Kyra wasn't sure what she was supposed to be thinking. She had gotten caught up in some conversation by the people in the club but when they noticed how little she talked, they cut it rather short. She didn't mind, not really. She was used to it, after all. Still, it didn't mean that she hated the club more than she already did or that she found more interest in it. She remained indifferent about it, though she did find the people to be interesting. Mark and Jasmine were pretty engaging and made sure that everyone felt welcomed, which was really no surprise there. Despite that, Kyra wasn't sure if she would even think about this again once the club meeting was over.
While Jasmine seemed to start conversations and end them just as fast, Mark was a lot more relaxed. He spent most of his time talking to Leo, dragging Anthony into the conversation from time to time but at the moment, he wasn't doing anything, just sitting on the guidance counselor's desk and watching the rest of the members. He seemed like he was Jasmine's sane side, the yang to her yin. Mark was an interesting person because of that. Kyra shifted a bit and leaned back against the wall but that movement caught Mark's attention. He noticed her on her own and shot her a smile, walking over to join her by the wall.
"What are your thoughts?" Mark asked, leaning back against the wall to copy her. Kyra shrugged her shoulders, racking her brain to find the right words to say. She didn't want to tell him how she was feeling but she also didn't want to straight out lie to him. That would just lead more people to hate her and she really didn't need that at the moment.
"It's an interesting concept, that's for sure," Kyra finally said. Mark was quick to nod his head in agreement.
"Jas and I want to do more with the club. Really, we do. We just have a few issues when it comes to actually doing more. However, with you, Cleopatra, and Jasmine's new invite, that does leave us with nine members. That's big enough to consider it a real club. People will get more involved at that point, I'm sure of it. It'll probably make things here a lot more interesting for you since Jasmine said something about how you always like to be doing something. It'll have a purpose then, I promise." Mark's voice held a passion in it that Kyra didn't see very often. He was very passionate about this club. She could see it in his eyes. Mark and Jasmine cared a lot about this club and while their motives behind it were a little unclear, they really did try their best to make this place special.
"Wait... Did you say Cleopatra?" Kyra asked, the words finally processing in her head. Mark glanced over at her, slightly shocked.
"Don't tell me you don' t know who Cleopatra Blackheart is," Mark asked, though he looked like he was more shocked than asking. He thought that everyone knew who Cleopatra Blackheart was but he could have been wrong. Kyra glanced over at him, giving him a small smile. She didn't do that often, she realized. So what was it about this club that made her act differently?
"Of course I know who Cleopatra Blackheart is. Who at this school doesn't? What I mean to say is I don't think that you'll be getting her to come to your little club," Kyra shrugged, shaking her head a bit and leaning back against the wall behind her. Mark sighed and copied her, staring out at the floor. If Kyra felt bad about crushing his dreams, she wasn't aware of it herself. She didn't know Cleopatra personally, at all, but she did know that the girl in question wasn't the type to spend her time at a little club like this.
Then again, neither was Kyra and here she was.
"Yeah, I know that. But you never know. She could surprise us and show up anyway! I mean, Jasmine and I believe that it only takes one visit and eventually, you'll be here. Everyone else came here on that hope," Mark said, determination in his words. He didn't need to clarify. Kyra knew that he believed that Cleopatra would come wholeheartedly.
"I don't think so. This is Cleopatra Blackheart we're talking about. She doesn't have the ability to care about anything or anyone." Kyra's response was nonchalant and she knew that she had crushed Mark's hopes only a little bit more. The boy sighed and shrugged his shoulders, shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket.
And like in every cliche movie ever, the door opened at that moment, causing everyone to hear a "But what Cleopatra Blackheart does have is the ability to hear." The one and only Cleopatra Blackheart was standing right at the door, the face of calm in the face of a statement that would have made any sane person mad. Her hands were folded neatly at her waist, surprisingly in the same outfit from earlier in the day, and a backpack on her shoulder. Cleopatra wasn't the last person Kyra expected to see today but nevertheless, she was still surprised to see the gothic girl here.
