||Load it Up|| [BLSPB]

[Nikki Redmond]

Angel=======

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B o r n i n

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[/size]t was fucking cold outside.

That was about all Nikki could think about. Forget that she was born in the middle of it, she hated winter with an intense passion, and wished it would just go away. But it wouldn't. It was going to be this cold for the next few months, and there was nothing she could do about it. Screw that. She was freezing her ass off.

'Just hurry up and let me on the bus already!' she silently shouted at the teacher who was busy "preparing" to load the bus with students. What the hell kind of preparation is required? You get on the bus, you sit down, and you get your ass out of Nikki's way before she rips out your spine and beats you with it, because she is cold, dammit! It really doesn't require that much "preparation". Maybe if she thought hard enough about it, she would magically convince them to let her on the bus so that she would regain sensation in her extremities. Worth a shot? Okay, one, two, three.... ?

No such luck. Damn.

Well, at least they were going on a field trip. Field trips, for Nikki, were an excuse to do something completely unrelated to school for the day, whether the field trip was completely school-related or not. That was the fun part, wasn't it? Figuring out a way to avoid doing any actual work? Yes, that was the fun part. It was a rhetorical question. This particular trip was going to be a bit of a challenge; they were actually going to local colleges and universities to take tours and orientation programs. It was really a useless trip for Nikki; she was already sure that she was going somewhere outside of the area after high school, so for her, this was basically just a free ride. Hopefully she would be able to enjoy herself.

Hugging her long, puffy coat closely to her, she contented herself with shooting dirty looks at the teachers and parent volunteers who were still being way, way too slow with their stupid "preparation". 'Who cares if everybody's here? I'm cold!' She rocked from toe to heel just to make sure that her feet were still working properly even though she couldn't feel them, and impatiently awaited the time when she would finally get to step onto the school bus.
[/blockquote]

____________Hell

[Bryce Romano]

Holy shit; it was cold. Ah, but he should have known that. Accustomed to the heat that the school building provided for majority of the morning, the Romano boy had completely forgotten about the winter’s chill that lingered beside the exit; on its heel and read to attack. Greeted by a welcoming blast of air as he stepped from the building, Bryce faltered momentarily. He was chilled to the bone though completely covered. Hell, the young male even had a scarf on and he couldn’t help but shiver. It took mere moments for him to regain his composure, though, and without fail he began toward the school bus that waited near the entrance of the student parking lot.

His footsteps were light as he progressed against the steady win and the male’s hands had stolen away within the pockets of his favorite leather coat. A simple scowl played upon his features, one that could be easily recognizable as a thoughtful expression. Nearing the small group, he half expected for everyone to turn and welcome him with open arms. However, Bryce was acknowledged in a completely different matter. With anger within their eyes only a few even dared to show that they’d recognized his presence. Evidently showing up late hadn’t been the smartest move in the book. The smirk that played upon his features only moments before began to diminish as he lost himself within the crowd, chocolate hues upon the vehicle in question.

Here he was in a small circle, surrounded by people of the same class as him, yet he was about to board a bright, yellow, school bus? The school could have at least provided a charter or something, with tinted windows and heat. Seriously, they were going to be funded by the television studio that’d opted to fly out to Jeopardy later in the year, the faculty had enough room to splurge. Romano furrowed a brow, only imaging the discomfort that would rear its ugly head in the midst of their trip. Shit, why was he going anyway? The boy already knew that college wasn’t for him and even if it was, Bryce would study music in like New York or some shit. Actually, college would be his last resort, it was more of Aaron’s type of deal anyway. Instead, Bryce Romano would opt for the life of well… lifetime. One of the roads, performing with close-knit friends and such; it was his dream.

Awakened from his short daze by another gust of wind, he stood erect and tightened the coat around him, “Who the fuck are we waiting for?” the inquiry was directed toward the leader – his favorite counselor, Mrs. Rooks. She eyed him for the language but shrugged her shoulders as if she were wondering the same. Hah, his entrance had failed in two ways. He’d pissed everyone off – which wasn’t nothing new – and he wasn’t even the last fucking person. This was already beautiful. A ha, a ha, a ha.

