A Night of Wishes;; open

[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

A princess?

For the second time today, Hallie experienced the nervous flutter of butterflies in her stomach. She was really happy with the performance of everyone in her group, but she couldn't get the gap between her team mates to close. And of course, Hal couldn't leave Megan all by herself, so it was the two of the separated from rest of the group. After the performance, Hal couldn't wait to get out of the stadium, simply because she couldn't deal with the negative energy anymore. And she was super pissed at Megan because the girl hardly tried to make an effort at pleasing the other members, even if that wasn't her thing.

Spending nearly three hours in her bedroom by herself, a much need break from everyone to clear her head, Hallie was ready to step inside the ballroom and potentially face Megan again. But of course, Hal couldn't stay mad at her best friend, especially when her mind was preoccupied with the possibility of seeing Braden at the ball. Just the sound of his name made her heart flutter. She looked down at her ball gown, one that she had requested her parents to send her when she first learnt of the ball, suddenly feeling out of place. She spotted Erinn, in a super short dress, talking to Dean, and wondered if she should run upstairs to change really quick.

After a few minutes pondering what to do, Hallie was just about to turn on her heel when she caught sight of Braden. The very sight of him made her lose every breath in her body. She was immediately washed over with a feeling of joy, and made a quick decision to stay the way she was. After all, she looked like she belonged in a fairytale, and she was afraid that Bray might not stick around and leave before she came back. So Hallie quickly crossed the floor of the room, not trying to look too desperate, but hopefully wishing that something would ignite between them tonight.

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[braden royce barbary]

Braden thought the whole idea of a ball was stupid. The whole dancing thing and dressing up and all that bullshit, it was just not his thing. However, as part of the staff, he had apparently been obligated to show up. At the very least, he figured he could find someone worth his time to flirt with for the night or something, but even that he wasn't so sure would make up for the day he'd had. He was supposed to be in charge and yet, the girls he'd been placed with had shot him down completely. Bitches. Whatever, he was over that by now and completely focused on getting through the rest of the night without totally coming to hate his life. His expectations were low, but he could deal. It was only for a few hours anyways, right? That wasn't so bad. Then he could go out to a bar or something and drink off the irritation. Or maybe he'd go for a smoke. Yeah, that sounded good.

Shrugging out of his previous outfit, Braden through on the closest thing that he owned to classy before heading up to the bar. Taking his smokes out of his pocket, he lit one up and slowly breathed in on it, exhaling just before he reached the Great Hall. Technically, he should have put it out, but he couldn't be assed to waste his cigarette, so he kept it. Walking in with a rather disinterested gaze, Braden looked around to see a few people already dancing, some making out in the corners and one, in particular, standing there all by herself. Clearly, a gentleman like himself couldn't let that happen. Walking up to the girl, he nodded his greeting a bit before taking another drag. "Sup bathroom girl, your boyfriend dump you or some shit?" he asked, flicking his hair back as he spoke in a rather sexy way.

HOTTIE

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

Braden must have had the same idea as Hallie, because she watched him walk towards her as well. She stopped in the middle of the dance floor, letting him come the rest of the way, so she could collect her thoughts without looking like a fool in front of him. He..Hey Braden. She said completely breathlessly. The sight of him up close made her heart flutter even more, and she was pretty sure he could hear her heartbeat. She swallowed a couple of times, trying to force down the lump of dread, that she could act stupid, which had formed. No, my boyfriend didn't dump me. She shook her head and watched for his reaction out of her eye. No my boyfriend didn't dump me, because I never had a boyfriend to begin with. So please please please, here's you chance to ask me. She pleaded with him silently.

