Hey everyone, welcome to the second chapter of 'Liberty with a Vengeance'.
Hope ya like it! Oh, EvilAngelFish, I did live in Louisiana at one time,
for about two years, and I knew a family that was Cajun.
Disclaimer: I own Aubrianna, and that's really about it.
Chapter Summary: It's the first day of school for our two young heroines, and all is not well. Aubrianna's already made her first enemy, but luckily, that works against her enemy, and not her. Liberty tries not to lose her patience with ultra-sweet Emma, and oh-so-cool Manny. Both girls have dates in progress, which is the only thing keeping them from knocking a certain blonde cheerleader and her slutty-dressing sidekick cross-eyed.
Chapter 2-First Day of School (Insert cringe)
Liberty tickled her cousin's feet. "Wake up Aubri."
Aubrianna rolled over and murmured something in French. Liberty jerked the covers off her cousin's head.
"I'm just trying to help you out. Calling me a pig with hair wasn't very polite. Next time I'll just let Jimmy see you in your underwear."
Aubrianna shot out of the bed and raced into the bathroom, calling a hasty apology to her cousin over her shoulder. She showered, while Liberty busied herself fixing some scrambled eggs. When Aubrianna emerged freshly scrubbed from the shower, Liberty gave her an approving glance.
"You look cute."
"Thank ya. Mama always said try your best, yeah?" Aubrianna said, indicating the short sleeved, low cut peasant top and jeans. She held up a pair of boots. "I refuse to put these on until absolutely necessary."
"If they hurt your feet, what's the point of wearing them?"
"They don't hurt my feet; I just don't like wearing shoes in the house."
Liberty nodded. "Makes sense." Aubrianna looked her favorite (and only) cousin over.
"I think we did good picking out your outfit." Aubrianna stated in regard to the black pinstriped pants and light green halter top. A black men's shirt went over it, with the tails tied in front. A pair of strappy sandals went with it.
"I didn't do anything; you picked everything out. Are you sure I can wear your jade necklace tomorrow?"
"It was made for you, chèrie. Green suits you. Brings out your eyes, yeah?"
"I guess. Here, eat up." Liberty halved the eggs, and both girls applied themselves to steady eating until the food was gone. They brushed their teeth, and Aubrianna put her little cousin's hair up into an efficient, elegant braided bun. Liberty returned the favor by curling the ends of Aubrianna's messy bun. They were just putting the finishing touches on their hair when the doorbell rang. Liberty gave her cousin a few minutes to collect herself while she answered the door.
"Hey Liberty. You look good."
"Thanks Jimmy. Come on in; Aubri'll be down in a minute."
"I'm right here." Aubrianna zipped up her black boots. Jimmy struggled to regain his composure.
"You look nice."
"Just nice?" Aubrianna asked. Jimmy gave her a hug, and while she was in his arms, he took the liberty of murmuring in her ear.
"I didn't think saying you look so fine we should skip school and make out would be something to say in front of Liberty."
Aubrianna laughed, and the trio took off.
Aubrianna stared around at her surroundings in awe. "This school is huge! You could fit two of my old school into one Degrassi."
"Yeah, well, I'll see you guys around," Liberty said. "I'm going to go ahead and get to homeroom." She winked at Aubri and took off.
"I think she wanted us to have some alone time, yeah?"
"Maybe. I'm not complaining."
"I'm not either. Now, for homeroom, I'm in room 125. Where's that?"
"It's my homeroom too. I'll show you where you're supposed to go during the day." Jimmy showed Aubrianna around, stopping to introduce her to a few people; Ashley Kerwin and her boyfriend Craig Manning, Hazel Aden, Ellie Nash and her best friend Marco Del Rossi, among many others. Aubri saw right off that Marco was gay, but she didn't say anything to anyone about it. When she got to homeroom, she took a seat in between Jimmy and Marco, and behind Hazel.
Hazel turned. "Aren't you that one girl that got an attitude with Paige yesterday? I'm Hazel Aden."
"Aren't you the girl that was with her? I'm Aubrianna Armande, Aubri for short."
"Yeah. She was trying to convince me to stay friends with her. I'm not."
"What happened, if I may ask?"
"She used to be really nice, and we were best friends, but last year, she started taking me for granted, and talking about me behind my back. I only found out at the beginning of the year, and she's been trying to make up with me ever since. When you saw us, I was going to try being her friend again, and then she started with her whole 'I'm queen of the school, and you should be lucky I'm talking to you,' bit."
"That sucks." The bell rang, and Jimmy led Aubrianna to her next class before tearing down the hall to avoid being late for his.
Liberty had just walked into her math class, and noted that Emma, and a scantily clad Manny were in it, as well as JT. She walked to the back of the classroom and sat down with nary a look to anyone. She looked at Manny, who was dressed in a crop top and a pair of low-riding jeans, and scoffed softly. What kind of girl had to dress like THAT just to get attention? The bell rang, and the teacher, Mr. Jones, looked at Liberty's schedule and asked the girl to stand up at the front of the class.
