3| The Diva and the Delinquent

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

~ E.E Cummings, deceased poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright of the nineteenth century

I knew it. There was no one else in our school stupid enough to do this. There was no one in the school willing to freaking spray paint the walls for no reason.

It was 100% confirmed. Todd Fletcher was an ultimate delinquent.

"Fletcher," I said with a sarcastic smile. "What a pleasant surprise."

He had caged me with his body, his breath rugged along with my own. His eyes were glinting in the moonlight and he smelt like a mix of wood and pine. "Oh, trust me," he said, a smirk on his face. "The pleasure's all mine, sweetheart."

I pushed him off, and sat up, immediately touching my camera to see whether it was okay. "You're such a jerk," I muttered, wiping the lens even if it didn't need to be wiped.

"So, you're a secret agent too now, are you?" he asked, removing my beanie and placing it on top of his own head. "One more thing to add to your list of extracurricular activities, huh Pascal?" he asked, smiling. "Cute outfit by the way. Dark suits you. A little looser may have seen a little less vulgar, but you'd probably guessed I'd be here. You're going out of your way to impress me, really. Makeup, too? Wow, babes. This is flattering."

I needed to escape somehow and get away with the photos. In a desperate attempt, I picked up my shoe and flung it at him. He caught it deftly and clicked his tongue, before landing on me again to trap me. I huffed and kicked upwards, trying to pry him off of me. He caught my foot with his hand and shrugged. I twisted my leg and kicked him in his netherworld with my other foot. He yelled in pain and I got up and began sprinting like there was no tomorrow. Hopefully I'd stalled him for long enough to make my own escape. I heard running behind me and my heart began thumping really hard in my chest.

The area was covered in a thicket of trees and the night shrouded it like a barely translucent veil. I had practically nowhere to go. I could either run into some wild animal or get caught by one- Todd. The former seemed more formidable, so I sprinted into the darkness, hearing another pair of feet closing in on me.

I had no idea where I was going. I was running like a madcap in the dark, feeling my camera bounce every time I did. My breathing was deep and quick, my legs felt like heavyweights had been attached to them and were weighing me down.

I felt a pair of hands latch onto my tank top and I jerked my elbow backwards, noting the fact that it collided with Todd's jaw. "Screw you, Fletcher," I panted, still running.

"I still have your shoe, Cinderella," Todd responded, and I could hear the smirk on his face. He was always so darn smug it physically hurt me.

"Aw, cute. Now you have something to remember me by when you eat my dust," I retorted, suddenly gaining the speed to run faster, although I wasn't quite sure where the sudden inspiration had come from. I'd kicked my other shoe somewhere so my bare feet were scrapping against the twigs and mud on the floor. I felt a warm liquid ooze out that I was certain was blood. Goddammit.

Suddenly, I heard something sharp and saw Fletcher jump right in front of me. How the heck did he get there? "You sure are cocky for someone who didn't last even an entire minute," he said, grinning.

"I hate you," I said, my voice a menacing whisper. "How'd you land up there?"

Obviously, I still hated him. I was just curious.

He grinned. "I jumped over the branches."

I rolled my eyes. "Congratulations, Tarzan," I said. But I was impressed. Mildly.

Suddenly, I heard something hiss behind him. It sounded... inhuman. He stiffened, and locked eyes with me. He began to slowly move forward until our noses touched. "There's an animal behind me," he whispered, and his minty breath fanned across my face.

"No shit, Sherlock," I hissed. "What is it?"

"I don't know," he said, his body flush against mine. I could feel all the muscles in his body become taut as I moved closer, standing on my tippy-toes as I looked at what was behind him.

It was a relatively small animal, fiery red in the moonlight with glinting teeth and sparkly black eyes. It was a fox.

"It's a fox," I whispered, my heart racing a little.

I wasn't good with animals. I hadn't been since the summer. I was especially bad with foxes. Oh god. I was going to pass out, right here. My pulse rate quickened, and I could feel tears spring up to my eyes. I couldn't do this. I was just going to sit here and bawl.

It had to be a fox?

