Fallen

This takes place on Friday the fourteenth of May. Remember that Prom is on the twenty-ninth.

"Beth!"

Elizabeth turned and kept walking backwards, searching for whomever it was that had called her name. She finally managed to make out the blonde head of Carol Benson peeking out from between the shoulders of taller senior boys, and slowed down so the girl could catch up.

"Hold up!" Carol's cork platforms clattered across the tiles as she half-trotted over to the waiting brunette and greeted her with a dazzling grin.

"Hey, Carol," Elizabeth smiled, tapping her amethyst-frost nails against the spine of her Psychology book as she swung her Lone Ranger lunchbox from the other hand. "What's going on?"

"Nothing much," the brunette tossed back easily, a cat-ate-the-canary grin gracing her delicate features. "Oh, wait, there was a little something I meant to tell you – guess who got a prom date!"

Elizabeth laughed as Carol's catty grin blossomed into a full-fledged, ear-to-ear smile. "Yes! That's great! Who is it?"

The blonde licked her lips and swept her tawny bangs behind her small ears as they descended the staircase, heading straight to the cafeteria. "Well, I asked Jason to hook me up with someone, and he set me up with one of his intramural track coaches from PCU."

"Ooh, a college boy," Elizabeth tittered, laughing along with the blonde. "So? Does this college boy have a name?"

"Oh," Carol nodded quickly. "Yeah – it's, um, Steven Lars? I think that's it. Lars. Yeah, that's right."

"So?" Elizabeth pressed. "Come on, Carol – you've never been stingy with details. Spill!"

"Well," the slim blonde smirked, adding an exaggerated swing to her hips. "He's tall, with this really curly blonde hair and super-cute dimples. Plus, he has these huge gray eyes and this amazing laugh – he's gorgeous, Beth. We talked on the phone last night for, like, two hours. I freaking can't wait for prom."

Elizabeth smiled as they strolled down the hallway to the lunchroom. "That's great, Carol. And who knows – you think this could be something more?"

The blonde slid her a sideways glance, a sinister smirk claiming her thin lips. "Possibly."

"Excellent," Elizabeth snickered, tossing her brown curls over her shoulders. "That's the way to do it."

Her friend was about to say something, but instead, her attention turned to a figure further down the hallway. "Jason?"

The figure turned and stopped, bringing a genuine smile to Elizabeth's lips.

"Jason," she called happily as she and Carol trotted up to meet him. "Hey, back from your appointment already?"

His nod was almost imperceptible, and he remained quiet as the two reached him. Elizabeth immediately raised her hand in an offer to carry his backpack, but he waved it away and fixed his crutches before they started walking again.

"Jason, I can't thank you enough," Carol swooned, shaking her fine blonde hair until it cascaded over her shoulders in unruly waves. "Steve's great – oh, man, we are going to tear it up at the dance."

Jason nodded once as they reached the Commons. "No problem. Glad you two hit it off."

"Hit it off?" Carol repeated. "Well, that's an understatement!" She flicked a wrist at a nearby table, waving to Jenny and Brenda. "Come on, let's go sit with them. We haven't sat in a huge group in such a long time."

Jason and Elizabeth followed the excited blonde to the table where all of their friends sat. "So, what was I saying? Oh, yeah. We're way beyond hitting it off. He's incredible, Jason – where have you been hiding him this whole time?"

Sonny smirked and took a big bite out of his roast beef sandwich as Brenda giggled next to him.

"Are we talking about Carol's college guy?" Her brown eyes danced with mirth as she stood up and pulled out a chair for Jason. He sat down slowly, wearily, and Sonny leaned his two crutches against the side of the table.

"What else?" Elizabeth grinned back, taking a seat between Jason and Lexi. "That's all Carol's been talking about."

"Oh, shut up," Carol huffed irritably as she removed a small carton of peach yogurt and a sandwich bag of granola from her brown paper lunch bag. "I've listened to you prattle on about Jason. The way I see it, you owe me – Ow!"

