I Blame Society (Chapters 1-3)

 (Chapter One: Lip Gloss, Laughs, Whispers, and Smiles.)  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 1st, 1989 

The door slams open against the wall, as three girls walk into the talkative halls of Cedar Hills High, in Sherwood Ohio. People stared and spoke quietly to themselves, all eyes on them. These three girls walk through the halls confidently while talking to themselves. These are your typical“ popular girls”. Lip gloss, laughs, whispers, and smiles.

The leader of the pack is Brielle Stanton. She’s the most well known, and the most attractive. With pin straight, dirty blonde hair, and cold blue eyes, enough to freeze anyone in place. She’s always terrifyingly composed and frigid. Brielle is always wearing burgundy, you will never see her in another color. She walked in the middle of the three girls, and was putting on her lip gloss before handing it off to the girl on her left.

Chloe DeLuca. She’s Brielle’s favorite and the social butterfly of the group. She has short, light brown hair that's always curled up perfectly at the ends. Her eyes are a light brown, with a hint of green. She has major connections across the school and even with some important adults. Of course, that's all thanks to her never being afraid to talk to new people with an unexpected friendliness. She always wears light lavender. Chloe walks to the left of Brielle, turning to talk to the girl on the other side of her. 

Madison Reeve. Brielle doesn’t like her as much as she likes Chloe, but she likes her good enough to keep her in the group. She’s the know it all. She has pitch black medium length hair that matches her equally dark eyes. Madison is quiet for the most part, but everyone knows she’s greedy when she wants something. She also happens to know everything, about everyone almost to a concerning degree. Kinda like an ultracrepidarian. Whenever something happens, she’s the first to know about it. Just like the other two, she’s always wearing a single color, and it's royal blue. She's walking to the right of Brielle, and is talking to Chloe.

These three girls are called “The Queens”. They are a dominating group of girls, kinda like a gang, that basically run the school. Never bothered, never harassed, Skye would give anything to be like them. 

Skye Mercer. She has shoulder length, chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes. Skye is like a regular high school girl in a mostly normal high school. She’s intelligent, and witty with a confidence that even she doesn’t know comes from. She isn’t popular, but mostly everyone knows her and she knows mostly everyone. Her life in school is fine. She has friends, and is never really involved in the main dramas of school. She isn’t the prettiest, but people do crush on her every once in awhile. See? Just a normal girl who has a normal life in a normal high school… Sort of.

Skye was watching as the group of girls walked down the hallway like it was a runway and they were high class models. Everything was going as per the usual until Madison stumbled and tripped over Skye’s foot, and fell to the floor.. Skye gasped, but grinned after, finding it funny, of course she covered her mouth with her hand to “hide her shame” and not stifle a laugh.

Madison glared in pure anger and you could tell she wasn’t going to have any of this. The hallway went quiet, Sky could feel their eyes burning into her, making a shiver run down her spine.

Madison pushed herself up, her face red — not from pain, but from being seen like that.

“Watch where you’re going.” she snapped, brushing invisible dust off her blue skirt.

Skye froze, then smiled, a small, but bold thing. “Sorry. Didn’t see you there.”

Brielle and Chloe stopped walking. Three pairs of eyes turned toward her — cold, glossy, perfect.

Brielle tilted her head slightly, studying Skye like she was some organism under a microscope.

“You think that’s funny?” Brielle asked softly. Too softly.

Skye’s grin faded. “No, I—”

“Because Madison doesn’t.” Brielle’s tone shifted. Now it was flat, almost bored. “Right?”

Madison forced a laugh. “Yeah. Super funny.”

“Not my fault you tripped over me. Maybe you should watch where you're going next time.. doofus.” Skye says, staring back defiantly at the looming queens.

Madison’s jaw tightened. Chloe’s hand flew to her mouth like she’d just witnessed a crime.

Brielle’s expression didn’t change. She just stepped closer.

