Day 20: Expect the Unexpected

Arya

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

Arya opened her eyes and she lazily looked at the beeping alarm clock.

She turned around again and laid her head on Gendry's chest.

...

...

"Fuuuuuuuck!" Arya shouted and she jumped out of the bed while the alarm clock still beeped away.

Gendry groaned and pulled his blanket over his head.

"Gendry, wake up!" she shouted while she quickly put on her jeans and her T-shirt.

"Five more minutes" Gendry said without opening his eyes.

"Gendry, no!" Arya shouted again and she threw her shoe at him.

"Seven hells" Gendry groaned and he finally sat right up.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and he finally understood what was going on.

"Wait, did you stay over?" he asked her.

Arya sighed while she tried to fix her hair and gathered her stuff.

"Yeah, I slept in and if we don't hurry your parents are going to find out that I staid the night" Arya said.

Gendry cursed and he finally got out of his bed.

"How far is it down from your window?"Arya asked him while she swung her backpack over her shoulder.

"I don't know" Gendry said and he opened the window for her.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door to Gendry's bedroom.

"Gendry, are you up?" they heard someone ask.

"Yeah, I'm up, mom, I'll be down in a second" he said and they were both starting to panic.

"Gendry, do you have any laundry that needs to be done?" his mother asked him.

"No, mom" Gendry said while they both walked to the window.

Arya noticed the rain-pipe near Gendry's window and she hoped that she would be able to slide down it.

"Are you sure, honey?"

"Yes, I'm sure, mom!" Gendry said and by now his mother must have noticed that something was going on.

Arya quickly pressed a kiss on Gendry's cheek and she sat down on the windowsill.

"I'll just check real quick" his mom said and they could hear the doorknob turn.

"No!" they both shouted.

"Is someone in there with you?" his mother asked.

Gendry cursed again and Arya slid down the rain-pipe while holding her breath.

"I could swear I heard another voice" she could hear Gendry's mother say while Arya landed softly on the grass in Gendry's backyard.

She wanted to make a run for it until she noticed that Gendry's father was looking at her through the kitchen window with a surprised look on his face.

They stared at each other for a few seconds until Gendry's father moved a finger to his lips, telling her that she should be quiet.

She smiled at the man and she was glad that he wasn't going to rat her out.

Arya quickly left Gendry's garden and she started walking to school.

She smile a little while she thought about last night.

It had been wonderful to see her father again and he had been very happy to see them again too.

Ned told her that he had tried to come home a few times but that it just wasn't possible.

Things weren't looking up for Baratheon Industries and Ned felt like he was personally responsible for saving his best friend's company even though Robert wasn't half as concerned as he should be.

Arya thought about the luxurious party Robert had thrown for her father after promoting him and about her father's objections to that same party.

The road back to Winterfell had seemed a lot shorted and she had gone to Gendry's house after dropping Bran and Rickon off at home and well... one thing led to another.

She didn't regret it though and she couldn't be happier about the fact that her first time had been with Gendry.

Suddenly a red car pulled up next to her.

"You look like you could use a ride" Gendry said chuckling.

"I thought you'd never ask" Arya said and she quickly got into the car.

Margaery

Margaery was humming while she left the parking lot and she walked to the school entrance.

She was wearing one of her favourite blue dress which matched her nail polish and high heels.

Her hair looked perfect and natural and it had taken her at least an hour to make it look that way.

She smiled and waved at a few of her friends while she past them on her way to the entrance and they immediately started giggling.

Suddenly she noticed that more people were staring at her and giggling behind their hands.

Margaery forced herself to smile though and she pretended she didn't notice it.

It was probably just in her head anyway.

She couldn't think of anything she had done that could have made them laugh at her.

Margaery made sure that she never did anything wrong or at least that people didn't notice when she did.

Margaery entered the school and suddenly her heart sank.

The hallway was covered in large pictures of her and Osney Kettleblack.

Some showed her kissing him on his cheek, others showed her accepting his bouquet of flowers and the worst ones were taken from such an angle that it seemed as if they were kissing.

In reality the last photo had been taken only a second before she had punched Osney in the face.

"Vote Margaery!" was written on some of them "Your Faithful Queen!" was written on others and they were presented in such a way that they almost looked like campaign posters.

They were even made in Tyrell colours.

She could hear more people laughing at her now but she wouldn't let them get to her.

Margaery didn't have to guess who could have done it and she couldn't wait until she got the chance to punch Cersei too but she knew that that wouldn't help her get her dignity back.

