A/N: In THIS chapter, Maggie decides to get some friends, hang out at a skate park, go to the movies, and enjoy Terry's absence.

Disclaimer: I do not own Drillbit Taylor.

Chapter 7: Intermission~

Maggie shut the door to her house, locking it. She still had an estimated 23 minutes before her parents got home, so she took her time going around the house locking windows, closing blinds, and turning off lights.

When she was finished, she headed upstairs to her room.

Knowing that when her parents got home they would turn all the lights back on when she was trying to sleep, she shut her bedroom door.

Sighing, Maggie hopped under the covers of her bed, letting the night's events sink in. She still couldn't believe that Terry had been beat up.

It was almost too good to be true.

Even more, she couldn't believe she had actually helped him. She had seen him in a heap on the sidewalk and everything else was just instinct, she suppposed.

Her and her stupid bleeding heart.

She just cared too much.

Dammit.


Strangely enough, Maggie didn't have a very nice weekend.

It just felt like she didn't...do anything.

Sure, she helped around the house, watched her favorite shows, and messed around outside, but it all felt so... the climax of the events two days prior made everything seem dull in comparison.

She needed a change.

"Maybe you should go out with some friends," her mother had suggested.

"I don't have any friends, mom." She said.

"Well get some!" Her mother replied.

Yeah. She should.

But everything wasn't that simple.

Maggie wasn't the type to just walk up to someone and say 'hi'. And besides that, people didn't usually go near her anyway. She had a pleasant face, but her demeanor tended to put people off, so they stayed away from her.

She had always told herself she didn't need any friends (which was true, she could manage just fine without them) but wanting friends was an entirely different matter, and she was seriously starting to consider her mother's advice.

Inevitably, however, by the end of the weekend, Maggie had made up her mind.

She would NOT come home tomorrow without a friend.


When Maggie made it to her first class the next day, Terry was nowhere to be found. She couldn't say she was surprised.

Who would want to come into class with a shiner like that?

She did feel a twinge of panic race through her for a split-second when she thought of all of the insane possible reasons he didn't show (besides the black eye, of course), most of which centered around that gash in his side.

Did it get infected? Did he have to go to the hospital? Was he lying on his death bed? Was he already dead? Was it all her fault? Had she inadvertently killed him?

Of course, once she noticed that his car was no longer still sitting in the school's parking lot she realized that he had to have been fine and she was just being silly.

Dead people didn't take their cars to Heaven.

...or Hell.

Whichever.

She wished she could play the saint and say that Terry's presence was missed, but that would be a lie. In fact, she enjoyed every second of it.

It was unbelievably nice being able to fully concentrate, to not have her hair pulled, to not have to worry about being tripped, to not have to be so stressed...yep. She could definitely find a friend today.


Without all of the distractions, Maggie was in a very good mood by the time lunch came around. She sat in the corner - alone - like she usually did, though she knew that was no way to make friends.

But just as she thought about moving to a more populated area, someone sat down at her table.

Wow. Maybe it was a good way to make friends.

Maggie immediately recognized the person.

It was that girl! The same girl who had been eavesdropping on her and Terry's little 'spat' in the library, the skinny one with the auburn hair.

"Hi." She greeted, earning a nod from Maggie.

The girl paused before introducing herself. "I'm Rachel."

Huh. Okay. "Maggie," Maggie replied, reaching across the table to shake her hand.

"Cool," Rachel said, looking at the table.

She seemed quirky, but shy, and Maggie had a feeling this could work.

"I saw you with Filkins the other day," said Rachel, obviously ashamed at having just admitted she had been spying.

"I know." Maggie replied simply.

Rachel continued. "It's just that...why do you hang out with him? I mean, he's...mean." she finished lamely.

Well that was unexpected. Usually potential friends didn't ask you about the people you 'hung out' with, let alone why. Unless she was mistaken.

Nevertheless, Maggie wasn't offended. She knew Rachel was just curious, not condemning, about her social circle (or lack thereof).

