Something Different

by NaeNae2905

"You were suppose to be someone new; someone who actually cared. You were suppose to be... something different." Elaine cried out with tears streaking down her cheeks. Huey reached out for her, only to have her shy away from his touch. "Laney, I am different. Let me show you that I mean it." [[HueyXOc, RileyXCindy, JazmineX?; Lemons/Limes]] ((You can disregard the first chapter))

6. Chapter Six: Problems and Solutions

Disclaimer: I don't own The Boondocks. The A/N at the bottom provides more information into my world and how this story shall unfold.

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Chapter 6: Temporary Problems and Permanent Solutions

The spectators gathered around Jazmine who had crumbled to the floor on her knees holding her nose and sobbing loudly, hysterically almost like someone had put their hands on her instead of a ball. Her friends ran to her and began comforting her and trying to ease her back to her feet. Elaine didn't stand idle for very long. It took her only a few moments to realize that she, in fact, hit her in the face. She ducked beneath the net and pushed bodies out of the way to get into the middle of the circle where Jazmine was.

Disapproving glares were aimed at Laney, some thinking she was only trying to get to the injured girl just to make fun of her. She did the exact opposite, however. "Jazmine, I did NOT mean to do that. I thought you had paid attention to-" She tried to explain herself before being interrupted by a petite girl with platinum blonde hair. Her pale skin and sinister looking steel blue eyes unnerved her, making her take a small step back in fear.

"Save it, Barbie. You've done enough. We understand that you and Jazmine started off on the wrong foot, but that doesn't mean you had to go and smash her face with a ball. Come on Jazzy," the girl spoke harshly causing Laney to flinch, "we gotta take you to the nurse's office."

Jazmine was hauled off the floor by five other girls that gave Elaine murderous glares. Her hands cupped her now bloody nose that throbbed along with her head. Brief eye contact was made between the two of them and Elaine pleaded silently for her to understand this wasn't meant to happen. Jazmine only turned her head away, hissing at the slight movement that caused her pain. She was slowly walked out the door into the hall and Laney tried to follow but stopped midstep when the blonde who scolded her earlier turned and gave a piercing glare.

She frowned as she looked at the now empty doorway. Always, no matter what, something always happens that makes her public enemy number one. First, it was the senior back in Ocean Side who wasn't paying attention to where she was going and ran into Elaine's food tray, which happened to be loaded with barbeque ribs, jerk chicken, and spaghetti she had paid twenty five dollars for at the food truck outside, having to wait 30 minutes for it. Needless to say, she lost her lunch that day and ruined a girl's six-hundred dollar dress. Barbeque and tomato sauce are just one stains that you can't remove from cotton.

That was the first time she heard a girl scream bloody murder and vow to ruin her life.

A few months after, a freshman approached her looking for directions to the music room. It was in an odd part of the school which left it hard to explain, so Elaine just opted to walk with the girl. The fair skinned Hispanic girl explained that a few seniors told her to meet them in the music room to see if her vocal range was high enough to be considered for a play that was coming in the spring. Elaine, at first, didn't see anything wrong with her explanation. Her only issue was that seniors had directed the unknowing girl. Everyone in the school knew that most seniors only joined Theater and Music for the extra credit they were lacking or there was no where else in the school to place them.

Elaine should have known something was up when they were met by a poorly lit room that was empty. The girl, named Blanca, claimed she had to go to the bathroom which was right across the hall. When she left, hands reached out and grabbed Elaine, pulling her into the music room. Long story short, a group of people beat the living crap out of her in that room. She had been set up, all because of an accident she didn't cause. The attack was never reported because Laney figured no one would believe her. She was even good enough to hide the whole incident from her parents.

With that in mind, Elaine had a panic flare up in her chest. 'What if they treat me the same way? I-I can't go through it again. I can't… I c-can't...' She was numb for some time until her ears tuned into what was being said around her.

People were standing around whispering amongst themselves. Some excited and supportive with others criticizing the short girl.

'You're telling me she did that on purpose?'

'That was fucking awesome! Man, where was my phone when I needed it?'

'She looked nice enough… didn't know she had that in her.'

'Since when did she have a problem with Jazmine?'

'Honestly, Jazmine deserves it. Knowing her, she was probably already being a bitch to the new girl.'

'She did kind of hit that ball pretty hard to a person who hasn't ever played before.'

'I wish I had the balls to hit DuBois in the face with a ball.'

'Nice way to get your first day started off, hitting the head cheerleader in the face. Jazzy's gonna be devastated if there's permanent bruising or even worse. A broken nose.'

Elaine could feel a burning sensation behind her eyes as she stared down at the hardwood floor. Her stomach was twisting and pulling into knots, and her hands felt clammy. She didn't mean to hurt Jazmine. 'I don't even know her like that. I didn't mean to...' She sniffed and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. There was no way she was going to sit here in the middle of the gym floor and cry with all these people watching her.

An arm was draped over her shoulder and she looked to her left. Andrea was leaning against her with a lopsided grin and Macy stood close by with a sparkle in her eyes. "Ignore people's comments. You did nothing wrong. Jazmine said she had been paying attention to everything we showed today. That, and she made a stupid move herself." She let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. "Who steps forward to an incoming ball?" Andrea could still see the sad, cracking look in Elaine's big, hazel eyes before their focus returned to the ground. Her hand came up to the play with the small curls she left hanging, slowly pulling them and rubbing the hair between her fingertips. She came to a loose conclusion that her new little junior had some sort of anxiety disorder. At this point in high school, who didn't?

Andrea gave Elaine a comforting squeeze and shook her a little. "This might sound crude but," Laney looked at the taller girl out of the corner of her eye. "I hope you get over this little incident sometime soon because I want to see you at practice tomorrow." She let go of Elaine and gestured for her teammates to come help take down the net.

Elaine looked up at Andrea's retreating form with wide eyes. 'She wants me at practice after what I just did? What…?' The volleyball girls walked pass Laney giving big supportive smiles, a pat on the shoulder, or a congratulations. They were all sincere, too. Not one of them seemed to judge her about what she just did and their opinions didn't seem changed. The gym began to empty out. As much as everyone would like to stand around and watch what Elaine would do next, they had other classes to get to.

She sighed. Snatching her headband off, Laney smoothed her hands over her bumpy hair and grabbed the elastic holding it up, shaking out her now free hair. Her stomach was still tight and she had a feeling that lunch wasn't going to be an option today.

"You okay?" A deep familiar voice asked from behind her. She turned around and saw Huey who had his arms crossed over his chest and Bailey who looked like she was going faint because of how close Huey stood next to her. Elaine nodded and cleared her throat, not trusting what her voice sounded like after the build up of emotions a few moments ago.

"Yeah… I'm good. I'm going to go change." She averted her gaze from the both of them and hurried off to the locker room. She couldn't stand there with them looking at her. Bailey had a look of pity on her face and Huey's just neutral, as usual. Those two combined were enough to make her cry when she had managed to hold the tears back. 'What if Huey hates me now for hurting his friend? I wouldn't be surprised… I bet he's gonna start avoiding me now...'

Huey frowned and scratched the back of his neck. He hadn't expected for her to make such a quick exit after he intended to come and check on her. 'Maybe she thinks I'm mad. Anyone could clearly see Jazmine was the one to fault.' He sighed. 'I'll talk to her at lunch, then.'

He hadn't noticed at first but a small blonde girl he assumed to be a freshman was standing rather close to him looking in the same direction after Elaine. Upon closer inspection, she looked like the girl who Laney had helped earlier. "Um..." He started speaking.

The girl looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes and started apologizing and speaking incoherently fast. "I'm so sorry so so sorry. I didn't mean to be that close to you, I just wanted to see if Elaine was alright because she helped me earlier when I really needed it and I thought I'd repay her and-"

"Bailey! Let's go!"

A scared shrill left her mouth and she ran off, saying a quick bye to Huey. He raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what just happened. That proved futile and he settled for rolling his eyes and left to change. "Girls."

The locker room was loud with chatter of what happened in the gym. When Elaine entered, the talking stopped and staring ensued.

She gulped and walked quickly to her locker in the back of the room. She unlocked her combination in record time, grabbed her gym bag and backpack, and headed towards the exit that lead into the hallways. There was no way she was going to change in there just to have girls look at her and whisper under their breath.

The bells rung, signaling the end of fourth hour. Elaine kept her eyes downcast and moved swiftly through the crowds of people filling the hall. She could feel eyes on her once more and she heard murmurs as she walked by. She couldn't tell what was being said; she knew they were about her though.

Seeing a girls' restroom ahead, her walk turned into a sprint and she slid inside the slightly closing door.

Sad Laney was right- peopleweretalking about her. They, however, weren't talking about what happened in the gym. The talk was about what she was wearing. Girls at the school wore a lot of small, revealing things but never had someone walked down the hall with everyone present in short, ass-hugging spandex. Some swore that they saw her ass cheeks hanging out. The volleyball girls at least put sweat pants or shorts on when they weren't on the court. Her legs were long and full, her thighs toned from years of building muscle and her calves were tight and rounded from gymnastics. She was quickly becoming envied and desired.

