Brystol Cummings looked into the girls' bathroom mirror at James Madison High School. She delicately ran her fingers through her shoulder length, perfectly styled, dark-brown hair. She posed several times and announced as if she were the queen of the world, "God, I am gorgeous!"
She looked to the girl next to her who was obviously used to hearing such arrogant comments. "Allora, a little support please," moaned Brystol, who was still fussing with her hair.
Really, she was quite gorgeous. She was of medium height and had a nicely proportioned figure, which made her rather popular with the guys. It also helped that she was a cheerleader, and a good one at that.
Allora shook her head. "Stop fussing already. This is only school, after all." She shrugged. "Besides, you look fine to me," she said casually as she began to open the bathroom door.
"Allora, wait," called Brystol. "I'm not ready yet!"
Allora turned around and glared at Brystol with laughing crystal-blue eyes. "Then will you tell me what is so important?"
Brystol squealed and batted her long, dark eyelashes. "Allora, it's the first day of school. I mean, it's like a clean slate. You have to make a good impression. We're still, unfortunately, underclassmen. Besides, supposedly there're two new boys coming. Who knows, they might be cute."
Allora rolled her eyes. "Well, you're right about one thing. It is the first day of school, and we should make a good first impression. That's why I am going to leave now so I won't be late for History."
"You, late? That would like stop time or something," Brystol said sarcastically.
Allora began to leave.
"You know, if you play your cards right, one of these new kids might end up liking you."
"New kids come every year. Exactly what is so special about these two?" Allora asked.
"Yes and every year they get cuter. Do the math, Allora, you are good at that. This year's croup should be dreamy," Brystol informed.
"Well then, by all means do your hair. But I am a little more interested in getting to History." Allora said, leaving.
Brystol shook her head and narrowed her eyes as she watched Allora leave the bathroom. Some day I hope Allora realizes that boys were sent to this earth to do more than play hockey with her...
Morrigan Downs packed her books into her locker. She had a tired expression on her face and looked extremely depressed. She felt as if she might fall over any second. It was a real surprise when she felt a tapping on her shoulder, as she was usually a loner at school. Morrigan turned around. A guy named Travis Folkner laughed. "Oh, NO! Somebody call a priest. It's the she-devil!"
Morrigan shook her head as she watched him run down the hall screaming and hurried back to packing her books. When she finished packing, she ran her fingers through her hair, and began to hurry down the hall to her first class. Not two seconds later, though, she heard her name again. Ready to be laughed at, she ignored it, not realizing it was Truman. "Morrigan!" he called out again.
She turned to Truman. He wore a burgundy and gray sweater vest over a pastel pink dress shirt and khaki pants. She shielded her eyes. He may be her friend, but his sense of fashion was absolutely appalling to her gothic taste. "Morrigan, there you are." Truman hugged Morrigan. "How are you holding up? Are you okay?"
Morrigan sighed. "Yeah... another guy down the drain due to the rumor that Goth girls are easy..."
Truman looked at her sympathetically. "Hon, you'll find the right guy someday. Trust me..."
Truman hugged Morrigan again and Morrigan hugged back with a fake smile. "Thanks, Tru, but you know how I feel about being called 'hon'."
Truman glared at Morrigan angrily with his honey brown eyes flaring. "And you know how I feel about being called 'Tru'. Oh, it's okay. In your time of need you may call me anything you like... except..."
Morrigan eyed Truman, "Okay, Tru. No fruit cake cracks."
Truman gave Morrigan a nasty look. "Okay, you've had your fun. You can shut up now."
Morrigan laughed and ruffled his light brown hair. Truman once again gave the evil eye, then sighed. Both hugged one more time.
Johnny Maffeo walked down the halls of JM. He was the god of the tenth grade. All girls wanted him and all guys wanted to be him. He was the best defenseman on the hockey team during his freshman year, and he had supposedly worked out all summer. The coach really liked Johnny and it was expected of him to get on the team this year as well as be the assistant captain. He continued to walk and smile until he came to a girl named Sally.
"Sally," asked Johnny. "Have you seen Allora?"
Sally stared at Johnny in disbelief. The hazel-eyed hunk actually knew her name!
