Little Miss [no]sunshine, tag ; John

[Alexia Andrews]

The weekend was coming to an end and the weather was high, so was Alexia’s mood, surprisingly. At this hour of the day, most of the students were locked in their rooms to finish their school works, or simply avoiding them to stay in bed. The young teenager had tried to concentrate on them, but it was a total failure. As always, she was feeling the urge to be different, which resulted into going outside.

She left her room, taking with her nothing but her usual bag, and walked down the stairs that led to the great Hall. Once there, she met a few other students and waved to some of them before pushing the great doors open. When she reached Backyard, she let out a surprised sigh as the sun hit her face with an unexpected strength. She stopped by a Bench to pull off her Black and Green vest, which made her feel all better, and decided to just stay where she was.

She took a pair of headphones, her MP3 player and a Sketch book out of her bag and then, she was all ready to relax. That was a precious moment, and she could not remember when the last time she did it was. Probably before she met Jack, it was only then that she stopped being totally lonely.

Alexia quickly washed her random thoughts away and it took nothing but a few seconds for the young teenager to get totally absorbed by the music blasting in her ears and to start sketching something. Everything was going smoothly, until a shadow came resting on her, hiding her from the sun. The young girl winced lightly and looked up to see who was foolish enough to disturb her.

[John Justin]

John smirked. He had been leaning on a tree when he saw a familiar face walk out of the school. It was Jack's girl. Pretty little Alexia, and she was all alone. At this hour in the morning, there was no better way to start the day than with a cute girl. And if it would get on his enemy's nerves, then that was even better.

Changing his smile from an arrogant smirk to a slightly less arrogant smile, he approached Alexia, adjusting his tie as he went. She looked quite concentrated on what she was doing, but when John's shadow fell on her and clocked out the sun, she looked up, but didn't look that happy to see him.

"Alexia," He said with a curt nod, talking loud enough to be heard over the music of her Mp3. "Pleasant day, isn't it." The weather wasn't an original topic for a conversation, but it was always great small talk to get him started. It also set a light mood, it gave off the idea that he was only in the mood for a pleasant conversation, instead of in the mood to flirt. Smile not faltering, John took a seat next to her, subtly glancing at whatever she was witing in that book of hers.

[Alexia Andrews]

A curtain of messy hair hid her green eyes as Alexia rolled them. Of course, John was there to save her from her loneliness . . . How pleasant. Putting her trough hell seemed more than enjoyable to the young Principal's son. His little games and attitude disgusted her to such an high level, she could barely explain how much. What she hated the most was being endlessly caught in John and Jack's crossfire. She had her own Vendetta against him, but she knew that John's was all about Jack, and his favourite way to get to him seemed to be her.

'' Hmm hmm . . . '' She groaned. '' Useless to say you're sort of spoiling it, Justin. ''

Alexia told him, using the lightest amount of coldness possible around him. From then, she was intending to simply ignore him and how uncomfortable she felt in his presence, but the seat he had taken casually beside her made it relatively impossible. She arched a brow and shot him a dark glance, studying his arrogant features. That smile of his meant only one thing... Whatever that boy was up to, he was going to stick to it, she just knew it...

Another deep sigh made its way out trough her lightly parted lips as she closed her book, now drumming her fingers on it. Why her? She definitely preferred breaking up the fist fights the two rivals were starting than to suffer the bad guy's so called flirts. This thought almost made her wish Jack was there, but maybe she could find a way to get herself out of this quietly, unlike he would...

- '' Are you lost? '' The girl asked sharply. It was nothing original, but it made the message quite clear, tough she had never been capable to make it clear enough for him trough the past year.

[John Justin]

John kept his eyes on Alexia as he leant back on the banch, resting his elbow on its back so he could lean his chin on the back of his hand, while his sleeve pulled back enough to show off the expensive watch he wore around his wrist. He knew Alexia wasn't the type of girl to be awed by such things, but he just couldn't resist. And at the end of the day, if Alexia wasn't impressed, it didn't matter. She was fun to be around, but she wasn't much when it came to looks. All John really wanted to gain by charming her was a weapon against Jack. If the latter was pissed off, John was content.

He smiled at her question, but although it was comical, it wasn't enough to make him do any more than chuckle. "No, Alex, I'm obviously not lost." He let his arm drop forward to clear his view of her. John resisted the urge to simply extend it across the back of the banch, around her shoulders.

"And I don't know why you would say such a thing, either. Maybe you're afraid Jack might found out you're hanging out with the 'wrong sort of people'? I do expect he'd have come up with a nastier term than that, though."