Elaine sat on the toilet in the stall after putting all her clothes and jewelry back on. She wasn't ready to go out and face the world. She would have been much more comfortable curled up on the toilet and attempting to make herself disappear. And, she could just bleed out on the toilet. Yeah, that would have been easier to do than go to class.

A small sniffle was heard. She wiped her nose with a piece of toilet paper and remained seated.

Another sniffle, louder this time, echoed in the bathroom and Elaine knew for sure it hadn't come from her. A loud sob followed soon after. Whoever must have been crying didn't know Elaine was sitting in there, too. She did kind of pull her legs up to her chest to crush herself into a ball.

"I can't t-take this anymore. I really c-can't. I'm so done…" The girl spoke with a tired broken voice that sounded as if there was nothing more to do in life. Elaine was familiar with the tone. It was one she held for years when parts of her life were collapsing and she couldn't figure out why she even bothered to keep living. Of course, she's still here today. Someone had helped her through her rough patched and nursed her back to health.

With that thought in mind, Laney let her legs slide to the floor and she stood up, unlocking the door and slowly exiting. There was a dark skinned girl with long goddess braids that had been twisted into a bun at the back of her head, sitting in the corner of the bathroom with her head buried in her arms and knees. Her body quivered from the sheer force of how hard she was crying and it appeared as if she really couldn't control it.

She felt a pang of tightness in her chest. The sight was all too familiar and she couldn't stand there and watch. Unconsciously, Elaine walked without making much noise and she slid down against the wall next to the crying girl. She was oblivious to Laney's presence as she wallowed in her own misery. Elaine hesitantly reached out and laid a hand on the girl's arm. She immediately jerked up with wide eyes and stared at Elaine.

She looked terrible. Her eyeliner and mascara was smeared around her eyes and running down her face in streaks. Her eyes looked tired and bloodshot, and the dark bags underneath her eyes were still visible through the ruined makeup. It appeared as though this wasn't her first time crying or she hadn't sleep right in days.

No words were shared between the two right away. The girl made a move to stand up.

Laney smiled and reached into her backpack and handed the girl a make up remover napkin."My name's Elaine. What's yours?"

The girl didn't accept the napkin right away, looking away from Elaine to try and stop her crying. She eventually looked back at her then at the offered napkin and she took it cautiously from Laney's hand. The curly haired girl was watching her and waiting patiently. She went to work wiping her face where she knew runny makeup was. The napkin was black by the time she was done and she stared at it. Her throat felt constricted and scratchy, she cleared it and folded the napkin into small squares.

"Keisha." Her voice came out softer than she expected. She rubbed her hands together and held them out before her, and noticed her body continued to shake against her will.

Elaine's smiled widened and she leaned back against the hard, cold wall. She was relieved that the girl, Keisha, decided to speak to her. She would have been a little sad if she choose to ignore her. "That's a pretty name. Some people say it's a stereotypical black name that every black girl has, which isn't true. Yes, it's a common black name but none the less special. If I ever had a daughter, Keisha would be on the list of names." Laney knew she was rambling unimportant information but she was trying to make her comfortable.

Keisha eyed Elaine out of the corner of her eye. 'She sure does talk a lot.' She had come here to be alone and decide whether or not she wanted to live after tomorrow. She had convinced herself it was what she wanted, even if she would go to hell for it. Life right now was hell, so there would be no difference. Maybe God would understand why she did what she did and let her see her grandparents and her fluffy little Toshiro one more time before she burned for eternity. Those thoughts alone had tears brimming in her eyes again. The flood gates just wouldn't close.

She looked over at Elaine who was looking at her with an expression that held a question. "Did you.. say something?" Keisha dabbed her eyes on her jacket sleeves and sniffed. She didn't mean to be rude to Elaine if she had said something.

Laney's ramble about the name Keisha continued for a little while until she just couldn't think of anything else to say. Glancing over at the fragile girl, she became aware she stopped listening. Elaine almost wanted to laugh at herself. No one would want their ear talked off at this point. She stared at Keisha, wondering how she was going to ask what's wrong. Of course, she could just ask what was wrong, but she knew that if one was eased into the conversation, it went a lot smoother without any tears.

"Besides spouting useless information about the name Keisha, no. I was going to ask where you learned to do your eyeshadow like that. The smoky eye thing hasn't come naturally for me. And I bet your lipstick is Milani, isn't it?" Elaine wore a relaxed smiled as she gazed at Keisha. Keisha's eyes had widened at her question and she looked down at her knees in embarrassment. She didn't think her makeup was all that. Well, what was left of it. She had only started wearing it to make herself prettier to draw Cecily's attention. And… that didn't go very well, hence why she hid in the bathroom to cry out her frustrations.

"I just.. watch a lot of YouTube videos on it. Nothing major. Jefree Star is pretty good.." She fidgeted feeling Elaine's eyes watching her every movement. Keisha tried to stop many, many times but without her knowing, she starting chewing on the sides of her fingers, peeling little pieces of the skin off. She had read somewhere that doing this and biting your nails were signs of anxiety. That's how she self diagnosed herself three years ago.

Laney watched Keisha chew at her fingers, the same thing she does on an every day basis. Elaine bit her nails too but keeping her nails polished and manicured stopped it from happening. Keisha appeared to have the same idea at one point in time, too. They weren't so different at all. "I've heard about him. He does makeup better than I ever could. But, yours is really nice and looks like it too hours to do." She laughed a little. "It makes me kind of sad though."

Keisha looked up into Elaine's eyes and saw that she was genuinely upset.

"You did your makeup so nicely. How come you were in here, crying it all off?" Keisha tensed up and looked away from Elaine. She was afraid that she would ask sooner or later. It's not something she could just talk about to anyone. She tried once before and her friends turned on her. She was left alone when she needed someone the most. Her parents wouldn't understand, or maybe they'd do the same thing everyone else did and just leave her. Being alone was the worst feeling in the world, especially when you expect the people you trust to be there for you…

"You don't have to tell me right now. Or you don't have to tell me period. I just… don't want to see you crying. You're too pretty to have bags around your eyes." Her words held a teasing tone that Keisha didn't hear right away because she was too panicked to hear that she had bags underneath her eyes. There was also a hint of concern within as well.

"You're lying right? Where?" She started pulling down the skin underneath her eyes to stop the bags from growing. That's probably not how it worked but who cares. Bags are a no no. Soon, she was looking at herself in the front camera of Elaine's phone. It was, in fact, true that dark pockets had formed beneath her eyes. This revelation made her want to cry even more.

Elaine withdrew her phone and studied Keisha against in silence. She was pretty sure crying had nothing to do with dark spots forming underneath someone's eyes. Lack of sleep and extensive stress could be credited, however. It scared her pretty bad that she was looking into a mirror of herself in another person. She was waiting for the panicked girl to express why she was crying. The silence they shared was comfortable and not overbearing in the slightest, and Keisha felt that she might be able to disclose her internal struggles with Elaine. Keisha glanced over at said girl who was inspecting her painted nails. 'Maybe...'

"I was.. confessing to my love interest." She finally said while scratching her already chipped nail polish off. Laney's head snapped up at her voice and she placed her undivided attention on Keisha. "She's been my friend for a long time. She was the one.. who made her realize that I liked girls." She closed her eyes and cringe away Elaine, ready for her to outright laugh and call her gay. When it didn't come, she slowly cracked open one eye. Laney cocked her head to the side.

"Is that it? You shouldn't be crying over that." She smiled warmly and moved in front of Keisha, folding her legs up. "There's nothing wrong with liking girls. I had a major crush on my best friend in the 7th grade that lasted for awhile. I never told her, of course, but none the less, I probably did love her." Elaine felt that every girl at some point in their life looked at another woman with the same desire, adoration, and lust the same way she would have looked at a man. Hell, she still to that day looked at woman occasionally because.. they looked nice?

Keisha felt a little better knowing Laney knew a little of what she was experiencing. It wasn't exact, but it was pretty damn close. She rubbed her arm that had flared up with goosebumps from the cold air drifting in the bathroom. "Well, what if you.. had of confessed to that one friend, what if she rejected you crudely and told everyone that you were a queer? And now the whole school, guys and girls, treated you like you had some sort of contagious disease?" Her hand had drifted back up to her mouth where she started biting off her nails, hissing in pain when she went too deep. She was about to move onto her ring finger until they were suddenly drawn away. Elaine held her hand tightly and she grabbed the other one with her delicate yet calloused hands, never once breaking eye contact with Keisha. There was a fire burning deep in her eyes which Keisha couldn't quite explain. She looked angry but it wasn't directed towards her.

"I would hope that someone, anyone, in this school could see my pain and offer me some assistance. After awhile of wallowing in sorrow and dejection, it gets to you." Elaine looked down at their clasped hands. "You decide that maybe… just maybe you're just taking up space on this earth that someone else could be using." She rubbed her thumbs over the back of Keisha's hands and remained silent after her answer. Emotions were budding and churning within her heart and mind just to even think about her demented thoughts from 6 years ago. Life hadn't even started for her, it still hasn't, but she was ready to end her life to escape her inner turmoil.

