Eyes On Me | OPEN |

[Jaime Stone]

It was pure luck to be called to the principal's office. You know how Jaime has a good sense of character, she didn't like the principals. An overload of determination and authority bathed the woman, and seriously not a day goes by when her and Jaime don't butt heads. So walking down the vacant hall, just hearing her own footsteps as she made her way down. It was probably because she skipped class yesterday. Okay, like four classes but what's the big deal. All she is going to do is call Cordelia, Cordelia gives Jaime the 'everything will get better' speech and then she does the same thing the next day. Any respectable head mistress would let it go now, like please. But Jaime still walked, getting out her phone and texting Marcy about how shit this is. Walking, she then heard something. Like as if someone scratched at the floor. It happened at an intersection. Jaime should have just ignored it, walked straight ahead to the principal's office, but she didn't. Turning, she walked down the hall.

"Hello?" she asked into the halls. Those passing by would think she is nuts, but she looked ahead to see if she could spot anyone. Did someone fall, or something. She heard it again. What was that noise? Looking down the hall, she passed an open classroom as the noise happened again. She could have sworn it came from that room, so swallowing her paranoia she walked into the room. This is all it was, paranoia. She was so damaged right now. But as she walked in, she looked around and the class was empty. Okay Jaime, time to take some medication and go for a smoke. She turned to walk out of the room, but then heard it again. A long, long scratching noise. What the shit? Turning, she looked to where it came from; the bottom cupboard. It vwas long, but short. What was making that noise? Confused, she walked towards the cupboard and knelt down to open it. Jaime, you're being rediculous. You just need to take a breath, calm down and - - - ! She opened the cupboard and saw nothing in there. Letting out a deep breath, she wanted to punch herself for being so stupid. Closing the cupboard, she heard something open. In the supply closet, Lana spun around to see her mother. She looked the same as she did that night. Wild dirty hair, blood marks over her arms from the kills she had made, dirty hospital gown on and a knife in her hand. Jaime screamed as her mother came at her.

Scurrying across the ground towards the desks, Jaimee felt her back hit one of the desks. Her mother charged at her, screaming wildly with the knife in hand as Jaime tried to get up. Her mother tackled her, Jaime feeling herself smashing over the desks as they flipped and landed in the centre of the room. Jaime felt the air escape her chest as she hurried to get up, breathing heavily as she scurried to her feet. Turning to her mother, she was about to get up when Jaime did what she always wanted to do; hold her ground, and not be the victim. Swinging a hard kick, she kicked her mother across the jaw as the woman smashed into the desks again, landing motionless. She had done it. She had saved herself. Looking at the body, Jaime quickly ran around the desks and out of the room. As soon as she got out, she felt so relieved, so calm and so - free. Turning though, she felt a splitting pain in her stomach. She gasped as she looked and saw her mother in front of her, her mother smirking in an unusually calmer state as Jaime looked down and saw the knife sticking out of her gut. "You're - a demon child". Growled her mother and ripped the knife out, slashing it straight at Jaime's face......

The loud scream hit the classroom instantly, forcing students to spin and look at her. Jaime had fallen asleep in class, granted in her history pop quiz but still. She had fallen asleep, and had a dream in class. When she stopped screaming, she looked in front of her. Students, a confused teacher and the sound of her heart beating so fast. Breathing heavily, she looked down at her paper and then around the room. She was so - embarrased. Why did this have to happen? Why now? "I - um, I'm sorry". She said as she pulled her bag off from the back of the chair and sprinted out of the room, getting to the hall and stopping by the wall. Her back hit the wall as she ran her hands through her hair. Her mother was dead, it was all in her head. She could deal with today now, waking up in your own bed screaming was one thing - Jaime was used to it. But at school, where every action had a reprecussion. She was so stupid. Wiping a tear from her eye, she slowly started to make her way up the hall, trying to ignore the incoming footsteps coming up behind her.

[mooshi]

Liam was actually surprised at how busy his office had been today. It actually seemed like nonstop students which was good in a sense. At least then he didn’t have to worry about being bored all day long. But some of the ‘issues’ that these students would come to him with was nothing compared to the harsh life of a slayer, hunter, or a watcher. ‘You want your dad to stop being a wanker? Terrify him with a vampire or a werewolf. Doubt he’d be laying a hand on you or your mum for quite a while.’ This was just one of the many comments that went through his mind while talking to the students. All of them had issues yes, but none of them knew of the much larger scale issues that faced not just them but the world. He knew he wasn’t cut out for this job. If he had any say in what he was expected to do for the rest of his life, being a high school counselor was not the ‘it’ job. He knew that when he was hired, yet his father believed otherwise, and there was no use fighting with him. He always won. So regardless of how much he didn’t care about the so called issues these kids had, he bit his tongue and trudged through the madness of high school all over again. But everyone needed a break now and again, and this moment was a perfect time for one.