"I saw her... I saw... with Brystol... girls'... girls' bathroom..."
Johnny smiled and patted Sally on the head. "Thanks, Sally."
Sally fell back against her locker and sighed.
Principal Eggert walked into his office. There he saw two young men seated in front of his desk. "Hello, gentlemen," he said.
The two young men stared.
Eggert sighed. They look like trouble...Then again they all look like trouble. Damn school. He seated himself at his desk, cracked his knuckles, and began to look through their papers. Cousins... Parents moved to get away from the "busy life" of Las Vegas...What a crock...
He looked to the one seated to his left. He had a black trench coat on that covered most of his clothes, which also seemed to be black. He wore dark sunglasses over his eyes, and his hair was a dark shade of brown. "And which one are you?" asked Eggert.
The boy removed his sunglasses to reveal that he had one blue eye and one green eye. "I'm Drake Grey. And who are you?"
Eggert nearly choked at the remark. "Well, I am your new Principal, Mr. Eggert."
Drake smirked and looked to the boy next to him. "What the hell type of a name is Eggert?"
Eggert looked even more shocked. Drake placed his glasses back on his face. "You know son," said Eggert trying to stay calm, "school rules prohibit sun-glasses on inside the building."
Drake shrugged.
"And," Eggert continued, "When your locker is assigned, your trench has to go, too."
The small office became still and quiet. Eggert cleared his throat. He looked at the other boy whose name was Trey Calisto. Trey had on baggy carpenter jeans, a loose black tee with the Blue Oyster Cult on the front, a black flannel tied around his waist, a silver loop earring on his left ear, a sliver cartilage earring on the same ear, sapphire blue eyes, and remarkable dark blue hair.
Eggert looked at the shirt with a blank stare. "Is that your band or something? All of you seem to have a band these days."
Trey seemed very confused. "No. They kind of broke up a while ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry about that. You'll find another band to join. JM has a great band program."
Trey just stared at him in utter astonishment.
Eggert's eyes fell on Trey's blue hair. He suddenly looked depressed. "You know son, that blue had better be out of your hair within two weeks."
Trey blushed horrendously and Drake let out a long exasperated sigh.
"What?" questioned Eggert.
Drake shrugged and answered, "He can't."
"Oh," said Eggert. "It's permanent?"
Drake shook his head. "No. It's natural."
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" asked Eggert.
"Well..." replied Drake, in a sardonic manner.
"Err... no, sir. But, everything Drake said was true..." Trey finally whispered in total embarrassment.
Eggert raised an eyebrow at Trey. "You two seriously expect me to believe that?"
Trey nodded. I am so not going to fit in here… But it's either try or be Drake's sidekick for the rest of my life…
"Son, blue hair is NOT humanly possible."
Drake glared at Eggert, "Then you're calling my cousin an alien?"
"No. I'm calling both of you liars," he said coolly.
"Sir," Trey finally spoke up. "Sir, you do realize hair color is controlled by chromosomes? And it really it isn't as uncommon as you may think not to have red, brown, or blonde hair from birth. What you just said, well you would certainly be the laughing stock of the scientific community. I don't know how else to explain it, but if you have to, you can call my parents. They'll vouch for me. Drake's parents, too"
Eggert gave Trey a blank look. He stared down at Trey's transcript. Imagine…nearly straight C's in everything, and he has the nerve to speak to me like I'm stupid. Well, at least he has the A's in Biology and Shop. But still, those Las Vegas schools are easy. I can't wait for his next report card. We'll see who's being smug then. "I suppose I can take your word for it." Eggert cleared his throat. "I welcome you to James Madison High School. Hopefully you will have a productive stay here," Eggert stared at Drake. "Anyway, I'll get one of our students to give you a tour, and then they can drop you off at Guidance to get your schedules taken care of."
Trey nodded shyly, still embarrassed. Drake didn't bother making eye contact.
Eggert picked up the phone. "Page Allora Colleen, please."
Allora sat in U.S. History very bored. She twirled her red hair around her finger, as she decided to write a note to Morrigan, who sat behind her. As she reached for a blank piece of paper, a folded one fell onto her desk from behind her. Allora smiled. Morrigan always beats me.
