I don't need no education (Jax/Cord/Invite)

[Jax]

"SAY THAT AGAIN YA @^&*ING PIECE OF @!^* I @&*#ING DARE YA! SAY IT AGAIN!"

A chair flew across the empty class room. The teacher had been the first one out the door to get home to watch the newest episode of Hamcat dating show. The room had been emptying out peacefully till the increasingly infamous Jax Gardener had exploded again. The yong man stood before a knocked over desk, his green mohawk spiked violently upwards and his piercing that seemed to hang where available dangling and glittering in the overhead lights as they beamed down. His current shirt depicted a screaming angry 'smile' face with profanity symbols in it's mouth. His favorite leather jacket was being repaired so he was wearing a hoodie whose tightening strings were capped with tiny metal skulls. His 'blue' jeans were stained with grease and what very well might be old blood stains. He stood over a student who crouched on the floor shaking as the fuming student raised a fist clenched in rage.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Since transferring from what most assumed was a correctional facility Jax had been in several fights, damaged school property and made an eternal enemy of the math teacher by dissembling her car and putting it back together in her class room overnight. No one could PROVE it was him but... he never denied it either though. He had lost his place in the automotive club over that but never once apologized.

Now once again the 'green fury' was raging. The latest was a whisper from this kid dare accusing him as a 'joke' of.. having relations with his mother after Jax had bumped into him. The others whispered as he raged. His eyes flashing green.

"HOW @& *ING DARE YA! I WOULD NEVER TOUCH THAT #&*@$ WITH A TEN FOOT @&*#ING POLE!"

Quiet rang out in the class room. Various student's eyebrows shot straight up towards the ceilings as the silence reverberated. The teen on the floor whose eye was already swelling shut with the black eye he had just receive just gaped at Jax. He didn't know what to say his mind raced. He shrugged mentally.

"... I am sorry?"

Jax snorted and spat to the side indelicately before turning away to grab his backpack and as students continued filing out he looked up to see a familiar face. His face twisted in disgust even though his heart skipped faster.

"What ya want 'Ya Highness'? Want me ta vote for ya? If so ya are out of luck. I don't give a @*&@ about the dance."

[cordy]

Oh. My. Gawd. Was this day ever going to end? History was so freaking boring, and of course it'd be her luck to have it the last period of the day. It wasn't like she cared about what happened in the year Eighteen-Seventy-whatever. That was old news. Ancient, actually - why would they need to be worrying about that when homecoming was just around the corner? In Cordy's opinion, this class would have been much better spent discussing the dance and who their respective votes for homecoming court were going to. After all, that was politics, right? And politics...had something to do with history. Kind of. She was pretty sure.

When the bell that signaled the end of the day finally had the mercy to ring, the cheerleader let out an entirely overly dramatic sigh of relief. Now she could grab her pom poms, head off to practice, and effectively wash all this crap they'd been 'learning' about all day right out of her mind. It wasn't actually like she was going to need any of this academic stuff anyway once she graduated and her impending Hollywood career took off, and -

Ew. What was the hold up? Cordelia frowned disapprovingly at the crowd of people barricading the door; apparently SOMETHING was deterring them from leaving...which was saying a lot, because most day this zoo full of creeps she called classmates couldn't wait to get the hell out of here. With an impatient clearing of her throat, she stood on her tiptoes to try and see past the boy who'd planted himself firmly between the desks and, effectively, her path to the exit. "Um, hel-lo? Can we move the traffic jam along here, please? Some of us actually have places to -" But she stopped speaking abruptly as she became aware of an unmistakable, enraged shouting coming from the front of the classroom.

Oh God. Someone had pissed off Jax Gardener. Again.

Cordy clued into all of this just in time to hear the tail end of his snarling, and the poor boy on the ground's half-terrified apology. Now, it was a rare moment when the brunette cheerleader actually paused to think about anyone but herself - but something had certainly stirred Jax up this time, and as she took in his fuming, furious expression...she had to wonder exactly what the kid had done to rile him up. As the rest of the students began filing out of the classroom, she shouldered her way past a few of them to get a little close to the boy with the green mohawk, and came to stand a safe distance of about a yard or two away. It didn't take him long to notice her presence, naturally, or to greet her in his usual disdainful manner.

