keep your head down - - OPEN

[carter winter jackson]

the new girl in town

[/font]
who just came on the scene[/center]

the first day of highschool is almost always one of the most terrifying days in any teenager's life, a day when almost everyone was afraid of getting lost or being the first victim of the year to be shoved into and stuck inside a locker. but the idea of someone's first day meant that it was exactly that. their very first, and not one that they would need to repeat anytime in the future. but of course, here she was, fresh out of her old highschool and the newest shadow to walk the halls of mckinley high, where her aunt lily had suddenly decided to transfer her following the discovery of how exactly her brother-in-law had been treating his daughter over the last seventeen years. though she personally didn't know why it mattered all of a sudden, carter had taken the transfer without question and without arguement, knowing that even if she were to speak up, she would be out-voiced by her aunt.

after all, the woman only wanted what was best for her neice, right? and after all of the things she had done over the past several weeks, car could hardly find it in herself to complain anyway.

with her books held tightly to her chest, she glanced down once more at the small piece of paper in her hand and then at the row of lockers as she slowly wandered past in the empty corridor. while the other students were in class, she was attempting the almost impossible task of finding her locker without the aid that had been offered to her at the office. her first mistake of the day. perfect. she bit down on her lower lip, displaying a small amount of nervousness as she looked around, feeling compeltely alientated from the school she had grown accustomed to the year before. it had taken her the entire year to become comfortable at all in those halls, constantly surrounded by the same kids each and everyday who took absolutely no notice of her unless they happened to run into her in their hurry to get from point a to point b. and now she was expected to do it all again, an idea that scared carter more than she would have liked to admit.

after another few moments of searching, her dark eyes finally found the locker number that the secretary had written down on the small piece of paper, reaching out with a quivering hand to turn the dial to the assigned numbers. the first attempt failed, for she had forgotten the second number entirely in her haste to get it open without making too much of a sound. but the second time, she was able to pull the door aside and quickly place her books inside and safely out of sight. the clock in the office had betrayed the time to her eyes as being much later in the day than she had originally expected, which meant that the bell would soon ring and release the students for lunch. she had to be quick, she told herself, lest she be caught in a conversation with someone who wanted to know what she was doing in the locker beside theirs.

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[samuel terrence evans]

WORLD'S ARE SPINNING 'ROUND
&& T H E R E 'S N O S I G N
OF SLOWING DOWN. TAKE A BREATH.

Sam was still the new kid around town. He’d spent most of his summer training with the football team, which was how he’d

[/b] managed to make the few guy friends he had. He found the girl of his dreams, Quinn, and now the two were happily dating. Thanks to her, he’d joined New Directions and was looking forward to finally getting his own solo pretty soon. But technically, this was his first day as a student at McKinley High School. He’d been inside the school, in various different classrooms, and the cafeteria, but never actually as part of the school. In a way, he knew his way around, but for the most part, he was just as lost as this girl. The one who was hastily trying to open her locker and get away. The locker right beside Sam’s. He smiled as he got closer. That was such a familiar face and he knew she wanted nothing more than to disappear into her locker and never come out. He felt so bad. Sam, being the chivalrous guy he was, made his way over to the brunette girl and leaned one shoulder against his own, facing her. ”As mean as it sounds, I’m actually relieved to see someone newer here than I am.” It was just an assumption, since she’d been looking around pretty helplessly, so he figured she must’ve only been there a few days, or at least spent her summer relatively alone. He hated to see people alone. As a first hand recipient of this feeling, he was willing to do anything to make her feel at home. Maybe she could even sit with him and Quinn at lunch, if she was as nice as her smile said she was. Besides, a new friend was always welcomed.