"Cleopatra!" Mark exclaimed the first person to speak up after the initial shock. Jasmine giggled and spun around, her blonde hair spinning right along with her.
"Hey Cleo!" Jasmine smiled like she and Cleopatra were good friends when Kyra knew for a fact that the two of them were far from that. Jasmine drifted from her conversation with Isa to head over towards Cleopatra and Mark, sure that she was going to keep this conversation going. Cleopatra didn't seem all that shocked at hearing Jasmine. She simply gave her a nod of her head before turning back to Mark. Well, that's where she was heading. Cleopatra's movement didn't go without a slightly revolted look in Kyra's direction and instantly, Kyra knew where this was going. There was no way that the two of them were going to be getting along. Cleopatra didn't linger on Kyra for too long. She dropped her gaze almost as quickly as she had given it and turned her attention to Mark before slipping the backpack off her shoulder and dropping it on the floor. It only took Mark a second to realize what it was.
"My backpack!" Mark cried out. In an instant, he had a scooped up in his arms with Jasmine laughing at him in the background. Cleopatra didn't even try to show her disinterest as she looked around the room like she couldn't care less about what Mark had to say next. "Where on earth did you find it?"
"I found it in the lunchroom where someone had left it, forgotten to the rest of the world," Cleopatra said casually, barely glancing over at Mark to let him know that she was actually talking to him. Then, she went back to inspecting the room with a blank expression. And for once, Kyra hated her detective skills because she knew that Cleopatra was judging just a little more than the club idea. Mark didn't seem to care though. He just hugged his bag tightly to his chest while his face flushed red with embarrassment. It seemed like Cleopatra wasn't done though. As she smoothed down her dress again, she continued speaking. "I saw that you had left it after our lovely conversation and figured it'd be better to take it with me than to allow it to be left out there in the open for someone to take. Count this as a favor, I suppose. After all, at Lockwood, plenty of things went missing and I suppose this school might have just a few thieves here."
"Well, thanks! I dunno what would happen if I couldn't have found it!" Mark replied with a smile. Kyra knew that it wouldn't have been that big of a deal but Mark did want to get Cleopatra to stay. Cleopatra, however, remained indifferent. She only nodded her head and turned, taking careful steps towards the door once more.
"Where are you going?" Jasmine asked, her voice small. Kyra figured something like this hadn't happened before from the way Jasmine was talking. Cleopatra didn't even look back to face them. She just shrugged her shoulders and continued towards the door, saying: "Home, of course."
The small group gathered at the door sighed, though Kyra was the only one who remained relatively emotionless. Mark did look the most upset though. After all, he was the one who had invited Cleopatra and so he was the one who wanted her to stay the most. He had invited her with the hopes that she would stay and now she was leaving without giving their club a chance. If Jasmine had been worried about Kyra not showing up, she clearly had never had a conversation with Cleopatra Blackheart. Cleopatra wasn't the type to participate in anything like this so why did he think she would do anything like this?
Then again, she couldn't be as bad as everyone claimed, right? After all, she did stop by here to give him back his backpack when he was the one who forgot it. Cleopatra couldn't possibly be all that bad.
"You're really not going to stay?" Jasmine asked, her tone doing nothing to hide her disappointment. Cleopatra shrugged her shoulders again, not turning away from her walk to the door, and Kyra gave a pointed look of annoyance, the same look whenever she was right about something.
"What did I tell you? She's Cleopatra Blackheart. She doesn't have time for the common folk. You wasted your time with her." Kyra's voice was cold and unchanging, the same tone she used when she rattled off the facts of a case she was working on. Because that's all this was. She was stating the facts that she had known from the very beginning. Cleopatra didn't take it that way though. Her hands clenched into tight fists, looking as if she might start a fight, but when Cleopatra turned back around, her face showed nothing but neutrality. She was good. Kyra would give her that. But there was no need to start a fight over simple facts.
They didn't need too even start because that was when the door opened once more.
