The Great Pretender

5: Baby, I'm Drunk

"Woah!" Juss turned the corner, his face bright at seeing the drinks, "Ian! How come you never told us you were partying with her?"

"I was partying," she drawled, rolling her eyes.

"Cool, c'I have one?"

"Sure."

He popped open a can of beer and gulped it down in a breath, "Who knew you were cool?"

Seven cracked a grin, "Yeah, and here I thought you were a good little girl."

"Hey! I never said you could have one!" she glowered at him as he opened a can for himself.

"Sure you did."

"But, that was before you were being a fun Nazi, you... you... Fun Nazi!"

Juss laughed as Seven mocked her while drinking the contents of the can. Muttering to herself, she turned away and stared at the concrete wall determined to ignore them.

"Cherish... Cherish."

She was aware of Ian waving a hamburger at her, catching a glimpse out of the corner of her eye.  "Hey! Cherish!"

"You want some?"

She fumed, as some fries hit her in the side of the head. Seven grinned as he took another sip of his drink, "Ahhh! Nice, cool, refreshing!"

Ian was surprised that she didn't unleash a torrent of scathing words on them, but instead smiled and quietly fished around in her pocket. His jaw dropped when she pulled out a lighter and a tightly rolled joint, suffice to say, so did everyone else's. Smirking, she lit it and took a long slow drag before looking at them, her eyebrows raised.

"What? You want some of this, too?" she asked sardonically when she exhaled.

Normally, that would have been enough of an invitation for any of them, but they all watched her as if stuck in some altered plane of existence.

"Stop looking at me like that," she breathed out heavily, holding the rolled paper out to them. "It's creepy."

"We're creeping you out?" Ian choked the words out.

"Oh, come of it, Ian! You said for me to stop forgetting who I was, or do you not like this me?"

He glared, unsure whether to believe her or not, but eventually he took the drug she offered. The silence was awkward, the only noise breaking it was the occasional sharp intake of breath. When the bell rang, Ian and Seven stood lazily, both grinning stupidly at Cherish, "You coming?"

She shook her head to Ian's question, sticking her tongue out at him, and he sat again.  "Well, I'm not leaving you here alone."

Juss beamed, "She won't be alone- I have a spare, remember?"

Skeptically, Ian examined the both of them, then picked up two bags and left.

-.-

Ian leaned closer to Seven on the couch,

"Is that better?" he asked grudgingly as a few students snickered.

"No, no, this is about movement! Put your arm up here, yes- now, Seven, lean a little more away- I want it to look like you fell on him, Ian. That's good! Now everyone, you have twenty minutes- go!"

Ian flushed angrily, holding himself up by the one arm that wasn't very un-conveniently draped over Seven's shoulder. Seven leaned his head away from Ian's, batting his eye lashes, "Oh, Ian, I had no idea you felt this way about me!"

Growling, Ian pressed his weight down onto the back of Seven's neck, causing him to flinch as laughter coursed through the class again. It was easy for Seven to be so casual about it- no one thought he was gay, no one made fun of him for it, no one threatened him for it. Then again, he supposed if he actually was, the teasing would have felt hundreds of times worse.