She glared at the brunette seated across the table as she leaned down and rubbed her shin. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and turned to glare at Brenda when the girl dared to laugh. "And what's so funny, Bren?"

"You," the brunette giggled, taking a dainty bite of her nectarine.

"Oh, really?" Elizabeth's stern glare did little to quell Brenda's laughter. "Because I seem to remember when all you wanted to do was prattle on about Sonny."

Carol snickered as Brenda returned the murderous look, and her brown eyes fluttered over to her boyfriend as he sputtered on his milk.

"Don't get too cocky, Don, " Brenda muttered under her breath, biting her nectarine in resignation. "And more importantly – don't say a word."

Sonny put up his hands in mock defeat, a sinister grin still dominating his dark features. "Wasn't going to."

"So, anyway," Carol interrupted, apparently tired of not being able to dominate the conversation. "Steve's a Bio major and he's on the tennis team over there, which is, like, so totally perfect because I've been playing tennis for forever, and…"

Brenda leaned past Jason to her best friend and quirked an eyebrow at the rambling blonde. "Any end in sight, you think?"

Elizabeth shook her head and her chocolate waves tickled Jason's forearm. "Nope. She'll blather on and on until we bleed."

And for the most part, she was right. Carol kept talking about Steve, and Brenda and Elizabeth kept teasing her. Jenny and Lexi decided to stay out of it, and spent the lunch hour trying to keep down their giggles along with the boys.

Jason, however, remained quiet and concentrated on his lunch. The girls around him kept chattering, Sonny kept making lame jokes, and Carol wouldn't shut up. Whereas he usually wanted the lunch period to be longer, Jason found that he couldn't wait for it to end.


The enemy was bearing down on her. Elizabeth's eyes darted from one to the other, each with their arms outstretched and flailing, a determined set to their faces, and those darned yellow flags tied around their waists.

"Beth!" Jenny waved a hand at her, and Elizabeth let the football fly. The redhead caught in close to her chest and managed to dodge the other team all the way to the endzone for the final touchdown.

Their P.E. teacher blew the whistle, letting them all know that the game was over and it was time to head down to the locker room to change. Jenny trotted up to Elizabeth and the two smacked high-fives as they headed for the double-doors.

"I hate getting all sweaty in gym," Jenny complained as she stripped off her gym t-shirt to reveal a white tank top as they clambered down the stairs together. "Then you smell like gym sweats for the rest of the day. Even if you take the shirt off, the stench, like, marinates on your body."

"Thanks for the description." Elizabeth rolled her eyes and received a light smack on the shoulder, courtesy of her tall auburn-haired co-editor. The pair found their way to their lockers and focused on undoing the combo lock. Their lockers opened simultaneously and they quickly set to work shedding their offensive uniform.

"So," Jenny began as she struggled out of her tank top and into her black Fraggle Rock t-shirt. "How much longer is Morgan on the crutches?"

"About a week," Elizabeth replied. Her blue sweatpants found their way to the floor and she wiggled into her low-rise jeans. "More or less. The doctors say he's healing well, so I don't even know if he'll have to use them for another week. We'll see."

"Was he not here for part of the day?" her friend wandered aloud. "Didn't see him in Chem."

"He had an appointment today," Elizabeth clarified from somewhere inside her ACDC concert shirt. It had belonged to Sarah and naturally, she had stolen it when her big sister moved away to college.

"Oh. How'd it go?"

"Actually, I don't know," Elizabeth admitted, pulling her hair brush from her backpack. "He didn't say much, except, like I said, that he might not be needing the crutches for as long as they thought."

"Good!" Jenny beamed, clapping her hands. "So he'll be able to dance at prom! Excellent!"

The five-minute bell rang and the girls passed the locker room mirrors, did a quick hair check, and raced up the stairs and on to their last class.


After fifty minutes of listening to Mrs. Purdy prattle on about her son, Jacob, and wading through the latest Cosmo quiz, Elizabeth's last period AP Psychology class finally let out. Their teacher had finally seemed to realize that AP exams were the next week and had distributed a comprehensive study guide to the brave students that actually felt they could take the test on their own, but other than that, she hadn't changed her teaching habits.

