The girls were dismissed after failing to stop Finstock from biting into one of their bath bombs. Had he not been so incredibly condescending and sarcastic about Gloria's brush with the law, she may have tried to stop him. Instead, she elbowed Erica in the side when the blonde tried to warn him and subtly shook her head.

"Oh god, why?!" The coach snapped at them, scraping his tongue with his fingernails as they shared an amused glance. "Okay, fine, you've made your point! Full marks! Now get out of here!"

With a smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth, Gloria turned to leave. "Come on, Blondie."

Erica followed without complaint. Biting her bottom lip, the younger girl stole a glance at the brunette. Gloria didn't notice, just hiked her duffle bag higher on her shoulder. Erica fiddled with her fingertips as she cleared her throat gently. When Spruce looked her way, she asked, "So…are we going to meet up again? To make more soap?"

"We should have enough for now." Gloria noted the slight blush on Erica's cheeks, and (not wanting to have the blonde make a quick getaway like she had that morning) grabbed her by the hand. Voice rushed, she continued, "But we'll need to sell them, like, soon."

The blush stayed on Erica's cheeks, but it wasn't from embarrassment. Entirely too pleased at the prospect of spending more time with Gloria (time that would be spend away from her parents and hopefully out of her bedroom- at least for now), the shorter blonde fought against a grin as the brunette gave her fingers a squeeze. Erica nodded a bit too eagerly and tried to suppress her smile.

Hands still entwined, the pair made their way out of the school. The blonde cleared her throat, her eyes darting around the empty halls nervously. When she caught sight of Lydia Martin and Allison Argent at the end of it, Erica pulled away from her

Gloria pretended not to notice. "Just gimmie a day and time," she told her. Running a hand through her messy hair, the older girl sniffed and feigned disinterest, but she understood why Erica had pulled away. Gloria ignored the two girls coming down the hall and held her hand out expectantly, "Here, you got your phone?"

Erica nodded and began to rifle through her overstuffed bag. Beside her, Gloria shifted awkwardly. She watched Lydia and Allison out of the corner of her eye, annoyed by their presence and Erica's reaction to it. Hand clenching and unclenching at her side, she pursed her painted lips and scowled as the girls passed them by without a second glance. Well, without a word. Allison offered them a quiet smile and Lydia sniffed with disapproval, keeping her strides steady so the other girl wouldn't pause.

Sneering at the redhead, Gloria popped the door open and stepped out onto the school steps. Erica followed, head down and still searching desperately through her bag for her phone.

Despite the bright afternoon sunlight, the air was brisk. It was expected, given they were midway through October, and Gloria felt like an idiot standing there in a tiny skirt and ridiculously thin tank top… especially when she was in a tiny skirt and a ridiculously thin tank top just to catch the attention of a girl who was probably straight.

Worse, it seemed like Erica might not only be straight, but ashamed to be seen with her. Irritation and anxiety welled in her as she thought of how quickly the blonde had let her hand go at the sight of Allison and Lydia. She thought about how Erica had ran from her in the hallway and how she had been so horrified at the thought of merely touching her- even if it was something completely innocent. Subtly trying to pull her skirt down, Gloria noticed a familiar Peugeot 205 GTI creeping into the parking lot. With a sigh, she glared at the two boys in the front seats as they beamed at her from the passenger window. The driver leaned forward and made kissy faces at the scowling girl as his passenger offered her a small wave. The brunette glared at them.

With a triumphant grin, Erica finally found her cell phone. "Here."

Gloria blinked as Erica passed her the phone. She took it from her and gave the shorter girl her own. As they began to type in their numbers, the hatchback honked. Once, twice, three times- each one making the blush on Gloria's cheeks darken a bit more, going from a light pink to a deep scarlet.

The blonde arched a brow. Looking from the older girl's muted features to the Peugeot, Erica asked, "Do you know them?"

Gloria didn't look up from the cell. Just shook her head firmly and replied with a stoic, "No."

"Gloria!" Taksa sang from the driver's seat. His voice was loud and obnoxious and painfully embarrassing. He bounced his fist off the horn a few more times, relishing in both the brunette and his passenger's blushes. As the boy beside him covered his face in shame, Taksa screamed, "Gloria Spruce!"

Erica smirked, looking incredibly doubtful and incredibly smug. "Are you sure?"

Gloria didn't look up from the phone. Just kept her expression blank as she shook her head. "Positive."

"Is that Erica?!" Taksa screamed, leaning over Seth (ruffling the passenger's auburn hair in the process) and beaming at the girls.

Erica blushed. Pleased and a bit curious, she chanced another glance at Gloria, hoping for an explanation. She didn't get one. Instead, the brunette handed the phone back to the younger girl and shrugged the bag up on her shoulder. "See you around."

Disappointed, Erica`s shoulders slumped. Fiddling absently with her fingernails, she forced a weak smile as Gloria stomped down the steps. "Bye."

"Hey!" The driver yelled, ignoring the menacing glare on Gloria's face in favor of the lone blonde teen on the stairs. "Hey, Erica! Do you want a ride?!"

