Hiding the Scars

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Jesse looked to the side, rubbing the back of his neck and inconspicuously rolling his eyes. Shiiiiiit, he said to himself, stretching out the 'I' in a mentally aggravated voice. Of course he had to get the food. Of course. Of all the things, he had to have the most boring, uncreative job ever. And, to make it even worse, he knew Emily chose it for him because she thought he was stupid and would screw anything else up. That brain comment was enough to make him livid. Why did everyone think he was such a dumbass? Sure, he didn't exactly try his best in school, but that didn't mean he was an idiot who couldn't do better, more advanced tasks. It's not like he'd never been exposed to knowledge before. He watched the Discovery Channel! He bet none of them even came close to knowing what 'effervescent' meant!

Whatever. At least it was easy. Jesse rolled his eyes one last time before looking back at the group. "Yeah, totally, food..." he said, smiling wryly. That wasn't exactly the first thing on his mind, although he did pause for a moment to consider the pizza place to order from. Satisfied with his choice, he continued, brows raised, "So, uh, we still going to lunch? Cuz I've got, like...mad connections up in here that will make this party kickin' like a sensai."
 
Emily knew he thought she thought he was stupid and she sighed. "I'll take care odthe food. I can cook so that will work. You can take my job." She told him then turned and walked over to the school. "Its lunch time!" She yelled back to them as she kept walking. She hoped he appreciated what she did for him cause she wasn't in the mood to do it again. Once she was by the school wall she looked back at the three.
 
Jesse, admittingly, was a little surprised that Emily switched her own role for his, and a part of him wanted to just go with it and meet Aria at lunch without another word, but another, less douche-y part decided that he would tell her it was no big deal. Maybe Emily wasn't entirely trustworthy yet, but she wasn't that bad, and Jesse was starting to wonder why he hated her so much in the first place.

He approached the wall, his hands in his jean pockets with that usual, confident swagger in his steps. Jesse wasn't sure if the others were following behind, but it didn't matter much, anyhow. This wasn't confidential, or anything, even if the young slacker still resorted to a softer tone of voice. "Uh, no, Emily, it's cool," he said, looking her straight in the eye. "Food's fine, yo. I've got some ideas." He smiled wryly, leaning his side on the wall for minimal support. "There's this, uh, pizza place down by this corporate laundermat a ways back. And there's always that chicken joint - you know, with the seasoning, and shit - or the grocery store, for, like, chips, and stuff..."
 
She blinked blankly at Emily and thought to herself, Decorations? I don't think they want my kind of decorations, considering anyone who walked in my room instantly thought that I belonged to some kind of death cult, I didn't though, I just have a strange idea of cute. "I guess I could do decorations, but do you want anything specific Sin City?" She trailed after Jesse and Emily and bit at her bottom lip absentmindedly as she thought.
 
He tagged along quietly rubbing his cheek from the lingering pain, that slap was quite enough to put him in his place, at least for the hour. Every few minutes he cringed at the thought of being sent staggering a few steps back, feeling pain on his face and dignity. The fact that Jesse was willing to stay in school a few hours puzzled him for its uncharacteristicness, feeling like sooo much had happened in a matter of an hour or so.

Through their planning, he assumed he was excluded, but regardless of his status of invitation, he'd atleast wanna go in spite of the girls. "Bro, I'm coming with to get the food, no way I'm sticking to this bitch-fest".He caught to Jesse and followed along. "Besides, I know the guy at the pizza joint, we could get a discount.
 
Jesse nodded a few times, relunctantly moving from his comfortable position along the wall as he rubbed his tired blue eyes, silently going over a few more food possibilities before his attention returned to Argus. "Yeah, man, that's totally cool," he said, a twitch of a smile appearing on his pale, slender face. Anything to save money, seeing as how it was so damn hard to get it these days. Jesse didn't have much cash on hand, so it was safe to say that he was pretty thankful for the help from Argus, especially since his own stack was drawing pretty thin. His smile grew. "We're probably gonna invite, like, a lot of people, so, discounts are always good if we're, you know, buying in bulk, and shit..."

