Okay, so I lost two days worth of writing because of a writing conference I ended up going to, and normally I would really be out of my mind about this, because I am a creature of routine, so updating in the middle of the week like this really upsets that routine. That said, I went to my last marching competition last night(regionals), and we got a 1! So I don't really care about the blip in my schedule right now because: *Begins singing* We got a 1! We got a 1! We got a 1!

For those of you who aren't band geeks and have no idea what that means: They score you on a scale of 1 to 4 based on marching style, form, playing and what not. 1's the highest and 4 is the lowest. So it was like getting an 'A' except so much cooler.

That said, I do apologize for keeping you all waiting.

So, let's talk about scores shall we?

Breezexxx: 228 pts

CrazyKitten2112: 230 pts

Wow, it's neck and neck. Well, we've almost reached the first checkpoint, so I'm rally excited for it!

Now for the chapter! Enjoy, and remember! I don't own anything that Micheal Grant created! Only Headline Academy and its students(Save Dekka and Brianna's sisters, of course.)

The Monster Among Monsters

I was another one of those times when Dekka asked herself how she had let herself get dragged into this situation. She had never thought that she would get dragged to Homecoming, but never, not even in the wildest of dreams, she seen herself getting dragged to homecoming dressed up as a werewolf.

She'd had a hunch when she'd agreed to this that she'd regret it and she had been absolutely right. Lauren had had absolutely no intentions of putting her in a mask. Dekka had been aware that Headline Academy was a school brimming with talent, but what she hadn't known was how wide-spread the talent was. Everything from Lauren's own talent of voice control, to comedians, computer wizes, video geniuses, photography masters, and, have you guessed it yet?

Make-up artists.

Coaline Micheals, a girl that Dekka knew from third period, and as the girl who roomed across the hall, turned out to be just that. Granted, the work she did looked extremely close to something that a professional would do, which was amazing for a girl of only fifteen, but Dekka felt foolish, plus, the make-up was beyond itchy.

There was a bright side to this, however. She was completely unrecognizable. This meant that anybody who didn't already know who she was would not quickly find out who she was. This may sound like a strange bright side, but she was trying to uphold some form of a reputation.

Dekka had to admit, though, Lauren's idea to do a transforming Red Riding Hood had turned out exquisite. Coraline had done an excellent job. A fourth of the girl's face was a deep brown, and spontaneous tufts of dark, wiry hair sprouted everywhere. A long line of it made a line from her eye to the back of her head, melding the bright red hood to the side of her head. Claws stuck halfway out of one hand, and the dress was trampled and torn.

Noah and Liam had managed to pull off the Rose and Chris costumes, with old uniforms Lauren had gotten for them, and some help from Coraline. Still, it was definitely a strange one to look at.

When they walked into the cafeteria, they were spotted immediately by Chris, who standing atop a table that had been pushed to one side, swaying to an unheard beat. Her eyes lit up amusedly, and she shouted, "Hey! It's us!, pointing at them. Rose, who was standing with her back to them, turned, brow furrowed, then her jaw dropped.

"What do you think?" Noah teased, with a wide grin. "Good, huh?"

"That's awesome!" Chris laughed, hopping down from the table to get a closer look.

"No! It's awful!" Rose pouted, running a hand through her red curls. Thin strands of black decorated the red, and one of her crystal eyes had been turned black. She wore a powder, blue dress, who's bottom looked scorched.

Chris, on the other hand, wore a black cloak that was closed in the front so that any other details of the outfit were indeterminable. Her hood was pulled over her head, and her hair was kept back by something that Dekka couldn't see. A black eye-patch covered her left eye, and a thin scar turned her mouth up in a permanent smirk.

"What are you supposed to be?" Dekka raised and eyebrow.

Chris grinned, and tossed her cloak grandly over her shoulder, revealing the outfit underneath. A form-fitting top that was decorated with bright white material made to look like a breast plate of bones, and black slacks. "I'm the grim reaper's daughter."

"Right." Dekka shook her head. "Whatever."

She laughed. "Glad you're so enthusiastic. I like your costumes. Cor did an excellent job."

"Did you know about this?" Rose demanded, glaring at Lauren, who laughed, and gestured at the boys' costumes. Rose gasped. "Oh! You did!"

"It was my idea." Lauren giggled.

"Awesome!" Chris held out a hand for a high-five, which Lauren accepted. "You've seen what Jazz did, right?"

"No, you have?"

Chris nodded, grinning, and said, "Come on, Fairytail, I shall show you." With that she grabbed Lauren's wrist and began dragging her through the crowd.

Rose sighed. "Sometimes it feels like I'm her babysitter, rather than her girlfriend." She said before following after them.

Dekka had a sudden, flashing memory of Brianna, crinkling her nose and sticking her tongue out at Astrid's back. Rose reminded Dekka strongly of the girl. She was self-righteous, always assuming everyone but herself was in the wrong. As far as she could tell, Chris had done nothing wrong, so why was Rose acting as though she was being childish?

She followed Rose though the crowd, and they ended up by the large stage set up at the very front of the cafeteria, where Jasamin was sitting with a late of food balanced on her lap, and her feet swaying over the side. She was wearing a black bodice and a skirt that reached down to her ankles and was puffed to nearly half the little girl's size, and shining black Mary Janes, with white knee socks. Her hair was dyed black, and her eyes had been tuned beetle-black. One half of her face was a mess of burn scars that deformed her face. One of her sleeves had been burned away revealing one equally scarred shoulder. The skirt was ripped, and stained, and the strap of one of the shoes was snapped, standing nearly straight up.

"Cool costumes." Jazz offered her sad smile as the approached, slipping a cracker into her mouth.

"You, too." Dekka nodded.

