Petra Mason's Story

"Now, make sure that you continue your studies. No slacking off, and if you get into any trouble, I'm having you shipped back here immediately."

A soft frown flitted across the young girl's face, and for a moment, she stared down at the box in her hands. When she turned her face upwards to look at her grandmother, she nodded slightly.

"I understand, grandmother," she said quietly, her fingers tightening slightly around the box, which held bubble-wrapped mementos from her childhood. The old woman held her chin high, attempting to look down her nose at the taller, younger girl and failing, yet succeeding in sending small chills down her spine.

"I sincerely hope you do, child. You know the consequences of not meeting my standards. Ensure that you keep up, or it's off to military school," she said stiffly, her knobby hands folded over one another.

Valerie looked at her, the woman that had taken care of her since she was eight, and on a sudden urge, placed the box on top of the limousine, her arms throwing around the frail woman.

"I'll miss you, grandmother. I'm ..." There were no amount of words that could express the emotions that she was feeling in that moment. Sorrow, joy, anxiety, nervousness, anticipation; they were all a jumbled mess together in the pit of her stomach, causing a butterfly-feeling of sorts deeply within. When she finally released her and turned away from the mansion that had become her home-away-from-home, she felt an odd sense of freedom, as if she were escaping some sort of a prison.

She had never felt more free then she did in that moment.

---

---

The drive across Europe was long and exhausting, and the ferry that she was to board and take across the Pacific Ocean was large and impressive; nothing less then what she expected her grandmother to do. The valet that had driven her assisted her in handing over her bags, most of which had already been sent to the Academy, the ones that she carried merely a couple of boxes that she had packed last minute, and her travel-on bag.

By the time she arrived in America, a day after she had left her grandmother's, she was more then ready to get settled in at the school and have a full-night's rest.

It was another two hours before Valerie reached the Academy's gates, and when she did, the window slid down and she leaned out, eager to breathe in the fresh air of the forest that surrounded it. By the time that they reached the front of the school, it was the middle of the school day, so around eleven o'clock in the morning, and a total of a day and a half after she had left.

The Head Dean of the school was there to greet her, having had received word of her arrival, and hastened to greet the young woman whose grandmother had donated a hefty amount of money, especially to get her in after the school year had begun. The forty-something-year-old woman gave her a brief tour of the campus using the map that had been emailed to Valerie. She explained how certain things worked around the campus, and then basically left the girl to find her merry way on her own. The driver who had brought her from the ferry and to the school bid her good-luck and then left, almost in a hurry it seemed, but with a slight shrug, she turned back to the school. Two teachers that had been standing with the Dean had already taken her things with them to her room, and she had been told that she was free to do whatever she wanted for the rest of the day - so long as it didn't break any rules, involve her leaving the campus, and that she didn't travel into the forest surrounding the campus.

With a slight shrug, she set off in search of food, figuring that perhaps there was some sort of lunch period going on at eleven-thirty in the afternoon.

After around twenty minutes of searching - and five times where she found herself lost - she managed to arrive at the cafeteria, a bit frazzled but none-the-worse-for-wear. Sadly, it was empty, and after further investigation - basically her asking when lunch was - she discovered that Lunch A had just concluded, and Lunch B would begin in ten minutes - at precisely noon. So there she settled in to wait, the Academy's cooks taking pity on her and allowing her to buy her lunch early. After eyeing the surprisingly-delicious looking Fettuccine Alfredo pasta, she nibbled on bits of chicken that had been tossed into the mixture, her intense blue eyes traversing the room, yet her head never moving.

“SMACK!”

Meg slammed her textbook shut, and shoved it aside. It was a bright hot day in October, and only five minutes left till lunch. She's been growing impatient with every new minute, since about half an hour ago, and the crawling hands of the clock were beginning to tick her off. Three minutes until lunch.

Just as the bell was going off, Meg threw her bag to her brother, and marched towards the door. People stepped aside to let her pass, she floated right past the faceless mob, and out towards freedom. Her faithful club followed close behind. Out in the halls, everybody parted before her. Meg grinned smugly, this is what she was made for. Ultimately, this whole school, this whole world would be at her mercy. But for the moment, she only needed food!

The cafeteria was already buzzing with students. Meg dropped her bags into a chair, and let herself fall lightly into the one next to it. She leaned her head onto her palm, her eyes drifting lazily over the boring faces of her “comrades”. A small group of particularly obnoxious individuals gathered around one of the tables caught her attention. They were clearly agitated, speaking louder than seemed necessary. Meg frowned, but resisted the urge to move from her seat. She'll send Petra to investigate as soon as she's back with the food. She was about to turn away when little Audrey shifted her chair over, revealing a new, unfamiliar face. "A transfer?" This caused Meg to instantly forget her food, and with that her good disposition. She was supposed to be informed of any novelties happening in the school, and even the slightest deviation from that rule was enough to anger her. Clearly, she needed to have a nice long chat with her pets. But not now. Meg jumped from her seat and advanced towards this unknown creature, her followers instantly at her sides.