The only thing she could do now was get rid of the posters and hope that Joffrey hadn't seen them yet.

As long as she pretended that nothing was the matter than the image of her and Osney would disappear from people's minds.

At least she hoped it would because she didn't think she had another choice.

Loras entered the school too and he turned as white as a sheet while he looked at the posters.

"What's this?" he asked her.

"Cersei's token of friendship" Margaery said bitterly while she fought against the tears.

She had to pretend that it didn't hurt her but she was starting to get sick of pretending.

Margaery felt awful but how much she wanted to wrap her arms around her brother's neck and bury her head into his chest while tears streamed down her face she knew that that wasn't an option.

"Let's get rid of this filth" Loras said and she nodded.

They started to take the posters down while people started to laugh even harder.

Loras shot them one angry look and they shut up though.

"Thanks" she whispered to Loras while they continued getting rid of the posters.

"Any time, sis" he said and he gave her a sad smile.

"I am so sorry, Margaery" she heard someone say.

Margaery slowly turned around and she looked into Cersei Lannister's face who was pretending to feel bad for her but there was still a hint of a smile in her eyes.

"Did you do this?" Margaery asked her and she tried her hardest to still sound calm.

Cersei bit her lip and for a second Margaery thought she was going to fake a tear too.

"Sweetheart, don't you think you did this to yourself?" Cersei asked her.

"You cu-" Margaery started but Loras quickly took hold of her arm.

She didn't know what would have happened if she had actually attacked Cersei but she was sure it would have been satisfying.

Joffrey entered the hallway too and he looked at her as if she was a piece of garbage.

"Now I see you for what you truly are" Joffrey said "a lying, cheating whore and I can't believe you tried to set me up against my own family"

Cersei looked so content Margaery was sure that she was about to start purring any second now.

The blonde linked arms with Joffrey while she smiled at him.
"Don't be so hard on her, Joff" Cersei said "she was just raised that way"

"Oh you'd better be careful now!" Loras said and he put a protective hand on Margaery's shoulder.

"No one is scared of you, Loras" Cersei said "you've been wrestling with Renly for a couple of weeks now and he still looks fine"

"Enough!"

They all turned around and they saw Stannis Baratheon coming out of his office.

Apparently someone had told him that a fight was about to break out.

"Everyone who isn't in his classroom within one minute will get detention" he said.

"Well, it has been lovely as always" Cersei said still smiling that satisfied smile of hers "can't wait until practice this afternoon, bestie"

Margaery watched her go into her classroom with tears in her eyes.

Cheerleading practice would be hell now Cersei was busy setting everyone up against her.

Theon

"Are you sure?" Jeyne asked him.

Theon nodded and somehow he managed to smile at her.

He wasn't sure at all though and his nerves were driving him crazy but he knew that it needed to be down if he wanted things to change for good this time.

Theon liked to think that Jeyne had made him brave enough to open up to people and to accept that he didn't need to be anyone else because being Theon was enough.

At least for Jeyne it was enough and he would always be grateful for that.

He took a deep breath and he walked to his former best friend who was standing near his locker.

"What are you doing here?" Robb asked him while he searched for his books.

"There is something I need to talk to you about" Theon said.

Robb snorted and he didn't even bother to look at Theon while he continued to rummage in his locker.

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore" Robb said bitterly "I'm the kid that made you feel like an intruder, remember? And you wouldn't want to go back to being friends with that kid, right?"

Theon bit his lip and he had to gather all his courage to say the things he was going to say.

"You're right" Theon said "I don't want to go back to how it used to be but that doesn't mean that I don't want to be your friend"

Robb closed his locker and leaned against it while he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"It didn't sound like that to me" he said shrugging.

"Well I do" Theon said "and I want to show you that I'm willing to make an effort"

Robb rolled his eyes at him and Theon realized how much he must have hurt his friend by not returning to Winterfell with him.
"I want to throw you a party" Theon said.

"A party?" Robb asked him annoyed "and how were you planning on doing that?"

"You don't have to worry about a thing" he said "it will be at my house and I'll take care of everything"

Robb looked confused because of that and his animosity disappeared.

"Your house?" he asked "but what about your father?"

Theon chuckled nervously while he ran a hand through his hair.

"Well he wasn't too happy about it of course but eventually I was able to persuade him" Theon said "I have to give most credit to Jeyne though, he seems to like her"

"Jeyne?" Robb asked him and his friend smiled "So you guys are finally together now?"

Theon nodded.

"It took me a while to figure it out but, man, I think she might be the one" Theon said blushing.