She unfolded the note:
Dear Allora,
Ugh! History! Well at least you seem interested in it. Anyway, Truman said we're meeting after hockey in the usual spot. He said it's important. I'll be the judge of that.
~Morrigan
"Allora Colleen, please report to the Principal's office," a voice boomed over the intercom as she finished reading the note.
Allora got up and walked down the hall to the office, but not before giving Morrigan a reassuring nod. She walked in, smiling at the secretary.
"I was paged," Allora said sweetly.
The secretary gave Allora a warm grin. "Principal Eggert would like to see you in his office."
Allora walked over to Eggert's office door and opened it. She went in. "You needed me?"
"Yes," Eggert began. "Can you give Mr. Grey and Mr. Calisto here a tour? Afterwards drop them off at Guidance."
Allora nodded. She looked at the two boys and smiled again. One of them had, of all things, shockingly blue hair, the other seemed disinterested altogether. "Let's go then."
Both boys got up. "I'm Trey," the blue-haired boy said. He seemed nervous.
"I'm Drake," the other one said, trying to seem cool or superior or something.
Allora frowned. The last thing she wanted was to deal with a cocky jerk on the first day of school.
"I'm Allora," she replied, wishing she was still in History class.
After all three had left the principal's office, they entered the lobby, which was very large. "This is our trophy case," Allora explained, pointing to the side the office was on. "As you can see, JM is very successful in athletics. Of course we hope to add to it this year. We're looking for a hockey state championship. I have my fingers crossed, of course."
"Hockey?" Trey asked. "I play hockey. I mean I did back in Las Vegas. I used to play a lot of street hockey."
"Well, we play on ice of course," Allora replied, looking at Trey skeptically, noticing he didn't seem the hockey type.
"I played on ice, too," Trey added defensively, looking slightly hurt.
"Well then. I suppose you'll have to try out. They're after school today. How about you?" Allora asked, looking in the direction of Drake.
Drake sneered. "Hockey tryouts already? What the hell type of school is this? Hockey is not in September. Haven't you guys heard of football?" Drake said, taking his sunglasses off.
Allora frowned. "At JM, we take hockey very seriously as well as our neighboring school districts. We like to get an early start at the sport and have quite a number of scrimmages before the real season begins. It's also exceedingly difficult to get on the team. Only the very best make it, and Coach Ryder makes absolutely no exceptions." She gave Drake a harsh glare. "Do you think you have it in you?"
"Perhaps… "
"Well if you're lucky enough to get on the team, I would be your teammate. I'm the starting center and captain, or at least I was last year, which was my freshman year. So with some luck, I'll make it again this year," she declared proudly. Normally, Allora was never so brash, but Drake kept getting worse and worse.
"Girls on the hockey team? I suppose there isn't enough interest in the sport for guys to come out. Do you people even play games, or is it just for 'fun'?" Drake nastily enquired.
Allora, now at her wit's end with Drake, pointed a finger towards the guidance office door. "You know, I suppose the tour is over for you. Guidance is over there. You can get your schedule."
Drake began to walk away.
"Hope to see you at the tryouts," Allora called to him.
Drake didn't turn around.
"What is with him?" Allora asked Trey, putting her hands on her hips.
"He doesn't really have great people skills. He's usually not like that, well, maybe sometimes. But, most girls don't stand up for themselves like you did. I gotta say that I'm impressed." Trey beamed a light shade of pink. He had really begun to admire Allora's confidence.
Allora grinned. "Well, not to be rude, but I am most certainly not your typically girl. I like to be in control. Call me a control freak if you will," she stated as she raised an eyebrow.
Trey laughed, as well as Allora. Then he snuck a peak in the open guidance office door to see Drake arguing with the counselor. "Things aren't so hot for Drake in there."
Allora peeked in, just in time to see Drake mouthing "asshole" to Trey. "Serves him right," she said haughtily.
"I suppose so…" Trey felt slightly bad about abandoning Drake like that.
"Don't worry about him," Allora instructed as she grabbed Trey's arm. "Let's get on with the tour. I think we'll go to the basement first. That's where the weight room and shops are."
