morning after (open)

[Carter Bailee Middleton]

Carter, she was not like most girls. Not at all. She had this fascination with guns. Her step-father, he use to collect them. They were those antique type of guns. He died a few months ago. But the two of them, they would drive out to the country during school breaks and he taught her how to shoot. He even took her hunting a few times. And in all truth...it was the best time that she ever had. Even if she really was not suppose to be doing that. Even though her mother would disapprove, Carter and her step-father never mentioned it to Jenna.

How many other girls her age do you think do that? None that she has ever met. She considered herself 100% unique. Take Willow Santos, for instance. Sure, Carter knew who the she-bitch was. Who didn't? And Carter also knew plenty of girls like her. Some of them 10 times worse than that even. But those kind of girls? She knew the truth. They were all nothing but insecurity and truly ugly on the inside. Nothing she ever wanted to be. Carter was truly happy with herself and just ignore those type people.

There was only two more days before the big Spring Fling dance and she was not even sure whether or not she would be going. In her opinion, dances where rather lame. The same old boring songs and all. Why go to a dance when she can have fun just chilling a home, not having to dress up and doing whatever she wanted.

Walking into the caf wearing her favorite blue jeans and a black long sleeved blouse, Carter got some lunch and looked around for a spot. Finally she sat down at a table, not even paying attention to see if anyone else was een sitting at that same table.

[Deleted]

She felt odd, wearing a cowgirl hat on her head, wearing jeans instead of the uniform she was used to wearing. And these boots--Jamie felt ridiculous in the boots. But, it was Spring Fling week. And Jamie liked participating in school events. And, she liked to think that she was well-adjusted here. She had just spoken to her parents, and they seemed proud of her. She had made a lot of improvements since she was sent here. She even got to talk to her brothers. She missed them, and she couldn't wait for them to move in the summer time.

As she went into the hall, she didn't even notice anyone calling her. So when Jimmy--Coach Brooks went up to her, she was surprised, but not in a bad way at all. He was asking her about tomorrow, if she still wanted help practicing for the talent show. God, was that her heartbeat? Jamie could feel it pounding against her chest. It was a wonder it wasn't breaking. It was hard, looking at him in the eye when he had his hand on her shoulder like that. But she did it, and the smile that appeared was much bigger than she expected. "Yes! Thaht'd be great." She knew that his interest was probably purely professional, but it still excited her, knowing that he was paying her some attention.

When he walked away, her eyes followed him. God, he was so amazing! She didn't think he knew how amazing he was. She walked backwards, making her way to a table at the same time as watching him walk away. Suddenly, she felt herself back right into someone. Slowly, she turned, a guiilty, apologetic look on her face. And of course, it had to be the worst person in the school to bump into.

"Walk much?" JJ asked, knocking her backpack off her shoulder. "Allow me to help" and all at once, she was pushed in the direction of the trash can. Tripping over it, she fell right at Carter's feet. JJ, of course, just laughed and walked away.

Her hat had fallen off. Sitting on her feet, she picked up the hat, brushing herself off. Well, wasn't this bloody fantastic?

[Carter Bailee Middleton]

This week, Carter had not really participated much in the dressing up to school part. It was not who she was. The girl did not like to dress up in something in which she would never normally wear. That was just the way that she was. But apparently almost every person in this school could beg to differ. Carter just was not like every other girl in this school. Or any student actually. She was way too confident. And sure, Carter had secrets. But if someone where to ever find out, it just would not phase Carter in the least. And okay. Maybe Carter did not like the type of person that Willow was, but she would never do anything to her or about it. And why? Because Tommy Santos is her brother. Tommy is Carter's ex-boyfriend and still very best friend. And would always be that way.

Carter had set down her tray of food, along with her school books. But she had not yet gotten the chance to sit down. She heard JJ's voice and looked up. Taking notice of Jamie. She really did not like JJ. Too much of a bully. It was not very nice. Not in the least bit. But Carter was not about to walk over either. Even though the girl was very confident and was not a total derk, she also did not like being put into the spotlight.Sighing, softly, Carter had been about to sit down when suddenly Jamie fell at her feet. Learing her throat, Carter gently took a hold of the girls arms, slowly lifting her to her feet. “You okay?”

[Deleted]

Jamie looked up at her. Did anyone ever give an honest answer to that question? When faced with someone they didn't know? If they weren't ok, would they really say so? And on the other hand, if she were to say no, would the girl care? Or was it just a formality? These were questions on the front of Jamie's mind at the moment. It was an odd gesture, she thought, to ask someone if they were okay. As she was helped up, though, she looked at the girl posing the question. Did she even know her? Probably not. Jamie had been pretty quiet since she moved here in October. The only ones she really knew were Brandon and Aidan. And of course, her relatives. And this girl was none of the above.

"Oi'll be allroight, luv" she answered, putting her hat back on her. "No broken bones 'ere." She gave a smile, because, after all, she would still be receiving help from Jimmy. No matter what JJ did, she was still very thrilled about that. "Oi'm Jamie, boy the way." As she introduced her, she saluted her before looking around. "Uhm. Do you moind if Oi join you?" she really didn't feel like walking back into JJ's path. Besides, the girl looked nice enough. And she had helped her up. Of course, that didn't mean she would want to sit with her. But she figured she could ask, anyway.

[Carter Bailee Middleton]

This girl seemed nice enough in her opinion. And she hated seeing others fall in the path of JJ Yorke. Though, Carter often avoided ending up in that path herself. She was good at doing that. She hated seeing an innocent girl wind up in that path. She eyed the girl carefully. Should she believe her? Was she really okay? Why would this girl tell her if she wasn’t? After all, Carter was a stranger to this other girl. But she was really being sincere here. Carter was a nice girl. She hated to see others being bullied or in pain. And as long as it did not involve standing up to the tormenter and becoming a target herself, then she would do anything that she possibly could to help out.

“Of course, dear.” Carter spoke sweetly. “You can sit down with me. I don’t mind at all.” She took a seat back down and motioned to the seat across from her. “My name is Carter, by the way. Carter Middleton.” She introduced herself. Carter always enjoyed making new friends. It was good to find others that you could get along with and had things in common with. “Maybe you can tell me a little bit about yourself. I would love to listen.”