"Thanks." She swung a foot, and picked a cracker off of her plate, holding it out to Dekka. "Cracker."

She shook her head, and Jasamin shrugged and nibbled on the end.

Lilah bounced over dark ponytail swinging, with Olive Brooks, James's older sister, following close behind. Lilah was a cheerleader, that much was clear, wearing a cheer uniform in the colors of Headline. A jagged scar ran from the hem of the top, just under her chest, to the waistband of her pleated skirt, and her black hair was plastered to the side of her head by a nasty looking head wound. Olivia sported similar injuries, but was dressed simply in a ripped uniform. Each of them carreid cameras.

"Photography!" Lilah announced, snapping a picture of Jasamin. "Cool costumes. What are you?"

"I'm a girl that that died in a house fire. What are you?"

"I'm a girl that died in a bus crash," Lilah replied with a laugh. "I thought I was being creative, guess I was wrong..."

Jasamin shrugged. "Undead is a popular monster theme."

"True," Lilah agreed as Olive pointed her camera at Dekka. She held up a hand, silently telling her that she wasn't interested in allowing the girl to take her picture. Olive gave an innocuous smile.

"What?"

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

Growing irritated with Olive, who was clearly messing with her, Dekka gestured at the camera, lowering her hand in the process, and said, "You know what." She realized a split second after the click why Olive had been playing dumb, she had been trying to trick Dekka into lowering her hand.

"Ha!" She said cherfully. "I win... now I'm gonna go be somewhere else before she decides to kick my ass."

"Wasn't it you that won a ribbon at nationals last year for your speech about never backing down from a fight?" Jasamin wondered bordly, before Olive could leave.

The older girl laughed. "Yeah, well, there's a difference between finishing a fight that someone else started and avoiding a fight that you're antagonizing when you know you can't win."

"How do you know yo couldn't win?" Lauren teased. "For all you know, Dekka can't fight to save her life."

"Yeah," Chris chimed in. "Just because she looks intimidating doesn't mean she actually is."

"I'd rather not take my chances," Olive replied, flicking her look brings out her eyes. "See ya!"

"So, just out of curiosity," Chris started casually, once Olive had disappeared into the crowd, taking a seat on the stage beside Jasamin and stealing a cracker. "Could you have kicked her ass?"

"Chris," Rose sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you think that if she intended to tel you, she would have by now?"

"No," Chris replied stubbornly. "Nine time out of ten, she doesn't speak unless spoken to."

Rose opened her mouth to retort, but Dekka found herself interrupting the girl in spite of herself. "I've faced a lot worse than her."

"You didn't have to answer that," Rose said once she answer had sunk in.

"I know. I wanted to," Dekka replied flatly, offering a small shrug. "There was nothing wrong with the question."

She'd tried to make it sound as innocent as possible, but she knew she had failed miserably even before the amazed looks from the others registered. Silence stretched as everyone searched for some way to respond to that. After far too much silence, Shaena approached. "Wow, why's it so quiet? You'd think someone died or something..."

"Come on, we're going to go get some punch," Rose decided, grabbing her girlfriend's arm and dragging her away. Chris followed reluctantly. Rose walked straight past Shaena without a word, and the girl frowned, calling at her retreating back. "Nice to see you, too, Rose!"

"Goodbye, Demon Spawn," Rose snapped back, as unfriendly as humanly possible.

Chris grinned sheepishly, and mouthed, "Sorry" at Shaena, who waved her off casually.

Once they had disappeared, Shaena turned back around with a stupid grin plastered on her face. "Wow, running her off just keeps getting easier and easier."

She was rewarded with a light round of laughter. "Actually, it wasn't all you this time," Lauren told her, nudging Dekka playfully.

Shaena's eyes traveled over to Dekka, and a mischievous grin spread slowly across her face. "You?" Lauren nodded when Shaena nodded her head at Dekka. "Ha! I knew it! I knew Rose didn't hate me just because I was Chris's friend! It's because I'm black!"

A round of "Aw!" filled the air, and Jasamin rolled her eyes. "Leave it to you to turn that into a racist joke."

"Oh, come on, they threw a slow ball down the middle of the plate, and I had to swing!" Shaena laughed.

Lauren dropped her head in her hands and shook her head. "Jeez, Shaena! That is not what I meant!"

"Alright, Alright!" Shaena held up her hands in surrender. "What happened?"

So Lauren recounted the story happily, while Dekka examined Shaena, and Andre. Andre was nearly a whole head taller than Shaena, although, to be fair, Shaena wasn't exactly tall. Dekka had estimated that he was about her height. His face was rounded, not quite as exaggerated as Shaena's, but still noticeable, and his hair was a multitude of thin, black braids that fell over his ears and no further. None of these effects had changed, but his eyes, normally a warm brown, were now a bright red, like someone had flashed a picture of him. He was searing what appeared to be a Headline Academy band uniform, although Dekka seriously doubted it actually was, and sticking out about his heart was a short, thin piece of wood, with small markings that labeled it as a Headline Academy drum stick.

Shaena was clearly meant to be some sort of vampire hunter. She wore a snug-fitting black sweater and black pants with similarly colored combat boots. An ammunition belt was slung across her chest, but instead of normal weapons, it was filled with drum sticks, and hanging from her belt was a small mallet.

"How'd you convince Burkley to let you have the Chimes Mallet?" Lauren asked, as though she had heard Dekka's thoughts and was offering a tactful answer.

"I didn't," Shaena replied, pulling out the mallet and holding it up. "It's mine. I bought it when my mom took us to..." She paused to think, then cursed. "I can't remember where it was."

"So, are you supposed to be, like, a vampire hunter and he's a vampire that you just slayed?"

