Geoff: I hate my poem. Charlie: Why? It's funny. Geoff: Maybe to you, you're not the one who has to read it. Anderson: Exactly! Sean: Mine's just totally wrong though, so seriously wrong. Rob: Well, it's not horny Shakespeare humor! Me: Ok, I have to give you all certain personalities. Rob's more of an actor, Shakespeare and the dramatic are his thing as much as he can be proper most of the time. Rob: Gee, thanks, this as almost as bad as finding out you're named for Matchbox 20. Me: Hey, the real Rob Thomas is smokin', he has the nicest blue eyes and he used to have all this soft brown hair feathered around his face and then he buzzed it all off…((starts to mutter incoherently)) Danny: Er, great, but as least he's young and bloody married to a super model. Rzeznik is over forty, ain't he? Me: ((nods)) But he's still really good looking.

"As a beauty I am not a star,

There are others more handsome by far;

But my face I don't mind it,

For I am behind it,

It's the people in front that I jar."

Geoff recited dryly. "Anthony Euwer." We clapped respectively as he handed one of the new books off to Sean. Poor guys never got enough attention around here, ever. I mean, sure, they were a troublesome two, but you can't always do that and be happy.

It was Valentine's Day night and we'd snuck out for a victory fest, celebrating Donnelly's defeat at the hands of the pretty boy and the nerd. Well, that's how Anderson described it. We mapped how this incredulous event had taken place, we think it started with Rob deciding to denounce her acting skills and take it upon himself to bring Shakespeare to the students of Welton Academy, then was driven with the fact that no one was behaving lately and finally brought home with Danny and Sabrina.

Tomorrow would bring the arrival of The Substitute. The person who would be taking in the hooligans and hellions of Hell-ton. Personally, I hoped this person at least knew what they were doing. In the meantime, we were out here in the middle of the night, enjoying our young lives with a few books and some cake-like brownies snitched from lunch.

"Resume:

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp;

Guns aren't lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

Dorothy Parker." Sean read slowly. I don't think it was so easy for him to read. He was smart enough, oh yes, and he came from a family with money from the Southern area of the country. He spoke with a light Southern accent that could make sense of his tan in the middle of the winter and sun bleached once-upon-a-time black hair that was now brown. He had quick muck brown eyes that were trouble, oh yes, never trust Sean for too long. He looked up from the book and grinned devilishly, drawing a pocket knife from his pants and flicking it open. "Anyone care to see if this right?"

"AH!" we all screamed at once, Danny and Geoff throwing brownies at his smirking face.

"Ok, ok! I give, no suicides!"

"Ugh, don't even joke." Anderson commented from his perch. "It's not something we can joke about here."

Sean slid the knife back into his pocket. "Stiffs."

0-o-0

Everyone in the school waited with bated breath for the junior class' go at the new teacher. After all, we were the class that had broken the previous one. And you know what? This sub was late. Fifteen minutes late to be exact. When he wandered in though, well, I nearly cheered.

O'Ryan, his normal look of calm about him, walked slowly up the aisles of desks whistling absently before getting to the teacher's desk and turning around. "How nice to see you all again."

By now jaws were hitting the floor and eyes widening. I exchanged looks with my fellow Poets; oh yes, this was going to be good. He sat at the desk and looked around the class over his folded fingers. "I hear," O'Ryan began, "That you guys broke Angie."

"That," came the sarcastic remark from Geoff, "Was Danny and Sabrina."

O'Ryan looked at the class roster that had been left rather conveniently on the desk. "Daniel Mc Geough and Sabrina Meeks?" he asked. Danny leaned further back into his chair, hands behind his head, saying "Aye?" loudly while Sabrina's head made an audible thunk as it collided with her desk, her skin the color of a ripe tomato. A few laughed lightly as she groaned. O'Ryan smiled widely. "Good job you two."

Sabrina sat straight up. "What?"

"You think you were only ones who didn't approve? Well, that is wrong my friends, so very wrong indeed." The sandy haired sub stood up, thrusting his hands into his pockets and began pacing whilst speaking enigmatically. "I mean, come on, you should at least be having a little fun with the class, no?"

