Be Mine

Sydney Morse leaned back against her locker, closing her eyes. Next to her, Sonny Corinthos sighed as well, trying to massage the tension from his neck. The two classmates were seated on the floor by their lockers, reviewing for an English test on the interminable yet oddly enjoyable Tom Jones.

Several other students sat with them, studying for their own classes. Among them were Lexi Cassidine, who was busily plotting one graph after another on her TI-86. Skye Chandler, one of Lexi's closest friends, was brushing up on her US History by repeating the chronology of the Civil War under her breath. Even Johnny O'Brien, the rambunctious junior responsible for Elizabeth's tumble, sat still and quiet, trying to read as much of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms as he could before his second hour class.

Sonny glanced down at his notebook. "OK, Sydney, just a few more. We can do it."

Sydney mumbled, raising her head. Her short brown hair fell into her face, and she languidly swept it back into a ponytail. "OK, shoot. Next question."

Sonny flipped the page, squinting down. "Uh, who's Parson Adams?"

Sydney thought for a moment, frowning at the wall before her. "Isn't he the one that says that Tom's probably the father of Molly's child? You know, at Squire Western's house, right when they're eating, and then Sophia says she has a headache and leaves?"

Sonny shook his head. "That guy's a parson," he admitted, "but he's a nameless parson. Try again."

"No clue, man. Jeepers."

"He's the man that Sophia wants to tutor her and Tom's children. He's on, like, the third from the last page of the book, but I have a feeling that Ms. Hornsby's going to ask."

Sydney grimaced, glaring contemptibly down at the book in her lap. "OK, fine. Why does Northerton go to jail?"

"He hits Tom on the head with a beer bottle."

She nodded, flipping several pages. "What happens after he's released from jail?"

Sonny thought. "He, uh…Wait, I know this. Isn't he involved with Ms. Waters, who's actually Jenny Jones?"

Sydney nodded, motioning for him to continue.

"Yeah, and they're about to run away, and then he tries to rob Ms. Waters, and Tom comes by and thinks he's raping her and beats the crap out of him."

"Right."

"Hey, guys," came a warm voice from down the hall. Both Sonny and Sydney glanced up to see Jason walking down the hall, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his baggy jeans. He had abandoned his Jesus sandals in favor of his favorite sneakers, which squeaked slightly as he walked.

"Hey, Jase," Sonny nodded, leaning back on his hands.

"Jason," Sydney smiled, cracking her knuckles. "How's it going?"

"Not too bad," he replied. He nudged Sonny's sneaker with his. "You ready for the Calc test today?"

Sonny nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am. I reviewed a little last night, but I knew most of it already."

Sydney shuddered. "Dear God," she cringed. "Calculus. That's the reason I decided not to take math this year." She shot a disdainful glare at Jason, pretending to stomp on his foot. "And look at this one," she said to Sonny. "He's doubling up on math. Disgusting."

Jason laughed, shrugging. "What's there to say? I like Calc and Physics." He glanced at the notebooks and handouts littering the space his friends had taken up. "Do you guys have an English test today or something?"

Sydney nodded. "Yeah, we have a test over the entire book today. I'm so going to fail."

Sonny laughed. "I'm sure you won't," he assured her. "It'll be okay." He straightened, noticing a black spiral notebook lying on the floor by Sydney's feet. He snatched it up quickly, opening the zip of his backpack and dropping it in. "Wouldn't want to forget this," he muttered.

"What is it?" Sydney asked, peering at the notebook as it disappeared into Sonny's green backpack.

"My journal," he answered simply. "I took the trouble of keeping up with three a week, so I better not forget it when it's due."

"How many did you guys have to turn in?" Jason asked, remembering their journal conversation from the week before.

"Last Friday was supposed to be fifteen, but Ms. Hornsby never collected them. So we're turning in eighteen today for sure."

Jason snickered. "I wonder how the Wee One's doing with that."

Sonny smiled. "Actually, she gets out of her first three periods today, the lucky duck."

"How come?" Sydney asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Is it because of that Valentine's…thing?"

Sonny nodded. "Yeah."

"What Valentine's thing?" Jason wanted to know.

"It's the Newspaper annual fund raiser," Sonny explained. "Remember, a few months ago, they had those order forms in the newsletter?"

"Oh, yeah," Sydney nodded. "I remember ordering some for my friends."

Sonny nodded, continuing. "Well, like Syd just pointed out, people ordered balloons through those forms, and sent them in to the Paper Office. Beth took in all the money, helped buy supplies and rent helium tanks, typed out all the name tags, and from what I heard, helped blow up about 300 Mylar balloons yesterday after school."

Sydney grimaced. "Yuck. And she was telling me about how she had to get here an hour and a half before school to help blow up 500 latex balloons."

"Wow," Sonny whistled. "And so after blowing them up, she has to order, arrange, and have them all delivered? Killer."

"Cripey," Jason agreed. He slung his backpack onto the floor but remained standing, folding his arms over his chest.

Just then a streak of white topped with brown streaked past them. Then, as if the streak forgot something, it stopped short and backpedaled to the small group in front of the tan lockers.

"Hey, Beth," Sonny smiled, looking up at her.

"Hey," was all Elizabeth said as she smiled wearily down at him.

"Are you okay?" Sydney asked, taking in the tired note in her voice and her weary posture. "You look really tired."

"I am," Elizabeth sighed, pushing the sleeves of her white sweater up. "I was up super late last night making sure everything was set for the sale today."

Jason had said nothing after she had walked up, even though she stood right next to him. If he shifted ever so slightly, his shoulder would be touching her.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, forcing the corners of his mouth down in an attempt to suppress his smile. Sonny couldn't help but grin as Jason bent his knees and lowered himself several inches, his knees bent at a ridiculously acute angle.

Elizabeth had seen him, too, and it was only when she turned to face him that she saw what he was doing.

"Shut up!" she laughed, smacking him across the shoulder. The look on her angelic face was playfully murderous, and Jason burst out laughing himself as he straightened and leaned out of reach from her abuse. "I'm not that short!"

