Climbing into the van, Erin muttered complaints about her incompetent classmates under her breath. None of them knew when it was better to just leave well enough alone. There was no sense in pushing and shoving in the hallways. It's not like they weren't all ready to get out of the hellhole that was called a school. She sighed and shook her head, leaning back to relax in the chair. She was able to completely relax when Ian punched on the radio, the music deafening in her ears. She closed her eyes and let the screaming drown out all of the thoughts in her mind. Everything about the day, the plans for Grad Night, and everything else just slipped from her mind as she tried to decipher the words to the music and the meanings behind the lyrics.

Her eyes flew open when the van came to a stop. She was surprised that they were in front of the McKinley Mansion rather than her house. She looked at Ian curiously and smiled when he simply took her hand and kissed the top of it. Climbing out of the van, Erin grabbed her makeup bag from her backpack and jogged to the door to Ian's shed-turned-apartment. Finding the right key on her keychain, she unlocked the door and pushed inside. She was surprised when he wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her to face him. She swallowed, smiling brightly, and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. She was surprised again when he ran his tongue along her lips, causing her to burst into a fit of uncharacteristic giggles. He smirked and nipped at her skin, walking her back into the bedroom.

It's not that Erin was angered or upset by Ian's gesture. It was quite the opposite, actually. She was thrilled that he was giving her this kind of attention. They had only gone this far a couple of times in the entire four years they had been together. It wasn't so much Ian's choice, or hers, but just a mutual thing that sex wasn't a big deal to them. They never really talked about it, either, it just happened. As Ian laid her down on the bed and pulled her jeans down her legs, Erin had to admit that the novelty of surprise that came with this was wonderful. Every touch, every caress, was overwhelming and she swore that she could never get used to the feeling, no matter how hard she tried.

Afterwards, Erin simply laid in bed. Her head resting on Ian's chest to listen to his heartbeat, she thought about what was to come. There was only a week left of class for seniors, then graduation after that. Their future was coming up faster than she had ever expected, and they still hadn't figured out what they were going to do. Erin wanted to go to Stanford and continue her studies in art, and Ian was willing to follow her wherever she went. But what was fair about Erin studying what she wants and Ian following her around like a little puppy dog? He had to have plans of his own. She chewed on her lip, considering this fact. She had never asked Ian what he wanted to go to college for.

"Hey, Zip?" she murmured, looking up at him through her dark lashes. She smiled when he ran his thumb along her cheek gently in response. "You never told me what you want to study. Like, if we go to Stanford, what do you want to go for?"

Ian hummed while he thought, making her hair tickle her ears. She laughed softly and moved to kiss him warmly. He smiled against her lips before laying back again. "Hm, gee," he started before breaking off to think again. "I don't fucking know. Nor do I care, really." Erin frowned, not particularly liking this response, and he noticed. "Why?"

She shrugged and sighed, resting her head on the pillow next to his. "I just don't want you to go to Stanford for me," Erin replied, looking up at the rafters. "Like, I want you to go to college for you, not me. I can study art anywhere. It doesn't have to be at Stanford. If there's something specific you want to major in, and they offer it at another school, we can go there."

Ian cut her off by sitting up slightly to hover over her. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, then her cheek, her lips, then down her neck slowly. She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying this rare, tender side of the McKinley teenager. He wasn't usually like this, even with her. It felt good in an odd sort of way. Like she could never remember how much they loved each other until moments like this. He was at her stomach when she started giggling at the touch. "Ian, school," she managed, curling her fingers in his hair tightly. "We were talking about school."

"Right," he sighed, clearing his throat as he crawled back up to the pillows. She almost regretted saying anything simply because the comment pushed some of the tenderness out of him. She watched him recollect his thoughts, running her forefinger along his cheek. "My major in college," he started, rolling his eyes up to look at the headboard. She quirked an eyebrow and smirked, waiting for him to finish. She knew he was pausing to make her antsy, and when he smirked to confirm her suspicions, she laughed. "My major is gonna be you, Pip." She rolled her eyes, thinking nothing of the sarcastic statement. "No, I'm serious. This is going to be the first time that we're really living together, and I'm interested to see your habits. How you really act in the morning, what you do when you get home from a stressful day, seeing you get absorbed in your artwork. I want to see it all."

Erin chewed on her lip, thinking about this new development. She nodded and smiled, rolling on top of him, pinning his arms to the bed. "You might not like what you see," she murmured before burying her face in his neck. She picked a spot and started sucking softly, listening to the sharp intake of breath. She was pleased when he started struggling against her hands, soft moans and whimpers escaping from between his lips. She released his arms and moved down to nip at his collarbone gently before sucking there, making sure to leave a mark. A vicious snarl escaped his mouth and she giggled as he grabbed her, tossing her onto her back to begin his new assault on her.

After a nice, hot shower and frantic search for a clean set of clothes, Ian and Erin were in the van on their way to Grad Night. Erin pulled down the mirror over her seat and began applying her make-up, her mind going over what they were going to do that night. A new coaster had just opened called the Devil's Flight, and Ian was excited to ride it. She, on the other hand, was actually kind of nervous about it. She knew roller coasters were nothing to be frightened of, it was just science, but she had never been fond of high places. There was something else about it, too, that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Every time she thought about riding it, everything just seemed darker, like when a cloud moves over the sun. An ominous feeling spread through her veins that she couldn't shake.