"Class, I'd like you to welcome Ms. Liberty Van Zandt. Liberty, why don't you tell the class about yourself? And when you're done, please take a seat behind the young woman with the blonde hair."
Emma and Manny froze and slowly turned to look up at Liberty. JT took the opportunity to wink at Liberty, who rolled her eyes. "There's not much to say. I used to go to school here in eighth grade, but I moved to Louisiana, and now I'm back." Liberty walked to her new seat behind Emma.
Emma turned around in her seats to look at Liberty, who was patiently taking notes on the teacher's lesson. She stopped, and looked up. "Yes?"
"Liberty?"
"Yes?"
"You've.changed," Emma said.
"Thank you. So has Manny."
"Yeah, she's become the School Slut. Welcome back to Degrassi, Liberty." Emma said. She too turned around and began to take notes. Liberty began to take notes again. A folded piece of paper landed in her lap, and she opened it up.
{Hey Liberty, I was wondering what you were doing this weekend.- JT}
Liberty raised an eyebrow, and wrote him a reply. She tossed it into his lap.
{JT, I'm not doing anything. Why?}
JT smiled. He wrote an answer, and tossed it to her.
{Wanna go see a movie?}
She smiled slightly, and wrote a reply.
{You ask me that now, but you couldn't ask me that in eighth grade?}
JT winced, and looked over at Liberty, who was writing down the questions on the board.
{Sorry about that, but you were kinda persistent.}
Liberty nodded thoughtfully.
{Okay, I guess we can go see a movie.} She scribbled her number on the bottom of the page, and gave the note back to him. The bell rang, and she slowly gathered up her things. JT walked over to her.
"So.You were serious?"
"Yeah. Why don't you call me tonight, and we'll talk about it." Liberty walked out of the classroom.
Manny was walking down the hall, lost in thought. JT hadn't even given her a second look, and he was one of her biggest ooglers. Not that she liked him; she just liked the attention he gave to her. She giggled, remembering how he had run into a car the first time he saw her in her new style. Now, it seemed like he was paying more attention to Liberty of all people. So she'd changed a little bit, a geek is still a geek. Manny walked into her next class and sat down.
Liberty had just walked into English, and noted that Toby and Sean were in that class with her. Toby looked at her with recognition, but the other paid her no mind. Ms. Kwan welcomed her back warmly, and sat her next to Toby. He gave her a long look out of the corner of his eye. The old Liberty would never have worn the things she did. He could see why JT was so stuck on her.
Aubrianna was bored, and it showed. She had already taken down her hair, and was currently putting two braids in the front. Someone tapped her shoulder, and she turned.
"Hi, Ashley?" She asked.
"Yeah, and you're Aubrianna, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"So, if you don't mind my asking, what's up with you and Jimmy?"
"I don't mind, and I don't know. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better."
"Well, I think he likes you."
Aubrianna smiled. "Really?"
"Oh, definitely." Aubrianna grinned again, and turned around to complete her work. The bell rang for lunch, and she and Ashley strolled toward the cafeteria. "Why don't you ask him out?"
"I dunno, I might." Aubri looked out over the cafeteria. "Oh, no."
Ashley looked over in the same direction as Aubrianna. "What, Paige? Just ignore her. She's an egoistic bitch."
"I know, we've met." Hazel looked up from where she was eating with Spinner and Terri, and she waved. "Come on; let's go sit with Terri and them." The two girls made their way to the table, and sat down. Paige watched them, openly glaring in Aubrianna's direction. She turned back to Manny and the rest of the Spirit Squad.
"It's bad enough that fat bitch Terri took my boyfriend, but now that Cajun cow is trying to steal my best friend! Who does she think she is?" Paige fumed, conveniently forgetting she and Hazel hadn't been friends since last year.
"Yeah, and she's got Liberty acting the same way. Honestly, a geek is still a geek. Liberty will always be a geek, no questions about it," Manny said.
"Um, Aubri, I think they're talking about you," Terri said quietly.
Aubrianna looked over her shoulder, to see the Spirit Squad checking their table out intensely. "Ya, well, like ma pere used to say, chickens don't do nothing but squawk."
"Your what?" Spinner asked. Craig swung into a seat next to Ashley, and kissed the tip of her nose.
"My daddy," Aubrianna said. She rolled her eyes good-humoredly. "Honestly, chèrie, you live in Canada. I thought you'd know jus' a lil more French than that."
Spinner shrugged. "Never tried to learn."
"What, Paige and the Spirit Squad from hell giving you a hard time, Aubri?" Craig asked. Aubri liked the curly headed boy immensely, and she gave him a warm smile.
"Hardly. They're just squawking as chickens are apt to do," Aubrianna said, sipping her soda. "Y'all would think they ain't got a thing to do besides stare at this table."
