216A/N: Sup, everyone? Another new story! This one does not contain any supernatural creatures, unfortunately, but it does contain a super hot goth with a bad attitude. I know it seems like a really pleasant story, but when I write the next chapters, things are going to get really, really messy. Hope you enjoy!
Rating: M
Chapter One
Rose
Rose wasn't sure exactly how she came to meet such an unusual person. Perhaps someone could call it coincidence. Others may probably think it was a simple case of bad luck – yes, bad luck, not good. Why, do you ask? Well, if you met a blond, hardcore Goth obsessed with scaring anything innocent in the vicinity...you'd understand what she was going through. So much for the first day of starting a new school year.
Rose Millen wandered nervously through the chattering crowds of Grove High School. She'd just been transferred to the small town of Grove since her parents had gotten sick of the hot climate in the old town. This place was much, much colder if her layers of clothing were of any indication. It wasn't that she was scared of the school itself; it was more the fact that she knew no one, not even an old acquaintance that might have moved here. At fifteen years of age, her attention was much focused on school instead of the unveiling mystery that was dating. Her parents made it a strict rule that she was not to date until she was at least in University. Not that she disagreed with them. Unlike most kids her age, Rose was a dedicated, straight-a student with no time to spend on even finding a boyfriend, let alone flirting.
A few of the seniors and other juniors watched her as she walked past, but more or less ignored her. New students were not uncommon in this particular place. It was known to be one of the best high schools in the entire state. Well, that's what Rose's parents had heard, anyway. Whether that was true or not, Rose didn't know and she had every intention of finding out. She smiled politely at the students she passed. Better to make acquaintances now than create dislikes later. The front office loomed ahead of her but she feigned confidence and strode through the open doors, not expecting to see what unveiled before her very eyes. The receptionist was arguing with a tall boy in black – a boy that was much taller than her. Anyone was tall compared to her 5'5 height. She made a face before watching the scene intently.
"Mr Willson! I must ask you to do as you're told and take a seat next to the principal's office." The receptionist was young, mid-thirties with short red hair and expressive green eyes. It was obvious she didn't care much for this student. The same could be said for him, different perspective. Rose carefully moved around the side of the small but spacious office to study him with unrestrained curiosity. His hair was short and spiked in all directions and was of the palest of blond with black streaks and his eyes were the sharpest blue. His pale features contrasted ridiculously with his hair, giving him an appearance much like that of a vampire. His lips were finely shaped, now turned up at the corners in a smirk. His features were sharp yet screeched masculinity. Rose's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she stared at the four silver earrings in his right ear. Did the guy not know the meaning of pain? Her hands unconsciously rose to protect her unpierced ears. Black cloaked him from the neck down. He wore a black button-up shirt - with the two buttons opened at the top to reveal a portion of creamy flesh - that hugged his slim physique. The blue jeans clung snugly to his legs and then ran down into two-inch black platform boots. Even without them he'd still be taller than her! And on top of that was a leather black trench coat with a pair of – no. Her eyes had to be deceiving her. Was that a pair of handcuffs? It was! The guy had handcuffs! And she then noticed that that wasn't the half of it. A collar with two-inch spikes wrapped around his neck and a spiked cuff ran around his right wrist with the same spikes. Four silver bands curled around his left wrist with something shaped much like a wolf's head for each connection. Were they really allowed to dress like this at school?
"And why should I?" his voice was smooth – a sexy purr that dropped down into an insulting octave. Rose figured that he would actually sound pleasant if he wasn't being such a rude moron at that point. Her only assumption was of the entire three minutes she had spent assessing him that she didn't like him one bit. There was no telling what this boy got up to on a daily basis.
The receptionist glared at him before holding up her hand and flicking the things she said off her fingers. "First, you lit a teachers coat on fire in the science laboratory-"
"Hey. If they don't want us to smoke in class, they shouldn't have Bunsen burners."
"-And then in your next class you ripped all the pages out of all the Harry Potter books-"
"Harry Pothead." He corrected automatically.
"-Followed by throwing Jimmy Cowl out of the classroom window-"
"I told him to stop annoying me."
"-and last but not least, threatening to kill a teacher - as well as going against the dress code."
Well, at least that was included.
"I explained this earlier." His tone became annoyed. "If that asshole hadn't started hitting on my sister, then maybe I would have left the dickhead alone."
