A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the reviews and the support and the suggestions (more suggestions—especially on Chris, are absolutely welcome)! Haha I've been so uptight about this story…. and I think this chapter is going to be a little pervy (Teddy mainly) and possibly really bad. I GREATLY apologize if anyone is out of character. Warning for all you Teddy lovers….I make him out to be kind of bad, I think. Thanks so much!
Teddy Duchamp wandered slowly and aimlessly down the concrete sidewalk. He inhaled deeply through his nose, almost as if cocaine, his personal favorite drug, was in front of him. He could smell the dampness in the quiet September air, and could feel a cool, gentle breeze ruffle his light caramel colored hair. He ran one dirty finger-nailed hand through his hair. He loved his hair; it was probably his best physical feature out of many. It was a brilliant Beatle haircut. Ah, he wished he could be a Beatle….he wanted to be John Lennon. Or a soldier. Suddenly, Teddy smiled smugly as a fantasy came into play.
He could see himself, a soldier in Vietnam, fighting for the American way, bringing justice to the opposing side, and helping fellow soldiers in duty and out. Oh, and shooting the hell out of all those Vietnamese people. He could almost feel the gun in his right hand, shaking and moving viciously as he tried to kill every dirty rotten bastard that came his way, when in reality, his hand was just twitching. And then, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr would be so impressed with his hand work that they would ask him to be part of the band and play the guitar. Oh, and they'd kick John out, not because Teddy didn't like John, John was his favorite, but because Teddy was going to be the next John Lennon. Then he'd be the leader of the greatest rock'n roll band ever and commander of all the marine, navy, air force, and land corps of America.
Wouldn't that be a huge accomplishment? And besides, there's no way that anybody else could have that high of status in the world. He'd be famous! He'd-
SLAM!
Just as he was turning the corner, he ran smack dab into someone. This person was more muscular, sending Teddy to the ground on his ass, his glasses falling off in the process.
"Shit," Teddy swore, rubbing his butt, "Watch where you're going, asshole, or I'll fucking shoot you when I'm commander of every single military unit of America."
"Damn, Teddy," an amused voice chuckled, "A little trippy today, huh? Ah, no wonder why you fell, you're a little too trippy!"
Hahaha. What a comedian.
"Chambers?" Teddy asked, gruffness in his voice.
"Yeah, man," Chris identified himself, helping Teddy off the ground.
"What have you been doing tonight, going on a date with—FUCK I need my glasses!" Teddy exclaimed, exasperated and furious.
Chris chuckled softly. "Alright, alright, calm down." Chris stooped to the ground, picked up Teddy's coke bottle glasses, and handed them over to him. Teddy put them on without a word of thanks.
"As I was saying," he continued, "Did you go on a date with Lachance? Ehehehehee!"
"No, he's not my type," Chris answered, "I went to the Blue Point with Jenna Malone. It wasn't a date—"
"Jenna Malone, Chambers? Jenna TheFuckingBitchoftheSchool Malone?" Teddy questioned incredulously.
It really surprised him. Why would a fashionable slut like her go on a date, or at least meet up with, a guy like Chambers? Something smelled shitty, and it had the popular girls' evil but sexy, well manicured hands all over it. Despite how much Teddy didn't like him, he decided to help Chambers out. He was better than Malone, and he always saw how everyone treated him: like he was an animal. Malone was going to walk all over his ass. And he saw it as helping out a fellow soldier, a guy like him, and he wouldn't get killed in the line of duty.
"Man, do you like her? At all?"
"She's alright, I guess," Chris answered with a shrug.
It was true. Based from that meeting, Jenna was ok. She hadn't done anything wrong, and she was being nice and forward. Chris was just….unsure. But the thing was: he wanted to trust her. So far, she had proven to be a real pleasure, and Chris wanted to trust her.
"Chambers, did you ever think that she could be faking it?" Teddy asked, like Chris was an idiot.
"Why would I think that? Teddy, there's a thing called trust."
"You'd trust a bitch like her?" Teddy asked skeptically, "Damn, I always knew you weren't that smart."
"I think that all people deserve chances," Chris said, ignoring Teddy's comment, "Or at least one."
"What made you think up some bullshit crap like that?"
