Author's Note: Like I said, I'm going to re-revise all of these chapters, correct some things I missed the first time when I was beta reader for this, just make it more fluent than before. Hope you enjoy chapter two!
Chapter Two: An Old Friend
I hung out with Tucker for the whole day and as a result I learned a lot about him. Okay, scratch that: I learned he has two particular passions. Technology and meat. I'm not sure which he loves more. If he lost his meat, he'd probably conjure up a picture of meat on his PDA. If he lost his technology, he'd probably hold a t-bone steak all day pressing imaginary buttons wondering why the screen wouldn't change. And then he'd probably eat the steak. I despise meat lovers, but he's the exception because he's the first guy that I actually like and want to be friends with. For the most part, our school schedules match, with the exception of history and science. I'm okay in history, but I'm no Albert Einstein when it comes to science; that's the class I dread the most. Especially when dissection programs come along. I can't stand doing that to animals.
At first, I was a little leery of Casper High. Now I really enjoy being here. The teachers are great and so are the kids... for the most part. Tucker says that I need to watch out for Paulina Sanchez. Like I needed any persuading! Since the incident in English, I've officially been on her bad side.
But I'm not scared of her. She's the schools' hottest and most popular girl, but she's as fake as her tan. On the plus side, I only have two classes with her; English and Spanish. I regret taking the latter now, though, because she can speak fluent Spanish. Meaning, when I try to speak it, I'll sound like an epic failure which will add to the list of things she'll be razzing me about. But I can handle my own battles. I dealt with girls like her at my old school, so it's nothing new. There will always be a Paulina Sanchez wherever I go.
Mr. Bennett, our science teacher, began telling the class about the homework assignment but the lunch bell cut him short. Students were out of the classroom faster than lightning, obviously not caring about the homework. I stayed along with a few others to listen to our teacher about the homework; reading a chapter in our text book. Not too bad.
After dropping my books off at my locker and retrieving my sack lunch, I headed to the cafeteria. It was the second day of school, yet I had no idea of where to sit. The first day there had been an empty table I had grabbed, but now there was no empty table. No sanctuary. The only table I spotted that had open seats was nearly full with some weird kids having an intense match with Pokémon cards.
Sighing, I realize that's my only seating option. I begin making my way towards the table. But then I hear a familiar voice calling out to me. I look around for the voice and see a dark-skinned boy waving at me. Tucker. Evidently, I had overlooked his more than vacant lunch table. I change direction and approach his table.
There's a dark-skinned girl seated right beside him. She's very pretty: wavy, dark brown hair that reaches her waist, sparkling green eyes, and a yellow shirt and orange pants that compliment her skin tone and figure very well. She's smiling at me, revealing her pearly whites as I take a seat across from them at the small, circular table.
"Hey, Sam," Tucker greeted me. I returned the salutation. "This is Valerie Grey," Tucker continued, a crazy smile on his face. "She's my girlfriend," he added dreamily. Valerie rolled her eyes playfully. Then she looked over at me.
"I know you," she said in realization. I'm a little confused because I don't know her, and I don't think I knew her before I moved here. "We have history class together," she says. "I sit three rows behind you."
I nodded. "How long have you guys been dating?" I asked, anxious to divert the conversation away from me.
"A year," Tucker answered proudly, the crazy grin still etched on his face.
Valerie rests her head on her hand. "Sometimes, I wonder why I'm with him... and his obsession with geeky gadgets and meat. You can't date him without dating the other two." She smiles at her own jest.
"You love me," Tucker supplied simply with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Just eat your burger, Foley," she told him flatly, yet lovingly. She then looked at me with interest. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Nope. I'm single." I did had one boyfriend during my freshman year, but we broke up because of issues... but I wasn't ready to share that personal information with this new... acquaintance.
"Don't go looking around here," she advised in a bored tone. "None of them are worth it. The jocks aren't that great either."
"She met Paulina," Tucker mentioned, his mouth full of french fries.
"Really? Lucky you," she said sarcastically. "She's, like, the root of all evil. I can't believe she was my friend..."
"You found better friends that are way cooler than that crowd." Tucker stopped stuffing himself long enough to put a comforting hand on his girlfriends shoulder.
"Yeah..." She smiled, trailing off in thought, but frowned when she did.
Tucker resumed to eat again, but I can tell there's a sadness in his teal eyes. He did say friends and I wonder if there was another person in this group. There's definitely tension in the air now.
