Summary: Chapter two. Have finally gotten off my lazy arse, pulled my focus away from other fics, and written more.

Disclaimer: Stephen King owns Carrie. I, however, own the Barker twins and their parents. I win. I also don't own 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' by Pat Benatar or 'We're Not Gonna Take It' by Twisted Sister.


Hit me with your best shot. Why don't you hit me with your best shot? Hit me with your best shot. Fire away!

We're not gonna take it. No, we ain't gonna take it. We're not gonna take it anymore!

Andy groaned and turned over as 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' and 'We're Not Gonna Take It' blared loudly from his and his sister's phones.

"Ugh… Not today…" He heard Audrey groan from across the room. Her bedsprings creaked as she sat up and turned off her alarm. "Get up, Andy."

Andy grunted as Audrey suddenly sat on his upper back.

"Get off me." He mumbled as his face was mushed into his pillow.

"Not 'til you get up."

"I can't get up when you're sitting on me."

"Too bad."

Andy grunted as he sat up and pushed his twin off. "Ha."

"Ha." Audrey hopped off his bed, grabbed her clothes off her sewing table, walked into the closet, and shut the door behind her. Andy kicked the covers away and swung his long legs over the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes with the heel of one hand.

"It's too early in the morning for this…" He thought as he yawned and stretched. "All right. Now where did I put my clothes?" Andy stood and wandered over to the chair where he'd draped his clothes over the night before. "Ah, there they are…" He pulled his oversized KISS t-shirt over his head and proceeded to get dressed.

"Andy?" Audrey called after a couple minutes. "Are you decent?"

"Yes." Andy finished tying his sneakers. "Come on out." Audrey stepped out of their closet and modeled her outfit. "Looks good."

"I think my cameo pulls it all together."

"Mmm."

"Kids?" Rose poked her head into the bedroom. "Breakfast is on the table."

"Thanks, mum." The twins answered in unison as their mother left the room.


After breakfast, the twins started on their trek to school.

"Which way are we going?" Audrey asked.

"That way." Andy guessed, pointing to the right. The girl they'd seen the previous night walked past them, looking down at her feet. "Excuse me…" Andy tapped the girl on the shoulder. She looked up shyly and blinked. "We're looking for Ewen High School."

"That's where I'm headed." The girl looked back down at her feet.

"I'm Andy." Andy held his hand out for a handshake. "Andy Barker."

"Carrie White." Carrie shook Andy's hand tentatively, almost as if she expected a buzzer to be strapped to his palm.

"I'm his twin sister. Audrey Barker, at your service!" Audrey shook Carrie's hand eagerly.

Carrie was dumbstruck. Usually, nobody bothered to talk to her, let alone shake her hand, unless they were about to tease her. This was all very new and strange to her. These people seemed nice, though, as there was no attempt to embarrass her.

"Mind if we walk with you?" Andy asked.

"Okay." Carrie said quietly, slowing her pace so the twins could keep up with her. "I've never had people walk with me before…"

"Why not start now?" Audrey asked brightly. "You look like you could use a companion or two."

Carrie blushed.

"Thanks…" She said quietly, letting her hair fall around her face like a curtain.

Andy reached over and brushed Carrie's hair over her ear. She flinched, but relaxed when she realized Andy wasn't trying to hurt her.

"You've got pretty eyes." He commented as he let his eyes scan her face. Her eyes were a slate blue, framed by blonde lashes and a pair of plump, soft-looking pink lips sat under her pert nose. "You do, really."

Carrie looked suspiciously at Andy. He seemed sincere, but she was used to people saying things like that before insulting her. But Andy's eyes held no mAudrey and his smile was kind.

"Where're you from?" She asked shyly in an attempt to make conversation.

"We're from England." Audrey answered.

"Our mum's a baker in her spare time." Andy added.

"She makes the best cherry pies you've ever tasted."

"Sounds nice." Carrie smiled a little and sniffled. "Uh… Do you have any pets?"

"We have a cat named Ringo." Audrey replied, stopping to adjust her shoe. "He's three months old."

"He's stupid and psychotic, but lovable."

"He likes everyone he's not afraid of."

"He's afraid of everything that didn't originate inside the house."

"He liked Aunt Molly."

"…Because she lived with us. And actually, it was us living with her, because it was her flat."

Carrie quickened her pace, only to have the twins run to catch up with her.

"Sorry about that." Andy apologized, pushing his long messy hair back behind his ears and blushing a little. "That happens all the time. So, anyway, what about you?"

"Momma says pets are evil." Carrie said sadly, looking down at herself. "She says it's sinful to keep them."

They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Momma said she went to visit you yesterday." Carrie said awkwardly, blushing and adjusting her backpack.

"She did, yeah." Audrey shifted her backpack from her left shoulder to her right. "She didn't say anything… bad… did she?"

"All she said was her usual. She said she prays you find Jesus." Audrey and Andy wrinkled their brows and exchanged a confused glance.

"But we're already Christian."

"That's good to know." Once again, they walked in silence for a few minutes.

"This is awkward." Andy commented as he shifted his backpack to his front and put his arms through the straps. Carrie looked at him and chuckled when she saw the placement of his bag. "What?" Andy pretended like it was totally normal to wear a backpack on one's front.

