Hey Romeo, Don't You Think You're Just a Tad Overrated?

David was waiting for me when I got back to the McAllister house. A deep frown was etched into his face, and he was clutching something in his left fist.

"Why don't you tell me what this is, Aurelie," he said immediately, thrusting his left fist in my face.

I recognized the sheet of paper entrapped within his fingers. "My report card," I muttered, trying to side-step him so I could reach the staircase.

He wouldn't budge. "This is not just a report card, Aurelie. This is a failure!"

I found the piece of paper being shoved into my own hands.

"No A's, three B's, three C's, and one D," David said angrily. "2.8 GPA, ninety-four in the junior class! Do you know that this is not only affecting your reputation, but mine as well? What will everyone else think? This is unacceptable in this household!"

I crushed my report in my hands, my usually slow temper suddenly flaring up, fueled by anger. "Well, maybe, I didn't even want to be in this household!" I started shakily.

David's eyes went wide. "What did you say?" he hissed.

Rachel, who had quietly slipped into the room, tried to intervene. "David, I—"

"No!" he directed at his wife. "I want to her Aurelie speak."

I took a deep, shaking, breath. "I said, that maybe I didn't want to come to this stupid academy in the first place! I'm sorry I'm not one of those damn, insanely rich, gifted, talented, smart-ass kids that are flooding this campus! I'm sorry that I'm just a normal person like the rest of the world!" I screamed, trying to shove past his unrelenting arm.

"You are not to use that type language in this house! Do you hear me? Aurelie McAllister, you are grounded! I'm taking away all of your privileges, you're not allowed to go to the Winter Formal, and you're going to be locked up in your room studying until you can pull those despicable grades up!" David's voice level matched my own.

"You can't tell me what to do!" I screamed hysterically. "You can't tell me what to do in this household, you're not my father! You're not my dad, you'll never be my dad, you're just some damn rich old man that decided to come into my life when I was doing fine without you! I hate you! I wish you never adopted me! I wish I was still back in Maine, with my real friends and my real family and a school that accepts me! And my last name is Chevalier! Not McAllister! It was never McAllister, and I never wanted it to be McAllister! It's Chevalier! Get it right!" I shrieked, tears flowing down my face.

David let go, shock coloring his red face. I spun and crashed directly into someone's chest, knocking an enormous pile of papers out of his or her hands. Through the blurriness of my eyes, I vaguely recognized the winking, gold, prefect badge pinned to a starch, white shirt. Ignoring it completely, I pushed past the person and made a beeline for the stairs and my room, blocking out Rachel's concerned worries, David's screaming, and the rest of the world.

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McAllister House, front foyer/living room

"Um, I'm really sorry," Cam Gallagher muttered as he dropped to his knees, scrambling to pick up the dozens of reports that Aurelie had shoved out of his hands. "I just came by to drop off these papers…"

David sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Just leave them and go Mr. Gallagher," he said, sinking down onto the couch. "Thank you for bringing them," he added a moment later.

Cam nodded stiffly and straightened up again. "Goodnight, sir," he mumbled and quickly exited.

The cool night air greeted him, relieving him of the heated tension that had enraptured the McAllister house. He looked up, seeing a muted glow appear in an upstairs window, presumably Aurelie's. He paused for a moment, noticing the sturdy rose trellis next to her window. Oh, what the hell, he thought brashly as he started towards it.

Back inside the living room, David closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch. Weariness lined his face, and for the first time, the headmaster looked vulnerable. The couch sank a little as Rachel sat down as well.

"I'm a terrible father, Rachel," David whispered as he felt his wife smooth back his hair from his forehead.

"You've never been a father before, David. Everyone makes mistakes," she soothed.

"She's right. I'm not her father. I'll probably never be. She hates me," David muttered.

"I'm sure it was just the heat of the moment. She doesn't hate you," Rachel assured him. "I just think that you should set the line between being Aurelie's headmaster and Aurelie's Father," she said gently.