But suddenly he didn't feel bad at all. Trey was determined to enjoy his stay at JM, and this Allora was certainly going to help.
The James Madison lunchroom was extremely crowded. Morrigan had to push through hordes of kids to find a seat. She had a particularly hard time getting through a group of cheerleaders, who didn't seem to notice her trying to shove her way through.
"God, do you people always have to travel in packs?" Morrigan said, exasperated.
They all gave her a mean look, whispering to each other as they parted. Morrigan could only guess what it was. The rumor was flying around the school with amazing speed. The rumor itself was that Morrigan had been raped. Luckily, though she hadn't been. Her boyfriend, Bernard, had gotten Morrigan drunk and, well nothing happened but it almost did. The couple had been at her house and things were getting spicy. If it weren't for Johnny and Allora stopping over, things probably would have gone all the way. Morrigan hadn't really gotten over it, it had happened only three days ago. Thank goodness Bernard left JM for a private art school in the city. Though Morrigan originally planned to leave with him, she was more than glad she didn't.
She went to the only table that was empty and sat directly in the middle. She grinned to herself. Now we'll have the table all to ourselves.
Morrigan began scanning the cafeteria for Allora. It didn't take long to spot her vibrant red hair. She had a crazed expression on her face and it looked as if she might freak at any moment.
Man, there are so many people. This new freshmen class is too big. Ugh! Where is Morrigan? Allora looked around. No Morrigan. But suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her lounging back at a deserted table. She laughed to herself. That's Morrigan for you... Allora made her way to Morrigan and sat down.
"Hey, Morr. Are we still meeting after the hockey tryouts?"
"You bet. Brystol... what are you doing here?"
Both Allora and Morrigan turned to watch Brystol sit across from them.
"Hi guys. I thought I'd sit with you today."
Allora and Morrigan exchanged glances. Allora sighed, "Who are you ticked at or who's ticked at you?"
Brystol shrugged. "No one that I can think of."
Morrigan growled. "Shouldn't you be kissing Miss Cheerleading Captain Bunnie's ass? Why aren't you with your little cheer-friends?"
Brystol folded her arms, "Why aren't you with a band of depressed, somber Goths? We all have to expand our horizons."
Morrigan rolled her eyes.
"By the way, Morrigan, how are you taking the break-up? I mean, he did practically try to like rape you...Or at least that's the word around school."
Allora closed her eyes, waiting for the bomb to detonate, as Morrigan got right in Brystol's face.
Morrigan fumed. "How do you think I'm taking it? I mean, doesn't the expression on my face just show it all? How about my TONE OF VOICE?"
"Oh, I thought it was just PMS," Brystol mocked.
With that, Morrigan lunged for Brystol's throat.
"Morrigan! Settle!" Allora yelled as she barely managed to pull her back from a shrieking Brystol.
"Don't ever say that again, Brys."
Brystol shook her head, trying to catch her breath. "Jeez. I think it is that time of the month. It's not like I said anything about Bernard. Oh, oops," Brystol mouthed, looking exaggeratingly regretful.
"You're evil. You already knew about Morrigan's situation., no rumor told you that. You can be so vicious," Allora said, giving Brystol a strange look.
"You can shut up, Allora," Brystol screamed, her eyes now fiery with anger. "I saw you with Mike today. You were flirting with him in study hall. God, it's only been a week since I dumped him. You'd think you'd be a better friend than that. Some nerve you have, flirting with my ex."
"Wait, I was sure you were dumped, not the other way around," Morrigan said, smiling.
Brystol laughed. "Me, dumped? Like that'll ever happen."
"We were talking about tryouts today. That's all." Allora was appalled that Brystol accusing her of flirting with her ex-boyfriend.
Brystol thought for a second. "Oh yeah, that's right. Boys are just hockey buds for you, right?"
Morrigan had to laugh, and Allora almost nodded in agreement, but then realized they were making fun of her.
Allora sighed. "You guys are too much."
Drake and Trey scanned the lunchroom. Only now had they gotten their school-bought lunches. Trey pulled Drake across the room. "Where could she be?" said Trey to himself.
Drake eyed Trey. "Did you see a girl?"