He paused, looking to the ground in an unusually solemn kind of way, as if he were thinking of something important, and then pointed back to the school. "So..." He glanced at the others. "We gonna, like, head indoors soon? We can all meet back here later, after lunch, once we've got a good crowd going. Yeah?" His eyes shifted across the group, looking for signs of approval.
 
"Sure I guess, wouldn't bother me any." Ebony would much rather go anywhere but home at this point because she wasn't ready to explain her battered knuckles yet, let alone why she wasn't in school.
 
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Jesse smiled, firmly clapping his hands together as if he were the leader of one of the school's lame ass pep rallies, just as ready to party as he was to have lunch with Aria. He pointed to the door yet again. "Then, let's bounce, right?" he said enthusiastically, smirking as he backed up toward the door. The others followed behind him, sending a surge of pride through his young, stoner heart. Pulling off an originally feeble lie was one thing - getting an awesome party out of it was a complete other. That was triumph. And Jesse ate that up.

Upon entering the school, the firebell had ended its loud, obnoxious blare, and it seemed as if the firemen had evacuated completely, leaving nothing but a set of dirty boot prints behind. Jesse was thankful that lunch wasn't pushed back any farther than it already was, seeing as how he needed ample time to both invite a shit load of people, and hang out with Aria. Maybe she could even give him a few pointers for the Math test in a couple days, seeing as how he wasn't planning on studying himself. Jesse, walking down the hall with his hands in his pockets, smiled at the thought of it.

The lunch room was a pretty expansive place, with tons of areas to eat, as well as a drink vendor and snack machine, side by side, next to the main food line. Jesse usually got the unhealthy stuff - the greasy, not-particularly-delectable-yet-still-edible burgers, or an old, soggy hot dog - so he allowed himself to focus on the food ahead of him, mentally noting what to eat before sauntering over to Emilio's table, formulating his invitation.

"Yo!" he shouted, leaning over Emilio, his arm placed loosely over his friend's neck. Emilio swiveled around casually, knowing who he was speaking with from years of familiarity, and smiled, his other tablemates doing the same. Jesse's grin widened. "Party at Badger's at..." Jesse paused, thinking over a suitable time. Lunch ended at about 1, and they'd need another hour to get stuff set up. Satisfied, he said, nodding, "At two. Be ready."

Peter, also known as Skinny Pete (mostly everybody in Jesse's circle had a nickname; Brandon was Badger, Peter was Skinny Pete, and Christian was Combo), glanced up at Jesse, his brows arched. "Yo, last time I talked to Badger, he said had the stomach bug, man. He said he was shittin' up blood and worms and shit, like, everywhere! You sure you wanna have a party there? It might be ebola."

Jesse rolled his eyes, standing back up into his original position, looming over Emilio without touching him. He leaned forward slightly, looking at Skinny Pete. "Yo, Skinny, he's fine," he said, staring intently. "I mean, it was probably just an excuse to ditch today. I think he was worried about some History test."

Combo shook his head. "I don't know, man. I'd call him."

"Fine, I will," Jesse said, nodding emphatically and reaching for his phone inside his front jean pockets. Now cradled in his pale, bony hands, he turned the phone on, dialing Badger's number with the irritation plain on his face.

Ring, ring, ring. Silently, Jesse waited for him to pick up. "He's fine, yo," he said again, scanning his usual table with reassuring eyes. Skinny shrugged.

A familiar voice sounded from across the line. "Hello?" Badger said, his tone groggy and tired.

"Yo, man, I need a favor."

"Who is this?"

Jesse rolled his eyes, scoffing deeply and resisting the urge to hang up. God, didn't Badger have Caller ID? The guy was stupid, but not that stupid. "You know who it is," he said, his voice pinched from his tightly clenched jaw. "Party at your house at 2. Some people are coming over to set up, like, in the immediate future. Totally non negotiable. So put out your joint or whatever and get ready. You get me?"

"Whaaat?"

