A/N:
Small warning.. new characters are coming, tehe. I know the first chapter was short. Sorry 'bout that. Will make the rest longer.
Read/Review!
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Danielle shuts the door to her locker forcefully, jumping at the loud noise it made. The lack of sleep from the night before had officially taken affect.
She slumps down the hallway of the crowded high school, pushing past kids who were coming from the opposite direction. Being a freshman was a fate worse than death. The word itself summed you up in about five seconds. Losers. Bottom of the food chain. Little shits. Punching bags. Fresh meat. And then there was the occasional whores thrown around, referring to the permiscuity of most of the girls her age. She'd be the first to admit it too. Danielle could count on both hands how many times she had walked into a bathroom during class and find two-- or three girls either having sex with some guy or with eachother. It just wasn't her thing.
A shy smile spreads across her face. But yes, she was having her share of fun. But the boy in question was not her boyfriend. Oh no. That also wasn't her thing. She didn't sleep around, but labeling someone as her boyfriend wasn't something she wanted to do anytime soon. Keeping your options open is better. Seth Rogen wasn't her boyfriend. They'd met in middle school by Danielle letting him out of a locker at the same time everyday for almost a year. A locker in which he was shoved into by the same group of jock assholes.
They became fast friends after that and just a few weeks ago had made a pact that there would be certain benefits to their friendship. It was their first year in high school afterall. Experimentation was inevidable. Why not let it be with someone you actually want to be around? It seemed simple enough. Only bad thing about it was that they were forced to sneak around outside of school because of her mother. She dreaded the day she'd have to explain her newfound relationship with Seth to her, which is why she'd never find out. Quite honestly, the sneaking around part made it all the more fun. They'd found dozens of interesting private places.
Danielle stopped at a locker and leaned on the one next to it. Jane Kowalski nibbled on her sucker and quickly bit off the entire thing from the stick when a teacher walked by. She gave him a fake smile and turned back around. "Nazi bastards. I swear to fucking Christ. What, we can't eat anymore? Are we in a sweat shop now?"
"I take it your weekend was as bad as mine?" Danielle doesn't smile. It was the sad truth.
Jane takes three books out of the locker and slams it closed. "Pretty much the same. Good 'ol Dad never showed to pick up me and Preston for the weekend-- again. He decided to go to Cabo with his new girlfriend instead-- who it turns out is only five years older than I am."
"Are you serious? Is that-- that's not even legal is it?"
The raven haired girl shrugs, popping another sucker in her mouth. "I don't fucking know. I'm not a cop. Probably. Anyway, so Carol was pissed for like the whole time and Steve from the gym came over and she made us watch Pretty Woman with them. It was tragic. Praise God for inventing the IPod. Can you top that?"
Danielle lets out a small chucking, shaking her head. "No. You win."
"Yay. I love winning most disfuctional, non-functioning family. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. By the way, we're going to that club this weekend right? I got the id's from what's his name from third period Lit. Marcus or whatever. They actually turned out really good." She takes them out of her purse and shows them to Danielle.
Laughing, "Oh my God. Janey, these are horrible! Nobody is going to believe that I'm twenty-seven. Most people still think I'm in the fifth grade." Danielle was always getting complements on how youthful she looked. Said people obviously didn't realize that that's only a complement when you're forty. Not fifteen.
"Okay, I think you could pass for twenty-something in this picture. It's a good picture." Jane stops talking when she see's an unwanted arm sling around Danielle's shoulder.
Scott Morrison. Scott was one of the reasons why Danielle didn't want a boyfriend. One of the main reasons, actually. He was everything she hated about guys her age. Arrogant, dated a different girl every week, thought he was God's gift to women, and everytime you turned him down he'd just keep on asking. Not to mention he was one of the jock assholes who used to shove Seth in lockers. It was ironic as hell that Danielle was the one he wouldn't leave alone.
Danielle shifted her head slightly away from Scott has he inched closer to her face. "What's going on, D?"
She shakes her head, looking from the floor to Jane who was watching with disgust. "Talking. Standing. Waiting for the bell."
"So, listen there's a party at my brother's friends place down by the shore tonight. Pick you up at around eight?" She is about to respond when students start running past them down the hallway towards a crowd forming around an open door. Jane takes off to see what's going on and quickly returns wide eyed. "Kale."
