A/N: Quick disclaimer: There are references to illegal (in some states) substances in this chapter.

Eleanor flounced into Candice's room and made herself at home on the perfectly made bed. Her sister sat at her spot by the window, the spot Eleanor knew was for moping. Candice looked over at her sister long enough to shoot her an exasperated look before returning her gaze outside. Eleanor knew her sister well enough to know that in Candice's world, everything needed to be just so, and things were meant to occur in logical sequences. She'd been so coddled in her world that few things had ever forced her outside of her organized and predictable existence.

"Are you going to tell me about him?"

Candice sent her a sharp look, "I never talk to you about boys."

"You've never had a boy to talk about," Eleanor returned easily. "Now you do and I want to know about him."

"It was a momentary lapse in sanity. It's over now."

"Does he know that?" The sudden hard set of Candice's mouth and gleam of mutiny in her eyes was answer enough to that, and Eleanor smiled. Sitting with her legs crossed pretzel-like beneath her, she settled in for girl talk whether her sister wanted it or not. "How'd you meet him?"

Candice cast her a suspicious look, no doubt wondering when their precarious relationship had started to evolve. "We've been going to school together for nearly our entire lives."

"Yes, but you'd never met until recently."

"Everyone knows him."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Yes, he's the bad boy heart throb, but he's never meant anything to you before now. And I'm sure he'd never noticed you."

"We can't all be as beautiful as you," Candice said with more than a little bite, glaring at Eleanor.

"Is that what you think?" Eleanor asked with a laugh. "I spend an hour and a half on make-up every day. You spend less than a half an hour if that. You've never wanted to be considered beautiful; you just wanted to be left alone."

"And everything was going perfectly well with that up 'til now," Candice spat in disgust, whipping her gaze from the window for good now so that she could glare at her sister. "I like being left alone. I like my life just the way it is."

"You're going to have to get that stick out of your ass at some point, sis. Life isn't always going to go according to your color-coded plans."

"I don't color-code my plans."

Eleanor did her very best not to smile at Candice's child-like tone, but her lips twitched. "I went to school with him too, you know. He's been with some of my friends, and not once did he take any of them anywhere other than the back of their car or an empty room."

Candice's face twisted in disgust, "Thank you so much for the imagery."

"Candice, you can't be so stupid that you don't see that he likes you."

"He likes the challenge and the chase," Candice replied stubbornly. "It has nothing to do with the girl." People thought her sister was a push over because she didn't argue, something that had changed of late. Even before recent events though, Eleanor knew the truth; if Candice decided on a path, that was the path and no one could deter her. Coop had his work cut out for him.

"I saw the way he looked at you after what happened," Eleanor said softly, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from Candice as she looked at her sister searchingly. "I heard how angry he was. That's not nothing."

Eleanor saw the tear on her sister's cheek and knew Candice's feelings ran much more deeply than she was willing to admit. In a move that was so out of character that it surprised them both, Eleanor got to her feet and sat beside her sister, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and squeezing as she set her cheek on Candice's shoulder. "You're beautiful and one thousand times sweeter than I'll ever be, Candice. It has everything to do with the girl."

Wednesday morning came before Candice was ready. Once she'd pulled what she needed out of her locker, she'd shot her friends a quick text to say she was going to the library to study before class and made herself at home in the darkest back corner there was just in case Cooper thought to look for her there. He didn't, but Hope did.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just studying."

Hope raised a brow and slid into the seat across the table from Candice to lean down and force eye contact. "Candy."

Candice looked up, pushed her textbook away and sighed. Hope had always been the group optimist, despite her own personal life being far from happy, she insisted on looking at life for its possibilities instead of its pitfalls. To her, Candice could admit things she'd never admit to Faith or Cyn. "I like him."

Hope's face lifted into a bright, sunny smile. "I think he likes you too. You should go for it."

Candice made a face, one she would only do in the company of her friends because she wasn't prone to childish outbursts. "No."

"Because he's been caught making out with half of the school?"

"Because we have nothing in common."

"You're intelligent and beautiful, inside and out. You two would balance each other out. He'd mess up your crazily organized and planned out life and you'd put a little order in his. It would be perfect," Hope said.

"My life doesn't need messed up," Candice replied with a frown. "I like it the way it is."

Hope nodded soberly, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. "Well I have to get to class, and so do you." She waited while Candice got to her feet and gathered her things before hooking their arms together. "Oh, Cooper probably isn't going to be looking for you any time soon. Jay mentioned something about setting him straight and headed for the science wing."

Candice froze at that and sent Hope an alarmed look. "He said what?"

Hope didn't get a chance to respond because Candice was already out the library doors. Hope watched her with a satisfied smile.

Candice burst through the doors as if the entire building were on fire and saw Jay standing in front of Cooper looking as if he were about to do him physical harm. Candice saw red, coming down the steps towards the two, feeling as murderous as Jay looked. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Jay's head swiveled towards her with an expression identical to that of a guilty child. He stepped back, "We were just talking."

"About what?" she snapped out the words, eyes flashing.

He scratched the back of his head uneasily, and looked to Cooper, who was just staring at Candice as if she were suddenly the only person left in the world. "I don't like him hassling you the way he does."

Oh, that was the wrong answer, and by the way his eyes widened and he looked suddenly scared, Jay realized it almost immediately. Candice put herself between the two boys, her back to Cooper as she stabbed Jay in the chest with a self-righteous finger. "You just stay away from him. You should be ashamed of your use of intimidation to bully him."