Trey blushed. "Well, yeah. She's over there." Trey pointed to a table at the far end of the cafeteria.
Drake looked to where Trey was motioning. "Yeah. The purple in her blond hair really brings out her green eyes... and her build isn't bad either. She's thin, but not necessarily petite. I would guess she's about five foot six or five foot seven."
Trey shook his head, slightly disgusted. "Uh, that's enough. You're weird. Anyways, that's not her. The girl Eggert had give us a tour is the girl I'm talking about. Or should I say the girl who gave me a tour?"
Drake rolled his eyes, "Ha ha. Very funny, Trey. Her name was Allora, right? Yeah she was okay, I guess. Although, it's not like you could tell much about her figure with that stupid jersey on. I bet she's a lesbian. Female athletes," Drake shuddered slightly, "give me the creeps. Now the babe next to her..."
Trey and Drake looked at each other and smiled. Then Drake began to pull Trey over towards where the girls were sitting. "Follow me and learn."
Drake and Trey sat at the table directly across from Allora, Morrigan, and Brystol. Drake pulled out an extra pair of sunglasses and handed them to Trey. "Now we can observe without them ever knowing."
Trey shrugged, put his hands under his chin, and ever so conspicuously, stared directly at Allora.
"So what do you guys think?" asked Brystol.
Both Morrigan and Allora replied in a monotone voice, "Of what?"
"My new outfit?" Brystol said standing up to show them she was wearing a pink blouse and Capri pants.
"It's nice," Allora answered, though she couldn't care less.
Morrigan simply mumbled something about "preps" under her breath.
Brystol smiled. "Great! I had second thoughts about it this morning. I wasn't sure if it was too late in the year for such a summery outfit. But I think it works."
Then Brystol looked at Allora and seemed to forget about her outfit. "You know that new guy, Trey Calisto, has been staring at you all period."
The three girls turned to see Trey staring at Allora with a funny grin on his face.
Allora looked confused, "So? Maybe he wants to join the hockey team. I was talking to him about it this morning."
Brystol shook her head in disagreement. "No. Boys don't stare at girls because they want to join the hockey team, even if you are the infamous Allora Colleen. Anyways, in study hall today, he was asking me all these questions about you. It's so sweet. He's kind of cute, too. I mean, if you like that grungy look. The other one is just plain weird looking. You know who he kind of reminds me of?" Brystol looked at Morrigan meaningfully.
"Say it and die!" Morrigan screamed, through gritted teeth.
Brystol got up, and smiled. "Bernard!" she said, quickly walking toward the cheerleader table.
Morrigan looked at her with a stony-eyed glare. "Stupid cheer-witch."
"Don't worry about it. She just does it to get a rise out of you."
Morrigan seemed to calm. "Anyway, about that Trey kid," she teased, eyeing Allora.
"Oh shut up! This morning I gave him a tour of the school. We talked a bit and found we had a few things in common, like hockey. He said he's coming to tryouts today. He's probably just finding things out about me because he sees me as competition. That's all."
"Oh drop the act. You like him, too."
"Yeah, okay. He's so hot. Oh my God! I don't know if I'll be able to control myself today at tryouts," Allora sneered, sarcastically.
"Yeah well it doesn't matter if you're distracted at tryouts anyway. You could make the team in your sleep. Coach Ryder practically has your name as well as Johnny's tattooed to his ass. Me on the other hand…" Morrigan suddenly seemed worried.
"Oh you drop the act! You know you'll make it!"
Morrigan winked. "Hey, I'm not. Anyway, that kid next to Trey is hot! I suppose he does look a bit like Bernard, but I bet he's different. Just look at his eyes. One's blue, and one's green! How sexy," Morrigan seemed starry eyed as she gazed at Drake.
"Oh God! He's a misogynistic pig. Besides, he's from Las Vegas, so he's probably a chronic gambler or an alcoholic." Allora glared at him disapprovingly. I can't believe she's into him I hope she knows what's she's getting herself into.
"Okay then… we'll just see about that. I'm going to talk to him," Morrigan gave Allora a devilish smirk, then got up and sauntered over to Drake and Trey.
"Hi, I'm Morrigan," she said, giving Drake a longing stare.
