Title: Short Stories With Tragic Endings

Feedback: I'd love you muchos and more muchos! DistortedxEyes@aol.com

Summary: Taken from the original ending to the movie 'Disturbing Behavior'. Emotions run through Gavin, Steve, and Rachel.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: So I don't own 'Disturbing Behavior'. Great movie but just not mine! And I don't own Rachel, Steve, or Gavin. And sadly not Katie Holmes, James Marsden, and Nick Stahl. Damn! I also don't own From Autumn To Ashes or their song "Short Stories With Tragic Endings". So no yelling at me!

Spoilers: Taken from the original ending of 'Disturbing Behavior', found on the DVD in the deleted scenes. Haven't seen it? You might not understand this.

Song: The lyrics are all from "Short Stories With Tragic Endings" by From Autumn To Ashes

Warning: Not a story, emotions.



"I can give you freedom from your guilt

With a flick of my wrist onto yours I can give you peace of mind with a forced smile I can give you death with the look upon my face

This is your freedom in a life of fallacy"



I stand there holding my gun, pointed in their direction. My best friends Rachel, UV, and Steve and even Steve's little sister Lindsay. In the back of my mind, there's a voice screaming at me that this is wrong and I need to put the gun down. In the back of my mind, there's a little boy version of me crying from the detachment I now feel from my true friends. In the back of my mind, I know this is wrong and these are the only people that truly care about me. But I just can't stop; I can't put the gun down. The new part of my mind, the brainwashed part, is the part that's controlling me now. It wants my friends dead.

Rachel is begging me to put the gun down, to stop. She's looking at Steve with pleading eyes almost as if she wants to be the one to "handle" me instead of him. I think that may be the best idea as well but then again, I wouldn't listen. I would want to, I know I would, but I'm a Blue Ribbon now and we only listen to other Blue Ribbons and to our authority figures. How scary is that? I'm a Blue Ribbon now. I hear myself say that to them as it echoes in my mind. I see UV in the corner of my eye reach his hand in his pocket but I think nothing of it.

Steve thinks that I can be helped. He thinks that this brainwashing is reversible. If only he knew. Steve doesn't understand, he never did. Sure, he's been to Bishop Flats and seen the Project X kids, the ones who didn't make the cut into the Blue Ribbons, he's even almost become a Blue Ribbon. But he still doesn't understand what it really is to be a Blue Ribbon, I suppose he never will. Rachel has seen it all too, but Rachel understands. She always did understand, she just never showed it. But by her silence right now and her pleading eyes, I know for sure that she understands. God, I wish I wasn't like this right now.

The little boy in the back of my mind is reaching, he's reaching out for one of my friends' hands. But I can see, I can feel, the new me grab that small hand and twist it away as I lift the gun up and aim it at Rachel. She looks terrified, just like a deer in headlights. That's what she always was, wasn't it? A deer. Just as I'm about to fire the gun and Steve dives on Rachel to save her, I hear a separate gun shot and then another and another and suddenly I'm on the ground, looking at the stars.

Rachel is the first one to run over to me, the other three follow her. I finally realize that I've been shot and as I look up to find the asshole that did this to me, I see UV holding a gun in his shaking hand and he's crying. I ask him why and he just says he's sorry. I know why he did this and I know I deserve this. I'm speaking nonsense about Trent Reznor and making sarcastic jokes, but I'm slipping away. Rachel's crying, Lindsay's looking confused, Steve is finally showing emotion, I think he may even be about to cry - for me? UV just stands there, defeated and sorry. He has nothing to be sorry for and I know this. Wow, this feeling is so weird, am I dying? The stars are amazing in Cradle Bay, aren't they?

~*~



"It's that moment when your eyes seem to spread aspersions

And to scream confessions at the insipid sky parting clouds You let this one person come down on the most perfect moment And it breaks my heart to know the only reason you are here now Is a reminder of what I'll never have"

When I ran up to Steve, UV, and Lindsay they looked terrified and I didn't get it, that's when I turned around and saw Gavin standing there pointing the gun at them. Now I'm standing next to Rachel and Gavin is walking towards us, talking to me directly. He says I've gone and fucked things up for him now since I killed Caldicott. I'm not apologizing for that if he expects me to. Why does he feel the need to point a gun at us now? I thought we were his friends. Well, okay, maybe not, he is a Blue Ribbon now, but can't he be helped? I tell him that maybe he can, apparently he doesn't agree.

I'm watching him as he tells me about how it is to be a Blue Ribbon and how you just go through momentary lapses of what he calls treason. Is that what this is now? A momentary lapse of treason? Against who, the Blue Ribbons or us, his best friends? I may be the new boy in town but I miss the old Gavin already, the Gavin that took me in and told me about this place. I'll admit that at first I thought he was full of bullshit but I know now that he wasn't. I just don't understand this is the only problem. Why can't this all be reversed? Why can't Gavin come back? I've found myself asking this question before about someone else. Oh god, don't even start thinking about Allen now, Steve.

