"I am too tired for that and you know it," Jasmine groaned, slumping against Kyle. The two of them had been working all day, though not together. Since it was more of an action film and Kyle was on the antagonist's side, he'd been working with them all day, minus the last two scenes. Since Jasmine was on the protagonist's side, she'd been with them all day, minus the last to scenes. Those scenes were just them. It hadn't necessarily been a super busy day, but it was a long day and each scene had enough action to make them exhausted and Jasmine did like to do her own stunts so there was that.
"Then let's go swimming," Kyle suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. Jasmine groaned again and hid her face in his arm. He chuckled and shrugged again, trying to get her off. With a whine, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning.
"What?" She whined, glaring at him.
"We have to go back to the hotel and why not go swimming?" He suggested again, giving her a small look. Jasmine groaned a bit but shrugged.
"Only if we're using the hot tub," She replied, stretching a bit. "Because I am too sore to actually swim." Kyle laughed a bit and stood up from his chair, holding his hands out to Jasmine. She sighed but took his hands and let him pull her up. She stumbled a bit, a little as a joke but mostly because she'd actually been sitting for a while and she was tired, but Kyle steadied her and they made their separate ways to their trailers, grabbing what few things they were actually taking back to the hotel room with them before coming back the next day to film a few more scenes. Jasmine grabbed her phone and computer, shoving it into her bag. She'd been working on homework earlier on her breaks, but it wasn't like it was the most fun thing to do. Instead, for the most part, she'd been working on her film. It wasn't a long film. Just a short film about thirty minutes long but she did really want to make it. If only she could get the ending right. She couldn't quite figure out how to get Evelyn home and every ending she wrote just ended up being worse than the last. She had mad respect for film writers now.
"Jasmine, let's go!" Kyle said, knocking on her trailer door. Jasmine snapped back to attention and looked over at the door.
"One second. I gotta change!" Jasmine shouted back. She grabbed her normal clothes and threw off her outfit, making sure to keep it nice for the next day. This was probably the first film that she had been in where her outfit was mainly the same and an actual uniform. When she was on set, she was Ace, a sixteen year old girl who had a thing for hacking. She was on a team of eighteen to thirty year olds in an attempt to take down a group who had infiltrated the government. Not only did Kyle play an antagonist, but he also played her past love interest and they were the main plot twist. It was rather fun, but it was exhausting.
"Jasmine!" Kyle shouted again, more joking than anything. Jasmine groaned and threw her shirt over her head.
"I have to take off my makeup but you can come in," She shouted back. Kyle took the invite and opened the door, stepping into her trailer.
"Where's your aunt?" He asked, sitting down in a chair. With his hair all messed up and his clothes changed, he could pass for a basic bad boy. She wondered if it was a good idea to let him into her trailer but this was Kyle Revere. He'd only been her co-star since she was eight year old. If he was going to try something, he would have done it already.
"She told me she was going to the store because I really wanted some pizza for supper and that's not what we were having so, you know, we're having pizza for supper," Jasmine replied with a shrug. She scrubbed her face down with a makeup wipe, staring herself down in the mirror. She really looked like a mess, didn't she? At this point, she didn't care. Only two weeks left of filming and then she was home for a while. That was going to be the best time of her life.
"Lucky. My mom wouldn't do that for me," Kyle said with a small laugh. Jasmine looked over at him and smiled. Then, she flipped her head upside down and pulled her long hair into a ponytail. It wasn't that she minded it down, but it was fizzy for the movie and since it was so long, it stuck to everything now that they didn't worry too much about being on set and looking good.
"Yeah, well, I guess my mom is just better than yours," Jasmine replied, standing up straight and pulling it into a messy bun. She didn't really care anymore. They were going back to the hotel room, going swimming, and then she was probably just going to shower and wash her face and go to sleep. That sounded good right about now. She wanted a lot of sleep. It sucked she had to get up in the morning for another long day of filming.
"What kind of pizza?"
"Pineapple, obviously."
"You don't even like pineapple!" Kyle laughed. Jasmine giggled and grabbed her bad, throwing it over her shoulder.
"Okay, okay, it's sausage. And yes, you're welcome to come over and have some after we swim. I'm probably going to do a face mask." Jasmine shrugged. After her long day, she deserved it too. Kyle chuckled slightly and it suddenly made her wish that she was back home with Mark and Monet.
