-1"Oooo, the new Spill Canvas album comes out this Tuesday." The leggy blonde teen announced to no one in particular as she continued stocking the shelves with copies of Britney Spears' latest flop of an album.
"God, your taste in music disgusts me." another girl replied, impatiently digging through the bin of discounted CDs as she waited for her friend Whitney to finish what she was doing so they could go out back and smoke a joint.
"They happen to be an extremely talented band thank you very much," Whitney argued defensively. "Their sound is unique, their lyrics are incredibly profound, and they're…"
"So damn Emo, it makes me want to slit my wrists!" the brunette groaned, grinning when she saw the irritated look on her friend's face. "But I suppose that is their intended purpose…"
"Shut up, Lexie." the blonde sneered before turning her attention back to stocking the shelves. "You're just bitter because no one under the age of forty listens to that old fuddy duddy seventies rock music you like."
"I can't help it if the youth of today prefer to damage their eardrums listening to crap like…" Lexie paused, grinning to herself in satisfaction as she pulled a copy of Spill Canvas' debut album out of the discount bin and handed it to her friend "… like this."
"Are you sure you're really sixteen?" Whitney mumbled under her breath as she tossed the CD aside.
"That's what my newly acquired learner's permit says," Lexie replied glibly, flipping open her wallet and flashing the laminated ID card. "What about yours? Oh, that's right." she grinned. "You haven't gotten one yet."
"God, you're annoying." Whitney sighed, rolling her eyes in frustration. "Why are we friends again?"
"Because you find my charm and wit a refreshing change from all the other mindless drones that live in this Godforsaken town." Lexie replied confidently. "That and I have weed."
"Weed that I paid for!" Whitney reminded her.
"Well, it didn't magically roll itself ya know." Lexie argued, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a perfectly rolled spliff.
"Put that away!" Whitney gasped, glancing around the store to make sure no one was watching them. "If my boss sees that, he'll kill me."
"It's two o'clock, you're officially on break." Lexie declared, pointing at the clock nonchalantly. "Whatever illegal narcotics you choose to recreationally consume on your own time is none of his business."
"Is that how things work at your job?" Whitney asked, grinning in satisfaction at the look of irritation on Lexie's face. "Oh that's right. You don't have one."
"It wasn't my fault they fired me." Lexie mumbled.
"Whatever you say." the blonde replied, grinning triumphantly.
"Come on, let's go get stoned." Lexie muttered, already heading towards the back door of the shop and stepping out into the deserted alleyway. "I can't stand being sober in your presence for more than five minutes."
"The feeling is mutual." Whitney grinned, handing her friend a lighter and watching as the brunette expertly lit the joint before taking a long drag - releasing it moments later in a cloud of smoke.
"Take it easy there, Snoop." Whitney teased, eagerly plucking the tightly rolled spliff out of Lexie's fingers before taking a drag herself.
"Snoop aint got nothing on me." the brunette muttered confidently as she reached out to take the joint back, confused when she saw that her arm was shaking.
"Quit doing that, you're tripping me out." Whitney giggled, already feeling the affects of the weed.
"I'm not…" Lexie started to say when all of a sudden her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her entire body fell to the ground as she was wracked by a series of violent convulsions.
"Lexie?!" Whitney screamed in terror, crouching down beside her friend and gripping her flailing arms in an attempt to get her to stop shaking. "Lexie, what's wrong? What's happening?" the brunette's head continued to twitch from side to side on the cold pavement as blood began to poor out of her nose and mouth.
"Lexie!"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
House sat in his office, legs leisurely crossed and feet propped up on his desk as he tossed the ball of rubber bands up into the air before catching it and repeating the motion. He was impressed with her creativity, not to mention her patience. Judging by the size and complexity of the ball, she must have been sitting in his office for quite a while. And she'd been snooping. House always kept his stash of elastic bands tucked away in the far reaches of his junk drawer so she must have had to do some serious digging. He didn't know why the thought of her riffling through his drawers was such a turn on, but with nothing else to do, he decided to let his mind wander. Closing his eyes, House imagined her expertly weaving each rubber band together. Her perfectly manicured fingers repeating the same motion over and over and over again…
She always had been good with her hands.
"Hard at work I see." Cuddy's voice interrupted his lascivious thoughts and he opened his eyes to see the object of his desire leaning casually against the office doorframe.