Shaena bobbed her head. "Yeah, good guess"

Dekka saw it coming long before he did it, but suddenly, Noah's voice was no loner his own. Instead, it was that of Bon Jovi as he sang, "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame!"

"What do you say, Andre? Does she give love a bad name?" Lauren teased.

Andre sighed. "How did I know coming over here was a bad idea?" But he said it with a smile.

"Because you've known most of us since we were elementary and you know exactly how we are," Noah suggested.

"That could be it." Andre nodded in agreement.

"Well, I need more food," Jasamin decided, standing and adjusting her skirts. "Wanna come?"

"I can't believe you have to ask!" Lauren laughed, following Jasamin, and grabbing Dekka to be sure she followed as well.

They arrived at a table, piled high with snacks of every kind, from bowls of fruit, to large, fancy cakes and plates over-flowing with variously flavored cookies, and dips surrounded by plates of crackers and chips. And at the very center of it all was a fountain, spewing chocolate endlessly, with a large group of kids who were apparently still first graders despite the fact that their paperwork said otherwise, since they were taking turns sticking their fingers into the fountain, and watching for teachers.

"Real mature!" Lauren called jokingly.

Austin and Nick, who were on guard shift, sucking chocolate remnants from their fingers, gave identical grins, and Nick called, "You're one to talk about immaturity!"

"At least I'm not gross about it!" Lauren retorted.

They just waved her off and turned to take their turns at the fountain.

Lauren shook her head, and examined the spread. "Rose hates me!" She nodded to herself. "She wants to make me fat!"

"Well, she's not taking a very fulfilling route, is she? Everyone knows you eat and eat and never get any meat on your bones." Noah poked her side as though to emphasize his point.

Lauren just gave her eyes a roll. "You act like I never gain any weight, or something." Noah raised an eyebrow. "Which is totally not true!"

The boy didn't look convinced, and Shaena left no doubt. "I don't believe you!"

Lauren pouted. "You people are far to dramatic! I do gain weight!"

"Well, not near enough for the amount you manage to eat in a day," Lilah responded, choosing a couple of slices of apple.

"You're one to talk," Lauren argued. "You never gain any weight."

"Yeah, but Lilah doesn't eat all that much, and hen she does it's all that healthy crap," Lilah.

Lilah looked as though she was going to make an offended comment, but a loud, staticy sound filled the air, causing the crowd to go quiet.

"Aha! It's working! Thanks, Mitch!" The voice filled the cafeteria with the help of the speakers set up. The source was a girl on the stage, made unrecognizable by make-up and costume.

However, Dekka had spent the past month listening to everyone talk about the DJ, and so she knew that it was Charlotte Barrett, a senior trombone with an ego to match her natural talent, which lay in music, especially the arrangements. The girl had an ear for musical arrangement that even the band teacher had to commend.

She was standing on the stage, behind the DJ equipment, leaning on it, with the bulky headphones pulled over her head, and the microphone down in front of her mouth, which would explain why she was being broadcasted to the entire room.

The boy who had been helping her stood, and said something that no one else could hear, and she offered a thumbs up in return, wearing a stupid grin, made to look even wider by the smile already pained onto her face with the neat lines and shades that only Coraline could produce.

"Alright!" She said as "Mitch" climbed off of the stage. "We were having some technical difficulties, but now, thanks to Mitch, those have been resolved, so we can get this party started!" The crowd erupted into a roar of cheering and hoots, infected by Charlotte's energy. The girl took a moment to revel in the attention, then held up her hand, causing the roar to die only slightly, but enough for her to be heard. "Here we go!"

Then, the music stared. A stead, thumping beat shook the floors and walls. Lilah turned back to them with a shake of her head. "Great!" She called over the new volume. "Another thing for Rose to be mad about!"

Lauren waved her off. "Rose doesn't need a reason to be mad. She just is! Always!"

Lilah shrugged. "That's true!"

They made their way down the table and to the refreshments. Lauren and Lilah rattling off a list of things that Rose had been known to get upset about. When they reached the refreshments table, they came across Alexander, bobbing his head to the beat of the music, but surprisingly, not tapping his own beat out. It wasn't until he offered one to Jasamin that Dekka realized the reason for that was that his hands were both occupied with cups of punch.

"Where's R and C?" He asked, examining their group as Jasamin accepted the drink with a small, appreciative smile, which was returned with a friendly one.

"Rose dragged Chris off a while ago, and we haven't seen them since." Noah grabbed two drinks, handing one to Lauren. "No telling where they went. Want one?" Dekka accepted the one he held out to her only because she had learned that offers from Noah or Lauren were not negotiable.

"That's a bummer." Beat's shoulders slumped. "The dates are cool and all, but everyone knows the only reason you really go to Homecoming is to be with friends.

Funny, Dekka thought, watching the ice bob lazily at the top of the drink. She'd always heard it the other way around; the dates were the important part, and the friends were just a nice touch.

"You're only saying that because you get a kick out of Chris's antics," Shaena accused.

"That...is totally something I can't honestly deny." Chuckles followed his response, and the boy smiled. "Anyways, come on. Jules got an empty table."

"A whole table?" Dekka questioned. Once again she had to wodner how everyone could possibly be so intimidated by the small thriteen-year-old. She was slightly short for her age, and, reallly, the only thing she had going for her physically was her slightly broad shoulders, which were only barely noticeable, especially with her habit of wearing loose-fitting clothing. Also, her fitness, which would, really, only give her the endurance. Not to mention her personality. She just didn't act like fighting was her thing. Dekka figured that if she had to, she'd rather it be a verbal battle than a physical one. And yet, still, people constantly said, "No one messes with the Duke clan, especially Julie."

"Well, everyone knows that where Julie is, the rest of us are sure to be, so they just leave it alone." Beat shrugged.

