Survival Of The Fittest

Alex perched on the edge of the table swinging her foot absently as she watched the markers and colored pencils come out.

"That's really cool. Josie's poster looks great! If she doesn't get an A on this thing I'll go talk to the teacher myself! You wanna be an artist when you get out of Bayview?" he asked.

"I'm not sure that's the right idea. I'm pretty sure this wasn't supposed to be a group project. It needs to be our little secret," she said with a smile.

"You have a particular idea about where we're gonna get pie? ‘Cuz I know an awesome place about a ten minute drive from here. It's called Rita's and their pie is awesome. They have like 30 different kinds. I keep meaning to try something different, but I'm totally addicted to the chocolate cream pie."

Jessica literally felt her cheeks grow red as Josie complimented her. She looked at the girl, taking a second to scale all of the piercings on her face. Under normal circumstances, Jessica would have been a little too nervous to talk to this girl, because Josie looked intimidating in her own right. Then again Jessica wouldn't have talked her if she hadn't been pushed over to the table. So Jessica figured it was good that she was forced to sit at the table. Besides, Alex was there too so that made things alot more relaxed. Though Nick was breathing down her back, so that wasn't good, though it wasn't like she was complaining either. Jessica could swear that her heart started to pound faster. She didn't answer right away, though when Nick handed her the colored pencils and complimented her as well, she felt like she had to say something.

"U-Uhm..." Jessica grinned sheepishly, her cheek burning up. She looked down at the poster in front of her, her hands buried in her lap. "Thanks. Alex is actually the better artist here, I just do it from time to time." She brushed the hair out of her eyes, pushing it back behind her ear. She looked at Josie with a smile. "What's your name again? I'm sorry, I didn't catch it."

She reached for the colored pencils, pulling the double loop off of her pencils. She turned to look at Nick. "And it's fine. D-Don't worry about it. I work better with pencils anyway."

Jessica set to work. She took a few colors that she knew she was going to use out - red, yellow, gray - some standard stuff. Jessica cautiously sharpened each pencil to a sharp point, smiling at her handiwork. Jessica wasn't a master at the art but she knew she could shade in colors just the right way. She worked back and forth, putting pressure on the exact side of the yellow pencil. She filled in the crown, taking her time to make sure it looked alright. She continued, filling in the emblems and the sword's handle.

Jessica stared down at the poster, her heart thumping. She was done. She smiled, gathered up all the pencils and replaced the rubber band.

"It's done," Jessica said, looking up at Josie. "Your poster's done."

Josie grinned at Nick when he produced a bundle of colored pencils, a sharpener, and a few gel pens. "Thanks, Nick. You have so much stuff," she observed. What else did he have inside that bag? A corpse? A bag of stolen money? A whole pizza with anchovies and little sausages? Josie shook her mind out of those silly thoughts and glanced over at Alex and Nick. Another smile was appearing on her face. Her mouth would really begin to hurt later.

"Yeah, sorry guys, but this wasn't supposed to be a group project. We gotta keep this hush-hush... On the down-low, ya know?" It felt sort of dirty, really. These three friendly people were offering their time and effort onto her poster, and no one would ever know about it except Josie herself. It was sort of like cheating... Actually, it probably was. Was Josie above cheating? Absolutely not. She frequently copied her homework off of Sierra or googled answers to take-home tests. But what did teachers expect? Take-home tests were just begging for a bit of cheating.

Josie would have to thank them later, but she wasn't sure how, other than the conventional thanks. Pie would be great, but it wasn't like Josie came up with the idea. Nick was the one who agreed to pay for it, even though he was standing here and helping out on the poster like the others... "I can pay for the pie, Nick. I mean, I need to thank you guys somehow..." Hearing Jessica's question, Josie looked over at the girl and replied, "Josie. Josie Vernon."