Great. Get totally stoned, why don't you? "Listen, bitch." His tone became more aggressive. "I asked you a straight up question, so I expect a straight up answer."

There was a long pause on the other line, then the sound of coughing, then Badger's voice again. Jesse knew high when he heard high, seeing as how the majority of his friends were ride or die stoners, so it was safe to say that Badger didn't have ebola. "Yeah, man, sounds...good..." he said, and Jesse could imagine him nod. "But, like, I don't appreciate you...like, putting me on the spot like this, man. Don't I get...compensation, or some shit?"

Jesse didn't see it necessary to say anymore, so he hung up, shoving the phone back in his pocket and likely leaving Badger dazed and confused on the other line. He looked to his friends. "Badger's fine, guys. I told you. His parents are out of town, and he's not sick. Party's on, bitches!"

Emilio grinned, pumping his fist high into the air. "Hell yeah!" he hollered, clapping. Smiling wide, the others joined his chant, Jesse contentedly laughing with them until he regained seriousness.

"Now, I'm gonna go get some food," he told them, gesturing to the chow line. "So you all see who you can invite. I want this party moving, yo. No wet blankets, no snitches, no dumbasses, no bitches. Got it?"

The others grinned, shouting statements of commitment or nodding emphatically, obviously psyched for a way to ditch school, get high, and have some fun. This party would be in the history books - Jesse'd make sure of it.

Yeah, bitch.
 
Ebony watched the rowdy group of stoners, starting to wonder what the hell she was getting into, cause how it was looking to her the party was definitely going to be crazy. Well nothing ventured noting gained as the saying goes.

Ebony quickly just snagged a drink and small bag of chips, the cheaper food items. Soon after purchasing the items she walked out of the lunchroom and looked around for guards or other personal, when she saw there was none she stuck to the surviellence cameras' blindspots and snuck her way off campus, she just needed away from everyone and do something about her hand.
 
Emily immediately headed over to the popular girls after she entered hell once more. She saw the disgusted looks on there faces when she walked over but she wasn't giving up. Once she reached the table she leaned on it with her hands with a smirk. "I'm throwing a party at my place. If you girls wanna stay cool and popular I suggest you come. I live in a mansion on the hill. Be there around....5 pm. Saturday." She said. She stood straight once more and sashayed over to the loners. She sat by one of them and smiled slightly. "Hey, I'm having a party at my house. 5 pm on Saturday. I have a room where you guys can eat and have fun alone." She told them then got up and walked off over to her friends at the artist table. She sat down with a smile and they all said Hi. "Hey everyone. So hey, I'm throwing a party at my place. Wanna come?" She asked.

"Me and Sasha are totally in!" Trisa told her.

"Count us all of us in." Dylan said, pointing at Mike, Jake, and Jackson.

Ethan sighed. "I guess. Will there be arts and crafts?" He asked.

"Of course idiot." She chuckled. She got up and looked around. This will take too long. I need a way to say it once and everyone hear it. She thought and then looked at the stage. She smiled and ran over to it. She jumped on it and turned on the mic. "Hey everyone!" She said, hearing the echo. "I'm throwing a party at my place! I live in the mansion atop the hill. Be there at 5 pm on Saturday! We'll have everything that everyone needs to have fun!" She said. Cheers arose from everyone and she smiled.
 
Jesse's eyes widened. Oh my God. No. No. No. No. This can't be happening. Didn't she know that the party was today after school at Badger's house, since he totally didn't have ebola and his parents were out of town?? Or was this some completely different party that she planned on her own, without telling anybody that the plans already in place were totally smashed into oblivion? AND WHO SAID SHE COULD INVITE EVERYBODY LIKE THAT? Jesse said it to his friends once and he'd say it again - 'no wet blankets, no snitches, no dumbasses, no bitches', and Jesse damn guaranteed that at least fifty percent of the clowns in this cafeteria were all four. This party wasn't for the stupid, popular dick faces who'd screw everything up. This was for the kids who were cool, but not popular. This was for the trustworthy, stand up people that Jesse and his friends had been partying with since 8th grade.

