So Perfect But So Broken (LaceyXLevias)

[Lacey]

Laila. The word was unfamiliar to her, but it resounded in her head like no other word had. It was beautiful and she loved it. Of course, she would love any name. As long as it was hers. Standing in front of a mirror, she adjusted the uniform, glad that it covered her scars. Mr. Little had been shocked enough to see them; it would be bad for the other students to see her like that. On the other hand, other people seeing her without her mask would be just as weird.

Thinking about it, she shivered. Those memories would never flee from her; would haunt her until she finally passed away from this world of pain into whatever awaited her. Straightening out the cloth that covered her stomach, she winced. They’d been beating her more often than not after that failed mission a few months ago and the bruises were still ripe with the pain. Only years of being tortured with similar pains kept her on her feet.

“Laila, are you ready?” The sound of her name made thoughts of her injuries fade for a moment.

“Yes, Mr. Little,” she said, opening the door to the room Mr. Little had given her. He looked her over and she closed her eyes; it felt almost like another inspection.

“You look beautiful, Laila,” opening her eyes, she looked at the deep brown eyes of her rescuer. They were warm; not calculating, as if she were something less than an animal. Of course she was beautiful; it was in her specially designed genes.

“Thank you, sir,”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir,” the answer was immediate. It didn’t matter if she was or she wasn’t: she would have to go on the mission if—wait. This wasn’t a mission. It was high school.

“Let’s go.”

Mr. Little tried his best to start a conversation but she would barely speak and he gave up, looking at the road sadly. She wondered at the expression as they pulled into the school. It looked more like a mansion than a school, one of those mansions that sort of welcomed you into their doors.

“Just go to the office and they’ll tell you what to do,”

“Thank you, Mr. Little. You’ve been too kind,” she stepped out of the car, trying to smile at the man.

“Good luck!” Laila nodded, and he left.

Walking into the building, the office was near the doors and she did exactly as Mr. Little had told her. They gave her a schedule and a map. She left, thanking the secretaries, and headed towards her first class; the first class she’d ever had.

Swallowing, she turned the door knob on the door to the classroom and the teacher that was sitting at her desk turned and smiled at her. She was early, she was always early, and the teacher stood.

“Welcome to Maple Academy, I assume you’re the transfer student?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Laila said, looking down at the floor.

“Your seat is second from the back in this row,” the woman patted one desk and Laila nodded, already going to the desk she’d been assigned. “Um, you still have fifteen minutes until class starts.”

“Can I just wait here?” Laila asked, not betraying the taut nerves within her. They’d taught her at least that much.

“Of course. In fact, you can fill out some things while in here.”

For the next few minutes, Laila was given a textbook and told to fill out a card so they knew she had the book.

Name:

With a certain amount of joy, she wrote Laila Little. Mr. Little had told her that they were going to pretend that she was his granddaughter.

Then the door opened.

Laila froze, ready for anything.

[Levias]

I hate this...I can't do anything about that person pointing a fucking gun to my little sister's head! Kazé thought hatefully as he watched his sister from his own car. He drove her to school everyday. He was now reluctant to let her go every time because of what had happened. He shook his head. His friends had already all deserted him, not that he could blame them. He had been a complete and utter prick these past months.

He drove towards his school, the focus on teh roads helped clear his mind. He would be early for school. He always done. He was so apprehensive about everything that he was either early, or exactly on time. It was as if he wanted things over as soon as they could be.

He pulled into the parking lot, straightening his uniform. He stood out of his old car, and closed the door, locking it with the button on his keychain. He passed by a group of most of his previous friends. They spared a second glance to him, but that was all. He had dark circles under his golden eyes. His pale complexion didn't help that either. He let his black hair fall in front of his eyes. It was silky-thin, so he could still see.

Many people dodged out of his way. His shoulders were set slightly scrunched up, and he walked with a determination to not stop. No one stood in front of him, in fear of being knocked over by his Six foot, four inch figure. He had an athletic and skinny build. Not too much muscle, just enough to be seen. He held his books at his side, and enterred his first class.

His breath hitched. There she sat. Her hair was exactly the same. But the most memorable thing was her eyes. He felt his blood begin to boil His fist's clenched, their knuckles turning white. The teacher said something to snap him out of it. "What?" He asked.

