*circus music playing at full volume* Unlike some of my other ocs, these guys don't really have a "story" per say. DSC is mostly just a fun slice-of-life type thing. I dunno it's like Spongebob the characters are just put into situations.
Only two didn't make the cut this time, those being Jason (illusionist & acrobat) and Liam (strongman). idk. i just don't know what they look like ya'll im sorry. also technically Calypso should be here since he's the new ringleader but. i mean. we all know what Cali looks like right. RIGHT?!
Anyway. I won't typically talk about design notes/explain the designs on these posts (there might be separate posts if I got shit to say) BUT the circus doesn't have an official uniform or anything since everyone does different stuff a set uniform would make their job harder/difficult. So, instead, everyone wears red! It's like...the official color of DreamSet. Blue is often a secondary color, and you can probably guess but that's because of Isaac & Reagan. Those that wear blue are closer to Reagan (...not saying those that don't dislike her or anything -- she's the circus mom -- they're just fine with having only red in their outfit).
🏷 : @burningivy @shrimpnymph
( 🌈 ) Prism Raymond (she/her): lights & helps with costume design
( 🦋 ) Clairette Raymond (she/her): acrobat
( 🐾 ) Phyn Raymond (he/him): lion tamer
( 🔮 ) Jamie Monroe (she/her): psychic/medium
( 🦯 ) Lucy Fisher (she/her): knife thrower
( 🃏 ) Guinevere Van Doreen (she/her): card tricks
( 🎲 ) Dice Van Doreen (she/her): card tricks
( 🎩 ) Bethany Crowley Raymond (she/her): not actually at the circus, host of a talk show
( 📰 ) James Porter (he/him): not actually part of the circus, he's sort of a reviewer/critic of it instead
Author’s Note: Jamie and Carrie Monroe are fraternal twins and they are former experiments for the Hawkins Lab.
Jamie Monroe pulled up into the parking lot, parking her car and staring at the students walking by. "....Another day in this hell hole."
"Yeah, well, it's better than the other hell hole." Carrie Monroe said as she tugged down the sleeve of her jacket to cover the 007 that was inked there, Jamie glanced down at her own arm and saw the 0013 and she aggressively pulled down her own jacket's sleeve to cover it.
"We're never going back and we are not going to draw attention to ourselves."
"I know...but did you hear about what happened last year?"
"...Yeah, about the girl with the shaved head."
"Do you think...?" Carrie trailed off.
Jamie looked at her, knowing what she wanted to ask. "I don't know but we couldn't look into it because of them ." Carrie and Jamie had escaped from Hawkins Lab the year before last year and had been found by a kind couple, Frank and Sally who took two girls that they knew nothing about.
The girls had wanted to escape with their younger 'sister' but had been unable to get to her and they were forced to leave.
"So who do you think our two new neighbors are?" Carrie asked, changing the subject.
Jamie shrugged as she opened the door and climbed out. "No idea, maybe we'll see them when we get home....though I did notice a new video store that was opening today so maybe one of them owns it."
"You want to go check it out after school?"
"Sure, probably kill some time before we have to head home." The two girls walked past Tina, Carla and Nicole.
"Morning, freak 1 and freak 2."
"Morning, whore 1, 2 and 3." Carrie snapped back, not in the mood to put up with their attitudes.
Jamie snorted, loudly and almost bumped into a guy that seemed to materialize there.
“Sorry, girl.” The guy she bumped into looked to be around eighteen… and he also looked like he was in a rock band, with his lion’s mane of blonde hair and punk styled tailcoat.
"It's fine, I wasn't watching where I was going," Jamie smiled, looking up at him. "And no harm was done." And while she had a smile on, she was on guard because pretty soon the teens here will turn him against her. It had been before and Jamie had learned to guard her heart, she never took revenge on the one who did that because she knew that she would use her powers and that would draw the Bad Men to them.
Carrie looked away when she heard loud music approaching and saw a blue car pulling into the parking lot at a speed that wasn't normal for a school parking lot. She frowned and narrowed her eyes.
The Camaro came to a stop.