The new girl glanced around the room, her eyes darting around to find anything familiar. The way she chewed on her bottom lip and clung to her backpack strap were dead giveaways of her unease, but when it was paired with her short, choppy black hair and matching bangs, she just looked insecure. The girl looked familiar but at the same time, she was a complete stranger to everyone in the room. Maybe it was her goth-inspired outfit that reminded them of Cleopatra's or how her blue eyes looked so much like Jasmine's own ones but regardless of the reason, she was a familiar sight. The girl's expression seemed to relax some when she saw Mark and Jasmine and she gave an innocent smile. There was no doubt about it. This girl was the last new invite of the day.
Cleopatra didn't give anyone else the chance to speak first. "Hey. You're that girl who was getting sexually assaulted in the hallway by the cafeteria, aren't you? Or whatever was happening down there." Cleopatra's nonchalant statement was paired with her resting her hands on her slightly popped out hips, sharing her indifference in the actual response. The girl's gaze quickly darted over to Cleopatra, shifting from foot to foot slightly, though she remained silent. "I'll take that as a yes, then." Next to Jasmine, Mark groaned and looked down, clearly having something to do with the statement.
"Is that true, Mo?" Jasmine asked gently, taking a step forward towards the girl. The raven-haired girl glanced back over at her before shrugging her shoulders, dropping her gaze back down to the floor. Jasmine sighed like this was just another normal occurrence for them and turned to address the rest of the group. "Anyway, surprise!" Jasmine's preppy tone returned just as quickly as it left and she flashed her club one of her signature smiles, holding up a peace sign. "For you guys who don't know, and I'm assuming that's all of you from your puzzled looks, this is Monet Ivory, my twin sister. She's older by three minutes and... oh, what else is there to say about her?" Jasmine thought for a minute, bringing her finger up to her cheek in an almost comical way. "Oh! Yeah, so her name is Mo-NET, which is spelled the same way as Mo-NAY, but you just pronounce the N-E-T part of it. So M-O-N-E-T. So yeah, there's that." Jasmine shrugged her shoulders and smiled at the group again. Most of them just stared, startled by the news.
"Wait, wait, wait. Since when did Jasmine Ender have a twin sister?" Leo finally asked, speaking the question on everyone's mind. Mark took this one and he let out a small laugh.
"Obviously since birth, of course. Yeah, Monet and Jasmine are twins. They typically like to keep it on the down-low so that Monet doesn't get any attention to herself," Mark explained before turning to face Jasmine. "So, it's was Monet you invited? How dare you not tell me!" Jasmine shot him a smile and motioned for Monet to come over and join the group. The raven-haired girl jumped at the chance quickly, heading over to her as soon as she had permission too and set her backpack on the floor where Jasmine had left hers. Mark dropped his own right on the floor by their and jumped back up onto the desk, beating Jasmine to it by a few seconds. Monet didn't join them but she definitely seemed more relaxed in the room now that she was with Mark and Jasmine.
"How could I not invite Monet? I mean, have you met her? She's Monet! She definitely needs this," Jasmine replied with a giggle, resting her hand on Monet's shoulder with an encouraging smile. Mark rolled his eyes but he smiled too. They meant no harm to Monet. If anything, she seemed to know that they were only teasing.
"Okay, well, you all can go on and continue your fun. I'll be heading home now." Cleopatra's words were just as clipped and precise as her outfits, allowing her to get her point across easily. She wasn't going to waste another second here and she wanted to make sure that everyone knew it. Kyra sighed in a way that could only be described in an 'I told you so' manner and she watched Cleopatra leave the room without another word.
It was Jasmine's turn to sigh and she leaned back on her hands, watching the door shut behind Cleopatra's grand exit. Her mood seemed to damper a little at the action and Mark couldn't blame her. After all, she had gotten her hopes up the second that Cleopatra entered the room, only to have them thrown into the gutter again. Cleopatra had made herself very clear. She wasn't interested in the club, almost completely wrecking Jasmine's entire philosophy. Mark felt bad and he was going to make sure that she knew it if only to spite her.