Bolting toward the stage, Jesse practically leaped onto the microphone as he, slowly but surely, heaved himself on to the platform, disregarding stairs. Standing up, he leaned toward Emily, his blue eyes wide, and gently pushed her by the waste, away from the microphone. Intently, he whispered, "Yo, Emily, what the hell are you doing? The party is today, at 2 - officially starting at 3. Brandon Mayhew's house. By invitation only. I got my boys scouting the lunch room for worthy participants. This isn't some, like, cookie cutter popular kid party bullshit. We invite people we know and trust and who aren't gonna be dicks about it neither."
 
She looked at him, blushing a little since he had touched her waste. "Well....you have a point." She said and looked at the other kids. "I'll invite my friends only then." She said, looking into his eyes with a smile. She walked back over to the mic and sighed. "Sorry, there was a misunderstanding. Those who are invited by Jesse's friends or me can come. Everyone else....well...screw you." She said then walked over to Jesse. "Better?" She asked.
 
Chuckling, Jesse nodded. Nice save, he thought to himself, recapping it in his head. He smirked, glancing at the other kids, then back at Emily, who still appeared to be blushing slightly. "Yeah," he whispered, smiling in a content kind of way. "Better."

For a moment, he was just standing there, slouching as he always did, his hands in his pockets and his blue eyes awkwardly locked to Emily, who was, with slightly better posture, just standing there, too. It was an odd exchange, a weird surge of communication existing in words completely unsaid. Jesse, undeniably and undoubtedly, thought Emily would be pissed at Jesse's spontaneous change of plans, but her acceptance of it made him, for once, feel like much less of a douche than he already was. In that weird, unexplainable kind of way, Jesse trusted her now, and he wasn't sure if it was a new realization or just something he was too afraid to admit. The young, blue-eyed stoner, at that particular moment, wasn't thinking very much, but the thoughts - although very few - appearing in his head were nothing short of blissful. It was...nice.

But...awkward.

"I should, uh...get going..." he said nervously, gesturing to the crowd in a fidgety kind of way. "Gotta, you know, eat, and stuff..."
 
She hadn't really noticed anyone while she stared into his eyes. She had locked onto him and couldn't look away. When he spoke she realized how weird this seemed and her cheeks became a deep red. "I...uh...yea...me too?" She said but sounded more like a question. She put a hand on her mouth and blushed more. She thought she looked like a super dark tomato. "See ya." She said. She walked to the edge, thinking there were stairs there and not paying attention. She pit a foot over the edge bit when she went to step down, she felt nothing. She snapped back to reality and saw she was falling. She closed her eyes, thinking she was probably going to break a leg.
 
Jesse was the type of guy who was never...great at dealing with girls. He knew, being acquainted with a whole bunch of them, that he easily captured the female attention, and that a lot of girls did, in fact, have a thing for him. But, he, on the other hand, never really liked one in particular. To clarify, it was obvious that Jesse was interested in girls, but choosing one specifically was...hard for him. He never got fixated or attached to any one person at a time - not consciously of course - and he never settled his emotions in a monogamous kind of way. Jesse was the kind of guy that dated a girl for weeks but never felt anything for her besides friendship, who liked about five at the same time without even realizing it.

Truth was, Jesse never admitted to liking anyone ever before. He was scared. He didn't know how to deal with it. He didn't want anyone to know, when he himself wasn't sure. And he certainly didn't want to admit that he was interested in two girls at the same time without feeling like a complete and utter scum bag about it later.

It wasn't fair to either of them he decided, as Emily walked away. He was leading them both on, and it was undeniably and unbelievably douche-y. He was the kind of dick you'd see on TV, but worse, and he just wanted to stop himself before it got any more drastic.

Emily liked him, yeah. And he guessed he liked her, too, but did he? Did he really like her, or was that simply something to shut the hell up about and put a pin in for later? And what about Aria? He'd never felt anything like that before, talking to her. Was that weird? He barely knew her. And, for all he knew, she was some kind of nerd. So...why did he like that so much? What was it that made him this way, so incredibly indecisive, so positively uncommittal?

