Chapter 2
"Damn it, Chris! You're the one who should listen." Penny yelled angrily, while walking on the hallways. She and Chris have had some arguments for a week already. Chris had been wanting to do some 'therapy' and dates with Penny but she had a lot of plans this week. But Chris had been thinking that she's been ditching him.
"Listen? You're the one whose been ditching me in the first place!" Chris said, catching up after her and pulled her arm.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not ditching you?! If you won't believe me, then that's your problem." She said.
"Do you even remember the last time we talked?" he asked.
"Yes, I do! And it's always that every time we talk, we end up doing some sexual activity."
"Don't you want that? At least I give it to you!" he said and placed his hands on her waist, restraining her from walking away.
"I didn't say that I don't want it. 'Cause you do!"
"So, you don't want to do it?"
"I didn't say anything like that. I-"
"No, so you don't want to do it?" he cut her off.
"Chris, listen I-"
But he interrupted her by kissing her and pushing her on the wall. Good thing there weren't any hallway monitors or students passing by.
"See? You don't wanna do it! We've been doing it for two years now and you're not even good at it yet."
"I just-"
"Hey, would you keep it down?" a janitor said, who passed by and mopped the floors and just ignored them. Chris pulled Penny's hand and brought her near the bathroom. They weren't yelling at each other anymore. Penny won't even look at him in the eye.
"Penny, you don't have to explain. I guess this is just not working out." He said, and breathed heavily.
"I guess it's not." She admitted.
"I think we should take some time out." He said.
"Yeah, you're right."
They both decided to separate for a while to sort things out.
*---*
"You guys are on a time out?" Jadey asked surprisingly. It's been a couple of weeks since they had their time out and they seldom talk to each other. Penny closed her locker and bumped her head on it and said,
"It's been a couple of weeks already."
"Well, I think it's a good idea. You guys fight like a married couple." Said Jadey.
"Yeah. I just miss him. He's kind of frustrated at me because I keep complaining when we're about to do it." Penny explained.
"I guess why. Anyway, who was that guy you were talking to in the field?"
"Oh, that was Stan Van Der Bolt. My brother knows him."
"And he's the one who talked to me." Penny added, before Jadey thinks of something else.
"Is he cute?"
"Well, sort of. But c'mon, I'm not into him."
"Haha, you should've seen how he looked at you. He's kind of sweet, you know." Jadey said.
"Wait, so you were checking us out?"
Jadey just shrugged and said,
"You're on a time out remember?" And she left for her next class.
*---*
"You just need to get the heat off you, man." Gordie said to Chris, while they were having lunch. Chris suddenly looked down when Penny passed by with her friends.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks, man." He said, when he looked up. "I think we're both stressed out."
"And so am I." Teddy suddenly said, and sat with them. Gordie looked at Teddy, who was red and really angry. "I hate that stupid Math teacher."
"Oh, so you're flanking Math?" Gordie figured out.
"Yeah, Mr. Hamilton was a real bitch. He already gave me a letter."
"A letter? Let me see it." Gordie said.
"Nah. I threw that piece of shit in the bin." Teddy said. "But it says that I have to do something about it or else I won't be able to graduate."
"Well, why don't you ask help from your girlfriend?" Gordie suggested.
"Yeah, I did. We're gonna have a study date later." Teddy said.
"Are you sure you guys are gonna study or do something else?"
"Whatever, man." Teddy said, rolling his eyes and started eating.
"It seems that you guys are all stressed out, huh?" Vern said, approaching their table.
"Football practice was hell." He said, and devoured his sandwich.
"What's wrong? Couldn't run after the ball? Oh, wait, you are the ball." Teddy teased him and laughed.
"Shut up, Teddy. It's this player named Stan. He's such a show-off."
Chris looked up when Vern mentioned Stan. He knew that Stan had been talking to Penny before. The boys all talked about their problems. They were all stressed out except for Gordie. So Gordie planned to hang out with the guys tomorrow night, which is a Friday.
Meanwhile, the girls were discussing their issues too.
"Did Stan say anything?" Jadey asked Penny, who was playing with her food.
"No, I don't really talk to him."
"Liar. I saw him coming after you after Gym class a while ago." Jadey said. "What did he say to you?"
"Why is it that you always see us talking? Are you a spy or what?" Penny asked.
"C'mon, Penny. Maybe I just need to work out on my timing. But I think I did a pretty good job."
