Ignore the Status Quo

Prequel

A/N Hi everyone! This is the backstory behind the first chapter in this series. Basically, this is how everyone met.

In a small town by the name of Plaisted, a tall but rather skinny young girl ducked her head down as she walked into her familiar school. Tugging nervously at her dirty blonde pig tails, she made her way into a brightly light second-grade classroom. She poked her head in, and looked around at all the noisy 7-8 year olds. Her palms began to feel sweaty and she wiped them on her blue skirt that her mom had ironed for her. She quietly made her way over to an empty cubby on the far wall. Not over estimating her height, she chose a top cubby to make more options for the other kids. She swallowed, set her small jaw, and turned to face the classroom. She waved at another girl that she recognized from her last year. 'Alex.' The girl thought that it was her name. Right then, a round, tan young woman sauntered into the classroom. She smiled brightly at the students, who shuffled in front of her. Her bubbly, curly hair seemed to reflect her personality.
"Hi everybody! I am Mrs. Winchester! I hope you all have a wonderful year with me! You all look like an amazing class!" Her enthusiasm seemed to seep into the kids and they all beamed back at her, and even the shy girl offered up a small grin.
"Alright. So I'm going to go though attendance, and when I get to your name, I'll show you where you are to be seated. Ok?" The children nodded. Mrs. Winchester then pulled out a sheet of paper.
"Anna? Hi sweetie, you're going right over in the center table..." She continued down the list, calling child after child. When she got to the little girl's name, she merely raised hand, and was then kindly directed to one of the pair of desks with paper name tags taped on the top. The girl started to pick at the edges of the tape as she waited for the teacher to begin class. About two names after the girl was seated, a beaming young blonde made her way too the empty desk on the girl's left. She bounced over in a pink polkadot-ed dress. The taller girl clutched her hands together, hoping that her seat buddy was nice. She turned to the blonde and softly asked, "What's your name?"
With a smile the girl responded, "Linnea! Who are you?"
"I'm Julia." Julia hoped that this was the beginnings of a happy friendship.

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"Dashing though the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh.." Ten year old Julia sang to herself as she peeked out at the snow covered grounds of her elementary school. She was dusted in a fine layer herself, coming back from recess out in the playground. Even though December had barely begun, it was only the 7, her town had 2-3 feet piling up. She had recently revived a letter from her best friend Linnea who had moved over-seas to the European country of Denmark for a year. She had been horribly jealous of the snow as Denmark only had a few slushy inches. Her Danish mother told her that most of Europe had similar conditions.
As Julia turned from the window to head back to class, she saw a small figure on the opposite window edge looking out at the snow with a smile. Her pale face had bright pink spots highlighting her cheeks. Dark brown hair had melting snowflakes melting in it. Julia walked over and looked out at the snow from the other girl's window.
"I like this time of year, don't you?" The brown haired girl smiled happily back at the taller one, and nodded.
"I like using all my fuzzy jackets." She said pulling her current jacket tightly around her. She turned to Julia and shoved out her hand.
"I'm Trea. In Mrs. Chase's class."
Julia took her hand, and shook it. "I'm Julia." She introduced.
"I have to get back to class, but I'll see you soon?" Trea said.
"Yeah, see you around!" Julia said with a wave as she headed back down the hallway.

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The warm summer's breeze blew though the gazebo as three young girls sat on the floor, laughing and giggling.
"Ooo! Put these twigs in your hair Emma! It'll make you look more like a lost soul!" Trea said in a dramatic voice. The two other girls smiled widely was Emma put them in her pony tail.
"Oh, woe is me! I have been lost in the woods with the bears and the squirrels! Help!" Emma staggered around the gazebo, laughing and twirling near Julia and Trea. As the three young children played out in the town park, another girl was off a few feet away, under a tree. She didn't give the trio much attention, studying the nature in the park rather than the people. As she shifted on her feet, Trea noticed the movement. She looked at the tree with a bit of confusion at first, but then smiled.
"Hey Chloe! Want to join us? We're playing survivor." Trea grinned and motioned for Chloe to come over. Chloe pushed herself away from the tree and walked over with a curious look. She brushed her long hair over her shoulder.
"So how does it work?" Chloe asked Trea with a small smile tugging at her lips.
"So basically..." Trea began explaining, with the other two chipping in when necessary. For the next half hour in the warm summer heat, the four girls got to know each other quite well, and on that day, added a new member to their little group.

