Last Hope

Brynn walked into school the next day with her head held high. She was wearing a pair of studded high heeled booties and she felt like she was on top of the world. She let her hips swing from side to side and made sure that everyone knew she was not taking anyone's shit today. Yesterday had been a fluke, and today Luke Hemmings would bow before her. At least, she hoped so.

If her plan went to shit, at least today was Friday; she would have the weekend to storm up a better plan. She flounced her way to her locker, and opened the door, only to find a small note.

"Good morning, Brian," Brynn smiled to her locker mate. "Would you mind picking that up?" She smiled sheepishly. High heels, skirts, and bending over never made for a good combination.

"Of course," he smiled back, bending over to grab the note. He handed it to her, then shut his locker and left for class. Brian was a really nice guy. Brynn would've gladly dated him, but he'd had a girlfriend since the eighth grade.

Brynn set her reusable mug full of chai tea on her locker's top shelf and peered down at the note. Someone had written 'Brynn' in fairly nice hand-writing on the outside. She unfolded it to find a paper copy of the invitation to the party Ken was going to. She folded it back up and shoved it in her purse just as the one-minute warning bell sounded. Brynn then grabbed her English folder, mug, closed her locker door, and speed-walked to class.

Brynn threw herself into her seat a split-second before the first period bell rang. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, making sure it didn't magically poof up on her sprint-walk to class. Mr. Carson waited as everyone quieted down and then took attendance.

"Anderson?" He began.

"Here!" Tiffany Anderson waved from the back of the room.

"Baker?"

"Here!"

The pattern continued on and on until Mr. Carson read the last name on the list, then asked the class to get back into their groups. Luke was wearing an AC/DC shirt today, paired with skinny jeans that were on the verge of falling apart, black Vans, and a green plaid shirt. He played with his lip ring and hummed a couple of bars of Haven't Had Enough while scooting his desk so it was facing Brynn's.

"Okay. I have no idea what MLA is, so you need to tutor me, or we're getting an 'F'," Luke stated bluntly.

Brynn looked up in bewilderment, she had been thinking about that stupid note. "Seriously? How the hell are you in AP?"

Luke shrugged, "I guess they couldn't resist my charms."

"Whatever," Brynn rolled her eyes. "I don't see why you couldn't look it up online, but I'd rather have it done right. I can meet you in the library Sunday."

"Why not tomorrow?" He frowned.

"I'm going to a party tonight, then I have cheer from 2:00 - 6:00. Some of us have live, you know," she sighed. Brynn knew she was being a bit bitchy, but she couldn't let Luke think he could push her around.

"Seriously? How hard can it be to go 'ra ra ra'?" Luke smirked.

"How hard can it be to get the notes for Haven't Had Enough right?" Brynn countered.

"What?" Luke blinked a couple of times.

"I heard you humming it and you were flat. Singing's not even that hard, you just-"

"You know Mariana's Trench?" Luke interrupted her.

"Yeah. Why are you acting so surprised?" Brynn crossed her arms defensively.

"Well..." Luke began trying to find words that his vocabulary clearly did not include. "You just... You're a cheerleader. I thought you listened to, like, Lil Wayne and Katy Perry."

"Not all cheerleaders listen to conveyor-belt music," Brynn pursed her lips.

"So... you listen to Mariana's Tench?" He asked, mindlessly playing with his lip ring.

"Sometimes," she shrugged. This plan was working better than she thought.

He looked like he was about to say something else, but decided to get to work on writing in his notebook. Brynn smiled to herself because she knew that she had won a teeny bit of respect from him.

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The rest of the day went pretty well. For the rest of the days, Luke seemed to be elsewhere. He was either staring off into space or writing something in his beat-up notebook. The green-haired kid, Michael, and the boy who Brynn had decided looked more Hawaiian, Calum, asked if she was going to the party that night. She, of course, said yes. The two shared a look, turned around, and didn't bother her for the rest of German.

At lunch, though, things got weird. Unlike yesterday, the boys were more refined. They had sat down and immediately started talking quietly amongst themselves. Of course, they would occasionally break out into laughter; for the most part, though, they murmured to each other and occasionally (not-so-discreetly) gestured to the cheerleaders' table.