He rolled his eyes in response, grinning and hopping away when she threatened him with more physical violence. From her seat on the floor, Sydney had almost lost it and was clapping her hands with glee.

"So," Sonny got out as he tried to compose himself for Elizabeth's sake. "Are you ready? For the sale, I mean?"

Elizabeth nodded, shooting Jason a warning glance. "Yeah, for the most part. I got here at six along with the other editors, and we all blew up about 520 latex balloons. It was not, shall we say, pleasant. And I just ran up here five minutes ago to grab some of my stuff and –" she paused, pulling a few handouts out of a smiley-face notebook and handing the journal over to Sydney. "I was wondering if you could turn this in to Ms. Hornsby for me."

Sydney nodded, reaching out to take the journal from her. "Sure, no prob."

"Is that your journal?" Sonny asked, closing his copy of Tom Jones. After practically re-reading the 900-page clunker the night before, the resident over-achiever knew five more minutes weren't going to do anything for him.

A smug smile rose to Elizabeth's lips. "Yes, it is," she answered, almost bragging.

"So, you miraculously managed to finish?" Jason asked, crossing his arms over his chest again.

Elizabeth looked at him once, trying not to notice how his rugged jeans clung perfectly to his slender hips, or how he wore absolutely nothing under his simple, button-down white collared shirt. "F-funny story, actually."

Jason's eyebrows quirked up. "Do tell."

Sonny leaned forward as well, eyeing his friend suspiciously. "Yeah, Beth," he goaded. "What miracle did you pull?"

Elizabeth smiled cockily down at her friends, folding her arms against her chest. And this time, it was Jason who tried not to notice how perfectly the lacy, crocheted white sweater molded to her body. She wore a red mock-neck tee underneath, the deep color bringing out the roses in her cheek. Her khakis, always spotless, hugged her gentle curves like a glove. Even her silky chocolate hair was pulled into two wavy pigtails that just begged to be undone. She'd even tied them with little red ribbons.

"Up until yesterday afternoon, I didn't even know where my journal was," Elizabeth started. The bell sleeve of her sweater slipped down to her knuckles, and her beaded red and white bracelet clinked gently as she shook her hand free. "But I finally found it under my bed with my Cookie Monster socks and my collection of National Geographic's."

"Beautiful," Sydney laughed.

Elizabeth smiled at Sonny before continuing, almost as if she were gloating. "So I open it up to the last time Ms. Hornsby collected them, which was before winter break, and it turned out that I had written a whole bunch over break, which we didn't have to do, and I'd written a couple more beyond that."

"Oh, my God," Sonny groaned, turning away. He already knew where this was going.

Elizabeth's grin widened as she watched him toss her a look of mock-disgust. "And it turns out that I had written seventeen of the eighteen journals already!"

Sydney gaped at her, her eyes dancing with laughter. "No way!"

"Yes, way," Elizabeth insisted with a smile. "So I wrote another one in ten minutes, and I was golden."

Sonny groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. "I hate you," he ground out in agitation.

Elizabeth's eyes danced at his good-natured bitterness. "Oh, I love how my life works," she gloated, waving a hand grandly in the air. "It's wonderful."

Sydney and Jason laughed easily as Sonny shot her daggers from his position on the floor. Jason turned to her, stuffing his hands into his pockets and shuffling his feet.

"You really managed to luck out there, Wee," he teased.

Elizabeth grinned devilishly. "You just have to know how to manipulate the system, I guess."

Jason chuckled sardonically, rolling his eyes. "And you expect me to believe that you know how to 'manipulate the system', as you put it?" he scoffed. "That the resident nerd, the local Miss Perfect, knows how to coast under the wire with a second left on the clock?"

She ignored his running metaphors, glancing at the clock. First period would start in three minutes, and she needed to be down in the faculty lounge before it did. "Believe whatever you want," she replied with a flippant grin. Jason smirked at her in amusement as she handed Sydney another assignment. "Could you hand in my notes, too, Syd? I'd appreciate it."

Sydney nodded, accepting the typed pages and dropping them on top of her study guides. "Sure, no problem. See you at the vacuum party."

Elizabeth was already leaving, calling goodbye to her friends as she power-walked to the stairwell.

"Vacuum party?" Sonny asked, turning to Sydney.

The brunette nodded, shuffling her papers together and inserting them into her notebook. "Yeah. That's what we call lunch." Noticing Jason and Sonny's quizzical glares, she shook her head with a smirk. "Don't ask - you had to be there for it."

"Oh."


The bell rang, piercing shrilly through the faculty lounge where a group of exhausted newspaper editors slumped on the soft couches. First hour would soon begin, but not that they cared. The ten students were excused for their first three periods, and senior Brendan Mahoney couldn't be happier.

"What're you missing, Brend-o?" asked Paul Kaskovich, a tall brunette linebacker for the school's football team. He squirmed into the small individual couch-chair, finally managing to situate his massive frame. Elizabeth smiled at him, thinking of how ridiculous he looked: much like an elephant sitting on a potty.

"I'm missing a Spanish vocab test, an English Tom Jones test, and an AP Bio test," Brendan smiled with satisfaction, collapsing on the long futon that stood next to the wall.

Next to him, Ryan McPherrin stretched his legs onto the coffee table in front of him, his tennis shoes crossed behind Elizabeth's back as the tiny brunette perched herself on the wooden table. "Milking the sale for all it's worth, I see," he smiled, running his hands through his fluffy Afro of brown curls. At about two inches shy of six feet, the witty senior boy looked like a mix between Screech from Saved by the Bell and Gumby. "That's what I like to hear."

Kali Ciesmier took a seat next to Paul, crossing her long legs and fixing her long black boots. Elizabeth noted that it was probably a Goth day for the tall, lanky blonde artist. Today, Kali was dressed in all black - black boots, black leggings, black shirt-dress that ended high on her thigh - and wore a wide blue cloth belt. Even her red-blonde hair was pinned up in two small buns with black barrettes.

