"Katie, it is so nice of you to bring your cute ass over and sit with us today. Why don't you come and sit on me? My lap would be happy to see you."

Kate wasn't a regular at the popular table was Bailey's thought as she watched Oliver proposition her. In fact, it appeared that she'd never really sat with them upon closer inspection, but it didn't seem like anyone had a problem with it either. Oliver had looked surprised when he'd seen her walk up, but genuinely pleased to have her sit with them.

"Oliver." Gwen spoke in monotone as she stared him down.

He looked uncomfortable as he glanced down at his food. "Gwen." A casual response. Almost too casual, but Gwen must've had some power over him because he stopped his dirty talk. "So, uh, what brings you over here, Katie? You've never sat with us before," he asked, confirming Bailey's observation

"Bailey." She paused, letting them know that was the answer before continuing. "You guys should get a douche bag jar." Kate added with a breathy laugh as she sat right next to Bailey, so close in fact that their arms brushed. It was slightly uncomfortable considering the table wasn't even full. "Hey." She nodded.

Another fake causal gesture from anyone else at this table and Bailey was going to leave. The atmosphere was so thick with tension. Between Gwen and Oliver, especially, but Kate was acting funny... and sitting way to close to her. Bailey felt unreasonably hot with the uneasiness of the situation

Why Kate had warmed up so quickly to her, she didn't know. They'd only spoken in Psych and on the way to her Geometry class, but maybe that's just how some people were here. If this school had one person like Gwen, why couldn't they have another?

At least Gwen wasn't basically sitting on top of her though

Clearing her throat, she tried to ease some of the tension. "What's a douche bag jar?" Bailey asked, trying to think of how to pull away from Kate without being blatantly rude.

Kate tore her gaze away from the table and turned her pale green eyes to Bailey giving her a curious smile. "When he says something particularity douche bag worthy he would have to put money in a jar."

Gwen's eyes lit up like a light bulb and she clamped on the shifting atmosphere like a lion with claws. Clearly she'd been just as uncomfortable. "That's a fantastic idea."

"Oh come on!" Oliver cried out. "You can't gang up on me until my boys get here. This isn't fair."

Bailey cocked her head to the side, curiously watching Oliver. He was being unusually loud. Sure, from what Bailey could tell he'd been obnoxiously suggestive to females, but never loud. He hadn't been uncomfortable too, had he? Bailey shifted her gaze back and forth between Oliver and Gwen. Curious and curiouser.

Movie list: Star Wars and Alice in Wonderland. Bailey heaved a sigh. She had a feeling she wasn't going to have time to watch those anytime soon.

Kate pushed her books aside. "I forgot Grayson sits with you guys now."

"Didn't the two of you used to date?" Gwen asked, reaching forward to steal a chip from Oliver, who smirked up at her and smacked at her hand.

"Get off my chips woman!"

"Yeah, until this past summer," Kate said, swallowing as she glanced down at her hands.

"Grayson?" Bailey paused, feeling slightly relieved that Kate's 'funniness' wasn't because she liked girls. After all, Grayson was that guy... "Hey, he's that guy that-" Bailey started in outrage.

Gwen chuckled and reached across to the table to pat Bailey's hand. "Yes, that Grayson. He's really not as bad as Oliver can be though."

Oliver scoffed and spoke around the chips he'd just stuffed in his mouth. "Hey, you love me too much to really hate me." He paused, his expression surprised and almost hurt as he seemed to just realize what he said.

Looking towards Gwen, Bailey could see the girls nostrils flare slightly, but not from anger. It was something else, like she was trying to stop herself from crying. These two had history. A painful history of love, but someone... Bailey furrowed her brows in concentration. His mother. Oliver's mother had gotten in the way.

"Hey look, here they come." The false cheeriness in Gwen's voice hurt Bailey's ears, but she turned towards the front. 'They' turned out to be Grayson, Damien, the blond haired guy she'd seen earlier giving Damien a high five, and a petite Asian girl.

"So, the blond is Seth Wilson and that cute Asian girl is Willa Michaels. They've been dating since freshman year and they're both juniors like Damien and Grayson."

Sometimes the second day of school was rougher than the first. How was she supposed to remember all these people? And did she need to know who was dating who? Bailey gave a subtle sigh. She didn't want Gwen to notice her slight irritation over the situation. Bailey liked Gwen, and she didn't want to come off as disinterested, even if she was.

"They've been having trouble." Oliver commented.

"And you've been consoling her, I'm sure."

Oliver shrugged nonchalantly, not denying nor confirming. A move that very clearly irked Gwen, but the girl was very practiced in hiding her emotions. If Bailey hadn't been watching her so closely, she might have missed it.

Gwen frowned. "I wondered why he'd been checking that girl out at his last party."

Bailey inwardly cringed, thinking again that this wasn't a topic they should be introducing to the new girl. It wasn't Bailey's business. She didn't want to hear about others relationship problems. Problems that for every couple becomes inevitable until someone cheats. Love doesn't last and sometimes she didn't understand why people bothered.

Everyone cheats eventually.

Oliver nodded, confirming Gwen's statement to be accurate. "I think they're fighting about school."

"That seems like a pretty stupid reason."

"Willa's mom thinks she should start focusing a little more on school. She's got SAT's coming up and Willa actually agreed with her mother. Law school ain't no joke."

Gwen nodded, "That means less time for Seth."

"And sex. Seth's never been down with that. Willa knows it and she's starting to feel resentful towards him because he can't appreciate her decision," Oliver said, reaching for a second bag of chips and slammed both hands on either side of the bag. Chips scattered everywhere, one even went far across the table. "Chips for everyone. You know, I thought Asians were just naturally smart."