Liam had decided to take his half an hour lunch sitting in his car and talking to Ana. Of course he had to come up with a good reason to call her. He couldn’t just say something cheesy like ‘oh I missed your voice’ or ‘I was just thinking about you’. Although both were true, neither was something he was willing to come right out and say at this point. He had no idea how long she was actually going to stay here before her father ripped her away from him like he always used to. He was able to come up with something that sounded good and was somewhat believable. It had sounded like she believed him, but he was only on the phone with her, so he couldn’t tell for sure.

Seventeen minutes had gone by rather quickly, and he had decided that going back early would probably give him a few brownie points if that Ayden kid did decide to tell the principal about some of the things he had mentioned in their session. As he made his way into the building and headed back towards his office of doom, he couldn’t help but notice a short dark haired girl walking away from him. It was definitely not the time of day where students would be out and about. ”Shouldn’t you be in class?” He asked approaching her hoping not to scare her.

[Jaime Stone]

The scrap of metal, the slam of a door, the drop of a pencil. She paid attention to it all, not out of inquisitiveness or intrigue, or even keen observation; but fear. Fear that the nightmare of her life wasn't over, that her mother wasn't gone. She should come to terms with it really because, really - she stabbed her mother in the head with sheers. She is pretty well dead, but she lives in Jaime. She lives in Jaime's heart and her head, and won't let her forget it. Jaime never knew what her mother meant by 'Demon-child' and such, she never knew if it was a religious thing or if her mother was just a nut case. But whatever the reason, Jaime had a worry. The paranoia, bad dreams, mood swings. Was she turning into her mother? Pacing down the hall, she heard a locker door slam shut and spun her head and saw a student walking away. Jaime looked away and still moved forwards, but when she heard someone coming at her from behind her instincts went from 0 to 100. She started walking faster, but could still hear them. When they spoke, Jaime spun around quickly and was face-to-face with the school councillor - maybe, she never really knew what this guy did. But he scared the living crap out of her and she did one thing that felt natural to her, and lifted her fist and held it strong as she looked at him.

Breathing heavily, her breathing was shakey as she looked at him. She sussed him up and down for a moment, hair sticking to her face slightly as she stared at him. She could tell it about him, his determination and his heart. It was big, even if he didn't know how to show it. But the way her stood, the way her spoke. It wasn't the words of a man who wasn't authoritical from his work but from something else. Some other comitment. It was weird how she could tell this really, but at this point of time and looking at him, that is what she got. This just proves that this is not a normal girl. This was not a girl who was okay, this was a girl who was not getting better. This was a girl who is breaking down day by day and now rage filled her. Looking at him, worried eyes turned to anger as she lowered her fist and looked at him in pure disgust. "No, I shouldn't". She snarled at him and turned to walk away from him again. She just wanted to punch something, and headed straight towards the front door. It was her. She could feel her. Her mother may have died, but her memory is living in Jaime. Usually that would be a positive thing, to never forget. But in these circumstances, she would do anything to start over. To go back as that girl in the orphanage who lived in a dream, before reality came in and took everything from her. Families, friends. She didn't have a normal life, she knew she wasn't normal.

[mooshi]

Too late. It had seemed that he already startled her. He could tell by the way she spun around and stared at him lifting her arm, her hand clenching into a fist ready to punch him if necessary. But it seemed that she more felt threatened than scared. Either way, her reaction was definitely not what he had expected. What young woman raises her hand in a high school setting when she hears someone coming up behind her? Clearly a girl who was expecting someone a lot more terrifying and dangerous than Liam.

He really wasn’t sure what to say. He found himself staring at her in awe as her facial expression changed from one emotion to the next. At first it was a look over worry and then anger. But how it changed….she seemed very confused either with him or something else going on in her head. She then lowered her fist and gave him a look like he wasn’t even worth punching at all. Well that was insulting. Clearly he wasn’t good enough to pummel which he knew she couldn’t do anyway even if she tried. But he probably shouldn’t judge her. I mean Ana was tiny and she had a killer swing. This girl was possibly no different.

