The Rebellion of Cora Hart

*Jett's POV*

I smirked at Gabe, who gaped at me, mouth hanging open like a fish as he ogled at me incredulously. I waved the wad of papers in my hand at him again, and he gulped, snatching them from my outstretched fingers. I flicked my lighter, lighting up my last cancer stick as Gabe muttered a low "Fucking idiot."

"So, proud that I have a plan?" I asked, and he frowned, shoving the papers in my face. Despite this, the smirk remained on my face as Gabe let out an exasperated huff, getting his own cigarette and lighting it, holding it between his fingers as smoke spiraled into the cool air, dancing above his head. We were at my place, sitting on the rusted balcony that overlooked the neighbor's garden, where an old hag was taking down her washing wearing her floral night gown.

"Jett, this is not a plan. It's fucking suicide!" Gabe yelled, as I kicked my legs up, resting on the half-dead potted plant in the corner of the small platform, my worn combat boots kicking at a browning leaf. "How in the hell did you think this was going to work?"

"It will," I replied simply. Picking up the papers off the ground that Gabe had chucked me, I skimmed through them, my smirk turning into a crazy grin, as I read the name on the top of the page. Gale Laurence's Institute for Troubled Teens was what it read, in bold, italic black print, with the prison-like academy's logo stamped on the bottom. If you haven't guessed what my plan was, well, I'm going to explain it in simple terms that even a numbskull like Cora's bitch of a mother would understand.

I was going there. Not for visiting hours, but as their newest trouble maker and inmate. I had enrolled last night and had been accepted. Apparently they had heard of me and thought it would be in the community's best interests that I attended there. I was public menace, after all.

I had told this all to Gabe in detail ten minutes ago, and the face he made as I told him was priceless. I used my finger to flick the decayed tip of my cancer stick, the ash floating down onto the pavement beneath my balcony. I turned to Gabe, who was shaking his head, looking worried, angry and glum.

"Aw, you can't be worried about me, can you?" I teased, and he hit my arm with much intended force, making me rub my arm, wincing a little. He hit hard, for such a seemingly innocent guy.

"Of course I'm worried, ass-wipe. You're my best friend for fuck's sake! And I don't need two of my closest friends locked up in that hell hole. Cora being sent there was enough, and I don't think I could deal with you going there as well. The things they do to their students is horrific!"

"True," I mused, and he groaned, stomping on his cigarette.

"Am I speaking English? What don't you underhand?! There has got to be another way to get Cora back," Gabe pushed, and I shook my head.

"Even I did my homework, Gabe. There is defiinitely not another way to go about this. And trust me, even though I get a kick out of pissing people off and getting myself stuck in fucked up situations, I would have tried to avoid this conclusion in any way possible. But to get Cora back, and you know how badly I need her, I am going to go to the extremes."

"But... Jett... Argh! You're right, and I hate it," Gabe admitted, looking up into the sky as of he were cursing the world. "But you're taking me with you."

I nearly choked on my cigarette when he said this, and I whipped my head to him, looking him in the eye.

"What did you say?" I asked, shocked. He it was Gabe's turn to smirk, as he got up to retrieve his laptop, plopping back down next to me as he googled the institute's website, then clicking on the enrollment page.

"You heard me, you bastard. If you're going, I'm going. Cora's my friend too," Gabe said, and I shook my head, grinning.

"Fine. But what will your parents say?"

"What they don't know won't kill 'em. I'll just say I'm going to go help the children in Africa or something. Knowing them, they'll even pay for my plane ticket," Gabe said casually, and I slapped his shoulder in a good-natured way, as he quickly sent in his registration form.

"Let's go fuck that place up," I laughed, as we went back inside to help me pack for the trip as we waited for Gabe's admission email.

This was going to be fun. Well, my idea of fun, anyway.

*Cora's POV*

I have been here for exactly a week, but it felt like an eternity. Every day was the same. Wking up for breakfast at dawn, monotonous classes with hard-ass teachers, daily cell inspections, getting black slips when I screwed with the system, and generally hating life. But hanging out with Steph and the guys was about the only thing that helped me remain somewhat sane. Well, as sane as I could stay when hanging around a bunch of crazy and rebellious luntics.

Teddy was a real sweetheart, and lended me some of his hair-dye, even though it wasn't my usual red but his same, bright blue. Steph helped me re-streak my hair, and I felt better already, and loved the glares and murderous stares of the authorities in this dump. But they couldn't touch me, not since I was hanging around with Luke. Luke was adorable, and much to the guys' amusement he still had a little bit of a crush on me, but backed off when Steph showed him a picture of Jett. But we became good friends after that, because he felt that since I wasn't making fun of him he could trust me. I had learnt he had trust issues, since many other students at this school only wanted to be close to him because of the... Rebellious benefits, meaning the lack of clothing control and general slack. Ryder was a bit of an asshole, but that was only when he disliked someone, and apparently he really liked me, despite the way he is always finding ways to piss me off. He's like the older brother that teases the little sister out of affection.

