On a string... (open)

[cherry johnson]

So I swing and I sway.
Wave my hand, kick my leg,
And it is always right with the music.

You couldn't really call her an addict. She only had about one a day, usually in the morning...and she could function without it, she was just even more of a bitch than usual. Caffeine. Every students best friend...they use it to stay up late and cram, they use it to wake them up in the morning, they use it to get them in less of a bad mood...and they use it because these days, they actually manage to make it taste good. But Cherry, dear Cherry, doesn't like it to taste good. She likes plain black coffee...the same kind her father likes. And that's the only thing you'll ever hear her admit she has in common with her pathetic excuse for a father: Coffee preferences.

Cherry woke up and the sun was shining...oh how she hated the sun. She liked when the skies were gray, and the air was foggy. Just foggy enough so when she walked outside she felt it get her skin slightly wet. It was the best feeling in the world, or so she claimed. And maybe she was right...it always put her in a better mood. Or, at least a semi-good mood. She was seldom in a legitimately good mood...okay, she never really was.

Cherry marched into the starbucks, looking upset. Disgruntled. Annoyed. Mainly because when she woke up that morning her head was pounding for some coffee...yes, mainly because of that. But also because, well, that seemed to be her default state. It put most people off wanting to talk to her, but a few people, very few, knew why she was like she was...and those few people were her brothers. She had no real true, close friends. None. Especially not here. Especially not now.

She sighed a little bit, and slung her bag up over her shoulder, ignoring all other people in the shop, as she walked up to the counter and placed her order. "Black coffee." her voice was carrying it's normal bored tone...and she used no please's or thank you's. Not even as she took her drink, and walked down to a table for two, sitting down delicately. It was hard to do anything in an indelicate way when you're a cute skinny five foot tall teenager...which was just one of the many things that annoyed her. She hated being called cute. She took a sip of her bitter coffee, her eyes closing. It was so good, but so gross. She loved it.

count: 431
tags: open!
outfit: click
notes: Sorry. it's extremely short. >.<

[joseph fitzgerald]

Joseph could have run to the Starbucks, maye he even should have done it but he woke up a bit sore that morning, not that he really mattered because he knew that if he needed to he could get into the schools weight room with ease now that he had done it, besides he didn't have a heavy class load that particular day so he could do it later.

Both were excuses and maybe even good ones but they weren't entirly true, there was another reason that he had driven the few miles to Starbucks when he could have easily run... the car his parents had promised him if he went to the school without a fight had arrived. The black Porsche Boxter had handled even better then he could have imagined, he needed that new car after he had accidentally spun his Audi out while racing it through Soho and it had smashed into some sculpture that could be called art by only the greatest stretch of the imagination. Joseph had called its destruction a public service while his parents had given the ruined car to the artist so a new blasphemy could be made from it.

With a massive and rather content grin on his face he walked into Starbucks behind some girl who was... well marching was an almost appropriate word. He would have probably ignored her if not for her choice of order, any teenage blonde who drank black coffee from a place that tended to over roast their beans was definitly rare and worthy of spending a little time to get to know them.

"I could really use a double shot of espresso and a double of ristretto, both in the same cup." He told the Batista with his well practiced charming smile, setting down a twenty on the counter and just leaving it as he took his coffee. A friend of his had been forced to get a job by his parents and had told him that if you didn't make an effort to keep the people who made your coffee happy then you could end up with a dollop of mucus on top the crema.

Deciding that he didn't have anything better to do at the moment he moved over to the table of the blond he had been behind, seeing a face that screamed a single word... cute. "Not often that a high school student just drinks black coffee, most just go for something blended or foamy. I would definitely call it a relief to see someone who is willing to stand out from the yuppie late' crowd."

[cherry johnson]

So I swing and I sway.
Wave my hand, kick my leg,
And it is always right with the music.

Cherry continued sitting there for a few minutes, in her happiness of caffeine. She wasn't the most happy person on earth, definitely, but she had a few moments in the day where she wasn't completely miserable. Actually, a lot of the time she pretended to be in a bad mood, when she wasn't...not for attention, or anything, mostly because she wasn't very good at showing how she's feeling anymore. One of her earliest life lessons was that it's better not to feel...so most of the time she appears emotionless. But with the lovely black coffee in her hand, she looked perfectly happy...even though she wasn't smiling. Cherry seldom smiled.

