To Brandish a Collar.

You dog.

Where to start... This was how Leigh was going to prove her love to one of the most popular kids at school. It was odd how sadistic they could be despite their shining and polished reputation. At first, Leigh Levins thought that thing only happened in those Japanese comic books. What were they called again?

Mango? No, wait-

Manga. That was it. She found one in her best friend's room hidden under the bed, first thinking it was the treasured porn stash.

Leigh walked down the school hall and tugged the turtleneck's collar a bit higher, avoiding the swarm of students. She herself was a stupid freshman, who had plain brown hair and plain brown eyes. Of course, she used her smarts to take over where looks had failed her. Not tall, average height of five feet and a half and petite, weighing barely over a hundred pounds.

Her fingers trembled as they fumbled with the lock, and once again, slips of paper fell from the storage unit. 'Slut', or 'nobody' or 'piece of shit'. Nothing she hadn't heard before; so she shrugged it off and took what she had needed. Counseling was useless and reporting the harassment to people who didn't care was pointless. So it goes.

"Leigh!"

That stupid shrill voice made her turn around and shuffle awkwardly towards her classroom. Steps were getting louder even though she was surrounded by people.

"Wait up!" Cried the girl, and Leigh paused in her tracks. Quinn finally caught up to her, and it appeared that it took her some time since she was out of breath.

"What do you want?"

"Can I copy your homework?"

Chocolate orbs rolled in annoyance at that and her glasses were pushed up the bridge of her nose.

"Listen, you're the reason why I'm barely passing that class! I'm sorry but Spanish isn't my thing and you know that," panted the younger teenager.

"...You can barely speak English."

Whether it was a whine or a cry, she couldn't tell.

"You're so mean!

"Nothing new," she would sigh as she fished a paper from her books and tossed it to the girl. This made her beam and kiss her on the cheek, totally oblivious to the blush on her face.

"You're the best! I'll see you at lunch!" Called out Quinn, her black hair bouncing in waves as she dashed to her next class.

So... Was their friendship healthy? Sort of. They both knew they weren't really friends. One was just someone to mooch off their grades; the other someone to mooch off their presence.

This was the one time of day where she saw them, save for those fateful passing by in the hall sort of encounters, the person she dreamed of being with. Liking this person would ruin what little bit of a reputation she had but to hell with it. She liked this person and it scared her. Why?

Because she came from a Catholic family, the type who thinks they are holier-than-thou, there was a risk. A huge one, she would get slapped upside the head for stupid feelings she didn't ask for. Seriously, this was the reason why she didn't believe in God. Because it was He who had made her fall in love with this person. So, then, what is a god to a non-believer?

And the person she liked was Ashe, that person who was nice to everyone and had perfect, short, bronze hair that looked golden in the sunlight and had perfect hazel eyes that were so deep you could almost drown in them and that sun-kissed skin and... Muscles. Dear God, did they have muscles. That was to be expected though, since they were on the swimming team. Too bad Leigh never grew the balls to go to any of their swim meets.

Ms. Levins thought that they were the most perfect person to fall in love with. If she were born with a penis and testicles.

Ashe was a girl, and a straight one at that.

Call it tough luck that the one person she wanted to give her heart to was a girl. This sort of thing was normal, right? However, she couldn't stop herself from fearing the feelings wouldn't be returned because she was a girl, something she couldn't change no matter how hard she tried.

That would change though, for she had gathered the courage to talk to her. Leigh peeked her head through the doorway and saw her there, sitting at her desk and seeming invested in a book. Books huh.

"Slaughterhouse Five is a bit hard to comprehend, isn't it?" Said the student, making Leigh jump slightly.

She awkwardly stepped into the classroom and nodded, approaching her. "Kurt Vonnegut is witty and all, but I guess it is up to how you interpret his black humor." The brunette sat next to her shining star and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

"That's true. I especially like how Billy is going through hell and doesn't mind dying." Ashe closed the book and cocked her head to look at Leigh.

"I despise that sort of person though. Cliche as hell but there is always a reason for living. He was pretty much eager for his own Armageddon and lived life with no cares at all."

A small chuckle slipped from those soft-looking lips of hers. "Leave it to Leigh to point out all the flaws of something."

"Hey, there's something I believe has no flaws." She was certain she had heard the gulp she made.

"I bet it's tuna."

... How did she know her favorite food? Crap. Oh well, that worked well too. "No." Fuck, her hands were sweating and her brown eyes turned to the desk.

"Oh yeah? What is it?" The girl turned to face her and threw her an obviously curious look.

"Well, it's hard to- You see, they... Um, I can't fucking. How do I, errr..." Her voice was growing quieter, as did her self-confidence. Especially when she laughed.

"Spit it out, Levins." God, the way she said her name was like angels singing.

"I, uh, find," she stuttered as she rubbed her forehead. The tips of her ears and the back of her neck burned in both shame and embarrassment. "I think you're perfect."

A few seconds passed and the only noise came from the ticking of the clock. Ashe sighed and her face showed an obvious displeasure, but it shocked her the most when she saw a wicked grin curl her pink lips. Time stopped then and she thought her heart had faltered. Instead, it only beat harder. Those hazel eyes scrutinized her with everything they had and she was accepting it all for the sake of respecting her answer.

Hold up. Did she even take it as a confession?

The girl sat there and tilted her head slightly to the left, that smile carved onto her face. It made Leigh shudder when she spoke. The simplicity of her next two words hurt her, but it also excited her. Was it wrong to feel such a way?

"You dog."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So then, that concludes the first chapter of To Brandish A Collar. It was pretty short, but I think about a 1,000 words or so will suffice. The latter parts of the story will be longer, and I love harsh criticism. The only thing I do not like is me or the story being judged contingent to sexuality.

Much love and further warnings, 씹새끼 .