The Playground
High School is the best time of your life. And I intend to show you XHS's best and worst.
OMG. I just realized I forgot to spellcheck the last chapter. Bug me if you spot some so I can fix it. Heh. Thanks for reading and still reviewing. You guys are awesome.
Disney owns Fillmore, and Cecily von Ziegesar owns Gossip Girl. This is a non-profit piece meant only for entertainment. I shall not be held responsible for a reader viewing content that is beyond their rating's limit, as I will always state the gist of the content in a particular work. With that said, read, review, enjoy.
- THEXOXOPLAYGROUND . NET -
x marks the gossip spot.
hey love.
It's been a few days already, we're done with this week, but we still can't get over the rumor that's been circulating and made ten times worse by the time we heard about it again. Well, neither can I. No one seems to be giving anyone straight answers these days! They're hiding something, and when I find out, you'll be the next to know.
So. The latest I've found out is that Folsom asked Ingrid to her office, and the Ingrid left with an expressionless face. I wonder why. And that's not all. Her sister followed shortly after. Wonder why. Maybe Folsom asked her to keep an eye on Ingrid. Who knows what more she's capable of. But they'd better know secrets never stay secrets. Not while I'm around at least.
Sorry if I'm not going to be answering your comments that much. I'm really busy. I'll be reading them though. But rest assured, I will never be busy enough not to give you the latest gossip. Count on that.
eye spy.
Somehow, a certain family isn't as perfect as it seems. A dark secret's hiding within.
J protectively staying and sleeping (nothing malicious, you pervert!) with his younger brother J for one night. How sweet.
W visiting his father's wake. The poor soul.
J's sister A talking to W over the phone. I heard she has eyes for him.
K running from the direction of her boyfriend A's house late one night. Something happen? Apparently K's boyfriend A may be more available than we thought.
I tiptoeing outside her house and sitting at the porch only in her nighties. Bet the passing cabbies got a kick out of that.
All right, I've got to go now. Winter's coming in, and it's starting to get very cold. I've got to start planning for parties, finding new and cool clothes, and get myself primped for this holiday season! I need to find some things to do as well to stay warm. Nudge, nudge. And of course, presents. It's a bit early, but why wait? And I need to get to class. Toodles!
You'll keep coming back to me.
xoxo
there are just things we never can forget.
"So how did your father deal with finding out, Ingrid?" asked Karen, as they were fixing their hair in the bathroom of the mall. Honestly, they didn't care anymore who heard them. Let the rumors circulate. The only way to deal with them was to ignore them.
"He was kind of angry at her for going out that late, and in a club, no less." said Ingrid, as she applied a coat of lip gloss.
"But...?"
"He vowed that whoever did it would be given maximum penalty. She is a minor after all." she said, taking the white comb from her bag. Today was shopping day for her and Karen. It proved to be a very de-stressing activity for the both of them, which they discovered when they were given their own credit cards.
"And is he talking to you?" asked Ingrid.
"The better question is if I'm talking to him, but yeah. He's leaving messages on my phone. He even tried to talk to me after Geometry today." she said, touching up her face powder.
"Right. I can't believe him." she said. "I swear, I'm going to kill him when he comes over tomorrow."
Karen smiled. "Grill the answers out of him, I."
"Definitely." she said. "While we're here, I say you look for someone else to make him jealous."
Karen smirked. "Since when have you been the expert on revenge?"
"Since now. Come on. We still have..." she started, mentally searching the map of the mall that she memorized. "Fourteen more shops to check out on our list."
Karen laughed. "Okay, let's go." she said, grabbing Ingrid's arm and linking hers. "It feels so nice to finally go shopping. I haven't had the time in weeks."
"Neither have I." she said, pushing the bathroom door open.
"So what's up with Jared and Joseph sleeping in the same bed?" she asked.
Ingrid laughed. The thought of Joseph still being a child inside always made her smile. "He's going through some stage, I guess. He's still a little kid in there."
Karen smiled. "He's always been. But I think he's upset about something."
"You would know." Ingrid said, as she eyed a black jacket in a shop window. "You've known the guy since you were probably born."
