Kryptonite

Chapter One
Diana Lawrence was definitely not anyone's idea of "a good time", at least not in the way described by horny teenage boys. She was brimming with personality and a spitfire wit that was more attractive if one was able to look beyond the superficial. Although Dee wasn't particularly pretty in that porcelain doll way of milky tempered cheerleaders, she certainly had a certain grace in her mien.

Her vibrant red hair tended to make Diana stand out in a crowd, which was the color of fire engines or tomatoes, instead of something romantic like the sunset. Unlike most girls, however, Diana loved the unsubtle hue and wore it proudly. Never once had she thought of dyeing it. The pixie face was graced with startling green eyes, handed down over several generations from her Irish side of the family.

Too bad that most of the guys at Auburn High seemed to be almost intimidated by Dee. Not that she let it bother her. A born optimist, nothing fazed Dee. She was a happy being, and she firmly believed that the man meant for her would find her someday, if not at that moment. Anyway, romance never was that important to her.

"Which, by the way, is what I never will understand about you," Kristy Scott said, chewing methodically on her sandwich. Her dark hair, tied back in a loose ponytail, was threatening to escape from it's tight hold.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Kris, you are so old fashioned. This is the twenty first century, and we modern women have found that there is life beyond the cookstove." She linked arms with her petite friend, who chortled at Kristy with her. Though Katie and Kristy Scott were sisters, they were different as night and day in personality. Kristine was in the same grade as Dee, and the epitome of female domesticity. On the other hand, Katie was extremely athletic and determined never to settle down. She fully intended to spend her life roaming through third world countries and participating in the Olympics.

Dee wasn't as extreme as all that, at least concerning romance. If love came, she supposed she'd accept it. The red haired girl repeated her thoughts to her friends.

"That's a good way of looking at things," Elizabeth Barry said, pushing back a strand of her amazing honey blond hair. "I wish I was more complacent. I don't think anyone will ever truly care about me."

"Don't be silly," Dee chided, munching at a carrot stick. "You're the most gorgeous girl in Auburn." Elizabeth blushed, and shook her head fervently, as if to confirm the opposite.

"You're being way too modest, Beth. The boys are crazy over you," Katie teased, tossing back her head in laughter.

"Not anymore they aren't," Kristy said darkly. "There's that new Valerie girl."

"Who's that?" Elizabeth asked, glad to change the subject.

"Oh, this girl who transferred from France. She's in my homeroom. Looks like Paris Hilton, except prettier."

"Right, I remember her," Dee said. "Oh there she is now." The girls turned from their table to look at the new student.

Valerie LeBlanc was extremely pretty. With silvery blond hair tied into a neat braid down her back, wide eyes of a unique violet hue, and a cameo perfect face, she was the epitome of beauty. The girl was dressed in a white sleeveless button down shirt, a lightweight silk skirt, and expensive looking heels. Behind her trailed a dozen boys all looking as though they were on crystal meth.

Dee's eyes narrowed as she noticed a certain boy walking after the new girl. "Looks as though even our infamous Casanova has lost his heart to Frenchy. Kudos," she said snarkily, putting down her tunafish sandwich as she watched. She wasn't the only girl whose eyes were glued to the "Casanova."

Ryan Mackenzie was undoubtedly quite attractive, if one admired broad shoulders that were large enough to almost make up for the lack of several necessary organs. Such as the brain and heart. Yes, Dee thought to herself as her eyes grazed across the rugged male features, Mackenzie was handsome. Light oak brown hair fell across a square forehead into amber eyes that glowed in the light with constant mirth. His lips were wide and thought by most girls to be immensely sensual. Standing six feet and two inches tall, he was also a veritable giant. Again, girls thought that was a plus. Not so Dee.

Maybe it had something to do with her own small stature, but Dee didn't appreciate towering idiots whose thoughts didn't go further than the next party. And that was exactly what Ryan Mackenzie was. Once, a very long time ago, Dee had thought that perhaps there was more to him than met the eye, but she had learned her lesson. She turned her head away from the sight of him, and laughed at something Elizabeth said, not feeling the burn of eyes boring into her.

*

Ryan Mackenzie did not like third grade at all. His twin brother Mickey had been separated from him for the first time in their life, and put in another class because he was G&T. Whatever that meant. Anyway, Ryan was feeling very lonely as he stood up in front of the class with the rest of the kids as the teacher assigned them seats.

Ms. Liu smiled kindly down at him. She was very pretty, Ryan noted, and had shiny brown hair. "Are you Ryan Mackenzie?" she asked him in her lilting voice.

He nodded. "You can sit right behind Diana Lawrence over there." The teacher pointed to a tiny girl with bright red hair that was held back from her small face with a purple headband. Red. That was his favorite color.

Slowly, Ryan walked to his assigned seat with a sigh. It was very weird not having Mickey sit in front of him, like he always had. Suddenly, he stumbled, and noticed that the girl had quickly folded her hands together in front of her on the desk. As though she were some kind of goody two shoes angel.

He glared at the bright red head as he slid into the seat behind her. The girl turned around, and stuck out her pink tongue at him. Then, she smiled. And Ryan didn't feel so lonely anymore.

*

First days back at school were always hectic. Dee was bruised in a thousand different places from all the jostling in the hallways and she sighed with relief when the day was over. Thank god she only had this year left in high school, and then she could really stretch out her wings. She loved her hometown undoubtedly, but Dee knew that bigger and better things awaited her beyond the borders of Auburn.

