This choice: Go for your original goal • Go Back...Chapter #33The Secret Lives of Class Presidents by: rugal b.   You brush those thoughts off to the side however as you reassure yourself that your paranoia is just that. Chen's not going to stalk you like a monster from a slasher film--though he may be as scary as one--and show up to completely fuck you up. Besides if you were someone like Timothy or Nick, guys who look like they can handle themselves, you'd probably be alright on the off chance that did occur. Which it wouldn't since you'd also be part of a team with guys who would, presumably, have your back. For all that he's one scary motherfucker, even Gary Chen knows that he'd be overreaching if he tried to start shit with the big time jocks at Westside so Eastman would be no different.
So you push the thought of getting any of the gossip girls out of your mind. They'd be great for settling into a new environment but realistically how would you get them? For one, if they're rumormongers they're going to get themselves into any crowd of people they can worm their way into. They'll likely always be surrounded which would make pulling off any switch impossible.
For another you only have names to go off of and have no clue what they look like. Well, you have Lisa and Summer but both leave you unsure. Summer was very meek, almost withdrawn and seemed reluctant to jump into your conversation. How is she one of the top gossip hounds then? Being her would mean playing her role correctly and you're not sure you like the idea of being someone so mousey. And Lisa? There was something about her that unsettled you. She had a very calculating air about her as if she was regarding and analyzing everything around her. It was intimidating and she seems to have such strong defenses that you don't think you'd ever be able to penetrate them.
Your current companions are not faring any better either. Lisa looks nice but seems to lack a certain assertiveness. She seems deferential to her boyfriend who in turn seems deferential to Chris who seems like someone that would dominate any room she's in. She's intense and no-nonsense, something you find out when another guy she keeps calling Karter makes his way over. The pair engage in a game that, as you watch, leaves you unable to tell if it's simple flirtatiousness or a genuine case of Chris getting bugged.
You do know that this guy is striking you as rather obnoxious and watching him act like an annoying child around Chris and her constant chastising is starting to wear on your nerves. If this is the kind of crap you'd have to put up with if you were any of them, then it just plain doesn't seem worth it to you.
After a few more minutes of this you decide that you've reached your wits end. Coming up with an excuse that you don't even remember five seconds later but you feel is suitably "Dane", you decide to grab the bag with your stuff, head out and explore around a bit trying to see if you can find your original targets. You'd come here with a goal in mind, afterall, and realize that you've been allowing yourself to get distracted by other things. Well, it's time to truly, for real this time, stick to your goal as you head back into the main part of the house.
* * * * *
You resume your search for the people you saw at the comic book shop but like before there's no luck there. You do find yourself pulled this way and that as various people greet you as you walk through the party. Dane, it seems, is more popular than you'd expected. Not that you should be surprised, Dane's a social butterfly and a really nice guy who you've seen getting along with types of people you wouldn't have expected him to at Westside.
You are surprised though, at least from the fact that Eastman people seem to know him. You yourself have never known any Eastman students and have always viewed the schools as two worlds that don't interact like two parallel Earths. Maybe that's just your own bias though since you've never been the social butterfly type. There probably is something of an overlap there you realize between Eastman and Westside students, especially considering that Saratoga Falls isn't the biggest city around.
As you're going through all of this, one thing does catch your attention. A group of girls squealing quietly together talking amongst themselves about a guy named James. You wonder for a second if they mean Lamont but you can see them looking in the general direction of a guy, slight of frame, dressed all in black with dark hair. His boyish face portrays a nervousness and unease as if he's unsure of his surroundings.
You don't think you'd have thought anything of him but these girls seem to. Something about him reminds you of Braydon and you're struck by another difference between Eastman and Westside. Braydon is kept in a spot of semi-unpopularity while this guy seems to have a fanclub. You've notice that there does seem to be more of a mixture of "castes" here than you'd get at Westside.
This is made even clearer when you see Chris from earlier talking with another girl, one with mahogany hair and clothes that look quite expensive. That'd be Kristy Carlson, one of the first people pointed out to you at the party. The Carlsons are one of the richest families in Saratoga Falls, maybe second only to the Strausslers.
The fact someone like her could engage so casually with someone like Chris, something that would be unthinkable at Westside, reinforces your belief that switching to Eastman is the better choice.
But while that's all good, you still don't find who you're looking for... until they find you.
"Hey," comes a soft voice and you turn to see Julianna who comes up behind you and grabs your arm. "Lets hang out privately together, okay?"
"Um, sure," you state in a very unsure and confused manner as the pair of you walk towards and out the front door.
* * * * *
The pair of you wind up sitting in her car and you find yourself feeling very nervous. You're not sure why she wants to sit with you, well Dane, specifically and all alone at that and you find yourself glancing nervously out the window to see if Timothy might pop up to mop the floor with you for being with his girl.
That's why it takes you a moment to notice the odd, strong smell of something burning. You turn and are shocked to see Julianna with what you think is a cigarette but quickly come to realize is a joint. "Whoa, what're you doing," you ask in a way that's definitely more characteristic of Dane.
"Ugh, I'm sorry I shouldn't be hogging," she says as she holds the joint out to you. You refuse however, another uncharacteristic move for Dane. "Oh, I figured, you know, you would since you seem like that kind of guy," she states.
"Is that why you invited me out here," you ask.
"Well yeah."
"But not, um, Timothy?"
Her eyes go wide and she shakes her head. "Oh no, not him! He doesn't know I..." she cuts herself off, "I mean I'm not doing some hard drug or something but still I don't think he'd like it if he knew I was getting high."
"I'm surprised too," you tell her and at this point you've mostly dropped the fake Dane persona you've been using.
Julianna, for her part, doesn't seem to notice. "I'm surprised too. Tell me two months ago that I'd be smoking it and I'd have called you nuts," she sighs. "But it's hard. Being class president, even if it's the junior class, having to keep my grades up, extracurricular stuff... it's hard! My parents expect it and Timothy, I love him, but he expects it too."
"You're class president," you ask.
"Ugh, yeah," she groans. "I mean it's going to look great and I want to do what's good for the school but it feels like it was kind of forced on me. It was Timothy, he suggested I run since he was moving up. I actually had him run for senior class president since I thought it'd be nice if we both held top positions. I'd feel a little more comfortable with the pressure if he was there too but he lost and..."
She looks at the joint and then takes another hit off of it.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that she started smoking to help deal with the pressures she feels she's facing having to be one of the top students at the school. Well, you're alone in her car. You have a mask in your bag. You could relieve her of that pressure. But part of you wants to hold out for Timothy as well. You imagine yourself, as him, holding her in your arms as you comfort and encourage her.
But as you ponder this something catches your eye. Heading out to a car parked near where your sitting is Kristy... and she's heading there alone. Is she getting ready to leave and head home? You don't know but the thought quickly occurs to you that if you want to set yourself up good in Eastman, maybe it'd be a good idea to excuse yourself and make your way to her car. You look again at Julianna and wonder if her and Kristy are friends or know each other? Well, they could be and wouldn't being in good with someone as obscenely wealthy as Kristy go a long way to de-stressing her?   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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