Scene 1: Chemistry

Leo Rylin

"Get into groups of 4, please," Mr. Vogel directed. "Don't be shy. There should be no odd numbers."

Lisa looked at Tony and he waved her over to our table. The problem is Lisa is Heather's partner...

And she's mad at me again.

I could tell by her face that she was a little annoyed with Lisa for picking us, but she kept it quiet and avoided eye contact when they approached.

"Hi," Lisa spoke.

"What's up?"

"This is my favorite class," she said happily while taking a seat.

"Spoken like a future scientist," Tony replied.

"We can divide the tasks, so there will be fewer things to do."

"Good idea."

"Oh, I almost forgot I saw you yesterday!"

"When? I would have spoken to you."

"I was outside." Lisa smiled, "and you were dress shopping."

He nodded. "Sabrina wanted my opinion on a few gowns she's thinking of wearing to the autumn ball."

"No one has asked me yet..."

"Why don't you ask someone, then?" Heather said.

"I am afraid of rejection...so afraid that I don't even reject people."

"You can go alone too. I would."

"You aren't bringing a date?" She said in surprise. "We can take each other. Do you know what color you are wearing?"

"I don't think I'm going."

"Why not?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"It isn't as fun as it's planned to be."

"We had fun last year."

"We were outside."

I shrugged. "I count it."

"Could you hear the music that far?" Tony questioned.

"I just kept something playing in my head. I don't remember what."

It was my favorite song for two months.

I'd say it if she already knew, but it's too late now. Too late to tell her that I heard love songs when I held her.

"I could hear it," Heather said.

"What was on?"

"Without You by Air Supply."

"Oh, I was way off when dancing with you then."

She shook her head. "I didn't notice."

"Why'd you let me lead?"

"Because you asked me to dance."

I chuckled. "You really like dancing. Cars, stores, anywhere."

"She does dance through stores," Lisa agreed,  both of us smiling at Heather while she shied away from the conversation.

"Yeah, it's cute. I thought about bribing the managers or something to play songs she likes."

"You would do the same if no one was around," Heather said to me.

"No, I'm not into it."

"When we watched Fame you were inspired."

"Inspired?" I chuckled.

"I could see the passion being awoken in you. The passion for the performing arts."

"I was daydreaming to cope with the stuff you made me watch."

She put her hand on her chest, "The nerve."

"Do I need to bring up your show about the religious kids?" I asked. "That theme song is in my nightmares."

"The theme song was the best part," she argued.

I laughed and shook my head. "Christ, Heather."

"This is because your favorite shows are cartoons. You can't complain when you'd choose SpongeBob over anything else."

"You should watch it, maybe he can teach you how to cook." Heather gasped, offendedly and the smirk never left my face. "If you were the best fry cook in bikini bottom, your parents would've stayed to eat that duck."

"It was a chicken."

"Not after you were done with it."

"I bet you aren't half as good of a cook as you think you are." She crossed her arms. "You've never proved that to me."

"I made cookies with you."

"When you destroyed my kitchen?"

"I destroyed it?"

"And I recall a time where you were making me breakfast and you poured an entire container of salt on the eggs."

"The top came off."

"Excuses," Heather said, smugly. "You go to the diner and have Isabel cook for you just as I order food instead of making it myself."

"Who doesn't prefer their mom cooking for them? That doesn't mean I can't do it. She's the one who taught me."

"Your mom owns a diner?" Tony asked.

"No, she works in one."

"Where?"

I open my mouth to tell him, but then change my mind when I remember that I'm talking to a central. "You haven't been."

"But it's nice," Heather added.

"It even has a phone," I teased her.

"Hidden away," she defended.

"In plain sight."

"It really isn't," she continued.

"If you're ever stranded and need to make a call-" I paused for a moment, "do you know how pissed I was that you called Jace back?"

"It was my best option. My parents would've killed me for being there, especially that late. It wasn't as if I could've stayed the night with you at the time."

"If you asked, I would've let you."

She stared at me for a second before shaking her head. "No, you wouldn't have."

