Chapter three, woohoo! XD
Kudos to those of you who did get the 10 Things I Hate About You reference: "Chloe 'Eat Me' Walker" instead of "Joey 'Eat Me' Donner." XD I seriously lovelovelove that movie. ;)

Soundtrack for this chapter:
"Misery Business" - Paramore; "Pressure" - Paramore; "There's A Class For This" - Cute Is What We Aim For; "Sticks, Stones, And Techno" - All Time Low; "The Kill (Bury Me)" - 30 Seconds To Mars; "Everything I Ask For" - The Maine; "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana; "Five Minutes To Midnight" - Boys Like Girls.

Misery Business.

Chapter 3: Drama Doesn't Follow Me, It Rides On My Back.

"You're training begins now," Alicia whispered creepily. I rolled my eyes. We were sitting cross-legged in front of the flaming fire in the common room across from each other. It was a little after midnight on a Friday, so no one was in there but us.

I looked at her expectantly. "Teach me, oh mighty teacher!"

She glared at me. "I hope you're serious about this Angelina Johnson, because I'm doing this for your benefit too, y'know."

I sighed. "I know."

"Good. Now let's get down to business. First things first: you've got to learn how to flirt, and fast."

I gulped. "Oh, crap."

"Yeah, oh, crap is right. You're flirting skills are atrocious."

"You're telling me; I've had to live with them!"

Alicia shook her head. "First important thing about flirting: EYE CONTACT." My eyes, which had been staring into the fire, snapped onto her face. "One of the keys things about flirting is confidence, and looking straight at him gives that off more than staring at your feet and blushing."

As if to prove her point, I felt a blush creep into my cheeks. I did not, however, look away. Now that I was definitely going through with this, I was going to do everything that Alicia told me to. After all, she was the expert.

"Second thing you should note: it's okay to touch him. He's not going to give you cooties, I promise."

I laughed nervously. "I'm not exactly a touchy-feely type of person, Leesh," I informed her.

"Really?" she asked with heavy sarcasm. "I'd never noticed that before!" I glared at her. "That's just one thing we'll have to work on now, isn't it?"

I nodded. My stomach churned. I was going to fail; I was going to suck so badly.

"Now, let's do some practice."

I gulped. This was so not what I had bargained for. We practiced for a good hour, with Alicia stopping occasionally to shout things at me like, "EYE CONTACT!" "For Christ's sake, Angelina, it's okay to compliment him, you know!" "If you blush one more fugging time, I swear I'll come over there!"

Finally, Alicia was satisfied with the progress we'd made, and I was allowed to go to bed.

O.o O.o O.o O.o O.o

"ANGELINA!! TODAY IS A BRAND NEW DAYYYYY!!!" Alicia's obnoxious voice flooded my ears. I glared at her sleepily.

"Go away," I mumbled, turning over and pulling the covers more tightly around me. "It's Saturday. I need to sleep."

Alicia wrenched my comforter off of me. I was hit with a sudden wave of cold. "Give it back!" I whined.

"No," Alicia snapped, sounding like my five-year-old little brother. "We have a lot of work to do, Ange. Today, we put our plan into action."

My stomach churned at the thought of flirting for real; I sat up, fully awake. "Oh, crap."

"Aww, c'mon, Ange, you weren't that bad. I think you're ready. Plus, we're just going to start with the basics. Set a bottom layer to build everything on."

I laughed nervously. "Me? Ready? Do you recall anything about last night?"

She glared at me, hands on her hips. "C'mon, you big baby! You'll be fine! I promise, it's just the basics!"

I stared at her. "You know I don't believe you, right?"

She sighed. "Angelina, you're making it hard for me to believe it right now, because you're being so pessimistic. Get over your silly little fears and get your butt downstairs in five minutes!" With a huff, she exited the room, leaving me alone.

Silly little fears? Silly little fears? So rejection by the one you loved was a silly little fear now? I shook my head. I always knew that Alicia was deranged.

Four minutes and thirty-two seconds later, I trudged down the common room stairs, less than thrilled to say the least. Alicia surveyed me carefully once I reached the bottom.

"Hmm," she muttered thoughtfully. "Let your hair down," she barked suddenly.

I fingered my braid nervously. "Wh-What?"

"You heard me," she said evenly.

I sighed, tugging loose the rubber band that had been holding my braid in place. My hair fell down around my neck, resting on my shoulders.

Alicia made a few slight adjustments, then said, "There. You're presentable now."

I rolled my eyes. "Can we go now? I'm absolutely starving!"

Alicia sighed. "All right, fine, let's go." As she fell into step beside me, she added, "But please don't stuff yourself, Ange. Seriously, that is so unattractive."

I glared at her. "Thanks, Leesh. You are the single most inspirational person I have ever met."

She shrugged. "I try."

I rolled my eyes as we sauntered into the Great Hall. Well, actually, Alicia sauntered. I stumbled dazedly behind her.

I surveyed the Gryffindor table. Fred sat next to George, and, to my utter dismay, there was an empty space next to him. I glanced at Alicia, who had sat down a little further off, then began to walk towards where Fred was sitting.

Alicia cleared her throat loudly and patted the empty space beside her. I furrowed my brow. I was so confused.

Well, Alicia was the expert. I sat down next to her. Katie surveyed us carefully. "Okay, what's going on?" she said, a little too loudly. Katie had a habit of being a little too loud at all the wrong times. Nearly everyone at not only the Gryffindor table, but half of the Ravenclaw table as well, turned to look at us.

Alicia giggled, while still managing to glare at Katie at the same time. "Nothing," she hissed. "I'll tell you later."

Katie looked like she wanted to say more, but one look from Alicia silenced her. She went back to eating her toast, every now and then glancing at us expectantly.

"Oi! Alicia!" Fred called down the table. Both of us snapped our heads to look at him. "Was there something you wanted to announce?"

Alicia smiled acidly at him. "Put a sock in it, Fred, hmm?" She stabbed her eggs with her fork.

Slowly, I edged away from her. Moody Alicia with a fork was never a good sign.

She turned to me, egg in her mouth. "Why are you leaning away?" she hissed, her eyes venomous.

"Umm..."

"I just set you up for a perfect situation!" she whispered, a little bit of egg flying at my face. Grimacing, I blinked and bared it.

"What do you mean?" I asked, leaning forward, despite my instincts telling me to lean away, lean away!

Alicia glanced over her shoulder, then turned back to me, whispering, "Laugh, goddammit. Laugh!"

Not quite sure what was going on, I laughed, a little louder than was needed. I watched Fred out of the corner in my eye to gauge his reaction. He was staring at me as if he was trying to figure out what, exactly, was going on. He wasn't looking at me like he thought I was crazy, however. He was looking more... intrigued.

I let my laughter subside somewhat naturally, then whispered in Alicia's ear, "Oh my God, Leesh, you're a genius."

She smiled smugly and whispered back, "I know."

Well, there you have it. Chapter three.
I find that I update faster the more reviews I get.
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Ahaha.
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