Jesse decided to just wait and see. For all he knew, he'd never talk to either one of them again after this party and he could contentedly get back to burning one with his boys - smoking weed, getting high, and drawing super heroes, his favorite, unalienable pastimes.

Yeah. I mean, who's to say I even like 'em, anyway, right? Could be reverse psychological methods or something (that's a thing, yeah?) that's doing this. Either that, or I'm a total dick, so...

Jesse turned around, walking off the stage, absentmindedly trying to find Aria in the crowd while he silently surveyed the lunch room, squinting to find her table.

Shit.

It happened super fast. If Jesse blinked, he'd miss it. It was Emily, falling off the stage, slipping down in his periphery. Acting fast, Jesse sprinted - no, dove - down behind her, feebly trying to catch her by putting his hands under her arms like he saw in one of those late night action movies.

For a moment, he had her. She was caught. But, then, she wasn't, and Jesse's long, slender arms had dropped her, sending her falling to the ground with a loud smack.

Shit, shit, shit! Jesse scolded himself, closing his eyes and slapping his hand over his face. He simply wasn't strong enough, and, living with his weak and skinny body for around 16 years now, he knew it too. Cautiously, he glanced down at her. "Yo!" he called, rubbing his eyes. "You okay?"
 
(Sorry guys I was out all day and had no computer Access)

Aria had just made it back inside by the time the fire department had deemed it safe enough to return to the building. She had remembered that she had told Jesse she would be there at lunch just when she was about to make a run for home. Speed walking to the cafeteria hoping that it was not too late she silently cursed under her breath and practically ran down the halls. Aww man please still be there, please still be there. When Aria had finally made it to the cafeteria she stood in the doorway and scanned the crowd for Jesse. She remembered that he was wearing a bright yellow hoodie and bright yellow sneakers. I should be able to spot him easy.

With so many kids in the cafeteria it was hard to see, she walked around the cafeteria and quickly scanned the tables. She didn't see him. Did he come or did he forget? Just then, Aria heard someone speaking on the mic. She turned towards the stage and spotted Emily, one of her classmates, she was announcing some type of party she was having. That sounds like fun never been to one before, i'm pretty sure you had to be invited or something, it seems like she's extending the invite to the whole school. Aria stood at the back of the cafe against the wall when a guy walked up onto the stage and gently pushed Emily away from the mic. She could not hear what was being said but when he turned around for a brief second she instantly recognized him and smiled.

Waving her hands in the air she tried to get his attention by calling his name. "Hey Jesse!" He had on a different sweater. That must have been why I didn't recognize him. She slowly began to move towards the stage. The next thing she knew Emily had walked too close to edge and then tumbled off, Jesse had practically dove to catch her and he did for a moment and then she was on the floor. She quickly pushed through students to get to Emily and Jesse, and she stood behind Jesse wanting to check and see if she was alright.
 
After a little while Ebony started heading back towards the school campus since lunch was drawing to a close. While she had been out she had bought a roll of bandage tape and wrapped up her split knuckles, and a cheap pair of knitted black wrist warmers that looked very similar to some of the other pairs she wore, so when she finally went home her parents wouldn't question her about them. She waited in one of the blind spots of the video cameras with her back leaned up against the old brick wall and occasionally glanced at her phone for the time. Sometimes she really did wish she had friends so that she could eventually forget about Father Time's presence, even if only for a fleeting moment, but as of currently she really didn't have any. Maybe Sin City would be her friend eventually, but she didn't entirely approve of all the decisions that the girl mostly seemed to make. Hell she was going to be in a house pumped full of pot smoke, and she had no real idea how it would affect her, but she went along with it because it was Sin City's idea. Sometimes it royally sucked being all alone because then all you have left to turn to is yourself and your own thoughts.
 
Argus took his lunch and decided to skip the scene, laughing his ass off at what was going on. Lunch time announcements? He may as well see how Brendon was doing before the chaos of invitations arrived, maybe finish off what he started before the fire alarm and even run by the details of his day so far and how he merited a nasty slap by some girl he now viewed as a snotty brat. The hallways were eerily empty. "Guessing the teachers had no intentions of staying for lunch after that stunt" he spoke to himself, finishing off a can of orange soda. Passing by in the opposite direction was Ebony sporting some new gloves.

