AU: to a friend. :D

Music:

Is This It - Kate Walsh

ENJOY OR ELSE.

Clichéd.

It was just another typical school day in Meryton, and the highest social group on the ever important social ladder was milling around and being their usual selves.

I do not regret being a part of this group, nope. The guys were funny, the girls were good and it was, all in all, entertaining. A good waste of four years that I don't need. We had laughs and parties, we drank and did the usual stereotypical stuff. It was all going along swimmingly. I, Michael Rutherford, was happy being a stereotypical jock. It's not like it was too bad.

But we just had to, had to have a stupid bet-game.

I'm sure you're familiar with the ever clichéd jocks-bet-on-getting-a-certain-girl. Or the even more clichéd jocks-bet-on-getting-a-certain-girl-who-is-nerdy-but-pretty-on-the-inside. Though we'd played these games before, this time, it was different.

Just... different.

Different, because this time, I was the one who was defending myself and betting that I could get this girl. This time, I was the one who had the most work to do, and I was pretty sure that though I'd be laughing afterwards, I certainly wouldn't be laughing for some time.

This was because my fellow friends and the cheerleaders of Meryton Secondary School decided that the girl chosen for me was Lyra Walsh, the resident Ice and Nerd Queen.

There are the girls who are definitely... material, I guess. In movies like She's All That and 10 Things I Hate About You, both of them are actually quite attractive and pretty, except for their reserved and slightly feministic behaviour. But Lyra Walsh had none of these qualities at all.

When I watched her striding down the hall, she reminded me more of a beast than a girl or a human being. She had crimson black hair, mane-like and untamed. It drifted to her lower back, and her long bangs hung down into her eyes, hiding their ugly shade of a quite plain brown. Her skin was blemished, but not horribly so, I suppose. But there was just something about her face that I didn't like. Arrogance, maybe. Conceit, maybe.

Or maybe it was just... not for me.

She was rather tall for a girl, almost my height, which was gargantuan. She had an Ice Queen persona, but earned grades that were sure to get her a scholarship. She had no friends, unless you counted an unusual set of twins named Owen and Oliver Erickson. But they would come into play later.

The clothes she wore were not normal. They looked as if they had honestly been donated by a goth grandmother. They didn't fit her quite properly, and drowned her figure (if she even had one?). Her shoes clopped loudly as she'd trample down the halls, and were a warning to any students that might've been in her way.

In sum, she was a terrifying beast.

And that highest social group I'm a part of wanted me to tame her.

I played it off like it was completely cool and like I'd have it done in a week, but inside, I knew that it would take way more than just myself to do anything.

How would I ever accomplish this task?

First, I needed to figure out just how bad the situation was. Maybe she wasn't that bad. I actually hadn't seen her or interacted with her up close before, since I'd never had the good fortune of being in her class.

Can you sense my obvious sarcasm?

"Michael! Have you been able to figure anything out?" my 'best friend', Trent Polkis yelled down the hall. He was nice and rich, but he was not the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Dude, it's only been like... a day. Give me time," I said, rubbing my forehead tiredly. We had only decided on the bet that morning; if I had been able to completely it by then, I would've surely thought that I was a miracle worker.

Luckily, it was lunch now, a chance for me to watch.

Trent followed me into the cafeteria, and as expected, the two of us already had trays waiting at our table. The head cheerleader, a perky redhead named Kate Ashford, glued herself to my side as I sat down. She began to rant about something, but as I shoved some random fries down my throat and took a swig of my drink, my eyes and mind were already prowling the room for that girl.

And then, she came in.

For some reason, she seemed a little different than usual. Flocked at her sides were the Erickson twins, who were doing odd gestures in the air and directing unwanted attention to the trio. As she passed by our table, I couldn't help but hold my breath for a second.

Her mane of hair, which was remarked to be 'rather dry' by Kate, swayed with her walk. The twins said something that made her laugh, and her mouth, encased by red lips, turned into a rare but beautiful smile. Her teeth were rather white, not from bleaching like the other cheerleaders, but from good hygienic routines. Her skin was rather pale, but it... it matched her.

"Michael? Michael Rutherford, get your head back here!" Kate's whiny voice forced me to look in her direction to tell her to shut up. "God, why are you looking at her? And why are the fucking Erickson twins with her? She doesn't deserve to be with them, the little bitch."

She was just so graceful and lady like, right?

"Look at them, Michael. The twins could easily be with us, so easily. They have the right face, and the way they walk... it just fits in, you know?"

"But they don't want to," I said dully, having said it more than a few times. "They rejected our offer, and that was that."

"Personally, I think that-"

"Oh, just shut up," I snapped, annoyed.