[lionel parker]

No, it wasn’t cold. Not as cold as he would’ve thought it would be. He supposed all the two to three kilometer runs they had to do in their shorts outside for basketball and volleyball had gotten him a little accustomed to the weather. He had never cherished his coach’s rants and extra runs outside more than today. Of course, being the lazy, surprisingly neat freak, person he was, Lionel had taken the time to pack steadily and wear the proper clothing, the proper anything he could find. Late was his thing. He had never been early to anything in his life, minus his game practices. If anyone knew one thing about Lionel, it would be that he wasn’t very punctual at all. It’s not like he couldn’t make it to his classes on time because he’d be having too much trouble in between hallways, it was just that Lionel would put off the class for ten more minutes before actually arriving. He just needs the ten extra resting minutes to function.

By the time he reached his destination, he had expected people to glare, swear and even whisper nonchalantly behind his back. And they did. He could tell the rest of the people were having a tough time coping with the cold. It was about time anyway. They were so used to sitting in their classes, with the heater providing them warmth, that they had apparently forgotten the wrath of winter. At least that’s what Lionel thought anyway. Winter had never been an issue for Lionel. He had always been ready for the icy chill outside. For today however, he was wearing quite the big winter coat, snow pants, boots and a winter hat ruffled on top of his head.

Already the field trip had cracked his temper. What in the world was keeping them from going on the bus? Why did the students, already arrived, have to stand outside in the cold weather (he wasn’t too tetchy about the weather though, only that his boots were getting mud slush on them), when they could serenely wait inside the bus for the other students? What was more, Lionel personally thought that the bus should simply leave behind the rest of the late kids. No one had ever been later than Lionel before. Apparently the students late had something tinkering with their brain. It was almost as if they wanted to beat him at it. First time for everything, then.

Although Lionel never really appreciated going on field trips, because he simply thought they were a waste of time, he was actually real excited about this one. One would say that Lionel was, and still is, infatuated with finding out his career pathway. It was either football or basketball. At the moment though, basketball was in clear lead. Growling irately under his breath, Lionel scanned the faces, immediately spotting his best friend; Bryce Romano. Exhaling in relief, he strutted toward Bryce casually and gave him his usual curt nod, ”Hey Bryce.”

[/blockquote]

[Peru Thorpe]

Really, what was everyone complaining about? It was barely cold out here and Peru was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a jacket. Then again, Peru grew up in Toronto, Canada untill she was thirteen years old, so that might have something to do with her resistance to the chilling weather. As she turned the corner and saw the crowd gathered around the bus, she started to chew on her lip nervously. Oh man. What if she was the last person there and everyone had been waiting for her to get there before they could leave? Peru had something against being late, it just irked her to no end. It drove her mental whenever somebody was late for a meeting with her and now she was doing it. Hypocritical much?? That was one of the reasons why she enjoyed working with little children so much, they could never be blamed for being late. Not to mention, they never were late for anything because their parents had to be somewhere and always dropped them off early. Don't forget the fact that you don't have to worry about being blown off by a seven year old, like you do with most seventeen year olds. That was only one of the millions of reasons why she loved spending time with kids though.

Peru sidled into the crowd and stared at the ground in her usual shy nature, not making eye contact with anyone around her. She wasn't sure why she was even coming on this field trip. She had already got an acceptance letter from the University of Chicago, for you guessed it, Early Childood Education. Truthfully she just wanted a reason to get out of school, plus everyone that she knew was going on the trip so there was really no point in her staying at school all alone for the whole day. Right? Right.

