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Matt Bangsund ran out of English class the second the final bell rang. He was meant to meet Christine after school, but he didn't want to see her. He was sick of all her gossiping. Contrary to what she thought, he did not enjoy listen to other people's misfortune. Matt slammed his locker shut and sped out the door. If he was lucky, he would be able to get in his car before Chris even got to her locker. All day Chris just went on and on about Chloe-Lynn and Sandrilene (where did they get these names?) and Jon wanting Thayet and God knows what else. He just wanted some peace and quiet. He was near to his car, when he heard the unmistakenable sound of sobbing. He spun around just in time to see Charlene Limes, Chris's best friend, dash in to the courtyard blindly. Cursing himself for being so sympathetic, he turned around and chased after Charlene, hoping that Christine wasn't anywhere near. "Whoa, Char, what's wrong?" Matt sat down on the grass next to her. "I-I-ahh!" Charlene started crying all over again, and Matt put a friendly arm around her. He held her close, and stopped trying to get her to talk. They remained like that for a couple minutes, until Charlene's sobs died down again. "Are you ready to talk yet?" Matt asked gently. "You already know the problem, Matt." "What? I don't know anything...oh my gosh. You aren't--I mean, not again--" He couldn't finish the sentence. "I tried, Matt. I did, but I can't help it. You're the only one who knows, you're the only one who knew last time. Please don't say anything, not even to Chris." Charlene pleaded. "Char, you need help. And you need to tell people to get it. Chris is your best friend--she'll help you," Matt said matter-of-factly. "Not now! Please just don't tell anyone right now. Especially not Christine. She's the biggest gossip I know--oh!" she cried. Christine was standing there, looking at them with tears in her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jonathan strode out of school when he saw his friend Stephen talking with Thayet. "Hey!" he grinned at Thayet. "Hi. I have to go, see you later!" she smiled faintly and walked away. Jon sighed heavily. "What were you talking about?? Anything about me?" "Nothing about you, sorry to disappoint. Actually she thought that Chloe was gonna play a trick on Sandy or something like that...I told her to call Christine. Anyway, buddy, let her go! It's a brand-new year, find a brand-new girl!" Stephen exclaimed. "What about you? I hear that you still have a thing for Charlene Limes," Jon shot back. "Yeah right. Actually, I'm over her, thank you very much. I'm looking around for a new girl, though! Are you going to the Dairy Queen now?" "I wasn't going to, but if I'm going to find a new girl, I'll have to look around a bit right?" "Uh-huh," Stephen replied. "So I guess I'll go. Are you going?" Jon asked. "Yeah, later. I'm bringing Andrew over once I pick him up from the airport." "Oh right! I forgot he's coming...I guess there are gonna be tons of people at the DQ to see him again." "No kidding, you'll be lucky to find a parking space!" Stephen laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sandrilene sat at a table at the Dairy Queen with Thayet. She thought Thayet might be mad at her, what with her display at lunchtime, but surprisingly enough she hadn't said a word. "Did you hear that Andrew Loden is moving back?" Thayet asked. "Are you serious? Where did you hear that?" Sandy exclaimed. Andrew was an old classmate of theirs who had moved away in grade seven. Both girls had gone to elementary school with him. "Stephen Teresty told me today. I can't wait to see Andrew--it's been ages! He was my old next-door neighbour, we had so much fun together!" Thayet cried. "Stephen still writes to him, doesn't he? When's he coming back?" "Would you believe today?" Thayet grinned. "Stephen's going to the airport to pick Andrew and his family up and then he's going to bring Andrew here." "This is too cool! Why didn't someone tell me earlier? We could've arranged a 'Welcome Back' party or something." "Apparantly there were some problems--they were meant to come at Christmas but then there were rumors that the airline was going to close or something so they moved it up so that they wouldn't lost their money. I don't know the exact story," Thayet explained. "Oh right, whatever." Sandy muttered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Christine stared at the sight in front of her, unsure of what to do. Matt and Charlene. Matt's arm around Charlene. Charlene saying how big a gossip she was. Her boyfriend and her best friend. Conspiring against her. Both of them, sitting there, staring at her. Christine burst into tears and ran. She heard Matt call out, but she ignored him. She raced to her car and jumped in. She put the key into the engine and was just about to pull out when Matt opened the passenger door and hopped in. "Get out," Chris didn't even look at him. "Not until you listen to me." "There's nothing that you can say that I want to hear," she replied coldly. "It isn't what you think. I wasn't--we weren't--" she cut him off. "I saw my boyfriend with his arm around my best friend, discussing what a big gossip I am. Which part isn't true?" "She was upset. I just put my arm around her to comfort her, it was nothing romantic," Matt replied. This happens to people on Jerry Springer, not to me, she thought. "Get out Matt. Get out of this car, and out of my life. I don't want anything to do with you anymore," Christine said, her voice shaking. "Chris, you're