Sweet Dreams

Axel yawned and made it to class far too early, but that had been his plan. He'd not gotten much sleep recently and the classroom was as safe a place as any to drop off. So he dragged himself and his bag over to his seat, threw up his feet onto the desk and sat back and relaxed.

It felt good to be able to rest without having to worry about the door barging open to reveal your father stood there shouting abuse. It didn't take long before the dreams finally pulled him under. Giving him a restful sleep for the first time in a while.

There Tallie was, headphones in, music blasting through her ears. It was just another day, as she was making it through the crowd of people to get to her class. Some were staring, but that was normal. Everyone knew of Tallie simply because of Marietta; the biggest party animal in the Senior class.

Getting to class far too early, she sat down carefully in one of the seats in the middle of the rows. Seeing someone already there made her nervous. Setting down her bag on the ground, Tallie pulled out a notebook and pencil out, trying to advoid eye contact with the person.

Axel was half way through a dream when the sound of footsteps woke him. He'd always been a light sleeper. It was a case of having to be in his house, if you weren't then you'd never wake up in time to avoid what was waiting.

"Are you always this early to class?" He moaned as he sat up straight, rubbing his eyes. The first real sleep he'd had in a while and it had been cut short, so he wasn't in the best of moods.

Tallie finally heard stirring and a moan of fustration. She turned to him with a look of bewilderment. "Are you always so moody? Lighten up, don't take yourself so seriously. It'll make yourself feel better." Tallie eyed him. He seemed like a Nouveau, but couldn't tell. He acted like it at the very least. "And to answer your question, I do. I don't like the people in my class." Class, meaning the groups where money in involved.

"When i get woken up yes." He retorted. "Oh is that where i've been going wrong in life?" He said rolling his eyes. Why was it people always insisted on telling him what to do? It was a waste of breath, he only went and did the opposite anyway.

Axel yawned and sat back in his seat. "So you're not just some freak really eager to being the lesson?" That was better at least, she was normal if she was here early just to avoid other students. That he could deal with. If she began sprouting stuff from a text book that was another matter.

"It could be." Tallie's eyes narrowed slightly in enragement. Some people can just be moronic. It made her sick to her stomach. Oh well, the least she could do was nag about it. But, with that said, she had no one to talk to except maybe the blundering idiot she was conversing with now.

"If I were to become one of those people I'd shoot myself." Tallie replied dully. "I just don't want to hear about the newest hookups and petty money issues anymore." People who wasted their breath on that stuff made Tallie weep for humanity.

"Well at least we can agree on something." Money and hookups did seem to be the number one topics of conversation around here. It was incredibly dull now, seeing as you didn't just hear it once. Every rumour was repeated by everyone that had someone stupid enough to listen.

"You'd have thought they'd become bored of talking the same crap all the time but apparently not." He shrugged. "But most people in this town can't even string together a brain cell so im not surprised."

"That's how I feel about this town as well." Tallie was actually suprised at the turn of events. She had originally thought he was one of those people. Maybe not. But, that doesn't change much. Just the fact that he now had some respect in Tallie's book. "When they have the money they turn stupid."

"I'm leaving as soon as I can. I hate this place. My aunt..." Tallie stopped there. The sad smile returned. "My aunt was the one found dead in Center Point." She shouldn't have said that. But everyone who was anyone knew about Rose McKeith and their ever growing industries.

"Slight understatement." Money turned people into dicks pure and simple. If they weren't bragging about how much money they had, they were bragging about how much they owned.

"Oh McKeith? Yeah that was brutal." He said without an ounce of care in his voice. "Heard anything about the killer?" He asked, if there was a killer on the loose that wanted the north dead then he had his brother to think about. Any news was good news in his opinion.

"Slight understatement." For god's sake, the woman was murdered. "No... There isn't. Someone killed her for the money I think. Which could be everyone and anyone." Tallie bit her lip. It wasn't exactly a secret about how much the McKeith's made. They were probably the richest family in the North end. Hell, anywhere. "Money makes people do crazy things." Tallie murmered to herself.

"Knew it!" He smirked. "I've got my bets on the south. They never have liked us and your aunt wont be the last to be killed. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else drops dead next week." He was surprised someone else hadn't died already. Perhaps the killer was smarter than he thought and he was biding his time.

"People make people do crazy things." He was of course referring to he cousins. If he was them he would have gone insane looking for him mothers killer so he could only imagine what they were doing.

Tallie stiffened. Her face got hot, either from shame or anger. What was the difference, really? "I don't think the south could do something like this. Or pull it off this well. I mean, you know?" Tallie bit her lower lip until she tasted blood. "If they did something like this they would've been caught already." There. Thats something a regular nothern person would say.

"That too. That too." It was a contributing factor. She was in no mood to fight.

"What's you name, anyways?" Tallie almost forgot to ask. "I'm Tallie." She nodded to him.

"Didn't really pull it off that well though did they? It's got their signature written all over it. It's just a case of proving it." He shrugged pulling up his bag so he could get out his books. "Not necessarily. Some of them would have to be smart, where else would they get their business brains from?"

"Axel." He said. He didn't feel like sharing his last name. It only really connected him to his drunken father anyway and he preferred people not to know about him. The less that did the better.

"Then it would be best for the police to tell us. If, according to your logic, their signature is written all over it." Was Tallie being a little snappish? Maybe. But she didn't like being questioned over what her actions were. That was a plain fact about herself. She was who she was and she didn't want to be interrigated by it.

"The south does have schools, you know. That's where they got it." Tallie was getting a headache talking to this kid. She groaned, cupping her hand to the side of her head. This has been a terrible morning for her.

"Well, Axel. Nice to put a name to a face." Tallie literally had zero recolection of him. "Are you new?" New money, new student. Whatever worked best for an answer.

Axel rolled his eyes. "What world you living in? One where the police figure out who killed your aunt and you live happily ever after? News flash! Never gonna happen. Let's face it the police aren't going to find anything, everyone is in someone's back pocket around here how do we know they aren't on their side?" He asked. "Wouldn't be the first time they've covered something up for someone."

"No, I just don't like to be seen." He shrugged, he had friends back home so he didn't hang around school for long. It was a case of learn, then leave.

Listening to Axel go on and on about her aunt, she obviously tuned out. She had a short attention span and she didn't plan on wasting it on something that should have ended a while ago. "Well, you're awfully friendly, aren't you?" Tallie's attention drew back in when he finished. Her tone was neither friendly or rude, it was chipper. More chipper than she was feeling.

"That's odd. You seem like you would be a major partier, the was you hold yourself." She was probably pushing a few buttons, but that was beside the point. It wasn't like she was trying to be friends with this person. It just happened they both had the same class. "What side do you live on? North? South?" She was actually surprised at how badly she wanted to know.