A/N: Though it has taken me far too long I finally have finished this chapter! This is last 'introductory' type of chapter that shall be written for this story! The next one is when the ball starts rolling. I haven't exactly figured out the storyline, it has a mind of its own and is taking me to places I hadn't planned on. Corrine is a character with a lot of opinions and emotions that I hadn't expected but hey that's the joy of writing right?

So there is no Musical Scavenge this chapter, I wrote most of this while I was sick so I didn't feel like finding song. Oops. But the next chapter shall have another one!

Our winners for this past Scavenge were:
EtherealDemon
Mag721
Congrats! You two have awesome musical skills!

Just so all of you know, the artist was Imogen Heap, if you've never heard of her you should really check out her music, she's a magnificent artist!

Thank you to all those who have read and reviewed! I love to hear your thoughts and opinions so keep 'em comin'!
Happy reading!


A Toast, Of Sorts

A symphony of life echoed through the cement halls of New Trier High; lockers slamming, rubber soles squeaking, heels clacking, voices shouting, whispering, laughing. August Anderson pinched his nose and shut his eyes against the incessant noise, regretting the hangover that loomed over his head like Charlie Brown's storm cloud. He made a firmly worded mental note to never get that drunk ever again. Or at least not on a school night. Were it not for the immense need of the four senses still in his possession, he would have pulled his headphones from his neck to his ears, drowning out the calamity of high school with the smooth notes of Mingus.

"Ruff night?"

The soft voice shook him from his thoughts, reminding him that he wasn't alone walking the halls. It seemed only right, he thought, to escort the girl to class after possibly giving her a mild concussion. Guilt bubbled beneath his hazed mind, he felt badly for forgetting about her but she had been so quiet beside him. It was too easy to forget about what he couldn't see and hear. He could smell her, however, and she smelled exquisite.

"I've had worse," he smiled, "Jo Malone Grapefruit?"

If Auggie knew anything it was a lady's scent.

"Oh, am I wearing too much perfume," she asked, he could hear the slight pout in her voice.

"No, not at all, very subtle," Auggie said in thoughtful seriousness as they rounded a corner, "Most girls around here smell like the local Bath & Body Works exploded."

Annie's giggle made him smile. When his cane met with empty airspace he paused, his hand snaking up the wall to read the small Braille plaque beneath the painted room number, an afterthought of the school administrators. He couldn't blame them though, he hadn't even contemplated the little raised signs until he returned to school without the use of his eyes.

"And this is where we part," he said.

"Thank you so much," Annie smiled.

"The pleasure is all mine, and if you need anything don't hesitate to ask."

"Definitely," she answered.

Warmth ran down Auggie's spine as Annie's petite hand pressed into his arm before she retreated into her classroom. Auggie grinned, feeling the echo of Annie's fingers on his arm, until the warning bell rang, that is. It wagged its mighty tongue like a beast from the time of Hercules, shattering Auggie's skull into a million pieces.

"Ugh. It's going to be a long day," he muttered.

xXx

Annie quickly took a seat at the back of the classroom, just one row from the wall. She didn't particularly mind the attention that came with being a newcomer, but it was incredibly hard to pay attention with twenty sets of eyes on your back. Just as Annie started to get settled, a shadow loomed over her desk, the smell of toothpaste, musk and spicy cologne coaxing her to look up.

"You must be new here," a smiling boy said from above her, his teeth ultra bright against his deep russet skin, "I'm Jai Wilcox."

"Nice to meet you Jai, I'm Annie," she said, realizing for the first time how strange it was to hear her name over again so many times in one day.

"Well, Annie, may I say that that color looks amazing on you," he said with a wink, his voice the texture of velvet.

Annie could feel blood rush to her cheeks, staining her fair complexion pink. Briefly she looked down to her royal blue, boat neck sweater. Her grandmother always told her that blue was her color.

"Oh, thanks," she smirked, his not-so-subtle flirting unable to break through her armor.

"I'm only speaking the truth. And should you ever like a tour of the school, just let me know," he lightly placed his hand on her shoulder before going to his own desk a few rows in front of her, the feel of his hot touch lingering on her skin.

