Ex with Benefits (sequel to Roommates with Benefits)

Back in the day

PROLOGUE

TARA'S POV

Chaos, is the word I would use. Mere chaos. That is what the school hall is every morning at this same hour. Hundreds of kids swarming around, hurrying to homeroom or lingering behind in order to stay the most possible with their friends. Typical American high school. and of course, a typical American high school has social groups. The food chain, my peers call it. It's cliché yet not at the same time, it's like a pyramid, each clique fits in one block, and there they are supposed to stay, no changing. Nothing can change your position once you've acquired it, therefore presenting at your best the first day is essential. I learnt that the hard way.

When I arrived to this school, I came from an elite Catholic college, all girls, teachers were nuns, contact with the outside world, the male world in particular, was not allowed under no circumstance ... unless it was Father Carmine come to hear our monthly confessions, of course. So you see, when I first arrived to a public school in a jolly town, I was like a fish out of water. I had no idea what to do, how to behave, and that condemned me.

Like I said, there are groups, each one has its own place in the pyramid, the Food Chain. Each group has acquired such position because of three main factors that dictate law here: money, looks, popularity. Shallow, I know, but that's it. So let's start the tour.

The top of the food chain. The jocks. Attractive (either overly or averagely), great at sports, very popular, practically gods in high school. It doesn't matter which sport do they practice, it just needs to be a sport, it may vary in each school, however, mine is quite cliché, so yeah, the main sport is football. Normally, jocks accompany themselves with those who are called mean girls. I'm sure you've seen the movie. As beautiful as venomous. That's the second block of the food chain, although some would say they are interchangeable, mean girls wouldn't be at the top without the jocks, jocks wouldn't be at the top without the mean girls, so ... they're equally at the top of the Food Chain, I guess.

Then there are the Geeks. All about Math, Math, Math, well, computers mostly. Opposite to the average school, they're not bullied nor anything, no, in Lincoln High's Food Chain, the geeks come right after jocks and mean girls. Funny, huh? I think it has to do with this one being a town that mostly gains from computer sciences and engineering more in general, so, because geeks will supposedly be the leading class of tomorrow, it'd be very stupid of mean girls and jocks to antagonize them, right? I'll admit I was amazed when I first learned this, but it's a perfect deterrent, I guess. I mean, geeks are respected here, they are ... cool people.

We also have what we call fashion victims, but usually they coincide with mean girls, if they don't, then it's usually people that risk their neck trying to cross the border and climb the food chain. Suicide mission. Nobody crosses the border. Never. Like I said, the position you acquire when you first arrive, it's gonna stick to you for the rest of your high school days. Rumor has it that one or two people made it, back in the day, but there's no proof.

So, in order of importance, jocks, mean girls, geeks. What am I missing? Right, the artists. Those who excel in figurative arts, more specifically painting and sculpture. The other half of the town's income is art, we have a few great galleries, quite well known in the State too, so it's easily explained. After the artists, there are the rockers, kids that try to make it in the music world, they're pretty cool, actually, but very much locked up in their own clique, so not very much liked in school. Following, the nerds ... not very much popular, they're the fourth-to-last step of the Food Chain, worse than them the weirdos ... and no, they don't coincide. Nerds are the encyclopedic kids that can tell you anything about anything, but because nobody likes a smartass, they're not very much appreciated. Weirdos are just ... well, weird. As in creepy, some call them the Dark Ones, because they're all as pale as vampires and always wear black. They're creepy because they look like crows ready to eat your eyes when they stare at you.