"Cecilia," Todd said, holding my hand tightly. "It's okay, it's just a fox."

I shook my head, a lump forming in my throat. He didn't know how terrified I was of them. If this had happened last year, I would have been fine. "You- you don't understand," I croaked. "Foxes... I can't deal with foxes," I said, and I felt a tear trickle down my cheek and land on Todd's shoulder. I was too scared to even feel embarrassed that this was the second time he'd found me crying.

"Hey," he said, wrapping his arms around me slowly. My eyes were still on the fox who stood there, unmoving. His snout was twitching slightly and he looked outright villainous. What if he'd known what I'd done through some godforsaken fox communication?

I remember seeing the fox's mangled body on the road, tears blurring my vision. Me screaming Renée's name, but she wasn't saying anything. My sides were hurting. The lights were too bright and the cars were too loud. I couldn't deal with it. I couldn't deal with this.

I tried formulating a sentence, but I couldn't. We were still, and Todd's arms awkwardly went around my back to almost cage me and make sure I didn't get hurt. I'm sure he could feel me shivering.

"There's a gun in my back pocket," he said, his breath tickling my ear. "Take it out, and hand it to me very slowly."

"Are you going to shoot it?" I asked, still shaking slightly. Another fox's death was something I didn't think I could handle. I couldn't bear it. Any death. I couldn't deal with it.

"No, Pascal. I'm just going to scare it a little. It'll be okay," he said, and I gulped slowly before trailing my hand down his back slowly. I meant to do it slowly so that the fox wouldn't jump on us, but I felt him... stiffen up against me. I rolled my eyes. Boys. I found a gun in his pocket. What he was doing with a gun, I didn't know. I'd ask him later when I wasn't half paralyzed.

"Here," I whispered, placing it in his hand. He suddenly turned and the fox jumped up towards us. I screamed really loudly and crouched down, and he shot in the air. The fox yelped and fell back, only to reel again. Todd shot again, this time at the ground. He shot thrice more and the fox ran away into the distance. I let out a sigh of relief and hugged him tight.

"So, what was that all about?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, averting eye contact.

He nodded slightly and didn't pry, which I was grateful for. No one knew about what had happened over the summer except for Ruby, my mom, my dad, Jamie and Henry. The press tried to get a hold of me, but my dad was influential enough to shush it up. Oh, and obviously Renée's family.

Suddenly, he took my hand and smiled. "Now, for saving your life, give me your camera." My eyes widened. Ah, crap. I was supposed to take photos of him and leave. That's all. He took my camera and opened it, before deleting a set of photos. "These are pretty good," he remarked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Of course they are, I took them," I said, gritting my teeth. Yeah, his knight in shining armor moment had just died. He returned my camera, but not before taking out the battery.

Asshole.

He smirked. "Now, give me your phone," I gave him a confused glance, and he clarified. "So that you don't run away and take another photo of me with incrementing evidence, obviously."

I bit my lip. "I didn't bring my phone along," I said, shaking my head. I could feel the weight of my phone in my back pocket as Iied through my teeth.

He grinned. "Do you take me for a fool, Archer? You're a smart girl. You can't possibly think I'd think you wouldn't carry your phone as you go on a Scavenger hunt for this beautiful creature in the middle of the night, can you?"

I didn't reply. And he didn't need my response, clearly, because suddenly I felt my arms snap upwards and my body fall onto the ground. "What the hell!?" I squeaked, my breath knocking out as my chest flattened itself against the ground.

He bent down, pinning me down. I tried to push my back down as much as possible to avoid any physical contact with the cretin above me. "Try not to get too turned on by this," he whispered, his breath caressing my neck and ear. I squeezed my eyes shut as he carefully led his fingers down my back, and I shivered involuntarily. This made him let out a throaty laugh, and I scrunched up my face. He then played with my back pocket and I could feel it through my jeans.

"Just take the goddamn phone, Todd," I hissed, clenching my teeth.

"Why? Do I make you uncomfortable?" he asked, his hand now on my phone, but still on my pocket.

