Lissa Marshall's Story

Thursday morning, and the entire student body of Langdon’s Correctional Education Facility were gathered in the Quad: the secondary yard which was nothing more than two levels of concrete surrounded by the four graffiti-filled outer walls of the school, and a few bushes, benches and trees scattered around - the newest of which was a mere sapling freshly planted in the cracked soil in memory of the school’s latest tragedy. The most appropriate picture of Abbigael in the school’s possession was stood before it in a simple frame.

Langdon didn’t house many pupils, maybe nine or ten a year on average, so the group gathered around the sapling was fairly small - the youngest stood at the front and the oldest at the back. A few of the younger students were hanging onto every word the Headmistress spoke about Abbigael Parnell, some with tears in their eyes, despite maybe never even coming into contact with her. Others stood holding their own hushed conversations, clearly disinterested in the dead girl in the older year. The rest just stood in silence, whether that was out of respect or the lack of anyone to talk to remained to be seen.

Lissa - dressed plainly in loose fitting jeans, a t-shirt and thick jacket, with her milky brown hair tied up into a high straightened ponytail - stood at the back with the rest of the fifth-years, her eyes glued to the dusty concrete beneath her feet and her mind drifting back and forth between the words of their Headmistress and her own thoughts. This was far from the first occasion of a death at this school, but they were still few and far between and she couldn’t recall the last one occurring during her time, so this was the only one that felt real to her. She had known Abbigael, and while they hadn’t exactly been friendly, her death still caused Lissa to feel a stinging sickness deep in her chest.

A few people over from Lissa stood Lewis, dressed in the casual way he usually was: striped hoodie zipped all the way up, baggy low-riding jeans and simple black converse on his feet. He watched the Headmistress give her speech with a tight-set jaw. ‘Everything spewing out of her mouth is complete and utter bullshit.’ he thought, taking in her description of Abbigael as a model student who ‘simply had her flaws’. ‘Here she is, talking about showing respect for the dead. She’s not showing any fucking respect by lying about the girl. Abbigael Parnell was a cocky little gobshite who got herself killed, not some angelic victim.’ Lewis was taken aback by the last section of his thoughts. While it was all true, Abbigael had never targeted him, or his friends, so he tried to rethink his words to something milder, attempting to show the respect that the leader of their school was obviously lacking.

Last of all was Aislin, mixed in at the far end of the crowd and leaning against a bench with her fishnet-clad arms crossed. Along with the gloves, she wore a bralet top made of black floral lace with a sleeveless grey denim jacket over it which was covered in studs and decorative zips, and a pair of skin-tight grey jeans and Doc Marten boots on the lower half of her body. Her heavily made-up eyes - silver contacts today - scanned the crowd and occasionally drifted back to the Headmistress. In all honesty, Aislin couldn’t care less about what she had to say, or the dead girl, but she kept her mouth shut. However, that only lasted until towards the end of the speech, where the Headmistress made a point of asking the students to leave this tree vandalism-free and a quiet, snorting laugh escaped through her nose. ‘Jesus, if respect alone isn’t gone stop us from fucking this shit up, nothing will.’ she thought, though she wondered how many kids here actually needed the reminder, and how many would actually give a crap.