More days to come, new places to go
I've got to leave, it's time for a show…’
A redheaded girl got out of the passenger seat, nearly slamming the door shut. As for the driver…
’Here I am
Rock you like Hurricane…’
He was tall, and looked older than his age of seventeen. His hair was dirty blonde, and his blue eyes were cold. He had an athletic build and it showed beneath his white t-shirt and denim jacket. Speaking of denim…
Those jeans were practically hugging his ass as he walked.
Carrie watched the girl first, she looked angry and hurt before her attention was shifted to the driver...and it remained there.
She heard the three whores remarks about his ass but Carrie ignored it, there was something that she sensed about him and it told her to stay away. To watch until she sees just what kind of person he is.
Carrie felt a tug on her arm and she looked to see Jamie now looking at her. "Let's go," she looked back at the boy she bumped into. "Sorry again for bumping into you." And the two girls walked off, Jamie kept her hand on Carrie's arm.
“Name’s Paul.” The rockstar boy called after, grinning. Damn, she was pretty… he hoped to see her again soon.
Jamie looked over her shoulder at him. "Jamie and this is Carrie," she called back. "Welcome to Hawkins, Paul."
Paul saw his brothers approaching. “Shall we test the waters?”
“Of this shit lake?” David glanced over the school. “Might as well.”
"You liked Paul." Carrie stated as they walked over to their lockers.
Jamie nearly collided with another student before she changed directions at the last second. "What? No! I just met the guy and he's....not my type."
Carrie stared at her like she grew a second head and it insulted her.
"...Fine!" She snapped at her friend. "Drop it and don't give me that look because I don't think I'll be seeing him again." The two grabbed their books and closed their lockers before they headed for their first class.
Fate must have been smiling, Paul concluded as he saw Jamie and Carrie come into the classroom.
Jamie stopped in the doorway as soon as she saw Paul, her brown eyes widening in surprise but a sharp poke in the back from Carrie made her walk into the classroom. She noticed that he wasn't alone, there were three other boys with him but she wasn't able to check them out for long because Carrie kept poking her back.
"Knock it off!" She hissed as she swatted at her friend before sitting at her desk in the back.
"No, you were blocking the doorway and eyeballing those poor boys."
"I was not! They are obviously new so I was just curious about them."
"Sure, sure."
And not just them. Mr. Rock-You-Like-A-Hurricane was sitting near the back, looking bored. But those cold eyes focused on Carrie once she stepped into the classroom.
Carrie noticed him looking at her and she returned the stare, eyebrow raising in a silent 'What?' before she sat down and pulled out her books.
"You have an admirer." Jamie whispered, leaning over to her.
"God's punishing me for teasing you earlier." She whispered back, she was still looking at Mr. Rock-You-Like-A-Hurricane.
"What's that saying again? 'Karma's a bitch and so am I'?" Jamie teased as she straightened.
Carrie broke the staring contest by rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Paul didn't seem like a bad guy though and this guy had cold eyes.
Eyes that remained of the scientists and soldiers.
“Is that her?” Marco leaned over his desk to whisper to Paul.
“Her.” Paul pointed quickly to Jamie. “Told you she’s pretty.”
“Very.” Marco agreed.
Jamie noticed that she was the focus of Paul and his pals so she did the courageous thing of raising and opening her book to hide behind. "Shut up," she snapped at Carrie who chuckled. "God's punishing the both of us now."
She didn't like being in the center of attention, it never ended well for her.
Jamie peeked over the top of her book to see if they were still looking at her. God, she wished Tommy or even his girlfriend and her friends would show up.
Better yet, the teacher showed up, making any chatter, or ogling, come to a halt.
'Oh, thank you.' Jamie thought as she puts down her book, she has never been so happy to see her teacher.
Tommy and the others entered the classroom after the teacher, laughing and giggling and she grimaced, she didn't like them though Steve was alright. Tommy didn't like Jamie or Carrie because they didn't cower around him.
Carrie glanced over at Mr. Rock-You-Like-A-Hurricane as she took out her book, she wasn't going to let the fact that he has a cold gaze deter her from people watching. It was how she was able to tell if someone was a threat in disguise or friend, there were certain tells that she was able to now notice.
“Class, let’s take a moment to welcome some new students,” Mrs. Carpenter announced, “Paul, Marco, David and Dwayne Lawrence.”
Paul winked, earning a few swoons from the female percentage of the class.