"Well, I didn't even know what he said. All I kept saying was 'Yeah, sure' and I won't even look at him."
"Why didn't you listen to him?" Jadey said, frustratingly.
"Yeah. What if he asked to be his girlfriend, or go out with him or worse, to do something else!" Roma said.
"He wouldn't ask me anything like that. Oh, no, what if I did say 'yes' to something else?" she said, worriedly.
Stan suddenly passed by their table looking all muddy and sweaty, holding a soccer ball.
"Hey, Penny. See you on the field tomorrow." He said.
"What? Why?" she asked, sounding clueless.
"You agreed to play soccer with me, remember?" he said.
"Oh, right. Well, okay, see you." She said, unsure and looked at her friends, while Stan walked away.
"So, that's what I said 'yes' to." She figured out. "But I don't wanna go."
"C'mon, Pen. You already said 'yes' to him. It's not that bad at all. You guys are just going to play." Roma said. "Not to mention with a popular guy."
"Yeah, you want us to secretly watch you guys? We'll stay in the bleachers." Jadey suggested.
"Yeah, sure. But isn't that too boring for you guys?"
"Well, we'll be watching the two of you in case something goes wrong." Roma said.
"Okay, thanks, guys." Penny said, and looked guiltily over at Chris's table.
"Don't think about that, Penny." Jadey said, when she noticed who Penny was looking at.
*---*
Penny was sitting on her desk in Chemistry class. She was waiting for her lab partner when a different guy showed up. It was Chris. He sat down beside her without even looking. She looked at him curiously and the class begun.
During class, Penny was curious why Chris was her new lab partner. When their experiment began, she asked him,
"How did you become my new lab partner?"
"My schedule got changed." He said, while pouring the chemicals. Penny just tried to forget about it.
"So, what have you been doing lately?" she asked him, while writing down her experiment.
"I'm gonna hang out with Gordie tomorrow night. How 'bout you?"
"Nothing. Just play soccer and hang with my brother and his friends." She said. The bell rang which meant that class is done. "Hey, could you-"
But Chris had already took his stuff and left class. Penny felt pissed since she had to clean all their mess.
"You could've said goodbye." She yelled, when he was gone. And it made everyone look at her.
*---*
"They all stared at you?" Jadey asked Penny, after class.
"Yeah. I don't know the hell why he walked out." Penny said.
"Do you think he knows about the Stan thing?" Jadey asked.
"Well, I hope not. There are a lot of gossip girls here." Penny said.
"Yeah, well, I have to go. I have a study date with Teddy." Jadey said, and went another way.
Penny packed her stuff back and left school, thinking about her issues with Chris. Things still haven't worked out and he's getting on her nerves. Friday came, and the boys had planned to hang out.
"Hey, look, Chris is almost drunk!" Teddy joked, and took his second bottle.
"Hey, Chris, slowly, that's your fifth." Gordie said, and sipped from his bottle.
"Relax, Gordie. I'm fine." He slurred. He finished his bottle and got another one.
"Oh, he is drunk." Vern declared, and made a face when he tasted his beer. Chris stood up, walking improperly, and approached this girl in the bar, who was looking at him, and started to flirt with her.
"Chris, come back here!" Gordie said, and pulled him back.
"No, Gordo, let go!" He said.
"Teddy, help me here." Gordie said, holding Chris by the arms.
"Chris, stop it!" Teddy said, and held him by the arm and slightly slapped him.
"Okay, let him sit down." Gordie said.
"Hey, you killjoys! We were just going to make out." He said.
"Chris, stop it! You have a girlfriend." Gordie reminded him.
Gordie decided to take Chris home in his house. He brought Chris to his car. They arrived home almost midnight. Luckily, Gordie's parents weren't home. He brought Chris to his bedroom. Chris sat on Gordie's bed, still drunk. Gordie splashed some water on him but it didn't work.
"What the fuck was that for?" Chris said, sounding drowsy.
"Chris, would you snap out of it! What is wrong with you, man?"
"She doesn't want me. She keeps hanging out with that soccer douche bag." Chris said, and kept saying Penny's name.
"No, Chris. She's your girlfriend. What happened to you guys?"
"All the timeā¦I keep demanding her to have sex with me. And she doesn't want to. All I want is to spend College with her." Chris said, starting to cry.
Gordie just comforted him and kept saying it's gonna be okay. He just listened to all the problems he'd been blurting out . A few hours, Chris dozed off and so did Gordie. The two best buds were together like when they were just twelve.