Everyone, everyone, agreed with that. O'Ryan took his hands out of the pockets and grinned wider. "Now, my major in college, believe it or not, was acting. Then, (this is besides the fact that my girlfriend that the time chided me for such a faulty career choice) I decided, what better way to put all that performing to use than in teaching where I have to keep every single one if you interested. And we know how young minds can wander, don't we?" he asked Anderson, who was again nearly asleep at his desk from the night before. Anderson hopped to clumsily, jolting his desk with his knees and sending his books flying. Titters of laughter were let out as he tried to collect everything without getting up from his seat.

"I see that your former teacher has said you left off on your Shakespeare unit and there is someone named Rob who apparently is 'a Romeo beyond words'. I advise you to be better with your trash, mate." O'Ryan said cheekily about Rob as the boy sank into his sit, wishing to disappear, to have never done that stupid reciting in the middle of class. We were all sitting straighter and actually enjoying our new teacher. Class slid by as he moved people around and arranged things to his liking. No one was even annoyed when he assigned a monumental reading assignment.

"Thank God." Anderson was saying as we left. "Someone who doesn't give you detention for falling asleep."

"You shouldn't be asleep anyway." I teased.

"Well where else are we supposed to get it done?" Sean asked.

"Uh, I don't know, how about your bed?" Sabrina added.

"That's not what a bed's for." Geoff quipped, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah- uff! What was that for?" Danny was cut off by Sabrina elbowing him in the gut.

"Perv." I said for her. Danny whacked my head, or tried too, I ducked and dropped behind him to grab hold of his shirt collar. After trying to throttle him, but finding that I couldn't quite grab his tie, but he could get hold of mine, I gave up and slunk odd to the payphone. I didn't even realize I was followed.

I fed the thing quarters, carefully typed in the numbers 1-508-252-6183 and waited.I knew school was out already, I knew it, so why wasn't he picking up yet? Come on baby! Then I heard the click on the other side.

"I'll get it Ma! Calm down! H'lo?"

"Joel? It's Charlie."

"Charlie? Jesus Christ, what's up?"

"I was gonna ask you that…"

"What did you?" My god, was I as readable as book or something? I laughed over the phone. "Not me, my friends!"

"What? You weren't in on the action!" Joel said in complete disbelief.

"I swear, it wasn't intentional, but they got rid of a teacher!"

"What? You tell me everything now!" I could almost see him over the line laughing hysterically. I told him all about Donnelly leaving right in the middle of class and he lost it completely. Then, what do you know, Kelly popped up because she was giving Joel a ride to his job at the supermarket, so I got to blab with her for a few minutes before they both really had to go before they were late. I hung up the phone with reluctance and that bitter feeling stirring in my stomach again.

"I thought you said he wasn't your boyfriend." I clenched my teeth and ground them before replying, "Is there something wrong with me keeping in touch with them?"

Anderson shrugged, jamming his hands into his pockets. "You never seemed interested before."

"So why can't I be now?" I demanded. Anderson's face tinged only the slightest bit pink. "Most of us haven't gone to public school you know."

"Yeah?"

"So we don't have friends back home, we have friends here."

I rolled my eyes, "I have friends here you idiot."

"Yeah, and you have friends back home."

"What is it with you?" I asked, irritated by him. Anderson shrugged again, turning to head back to his room, gym classes having been cancelled for the day, "We don't have friends back home Charlie, we have family."

I wanted to bang my head against the phone. "Give me break, you have friends at home, I know it, you won't admit it."

"It's just…" he turned around and was chewing his lip with an apologetic look on his face, "We're worried you don't want to be around us."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "I'm glad I got to meet you guys, but, you know, my dad sort of sent me here at the drop of a hat…no warning. So, I kind of got ripped away from them and Kelly's gonna be gone next year, college, and, well, I sort of want to be back home, yeah, but I'm having the time of my life here." I finished lamely. Anderson shrugged a third time. "Doesn't matter, forget about it kid."

Did I mention that he can irk the hell out of me sometimes?

0-o-0

"You're tossing again Charlie."

