All characters belong to Sega/Archie except my OCs.

Chapter 4

Amy

"Hey you," Scourge said as he poked my side playfully. I jumped in surprise from his greeting but shot him a warm smile. The green haired boy returned the smile with his own devious grin. Over the past month or so, we had gotten pretty close. From the beginning, I could tell that he was guarded and misunderstood so I knew that I had my work cut out for me. Yet, his walls dropped with ease around me. Sometimes I got him to laugh and smile and be happy. Other times I just got him to open up more about his life to me. He mentioned a lot about his father's absence and his social troubles. He also told me about the wrongs that he had committed in the past. Although I never judged him when he told me this, he would always look away as if he were ashamed. Or as if I was just going to leave him in the dust. His eyes always held that same fear though. The fear that I would just abandon him. I had reassured him plenty of times that I liked being his friend and that I wasn't going to give up on him. Friends never gave up on each other.

As we formed our friendship though, I also noticed Dante quietly creeping behind Scourge's cold walls. The two boys were almost inseparable now. That fact left me with spending time with the both of them – which I didn't mind. I actually enjoyed their company. Although we were all so different from each other somehow, we found a lot of things in common. We all had terrible lives that's for sure but there was that atmosphere of comfort in the air whenever we were together. Whether we were at the park, Scourge's huge apartment, or in the library goofing off before school started. Somehow we were just able to make each other feel better about ourselves and our situations. Dante often made jokes about his struggles while Scourge just made fun of his father and I just laughed at them. Spending time with the two boys made me forget about the abuse I was experiencing at home for a little while and honestly, that was just what I needed.

"Hey," I replied as Scourge proceeded to wrap his arms around me in a friendly hug. "How are you?"

"Good. How are you?" Scourge's ice blue eyes stared down at me with affection causing me to blush lightly. The thought of him liking me caused butterflies to arise in my stomach. Dante often joked with me about Scourge having genuine feelings for me but I always brushed him off. Scourge was gorgeous for a boy our age and I couldn't imagine him liking someone as quiet and awkward as me. Besides, I noticed him making those same glossy eyed looks at my sister when she wasn't looking. If anything, I just reminded him of her.

"I'm good." As we proceeded to walk down the hallway to our lockers, we began to notice the stir of upperclassmen hanging up flyers on the walls. I looked around curiously, trying to at least catch of glimpse of the mysterious flyers. Sadly, due to my short height, I couldn't see a thing. People were just constantly in my way. Since Scourge a good deal taller than me, I looked to him in search of answers. "Hey, what's going on?" I asked him.

"Homecoming dance," he answered simply.

"Are you gonna go?" He shrugged.

"I'm not quite sure. Do you wanna go?"

"Well yea. It seems like it's going to be fun." Scourge smirked as his hand slowly traveled down my arm. I was taken by surprised when he gently grabbed my hand. Usually, I didn't like physical contact but his touch was warm…and comforting. Besides, I knew that it was a friendly gesture.

"Would you like to go the dance with me then," he asked softly. I blushed lightly as he stared down at me expectantly. "I can pick you up if you want. My dad has a driver for certain things so…"

"I'd love to," I said with a warm smile. Scourge's smirk grew into a boyish grin as he gave my hand a soft squeeze. I looked away from him to see my sister at her locker with her new friend – that Brittany girl from our counseling class. While the bronze-haired girl was bouncing up and down with enthusiasm as she waved a homecoming flyer, Rosy was calmly going through her locker.

When my sister first told me about their budding friendship, I was a bit surprised. I mean, they were absolute polar opposites. Sure, they were both unnaturally pretty but their personalities couldn't be more different. Brittany was up-beat, perky, sassy, sparkly and girly. Rosy was more calm, sarcastic, dark, and Gothic. I guess opposites kept seeming to attract in this school. But thinking of how different they were was not the only thing that crossed my mind. Another part of me felt a bit jealous over Rosy's new friendship. I mean, over the past year, all we've had were each other. It was weird watching her get close to someone else of the same sex – and same intentions. I could see that Brittany did truly care about Rosy and wanted to be there for her however she could. I could also see that Rosy was going to give her just as a hard time as she was giving me with breaking down that wall of hers. I could only wonder what was going on in her world behind closed doors that could make her so guarded.

"Hey," I greeted the both of them once I reached my locker that was right next to Rosy's.

"Hi Amy," Brittany replied, beaming at me. "Hi Scourge."

