The Kiss of the Blade

Chapter Two.

                Zee:

It had been a week since Zee's first day of school. She was seated in the cafeteria on a small table. Zee had a few sets of friends. One, which was of those who she liked talking to for short times, but not talking to for long durations. This consisted of about half the people she knew. Then another, which consisted of 4 close friends whose company she enjoyed. This group was purely scholastic - she never hung out with them out of school hours. This group consisted of 5 people not including herself.
Aria, with her dark chocolate-caramel hair and natural tan skin was closest to Zee. She had large chocolate colored eyes, and her face was a mask of innocence. On the inside, though, she was a pure troublemaker. What Zee liked best about her was that while she could lighten the mood and joke around, she would also be there to talk. Zee hadn't, of course,  ever told Aria anything about her actual intentions of being there.
   Then there was Carlisle. She was the looker of their circle of friends. Curly blonde hair, starry, midnight blue eyes and dimples.
   Alexa was a skater. She had coffe colored elbow lenght hair and ebony black eyes that always had a twinkle of mishchief in them. She had an almost flawless face except for a faint white line of a scar running from her right eye to her lip. 
    Flynn had chocolate brown hair that was forever falling into his eyes, and a smirk that made most girls dizzy. He was the male version of Alexa, and they often helped each other in their various stunts and pranks. 
  And lastly, Ashton. He prefered to be called Ash, and with his black hair that reached his eyebrows, and gold-ish eyes, the name suited him. 

Zee's last set of friends consisted of 7 others, not including her. These were the friends that she would stay up late with and just hang out with. 
There was Lance and Leonardo. Twins, but completely opposite. While Lance was a free spirit, trying out new things and not giving a shit about what others said, Leonardo prefered to stay inside with books rather than run around in the mud. They both had caramel colored hair, though lance had cut it short and Leonardo had let it grow to the middle of his ears. 
 Keira had wavy black hair that reached her hips. Her eyes were leaf green and she had a small, pink mouth. Her face was heart shaped and her body was very defined. She looked pretty angelic, but could very easily kick anyones ass at anything.  
     Arianna had red shoulder length hair and she almost always wore a beanie. Her adorable brown eyes were covered by glasses, and she wouldnt be caught dead without her headphones and ipod. 
Troy had bronze hair, and blue eyes. He was the quarter back for the school football team. "American football," He had told Zee when she asked him about the sport, "Must be experienced, not explained." 
A.K, was by far the most mysterious in the group. She had never told anyone what the initials "A.k" stood for. Whenever Zee asked, she would smile all secretly and turn away, letting her curly chocolate colored hair cover her face. 
And then, there was Noah. His buddies called him 'Jones' but Zee mostly called him Noah. Zee knew she shouldn't think anything of him except maybe "victim" but she had actually started feeling a connection to him. She felt close, the way you do with really good friends. She scolded herself. She couldnt create ties to them! It was unproffesional and would be her ruin. But..... A flash of doubt entered Zee's mind. When the time came, would she be able to betray all these people that she had come to love? 
   She shook her head. Of course she would be able to! She shouldn't have been thinking like that. Zee came out of her reverie when someone coughed a deep, intentional cough. She was sitting with Aria and group. They were all staring at something to her left. she followed there gazes to Noah's table.

A.K and Leonardo were sitting with their arms around each other and their tongues in each others mouths. Everyone in the cafeteria was silently staring at them, but they were oblivious to that fact. Lance seemed to be the most shocked htough. Zee assumed he didnt know about his brother and A.K. She had thought the fact that A.K and Leonardo liked each other was pretty obvious, but judging by everyone else's expression, Zee was the only one who had noticed.

It must have been her many years of training. She realized she had been staring. She looked away, ashamed. People needed their privacy. She concentrated instead, on a reproduction of a Vincent Van Gogh 'Starry Nights' Painting done by the senior class. It brought back a flood of memories.  