He tried his best to make his genuine smile seem more charming than scary, as it usually did with a mouth as big as his, but[/b] he doubted it was working. Sam was very self-conscious about that. Being as nosey as he was, he looked into her locker and found it had barely anything personal inside. Then again, this was most likely her first time even seeing her locker, so he decided to give her time. In true gentleman fashion, he held out his hand for her to shake. ”Sam Evans. What’s your name?” There was a possibility that she wasn’t even new, like maybe she was just one of those students that nobody really knew, but it made no sense for a girl that pretty to not be noticed. Immediately after thinking that, he reprimanded himself. He was usually very good about keeping those types of thoughts out, but sometimes they slipped. Sammy wasn’t really bright enough to actually make connections about someone’s personality based on their looks, but he just had a gut feeling that she was probably one of the sweetest girls he’d ever meet. The lunch bell would be ringing any second, and he was starving. The odds of her having somewhere to sit at lunch were very slim, so he decided too extend the offer. ”Listen, lunch is about to start, and I’m a growing boy, and we kind of need food to live. Want to continue this so far one-sided conversation over some fries and a slice of pizza or something?” He really didn’t have much else to say, since he couldn’t really talk about personal things with her. It was just a good idea to get himself as out there as he could. Besides, what was the worst thing that could happen over a thirty minute lunch period?

tagging carter jackson
outfit outfit
words 603
lyrics take a breath by the jonas brothers
notes i wanna see how she acts too!
credits this was made by brooke ![/size][/center][/blockquote]

[carter winter jackson]

the new girl in town

[/font]
who just came on the scene[/center]

She didn't want to be at McKinley. Hell, Carter didn't really want to be anywhere. She wanted to be at home in her bed, curled up under a blanket so that she could fade away and be forgotten about. Well, maybe that was a little over dramatic, but she certainly didn't want to be at school, especially when her Aunt had personally contacted the Glee club supervisor and asked that she be allowed to join. She hadn't planned on singing another note in her life, and she hadn't since the last round of beatings she had endured at her father's hand. A shiver passed up her spine as she remembered that night, shoving her books quickly into the vacant space of her locker before she pulled her sweater tightly around her body. It was about four sizes too big for her, and her aunt had insisted that she wear something else for her first day at her new school...but Carter had refused. The sweater was large enough to hide any sign of the marks that lay on her back and shoulders, the long sleeves covering the bruises that were still evident on her arms.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see someone else wandering down the hallway, headed in her direction. Her body would not allow her to become as paralyzed physically as she was mentally at that very moment, and so she busied her hands inside her locker as if she was searching for something important. Maybe he would walk on past her, she thought to herself. Maybe she'd get lucky and go unnoticed when she was the only other person in the hallway. But luck was not on her side that day. As he opened the locker directly beside her own and turned to talk to her, Carter's dark eyes widened frightfully as she slowly turned her head upward to look at him. For a long moment, she said nothing, eyes flickering down to his outstretched hand. "C-carter," she stammered finally. "Carter J-jackson."

He was cute, she noted mentally. Blonde hair that fell just in the way of his eyes if he turned his head the wrong way, larger lips that would surely be the butt of many jokes...but he seemed nice enough. Still, Carter's defences were up, and her fear of human contact made it impossible for her to return the polite gesture of shaking his hand. No way was she even going to attempt that one yet, not after the things that had happened over the past several years. Still...wait...had he just asked her to lunch? "Well...I..." Her arms tightened around her. Was there a way out of this? It was her first say at McKinley and already she was being approached by a total stranger and asked if she wanted to have a conversation over cafeteria food. Her original plan for lunch? Hide in the bathroom and not come out until the end of the day. "I....I wouldn't want to take you away from anyone else," she said quickly.

Oh yeah, lame excuses for the win. That was Carter Jackson.

[/size]

[samuel terrence evans]

WORLD'S ARE SPINNING 'ROUND
&& T H E R E 'S N O S I G N
OF SLOWING DOWN. TAKE A BREATH.

If there was one thing Sam could tell about someone’s personality by how they acted, it was insecurity. He was a victim of it

[/b] for the past several years. His confidence had skyrocketed since he was so happy in Ohio, but he still had his moments. He could tell just by the way Carter carried herself that she was more self-conscious than even he was, which was a hard enough feat on it’s own. His new goal was to make her comfortable. She couldn’t even shake his hand, which he didn’t take personally. It just made him more eager to get her out of her shell. He ruffled his hair a bit and returned his hand to his side. ”Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Carter.” And it really was. She seemed like someone he could really find himself getting close to. That seemed like a little much, but Sam was practically the king of judging relationships too soon. She seemed like a nice enough girl, and he didn’t love anything more than helping out someone who needed it. She seemed genuinely taken aback by him asking her to come to lunch, which he understood. He probably looked like a madman right now. Nobody just did that sort of thing. And if they did, it was definitely considered weird. He just cared less about his reputation than he did right now about making Carter feel at home. There was something in her eyes that said she had a lot that she wanted to tell him. It felt really good to be somebody’s rock. There were a million things, he was learning, Quinn was hiding from him. It wasn’t exactly weird for him to want to surround himself with people who were going to tell him the whole truth.