Elizabeth and Petey both headed for their lockers, eager to unload their books and get on home. The weather had been gorgeous as of late and spending extra hours in school just didn't seem too appealing. As she managed to pull her Calculus book out of her perpetually crammed and disorganized locker, Elizabeth made a mental note to actually get out and take full advantage of the warm weather as soon as all her AP exams were done.

"So, what're the plans for tonight, Beth?" Petey asked amiably as she straightened her cardboard cutout of Peter Frampton.

"I have a date with my math book," the brunette replied sourly. "I swear, if I get a four out of five on this exam, I will be incredibly happy. I don't know what I was thinking when I registered for Calc."

"Hey, at least there's a chance that you can get out of it in college," Lauren supplied, trying to be helpful. "And college math has got to be an even bigger pain in the ass than the stuff you're doing now, right?"

"Most likely," Elizabeth agreed. The two girls remained silent as they thought back to what homework they had received that day, and presently Lauren began humming.

Elizabeth grinned at the daily tradition and helpfully supplied the lyrics. "No one told you life was gonna be this way: your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA."

"It's like you're always stuck in second gear, when it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but.."

Elizabeth nodded her head to the catchy beat as they sauntered down the hall toward their friends' lockers. "I'll be there for you when the rain starts to fall. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you 'cause you're there for me, too."

"Hey, guys," Sydney chirped as they neared her locker. "Can you believe how completely gorgeous it is outside? I'm going to go home and fall asleep in the back yard – that's what I'm going to do."

"Sounds great," Elizabeth agreed. "Nothing like falling asleep in the sun."

"No kidding." Sydney was currently deciding whether or not she needed to bring her backpack home. Deciding against it, she ended up cramming it into her locker. "By the way, where's that fool of yours? He has my Merchant of Venice and Pudd'nhead Wilson."

"Jason's around somewhere," Elizabeth shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I haven't seen him around much today." Maybe it would be okay to put off doing Calculus for a few hours, she mused, and see if Jason wanted to go grab a burger or see a movie.

Before long, Carol and Brenda joined the small group and the conversation once again made a sharp turn to the debonair Steven Lars. Jenny and Lexi happened to wander in somewhere in the middle of Carol's gabbing, prompting the blonde to start from the beginning.

Elizabeth was leaning back against Sydney's locker when she spotted Sonny coming up from his last hour class. He smiled at her as he approached, and Elizabeth turned away from the rest of her group.

"Hey, Sonny, have you seen Jason?" she asked curiously. "He wasn't by his locker when I came down."

"Sorry," he replied with a quick shake of his head as he located his Spanish book. "I don't have a clue."

"Oh." She leaned one shoulder against the lockers. "I thought you might have seen him."

A silence descended between them and both their thoughts drifted to Jason. Although neither said so, both Sonny and Elizabeth wondered if he was intentionally making himself scarce, for whatever reason. He hadn't said anything at lunch, he hadn't walked with them to class, and he wasn't even around after school.

Marcus and Luke nodded at Elizabeth as they walked past on their way to their own lockers, and both boys received a quick smile.

"I don't know what's going on," Taggert admitted, continuing the conversation he and Luke had been having since they left the locker room. Both boys were in the last-hour weight-training class with Jason, and their tall blonde friend was now the subject of their conversation.

"Me neither," Luke agreed. "Do you think Beth knows anything?"

"I doubt it." The boys reached their lockers and dumped their bags on the ground, still continuing their discussion in hushed tones. "Dara was sitting with them all at lunch, and she said that Morgan was really quiet and didn't really say much. She said she didn't think that either Sonny, Brenda, or Beth picked up on it as something out of the ordinary, you know?"

Luke nodded slowly as he stooped to open his backpack. Taggert's girlfriend was very observant and excellent when it came to picking out the little things; if she said something seemed off about Jason, he had no trouble believing it. Especially after their last class together. Jason had been extraordinarily sullen and had come close to losing his temper several times. And that just wasn't him.