Both girls blinked in surprise. Hazel eyes wide, Gloria's hand stilled on the door's handle as she waited for a response from Reyes. Nervous, she glanced at Seth, who smiled softly at her before shifting his gaze back to the girl on the steps.

Behind her, Erica shifting her weight from foot to foot. She supposed them to both be around Gloria's age and no younger. She knew she shouldn't- getting into a car with a couple of strange older boys was probably a bad idea, but she was curious about the type of people Gloria hung out with. The type of people Gloria liked, so she nodded and made her way down. "Sure."

Gloria suppressed a grin that did little to suppress her dimples as she opened the door. Seth got out and popped the seat up. The brunette crawled into the back and kicked the back of the driver's seat. Irritated, she hissed at him, "You're dead to me, Tambe."

"Great!" Taksa motioned to the blonde through Seth's window. "Come on, girlie, get your ass in gear!"

Blushing, Erica slipped into the back seat beside the dark haired girl. When Gloria didn't meet her gaze, she redirected her attention back to the driver. He was attractive- really attractive, with dark brown skin and shoulder length black hair that was pulled back in a short ponytail. His smile was wide and showed off straight white teeth. He was quick to offer her a hand.

"I'm Taksa," He told her with a grin. His fingers were adorned with a couple thin silver and onyx rings. He nodded toward the other boy as he adjusted the seat and got back in the car. "This is Seth."

The passenger turned in his seat. He was cute. His smile was more boyish and coy, his white uniform dress shirt a bit more ruffled than Taksa's. A faint blush lined his pale cheeks and she noted that much like Gloria, he had a dimple in his right cheek. He lifted a hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you."

Propping an elbow up on the driver's headrest, Taksa grinned at her. "You must be Erica."

Beside her Gloria rolled her eyes and did up her seat belt. "Shut up, T."

Taksa didn't take his eyes off the blonde. They glittered with mischief and mirth and Erica noticed they were lightly rimmed with kohl liner. He spoke in an almost wistful tone, "Don't tell me to shut up, Gloria, I'm making friends."

Seth turned back around in his seat and began to fiddle with the radio. Taksa rounded on him, slapping the boy's hand away. "Don't touch my baby!"

"Your baby has been blaring static for the past two blocks," Seth replied. His voice was soft and gentle and he let his hand fall without a fight. "Can we put in a tape?"

"Sure." Taksa shrugged and looked back at the couple in the back seat. "Glory, you mind passing my bag up?"

Embarrassed by his antics, Gloria shook her head. Still, she reached down and pulled a thick canvas bag out from under the driver's seat. She handed it to Seth as she told them it was time to go.

"Fine." Taksa rolled his eyes. "Erica, do you have a preference?"

The blonde looked to Gloria, who looked incredibly bored. A bit worried she had overstepped her bounds by agreeing to the ride, Erica bit her bottom lip. Leaning against her door, she shook her head and looked out the window. "Um, no."

The driver picked up on the change in mood immediately and would have none of it. Propping the handle beside his door up, he slammed his seat back into Gloria's legs.

"Goddamn it, Taksa!"

"Stop ignoring your girlfriend!" the brunet told her in a sing-songy voice that only seemed to enrage her more. "It's rude."

"So is breaking my goddamn knees!" Gloria screamed at him. How loud and shrill her voice was in the confined space did little to quell her embarrassment.

Taksa merely let out an unimpressed hum. "Yes, well, you don't need knees to make nice."

Pushing his seat up, Gloria let out a shriek of rage as he pressed back against her. "Okay! Fine! Fuck!"

The driver grinned and shrugged his shoulders playfully. "Good." He fixed his seat and popped in a tape. As the beginning of Alien Ant Farm's Smooth Criminal cover began to play through the battered speakers, he glanced at Erica. "So, Glory spent the weekend with you, huh?'

After a long moment of staring at him, the Reyes girl replied with a brisk, "Yeah."

"And you survived!" The boy chuckled and quirked his chin up. "Good for you."

Brown eyes squinted at him. "Thanks?"

"She must really- what?" Taksa paused mid-sentence as Seth shot him a stern look. "What'd I say?"

Instead of answering him, Seth glanced at Gloria. They shared a weak smirk before he turned back around. The exchange didn't go unnoticed by Erica, who suddenly felt very uncomfortable, very young and very stupid. Cheeks warm, the girl held her backpack tighter to her chest.

Gloria cleared her throat and looked back at the blonde. "So. Erica. This is Taksa and Seth. You can just ignore them if you want."

Erica smiled, but it was half-hearted and fake in a way that made Gloria's stomach knot.

Restless, the older girl twitched in her seat. "They're in the band."

The blonde pushed some of her frizzy bangs from her eyes. "What's it called?"

"V.D and Lemon Slushies," Seth told her with a simper.

Taksa's expression was hardly so subdued. Beaming, he glanced back at her as they pulled out of the parking lot. "But we're thinking of changing the name."

Gloria rolled her eyes. Rubbing her face, she sighed through her fingers. She was so sick of that goddamn joke.