"Beware the snake charmer," said a smooth, sultry voice. She turned to see the girl with the well-worn cowboy boots sitting a row back and to the left. The girl waved at her by way of wiggling her fingers, her bottle green eyes glinting beneath the fluorescent lighting. "He'll play music for you all day and night, but once the music is over you'll be trapped in that basket forever."

"What do you mean," Annie asked curiously, sitting sideways in her seat to better talk to the mysterious girl.

"He's the school's man-whore, don't let him make you one of his bitches," she winked, "I'm Corrine."

"Annie Walker," she responded, still intrigued, "Sounds like you're speaking from experience?"

"Oh no," Corrine laughed, it was a nice sound, genuine, "But I've known him long enough to see the path of destruction he leaves in his wake."

"Oh, I know how that is," Annie scoffed.

As Jai turned in his seat to glance at her, Annie pretended not to notice. She didn't need another guy in her life that would end up like the last one. She didn't need another guy in her life like Ben Mercer.

xXx

Auggie was late to lunch by habit and that was exactly the way he liked it. By the time he was headed to the cafeteria most kids were already there or in their classrooms, leaving the halls all but empty. There were no eyes burning on his back, no boy scouts trying to escort him across the hall, no book bags or feet to trip over. Plus he was free to listen to Mingus on his iPod, lazily clearing the area before him with wide sweeps of his cane, occasionally hitting a wall locker much too hard but there was no one there to give a damn.

It felt good to be careless with his own person, he was tired of being cautious of taking his time of people guiding him slowly because they assume he can't go faster. There were times that he just wanted to run, no cane no guide, just run. But his own body acted as his prison. He let out a huge breath of air, trying to clear his mind of these frustrating thoughts. Impossible.

Immediately he stopped as his cane connected with something supple, he wasn't sure what it was, but from the breathing and shoes dragging across the floor he knew someone was there.

"Sorry," he muttered, the smell of grapefruit tickling his nose. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Annie?"

"Hey Auggie," she answered, her voice sounding small. "You recognized me?"

"Of course, I know a pretty girl when I see one," he grinned as she gave a soft chuckle, then pulled his headphones down around his neck. "You alright?"

"Ugh."

Despite his best efforts, he couldn't help but smirk at her response, he knew what a bad first day felt like. Pulling his cane upright, he placed both his hands atop the grip, relaxing some of his weight onto it.

"That bad huh?"

"You have no idea," she sighed. He noticed that her voice was coming from somewhere close to the floor and a bang on metal that he assumed was her head meeting a locker (again). "I think I should receive an award or something."

"Is this your lunch hour," he asked.

"Oh, don't even get me started on lunch," she began with such vehemence that Auggie had to choke down laughter, "They won't let me use my student card because they say it isn't valid and I only had enough cash to buy this banana… On top of that I have more homework due by Monday than I've ever accumulated in a week and I have nothing to dress out in for gym. My cell phone is dead, I can't find my keys…"

As Annie trailed off, Auggie could have sworn he heard her voice crack. She was right, she should get an award for worst day of the year.

"Holy shit," he said by way of agreement, "Sounds like you could use a slice of grease that we at New Trier like to call pizza. My treat?"

"Normally I would refuse but my hunger has reached proportions that haven't yet learned etiquette," she said seriously.

Auggie offered her a hand and felt her weight as she pulled herself off the ground.

"I really can't tell you how much I appreciate this and I promise you that I'll pay you back tomorrow," she said with a certain reverence to her tone. "You are a god among men."

"That's what they tell me," he smiled and offered Annie his elbow and she looped her arm with his, "And now, Miss Walker, to our banquet."

xXx

By the time fifteen minutes had passed, Annie felt like a different person and her biggest worry at the moment was trying to remember the names of everyone at her table. After Auggie escorted her through the line and paid via his student credit, they weaved their way to his usual table. There were four people already around the circular table and out of those four, Annie recognized one. Corrine.

