Marie's eyes were trained ahead of her as she made her way to the cafeteria. Her hair was still a little bit damp from the shower she had taken near the end of gym class. She smelled like fresh blueberries. The humor in the fact that she loved to keep her hair blue wasn't lost on her. In her right hand was a brown paper bag containing her lunch. There were many days where she could have brought something in a fancier carrier, but she never thought it was worth the trouble. To her, the bags carried her lunch as well as any fancier container.

With every step that brought her closer, she could feel her heartbeat occasionally skipping. As if she was excited. Her brows furrowed. Why would she be excited? She was just going to the cafeteria. Was it because she was going to see Nazz? Her brows lofted. Her heart skipped another beat. She lifted her free hand to her chest.

Shit...

She shook her head and grit her teeth. Nazz was the popular girl. She wasn't allowed to like the popular girl. She was only going to sit with the popular girl today to talk about their project. That was it.

That was it...

Before too long, she was standing outside the cafeteria doors. Even through the steel double doors, she could hear the sounds of boisterous teenagers talking loudly about whatever. Rolling her shoulders, she pressed down on the bar and pushed her way through.

Inside was even louder than outside. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Her visible eye scanned around, passing over many familiar faces, until she was able to see those familiar blonde locks bobbing with what could only be laughter. She started to move in Nazz's direction. From where she was she could see that the blonde was already seated with Rolf and a pair of underclassmen. A redhead that was quite possibly louder than even Eddy and a little dandy of a boy who seemed to be sporting a new injury every week. Sarah and Jimmy. Whenever they were with Nazz, they seemed to be the cheerleading triumvirate. If there was any gossip involving the cheerleaders, it was sure to be about any of the three of them before the other members of the squad.

As Marie got closer, she was surprised to see that Kevin wasn't seated nearby. Normally, he spent the lunch period with one arm draped around Nazz. When she was within mere feet of the table, however, Kevin swooped in as if right on cue. She watched as he leaned into her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Above the other voices, she could clearly hear "Sup babe?" She blinked and remained frozen in place as she watched Nazz lean back into him as if offering an armless hug. Her jaw tensed and she took a moment to inhale deeply before moving closer to the table.

"So that's when Rolf's Nana took off her wooden leg and beat the great, hairy four-legged beast back into-"

Rolf's words were cut off by the sound of a paper bag colliding with the table. He looked as shocked as everyone when Marie took a seat right between himself and Sarah. He blinked several times then looked between his friends and asked in a voice that wasn't at all subtle.

"Why is the Blue Haired Menace at our table?"

Marie calmly opened her bag and eyed the contents. She ignored the looks of distaste she was sure she was getting. Kaven was the first to speak as she withdrew an apple.

"Uh. Who the hell do you think you are strolling over here and sittin' at our table like you're some kinda royal? Don't you have a nerdy dork to go torment?" He was unaware of the frown Nazz had thrown his way.

The bluenette took a bite of her apple and looked the jock straight in the eye as she chewed. She leaned her chin into her palm and tilted her head slightly.

"I'd like to think I'm Marie Kanker. Pretty sure it's been that way for eighteen years, buddy." She swallowed and continued. "Today's not a 'Mess with Edd' kinda day, ya know? It feels more like a 'Spite Annoyin' Redheads Who Say Stupid Shit To Me' kinda day." A smile graced her lips before she took another bite of her apple.

Kevin's jaw tightened. His fingers tensed on Nazz's shoulder.

"Why don't you scurry back to that trash heap you call a trailer and wallow with those pigs you call sisters?"

"Kevin!" Nazz's voice was a sharp exclamation. Audible over the quiet snickering of the younger teens.

Marie's eye twitched. Yeah, she was still irked with Lee, but she wasn't just going to let some shovel-chinned punk insult her sisters for free. Painted nails impacted into the apple she was holding. A quick glare in Sarah and Jimmy's direction shut them up real quick. She placed her apple on the table, but she didn't let go of it quite yet.

"You know what Kevvo? I'm gonna make this ireal/i simple for even a meathead dumbass like yerself to understand. My sisters'n I might not come from yer fancy ass, uptown upbringin', but you can be damn sure that if it came down to it, any of us could kick yer ass with one hand tied behind our backs and our eyes closed. I get it though. I get why you've gotta posture in front'a yer posse. You've gotta be Mr. Macho. You've gotta prove that yer not a bitch in the hopes that it'll land you in Nazz's pants." She, for the moment, ignored the way Nazz was shifting in her seat. "Well lemme tell ya, that ain't the way to do it. And even if by some miracle you did get to do her, you probably wouldn't even be able to rise to the occasion because yer'a limp dick, teeny-weeny chump."

She probably should have thought this through. She forgot to factor in that Nazz probably would have been surrounded by her friends, thus making actually talking to her impossible. Forethought wasn't something Marie used often. Oh well. She was enjoying watching the way Kevin's eye twitched. She was enjoying seeing his muscles tense and his cheeks burn with anger. Eyes were on their table now. Marie's lips were curling into a slowly developing smile.

"You wanna hit me don'tcha? Go on Kevvy. Do it. Prove you ain't a bitch and do it. Fuckin' do it!"

The following moments went by so fast. All Marie could remember before there was a stinging pain in her face was Nazz's sharp cry of Kevin's name, followed very quickly by an uproar of hooting and shouting from the present student body. Dark vision from closed eyes soon gave way to the sight of Kevin bracing one hand on the table and the other lifted and still balled into a fist. She could feel the blood trickling from her nostrils. She raised a hand and brushed her fingers against the crimson fluid then tilted her gaze up to meet Kevin's. He was panting and she was smiling once more.