Marcus pulled out the pencil he usually kept stored in his Afro. "He wasn't like this yesterday, was he?"

Luke shook his head. "Nope. Something must have happened today. And whatever it was, it really pissed the Golden Boy off."

Just then, Jason came storming down the hallway. Or at least, he stormed as much as his cumbersome crutches would allow him to. Taggert and Luke both watched quietly as he dropped his crutches on the floor with a loud clunk and little regard for their well-being, and then did the same with his backpack. His face was dark and stern as his fingers jerked the combo lock, fairly wrenching it off when he got it open.

The zipper to his backpack was ripped open violently and Jason dumped a few books in before slamming his locker door shut with terrible force and forcing the lock into it. Marcus and Luke exchanged quizzical glances, and this time, Jason noticed them.

"What?" he growled. "What're you looking at?"

Marcus' eyes darted to his friend for a quick save, but Luke just studied Jason.

"You okay, Morgan?" he finally asked, crossing his arms over his chest and abandoning his backpack where it lay by his feet.

Jason glowered at him, already bending to retrieve his crutches. "Yeah, Spencer, I'm #$ peachy."

He took his first steps, aiming to breeze around the two boys but Marcus was quicker and moved next to Luke to intercept him.

"Look, Morgan-"

"Get out of my way, Taggert," Jason glowered. "I'm not in the mood for this right now."

"Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious," Luke drawled. "I'm so glad I ran into you." Even the lethal glare that Jason fixed on him did not seem to bother the trumpet player.

"What the hell do you want, Spencer?"

Marcus stepped forward then on Luke's behalf. "Look, Jason, we're all friends here, right? We've been playing together since Little League. We know when something's pissing you off, man, so what is it?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Nothing, all right? I'm going to leave now – hopefully, you can run this episode of Oprah without me."

"Nothing, huh?" Luke called as Jason moved past them. The blonde stopped, his grip tightening on the crutches as Luke finally turned to face him. "Well, nothing sure explains why your nostrils were flared wide enough to park two Buicks in 'em."

Jason didn't say anything, so he pressed on. "So what is it? Falling behind in school? Problems with the 'rents?" The boy didn't bite, and Luke licked his lips before asking his last question. "Something up between you and Beth?"

"No," Jason replied quickly, just as Luke knew he would. "That's…not it."

"Look, you don't have to say anything," Marcus finally spoke up. "It's cool. But you definitely need to loosen up, man."

He turned to Luke, who was already thinking of ways to cheer up their friend. "What're you doing right now, Morgan?"

Jason glanced quizzically at Luke. "Going home."

The trumpet player stepped forward, his arms still crossed over his chest. "Come over to my place – we'll just hang."

Next to him, Taggert was nodding. "Yeah, Morgan, let's do that."

It took them a few minutes to convince Jason to tag along, but when he finally agreed, Taggert and Luke scooped up their backpacks and ambled down the hallway past where Elizabeth stood with the rest of their friends.

"Hey," she smiled as soon as she saw him. Sonny tipped his head at him as the petite brunette stepped forward and placed a hand on his forearm. "You want to do something right now? Get a bite to eat? See a movie? Maybe-"

"Maybe later," Jason replied quietly. There was something in his eyes that Elizabeth couldn't exactly place, and that made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Okay," she got out slowly. "Uh, if you change your mind, call me?"

He nodded once. "Yeah. I'll do that. See you later."

She rose on her toes to kiss him, and was surprised when he didn't respond as he usually did. Sonny moved to stand next to her and they both watched in confusion as the three boys descended the staircase and disappeared from view.

"That was weird," Sonny shrugged, picking up his backpack and grabbing Brenda's hand. The brunette was only too happy to have a reason to escape Carol's babbling, and quickly said goodbye to their friends.

"No kidding," Elizabeth sighed, her narrowed eyes still on the stairwell.