"Those things make you look like a monster," Kyle joked. Jasmine kicked him in the leg and he whined. Mark would have joked about wanting one too and she and Monet would make him do it. And he wouldn't actually hate it. Man, she was homesick. Mark and Monet were probably having a whole lot of fun, now that they were dating and all.
"You know, I dunno if I even wanna go swimming," Jasmine decided. Kyle gave her a weird look. Jasmine gave him a smile and shrugged. "It's nothing bad. I think I might just do some hair treatments and shower. I swear the fizz they put in my hair is going to break it, even if they swear it's not." Kyle shrugged.
"Okay, sure, but I'm still coming over for pizza. If that's okay." Jasmine nodded her head.
"Of course! Wouldn't want you to miss that. We can play some card games or something." Man, she really missed home. She missed her best friends. She might have to call them.
"I'll beat you in uno again if that's what you're talking about," Kyle joked. Jasmine giggled and nodded her head.
She really needed a shower.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"Okay, so, if you didn't come to our school, you would have gone to Lockwood, right?" Kyra asked for what seemed to be the sixth time since she invited Cleopatra to go with her to Lockwood high's ceremony for their dead students from two years ago.
"Yeah, Kyra. For the sixth time, yes." Cleopatra sighed, leaning back in her seat. She would probably see some kids from her middle school, assuming that they actually cared enough about this to actually go to it. They'd been eighth graders at the time the murder happened, so they hadn't been faced with it directly, but for the past year and a half, they'd been working on a student made memorial for the six students and two teachers they had lost, their cause of death and killer found by their very only Kyra Kingsly. The girl had been invited to the ceremony and she'd cautiously asked Cleopatra to attend with her. It took Cleopatra a minute to remember that Kyra didn't do well with big crowds so she accepted. Besides, what harm could it do? She doubted anyone there would be dumb enough to call her Tia, so what was the harm in chilling with some of her old classmates?
"Sorry..." Kyra fidgeted with the straps of her black overalls. "Do I look okay?" The black contrasted with the light purple tee-shirt she had on and Cleopatra had to be careful not to laugh. Detective Purple Hair was a very fitting nickname for her.
"Of course you do. I'd dare say that you look adorable," Cleopatra commented. Kyra huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Don't comment about my age or height. That's just mean." This time, Cleopatra did giggle.
"What makes you think I'm making fun of your height?" She asked, tilting her head. Her curls slipped over her shoulder in a small wave. Kyra turned and looked back at her.
"I'm not adorable and that's that." Cleopatra held her hands up in defeat. She was a fiesty fourteen year old, that was for sure.
The ceremony lasted too long, Cleopatra decided. It wasn't that she didn't feel bad for the people who had died, but it was too long for a ceremony for people who were misfits and troublemakers. The only reason she'd actually paid attention was because she was with Kyra and she supposed that the girl brought a little of her self control back to her, however small it actually was.
However, after the ceremony, it didn't stop her from getting noticed by people.
"I'll say. It is Cleopatra!" She turned around and was faced with a few of her old classmates. The way this school worked was that no one was really friends, just friendly. She knew that. She grew up in this system. You had one or two close friends and everyone else you were just friendly with. That's why you lost all your friends in fourth grade. It was an odd system, but it worked. She smiled at them, nodding her head slightly, and carefully, secretly motioning Kyra to step a little closer to her. You couldn't really trust anyone here, now could you?
"Hello Ditch. Kaylee, Ty," She nodded to them. "A pleasure, really." No. It wasn't. What did they want? They weren't too bad, not really. But still, who could you trust here? She had known Ditch since kindergarten. His real name was Dutch but ever since he started ditching school in fourth grade, he'd earned himself the nickname Ditch. Kaylee and Ty had been in her eighth grade homeroom. They weren't anything special, aside from both being druggie kids, but who here hadn't at least tried it once?
"You leave Bailey?" Kaylee asked, glancing around as if to find the missing girl. Cleopatra's heart tightened, like the very thought of Bailey made it seize up. Cleopatra shook her head and smiled.
"Nah. Poor thing got shipped to boarding school," Cleopatra said with a sigh. The others winced, like they knew what she was talking about. Boarding school was like a nightmare here. If you couldn't make it through this school, then a lot of kids got shipped to boarding school and there was that. She had to watch what she said here, especially since if she said the wrong thing, she could not only get herself in trouble, but also get Kyra in trouble too. Speaking of which, the girl hadn't said anything, more like she was frozen at Cleopatra's side.