It was only five minutes after Valerie had settled in to eat when the bell rang. Needless to say, it scared the shit out of her. She nearly flung a carrot across the room in fright. She managed to calm her fast-racing heart, but it jumped into her throat as the swarm of students came. Her normal bravery disappeared, and she found herself ducking her head, attempting to use her blonde hair as some sort of a shield. It seemed to work - at first. And then she came.

Out of nowhere, she felt arms wrap around her body, nearly strangling her in their tight grip. A soft gasp escaped Val's lips, and her head was yanked to the girl's shoulder, where her chin came to rest.

"Jesus Christ," she wheezed, more stunned at the girl's strength then by the sudden hug that came out of nowhere.


"Hello! You look very new to me. Are you a transfer?" It seemed only then that the girl realized that she was invading her personal space, and finally released her. Valerie leaned back and drew in a breath, before letting it out slowly. "Oh my, I'm sorry if you didn't want to be hugged! I do it without thinking!"

"No, it's quite alright," Valerie said quietly, leaning back to catch her breath. She brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Her eyes moved to the boy that had accompanied the girl, and making a fleeting note that he was extremely handsome, she turned her attention back to the girl. But it was only to return her gaze to the boy, who had begun introductions.

"Audrey ... My sister. I'm Sam. Welcome to Wonderland Academy." His smile was calming, and she felt herself relax. "Excuse me a minute, I'll be right back. I'll grab yours too Audrey." His hand touched his sister's shoulder before he took of at a surprisingly fast walk towards the foot lines, and she leaned forward a bit to stare after him.

Nice ass though ...

A soft blush rose to her cheeks as she only then realized that the girl, Audrey, was still sitting there. And she was his sister of all things. To have had such thoughts about the girl's brother right in front of her was terrible. She dropped back onto her seat again and looked at the other girl.

"My name is Valerie. Valerie Callinder. It's a pleasure to be of your acquaintance, Audrey. And of your brother's, but I will tell him that when he returns," she said with a smile, not bothering to conceal her accent, for when she attempted to, it only ended up growing thicker.

It was at that moment that a slightly-disturbing boy with extremely curly dark hair dropped down onto a table nearby - quite loudly, might she add - and propped his feet on a chair. That's a bit disrespectful ... It wasn't her business, however, and with a slight shrug, she turned back to the conversation at hand, which was with Audrey, and attempted to ignore the stare that she was receiving from the boy.

Once again, however, her attention was taken from Audrey and redirected to the next person to approach the table. Her neck was beginning to ache from turning her head so often, and she was growing annoyed with it. When she saw who had slammed their tray onto the table across from her, though, her annoyed state was dashed from her, and instead replaced with a joyous one that could not be swiped away by anything.

"Tarrant!?" she blinked, her eyes fluttering quickly in surprise. After the surprise had faded, a slow grin began to stretch across her face, and before she realized what she was doing, she had propped one foot on top of the seat she was currently using, and threw herself across the table. She had successfully ended up tackling Tarrant from his seat, but oddly enough, she didn't care. She was far too busy squealing with excitement.

"Tarrant, Tarrant, Tarrant!" she cried, her arms latched around his neck. "I've missed you, Mister Hatter!" she laughed, burying her face in his shoulder. She clung to him like that for several moments, before she leaned back and dropped onto the heels of her feet, finally releasing him. Her smile trembled a bit, however, as she helped him up and he introduced her to Audrey, whom she had already met and would undoubtedly be confused by the different names. Therefore, she spun on her heel to face the girl, a sheepish grin on her face.

"My sincerest apologies for the confusion, Audrey," she said, her accent causing a slight lilt to be heard when she spoke the name for the first time. "My name is Alice Valerie Callinder, but I prefer to go by Valerie. It's quite a long story, but I would great appreciate your kindness in calling me by my preferred name," she said quietly, her eyes glancing down.

She hadn't told Tarrant about Amanda yet, and hadn't planned to until ... Well ... Never, actually. But now that she was faced with seeing him day-in and day-out?

She had no choice but to tell him.

Her grin faded as a deep sorrow rose up in her and threatened to burst in what would be a tsunami of tears if she allowed it to release and free itself. But with what she considered a great deal of strength, she shoved it back and instead lifted her hand to reach for her ever-present necklaces. She drew them out from under her dress, holding both lockets in the palm of her hand.

"Amanda ... She's ..." A pause, for she was almost certain that she wouldn't be able to continue. After a trembling, deep breath, she wrapped her fingers around the lockets and rings, closed her eyes, and spit out the words in a quick breath.