“Are we gonna have a problem..?”Brielle’s hand shot out and grabbed Skye’s locker door, slamming it shut with a metallic clang. Skye flinched.

The sound echoed down the hall. Everyone was watching now, their curious eyes boring into Skye, the phones already coming out.

“You think you’re so funny..” Brielle said, her voice still calm. “You think you can make one of my friends look stupid and get away with it?”

Skye’s heartbeat jumped. “I didn’t—”

Madison laughed — a high, nervous sound. “Oh, come on, Brielle, she’s just jealous.”

“Jealous?” Skye said, grinning lightly. “Oh please, i would never be caught wearing that much lipgloss.”

The hallway gasped.

Brielle smiled then — but it felt more like a warning than anything else. “Careful, Mercer.

People who talk too much around here usually regret it.”

Skye didn’t move. Didn’t look away. For the first time, she saw something flicker behind

Brielle’s ice-blue eyes — amusement, maybe, or curiosity.

“Guess we’ll see,” Skye said quietly.

The bell rang. The crowd broke apart, and the three girls walked away in their perfect formation.

But even as everyone else turned away, and Skye started heading towards her class, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Someone was still watching her.

(Chapter Two: Rules of Popularity)

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Skye turns around, feeling someone’s gaze on her, and then she saw him. 

For a second, the noise of the hallway chatter faded – the laughter, the lockers, the gossip – just… him. Their eyes met, and it made Skye’s breath catch in her throat. His stare was both steady and unreadable, but there was a sharp sensation behind it. It was sharp like ice, making her heart jump.

He was Rowan Hale, a new kid at the school, and had just walked in when the fight between Skye and the popular girls started. His hair is curly, and a dark auburn color that seemed a bit unkempt. His eyes are a dark midnight blue, while mostly stoic, he could be expressive when he wants to be. His clothing is different every day, but the same style. He always wears a black jacket and a silver chain with a dog tag on it every day. The words on it are unreadable, but you will never see him without it. He looks too soft to be a threat, until you catch the glint in his eyes and realize he’s calculating everything.

She looked away quickly, feeling her cheeks warm. Then, she turned and hurried toward her next class, pretending she hadn’t just seen the most intriguing person in the building.

Skye didn’t see him again but she thought about him for the rest of the morning. By lunch, everyone was already talking.

“The new kid’s weird as hell,” someone whispered at the next table. “Transferred here from some school in Columbus, got kicked out.”

“Why?” another asked.

“No one knows. My brother said he was in a gang or something like that.”

Skye tried not to listen, but of course she did. Everyone did. Gossip at Cedar Hills spread faster than the flu — and usually did more damage.

Across the cafeteria, she spotted him again. Rowan Hale, his name echoed in her mind. Sitting alone, back against the wall, picking at the crust of his sandwich, he couldn’t care less about what others said. His leather jacket was draped over the chair beside him, the silver dog tag catching the flickering fluorescent light.

Madison Reeve was already staring like a hungry dog.

“He’s hot..” she muttered to Chloe, who giggled behind her tray. “But like… the kind of hot that probably carries a knife.”

Brielle didn’t look up from her yogurt. “Boys like that are only fun until they’re not,” she said flatly. “Then they’re a problem. What do you see in him anyways? He looks like a psychopath, and probably is one.”She pushed around her yogurt, unimpressed.

Skye rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop glancing at him. There was something magnetic about how still he was, how he didn’t seem to care that everyone was watching him. As if he’d already seen this all before.

When his gaze suddenly flicked up and met hers from across the room, Skye’s stomach dropped.

He smiled — barely — then went back to his food, as if he knew exactly what she’d been thinking. Skye’s face felt warm afterwards.

Two boys — Brad Weener and Chad Morrison — strutted in, shoulder to shoulder, like they owned the place. Which, in a way, they did, only because of the Queens though.

“It would be so great to be in the middle of a Brielle–Chloe sandwich right now..” Brad drawled, and they laughed like idiots.