Hallie played with a loose thread on her rope belt, trying to avoid Braden's eyes. She knew that when she looked into his deep brown eyes with gold specks ever so delicately reflecting in the light, she would become uselessly lost. She would completely melt inside, and might become a number to his very long list of flirts-and-runs. She bit on her lip nervously, looking up ever so casually. So uhh, do you like my dress? It was the lamest question that Hallie could have come up with, but she didn't know what else to say. The otherwise intelligent girl turned to mush around Bray, something that was quite wonderful and a little scary at the same time. She flashed him a smile of white teeth. Hey, shouldn't I be asking you where you're girlfriend is? I doubt she would like it if I told her you were flirting with every girl in the room. Hallie glanced passed Braden's shoulder and around the room, in search of a girl that could possibly be his girlfriend. She seriously hoped he didn't have one; and she pathetically kept glancing down at herself, as if wishing to be Bray's fling would automatically make her one.

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[braden royce barbary]

Reaching the girl, Braden raised an eyebrow a bit at how nervous she was acting. Damn, girls were so emotional. He honestly didn't even know what to do with them half the time. If they weren't there for sex and making out, he was all but lost. Just talking was too much to handle, since he never really knew what they wanted from him. Whatever. He shrugged a bit when she said her boyfriend didn't dump her, not sure what to say. "Oh, gotcha. Just kinda figured or whatever," he said. He didn't know why, exactly, he had assumed that, but she just seemed like the sort of girl that would have some devoted boyfriend that she was totally in love with and had promised herself to for the rest of her life or something.

Scratching at the back of his head, he wasn't sure, at all, what to say about the dress question. He wasn't an expert on them and he gave her a look that said exactly that. "Yeah, it's...really...white," he replied, equally as lamely. He certainly wasn't known for his elegance in speaking. Looking about awkwardly for a second, he turned his attention back towards her when he asked about his girlfriend. Wait, what girlfriend? Did he have one? Shit. "Aw, shit. My girlfriend, yeah. That one. Uhm, any chance you know..what...she looks like? Or anything about her?" Braden asked, his eyes rather shifty. If he had seriously forgotten about a girlfriend, it was probably a good idea that he figure out who it was and fix the situation before it got out of control.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

Based on the expression he was giving her, Hallie could tell that her nerves were getting the best of her. She certainly didn't want to act like a over dramatic fool in front of him, so she took a few quick breaths of air. To keep her mind off of Braden even more, she began mentally humming her favorite lullaby, one that her mother often used to get her to fall asleep.

Uh, yeah. It is white. I thought it would go nicely with my skin, especially since I got a wicked tan from standing out in the sun today. She smiled warmly at him, hoping to ease any tension from the air. So did you see my performance today? I was kind of hoping you would. Her face flushed a pink in color, as she was quite embarrassed by her words. She seriously hoped he wasn't smart enough to understand that she was majorly crushing on him.

As much as Hallie was smart and, as evident by his actions and words, Braden was on the dumber side, she honestly believed she had a chance with him. It was quite pathetic for her to think that she was going to be the one for him, especially because he looks like the type of guy who's slept around a lot. So as much as she knew that she was completely wrong for the guy, hearing him say so flat out destroyed her inside. Hallie was only kidding when she asked if he had a girlfriend, but apparently he was serious in saying that he had to find her. Her face fell, and she could already feel the hot tears rising to her eyes. The perfect little image that she had created around the few interactions she had with Bray in the bathroom was crumbling around her.

How should I know? Pick any girl in this room. I'm sure at one point or another, you told her you wanted to be with her. Her voice was shaking, even though she intended for her words to come out strong. Eventually, when she calmed down, she would realize that she had no right to be mad, simply because he never reciprocated the feelings. But at the moment, Hallie couldn't stand to be around this monster who broke her heart. Yeahh, I've got to go. She took off towards the door, hoping that her tears would last until then.

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[braden royce barbary]

It was just this sort of thing that confused Braden about girls. If they seriously thought that he cared about what color dress they wore and exactly why the chose it, they were sorely mistaken. In fact, as far as Braden was concerned, he didn't even care if they wore anything at all and on most occasions would have preferred if they didn't. However, they also expected him to pretend like he cared, which was also dumb. What was the point of bullshitting around when he knew that they knew that he didn't give a damn? It was stupid. Braden didn't see why they didn't just make it simple and not care. "Yep, sunny out today. Lots of...tanning," he said in agreement, his best attempt at showing some sort of interest in the whole thing.

