Beautiful

Her head was pressed against the cold plastic wood of the classroom desk, hood pulled over her head to shield her eyes form the light, and music blasting in her headphones to block out any other possible noise.
She was determined to not pay any attention to the two of them. The whole idea of it just made her sick. So she just chose to ignore it, blaring Skillet into her eardrums to keep her from getting up and punching the girl in the face.
After all, she didn't deserve it, Blake did, but she couldn't help but be angry at the both of them. More so, Karenna, than Blake; but she loved the boy.
A blunt jab it her square in the back and she nearly jumped out of her seat. She took her headphones out and turned around in her seat to face Chris and Caleb.

"What do you want?" she said in whispered annoyance.
"Blane, you've slept through this class every day this week."
"The curriculum just doesn't interest me."
"Bullshit," Caleb added into the conversation.
"Since when is my sleeping habits any interest to you?"
"Oh, I think it's just a little bit more than sleeping habits." Caleb replied, reaching over and wiping some smudged mascara off of her cheek from where she had been crying. She looked down at the floor.
Chris sighed, "Tell us what's wrong, Blane."
"I'm just tired is all." she forced herself to smile, "Don't worry about it."
She turned back around in her seat and blocked them out.
They didn't need to know what was wrong, she had enough problems already.

She was still in love with Blake.

---o---

"Yeah, baby, I know, I miss you too... no, we're here for three more weeks, then we take a break and come home for another week, then we're back here again... no, the kids can't just leave school like that, we don't take our boys out for just anything, do we?... I know, it sucks, but I'll call you tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the day after that, Hell i'll cal you THREE times a day the whole time i'm down here.... ok... I love you too... ok, bye."

Billie hung up the phone with a smile on his face. Everything was going great with him and Adie. No fights, no anger, he wasn't even irritable from the not smoking anymore.
But someone else was.... It had been weeks since Mike's overdose, and Billie and Tre were taking turns keeping an eye on him; and needless to say, Mike was less than thrilled. He hated the fact that he had to babysit Mike, and Mike hated being babysat, but there was no other option. You can't leave a recovering addict alone with his withdrawals. And none of them wanted to see him being checked into rehab. So this routine had been maintained.
Speaking of which, it was time for him to go relieve Tre.

---o---

"For the last time, Mike, NO! These brownies are MINE! Yours are in the kitchen, go get em yourself."
"I can't go in there, the entire room smells like roasting meat! Talk about insulting and Disgusting all at once. How can you eat that, knowing it was an animal once?"
"Like this, he grins," before taking a HUGE bite out of the hamburger on his plate.
"Ugh, that is MORBID."
Tre laughed. Mike scowled at him.
"Lets see what's on TV," he said, picking up the remote, "Maybe there's some porn or something."
Tre laughed again, "Doubt it."
The door to the suite opened and in walked Billie Joe, "Hey boys, what's up... why do I smell hamburgers?"
"Because, Mr. Carnivore over here cooked them." Mike replied.
"Ewe, Tre, why don't you just buy that stuff already made so its just you that smells like dead cow and not the entire room?"
"Because it's not the same when you order out." he pouted.
Billie laughed, then he collapsed on the couch next to Mike, "So did you find anything to watch?"

---o---

She was curled up on Josh's couch, his arms wrapped around her. They were watching some game show on television that made no absolute sense at all.
Well she was, Josh's eyes were closed. She knew he wasn't asleep; His arms tensed up every time her head grazed his chin. But she also knew why his eyes were closed. He was avoiding conversation.
He knew she was having feelings for Blake. It was obvious. He just didn't want to see the pain of it in her eyes.
She was getting bored with the TV, after flipping through about 20 channels, she shut it off and dropped the remote on the carpeted floor.
She twisted in his grip and swung her leg over his knee, straddling him.
His eyes opened instinctively.
She slid her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his, looking into his eyes.His hands moved to her legs, along her thighs and around her waist to the small of her back.
She grinned, tilting her head and moving her lips in to meet his. He tightened his grip around her, knowing how much she liked to be pulled in close.
She brought her hands up the side of his head, running her fingers through his thick black hair.
He grabbed her legs, wrapping them around his back and standing up from the couch. She pulled his body even closer to hers, kissing him more intensely, as he carried her petite figure to the bedroom.