"You can't really expect everyone that comes in is going to want to join, Jas. Some people just don't want to fit in," Mark said, leaning back on his hands to match Jasmine. The blonde girl was silent for a minute before she giggled and shot him another one of her signature smiles.
"You really are stupid, you know. This was only the start, obviously. Cleopatra's going to come back. I just know it."
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Once the meeting had ended, which had morphed from random talking to questioning Monet way past her comfort zone, Jasmine and Mark spent ten minutes cleaning the room up. Monet's torture wasn't all that different from Kyra's, a round of flash round and a few other spin-off questions, but it was clear that Monet didn't handle the attention well and so, Jasmine and Mark were quick to put an end to it. Which left the rest of the time figuring out what they could do as a group. Group activities were essential to any club but when it came to a club as diverse as the Rejects Club, it was soon discovered that it would be increasingly difficult to figure out something that everyone would enjoy. At the end of the day, they were left with the ever classic options, a sleepover or a movie day. Movies were hard and since everyone's tastes were so different, it was hard to find something that everyone liked, not to mention the problem of finding a date to actually go and see it. And of course, a sleepover would be easier, since they all went to the same school, but that would mean that they would have to split it up among boys and girls and quite frankly, Mark and Jasmine wanted to do something all together, not split them apart.
All in all, the whole thing had been a waste of time.
And then there was Kyra. Kyra... She was a whole other box to unwrap. The club had tried their hardest to get her involved but it seemed like the younger girl was too caught up in her own mind to pay attention to what they were saying. And when she did, she didn't give any input, eyes focused on the conversation, expressing enough emotions to let them know she was paying attention but when she was prompted to speak, it was one-line answers. She was the most difficult person the club had received so far and would continue to be so until they got Cleopatra to join, who Jasmine still had complete faith in despite everyone else telling her otherwise. Mark and Jasmine had tried their best to get Kyra involved, constantly trying to get her engaged in the conversation, but it seemed like Kyra had made it her goal to be as distant as possible to the club. It wouldn't surprise anyone if Kyra didn't come back tomorrow, making her the club's first walk-out.
So now, Sasha was waiting for Jasmine and Mark to finish cleaning the room. She was waiting patiently outside the door, sitting in one of those padded chairs that every guidance counselor seemed to have outside of their office, and thought about what was going to happen once Jasmine and Mark emerged from the room. Jasmine had been away for most of the summer, as everyone in their sleepy little town knew, working on her most recent movie. She'd only finished a few weeks ago, just in time to start school comfortably like any other high-schooler her age. The company Jasmine had signed onto was known for their quick production of movies while keeping their quality that everyone loved so Sasha wasn't surprised when Jasmine announced that she had the first cut of the movie sent to her to review and share her opinion on. And so, it was offered to the club to watch, though Sasha had been the only one to take the offer.
Up until now, it had only been Jasmine herself, Sasha, and Mark. Until Jasmine invited Monet, which lead to Sasha's latest predicament. She was sitting next to the Reject's Club's newest celebrity. And sure, every time someone new joined the club, people were bound to be all over them but this time, it was different. Sasha had to figure that it was due to the fact that she was Jasmine unknown twin sister, the kind of plot that you'd see from a movie? Big shot teen actress has a small town shy twin sister? Sounded like a plot line right out of Hallmark. But this wasn't a movie, this was real life and if this was the climax of the movie, it wasn't going to be a very interesting one at that. And judging from the way that Monet seemed to disappear into the background every time you were actively engaged with her, Sasha figured she couldn't have been a major character. Monet just seemed to disappear into thin air. Sasha had found herself forgetting about her at the club twice already, though that wasn't something she'd proudly brag about. The whole day just seemed to get weirder and weirder.
"So, Monet..." Sasha started, fidgeting with her fingers as she tried to choke out the question that had been on everyone's mind. Monet snapped to attention, slipping an earbud out of her ear and relaxed against the wall she was leaning on, as if she were used to having to wait for Jasmine and Mark constantly. Monet didn't turn to face her, eyes focused on a spot on the floor but she nodded her head, letting Sasha know that she was paying attention. "How could you and Jasmine have different last names? Since you're twins and all." Even from the awkward angle that Sasha could see Monet's face from, she could see the question processing in her brain. The twins were really different. Jasmine would have answered right away, rambling off into some long explanation chock full of details, but it seemed like Monet was just trying to sum it up and the fewest words possible. The two of them operated on very different levels, that much was obvious just by looking at them.