So Steve stands there, he looks so sad and scared underneath the angry attitude he's showing right now. I want to do something to help him, but I guess he's right. He's a Blue Ribbon now, there's no going back. He turns to walk away, or so I think, but he spins around and he's aiming his gun at Rachel! No! I dive on Rachel to save her just as three gunshots go off. I look up thinking it's Gavin's gun but Gavin's on the ground and there's UV standing there, shaking, holding a gun. Rachel pushes me off her and runs to Gavin's side and I slowly follow her and kneel down.

The look on his face as he's lying there dying is something I don't know if I can even describe. He looks amazed, hurt, betrayed, but all at the same moment he looks euphoric. How can he crack sarcastic jokes at a time like this? I guess that's how he's always been now that I think about it. I can see his optimism fade as he lays his head back and he's gone. I stand up quickly to suppress my urge to shed tears for the loss of my first friend in Cradle Bay, and I walk away. Rachel follows me and lays her head on my shoulder as she starts crying for her best friend. I just hug her, what else can I do? There isn't much more I can do at this point.

~*~



"Standing so close knowing that it kills me to breathe you in

Standing so close knowing that it kills me to breathe you in But this table for one has become bearable I now take comfort in this, and for this I cherish you

Did you ever look, did you ever see that one person And the subtle way that they do these things And it hurts so much? So much like choking down the embers of a great place"



My best friend is standing there with a gun pointed at his best friends. Why do they always take the best ones for the Blue Ribbons, why? For the first time in my life, I'm actually scared of Gavin. How did it come to this? How does someone turn someone so completely backward that they end up like Gavin is right now? This isn't Gavin, this is some robot Caldicott created and right now I'm glad Caldicott is dead and I hope he rots in hell for what he's done to Gavin.

Steve is trying to reason with Gavin, I can't get a word in to calm them both down. God, I wish Steve would just shut up so I can say what needs to be said to Gavin. I know Steve cares about him but he just doesn't know Gavin like I do, he doesn't know what Gavin needs. But do I know what Gavin needs anymore? He's a Blue Ribbon now, does that mean he doesn't care what I say? I guess this is all in Gavin's hands now; he's the one with the gun isn't he? He's got it pointed at Steve and I wish I wasn't so scared of what he'd do because I want to rip the gun out of his hands and point it at him just to get everything away from Steve. God, I don't think I've ever really felt like this about any boy before.

Gavin's telling us he's a Blue Ribbon now. Thanks buddy, I think we got that part the day you kicked Steve and UV's asses in the caf. I hate him for that. I hate him for changing. I hate the Blue Ribbons for taking my best friend away from me. I hate everything right now, especially that gun that's separating any rationality between this situation and us. But what can I do? The only weapon I've got is my cynicism and at a time like this I'm pretty sure it's not needed.

I wonder if Gavin even feels the slightest bit of guilt for what he's doing right now and what he wants to do to all of us. He wants to fire that gun, I know it. He wants to kill us. The only question is why? What did we ever do? Caldicott's dead, yeah, okay and Steve killed him. But doesn't that make everything better? Well I guess I'm thinking from a normal person's point of view. Gavin isn't normal anymore and I doubt he ever will be again. Gavin is a Blue Ribbon now, he's the enemy.

I think Gavin's turning away. Is he giving up so soon? That isn't Gavin, Gavin always fights for what he believes in. He's pointing the gun at me! As I react by ducking down Steve jumps on me, I guess to protect me. Remind me to thank him for that later if we all get through this. I think I just heard three gunshots. Gavin's on the ground. Oh my god, UV shot Gavin! I push Steve off of me and run over to my best friend's side. My immediate reaction is to cry, what else can I do? You can look at Gavin and know this is where it all ends, it's over. He's Gavin again, making jokes at the worst time in the world and I just wish that this one time it would make me feel better and I could crack a slight smile like I always did when he did this. He lays his head back and he's gone. My best friend in the world is dead. I feel nothing.

Steve got up and walked away and I got up to follow him. I need to be held right now and he's the only one I want to hold me. I come up behind him and lay my head on his shoulder as I start to sob. He wraps his arms around me and I feel safe, I know I do, but I have never felt more alone in my life. Where do we go from here? Who's to blame in this? What do I do now that my whole world just crashed down? I guess this is the tragic ending they always talked about in those Shakespearean plays. This is out of my hands. This is my best friend gone. This is Steve holding me and he's all I have left.