More Than Meets The Eye

Posted on by
Taz’s cousin is dragged to Eden Hall too. I know, I know, *nods*, that school gets a lot of admissions.

Category:

Characters: , ,

Pairing: , ,

Genre: ,

Rating:

Status:

Length: words

Series: Set in the Victory-verse of “Something Quite Special” – but entirely unrelated to the series. I just couldn’t be bothered to explain why Taz was with Charlie and Maya was with Adam.

Dedication: Victoreena, and Stepherz, for kicking ass on the MD board at ff.net.

One: Abi’s POV

Taz giggles and takes my hand, leading me towards the school.

“No.” I say.

“Yes.” She doesn’t even look back at me, just tightens her grip. “You’ll be fine. If I can deal then so can you!”

“No, Taz!” I come to a halt and she nearly pulls my arm out of my socket.

“Abi, don’t be such a wimp!” Taz whirls around to face me in a flurry of purple hair and big violet eyes.

If she wasn’t my cousin I’d run a mile. She looks like a good reason why care in the community doesn’t work. “Not a wimp.” I correct. “Have a phobia of preppy schools. Difference.”

“Wimp.” She counters.

“Phobic.” I reiterate.

“Wimp!”

“Gremlin!”

She turns again to the source of the voice. Argh. It’s her boyfriend, Charlie. Cue my mind-numbing shyness to take over.

I wish I could be like Taz, but I’m not. The only thing we have in common is our height. We’re a family of teeny-tiny people. Taz stands out in the crowd, despite the fact that she’s only shin-high to most of the crowd. With her purple hair, violet eyes, Irish accent and bubbly personality, it’s easy for her to be the centre of attention.

With my average hair and face, my boring accent and ‘don’t look at me’ personality it’s hard to believe we came from the same gene pool. Maybe it’s the Irish in her that makes her crazy.

Or maybe I’m the freak of the family.

“Scrat!” She bounds joyfully into his arms.

Now would be a good time to make a hasty retreat. She’ll never notice. I edge away.

“Abigail Helena Davies! Don’t think I don’t see you trying to get away!” She calls, reluctantly parting from her boyfriend.

How did she do that? Does she have eyes in the back of her head?

I take a tentative step back towards Taz and Charlie, and regret this move as two more people join us.

“Ant! Butterfly!”

I sigh, is there no-one that she doesn’t nickname? Her boyfriend is Scrat (for reasons I’m still not clear on, she got halfway through the story and started laughing so hard she had to give up), her best friend Maya is Butterfly (I think it’s because she’s got a birthmark, although, with Taz, who knows?) and Adam is Ant (presumably because of Adam Ant, then again, there’s probably a funny story behind that one too).

I don’t have a nickname. I’m just Abi. I actually prefer Abigail, but nobody thought to ask me. Abi is easier to say, so I guess I’m stuck with it.

“So, moving in?” Charlie asks me. “I hope you’re used to wading knee-deep in art supplies.”

Taz jabs her boyfriend in the ribs. “I cleared a space for Abi.”

Maya grins. “Yeah, I bet it was all of two feet wide.”

“Bite me, Butterfly!”

Taz introduced me to these people a few days ago, hoping I’d feel more relaxed about moving in. It hasn’t helped, not in the slightest. Now I just know more people who will be encumbered with my dull self.

Adam and Charlie pick up my bags dutifully (when ordered by Maya and Taz) and Taz once more takes my arm and leads me towards the school.

Once inside the dorms, Taz and Maya start pointing out who lives where.

“That’s Linda’s room. She’s my old roommate, very political and activist-like. She hates me.” Taz says cheerfully.

“Oh, and that’s Vicky and Star’s room.” Maya adds. “They’re really nasty, stay away from them, they spend all their time working out nasty plots to upset us all.”

I nod, trying to think of something funny or interesting to reply with. I fail.

“And this is Maya and Marie’s room. If you ever get bored, just show up here and they’ll cheer you up.” Taz says. “If I’m not around, that is.”

We troop up one more flight of stairs, and I hear the boys huffing and puffing, carrying my bags and feel a twinge of guilt.

“And here we are. Chateau McDonald… and Davies.”

“About the chateau part,” Maya takes my arm and leads me in. “She’s not kidding.” She moves a sheet of purple velvet that was hanging across the wall, for bizarre decoration I had presumed, and reveals the castle from Sleeping Beauty.