"You're funny." Carrie said softly as Andy began walking backwards.

"I think it best that you get used to seeing Andy like that." Audrey chuckled.

"Why?"

"Well, Carrie, it always seems like he's had a bit too much sugar."

"That's why they love me, Audrey." Andy said grandly as he turned around and started to walk normally before putting his left arm around Carrie's shoulders. Carrie flinched again, as she wasn't used to such an affectionate gesture, but soon relaxed as she realized that she rather liked the feel of Andy's arm around her shoulders.

"Did you have sugar with breakfast?" Carrie asked as they approached the school.

"Unfortunately, yes." Audrey answered. "Mum made cinnamon toast."

"The most perfect blend of cinnamon and sugar imaginable!" Andy said theatrically.

"Oh, look who it is." A feminine sneering voice cut in. "Who're your friends, Carrie?" Carrie took this opportunity to shake Andy's arm from her shoulders and run. This was one of the moments she dreaded about every day: dealing with Chris Hargenson.

Chris grabbed hold of Carrie's backpack. "I said, who are your friends?"

"Audrey and Andy Barker." Audrey declared as she stepped forward. "And who are you supposed to be?"

Carrie cringed. This wasn't going to end well. Chris advanced menacingly toward Audrey and pulled her lips back into a scowl.

"Chris Hargenson." She said as she looked down at Audrey in an attempt to intimidate her. Audrey, however, didn't appear to be intimidated. In fact, from where Carrie stood, she looked calm and slightly amused.

"Your attempts to intimidate me are amusing, but wasted." She said calmly as Andy planted himself at her right, his backpack still on his front. "So if you would kindly move aside, we'll be on our way." The twins tried to step around Chris, but she stepped in front of them, scowling.

"What're you doing with Carrie White? She's one of those religious freaks."

"She seemed perfectly normal to us when we walked with her." Andy responded, drawing himself up to his full height of five feet, six inches.

Carrie's eyes widened. She'd never had anybody stand up for her before. Against Chris, no less.

"She's certainly more pleasant to talk to." Audrey agreed with Andy. "Now, if you please." She waved her hand and walked over to Carrie, Andy trailing behind. Carrie let go of the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and hitched her books higher in her arms.

"That was amazing." She said as Audrey blushed and looked down at her hands.

"I'm actually shaking…" Audrey responded before shrugging, her voice trembling slightly. "But she's really no worse than the girls back in England."

"And we've been picked on since primary school, so we've since learned to adapt." Andy added.

"Sounds like the story of my life, too." Carrie shifted her weight from foot to foot. "It's just that I've never seen Chris put in her place like that before. It was something I never thought I'd see."

"I'm sure many others were thinking that too." Andy glanced around at the crowd of students that had gathered.

The bell suddenly rang loudly, startling the twins.

"There's the bell…" Carrie said timidly, ducking into the building. "I gotta go."

"Wait!" Andy called after her. "Where's the office?"

"Why?"

"It's our first day, you know, and maps will probably be needed."

"Oh." Carrie turned and pointed down a hallway. "It's the last door on the left."

"Thanks!" Carrie watched as the twins headed off to the office for a few seconds before finally turning and heading to class.


"So, how was your first day at an American school?" Leonard asked as he poured some milk for the twins.

"Not as bad as we had anticipated." Audrey responded before biting into a cookie. "And we've already made a new friend."

"Oh?" Leonard put the milk back in the fridge and sat down across from the twins at the table. "Anything else happen?"

"Audrey is someone's new hero." Andy piped up, taking a sip of milk. "She put someone in their place and there was even a crowd gathered 'round."

"Really?" Leonard raised his eyebrows. "What were they doing?"

"They were insulting the girl we were with."

"They called her a religious freak."

"That's certainly not a good thing to do." Leonard rested his chin on his fists.

"No. No, it's not." Andy took another sip of milk and sighed. "Other than that, nothing really happened."

"Except that we got lost." Audrey cut in. "Several times."

"Well, it's only the first day." Leonard reminded them as he stood. "It's a new school. Things will get easier."

"We can only hope…" Andy heard Audrey mutter under her breath before his expression suddenly went blank.

A crowded girl's locker room.

His pupils dilated

I'm dying! Help me!

as a series of moving pictures suddenly struck him.

"Andy?" Audrey shook her brother's shoulder. "Andy, what do you see?"

Plug it up! PLUG IT UP!

"Andy? Andy!" Andy snapped out of his stupor and whipped his head around to look at his sister. "What did you see?"

"I saw Carrie." He hopped off his chair and put his glass in the sink. "She was bleeding."

"Bleeding?" Audrey stepped in front of Andy. "Bleeding from where? Was she hurt?"

"I don't know." He sighed and stepped around his elder twin. "But they were throwing things at her, if that's any help."

"Where was she, do you remember?"

"It looked like a locker room of some sort, to me."

"A school locker room?"

"As opposed to what? Yes, a school locker room!"

"What were they throwing and who was throwing?" Audrey put her hands on her hips.

