The bleachers were hot and sticky, and they did nothing to relieve the sweltering heat beating down on the field outside Amity Park High School. It was lunch and all the students were running around or sitting down and eating surrounded by friends and classmates.
Save for one girl, dressed all in black, who was sitting on the bleachers, starring out at the mass of students with an apathetic glare. She was leaning back with her elbows propped on the bench behind her and her head ducked down, nearly resting on her chest, with her legs spread and one of her combat-booted feet tapping to an invisible beat. Her neck was laced with ribbons of black with an upside-down cross as the focus. She was wearing a mesh vest underneath of which a black bra was clearly visible, and too-large black combat pants tucked into her black boots. Half of her head was shaven, and the rest of the luscious black hair was draped over the left side of her head, nearly covering half of her face.
Her jaw moved as she blew a large pink bubble from her purple lips. It popped and she took the gum back into her mouth and repeated the action. There was a bead of sweat running down the side of her face from being in direct line of the sun. It went against her Goth persona to be so out in the open in broad daylight, but the Kids, as she rightfully named them, were being particularly rowdy today, and she wasn't in the mood to deal with the all the buzzing of high school drama.
"Leave me alone!"
"Ha Ha! Look, guys, he's shaking."
"What's this?"
"H-hey, give that back!"
A crash sounded.
"Opps, oh Kwan, you're so clumsy sometimes."
Now a crunching noise.
"I still had three payments on that!"
"Too bad, Foley, it was an accident, right, Kwan?"
"Right, Dash."
Sam grit her teeth. Nothing grated on her nerves more than people using their strength to torment others. Be it Jocks, the 'popular' girls, meat-eaters, people who drive big gas-guzzling trucks, whatever. Sam stood up from her comfortable seat, knowing her comfortable lunch was about to be spoiled as she sauntered down the bleachers, making her way to the side, where she could hear the voices escalating.
As she walked closer she could see the figure of the school's quarterback, Dash, along with his right hand man, Kwan and a few other cronies. She wished she had the strength to kick Dash's pretty head in, punch Kwan in the gut, give the boy next to him a swift uppercut and eventually knock them all out cold to give their reputations a good licking. Maybe then they'd think twice before bullying another person. But she knew she couldn't take them all in a fight. And although they were total pigs, they were still people, and she didn't believe in violence as the answer to anything.
"I see they let the animals out of their cages early today. What's the matter Dash, didn't get enough physical contact in the field today and need to get it from little boys?"
Wit, however, is always acceptable.
Sam leaned over the railing of the bleachers she was standing on, arms crossing and blowing another bubble, waiting for the bully's response. The response she got first however, was from the so called 'little boy'.
"H-hey! The name's Tucker Foley!" Sam lazily turned her gaze to the black male, his teal eyes were striking, but nearly hidden behind thick-rimmed glasses. He wore a yellow t-shirt, rolled up at the sleeves so they bunched up at his shoulders and a dorky red beret. The hat suited him, surprisingly.
"Get lost, Goth-freak, this ain't none of your business."
Purple eyes drifted back to the Blond jock, "Leave?" She gestured to them, "And miss all this high school culture? I wouldn't miss this for the world."
"I said get lost freak! Or are you too deaf to hear me?" Dash's lip went up into snarl.
Sam popped another bubble, and took her time responding, examining her purple nails, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"
You could see something pop in Dash's head and his eyes glazed over in anger. He started to stalk up to where Sam was sitting before a hand clapped on his shoulder, and Kwan's voice sounded out.
"Come on man, let's just go." Dash paused in his trek.
Sam was nervous at this point. She'd never show it, but she didn't enjoy the thought of getting a fist to the face from the bully. The boy had a short fuse, but unfortunately when the Goth gets nervous, she has a tenancy to open her mouth and talk her way into more trouble. "Yeah Dash, listen to your boyfriend, he knows what he's talking about."