Keisha's eyes flooded and overflowed with tears again. That was exactly was she was feeling, and it wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried. She was fighting a losing battle and she was prepared to raise the white flag to hand over her life. No one understood me, she convinced herself. No one could sympathize with the girl labeled as a queer. I'll be alone for as long as I choose to live. But no, sitting in front of her, holding her hands and prepared to cry herself, was a girl she had just met. God just so happen to have placed her in the same bathroom she ran into to escape the world. Maybe this is His way of saying that.. it's not my time yet. Keisha tore her hands out of Elaine's grasp and threw her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. Laney followed suit and held her close. Eventually, both of them had started crying into each others shoulders and they had very little energy to care.

Laney cried because someone else was suffering silently and no one did anything.

Keisha cried because she no longer had to suffer alone and someone, a stranger at that, had eased her spirit with a few kind words and simple acknowledgment.

"Know that," Elaine started to speak with a thick voice into Keisha's ear before she sniffled. "Know that you can talk to me when you feel that you're at an all time low, Keisha. I'll give you my number so you can call me or text me whenever you want. Just, please don't try to fix a temporary problem with a permanent solution. Death may be an option but it is never the true answer." Her voice had gotten softer but her words rang firm and true. She rubbed her hand over Keisha's back one more time then pulled back from the hug and smiled at her.

Keisha smiled back. She gave an honest smile that finally reached her eyes, one that made her cheeks ache from how hard she cheesed, made her heart beat vigorously in her chest. "Okay. Thank you, Elaine, really. I don't know how I could repay you. I have to somehow." She began thinking about what she could buy or do to show her deepest appreciation. Elaine laughed and pulled a small tissue from her backpack and dabbed underneath her eyes to wipe away some of her tear stains and possible ruined makeup.

"Well, you start by giving me your phone so I can put my number in it. Also, call me Laney." Keisha nodded and dug around in her purse, pulling out her iPhone 5S, unlocking it and handing it to Elaine. She typed a few things before handing it back just as quickly as she received it. Seconds later, her ridiculously oversized iPhone buzzed from the text she sent herself from Keisha's phone. Keisha looked down at it and her eyes widened. She was too distracted and upset earlier to see that Laney's phone was wrapped in a custom made case from an anime called Haikyū. The characters displayed were Kuroo and Kenma from Nekoma High. Kuroo's larger body was wrapped around Kenma's smaller frame with his face buried into the dyed blonde locks.

"You.. watch anime?" Laney hummed in affirmation to her question while she saved Keisha's number into her contacts. Keisha gripped her own phone that was covered in a case with Asuna and Kirito from Sword Art Online that she had ordered off of Aliexpress. It had cost her an arm and a leg because of its material but it was worth it.

"I was waiting for you to bring it up first. I'm an anime fanatic. An extreme otaku." Laney scratched her cheek in slight embarrassment at her declaration but she was never the less proud of her otaku status. Keisha was gazing at her with a look of longing and adoration. "What?" Elaine blinked.

"Where have you been all my life?" Keisha sighed happily and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. This was turning into the best day she had had in a very long time. The girl who basically saved her life also proclaimed that she was an extreme anime lover. She didn't know exactly how she was feeling at the moment, but it was equivalent to floating on a cloud eating oreos and watching Naruto all at the same time.

"I have been in California, if you wish to know." The brunette grinned. She was glad she decided to come out of the bathroom stall. It was completely worth it. Her day may have been falling into complete and utter shit, but she managed to save a girl who's life had come crashing down upon her. The fact that the bell rang and the halls started to fill with people didn't even bother her. However, a look of horror came across Keisha's face.

"Oh my God, Elaine! I held you back from going to class. I am SO sorry and this was your first day isn't it? I am so so so so so so sor-" Laney raised her hands to halt her ramble.

"Don't worry about it Keisha. I didn't exactly plan on going to class, anyways. The day suddenly turned to shit. That, I'm glad I didn't leave cause I wouldn't have run into you. So, I'm glad I didn't go." She beamed at the girl across from her, showing the one oddly placed dimple in her right cheek. Keisha stared at her. 'She's really cute. Perhaps, she could.. maybe..'

"I think that I can stomach some food now, actually." Laney got up off of the floor with a groan escaping her lips. She stretched and twisted her body to get the kinks out of her back. Sitting on a concrete floor for 30 minutes could really hurt a person.

She held her hand out for Keisha to grab, offering her the same cheery smile and receiving an equally bright grin.

They grabbed their bags and exited the bathroom, talking along the way as they blended in with the crowd. Laney found out that they shared the same lunch hour, that would be fun. She was also informed that Keisha didn't eat in the lunch because she didn't have anyone to sit with. Elaine was determined to change that. They took a little detour back to the locker rooms so she could stuff her gym bag back into her locker. After that, Keisha directed the both of them to the cafeteria since Laney didn't know where it was. She looked around in awe.

The large room was dimly lit, having warm colors such as brown and mahogany painted on the walls and decorating the floor tiles. A big, neon sign saying CAFETERIA greeted everyone coming in. The food was offered buffet style that had many choices of fruits, veggies, cold meals, heated meals, deserts, and drinks on ice. There were round tables spread around the room and the longer tables were pushed together, forming long columns in the vast area. If there was an overflow, there were random circle tables with normal blue chairs sparsely placed.

"Wow, this place is pretty nice. We can actually touch our food and place it on our own trays." Laney commented as she picked up a gray plastic tray that was warm in her hands from its recent steaming wash. She was following Keisha closely, kind of like a lost puppy who didn't know their own way.

"Yeah, it's pretty damn nice. You can get as much as you want, so long as you pay for it. And no one would dare steal from Ms. Celie." Keisha started grabbing her own food as she walked through the line. Elaine looked around at what might be appealing to her stomach, grabbing a salami, turkey, and cheese sandwich, a large bag of Limón Lays chips, two bottles of apple juice, and a deluxe brownie. Man, was she glad that she decided to eat. It was after she picked her foods out that she processed what Keisha said.

"Ms. Celie? As in, The Color Purple Celie?"

Keisha nodded and pulled out her student ID that had her grade level, 11th,, age, and a bar code along bottom. "Yup. You don't mess with that woman. However, she's really nice when you get to know her. Also," she set her filled tray down on what looked like a weighing device and a total of $15.72 registered on the meter. "You probably don't have an ID card yet but it lets you get into the building if locked out, serves as your primary source of identification if a security guard ever stops you in the hall, and it's like a debit card that you can load money onto for the vending machines and when you buy lunch. You can pay with cash for now or an actual debit card, if you have one. Just weigh your tray to see how much everything is." She swiped her card and received a receipt from the weight machine, then she picked up her tray and moved out of the way so Laney could try.

Elaine nodded in approval at the school's simplicity. 'White people really know how to use the money they receive.' She went through the whole process of weighing her tray, almost forgetting to put the second bottle of apple juice down, and she got a grand total of $13.42, along with a receipt. She moved down the line further to the end where a tall, plump black woman with a hair net was ringing someone else up while she yelled at them about only eating cake for lunch. Her name tag read 'Ms. Celie.' She hoped this meeting didn't go bad.

"Come on now, girl. Lemme see that receipt you have there." The older woman spoke with a deep southern accent, Elaine noticed as she handed off the small piece of paper. She was quietly observing Ms. Celie. She had skin as smooth and rich as the freshly brewed coffee her mother made in the mornings. Her calloused, strong hands showed years of work and unknown hardships. Her high cheekbones and naturally relaxed resting face made her appear to be rather menacing when someone is to fight meet her.

"What's your name, and what grade are you in, sweetheart?" Laney blinked then pulled $15 dollars from her purse before responding.

"My name's Elaine Jackson and I'm in the 11th grade." Ms. Celie nodded and started typing again into her keypad. She took her money and put it into the cash register, handing back her $1.58 in change. "Thank you, ma'am." Elaine tucked her change back into her wallet and picked up her tray.

"By Wednesday, or maybe tomorrow, you'll be gettin' an ID card. I'on have to explain what it does, do I?" Ms. Celie looked down at Elaine who had such a fun time looking up. She shook her head no.

"No, that won't be needed, thank you though. My friend already told me about it." She smiled at the lunch lady before shooting a little wink to Keisha who was standing near the vending machines waiting for Elaine. Ms. Celie hummed in understanding and shooed Laney out of her line so other people could buy their food. She scurried over to Keisha who was masterfully balancing her heavy tray on one hand and scrolling through her phone with another. She looked up when she heard Elaine approaching.

"Got everything situated?" Laney nodded her head, making her little curls bounce and a few pieces fell into her face but she didn't seem to mind. Keisha had a feeling that the kind girl was being incredibly cute. "Good. Know where we're sitting?"

Laney sucked in air through clenched teeth when she realized she hadn't talked this far with Huey. He said she'd be able to sit with him during lunch but they never got to the details of where he sat. While taking long, drawn out scans around the room, her phone dinged and vibrated in her back pocket. She smashed the tray against her chest, holding it with her right hand, as she reached back with her left to retrieve her phone to see who would possibly be texting her right now.

A face splitting grin bloomed across her face when she read the text.

Huey: Look to your left in the far back corner.

"Come on, Keisha; I know where we're sitting."

~~OoO~~

Huey knew something was up when he couldn't find Laney after gym. He desired to talk to her in lunch, of course, but he didn't particularly like the look on her face when she fled from the gym. He was going to check on her overall well being in 5th hour. The desk positioned in the middle of the class is where he sat and waited for the short female to walk through the door.

