Love and Loss

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Summary: They loved. They lost. Well, welcome to high school. AU

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Disclaimer: I do not own any character. This story may or may not be fictitious. Any questions not answered throughout the story will be answered at the end.

Author's Note: Little fact that it's important to understand some things: The dates are NOT MM/DD/YYYY. They are written as DD/MM/YYYY instead. I'm not European, but that's how I do it, and it's more natural for me to do it that way. Also, the time is NOT the twelve-hour system. It's in the 24 hour clock. So, yeah. Now you won't be confused.

Also…this first chapter is gonna be kinda boring. . It's pretty much just introducing the characters and setting the stage up. The next chapter SHOULD be more interesting!

~x~

Chapter One: Just Another Day

As it did every morning, the alarm from the across the room began to blare. With a groan, a teenage girl merely rolled over, covering her head with the squishy green frog that she had been sleeping with. However, after a few seconds, she stumbled out of bed and turned it off. As her fingers fumbled with the little switch, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror hanging above her dresser.

Her brunette hair was sticking up and around her head in awkward angles. The girl merely sighed and grabbed a small hair-tie from the dresser top and headed to the bathroom.

Not only was it 06:30, but it was 06:30 on a Monday morning. "Elie, is your sister awake?" called her mother loudly. The brunette looked up and shrugged, still not awake enough to be bothered with words. "Can you check for me?"

"Hey, Resha, are you awake?" she asked, hitting the door to her sisters bedroom. The door slowly slid open, revealing her twin. Resha and Elie were identical in everything except for one thing – hair length. Elie's never grew much longer than her shoulders, and Resha wouldn't cut hers any shorter than elbows. Resha was already awake, her damp hair dripping down her back and onto the tan carpet. Without waiting for an answer, Elie confirmed to her mother and headed to the bathroom.

Though they were identical, Elie and Resha were not very much alike. Elie was a tomboy, though she didn't play sports. She only considered a tomboy because she could play sports – football was her favorite, and something she was quite skilled at – and all of her close friends with boys, with one exception. Resha was all sorts of girly. Rather than be outside and play in the dirt or a football field, she danced. She was one of the most skilled dancers that Toledo, Ohio (their hometown) had ever seen. Unlike Elie, who went to public school, she had been begged by scouters to enroll in the Toledo Art Academy. The only real similarity the two had was their sense of style. Though she spent a great deal of time with boys, Elie liked to wear tighter shirts and skinny jeans, as did her twin. Elie was much more liable to switch into more comfortable clothing than Resha was, however.

As the brunette finished in the bathroom, she took a good look in the mirror. Her heart-shaped face stared back at her as her eyes moved around her features critically. The only things that Elie could honestly admit to liking about herself were her eyes – brown, but not the ugly poop-brown. They were chocolate brown filled with all sorts of different hues and shades and little designs. Of course, Resha had the exact same features, but Elie would readily admit that her twin was beautiful. There was just something about her.

Once Elie was all dressed for the day in skintight brown long sleeved shirt underneath a gray polo with long white pants – the dress code for her school consisted of any solid color polo and khakis or slacks or no shorter a fingertip-length skirt. No jeans, sweats or any name brand clothing was allowed, really. Elie didn't mind. She quite liked how she looked in a polo.

"Only a few more days until our birthday!" said Resha, entering the room. Elie grinned at her in the mirror, running a brush through her hair slowly to see if she could get it to lay flat without a straightener. "I'm so excited! Now I can finally say Shiba's my boyfriend without Mom getting all hissy!"

Shiba was Resha's boyfriend of nearly three years, but because of their parents ironclad rule of no dating before the age of sixteen, they were 'unofficial.' "Yeah," she agreed quietly.

Resha was always the speaker of the two. Elie could be loud and obnoxious, but that was usually only near her friends. "And you and Lucia, eh? About time you two fess up," continued the dancer happily, twirling around. Immediately, color flooded into Elie's cheeks.

"There's nothing go on with Lucia and I!" she snapped, rolling her eyes. Lucia was her second best friend, only behind Musica. The two of them actually had a pretty interesting story…

Originally, they had met when they were very young. She had been walking alone in the rain during a Homecoming parade for their future high school – where Lucia's father taught – and he had called out and began to talk to her. As children will, they both remembered the incident without ever actually remembering each other. So, when the two met again in middle school, this was lost. They did not care for each other, and rarely spoke. By the end of the middle school, they were decent, but faded back into indifference for their freshman year. Halfway through last year – sophomore year – they had finally connected. They began to talk, and the more they talked, the more they liked each other. In about month, they were very best friends. And with Lucia came Elie's number one best friend; Musica.

