A/N: I know it has been forever. I apologize. The only excuse I offer is that it has been a rough time, and I just didn't have the will to write. Hopefully, this chapter will help make up for the hiatus.
Nanners-77: I didn't elaboratea whole lot on the incident because I wasn't sure I liked it. I had a few of those problems in this chapter, but worked through them. I've been working on my detailedness. Is that a word?
heartbreakerginny: Thank you.
i am not a chipmunk: Thanks. I wasn't sure of that part, so I wasn't as committed to it. Hopefully this chapter is better.
Zeppelin Girl: Thanks so much. I haven't quite decided how I want to potray Freddy for the rest of the story. Let me know if he gets off.
Rock Drummer Chick: Well, the update is here. About not making sense: I have found that I tend to seldom make sense to other people, so don't worry about it. Anyway, thank you for reviewing.
Even Roses Have Black Thorn...: I updated. The parents come in soon. I have to get the reactions right though. That could take awhile. You see some of the friends reactions in this chapter though.
kikicant: Thank you for reviewing. I don't abandon stories, so I will always update eventually. I also agree with Summer keeping her independence. Hopefully I did that in this chapter.
RIP MuM i love you so much: Thank you for reviewing and understanding that authors can't update on command. I hope you enjoy the story.
Summer&Freddy92:Well, here is the update. As for the rest of your review...maybe. :
DarkWolfYingFa: Yes, they are together, and no, it didn't really have to be that way. I just chose that way. I don't really know why either. Hmmm...
Chapter 2
Prom?
Summer Hathaway awoke and kept her eyes closed. She took the opportunity for a few moments of self-reflection and a sightless examination. Judging by the smell and her pillow, she was in Freddy's bedroom. Opening her eyes, she confirmed her guess. You notice things like cologne and how a person feels when you secretly fall for one of your best friends. She glanced down at the owner of the room. He was sound asleep. Sigh. He is so cute asleep. Finally managing to tear her eyes away, she looked at the clock. It was a little after ten.
"Crap!" she half whispered, half screamed. "I have to go." She jumped off the bed and began the search for her shoes. "Aha!" she crowed in triumph.
"Sumz? What are you doing up?" She spun around. It was just Freddy. She placed a hand to her heart.
"Oh my God. Don't do that. You scared the hell out of me." Summer studiously ignored the worried look he shot her. "I woke up, saw the time, and grabbed my shoes because my dad is supposed to call in about a half hour at home. I should get really get-"
Freddy cut her off. "No. What happened last night? I mean, are you okay? You didn't seem like it last night?"
"I'm fine. He didn't actually do anything except suck on my neck and scare me. It's not that big a deal. I'll just be extra careful about locking my doors at night because of it," she replied.
"Are you sure? I know how freaked you were when that whole Jim thing happened last year. This is worse. I can only imagine how Zack will react."
Summer's eyes widened. "I'm sure. This isn't worse either. I'm fine. As for Zack, well...umm...you can tell him when you see him. I don't want to talk about this with him. After I talk to my dad, I'm going shopping with Katie for a prom dress. Don't know why I need one," she ended in a grumble.
Freddy gulped. Here was his chance. "Sure you do. I've been meaning to ask you for a week. Will you go to prom with me? Not as a friend, but as um...my girlfriend?"
Summer's heart stopped. "Really?" Freddy nodded. "YES! I mean yes. This is so great! Now I have to go call Billy to help. He is so much better at this than me. I'll call you when I get back from shopping, k?" Summer was mentally squealing. She stood on her tippy toes to give Freddy a peck on the lips before bursting from the room. She was celebrating the entire way home. Back in his room, Freddy did the same.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
After she got home, Summer ate breakfast as she told her dad about her week. She briefly mentioned that she was excited that the guy she wanted to asked her to go to prom with him. She didn't say who because her father knew the Jones' and they'd probably have the wedding planned within the week if he knew. She also left out the whole Crash situation. She had gotten Freddy to drop it, and while she knew it would come up again, she was perfectly fine with putting it behind for now.
As soon as she got off the phone with her dad, she called Katie and told her she was ready to go and they'd be picking up Billy. Summer took the mid seventy degree weather into consideration while she chatted. She decided on a plain purple t-shirt, a denim mini, and purple flip-flops before hanging up on Katie and heading downstairs. She grabbed the phone and called Billy to let him know they were going to pick him up shortly to go shopping.
