I'm Still Here [Closed]

[L.C. Milliner]

L.C. tried to convince herself that this was not a personal matter. This was business. That’s all.

She needed to get Zac off her back. There was just no way she could possibly tolerate him any longer; he was an arrogant asshole that needed his ego deflated, preferably with a set of spikes that were not her own. With that in mind, she excused herself and let Zac go off and be Zac somewhere else. She separated from her date and dissolved into the crowd, focusing on the girl she had been forced to compare herself too all night- Ann Hudgins. Ann was the only thing she had heard about all night- he complained about her being with Alex. He complained about her spurning his affections. Hell, he complained about her choice of wardrobe at some point.

It was like L.C. was suddenly his shrink or something. Did he not notice she had dolled herself up, just for his benefit? She had given him this idea, squished herself into a dress that made her look like a gothic peacock, done up her face, and let herself be pulled to a dance she didn’t plan on going to for this abuse? Oh. Hell. No. It was like she was invisible to him! What did he see in that Ann girl anyway? She wasn’t even that pretty! She looked like a stick! A stick on meth!

‘No. This is not a rant of jealousy. STFU.’

With that in mind, L.C. poised her strike- waiting until Ann got alone, somehow. That wasn’t likely, but her boyfriend wandered away for some reason (Maybe to get punch? Or was that just a movie gimmick?) and that was when L.C. came around and stood behind Ann, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You and me need to have a chat. Now. In the lobby.” There was no point in letting anyone else get mixed up in this mess. Besides, if her boyfriend came back, she’d have to deal with him too, and that meant Zac would see her and jump at the opportunity to come over. Not convinced the girl was moving fast enough, L.C. held up her palm and projected a handful of tiny, one inch spikes. Anyone who had seen her and Vincent mess around and knew her reputation knew the legends surrounding that hand. It was a deadly weapon. Anyone else would need a permit to carry it.

“And I do mean now. It’s kind of urgent, and I don’t want LaRousse around and much as you don’t. Now. After you.” She jerked her thumb toward the door and looked around, convinced that Zac would pop out of nowhere at any second. Her was a magnificent bastard that way.

[Ann Hudgins]

The conversation had rolled to a gentle end and the moment of silence between them caused for Ann to start looking around, a happy little sigh escaped her. After another moment of silence, Alex excused himself to the bathroom and Ann was left to her own devices. She looked down at her little plate of food and decided it was time to restock her nibbles. She stood and at the same movement felt a hand on her shoulder. A hand touched her shoulder. She jerked and twitched away from it, as the sting of being sucked in coursed through her body. She didn't know who it was, but they were pissed and...jealous of someone pretty badly.

She turned and saw it was Zac's pretty date, LC, whom she also shared a biology class with. She cleared her throat and looked around, "what...?" Her was calm, at the moment. Not everyone was always courteous or even aware of her touching problem but the feelings she had felt so strongly from LC set her on edge. This wasn't going to be a friendly conversation by any means. The way the girl said have a chat was a bit omnious but then the girl had to go and bring her spikes into this and turn it into a kidnapping and hostage situation. Ann felt her anger flare at this. She should grab the girl's wrist and elbow and drive her own spikes into her stomach to teach her a lesson.

But no. That would completely ruin the evening and get Ann arrested her something, though this girl needed a guard to stand behind her to make sure she didn't do something like threaten someone who was perfectly able to defend themselves. She bristled but walked with the girl into the hallway. She glared at LC when she mentioned Zac, because that usually set her hackles on the rise even on a good day, "WHAT does his pompous ass have to do with anything?" She demanded once they were in the privacy of the lobby.

"He asked me to the dance, I said no. Is that illegal now or something?! Shit." She was angry, really angry, but not really even at Zac, she was mad at LC because the girl threatened. Whatever this conversation was actually going to be about, she wasn't going to make it easy.

[L.C. Milliner]

Getting Ann into the lobby was easy enough. In fact, L.C. was impressed at how easy it was- was she that intimidating, or were they really going to stand and have a decent chat? That would be nice, having a nice talk with someone for once. Maybe she’d get this whole mess sorted out and then she could go back to her own life. She hated messing around with other people, this experience was no exception. If Ann knew why she was angry (at least, the conscious part of it) maybe she would help her out. It would be a ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ sort of deal. See? L.C. could be reasonable.

