When he talked about building his eyes had lit up. Talking about building, they seemed to sparkle and shine. Something about it made her want to giggle inside, although Surli had to settle for a half grin. Still, it was rather sweet to see him excited - treading on the border line of cute. But she wouldn't let herself think that.
"I'm Surli," she replied.
She opened her mouth to continue but a bell cut her off. She looked around as stampeding kids appeared out of thin air as everyone rushed to their classrooms.

The smile on his face dissapeared and Jace seemed to automatically take a step back away from the kids, almost a flinch as if just seeing them had physically hurt him. He didn't put it above them to not throw punches. They've done it before. He still had that scar... "It's nice to meet you Surli. Where are you going next?" Jace asked, rubbing the back of his neck looking at her. His brown eyes seemed to have taken, a protective stance. A completely different look from a minute ago. "I can walk you there...if you want..." His voice trailed off into silence as he looked at her.

Her hands gripped tightly to her bag, shoulders hunched as though creating an invisible bubble the world couldn't penetrate. Her eyes darted back and forth searching for the widest path to take between the rushing hoard. As the cheerleaders from before came prancing through the doors, Surli tried to shrink herself into the wall. They didn't notice her and passed by just chatting. Although, a jock - possibly a football player from how big he was - glanced over at her as he came out and gave her a dirty look. She was happy that's all he did. Briefly looking over everyone trying to locate Laurie, she brought her attention back to Jace.
"I'm...uh...going to english," Surli said over the confusion. "And you don't have to if you're uncomfortable with it."

"It's perfectly fine with me...I'm going to woodshop anyway." He paused for a second, his hand gripping the only good strap of his bookbag. He wanted to tell her to stay close, so that he could stop anyone who could hurt her. Just before he was about to step, a group of seniors passed him and he froze, as if just with them looking at him, that he would not make it. His jawline seemed to harden as they looked him over and laughed, calling him trailor trash. Yea right. He would be lucky if he got to live in a trailer. Anyplace where waking up at dawn was a choice, not a way of life. "Come on," He whispered quietly looking back at her. "Let's get going before the crowd gets thicker." A strange sound of pain was heard. Although he tried to hide it. That pain of not being wanted.

Feeling a little awkward after Surli noticed the emotion crossing Jace's face reinforced by the sound in his voice, she began to walk in the direction of her class. She looked back once to see the group who had called him trailer trash, walking the opposite direction laughing and talking together probably without a clue of the extent of damage they had just done to the boy. It was all jokes to them, she thought to herself, I wonder if they've ever experienced inward pain. As they walked together at a distance, she dared to glance over at his face trying to judge his emotions. The comments were still upsetting him, but Surli wasn't sure what to do to help. She didn't want to make it worse.
"I'm sorry," she finally said, rather stupidly in her opinion, "About what they called you. It's not fair." Her hand rested on her belly, remembering everything she was enduring through this.
As if on cue, a group of students from that morning stepped in her path looking down smugly at her. One held something in her hand, but Surli couldn't make it out...not that she was focused very well on that anyways.
"Listen, little slut, you better seriously consider finding yourself another school," a boy in the center looked at her with pure scorn.
"Everyone here hates you and your filthy lust baby," The girl with the clutched hand revealed some kind of squishy edible. Surli immediately knew what that meant. She braced herself. The impact was meant for her face, although it mostly hit her shoulder. The girl smirked, quite proud of herself, "So if you want to protect it...well, you can guess the rest." They all laughed together like a hungry pack of wild hyenas.
Another boy, much shorter than the first one but fatter, stepped forward and shoved her shoulder, "We have no room here for disgusting whores like you spreading your disease."
The word 'disgusting' hit her. She knew more about that word than any of these kids could even imagine. That was a gross understatement to the way she felt that night laying curled up in her bed trying to stop the burning. It wasn't even close to how she felt when she took the pregnancy test, and much too mundane a word to describe how she felt when she had to tell her brother - who then proceeded to go into a fit of rage and break just about everything he had in his room. Even though logically she knew his anger had not been towards her, that's how she felt as she stood there sobbing incoherently as he rampaged and screamed. She felt as though he loathed her...just as she loathed herself. No shower she had taken has been hot enough or has she scrubbed long enough to take that feeling away. Almost every night she went to sleep repeating that word to herself, her skin crawling as though every germ and vermin covered her body. She was disgusting. Tears began to well up in her eyes, partly from anger and mostly from believing what he had said.