"Hey," he replied lowly. His eyes went to my sister who was looking towards our intertwined hands with a raised eyebrow. "Is there a problem," he asked, his smooth voice suggesting a challenge. Rosy raised her jade eyes to my friend and glared at him.

"Not today, douchebag," she said before slamming her locker shut and storming off down the hall. I watched as she ducked into one of the bathrooms and concern filled me. I knew that she abused herself with her cutting and such but I always prayed that she would never do it in school. She didn't deserve the public seeing her at her most vulnerable. Especially when she always put up the cold, strong front.

"What's her deal," Scourge asked though I could tell in his voice that he was surprised by her small outburst. He had spoken to me about their little arguments and her current slam of insults at him but I could tell neither of them really took it to heart. They were just incompatible. Something that was understandable when it came to their little disputes.

"I don't know," Brittany chimed in, turning her bright eyes back to us. "She's been in a terrible mood since I saw her at the bus stop. I tried to get her spirits up with thoughts of the homecoming dance but I don't think it really helped. I'm guessing something happened at her house last night." I frowned, my thoughts trying not to go to the endless possibilities of what Rosy could be facing. But maybe it wasn't the thought of what she going to particularly but the fact that she was going through it alone. She was so cut off and guarded from the world that she didn't want to open up to anyone. Who knows what she could be keeping inside that head of hers.

"Hopefully, she'll be alright," I reassured Brittany who looked worried sick.

"I just feel like such a bad friend because I don't know what to do. Should I try to talk to her or should I just let her have her time alone?"

"I wish I could help but she doesn't talk much about her home situation to anyone. It's going to take a lot to break those walls down."

"Then I guess we'll have to save that intervention for another time." She shook her head as she held up the flyer. "On to happier things. Are you guys going to the homecoming dance next Friday?"

"Yea. We're actually going together." Brittany's eyes widened.

"Are dates necessary or…?"

"I don't think so," Scourge piped in. "It's not really like we're going as each other's dates. We're just going as friends." Scourge let go of my hand as he said this, causing me to feel a bit hurt. Whenever I got the impression that he might genuinely like me, he always distances himself from whatever he was doing that would make me think that there was a possibility of us dating. But then again he was so young and so lost that he probably didn't really know what he wanted exactly. "I should get going. See you guys later." With that, Scourge began to walk down the hall at a pretty quick pace. If I wasn't paying attention, I wouldn't have seen him duck into the bathroom that Rosy had went in before. I wasn't the only one who saw his action though.

"Do you think he likes her," Brittany asked, looking back to me. "Or do you think he likes you? Honestly, I'm confused here." I shrugged.

"Maybe he's just trying to be nice to the both of us." Brittany nodded, taking that as a reasonable answer. "So, are you thinking of asking anyone to the homecoming dance?"

"Not really. I mean, no guy would want to go with a freshman to the first dance of the school year – or any dance at all for that matter." Her statement was immediately challenged when we both noticed a tall boy coming up behind her. This boy was very handsome with his short cut dark hair, mesmerizing dark blue eyes, sharp facial features, and muscular body. Brittany turned a deep shade of red when the boy shot her a charming smile.

"Hello there," he said.

"Hi," Brittany murmured. "I'm Brittany." The boy held out his hand in which she shook slowly.

"I'm Ren."

"I know," she said quickly before blushing even deeper. "I mean, your family owns the charity that helps this town out. Everyone should know who you are." Ren grinned.

"Well, since you know me, I was hoping that maybe you'd like to come to homecoming with me?"

"Yes! Of course!" Brittany said but not too loudly. I guess she was trying to tone down her excitement and not seem too naïve. She was doing a good job at keeping her cool. I could tell that she had been infatuated with the thought of him long before he even walked up to her. He was popular around this town but something about him just rubbed me off the wrong way. I couldn't exactly put my finger on what it was but I knew my feeling was pretty strong on it. I rummaged through my messy locker as Brittany and Ren exchanged numbers and such before he went on to homeroom. I wiggled my eyebrows at Brittany who only laughed. I could tell that this homecoming dance was going to be fun…hopefully.

X

Rosy

Ugh, I hate dresses. Even now as I was standing in this strapless, fitted lace dress, I despised it with a passion. Brittany had dragged me dress shopping along with my sister, and the two other girls from our counseling class. She thought it would be good if we bonded together since it was obvious we weren't going to get anywhere with those annoying boys. Surprisingly, the shopping trip went pretty well. I got to know Cream and Rouge a lot better. Although Cream was quiet and soft-spoken, she was very sweet and kind. She and Amy had an immediate friendship connection which I thought would be good for my sister. She needed a best friend other than me. Someone who would open up to her and who could actually help her more than I could. Rouge was a cool girl too. She was more feisty and sassy than the rest of us but we found her very amusing. It was weird how well we all fit together but it worked.