When the brunette yelled at her, L.C. all but jumped out of her skin at the attack. Jesus Christ, was Zac that hot of a topic around her? She had forgotten the girl could sense emotions, but the confusion rolling off her in waves would be evident by this point. “Chill, chill. I agree with you; he’s a pompous rich brat who can’t wipe his own ass. I’m only in this for the fancy clothes. I mean, come on. Look at this thing.” L.C. gestured to the dress currently wrapped around her frame. It was evident that it was very expensive, and while she didn’t know the exact price tag, she knew that it was worth more than her life. The very idea that she was wearing it sent her into a panic attack, simply out of fear for ruining it. True, it belonged to LaRousse, but it was a nice dress.

The older girl leaned on her hip and scratched the back of her head, pulling out a stray hairpin before looking at it with minor irritation and flicking it away. “Look, I’m not blaming you, okay? I just want this problem fixed. I want it fixed as much as you do.” She didn’t know why, and she didn’t want to ask herself why. “I’m just as sick as you are. I mean, come on. I’m not the prettiest peacock in the party, but I’m not exactly a crow either, if you get my drift.” Oh geez. She was borrowing sayings from Magda again. “So, I guess I’m saying it bothers me that even though I’m right in front of him he’s looking over my shoulder to stare straight at you. I don’t like that guy or anything, it’s just insulting.” There was no way she’d like Zac. Ew. Ick. Disgusting.

‘I know what you’re thinking. STFU. I’m not in denial.’ Hear that, fourth wall? She’s gunning for you.

L.C. looked her her nails. She would’ve been biting at them, but they were painted up nice, so she let them alone. She instead focused on a spot on the floor to her left, looking at it from the side while she faced Ann. “Threatening you was stupid. My bad. I get carried away- but hey, it got you out her. So, ah, maybe you could make Zac, I dunno, UN-like you?” If L.C. had been listening to herself a bit better, she would’ve slapped her palm to her forehead the instant she said that. As it was, it took her a few seconds before she did and grumbled. “God, I sound like a jealous prick. I am not jealous of you.” SHE WAS NOT JEALOUS OF HER. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. “I just... This is stupid. And we both know it’s stupid. So, let’s just fix it. Alright?”

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann could tell the girl wasn't going to continually be violent about this conversation, so Ann tried to cool herself down. That brief touch had all her hair up on end, however and that would take some time to calm down from. LC mentioned she was only in 'this' for the fancy clothes, she believed she meant going on this date with Zac. Well it seemed the two would be perfect for each other because Zac was always forcing his crap on other people. She massaged her temples with her hands, the red gloves distracted her for a moment but when LC started talking, about fixing the situation, she really had no idea what the girl was talking about.

"Fix what? I'm not...I really like Alex. He's nice, and he respects my boundaries and doesn't force me to--" She broke off because she heard how sappy she sounded and she cleared her throat quickly. "Zac is pushy, arrogant, mean, and is just insincere in everything he says. He's like a sociopath with acting skills." Ann was never ever that mean out loud before and she put a hand over her mouth for a moment. The situation was just this unknown blob to her full of drama and other people's feelings (feelings of which she should know about), but it was all just confusing the crap out of her.

"Not blaming me for what?" Ann gestured with her hands as LC continued to be vague about what she wanted to talk to her about. What was Ann supposed to fix? Zac was always telling her how many people he had eating out of the palm of his hand, or fawning at his every beck and call. Ann just believed he was exaggerating as he always did, and didn't think twice about it. People didn't actually have friends because of their money, because Zac was a horrible person to have as a friend, as the only things that came out of his mouth were smarmy personal things, or insults about what she was wearing or what she said. He couldn't have a real friend out there for being who he was.

But it seemed, oddly...that LC actually liked him. Ann was giving herself a headache for trying to work all of this out so she massaged her temples again and let out a deep sigh. "I would prefer it if Zac never looked at me again. Never stalked me in the hallway...never sat too close to me in the Library, never broke into my dorm to leave stupid and impractical gifts..." Ann wrung her hands into fists. "I've told him to stop a billion times to leave me alone! I've screamed it at him too, but he's convinced I'm in love with him or something, but he is crazy delusional." Again she gestured with her hands and sighed when LC made an analogy about crows and peacocks, Ann supposed she was talking about beauty, but Ann saw it differently than everyone else.