Both Rose and the receptionist gasped at the rude words. The young girl shook herself before moving forwards to stand beside the tall blond who looked down at her almost immediately. She ignored him and smiled at the receptionist, pretending that she hadn't even been present through the whole conversation.
"Hi there. I'm Rose Millen. I'm just starting today."
Recognition crossed the woman's face and she smiled in return. "Welcome to Grove High School. Here is your schedule. Would you like me to arrange a guide for you?"
"Oh, no. That would be too much trouble. I'll be OK. I'm well known for finding my way around a school." Rose grinned reassuringly and the receptionist nodded and sent her on her way. As Rose turned to leave the office, a warm hand caught her elbow and her whole body seized up. Nervous breakdown alert. Why the heck was he touching her?! Her eyes asked that very same question as she slowly looked up at him. Annoyance flared within her. It wasn't hard to tell that he was amused that he'd frightened her.
"Rose, huh? Your parents like flowers?" he asked cheekily.
"As a matter of fact, they do. Now if you'll just remove your hand from my person-" she didn't wait for him to reply but simply threw the imposing hand off. "-I can be on my way to class before it starts."
And just like that, she knew immediately that she had dealt with the boy in the worst possible manner. Before he could reply, she raced out of the office and quickly glanced at her schedule. Maths first; a subject she enjoyed immensely. Hopefully she'd make new friends. As she continued on down the seemingly endless hallways, she began to regret declining the offer for a guide. With a small sigh of defeat, she slumped against the wall and watched solemnly as the students passed her.
"Hey. Are you new?"
Three, cheerful, friendly faces suddenly popped into her vision and she almost reeled back – not that that would be of any help seeing as there was a wall there. The three girls smiled at her.
"Oh, umm. Yes. I am. I'm Rose Millen."
"Nice to meet you, Rose! I'm Melissa, that's Courtney and Sarah."
Being the study-freak she was, she wasn't overly excited about the prospect of having three incredibly bubbly friends, but she didn't want to appear rude so she simply smiled.
"Hello."
"What class do you have next?"
"Maths. B6."
"Oh, my God! You're in the same class as us!" the three girls squealed.
Rose mentally sighed. Yep. This was exactly what bugged her.
Maths was more enjoyable than she had thought it would be. Seeing as desk arrangements were strict, she only had to sit next to another girl that wasn't part of the previous three. She could already tell they would be friends. The girl was rather pretty with blond hair streaked with red and her eyes were blue. Strange. She looked oddly similar to that Mr Willson. Plus, her style of clothing seemed to run along the same lines as his. Curiosity got the better of her.
"Cassandra, you said your surname was Willson, right?"
"That's right."
"You wouldn't happen to have a brother in the school, would you?"
"Yeah. Gabriel...but I wouldn't recommend calling him that. He hates it. Call him Cloud if you ever have to address him by name. Why do you ask, anyways?"
But Rose didn't answer, too caught up in the mess that was her mind at that precise moment. There was no way that...that...boy was her brother. Perhaps a cousin of some sort? And why would people call him Cloud, anyway? Did he have some sort of addiction to drugs that he was always on a high? Well, probably, considering the way he dressed and acted. It fell out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
"Does he do drugs?"
Surprisingly, Cassandra found this overly amusing and giggled quietly. "What goth doesn't?"
"Goth?" The term was lost in her.
"You don't know what a goth is?"
"Sorry for having such a sheltered life."
The other girl smirked at her blank comment. "A goth is...someone who loves to wear black mainly but there are many connections. Every goth is different. Cloud loves corrupting the innocent as well as doing occasional drugs and the like."
Could someone remind her as to why they were speaking about this in such a casual manner? The occupants of the classroom were too busy paying attention to the teacher to even bother trying to catch the subject of the conversation. The teacher didn't take any notice of them either, even though they were sitting at the very front of the class. Rose said nothing and wrote down the notes from the board, all the while taking in the things Cassandra said in such an open manner. Wouldn't Cloud be angry if he found out that she knew he took drugs? Perhaps he wouldn't, because apparently goths didn't care about what anyone else thought.
Cassandra – Thorn, in goth terms – accompanied her to her next class, science and even though she loved it, it passed in a complete blur to arrive at recess.
"Come on."
Thorn grabbed her hand and towed her down the hallways out to the back of the school and into the student car park. Rose immediately became nervous by reflex. Where was she taking her? Definitely not to Cloud, right? Wrong. Three black-clad boys were slouched against an old Ford GT, smoke clouds wafting around them. Rose gulped nervously as she spotted the blond. Her bad luck.
