Well, m'dearies, it turns out you can't keep a good gossip down. Yes, yours truly had  considered laying down her pen for good and focusing on the more important things in life... for all of five minutes. Then the morning bell rang for the first day back at school, and I saw people all around, talking, whispering, flirting, and I realized I just couldn't deprive you of my services. Because if I'm not the one organizing the scandal talk, who will? Some amateur who'll miss all the juicy stuff, that's who.

Not that there was a lot in the way of juice those first few days after our unexpected time off. No, it was like half the school was walking on eggshells. As much as I'd love to believe it's because people are learning to avoid being overheard by me- because I could use a challenge- I would assume it had more to do with the new guards, cameras, metal detectors, and the rest. Yes, welcome to Gestapo Richmond. Not that I can't appreciate a little bit of caution, but still. Where the hell did they get some of these guys? Oh, yes, rest assured, yours truly will not be restraining herself to student gossip alone, not as long as glorified rent-a-cops who've been given way too much free reign are patrolling our halls.

Take, for instance, resident bad boy G.S. Well, he has the 'bad boy' look, at least, which was all some buttplug of a guard needed as an excuse to stop him in the halls and practically start frisking him for not having a hall pass. I guess someone forgot to give the guards a memo that G.S. was one of the shooting victims. He didn't have a problem mentioning that fact himself, though, hauling his shirt up and giving the guard an eyeful of scar. And then before things could get anymore awkward, S.G. came along and 'rescued' him with some story to drag him away. That girl's had more than her share of spazz moments since she's come to school, but credit where it's due; she played it pretty cool. She and G.S. were then seen leaving the school and not showing back up for a few periods. I wonder if he gave her a 'reward' for saving his ass. Anyway, that was just the start of the problems.... Let's see... C.R. being forced to dump out her bag in front of half the school in the commons because one of the guards said she 'looked like trouble'... C.R.? Our resident miss proper tightass? Please. Another student hauled off to the side and publicly frisked because his eyes were bloodshot, M.D. not being allowed into the school because she'd forgotten her student ID in her locker the night before (Wannabe knight in shining armor E.R. taking it on himself to run & fetch it for her or she might be out there still...), and there have been almost daily reports of students being stopped in the halls, ordered to open their lockers and cars for random searches, and other issues of harrasment. I expect to hear about strip searches being authorized any day now. And of course, it all came to a head with the big fight... but more on that in a few.

Fortunately, this was all right before Valentine's, so us gossip-seekers had something to feast our eyes and ears on besides abuses of power by the security staff. Nothing like a bunch of roses being sent from one student to another. Really, it was almost too much to keep up with.... but I'm just that good. Let's see, in no particular order, there was B.M letting R.W. know he's got a crush on her... I wonder if anyone's bothered to tell him that his gal pal BFF E.C. has a totally obvious one on him? Then J.D. and J.S. were sending each other ones, ending up asking each other out to the Winter Formal... mind you, I saw them there the next week and they did not look like they were having much fun with each other. Oops? Then T.K. sent a pink one to K.B.... guess he's over S.M., huh? Well, good for him, though there's no guarantee he hasn't fixed his eye on another skank... though at least this one has an accent. Then of course a whole variety of pink 'crush' roses got sent to the F4 girls... anonymously. Boys, I just wanted to let you know that a) you have lousy taste, and b) you're cowards. XXOO. C.A. got a red one sent to her, also anonymously, though you have to wonder if someone's just making a nasty joke in that case. Then you have W.J, sending a red 'love' rose to both K.B. and M.D. At this point I'm willing to accept that he and K.B. are a 'couple' without throwing up in my mouth a little bit, but if that's the case, someone needs to tell him that sending one of the same color to his babymama is kinda tacky. And taking the prize for 'most romantic/obsessed' is S.E., who sent a batch of red ones to N.Q. every period all day. Someone need to tell that boy that the girl just ain't all that... oh, wait, someone did. More on that in a few as well.

