Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?
I can be your china doll
If you want to see me fall.
Boy, you're so dope,
Your love is deadly.
Tell me life is beautiful,
They all think I have it all.
I'm nothing without you.

Adelaide's eyes widen in a love-struck version of fear before she manages to reign it in, turning back into her cold, distant self.

"Watch where you're going Tim," she gets out in a tone matching her dull expression. Cerulean eyes stare back just as blankly, before Adelaide ducks around him and his friends with Milan following closely in concern.

"Awkward," Bambi shouts, staying a moment to laugh in Tim's face and hug her boyfriend who is part of his entourage. She runs after her friends.

"Don't do that again Amber," Adelaide says lowly, properly naming Bambi when the ravenette catches up. The shorter teen pouts fakely at her friends as she skips alongside them to her locker.

"In stories, lovers always end up together
Look at her now
Where's her happy ever after?
Prince and Princess
Meant to be
So how'd they get to be enemies?"

Bambi's singing withers to humming when she reaches her locker.

"Do you ever get sick of basing the songs you write off of Tim and I?" Adelaide asks, folding her arms and jutting her hip to the side.

Bambi laughs, "Like Miss Carter says; it is literally the most perfect writing material. Ever since you and Tim broke up I've been writing none stop."

"Good to know that my getting dumped resulted in your happiness," Adelaide glares at her.

Bambi ignores her comment and takes out her books. The three girls walk to each other's lockers until everyone has their things, before proceeding to their homerooms.

◊

◊

After morning classes, Adelaide finds herself sitting at the end of her English desk. Milan, plus Milan's boyfriend Lucas sit beside her.

Adelaide ignores the rest of Lucas' friends who walk into room laughing loudly. Tim is a part of it alongside two others. He sits facing her in the group which makes for quite an interesting lesson.

Beside him sits McKenzie, the girl who'd like to think of herself as one of the group, with Brett beside her. Adelaide wonders how McKenzie has the nerve to sit anywhere near her at the moment.

She glances at Milan, who stares back with a small smirk to imply she and Adelaide share some bitchy joke. It's the smugness Adelaide needs to start the fire for a public roast. Before she can even light the flint though, two more troublemakers walk into the room.

"This is why Adelaide is out star! Our pearl among some wine!" One of them mocks Madame Dubois' earlier words, "A dance of passion and... what else did she say Kelly?"

Most eyes in the room turn to Adelaide for a reaction. Instead, she just sits here, legs crossed, leaning on her elbow.

One of the two sits down at a table, whilst her friend walks towards Adelaide's group. 

"Hi Tim," she grins slowly when she arrives. Adelaide ignores her as her eyes shoot across to Milan, who appears to be on her phone.

She suddenly feels her inside blazer pocket vibrate.

Discreetly, she removes her own device. 

'Sorry. Didn't expect McKenzie to sit here. Isn't Kelly gross?' Milan had texted her. Adelaide smirks back as the fire starts to burn again.

"So, how does it feel to be a 'pearl among some wine' Adelaide?" Kelly asks. Instead of being angered by her presence as per usual, Adelaide smirks up at her.

"The expression is pearl among swine. I'm the pearl, the beauty that stands out against the swine. The swine is you, that idiot over there and the others. Swamp sludge. River trash. Green chicken and fermented meat," Adelaide says without one drop of emotion. "As for your question, being the perfect pearl among swine is pretty much the same as everyday. Anything else?"

Almost the entire room sit gaping. Milan is bobbing her head up and down excitedly, Brett is chuckling, McKenzie is trying to make herself as small as possible.

Kelly glares at Adelaide, lost for words. Her face is flushed red out of embarrassment and the brain power it is taking to come up with an answer. Before she can add on, a voice calls through the room. 

"Kelly, you walked into the wrong class."

Adelaide looks at her ballet partner Cole, who sits with his friends at another desk. Kelly goes to speak but Cole beats her to it. 

"This is AP English. You walked in here because this was your special help class last year."

A range of laughs erupt throughout the room from everyone except Adelaide, Tim and McKenzie. The former simply leans back in her seat with her eyes shut and arms folded. Blushing brightly, Kelly and Kelsey run out of the room, just as the teacher walks in.

 Cole sends a boyish grin to Adelaide, who smiles back. 

"Well well," McKenzie begins, staring at her desk like she's afraid to meet eyes with Adelaide. "Looks like you and Cole have a thing, huh?"

Adelaide stares at her with low-set eyes for a moment, before speaking with the same expression. 