"Will you pass me the paper, Beth?" she asked sweetly, motioning to the stack of newly published newspapers behind Elizabeth. This was probably the first year they had made the mistake of releasing the paper on the same day as the balloon sale - with no one to distribute them through the hallways, few of the students would realize the issue was new, and it would sit in the metal holders, collecting dust, until the next month.

Sitting across from her on a plush chair, Jenny Evrard seemed to be thinking the same thing. The tall brunette watched as Elizabeth slapped Ryan's feet, waiting until he lifted them an inch in the air to grab a new paper. Jenny's hazel eyes followed the publication as it passed into Kali's hands, a smirk rising to her lips.

"Hey, Beth," she called. "Remember when we handed out papers in the freshman hallway back in October?"

Elizabeth grinned, her white teeth glittering in the dark faculty lounge. They had purposely shut off all the lights - except those in the teacher cafeteria behind the partition - because the warm fluorescent lights would have the latex balloons popping right and left. "Oh, yeah. That was a classic."

"What was a classic?" asked Rose Truesdale, smoothing her burgundy skirt before sitting down next to Brendan.

Elizabeth chuckled at the memory. "It was back when the October issue came out, and me and Jenny were among the first editors here to pass them out. Anyway, Roni had already grabbed a bunch of papers to stuff into the faculty mailboxes, and she gave us each a huge stack to pass. So we decided to head to the freshman hallway, because by that time, the rest of you guys showed up and we figured you'd take the main hallway and the other three floors."

Jenny shifted in her seat, slapping her hand on her knee. "We walked into the freshman hallway all swaggering and intimidating-like-"

"And these poor little freshmen are looking at us in sheer terror-" Elizabeth added.

"And we told them that they couldn't graduate if they didn't have a copy of the Independent," Jenny finished with a laugh. "You should have seen it - it was a freaking stampede! I'm pretty sure Beth lost one of her kidneys in the mauling that ensued."

Brendan shook his head at his girlfriend. "You two are so evil."

Elizabeth shrugged. "Hey, they're freshman. We all went through it." She thought for a moment, then amended her statement. "Well, actually, I didn't. Not here, at any rate. But my freshman year back in Colorado wasn't anything to brag about, either."

Paul thought for a moment. "You know, we didn't really get much flack when we were freshmen."

On the far end of the futon, Radhika Lakhani nodded. "Yeah, we had a pretty good year. We were teased and stuff, but not nearly as much as we normally would have."

"It's all because of that Sonny President-of-Student-Union-During-My-Sophomore-Year Corinthos," Jenny asserted, shaking a fist in the air. "Mr. Fearless Leader and all that jazz."

Elizabeth laughed, shaking her head at Jenny's mock-tirade against her friend. "You know you love him, Jenny," she chided.

Jenny nodded, shrugging. "It's true."

Brendan shook his head at his girlfriend's capricious nature. "Oi."

Radhika reached for a copy of the paper, flicking Ryan's shoe in an attempt to get him to move. "Anyway, I think he was part of the reason. But we were just a great class in general - we've been told that since middle school." The rest of the editors nodded. "I guess it was because we were all so involved and cooperative and enthusiastic that the upper classmen didn't torment us."

Paul snickered. "Not like we torment our freshmen, anyway."

Ryan snorted, folding his arms behind his head and leaning against the wall. "I hate the junior class," he announced. "They're all such turds."

Brendan shrugged. "Some of them are okay," he defended lamely.

Elizabeth shook her head. "I have to go with Ryno on this - they're really annoying and vacuous and just...ugh."

"And violent," Jenny teased, remembering Elizabeth's "oh-so-graceful-stumble", as the tiny brunette called it.

Elizabeth smiled, stretching her arms over her head and slowly leaning back until she lay flat against the table, Veronica's sweater bundled under her head like a pillow. Ryan shifted slightly, moving his crossed ankles until they were situated more comfortably under the small of her back.

"Tired, Beth?" he drawled, smirking at his friend.

"Mmm," she mumbled, crinkling the nose. "I wish I could fall asleep right here."

"Me, too," Jenny agreed, curling into her chair. "It's so nice and dark in here..."

"And freaking hot," Paul griped. Despite the fact that it was February and he was wearing only a t-shirt, he was still warm.

Elizabeth shifted. "It'd be hotter if the lights were on," she pointed out.

"True."

"Where's Jeff?" Ryan asked, looking around the dark lounge. "I don't see him. He was here tying ribbons, and then he disappeared."

"He had an AP Chem test today," Rose informed him, sipping her orange juice from a Styrofoam cup. "I think he went to the Photo Room to study."

"Oh." Ryan's green eyes followed Veronica Peterson as the tall blonde sped around the room, making a quick count of the bundles upon bundles of balloons. She paused to make a few tally marks on a rolling chalkboard stationed nearby, turning away to resume her count.

Elizabeth, too, was watching her, grateful that her friend was helping her out. Veronica stopped, apparently satisfied, and walked back to the chalkboard and scratched on the final tallies.

"How're the numbers, Roni?" she called out, rubbing her eyes drowsily.

"They check out just fine, Beth," Roni answered, putting down the large chunk of chalk she held. "We did a good job. Last year we had way too many extras; this year we've cut it down to twenty. Now, if these suckers stop popping, we'll be just fine. If they don't, we're screwed."

Elizabeth smiled. "We'll be fine," she replied lazily. "We'll be just fine."

"I hope so," Veronica replied, making her way to the large table in the middle of the lounge. Half of it was covered with hastily strewn Mylar balloons, glimmering in the light that shone down from behind the partition. The other half was held the three containers of bagels and four boxes of orange juice along with all the necessary paper products, all courtesy of Ms. Bedford, who apparently believed that a well-fed newspaper staff was a happy newspaper staff. None of the editors had ever complained.