As expected, we talked about our despicable partners for the first half of the meeting. To none of our surprise, Cream was starting to develop a crush on Tails who had asked her to homecoming. We all knew that was coming so it wasn't a big shocker. It was still cute how she blushed whenever one of us said his name though. We were surprised that Amy actually got to be cordial with her partner though. I mean, he didn't seem like a bad guy or anything but after the first day, I didn't think they would be getting along. Luckily, they were though. Apparently he was pretty nice. The rest of us despised our partners. Rouge complained that her and Knuckles could never see eye to eye so they were always arguing. Brittany explained that Dante never really had his head in the right place so she had to yell at him all the time. And then there was me with Scourge annoying the hell out of me all the time. Our little rants were funny though. For that day, I actually genuinely laughed over something and it felt pretty good.

"You look hot," Ren said as he barged into my room without knocking. I glanced at him to see he was in a plain white button up shirt and a pair of jeans. He had explained to me – while trying to put his hands all over me – that homecoming wasn't that formal so most of the guys didn't really dress up. Only the girls because well, we're girls and we're supposedly into that type of stuff. Most of my friends went with cocktail dresses though. Only Amy and Cream went for a dress that had a wavy skirt to it but that's because they were just into that kind of stuff. I put my mind back to Ren's somewhat compliment at hand. I guess I did look pretty… I had straightened my hair so that it fell just below my shoulders and actually worked up a sexy smoky eye with sweet light lips. I had paired my dress with a pair of black stilettos which I knew would be Hell to walk in but I needed to pull off the entire look so I would just have to deal with it.

"Go away," I said simply as I finished applying lip gloss to my lips.

"You got a date tonight," he asked as he walked up behind me.

"No, I'm going with some friends."

"You have friends?" I tried to hold back the foreign pang of hurt that I felt in my chest. Usually, I never really had friends but ever since I bonded with those girls from my class I guessed that I had potential candidates for friends.

"Yes, I do. Now get out. Don't you have a date to pick up?"

"Yup, I actually think you may know her." I raised an eyebrow as I turned to look at him. He was smirking deviously, his striking eyes dancing with amusement. "Her name's Brittany Taylor. I'm pretty sure she's trying to be your new BFF." I narrowed my eyes at my foster brother as I began to walk up to him.

"Don't you even think about-"

"About what, Rosy? Raping her? Babe, if I want to sleep with her then I'm sure she'll comply happily. Besides, if you get a little jealous: I'm open to a threesome."

"You're disgusting! You better not hurt her. She's too good for your little games."

"She's a drug addict, Rosy. I'm the one who's too good for her. But she's pretty and she's got a stack of weed waiting for us at her house for when the dance is over. I would tell you what else we would be doing but I don't want you to get jealous."

"Oh please," I said, pushing him out of my way. Even though I knew that Ren was a player and liked to break girls' hearts, I couldn't exactly stop Brittany from going out with him. From the looks of it, she was already falling in love with him. But that's just Ren for you. He gets all charming and dreamy eyed to make the girl fall for him but as soon as he gets what he wants, he drops them like a fly. Stupid asshole. I could only hope Brittany knew what she was getting herself into. I had tried to tell her while we were dress shopping but she brushed off all of my remarks with ease. I had to let her deal with him on her own although I would catch her when his sorry ass broke her heart.

The ride to the dance was pretty quiet for me since I just rode with a driver. The girls were planning to meet up there and just hang out the rest of the night. I had called a sleepover at my place and a chick flick day for when we woke up the next morning. They all complied with excitement and we were all set.

When I got to the dance, I had to say that I was amazed at the decorations. The theme was something of a golden era or something so everything was decorated in gold, white, and red. The thought of it made me think that I was in a world based off of High School Musical or something. I guess I couldn't complain too much as long as there was a Zac Efron looking dude around here somewhere. I immediately spotted Cream in her peach colored dress talking to Tails near the food tables. Although I did want to talk to her, I didn't want to interrupt her time with her crush. They were just so cute together and it was obvious that he liked her too. I wouldn't be surprised if they were the couple who were going to date all through high school. Maybe even farther than that depending on how deep their feelings ran for each other.