"She's dead, Tarrant. Skilled killed herself two months ago. That's why ... That's why I'm here."

She turned away, her eyes tightly closed and her face oddly pale. Her lips were dry. She couldn't help it.

"I'm ... I'm sorry. If you'll excuse me," she said, her voice a raspy whisper. She turned and ducked around Tarrant, her boots making soft taps on the floor as she fled the room, her hand tight around the lockets. She rushed past Sam and a girl that was speaking to him, ducking her head so as to hide the faint tears that clung on her lashes, and practically threw herself through the doors. She didn't stop running until she felt a small twinge in her side, which was the side-affect of running so soon after she had ate. She leaned against a set of lockers, her hands on her knees as she bent over at the waist, and her eyes closed.

A sly, female voice tore her out of her attempt to catch her breath.

"And who might you be?"

Valerie jumped and stumbled back a few steps, her head darted from side to side. She turned in a complete circle, before finally looking up and spotting a girl who was currently lounging on top of the lockers.

"You should get down from there, doll, else you hurt yourself," she said, her brows drawn together.

"Oh, please ... And refer to me as Chess or Cheshire."

"I seem to fancy calling you Cheshire Puss more then Chess or Cheshire, for how could you have managed to climb those lockers unless you were as lithe as a cat? Also, would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," the girl replied.

"I don't much care where--' Valerie began.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," the girl cut in.

"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Valerie concluded, so as to explain further.

"Oh, you're sure to do that, if you only walk long enough," the girl instructed lazily.

This was getting her nowhere, and Val could feel her frustrations rising. In an effort to calm herself, she held her breath, counted to ten, and let it out slowly before trying again. "What sort of people live about here?"

"In that direction," she motioned towards the cafeteria, "lives a Hatter." She couldn't possibly be talking about Tarrant ... Could she? "And in that direction, she motioned the way that Valerie had been heading, "Lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad."

They're both mad? Either she meant they were angry, or insane, bu there wasn't any way they could be either, and there was no way that she could know if both were angry in that moment. "But I don't want to go among mad people," she frowned, her brows drawing together.

"Oh, you can't help that," she chuckled, moving slightly to stretch. "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

This was ridiculous. "How do you know I'm mad?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"You must be, or you wouldn't have come here." But it was a school, for crymony's sakes! Of course she would come here. It was a prestigious school for teenagers with her intellect. What did insanity have to do with any of it? What the girl had said did not prove the theory of madness in the least.

"And how do you know that you're mad?"

"To begin with, a dog's not mad. You grant that?"

"I ... I suppose so," Valerie answered cautiously.

"Well, then ... You see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."

"I call it purring, not growling," she pointed out, priding herself on being quite the smart ass, for it was true; the girl resembled a cat so entirely that it was almost frightening.

"Call it what you like."

The girl practically slinked away, a mysterious grin on her face.

"What the fuck ... Was that?" Her sorrow momentarily gone, she stared after the girl with an expression that was one of disbelief mixed with confusion and awe.

"What ... The fuck?"

With a shake of her head, she puffed out a breath and headed back in the direction of the cafeteria. When she returned, she was obviously embarrassed, but her tears had dried and she was calm once more. She did, however, approach the table that she had been sitting at before with a weariness that was obvious enough to cut with a knife.

"I'm ... I'm sorry about before," she said sheepishly, shifting her weight a bit. "I just can't help but grow upset when I think of my sister. It won't happen again," she said, sliding back into her seat. She plucked up her apple and held it out towards Tarrant with a grin. "Yours fell on the floor, you big oaf. You should be more careful with your food. After all these years, and I'm still picking up after and feeding you," she laughed, leaning across the table and press the apple between his teeth so that it stayed. She then leaned back and looked up at Sam and the girl from before as they approached the table, for she hadn't been gone long, but long enough for them to finish getting food for themselves and Audrey.

"Hello, my name is Valerie. It's a pleasure," she said, holding her hand out to the girl. She cast a wink at Sam after shaking the girl's hand, and then lowered herself back into her seat. "I am from Germany, but I lived her when I was younger. Is there any advice that you lot can give me about the school?"

'And then there was pie....'

Sam reached for a piece as he set one on his and Audrey's trays, the crisp and flaky crust and gooey golden center looking more and more delicious the closer it came until finally setting it on the plastic trays. The two trays were a direct contrast from each other as well; Sam's piled with a random assortment of any and all things he considered eating at the moment, and Audrey's delicately put together with her usual. 'So different in appearance, yet how well the two went together...'

His eyes left the two trays as he caught sight of Malia for a moment as she glided easily past him. Her plain dress and not-at-all extravagant clothing seemed to focus more attention on her beautiful features and Sam had a hard time not following her with his eyes as she nodded to him before passing by on her way. 'I definitely joined the wrong club.'

