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xp_logsAs per Amanda's suggestion, Mark goes undercover at Gatlinburg High School to learn more about the missing kids. And the cheerleader he meets is willing to give him all the information he needs, and a little bit more.
As Mark ambled down the hallways of Gatlinburg High (go Boxing Turtles!) and couldn't help but shake his head. 21 years old and back in high school. He'd done his best to escape all aspects of life pre-New York, but it looked like he couldn't outrun it forever. Good thing he only had to be here for a few days at most.
As half the cheerleading squad passed by him, though, trading elevator eyes with him, he considered extending his vacation if possible.
One of the cheerleaders, a tall girl with ash-blonde hair, skillfully extracted herself from the group. Waving her friends on with a 'see you later!', she fell into step beside Mark, big brown eyes openly admiring him. "Hi!" she chirped. "You're the new transfer student, aren't you? I'm Holly."
Please be eighteen please be eighteen please be eighteen . . . was going to have be his mantra for the week, wasn't it? Mark flashed the girl a pearly-white smile. "Joe Geller," he replied, pushing aside the mantra to mentally curse Doug for masculinizing the name of Drew Barrymore's character in Never Been Kissed for his alias. "Nice to meet you, Holly."
She replied in kind, looking like someone from a toothpaste commercial. "Welcome to Fredericksville," she said, shifting the books she carried in her arms a little. The fact said action pushed her breasts up and accentuated the cleavage her shirt was showing was just a coincidence. "I heard you were from New York. What brings you down here? Most of us would kill to live somewhere like that." She laughed a little. "We'd be a one-horse town, only the horse got bored and moved to Gatlinburg."
"Word travels fast here, huh?" replied Mark bashfully. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, which pulled his low-rise jeans down a bit lower, revealing the waistband on his boxer-briefs. At this rate, they'd be going to class nude. Not that Mark would mind. "Mom decided she wanted a fresh start, so apparently Tennessee was it."
"Well, we're a small town. New people tend to catch the eye, you know? Especially cute ones." The smile grew more flirtatious and she batted her eyelashes at him. "You're a definite improvement on the last new kid - talk about a total weirdo. At least it looks like he's finally taken a hint and gone." Wrinkling her nose a little, she continued. "Is it just you and your Mom? Where are you living? We didn't hear anything about anyone moving in."
Mark's ears perked. Disappearing new kid, huh? "We're holing up in the Motel 6 until we can find a place," he answered, pondering how to cleanly shift the conversation back the way he wanted. At Silver, he'd keep passing her shots until she spilled. Too bad that wouldn't work in high school. Or at least not on campus. "So I'm not the only new kid? Maybe I don't have the only wacko family that migrates south for the winter."
She laughed, and shook her head. "Oh, trust me, you don't want to have anything in common with Josh Chambers, not if you want to have any friends. Well, any friends who count. I'm just glad he's gone - I swear, if anyone was going to do a Columbine, it was going to be him."
Mark pulled a face, but flinched a little on the inside. This Josh kid must be one of the skins. "Was he, like, expelled or something? And tell me who he hung out with. Gotta avoid them." Or rather, spend a whole lot of time with them.
Holly shrugged. "He just stopped showing up for school, a few days after Greg and Troy stuffed him in a trash can and tied the lid on. He was there for hours." To her credit, she sounded a little embarrassed about it. "I totally told Greg I wouldn't go out any more with him after that. There's limits, you know? And that was totally beyond teasing. As it was, Greg ran off with Alison the day after that. It was a whole big scandal - five of the most popular students just up and leave. I heard Josh made trouble for them with the principal, and they had to transfer to another school, but no-one's heard from them at all. Almost makes you believe those silly rumors about werewolves you read in the papers." Then she realized she was getting off track. "Josh only really had the one friend - Eddie. She's easy to spot, she's the only girl who wears boys' jeans and combat boots all the time. She's totally a lesbian, or at least, that's what people say." She gave Mark an appraising look. "So, do you want to have lunch with me and the others? We'd love to hear about what it's like living in New York."
Mark was in love. Not just because of the obvious reasons, but because she'd just given him all the information he was going to need. This would be easier than he thought. "Totally. Just give me a sec to throw my bag in my locker and I'll meet you there?" At her nod, he headed down the hall to put his satchel away, but not before pulling out his Sidekick to send Amanda a quick text message. Score for X-Force.