That was all that needed to be said. Within two seconds, she had shoved Scott's arm off of her and was barreling behind Jane She could hear multiple punches hitting a skull before even reaching the door. There was Kale in the middle of the floor beating the shit out of Mr. Gutierrez. Ronnie was trying to hold him back, but didn't seem to effective at it. No surprise there. Much like Seth Rogen, Ronnie was the kid you protected from the bullies. They were never good in a fight.
Jane links her arm with Danielle's, looking on non chalantly. "No one's even doing anything. Where the hell are the teachers?"
She just shrugged. "They'll get here what they get here." This was not what their mom needed right now. Deeply sighing, "Damn it, Kale."
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The judge sat in his chair looking over the papers in front of him. No one in that court room wanted to be there. The tension could have been cut with a knife. After a few moments of no one saying anything, Danielle felt Julie take hold of her hand under the table. She gave it a gentle squeeze, trying not to make eye contact with the black eyed, Spanish teacher sitting right across from her. It didn't have anything to do with disliking him. She didn't even know the man.
From her perspective, Kale was an idiot for ever punching him in the first place. It was just something you didn't do. Period. No matter how mad you were. It was just like the other three times he'd pulled the same shit. He never gave a reason because there wasn't one. He was just angry at the world.
The judge takes off his glasses and looks down at all of them. "Okay, Mr Brecht." Kate stood up with a blank look on his face. "You're six months shy of eighteen and that means the assault two charge you plead guilty to carries a maximum of one year in juvie. With these priors you're up to three."
The grip on Danielle's hand got tighter. This was it. Kale had finally done it. "Losing a parent isn't easy. Which is why I'm sentencing you to three months house arrest."
A sigh of relief escaped from both women. "Mr. Brecht I just cut you a break. Don't test me."
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Kale walked around the kitchen with his new ankle monitor, trying to get used to it. Danielle rolled her eyes watching him squirm, continuing to eat her cereal at the counter. Making a face, she switches the song on her IPod. 30 Seconds To Mars. That was more like it.
She turns the music down and starts listening in when Julie's expression changed drastically. Twelve dollars everyday. I accept all major credit cards. She takes off her earphones. Julie and the female probation officer walk into the next room and leave them with Officer Gutierrez. He makes sure the other officer isn't in earshot and turns to Kale. "That Spanish teacher you messed up? He's my cousin."
Kale went pale and glanced over at Danielle. She smiles. "Wow. That is brilliant. Officer Gutierrez you have seriously made my day. Thank you."
He nods at her returning the smirk. Kale doesn't look amused. "Will you shut the hell up, please?"
"You should be nice to your sister. Looks like you'll be spending alot of time together for the next three months."
Danielle nods in agreement. "He has a point, Kale. You should be nice to me."
"Oh, and one more thing." the probation officer adds, "House arrest may sound like a breeze but I've seen alot of people get loopy after too long. Sometimes after as little as a day or two. I suggest you find constructive things to do."
Kale sits on top of the counter. "You got it. Only the most constructive."
The three adults leave the kitchen as Julie walks them to the front door. This was too easy for Danielle. Kale was obviously in his own personal hell. What was he supposed to do for three months? Their mother wasn't going to make it easy for him. That's for sure. "You know she can't even begin to afford that twelve dollars a day, right?"
"Could you maybe make this whole thing a little more difficult for me? Maybe? Possibly?" Kale asks her, sarcastically.
She shakes her head as her cell phone beeps. "I could, yes. You shouldn't have even hit him in the first place."
"He was asking for it." Kale answers, looking down at the floor.
Danielle rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure he was and it wasn't just you being your asshole self." She looks down at her phone. There's a text message that says bootie call? She texts back Bad time. Kale drama. Maybe later. The response was simply you complete me. She smiles, flipping the phone back down. Seth, Seth, Seth. He knew that always made her laugh.
Looking back up, she notices Kale staring at her. The smile dissapears from her face. "Who was that?" he asks.
"Jane," she responds quickly. "Not that it's any of your business, convict boy."
Kale smiles for the first time in days. He was going to enjoy this more than he thought. "Well, we're going to be spending alot of time together. Remember? So consider me offically in your business. Listening in on phone calls, staying up late, being the eyes and ears.. the law if you will."
The non-smile has now been replaced by pure hatred. "That's right little sister. I'm the dangerous convict boy with nothing to do."
"I hope you end up on America's Most Wanted. How's that?" she retorts, angerly.
He walks past her and starts up the stairs. "I'd prefer Dateline. Or Cops. Much more entertaining."
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