"Divorce," Monet finally spit out, as if the word almost hurt to say. A one word answer, as if that explained the whole thing. Sasha signed and nodded her head. She looked out into the hallway again, trying to look for the spot that Monet seemed to find so interesting but finding nothing. Monet didn't talk much, or she didn't want to talk much, was something different that Sasha wasn't used too. And it didn't help that if you just glanced at her from the corner of your eye, you'd think she really was Jasmine. The twins were more identical than they had originally thought.
"They had split you two up?" Sasha asked, looking back over at Monet. The mentioned girl shrugged her shoulders slightly, a barely noticeable action and clicked a button on the side of her phone, as if she were checking the time, late to some imaginary meeting that Sasha knew she didn't have because she was spending the evening with her.
'We go to the same school and live in the same town, so it wasn't like we never got to see each other. And with Jassy's job, she's gone every other week anyway. I guess it's not weird anymore." Monet's voice held such a finality to it that Sasha knew the conversation was over, raising more questions than answers.
"Sorry we took so long!" Mark said, opening the door to the guidance counselor's room and stepping out, Jasmine closely behind him. Both had huge smiles on their faces, as if they had just finished committing a crime. "You know how Jas is. A real child at heart. I'll leave it at that." Jasmine laughed slightly and fixed her backpack over her shoulder, shaking her head.
"Let me guess. Another spray bottle incident?" Monet asked, pushing herself off the wall and turning to face the group. Mark chuckled and nodded his head and Monet removed her other earbud and shoved them into her pocket. Sasha couldn't help but giggle lightly, looking over at Jasmine.
"And I thought the two of you were just having a makeout session," Sasha teased. It took Jasmine all of five seconds to realize what she had said but when she did, Jasmine choked, shaking her head quickly. Mark and Sasha laughed, if only at her expense and Monet smiled, shaking her head like she was disappointed in them.
"No, no, no, no, no! Just no. No, no, no. Sasha no! Mark's my best friend, nothing more. Seriously. We could never be more than just friends." Jasmine's tone grew more even and calm as she spoke. And that was how Sasha knew that she was serious about this. If Jasmine or Mark had thought of each other of anything more, there would be more rushed words, excuses for their actions, anything like that. Jasmine didn't like Mark and Mark didn't like her. It was as simple as that. "Besides, I guess if we were, we wouldn't be able to hang out and have sleepovers like we do. We have a strict, best friends only policy and we have since we were kids. Aunt M and Rebecca know that. Plus, thinking about it, I don't think I could ever date, let alone marry, this loser." A joking thumb pointed in Mark's direction and the mentioned male scrunched up his face in mock offense.
"Hey, wait!" Mark whined, kicking Jasmine's leg in defense. Jasmine yelped and whined, jumping back and out of the way with a laugh. "But yeah. Jasmine and I are just best friends. Nothing more. I mean, after all these years, it'd just seem weird to... I forgot my backpack!" Mark wasted no time rushing back into the guidance counselor's room, desperate to retrieve his forgotten item before he looked like more of an idiot than he already did. Monet hid her laugh quietly but Jasmine and Sasha had no such restraint. Jasmine shook her head and smiled over at her sister, brushing her hair behind her ear.
"What'd you two talk about while we were spraying each other with deadly chemicals?" Jasmine asked, leaning back against the wall and checking her phone in her hand. Monet shrugged her shoulders, shrugging off the topic without any words as if to say that it wasn't important.
"I was just wondering why you two do have the same last name. Monet mentioned something about a divorce?" Sasha asked. She might have been the first person to join the Rejects Club but it didn't mean that she instantly knew everything about Jasmine. The actress was just as closed off with her as she was with the rest of her fans. Jasmine's face fell, her eyes losing some of her normal sparkle.