Ryan and Brendan watched Veronica draw a cinnamon bagel out of the container along with a small tub of cream cheese. The blonde flipped the lid off easily and plunged in her plastic knife, smoothing the creamy fluff onto the bagel.

"Bagel break," Brendan announced, jumping off the couch. Ryan followed suit after lifting his ankles underneath Elizabeth's back. The slight levitation roused the drowsy brunette, who sat up quickly so her friend could satisfy his need for a breakfast bagel.

Jenny emitted a soft snore from her seat, and Elizabeth smiled at her as she took up Brendan's vacated seat next to Rose. Kali's newspaper had fallen across the blonde's slender legs as she drifted off into her own daydreams, her head propped up on the wall behind her.

Radhika picked up her empty cup from the end table. "I need some orange juice," she excused herself, getting up and walking to the table where the rest of the editors were playfully pushing each other and playing keep-away with the last cheese bagel.

Rose took the opportunity to scoot closer to Elizabeth, smugly smiling at her friend.

"So, Elizabeth," she drawled, playing with a lock of her dark blonde hair. "Did you order balloons for a special someone?"

Elizabeth studied her suspiciously, her midnight blue eyes narrowed and guarded. "Why?"

Rose tried to suppress her smile at the growled question, and Elizabeth instantly realized that she knew.

"Who told you?" she demanded in a whisper, turning on her friend.

Rose giggled, biting her bottom lip and shrugging playfully. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't you play games with me, Truesdale," she warned, jabbing a finger at Rose's nose. "Tell me straight: who told you about Jason?"

Rose shook her head, regarding her friend with amusement. "You're such a psycho, Beth," she grinned. "I didn't really know anything - but you just confirmed my suspicions, as well as those of several third parties."

Elizabeth paled, her eyes wide. "What are you talking about?"

Rose smirked. "Petey and I were talking yesterday with Brenda and Skye, and the balloon sale came up. We started teasing Brenda about sending Sonny a balloon, and then Petey blurted out that she wondered if you'd have the balls to send Jason a bundle."

Elizabeth groaned, burying her face in her hands. Damn you, Pietras.

"And then Skye asked if you two were already a couple or not, and Brenda asked her what she meant, and then Skye was confused, and said that she thought that you had a thing for Jason, and that was when Petey said she thought the same thing." She shrugged, shooting Elizabeth a lop-sided grin. "So I thought I'd do a little investigating, if you can call it that. Jeepers, Beth, you make it so easy sometimes."

Elizabeth groaned again, slumping back on the couch. "Damn you all."

Rose giggled, shifting closer. The rest of the editors were still horsing around with their bagels, so there was little danger of being overheard. "So?"

Elizabeth peeked out from under her hands, giving Rose a suspicious sidelong glance. "So, what?"

"So?" Rose persisted. "Did you get him a balloon or didn't you?"

Elizabeth gaped at her, surprised she was even asking. "No, of course not," she sputtered. "Those forms came out, like, three months ago. I had absolutely no contact with him at that point. We didn't even talk at all. For me to get him a Valentine's balloon with some goofy mushy message would be too forward and assertive and presumptive."

Rose was used to Elizabeth's rambling, and the blonde propped an elbow onto the back of the sofa. "Is it still?"

Elizabeth regarded her for a long moment before sighing and pursing her lips together sourly. "Yes."


The bell rang again, and third period began. Elizabeth and Rose leaned against the doorway of the lounge, standing in the bright and cool hallway during the passing period. Several of their friends called hello, and the girls smiled and waved back, often chatting with their friends as they stopped by the door.

Jason walked past the lounge, glancing at Elizabeth. She was talking to Rose and Sydney's boyfriend Charlie, who was a good friend of his. He walked on, not wanting to be late to his Woods class. His only elective in the midst of an AP and Honors-crammed schedule, the class was his only chance during the day to blow off some steam and take it easy. It was just something about whamming a hammer into a thin, insignificant little nail that he found oddly soothing at times.

The bell rang again, and the hallway was empty except for the few late stragglers who were now running across the linoleum at breakneck speed.

Elizabeth grabbed the last stack of hole-punched nametags from her Ziploc bag, thanking God that they were almost done. The Student Council sent this last bundle to the teachers and other faculty members.

The other editors drifted slowly out of the lounge, all silent in their weariness. Elizabeth handed each of them two cards and they plodded back into the lounge to grab two latex balloons for each card and tie them through the hole.

Presently, they came back out and Elizabeth checked the list once more before sending them on their way. Fifteen minutes drifted by in this manner, with Elizabeth passing out the cards and consulting her list and her co-editors roaming around the building to make the deliveries.

When they trudged back, Elizabeth was waving a small stack at them. "Last round, guys," she called happily. "Two each, and we're all done." She distributed the cards, all of them for teachers, and kept her two favorites for herself.

She followed Ryan in to the lounge, holding the cards for Mr. Dillon Hornsby, her AP US History teacher from last year, and his wife, Ms. Georgia Hornsby, her current AP English teacher. Ryan swiped down two pink and two white latex balloons for her, and she quickly pulled them through the holes in the nametags and knotted them tightly.

Kali passed her with her own bouquets, and Elizabeth followed her into the hallway. The other editors emerged within minutes and stood waiting for Elizabeth's command.

"Once you've got 'em, just go," she directed, already beginning the long walk down the hallway to the stairs. "Let's get this done with."

This was greeted with cheers and whistles, most half-hearted out of sheer weariness. Some of her friends disappeared into the science wing; others went down to the foreign language and design hallway. Elizabeth, followed by Jeff, Kali, and Ryan, ascended the stairs onto the sophomore floor, their red, pink, and white balloons trailing behind them.

The other three went off down the hallway to their respective rooms, and Elizabeth knocked on Room 204, Mr. Hornsby's classroom. He smiled and waved her in, all while bouncing a small super ball against the ceiling and laughing as it ricocheted around the room, almost hitting Johnny O'Brien on the head.

"Hey, Mr. Hornsby," she grinned, extending one bouquet. "I have some balloons for you."

