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A/N: I was driven to write this story because, well, I was reading this series which happens to have some nasty (but likeable) characters in it and it really made me think, "you know what? I'm so sick of being nice all the time. I wonder what it would be like if I did horrible things and was generally a nasty person?" But because I'm not like that I figured the closest I could come would be to write about it. So a lot of the nasty things I'm planning for this story is just stuff I wish I had the guts to do. Haha how sad is that?! Anyhoo, I do love the nastiness, but it is the nice ones that are my favourite characters. I haven't written too much so far but I'd really like to continue it for a bit because I really like my characters. So far…
Please read and review and let me know what you like and don't like! And if you have any suggestions for things my characters might want to get up to, please let me know:)
Also! Just a reminder that I'm Australian, so my story is set in Australia. So if there are references you're unfamiliar with that could be why.
Julian had never been good with change. He was wonderful at adjusting quickly to new things, certainly, but to him there was nothing worse than that knotted-stomach feeling of walking into unfamiliar territory. He tried to force the dread rising in his throat to sink back to his stomach, where he could blame the uncomfortable feeling on having skipped breakfast. Even if it was a lie, it might fool his body enough to cooperate just a little.
Right now, sitting behind the wheel of his precious, familiar Commodore, in the car park of this alien place, he felt as though his legs might give way the moment he got up the courage to ease himself out of the driver's seat. He took a deep breath, and focused on the people around him that were heading into the very building that was the source of his fear. The crowd looked typical enough- there was the group of jocks, punching one another playfully and making sleazy gestures towards any good looking girl that was unfortunate to pass close by them. Around him, badly dressed boys (and one or two girls) maneuvered their skateboards to skid along any solid object, grinning to one another when they completed a successful trick and mocking each other when they took a fall. There was a small group of girls heading into the school, flicking their hair over their slender shoulders and smiling as they exchanged the latest gossip. Around the side of the building, he could make out a few shadowy figures and a cloud of toxic-looking smoke, no doubt being exhaled by people who couldn't care less what the abusive substances were doing to their bodies. Julian shook his head and sighed. Maybe this place wasn't so unfamiliar after all.
Taking one final deep breath for added courage, he popped open the door and stepped out, reaching over to snag his backpack from the seat beside him as he did so. He shut the door gently behind him and locked it, then slid the keys into the pocket of his jeans, leaving his hand there. Turning towards the school, he composed himself, letting his facial features take their natural positions that marked the confidence he had been famous for at his last school. His pale blue eyes were soft but determined as he slung the backpack over one shoulder and headed towards the front doors. All right, Julian, he thought, this will be just like starting High School back home in Melbourne. You're a natural with people; you'll fit right in. Nothing to worry about.
He certainly hoped it would be as simple as that.
"So did you do any hooking up this summer, Sid?" Jason asked her, extinguishing the butt of his own cigarette on the brick wall he was leaning casually against.
Sidney rolled her eyes. "Please. In this town? Like I'd want to."
The truth was, she hadn't gone out much at all. Being a year younger than the majority of her classmates meant that she also had the disadvantage of being the only one of her friends still unable to drive. No license meant she had to rely on public transport most of the time, and taxis were expensive at night. So, aside from the occasional trip to the overcrowded nightclubs that were so attractive to teens but certainly not to her, she'd shamefully spent most of her summer holidays sitting at home every weekend, wishing, and fantasizing, that she was elsewhere. Usually in a crowded pub with a live band playing her favorite songs, and accompanied by a very sexy male companion
Her friend, Megan, laughed at her cynical reply. "Oh come on. They're not all bad. There was that one guy…"
Sidney shuddered as the forgotten memory resurfaced. Megan had decided to drag her along to Insanity, one of the favored nightclubs of most of the students at her school. She had drunk a lot, and he had appeared out of nowhere, his hands slipping smoothly around her waist before she'd even realized he was dancing behind her. He turned her around to face him, and in her distorted vision, his brown eyes were enchanting. She had wrapped her arms around him and they had danced for a while, before exchanging rough kisses in the middle of the dance floor. They hadn't even bothered with names. Sidney preferred it that way. It was easier to forget them in the morning.
"That guy was an animal, especially to be taking advantage of me when I was so drunk."
Megan and Jason shared a knowing laugh, and Sidney knew they were remembering that this had happened before, and not only once or twice.
She sighed, as their laughter continued. "Okay, so maybe I'm a little promiscuous when I'm intoxicated. But it's Megan's fault! I hate nightclubs."
Her argument only made her friends laugh harder. Frustrated, she turned away from them and began to make her way towards the school entrance. So she had kissed a few slobs in her time, so what? She was a teenager, it was what she was supposed to be doing, wasn't it? There was a part of her, however, that was disgusted by her own actions. Yes, she had kissed plenty of guys, but not a single one had been a familiar face to her, and some of their faces she could barely remember the morning after. She had been drunk every single time.
"Come on, Sid," Megan consoled her, her laughter subsiding, "you know we're just mucking around. Where are you going?"
Sidney had not turned back to her friends when Megan began speaking, and so they had started to walk behind her. Sidney stopped and turned back to face them.
"First day of school, remember? That means we should probably get to class." She adjusted her bag once more as she waited for them to catch up.
"You're pretty keen," Ryan replied, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.
Sidney shrugged, as the three of them headed towards the entrance. "I guess I just want this year to be different," she answered truthfully. After all, this was grade 12, the final year before everyone broke apart and went their separate ways. She still wasn't sure what exactly it was she wanted out of life, but she was sure it wouldn't hurt to focus on her schoolwork for once.
Megan grinned at her friend. "Are we going to have a new and improved Sidney to play with this year?" she teased.
Sidney grinned back at her intelligent friend, wondering, not for the first time, how their friendship had grown over the years. Megan, who had only been there for company while Sidney and Jason had their morning cigarette, was a typical good girl; good grades, good morals, sensible and always looking towards the future. Even when they went out together, Megan had never touched a drop of liquor. Sidney seemed to be her complete opposite, but over the last few weeks she had been thinking that maybe that could change.
"I guess we'll have to wait and see," came her reply.