"Yeah, I would've. I'd give you my room while I took the couch."

"Some random girl you didn't even like?"

"When have you ever been random to me?"

"Hey, guys." Mr. Vogel crouched down beside the table. "This is a group assignment meaning all of you are supposed to be working, not just Anthony and Lisa."

"Sorry." I grabbed my pen and diverted my eyes to the worksheet, pretending to think really hard until he walked away.

"We're sorry," Heather said, guiltily to Lisa and Tony.

"It's okay, there isn't much to do," Lisa replied.

"He's a lot cooler than Ms. Chang. She would've separated us on the spot."

Heather gasped. "Did I ever tell you about what happened with Ms. Chang after your exam?"

"No, I don't think so."

"She asked if I wanted to keep tutoring you, and I said 'yes', of course. Then she wanted to know what I did to teach you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh?"

I went from studying to impress Heather to studying to make out with Heather.

Ms. Chang can't use some of the things that we did to keep my focus.

"Exactly, but I had flashcards in my bag and they do work for you, so I showed her them completely forgetting that they had lipstick prints on them from when you made us play suck and blow in the middle of tutoring."

"Shit," I said through laughter.

"She looked at me like I was so inappropriate."

"I mean, student-teacher relationship, right?" I motioned between us. "You took advantage of me."

"...What is suck and blow?" Lisa asked, concerned she was saying something dirty.

"You guys don't play any games at your parties," I sighed. "It's a drinking game you do with a card. You're supposed to pass the card to the person next to you using your mouth, they suck, you blow— you get it. Whoever drops it has to drink."

"We didn't have alcohol," Heather commented.

"Or enough people to play. I was just tired of studying and trying to distract you only to find out you were bad at the game."

"You kept dropping the cards."

"You were never able to give the card to me. You could take it but never pass it."

"He dropped it each time," she said to Lisa.

"It was you. That's why there was lipstick on so many of them. And you kept putting more on."

"Because I was wearing it for a reason."

"Do you know how much lipstick and lipgloss and whatever I consumed while with you?" I asked, rhetorically.

"I like it. It makes me look pretty."

"You're already-" Tony and Lisa both stopped to glance at me before quickly looking away like I didn't see them. "Uh." I sat up straight in my chair as if the awkwardness would fall off my shoulders. "I guess being the daughter of a designer probably makes you think about it more, huh?"

"You know the answer to that."

"Yeah." I nodded. "It was cool of you to send Mr. Krakowski tickets to your fashion show, by the way."

"He told you?"

"He wanted me to tag along."

"You could've."

"No, I couldn't."

"No..." she admitted, "you couldn't."

I smirked. "He had a good time, though."

"Did he say so? I didn't get to speak to him much, but when I did, he told me everything was beautiful and called me a star, and I nearly cried."

"Aw." I chuckled. "He loved it, I got him to take a date since you sent a limo and made it all dramatic."

"I thought you didn't like playing Cupid."

"I don't." She gives me a skeptical look. "I get blamed if shit hits the fan."

"Isn't it worth it if even one couple lives happily ever after?"

"No."

"You have too many opinions on the relationships of others for you to say that."

"That's a lie."

"Really? What was that you said about Danny and Val's breakup?" She asked. "Or everything with Zach?"

"I was dragged into Zach's problems."

She started laughing, "And at Amanda's house when you-"

The bell rings before she can finish talking. Everybody stood up pretty fast, their tables cleared and their bags packed. I didn't even notice that the class was done.

"What were you saying?"

"Um..." Heather sighed. "Nothing. It wasn't important."

"Oh...okay."

"Bye." She waved, uncomfortably...like the bell was a reality check that said to go back to pretending we don't know how to talk to each other anymore.

"Yeah, see you."

Scene 2: Addington High

Alison Sinclair

Chattering filled every hall. Faint whispers of names followed by laughter kept my heart buzzing. This is just as I imagined it.

"What's going on?" Jace asked when the side-eyes and guffaws became increasingly apparent. "What the hell?" He said at the sight of the posters.

