie moved over to the fencing that surrounded the tennis fields, curled her fingers in the metal wiring, and dropped her forehead against it. Her eyes peered out through half-closed lids, her lips slightly pursed, and in all honesty, she didn't want to move from that spot. The wind was just strong enough to help cool her sweaty, flushed body, yet light enough so that it barely ruffled the tennis skirt that she wore.

"... I guess that I can stay for a bit longer. I mean, I've only been here for, what, two hours?" She glanced at her watch out of the corners of her eyes and shrugged. "Okay, so an hour and a half. But still! I'm not about to pussy out of this school already!" she exclaimed, pushing back from the fence and slapping repeatedly at her cheeks. "Get it together, Val! Grow up and grow a pair! Jeez, if Grandmama were to see you now, she'd be spitting out curses at you in German! And you know exactly what she'd say. You always were a spoiled, spineless, good-for-nothing brat who only ever took advantage of my generosity," she said, her voice mockingly old. She spun from the fence, a scowl on her face.

"Whatever, as if I need any friends here ... Helena's decent, Tarrant's nuts but my child-hood friend and a great guy, Sam doesn't even remember me, Audrey talks to inanimate objects, a crackie has it out for me, one girl is some sort of half-cat, half-human reborn Dr. Seuss, and one girl carries a knife! Oh, and don't forget the weird kid that decide to smooch on you, and that bitchy, holier-than-though slut Meg and her damned little minion-filled-entourage. God ... Mother ... Shit ... Ugh!" She threw her hands into the air, grabbed her racket, and started for the gate that would allow her to leave the tennis fields. "I guess I'll just play it all by ear," she muttered.

Making his way away from the garden, Sam walked a bit fast for any other normal person. Usually he was relaxed and decided to take his time, but after the brief conversation with Meg, he suddenly felt the need to blow off some steam and walked with a clear direction, purpose showing in each of his long strides. To be honest, he really should go to find Audrey, his sister was always the perfect person to take his mind off things and cheer him up seeing as how he always tended to forget his own problems and focus more on her. But the lack of any actual physical activity was beginning to bug him as the day wore on.

His first destination was his room in the boy's dormitory where he changed out of his jeans and boots, and into a more comfortable pair of shorts and running shoes. He exchanged his shirt for a sleeveless one but paused for a moment, deciding it was better not to go shirtless with the year drawing closer to winter. 'Really don't need my nipples falling off tonight...' he thought ruefully.

Leaving his room, he scooped up his headphones and put them on just before closing the door and heading out. Stretching as he made his way down the hall and eventually back out into the open air once more, Sam took off at a steady pace as the first song began playing into his ears. Veering his path away from the lake, he decided against it due to the insects beginning to come out around the waters at this time of the day. 'Really don't need itching dots all over my body tonight either...'

Sam decided to cut straight off the path and into the grass of the academy, preferring the soft and uneven under footing compared to the hard surface of the paths. His thoughts began to drift unwittingly through his head as each step propelled him forward. Some of them still in pieces, others as clear as day. It bothered him that he still had lapses here and there, but the sleep deprivation was the worst. Everything seemed to be getting better, or at least managed easier, but the fact that he had one in the middle of a group of people today was a bit worrisome. He still couldn't believe what had happened in the cafeteria earlier. The pieces were all in place once again, but it still felt odd thinking about it. It wasn't even funny anymore, not after speaking with Meg at least. She definitely deserved what she got, but still...

That Valerie girl had marked herself out as Meg's number one enemy now, but she had also shown others that you could actually stand up to the club of antagonists. That was a credit all in itself, no matter how this finally turned out. 'It could be worse,' he thought, 'this school could be a normal one, filled with ugly women...' Thinking of the new girl again, he smiled a bit, she was more than attractive, even without putting Meg in her place earlier. She seemed a bit put off or distressed earlier though when he had seen her in passing on his way to see Meg. Was she upset about the earlier events? Or was she simply having a hard time adjusting to the school? Maybe she suffered from depression or anxiety?

The questions spilled off one after another, and suddenly out of thin air, Valerie seemed to appear before Sam as he began passing the tennis courts in his loop. Slowing to a stop just before the gate, he pulled his headphones out of his ears as she walked out in front of him. She seemed to be mumbling something, but he couldn't quite make out the words.

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign that you're going crazy." He put on a grin to let her know he was kidding and waved. "Though, I suppose this school tends to make us all a bit crazy sometimes." He regarded her as he walked up, taking in the tennis uniform and racket she held in her hand. "Valerie, right?"

Helena had no idea where to find Audrey.
She ended up awkwardly waking around, quite alone.

With no destination in mind she drifted outside, quite far away from where Meg and her cronies had their club.
The tennis courts were usually quite safe. Helena had a perfect spot just under a tree where the red and white flowers had a perfect 2:1 ratio. However, that was only because Helena had sat and picked them to make it seem more symmetrical.

She took her place on the warm ground and removed a golden pocket watch from her pale dress.
It read 12.01... it was always on the wrong time. The battery had died a long time ago but Helena had never once taken it to get a new one.

Looking up from the golden watch, Helena could make out Valerie getting quite annoyed with a racket in her hand.
She reminded Helena of Audrey when she got a bit too agitated.

The blonde girl stood from her solitude and made her way over. She noticed Sam too.


___________

Go get food?
Such a strange order.

However, Now was not the time to disobey her Queen.
Petra had noticed how Meg looked at Sam. In fact Petra had noticed the electricity between them long before any of the other members of the Gardening Club.

Petra made her way into the School, only to realize she had no Money. Though that could be easily sorted.
She wasn't paying particular attention when she picked her victim, she only noticed his blonde hair.
The boy didn't even have to be asked, he gave her his money as soon as she grabbed the scruff of his collar.