Jamie rolled her eyes and shook her head but she was smiling, amused despite herself. No doubt that some of these girls will be trying to seduce one of those brothers. And if she was honest with herself, she liked all four which wasn't a good sign for her not being accused of being called a slut by the idiots in this class.
Carrie leaned over and whispered. "The girls are eyeballing the newcomers as fresh meat."
"...Yeah, I know...I can smell it." Jamie whispered back before she pretended to gag silently.
“And Billy Hargrove.”
Billy raised his hand in a mock salute. David and his brothers looked at him, intrigued.
"Damn, I can no longer call him 'Mr. Rock-You-Like-A-Hurricane' any more." Carrie lamented under her breath.
Jamie raised an eyebrow. "You gave him a personal nickname? Oh my, that's serious." She hissed in pain when Carrie placed a well aimed kick to her shin.
"It's not like that." Carrie hissed to her.
Class resumed as normal once introductions were over.
Tommy turned in his chair, taking a paper clip and rubber band. Steve rolled his eyes. Fucking asshole…
Jamie and Carrie both saw Tommy turn in his seat, they saw what was in his hands but they ignored it. Waiting to see who his target was before they acted, Carrie looked at Steve and did a slow wink before she started to write down notes.
Jamie kept her attention focused on what she was doing, debating if she should cause the rubber band to snap or not.
“Welcome to Hawkins, freak…” Tommy launched the paper clip at Marco, who ducked.
“Cool.” Paul picked up the projectile and attached it to one of the safety pins decorating his coat. Tommy’s grin dropped.
Jamie's shoulders were shaking with barely contained laughter, maybe Tommy will finally meet the ones who will not be frightened of him and will not cow down. Not that she thought that these boys would do that when she first saw Paul.
No, those four carried themselves differently, Tommy doesn't even come close to their level. And she didn't understand why they were labeled as 'freaks', was it because of their clothes and hair? Jamie personally liked it, she thought it made them different compared to the other students here.
She heard Carrie's chuckle, she wasn't even bothering to hide her own amusement.
Billy actually smirked. So the metal heads took no shit, it seemed.
Jamie got her silent laughter under control before she takes a deep breath and calls out. "Have you asked your husband if he can sign my the Thing poster, Mrs. Carpenter?" She knew very well that her teacher wasn't married to her favorite director but this was just her and Mrs. Carpenter's morning banter before lesson.
The new students had thrown off that routine.
“With his schedule, it’s hard to keep him on the phone, Jamie.” Mrs. Carpenter had been waiting for today's banter. “But don’t let that deter you from the lesson at hand.”
She made a show to look at today's lesson and grimace. "I only promise to not stare at the ceiling as I slowly slip into madness out of sheer boredom, Mrs. Carpenter." Jamie was only joking and Mrs. Carpenter knew it, she and Carrie took their lessons very seriously and never slacked off on their homework and studying.
"It's too late for that, you are quite mad." Carrie retorted.
Jamie made a shushing motion like it was supposed to be a secret.
“Now from the last chapter, which I’m pray in vein that you all read, what is a prominent theme in Dracula ?” Mrs. Carpenter picked her copy of the novel off her desk.
Jamie glanced down at the notes she had written down when she was reading Dracula before she raised her hand. "One prominent theme is love but there are three others, Mrs. Carpenter."
Carrie looked around, seeing how some of the students were putting their heads together and whispering. She knew that they viewed her and Jamie as 'teacher's pets' and 'bookworms'.
“And what are they, do you think?” Mrs. Carpenter smiled after shooting a look towards Tommy and Carol.
"They are religion, superstition and imprisonment." Jamie said, ticking them off with her fingers as she read her notes.
“That last one is especially interesting,” Mrs. Carpenter noted. “Can anyone else think of why imprisonment is so prominent here?”
Paul glanced at Marco and Dwayne, sweeping a hand over his head and grinning. “Whoosh.”
Jamie wondered who else was able to read it, she knew that many would view it as boring to read because of the style it was written in.
"I guess because Jonathan Harker spent most of the book imprisoned at Dracula's castle." Carrie answered, she had been one of those ones who had difficulty reading the book. Jamie had been a big help by reading the book out loud and explaining things to her. Though Jamie's husky voice was perfect to listen to, that was another reason why Carrie had her read.
“That and the imprisonment of life itself.” David spoke up.