hysterical. You don't mean it," he tried to put his hand on her arm, but she slapped it away. "Don't touch me! Get away from me, Matt, before I do something that I'll regret," she screamed. "Fine, I'm going. But don't think this is the end of it--you can't get rid of me this easily," he opened the door and stepped out. Christine revved the engine and sped out of the parking lot. In the rearview mirror she saw Matt walk towards his car with his head bowed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Man, it's going to be so great to see Andrew again!" Alicia cried. "I know! It's been absolutely ages, I wonder what life was like in Africa," Chloe-Lynn agreed. "Well, from the letters he writes me, it's not all that great. Freedom is really limited," James contributed. "But, still. It's bound to be a big experience. I wonder if he ever rode an elephant," Lindsey said. Everyone laughed. "But James, Stephen is bringing him here, right?" Chloe asked. "Yep. Supposedly Andrew can't wait to see all his old pals at the DQ again--it's been over five years since we last saw him," James replied. You know, I never knew Andrew before," Michael Rudachyk commented. "Oh, he's the best. Totally cool, a tad conservative (I mean, he's hanging with Stephen) but he's a really awesome guy," James explained. "He's totally hot," Chloe contributed. "Oh yes, Chloe, I wanted to know that too!" Michael joked. "Well, I think that he's the guy to cure my current boyfriendless situation," Chloe replied defensively "Of course, Chloe! He's so worldy and everything, you'd be perfect together!" Lindsey exclaimed. "Do you think he'll run for student council president? I mean, the prez with head cheerleader...sounds good to me," Alicia commented. "If he doesn't want to run, I'll make him, my powers of persuasion are very strong!" Chloe cried. James laughed, "I won't disagree with that. How long is it going to take for the guy to get here? We've been here for an hour and half already!" "Patience never was one of your virtues," Alicia said, and everyone laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Andrew Loden sat in the car as Stephen drove them to the Dairy Queen. "...so that's basically it. Now you just have to choose who you want to hang out with--trust me, don't wait long, otherwise you'll be a total outcast." Andrew laughed. "How I miss the days when everyone was friends with everyone! Now I have to choose someone--what a life-altering decision. I can't wait to see everyone again, though. I remember saying good bye to Thayet, she was devastated. 'Who will I play with?' she asked me. And then there was Chloe and Alicia. Alicia told me to ride an elephant, Chloe told me to send her the elephant so she could ride it too!" "Here we are. Ready to face the mob? There are tons of people who want to see you again!" Stephen stepped out of the car, and Andrew did the same. "Andrew! My old neighbor, God it's been so long since I last saw you!" Thayet cried and gave him a hug. "Thay! What the hell happened to you hair? Is used to be so long!" He reached out and touched her hair which was now only shoulder length. "Chopped it all off. Do you like it?" "You are as beautiful as ever, my dear," he replied in a fake English accent. Thayet laughed. Then he noticed the girl standing beside her. For a moment he looked at her until he realised who is was. "Sandrilene! Is that really you?" He cried out. "Yeah. Good to see you gain," she replied with a smile on her face. Andrew reached out and gave her a hug. His old pal, Sandy. He couldn't believe it. Man had she grown up! "Andrew Loden, get your butt over here!" A familiar voice rang out. He turned around and saw...a goddess. With beautiful red hair that spilled onto her shoulders and blue eyes that were locked on his own green eyes. For a moment he just started at her, while everyone looked on. Then recognition set in, and he realised it was Chloe-Lynn. "Shut your mouth, Andrew," Thayet whispered and nudged his shoulder. Andrew burst out laughing. He excused himself from Sandy, and went to greet his old friend. "Chloe-Lynn, no one will ever say that you have good manners if you keep that up!" Andrew joked. "I don't give a damn about good manners," she replied in the same joking tone. "Oh? Then what do you give a damn about?" he shot back. "Greeting my old friend is my number one priority right now. Give me a hug, you moron!" she exclaimed. "Who am I to oppose The Mighty One's commands?" Andrew leaned in and gave Chloe-Lynn a huge hug. He then sat down and started chatting away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Matt drove around aimlessly in his car. He had gone and talked to Christine at her house, and they had a very civil conversation. And it had resulted inthem breaking up. After they'd decided that it was the best course of action, Matt had left. He had a couple of beers and now he was just driving. There was one more beer in his backseat...maybe he'd have that and then head home. But then he remembered that his mom didn't have work today, and would be home. If she detected alcohol on him, he'd be grounded for a couple of years. Maybe he could go to the DQ, there were bound to be a couple of his pals there. Yeah, that's what he'd do. He downed the last beer and then drove to the DQ. Judging by the number of cars inthe lot, he'd be sure to find a sympathetic ear. He stepped up to the counter and ordered a double cappuchino. Grabbing the drink he saw that his friend Stephen was sitting at a table all alone. Matt didn't noticed when the coversation stopped as he walked by. "Are you okay, Matt? You look like hell!" Stephen exclaimed. "Gee, thanks," Matt replied. "No, seriously. Is something wrong? Wait a second--have you been drinking?" Stephen asked. "You sound like it's a criminal offense." "The first day of school, it's barely five o'clock, and you hardly drink at all! That's practically a criminal offense in itself!" Now everyone was listening to their conversation. They all wanted to know why Matt was acting like this--he was one of the most upstanding students in the whole grade. "Look, I just broke up with Christine, okay? Three years down the drain. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Matt shot out. Silence descended over the room. "Whoa, man, I'm sorry," Stephen said. "Not as sorry as I am," Matt replied. "I think I'll just go." "Wait a second, Matt!" Andrew said. He sat down at their table. Matt looked at him. "I only had a couple beers. I never hallucinate by only having a couple of beers!" "You're not hallucinating. I'm here!" Andrew said. "You were in Africa yesterday. How did you get here?" Matt wanted to know. "It's called a plane. Enough about me, what went down with you and Chris?" Andrew asked. "Don't ask. Look, I really should go. If you're for real, I'll see you tomorrow at school, hallucination," Matt replied and got up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The entire place started getting noisy with Matt's departure. "You know, I think we should hold an impormptu part at my place this evening," Chloe suggested. "A mini-celebration for Andrew. There's plenty of alcohol around, and my parents left for Paris yesterday!" "Perfect! What are you waiting for?" Lindsey cried. Chloe stood on a chair. "Everyone, can I please have your attention!" Conversation ceased. "I think we should have a party for Andrew, so go home, get dressed and come to my place this evening for the best impromptu bash you've ever seen! No formal invitations necessary! Start coming at around sevenish, okay? Great!" Everyone started cheering. "Well, guys, I better get going, cause I have to get the rooms ready and all, so I'll see you later, right?" Chloe asked. "For sure! Later, Chloe," Alicia replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By 7:30 the party was in full swing. Chloe circled the living room, doing the whole "hostess" thing. She spotted Andrew dancing with Sandrilene across the room. We'll soon fix that, she said to herself. "May I cut in?" Sandy looked disappointed, but she was happy to see that Andrew didn't. "Of course. I have to dance with the host, or rather hostess, right?" Andrew replied. "Something like that." A slow song came on, and Chloe tentatively moved close to Andrew. She wanted Andrew--and judging from the way he stared at her before, he felt the same way. They'd had fun at the DQ, laughing and making jokes. He had an awesome sense of humor, plus he was really smart and knew a lot. They'd had conversations on everything from classical music to motorcycles. "Andrew, I know you just moved back and all, but I was wondering..." she looked down at her feet for a second. "...if you'd like to go out with me." She didn't dare look at him now. She was too afraid of rejection, and asking a guy out was not her kind of thing. "You know, that's the first time a girl ever asked me out," he said. Chloe laughed. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" "I think it's good. I'd love to go out with you, Chloe." He looked at her with the same intense gaze he used when he first saw her. His arms tightened around her waist, and his face moved closer. Chloe closed her eyes, and then she felt his breath on her face. A nanosecond later she felt his lips on hers. The kiss was soft and gentle, the kind of kiss that Chloe knew she'd remember forever. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him. Andrew smiled and then opened his mouth to talk. "Tomorrow night I'm taking you to dinner, okay?" "Whatever you say, Andrew."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Matt wandered around Chloe's living room. He didn't know why he had came in the first place. Stephen had called him to let him know about the party, and so Matt decided to go. It was now late, and quite a few people had left. But Matt knew he was drunk, and he wasn't going to risk his life by setting foot in his house--it was a miracle that his mother didn't pick up on the alcohol the first time around. Just then he caught sight of a girl dancing--she was pretty, and he wanted to dance. He weaved hi way over to her and asked her to dance. He didn't want to know her name, that made things complicated. They danced, and then a slow song came on. She was fairly drunk too...she wanted to dance to this song too. Halfway through the song she reached up and kissed him. Matt's first response was the pull away, but then he remembered that he broke up with Christine. What the hell, he thought, and kissed her back. After the dance they both had another drink...it was hard to walk before, but it was just impossible now. They somehow ended up outside...the girl said Chloe had a swimming pool. She wanted to go swimming. Matt replied that he didn't have a bathing suit. "Have you ever heard of skinny dipping?" she asked. Matt laughed, "You're not suggesting..." "We won't do anything....it'll be fun!" she laughed drunkenly and pulled off her shirt. What the hell, Matt thought for the second time that night. He pulled off his own shirt, but with some difficulty--those buttons were so tiny! Then they both jumped into the pool together. She said they wouldn't do anything...she was wrong. Dead wrong. |