Emma stood at the front of the crowd, a few inches away from everyone else so that her personal space would not be invaded, and listened half-heartedly to what the Headmistress was saying about that Abbigael Parnell girl...'that poor little dead girl'.
She rolled her eyes at some of the things that were coming out of the woman's mouth, and glanced behind her into the rest of the crowds. She knew it both looked and sounded bad, but the truth was, she just didn't give a shit. It was stupid that everyone was putting this chick on a pedestal...she was a fucking nutter. She had next to no moral values, she liked to treat the rest of the school like shit, and she could never shut her fucking mouth when she was alive...and, it was a morbid thought, but...at the back of Emma's mind, she couldn't help but feel it a positive thing that she couldn't open it up again now.
Nevertheless, she knew she had to make an effort to at least pretend to care, or she'd be in deep shit before long with the staff. And so she tuned in to the droning voice of her superior every now and then to catch the basic gist of the speech.
While listening, she absentmindedly twirled a loose lock of her dark brown hair which had fallen down into her face around her index finger, the rest of which had been specifically styled with loose waves and put into an updo on the top of her head. She wore an extremely short skirt, which had been flowing down to just before her knees when she bought it but now only just qualified as a skirt with how much she'd taken it up, a thin pair of tights under it, a pair of satin 4-inch heels, and a long flowing coat, purposely unbuttoned with the collar flared up at the back of her neck. All black, of course...and while people would probably see it as an act of respect on such a tragic occasion, she was simply wearing it because she thought it looked sexy. Not that she would correct people if they assumed it was for a genuine reason. She was all for praise.
With a small smile on her face, she looked around her again before looking back at the Headmistress, nonchalantly reapplying more blood-red lipstick to her lips, then looked around yet again, searching for some kind of visual stimulation to get her through this whole service. And, sure enough, she found it, or rather, found him, sitting at the back of the Quad by himself.
Keeping her head turned that way she watched him, trying to catch his attention, and when she eventually managed to, she winked seductively and quickly turned her head back again, biting her bottom lip with a small smirk of pride plastered onto her face. She knew she could have any boy, or girl, she wanted in this place, and she already had the one she wanted picked out. Sure enough, Jay Springs was a challenge...but she had no doubts that he was worth it. And, anyway...if there was one thing Emma Scott loved, it was a challenge.

Standing towards the back of the Quad was Zachary Milburn, his right hand inside his pocket and fingering with something inside it, and drawing patterns on the ground with the toe of one of his navy blue converse shoes. He was whistling quietly to himself, not loud enough to distrupt the service, but still loud enough to draw a bit of attention from those around him. And, should one turn to look, he would meet their eyes and beam at them; a toothy, sinister grin which quickly diverted their eyes back to the front.
He knew he scared people, and frankly, that was how he got his kicks.
Shaking his head slightly to push his hair out of his eyes, he took a moment to glance over at his friend Aislin and gave her a small nod, taking his hand out of his pocket momentarily to form a small salute and then lifting it to his mouth as he noticed a small red dot of blood on the end of his index finger. That's strange, he thought silently to himself, opening his pocket slightly and looking down at the small silver pen-knife inside it, blade pushed up. I didn't even feel it break skin...
He shrugged slightly, a smile still playing at his lips, and put his hand back inside the pocket, diverting his attention elsewhere around the room in boredom.

Greyson gulped quietly as he pushed his way through the doors into the Quad, his cheeks flushing a pale pink as a few people turned their heads to look. Having been late already twice this week, he was really pushing it by doing it again. And to be late on the day of Abbigael's memorial only made it that much more disrespectful. But still, he couldn't help it. He'd had one of his 'episodes' the night before, completely crashed on the couch at home, and so hadn't woke up in time. He knew the staff understood, but to be honest, it wasn't their opinions that mattered. Langdon was like a lion's den...only here, it was much more dangerous.
Breathing a small sigh of relief when he saw that not everybody had turned to see him and his tardiness, he quickly made his way from the back of the Quad to the back of the crowd, where his friend Lissa stood. He had no doubt she'd be pretty upset about this...she was just like that. She had that sympathy, that compassion for others...and in some ways, he was pretty sure that was what he loved most about her. Just the fact that she was genuine, and real. Which was something hard to find in their current environment. He knew she hadn't always been like that, but...that was a whole other story.
"Hey...you okay?" He whispered quietly over her shoulder, gently placing his hand on her arm as he eased himself into the crowd, then winced slightly and immediately regretted his choice of words. "I-I mean...of course you're not...stupid way to put it...but...you get what I mean?" He gave her a weak smile, glancing over at the Headmistress as she spoke before looking back at his little friend.

