`` spread the rumors

[Cole Bishop]

------------------------------------------

------ So far it had been just another day in Cole Liam Bishop's life. He had woken up, made his dad a drink for his hangover, putting it next to him as he dozed on the couch, cleaned up some spilt chips off the floor and wobbling coffee table, careful to be quiet as to not wake his father. After that was done, he quickly brushed his teeth and put on fresh boxers before heading out of the little run down house in the Shaks. He stayed out doing random things until about six before going back home and getting some dinner ready. Cole may not be a professional chef or have any real talent there but I bet you he was a better cook than most guys in Valkyrie due solely to the fact that he had to cook for his father a fair deal now that his mother was gone. You see to Russle Bishop, Cole's father, it was the woman's place to do the cooking and cleaning and child rearing and to maintain her looks. But after she died, and with his older brother gone, it was Cole job most nights. But it was not every night. While Cole's dad was unreasonable, the way he figured was the Cole was not his wife, but his kid and a male and therefore didn't have to do everything, every night. If Cole had been born female, I guarantee you that the beating Cole receives for talking back, not being home on time, forgetting to do something, etc, would instead be delivered for meals not cooked to Dad's impossible level of perfection. It was just how the world worked in the man's eyes. Women had no purpose in the work place and they had no right thinking about anything other than making their man happy. Feed him, clean his house, have his kids, etc. Very 1950s mentality but the old time image of the family, all clean and edited to perfection eating together happily was far from the Bishop family, everyone knew that.

------ Cole wasn't really making a nice dinner or anything. He was just making a quick pb&j sandwich. It was Saturday, that meant after work his dad was going out for drinks with some of the boys. He twisted the cap back onto the raspberry jam and put it back in the fridge. All of a sudden he jumped slightly, startled, as he heard the screen door of the old house slam shut behind someone. Cole shut the fridge door as he heard the sound of a man walking, and stumbling around slightly. It was dad. Drunk and back early. Usually Saturdays, Cole would get out of the house before he returned. He came into the kitchen and leaned against the doorway with a chuckle before seeing Cole and trying to look a bit more serious. "You make one for your pop?" He asked fighting down a drunken stupor. Cole looked down at the finished sandwich and nodded, "Yeah. Here." Cole reached up and grabbed a plate, tossing the sandwich on it for him. The man took the food and took a bite. As he chewed, Cole just put the dirty knives from the jam and peanut butter in the sink, rinsing them a bit first. He tied the bread bag off and looked over at his father as the man stumbled a bit getting to the table, "You're home early tonight.". His dad nodded from the table, "Some of the guys had to go home for some wife thing..." he chuckled, "pathetic really, so glad I never let a nagging wife control me." Cole shook his head slightly, that was his one really sore topic. His mother. When Cole was a kid, his mom was the only parent he felt safe around.

------ Cole sighed a bit before crossing his arms over his chest, "yeah she definitely didn't control you." Cole muttered under his breath but Russle still heard. He was quickly standing and looking at his boy, "And what's that supposed to mean, boy?" Cole hardly reacted as the man stood more threateningly towards him, "Nothing Dad, I was-" "- I mean I know you get sensitive about this shit, you were always a bit of a chicken-shit mama's boy." Cole rolled his eyes and pushed off the kitchen counter, "Yeah, that's what I meant." He replied sarcastically as he walked into the living room, his dad following and turning him around by grabbing his arm forcefully. "God! What?!" Cole asked instinctively and clearly annoyed causing the back of his dad's hand to come slamming against his eye and cheekbone region, the ring causing a small cut as it passed but that was nothing to the familiar sting of the impact. Russle pointed at his boy as Cole held a hand to the side of his face not looking at him, Russle controlled his voice, kept it stern, "You know better than to talk to me like that" He said, rage in his tone, but still controlled. Cole turned and looked at him as Russle sighed, "I don't understand you kid." Well obviously, Cole replied in his head as he dropped his hand. Cole kept his mouth shut as Russle shook his head slightly, that and the alcohol causing him to catch himself a bit on the railing on the stairs. He shrugged, "Anyways, I'm gonna go pass out, you watch yourself."

------ Cole watched his dad hobble up the stairs and waited for the sound of the shutting bedroom door before he moved. Rolling his eyes and exhaling the breath he'd been holding. Cole grabbed his sweatshirt from off the couch and pulled it over him as he made his way outside, skipping down the stairs of the run down front porch. He pulled the hood up and put his hands in his pockets as he walked down the street. It was finally warming up after the snow storm but it was still rather chilly out. His mother was always a sore issue for Cole. His dad was right, even he had meant it as an insult, cole had always been a momma's boy. But can you really blame him? Look at who is other parental figure was. She had died when he was 14. The night of her funeral was the night that changed his reputation at the Academy from just normal shak trash to the nutjob shak trash who set CiCi's Brewery on fire. CiCi's was an old brewing factory that's been shut down since forever. Now it's abandoned and mostly just a place a lot of shak kids party, even some of the more hardcore valk types. It was a party spot on the weekends and every so often a homeless person might sleep in it. A lot of drug deals go down there too. He was confused after the funeral. Even he didn't know if he set it on fire on purpose.

------ The tall but thin boy turned the corner as music became audible. He ran his hand through his hair and looked around before he headed inside the house. He smiled as he saw all the familiar faces inside the house. Literally he knew almost all. Shaks kids tended to know eachother. Some trashy blonde came up and called out his name happily before she shot her arms around his neck pulling him down in order to kiss him on the cheek, a big rather wet one. He wiped his cheek with his sleeve, "Hey linda..." Cole said warmly but with maybe a hint of annoyance which the already wasted girl did not notice at all. She just grinned as she smacked her gum and another friend of Cole's came up and wrapped his arm around Linda's shoulder, "Cole, my man..." the newcomer, Jerrod, greeted. Linda grinned and shifted her weight from hip to hip, "We thought you weren't coming Cole-y" she stated in a slightly higher than natural voice as though she were trying to be cute. Cole just shrugged, "I figured I'd make an appearance" Jerrod chuckled and let go of Linda before wrapping his arm around Cole instead, "Glad you could fit us into your schedule." Cole took Jerrod's hand and threw it off him in a friendly annoyed manner before Jerrod continued. "Anyways, free beer in the kitchen dude." He began as he took Linda's hand. as he walked off he added, "And I guess I should see the other guy right?" Jerrod pointed to his own area in order to make a point. Believe me, Cole got it. He nodded but rolled his eyes as he turned around. It pissed him off that most people knew, he liked to pretend they didn't.

------ With that he moved through the house, waving off a couple people before he got to the back exit. Say what you will about the quality of the houses of the shaks but some of them, you step outside and you're at the beach. There were only a couple people out there. It was cold but peaceful. He sighed and stepped closer to the railing separating the back yard from solid beach and leaned down on his forearms before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his smokes and lighting one up. Why did he come to this party he wasn't too thrilled to be at? Well, think about it. Either here or home.