Karen nodded. "Pretty much. I don't want to bother him about it though. It might be a sensitive topic for him."
"I think he'll tell us eventually. It's hard for him to keep things to himself."
"Not really. He can keep things to himself pretty well. But if it's big, he's bound to tell someone."
"That someone being his brother."
Karen nodded. "I don't know when they became this close. When they were growing up, they weren't playing pranks or being bullies to each other. In fact, I hardly saw them together. It was as if they weren't brothers. Jared was always self-kept, while Joseph was always with his sister, Celine."
"Yeah. I heard him mention that a lot."
"They're still close, but it seems to me, Joseph's more drawn to Jared these days."
"Must be a high school thing." said Ingrid. Karen smiled.
"Maybe."
"What about Fillmore?" asked Ingrid. "What was he like back then?"
Karen tapped her chin. "Hm, that's a pretty long way back. Why haven't you asked him?"
"Well, I have. But I know he's leaving things back. I know how much he hates talking about his past."
"That's right." she agreed. "As you already know, he's an ex-delinquent, changed by Wayne. Fillmore was brilliant. He could make any scheme work. He was skilled in so many things. That's why he's pretty well known underground. Wayne convinced him that he was talented, special, smart. But he was using them in the wrong way. Somehow, what many people tried to do, Wayne managed to do."
"What?"
"Get in Fillmore's head. Anyway, what made Fillmore the best, was that he knew what a criminal would do. How he'd pull it off. What measures to take. The side he was on before, there were no permanent alliances. It was a world of trickery and debauchery. He learned not to trust. But thanks to Wayne, he did."
Ingrid nodded. "Fillmore's ashamed of his mistakes in the past. But what about Penny?"
"Penny." repeated Karen. "Penny, an ex-delinquent like him. She's actually a nice girl. She, like Fillmore, was confused and misunderstood. So she found him. They ended up close. They trusted each other, but at one point Penny betrayed his trust. She was also a reason why he wanted to join. Fillmore didn't want to join at first because he didn't want to leave Penny. And when Penny betrayed him, he had nowhere else to go to."
"I'm glad he's fighting for the right side now." said Ingrid.
"I know." said Karen. "But right now all he's doing is confusing me. I don't understand why he's going with Penny again after she destroyed his trust for two times already."
"I think Fillmore loves her. He just doesn't want to admit it."
"Ingrid..." started Karen. "He's been in love with you since seventh. I don't know how he fell for her."
"I have too. But Joseph... I fell for him, and honestly, he's the only one I can see with me right now." she said. "I swear, even just thinking about him makes me so happy."
"That's great." said Karen. She didn't know if she meant it or not, or if she sounded convincing enough. She pulled Ingrid into the next boutique they passed to avoid any further discussion. Somehow, she just wanted to forget everything she'd felt for Joseph. She was tired of feeling things she wasn't supposed to.
try to get mom and dad alone.
"When do you plan to ask them?"
"I don't know, Jared."
"Make up your mind. I'm not approaching them about it until you're ready." he said. "And I'm still pissed as hell at them for not bothering to tell us anything."
"Jared, please, they have their reasons." said Joseph. "Everyone does. Just be open-minded."
Jared sighed. "You know what? You're right. But I think we need to talk to them tonight."
"I'm sure it's obvious to them that something's bothering you. You haven't spoken to them since Wednesday." said Joseph. "They're not stupid."
"If I did, I might just snap. And heck, I don't want to do that." he said. "I might hurt them, myself, worst of all you."
Joseph nodded in understanding. "Okay. I'm ready. Let's talk to them tonight. But I want to keep Celine out of this first. I don't want her to be upset over a problem that's not hers. I'll tell her once we've cleared it up."
"All right." he said. He didn't have to argue with that. Celine would still know, even though they would block it at first. "I'll see that she gets sent over to Wayne's father's wake later. She's been meaning to go, but she's been too busy. Besides, the funeral will be tomorrow."
"Okay. And Jared?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. For everything." he said.
He gave him a small smile. "Of course. Joseph. I'd do anything for you."