She answered immediately. "Oh, um, I don't, it's just that..." she sighed, deciding to start over. "Principal Doppler told me to get his grades up before the end of the semester, so I've been...tutoring him." She finished, annoyed at the memory.

Rachel nodded in understanding. "Oooooh, okay. So you don't, like...like him or anything, right?"

Did she say understanding? She meant confusion.

"No." Maggie replied, her voice coming out more hostile than she intended.

Rachel, however, seemed unaffected. "Oh. Okay."

They ate for a few minutes in silence, but Maggie had the distinct feeling Rachel had something to say.

It wasn't long before her theory proved correct.

"So, do you want to, like...go out sometime?"

Maggie's head shot up. Where did that come from?!

Upon seeing her slightly horrified expression, Rachel held her hands up in defense. "NOT like that! I mean just...out. Like outside of school? Like, the mall, or...do you wanna be friends?"

Jackpot. We have a winner.

If Maggie weren't such a quiet keeps-to-themselves kind of person she would have done a backflip and sang 'yes' loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear.

In another universe, that is.

Instead, she set her expression to neutral, and waited a few short seconds before replying,

"Okay."

Rachel's face brightened. "Great! Um, here, I'll give you my number!" She said excitedly, reaching over the table to grab Maggie's cellphone.

As she was putting in their numbers, a boy came up and sat down next to Rachel.

"Hey, Rachel," he greeted, patting her on the shoulder. He looked over at Maggie as if just noticing her, though Maggie had noticed him staring from across the room for about 5 minutes.

"Who's this?" He asked, interested.

"My new friend Maggie." Explained Rachel, still messing with their phones.

Silence...

"Oh, this is Danny." Rachel introduced, handing Maggie her phone back. Maggie stared at the two of them, and they did the same to her. They seemed pretty close, but she couldn't tell if they were related, a couple, or just really good friends.

My, the lines have blurred.

"So, are you two..." Maggie gestured with her hands.

Almost immediately they scooted away from each other, their expressions turning from inquiring to awkward. Rachel chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, no, we're just friends." She explained. "We've been best friends for like...ever, haha."

Maggie nodded. "Oh, okay."

She looked over at Danny, who was still staring at her. She hated it when people did that, just stared and said nothing. But she kept her thoughts to herself.

Instead, she focused on his appearance.

He had short, dark brown hair, which was spiked in the middle, almost like a mohawk, except it wasn't nearly long enough.

He had a pretty pleasant face - sun-kissed skin, nice smile and all that - and he seemed like an easy-going guy, and judging from the way he was dressed he looked like a member of the skater clique.

She really wasn't liking the way he was looking at her, though. She would have asked him what his problem was, but he was Rachel's friend and she didn't want to blow her first (and possibly only) chance at friendship before graduation.

Instead, she focused on eating her food.

He obviously wanted to say something, but she really hoped he wouldn't. She had enough 'dude problems' as it was.

Just then, Maggie spotted Ronnie. He was busy scaring some kid out of his seat to make way for him and...was that Alexandria?!

She craned her neck for a better view, but Danny blocked her vision.

"So you new here, or something? I don't remember seeing you last year."

Maggie looked at him, her face everything but expressive. "Yeah. I just moved here at the end of August."

She had said the words blandly, but Danny, God bless his soul, actually seemed interested.

"Cool, cool...so where you from?" He asked casually, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Across town," she replied, being as vague as possible.

She had known him for all of 2 minutes. He didn't need to know her business.

Danny, however, apparently wasn't satisfied with this answer, and pressed further.

"Wwwwhere across town?" He asked, leaning over the table, a mischievous grin on his face.

The nerve of this guy!

Rachel 'tsked' and promptly jabbed him in the ribs. "Oh, don't mind him, Maggie. He's just nosy."

She jabbed him again. Danny just smiled and rolled his eyes.

Maggie had only a few moments of solace, however, before he asked again.

"So where were you?"

She couldn't stop the sarcastic reply that flew from her lips. "In LaLa Land, on the other side of the rainbow. My mother's a faerie and my dad's a surgeon. He goes by Dr. Lollipop. Have you heard of him?"