Well, at least that wounded more reasonable than them simply being scared of her.

They pushed though the crowd and found the nearly empty table quickly. Julie was sitting atop it, cross-legged, wearing a clean white lab coat and light blue scrubs, with a scrub cap melded to her head by what appeared to be exposed brain tissue. And, no bis surprise, there was a book on the table in front of her.

"You amaze me!" Lauren shook her head as they approached.

Julie's eyes flickered up from the book momentarily. "Something I've said about you many times," she said absently.

"Haha." Lauren rolled her eyes as she took a seat beside the girl, and looked over her shoulder at the book.

"It's a dance, Julie," Lilah told her, taking a seat on her other side. "Not book club."

"I might be a little more into it if it was," Julie countered.

"I bet you would, Jules."

Beat took a spot on Lilah's other side, and Jasamin sat beside him, offering a share of her cracker, which he accepted happily. "Looks like everyone had Coraline take a hand in their costumes," Julie commented, examinging Beat's thick scar that ran across one eye and down his face.

"Yeah." He grinned. "I bet she had fn."

"I think I would be more over-whelmed than anything else," Noah put in, taking a seat beside Lauren, and motioning for Dekka to take a seat on his other side. "She was probably doing make-up all day."

"He has a point," Lauren pointed out, waving a cookie absently.

Beat shrugged. "Well, when you're doing what you love, it doesn't always seem that bad."

"And Beat returns with an excellent point. What will Noah do?" Lauren nudges her friend with her teasing grin decorating her face.

Noah rolled his eyes. "When did you become a commentator?"

"Uh..." Lauren scrunched up her nose in thought. "Just now."

"I thought she was doing a good job," Lilah informed with a mischievous grin. Lauren laughed and held out a hand, which Lilah clapped enthusiastically.

"I hate it when the girls band together," Noah complained. "I never win when that happens."

"That's because we're awesome." Lauren gave a cheesy grin. "Especially together."

"No, it's because you're not playing fair," Liam argued, taking a bite out of a cookie.

"Playing fair isn't in a girl's programming. Haven't you ever seen a girl fight? We fight dirty!"

"Yeah," Lilah agreed. "We pull hair."

"And scratch."

"And bite."

The conversation shifted from there to guy fights, then to fights they'd seen at Headline, and with each story the fights grew more extreme, to the point that Dekka had to wonder if they were even true.

After a while, Lilah stood, collecting her now empty plate, and the camera. "I have to go," She announced. "I have to get some pictures for photography Monday, or Rose will have my head." She slipped the strap around her neck and added thoughtfully, "I heard there's a Frankenstein that nobody can put a name too. I'm gonna try and find him."

"You do that," Lauren told her, giving an encouraging thumbs up.

"I plan to," Lilah returned with a wink as she disappeared into crowd.

Dekka watched as Jasamin and Beat held a hushed conversation. As Noah cracked jokes that never slowed Lauren down, and Shaena and Andre listened with amused grins, Shaena not looking like herself without the presence of Chris, who still hadn't made a reappearance. She watched Julie, thoroughly engrossed in her book, and all the others who had wondered over, and wondered exactly how she had ended up with such a weirdly unique group, and more importantly, why it felt so right.

Lauren stood suddenly, deciding, "Bathroom break. I think my hair's coming down."

As far as Dekka could tell, there was nothing wrong with Lauren' hair, but her confusion was quickly subsided when the girl added, soft enough for only her to hear: "Come with me if want out of this noise."

Well, Dekka did want out of the noise, and away from all of the warm bodies that were making the room ten times hotter then it should have been.

So she did the only logical thing; she followed Lauren.

The bathrooms at Headline were as curious as anything else. The first door you came through did not lead into an actual bathroom lined with stalls and sinks on either wall. Instead, you cam into an exceptionally sized lobby. A large plant flanked each side of the door, and a ring of couches and over-stuffed chairs was set up in the middle of the room around a small coffee table piled with magazines. A small cup sat in one corner of the table, filled with pencils, pens, and even a coupld of highlighters. A long mirror stretched across the wall to the right of the entrance over an equally long table, decorated with small plants and decorative boxes. Beside it was another door, also flanked by large plants.

It was as though whoever designed it was planning to make sure students were comfortable while they waited for a stall to clear, maybe even get some homework done, but waiting wasn't something many had to do in these bathrooms.

That was because the bathroom itself, reached by the second door, was a room with four walls lined all the way across with cleanly painted black stalls. A large, round sink sat at the very center of the room made with faucets that were, like the soap dispensers, censored. Expensive? Yes. But Headline certainly had the funds for it.

And the bathrooms were kept commendably clean. The white, marble-laid floors always looked freshly cleaned, and the sink never sported long-dried soap stains. The walls of the stalls occasionally gained writing, but that was to never be seen two days in a row. Lauren claimed that the head janitor, Mrs. Perrie, cleaned it herself every day after school hours.

The sheer amount of stalls in one bathroom, plus the fact that there were five for each gender in the main building alone, not to mention that each individual building had its own set of bathrooms, as well, as each dorm room.

It was the most money, time, and energy she'd ever seen a school put into something as trivial as bathrooms. She figured it proved their obsession with detail if nothing else did.

The room turned the loud, deafening music into a muffled, pleasant thump. Much easier to enjoy.

Lauren sighed and collapsed on one of the couches. "Much better," she said quietly.

Dekka frowned at her. "So you go just to ditch halfway through?"

Lauren just laughed. "Oh, come on. No one can endure that much noise for more than an hour at a time."

She shrugged. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Lauren scoffed, wearing her mischievous grin. "I'm always right."