"Seriously? Did I hear that correctly?" Robb asked laughing "Theon Greyjoy finally committed to a serious relationship!"

Theon shrugged chuckling.

"I don't even want to think about all those poor girls who will have to miss me now I have a girlfriend" Theon said shaking his head while he pretended to look sad.

Robb laughed at that and he playfully punched Theon's arm.

"Oh you're the worst, Theon Greyjoy" Robb said shaking his head.

"Yeah, but you still love me" Theon said.

Robb's expression became a bit more serious and he nodded softly.

"Yeah, I do" he said "you're my best friend and that isn't going to change"

"I feel the same way, man" Theon said with a smile.

Robb smiled back at him and Theon was glad that he had his best friend back.

"So what is this party going to be for?" Robb asked him.

"To get people to vote for you of course" Theon answered "you're still running for Prom King, aren't you?"

Robb shrugged and the smile disappeared from his face.

"I don't know" he said "Talisa needs me too"'

"What do you mean?" Theon asked him.

Robb blushed a little bit before he answered.

"She's pregnant" he said.

Theon just looked at his friend in utter surprise before he cursed loudly.

"Goddammit" he said "Man, I'm really sorry"

Robb shrugged again.

"It's not like we don't want the baby" Robb said "It's just a bit inconvenient right now"

"A bit inconvenient?" Theon asked him sarcastically "I guess Cat must be thrilled about having another bastard in the family, sorry for my language, but shit this is bad!"

"Yeah, she isn't happy about it" Robb said "and I think she blames Talisa for it, she doesn't say so but you can feel it"

Theon nodded and he felt sorry for his friend.

Theon didn't even remember the number of girls he had fooled around with so he could just as easily have been in Robb's shoes right now.

"Well, if you need any help we'll be there" Theon said "I don't really know anything about babies but Jeyne's a girl so I'm sure she knows what to do"

Robb chuckled at that while he shook his head.

"Wow, Theon, did you travel all the way back to the Dark Ages for that comment?" he asked him laughing.

"Oh shut up" Theon said and he blushed a little bit.

Cersei

The smile on Cersei's face didn't disappear for the rest of the day and it only grew bigger while she heard people talk about Margaery's betrayal.

She made sure to tell people to leave Margaery alone every once in a while though but she never sounded convincing enough to actually make them stop talking about her.

Cersei had been looking forward to their cheerleading practice from the moment she saw the Tyrell girl's stupid smile disappear and turn into a look of despair.

Cersei and most of the other cheerleaders were already on the football field but Margaery hadn't shown up yet.

She feared for a second that the girl wouldn't show up at all but she assured herself that Margaery's pride would drive her to come to practice anyway.

Cersei knew that if she didn't come that would be as bad as confessing to the crime and she also knew that Margaery was fully aware of this.

"Maybe we should start" Megga, who was one of Margaery's closest friends, said.

"Maybe you should shut up for once" Cersei said with a sweet smile and Alla quickly put her hand on Megga's arm before she could say something stupid.

She was glad that the Tyrells and their entourage had finally accepted who their superiors were.

"I don't think Margaery is going to come" Elinor said.

"Then we're just going to have to wait" Cersei said.

"But-" Elinor continued before Taena of Myr cut her off.

"Cersei said that we have to wait and she's the head cheerleader so I don't understand why you keep pushing her"

A blush spread across Elinor's face and she quickly looked away from Cersei and Taena.

Cersei smiled at the dark eyed beauty.

Taena had just recently joined their cheer squad and Cersei had noticed that she was always trying to suck up to her.

She didn't mind though because she was sure that she could use another ally in her war against the Tyrells.

"There she is" Cersei said when she saw Margaery walking onto the football field in her cheerleading uniform "we've been waiting for you"

"Sorry, that I'm late" Margaery said.

Cersei shrugged and she tossed her long, golden hair.

"Don't worry, Marg, you're having a rough day" Cersei said "We understand"

Taena chuckled and she noticed a few other cheerleaders giggling too except for Alla, Megga and Elinor who immediately walked up to Margaery.

"Thanks, Cers, you're a real saint" Margaery said as sarcastically as possible.

"Dear, I'd almost think you didn't mean that!" Cersei said while she pretended to be hurt and surprised by Margaery's comment.

"Don't take it personally, Cersei, Margaery didn't get much sleep last night because she was busy with other stuff" Taena said and she put her hand on Cersei's arm.

The cheerleaders laughed again and Margaery went as white as a sheet.

Cersei could see tears glister in Margaery's eyes and she wondered how far she could push her.

