Under the Cross [Google & Cosmic]

When was the last time she was in a skirt? Let alone a pleated, navy blue one that spoke of pig-tails and pink bows? Seven? or was it younger? It made her eye twitch a little bit to think about it. However, she did have to admit, she didn't look half bad. Hailee Burton was of average height, perhaps a bit on the petite side, being 5'4" and a little more scrawny than she would like. However, considering the few "alterations" she made to her uniform, she felt like it might not cramp up her style too bad.

The skirt was supposed to go no shorter than her finger-tips, but it had nothing in the rule book on how tight it could be. So she adjusted it a little, or well a lot, tighter bringing out the delicate roundness of her hips and thighs (not to mention her butt) just enough to piss off the teachers. Her white button-up blouse had stricter rules, it had to be loose-fitting and "buttoned modestly" so she instead bleached it as long as she could, thinning the fabric enough to where her dark black bikini top showed. Cause well, the rules didn't mention otherwise. There was no rules as far as shoes went as long as they were "comfortable". Well, she was most at ease in her black combat boots, so those should count. She even was wearing the white socks like they requested it. So if anyone bitched at her about dress code, she not only had the rule book to rub in their faces, but attire to kick their ass in

She tightened the balls on her snakebites as she walked out of her room, leather school bag in hand, heading for campus. It was a short walk, but still she wished she had a car. Preferably some huge gas-guzzler that was decked out in upside down pentagrams. It wasn't even about her own personal beliefs, as much as trying to piss off as many people as she could at this point. That was the only reason why she chose Saint Francis anyway. Real nuns, real catholics, real laughs.

Course, there was no telling how long she would be staying either. Foster parents were fickle like that. One minute buying you Christmas presents, the next packing your stuff in a plastic bag and hauling you back down to DHS. Hailee had to admit though, the elderly couple she was staying with were pretty tight if they were willing to send her to private school. Even though it was because they were afraid she'd light another house on fire without "help." She snickered to herself shaking her head, where she came from, help was either cheap liquor or anti-depressants. Not Jesus. However she just put her music in, and tuned out the traffic in both her head and on the road until her feet took her to the large prison like building painted puke orange.

She got on to campus with a groan seeing the typical perky, preppy, upper class "we are the future of the world" kids. Certainly at least half of it was her own cynicism, but what annoyed her the most was the fact that even at a Catholic school--she was the new kid. Meaning, that even though she looked like a bit of a whore, she people were probably either A) talking about the new 'lost soul' who had to take a tour yesterday during classes to get familiar with the campus and her teachers or B) wouldn't even notice her cause she was new and dressed like a slut. She honestly wasn't sure which one was more annoying at the moment. She fiddled with her earring, a small nervous habit that betrayed her passive exterior, and walked into the building trying her best not to feel miserable.

Micheal O'Connell, son of state senator Johnathan O'Connell and punk rock enthusiast, above all rebel without a cause was running late for school. His father's status might have been enough to get him out of that kind of trouble but the problem was that dear old daddy would never let him use his name or influence in that manner, not that Micheal really wanted that sort of favor anyway. Half the point of his rebellion was to cause trouble just because he found it amusing to see what people would do. The psyche class he had done last semester had led some people to the brilliant insight that he only rebelled because he had never been given any boundaries when he was younger and was trying to force his parents to take a stand of some kind. Micheal had told the people with that idea to fuck off, he caused trouble because it was fun not because he wanted attention from daddy.

Still rebelling meaninglessly had its perks and after a quick shower and grabbing a bagel for breakfast Micheal was looking at that perk, two years earlier he had gotten his first car after going an entire month without getting detention, totally worth a month of his natural hair color and keeping his language generally rated PG especially during the required bible study. Even two years later his baby, his jet black 99 Camaro was still able to take his breath away. And then he was off, his habit of driving quickly and aggressively getting him into the school parking lot just before the first bell rang, technically he was still on time which meant that in his mind he was early.

The extra time that he had in his mind gave him time to examine himself in the mirror a little better, his freshly dyed hair was still technically within the regulations that the school, no doubt it was a tad messier in appearance then the nuns would like and of course they would take offense with the color but he wasn't breaking the rules because it was not covering his eyes, did not exceed more then three inches of bulk and was not touching the collar of his collared shirt, the same collared shirt that he wore over what was supposed to be a plain white t shirt, one which he had spray painted the infamous anarchy A, depending on the lighting of the room the black A may or may not show at any given moment.

After a few moments, quite content that his appearance showed a proper disregard for authority Micheal got out of his car and slipped a Swisher Sweet into his mouth as he made his way onto the campus only for it to be snatched away from him the moment that he went to light it by one of the sisters standing at the front gate... he didn't know why they even bothered because he would just find a quiet corner later on and enjoy himself. It hardly mattered though, it was time for another soul crushing day of boredom and Micheal wasn't sure what he would do in order to make it more tolerable for himself.

