A/N: Picture of Miranda (Queen Bee/Head Cheerleader)
The lunch bell rang and I was sure that everyone in the classroom suppressed a cheer; most of the morning had been the normal but it seemed that my English teacher, Mr Martin, had decided that senior classes weren't boring enough and had made it his personal mission to ensure that all of his students either died of boredom or were psyched into mass murder...due to boredom.
I watched from my seat as my classmates' bottle necked at the door in their rush to beat the crowd to the cafeteria.
"Is it always this exciting?" A voice spoke up from my left and I startled, not realising that River had waited around for me.
It had been slightly strained between the two of us since the episode in Science; I had assured him that I would act as his guide but the thought of him snapping at me again, had me drawing into myself slightly.
I didn't honestly care who his brother was and I had no plans of pursuing a friendship with the guys considering that everyone in the school wanted to become his closest confidante.
I turned to find him cleaning of the lenses of his glasses while he squinted at my face, "Pretty much," I shrugged. "I'm sure that lunch is going to break records in reference to excitement considering that a war will break out over who gets to sit with you."
I finished stuffing my bag before I slipped to my feet beside him; he smiled down at me and waved towards the door, letting me exit out into the hallway first.
"They can do whatever like but I would rather spend my time alone than associate with any of them," he informed me blandly, following as I located my locker. Although I'd offered to wait for him to drop of his own books, he had assured me that his bag was big enough to last for the entire day.
"That sounded like something a self-important prick would say," I commented without any inflection.
He coughed, sending me an amused and shocked look, "You're kinda blunt aren't you? Not that I don't find it refreshing."
I finished storing everything and turned in the direction of the cafeteria, hopeful that he would change his mind and decide to start paying attention to his apparent groupies. Girls had been dropping hints whilst guys had tried to exchange back slaps and pump him for information about his brother.
It was sad to watch considering that River had just stared at them coldly, making it even more awkward as they then turned to me with filthy glares since he had no qualms spending our classes chatting away.
"You really don't know me but since you insist on following me around when it's clear that everyone else would love the opportunity, I feel it only fair to tell you that I am not a popular person in this place..."
"But that's why I..."
I lifted a finger to stop him, "According to gossip, I am a social pariah and the school slut. I really don't think that's it's a good idea to hang out with me more than absolutely necessary."
I looked up at him expectantly, waiting for his face to screw up in disgust and for him to turn his back but that wasn't his reaction.
In fact, I couldn't have predicted his reaction.
His shoulders started to shake as he leant forward to clutch at his stomach, laughter spilling from between his lips.
"That," he wiped his face, "Is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"I have known you for less than five hours and I already know that you are most certainly not a slut, maybe a little shy, but I see that that might be because you don't seem to have any friends."
I felt the flush along my cheekbones as I quickly turned my back to him and pushed the cafeteria door open; the noise was almost overwhelming as we stepped into chaos.
Students were shoving at one another in the lunch line while everyone else chattered noisily at their respective tables.
I flinched slightly as people glanced with increasing intensity at us as I walked resolutely towards the table that everyone knew was mine alone; no one sat with me and I had never really worried about it even though I envied them their friends.
It was only really hitting me now how truly unhappy I had been since attending here; normally I soldiered on and poured all of my energy into my school work since my home life was so different and I never really worried about it, but now, I just didn't want to be here whilst I was I surrounded by people who had no respect for me and how they had been affecting my life.
Since eyes followed something behind me, I knew that River had been serious when he said that he would be joining me. I was surprised, anxious and discontented; those that hated me were going to glare at me relentlessly when all I wanted to do was get through.
I dropped down and watched as my apparent shadow settled across from me, his eyes narrowed as he took in the looks being thrown at me.
"Are they always like this?" He turned to me with a grimace as he pulled open the zipper on his bag, "Why do they seem to hate you so much?"
I sighed, "The school's head cheerleader and Queen Bee took one look at me and hated me on sight. It all went downhill from there and now," I spread my arms wide, "this is my life."
"I hate high school," he mumbled, digging around for a moment before he pulled out a handful of food.
"You and me both." I had forgotten to pack my own lunch and even though I was starving, I knew that I wouldn't reach the counter before the bell rang.
"I really wish I had just accepted my brother's offer to have me home-schooled," his face was happy as he savoured his sandwich.
"Why didn't you?"
He shrugged, looking around, "I thought that I would be okay here and no one would really know or give a shit who I'm related to." He grimaced as a group of girls walked past. "I guess I was beyond wrong about that."
I chuckled, "Seems that way. Why did you move here in the first place?"
He paused, staring into my eyes for a moment before they shuttered, "I'm bored talking about myself. I think it's my turn to ask you about yourself."
I looked away, trying to breathe through the sudden tension. I thought that it was quite ironic that on the day that I had gotten over my obsession with guarding my family's identity, River turns up and proves the point that I had been trying to both myself and my parents. All of these people liked and wanted him because of who his brother was...although it didn't hurt that he was gorgeous.
"There's nothing to say, really."
"Oh yes, our dear Alley Cat is a bit drab but fortunately for you, River. I would be happy to liven up your day."