Her next move confused him as well. Why did she care whether or not he saw the whole performance thing? Besides, he wasn't into that sort of crap. He was too busy running around being an awesome security man. Which, actually, would make a pretty good story. "Nah, man. I had to go take down some asshole that thought he was tough shit. Tried to hit up on this girl and I was the man that got to stop him. Pretty tight shit," he nodded. In reality, it hadn't been nearly that awesome, but he didn't see any fault in embellishing a little bit. Okay, more than a little. The guy had just been making out with his girlfriend a little too hardcore in front of some kids and Braden had just given them a key to the Caretaker's hut to go do what they needed, but that was close enough. He'd still been the coolest security man ever.

A snarl of irritation crossed Braden's face at her comment, which, though likely true, was totally rude. He hadn't done a damn thing and there she was lookin' all cranky and mad with him. "Well, yeah, cause it'd be true. All of them want me," he shrugged. Obviously, he couldn't deny the completely obvious things about life. And now she was leaving? "The fuck did I do? What the hell?" he protested, irritably. Whatever. If she wanted to leave, than he damn well wasn't about to stop her. Obviously, she was just an emotional bitch and he didn't have the brain capacity to deal with that right now. Hell, he had to find his girlfriend anyways. How drunk had he been? Damn. How could he seriously be expected to remember who he had said things to? He said a lot of things. All the time.

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[megan lynn aldridge]

One would think that, given the insane amount of conflict Megan got in, it wouldn't effect her in the least when she got into a fight and on most occasions, that would be true. With most people, Megan couldn't have cared any less what they thought of her and fighting with them was just something that happened, which she could blow off and forget without batting an eyelash. However, it was different with Hallie. Hallie was, essentially, like a younger sister to her. Never having had a close relationship with her own family, the Cauldwells were pretty much all she had in life and they meant more to her than anything. Hallie in particular was someone that she often catered to more than she would to the majority of people. She was younger and perhaps the only person that had ever brought out the protective side of Megan, so when they got into arguments, Megan felt it.

Not being the most logical when it came to dealing with her problems, Megan tended to turn to alcohol when things went bad. It was her crutch, her coping mechanism and she could, more or less, be labeled an alcoholic. If she'd had a better support system in her parents, perhaps it would have been different, but that wasn't the case. Her mother had left, her father was useless and her siblings were a part of that. So, alcohol took the place of them. After the fight with Hallie, Megan had quickly gotten out her private stash of alcohol that she shared with Payton and started drinking. The familiar feel of the firewhiskey flooding down her throat was comforting, more so than it should have been, and before long, Megan was content. Well, not so much content as resolved to the fact that it was time for revenge. Somehow, she'd get back at Hallie for being a bitch and to do that, she'd have to go down to the ball.

Megan hadn't been intending on showing up to the ball, but this changed things significantly. Of course, since she was the type that liked to fancy herself up once in awhile, she had a number of outfits that would be suitable for the occasion. Deciding on a green dress, since of course she had to show her house pride, Megan quickly changed into it, adding the proper accessories and such to her outfit. She looked rather stunning, that was for sure, and somehow it seemed like the perfect way to show Hallie who was the biggest bitch in the family. Megan already considered herself a part of the Cauldwell family, since it seemed like an inevitability that in some way she would be adopted into the family. Of course, most seemed to think that it would be a union between herself and Peyton, but that was just ridiculous to Megan.

Leaving from the Slytherin dormitories, Megan stalked up the stairs to the Great Hall. She didn't appear to be all that drunk, since she had her wits about her, but she was pretty wasted. It just so happened that this time, instead of manifesting itself in giddiness and laughter, it was in anger. It was rare that it happened, but when Megan's drunkenness turned into a plan of revenge and seriousness, it was dangerous. She did things that she knew would hurt people to the core and she was downright evil in those cases. Walking into the hall, she looked around for a moment to catch her bearings, looking rather like a predator stalking her prey. That prey was Hallie and as soon as Megan caught sight of her, it was over. She knew exactly what she needed to do.

