Burnouts

A Set of Two Things

Scene 1: Addington High

Heather Blakely

"Hey..."

My lips press into a thin smile, "Hey, Jace."

"You haven't been taking my calls," he sighs.

I close my locker and lean against it as I face him. "I can't say I've been in the mood to talk with you."

"Heather," Jace says pleadingly, "we were just starting to get back to being us again, do we really have to start all over?"

"...are you seriously asking me that?"

"Okay," he takes a deep breath, "the Alison thing was out of line, I'll admit, but I had nothing to do with it. I knew about it after Ethan showed us the pictures, but it was already too late, I swear."

"When you decided to look at the pictures and even keep one instead of telling me, your girlfriend, is when you became the problem too, Jace."

"I will apologize a million times if I have to...to you and Alison. It was wrong and I wish I could take it all back— stop it from happening in the first place, if possible."

"But you can't...and I'm really getting tired of talking about this."

"Babe-" Jace starts to say before he is interrupted by Audrey's presence.

"Is he bothering you, Heath?"

"He was just leaving," I speak directly to him.

"I'm sorry, okay?" He says lowly, walking off, reluctant to break eye contact.

"Hm," Audrey sighs, "I almost pity him."

"Yeah, well," I shrug, "I guess I feel worse for Alison."

"She's on a two-day spa retreat. Got her heartbroken on Saturday and by Sunday afternoon she was in Arizona."

"How is she feeling?"

"You can ask her when she gets back tomorrow," Audrey says nonchalantly. "Until then, it's just you and me." She takes out her pager, "Katherine is hosting the launch of her new makeup line at my place tonight, but you can still come over."

"Oh? Okay."

"There probably won't be that many guests. Not even my father can convince people she's a proper businesswoman. She tried this same thing with handbags last year, remember?"

I almost began to nod, but my eyes looked past her when she spoke.

A tall boy in a wore down leather jacket stole my attention, only because I've come to associate him with someone else. Others crossed the hall, and with their passing, I then saw Leo...

My gaze lingered as he came closer, his eyes met mine and I smiled a bit, expecting his usual small gesture of acknowledgment in return, but instead, I got nothing.

"...so, you'll call me and let me know?" Audrey questions.

"Huh?" I say in confusion.

"...if you're coming over..."

"Right!" I laugh awkwardly, "I'll call."

"Perfect," she smirked, "see you at lunch, hon."

I nod and let her walk away since her class is a considerable distance from where we're standing.

I never actually stopped sitting at the same table as Audrey and Alison, I simply changed seats and sat at the end with other people like Tony Milligan. However, I am never the one to try and rekindle with people, not without good reason. Audrey, though, always ends fights the same way...by playing nice and pretending there never was one.