Musica she had also met in middle school, and the two hated each other. Their dislike of each other was not due to anything personal; she hated him because her best friend hated him, and he hated her because she was best friends with his ex, whom he also hated. But, when Elie became friends with Lucia, Musica was also nearby, and over the same course of time she was becoming friends with Lucia, she grew close to him as well. They texted often, and also had a good laugh together.

Of course, she had other friends; Let and Julia, who were almost never seen apart. They had been a couple since the end of the sixth grade, and were that couple that would probably never break up. Let was a year ahead, starting his senior year, but Julia was in the same grade as everyone else. She was the closest thing to a girl-best-friend Elie had, though that was stretching it a bit. Other people dabbled her life as well, like Haru, Melodia, Branch, and Reina, but Lucia, Musica, Let and Julia were the top four.

Resha grinned widely. "Don't lie to me, Elie. I see how he protects you. He acts like a shield for you, and you always get all shy around him. Just admit it that you guys are madly in love!" she said, ducking as her twin threw something at her.

"Lucia Raregroove is my best friend, and that's it. Jeez, you sound like all my other friends…"

"Maybe that's because, I dunno, we're right?"

This time, Elie turned and took a step toward her. Though Resha knew she wouldn't actually hurt her, she ran out of the room, laughing the entire time. Elie grinned, grabbing her phone and her schoolbag and headed downstairs. They didn't necessarily get along, but Elie could not imagine her life without her twin. Even if they weren't twins, she wasn't sure that she'd be able to go through life without her there.

"I'm off to Lucia's," called Elie, grabbing a bottle of water and a granola bar and ignoring her sister's snigger. Her mother nodded without taking her eyes off the television. She would be driving Resha to the other end of town in about thirty minutes, but Elie got a ride with Lucia and his mother because it was easier on everyone.

He lived down the street from her. Or, rather, Elie and her family had moved into a house that was down the street from him. He had lived there pretty much his entire life, but the Valentine family had only been there for almost two years. This had worked wonderfully during the summer, when Elie would spend the day at his house.

Immediately, a smile came to her face at the thought. She had loved spending those days with him, even though it drove her insane trying to read his mixed signals. Some of the things he said made her wonder if…well, if everyone was right about them. But then she would remind herself that Lucia was the last person that would ever want a relationship and the wonder vanished.

Elie herself had been involved in only one serious relationship, and that was a year ago. She rarely spoke to the guy anymore, as the breakup had been ugly and neither one could bear to see the other anymore. She didn't mind being single; boys were just a complication when it came to relationships.

As she neared the house, she wondered what it would be like to be Lucia's girlfriend… The thought sent hot blush racing up her cheeks, and she quickly shook it off before knocking on the door. None of the Raregroove's understood why she still knocked, but Elie did it every single time she got there. Over the noise of their dog's endless barking, she heard a tired command; "Down, you stupid dog." Lucia's voice made Elie smile; he hated that dog. The door swung open, but before she could get a glance of his face, he turned from view. She followed him, waving at his mother as they passed her on their way into the living room.

As usual, Lucia took the recliner on the right, in front of the massive window. Deep Snow – whose name was actually Silvio but refused to answer to the name and instead gave himself the nickname Deep Snow due to his winter birthday – was in the left recliner, leaving the couch in the back for Elie. Deep Snow had been adopted into the family when Lucia's mother had miscarried a child. Though they had been brothers since Lucia was three, they did not get along too well, though Lucia was usually too tired in the morning to be bothered by his younger brother.

"Good morning, Deep Snow," Elie said brightly, taking her usual seat. The younger boy smiled at her happily for a second before returning back to the television. The three of them watched for a little bit longer before Mrs. Raregroove appeared, telling them that it was time to go. Like her husband, she was a teacher, but for elementary school students rather than high school. Bowsher, which was the school Elie and her friends attended as well as where Mr. Raregroove worked as an English and German teacher, was on the way to her school, so to save the trouble, she just took them all on her way to work. If Mr. Raregroove didn't get to work at the time Elie woke up, they'd probably ride with him.

