Thursday, February 21, 2008

Stacey could hardly believe she was doing this, but impulsive decisions were weird like that. Her locker and Skylar's were both on the same second floor of the history building, separated by only a short distance in the center of the hallway. While he was in the middle of sorting through his things on the other side of that small metal door, Skylar abruptly jumped when Stacey grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face her. Before either of them could say hello, she got straight to the point: "I need chocolate."

Skylar shrugged with a justified mix of shock and disbelief. "You couldn't need some two days ago?"

"No," she said. "But I'm craving some now, and you were the first person I thought of when that urge hit me." She looked up and down his body, in his hands, and in his locker, and asked, when none of those places appeared to have what she wanted, "So where's the chocolate, Skylar?"

"I gave it to someone else! They ate it all!"

"Why would you do that?" she said. "My mind could've changed, you know that!"

"No, I didn't!"

Stacey sighed and glanced around them at the students enjoying their snack break. When she'd calmed down to at least some degree, she returned her gaze to Skylar and told him, "Well, you'd better get some."

"What's stopping you from getting chocolate yourself? Or from somebody besides me?"

"I don't want that! I want your chocolate, Skylar!"

"What the hell difference does it make?"

"You've already pissed me off once," Stacey said, with a threatening finger and a glare in his direction. "Do you really want to do it again?"

"All right, fine, I'll get you your damn chocolate!"

"Good man." She lowered her hand—only to lift it back up again to straighten the hair she'd blown out of order on her fast walk over to him—and stood around for a minute, waiting and people-watching again. She knew she had no real reason to stay; she'd made the order for her chocolate and it probably wouldn't arrive for her until tomorrow, but a worrying connection between herself and Skylar was being formed here, and the worst part was she was completely sober as it was happening.

"You know," Skylar said, "you can go now, if you want."

"I know."

"Oh. Okay." After another awkward silence, he made things even more awkward by asking, "Are you pregnant?"

"What?" she gasped. "No!"

"I just thought, with the violent mood swings, and the food cravings, and the admitted promiscuity, you might be—"

"But I'm not."

"Okay, good. So if you're not pregnant, why the sudden need for chocolate?"

"I'm feeling ugly again," she admitted. "And I needed something besides booze to help me deal with the pain. Chocolate's good for the heart, you know."

"That's what I hear," Skylar nodded. "But do I have to remind you how very not-ugly you are? Seriously, what's putting these thoughts into your head?"

"Not important," Stacey said, figuring that the best way to deal with this particular problem was to try and convince herself that it didn't exist, in spite of the near-daily reminders at this point. "Just give me the thing that gets rid of them."

"Is somebody telling you these things?" Skylar said, getting noticeably tense and foolishly protective. "Because that person is an asshole, and you should tell someone if they are."

"I just want my chocolate."

"I just want my money," Adam Vegerano said after some needless negotiating with the middleman, Sloane Rivers, between himself and the one who'd been paying him for almost a month now. Nodding, the beautiful, if overly expressionless brunette sophomore handed the black-haired freshman boy his hundred dollars at a secluded corner of the school during the lunch break, and he stuffed it into his pocket. "Thank you," Adam said.

"You shouldn't feel too bad," Sloane said, making Adam roll his eyes and scoff. "Look at me: I'm seeing the guy who ruined my last relationship, but at least I have some company."

"Get better company," Adam suggested.

"Want me to tell him you said that?" Sloane said.

"No," he said. "It was just an opinion, let's leave it at that."

"Good. Because he wouldn't like you talking down about him like that."

Adam nodded and was preparing to walk away, when Sloane whistled at him to turn back around. "What? What is it now?"

"Would you like some company, Adam?" she asked, the good intentions in her words masking the unfortunate implications underneath. "Because he can help arrange that for you."

"As a matter of fact, Sloane, yes, I would like some female companionship. But since the girl I've fallen for is also the one I'm being paid to insult every day, not only can I not ask her out, the money I'd use if I could take her out is tainted."

"We know that."

"And you're completely okay with this? Because my conscience is pissed; Jiminy Cricket would kick my ass if he heard I was being this stupid." He whistled, as if hoping for an instant solution, which of course didn't happen. "Fuck," he muttered.

"The only thing keeping you here is you, Adam," Sloane reminded him.

"And the apparent greed I didn't know I had."

"Fifteen hundred bucks is nothing to be ashamed of having."

"It is when you should know better!"

"How have you been using it?"

"I haven't, because I'd feel bad and someone would probably notice if I did!" He turned to Sloane and asked, with some hesitation as he anticipated the possible answers, "Why, how have you been spending it?"