Stoneybrook Ayr

"I'm thinking of doing it," Amelia said to Kara, putting down the magazine she was reading and rolling over to look at her friend.

"I don't want to die a virgin, and the only reason I've held out so long is because guys suck," she said moving one arm up above her head.

"What do you think?"

Ever since her and Sunny's last conversation, Mary Anne had felt pretty bad about the way she treated her and dismissed her feelings. Of course she wasn't an adult and couldn't fix all problems - Sunny was bound to know that - but she also hadn't done a good job of being there, listening, and overall her friend. And that is all Mary Anne concluded Sunny had really needed. A friend.

She had put her own feelings before Sunny's and that was not okay. Sunny had confided in her and Mary Anne turned around a made it about her; like she often did, and it was a twisted habit she was hoping to resolve in the new year. A new year to bring about change in her. Mary Anne sighed, knowing she needed to apologize to Sunny. She picked up her phone and tentatively rolled it around in her hand a few times before sighing again and finding Sunny's number in her contact list. She tapped the send button and pressed the phone against her ear. This was going to be tough.

"Hey Sunny,"  Mary Anne quietly projected once she heard Sunny's voice on the other end, "would you like to come over? I can make us some coffee or tea..." she trailed off in an offer.

"I need cash," Amelia said flatly, ashing her cigarette against a railing, looking at Ty. They were in Ty's normal hidden smoking spot, and even the fact they were away from school wasn't helping Amelia's anxiety.

( Handed to Cary before classes on Tuesday )

To: Mariah Shillaber
From: Alexandra Noelle Gentile
Subject: Hangin out

Hey Mariah,
it's Andi! Do you wanna hang out someday? I wanna talk about our aspiring careers. Nobody really gets me but you do. You know what it's like to sacrifice everything to become what you dream of. Please get back to me!

Xoxo Andi Noelle

Katie stood by Sunny's door, unsure whether to ring the bell or not. She wanted to see her friend but she also felt kind of weird about it. She'd been laying low for a while, whitdrawing from her friends and spending more time down at the trailor park with her drinking friends. She lit a cigarette while she considered ringing the doorbell. Finally her hand made its way up and rang, on its own it seemed. She waited.

Cori had been catching up on the news and gossip on the journals, and was surprised to see RJ flirting with Kara on multiple entries. What was that about? Wanting to figure out what in the world was wrong with her friend — had he hit his head? — she signed on to her IM account and clicked his name, hastily typing a message to him.

coribee: what's up with you and wednesday addams???

The drive back home from Stamford was significantly quieter than the trip there had been. Both Amelia and Kara had just finished their interviews at Hooters, and all Kara could do was go over and over hers in her mind, hoping she'd made a good impression and answered the questions satisfactorily. She hoped things wouldn't become awkward between her and Amelia now. There were plenty of positions since the restaurant was just opening, so it wasn't like they were both competing for one spot, but what if one of them was offered a job and the other wasn't? Would it create hard feelings?

Needing to break the silence so the drive wouldn't seem as long, she glanced over at Amelia for second, before returning her eyes to the road. "So, how do you think your interview went?"

Ty left after all the beers had been drunk, and Brock decided to ignore his friend's advice, and text Shannon. He didn't know if she'd reply or anything, but he thought testing the waters would be safest.

So he sent her a text saying:

sup?

Brock had had a really lousy weekend, thanks to Shannon. It really p*ssed him off that she thought she knew him, when she didn't know anything about him. Not really.

He needed to relax, and he only knew one way of that happening. So he called Ty to come over, glad he didn't have to worry about his buddy coming to his place.

He'd started to convince himself the whole Shannon thing was a massive mistake, and he knew Ty would agree with him, which was another reason to hang.

"Hey man," he said, opening the door when Ty knocked.

"Beers cooled and ready," he said, nodding at them on the coffee table.

Climbing out of her car, Shannon was surprised to see her father's vehicle in the driveway as well. She checked her watch as she walked to the front door. It was a little before five, which is when she usually arrived home from school after one of her various club meetings. She wondered what he was doing home so early. It was usually seven or eight before he got home. Opening the front door, Shannon was immediately greeted with the muffled sound of her parents arguing. They'd been doing so much better lately, she thought, and now this.