After pulling into the parking lot, she checked herself in the mirror and grabbed her jacket, pulling it on to hide the long scars on her arms. Ian caught her hands and pushed the sleeves back. She shivered and closed her eyes as he ran his fingers down the long, raised lines on her wrists. She smiled slightly when she felt him press his lips to the scars, kissing each one carefully before pulling her sleeves back down. She opened her eyes and met his gaze before leaning over to kiss him softly. Erin savored the kiss as long as she could, knowing that once they were with their peers, the warmth that Ian was giving her would die. Climbing out of the van, she sighed softly, looking out at the crowd of teenagers trying to shove their way into the park. Jumping slightly, she was taken aback when Ian grabbed her by the waist and lifted her onto his shoulders before walking up to the flood of people outside of the gates.

Chewing on her lip, Erin gazed over the sea of heads and tried to estimate a time when they would actually get into the park. She smiled down at Ian as he tapped on her legs impatiently. That was when a large jock came out of nowhere and tried shoving Ian out of his way.

"Watch where you're going, McKinley," the familiar voice snapped as he kept walking. Erin rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to jut her leg out and kick Kevin Fischer in the back of the head. It's not like shoving them out of the way was going to get him into the park any faster. She never really understood why he had such a vendetta against Ian. Nevertheless, she couldn't kick him because Ian would scold her for getting into a fight that was not hers. She glared at the back of his head until she saw Wendy Christensen look up at her apologetically, as though she was personally apologizing for her friend's behavior. Erin simply sneered at the girl to show she was unforgiving, then focused her attention back on the crowd of people getting into the park.

Erin wasn't really a bitch. Well, she could be, but not so much as to give Wendy shit for something she didn't do. Wendy was relatively innocent (probably a virgin), and pretty nice when it came down to it. It was just that Ms. Ulmer had a reputation to uphold as the Angry Goth that ran around with Ian McKinley. She didn't do it because it was fun or it entertained her, but because when she was with Ian she felt cool. Not just some nerd or overachiever that liked to draw, which is what she really was. Erin probably wouldn't hurt a fly, other than herself. Sure, she'd been in her share of trouble in the past. Arson, breaking and entering, petty theft. It was never to harm anyone, though. When it boiled down to it, she really only liked the attention. She'd never admit it, though. Not to her old therapist, not to Ian, not to anyone. When she moved to McKinley, she had this chance to reinvent herself so that's what she did. She became this angry, ill-minded bitch that was a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes, when she was by herself, she wondered if she continued the whole ruse because it was what she wanted or because it was what Ian wanted. He was the thing that caused her to change, after all.

"Welcome to McKinley, Ms. Ulmer" the office secretary murmured to Erin as she handed her the necessary papers to get her started at the new high school. It was only a couple weeks into her freshman year of high school, so she wouldn't be too far behind. Erin had gone through much worse with previous homes.

Glancing at her schedule, she saw that she had mostly advanced courses. This thrilled her because she liked to be challenged, but at the same time, it frightened her. If she had any shot at being popular, it wasn't with the people she was sure to find in these classes. AP classes baited your typical high school nerd, and Erin had had enough of being ridiculed for being a nerd. So she was smart, who the fuck cared? She wished she wasn't so concerned about what people thought of her, but she simply could not help it.

Her first class, AP English, was sure to be her favorite class. One look at the scatter-brained professor, Erin knew that she had guessed correctly. She handed her schedule to the woman, who pulled a pencil from her frizzy hair and checked that Erin had attended. She smiled at the girl, and told her to choose any empty seat she came across. She chose one roughly in the middle of the room, next to the far right wall. She pulled the scrunchy from her hair and allowed her freshly dyed locks to fall in a curtain over the left side of her face, to hide her from the rest of the class.

Not long after the final bell rang to signal the commencement of first period, she felt eyes boring a hole in her back. Swallowing, she waited until the teacher had turned before shifting her weight in the chair, peering behind her to see who the culprit was. The pale, dark-haired boy didn't bother to hide the fact that he was staring. It wasn't even a stare really, almost a glare, like he couldn't believe she had the audacity to show up in his class, with his teacher, and study from his curriculum. Erin swallowed and tried to tear her eyes away, but found that she couldn't. She was fascinated by him. She took in his milky white skin, the dark eyes with circles around them, the crescent shaped scars that ran from his index fingers to his thumbs, and the chipped black polish on his nails.

"Erin," the teacher called, sounding very faint and far away. This caused her to snap out of it and whirl around in her chair.

"Erin," repeated the voice, a hand on her waist shaking her slightly. "Erin! Snap out of it."

As Ian sank his teeth into the back of her neck gently, Erin started and looked around. "What?" she snapped, trying to push him off even though the bite felt heavenly. She held out her arm and allowed the man at the gates of the amusement park to hook the neon orange bracelet onto her wrist. She passed him and pulled her wallet, knife, and cigarettes from her pockets and slid the belt from her waist. She walked through the metal detector without any complications and gathered all her stuff back up into her hands. She heard screams of terror and joy from somewhere inside the park and could smell the wonderful aroma of fried dough. This excited her and she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Ian to catch up.