It was seven o'clock, and Jason Morgan had no plans of moving. Luke's basement was just too damn comfortable.

Marcus was sprawled in a black bean bag chair with a video game controller in his large hands, currently trying to infiltrate enemy headquarters without getting killed. Luke was seated on the floor, leaning up against a small two-person couch, the remote to the stereo in one hand and a can of beer in the other. BB King was blasting from the oversized speakers, resonating through the frame of the house, and Luke wouldn't have it any other way.

Jason was situated on the large tan couch directly opposite to Luke, nursing a matching beer as he watched Taggert open fire on enemy agents. He didn't remember how long they had been sitting there in Luke's basement, but he really did not want to leave. And since he and Luke had already tossed a couple of empty cans into the garbage can, he didn't think it was a wise idea to have Luke drop him home.

The beer had created a pleasant buzz in his head and enveloped him in a warm haze, and Jason stretched languidly on the couch. Luke lifted his head from the seat of the couch he was leaning against, studying his friend. Jason's features were relaxed now, and he no longer looked like he'd off the next guy who looked at him funny.

The blonde swirled the last bit of beer around the bottom of the can before gulping it down. If this helped Morgan loosen up a bit and forget his problems for a little while, it was all good.


Monday morning…

"Beth!"

Elizabeth turned around to see Jenny flying down the center of the hall in her blue high-topped tennis shoes. She waited until the taller redhead had caught up and then resumed her walk down the hall to English.

"Why weren't you at Syd's Saturday night?" her friend inquired. "Everyone was asking for you. How come you didn't show?"

Her shrug was lacking in effort. "I just didn't feel like it, to be honest. Besides, I had a lot of work to do. The AP exam for Psych is tomorrow, English is on Wednesday, and Calculus is on Thursday."

"Oh, that's right," Jenny nodded. "Well, then I can understand. We just missed you."

"What'd you guys do?" Elizabeth couldn't help asking as they entered their classroom. Mrs. Hornsby was seated at her desk, and she smiled at them as they took their seats by her desk.

"We made these awesome monster cookies and watched Three Stooges reruns," Jenny replied. "And then we played Bocce ball in the dark. I don't recommend that. Syd almost lost a kidney."

Elizabeth smiled. "Yeah, well, sounds like fun." She stifled a yawn and dragged a hand through her hair before pulling it into a messy ponytail. "Sorry I missed it."

Jenny frowned and quickly waved at Sydney as the girl rushed in just before the bell. "You okay, Beth? You look like crap."

She got a wry smile in return. "Gee, thanks."

"You know I don't mean it like that." The redhead cocked her head at the smaller brunette. "You doing okay? Remember – don't kill yourself over these APs."

Elizabeth nodded quickly. "Oh, I know. That's not it."

"Then what is it?" Jenny pressed. Disappointed when Elizabeth pursed her lips and shrugged in response, Jenny called out to her teacher.

"Mrs. Hornsby, Beth and I are going to the bathroom," she announced, rising from her seat and half-pulling Elizabeth with her.

"OK, girls," Georgia nodded absently as she collected the rest of the papers. She always believed in running her AP class like a college class – she didn't mind at all if her kids got up in the middle of a lecture and left to use the washroom. Usually, they were very good about coming back quickly.

Jenny closed the door behind them and turned to Elizabeth, who was already edging further down the hallway. "All right, Beth," she started firmly, draping an arm over her friend's shoulder. "What's eatin' ya, babe?"

"Jenny, really, it's not imp-"

"Hey, girls!" Brenda had just stepped out of her US History class and into the hallway, and grinned upon seeing her friends. "What's shaking? And Beth," she added, flipping her hair over her shoulder as they casually sauntered down the hallway. "Where were you last night? I called, but you didn't answer your cell."

"I was studying," Elizabeth informed her. "Sorry I couldn't make it."

"No big deal," Brenda shrugged. "We were just wondering where you were."

"OK, Bren," Jenny cut in, gesturing to the brunette between me. "Tell me something – doesn't Beth look different? Like something's bugging her?"