"OF COURSE YOU ARE MAKING ME UNCOMFORTABLE, YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!" I yelled. Where were those guards that Henry had promised would be there? Oh, right. They were nonexistent and invisible. Silly me. "YOUR HAND IS ON MY BUTT AND YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE MY PHONE. PARDON ME FOR NOT LOOKING AT THIS LIKE IT'S A CAKE WALK."

He laughed and took the phone, and I jumped up and gave him the biggest glare I've ever given anyone in my entire life.

"That was a smolder, you know? Damn, it was hot," he said, winking at me because he knew I'd gotten all hot and bothered. "That's Flynn Rider's thing. Disney runs through your blood."

"Everything about me is hot. You're just a jackass. And Disney runs through your mind 24/7, you weirdo." I hissed. "Now, Your Highness, am I allowed to leave?"

He shrugged. "When do you think I'd ever want you to leave, sweetheart?" he asked, before putting my phone in his own back pocket. His teeth were glowing in the moonlight. He looked like a vampire.

If he wasn't such a piss-off, I'd have thought he was pretty attractive. In a weird, psychotic way.

Then again, my brain gets messed up at 12 am.

"I will beat you up," I hissed, walking towards him. "I will beat the living daylights out of you, and I will knock your teeth out, and I will make sure you can never see clearly again. I will also—"

He put his hand out so it clasped my shoulder as I walked towards him with my fists in the air. "Are you really saying this to the guy who has your phone, Pascal?"

Oh, my god. He was the most annoying piece of shit I'd ever encountered in my entire life. "I fucking hate you," I said, my voice a growl.

He faux shuddered at this. "Grr, she bites," he said, a naughty glint in his eyes. "Never took you to be the types who'd verbally assault me."

Don't get me wrong. I wasn't the kind of person with anger management issues who went around swearing at anyone and anything that got in my way. No, I could go as far as to say that I never swore. It took a special, rare talent to bring out this side of me. And it wasn't a good thing.

"What can I say?" I managed to spit out. "I'm great at giving people what they deserve."

"I have never met someone like you, Cecilia Archer," he said, shaking his head lightly.

"Well obviously, sweetheart," I said, rolling my eyes. "If you had, she'd have probably killed you."

"No, you're a different person. The picture-perfect girl who everyone knows, but is also deathly afraid of foxes and cried after breaking up with her boyfriend. Who are you, Archer?" he asked, more to himself than to me.

I winced at the word fox, but managed to keep my pride. "You think I'm picture-perfect, Fletcher? Don't worry. I think I'm picture-perfect, too." 

He grinned. "You're catching on to the ways of the narcissistic."

I shrugged. "I will leave, now, before I accidently murder you," I said, beginning to walk away.

"We should talk more," he called out. "We seem to click pretty well." I could hear the laughter in his voice. I'd heard so many rumors about him being an absolute sour puss who walked around like there were dead flowers around him. Why did he suddenly seem to be this annoying ball of sunshine when I just wanted him to shut up? God.

"Yeah," I yelled back in a falsetto chipper voice. "I'd especially like to hear the click of my fist against your face, Todd!"

"You love me," he said, but it was softer. Aw, he was getting all senti. It was cute, because I still had a trick up my sleeve.

My bike was right in front of me. He was far away, but I'd still be able to get a pretty good picture of him if I tried.

"You were right, by the way," I shouted, and I noted the fact that he'd been watching me as I left, standing in the same spot with an indecipherable look on his face. "About me carrying a phone?"

"Oh?" he said, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm not a dumb girl. Of course I'd carry a phone in the night," I said, with a smile. "In fact..." I began, and I slipped my hand into the waistband of my jeans. It was a classic trick, really. Everyone who hid in the bathroom with their phones when they weren't supposed to have it had done it. "I carry two, in the middle of the night."

And with that, I whipped out my phone and took a photo of him, the flash blinding through the still night air. "You sly girl," he said, running towards me.

I grinned and hopped onto my bicycle, speeding away. I looked back to see him standing there, an odd smile playing on his lips. "What's that thing you always say?" I asked, before screaming out, "GOTCHA!"

what scares you the most? why?