"I used to eat lunch with them, and trust me, they don't," Hazel said, munching on a chip. A guy waved to her, and she smiled and waved back. All the girls turned to give the mysterious guy looks, and then turned back around to pierce Hazel with curious stares.
"So, Hazel, who was the hottie?" Terri asked. Hazel's 'hottie' looked like a senior, tall, dark and handsome, with deep green eyes, and light brown skin.
"Nobody, just a guy that I have a class with." Hazel took a long sip of her drink, to forestall conversation.
"If you don't give us the full details, I'll wave him over here," Aubri threatened. Hazel choked, and the whole table dissolved into laughter.
"Fine, I'll talk! His name's Jerome; he's in my computer class. We sit next to each other, and we talk sometimes. That's all, I swear!"
"You mean you don't have a crush on him or anything? As fine as he is?" Aubrianna asked in disbelief.
"Could we change the subject? Some of us don't wanna hear it," Spinner said. Aubrianna stuck her tongue out at him, and turned back to Hazel.
"Talk, woman!"
"Of course I have a crush on him; he's gorgeous!"
"Hear, hear." Ashley said, raising her soda. Craig made a sad puppy face.
"What about me?"
"Sorry." Ashley said, laughing. She kissed him in apology. The bell rang, and everyone separated. Terri and Aubrianna walked down the hall on their way to English. Jimmy fell into step beside them.
"What's up?"
"I'm on my way to English. Aren't you in that class with me?" Jimmy slipped his arm around her waist and nodded.
"You don't mind, do you?"
Aubrianna shook her head. They walked into the English classroom, and prepared to be bored.
Liberty was just walking into the cafeteria. She looked around, and spotted Emma, Toby and JT. JT looked up and waved to her. She walked over to their table and swung into a seat between Toby and JT. "Hey y'all. Emma, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"What's up with Manny's new style?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "She wants to be hot, not cute. So of course she starts dressing like a slut, and trying to screw anything male."
Liberty pursed her lips. "Sounds like a hoe to me."
Toby raised his eyebrow. "I thought she was your friend?"
"Correction: was my friend. As far as I'm concerned, any girl that has to show stuff that needs to be left covered has nothing to say to me."
"Your outfit is awesome, Liberty. Manny should take notes," Emma said, rolling her eyes.
"Thanks. My cousin picked it out."
"Does she go to school here?" Emma asked.
"Yeah."
"Hey Tobes, her cousin is a total babe," JT said.
Toby raised an eyebrow in interest. Liberty smirked. "Sorry boys, but she's got her eyes on Jimmy Brooks."
"Why would she even think about Jimmy when I'm sitting right in front of her?"
Liberty ran a finger down the side of JT's neck. "Probably because she knows I've got my eyes on you."
Toby and Emma took one look at each other and walked off. JT stared at Liberty in disbelief. When he spoke, his voice squeaked. "Really?"
Liberty laughed. "I must, or else I wouldn't have agreed to go to the movies with you."
"But, when I saw you yesterday, you acted like you hated me."
"I don't hate you; I just wanted to give you a taste of how I used to feel. Not pleasant, was it?"
"Not really. You're different, Liberty."
She leaned towards him, resting her elbow on the table. "How so?"
"You look a lot better than you did two years ago."
"Thanks. It's nice to know I'm appreciated for my intelligence."
"I do appreciate your intelligence."
Liberty rolled her eyes. "I'm sure."
"No, seriously. Even back in junior high, I admired you for being smart. I just didn't like the way you always stuck to the rules, and had that holier-than-thou attitude."
"You still don't know me. What if I'm still like that?"
"The old Liberty would never pass notes in math class, would she?"
Liberty sipped her soda thoughtfully. "I guess not."
"Exactly. That's how I know you changed."
Liberty nodded. "Maybe, maybe not. Are you going to call me tonight?"
"Yeah."
Liberty stood. "Then I'll see you later." She walked off. The bell rang, and Toby, Emma and JT walked to their next class together.
"She's changed a lot," Emma said.
"That's the understatement of the year," Toby said dryly. JT could only nod agreement.
Contrary to what Aubrianna had first thought; Mrs. Kwan's class wasn't that boring. They were covering Black authors, and were currently discussing one of Aubrianna's favorites, Langston Hughes.
"Jimmy, what's your opinion on Mr. Hughes's poetry?" Mrs. Kwan asked.
"It's cool."
"That's all? What about you, Aubrianna?"
Aubrianna stole a look at Jimmy before speaking. "I agree with Jimmy, but I want to add that Hughes had poetry that flowed. It was easy on the ears, and written with a velvet tone. It was smooth, and sort of silky."
"Interesting way to put it. Anyone else?" The bell rang. "I'd like each of you to bring in something on the poet himself tomorrow. We'll discuss it in class."
"Smooth and silky, huh?" Jimmy said. His arm slipped around her waist and squeezed it gently.