He wasn’t even the tiniest bit surprised to find out that she was worried about getting in the way. It was common nature not to[/b] want confrontation and to avoid it at all costs. If she knew anything, she’d most likely know about Quinn and Sam being a couple. Only a truly horrible person would actually try to come between that. Still, he made his smile as convincing as possible. It wasn’t really hard. Maybe if the circumstances were different, Quinn would have a problem, but he was confident Carter joining them for lunch was fine. ”My girlfriend’s name is Quinn, and I promise you, she’s a complete sweetheart. She’ll make you feel right at home with us.” If not, things would end badly. If Quinn wanted to go back to her rough side with some people, that was fine. He just couldn’t tolerate when she was mean for no reason. It was rare these days, but it happened, especially where other girls were concerned. For the most part, she trusted him though. He was tempted to grab her hand and walk with her down to the cafeteria, sort of guiding her, but he remembered he had a girlfriend and she might just meltdown if he touched her. He turned sideways toward the cafeteria and jerked his head in the general direction. ”C’mon, it’ll be fantastic. The food here is great and me and Quinn are excellent company.” They were very amusing together with their banter. He really was hoping she’d accept and come sit with them. It was nice with Quinn, but they could really use some fresh input these days, and Carter was perfect. He’d drag her into the conversation if it was the last thing he did. He sort of felt like it was his job to make her happy.

tagging carter jackson
outfit outfit
words 602
lyrics take a breath by the jonas brothers
notes sorry he's so awkward -_-
credits this was made by brooke ![/size][/center][/blockquote]

[carter winter jackson]

the new girl in town

[/font]
who just came on the scene[/center]

Her eyes darted around a little, looking for some kind of escape that would allow her to bow out of his request to join him for lunch and therefore hide away like she had wanted from the very beginning. But what were the chances of that now? The lunch bell was sure to ring any minute, and once the students began to pile out into the hallways, Carter knew she would no longer be safe. People would be free to knock her around when they took no notice of her presence, setting her broken body into a firey hell as she tried not to cry out in pain. Nobody would care that she was there, nor would it matter to them if they jostled her around in their haste to make it outside or into the sanctuary of the cafeteria. All that mattered was that, for an hour's time, they were free from their classes, and therefore free of the lectures that teachers were so inclined to give each time they set foot inside a classroom door. Her mind screamed for her to back away as quickly as she could, to avoid his eye and never again allow herself to be cornered by him...

But the way he offered made her freeze. She didn't want to appear rude and just brush him aside, nor did she feel that it was in her best interests to be seen in his company. There was no way that he wasn't a member of some kind of club, a well known and respected student at McKinley High. Look at him, she thought to herself. He was perhaps the cutest boy she had ever seen in her life, and here he was talking to her on her first day at the new school, inviting her to eat lunch with him. And his girlfriend, she reminded herself quickly. He mentioned having a girlfriend, which came as no surprise either. How could a boy like him not have one? "I....if you're sure..." She didn't want to intrude if he was having lunch with his girlfriend. She'd been around people long enough to know that some people were incredibly protective of those that they dated, and since he was off the market, she assumed that his girlfriend was a gorgeous cheerleader. There was really no other stereotypical match in her head.

With her books safely in her locker, Carter slid her wallet into the pocket of her oversized sweater and shut the door, brushing a stray lock of bang from her dark eyes. She'd worn nothing presentable to school that day, despite her aunt's continous pleading that she wearing something nicer. But it was just like any other day for the girl. Jeans, sneakers and the same sweater that she was sure to wear day after day after day. There was a reason behind her choice of clothing, a choice that she was forced to confront each and every single day of her life now....but that wasn't exactly something she was willing to share. Still, compared to the girlfriend that she was imagining in her head, Carter knew that she was bound to look like a hobo Sam had picked up randomly from the streets and offered a decent meal to. The only reason she didn't look like a completely dead zombie was because of the make up that she had put on her face that morning...and even that had an alterior motive as well. "Which way is it?" she mumbled softly, dropping her eyes a little so that Sam wouldn't be able to make eye contact.