I turned my eyes to see that Rouge was surrounded by upperclassmen boys. They were practically drooling over her in her fitted blue dress. She seemed to be entertaining them though as she threw her head back in laughter frequently. I spotted Brittany and Ren near them, engaged in what seemed like an airy conversation. Although I didn't want her near him, I couldn't stop it so I might as well just be happy for her. I almost got worried since I didn't see my sister but the worry went away quickly when I spotted her sitting at a table with Scourge. They were talking as well although I could see him holding her hand tightly. Ugh, why did she have to come to the dance with him? I know that they were becoming friends and all but she was too fragile to be with someone like him. It was obvious that he was one to break hearts and I knew that Amy couldn't handle that sort of pain. She was just too sweet and innocent for that.

Slowly, I turned around only to bump into someone. "Sorry," I heard a male voice say quickly. I looked up to see another freshman, Dean his name was, looking down at me with flushed cheeks. I only knew him because he was in most of my classes and happened to be really smart. He was cute though. He had wavy navy blue eyes, bright orange eyes, tanned skin, and a tall but slightly chiseled body.

"It's alright," I told him, shooting him a smile. "Rosy," I said, holding my hand out to him. He shook it, returning the smile.

"Dean. It's nice to meet you. You look great by the way."

"Thanks. You do too." He was dressed in something similar to Ren except his shirt was a dark royal blue. He seemed to hesitate at first but slowly began to engage into conversation with me. We actually spent most of the dance together. He made me laugh frequently and he seemed to be pretty down to earth. Even when we danced, he made sure to keep a safe distance between our bodies which showed me that he wasn't a pervert or anything. I was starting to like the guy by the end of the night. But of course there's always drama at homecoming.

A bunch of senior girls began duking it out at the dance which then broke out into an entire brawl for the rest of the kids at the school. I had to leave Dean's side to fight my way out of the gym and into the empty hallway. Although I did have the other girls' numbers, I decided to wait for them outside. I mean, I doubt they would pick up their phones if they were too busy ripping some other bitch's hair out. So, I began to walk down the hallway with my heels clacking against the glossy floor. I didn't get far before I felt someone grab me. It was a drunken senior whom I didn't recognize. However, he did seem to know me by the way he said my name before trying to molest me. Despite my struggles to get away from him, the boy kept a pretty good grip on me. I was about to call for help before the boy was punched right in the jaw by someone.

That someone happened to be my annoying partner. While the boy was immediately knocked out by the punch, I couldn't help but to still not feel safe. I mean, I didn't know Scourge all too well but I did know that he wasn't that good of a guy. So, I tried to walk away from the scene but he grabbed my arm. "Hey, you alright," he asked.

"I'm fine," I said through gritted teeth as I shrugged out of his grip. I attempted again to take another step away from him but he only grabbed my wrist. "What the hell do you want," I snapped at him. Scourge seemed genuinely taken aback by my outburst, hurt filling in his glowing ice blue eyes.

"I just wanted to help," he said softly.

"Well I don't need your help, thank you very much."

"From the looks of what just happened, I think you did. If it wasn't for me then you probably wouldn't be a virgin right now," he snapped at me. The hurt that I had sworn I'd seen in his eyes disappeared and now the impulsive side of him was starting to resurface. Just as it should though. I mean, I was pissing him off.

"Look, douchebag, you don't know me! You don't have to keep trying to save me!"

"I'm not trying to save you."

"Then what are you trying to do? Get on my good side so that my sister will like you? Why don't you go save her?"

"Because she's perfectly fine. She doesn't need my help."

"Oh but I do? God, are you blind? Do you not see the bruises on her?"

"I do but I've already tried to help her and there's nothing I can do right now. But since we're talking about being blind: I think you're the blind one."

"And why is that?" He suddenly held up my arm, putting my scars right in my face. Before he could say another word to me, I slapped him straight across the face. I had already known what he was going to say and honestly, I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to hear that I was troubled, that I needed someone to help me, that I needed help in general. I knew all of that already. Help just wasn't going to happen for me. "Don't you dare throw something in my face that you know nothing about!"

"I know that whatever caused those scars made you into the bitch you are today." I growled and ripped my wrist from his grasp. Without another word, I walked away from him. I only made it halfway down the hall before I turned around. He was staring at me, a deadly glare placed on his face.

"Just because my scars are physical doesn't mean that I don't see right through your invisible ones. Try all you want! No one will ever love you!" Scourge's face fell completely as I said the last part, his mouth gaping open in shock. I sent him a glare before turning and stalking off. From that moment on, I knew that I absolutely loathed high school dances.

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