But he found himself becoming rather agitated with the way she disregarded his authority just like everyone else around this damn town. And when she answered him sharply and turned on her heel, he was the one that wanted to do the punching now. ”Is it something in this American water that is making the students so insubordinate?” Although his voice was loud enough for her to hear him, he was more speaking to himself. ”Clearly it has to be because all of you bloody kids seem to think it is okay to disobey people who are of authority.” Liam was going to put his foot down. He was done with this nonsense. Being in a school setting was not how he pictured this whole watcher gig, and he was not going to deal with this shit. Fuck his father. It was his way or he was resigning early. Simple as that. He followed behind her but not really following her necessarily. She was headed in the same direction he wanted to go. To his freaking car out in the parking lot, so he could leave this shit hole. There had to be a better way of getting close to the slayer than this. Liam probably sounded like a crazy person and knew he was acting anything but authoritative and mature, but he was sick of this. His father clearly didn’t find his actions successful anyways. If he had, he wouldn’t have sent Ana to check up on him.

[Jaime Stone]

Her ego was having a blast right now, that little twisted side of her that was telling her 'yeah gurl, you show dat dude who'z boss'. Shut up ego! It was one of those episodes. Call it crossed between a fit of anger and an anxiety where right now, Jaime was an atomic weapon that would attack anything in her path. It was her mother! She just wished it would stop. Her dreams are coming to her all the time. Restless nights are bleeding into drained days, where she is falling asleep only for a dream to come. It was messing with her head, her emotions, her mind - and her life. She was not a normal girl, not for a long shot. Normal girls don't list there closest moment with there mother as when her mother stabbed her in the leg and having have shoved pruning sheers into her mother's head. It was definitely not what dreams were made of - only nightmares. So getting out of this school right now, a good idea. No one understood anyways, no one had been through what she had. With no explanation why her mother wanted her dead, or what was going through the woman's mind when it happened. She could still hear him behind her though, and it pissed her off.

Hearing his rant to himself, she rolled her eyes and shrugged it off. Teachers do the whole 'what is wrong with kids thing' all the time, yet they choose this profession. What idiots! So she didn't care what he had to say, or what the other teachers had to say, or what her peers in that classroom were bitching about behind her back. Jaime is a psycho is a phrase she had already heard, and even then she didn't pay them any mind. But with this teacher seemingly following her, it didn't make things any easier. Gritting her teeth, Jaime was fumed. She had to hit something, she had to. She had to get home and wale on a boxing bag for an hour or so right now. But with this teacher so close, something came over her. Stopping, she sighed and then every muscle in her body tenses. Spinning around, she swung a hard punch at Mr Keller. Grunting hard, she swung the hard punch at him. Her ego was laughing, but her brain was sending her big ass warning signs.

WARNING! WARNING! YOU ARE TRYING TO HIT A TEACHER YOU FREAK! Holy crap, she was trying to punch a teacher! Anger fueled the punch as she swung at him. She managed to fight drugged-up rabi looking guys at that loser party, she managed to kick the school jock's ass. She did it with anger, similar to this. She visualized just for a second that it was her mother, that it was her mother standing there in her blood stained gown, blade in hand, wild brown hair and the look in her eyes of psychotic determination. She saw her there, and just threw everything into her fist as she aimed at the career councillor's jaw.

[mooshi]

Liam didn’t expect the punch because he was too busy in his own little world contemplating what he would say to his father about his own resignation of this watcher bullshit. Besides, the girl was walking away from him, so her spinning around and clocking him clear across the face was not something he could see happening until it was way too late for him to even do anything about it. Her fist hit his jaw so hard that his face snapped to the side. Oh yeah, he definitely shouldn’t have judged her in the first place. She had a killer right hook, and his face was really feeling it.

”Bloody hell! What do you think you are doing!” Liam yelled grabbing his jaw and staring at her his own anger now rising. She hit him. She had actually hit him. Yep, it was the American water. It was clearly making everyone crazy. Liam winced pulling his hand away from his mouth to see if she had drawn blood. There was no blood, but that still didn’t make anything less painful. ”Do you realize how….” Liam hesitated. He was angry. Really freakin’ angry. Angry at the fact that this student had no clue of her place in the hierarchy of the school system. But even as angry as he was that the punch had just taken place, he wasn’t sure if threatening her or enforcing some sort of punishment was a good idea. The counseling side of him that his father drilled into his head was seeping through with this girl. She knew exactly what she had just done, but there was something about her expression that told him she was not all there or in control of her actions at that moment. ”…how much rage you have in you. Rage and a….painfully nice swing.”

He was pretty unsure about her situation, but he knew something was going on. He was tempted to ask her about it, but if he did, he’d have to be careful. After all, she had just hit an authority figure at a school. People didn’t just do that. Or maybe they did, he just wasn’t in the loop. Liam straightened up. ”Clearly I have upset you for some odd reason that I was not aware of.”

