Darien Black//Various#1//018. Green
Title: Artless Jealousy
Prompt Set: Various#1
Prompt: 018 | Green
Rating/Warnings: PG/vague mention of boys kissing and underage drinking
Word Count: 1209
Characters Present: Darien, Scott, Cindy, Chloe Lords, Matias, Lola
Total Complete: 5/100
Author's Notes: A follow up to It. Written in a somewhat odd style (at least for me) but that's how it came out
There’s one in every group of friends: the person whose parents are never in town, who don’t mind the kids coming over and who don’t lock their liquor cabinets. In their group this person is Chloe Lords. Her parents are travel junkies, packing their bags and hopping on ships and planes for weekend jaunts whenever the mood strikes. That this particular trip just so happened to coincide with prom night is a particularly good stroke of luck.
It’s almost two in the morning and they’re sitting in Chloe’s living room, drinking and laughing and pretending it’s not getting late and they should be getting home. Chloe’s stripped off her dress, a black Gothic thing with lacings and buckles and straps, and is curled up in an armchair. If she notices that the over sized t-shirt she’s wearing is showing off her underpants, she doesn’t seem to care. Cindy notices, however, and thinks it’s tacky.
Chloe’s girlfriend (or is it girl friend?) Lola is sitting with her back to the same chair. She’s still in her dress, a bargain find at the thrift store, and has something green and toxic in her hand. Chloe’s hand absently plays with the ends of her jet black hair. It’s the only affectionate gesture Cindy’s ever seen between the two, regardless of their relationship.
The red head looks up as Matias, a friend of Darien’s and Chloe’s, comes over and offers her another drink. Vodka something. She wasn’t really paying attention. She takes it and he sits next to her on the sofa. He’s a nice enough guy, she supposes, even if he does try a little too hard to impress. Cute, too. In the back of her mind she wonders what her mother would say if she dated the Hispanic boy.
Cindy takes a sip of her drink and lets the alcohol sit in her mouth, burning her tongue, before she swallows. This isn’t exactly how she imagined her prom experience. To be honest, she had been hoping for more one on one time and less group activities. That was why she had gone with the shorter dress and push-up bra and why she had turned down date proposals from three different guys. She saw this night as her one last chance to win Scott over; to show him how much she really liked him and maybe, just maybe, get past holding the guy’s hand.
Instead, she’s in a strange living room with people she barely knows, drinking because that’s what everyone else is doing while Scott is off -- She stops and looks around, realizing that she hasn’t seen the brunette in the last few minutes. She asks where he is and Chloe says that he’s out back, with Darien.
That does it, Cindy decides. Setting her drink down, she rises from the couch (just a touch unsteady on her feet) and walks across to the sliding glass doors that lead outside. She’ll show him that she’s a hundred times more fun to be with than that damn blonde.
She doesn’t even get the door open.
Leaving the vertical blinds partially open, she turns on her heel and dashes to the other side of the house. When she gets to the front door, she fumbles and curses, unable to open it and leave. Chloe appears by her side, asks what’s wrong, and gets a hateful glare in return. The tiny blonde unlocks the door and stands to one side, wondering what brought on the sudden change in mood.
Matias is close behind, following Cindy and telling Chloe not to worry; he’ll see that the shaken girl gets home all right.
Lola silently points to the back door when Chloe comes back and suggests that they call it a night.
Scott, oblivious to the hurt feelings he’s just caused, is well on his way to third base with Darien.
Chloe knocks on the glass and suggests they get a room. She keeps Cindy’s sudden exit to herself; there’ll be enough time for drama later.
Monday morning and everyone’s talking about who went to prom with who, who left with who and who hooked up with who. Cindy’s girl friends crowd around her locker, waiting to hear how her plan to seduce went. Judging by the weary look in her eyes and the way her shoulders slump, they’re guessing not very well. They want to know what went wrong; is there another girl? Did something embarrassing happen at a crucial moment? Is he a lousy kisser?
Cindy’s answers are short; no, yes and probably not.
Their curious buzzing follows her to class. What does that mean? What happened? How could he have not fallen for her plan?
The girls get their answer when Darien passes by, a new swagger in his step. Cindy glares at him to the point where he hurries by.
Two plus two is four and in the gossip game sometimes you have to add up fractions before getting that whole number. It all makes sense now and, to those who still don’t get it, the others are more than willing to explain.
Cindy doesn’t bother correcting them when they make wild assumptions and she doesn’t stop them from slandering the boy who, until two days ago, was her best friend. Serves him right for not telling her he wasn’t interested. Serves him right for making her feel like a fool and ruining what should have been one of the best nights of her life.
A week’s gone by and the gossip mill is still going strong. By now the story is that Darien and Scott had sex in the bathroom at the hotel where prom was held. Cindy still hasn’t set the record straight and Darien can’t get Scott to look at him, let alone talk to him.
The jokes, the slurs, the sidelong glances are too much for the naturally quiet, introverted boy. He pushes everyone away and closes in on himself. When the rumors reach his swim coach and he’s pulled aside for a talk, he has to fight to keep from breaking down. At home, he’s stopped talking to his parents and barely eats anything. His father chalks it up to nerves; graduation’s right around the corner along with the SAT and college applications. His mother knows it’s something else, but can’t get him to say what.
Darien calls his cell phone daily and leaves messages. The only reply he’s gotten is a text message telling him to leave the other boy alone. When he finds who’s been spreading those rumors around school, he’s going to kill them.
Cindy would feel guilty for the hurt she’s caused, but she feels completely justified in it. Seeing the growing rift between Darien and Scott gives her a strange sort of satisfaction. It’s ugly and it’s petty, but she’s in it now and it’s too late to stop, even if she wanted to.