Brenda stepped in front of her best friend, effectively stopping her march down the hallway, and stared quizzically after her. It only took her a moment to get her answer, and pursing her lips, she asked, "OK, what's wrong? What happened?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and tried to extricate herself from Jenny's hold. "Nothing, guys, seriously – let it go. It's nothing."

"I think we've already established that we're not going to take that as an answer," Jenny quipped, crossing her arms over her olive green Che tee-shirt. "So spill already."

"Beth," Brenda started quietly. "You know you can talk to us, right? We'll always listen if you want to get something off your chest."

Elizabeth was wringing her hands and biting her lip, and both girls knew it was only a matter of time before she came clean. And they were right.

"I-I think Jason's avoiding me," Elizabeth finally confessed. "I'm not sure, but I think he is. I don't see how it could all be a coincidence."

"Wait – what?" Jenny looked quite surprised – clearly, the redhead hadn't been expecting such a response.

"Avoiding you?" Brenda parroted. "Really? Beth, are you sure?"

"I think so," the brunette sighed helplessly, leaning her back against a locker. "And I have no idea why."

"So – hold on a sec – what did he do, exactly?" Jenny wanted to know.

Elizabeth licked her lips. "Well, do you remember lunch on Friday?" Both girls nodded. "Was it just me, or did Jason not say anything during it?"

Jenny and Brenda exchanged similar glances. "Well, that doesn't mean-"

"And then he didn't let me walk him to class," Elizabeth continued, "like he always does. And after school when I asked him if he maybe wanted to do something, he got this really weird look on his face and said maybe next time, or something."

It was Brenda's turn to bite her lip. "Well, maybe he was just tired or something," she offered helpfully.

"It wasn't just that, though," Elizabeth disagreed. "I thought the same thing, but I called him up on Saturday to see if he wanted to study for Calculus together, and his mom said he was still asleep."

"So?"

"It was one o'clock in the afternoon!"

"Oh."

A few stray locks slipped from Elizabeth's ponytail to frame her face. "And we were supposed to take a break from studying and go see a movie on Saturday night, but he called and bailed on me. That's when I started thinking that something was up, so I called a couple times on Sunday, and his mom and dad said he wasn't home, even though I could have sworn I heard his voice in the background once."

Jenny let out a low whistle. "Damn."

"Yeah," Elizabeth agreed, sliding down to the floor. "I just don't know what's going on. Why would he avoid me?"

"Did you guys, like, fight recently or something?" Jenny asked. "Is there any way that he could be angry about something?"

"We rarely fight," Elizabeth replied. "And besides, Jason doesn't stew over things. He lets it go."

"Is everything okay at home?" Brenda asked, her eyebrows pulled into a V.

"From what I know," Elizabeth shrugged. "He's never really had problems with his parents. I really don't think that's it."

"I can't think of anything else," Jenny sighed sadly. "He's such a mellow guy – nothing really gets him. The same thing that makes Brendan freak out just rolls right off of Jason." She snapped her fingers at Elizabeth. "Hey, maybe Brendan knows something. Maybe Jason got into a fight with one of the guys or something."

"I'll ask Sonny, too," Brenda offered eagerly. "There's a good chance that he knows, right?"

Elizabeth tucked her chocolate locks behind her ear. "Maybe."

"Sure," Jenny asserted firmly, reaching out a hand and pulling the tiny brunette to her feet. "We'll get to the bottom of this. Seriously, how complicated could this be – they're guys."

Her statement had its desired effect, and Elizabeth cracked a smile. When they said goodbye to Brenda and headed back to their English class, the brunette felt much lighter.


Jason sighed as the elevator doors opened onto the first level. It was lunch time again, and that meant heading into an overcrowded cafeteria and trying to scarf down a full meal in twenty minutes as the girls at their table chattered on and on about nonsense.

Their usual table was almost full as he ambled over toward it, and as Jason took a seat next to Sonny, he noticed that Elizabeth and Brenda weren't around.

