It's not okay: Brittany Attn: Any

[Syn Madison-Jones]

Syn heard her and it seemed rip something right out of her chest. As much as she wanted to keep going, run even, she had to know what the girl looked like. Her face pale and blank, she whirled around a stopped. The girl didn't look like a bitch even though Syn had hoped she would. She was pale and suffering... but Syn could tell normally she would be cute, really cute. Perky and fun, all the things she wasn't. All the things guys liked in a girl that was more than a quick fuck.

Syn held her hands up to show she wasn't trying to start anything. "Listen... I just want to explain something. It was all me. Evan didn't make any moves on me and he pushed me away. I didn't think it mattered. I only wanted a one time thing... but he's not like that. He's a good guy and he really cares about you. I'm the bitch to blame," she said, self-hate coloring every word. "If you want to beat the crap out of me, I won't fight back."

Syn stood there waiting, her eyes meeting Brittany's not pridefully, but sorrowfully, even meekly. She was already beaten by her own conscience and guilt. She may have looked like the same girl, but she was different from the one that stepped off that airplane a week ago.

[Eddie O'Flaherty]

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. Talking about Jessie definitely brought up some demons, and it made him a little uncomfortable. He knew it was healthy, though, to talk to people about it. He sure couldn't talk to his brother anymore. He just got the same advice over and over again: “Cowboy the fuck up.”

“I dunno,” he started, hoping his thoughts might be more organized. “It's both good and bad I moved, I guess. I didn't know if it was over before, but now that I'm gone I still wonder. People make mistakes, you know?” He couldn't think of a good way to put it, of a way to describe the situation without sounding like he was entirely hopeless with girls. Logic told him that Jessie should have been out of his mind and out of his heart long ago, but that just wasn't the case.

He thought about the day she told him it was over. “Last summer, a little while after my mom got her new job and we decided we were moving out here. We didn't know when yet, I had assumed it would be before school even started. Back in August. I didn't know what was going to happen between us, but she wanted to end it right there. We did, but we still hung out a lot, as a couple... you know?” Eddie wasn't necessarily comfortable talking about sex with Brittany, but he hoped she understood what he was saying. “When school started and I was still around, things got weird, and I found out she had been messing around with that guy since last spring. The worst part was we still hung out for a while. She'd text me and I just couldn't bring myself to ignore her. Finally, after getting into a huge fight one night, I decided to just completely ignore her. I ended up leaving about a month later, and I haven't talked to her since. She's called me and texted a few times, especially after the shooting, but I haven't responded.” By the end, Eddie had begun to sound emotionless, tired, and he felt the same way. It was hard for him to think about the girl he had spent all of high school with, but he knew he had to keep looking towards the future.

When Syn appeared, Eddie was almost sure a fight was going to happen, especially when Brit called the other girl a bitch. He was almost just as surprised when the girl immediately apologized. He even felt a little sorry for her. Still, he didn't want a fight, and Brittany looked pretty angry. “Okay, there's no reason for a fight. Why don't we just go our separate ways?”

[Brittany Barnes]

Brittany listened to the rest of Eddie's story. It was really depressing. It made Brittany feel like it was all quite hopeless. Yet, Eddie had seemed so...cheerful when they'd first met. And hopeful. If he could be after he'd been cheated on multiple times...then maybe it was possible for her too. "Well...so you haven't felt better since you moved here? Has there been anyone here that...I dunno...could help distract you?" she asked. She remembered once again how he'd visited Aly at the hospital. Okay...maybe Aly wasn't the best person to move on to, but if he at least had a crush on someone else...that had to help. "Like I said...I don't wanna like pry or anything...it was just that I know you helped Aly out a lot and like...visited her...I just though maybe you..." She shook her head. "Liked her or something..." she couldn't help but giggle as she said it. The though of anyone liked Aly was funny.

When Syn actually tuned around to speak to her, Brittany's eyes widened. She was actually scared. She didn't know what this girl was capable of and Brittany really hadn't mean to say the words as loudly as she had. She stood there stock still as the girl spoke. Evan hadn't done anything... Was the that truth? Maybe she was just saying that because she felt bad about what happened. Brittany didn't know.

Furthermore, she offered to let Brittany fight her. Eddie didn't like the idea of the fight and quickly dismissed the idea. As much as hitting the other girl seemed appealing, Brittany was more so in shock than anything else. "Um...no...I'm good," she said, quietly. "He...he really didn't do anything?" Brittany couldn't imagine him not doing anything. This Syn girl was clearly like Brittany version 2.0...the new and improved model. From her better dyed hair to her way hotter outfit. Brittany kept her eyes glued on the other girl. It seemed really important for her to get confirmation, although she wasn't sure if she'd believe it anyway.

[Syn Madison-Jones]

Syn seemed to grow even smaller when Brittany declined to hit her. She sighed. "No... really didn't. He wasn't interested at all. He really loves you I think. Hold on to him. He is worth it," She said and turned around to walk towards the bus stop. Her self anger was gone, but now she just felt depressed. She was going to go home to change and then take her guitar to the beach to play. Maybe the music would provide some healing, but some things cut too deep and she wasn't really hopeful this time.

Reaching in her bag, Syn pulled out a compact to check how bad she looked. The bleak face barely resembled hers, but she didn't care it was all automatic.

[Eddie O'Flaherty]

Eddie simply stood in shock at what had just occurred. A scant few moments before, he was nearly sure there was going to be a girl fight, and he wouldn't have had the first clue how to stop it. Most guys would have been excited at the idea, and in theory Eddie would have been too. Except this was for real, not some movie where clothes and colored hair would have gone flying. Brittany had seemed on the brink of gouging the other girl's eyes out.

Yet in an instant, it all dissipated. He was amazed at how civil it all actually was, and though he wasn't sure if the girl was telling the truth, she at least had the guts to own up to the act. Eddie knew how it felt to be cheated on, and he knew Brittany couldn't have been too happy talking with this girl. It earned her a heck of a lot more respect from Eddie as she stood and peacefully watched the other girl walk away.

The rustling of the leaves was the only sound for what felt like an eternity as the pair stood just outside the high school. Eddie didn't know what to say, and he was afraid he had only made Brittany feel worse. Hopefully the other girl's words cheered her up, but Eddie was a bit more of a pessimist than he let on. He doubted it was the last Brittany would hear about this girl and Evan.

Finally he couldn't take the silence any longer, and decided the best course of action was to continue the conversation from earlier. He instantly unfroze and bent over in front of Brit, the thought of her last comment making him grin wildly. “Really?” He barely managed the question through his chuckles. “You thought I like Ali?”Sure, she was a very attractive girl, but at the time they met he was so caught up in what was happening that her hotness was the furthest thing from his mind. “I just visited to be nice, I guess.” That wasn't entirely honest of him, since a big part of the reason was also to maybe see Brit. “And yeah, in some ways it's better that I moved here, and sometimes I'm happier, but also sometimes I'm lonelier, you know? At least at home I was distracted with fun stuff all the time, but here I don't have a lot of people to hang out with besides my family.” Eddie realized how lame that sounded, and he hoped Brittany wouldn't think he's some weirdo that can't make friends. He had just gotten so used to having friends that he had gotten a bit rusty on the whole meeting new people thing! But as far as girls go, Eddie still wasn't sure what his stance was. “As far as girls go, yeah. There a lot of pretty girls here that seem super cool,” Like you, he wanted to add, but held back. “But it's hard to know how much of that is for real, you know?”

Eddie was only serving to make himself feel worse at this point, so he decided to stop. It dawned on him, however, that this might be the most he's talked to anyone besides Jude, the girl he was kinda dating, so he started to feel a bit better. However the thought of Jude, the girl he was kind of dating, made him realize he hadn't said anything about her to Brit, which made him feel pretty guilty. Yet not guilty enough to mention her now.

[Brittany Barnes]

Brittany sort of stood there in shock when Syn walked away. She didn't know what to think. Did this mean it was over? She was pretty sure it did. But at the same time, she still had sort of a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her feel like there might still be more issues. They stood in silence for a moment...a long moment. Brittany wasn't really sure what to say. She was still processing it all. She sort of wanted to ask Eddie if he believed Syn but she wasn't sure if that was appropriate. Shouldn't she be the one to decide, not Eddie?

But thankfully when Eddie finally did speak up, he didn't talk about Syn. He picked up their conversation from before Syn had showed up and Brit couldn't help but grin. Eddie was a really good guy. Most people would have tried to talk about Syn, but he seemed to get that Brittany preferred not to. She wasn't a big sharer usually. She was still shocked that she'd told Eddie as much as she had.

"Yeah, I guess I did," she said with a laugh about Aly. "But it's good that I was wrong. Aly...is...well, interesting to say the least. She's just really caught up in being in the popular crowd I guess...being a cheerleader and all that." Brittany shrugged. "I guess there aren't that people who would be nice enough to just randomly visit someone they don't know that well, so that's why I thought that," Brittany admitted. "Which by the way, I really did mean to properly thank you for that day--you were just so much help," she said. "I meant to get your number or something but everything was just so crazy that I forgot and then I hadn't really seen you around..." she trailed off and looked up at him.

"Well, if you need another friend," Brittany said, "I'm around. I mean, it must suck being in a new place and all, especially while you're still dealing with all the other stuff," she said. "I have a pretty cool group of friends...you'd probably get along with them," she said. "But they kind of are all friends with Evan too...so I don't know what's going to happen there," she said, more solemnly now.

