Wait For Me
It takes so long for true love to sink in. So for now, let's dance around each other, and even when it all seems useless, wait for me.
If you looked at Courtney, you'd stare for a bit.
She had this taut way about her lips, and she had those hips that boys adored and girls envied. But you would find her soul piercing eyes and turn away. For most people, those eyes were too much.
They were dangerous.
But Duncan didn't turn away.
And for the first time in her life, Courtney had to turn around and actually look someone in the face.
Usually they would call her name, mouth it maybe, tap her shoulder, or wave their arm. She was never one to be just stared at.
"May I help you?" You would have already turned. Trust me. You would have at least diverted your eyes to regain your cool for a bit. Courtney's eyes were like a mothers- always suspecting trouble.
He didn't even flicker his gaze. "No."
She looked at his get-up for a bit- a skull tee, baggy shorts, and, ugh, so many piercings'- swiftly looking back at him. "Mmm." She wondered if politeness was necessary for someone so low on her standards.
He just sat there. No hints.
Usually Courtney could look at a person and know what was going to happen, or what could go wrong or right. But he was just there. A soul that had locked doors and windows.
"Who are you, exactly?" She shifted in her desk, brushing her knuckles against the hard wood. She had seen him before, but she was sure they had never spoken. Wait. Once he asked her if he could borrow a pencil. Did that count?
"I could ask you the same question."
"I'm not the one staring."
"Your point?"
She sighed.
Over in the back corner, you could hear Heather- "And she was just acting like such a slut. He was like 'Hey Lindsay, if I beat you to the pool, can we go to your bedroom?' She so purposely tripped. What a whore!" Heathers favorite subject was always her best friend Lindsay, and how much of a slut she was. Lindsay favorite subject was vice versa. They belonged together.
"Shut up, you would have done the same thing!" Courtney yelled across the room. Only she doesn't say that.
"I'm Courtney." That's what she really said, looking at him again.
"Duncan."
"Mmm."
When she made that little 'mmm' sound, her lips pursed in this way- they actually looked like a purse, like a really nice purse. Duncan nodded, watching her lips as they opened again.
"Well, then." She hated awkward moments. Usually she filled them in with a comment, nice or mean- but she really didn't know what to say to him. It was confusing.
"I guess we'll be seeing each other."
"Maybe."
She turned around quickly.
That was the first time Duncan stared at Courtney. It wasn't the last. He stared at her from day to day, week to week.
Courtney sat there, day after day, week after week, watching her every move. She hated being under his gaze- it made her so uncomfortable.
"Will you please stop?" Courtney had not talked to Duncan in two months, but she couldn't take it anymore. "We are high school seniors- we do not have to stare at each other like four years olds."
"Yeah." He said, running a hand through his Mohawk.
He still didn't stop staring.
And, suddenly, Duncan was everywhere. She saw him in the halls, at the book store, at Kroger- it was tiring, never talking, always staring.
"What do you think of Duncan?" Courtney asked Bridgette one day in lunch, as he sat down two tables away and glanced at her.
Bridgette shrugged. "He's just… there. We don't pay each other much attention."
But he was always looking at Courtney. "You just don't get it Bridgette." She said. Only she didn't really say that.
As they exited lunch, Courtney saw him coming towards her. She supposed they would brush hands, maybe stare a bit, then leave.
"Hey."
Surprise, surprise.
"So we're talking now?" She put a hand to her hip.
He raised a brow. "What do you mean?" He dug his hands down in his pockets.
"Nothing." She rolled her eyes.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"You should come to Geoff's party this weekend." He cracked his knuckles, as if to release stress. He just looked at her face, and he was calm all of a sudden. "Your, uh, one friend is coming."
"Bridgette."
"Yeah, her."
Courtney was a bit flustered. It had been quite a while since she was invited somewhere, to a party none the less.
Courtney's dangerous eyes gave him a smile. "Maybe."
"No. It's either yes or no."
Her smile flickered. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're smart." He smirked. "You should know."
She chewed the inside of her lip. "I can't stand you."