The bell rung out again to start class.

She never showed up.

He didn't panic like someone else would. As a matter of fact, he wasn't even suppose to be keeping tabs on her like that. There was no reason he could think of as to why she would ditch class on her first day though. Class ticked by slowly, minute by minute, with the loud, broad shouldered Mrs. Hannigan informing the class of inflation and how it acted on our economy. She was the kind of teacher that posted all of her lesson plans on online for anyone to read up on and already be ahead of the class. Huey, being diligent as always, had read the lesson plans for the week and completed the homework. He kept an open ear as to what the teacher was saying but he already knew what he was doing anyways.

And, just like that, 30 minutes were up and his lunch hour commenced. He had been starving since 3rd hour. A cold Sprite and chicken caesar salad sounded pretty damn good at the moment. Even though his hunger was starting to tear a hole in his stomach, he proceeded to his locker to drop of his books and notebooks from his morning classes, and grab the spare notebook he kept for music. They basically didn't do anything in that class, says he who sits in the back and glares at the projector, with the occasional volunteer singing from some of the girls who wanted to show off. It irked him further that during their singing, their eyes had an interesting habit of peering at him excessively while batting long makeup caked eyelashes. Don't even get him started on the sex induced look-sees they threw towards Branden. Who would have known someone could sing a 17th century Catholic hymn with so much sin on their minds.

Huey walked down and around the hall to Elaine's locker, and leaned against it waiting for her to show up. A few passing students were giving him odd looks, trying to figure out who's locker he was standing against. He made eye contact with his new spectators and furrowed his eyebrows, giving him a menacing glare that made the little group hustle away down the corridor. 'Everyone in this school has a damn staring problem.'

Three minutes into his wait, he decided that maybe she found her way to the lunch room without him. He had hoped, anyways. It didn't take long for him to reach the lightly air conditioned and many mixed scents wafted towards him. He jumped into the short food line and grabbed a tray. Ms. Celie could probably kill every black person in this school with the way she cooked. That's why she only served chicken on Fridays. The older woman transferred here in the middle of his freshman year after the previous lunch lady admitted to not completely washing her hands after handling raw meats then prepping other foods. Needless to say, Huey didn't eat from the school cafeteria for a very long time. In that time, he watched the way Ms. Celie operated her new lunch room. She tolerated no disrespect from ANYONE, including the principal himself. It only took a matter of time before she became fed up with having to handle cash, or people lying to her about their lunch codes. She petitioned a system that offered more structure to her lunch, and the school at that.

They had already had student IDs that were used to enter the school building or check out books from the library, but new cards were issued that had the ability to work the vending machines and could be loaded with money. The pale, run down lunch room got new flooring, paint, and tables much to the delight of everyone. The money was also used for better cooling and heating systems for the food. At the end of the food line, there was a newly commissioned scale that was meant to weigh someone's food and give them a total. At first, Huey was a little skeptical about the weighing device. If it determined price by what it felt, wouldn't it charge for the weight of the tray itself? They aren't exactly light weight.

Others came to the same conclusion as him and started questioning Ms. Cecile, which triggered her to snap at all the lunch hours. From Huey's memory, she told everyone to shut the hell up and listen to what she had to say. She showed that a six inch sub, a small bag of chips, and a water bottle cost $4.75 on a tray. When she removed the tray and placed all 3 items back on the scale, the price still rang up at $4.75, therefore eliminating the suspicions he and many others held. Nobody really questioned her after that. Ms. Celie actually turned out to be very kind. When she knew a student couldn't afford their lunch for that day or just couldn't afford it at all, she paid for it out of her own pocket. Ms. Celie Jones was kinder than she let on.

There was one boxed chicken caesar slightly hidden beneath a block of ice. Huey inwardly smiled and reached for it, putting it on his tray and looking up to catch Ms. Celie's eye. She didn't smile but her eyes held a sparkle that was sending him a silent you're welcome.

She looked out for him because she found him rather intelligent, and he was trustworthy and loyal. He regularly helped her unload the food trucks since she did it by herself. Why she had no hired help, he didn't know. But he did know that it wasn't right for a woman, especially a woman her age (never would he say this out loud unless he really wanted her to pop him in the lips) shouldn't be lifting, pulling, and pushing anything over 40 pounds. So, in exchange for his work every Friday after school, she put aside or discreetly hid his favorite food items along the food tables for him to find. Ms. Celie wasn't bad at all.

"Damn Huey," a familiar yet annoying voice called out from behind. "How you just gone up and disappear on me like that?" The sound of a plastic tray sliding across a metal surface treaded over Huey's nerves and he didn't turn around to address his friend.

"I had somewhere to be and I didn't need you slowing me down, Caesar." He reached deep down into the cold tub of ice, all the way up to his elbow, searching around for something. Caesar snorted at his response and grab an Arizona iced tea can off the top of the ice stack then swerved around Huey to get to the heated foods, filling a bowl with mostaccioli, steamed broccoli, and two pieces of garlic bread. He looked at his plate with great love and the smell almost made him want to start eating in line. Ms. Celie would call him out in front of everyone, though, and ruin his life for a week.

Huey bit his lip in concentration, shifting through the ice with his fingers. His arm was quickly beginning to numb up on him before his middle finger brushed against a smooth plastic seal he knew to be his sprite. He grunted and wiggled it loose, bringing it out. Flexing his fingers to get the blood flowing properly, he set the tall bottle down on his tray and saw Caesar giving him a look. "What?"

Caesar threw his hands up and turned towards the scale, dropping his tray on it. "I ain't say nothing." He grabbed the lanyard hanging from his pocket that had his keys attached and ID, swiping it through the magnetic card reader and receiving his receipt. "Actually," Caesar began as he picked his tray up, "where's your new lady friend? You didn't ditch her, did you? I hope Jazzy's lackeys didn't get to her." He smirked and raised an eyebrow at Huey, who was a few inches taller than him which required him to look up at his best friend. It didn't occur to him right away that Elaine wasn't buzzing behind Afro ninja like she had been earlier when he saw them. Caesar himself was hype to talk to the fierce female that he had major respect for now after what popped off in the gym. He, like everyone else in the room, had eyes and he saw the aired up rubber ball make contact with Jazmine's delicate face. He also saw the way she stepped forward to receive the ball and how the two volleyball captains purposely called her out because they saw that she wasn't paying attention in the slightest to the demonstrations. He wasn't even paying attention, but he knew better than to step forward towards a ball coming off the hands of a semi-pro player. If basic contact on someone's forearms made them sting, burn, and feel like they were going to fall off, just imagine what that feeling would be like on someone's face.

Huey repeated the same process as Caesar in buying his food and he took one more glance at Ms. Celie before walking off to their table. He was going to ignore Caesar's comment at first until he said something about someone getting to her because Jazmine ordered them too. He hoped Jazmine wouldn't be so evil to send someone after the girl just because she accidentally got hit in the face. Well, she didn't view it as an accident, and neither did her friends.

"I haven't seen her since gym class after the whole volleyball incident. She said she was going to go change her clothes and that was it. I'm sure she'll turn up eventually." His words said one thing but his discrete actions did another. His eyes sweep over the room briskly looking for the only other afro in the school besides his. Not many people had arrived yet so he kind of hoped she'd flow in with the rest that were still mingling in the hall.

"You're not concerned in the slightest? Not even a little?~"

Huey glared down at Caesar through his peripherals. "No. I'm not her guardian and I don't need to know every move she makes." He decided to ignore him while they weaved through chairs and tables, finally reaching their lunch table where Riley, Cindy, and another white girl who had long curled brown hair sat. Huey's friend group wasn't large at all since he didn't like people in his personal space and no one dared to approach his lunch table. Before Jazmine joined the cheer squad, she sat next to him religiously for months along with Caesar. She, along with Caesar, talked his ears off but he didn't mind. It was actually kind of nice after awhile. So, when Jazzy did leave, it became eerily quiet. He wasn't a person of many words which left Caesar to aimlessly talk about whatever he could think of, only to receive an occasional "hm" and "ah." The addition of his freshman brother and his friends didn't bother Huey or Caesar since they provided great entertainment and kept the table lively.

Caesar sat down next to Riley who shook up then did the same with Cindy and brunette named Veronica. Huey nodded at them but didn't say anything as he also sat down and noticed that Cindy's two other female friends were nowhere in sight. All the girls had the same hood mentality as Riley which enabled all of them to get along. Riley had once called them his bitches and they beat the hell out of him on the basketball court. He couldn't wipe the amused look off his face when Riley walked through the door bloody and bruised.

He also couldn't fathom the reason why his stupid brother hadn't gotten together with Cindy after all these years. She had had his back ever since they moved to Woodcrest and not once did she betray him. Being completely honest with himself, she had turned into a beautiful young lady. Her waist length shiny blonde hair remained in twin braids most of the time with her three cow licks only getting larger and more defined as she got older. She lost her round baby face and developed high cheek bones and pouty pink lips. Pretty dark long eyelashes framed her sky blue eyes making them look bigger than they already were. She had more of a triangular physique, not having much up top but she was heavy at the bottom. Her thick thighs, round hips, and firm ass attracted stares from many guys but they knew better than to approach. Everyone knew that Cindy and Riley had a 'thing' that has yet to be acted upon. Cindy has turned down countless dates and offers, patiently waiting for Riley to ask her out. Girls in J. Edgar Hoover had a bad habit of losing their minds in October when the Sadies Hawkins dance came around. Huey wondered if Cindy would finally ask Riley out then.