The young woman pulled her hat further over her head and raised her eyes a little, surveying the people surrounding her. There were only a few faces that she recognized immediately. There was one that haunted her nightmares; Nikki. The girl Peru had sat next to all of last term for french and who litterally made her tremble. It's not like Nikki had ever done anything to make Peru so scared of her, it was more so just the way she was. Her attitude towards things and the fact that she seemed to have no problem causing a scene was what intimidated the petite blonde.

The other two people that immediately fell onto Peru's radar were Bryce and Lionel, both of whom she only knew as casual friends, nothing serious, but people she could hang out with when nobody else was around. At the moment, they seemed to fit into the forementioned category so Peru slowly and timidly made her way towards the two boys. "Hey there!" she said with a bright smile, hoping that her beaming face would cover up the fear boiling inside of her. The fear of them rejecting her company and telling her to go away. Oh god, maybe approaching this duo hadn't been such a wise choice after all!! Oh well, life was full of choices, right?

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Susanna Walsh]

But she didn't want to look out to her horizons! She didn't want to go on a big yellow school bus with a bunch of weird seniors she barely knew; and the ones she did pretty much hated her. And the whole college thing was a bunch of crap - Susanna had told the guidance counselor so. Poor Mr. Patterson (or whatever his name was; she really didn't give a damn) had still managed to get her on this 'field trip'. The last field trip she'd been on was in fifth grade when everyone went to the aquarium. Whoop-freaking-dee-doo.

As Susanna was literally pushed out of the guidance office and told to go get her backpack (the bus would be there in fifteen minutes!) she walked into a teacher with a big stack of papers. She apologized as was expected (Mr. Peterson had been drilling her on manners), but didn't really stop to pick up the papers. She had a bus to catch, after all, right? "Stupid trip.. stupid college.." Susanna really thought that the trip would have been fun - she got to miss Algebra! And really, staying at a college? Pretty cool. Still, with everyone pushing it onto her, and persuading her to do it, Susanna just couldn't help but make it difficult for them.

She stopped by her locker and quickly did her combination. "Why are they even sending us to a college? Seriously.. all that they do in colleg is party anyways." A passing teacher (what was it with teachers and bad moments?) gave her a strange look. Susanna just brushed a piece of her blonde hair out of her eyes. She lugged the big camping backpack her dad had made her bring (It's so ugly, dad!) out of her tiny locker and started down the hallway.

Damn, it was freezing. All she was wearing was her little cashmere sweater.. at least she would be a fashionable block of ice. Susanna skimmed the crowd.. there were three, no four people already there. Nikki.. ugh. Bryce, too. Some kid she had seen a couple times, and then there was Peru. Her savior. "Hey! What's cracking?" Susanna smiled at the girl she had walked up to. Peru was a close friend of hers, and probably the only friend she'd have on this trip.

[Nikki Redmond]

Angel=======

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B o r n i n

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[/size]nd now they'd gone and spoiled her fun.

Was it not possible for Nikki to go a day without running into every person in the world that she did not want to run into? Apparently not, because soon enough she found herself in the midst of a budding conversation between Peru and Susanna. Fun times.

What the hell was Susanna doing here, anyway? She wasn't a Senior, and there was no way she was going to college or university next year, or probably any year, come to think of it. She squinted slightly in her direction, not bothering to avoid interrupting what would probably soon be a conversation as she unhesistantly began to speak. "Are you lost?" she asked, a trace of cold and bitterness that had very little to do with the weather following her words. She almost wanted to add something about this being for people who actually had a chance of getting into college, but she stopped herself. It was not out of kindness towards the girl so much as a will to allow herself to enjoy this trip, Susanna or no Susanna.

She turned her head briefly and smiled somewhat sarcastically at Peru, half expecting her to cringe, or to see her eyes widen in terror at the mere sight of the extremely intimidating Nicole Redmond. Even she, who understood so many things that she probably had no business understanding, could not possibly make sense of the fact that this girl was afraid of her. She wouldn't be at all surprised if she disliked her, or even hated her, but she just couldn't figure out how she could be scared of her. They had barely even spoken; they didn't know each other at all, but somehow she had inflicted an intense fear upon this poor, unsuspecting little girl. Sweet.

