Be Somewhere

The teens got past Richard quite easily; he was passed out and not even the hounds of hell could've woken him. Ricky didn't say a word while his friends laughed and hopped around. When they started congratulating him on not cutting he felt the bitter taste of metal as he bit his tongue.

The bright sky of the California coast contrasted his dismal mood and somehow made him feel darker.
His normally vibrant eyes had faded to a dreary gray; one void of direction. He followed the others aimlessly and glared at the school when it finally loomed above them.

This was going to be a long day.

Ricky, Danny, Brad, and Naomi took their traditional places in the back of the classroom; while Morgan, Lily, and Tucker went to one of the middle rows. Their homeroom teacher walked in and glared at the groupings.

“You're supposed to sit in your social studies groups.”

The entire class groaned as they turned to look at one another. The goths hissed at the nerds. The prep's scoffed at the jocks. All the other groups looked at each other with mutual disdain. When a group combined of skaters and half of the socially elite kids waltzed to the back of the classroom; Danny growled at them.

“These spots are taken.”

“Well un-take them because we want to sit here,” a popular girl named Alyssa stated.

“You obviously want that nose job reversed too or you wouldn't pull that superiority shit on us.”

She continued to glare down at him and Danny stood up; not seeing that the fight was worth it. Ricky grabbed his hand and yanked him back into his seat. Alyssa turned her heated gaze to Ricky and swore at him. Her fiery eyes were returned with be his cold, indifferent ones.

“Do you really want to start this Ricky?” He remained silent and blinked his dispassionate eyes. “This is your last chance to back down.” Ricky blinked once more and waited for her to leave. She turned on her heel and left in a huff; the rest of the classes disbelieving eyes following close behind her.

“How are you holding up?” A meek voice murmured from beside his desk. he turned to see Lily, and shrugged. She laughed quietly, “Do you ever talk in school?” As a reply he shrugged once again. She smiled sadly and he scrambled for words of comfort; only to stop himself as he wondered why he felt the need to comfort her.

He shook his head and dismissed the thought; it wasn't worthy of pursuit. He watched with disinterest as his classmates reassembled themselves within their social studies groupings and he sighed. These children obviously hated each other; why did adults feel the need to make their lives more miserable and have them sit together? This was going to end badly, he just knew it.

The four classes after homeroom passed without incident; Math, Science, Art, English. Ricky glared at the clock, longing for it to dismiss him to lunch. His prayers were answered a few seconds later when His English teacher, Ms. Jackson, let them out early due to their 'work ethic'. Everyone in the class knew that she just wanted the screaming brats out of her hair.

The trio of Ricky, Danny, and Brad slid into the lunchroom without discussion. They tread very carefully, for the cafeteria was so silent that a pin could be heard as it cut the air when falling. Danny gulped

“This is starting to freak me out,” he whispered, “Could someone say something.”

“How about me?” Alyssa hissed from behind them. They whirled around and faced the sneering social queen. “I have a few things to say to you freaks. Starting with the fact that my boyfriend's gonna beat the shit out of you after school for not moving your asses when you got told to.” Ricky rolled his eyes at her and walked away. Affronted she began to shriek at them, “How dare you walk away from me? I'm not finished with you!” He turned on the toes of his feet and strode three steps so that his nose was inches from hers.

“You may not be done with us, but we're done with you. Don't start shit you can't finish, bitch. I have a lot of tricks up my sleeves that you don't want to know about so shut the fuck up and take that stick out of your ass.”

“I'm not scared of you. You're just a no good punk.” Ricky took a few steps back and started to laugh at her. The rest of the people he was with joined in. A few snickers could even be heard coming from Lily, Tucker, and Morgan's direction.

“Not being scared of me is your first mistake. Piss me off too much and you won't live to make it again.” He smirked at her dumbstruck face and when the lunchroom went silent once again; his smirk grew into a chuckle. “Bye honey, see you around.”

~--------------------------------------------~

“You can't just go around threatening the most popular girl in school, Ricky” Lily yelled from her position on the grass, “She's gotten all pissed off now and is trying to get the whole football team to beat you guys up.” Ricky smirked down at the blond.

“Aww, you're concerned for us,” He put his hand to his chest; mocking her, “I am deeply and truly touched.”

“You're an asshole, thats what you are.”

He smiled down at the petite blond next to him. Ricky slowly curled his arm around her and pressed his lips to hers. he felt her wrap her arms around his neck and she began to tug on his hair.

“You may be a good kisser, but you're still an asshole.”

He awoke to the bell; signaling them that lunch time was over. Groaning, he grabbed his book bag from the table and stood up. He stretched and then glared at his grinning friends who had remained seated.

“So you have a thing for Lily, eh?” Danny said while trying to contain his laughter. Ricky glared as Danny continued, “You really do need to learn to stop talking in your sleep. There were parts of your dream that I didn't need to know.”

They heard a tray drop and they turned to see Lily running in the opposite direction.

“Fuck my life,” Ricky stated in reply.