players only love you when they're playin'

It had been about three days since Thalia's first day at Springwood High. It had been the same as it was for the first day - gathering people to consider as friends, listening to the boring teachers as they droned on and on about things she didn't care to learn, and gaining information about the students of Springwood.

Thalia had learned a lot. She'd learned about the most popular group - one led by none other than Cindy Baker. This was the fraternal twin of Callie Baker - the girl who'd decided she hated Thalia the moment the girl approached her table. From what Thalia gathered, they were opposites. With both their looks and personality, one wouldn't even come to think that the two were related - but they were.

She'd learned about the different cliques, and which cliques were involved in what. Usually, if you were friends with Cindy Baker, you were a cheerleader. If you weren't a cheerleader, you were a dancer. Popular girls only dated popular boys, and vice versa.

Due to it being the first week of school, all clubs were excitedly buzzing. Bulletin boards were filled with tryout slips and times of the auditions, along with fliers over who to vote for the student council. It wasn't a surprise to Thalia that Cindy was also running for that, as well.

It was clear who ran the school. Or, it came across as Cindy Baker ran the school. If Thalia were to guess, she made most of the shots when it came to how things were popularity-wise.

She'd also heard from Angelina about how Cindy had dated Sean Abrams - the boy she'd deemed nameless up until that point. Not knowing who Sean was at first, she just listened intently and seemed genuinely interested in the gossip Angelina told her. Befriending the doe-eyed girl was the best decision it seemed, as she learned more from her than she had both Nathan and Rosalind together.

Angelina was willing to tell her anything and everything she asked, without question. That made Thalia happy, considering she liked to ask the questions, not be asked.

She hadn't met Cindy but was easily able to put a name to a face. Considering it didn't take but two seconds for her to connect the dots that Sean Abrams was the boy who lived across the street from her, just the description Angelina gave of Cindy was more than enough for her to realize this was the redhead she saw get out of the car the day she moved in.

It would make sense that the boy-next-door jock dated the most popular girl in school. It was cliche rom-com knowledge 101. Thalia hadn't been shocked or surprised, as it was basically the first rule in the non-existent textbook of being popular.

Thalia was thankful she had never been the type to follow those unspoken rules. She hated being constrained and forced into doing something she didn't want to do. It looked draining, and she knew first-hand what it could do to someone. Look at her parents, for example, they were the top couple that had come to mind when it came to following the social rules - the last thing she wanted to do was be anything like them.

Glancing around the different club signs hanging on the bulletin boards, she finally found the one she was looking for.

Drama Club, after-school auditions all week! Snacks and drinks will be provided, just bring you and your extraordinary personality! Located in the auditorium.

Thalia let out a dry laugh. That was their bargain? Surely they wouldn't get one person to try out - Angelina being an exception.

"How sweet, fresh meat." A sultry voice spoke from the right of Thalia.

Thalia glanced away from the bulletin board and looked over, her eyes immediately noticing fiery red hair. Cindy Baker, she realized. She hadn't even had to be the one to approach her.

This made everything that much easier.

"I see you're doing a quick look over of all of the-" Cindy stopped, side-eyeing the board. "Groups, we have here at Springwood. I, for one, as Captain of the cheer team and Co-Captain - simply because I cannot be captain of both - dance team among other neat clubs, would like to invite you to tryouts."

Thalia's brows raised, and just as she was about to respond, Cindy continued.

"I've heard quite a bit about you already, almost seems like we've gone to school together forever." The girl chuckled as she smiled a fake smile. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Might as well see what the buzz is about, yeah? Now, don't think just because I'm inviting you to try out that that means you're in, because it doesn't. We are very strict about who we allow on the team because we can and will only be the best. That being said, it's just an invitation."

"Is it really an invitation when anyone and their mother can try out?" Thalia asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "No offense, hothead Barbie, but I think I'll pass. I've met many just like you and know your game plan. You wanna see what you're up against, embarrass me in front of your perfect little minions and perfect boy-next-door boyfriend, but I'm not the kind of girl to play into that."

Cindy's smile fell, looking Thalia up and down once. Thalia had been right - they both knew this, and Cindy had read the girl completely wrong.

"Now, if you'll excuse me-" Thalia tapped the flier for the drama club, "I've got a real club to try out for."