After she was done, she put the phone back on the cradle in the kitchen and grabbed her purse, checking to make sure that she had everything she needed. Summer made her way to the foyer. She threw her hair back into a ponytail as she went. Locking the door on her way out, she reached the curb only a few moments before Katie appeared with her black Firebird. Summer hopped in, and they zoomed off towards Billy's house.
Summer and Katie had become better friends with Billy in the sixth grade. With their new friendship, they had managed to help Billy tone down his own fashion sense and increase their own. They had become pretty inseparable for awhile. Eventually, they had drifted into different crowds, but they were all still best friends. Summer and Katie maintained that every girl needed at least one friend that was either gay or bisexual. They offered a totally new perspective to relationships. Plus in Billy's case, he was damn funny.
Summer honestly wanted his advice on her dress. He knew more about what would look good on her frame than she ever would. When she made it big, she was going to give him enough money to start his own label. Of course, he would always be the band's stylist for as long as he wanted the position. If he could teach her everything that he knew, she would be able to make it onto America's Next Top Model like her sister, Leah, was attempting. Although the only reason her sister was even interested in being a model was because their mother wanted to be a model when she was younger and tried to pass that dream onto her children. If she liked her sister, she would have had Billy coach her. Unfortunately for Leah, she didn't like her.
Summer was broken from her thoughts as they pulled up to Billy's house. He sprinted from the house to the car. A few brief seconds later, they were headed towards the mall. She struggled with herself for a couple minutes before telling them about what had happened at Crash. They were understandably concerned. "You guys, I'm fine. There is bigger news about last night and this morning," she said. "Freddy took me back to his house and held me while I fell asleep. Then, this morning he asked me to go to prom with him...as his girlfriend!" Summer was shouting by the end of it. The car was filled with squeals.
"Summer! This is sooo fabulous. You guys are going to make such a cute couple. I should have seen this coming. I can't believe I-"
Katie interrupted Billy's enthusiastic ramblings, "C'mon, Billy. Surely you could see the connection was there. If not, then surely you could feel the sexual tension when they were fighting or extremely close." Katie was grinning as she finished.
"Well...I didn't want to say anything, but you're right. They were also so violent with each other in the pre-band days. You know what they say. There is a thin line between love and hate. I mean, it's a big clue when you go from worst enemies to best friends in a few months."
"You have a point, Billy. I guess we can expect a pretty steamy romance between these two. If they were that passionate in hate, imagine what will happen when they admit that they are in love. It'll be hott."
"You GUYS! Stop making fun of me. I mean, you both know that I've had a crush on him, in looks at least, since the ninth grade. I've been majorly crushing on him in the every way type ever since I started tutoring him. He just...gets me. You know?" Summer said as they pulled into a newly vacated parking space. "He just feels so...right." They all piled out of the car and began the trek across the parking lot.
"Maybe you found the one you're looking for? They always say that they're closer than you'll ever think to look," Billy said.
"Yeah, Summer. You've had something wrong with nine and half out of every ten boys you've dated. Maybe Freddy will be the one." They paused in the entrance before Billy dragged them to the nearest store.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
They had been everywhere. Katie had picked out a white strapless, ankle length dress at the fifth store they visited. They were going to pick out accessories to go with an angel theme for her. The three of them had just finished with store number fourteen, and Summer was tired. She had tried green dresses, blue dresses, pink dresses, white dresses, purple dresses, red dresses, printed dresses.
She was sick of dresses, but they had all managed to find other things to purchase. She had bought a skirt, sweat pants, two t-shirts, a pair of flip-flops, and new sunglasses. Katie had matched her purchases and added a purse. Billy had only gotten jeans and a t-shirt, but had said that they would be going shopping in a few weeks for swimming suits.
She let out a sigh as Billy led her to a small specialty store that changed with each passing season. Currently, it was all prom dresses. There were only two stores left after this. She prayed it would be here that she found the dress meant for her.
Billy wandered the aisles. Summer had stopped behind him to browse through the rack he had passed over. "What color do you want to look for at this one?" he inquired.
"I guess it doesn't matter. Although black would be a good place to start. Nobody can go wrong with basic black, right?" Summer replied, gesturing to the rack on his right. He quickly picked three different dresses and began pulling Summer to the dressing rooms. Along the way he picked up two more in pink and blue. He shoved her into the booth and told her to get on with it. Katie meandered over and sat in the chair that rested next to the mirror.