Cordy didn't like to think too hard on the very bizarre relationship she and Jax seemed to have developed - if you could even call it a relationship. And to this day she wasn't entirely sure how they'd gone from loathing each other entirely to sneaking around and making out in the janitor's closet - seemed to be a pattern with her and guys lately. Staying behind to talk to him now was a dangerous move, she knew, but though she'd never openly admit it...a part of her was a bit concerned for him at the moment. Still. Better throw in some snark for good measure; there were still a few no-lifes lurking around. "Don't make me laugh.You think I'd actually waste precious moments of my time haggling you for votes? You probably wouldn't even spell my name right on the ballot." she shot back, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms smugly across her chest.

"I just wanted to let you know that next time you feel the need to throw a complete fit? Do it somewhere that isn't in my way. I'm gonna be late for cheer practice!" Her gaze flickered to the clock on the wall; in reality she still had a good twenty minutes to get to the locker room, but...whining about all of this was a better cover then just coming out and asking him what was wrong.

[Jax]

As people continued clearing out Jax knew that he had to keep up their act. Granted he didn't give a lick what people thought about him but the goddess before him did. She cared and so he cared enough to keep up the act she demanded of him... besides he kind of enjoyed the opportunity to shout at her and have her shout at him. It was where their relationship had started anyways. He supposed it was like going back to the location of a first date for your average romance. But... truth be told he kinda wished at the moment he had a more... normal relationship so he could tell her... tell her the mere thought of him being near that... woman... made him violently ill. Explain how much he hated her from the depths of his soul how hearing the word.. mother... indicating her made him want to scream like a baby born without skin... but that couldn't happen here... maybe later.

"Spell ya name right. I can do that EASILY..."

He walked over there his head tilted slightly to the side his sneer getting bigger.

"C!"

He stepped closer.

"O!"

He moved till he was but two feet from her, his eyes locked on hers.

"W!"

It seemed harsh but the two had developed the oddest system. Nothing they said in public meant anything. If anything it got anger in the relationship out... making it an oddly healthy relationship. If by healthy a person meant insane and utterly deranged. The guidance consular would probably blow a fuse if she knew what was going on but hey... it worked... it made little sense but it worked.

Jax creaked his neck and rolled his eyes theatrically.

"And what is it your @^*!ing business if some pisspants @&*! calls me a mother@*@#er to my face? So what if I wanted to rip of his &#@*ing nads and feed them to him for saying that? What business of that is yours?"

Jax's way of slipping infomation wasn't practiced... anyone who knew what was going on might figure it out but since no one would believe the pairing was possible the clumsiness didn't matter.

[cordy]

Cordy, to her credit, stood her ground as Jax angrily advanced on her - something most people probably wouldn't have been able to do without taking an uneasy step back. 'Course, she had no real reason to be afraid of him - but most of the onlookers lingering near the door didn't know that. Her gaze snapped over to the small crowd briefly, irritated by their sudden interest in this new face-off. Gawd, everybody was so nosy these days...

Now, if anyone else would've called her a cow to her face they probably would've been struck with a tirade of viciously worded insults before they could say 'just kidding!'. But with Jax, things were a little different. She knew quite well that anything that came out of either of their mouths was empty in meaning, but carefully worded to deflect any suspicion that the two of them were anything more than bitter enemies. Hell, this verbal sparring was even kinda fun sometimes - mostly because Jax was one of the few people that could come anywhere near matching her usual snark. ...Ironically, that was part of the reason why the two of them ultimately got along so well...Jax wasn't the type of person to back down from a fight or let people walk all over him, unlike most of the other tools in this prison. And Cordy could actually respect that. Even if...her words now indicated otherwise.