"I would too." he said, giving his brother a hug, and a kiss.
Jared pulled away a little later. "I'll go talk to Celine. You go figure out how to initiate the talk."
"Okay."
Jared walked downstairs and knocked on the rosewood door of his sister's room. He heard a faint response and pushed the door open. There, he found Celine staring at her bedspread, with a periwinkle-colored miniskirt and at least ten tops around it. Shoes were placed by pairs on the floor at her bed's side.
"Oh, hey Jared." she said, turning her head to face him. She brushed away a lock of her red hair. "Listen. I was wondering what might look nice with this lavender mini. I was debating between the slouchy gray off-shoulder one... or this black sweater-shirt thingy with the thin white belt. Ignore the others... come on. Rose with lavender? Uh, no. Too much pastel is never good."
"Actually, the skirt's periwinkle, but you're close. I think you should go for the black." he said. Somehow, he just knew fashion. It was... so very gay of him. Nate often teased him of being a fashionista, but he couldn't help it. Even his dad cared about the difference between blue and cerulean. Adoptive dad at least, he thought, grimacing. "Gray and light shades of violet are last year."
She chuckled. "Nice one." He watched her put aside the ten or so tops, and place them back into her giant walk-in closet. "I swear, I'm going to need an even bigger closet. This is big enough, but with the number of stuff mom wants me to try out and the clothes I buy from the mall? I might as well be the Imelda Marcos for clothes."
He laughed. "You're getting there."
"So like, what shoes should I wear with them?" she asked, getting out of the closet in only her underwear.
"Hey!" he said, turning away. "I'm still here ya know. Those silver flats are okay."
"Thanks, then." She laughed, and pulled over the clothes. "So what's up? Why're you here?"
"Well, I'm wondering if you want to go to Wayne's dad's wake later. Cause the funeral's tomorrow, and I guess Wayne's pretty sick of Joseph's company and mine..."
"Sure. I've been meaning to go." she said, as she zipped up the skirt. Jared decided it was safe enough to turn around.
"Great. Where're you going?" he asked, and watched her race to the mirror. She took some primer and spread it on her face.
"Shopping." she replied, and applied TruBlend Minerals by Covergirl foundation. He rolled his eyes.
"Again?"
"Well, yeah." she said, coating her lips with lip gloss. "I haven't gone in like, a week. Besides, I'm hanging with Mandy. I haven't talked to her in a while."
"I see." he said. "Okay, see you later. And make it obvious when you're leaving."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Bye Jared." she said, rushing over and kissing him on the mouth.
He walked outside and went back upstairs to Joseph's room.
"Come up with anything yet?"
"Yeah." he replied. "I'll handle it. Dude, what's with the lip gloss?" asked Joseph, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Celine. You know her." he said, wiping it away.
Joseph smirked at him. "And I thought you were getting gay..."
"Ass." he said, throwing a jacket at him, which he caught.
A few minutes later, they heard Celine's voice.
"Bye mom, bye dad! I'll be visiting Mr. Legitt's wake later, so I'll be home eight-ish!" she yelled, and closed the door as loud as she could without breaking it. Joseph and Jared snickered. They took it as their cue and they went downstairs, finding both their parents seated on the cream-colored leather couch sipping coffee.
"Mom, Dad?" Joseph said. "Can we talk?"
Jared suppressed a groan. Joseph was going to be straightforward... not exactly what he had in mind, but since Joseph was going to do most of the talking, he didn't argue to that.
"Sit." said his father. Jared thought he might know what it was about, since his face was significantly calmer than their mother's. "Jacqueline, relax. They didn't do anything wrong."
"Now." he continued. "What's this about?"
"We need to know the truth."
shut the fuck up.
"Karen! Finally."
"What?" she said, setting her bags down in the foyer. Angeline was in the kitchen, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Ugh. Your boyfriend's been calling for like, the past hour. I've barely been able to get anything done here." she said, gesturing to her trigonometry homework and a music sheet.
"Couldn't you have disconnected the line?"
"He was calling my phone." she said, rolling her eyes. "He was way annoying."