------------------------------------------

STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; the epicness of seriah
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'Spread the Rumors' by Socratic
CLOTHES;; here
NOTES;; yay first cole post, he flows pretty well for me, yay. And this is definitely longer than I meant it to be lol sorry

[Seriah Worthington]

• • • • •

. . . .Gasps escaped from her pale lips, and little beads of water were beginning to form on her forehead. She turned this way and that, restless as usual while she slept. It was a dream nightmare she was often plagued by, but every one in a while her subconscious mind seemed to torture her with memories of the darker side of her past. The scream would come soon, it usually did. She could feel him, grabbing her, her shoulders being tossed this way and that. Why had she always felt so helpless against him? And then she was shocked into reality with an unpleasant dosage of ice water being poured on her. Seriah was on the verge of hyperventilation when she finally woke up, blinking rapidly to shake the frightening pictures from her mind and trying to make sense of where she was. Sometimes she forgot she was no longer in New York, no longer in that house. It was a comfort, and an annoyance, to see her long lost twin brother, Teddy, standing over her, shaking her shoulders, ”Sera, wake up, seriously!” The girl jolted forward, confused, ”Teddy, are you stupid?” The ice water had become apparent to her again since she was shivering. He let go of her shoulders, which he’d been shaking to wake her up, and sat back, ”You were doing it again. Tossing, turning… talking… I’m sure you wanted to be woken up.” Well, it was true. It wasn’t like the end of that nightmare got any better than the first half of it. In fact, it got much worse. It was a relief to be woken up, but like she was going to admit that. Ice water? That wasn’t necessary, ”Are you really that idiotic that you can’t think of a better way to wake me up than giving me hypothermia?!”

[/color] she snapped, scowling at him. He sat back, shrugging. Poor kid, he was probably used to her hostile mood swings by now. And even when she’d just met him, they never really seemed to faze him. She loved Teddy with her entire heart, she really did, but sometimes she wondered if the kid ever used his brain. ”Where is Jessica?”[/color] she sighed, letting it go. Normally when she was woken up from those restless dreams it was by her new adoptive mother, Jessica Kingsley. She was always… more kind with her methods though. Teddy grinned, completely unhurt by the way she was ‘thanking’ him, ”She and dad went out for the day.” What the hell? She’d only been taking a nap. It couldn’t be any later than noon. She never napped for more than an hour. So how had she missed this? Glancing at the clock, her jaw dropped. Four o’clock. ”I’ve been asleep for five hours…” her voice trailed off in a pathetic tone, it sounded more like a question. ”Yeah, nice to have you back Sleeping Beauty. They wanted us to come, but they didn’t want to wake you. And I didn’t feel comfortable leaving you home alone, so I stayed.” Oh lord, what a typical “Teddy” thing to do. Seriah sat up, pulling a blanket up since she was beginning to shiver, ”We’ve talk about this. You don’t need to be my watch dog all the time. I can take care of myself,”[/color] her voice was calm, and about as affectionate as it ever got. ”I know, Ser, but you’re technically my little sister. I should be around to watch out for you,” he smiled. Seriah had never been good at the whole “sentimental” thing. So she shook her head violently, and her hair showered Teddy with water droplets, ruffled his hair, and trotted up the stairs and to the shower.

. . . .Why did her so-called father’s face still haunt her? It was really starting to get old. It was funny how it didn’t really scare Seriah, traumatize her, or even make her a wee bit sad. In fact, the nightmares just annoyed her. Sure, while asleep and it seemed like it was real, she wasn’t all too happy, but after the screams and breathing issues, it was more aggravating than anything. She felt like he was trying to piss her off by not letting her forget. I mean, it really hadn’t even been a year since she was still in his custody, and plenty of people were often mentally impaired or something after going what she’d been through. Sure, she only stopped doing the one thing she loved in life, and became a total dark side bitch, but considering how some other people in her position ended up, she really wasn’t all too upset with the results. It wasn’t like she’d ever been Miss Sally Sunshine, anyways… though her life did take a turn for the worse when she was only a little girl, so she never had much time to develop normally. Sometimes Seriah just compared herself to Anakin Skywalker in a way, the potential of being good, and ultimately embracing their inner darkness. Yeah, he ended up becoming good again, but Seriah wasn’t killing anybody yet, and she still had a few more years before she was as worn out looking as Anakin was when he finally got a clue, so she still had no objections. And yes, Star Wars was not something she was ashamed about liking. That was all beside the point though. In fact, it wasn’t all that great of a comparison. Seriah figured that she wasn’t exciting enough to have a movie made about her life. She was pretty boring, pretty average… never even hit up a party, and she took a swig of vodka once in her life because of a rare exchange she had with Artie Ellis, but otherwise, that was out of the question too. World record for the most boring teenager in the world? Yeah, that belonged to her. She wasn’t, and never really had been, into the party scene or a socialite of any sort. Basically the opposite of Teddy. People probably didn’t even know they were related. He was popular, she wasn’t. He was a sweetheart, she wasn’t. He was musical, she wasn’t, anymore. He was happy…. she wasn’t. So many differences, and yet they were twins. He sure got the good split side of their separation though. Jessica and Harry were amazing. They were probably the best parents she could imagine, and it was almost heartbreaking when she first met them, wondering why she couldn’t have been blessed with them form the start. She could remember when she was a little girl, praying to God every night for a better parents… for two parents. Sure, the wish came about a decade late, but at least it came true. Her new family was the one optimistic point in her life. They were wonderful. She was never even annoyed with them. Even the incident that just happened with Teddy dumping water on her, it didn’t really make her all that mad. It was just a natural reaction to be rude in response. Something she’d developed over the years.

. . . .It didn’t take the girl long to get ready. She never put much thought into her clothing, just throwing on a couple shirts, knowing it was still a little chilly outside even though the snow had melted; some jeans, and shoes. Seriah didn’t put on any make up… she didn’t really need it, though her eyes popped a lot more when she did. Didn’t matter though, it wasn’t like she was looking to impress the public. She braided her hair loosely to her shoulder. ”Seriah?” she heard Teddy’s voice as he knocked on her door, ”Come in,” she muttered. He did as she mentioned and sat on her bed, ”How about… we go out tonight?” Sera looked back at him, on eyebrow raised skeptically. He put his hands up in front of him like her was trying to calm down a psychopath, ”Nothing big, I promise. But please come? You never do anything. You need to have fun.” The girl rolled her eyes, ”Go without me,”[/color] He got up, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, ”Please Ser? You might like it,” ”Or I might hate it…” she retorted casually. There was no use in refusing him though. He was a persistent one and the begging eventually got to her, ”Fine,” she allowed. He broke into that heart winning grin and trotted out of her room. It was later by this time, and Teddy was practically pushing Seriah out the door. She didn’t have the heart to back out, but she was looking for any excuse to get out of leaving. That was when Harry and Jessica walked through the front door, just as they were about to leave, ”Where are you two going?” Jessica asked a little suspiciously. Seriah gave a hopeful half smile, ”To a party where I’m sure people will be drunk and feeling each other up. I guess we’ll just go—“ she spat quickly, but Jessica laughed, ”We trust you guys, go have fun.” Lord, did they always just let Teddy out with such blunt explanations? Or were they simply happy that she was getting out of the house? She sighed in defeat as her brother grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the house, ”Cool Seriah, really cool,” he grumbled, almost irritated with her. She shrugged, not really feeling the need to apologize. If the opportunity came around, she’d probably do the whole thing over again and try even harder to make her newly adoptive parents mad and force them to stay home. Being in trouble was better than socializing. She followed Teddy to his car, hopped in the passenger seat, and groaned, ”You’re not gonna ditch me, are you?” He laughed, ”Course not.” And then he started the car and drove down the street, only about five minutes away. They could have walked, but then they’d have to walk home too. Seriah would probably end up walking home either way, she wasn’t sure she could last five minutes in this party. They pulled up to some house, nothing spectacular about it, and Teddy parked. Getting out, Sera followed him into the house hesitantly. As soon as they entered though, Teddy disappeared with some kid he’d grown up with and Seriah found herself stranded.

