She couldn't do it. It went against her morals. If looked at in a certain way, it went against her vows. Not to mention how much Arthur would hate her if he found out. She couldn't believe she was doing this.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." She slumped forward, hands burrowing into her pockets.
"Hey, a promise is a promise. Breaking your word is totally unawesome."
She didn't reply.
Blue eyes narrowed as they looked her over. Sighing, her companion ran a hand through his jet black locks.
"Look, if Arthur rejects me, then we're done. Okay? It's all pretty simple."
"The contacts look good on you. I'm glad we got them." The girl said, ignoring the prior statement. The teen grinned.
"I know right? Blue looks good on me. Pretty fucking awesome. The clothes are epic too."
She was almost proud of herself. Her choice in ripped black jeans and Adidas High Tops was impeccable. With a white V-neck and leather jacket, the look was edgy with a sense of attractive self-confidence. The snakebites under his lips looked fresh, but within a week, they would seem natural. His black hair was a good kind of disheveled, courtesy of Leah. His eyes, however, were a cerulean masterpiece.
"I think it looks good. But we need to consult the master first."
She moved to take the boy's hand, but stopped. He wasn't Arthur. He wasn't her friend. He was only a business partner.
A business partner that was trying to get with her best friend.
She didn't notice that they entered Kardnal's Pizza Parlor until a familiar face nudged her shoulder with a soda.
"Sup Thornberry?"
"The fucking sky."
"Ooh, caught you in a bad mood didn't I? I'll come back in a week. You know, when you're not PMSing."
Zane looked up into the eyes of the teen that was desperately trying to seem disinterested in their conversation.
What he saw was a lanky youth with spray dyed black hair, contact blue eyes, a dark outfit, and pretty badass snakebites. But he seemed so unused to the getup; he kept his gaze towards the ground and if he pulled the jacket up any higher he would be shielding his eyes.
"Who the emo kid?"
"Stereotyping is rude." Elizaveta said sharply. Zane shrugged, sipping his drink.
"His name is-."
"You can call me Flighter. Flighter Ross." The teen gave her a look, as if to say 'I can introduce myself.'
"Zane Kardnal." The two shook hands briefly. "Why did come here Eliza? Did you miss me in the hour that you were away?"
"Hell to the no. Just want an opinion on Flighter."
Zane took another swig from his soda, not sparing the teen a single glance.
"He's lacking in confidence, proper posture and effortless class. He looks uncomfortable in those clothes and that piercing is fresh. He's another one of your projects isn't he?"
"Yeah. If everything works out well, he won't have to wear the piercing for long."
"He may not end up as good as Arthur did. Punk is Arthur's actual person. No offense, but this guy-."
"I've got it covered. We just get our job done, then he's back in his checkered wristbands."
Elizaveta studied her friend's reaction. There was the furrow in his eyebrow, which meant he was skeptical of the entire thing. The way his lips tightened around his straw portrayed his slight annoyance at the situation. An she could see the inquisitiveness burning in the teen's eyes. A question was coming soon.
"What is this job exactly?"
She frowned, looking away. He knew what the job was.
"A hookup." She muttered.
"Elizaveta!"
"Dude, it'll be fine!"
"W-Why-? He's not Arthur! He's not whatever you're trying to dress him up as. Arthur tried to hide his actual personality! Even I could tell! You were bringing his real personality out by coaxing it with new clothes and the thought of tattoos, but this-" He gestured towards the teen. "Who's he trying to hook up with?"
"It's kind of ironic actually. He wants to go out with Arthur."
Zane choked as Elizaveta awkwardly giggled.
"Heheh. I, uh-."
"No."
"What?"
"No. Arthur can get really hurt. I'm pretty positive he'd prefer someone that's legit instead of a poser."
Her eyes narrowed. "Since when do you care so much about Arthur Zane?"
She felt Flighter tense beside her. She resisted the urge to comfort him. God, the Sophomore Slumps were too intimate with each other. Touching someone to comfort them just became a really bad habit. She would have to get over it.
Zane groaned so she could tell exactly how much he was against this.
"He's a cool dude Eliza. Not to mention this'll find a way to get pinned to you. I don't think he wants to hook up with anyone now, if all you've told me is true."
"Well, if I ask him out, and he says no, then he won't date me. Simple as that." Flighter said, finally deciding to participate in the conversation. Elizaveta deduced that he really didn't like Zane. Apparently, the University student also picked up on this. Blue eyes suddenly went cold as he regarded Flighter, sizing him up.
"If he ends up more hurt than he already is, I'm going to target your ass. Got it pretty boy?"
"Tch."
Flighter turned on his heel and stormed out. Elizaveta gave Zane a withering glare before following close behind.
"Hey, don't mind him. He gets really possessive of his friends sometimes."
"Does he really regard Arthur as a friend?"
