"Closer"

Liv quickly brushed through her notes for class, nodding absent-mindedly to herself. She always looked forward to this class. Her senior group were a particularly animated group when it came to Drama, always eager and enthusiastic for improvisation, and the classes were lively bordering on chaotic sometimes. Liv had noted that this was usually down to the simmering tension between two particular groups of friends, who tended to sit on opposite sides of the class and were only too happy to portray the warring gangs - even when there were no such characters in the play.

Liv drained her coffee cup and placed it in the sink, resolving to wash it later. She had a few minutes before she had to head to class and decided to stop by the computer room en route to catch up on her Home & Away gossip. It was probably wrong that she and one of the senior girls had a thriving extracurricular bond based almost entirely on their obsession with said show, but it brought Liv plenty of entertainment. She smiled to herself as she remembered that she something else to book online - flights to Australia for the spontaneous getaway she intended to surprise her husband with. Their anniversary happily coincided with half-term (though considering they were both teachers, there was nothing coincidental in their choice of wedding date) and they liked to make the most of it, escaping the dim grey confines of New Jersey for a few days wherever possible. A wide grin spread across her face as Liv took out her purse, unable to resist a quick gaze at the picture she had of him therein. Ooh, what a fine man. Sometimes she still had to pinch herself to remind her that it was all real and she actually had found the man of her dreams.

This time however, the pinch took the form of a firm hand being placed on her waist and spinning her around. Suddenly finding herself face to face with the stud himself, she giggled girlishly and closed her eyes as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Hey sexy."

Liv straightened herself up and feigned irritation at the kiss.

"Brian. I've warned you before about interrupting my stream of thought."

"What stream of thought? I know you were thinking about me."

"Was not."

"Was too. I can't help but notice your purse in your hand, open at a certain specific point."

"Alright, maybe I was thinking about you, but not in the way you think. I was shaking my head in disgust at how determined you are to distract me from my students and lessons. No me, no pass in the exam, issues."

"Ha, I'm sure you were. And I'm also sure you were in no hurry to get to class, probably going to the computer room to ogle that fella from Home & Away."

Liv smirked, unable to resist it. He knew her too damn well. Four years later and they were still in the honeymoon phase.

"Maybe I was. And what are you planning to do about it?"

"Well..."

Brian looked around him, before turning back to her with an illicit grin on his handsome face. "I don't see anyone else here."

"NO."

"Go on."

"NO! Do you realise how close we came to getting caught last time? The principal still gives me odd looks at times..."

"All the better. She should realise what she's missing."

"Brian! Her husband's dead!"

"And I feel for the guy, truly I do, but I don't see why I should miss out on some fun because of it. I salute him and want to honour his memory."

The resultant fit of giggles enabled Brian to drag her into the nearby storage cupboard and turn off the light.

"Schechter, you'll pay dearly for this."

** ~ **

"No way! She did it again?" Suety face was priceless.

Kirsty nodded. "It's ridiculous. I've told her a thousand times I'm over all this rubbish. Like, I'm 17 years old, and I've had it up to here with all this bullshit. If I didn't know any better I'd say she was picking on me just because I have an English accent."

"And what a lovely accent it is," Suety said with a snigger, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "Heaven knows Gerard certainly loves it."

Kirsty giggled, but her face soon fell into disdain. "Argh, Suety, that guy is driving me up the wall. I love him to bits and all that but the whole 8-year-old-trapped-in-a-17-year-old's-body is becoming somewhat disarming. I just want him to act his age sometimes, which includes NOT blowing me off just to play war hero with the boys."

Suety's pretty face was sympathetic. "I know how you feel. Frankie was up in arms earlier, and even said I shouldn't be going to meet Grace tonight."

"What?" Kirsty exclaimed, appalled. "That's ludicrous. Does he think she's playing both sides or something?"

Suety nodded in reply.

"Noodlehead. Honestly. This paranoia is clearly indicative of a deeper problem."

"Hey, he's not stuck for getting any, if that's what you're hinting at!"

"Ha ha, I know that my dear. He's sporting one too many makeshift 'taches and baggage under the eyes for me to think otherwise. But what I mean is, do you think they feel obliged to continue this feud just to impress us or something? Like it's a confidence booster?"

"I doubt it. Bob isn't exactly lacking in the knowing-he's-the-shit-department."