Suddenly in the midst of her bliss someone sat at her table...which normally would have pissed her off...but since she was in a fairly good mood it hardly even annoyed her. It wasn't like the guy was saying anything rude to her, or anything. He actually seemed kind of...nice. Cherry always liked nice people...probably because they were so different from her. She couldn't usually get along with other people who were anything like her. Plus, she found it hard to be mean to people when they were being nice to her...she wasn't a polite person, at all, but she knew that would just be uncalled for.

"I like it black." She said, her voice sounding fairly bored, although in reality the guy interested her. Back home most people didn't approach her, despite the fact that with her short height, and cute face, she looked something like a ten year old with too much make-up on. She always had trouble finding clothes she actually liked because of her height, so most of the time she just bought her pants too long, and hemmed them up a bit. Or made them herself. Shirts weren't as hard. "I've been drinking it black since I was ten. Some habits are hard to break." She shrugged a little bit, then took a sip.

"I'm Cherry." She said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Even if she wasn't the politest person ever she still usually introduced herself...mostly because she liked her name, though. It wasn't her real name, obviously, but most people didn't know that. She'd went by the name Cherry since...well, since forever. She wouldn't even remember where the nick name came from.

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[joseph fitzgerald]

No scalding coffee thrown in his face, Joseph hadn't been expecting that but it was a reform school that he went to, on his first day he had asked a student where he could find his first class and the psychotic bitch had tried to bite him. The only thing that had kept her teeth away from his oh so smooth skin was his quick reflexes and the fact that she had apparently been seeing double at the time. Being attacked by a student on angel dust on your first day did make an impression...

And while druge where on his mind he might as well indulge a little bit, its not like anyone other then the girl he was sitting down with would see, and he could probably buy her off if she was shocked.

He assumed Cherry was most likely a nickname but he was not one to question, he had once dated a girl who insisted on calling him fuzzles. "Well Cherry in my opinion black coffee is always nice but a little bit of white never ever hurt anyone. Name is Joseph by the way, but I go by Joe." He said with a grin as he slipped off his right shoe and peeled up the padding to reveal a small plastic baggie full of white powder, a little bit of cocaine cut with powdered vitamin C. Of course they had searched him when he first came to the school but five hundred dollars in the searchers hand kept the search from being to thorough.

A quick glance around showed him no one was watching and his sprinkled about half of the coke into his espresso before an interesting thought occurred to him. "Would you like a little sweetener?" She would either freak or take it, one way or the other it would be interesting.

[cherry johnson]

So I swing and I sway.
Wave my hand, kick my leg,
And it is always right with the music.

Cherry raised her eyebrows a little bit as he pulled out the baggie. She kind of considered it odd behavior for someone to pull out drugs in front of some random person...for all he knew she was, like, the daughter of some police, or something, and could get him in huge trouble. Of course she definitely wasn't...her dad was a garbage man, for crying out loud. And she'd definitely done a fair bit of drugs back home.

It had mostly been pot, but she'd done other things as well. Acid once (not a good experience), some pills she didn't even know the name of, and a bunch of other things...some she could barely remember. But she'd never done anything with cocaine. She'd been at parties when others were doing it, but no one ever offered to share. She figured the shit was just expensive...she never really bought any of her own drugs, as what little money she used to make was stolen out of her dad's wallet, and then used for food money. All her drug needs were got from people who considered her a "friend", but she considered them just people she liked to get drugs from. She'd never had many friends...

"Sure." She said, not sounding quite as bored. "I'd love some." She tried to smile, but it felt wrong on her lips, so she let it slip off. Smiles never really felt right to her...but this guy was definitely interesting, to say the least. She pushed her up forward a little bit, her eyes shining a bit. Even though she liked to consider herself emotionless she felt excited. New drugs were always a fun experience...unless, of course, you had a bad trip or something. Then it wasn't so fun...

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[joseph fitzgerald]

Drugs were never anything that Joseph needed or felt addicted to, they had always been just a means to an end for him and that end was getting the attention that he had wanted. Well it had started out that way but he had long ago just stopped doing things because he felt like getting the attention of his parents. Now it was just a way for him to keep himself amused when bored, the time between drug use varied, weeks and months even.

