Hey again, ok so I got a little stuck on this chapter, so please let me know what you think and thanks so much for the awesome reviews and so glad you all like it so far :)

JJ X x

We leg it down the hall, through the cafeteria like we should have done before. John's singing is getting quieter until it stops a few seconds before we drag the door open and fall into our seats, Allison sitting beside me, knowing that any second a pissed off Vernon with a collared John

They walk in and we're all on edge. Vernon pushes John to his seat "Get your stuff, let's go! Mr. Wiseguy here has taken it upon himself to go to the gymnasium. I'm sorry to inform you, you're going to be without his services for the rest of the day."

John throws his stuff on the table before sitting down and spelling out with mock hurt "B-O-O H-O-O!"

He's doing it to piss off Vernon and he's done a pretty good job "Everything's a big joke, huh Bender? The false alarm you pulled, Friday, false alarms are really funny, aren't they...What if your home, what if your family...what if your dope was on fire?"

Then John decides to actually be honest "Impossible, sir...It's in Johnson's underwear!"

Andy laughs, Brian looks panicked and I bite my lip to keep from sniggering "think he's funny? You think this is cute? You think he's bitchin', is that it? Lemme tell you something. Look at him, he's a bum."

I do look, I look at the boy sat in front of me and that's all he is, just a messed up kid like the rest of us, who the fuck was Vernon to define him "You wanna see something funny? You go visit John Bender in five years! You'll see how God damned funny he is!"

My blood boils and my breath quickens, how dare he! I watch him walk over with that smug strut and growl "you know 'Dick' you're… " without warning Allison puts her hand up to cover my spitfire with a light squeal as I glare to the old man

"What's the matter, John? You gonna cry? Let's go..." I'll kill him, I'll fucking kill the bastard

Vernon grabs John's shoulder and quickly pushes him off "Hey keep your fuckin' hands off me! I expect better manners from you, Dick!"

Allison movies her hand and John turns to me, using one hand to wrap his red scarf around my neck as he winks "you'll catch your death in that outfit"

I watch as John takes his sunglasses out of his pocket and lays them in front of Andy "For better hallway vision!"

He leaves, followed by Vernon but not before pushing stuff over on the way. I watch the door, glaring eagerly "I fucking hate that man"

"Yeah, he's a jerk" I hear Brian mumble and look at him in shock along with every other pair of eyes in the room "stop the presses Brian Johnson seems to be growing a pair!"

He smiles weakly before asking "what am I supposed to do about…?"

"Keep it warm" I laugh when he points to his junk and I start packing away the remains of my lunch

"Do you think John will be ok?" Claire asks, sounding almost concerned as she sits on the table

I look at her with a sneer on my lips as Brian moves over to our side of the room with his carrot sticks and soup, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder before falling into John's seat "He'll be fine, I mean he's Bender… right"

She smiles at him as I start playing with the moth worn cotton and the silver compass hanging on my neck; I look to Allison as my head falls back "detention blows…"

She offers a timid smile in return as her fingers trace the outline of the eye I'd carved into the table earlier "it's like it's watching me"

I lean forward and just look at it for a second "yeah… I guess it is"

"Hey, what do you guys think?" Andy turns to us wearing John's glasses and makes a stupid face

I roll my eyes at him; he didn't suit them at all. His head was too big

I look up at a curtain redhead who asks me "Mae, what did you do? Remember this morning Mr Vernon said not to have any repeats of when you were last here, what did you do?"

I smile with a snake like charm standing up with a laugh as they watch me, leaning on the rail I answer "during the lunch break I put superglue on his chair, set fire to a trash can so he could see the smoke and the alarm went off… it was hilarious! He was screaming and I swear he was crying to"

They all look laughing to me as I reminisce about that day and Brian smiles, chewing on a carrot stick "What happened?"

"He ended up stripping out of his pants and running into the quad… it was fucking priceless!" I break out laughing along with the others "he knew it was me because Johnny wasn't here that Saturday, but with three other people here he couldn't prove it!"

"Wish I could have seen that" Andy smiles still wearing John's glasses

Without warning we hear a shattering echo followed by a harsh cry "Oh shit!"