Cindy took in a sharp breath as Thalia smiled a fake smile at her, beginning to walk in the opposite direction. "You realize that that shouldn't even be considered a real club, right? Playing pretend? It's not real talent and they allow everyone to join!"

Thalia ignored the girl and just turned around, smirking to herself as she made her way to the auditorium. This only upset Cindy further, and she put her hands into fists at her sides. "It's literally a stupid club for stupid people who don't know how to grow up and face the real world!"

The dark-haired girl smiled. She did exactly as she planned - riling the queen bee up. It was obvious she'd struck a nerve, but Thalia thought no more about it as she turned down another hallway and into the entrance of the auditorium.

It was dark, minus the bright light in the middle of the stage. There were no people - just as Thalia expected. Well, honestly, the girl expected there to be at least one or two people besides Angelina, simply because there needed to be people who organized this thing.

There were a few long, white tables, covered in different colored tablecloths. On top of one table was a buttload of snacks on different platters, definitely way too many for an introduction to the drama club. On the second table were different juices, sodas, and waters for people to choose from, and on the last and final table on the stage were different items, stuff that Thalia wouldn't be able to discern until actually getting up to it.

"Hi!" A voice suddenly exclaimed. Thalia jumped back in fright, putting her hand over her heart.

"Jesus Christ," She muttered, looking at the person. The person had short brown hair, with dark brown eyes to match. They looked kind, and Thalia quickly recovered from her small scare by clearing her throat and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm here for..." She stopped, looking around the auditorium.

"For auditions, right?" The person asked in a hopeful tone.

"No, the snacks," Thalia spoke quickly. The person standing across from her frowned, seeming to struggle to find a response. The dark-haired girl quickly shook her head, smiling. "I'm joking. I'm here for the drama club."

"Great!" The person smiled again, "I'm Riley, but you can call me basically anything. I've been heavily involved in drama since I could basically walk, when did you grow interested in acting?"

Thalia's eyes widened at the burst of words from Riley, catching her off guard. She didn't know what she expected, though, because it was well-known that theatre geeks were very extroverted.

"Okay, Riley, don't scare her away. She just got here." A familiar voice cut in, and Thalia's eyes drifted over to see a very familiar curly head of hair. Sean let out a sigh as he stepped up next to Riley, looking down at them. "Why don't you go prepare for the next few people that might walk in, yeah? Let her take a look around, let her decide if she actually wants to join."

Riley sent a glance to Sean before looking back at Thalia, "It was nice to meet you and I truly hope you decide to stay."

Without another word, Riley was gone. They'd made their way over to the tables to meet Angelina, who Thalia hadn't even noticed arrived. She dropped a box of something on the ground behind the table, beginning to chat with Riley about something Thalia wasn't able to hear.

"You're the last person I expected to see here," Sean spoke after clearing his throat, causing Thalia's eyes to dart back in his direction.

She began to say something snappy, to keep up with the way she'd conversed with him from the moment she first met him. It was funny, considering she could tell it messed with him. Thalia loved to mess with people, so when she knew she could easily get on someone's nerves, she would.

But then she remembered that this was the school's 'golden' boy - if you could consider him that. He was the guy everyone wanted to be or be with, much like Cindy Baker. He and Cindy Baker were dating - or weren't, depending as Angelina had said they were very on and off again.

So, instead of responding the way her mind told her to at first, she stopped herself. She kept her face straight as she took another glance around the room, observing the few people who had arrived. "Could say the same for you, neighbor."

"Oh, so now you acknowledge that it was, in fact, you?" Sean asked with a raised brow. "Thought I had you confused with another girl?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Thalia innocently told him.

Sean caught on quickly to what Thalia was doing and rolled his eyes. "Very funny. Seriously, though, what are you doing in a place like this?"

"You talk about 'this place' as if it's some type of jail, which is odd to me considering you're in here as well, buddy." Thalia crossed her arms. She stepped a little further into the room and away from the entrance, looking around at Springwood's Auditorium. "I mean, what's so bad about trotting around on stage acting like we're better - or maybe worse - people than we are? Living in a reality that isn't ours."