She forced herself not to shiver. She even stopped rocking from toe to heel, despite how sure she was that her toes were going to fall off if they didn't get somewhere warm immediately. Even such insignificant weaknesses could be something that her opponent (in this case, Susanna) could use against her. And of course Nikki, being the strategic mastermind that she was, noticed little things like this; unimportant flaws and faults in strategy, and could not possibly ignore them. One wrong move could lead to checkmate. And Nikki was not going to lose.
[/blockquote]

____________Hell

[Bryce Romano]

it sucks! don't hit me!

“Nice hat,” smirking, Bryce greeted his counterpart. He eyed the top piece with interest before turning his attention toward another voice. For moments the Romano boy stood staring blankly into the cheery face that had approached him. Shit. No, he actually wasn’t just being rude this time; in fact he was trying to recollect where he’d seen her face before. The male was certain that he knew her for she knew him – then again, who didn’t? Seriously, where had he seen her? They must’ve had a class together or something…Heh, after another moment of silence Bryce managed a small smile and decided to greet the girl, “excited?” Her slight enthusiasm was contagious and he too soon found himself grinning broadly, still with no idea who he was speaking to. “I’m ready to hit the road. Contrary to popular belief, I sort of like long trips,” a shrug braced his shoulders. Mid-context, Bryce turned his eye onto the bus, saw the reflection of Lionel within a glazed side-paneling and turned back to his best friend. “Tell me that you brought something worthwhile. Like cards o--” Romano broke off as who he supposed was the final member joined their group.

Damn, Nikki had beaten him to the punch, literally. His lips had parted and the arches of an ‘a’ were still playing on his tongue. “This is for the big kiddies, Suze,” he spoke slowly as if to not confuse the girl and even did a few hand motions. Bryce’s digits first gestured toward the slight height difference that lingered between Walsh and the rest of them, before holding up one finger on his right hand, then two on his left. He nodded slowly while the number twelve danced in the air and then began to nod as his middle finger disappeared from his left hand, resulting in a symbolic eleven. “Understand?” His chocolate hues sparkled slightly as he waited for an adequate answer. One in which he hoped he would soon be viewing the back of her head as she left.

Unwilling to waste any more time, Bryce Elijah pried his fingers between the entrance panels of the bus and opened the way without much effort. “You can mark Romano as here; I’m getting on the bus.” Honestly, what was the point of just standing there? If it was for roll-call, then it was clear that the boy wasn’t absent and if it was to make some sort of seating chart, then Bryce would have had to strike reality into one of their counselors. The students to load the bus were virtually adults – with few exceptions – weren’t seating charts a thing of the past? Besides, it was such a small group; everyone could have occupied their own seat. Better yet, their own portion of the bus without disturbing another.

[aaron romano]

Aaron Romano was a punctual boy. He was almost never late unless something... or someone... caused him to be so. Today, that someone happened to be the Vice Principal. The man shuffled through a disorganized pile of papers that must have been at least four inches thick. Aaron had the distinct urge to snatch it all away and sit, hunched on the floor and organize everything for the bumbling elder man. It took will power... honest to God will power, for Aaron to resist it.

"Ah here it is..." The man said handing the final roster list for the field trip to the younger of the Romano twins. "Be sure and give that to Mrs. Rooks, please Aaron."

"Yes sir..." Aaron replied with a small smile. He turned quickly and nimbly slid himself out of the office and walked with a quickened step out of the main school building. The hold up had been because the final roster had yet to arrive so no one knew who was going and who wasn't. Had he had more time, Aaron's curiosity would have forced his eyes to linger down on to the paper and read off the names. But he didn't have time for that now. They were already off to a late start.