With surprised eyes I watch as John walks down the stairs, like he didn't just fall through the fucking ceiling and casually shrugs "I forgot my pencil..."

We can hear some racket outside, I race to the nearest seat, that happens to be in-between the two preps, John quickly diving under my table with his precious pencil in hand, Claire jumping into her seat and Allison quickly stops sucking at the lingering sugar on her fingers "God damn it! What in God's name is going on in here?"

Vernon races into the room curious and accusing "What was that ruckus?"

"Uh, what ruckus?" Andy tries to shrug him off

He stares at us with a hard glare "I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus!"

"Could you describe the ruckus, sir?" Brian asks nervously, kid gets points for trying because it just ticks the old man off "Watch your tongue young man, watch it!"

I can feel the heat of John under the table, his breath on my bare knee as his head crashes into the table. Andy covers for him by making a rhythmic bang, John answering with two of his own

"What is that?" Vernon asks confused while Andy makes a zipping noise and I loudly click my tongue, because if we confuse him his head will hurt and he'll leave, old men can't take too much disorientation; it gives them headaches "What, what is that, what is that noise?"

"What noise?" Andy asks and in that moment I feel coarse fingers trail my exposed thigh where my shorts had risen up, his face moving between my legs and soft hair brushing my tender skin.

"Really, sir, there wasn't any noise" It's my turn to squeal then as Claire covers for us

I'm not sure if he's examining the finely designed rose vine on my upper thigh where his fingers are or if her was just being an a perverted asshole but I squash his head with my stripy covered legs either way

Everyone starts faking a coughing fit, started by Claire, to cover his pained shout… plus he's grabbing at my feet because I'm kicking the little shit hard before looking up at Vernon "was that it? You know I think theirs like some sort of dust in the air because I've been coughing all day… so that must be…"

Vernon stands with his hands on his hips as he interrupts me, all sass this one "No, it wasn't. That was not the noise I was talking about. Now, I may not have caught you in the act this time, but you can bet I will."

Allison laughs at Vernon, I'd only known the girl less than a day and I already knew what she was thinking 'no you won't, moron!'

He looks at the black dawned girl with a pointed finger "You make book on that missy!" before turning to me "And you! I will not be made a fool of!"

He turns and walks away, showing us all the toilet seat cover stuck to his pants.

Normally I would have laughed with everyone else but the second that door closes I start kicking the boy under the deck, I hope it hurts, before I move back to let him out with a barrage of slaps.

Once free he looks at me without a shred of shame and asks "How many tattoos do you have?"

"You're an asshole!" I glare because hey, I just got pawed at

He smiles that lopsided grin, one hand stroking his scarf still draped around my neck "I'll make it up to you…"

John gets up and walks over to Brian and more demands than asks "So, Ahab...can I bum my Doobage?"

Brian gives John his bag of marijuana as I feel john staring at me and can't help meeting his gaze. He smiles and holds up the baggie for me to see with a wiggle of those mischievous brows, holding out his free hand for me to take.

"Damn it" I grumble, smiling as I take his hand and we walk into the back of the Library and can hear Andy calling after us "Yo waistoid...you're not gonna blaze up in here!"

As we take our seats over comes her majesty and I'm a little more than shocked, she's followed by Brian, then Andy… but no Allison, that's cool. If she doesn't want to then I'm not going to push her, I'm not that kind of friend…wait… are we friends?

A short while later we sit in a circle. Don't even ask me where Andy went… I sit beside Claire on the couch, feet curled under me after taking my boots off, while John lights a match with his teeth (which is pretty hot!) relighting her burned out rollup and she coughs the smoke out.

I put my free hand on her knee and smile as we laugh "don't worry sweetie, we all goof the first few times"

I got to say Brian looks pretty cool in John's glasses until exhales and tries to eat the smoke. He talks in a really weird high pitched voice "Chicks, cannot hold der smoke! That's what it is!"

I pout lightly with a long drag until a thought comes to mind "hey watch this…Johnny, shotgun!"