Danny stared at her with a surprised (shocked, even) expression, his eyebrows shooting for the moon.

For a second she thought she had blown it, but Rachel suddenly burst out laughing.

"Ahahahahahahaaaa! Maggie, you are SO funny!"

Well that was new. Since when was she funny? Most people thought she was sarcastic, grumpy, pessimistic, or all-of-the-above.

This was certainly an unexpected - though not unwelcome - turn of events.

She looked at Danny again to gauge his expression, surprised (though not outwardly so) to find him trying to stop from laughing as well, his mouth twisted into an awkward kind of smirk.


The rest of lunch went by okay. Rachel would ask her a question every 30 seconds (how old are you, what kind of music do you like, what's your favorite color, etc.) and Maggie would give the shortest answer possible, though she made an effort to be as politely 'elaborative' as she could, all the while trying to ignore the fact that Danny wouldn't quit staring at her.

Eventually Danny left, saying he had to get to class, but not before saying, "Bye, Mags."

Okay, when did she say it was okay for him to give her a nickname?

The second he left, Rachel leaned over the table and whispered excitedly, "Oh, my, gosh, Danny totally likes you!"

Maggie knit her brows together. "What? How could you know that? He doesn't like me."

Rachel waved her hand away in an 'oh, please' manner.

"Oh, please."

Told you so.

"He is totally into you! And who could blame him, you are totally gorgeous...I bet your cafeteria dessert that he'll ask you out by the end of the semester." She smiled, waving her pudding spoon at her.

The end of the semester would be in January. It was October now. That gave Rachel roughly 2-and-a-half months to be right.

Well shoot, anything could happen in two months!

Still, she felt as though it were highly unlikely.

"Okay," Maggie agreed, reaching out to shake her hand.

Rachel withheld said hand. "Ah, ah. You pinky-swear on bets."

She held out her pinky.

Maggie paused. She did not do pinky swears. That was something prissy girls did.

'Do you want to keep your friends?' Her conscience asked.

'Do it.'

And so, blushing lightly in embarrassment, Maggie extended her pinky towards Rachel's.

"Deal!" Rachel grinned, entwining their little fingers. "I gotta get to class with Danny, but I'll see you around, okay?" She said, picking up her things.

"Okay." Maggie replied, watching her go. She sat there a moment before getting up to go to class herself.

Maybe this friend thing could work out after all.


Terry wasn't there the next day, either. Though, Maggie barely had any time to acknowledge this fact as she had her plate full.

Full of Rachel, that is.

It hadn't even been a day and she was texting her nonstop.

The second she stepped in the door to her house Rachel called. Maggie wasn't much of a conversationalist, but they had somehow managed to be on the phone with each other for 2 whole hours. In those 2 hours, Maggie learned a lot about Rachel.

She liked to make bets, for one thing. They were always harmless in the sense that she never asked anything crazy if she won, but they were bets nonetheless.

She also liked spending time outside, or at least, out of the house.

In fact, she had invited Maggie out to the movies within the first 10 minutes of their conversation.

Maggie accepted, but somewhat regretted it when it became known that Danny would be there.

It wasn't that she didn't like Danny, it was just that she didn't particularly enjoy all of the obvious attention he was giving her.

She half-expected Rachel to give him her number, but she assured her that she would never do that without her permission. Maggie was skeptical of this, but didn't inquire any further.

Thankfully Rachel didn't take any offense to Maggie's lack of phone-talking skills. She had plenty of questions to balance her short answers anyway, and even after they were done talking on the phone, Rachel would almost immediately text her for another hour with a billion more.

Maggie never really understood the concept of 'lols' and 'omgs', but she was starting to see the appeal.

And Tuesday was no different.

After her first few classes, she met up with Rachel at lunch, followed soon after by Danny, who tried to spark a conversation with her even before he sat down.

"Hey, Mags, how you doin'?" He asked cheerfully, setting his tray down next to Rachel's. Rather than give another snide comment, Maggie decided to (try to) be nice.

