Logan Ritter's Story

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 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..."

“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. ^^))

[[AND HERE]]

Emma blinked as she heard the end of Jay's reply, the devilish smile being ripped from her face in a split second yet again, and she watched him walk away, her expression indifferent and calm. That is...until he disappeared into one of the other rooms and she was left alone in the corridor.
Another time? Another time? As in...not right this second. Not today. Not this week.
Not ever?
What the fuck was that even supposed to mean?
Why wasn't he falling in love with her? Why didn't he want her? Why? Why why why?
Staring at the wall in front of her for a few moments, her hands clenching into fists and breathing through her nose as she remained tight-lipped and still, she slowly reached into her pocket, pulling out the small tube of red lipstick again. Only this time, instead of applying some to her face, it was thrown down onto the floor at her feet, before being crushed to a messy red and silver pulp by the base of a black size 6 Jimmy Choo.
With that, she turned quickly on her heel and retreated back down the corridor the way she had come, leaving behind the remnants of her small outburst in a heap on the newly-polished floor.
"UNNNGH!" The loud, feral growl burst out of Emma's mouth as she burst back into the Quad through the double doors towards the back of the area a few moments later, drawing attention from a few of the first years who then quickly diverted their attention elsewhere after recieving a death glare in response. She stormed back into the main area and took her seat, biting down on her bottom lip so hard to prevent herself from screaming out again that she was convinced she'd draw blood. She wasn't angry at Jay, or anything he'd said or done...more so at herself, for not being interesting enough. For not trying too hard.
For not doing enough.
Sitting with her gaze diverted down to the ground and one hand gripping tightly into the other, she may not have been mad for a particular reason...but the next person to push her over the edge was going to get it. They were going to get it bad.

Working hard and running faster in order to stay in the lead, Greyson glanced back at Lissa and grinned at her as he diverted himself around another corner, towards the fire exit. Bursting through the doors with his right arm, he hurrying up the steps towards the door to the roof, laughing all the way, until he eventually pushed through the door and found himself out on the school's rooftop, surrounded by fresh air and a cityscape to die for. His lungs were burning with how fast he'd been moving, but he didn't care. It was all worth it for a sight like this.

Zac frowned and sighed quietly as he watched Aislin and Jamie facing off to one another, crossing his arms and tilting his head back towards the sky. He wasn't too sure why they hated eachother so much, but...the last thing he wanted was to get himself involved. He'd let them fight their own battles.
Looking towards the door when he heard a loud scream, he blinked and raised an eyebrow slightly as his eyes followed Emma from the door to her seat, not sure he even wanted to know what had gone on back there.

Greyson stood leaning against the wall by the door by the time Lissa had reached the roof, arms crossed and pulling the smoothest-looking pose he could manage while trying to hide the burning sensation in his lungs and his now incredibly heavy breathing.
"What took you so long?" He laughed softly, looking over at her and smiling widely, then pushed himself off from the wall and began to walk over towards the ledge.

Zac kept his expression solemn and didn't say a word as he watched Aislin and Jamie, and then gave a small, relieved sigh as Jamie sat back down. It was only then that he let out a small laugh, leaning down slightly to whisper into Aislin's ear.
"Meow..." He formed his hand into a claw and swiped at the air, his mocking grin making another appearance.

"What do you think, Logan? Do I seem okay to you?" Emma snapped, casting her eyes upwards to his face and glaring, then huffed quietly and dropped her head back down, her voice losing some of it's venom. "...No. I'm not okay." She finally responded, her posture still stiff and unmoving, refusing to make any more eye contact. She could almost feel tears stinging her eyes, like she did every time she got this infuriated with herself...but she knew she wasn't going to cry. Especially not in front of someone like Logan Ritter. She wouldn't allow it.

Emma watched Logan out of the corner of her eye as he sat down, staying quiet and focusing her attention mainly on the floor.
"...I never said you were..." She muttered quietly after listening to him. "But, just to make myself perfectly clear...if this nice guy act is your new technique for trying to get me into bed with you, you can stop right now. You've been trying on and off for a few years now, and in case you haven't already realised, it's not happening, Logan. We are never, ever getting together."
She'd said it half-jokingly, trying to make light of the situation despite the fact she currently felt like shit...but there was an underlying sense of honesty to her words. People seemed to get the wrong idea about her, often assuming she was a slut and was pretty easy, and this was something that was neither true nor fair towards her in her belief. In fact, she was the complete opposite...she'd had a few bad experiences when it came to sexual relationships, and so she tried to stay away from them for the most part. Or, at least...she had, up until this morning...
Right now, she just didn't know what to think anymore.

Greyson smiled and laughed, resting his hands on the railings and looking out over the city as he heard Lissa.
"Charming..." He joked, glancing over his shoulder and pouting slightly.

Zac looked down at Aislin and huffed, smiling.
"Really? Now? I was just beginning to enjoy the service..." He grinned, crossing his arms again and turning his head back towards the Headmistress, still watching his friend out of the corner of his eye. It was just too fun not to mess with her a little...and it wasn't like she'd go off in a rage with him. They were far too close for that.

