-- TOOK A THOUSAND SCARS [Sandra]

[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

In Sandra's mind, bullies were quite possibly some of the very worst people in the world -- needlessly picking on people was pretty damn low. Not all of the blame was with them, and she knew that, but even so it was hard. It was just kind of sad that people couldn't just be nice and good, but she didn't really expect it to happen. That was just foolish optimism and she wasn't quite that naive. "As long as they leave you alone after," she said with a nod, smiling a little at him. He wouldn't have been Devin if he were the type to viciously attack people or anything, though. Sandra thought it was admirable. "And as long as you don't get hurt. But... otherwise... don't change, okay? You're wonderful." Sandra didn't really know where that had come from, but she never really did think these things through. He really was wonderful, though -- the cutest thing, and she didn't need her boyfriend to really be a fighter, not at all.

She didn't like that he was stressed now, and a part of her briefly wished that she hadn't asked to know everything, feeling bad that he'd had to delve into it. The rational part of her knew that the phone call had probably made him think about it anyway, though, and really she shouldn't waste time feeling bad. It was more important to just... try to help, even though she didn't feel particularly helpful. "Yeah, I know," she said, though she wasn't really sure about the entire situation overall. "It's hard to say which one would be better... But whatever you think is right." She nodded to show her certainty, her trust in his judgment. "And that's a good idea." He'd said that Josh (and Nell) had known, and she didn't know how long Devin and Josh had known each other, but she did know that it had been a pretty dang long time. His opinion was probably invaluable. Sandra inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Just don't feel pressured to do one thing or another, you know? In the end it's up to you." She would always be there to help -- as would Josh and anyone else, she was sure -- but in the end it was really up to him. That had to be a heavy burden to carry.

Sandra smiled and nodded. "Well, I do now!" That was enough for her -- she just liked to hear it, and she liked that he really seemed to mean it. She took things at face value almost all the time, which meant that she was mostly able to take compliments (as well as insults) and accept them as they came, but Devin was different. There were many things that were different about him. "But I guess we'll never know for sure, 'cause I'm not going anywhere." She had no intentions of straying away for any reason, that was for sure. His dramatic hand swipe made her laugh, made her think of old movies in which the hero showed up on a horse to save his love interest. "Yeah? And we'll ride off into the sunset?" Did Devin know how to ride a horse? She didn't know, but she did know that the closest she had ever come was riding the merry-go-round as a kid, so they were probably going to face some problems there. She just giggled as she looked up at him where he was now. "Unfortunately for you, stranger, I already have plans with my boyfriend, so..." Then she smiled, pushing herself up to close the distance between them and press their lips together quickly. "But I dunno. There needs to be cake! And and... I don't know what else, but it's your birthday! What do you want to do?" She was willing to comply with whatever it was.

[DEVIN JAMES THATCHER]

"I can't guarantee that I won't get hurt," He said, with a bit of a frown. That was a hard promise to make for anyone, especially someone like him. Not only was he potential for getting beat up but he was also incredibly clumsy. He then proceeded to smile and duck his head down. "I promise I won't change, ever." He felt his face grow warm. "I'm not that wonderful really...but if you say so." Devin never thought that highly of himself, though he liked to display enough confidence to keep his head held high during stressful situations. A confidence that he could pull through more than anything else. It was nice to know that Sandra thought of him in such a bright light though. She was a very important person in his life and her opinion mattered the most. "To be fair, you're wonderful too. I hope you don't intend on changing any time soon either." He did not see any reason for her to change who she was or try and be anyone else.

This really was a sticky situation to be in; either hide it all away from his dad and allow the man to live in bliss, or finally expose Lauren for the witch of a woman she really was. It was a hard decision to make. "It is really hard to say, yeah. I just...now that I'm not suffering anymore it's almost best to just leave things alone. Beating a dead horse doesn't change much." It won't make the emotional scars from the abuse go away, nor will it change who Lauren was. If it did Devin would be (pleasantly) surprised. Even so the past was there and it was solidified in stone. Calling out his step-mother would not alter that. He nodded. "I'm glad you think so." It was important to have multiple opinions, and although he cherished Sandra's opinion he wanted to see what Josh had to say. Had the man not been directly involved in the dealings with Lauren he would probably have passed over asking his best friend for any heavy advice. "Thanks Sandy." His blue eyes held great appreciation and admiration for the girl sitting next to him. "You have no idea how much I appreciate you." She might but he felt he didn't express it very much. Even when they were just friends and she was there, Devin felt his 'thanks' were never enough.