Initially, I thought I could get into the school after hours and pin these pictures on every locker and wall— but the administration would take them down before we ever entered the building.

My second plan was far riskier, but it worked.

"Get to class students! Clear the halls," one teacher announced while others tried to force us back behind closed doors as if it isn't too late to control the situation.

I took a bathroom pass and threw these pages all over the hallways. I didn't have time to stick them up, so only the important ones made it on the wall.

"What are you laughing at?" Jace said angrily, picking up as much as he could and stuffing them into a trash can.

Most of the guys have been sifting through the papers for their own face and selfishly leaving their friends behind. The panic and embarrassment they show do so well at healing the wounds they inflicted.

Tony is staring at the one with his name and face plastered on it.

Weak. Coward. A kicked puppy hoping to find smaller animals so that he finally has something he can kick too.

Seeks validation from men because he can't get it from wom-

"It's crap," Jace ripped it off of the locker. "Whoever did this is obviously a jealous loser."

"No, you see, it says I'm the loser."

"Help me throw them away." He got on the floor and kept grabbing whatever was in sight. "Why are there so many? Don't they care about trees?"

I looked about and saw people not only passing them around but also collecting some as keepsakes— unforgettable memorabilia that will forever preserve the fact that these guys are pathetic jerks and liars.

I smiled when Evie walked past with a group playing just as surprised and clueless as they were.

I kept smiling when I  caught a glimpse of Brooke sneaking some of the pages into a classroom she was being urged into.

And the smile leaves my lips when I see Tony staring back at me.

Scene 3: Madison Street

Danny Cole

"We should go party crashing for Halloween. A bunch of people at school are already talking about them," Matt suggested.

"I'm down," Leo agreed.

"We have to wear costumes, though."

I sighed. "Fuck's sake."

"Elle keeps bringing up couples costumes."

"You're gonna look like a bozo."

He nodded. "I know."

"Go as Michael Myers and Laurie," Matt said.

I narrowed my eyes. "The killer and the victim?"

"She lives."

"She's thinking more along the lines of Fred and Daphne or Superman and Lois Lane," Leo replied.

I scoffed. "If I see you in spandex, I'm running you over."

"Did you hit someone already?" Matt asked. "Val came to me today. She said she thought she saw your van banged up at the shop."

"The fuck is she doing at the shop?"

"Her new guy works there."

"Fender bender. There was some asshole on the street."

"Why didn't you take it to Frankie's?"

I shrugged. "Wasn't thinking."

"Since you're out a ride. Wanna come with me to the costume store tomorrow before all the good ones are gone?"

"Nah, I've got something to do."

I have to attend meetings and take a piss test weekly. It's like Amanda didn't take the rap for me, and I got caught high behind the wheel after all.

And Heather might as well be my parole officer. She thinks she should be there like that'll make sure I actually go.

"Alright, what about the day after?"

"I have something to take care of every day."

"What?"

"Stuff."

"Screw the both of you," Matt huffed. "Now that I'm making good, clean, wholesome money no one has time to spend it with me. That's fine, I'll finish my bucket list by myself."

"Why are you rushing to finish it like you've got a foot in the grave already?" I said, annoyed.

"We don't have much longer, it's almost 1998."

"So?"

"So? We're done when we hit 2000."

"What?" Leo sits up to look him in the face.

"The world's gonna end in the year 2000."

"Says who?" I asked.

"Everyone."

Leo starts laughing. "Does it end on eastern time or pacific?"

"Shut up. You're gonna be pissed watching the earth cave in when you never got a chance to do something important to you."

"What do you want to do?"

"Lots of things."

I narrowed my eyes. "Probably something dumb like flip off the president on national television."

"I'm writing that down," he pointed. "Don't you want to kiss a supermodel or someone famous before you get erased from the planet?"

Leo's eyebrows drew together. "If the world was ending I wouldn't be trying to hook up with a stranger-"

"A hot stranger."

"And you wouldn't either. I bet you'd be after Amanda."

"Why?"

"That's who you like."

Matt didn't react. For the first time in his life—he was silent.

