[center][img]https://thumbs.gfycat.com/EvergreenFloweryArizonaalligatorlizard-size_restricted.gif[/img] [color=slategray][sub][color=a52521][b]Owen Lyon[/b][/color] and Oreo Location: Owen’s Room —> Homeroom[/sub][/color][/center] [hr][hr] [indent][right][i]Earlier that morning[/i] [b]The [color=a52521]Lyon[/color] Residence[/b][/right] [b]“Mau.”[/b] Owen’s eyes cracked open and he found himself face to face with the one eyed cat that he’d called his for almost ten years. Oreo. His best friend in the whole world, doubly so since his best human friend had abandoned him, and his human life partner had left him in the dust as well. So, now, all he had was this here cat. Which was perfectly fine with Owen, Owen loved his cat. He reached out a sleepy hand and scratched behind Oreo’s ear. [color=a52521][b]“Hey, buddy…”[/b][/color] Owen said in the tired croak of a freshly woken boy. [b]“Mau.”[/b] [color=a52521][b]“What? I would never abandon you. I’ve just been busy. I couldn’t come back here.”[/b][/color] Owen protested, sitting up in the bed and letting the blankets fall down. [color=a52521][b]“Don’t say things like that, Oreo. We’re a team.”[/b][/color] He said, and the cat came up to his chest and nuzzled him, while Owen gently petted him. [b]“Mau.”[/b] [color=a52521][b]“No, I haven’t made nice with them. I don’t think I’m going to.”[/b][/color] Owen retorted, squinting down at the cat. He then shrugged his shoulders and threw his legs over the edge of the bed, jumping down onto the floor. Owen scratched at his own back, as the cat followed him down to the floor. [color=a52521][b]“Marshall thinks I want to kill him. Can you believe that? I’d never. He’s not worth the extra effort.”[/b][/color] [b]“Mau.”[/b] [color=a52521][b]“I wouldn’t go [i]that[/i] far. I don’t think my [i]honor[/i] hangs in the balance, do you? It’s just high school. Life goes on. I could quit, and never show up again, and I don’t think anyone would even notice. Maybe I’ll just do that, huh? We could leave the country, Oreo. Me and you vs the world. I hear New Zealand is nice during this time of year. What do you think?”[/b][/color] Owen looked down at the cat, for confirmation of denial, and received neither. [color=a52521][b]“I guess you’re probably right. At the very least, I should finish what I’ve started. [i]Then[/i] I can leave. Maybe Greenland? Greenland is pretty nice yeah? I could go to South Korea, too.”[/b][/color] Owen mused, stepping into his private bathroom with Oreo behind him. [b]“Mau.”[/b] [color=a52521][b]“You’re absolutely right. Fuck ‘em, dude. I already busted Jamie upside his stupid head. Might as well complete the set and bash Marshall’s dome in, right? Right, buddy? Nah, I’m just kidding. Hitting Jamie was kind of a fuck up. But he pushed the right buttons, whether intentionally or not. If he comes back though, then we’ll see where it goes. I can hit harder than that.”[/b][/color] Owen shrugged his shoulders dismissively, stepping into the shower. Feeling the hot water pounding onto his chest, Owen thought about his gameplan. Was he still okay to hang out with Damian and his friends? Owen wasn’t sure. He was basically just an enforcer for them. Owen didn’t really have a people, or friends. He wasn’t really a member of any particular. He was a loner, which was arguably how he liked it. Even introverted people though, even loners, needed friends. Eventually, being left alone to your thoughts made you vulnerable, and Owen wanted to be anything but. [color=a52521][b]“I think I have a plan, Oreo.”[/b][/color] [b]“Mau?”[/b] [color=a52521][b]“Don’t you take that tone with me, mister. It might work. He doesn’t seem to have any friends. I don’t have any friends. It’s worth a shot. Besides, I can’t sit with A Dubs and his friends all the time. Trust me, the way his girl was looking at me… I don’t belong there either. But this might work. If it doesn’t work, whatever. What have I got left to lose?”[/b][/color] Owen asked, washing soap from his hair. This plan could work. He killed the shower, and toweled himself off. [color=a52521][b]“What’s the worst that could happen, anyway? Some bitching from one of the Bitch Brigade? I don’t care about that. Half the school thinks I’m a woman beater anyway — if one of them steps up, I’ll knock them right the fuck back down.”