Tabby

After school ended, I picked up the few things Lance had carried to my locker that morning, set on going home and collapsing on my bed. I was exhausted after taking the Spanish test in Senorita Tate's class, and I wanted nothing more than to just fall into a sleep deeper than even Snow White could manage.

My plans didn't seem like they'd be carried out though, for as soon as I'd walked out of the front entrance, my eyes landed on none other than Lance, Steven, and the previously burning kid from Friday. Lance seemed to be teaching him something or other with a cigarette and I bit my lip, praying no one would be set aflame today.

"Okay. So the trick of this is to light it...without actually lighting it?" the kid asked incredulously, looking up into Lance's great height. I could tell instantly, he was intimidated by it just like I was.

"Exactly." I leaned against the glass door and watched silently, catching Lance's eye when he looked back up. He grinned, but made no move to walk over to where I was.

"How does that work?"

"It doesn't," Steven muttered. Lance sucker punched him in the side, and Steven doubled over laughing. I had no idea how he could laugh when pain like that had been inflicted upon him. I realized then that Lance was just tricking the kid.

"Wait...what?" The joke was on him as Lance and Steven laughed, causing passerby to stare in wonder. I figured this wasn't anything new, and the boy rolled his eyes at both of them before flipping the bird and walking down the steps, never once turning back. Lance was still laughing when Steven noticed me, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

"What do you know, you caught us without Corey!" he called, a bit too cheerfully. Lance raised an eyebrow at him as I shrugged, deciding to walk over.

"What the fuck are you on?" he muttered when I came closer, lighting the cigarette he was holding and staring at Steven over my head. I looked back and forth between the two before realizing neither was serious.

"Cocaine."

"Figured. Why are you still here, Tabby?" Lance switched his gaze to me, smiling for a moment before bringing the cigarette to his ruby red lips and inhaling. He made sure to blow the smoke rings away from me, in Steven's face. I started to laugh, then figured I shouldn't.

"I had to finish up a test," I replied, my eyes transfixed on his face as he nodded, glancing over at Steven. He took the cue and coughed lightly, waving a little before dismissing himself and skipping down the steps. I wondered just how Lance communicated so smoothly without having to say a word.

"I still think you should have skipped with me today," he teased.

"That's not going to happen." It was so easy to banter with him now that I knew he wasn't a threat to me so much as he was to his friends.

"We'll see about that. Where are you headed?" We started down the steps and he shoved his hand in his back pocket, taking out his vibrating phone and hitting ignore. I found myself smiling.

"I've got to be at the studio at 7," I answered, still in a daze. He looked confused for a moment, but after a few moments he nodded.

"You dance, right...I remember." I smiled and nodded, pleased he'd caught that little fact from my brother. I wondered where Corey was now, surely he wouldn't be at the park without Lance.

"Well, if you don't have to be there until later, then what do you plan on doing?" he inquired curiously, reaching in his pocket again and bringing out his car keys. I shrugged, I didn't have homework tonight.

"My mom usually has me help out with dinner or...whatever," I offered as we reached the parking lot. Lance laughed, pressing a small black button. I heard the tell-tale unlocking of a car door somewhere near us and he stopped, taking my bag from me yet again.

"You think your mom will mind if you're a little late tonight?" I shook my head, blushing and staring at the pavement beneath my feet. Why was he doing this?

"Good." he grinned and opened the passenger side of a black BMW, nodding at me. I thought about how sudden it all was, how easy it was to be around Lance. He sure knew how to slide what he wanted into a conversation, that was for sure. But I got in regardless and he went around, starting the car and turning down whatever loud band had been on the stereo that morning. I sent a prayer up.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"That's a surprise. But would you tell me something in advance?" We pulled out of the half empty parking lot and I nodded, hoping it wouldn't be something trivial that required a lot of thought.

"You're not on a diet or anything, are you?" I laughed out loud at the nervous edge in his voice, shaking my head.

"No, I just don't eat a lot of junk food. I have to maintain the same weight or else - according to my instructor - my balance will get thrown off," I explained, watching as the side of his mouth turned up in a smile. I knew it sounded stupid to him, because it sounded stupid to me.

"Your instructor sounds like a whore," he stated simply, coming to a stop under a red light. I couldn't help but laugh at how blunt it sounded, but I wasn't surprised. Lance didn't seem to hold anything back.

"She's alright. Not the type to set fire to children, but she's okay."

"Hey, that was a joke!"

"Well, you don't see me laughing, now do you? And that poor kid, him either! What was that all about, anyway? Corey said something about an - "

"Initiation? Yeah, Corey exaggerates. It was actually a dare...and he went for it. I just didn't stop him. I thought it'd be funny, but it was damn stupid to do in front of the whole damn neighborhood." My mouth fell open at his confession and I stared at him in shock, remembering Steven tell me it had been his idea.

"But Steven said you'd come up with it."

"Well, yeah, but I didn't expect Corey to do it. He's not that mean," he shrugged, biting back a laugh as he watched my expression change from confusion to disbelief.

"Joking, Tabby. I know he's not Santa Claus."

