One Bad Apple

[shanbutt]

Muse A is a regular old church girl, ordinarily pretty and sweet. Her dad, a pastor of the local church, is pretty fair when it comes to pastors. However, when Muse B moves to town, Muse A's dad suddenly becomes strict and unexplainably tense. When Muse A finally realises the cause of her father's sudden change in behavior is from the new punk boy (Muse B) in Muse A's grade. In order to show her father that Muse B isn't that bad, she ends up befriending him and inviting him over. However, her father only grows more tense. Subsequently, Muse A's love for Muse B grows stronger...


ROLEPLAY WITH @Ordinary

 

[shanbutt]

Being in the average upper-class preppy high school was pretty good; that is, if you were an upper class preppy student. Reed King, the newest student, however, was not.


Reed sauntered into Ravenwood High the first day as if it was his last school, which was a sloppy rundown school in the suburbs, a building with stained brick walls, leaky pipes, and students that acted out. He had fit right in there, as he was a lousy student that dressed that part of one. Dressing "the part" meant that Reed dressed like a total punk kid, leather jacket with spikes and all. He had ripped black jeans as well, broken-in Converse sneakers, and tousled black hair which he had dyed. So, walking into a upper-class preppy high school on his first day wearing his normal getup was a disaster. Boys especially stared. Reed brushed this off as per usual, thinking they had no style in comparison to him. Girls stared as well, but most avoided him, some even crossing to the other side of the hall to avoid him.


"This is ridiculous," he thought. "They're acting like I'm some sort of freak."

 

[Ordinary]

Annabelle was at school before most people. While she didn't have to face the embarrassment of having her dad drop her off-she convinced him to let her carpool-she was forced to be at school no later than ten minutes after the chains were off the doors. At first her friend, Lindsey, had waited with her. Now she got dropped off and was forced to wait alone.


When enough people were at school, Annabelle rose from the stone steps, smoothing off her red and white patterned skirt. She floated around greeting students and faculty. Within no time she was at her locker. She quickly sped off to class and was surprised when her homeroom teacher said she had a call.


She picked up the phone and held it to her ear. "Hello?"


"Annie? Oh thank the Lord! Annie, listen. I need you to come home right away. I'm waiting for you in back of the school. Hurry it's an emergency!" Her father said quickly before disconnecting.


She hung up the phone and rushed to the back entrance before getting in her dads car. What could possibly have him so anxious?

 

[shanbutt]

As Reed looked at his schedule, printed out on a now-crumpled up piece of paper, he attempted to wander over to his homeroom. As he swanned about the hallways, his heavy combat boots thunked against the linoleum floor, making it obvious that he was coming through. When he finally found his homeroom, room C106, he casually walked in, eyes straight ahead. Reed took a random seat, the chair making a loud squealing noise as he pulled it out from under the desk.


Reed sulked in his homeroom, barely listening to the announcements as he played on his smart phone. However, as soon as he looked up from the device, his homeroom teacher, Ms. Watson, was standing over his desk and glaring.


"Reed King, right?" She muttered, quite harshly. "I know you're new here. Next time, please do not use any personal electronic devices in school. Please place it in your locker when you leave homeroom. Also, we have assigned seats. Yours is over there." Ms. Watson stuck out a skinny finger towards an empty desk on the other side of the classroom.


Reed stared for a moment, eyes wide in surprise. He was taken off-guard, so he just mumbled a small, "okay," and then shoved it in his ratty backpack. He got up, treaded over to his assigned seat, then plopped down in his chair; but, not without another screeching noise from the chair scraping against the floor.

 

[Ordinary]

She climbed into the front passenger seat and turned to look at her dad in a panic. She's never heard her dad so upset before. "What happened? Are you okay? Is mom okay?" She questioned rapidly.


Annanelle's father, Dave, visibly calmed at the sight of his daughter. "No, no pumpkin. This isn't about me or your mother. While gossiping isn't an approved activity of mine, your mother was at her book club this morning when she heard that a new student is attending your school today."


Annabelle giggled. "Really Daddy? You called me out of school to tell me I need to be at the head of the welcoming committee? I was already-"


"No!" Her father boomed. "You are under no circumstances to interact with this new person. I forbid it."