"Looks like you're missing a few cute friends, Cindy. Where might they be?" Caesar commented while pulling his fork out of its plastic wrapping. He wasted no time digging into the sauce drenched noodles. Huey scrunched up his nose at the sight and took the lid off his salad, pouring the smaller cup of parmesan cheese and croutans all over it. There wasn't any italian dressing and he wasn't about to use ranch, so he just opted out on a dressing all together.

Cindy was biting into her double cheeseburger when Caesar spoke to her. She hummed and nodded her head to his words and she started moving her arms in gestures before her mouth was empty enough to speak. She smacked her lips. "Yeah, they were taking too long in the bathroom so we just left 'em. They'll show up eventually." Cindy had a habit of speaking really fast with a lot of sass [A/N: BARS BITCH. I'm sorry, ignore this] in her voice which cause her to have what some might think to be some sort of Spanish accent. Her heritage was as white as can be, unfortunately. Caesar hummed in understanding but he was too busy with his food to speak.

"Ayo Huey, where Laney at?" Riley called out from across the table with a smirk on his face and he snickered. "Yoo, she really fucked Jazzy up, man! Shit had me rollin'!" Cindy and Veronica's eyes widened. Huey remained silent and gave him a poisonous glare.

"Ya'll know her? You gotta introduce me to her! I've always wanted to fight Jazmine but she already ruined her cheerleading career. How bad can it get?" The blonde sputtered out through shrills of laughter as she hollered into Veronica's shoulder. Riley was cackling into his arms and pounding on the table. Caesar had to hold back a few of his own snickers since he knew Huey wouldn't like it if he laughed too. Said man was glaring at his brother and his friend while he continued to eat. He swallowed before he responded.

"Yeah, haha. If any of you were watching, Jazmine was the one who was in the wrong. Elaine was only doing what she was asked. She looked like she was going to cry after everything ended. Since then, I still don't know where she is." He pointed out coldly and scowled at them. Their laughter toned down very slowly, each of one squeezing out one more chortle before it stopped and they all sighed. Veronica wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and was careful not to smear her eyeliner. She was the first one to fully recover enough to look at their surroundings. A lopsided smirk came to her painted lips and she reached to tap Riley, pointing across the cafeteria.

"I think she just arrived, Reezy."

Everyone at the table either looked up from their food or turned around to see Elaine chattering with a girl who had a dark golden brown skin tone with black braided hair. Huey recognized her to be the girl that everyone in the school had been terrorizing because she had revealed that she was bisexual. He didn't see the big deal about it; he respected her for even admitting it publicly even if the confession appeared to be ruining her life. That didn't mean he'd run to her rescue. Huey had no intention of befriending the girl just because she was being bullied. It wasn't his responsibility to take in the school's charity cases.

They had just gotten out of the lunch line and were just standing there. Laney was shifting her eyes over the room, looking for perhaps a seat. "Is Elaine ova there talkin' to that gay girl?" Riley commented rudely with a mouth full of pepperoni pizza then shoved half a bread stick in, hardly chewing it. Huey scrunched up in disgust and irritation at his eating habits and ignorant comment. He choose to ignore him, instead bending down underneath the table to grab his phone out of his backpack to text Elaine of their location. Cindy smacked the back of his head, knocking his snapback off his bed and caused him choke and cough on his food, and glared at him.

"Don't call her gay! She's bisexual. She like both. Ain't nothing wrong with that." She growled out at him through tight lips. Riley didn't seem very phased by her words but he was upset that she made him strangle himself on his food. Swallowing before he responded, he turned to face her matching her glare.

"Two things C-Murph," he held up two fingers to emphasize the points he was about to list. "First off, don't put ya hands on me, girl." Cindy gave a mock laugh and popped a french fry in her mouth, flipping a braid over her shoulder.

"Or what you gone do? I wish you would hit me Reezy. Do it, I dare you." The she-devil smiled evilly daring Riley to touch her in any way, shape or form. Veronica was sneering over her shoulder waiting to pounce when given the signal. Riley knew better but she was always tempting him to just do it. Why, he didn't know. He would never actually harm Cindy or any of her friends, though he wouldn't lie that he had thought about it, especially when he might have called them his bitches… What else was he suppose to call them? He was surrounded by the women most of the time so it clearly made sense. They didn't see it that way.

Riley sighed loudly and turned away from her, putting his hat back on his frizzy braids and crossed his arms over his chest. He chose to pout instead of even take the bait she was offering. Remembering that he was going to tell her something else, he cocked his head in her direction. "And second, she gay for all I care. If I were in charge of shit like that, you'd get one or the other. Dick or pussy, pussy or dick. Not both." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, picking her burger back up to continue eating. Riley's eyes widened as he looked across the cafeteria at the black girl, and the smirk he orginally had resurfaced. "As a matter of fact, that's it. She probably ain't have no dick in her life. That's all. I should show her what a real nigga like.." He rubbed his hands together and nodded his head, plotting how he could get his plan started.

Cindy gaped. She couldn't believe her ears. She was sitting right there and he had the NERVE, the AUDACITY, to say that out loud?! Her burger had long ago slipped from her hands and she was ready to beat him one more time upside the head but Veronica put a hand on her shoulder, shaking her head. "He ain't worth it, C." She spoke softly to try and keep Cindy from going off the wall today. Her eyes, though, said how much she supported the blonde and that she would fuck Riley up with her if need be. Cindy looked at him one more time with a look of hostility before paying more attention to her lunch, nibbling on the salty fries with her bottom lip poked out.

Caesar and Huey sighed at the same at Riley's stupidity.

The sound of two trays clicking against the wooden table caught the attention of everyone at the table. They had been so bewildered by Riley's childish behavior that no one had noticed Elaine and Keisha making their way over.

"Hello." Elaine sat down next to Huey and took her backpack off, setting it against her leg. She smiled at everyone at the table, noticeably being more comfortable than Keisha who stiffly sat in her chair next to her and hadn't spoke. "Thanks for calling me over. I would have never found you guys all the way over here."

Huey nodded at her, sending a glance at her packed tray then turned his attention back to his salad he had been waiting for all day. Caesar had consumed most of his lunch in a matter of minutes and he spent the extra time grinning at Elaine. It wasn't a creepy kind of smile, but one of being intrigued by something. He could be twisted when he wanted to be and Huey worried for what was about to come from his mouth. Riley was looking at Keisha who remained silent and unwrapped her chicken wrap with a look on contemplation. He was serious about giving her what she really needed in her life but he decided he'd try to talk to her when Cindy wasn't around; he wasn't in the mood to listen to Cindy's bitching. Instead, he looked at Elaine.

"Missed you in Intro to Business, Elaine." Caesar beat him to speaking first. Laney shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she cut her sandwich in half. Caesar watched the way she ran her finger tips over her nails, refusing to make eye contact with him, and repeatedly pushed locks of her hair behind her heavily pierced ears. 'So she was jittery after what happened in gym.' He didn't think Huey was lying; he just wanted to see how she reacted with his own eyes.

"Y-yeah well, I had some.. stuff to take care of. Was there any homework?" She pulled open her bag of chips and poured it into the lid that came off the sandwich container, and started eating again trying to be nonchalant about her weird disappearance. The dread head let a smug look smirk appear on his face and he settled with leaving her alone. He didn't like the way Huey was looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Not really. There's a video online that we're suppose to watch but other than that, nope." Caesar devoured three pieces of broccoli and didn't speak again. Elaine thanked him with a small smile and resumed eating.

The table was now cloaked in silence.

Huey sighed as he chewed and swallowed. "Elaine, you already know Caesar and Riley," he pointed to the two named with his fork and watched her look at Cindy, "but the two girls over there are Cindy and Veronica. Some others are missing but.." He didn't really finish his sentence, ending it with a shrug.

"Hi." Veronica said simply with a small smile on her face.

"Hey, so you're the new girl." Cindy smirked. "Heard quite a lot about you already. First the bus and now during gym. Having fun?" She wasn't teasing the black girl. She kind of admired the girl for the balls she displayed from what she heard throughout the day. Elaine laughed hesitantly and scratched the side of her face in embarrassment.

"This day has been an adventure, I'll admit." She bobbed her head as she broke her brownie into four pieces, offering one to the silent Keisha who perked up briefly to accept the chocolatey treat. "I'm kind of just ready for the day to end." Elaine bit into her sandwich and decided that next time she would grab some mayonnaise. Leaning forward, she reached behind herself to grab her phone again and plopped it on the tray next to her sandwich, successfully unlocking it with her thumbprint. Cindy was looking at her with eyes of interest and she even glanced down at the large iPhone she possessed.

"Mmhm," Cindy mused out loud, "I feel you. I just got here and this school stresses me out."