[/size]

[samuel terrence evans]

WORLD'S ARE SPINNING 'ROUND
&& T H E R E 'S N O S I G N
OF SLOWING DOWN. TAKE A BREATH.

To be honest, Carter’s resistance was starting to worry Sam, and it made him feel horrible. He knew he was doing the right

[/b] thing, but he was still scared of the consequences. He himself was the new kid, and he was now Quinn Fabray’s boyfriend. It was pretty rough territory. Maybe jeopardizing it so early was bad idea. But even as he thought this, he felt worse about himself. He needed to help Carter out. She was too pretty to be alone, he made note of. She didn’t even seem to know how pretty she was. That sort of thing made him really concerned for her. The size of her sweater must’ve been at least two sizes too big for her, and he noticed her wrapping it tighter around herself. It was almost as if she wanted nothing to do with him. In her defense, he’d just mentioned how he had a girlfriend, and no girl really wanted that kind of trouble, especially not from the head Cheerio. He just felt like he needed to brave his girlfriend and help Carter anyway. As hesitant as she was being, Sammy refused to believe she just had no desire to make new friends. So, against all of his better judgments, he nodded kindly and swept his own hair from his eyes. ”Carter,” he started seriously, ”I’m sure.” As soon as he said it, he was glad. The reassurance in his voice was sure to ease her a little bit, right? Quinn could even join them for lunch if she wanted. He was going to try his best to make things uncomfortable and to make Carter feel completely at home. Even Sam still didn’t sometimes, but he was on his way to being really happy there. If he could do it, so could she.

Sam waited for her to finish getting ready, gathering all her things, and putting away what she didn’t need. When she was[/b] finished, he smiled at her. He was already forgetting how new she was when she asked the way to the cafeteria. He let out a small chuckle and put his hand as gently as possible on the small of her back to lead her through the crowd. The bell had rang and people were already bustling through the halls with a care for nobody but themselves. He walked close to her. He knew people could easily get ran over here and like he said, he needed to protect her. It sort of felt like his job. She was so small. ”Come on, this way.” He was hoping beyond hope that she wouldn’t totally freak out as soon as she realized he was touching her. Some people got very overwhelmed by that, but with Sam having almost no experience with girls, he saw nothing wrong with the helpful gesture. As they pushed through people, he tried to make pleasant conversation. ”So, how do you like this place so far? Sometimes it has to grow on you.” In his own experiences at least, his first few days in Lima were horrible. This was a town built solely on reputation, and first impressions were everything. He really did just want to make sure she was doing alright. He’d seen the horrible things students here would do to get what they wanted. It was like they had no remorse whatsoever, and he was afraid that if Carter didn’t come out of her shell a little bit, they would rip her to shreds. There was no way he’d let that happen. He’d rather throw a few punches than let someone even make her feel bad.

tagging carter jackson
outfit outfit
words 603
lyrics take a breath by the jonas brothers
notes he's gonna freak when he finds out about the abuse...
credits this was made by brooke ![/size][/center][/blockquote]

[carter winter jackson]

the new girl in town

[/font]
who just came on the scene[/center]

Carter didn't fully understand why someone like Sam would take an interest in her after only a few moments of speaking, especially when most of the conversation was being carried by him and she was clearly hesitant about being around him. It wasn't like she was trying to brush him off completely, but part of her really wanted him to just lose interest in her and walk away to whatever girl happened to be his girlfriend. Watch it be a blonde cheerleader, she thought to herself as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes a little. How cliche would that be? But regardless, Sam didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave, and Carter became even more uncertain as he approached her, watching in fright as the halls slowly began to fill with bodies. The bell had rung, and she had been so concerned with the blonde boy before her that she hadn't paid any attention to what was going on around her at all, a huge mistake on her part. She knew what happened when she let her guard down, subconsciously tugging the sweater even tighter around her body. Still....Sam's voice did make her feel a little better about the entire situation...