His brisk walk sped to a gaited jog when he stepped outside in to the frigid air. Aaron pulled his wool lined hood up over his head as he quickly made it over towards the bus where all the students were waiting. All but one. His mirror image seemed to be forcing his way on to the bus. Aaron wanted to smack his forehead... and would have had he not thought it might wrinkle the roster... Honestly Bryce, it won't be any warmer on the bus yet will it?

"Here it is! It took him a bit, but he found it!" Aaron called holding the piece of paper up with triumph. He stopped in front of Mrs. Rooks and smiled as he handed it to her. "Sorry it took so long." A moan of relief could be heard from the surrounding would be passengers as the chaperones started naming off names. Aaron gave a quick nod to his brother and Lionel before coming up behind Peru and placing an easing hand gently on her shoulder. "Hello Nikki," He said with a placid smile, "Having a good morning? Isn't it great that some of the Juniors are advanced enough to be looking at colleges this year instead of having to wait? I wish we could have been so lucky." He gave Suze a wink.

[lionel parker]

Lionel almost grinned to the sarcastic note of compliment for his winter hat, but he kept it to a minimum of a shake of head, ”Only one I could find.” he half shrugged. It was true. His mother had never been organized and when he was busy piling through the freight of winter gloves and hats, the only one plausible for the weather today was the one with the white fur ball on top. For a second, he felt the chill of the weather seep through his jacket, and down his spine. He almost had himself shivering for that one millisecond. The weather had, in fact, became a lot nippier than it had been before.

By the time Lionel had opened his mouth, referring to Bryce’s naked head, he was interrupted. Eyeing the rather enthusiastic girl temporarily, Lionel gave her a faint smile before turning back to Bryce. Peru had always been so cheery, that it almost seemed unnatural. However, her greeting did in fact seem unnatural when she had spoken. She looked a little apprehensive. Maybe she hadn’t gotten over Lionel’s egotistical personality. He wouldn’t know what exactly was bothering her anyway, Lionel was never too well with reading faces and consoling people when they needed to be.

”What, you think I got here unprepared?” Lionel questioned incredulously at Bryce’s want of ‘something worthwhile’. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Lionel continued, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, ”I’ve got cards, two PSP’s, Doritos, one litre water bottle, iPod, lunch, and…other things.” he ended, ticking each item off a finger. Honestly, Lionel felt rather surprised to know that Bryce would think of Lionel as ‘unprepared’. A lazy-not ever-punctual-guy was reasonable, but never unprepared. Lionel half-expected a joke to pop out of Bryce’s mouth, an attempt to defend his mistake.

His eyes followed another girl, arriving late, whom he had never seen or heard of. He wasn’t sure if she was senior or not. Lionel had never been one to recognize students of his age or any other student for that matter; one’s whom he had never spoken to before, anyway. His eyes however, had landed on that one Nikki girl. She had a sharp tongue, he knew, what with all the colorful wordings she had been using sometime before. And from what he could see already, she didn’t fancy the company of Peru or the clearly evident junior girl, ‘Suze’.

Lionel practically didn’t even notice as Bryce had boarded the bus and irately entering pass the teacher. Shrugging his shoulders, and the snow off as well, Lionel too boarded the bus, pushing past the teacher and speaking only briefly, just as Bryce had, ”If he goes on the bus, so do I.” The teacher had hesitated to let Lionel in as well, but she had let her hand down (whether it was from logical thinking or fear of problem) and let him pass. He had only momentarily paused to look behind, as Bryce’s brother had showed up. Apparently, he was the last boy to board on the bus. Replying back to Aaron’s nod with a quick wave of his hand, Lionel shuffled into the aisle in between the seats and placed himself beside Bryce silently.

[/blockquote]

[Susanna Walsh]

Susanna narrowed her eyes. How had all the people she hated ended up going on the same field trip as her? This was so unfair, and she was going to march right back into the building and yell at the guidance counselor a couple more times, when she realized that was what they wanted. Well, duh, they all wanted her to leave. So that was why she was staying. Opening her mouth to explain to the oh-so-slow seniors that, no, she wasn't lost, and yes, she was going on the field trip just like them (and then add in a few insults - Susanna wasn't past 'meany'), she was cut off by Aaron's arrival.