"It was a bunch of girls around her, but I couldn't tell what they were throwing. Bath tissue, perhaps?"

"Bath tissue?"

"I think."

"Why would they throw that?"

"I don't know, Audrey. I didn't understand the girls back in Loughton, let alone American girls." Andy rubbed his temples and sighed. "That's where it cuts off."

"You didn't see anything else?"

"No." He wandered into the living room and sat down on the couch. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know." Audrey sat down next to him. "We'll just have to wait and see."


The next morning was fairly uneventful. Andy and Audrey walked to school with Carrie again, but didn't run into Chris. They didn't get lost quite so many times and the novelty of the first day had already worn off. Their classmates felt no more need to stare and they were starting to get used to American customs. And this time, they were able to find the cafeteria in a timely fashion.

"Wow…" Andy glanced around the lunchroom.

"I know." Audrey stood next to him. "This is certainly different."

"Yeah… The food's different."

"Vastly different." Audrey squinted and looked around for an empty table. "How about we sit over there?"

"Okay." They headed over and sat down.


"Is my spot taken today?" Carrie thought as she walked into the lunchroom. This had been happening for the past couple of weeks. Each time she'd walk into the cafeteria for lunch, her table would be full of people like Chris and her friends and she would be forced to eat by the garbage. Trash would get thrown at her and she would have to move, even when there wasn't a single spot where she could eat in peace.

Today was different. Today, Chris wasn't there, but two vaguely familiar people sat at the otherwise empty table. Upon further inspection, Carrie eventually recognized them as Andy and Audrey.

"Is this seat taken?" She gestured to a chair next to Andy.

"Nope." He looked up. "Oh! Hi, Carrie."

"Hi." She sat down and set her stuff down.

"How's your day been?"

"Fine, I guess…" She looked down. "Yours?"

"Pretty good, I'd say." Audrey answered.

"Better than yesterday, I suppose."

"Ah." Carrie opened her lunch sack and pulled out an apple.

Shiny red apple. The forbidden fruit.

She bit into it and sighed.

"Everything all right?" Andy asked.

"Why?"

"You seem a bit distant."

"I'm not." Carrie put her apple down. "Just thinking."

"What about?"

Burn them all. Show them how cruel I can be. See how they like it.

"The usual." She rested her chin in her hand.

"How's your mum?" Audrey asked.

"Tolerable." Carrie sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Okay." The brunette pulled her sketchbook out of her backpack.

"What's that?"

"Oh, just some sketches." She flipped to a page with only the outline of a female figure. "I like to design clothes."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Do, uh… Do you sew?"

"I do." Audrey scooted out and showed Carrie her skirt. "In fact, I made my skirt."

"I like it." Audrey's skirt went almost to her knees. It was a red plaid and it flared out in an a-line shape when she stood.

"Did you make your outfit?" She gestured to Carrie's nondescript green dress and blue sweater.

"Most of it." Carrie smoothed her dress. "Mama doesn't really let me shop for clothes that much, so I make most of them from scratch. A lot of it's from the same pattern."

"Uh…" Andy had to admit, he hadn't the faintest idea what they were talking about. "So, Carrie, what do you like to do, other than sewing?"

"Well, there's really not much to do, to be honest. But I wouldn't know. I don't really get out much, except to go to the library or the fabric store."

"No?"

"Not really." Carrie internally slapped her forehead and cursed.

Be quiet. Don't say too much. They'll laugh at you. They're all gonna laugh at you.

"It's all right." Andy nodded. "We've only been here for a couple days, so we haven't done much, either."

"It seems like there's a lot to explore." Audrey stuck her pencil behind her ear.

"Yeah, I guess." Carrie pulled a sandwich out of her bag.

"So, anyway, what do you like to do? Do you like to read, write, listen to music? That sort of thing? Any places you like to go?"

"I like to read, draw, and sew." She bit into her sandwich.

"Ah." Andy fiddled with the cuff of his sweater. "I like to read too." He picked up his fork and picked at the mashed potatoes on his tray. "Is the food any good here?"

"I wouldn't know." Carrie shrugged. "I don't really buy my lunch."

"No?"

"I don't like to go through the lines."

"Why's that?" Audrey asked. "Is it too crowded?"

"That's part of it, but I'm also picked on a lot. I'm sort of the laughing stock of the school. Always have been."

"I see." Andy nodded sympathetically. "Sounds like the story of our lives, too. We weren't particularly liked back in our old school."

"I was snubbed by pretty much all the girls and Andy was beaten up at least once a week."

"Ugh." Carrie cringed. "They always throw things at me." She looked down and picked at her sandwich. "They call me names and they trip me."

Stop voicing your problems, stupid. You're making them want to leave you, then you'll be a Nancy-no-friends forever. That's what you want isn't it?

We just want them to leave us alone.

"Ugh." She shuddered and shook her head to silence the spiteful voice in the back of her mind.

"Carrie?"

She turned back to Andy.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm fine."

"Okay." He looked back down at his tray. "Just making sure."


Geez, how long has it been since I updated? Grr… Sometimes I hate my brain. It doesn't let me write crap. That's what I need to do, go write some crap. I can always fix it later, right?

Right?