"Well hid, loony bird" he slipped a sny remark, referring to the cuts beneath her glove. as they passed by each other. He crushed his empty can and tossed it into the trash bin as he pushed the double doors of the school's entrance. "Cant wait to see the lame turn out" He said during a long exhaled sigh, thinking of what stops to make before heading straight to Brandon's. He had sent a text to Jesse, informing him of his absence during school's lunch hour that read:

[bro, headin to badgers place, maybe getting a few pizzas. and for the love of all thats holy, dont fall for that emily chick.]
 
Jesse could feel a presence behind him, so he stood quickly and swiveled around - likely expecting Skinny Pete or one of his other stoner friends - but smiled slightly when he noticed it was Aria. He didn't want to smile too much, though, seeing as how Emily just toppled feet first off the tall stage, but he was happy enough to allow a two second grin flash across his pale, slender face before looking back at Emily, who was unresponsive. He was, genuinely, worried that she had hurt herself, but again, it was almost one of those 'you asked for it' kind of situations with the way she practically walked off the stage herself, doing it in an almost intentional kind of way. Jesse, admittingly, still wasn't sure what exactly her agenda was, keeping away from the police like that, so he hardly knew whether that was a stunt, or she simply forgot where she was going. Even if he did, sort of, like her, in that weird kind of way that he still wasn't so sure about.

Just as Jesse was about to hop offstage to check for himself, he felt a familiar, buzzing, vibrating sensation in his left pocket, and, quickly, being an avid phone user, he recognized it to be his cell, signaling him for a new call or message. Curiously, he retrieved the phone, wondering who it could be - maybe Badger, asking for more details, he decided - and turned it on, the bright red mobile phone springing to life with the simple click of a button. His brows arched, he checked his messages.

[From: Argus

bro, headin to badgers place, maybe getting a few pizzas. and for the love of all thats holy, dont fall for that emily chick.]

Jesse could feel his eyes widen involuntarily. How...how did he...

How could he have known something like that? Something that Jesse hadn't even mentioned - hadn't even signaled, not in the least bit?! Was it that obvious? Slowly, Jesse shook his head, closing his eyes and rubbing them until he was sure they were completely raw. Was this...was this some kind of...sign...or something? Was this his signal that she wasn't trustworthy, and that his time with Emily had been officially concluded? Jesse didn't know, but he was the type to trust his friends' judgement, even the dumber ones like Badger or Skinny Pete, and if Argus warned him not to...

There had to be a reason, right? And, if that reason was viable, would he be dodging a bullet for considering it?

Jesse wanted to fire back with an 'Alright, let me know if you need money, but hey, what made you think that?' or a 'Sounds good. Will be there soon. And...you think I like Emily? Like, why?', but he knew it would be an odd situation to go over, especially considering the fact that he sort of did-but-didn't like Emily, and he would-but-wouldn't sort of need to tell Argus that. So...what was the best approach here?

Finally, after a moment of contemplating, Jesse had a pretty safe idea. It was best if he kept a lid on the whole thing, seeing as how none of his feelings were really definite at this point, but he wanted to leave it vaguely open to discussion in a way that they could...talk about it, without actually talking about it. (It was a total stroke of genius on Jesse's part - he hardly knew how he came up with it.)

Satisfied, he typed...

[yo, sounds good. will prolly head to the grocery store after lunch to get some like chips and stuff, so ill see you later. and why? do you like her? haha]
 
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"I told you already, do NOT call me loony bird, or I WILL send you to the nurse with a pair of scissors embedded in your arm." She growled in fustration and made her way back to the lunch room with her temper boiling. Why the hell did that guy grate at her nerves so badly, was he really that much of a smart ass prick? She didn't know and didn't really but she swore if he called her loony bird again she was going to make him choke on his own teeth.
 
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