[/b][/color] [b]“Mau!”[/b] [color=a52521][b]“What?! I’m just kidding, dude!”[/b][/color] [right][i]Later…[/i] [color=a52521][b]Owen’s locker[/b][/color][/right] Marshall Radley was a coward. A weakling. Full of fear, and nothing else. A coward. A weakling. It was, however, important that he bring a message to Jamie, and Owen had to admit he appreciated Marshall’s willingness to do so. Owen was, nonetheless, angry again. What had started as a more or less pleasant morning had quickly deteriorated after he’d interacted with Marshall in the parking lot. As expected, it hadn’t gone well. Owen wasn’t sure if he should continue with his plan in this type of mood… He spun the lock in front of him, and pulled it open. [color=a52521][b]“...huh?”[/b][/color] Someone had been in here. And there were only two people who knew his locker combo (not counting the janitor): himself and Trixie. Owen reached out a slow hand and flipped down the picture of himself and Trixie, which had been stood back up. Then he turned his attention to the small box of stuff sitting there. He pulled it out and opened it. Looking inside, he frowned. This was all the stuff he’d tried to give her back! There was a couple of extra things too… What was she thinking? Honestly. Owen dug around, looking for something new… and found his anniversary present to her two years before. It was a ring; a nice one, as it happened. More or less, it had been his promise to her, that they would stay together… forever, basically. She had faithfully worn it until, well, until the thing. And here it was. In a box. In his locker. There was a small tag attached to it, and Owen held it closer to his face, reading it. [color=15603a][b]Lost. Will be found.[/b][/color] Owen blew at his bangs. Okay. So what? She was going to come and get it this time? Alright. He slipped the ring into his pocket. He could deal with that. Owen grabbed his day planner, which had apparently been fucked with as well. Maybe she put a date in here? He flipped through it quickly, but found nothing. Frowning now, he opened to the cover page, and was presented with more writing from his ex-girlfriend (and reminded of how pretty her handwriting was): [color=15603a][b]The gym. Late. Which day? Who knows?[/b][/color] Well fuck. He’d have to bring Oreo with him, he couldn’t leave him at home alone anymore. Owen shook his head, and slammed his locker shut. Heading down the halls, he noticed the flyers. Another party? Fuck. That. Owen grabbed one of the flyers, and ripped it down, tossing it into a nearby trashbin. No fucking way. Owen would spend the night with his parents, playing bingo, or whatever the fuck adults did. Fuck a party. Owen walked into homeroom in a better mood than he thought he would. His emotional state was lifted by the box in his locker, and the possible prospect of actually talking to Trixie. Look, even if they didn’t get back together, closure was… important to him. Fueled by that, Owen felt more comfortable going forward with his plan. He scanned the homeroom and found his target, closing the gap and sitting down across from him. Owen held out his hand. [color=a52521][b]“Hi. I’m Owen. Owen Lyon.”[/b][/color] [right][i]Earlier that morning…[/i] [b][color=a5a5a5]Sean Sterling’s[/color] homeroom desk[/b][/right] Something Sean hadn’t learned at the Academy was that women were complicated. The Academy trained you to be a warrior, it didn’t care about your ability or inability to maintain healthy relationships with the opposite sex. As such, Sean had done nothing since returning home but find himself continually confused by both his sister and his… friend with benefits. Both Selena and Brynn claimed to be close friends, and yet, all they did was fight with each other. It made no sense to him. When boys or men were friends, they were just that. Friends. It meant they liked the same kind of thing, or worked in the same type of field. They talked fondly of one another, and helped each other out when times called for it. Apparently, women were the opposite. If two women were friends, they were awful people to each other? Didn’t make [i]any[/i] sense, not to Sean. What if Brynn needed help? Would Selena go the distance? What if Selena needed help? Could Brynn swallow her pride and help? Would they even accept each other’s help? Sean