The Drama of High School (Savvy/Moonlight)

Tonya walked slowly to school. It was the middle of August, and she was not eager for the summer to end. She closed her eyes, enjoying the way that the cool fall breeze felt in contrast with the burning sun. It ruffled her strawberry blonde hair, sending strands skimming across her face. She wore a bright violet sleeveless turtleneck with black jeans. Her sunglasses covered her light green eyes. She sighed.
"It's really too bad that school had to go and start again," she said to the sky. It wasn't that she disliked school, it was just less fun than pool parties.

Justin plopped down into his seat near the back of the bus. It was just as dirty and noisy as he remembered. He stared indifferently out the window. On this bus, it was best to avoid eye contact. He lived in an okay neighborhood, unfortunately it was right next to some. . . rough areas. He looked forward to reaching the end of this 30 minute hell ride. Even if it brought him to school. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the dust-covered window and winced. His black hair was still messed up from sleeping. He must have forgotten to comb it that morning. There were dark circles under his eyes, making his dark brown iris' seem even darker. He had spent all night worrying about his his first day of school. Although he didn't enjoy school - at all - it was better than bumming around the house like he had done all summer.
His best friend had moved away two years ago, and he hadn't seen the point in making new ones. At school he was labeled as a loner, and that was fine with him. As long as he kept his grades high - but not high enough to attract attention - he could float by without being bothered by teachers or other students.

Joey stomped onto the school grounds, scowling. He lived right across from school. It was the worst thing that could ever happen to a person in his opinion. And his opinion was the only thing that mattered. He leaned against a tree, half-hidden in the shadow. His hazel eyes narrowed as a teacher ambled by, and he smirked when the teacher didn't notice him. Shaking his dark brown hair out of his eyes, Joey pulled a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket and lit up.

Joseph Damiano was the resident bad boy of the school. He was untouchable, untamed, unstoppable and he knew it. His reputation as a troublemaker was legendary with both students and teachers. Joey chuckled lightly as he thought about his rep, taking a drag on his cigarette.

Cat Michaelson sighed as the bus pulled up to her stop. High school had officially begun for her. She dragged herself on board, glancing around. There were no familiar faces, which she'd been expecting. Her family had moved to a different neighborhood, so her old friends were on a different bus. To make matters worse, she was apparently the last stop of the morning, meaning there were no empty seats. She spotted a sleepy-looking boy with messy black hair and approached him.

"Hey... is that seat taken?" She asked, ignoring the bus driver's dirty looks.

The driver was clearly in a hurry, but didn't want to cause trouble by sending a student flying as he continued driving. Still, Cat knew she had about 30 seconds before she was knocked down by the motion of the bus.

Tonya was almost to school, and with not much time to spare either. Just up ahead, she spotted the figure of a boy leaning up against a tree. With her sunglasses on, it was difficult to see much into the shade. She pulled them off to get a better look. When she saw who it was, she winced and quickly put them back on. Better not to get involved with Joseph Damiano - or even to look at him. She quickened her stride, and averted her face. With luck, she would just be able to walk by. As the smell of his cigarette smoke reached her nose, she couldn't help but make a face. What a disgusting habit.

Justin looked up, confused. Was someone actually talking to him? But he didn't have time to contemplate it. He could already see the bus driver getting impatient. He shrugged, and scooted over closer to the window. The girl sat down next to him awkwardly. His plan was to not say a word. He could only hope that she wasn't one of those obnoxious talkative people. He had no intention of changing his attitude this year.

Joey caught sight of a strawberry-blonde girl walking by, and raised an eyebrow. She looked vaguely familiar. Tonya, right? She was in the same grade as him. Joey thought she might have had the same lunch period as him last year or something. He chuckled and blew a smoke ring in her direction.

"G'morning." He said lazily, looking amused. "Wanna cigarette?"

He held up his pack. His eyes were filled with silent laughter. Tonya seemed exactly like the kind of girl that would avoid his kind of guy. That made bugging her even funnier. He needed some humor in his life. Despite how he acted, Joey's life wasn't particularly easy.

