Wow. I'm seriously impressed by the reaction I'm getting from this already. Thanks to those who reviewed. To those who put me on alert, thanks as well. You guys should feel loved, I'm writing huge ass chapters for you. This one beats the last, so hopefully you'll all enjoy it. Reviews are like heroine, feed the addiction.
For future reference: Carter has liver cancer. This has spread to her bones, which has taken on stage three. She would've been a junior is she was still in school. There will be NO Chase in this story. None, zilch, notta. Sorry, too many people do it. Also, Carter does NOT have The Power. Once again, it's almost becoming cliché nowadays. Reid may seem OOC to many, but I got a different vibe from him in the movie. Yes, he's a badass, but not a complete dick all the time. Carter's cat, C.A.T, is pronounced CEE-AY-TEE.
I own nothing. It's quite sad, really.
Chapter Two
Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting.
"Need. Coffee," Carter said, slumping onto a swiveling stool at the front counter, looking at Lola pathetically. She'd gotten off shift three hours ago and had spent her 'free time' shopping for her house. Apparently, you needed food to live and her house was completely void of the stuff. Getting hit on by the geek-wad cashier and not being able to find the ho-hos made her afternoon less than pleasant. She needed coffee.
Lola stared at through her curtain of red hair and shook her head, picking up a cup from beneath the counter and filled it with hot water. Carter looked at the ceramic cup in disgust as Lola dropped a tea bag in the water, turning the clear water murky almost instantly.
"What the hell is this?" Carter asked, lifting up the odd smelling concoction in almost fear.
"Herbal tea, you d-bag," Lola said, wiping down the counter with a wet rag. "No caffeine. Doctor's orders."
Carter gaped at her friend as she casually continued with her end of shift cleaning. She looked down at her tea in pure disgust and stood up with a sigh. Ignoring her friend's questioning glance, Carter walked around the counter and dumped the tea out in the sink. Picking up a new cup, she filled it with half decaf coffee and grabbed a handful of French Vanilla creamer pods.
"This is a coffee cup, Lo," Carter said, sitting back down at her original seat. Starting to unseal her creamer, she looked at Lola like she was talking to a four year old. "You put coffee in a coffee cup. Not tea, not soda, coffee. Hence the name "coffee cup"!" Air quotes were used.
Yes, Carter knew she was being immature and childish, but she wanted coffee. And Lola was coming between her and her beloved coffee. Not good.
Lola laughed at her friend's antics, though didn't apologize. "Just looking out for you." With a grumble, Carter flipped her the bird and held her cup close to her, breathing in the flumes. Lola laughed harder, disappearing into the back seconds later.
The door dinged and Carter turned around, surprised to see the blond boy from earlier walking towards her. She laughed at his clothes, and instantly knew he was a Spenser kid. Rich, mighty, power, and stuck up for the most part. That's all you had to be to get into Spenser, rich being the most influential.
With a sigh, the boy sat down beside a still laughing Carter, who was trying to hide it in her coffee, and loosened his tie casually. "What the hell are you laughing at, Cart?"
"Didn't take you for a private school type of guy," She said, giggling and motioning towards his uniform with a wave of her hand.
"Don't insult the uniform, babe," he said seriously, glancing at a menu, "Chicks dig it."
Carter patted the boy on the shoulder comfortingly. "Sure they do."
Boy wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Trust me, they do."
"Perv," Carter stated, taking a drink of her sugary decaf coffee. Boy just shrugged his shoulders with a smirk. "How was school?"
Boy stiffened but shrugged his shoulders casually. "You're not missing anything by dropping out," he said with a sour face.
Carter just laughed, not bothering to tell Boy that she'd rather be in school than work full time. Before dropping out, school had been her life. She'd been hoping to go to William and Mary one day, but that dream was long gone. Family came first though, and it wasn't like the rent was going to pay itself. It pissed Carter off none the less, she was the kid, not her dad. Sure, Denny's was great an all, but it wasn't what she wanted to be doing for the rest of her life. No pun intended..
Boy's phone rang, or rather vibrated, and he let out a curse at the caller ID. Flipping it open he gave Carter a pleading look. "Can you get me a coffee?" He grinned when she nodded her head and turned back to his phone.
"What?"
She was surprised to hear his voice had gone cold and almost harsh. She studied his face, seeing that even his eyes looked different while he was talking to the person on the other line. He didn't seem like the boy from lunch, but she couldn't be one to judge. It wasn't like Carter had known him for more than six hours.
Carter jumped down from her stool and walked around the counter, trying not to listen to Boy's conversation. Though, it was a bit difficult. She filled out a green cup full of coffee and started back towards Boy.
"Why the hell you always gotta think it's me?" he yelled in a hushed voice, something a normal person would have difficulty with. "Ever think that maybe it was Baby Boy? Or, imagine this, Pogue?" Boy gave a smirk and Carter could hear the deft yelling come the other side of his phone. Boy gave a heaving sigh and leaned his head down on the counter, arm outstretched.