The bully snarled, shrugged off his companion's hand and stomped right over to the girl, grabbing her ankle and wrenching it from under her. Sam grabbed onto the metal bar in front of her just before her foot was pulled forward and she was forced to fall. She focused her strength to balance herself with the metal bar making her landing softer than the bully would have liked. Now level with the quarterback, Dash grabbed the front of her open vest and pulled her face towards him. His breath smelt of meatloaf and Sam's stomach churned at it.
"I've never hit a girl before, but I'm thinking of making an exception." Dash growled out.
"Does your ex-girlfriend not count?" Sam sneered back, pulling her head away from the man and taking her hands off the bar above her head.
Sam felt rather than saw the hand retracting, before a burning pain spread across her cheek. She clenched her eyes shut for a moment, before opening them, blinking back the water in her eyes (a natural bodily reaction, she told herself) and pinning Dash with a long glare. Her mouth twisted into a scowl as she fought to show any proof that the slap had hurt as much as it did.
"Get lost Dash."
Kwan shuffled behind them, "Come on Dash, she's not even worth it."
Dash shook the hand holding onto Sam's vest and after a tense moment, finally released it with a grunt of, "Whatever." Before he and his gang stalked away, pushing passed Tucker and knocking his possessions to the ground for a second time that day.
The air grew tense among the two remaining people between the bleachers. Sam let out a breath and touched her fingertips to her cheek, the skin prickled painfully and it felt like her fingers were touching raw nerves. Dash was stronger than she gave him credit for. Sam saw Tucker crouch down to pick up his books and-what looked like, gadgets. He must be a techno-geek. She labelled him without meaning to.
Sam dropped her hand and pushed herself off the bleachers, landing with a soft thump. She walked over to the coloured man, and kneeled down to help him gather his things. She saw Tucker look up at her, surprised, but she ignored the look and continued collecting his things and placing them in his bag, which was open next to them. He probably wasn't used to seeing someone of her appearance being anything but rude.
Not many people got past the appearance.
No one, actually.
Sam stood first, and offered a hand to her unlikely companion, who took it. His hand was soft and she noticed that his palm was lighter in colour than the rest of his skin. It made her want to run her fingers along it to see if there rest of his skin was just as soft. She let go as soon as Tucker was standing. She noticed that he was not even an inch taller than her.
"Um, Thanks." Tucker's voice was deep, but held a boyish tone, "Your name's Samantha right?"
Purple met teal, "It's Sam. And you're welcome."
The school bell rang for the end of lunch. Tucker shifted his weight and hiked his backpack on his shoulder. He was obviously intimidated by the girl, "I'm sorry Dash hit you. That was low, even for him."
Sam let out a small smile, "Yeah, well, he never was the most chivalrous of men." Sam chuckled at the thought of Dash pulling out a chair for a woman, or using his letterman jacket to cover a puddle for a woman to walk over. Shaking her head, Sam started walking past Tucker, "I'll see you around, Tucker."
"Wait!" Tucker grabbed the Goth's upper arm, hand covering part of the black rose tattoo she had there. Sam turned around to look at him. "Do-do you want to hit up the Nasty Burger with me?"
Sam quirked an eyebrow and frowned, "Like a date?" she asked.
Tucker smiled a goofy grin, "Like a 'thank you'." He replied.
Sam let one side of her mouth rise in a half-smile, "No, that's okay. It's really not that big a deal." She said and started to walk away again, Tuckers hand falling away. Great, now she was getting pity dates from techno-geeks.
Tucker stepped in front of her, "I insist. Meet me outside the front doors after school. It's my treat!" He grinned again before running off towards the school as the last warning bell rang.
Sam stood there for a moment a bit dumbstruck. She shook her head before climbing up the bleachers and grabbing her bag. She walked towards the school trying to think of the homework she had due or the next protest she was joining, but her thoughts always drifted back to the blue-green eyes and goofy smile of Tucker Foley.