Whatever. She didn't want to be there to hear it. Dropping her backpack on the small chair just inside the entryway, she headed for the phone in the kitchen, looked up Brock's address in the phonebook that was next to it, and exited the kitchen door. It wasn't until she was halfway to Brock's house that she realized he might be out or something. She really should have called, but she wasn't thinking very clearly at the moment. Pulling to a stop in front of his house, she hurried up to the front door and rang the bell. When she didn't get a response, she tried knocking. Still no answer. She didn't want to go to one of her girl friends' houses, not wanting them to worry about her, so instead she sat down on the front porch and waited. He had to come home sooner or later.

TO: melia_white
FROM: kmauricio
SUBJECT: ( new job possibility? )

In Ty's opinion, it had been far too long since he'd had actual guy time. Every time he and his friends had attempted to hang out, the presence of a girl or two had completely ruined it. They'd complain about the stories and jokes told, act disgusted at the belches, and it seemed that every other word out of the guys' mouths earned them a punch on the arm.

This evening was going to be different, though. Ty had invited Brock over, with the strict understanding that no chicks were to be tagging along with him. Pulling two beers out of the mini-fridge in his basement, he lounged back in an arm chair and propped his feet up on the coffee table, waiting for Brock's arrival.

It seemed like in the last month, Stacey's life had become about avoiding. Avoiding Austin and Sheila, avoiding Marty, avoiding King, avoiding her Mom, avoiding home. She'd spent a lot of time at Claudia's, and when she was home, she was in her room. She didn't quite know what to say to King about what happened, not that it probably even mattered to him, but she was trying to avoid him for as long as possible anyway.

Unfortunately, she had no idea when he was home, and that had made for some times when avoiding him was impossible. Right now was one of those times, she realised as her hand froze on the fridge handle. That was definately him coming down the stairs, and it was too late to flee.

Turning slowly, she gave him a brief look, before turning back. Yep, it was King.

"Hey," she said quietly, pretending the contents of the friedge were fascinating.

Logan hadn't told any of his friends about Cokie yet, because telling his parents had been bad enough. He knew that Austin was going through his own stuff, the whole school knew about that, and Logan thought they could both use some time to either discuss their troubles, or forget them. So he'd invited Austin over to play some games in the Den. He felt nervous, but he knew that if anyone knew about messing up, it was Austin.

He heard the bell ring, and took the stairs two at a time to beat Kerry to the door, because he knew she thought Austin was 'sooooo hot!'

"Hey man," Logan greeted his friend. It was a little strange, because he hadn't spoken to Austin much since the stuff came out about Sheila, but Logan didn't want to let that be an issue.

Miranda couldn't stop thinking about the news Mariah dropped on her the other day. She still didn't know whether to believe her or not, but that wasn't the point.

She couldn't be outdone by her sister.

She decided to go to Brock's house. She rang his doorbell and waited impatiently for someone to answer.

Stacey had had the worst night of her life, not helped by a massive hangover this morning, and haunting memories of what she had done with King. She wanted more than anything to call in sick to school, but she knew she couldn't avoid school forever, although she could avoid Austin. She'd thought she could avoid Sheila too, but when she finally saw the girl at lunchtime, in the Cafeteria, she was overwhelmed with anger, and she just couldn't stop herself. Dropping her fork, she marched over to where Sheila stood with Darcy, and gave her the deadliest look she could muster. "Are you happy now you got what you wanted?" she asked Sheila, crossing her arms, "it's what you wanted, right?"

Claudia walked Stacey back to her own house after the run in with Marty at the park. Even though she hadn't gotten even, she was glad Marty had seemed angry, and hoped that somewhere right now, Sheila was getting screamed at. But it still made her angry how Marty had defended Sheila, after everything she'd done. As Stacey stomped up the stairs to her room, holding on to the hand rail for support, she decided to get some answers.

Instead of going into her bedroom, she pushed open King's bedroom door with force, and glared at him.

"Why did you cheat with Sheila?!" she asked him, when he looked over at her from his bed.

Marty was at Sheila's house in a flash. He didn't even remember walking there, he just remembered being at the park one minute and standing on her doorstep the next.

He tried the door, but it was locked. He pounded on it twice before giving up and going to the side the house where Sheila's bedroom was.

"Sheila!" he bellowed, not caring how late it was or if he woke anyone up.

Stacey had texted Claudia almost as soon as she left Austin. She needed her right now, she didn't want to be alone. Truthfully, she wanted to be with Austin, and having him tell her it was a joke, or a dream.

But that wouldn't happen. She made it back to her place in record time, and even though her parents weren't home, and King probably wasn't either, she waited on her Porch for Claudia, trying not to sob uncontrollably like she wanted to, but unable to stop the tears. Finally, she saw Claudia approaching, and flew into her friends arms.