Pre-SA: How Live Got Here

The bell rang as loudly as ever and Live jolted awake. Thankfully, Mr. Peterson didn't notice that Live had fallen asleep. She sat in the back row and Mr. Peterson never paid attention to anyone who didn't sit in the front two rows and raise their hand whenever a question was asked. Suck-ups.

Live slid her sketchbook into her bag, along with the pens scattered across her desk, just as James walked over.

"Hey Live! You gonna join us for lunch today?"

James was a tall, skinny kid. No one was really sure if he was very strong but his extremely deep voice and military family kept any of the assholes from finding out. He wore mostly black clothing, like Live, but he had a smile and always made an effort to make eye contact. Live avoided both of those things.

Live glanced out the window across the room and shrugged, "Yeah, I guess." It was a sunny day so she was stuck inside anyway.

She followed James down the hall, nodding every few seconds so he felt like she was engaged in his story about his brother and Flordia. It kind of sounded like he was complaining about it. All the more reason not to listen.

They reached the cafeteria, filled up their trays with whatever crap was being served and made their way to a table in the far corner. There were two other kids sitting there, one of whom Live was not too excited to see.

"Well, look who decided to grace us with her presence today." A girl with neon blue hair curtsied from her seat.

"Watch it, Marsh." Live warned as she sat in the seat farthest from the blue-haired girl. The two locked eyes for a moment until James slid in between them.

"Geez, you two. Take a chill pill." He chuckled and started chowing down on his pizza. Live didn't get what was so funny about the situation.

She poked at a piece of chicken on her salad and let out a sigh. If there was some cloud cover, she would be outside eating alone. Sitting with Jame's wasn't bad, as he kept most of the assholes away, but Marsh was kind of the worst and unfortunately, she was the one asshole who Jame's didn't keep away.

"So James," Marsh piped up as he ripped off another bite of pizza, "Got any special plans for Valentines Day?"

If there was one thing Marsh wasn't, it was subtle.

James took his time chewing before responding, leaving everyone at the table in an awkward silence, "No actually. I don't really see a reason to participate in a once Catholic holiday gone Capitalism."

Live scoffed and Marsh glared at her. James and Live had dated briefly when he had first arrived at their school. Marsh clearly resented that.

Live and Marsh spent the rest of the lunch period in silence. The fourth kid at the table, a soft-spoken boy by the name of Ryan who lived a couple blocks from Live's house and was her hook up for weed, talked to James about video game tournaments. Live liked video games but she couldn't afford new systems and was always out of the loop. However, she could beat every Zelda game for the GameCube and was killer at Smash.

When the bell finally rang, Marsh and Ryan walked off together and James followed Live to her locker.

She was completely zoned out, trying to remember if she was supposed to bring her lab book to chemistry class or not when James nudged her and said, "So, what do you think?" He had a stupid grin on his face and a suspicious look in his eyes.

"Think about what?" Live said, dropping her lab book into her bag and slamming the door. She crossed her arms and stared at him blankly, not at all trying to hide the fact that she hadn't been paying any attention.

"Valentines Day? Coupons for that Thai place you love?" He chuckled, "You really don't pay any attention when I talk do you?"

She stared at him dumbfounded. "Are you asking me on Valentines Day date?" They had broken up a few months ago at the aforementioned Thai place. Live was actually pretty sure it had something to do with how little attention she paid when James was talking to her.

He nodded, "Yeah. I only ask cause I got these coupons so it's basically free. I mean, if you don't want to, totally get it. I just figured you'd at least say yes to free Thai." He smirked and raised his eyebrows as if he was offering Live a plate of gold.

Just then the warning bell rang for everyone to get a move on to their next class. Live let out a sigh and shrugged, "Maybe. Can I let you know tomorrow?" She had never gone on a date with an ex before and she needed some time to think the situation over.

James' smile grew and he nodded, "Oh yeah, totally. Honestly, I thought you'd turn me down on the spot." He chuckled, "Well, I will see you tomorrow then." He smiled again, turned and headed down the hall. Live watched him walk away for a moment. She couldn't understand why such a smiling, happy person would want to spend time with her, a literal blackhole.

Live sat across from James. He was going on again about his brother. She ate absent-mindedly, nodding occasionally as he talked.

Her mind was somewhere far off when she suddenly realized James had grown quiet. She looked up at him, her eyes narrowing in concern. He never shut up.

His eyes were locked on his plate, which was highly unusual. His face had an expression Live did not like; concern.

"You find hair in your curry?" She asked dryly.

He shook his head and chuckled, but it was weak and half-hearted. "No, I was just...I was wondering something..." He took a deep breath and Live prepared for the worst.

"Do you even like me? I mean, you never seem interested in hearing what I have to say but you also rarely turn me down when I ask to do stuff." Not the worst, but close to it.

Live let out a heavy sigh and set down her fork. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, her eyes locking onto him, "How honest do you want me to be right now?"

James stared at her, "As honest as you can be."

"Alrighty then." Live shifted in her seat, sitting up straighter and leaning in towards him. He did the same.

"I don't not like you; I'm just neutral about your presence in my life. You talk a lot, which is something that I don't really care for but you are an excuse to get out of my house and you buy me food. Also, the people who don't like me are scared of you so you also kind of double as a bodyguard. Essentially, I put up with your gabbing because I get something out of having you around."

With that, Live picked up her fork and poked into a piece of chicken, "Honest enough for you?"

James stared at her blankly for a moment, no clear emotions showing. Live stuck the chicken in her mouth and chewed. She was swallowing it by the time he responded.

"You know...I always knew you were self-centered, but damn girl." He chuckled but it had a different kind of tone to it this time like he had aged two years in those two minutes. There was a long period of silence before Live decided it was worthwhile for her to say something.

"I'm sorry." She said and his eyes shot up to hers, confused by the words he was hearing, "Honestly. I can be a real bitch."

This put that stupid grin right back on his face and he started laughing. She really didn't get what was so funny about the situation.

"Yeah. Well, I am too Live cause I think we should break up."

She nodded, "Yeah, that's fair."

"We can still sit together at lunch sometimes if that is cool with you?"

She shrugged again, "Yeah, I guess."

They finished their meal the way they started it, with Live eating in silence and James talking about his brother.