There was a bit of a silence as the red-headed scenester watched Jessica draw. She thought that the picture was really turning out quite well. It was definitely better than anything she could have done. It seemed out of place coupled with the scribble Josie had half-assed earlier. "Wow, that looks really nice. Thanks, Jessica. I appreciate it." She smiled at the girl and picked up her poster, holding it up against some natural light that was floating in from a nearby window. "Absolutely perfect... Thank you guys so much." Her cheeks turned a bit red. It was not like Josie to thank people! This felt wrong. But, regardless, she couldn't just grab her poster and storm out of the library. That was rude, and Josie didn't want to come off as unnecessarily rude. She wasn't that big of a jerk.

"Sorry if I sound sappy, but.. really. I owe you guys."

"Oh yeah. That's crazy good. You'll get a good grade on that, that's for sure. And you know what? It was fun hanging out and doing it. No prob at all."

Nick whipped around at Alex and nodded vehemently in agreement at the suggestion.

"Yeah. Rita's is awesome. I can finally eat pie and pig out now that wrestling season is over. I always had to worry about making weight and keeping my girlish figure. Now that that's done I can finally eat something that didn't grow out of the ground. Pizzas and pies all of summer before I go off to college. Then it'll probably be….well….more pizza and pie I guess."

He looked over at the poster now that it was complete. His eyes scanned the length of the poster board before turning to Jessica.

"It's really cool. You did great. All I can draw are stick guys. Awesome job."

"Yeah, sorry guys, but this wasn't supposed to be a group project. We gotta keep this hush-hush... On the down-low, ya know?"

"Sure. We never even helped. We were all just reading while you worked on your poster. No worries. I got it," he said ending on an exaggerated wink.

"And don't worry about paying for it. I'm not really paying for it anyway. Mr. and Mrs. LeMonde are," he said opening his wallet and waving around his parents' credit card. "Don't worry about paying or anything. You can pay us back later. It'll even out. Things always find a way of evening out…"

Alex hopped of the table and swung her backpack onto her shoulder. "Well, that settles everything then," she said enthusiastically. "Let's go and get us some pie." She helped Josie collect the markers and colored pencils and handed them back to Nick. "Everybody ready," she said. "That pie is not going to eat itself."

She walked a few steps and then turned to see if anyone was following. "C'mon, I swear it'll take you like 10 minutes to decide," she let out a laugh which earned her another sharp look from the librarian. She flashed her a brilliant smile and then turned her attention back to the group.


((Alex Jackson continued in V4))

Josie laughed at Alex and picked up her poster, rolling it up into a neat tube. "Oh, I can't draw anything but stick figures either." She fished a hair-scrunchy from out of her pocket and stretched it out over the poster to keep it up in its tube-form. Grabbing her backpack, Josie put her arms through the straps and grabbed her poster, ready to leave and go eat some well-deserved pie. Sure, she was going to eat pie with a bunch of people that she didn't know that well, and sure she was typically uncomfortable with strangers, but she didn't mind. She knew that these people were good and that she would definitely enjoy herself.

Josie nodded and smiled when Nick told her not to worry about paying now. "Oh, okay. Well, if you guys need a favor or something, just ask. I'd be willing to help you guys out whenever." She noticed that Alex was walking forward a bit, and Josie followed shortly behind with poster in hand. "I'm coming. Let's head out guys!"

((Josie Vernon continued in v4))

Jessica smiled as Nick and Josie complimented her again. Her smile was wide, very bright and lit up every feature of her face. This felt perfect. Jessica didn't think her drawing was all that special! She watched Josie and Alex get up, leaving only her and Nick alone. She turned to look at Nick.

"Uhh... your name is Nick LeMonde?" Jessica looked up at the wrestler, beaming from ear to ear. "I'm Jessica. M-Maybe-"

"C'mon, I swear it'll take you like 10 minutes to decide,"

"Ahh! Coming Alex!" Jessica rose from the table and ran after the rest as quickly as she could.

Yes, pie sounded fine right about now.

((Jessica Pentangeli continued in v4))