"Yeah, it was. That was, what? Eight years ago?" Mark asked as he stepped back into the hallway. He gently shoulder-checked Jasmine and the blonde girl laughed, eyes lighting up as she turned to face her best friend again.
"Yeah, I don't really care about it so much anymore. It just reminds me of how things were, though," Jasmine said with a shrug. She glanced down at her phone again and smiled up at the small group. "It's whatever now. Anyways, let's get going. Aunt M's here and she's gonna be stoked to see you again, Mo!" Like it had never disappeared, Jasmine's cheerful attitude returned and she gently shoved Mark with her shoulder. "Race you all to the car!"
And just like that, things were back to normal. Jasmine and Mark laughed the whole way, shoving and pushing each other at any chance they got, desperate to win the race they had started. Sasha laughed at their antics but a lack of constant physical activity landed her a place in third. Mark ended up being last, his downfall being his blasted backpack, which left the twins the first two places. And surprising Sasha, Monet ended up in first.
"Aunt M, Aunt M, hey! Guess who's here!" Jasmine said the second she opened the door, quickly climbing into the backseat and in between Tommy and Rose, whom she affectionately called her siblings despite them being her cousins. Melissa turned around to face the backseats as Mark and Sasha climbed into the car, forcing Monet to have the front. The raven-haired girl hesitated for a minute, allowing Melissa a chance to speak before even thinking about touching the door.
"Well, I see Mark and I know this must be Sasha, so who could it be?" Melissa asked just as Monet opened the door. The raven-haired girl slipped into the front seat and dropped her backpack down on the floor, drawing Melissa's attention. "Ah, Monet! What a lovely surprise! I figured you'd have martial arts." Monet shook her head as she leaned over to give her aunt a quick hug.
"I've got it on Mondays and Fridays now and they moved my teaching classes then too. Since I'm in the varsity class, I kinda get better things now," Monet replied with a shrug of her shoulder, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as she sat down in the chair again and grabbing the seatbelt. "So I'm free for the evening."
"Well, it's certainly been a while since you've been over. We're glad you're back," Melissa said as she started the car again. Monet nodded her head and Sasha watched as she pulled out her earbuds again, placing on in her ear as she stared out the window. Tommy shouted something at her, something about telling her all about how second grade was, but Sasha didn't pay that much attention. Martial arts? Monet hadn't said anything about martial arts during flash round? How many mysteries did this girl have?
"Who's ready to watch my movie?" Jasmine called out with a laugh, pulling Sasha out of her thoughts. The car shouted "Me!" and they were off, ready to spend the rest of the day having fun.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"So you gave him his backpack, right? I guess I'm not following. Did you have a point to that whole story? I'm not a mind reader, Cleo." Cleopatra let out a small, playful groan at her best friend's statement, turning over to lay on her back. She stared up at the ceiling with a small giggle. It'd been too long since she'd had a real conversation with Bailey Michal and she wasn't planning on wasting it.
"Not the point, Bails. The point is that I made a guest appearance at their stupid club and now I think they've got it in their heads that I actually want to go," Cleopatra replied, shaking her head. She watched the gems and stars on the black ceiling of her room, watching how with every twist of her head, they lit up in different ways. Bailey sighed on the other side of the screen and when Cleopatra glanced over at the corner of her eye, she saw that she was turned over like she was.
"Well, do you really not want to go? Or are you just saying that because you're too scared to get involved with the people at this school? You think you're too bad for something or something, don't ya Cleo?" Bailey's words came in a teasing tone but Cleopatra had a feeling that she was being serious. Bailey did have a point, as much as Cleopatra didn't like it. There was a chance, however slim, that Cleopatra didn't want to make friends at this school just because she didn't want to get hurt. There might be the smallest chance that she was afraid of socializing with people who operated on a completely different level of society that her. But as much as Cleopatra knew that was a possibility, some part of her denied it. The Cleopatra Blackheart in her laughed at her thoughts, claiming that she was no weak. That she didn't need other people around her to make her feel human because she already wasn't one.
