#ansbplotdrop002

Marcy didn't know half the names of people in this town, and she assumed that no one really knew hers either. That's why she was so shocked when she was asked to contribute to help out. of course she wasn't called by name, but just being noticed made her secretly happy enough to participate.

James scanned the crowd, wondering--not for the first time since the storm started--why he was even here. Why he hadn't just stayed home and let fate take him where it may. Maybe because there was a damn stubborn part of him that was going to cling to life, no matter how crappy it got. Just because he refused to lie down and lose completely. He didn't know, and nor did he really care about the big philosophical question behind it. All he knew was that he was here--and they wanted him to help? Who in the hell were they kidding?! Couldn't they see he was busy drinking?! 

Of course, the flask was almost empty, and when that moment came, James didn't know what he was going to do. All he knew was that he was going to savor these last few sips of the burning rum inside that flask. Not search out this Markus character--a guy he only knew by reputation, really--and wander around looking for some crap. 

When Graham paired her up with Odessa, the last person she wanted to run into, Ruby felt sick. Truthfully, she'd been avoiding her friend since her one night stand with Markus, a mistake Ruby had been trying to forget. It was easier said than done, though; no matter how easy it was for her in the past, she couldn't get this hookup out of her head. Sure, a drunk, frisky Ruby had slept with her fair share of men; from the poor guy who just got dumped to the asshole who had a girlfriend she didn't know about until the next day, she'd experienced it all. But this time, she'd crossed the line. She was guilty. She knew that. She felt it. But as she and Odessa made their way into the school and to the nurse's office, Ruby tried to put on a smile. What was she supposed to do? She screwed up, but how the hell was she supposed to fix what she did? What was done couldn't be undone and even if she could do something, this was not the time nor the place to make up for it.