High School Has Its Perks

"Ok" Bryan said. He sat down. "The cop sirens you keep hearing is nothing" he told Sean. "There are no cops around"

"We would know we have the solar powered scanner" Ross said.

"It's not really solar powered if the sun isn't up" Leena said.

"Well I have my phone, too" Ross passed the joint he was smoking to Leena. She took a quick drag then passed it to Joe who gave it right to Bryan.

"We need to find a better place to smoke" Ross said. "I don't think my mom will ever get off my back"

"Well my parents are in the middle of a custody battle, and they're always fighting"

"I thought your parents are divorced, what are they fighting over?"

"The big TV we have" Bryan laughed.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously"

"You know my brother's over all the time since he moved here" Leena said. "He's a cop, I don't think we can smoke weed with my cop brother right downstairs"

"We smoked in a hospital" Bryan said. "I think I'm bad ass enough to handle that. Besides, didn't he ever smoke in high school?" Leena shook her head.

"He's the perfect brother I keep talking about. He drank alcohol in college after he turned 21 and did some not-so-okay things but he's done a lot better then me, Pierce and Josh"

"Why did Callum transfer from the fucking LAPD to our police department anyways?" Ross asked.

"For a girl of course" Leena said. She ripped the joint away from Bryan who's supposed to stop smoking for football scholarships. She took a long drag, blowing the smoke in circles from her mouth. "That and I think he's worried about me"

"Why would he be worried?"

"Car accident, friend dying, potential drug and alcohol use. Now I'm getting into fights" she said. She shrugged. "I'm worried about me"

"We'll be fine" Bryan said. "We always have and we always will"

"We're 17 years old" Ross said. "Leena's already 18...Life could literally be taken away from us in just a fraction of a second"

"You need to calm down you're depressing me" Sean said.

"Sorry...just saying...oh what's up with the suspension, Lee?" Ross asked.

"Suspensions over on Monday" she said. "Potential lawsuit in the works from Kara's family" she smirked about it, like getting sued was fun. "Apparently when you turn 18 you shouldn't hit minors"

"Was it worth it?"

"So worth it"

Bryan lit a ciggarette, they were all giving him judgmental eye. "What?"

"You shouldn't be smoking" Ross said.

"Neither should you, but you don't give a fuck" Ross chuckled. "They can't not recruit me for smoking ciggarettes. They're camel crush" he said. "The best shit around"

"Well you better fucking share!" Ross exclaimed.

"Good news" Joe said. "I had another doctors appointment today and the anneursym's all gone"

"Yay!" Ross exclaimed while he had a ciggarette dangling from his mouth. "Now I have a reason to celebrate" he lit the cig then pulled a six pack of beer from his back pack. "Take one pass it around"

"Deer lord, forgive me I have sinned" Sean said mockingly. He took a beer. "Where do you get these things?"

"I ask people to buy it for me" Ross said. "This time Stephen Waters got it"

"Don't associate yourself with Stephen Waters he's bad news" Leena said.

"Well I need the alcohol" Ross said. "And I have no one else willing to go the extra mile"

...

"I hate school so fucking much" Shay said. She looked at her math book while all her friends were enjoying their freej time at lunch.

"Why don't you stop studying and just eat" Dillon said.

"I can't" Shay said. "I'm too angry"

"At math?" Gary asked. "You can kick math's butt easily. Just do what I do and pretend it doesn't exist"

"No it's not math" Shay closed her book. "These girls are making fun of me"

"Who?" Dillon asked quickly.

"I don't know her name...she's a junior, kinda slutty"

"There's a lot of slutty juniors" Sydney said. "I've only been here for two months and I know that"

"Well let's go down the list" Hannah said. "We got Meaghan Keller, Jenny Appleby, Sam Sato, Ericka Days..."

"Ericka!" Shay exclaimed. "Yeah her name is so Ericka. I think I saw it on a jacket or something" Gary looked around the room, he spotted the girl Shay was talking about.

"She's over there" Gary pointed. Shay looked.

"Yeah that's totally her" she said. "She was with that Meaghan girl, too"

"What were they saying?"

"They called me a loser freshman, called me a geek, called me other asian stereotypes as well...." she said. She took her glasses off. "God I hate juniors"

"She has such a shitty personality" Hannah said. "She's hot and all but..."

"I can't stand her voice!" Dillon said. "She talks like a baby because she thinks guys find it attractive"

"And she sticks her butt out a lot" Sydney said. "She thinks she has the best body in the world. Have you seen her instagram?"

"Slutty 101" Hannah said. "I heard she fucked Ryan over the summer"

"I heard she fucked everyone" Gary said. "Cause she's a slut who thinks she's better than everyone"

"Well at least she's not as entitled as the freshman" Shay said. "The freshman are worst"

"Yeah, we don't need another Kara Moore or Carly Kramer around here. Ericka is just bitchy enough without being a cunt like the freshman" Hannah said.

