Survival

19. Rise, Fall, Fade

Stephanie laughed, she honest-to-god laughed. Since her strange alliance with Eric Bradley had begun, she'd found that she could fill the void in her chest. Beneath the arrogant exterior, and the major bad-boy image, Eric was just someone who had lost everything. Just like her.

Unlike her, he had a pair of foster parents who actually cared, and that made all the difference.

They sat on a bench in the park, on a mild Saturday afternoon, and watched people walk by. Stephanie still didn't know why he had chosen her in the beginning, but she found that she didn't really care to figure it out.

"You don't think it's worth sticking around for three more years?" He asked.

Grimly, Stephanie shook her head. "I don't think I'd be myself at the end of it. I don't... I need to find everyone, or at least know what happened to them."

She still kept her secrets, of course, and had made up a mirrored version of her real story, just so that she could tell Eric why she was the way she was.

He nodded, his dark hair flopping into his eyes. "You won't get far without a plan, you know."

It was Stephanie's turn to agree. "I know."

Eric flicked a cigarette out of his pocket, fiddling with it in his hands. Stephanie frowned, pointedly ignoring it. He cracked a smile.

"You're awfully judgmental, do you know that?"

"Yeah, but you're an idiot for doing it anyway."

He laughed. "You're going to have to learn how to keep things to yourself; pretend you feel something other than you do. Pretend you're not who you actually are."

There was a part of Stephanie that hated the idea, ached to think about it. How long would she have to pretend until she became her lies? God, she'd never had to deceive so completely before. The secret of her species was more like a lie of omission. No one asked, and no one told. Even that had her waking up exhausted in the morning on occasion.

"I know."

Eric slipped the cigarette into the corner of his mouth. "Then start by pretending you don't care about this."

Stephanie pursed her lips before she leaned forward and pulled the cigarette from his lips. "Guess I'm not all that great an actor." She chucked the nasty thing in a trashcan near to the bench they were sitting on.

He smiled, and it was like her world lit up.

Colours ran into each other, across the canvas of her mind, obscuring the images until new pictures were formed from the wreckage of the old ones.

He was a drunk idiot. Stephanie didn't know what Eric's problem was, but the fact that she had to keep this stupid act up was getting on her last nerves. Once again, she guided his wandering hands away from her, giving him a tight-lipped look before trying to immerse herself in acting like a girl who belonged here, rather than some sophomore chick with a chip in her shoulder.

Eric was just making it difficult.

Apparently not deterred by Stephanie's more subtle warnings, Eric was all over her again. He was making it really difficult to keep her temper. Gritting her teeth, Stephanie leaned toward him, pausing with her lips next to his ear.

"I promise you," she threatened. "That I will break your wrists if you don't keep your hands to yourself, Bradley."

He tilted his head back, letting out a rough chuckle that had a slight smile touching Stephanie's lips. The he leaned back, this time his breath fanned across her neck.