Stone Cold

"Lydia...what in the name of Narnia?"

Jace Essence, perhaps the only person other than Vince who would approach me during school hours, began poking the boy who was sitting next to me at lunch the following Monday after Vince dropped by my house, a seat generally reserved for Jace himself. Pouting after not receiving a reaction, Jace took the seat across from me. "How come he gets to sit next to you?"

"Because I'm his body guard." I said, not glancing up from my tablet on which I was sketching some new scenes from my neglected manga. I grumbled as I read some of the comments on my last chapter.

When's the next chapter?'

'Have you forgotten us?!'

'IF THERE'S NOT A NEW CHAPPY BY MONDAY, I'M UN-BOOKMARKING!'

I literally wanted to slap every single reader. 'Shut up, idiots! I do have a life... or... I DO NOW!'

Vincent Greyson, or Vince, had not said a word the entire lunch period thus far. Extremely out of character for him. But perhaps it was because Barbara and her bitch squad were glaring at us at the end of the dining hall, my younger sister Lilliana now among them. As expected, she didn't keep quiet about Vince's late night visit to my room the other night, where I agreed to pose as his girlfriend to fend off the harpies that wanted to bear his children. Lilliana included.

Jace's pale blue eyes trained onto Vince. "Are you going to explain to me what's going on or is Lydia going to have to?"

Vince sighed, black hair tumbling into his eyes as his shoulders fell. "We have an agreement."

"Uh-huh." Jace said, implying he wanted more details.

My icy blue eyes now met Jace's. "Those girls-" I hiked a thumb behind me towards the group of girls who were probably going to be future strippers- "Are getting to be too much for Mr.Popularity here. So now I'm his girlfriend."

Jace turned pale. "You're together?!"

"So I can protect him." I said in a hushed whisper, so only our little trio could hear. "Don't worry, he has a part of the bargain to hold up as well."

Jace stared daggers at Vince. "He better. What if one of them tries to hurt you?!"

"Do you really think any of them will come close to touching me?" My words cut through his over worried reaction.

Jace's fire went out, a look of hurt registering on his face. "No... but..." He looked thoughtfully at me for a moment, brushing a strand of white hair out of my face. "Never mind."

"Oh hell." I heard Vince mutter.

I almost repeated the statement. Barbara was marching towards us, armed with a mischievous looking Lilliana and another girl that looked like daddy paid for one too many surgeries. Quickly, I grabbed Vince's hand, ice melting into fire. Touching Vince always gave me a strange sensation, one I could not place. Oh well, that was a project for later. Right now the task at hand was to deal with-

"Well, well, well." Barbara said, dragging out the last word. "I've never seen a trojan condom in person before."

I scoffed, earning a glare from the small portion of bitch squad assembled before us.

"What?" Vince said, glaring at Barbara.

Barbara snickered. "Oh, you know, those Fire and Ice condoms. What with your ungodly sexiness and this girl's..." Barbara sized me up. "Lack of soul..."

I released Vince's hand and shot up.

What happened next was comical. Barbara's sneer was replaced with a face full of fear. Lilliana, remembering my slap, took off. Plastic surgery girl looked ready to collapse. I noticed Barbara's legs attempt to give out at she tried to stand her ground.

I wiped all emotion off of my face, if there was any. My eyes fixed on Barbara's.

"Is there something you need to say to me, clan leader?" I hissed.

The entire dining hall was silent. 'Ice Queen Versus Bitch Squad Leader.' Quite a battle, in my opinion, if I were a by stander.

Barbara, perhaps egged on by some nagging thoughts in her small brain, changed her expression to a less frightened one. "So, you're dating Vince now, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe I am." I took a step closer to her. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"In fact I-" But Barbara stopped because I sent a piercing glare her way. She shrank. "Well, I mean, no one here has ever seen you do anything romantic, except for at the dance, and that doesn't count, because everyone knows it was for show."

Bitch squad, still in the back of the hall, nodded in agreement. Other students seemed confused. Some were staring at me, expecting me to slug this bitch and put her in her place. 'And I should.'

"What I'm saying is, I just don't believe it."

I deepened my glare. "Are you asking for proof?"

Barbara took a step towards me, making us nearly inches apart. Perfect swinging distance. "M-Maybe I am." She said, voice shaking.

The next thing I did shocked everyone. I smiled.

The students nearly started a collective gasp. No one had ever really seen me show any emotion on my face other than glaring at some. Except for Jace, but even he had only seen me smile a few rare times. I swear I saw cell phones out, taking pictures of this rare moment. 'Lydia Winters... smiling?!'

"Oh, I'll give you proof." I said.

I whipped around and grabbed Vince by his school colored tie. His eyes were warm and the smirk on his face told me he was going to enjoy this. "Don't flatter yourself." I whispered in his ear, for only us to hear. I then proceeded to grip his shirt, something I'd only seen done in an anime, stand on the tips of my toes, and found his lips with my own, slamming my eyes shut. I felt his hands snake around my waist and Barbara growl in fury. Her footsteps grew closer, and soon I felt myself being yanked from Vince.

I was spun around to face an infuriated Barbara, hand raised as if to strike me.

I smirked. "Oh hell no."

*~*~*~*

"I have never seen such disrespectful behavior from star students in all of my teaching career!"

I was sitting in on hard wooden chair as I was chewed out by the principal. I hardly listened to his seemingly never ending monologue, but his last words struck me.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Ms.Winters?!"

I raised my eyes to his and threw on a face of dissent.

The high school principal, Mr.Schmuck, (bless his name), backed down immediately. "Y-You're free to go, Ms.Winters."

Quietly, I left the stuffy office and the scared little man, and made my way out into the hallway. Since I had to wait for Barbara to be yelled at and wait for Vince to be lectured about the dangers of teen sex and public displays of affection, there was now only five minutes until the bell. The halls were empty, but there was no use going to class. Not as if any teachers were going to be teaching this close to the end of the day, anyways.

I began wandering down the hallway in the general direction of my locker, when I was suddenly forced into a nearby closet by a strong pair of hands.

"What the fu-" I was cut off by familiar lips giving me a light kiss.

"Lydia! That was amazing! Especially the part where you totally kicked Barbara's ass!" Vince said, practically giddy with excitement. "That was literally the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

I lowered my eyes. "Oh well... thanks."

"No, thank you- hey... are you blushing?" Vince said, looking at me.

My hands found my face, covering it. "No!"

I could literally feel Vince smirk through the air, cocky attitude returning. "I guess I do have that affect on people."

I glared at him, earning no reaction. "Shut up, condom."

Vince flinched, then reached for me. "It takes two, babe."

I smacked his hand away. "Whatever."

"Hey, Ice Queen is back!"

"Shut your face, man whore!"

"Hey... that hurt my feelings..." Vince said, pretending to cry.

"I don't give a damn." I hissed, turning around, reaching for the knob.

But fate had other plans. Vince grabbed from behind, his cologne penetrating the air around me. "That's not a very nice way to treat your boyfriend."

I sighed. "I reiterate. Still not giving a damn."

Vince pressed his lips to the back of my head. "Don't worry. You will." The bell rang and he released me. He took my hand.

"Ready to go put on a show?"

I smirked. "I'm the world's best actress."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm the world's best actor."
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