"Wow..." She chuckled breathily once. "You didn't even fuckin' break it. Even for a football player, you hit like a fuckin' pansy."

Marie wiped the back of her hand across her bleeding nose before using her other hand to gather up her bag. "I gotta handle this. Have fun with the teachers, bud." She stole a quick glance to the blonde, whose eyes were locked onto hers with a deep level of sorrow lurking behind them. Before turning to leave, she reached up and patted Kevin's cheek, shamelessly smearing the blood across his skin and causing him to yell and recoil in disgust. A giggle escaped her as she made her way towards the cafeteria exit. This wasn't over with the jock. Not by a long shot. She wanted him to hit her. She could have easily dodged or stopped it if she wanted to. But. Now he had to explain himself to both the principal and Nazz.

Nazz watched Marie disappear through the doors before finally breaking out of her stupor. Her hands were still on Kevin's arm. She couldn't stop him from lashing out. He'd acted too quickly. The jock was grumbling and wiping his face with a napkin when she looked at him. Her lips pulled into a frown before she shoved him as hard as she could.

"What the hell Kevin?!" she shrieked.

"What're you gettin' mad at me for?! That was her fault! She told me to do it!"

"And you listened?! You're just... Ugh!"

The blonde quickly gathered her things and stormed from the cafeteria after Marie.

Kevin trembled and flopped back into his seat, staring at the door long after Nazz had disappeared through it. He knew the teachers were mere feet away at this point. He pressed his hands to his face and rubbed vigorously.

"Fuck me."


Marie was just pulling out a cigarette when the bathroom door behind her swung open. Her shoulders were squared, but as she whipped around to see who had entered the bathroom, her body relaxed considerably.

"Hey, Princess." She seemed genuinely surprised that Nazz had followed her. Not too many people bothered to use this particular bathroom, so she and her sisters often found it to be a haven of sorts when they weren't using the school's furnace room. "What're you doin' here?"

Nazz bit her lower lip at the sight of the tissue wadded into Marie's nostrils. Both bits had grown considerably redder.

"Are you okay? Don't you need to see the nurse?"

Marie shrugged and shook her head. "Nah. I've been punched in the nose before and had it come out lookin' a lot worse than this." She placed the cigarette between her lips, but hesitated to light it when Nazz stepped close enough that the end of her stick was nearly touching her face. "Um..." Try as she might, she failed to keep the soft blush from dusting her freckled cheeks.

The blonde tentatively reached up to gently trace the very tips of her fingers against the blunette's swollen nose. Marie tried her hardest not to wince but ended up doing so slightly. That caused Nazz to quickly withdraw her hand.

"I'm so sorry...!"

"Don't worry about it. Th'pain'll go away eventually."

Nazz rubbed her upper arm sheepishly. "I'm sorry about Kevin... He can be a real idiot sometimes."

A laugh followed those words. The cigarette was pulled from between her lips. "Hey dude. It's not like you told him to hit me."

"I know but..."

"Nazz. Listen. It's fine. I fight with my sisters nearly every other day. If I can't handle a punch in the nose, I ain't a Kanker."

"I guess, but still-"

"Nazz," she placed her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders and met her gaze with her visible eye, "I'm. Okay." A smile followed these words. "Seriously. Don't worry about me."

Seeing Marie's smile was enough to cause Nazz to smile herself, albeit much more shyly.

"If you say so, then I'll believe you."

Marie's smile brightened. "Good." She released her shoulders and stepped away to replace the tissue in her nostrils. "So why else didja follow me in here? Or was it only to check on me because you were worried about me." She snickered.

The blonde straightened up and spluttered for a moment before huffing. "Well. Besides wanting to make sure you're okay, I thought I'd invite you to my house after school since talking at lunch didn't work out so well. How about it?"

Marie turned to face Nazz, nostrils newly plugged. "Me? Come to your place? For real?" Her questions were met with a nod. "Well if you're offerin' then sure. I'm off from work today so I should be able to make it pretty much when school lets out."

Nazz's lips slowly lifted into a more confident smile. "Awesome! I'll see you after school. We can walk toget-"

Right then, the bathroom door slammed open and standing in the doorway were Lee and May.

"Marie are you okay?! What's she doin' in here?! Is she tryin' to hurt you too?!" May attempted to charge the other blonde, but Marie quickly stepped in front of her and held her back.

"Easy May! Down girl." She gently shoved May back. "She was just comin' to make sure I was alright. We were just talkin' about that Creative Writing project."

May's gaze was skeptical, but she appeared to accept the answer. Lee's thoughts were unreadable. Not being able to see her eyes was a pain sometimes. She leaned again the wall and jerked her thumb out the door. "'Ey. Cheerleader. Beat it. Me my sister gotta talk." That was probably the nicest way Lee could have phrased that.

Nazz shivered slightly and looked at Marie. "So I'll see you after school?"

Marie nodded. "Yeah. See you."

With a nod and a soft smile, Nazz hurried her way past Lee. The bathroom door shut behind her, leaving all three Kanker sisters alone.

Marie's eyes soon focused on Lee, her own smile having faded. All humor in her voice had faded and when she spoke, it was still rather bitter sounding.

"...What do you want?"