Dekka couldn't help the eye roll she gave in response. From there, they fell into a comfortable silence. That was one thing that Dekka liked about the girl's company; she was easy to talk to, but also easy to be silent with. One of the items on the growing list of things that she liked about Lauren. It had also been something she'd liked about her.

The Monster Among Monsters

"You would have been as Sophomore next year? Right?"

Dekka blinked at the question that had come out of nowhere. They were in her room, because the sick Jack was not the best to be around for more than one reason. She was on the floor, sorting through a pile of cloths that Brianna had brought in, half-hoping to find something that fit properly, and wasn't rough from salt water. "Where did that come from?"

Brianna shrugged from her position on the bed in dirt-stained white shorts, and a too-large t-shirt. Her strawberry, windswept hair was pulled into it's normal twin braids, with loose hair hanging airily at strange angles. She'd been running a lot since the FAYZ started, and was obtaining a permanently windswept appearance. She was sitting cross-legged, picking absently at the edge of one of the many holes in the sole of her new tennis shoes. "I don't know, " she admitted. "I was just thinking about homecoming, the Sophomores are the youngest they allow to go."

"So? It's not like I would've gone."

"Why not?" Briann shifted, a normal thing, since she couldn't sit still for more than a few seconds, even if it would save her life.

Dekka raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Do I look like school dances are my thing?"

Brianna gave her signature eye roll, and crossed her arms. "Homecoming is a right of passage. It's everyone's thing."

"Are you saying I'm nobody?" It sort of hurt when she put it like that, but it felt really good when Brianna huffed, and replied:

"That's not what I said! I'm saying it is your thing."

"Really? I don't remember having that sort of change of character." She tried to sound bored in the hope that it would hide her pleasure at Brianna's defensiveness.

She didn't think it had worked, personally, but Brianna didn't even seem to notice. "It was always your thing, you just don't want to admit it."

"You'll excuse me for having my doubts."

Brianna made an irritated noise, and seemed to realize she was not going to get anywhere with her current argument, so she changed strategies. "So, there's nothing that would have gotten you to go?"

"Yeah nothing..." Dekka replied, cautiously, unsure if she like where this was going to not.

"Not even if there was someone that you really liked? Like, really liked?"

"Wow." Dekka gave her head an amazed shake.

"What?" Brianna wondered innocently, spreading her hand. "It's a...er... what was that ord you used the other day? The fancy word for serious?"

"Legitimate?"

"Yeah, that one!" She grinned a moment, went back to her serious, innocent demeanor. "It was a legitimate point!"

Dekka sighed, and debated replying that she wouldn't take someone she actually like to a stupid dance. She'd do something better. Something that would be actually memorable. But she could already picture Brianna coming back with, "Well, what if they wanted to go to the 'stupid dance'?" And she couldn't come up with a reply that would end the argument.

So instead, she said, "I don't know, Breeze. That's just on of those things that you don't know until you've been in the situation."

The younger girl accepted that answer with a nod, lying back. "You'll tell me right?"

"Tell you what?"

Brianna hugged impatiently. "What you do! When you get in the situation!"

Dekka laughed despite herself. "I seriously doubt that situation is going to arise here."

"Of course it's not." Brianna sounded exasperated. "I meant when the wall comes down."

Dekka chose not to voice her theory that the wall wasn't ever coming down. Brianna's optimism was innocent, and in a place like this, innocence was something to hold onto.

"Yeah, okay. I'll tell you."

The Monster Among Monsters

"Uh, Yoo hoo! Earth to Dekka!"

Dekka blinked at Lauren, who was sitting up on the couch, giving her a confused look. "What?"

Lauren laughed, falling back onto the couch. "Wow, you totally zoned out."

"Sorry." One drawback of the silence was that it allowed time to think, and thinking almost always found a way to Brianna. It was amazing what her brain could link to the girl. Letting Lauren drag her to the dance just like she'd let Brianna drag her to the McClub.

She could picture Brianna now, grinning wildly. "I thought you said school danced weren't your thing."

The thought that she couldn't keep her promise to Brianna nearly overwhelmed her. It took every ounce of willpower to keep the tears down.

Lauren seemed to sense her internal struggle, for she stayed silent, watching Dekka cautiously. The girl wondered if it was that obvious, or if Lauren just had really good intuition. She hoped it was the second. She didn't want her own problems to be broadcasted to the entire world.

She didn't get much time to contemplate this, however, for suddenly, the door burst open, and Lilah stood in its place looking shocked. "What is it?" Lauren, who had sat up upon her arrival, questioned when Lilah didn't say anything.

"It's Frankenstein," Lilah replied. "He's a puppy."

"So?" Lauren hugged irritably at the other girl's vaugness. Then, realization flashed across her face. "No way."

Lilah only gave a worried nod.

Fire lit up in Lauren's eyes. "Oh, hell no!" She leapt from the couch and shoved Lilah aside, gone faster than Dekka could think.

"What's going on?" She demanded of Lilah, who was still standing in the room only because she was still in shock, otherwise, Dekka believed she would have already followed.

The dark-haired girl shook her head. "Not all puppies are as tolerant of our GAP Group as you were."

Dekka was about to snap at her for being vague, when it clicked into place in her brain. Lauren was close to all of the GAP Girls, but there was only one that could spark such anger in her. The one that she protected fiercely, like a little sister.

Jasamin.

They moved quickly, and arrived at the scene before anything could truly happen. They were not hard to find, everyone was staring at a circle that had cleared by the tables of food and refreshments. Some stood on tables, or on the stage. Charlotte had shut off the music, and had her hand on the microphone, looking as though she may say something at any second.

And at the center, was Lauren, standing, unmovable as a mountain, between the tiny, mouse of a girl, and a green-skinned Frankenstein, who stood nearly a head taller than herself. It definitely didn't look like a fight she could win.