"You don't know me." Well, that much was true. But he didn't know her either. You'd think by how they talked to each other, with forcefulness that wasn't necessary, they had known each other forever.
"Mmm." She gave him a look, and she flicked her wrist, popping something, before turning around and walking the other way.
She felt his eyes on her the whole way. She wasn't so sure if she liked it or not.
"Stop staring at me!" She yelled. Only she didn't say that.
She just kept going.
-*~/\~*-
Courtney felt her mouth go dry- Duncan came and sat next to her. It was in math a few days later. She tried not to make a big deal. He was allowed to sit there. He had freedom. He was not copying off her, however, that was for sure.
"How did you solve that one problem- m=1/2?"
Duncan turned to her. It was ten minutes into the class, the first time he had even looked at her. He kept bumping his hand against hers, leaning into her- she was sure that it was just an accident. But how come if anyone else had done these things, she wouldn't have even given it a second thought? Duncan had her reading into things much too deeply, at least for her.
She knew how to solve the problem. She just needed an excuse to figure him out. He was something she was taught to stay away from, and she was. But she needed to know exactly what made him tick, because she had to label him. She almost marked him off as bad boy, but he kept coming back to hang with her- bad guys didn't hang around Courtney. She wanted to label him a player, but then again, she never saw him around many girls. She was verging on the suicidal, but that made no sense- he could pass for one at first glance, but, come on, Duncan had friends, he was cool, seemed pretty happy. A bully maybe? He had pushed some kids around. But that wasn't good enough. That was first grader labels. These were Courtney labels: once you're one thing, it's hard to go back.
"Huh?"
She sighed angrily. She was thinking such complex thoughts, the way he just responded to her as though she was any other person made her twitch. "The problem. M=1/2."
He smirked. "What about it sweetheart?" She looked to his pencil- bite marks were in the edge by the eraser.
"How do you solve it?" She made a thin line with her lips. "If you don't know how…"
Duncan scowled. "Just because I'm not like you doesn't mean I'm not as good. Or better." The way he said it frustrated Courtney. When she thought about it, though, she knew he was right. She thought she was better. She was sure.
"Fine then. Solve away." She sat back in her seat, crossing her arms, her face red.
Now Duncan wasn't one for explaining things, apparently. He took his time, looking at the paper, studying it. Courtney was just about to give up when he set the paper down and pointed a finger to the question.
He did this thing with his eyelid, where it slid down and squinted while the other one stayed wide. He blinked his eyes several times, then cleared his throat and ran a hand through his black hair. "Um…" He said. "Well, you see… y=mx+b is the whole problem, right?"
"Right." She was surprised.
He cracked a knuckle, leaning over her. God, he was much taller. She was very sure he could knock the wind out of her just by scooting over an inch more. "So you want to solve for m and b, the amount of x and what is added to that. M is the slope, which is rise over run. So since you know m is ½…"
"I can already solve for b."
"Yeah." He leaned towards her more. "You know, you smell really good."
"Mmm." She said, turning back to her seat. "How do you know that?"
"What? That you smell good?" Duncan raised a brow. He pointed to his nose, "How else?" he said sarcastically.
She almost smiled. "I mean how did you know how to solve the problem? You never raise your hand in class to solve anything."
"So?"
"So you know the answer."
"That doesn't mean I have to say it."
"Why not? You'd look so smart and educated."
He grunted, giving her a side glance. "Maybe that's not how I want to look."
Courtney made a loud 'huff' noise, the kind that your mother would give you. "You should. Everyone should embrace the fact that they have a brain, and that they know how to use it. Maybe then you might not get in trouble so much."
"You talk a lot."
"Excuse me?"
"See? There you go again."
She opened her mouth to say something more, but just sighed angrily. "I want to kill you."
"I'm afraid you will with that mouth of yours. Never closes, huh?"
She gave him a scowl, wondering why she had even bothered. She knew his label now- "Dick."
"Dirty mouth, sunshine?"
He was impossible, so she kept to herself for a few minutes, writing down more and more problems. When she was on 20, she squinted at him, and saw him leaning over her again. He would look at her desk, then write something down. When she realized what she was doing, her eyes went wide.