Everyone looked at him and he grinned. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? Lucy, Mina, even that spazz Harker. They were all trapped by this stuffy society. But this Mina…” he held up the book. “She gets it. She’s asking Drac to make her like him…” he mismatched eyes landed in Jamie. “He can give her the gift of immortality. Freedom.”
“… living forever does sound pretty solid.” One of Tommy’s friends murmured.
Jamie frowned when David looked at her, noticing his mismatched eyes but there was something in his gaze that was telling her something but she had no idea what it was. "Imprisonment of life, uh?" She mused thoughtfully, eyeing him. "I never considered that as an example of imprisonment."
"If any of you gets turned into a vampire, I'll stake you just to save the other vampires from you stupidity." Carrie deadpanned to Tommy's friend.
"That and vampires are supposed to be hot and none of you are," Jamie added with a smirk, breaking eye contact with David though she did jerk her thumb towards him and his brothers. "Unlike them...and Billy over there, they'll be perfect vampires."
Billy raised an eyebrow. “Don’t need fangs to bite.”
"I know, just making an observation on how the good looking ones are usually vampires." Jamie said with a grin, trying to be friendly for Carrie's sake who did seem to like Billy though was also wary of him. And she knew first hand about that because Carrie tends to bite when she fights and has bitten hard enough to draw blood. Jamie has a scar on her thigh from that day, which was why she never wore shorts or a swimsuit. She would get questions.
"...I said I was sorry." Carrie muttered.
"I had to get stitches, you zombie." She muttered back as she rubbed the area where the scar was, Carrie and her got into a typical fight of girls their age at home...and the former won that fight by biting her.
Carrie rolled her eyes as she and Jamie looked back at Mrs. Carpenter. "But is immortality really freedom? Wouldn't it get lonely after a while?" Carrie asked.
Mrs. Carpenter smiled. Atta girl, Carrie. “Which ties into another theme: loneliness. Sure, Dracula’s immortal, but he’s alone.”
“What about his wives?” Steve pointed out. “Doesn’t he have three wives?”
“They’re basically his girl toys.” Billy groaned. “Doesn’t count.”
Carrie glanced over at Billy when he said that, trying to read him.
"If they were his toys as you so nicely stated," You can cut the sarcasm with a knife in Jamie's tone. "But if he really did view them as toys, he wouldn't have turned them into vampires nor would he have gotten angry about them being killed."
Billy shrugged, giving Jamie his best shit-eating grin. “No more late night quartets. What guy wouldn’t be angry?”
Tommy and his friends laughed.
Jamie narrowed her eyes at him, angry now but Carrie's hand clasping her own snapped her out of it before she could use her powers. "We owe Frank and Sally, control your anger," Carrie whispered for only her to hear before out loud. "Looks like brainless Tommy and his equally brainless friends have found a new leader...wonder how long that will last before they turn on him." That remark was more aimed at Tommy and his friends, as was the stare that she aimed their way.
Carrie pulled away and cleared her throat, not giving Tommy or his friends or even Billy a chance to respond. "Steve brought up a good question, Mrs. Carpenter, and I would like to answer it the best that I can, Dracula made his brides so he wouldn't feel lonely anymore," She said. "So his anger of them being killed is genuine, he cared about them and their deaths meant that he was alone again which is why he wanted to turn Mina into a vampire so he wouldn't be alone again."
"He was in love with Mina and she was with him." Jamie chimed in, calm now thanks to Carrie.
“Then why fool around and turn Lucy into a vampire?” Marco asked. “If he was in love with Mina, why not just go after her and get what he wants?”
Jamie gave a thoughtful hum, sitting back and crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe he wasn't in love with Lucy, I don't know and I am not afraid to admit that his actions with Lucy confused me," she looked around. "Anyone else wants to take a stab at it?"
Mrs. Carpenter smirked. “Anyone?”
Nothing.
“Well maybe that can be your assignment.”
And there were the collective moans from Tommy’s posse.
Carrie placed her hand over her mouth to hid the smirk while Jamie allowed her own smirk to be seen when they heard Tommy and his posse moans, most likely they'll try to bully someone else to do the assignment but it won't work on Mrs. Carpenter who knows the handwriting of all the students in her class.
