Welcome to the Masquerade

"Stereotypes" by Black Violin

AN: Since I'm sitting here lookin out over the Folly Beach Fishing pier, I thought I'd post another chapter. I still only claim Lory! Everyone else is C. L. Stone's. Constructive criticism is welcome, flames will be used to make S'mores. Happy Reading. 

     Well, despite being curvy and new, I've only turned a few heads and most of the interest vanished once I made sure to blend in. Still, thank God these bozo's aren't super observant. It's amazing the things you can find out if you shut your mouth, stay out of the way and listen.

     Lory had spent Monday and Tuesday in a stealth observation mode. Watching the general population and the Blackbourne team from the fringes. The observation of the Blackbourne team had not gone unnoticed. The Blond, Luke, had taken to watching her back. Gabriel kept frowning at her clothes like he was about was trying to figure out what it them that struck him as wrong.

      Now it was lunch on Wednesday and despite the chilly weather the Blackbourne team were all out in the courtyard. Her schedule had been tweaked so that she had Sang and one of the boys in almost all of her classes. Sang had a couple she didn't - Japanese and Violin. But otherwise, Lory had every class with Sang. She liked Sang. Sang was shy, but with the boys she was a wonderfully warm person. She had figured that Silas, the gentle giant, was the boyfriend, but something about this group still niggled in the back of her mind. Something wasn't adding up, but she had enough of the dynamics that she could make her initial approach to the team.

     At least approaching them meant she might night spend all of tomorrow completely alone. She liked the team Owen and Sean had cobbled together. She couldn't have explained why if asked. Maybe it was the diversity of individuals on the team. And they were "Individuals-with-a-capital-I" as her mom had said about such people. Somehow as diverse as they were they managed to balance out the others' rough spots.

     Kota Lee was only in English with her. Despite such limited exposure she knew that boy was a certified genius, a beautifully nerdy genius. He was beautiful. He took Geek chic to all the right places with the thick rimmed glasses covering the gorgeous emerald eyes and brown hair falling perfectly. His quiet authority and leadership were hidden much like his musculature. It was fun to watch him interact with the rest of the team. He tended to curb some of the excessive exuberance of some of the others and then turn around a few minutes later and remember he really is only 17 and join in, particularly if Sang was nearby.

     Nathan Griffin appeared to be the other side of that coin. He boasted a strongly athletic build. Not even the uniform style blazers could hide the well muscled physique. He had intensely serious blue eyes that were occasionally haunted. If you watched those eyes closely enough you could see every emotion across his face. He loved his brothers and would do anything for them. The minute Sang walked into his orbit he was content to track her movement and know she was okay.

     Where Nathan was perfectly male athleticism, Victor Morgan was class and elegance personified. Observant, polite, and understated he was the quintessential southern gentleman. His passions blazed out from his eyes and Lory would have bet good money he didn't even realize how much he gave away about himself with them.

     Frick and Frack was how Lory viewed Gabriel Coleman and Luke Taylor. They were two sides of the same coin. They were so vibrant, alive and filled with joie de vivre. And neither precisely seemed to care much about what anyone outside the team thought of them. They both had expressive eyes that made Lory smile. She could tell Gabriel probably took care of wardrobe the way he fussed over everyone's clothes. Luke Taylor made her nervous. He was too observant and she had kept her distance from him and his brother. He played the clown but he was hardly a slouch when it came to situational awareness.