Despite her obvious desire for John to leave her alone, he was ot one to just walk away once he had gotten going. That would be like declaring forfeit, which was something John Justin didn't do. Ever.

[Alexia Andrews]

Alexia kept her cold gaze locked on him, getting ready for every kind of answer he could come up with. She could expect anything but a simple ' Yes ' followed by his departure, because that would have been way too simple, and so not John-ish. She also flashed his arms a look as he moved them around, making sure he would not be foolish enough to touch her.

"No, Alex, I'm obviously not lost."

When he chuckled and finally spoke, her features turned slightly tense and she raised her eyebrows quickly. She was very ‘ facial-talking ‘ around him, and this simply meant ‘ Too bad ‘.

He was obviously here to stay, and as annoying as it was going to be, she couldn’t avoid it. This was the problem about their confrontations; they were both unable to retreat, as far as she knew. Getting up and walk away from him seemed so easy, but it strangely wasn’t. She was not able to do such things; it only made her feel like a coward, and the last thing she needed was more harsh feelings toward herself.

The young girl sighed as she contemplated the possibility to keep sketching and ignore him, but it seemed too simple to work. She pushed a heavy mass of dirty blond hair behind her ear and looked around, distractively, as he kept on speaking.

- ‘’ Awh, you’re right, I speak so much non-sense… ‘’ She cut him, mid-phrase, with a fake sorry tone.

She turned her head around quickly as he pursued, accusing her of her worrying about other people’s thoughts, and Jack’s, most of all. He had not directly made such accusations, but it was her interpretation of his sneaky words. There was a silence. This could not be the reason why, no, she hated being around him, she hated him for who he was, She could not be afraid of any kind of judgements, why would she ? He was not her friend, and she had stopped worrying about those things a long time ago, so she hoped, at least…

- ‘’ We are doing everything, but hanging out ! ‘’ She stated darkly and matter-of-factly. It was enough to prove him wrong.

[John Justin]

Sarcasm could be a lethal weapon, if used right, but John knew it could also be a good shield. Being able to use it was a great skill to master, though if it failed, it would probably cause more harm to the user than anyone else, in the nasty form of humiliation. He knew both he and Alexia were quite capable in that area and so, he was expecting to hear such sarcasm from Alexia's mouth. She was obviously attacking, but John himself wouldn't retort with the same weapon, nor would he use it to block; he would use his own good sense and charm to accomplish that. He wasn't trying to stay on Jack's friend's list of enemies. Quite to the contrary, he was attempting to worm himself out of it.

"It's not nonsense, Alex, it's a question. An assumption. Whatever you want to call it."

John was subtly inserting the girl's name in his sentences, using more familiar, more friendly terms than he normally would when speaking to an Alumbado, especially one so close to Jack. Yet, that was the very reason why he hadn't just walked by her with his usual air of superiority.

"Well, if we're not hanging out, then tell me, Alex, what are we doing?"

[Alexia Andrews]

She had lightly expected this question, quite uncounciously, but it somehow hit her. Well, that was a good question, a very good one. If they were not hanging out or, even worse, friends, then what were those kind of moments they were bound to share almost daily ? This couldn't be a moment ! It was merely a confrontation, the kind of nasty encounters she'd have with people like him and Alicia.

Hanging around someone was supposed to be enjoyable, funny or even relaxing ; all the contrary of how she could feel around John, and she knew that way too many girls would like to hit her only for thinking that way. After all, she was so lucky to spend time with this intelligent, charming, and superior young man... how could she hate it ?

Well duh, how could she ? Well, maybe because he was her best friend's number one enemy, that he was in no way superior to anyone and that his so-called-interest for her was nothing honest. Then again, he could look charming sometimes, and even be as intelligent and sophisticated as he actually looked at first sight but... No ! They still weren't hanging out.

The young girl's face was totally blank as she shrugged his question away. A sharp answer was more than likely what John would be expecting, and so would she... But, against all odds, an honest answer flew from her mouth.

- '' Actually... I don't know. '' She answered, rising her eyebrows.

He had caught her off guard, and she did not loved to answer him this way, at all, but it was the hurtful truth.

[John Justin]

Of all the answers John had been expecting, the one he got wasn't one of them. It was too honest, too raw, and not very hardcore. This was the way Alexia should act around Jack, not John, but the fact that he was gave the latter was quite an amount of satisfaction.

He was getting somewhere.

John smirked, but he made sure there was nothing arrogant about the way he was smiling. He didn't want to have to start over because he acted like he had won some sort of battle. Indeed, he had, but showing it would be declaring forfeit and bring him right back to the starting line. And that was just too far away to even consider.