Finally, someone who didn't hate her guts just by looking at her. For a second, Susanna had to do a double take. No, this wasn't Bryce. It would have to be his twin. Unevil twin. She beamed. "In case you were wondering," she began, "Mr. Patson decided to send me on the trip to expand my horizons." Then, having a burst of inspiration (they did happen to Susanna, occasionally,) she continued. "And I don't want to be on this trip with some of you as much as some of you don't want to be on this trip with me. So there." Did she really say so there?

Still, Susanna turned to face the school building, shivering a little. God, it was cold. She almost wanted to be inside with all her classmates and friends.. Still, this could be a bit fun if they just left her alone. And she always had texting..

[Peru Thorpe]

Susanna was here? That was awesome!! Why hadn't she told Peru that she would be coming on this trip? This made everything so much better, although she couldn't help but be a tad jelous that Suze got to come on the trip when she was a junior. It also made her a little proud to be best friends with this girl. "You coming along for the ride??" she asked with a perky smile, that quickly faded as soon as she heard the voice that haunted her nightmares drift through the air and reach her ears. Her whole bosy froze up and her eyes immediately hit the floor, not wanting to amke eye contact with the devil herself.

She heard Nikki's rude comment to Susanna and she wanted so badly to snap back with something, but there was no way in hell she would ever be able to get the nerve to stand up to this girl. Damnit. Why was she such a wuss? She couldn't even stand up for her best friend when somebody was making fun of her, she was the worst friend in the world and right now she hated herself for being so horrible.

"YUP!!! Very excited!" Peru replied to Bryce, looking up at him momentarily before doing a double take at his rude comments towards her best friend. Well, that wasn't very nice of him, now was it? She scowled at him a bit, before once more pretending to dissapear. Maybe if she believed Nikki was gone, the girl would just leave. Yeah, right.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped a little, a tiny bit nervous since the girl she was terrified was around, and looked behind her quickly. "Oh, hey Aaron!" she exclaimed with a small smile, happy that there was atleast a few people here who atually liked her. If Aaron and Susanna were here, she didn't feel the need to spend so much time thinking about what everyone else thought of her, she would just spend the majority of her time with them.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the teacher that was accompying them on the field trip started reading out the names on the attendance and Peru let out a little sigh of relief. "Shall we get on?" she asked her two friends and didn't wait for a reply before starting towards the bus. This would be so exciting, don't you think??

Once she was away from Nikki, she could be herself once more and the bright smile pasted onto her lips again as she looked around. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought. there were only about ten people coming, so she didn't have to fret about being too harshly judged by the other students occupying the bus.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Nikki Redmond]

Angel=======

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B o r n i n

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S

[/size]o there? And who had decided she was mature enough to go on this trip? God, Susanna Walsh wasn't advanced. She wasn't even grammatically correct. "I don't want to be on this trip with some of you as much as some of you don't want to be on this trip with me." Wow. Did she not hear herself speak? Did she not realize that she was setting herself up to be insulted more? "You know, then, Susie, there's a very simple solution to both of our problems. You could just not be here. Because then, see, you wouldn't have to deal with us," she said, making a small gesture towards Bryce and herself. "And we wouldn't have to deal with you. Am I the only one that even knows the definition of logic?" Seriously, it was a pretty simple thing to figure out. If she didn't want to be here, and Bryce and Nikki didn't want her to be there (and were probably going to go out of their way to make her time here a living hell), then she should just not be here. It seemed quite obvious to Nikki.

