Sophia
 

“So Sophia, why isn’t the entire class sitting together? Why are they sitting at their own tables?” Essa wanted to know.

She gulped her pizza down, nearly choking, but she managed to answer.

"Well, you see, the entire class would never like to sit together. You have probably already seen that we have some cliques here, with different types of persons. I am considered a nerd and usually most people from other cliques wouldn't even talk to me. So I really like the smaller tables, this way I don't always get digusted looks when I sit down." Suddenly a grin flashed over her face. "Anyhow, who in their right mind would even like to listen to the crap the preps talk about? Clothes and relationships all the time ... Stupid cheerleaders." Sophia giggled.
"By the way, have you already found something to write about for the nect issue of the school paper?! I'll write something about the next play of the drama club ..."

J.D. & Lila - Hallway
 

(((ooc: No worries, I know the feeling. )))

"Well, when you lack the brute force to defend yourself, you have to develop other attributes. What I lack in biceps I make up for in my verbal quips; what was that old saying? The tongue is like a sharp knife--it kills without drawing blood."

J.D. gave a slow, thoughtful nod. He'd never taken that saying as anything than a poor excuse from those who couldn't fight worth a damn. Kind of like how ugly people used to say that true beauty lies on the inside.
But after the way she stunned him, and backed him into a corner just by using words... Maybe there was something to it, after all.

"Sorry" Lila said, her soft laugh waking him from his thoughts as she let go off his hand.

She turned to shut her locker, and J.D. couldn't keep his eyes from wandering up and down her form. She'd looked slightly embarrassed, and she'd held onto his hand for a few moments longer than necessary. Maybe...? Though he couldn't imagine why, after having treated her like he did. But still... If she was interested in him, he wouldn't shoot her down. Far from it. She was cute, and seemed sweet - which weren't exactly characharistics of the girls he usually hung out with - but at the same time she had a backbone. And she hadn't flicked her hair or fluttered her eyelashes at him, like the prep girls did when they were flirting. Thank god for that. J.D. despised it, and the guys that fell for it.

"Anyway" she continued when he said nothing. "This semi-defenseless girl is starving. I'm going to get some lunch. You're welcome to come, but if you've already got plans or can't be seen with someone like me, I fully understand. Regardless, it was nice bumping into you, even if it was off to a dangerous start."

Inviting him along, and smiling at him again. Another sign. Or was she just being friendly?

"Can't be seen with you?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Honey, I make my own rules."
He looked her up and down again, and nodded.
"You're cool."

As they started walking they passed by J.D.'s still open locker. Without stopping or slowing down he gave the locker door a push, and they heard it slam shut behind them.

"So..." said J.D.. "I'm surprised you didn't threaten to sic your boyfriend on me. Most girls do."

Elsye
 

"Well I hated the shit-hole. So I smashed a few windows, some sinks" he said, coming back with fries.

So he's new, Elsye thought to herself, that would explain why he is sitting with me and not his group of friends.

"Thats one way to get out going to school...So? Was it worth it? Now that you see what a crap hole this place is, would you rather be back there?" She took another bite of sandwhich.

((ooc: good! I was worried we'd leave J.D.'s locker hanging open! I was being OCD and thinking, I hope Atropa closes that... but you've got it covered, so it's good. ))

"Can't be seen with you?" Lila heard J.D.'s voice rumble from behind her, "Honey, I make my own rules."

She turned to look at him as he caught up, adding, "You're cool."

At that, she couldn't help but laugh. Eyeing him with mock-suspicion she shook her head no. "I think that's about the third time anyone has called me cool in my entire life," she brushed her hair from her face as a loud slam echoed from behind them. She craned her neck to see what it was, only to realize that J.D. had slammed his locker closed without her even noticing it until she heard the sound resonate through the near-empty hall.

"So..." he said, drawing her gaze back to him. "I'm surprised you didn't threaten to sic your boyfriend on me. Most girls do."

Lila laughed again. She faced him as they walked, careful not to trip over her own feat as she maneuvered sideways.

"Ha! That would require me actually having a boyfriend. And even if I did, I wouldn't use him as a trump card when people challenge me. I fight my own battles, thank you very much," she said with a nod to no one in particular. Lila looked back at J.D. with a smirk. "But the way you say that...you must do this to girls often then? Receiving threats from boyfriends and all. What, is bumping into girls and getting in their face a past-time of yours?" They reached the stairs as she said this, and she quickly hopped down, skipping over every other step in bounds so that she could reach the bottom. "Hm?" she looked up at him with a challenging smile from her spot at the bottom of the stairs, hoping she wasn't pushing him too much again.

"Not a chance in hell," he said, eating a fry. "It was full of backstabbers, bastards, and corporate lawyers. This place is slightly less full"

J.D. & Lila - heading to the cafeteria
 

(((ooc: *lol* You're kidding! I'm like that myself.)))