"You see? I just dropped by for a friendly chat. That means I wanted to hang out, and that's what we're doing now."

John kept his eyes on hers, doing his best to shield his not-so-good intentions with false good ones. He knew Alexia didn't trust him, but he wasn't trying to give her a reason not to, quite to the contrary. The Umbra was going to change that, at least for a little while, so that he could stir things up. Life at his father's school could get boring on occasions and a confrontation with Jack might prove entertaining, especially when there was a girl to charm involved.

[Alexia Andrews]

Alexia was inspecting her sketchbook, scratching the border with her thumb nails as if there really was something wrong with it that only her neat finger tricks could fix. It had to be looking more than childish, but it was what she had unconsciously come up with to shun John’s gaze as long as she could. She could sense that he was almost as surprised as she was, and it was hard to believe she had really answered him that way, with such an honest tone that even her father had never heard. But the young man had to be unaware of it, and she did not wanted him to look her in the eyes for now, for some people were just annoyingly gifted that they could unravel the truth just like that…

The young girl chuckled lightly to his following sentence, regaining hints of her previously lost confidence and tearing her eyes off of her precious book. How did they come to this; suddenly playing the ‘honesty ‘card? She was not even aware that they both had this card in their games. One way or another, this wasn’t right; she was not convinced.

Reluctantly, she titled her head to the side and looked up at John, studying him for no longer than five seconds. She still wasn’t convinced. He seemed honest, tough… No, it had to be some kind of prank, of course, and if she was stupid enough to trust him now, it would be just how he wanted it to be and he would find a way to humiliate her, later on! Establishing peace between herself and John Justin would make her life at Hilltown’s High so much easier, but it was too much of a big sacrifice in which pride and relationships were greatly involved…

- ‘’ If you say so ... '' She paused, '' You’re definitely so full of noble intentions toward me, aren’t you ? ‘’ Alexia finally spoke, locking her impassibly green eyes on his, with hints of sarcasm in her questioning tone. Maybe playing the game was some opportunity to turn the tables. Either way, she was not ready to flee just yet.

[John Justin]

Just as soon as Alexia had lost her defenses, she had teken them back again. It most likely wasn't because of what John had said - he had thought out his words carefully, and as far as he was concerned, there hadn't been any malice in them. Unless Alexia read minds or something, which was quite unlikely. It was probably the old Jack-and-John-hate-each-other-and-Alexia-is-siding-with-Jack issue. She really needed to get over it.

"Why wouldn't I? As far as I'm concerned, we could be good friends" John held himself back from adding 'or more', just out of habbit.. Something told him Alexia wouldn't take that coming from his mouth.

John struggled to keep his answers consistent and not just give up. He could go seduce any other girl with much less trouble. Heck, he saw a pack of girls eyeing Alexia from the other side of the yard - admirers of his, no doubt. It would be so much easier to go talk to one of them and actually get somewhere, something that just wasn't happening with Alexia.

Was he losing his touch?

[Alexia Andrews]

Her features grew troubled as he spoke, but Alexia tried to wash her torn expressions away with another roll of her eyes. How much this situation irritated her. How could a simple interaction with a young person be so demanding to her ? She hated that a part of her wished she could just keep her guards down and let it be, but there was always this voice in the back of her head. She was scared, not mostly of her friend's reactions, but of John.

She was so afraid to trust him, it could only end badly, and it would prove how stupid she was to even consider that he could be sincere in the first place. But this time, the vase was full, and compromising seemed so tempting. Yes, compromising; it wasn't trust, per say, it was a way to make things more bearable, wasn't it ?

- '' What if I say Yes ... '' The young girl finally questioned with a forced grin.

- '' Will I just get to smile and wave at you everyday, and it will spare me those kind of stupid debates? ''

There really wasn't anything sincere in her voice. She did not even sound like someone accepting a friendship, unlike her words did. She merely sounded like someone who wanted to finish some kind of business quickly and properly, and that felt really wrong. But that was how her pride forced her to see her relationship with John, it was Business.

Misery Business...

[John Justin]

John held back a grimace that would have seemed quite frustrated. How come this was so hard? He was sure Jack hadn't had this trouble when he and Alexia had started being friends. Heck, it was almost as if you couldn't get a word out of that kid unless you paid him. With that kind of attitude, Jack barely even deserved to have any friends at all. But John managed to keep his expression pleasant and as sincere as it could be. If Alexia saw through this act, it was all doomed and the only real way of hurting his arch-enemy to the core would be gone before he even knew it.

God, he hated challenges.