"Why didn't you shut it off?"
"Jared might call." she said.
"Whatever. Next time he calls, tell him I hate him."
"What?"
"I hate Adam, all right? Tell him to quit bothering me." she said, and grabbed her bags from the foyer. She walked upstairs, and closed her door. She opened the bags, and took out her new purchases, taking out the tags and putting them in the laundry, while waiting for her laptop to start.
She signed on to her e-mail, and wasn't surprised at the ridiculous number of messages he'd left her. She did love him. But it was the past. He and the dumb bimbos could screw around all they wanted. All Karen cared about was forgetting him. She opened one, what was there to lose? Not like she would reply to him or something.
She felt her blood boiling when she read it. He said he didn't know what he did to make her so angry. He said he still loved her. But Karen decided not to fall for that. She didn't even know why he was still hanging on to her when he had that stupid bimbo.
She hit reply and typed up a response.
Adam.
Leave me alone. Stop calling. Hell, don't even go near me in the halls. Do not even attempt to go near my home. You know exactly why I'm avoiding you. I saw you kissing that bitch. I don't want any reasons. So stop it. I'm not completely mean-- I'll save you any more embarrassment by saying that this... what we have, is over. We're done. For the record, I don't love you anymore. So go screw whoever the hell you want. I don't care. I hope they see through that deceiving outer appearance the true, lying cheater you are.
And by the way, don't even go near my sister.
She hit send without a second thought, and signed off. She didn't know what next to do.
so much for visiting the wake.
Wayne was staring at the pale corpse of his father. His hand was placed on the coffin. He wasn't thinking of anything, and he didn't want to. Perhaps he didn't have to. Not now, at least. He looked up at the names. Thank God Dane, Addison, whatever his name was, wasn't there. He would've ripped it off and burned it on the spot.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and immediately turned to the person. He was met by the bright-eyed Asceline, who he felt he hadn't seen in ages.
"Celine!" he exclaimed, giving her a quick embrace. "Wow, it's as if I haven't seen you in years."
"I know." she gushed. "How've you been? Sorry I didn't come any earlier... I had lots of stuff to do but Jared managed to make it possible for me to come. He said he'd follow or something. I dunno about Joseph though. He seems so bummed lately."
"Really?" he said. "I guess I need to go out more. I've confined myself in here for way too long."
She nodded. "I agree. You've become a lot paler."
He rolled his hazel eyes. "Then I need to get my ass to the beach and get that tan back."
"I like that idea. You might even get those nice golden flecks back in your hair." she said. Oh my God. I am flirting with him. What the hell? she thought.
"I had those?" he said, touching his hair.
"Yeah. You never noticed?"
He laughed. "Never really look at a mirror. Guess that explains my total sloppiness."
"Oh come on. You're okay. I mean, I've seen worse." she said.
"Yeah right. You live in a house of fashionistas. I mean, Joseph gets pissed off seeing a mismatched outfit. I find it rather amusing, though." he said.
"That's why I talk to him when I need help. Him and Jared, actually. They are so gay, I swear. I've never met guys girlier than I am." she said. "Like there's a big deal with difference between cream and linen, and thistle and lavender."
"The spelling." he said. They both laughed.
"Come on. We're going out." she said, pulling his hand.
"But I look like I just tumbled out of bed!" he said, gesturing to his outfit. Celine looked him up and down. He was wearing a gray shirt and white pajama bottoms. Yeah. He did. But the gray shirt was unbuttoned at the top, slightly revealing the muscular chest underneath. He came out of bed hours ago, but didn't bother fixing himself up. A little too gorgeous for the just-out-of-bed guy.
"Oh please." she said. "You look like a model for sleepwear. Come on, you don't look bad at all."
"Fine. Where're we going?"
"Out." she said, her faint British accent emphasized. "Wherever our feet take us."
"Okay, let's um... go?" he said, holding open the door for her. He still thought they looked odd. Here he was, looking like he came right out of bed, while Celine looked like she had come from the pages of a fashion magazine. Not like he'd read any, but he'd caught more than enough glimpses into one to know what was nice and what wasn't.
