Coraline tiptoed across her room, trying not to wake Robbie, who was still sound asleep. She fetched her uniform, her towel and, after a moments thought, her makeup kit. She took it all into the bathroom and locked the door. Then she had a nice hot shower, and got herself dressed. She tried to remember how to apply all the makeup, but settled for a touch of mascara and some clear gloss. She then pinned her fringe back out of her eyes, and hung her towel up to dry.
She snuck back into her dark room and put away the makeup and stuffed her pajamas under her pillow. She paused as Robbie rolled in his sleep and smiled. Last night had been one of the rare nights when she hadn't woken up crying, or worse, screaming. Her old friends presence had had a positive effect. All she could dream about was him, but even that made her a little worried.
On her way out, she stubbed her toe on the corner of her wardrobe, and uttered a profanity. She winced, and looked over at Robbie. Then she remembered that he would sleep through anything. Whenever they had had sleepovers as kids, she and Ellen could plaster his face with textas until 2 in the morning without him ever waking up. She smiled at the memory, picked up her schoolbag and tiptoed down the stairs.
Her mother was up, and typing away on her laptop at the table. She looked up briefly, and went back to her work, taking a long sip of coffee as she typed with the other hand. Coraline sat down and helped herself to some cereal. At Wybie's normal morning knock, she leapt up, and carried her bowl to the sink.
"Bye mum!" she said softly.
Tap tap tap, the keyboard replied.
She opened the door, and grinned at him.
"Morning!" she whispered cheerfully, pulling on her shoes and swinging her schoolbag over her shoulder. She leapt down the stairs, and began to run to the bus stop with a light laugh, but Wybie wasn't running. His legs ached.
"Yeah, yeah, you win, as per usual" he said, as she leaned against the bus stop sign with a bored expression on her pretty face.
"You didn't even try this morning. Are you okay?" she asked, and he nodded.
"I'm fine. Just a sore leg, is all" he told her, and she frowned.
"You know, you could have just picked some of the flowers in my garden. You didn't have to go all the way into town" she said, sitting on the seat beside him.
"I know. But it was your birthday, and because I couldn't get you your stupid diamond castle, I wanted to get you white flowers instead" he explained.
She rested her head on his shoulder, and he rested his on top of hers.
"Thankyou…I'm going to put those seeds in window boxes hanging from my windowsill. That way, they're mine and only mine" she said and he smiled.
"Good idea. Where are you gonna get window boxes from?" he asked, lifting up his head.
"I dunno. I could ask Robbie to make them while I was at school. I mean, we have the wood out the back, right?" she said, and he nodded.
"And how is Robbie?" he asked, not really caring.
"He's very sorry about being such an insensitive jerkwad yesterday" she said, and he laughed.
"Uhuh, sure he is" he mumbled, and she crossed her arms.
"He is! I told him that the both of you are my best friends, and Ellen and Abbey and Lester too!" she insisted.
"Coraline…he just seems like the type of guy who's gonna go all…possessive."
"And that's a bad thing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well yeah, for me it is. You're my best friend, and he's going to prove to me why he's a better best friend than I am for the next three weeks!" Wybie told her, and she didn't really know how to reply.
"I know that Robbie is possessive…I know…but…he knows lots of things about me that you don't know" she said. He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Well…he knows what happened to my goldfish when I was 8...and why I'm not allowed to keep hamsters…" she said, and Wybie laughed coldly.
"Well, he can have the knowledge of your damn goldfish, because I know other things about you. More important things. Like how you can't stand the sight of a needle, or how you have an aversion to dolls and how you suffer from horrific nightmares almost every single night" he hissed the last few words.
"Like how you won't go near the well, just in case, or the room with the door. Like how you scream if anything reminds you of her…Coraline, I was there when that happened, and I've watched you try and pretend it never happened.
"You can tell me it's all over and that there's nothing left to worry about, but I'm not stupid. Even the way you look at me sometimes, I know you can't see my eyes. You just see buttons!" his voice was growing in volume now. She was having trouble forming a reply, but before she could say a thing, the bus arrived. He heaved his bag over his shoulder without a word, and climbed the stairs. She followed silently, shocked at his outburst.