"Let's just start, okay?" Margaery asked and Cersei could see that she was fighting back her tears.

"Sure, honey" Cersei said "by the way, I'm thinking about rearranging the pyramid and I was just wondering if you like to be on top or not, I mean, we could just ask Osney but-"

"Won't you ever stop?!" Margaery shouted while she interrupted Cersei "what have I ever done to you?"

Cersei looked at her with narrowed emerald eyes while tears streamed down Margaery's face.

"You know what you've done" Cersei said simply and Margaery started to cry even harder while Alla, Elinor and Megga tried to comfort her.

"So this is all about me running for Prom Queen?" the Tyrell girl asked "So that's the reason why you manipulated those pictures? Why you're trying to ruin my life? "

Cersei was starting to feel uncomfortable while more and more cheerleaders were starting to shoot her accusing looks.

"I didn't manipulate the pictures" Cersei insisted but she could hear that it didn't sound too convincing.

"No, of course not!" Margaery shouted and she clearly didn't believe her "well, I hope it was worth it because you just lost the only friend you ever had"

Alla, Elinor, Megga and Margaery walked away from the football field and a few cheerleaders tried to follow them.

"Where in the name of the Seven do you think you're going?!" she shouted at the girls who had tried to follow the Tyrells "get back here! We're going to practice!"

The girls didn't come back though and more cheerleaders followed them while Cersei shouted at them and called them names.

Eventually she was the only one left at the football field and even Taena had left her.

Daenerys

Daenerys' short, silver dress looked beautiful on her and it made her want to spin around to see the fabric swirl.

She could see that Jon wasn't used to seeing her in a dress and he kept looking at her when he thought she didn't notice it and even though she was flattered, she wished that he just kept his eyes on the road.

They were driving to the Smoking Log which was a pub near Winterfell and they were going to see Jon's little sister's band perform there.

Tyrion had told Dany that that would be another perfect opportunity for her to get to know people since she hadn't done that as much yet as he had liked her to.

Tyrion had told them that afternoon that he wasn't going to make it though but Daenerys wondered if he was just trying to get her and Jon to be alone together again.

She had noticed that he had been trying that more and more often lately which annoyed her sometimes since Jon had a girlfriend and she didn't want to be a home wrecker.

Daenerys couldn't deny that she was attracted to Jon though and since he quickly looked at her again while he should be driving she thought it was safe to say that he was attracted to her too.

Jon pulled up to the sidewalk and they got out of the car when they reached the Smoking Log.

They couldn't park directly in front of it though since there were already a few cars there which meant that they had to walk for a little bit.

"Seems like it's going to be busy" Daenerys said while she looked at the row of cars.

"Yeah, I guess so" Jon said smiling a little "Arya's going to be thrilled"

Daenerys shivered while the autumn wind tugged at her light dress.

Jon quickly took off his jacket and gave it to her.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

"Yeah, that's okay" he said shrugging "the cold never bothered me anyway"

He put an arm around her and they walked together to the Smoking Log.

It was a lot warmer inside and she was glad that she recognized so many people from school.

"Jon!" she heard someone shout and a short girl with dark hair wrapped her arms around Jon's neck.

She looked a lot like Jon and Daenerys figured that she must be Arya.

"There are so many people here!" the girl said clapping her hands and Daenerys noticed that she owned a band shirt just like the one the girl was wearing.

Arya was right though because the pub was packed with teenagers.
"I know" Jon said "are you nervous?"

Arya chuckled and she shook her head.

"Nah, it's going to be fun" she said.

A boy with black hair and blue eyes walked up to Arya and he put his arm around her shoulder.

"Babe, we need to do a sound check" the boy said.

"Don't call me that" Arya said while playfully punching him but she went with him to the stage nevertheless.

"Well that was my little sister Arya" Jon said awkwardly and Dany smiled at him.

"Yeah, I already thought so" she said.

A boy who was standing next to the bar waved at them and she recognized him as Robb Stark.

He was Jon's half-brother, just like Arya was his half-sister of course, and he was running for Prom King.

Daenerys linked arms with Jon which surprised him at first and they walked up to Robb and his friends.

"Guys, this is Daenerys" Jon said while he introduced her to them "Daenerys, these are Robb, Jeyne and Theon"

"Nice to see you again, Daenerys" Jeyne said and Dany remembered that she had been the girl who almost passed out during biology.

The boy Jon had introduced as Theon had put his arm around Jeyne's waist and she figured that he was her boyfriend.