The teacher sighed and repeated "I said 'Hello Kazé, How are you?'" Kazé nodded and said "Fine, taking his seat at the far back of the class, farthest away from everyone, and now She was closer to him than the rest of the class. He glared hatefully at her the entire time that people weren't in. When people came in, he noticed a guy or two going to talk to her, probably hitting on her. His fists were clenched so tightly that his small nails drew blood, and it dripped onto the floor. No one noticed though, no one ever would.

He glared again at her, before his mind wandered to why she was here, and What the hell that was just a few months ago. She looked nervous, scared even. Surely it's not the same girl. But her eyes...

[Lacey]

Laila froze when the boy walked through the door. Him. There was no way she could forget that face, the only one besides them that could identify her. For a moment she hoped that he didn’t recognize her, that the mask had done its job. Then came the look. So much hatred that it sparked some fear in the deep hole that she kept her emotions and it threatened to come out of that abyss.

Diverting her eyes, she tried not to show those locked away emotions. Another person walked through the door. He seemed to notice her right away, this new person, and went over to her desk. She did her best to seem normal as the boy grinned at her.

“Hey there, I’m Jack. You’re new here, aren’t you?”

Laila nodded, trying to smile. How did one act in such a place? Did she giggle, kiss him on either cheek, give him friendly slap? The boy waited for a few moments, watching her face. He moved his hand and she nearly flinched, then realized that he didn’t mean any harm. A handshake.

She shook it, not sure about what to do. “My name is Laila,” She’d never get tired of saying that. Not ever. Nothing could take that away from her now that she was free.

Jack spoke and she tried to answer, but he soon left but then yet another guy came and the same ritual progressed.

The entire time she felt those eyes. Those burning eyes that seemed to see every thought in her head. Laila refused to look at him, refused to give in to those eyes. She was free and nothing could bring that down.

Then a bell rang.

Laila jumped, her muscles tense. Bells meant alarms. Alarms meant ‘get out as fast as you can’ in the business she’d been forced into.

The teacher and many of the students that had filtered in, which she’d catalogued in her head without realizing it, looked at her in surprise and she started to sit down when the teacher stopped her.

“Everyone, this is our newest addition. Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?”

Miraculously, she wasn’t trembling. All of her emotions were firmly locked away by now; she was finally standing on firm ground.

“I’m Laila Little. My parents are on a very long business tour of Europe so I’m staying with my grandfather,” the words were an absolute lie, one that she and Mr. Little had decided would be their story. Not knowing what else to say, she sat down and the teacher gave her a confused look but passed the moment off.

Laila didn’t allow herself the sigh. She’d never done so before, and she wasn’t starting now.

[Levias]

Kazé watched her as she walked up, as did many other people. His gaze was a different one though. His was hateful, mistrusting, and filled with his malice towards the girl. She was not cowerring from his glare like many had before. She simply turned and did not look him in the eyes.

Shaking his head, he turned away and looked out the window, not even wanting her to be in his peripherals. When she gave her explanation of herself, He scoffed almost audibly, not even looking her way. Bull Shit... He thought in a Dark and Cold tone.

(Sorry, couldn't really come up with much here)

[Lacey]

He wasn’t looking at her. That was enough to make Laila relax a bit more. Kazé hated her: that much was certain. No, he absolutely and completely loathed her from the deepest parts of his soul. She’d gone to his sister with the intent of killing her. It didn’t matter to him that she hadn’t actually done it. Laila didn’t blame him; she deserved it. She deserved death.

As she sat down, it became easier to feel nothing. It was easier to ignore the glare as she retreated within herself while letting none around her know that her mind wasn’t in the vicinity. Her mind, like the rest of her, was locked away so she didn’t have to face the world.

Then she came into her head. That little girl. She’d been so scared, had been crying. The gun was pointing right between her wide eyes. “Please,” she’d begged, looking straight into Laila—no, she wasn’t Laila back then. She was Subject Three. And Subject Three hesitated. Stood there for long minutes, breathing. Trying to convince herself to do it. Then the door opened.

Laila turned unwillingly to Kazé. He wasn’t looking at her, but she could see that his muscles were tense. He’d walked in. Seen her. She’d ran.