"Oops!" exclaimed Celine, whose keys, house keys, most likely, fell to the floor.
They both bent down to pick it up, but Celine beat him to it. Next thing he knew, he was staring right at her eyes. They stayed that way in what seemed like hours, but before either of them knew what was happening, they were kissing.
It was like one in a first, first date. Quick, slightly awkward, but still sweet. No love lost or gained, but it happened. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and felt like nothing more. The attraction that had been building up was gone. Not that either of them kissed badly, but they simply weren't right for each other.
They pulled away, slightly wide-eyed.
"Um..."
"That was..."
"We're not talking about that again, are we?"
"Don't think so." she said. "Now that it happened, I guess I need to be truthful to you."
"About what?"
"I kind of liked you before, but I dunno... after this it didn't seem right for you and me to be together." she said.
"My thoughts exactly. Well." he said. "Feeling's mutual."
"I think we'll be better off as friends."
"Same here. You still want to go out?"
"Of course!" she said. "Come on. We're heading to the beach. It's still five. We can like, watch the sunset in a while."
"But your outfit..."
"Screw it." she said. "Besides, it's not like it's going to be ruined forever."
"All right."
life's twists make it so much worse.
"How can you not tell anyone who did this to you if you know it, huh?"
"I don't want to! Why can't you just leave me be?"
"Ariella, for God's sake, please. You're in need of help, so stop denying that! Obviously you want justice to be done to you, but if you can't help yourself, no one else can help you!"
"Why do you care so much? Maybe you're in need of help since you bought that pregnancy testing kit!"
"It was for you. Why do I care? You're my sister. I don't want you ruining your life over this!"
"It's my life, not yours!"
"What is the matter with you? For the life of me, I cannot understand why you're protecting his identity when he destroyed yours."
"Go on, Ingrid, keep provoking me. You'll never get anything out of me."
"Giovanni is worried like hell about you. Why can't you just tell us and get this over with so you can start trying to forget this happened?"
"I am never going to forget it. No matter how hard anyone tries."
"Why don't you at least try to fix yourself? You're the biggest mess of a person I have ever seen. Why can't you just tell us who did this to you?"
"Because I don't want to remember!"
"Giovanni needs you to tell him!"
"Fine! You want to know so much? Adam's gang of twenty-year-olds. Now leave me alone!" she screamed, storming upstairs.
Ingrid fell on the couch. She didn't yell, much less at Ariella. She gulped. Adam's gang? Tomorrow was a day she most definitely was anticipating.
if you want the truth, make sure you can handle it.
"Jacqueline. It's time they did. They're not kids anymore. They'll be able to handle it." said their father, who clasped their mother's hand in his.
Jared flashed back to the previous night, when he and Joseph were unable to sleep. They were just lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, attempting to make figures out of what they saw there. Finally, Joseph couldn't take it anymore, and tugged on his hand.
"Jared."
"What?"
"I want to know why you're so angry at them."
He sighed. "I don't know why you're not feeling anything of the sort, Joseph. I don't get you."
"Just answer the question." he snapped.
"Fine." he said. "All my life, everything I'd ever wanted, I got. I couldn't have been any happier. But suddenly this turns up. How would you feel if you found out that your life is a complete, inconceivable lie? Wouldn't you feel upset? I know I am. I don't know why they'd never told us. I'd rather that I'd known before, because it is simply wrong for them to keep who I really am from me! I have the right to know what and who I am! Would you honestly prefer living in lies, Joseph? Would you?"
Joseph sighed. "Calm down. I'm sorry." he said, his voice shaking. "I'm sorry."
He felt a hand on his arm. "Joseph, I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to raise my voice at you."
"I-it's okay. I started it." he said. "But please, just don't get so angry at them. I'm sure they have reasons why they didn't tell us. I just hope that this secret... it won't tear this family apart."
"Why does it matter to you so much that they had reasons to keep it?"
"I just don't want this to destroy us. We may have our true family out there, but right now, they're the best we've got. I'm glad they took us in."