She liked people because of the emotions she felt from them, not by their appearance or material possessions. "So you are jealous of me, because he isn't giving you any attention?" Ann didn't meant to be so harsh, but Zac tended to bring out the worst in her. She look sympathetically at the girl, because now it made more sense to her. She still didn't completely understand, but she was starting to. "Look, if I could get Zac to stop paying attention to me, I would. I'd go in there right now and tell him. The thing is, I have. A million times over. About every time he shows his face to me. He gets on my nerves more than anyone else but he just doesn't listen, or he doesn't take it to heart. I really didn't think it was this bad...I mean I never once thought he actually liked me..." It never made sense for him to like her, at all. She still didn't understand how or why.

"It IS stupider," she agreed, "but I've tried everything to get him to leave me alone but nothing worked. He is like a pit bull or something." It was a mean analogy to all pit bulls out there. "But if you have an idea to get him to leave me alone, I'm all ears."

[L.C. Milliner]

It never occurred to L.C. that the situation she was talking about was not clear to Ann- she was never good at a conveying a point anyway. She groped for words and things began to stumble out. “The Zac liking you problem. Fixing all that.” She said lamely, wishing she could be more articulate when really she couldn’t be. She pressed on, hoping that more words would fix the gap in her broken plan. She knew it wouldn’t, in the back of her mind, but she still tried. She wished that Ann was a telepath for a moment, so she could understand. As far as she knew, she wasn’t- she was a something-path, but not telepathy. If it was telepathy she’d be hearing about it from Sean somehow. Speaking of the old man, he was chaperoning- she’d have to stay away from him for a bit.

Returning to the conversation, she began to actively move her hands in an attempt to communicate better, waving them in a ‘nonononono’ sort of way, back and forth. “I know you like Alex. I’ve been having to watch you all night- yeah, I know, stalkerish, but it’s all Zac, not me- so yeah. I can sort of tell.” That came out horribly mangled, and her mood seemed to darken when mentioning it was Zac’s idea to watch them, but she waved the mood away because she knew what she was getting into when she asked him. She smiled at Ann’s statement about Zac and shrugged, indicating that yes, she was right. “We all have our days. Not that I’m defending him.” She was defending him. Crap. Why was she doing that? She blocked that side of her mind off and went back to cover her tracks. “Because you’re right. He’s a sociopath in Armani clothing.” Was she proud that she remembered he was wearing Armani? Heck yes.

Then the circle went around again and they were back to the questions. It was always the questioning that drove her up the wall- why was she never on the same wavelength with someone? She wasn’t even that way with Sean, and the man read her mind, for crying out loud. She sighed and bit her lip, thinking for a moment. “I’m not blaming you for Zac liking you. I’m not blaming you for this whole mess that I’m a part of, either. I mean, you should get to like who you like, and I should-” Backpedal. Now. “I should stop talking us in circles. I just want to help you out, because it’s kind of helping me out too. The guy is a pain in the ass and I wouldn’t wish him on anyone.”

But as Ann listed all of her many grievances against the male, L.C. felt like her heart was making a quick descent from her chest to her toes- and she didn’t know why. If anything, the list should piss her off. Nobody should have things like that done to them. But she was starting to realize just how much attention Zac was giving this girl. She figured it was just a phase, but obviously it was lasting. She shook her head as she finished up and closed her eyes. “Spoiled rich boy can’t get what he wants so he throws a tantrum.” She muttered, turning to gaze out of the windows of the lobby. It wasn’t snowing today, not yet, but she suspected if anything went wrong there would be a cold walk to Sean’s. She tried to remember if there were still clothes in her locker.

But she was losing her head today and kept getting unfocused. It was very uncharacteristic of her to get distracted so quickly- maybe it was just the subject matter. Zac made people act in ways they normally don’t. That was evident even now, and he wasn’t even around. She suspected he’d be looking for her soon enough once he realized Ann was out of sight along with her. He didn’t want any harm to come to his ‘princess’ after all- the ‘dwarf’ was fair game, but any jabs made toward Ann were a serious offense. She was starting to think that maybe she was the dragon guarding the castle. Screw that fairy godmother bullshit he had thrown at her earlier.