"I think that is single handedly one of the stupid things I've heard all day, Bails. And I go to school with a whole lot of stupid people." Bailey's laugh rang clear through the phone and Cleopatra smiled a bit on her back. Then, she turned over to face the screen again, resting her chin on her hands. "Alright, spill the tea, Bails. You know this is killing me. Who's the kid who's got your attention." Bailey chuckled and turned over to face Cleopatra once more.
"In your dreams, Cleo. You're kidding. You think anyone wants a part of this? You insult my entire being!" Bailey chuckled again and smiled, but as always, there was a bit of truth in her words. It was the same truth that had always been there. If Cleopatra didn't know how to read Bailey by now, how could she call herself her friend?
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm mistaken. You're right. What on earth was I thinking? No one's ever ever going to like you at your preppy, goodie two-shoes, private school. Who am I fooling? I mean, who likes a bad girl?" Bailey laughed at Cleopatra poor attempt for a joke and Cleopatra smiled, settling down comfortably on her bed. With Bailey away at boarding school, she was alone now. And even though being at a private school normally seemed like a good thing, they both knew that was far, far, far from the truth.
"Says the one and only Cleopatra Blackheart! Come on, Cleo! Spill the tea! What about you? Anyone wanting to get close to the imfamous bad girl?" Bailey laughed a bit at her own joke, leaning her chin on her propped up hands and kicking her feet back and forth behind her. If it were for the shaved side of her head and the heavy, goth makeup at Bailey sported, she might have a chance at passing as a normal girl. Cleopatra only shook her head, a hint of a smile creeping it's way onto her face. "Oh, come on! No one wants to dig in deep into the mysterious Cleopatra Blackheart's life and find out what she's really like? I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked." It was teasing, like it always was. The truth was taken lighthearted. Both girls knew that it was unlikely they'd ever find anyone to care for them.
"Actually, I think that if I ever did find someone who was crushing on me, I'll end up going to that club. That way, you'll really know that I've finally lost my mind." Cleopatra brushed her hair over her shoulder as she spoke, relishing in the way that Bailey laughed. Cleopatra chuckled and smiled, watching Bailey roll onto her side in laughter. "Oh! Don't die! What would I do if I lost you? Why, I don't even know what flowers to get for your funeral!" Bailey laughed harder, forcing Cleopatra to giggle under her breath.
"Okay, but seriously. Give it a chance. Just one more. And if you don't, I'll get myself expelled. Because we all know that's going to happen sometime this year so why not speed things up now? Deal?" Bailey asked, her face morphing into something more serious once again. "Because, like, I have to go now anyways for some stupid thing they do here called check-ins, so I figured we mine as well have something to talk about for our next call. And seriously, if you hate the club so much, I'll get myself expelled so you have someone fun to chill with again. Sound like a deal?"
"And now you're just pressuring me into liking it," Cleopatra groaned, rolling her eyes slightly. "You play a high stakes game, Bails. That's what makes you fun though, I suppose." She pretended to think for a minute, though her mind was already made up. "Alright, fine. Just because of that, I'll do it. But only so that you get yourself screwed over." Bailey laughed again and sat up on her bed.
"Alrighty then. I'll see you tomorrow. Love ya, Cleo!" Bailey smiled, picking up her phone.
"Yeah, yeah. You're pretty great too. See you tomorrow, Bails." Cleopatra replied, rolling her eyes and pressing the hang up button. With a sigh, she turned onto her side and stared at the photos across the wall from her best. One more try at the club, she thought bitterly to herself. She wasn't sure where that was going to go or what it was going to bring for her, but she did know it was going to be interesting. After all, Jasmine was famous at their school for her quirks and antics and everyone knew Mark got dragged right along into them but that didn't stop him from being interesting all on his own. All and all, Cleopatra didn't have a problem with it. There was only one small detail, the only reason she didn't want to go. Just one small roadblock in the otherwise interesting road.
She happened to be a little something named Kyra Kingsly.