Aubrianna gave him a look. "I like his poetry. And since when did my body become your personal property?"
"It's not.yet."
"What do you mean, yet?" Aubrianna stopped and leaned against the wall, giving Jimmy a challenging look.
He lowered his face to hers until they were barely an inch apart and whispered, "I get what I want."
Aubrianna met his eyes levelly. "Then you've never had a girl like me."
Jimmy smirked, and backed away from the pretty Cajun. "That's why I'm so set on you."
Aubrianna smiled. "I already love it here." She headed for her next class with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. The rest of the day passed with no major events for either Liberty or Aubrianna, and they met up in front of the school building.
"We could walk home."
"Not in those shoes you can't," Aubrianna said, pointing to her cousin's cute, impractical choice of shoes.
"I'll give you guys a ride."
Aubrianna turned and smiled. "Thanks Ashley."
"So, how was your first day back, Liberty?"
"Uneventful. I got a lot of weird looks. It's almost like people didn't expect me to change at all."
"Are you glad that you did?"
Liberty grinned. "Very. It was priceless to see the looks on Emma, Manny, Toby and JT's faces."
"Are you going to be joining any clubs, now that you're back?"
"I don't know. I kinda want to read the announcements again. Do you still read them?"
"Yeah. I'd be happy to alternate days with you; we just have to talk to Raditch about it. Do I turn left or right here?"
"Right. That'd be cool. Aubri, is there anything you want to do?" Liberty asked.
"Not really. I'm not big on school activities."
"Really?" Ashley asked.
"This girl had half a mind not to go to prom this year. I practically had to beat it into her."
"Yeah right, Libby."
Liberty stuck her tongue out at Aubrianna. "Don't call me that."
"Sorry," Aubrianna said, rolling her eyes.
"You've definitely got to go to prom. It's in the spring, and it's going to be so much fun."
"Ashley, our house is the third down the street on the left."
Ashley pulled in front of Liberty's house. "Hey, see you guys tomorrow. Do you need a ride?"
Liberty shook her head. "Nah, we'll catch the bus." The two girls went inside, after waving to Ashley. Aubrianna picked up a note on the table.
"Dad and I are working late, order or fix whatever you want."
Liberty sighed, and began taking down her hair. "They're doing it again."
Aubrianna moved into the kitchen, and began searching through the cabinets. "Did they do this a lot?"
"Yeah. It's not going to be so bad with you around, because at least I have someone to talk to."
Aubrianna kissed the top of her cousin's head softly. "This must really suck. You just get back, after not seeing your parents for two years, and you still haven't seen them for more than twenty minutes in two days."
Liberty shrugged, and got out some lunchmeat. "You learn to deal after a while."
Aubrianna turned to the breadbox on the counter. "If you say so." The two girls fixed themselves sandwiches and planted themselves in front of the big screen TV to watch cartoons. At around five, the phone rang, and Aubrianna answered it. "Bonjour."
"Um.Is Liberty there?"
"Sure, hold on, JT." Aubrianna passed the phone to her younger cousin.
"Hello?"
"Liberty?"
"Yeah?"
"This is JT."
Liberty looked at her cousin. Aubrianna mouthed the words, 'cool, calm, collected', to her before leaving. "I know."
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing much. You?"
"Talking to you. So, what movie do you want to see?"
"You Got Served."
"What?"
"You Got Served. It's that movie with B2k in it. I want to go see it."
"Who's B2k?"
"An R&B/hip-hop boy band."
"And you expect me to sit through it?"
Liberty grinned. "You will if you want a serious chance with me."
"Damn, got me. So, what time's good for you?"
"Seven, eight-ish is fine."
"Saturday?"
"That's fine by me."
"So, I'll see you in school tomorrow?"
"I guess."
"Okay, bye Liberty."
"Good-bye, JT." Liberty hung up the phone. "Aubri, you can stop listening at the door, dear."
Aubrianna walked in and plopped down on the couch. "Well?"
A huge, excited grin spread across Liberty's face. "I've got my first date!"
Aubrianna smiled. "That's so exciting. So, what are you going to wear, how are you going to do your hair and makeup and jewelry?"
Liberty's eyes grew wide. "I don't know!"
"Well, that's what I'm here for. To the closet!" Aubrianna dragged Liberty up to her room.
At his house, JT was lying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Toby was lounging in a chair nearby. "Man, is she hot."
"Who?"
"Liberty."
Toby snorted. "You weren't saying that in eighth grade."
"Hey, people change. Even you can't deny she's prettier than she was then."
Toby held up his hands. "Course not."
JT grinned, but his smug expression was quickly replaced by one of panic. "What am I supposed to wear? And do you think she'll want a bear or something?"
Toby rolled his eyes. "How the hell am I supposed to know? Ask Aubrianna."
JT nodded. "Yeah, good idea."