"Anyways" Shay said. "I'm going to go to the library. I'll see you guys later" Shay packed up her things and left. Gary took her seat between Sydney and Dillon.

"I need your opinions on something" he said. "I'm going to ask Shay out"

"Yay!" Sydney exclaimed.

"Do you think it's a little too soon?" Hannah asked. "She just broke up with Nick like a week or two ago"

"Yeah..." Gary started. "I'm going to wait until the band competition on Saturday. If I feel like it's too soon I'll wait. But Shay seems fine"

"Shay says she's over him" Dillon added. "She hates the bastard. She'll be harboring some feelings of hate for a while, but if you take it slow with her it she should get over him soon enough"

"What would a girl like Shay see in a guy like Nick Van Buren anyways?" Hannah asked.

"Well" Dillon started. "She dated Ryan who's a bad boy and Nick is also in the same category"

"Ryan's a glorified twink, not a bad boy" Gary said. "Yes he cheated with a senior, but that's because Vanessa planned that out. He didn't use his good looks and nice clothes to get her in bed"

"Point taken" Dillon said.

"I think she just likes guys who are beneath her" Sydney said. "Sohee too, according to what you guys have told me. To me it seems like they're too afraid to date the people they deserve so they go for third or fourth best"

"Nick's like 100th best" Gary said. "He's been with everyone"

"Maybe she's impatient to lose the V" Dillon said. "I'm sure as hell thinking about it"

"Me too" Sydney said.

"So she wants guys who have had sex?" Gary asked.

"Either that or my first theory" Sydney said.

"So she's stupid" Hannah basically said. "That's the consensus"

"Well I wouldn't put it that way...but yeah"

...

Bryan saw Meaghan during study hall later in the day. He had a lot of fun with her before.

"Hey" he walked over to her.

"Hey" she said softly. Being around a senior is just intimidating. They're all so gorgeous and edgy. It's like they rule the school.

"Want to hang out again tonight?" he asked. "We can hook up..." Meaghan chuckled.

"Well you have to buy a girl dinner first" she said. "Be a gentlemen" he laughed. He kept on laughing like it was the most hysterical thing he's ever heard. Meaghan was confused, was that funny? She was being sort of serious.

"Ah" he said. He wiped a tear from his eyes. "I don't want a relationship" he said simply. "I just want sex" He walked away. Meaghan was absolutely disgusted.

...

"I'm concerned about Karo" Brook started as her and Leena walked to their last class of the day.

"Me too, but what can we do?" Leena asked. "She's too determined in doing this shit"

"Yeah but she's beat up, Lee" Brook said. "The guys she's dealing too will beat her and hit her to get the drugs for less money" Leena was confused.

"Since when?"

"Didn't you see the bruise on her arm?"

"She told me she fell down the stairs drunk" Leena said. They stopped walking.

"Some guy tried to rape her" Leena sighed.

"Where's KK this period?" Leena asked.

"Uh, she has gym" Leena headed in the opposite direction towards the gymnasium, Brook quickly followed. They ran into the girl's locker room and found Karo sitting and chatting with some other girls while they changed.

"KK we need to talk" Leena started.

"Ok" Karo and the three girls went off to the side.

"I heard you're getting hurt" Leena said. Karo rolled her eyes at Brook. "And I'm concerned"

"Don't be" she said. "I can take care of myself"

"So if you're in an alley with five guys you can handle it?" Leena asked. "You need to stop"

"I'm making money, Lee" she said. "And It's a heck of alot easier to get weed for your little gang"

"That's not the point" Leena said. "I'd take weed-less weekends over having a dead best friends or worst, an alive best friend who's been raped and beaten to near death" she said. "You think it's working now but it won't be for long" Karo walked away. "Don't be a little bitch" Leena said. Karo turned around, was going to say something but decided not to and walked away. Leena turned to Brook. "I tried"

"You did your best"

...

"It was so weird" Sam started. "I thought me and Ross had a thing...that's why I asked him out" her friend nodded. They were sitting at their usual study hall spot pretending to do homework. "He just said no...he didn't even give me a reason why"

"He's weird. You can do better than him"

"Can I?" Sam asked. "I dated Stephen, anyone is better than him. I'm setting my standards a little too high. I can't shoot for someone like AJ or Bryan"

"You'll find someone"

"I just wish Ross told me why he couldn't hang out with me" Mackenzie walked passed them. "You would think he would have given me an explanation..." Mac walked over to their table.

"Are you talking about Ross Barnes?" she asked. They nodded. "He's so bad news" she said. "He's damaged goods. Forget about him now while you have the chance" she walked away. Sam found that weird.