Brad was the louder one — tall, built like a linebacker, with perfectly gelled hair that defied physics and reason. His letterman jacket was practically a second skin, the name Weener stitched across the back in bold white letters, as if irony itself had enrolled at Cedar Hills.

Chad was only slightly less obnoxious than his best friend but still blindly followed him and whatever stupid things he was doing. Despite the fact no one really cared, they carried a tray stacked so high it looked like a dare someone told them to do.

“Ladies!” Brad called out as he passed Brielle’s table, smirking. “Miss us?” He put his arm down on the table to get closer to the two.

Chloe giggled. Madison didn’t even look up from her fries. Brielle, as always, smiled that small, terrifying smile.

“Brad, Chad,” she said coolly, “how charming of you to bless us with your presence..”

“You love it,” Chad said, sliding into the seat beside Chloe and stealing one of her fries. “Don’t act like you don’t.”

Brielle didn’t answer — she didn’t need to. Her silence was commanding enough. Brad and

Chad laughed it off like it didn’t sting, but everyone knew who really ran this school.

Skye watched from her table near the window, trying not to roll her eyes. The popular girls and their jocks — it was like a bad sitcom that refused to get canceled.

Then her gaze drifted back to the corner. Rowan was still sitting there, untouched by all of it.

And somehow, that made him stand out even more. 

Eventually, Brad and Chad noticed Rowan. Brad squinted, trying to see Rowan better. 

If only he wore his glasses then he’d actually be able to see anything.

Skye thought to herself as she sighed. She glanced one more time at Rowan before standing up and making her way toward the table where he sat alone. Her heart was beating faster than she wanted to admit.

“Hello,” she said, her voice softer than she meant as she let a smile come through. “I’m Skye.”

Rowan looked up from his lunch tray, a faint smirk tugging at his mouth. “Greetings and salutations, Skye.”

The words caught her off guard — strange, old-fashioned, almost theatrical.

“I never caught your name,” she said, trying to sound casual rather than an idiot.

“I never threw it at you,” Rowan replied, his cocky grin widening as his eyes met hers — sharp, amused, unreadable.

Skye blinked, caught between confusion and fascination. A blush crept up her cheeks as she looked away, pretending to study the old tiled floor.

Rowan leaned back in his chair, still watching her. His arm was resting on the back of his chair so his body was facing her. “I’m Rowan,” he said finally, “Rowan Hale.”

He stood as he said it — not in a threatening way, but with a quiet confidence that made Skye’s stomach flutter.

“I, um— I have to go,” she stammered, turning before he could say anything else.

As she walked away, she could feel his gaze following her. Not in a creepy way — more like he was memorizing her.

From his table, Brad was watching this interaction between Skye and Rowan, wondering who this kid was. He was too far to hear the conversation, but he had heard all the rumors about him.

Brad turned to Chad, giving him a cocky grin.

“Hey Chad,” Brad says, turning to his buddy. “Who does that guy over there think he is anyway, Bo Diddley?”

“Brad-“ Chad said, watching Sky walk away with a flushed face. “Skye is into him, no doubt”

He looked over at the corner where Rowan sat, and realized Rowan was staring right at them. He quickly looked away, and looked back at Brad

“Let’s destroy him!!” Brad said enthusiastically, smiling

“No way dude, we are seniors, we’re too old for this..”

Brad strutted over to where Rowan sat, despite Chad’s protest.

“Hey sweetheart!” Brad said, approaching Rowan. “What did your boyfriend say when you told him you were moving to Sherwood Ohiooohhh...” Brad said sarcastically, saying the sentence quickly but elongating the “Ohio” in his idiot kind of voice.

Chad was next to him, his arm on Brad’s shoulder. “Hey! My buddy Brad just asked you a question.”

“Hey Chad, doesn’t the cafeteria have a “no weirdos allowed” rule?”

“They don’t seem to have an open-door policy for idiots though.” Rowan shot back, giving them a cocky grin.