Cat gave the boy next to her a half-smile, then stuck her tongue out at the bus driver. The bus had lurched forward just as Cat had sat down. Perfect timing. The driver scowled and stared determindedly out the window. Cat rolled her eyes and pushed her thick auburn hair out of her eyes. Normally she wore her hair in a bob, but it had grown out just past her shoulders during the summer, and she hadn't bothered with cutting it.

Her light green eyes glanced at the boy next to her curiously. Cat got the distinct impression that he didn't want to be there, and wasn't talkative. At least it was a fairly short bus ride. Only ten minutes left to go. Cat wasn't one to strike up conversations with random people on the bus, so she felt slightly awkward. Cat glanced at her cell phone for the time. Nine minutes to go.

Tonya couldn't help but wrinkle her nose as the foul smelling smoke drifted towards her. She didn't consider it rude; he was being rude by smoking where other people could breath it in. She struggled with herself for a moment, considering holding her breath rather than answering. Finally she decided that would be rude.

"No thanks, Joey," she said with an unintentional snooty air. "I don't smoke."

She continued walking, hoping that their strange and impromptu connversation was over. Class would be starting soon, and she didn't want to be late. Of course, she doubted that Joey had the same concerns.

Justin squirmed in his seat. While it was true that he didn't usually talk to people, he also usually didn't sit this close to them. This was weird. As the girl pulled out her cell phone, he couldn't help but glance over at the time. Ah well. At least it was almost over. He could see the turn for the school's road just ahead, and he nearly sighed with relief. It was amazing how a bus ride could be so peaceful, yet so stressful.

Joey laughed out loud at Tonya's response. The situation vaguely reminded him of those 'Say No to Drugs' videos they'd shown him in elementary school. Needless to say, those videos didn't work out too well in his case. Joey finished laughing and dropped his cigarette, crushing it with his heel and extinguishing it.

Joey sauntered over to Tonya and fell into step beside her, his trademark smirk on his face. He wasn't dense. He could tell when he wasn't wanted. Of course, one of Joey's specialties was doing the opposite of what he should.

"Why so rude?" He asked, hazel eyes wide and innocent. "Just tryin' to be polite."

He flicked his head, looking briefly irritated. His dark brown hair fell into his eyes again despite his efforts. Time for a haircut. He thought in annoyance.

Cat looked away from the boy, slightly flushed. She'd watched him squirm uncomfortably and felt mildly embarrassed, and maybe even a little offended. Did she look alright? Had she put on too much perfume? Her mother hadn't said anything when they'd kissed good-bye, and that was something her mother would have brought up. Was it the scent of it? Maybe the boy didn't like roses.

Oohh... what do I care? She thought. I mean, come on. I just sat by him. No big deal. What do I care if he doesn't like me?

Tucking her cell phone back in her bag, Cat glanced out the window. They had roughly three minutes until they'd reach school, judging by the time on the phone and the scenery that was flying by them. Cat wondered what the speed limit was. Whatever it was, Cat figured they were going about five times over it. Good thing she didn't get motion sickness. Hopefully no one else on this bus did either...

Tonya wasn't sure what to say. It was just her bad luck that he would choose her to pick on today. She sighed, and turned to face her annoyance. She figured if she didn't do something drastic now, she would regret it in the future. The only question was what she should do. She had a reputation to uphold, so she couldn't be too rude. Perhaps she would try to run him off with kindness. That usually worked on those who were just looking for negative responses. She forced a wide grin, and grabbed his arm. It was a little easier now that he had put out his cigarette.

"Sorry if I seemed rude," she said in the most syrupy sweet voice she could manage. "I was just having an off morning." As she walked she kept a firm hold on his arm, nearly dragging him along beside her. She was still determined not to be late because of this boy.
"What's your first class? Maybe we could walk together for a bit." She gave him another sweet smile and batted her eyelids at him.

Justin nearly sighed with relief as the bus pulled into the loop to drop off the students. Finally, he could get back into his normal routine without worry. He waited for the girl to get up, and then followed her off the bus. He was so eager to get inside however, that he wasn't completely watching where he was going. His foot caught on the curb, sending him plummeting to the ground. What was worse - he accidentally knocked over the girl as well. He quickly shifted his weight to keep from landing on her. Instead, she somehow ended up on top of him. If he thought the bus ride was awkward, it was noting compared to this.