Jace shook his head. "It's not your fault. They don't understand." Noone understands. A faint smile crossed his face. Oh well. Kids come and go. One day they will figure it out how horrible life can be. When the group approached Surli Jace stood almost in front of her, his jawline becoming hard agian. He could taste the blood in his mouth from biting down so hard, to keep from screaming. There that feeling was again. Telling him to protect her. When the guy pushed her, he pushed him back, into the crowd. "She's not a whore." He almost growled. "You don't understand. All of you are idiots. Too blind to see the truth." He grabbed the shorter kids collar, almost daring him to punch Jace. He shoved the kid back in disgust, almost as if he had a desiease that Jace couldn't stand to catch. "None of you would last a day on the streets alone." The words came out harsh, hiding all the painful truth. He stood back again by Surli, his eyes instantly softening. "Are you okay?"

What he had said was true. All the students at the school couldn't survive homeless. They all have a warm bed to go to. They all have food waiting at home. Most of them have loving parents, even if they are seperated. They all have someone who watches over them. All Jace had was himself. His 'home' was a condemned building. Once that's gone, he had no place to return too. The vermin that surrounded them were filthy rats. Feeding off of others pain. They don't know what a true heart ache it. They don't know the true meaning of being alone. They all pretend that they know, hurting themselves for attention, saying how horrible there life is, 'Mother took my computer away again. I'm so gonna die!' What about those who were lucky if they got a meal everyday? Those who couldn't afford luxery.

The group of kids backed away from Jace in absolute shock, none of them had anticipated his reaction. He had exploded with such anger, it was as though their bullying her triggered something else he had been hiding. She touched the food that had now obviously stained her poncho, the unknown squishy stuff rather revolting to touch. Trying to disguise themselves, the kids shrugged nervously saying, "C'mon. This isn't worth our time."

Jace turned to ask if she were alright. Her hand still touched the stain on her clothing. Surli shook her head trying to stop the tears. She couldn't let these kids have the satisfaction of making her cry. Although she felt grateful for Jace standing up for her, everything the kid had said felt more true than anything else.
Her voice shaking a bit, she replied, "I'm going to wash this out."

Jace turned his head slightly to glare at the kids, and once they were gone he focused on Surli. "Yea...that's a good idea." He paused for a second, biting his lip. "I'll....come with you." He shook his head. "If you don't want to be near me anymore. I'd understand." Just to prove his point he took a step back, running his hand through his hair. The bullies couldn't understand. What it's like to be singled out. To have all eyes on them. Pointing out There flaws. To have everyone ganging up on them. Someone had to stand up agaisnt them. Jace had the strength. He had the courage. Now he had a reason.

Was she scared of him? Jace sighed. How could she still hang out with him? He's a monster.

Surli almost laughed, but she stopped herself. If she laughed she would start crying immediately afterwards. "I would say the same to you, if you wanted to stay away from me. They do this rather regularly...and not because of you, but..." She put her hand on her swollen belly. "You know." Her voice squeaked a little, she bit her lip in frustration.
She looked down on herself and then back up, "But, don't worry about it. I'll just go," She turned and took a few steps then decided to restate what she said. Srli turned back to him with an attempted inviting smile, "But...um...I'll see you later? I mean, if you want."

"You didn't just attack two kids now did you?" He said jokingly, attempting a half smile.He shook his head sadly, rubbing the back of his head. When she said that she was leaving, he let out a sad sigh. Surli was one of the few decent girls he had ever met. Nice, sweet, pretty and very understanding. "Yea I know, but that doesn't give me a reason to hate you, or even single you out, when I myself am no better. It's just not as obvious. But those rats, could sniff out even the most hidden flaws." He nodded.

"Yea....Later." Though the bell had already rung and the crowd was thinning out, he didn't want to leave. "Uhm. Do you want to meet up after school? Like at the park or somewhere?" he chuckled quietly at how awkward he sounded. His place was out of the option.

Surli noticed the hesitation in his voice as he told her goodbye, so it was no surprise when he asked to meet up later. It was an innocent enough question, but it struck her and she felt quite shaky. Not wanting to be straight out rude, she instinctively began to filter through any excuse. Each one made her feel equally guilty, however, so she began asking herself if there was any way for her to hang out with him in a way that wouldn't make her so uncomfortable. Her brother could get them and take them to the house...no, that didn't make her feel any safer. She could offer him to just walk her home, on the side of the street where they would be seen. Actually, now that she thought about it, until she knew more about him she wouldn't feel comfortable with him even knowing where she lived.
"The park sounds...okay for a little while," she responded then hurried to the class she was late for a little nervous.