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Now, at the age of sixteen, the band of girls had grown to include Julia, Linnea, Trea, Chloe, Alice, and Isabel. Late during the sixth grade year, Alice and Isabel, who were already close friends, noticed that they had similar interests to the other girls. Soon the were regularly seen hanging around. When seventh grade came around, Linnea moved back again to Maine and was quickly welcomed in. Everything was working just as it should, and the girls had kept their close group even as they grew to find other friends to join a larger, broader group. Now, in their sophomore year in high school, they had changed but were just as close.
It was currently a Saturday evening, and the six were crashing at Linnea's house for the night. It was late and from their sleeping bags/couch, a game of truth or dare was going around. Or, as some of them had taken to calling it, 'tell us who your crush is or preform a strange sexual act.' This was currently very accurate. Chloe had first asked Julia to seductively advertise a teddy bear, which lead to a tv, then Chloe, then herself. Then to get revenge, many other were asked to do the same. Currently, most of the girls were too tried to do any sort of physical work.
"So, Linnea," Isabel asked, propping herself up on one elbow, "truth or dare?"
"Truth." She answered almost immediately. Isabel smile in a mischievous way. Probably thinking that she was the most clever, Isabel asked,
"Do you have a crush on anyone?" Everyone groaned and/or rolled their eyes.
"Isabel, come on, you know she's not going to answer that." Chloe said. Linnea then waved her hand in the air.
"No, wait, I do." She sighed as Isabel smirked.
"So, who is it?" She prodded. "Is it someone we know?"
"Yes." Linnea responded. "It Thomas, Thomas C. to be clear." All the girls smiled at her.
"Well, it wouldn't be that much of a problem getting him to go out with you. He's head over heels for you." Trea stated. Linnea blushed.
"I don't know guys, I mean, what if he doesn't and I just make a fool of myself?" She questioned.
"Then I'll kick his butt." Alice said confidently. Linnea smiled at that.
"You should asked him out for coffee or something. You two would make such a cute couple!" Julia grinned.
"Ooo! I know!" Trea exclaimed. Pointing a dramatic finger at Linnea she said,
"I dare you to ask him out! No backing out of this!" She smirked, thinking she was very clever for saying this.
"Trea..." Chloe sighed. "She can do what she wants. If she wants to, she can."
"No." Linnea said suddenly. "I can do it. Maybe..." She blushed again and looked down at her lap. The other girls exchanged knowing smiles.
By the next week, with much prodding for the gang, Linnea and Thomas were set up for their first date. Everyone was very proud.

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By the time the summer of junior/senior year was around, the idea for a collaborative rent was already stirring. Linnea's mother knew someone who rented out condos from the fall to spring for weekends and holidays. Now was the time to decide.
"I liked the one on the west side, with the big closets." Isabel commented as they scrolled down the web page.
"But the one with the nice balcony, you know, the one on the corner, is cheaper." Chloe argued. They had spent days looking over the condos, and had them narrowed down to three. It was pretty evenly split one who wanted which condo. Each were approximately the same size, give or take a few feet. The first one had large balconies over each of the large bedroom. It had a nice kitchen that lead into a living room, with the dining room connected to both. The basement had a laundry room, a small bedroom, storage space and a gaming story of room. It had two bath/showers. The condo also featured two bunk rooms and a king sized bed in the master bedroom. The girls had all decided that they wouldn't have assigned sleeping quarters, but would go wherever they wanted. They had purchased an extra cot for any guests that didn't use the extra room.
The second condo had two bunk rooms and two queen bed in connected master bedrooms. The master bedrooms had large walk in closets. It had a large kitchen with a dinning table connected. The living room had a staircase that lead upstairs and down. In the downstairs there was one of the bunk rooms and a laundry room, along with a free space. It had a shower and a shower/bath.
The last was a room with a large, open space living room, a medium sized kitchen with a dining table. There were two kings and one bunk bed in this one. The guest room was on the first floor with a queen bed. The basement had the standard laundry room, closets and free space.
"Ok, so the third one is probably out, cost wise, it is the most expensive." Julia pointed out. "I think that the first one is a good choice. Nice spacing, heating and price." Chloe nodded in agreement. After much squabbling over the condo, they all finally came to the decision that they would take the first one. The called in with the manger of the condos, and informed her of their decision. They were all the ready to move in once fall started up. They couldn't have been more exited.