"No matter what you do, you never seem to fail to make me see a better perspective." said Jared. "I'm so glad I have you."
"Whatever the truth is, I hope we can handle it."
"We will. We're never given anything that we can't."
Jared handed them the manila folder. "I was searching for law books. And this came out."
His father nodded. "It's time you heard the real thing."
"Where to begin." said their mother. She sighed. "High school. Your father and I... we were forbidden love, as they call it. We both turned eighteen when we decided to elope. Your grandparents were enemies. It was an old friendship of theirs that dissolved and was made worse into rivalry. As you well know, your father's father was a well-known politician. He and my father were rivals there, and their running was what solidified their complete hatred for each other.
Your father's father ended up winning. My father didn't like it, and went as far as to accuse him of cheating. The two of us were forbidden, under any circumstances, to see each other. After high school, your father and I decided to elope. To France, because my mother had a vacation house there. We'd tried conceiving, but it never worked. I visited doctors and they told me I was infertile, and that if I wanted a child, I would have to adopt. By chance, I visited another doctor, and I met this young woman while we were waiting. She was having a child, but didn't want it."
"It was you, Jared." said their father. "She was considering abortion." Jared bit his lip, trying not to look as hurt as he felt. "Your mother, she talked to her. She said that she would adopt you. And the woman agreed. She said that she didn't want the child but didn't want an abortion."
"Who was she?" asked Jared.
"Agnès. Agnès-Yves de Brosse." said their mother. "Only sixteen years old. An up-and-coming model, who was harboring a secret affair with a wealthy English businessman, Corbin Sharpe. She confided this to us. She had green eyes and black hair, while she said that Corbin had black hair and silver, ice blue eyes.
We adopted you, and then, about two years later, she called again, asking us if we wanted another. She said she was pregnant again, and that she didn't want to abort again. Of course, we said yes. I've always wanted many children. The next year, you were born. And she gave us instructions to take very good care of you. I hope... we've managed to have done that."
Their father filled in. "A few months after you were given to us, we got word that my father had passed away. Who was I, twenty years old, thinking I could control my life and your mother's? Well, we went back. I can't say that our families immediately accepted us, but it was because of you two that the feud was put to an end. We officially married after we had both finished college."
Their mother sighed. "I wanted you to have a normal life. To be free of knowing that you were adopted. If you'd known earlier, I don't know what would happen to your self-confidence."
"What about Celine?" asked Jared.
"Celine was born after we moved back here. Turns out, your mother wasn't as barred as they told her." said Adam. "Now. I'm sure you have many things to ask. I'm sure you're confused, you don't know what to say, and that we should've been more truthful about it. But. It was your real mother's request that it be kept secret until you were ready."
"In fact, she said that we were not to approach you about it until you did." she said. "I wonder how she knew. Must be maternal instinct."
Joseph nodded. "What happened to them?"
"I don't know." she said. "The last we'd heard of them was when she left you with us."
A long silence went on in what seemed hours. Both teens were still recovering from the shock and processing the story to fit in with their lives. Their parents were just across them, wondering if they'd said enough and if they did the right thing.
Jared stood up, and ran upstairs to his room. It wasn't what any of them were expecting. Joseph sighed. This was one of the rare times when Jared actually showed anyone, other than Joseph, any emotion. They knew better than to run after him.
"Mom, Dad... thanks." said Joseph. "I'm really sorry... I didn't know how much you've done for us. Jared... he's just really confused."
"It's okay, Joseph. We understand. Not perfectly, but we have always been thinking about what you two would feel when you found out." she said. "In the eighteen years we've been with you, we haven't once thought about what we were going to say. It was thinking of what you would do."
"Now, it's up to you."
Joseph stared at his father. Adoptive father, that is. "What?"
"If you're going to search for them. It's okay. It's painful for us, but if you do, it's all right."
"Do I have to decide now?"
"No." he said. "Now that you know the truth, it's up to you as to how you're going to use what you know."
Man. I have so ruined their lives with this fic. Hell, I don't even know how I come up with this stuff. And I still don't have a story line for good old Vallejo! D: