Screw Class (attn: Jonah, open tag)

[Liz Davies]

Buzzing cut through the air in Liz's bedroom. She had been lying in bed absolutely dreading the thought of climbing out and heading to the dreaded abyss known as school. Ashley should already be gone, but her mother was usually up and about the house at this time getting ready to go to her first job. Instead, the house was strangely quiet

Liz slipped out from underneath the covers and padded into the kitchen. Her black t-shirt and dark flannel pajama pants were in direct contrast to her mother's brightly painted (if slightly faded) walls. The cigarette smoke hung fairly think in the air, which meant her mom was stressed about something. However, she was nowhere to be found.

Moving into the kitchen, Liz noticed a scrap of paper with a tiny note on it. It read:

“Have to go to Vegas for the night, will be back late tomorrow. You girls be good! Love, Mom”

A smile spread across Liz's face. Looked like there wasn't going to be any school for her today! She ran back to her bedroom and grabbed her phone. Step one was getting a hold of Jonah. Oddly, she hadn't seen him all weekend. He was AWOL, but the opportunity to have the house all to herself was too great, and Jonah just had to be involved. She grabbed her phone and typed up a quick text, saying, “Where u been? Skipping, Moms gone. Come over. Puff puff!”

The second step was to get a hold of Pete, the old man at Lynwood Records that was her pot hookup. A quick text to him revealed that he was going to be in the store around eight, which gave Liz a good amount of time to shower and get ready for the day. Knowing she was going into the store she decided to wear her Old 97's shirt. She liked to show off a bit when she walked into the store, and wearing certain shirts made her feel better than the kids that walk in looking for the latest Pink CD.

Liz had time to waste even after a long shower. She could try to catch a bus, but the sun outside tempted her enough to walk to the record store. It wasn't a bad hike unless it was night time, and in case someone did give her shit she always had the little mace bottle her mom insisted she carried on her keychain. She headed out the door and hit the sidewalk, pulling her old pair of shades out of her pocket and onto her forehead. As soon as she turned east they were down in front of her eyes. Damn that morning sun.

Distracted with her sunglasses, Liz didn't hear the footsteps approaching her from behind. It wasn't until the person sounded like they were very close that Liz finally noticed. She instantly whirled around, her hand pulling out the mace in a flash. She stood menacingly, fist forward and ready to spray.

“Back the hell off!”

[Jonah Finn]

The walk towards Liz's place was not so dreadful and Jonah kept the conversation flowing and in the fifteen minutes it took to cross the distance between Saint's house and Liz's, Jonah found out a lot about Saint and vice versa. It wasn't exactly much of a two sided conversation though, since a lot of what had ever happened to her involved her father too much. It just was not the right time to divulge such personal information.

He didn't even notice that they had passed Liz's house and for a second, his eyes were trained to the figure walking away from her own home. "Oh there's Liz." Jonah grinned and pulled Saint gently with him. "Come on let's say hey...WHOA!" Jonah grabbed Liz's hand that held the mace can and lowered it. "It's me, ding dong." He chuckled, his other hand still wrapped around Saint's. "Are we calm?" He grinned before letting go of Liz's hand but the grip he had on Saint's didn't falter.

"Betty, this is Saint. Or Santos. Um...he's kind of the reason why I haven't been around. I uh...his mom hired me to be his help. And that beauty down there is Coco. She's Santos' seeing eye dog. What the hell are you doing with mace anyway? Who do you think will come and clip your bony ass?"

[Liz Davies]

Liz smack at Jonah's hand with her free arm. “You asshole! You scared the shit out of me!” She hadn't realized she had been breathing so hard and exhaled. “And who the hell is this?” Jonah by now was hopefully used to seeing Liz when she was cranky, and startling her like that sure made her cranky. An extra person that she didn't expect to see didn't help much, either.

And of course, he had to introduce her as Betty. “Fuck off. I'm Davies. You call me anything but that and your nuts are mine. Don't listen to that gay bob there.” Liz turned back around and resumed her walk towards the record store, assuming the pair would follow. “I gotta see Pete about a...” She paused. Did New Kid smoke? Was he cool? She wasn't sure. She turned around, walking backwards so she could see the new kid's reaction. Finally looking him over, she noticed the dog, the sunglasses, and the odd way his head was tilted. He sure didn't look like he was looking straight forward. Was he blind?

Liz started putting two and two together. He was the kid that got involved in the shooting and was blinded. He was the talk of the school. Hanging out with him must be part of Jonah's community service. She had warned him, but damn if he ever listened.

She tried to use hand signals to ask Jonah if New Kid was cool with weed. If he wasn't it was going to completely ruin her whole day, and Jonah would be the one to suffer.

[Dare Madison]

Coco didn't like Liz's tone of voice while talking to Saint and she began a low warning growl. Saint's smile simply widened. "Shhhh Coco, she doesn't really want my balls. She is probably aware she couldn't handle my preference for the rear door," he said dryly without any rancor. Coco settled but watched the girl much in the manner that the small Jack Russell in the sitcom Frasier would regard the main character of that name.

There was a very weird vibe coming off Jonah's friend and Saint wondered whether she was into him and was jealous of him. He was beginning to think he should have stayed home. "Listen it sounds like you guys have stuff to do, Coco can get me home from here," he offered, not looking forward to a long day alone, but there were degrees of being uncomfortable.

[Jonah Finn]

Jonah laughed out loud at Liz's crankiness. He of course knew exactly what happened if she became scared. She wouldn't care who or what was in the way, nothing came out unscathed.

As he listened to her shoot her mouth off, he grinned as Coco growled at her. "Look even the dog thinks you got a bony ass." Jonah said in the middle of the tirade.

Once Liz was done talking, she made wild gestures with her hands which Jonah had a bit of a hard time interpreting until he finally got what she was asking. Damn...he didn't ask. But then again if someone was willing to play hooky with Jonah Finn, he should be cool with smoking weed, right? He shrugged at Liz and mouthed an 'I don't know'.

Saint's candor made Jonah suppress a huge laughter and he practically double over with silent laughter at Liz's expression. But when Saint expressed his want to go home, Jonah loudly protested.

"Come on, you can't go." Jonah lowered his voice. He is really starting to sound desperate. If Saint was unsure of how Jonah felt for him before, the desperation obviously lacing every syllable in his words now should confirm it. He liked spending time with the other boy and the fact that he had introduced Saint to Liz was a huge thing. Liz should know. Jonah had never introduced her to anyone. At all.

"Um...we're kinda going to be smoking...do you mind?" Jonah really hoped he would.

[Saint Juarez]

Saint's face was blank, he really had no desire to share his feelings with Jonah's bitchy friend. He could be grumpy himself, but he never attacked people like he had already been attacked this morning for no more reason than because he existed.

As far as smoking, he would be quite honest with them. "If it's pot I don't care, but if you're going to be smoking cigarettes, I'll go, I don't need that crap in my lungs," he said bluntly. Saint liked Jonah, but there were somethings he wouldn't do for love and cigarettes were one of them.

He had never realized that one of the things he would miss would be the ability to glare at someone that pissed him off. Saint stared off into the distance instead, tracking the whistle of a robin who was happily forming its nest.

[Liz Davies]

At least New Kid was into smoking, but if he didn't like cigarettes he sure wouldn't be a fan of Liz's house. She decided to let that be a fun little surprise. “Whatever. Pete's waiting.” She wheeled back around, picking up the pace. There really wasn't anything bad about Jonah's new friend, but if it meant that she was going to have to share him, it was going to really get on her nerves. Especially since he drew attention, and that was the last thing in the world Liz wanted.

Jonah noticed the strain between his best friend and new friend and it annoyed him slightly. Liz could afford to be more accommodating to someone Jonah thought was his friend. He made a few compromises when it came to her friends, she should at least respect him enough to do the same for him. As it were, Jonah shrugged and placed hand on Saint's shoulder. "Come on, then. Don't take whatever Davies says personally. She's just cranky someone made her jump like that. But are you sure you're okay with weed? Coz I'm not doing it if you're not."

Saint relaxed slightly at Jonah's touch. He leaned close to him and said softly. "She hates me, I am not sure this is a good idea. You would have more fun without me. Honestly I can't see us becoming chummy." He couldn't imagine that even excellent pot would make them get along and he doubted her sources. He didn't want to be difficult, but he wasn't happy putting himself in a position where he was stuck with someone hateful and he was so vulnerable.

Not going to smoke? Then what was the point of skipping? Liz didn't even want to look at her so-called friend right now. “If you're not gonna smoke, then you're not gonna come over!” she called back in a sarcastically cheery voice. All it took was for one guy to come around and Jonah was going to disappear. Maybe she was right, and all guys really were dicks, just in different ways than boyfriends tended to be.

Frowning at Liz's back as she kept her pace towards Pete's record store. "Mind your beeswax, Betty Davies. I'm trying to talk to my friend here. Jesus. She has Dumbo's ears, I tell you." He shook his head and turned to look at Saint. "Santos, we're just gonna smoke weed. That's all. You don't even need to be chummy with Davies. Let her be immature." Jonah made sure Liz heard his last words. "Come on, Santos...you're already out. It'd be counterproductive for you to go back. You know?"

Saint snorted at Jonah talking about counter-productivity. "All right but if we get in a fight I am not holding back because she is your friend or she is pretending to be a female," he warned, running his fingers over his switchblade before returning them to Coco's harness. "No blowing smoke at Coco!" He sighed and settled into silence, hoping the weed wasn't chemically treated.

Betty again. That asshole, he was trying to get on her nerves now. Some friend. Not only was he completely uninterested in hanging out with her, but he's already calling her names and laughing at her behind her back with this guy. What did it take, one weekend? One weekend and her best friend was stolen away from her. Tears tried to poke their way out into the world, but Liz fought them with all her might. Fuck if she was going to look like an idiot with New Kid around.

It surprised Jonah that Saint would really try to hurt Liz but he held it back. "Jeez, Santos...violence is not the answer to everything." He mumbled more to himself but he knew Saint would hear it. The journey to the record store was silent except for Coco barking at random stuff. Once they arrived at the record store, Jonah held Saint back and let Liz do the transaction. He rummaged through his bag for the wad of cash he saved up for pot and gave it to Liz. "Get the good stuff. And I'm sorry you're not enjoying this as much as I expected. Chill, Davies."

Saint frowned, biting back a retort. "I will behave if she does," he promised with gritted teeth. He now felt like he had to do his best to be pleasant and he wasn't happy about it. It was times like this that he wished he were more like Lia who could find good in killer bees.

“What, you think I'm an idiot and just gonna buy buds?” Liz scowled at Jonah and pushed his hand away, money included. “This is my pot.” With that she spun around and walked towards the entrance of Lynwood Records. At least that place wasn't about to go anywhere soon. “Thought you weren't even going to smoke...” she said under her breath as she entered the store.

heard that!" Jonah called out to Liz before shoving his money into his pocket. "Davies can be such a jerk. Don't mind her. And I'm really sorry I dragged you into this. I didn't want to leave you at school alone, that's all. You're okay, right? If anything bad happens, we'll stuff Davies into the back of a pickup truck and smoke the weed ourselves."

Saint sighed, "I just don't want to come between you and your friends. I am a fucking inconvenience to everyone I know, it gets really annoying. I will do my best not to do that," he promised. "You should follow her. She's upset. I can stand and listen to stuff with Coco," he said with a slight smile. "Sorry I don't like feeling like a pain in the ass and she struck a raw nerve."

“You're not an inconvenience to me, Santos." Jonah turned to face Saint before running his fingers through the other boy's hair. He lingered slightly at the back of Saint's head. "Like I said, Davies is a jerk sometimes. She'll come around. Trust me." Jonah knew Saint couldn't see his smile but he did all the same. And for awhile, all he did was look at Saint, his hand moving down Saint's arm.

Liz departed the record shop feeling a little better. Pete was on a totally different planet, and was about one of the coolest people Liz ever got the chance to talk to. That must be what decades of drugs will do to your brain. She pushed open the door to the outer world, back to reality, and was figuratively slapped in the face by what she saw. Jonah's hand running through his “friend's” hair and a look on his face unlike any Liz had ever seen. For a moment, all she could do was stare. It felt like an eternity, and in her mind she saw her best friend disappear entirely. This time the tears could not be held back, and Liz's only option was escape. She didn't run, but she walked as fast as she could, pushing past Jonah. “Get a room,” she mumbled as she bumped purposefully into her former best friend and began what would no doubt be one of the worst walks home in her life.

Jonah held on tight to Saint to prevent him from falling and called Coco off Liz. "Coco, it's okay. Let go." Straightening Saint up, Jonah told him to stay put. "Coco stay by Santos. I'll be right back." With a deep frown, Jonah grabbed Liz's arm jacket and pulled her away from Saint and Coco. "What the fuck is your problem? What? I can't have friends now?"

Jonah was upset that Liz was acting this way. "I know you're not immature and irrational enough to be angry because I brought Santos with me, Liz. He's a friend and we're allowed to be friends with other people, aren't we?"

If the tears were trickling before, they definitely gained momentum when Coco grabbed Liz's pants. She didn't mind the slight tearing noise at all, her pants were full of too many other holes to matter, but it was entirely unexpected. Liz never had a pet and such an aggressive act scared the shit out of her, as evidenced by the scream that quickly followed.

Being dragged away by Jonah didn't help much, either. A big part of her just wanted to turn around and run as fast as she could. But mostly she just wanted to hit Jonah. She smacked him square in the chest, an act more to let him know she was upset than to hurt him. It wasn't the first time she had hit him like that, but it might have been the hardest. She paused, then threw out three more smacks in rapid succession, these aimed at his arm.

Feeling slightly better, she decided she better answer Jonah's question. As much as she tried to sound tough and uncaring, her voice came out weak, a quiet warble with intermittent snuffling. “Don't even give me that shit. I'm not an idiot, Jonah, I see what's going on.”

Coco guided Saint further away to a free bench. He was glad, he truly didn't want to overhear the other two kid's argument. Sitting in an island of people the scent of grilling bagels and sausages made his stomach start to growl. He spoke quietly to Coco who lead him to the cart which was selling breakfast sandwiches. He bought four of them along with some home fries. After he sat down again he removed two sandwiches and one order of potatoes and then sent Coco with the bag to Jonah, so the other two could eat their sandwiches while they were warm.

Jonah took the punches in stride. It hurt a lot but it didn't matter. Jonah knew Liz needed to release her frustrations. He supposed he didn't blame her. But he still didn't think it was cool of her to rag on him for liking someone. "What's going on, Liz? Tell me what you think is going-" Jonah was cut short by a nudge on his thigh and he looked down to see Coco with a paper bag. "Coco? Where's Santos?" Jonah asked, looking around only to find Saint sitting at a nearby bench with his own sandwich. Jonah sighed and took the bag and sent Coco back to Saint. "Look...I was serious when I asked you what the fuck is your problem, Davies? Why are you so angry with me?"

The arrival of the dog caused Liz to step back a bit. She now knew not to trust any living thing, and not just boys. Feeling that tinge of fear again pissed her off. She was just a ball of worthlessness today, and she hated it. The vulnerability of letting people close to you was just not worth it. She looked up at Jonah, right into his eyes. “You and me together,” she spoke, intensity growing in her voice. “You said it. YOU said it, and I shoulda known it was just bullshit, but, you know, I believed you. I FUCKING believed you!” She was practically shouting by this point, and much more animated than she was before. “Then you go and find some DUDE, and what, you just completely disappear on me?” At that, all the anger flooded out of Liz. Thoughts of her father were brought to the forefront of her mind, thoughts she tried her best to forget. Tears resumed their waterfall from Liz's eyes, and the mess that was her eyeliner only got worse.
“Go,” she spoke. Her voice was flat, nearly emotionless. “Go back to your stupid boyfriend.” She shoved him, but was too emotionally worn to do much more than push his shoulders back. “Go now, just get it over with.”

Saint fed Coco her sandwich as he nibbled on his own. Maybe it was the fresh air or something else, but for the first time in over a week he was hungry. He was worried about Jonah but he didn't move closer so he could overhear.

"He's not stupid, my god could you be more like a kid?" Jonah almost shouted. He calmed himself down. "I know I told you we were in this together but you're not losing me to Santos okay? I'm gonna always be there for you when you want me to be there. I work for Santos. But he's also my friend. There is nothing wrong with you seeing him as a friend too." When it seemed as though Liz did not want to hear any more, Jonah sighed. "I'll call you tonight. Don't you dare not answer the phone or I will call your mom and tell her you wasted all your money on pot." He said dejectedly before taking out one sandwich and slapping it on to Liz's hand. "We're still friends, Davies." Jonah said over his shoulder before going to Saint and Coco. "Hey, sorry for that. Thanks for the sandwich."

As much as she wanted to get the last word, Liz had nothing. She didn't even care about Santos one way or the other. Anyone could have been in that spot and invoked Liz's ire, but sadly it had to be the blind boy. She hated herself for hating him, and hating Jonah. And she didn't have too strong a desire to get high anymore, especially all alone. But she had just bought, and there was no way she was going to let it go to waste. In one last act of rebellion, she chucked the sandwich back at Jonah, watching as it hit his back and fell to the ground. Not wanting to see his reaction, she turned and ran back towards her home.

[Saint Juarez]

Saint stood when Jonah rejoined him. He smiled. "No one can help how their friends act sometimes. My friends all became more and more ganglike and it began to seem like all they cared about were drugs and violence, so I decided my path was headed elsewhere. They still aren't happy about it though and keep trying to force me to come back," he said mostly to show he understood about Liz.

"Are you thirsty? We could go home and I could see if I have anything in my stash and have a bottle of wine. I know Lia made brownies last night and they would be perfect for munchies," Saint said, figuring someone would have pot in their house. The all smoked even their mom and he knew all their spots.

[Jonah Finn]

Jonah turned and looked at what hit him and saw the sandwich basically disintegrated on the floor. He looked up and saw Liz running off. He shook his head and came closer to Saint. He sat down beside Saint and started to unwrap his sandwich and biting into it. It was delicious and with just two bites, it was almost half gone. He didn't even realise he was that hungry.

"I suppose you're right. But Davies is...she's not always like that." Jonah defended his friend. "She's usually such a cool person. I know it can't be you she's angry with." The boy sighed and dropped his hand to his lap. He chewed his food silently for awhile before turning to look at Saint. "Maybe it'd be good to go back to your place." Jonah smiled and stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth.

He got up and crumpled the paper the sandwich had been wrapped in and reached down to grab Saint's hand and pulled him up. "Come on, Coco. Let's go home." Jonah threw the paper away and started to dig into his chips, savouring the oily goodness. It had been awhile since he had such good fast food.

[Saint Juarez]

Saint and Coco fell into step beside Jonah. They were already beginning to work as a team and Saint wasn't sure how he would survive without either the fluffy malamute or his very sweet assistant. "Jonah... I am sorry I caused problems with your friend. She obviously really likes you and is afraid of losing you," he said softly, squeezing his hand gently. He could understand that feeling, but he also knew you can't keep friends in a box, they always manage to break out.

Coco took Saint's garbage to the trash and stood on her hind legs to drop it in. When the dog came back, Saint took it on faith and told her she was a good dog and scratched her ears. Once they seriously began walking it wasn't too far to the bus stop and soon they were back in Venice Beach. "Should we get some take out for lunch or order pizza later?" he asked knowing the brownies wouldn't be enough after toking