"Then if you know that, why'd you even dare him to do it? That's so dangerous," I scolded lightly, watching to see how face he was driving. It was barely over 50, but I looked out the window anyways.

"I know you won't believe this, but try to understand me when I say I know Corey a little better than you do." Lance smiled timidly over at me and I looked down, nodding. He was completely right. I didn't know anything about Corey.

"No, I believe you. We're not close." My voice was tiny and I clasped my hands together in my front coat pocket, flicking my bangs away from my face with a tilt of my head.

"Corey's not close with anyone, Tabby. Don't even worry about it."

"I'm not. But he's got to be close with someone, I mean, all of you are always together. So how could he not be?" I felt like I was killing the mood, but if I was guilty, then so was Lance. He wasn't stopping it.

"He's friends with us because we're into the same things he is. It doesn't necessarily mean we're best friends. Corey does his own thing most of the time as far as I know, you just never see him because...well, because he goes where he wants," Lance explained, flicking his cigarette out the window. I was shocked to hear all of this from a near stranger about my own flesh and blood, but then again it didn't surprise me near as much as it would have if Corey and I had been friendly with each other.

"When did you guys meet?" I asked suddenly, trying to remember Corey ever mentioning Lance. He had to, at least to my mother or something when she'd ask where he was. He always lied, but he'd had to have told the truth at least once.

"Last year. He managed to ace his SOL's and was put in a junior class that I was in. He dropped it later though, I have no idea why. He's smart as hell but school's not important to him."

I nearly snorted. "School's not important to you, either."

"I'm a senior. I'm done here. I've got my future set out for me, I'm allowed to bullshit it," Lance teased, a smug look on his face as he winked at me. I shook my head incredulously, even though I knew he was right in a way. Even if he wasn't, the sly way he had with words would have fooled me otherwise.

"So you ditch."

"Indeed. And it's healthy for you too, sometimes. What's your first class of the day?" I rolled my eyes at his offish tone, thinking back to this morning.

"Study hall." The look on his face couldn't be described as anything other than shocked as he stared over at me, half watching the road. I made a face.

"Then why the hell can't you skip? Study hall isn't even mandatory!"

"Because I like study hall. It's an hour to put my head down and sleep," I said bluntly, watching as Lance relaxed back into his seat. For a moment, I'd thought his surprise was going to throw us off the road.

"Thank God." He actually sounded relieved.

"Why?"

"I thought you were actually just refusing to go with me because you had something unimportant to do. But sleeping is vital. So." I listened to him laugh as we came to a stop in front of a little store, realizing the reason for his discomfort. Was he really not putting on a show? Was it possible that Lance actually wanted to be around me?

"Like I said. I like first period," I said, half paying attention. I realized where we were; the front of the store gave it away. It was my mother's favorite coffee shop, the one she used to buy cinnamon rolls at for me after practice. I smiled instantly.

"You know this place?" Lance opened his door and I did the same before he had a chance to get out and open it for me. Stuff like that unnerved me for some reason, while it was nice and all, I felt like I was capable of doing small things. I nodded at his question, shoving my hands deep down in my pockets as a cold, fall breeze whoosed past us.

"Great, then you'll know what I mean by no dieting."

"Of course." We started towards the sidewalk and this time, I gave him a look that said he best let me open the door. He merely grinned and did the opposite, motioning for me to go ahead.

"You can't possibly think I'm a complete mongrel."

"Close enough. Why are we here?" I inquired as we stepped into the spacy little shop, the sweet aroma of fresh coffee and cinnamon wafting around us almost immediately. Lance smiled.

"I always come here on Mondays. I guess you could call it a treat for making it through the day," he told me, pulling a twenty out of his pocket. He ordered and then looked at me, obviously waiting. I shook my head.

"You don't have to - "

"I want to. I'm trying to prove a point here." Lance reached out and took my hand, making sure his fingers were laced tightly enough through mine that I couldn't possibly pull away. I found that I liked it - a bit too much. I couldn't concentrate long enough to order anything else but a soft cinnamon pretzel, his warm grasp was starting to make it hard to breathe. I hated how I sounded like an actual teenage girl.

"What's your point?" I muttered as we waited, almost too low for him to hear. He shook his head as our order came, handing my pretzel to me before taking his drink and leading us toward a table. Never once did he let go of my hand.

"My point," he said matter of factly, "is that I don't want you to keep the same impression of me that you got that night at the park, in your head." I faintly remembered the way he and his friends had acted that night, how Lance had smirked at me with dazed eyes, slurred words coming from every direction. I looked down at the dark wood on our table, chewing a bit of my pretzel.

"You've proved it."

"I don't think so. I know I apologized before, but I really am sorry. I...I hope you never see me like that again, Tabby. Really." His voice was so sincere that I had to look up, and what met my eyes shocked me beyond belief.

If he'd resembled temptation before, he now resembled that with the face of an angel. I knew it wasn't just a bigger person deal now, he was sorry. I nodded, unable to say anything out loud for fear my voice would break. Lance really was one of the most attractive guys I'd ever seen, jerk that he could be, I knew it would be hard to stay away from him, and not just because of his looks.

For once in my life, I felt myself slowly becoming attached to someone.