Prompt Set: Various#1
Prompt: 018 | Green
Rating/Warnings: PG/vague mention of boys kissing and underage drinking
Word Count: 1209
Characters Present: Darien, Scott, Cindy, Chloe Lords, Matias, Lola
Total Complete: 5/100
Author's Notes: A follow up to It. Written in a somewhat odd style (at least for me) but that's how it came out
There’s one in every group of friends: the person whose parents are never in town, who don’t mind the kids coming over and who don’t lock their liquor cabinets. In their group this person is Chloe Lords. Her parents are travel junkies, packing their bags and hopping on ships and planes for weekend jaunts whenever the mood strikes. That this particular trip just so happened to coincide with prom night is a particularly good stroke of luck.
It’s almost two in the morning and they’re sitting in Chloe’s living room, drinking and laughing and pretending it’s not getting late and they should be getting home. Chloe’s stripped off her dress, a black Gothic thing with lacings and buckles and straps, and is curled up in an armchair. If she notices that the over sized t-shirt she’s wearing is showing off her underpants, she doesn’t seem to care. Cindy notices, however, and thinks it’s tacky.
Chloe’s girlfriend (or is it girl friend?) Lola is sitting with her back to the same chair. She’s still in her dress, a bargain find at the thrift store, and has something green and toxic in her hand. Chloe’s hand absently plays with the ends of her jet black hair. It’s the only affectionate gesture Cindy’s ever seen between the two, regardless of their relationship.
The red head looks up as Matias, a friend of Darien’s and Chloe’s, comes over and offers her another drink. Vodka something. She wasn’t really paying attention. She takes it and he sits next to her on the sofa. He’s a nice enough guy, she supposes, even if he does try a little too hard to impress. Cute, too. In the back of her mind she wonders what her mother would say if she dated the Hispanic boy.
Cindy takes a sip of her drink and lets the alcohol sit in her mouth, burning her tongue, before she swallows. This isn’t exactly how she imagined her prom experience. To be honest, she had been hoping for more one on one time and less group activities. That was why she had gone with the shorter dress and push-up bra and why she had turned down date proposals from three different guys. She saw this night as her one last chance to win Scott over; to show him how much she really liked him and maybe, just maybe, get past holding the guy’s hand.
Instead, she’s in a strange living room with people she barely knows, drinking because that’s what everyone else is doing while Scott is off -- She stops and looks around, realizing that she hasn’t seen the brunette in the last few minutes. She asks where he is and Chloe says that he’s out back, with Darien.
That does it, Cindy decides. Setting her drink down, she rises from the couch (just a touch unsteady on her feet) and walks across to the sliding glass doors that lead outside. She’ll show him that she’s a hundred times more fun to be with than that damn blonde.
She doesn’t even get the door open.
Leaving the vertical blinds partially open, she turns on her heel and dashes to the other side of the house. When she gets to the front door, she fumbles and curses, unable to open it and leave. Chloe appears by her side, asks what’s wrong, and gets a hateful glare in return. The tiny blonde unlocks the door and stands to one side, wondering what brought on the sudden change in mood.
Matias is close behind, following Cindy and telling Chloe not to worry; he’ll see that the shaken girl gets home all right.
Lola silently points to the back door when Chloe comes back and suggests that they call it a night.
Scott, oblivious to the hurt feelings he’s just caused, is well on his way to third base with Darien.
Chloe knocks on the glass and suggests they get a room. She keeps Cindy’s sudden exit to herself; there’ll be enough time for drama later.
Monday morning and everyone’s talking about who went to prom with who, who left with who and who hooked up with who. Cindy’s girl friends crowd around her locker, waiting to hear how her plan to seduce went. Judging by the weary look in her eyes and the way her shoulders slump, they’re guessing not very well. They want to know what went wrong; is there another girl? Did something embarrassing happen at a crucial moment? Is he a lousy kisser?
Cindy’s answers are short; no, yes and probably not.
Their curious buzzing follows her to class. What does that mean? What happened? How could he have not fallen for her plan?
The girls get their answer when Darien passes by, a new swagger in his step. Cindy glares at him to the point where he hurries by.
Two plus two is four and in the gossip game sometimes you have to add up fractions before getting that whole number. It all makes sense now and, to those who still don’t get it, the others are more than willing to explain.
Cindy doesn’t bother correcting them when they make wild assumptions and she doesn’t stop them from slandering the boy who, until two days ago, was her best friend. Serves him right for not telling her he wasn’t interested. Serves him right for making her feel like a fool and ruining what should have been one of the best nights of her life.
A week’s gone by and the gossip mill is still going strong. By now the story is that Darien and Scott had sex in the bathroom at the hotel where prom was held. Cindy still hasn’t set the record straight and Darien can’t get Scott to look at him, let alone talk to him.
The jokes, the slurs, the sidelong glances are too much for the naturally quiet, introverted boy. He pushes everyone away and closes in on himself. When the rumors reach his swim coach and he’s pulled aside for a talk, he has to fight to keep from breaking down. At home, he’s stopped talking to his parents and barely eats anything. His father chalks it up to nerves; graduation’s right around the corner along with the SAT and college applications. His mother knows it’s something else, but can’t get him to say what.
Darien calls his cell phone daily and leaves messages. The only reply he’s gotten is a text message telling him to leave the other boy alone. When he finds who’s been spreading those rumors around school, he’s going to kill them.
Cindy would feel guilty for the hurt she’s caused, but she feels completely justified in it. Seeing the growing rift between Darien and Scott gives her a strange sort of satisfaction. It’s ugly and it’s petty, but she’s in it now and it’s too late to stop, even if she wanted to.