Lissa’s head snapped up at Greyson’s touch, her pale blue eyes widening as her heart made a startled jump. She exhaled when she saw it was only her friend, though, and looked up at him with a small smile.
“Yeah…I‘m fine…” she answered in a hushed whisper, so as not to disrupt the service or draw any attention to herself. Honestly, she didn’t know if ‘fine’ was the complete truth. That overwhelming sinking feeling in her chest was becoming worse the longer she stayed here, and she even felt the painful sting in her eyes which was the telltale sign of tears, which she really didn’t understand. She didn’t like Abbigael Parnell, but she still felt like there was some kind of emptiness now that she was gone.

“Yeah…” Lewis murmured quietly in agreement with his friend, his eyes never leaving the front of the crowd where their Headmistress was now feigning tears and ‘wiping’ them away on her sleeve. She was a phenomenal actress, he could give her that much. In regards to Conell’s comment, Lewis had much more to contribute to the subject, but now was definitely not the time or the place to go off on a rant, so he left his answer as it was: short, quiet and simple.
He didn’t relax any when Logan decided to join them. He really wasn’t in the mood to exchange pleasantries, but whether that was due to his medication not taking full effect yet or because of the way this service was playing out, he couldn’t be sure. All he knew was that staying here, watching the Headmistress play out her façade, standing around with a person who could only be described as an acquaintance while he put on his dramatics, and just being in this heavy, oppressive atmosphere was making him tense; like a coil wound too tightly, ready to spring at the slightest provocation.

A quick glance to her left saw Aislin’s eyes meeting with those of her deranged friend, and she returned his smile - though, a regular smile for her was more of a smirk: one side of her lips reaching slightly higher then the other, with sparks of something dark reaching up to her eyes, which were partially hooded by thick mascara’d lashes. She gave him a small wave, arms still crossed, which was nothing more than a small fluttering of her fingers. There was not that much distance between them, so when Zachary lifted his finger to his lips, she caught the sight of the growing red dot at its tip. She quickly weaved her way through the other fifth-years separating her from Zachary, grateful for her small, spritely build which allowed her to slip by relatively unnoticed. She reached her friend just as her not-so-much-friend had started speaking, but she could wait. There were more pressing matters at hand.
“Are you bleeding?” Aislin asked hopefully as she looked up at Zachary with a smile, just barely managing to keep her voice at a whisper.

Greyson looked at Lissa, chewing the inside of his cheek.
"Well...do you need to leave? Because...I can go find one of the teachers and get them to give you a pass...I could even leave with you, if you don't want to be alone..." He said softly, his voice and his expression filled with concern. Regardless of her saying she was fine, he was still worried about her...and if he was perfectly honest, he suspected that the worry would still be there on the day he died. Which, hopefully - he gave a quick glance towards Abbigael's tree - would be a long time coming. But, regardless of the minor details, the matter at hand now was Lissa. And her well-being and mental health were all too important to him to be skipped out on.
Trying for a soft, sympathetic smile, he leaned in towards her slightly and gave her a small hug; mostly just to let her know that he cared, and he was going to be there for her...but at the back of his mind, he couldn't help thinking a part of him did it prevent himself from falling apart aswell.

As Zac turned his head slightly and opened his mouth to answer Jamilyn, he blinked and diverted his attention towards Aislin, who had moved suddenly and was now standing in front of him, smiling, eyes gleaming with hope.
"Woah woah woah...slow down there, Bella Swan..." He murmured quietly, laughing softly when he heard her. "It's just a pinprick." With that, he pulled his right hand out of his pocket again and put it in front of him, showing her the small red dot that was beginning to form again, along with the small pen-knife he held in his palm. "You play with fire, you get burned...although, I guess to make the statement personal to me...you play with blades, you get...cut..." He grinned slightly at the last word and lightly dragged the tip of his finger across the tip of the blade, turning the red dot into a thin line as he cut into it more.
"And...as an answer to your question, my friend...no I did not." He finally answered, pointing his other hand towards Jamilyn as he watched small droplets of blood leave the small wound on his finger. "Maybe it's the ghost of Abbigael Parnell...come back to let you know she's still Queen Bitch of this school..." He looked back up at her and winked, lifting his index finger back to his lips and licking the trail of blood away with his tounge, raising both of his eyebrows and the dropping them again, looking back at Aislin as he did so. "Mmm...you jealous?" He just loved teasing her. Probably because they were so close...it was kind of acceptable for him to do so.