"This is an advanced class. What are you even doing here?"

◊

◊

The trouble does not come until lunchtime for Adelaide. She, Milan, Bambi, Lucas, Brett and Tim were sitting at their usual table. Adelaide enjoys her McKenzie-free time and basks in the glow of maximum popularity.

A teenager's mind has always been fascinating to her. It follows perfection like the quality is intoxicating. People flocked to her like she was some Goddess when she first arrived. She was beyond them; no rival, but rather a goal. Her relationship was the love they wanted and her very being was their pariah.

In short, she grew popular rapidly when she arrived at Gotham Academy.

"Hey, got any money?" The ballerina feels a familiar hand push her shoulder. She turns to see Ellery sitting beside her, back facing the table. 

"You're the richest of us all. Why do you need money?" Adelaide asks.

"Spent it."

"On?"

"Shoes that light up when I dance, new Beats by Dr Dre, food, extensions... you know, important stuff."

"So what do you need money for?"

"A parrot."

Adelaide jerks her head back in surprise, "Why?"

"I wanna teach it to roast everyone."

"Why?"

"Because he technically can't get in trouble, like I could." Adelaide sighs uncomfortably but Ellery pushes on, "Just give me your card. I don't want to be seen with you lame little fourteenies."

Rolling her eyes, the younger girl begrudgingly hands over her card from her purse. Ellery grins and takes it. 

"Thanks lil' sis," she says before striding back to the senior area.

"Do you even spend money?" Brett asks. The question catches everyone's attention.

"Let's see," Adelaide ponders, "The last thing I bought was a Chihuahua. Had it for a couple of days. When we went out for some family thing, one of my mom's cats ate him, leaving behind an ear."

The entire group falls into silence, taking in the story, matched with the nonchalant, blank look on Adelaide's face.

"I remember when you got that chihuahua. How long ago was that?" Milan asks.

"A year maybe."

When Adelaide looks at Milan with her answer, Cole catches her eye across the cafeteria. He smiles fondly at her, white teeth glistening like someone advertising a kid's toy. Not Hugo Boss or Gucci of course as certain people at the table could easily model.

She blinks the thought of Tim away.

{All the dreams and all the light mean nothing without you}

Cole beckons her over, mouthing a please. Adelaide nearly stands until his expression shifts to one of irritation. Looking across her lunch table, Adelaide sees Tim has noticed the moment and is watching sceptically. 

"See you later," she says decidedly as she stands up.

"Where are you going?" Someone asks. Adelaide tenses for a moment at the voice, then looks at Tim in mild surprise. This is the first time he has spoken to her since they broke up. Or rather, since he tore her heart into pieces, before vacuuming up what was left by dating McKenzie.

Cole stands at the door of the cafeteria with his hands in the pockets of his school pants. Adelaide gives him a mild smile before her gaze flicks back to Tim with disdain.

"Why do you care?"

Every breath at the table is held as the two stare at each other emotionlessly for a moment. Such is the broken relationship of two dramatic people. Indifferent and nonchalant.

Adelaide hopes he says something; anything. 

"Hey."

McKenzie's voice cuts through the silence when she appears. She takes a seat beside Tim and kisses his cheek. Tim gives her a small smile as she leans over and takes his drink.

When he looks back to Adelaide she is already walking out with Cole.

Bambi opens her mouth to make a smart comment, either at Tim or McKenzie, but someone taps her shoulder harshly. She turns around to spit venom at the perpetrator, only to see that Ellery had returned.

"Adelaide just le-" Bambi starts to say.

"I'm aware. I need to talk to you."

Bambi places her wrap down, nods at her boyfriend and gets to her feet. She follows Adelaide's sister away from the group. They stop at the edge of the cafeteria, hidden by a hoard of seniors.

"My sister, did she eat anything?"

The question takes the younger girl aback, but she answers quickly, "No, she left without eating."

"Where has she gone?"

"Left the cafeteria with Cole. You know, her dance partner?"

Ellery frowns at the floor, scratching her head.

"She's unlikely to eat with him. No breakfast. Barely touched her dinner. Continuously drinking liquids.... It's like it's happening all over again."

"What is?" Bambi asks.

Ellery jumps as if suddenly remembering that she is there. 

"Do you want me to hold your hand and take you back to Freshman world?"

We were two kids
Just trying to get out
Lived on the dark side
Of the American dream
We would dance all night
Play our music loud
When we grew up
Nothing was what it seemed