And of course all the flowers and hearts and chocolate only served as a warmup for the big winter's dance. So... Winter Court nominees. What to say? For the most part, same old, same old. In spite of Z.Z. heading up a 'don't vote for L.M.' campaign (he claimed it was because she was still recovering from being shot and couldn't handle the stress; yeah, right, Z.Z., it had nothing to do with getting even for your little cheerleading moment...) she made the court easily enough, and B.A. was probably a given, since she's the F4 that has her nose the least stuck in the air. Then again, maybe that's not a reason at all since J.W., the one with her nose most stuck in the air did too... Then you had M.D., who of course made the Homecoming court as well, and then the one real big shocker, K.L. Seriously, how the hell did that happen, guys? I'm all for anything outside the 'expected' names, but K.L.? A bit random. On the boys side, there definitely wasn't anything out of the ordinary; not the same crew that was on the Homecoming court, but that's fine too. If anything, it was nice to see it not filled out by the player brigade this time, though of course S.A. managed to represent that crowd on the court even if he was all by himself. T.B., B.M., and A.D. did a nice job of rounding out the 'nice guy' part of the court. Still, as far as the king & queen voting went? That was a little bit sick, guys. Now, normally I'd be all for seeing M.D. beat out the normal princesses of the school for the Queen position, but in this case... it just came across as pity voting. And for M.B., the other big shooting victim to be voted king? I love all you guys, your heats are in the right place, but try and think about what you're doing next time, please? No wonder the two of them wound up running off the court practically in tears after the crowning dance.

And I'm sure that all the rest of you who were there had your own magical stories of romance and wonder, and I'm sure you'd love to read about how you and so-and-so were seen holding hands and taking a sleigh ride together in the moonlight, but really... I can't bring myself to care that much. Sorry, but the star of all the nights dance drama was a certain faculty member's son with the initials E.C. Oh, where to begin. Well, let's start a few days before the dance, when he managed to get himself and half the basketball team suspended. Yes, it's what you've all been waiting for, the big lunchtime fight. Seems E.C., backed up by a couple of other guys, decided to start harassing S.E. And by 'harassing' I mean, 'questioning his sexual preferences based on the color of shirt he was wearing.' Well, turns out that, to quote a movie or two, S.E. knows Kung Fu. He was doing a pretty good job of putting the hurt on them, but I guess some people can't stand to see a four-to-one fight going on regardless of how good that one is doing, because next thing you know J.D. jumps into the fight on S.E.'s side.  Hey, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing to be a good samaritan, but I definitely wouldn't have had a problem with seeing E.C., C.H., and their buddies all taken out by one guy on his own. Anyway, in the middle of the fight one of our wonderful security guards finally got off his ass to try and break things up, grabs J.D. from behind... who then  responded by turning around and socking the guard right in the nose! It was beautiful. Well, for all of five seconds before the guard PULLED OUT HIS NIGHTSTICK! Let's be clear; the fight had stopped in shock, J.D. had realized his bad and was backing away, hands up, and the guy STILL was ready to start clubbing students like they were baby seals.

Fortunately, things calmed down before the LAPD reject began busting heads, what with his creepy boss coming along and wrapping things up, in spite of the best protests of the student body (And yes, thank you, C.D., for throwing popcorn, egging the fighters on, and generally trying to incite a riot. That's why we love you.) All the brawlers were suspended, but not long enough, apparently, since Saturday at the dance E.C. and S.E. met up again, and this time... well, E.C. had found out that S.E. was seeing N.Q., and since finding dirt to dig up on that girl is about as hard as finding a 'Smith' in the phone book, things started up again. Apparently she's has been just as faithful to S.E. as you'd imagine someone with her rep to be, sleeping around with S.H., at the least, and here's where I apologize for not having found that out before now. Anyway, S.E. doesn't take that well, and decides to attack the messenger. And if you weren't there, take it from me; it was scary. S.E's always seemed like a nice enough guy, but the boy has a temper on him. If you don't believe me, then you clearly missed E.C. being carried out covered in blood, his face all smashed up. And for a second, I swear, it looked like S.E. was ready to do the same to N.Q. too. Now, I'm all for laying the smackdown on some of the school jerks like E.C, and hey, maybe he'll think twice before being an ass in the future because of this, but seriously.... I can't get behind hulking out over someone telling you your girl is a slut when, y'know, she is. Well, S.E., good luck finding a less loose girl in the future. Of course, after that display... good luck finding any girl. But hey. Those sleigh rides were nice, weren't they?