He preferred stimulants but would never say no to anything new or exciting, and cocaine was always a favorite. It made him feel sharp and there were oh so many ways that it could be taken, snort, gum, inject... almost anything would work.

He could read it in her eyes, the excitement which meant she was either a junkie who had been sent here to get her clean or that she was interested in trying some new experience... and she didn't look like a big junkie so he was gonna go with it being a new experience she was eger to try.

"You realize that if you are some kind of narc any case that you could have on me is gone now that you said yes." He teased her as he quickly removed the lid from her cup, dumped in the remaining half of the cocaine and then swirled the cup a bit to even it out. "Bottoms up." Smirking he raised his glass and downed half of it, waiting for that first rush, the most enjoyable part.

[cherry johnson]

So I swing and I sway.
Wave my hand, kick my leg,
And it is always right with the music.

Cherry rolled her eyes a little bit. "I'm definitely not a narc." She was also definitely not a junkie. She only did drugs for fun...when she was bored, and had nothing better to do. Or when people around her were doing them at parties. She was anything but addicted...she actually considered it a dirty word. Being dependent on anything disgusted her, even just the thought of it. She'd never been a very dependent person, weather on humans, or things, or animals, or substances or. It's kind of hard to be dependent when you have two little brothers who need to be dependent on you...

She looked down at the drink, then swirled it around a little bit. Part of her was hoping that no one around her had seen what they just did...but the other part didn't really care. She was already in reforming school, what else could they do to her? Well, there was actually a lot more they could do to her, but she didn't want to think about that. She just wanted to drink her drink.

She took a small sip, not really sure what she should be expecting. Nothing happened immediately, so she drank and bit more, then looked at the guy in front of her. He'd already drank about half his drink..so she figured maybe she'd need to drink that much as well for anything to actually happen. She then downed her entire drink, then looked at the guy in front of her in a curious way. If she had been anyone else she probably would have said thanks, or something.
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[joseph fitzgerald]

"Even if you were a narc I could always just claim that it was artificial sweetner or offer you a bribe." The grin on his face could most easily be called arrogant, it wouldn't have been the first time that he had been caught. But when you factored in the amount of influence that his father had on the police force back home there had never been any real trouble. The memory of the day that he had gone to school while tripping out on shrooms was one that came to him at that moment, he had told the on campus officer that he looked like a piniata and only been asked to calm down.

She seemed a little bit apprehensive though so Joseph decided to do something to take her mind off any worries she had. "This is Starbucks, everyone else here is much to absorbed with typing on their laptops to pay attention to what we are doing. The coke is high quality but I cut it down weak, just a little bit of a morning kick to help the caffine do its job." It would do a bit more then that but he was trying to put her at ease, its not like it was acid or anything that could really fuck her up.

"So Cherry..." He paused for a moment after saying her name. "DOn't know how long you have been at the school but I am pretty new here, what do you think of it?" It was a pretty educated guess that she was a student there, a bit to young to have graduated if he was to take a guess and he didn't think there were any other schools around.

[cherry johnson]

So I swing and I sway.
Wave my hand, kick my leg,
And it is always right with the music.

"Do I honestly look like a narc to you?" She asked, raising her eyebrows a little bit. She didn't exactly know what narc's looked like, as she'd never met one, but she was guessing they didn't look a thing like her...then again, she'd never met anyone who looked much like her. She was actually pretty confident about her looks, although she didn't go around bragging about them, or anything, and there were a few things she would have liked to change...like her shortness...and maybe have a few more curves...but mostly she was content with the way she looked, even if she knew she wasn't the best looking person ever.

She nodded a little bit, feeling a bit reassured. As long as he wasn't giving her acid she didn't really care what it was...it didn't seem that bad so far, at least. "Right. Of course." She truly did feel greatful for him...for how nice he was being...and him sharing with her, and all that, but she still wasn't about to reform and thank him or anything. She didn't really care what people thought about her in any case, so if this guy thought she was an unthankful bitch, or anything, she couldn't really care less. She probably should have at least said thanks, as cocaine wasn't cheap or anything, but she still wasn't about to. Even if people said thank you to her the most they ever got was a not so polite nod.