Getting away from this place was probably the best idea anyone could have come up with at this time, so, looking up at Greyson with a small smile, Lissa nodded.
“That kind of sounds perfect…” she whispered. A light pink flush rose to her cheeks when she was hugged, not because it was Greyson doing the hugging - she didn’t think of him in that way at all - but simply because, though they had been friends for a while, this level of care and affection still came as a shock to her. But still, she returned the hug: wrapping her thin arms around Greyson’s sturdy torso, then withdrawing a few moments later and lifting her hand to the side of her face to tuck a few strands of hair which had fallen free from her bobble behind her ear.

Aislin bit down on her plum-painted lower lip as she watched Zachary deepen the cut on his finger, her eyes glued to the dripping red line which appeared on it, and when he lifted his finger and licked it away, a quiet, involuntary whimper escaped from the back of her throat, her eyebrows knitting together.
“You‘re a bastard…” she whined quietly, looking up at her friend and pushing her lower lip out slightly into a pout.

Greyson smiled slightly at Lissa and nodded slightly.
"Well, I'll be right back..." He said softly to her, lightly patting her arm once, and then manouvered his way round the back of the crowd of people over to where one of the members of staff stood watching the service.
He came back around a minute later and nodded slightly at her, his smile slightly wider and showing a little bit of real happiness...not just the fake positivity he was used to giving people. With Lissa, it was different...he didn't have to pretend to be happy. With her, he actually could be.
"So...shall we?" He said quietly, even the sound of his voice brightening slightly at the opportunity to get out of the Quad and spend a little time with his friend, as he held out his arm for her to link and turned towards the doors.

Zac grinned down at Aislin, gently flicking the blade of his pen-knife up and down in his hand repeatedly.
"I know...get used to it, Vampira." He winked at her, opening his mouth slightly in a devious smile and running his tongue along his upper teeth, from one canine to the other.
When he heard Logan, he glanced towards him, his smile disappearing within a split second of hearing what he'd said, before looking back down at Aislin and scoffing slightly. "Wow...looks like someone's got herself a little admirer..." He teased, his smile slowly returning along with a new tinge of mockery in his voice. "If only the rest of us were so lucky..." He added after a few moments, trailing off slightly as he glanced over at something past Aislin behind her, and then pulled himself out of it and diverted his gaze back to her yet again, grinning like a cheshire cat.

Lissa let out a quiet laugh which could almost be classed as a giggle and gently took Greyson's arm. That dark, heavy feeling in her chest had lessened considerably, and she thought that the promise of leaving this place most likely had something to do with it, and the fact that she was leaving to be on her own with the one person she was closest to, not just in this school, but probably in her whole life right now. She also thought it could be due to seeing that real, genuine smile on Greyson's face. The times when a true smile made an appearance on Lissa were rare, but now, ironically on what was probably one of the saddest days in this school, she could feel one coming on.

Aislin's eyes narrowed looking up at Zac, fixing a cold glare on him, then she quickly redirected her gaze over her shoulder, to the owner of the voice that had called her name. When she saw it was Logan, she let out an almost inaudible, irritated sigh as she turned forward again.
"Fucking joy..." she muttered quietly, then looked over her shoulder at Logan yet again, this time with one of her trademark smirk-smiles plastered on her face. "Find a blade and a private place, and I'll think about it," she called back in response, trying to keep the volume of her voice as low as possible so as not to disturb the service, but loud enough that Logan would hear her. Her smile widened to a grin which showed off her most prized features - her slightly elongated canines - as she made a clear show of looking him up and down - head-to-toe.