"No fucking wonder you were up my ass about whether or not we were messing around. Just ask her out," I said.

"Fuck off."

"Don't tell her she's your dooms day girlfriend," Leo joked.

"I would rather be with her than you dickheads."

"Fine, because you already know who I'd be with."

"Elle?" I questioned.

"Who else would it be?"

Scene 4: The Helmsley Hotel

Heather Blakely

"Jace?"

"Hey," he waved to me as I entered the room.

"You're in my house..."

"Didn't your parents tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"They are having a meeting over dinner." He puts his hands together. "Offices are too impersonal for two families that are so close."

"I see." They do this so the other will feel bad if they ever decide to cross one another. "Shouldn't you be in there, then?"

"Boring."

Completely. Which is why they knew not to tell me about it.

And why I won't be participating.

I stop on the stairs and look down at Jace. "You can come up if you'd like." It would be rude to leave him to suffer.

Without a second thought, he began walking behind me.

There's a level of comfort that neither of us ever lost. I assume it stems from knowing each other so long. Once he was in my room, he wasted no time before making himself at home and laying in my bed.

"Did you see these?" He takes out one of those papers that were going around the school today.

If there was something that called me desperate and whiny, I wouldn't keep it...

"I did...they're mean."

He huffed. "Who would say this?"

"I don't know."

"There were none about the girls," Jace complained. "You all aren't that great either."

"Okay?"

"It's true, Evelyn never cared if the guy she liked was with someone else. And, you started to have feelings for Leo while we were still together-"

"You cheated on me with her."

"Alison pretended to like me just to have something to do over the summer," he said, disregarding my reply. "As soon as we were back in school, she started acting weird."

"Well, don't be so hard on her. She's used to things never working out. It has to have made her cautious by now."

"And you defend each other." He rolled his eyes.

"Boys do a less dramatic version of this whenever you decide you're done with a girl,"

"I didn't."

"You told your friends to check me for track marks."

"That was out of jealousy because I wasn't  'done with you.' Everyone knew but you, apparently."

"I don't believe that."

"Trevor tried to tell me earlier that I ruined my future and you were in love with someone else, but I was in denial."

"Ruined your future?"

"We were supposed to get married." He nudged me with a smile, "Come on, our fates were sealed. As far as our parents were concerned, we were fiancés."

"To them, yes, but I knew you would never go through with it."

"I was happily engaged to you." I raise an eyebrow. "It's true. I wanted to marry you...but I also wanted to have fun before settling down at the ripe age of 17."

"This reminds me of that saying about cake. How does it go again?"

"I know, I know."

"You didn't deserve me."

"Does anyone?" He smirked. "Is your dream guy still Popeye?"

I rolled my eyes. "I never said that."

"You never denied it either," he teased. "I have this great therapist I can introduce you to."

"If you would have watched the movie with me like I asked, we wouldn't be having this discussion."

"Who genuinely wanted to see the live-action version of a buff sailor eating spinach?"

"Whatever. There is more to the story."

It has nothing to do with him and his spinach and everything to do with Shelley Duvall singing "He Needs Me."

Popeye saying 'but I do,' and Olive Oyl's joy when replying 'but he does' was the entire movie to me.

My mother opened the door and looked pleased to see Jace is in here too. "Are you taking dinner in your room?"

"Am I allowed to?"

"Of course. I will have it brought up soon."

I nodded and she smiled with her parting glance.

"Of course," he imitated, knowing he's never lost my parents' approval. "The benefits of having me here."

"Anything for Jace," I said, sarcastically.

"You are her best accessory," he quoted. My mother used to say it to him at least once a week.

"How you didn't take that as an insult, I'll never understand."

"It sounded nice to me, and I hoped you agreed."

"That you were an accessory?"

He smirked. "Your best."

"I held you at a bit of a higher value."

"Thanks."

"Mhm."

"Heather..."

"What?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Jace smiled. "When's the last time you said that to me?"

"A year, give or take."

He leans toward me and places a kiss on my cheek. "Don't wait so long next time."