Kate was, technically, right. The twins were good looking and sought after by many girls, and when they first arrived, it was predicted that they would join our group immediately. To Kate's dismay, it didn't work out like that. They were drawn to the freakish Lyra Walsh, and seemed to be the only ones that she trusted at all in the whole school population.

What was so special about them anyway? Why did she accept them like that? If they could do it, I could too, right?

In a spurt of courage, I got up from my seat, tearing myself away from Kate and walking determinedly towards their table in the corner of the cafe. When I arrived at her table, she stopped mid-laugh and the twins turned with unusually syncopated movements, and stared at me.

"What do you want?" she said with no specific feeling in her intonation.

"Oh, be merciful," Owen (or was it Oliver?) said.

"Not everyone is a conniving womanizer," the other one finished.

"Gentle sir, is there something you wish to acquire?" the first one asked, cordially.

"See, Lyra? That's how you do it."

"Then maybe you two should just talk to him," she said, crossing her arms and looking away.

Confused, I tried to get a word in. "I wanted to talk to you, actually."

"Oh, little old me?" Lyra said with a girly mocking voice. "Whatever could you need?"

The twins suddenly became a little protective, their body language reflecting their feelings.

"I wanted to ask you-"

Horribly timed, the bell rung. Thankful for a reason to get away from me (I guess), Lyra jumped up from her seat with more enthusiasm than I'd ever seen come from her. For a moment, underneath the black bangs, I could see a flicker of colour. Were they from her eyes? What colour were her eyes anyway?

"Sorry, kid. Hope you do better next time," Owen (Oliver?) clapped me on the shoulder as he walked by, and when things came back to focus, they were gone and I was staring at an empty table.

This is going to be way harder than I thought.

I wasn't really listening when my gang had decided to beat up the twins. I was still trying to figure out how the heck I'd be able to win Lyra over. The specifics of the bet stated that I had to take her out on five dates, and she had to be willing each time. I couldn't threaten her, since she was more probable to defeat me in whatever I asked. I couldn't blackmail her since no one knew that much about her and she had done nothing scandalous.

I was running out of ideas, and fast. It seemed like the only way I could ever accomplish things would be by gaining her trust, and I didn't have enough patience for that stupid stuff.

The end of the day came soon. I followed the gang instinctively outside, and they stalked their prey as the school parking lot emptied slowly. If it had only been a few jocks against the twins, they probably would've lost. From what they had seen, the twins were a fearsome partnership, and their potential ability was still unknown. However, enraged by their rejections (as were all stupid teenagers, that including me), they decided to take the idiotic route and beat them up for disobeying the all-powerful high school hierarchy.

Owen and Oliver were at their car, the two of them conversing over the roof of it when we arrived. At that point, I still didn't know what they were doing, and had assumed that it wasn't impulsive. I was wrong about that.

"My, my," one of them started, "why do we have so many visitors today?"

"Yes, first, Michael at lunch, and now these good students!"

"Are you mocking us?!" Trent yelped, resembling an angered chihuahua.

"No, my liege. Of course not," one of them drawled.

"This is for rejecting us!" another jock yelled as he stepped towards them menacingly. The twins didn't make any move to defend themselves, but I realized quickly what they were about to do. The two of them versus the rest of us, including the screeching cheerleaders, would not turn out so well.

I stepped in quickly, right in between Brett (the jock) and the twins.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

"We discussed this, remember? They defied us. We keep the order here."

"Brett, this is the 21st century and we are not living in the medieval times. Nor are you Mary Antoinette," I smirked. "Why can't we just leave them alone? I mean, you don't see anyone giving you beef for liking Spongebob Squarepants."

"Dude!"

The twins looked at each other and gave twin grins, something forming in their heads that was imperceptible from our views.

"Fine," Trent said. Trent was, pretty much, the leader. He and I ruled the group, and kept things in order. As to why Trent would've agreed to beating the twins up, that was a mystery to me too. "Let's go."

They left, but I didn't move.

The car door slammed and I heard them shuffle behind me. I turned around to see the twins and, who other then, Lyra.

"'Dude'," they said, imitating the way we talked, "thank you." For some reason, they bowed a little bit. "We are indebted to you! We must do something in thanks!"

They came closer to me, whispering in my ear.

"Nothing too weird though," they smirked.

In front of me, Lyra stood with her hands on her hips and her strong stature. I couldn't really tell, but I think she was staring at me, analyzing me. I could feel her eyes on mine.

"I want... five dates with her," I whispered, just loud enough for the twins to hear.

They looked at each other, sharing thoughts without speaking. Then, they held out their hands for me to shake.

"A done deal."

R&R?

Grah.

-chewyyyyyyyyyy.