With her head down, Annabelle nodded. She didn't know why he was so opposed to her being in contact with this person, but he was angry. She knew better than to push the issue and anger him further. Looking up at the clock on the dash, she got out of the car. "Okay Dad. You have my word." She promised. "I have to go now. By the time I get back in the building homeroom will be ending. I don't want to be late to class." She explained before kissing his cheek and heading inside. She decided to head straight for her first class, English. A few moments later, the bell rang and the hallways filled with the bustle of teenage students.

 

[shanbutt]

The bell blared, a rattling noise bouncing throughout the hallways and the classrooms. Soon, the corridors became a bustling mess, with Reed being one of the students walking in the halls. However, Reed did not know his destination, unlike his peers. He fussed with his backpack zipper, standing at the edge of the hallway, then finally opened the bag and pulled out his schedule.


"English... terrible subject," he thought, grumbling outloud. "First period too. Whatever." Reed momentarily thought about skipping, but he decided against it. He resolved that he would probably end up skipping his least favorite subject, math.


As Reed made his way to classroom A122, he encountered the same thing he did on the way to homeroom. Whispering, avoidance, and people completely ignoring him.


"Don't these people have any respect?" He wondered. "I haven't gotten a nice greeting at all." Reed decided he would blatantly and kindly greet somebody in his english class, and see what they would do. He chuckled at the idea.


One in class, he entered the room slowly and cautiously, peering around the doorframe to see who or what was in the classroom. Once he looked in, he swore under his breath. Nearly every seat was filled, which could only mean one thing- he was late to class. Not that he cared.


An abrupt clearing-of-the-throat came from his teacher, who was standing at the front of the room.


"Hello. I assume you're Mr. King," Ms. Valdez said kindly. She was a sweet old woman, who dressed like a stereotypical cat lady. "I'm glad you were able to find my classroom. Your seat is over there, next to dear Annabelle's."


Reed nodded, his combat boots thunking against the floor as he made his way over to his chair. Once sat down, Ms. Valdez began rambling on about whatever she was rambling about before Reed had entered, most likely grammar or something.

 

[Ordinary]

Annabelle expertly weaved her way through the hallways, managing to get to class before anyone else. She might actually have to thank her dad for being paranoid. While it was annoying to converse with him, it was nice to sit and relax in an empty classroom. Ms. Valdez was at her desk quietly grading papers and the door became like a force field, blocking all the noise on the outside.


She sighed enjoying the last few moments of silence before pairs and trios of kids entered the room. A slow buzz filled the room, and Annabelle pulled out a notebook and pen for whatever assignments awaited her.


The teacher was beginning the class's introduction-which she chose to politely tune out-before they stopped. The silence drew her attention, and she was drawn back into the reality of the world around her.


She looked at the door and a soft gasp escaped her lips. Standing in the front of the class was this black and leather clad...freak! Annabelle's eyes nearly popped out of her head when he was directed to the seat beside her. Moving her backpack, she remembered her dad's warning. Now he didn't seem so paranoid. She wasn't sure she wanted to get to know him.


Focusing on the lesson, Annabelle tried to ignore the presence beside her. Without realizing, her chair was moved as far away as it could get without drawing attention. She kept her head down letting her golden locks act as a barrier between the two.

 

[shanbutt]

Reed tuned out whatever Ms. Valdez droned on about because he didn't find it interesting whatsoever. What he did hear, as he doodled rude symbols on the desk, was that they were working on a research paper on whatever subject they wanted. Apparently, the only requirement regarding the subject was that it must be persuasive. Not caring, it didn't even grace Reed's mind to think of a subject for this paper. He simply did not give a single fuck.


"Now that you should have your introductory paragraph finished, please turn to a partner so you can peer-review each other's writing," Ms. Valdez finished. "Since we now have an even number of students, Annabelle will work with, uh, Reed there." Clapping her hands and giving the instruction to begin, she hobbled over to her desk.


"Must be a workout for her to stand in front of the classroom for five minutes, the old hag," Reed thought, smirking. Looking up from his crude drawing, he turned to his right, where this so-called 'Annabelle' sat. All he saw before him was a mop of sleek blonde hair. Reaching over, he tapped on her shoulder.