"Hey, Cloud! Reaper! Saber!" Thorn waved enthusiastically at the males, with her hand still firmly latched onto Rose's wrist. Said girl's green eyes widened in apprehension and her brown hair drifted to cover them momentarily before the wind pushed it aside.
"Sup, Thorn." Saber, a bad-ass-looking male with brown hair and purple eyes – obviously contacts. Reaper was silent and merely nodded in the girl's direction before his attention diverted back to the cigarette in his hand. Cloud took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled, creating a huge cloud of smoke. What an ironic nickname. Cloud; makes sense.
"Hey, flower-girl. What's the matter? You look a little scared." The tall blond let the cigarette fall from his fingertips and crushed it with his platforms before stepping over to her, blowing smoke in her face. Rose coughed and gagged and she could have sworn she heard two masculine chuckles. Saber and Cloud. Reaper continued to indulge himself in his cigarette. Glaring in defiance at the blond, she removed herself from the smoke.
"Do I? Well, it's only natural dealing with your type."
Uh-oh. Here came the stereotypes.
Cloud's eyes narrowed and he circled around her, pushing her to step back towards the Ford. Saber watched with a malicious smirk while Thorn looked anxious for her new friend. Reaper nonchalantly reached for another cigarette.
"My type? Who do you think you're talking to, girl?"
"Someone with no morals and no compassion for other humans, apparently." Oh, not good. Why wasn't anyone around to tell her to stop while she was ahead? People had complained to her before about her little problem. She had a rather bad habit of speaking her mind...to the worst level possible. And it always got her into trouble. Cloud's eye twitched and his hands unconsciously moved under his trench. Rose panicked. Was he reaching for a weapon? Acting on complete instinct, she threw her weight forwards, thus into him and he caught her against his chest as they tumbled to the ground.
Thorn gasped. Saber grinned. Reaper, well, he just continued smoking while looking in the opposite direction. Rose stared at the man beneath her and vaguely wondered how he got down there in the first place. Oh, right. That was her doing.
"Frisky, aren't you, flower-girl?" he was smirking, gazing up at her with those wonderful blue eyes of his. She flinched as his fingertips brushed the skin just under her shirt and she glared at him.
"Don't touch me." She hissed threateningly but he just laughed.
"You're not that threatening, little girl. Why did you so passionately knock me to the ground?"
"Passionately?" she scoffed. "Vain, much? I thought you were reaching for a weapon!"
"I don't hurt women." His tone turned dark and she was scared despite his admittance. It was very hard to believe him, even with that terribly dark look on his face. Perhaps he was telling the truth...he had threatened to kill the teacher for flirting with Thorn. A colourful blush dotted her cheeks and she stood up hastily and awkwardly, mumbling, "I'm sorry."
Cloud stood and brushed himself down before winking at her. "No worries. It's not every day that I get a girl launching herself willing at me."
"Willing?" Saber chortled and leaned against the Ford. "Dude, you haven't gotten laid in-"
Cloud glared at him pointedly, the eye shadow around his eyes making him look even more forbidding than he already was. "Shove it. And don't be such a hypocrite. Girls don't touch you."
And then the attention simply diverted itself away from the flower and the two boys were now having an argument. She didn't understand what they were talking about but Thorn sure did since she was blushing every five seconds. Goth's were officially labelled as unusual subjects now. Cloud especially. That boy was going to be trouble. Feeling uncomfortable, Rose made to leave before Saber called out to her.
"Hey, Rose, was it? Why don't you hang out with us for awhile? I doubt anyone else will make you the same offer."
Considering the fact that she was new, that made perfect sense, but she didn't have to like it. With a reluctant nod, she stopped her retreat and stayed next to Thorn. Saber raised an eyebrow and curled his fingers twice at her. "Come here."
Boys were dangerous territory and when they said something like that, you could never trust them, even if their intention was only casual conversation. Cloud crossed his arms, and she realised another cigarette was hanging out of his mouth. She frowned before shrugging and moved over to them with Thorn by her side.