It was ironic that Ann mentioned the word ‘jealous’ at that point, because L.C. was not seething with it. No, that was something else entirely, it was not jealousy. What did she think she was, an empath? Please. She was not jealous of her. “Pff, what, jealous?” She raised an eyebrow. “Hardly, I swear. I just...” She paused to look at Ann’s face and her eyebrows shot skyward. “Stop giving me that look.” She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Quit that.” She did not need a look of pity. She was not pitiful. There was nothing for her to pity because she was not jealous.

‘How many times do we need to italicize that before the right point gets across?’

“If I had all that attention I’d likely kill the boy. I’m not even kidding.” She wasn’t. She probably would. “I just hate to see him act like a spoiled kid and I wanna help you out so we can both walk away happy. I get a nice dress and peace of mind, you get rid of a parasite sucking the energy out of your love life like a leech.” She grinned lazily and looked around, making sure the aforementioned leech hadn’t found them yet. “As for my plan? Well, the way I see it, you need to really piss him off. You’ve done it for the most part, but I mean you need to get him so pissed he’ll never want to see you ever again. And the best way to Zac’s shriveled up excuse for a heart is through his clothes.” Figuratively and literally.

L.C. tapped her temple. “I mean, think of it this way- he took a longer time to pick his suit then it took for me to get ready. So he cares a lot about his wardrobe. Just, I dunno, diss his threads and spill a drink on him or something. It sounds like a stupid idea, but it’s Zac we’re talking about- the guy is shallow enough to be a plastic kiddie pool.” She had to stop using metaphors. They weren’t working out. “What do you think?”

[/blockquote]

[Ann Hudgins]

The Zac liking you problem.... Ann's eyes nearly went crossed at the moment. THAT was not true. It was....hilarious! It was preposterous! It wasn't true! I couldn't be. She had nothing in common with Zac. She was quiet where he wouldn't shut up, she was nice where he couldn't pass up a chance to make a remark at someone (or her), she was compassionate where he faked the slightest amount of caring. Zac was an emotionless robot, made of money and well practiced smiles. He didn't like her. That wasn't in his DNA.

She was being mean to him in her mind, and she knew it was only because she really, really, really didn't want him to like her. I just didn't make sense! That was like saying a fish could speak English. It was impossible! Just. Wasn't. Possible.

So then, why was L.C. here telling her different? Sure, Zac was paying her a lot of attention and had confessed feelings to her before, but not in a way that Ann actually believed him. She ran her fingers through her hair, she shook her head a little from side to side and she began to pace. It was what someone did when their mind was blowing. She'd totally bite her nails if she wasn't wearing gloves, her fingers poised at her lips as the habit wanted to take over, but she resisted.

As she continued to speak, explaining that she knew she liked Alex because of watching them--she said that was all Zac's doing, and Ann believed her- but Ann still didn't get it. It was just weird. Just plain weird that he did and went so far as to be jealous. She now understood that L.C. wasn't the person who was feeling jealous. It must be that she was sensing Zac's crazy weird strong emotions that must have clung to her like a perfume. She couldn't remember a time when that had happened before, but L.C. said over and over again she wasn't jealous. Ann was inclined to believe her (because she couldn't understand how anyone would actually have those sorts of feelings about Zac).

"But what if he takes me ruining his clothes as trying to just get him out of them?" Heaven forbid Ann actually get close enough to him to touch his clothes again. That Saturday when she ended up giving him the Heimlich was still burned into her memory and it was very hard to let him get near her. He had been in his underwear and Ann had to wrap around behind him on the couch...it was absolutely terrible but she couldn't just let him choke to death. She never wanted to be in that position again (that close to him, and also the deciding factor of someone elses life). "I can't get close to him, L.C. I can't. Can't he just...get over himself?" It was a tiny hope, but she had to ask it.

Being rejected was a normal part of high school relationships. Ann had felt so many different sorts of rejections as a third party--so yes she did know (in theory and just in power observation) what it was like and what Zac might be going through, and felt a little bad because of it--but he could get over it! Everyone did. It really wasn't fair or sane of him to expect her to pick him over someone who is SO much nicer, and kinder, and sweeter....and better. More like-able...

Ann, we get it.

"What if I just avoid him, like hide from him and stuff? You can distract him more? Get more clothes out of it? I'll give you all the stuff he leaves me. How does that sound?" Ann's not confrontational, can't you tell?