And it was looking more and more like it would turn into a fight by the second. Lauren was seemingly calm, impassive even, which was scariest part, for Dekka, because of there was anything she knew about Lauren, it was that Lauren wasn't impassive about anything especially when it came to Jasamin.

And Frankenstein was in an all out rage, ranting something that Dekka couldn't understand, and Dekka got the strangest impression that she wasn't supposed to. It almost sounded like he was shouting in another language.

Lilah winced from beside her. "What?"

The girl glanced sideways at her. "Guess you don't speak spanish?" Dekka shook her head. "You're lucky." Lilah nodded to herself. "That means you can't understand what he's saying."

"You can?" It seemed like a rather redundant question, considering, but it was a slightly welcome distraction.

Lilah smiled half-heartedly. "My biological mother is Latina. My dad was, too."

"Was?" She'd heard Lilah talk about her mothers, she did that constantly, but she hadn't heard anything about a dad. She'd assumed she had been adopted, or though a sperm donor, but at any rate, no dad in the picture.

"Yeah, was..." Lilah fell very quiet.

Dekka might have asked for further information, she though about it, but it was then that things escalated.

"You think you're so tough? You think you can take me?" He cursed angrily at Lauren's lack of reaction, and surged forward, shoving her. Lauren staggered back, seemingly more of shock than anything, and into the table of food behind her. The table collapsed, sending food in wide arch. The chocolate fountain slide down and tipped over, spilling the smooth, liquid across Lauren's chest and lap.

"Hey!" Dekka shouted shoving through the last of the crowd, and snatching his shoulder. The entire room was silent. No one moved, or even breath. It was time to find at just how much fear Dekka deserved. She glanced over at Lauren, who seemed okay, only dazed, shaking her head slightly. "How about you calm down?"

"Or what?" The boy snapped, shoving her hand off of his shoulder. He didn't give her an opportunity to reply. "Do any of you dykes fight for yourselves?"

It wasn't that the comment offended her, really. She'd been called names before, but she hadn't heard it since she'd come to Headline, the kids at this school were a little more original, plus, no one aside from Weston, and probably Weslie, even knew. So it was shock that made her freeze momentarily which gave the boy time to continue.

"Every time one level doesn't work, another one shows up. Let me guess? There's a mountain waiting to defend you, right?" The silence that Dekka returned, not out of spite, but because she was still in shock, frustrated the boy farther. "Fine, then. I'll find out for myself."

He pulled his arm back, prepared to strike, and that motion snapped Dekka's mind back to reality. She was prepared to defend herself, but she never had to.

Dekka had been aware that Lauren was fast, for someone without super speed, but the speed with which she came off of the floor and cleared the distance between herself and Frankenstein was shocking, at best. The only warning that the poor boy had was a surprised shriek from Jasamin, but, by then, it was too late. A split second after it started, Lauren's fist collided hard with the side of his head. He staggered, dazed, then fell in a heap on the floor, the crowd that he fell into clearing away and providing no attempt at cushioning his fall.

And he didn't get back up.

"Next time," Lauren growled dangerously. "Make sure I don't get back up."

Dekka watched her, mesmerized, as she rubbed her hand gingerly, staining it in red, because of the blood that was leaking form her split knuckles, something that Dekka had done for herself on occasion.

Neal pushed through the last of the crowd, and examined the scene. He looked up at something in the upper corner of the room, before nodding. "Lauren."

Dekka glanced up, and saw the cameras, and half wondered what it was about them that brought relief to Neal's face. Lauren, walking the path that the crowd had cleared for her calmly, obviously not the first time she had done it. Neal nodded at Jasamin who was already following the older girl. Neal gave her a look who's message was clear, she was to follow.

If Charlotte turned the music back on it wasn't until after they were out of earshot.

Neal followed close behind them, looking irritated. Jasamin looked far from worried, and Lauren looked per-occupied, but not worried. Dekka figured Headline punishment must now be all that bad.

Then they reached the front office. They were lead into a room off to the side, and Neal shut the thick wooden door behind them, then cracked a grin. "Nice shot!" He congratulated, holding up a hand for a high-five. Lauren obliged, not looking as proud as Neal's comment implied she should have been.

In fact, it was quite the opposite. She looked rather angry, and possibly a little disappointed. The girl flopped into a chair, contemplating.

It was then that Dekka realized Jasamin was seated, too. Neal was giving her a curious look. "Well? Are you going to sit? You're going to be here for some time, we have to make this look good. The state only puts up with our fighting policy if we make thorough investigations."

He went on, grumbling about regulations, but Dekka interrupted him quickly. "What is the policy, exactly?"

Neal frowned, and gave Lauren a sideways glance. She shrugged. "It never came up."

The man sighed. "Sorry. I thought you knew. Here at Headline we believe that there are two sides to a fight. The offense and the defense. The person who stared the fight, and the person who was defending themselves; which is a constitutional right."

Dekka nodded slowly. She had never heard of this being done before, and there was a reason. School's worried that students would get an unfair trial. "You're not worried about being fair?"

Neal rolled his eyes. "Is it fair that someone can beat you up, but you still have to pay for it if you defend yourself? Any method you use will be unfair, but at least this way, you get a dose of reality. Courts don't punish you if you can prove you were acting in self-defense.

Well, that explained why he had checked for the camera. "So we're just going to sit in here so it looks like you're collecting information?" A nod. "But you're not going to ask anything?"

"No need. I saw everything. Plus, we have it on camera."

"So what was that guy's problem?" Dekka changed the subject. "What set him off like that?"

"I bumped into him," Jasamin told them, picking at the hem of her dress. There was something about the way she said it, the note in her voice. Something about the way she kept her head down and avoided eye contact, that was unnerving. It was though she was ashamed. Like they should be scolding her. As though she should have known better.