From what she could tell, Hallie was fleeing the scene about to cry and Braden was standing in her wake, confused as hell. From what Megan knew of the two, Hallie misinterpreted something dumb that Braden had said and took it much more seriously than she should have. That presented the perfect opportunity for Megan to swoop in and take control of the situation. A rather scheming look on her face, Megan walked right past Hallie, completely ignoring her friend's look of devastation, making her way right over to Braden. Without even hesitating for a moment, Megan wrapped her arms around the boy in greeting, giving him a flirtatious look as she did so. "Braden, mon amour, what say you and I take this party somewhere a lot more fun? Don't waste your time here with these kids, we've better things to do," she said, eying him with that seductive gaze that could get any man, and many women, to fall right into her trap. When Megan was on the warpath, no one was safe. Not even Hallie.

THE OUTFIT

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

Deep down inside, Hallie knew she was over reacting. Simply said, she was wrong for lashing out at Braden, but she couldn't stop herself before she truly understood what was happening. And eventually, she knew that it would be up to her to make things right again...to apologize to Braden. Maybe take him out to dinner as some sort of I'm truly sorry about my actions kind of thing. Whatever the future held for those two, Hallie needed to get out of the Great Hall that second, otherwise she was going to lose it. If anything, she was mostly upset at herself, for allowing one guy to push her over the edge.

Although she tried to get out of the room quickly, because she didn't want anyone to see in her wrecked state, Hallie could still make out those people around her. She was especially shocked when she saw Megan strolling into the ballroom, looking stunning as usual. If she wasn't so mad, Hallie would have definitely caught up with Megan and hugged her old friend. But she was still pissed off at Megan, because the girl didn't even try to cooperate with the other team mates. Not to mention, Hal was completely shocked at the girl's attendance, after Megan had stated several times that she wasn't going to the ball.

Hallie wiped away the tears from her eyes, focusing all of her attention on her best friend. She wanted to do a little investigation, as to why Megan did indeed show up for the ball. She started to make her way towards the girl, but then stopped to see where she was headed. Megan had such a look of determination on her face, and Hal wanted to know what is was her friend was aiming for. Watching Megan cross the floor, Hallie's jaw dropped in disbelief. Hal could she that Megan was headed straight towards Braden, and shock flashed on her face when the girl threw her arms around him. That little bitch! She was mentally screaming inside, as her last physical connections to the ball broke. She felt as if she was completely out of her body, hoping that the situation going down in front of her was only just a dream.

Making a beeline for Megan and Braden, Hallie took deep breaths to ensure that she wouldn't completely lose it when she reached them. In fact, at the moment, she was quite sure what to say to either of them. And of course she didn't want to be known as the girl who started drama at the school's ball. But she knew why Megan went after Bray...to get revenge on her. Uh Megan, what are you doing? Hallie managed to stay completely calm when talking to her friend. But she didn't know how much longer she could maintain her shock.

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[braden royce barbary]

Girls were confusing. Braden didn't have the brain capacity to really understand where they were coming from or why they did what he did, so he gave up. Whatever it was that was causing Hallie to go run off in a mood was her problem and if he'd done something, than it was her job to tell him so that he could either not care or apologize. He didn't really want her to go, that was for sure, but he didn't know what he could really do to stop it, so whatever. If she wanted to be a crazy psycho, than she could go be a crazy psycho someplace else and then find him later when she was over it. Braden didn't see the point in putting forth any effort that would be wasted, since she'd eventually come back to apologize. All girls did eventually. Usually. And if they didn't, than whatever. Their loss.