"Here, let me get Audrey's. You go and talk to the new girl."

A familiar voice behind him piped up and Sam wiped the stupid grin off his face, only to have it replaced at the sight of his fellow club member, and Audrey's best friend, Helena. Being a tad distracted, he hadn't noticed her walk up and begin loading her own tray. 'Wait, new girl?' He had no idea who she was talking about, Malia was by no means a new girl. Trying to puzzle it out for a moment, Sam turned back to look at her sister, now sitting with Tarrant, a rather comical man, and a blonde-haired girl... 'Oh crap, the new girl!' Mentally slapping himself, he couldn't believe he had nearly forgotten all about the new arrival.

"Helena, you are the best, you know that?" Sam began to turn so fast back toward the table, he nearly slung his tray with all of his precious food atop it. But he paused for a moment, realizing how much of an idiot he was seeming at the moment. He picked up Audrey's tray with his off hand, and gestured back toward the table for Helena to follow. There was no reason for the smaller girl to carry two trays while he selfishly only carried his own. "It's fine," he laughed, "I'll wait for you, it's not like she's going anywhere..." And when he turned back, his face blanched as the girl made a quick exit from the cafeteria. 'Damn...'

He was a second too late, but he still would have done the same. Helena was too good of a friend to just abandon for a pretty face he didn't even know...yet. So he waited patiently as Helena finished with her tray and walked with her back to the table. And to his delighted surprise, the girl arrived back just before they did. Placing Audrey's tray before her, he walked around the other side of the table so Helena could sit next to his sister, nodding to Dean in the process. Taking up the seat next to Tarrant, he greeted the colorful giant before returning his attention to the blue-eyed goddess before him.

"Hello, my name is Valerie. It's a pleasure," Sam let out a small smile as her beautiful blue eyes turned to him and one closed in a wink. "I am from Germany, but I lived her when I was younger. Is there any advice that you lot can give me about the school?"

"I need to move to Germany," Sam said under his breath, only loud enough for Tarrant to hear. But before he could prepare his most flirtatious and flattering comment, he caught sight of the small entourage making their way toward the table. And that group made no detours as they bee-lined their way to the new girl.

Bouncing slightly, the perfect, shoulder-length curls of spun gold framed a very delicate and more than pretty face that housed rose-petaled lips and deep, gorgeous brown eyes. The tall girl always had urgency in her stride, adding to the appeal and allure of her womanly charms. Meg Tharamel was incredibly attractive, as most women were in Sam's eyes, but at the same time, she was one of the most hideous creatures he had ever laid eyes on. Dwarfed only by a few of her lackeys that clung to her. Her amazing eyes always seemed to hold a vicious light to them and her smile only seemed to rear its beautiful head at the worst of times. 'Such a shame...'

Sam cleared his throat and drew attention to those approaching. "I believe you are about to get a crash course on exactly what you should avoid at this school Valerie..."

Meg was growing impatient, and that was making him impatient. Cyrus couldn't help it. His knee was bouncing with pent energy even though the rest of his body language spoke of a bored, slightly tired boy. He wasn't interested in this class at all, he was just here because Meg said so. And if Meg said so then he best do it. A semi-loud snick of a textbook slamming shut made him jump, his eyes going not to Meg but to the clock. Five minutes. He pulled his hands through his hair, straightening from his previous, lazy posture. Chewing on the side of his thumb philosophically, he stared at Meg, who in turn was watching the clock. What would they do today? Something interesting, no doubt. Meg's plans were always interesting, even when they were boring. That was the way these things worked. Maybe he's have a chance to talk to Ace. The smile that had grown on his face at the thought of his fellow club-mate, the poor boy, was stopped almost instantaneously by something large and heavy hitting his square in the nose.

"Uff." He grunted, catching Meg's bag before it hit the ground. He should have been paying attention. Cyrus nursed his nose, biting his lip slightly. no blood. Well, that was okay. Not paying attention wasn't that great of an offense. Just enough to warrant a bit of bruising to his nose. Oh well. He held Meg's bag in one arm and slung his own over a shoulder before stumbling off in pursuit of his sister. He caught up to her just outside the door as the rest of their little group assembled. He kept close to the center. On his own he wasn't particularly scary, and didn't receive the kind of reverence his peers demanded. But that was fine with him. Since he wasn't worth anything, it made sense that he deserved no respect. Although, he could be pretty scary in his own right. If he was provoked, at least. He'd never harmed anyone critically, but those he'd attacked usually got the message that they shouldn't say bad things about his Queen in his hearing range, or they'd face royal retribution.

