"Right," Glory said, "changing the subject. I managed to piss off the most popular girl in my class, and I'm kind of proud of that. She's a little sharper than I anticipated, but just as shallow as I thought she would be."

Léan grinned, his tail swishing back and forth. "I was fooled. She is quite shallow, but she hid it very well...she also isn't stupid...her intelligence, and her cunning, apparently, are what keep her at the top of the food chain in her social group."

Glory snorted.

"Cunning and intelligence?" she repeated. "Please. What keeps her on top is how she does her hair and how fast she can keep up with fashions. I know how high schools work. No matter where they are, some things just don't change." She shrugged. "I'll get through this year just like I got through my last school. I'll just keep my head down and not cause trouble."

Léan looked down, then back up. "I wouldn't underestimate her if I were you..." he murmured, eyes downcast. "I've seen what she can do. I saw her destroy the life of a former friend of hers...made her end up committing suicide in the end..."

Glory raised an eyebrow. Suicide? Well, that took things to another level.

"I won't underestimate her," she reassured. "But there's one key difference between then and now. I'm not that other girl. I refuse to be cowed by some tart in skinny jeans."

Léan snickered, grinning. "All right, all right...I just don't want anything to happen." He glanced around, noticing that Archie had gone. "Oh well. He's probably checking on his latest problem..."

"Do I really want to know what's going on?" Glory asked, referring to the craziness from earlier. "I'm absolutely certain there's something I'm missing, but do I really want the blanks filled in, or is ignorance really bliss in this case?"

Léan shrugged. "Can't hurt to tell...there are more males in our world than females. Mermen don't necessarily need mermaids. We, uh...can have children on our own. It seems like Arcturus was a little too free with his and Damon's antics..."

Glory blinked.

"You have no idea how bizarre that sounds," she said. "Intriguing, but really bizarre." She was definitely going to have to turn that thought over in her head for a while before it starts to make sense.

Léan scratched his head, grinning sheepishly. "I suppose some things are better left unsaid, yes? It sounds strange, but give it three months or so and it won't seem so much like fantasy..."

He stretched, smiling. "So, what are we going to do today? Have any plans?"

"I don't have any plans," Glory replied, "but it'll be getting late soon. It's almost evening already."

Léan nodded, looking a bit dejected. He was not looking forward to having to deal with the over-celebratory couple for the rest of the evening. Archie hadn't even reached his hyper peak yet...

Glory could see that he really wasn't looking forward to dealing with his brother, and she didn't blame him. And it wasn't as if she could suggest that they go somewhere, because there wasn't anywhere they could both go. Settling herself on the beach, she leaned back and watched the sun start to slowly set.

"I really have no idea..."

Archie poked his head out from under the rocks, and then swam over, grinning like an idiot. "Hey, guys! You going to do anything interesting tonight?"

Léan grumbled. "There isn't much we can do when it's this late...there isn't even anywhere we could go..."

Archie snorted. "Of course there is!" He glanced at Glory, tilting his head. "He doesn't wanna deal with me and Damon, most likely. Why don't you take him up to your house and do something there? I'm sure you humans have some fun things to do on land, in houses..." He scratched his head. "Sleepover! I'm staying with Damon, obviously, so...it'd be okay to just take him."

"You do realize that I don't blame him in the slightest, right?" Glory pointed out. "You're like a squirrel on crack on a good day. Besides, it's a school night. I need to be out of the house early, remember?"

Archie blinked. "What's a squirrel...? Does it taste good?" He shook his head, realizing he was getting off-topic. "If your school's anything like ours was, nothing happens at all for the three first days. And then important stuff starts occurring. Like learning and all that...I don't think it'd be a big deal not to get too much sleep for a day of just sitting there and listening to teachers babble!"

Léan scratched his head. "Arcturus...if she doesn't want to, then don't push her..."

"Archie... I need to keep my head down and not cause trouble, remember?" Glory reminded. "Cutting class in the first two days is kind of the opposite of what I want to do. Besides, I need to find some way to slip a box cutter or something into my bag in case someone tries to plastic-wrap my car or something." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Maybe if I can find Selena's car, I can put bologna on it... that should peel the paint, at least."

Léan raised an eyebrow. "That reminds me...if you are going to try and take her off of her 'popularity' throne, you should start by gaining the friendship and favor of the most popular male in the school. I am sure by now the two of them are together. She doesn't own a car...he drives her...one day wouldn't be so bad, though--I agree with Arcturus..."

"You guys have to trust me on this one," Glory stressed. "I have to establish myself as a model student. I have to get as close to perfect attendance as I can for as long as possible, so that if I DO end up cutting classes, the teachers will forgive me and assume that Nana had a rough spot or something. Teacher's Pet gets away with everything, and I have to make sure that person is me." She thought for a moment about what Léan said. "If I have to make nice to her boy toy, I think I'm going to need to update my wardrobe a bit. I doubt I can get a guy to like me in ratty jeans and an old flannel shirt, after all..."

"All right...but, even so, not getting a lot of sleep wouldn't make a difference in this case. You probably won't be doing too much intensive brainwork on only your second day of school..." Léan reminded her. Then, he paused. "Well...you might be surprised. While I was with her, I met him. His name is Viktor Vittorio, a boy who moved here at the age of...seven, I believe...from Russia. He isn't...your typical popular male. You will know what I mean once you see him. It would be best not to wear too many bright colors."

"I'll dig through my closet and see what I have to wear," Glory said. Running her hands through her hair, she examined the dark tresses. "Maybe I should see about putting a curl into my hair... I'll definitely wear that red silk shirt I have, maybe with those black skinny jeans..."

Léan nodded, smiling. "From the rumors I heard about him, he can get rather dangerous when he's angry, so please be careful..."

Archie was pouting. "I still say you take him in for a sleepover-thing. You don't have to stay up all night--you can sleep!"

"I'll be careful," Glory reassured. She grinned. "It feels like I'm preparing for a war or something." She would have to be careful not to bring anything valuable to school. She was sure it would somehow disappear. She would definitely have to get a good-quality lock for both her gym locker and her big locker, elsewise her things would slowly disappear and some nasty surprises would be left instead. She would prepare in any way she could to make sure that Selena couldn't touch her.

Archie nuzzled his brother's shoulder. "Hey, Léan. You should make sure to tell her all you know about this Viktor guy...how he's dangerous...what he's like, sort of, I guess...where she should try to make friends with him..."

Léan furrowed his brow and thought. "Well. He wants to go into the Marines. He's tough...lots of muscle. And he can get very dangerous when he's angry, because he's well aware of how to work a gun and may or may not have one on his person..." he muttered, trying to recall everything. "As for what he's like...well...he's not your average air-headed popular male. His family is loaded. They travel around the world during the summer and spend most of their time in Europe and in Hawaii, where they have a summer home--Viktor loves to surf."

Once again, Léan fell silent as he tried to remember what Selena said Viktor liked, course-wise. "You would have a better chance of befriending Viktor when he's not with Selena. They have almost every class together, according to her, because Viktor's parents kindly 'request' that from the administration. They bribe them, basically. You would have to go where Selena fears to tread. And if I'm thinking correctly, the only class he has and she doesn't...would be a class called 'woodshop.'"

"A shop class?" Glory asked. "Interesting... I can see why she wouldn't want to go into that class." She smirked. "Wouldn't want to break a nail, after all." Giving her nails a cursory examination, she shrugged. "Shop sounds interesting."