"I'm always hard at work when you're around." he grinned, looking her up and down appreciatively. She was wearing that red jacket again. The one that made her hair seem a few shades darker than usual and her eyes a few shades lighter. Not to mention that it hugged her curves in all the right places.
"You got your guitar back." Cuddy noted, ignoring his comment and motioning towards the expensive musical instrument as she sauntered over towards his desk.
"I did," House nodded, still playing with the rubber ball. It was quickly becoming his new favorite toy. "Ya know, that Dr. Wilson sure does seem to have an awful lot of time on his hands. You should probably speak to him about that."
"Oh, I plan to." Cuddy declared, her voice a combination of amusement and frustration. "Just as soon as we're done here."
"Uh oh, I feel a reprimand coming on." House replied sarcastically. "Should I get out the whips and chains?"
"That won't be necessary," Cuddy assured him, the tone of her voice lowering flirtatiously. "I have something else in mind for you."
"I'm listening." he leered, gazing up at her expectantly as though she were about to describe the most kinkiest sex act he'd ever had the pleasure of being 'punished' with.
"Alexis Wainwright." Cuddy declared simply, bringing her arm around to reveal the file folder she had been hiding behind her back. How had he not noticed that before?
Those fun bags of hers really were an unhealthy distraction.
"Huh?" House groaned in confusion, not to mention disappointment.
"Alexis Wainwright, age sixteen." Lisa continued, a small smile of satisfaction on her lips as she filled him in on the details of the case. "She was brought in yesterday afternoon suffering from an unexplained seizure that occurred while she and a friend were under the influence of marijuana."
"Sounds like an awesome trip," House grinned, making light of the situation to demonstrate his disinterest in the case. "Remind me to get the name of her dealer. I haven't been able to get my hands on the really good stuff since college."
"The only other notable symptom was a nosebleed," Cuddy went on to explain, ignoring his subtle reference to their days at Michigan U - but he noticed the way she averted his gaze. "There was also blood coming from the mouth, but it was later determined that the bleeding was caused by her inadvertently biting her tongue during the seizure."
"Ouch!" he winced, though the grin on his face showed no empathy towards the young girl's plight. "Well, that sure does sound like a fascinating case. Too bad I can't take it."
"And why is that?" Cuddy asked, eyebrow raised in question. He sighed.
"I hate to have to point out the obvious - again," House said impatiently. "But I don't have a team."
"You don't need a team, remember?" Cuddy argued, using his own words against him to prove her point. "Isn't that what you said?"
"Yes, but then you said…"
"It doesn't matter what I said, you're taking this case." Cuddy declared authoritatively, leaving no room for argument. "As long as you remain on the payroll, I expect you to do more than just sit around playing with your balls all day."
"Careful, Dr. Cuddy." House grinned, deliberately placing the rubber ball down on his desk beside the oversized tennis ball. "It's comments like that which can often be misconstrued as sexual harassment."
"Pot, meet kettle…"Lisa trailed off, she didn't need to elaborate. House was the king of innuendo and they both knew it.
"Speaking of pot," he segued impressively. "Isn't it possible that this girl simply had an allergic reaction to the weed she was smoking?"
"That's one theory that should definitely be investigated." Cuddy replied and House could tell that she was being deliberately vague and unhelpful. Come on. Enable me, baby. You know you wanna.
"Is she a full fledged stoner, or was this her first time smokin the ganja?" House inquired, trying to chip away at her resolve. He even threw in a pout for good measure, but it was no use.
"I dunno," Cuddy shrugged indifferently as she turned to leave the room. "You'll have to ask her yourself."
"God, kill me now." House groaned in annoyance. He hated teenagers, almost as much as he hated their parents. "I suppose you expect me to talk to her mommy and daddy as well?"
"Nope, no parents." Cuddy informed him casually as she stood in the doorway prepared to leave. "She grew up in the system, we're still trying to track down her current foster mom. According to Alexis, she's at work."
"Splendid." House sneered. With any luck, he'd solve the case before the girl's fauxmom arrived at the hospital therefore saving him from the displeasure of having to interact with the parental unit.
"Try and behave yourself please," Cuddy warned, the grin on her face betraying the seriousness of her words. "Though from what I hear, this girl can more than hold her own."
"Whatever," muttered nonchalantly. "I've never met a teenage girl whose spirit I couldn't break."
"We'll see." Cuddy grinned ominously before leaving his office and sashaying down the hall. He had the distinct feeling that there was something about this case she wasn't telling him.
Suddenly intrigued despite himself, House grabbed his cane and limped out of the room.