Though that nickname was already starting wear on her.

"Fine." She answered, smiling slightly.

Rolling her eyes, Rachel traded her cupcake for Danny's tater-tots.

"Told you I could get her to smile." Danny said, giving Rachel a dazzling grin.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I didn't say you couldn't make her smile, I said not within the first week," she explained.

Danny happily bit into his cupcake.

Ignoring their antics, Maggie looked over to find Alexandria sitting with Ronnie again. They had been spending a lot more time together lately.

How suspicious...

Danny once again broke her chain of thought. "So Rachel tells me you're goin' to the movies with us this Friday," he smiled. "What do you wanna see?"

She actually hadn't thought about that. "I dunno, what is there?"

Danny leaned back off the table and began counting fingers, his expression thoughtful to the point it was funny. "Let's see, we got..."

As he went through the list of names, Maggie realized she didn't really want to see any of them.

How was she supposed to choose between a rock and a hard place?

Rachel somehow picked up on her distress and said, "Don't worry about it, Maggie. I've already decided what we're going to see."

Danny scoffed. "Lemme guess: The Notebook 2: Gayness Reloaded?"

Rachel punched his shoulder. Hard.

"That movie was not gay, it was sweet! And no, It's a comedy," she huffed, cheeks burning.

"Whatever," he chuckled, shaking his head.

Maggie stared at them, amused. They were so close that she found it hard to believe they weren't related.

"Okay, so we'll pick you up after school on Friday. Got it?" Rachel asked.

Maggie blinked, snapping out of her daze. "Oh, um...yeah."

The bell rang.

As Rachel and Danny started to get up, Maggie (for some unknown reason) felt the need to ask, "So, who's driving?"

Danny and Rachel looked at each other, smirking in sync.

"Danny is," said Rachel slyly.

Danny took out his keys, jingling them in the air. Rachel chuckled.

"You drive?" Maggie asked.

"Oh, I GOT my license!" He snapped his fingers in a feminine fashion.

"Oh, stop it." Rachel chastised, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Pssh. Whatever." Came his nonchalant reply as he tossed his keys into the air.

"Bye, Maggie!" Called Rachel as she ushered Danny out. "Yeah, bye Mags," He called, throwing his keys in the air again.

"Bye," Maggie called back.

This had to be the most talking she had done in all her life.


Wednesday came and went, a near exact repeat of the day before. Terry was still a no-show. Rachel talked her ear off at lunch.

The only thing different was that Danny had invited her to a skate park.

She was inclined to say no, but she had never been to one before and she needed a new experience. She knew he wouldn't have been crushed or anything if she had declined - he was too easy-going for that - but in all honesty it was kind of hard to deny the boyish glint of hope in his eyes when he had asked her.

Besides. Rachel would be there. It wasn't like she wouldn't have someone to talk to. Or rather, talk to her. Never mind.

So, rather than laugh at the fact that he was asking her to go a skatepark, of all places (she knew he looked like the skater type!) she simply said yes.

She could only assume she had made the right decision.


After about 10 minutes of being at the skate park, Maggie was (overall) glad she decided to come. She had to admit, it was thoroughly entertaining to watch all of the flips and tricks they did (not to mention the occasional blunder). She didn't feel socially awkward either, thanks to Rachel.

During breaks, Danny would bring a couple of his skater friends over to her and Rachel to talk to. Maggie didn't add much to the conversation, but she was content with listening anyway.

This one guy kept talking with Danny and Rachel about how angry he was with his girlfriend for cheating on him, but Maggie couldn't catch all of the details because a half-skater, half-emo by the name of 'Jacob' kept trying to talk to her.

She got the distinct feeling he was flirting with her, but she couldn't be sure. Not until Danny and his friends went back to skating and Rachel sauntered over to tell her all about it, that is.

Maggie felt that she was over exaggerating a bit, but Rachel disagreed.

"Guys don't talk to you unless they like you." She said.

Well shoot, if that was the case then nearly every guy on the planet liked her!