Jamie and Carrie will not help Tommy and his posse because of what they have been saying about Will and his older brother but mostly Will who had gone through something very traumatic.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
Jamie and Carrie collected their books, slipping them into their backpacks and swung them over their shoulder before they headed to the door. "See you tomorrow, Mrs. Carpenter." Jamie said with a wave and Carrie waved as well.
"That wasn't too bad, could have been worse." Carrie said.
"Yeah well, Tommy and his posse seem to be replacing Steve with Billy," Jamie groused. "I prefer Steve over him."
Carrie smirked. "Only because you don't like guys like him...but you did seem to like the Lawrence brothers....Ow!" Jamie had elbowed her roughly in the ribs for that remark.
"Sorry, involuntary arm spasm." Jamie deadpanned as she opened her locker and took out the books for her next class.
"Bull-fucking-shit," Carrie rubbed the abused ribs. "You've never interacted with guys before and yet you have here...and when David looked at you, you were not hostile."
She sighed but didn't say anything, Carrie was right.
Carrie glanced over her shoulder to see if Billy was still around, despite his behavior in class, it wasn't going to stop her from observing him. There was more to him than what meets the eye.
“You like us?” David was standing beside Jamie’s locker. “I’m touched.”
Billy was coming out of the classroom, and he stopped when he saw Carrie. Instead of the bored expression she had gotten used to, he only looked curious and headed her way.
Jamie placed her hand on her hip as she pointed her finger at him, wagging it. "It's rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversation, David."
"...Shit, Mr. Rock-You-Like-A-Hurricane is coming, see you at our next class." Carrie said in a rush before she grabbed what she needed and took off. No one she has ever watched approached her so she wasn't used to it, she just hoped that he wasn't in their next class.
“Said the girl talking about me while my back was turned.” David smiled.
Billy ran after Carrie. Damn, she’s fast, he thought as he shoved and dodged his way down the hall.
A blush appeared on her cheeks. "Touché," she said as she closed her locker. "So why are you hanging out next to my locker? And where's the rest of your brothers?"
Carrie was saying 'shit, shit shit' under her breath like a mantra as she weaved and bobbed her way through the bodies of the other students and teachers. This was definitely the first time where she was chased by the person she was looking at. Should she duck into the girls' bathroom? But she was willing to bet that one of the girls from Tommy's posse would be more than willing to get her out for him.
“Establishing the hierarchy.” David’s smile became reminiscent of a shark smelling blood in the water.
Billy smiled once he was getting closer. He could probably grab her if he reached out…
That smile was weirdly sexy despite the fact that it gave her the chills. ".....Would ask what you meant by that but I do want to be able to deny any knowledge of it so I will say good luck with that," Jamie said, picking up her backpack. "And to warn you away from the girls in Tommy's group, they've been through half the school so who knows what disease they've picked up along the way." She moves to walk away but she stops and looks at him. "What's your next class?" If it was on the way to her own class then she could show him.
Carrie eyed the jam packed backpack of another student in front of her, its zipper straining to contain the load. It would not surprise anyone if it should suddenly open so she reaches out with her power and pushes the zipper until the books come tumbling out, barely getting past the student and his friends that were helping him pick up the fallen books.
She sighed in relief when she didn't get a nosebleed, they were getting better now. The only time their noses bleed was when they were picking up something large.
“Those idiots? They remind me of the surf nazis back home.” David scoffed. “Except they wear windbreakers and don’t smell like a bonfire. Not my type of crowd.”
He walked with her. “Biology.” He gave a teasing smile.
Billy skidded to halt, just barely avoiding an embarrassing crash. He peered over the students, trying to catch a glimpse of Carrie again.
"Oooh, don't let them hear you say that, those girls already have the hots for you and that'll just break their hearts," She teased. "We call them 'mouthbreathers' here by the way." Jamie stared at him, another blush appearing on her face in response to his teasing smile and she pretended that she didn't notice. "That's my next class...did they give you and your brothers a map?" If not then she'd have to show them around and not because she had other reasons.
Thank God Carrie wasn't here or else she'll call her out on this new bullshit.
Carrie was the first to enter the Biology class and claimed her usual seat near the window. She sighed and leaned her head down on the cool wooden surface of the desk. 'Jesus, he was persistent.'