""Ha! That would require me actually having a boyfriend."

Good. It was just the answer J.D. wanted, and he couldn't help but to smile with satisfaction, for a moment looking like the cat that swallowed the canary.

"And even if I did, I wouldn't use him as a trump card when people challenge me. I fight my own battles, thank you very much", Lila continued.

Another thing that seperated her from the preps and the cheerleaders. They'd usually do the "My boyfriend will find you and kick your a**" routine within the wink of an eye. But not Lila.
She was scoring points with J.D. left and right.

Again she continued:
"But the way you say that... you must do this to girls often then? Receiving threats from boyfriends and all. What, is bumping into girls and getting in their face a past-time of yours?"

She hopped down the stairs, while J.D. paused at the top. When she turned around to look at him, with a smiling "Hmm?", she found him looking straight at her with something cryptic in his eyes. It might've been alarming, hadn't she also hinted a smile.
Slowly he started walking down the stairs to join her at the bottom, not replying until he reached her.
"Not really" he said casually. "But it happens. Usually after they get in my face first. You have no idea how they get off on making guys like me drool, only to act all surprised and innocent if they succeed. And if you don't fall for it, or if you call their bluff, they get pissed. And I ain't falling for it."

Jamisons eyes looked around the cafeteria.
Suddenly he saw Sophia and another boy sitting at a table.
He had seen that boy in class this morning, but he didn't knew his name.

So he got up and walked over.

"Hey Sophia, do you mind if I sit down? I hate to sit alone" he asked and looked over to the foreign looking guy. "If it's okay with you too of course! What's your name by the way?".

Lucas
 

Lucas pulled away from Stacie and then watched as they were about to leave. Lucas wasn't sure if he were going to lunch. He decided to go over there, just to see who was there.

When he got there he stopped in the doorway and looked around the room to see if he could spot anyone he knew.

((ooc: bleh, boring reply. Got a bit of writers block.))

Essa | Stained lap | Akward moment
 

Essa was a bit surprised by what he heard, regardless, how people want to interact with each other is there business and he wouldn’t give a crap as long as it didn’t involve him.

“No, I was hoping for something political but by the looks of the people here I’d say they could find Tibet if their life depended on it. So yeah I haven’t got a clue. I might ask around, to see what the students care about.”

Essa began preparing his rice and chicken lunch when a boy walked over.



Essa looked up from his dish and to the boy “Sure, last time I checked this was a free country.” He turned his attention to his meal. He was about to layer some tomato sauce, but someone banged the table causing the hot liquid to stain his lap and making him curse in Arabic, gaining the attention of the entire school…well the ones that were eating lunch any way.

Sophia
 

"Hey Jamison!" Sophia said with a wide smile, after Essa had spoken. "Have a seat. His name's Essa by the way."
She searched for some sweets in her bag and found Jelly Beans. "Anyone wants some?!" she asked.
"Oh, Jamison, did you already find out about the time of the drama club meeting?"

((ooc: great minds think alike! ))

Lila mentally flinched when she saw J.D. pause at the top of the steps with another intense gaze focused down at her. Maybe prodding him like that again hadn't been the best idea? She watched him descend down the stairs and appear at her side, finally speaking once beside her.

"Not really," she was relieved to hear little anger or negative emotion latent in his voice, but instead near-apathy. "But it happens. Usually after they get in my face first. You have no idea how they get off on making guys like me drool, only to act all surprised and innocent if they succeed. And if you don't fall for it, or if you call their bluff, they get pissed. And I ain't falling for it."

She eyed him curiously. Everything he had said made a great deal of sense; a lot of the girls at their school--especially the preppy popular girls--prided themselves on their ability to flirt outrageously and then shoot down whatever guy they had reeled in. Lila was disgusted by it; but partially due to the fact that it all seemed so strange to her. She rarely socialized as it was, so it was odd enough to begin with.

"You don't take any bullshit, huh?" she said candidly, eyes unfocused for a moment as she was swimming in her own thoughts. "Frankly, at least you're on the better end of it. They just start off pissed with me!" She glanced over to him and giggled, replaying memory after memory of stuck-up snobs taking shots at her because she didn't kiss the ground they walked on. "If you don't worship them, they don't feel they owe you any courtesy," Lila sighed and shrugged. "I've tried to put up with it, you know, but I can only put up with that 'sticks and stones' crap for so long. One of these days one of those girls is going to find herself with more than just a broken nail to cry over." She pushed the door open to the lunchroom and brushed her angered expression away effortlessly and smiled at J.D. "After you."

J.D. & Lila - Cafeteria
 

"You don't take any bullshit, huh?" Lila said, sounding a bit distant, making J.D. glance over at her. "Frankly, at least you're on the better end of it. They just start off pissed with me!"