"I never got any chances," Chris explained heatedly, a little angry with Teddy and angry about the process of coming up with his theory, "No one ever gave me a chance to show them how I really am, how I'm not some dumb, cheap hood who'll steal girls' jewelry and murder their boyfriends. So I learned that if someone else was in need of a chance, I'd give it to them, because I've been in that position before and know what it feels like when you don't get one." He had no idea why he was explaining this to a guy he hadn't talked to since the end of freshman year. But for some reason, it felt really good to just tell Teddy this. "You have to put yourself in other peoples' positions. 'You never really know a person until you step inside their skin and walk around in it.'" Chris preached, quoting one of his favorite lines in To Kill a Mockingbird. Suddenly he realized that he hadn't been doing this with Jenna himself and that he needed to.
Teddy stared at him.
"You're on crack," Teddy claimed, shaking his head.
"Well actually, we know the truth about which one of us is really on crack," Chris teased.
"Yeah, yeah," Teddy dismissed, even though Chris was right, "Anyway, yeah that makes sense to you I guess. But man. Why do you like her? I have to tell you, she's probably bullshitting you. And you don't want to take a chance on that, now do ya?"
"I guess," Chris admitted, knowing that Teddy could be correct. And words, although cherished in his and Gordie's opinion, were one thing. But an action was another. Words could be taken back or be twisted with lies. But an action: there was no taking an action back. What was done would be done. He shared this notion with Teddy. "You think I should get her to prove it by doing something?"
"Yeah," Teddy agreed, "I mean, even though she ate lunch with you, talked to you, and met you at the Blue Point, that's not enough. She's got to….gotta do something pretty fucking drastic, really."
"Oh. Well, I'll see what I can do."
A minute of awkward silence came. They both thought that there would never come a day when there was a silence between them, at least, with how they both used to love to talk to each other, because they were the ones who came up with the cleverest insults to throw out at each other in the treehouse. They were the ones who'd get into an endless string of pitiless arguments, Chris always making peace. They were the ones who'd exchange stories of abuse from their father, the one thing they both could relate to besides their age. But now….now there was a silence. And they could do nothing about it. Of course, they could say something, but it wouldn't change how they felt about each other as friends now.
"Thanks for the help, Teddy," Chris said uncomfortably, "I guess I'll see you around."
"Yeah," Teddy replied, sounding almost bored, "Be careful of that bitch. She's struck me as the high strong skank type."
"Hey, by the way," Chris started, "Why are you helping me out with a popular girl?"
"Because," Teddy answered hesitantly, a ghost of a smile on his face, "I was with one."
Chris gave him a look of astonishment, and he found himself too dumbfounded to respond. Even though this was Teddy Duchamp, maybe he should take his advice despite how bad of an advice giver he was. Teddy had had experience with someone who had a reputation very similar to Jenna's. He had dealt with someone who was at least somewhat like her, so he must have experience. Who else could he talk to who did, and what did Chris have to lose anyway?
"Who was she?"
Teddy blinked. "Bye, bastard."
"Bye, Teddy."
Teddy sighed as he continued to saunter down the sidewalk. That was interesting. Chris was an interesting character. Like, he still hung out with Lachance. That was weird. Why would you hang out with someone you hung out with when you were twelve? Although good times, Teddy knew that a time had to come when new friends had to come into your life. People who were more exciting. Like his crazy-assed best friend, Anthony Trent, the friend who helped him with all the grungy juniors who had been kissing their asses since the 5th grade. And Hudson Scott, who supplied him his cocaine. Ah, Teddy loved his cocaine. Since the middle of August, he needed it after slipping into a bit of a depression.
A bit of a depression? Sure, Teddy.
It made him feel like he was on top of the world. Literally. Such nice things happened in his mind when he took it. But after was a drag, but then he'd just inhale some more. It was a huge endless cycle, and honestly, he was a bit sick of it. He wanted a change, even though it had only been around a month and a half since he got on it. The middle of August. August was now Teddy's least favorite month. June was his favorite. Ugh.
Suddenly, he was being tugged earnestly by his left arm, and before he knew it, someone had pulled him that way and pushed him up against the wall of the towering, brick building. He began to struggle, and someone breathed loudly. He stopped his struggling. Even by the breathing, he knew who it was. He had heard her breathe loudly so many times during the summer.
"Teddy," Serena Austen sighed deeply, "How are you?"
"Not very well, thanks to you, you dirty fucking skank," Teddy snapped.
It was so dark, Teddy couldn't see her, but he felt her. She was practically on top of him.