“Laila, do you know how to solve his equation?” She snapped out of it. Ah yes, she was in AP Physics. For a second she stared at the equation. Without thinking about what she was doing, she rattled off the answer. She’d solved such equations when she was ten. Been trained to.

A second later, the stares made her think she’d been mistaken. Looking at the equation, she knew she was right. Then why was everyone acting like she was weird?

(It’s perfectly okay.)

[Levias]

Kazé turned when she answered the question like a computer. Everyone else gave her a weird look, questioning how she could solve it so quickly. Levias knew the answer himself, because he was intellectually gifted with teh ability to retain information quickly and memorize it.

Kazé was awake. He looked to his clock. Twelve-Thirty It read in red numbers. He sighed, and stood, stretching out. He breathed in and out slowly as he walked downstairs to get a drink of water. After drinking the chilled beverage, he walked back upstairs, but hearing his sister saying something, stopped. He rushed into teh room, and saw those same eyes that now haunted him in the very room that he was in. She ran, adn jumped out the window. Kazé ran to his sister, comforting her, and whispering kind words and reassurances into her ear.

Kazé's eyes closed at teh full memory. Tears threatened to fall. His fist's clenched on his desk, unknowingly, he snapped his pencil in half. His knuckles turned white. NO one seemed to notice. The teacher rarely asked him questions, considerring he pretty much always had an A. Her eyes glazed past him without noticing his hateful demeanor

[Lacey]

Laila’s brain was working overtime as she tried to figure out how to fix this. She didn’t even know what she’d done wrong in the first place. Think, think, you know what to do. You have to or your cover will be blown. You don’t want that, do you? The last sentence of her thoughts wasn’t her own, but a memory of words said to her over and over.

“That…that’s correct,” the teacher said, recovering before most of the other students.

So she shrugged, putting a sheepish expression on her face. “I was in Japan for school once and they’re a lot more strict about these things over there. I memorized stuff like that so I didn’t end up failing.” It was a hope that none of these people had been to Japan for more than tourism.

She nearly jumped when she heard a snap, but sat there with the sheepish, extremely fake, smile plastered on her face. It was him…wasn’t it? It had to be. Who else would have broken something after such a lame excuse? Underneath her desk, she allowed herself to clench her fists and her toes clenched inside of the shoes she wore. Her fingers hurt, but she’d survive.

[Levias]

The small piece of graphite pencil that had snapped off rolled slowly off of the desk, and hit the floor with a tapping sound. The teacher looked back, but upon seeing nothing, returned to her lecture. Kazé reached out and picked it up, pulling it into his slightly white fists.

The class went by slowly for Kazé. Agonizingly slow. He wanted to get out before he just jumped out and attacked her. A part of him wanted to, but the other, more reasonable part, wanted to know why. Why is she here? And Why she attacked his sister. The bell rang, and Kazé stood, and left without a word to anyone. He stopped in the hall, getting a drink, before leaning his head up against his locker.

Why is this so god damned confusing? He asked himself, seeing some people talking to her down the hall

[Lacey]

Only Laila’s training kept her from looking at the clock every few moments. The information that the teacher taught them was old news for her and the sensation that the one person who saw through her disguise was nearly killing her. Her toes had cramped up long ago and only concentrating on that small pain kept the sanity within her.

A bell rang and Laila’s entire body stiffened. It took her a few moments to relax before she stood up smoothly and walked out of the room. Looking at the schedule she’d been given, she looked for her locker and memorized it and the combination quickly as she walked down the hallway. Now free of the confines of the seat, Laila felt herself relax. If something happened, it would be easier for her to deal with now that she was standing.

“Hey, Laila, right?” A girl walked swiftly, moving beside her. She stopped, her eyes running along the girl and calculating her height and weight in seconds as she’d done countless times before.

“Uh…yeah.” Laila said, blinking. The girl seemed rattled but brushed it off.

“I’m Alice.” The girl smiled and Laila felt some of her guard relax. Realizing this, she put it up again without seeming to. She smiled back.

Some others approached her and she fought the need to back up. Never let anyone get to close…

Laila found that she couldn’t keep up with the rapid-fire conversation that was swelling around her and she let her gaze fall to another part of the hallway. She immediately regretted it as she saw him.