He unwrapped his sandwich with a sigh. She had called up several times over the weekend, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to her. Part of him was embarrassed over ditching her to hang out and booze up with his friends on Friday, and the other part didn't really want to talk to her. If he told her what was going on, she'd fuss over him and go out of her way to cheer him up and get him to talk, and he didn't want that. Plus, there was the terrible possibility that she'd feel sorry for him, and he definitely didn't want that.

And that was partly why he'd broken off their date on Saturday. That and because he could still feel the lingering effects of his hangover from the night before. He had managed to convince his parents that it was just from fatigue and hitting the books too hard, and they had believed him. But that night, he just didn't want to leave what had now become his permanent camp in the basement, and had canceled the date and taken the opportunity to let her know that she didn't have to come pick him up for school on Monday morning – his father said he'd drop him off.

She had called again on Sunday, and Jason had wondered if she suspected that something was up. He had convinced his parents that he wasn't feeling well and wanted to be left alone, and they had told her that he wasn't home. The first time she called, he had felt pretty bad about it. But by the time she called the fourth time, for the last time, he didn't feel too terribly about it. Maybe it was even better this way – for right now.

His sullen mood had persisted throughout the weekend and into Monday, and his parents had indulged him, hoping he'd come out of the funk on his own. But now, as he glanced up and saw Brenda and Elizabeth hurrying in through the lunchroom doors, he only sank deeper.

Elizabeth's cheerful smile faded slightly when she saw that Jason was sandwiched between Sonny and Carol, and that the only two empty seats where on the other side of her Cuban friend.

She shrugged at Brenda and edged her way in, making sure to let her hand linger on Jason's neck as she squeezed by. He looked up at her and she smiled. She would have been happy if the smile he offered in return reached his eyes.

Their table was already abuzz with typical lunchtime activity as Carol glowered over the fact that Steven had dated Mary Bishop, the former captain of her tennis team who had graduated from PC High two years earlier. But as Sonny helped Lexi with her Physics and Jenny and Sydney tried to see who could eat the most M&Ms that they tossed into the air, Elizabeth could only think of one thing. Was it possible that Jason had lost interest in her?


The school bell rang and students flooded into the halls, ready to head out and enjoy the wonderful weather. Other students, however, had heavier footsteps as they trudged home to get in some last minute cramming for the next day's AP test.

"'Cause I'm a train wreck waiting to happen," Petey sang off-key as she pulled her History notebook out of her locker and shut the door. "Waiting for someone to come lift me up off the tracks. A wildfire born of frustration…"

Her gaze fell upon the troubled brunette crouched on the floor next to her.

"Beth, you're not singing."

The girl shrugged. "I'm just not in a singing mood today," was all she said in return.

Lauren furrowed her brown – Elizabeth was always in a singing mood; it was their tradition. She shut her locker and waited as Elizabeth slowly pulled herself to her feet and twisted her combo lock.

Without a word, the smaller brunette led the way down the hall. Several friends yelled out to her, but her smile was tired and lacked her normal warmth.

"So…" It took Lauren a minute to come up with something to say. "You, um, ready for the Psych AP tomorrow?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

Lauren frowned at the flippant tone of her voice. "What do you mean?"

The brunette at her side shrugged again. "At this point, it's not like I'm going to pull off any miracles. I know what I know, you know?"

"I know," Lauren smirked. She glanced at Elizabeth to see if the humorous sentence structure had amused her, but it hadn't.

Brenda, Jenny, Carol and Sydney were already congregated at Sydney's locker when the girls turned the corner, and Lauren lightly punched her friend on the shoulder.

"I have to go down to the weight room, so I'll see you later," she said. "Good luck on the test, man."

"Thanks, Lauren."

The tall brunette waved to the small group and headed down the stairs, exchanging a quick high-five with Sonny as he came up to his locker.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted the girls without even looking up from his combo lock. "How goes it?"