******************************************************************* ****
Well, fifteen pages, pretty good, huh? I hope you guys liked it! No flames please! Sorry the aforementioned slap wasn't in this chapter. I decided to cut it out.
Disclaimer: I own Aubrianna, and that's really about it.
Chapter Summary: It's the first day of school for our two young heroines, and all is not well. Aubrianna's already made her first enemy, but luckily, that works against her enemy, and not her. Liberty tries not to lose her patience with ultra-sweet Emma, and oh-so-cool Manny. Both girls have dates in progress, which is the only thing keeping them from knocking a certain blonde cheerleader and her slutty-dressing sidekick cross-eyed.
Chapter 2-First Day of School (Insert cringe)
Liberty tickled her cousin's feet. "Wake up Aubri."
Aubrianna rolled over and murmured something in French. Liberty jerked the covers off her cousin's head.
"I'm just trying to help you out. Calling me a pig with hair wasn't very polite. Next time I'll just let Jimmy see you in your underwear."
Aubrianna shot out of the bed and raced into the bathroom, calling a hasty apology to her cousin over her shoulder. She showered, while Liberty busied herself fixing some scrambled eggs. When Aubrianna emerged freshly scrubbed from the shower, Liberty gave her an approving glance.
"You look cute."
"Thank ya. Mama always said try your best, yeah?" Aubrianna said, indicating the short sleeved, low cut peasant top and jeans. She held up a pair of boots. "I refuse to put these on until absolutely necessary."
"If they hurt your feet, what's the point of wearing them?"
"They don't hurt my feet; I just don't like wearing shoes in the house."
Liberty nodded. "Makes sense." Aubrianna looked her favorite (and only) cousin over.
"I think we did good picking out your outfit." Aubrianna stated in regard to the black pinstriped pants and light green halter top. A black men's shirt went over it, with the tails tied in front. A pair of strappy sandals went with it.
"I didn't do anything; you picked everything out. Are you sure I can wear your jade necklace tomorrow?"
"It was made for you, chèrie. Green suits you. Brings out your eyes, yeah?"
"I guess. Here, eat up." Liberty halved the eggs, and both girls applied themselves to steady eating until the food was gone. They brushed their teeth, and Aubrianna put her little cousin's hair up into an efficient, elegant braided bun. Liberty returned the favor by curling the ends of Aubrianna's messy bun. They were just putting the finishing touches on their hair when the doorbell rang. Liberty gave her cousin a few minutes to collect herself while she answered the door.
"Hey Liberty. You look good."
"Thanks Jimmy. Come on in; Aubri'll be down in a minute."
"I'm right here." Aubrianna zipped up her black boots. Jimmy struggled to regain his composure.
"You look nice."
"Just nice?" Aubrianna asked. Jimmy gave her a hug, and while she was in his arms, he took the liberty of murmuring in her ear.
"I didn't think saying you look so fine we should skip school and make out would be something to say in front of Liberty."
Aubrianna laughed, and the trio took off.
Aubrianna stared around at her surroundings in awe. "This school is huge! You could fit two of my old school into one Degrassi."
"Yeah, well, I'll see you guys around," Liberty said. "I'm going to go ahead and get to homeroom." She winked at Aubri and took off.
"I think she wanted us to have some alone time, yeah?"
"Maybe. I'm not complaining."
"I'm not either. Now, for homeroom, I'm in room 125. Where's that?"
"It's my homeroom too. I'll show you where you're supposed to go during the day." Jimmy showed Aubrianna around, stopping to introduce her to a few people; Ashley Kerwin and her boyfriend Craig Manning, Hazel Aden, Ellie Nash and her best friend Marco Del Rossi, among many others. Aubri saw right off that Marco was gay, but she didn't say anything to anyone about it. When she got to homeroom, she took a seat in between Jimmy and Marco, and behind Hazel.
Hazel turned. "Aren't you that one girl that got an attitude with Paige yesterday? I'm Hazel Aden."
"Aren't you the girl that was with her? I'm Aubrianna Armande, Aubri for short."
"Yeah. She was trying to convince me to stay friends with her. I'm not."
"What happened, if I may ask?"
"She used to be really nice, and we were best friends, but last year, she started taking me for granted, and talking about me behind my back. I only found out at the beginning of the year, and she's been trying to make up with me ever since. When you saw us, I was going to try being her friend again, and then she started with her whole 'I'm queen of the school, and you should be lucky I'm talking to you,' bit."
"That sucks." The bell rang, and Jimmy led Aubrianna to her next class before tearing down the hall to avoid being late for his.
Liberty had just walked into her math class, and noted that Emma, and a scantily clad Manny were in it, as well as JT. She walked to the back of the classroom and sat down with nary a look to anyone. She looked at Manny, who was dressed in a crop top and a pair of low-riding jeans, and scoffed softly. What kind of girl had to dress like THAT just to get attention? The bell rang, and the teacher, Mr. Jones, looked at Liberty's schedule and asked the girl to stand up at the front of the class.