David nodded, eyeing the scattered reports on the living room floor.

"Maybe I should go talk to her," Rachel stood, glancing at the staircase.

"No, don't, not yet," David said quickly. "I think we should just leave her alone for awhile right now," he decided.

__________________

I wished that stupid car accident had never happened. I wished I was still back in Maine, starting my junior year in my high school. Maybe I could have made some close friends and get to know the people I've known since kindergarten better. I wished my mom and dad were still here, and I wasn't an orphan. I sniffed, wiping at my eyes. One tear slipped and landed on the picture frame that was in my lap.

There was a sudden, sharp, rapping sound on my window. I looked up, startled. Maybe it was just that woodpecker I heard sometimes in the morning. The rapping continued, faster. It sounded too heavy to be a bird. My thin curtains were still shut, and I made my way cautiously to the window, leaning over my desk and suddenly yanking my curtains open. My jaw dropped and I quickly fumbled to release the window latch, struggling to lift the heavy window.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed as soon as I forced the window up.

Cam gripped onto my window sill, his arms straining. "I'm trying not to fall and break my neck," he hissed back as he managed to lift himself up (those years playing lacrosse certainly helped) and scramble through my small bedroom window.

I quickly backed away as he jumped from my desk to the ground with a muffled thump, managing to sweep half of the items on the desktop onto the floor. "Can you at least be a bit more civilized?" I muttered as I bent down to gather the dropped books and other things.

"Sorry," he muttered, and started helping me.

After a few minutes of silence, we had collected everything and set them back into their proper places on my desk. "So, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Your eyes are red. Were you crying?" Cam ignored my question, observing my face.

I looked away, blinking. "No, I wasn't," I lied feebly.

Cam looked around my small room, walking slowly over to the bed. He picked up the picture frame that I had dropped on the covers earlier. "Are these your parents?" he asked slowly, wiping at the tear-stained glass to see the picture underneath better.

I nodded, crossing my arms.

"Your mom's really beautiful," Cam commented. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke again. "You look a lot like her," he said quietly.

I felt my heart skip a beat. "Thank you," I muttered, reaching out and plucking the picture frame from Cam's hands, setting it properly on my nightstand. "What are you doing here?" I asked my question again.

Cam finally sighed, realizing that it would be unavoidable. "Just trying to be a good friend, I suppose," he mumbled, looking down.

"I never knew you were my friend."

Cam rolled his eyes, exasperated, starting to look like himself again. "I don't know, okay? I just wanted to do something nice."

"Nice? You nearly broke the rose trellis and ruined my desk!" I said.

"Nah, that trellis is sturdy," he stated. After a moment, he changed the subject. "You really shouldn't let this school get to you. Especially all the grades and crap," he advised.

I snorted derisively. "Oh, the irony!" I sneered. "Coming from Mr. Number One, four-point-oh GPA, 'I'm-a-prefect!' guy!" I tended to get a tad cynical when I was upset.

"Yeah? And you think I actually like that?" Cam countered. "Do you think I actually enjoy studying and doing homework every single waking minute? Do you think I actually like to be the amazing lacrosse team captain and the perfect guy that everyone looks up to and admires? 'Cause it's a hell lot of work Aurelie. And you honestly don't even know how I feel," he said forcefully.

"Then why don't you drop the stupid act? Give your prefect badge to someone else!" I retorted.

He opened his mouth again, but he was cut off as we both heard distinct footsteps come up the stairs.

"Quick, hide!" I said as we both looked around my miniscule room frantically.

"Aurelie, may I come in?" Rachel's voice sounded on the other side of the door.

"Jump out the window!" I whispered fiercely.

"And what, kill myself?" he whispered back.

"Aurelie, are you okay?" Rachel sounded concerned.

My eyes landed on my closet. I quickly crossed the room and yanked the door open, grabbing Cam by the arm and pushing him inside. He stumbled backwards, lost his balance, and landed on a pile of undone laundry. I ignored him and slammed the closet door shut.