"Uh, hello?" Reed asked.

 

[Ordinary]

Annabelle was lazily taking notes for the occasional bit of information that spewed from Ms. Valdez's mouth. Soon, their research projects were brought up once again. Sitting up a little bit straighter, she became hopeful. All last week she had to move to the other side of the room with Jessica and Malcolm to do her peer reviews.


After hearing that the group of three was now disassembled, Annabelle groaned softly. This was perfect. Just absolutely perfect. She flipped through her notebook, turning to the page with her project on it. She felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned to look at the boy sitting beside her. She looked his outfit up and down before rolling her eyes. She needed a different partner. There was no way around it.


Standing up from her desk, she smoothed out her floral patterned skirt. She walked up to Ms. Valdez's desk and cleared her throat. There was no point in sitting in the back of the classroom raising her hand. The woman had glasses thicker than Harry Potter books, and she still couldn't see worth a damn.


Looking up from her desk, Ms. Valdez smiled. "Ah, Annabelle. What can I do for you my darling?"


"I need a different partner. I can't work with him. My dad said that I'm not allowed to talk to him, and I don't plan on disobeying my father today."


The teacher sighed softly before beginning. "Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this dear, but your dad doesn't have any control over what happens in this classroom. While I admire your moral upstanding, if you do not peer review Mr. King's work I will have no choice but to fail you for today's work."


Annabelle glared at the wrinkly old lady before storming back to her desk. "Ungrateful...Stupid...Ancient...Catlady." She mumbled underneath her breath as she sat back down.

 

[shanbutt]

Reed watched as the girl next to him, presumably Annabelle, stood up and walked over to the teacher's desk. He stared as she spoke to her with a sharp edge to her voice. He couldn't hear what they were speaking about, so he just looked down and began drawing on the surface of the desk again. This time, Reed decided on drawing a shark, first drawing an outline to the fish's body. By the time he finished, Annabelle was sulking back to her desk with a defeated look under her breath. As she sat down, she mumbled something that Reed couldn't hear.


"Hey, um, did you say something?" He asked, trying to be polite.

 

[Ordinary]

Hearing a voice pipe up from her left Annabelle was about to ignore him again. But, she was forced to weigh a failing grade against her dad's wishes. Finally, she decided that in the long term her dad would appreciate good grades over one slight broken rule.


Turning to face the new kid, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I didn't say anything. At least nothing that concerns you. Did you at least do the assignment? If not, then I would prefer to work with someone else who has." She stated bluntly. This way she was partially following her dad's instructions. She wasn't being friendly. But she also wasn't going to let her grade suffer for meaningless silence.

 

[shanbutt]

Reed stared back, his eyes widened in surprise. While the other students politely avoided him, Annabelle was just plain rude. He frowned, giving her the dirtiest look he could muster. "Wow," Reed thought. "This girl thinks she's all tough. What she's doing is being stubborn and rude for no reason." He narrowed his eyes.


"Look," he started. "I'm new here. This is my first day." He tried his best to explain without being rude, because he didn't want to be the enemy at this school right away. "Of course I didn't do the assignment. I had no idea it even existed until now. So please, just cooperate. What did I do to you?" Reed asked, trying to understand what her motives behind her cold shoulder .was. Was it his punk look? Or perhaps the fact that he was late? Reed didn't understand.

 

[Ordinary]

Annabelle saw the angry look he gave her, and suddenly felt guilty. Her balancing of others' wishes only made her hurt someone else's feelings. With a sigh, she pushed her out of her face. Maybe if I just be myself instead of someone else, I can get a second chance.





"Look, I'm sorry." Annabelle started. "I've been having a pretty rough morning. Everyone is telling me what they want, and expecting that to override whatever else I hear. It's just so frustrating! So me-trying to be a nice person-am trying to find some way to balance it all." She explained. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to unload all my problems onto you." She sighed softly.


Pulling herself together, she slid her notebook onto his desk. "I'm Annabelle Riley, by the way." She greeted. "So, the project is pretty easy. You just persuade somebody of something. So like, mine is about pastor's daughters not living in a super strict house. You know, since that's a really big stereotype." She felt herself rambling and stopped talking.