Tucker changed the subject to a lighter one that's not about their friend. We get to know each other and I find myself beginning to like them more. Tucker and Valerie are a good couple, but the only thing that is nauseating about them is that they flirt all the time... and badly at that. In the hallways they brush past each other and exchange little side grins, as if they're trying to be inconspicuous. But it's also sweet how they give each other little pecks on the lips out in public. They also hold hands a lot, but it's almost sad when they do. It's like they're doing it more for comfort and reassurance than out of passion. They continue telling me about one of their disastrous movie dates (Paulina was to blame), as I eat my pasta salad – no bacon bits – that my butler made me for lunch.
I begin to feel a pair of eyes on my back – wait, no, more than one pair. I drop my spoon, sit up real straight, and look behind me. Paulina and her posse are making their way to our table. Speak of the devil.
"I see you two added her to your group," Paulina says casually, but there was something else she came to say. You can tell because her friends are smirking.
"It must be awful for you to lose a friend." She looks at Tucker and Valerie. "Especially you," she sneers, looking at Valerie. "I knew how... close you were to him."
"Shut up, Paulina." Tucker is glaring at her something fierce.
"I don't see why you still care about him," Paulina comments. "It's been months since he was here." She pauses for three horribly tense seconds. "He's probably dead," she said cruelly. Valerie is suddenly interested in her white sneakers, and Tucker is clenching the table with both his hands, trying to maintain a calm composure.
It's not working. If looks could kill, Paulina would be dead. I thought Tucker was going to explode, but he's trying to control himself. Three super buff guys at the jock table are keeping one eye on Paulina and one eye on Tucker. Their expressions make me hope Tucker doesn't snap.
I narrow my eyes at Paulina and she looks over at me. "Now they have you, goth freak. Maybe you can help them get over their depression. After all, they need a third wheel to store aside for their bicycle of gloom because Da –"
"Don't say his name!" Tucker shouted, cutting her off as he stood up faster than a speeding bullet.
Some of Paulina's girl friends giggled menacingly. The guys who were now standing behind Paulina look like they were going to attack Tucker if he does anything stupid. "Awww, still a touchy subject for you after all these months? He hurt your feelings that badly?" She asked in a taunting voice. Then she deadpanned. "How pathetic."
Her friends howled with laughter. Tucker looks like he wants to kill them all. Valerie suddenly looks upset; liquid is forming on her lower lids. I still don't know what Paulina is talking about, so I wonder why Paulina's words are affecting the, so much. I guess a lot of things happened in this town. I don't know what, but hopefully, they can tell me once Paulina is gone.
"Just face it. He's not going to come back. Danny is gone." She swept her midnight black hair over her shoulder, and left quickly with her friends.
Tucker began storming towards the prep, but one of the jocks, the blonde one, stepped in front of him, blocking his path. He roughly pushed Tucker to the ground and probably would've done something worse if the lunch supervisor hadn't just walked in. Why wasn't the supervisor here earlier?
Valerie rushed over to her boyfriend. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern.
"I'm fine." He brushed the whole thing off and sat back down in his seat.
"What was that about?" I asked, completely lost and confused.
They exchanged looks like they aren't sure if they should tell me. Tucker looked as if he was going to, but Valerie beat him to it.
"He was our best friend..." She said it so quietly, I could barely hear her.
"Danny?" I asked cautiously.
She nodded. "Yeah... Danny was our best friend and he was my... my..."
"It's okay. You don't have to say it," Tucker told her softly.
Tears were forming in her eyes majorly and she blinks them away. "Um... excuse me," she said in rush, leaving abruptly. She got up with the tray and put it in the trash before she left the cafeteria.
"Bye, Valerie Fenton!" Paulina and her friends call after her as they have another round of laughter.
I was about to ask Tucker a million questions such as who Danny was and what was the connection between him and Valerie, but the look on Tucker's face made me stop. I wait for Tucker to speak first because I don't want to say the wrong thing.
"I thought I could stand up to Paulina like you did. I can't, though, because every time she brings up..." His voice wavers. He sighs, grasping for control of his emotions. "She just has a way with words. I was friends with... him forever. Then Valerie came along and everything got a little better, but now it's not. Her and I just have a long history with him and he's... well, I don't know where he is actually. We really miss him... lot."
He left abruptly too. For a moment, I thought I was going to sit here by myself, wondering what exactly I had just witnessed, but to my relief, the bell rang. I went to my next class, thoughts jumping around in my head like a band of crickets. Tucker and Valerie were friends with Danny – whoever he was – but something strange happened to him that caused him to leave Amity Park.
I'm going to find out who Danny Fenton is... or was.