"Was that too intense an equation for you to figure out, Susie? Aww. Well, now that you know, you can just go back to failing long division." Nikki had fully mastered long division when she was nine. It was something that one normally focused on in grades one through seven. It was much more likely that Susanna would be failing algebra at this current point in time, even if Nikki was convinced that she had, also, failed long division in grade school. In any case, it was much more insulting to imply that somebody was unable to pass a subject that they had about finished with four to five years ago. But that wasn't really the point, either. The point was that Susanna shouldn't be here, and she should get the hell away before something very, very unfortunate happened to her.

"No, Aaron, I was advanced enough not to have to wait. She has a whiny enough mother to get to skip math class. See the difference?" That was much more another blow to Susanna's intelligence than it was one to Aaron's judgement. Nikki had about given up on trying to annoy Aaron by now; no matter what she said, it never seemed to bug him. Fuck that.

Taking a confident stride towards the bus, she made no effort at being polite as she squeezed past Peru and Susanna and grabbed onto the railings of the bus steps, swinging herself up onto the first step. She spun around briefly to smile mischievously at Peru, making a sudden movement and uttering a quick, "Boo!" before marching commandingly onto the bus and energetically galloping down the aisle before sitting down in the seat across the aisle from where Bryce and Lionel were.
[/blockquote]

____________Hell

[Bryce Romano]

Again, she’d stolen the punch from his very breath. Noting what he interpreted as confusion upon Susanna’s features, Elijah Romano turned to Nicole, “You have to speak slower, Nikki. You know that she can barely understand English; let alone anything else. We need to start with the basics and quit expecting the best out of her,” not everyone could be perfect. This much was proved when Aaron came out wrong. Bryce had given up a possible friendship between himself and Suzie long ago. Sure, she had a cute enough face but that air-head of hers just put him off. At one point in time, he actually did believe that she was special

He honestly didn’t see why she was so excited. They weren’t even leaving the god forsaken state of Michigan; just barely surfing the confines of Jeopardy, actually. However, Bryce did play along by patronizing the girl. He muttered something along the lines of “Me too!” from inside the bus, followed by a thumbs up sign. From the inside of the bus to the outside chill, his mock enthusiasm may have appeared slightly realistic, but that was a slim to none chance. The male wasn’t an actor, he was a musician. He couldn’t have the best of both worlds – if it was possible, Bryce would have been on it in a heartbeat.

“How about a game of Texas Hold ‘em?” the male had stopped listening once Lionel emitted something about cards. Bryce gazed around, counting the few heads that had surrounded him thus far. “Yeah, there’s enough for a game; U\up for losing a little dough?” He spoke of a challenge and within doing so, Bryce cocked an eyebrow, eyeing the others with interest. They’d have an hour on this ride and there were no drop down screens to provide even SpongeBob for entertainment. Cards were his next best bet; otherwise, he’d result in harassing Suzie for the duration of the trip.

A familiar voice caught his air whilst waiting for Nel’s answer. Turning his gaze back toward the window and back toward the group that so diligently waited out roll-call, Bryce emitted a short groan. His eyes weren’t deceiving him, there stood his body double. The last thing he needed was for someone to tell him that he should be more like Aaron when it was obvious that such needed to be flipped. And when they were together this much was inevitable, especially from any member of authority.

[aaron romano]

Aaron couldn't help but chuckle a little to himself. No, Susanna was not the most advanced student in the school. Sometimes she said things that just made her sound like a twelve year old. But everyone was entitled to act like a fool sometimes. At least the girl gave an effort. She'd recognized she had difficulty and sought help for it. That alone took more intelligence and common sense than most people seemed to realize. He admired her for that much. "Well, it seems Suze here has more of one thing than you do then... and that's luck." He smiled in a cordial manner, tilting his head with a bit of a bow as Nikki went by.

"Well someone's had their morning coffee!" He winked in Peru's direction. "You are too terribly exuberant for the idea of sitting on a bus for God knows how long. I know the thought of spending the entire day in my company is exciting, Peru, but do try to calm yourself? I wouldn't want you to twitter off and forget yourself." He patted the blond affectionately on the top of her head. "After you ladies," Aaron motioned with his hands allowing Peru and Susanna to go ahead of him on to the bus.