. . . .Well so much for not being ditched. She had half a mind to just turn around and walk home from the beginning, but she didn’t want to have to explain to Harry and Jessica what she was doing back only five, ten, minutes later. So she sucked it up and strolled through the room, her expression showing obvious disgust for the music, dancing, alcohol, people… everything. With the way she was acting she could have passed for a spoiled valk girl entering the shaks for the first time. That wasn’t how she really felt, but she was just over all angry that she was stuck at this party in the first place with nobody she knew. Hell, nobody really even looked familiar. Shows how much she pays attention to people who live in her own neighborhood or who are in classes with her. Just as she was slipping passed somebody, a guy stumbled towards her and his cliché little plastic red cup spun out of control in her direction, and soon enough she was drenched in beer, ”What the fuu—“ she began, but made a gagging sound in the middle of her sentence, the smell of it already driving her insane. She looked down at her now drenched shirt and back up at the guy, her eyebrows furrowing and her jaw flexing as it clenched together. He laughed stupidly, ”Sorry babe, no harm done, right?” Instead of even replying, she turned towards the nearest exit, two fingers pinching her shirt away from her body. She ended up out the backdoor and into the backyard. For a second she was a bit happier. Scenic views were something she’d always appreciated, and the beach behind this unseemingly wealthy house in the shaks was something she loved. But then she shivered and cussed under her breath, throwing out every insult she could think of to the boy who spilt it on her, not that he could hear her. She walked out to the railing, and soon enough choked from the smell of smoke too. God, couldn’t these kids be… clean? She looked over and saw a familiar face with something glowing between his lips. It was the dweeb from school who was immensely annoying. What’s new, though? She glared at him for a second, ”You do realize you are currently murdering me with that stupid little cancer stick, right?” she hissed. And then she raised her eyebrows and gave a big, fake smile, ”I mean, oh… smoking? That’s sooo hot,” her tone was artificially sweet, taking on a somewhat valley girl tone.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

• • • • •

TAGGED!sole<3 so excited.
STATUS!complete.
WORDCOUNT!2,173!
NOTES!hope it's okay :] we weren't starting out with the creeper thing in the first posts, right? if i was supposed to i can just adjust it.
OUTFIT!here!
MUSIC!breakaway - kelly clarkson
LYRICS!gravity - sara bareilles
CREDIT!me.

[Cole Bishop]

------------------------------------------

------ Everything was simple and everything was complicated. It was a strange contradiction that life always seemed able to achieve. It was a talent, Cole had to give the world props. Although perhaps not as impressive as starbusts and Scott-Koreans. It's just, if he needed to, he could sum up his life very quickly. He was born, his dad's abusive, his brother left, mom died and now it's just Cole and pops. Simple. But the details, the motives, the reactions, the emotions, the fire at CiCi's... Complicated. Cole liked to pretend it didn't effect him nearly as much as it did. What really bothered him wasn't home but that everyone in the shaks usually knew about it. They could hear the fighting from outside the house's paper thin walls and they could see the clear bruises on Cole just as many had seen his mother adorning a few years earlier. Cole was a rather private type person. He didn't feel the need to air his dirty laundry in public. He didn't want that kind of attention and yet he had only made it worse with the fire at CiCi's, I mean, that's not exactly a sane, private kind of action, now is it? He really didn't know whether he did it on purpose or not. He had been in sort of a daze. It's like he wanted to see it in flame but didn't even comprehend what it being in flames would be or mean. It was a hard moment to explain but Cole remembered the moment as if it were a day dream. He was day dreaming about lighting the place up but instead of it being in his head, he had actually done it. And even as it burst up, he didn't register. He saw the flames and he felt the warmth of the heat radiating off of it but to him it was nothing but light moving. It wasn't fire, it was a dance. Something to keep his eyes distracted. To him, it was still a day dream as his friends tugged on his arm trying to get him out of there. The only moment he woke up and realized it was real was when he heard the man inside exclaim in pain from the inside.

------ Cole had run back inside to help. He still had the large burn scare running up his calf on his right leg. Whatever. Didn't matter now, it was done right? That night made him known to the rich kids too, fabulous. But you know? The rich kids, and the popular kids didn't know anything about him, nothing real at least, so that was a bit of comfort and his shak friends who knew, also knew better than to talk about it with him. But what really no one knew except for those who had been around about seven/eight years ago and still remembered, was that Cole had a brother, Logan. Logan ran away when he was 16 and Cole was ten. But back then, before he left, his dad had really only ever focused on their mother. Logan was angry at their mother, he blamed her and then after one beating, his first and only, he took off without so much as a goodbye to Cole as he had pretended to be asleep. Logan ran like a coward. Didn't even come back for their mother's funeral four years later. Cole hadn't seen him since he left all those years ago. He wouldn't want to. As far as Cole was concerned, he didn't have a brother. He was the little brother of the shaks. Logan was just a stranger.

------ Didn't matter. Logan was never at home when he was around anyways. He was always out with his friends. Not that Cole didn't spend excessive amounts of time away from the house as well but he didn't have a kid brother or a mom to help, at least not anymore he didn't. Cole pulled the cigarette back up to his mouth and took another hit. He hated it when people thought they should warn him about the health problems cigarettes caused. One, he had been smoking since he was ten after his mom attempted suicide. Two, who fucking cares if it'll cut a few years off his life span? Who wants to live to be so old anyways? Because it sure as hell wasn't him. He didn't smoke because it was cool or sexy, he smoked because it calmed him down and gave him something to do. He enjoyed it. He knows the dangers already, and he doesn't fucking care, just like every smoker on the planet, so the anti-smoke can give it a fucking rest. They're not changing anything. Fucking bullshit man. He exhaled and watched as the smoke escaped towards the dark waves from the ocean hitting the sand. The beach looked different at night. Cole glanced over his shoulder as he heard some footsteps followed by muttered cursing underneath someones breath, he quickly turned his head back around rolling his eyes, kinda hoping she didn't see him. But honestly he didn't really fucking care. She was just some bitchy chick from his class at school. They were forced to sit next to each other and for some reason, he rubbed her the wrong way and she decided he was dirt. Whatever. He was used to it from the Valk kids anyways.