Typical Taz. I should have known she’d paint her walls. I used to get nightmares when I had to stay in her room as a kid, those pixie things scared the life out of me. Even when she was in kindergarten she was very talented, now as a teenager, she’s brilliant.

And god damn it! She’s drawn pixies next to my bed.

I’m never going to be able to sleep here.

Two: Averman’s POV

“So who do we have to be nice to?” Goldberg asks Charlie over breakfast.

Charlie sighs in exasperation, having just explained it fully. “Taz’s cousin, Abi. Just be nice, ok?”

“Two Taz’s?” Fulton shakes his head. “It’s a terrifying idea.”

“It’s not two Taz’s.” Charlie tells him firmly. “It’s Taz’s cousin. And she’s nothing like Taz, I can assure you. She barely speaks.”

I hate Charlie’s attitude at times. Why does he always have to do the right thing in a grudging way? Why can’t he just be a little more genuine like the rest of us, and admit he can’t be bothered? Then I remember, Taz is his girlfriend, he’s probably doing this under her instructions.

Taz bounces in with Maya, Marie and another girl—presumably Abi—in tow. This table is beginning to get really crowded.

Taz takes a seat next to Charlie and promptly forgets about her cousin. The other girls sit down with their boyfriends (or Maya sits with Adam, Marie works out who she wants to date this week and sits with… Luis? Talk about easy for both of them).

Abi still stands awkwardly. I can’t believe she’s related to Taz. By now Taz would have ordered everyone to shuffle along so she could sit where she pleased.

When Charlie first started dating Taz, everyone kept saying “Averman, you’ll love this girl, she’s as wacky as you”. Why do people assume that two lunatics will get on? I don’t dislike her, but there are a good few people I would rather spend my time with than her—and Varsity are strangely included in that few.

“You can sit here.” I say to Abi, realising she’s still standing.

She flashes me a grateful smile before turning her attention to the table.

She and Taz can’t be related.

See, Taz is telling us about her weekend, she’s talking very quickly and loudly. I thought the Irish were supposed to be laid back, especially in Dublin.

And what’s her cousin doing? Not saying a word and refusing to make eye contact.

“Abs? What classes do you have?” Taz calls across the table. From her decibel level you’d think that Abi was in another country.

Abi rummages in her pockets for her schedule and hands it over to Taz without a word.

Taz scans it eagerly. “Who has Biology with Mr Russell first period?”

I reluctantly draw attention to myself. Before Taz I was the entertaining one, now she’s here I’m just Averman.

“Cool, Ave,” I hate it when she calls me Ave, nobody else calls me that. “Can you baby-sit Abi?”

How do I answer that? I want to tell her that Abi doesn’t need a babysitter, but at the same time, I don’t want to offend Abi. She’s done nothing except walk straight into my small vendetta against Taz.

“You don’t have to.” Abi mutters to me in a low voice.

And suddenly I want to. Abi seems annoyed with Taz too. We have common ground.

“You didn’t have to walk me to class.” She says, blushing. “Taz wouldn’t have known if you had or not.”

“I don’t mind. I’m not doing this because Taz asked me.” It’s refreshing to find someone who feels as awkward as me—only people never know I feel like that, I hide behind humour. “Can I see your schedule?”

The bit of paper is scrappy as hell already, as she passes it I see her nails are bitten down to the quick. I scan it quickly, we’re sharing all but two of our classes. “Looks like you’re stuck with me, Abi-meister.”

“Sorry.” She mutters.

I give her a look. “Sorry? What are you sorry for?”

She shrugs. “You don’t have to keep an eye on me.”

I grin, it’s lost on her as her hair is hanging in her face. “Actually, I was hoping you’re a whiz at biology. My lab partner drives me up the wall.”

As it turns out, she is a whiz in science, and complete mess in all other subjects. With Coach Orion’s insistence that we achieve a B-average, I’ve actually learnt stuff since we joined Eden Hall, so I offer to help her out.

Naturally, she doesn’t say yes straight away—insisting that it doesn’t matter, that Taz won’t check up on me and any other reason she can lay her hands on.

Eventually I get through to her that I’m just being nice.

What really swings the decision is me yelling, “Forget about Taz! I don’t even like her!”