lainey strong

“M-Maybe it’s just a coincidence, Nolan?  I mean, there’s no reason that one person would kill all of them, right?”

“Still not safe for a cutie like you to be walking home” Lelia gave a sultry smile as she teased gently, she wasn’t in the mood to fight but she wanted a bite.

“Well, that’s very sweet of you to say, but”  She starts, moving her hands down and placing them onto her hips.  She slowly shifts her weight back onto her heel, trying to make herself seem a bit taller.  “I can handle myself out there.  I don’t need someone protecting me all the time.”

“It sounds like a trashy movie,” Vanessa nods.  “Although the lack of a soundtrack is disappointing.  But paranoia is a healthy feeling - you know what they say.  Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.”  She laughs loudly, clapping a hand to her mouth to quiet the sound.  “Sorry, Lainey.  If it makes you feel any better, there’s probably an innocent explanation.  Maybe he just opens too many email attachments or something.”  Vanessa shrugs awkwardly.  “I don’t usually see them.  I’m not a church person, unless you count swearing to god when something goes wrong with my system.  But yeah, they look nice.”

“I’m kind of glad there isn’t a soundtrack playing in the background.  Eerie music playing any time I’m walking alone would freak me out more than anything.”  She laughs along with the girl, setting the flowers down next to her as she rests her elbow against her knee.  “Well, let’s hope so.  Although, I don’t think that he’s one to check his email very much, so there’s no hope there.”  Lainey smirks over at Vanessa, holding her arm straight up so she can rest her chin against her hand.  “That’s alright, church isn’t for everyone.  I understand it, we’re not always the most popular around here.  But, if you ever do come, make sure to compliment on the flower to someone, it’ll make me feel better about having to do all this.”

Shuffling awkwardly from one foot to the other, Vanessa nods.  Socialization isn’t exactly her specialty.  “Paranoid?  Just because we have a murderous psychopath running around town who no one’s caught yet?  I can’t imagine why, really.”  She rolls her eyes as the subject of the computer comes up, but nods.  “It’s running as fast as it ever will.  I don’t know how a priest ends up with that much spyware, and I probably don’t want to.”  Vanessa gestures to the flowers.  “Those are nice.”

Lainey lets out a laugh under her breath, looking down for a moment.  “I guess you’re right.  Paranoia is probably a common theme around here, although, when you put it that way, it makes it seem somewhat fake.”  She bites her lip, looking back up with a soft smile on her lips.  “You know, that’s not a very comforting thing to hear.  I don’t particularly want to know what my dad is doing on that computer.”  She shivers, shaking her head for a moment.  Holding up the flowers, she looks up at them, picking off a few dead leaves that are dangling on the side.  “Thanks.  I have to set these out every Saturday night, so I’m glad that they’re appealing to someone.”

Funny thing about being the town hacker - no one trusted you, but everyone wanted help with their computers.  The priest was a friend of Vanessa’s parents, and so by the magic of doing favors for friends of friends she found herself in the church getting their ancient desktop running again.  She jumped when she walked into the auditorium and heard a voice, but quickly recovered.  “Relax.  Just your friendly neighborhood spider girl.”

Lainey lets out a sigh of relief as she realizes that it’s just Vanessa who had walked through the door.  The girl walks over to the steps of the stage, sitting herself down to try and calm down a bit more, considering her heart was still racing in her chest.  “Sorry.  I forgot you were here tonight, and I-I’m just a little paranoid.”  She admits, laying the flowers that she was holding across her lap as she tilts her head to the side slightly.  “Are you finished with..  Whatever it was you were doing to that awful excuse for a computer?”  She smiles lightly, trying to crack a joke to clear the air of any remaining tension between the two, from their surprise meeting.

“i don’t even know why i bother turning on the news anymore. it’s always something depressing.”

“I don’t know why you bothered to turn it on in the first place, it’s always been depressing.”

“That’s what I’m saying! It must be my lucky day.”

“So, I have to ask..  What did she do to you?  You said something about her ruining lives, so I’m assuming you’re in the mix somewhere?.”

Jaya laughed along with her, though he felt just a bit guilty about it. They were laughing at the expense of a dead girl. “Well, it’s a good thing I found you then, yeah?”

“Exactly!  It’s always a good thing when you get to talk to me.”  She chuckles, bringing her hands together and playing with her fingers absentmindedly.

“She wasn’t a virgin, she was a bitch, most would probably call her the slutty one. I mean, she had like twenty different tropes working against her making her the perfect victim. Is it really that insensitive when she made most people’s lives a living hell?”

“Well, you know what they say.  If the shoe fits.”  She shrugs, letting out a soft chuckle at her own joke, although it was a bit morbid.  “I suppose it’s not entirely insensitive, no.  But, if you were talking to the wrong person, this conversation wouldn’t be as pleasant.  People are pretty touchy about her death, although they all seem thoroughly fake.”

“I’m just saying, it’s common sense. By horror movie logic Lucy had to be the first to go.”

“Although it’s slightly insensitive, I can’t say that you’re entirely wrong.  She had everything going against her.”