Summer emerged wearing the pink number. Billy shook his head, and she went back into the booth. Billy and Katie exchanged small talk as they waited. Again, Summer emerged this time in an ankle length black dress. Katie shook her head no. Summer sighed and disappeared again. A few minutes later she came out in to blue dress shaking her own head. When she reemerged, she was wearing a black, spaghetti strap dress that fell just above her knees. A black ribbon underneath the bust separated the top from a loose skirt. It was made of satin covered in tulle. Billy nodded his approval. Katie voiced hers. "This is it. This is the dress we've been looking for."
"Katie is probably right, but you should try the last one on just to be sure, Summer." She rolled her eyes at him but complied. She had barely made it out the door before they agreed that it wasn't right, and she quickly changed into her own clothes. Grinning in relief, she paid for her dress.
Over the next hour or so they wandered around and picked out some jewelry. This was great. That is why it was over five hours since they had entered that the three friends packed all the bags in the trunk, laid the dresses on top, piled into the Firebird, and roared to a restaurant nearby.
It was a little after six when she got home. She had a blast with Katie and Billy. She checked the answering machine after she put her dress away. There was a message from her mom("Don't worry about it. I'll call you later."), Zack ("Summer? What's this thing Freddy told me about Crash? Who was it? I'll kill him. Okay, maybe not kill, but he is definitely gonna get pounded. And what's this about prom? Why didn't you or Freddy tell me that-"), and Freddy.
"Hey, Pixie. Just wanted to see how your shopping trip went. I wouldn't call me on the home phone. My parents are having a dinner party tonight. I'll, um, talk to you later," Freddy sounded no different than normal. How? She was excited and nervous just thinking about talking to him. She couldn't not call him though. He got so bored when his parents threw a party. Giving up, she pulled her cell out of her purse and called him. "Hello?"
"Hey, Freddy." Be still my heart.
"Oh, hey Summer. How was shopping? Billy and Katie high maintenance as ever?"
"Heck yeah. It was good. I bought a lot of stuff. Took until the fifteenth store until I found the dress I wanted. I was so tired of changing into all the different dresses by the time we got there. I felt like someone's Barbie," Summer replied. Freddy laughed.
"Sounds like fun. Especially considering who you were with. How long did it take Katie to find her dress?" Freddy said.
"I sincerely hope you're kidding with that fun comment, Spazzy. Oh Katie found her dress in the frickin' fifth store we went to. I was so frustrated by the time we got to the last one that I wanted to pull my hair out. I didn't think shopping could be so...unfun."
"Who knew? Maybe it's just 'cause you were stressing about finding a dress. From your description, it wasn't the shopping trip from hell. It couldn't have been that bad then. So what's up with your dad?" Freddy responded.
"Oh, he heard from my mom and Leah. Apparently, she has her audition in a few weeks, so she'll be invading my house the day of prom. What fun! I get to be bullied, ignored, and spend time with my family all at once. Sometimes I wonder if my mom and sister aren't imposters placed there by aliens. Or maybe my dad's a secret agent, and he needed a cover family. I know that he loves me, but he doesn't usually spend that much time with Mom or Leah anymore. I don't know..." Summer sounded forlorn.
"Cheer up, Tink. You know that's not true. You just got gypped in the family department on your mom's side. I know I'll always be thankful for her though. She gave me the best thing ever: you..."
"Aww...Freddy. That is so sweet. If you were here, I'd give you a kiss. So, how was your day?" Summer took her turn to interview.
"Pretty uneventful. I talked to Zack for awhile. I wrote my report that's due Tuesday in English. Up until I ate a few hours ago, I was helping my parents get ready for this party. When you called I was playing video games. Yep. This is the exciting life of Freddy Jones: homework, chores, and video games. I could see that on T.V. How about you?"
The conversation continued as previous ones had. Summer realized that she had no reason to be nervous. This was Freddy. Freddy her band mate. Freddy her best friend. Freddy who was quite possibly the one she had been obsessing over for the past few years. Smiling at the thought, she threw herself back into the conversation. In the back of her mind she imagined everyone's faces tomorrow at school, and her smile grew wider.
A/N2: There it is. I don't like writing chapters like these because there is no real action going on. Unfortunately, the next chapter is probably going to be the same. Drop me a line and review.