[Jaime Stone]

Once it hit, it felt like it helped. Okay, maybe beating up authority figures was a good therapudic exercise, one that she would try her hardest not to do again. But she didn't see the teacher, she saw her. She saw the woman that took everything from her. Her sense of sanity, the potential of a happy life and a happy family, and a scarless body. It was her that made her like this. It was her that has driven Jaime for the past two years. Driving her to fight to feel better, to smoke to calm herself, to try and OD on painkillers more than once. Jaime wasn't okay, she hasn't been for a long time now. And in her mind, she could see her mother standing there. Her mother raising her hand to her mouth and touching it, it was her mother that spoke to her. But after a few seconds as Jaime just looked at the figure, breathing heavily and glaring at him, she saw clearly. She saw the teacher. It was in her mind, and now her mind was driving her to attack those around her. It was her mind hurting her. Her wounds had healed since that night, some of the scars had even began to fade, but her mind was still demented from that night. And now fear fueled her, fear that her mentality was something that was impariable, and she didn't know what to do. Her breathing became shakey, her mind now spinning as she gripped her hair. "She - she made me do it. I don't know what -". A tear appeared in her eye, and she looked around her. She wasn't sure what for, maybe she was looking for help. Is there anyone that can help her?

His burning anger that she could just sense rising in him had gone, but it was like she could see it in her mind. A change, an understanding of sorts. It was really weird how she could just tell these things, even before he spoke. When he did, the tear fell as this frustrated and scared young girl chuckled slightly as the sobs came underneath it. "Yeah, yeah a lot of rage I - I guess". Rubbing her head, she felt like the room was getting smaller, and hotter. It was too much, she felt like she was going to suffocate. Suffocate herself with these feelings, feelings that her mother is just hovering over her shoulder, whispering outburst and in command of Jaime. She just wanted this to stop. When he appologized, she snapped out of her mixed thoughts and looked at him. "No, no it isn't you. It's me. You never heard of psycho stone who falls asleep in classrooms and wakes up screaming?". Wiping tears from her eyes, smudging her mascara she looked up at him again. She couldn't leave. If she left, admittedly, she would just have a messed up day for the rest of the day. But she had a kind of idea.

"Um, I know that I just did the worst thing a student could do to a teacher, but - um - you're a councillor right?". She blubbered, trying to hold back tears. She didn't like crying, even though with the emotional strength of a rhino she just couldn't help it. Sucking it up a bit, she looked to him. "Do you mind if I talk to you? If I don't now, I never will. And, I don't want to hurt anyone".

[mooshi]

Liam watched as she gripped her hair and claimed that a mysterious “she” had made her attack him. If someone different would have said that, he probably would have thought they were joshing him. But with the tear slipping down her cheek and her disoriented scan of the area around her as if searching for someone, it was clear that she was not at all messing with him. Liam wondered who she had been referring to but refrained from asking. He was having a hard time not being nosey though. She was clearly emotionally or mentally distraught. Even as she tried to smile and chuckle through the soft sobs escaping her throat, Liam knew his words of sarcasm had not changed the way she had been feeling, just lightened the mood barely. She still seemed extremely uneasy, and the longer they stood there in the hallway, the more anxious she seemed to be getting about whatever it was that was swarming around in her head.

Liam cleared his throat putting his hands in his jeans pockets. ”Actually no I haven’t, not until now.” He listened as she explained how she did understand that what she had done was wrong especially by a teacher, but then she had asked if he was the counselor. Like that really mattered that he was JUST the counselor. She had still punched someone. But Liam approached this as a way to make her possibly smile. He’d attempted once with his sarcasm, and it hadn’t worked as well as he’d hoped. Liam let a soft smile touch his lips as he raised his eyebrow. ”So, because I’m a counselor and not a teacher it is okay to pummel me? I find that a bit insulting.” He whole heartedly believed that the best way to bring someone back to neutral ground was to adjust mood level. Maybe that was just his many years of forced counseling knowledge showing itself.

Liam’s smile faded slightly surprised that she had actually asked him for guidance. He nodded. ”Of course you can. That is what I’m here for. But how about we step outside for a bit hmm? I think we could both use some air wouldn’t you agree?” Wow, this girl had changed his mind completely. At first, he had been heading towards that exit to rid himself of the life his father had put in place for him for once and for all. Now, stepping out of the building was only being done to benefit a student who he decided was worth helping….or who he actually believed wanted his help. How quickly things seemed to change here in Midnight Harbour. He would definitely have to start getting used to that.