He purposely chose a seat next to Lester today, and she was forced to move to the back of the bus. The clouds overhead were dark, and threatened rain, which meant that Abbey's paranoid mum would probably be driving her to school. She sat alone, towards the back. As the rain began to fall, pelting the glass with all it's might, she felt the hot tears spill over. Wybie had never yelled at her like that before. And he knew better than to bring up Beldam.
And he knew better not to mention needles around her. Whenever she saw one, or thought of one, she could feel it pierce the delicate muscles in her eyes. And she couldn't make the stinging go away. She rubbed her eyes furiously, trying to make it stop.
"C-Coraline?" she looked up into his face, and tried to muster up a glare. It didn't work.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry! I'm just…really mad at him is all…" Wybie said, taking off his skeleton gloves and wiping the tears from her cheeks. He was sitting beside her now. More tears fell.
"I- …Was it the needles? I'm sorry, Jonesy, I'm sorry!" he pleaded for her forgiveness, and she smiled weakly, still rubbing her eyes.
He'd seen her in a panic before, but it was rare that Coraline Jones cried. The sight made him feel lower than dirt.
"Can you stay over tonight?" she asked, and he nodded.
"I'll ask Grandma, and even if she says no, I'll come stay…promise"
"Just as long as she doesn't come after you with her walking frame…that could hurt"
"Haha…yeah. I'd need to borrow it after she'd finished with me" he laughed weakly. She laughed with him, and continued rubbing her eyes.
"…Thanks, you're a good friend, Wybie" she said, and lowered her hands. Her pretty brown eyes were now red, and her mascara had run. She caught sight of herself in the window.
"Oh shit!" she cursed, and pulled a little mirror out of her bag. She carefully wiped the black mess off her cheeks, and by the time the bus rattled to a stop in front of the school, she was able to walk into the rain and give Abbey a cheery smile and hug as she waited with her hideous bright pink umbrella that clashed horribly with her hair.
xXx
"Hey Troll" Robbie called, leaning casually on the handrail that accompanied the front steps. She flashed him a winning smile, and waved as Wybie turned to go to his grandmothers. "Don't you look cute in your school uniform" he said, and she blushed a little.
"Umm…Thankyou" she said, and he waiting for her to pass before following her through the front door. She climbed the stairs, dropping her schoolbag at the foot (No homework for once, brilliant) and removing her blazer. She tossed it lightly on her bed, and opened up her wardrobe, pulling out her jeans and a white shirt with a star on the front. She tossed them on her bed, and turned around.
Robbie was right there. His face was inches from hers. Not even inches. Centimetres. He heard her sharp intake of breath, and took a step back.
"Sorry…didn't mean that" he said, and she took another deep breath to calm herself down. She put both hands on his chest, and pushed him out of her room, and shut the door.
"I'm getting changed…stay there" she ordered, and he knew better than to argue.
Wybie climbed the stairs, his backpack over his shoulder. Robbie was sitting down by the door, and he raised a hand in greeting.
"She's getting changed" he said, explaining why he was sitting in the hallway. Wybie nodded, and sat opposite him.
They sat in silence until Coraline opened her door."Okay…you can come in now" she said, and they followed her silently. She crawled up onto her bed as Robbie sat on his small camping bed, and Wybie sat next to her. There was an awkward pause.
"So…how was school?" Robbie asked, and Wybie almost snorted. Almost.
"Boring. I'm gonna ask Mum for tomorrow off" Coraline answered, laying on her stomach. "Oh. Cool! We can have a movie day or something" Robbie grinned. Apparently, he had brought a handful of his favorite movies with him. He pulled the stack out of his suitcase and handed it to them. They sorted through all the movies, and Coraline found one that she insisted upon watching.
"The Breakfast Club? Why that one?" Wybie asked curiously, taking the case from her and reading the back.
"Because I remember mum telling me about it once. She said it was funny" she replied simply. Then she picked up another case.
"Either the Breakfast Club…or this" she said, holding up Sweeny Todd. Wybie was reluctant.
He didn't do very well with gore, but he couldn't look like a sook in front of Robbie, or Coraline, so he said nothing.