"Hey, Beth," grinned Johnny, waving at her from his seat.

"Beth," smiled Sydney's boyfriend Charlie. Next to him, his best friend Ryan Lanman also smiled.

Elizabeth smiled at all the greetings as Mr. Hornsby took the two latex balloons from her outstretched hand. "Aw, Beth," he smiled. "Did you get me balloons?"

"No, Mr. Hornsby," she replied with a smirk. "No, I did not."

He glanced at the card, which read, From your Student Union, then glanced at a larger balloon that belonged to one of the girls in his class. "You know, I think I like this one better." He then attempted to snatch the bouquet; trying to pull out several of the glitzy Mylar balloons as the rest of the class laughed.

"Did you get any for your wife?" asked Kristin Zavislak, a petite blonde in the front row.

"No, I didn't," Dillon admitted, abandoning the tightly knotted balloon bouquet.

"Speaking of coincidences," Elizabeth interrupted with a smile, "I have your wife's balloons with me, here."

"Hey, Beth," called Charlie. "Tell Mrs. Hornsby that Mr. Hornsby lost his wedding ring."

"What!" Elizabeth gasped, turning on her favorite teacher who was now laughing out of a mixture of apprehension and embarrassment. "You did what?"

"He lost his wedding ring!" shouted Johnny, leaning back in his desk.

"Tell her," insisted Ryan, tucking his pencil behind his ear.

"Don't," Mr. Hornsby warned as a laughing Elizabeth backed out of the room.

"Do it!" yelled the class as she shut the door behind her.

Elizabeth followed the stairs up to the third floor, still smiling. Mr. Hornsby's class was her favorite class throughout her entire high school career, and he was hands-down her favorite teacher. His incredible sense of humor, combined with his impressive accumulation of knowledge in the field as well as his genuine desire to impart knowledge, had gotten her and the rest of her US AP classmates to pass the exam with flying colors.

She knocked once on Room 311, twisting the doorknob and walking in. Ms. Georgia Hornsby smiled at her from above her copy of Madame Bovary.

"Beth," she greeted. "What've you got there?"

"Special delivery for Ms. Hornsby," Elizabeth smiled, extending the bouquet to her petite blonde teacher.

"Are they from Mr. Hornsby?" Sonny asked, glancing up from his test booklet.

"No," Elizabeth grinned devilishly. Ms. Hornsby took the balloons from her, gently untangling them and letting them float to the low ceiling. "But I'd check in with Mr. Hornsby sometime soon, if I were you," she warned. "He has some news for you."

"Uh oh," muttered Mrs. Hornsby with a suspicious smile. "Is it something bad?"

"I can't really say," Elizabeth hedged. "Because otherwise, he'd step on me."

"Okay," Ms. Hornsby replied, suspicion clouding her blue eyes. "I hope he didn't do something too terrible."

Sonny snickered in his seat, lowering his head when Ms. Hornsby looked at him.

"I've got to go," Elizabeth excused herself, playing with the bell sleeve of her sweater. "There's still some more work to be done."

"I'll see you Monday, then," Ms. Hornsby smiled, returning to her desk.

"Later, Beth," Sonny called as she opened the door.

"Bye," called the rest of her friends as the door clicked softly shut.


"Are those the last of them?" Ms. Bedford asked, standing by her desk. She gazed up at the balloons amassed in the small Paper Office, doing a quick count.

"Yup," Elizabeth nodded, folding up her list and dropping it on her own desk. "These are the extras along with the absentees."

"OK," Ms. Bedford nodded. "We'd better start calling the absent kids and letting them know that they can pick them up after school. Where's the Raider Rap?" she asked, referring to the student phonebook.

From his seat on one of the recliners, Ryan McPherrin pointed lazily to the file cabinet next to Roni's desk. "Up there."

Jenny snagged it, flipping it open. "I'll read you the names and numbers, Ms. Bedford," she offered. "And you can call."

"Sounds like a plan," Melissa agreed, sitting down at her desk and reaching for the telephone.

"First, Mike Corbin, 469-5698."

Ms. Bedford dialed and left a message, saying the office would be open until 3:30 and the balloons could be picked up then.

Presently, all absent kids were called, and the editors slumped back in their seats, exhausted after a long morning of nothing but balloons.

"How many extras do we have again?" Elizabeth asked, standing in the middle of the office. Ribbons hung down like vines and latex and Mylar balloons alike covered the ceiling.

"Twenty two," Roni answered, spinning in her seat. "We can take some, right?"

"Right," Ms. Bedford nodded. "Take as many as you want. We have to clear the extras out of here."

The boys jumped up immediately, each of them grabbing one Mylar balloon. Ms. Bedford rolled her eyes, shaking her head at them, which caused Paul to exclaim, "What? We've been so good all day - we haven't even sucked any helium. We deserve this."

Kali laughed, grabbing three latex of her own. "I think they do, Ms. Bedford," she agreed. "Remember last year? They sucked helium every ten minutes. This year, they didn't do anything."

Ms. Bedford just laughed, her blue eyes falling on Elizabeth who still stood poised in the middle of the office. "What about you, Beth?" she asked, a Cheshire cat grin on her face. "Are you going to take any?"

Elizabeth glared witheringly back at her teacher. "No, Ms. Bedford, I am not."

"Ok, if you say so," Melissa conceded with a laugh. At her desk, Rose tittered with laughter as well.

"We've gotta get going, Ms. B.," announced Ryan, tucking his balloon under his arm. "We'll see you after school."

"All right," Melissa answered as they walked out of the doors. "Thank you."

Jenny and Rose rose as well, both stretching out. Kali and Roni followed suit, grabbing their backpacks. Elizabeth took one more glance around the office before grabbing her Calculus notebook and graphing calculator. "We'd better be going, too," she said, running her fingers through her wavy pigtails.

Melissa nodded. "Thank you girls so much for your hard work. None of this could have been done without you."

"No problem, Ms. Bedford," they echoed, drifting out of the door.