"It wasn't your fault." Lauren had her own note, of anger, but not directed at Jasamin.

"I could have been prevented."

"No it couldn't have," Lauren retorted, frustration edging her voice. "It was bound to happen eventually. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Jasamin didn't reply. She just sat there, picking at a loose string that she had freed from the white hem of the dress. It was obvious that she didn't believe the other girl. Lauren sunk deeper into her chair, her anger and frustration practically bubbling at the surface.

Neal checked his watch and rubbed his chin. "Alright, Jazz. I think you're okay to go."

Jasamin gave a nod, and stood, eying the man as he walked to the door. "Gonna walk me to my room?"

Both glanced ever so quickly at Lauren, then Neal replied, "You need sleep."

Okay, that most definitely did not answer Jasamin's question.

But Jasamin didn't seem to mind. So they left without another word. Silence stretched for only a few seconds, then:

"You shouldn't have done that."

"What?" Dekka blinked staring bewildered at the other girl.

"Interfered. You shouldn't have done it. I had that situation under control," Lauren elaborated, clenching her fist around the red fabric of her cloak.

"Did you? Could've fooled me. Last I checked, getting pushed into a table is not having something under control."

"You almost made the situation worse." She wasn't even listening.

Dekka ground her teeth. If there was one thing more irritating then getting lectured about trying to help, it was her defense being ignored. "I made the situation worse? If I hadn't distracted him he would've beat the-"

"I can protect myself! I always have!" Lauren was on her feet, making angry circles, and tugging at her hair. "Why is that so hard for everyone to understand? I don't need you to protect me! I'm not a helpless little girl! Not like you're little girlfriend!" Suddenly, Lauren stopped dead in her tracks, clapping a hand over her mouth as though in an attempt to shove the words back in.

But it was too late. The damage was already done.

At first it was like having all the wind knocked out of her. Like someone throwing something into her chest with enough force to stagger a...A what? What possibly required that much force to be knocked over?

That would have been the shock.

Then came the second wave, like someone had dropped a bag of rocks into her stomach, weighing her down from the inside out. The memories swirled around in her head, chasing each other in wild circles. No wait, they weren't even circles. They were wild swirls, and zig-zags. Paths that had no destination, just breezed around aimlessly, only concerned with outshining all of the others. Just like her.

Tears fought to take over her vision, but the third wave extinguished them as fact as the second had brought them.

Searing, white-hot rage that produced flames in her head, licking at the inside of her skull, and turning her face hot. Blood boiling, she clenched her fist, nails burying themselves into her palms. "What do you know? Nothing! You don't know anything about me, so don't pretend that you do!"
So many more things to say, and so many ways to say them, and yet, the words shriveled and died as she finally focused on Lauren again.

Her hand was still over her mouth, with tears streaming into and over it. She shut her eyes tight, and clenched the hand. Then, in a flurry of movement, was gone, through the door and out of sight.

Neal, who had just been coming back around the corner, paused and watched her go, then turned back to Dekka, mouth hung open as though to ask a question. It took a moment for anything to come out. "What...?"

"I don't know." It came out a little harsher than she had intended. "Am I done here?"

Neal frowned deeply, but nodded, and stepped aside when Dekka passed.

She assumed Lauren would go back to their room, so Dekka decided to go back to the cafeteria. She'd have been lying if she'd tried to say that she was surprised to find that it was mostly empty. The destruction of the food table can serve as a bit of a downer. Those who had stayed were there only for the purpose of cleaning up, and most were of the group that Dekka had somehow come to know as her own.

Strange how much was different here at Headline.

The room was almost dead silent, everyone busing themselves with cleaning up the mess of the broken table, save Rose, who was making a point of picking rest of the cafeteria. Dekka gritted her teeth at the annoyed, sideways glances that Rose kept sending towards Chris and Shaena, sitting together on the floor and scooping the puddle of chocolate into a bucket.

Chris turned her face up when Dekka approached. "Hey...Where's Lauren?"

She went back to the room, I guess."

"You don't know?" Lilah questioned, standing and carrying a handful of smashed fruits over to where someone had way a large black trash bag off of one of the tables.

"I didn't ask."

No one had a response to that, so the silence resumed. Dekka watched the Dark and Twisties scoop chocolate, feeling useless, until there was hardly enough to get in their hands.

"I'll go get some rags," Dekka offered. "There's not much more you can do with just your hands."

The two girls nodded, so she went. The rags took some time to find, and she ended up having to ask a janitor for help, but she managed to return with an armful of them, that ended up not being enough. There was just that much of a mess.

"Well, tonight was a bust," Chris commented when Dekka returned with more rags, dropping the last of the first bunch into the laundry bucket that a janitor had brought by.

"It could have been worse."

"How could this night possibly have gone worse?" Rose demanded. Apparently, she had nothing left to do around the rest of the room, much to Dekka's disappoint.

Murder flashed across Shaena's face, but a pleading look from Chris calmed it, and she replied in a commendably non-nonchalant voice, "Well, someone could've pulled out a gun and started shooting everyone."

Rose's mouth worked, but not even she had a counter-attack for that , so she grumbled unintelligibly, and begin wiping the floor ferociously, as though the dried chocolate was a fault for Shana's wit.

Dekka smiled to herself, and Chris commented gratefully that it was good that nobody had been killed, which seemed to infuriate Rose even further.

By the time they had the floor back to its normally clean state, everyone was ready to collapse from exhaustion.

They walked back to the dorms together as though by some silent pact. When it came time for the boys to split off and head for their own building, Noah pulled Dekka back waiting for the others to get out of earshot. "How bad was it?"

"Excuse me?"

"She yelled at you, right? Lost her temper and started ranting, and didn't' stop until she'd said something that really hit home?"