"Oh, ouch. I'm flattered you actually took the time to come up with that one - though next time you might wanna stick to two-letter insults, wouldn't want you to strain yourself." she suggested disdainfully, her words cool and haughty and in no way suggestive of the fact that she didn't actually mean a word of it. False insults aside, however, Jax's thinly veiled explanation of what had infuriated him a moment ago was much more concerning at the moment. So...what was usually a fairly commonplace, if vulgar, insult carelessly tossed out by some random clueless kid had actually ended up really pissing the mohawked teen off. Well Cordelia couldn't say that she was actually surprised; though she didn't know the exact details of why... she had in the time she'd known him gotten the general idea that he wasn't on the best terms with his mother - and this seemed to be one of the few subjects that actually fazed him.

"It's my business when you create enough drama to cause a traffic jam to rival carmageddon, FYI." she responded smoothly, managing not to look too taken aback at the bit of information she'd been presented with. Adjusting her prada bag over her shoulder, she furrowed her brow slightly as she surveyed him skeptically. "Since when do you even care what people think about you, anyway?" The agitated inquiry was actually bitch-speak for 'just ignore the assholes around here, they're all idiots', but thankfully not too many of the onlookers were really good at translating. Most of them, in fact, didn't have any reason to believe that there was much more to the brunette cheerleader than a self-centered airhead with no regard for others' feelings - and...well, first of all, why were 'most of them' still here?

Rounding sharply on the few students that had stayed to watch the show, Cordy narrowed her eyes in a cold glare. "Can't you losers at least pretend you have somewhere important to be?" she snapped sharply.

[Jax]

(sorrysorrysorrysorry for the lack of jaxness. SORRY)

Jax's gaze slowly went from the woman in front of him to the people standing in the doorway watching the show. Watching to see if they would scream, come to blows. It was the usual depressing human behavior, stop and crane your neck at a car crash, look at carnage and tut to yourself how awful it was but secretly bounce with glee at the horror. Humans, Jax was glad he had decided he didn't have to be one. He had tried to explain that to Cord once. He didn't think she got it, or agreed with him. She tended to be a bit more hopeful then him. Not to say she believed the best of everyone... they would have killed each other by now if she was that upbeat, but she didn't see humanity as a failed experiment like he did.

He spat to the side, he knew she disliked it but people would talk they would see someone their is no way she wanted to be alone with for any emotional reason besides disgust. He could live with them talking behind his back, with them whispering that he was a freak, a savage.... he would be damned before he would let them talk about her. She actually cared about things. So he glared at her, beaming false hatred at her.

"I hate that @&*#* I hate her with every fiber of my body, I don't give a flying monkey #@$& that she brought me into this world, I think da worst crime her parents commited was not smothering her when she was in da crib. If I could go back in time I would do it myself. Da only good thing she ever did for ma in my entire life was sending ma ere far away from her. For that... SLIME to even mention, to even cause me to contemplate dat DAMNATION masked as a FEMALE and I would EVER share anything remotely LOOKING like love with HER."

He spat again at the word. This time with more fervor. He still wasn't sure he believed in the word love... but Cord was slowly changing his mind on that. He found himself thinking about things.. about other people... about the fact that someone other then himself cared if he lived or died. It was odd. It was scary. Oddest of all was caring what someone else thought of him. It was one single person in this world. He who previously thought as his shirt currently indicated 'I can please one person a day, that person is currently me. Don't get your hopes up about tomorrow." had decided to respect who wishes on this cloak and dagger relationship.

"My biggest regret in life is dat somewhere even if it is on paper only she is listed as my... mother."

[cordy]

Well...it was safe to say that of the many things Cordelia had been expecting just now, she had NOT been anticipating an anti-maternal rant as vehement as the one Jax had just given her. If there was one thing she was good at, though - besides the snark and the personal hygiene and the generally flawless fashion sense - it was keeping her cool in situations like these. She managed to look as though Jax's words had barely phased her, despite the fact that in reality he had most definitely provoked a surprising level of concern from her just by confiding that amount of information in her.