------ Cole simply ignored her presence and took another hit from his cigarette when he internally had to groan as he heard her voice begin to speak. ”You do realize you are currently murdering me with that stupid little cancer stick, right?” Cole rolled his eyes not even looking at her as she then continued, ”I mean, oh… smoking? That’s sooo hot,” Cole smirked slightly as shook his head ever so slightly before turning his head to face her, still leaning against the railing, "Oh damn, you discovered my evil plan." He replied sarcastically putting his hands up in mock surrender before shrugging, "We're outside, you can handle it princess." He added condescendingly. Cole was usually an easy enough person to get along with but he wasn't going to let anyone treat him like shit. Well, at least no one else. He got enough crap at home... "You don't approve you can walk away, although I might miss your incredibly spot on Paris Hilton impression." He said half nonchalantly and half sarcastically as he looked back out at the water

------------------------------------------

STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; the epicness of seriah
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'Spread the Rumors' by Socratic
CLOTHES;; here
NOTES;; lol its fine, I figured that was a bit later like when she was on her way home or something, but lol I love them already

[Seriah Worthington]

• • • • •

. . . .Sometimes Seriah couldn’t help but wonder who she would have been prior to her father taking up psychopath syndrome. What if she would have ended up perfect; the girl everybody loved. Or maybe she would have been of the religious sort; a nun, a saint, a martyr? She might have ended up a spoiled brat, or the most amazing pianist with Julliard drooling at her heels. How would her personality have shaped if her mother had never commit suicide, or if her father hadn’t become a disgusting alcoholic afterwards? Maybe she would have ended up a model, hell she had the height and weight to do it. But that wasn’t the case. None of those alternate realities were the case. It wasn’t all too bad though. It wasn’t like Seriah was ashamed of who’d she become or of her personality. If anything, she would rather be the poor bitch than the rich bitch, the hated but misunderstood, over the hated who flaunted their life story. She wasn’t looking for pity though, she didn’t care if other people understood where she was coming from, she didn’t want them to feel bad for her or try to send her to therapy or ask her if she wanted to talk about it. No. Like hell she wanted to talk about it. Speaking of it required remembering it, and why on earth would she want to do that? She’d really never told anybody the full story. The NYPD knew, but they were the discoverers of the situation. Jessica, Harry, and Teddy were in on the loop, but not due to her courtesy, they were informed by the authorities. Some doctors and nurses at the hospital she’d been a patient at in New York were aware as well, but do you think they really remembered her? They probably saw plenty of abuse cases. She knew of at least one other one while she was there, but only because Teddy was so desperately fixated on that girl he’d only just met. But it was a good example. There was nothing special about Seriah, and she really didn’t mind it. There were plenty of people in the world with jacked up parents who were selfish and uncaring; abusive. She had a soft spot for those people, but only because she related so well. It wasn’t like she went around giving them all hugs though, she was just secretly more kind to them. She wasn’t the kind to just drop everything and make friendship bracelets with somebody just because they’d had a rough home life too. Just because somebody had shared her fate didn’t mean she was going to like them. Plain and simple. But the ones who held themselves together, they had her respect. It was tough to keep a sane state of mind after that sort of thing, she of all people would know.

. . . .Alcohol, drugs, smoking, sex… none of it interested Seriah much, especially not the last on that list. She really didn’t care much that people did it in general, but she didn’t like to put herself in the way of it, or anywhere near it for that matter. That was where her primary hate for teenagers was rooted. They went and screwed their lives up over those trivial matters, and it was stupid. Maybe if more people liked doing things that didn’t involve your typical party check list, well Seriah may have been in possession of more friends. Well, who was she kidding? That wouldn’t make her like those people anymore. She’d respect them a tad bit more than she had, but that’d be it. Parties, large groups, social scenes of any sort, that all irked her. It wasn’t something she was interest in being a part of. She didn’t care if the world knew who she was, if anybody in her classes remembered her name, if she got the invites… none of it mattered to her. When or if she was ever noticed by that tabloid queen wannabe, Scandal Star, that was when she’d consider herself a failure at life. There was no need to be popular, because how would that get anybody further in life? Where would that take you after high school? Nowhere. The social hierarchy made her sick. It was ridiculous, this was the twenty-first century, not the Elizabethan Era. Queen bees and prom kings were nothing to the rest of the world, but for some reason, the ruled schools across the country, perhaps across the world. In all honesty, Seriah was proud to live in the shaks. If she had to choose between the shaks or valks, well the sooner would win hands down. At least the kids on her street and around the neighborhood seemed real, genuinely liking each other. Then again, Seriah never really got to know anybody enough or paid enough attention to the gossip to know how true blue these shak kids really were to each other. They all seemed to stick together though, so it wasn’t something she looked down on. They had a right to be friends and to have each other’s backs even if she would never take a part in it to save her life. Teddy, for example, had plenty of friends he’d grown up with, people he’d known since he was in diapers. He even had close valk friends. So maybe there was just two sides to everything. Everybody had good and evil. They just got to choose which they decided to embrace.

. . . .Having alcohol spilt on her made her quite livid. Seriah wasn’t dressed in grungy clothes or something pulled out of a dumpster. It was nice, for her, stuff she actually liked wearing that was cute yet comfortable. For all she knew her shirt was ruined, but how much could she really know? She’d never had beer drenching her clothes before, did it stain? Guess she was going to find out sooner or later. Going outside had seemed like the best option, but the air wasn’t helping her get over the smell, it wasn’t helping at all… especially with the smoke puffing out of this kid. That just added more unbearable stench for her to deal with. Why couldn’t he suck on a popsicle or something? They tasted better, smelt better, and looked better. Plus, when was the last time you heard of a popsicle killing anybody? It may be a selfish way of thinking, but she didn’t really care what the cigarette was doing to the user’s health, she cared what it was doing to her own. Not that it’d have that great of an impact, not in one sole night, but she still figured the smell was unpleasant. He didn’t seem to care though. Sure, kill the world you worthless… but her thoughts were interrupted as he began to speak in response to her forward comments. This should be good. "Oh damn, you discovered my evil plan." She just glared at him, "We're outside, you can handle it princess." Oh pet names, something she’d always hated. She continued to stare at him with a disgusted expression as he went on, "You don't approve you can walk away, although I might miss your incredibly spot on Paris Hilton impression." Wow, good one. Seriah rolled her eyes, pursing her lips together, folding her arms across her chest, snorting a little before she spoke, ”God,”

[/color] she muttered, smiling bitterly as she shook her head slightly, looking downward, that looking back up at him, ”If I’m Paris Hilton, then you sure as hell must be Nicole Richie.”[/color] She allowed a listless laugh before saying something else, ”Anyway—“ she began, but jerked slightly when chills ran up her spine, her sense of smell becoming more and more aware of the alcoholic stench. It was like it was getting stronger by the second. She coughed unhappily, knitting her thin eyebrows together, ”Damn it.”[/color]

. . . .For a second she thought of how to get rid of the smell. She was going to die if she had to stand it a second longer. It wasn’t like she carried around perfume or body spray, or an extra shirt. Most of it was on the shirt she was wearing over her black long sleeve one, and there was a ocean… only a few yards away. She raised an eyebrow, glancing at Cole, she thought his name was, for a second, ”Excuse me for a moment, peasant,” she announced, sarcasm practically bleeding out of her words. She was obviously making a comment about him calling her “princess” earlier. It was probably a stupid, over-dramatic idea, but the smell really was driving her insane. Seriah pulled off the shirt that had absorbed most of the alcohol, and then fluidly hopped over the railing, dropping down to the beach. She didn’t even pay attention to if anybody was watching, who cares? It was public property. She walked out to the ocean slowly, already feeling better now that the smell was in her hands instead of on her body. As soon as she came to the water, she bent over and soaked the shirt in it for a few moments, then stood up and wrung it out. So much for that problem. She stood back up, and made her way back to the house. When she got to the railing she gracefully swung herself back over it, and hung the shirt over it. Lord, she probably seemed like a freak, but the smell of alcohol really didn’t bring back pleasant memories. At least the smoke wasn’t forcing her into unwilling déjà vu. She smirked sarcastically a the boy, ”So exactly how intense was that missing me, or I mean Paris Hilton, ordeal?”[/color] her voice was drenched in sarcasm and a bit of hostility.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

• • • • •

TAGGED!sole<3 so excited.
STATUS!complete.
WORDCOUNT!1,644!
NOTES!i feel like this was a rambly, random post. lol
OUTFIT!here!
MUSIC!things i'll never say - avril lavigne
LYRICS!gravity - sara bareilles
CREDIT!me.