Ace and Petra were better on physical side of making sure things ran smoothly, and Meg was the brains of the operation, which left Cyrus to do pretty much whatever they told him to. Which was only what he deserved.Though, it was a pretty good life, all things considering. Meg had his best interest at heart, Ace was a nice friend, (though that situation was a bit torturous in it's own right), and Petra seemed to like him well enough. They were all good, and he loved them like family, though he really didn't deserve as good as he got, it would be rude to reject friendly gestures within his group as he would if he was alone. Though friendly gestures weren't very forthcoming from those outside of their group, since for some reason nobody seemed to like Meg as much as they should. It was kind of discomfiting, actually, the lack of respect his peers gave the Queen. Meg seemed to handle it alright though. It was only a problem if and when Meg said it was, naturally, and that was when they should act on whatever it was she felt needed fixing.

They quickly made it into the cafeteria, as nobody wanted to stay in the Queen and her entourage's way for a second more than they had to. Meg took her bag and laid it on a chair, sliding gracefully into another at the same time. Cyrus set his own bag down on the ground and stood behind his older sister, waiting patiently for her to tell him what to do. Sometimes it took her a long time, but that was alright. Lessons in patience were always needed. Meg appeared to be scanning the crowd, perhaps to find something interesting, and a sudden shift in her posture told Cyrus that she'd found it. He straightened as well as she stood swiftly from her seat and began a swift, purposeful walk towards a large group of students, who seemed to be crowded around one individual. Curious. He followed at Meg's heels, his hands clasped behind his back and his usual quiet, not quite disinterested expression on his face. He was just waiting for her to tell him to do something, and until then he'd just follow her silently. Simple enough. Familiar enough too. It was the way things had always worked. It was the way things were supposed to work.

There was a new student in the group, a girl, and as they drew closer, eyes turned towards them. As it should be. As it always was. Cyrus stared curiously at the group over Meg's shoulder, his head tipped ever so slightly to one side. What interesting things would come from this confrontation? Surely Meg knew. She knew everything.

_________________________________________


Malia had finished her lunch long ago, but sleep was evading her. She knew why, too. The loud rampage of emotion from the table behind her. She had known the exact moment Tarrant had arrived, being the loudest of all, and Malia had smiled at the fact Tarrant already knew the girl. She figured if he liked her, she had to be okay as a person. It was tempting to go introduce herself as well, that way the the girl- Alice? Tarrant had called her Alice, but she seemed to be more adamant about being called something else- something with a V. No matter. If she introduced herself, The Girl (in caps, for now, as she didn't know what to call her) would know two-thirds of the tea club and Malia assumed she would like to know the people Tarrant talked with, considering their very loud introduction to each other.


After much debate with herself, over if it would be worth it at all to go over there, she figured it wouldn't hurt to introduce herself, so she turned around in her chair. Of course, she didn't get much farther than that. The Wicked Witch seemed to be wishing for another monkey. Didn't she have enough already? Malia hated most of them with as much hate as she could muster (it wasn't much), but especially the females. She couldn't bring herself to really 'hate' the males, because one of them was detached and if she could get close enough to talk and not be stabbed, she might be his friend, and one was just a boy who loved pain. She could understand that. One look at her wrists would atone for that. Still, she had to make a choice. Walk over still and deal with that or simply do her best to ignore it.

Malia really already knew the answer, and as much as she would rather ignore it, as it wasn't like she had any problem with letting them ignore her and sleeping, Tarrant was over there and she could talk to them, take their hate and not feel it. It was like a superpower really. Sad it had to come with so many downfalls. Malia sighed to herself and stood, walking over to the table. She didn't waste energy with pleasantries, but she did manage a small smile to Tarrant and a curt wave to the others. Wouldn't be in her better interests to talk. It wasn't like she would get anything out of it. In many ways, she was the exact opposite of Audrey. Audrey took emotions from everything and would become overwhelmed by them, Malia didn't bother with them at all, opting to think as rationally as she could in a school for the insane.

It really was difficult for Malia to understand all of the complex things that went on in this school- they were all emotion driven after all. She couldn't understand why people seemed to truly hate the Gardening Club. True, they were innturuptive and mean, but she could understand that. She only hated them for being loud and interrupting her sleep with mean words every once in a while. Didn't matter though. They seemed to feed off of that hate, and Malia still wanted to put a stop to it. If they had no more energy to fight for whatever it was they liked fighting for, they wouldn't be nearly as annoying.

Meg turned crimson with fury. Dean got the message, and hastily made his way out of the cafeteria. She couldn't stand the bastard and his obtuse riddles. She knew he was mocking her, and behind her she felt the boys tense up. They were waiting for her order, a small gesture of the hand that would tell them to attack. She imagined Ace's powerful muscles flexing, and his fist clenching as it collides with Dean's nose, squashing it into jelly. The though of it soothed her, and with some effort she resumed a relaxed pose. Cyrus frowned in confusion, but she just brushed him off. For the moment, her mind was fixed on the new girl.

