A/N: Story disregards everything after season one specifically to make the plot fit. It's a mystery/suspense spin on romance. Will be GwenXDuncan eventually. If you think it should be continued shoot me a review at the end with your thoughts!
She stood, staring blankly at the bouquet of flowers on her doorstep. Red, the most atrocious color for roses ever. Obviously, the admirer didn't know what she liked at all. Since when did she like red?
Reaching for the vase, she searched for some sort of identification. It was too early for flowers; she was trying to go to school. After all the drama at home she moved in with Leshawna, deciding senior year would be best spent in the company of friends, and not her divorcing parents.
There was no note on the card, leaving her few options for who might've sent the gift. She glanced down the hallway, expecting to see someone leering in the distance, giggling to themselves at the joke. For all she knew Heather made a personal call all the way to her hometown just to spite her.
Stepping back into the apartment she set the vase on the small kitchen table, scooting over Cd's and magazines. She had no idea who sent the flowers, and although she didn't care much for them she figured they might as well not go to waste.
"Maybe it'll distract from the mess in here," she muttered, glancing around the trashed room. High school and cleaning just didn't mix. She turned with a shake of her head, stepping from the apartment again. Might as well get to school.
On the drive, she didn't notice anyone familiar lurking about. Clearly someone was playing a prank on her with those flowers. She would've assumed they were her roommates if the cutout card wasn't addressed to her.
Robotically she moved into the school building, hardly noticing the people around her. She would've made it to first period without incident if someone didn't happen by her locker.
"You're way too deep in thought for this early in the morning," Trent joked, adjusting the guitar on his back. His hair fell down around his eyes these days, emphasizing the smile below his fringe dramatically.
"I just don't wake up every morning to flowers," she replied, smirking at his confused expression. Plucking the cup of coffee from his outstretched hand she shut her locker and leaned back against it, staring into the crowded hallway. She couldn't wait to be done with this year.
"Flowers? At eight in the morning?"
"Not quite eight," she joked, shaking a finger at him. "I've never really had someone silly enough to leave gifts on my doorstep. I mean, how pathetic is that? Do people even do that anymore?"
"Yeah," Trent replied, awkwardly brushing back his hair. His eyes scanned the hallway a moment, a distinct frown falling across his face as he studied his surroundings. "Guess it's a little corny these days."
Gwen followed the trail of his eyes, noting how they seemed to harder the longer he stared off into the distance. Ah, there was Duncan at the end of the hallway. Low and behold, Trent still wasn't over the other boy's jabs from months ago.
"You're not still hung up on what Duncan said, are you?" she asked, chancing a glance back at him. "You know he doesn't always mean what he says."
"Oh, I think he means exactly what he says," Trent corrected, turning his attention to her. "And it's not like you need to defend him anymore for what happened. We aren't dating anymore, remember?"
There it was again, the bitter biting edge in his voice that constantly reminded Gwen that while her feelings for Trent disappeared over the past months, his were still buried deep inside, trying to figure out why she no longer liked him.
"He made an observation," she reminded, leaning closer to the taller boy, parts of her midnight hair falling in her eyes. "You just didn't like it."
"It was false," he snapped, eyes scanning over her head again. "But you believed him instead of me."
"He had evidence!" she argued, throwing up her hands. "You just didn't want to get caught Trent."
His expression hardened, but he didn't say anything else as the man in question stepped up beside them, nudging Trent harder than he needed to.
"I could see that scowl all the way down the hallway man," Duncan said, flipping shut a lighter. He didn't have any sort of bag, unlike his two companions. The only thing he seemed to carry to school were smokes and knives.
Trent, who rarely attempted to cover how he felt about Duncan anymore, rolled his eyes and leaned against the locker. "Wasn't trying to disguise it."
"I'd know it was there even if you did." Turning his body from Trent, Duncan smirked at the girl beside him. "Babe, you don't have to keep pitying your exes. You can come by anytime."
Gwen shook her head, ignoring the way Trent tightened at Duncan's every word. There was bad blood between them, a feud that she would be helpless to end. They started up a rift with each other, and it would be up to them to finish it.
She couldn't help if she appreciated Duncan getting under Trent's skin. After all, he did deserve it.
"You don't always have to try that line either," she replied, gently pushing past him as the morning warning bell rang. "Now come on," she continued, catching his hand, "we'll be late for class."
Gwen waved goodbye to Trent, ignoring the hardened look in his eyes. Sometimes she wished Leshawna was here in the mornings to break up the tension, but she didn't start classes until third period.
"Do you always have to egg him on?" she huffed, dragging Duncan behind her. He'd grown used to this routine the past two months. "You know you could just let things go."
"Like you've let them go babe? Leshawna did tell me you still sometimes tear up his pictures. How many did he give you exactly? Seems like you've been destroying things since the big break up."
She whirled on him, ignoring the final bell as it sounded. Screw it, she'd be late to class today. "I did let things go with Duncan. I had to let them go or I'd never feel better. But the two of you can't just let things slide."
"You all would've gotten shot if it wasn't for me," he hissed, lowering his voice. "You're lucky I was even around. Guitar boy definitely wouldn't have done anything, least of all for you."