David snapped his fingers and his brothers came from all different directions. “We know our way around.”
Billy’s mood had gone considerably sour, until he stepped into the classroom. Guess he hadn’t left his lucky streak back home.
"Nice," she said with a smile. "They usually give out maps but Tommy and his posse are such little shits so they tend to steal them and laugh at any new students who show up late for class because they had gotten lost." Which is why Jamie or Carrie take it upon themselves to show any new students around.
Carrie raised her head to see if Jamie had arrived yet and twitched when she saw that it was Billy. She straightens in her seat and pulls out her biology book, watching him from the corner of her eye.
“This Tommy… What does he do? Jock, honor roll, a bit of everything?” David asked.
“Not that we’re gonna do anything.” Marco grinned. “Nothing major, anyway.”
“Not yet.” Dwayne finally spoke.
Billy had taken the vacant seat next to Carrie, smirking. ’No escaping now, babe.’
"Basketball team so jock and Marco, I really hate to say this but it needs to be said, that just makes me not believe you at all," Jamie said with a smile, showing Marco that she wasn't being mean at all before she did a play start when Dwayne finally spoke up. "He speaks! And he has such a nice voice too!" She teased.
Carrie was a bit surprised that he didn't seem at all put off or annoyed by the fact that she had taken off when he had approached her and she had given him the slip.
Dwayne raised an eyebrow. “Thanks.” He smirked.
“You do have a lovely singing voice.” Paul teased him as he sidestepped the tall brunette and walked into the classroom.
Billy leaned forward, watching Carrie. “You know you’re gonna have to make eye contact with me eventually.”
"You're welcome, though I would like to hear whether or not you have a 'lovely singing voice'." Jamie did air quotes with a smirk as she too sidestepped around him and stopped when she saw that Billy was sitting next to Carrie and watching her but he wasn't harassing her so Jamie went to find a different seat.
"You wanna bet?" Carrie retorted as she kept her gaze focused on her book and refused to look up, her stubbornness kicking it as soon as he had said that.
“Later, maybe, if you’re nice.” Dwayne followed Paul inside.
“You’d lose.” Billy stated, still watching Carrie.
Jamie pretended to be offended. "I am always nice! Just ask anyone else that isn't Tommy and his posse." Though she was really only nice to the Party, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan and the teachers, everyone else have been being very cruel to Will and calling him 'zombie boy'. One such student broke his arm when he accidentally tripped going down the stairs.
Carrie scoffed at that. "Oho, you seem pretty sure about that and it just makes me not want to make eye contact with you even more now."
The only pain in the ass in biology was Carol, who wasn’t much of a threat on her own. And then there was Steve, who had distanced himself from Tommy. He sat closer to Marco and Paul, and nodded awkwardly in greeting. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Paul grinned. “Nice hair, bud.”
Jamie was watching Steve's awkward greeting to Paul and Marco, grinning. It was a good thing that Steve had distanced himself from Tommy though she wished it had happened before Tommy's immature action of graffitiing the movie theaters' billboard. "Don't ask how he gets it like that, apparently it's a trade secret." She winked at Steve, she had been friends with Steve even when he was friends with Tommy. He'd been the only one to get after Tommy and his posse when they called her and Carrie fat and tried to give them advice on how to lose weight.
It hadn't been amusing and Jamie nearly used her powers on them before Steve stepped in to defend them.
She glanced over to check on Carrie and saw that she seemed to be struggling not to look at Billy, and it was a losing battle. Carrie found it annoying when people didn't make eye contact when they were talking to each other, so the fact that she wasn't making eye contact with Billy was slowly driving her crazy and she was going to break down eventually.
Steve in turn was noticing Paul’s and Dwayne’s respective locks. Did they use a similar routine?
Billy leaned even closer, staring over the edge of Carrie’s book. Any second now.
She noticed Steve's look and she didn't need telepathy to know what he was thinking. "If you become friends over hair, I'm officially saying that boys are the ones who will form friendships over the weirdest things than girls," Jamie said as she reached out to gently run her fingers through the ends of Paul's and Dwayne's hair. "And you can't change my mind about it."
Carrie sighed heavily before she slammed her book down and stared at him. "....Stop it."
Paul watched her, unbothered by the touching of his hair. “Like silk, right?”