       A ballroom with red and gold silk cutains. The floor was spotless white marble. Music and the noise of high-heels hitting the floor filled the room as couples danced their way through the night, dresses swishing, and buns coming loose. She held herself close to a man with blue eyes, dark, wavy hair and boyish features. He twirled her around so that they were both facing the same direction - their victim. The victim was sitting by himself in a corner, smiling pleasently at everyone. "It's too bad he doesnt have a beutiful lady to dance with like i do." The man she was dancing with said, smiling into her hair. Then he twilrled her back around so she was facing him once more. They waltzed to one side and leaned against a large Van gogh painting - Starry Night. He stroked her hair and whispered to her how after getting the money from this kill, they would stop doing what they were, and live together happily. Their proffesion ate at their conscience, but the did it anyways. They needed the money. Then, after glancing at the large grandfather clock across the room, he said, "Its time"

She snapped out of her flashback. A.K and Leonardo had stopped making out and were staring at their shoes, embarrased. Keira broke the silence by grinning and shouting, "OH MY GODS!! YOU GUYS TOTALLY HAVE TO GO OUT! YOU'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!"
Then she cupped her hands to make a heart and held it to her eye so that A.K and Leonardo fit perfectly inside the 'frame'. 
And then the rest of the cafeteria started cheering. Half of the people started yelling "Item! Item!" While the rest started shouting "Kiss! Kiss". Ak and Leonardo smiuled awkwardly. Keira rolled her eyes and pushed AK. She fell into Leonardo's arms and they kissed again, but broke away almost immediately. 
Zee snuck a look at Noah to see how he was reacting. He was looking back at her, as though they had the same thought. They locked eyes and smiled shyly. Then he nodded at Ak and Leonardo and raised an eyebrow at Zee. It seemed almost as Though he was asking, "That seems interesting. How about we try it out?" She made face at him and turned away.

Zee noticed that Flynn had been quietly observing herself and Noah. When he saw her looking at him, Flynn grinned, and leaned closer to her. "He likes you," He said, barely supressing a smile. But Zee noticed that there was a slight edge to his voice when he said this, though he didnt push it. "Who? Noah?" Zee asked, doubtfully.

Flynn looked confused.
"What? No! i meant Troy.".

Zee followed his gaze to where Troy was sitting and noticed that he had been staring in her direction. When she looked at him, he quickly looked away. "Oh." Zee said quietly. She looked back at Flynn to say something, but her voice died in her mouth when she saw him looking at Troy with an intense look of longing on his face. 
    A little switch in Zee's brain clicked and realization dawned on her. She looked away before Flynn noticed she had been looking at him. She felt embarrassed as though she was looking in on something private. 

That day, before everyone went home after school, Zee cornered Flynn when he was putting his books away. "It's all right" she said. Flynn raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about?" He asked. "Troy understands. He's like you."  FLynn's eyes widened. "B-But...How?!" 
"How did I know?" Zee asked.
Flynn nodded miserably. 
"Im just observant." She replied. "And you dont need to be so worried. I mean, honestly. There's nothing wrong in being..." She wanted to say 'gay' but looking at his broken face, she couldnt bring herself to do it, "Different. There's nothing wrong in being different." 
"Just..Just promise you wont tell anyone! They wont accept me! i'll be shunned!" 
Zee had to laugh. "Of course they wont!" 
Flynn glared at her. "You don't know that!" 
"Actually....I do." She said, her British accent subconciously creeping back into her voice. "Troy took the plunge and came out to all of us. Everyone was very accepting."
"You mean...You mean, Troy is...?" Flynn asked, his voice catching. 
She nodded. "But don't tell him yet. Start by telling the rest of the group. Our group. All together, one by one, whatever catches your fancy." 
Flynn nodded. "Thanks, Zee. I'll think about it, i promise, but for now i got to go. My rides waiting." And he shot here one last attempt at a smile before rushing off.