The later was rather beautiful, but nothing out-of-the-way extraordinary. This was hardly something to waste her precious time over, except that Meg couldn't shake the impression that something was very wrong with this girl. Most students at wonderland academy had some distinct feature which gave away their illness. Some were twitchy, jumping at the slightest sound. Some would sulk back into the shadows, never meeting anyone's gaze. People walked, talked, and even stood accordingly to their weaknesses. This made them easy prey for Meg, who would scan through the crowds, instantly peaking out the most vulnerable ones. She knew how to target each and every one of her schoolmates, and that assured her power over them. But this girl, this strange new creature, didn't show any of this. She sat perfectly composed, and even though her face expressed slight fear, she held her ground with serene certainty. Meg searched her face frantically for any signs of madness, but found non. Even her eyes wouldn't reveal the secret of their master. Slightly taken aback, Meg decided to try a more direct approach.

“Who is this?” She said to Petra, who only shook her head and smiled in reply. Idiot! Meg thought to herself, tossing her head impatiently, and turning to Alice, she went on “what is your name child?”

No answer followed.

“Did you not hear me?”

Only now she notice Sam Bryant was sitting beside the new girl. He was beautiful as always, but he didn't look as happy as he usually did. In fact, he didn't look happy at all. She flashed him a quick but charming smile before returning her attention to the girl. The later finally obliged to answer.

“Good.” Meg smirked at the less-than-comfortable look on the girl's face. “Where do you come from?” she asked. “And when did you get here? Speak up, will you?!” And always say 'Your Majesty' she almost added, but stopped herself at the last moment. Better to understand this one first, before disciplining her.

Thank you Helena.

Sam thought to himself silently as he saw the small gesture his friend did for his sister. The all too familiar empathetic side of Audrey seemed to start creeping out at various times, and Sam knew the worth of even the simplest of things that his beloved sister could latch onto. Unfortunately, the kind gesture didn't last nearly long enough as the bubble of merriment and solace around them was shattered by the Gardening Club.

To Sam's surprise though, Dean unlatched himself from his seat a table over and led the taunts against the school's number one tyrants. As expected of mostly anyone in the school, Dean was as random as anyone could ask for and made a quick exit shortly after, causing Sam to nearly choke as he tried not to spit his food in laughter. He knew Dean half as much as he should, but everything he had ever seen of the guy was a complete riot. One Sam thoroughly enjoyed witnessing...

But the joyous moment was short-lived as Meg began berating Valerie with the uncommonly hostile tone she always seemed to use when addressing anyone outside her pack of goons. Trying to ignore it all and counting the seconds until they all decided to just give up and leave the group in peace already, Sam found himself bothered with the whole situation. So much so, he stopped eating....

His hands stopped picking at the food still on his plate and folded atop each other in front of him, a very evident sign of annoyance to anyone who really knew Sam. Only then did he notice Helena, shaking at the presence of Meg and her entourage. His heart went out to his friend, but the reaction was a common one when dealing with most bullies. Even common as it was, Sam never understood it. But even as these thoughts slid through his mind, he caught the eye of his sister, just before Meg flashed him a coy smile. To him, it was completely misunderstood. It seemed more like a mocking smile than anything else. As if Meg was saying: "Look what I can do. Who is going to do something about it?" And she was right, in a sense. The tables around them were talking, but in quiet whispers now, enjoying watching the engagement. It was sickening...

"Speak up, will you?!"

"Why don't you just shut that gigantic mouth of yours and leave her alone?!"

Silence... At Sam's quick snap at Meg, a switch seemed to have been hit suddenly and completely muted the area around their table. the hushed whispers immediately cutting off and all eyes snapped toward the scene. NO ONE spoke to Meg, or any of her members for that matter, in the way Sam just had. Even teachers were wary around her. But Sam couldn't help it, the slight tear streaks staining his sister's rosy cheeks after her small breakdown, Helena's terrified expression at the situation, and now they were going to try and bully a girl who had just arrived? 'For Christ's sake, as if school isn't a pain in the ass already.'

Rising from his seat, his steps seemed to echo as he walked around the table to place himself between Helena and the small group before him, allowing the trembling girl a bit of cover to hide behind. His hand fell lightly on his sister's shoulder to let her know he was fine, and noticed Malia at their table, overshadowed by Tarrant's form. 'Great,' he thought, 'now I get to look like a great ass in front of her too...' Oh well....

"Why not say something to me while you're at it, huh? Any takers?" Pausing for only a brief moment, Sam pressed on before any of them could muster an answer. "No? Nothing? Do us all a favor and slink back into whatever hellhole you morons crawled out of. Because honestly, no one cares what you have to say."