Greyson smiled softly at Lissa and led her out of the Quad, through the doors into one of the corridors of the main building. As everyone was still out there listening to the Headmistress' speech, it was completely empty, which put Grey more at ease.
"So...what did I miss this morning?" He asked, releasing her arm once they were inside, shaking his hair out of his eyes and putting his hands into his jacket pockets, fidgiting slightly where he stood. "With...being late, and all..."

Zac looked between Logan and Aislin, trying hard to supress a smile and trying even harder not to burst into a fit of laughter. If looks could kill, that guy would be six feet under right about now, and Zac knew that. He wasn't sure Logan did, though. Which, if anything, just made the situation even more comical.
"...Needy..." He whispered quietly into Aislin's ear, smirking as he leaned down towards her and watched her admirer as he did so. "You can just taste the desperation..." He gave a small laugh. "Literally."

Although Emma tried to feign interest and listen to the continuous amount of bullshit coming out of the Headmistress' mouth, she couldn't help but find herself picking up on small parts of various conversations; a force of habit, something she'd perfected over the years and now found herself able to do involuntarily.
One specific conversation was particularly interesting, and she turned her head slightly as her eyes narrowed to find who she could hear. And sure enough, it was just as she expected.
"Woah woah woah...slow down there, Bella Swan..."
"You're a bastard..."
"I'd like to make a donation!"
"Find a blade and a private place..."
Hesitating slightly where she stood, debating whether to risk being seen with the likes of Zac Milburn and his friends after their big bust up last term, she bit her lip. Should she do it? It was risky...Zac was creepy, and a perv...Aislin could be a little frightening, even for Emma...and she had no idea how she felt about her, which was intimidating...the same with Jamilyn...and judging by what she'd overheard, Logan wasn't far off being just as bizarre. But, then again...it could be interesting. And, it's not like she had anything else to do...
"...Fuck it..." She muttered quietly under her breath, huffing quietly and began to make her way over to them, brushing past a few others as she went, and ended up standing slightly behind where Logan sat.
"Desperate, much?" She raised an eyebrow slightly, tapping the toe of her shoe against the floor where she stood and looking down at Logan, being careful to pull her skirt down as much as she could before speaking to him, and then glanced over at Zac, Aislin and Jamie through her eyelashes.
"Zachary...Aislin...Jamilyn..." He acknowledged them with a small nod and a slight movement of her left hand, half of her mouth curving up into a bittersweet smile.

"Not that much, really," Lissa answered, waves of relief suddenly washing over her as she looked around the empty corridor with the knowledge that she was far away from the school crowd. "One of the first-years had to be escorted out because she was literally sobbing...Poor kid...But other than that, the whole thing was pretty uneventful..." That feeling of relief soon vanished when Lissa thought back to that girl. She was a tiny little thing, probably one of the youngest of the year, and it was about two minutes into the speech that she just broke down in tears and one of the teachers had to take her away. Lissa'd caught a glimpse of her through the crowd, and the poor girl was trembling and hyperventilating. She had no idea what had caused such a reaction in her - maybe she knew Abbigael personally, or maybe it was just because this girl who was such a huge personality in the school would never walk these halls again, or maybe it was just something else entirely - whatever the reason, Lissa's heart just broke for the girl.

Aislin made a sound halfway between a quiet scoff and a laugh, pulling her phone out of the only functional pocket in her jacket when it buzzed. She flicked it open and quickly glanced over her newest message.
"Oh, I will not be tasting anything from him today..." she murmured quietly, rapidly pressing thumbs to keys.
'Just gimme 5. Wait 4 me there? ;P' she typed out, then hit send and looked back over her shoulder at the recipient, waiting for his reaction.

Greyson frowned slightly as Lissa explained about the girl, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Do you know if she was alright later on, or...?" He asked, glancing around them slightly in case said girl was anywhere in sight, then looking back at her when he was sure she wasn't.

