Laney was sitting at a table. Her feet, wearing leather Doc Marten combat boots, were propped keenly on the chair in front of her. No food was set in front of her. She was not particularly hungry, unfortunately. She was listening to all the hustle and bustle of the new semester starting, with a small, smug smile pressed against her rosy, feminine lips. To be honest, all Laney could hear out of the student body was a noise that resembled a baby crying for attention, and she was starting to care less about the Christmas holiday--who did what, who got what, who went where. It was all so [i]old[/i] and [i]mundane[/i] sounding after a while. Besides, it was not as if Laney could remember her Christmas holiday very well, anyways. Maybe she had gone too far this time. . . the guilt was disguised by her cattiness.

For the winter break, her parents had gone to Japan for family-business related reasons and left Laney at home to shelter her from all the drama. Laney did not argue or mind. In fact, she gave them a dearest blessing and turned her other cheek to have one colorful, psychadelic ball after the next. Sure, Laney was still a teen, but she partied so hard, she might as well have been in college. She couldn't even tell you which party was her favorite, they all just ran together. . . She pretended not to care or to be jealous of the ones that could remember their Christmas--like Lucy Estuert--all the former homeschooler ever did was talk about her family, and her brother, [i]James[/i], as [i]if[/i] Laney didn't know him. 

She knew him alright, almost better than she knew Ethan. But that was a secret between her and that list in her head she was making. Not that either of the two boys had been particularly [i]important[/i]. They were both alright. She let Ethan know, but James? Who [i]really[/i] cared about some high school graduate, anyways? If he even touched the doors of high school, again, he would be considered some loser who couldn't make himself in college, just another popular junk-out basking in his awkward adolescent/young adult "glory days."

Laney was not all party and sarcastic talk. She helped the younger students, as well. She tutored and mentored them, which gave the teachers an outstanding opinion of the young lady, despite her sometimes, studded belt and rugged jean look. The ginger had a natural talent for teaching and persuading. She was cute and spunky, a favorite for the teachers to recommend when a student was falling behind in a subject (besides Science). This, of course, was how she spread her wings around campus, being a fairy godmother to the young one, and she had so much success--by introducing them to [i]the[/i] adderall--the magical cure for all of their problems and the first step onto the stairway to the high school party scene.

She thought of herself as a little doormouse, helping other mice find their way to the truth serums of their time, Mary Jane, Molly, Lucy (LSD). . the list went on, almost as long as Laney's list of fucks. So, maybe she was a little corrupt, but she sure did not look like a witch, especially with her golden, red hair and those sunkissed freckles, carefully sprinkled upon her dainty skin. At times, she looked so vulnerable, as if someone could easily take advantage of the poor, pretty girl. . 

Laney removed her feet from her desk as more students began to [i]pile[/i] into the cafeteria; also as Ethan made his grand entrance. She leaned her elbows on the table top and rested her chin in her palms. Her eyes hazed over everyone entering the eating area. Some knew who she was; some did not. But who really cared. . . ?

[i]Who really cared?[/i] Laney thought to herself. Who cared if she couldn't remember her Christmas vacay? It was just two weeks of her life. [i]Two weeks[/i]. Her smug smile spread on her lips, again, trying to block out the echo of her past moaning at her. She thought about giving a "Hello" to Ethan, as if he'd offer some miracle cure for the agony of it all. But, she had already shrugged off several friends, and really did not think Ethan needed any more ego boosting. She turned her gaze from his direction and thought of things to reply for future Christmas-related topics.