"Ew, don't call me that," Sean grumbled, following her. "Also, it's playing pretend. I'm only in here because last year I got in a bit of trouble and-"

Thalia suddenly stopped and whipped around to Sean, causing him to stumble to a stop right in front of her. She looked down at his shirt before back up at his face. "You? Causing trouble? I find that a little hard to believe."

Sean gulped, thinking for a second before speaking. "Well, I did. And my choices were to have it go on my permanent record or help out one of the clubs that needed it."

"And you chose to help the club?" Thalia asked, not breaking eye contact. "How selfless of you, Mr. Golden Boy. Going against you and your perfect preppy girlfriend's point of view of geeks like these to help them out. Bet that would look real nice on a college application."

"Girlfriend? No, I don't have a girlfriend, what?" Sean asked, stepping back. It was obvious he was intimidated, and Thalia noticed this fairly quickly. She just tilted her head to the side, her brows pushing together.

"Hmm. Just usual for the school's perfect preppy boy to date the school's perfect preppy girl." Thalia shrugged, wiping the sleeve of her jacket of a piece of lint. She didn't want to out that Angelina had told her all of the school's gossip, especially since they all three happened to be in the same room. It would get her on Angelina's bad side, and although that's the last person Thalia would be afraid of, she still didn't want to ruin any bonds she was 'making' by running her mouth to the wrong person.

"I'm not preppy." Sean's nose scrunched, "Also that's a very fucked up thing to just assume that about people you don't know."

"Is it?" Thalia asked, raising her eyebrows. "Or is it just realistic nowadays? Popular dates popular."

"Just because I happened to date the most popular girl in school doesn't mean it's my type." Sean denied. "That's like me saying it's not surprising you're going around with Nathan Woods. What's up with that, anyway?"

Thalia's lips pressed outward as she thought, glancing around before looking back at him. "What about it? I don't care what you say, if I were to be that bothered about being seen with someone, I wouldn't be seen with them." She shrugged. Although she wasn't necessarily planning on staying friends with any of the people she'd been talking to, she did feel that particular way about the people she talked with.

All too often she saw people faking their compassion and kindness, not to mention their loyalty to their loved ones. Despite Thalia lacking that sort of empathy and affection, she never once understood it.

"Well, Nathan's kind of fucked up and would probably get you into trouble," Sean responded.

"Okay? I don't know how much I should believe you, considering you're so 'stuck' here because of some trouble you got into. You sound kind of like you're projecting, buddy, you should tone it down a bit." Thalia coolly said, her mouth twitching upward slightly when she saw his face twist in frustration.

Sean didn't say anything, and Thalia smiled. "What, was that not the response you were expecting, Golden Boy? Maybe I wasn't the new girl you expected of me."

"Okay, looks like this is everyone who will be joining us today!" Angelina suddenly exclaimed before Sean could respond. "If everyone could please make their way up the stage, that would be great! Thank you!"

Thalia looked at Sean again, seeing that he was typing something on his phone. She took that time to examine the outfit he wore, the way his hair fell, and other small features on his face before speaking up again. "Cheer up, bud, you'll get that perfect little bombshell back under your arm with no time, with that face of yours." She shrugged, stepping back. "Besides, with a track record of dating someone like... that, you've got no business with someone like me. I'm nothing like that."

She didn't bother to wait for a response, wanting to get on stage before Angelina pointed out that they hadn't arrived yet. She got three steps before Sean finally spoke up, causing her to stop her movements for a moment. "Have you ever considered that maybe I knew that?"

Thalia turned her head slightly, looking at him with a confused look on her face. "What? Know that I'm nothing like her or that you've got no business with me?"

"Both," Sean didn't hesitate to answer. "Why would I go after a carbon copy of someone I don't wanna be with?"

"Go after?" Thalia scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me. We've known each other for like two days."

"So?" Sean asked.

"So?" Thalia repeated. "So stop thinking with your dick and start thinking with your brain up here-" She pointed at her temple. "Besides, I don't do that high school relationship bullshit. That's all it is."

Without saying anything else, she walked away. She didn't bother to glance back, but that didn't stop her from hearing Sean's response.

"Might wanna tell Nathan Woods that,"

++

Hey guys! Sorry for lack of updates, if you read my announcements and/or my other stories you know I've been sick <3 Hope all is well and that you guys are enjoying the story so far!