"Where are you guys headed?" Jenny asked, flipping her auburn hair over her shoulder.

"Kali and I have a Calc test," Elizabeth answered with a groan. "I don't know about you, Kali, but I haven't studied at all."

"Me neither," Kali agreed. "It's hard to actually study for something like Calculus. You pay attention in class, and you either know it, or you don't."

Roni agreed. "Still, I'm not looking forward to that test, and I have it tenth period."

They ascended the steps, each of them lost in their own thoughts. The bell rang and the hallway was soon flooded with other students. Kali and Elizabeth waved to other girls and climbed to the second floor, making it inside their classroom with two minutes on the clock.

Charlie and Ryan, the only two juniors in the class, were seated at their desks, engrossed in their Rubik's cubes.

Elizabeth dropped her notebook and calculator on her desk, and then walked over to Charlie's desk. "So, guys," she began, flipping one of her pigtails. "What did you mean about Mr. Hornsby losing his wedding ring? What's the story on that?"

Charlie laughed, still absently twisting his cube. "It's nothing really," he answered. "Just one of those things that we like to blow out of proportion."

"What happened was that he came to class and started teaching, and you know how he has a habit of twisting his wedding band as he talks?" Elizabeth nodded at Ryan, who resumed his explanation. "Well, he goes to do that, and all of a sudden notices that his ring isn't on his finger."

"And when we ask what's wrong, he says that he thinks he lost it," Charlie added. "And then he said that he probably - as in hopefully - left it on his dresser in the morning, but we'd already lost it and were threatening to tell Mrs. Hornsby."

"And that's when you walked in," Ryan continued. "And it was just a perfect opportunity to freak him out by making him think you'd spill."

"Did you?" Charlie asked eagerly, leaning forward in his desk.

Elizabeth smiled. "I dropped a hint, nothing much. Just enough to land him in some warm water."

"Excellent," Ryan snickered, doing his best imitation of Mr. Burns on the Simpsons.

Charlie laughed, turning back to Elizabeth. "So anyway, who were those balloons from?"

"Student Union," Elizabeth answered automatically. "They sent two balloons to each of the two hundred faculty members, believe it or not."

"Wow," Ryan whistled. "That's pretty nice of them."

"Yeah," Elizabeth replied witheringly. "Pardon my bitterness, but everyone forgets that it was the newspaper staff that had to blow up, knot, tie a ribbon to, and deliver all those balloons." While she loved all the members of the Student Union, especially considering that Sonny was the president for his third year running, she couldn't help but be a tad exasperated with them, especially after they promised to send members to help but then didn't.

"That sucks," Charlie sympathized. "Were you guys in charge of the carnation sale today, too?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "That was Student Union," she replied.

"Oh." Charlie ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth down his stubborn semi-cowlick. "Would you believe that I didn't get a single balloon or carnation?"

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at him, even though he knew he was just joking and that he didn't care either way. Sydney and him hadn't gotten together until after the forms went out, so she understandably hadn't been able to send him any.

"Me, neither," Ryan griped, abandoning his Rubik cube in favor of his graphing calculator.

"Aw," Elizabeth smirked. "You poor little dears. Tell you what," she shifted on the desk, folding her arms across her knees. "I'll get you both a balloon."

Ryan and Charlie both laughed, and would have told her not to bother had Mr. Alcazar not walked in at that moment.

"All right, kiddies," he grinned, setting down his textbook and an all-too-thick stack of stapled tests. "Get out your pens or pencils and get ready to hate me."

Elizabeth resumed her seat next to Sonny, the two of them waiting patiently for their teacher to hand out their imminent doom. Elizabeth glanced sideways at him, noticing the two latex balloons from Student Union and another bundle of two Mylar balloons.

"Pssst," she whispered, leaning toward him. "Who're those from?"

He ducked his head in an attempt to hide his grin, a blush stealing onto his tanned skin. "Brenda."

Elizabeth laughed, punching him on the shoulder. "Woah, there, Sonny, please tell me you sent her some, too."

Sonny laughed and turned to answer, but Mr. Alcazar smacked him lightly on the head with a pile of tests.

"All right, Bonnie and Clyde," he chided jokingly. "Get to integratin'."


The students of Mr. Alcazar's period 4/5 AP Calculus class trudged dejectedly out of Room 209. All of them, of course, except Sonny and Ryan Lanman, who strolled out knowing they had owned that exam.

Charlie held the door for Elizabeth and Kali, waving to the girls as they turned to go up the stairs to the third floor.

"What'd you think?" Kali asked, shifting the strap of her backpack over her narrow shoulders.

"I think I failed," Elizabeth sighed, balancing her notebook and calculator on her head.

"Me, too," Kali agreed. "It's okay, though."

"Yeah," Elizabeth nodded. "After all, 'Who Cares'?"

Kali laughed at Sydney's favorite expression, coined in English a few weeks ago. "True. The Czar said himself that he'd fix our grades at the end of the year if he saw that we were putting some effort in and working hard."

"Exactly," Elizabeth agreed. "And we certainly are."

The girls separated at the top of the stairs, each heading to their lockers. Elizabeth dropped her math junk inside, drawing out her Spanish textbook. Remembering that she left her lunch down in the paper office, she quickly locked her locker and raced down the steps, her pigtails bouncing gaily with the movement.

Ms. Bedford was on the phone when Elizabeth walked in. Elizabeth waved hello, depositing her junk on her desk. It took her a few minutes to sort through the jumble of papers and notebooks in her backpack, plucking out the ones she'd need for her next two classes. The backpack was zipped closed and stashed securely under the desk, out of sight.

From there, Elizabeth walked toward Roni's desk, where she'd left her Lone Ranger lunch box. She glanced at the clock and pulled her grapes out of the lunch box, munching them as she waited for Ms. Bedford to finish.

Her teacher finally put down the telephone and turned to her. "Hey, Beth."

"Hey, Ms. Bedford," she replied, pulling another grape into her mouth. "I just wanted to double-check to see if there were any problems since I left."