"Ah, if you didn't know, this is Kyra Kingsly. She's your Detective Purple Hair for this case." Cleopatra gestured to Kyra and the others nodded at her, acknowledging her presence, before returning their attention back to Cleopatra. Good, keep focused on her. She'd rather it be on her then make Kyra uncomfortable.
"Wanna head out back?" Ditch asked and Cleopatra didn't need any clarification as to what they were asking. Wanna smoke? As much as she should say no, especially since she had Kyra with her, she couldn't find herself a good enough reason to say no. And why would she? Sure, Kyra might not like it, but they could just leave if it really bothered her. Plus, it wasn't like she could really get out of it. She'd gained a lot of street rep with them while she was at school and she'd lose it if she declined. A few of these kids lived near her too and that wouldn't be too pleasant.
"Why not? I could use a smoke anyway," Cleopatra shrugged. Kyra flinched slightly and they laughed a bit at the moment, but Cleopatra shut them up with a glare. "It's okay, Ky. We can't stay long anyway. It might be nice to catch up with them anyway." Kyra didn't offer any complaints so Cleopatra took that as a win. It couldn't go wrong.
They chatted a bit on their way out to the back of the school. It was the same as it was in middle school. There were a few teachers who smoked out there, but there were mostly students. Though, there weren't too many today. Just a teacher off to the side and a group of three students chatting near the back door.
"You probably don't know her but that's Genesis Mathes," Ditch said, pointing out a girl. Cleopatra looked over at her. The girl, tall with dark hair and held herself up like a goddess on earth, was recognizable, though Cleopatra was unsure why. She had to have done something major in order to be recognizable to her, but what did she do? "She basically started a cult here. She's got a couple dozen followers at this point. One of her original followers, Charlotte Ozborn, was her best friend."
"Charlotte Ozborn was killed in the case, wasn't she?" Kyra asked quietly. Ty nodded his head at her.
"Yeah. She had a kid. Genesis brings her to school sometimes if she can't get someone to watch her." Ty shrugged his shoulders and they joined the group. Ditch offered a cigarette to Cleopatra, who took it with a nod of her head, before offering one to Kyra, who shook her head.
"No," She said, shaking her head quickly. Ditch shrugged and lit it, tossing the lighter to Cleopatra. Kaylee and Ty seemed to have their own, so there wasn't much more talking about it. Kyra was silent for the most part, but Cleopatra did chat with the rest of the group. Apparently she had earned enough street cred to the point of where Genesis recognized her name and the two chatted for a bit like old friends. The feel was all rather odd, since Cleopatra hadn't been at Lockwood schools for two years, but maybe that was just the cigarette.
"Genesis?" A girl asked, walking up to the group. Cleopatra glanced over at the girl, but it was Kyra who recognized her.
"That's Heaven Hanes. She was a lead witness for the case when it came to Charlotte Ozborn's death," She whispered, standing on her toes to actually reach Cleopatra's ear. Cleopatra glanced at her, but she figured they should be leaving soon anyway. After all, they'd skipped school for this and still had club at the end of the day.
"Cult freak," One of the other girls said, one that hadn't been in their group before. Genesis glared over at her.
"You leave my girls alone, alright?" She snapped, but the way Kyra tugged at her dress made it clear that they had to go, as much as she wanted to watch what was about to unfold. Waving goodbye to her old classmates, she smashed her cigarette on the ground and they left.
"I forget you don't like crowds," Cleopatra said softly.
"As much as Lockwood High as a special place in my heart, I hate just about everything that goes on in it," Kyra replied, her tone even quieter than Cleopatra's. Now that they were back in the car, she stared out the window. Cleopatra sighed and did the same.
"They're not all bad, Ky. They're all just like me."
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"Are you positive that everything's alright, Monet?" Mark asked, looking over at her from his seat at his desk. Monet just nodded her head and went back to typing away at her phone. He was worried. Monet normally wasn't thing quiet so what was bothering her? He frowned and turned back to his homework, but he couldn't focus on it any more. How could he? After all, Monet hadn't said much to him since she came to his apartment in a panic. She'd been left alone with Jess while her father went to get something from the store and apparently something Anna had done caused her to have a flashback or something and instantly, she was panicking. She ran over to his house and Rebecca let her in, concerned that something awful had happened, but Monet only curled up in the corner and cried, hiding her head in her knees. She didn't look anything like Mark remembered her when his mother called him into the room.