"Yes." The girl was sure of it. "But that's all they are. If Zane liked Arthur, he would be visiting our school with roses and chocolates every day."
"So the punk is a romantic."
"Yeah."
Flighter scoffed. "Wow."
"He's human. He just has some intimidating clothes and an open-minded, unconstrained attitude. There's no reason for him not to be a romantic."
The girl sniffled as she checked her phone.
"It's getting late. I've gotta head home. You should too."
"Sure, but..."
The girl turned, expecting an expression of thanks. What she found, however, was a blushing Flighter with eyes downcast.
"When can I meet Arthur?"
"When I say so." She was out of that mall three minutes before closing time.
-S.S.C.O.T.Y-
"Apu! Testvér! Itthon vagyok!"
No response. Elizaveta sighed, leaving her shoes by the door. Her father's brown loafers were there, as well as her brother's Nikes. So they were home. They just weren't answering. She took the stairs two at a time, not bothering to knock when she barged into her brother's room.
"Get up you lazy bum!" She commanded, tossing a soda can his way.
Andris Hedervary caught the Pepsi without glancing away from his computer. This didn't surprise her. Such skills came from his job as a guard. Her own wheat hair covered the back of his neck in a short ponytail. She broke off a piece of her Subway sandwich and aimed it at his broad shoulders. As soon as she released the object, however, he turned, catching the sandwich with his teeth. His pearly fucking teeth.
"Damn you." She said when his pale green eyes winked. She craned her head to see what he was researching when he shut off his computer.
"Uh-uh. Sorry lányos. Can't have you seeing this."
She pouted. "Why? What is it? You can tell me?"
Her brother didn't answer, choosing to dress instead. He pulled on a slim pair of black pants over his boxers, then pulled on combat boots over that.
"What are you guarding today?" She inquired as he placed his pistol in its holster. He pulled on his black shirt to hide it.
"Apparently, my services are needed in the museum. They're getting some expensive jewel tonight and they need people that know what they're doing to accompany it there."
"So they need you classic warrior skills."
"They need me to go H.A.M on them thieving biatches."
"Aww snap! Bastards gonna hit the floor when they hear your gun crack!"
The two siblings shared a look, trying to hide their laughter behind their twin smirks.
"Have fun bro. Don't die or else."
"I won't. I still have to go through with my wedding remember?"
The girl smirk fell.
"Oh. You're marrying Gilliana this Summer. Gilbert will be my brother-in-law. Joy."
Andris gave her a look.
"You could at least pretend to be happy for me."
"You still haven't answered my first question.
"Oh, that. I was looking for places to hold our honeymoon. I mean, I was totally gonna go for Vienna, but then I thought about you and Roderich. I don't want to have my honeymoon in the same city that my younger sister loses her virgi-."
"Andris!"
"So then I considered Florence, Italy, but Romano came from Italy and I ain't having no emo-ass child so-."
"That's provocative!"
"I prefer 'Gets people going'. So then I narrowed my choices down to Tanzania, Galapagos Islands, Paris, Australia and Egypt."
"Ooh, go to Paris or Egypt!"
"That narrows it down to Tanzania, Galapagos Islands and Australia. Thanks sis."
Elizaveta punched him as he laughed.
"Have you eaten?" She inquired worriedly. Andris looked over his appearance in the mirror. All black. Just what he needed. He then took the second half of her sandwich. "Now I have." The adult said as he stole out the door. Elizaveta followed.
"Have a nice night at work!" She shouted from the top of the stairs. He gave a backwards wave. When the front door closed behind him, she sped to her father's study.
"Good evening Pops!" She greeted brightly. But she could see from his face that the old man wasn't in such a great mood. Hazel eyes looked her over, clouded.
"Sit." He commanded coldly. He ran a hand over his tanned face as she moved in front of his desk. In the desk light, the few gray hairs in her father's umber hair were brought out. She bit her lip as her father's mouth set itself into a firm line.
"I received a call from your school today. Apparently, there was a fight in the boy's bathroom."
"Why did they call us if I'm a-?"
"You know exactly why."
She winced. He sighed.
"I'm going to ask this only once Eliza, were any of your friends involved in this?"
Eliza looked her father right in the eye, face devoid of emotion as she said smoothly, "No. They were not involved in this."
My friends were not involved, but my best friends were at the center of it.
-S.S.C.O.T.Y-
You know what I hate? Getting grounded for shit I didn't do. It just throws my entire schedule off. Not to mention the fact that it totally put me off writing this. *frustration* I'm sorry for the long wait guys! The next authentic chapter will be posted either tomorrow, then I'll take an real break to regroup till September. For now, feel free to ask questions, criticize, etc.
(As a side-note, hell yes new characters! I'm excited to finally get to work with Flighter! I've been planning him out for such a long time! As well as Andris, who is Male! Hungary if you didn't already guess. Her father's Squall Leonhart. Crossover FTW!)