Conversations resumed at the table with many different topics floating around. Huey made small comments every now and then when he wanted to correct someone or he had an opinion. Caesar was his loud, outgoing self, challenging everything Riley said and proving him wrong every time. Keisha was the only one who hadn't talked at all. Elaine said something to her every now and then to include her, but she choose to remain silent and read something on her phone. Laney was getting along well with everyone. She asked questions here and there but she was the one being asked questions about where she was from, why she moved, how she got her hair the way it was, and thousands of other things Huey couldn't remember even if he tried. But, he did manage to learn more about her than he was comfortable asking himself. He could honestly say that he enjoyed this lunch period, and before long, the bell rang.

"Geez," Elaine packed up her trash and shoved her extra bottle of apple juice into her backpack. "I know I said I wanted to go home but time is just ticking by." She returned her tray to a wall that had many trays rotating back into the kitchen area of the lunch room. She never got the chance to say bye to Keisha before she disappeared in the flood of people. Scratching her head in confusion, she shrugged slightly and freed herself into the hallway with Huey and Caesar talking behind her. It wasn't much of her business of what they were discussing so she opted not to listen that hard. She came to a slow stop in the hall once she remembered she didn't know where she was going, so Elaine waited for the two males to pass her up so she could follow. Apparently, Caesar took music appreciation too.

"Branden probably won't even try it if you hang around, ya know?" Caesar spoke as he swerved around people in the hall all while keeping up his conversation with Huey. He was surprised his friend was so disturbed by Huey's concern for the girl he only just met. Well, he thought they just met. "You met her today right? Why do you care?" Huey didn't give him an immediate response. Caesar had to glance back to see if he was still there. Huey was in fact staring back at Elaine while she was looking everywhere in the hall except at them. "Yo Hu-"

"My granddad made me and Riley go meet her family on Saturday." He cut Caesar off, pulling his attention back to him. Caesar faked being offended by Huey's sharp words and turned into the dimly lit music room. Not many people were there, thank God, so he quickly flocked to the back of the class near the carpeted steps and plopped down in a desk. He decided that he wasn't going to say anything else about the situation at hand, and he'd just let Huey handle it the way he thought was best.

Huey joined Caesar in the back along with Laney. She slid her backpack off, putting it on the floor right against her leg. She was actually excited about this class. Since freshman year, she switched off with her arts: two years of 2-D and 3-D art and two years of some kind of musics. In the two previous years, she learned to piano theory and how to play the piano, and she even increased her vocal range a little bit. This class was only one semester, unfortunately, so she signed up for another art class to take next semester. It didn't occur to her until she saw a short plump, red haired woman carrying music books into the room that the class might not involve much singing.

One of the thick books slid off the top of the stack she was carrying onto the floor, making a loud clap against the floor. She sighed, setting the rest of the books on her desk, and turned around to bend over and pick up the fallen book. She moaned in slightly pain from her back as she slowly came back up. "Oh dear, am I getting old." Her voice was light and high pitched to anyone's ears. The woman glanced around her partially filled class, smiling at Caesar and Huey, then she noticed a girl she didn't recognize. She gasped, recalling the email she received over the weekend about getting a new student, and she clapped happily practically skipping to the back of the class to Elaine. "You must be our new student! I'm Mrs. Zaknoun. And you must be…?" Mrs. Zaknoun looked down at the hazel eyed girl with great anticipation and acceptance in her eyes. She hoped for the sake of the rest of the class, she would be bright and initiative enough to bring something new to everyone.

Elaine flashed a small smile up at the woman who looked like she was the kindest person on the planet. She was quick to label her kind because instead of trying to introduce her in front of the whole class, she approached her directly. "Elaine Jackson. I prefer Laney though." Mrs. Zaknoun squeaked in excitement. She was fond of small cute things, and Elaine was just the cutest kid with an equally cute name. All she wanted to do was pinch her cheeks.

"Ooh, what a lovely name you have. I'm so glad you decided to take my class. Though, this year we have been, uh," she scratched her cheek trying to find the appropriate words. "We've been lacking enthusiasm with this year's class." Mrs. Zaknoun held some shame to her words. She didn't want to be telling her bright new student that the class was half-assed because of her classmates' efforts. Music was her life, and she wanted the new generation to know the great joys of all kinds of music, but even with school only recently starting, Mrs. Zaknoun had a feeling they would just continue to head south from there.

"Well, if it counts," Elaine speaks through the teacher's bubble of disappointment. "I signed up for this class to learn something new and I'm sure you'll teach it just fine, even if some of the others aren't very inspired."

Huey and Caesar were still sitting next to Laney, watching and listening to their conversation. They equally felt bad for making their small, sweet teacher miserable but most of the things she taught didn't intrigue them. Caesar played the drums, so he tried to retain some interest along the way as he waited for the discussion of percussion instruments to arise. Huey didn't want to be there period. This was not the class he wanted. He suspected that his schedule was sabotaged; there was no way that ceramics was a filled class. With his own eyes he saw that not many people were even in the class at all.

While brooding in his internal thoughts, Mrs. Zaknoun had pulled Elaine into a tight, suffocating hug as she rocked back and forth crying hysterically. Only some words could be made out, like incompetent and why me. Laney was doing her best to comfort the crying woman who's eyeliner was bleeding down her cheeks. She rubbed a hand over her back soothingly and was saying something softly that Huey and Caesar couldn't hear. Raising her eyes, she looked at Huey and mouthed "Do something." He couldn't keep the smug smirk off his face at her misfortune but never the less, he wouldn't leave her hanging.

"Sorry to interrupt Mrs. Zaknoun, but," Huey started and caused the teacher to stop her loud sobs. "Class is about to start. Maybe you should go clean up a little before then. You have time." He rested his head on his propped up hand as he watched her. She was quick to realize his words and she jumped up hurriedly, dabbing her face with an embroidered handkerchief. Smiling through her distress, she apologized proficiently to Elaine about her behavior as she bustled out of the room. Elaine sighed.

"You guys treat her that bad to have her crying to her student?" She hadn't intended for her look to have any malice behind it, but the glare that loomed from her eyes made Caesar cringe a little. He bounced back, however, to defend himself.

"No, we do not treat her bad. Huey and I, that is. You'll see why some of us may or may not be interested in what she's teaching. Just wait till class starts." Huey rolled his eyes and chose to remain silent.

It didn't take long for the rest of the 25 students, including Branden, to flock into the room. He was talking to some girl he really didn't care for; he only wanted one thing from her anyways. As he nodded his head and agreed to everything she said, his eyes coasted along the room and he noticed the ever so prompt Mrs. Z was missing. That pleased him. But, what made him even more ecstatic about class now, was the delicious sight of Elaine sitting in the back of the room, in his seat. 'Damn, this is just my lucky day, isn't it?' He licked his lips and pushed the unknown female talking to him out of his way and made his move to the back. When he got there, she was looking down at her phone on the desk, reading something. Branden smoothly sat on the corner of his desk, catching her attention and making her look up, and flashed her a cheeky smile. "Enjoying my desk?"

Elaine observed the teen talking to her with a close eye. He was the one who had approached her and Huey earlier in the day. He seemed really nice. Sadly, she didn't hear what he said right away due to being distracted by the whiteness of his teeth. Yep, a decently handsome young man walked up to her and actually spoke to her, and all she was looking at were his teeth. Good job.

"Oh." The little staring contest they had entered went on for about a minute before Laney blinked and comprehended what he had said to her. "Oh, oh my gosh. I'm sorry. I didn't know you sat here. I'll go ahead and mo-" She was reaching down to grab her backpack when Branden's deep velvety laugh stopped her movements. She looked back up at him with confusion written on her face.

"Nah, cutie, don't even sweat it. I'mma just sit on the other side." He took a glance at Huey and only received a harsh glower from the wine eyed boy. He beamed a taunting smirk and moved to sit next to Laney on her right. A lot of girls that hoped to hook up with Branden migrated to the back to be around him. They were all shooting Elaine threatening glares while they flipped their hair and talked sweetly to him. Elaine couldn't understand why the entire female population of the room seemed like they wanted to skin her alive. Deciding to dismiss whatever must have been going on, she took a brief look at Branden and she looked away even fasted when she caught him staring at her. She then made the mistake of looking to her left and saw witnessed the most sinister look on Huey's face. He looked angry on a daily basis but she could tell in that moment it was truly anger that was coursing through him. Laney cleared her throat and shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Is there s-something wrong, Huey?" She was almost hesitant to see what was wrong with him in fear that he might lash out at her. Instead, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly and he turned away, looking at the front of the class.

Elaine wanted to be angry. Why the hell was his mad, anyways? She hadn't done anything. The only person that should have been mad in that class is Branden because she accidentally took his seat, and Huey didn't even stop her from sitting there! God, she wanted to lash out at him for his childish behavior to get an answer out of him, but deep down, she was scared. Just a little. If she did do something to make him vexed, it wasn't intentional. There was a constant looming fear that he would start avoiding her after this class, and it made her shrink a little in her seat. Just when she was about to question him so some to rid herself of some stupid, irrational fear, Mrs. Zaknoun returned to the class looking better than she did before she had her breakdown. Her cheerful persona was back and she was ready to teach now. Elaine decided that she'd just ask Huey later. Or, just pretend none of this happened.