Once the table caught sight of them, there was a chorus of "Auggie!" "Aug man!" "Dude!" "Where ya been?" and other overly loud exclamations, but she noticed that he was smiling bigger than she'd seen from him, shaking his head at the raucous crowd.

"Alright, guys. Alright," he said in an attempt to calm them down, "This is Annie and though I know it goes against your nature, I'd like you to try and be gentlemen."

Annie gave a small wave and the table fell silent, three sets of wide eyes stared at her in what seemed to be wonderment. Corrine turned around in her seat and gave Annie a reassuring wink.

"Well hello Annie," a blonde boy said, his light blue eyes smiling at Annie, "Come have a seat, I'm Conrad."

"I'm Stu," piped a thin dark skinned boy, he waved casually.

"And silent wonder over here is Jamie," Corrine said in her smooth voice. The boy named Jamie looked like a smaller replica of Auggie and she knew immediately that they were brothers.

Corrine reached out and took Auggie by the hand, leading him to the bench seat beside her. Annie couldn't help but wonder if they were together. Not that she was jealous, of course.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Annie smiled, taking a seat on the bench beside Conrad.

"Okay, now that introductions have been made, we must get to our first order of business," Corrine announced, using her Strawberry Fanta can as a gavel, somehow it didn't surprised Annie to see that everyone's eyes were trained on her. "There is a party tomorrow night on the shore."

"Isn't it a little cold to have a party on the beach?" Annie asked as she shoved her slice of pizza into her mouth. Everyone at the table chuckled.

"It's never too cold to party on the beach," Auggie answered matter-of-factly.

"Sweaters, a bon fire, alcohol to keep our bellies warm, there's nothing better," Corrine's voice, warm and soft as a summer breeze, reminisced, her green eyes drooping with pleasure at the thought. "So, who's in?"

"You had me at party," Conrad winked at Corrine as he shook his blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Okay, I'm not missing this one," the dark skinned boy, Stu, said seriously, "I was forced to miss last night's excursions due to the maternal force that is my mother, but there is no amount of estrogen that can keep me at home on a Friday night!"

"Oh yes there is, my friend," Conrad laughed, "That's how babies are made!"

"I know that's right," Stu smiled hugely, high-five-ing Conrad with enthusiasm.

"How about you," Corrine asked, nudging Auggie in the side.

"Hmm, I'm there," a smile crawled across his face, before growing serious again, "It's probably best if one of you drives though."

Annie's eyes grew wide at his statement, a slight blush rushing to her cheeks. Everyone was silent for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"You got it, babe," Corrine said through her laughter, "Jamie baby, what about you? You going to join us this time?"

The boy looked at Corrine seriously for a few moments, though he looked like a carbon copy of Auggie, his coloring was completely different. His eyes were a light green, not as deeply green as Corrine's but green all the same, his hair a honey colored blonde. He gave a small half smile and mumbled something that made everyone at the table lean in to try and catch a few words. All except Auggie, that is.

"Jamie," he said, looking almost directly at the younger boy, "At a decibel that someone other than myself and the dog down the street can hear, please?"

"Yea, alright, I'll go," he answered not much louder than before, he got a few pats on the back and of couple of 'whoops' for his answer. Annie loved how enthusiastic this group was about everything, it made all her previous concerns seem so far away.

"Annie," Corrine smiled, "How 'bout you?"

It was once again her turn to be the spectacle, all eyes turned on her, Auggie's head tilted in her direction.

"Count me in," she smiled, she would make a mark on this town if it was the last thing she did.

Through the celebratory banter, Corrine raised her Fanta can, tapping it with a plastic fork as though about to make a toast, once everyone quieted she began.

"I make a toast to our newest member Annie Walker, may her corruption be as sweet as cranberry vodka and to drunken Friday nights and the epiphanies they may bring," she exclaimed. They all saluted their drinks then, water bottles, Capri Suns and coke cans, christening the beginning of something strangely and unexpectedly beautiful.


There you have it.
In the next chapter we will be partying at the beach.
Prepare yourselves!
Let me know what you thought!