"Yeah, and?"

"I can't sleep."

"Uh, sorry, but I can't help it."

Sabrina rolled over so she was facing me. "What have you been doing?"

"What do you mean?" I said wearily. She yawned and shook her head. "You're talking in your sleep you know."

"I am?" Uh oh, that can't be good. Sabs nodded, "You are."

My stomach twisted unpleasantly, "What's it about?"

"Just random words really."

"Oh."

"Yeah, but you still need to shut up or I'm going to smother you with a pillow."

"Great."

"'Night Charlie."

"'Night."

0-o-0

"Hm…" it was breakfast time, and no one was awake. I was sort of half muttering French words and phrases because of studying for a test into my orange juice. "Je l'ai…j'en ai…il y a une salle à manger sur le rez-de-chaussée…les choses sont dans le grenier…FERME TA BOUCHE!" I finally yelled as Geoff muttered in Latin, making me lose whatever amount of concentration I had. I went back slurring my French, damn language, why must it be so hard? I shook my head…rooms, rooms in French. "La salle de bains…le living…le salon…la chambre…les piéces…il y a sept piéces dans ma maison…j'habite une grande maison individuelle dans la campagne…"

"Charlie, eat." Sabrina sighed. "Please."

"Non, j'ai besion d'etudier pour mon examen!"

"Charlotte, for the love of god, snap out of it and eat your eggs!" she hissed at me, "What has been with you lately?"

"Je ne sais pas."

"Come on, drop the French and eat your breakfast."

"Euh, je vais manger mon petit déjeuner mais je vais parler le français, d'accord?"

She gave in, "D'ac."

Ok, so maybe I was a little messed up lately, but, well, I wasn't feeling so hot. Ok, so maybe I did have that monthly visitor at this time, but come on, we can't blame that all the way. I yawned and shoved some food in mouth, wincing at the taste, ew, it was gross.

I was insanely homesick, but I was keeping it well hidden. No one needed to know that I would skip back home in heartbeat, though Anderson had gotten a little too close to the truth than I would have liked. I was going insane, missing everything that I had had last year. Hell, I even missed the band geeks. I missed hanging out with my friends. Well, I missed hanging out with my friends not in a cave and in the middle of the night praying we weren't caught. But you know what? Even I right then had to admit I was living for the Society meetings.

That night, after successfully flunking my French test, we were heading out again, covered from head to toe in dark clothing and singing tonight. Well, Danny was in his throaty, smoke scratched voice.

"I don't need your war machines, I don't need your ghetto scenes! Colored light can hypnotize, sparkle someone else's eyes. Now woman, I said get awa-a-a-ay, American Woman, mama let me- ugh!" Dan was cut off again as he tripped over some errant thing in the dark and got his pants stuck on it. "Pfft! I have all the luck."

"Luck of the Irish." Sabs laughed softly. He hissed and screeched, "It freaking hurts!"

Then the lights of the building we were passing turned on. Oh yeah, we were rounding the administrative quarters. And it was only one light, but there were also footsteps and someone holding a flashlight. Quite a few of us were speaking obscenities under our breath by then as we tried to free our peer and scurry away. The light hit Danny and he squinted.

O'Ryan was holding the flashlight, a confused expression on his face. Then he seemed to realize that there were seven of us, all out, and almost all of us carrying books with our faces hidden beneath the hoods of our Welton coats. He looked at us with a small smile. "Aren't we busted?"

Charlie: Great, she wants to get us in trouble by chapter 20, what the- Rob: We're still not done with this whole celebrity issue! Me: Fine, I guess everyone wants to know who I used to base you off? The Society: YES! Me: Ok, we know Danny's looks sort of like John Rzeznik and Rob like Rob Thomas. Charlie was based off Gale Hansen, obviously, for looks, but because she's a girl, her features are softened and some of them different because she's not him. Charlie: Thanks…I think. Me: Anderson was taken from friend of mine – you know what? I'm just going to get pictures and make an online album for you all to look at, I don't have the time to explain this. The Society: ((groan)) Come on already! Joel: Well, we know she has lots of pictures of my namesake!