had no idea. Not a single clue. Brynn in particular was confusing. She didn’t want to hook up with him, but then she did want to hook up with him, and also she didn’t want to see him, but then she did want a ride to school from him? Were they not going to hook up again? Were they going to? Did she like him, hate him? He didn’t know. He couldn’t know, because he had no idea how women worked. And he certainly couldn’t ask his mother, Cassie was not the person to talk to about this. Really, Sean’s best option was to talk to Selena, because they were twins. But Sean couldn’t talk to Selena about this because honestly? Selena was weird too. She was catty and bitchy, just the same as Brynn. Sean had been caught in the crossfire of the two of them exactly once, and that one moment had been enough reason for him to never want to talk to one of them about the other, ever again. Sean needed to make a friend. A neutral, third party who could give him some advice. That would come at another time though: this was homeroom. That meant this was naptime. Sean made a note to purchase a pillow for his homeroom desk, so that he could be more comfortable. For now, though, he was happy to rest with his sweatshirt balled up underneath him. He had his eyes closed, a show was playing on his phone… Sean, with no Brynn to disturb him this time over a shirt, drifted off to peaceful sleep. That peaceful sleep lasted five minutes. [right][i]Now...[/i] [b][color=a5a5a5]Sean Sterling's[/color] desk, with a [color=a52521]visitor[/color][/b][/right] [color=a52521][b]“Hi. I’m Owen. Owen Lyon.”[/b][/color] Sean’s eyes cracked open to find himself face-to-face with the man from the party. At this, Sean straightened up a little bit. He wasn’t happy about being woken from his nap, and he was undeniably groggy, but… he had a feeling this was going to go poorly. [color=a5a5a5][b]“Yeah? I, uh. I know. I’m Sean Sterling.”[/b][/color] Cautiously, Sean reached a hand out and accepted the offered handshake from the other male. [color=a5a5a5][b]“I met you at the party. I sort of got your name from them… you dated Trixie, right?”[/b][/color] He asked, and Owen tensed up. From Owen’s point of view, things had been going well right up until [i]that exact point.[/i] Where was this going to go now? Was Sean going to question his relationship with Trixie? If that happened, Owen knew this would go poorly. He’d gotten a lot of his negative emotions out the night before, but… confrontations never ended well for him. Rather, the person he was in a confrontation with. Cautiously, Owen responded. First with a nod, then with words to back himself up. [color=a52521][b]“Yes. I did. And yes, from the party. That’s kind of why I sat here… I wanted to formally apologize to the only person I think deserves one. My behavior at the party was frankly unacceptable, and there was no reason for you, someone completely uninvolved to be caught up in the drama like that,”[/b][/color] Owen explained, and he held his breath as he waited for Sean to respond. He had to take this well, right? Please do. As Sean gave Owen a surprisingly warm smile, Owen let out a huge sigh. [color=a5a5a5][b]“It’s okay. From my perspective, things aren’t going too well in either party. I think they’re giving to you too harshly, and I think they’re taking what you do too seriously. It’s nice to meet you. Properly, I mean. I hope you can forget about what I did, and that maybe we can be friends? There are no hard feelings from me. Yes, Trixie is my cousin, but I don’t know what happened. Honestly? I don’t care. I judge people on who and what they are now, not on their past, or even their future.”[/b][/color] [color=a52521][b]“That’s okay! Looking back, I think you did the right thing. You defused the situation without violence, and that was our best play.”[/b][/color] Owen was finally getting somewhere! [color=a52521][b]“Great. Thank you. I’m sorry I interrupted your nap, though. I guess I’m just desperate at this point. I’m pretty downtrodden at this point.”[/b][/color] [color=a5a5a5][b]“I know how that feels.”[/b][/color] A brief period of silence. [color=a52521][b]“You should come by the 365 Combat Club sometime. I practically live there. We could spar.”[/b][/color] [color=a5a5a5][b]“I might take you up on that.”[/b][/color] Success.[/indent]