"We're having a show on Halloween at the Distillery," Seth told the blonde with a quiet smile. "You should come."

A grin stretched over Erica's lips, but before she could speak, Gloria answered for her. Blunt and irritated, the brunette told him, "She can't."

The boy blinked in surprise. "Why not?"

"Because I fucking said so, that's why." Gloria sneered at him, glaring through dark liner and too much mascara. Seth frowned, but shrugged wordlessly as he turned back in his seat.

Erica felt tears scratch at the back of her throat. Embarrassed, she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip and kept her gaze on the back of the headrest in front of her. Clearly Gloria not only didn't want her around, but she also seemed ashamed of her. It made sense, really; of course she didn't care about being seen with the freak at Beacon Hills High, but around her friends? Her real friends? Why would she want to babysit the stupid little sick girl then? Stomach in knots, Erica swallowed.

"That is a good reason," Taksa agreed sarcastically. "We should answer all innocent questions with that tone. Especially around new people. Erica, baby, where'd you say you lived?"

"Oh, on Donahue."

"Oh, sweet, you're only a few blocks from me than." Taksa winked at her over his shoulder. He didn't seem at all put off on the Spruce's girl's sudden hostility. "We can gossip our about Gloria's mood swings some time."

"Sounds fun," Erica breathed with a hint of sarcasm.

Taksa chuckled, but said nothing.

Gloria on the other hand, was in complete hell. Hands clenching and unclenching at the material of her skirt, she clenched her jaw and prayed that Taksa would crash. Her fingernails buried in the thin fabric of her leggings, Gloria sighed. It wasn't that she didn't want Erica there. She did... kind of. The idea of playing to Erica made the older girl a bit uncomfortable for a reason she couldn't quite explain. Still, that wasn't the reason she had told them no.

"Well?"

The brunette blinked, looking up in surprise. Erica stood outside the car, looking at her with expectant eyes and a slightly hurt expression. "What?"

"Aren't you going to say goodbye?" Taksa pressed.

Gloria blinked and nodded. Glancing at the blonde, she offered her a brisk, "Goodbye."

Erica's features fell even further. Voice weak, she said, "Bye…" before she shut the door and all but ran into the house.

"Well." Taksa pulled out of the driveway. Voice a bit cooler than it had been, he told the young woman, "That was brutal. Even for you."

Gloria looked out the window. "Hm."

"I thought you liked Erica?" Seth asked with a hint of passive curiosity. "I mean, you spent the weekend with her."

Taksa smirked. "Men have died for less."

"I do. I do like Erica." Gloria shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Pulling her short skirt down a bit, she rolled her shoulders in a restless manner. "I think."

Seth blinked, his dark eyes soft and understanding as he tilted his head. "Then why bite my head off when I mentioned our show?"

"Because you invited a girl with epilepsy to a rave!" Their female guitarist growled at him, "You can't invite a girl with epilepsy to a rave!"

"I didn't know that!"

Taksa ignored Seth's horrified expression and asked a question of his own, "Why didn't you just say that?"

Gloria fiddled with one of the holes on the knee of her leggings. "She doesn't like when I talk about it. I didn't want to embarrass her."

The boys shared a look. Shaking his head, Seth told her, "I don't think that's how she took it."

"I don't really give a shit how she took it," Gloria lied, crossing her arms defensively. "She can't come. End of story."

"No, not end of story." Taksa told her, locking the doors as he pulled up in front of his house. "Just explain to her what's up. You have her number right? Shoot her a quick text and we'll pretend we don't know about it next time we see her."

Gloria paused. The boys, and really all of her friends, had always been better at reading people than her. "You think she's that upset?"

"Yes!" The boys snapped in unison.

After being greeted to an empty house, Erica had sought refuge in her room. Teary eyed, she sniffed as she remembered how angry Gloria had been, and how she had ignored her during the ride. With her pillow clutched to her chest, the blonde lightly banged her head against her headboard. She was such an idiot. Of course Gloria didn't want her hanging out with her friends. She was just the sick kid everyone either pitied or hated. Sighing, Erica closed her eyes and fell onto her side.

A light chime roused her from the bed. With a frown, she sat up. It was probably her mom, texting her to tell her she'd be late or that dinner was in the oven. She flipped it open and blinked in surprise at Gloria's name.

You can't come bc it's a rave. Rave + Epilepsy = bad time.

Another text chimed through and the blonde opened it eagerly.

I shouldn't have yelled. Sorry. See you at school, Bunny.

Another chime.

Shit. My phone autocorrected Bunny to Bunny.

The cell phone chimed once more and Erica beamed.

BLONDIE. SEE YOU AT SCHOOL, BLONDIE

Tears dry, Erica leaned back against the headboard and typed out a quick message of her own: Next time just say so. Don't bite my head off.

There was a brief lull before Gloria replied with ok and nothing else.

Smirking, the blonde shook her head and dropped her phone on the bed.

A/N: Special thanks to my beta, DarkAngelz200! Sorry for the wait, guys and dolls.