"You want to try this?" Saber held out the cigarette to her half-heartedly, as though he was afraid to let it go. She hurriedly shook her head and claimed a place on his left on the car that unfortunately placed her right next to Cloud. It was obvious that these boys were in their last year, which meant she was definitely hanging out with the wrong people. But Thorn seemed unfazed and was chatting animatedly with Reaper, even though he wasn't paying any attention whatsoever. Maybe she had judged these goths too soon. Even though they did smoke, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with them – until Cloud suddenly moved. Her eyes bugged out of their sockets as she stared at the glint of the handle. He had stepped closer to her and his trench had pulled back to reveal one of the deadliest weapons of man - a gun. Alarm systems suddenly went off in her head and she was so very tempted to run but curiosity held her back.
"Why do you have a gun?" she squeaked. Cloud looked down at the weapon before smiling crookedly.
"I do have a licence. As for why I have it...well...sometimes brute force just isn't enough. Saber and Reaper have one, too." For evidence, the two boys pulled their trench's back to reveal their weapons. Rose goggled them somewhat timidly yet fascinated. Had they ever shot someone before?
"Have you shot someone before?"
Now this was becoming a bad habit. She really should learn to keep her mouth shut.
"Me? Yeah, but not fatally. Saber was in Juvi after putting someone in a hospital for three months and Reaper...he's killed several people and probably more than we know about."
At that comment, Reaper's lips former into a cruel smile and his eyes finally met Rose's. The look sent shivers down her spine and she unconsciously drifted closer to Cloud. The blond shot his friend a warning look. Reaper rolled his shoulders in a nonchalant expression before indulging himself once more in his cigarette. Three bell tolls echoed around them signalling the next class.
"Well, uh, it was nice meeting you." Rose gave a small, meek nod of her head before hurrying away.
"Hey! Wait up, flower-girl! "
"Yeah, Rose! Rumour has it that you're in our class."
Oh, so the rumours had already spread, had they? And even these people know about it? It wasn't her fault that she was such a genesis in English. They'd immediately put her into the year twelve level that they obviously thought she could pass with no problems. With a look over her shoulder, she saw that Saber and Cloud were using their long gaits to catch up to her. Reaper and Thorn stayed by the Ford. The blond girl gave her a small wave. Without Thorn, she felt small and insignificant as the two tall males came to walk beside her as they entered the hallway. The three girls she had met earlier darted out of a nearby hallway and completely stopped to watch her as she passed between the two goths – two very intimidating goths with guns, at that. Rose wasn't sure what to make of all this. Her feelings for Cloud were uncertain but she liked Saber. He was somewhat friendly. At least he didn't call her flower-girl.
"Flower-girl, you're going to miss the door if you keep walking that way."
Spinning on her heel, she stormed past the amused blond and into the classroom, intent on finding a seat for herself when cat-calls and wolf-whistles started echoing around the classroom at her entrance. Oh, so apparently she hadn't been put into the best year twelve class after all. She'd been put into the worst English class there was. The teacher, a tall, brooding male was slouched over a book at his desk and didn't even bother to tell them to be quiet. Where was the discipline in this school? Rose didn't know what to make of all this. There were no girls in sight. The appreciative whistles abruptly died down, and the boys seated were staring at something behind her.
Cloud and Saber were glaring at the entire classroom, almost threatening them to continue. At that moment, Rose was glad she was with these two very intimidating goths, even though one of them was a pain in her behind. Rose wasn't a vain person, nor was she aware that she was a very attractive young lady; with curves that were to be desired and a height that was suitable for a male to lord over.
"Please take a seat." The teacher finally said gruffly, and quickly checked her name on his list before writing his name on the board. Andrew Lazner. His last name could possibly be short for lazy. "Get your Romeo and Juliet books out."
There were loud groans of complaint. Rose followed Saber and Cloud down the aisle of desks and jumped a foot in the air when someone pinched her backside. With a loud squeak, she did the first thing a non-flirtatious, non-violent type girl would do. She ran straight into Cloud's back in an attempt to get away from the lecher that had touched her. Cloud wasn't even phased by the impact but was a little surprised when feminine arms wrapped around his waist.
"Oi. What's wrong, Flower-girl?"
"He-he..."
Cloud turned around, causing her to be pressed against his chest. She blushed.
"He?" the goth prompted.
"He...he..." she pointed to the male three seats down who was smirking at her. "Pinched me."
"He's violent, you know. Pinched me on the arm quite a few times when I walked pas-"
Frustrated, she tugged the boy down to her level and whispered into his ear. "He pinched my backside."
Cloud scoffed and wrapped an arm around her. Now, Rose expected it to stay on her waist, but boy was she wrong. The hand slid over her lower back and caressed said backside. The colour of her face resembled that of a tomato at that point. The blond chuckled into her ear.