For once in her school life, she didn't give her complete attention to her speaking teacher. She turned her gaze to Branden who was talking with one of his friends. They laughed and shook up, talking loudly about something Elaine wasn't really listening to. He didn't notice she was looking at him right away so she took the chance to actually look at him. She already knew he was tall but the way his knees were bumping against the underside of his desk really testified to the fact. His smooth light brown skin didn't have one blemish on it and there wasn't a hair out of place on his side burns connected with his there but not overbearing goatee. His ears, which she thought were on the large side (but who is she to judge) held small diamond earrings. She personally thought a guy with pierced ears looked so attractive. There's just nothing that could go wrong. Laney bit her lip and turned to look at the side of Huey's head, thinking of what he would look like with his ears pierced. 'He would probably look really good, too.' She frowned at her thoughts and looked ahead at Mrs. Zaknoun. She had forgotten she was suppose to be angry with him. Now that she actually gave it some thought, Huey did appear to be a little hostile towards Branden when they first met. Maybe that's his issue. But, it didn't quite explain why he would be mad at Elaine… unless…

Yeah, no.

Mrs. Zaknoun wasted no time delivering her agenda for the day, and started a rant about Catholicism. She was very passionate about her speech, and explained how being Catholic and attending catholic schools and churches allowed her to realize that she wanted to teach music. She decided in college that instead of teaching at a catholic private school, she wanted to share her knowledge with public school students who might be interested in Catholic teachings, such as the hymns sung in church, who created them, and what their purpose was. That's how she started talking about the movies that were made depicting Jesus' Passion, Suffering, Death, and Resurrection.

"Does anyone know about Jesus? Anything, really." She looked around the room seeing if anyone wanted to share. Mrs. Zaknoun was not aware of the religious practices of many of the students in her class, so she couldn't assume automatically that they would have some knowledge. She was about to deliver an answer to her own question after some moments of silence until hand went up in the back. She smiled and nodded happily for Elaine to speak.

"He died on the cross to save humanity and open the gates of Heaven after Adam and Eve's betrayal." Her voice was on the quiet side, her timid personality was slowly coming out from all the stares she was receiving. "A-And he released the souls of those who died before him from purgatory." She spoke her last sentence quickly and her voice died out midway through the world purgatory. Everyone was still looking at her until Mrs. Zaknoun clapped her hands excitedly.

"Yes, yes! Excellent. That is exactly what he did, and more! I hope you do not mind me asking, Elaine, but are you by any chance of the Catholic faith? You don't have to disclose whether or not you are. I just wonder because the state of purgatory is usually only expression within the Roman Catholic church." Mrs. Zaknoun leaned against the edge of her desk with a smile stretched across her face as she waited for Laney to reply. She had a feeling that Elaine would be a wonderful new addition to her class, and she was already proving herself.

Elaine looked around at the pairs of eyes waiting for her response as well. She looked at Huey out of the corner of her eye, and even though he wasn't directly looking at her, she could see he was peering at her out of his peripheral. She gulped and sat up straighter in her seat. "I-I'm not Catholic, but I attended catholic schools since the 5th grade. I felt that… that I couldn't commit to Catholic practices. S-so I was never baptized in the church." It took raw will power for Laney to remain upright in the chair and communicate with Mrs. Zaknoun. She was the kind of person that counted how many paragraphs were left in a reading before it was her turn. She was also the type to mentally prepare herself when the teacher takes attendance and eventually she'd have to say "here." One time, the teacher accidentally skipped over the J last names and she didn't correct the him; she was just marked absent for the rest of the day when she was actually there.

Mrs. Zaknoun could see the obvious discomfort in Elaine but she was so happy she finally got someone to speak up. She took the time now to see if anyone else was inspired by her words to speak up. "Anyone else know anything?"

"Jesus Christ was black."

Everyone broke their necks to look back at Huey who had lost the harsh glare on his face from earlier but he still looked angry. He never chose to speak unless Mrs. Zaknoun asked him something directly so it kind of threw everyone off. The teacher herself didn't respond just yet, for she was debating what he said. She hummed in acknowledgment to the declaration.

"Although he is mainly shown with fair peach skin and brown eyes, considering the location of current day Palestine smashed between Southwest Asia and Northern Africa, I do believe you are right, Huey." She had never thought about it in such a way and geographically, it made sense that Jesus would be of African descent. Whether it be true or not, at least she sparked some thought of mind to her students. Huey had expected her to refute his claim strongly and he was prepared to present the evidence and back himself up, so it left him speechless when she somewhat agreed with him and even put sense behind it. Maybe he had her wrong.

Mrs. Zaknoun went back to talking about the many movies that were made of Jesus' life and she pulled up the cover poster of The Passion of the Christ from 2004. She went into a deep rant about some of the literary meanings behind what the director and actors truly wanted to express to the audience. Huey was a little restless and questioned how this had anything to do with music appreciation.

Mrs. Zaknoun glanced at the clock on her computer and saw that she was running out of class time. "To make a very long story short, the reason I present to you today The Passion of the Christ is because there was a song inspired by the movie titled Making All Things New. The song is simply beautiful and brings out a feeling of restlessness and deep sorrow between a mother and her son. There is nothing more heartbreakingly emotional about a mother who has willed herself to accept that she must give her son up for the greater good, and to know that he is suffering such terrible treatment, all he wants to do is comfort his grieving mother." She had clasped her hands over her heart and displayed a look of wistful longing. It almost appeared that she wanted to cry again. Even though the class would be buzzing with whispers during her lectures, today it was oddly quiet while they listened to her. Sighing, she brought her attention back to her pupils.

"All I want for you guys to do tonight for homework is to do some research on Mary and Jesus, and the relationship they shared. I'd like notes or thorough explains on what you found explaining your thoughts and how you felt. Typed or written notes are fine, just know that if I can't read it, it won't get graded. I'm making this, along with our oral discussion tomorrow a very weighted assignment. Just keep that in mind." She had shut down her computer and was packing up all the same like the students. Elaine picked up her backpack and set it in her lap as she watch Mrs. Zaknoun put her purse and lunch bag on her desk and moved to clean the white board. She stopped her movements and turned around. "Also, if you are an atheist or don't believe in Jesus and feel uncomfortable about this assignment, just tell me about your religious beliefs or what you believe at all."

The bells rang and everyone shot up from their desks. Mrs. Zaknoun wished everyone a good day and was the first one to leave the class. Elaine slipped her backpack on and followed with the crowd to the door. She was a little peeved at Huey still for giving her the cold shoulder so she didn't say anything to him and he didn't make any attempt to speak either. They walked in silence and didn't even look at each other. Caesar was right next to them observing. He knew Huey was being a dick to Elaine because of the very small conversation they were having and the way she was looking at Branden before Mrs. Zaknoun started speaking. He wanted to tease Huey on his jealously and hardcore possessiveness but he liked his teeth in his mouth. Whatever was the "real" issue, he hoped they eventually got over it. "Well, I'll catch you guys later on the bus then."

Elaine stopped and looked back at Caesar's retreating body. She had forgotten he was even with them. "Bye Mic- Caesar." He smiled over his shoulder at her, laughing at her correction on what to call him. She felt a tap on her shoulder. Whirling her head around, she expected to see Huey but in fact it was Branden. Huey was nowhere in sight.

"You lost or somethin'?" He questioned when he noticed the sad look on her face that was quickly covered up. She shook her head and smiled.

"No, I'm fine. I have a free period. I was told I could go home during this time but I don't want to." She looked down at her phone in her hand to see the time. "Actually, can you help me?" Elaine looked back up at him with a small smile. She was slightly uncomfortable asking him for help all of a sudden, but she did what she had to do. She wouldn't be in the situation if Huey hadn't of fucking left her. Surprised crossed Branden's face. Because of the morning's introduction, he assumed that he made her extremely uneasy but it didn't seem like that now she was fine. Maybe it's because that smart ass was around her. Speaking of which, he looked around the hall and didn't spot him anywhere. 'Taking care of her, huh?' He thought, smirking inwardly. This was his golden opportunity.

"Sure. What's up?" He went to follow her as she started walking again. He purposely lagged behind her a little to watch her ass jiggle and wide hips sway back and forth. For someone so short, her legs were kind of long. She was slightly bottom heavy, and if not for her tight stomach that had a slightly visible four pack, he would have just said she was thick all over. Just the kind of girl he was really looking for. Her hair spiraled into thousands of thick tiny curls that gave extreme volume to its look. He guessed that when she straightened it, it probably stopped in the middle of her back. Branden couldn't stop the jovial feeling he was experiencing just thinking about what it would be like to have her on his arm and underneath his body while he fucked the sh-

"Branden?" Laney looked back at him after he didn't answer her question. He looked like he was in deep thought that was quickly broken when she called him name. He picked up his pace and was walking side by side with her now.

"Damn, sorry Laney. I was thinking about Mrs. Zaknoun's assignment. What did you say?" He lied smoothly and gave his full undivided attention to her cute, angelic face with the little dimple in her right cheek. Elaine smiled and looked down at the ground as they continued walking. The way he was looking at her didn't make her uncomfortable; just a little.. fuzzy maybe. She didn't know how to describe it.

"Uh, I had asked if you could take me to the library. I saw it from the outside this morning but I don't know how to get to it from here. You don't have to, though, because I'm pretty sure you have your own class to go to and I could probably find it on my own and I-" Branden's large hand covered her mouth to stop her rant. He was laughing at her and she felt her face get hot for going on a whole spout about nothing. He removed his hand then folded both of them behind his head.