"Quit copying off of me!"
"Oh what is this, second grade?"
"You should talk! I thought you could do these on your own!"
"Yes, but it's so much easier when you just do them for me." He winked, but she just grimaced.
"Do your own work Duncan."
"You are so uptight."
"You are pissing me off."
"So?"
"So you don't get to see."
"You're kind of a prissy, you know that?"
She dropped her mouth wide, making the shape of an 'O'. "Did you just call me a-"
"No, I called you a prissy." He smirked, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "And what if I did call you one? You already called me a dick." He leaned down to her ear. "But we can talk about genitals all you want, babe. I could teach you some things."
She shoved him away. "You make me nauseous."
"That is a lie."
She breathed slowly, hesitating. "Not everyone likes you Duncan. You might have other girls on their knee's to get you-"
"Bad choice of words, sweetheart. They are all on their knees, aren't they?"
"That's disgusting."
"You said it, not me."
"You interpreted it wrong."
"OK, OK, I'm gross. I know. But I'm a guy." He shrugged.
Courtney rolled her eyes. "A guy I just don't understand." She sat her head on her hand, giving Duncan an odd look.
-*~/\~*-
"Duncan asked you to a party?" Bridgette fell back on Courtney bed, sighing. "Sounds like love."
"I think not." Courtney said, looking in the mirror as she put on some lip gloss. "Besides, I'm not going."
Bridgette sat up quickly, looking around Courtney's room in a daze. "You're joking right?" She had her mouth opened in this fashion that made Courtney sick. Jaw dropped, Unbelievable. But it was believable. What was unbelievable was thinking Duncan could ever like her, or vice versa, thinking she could like him. Not likely. "It's not like it's a date, just an invitation."
Courtney swayed in her nightgown, looking into her bed stand mirror. Bridgette didn't get it. "I just don't want to go."
Bridgette shifted a bit, looking towards Courtney. "I'm going to be there, and it's not like it's a druggie party-"
"Bridgette."
"You're really not going?"
She was serious now. Why did Courtney have to continue to repeat herself to make one stupid point?
"No. I'm not."
Bridgette shrugged. "OK, but, I don't think he'll be too happy."
Courtney didn't care. Maybe now he might stop staring at her, causing those hot and bubbly feelings in her stomach, once and for all. He would understand, because of course it was understandable. Didn't the situation call to be excusable?
-*~/\~*-
It didn't. Duncan gave her a look during chemistry the next day, and as much as Courtney tried to brush it off, she felt bad. She had never known what it was like to be stood up, mostly because she rarely went on dates. It must feel bad.
But it wasn't a date, right? It was just an invitation, and she had declined. That could be understood, right?
"Well, what's up, sweetheart? Left any people hanging lately?" Or maybe not. As she stood in the lunch line, she turned to him, and he grabbed her a tray.
Duncan did look a bit hurt, but more jokingly, as if her absence had been expected. "I'm sorry, OK?"
"I knew you wouldn't show." He picked the burger- oh, bad choice, way too greasy. "You're just too good for a party, right?"
Courtney gave him a sharp scowl. "You said, 'it's either a yes or a no'. Well, this time, I said no."
Duncan smiled. "So are you suggesting there will a next time?" He grabbed for the last apple pie- damn- but surprisingly put it on her plate. She smiled a little inside.
"There might be. But don't get your hopes up."
"If I couldn't hope when I was with you, I'd just leave you alone." He finished the line, grabbing a chocolate milk and walking away. He skipped the cash register.
"Hey!" Courtney said, about to point out how he couldn't expect to get away with that, but instead found herself sneaking around the other people to get through without paying either.
She walked up to him, and he laughed a little. "You gotta learn to wait for me, right?"
He rolled his eyes. "I'm trying sweetheart."
-*~/\~*-
A/N: Oh Duncan! I miss you! If you weren't such a jerk… :(
I wrote this on the random. :D I miss DxC, and just found it in my heart to write them a happy story.
Thanks for reading!