New job, new city … new story :)
First and foremost, this one covers a few sensitive topics about teenagers and their trials and tribulations. It will be quite heavily focused on Lindsey Willows, although there is a Cath/Sara subplot as well :)
Second, I apologise for the obscenely large amount of 'teenage-speak' in this story. I have had to watch untold amounts of teen movies and TV shows in an attempt to get this something like accurate. Some of the dialogue between the teens is taken from these, which I do not own.
The main idea for this story is rooted in the movie 'Cyberbully', which Kay Panabaker (Lindsey Willows) was also in. I am using 'Friend Agenda' as the social network site because it had been mentioned on CSI, but I'm basing it on Facebook, simply because it's the only one I have and therefore the only one I know how to use.
This is just the first chapter, so who all the characters are will become more apparent as we go on.
Well, that's my explanation done, so on with the story :)
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, it's characters or the characters or dialogue from Cyberbully or any other film used in this story. I short, I don't own anything.
x x x x
"What's the definition of 'cerebral'?"
"Me." Lindsey answered easily, never ceasing the examination of her newly painted nails. "Definition of lazy: you. Do your own homework."
Ruby brushed the comment off easily with a sassy retort, turning instead to the other girl in their clan.
"Sam you're a genius, you should know."
Samantha, however, was not paying attention; her gaze fixed across the hall onto the back of a well-toned boy by the name of Scott Bailey.
The other girls turned to follow her line of sight and Ruby's lips spread into a knowing smirk.
"Ah, the definition of lust." Lindsey drawled, leaning into her best friend's shoulder.
"Urgh, whenever I see him my throat swells up." Sam confessed, slumping against her locker door.
"You do know that Scott is just a dumb jock, right?" Lindsey huffed, turning her back on the budding footballer under the guise of looking for a text book.
"No he's not." Sam retorted defensively, a sullen frown marring her pretty features.
"Of course he is, he's just like all the others."
Deciding to break up the spat before it could get started, Ruby bounded between them and slung an arm around Sam's shoulder.
"You know, if you were on Friend Agenda you could send him a request and see if he answers it."
"Oh that's so sixth grade." She mocked, slamming her locker shut and sloping down the hall with her friends in tow. "Besides, even if I wanted to I couldn't. My mom, like, hovers over my shoulder all the time. I'm not allowed to use the laptop in my room, it has to stay in the 'family room'. There's no way." The blonde slumped her shoulders and flicked her long tresses over her shoulder. "I'm running late, I'll see you guys later."
Waving her off with a small chuckle at her misfortune, Lindsey hooked an arm through Ruby's as they threaded their way towards their own class against the shrill sound of the bell.
"Her mom is so backwards. She can't even have internet on her phone."
Ruby threw her head back in unsympathetic laughter, her long brunette hair trailing down her back.
"Uh, my God." The girl groaned dramatically. "I thought my parents were strict.
X x x
"Come on mom," Lindsey droned pitifully. "It's just the mall. All the other kids are going."
"Yeah, but no parents." Catherine pointed out for the third time, stooping down to extract another load of dripping plates from the dishwasher. "You're too young to go to the mall unsupervised."
She didn't even need to turn around to know what look she was getting from her daughter right now. It was a look she was accustomed to receiving lately.
"I'm fifteen - nearly sixteen! Kids younger than me are having kids!"
Catherine cast a disparaging look over her shoulder at the off-hand remark.
"Which is precisely why you're not going."
"Mom! I don't know how you can be so un-cool."
"Years of practice," came the dry response as Cath straightened up and stretched until her back clicked. It had been doing that more and more lately – just another painful reminder that she was getting older every day.
However, the biggest reminder of her slipping youth was still lurking behind her, emitting the kind of irate noise that only a teenager can create. The kind of huff she herself used to make when she was fifteen.
"Uh, I hate living here!" Lindsey snarled, stomping her feet on her way out of the room. Cath paused, listening to the familiar trek of heavy footfalls upstairs and across the landing before the final slamming of a bedroom door brought the argument to a definitive close.
"Yeah, well I'd take an island in Fiji over this right now as well." She muttered to herself, resuming the task of cleaning the kitchen in peace.
Thankfully, she had to go into work early tonight, which meant that she wouldn't be the one listening to Lindsey's sullen silence all evening. That joy would fall to her mother.
Casting a glance at the clock, she decided that she had just enough time for a quick shower before Lily arrived.
Her muscles still ached from her previous shift and the jet of hot water against her skin was doing nothing to sooth the pain.
She rolled her neck back, letting the stream of soapy droplets spill down her chest.
She hadn't been feeling herself lately, although she couldn't quite put her finger on what was bothering her. It felt like everything was a hassle, a struggle; even the simplest of tasks had become a chore.
She had endured periods in her life like this before – who hadn't? Usually she just had to picture her little girl's face and it snapped her out of it, but lately it seemed like Lindsey was part of the problem. Catherine loved her, of course; but she had become such a trial lately; pushing every boundary to the limit.