It was just after that bleak thought ran through his head that he saw her for the first time, an out of place brunet with some very interesting piercings in the sea of uptight and perky blondes. He was used to being alone, to stand apart from everyone else in the crowd but now he could see someone else, perhaps someone he would be able to talk to, perhaps another rebel in the ocean of conformity and perk that was all around them. With a smirk on his lips he pushed his way through the people that stood between them and grabbed her arm, pulling her from the crowded hallway into one of the empty classrooms that was used for extra curricular activities.

He didn't know why he had done it, impulse had told him that he wanted to have a chance to talk to her alone before things started and with his poor impulse control he had just gone with it. The only problem was that he didn't quite know what to say now that he was alone with her. “Uhhh, look just please don't scream or anything, this probably seems really strange but I promise that I am not going to hurt you or anything.” Sounded lame but hopefully it would keep her from freaking out and pulling some pepper spray on him.

Screaming didn't really occur to her as much as breaking his face did, but then she noticed the clothes, the hair, and most of all--the fact that he wasn't scowling in her direction. She raised an eyebrow as he spoke and put and crossed her arms waiting for him to finish.

"Name's Hailee. Like The Misfits at all?" she said sticking out her hand. Was small talk necessary? Did she need to do anything other than accept the fact that the universe was allowing her to have some form of brother-in-arms for this steaming pile of bullshit? She gave him a smile and stuck her thumb of the opposite hand through the small belt loops in her skirt.

He definitely was attractive, which was a plus. And the fact that he didn't look like be belonged with Barbie in her Malibu dream house just made it better. She couldn't have asked for a better surprise for her day. There was something in the back of her head that was chewing on her though; a feeling that maybe this could be the start of something horrible, and it might be best to leave before she got comfortable.

She killed the thought as soon as it got to a knowledgeable point, and gave him a smile. "Cause I was thinking of rigging the intercom system, but I don't know how to get in the office or where it is. I just thought the stiffs might want to listen to something other than the bible for a while. Elementary I know but, my regime is just beginning." She concluded with a wink.

Ok so she wasn't screaming, she hadn't pulled a knife and he hadn't been maced yet, by those standards it was so far so good. Some people might have thought that such concerns were strange or out of place but Micheal had run into some very strange situations before. When you were the only true rebel in a school full of people who viewed being different as a sin then you had to get used to being treated harshly, at one point he had been talking to a one of the young ladies at the school who had asked him for a recommendation on music she should buy for her cousins birthday. Of course her boyfriend had seen her talking to the school freak and had gotten a few people to jump him after school, if not for the fact that most of them had expected him to curl up in a ball after a good punch or two he probably would have gotten his ass kicked pretty badly.

Ever since then though he had become someone who was always suspecting something going horribly wrong when things looked like they were good and having someone to relate to was a good thing that could go oh so terribly. “I am Micheal.” He said as he shook his head, trying to clear away the momentary fog that seemed to have clouded his mind. Reaching out he took her hand, giving it a quick and what in his mind was a quite awkward shake. “Also, love the Misfits but if you really want to freak the school out I would suggest something a little bit more mainstream scary, maybe something from Manson's Anti-Christ Superstar.”

Her idea was simple but something that Micheal had been thinking of doing for some time now, he had been thinking of saving it for one of the school socials, what they had instead of dances because they felt the name would keep people from misbehaving. “I think we can probably pull that off, the school janitor never locks his closet and tends to leave his key ring on a hook behind the door.” Would make getting in very simple, but it would likely only work once.

"Hmm, Manson...Didn't think of that." She pulled back her hand and didn't bother to question his awkwardness. She had met people who wore tinfoil hats before, and not even because of aliens, but because they thought they were fashionable. Awkwardness was second nature and she chose not to disrupt it too heavily for fear of things like the girl's locker room (cause the times she didn't look like sex on very large wheels, she just must have been a lesbian, and therefore, be treated like some kind of disease.)
She gave Michael a smile thinking. "I was going to do the lyrics of the Irresponsible Hate Anthem in the girl's bathroom though..." She gave Michael an odd look, some where in between a thoughtful smile and a sarcastic glare.

"Hmm. I take it you have some ideas to make this little piece of hell more bearable, and or destroy the foundations of it completely?" she half joked cocking her head. "Cause I could sure as hell use an accomplice. I was thinking we could go into the library and get rid of some bibles, replace them with Mister Darwin's Origin of Species. Plus various other debaucheries. If you are interested that is. I mean, you are the only person here I've seen who didn't just stare at my tits, or passive-aggressively hate me for them." She gave him a grin the size of the Cheshire cat's. "And It's been a long time since I had someone to hang out with."