[Cole Bishop]

------------------------------------------

------ It was still cold out from the remnants of the snow storm. All the snow had melted but the wind still had an icy feel too it when it blew. For as long as Cole could remember, nothing like that storm had ever happened. It was the first time he had ever seen snow or anything like it. It was incredible. He had always wanted to see snow. He wanted to see everything really. He had never been outside of California. Hell, he really hadn't been much further than Los Angeles even. His mother never went anywhere and neither did his father. And it's not like he has ever had enough money to go anywhere on his own. The only reason he had gone to LA once was because he had some friends who were heading down. He just sort of tagged along. He enjoyed himself but it wasn't like these were the types that wanted to go and see anything historical. No, they were all about the party scene. He may not seem like it, or maybe he did, Cole was often confused as to different people's perception of him but he was a bit of a dork when it came to history. Especially looking at it all from a political view. He would love to tour the east coast and see all the places where their constitution was fought for and put to the test. He paid attention to politics on most levels. From local to federal to international. He found the way people grouped and the interactions interesting and since he was bored with everything else this world had to offer so far he figured that was his thing. That and Star Wars, lets be serious. He enjoyed Star Trek too though. After all Star Wars was about philosophy and religion. Star Trek was about equality and respect between races and nations. He knows that trekkies and star woids tend to be in a constant battle with each other but he just could not get into that. He loved them both. But he was in no way obsessive about either. But how did we get onto science fiction from politics?

------ Back to the point, if he could, one day he would like to get into politics. He knew it wasn't a very likely dream but to be maybe a Senator or an ambassador of some sort would be incredible. And he could really help some people, make a difference, if not a small one. He just didn't know if he had the steel balls necessary for the type of cutthroat wars that ruled the political world. Cole wasn't exactly an optimistic person. Look at the state this world put itself into. Everything is just so... fucked up. This pointless war in Iraq, everyone hating the united states and yet the United states still being the best places. He was looking forward to February fifth though, not that he could vote in the primaries but he was interested in knowing who the republican and democratic candidates for the presidency in 2008 would be. Cole was having a hard time deciding between Edwards and Obama. Whatever. He would be eighteen in time to vote for the actual presidency. As for the republican primaries, he was hoping for McCain. The guy used to be a fairly decent politician. The campaign was turning him a bit dirty but Cole still had some respect for the guy. Maybe if he couldn't be an actual politician he could be a campaign manager or a speech writer, something, anything. As long as he got to be in the heat of the action and help kick some unjust ass. And while he knows its a big issue for California especially, he doesn't really care about the legalization of weed. Cole was never really a pot head but at the same time he finds it ridiculous that a murderer released from prison can get financial aid for college but a kid who was convicted once of pot possession cant. I mean, come on! how much sense does that make? He just thinks there are more important issues to deal with, like education, seeing as a large percentage of Americans can't even find their home country on the map.

------ Think about it, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader actually has more losers than winners.... it's a problem. Especially for the public schools. If he didn't work on something that was more involved with foreign relations, he would definitely want to work in something or with someone who was passionate about healthcare and education, two areas that the US despite having every advantage was slacking in majorly. He pulled on the unzipped zipper on his sweatshirt, fidgeting with it subconsciously. To deal with the cold, he basically just wore a bunch of layers. He figured there wasn't much point of buying a winter coat, not like he could afford one anyways. He looked over at the brunette as she spoke. ”God, If I’m Paris Hilton, then you sure as hell must be Nicole Richie.” He raised an eyebrow as she laughed slightly. Cole shrugged slightly, "Except they're friends, I think I'd be more like Lindsey. Disney kid gone bad girl, baby." He jibed at the end in mock pride. Although, he hadn't actually called her paris hilton, he had more mentioned her faked tone of voice sounded like a bad impersonation of the famous blonde heiress. He had to admit, Paris Hilton's voice made him cringe slightly. He didn't understand what everyone found so hot about her, or interesting about her in general. She doesn't really do anything besides shop.

------ Cole looked at her confused as she cursed at her own shirt before she looked back at him ”Excuse me for a moment, peasant,” She said in a sarcastic tone, mirroring his words. "Take your time, highness." he replied boredly as she jumped over the railing and made her way towards the water taking off her black over shirt. Cole briefly noted in his head she's probably cold as hell in just a tank top but that wasn't his problem to worry about. He watched a bit curious, as the girl made her way down the beach and drenched her shirt in the water. He furrowed his brown a little confused but just shook it off as she made her way back. Interesting girl, he had to give her that. A bitch, but interesting. Probably had to do with the beer she was bitching about to herself as she came outside ”So exactly how intense was that missing me, or I mean Paris Hilton, ordeal?” Cole couldn't help but give a small chuckle at her words. He turned around facing the party, his back to the water as he leaned against the rail and nodded, "Not as bad as I suspected but you do realize I said you had an impression of her, not that you were her right? Or do we need to do a vocabulary lessen?" He asked in a rather non-offensive tone, more of a small jibe than an attempt to insult.

------------------------------------------

STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; the epicness of seriah
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'Spread the Rumors' by Socratic
CLOTHES;; here
NOTES;; yay!

[Seriah Worthington]

• • • • •

. . . .Where the hell was Seriah Worthington going in life? Well not even she knew the answer to that. It was strange how she knew exactly what she wanted when she was younger, even just three years ago she was fully aware of what her heart desired. After the past two years though, that all changed. Particularly beginning from when she turned sixteen. When she’d been a little girl, everything was so clear. Piano recitals were her life. Lessons were something she wouldn’t have missed if the sky was falling. She wanted to make it big, to get into Julliard, to become a famous pianist, to play for big time singers and compose for movies. God, it was all so clear. She’d loved her music. It was the one thing that kept her sane when her mother killed herself, her dad turned to alcohol, and the mental abuse began. It even help when he began beating her, but when he took the abuse to the next level, that was when the music didn’t help anymore. Nothing helped anymore. Now she had no idea what she wanted. She didn’t want to play anymore, that was a chapter written, read, and forgotten in her life. She just wanted to help people. Maybe, just maybe, she could find a way to save people the way nobody saved her. She could adopt kids, provide them with good homes, take them out of poor foster care. Maybe she’d become a public speaker, but that would involve sharing her story, not something she liked the thought of. And then Seriah had always been into sciences, biology and anatomy. There was the possibility of becoming a doctor. Then she would help people no matter what their situation. A pediatrician is probably where she’d end up, a surgeon or something. She liked kids, so innocent, uncorrupted. And then there was always the thought of becoming something involving law enforcement. She’d never put much thought into that option, but she’d like to bring justice to bad people, to save people who can’t save themselves. She doesn’t want anybody spirit to be broken the way hers was, because as much as she hides it with her hostility and bitchiness, it really did affect her. It affected the very person she was, and the young woman she became.