Kicking his foot at the ground as she left, Braden was about to turn to leave when he saw a certain Miss Megan Aldridge coming up with a rather determined glint in her eyes. He'd been around her enough to know that this would either be really good for him, or really bad for him. If she was mad at someone else, that would mean he was in for a hell of a time, but if she was mad at him..than he probably wanted to run. He knew she was pretty tight with Hallie and there was a good chance that she wouldn't want a guy like him talking to her, so for a moment there, Braden was about ready to slink the other way and avoid any sort of confrontation with the girl. When she was pissed, she was dangerous and she definitely looked pissed.

However, before he could make his escape, she was there. Fortunately for him, in a good mood and definitely coming on to him. Braden couldn't deny that this was a good thing. Wait, no. This was a bad thing. He wasn't supposed to do this anymore. But...she was hot. And she was coming onto him pretty hardcore. Besides, it was a party. He was allowed to have fun once in awhile, wasn't he. A rather goofy grin took over his face, his attention now completely distracted by the fact that Megan was wrapped around him. "Well, hey," he commented with a nod of his head. Honestly, there wasn't much else he could have done at that point and while he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the situation, he couldn't deny that it wasn't definitely fun.

It changed, however, when Hallie came up back next to the two of them. She definitely didn't look to pleased by the fact that he was there with Megan wrapped around him, though he couldn't have told you at all why it mattered to her. In this situation, Bray felt that it was for the best if he just kind of stood there and waited it out. Hallie wasn't yelling at him, Megan wasn't pissed at him and he had a hot girl with her arms around him. Knowing it likely wouldn't last for long, Braden took the opportunity to savor the moment. He didn't know the next time this would happen to him and he wasn't about to just give it up. Besides, no one was mad at him. Good day.

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[megan lynn aldridge]

Honestly, the only thing that was on Megan's mind as she made her move on Braden was hurting Hallie. She knew that the young girl had something of a crush on Braden and that, even if it wasn't that serious, Hallie would know she was doing it for that reason. Were it just being Megan slutting around, it wouldn't matter, but it was done with the complete intention of crushing Hallie and perhaps whatever chance she may have had with Braden. After all, it wasn't like he could just say no to her. He hadn't in the past, that was for sure. Perhaps Megan should have thought about her own budding relationship and how this might factor into it, but she didn't care. That might have been a sign to most people that the relationship she was in wasn't exactly going to work out for long, but Megan didn't pick up on that either.

As she came up to Braden and started to analyze his reaction, she was pleased to see that he was at least somewhat interested. He wasn't pulling away and his eyes revealed at least a hint of interest, so that was a good start. The further that went, the more Hallie would get hurt. And that was exactly what Megan wanted. Hell, she'd go so far as to have sex with the guy if it came down to it. Sex meant nothing to her. It was just another daily activity, pretty much, such as taking a shower, but she knew it was something different for Hallie. Were she to actually go that far and take him back to bed with her, she knew that it would completely and utterly destroy Hallie and her perception of Braden. Extreme? Definitely. But that was just how Megan was when she was drunk and on the warpath. Nothing was too far for her.

Turning to Hallie with a subtle smirk on her face, but not letting go of Braden, Megan simply shrugged. "I'm here saving Braden from the immaturity of all the young kids here. I'm sure he'd much rather be off having a real good time with me than looking after everyone here," she shrugged, as if it were nothing. Bringing her hands up to Braden's shoulders, a gleam took over as she watched Hallie from the corner of her eye. However, it appeared as if she were completely absorbed with Braden at the moment, letting her hands trail down his body until they caught on the top of his pants, where she let them rest, her fingers wrapped around the loops of his waistline. "Unless you had a problem with our going off for some wild sex?" Megan added with an innocent grin.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

To say the least, Hallie was in complete shock. Sure, she was seeing the situation unfold before her, but her mind couldn't process it. She just couldn't understand why her friend would do this. Her own best friend, her sister. Hal and Megan have been through a lot, considering Hallie's family practically adopted the girl after her own family refused to speak to her. There wasn't another person that Hallie could trust more than Megan, that Hallie could ask for advice from, that Hallie could just vent to. She loved the girl more than her two legitimate sisters, and Hallie just couldn't understand why Megan would want to hurt her. Especially like this...going after the one thing that truly brought Hal joy.

