~untitled~

Karen let out a deep, tired breath as she finally got out of work for the evening. It wasn’t quite closed yet, still another hour or two before that happened, but for such a short shift it had seemed unnaturally long. The damn cheerleaders had taken forever to leave, which meant for a lot of business, and afterward a lot of cleaning. That the squads hadn’t been their only business, and that a good measure of damn jocks had trailed in in search of the pompoms had only solidified the fact that they needed more people working than just her and Squeak along with the assistant manager. Squeak had left thirty minutes before, with just the assistant manager left to close now, so she didn’t think it too terrible. Jerk deserved having to take care of a sinkload and the leftover customers all on his own.

“Long night?” Karen’s head shot up as she pulled her keys from her jacket pocket. There was that damn new girl, leaning against her Vespa. “What’s up?”

“How’d you know to wait for me here?” Karen asked, raising her eyebrows and stretching her neck. She already knew the answer, and that she was going to make the boy pay for it, before Lori could reply. “What ya want, cutie?”

“Awe, you do like me.” Lori joked, sounding flattered and happy, clasping her hands together and turning falsely shining eyes on Karen. “I wanted to get to know you. You seemed… nice, cool… when you were showing me around. I figured I could get you to tell me about your Faire, and your character. It sounded interesting.”

“Stalker.” Karen teased, nudging Lori off of the thing and straddling it. “Go home, Lori. Your kind and my kind don’t mix. I learned that plenty well enough already.”

Lori twisted her lips to the side, looking at Karen starting up the Vespa and thinking. “Well could you give me a ride?”

Karen looked over at Lori, incredulous. Of course. Of course the girl would have waited around, instead of taking her other ride home. Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she gestured to the back half of the seat, where Lori would be able to fit behind her. “Hold on tight, pompom, don’t wanna lose you.”

“That’ll be hard to do.” Lori whispered to her, and Karen groaned, starting out of the parking lot. She’d set herself up for that one. “Left at the next street!”

“What a distance. No wonder you didn’t want to walk. I’m glad I gave you a ride.” Karen’s tone was a dead monotone, and Lori promptly ignored the glare. “You live right around the corner.”

“I didn’t say I needed a ride… I merely asked for one.” Lori smirked at her, fluffing her hair a little and raising her eyebrows. “You’re the one who didn’t ask if I lived far. Wanna come in, or do you have to get home?”

“Goodbye, Pompom.” Karen growled, and Lori smiled happily as the frustrated girl spun the moped and shot down the street as fast as the little thing could manage. This was going to be an… interesting couple of months before the school year ended.

~

Classes actually seemed to not be going too terribly. Most of them were on similar subjects and projects to what she’d been doing in her last school, and she found that she liked doing her homework and studying to catch up as much at the café as she did at home. She and her father had set up the basement as a sort of recreational area for her, but sitting down there alone, even with music going or the tv on in the background was… lonely.

She’d been surprised the first time the boy Karen was friends with sent over a complimentary drink. It hadn’t happened often, but sometimes he would come over on his break and just set down a drink before wandering off to his own business. Sometimes they came with a note of when Karen would be working next, or some random other bit of information. She didn’t quite understand all of what he was up to, but appreciated whatever it was he thought he was doing.

“Hey! Don’t you think you should apologize? That was damn clumsy of you.” Lori looked down the hall, surprised at the disturbance, and equally surprised that no one else seemed to be doing anything about it. A few of the students nearest were watching warily, with the air about them of those about to witness something fascinated in that freaky, train-wreck kind of way. There was that guy that worked with Karen, that she’d thought might be becoming a friend… and unfortunately leaning into him menacingly were also two jocks. They were young looking, probably freshman, and likely weren’t remembering whatever warnings they’d gotten about RenGeeks. “I think it’s rude to bump into someone without apologizing, don’t you Bill?”

“Yeah, I think it’s damn rude too, John.” The other one smiled and shouldered the boy into the lockers again. The RenGeek boy looked royally pissed off, especially as this most recent bump made him drop his bag, several spirals and other things spilling out in the process. “Really clumsy, isn’t he John. Dropped his stuff now.”

Damn… what was his name? Sneak… no Squeak! Fuck. “Squeak, sweetie!” Lori swallowed hard and slipped between the two jocks, trying not to look nervous. Please let this work. “I didn’t think I’d get to see you before class! How are you, anyway? You didn’t call me last night.” She smiled at him sweetly and wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders, then pouted dramatically. He stared at her, a little stunned, and then glanced up at the equally surprised jock-boys. Lori barely turned her head to follow his gaze, and her pout disappeared as she took in the two confused freshman. “Oh… um… Hi. Who are… you guys weren’t bugging my Squeak, were you? Oh honey, don’t hurt them! We wouldn’t be able to see each other at school if you got suspended for fighting!”

“Hurt us?” One of the two looked even more shocked, frowning in confusion. He glanced at his cohort, then at her again.