"I believe you are about to get a crash course on exactly what you should avoid at this school Valerie..."

That was Sam's voice, and with a slight frown, she looked over at him. What could he possibly mean by that comment? Noticing his gaze, she followed it over her shoulder, before turning completely in her seat to look at what he seemed to disturbed by.

An entourage of four people, two males and two females, were making their way towards the table. By their outward appearances, they looked to be perfectly normal, and if seen on the street, would be thought of only as a group of teenage friends. On closer inspection, however, and with her trained eye, she could pinpoint nearly everything that was wrong with this picture.

A few of her new companions were radiating wariness of the approaching group, and the people that they passed seemed to shrink into themselves and cringe away from the group as it wound it's way through the tables. There was also the fact that one of the girls, a tall one with sandy-blonde hair, seemed to be some sort of leader. The three teenagers behind her were obviously her lackeys, and two of them sent off a menacing aura that she could feel. It became more and more prominent with each step that brought them nearer to the table that Valerie was at, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"One of these things is not like the other," she murmured under her breath. Perhaps ... With a slight grin on her lips, Valerie turned back to the table, obviously ignoring the group of people as they approached.

When she saw her companions around the table, she took in their outward appearances. Audrey appeared close to fainting for God-knew-why; a small blonde girl that she dimly remember someone greeting as Helena was trembling and nearly quaking in her shoes; Sam was annoyed, and Tarrant didn't seem to care much.

"Why, hello there, Your Majesty," Tarrant quipped out. Your Majesty? She highly doubted that the girl actually came from any type of royalty, let alone enough to warrant being called formal words such as 'Majesty'.

It was at that exact moment that the boy who had been glaring at her before approached the table with a slinky smile on his face.

"Oh dear, oh dear! He leaned down between Valerie and Tarrant's head, loudly whispering his next words into her ear, his intention obviously to make sure that the wicked bitch before them heard. "My lady, take heed; a burbling Jabberwock appears!"

A burbling Jabberwock? What the Hell was a Jabberwock? Not that it really mattered, for he was already continuing.

"You must beware. Her jaws bite, her claws snatch. You can see it in her flaming, frumious little eyes!" He was obviously succeeding in infuriating the young woman, who's eyes flashed with anger. The small group behind her tensed, as if readying themselves to pounce like a pack of wolves on a hunt, who waited only for a signal from their leader, and for a fleeting moment, she felt worried for the boy who was such and intense instigator.

"Alas, I must be gone. A grinning cat and a tum tum tree await me."

Whatever a tum tum tree was, she didn't really care. Instead, she was entirely focused on the girl that towered before her, who seemed to instill fear into each student by a mere look.

“Who is this" This gained the young woman no response that actually answered her question, so she rounded on Valerie with a dark look on her face. “What is your name child?”

Valerie stared at the girl, lifting her chocolate milk and taking a calm sip of it. She seemed to pay absolutely no attention to the maniacal bitch that stood there.

“Did you not hear me?”

She lowered her milk carton back to her tray and cleared her throat, finally fixing her blue gaze on the girl's.

"Actually, it's quite the contrary, my dear. I've heard every word that has left your beautiful lips and was voiced by quite an annoying sound. It was a bit nasally and unpleasant to the ear, to be honest. Perhaps you should look into having a voice-box transplant in order to fix that problem?" she asked. She tilted her head to the side and clucked her tongue, her chin resting easily on her fingers, with hand joined together as a slight perch for her head. "But if you must insist on being quite the bothersome wicked witch, I suppose that I have no choice but to answer, if only to get you to shut up. My name is Valerie, and that is all that you need to know."

“Good. The girl smiled cockily, as though she actually thought that Valerie was afraid of her and her holier-then-though attitude. "Where do you come from? And when did you get here? Speak up, will you?!”

She didn't have time to answer in any way, whether it were to be in answer to the woman's question, or another quip about how much of a bitch the girl was. Instead, Sam burst in, causing her to jump slightly in surprise. In all honesty, she hadn't expected him to explode in that manner. She'd known the guy less then ten minutes and could already tell that he wasn't the type to do so. But the animated look on his face told wonders about how little you could really tell about a person just by speaking to them a couple of times.

"Why don't you just shut that gigantic mouth of yours and leave her alone?!"

It had quite obviously stunned the girl, who was slowly turning red with fury. Her 'henchmen' were already tensing up, as if more then ready to beat the living daylights out of Sam, for daring to speak to the girl in that manner. "Oh, you've done it now, Sammy..."

Dear God, what had he done, exactly? She couldn't deny the small shimmy of fear that she felt for the boy, and Tarrant's words only caused her blood to run cold.