. . . .Seriah was the one girl you’d think wouldn’t have been broken. She’d always been strong-willed, strong-minded… but some things were just too painful. She wasn’t superman. She couldn’t live through hell. Sometimes it made her think about the lyrics to some country song she’d heard on the radio: If you’re going through hell, keep on going. Don’t slow down, if you’re scared don’t show it… You might get out before the Devil even knows your there. Well, it seemed almost true. She didn’t often acts scared, she kept finding things to keep her going, but the Devil sure as hell knew she was there and he punished her for it. But in the end, she got out. At least there was that. And the girl had always been fairly good about blocking out unwanted memories, about forgetting them. She put up walls around her mind so she wouldn’t willingly think about it. Half the time it was almost like she’d never been in that position, like she’d always lived in Valkyrie, California with Theodore Kingsley and his parents. They treated her like she’d always been a part of the family, so it was easier to forget. But then, every now and again, one of those awful nightmares always came back to haunt her, always tore down the shields and barriers and threw her back into the Dark Ages of her life. When she woke up it was basically forgotten, but the feelings during the night, or day, always had her shaken until she slept dreamlessly again. She hated when people asked her where she was from though, why she moved here. That was like poisoning water. If she’d wanted to talk about it, she would, wouldn’t she? So why did anybody ever bother asking? She never answered, not once. She mentioned now and again where she came from, but anything beyond that wasn’t something she spoke of. And Teddy knew better than to tell people, so she was pretty much a mystery to the rest of Valkyrie’s population. Out of sight, out of mind. If she didn’t think about it, she didn’t remember it. Seriah didn’t bring a single thing from New York back with her. Not even clothes. She had it all sold, every last bit, and then bought a new wardrobe. She didn’t want to remember anything from Hell.

. . . .Like she would ever admit it, but socializing with this Cole kid was actually more pleasant than most people she found herself running into. Sure, he pissed her off to no end, but he also hadn’t gotten her to that point where she wanted to punch him in the nose…. yet. It didn’t look like he really needed any sort of harm done to his face anyway. It seemed like he’d already gotten into some sort of fight and had his ass handed to him. His cheek to eye area looked like it’d been hit, and he had some small gash there that looked pretty fresh. Fights were stupid, and why this kid would take part in them was beyond her. In school he seemed smart, so why was he stupid enough to do that? Well, then again, he was smoking. Couldn’t be a genius if he was doing that, but whatever blows his skirt up. “Except they're friends, I think I'd be more like Lindsey. Disney kid gone bad girl, baby.” She couldn’t help but half smile at that. Lindsey Lohan, Lord Almighty, what happened to that girl? ”But aren’t we friends?” she asked with mock innocence, her eyebrows lifting simultaneously, and then she took on her sarcastic expression again, ”And if you kept up with the times, my friend, you’d be aware that they fight like cats and dogs. At least so the paparazzi says…”

[/color] she shrugged, not really caring in the slightest. Celebrities weren’t really her thing, and neither was semi-friendly banter. This conversation was making her feel all sorts of weird. Was this considered being nice? Hopefully not, because she wasn’t trying to give this kid the impression that they really were friends, because that definitely was not the case.

. . . .Just after she’d hopped over the railing with her smart ass comment, she called over her shoulder, just loud enough to be heard, ”By the way, Lindsey Lohan is a whore who has no idea how to shop for underwear. Don’t screw yourself with that comparison.”[/color] Probably the nicest the she’d ever said, and ever would say to that boy. Then again, she really disliked Lindsey Lohan. That girl had some serious issues, gone from being America’s Sweetheart to flashing everybody her hoochie around the world. Nobody really deserved to be put on a pedestal next to her. It was shameful and disgraceful on so many levels. Anyway, she proceeded to cure her shirt of it’s rancid smell and made her way back, snorting at his response to what she’d said when she’d returned. "Not as bad as I suspected but you do realize I said you had an impression of her, not that you were her right? Or do we need to do a vocabulary lessen?" She rolled her eyes, giving him a duh sort of look, ”Well of course I’m not her. If you’d said that I might actually have been insulted. Plus, my hair is a natural color… and I personally like to wear clothes,” that was Paris Hilton for you, showing off the goods that she didn’t really have. Or at least that was Seriah’s opinion. ”So no, a lesson in vocabulary will not be necessary as of now. I’ll let you know if I turn into a blonde bimbo anytime soon though,”[/color] she scowled out of habit, something she just did when she talked to people. Yeah, it was an awful habit. She glanced through the door she’d come out of to get to this little backyard area. The party hadn’t seemed to die down at all, only getting more wild if anything, ”Why are you out here anyway?” she muttered, a little more disgust in her tone than she’d intended, ”I’m sure you could figure out something to do in there,” she jerked her head toward the door. It wasn’t like she’d really cared if he was out here or not, but her tone of voice made it sound like she didn’t really want him out there. That was also a bad habit. Seriah just didn’t really know how to interact with people. Plus, it’s not like he was being chivalrous towards her at all, so she didn’t really care about insulting him. They weren’t friends, and he wasn’t a saint.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

• • • • •

TAGGED!sole<3 so excited.
STATUS!complete.
WORDCOUNT!1,508!
NOTES!<33
OUTFIT!here!
MUSIC!everytime - britney spears.... speaking of trashy women.... xD
LYRICS!gravity - sara bareilles
CREDIT!me.

[Cole Bishop]

------------------------------------------

------ Cole wasn't exactly a straight A student. Hell, he wasn't even a straight B student. He usually got all B's and A few C's. And maybe on A here or there in a history class. The C's always appeared in Math and Science courses, two subjects even if tried he probably couldn't get the hang of. He never cared much about his school work, no ones excepted much to come of the kid and neither did he. As much as he would like to get into the politics game, for the most part it was just a dream. He would most likely end up at some minimum wage paid job that he squandered the paycheck for away on booze and game. That was another stupid thing he kept getting into. Gambling. It was strange but the night he had gone into a daze and set aflame CiCi's he had actually had a strange calm he usually didn't feel. A relief, a happiness. And that's part of what he felt when he gambled. The risk, it was calming and exciting, frustrating yet a joy and right now, he was losing the small amounts of money he had on it. He had a real job but if the paycheck didn't go to his dad, it went the games. Stupidest move about Cole's growing gambling addiction was that he may have, at one point, borrowed money from the Giovanni's. Yeah, the mafia. And... he may have lost the money... Oh come on, what?! He thought he had a lock on a horse but the fuckin' jockey lost sight as the others came up on his rear. It wasn't Cole's fault the jockey was a moron. But yeah, owing the mafia one grand wasn't as bad as it could be but it was getting close to it. But he had time. He'd make it back. Maybe just borrow a couple thousand more, make enough to pay back it all. Cole was always keeping his ears open for tips.