Her icy blue stare intensified as Hallie looked directly into Megan's eyes. I cannot believe you would seriously do this, just because I asked you to cooperate this after noon! Hallie was devastated inside. She seriously felt as if someone had punch her in the stomach, and she couldn't draw any air in. Her breathing came in short breathes, and she felt sharp pangs near her heart. She could feel herself become faint, as the energy drained out of her. She seriously doubted Megan and Braden could see a physical difference in her appearance, especially because they were so wrapped in each other. There are better ways to solve this, Megan! That does not include going after the guy I like! Her voice faltered, amplifying even more how she was completely deteriorating inside.

Hallie clutched at her side, as words could not express how deeply depressed she was at the moment. She could feel the tears glittering in her eyes, she wasn't going to let them fall. They weren't for some random guy that she had been crushing on, but rather for a strong sisterhood that was now broken. She looked down, and whispered. I doubt he'll have any fun with you. In fact, you guys probably won't even remember it tomorrow. She looked back up at Megan, narrowing her stare once more. I swear to Merlin, Megan. If you seriously go through with this, I will never speak to you again. She spoke loudly so the two of them could hear it, but no one else in the room. Hallie continued to stare directly at Megan, to show the girl that she was serious. Because this wasn't about some petty relationship that probably would never happen. No, this was much more. This was about the betrayal of a friendship between two sisters.

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[braden royce barbary]

Although Braden was all for going off with Megan and getting the hell out of the ball, he wasn't sure how good of an idea that was. Clearly, there was something serious going on between her and Hallie at the moment and for whatever reason, he was caught in the middle. Now, Braden had been in the middle of girl fights before, especially in his younger years, but this was different, it seemed. Megan, as far as he knew, didn't get into confrontations over guys. He knew that she didn't care about him enough for that and that as she was saying at the moment, was just there for sex. He was about to say something, but the fact that Megan's hands were slowly working their way down his chest and then resting down at his waistline certainly made it difficult to keep his attention on anything.

Keeping a rather ambivalent look on his face, his eyes flashed over to Hallie. Okay, so they were fighting over the stupid dancing thing from earlier. That definitely didn't make sense, since he had nothing to do with that. His eyes trailed down to the ground, lost in thought and not sure he wanted to listen to any more of the two fighting. However, his ears caught on to the second thing that she said. Guy that she liked. Was she talking about him? Well, of course she was talking about him. Who else could she have been talking about? That definitely made the situation a lot more tricky. He was used to the more innocent types falling for him, since he was the iconic badboy and obviously quite hard to resist and those sort of things always had to be handled with care. He hated dealing with crying girls, especially when it was his fault.

And, as it seemed, Hallie was about ready to cry about it all. On one hand, he could just slide away from Megan and let the situation pass. That would end with Hallie not being mad at him and possibly not at Megan, but then he wouldn't get sex. Then, he could just kind of go with it, but that would end in all sorts of crying. But, there would be sex. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could find a way to slip out of the situation and still get sex. Yeah, that's what he needed. Maybe Hallie was all for having sex. She wasn't so bad, so he definitely wasn't against the idea, but for some reason it seemed kind of wrong. Like he would be defiling her with such an act or something. Yeah, that wasn't really an option either. Somehow, he had a feeling that he just couldn't win in this situation.

He almost piped up to say that he certainly wasn't drunk and would remember everything tomorrow, but felt that this would only make the situation even worse than it already was. Really, he didn't think it was his place to say anything at the time, so he kind of awkwardly shifted his eyes away from the two, making no other movements. He didn't want to upset either of the girls, though it appeared that they were both already pretty damn upset. "Ah, maybe we should...sit you both down someplace and you can...talk?" he suggested after a few moments. That's how this worked, right? They talked and later hugged to get over it or whatever, yeah? At least, that was Bray's hope at least. If they could chill out, then he could have a chance of getting out of there safely.