Sitting back next to him, Carter placed the coffee cup in front of the still arguing boy. He sat up and put the phone in front of him, almost yelling into it, "For fuck's sake, Caleb, it wasn't me!" Boy turned towards Carter with a scowl but mouthed 'thank-you' to her, taking a sip of his coffee. "School, man! And with Carter after that!"
Carter's head perked up at the sound of her name as Boy continued arguing. "Dude, don't have a fucking shit-fit. I'll be there later." Finally, Boy hung up his phone and she smirked at the sounds of the person on the other line still talking as his phone flipped shut. He took a sip of his coffee, a content look coming over his face as he did.
"If I turn up dead tomorrow," Boy said, eyes closed, "It was Caleb Danvers who did it."
"Trouble in paradise?" she inquired, eying Boy's coffee intently. She glanced around the diner, looking for any signs of Lola as Boy shook his head which was still on the counter top. He didn't seem to notice when Carter darted her hand out, snatching up the coffee. The real coffee, no decaf puddle shit stuff, the actual stuff with caffeine. Heaven.
"Just dumb ass friends," he said finally opening his eyes to see Carter with his coffee in her hand, a goofy grin on her face. "What the hell!" he reached forward and snatched back his coffee as Carter frowned, pouting slightly. "You have you're own!"
"But it's decaf, the hated love child of coffee and health!" She whined, reaching forward in attempts to get more actual coffee. Boy laughed at her reference to her decaf coffee, surprised by her analogy of it.
"You're a freak," Boy said, sliding his coffee down to her with a laugh. Carter gave a squeal of delight and was about to take another sip when the swinging door opened, revealing Lola.
"CARTER JANE MURPHY!" she screeched, making both Carter and Boy to wince at the high pitch. "PUT DOWN THE CUP!" Lola walked forward, grabbing the cup from a pouting Carter and looked at a confused Boy angrily. "Did you give her this?"
"It wasn't his fault," Carter defended, laughing softly at Boy's look of confusion. "I asked for it." As the words came out of her mouth, Carter knew it wasn't exactly going to have the calming affect on Lola as she'd hoped. The words oh and shit came to mind as Carter caught sight of her friend's face.
Lola turned back to her, a disappointed look on her face. She let out a sigh and handed Boy back his cup calmly. "You really want to die, don't you?"
Carter looked at her friend in complete shock and didn't have a chance to reply as her phone started playing Say This Sooner by The Almost and she reached into her bag, trying to grab her phone. She looked at Lola pleadingly but she just shook her head and walked back through the swinging doors without a word. Boy looked after Lola in confusion, having no idea what the two girls were fighting about.
"Hello?" Carter asked, her voice laced with hurt. Boy watched her on the phone and noticed how her face fell when the other line starting talking.
"Where the hell are you?"
Carter sighed, this should be good. "Hi Dad."
"Get your ass home, now," his voice was angry and more than likely drunk, again. He slammed his phone down and Carter flipped her phone closed gently. She turned and bent down to pick up her bag, pulling out her car keys.
"I gotta go," she announced, looking at Boy with tired eyes. Boy nodded his head, not asking about the phone call, figuring it would be best not too. Carter looked up from her bag, keys in hand, staring at Boy with a light of realization. He gave her an odd look, questioningly.
"What?"
Carter snorted and pulled a stray bang behind her ear, still looking at him. "I don't even know your name."
She found it funny that although they weren't exactly friends, more like newly found acquaintances, that she didn't know his name. Odd, wasn't it? In all honesty, Carter had simply been referring to him in her mind as Boy. Rather rude, but what was a girl supposed to do when the guy didn't give her his name?
Boy laughed and reached out his hand, coffee cup still glued to the other. "I'm Reid Garwin," he, Reid, said with a smirking grin.
Carter took his hand with smile, shaking it quickly. "Nice to meet you Reid," she said, walking backwards towards the door. "I'll see you around."
As she walked out the door, Carter thought she heard a soft 'You can count on it.'.
--
Pulling her car into the small gravel driveway that led to her, less than great, home, Carter let out a deep sigh. She twisted her keys from the ignition, debating which would be worse. Going in or making a mad run for it back into town. Lola got off at five but she'd probably still be hanging around for at least another half hour. Plus, Lo's couch was pretty much the comfiest one around.
Just as Carter was about to restart her car and make her run back to Denny's, she saw the curtain in the family room window move, revealing a flash of her father's stocky stature. She winced, so much for the plan to run for it.
She took her sweet time gathering her things from the mustang, even picking up some week old garbage to buy herself time. After five minutes of picking random things up in her car, making it almost halfway clean, Carter figured she didn't have much more time before her dad came out and would physically force her into the house. Grabbing a last candy wrapper off the floor and slinging the grocery bags from earlier over one arm, she headed towards the front door, kicking her car door shut with her foot.
Somehow Carter was able to fish her keys from her pocket and unlock the front door, having to lift it up on it's hinges slightly to be able to slide the lock back. One of the luxuries of having a crap ass home. There was nothing at all nice about her home, not in the slightest. Doors were missing from rooms, windows were cracked, and the floors always creaked. It wouldn't surprise Carter in the lease if the people living in it before her had made it into a crack house. Slamming the door behind her, she dropped her bag on the floor and slipped off her shoes. Carefully, Carter started down the front hall, leaving the grocery bags on a table in the hall.