------ All his bad decisions, not smart in the slightest but naturally the kid had potential. He reads National Geographic Magazine and newspapers from all over the world in his spare time. He always knows who's running for any local offices or the bigger ones around the world. He memorized his capital cities in a second. In fact its a fun game with him, name any state in the US, or any country around the world and he can tell you the capital city. Argentina's capital is Buenes Aires. Grenada's capital is St. Georges. Indonesia's capital is Jakarta. And more, all of them. He knows them all. Really what the kid should do is compete on Jeopardy and then maybe he would be able to win the money back. Better than gambling it again. It was clear he had certain levels of intelligence when you spoke to him. Ask anyone who got him talking about history and politics and they'll all tell you he is incredibly intelligent. Cole just lacks common sense and any real motivation, or at least how to go about his motivation. He wanted to get out Valkyrie. He wanted to see historical landmarks but he wasn't sure enough of himself that he could bring himself to try. He can blame a lot on his father and a lot on his brother and even on his mother. He could blame a lot of things on his financial situation but if he tried his best at something, like grades and scholarships, and then failed, there was no one but himself to blame. It was just proof he wasn't good enough. He didn't want to know that. But by not trying, he can blame it on that. "I'm smart enough, I just didn't care." mentality and yeah, it was most definitely a self-defense mechanism.

------ That being said, he still didn't enjoy being treated as an idiot. Shak Trash? Sure, that's honest. A freak? Why not? that's true too. But idiot? it just bugged him, that or being patronized. In fact, Cole was mildly surprised that Seriah hadn't tried to make him out as a complete asshole yet. I mean, there was the smoking thing but that was nothing compared to how she could act around him and he had a feeling they both knew that. Cole usually was not the type of guy to have many issues getting along with people. I mean, apart from the snobby Valk kids. But chiller people, anyone with a lot of sarcasm to their humor, just a lot of people tended to get along with him. He was like Valkyrie's Pony Boy who could befriend both guys like Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston. It didn't make sense but he could. Although he wasn't as whiny as Ponyboy. ”And if you kept up with the times, my friend, you’d be aware that they fight like cats and dogs. At least so the paparazzi says…” Cole raised an eyebrow slightly, she had to be kidding, she wasn't the type to pay attention to the paparazzi act was she? Cole most definitely wasn't. Only reason he had known Lindsey and Paris hated each other was because a bunch of friends kept laughing about the whole "fire crotch" thing and he was simply curious as to what the hell they were talking about that they found so amusing. ”By the way, Lindsey Lohan is a whore who has no idea how to shop for underwear. Don’t screw yourself with that comparison.” Cole smirked slightly and called out after her, "And how do you know I know anything about buying underwear?" He asked jokingly before realizing how that might sound to anyone who was not a part of their conversation. He kinda hoped either Seriah would get her panties out of bunch when around him from now on or just go back to being vicious. He wasn't one for the whole, nice sometimes a bitch other times kind of relationship.

------ Cole look back at the party door, the light flooding out of it making the starry sky just that much harder to see. He shoved his hands back in his pockets as Seriah replied. ”Well of course I’m not her. If you’d said that I might actually have been insulted. Plus, my hair is a natural color… and I personally like to wear clothes,” Cole perked up his eyebrows and stood a bit straighter, "Wait, Paris Hilton's not a real blonde?" He asked plainly as she continued. ”So no, a lesson in vocabulary will not be necessary as of now. I’ll let you know if I turn into a blonde bimbo anytime soon though,” Cole nodded, "Good well, be sure to keep me posted." he added as he turned back around taking the last hit of his cigarette. He reached and grabbed someone's empty plastic beer cup, or mostly empty, had like two more gulps left, but since it was abandoned it was free domain. He tossed the still burning cigarette stub into the cup before tossing the cup in the actual trash. See? Not going to start any fires tonight, nor was he going to litter a cigarette stub on the beach, not that there wasn't a bunch more from others scattered around. ”Why are you out here anyway? I’m sure you could figure out something to do in there,” There she was, the Seriah he knew. He scoffed slightly, knowing here was yet another moment he could play the 'i was out here first' game. He shrugged, "I didn't want to be in there," he began, "besides I didn't want to smoke in a crowded room now did I? I could burn someone." He added with mock concern. Although that was kinda true. He's smoked inside buildings before where its allowed as long as little kids around around, but never during a crowded party because of the fear of burning people, besides, it's hot enough on the inside. He looked at her, "What about you? Why are you even at the party in the first place?" He asked, honestly confused.

------------------------------------------

STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; the epicness of seriah
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'Spread the Rumors' by Socratic
CLOTHES;; here
NOTES;; yay<3

[Seriah Worthington]

• • • • •

. . . .Seriah could still remember the good times in her life, the times when she was happy, the times before everything went to hell. Those were the only memories she really cherished form her childhood, and yet they were still bittersweet. Back when her mother was alive it seemed like everything in her world was perfect. She was playing piano to her heart’s desire, they went on trips, they loved each other, they were like the Three Musketeers. Everything had been complete bliss in those days, her younger years. It was sad though. Those precious memories that showed the better side, the only good side, of her parents faded away more and more with every passing day. It was partly her fault, granted, but what did you want from her? She didn’t like to remember often, even though they were the brightest spots in her world of darkness until Teddy and his family pulled her back into the light for good. It wasn’t like she liked remembering any part of that former life; she’d practically disowned it when she escaped from it. It was almost painful to relive those happy memories. It hurt to recall how different her mother and father had been before they’d hit rock bottom, it was hard to remember her mother in any way other than the last time she saw her. It was physically painful. Her mother had always been happy and perceptive and social. She’d had dreams of more children and traveling to Italy and owning an old Victorian house on a lake. She’d wanted to be an author, or a magazine columnist. Her father had been quickly advancing in rank in the company he worked for, making his way to partner only in a few short year. He’d been joyful and protective, he’d take them on trips and go fishing and invited his friends over on Sundays to watch football games and then Seriah and her mother would go out for their weekly girl’s day. They’d go to Florida and visit her mother’s sister, they’d hang out on the beach and go to Disneyworld. They went to California and visited Disneyland. They even went on a Caribbean cruise once. She had been so, so young when all those things took place, when she was still walking on sunshine. It was a wonder she remember any of it. But she was slowly forgetting. All those good, perfect memories were difficult. They made her realize exactly how far her parents fell. Her mother ended up committing suicide, so that made it difficult to remember her in any way because any time she thought of her she felt guilty, she felt like it was partially her fault, like maybe she wasn’t loving enough. Every time she thought of her it was too hard not to remember the picture of her dead rather than the pictures of her smiling and beautiful. As for her father, she hated him so much. He was selfish, he obviously never clued in that he wasn’t the only person who lost a loved one. He screwed Seriah’s life up, and she blamed it on him. It was difficult to think fondly of a person you despised. If he came back though, if he came back and apologized, repented, proved his sincere remorse to what he’d done to her… Seriah wouldn’t be able to promise she wouldn’t forgive him. He raised her after all, it was hard not to love somebody who raised you, even if you hated them more passionately than anybody else in the world. She knew the good in him, the love and perfection, and yet she’d seen the absolute worst side of him. That was never going to happen though. He was in prison for life, being considered to be put to death or whatever the fancy term was they used to make it not sound as bad. He was never going to apologize, he was never going to make up for it. She was glad she’d never have to see him again, never have to deal with the internal struggle, the fear, the hatred, the illogical compassion. It wasn’t something she thought she’d be capable of. If it ever happened, well Seriah figured she’d combust with emotion. She wasn’t the girl he could have raised if he’d been sober. She was somebody else, somebody born out of fear and abuse. She was better though, but not healed.