“Stop what?” Billy asked.
"Yeah, which is kind of annoying because I can never get my hair this soft," Jamie pulled her hand away. "Sorry, didn't mean to touch your hair without asking, I was curious to see if it was as soft as it looked."
Her eyes narrowed. "You know exactly what."
“I don’t mind.” Paul smirked. “Big guy doesn’t, either.”
Billy tilted his head. “Just be glad you didn’t take that bet.”
"Well, maybe later I'll do it again if you're nice." Jamie said, somewhat echoing what Dwayne had told her about listening to him sing.
"Yeah? And what would have been the payment for losing if I had taken that bet?"
Dwayne smiled. He liked this girl already.
Billy tilted his head, rubbing his chin in thought. “Hmm… a date.”
She returned the smile though Jamie could see Carol watching them from the corner of her eye, no doubt planning to report everything she saw to Tommy. She looks at her and slowly raises her hand then she does a turning motion with her finger before she points to Carol, who glares at her before doing what she was told.
"A date?" She repeated, surprised. "Why?"
Marco followed Jamie’s gaze. “Who’s the girl?”
“Why not?” Billy countered.
"Carol, Tommy's girlfriend," Jamie explained as she opened her book. "She's not much of a threat when she's alone but she does repeat what she sees to Tommy who than uses that to use as fuel to mock us." Her tone got darker at that last part, she was remembering what had happened at the pool and Carol had told Tommy that both Monroe girls were in bikinis.
Tommy had proceeded to post pictures of a cow wearing a bikini all around the school but Jamie got her revenge by ruining his car with eggs.
In answer, Carrie reached up to tug at her Star Wars shirt. "Because I am, and I quote, 'a fat nerd'." She was repeating what she had been told, her voice was flat, she and Jamie actually like how they look though Jamie does have a tendency of going through some extreme measures to punish those who try to make them feel ashamed of how they look.
“Snitches get stitches.” Marco noted, watching Carol.
“Very true, Marco.” David sat next to Jamie, placing his bag on the floor by his feet.
Billy’s brow furrowed as he looked Carrie over. “What dipshit said that?”
"Yes, well Tommy isn't used to being confronted by the person he bullies, which I do," she smirked suddenly, a wicked one. "And he knows what are the consequences to his actions now."
She squirmed in her seat a little when he had looked her over. "Tommy," Carrie motioned to Carol. "And her and their friends."
Billy glanced back at Carol and snorted. “Seriously? Miss Tits-like-a-Sparrow over there?” He said that a little louder to get everyone’s attention.
David glanced over, his eyes narrowing at Billy.
***
It was nighttime on the boardwalk, and the boys were taking their usual walk-and-stalk. In the crowd, David felt his shoulder bump against someone else’s.
“Watch it, spike.” The young man growled.
David stopped, turning slowly. The guy was tall, about as tall as Dwayne, clad in jeans and an open red shirt.
“Did I hurt your feelings?” The punk asked David, walking up to him. “Say something, Spike.”
He reached up and ruffled David’s hair, earning a horrified look from the boys. Even Dwayne started to get concerned; no one touched David. Ever.
David caught Billy’s wrist, his grip like a vice. But before he could snap the bone…
“Billy!!”
David turned and saw a red haired girl coming up to them. He quickly released Billy and stepped back. Max looked up at him wearily as she joined Billy’s side. “You said to meet you at the surf shop…”
“I was on my way there.” Billy kept his eyes on David. “Just ran into the Boardwalk Creeps. Let’s go.”
***
“… Son of a bitch.” David said finally.
Carrie's jaw dropped at that, surprised because he seemed to be defending her though the way he did it was ruder compared to how she or Jamie handled it. "Yeah," she said, getting over her surprise. "I usually just ignore it though, I'm happy with how I look." Unless it gets too much and then she'll handle it.
Jamie made a silent 'o' with her mouth when she heard what Billy said, damn he's way more blunter and ruder than she was and honestly she was impressed...and a little thankful. She heard David curse and she looked at him. "What's wrong?"
“That’s the surf nazi who stood up to David back in Santa Carla...” Paul told her quietly. “No one else ever did that.”
“I thought he looked familiar!” Marco got excited. “Holy shit.”