Jace nodded, noticing her uncomfortable shuffling. He waved goodbye, heading to workshop. This only added to his fears. Was there somethingwrong with him? Did something happen to her? He couldn't be sure. Woodshop seemed boring today, only because his mind kept on wandering. The task was simple. he had it finished withen ten minutes, while the rest of the class struggled. He couldn't shake his doubts. They were pressing agaisnt him, sometimes he felt like he couldn't breathe. After woodshop was over he flew by the other courses, easily finishing all the work, craving something to focus his energy on. Anything. Life was never that easy.

Finally, the last bell rang.

As the last bell of the day rang, Surli noticed her nerves were beginning to make her sick to her stomach. She had called her brother to tell him she wouldn't need him to pick her up from school and he had been rather surprised...almost worried as he responded, "Oh...uh, ok." Before they hung up he asked her if she would be alright and she told him she was only going to be at the park. He finally let the subject go after comforting her that he would keep his phone on him if she needed him. She smiled to herself as she put her cell phone in her pocket. He was really trying, and it made her feel warm that he was so protective of her. Before she might have found it quite irritating, but under the circumstances she was glad.

Stopping at her locker to grab some book for homework, Laurie came bounding up to her with a great big grin on her face. "Guess who I ate lunch with...!" She sang.When Surli didn't answer she continued, "Feltcher! You know...that guy."
"The guy you've been ogling at for months now?" Surli raised her eyebrow. "I thought the two of you had already been talking."
"Oh we have been. I'm just so excited!" She looked at Surli's shivering hands and quickly changed her tune. "Are you okay? Did something happen? Does your stomach hurt?"
"No, no. Just some kids at lunch today-"
"Tell me who and I'll stab them all for you! I promise I'll do it." Laurie nodded as though to reinforce her statement.
It made Surli giggle, "Nah, just...same old kids, you know. Actually, I'm nervous about this guy I met today."
"Wait," completely serious, Laurie grabbed her by the shoulders, "You don't mean like an actual guy right? That actually met?"
"Well, yeah. It's not like I'm making it up in my head."
"No, no, no. Not what I mean. This isn't like one of those guys that girls meet, right? 'Cause you don't really need to be getting into that kinda thing."
Surli rubbed her stomach, it was beginning to itch a bit, "It's nothing like that. Why do you think I'm nervous? We're just going to the park. It public and no where near my house," She looked down a little sheepishly, "It's just that, he stood up for me today in front of a bunch of kids. And he didn't mention my stomach or call me a name. I'm just hoping he could be a friend."
Laurie wrinkled up her nose, "But what if he just thinks you're easy? What if he ditches you once he finds out you won't do anything with him?"
"I...don't think he's like that," Surli thought a moment. Laurie wasn't helping her anxiety at all. "I guess we'll find out then."
"You want me to follow you guys? You know...be right there in case he tried anything?"
"Aren't I suppose to be the paranoid one after what happened?"
"Well...you're like my best friend! It freaked me out too of course. Not as much as you, I'm sure, but still." Laurie patted down her hair looking around, "So?"
"No. I'll be fine," Surli slammed her locker door and the two of them walked down the hall together whispering.
"I could keep an eye out for you," she persisted, "He won't notice me."
"You mean you're going to stalk us?"
"Not stalk. More like...a protective spy." Laurie said proudly.
Surli shook her head, wringing her hands together, "I don't think so."
"I'll do it anyways. You won't even know I'm there!" Laurie was going to be just as stubborn.

As they came to the doors she skipped off to talk to this Fletcher boy and some other girls, she sent Surli a wink. Surli rolled her eyes and continued alone.

Jace, at the moment, was staring up at the sky, leaning on the rough exterior wall of brick that plastered the school. He didn't know why he was doing this. It wasn't sympathy. That was the first item to cross out on the list. It wasn't empathy either. Though they could relate to a point, they both had different pasts, and different stories to tell. What else could it be? Why did he defend her at lunch? Why did he accept the food? The questions swirled around Jace's head as he thought. Who made up all these rules and regulations? You have to dress a certain way, act a certain way, be a certain way, be a certain person, know certain people. It's irony at it's most humorous form. They all strive to be different, but yet they all strive to fit in, choosing to mock and exclude those who really stand out, wether out of jealousy, spite, or maybe the fact that they couldn't understand.

