As you can tell, I looooove IM xD
"Whoa, are you okay?" Taylor is drying her hair with a damp towel when Lex walks in, pressing tissues to her right hand.
"Yeah. Drake Merwin, you know?"
Taylor laughs. "What happened now?"
"Well I found some roses in art class wrapped for me… so I picked up the bouquet and I guess Merwin left it for me? The roses had thorns and they poked out through the wrapper paper once I, you know, grabbed it."
"Omigosh!" Taylor grabs Lex's hand.
There are puncture wounds scattered across her palm, bleeding sluggishly. "Dude, don't. It hurts."
Taylor swallows nervously. "Yeah. Sorry. How are the braces coming along?"
"Annoyingly." Lex had just gotten braces in for her overbite and they hurt. Of course, she had used her… okay, she now called it a 'power', to adjust the braces a bit, but they were still uncomfortable.
Lex had never really had friends back in Canada. Her best friend, Julienne, was popular so that was the only reason people even noticed her. And even so, Julie and Lex had met way back in first grade when they'd both been overweight dorks. Which basically shows that Lex has no ability to make popular friends. Lex hit her growth spurt in sixth grade and never got beyond 5'3-and-a-bit. She got skinny but only momentarily. Then she'd had to diet to stay in shape. Julie, however, started growing in seventh grade and got to 5'7, becoming so slim that all the popular kids took notice of her.
When Lex left, Julie was being swallowed by the popular crowd—willingly.
Taylor, she was kind of refreshing. She always had energy and kind of reminded Lex of Nicole from Zoey 101. So peppy and preppy, you know?
"Oh!" Taylor bounces on her bed. "So the other day, I was down in town and I met this really cute Mexican guy. I think he was Mexican, anyways… You should totally hook up with him."
Lex laughs. "Are you saying that because we both then, theoretically, speak Spanish?"
"Hm… Oh, that's true! Sorry, I'm terrible."
"And you know, I don't actually speak Spanish."
"Really? But you're, like, one of those girls you expect to see in Iyaz videos… like, you should have been at that Cancun Spring Break thing on Much."
"Pft." Lex's face warms up a bit. She's never been 'pretty'. Average-to-cute, maybe a seven out of ten. But she's not like Diana, who's definitely a future Anne Hathaway. In her wake, Lex is Hayley Williams, definitely not one considered beautiful by the general public. Hayley Williams kind of has a cute-or-hate thing going on with her looks. Or, generally speaking, Hayley Williams is known more for what she does than for her face. But at Coates… she's been called pretty a few times, from Dekka (who she was becoming quick friends with) to Taylor, to even Diana herself. But then again, wasn't it a female thing to compliment everyone else whether you mean it or not?
"SO, my dear roomie, the Winter Ball is coming up soon. Want to help on the committee with me? Or even more importantly, who are you asking to it?"
"What's the Winter Ball, beside the obvious?"
Taylor crosses her legs in a storyteller's position. "It's a once-every-other-year thing. For us, it costs more than the prom, so we have it in winter one year and in summer the next. It's generally kept to, you know, ninth grade and above. Like, you guys only need ten dollars to go, but we from the lower grades have to pay double that. However, we're allowed to go for the upper school price if we're invited by an upperclassman. Or if we're on the committee. Oh, it's semi-formal to formal! This is going to be so much fun! I can pick out a dress for you!"
"Ew."
"It's remarkable how you can burst my bubble with a single word." Taylor pouts for a bit as Lex shruggs and turns her attention to her HP. "Yo, I think I found you a dress."
Taylor perks up immediately, immediately diving into Lex's bed. "Lemme see!"
It's an aqua dress, mid-shin and flow-y. Intricate black designs curl up and down the sides, pointing out curves and accentuating flat tummies.
"Ooh, I love it!" Taylor grins at Lex slyly. "Don't pretend. I know you care about this girly stuff. Hey, you have nice fashion sense."
"Ew."
"Stop ew-ing me! Send me a link to that dress!"
"Okay."
Lex logs on to IM and quickly sends a link to Taylor before another box pops up. metric_, also known as Jamie Turner, soccer player and Metric fan. Jamie and Lex are in Grade 10 English together, a class that Lex had taken as an elective so that she would have more room next year.
metric_: heard of the winter dance?
