Beauties and Geeks

Part Two

Winifred Leeds walked into The Dot and took a seat at the counter. She quickly pulled her bright green laptop case with the monogrammad pirate skull onto her lap. Her eyes fell upon the man who sat next to her.

He appeared to be in his early twenties. and he had full lips that were set in a smirk and a pair of rather sparkling blue eyes. His hand came out of the deep pocket of his jacket with a silver bottle clasped in it. He unscrewed the cap carefully and poured an amp amount of amber colored liquid into the black coffee that sat infront of him.

She watched his movements with wide,dark eyes.

The mysterious man looked at her and gave her a frown. He hated it when people looked at him with judging eyes. "What?" He asked coldly,glaring at her with those eyes of his.

She turned her head away,a blush of embarrassment flushing her cheeks at the knowledge of being caught. "Sorry," She mouthed out that single word and stared down into the glass of soda that the strawberry blond waitress had sat infront of her.

He grumbled under his breath as he took a swig of coffee. "I am getttng damn tired of people I don't even know looking at me as if I am the anti-christ or something."

Winifred squeaked out meakly. "I said I was sorry."

His gaze softened. "No...No. It's alright. I shouldn't have overreacted. I am just really used to people judging me without getting to know me and the way you were looking at me..." He shook his head.

She scooted closer to the nameless man and bravely rested her hand on his. "What is it?" She asked of him with a curious tilt of her head.

His eyes turned to her. "As if they can't forgive all the crap I pulled back in High School. All of which,I regret." He added with a sharp nod of his head. "I guess it shouldn't be a surprise though. I gave my ex girlfriend's best friend and my best friend's ex gonorreah,I am responsible for a kid going crazy and shooting up the school,I've stole and drank. But....I've changed since then. I guess it took losing everything for me to make a difference with my life." He told her as he thought of Manuella Santos,the one girl he'd ever truly loved and who he'd lost due to his own stupidity. As far as he knew Manny was living with her new boyfriend and Darcy Edwards and her boyfriend.

Winnie just looked at him in shock. So he was a bad boy.

----

Toby took Maxie's hand and brought her over to sit on a bench. "My best friend died a little over a year ago. He was the funny guy,the one who made everyone laugh and who brought a sense of happiness. We were at a party and there were these guys from the other school,one who things had been tense with and JT decided to go out to find Liberty,this girl who he was in love with because they'd gotten into an argument. From what I understand he went to his car and this guy named Drake took a knife and stabbed him in the back and punctured is aorta which is a vital organ." He sad as he felt tears well in his eyes. He still missed his friend.

Maxie felt her heart constrict painfully as she reached to take his hand in her own. "I'm so sorry." She told him compassionatly.

He smiled at her sweetness and sighed before continuing, "A few years before that...there was this guy named Rick. He'd done some bad stuff the year before that people hated him for. I became friends with him. Pretty much his only friend. No one would let him forget what he did though. They couldn't let it go. Anyway....we had this competetion. A Whack Your Brain thing. Rick...it was his shining moment. He went up to answer the final question and when it was declared we won....these feathers and yellow paint fell on him....it was horrible. He went back home and he brought a gun to school. I tried to get him to go back home..but he said that he wanted to be there. I guess right then I should've known something was wrong but I ignored it. He shot and paralyzed Jimmy Brookes,thinking he'd pulled the cruel prank and he was gonna shoot Emma Nelson but Sean Cameron wrestled the gun from his hand and it went off. He died instantly." Toby chuckled bitterly and shook his head.

"I understan what you went through." She told him quietly.

He stared at her,needing her to explain.

"My sister Georgie was everything that I'm not." Maxie said as she sat down on the park bench next to Toby,crossing her arms over her chest as if to protect herself from the cold. "She was smart,kind,sweet,she was perfect. She loved with her whole heart. And she loved me despite how much I mess up. When she died...it was as if...a part of me died with her. I mean...how could someone murder someone with so much going for her but let me live? That's a question I have been asking myself most of my life. I have my cousin BJ's heart beating in my chest,she was just a little girl and she died before she even got to live. I saw my first love,Jesse shot right infront of me,I had my mother pratically abandon me,my father...my biological one didn't ever want me. Cooper,another boyfriend who I never treated right was murdered..." She trailed off brokenly as she remembered it all

Toby stared at her with Sympathy and empathy shining in his brown eyes. He didn't know what to do,but he felt the need to soothe her so he slid closer to her,watching her face carefully before he slid his arms around her waist and rested his chin on the top of her blond head.

-----

"You never did tell me your name." The sandy haired,blue eyed man told Winifred carefully,staring down at her.

She smiled up at him. "I'm Winifred Leeds."

.

He smiled at her and took her hand in his own,shaking it carefully,her hand seemed to disappear in his own.. "I'm Jay Hogart."

Next Chapter:Winifred and Jay talk some more and share a kiss. Toby and Maxie share a moment.