"Class, I'd like you to welcome Ms. Liberty Van Zandt. Liberty, why don't you tell the class about yourself? And when you're done, please take a seat behind the young woman with the blonde hair."
Emma and Manny froze and slowly turned to look up at Liberty. JT took the opportunity to wink at Liberty, who rolled her eyes. "There's not much to say. I used to go to school here in eighth grade, but I moved to Louisiana, and now I'm back." Liberty walked to her new seat behind Emma.
Emma turned around in her seats to look at Liberty, who was patiently taking notes on the teacher's lesson. She stopped, and looked up. "Yes?"
"Liberty?"
"Yes?"
"You've.changed," Emma said.
"Thank you. So has Manny."
"Yeah, she's become the School Slut. Welcome back to Degrassi, Liberty." Emma said. She too turned around and began to take notes. Liberty began to take notes again. A folded piece of paper landed in her lap, and she opened it up.
{Hey Liberty, I was wondering what you were doing this weekend.- JT}
Liberty raised an eyebrow, and wrote him a reply. She tossed it into his lap.
{JT, I'm not doing anything. Why?}
JT smiled. He wrote an answer, and tossed it to her.
{Wanna go see a movie?}
She smiled slightly, and wrote a reply.
{You ask me that now, but you couldn't ask me that in eighth grade?}
JT winced, and looked over at Liberty, who was writing down the questions on the board.
{Sorry about that, but you were kinda persistent.}
Liberty nodded thoughtfully.
{Okay, I guess we can go see a movie.} She scribbled her number on the bottom of the page, and gave the note back to him. The bell rang, and she slowly gathered up her things. JT walked over to her.
"So.You were serious?"
"Yeah. Why don't you call me tonight, and we'll talk about it." Liberty walked out of the classroom.
Manny was walking down the hall, lost in thought. JT hadn't even given her a second look, and he was one of her biggest ooglers. Not that she liked him; she just liked the attention he gave to her. She giggled, remembering how he had run into a car the first time he saw her in her new style. Now, it seemed like he was paying more attention to Liberty of all people. So she'd changed a little bit, a geek is still a geek. Manny walked into her next class and sat down.
Liberty had just walked into English, and noted that Toby and Sean were in that class with her. Toby looked at her with recognition, but the other paid her no mind. Ms. Kwan welcomed her back warmly, and sat her next to Toby. He gave her a long look out of the corner of his eye. The old Liberty would never have worn the things she did. He could see why JT was so stuck on her.
Aubrianna was bored, and it showed. She had already taken down her hair, and was currently putting two braids in the front. Someone tapped her shoulder, and she turned.
"Hi, Ashley?" She asked.
"Yeah, and you're Aubrianna, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"So, if you don't mind my asking, what's up with you and Jimmy?"
"I don't mind, and I don't know. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better."
"Well, I think he likes you."
Aubrianna smiled. "Really?"
"Oh, definitely." Aubrianna grinned again, and turned around to complete her work. The bell rang for lunch, and she and Ashley strolled toward the cafeteria. "Why don't you ask him out?"
"I dunno, I might." Aubri looked out over the cafeteria. "Oh, no."
Ashley looked over in the same direction as Aubrianna. "What, Paige? Just ignore her. She's an egoistic bitch."
"I know, we've met." Hazel looked up from where she was eating with Spinner and Terri, and she waved. "Come on; let's go sit with Terri and them." The two girls made their way to the table, and sat down. Paige watched them, openly glaring in Aubrianna's direction. She turned back to Manny and the rest of the Spirit Squad.
"It's bad enough that fat bitch Terri took my boyfriend, but now that Cajun cow is trying to steal my best friend! Who does she think she is?" Paige fumed, conveniently forgetting she and Hazel hadn't been friends since last year.
"Yeah, and she's got Liberty acting the same way. Honestly, a geek is still a geek. Liberty will always be a geek, no questions about it," Manny said.
"Um, Aubri, I think they're talking about you," Terri said quietly.
Aubrianna looked over her shoulder, to see the Spirit Squad checking their table out intensely. "Ya, well, like ma pere used to say, chickens don't do nothing but squawk."
"Your what?" Spinner asked. Craig swung into a seat next to Ashley, and kissed the tip of her nose.
"My daddy," Aubrianna said. She rolled her eyes good-humoredly. "Honestly, chèrie, you live in Canada. I thought you'd know jus' a lil more French than that."
Spinner shrugged. "Never tried to learn."
"What, Paige and the Spirit Squad from hell giving you a hard time, Aubri?" Craig asked. Aubri liked the curly headed boy immensely, and she gave him a warm smile.
"Hardly. They're just squawking as chickens are apt to do," Aubrianna said, sipping her soda. "Y'all would think they ain't got a thing to do besides stare at this table."