All three of them were silent in the car, too tired to talk. Most mornings were like this; neither Lucia nor Deep Snow were morning people, nor were they especially avid talkers. Of course, if Lucia was actually in the right mood, he could talk for hours. It ran in the family.

"Thank you for the ride," said Elie politely as she climbed out of the car as they pulled into the drop off area. Mrs. Raregroove waved, and the three of them headed inside to where their friends were. As soon as Lucia and Elie were by their friends, the whole mood changed. They were suddenly very much awake and energetic, even Lucia.

Elie went and sat down with Musica and Haru, watching them hurry to do their math homework. Musica was always talking about how Haru was his number two best friend, right behind Elie, though she hadn't spoken much to him. He sat next to her in their history class, but that was about as far as their friendship went.

"Do you ever do homework at, I dunno, home?" teased Elie, poking Musica's side. He merely scowled, continuing on.

Haru looked up and grinned. "Nope," he answered. Elie didn't pay much attention to him, too distracted by Lucia. He was speaking with Let and Julia, and seemed to going on about video game or other. Lucia was one of the biggest gamers that Elie had ever met, except maybe for Haru, though she didn't know how serious about the game he was. The brunette also played a few games, but mostly the older stuff. The older the game, the more she liked it.

Musica looked up then, grimacing slightly. "You know how my stepdad is," he said with a clip of annoyance. His stepfather had a strange order of importance; housework, yard work, more housework, chores, and then homework. And because Musica was the only worker in the house – he had a younger sister, Rosa, but she was practically useless. His stepfather would probably do more work, but he was a disabled veteran, and wasn't supposed to be lifting anything too heavy. Musica didn't mind the word itself, it was just how awful his stepfather was that angered him.

"And I'm just too lazy," chimed in Haru happily, and the two turned back to their work. Elie rolled her eyes, but stayed with the two and continued to talk. She wanted desperately to go and talk to Lucia, to be near him… But she didn't dare. People were already convinced she had feelings for him, and there'd be no sense in making it worse for herself.

When the bell rang, the group began to dissipate. Elie stayed behind with Musica and Haru, watching Lucia's back as he walked towards the doors with Let and Julia. A wave of longing washed over her, but she quickly masked it and joined in the conversation.

"Did we have any homework for Harrison?" asked Musica, leaning around Haru to get a good look at Elie. Both of them were a great deal taller than her, and both had muscles. Haru was rather scrawny, though, whereas Musica was more built.

"I don't think so," replied the brunette, sticking her tongue out. Mrs. Harrison was their English teacher, and not one that she enjoyed having. With a laugh, Haru stepped back and pushed Elie next to Musica, making her in the middle so that talking would be easier. To annoy her, the two of them began talking over her head. "Quit it!" she snapped, hitting them both.

The school day passed without any incident. The only true excitement came from lunch, where Musica and his girlfriend, Reina, put on the usual show of tickling him. Though he didn't look it at all, Musica was incredibly ticklish. It wasn't even like he had 'secret spots'. No, he was just ticklish. To make things even better, he wasn't able to control his body when he was being tickled. He made girlish noises and tended to pelvic thrust if he were standing. Elie had been on the receiving end of that one time at a party, where he was tackled on top of Elie, somehow, and tickled.

"Elie, I have to get a ride," Lucia announced in their last period. Usually, they walked together and now that they couldn't today disappointed Elie greatly. She loved spending time with him, especially the walks home. He would just talk about something or other, and she'd listen. Sometimes she'd throw in her opinion, or she'd be the one talking, but nothing was quite as enjoyable as listening to Lucia speak.

There was just something about the way he spoke that made Elie happy. She loved his voice, his mannerisms… She loved everything about him.

"Alright. I'll just call my mom for a ride," replied the brunette airily, smiling like it was nothing. Lucia nodded back at her, turning back to the work they were supposed to be doing. Out of the corner of her eye, Elie stole a few glances of him, trying to understand what she was feeling.

Never before had she met another human being quite like him. He was solemn and yet so full of light and happiness, it was shocking. He looked unfriendly and uninviting, yet he loved nothing more than to be around people he cared about. Lucia had had a bad past, so he had a lot of difficulty with looking happy. Apparently, he had just found happiness recently, though he'd not share what the cause of it was.