"Oh, but of course..." Emma rolled her eyes when she heard Logan, gently removing her hand from his after he kissed it and lifting it back to twirl a lock of her hair around, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "And...no. No you would not. Because I think we both know I'm completely out of your league..." She replied with a small smile, glancing around. She got a kick out of rejecting most of the male species, especially the ones like Logan...but there was no doubt about it...she enjoyed the attention. She could even go as far as to say she needed it. Sort of an ego thing.
"Anyway..." She huffed quietly, sitting down across from him and crossing her legs as well as her arms. "I'm bored. I need to be entertained...intellectually stimulated. Grey and Lissa've gone off by themselves and I'm not one for interrupting, so...how about it? Thrill me." She looked at him, her expression showing slight amusement.

Zac laughed softly, smirking and read the text over Aislin's shoulder, then followed her gaze back to Logan and blinked, his smile disappearing again.
"...Uh...maybe you should, after all...give him a try, I mean...I mean, if he's offered you someplace quiet to go...that's good, right? Somewhere...away from everyone else..." He said through gritted teeth, his body stiffening slightly and his fist clenching around the knife in his pocket as he laid eyes on Emma.

Lissa shook her head as her eyes drifted down to the sickly green linoleum covering the floor.
“I haven‘t seen her since…” she said in a soft murmur. All of those heavy feelings in her chest started suddenly piling up yet again as her mind kept racing, asking unanswerable questions about this girl. She hoped she was okay now, and just taking a little time out to calm down, she really did. She knew the power that negative emotions could have over a person, and the thought of anything happening to that tiny little first-year because of them made her absolutely sick to her stomach.

Aislin flashed another grin at Logan, making sure to look up at him through her lashes, and gave him a fluttering-of-the-fingers-wave. She flicked her phone open again once she had received his reply, and once he had left the Quad.
“Oh, what, so you can go woo Miss ‘Fuck-off-and-stop-staring-at-me-you-absolute-fucking-creep’ and you can get married and ride off into the sunset on a Gimp-driven cart and have little sadist babies? Yeah, I think my integrity‘s a little bit more important than whatever sick shit‘s going on all up in there…” she said, reading over Logan's messge, then gesturing in a wide circular motion in the direction of Zachary’s head.

Greyson bit his lip and lifted his hands out in front of him slightly with the palms open, picking up on Lissa starting to panic.
"Hey, hey..." He said softly. "I'm sure she'll be fine...she's just young...these things affect us all in different ways..." He hoped the girl was alright, although...he didn't hold much hope. Could he, really? After all...can anyone in Langdon ever be fully okay?
To rephrase his thoughts...he hoped she was as okay as she could be.

"I guess I am..." Emma looked down at her nails and away from Logan, a faint smirk still playing at her lips.
When he excused himself, she glanced up and watched him through her eyelashes, glaring slightly at the fact he'd completely blown her off. Nobody blew Emma Scott off. Ever.
With a small, exasperated sigh, she gave another look around the Quad, finding herself once again with a loss of company, and an ever-rising desire for attention still building inside her.

Zac managed to tear his eyes away from Emma and diverted them back to Aislin, glaring slightly. "No, actually. I am completely fucking over Little Miss Princess over there..." He protested, gesturing towards where she was now sitting alone. "She may have rejected me, but...she's the one who's missing out. She's a fucking dyke...she has to be..."

Lissa nodded: just a quick little jerk of her head, with her eyes never leaving the floor. The girl probably was just fine right now, maybe she’d even rejoined the service. Or maybe…No. She wouldn’t think of the alternative. She refused to think of the alternative. Desperate for something to take her mind off the subject, she looked up at Greyson, managing to force out a small, strained smile.
“So, ah…” she murmured quietly. She needed a change of topic, a distraction from her own mind, but anyone who knew her knew that talking wasn’t her strong suit - at least, not anymore - and any conversation she has would have to be lead by another person, or they would simply never get anywhere.