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[megan lynn aldridge]

The further that this went, the more determined the drunken Megan became. She could feel and see the effects of her actions coming out in Hallie and it was working just as she wanted it to. Hallie was completely taking it to heart and she knew that Megan was doing this for the sole reason of bringing her down. However, her comment made Megan wonder. Was this really just about the stupid performance that they'd been asked to do? Really, Megan couldn't have cared less about it, to be honest, and Hallie's attempts to get her to cooperate were just an expected annoyance. At the time, it hadn't bothered her any more than just her brushing it off with a laugh or a scoff, so why was it such a big deal now? Clearly, there was something deeper to Megan's anger and that wasn't something that she realized. The anger was something long coming, a culmination of the irritation that she felt over the fact that Hallie was the only one that continued to point out the obvious- Peyton. The more Hallie made her think about what the relationship she had with Peyton was, the more resentful Megan got towards the girl. It was resent that she hadn't realized, but it was slowly building up and now coming out in this.

Her eyes looked away from Brayden, who was now just a tool being used towards her revenge, to stare into Hallie's eyes. Megan wasn't the type to balk at such a direct and confrontational gaze, no matter how ashamed or regretful she was supposed to feel. Megan just couldn't feel those emotions anymore. All of that side of her, the side that could care, had been taken away and the odds of it coming back out were slim. Admittedly, it was there, but it was so buried behind the walls Megan had built up around herself, that it came out only on the most serious of occasions and even then, most often only for Peyton. As much as she loved Hallie and would do just about anything for her, that didn't stop her from pulling something like this. From completely shutting down her emotions and acting purely on revenge.

The cold look which Hallie was giving Megan was returned tenfold by the ice bitch herself. Megan could easily turn her face into a blank, almost sneering look without even trying. It came more natural to her than any other look did and it was scary. To think that someone, anyone, could shut off as much as Megan did was surely a frightening thought. Without some feeling there to combat her anger, there were no boundaries that she wouldn't cross. "Hallie, do you really think this is about this afternoon? As if I could actually care," she scoffed, rolling her eyes a bit. "And, there's nothing to solve. I just happen to want to have sex tonight and Braden seems like a great place to start," she added, shrugging it off as if it were something simple and as if there were no underlying meanings to her actions.

The occasions where Megan turned into this completely heartless person were rare, but for it to happen to Hallie was an incredible oddity. Not even the tears threatening to fall from Hallie's eyes were enough to move Megan from her steely intentions. Megan was honestly and truly gone, at the moment, with little chance of her coming around to even attempt patching up the things that she had done. "Hallie, love, what makes you think we won't remember it? Honestly, he's probably some of the best sex I've had. No way I forget that," she commented, giving Hallie an almost triumphant grin. As if, in some way, the fact that she was going to be having sex with Braden was a triumph against Hallie. Certainly, it would crush her to watch them go off.

Megan should have faltered, even for just a moment, at what Hallie said. It was a serious situation and Megan, were she sober, may have questioned her actions. In some way, she may have stopped herself to pull back and stop. However, she was drunk. At the moment, Hallie didn't matter. All that mattered was that she showed Hallie that she could win. At least, that's what she assumed this was showing. However, at it's core, it was an attempt to show Hallie that she was wrong. That Megan didn't have feelings for Peyton. If she could go out and hook up, than how could she have feelings for Peyton? And if she could prove that all while hurting Hallie, than all the better. "Yeah? Well, maybe I don't want you to," she shrugged, her expression not changing even once as she spoke.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

Hallie blinked a few times, trying to process what Megan was telling her. A look of shock passed over her face, because she certainly didn't expect the girl to come back at her so harshly. Hallie experienced Megan's drunken rages many times, and quite commonly there were things that the latter girl said to hurt Hal's feelings, but she never took them to heart. Especially because she knew that they would make up for it the next day. But this, this fight right now was different. It was as if Megan didn't care about her, like Hallie didn't exist in her world at the moment. And that terrified her.