She knew Jax hated his mother. It was hard to know him without knowing it. But prior to this, she'd never realized exactly how much. And...she still didn't know why. That was the big question. What had this woman done to provoke this level of hatred from Jax? She knew that the guy didn't exactly have the most...calm of tempers, but before this she'd never known him to show this level of sheer, unforgiving loathing and spite. Despite the fact that she managed to keep most of the emotion off her face, Cordy was actually taken aback enough to be rendered speechless for a moment. When she did find her voice again, her words were both abrupt and vicious - but they weren't directed at Jax. Instead, she'd whirled around to face the students at the door for the second time, glaring at them furiously in response to the way the majority of them were stupidly gaping at Jax.

"I'm gonna say this one more time," she ground out, her hazel eyes narrowed coldly as she swept her gaze across the small crowd of spectators. "Unless you have something important you'd like to contribute to this conversation - anyone? No? - Then do yourselves a favor, scram, and get a life." Perhaps the venom in her voice actually finally got through to them - perhaps they figured that if her current level of anger was anything to go by, they didn't really want to see what was going to happen next - but at any rate, the remainder of the onlookers took this opportunity to go ahead and back off. Once the last of them had filed through the doorway, Cordy returned her attention to Jax...and slowly, gradually, allowed flickers of her emotion to shine through.

This kind of thing wasn't easy to say - this heartfelt sincerity that showed actual vulnerability. But if there was ever a time, she figured it was now. "Look," the brunette began, her voice unusually quiet. "Whatever your mother's done, she did at least one thing right as far as I'm concerned. You're here because of her - here at school, and just here in this world, period. And I like you, Jax. I'm not just screwing around here. I really like you - and if you weren't around, the people at this school would've probably driven me nuts by now." Her words were direct and no-nonsense, but legitimately sincere. This was an extremely rare moment for Cordy; one in which she was allowing her bitchy Queen B-persona to drop even if it was only for a moment, allowing herself to be portrayed as an actual human being rather than someone perfect and plastic. She drew a breath.

"But, um...do you want to...talk about it?" It seemed right to ask, even though this was evidently a touchy subject for him.

[Jax]

Jax watched in amazement as Cord listened to his rant and chased off the others with but a few words. She had that way about her, the restrained power, the commanding voice. He had admired her of that even back when she tried to use it against him. He had admired the fact she even tried it on a man with the word 'defiance' tattooed on the back of his neck. He still remembered the peppermint on her breath as she screamed and sneered at him from three inches away. He remembered the color her lipstick had been, the shade of her eyes, the three hairs loose from her usually perfectly kept hair and dangling in front of her left eye. He could see it when he closed his eyes... it was little wonder they ended up where they were at. A woman who liked him... ALOT... he knew what he saw in her. But he wondered what she saw in him... but what he knew for sure was.

"Same here.. without ya around I would probably have bailed... or eaten someone like in dat pool someone started ma freshman year.."

How did she do it. She looked at him. Asked a question and suddenly things he buried... he wanted to share. With a cheerleader of all people. What a weird and wonderful world it was. He would have to think on that someday but as it was right now he really really REALLY wanted a cigarette but he figured even Principal Slade would object to him lighting up in the middle of a classroom. He would just have to talk as he was. In the state of mind he was in... it was times like this he wished he smoked pot.

"Ta be honest I would rather soak my balls in acid then talk about her... but I should I guess. Where da ya start when talking about someone ya hate with almost every fiber of ya being? I guess... at the begining."

Jax grabbed one of the chairs and pushed it over next to Cord with his foot and grabbing another twirled it so it's back was to her and he sat straddling the back of the chair leaning on the back rest with his crossed forearms.

"A mini-ken doll. That was what I was raised ta be. The perfect little, perfectly dressed toy ta show off ta my mother's neighbors and friends. Praise and affection was for good boys who brought home straight A's, scored goals in sports, and were perfect in any way. Falling down the stairs and breaking your arm? A sin 'cause those @$$holes across the street might think ya are some kind of klutz, and ya were rushed ta da ER with scoldings about what they would think, about how embarrassing ya tears were. Ya birthday party, It was a way ta show off what kind of educational gifts ya received every year."

