The Good, The Bad, and The Beautiful

The Troubled Youth

Clementine yawned, watching the second hand on the clock tick away. Three minutes until the end of school and the continuation of her "punishment". If you could even call it that.

She had arrived home from her first detention yesterday afternoon with a huge dorky smile on her face. However it quickly faded when she realized she would have to tell Lee about her punishment. He was her guardian that had adopted her after her parents died in a hotel fire when she was 9. He was kind and understanding, but Clementine knew he wouldn't react well to the news. She sat with him in the living room and proceeded to explain the situation to him. When she finished, his face quickly turned into one of pure fiery anger. Oh no here comes the iron fist, she thought. Lee suddenly stood up.

"I AM GOING TO MARCH DOWN TO THAT SCHOOL AND GIVE A PIECE OF MY MIND TO THAT SON OF A BITCH YOU CALL A PRINCIPAL!!!" Lee exclaimed. Clementine's jaw dropped with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Wait you're not mad at me??" She asked.

"Of course I'm not at you, Clem!! A boy harasses you, and you along with your friend get punished for it?? And a severe one at that!! I'm getting your punishment lifted even if I have to KILL someone to do it!" Lee spat furiously. Clementine breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly looked up with a flushed face.

"Oh, uh, you don't have to get the punishment lifted. I actually don't mind it so much," Clementine stated. Lee sat down with a very puzzled look on his face. He raised his eyebrows in confusion, but his puzzled frown soon turned into an enlightened smirk.

"Hmmm, I see what's happened, Sweet-pea. You've fallen for your knight in shining armor!" Lee said with a smile. Clementine blushed deeply and began nervously playing with her hair.

"How did you know? Was I that obvious??" She asked anxiously. Lee chuckled.

"Sweet-pea, no one is fine with a one month detention. You must really like this girl if you're willing to go through that. So, tell me about her! Where does she live, how old is she, who are her parents," he started.

"I don't know..." Clementine muttered.

"You don't know anything about her? Clementine, you think you love this girl but you barely know her. Maybe you should get to know her better before you go falling too head over heels," Lee advised. Clementine hung her head down in shame. I really don't know much about Violet. The deal was for her to get to know me, but how do I get to know her in the process? Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head.

She looked up at Lee. "What if we hang out together outside of school? Like on the weekends? I can dedicate that time to getting to know her!" Clementine proposed. Lee scratched his beard before nodding in agreement.

"Sounds like a good plan to me, Sweet-pea! Now get some sleep. You wanna be well-rested for the work you have to put in tomorrow. And the rest of the month at that," Lee joked. He took off Clem's cap and ruffled her hair before replacing it and making his way to his room. She couldn't sleep at all that night due to the fact that her mind just wouldn't let her rest. Violet had occupied every last inch of the amber-eyed girl's mind space.

Clementine's thoughts were suddenly brought back to the present. I have to do a better job of socializing with her today, she mentally declared. This month will surely go by faster than I'd like it to.

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of the bell and the rustling of papers and binders being put into book bags. She took a deep breath and started walking to detention. Clementine couldn't help but get lost in her thoughts again as she journeyed to the oh-so-familiar classroom.

How should I initiate the conversation with her today? Should we just get to work immediately and sit in pained silence again? Maybe we could play another game. I kind of want to just hug her aga—

She opened the classroom door, and her thoughts were halted abruptly at the sight of a large group of people. They all turned to look at the girl as she walked in, and Clementine couldn't help but turn a bright red at the sight of all the eyes on her. "Um, hello..." she said awkwardly. A light skinned boy with dreads walked towards her and offered his hand out.

"Why hello there! I'm Louis, but you can call me the man of your dreams," he said with a smolder. Clementine felt herself gagging on the inside, but she swallowed her cringe and shook his hand.

"I'm Clementine, but you can call me not interested," the girl said, batting her eyelashes with a sly grin. Louis' shocked face quickly turned into one of embarrassment as he quietly retreated into the group. A laugh suddenly rang out from the back. Violet pushed her way to the front and put her arm around Clem's shoulders.

"That shit was priceless, Lou. You really know how to sweet talk a woman!" She sarcastically commented. "But here's how it's really done." She took her arm from around Clem and instead against the wall next to Clem. Her green eyes stared lustfully into Clementine's golden orbs, and Clementine felt her breath hitch.

"Hey, the name's Violet, but you can call me anytime," the punk girl said with a wink. Clementine couldn't look at her own face, but if she could she'd imagine it would be the color of an apple right now. Mmmm apples...no Clementine now is not the time for your apple fetish! Violet just flirted with you! Say something before you look stupid!!

"Uh, I....apples?" Clementine declared hesitantly. What?? Apples?? Oh you fucked it up now Marsh!

Violet smirked. "Ah yes, I agree. You look like an apple right now, but that's expected after the bomb pickup line I just delivered." She said smugly. "Anyway, lemme introduce you to the gang," she said as she began to pull Clementine toward a blond boy with a bizarre haircut. "This here is Marlon. He got detention for putting a dead cat in a teacher's car, and then putting it on his head. Oh no wait that's just his hair," She cackled. The boy immediately flipped her off and tried to say he looked cool. You could see in everyone's eyes that that was definitely not the case.

"And over here we have Mitch, Willy, and Tenn. We call them the Bomb Heads because they constantly get in trouble for setting off firecrackers around the school," Violet said. The three boys high-fived each other before giving Clementine a curt nod.

"You've already met Louis, unfortunately. His father is loaded and constantly takes vacations and business trips, so Lou hates going home to an almost always empty house. He prefers to make trouble with the teachers, so he can hang out with us in detention," Violet remarked. Louis simply gave a thumbs up, obviously still embarrassed from his earlier encounter with the girl.

"Those two are Ruby and Aasim. They're known around the school as the "Bonnie and Clyde" of Ericson High. They do everything together, from walking to class to stealing the answer keys to tests," the delinquent said with an evil grin. Ruby held her boyfriend's hand and gave Clementine a quick howdy.

"And last but certainly not least: Omar! He's not really a delinquent like the rest of us. He's just a terrible cook who's constantly starting kitchen fires in Home Ec," Violet chuckled. Omar started to protest, but sadly nodded when he finally accepted the truth.

Violet returned her arm to its initial position around Clementine's shoulders and motioned to the group of teens.

"Together they call us the Troubled Youth."

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A/N: Wow this chapter was quite long, but I just couldn't stop writing it. I regret not updating more than one chapter during my break, but here I am updating at 11:30 at night when I have school in the morning 🤪🥴 Also I'm just putting random songs I like at the top at this point so if you want me to stop that BS just lemme know. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and lemme know what you guys think! I always appreciate the honest feedback ❤️