Gwen stared down at him with disapproval. "How very stereotypical of you Oliver... you know, once upon time it was thought black guys were only good at playing sports and weren't smart at all. Please, and answer this question seriously, Oliver, who is still number one in the entire state? Academic wise?"

He didn't respond.

"Anyone?" Gwen spoke louder, looking around the basically empty table.

Oliver decided then to let his cocky persona slip into place. He licked his bottom lip suggestively and leaned back, tilting his head to the side. "Me."

Gwen's eyes widened with mock surprise. "Really? And what color are you?"

"Black."

"Ergo, don't be a stereotypical jerk."

He shrugged. "What can I say baby, when God made me he broke the mold."

Gwen gave him a small, soft smile with a distant look in her eyes.

Bailey turned and regarded Oliver. She wouldn't have pegged him as a genius. He looked more like a jock. He even had rippling muscles. "So, are you like a genius?" Bailey asked him.

Again, he didn't seem to want to answer, but Gwen jumped at the opportunity. "Yes, he is. Don't let him fool you with this dumb perverted jock persona. They wanted him to go to college when he was in eighth grade to work on some physics thing. He even has these hot nerd glasses he has to wear for when he reads."

"Why didn't you?"

"Okay, that's enough-" Oliver started, but Gwen gently punched his shoulder to keep him silent.

"He wanted the normal high school experience. Personally, I think that was the smartest decision he could've made."

Bailey agreed because no child should be forced to grow up quicker than necessary and high school was like a rite of passage into adulthood. If you can't make it in high school, you can't make it in college, and if you can't make it in college, adult life in general is bound to be a suck fest.

Not only was he a genius, but Oliver seemed to understand women pretty well. Surprisingly. Bailey fully understood why he'd been on the 'be careful of' list when Gwen had been talking to her well into the night yesterday. He was gorgeous, intelligent, and had killer bedroom eyes. With a womanizing reputation to boot, it was probably well deserved too.

He seemed to notice then that she'd been staring and immediately winked at her. "I'll be happy to show you around town, Bailey." He offered, giving her a smile that she was sure had made many females give in.

Bailey wondered if maybe it was better when he was being dirty. Having Oliver's gaze set on someone specific and that person would crack like a bad molding of dry clay.

He seemed to really want an answer as he continued to smile pleasantly at her. Bailey swallowed nervously, but was saved by Grayson clapping Oliver on the back in a manly greeting. "Ollie. Already starting in on the fresh meat, huh? " Grayson's eyes softened for an instant as his gaze fell on Kate. "I think Katie's got her covered."

Why did that sound so dirty? Bailey wondered. Kate liked guys, not girls. Kate had dated Grayson.

"Hey Kit-Kat." Grayson spoke gently to Kate.

Kate looked like she was in pain, with her shoulders hunched over. Her eyes red as if she were about to cry, she tucked her chin into her chest and responded, "Grayson."

She wasn't making eye contact.

It was the very first thing Bailey noticed when she glanced back at Kate. People who don't make eye contact have a guilty conscious. As Bailey considered that statement she studied Kate, wondering what this innocent fairy looking girl could've done to be guilty about. And the shift in Grayson was almost instant. It was as if he remembered why exactly she was the guilty party.

She cheated, was Bailey's first thought. Bailey felt the sinking anger in her gut and gritted her teeth. It wasn't any of her business.

"How's Andie doing?" Grayson asked between clenched teeth. The hand that wasn't holding his take-out lunch from a place called Savory, formed tightly into a fist, turning his knuckles white.

Bailey's eyes widened. These people had more baggage than an airport, she thought as she watched Kate's face flush red. Bailey didn't want to think about it, but with it so right in her face she couldn't help it. This 'Andy' was the cause of the break up. Someone cheated for sure... and Bailey was sure it had been Kate. Everybody cheats, even females. The thought thoroughly disgusted Bailey.

"We broke up."

His gaze darkened and the corner of his upper lip curled in disgust. "Oh, how convenient. And right when the new girl shows up too." He cleared his throat.

Wait. What? She wanted to ask the questions out loud, but knew it would be inappropriate, more so than the conversation going on right in front of her now. Bailey could tell Grayson was trying very hard to remain civil. He was trembling from it and even a pat on the back from the quiet Damien didn't seem to calm him down.

It wasn't until Grayson's gaze dropped to Bailey that the corner of his lip curved from its tense line. "Sorry about that." He finally managed, sitting directly across from Bailey. "So, how's your second day so far?"

Damien followed his example, dropping his lunch on the table, still looking uneasy even though Grayson's attention had shifted from Kate to Bailey. Willa and Seth had been too caught up in their own quiet argument to notice anything. Or to even sit down.

"Andy? Do we know this Andy? Do we even have a guy with that name in this school? Who is he?" Oliver asked suddenly.

Wow. For being a genius he was pretty dense.

Grayson raised a charcoal eyebrow and addressed Kate with his question. "Who is he indeed? But, then again everyone knows he isn't a he. Don't they Kate? I mean let's not beat around the bush here." He stopped and gave a cruel laugh that made him look ugly.

Bailey frowned. Is that what she looked like when she was trying to be mean to her dad? Cruelty really could make the most beautiful person ugly.

Kate scowled at him and shifted closer towards Bailey. Apparently it was possible to have even less space between her and Kate. It was a movement that didn't go well with Grayson either. He scowled deeply at the shoulder to shoulder contact Kate had made. His pine green eyes shifted to Bailey and if looks could kill, well as the saying goes... Bailey even thought she saw a vein popping on his forehead. However, he seemed to settle down enough to realize who this bug was he was gazing at.

I feel so welcome, Bailey thought to herself sarcastically.