I stand up and all eyes are on me as I place a knee either side of John, who looks at me funny with a bite of his lip while I smile, taking another drag, holding it in my mouth only to lean down and brush his lips with mine. Their softer than I thought they'd be, not that I have thought about them

Only as he lips part, gliding with mine do I realize his hands are on my hips, mine on gripping onto his shoulders as I breathe the drug into his mouth. I don't break his gaze as he inhales, letting go a moment later while smiling at me

Brain claps and nods in his strange new voice "that's awesome girl, you're awesome…"

I stretch to ruffle the nerd hair "aw thank you, honey, you're awesome to"

When I move to get I fall back onto John's knee laughing, careful not to drop my joint as my giggles are muffled into the crook of his neck as I find his arm around my waist, hoisting me up so I'm sitting comfortably on his knee as Claire rambles "Do you know how popular I am? I'm so popular; everybody loves me so much, at this school"

"Poor baby" John and Brain laugh as I loop an arm around John's neck

Taking a toke I look to the redhead "it's because you're so pretty, I mean I would kill for your skin! And your lips are totally fuckable"

She smiles and reaches her hand out to me, putting the joint in my mouth I take her hand "You're actually like so sweet"

I laugh along with the others before taking the bud out of my mouth, blowing smoke into John's face as I nod "I know right!"

As I snuggle up to the big bad criminal Brian holds his hand up and asks John to high five him, which he dose… pushing the kids hand into his face and knocking him over counts right?

My hand goes into John's hair then as I pout with a laugh "Aw Johnny, he's such a sweetie, poor Bri-Bri"

He laughs as Brian fixes his chair, his hand tightening slightly around me as he laughs "you turn into such a girl when you're loaded"

"Ha, you should see me drunk!" I joke and nuzzle into his cheek with my nose… ok, so weed turns me into a touchy feely schoolgirl, so sue me

We hear music and turn to see Andy emerge from a really smoky room and I gasp "fuck, boys got his own easy bake oven over there…"

He inhales another puff and then starts dancing to everybody's applause. He takes off his top and starts on his chest like Rambo as Brian wolf whistles, Claire merrily tweaking as I call from my snug seat in John's lap "whew, go Andy! Take it off!"

John just smiles up at him, seeming happy that the boys unwinding as he jumps over bookcases, we follow him around the room. Brian hits Claire in the arm and she all but tackles him to the floor, the pair playfully fighting while Andy goes back in the room he was in; He screams and it shatters the glass in the door.

"Fuck…" John laughs and the two on the floor a still giggling away, bless

I laugh at them and Andy as I roll my eyes "I'm so glad I'm not Carl right now"

I notice John's playing with my compass and smile down at the silver piece of junk "I bought it at a flea market last year and to answer your question, three!"

He looks at me for a moment until I roll up my right sleeve to show him the compass tattoo on my wrist circled in words I knew by heart before he reads "no compass comes with this life, make your own direction… huh"

"My Daddy used to say that, he's the one that got me into pirates! We used to sword fight and dress up and he always let me be captain…" I smile sadly at the words forever bound to my skin before he gently brushes the wings on my throat with a teasing tone "Angel Mae, I presume"

I burry my face in my hair giggling as and playfully slap his chest "you weren't meant to know about that, nosy bastard and it's a family nickname so…" I pull my tongue out at him and he laughs

I see Claire and Brian still sitting on the floor, she's stolen the glasses and he's trying to get them back as I feel a hand caress my inked thigh "What about this one?"

"My aunt Jane has a thing for roses, their like, all over the house and stuff" I smile, because I love my aunt, I do, without her… I probably wouldn't be here. But the truth is that underneath all that anger and bitterness I'm just a daddy's girl…

A short while later we all move around; raiding each other's bags and wallets

As Claire rifles through my makeup sprawled out on the table next to hers and johns pocket contents I walk past the boys and over to the quietest girl in school. I smile and lean on the table "you alright Ally-cat?"

She shrugs and I look around at the others talking "Look, why don't you mingle a little, might be fun"

She laughs awkwardly with a shake of her head "I don't think so"

"Ok, that's fine… but I'm sure Andy would love to get to know you better, but it's your choice" I shrug with my hands held up in defeat before returning to the table cluttered with all our stuff.