"Feel better now?"
Rose surprised herself. She nearly nodded! This could not be happening. Cloud gave her a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry, if he does it again, I'll shoot him." He spoke just loud enough for the boy to hear him. Every nerve in her body was screaming at her for her to slap him, or do something that would result in him rolling around on the floor in pain. He had no right to touch her like that! Well, it did feel nice but-
That's not the point!
No, she had to appear in control of the situation. She roughly twisted herself from his one-armed embrace and stalked to a table where she sat down and crossed her arms. Sulking was not her style, so she grabbed the Romeo and Juliet book at the corner of her desk and basically stuck her nose in it. Saber gave Cloud a pointed look but the blond just shrugged and moved to sit at the back, right behind Rose. Pretending he wasn't there was much easier when she couldn't see him. The class went rather slowly. Every five minutes the teacher had to stop to quieten down the other males. She sighed. What next?
"Rose, are you coming to hang out with us at lunch?"
"Maybe. Why?"
"I reckon it might be a good idea. Some of the guys in here are more dangerous than me or Cloud."
"How so?"
"You're a virgin, right?"
She gasped. "They wouldn't do something like that at school-"
It was Cloud this time and his expression was very serious. "It's happened before. Almost happened to Thorn – would have if Reaper hadn't been creeping around in the shadows."
"What happened?" Damn her stupid curiosity problem!
The corners of his mouth turned up at the corners and Saber had to hide a grin. "Well, let's just say that he will never reproduce again."
Rose shuddered, trying futilely to stop the flood of mental images. That did not sound good at all. What did Reaper do, exactly? Kicked him...or something worse? She remembered the looks in his eyes when he'd met her gaze. It was definitely the latter. That male must have been castrated in the most inhumane way possible. She shuddered again. Mr Lazner was prattling on about something relevant and even though she was an A class student, she couldn't be bothered listening. No one else seemed to be either. More eyes than she could count occasionally flickered towards her. Instead, she turned around in her seat.
"Hey there." Saber grinned at her and she smiled.
"What's your real name?"
Cloud snickered and Saber glared at him. "Max Shin."
The blond snickered again.
"Put a sock in it, Gabriel."
"Why did you nickname yourself Saber?"
"I love wielding sharp weapons, so...I just decided to use it."
Well, that made more sense. Curiosity got the better of her again.
"Why?"
"You like asking a lot of questions, don't you, Rose? Curiosity killed the cat."
Rose blushed and bowed her head. "Yeah. I'm sorry."
Saber waved it off. "Nah. It's cool. Well apart from the fact that I like using sharp weapons, I'm really good at using them, so the first weapon I used was naturally a dagger that resembled a saber."
"Oh."
Mr Lazner suddenly called the class to attention. "Now, since none of you are wishing to participate in reading this particular play, I think it's time to introduce you to a little harmless drama."
They way he said harmless was certainly questionable. It didn't sound like it was going to be harmless at all. He continued on. "Ms Millen, Mr Willson, will you please come up to the front of the class?"
Surprised, Rose did as she was told with the tall goth following a few steps behind her. She fidgeted as she stood patiently beside the teacher. The boys in the class were eyeing her and it was making her incredibly uncomfortable.
"Ms Millen, I'd just like to briefly warn you that this is a class demonstration and that it has nothing to do with a relationship that you may or may not have."
Utterly confused, she frowned but the man continued. "Mr Willson, I'd like you to use Rose as a model, if you will. Show your classmates the romance that Romeo and Juliet share in a way you see fit."
Cloud stared at his teacher for a moment before he smirked in understanding. Rose, poor sweet, innocent Rose was caught completely off guard as one of Cloud's arms wrapped around her waist and his other hand came to cradle the back of her neck. She had only a moment to look stunned before Cloud claimed her lips in a kiss that left little to the imagination. The class hooted and went on a complete rampage of noise. Though his kiss was sudden and rushed, the blond was unusually gentle and Rose felt her eyes closing of their own accord to lean into his embrace. He smelt of smoke but she didn't care. She gasped as he bit her lower lip and his tongue dove into her mouth and she was finally introduced to her first carnal kiss with an obviously experienced goth.
God help her in trying to resist him.
A/N: Fancy naming a goth Gabriel. Don't know what I was thinking. Anyways, give us a review if you'd like for it to continue.