Right now it was free time, which was the the only time we really had to ourselves. It was only a small block of time, right before dinner, but it was a time that everyone used to their fullest. Some played sports with friends, others enjoyed time on their own maybe writing or drawing, and the like. Others, like the gang and I, preferred to just hang out and chill. We always hung out in that old storage room that nobody used anymore, the room I met the guys in. Sure, it's a storage room so it's not a fucking castle, but for us it's the only place we can really be ourselves. We can swear as much as we want, fight as much as we want, and be whoever we want. But once outside that room, we had to go back to our lives filled with nothing but hatred.

But right now, I was having a blast.

Ryder had Teddy in a headlock, and I was surprised. Teddy had held his own for the first five minutes of the scuffle, which was pretty much a bet on the last packet of cigarettes, since they had smoked the whole week's worth of cigs in the last 3 days. Ryder was dominating, but then Teddy smirked, and stopped struggling, which made Ryder's dark brow crease as he stupidly loosened his grip in confusion.

And then Teddy struck. His arms lashed out, slamming into Ryder's gut, making him let out a loud 'oof!' as he slid to the ground. Everyone started counting, like in a boxing match, as Tedy pinned the larger guy to the ground. Luke shook his head, smiling, as he threw Teddy the final packet of cigarettes, much to Ryder's annoyance.

"Brains over brawn, honey," Steph laughed, sticking her tongue out at Ryder, who growled and flipped her off. She feigned hurt, as Teddy ran up to me like an excited puppy, waving the cigarettes around in the air.

"Cora! Cora! I won! I'm not gonna be smoke deprived!" he chirped, and I ruffled his hair, making him giggle. "I'm gonna share them with Cora, since she is my favourite!"

"But baby, what happened to me? I thought we had something going!" Steph gasped, over-acting the part of a jealous wife. "How could you forget me?'" Teddy's eyes widened, as he cowered behind me, eyes wide like the little puppy he is. He was so cute. Steph rolled her eyes as she let out a joking giggle, moments before the bell for dinner sounded, making us all groan.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted," I sighed, and everyone nodded in agreement, trudging off to the dining hall. We parted ways, me and Steph sitting next to each other. We sat in cell order, basically, so that the staff could account for everyone. The food was bland, and I felt a pang of longing for Jett's cooking, even though it tasted like absolute shit.

Oh, Jett. I wish I could see you right now.

Suddenly, I felt two hands cover my eyes, as I gasped, choking a little on the stale bread I was returning going to chew, spitting it out into my watery soup, gagging disgustingly.

"What the fu-" I started, but was cut of by a tantalizing, melodic voice whispering into my ear, warm breath dancing across my cheek as I flushed bright red, my whole body trembling as my heart thumped loudly in my bursting chest.

"Guess who?" the voice whispered, and I felt my eyes starting to water, as the hands dropped, strong fingers lacing with mine as I turned, tears slipping from my eyes as I took in his face. Jett's god-like, beautiful face. "Remember me, sweet heart?" His face was soft, and he didn't look any different from when I last saw him, except now he was also wearing a Gale Laurence jumpsuit and ID tag.

"I... I... Oh my god. I think I just died," I whispered incredulously, as I touched his smooth face, my palm flattening on his cheek. He smiled, causing my breath to falter, as he pressed a gentle, familiar kiss to my eager lips, pulling back as someone pulled on his arm roughly, a teacher. He winked at me, and I gasped, as everything finally hit me. "J-Jett! What the bloody flying fuck are you doing here?!"

"Hey, don't ignore me," another voice sighed, popping out from behind Jett, who was being pulled away by the teacher. Gabe's face grinned at me, and he waved, as he too was pulled away by another teacher.

"Gabe! You're here too?!" as they drew further away from me. Another teacher moved to grab me as well, since we were all causing quite a scene in the dining hall. The student were loving it, cheering, but the teachers looked like they wanted to disembowel the three of us.

I jumped up, kicking one of the teachers in the ass, and he let go of Gabe, who laughed, running after Jett, who had head butted the person dragging him away. I grabbed Gabe's hand, smiling wildly, as we ran thourgh the dining hall, students yelling and screaming, tripping teachers and staff as they neared us. A pair of hands grabbed onto my arm, and I was about to snap it back, when I saw Steph's shit-eating smile in my peripheral vision. We reached Jett, as Ryder, Teddy and Luke pushed through the mess as we ran out the door, flying down the hall.

Well, flying until the one and only Gale Laurence stopped us, with a troop of burly men with tasers. Or guns. They looked like they meant business.

Like I said before; it was fun while it lasted.