45: yeah
metric_: any interest in going?
45: not really
metric_: well if you ever reconsider, would you like going with me?
"Jamie… Jamie Turner asked me to the Winter Ball."
Taylor lets out a little shriek. "What? Omigosh, say yes, you idiot!"
45: sure.
metric_: I can see youre thrilled
45: very.
metric_: you're cute, you know.
45: you're so sweet
metric_: seeing you with merwin troubles me
45: merwin doesn't do any harm
45: he cant, I mean
metric_: merwin cant do any harm? he shot some kid, do you know that?
45: why do you keep tabs on him?
metric_: im just like that
45: lovely
metric_:
metric_: but I mean it. youre a cute girl.
45: I thought boys fell for blond-cheerleader-with-34Ds or dianas more than scream-loving-espanol losers like me.
metric_: I like screamo. an I could learn espanol if you want.
45: boy youre really getting serious aren't you
45: have to go.
metric_: bye
Lex looks up to see that Taylor has been snooping behind her shoulder. "What the hell are you doing?"
Taylor looks at Lex, wide-eyed. "I can't believe it! You're so lucky! You got asked out by Jamie Turner! Next thing you know, you'll be dating… and then he'll have to go to college but he'll wait a year for you. Then you'll go to Cornell together and both succeed and then marry and your parents will tell everyone that you married your high school sweetheart and you'll have three kids named Caroline, Bianca, and Charles."
"Charles? What's up with that?"
In hindsight, it probably wasn't wise to tell Taylor all about her life goal of getting into Cornell and becoming a lawyer. "Taylor, you're a Taylor Swift fan, aren't you?"
"How can you tell? I've been told I look like her!"
"Go listen to her song Fifteen and tell me the moral of the story."
"Okay!"
Taylor occupies herself by searching up Fifteen.
Lex curls up in her bed darkly. Going to a dance with Jamie Turner.
Another message pops up.
greatestever: heard youre going to the winter ball with turner?
Drake's screenname amused Lex infinitely. It was from Forever by Drake, the line where he goes, "Last name ever first name greatest."
45: your screenname makes me giggle
greatestever: well that's a weird sight
greatestever: YOURE one to be talking. at least mine makes reference to my name
45: mines care failure inspired
greatestever: ?
45: shes the lead singer of die mannequin… care failure… get it? caro?
greatestever: youre really weird
45: ahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaaa
greatestever: srsly
45: (:
45: :)
45: O////////O
45: :D
greatestever: STOP SENDING ME EMOTICONS
45: D:
greatestever: okay. are you going to the winter ball with turner?
45: this amuses me.
greatestever: answer
45:
45: yesandno
greatestever: yes or no
45: well he asked me and I accepted BUUUUUT im probably not going to dance with him. just cuz I don't like the athletic boys.
greatestever: I thought you read high school debut
greatestever: upon research, yoh komiyama APPARENTLY is good at sports. sos the girl.
"Hm, I wonder who told Drake Merwin I read shojo manga." Lex turned and glared at Taylor.
"Iunoh." Taylor was now buffing her nails nonchalantly.
"Great."
45: last name ever first name greatest like a sprained ankle boy I aint nothing to play with
greatestever: I thought you listened to screamo-emo
45: uh no. I listen to everything except country.
45: unless taylor swift counts. she mostly qualifies as pop now though
greatestever: weren't you anti-mainstream?
45: yeah but im anti-getting-labeled too
greatestever: …
45: SO my lovely are you going to the winter majigger with anyone?
greatestever: youre so weird.
45: D: howso?
greatestever: I don't ask people to dances.
45: wow I guess it doesn't matter that I destroyed your balls on the first day, then, 'cause youre never gonna use them anyways.
greatestever: do you enjoy pissing me off?
45: very. cuz youre so very cute when youre mad, you know?
greatestever: then you make me gorgeous at least twice a week
45: OOH take a picture and show mee (:
greatestever: im goin now.
greatestever: jesus Christ I swear you act like this on im just to freak ME out
45: no duhhhhh (;
greatestever is now offline.