She giggled at her own comment, and J.D. joined in by laughing softly. He knew what she was talking about, having seen way too many of the very same kind of scenarios as the ones replaying in Lila's mind. In fact, some of those scenarios had made him pick fights with the jocks or preps who'd been snapping at the "commoners". Not to stand up for said "commoner", but simply because watching the clique he despised treating the nerds or the freaks or whoever like dirt, pissed him off. It had nothing to do with the nerds or the freaks, only his contempt for the preps and the jocks.

He got so caught up in his own dark, vengeful thoughts, that he barely heard the rest of what Lila said, until she finished "One of these days one of those girls is going to find herself with more than just a broken nail to cry over."

That comment made him smirk, enjoying the mental vision of her blowing up at one of the preppy girls, like she had done with him. Sadly though, the preps were too full of themselves to realize she'd have a point, but it was a nice vision nonetheless.

As they were about to enter the cafeteria, she stepped in front of him and pushed the door open.
"After you", she said with a smile.

"Gee, thanks" he replied in a dry voice as he walked past her, into the lunchroom. "If letting you get away with yelling at me didn't hurt my rep, having you open doors for me certainly will."
He glanced at her over his shoulder, an ironic smile on his lips.

When turning back to face forward again, he saw that he was about to collide with one of the guys in the football team (meaning Lucas), who stood scanning the room. But instead of changing his course, J.D. kept walking, forcefully bumping into him with one shoulder.

"Outta my way" he sneered at the boy.

Jamison sat down and looked at Sophia and Essa.

"Well nice to meet you Essa", he said with a smile and looked at Sophia again. "No Sorry I haven't heard anything yet! But I will let you know as soon as possible" he promised and took a look at the Jelly Belly Beans.

"I'll take some! Thank you" he said and grabbed a few of his favourite flavour.
As he looked up again, his eyes met Sophias eyes and something inside made him feel happy about it. But he knew how it would end.

He would fall in love, she wouldn't like him, or if she would like him something would go completly wrong.

He looked away again and let out a quiet sigh.
"So uhm how do you like our school so far?" he asked Essa, who seemed to be new and shoved some red jelly belly beans in his mouth.

Essa | Loves to | Rant
 

“Let’s see. The bathrooms stink. The library could use some upgrading, so can the computer lab. Teachers stink and the students are too busy dividing themselves up to join forces and work to make this school better. Oh and the food leaves much to be desired. Before you ask I’m not from a private school, government schools are funded by the oil revenue and thanks to the bill passed that made Kuwait a pacifist country* more money goes into the education ministry. Though we do have to depened on American military force, seeing as how the U.N. sucks which would explain why I’m here, though are politcail relations did suffer greatly with other Arab nations**” Essa spat the jelly bean. “God this taste like crap.”

((OoC: * is false **is true. Anyone going to react to my swearing in Arabic?))

((ooc: I'll wait to give Akhuzin a turn. Plus, gotta save up my last post for the day. haha. ))

OOC: I would, but Georgina's sitting all by her lonesome at another table cause she likes it that way lol.

Even if I can curse in Arabic myself You pick up a few things with a Lebanese best friend :P

Elsye
 

"It was full of backstabbers, bastards, and corporate lawyers. This place is slightly less full"

"Slightly," Elsye muttered to herself as she pulled a ziplock baggy from her lunch bag.

A loud voice (Essa) behind her shouted, causing Elsye to jump. She looked over her shoulder expecting to see a fight or something going on. She spotted Sophia sitting at a table with two guys. One, the foreign one from her earlier class, wiping something off his lap. She watched them for a moment, Sophia and Jamison went on as if nothing had happend, so she turned back to Omar.

"Well backstabbing seems to be a part of high school, from the prep and jock stand point atleast. But I hope your experience here is much more....um peaceful." she held the baggy out to Omar, "You want a cookie? My mom made them yesturday to celebrate the first day of school. I don't see anything worth celebrating, but according to her, its the start of the rest of my life, or some nonsense."

She sighed, maybe her mom was right this year. Afterall she had met two girls who seemed nice, and Omar seemed friendly. He hadn't teased her at all about the mishap in the hallway. But she still couldn't help but wonder if the reason he was around her at all was because he didn't have any friends here yet.

Lucas
 

"Outta my way" he sneered at the boy.

Lucas was too busy looking around the room to notice J.D. coming towards him, and when he did see him it was too late.

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" Lucas said annoyed to him and turned around towards him. Lucas had a pretty short temper and could snap for pretty much anything.