It's you, you fool. YOU'RE the reason he's happy! Remember how he was when you first starting talking? Yeah. He looked miserable. That's what drew you to him, remember? You wanted to help him. To be special and make him happy. Well, now you have! You sit here and deny it to everyone, but you know. Oh, you know. You love him. Every time he's in close proximity, your whole body aches for his touch, anywhere. You want to know what it feels like to hold his hand. To have him stroke your cheek and to spend long days in each other's arms. You have feelings for him. You feel so strongly for him, that it hurts. Just admit it. Admit it! You love him. You love him! YOU LOVE HIM!

The thoughts swirled around her head like a typhoon, and unlike every other time that she had had them, Elie could not deny them. Well, at least not all of it.

Alright. Fine. I have feelings for Lucia, she answered herself silently, blushing immediately. I don't love him. But, I know I could. Love includes the physical stuff, like kisses and junk. Because we've never done anything like that, it's not love. It's attraction. A lot of it. A lot, a lot, a lot of it…

For the first time, Elie was quite happy that she did not have the walk home. How could she look at Lucia after admitting that to herself? The thoughts had been ever-present since March, shortly after they became friends, and now she could deny them no longer. Her birthday was coming closer and closer with every passing day. Soon, she could have a boyfriend without her parents going ape-shit over it.

Soon, Lucia would ask her out.

How could he not? All those little hints and guessing games over the summer… No. They were not something she had just imagined in her head. No, those were real. So real and so close and so beautiful and wonderful. He was merely waiting to reveal how he felt about her. Soon, her birthday would be here, and then he'd ask her out. And then they'd be together and it would be lovelier than anything else she had ever gone through.

A smile came to her face, and Elie was dimly aware that she was giving the worksheet in front of her the cheesiest smile ever. She wanted to tell someone. She wanted to scream to the world that she was crushing on Lucia Raregroove, and he was crushing on her – hardcore crushing, no less!

She did not. Elie had a deeply ingrained fear of being wrong. She'd tell no one. Not even Musica, or Julia. No. Elie wouldn't risk being wrong. Not about this. It would cost her her friendship with Lucia, and that was not something that she was willing to risk. Not ever in this lifetime.

But, still. She couldn't erase the sudden blossom of hope that had sprouted so suddenly.

"Elie? Are you listening to me?"

Elie snapped out of her thoughts, finding Musica and their friend, Nagisa, watching her. "Uh. No. Sorry. I tuned out," she explained with a grin. The two of them merely shrugged it off – Elie did that all the time.

"I was wondering what time would be a good time to throw your party," repeated the blond with a large smirk. "Because I am throwing you a birthday party and you're coming, even if that means I have to get Musica and everyone else to come to your house and drag you there."

The brunette stuck her tongue out in distaste. "What about Resha?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Elie had to admit; she had one awesome chest. Her breasts were large enough to be considered a good size, but not large enough to be considered disgusting. They were perfect. Unfortunately, they were the perfect targets for a game that the band had come up with – 'Boob Tag'.

"Resha's spending it with Shiba, you said," pointed out Nagisa softly. She was a freshman still, but she had quickly grown on the two of them. Elie considered her much like a younger sister, and the freshman almost revered her in return. "So, you can't use your twin as an excuse."

"A-ha!"

Lucia's arm wrapped around Elie's shoulders, and pulled her into a sideways hug. Praying that her blush was not seen, she hugged back. "Just accept it. You're getting a party," he said, releasing her and ruffling her hair slightly. The brunette rolled her eyes and fixed her hair, trying not to look too disappointed that the hug had been so brief and lacking.

"Fine. Sometime in the afternoon, on Saturday. Not the actual Friday of my birthday. My Mom would flip so many shit's if it was actually on my birthday. And, besides, that gives us more time for this 'birthday' party of yours," Elie said reluctantly, finally giving in. She had been fighting this party for two weeks, and even Haru had joined in. On their side, of course.

"This is gonna be the best party you've ever had," promised Lucia with a wide grin. There was a certain twinkle in his yellow eyes that made Elie's heart begin to race as she jumped to conclusions.

He's going to ask me out at the party! YES. Oh my GOD, YES!

~x~

Author's Note: That was kinda boring, won't even lie. It'll get more interesting, I promise. Er. Well. To be honest…reviews and hits aren't too vital for me to keep writing this story. I will write it, regardless of who reads it. So. Yeah. I hope you enjoyed anyways!