This seemed to be the way of the worlds, however - things were so hard to get, but so damn easy to lose. It was that way with everything. For example, an ancient relic dug up from a tomb boobie-trapped form top to bottom, shattered as an unlucky archeologist dropped it to the ground. He vaguely remembered his own mother crying over a shattered set of cristal goblets handed down from generation to generation on her side of the family for a century or two.

John couldn't let this happen with Alexia. Not now. Not yet.

"A wave and a smile? It isn't much..." He struggled for a second. He knew he had to give her what she wanted, but it seemed like he was letting her off the hook too easily. Not to mention all the work he'd have to do to build up a plausible relationship once Jack found out what was going on and went out of his way to stop it all at once. "I suppose I could settle for it, as long as you don't mind stopping to chat every other day..."

Now, all John had to do was hope this would work. If it did, then Jack had it coming for him. Too bad he had to bring Alexia into this, and right in the middle of the crossfire, no less, but honestly, John just couldn't bring himself to care.

[Alexia Andrews]

"A wave and a smile? It isn't much..."

Alexia’s eyebrows furrowed considerably. He did not seem to realise how lucky he was. Had he not noticed that she had willingly agreed to talk to him ? It was one of the most insignificant social moves in any other relationship, but whatever it was that they shared, it was no casual relationship, and therefore every move she agreed to make toward him was taken to a whole new level of important – or even wonderness! She still refused to see John as just a person and also to act like she did around any other human beings. However, Alexia took advantage of the short silence that followed his sentence, which suggested that he was thinking about heroffer, and she shrugged and smiled at him coldly.

'' Limited offer - take it, or leave it ! '' She stated with a cynical tone.

While his important inner debate seemed to get longer, the girl closed the sketch book that was still laying open on her laps and packed up the few pencils she had picked out of her pencil case. He would probably see this as a sign of departure, and probably freaked out, but the young girl couldn’t leave just yet, sadly. She was simply packing up her stuff, since this whole wonderful encounter had destroyed al the little ounces of creativity she had left, for today. So much for her calm sketching session...

Only god knew for how much longer their little business conference was going to last ! As if he had somehow red her mind, a new answer from John shortly followed, and by the way he spoke, he was somehow ready to accept her offer, which was more than a relief – until his complete sentence was registered by the young girl.

'' A chat ... '' She repeated with disbelief, arching one of her dark eyebrows. '' Now, that sounds way too friendly, don't you think ? '' Her tone was way too refreshingly amused for her own sake when she spoke, gazing away from him and down at her bag while she closed it. A light chuckle escaped her peach lips and she looked back up at him, waiting for his answer. She did not really mind if he got insulted or not by her reaction toward his offer because, insulted or not, he was going to maintain a hold of himself and keep trying to have his way with her, and she knew it.

As always.

[John Justin]

John Justin had rarely met someone who seemed so resistant to his charm. Even boys were more open to him, but for different reasons than the girls were, of course. They were mostly looking for attention, popularity and a glance from their crush. It was all too predictable. But Alexia, she was different. She didn't want anything to do with him. It was easy to know whose fault that was: Jack's. His dislike of John was apparent, and it was bound to rub off on Alexia. She might have been just like any other girl, had Jack's awkwardness not intervened. It would have made John's job so much easier - but much more worthless. There was no point in Alexia if there was no Jack to annoy at the other end.

Right now, he was making a big effort here. He was being nice and charming, even though his own gut instructed him to just grunt and walk away in frustration. What he was doing now, was proving to Alexia that Jack was wrong to hate him, that all his dislike was founded on nothing more than spite and jealousy. He was trying to show her that there was nothing wrong with him, that he could be friends with anybody.

But she just wasn't seeing it. Alexia was probably so caught up in her own little world, remembering all the nasty things Jack had said about John, that she just refused to believe the obvious. John was showing her the logical way to go about things, the good way to go, even though it might not be the easiest. He was trying to show Alexia he could be her friend - anyone's friend.

Obviously, Alexia expected this to all be a hoax. It was, of course, but he would never let her know that. Not until he got what he wanted from her. Until then, he wouldn't give her a single reason to think of him as a bad person. He could treat her like a princess and give her piggy-back rides if she wanted, as long as it got Jack reeling in the end.

So was a chat really that bad? It was almost unfair to him that she wasn't even giving him that small chance.

"Well, Alexia, as I'm trying to be your friend, I expect 'friendly' isn't out of bounds..." He put on a joking smile, trying to channel all his charm through it. Anything could be useful, at this point. If she put this up any longer, he might have to get down on his knees and beg.

And he really, really didn't want to do that. Even the look he dreamed to see on Jack's face wasn't worth it.