"Dad?" she called out, surprised not to see him in front of the television in the den. Walking further into the house, she found her dad sitting at the kitchen table, looking through the mail. "Hey Dad," Carter said tentatively, not walking into the kitchen, instead leaning against the door frame, leaving distance between herself and her dad.
"You're late," Robert said, not looking up from the mail, dividing it up between the things for himself and Carter.
"I had to work today," she explained, though remembered having the same conversation with him the day before. It was always the same, everyday. The only thing that changed was his reaction, which all depended on how much he'd had to drink before she got home. By the smell that was wafting towards her, Carter guessed things weren't going to go as well as she'd hoped.
"You worked yesterday."
Carter shrugged, even though her dad didn't see it. "Sam was sick yesterday, so I took his shift. I didn't think you'd mind if I picked up a few extra hours."
"You were late today."
She squirmed, his voice was getting tenser already. "We needed food. I got you some salami," she tried with a hopeful smile. "I know how you like salami."
Her dad slammed his fist on the rickety table, sending letters to the floor as Carter winced and jumped. "I don't care about god damn deli meat!" He stood up, taking a few steps towards her menacingly. Carter involuntarily stepped backwards and into the hallway. "Paul and I are going out for a few drinks. When I get back, this house had better be spotless," he pointed a chubby finger at her, a serious look on his already drunk face. "I mean that, fucking spotless. You got that?"
"Got it, Dad," Carter said softly as he brushed past her, fumbling to get his coat from the rack. He said nothing else to her before walking out the door, slamming it behind him. His heavy footsteps sounded on the front porch and she heard a car pull up and then a door slam shut.
She let out a sigh, leaning against the door way heavily. Glancing around the dirty kitchen and laundry room, Carter realized how much cleaning she had to do before her dad came home. Looking at the clock, reading five thirty six, she guessed that eight hours was all the time she would get before he came home. Hopefully, if Carter didn't get all of it done, he would be too drunk to notice.
Maybe.
--
Three hours later, Carter fell onto her couch with a groan. All around her clean floor and dusted counter tops. The entire Crack House, as she 'affectionately' called it, was clean. Spotless, in fact. She had even caught up on all the laundry and cleaned out the fridge, which had been in desperate need of new food. IT hadn't been nearly as hard as she had thought, and hadn't taken much time. It was only just nearly nine o'clock.
Surfing through the channels on the small television, Carter finally settled on Scrubs. The show always made her laugh, not to mention that Turk was freaking hot when he played Petey in Remember the Titans. Guys in uniform, most of them anyways, always got to Carter. Don't ask why, it was just one her things. Lola happened to like any boy with green eyes, as in, any boy. She wouldn't care if he had man boobs and a bad case of acne so long as he had green eyes. Well, maybe not..
Carter was brought out her Scrubs worshiping when her phone started singing. Or rather Aaron Gillespie did. She leaped off the couch and dashed down the hall, fumbling to get her phone out before it ceased to ring.
"Hello?" she asked, sliding down the length of the front door, leaning her back against it as Carter sat on the hall floor.
"Hey princess," a voice answered from the other line. Carter could hear music blasting in the background, but didn't know why Reid, of all people, was calling her. Or how he got her number for that matter. "Lola gave me your number," he said, reading her mind. Quite a feat, seeing the distance between them.
Note sarcasm.
"What's up Reid?"
The music faded away slightly as she heard his feet crunching on leaves, or at least, that's what Carter guessed. "I'm at a party," he yelled, apparently thinking she wouldn't be able to hear him over the blasting music.
Carter let out a snort. "You stalked Lola for my number just to call and tell me that? I feel honored."
"You should," he said and Carter could almost hear his smirk over the line. A door opened on his end and the music disappeared. "You doing anything tonight?"
He couldn't be serious. "I'm not coming over," Carter stated seriously, standing up and walking down her hall. Parties weren't her thing. Especially now, her being a drop out and all didn't sit well with much of the 'popular crowd'. More than likely Reid was out partying with a bunch of private school kids with cash to blow and kegs to drink. Most definitely not her scene.
"C'mon, Cart!" Reid whined, reminding Carter of a five year old. "I'm surrounded by bimbos and jocks. Savvveee meee!"
Carter laughed at his childish voice. "No."
"Please?"
"No."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "I'll buy you coffee tomorrow."
Low blow, Garwin.
Carter debated. Was coffee really worth a night of partying with Reid and other such rich kids?
Hell yes.
"Where are you?"
Reid laughed. "I'll pick you up in ten minutes. Wear something hot," he hung up the phone before Carter could say anything. She closed her phone with a sigh, not even going to question how Reid knew where she lived. Jumping to her feet, Carter sprinted up the stairs, proceeding to tear apart her closet in attempts to find something decent to wear.
Eight minutes and counting.
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