His words hurt, stinging her festering wound even after the past months. "That doesn't matter. You were there. You did something, and no one got shot okay? So let it go."
"I just don't understand babe," he continued, shaking her hand off when he attempted to pull him along again. "You knew something was going to happen, and you knew it'd be bad. So why did you stay around when things got real?"
Gwen pursed her lips, but this time she refused to respond. She crossed her arms and stared at the wall behind his head, barely noticing the exaggerated eye roll he sent her way. Hell, he got under her skin more than he realized.
He very well knew that he upset her. Gwen rarely cried, and he could count the two times he'd seen her on one hand, spanning the same night. She was frustrated and still hurting, and even if he and Leshawna knew that there was nothing anyone could really do to make her speak.
"I'm not promising anything sweetheart," he grunted, jabbing a finger towards her chest. "Guitar boy asks for trouble. He's got more of a grudge than I do!"
"He also got in more trouble than you did," she reminded, brushing back her hair. "Couldn't you at least try to not make things harder?"
Duncan shrugged, looking unconvinced by her speech. "I'll think about it."
"Good. Now come on, as much as I love skipping this class, Cody will talk my ear off if I skip out on being his partner, again."
He just kept talking. She wondered how anyone could come up with so much to say and have it all mean absolutely nothing.
She'd gotten really good at zoning Cody out. They were lab partners for the semester, and although she kept trying to ignore him he always found something to chat away about. At least Duncan got partnered with one of his friends. She'd take anyone else in this class over Cody at this point. Did he really think she listened to all that gibberish?
Cody was good at science, which helped out Gwen since she wasn't. But sometimes he wanted to tell her everything on science, or math, or psychology ever and she just started losing it. Back on the show she had no idea he was this much of a nerd.
In fact, she didn't think they went to school together until after the show. She knew Duncan and Trent went to school with her, though campus was so big she didn't notice them. Duncan with his green Mohawk would be very easy to identify if he ever attended classes previously.
"…and then, the carbon atoms – Gwen? Are you listening?"
She snapped back into focus, attempting to ignore the rest of the room. "Hmm? Yeah, of course."
Cody frowned, eyes glancing first at her face and then around the room. "Sure you aren't eyeballing Duncan?"
Gwen rolled her eyes, wondering when he would give this up. Every day he asked the same question, picking any boy in class as the victim. Every day she got a little closer to beating him to death with a book. Smacking him in the head just wasn't always enough.
"No Cody, I'm just trying to remember why you're telling me all this," she grumbled, leaning further back in her chair. She watched his hand tighten on the pen in his hand and frowned.
Why did he even care if she was listening?
"Yeah, sure," he said, laughing uncomfortably. "Sure. Anyway, we should be done soon. I took the liberty of mixing most of the ingredients while you were zoning. Figured we can ensure our 'A' that way."
Gwen bit the side of her cheek to keep from saying something snappy. Last week she got angry when Cody egged her on again, and she tipped a bit too much into their vial while she was boasting that she knew how to do it. The fizzing mess that followed definitely did not get her any good marks in class.
Besides, she technically needed the grade. The higher the marks Cody helped her get in lab, the less she had to worry about her plummeting grades on tests.
Sitting back, she tried not to shoot down anything else Cody had to say. The faster they finished the faster she could leave. She even attempted to not kick him too hard whenever he stared at her, though she did find that hard.
"I've gotta go," he said after a while, setting down the nearly finished assignment. "I'll be right back."
"Oh gee, don't take too long!" she called sarcastically after him, eyeing the beaker off as it sat beside her. It wouldn't be that bad if she pushed it off the table just to irk him, would it?
"Got Cody doing all your work again sweetheart?" Duncan asked, taking over the chair Cody occupied. "It's impressive that he can get anything done with all those times he stares at you."
"Hardly,' she grunted, crossing her arms. "They're more like glances. I keep kicking him every time it happens."
"And so your romance blooms," he said sarcastically, pressing a hand dramatically to his chest. "I can almost hear your wedding bells."
She smacked him, hardly caring if the teacher noticed or not. "Shut up Duncan. I've already shot down Cody a couple times. He isn't stupid enough to think anything would happen."
"I don't know babe, those quiet ones always have a surprise up their sleeve."
Gwen smacked him again, tightening her hands. "Shut up. Cody's not like that. He'll be chasing some other girl around soon enough."
"Just remember, he's been hoping for you since TD."
She made a face, ignoring his smirk as he stood again to head back to his own seat as Cody came back. The shorter boy shot him a look, something between annoyance and anger, but Gwen couldn't imagine what would make him look like that. He slid into his seat again, waggling his eyebrows.
"I see you didn't even blow it up."
The rest of class passed quickly, and Gwen was so pleased by the time the bell rang she actually bolted from class without helping Cody finish up. Anything to get out of there.
Walking back to her locker, she wondered if her next class would be any better. Opening the door, she paused as something tumbled out onto the floor, something startling that made her stomach clench.
A rose, a hideous red rose. Around the stem was another note, labeled Gwen.