"A bunch of people are going bowling on Sunday. I was gonna go...but I don't know anymore. I mean it was already going to be weird because my band usually plays at the bowling ally on Sundays but we're kinda on hiatus right now until Zac finishes getting better," she explained. "And Evan's kind of leading the whole bowling extravaganza...so I'm wondering if maybe I should just do something else," she said. Talking about her band reminded her of the side project that she and Evan had talked about this morning...snake music.

She let out a sigh. "So...what do you want to do for lunch? There's a pizza place near by...you up for that?" she asked, making the first suggestion that came to mind.

[Kian O'Connor]

Kian wrapped an arm around Connors waist as soon as they got Mike and Evan facing the right direction and moving. This was harder than on would think it would be, but it did involve Evan so you had to give them credit it was managed at all. Back down the hill and across the lawn. Kian narrowed his eyes as they neared the lot. "Hey... isn't that Britt? Who's that guy drooling over her? I think you have competition, Bud....dy!"he said imitating Pauly Shore.

They all began to move faster naturally and Kian yelled out, "Hey Brit, wait up!" as Evan seemed in shock and was almost being dragged.

(copied from own thread)

[Mike Spruill]

Mike stood up as the other boys did. He just laughed at Evan's reaction about eating Kian. It was funny. He followed them quietly. This was great. There were good days and bad of course. Mike pulled out a bottle of water and took some of the stuff Kian gave him. He migh have taken one more then he should have, but that was Mike and it was just this over the counter meds. It was not that bad.

He noticed Brit the moment Kian said something. Mike had yet to meet the girlfriend of Evan really. He had heard about her, but had yet to meet her. "Your Brit. Nice to meet you. I am Mike." He said as Kian led them toward her. Mike looked at the guy. He did not seem like a threat really. The guy seemed to scrawny.

Mike just let it go. He looked at the kid and gave him a head nod, "I'm mike..." He held his hand out for the kid to shake. He was being poliet for now. Although Mike was not polite when on drugs, so this was a first really. Perhaps it was the comapny that made all the difference. in the world. Kian, Evan, and Connor were good company and so far good influences on Mike.

[Evan Hughes]

As they got closer to the parking lot, Evan spotted Brittany just a fraction of a second before Kian pointed her out. And he spotted Eddie almost at the same time. He wasn’t naturally the jealous type, and he knew that Brit was friendly with the guy, especially after the school shooting, he admittedly helped out a lot then. So he thought nothing of it. Until they got closer.

He liked to think he knew his girlfriend well. They’d only been dating for a couple of months, but he was pretty crazy about her, and after how that morning ended up, he liked to think she was pretty crazy about him too. So, knowing her as well as he did, the first thought that came to mind when he saw her face was that she was upset. And it worried him. He wondered straight away, understandably so, if the whole Syn incident was still playing on her mind. He didn’t think it could be it, he thought they cleared it all up that morning.

So it had to be something else, and he wasn’t sure if he disliked that more, not knowing what was upsetting her, and so not knowing how to fix it straight away. And, it occurred to him, why was she leaving the school with Eddie now? And was he really standing too close to her, or was that Evan’s own imagination? And he wasn’t sure if he liked how Eddie was looking at his girlfriend. The whole thing that happened yesterday afternoon, which wasn’t cheating he thought, seeing as how he did nothing, must have affected him more than he thought to. He didn’t like feeling so worried and jealous, they weren’t fun feelings.

“Hey Eddie.” he greeted the guy, forcing a small grin, before smiling more genuinely at Brit, the concern still in his eyes. “Hey.” he smiled, reaching out to take her hand, something telling him that he should. “Um, when Patch shows up, we’re gonna grab some subs, head up to Kian’s boat. Did you want to come with?” he asked, before including, to be nice only, “You too Eddie.”

[Connor Pearce]

After helping Kian get the others to their feet, fairly certain that Evan was deliberately trying to make it as difficult as possible (that was what the grin seemed to be for, the unnaturally bright, just slight eerie grin), Connor returned the affectionate move made by his boyfriend, moving an arm around his waist so that they were both well linked.

Staying that way, he walked with the others towards the parking lot, excited about the impromptu guys night. “Won’t be as fun as last night, but should be good.” he whispered playfully in Kian’s ear, happily remembering their night, in as much detail as possible. God, he loved having a boyfriend. He loved having Kian as his boyfriend.

Chuckling over the Pauly Shore reference, he noticed Evan’s slowly changing expression as they neared the Brittany and the guy she was with. And with just a hint of surprise, he realised he recognised him. It was Eddie, he’d met him before, at an audition of the school play, when he had been there to support Julia. Then food afterwards. It was a shame they hadn’t talked since, he’d seemed really nice. Maybe now was a time to fix that.

“Hey Eddie!” he greeted cheerily. “Hi Brit!” Evan’s offer surprised him, so much for a guys night, if the girlfriend was invited. But, he really liked her, and glancing from her to Evan, he got the niggling feeling something was wrong, so there had to be a reason why Evan had offered.