As Brynn was walking out of the school that day, with Kennedy in tow, Ashton stopped them. He slipped Brynn a small piece of paper, grinned, then walked away.

"What was that about?" Brynn laughed.

"Oh, it's just... We'vebeenpassingnotesalldayandhe'sreallyniceandcuteandfunnyandIREALLYlikehim!" Kennedy spurted out in one breath, then smiled sheepishly.

"Ooohhh!" Brynn grinned. "Let me se- actually, don't. I don't want to read you guys' note-sexts!"

Kennedy turned bright pink and this caused Brynn to bust out laughing.

"Can I, like, come over to your hose to get ready tonight so you can make sure I look perfect?" Kennedy asked Brynn as they climbed into her silver VW Bug.

"Hell yes!" Brynn smiled. "But you have to make sure my butt looks good in my party outfit."

"Why?" Kennedy smirked. "Do you want to impress Luke with your buns of steel?"

"Yes, Kennedy," I deadpanned. "I want Luke to touch my butt with hands that probably haven't been washed since the last time he jerked off."

Kennedy rolled her eyes and smiled.

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After three hours of preparation and a couple of jell-o shots Brynn's parents thought she didn't know about, Brynn and Kennedy were piling into Sydney's Honda. Brynn had curled her hair and it fell about half-way down her back. She was also wearing a tight black dress, brick red lipstick, and electric blue pumps. Kennedy's hair was pinned up in a half-curly, half-braided bun. She was wearing a lavender skater dress and black pumps. Sydney, who was all about partying, was wearing a black skater skirt, a sparkly pink top, and matching creepers. Her hair was straightened, but she had sprayed it with glitter.

They chattered nervously as Sydney's GPS led us through a suburban area, then through a stretch of highway where there were no buildings in sight, and finally to a three-story house that looked like it magically popped up in the middle of nowhere. It was a great place to have a party. As they got closer, Brynn could feel the bass shaking the ground.

Sydney parked on the curb outside, among probably 50 other cars, and locked the doors. Brynn, Sydney, and Kennedy all strutted inside with the kind of confidence that comes with being a cheerleader. A few heads turned, but they soon found Ash, Sierra, and Jenna all clustered in the middle of the room. Everyone was only on the first round or two of drinks, so there wasn't much action on the dance floor, but one person in particular stuck out. Luke.

He was dressed in a loose-fitting Misfits shirt, a pair of skinny jeans that weren't falling apart, and he had slapped a beanie over his messy hair. Now, Brynn don't normally notice these things, but it was hard not to when he was walking towards her.

"Hey," he smiled, playing with his lip ring as he eyed her up and down. "You look great."

"You don't look too bad yourself," Brynn smiled softly and lightly punched his arm.

"Do you want to get a drink?" He asked, rubbing his neck.

Brynn turned around to look for Kennedy and Sydney, but found Kennedy had already become preoccupied with Ashton and Sydney was being chatted up by the boy with the green hair. She smiled and turned back to Luke, "Sure."

He led her through the increasingly large crowd of people. One of the guys, a sophomore named James, stumbled his way over to them.

"H-hey, Brynnnnnn," he slurred. "Youwannadrink?"

"I'll pass," Brynn laughed. "I don't really think you need another."

"Cooome onnnn!" James tried to grab Brynn's arm. Luke grabbed his hand, spun him around, and held it behind his back.

"You don't treat a lady like that," he spoke calmly. Luke pushed James towards the door, then wrapped his arm protectively around Brynn's waist and led her to the drink table.

"Thank you for that," Brynn smiled as he got them two red solo cups out of the giant stack.

He waved his hand dismissively, "It's no problem, babe. I am here to serve and protect." He did a little bow and kissed her hand. Brynn giggled. "What do you want to drink? Vodka, whiskey, rum...?"

"Do they have Jager?" Brynn bit her lip and edged closer to him.

"Feeling crazy, huh?" Luke wiggled his eyebrows.

"I've always wanted to go crazy and do body shots, actually," Brynn blushed.

Luke reached down and pulled his shirt off, "I can help with that."