"Yes, watch that one!" Robbie said, snatching the case playfully and opening it. He took out the disc and slipped it into the DVD player.
Coraline jumped up to shut the blinds, and found Cat sitting at one, waiting to come inside. She let him in, and he slunk past Robbie and up onto Wybie's lap.
"Hello, Cat" he said, scratching the creature behind the ears. He purred in response, and glared at Robbie through narrowed blue eyes.
Coraline sat beside him, and lightly stroked Cat's back. Robbie, feeling let out, jumped up with them, on the other side of the girl. She pressed 'play' on the remote, and inwardly, Wybie groaned.
xXx
It wasn't that bad. A bit too musical for him, but at the least the gore wasn't that bad. It looked so…fake. They were about halfway through, and everyone had moved around. He was sitting on the camping bed, after Cat and Robbie had had a little tiff (Apparently Cat did not like the newcomer, and kept trying to attack his eyes). Robbie had his back against the wall, propped up on almost all of his friends pillows, while said friend had her head in his lap, the rest of her body making an 's' shape.
"Do you have popcorn, Jonesy?" Wybie asked, and Coraline thought for a moment.
"I think so…it'd be the microwave stuff, so if you want it, you have to make it" she said, and he nodded and got to his feet. Cat flicked his tail in annoyance as the bed moved, but went back to sleep almost immediately.
He went down the stairs, and sifted through the cupboards.
"Aha!" he exclaimed, holding up the evasive packet, and moving towards the ancient microwave.
Coraline had pressed pause on the DVD, so that Wybie wouldn't miss anything, and was laying down with her head in Robbie's lap, smiling subconsciously as he ran his fingers through her long blue hair. She looked up to see him smiling at her.
"What?" she asked, her hand reaching up to touch her cheek. Was there something there…?
He took her hand in his, and leaned down to lightly kiss her on the mouth. He felt her hesitation, and gave her hand a soft squeeze. She melted into it, and smiled against his lips. He broke it off, but his face stayed inches from hers.
"Well…that was…nice" she said breathlessly, with a small smile. Her cheeks were pink.
He smiled at her.
"Really?" he asked, just to make sure. He didn't want her running away from him. He didn't want her to go anywhere.
"Yeah…it was" she said, her hand bringing his face back down to hers so that she could kiss him again. She didn't hesitate, and nor did he.
She broke it off this time, but only for a moment. She rolled over and sat up, so that they were kissing right side up, instead of her face being upside down. Their lips met again, and this time, he hugged her around the waist. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck.
Neither of them heard the thump, thump, thump of Wybie coming back up the stairs.
He opened the door and nearly dropped the bowl of popcorn. They broke apart immediately, and Coraline flushed red, and smiled timidly.
"Umm…We- I paused the movie so you wouldn't miss anything" she said, and he nodded, a little shocked. Then he moved over to the camping bed silently, picked up Cat and lay down with him close to his chest. He could feel the animals heartbeat, even through his thick jacket. Does a broken heart beat? He wondered.
"…Wybie?" Coraline asked, peeking over the end of the bed. He looked up at her, and managed a smile.
"Popcorn? It's hot" he said, holding up the bowl. She smiled apologetically, and took a handful, crawling back towards Robbie, who draped his arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder, and pressed play.
The movie rolled on, as if nothing had happened.
But so much had happened.
Wybie could feel her slipping away. She wasn't his Jonesy anymore.
She was Robbie's Coraline.
And Wybie couldn't compete with Robbie.
Under the watchful eye of Cat, Wybie slipped into sleep, unable to dream of anything but Coraline, and all the ways he could tell her just how much he liked her.
A/N: Yup...a long one this time. ^^_
Umm, what can I say about this chapter? It makes me hate Robbie even more, even though he's a nice guy...
But I hate him even more for that.
What else? I heart Wybie. It may not seem like it, but I really do. I think I'll bring Cat into it a little more. He was my favorite anyway.
Oh, and thankyou to Suze, for giving me the go ahead to post, and to everyone who reviewed.
And a special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear friend SAMI-CHAN~!
3
R&R
- KC