"Yeah, but that's Bob. Just like every time we discuss pulling a prank against LJ or Naomi or Natalie, Lycia rolls her eyes and declares, "I'm outty." But what about Gee? He's got some prior issues..."

"He's been a changed guy ever since you got with him."

"And Mikey is such a quiet chap...you know, maybe I'm onto something."

"Or perhaps we're over-analysing?"

"Hmm. Good point."

About this point, the door to the class flew open and a somewhat flustered Mrs Mackenzie Schechter [i.e. Liv] walked briskly in. The two girls smiled knowingly at one another, figuring her delicious husband was probably to blame. He had a free class at this time on a Tuesday, and Mrs MacSchech (as she had been dubbed) had a tendency to show up 5-6 minutes late. It didn't take a genius to do the math.

"OK everyone, hush please. Take out your books. I apologise for my lateness."

"Nothing we're not already used to," sniggered a male voice on the far side of the room. Both Suety and Kirsty shot a glare in his direction. It was Zacky, one of the A7X gang members, a lewd and uncouth presence if ever there was one. He tended to sit in the same seat in every class, shooting death glares at all around him and inappropriate ones at Mrs MacSchech. Not that the latter wasn't well able to shoot him down with a snide remark, but the rest of the class hated him. For the two friends, he was the biggest pain in the proverbial ass. The other members of A7X were always on their best behaviour in class (or at least the ones they had with them) but Zack for some reason was always determined to show off. He'd played the full range of childish tricks on them, from whoopie cushions to paper planes to the 'loser cough', but they were far too ladylike to get their own back on him.

Their friend Chey, on the other hand...

"Zachary, please save that poisonous tongue for enacting the part of the preacher today. And get your feet off the table. There's nothing there to draw attention to."

A current of laughter swept through the class.

"Chubby cheeks," Suety said under her breath in reference to Zacky, while Kirsty gave him a Bridie (author's note: see glossary). They took out their pencils and focused on the matter in hand for the 5 minutes before Chey showed up.

The third part of this particular Core Triumvirate appeared in the door looked disaffected and breezy as always. She fiddled with her lip ring as she nodded at Mrs MacSchech (who never had a problem with this particular student showing up late) and made her way to a seat beside Suety and Kirsty at the back of the class. Her face was noticeably bereft of emotion when Zacky tried to serenade her entrance with one of the aforementioned loser coughs. She merely cast him a sideways glance and flopped down at the desk.

" 'Sup."

"Hey Chey!" both girls sang in reply at once. "News?"

"Nah. I got waylaid by the highlights of last night's WWE again. Jeff's looking sexy as ever, but that Chris Jericho needs a severe kick in the balls."

The other two merely nodded. Chey's fascination with wrestling was something they found amusing, but also something they could contribute nothing by way of discussion to.

"Rumours are flying, Kirsty," Chey continued. "I hear Val attacked you in the bathroom or something?"

"Rumours? What do you mean rumours?"

"Hushed whispers in the hallways, a perfect black bruise on Val's cheek, and a text from Lycia."

"Ah. Well, she decided to sample her right hook on me this week. I don't get it. I still kicked her ass."

"Did she say anything before she launched into it?"

"She wanted me to tell her what Gerard was up to tonight. As if I know or care. He's blown me off to go plot the latest offensive with the boys."

Chey rolled her eyes. It should be obvious from her cut-the-shit air and straight up attitude that she did not approve of this feud. Occasionally she would step into an argument or brawl to defend the good name of her friends, but mostly she found it tedious, dull, and juvenile. She preferred to hunt down the rare delicacy (for it was thus in New Jersey) of crab pizza, a staple food of her home state of Maryland, while the girls were siding with the guys.

"Fuck her. And him. Leave them to their immature games. Are we still meeting Grace tonight?"

"Yep!" Suety cried with glee. "Kirsty's coming with us now too."

"Excellent!" Chey said with a smile, and snapped a little high five with Kirsty. "At least in the community of the insane, I can trust her to shine a little perspective onto proceedings. 9pm, my place, and we'll head to the club from then?"

"Sound."

The girls nodded on the agreement and looked up to focus properly on their lessons. The play they were doing was The Crucible after all, fraught with tension and drama and all manner of potential conflict triggers...