His attention slipped momentarily to where his brother was. The mention of cards and gambling turned his pleasant smile in to a more taut and displeased expression. He didn't have to say anything to let his brother know what he was thinking, all he needed was a look. 'The Look', to be more precise. Each of the Romano boys did indeed take after one of their parents and Aaron had inherited not only his mother's sweet disposition, but also her unique way of scolding without verbalization.

Aaron was quite aware of his brother's general opinion. He needed to be more like Bryce. And while there were times he wished he had a little more of his brother's magnetic charm, he had convinced himself long ago that he'd rather not deal with the trouble that came along with it. He was content to let Bryce outshine him with personality while Aaron let his actions do the talking for him.

His eyes averted back to the floor though when they came in to direct contact with the path of Lionel's. Avoiding the briefest glance caused him to stumble headfirst in to Peru who seemed just as startled from Nikki's vicious 'Boo!'.

[Peru Thorpe]

"Oh shush!!" Peru mumbled To Aaron, a small smile twitching at the corner of her lips and threatening to break free. Okay, maybe she was a little bit too hyper since they were just going to be sitting on the bus for the next hour or so, but truthfully, she actually enjoyed long trips!!! Ever since she had drove for two days straight with her dad and brother when she was thirteen, she's had a thing for being in a moving vehicle for long periods at a time. "Oh god, you're just too full of yourself, Aaron!!! Really, haven't we already gone through this? You're the lucky one, not me!!" she playfully bumped her shoulder into his and continued onto the bus.

Peru heard a voice coming form the back of the bus say something about Texas Hold'em and she glanced up. That could be fun! She was amazing at that game for one sole reason, after being so shy for so many years, she had learned to gauge her facial expressions to look like she didn't care what people said, in turn giving her the best poker face around. Her eyes travelled to the voice and saw it had come from the mouth of her best friend's twin, Bryce. Shit, now she couldn't play. That would just piss Aaron off to no end and she didn't want him mad at her. If he was mad at her then everyone else might think she was a bitch and she couldn't possibly have them judging her!!! Even if she did end up playing, what if she lost miserably? Every would think she was a horrible poker player and she might never live it down!!! Oh god. Why did Lionel have to bring a deck of cards? Now she would spend the rest of the trip wondering what would have happened if she'd played with them!!! Would they even let her play? Did they like her enough or would she go over and ask to join and Bryce and Lionel would laugh in her face and tell her to fuck off? Wait, what if she didn't play? Would everyone assume she was too much of a wuss to play the game of Texas Hold'em? Shit shit shit.

Peru, now extremely irked by the whole matter of whether or not she should play Texas Hold'em or not, let out a heaving sigh and tucked a stray curl behind her ear, folding her arms across her chest in resignation.

All the color drained from her face however, and her eyes were pulled to the floor as if by magnetic force when she heard Nikki's voice addressing Aaron. Oh god. Why couldn't she just stay away from them? Peru swallowed hard and was just starting to hope that the vicious girl would leave when Nikki spun back around to face her and uttered the terrifying 'Boo'. It probably didn't help that Aaron had just stumbled into her, but before she could stop herself, she had jumped backwards and grabbed Aaron's arm to steady herself so she wouldn't fall off the bus. Yeah, it didn't work very well. Since Aaron had just walked into her and was also in a bit of shock, she stumbled and went flying down the stairs and into a huge puddle of slush, taking her best friend down with her. "Oh god. I'm so sorry!" Peru groaned, her face burning red and the whole back of her body soaked from the slushy mess. She stood up and grabbed onto the door to keep herself steady on her shaking legs. Fuck. This had to be the most mortifying thing that had ever happened to her. She chewed her lip as she reached her hand out to Aaron who had also landed in the nasty mess and gave him an appologetic look. To think a few seconds ago she had been worried about a game of Poker.

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