"Why not say something to me while you're at it, huh? Any takers?" He didn't even give them enough time to answer, but instead continued on, almost as if he couldn't contain his anger. "No? Nothing? Do us all a favor and slink back into whatever hellhole you morons crawled out of. Because honestly, no one cares what you have to say."

Her eyes were wide, and many of the other people at the table were revealing their surprise. The entire cafeteria was eerily silent, as if everyone were listening to them and only them. She was painstakingly aware of the fact that this girl was undoubtedly the 'Queen' of this school, and no one had really dared to outwardly attack her before, for fear of the retribution that would be dealt out at them. And here was Sam, who didn't seem like the type to explode out of nowhere, and yet was doing so. And to the exact person that you didn't want to piss off.

It was then that Tarrant rose and moved over to Sam, standing a few inches before in, and nearly centimeters from the psychopath herself. "You'll drive the girl crazy on just her first day here! We really don't need to fight here, do we? Sammy-boy here is just getting protective, that's all. Now, I'm sure if you and your...friends just run along back to your table, we could all avoid conflict just this once for her sake."

Valerie was completely and utterly lost at this point. So all of this was her fault? She was the one who had caused all of this trouble? And what was with all this talk about people being crazy? She sure as hell wasn't as nuts as everyone seemed to claim each other were.

She was, however, furious.

A light pink tinged her cheeks, and she had that familiar fluttering feeling in her stomach and chest. It was tickling her throat, and she felt her breath coming quicker and more shallowly then before.

How dare this girl take out her abnormal need for knowledge on her, on the few people who were nice enough to sit with and approach her.

This was not going to end well, and she already knew it.

It was a slow rise, for it was almost difficult for her to contain her fury. When she finally was standing, however, she was quite calm on the outward appearance - until one were to look into her eyes. They were a bright, fiery blue, narrowed and obviously angry. She wasn't about to let these two boys stand up for her when she was perfectly capable of doing it herself. Besides, she didn't want them to be hurt because of her. Instead, she made her way slowly around the table, before stopping beside Tarrant and directly in front of Sam.

"You know, back in Germany, you are what I would call a meckern Sie mit einem kläglichen und traurigen Aufmerksamkeitdirnenproblem. Here, however, I will merely say this: You are a bitch that really needs an attitude change. Perhaps I shall be the one to begin shedding some light on this situation."

With that, she lifted up her half-filled chocolate milk, thrust her tray forward, and splattered the remainder of her lunch across the front of the girl's top. A slight movement and twitch of her hand, the contents of her milk carton spilled down and over her head, where it proceeded to drip down her hair and into her face. She smiled slightly, her eyes a bit narrowed as she leaned forward towards the girl. "Whoops," she whispered.

Valerie set her tray and empty carton on the table behind her before turning back to face the girl, patting her hands together.

"And that, my dear ladies and gentlemen, is how you take out the trash," she said, amusement in her gaze and one corner of her lips quirking slightly upwards.

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.

A large rose-tree stood at the entrance to the garden; the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red. This might seem like a very curious thing, but there is really nothing peculiar about it. Why, the fact is, you see, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and the gardeners put a white one by mistake. And if the Queen was to find out, she would have all their heads. So they were doing their best, before she comes, to cover up their slip. They argued and occasionally splashed paint over each other, until one of them, who had been anxiously looking across the garden, called out “The Queen! The Queen!” and all three instantly threw themselves flat upon their faces.

The Queen marched quickly, after her came her loyal club. The Queen's hair was wet, freshly washed, and her expression sour. She stooped briskly in front of the rose-tree, and the three gardeners who were lying around it.
“Turn them over” she ordered to the Knight of Hearts, pointing at the miserables. The Knight did so, roughly, with one foot.
“Get up!” said the Queen, in a shrill, loud voice, and the three gardeners instantly jumped up. “What have you been doing here?”
“May it please your Majesty,” said the shorter one, in a very humble tone, “we were trying-”
“I see!” replied the Queen, who had meanwhile been examining the roses, “Get rid of them.”

She turned angrily away, and proceeded deeper into the garden. There, by the pond, she settled herself into a cushioned chair, and pulled out a deck of cards. The cards were old, but in good shape, and had beautiful patterns on their backs. The Queen flipped through them absentmindedly, occasionally muttering something under her breath. Her mind was preoccupied with hideous plans of torture and vengeance. She was, as you might have noticed, a very vindictive individual, and would never forget an offense.

Time flew, and soon it was the hour for supper. Exasperated by the pleads of her hungry subjects, the Queen allowed them to fetch their food, while she remained immobile, a gleeful smile playing on her lips. She was nurturing the seed of an idea, an ebullient little thought that would soon grow to become her most fearsomely impressive lesson ever taught.

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 ..."