"I used to eat lunch with them, and trust me, they don't," Hazel said, munching on a chip. A guy waved to her, and she smiled and waved back. All the girls turned to give the mysterious guy looks, and then turned back around to pierce Hazel with curious stares.
"So, Hazel, who was the hottie?" Terri asked. Hazel's 'hottie' looked like a senior, tall, dark and handsome, with deep green eyes, and light brown skin.
"Nobody, just a guy that I have a class with." Hazel took a long sip of her drink, to forestall conversation.
"If you don't give us the full details, I'll wave him over here," Aubri threatened. Hazel choked, and the whole table dissolved into laughter.
"Fine, I'll talk! His name's Jerome; he's in my computer class. We sit next to each other, and we talk sometimes. That's all, I swear!"
"You mean you don't have a crush on him or anything? As fine as he is?" Aubrianna asked in disbelief.
"Could we change the subject? Some of us don't wanna hear it," Spinner said. Aubrianna stuck her tongue out at him, and turned back to Hazel.
"Talk, woman!"
"Of course I have a crush on him; he's gorgeous!"
"Hear, hear." Ashley said, raising her soda. Craig made a sad puppy face.
"What about me?"
"Sorry." Ashley said, laughing. She kissed him in apology. The bell rang, and everyone separated. Terri and Aubrianna walked down the hall on their way to English. Jimmy fell into step beside them.
"What's up?"
"I'm on my way to English. Aren't you in that class with me?" Jimmy slipped his arm around her waist and nodded.
"You don't mind, do you?"
Aubrianna shook her head. They walked into the English classroom, and prepared to be bored.
Liberty was just walking into the cafeteria. She looked around, and spotted Emma, Toby and JT. JT looked up and waved to her. She walked over to their table and swung into a seat between Toby and JT. "Hey y'all. Emma, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"What's up with Manny's new style?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "She wants to be hot, not cute. So of course she starts dressing like a slut, and trying to screw anything male."
Liberty pursed her lips. "Sounds like a hoe to me."
Toby raised his eyebrow. "I thought she was your friend?"
"Correction: was my friend. As far as I'm concerned, any girl that has to show stuff that needs to be left covered has nothing to say to me."
"Your outfit is awesome, Liberty. Manny should take notes," Emma said, rolling her eyes.
"Thanks. My cousin picked it out."
"Does she go to school here?" Emma asked.
"Yeah."
"Hey Tobes, her cousin is a total babe," JT said.
Toby raised an eyebrow in interest. Liberty smirked. "Sorry boys, but she's got her eyes on Jimmy Brooks."
"Why would she even think about Jimmy when I'm sitting right in front of her?"
Liberty ran a finger down the side of JT's neck. "Probably because she knows I've got my eyes on you."
Toby and Emma took one look at each other and walked off. JT stared at Liberty in disbelief. When he spoke, his voice squeaked. "Really?"
Liberty laughed. "I must, or else I wouldn't have agreed to go to the movies with you."
"But, when I saw you yesterday, you acted like you hated me."
"I don't hate you; I just wanted to give you a taste of how I used to feel. Not pleasant, was it?"
"Not really. You're different, Liberty."
She leaned towards him, resting her elbow on the table. "How so?"
"You look a lot better than you did two years ago."
"Thanks. It's nice to know I'm appreciated for my intelligence."
"I do appreciate your intelligence."
Liberty rolled her eyes. "I'm sure."
"No, seriously. Even back in junior high, I admired you for being smart. I just didn't like the way you always stuck to the rules, and had that holier-than-thou attitude."
"You still don't know me. What if I'm still like that?"
"The old Liberty would never pass notes in math class, would she?"
Liberty sipped her soda thoughtfully. "I guess not."
"Exactly. That's how I know you changed."
Liberty nodded. "Maybe, maybe not. Are you going to call me tonight?"
"Yeah."
Liberty stood. "Then I'll see you later." She walked off. The bell rang, and Toby, Emma and JT walked to their next class together.
"She's changed a lot," Emma said.
"That's the understatement of the year," Toby said dryly. JT could only nod agreement.
Contrary to what Aubrianna had first thought; Mrs. Kwan's class wasn't that boring. They were covering Black authors, and were currently discussing one of Aubrianna's favorites, Langston Hughes.
"Jimmy, what's your opinion on Mr. Hughes's poetry?" Mrs. Kwan asked.
"It's cool."
"That's all? What about you, Aubrianna?"
Aubrianna stole a look at Jimmy before speaking. "I agree with Jimmy, but I want to add that Hughes had poetry that flowed. It was easy on the ears, and written with a velvet tone. It was smooth, and sort of silky."
"Interesting way to put it. Anyone else?" The bell rang. "I'd like each of you to bring in something on the poet himself tomorrow. We'll discuss it in class."
"Smooth and silky, huh?" Jimmy said. His arm slipped around her waist and squeezed it gently.
Aubrianna gave him a look. "I like his poetry. And since when did my body become your personal property?"