Aislin turned her head to cast a quick glance over at Emma, looking her up and down discretely this time, not in the overly-obvious way she had done with Logan.
“Oh…Well in that case, maybe I should have a go at her, then,” she said in response to Zac, turning her head back and looking up at him with a wide grin, waggling her eyebrows slightly.

"...It's okay...to be upset about Abbigael, I mean..." Greyson said quietly after a few moments pause, looking over at Lissa and smiling weakly. "It's just...you look like you're trying really hard to keep it together, when...that's probably the worst thing you can do...I mean, even I'm a little upset about it...and I hardly knew her at all..." He shifted nervously on his feet, pulling his jacket sleeves down slightly. "I guess I just want you to know that I'll be here for you, if you ever want to talk about anything..." He chewed the inside of his cheek. He didn't want it to come across as though he thought she was some kind of emotional wreck...he didn't think that, at all. And he hoped she knew that.

Zac glanced back over at Emma, then looked over his shoulder at Jamie, huffing quietly. "I'm sticking with the fact she likes chicks. She's too prissy when it comes to guys...and I am not up my own ass, thankyou very much." He pouted slightly, and then pulled a face at Aislin, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Oh ha ha, very funny..." He muttered, crossing his arms. "Bitch."

Lissa looked up at Greyson, then redirected her gaze back down to the floor. There it was…That affection again…But this time, along with the slight blush, was the threat of tears. She had no idea why feeling cared for made her well up so easily. Maybe it was caused by overwhelming happiness at someone treating her like she actually mattered, or maybe it was because that - deep down - she knew that there was no way she’d ever really trust anyone enough to fully open up to them, so really, she was just a wasted effort.
“Jesus, you make me sound like some sort of trainwreck…” she tried for a joke, even managing to get out a quiet, strangled laugh, but she wasn’t entirely sure how it came across.

“The thing is, though…I‘m not actually joking,” Aislin said with a straight face, glancing over her shoulder again with her eyes landing directly on Emma. “I would do unspeakable things to that girl. Sick, twisted, indescribable, degrading, pulling-the-gravel-from-your-knees things…” she uttered the last part with the light, teasing tone returning to her voice and one corner of her mouth curving up into a smirk. That smirk only intensified when Jamie had finished speaking, and she looked up at Zac. "Yeah...I thought you were over her..."

Greyson blinked and gulped quietly, his eyes widening.
"O-oh...I-I...Lissa, I...I didn't mean to upset you...I'm so sorry..." He stuttered, feeling himself start to panic. "I didn't mean it like that...you're not a trainweck, honest..." He bit his lip, taking a few small steps closer to her. "Please don't cry..."

Zac looked at Aislin, then over at Emma, and back again, his lips parting slightly as he did so and letting out a small whining sound of his own as he bit down on his lower lip.
"...And the horrible thing is...I can't decide whether I'd rather be doing those things to her myself, or watching you do them..." He murmured quietly, his brow furrowed, and then looked between Jamilyn and Aislin. "And I am over her..." He began to protest again. "But that doesn't mean I don't still like the idea of potentially waking up next to that in the morning..."

“Hey, hey…I know, I was joking…I sometimes…sometimes make jokes…Though I should probably just…not…” Lissa said, looking back up at Greyson with a small, weak smile. Her eyes were still a little red around the edges, but she had done well to force back to floods of tears that were so dangerously close to spilling. “And I‘m not crying…See?”

Aislin smirked darkly at Zac’s reaction, crossing her arms and leaning against the back of the bench.
“Now…Do try not to get a boner with those images in your head…” she teased, giving her friend a wink. “But…You‘re clearly not over her if you‘re not, well…over her. In both the emotional and the physical sense...Actually, no...Wait…Do you even have emotions?” she asked, tilting her head to the side in the same way a confused puppy would do, her brows furrowing and her lips parting in a sign of puzzlement.
Then she glanced over at Jamie and shrugged. She had no intention of doing anything with Logan today, and probably not in the near future either. She loved teasing him way too much, and if she gave up the fight now, she'd lose that pleasure.
"Not today."