Nodding her agreement to go with him, the brunette quickly turned on her heel and allowed him to point out the direction they were headed for, holding her arms tightly to her body as she hoped not to have any kind of human contact with the other kids who now crowded into the halls. There certainly were a lot of kids at McKinley, she thought, and everything felt much smaller then it had back at Carmel. Then again, with all of the funding that Vocal Adrenaline got, the school could afford a facelift almost every year. But the touch of his hand against her back made her jump violently, causing Carter to move two steps forward and just out of his reach, her heart stopping as her chest tightened violently around it. "I.....it's alright," she said at last. "I didn't have much of a choice when I moved." It was perhaps the longest sentence she had made since starting earlier that day, for not even the sweet Miss Pillsbury could get her to say more then a few words at a time. And while Carter felt a little bad, she wasn't really all that chatty when she was about to be the new freak at school.

Careful to keep herself away from people, she turned her shoulders a little as she passed through a tight crowd of football players that stood in the middle of the hall, ducking out of sight just in time to hear one of them make a snide remark in her direction. "Hey, who's the new freak to walk the halls of McKinley?" asked one. But she didn't take any time to respond. Instead, she continued on her way, wincing a little at the soft throb that sounded in her shoulder. Damn, she thought to herself. That was supposed to have healed by now. Oh well, hopefully Sam wouldn't notice anything at all. "Hey, you, girl! I'm talkin' to you, don't you walk away from me."

[/size]

[samuel terrence evans]

WORLD'S ARE SPINNING 'ROUND
&& T H E R E 'S N O S I G N
OF SLOWING DOWN. TAKE A BREATH.

Now that she’d finally agreed to have lunch with him, he could allow himself to breathe a little. This was definitely new. He

[/b] wasn’t really sure why he was acting like this. He often took interests in people nobody else took interest in, and they turned out to be some of his best friends, but it was different with Carter. He felt like he needed to protect her. He would end up feeling horrible if she’d blown him off completely. Not because she would be the first since he’d been at McKinley, which she would have been, but because he wanted to see her smile so desperately. She had one of the prettiest faces he’d ever seen. Despite his girlfriend, he believed that. He felt like everyone’s life would be a little brighter if he could just get her to smile, but probably because he could tell she didn’t do it very often. The thought alone dampened his mood. To his displeasure, she noticed rather quickly that he was guiding her, but he was still surprised with her reaction. He brought both hands back to his sides and walked behind her. He couldn’t even explain how bad he felt now. ”I’m so sorry, Carter. I was just trying to make sure you didn’t get run over in this mess. It’s a jungle in here.” This was truly what he’d been doing, no more, no less. She seemed to let it go and carry on the conversation normally, but he noticed her walls were coming back up, and he didn’t want that. He was trying his hardest to get her to open up. ”Yeah, neither did I. But who knows, it might be great for you here too. Where were you before McKinley?” He wanted to make casual conversation. It was the first step to a real friendship, right?

It felt a little strange walking so far behind her. He wanted to be able to see her face as she moved through the crowd, so he[/b] could get some sort of feel for how she was taking all of this. And it was a little off-putting that he couldn’t see her lips move when she talked. He spotted the other members of the football team before even she did, and he let out a heavy sigh. Many of these guys were his friends, but some of them weren’t. He knew they weren’t just going to let the two of them pass without either a hurtful or perverse remark in Carter’s direction. Before they even had reached the group, Sam decided he wasn’t going to let that happen. The two made their way through the group, nodding hello and smiling at his friends, but he too heard the remark when they were just beyond the circle of letterman jackets. Of course they’d wait until he passed to say something. It would be Karofsky to open his mouth too. Well, true to his word, he turned right on his heel and pushed Dave into a locker as hard as he could. The boulder that Dave was, it made quite a sound, causing Carter to stop too. ”Shut up, Karofsky.” He’d been in a fight with Dave before, and it hadn’t ended well, but he knew the other guy wasn’t about to start a fight he might lose in front of his friends. He gave them all a look that clearly dared them to say something else, before looking back at Dave. ”Don’t call her that,” he added, only a bit quieter. He turned again and jogged back to Carter’s side, still careful not to touch her, but he looked down a little now, embarrassed at his all too primitive way of dealing with problems. ”Are you alright?”

tagging carter jackson
outfit outfit
words 624
lyrics take a breath by the jonas brothers
notes xD he's so sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!
credits this was made by brooke ![/size][/center][/blockquote]