What? She's been making eyes at the guy all day; I'm not as stupid as you'd think

I sit down as John brushes his teeth with Claire's eyebrow comb while looking into my compact. I take a seat next to the girl and look at the pictures of all the different girls, some of them I knew from around, most I'd never seen "what's with all the chicks?"

Claire looks at me for a second before asking "Are all these you're girlfriends?"

"Some of them..." he doesn't flinch, and that is not a punch to the gut, it's not! Why should I care how many girlfriends he's got

I nudge Claire with my elbow to ask more question, I don't know why, it's not my business "What about the others?"

"Well, some I consider my girlfriends and some...I just consider..." yeah, because that's healthy… not!

"Consider what?" she doesn't need a nudge this time as he answers blankly, almost annoyed "Whether or not, I wanna hang out with them"

I scoff lightly at that "that means fuck them" I say to Claire, because she's not all bad… for a prep, maybe, I'm undecided

She looks from me to John and asks casually, because nothing about this conversation is casual "You don't believe in just one guy, one girl?"

His head snaps up looking at us both and asks "Do you two?"

Claire continues to flip through the pictures as she answers "Yeah...that's the way it should be."

I can feel him looking at me as I shrug "I guess… everyone deserves a happily ever after right"

"Well, not for me..." is his meagre response as he goes back to fiddling with our stuff and should I even be here for this conversation?

Like he's a freaking puzzle she asks because little red has to know all "Why not?"

My god why did I nudge her? John clearly doesn't want to answer that so he acts defensive "How come you got so much shit in your purses?"

I don't know why he's asking me, I've barely said two words since I sat down. So Claire narrows her eyes at him "How come you got so many girlfriends?"

"I asked you first" he demands in his oh so grown up way

I watch her, it's a trap; it's obviously a trap "I dunno...I guess I never throw anything away."

I see it before she does and roll my eyes at his cocky tone "Neither do I"

"Oh..." is all Claire can say to that and I fall back into the seat with a scoff as she picks up my purse to look though my pictures.

John stares at me and asks "you ok?"

My smile is bitter, biting as I pick up a shade of lipstick I could never afford "peachy, why wouldn't I be?"

"You sure, you sound pretty cabby to me" I throw the lipstick at him, asshole

Looking through Claire's pictures I find none of her parents, a few of preps I know and loath and of an older guy, she mentioned a brother right?

"Mae, your little brother is so cute" she leans over with a smile I see the picture she's looking at

I laugh at it and smile "no, that's my cousin Eli; it's actually his birthday today"

"How old is he?" John seems to take an interest so I just smile "Seven, we woke up to cake for breakfast so he's probably not even missing me"

My words are innocent and cheery but I can't stop glancing between the pictures and John. Who seriously needs that many girlfriends?

So I put down Claire's heavy purse before I raid it or throw it at John's head! I stand and head over…away, just away "where are you going?"

I don't answer him, why should I? Not like he's my boyfriend or anything

I go to the bathroom; Vernon wasn't in his office so he can suck it. The water feels good on my face as I look in the mirror. I almost look like I've been crying, but I haven't it's just he tap water falling off my cheeks. I don't understand this; this isn't me… the opening up, the socializing… that isn't who I am! These people aren't my friends; they're not my family…

…So why the hell am I doing all of this?

When I get back I see Andy and Allison and I'm about to go other there and smash his fucking head in because she looks like she's about to actually cry! I never should have talked her into talking but I wait…

"What do they do to you?" he sounds gentle, concerned even

She looks at him for a second before answering with a small plea in her voice "They ignore me"

"Yeah...yeah..." I watch them, like a child watching the flowers bloom. They seem to understand each other, I can see it, that rare connection every person craves… with just one conversation. These two people are from completely different worlds, worlds that where never mean to meet yet here they are both crying silently with the other… it's like watching Lion's doing it on the discovery channel for the first time

I jump as a hand traces my arm "Fuck, stalk much?"

Claire laughs and smiles sweetly "sorry, do you want to put your stuff back?"

I walk over and start throwing my shit back into my bag, I glance to John, who just smiles at me and I can't help wondering… is there any hope for the likes of us?