Jax's sneer had returned, and his fingers were gripping his forearms till bones creaked under their grip and his knuckles whitened.

"Ya were a boy yes, but you were more shell then boy. Ya couldn't express yourself, couldn't sing, or dance, or get dirty ya were the doll. And dolls don't da anything but slowly die inside. The smile ya always have more and more a lie, a cheap and rotten lie as ya insides fill with maggot ridden ashes and even the ashes slowly go away till all ya left with... is nothing... nothing but the desire ta made it all go away. Ya went from ta house. Ya figured out how ta make it go away. How ta be something no one ca judge ever again... and along the way... ya find yourself. A band calling themselves Ballistic Prostitute is practicing and they grab ya to help them move stuff. Ya watch how they move, how alive they are, how bright they seem ta be from ya world of grays.... and then they play."

Jax lifted his head to the sky, his eyes bright with joy despite the sneer still on his face.

"They sing of joy in da darkness, of using ya rage as a weapon, about hearing what people say about ya... and not caring. Ya anger is a battle flag and ya should wave it at the world and raise ya middle finger ta the sky. Maybe God is up there, maybe he isn't but the thing is ya don't have ta give a @&*# ya never asked him ta make ya. Ya spend hours there... listening, talking, and when one of them hands ya an electric razor... ya know what ya first step ta freedom has ta be..."

Jax smiled, it was a viscous smile filled with vengeance.

"She hated ta mohawk... and she hated what I was turning inta... but I found I didn't care as piece by piece of destroyed the boy I used ta be. And piece by piece I murdered the doll. Military schools were called and were kicked out of, preachers spoke of damnation and guidance consulers spoke of futures. And then... This place. This place I was finally free. I... I don't trust many. But the bossman... he... he set me free. He helped me fill out some paperwork my sixteenth birthday. Legally... she no longer has hold on me. No one does. I can stay here in the summer as long as I want. Just have ta da some work around her ta help out. That is a small price for freedom... I even legally changed my name. I am truly Jax... ta name of that doll?... I actually forget it sometimes."

Jax slowly stood up and held out a hand to Cord helping her to her feet and pulled her close to him, chest to chest for just a moment in time before he let go and stood back. He didn't want someone to walk in and see too much... there were only so many places on campus he could think of to hide a body after all.

"But that all.. is why I hate her. Why I will always hate her. I will die hating her. Is that so wrong?"

[cordy]

A flicker of a smile crossed her features when Jax first began to speak, confessing that what she'd just told him was true for him as well. The thing about Jax was that...well, he really could be sweet at times. In his own gruff sort of way. Perhaps it was because he was so genuine; when he said things like that? You knew he actually meant them. ...Of course she could never tell him any of this. Cordy kinda had the feeling that telling him she thought of him as 'sweet' at times would result in...some sort of spazz attack on his part. This was one of those things, she supposed, that just didn't really need to be said.

The story Jax was about to tell her though? That wasn't one of those things. Cordelia had a notion that this was exactly the kind of thing Jax needed to talk about, whether he openly admitted it or not. Just watching his expression darken the way it did when they returned their attention to the topic at hand, just hearing the pure hatred dripping from his words as he spoke them...it both unsettled her and told her that now was one of those times where she really needed to get serious. For his sake, if nothing else. So with one last glance at the door to make sure no one had decided to poke their heads in again, she seated herself on a chair and settled her full attention onto Jax and listened as he himself sat down and began to speak.