Brad stood there for a second, bewildered, his mouth hanging open comedically, before giving a furious look and saying “Hold his arms.”

(Chapter Three: Social Suicide)

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Chad lunged at Rowan, reaching for his arms, and missing by a long shot, crashing on the cafeteria table, then rolling onto the floor with his arms and legs stretched out.

“Chad, what the heck was that?”

Chad stood up quickly, and looked at Rowan, annoyed.

“nothing..” Chad muttered as he looked away, embarrassed.

Brad looked at Chad as he dusted himself off, confused, and entertained. “Well- whatever.” He says, as he looks at Chad, and at the same time, back at Rowan.

They both reached for Rowan, smiling. Before they could get their hands on him, Rowan stood up, and reached into his leather jacket, and pulled out a WHOLE ENTIRE PISTOL. 

Brad and Chad stepped back with their hands up as Rowan pointed the gun at them.

“Hey man, w-we can talk about this.. I was just joking, ya’ know?” Brad stammered out, his tough exterior cracking.

“Too late.” 

Rowan had the gun in his hand extended to the two boys, he grinned, that glint in his eyes shining. Then he pulled the trigger twice, at both of their heads, the sound echoing through the cafeteria, sending a chill through everyone’s spine.

There was no gore, no blood, just the gun in his hand, smoking lightly. Turns out it was two blanks, the gun wasn’t loaded. But Brad and Chad got so scared, they both fell back and fainted at the same time like a cartoon.

Rowan lowered his gun, looking down at the two boys and smiled sweetly, putting the gun back in his jacket.

Students around went back to talking, acting like nothing happened. 

“What the hell just happened.” someone spoke, and the cafeteria burst into chatter, everyone talking about what just went down.

Later, when everyone was gone and out of the cafeteria, Brad and Chad woke up at the same time. They looked at each other, and stood up. Staggering out of the cafeteria.

“Oh, that sucked!” Chad said to Brad, almost tripping over nothing

“That kid fights better than the real Bo Diddley. Hey, have you ever seen “Enter the dragon”? Bo Diddley fights with his shirt off and is like- pretty ripped for a oriental dude.”

“Oohh, someone has a crush!”

“Shut up!” Brad says, nudging Chad, making him stumble lightly.

“Chad’s eating Chinese tonight!”

“You're such a loser Chad..”

They continued staggering away, going to their class. 

________________

Days later, it was lunch time again. Brad and Chad were still pissed off about what happened with Rowan. They needed to set the record straight.

Brad and Chad walked into the cafeteria, and walked straight to Rowan.

“Hey loser, what’s with the dog tag? You need a leash?”Brad said, taunting him

“No, but it seems you do.” Rowan replied

They kept going back and forward, shooting insults at each other. But eventually, a huge fight broke out between them. 

Rowan swung first, eyes glinting like he’d just been handed easy prey.

Everyone gathers in a circle around them to watch. 

Brad was already on the floor, groaning in pain, while Chad fought.

Rowan punched Chad hard, making him fall to the ground. Brad stood up, and tried to punch Rowan back, but somehow missed, and fell back to the floor.

Rowan grabs Chad’s head, and was banging it on the floor-

And he only stopped when they were both on the floor, unable to move.

Madison watched in awe, blushing lightly as she nudged Chloe. “Did you see that?! No-Name kid just beat both of them at once!”

Chloe didn’t respond, she was staring down at her boyfriend, half scared, and half amazed. 

Brielle stood next to Chloe, staring at her own boyfriend sprawled out on the floor. “That was entertaining.”

Skye watched silently, her eyes wide. There hadn’t been a fight this bad since the last transfer kid. Rowan straightened, wiping blood from his nose, and turned.

Their eyes met, a small, electric moment.

She stared right back, refusing to look away.

Rowan’s eyebrows raised, a slow smirk spreading over his face as he lifted his hand in a slow, lazy wave.

This new kid was going to be trouble.