“He’s one of those RenFaire people. You know… oh what was that terrible name they call you, Squeak baby?” She asked, acting as ditzy as she could manage. You owe me for this, skinnyboy…

“RenGeeks.” He frowned at them, finally playing along enough to pet her gently on the back, and shrugged. “And I was getting kind of pissed off… but since you’re asking so nicely…”

“RenGeek… right. Um… it’s not like that’s a big deal.” The other jock hedged, backing away a step and glancing at his friend, trying not to look too nervous. “We weren’t worried about him really, are we Bill?”

“N… No. But she is right… fighting does get you in trouble. We would want to deal with the coach… would we, John.” And abruptly both found elsewhere to be. The watchers were all gape-mouthed, especially as Lori disentangled herself from him and bent to gather his things.

“Sorry, I didn’t think it was really all that fair for them to gang up on you two-to-one. I hope I didn’t hurt your masculine pride or anything.” Lori smiled at him and shrugged, offering his bag as she stood. He just stared at her, and it took a minute to accept it.

“I… you… what? Sweetie?”

“Darlin’, I was just stepping in because those guys were being asses.” Lori rolled her eyes and folded her arms. “Don’t even think I was serious.”

“You… do you have any idea what this could do to your reputation?” He snapped, grabbing her arm and dragging her along with him down the hall, away from the people still attempting to watch for fresh gossip. As he pulled them both into a small alcove for a class door, her eyebrows rose. “People are going to think you’re dating me now! You… this could be social suicide for you!”

“Well sor-ry.” Lori frowned and rolled her eyes. “Didn’t think that being nice was going to get me my rights read.”

“Thank-you, seriously, cause no: I couldn’t have taken on even one of them… but don’t you know what this could mean for you?” He frowned and shook his head, attempting to get the message across.

“Oh I’m so scared. People saw me hanging on you and calling you sweetie. Someone I’m not allowed to eat with and never see except when I’m ordering a drink. Boo freaking hoo.” Lori sighed and folded her arms again. “I was just being nice. And if anyone asks me about it I’ll be honest… kind of. I’ll just say that I was keeping the jocks from getting into a fight with a RenGeek… which people kno is not a wise thing to happen. They were Fishies, wouldn’t know better. It’s not that bad of a story… and I don’t much care if people think that I’m friends with you.”

He blushed, fidgeted, and then finally smiled. “Well… thanks. There would have been some repercussions if they’d roughed me over too much, but I would’ve still been black and blue.”

“So why can’t you take them on, if the others can?” Lori asked, leaning against the lockers and raising her eyebrows at him.

“I’m not in the Mercs’ Guild, or the other ones that produce those kinds of fighters. That guy that all those rumors are about… he was a Merc and an Assassin, so he had the skills to defend himself.” He blushed again and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m… uh… I’m still trying to get into the thieves’ guild. I’m only an applicant… I… er… I haven’t passed my test yet.”

“Test?” She glanced out at where people were starting to file toward classes for the day, luckily the door they leaned against not one of those that the students were aiming for.

“The… the Guilds at fair have two factions… the patron faction, that just needs a drop of about fifty or so and gives you a number and a pin… and the other one… the one that counts for us. You still drop the fifty for your membership and pin, but it’s a different pin… smaller sometimes, bigger others… and you have to pass a test, to prove you’re worthy of the membership. Different Guilds have different memberships. I’m not trying for the mercs, and I don’t know much fighting. Some of them do… I can kind of fence, and I know a little knife throwing… but… no… nothing that’d help here…” He was bright red now, and she smiled at it slightly. Adorable kid, even if he was taller, and likely at least her age if not older.

“Well, I’m guessing that your test has something to do with stealing something then?” she asked. The halls were mostly empty now, but Lori didn’t really mind being late. Squeak wasn’t complaining.

“Oh… yeah… um… the pin itself. I can get to it… and I’m pretty sure I could get back out… but I keep jamming the lock instead of picking it.” He rolled his eyes and smiled. “It’s kind of embarrassing.”

“Then… I’ve got a deal for you.” She smirked and looked out and around the halls, just to make sure there weren’t any leftover listeners. “I’ll work with you on picking locks, different kinds even… if you teach me about this faire stuff, and fence with me.” His eyebrows rose in surprise, and skepticism. “Why do you think I can afford to tip like that when we come to the café? My dad owns a chain of locksmith businesses. He started out in the field himself, and I spent a lot of time in his first shop when I was still a little kid. You pick things up over time.”

“You’re serious?” His mouth dropped and Lori dug around in her bag for something, coming out with a card, its corner bent a little, with a locksmith business name and number on it. Her last name, to be precise.

“My dad’s company. That’s why we moved here. After the divorce, he wanted to start new, so he opened a place here to manage, and here we are. What kind of lock are you dealing with?”

“Older one. I can show you the one I have to practice on later.” He bounced in place, obviously excited, and it made her smile. “You’re serious though? Cause… cause there’s another one I’m trying to get into… and… and this’d help that too.”

“Come over after school and just see how serious I am.” She grinned brightly, then slipped out of the door’s alcove ahead of him. “I gotta get to class. We’re both late… I’ll meet you at the café?”

“Right! Damn… See you later… Lori, right?” She nodded, glad that she’d not been the only one not sure of the other’s name. “Laters Pom-pom!”

TBC