---o---

"So what do you think?"

"Blake!"

He snapped, abruptly, out of the long train of thought he was on. He hadn't been listening to a thing she was saying. All he could think about was Blane, and how much he missed her. They hadn't spoken in weeks, and it was driving him crazy. She was his best friend, and the one person in the entire world that he could talk to about anything. The only voice he longed to hear. The only one who could cure his lack of whatever it was that he felt like he was lacking. The emptiness he just couldn't shake.

"Sorry, babe," he moved his hand over hers, "Just got a lot of school stuff on my mind. I have a lot of work to make up after the last trip to California."
"Why do you have to leave me so often?" Karenna pouted, "I never get to see you anymore because of that stupid band thing, and when you're here, it's all you ever talk or think about."
"Stupid band thing?"
"Well it is only a school thing, I mean, you can't possibly want to play music for the rest of your life."
"Actually, that's what I was planning on doing for a living, but thank you for the support."
He grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair, and walked out of the coffee shop without looking back.

---o---

Her feet lightly tapped on the tile as she glided into the kitchen, her stomach, desperately longing for something to eat. She opened the fridge to empty shelves, excluding a jug of milk and two bottles of IBC. Drumline Alumni to heart, Josh still drank the group's designated drink from habit.
She smiled at this thought, shutting the refrigerator door and turning to the pantry.
The light of her phone glimmered in the corner of her eye, and caught her attention. She grabbed it as she opened the pantry door to see if Josh, at least, kept cereal in his kitchen. Finding an unopened box of Chex, she turned her attention back to her phone, where a message that said "1 NEW VOICEMAIL" had popped up on the screen. She pressed the call button and got the milk out of the fridge while it was ringing. The line clicked over and she almost dropped the whole bottle of milk into her cereal at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, Blane, it's me. I know we haven't been talking to each other a lot lately and everything, but I've got a lot on my mind and I just... really need someone who listens. You're my best friend, Blane. I can't get through two weeks without you, you know that. Gah... it's been two months. Why are we still doing this? Can't we just figure out a way to get over it? Come on, Blane, just... call me back. We can talk about this."

The line clicked again and it started playing an old message from Kacie, but she wasn't listening. Hearing from him again had chilled her to the bone.
She couldn't move, even when the milk fell to the floor and spilled everywhere, and the cereal bowl overturned sending an avalanche of Chex over the edge of the counter. She just stood in shock. They were on a strict routine of avoidance. Why would he break that cycle? They never saw each other besides during band practice and classes they had together, but even then, they pretended the other wasn't there. And his voice. There was so much pain in it, so much misery. She couldn't just ignore this, but she couldn't bring him back into her life. Not now. Not when things were just starting to go back to normal with her and Josh...

"Blane?! What the hell?!"
Josh had just entered the small apartment kitchen to see the catastrophic mess. She didn't respond. She was still paralyzed. Still overwhelmed with everything, and replaying the things Blake had said in her mind. There was no way he still had feelings for her. He couldn't possibly. Why would he?

"Blane!" Josh had lost thought of the mess in his kitchen at the sight of her. She was standing, holding her phone, still, faintly, to her ear; but obviously not listening to whatever was being said on the other end. She appeared to be in a comatose state.
He stepped forward into the puddle of milk and grabbed the phone out of her hand, pressing it to his own ear. She still didn't move, still unresponsive. Hearing nothing but her answering machine reel on the other end, he hung up the phone.
"Blane?" he said more softly, touching er shoulder. She didn't look at him.
He hooked his arm around her waist and lifted her legs with the other. Sitting her gently on the couch, he retrieved a towel out of the bathroom and proceeded to wipe the milk from her arms and feet.
The he took both of her hands in his, looking her in the eyes, "Blane, look at me. Whatever this is, you need to let it go. It's not worth what you're going through. Come on, this is only going to get worse if you stay like this."
Tears started to roll down her face as she closed her eyes and leaned into him.
She didn't utter a sound. She just cried silently into his chest.
Following suit, he remained silent, wrapping her closer to himself and holding her.

And I would have stayed up
with you all night
Had I known
how to save a life