Combing her fingers absentmindedly through her burnished hair, Diana walked out of the school building only to be pushed forward by an overeager freshman.

"Oof," Dee grunted ungracefully, as she fell into the person in front of her. "I'm sorry," she said contritely, hoping she hadn't hurt whoever she had just bumped into.

"It's all right," said a pretty voice, and Dee looked up to see that girl Valerie smiling at her. So she wasn't just some snooty rich kid after all. Getting ready to respond in kind, Dee opened her mouth but was interrupted by none other than Ryan Mackenzie.

"Well if it isn't Disaster Dee," he chortled, his golden eyes flashing with mockery. "I didn't know your new hobby involved going around attacking people."

Dee stiffened, and lifted her chin defiantly at him. "I didn't know you'd changed yours to Guard Dog. I suppose it's better than Manwhore Mackenzie."

"Do you think that's clever, Dee?"

"No, just the honest to God truth. Anyway, before you so rudely barged in, I was in the middle of something, so why don't you go find another person to insult?" Dee turned away from Ryan, and looked at the new girl. "Hi, I'm Diana Lawrence, but everyone calls me Dee. Nice to meet you."

Valerie's violet eyes glowed with compressed humor. "Hello. I am Valerie LeBlanc, and it is very nice to meet you. I take it you and Ryan are not good friends?"

"You're clearly a girl of high intelligence. You are totally right, we're not friends at all. But I think you and I, that's a different matter," Dee said, smiling.

"Oh, I think we'll get along just fine. But really, Ryan is not so very bad as all that?"

"I'm not! You know that, Val." He shot her a reproachful look. Valerie laughed.

"Yes, I do know. We'll convince Dee that eventually."

Shooting Ryan a venomous look, Dee said in a cold tone, "I don't think so."

"At any rate, would you like to go shopping with me this Saturday? I am dreadfully lacking in clothes, you see," Valerie explained.

"Of course," Dee responded. The two girls exchanged phone numbers, and left with a good impression of one another.

However, the person on Dee's mind as she walked home was not a female.

*

"Who ate all the tuna?" Ryan demanded, opening the cabinets and feeling extremely disappointed as he searched for the elusive can.

He heard a triumphant slurp behind him, and sighed. "It is not fair. Why can't you ever get your own tuna, Mickey?" Ryan turned to glare at his twin brother, who looked very much like him, except his hair was light blond and styled differently.

"The can didn't have your name on it, Ry," Mickey responded, smirking as he spooned food into his mouth.

"Actually," Ryan said, "it did. I put it on the bottom, in black sharpie."

"You have no life," his twin announced after inspecting the can. "And no tuna."

"What else is new?" Ryan sighed, opening the refrigerator and taking out a packet of sausages. He put some water in a saucepan and turned up the heat, then tossed the hot dogs in to boil.

"That new Valerie girl is real pretty, isn't she?" chirped Mickey, grinning. "You got plans for her?"

"Of course," his brother responded. "Don't I always?"

"What's this here?" a woman's voice said half laughing, half scoldingly. Her arms full of paper grocery bags, she glared at Ryan, though the broad smile on her face belied her anger. "Are you using some poor hapless girl again?"

"Well... I'm going to TRY," Ryan said meekly. Then, he rummaged through the groceries. "Did you get more of my favorite food?"

"I swear, you two are worse than the cats. Yes, I got more tuna," their mother said, rolling her light brown eyes.

"Goody! Thanks, Mom," Ryan called, as June Mackenzie left the kitchen. Taking the sausages out of the water, Ryan turned the gas off and put the meat in buns. Opening a can of tuna, the boy munched away happily.

As he chewed, he thought surprisingly of Dee. What an annoying little twerp she was. And possibly the only girl in all of Auburn that the old Mackenzie charm had failed on. Ryan scowled. It wasn't as if she were anything special. Dee Lawrence wasn't even on the pretty side. Too short and too slender, with hair that was way too red to be sensual and catlike green eyes. And yet something about her piqued Ryan's attention in a way that wasn't like the lust or total obliviousness that he usually felt towards other girls.

From the third grade, after the Mackenzies had moved to Maine from New York, Diana Lawrence had always sat one seat before him. In every single class. It was enough to drive anyone mad. He had despised her from the moment he'd seen her. Well, Ryan said fairly, he guessed it wasn't true. But she was the most provoking girl he had ever had the misfortune to meet, and he'd met plenty.

She had started everything by tripping him on the very first day of third grade. Nobody noticed, but Ryan, even at the tender age of eight and a half had a vengeful spirit. From that point on, an unspoken war had begun. Whenever the teacher wasn't looking, Ryan would shoot spitballs at her, with practiced aim, dunk her hair into messy liquids, pull her hair hard, or tickle her. In return, Dee would pinch him hard at recess and chase him around, pretending to have a crush on him so that all the boys would make fun of him. But as they grew older, their physical torment turned into speech. They would constantly vie for higher marks or compete in debates against each other, even if they secretly agreed with each other. Always, they would be on opposite teams in sports. And the hell of it was, Ryan's mom absolutely adored her. So did his own twin brother, Mickey, he thought with disgust. And every single person on the planet except for himself.

Well, Ryan didn't and would never feel anything but animosity towards that little redheaded monster, he thought spooning the last mouthful of tuna into his mouth ferociously, as he turned his thoughts to that luscious new bit of ass, Valerie something or other.


a/n: This is just a whim I had but please review =]