Greyson rolled his eyes, smiling and glancing at Lissa, then cast his gaze back out into the rest of the world with a content sigh.
"God, I've missed coming up here..." He murmured quietly, just taking it all in.
Most of all, he loved the seclusion. The whole place just felt so calm and serene...which was probably why he'd claimed it as his 'calming down' place so early on. Because, as far as bringing him back to reality and helping him feel normal again, it truly did the trick.

Zac let out a small laugh, still grinning, and pushed himself off from the wall.
"Fine..."

Emma rolled her eyes at Logan's feeble attempt at a joke, her arms remaining firmly crossed and concentrating on not breaking a smile. "I just wanted you to know. You might be hot, and you might be able to get the majority of girls at this school to fall at your feet, but...I'm not like any other girl here. And I don't hook up." She looked down at her nails, purposely continuing to avoid eye contact. "And, I'm fine. I don't need a talk...I'm not some kind of fucking lunatic who needs a psychiatrist." She said coldly, narrowing her eyes as she looked down to force the tears that threatened to spill out of them back in again.

"And just what is wrong with my face?" Emma practically squeaked, snapping her head back up to look at Logan and sporting an utterly mortified expression. That was the major part of what he had said that she'd picked up on, and although she hadn't misinterpreted the question - she understood what he was saying perfectly well - her mind was already focused on how much of a screw up she must have been in order to lose Jay's attention previously, and so she could not will herself to concentrate on anything else.

Greyson looked at Lissa, smiling.
"Seriously? I never thought you liked it that much..." He laughed softly. "In all honesty, I always suspected you just came up here for my benefit...just because I wanted you to..."

"Wherever," Zac shrugged, glancing back over his shoulder to the service as it continued. "I'm not fussed. Just...don't get too carried away with it, alright? You need to remember that I'm the one in charge of all this." He grinned, glancing down to some of the visible veins in his arm and then lightly tapping Aislin's chin with his index finger in a mocking fashion.

Emma's eyes stayed narrowed as she looked up at Logan, the tears caused by all of her anger still stinging them.
"I'm fine." She muttered again quietly, trying to hide the emotion in her voice as she lied and gritted her teeth. "Never felt better."
She knew the lie wasn't very believable compared to some of the bullshit she could come out with, and she wasn't sure what effect that would have on him, personally...but in the current circumstance, it was the best she could do.

"Well...that's great..." Greyson said quietly, smiling and turning around slightly, leaning back against the railings and crossing his arms.

Zac laughed softly as he noticed Aislin getting annoyed, then blinked and winced slightly as he felt the blade cut into him. He had a pretry high pain threshold as far as he could tell, and the whole idea of being cut and having someone drink from him wasn't something he minded, but the forcefulness Aislin gave every single time still shocked him a little.

Jay gave up on the drawing and decided to head back to the memorial. He looked over to Emma and nodded with a smile. When he noticed her with Logan he quickly looked away. She was just going to embarrass me in front of them all. He sighed at the thought, she fooled him. "Oh, is he hitting on our girl?" Samson cooed. "Give him a good ol' fist to the nose." Samson imitate a boxer and started making his way to Logan. "At least he's just a figment of my imagination." Jay quietly laughed to himself before taking a his seat. He kept watching Emma from the corner of his eye.

Emma glanced up again with a quiet huff when she heard the doors to the Quad open again, then blinked when she saw Jay.
“…He’ll come to me…” She said quietly, giving a sideways glance to Logan and repositioned herself on her chair, moving her leg slightly so her skirt moved up an inch. She kept her eyes on Jay, smirking slightly at him when she managed to make eye contact, and lifted her hand to her hair to curl it around her finger again as she gently crooked it towards him slightly, to gesture for him to come over.

Greyson occasionally glanced back out at the view, but for the most part, kept his eyes glued to his friend, a small smile fixed on his lips. He was aware that since whatever had happened to her, something she wouldn’t even share with him, she wasn’t able to usually stay happy for long periods of time…and he’d managed to keep her smiling since he’d gotten to school. And, in a way…that kind of made him proud.

Zac rolled his eyes, giving out a small laugh. “Nah…I’m made of stronger stuff than that…you’re just not usually this forceful, that’s all…” He said, looking down at the cut on his finger.

Jay's eyes made contact with hers and he watched her as she motioned for him to move over, his eyes darted to Logan and he shook his head, his eyes locked on Logan. He changed his angle on his seat and looked at her smiling, but he was ready to look up to the headmistress if Logan looked in his direction. Jay sighed and looked at his phone, How much longer? He thought to himself.

Emma looked at Jay and rolled her eyes, smiling.
"Why not? I want you to..." She mouthed silently, attempting to catch his attention with another flirty little grin, then heard Logan and snapped out of their little conversation for a moment.
"Yeah?" She asked, turning her head to look fully at Logan when she heard him say her name, blinking once.

Greyson laughed softly as Lissa eventually spoke and moved away from the railings, then began walking towards her.
"Nothing...it's just nice to see you smiling, that's all..." He said quietly, taking a seat next to her.

Zac looked down at Aislin as she began to drink, an eyebrow raised slightly and his face otherwise looking very casual and indifferent. As he'd mentioned earlier, he'd just never understood the obsession...and, to be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure he even wanted to. But...if it was keeping his friend happy, then...what was the harm in it?
His lips broke into a regular smile as he watched her, a small laugh escaping as they did.