It took her a minute to realize he was talking about Lauren. "How do you know all that?"

Noah offered a half-heated smile, and replied, "The first time I tried to help Lauren in a fight, she told me that I couldn't treat her like a surrogate just because I'd lost my little sister."

"You lost your sister?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point. Was it bad?"

Dekka nodded, which Noah mimicked. "Try not to hate her too much? She didn't mean it. She was only mad."

Dekka smiled dryly. "It takes a lot more than a temper tantrum for me to hate you. I've seen too many bad people."

Noah smiled. "Good night, Dekka."

The Monster Among Monsters

Bread. Lauren had always had an unfortunate weakness for it. Any kind, form regular slices, to the fancy Italian-made bread, and biscuits. Especially the biscuits.

The food was like a security blanket. It made her feel better when nothing else could. They'd used it a few time to level her head after a particularly nasty PTSD attack.

So that's what she was doing now. Sitting on the bed, picking at a piece that she kept stored for special circumstances in the back of her fridge. Not sitting on her bed though. She was on Dekka's, because if she sat on her own, than it would be too easy to chicken out. To just roll over and pretend that she had no intentions of apologizing at all. But on this bed, Dekka would have to speak to her, ans her to speak back.

Finally, the door opened, and she came into the room, scanning it briefly. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed Lauren's position on her bed.

Lauren had no idea what to say to start a conversation, so she just remained silent, not moving. "I figured you would have changed by now," Dekka commented, tugging off the top layer of her costume.

"Didn't think about it." Well, at least it was an honest answer.

"You like it that much?" The lack of a smart allec remark didn'tseem like a good sign.

"I was pre-occupied." An uncomfortable silence followed. "Where'd you go?"

"I went back to the cafeteria. Everyone cleared out. Just a small clean-up crew stuck around."

Lauren bobbed her head, looking down at her hands when Dekka pulle doff her under shirt, trading it for a night shirt. Dekka had never indicated that she cared whether or not Lauren saw her change, but Lauren was still careful. It would be to easy to take it the wrong way. For too easy. And when she was uncomfortable, she would leave, and Dekka was the first room mate that Lauren had allowed herself to get attached to in some time.

"How did you know about Brianna?"

The question caused Lauren to frown. "Who?"

"Brianna. That's who you were talking about, right? My 'little girlfriend'?

"Oh. I didn't know," she admitted. "I sent of guessed. I've seen picture a few times. You're not as as slick as you'd hoped you were being, I guess. I didn't mean that. I didn't mean..." She didn't know how to explain herself.

"Yeah, I know," She told her softly, dropping her costume into the laundry basket. "We all say things we don't mean when we get angry enough. It only makes us human."

"You're still mad," Lauren accused, knowing nothing else could be true.

"I'm furious, and I always will be, but if you never make me mad in the entire time we know each other, than we aren't real friends."

"Friends?" It sounded strange, coming from the gloomy girl that she had been struggling to make just that for months now. She hadn't thought she'd gotten through.

Dekka took a seat on the bed, raising an eyebrow. "That what you call it, right?"

Lauren smiled. "Yeah, but it's nice hearing it from you. Sounds more validated now." She ripped the last of her bread in two, and held it out to the girl. Dekka eyed it cautiously, but accepted in the end, offering a half-hearted smile.

"I really wish you would have changed, though. You've gotten chocolate all over my bed." Lauren looked down, remembering the dried chocolate that had stained her cloths and dress.

"Oops, sorry. I fogot." She stood, tugging off the cloak. "I'll change, then help you switch the sheets."

A nod from Dekka followed, so she traded her ruined dress for a tank top and shorts, and they stripped the bed, and made there way down to the laundry room. There, they met Mrs. Perrie, and had to explain their circumstances.

"You art to be more careful, little lady. There are only so many extra bed spreads laying around," she scolded kindly, getting a fresh pile of sheets and blankets for them. Maybe she didn't mean to be kind about it, but her constant smile, and sweet, and thickly accented,voice made scolding rather difficult to take serious.

Lauren offered a friendly good night to the curly-haired woman as they left, and giggled. "She's awesome."

"Yeah." Dekka gave an agreeing, absent nod. "She's pretty cool."

"What's wrong?" Lauren was almost afraid to hear the answer.

The girl shrugged. "It's nothing really."

"Well, nothing's the best sort of thing to tell. It's harder to judge nothing."

"Okay, then." She paused, biting her lip. "It's just, well, you called Brianna my girlfriend."

"She wasn't? You seemed close enough to her for it."

Dekka shook her head. "We were more like...The Dark and Twisties. Like sisters. She even called us the 'Badass Sisters'." She smiled fondly at the memory.

Lauren wanted to push further. Ask more questions. Did you want to be more? Or did she want it? What happened to her? She wanted to know just how close to Chris and Shaena their situation had been.

But she remained silent.

Okay, so this chapter was rather grueling, but, I am proud of the product, so I guess it was worth it.

So, question time:

1. Favorite scene from this chapter? 10pts

2. Who guessed that one of the main antagonists was going to be introduced in the chapter by the title?15 pts

3. What was your favorite quote from this chapter. (A line from the story that realy stuck out to you, and it doesn't have to be dialogue.)30 pts

4. You're favorite costume from the dance!

And, the milestone question(First major chapter of the story.)

1. Who is your favorite OC? (I say OC, because I know you all already know how you feel about Dekka, you've had, like, six books to decide! ;) And you're least favorite? (30 pts, or 15 for each.)

Because there are so many questions, I won't be doing a challenge. (Okay, the sheer amount of question, and the fact that I couldn't think of a challenge worthy of this chapter..^.^')

So! Leave your answers in the review! I hope you enjoyed!