Jamie could understand that, David seemed to carry himself in a way that told people he wasn't someone to mess with. And the fact that Billy wasn't afraid to stand up to David was quite impressive.
She smiled at Marco, he kind of reminded her of a puppy...not that she will ever tell him that, she didn't know if he'll take it as an insult or compliment. "But given his personality, I doubt you'll be buddies, right?"
“Don’t know.” Marco looked at her. “That’s part of the fun.”
“Never.” David growled.
Marco pouted. “Awww.”
“Good morning, all.” Mr. Craven walked in. “And just to get the awkwardness out of the way, yes we will be covering reproduction today.”
"What's that saying? 'Never say never'?" She looked up as she pretended to think about it. "Yeah, that's it." Marco was just so adorable when he pouted, it was driving her crazy.
Thank God for the arrival of Mr. Craven before she acted out on an embarrassing impulse, she had no idea what she would have done though.
Jamie rolled her eyes when the class erupted into giggles and snickers. "I promise not to be awkward about, Mr. Craven...as long as you're not." As long as he keeps calm and does not get awkward, Jamie won't be tempted to make it even worse. Like she had done with Frank when he had given the two girls the talk. Granted she personally believes that Carrie had made it even worse by just staring at him, Jamie on the other hand had been asking many questions.
"Same here." Carrie echoed as she looked away from Billy.
“Jamie, give me some credit; this is part of my job.” Mr. Craven deadpanned. “I’m only giving warning in case the faint of heart either throws up or faint. Again.”
This was a shot at Carol, who never fully recovered from the day of dissecting frogs.
Jamie smiled as she understood what Mr. Carpenter was saying, that had been a glorious day. And she had been standing close to Carlo and had let her drop. "Okay but who would faint or throw up during this lesson?" She asked with a grin.
"People who believe babies are delivered by storks." Carrie deadpanned.
Carol sank in her seat at the mention of the frog incident.
“I missed that but came just in time for this.” Billy scoffed. “Figures.”
Carrie looked at him and grinned. "Maybe it'll happen again." Mr. Craven has been hinting at dissecting an octopus next.
"Though I am sure a lesson about reproduction will be just as entertaining and riveting," Jamie said with a smile. "And some of us should get a passing grade if they had the talk with their parents."
David leaned over to her. “Or have experience.” He whispered in her ear.
She chuckled softly, shivering slightly when she felt his breath on her ear. "It's like you read my mind," Jamie whispered back, trying to pretend like his closeness wasn't affecting her or that her mind didn't go somewhere else when he said that, curious about how experienced he or his brothers were. "I don't know how I should feel about that."
The door swung open, revealing teen in faded blue jeans, a white t-shirt and black leather jacket. He had curly dark hair that reached his shoulder and in his left ear was an earring made with an old coin. “… hi. Sorry I’m late.”
Jamie's attention was immediately drawn to the new face that had entered the class and blurted out. "Okay, did Hawkins suddenly become a magnet for hot guys? I am so happy I call this place home now." She winced because she hadn't meant to blurt that out but it's been on her mind since the brothers and Billy had showed up. "Sorry, Mr. Craven. And sorry if I embarrassed you, Mr. Late."
Carrie's attention had been drawn to the new student as well but she immediately looked at Jamie as soon as she had said, eyebrow shooting up because the other girl had never shown any interest in any of the boys here until the brothers and this guy showed up.
Mr. Late smiled at her. “No problem.”
Unfazed, Mr. Craven gestured to the desks. “Have a seat, Mr…”
“Emerson. Michael Emerson.”
David and his brothers were no longer smiling. Michael saw them, his own smile dropping as well.
“Something wrong?” Mr. Craven asked him.
“Nah…” Michael sank into an open chair, his eyes on David. “I’m good.”
She smiled at Michael. "Good to hear, I would hate to make a bad first impression." Jamie smiled even wider at Mr. Craven's unfazed reaction, this is why he was actually her favorite teacher. Nothing seemed to faze him and he took no shit from anyone, and he was more open to bantering with his students than some of the teachers here. Though she lost that smile when she saw Michael's and the brothers' reactions to seeing each other.
Was there a history between them? One that ended badly?
She watched Michael for a little while longer before she glanced over at Carrie who had also been watching and the other girl shook her head, silently telling Jamie to drop it...for now.