Sophia / fed up
 

Essa was ranting about the school, which caused Spohia's good mood to vanish.
"Come on, it isn't that bad," she said, "you should've seen this school before the renovation!"
"God, these taste like crap!" the boy said after tasting one of the Jelly Beans. "Oh uhm ..."
Sophia didn't know what to say, she felt her anger rising and her cheeks blushed.
Jamison thought it time to say something: "You don't have to like them, but you could be a little nicer. It's your first day here after all."
Sophia smiled at him thankfully. Though she would have loved to chat more with Jamison, she did not want to spend any more time with the still ranting Essa, so she said "Please excuse me, I will go outside a bit before the next lesson starts." and stood up, not without throwing a meaningful look at Jamison.

((Hope it's okay what I have written about Jamison, if not, let me know and I'll change it ))

J.D., Lila & Lucas- Cafeteria
 

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" the jock snapped, turning towards him.

That was all J.D. needed. Immediately he stopped, and gave Lucas a look filled with contempt.
"I was", he replied, and started coming closer, as if to challenge Lucas to stand his ground. Tilting his head slightly, he added: "I just didn't see anything worth giving way for.

It was risky to pick a fight with a jock. J.D. knew that from experience. But it wasn't because any of the jocks were superior in strength or stamina. In that regard, J.D. was usually their equal.
But, some of them couldn't handle their own fights, and so had tendencies to call for the entire team to back them up. And that could get really ugly. But still, J.D. was willing to accept a couple of bruises and sore ribs, just to have the jocks reveal their true nature infront of the entire school: cowards.
Besides, he'd get back at them, one by one, at a later time. He always did. One way or another.

Lucas
 

"I was", he replied, and started coming closer, as if to challenge Lucas to stand his ground. Tilting his head slightly, he added: "I just didn't see anything worth giving way for.

Lucas just stood there glaring back at him. He was not afraid of him. "Or maybe you just need glasses," he said with a sarcastic smile.

He wasn't afraid to get into a fight with him. But he usually tried to stay away from fights, at least when at school.

((ooc: Oh, by the way, I'll be going away in a few hours and wont have access to a computer or internet until I get back on Sunday. ))

J.D., Lila & Lucas
 

(((ooc: Alright, will have to see if I can maneuver J.D. out of the situation then, without him getting out of character. *s*)))

"Or maybe you just need glasses" said the boy without backing down, a sarcastic smile on his lips.

That was to be expected. 'Too stupid to be afraid', J.D. thought once again, starting the countdown for when Lucas would threaten him with the rest of the football team.
In the meantime, he laughed at the "glasses" comment.

"How original" he said mockingly. "Now, I expected your come back would be cheap, but that was just ridiculous."

And with that he turned his back to Lucas, looking over at Lila instead.
"Come on, let's go", he said.

Lucas
 

"Don't want to waste anything better on you," Lucas said as J.D. turned to leave. Lucas then turned to leave too and left.

((ooc: sorry for the short reply, I'm in a hurry and must go now. Too bad we had to cut it short, lol. Maybe another time? See ya all when I get back.))

Essa | Lunch |
 

Essa kept on eating his lunch. He stopped when he felt a glare aimed at him. He looked up to see Jamison doing the glaring. “What?” He began “I don’t have to justify my self bitching to her!” He started waving his hand, the one that held his fork “I don’t have to justify anything to any of you!” He said in a tone high enough to reach the last table and even distract the solitarily Georgina from her beloved books.

Jamison kept on glaring and wiping some rice from his shirt and face.

“Damn you! You’re like my mother!” And with that he stood up and walked to Sophia who was outside of the cafeteria and couldn’t hear what was going on. “And make sure no one touches my meal! Cause there is no way I’m letting that crap, that you call food, pass my lips!” He shouted after poking his head back into the room.

"Gee, thanks," J.D. said sarcastically, "If letting you get away with yelling at me didn't hurt my rep, having you open doors for me certainly will."

Lila rolled her eyes and sighed as he smiled with even more sarcasm as he passed through the doorway. She followed him in and watched--half shocked, half expecting--as he pushed right through a jock boy and grumbled for him to get out of his way. Avoiding the conflict was her main goal; taking on J.D. had been challenge enough for one morning. Lila instead stood in the doorway, watching quietly and cautiously while the two boys exchanged words.

The jock's comment about glasses made her quirk a brow and chuckle softly. And while J.D. seemed to be winning the battle of words, really, what was the point? It was a seemingly pointless argument. And was that the best they had? She refrained from interjecting and merely stood with laughter bubbling over in her eyes. Finally, the two boys ended their disagreement and turned to go their seperate ways.

"Come on, let's go." J.D. grumbled angrily to her, and Lila raised her hands in question to the air, as if saying, 'What's a person to do?' to no one in particular. She smiled politely at the jock as she passed and caught up with J.D. as he stormed in the other direction from the jock, and she tugged lightly on his shirtsleeve when she arrived next to him.

"Should I just get used to this kind of thing if I'm going to be around you?" She offered him a slight smirk, while still not trying to irk him too much. He seemed to be in a confrontational mood enough as it was.