She had been the same, naturally, when she was that age. But then she had been angry with the world at that age.
These thoughts continued to plague her every day, but ultimately she kept coming back to the same question.
What was her child so angry about?
X x x
Unfortunately, though she had no idea how, a quick shower turned into a long shower and she found herself dashing down the stairs with her shoes in one hand and phone in the other. Grissom would have a fit if she was late once more this week.
She barely managed to garble something at her mother on her way out of the door, but she wasn't sure how much of it made sense.
It did cross her mind briefly on the drive to work that she should have warned her about Lindsey's bad mood, but she brushed the thought away as quickly as it arrived.
Surely, Lily would be used to it by now anyway.
X x x
Lindsey waited until she heard her mother's hurried departure from the house before creeping out of her room and down the stairs.
"Hi Grandma." She greeted sweetly, leaning over the back of the couch to peck the woman's cheek.
"Hello baby." Lily smiled up at her, putting the magazine she was reading to one side. "Did you want something?"
Lindsey took a deep breath, putting on the most innocent smile she could muster.
"Well, I was wondering whether you could drive me to the mall? Some of my friends are going to pick out Prom dresses and I wanted to go with them."
The sentence came out rushed, not quite as smooth as she had hoped. Lily glanced at the time with narrowed eyes – a bad sign for sure.
"It's quite late." She noted. Lindsey held her breath, waiting for the question that she knew was coming. "What did your mother say?"
"She was in kind of a hurry before she left, I never got chance to ask her." She paused, casting her eyes sadly towards the floor. "I'd call, but I know she doesn't like being interrupted at work."
The pre-prepared answer had the desired effect. That trademark family look of disapproval.
Lindsey knew that her grandmother hated her mother's obsession with work, to the point where it formed the perfect diversion. If she passed the blame onto her mom, she could get pretty much anything she wanted. Occasionally throwing in the puppy-dog eyes didn't hurt either.
Lily hoisted herself off the couch and grabbed her car keys.
"Come on, I'll drop you off."
X x x
"What about this one?" Ruby asked, holding a sparkly number littered in sequins against her body in a mock-model pose.
"Ew, no way." The other two laughed brightly.
Technically, she hadn't been lying. They were going to look at Prom dresses, as well as dresses for Samantha's sweet sixteen; if she ever decided what she was doing for it.
"We should do what you did for your eleventh birthday." Lindsey suggested, only half-joking.
"We just got our nails done." Sam pointed out, scrunching her nose up. "And the smell was so bad it made everyone sick, remember? Julie Brieserman nearly threw up."
Suddenly dragging to memory a piece of gossip she had read recently; and glad of an opportunity to change the subject after her birthday party idea had been shot down, Lindsey's eyes lit up.
"Did you hear that Julie's pregnant?" She asked excitedly.
"No way!" Samantha blinked. "How would you know that? She moved to California."
"Friend Agenda, hello." Ruby rolled her eyes, drawing a similar reaction from Samantha.
"Right, of course." The girl exhaled.
"I still can't believe that your mom won't let you have it." Lindsey continued. "Even my mom lets me use it, and she doesn't let me do anything cool."
"Yeah, but your mom's a cop." Sam teased. "She's probably got your account bugged."
"She's not a cop." Linds scowled, having long since gotten fed up with having to explain the difference between cops and CSIs. "And anyway, my mom's totally oblivious when it comes to technology. She hasn't got a clue."
"Yeah right, unlike Samantha's mom who won't even let her use the laptop in her room."
"Shut up." Sam laughed softly, punching Ruby lightly in the arm.
The playful fighting was cut short by Sam's attention disappearing to the other side of the mall.
As with earlier, there was only one reason for her zoning out of the conversation and that reason was Scott Bailey.
However, this time he wasn't alone. Tommy was with him, along with his overly-clingy, mini-skirt clad girlfriend. Ally looked up and caught Samantha's eye before she could turn away. With a feral smile, she grabbed Tommy and locked her lips on to his. He seemed somewhat surprised by the move, given that he had been mid-conversation with Scott, but responded by instantly snaking his hands towards Ally's waistline.
"Uh, get a room." Ruby spat, turning away from the public display. "And doesn't she knew you're only meant to show your boobs or your legs, not both."
"She still hates me after what I said in health class the other day." Sam acknowledged glumly. "It wasn't even directed at her ... not directly."
Lindsey frowned, flicking her narrowed eyes between Sam and Ally. She didn't like the blonde any more than her best friend did, and she certainly didn't like the company she kept. But that wasn't her only reason for wanted to get away from them.
"Come on." She said at last, tugging her friend's arm. "Ignore her; she's such a slut anyway."
"Yeah, a total whore." Ruby joined in gleefully.
Samantha smiled gratefully, allowing her friends to drag her away. They were right – as much as she disliked some of her classmates, they weren't worth getting worked up over.
Still, she couldn't help but cast a glance over her shoulder at the three of them, still lingering on the other side of the mall.