"It's not.yet."
"What do you mean, yet?" Aubrianna stopped and leaned against the wall, giving Jimmy a challenging look.
He lowered his face to hers until they were barely an inch apart and whispered, "I get what I want."
Aubrianna met his eyes levelly. "Then you've never had a girl like me."
Jimmy smirked, and backed away from the pretty Cajun. "That's why I'm so set on you."
Aubrianna smiled. "I already love it here." She headed for her next class with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. The rest of the day passed with no major events for either Liberty or Aubrianna, and they met up in front of the school building.
"We could walk home."
"Not in those shoes you can't," Aubrianna said, pointing to her cousin's cute, impractical choice of shoes.
"I'll give you guys a ride."
Aubrianna turned and smiled. "Thanks Ashley."
"So, how was your first day back, Liberty?"
"Uneventful. I got a lot of weird looks. It's almost like people didn't expect me to change at all."
"Are you glad that you did?"
Liberty grinned. "Very. It was priceless to see the looks on Emma, Manny, Toby and JT's faces."
"Are you going to be joining any clubs, now that you're back?"
"I don't know. I kinda want to read the announcements again. Do you still read them?"
"Yeah. I'd be happy to alternate days with you; we just have to talk to Raditch about it. Do I turn left or right here?"
"Right. That'd be cool. Aubri, is there anything you want to do?" Liberty asked.
"Not really. I'm not big on school activities."
"Really?" Ashley asked.
"This girl had half a mind not to go to prom this year. I practically had to beat it into her."
"Yeah right, Libby."
Liberty stuck her tongue out at Aubrianna. "Don't call me that."
"Sorry," Aubrianna said, rolling her eyes.
"You've definitely got to go to prom. It's in the spring, and it's going to be so much fun."
"Ashley, our house is the third down the street on the left."
Ashley pulled in front of Liberty's house. "Hey, see you guys tomorrow. Do you need a ride?"
Liberty shook her head. "Nah, we'll catch the bus." The two girls went inside, after waving to Ashley. Aubrianna picked up a note on the table.
"Dad and I are working late, order or fix whatever you want."
Liberty sighed, and began taking down her hair. "They're doing it again."
Aubrianna moved into the kitchen, and began searching through the cabinets. "Did they do this a lot?"
"Yeah. It's not going to be so bad with you around, because at least I have someone to talk to."
Aubrianna kissed the top of her cousin's head softly. "This must really suck. You just get back, after not seeing your parents for two years, and you still haven't seen them for more than twenty minutes in two days."
Liberty shrugged, and got out some lunchmeat. "You learn to deal after a while."
Aubrianna turned to the breadbox on the counter. "If you say so." The two girls fixed themselves sandwiches and planted themselves in front of the big screen TV to watch cartoons. At around five, the phone rang, and Aubrianna answered it. "Bonjour."
"Um.Is Liberty there?"
"Sure, hold on, JT." Aubrianna passed the phone to her younger cousin.
"Hello?"
"Liberty?"
"Yeah?"
"This is JT."
Liberty looked at her cousin. Aubrianna mouthed the words, 'cool, calm, collected', to her before leaving. "I know."
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing much. You?"
"Talking to you. So, what movie do you want to see?"
"You Got Served."
"What?"
"You Got Served. It's that movie with B2k in it. I want to go see it."
"Who's B2k?"
"An R&B/hip-hop boy band."
"And you expect me to sit through it?"
Liberty grinned. "You will if you want a serious chance with me."
"Damn, got me. So, what time's good for you?"
"Seven, eight-ish is fine."
"Saturday?"
"That's fine by me."
"So, I'll see you in school tomorrow?"
"I guess."
"Okay, bye Liberty."
"Good-bye, JT." Liberty hung up the phone. "Aubri, you can stop listening at the door, dear."
Aubrianna walked in and plopped down on the couch. "Well?"
A huge, excited grin spread across Liberty's face. "I've got my first date!"
Aubrianna smiled. "That's so exciting. So, what are you going to wear, how are you going to do your hair and makeup and jewelry?"
Liberty's eyes grew wide. "I don't know!"
"Well, that's what I'm here for. To the closet!" Aubrianna dragged Liberty up to her room.
At his house, JT was lying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Toby was lounging in a chair nearby. "Man, is she hot."
"Who?"
"Liberty."
Toby snorted. "You weren't saying that in eighth grade."
"Hey, people change. Even you can't deny she's prettier than she was then."
Toby held up his hands. "Course not."
JT grinned, but his smug expression was quickly replaced by one of panic. "What am I supposed to wear? And do you think she'll want a bear or something?"
Toby rolled his eyes. "How the hell am I supposed to know? Ask Aubrianna."
JT nodded. "Yeah, good idea."
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Well, fifteen pages, pretty good, huh? I hope you guys liked it! No flames please! Sorry the aforementioned slap wasn't in this chapter. I decided to cut it out.