As Mark ambled down the hallways of Gatlinburg High (go Boxing Turtles!) and couldn't help but shake his head. 21 years old and back in high school. He'd done his best to escape all aspects of life pre-New York, but it looked like he couldn't outrun it forever. Good thing he only had to be here for a few days at most.
As half the cheerleading squad passed by him, though, trading elevator eyes with him, he considered extending his vacation if possible.
One of the cheerleaders, a tall girl with ash-blonde hair, skillfully extracted herself from the group. Waving her friends on with a 'see you later!', she fell into step beside Mark, big brown eyes openly admiring him. "Hi!" she chirped. "You're the new transfer student, aren't you? I'm Holly."
Please be eighteen please be eighteen please be eighteen . . . was going to have be his mantra for the week, wasn't it? Mark flashed the girl a pearly-white smile. "Joe Geller," he replied, pushing aside the mantra to mentally curse Doug for masculinizing the name of Drew Barrymore's character in Never Been Kissed for his alias. "Nice to meet you, Holly."
She replied in kind, looking like someone from a toothpaste commercial. "Welcome to Fredericksville," she said, shifting the books she carried in her arms a little. The fact said action pushed her breasts up and accentuated the cleavage her shirt was showing was just a coincidence. "I heard you were from New York. What brings you down here? Most of us would kill to live somewhere like that." She laughed a little. "We'd be a one-horse town, only the horse got bored and moved to Gatlinburg."
"Word travels fast here, huh?" replied Mark bashfully. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, which pulled his low-rise jeans down a bit lower, revealing the waistband on his boxer-briefs. At this rate, they'd be going to class nude. Not that Mark would mind. "Mom decided she wanted a fresh start, so apparently Tennessee was it."
"Well, we're a small town. New people tend to catch the eye, you know? Especially cute ones." The smile grew more flirtatious and she batted her eyelashes at him. "You're a definite improvement on the last new kid - talk about a total weirdo. At least it looks like he's finally taken a hint and gone." Wrinkling her nose a little, she continued. "Is it just you and your Mom? Where are you living? We didn't hear anything about anyone moving in."
Mark's ears perked. Disappearing new kid, huh? "We're holing up in the Motel 6 until we can find a place," he answered, pondering how to cleanly shift the conversation back the way he wanted. At Silver, he'd keep passing her shots until she spilled. Too bad that wouldn't work in high school. Or at least not on campus. "So I'm not the only new kid? Maybe I don't have the only wacko family that migrates south for the winter."
She laughed, and shook her head. "Oh, trust me, you don't want to have anything in common with Josh Chambers, not if you want to have any friends. Well, any friends who count. I'm just glad he's gone - I swear, if anyone was going to do a Columbine, it was going to be him."
Mark pulled a face, but flinched a little on the inside. This Josh kid must be one of the skins. "Was he, like, expelled or something? And tell me who he hung out with. Gotta avoid them." Or rather, spend a whole lot of time with them.
Holly shrugged. "He just stopped showing up for school, a few days after Greg and Troy stuffed him in a trash can and tied the lid on. He was there for hours." To her credit, she sounded a little embarrassed about it. "I totally told Greg I wouldn't go out any more with him after that. There's limits, you know? And that was totally beyond teasing. As it was, Greg ran off with Alison the day after that. It was a whole big scandal - five of the most popular students just up and leave. I heard Josh made trouble for them with the principal, and they had to transfer to another school, but no-one's heard from them at all. Almost makes you believe those silly rumors about werewolves you read in the papers." Then she realized she was getting off track. "Josh only really had the one friend - Eddie. She's easy to spot, she's the only girl who wears boys' jeans and combat boots all the time. She's totally a lesbian, or at least, that's what people say." She gave Mark an appraising look. "So, do you want to have lunch with me and the others? We'd love to hear about what it's like living in New York."
Mark was in love. Not just because of the obvious reasons, but because she'd just given him all the information he was going to need. This would be easier than he thought. "Totally. Just give me a sec to throw my bag in my locker and I'll meet you there?" At her nod, he headed down the hall to put his satchel away, but not before pulling out his Sidekick to send Amanda a quick text message. Score for X-Force.
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