She was in a state of daze, not knowing what to do. She heard Braden mention something about sitting down and talking, but Hallie felt as if she was paralyzed in this position. She was screaming on the inside for Megan to snap out of it, but she was frozen in space and time. To Hallie, things completely stopped, as her glance flickered from Megan to Braden and back. Some of the best sex you've had? As in you guys have hooked up before? Her voice was barely more than a whisper. She looked past Megan's shoulder, but she couldn't see anything. Her vision was blurry, but not because of the influence of tears, but because Hallie couldn't focus on the words forming inside her head.

Something snapped inside the girl, as all memories with Megan seemed to completely erase themselves from Hallie's mind. She couldn't feel anything for her former best friend anymore. Like Megan was never a part of Hallie's life. Maybe it was unfair of her, because Megs was acting under the influence of alcohol. But it had to be something much deeper than that, because Megan would never attack her friend as harshly as she was now. Hallie couldn't just stand there and take it, so she destroyed the bridge of friendship connecting herself to Megan Aldridge. Perhaps forever.

Her sight finally focused on Braden. She wasn't sure how she felt for him anymore, even though it was unfair, because he certainly didn't start this mess. She nodded towards him. Braden Barbary, I'm truly sorry for the way things played out tonight. Hopefully I will be able to make this up to you somehow. Hallie's voice was an eerie calm, as if nothing happened, and her face showed no emotion. It was like those last few minutes of interaction with Braden and Megan erased itself from her memory as well. Peyton and I are leaving for London tomorrow. I need to pack. She turned on her heel and walked away slowly from the two. A seed, a very small seed, some where deep inside of her hoped that Megan would become herself again, or that Bray would stop her. But she knew that wasn't going to happen. And she knew that Megan Aldridge was no longer welcomed in her life.

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[braden royce barbary]

To be honest, Braden had never seen Megan like this. Sure, he'd seen her pretty pissed off before and he'd been on the receiving end of her wrath on more than one occasion, but he had never seen her so completely and utterly shut off from any sense of humanity that she had. Braden could be pretty bad sometimes, but he was nothing like that. He anxiously shifted from where he was, stepping slightly away from Megan as she let her hold on him loosen as she turned to face Hallie and unleash her anger. Bray didn't get what the whole fight was about, but he could at least sense that it was something a lot more serious than just the performance from earlier that day. Whatever the issues were between the two, that definitely wasn't something that he wanted to find himself wrapped up in.

It seemed, however, that he was being dragged into this one way or other. The fact that Megan was openly admitting to the fact that they'd hooked up before bothered Braden. For whatever reason, he didn't want Hallie to know that. He felt as if, somehow, it made things bad for his case to be Hallie's well, he didn't even know what he wanted out of her. Hell, he wasn't even sure he wanted anything from her at all after this debacle. To have set Megan off on a rage like that, she must have done some pretty serious shit, right? No one went that crazy without some sort of reason behind it. He wanted to say something to set Hallie straight, tell her that it had been in the past and that it wasn't happening again, he thought. But, he couldn't.

Glancing down at his feet for a bit as the two continued to hash it out, he only looked back up when he heard his name slip from Hallie's lips. He wasn't sure how to respond to her, but he nodded a bit to show that he was listening and that he definitely wouldn't be opposed to it. "Yeah, bathroom girl. Let me know, I guess," he called out as she was leaving, even if he was slightly worried that Megan might attack him if he did so. However, she seemed to be rather oddly calm as he did so, uncaring. It seemed that, with Hallie effectively pissed off and gone, Megan was content with her actions and now couldn't care less what he did. It was an eerie feeling, but Braden didn't want to leave the girl just yet until he had assured that she wasn't going to leave and go off on some sort of murderous rampage around the school. Obviously, it was up to him to keep the school safe.

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