It was strange to see Jeyne without her former boyfriend Ramsay Bolton.

"You're running for Prom Queen, right?" Robb asked her.

Daenerys almost felt guilty while she nodded.

"Yes, I am" she said.

"No need to feel guilty" Robb said quickly while he noticed the look on her face "I think it's cool that you're running for Prom Queen, it's a great way to get to know people, right?"

She nodded again but this time with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, it's a nice way to make friends" she admitted.

She didn't think she would have become so close with Jon or Tyrion if they hadn't made her a candidate.

"By the way, do you guys want a drink Theon is buying?" Robb asked them and they laughed.

"In your dreams, Stark" Theon said and he playfully punched his friend.

"I thought you were going to make it up to me!" Robb said pretending to be hurt by Theon's comment.

"You're going to make this real hard on me, aren't you?" Theon asked him shaking his head with a smile on his face.

"Jup" Robb said "so what do you guys want?"

"I'll have a beer" Jon said "and what do you want, Dany?"

"Wine, if that's okay" she said and Jon, Robb and Theon walked away to order their drinks.

Jeyne smiled at Theon while he walked away and she waited until he was out of earshot before she talked to Daenerys.

Jeyne was wearing a cream, lace dress and a leather jacket and she rolled up the sleeves to show Daenerys her wrists.

"Almost gone" she said proudly while Dany watched the almost completely faded bruises "I left him"

Daenerys had seen Jeyne's bruises for the first time after that biology lesson and she had immediately suspected that her boyfriend had something to do with it so she was glad to hear that they weren't together anymore.

"That's great, Jeyne" Daenerys said smiling and she was glad that the girl was doing better now.

"Is thanks to Theon though" she said "he's my hero"

Dany smiled again and she couldn't help but think of Drogo when she heard those words.

He had been her hero too when he saved her from her brother.

The boys returned with their drinks and Theon put his arm around Jeyne's waist again as if he had never left.

"Well, Kyra sure as hell wasn't glad to see me" Theon said.

"She didn't spit in our drinks, right?" Jeyne asked who had just been about to drink from her glass of wine.

"No, I don't think so" Theon chuckled.

Daenerys drank from her own glass after Theon reassured her that nothing weird had happened to it.

"Who is Kyra?" she asked him.

"My ex" Theon answered uncomfortably "and she works here"

Daenerys turned around and she saw a girl standing behind the bar who shot them a dirty look and she thought she had an idea what had been the reason for their breakup and it probably had something to do with Jeyne.

"Daenerys, do you play an instrument?" Jeyne asked her while she looked at the stage where the rest of Arya's band members were still sound checking.

"Not really" she said "I used to sing though"

"Really?" Jeyne asked her smiling "I'm the singer of the band that's going to play tonight!"

"Yeah, I sang when I was younger but-"

"You have to sing tonight!" Theon interrupted her and Jeyne nodded immediately.

"Yes, sing with me!"

Daenerys looked at Jon and she hoped that he would support her because she hadn't sung in public for years and she didn't think she was good enough.

"Well, it would get you some positive attention" Jon said carefully.

"Thanks, Snow" Dany said softly so only Jon could hear her and he immediately blushed.

"It's settled then" Jeyne said "you're going to sing with me tonight"

"I really don't want to" Dany said but Jeyne had already taken hold of her hand and she was dragging her in the direction of the small stage.

"Can Daenerys sing with us?" Jeyne asked the boy with the dark hair and the blue eyes while Daenerys shook her head.

Daenerys couldn't shake her nerves until the band finished sound checking and Jeyne and she climbed on the small stage.

It seemed as if everyone was looking at her and she wondered if she could still runaway but she figured that that wasn't an option anymore.

"It'll be fine" Jeyne said and she smiled at Daenerys.

"Jeyne, how much wine did you have today?" Dany asked her but her friend pretended she didn't hear her.

"Are you all ready?!" Jeyne asked the audience and the people cheered "Boys and Girls, we are the outlaws and tonight we have a very special surprise for you, her name is Daenerys Targaryen and she is the Dragon Queen!"

The audience clapped again and Dany heard some people shout her name.

She smiled at them and she could slowly feel her nerves disappear.

Daenerys sang with Jeyne and even though it didn't always sound like she wanted it to everyone seemed to enjoy it.

The audience was cheering, singing and dancing and Daenerys was starting to suspect that Jon had asked Arya and Jeyne beforehand if they would let Dany sing with them.

She didn't mind though because the audience seemed to love it and she had the time of her life.

Daenerys just hoped that it would persuade people to vote for her.