The sound of doors slamming beside him awoke him from his restless debate. With a glance of his eyes, he was Surli and her friend, who at the moment was running off. He quickly followed in step, and came up beside her, keeping his distance. "Surli." he said quietly, trying to get her attention that he was there.

Surli jumped a bit. She didn't expect him to appear so suddenly. "Hey, Jace. I was talking to Laurie and..." she paused at the expression on his face, "You know." She tried a smile.
He looked a little lost in though, slightly disoriented. She wondered what he had been so intent on before she walked out. Oh well, she had moments of dazing off too.
"Well...um...to the park, I guess?" She shrugged, still a bit racked from her nerves. She glanced over her shoulder to her friend who was too busy buzzing around her eye candy to look back. Surli sighed, then met Jace's eyes again.

Jace smiled warmly. "Yea, to the park." He kept his hands in his pockets, as he usaully did. As they started walking, he kept his eyes drifting from the scenery around him, to Surli every once and a while. He was trying to find a topic to talk about with her, but nothing seemed appropriate. What do you say at a moment like this? The School topic was open, but it could make everything awkward, and she might leave. While he could focus on her hobbies and get to know more about her seemed like a better option. The incident at lunch was out of the question, and he didn't feel like talking about his past, and thought that maybe she didn't either. So finally, he settled on her hobbies.

"So what do you like to do in your free time? I do woodshop, and volunteer work, as you know." As he talked though, he kept his eyes to the ground. It was an old habit with talking to the kids at his school. If you don't make eye contact, they might not hurt you. He couldn't help but shy away from most people who didn't understand him. It was the complete opposite of his usual caring, protective, compassionate side. Now a day's only the people at the shelters saw who he really was. It used to keep him up at night.

The awkward silence that first took place as they began walking was almost unbearable to Surli. It fell on her nerves heavily, enhancing them almost tenfold. Looking around her at the brightness of the day and buildings and passing people, she resisted the temptation to take a glance at Jace out of fear of meeting his eyes. That would only make her feel worse. Eventually her eyes rested on her shuffling feet and sidewalk passing underneath them.

She still kept her gaze away from him when she answered, "I read alot. Sometimes I just sketch, but mostly just read." She went quiet for a moment, "It helps. Ignore...everyone really." A halfhearted chuckle instinctively accompanied everyone.

Jace nodded, looking up at the sky again. "Your favorite genre? I personally like historical non-fiction. A war geek and all that jazz." he shrugged, clutching the one good strap of his bookbag, the other dangling useless, dragging across the ground. Again his sandy blonde hair fell in front of his eyes and he brushed it back, reminding himself to ask for a haircut the next time he was at the shelter. Surely some cosmetic person could help him out, needing a person to try there skills on.

His eyes drifted from the sky to the busy street and then to all the people passing by. he waved at a few of them, but mostly ignored the majority. It was typical, big shots in suits and ties, always talking on the phone, the occasional abusive mother, clutching her kids arm too tightly, threatning to hurt them if they didn't stop screaming. A begger or two clustering at the corners. a typical city, too cought up in the moment to look past the bustling streets and see what's really happening. At that moment, they were passing his 'home', the condemned building. He glanced at it, and sighed softly, noticing the yellow tape. It was going to be torn down soon, either tommorow or the next day.

"I like pretty much anything," Surli answered. "Fantasy, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry, Non-Fiction, Fiction." She thought for a moment then corrected herself, "Well, I guess I'm not much into the history or SciFi, I just get lost in both, one from boredom and the other from just not understanding the philosophy."

Surli took the risk of looking at him since he had turned away, noticing how he brushed his hair away. Also caught his glance to the ruined building and the sigh that escaped him afterwards. Although curious, she didn't dare question about it...not yet. It was obviously something of importance to him. Before he could turn his eyes back to her she looked away. In the distance there was the faint green that resembled what little nature this city had in it - the park. She felt herself grin. She wasn't sure why. Maybe relieved they had arrived? Maybe she wanted to see the dogs that would inevitably be there, brought along to accompany their masters for what they counted as exercise? She couldn't decide.