"Kiss me," Serena commanded, gripping his shoulders with her blood red fingernails. Teddy always knew that was the color she always painted her nails.
"What!" Teddy exclaimed, furious and shocked beyond belief, "Why the hell should I? You've treated me like the fucking ground and the fucking people you strut your pretty little ass over, you bitch!"
"I heard a compliment in there somewhere," Serena told him flirtatiously, totally ignoring the rest of his exclamation, "I have a pretty little ass, huh? They say that I have the best ass in all of Castle Rock. Is it true?"
Serena backed up and did a little bit of a twirl, as if Teddy had never seen her butt before.
Teddy stared, his huge trap open, mouthing "what?" Even though he had seen her butt before, he was still completely turned on by the sight of it. Yes, yes, she was a bitch who had broken what heart he had left when he met her, but she was still sexy. And despite how much he despised her…..he couldn't resist her.
"You're staring," Serena told him all-knowingly.
"Oh no….you do have a nice—"
He cut himself off when she had made her way back and was beginning to stick her right leg in between his legs. Hmm. Kinky. He couldn't wait any longer. She wanted a kiss, she got a kiss.
Teddy pulled her upper body closer towards him and hungrily kissed her. Serena tossed her sleek black hair in front so he could run his hands through it, one thing that she loved that he did. Their kissing became more heated, just like it always had, but thanks to it, Teddy knew exactly when to stop. He pushed her off of him, sending her backwards a little. She looked up at him with hurt in her hazel eyes.
"Teddy—"
"Fuck off, bitch," he hissed, making a quick escape out of the alleyway she had pulled him into.
But as he stormed off down the sidewalk, he knew he wouldn't have to have any cocaine for at least a week because of that kiss.
Gordie knocked on the creaky, wooden door of Catherine's house. He knew that if the two weren't out eating, they'd be here, since Natalie hated going home and her parents were glad for her to be out. She basically slept over at Cat's house and Gordie's house every night, not Chris' though, for obvious reasons.
Mrs. Spencer came out, wearing an apron and cooking mitts. Of course. They could be at Cat's house and eat.
"Gordie!" Mrs. Spencer exclaimed happily. She had always loved Gordie.
"Hello," he greeted cheerfully, "May I see Natalie and Catherine?"
"Of course! You know where their room is."
"Thank you."
Gordie stepped into the house and started trudging down the hallway, hands in his jean pockets. What was he supposed to say to them? Sorry, I was distracted by a girl I barely knew who's a bitch and forgot about your feelings? Nah. That didn't work. I was following Chris' lead? His hands shook nervously in his pockets, and he almost scolded himself. Why was he nervous? These were two of his best friends. Well. One best friend. One…what was Natalie anyway? He really did like her, but just had the hunch that she didn't like him like that, especially not now. Best girlfriend? No. That suggested things that Gordie wouldn't even dream of doing.
He knocked on Cat's door politely.
"Come in," Cat said absentmindedly, thinking it was her mother.
Gordie entered shyly. "Hi."
Both girls looked up from the magazines, yearbooks, and black sharpies strewn across Catherine's flower print queen bed. Cat gave Gordie a ghost of a smile, but Natalie looked furious.
"Could you leave please?" Natalie asked, annoyed, pulling the cap off of a sharpie, "I was just getting ready to draw a cheesy French mustache on you."
"I will," Gordie promised, "I just need to apologize."
"So you are going to apologize," Cat said, but Gordie could tell she was only teasing him, "What about Chris?"
"Chris says he's sorry. We both wanted to say that you two mean so much to us, and we love you guys. I honestly just wasn't thinking about what I was doing and going along with Chris. I'm going to be nice to Jenna, but I don't have to be her best friend or anything," Gordie explained.
"Apology accepted," Cat told him happily.
They both looked at Natalie, who looked busy drawing a mustache on Gordie. Great, she still hates him. Catherine nudged her hard in the ribs.
"OW! Ugh…god Cat, you stupid cat," Natalie exclaimed, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I accept your apology."
Gordie's heart leapt. "YAY!" he shouted, ran, jumped on the bed, and hugged Natalie tightly.
"Aw, you skinny, ugly, teddy bear, you!" Natalie said sweetly, hugging him back.
"Hey wait. If you weren't drawing a mustache on Gordie, who were drawing it on?"
Natalie smirked. "Vern Tessio."
Gordie and Natalie laughed, but Catherine didn't.