She thought about what a good answer to his question would be...most students would probably say they hated it, but she didn't really care. it was better than staying back home and being raped by her dad for the third time. The only thing she missed about home, really, was her brothers...and she was planning on getting them back as soon as she graduated, so she could make some decent money, and raise them better than she was raised. They were truly the only people she'd ever loved. Ever. ...Other than maybe her new kitten she'd got only a month ago. It was getting so big...hardly even a kitten anymore. "It's okay, I guess." She muttered, playing with her fingers. "Could be worse, I suppose. What do you think of it?"

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[joseph fitzgerald]

That was a pretty funny question that she asked, the very point of a narc was that they didn't look like a cop, they might even look like a young Johnny Depp at Twenty One Jump Street. "Well you are more attractive then the two narcs I have met before so I am going to assume that you aren't one." A bit of downright obvious flattery but hey, the coke always made him a little bit more open with his opinions, and he was always that way. Anyway she was more or less a perfect fit into his ideal type, he had a thing for shortish girls.

"Not like I feel like getting seen by two many people and having to share the other goodies I have with me." He teased a bit, really his other shoe held a dime bag of high quality weed. "Getting high alone tends to suck but when there is another person to share it with the experience is always so much better." She hadn't thanked him but he really didn't care about that, if she had asked him to share then a thank you would have been something he expected but since he had offered it didn't require her to thank him.

If he had known what her reasons for not minding the school he probably would have understood it much better, his reasons were quite a bit more superficial. "I would say it is pretty damn good. I mean all the people back in New York were starting to get boring and the new school is a good chance to really enjoy myself, plenty of other trouble makers for me to hang out with." He would have asked her why she was at the school but it seemed like there was probably some kind of unspoken code, like how in prison everyone was innocent.

[cherry johnson]

So I swing and I sway.
Wave my hand, kick my leg,
And it is always right with the music.

Cherry decided to take that as a compliment...an odd one, but one nonetheless. "Um...that's good, I suppose." She said, slowly. She always kind of imagined them looking like fat old bald men, for some absurd reason. She was hoping she'd never get to meet one, though...as she didn't really have any money to bribe them with. As tale goes her family used to be upper middle class, but her dad often told her once his mom died everything went downhill. And that it was all her brother's fault that her mom died, and that it was all her brother's fault, as she died in child birth. But Cherry wasn't as stupid as her dad...she'd never blame her brothers for something like that.

Cherry smiled a little bit. It wouldn't be considered a real smile by most people, but it was the most she could muster up in most cases. "It does, I never get high alone." She agreed, nodding a little bit. She'd smoked some pot once by herself...it truly wasn't as fun. When she was at a party, or with a group of people (preferably strangers), it was much funner. Needless to say now she only does it when there are other people around, as in her mind there's no point in drugs unless you're having fun. That was the whole point of her even doing them...they were always just something to do.

She was extremely glad he hadn't asked her why she was here...what was she supposed to say? Oh, I tried to poison my dad. I might do the same to you if you get me upset! but that wasn't the truth, not at all. She only did it for the good of...well, everyone. At least everyone in her household. Her dad was a total douche bag, no exageration. Maybe a bit of an understatement, though. Maybe if he had just raped her then she wouldn't have minded so much, but he had been yelling at her brothers like crazy lately...and he'd hit them a few times as well. She knew it could only get worse.

After thinking about what he said for a moment her eyes grew wide. "You're from New York? Me too. New York City, to be exact." She wasn't exactly surprised that she hadn't seen him, or anything...New York was a very busy place. She'd spent her entire life living there...in a small beat up apartment, where rent was cheap..and yet her family still had trouble paying it more than half the time.

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[joseph fitzgerald]

Joseph chuckled a little bit, a similar stereotypical undercover officer to the one in her head was appearing in his own. One of the two undercover that he had met did look a lot like that, fat and greasy while the other one had just been a scrawny little punk who probably thought not showering made him look like he was a user. "With the narcs I have met you should be glad you don't look like them, or smell like them for that matter, one never showered and the other probably bathed in Axe."

He figured that line might help him out a little bit, maybe get her to laugh a little bit instead of just that smile that didn't look totally right... he couldn't really describe it but the best way to put it would probably be that she didn't look like she was used to smiling, it was pretty but a little bit out of practice, she must not do it all that often.