"Bully him?" Jay echoed, aghast. "I'm not bullying him! I can't believe you're defending him right now."

"I didn't see you cornered against a wall by some jerk overstepping his boundaries."

Jay's expression became angry at that, and his gaze narrowed. "Candy, I'm looking out for you. Faith said he didn't listen to her when she−"

Seeming to realize what he'd been about to say, Jay's mouth snapped shut, but it was too late. Candice's gaze narrowed and she looked as if she was going to take another threatening step towards Jay, but Coop's arm wrapped around her torso and pulled her back. "Easy."

"What did she do?" Her tone was low and dangerous, and Jay looked as if he immediately regretted slipping up.

Jay's gaze swept down to Cooper's arm around her, back up to Cooper's face with a speculative look. "It's nothing."

Candice twisted around to look expectantly at Cooper. He wouldn't lie to her about that; he didn't care enough. Cooper shrugged his shoulders carelessly and shot her his signature smirk. "Does it matter?"

***

            He couldn't take her eyes off her. Coop had been cornered by dozens of angry guys throughout the past couple of years, but no one had ever tried to defend him. She was something else. Candy scowled up at him, her eyes flashing irritation. "Yes," she said in a clipped tone. "It matters a lot."

            Coop leaned down and kissed her, completely indifferent to the fact that Jay stood disapprovingly in front of them. When he pulled away, Candy still frowned at him, but it was smaller now. "No, it doesn't."

            Candy turned back to Jay but didn't pull away from Coop as he'd expected her to. "We're all going to be late to class." She turned that expectant gaze back on Coop. "Are you going?"

            He heard Jay snort at the question. Coop would have laughed himself, but instead he found himself nodding and moving to take her hand. "Yeah, I'll walk you."

***

            "That's not mine!" Sera stood beside her open locker in the middle of third period, her father on the opposite side, standing next to an officer and her K9; all of them staring at the Ziploc baggy full of weed. "Dad, you know that's not mine!"

            Her dad swallowed uneasily, his gaze flicking between her and the officer, face beat red. "There must be some sort of understanding...my daughter would never—"

            "If you'd be willing to allow her to submit to a drug test—"

            "This is ridiculous!" Sera sobbed, tears already streaming down her face as she remembered the previous night with Kendall and the others when they'd passed around a bowl. She couldn't pass a drug test. "Someone is framing me." She turned pleading eyes on her dad, "You have to believe me."

            He swallowed again, no doubt wondering how to make the situation go away. "She'll submit to a drug test, and the marijuana will be confiscated. Of course, Sera, you're aware that if you fail, it will mean one week's suspension."

            "But, I—"

            "We'll go now," her dad interrupted sharply, shooting her a look that clearly told her to shut her mouth. "Thank you officer."

            Still crying, Sera followed miserably behind them; Ellie's grinning face flashing in her mind.

***

Candice's blood was boiling for the rest of the morning. The idea that Faith had taken it upon herself to speak with Cooper about anything to do with Candice was insulting and infuriating. Maybe if she were feeling a bit more rational, she'd have been able to see that her friend had done what she'd done out of concern and not to intentionally be insulting. Candice wasn't feeling especially rational, however, and she didn't care. When lunch came around, Candice walked towards their table and saw from the reluctant, yet stubborn set of Faith's face that she'd been warned. She picked up her pace.

She felt someone come up next to her and turned to find Cooper giving her a knowing look. He was becoming increasingly present throughout the school day, and she was simultaneously pleased and annoyed. "What are you doing here?"

"Having lunch."

She raised a brow. "I've never seen you eat lunch out here."

"Never wanted to," he replied with a shrug.

They'd reached the table by then. She set her tray down, shot Faith a hard look and then turned back to Cooper with a frown. "Here?"

"Table's full."

They both turned at Faith's words; her in anger, him in amusement. "Cooper is welcome to sit wherever he likes," Candice snapped, lips set into a snarl as she slid onto the bench across from Faith. She could feel Cooper slide in next to her, and Faith's unwelcoming gaze shot him daggers.

Cooper's arm slipped around her waist and she felt him pull her closer. "Easy."

"This is ridiculous," Faith snapped, slamming down her own tray and getting to her feet. Her eyes spit fire as she narrowed them at Cooper. "If you hurt her, I'll hurt you." That said, she turned and left the group.

"Oh," Hope said in a sympathetic tone, watching Faith go, "I think someone should go after her. I'm sorry." Without waiting for a response, Hope had rushed off after Faith.

Cyn stayed at the table, watching them in silence for a minute before taking a bite of her sandwich. "She's just worried, Candy."

Candice saw Cooper's hand snatch a fry from her tray and she slapped at it with a scowl. He winked at her and Cyn snorted. "Where's your lunch?"

"I thought we'd share."

She shot him a look and scooted away, out of his hold, pulling her lunch with her. "You thought wrong."

"I like you," Cyn said suddenly, her green eyes holding a sudden, friendly light. Candice stared at her in surprise, Cooper ignored her. Cyn grinned at her friend from across the table, "He hardly seems worth all the hype when he's stealing fries and making moon eyes at some girl."

"Who's making moon eyes? Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Spence was sliding in beside Cyn almost as soon as the words had left her mouth.

Cyn shot him a surprised look accompanied by a frown and took a bite of the yogurt in front of her. "Coop."

Cooper shot Cyn a look of irritation. "I don't make moon eyes."

Spence winked at Cyn in a conspiratorial way and nodded. "Yes you do."