Sandra's smile was enough to brighten Devin's day; there was nothing better than seeing her all cheerful and happy. It was sort of her default, it seemed, which helped. "Good! And I'd rather not know because then that means you wouldn't be around." And being without Sandra would make him really sad. She was one of the few people who led him to push forward and embrace the positive things in life. He had a lot of friends, but not a multitude of close friends. She was more than just a friend now but that did not change how he felt. "Of course! It wouldn't be complete without a sunset!" Because that was the way to whisk any woman away right? To go off on horseback into the horizon that seems to never end. He'd probably fall off of the horse though, given his grace and talent for getting hurt. Devin pouted and sniffed a little bit. "Aww, well that sucks! He is one lucky man, though. To have a girl like you." Flattery at its best, but fortunately he was speaking the truth. The kiss threw him off a little but but he could only smile down at her. "Cake sounds delicious. Maybe dinner? You and me? Or we could go to the lake and swim? I mean...assuming you don't have plans with your boyfriend." Sandra cheating on her boyfriend with her boyfriend? Now that was a weird thought.

[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

She hadn't really been expecting a guarantee or anything, so this suited Sandra just fine. She poked his cheek gently when he frowned. "I know. Just try?" She was sure that he did already try but sometimes it was just nice to hear the reassurance, especially when it was Devin -- he always did seem to wind up hurt far too often. Most of the things were little and she could live with those but occasionally... they were slightly more serious. She had never seen the worst but it was probably better that way -- she would panic. "I don't lie! But good." Sandra never wanted him to change, at least not on any grand scale. Everyone changed regularly as time went by and she could handle that, but a complete one eighty would really throw her for a loop. "I don't know, I like being me. And I like you being you. And us being us, so..." She'd lost her train of thought in this rambling and instead she just smiled, patting him on the head a little since he had his head dropped still. He was way too adorable.

It was the kind of situation that she couldn't even imagine, though she couldn't imagine any little part of this so she supposed that this was something that she was going to have to deal with. Sandra was pretty sheltered from most of the world and its harshness -- she knew that things happened, but she'd just... always considered it relatively unrelated to her life on the whole. Now that it was right in front of her, she had no idea what kind of advice or help she could give, and she bit her lip a little bit as he answered. He was right, she figured, at least in one way, but there was probably no completely correct or moral way to go about this entire thing. "Yeah, I know," she said softly, playing with his hair a little, but it wasn't a conscious action, and she was watchimg him pretty closely. "We'll just wait and see, yeah? Whatever you do, I'll understand why." It wasn't something she could judge him for even if she tried or wanted to, and of course she wouldn't and didn't. It was in Sandra's nature to want to accept everything about other people, and luckily for her it was exceptionally easy to accept everything about Devin in particular. "Sure, don't worry about it! I..." She fell silent for a second as she thought of it, then smiled and continued more gently, "I kind of do, but thanks, I like to hear it. And I appreciate you too. Everything you do." She didn't know if Devin realized how much he did, but just being himself was always more than enough.

The conversation amused her because she couldn't think of any possible reason to leave. It had been a possibility actually, and still kind of was -- it was twelfth grade and there was really no rule anywhere that said that she had to attend college at the Academy. Her own brother wasn't, after all. Much as she liked Maple Hollow, she might have wanted to return to Vancouver -- her hometown would always be just that, and she loved it -- but now... things had changed a little. She would have always wanted to stick around for all her friends, but it was especially true now with Devin. "I'll be around! And I'll tell you if I won't be, but that's not that likely to happen." She smiled to show him that, indeed, she had no actual plans of leaving in any kind of permanent way, that it was just a hypothetical. His comment then made her giggle -- she could feel the blush coming. "Uh huh. I hope he is, though, 'cause then we'd both be lucky. He's a really great guy, too, y'know." They were being a little ridiculous (okay, mostly she was) -- but she was a ridiculous person and this was okay in her book. "Mmph... you're making me choose between food and swimming? Deviiiiiin," she whined, before laughing a little. "We can always do both if you want! Unless that's taking up too much of your day and you have other stuff you wanted to do. But that day is aaall yours." It was, because Devin was obviously a very important person in her life, and birthdays were of course very important days.