Good thing she hadn't asked him why he was at the school, it would probably really just cause problems for him to explain that she had just gotten cocaine off of someone who had just been kicked out of school for dealing.

"Really you are from the city too?" He asked, not all that surprised by it, he was to busy enjoying the pleasant tingle he was feeling from the coke to really care all that much but he was able to fake interest with the best of actors. "That is why I didn't notice any accent. I don't know if you noticed but everyone around here has a freaking accent, can hardly understand a word they are saying." He was exaggerating quite a bit but he did notice accents from anyone not from the city.

[cherry johnson]

So I swing and I sway.
Wave my hand, kick my leg,
And it is always right with the music.

Axe...she knew the smell well. It had made her gag on several occasions. She was more of a tag kinda gal...or even better, no body spray at all. It's like a guy's version of perfume...which she didn't really understand. Why would anyone want to smell overbearingly good? As long as you showered, and such, there was really no need for anything like that...unless you just got done working out, or something. Or you were like the people in Europe who only showered once a week or so...or at least that's what she read somewhere. She found it a bit hard to believe that anyone would only shower once a week...but that's probably just because she's American.

"Well, then I am glad I don't look or smell like them...very glad." She wrinkled her nose a bit, and shivered. The very thought of bathing in axe grossed her out...it seemed even worse than not bathing at all, to her.

Cherry actually did laugh a little bit at that...it was a laugh that didn't really match the rest of her personality...it more matched her looks, even though it didn't last very long. Most people wouldn't even catch it, but for some reason she found the accent comment too funny not to make at least a little bit of a sound of amusement...even if it wasn't all that funny. Actually, she normally wouldn't have found it funny at all. "I haven't really noticed." She said, thinking back. Nope, she hadn't noticed any accents. Probably because she hadn't talked to much of anyone. And the few people she did she only talked to momentariliy, as they annoyed her. She could be an easily annoyed person, at times...or actually, most of the time.

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[joseph fitzgerald]

While Joe would admit that he from time to time did use a little bit of body spray, not enough to be over bearing but just a little bit of subtle scent, the kind you don't notice until you are at in incredibly close contact with the person, say on the dance floor or in a secluded bedroom at a party.

"I am even more grateful, if you had looked or smelled like either of them then I wouldn't have sat down with you, I wouldn't have had anyone to share my little treat with and I wouldn't have had anyone to talk to while I enjoyed this decent espresso." That reminded him of what been enjoying and quickly he tossed back the dregs of his drink, the last little bit of cocaine had collected at the bottom of the cup and gave him a bit more of a buzz, the pity was that the first rush was more or less gone now, he was used to larger doses then this, even with his minimal use.

Well at least there was a laugh, but like the smile it was fleeting. "You will notice it sooner or later." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I got chem class later on today and the teacher there has the most annoying Texas drawl I have ever heard, almost like he is trying to be a bad stereo type for shits and giggles." Glancing down at his watch he noticed that he had spent the better part of a half hour there, not that he minded or had anything better to do at that moment but still, not the best place to spent a half hour. "Thinking about getting out of here, you wanna go with?"

[cherry johnson]

So I swing and I sway.
Wave my hand, kick my leg,
And it is always right with the music.

She smirked a little bit, something that looked much more welcome on her lips. Probably because there was always a slight bitterness in smirks, even when you ddin't want there to be. "How...shallow of you. I could look like that...and be the coolest person on earth. And you would have had to miss out, just because I was extremelly ugly and smelled bad." She had to admit that she was glad he sat down...this had certainly been a good experience for her. Plus meeting new people was always good...even when you weren't exactly a people person, which Cherry certainly was not.

"Probably." She agreed, although she kenw she probably wouldn't, as she tended not to listen to people, most of the time, unless they interested her. Then again, if it was as bad as he said there was a possibility that she might.

She thought about his offer to go somewhere for a moment, before deciding that she would. it wasn't like she had anything better to do...she'd probably just go...do...nothing. Read some boring book she'd read ten times, or something. Plus this guy definitely wasn't as boring as the book she had in her bag...well, it wasn't exactly boring, but when you read it literally five times it gets boring. "Sure, I'll go." She said, with a shrug of her shoulders. She stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She wasn't all that much taller than when she was sitting, though. "Where are we gonna go?" She asked, in a slightly curious voice.

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