((OOC: Sorry Malice, I didn't see your post. ^^))

Greyson sighed quietly with relief when he heard Lissa, his small smile returning.
"Oh...you had me worried for a second there..." He said with a slight laugh, some of the calmness returning to his voice and stance. "And, no...it was funny, honestly...I just have a really bad sense of humour...as you know..." He smiled.

"Oh, come on..." Zac whimpered quietly, looking down at Aislin and gesturing over to Emma with one hand. "What kind of straight man doesn't enjoy girl-on-girl action? I'll give you a clue...none. And it's your fault I'm having those mental images in the first place...I haven't had any kind of action in like, a week. Sex is my food. I'm dying here." He said, then huffed quietly, looking back over at Emma. "And, for the last fucking time...I am over her. But, newsflash, guys think with their dicks, and that part of me still wants said girl."

“Yeah…” Lissa responded quietly, her own smile becoming less forced when she saw the one that Greyson was now giving her. But even just looking at him now, so genuine, so happy in her company, she felt that stinging teary feeling return. Whatever happiness he felt was just temporary, being friend with her would just be like that. ‘Wasted effort…’ she thought to herself. Her mind was in that dark place again, and it took a lot to break her out of it. But, despite the fact that she knew the next words to come out of her mouth would only take those feelings and double them, it was something that really had to be said. “…Thanks, Grey…” she hoped he’d understand her meaning, because if she had to explain it, that threat of tears would become far too strong.

“Doesn‘t feel so nice, does it?” Aislin said with a smirk, thinking back to the earlier moments of the service where Zachary had denied her blood, and then had the nerve to taste his own right in front of her. But, hey…at least she wasn‘t going right over there and giving him a demonstration. “You tease me with blood, I tease you with kinky imaginary lesbian sex. Just how I roll, my friend,” she winked. “But…basically what you‘re saying is that you are over her, but your dick isn‘t?”

After looking at Lissa for a few moments, Greyson's smile broke into one which was both brighter and felt more real to him. He was beginning to slip back into his comfort zone, and as he managed to tell she wasn't forcing her own as much, it pushed him over the edge.
"You're very welcome..." He replied cheerfully, lightly draping his arm across her shoulders and pulling her into another half hug, this time more of a casual friendly embrace than the one earlier, which had been to show her he was there for her if she needed him. He was still going to be there now, of course, but...he figured this kind of attitude would boost her mood a little. And even the smallest smile from Lissa, as long as it was genuine, had the power to brighten his whole day.

Emma caught movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced over to see what the drama was, then blinked as she saw Jay pushing his way towards the exit of the Quad. She knew he'd seen her winking at him this morning, but...he hadn't responded back with the same enthusiasm. He'd just pulled his hood up and looked away. And she couldn't help but wonder if that meant he wasn't interested.
But...c'mon...who wasn't into her? Not many people...and the ones that applied to, she didn't bother with. That was just how she liked to do things. But there was no way he was one of those few. Or, at least, he wouldn't be...not once she was finished with him.
Standing back up as she watched Jay exit, smoothing down her skirt and lightly fluffing her hair, she sauntered after him with a small smirk on her face, pulling the same red lipstick and reapplying it yet again before putting it back into the pocket of her coat.
"Hey! Hey, you! Hood guy!" She called once she'd followed him into one of the empty hallways, picking up the pace of her walking to close the distance between them.

Zac at first rolled his eyes, annoyed at having his own tricks thrown back at him, then grinned slightly and leered down at Aislin. "Well...I think it's only fair that if I gave you that blood...you'd have to keep your end of the bargain, too..." He winked. "And, basically...I'm saying that I am over her, but I'd still fuck the shit out of her if I ever get the chance."
He looked over at Jamie and laughed softly, smirking. "Why? You offering?" He teased, before giving another soft laugh and directing his attention back to the floor, leaning back against the wall.