The smirk on Nolan’s face doesn’t falter, even as Lainey bites back with her words. “You’re right–It’s not. But it does make life a whole lot more entertaining,” He pointed out as his head tilted gently to the side. It was visibly very clear he was irritating her–It was a common effect he had on people these days. Even old friends. But it’s when her clear disdain over the mention of the party that had Nolan’s smile finally fading away. It was a memory that was fuzzy. Memories often were when it came to parties but he remembered enough to feel the corners of his mouth turn downward. “Look, Lainey–It’s shit that it went down like that. It really is–but it’s not all bad. You were fun that night.” His voice had quieted down, as if he feared someone would overhear their little argument. But mention of where his cares were lit a spark in him that he had tried to keep snuffed. “You wanna know what I’m concerned about now? I could give a rats ass about a party or my reputation right now when Lucy just got slaughtered.” It was there, as he leaned into her slightly and hovered over, that there was a subtle crack of his voice, a small, yet clear sign that he was not as smug and content with life as he always seemed to be. “That is all that I care about right now. Not my reputation. Not getting laid. Just Lucy and the fact that I don’t know why it happened…who did it…if it’s gonna happen again….”

Lainey rolled her shoulders back a bit, taking in a deep breath as he continued to go on about the party.  There wasn’t much Lainey regretted in life, but showing up to that party would be at the top of that short list.  “Well, I’m glad one of us remembers that night.”  She spits back, not really thinking about the words that were coming out of her mouth.  She never liked being rude with Nolan, but sometimes he would say things that irked her beyond belief.  She tilted her head up to keep eye contact with the boy as he scooted closer to her, putting her hands up slightly.  “Nolan, I know you cared about her and all, but she was complete shit to me.  And from what I hear, she didn’t really care about you, as a person, all that much.  Past the..  Well, you know.”  She sighs, already regretting what she was saying to him.  But, for some reason she didn’t want to stop, because she still hadn’t gotten the chance to voice her actual opinion on the girl’s death.   “So, I could care less about whether she is here or not.  I’m just glad she’s gone, and I’m thankful I won’t have to worry about her taunting me on earth, or anywhere else after that, for that matter.”  She mumbles up to him, keeping her voice just above a whisper as well.  She knew it was insensitive, and it wasn’t even close to what the boy wanted to hear.  But, Lainey wasn’t in the mood to sympathize for someone who was nothing but cruel to her.

A light chuckle left his lips and it was only in his nature to put Lainey on the spot. “When are you gonna give that up anyway? Life’s short–You gotta live a little before you’re old, moldy, and breaking your hip in the shower.” While he was raised in a Christian household, he had most certainly fallen off the path and had no intentions of making a return to the Chastity Club that he dropped rather quickly late in his sophomore year. It was all too late for him to become a reborn anything. The tap to his nose had him scrunching it gently, brows furrowing a little as he let his eyes look Lainey up and down for a moment. “–It’s hard to tell when you have clothes on. And I know you can have fun. I was at that party.” Perhaps it was bold (and rude) to bring up the party that resulted in the spreading of some rather sketchy photos of the girl but it choosing his words wisely rarely happened and Nolan hadn’t an ounce of regret in him over it.

Lainey rolls her eyes, letting out a soft sigh as she speaks back.  “Life isn’t only about sex, kid.  I can enjoy myself through other things, I’m not so concerned with how other people see me.”  Lainey purses her lips into a thin line, tapping her fingers against her arm slowly as she shifts her weight back onto her heels.  Her face turns a bright red when he brings up the party, knowing he said it just to get under her skin.  "Fuck off, Nolan.  You don’t know anything about that, and if you weren’t such an ass, you would have stopped that from happening.  But, all you care about nowadays is your stupid reputation or whatever it is you’re so concerned about.”  She huffs, shaking her hair as she stares down at her shoes, clenching her hands into small fists.

The biggest and hardest thing for me to do is to choose between red or black heels, I might as well just buy both. Actually, that’s possible.

“You can never have too many heels, that’s what I say.  Although, if you have to pick one, always go with black.  It’s the safer option.”

“Okay, Xena. I’ll watch my back and call you when I need help,” Nolan mused, his smile widening as his words trailed off. With a rocking of his feet and his hands slipping into the pocket of his jeans, a brow quirked playfully at her question. “You know, I prefer my girls legal. Not in the training bra stage of life so–Once you’re out of that, you can call me and we’ll work somethin’ out. Somethin’ real fun.”

“I think of myself more of an Artemis.  Vow of chastity sort of thing, not Xena.  She always had a low-key thing with Hercules, and I think I’d rather ride alone.”  Her lips curving into a smirk as she crosses her arms across her chest, leaning back on the heel of his foot.  “Very funny, Nolan.  One, that you think that I could fit into a training bra still, and two, that you think that I’d ever work out something fun with you.”  She teases back, leaning forward quickly, and tapping her finger against his nose softly.

“In light of recent events, he might have just been looking out for you.” It was a quiet suggestion from Nolan as he shrugged his shoulders a little. He didn’t want to keep his mind on the dreary reality of Lucy’s death for too long so naturally, he was quick to force a smile and attempt a joke. “–But from some angles you could pass as twelve. Maybe eleven.”

“I don’t need someone looking out for me.  I can protect myself, thank you very much.”  She responds sharply, eyeing the boy as he continues to speak.  She feels the urge to smirk at his joke, but fights it back, trying to seem a bit more tough than she truly is.  “How sweet of you.  Is this how you flirt with all the girls or am I just lucky?”