Maggie was seriously beginning to doubt her friend's romantic compass, but held her tongue on the possibility that she was so crazy she was right.


After about 2 hours of hanging out at the ramps, Danny and Rachel dropped Maggie off at her house, said their goodbyes, and headed home themselves.

As expected, her mother hit her with a barrage of questions the second she walked in the door.

When did you get friends? How was the skate park? Was that a boy I saw? What are their names? When are you going out again?

Maggie had kind of just called her mom after school and asked if she could go out with friends that day. Her mom, so flabbergasted by all of this new information, had just said yes.

Maggie had been so time-consumed with Rachel's...well, Rachel-ness, that she'd completely forgotten to tell her parents about her new friends.

Whoops. She had a lot of gaps to fill.


The movies were okay. There were so many people there that night that Rachel went ahead of them to save seats, leaving Maggie with Danny at the concession stand.

She had a feeling this was no accident.

Danny paid for an insanely priced large popcorn, and, noticing Maggie staring at the candy display, a pack of gummie bears. She tried to decline, saying they could just buy some after the show for a dollar, but he acted like it was no big deal and bought them anyway.

When they got to their theater, Rachel had saved them the last 2 seats.

And they were side-by-side.

Which meant that she would have to sit next to Danny.

Now she knew this was no accident.

So in the end, she ended up sitting on the end of one of the first few rows, next to Danny, who sat next to Rachel, who sat next to some fat guy.

Danny, being in the middle, held the popcorn. Rachel had no problem digging her - probably unwashed - hands into the bag, but Maggie stuck with her gummie bears.

It was an okay film. She recognized a few of the actors, but their names escaped her. The story was good enough (for a comedy) and it made her laugh, so it was good enough for her.

By the time she had gotten through her gummie bears, Maggie looked over to see that Rachel and Danny had devoured the entire bag of popcorn on their own.

Wow.

They could eat.

When the movie was over, they got rid of all their trash and went to the bathroom. As they walked out to Danny's (well, his parent's) truck, Rachel ranted.

"I didn't think it was that good. I mean, it was so cliche! And I couldn't get over the way that one guy looked!"

"Aw, can it, Rach. So what if it was? It made me laugh, so it works for me." Danny said jokingly, hands digging in his pockets for his keys.

Rachel sighed. "It just wasn't as 'original' as they said it was, that's all."

"You mean like your face?"

"Shut up."

Upon noticing Maggie's quietness, Rachel asked, "What did you think of it, Maggie?"

Her head shot up at the sound of her name. "Oh, um, I liked it." She said, and both Rachel and Danny's heads turned in her direction.

"Oh. Well I'm glad you liked it," Rachel beamed.

"See, Danny? Don't I know how to pick 'em?"

He gave her a funny look. "You just said it sucked-"

"Don't talk back." She interrupted, jabbing him with her elbow.

Maggie silently chuckled to herself before climbing in.


The ride home was pleasant. Rachel sat in the middle, so Maggie didn't have to endure the awkwardness of sitting next to Danny.

As they pulled up to Maggie's house, Rachel spoke. "So we'll see you Monday?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Maggie replied.

Rachel smiled brightly. "Great! See you!"

Maggie hopped out of the truck. "Yeah, see you." She waved.

"Bye!" Danny and Rachel chimed simultaneously, waving as they drove off.

Maggie turned around to walk up to her house, only to be greeted by her mother standing in the doorway, an excited look on her face.

Maggie trudged inside, knowing full well that she wouldn't want any details left out of her trip.

A/N: Aaaand that's it. I know you were probably expecting Terry to be in this chapter, but come on! Maggie ain't got no friends! :(

Terry will be back in the next chapter though, so don't worry.

Plus, believe it or not, this chapter actually served a purpose :O Rather than being a pointless, silly filler chapter, Danny and Rachel do actually help progress the story (omg!) as you will see in the next few chapters.

I updated early because I'll be too busy to do this tomorrow, so enjoy :D

Any typos or screw-ups, just tell me!

'Till next time!