Much to his surprise, instead of instant chatter, only a dejected silence met his ears. Sonny looked up from his lock to see Brenda staring back at him, looking less than pleased.

"Aw, hell," he muttered, leaning a hand against his open locker door. "What did I do now?"

His girlfriend smirked. "Normally, I wouldn't pass up that opportunity, but I will today: you didn't do anything."

"Well, that's always good to hear," he winked at Elizabeth. "Rare, but very good."

The brunette barely smiled in return, and that bothered him. Looking from her to Jenny to Carol, Sonny felt piteously out of the loop.

"All right, who died?"

Carol pursed her lips and looked away, which Sonny took to mean that he was an insufferable fool.

"Does someone want to tell me to what I owe all your sunny dispositions?"

Elizabeth actually smirked at that one, and was the first to speak. "Sonny, can I ask you something?"

"If it'll get everyone to go back to normal, you can ask me for the formula to the H-bomb," Sonny informed her. "God, I can't believe I just said I wanted all of you to go back to normal."

Elizabeth licked her lips and sidled up closer to him. "Have you noticed anything weird about Jason lately?"

Sonny thought carefully, his brow furrowing as he did so. "He's been kind of quiet lately," he offered. "That's about it."

Elizabeth sighed and dropped her head, and Brenda took the opportunity to clarify for her boyfriend's benefit. "We think he's avoiding Beth."

"What?" Sonny would have laughed at that, but he didn't think it would go over too well. "That's stupid – he's not avoiding her."

"Oh?" Brenda's eyebrow lifted in challenge. Damn. He hated when she did that. It always meant that he was about to be exposed for being full of #$. "OK, so when's the last time you spoke to him?"

The question forced Sonny to think back again. "Uh…Friday?"

"Exactly."

"So what? Jason and I don't have to engage in a heart-to-heart every day, you know. He's probably just busy."

"It's fine for you," Brenda shot back. "You're guys. But if he hasn't talked to his own girlfriend since Friday, I'm hoping you can see our cause for alarm."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I think I see him coming," Carol spoke up. "Now's your chance, Beth – corner him."

"Or not," Elizabeth shrugged. "Let's just see what happens if…" She glanced over her shoulder to see if he was in view, then arranged the girls in a semi-circle by the lockers. She herself made sure to stand in front of them, almost in the middle of the hallway. This way, she figured it would be impossible for Jason to just breeze by without noticing her. And this way, she'd have her answer.

Sonny was still staring at her in confusion, clearly not understanding the intricacies of the games that girls played with their male counterparts. But one quick glare from the brunette that came up only to his shoulder had him snapping around and pretending to forage through his locker as his best friend hobbled into view.

"So I was like, 'Well, you could have at least told me if you dated someone that went to my school'," Carol started, hoping that the conversation seemed casual enough as Jason loped into earshot. "But then it turns out that they didn't just date – oh, no. Get this – they were going steady for about eighteen months."

"Holy crap," Jenny whistled, taking great care not to glance in Jason's direction. "That's a long time. So? What'd you say?"

"What could I say?" Carol glowered. "I just walked away after that." Elizabeth watched as the blonde bristled. "Mary was such a bitch."

"You know," she began, catching Jason in her peripheral vision. "I didn't know Mary that well. I'd see her in the hallways sometimes and at parties, but that was it. What was she like?"

"She was a total priss," Brenda supplied, inwardly pleased that Sonny was keeping up the charade of searching through his locker for some nonexistent notebook. There was hope for the boy yet. "She definitely had to be one of the most conceited girls I knew."

"I second that," Sydney agreed. "She was a total snob, and really rude to the younger classes."

"Plus, she was a whore," Carol added, probably more for her own benefit than that of the truth. "She went after literally any guy she wanted, no matter if he was attached or not."

Brenda watched Jason pause mid-step as he passed behind Elizabeth. But then the blonde continued walking, and both she and Sonny cringed when they saw the look on Elizabeth's face.

"Well," the petite brunette sighed, running a hand through her dark hair. "I can't say I'm surprised."