"Don't worry about it, honest. Mr. Martin won't mind anyways, so long as I pick up the homework. I'll take you and maybe you can tell me a little about yourself, alright?" He placed his offer on the table and he knew she wasn't going to say no because it wasn't harming either of them. He looked down at her through long eyelashes. Elaine didn't question his request. She still wore her smile and she just nodded her head while she played around with the rings on her fingers. Branden felt pretty accomplished.

The last hour of the day, the two of them spent their time in the large two story library sitting in plush comfortable sofa chairs on the second floor with their feet propped up on the coffee table. They talked about random things and laughed louder than necessary at even dumber things. They exchanged numbers and spent some of their time sending encrypted emojis back and forth to each other in a form of a game to see if the other person could figure out what he/she was trying to say. Elaine was oblivious to the fact that there were girls around them hiding in book shelves watching the two interact like they had known each other forever. News spread around pretty quick, and all the girls Branden had fucked or planned on fucking, knew of the new girl he had become smitten with. It was an understatement to say a strong sense of malice was floating around the school as everyone started leaving or going off to their after school activities.

"That was really fun, Branden." They had walked to each other's lockers to get their homework and sports gear. She found out that he was amazingly balancing basketball and football this year to prove a point to his dad. It seemed like a really far stretch to Elaine but he explained he's done it before and he wasn't worried. He wasn't really surprised when she told him about volleyball since everyone knew about what happened in her gym class that day. It surprised him, though, when she told him she did gymnastics. That would explain the tight muscles of her abdomen and muscle strength in her legs when she managed to push his chair over with just her legs. He learned that she was pretty much innocent for someone in high school. Well, he thought that anyways. During their interesting and in-dept game of 21 questions, there were some times he figured she lied to him to spare herself. No worries, though. He'd have fun getting answers out of her and tainting her all the same.

"Oh, so you enjoyed my company? I'm glad you did because you won't be getting rid of me any time soon." He joked as they walked out the school building to the awaiting buses.

"I'll find some way to cope." Branden had walked Laney all the way over to her bus when he himself had to go catch one in case he wanted to be left behind. She was the last one to step onto the bus stairs and he was still standing there. She turned around and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Her crazy pop eyed bus driver didn't even give him a chance to speak before the bus doors closed. He smiled at her through the glass and waved as the bus made a turn and drove off into the street. Branden studied the bus as it sped up down the road. He didn't plan on catching the bus home today; he needed to go get his homework from Mr. Martin. They needed to talk anyways.

~~OoO~~

The bus ride home was rather peaceful to Elaine. When she got on, she spotted Huey sitting in the same spot he was in in the morning and Caesar was right next to him talking about something. Neither of them seemed to notice that she got on the bus so she took a seat near the front and sighed happily. She dug around in her backpack and pulled out her headphones and turned her music up high. Pandora was doing her right today and played most of her liked songs on the Thumbprint Radio. Laney folded her legs up in the seat and plopped her binder that contained the math packet on her lap and started working on it.

In the back of the bus, Caesar was trying to get Huey to talk about why he was acting mean to Elaine during music. Huey refused to speak and kept his eyes focused out the window. Usually, he would have cracked by now with Caesar's annoying pestering but he just really did not want to talk. He had been blocking out his voice for so long, he couldn't help but glance over to his best friend when he noticed how quiet he got. He was looking down in his lap at his phone doing quite a few things but Huey noticed he was texting someone and reading something. Caesar sighed and shook his head, looking up at Huey with a disappointed look. "You really left her?"

Huey narrowed his eyes at Caesar's accusation, well it was true, but how did he know? Sensing the question Huey was asking with his eyebrows, he showed him the screenshotted snapchat of Elaine and Branden sitting in the library laughing. His eyes widened in surprise that quickly turned to anger in his chest and he turned back to look out the window. He gave off subtly hints that he didn't like him yet she still went off with Branden anyways. It's not like it was his responsibility to watch her. If she really wanted to become friends with that perv, who was obviously preying on her, let her go ahead and do it. It was none of his concern.

Caesar rolled his eyes and went back to texting. "Fine then. Be like that. If you ain't want her to associate with him, you shouldn't have left her wandering in the hallway by herself because you don't know how to express your emotions properly to other people." He automatically cringed away, expecting a hand to come a slap him in the side of his neck, but it never came. He looked back over at Huey and could see in the reflection of the bus window an expression he couldn't name. He definitely hadn't seen it on Huey's face before but it kind of spooked him. It was a mix of gloom and grief covered with guilt. Caesar chose not to say anything, feeling kind of satisfied that Huey actually had more emotions other than apathy and irritation. He was going to let him wallow in his own little pit of despair for the time being. Huey always had some kind of temporary difficulty in front of him. Caesar wondered if now he would find a permanent solution to his new obstacle.

~~OoO~~

"I found my new flavor of the month. You been watchin' anyone?" Branden questioned as he watched his math teacher run off new copies of the packet.

"Yes, I do believe so. She's in my second period class and I can only think of the things I'd do to her."

The two shared a very sick connection within the school, and it included using the female student body as their playthings and taking advantage of them.

"Oh for real? Who?" Knowing Branden, he had probably run through the hoe he probably picked multiple times over by now. He took the math packet he was offered and flipped through the pages.

"Her name is Elaine, the new girl who transferred in." Mr. Martin smirked, remembering the way the small girl smiled at him when she left. Accompanied by her child bearing hips and succulent ass, he couldn't help but pull one of his other students that closely resembled her and made her have sex with him just to have his dick stroked at the thought of Elaine.

Branden's flipping stopped mid-pack when he heard Elaine's name leave his teacher's mouth. He looked up at him real slow and watched the same sick smile he was used to plastered on his face while he was in his own thoughts. Too bad he wouldn't be having her. "Yeah, no can do, Mr. Martin. I've already claimed her." He shoved his homework into his binder and wedged it underneath his arm. It made him feel good when he burst the bubble on whatever little fantasy was going through Mr. Martin's head.

"What do you mean, you've already claimed her?" He growled out his words and glared deeply at Branden. There was no way in hell that he was going to give up such a sweet girl to this brat. He was prepared to fight tooth and nail.

"Exactly what I said, Anthony." He knew addressing him by his first name would infuriate him ever more. He took a step forward, challenging him. A taunting smile leered on his face as he spoke. "She's mine. Let me find out you've tried to make any kind of move on her, and you can kiss your job and freedom away as you rot in a prison cell for the rest of your life. There's no death penalty in the state of Maryland, but you'd wished there was one after you get fucked up on the inside." His words were a threat clear as day. Mr. Martin could have argued what he could do to ruin Branden's life, but it wouldn't be as bad as to what would intentionally happen to himself. They stared each other down for what seemed like minutes until Branden stepped back, laughing. He turned and started walking out of the class room, waving over his shoulder.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Martin."

---

Author's Note

H-hehe *sweat drop* Hello.

So this chapter was suppose to be updated like 3 weeks ago, I don't know, but awhile ago. This time I don't have dumb excuses but legitimate reasons xD

Alright, so this is how it went.

After I uploaded the last chapter back on July 1, up until that point I was experiencing ridiculously painful headaches. Like these shits would have me throwing back Tylenol every time my temple throbbed. My vision had also become blurry ever since I started pursuing this story seriously. So, basically, I have ruined my eyesight from being on the computer all the time (like ALL the time, from like 2pm to 4am the next day) typing the chapters and playing games with high resolutions. I didn't touch technology for a good week and I had to wait two extra weeks to go to the eye doctor.

And now I have glasses. ๏_๏

It's not as bad as I thought. I look cuter with them AND OH MY GOD I CAN SEE SO CLEAR

LIKE GUYS

I HAVE BEEN SEEING THROUGH RAIN CLOUDS FOR SO LONG. EVERYTHING IS SO CLEAR.

My eye doctor told me the vision in my right eye was so bad, I would have failed my driver's test. That really hurt, and my mom flamed the shit out of my life once we got back into the car.

But, yeah. This chapter has been ready since July 10th but I couldn't go through the pain of trying to revise and reread with my eyes all fucked up. - This accurately describtes what I looked like at 2am without these glasses ಥ_ಥ

Mr. Martin and Branden are co-conspirators ^o^ Along with every day school troubles, they're going to the main source of drama and darkness of this story. I'm still open to suggestions from any of you readers on what you would like to see happen or just any kind of plot moving experiences. Not sure when I'll get the next chapter out but stay alert anyways ಠ_ಠ

R.F.F. (Review, Follow, Favorite)

P.S. Thanks for the guest views I received this week. They made me happy and gave me the strength to update tonight

P.P.S. All I do is watch anime and eat food. If anyone has any new anime they're watching or think I should watch, PLEEAASSEE INBOX MEH. Or any cute little mangas. Right now, I'm all caught up on Food Wars, and I'm thinking about catching up on Naruto and Fairy Tail. The manga for Fairy Tail is so lit right now tbh

P.P.P.S. I'm confined to my house because I sliced my foot open trying to open the fucked up door at Pizza hut yesterday t(ツ)_/¯

P.P.P.P.S. The end of the chapter is not very descriptive because I want to leave it open for any suggestions someone might have