"Well," Ms. Bedford replied, leafing through a stack of papers on her desk. "We did get one complaint from a student who sent his girlfriend a bouquet, and she didn't get it."

"What's the name of the girl?" Elizabeth asked, already moving toward the desk.

Melissa handed her the list. "Dara Johnson, I think."

"Her balloons are right there," Elizabeth pointed. "She must have been mistaken for absent. You know, I see her sister right after ninth hour, so I'll tell her to tell Dara to pick them up here after school."

"Sounds good," Melissa smiled, taking the list from her. "Are you going to eat lunch down here?"

Elizabeth glanced at the clock again. She now had fifteen minutes left in her lunch break. "Actually, no. I think I'll head up to the lunchroom. Right after I grab a couple of balloons."

Melissa didn't bother hiding her smile as Elizabeth grabbed three Mylar balloons, one I Love You, one Happy Valentine's, and one Be Mine. "Are they for your Golden Boy?"

"Ms. Bedford!" Elizabeth exclaimed, turning on her teacher. She resisted the urge to say Bite your tongue!, thinking it might be disrespectful, and settled instead for an indignant, "Sh!"

"Well? Are they?"

"No," Elizabeth replied in a shows-what-you-know way. "They're for Ryan Lanman and Sydney's boyfriend Charlie. They were a bit miffed that they didn't get any balloons, so I said I'd send them balloons." And if I just happen to have an extra balloon, and if Jason just happens to sit with them at lunch, well then, so be it.

"Oh," Ms. Bedford nodded. "That's nice of you. I'll see you after school?"

"Maybe," Elizabeth answered as she walked out the door, the three shiny balloons following after her. "Bye."

"Bye, sweetie."


Elizabeth walked into the crowded and noisy cafeteria with her lunchbox and an entourage of balloons. She made her way to her table, noting that Jason's seat at his normal table was vacant.

"Hey, Beth," Lexi smiled, taking a bite from her turkey sandwich. "How's it going? I haven't seen you in forever."

"It's going okay," Elizabeth replied with a smile. She set her lunchbox and books down on the table, maintaining a hold on her balloons as she opened her lunchbox.

"Cantaloupe in a bag?" Sydney noted with a smile.

"Yup," Elizabeth grinned, holding up a sandwich bag full of cut cantaloupe. "How else would one eat it?"

"I don't know," Sydney grinned, holding up her own salad-in-a-bag. "It seems like the only way."

Elizabeth agreed with a chuckle, plunging a plastic fork into her bag. Brenda made her way from the cafeteria line, a small carton of chocolate milk in her hand. She poked Elizabeth on the shoulder with a smile, squeezing past her to her own chair.

Elizabeth's eyes fell on a very large bouquet of Mylar and latex balloons tied on the brunette's chair. "Hey, Bren," she smiled knowingly, her sapphire eyes glittering. "Who're the balloons from?"

Brenda grinned in response, her coal-black eyes dancing with delight. "Sonny," she bragged, her cheeks reddening slightly.

Elizabeth pretended to size up the bouquet. "Not bad at all," she smirked. "How's it compare with the two you sent him?"

Brenda laughed. "Not very well, but what do I care? He's a guy, after all - they don't need balloons."

Elizabeth chuckled, polishing off the last bit of her orange melon. "True, true." She turned to Sydney, motioning to the balloons in her other hand. "Speaking of which, I'm off to deliver a balloon to that boyfriend of yours."

Sydney smiled, confused. "Why?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "He and Ryan were complaining about how they never got any in Calculus, and since we have a whole bunch of extras in the office, I thought, why not?"

Sydney nodded. "Ok, I'll come with you. I have some extra candy that I think he'll want, because, frankly, if I eat any more of it, I'm going to be sick."

Elizabeth waited as Sydney finished her salad, drawing a red apple from her lunch box. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

The girls got up and left their table, chatting as they walked to Charlie's. Elizabeth noticed that Jason had just returned from the cafeteria line with his usual hamburger, French fries and fruit punch.

"Hey, Charlie," Sydney smiled, standing between her boyfriend and Ryan. "Ryan."

"Hey, guys," Elizabeth smiled, leaning an elbow against the back of Charlie's chair. "How's it going?"

"Okay," Charlie answered, craning his neck back to look at her. "What'd you think of the Calc test?"

Jason watched Elizabeth keenly, already nervous about the test he'd be taking tenth period.

"Challenging," Elizabeth answered simply, tugging on the balloons she held. "Some of the stuff came totally out of left field."

Jason grimaced at his hamburger as Sydney dropped a bunch of candy in front of Ryan and Charlie. "You guys can share that," she offered.

"Thanks, Syd," Ryan smiled, already picking out a mini Snickers before Charlie wolfed it all down. He turned back to Elizabeth, adjusting his slim glasses and brushing some of his blonde hair off of his forehead. "Did you get the bonus?" he asked.

Elizabeth nodded, careful not to say anything too revealing since Jason had yet to take it. "Yeah. It was hard, though."

"What've you got there?" Charlie asked pointedly, gesturing to the balloons he knew were for him.

Elizabeth smiled at his boyish egocentricism. "Balloons," she replied, stating the obvious. She selected the Happy Valentine's one, pulling it from the others. "You're lucky we had so many extras."

She handed the two others to Sydney, bending down to tie the red balloon to Charlie's wrist. "There," she smiled, satisfied. "Now you have your very own balloon."

"Yay," Charlie cheered, tugging the balloon. "That makes me happy."

Sydney laughed at his childishness, shaking her head. She let Elizabeth pull the I Love You one from her hands and watched as she turned to Ryan.

"Ryan, here's one for you," the brunette smiled, tying it around his wrist as if he were a small child.

"Thanks, Beth," he smiled, looking up at it. "I appreciate it. I don't know what it is, exactly, about balloons, but they just brighten up your day."

Sydney agreed. "I think it's the whole inner child aspect of it," she explained, playing with a lock of her hair. "When I was little, I loved balloons. I just loved them."