The picture he was painting of his early childhood...it just...didn't fit with the Jax she knew today. She couldn't for the life of her imagine him as a 'mini Ken doll', as he put it. Turned out, of course, that he hadn't exactly participated in this sort of life willingly. In fact, it was almost sickening to hear about the way his mother treated him, as if he were simply a possession to show off instead of her actual living, breathing son. Who treated their kid like that? Well - she did, apparently. On some level, Cordy could kind of relate. The pressures her own parents had put on her hadn't exactly been light. It was no secret that the Chase family had a lot of money - and she was supposed to look, dress, and act to match the part. Her parents were barely around long enough to raise her; but even in their absence they still held certain standards for their daughter: good grades, high status, the expectation that she live up to the family name. Of course even with all of this considered, they were nowhere near as bad as Jax was describing his mother. Cordy knew her parents had actually loved her in their own way...despite everything else. But what Jax was describing between his mother and himself was just...a cold, utter lack of a real relationship.

By the time Jax had finished, it did seem that things had gotten a bit better for him. He'd discovered a way to be who actually wanted to be, he'd found a way to put some distance between himself and that...that woman, and of course best of all...she no longer held any power over him. Cordy found knowing this alone to be somewhat reassuring, and as he helped her to her feet and finished by directing his question at her...she couldn't help but smile a little. It was a sad sort of smile, not an amused one - but a smile none the less. "Wrong?" she repeated, slightly incredulous. "Jax, what she did to you was wrong. No one deserves to be treated that way by their own mother. You have every right to hate her." she told him, her voice sharp with indignation but full of earnestness at the same time. For a long moment, the brunette held its gaze, intent that her words sink in - that they get through to him the way she wanted them to.

"But...you know what? She's gone now. She can't do anything to you anymore, not unless you let her. And going berserk when someone uses her to insult you...that's letting her have power." Power over Jax was the last thing his mother should have at this point, but Cordelia knew that realistically she could hardly expect for Jax to just walk away from that sort of childhood without it having some kind of impact on him. She could only hope that eventually, she'd be able to help him let go of it. "So just...forget about her. Show her that you're better than she is, show her that she can't win, and forget you ever had anything to do with her." Telling someone to forget about their own mother kinda seemed a little harsh, but considering the circumstances? Cordy was thinkin' there was plenty she could have said about this woman that would've sounded a lot harsher.

[Jax]

Jax looked down his mind boggling a bit. The thing that set Cord apart from most... pretty much everyone was she got him... more or less. Sometimes they missed each other going opposite directions but most of the time she understood him with an ease that scared him. She knew what he hated, what he feared, what he loved, and what he cherished. Now she knew his last secret and rather then ridicule him, or cut him down she agreed with his hate. She seemed to be harboring hate of her own to boot. Could it be... they have something in common to hate... yes it seems so. While they were so different they say eye to eye on so few things and this seemed to be one of them. What she had to say made sense... He sighed and looked up at her, his face wrinkled up in mild frustration.

"How da ya da @&(@ing that? Ya come in, listen to me blather like an idit, and den ya say a few words and end up right about something I have been struggling with fa... I donna how long. Ya just... get it... it's very annoying sometimes. Why can't ya be dumb like most of the cheerleaders?"

Jax smiled. It was an old joke between them. The stereotype was something he had to make fun of. Besides... some of them really were... that dumb. There were some exceptional people there though. Like the woman standing in front of him starring at him. He tilted his head and would have liked nothing more then to take her into his arms but... if someone saw them... it would take too long to deny it. To disengage... he settled for reaching out and running a finger down her left arm. He still couldn't believe it. It all seemed so unfair... in his favor for once. He had no idea what she saw in him. No idea why she settled for him... but he would be damned if he was gonna question it or let someone take the best thing in the school away from him. He would be selfish about this one thing if nothing else. Screw sharing.

"Ya are right. I should'na let anyone control ma like that. I.. will try ta restrain myself. If for na other reason then ta petty urge ta spite her."

As wonderful as all this was there was some part of him that... that wanted to show her off. To show people that at least one thing on his life was on track. To stand up on the table in the middle of lunch and scream to the peons what was going right in his life. The urge was... fiery. But.. he resisted. But from time to time he had to see where she was at.

"I... I suppose this wouldn't be ta time ta ask ya to the homecoming dance."