. . . .It was true, Sera did come off like a raging bitch sometimes. Well, most of the time, really. It was both unintentional, and completely intentional. After what she’d been through, being betrayed and hurt, being broken, well Seriah wasn’t exactly the type to accept any crap at all. She didn’t really accept kindness either, since she usually just took it as false and artificial. The girl was never going to put herself in a position to be stabbed in the back ever again. Or at least, that was her plan. She didn’t want to be the person who got screwed over time and time again because she kept letting people in. It was hard enough to trust Teddy and her new parents, but she was getting used to it, she realized they were genuine and they deserved Seriah to give them a chance, to put a little faith into them. There weren’t many other people who deserved that belief though, and there weren’t many people she was planning on giving it to. She’d made a friend or two since she’d lived here, but she wasn’t the type to have plenty of friends. She didn’t feel the need for them, it wasn’t like she craved the social scene. She didn’t even care about having anybody who understood her. She was stubborn, and the way she saw it, she wasn’t broken, and she didn’t need fixing. Seriah didn’t need anybody to heal her or make her better, she didn’t need it. Some people wanted to heal over, to let the wounds bleed out, scab up, and heal. Some people had the patience for all that. Seriah was not one of those people. She would rather forget the wounds ever happened. She didn’t need to be helped out or need pity. It wasn’t necessary, and it was unwanted and unwelcome. Anybody who tried to figure out her life story or asked too many questions, those people were not on her good list. Those were the people she felt less of a need to associate with. It wasn’t that she didn’t really want friends in general, but teenagers annoyed her. Girls were stupid with their weird rituals they did and their gossip and drama. Seriah had had enough drama for a lifetime, she didn’t want anymore. She was so mature for her age, and yet she was so inexperienced. There were so many things in life she had yet to participate in, and she never would because she’d lost all faith in the things people found blessings and joyful. Marriage, for example, was something Seriah figured she’d never take part in. She didn’t know how to be a spouse, she wasn’t even girlfriend material, let alone a worthy partner for life. She had no idea how to be a good parent, how to make children happy, how to be understanding and to raise somebody and shape the life of an innocent, whatever they turn out to be being on her hands. It was something she had little interest in, based on her past life, she figured she’d do her part for humanity as a whole, for children, but for herself? Well what did she need? Nothing. She was fine, no matter what the whispers were when her back was turned.

. . . .It was strange to be having a semi, well semi for Seriah, civil conversation with this boy. She really did find him an obnoxious pig, somebody she wouldn’t choose to associate with. She’d heard all sorts of rumors about him too, primarily from Teddy who’d known Cole for years now. Teddy wasn’t a big Cole fan, which was surprising since Teddy seemed to get along with everybody he met. Seriah didn’t care much for the rumors though, they didn’t exactly affect the way she pictured this kid. No, all her impressions of him were things she’d decided on her own. Who cares if he lit a building on fire or something, it wasn’t like it was her house. It wasn’t anything she’d been here for or really cared in the slightest about. The reason she disliked her were just her decisions of him being a pig headed asshole. He wasn’t stupid though, she knew that much from sitting next to him in history. It was pretty much surprising, since he didn’t exactly come off as the excelling type. That didn’t make her like him more though. Who cared if he happened to intelligent, it wasn’t going to make her become his best friend. That would be a stupid thought. No, he was just not really her style for association purposes, but really, who was? He was a partying type, he smoked, probably drank, probably slept around… it was all disgusting. As he called out at her, “And how do you know I know anything about buying underwear?" She shook her head to herself, not even turning around, and just throwing up her middle finger over her back. Actions were worth more than words, anyway. And that little gesture said it all.

. . . .Was there something in the water tonight? Or a poisonous gas in the air? She didn’t remember her being this nice before, but that’s okay, it was making her sick to be all sweetheart like. A sweetheart in her book, that is. There was probably a lot higher levels of niceness, ones other people pulled off better than she did. “Wait, Paris Hilton's not a real blonde?” he continued as they spoke on her return. Seriah rolled her eyes, ”I honestly haven’t the slightest clue. But tabloids on either side of the isle when your in line at the grocery store like to make up that crap,” she shrugged indifferently. It wasn’t like she intentionally read up on that stuff, but sometimes sitting in line could be a little boring. When he continued in opposition to her bimbo comment, ”Good well, be sure to keep me posted.” She just gave him a sarcastic army salute that was sloppily displayed. She turned around, resting her elbows on the railing and staring out at the ocean. It really was beautiful how the moonlight touched the deep blue waters, reflecting like a broken mirror on the waves. She didn’t remember anything so breathtaking appearance wise in New York, but that was probably just because she’d grown up there, and grew to hate it there, so the beauty of the Big Apple eventually lost its touch. Valkyrie, however, was still new to her. It was still mysterious and lovely, and with the way things were going, maybe this place would never lose its touch. "I didn't want to be in there, besides I didn't want to smoke in a crowded room now did I? I could burn someone.” He retorted in a mocking tone. Seriah didn’t bother looking at him, ”Right, because you’re a saint, and you care,” she muttered dully, her lips pressing into a tight line. "What about you? Why are you even at the party in the first place?" he then asked. Seriah’s eyebrows knit together and she glanced at him before diverting her eyes back out to the water. Was he being nosy or just making conversation? It didn’t really matter what that answer was, but she didn’t really feel threatened by it. She took a few moments before deciding to respond, ”Well,” she began, taking note of how dry her voice sounded, ”Don’t I seem like the party hard type?” she gave him a look of askance before sighing, ”It doesn’t really matter. Just feel blessed you were graced by my presence in the first place, A small shiver ran up her spine. Yeah, it was cold now that she didn’t have the long sleeve shirt on, but it wasn’t too bad. It was nice, almost, to be freezing. At least she was feeling something, ”Don’t get used to it though, I don’t plan on speaking to you outside of school again after this,” Whoops. Well that was a little more harsh than what she’d planned on saying. It just kind of fell out of her mouth. It wasn’t really what she meant, but Seriah had a tendency to speak without thinking, so there it went. She wasn’t going apologize, she knew that for sure. Apologizing was a sign of weakness, something she was unwilling to give in to.

• • • • •

TAGGED! sole.
STATUS! complete.
WORDCOUNT! 2,145!
NOTES! hurrah!
OUTFIT! here!
MUSIC! everything - lifehouse
LYRICS! gravity - sara bareilles
CREDIT! me.

[Cole Bishop]

------------------------------------------

------ It was strange. Life was just shit, you know? It always had been. Life's fucked up. It's just the way it is. He never expected anything else, he was contented by that. Why was that? Why was it that human beings became so used to being used that they eventually no longer gave a damn what was happening to them? Why did Cole need to fuck everything up over and over again? Why did he make his own fucked up situation worse by gambling huh?

------------------------------------------

STATUS;; incomplete
TAGGED;; the epicness of seriah
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; 'Spread the Rumors' by Socratic
CLOTHES;; here
NOTES;; late but totally on its way