Drake stared back at her, almost smiling. "Hi Morrigan. I'm Drake."
"I've already heard a lot about you from Allora," Morrigan said, still with that longing stare.
"I'm sure it was all good, then." Drake folded his arms casually, thoroughly enjoying this girl's sudden interest.
"Of course. She said you were from Las Vegas. But she didn't mention if you would be trying out for the hockey team or not."
"That all depends."
"On what?"
"If you are," Drake replied coyly.
Morrigan giggled, though she thought it was slightly a turnoff. She was never a fan of coyness. "I am."
"Then I most definitely will."
"And I suppose I'll see you there, too… Trey was it?"
Trey nodded and whispered under his breath, "I thought female athletes were lesbians."
Drake smiled sweetly at Morrigan as she walked back to her lunch table, while giving Trey the finger from underneath the table.
Truman was now sitting with Allora. She looked up. "How did it go?" she asked, a noticeable amount of malice in her voice.
"Fine, I guess. I didn't really get a woman hater vibe, but he wasn't great at hitting on me, either."
"What a pity," Truman sneered.
"Oh be quiet, Tru. At least I can get a boyfriend, unlike you, who's never dated in his life." Morrigan narrowed her eyebrows at Truman.
"Why, you! I didn't mean anything cruel, Morrigan," Truman began defensively. "I just think you're trying to rush into another relationship to get over Bernard, which isn't the way to go."
"Truman's got a point, Morrigan," Allora agreed. "And might I add that this guy is a jerk. He's no good, I'm telling you. In the end, he'll be just like Bernard."
Now Morrigan had been having a horrible day. First it was Travis Folkner, then the rumor, then Brystol. But getting grief from her two best friends was the last straw. "Allora, how can you tell all about a guy's dating habits from one day? And on the first day of school, yet? Perhaps he was a bit moody to you, but unlike you, things aren't handed to people like me and him. This is JM, the school were unique is a sin, we're talking about. I'd be pissed if I were him too. Who knows how long he was chewed out for all his imperfections in Eggert's office this morning?"
"Eggert isn't that bad, Morrigan. And I don't think a professional educator would find it wise to scare his students on their first day of school. And speaking of bad, JM isn't as shitty as you make it out to be." Allora's temper was really flaring. Incase Morrigan hadn't noticed, she hadn't had the greatest day, either. Which was in fact, Drakes fault.
"You're right, Al. A professional educator-especially one at JM-would not want to scare new students on the first day of school-if they were jock material. I'll admit, JM is a good school, but only for certain people. People like you, Allora. But, not people me." With that, Morrigan ran off to the girls' bathroom.
Allora got up to follow her. But she didn't because of two things. The first was that Truman stopped her saying that Morrigan needed time to herself, and the second was Johnny, who appeared out of nowhere and looked a bit excited.
"Finally, I've been looking for you. I really need to speak with you privately," he said, hinting towards Truman.
"What's up?" she asked as she got up and walked to a corner of the cafeteria with him.
"It's about hockey tryouts today." Johnny spoke in a grave tone, which was very unlike him.
"Yeah, what about them?"
"I heard that Granger's sending a spy to check out our new talent. They heard this Calisto kid is coming from Las Vegas. He's supposedly very good. I think I remember seeing him play last year at Nationals. He was pretty good."
"What?" Allora yelled. The lunchroom became quiet all of a sudden. Allora blushed. "Excuse me? Trey Calisto?" she whispered.
People began talking once again. "Yeah, you know him?"
"Kind of." Allora was suddenly very interested in this Trey character. "What position did he play? How did his team do?"
Johnny looked at Allora slightly cockeyed. "How am I supposed to remember? This is me we're talking about. I think he played a wing." Then Johnny understood. "Oh, I see, checking out the competition? Or are you?" Johnny winked and elbowed Allora.
Allora ignored what Johnny was insinuating "You know, who cares about Granger spies? They can't base any kind of game plan off of a tryout," Allora observed, trying to change the subject.
Johnny rolled his eyes. "I guess you're right. I'll see you at tryouts, then."
Johnny walked away, as Allora looked over at Trey in a new light.