Jess had found her way down to make sure that Monet was alright and it took a bit of explaining to say why exactly Monet had bolted, but once she understood, she explained that she would be up in Timothy's apartment if they needed her and left. After that, she had been left in the hands of Mark and Rebecca. Well, and Julia, but Julia was only eight and didn't understand what was happening.
He wanted to ask her about Anna because really, that was the root of their entire problem, but whenever he asked, he was shot down. Monet repeatedly said that she didn't want to talk about it, so he was forced to drop the topic, but what really could have happened? Jess seemed really nice, like she genuinely cared about Monet, so why did Monet panic whenever they were in the same room together? He suspected that Anna abused her in some form, but is it possible that she had done something worse?
"Hey, Monet?" Mark asked, turning to look at her again. "I know you don't-"
"I don't wanna talk about it, okay Mark?" Monet snapped, looking up from her phone for what seemed to be the first time since they settled in his room. He held up his hands in surrender, like he was a soldier about to be shot before letting his hands fall again.
"I know you don't. Trust me. I know. But it's getting really concerning. You'd freaked out about Anna after she got sent to jail and couldn't sleep by yourself for weeks, you remember that?" Monet sighed, glaring slightly at him. Of course she remembered. He knew she did. "And from time to time, you would get panic attacks or flashbacks because of it. You never cared about clothes being tight on you before meeting Anna and after that, it was like you couldn't wear it anymore if it was even remotely a little tight. And now it seems like you can't be in the same room for longer than a few minutes with a girlfriend of your dad's. It's really concerning, Mo. I'm really worried about you. I know you don't wanna talk but at least ease my concerns." He was silent for a minute, waiting for her response. Monet didn't speak either, staring at her phone screen and tapping it from time to time to keep it awake.
"She really, really hurt me, Mark..." Monet said softly, her voice on the brink of tears at even the thought of what happened. "He started dating Anna when I was ten and he dated her for almost five years. It ended last May when she got sent to jail. She really hurt me during that time. It's all so new. I just... Jess seems so nice and I know I'm just paranoid, but still. At this point, I guess I can't be too careful. What if she hurts me too?" Monet shook and took in a shaky breath, like she was trying to calm herself down but she didn't know how. He wanted to ask more details, ask what she had done, but it had taken them this long to get her to open up even just a little bit. He'd have to wait longer for more details. He could play the long game, but it hurt him to see her in so much pain. Anna had no right to treat Monet like this, to make her suffer so much.
"Hey, it's okay," He said, standing up to sit down on the edge of his bed. Monet shut her phone off and looked up at him, a few tears running down her face. He hated this. She didn't deserve this. He gently brushed a few tears away. "She's not here now. She can't hurt you again. You know my mom and dad'll do anything that can to protect you and you've got me and Missy and so many other people who are willing to help you. You don't need to worry about Anna anymore." Monet dropped her gaze and stared at his bedsheets, like they might do her some good in forgetting her past.
"It's completely unfair for me to treat Jess like this and I know that. It's just... I don't know what to do. Anna really... I just can't seem to shake it so matter how hard I try." She sniffled and hid her face in the bed, shaking slightly. She was crying again, wasn't she? Mark rubbed up and down her back, trying to get her to calm down. Jasmine was gone for another two weeks. Monet seemed to normalize when Jasmine was around, and seemed more stable. If she could hold out for another two weeks, then maybe things would work out in the end. Mark wasn't sure what he could do anymore and he hated it.
"It's not unfair. You were treated awfully last time your dad had a girlfriend so it only makes sense that you would be uneasy around Jess. If you want, I'll tell her that for you. It's not a big deal. You need to stop worrying so much about what others will think when it comes to your own self care. You're not ready for that so you have no reason to dive head first in that situation," Mark replied, trying to keep his tone even. This is what he got for being best friends with two girls and having one of them as his girlfriend. He was bound to get into a lot of emotional situations that he wasn't sure what to do about, but he didn't think that Monet would have this much trauma.
"I'm sorry... This is so unfair to you..." Monet cried, hiding her face more with her arms.
"No, no! It's okay! You're my best friend. You always have been. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. You don't need to apologize." Monet shook again, curling up into a ball. She wasn't making any noise but she had to be crying. "Hey, Mo, how about this. There's an amusement park in the mall an hour or two from here. How about we go check that out next week? We have Friday off from school that day." Monet nodded her head slightly, though she didn't look up.
"Can I spend the night?" She asked quietly. Mark chuckled slightly.
"You can spend the night anytime you want, Miss Knight. You know that."