"Me, too," Elizabeth nodded. She was already slightly nervous, knowing there was one balloon left, and only one other person she'd like to give it to.

Sydney seemed to be reading her thoughts, much to Elizabeth's embarrassment. Still, the tiny brunette felt oddly grateful when her friend prodded, "So, Beth? Doesn't Jason get one?"

Jason blushed at the question, paying more attention to his hamburger than was necessary. And darn it - where was his napkin? He'd have to get up and get one.

Elizabeth grinned devilishly at her friend. Normally, she would have been horribly mortified, but what could she say? She was feeling especially brave at the moment, after orchestrating such a huge sale for the entire school, and she'd better take advantage of the feeling before it passed and her normal sagacious, prudent self took control.

"You're right, Syd. Of course Jason gets one."

Jason blushed again, flashing his classic wide grin without even knowing why. Elizabeth was already moving past Sydney and toward the end of the table, a charming smile on her face as her slender fingers toyed with the red ribbon.

"No, it's okay," he got out as she neared his seat, the Be Mine balloon following her dutifully. "Really, I don't need a balloon."

"Did you hear that, Beth?" Sydney teased, her hazel eyes never leaving Jason. "He doesn't need one."

Elizabeth was already next to him, barely coming up to his chin. She leaned forward, her wavy ponytails swinging forward and brushing against his upper arm. "Well, that's too bad," she laughed. "Because he's getting one."

Jason's stomach clenched as her cool fingers came in contact with his forearm. Despite his best efforts, he felt his face flame up as he watched her knot the ribbon around his left wrist, attempting to tie a shoe-knot like she had on the other boys.

Sydney swallowed her giggles as best as she could as she watched Jason. The tall blonde, always the one for joke and a little rough-housing, was apparently completely unequipped to deal with even the most innocent of advances from her friend. He stood still, although protesting, as she tied the balloon on, his classic grin dominating his face.

The butterflies in Elizabeth's stomach did the Macarena as she tied the ribbon. She attempted to make the one loop to wrap the other part of the ribbon around, but her trembling fingers refused her brain's commands, making her seem like an unskilled preschooler as she repeated the procedure, barely managing to tie the ribbon correctly. And all the while, she tried not to stare at the glow of his healthy tanned skin from underneath the thin fabric of his shirt.

"No, I don't want a balloon," Jason continued to protest half-heartedly. Across the table, Sydney could tell he didn't mean it. "I have a test in two periods and..."

"Well, you've got one," Elizabeth quipped, putting a hand on her hip as she stood next to him. She glanced at a laughing Ryan and didn't notice the way Jason's gaze passed over her.

"Do you mind if I pop mine, Beth?" Charlie asked, already pulling the balloon down to his mouth.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't," she replied with a laugh. "You're all welcome to pop them and suck in the helium, because I'm told that's what high school boys do in the presence of balloons."

Jason laughed as Charlie bit into the balloon, making a small puncture. He sucked in the gas slowly, tightly cinching the partially deflated balloon when he was done.

"Oompa, loompa, doompa di doo," he sang, eliciting guffaws from his friends.

Ryan followed suit, sucking out a small amount of gas. "Ding, dong, the witch is dead," he sang. Jason, sipping his fruit punch, almost spit it out across the table.

"Dude, you sound the same," he laughed, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. Next to him, Elizabeth covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. All Jason had to do was glance at her before she erupted, too.

"It's because his voice is naturally so high," Charlie teased, popping a mini Reese's cup into his mouth.

"Oh, that's low," Ryan growled good-naturedly. "No guy wants to be told he still sounds like the pre-pubescent version of himself."

Sydney laughed at him, playfully ruffling his hair. "There, there, Ryan," she teased. "Don't let it get to you. Not all boys can be foghorns."

"Like Charlie Brown over there," Elizabeth finished, smirking at her friend's boyfriend.

"Hey!" cried an indignant Charlie as the girls excused themselves.

"Sorry, Charlie," Elizabeth sang out, following Sydney back to their table. The girls looked over their shoulders to see the boys still sucking helium and singing show tunes.


"So, who's it from, Morgan?" demanded Marcus Taggert, one of his friends in tenth period Calculus. The tall African American boy reached up on his toes to poke the sparkling balloon. "Who wants you to be theirs?"

"No one."

"If it's no one, then why are you being so defensive?" Marcus teased. "Who is it?"

"Elizabeth, okay?" Jason answered, throwing his hands up in the air. "Geez!"

"Hey, no need to get so worked up, Morgan," Luke Spencer teased, punching him on the arm as he moved to get some Kleenex.

"Oh, but there is," Marcus replied with a smirk. "Especially when the giver is Elizabeth Webber."

Jason turned away and pretended to skim through his notes before the test, determined not to let the rest of the boys see him blushing. "Drop it, guys."

"Aw," Marcus teased. "What is that, Jason? Are you -- blushing?"

Luke hooted loudly, tossing his used Kleenex into the garbage can. "Yeah, Morgan!"

Marcus got up from his seat, unable to stop tormenting his friend. "All the way," he laughed, punching Jason on his already bruised shoulder.

"Boys, boys," Mr. Alcazar yelled, shaking his head. "Is there any chance you ruffians are going to stop fighting like kindergarteners? 'He said this!' 'He hit me here!' 'He did this!' 'He did that!' Geez!" He shook his head, running a large hand through his black hair as he chuckled. "Come on, people, let's not resort to violence."

"Yeah," Jason retorted, flipping back and snatching Marcus' calculator from his desk before the soccer player could make a move for it. He held it up in front of his face, taunting the boy. "See that?" he jeered playfully, gloating about his quick reflexes. "That's a ninety dollar slap right there."

He didn't even hear Luke move behind him, and whipped around in surprise as the trumpet player plucked the calculator easily from his fingers.

"True," Luke smirked, handing the graphing instrument back to Marcus. "But that blush on your face a few seconds ago? That was damn near priceless, Morgan."