Chapter Nine: Dress To Depress
"Who wants pancakes!"
Gwen awoke, head groggy and back sore. While she always enjoyed the late evenings that sleepovers promised, it also meant morning people trying to wake her up. The chocolate-chip pancakes did ease the blow, even if she wouldn't admit it. With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself off the thin mattress, mouth tacky and dry. "I hate you."
Courtney frowned.
"I - not really." Gwen shook her head, a smile on her lips. Courtney still wasn't accustomed to her brand of humour. "Not a morning person."
You're telling us - we're all dressed, ready to go shopping, and you're still in your pyjamas." LeShawna grinned, her eyes rolling to the ceiling. "
"Riiight... Mall trip. Yipee." Without any grace, Gwen fell onto the couch in the den, snagging up her plate of pancakes. "Difference being," she paused, taking a bite. "I don't take forever to get dressed." She shrugged, her pancakes not lasting long at all. They were delicious - who knew little miss class president was such a good cook. Once that was out of the way, she darted into the hallway bathroom to change quickly and do her makeup.
Five minutes later she emerged, her usual teal and black color scheme in place. "Ready!" The other girls just laughed, or, everyone except Courtney laughed. She seemed to be mumbling about a schedule, and bus times. The four of them headed downstairs and out the front door. Gwen was perpetually surprirsed by her friends; Bridgette, Courtney, LeShawna. Such a strange bunch, so mismatched. She had her goth friends, and she had these guys. And, well the popular people too, but...
"You need to start sitting with us again."
"Why am I so popular all of a sudden?" Gwen snapped, the tone transparently sarcastic.
They opted to walk, with Bridgette emphasising how important the enviroment was. The walk was forgivingly short, only about fifteen minutes. Courtney and Gwen managed to strike up a conversation on the spread of the school budget, if only because they agreed the arts suffered to the sports teams.
"The band gets nothing! We have to run fundraisers every single year to get to competitions." Courtney crossed her arms, frowning in front of her.
"Same with the art supplies. It's always 'bring your own'. And when we do get things, people steal it." Gwen growled, kicking a rock off the sidewalk. Behind them was Bridgette and LeShawna discussing Geoff and Harold. The occasional word like 'date' and 'gifts' kept popping up, and Gwen couldn't tell why.
Finally, they arrived at the mall. A hulking grey monstrocity, with carparks packed wall to wall with cars. Gwen was suddenly thankful they hadn't driven, seeing as they'd never find a park. A few trolleys were ditched in the gardens, and McRonald's bags fluttered by their feet. Bridgette peeled away from the group to snatch up some litter, quickly ditching it into a nearby bin. None of them had the heart to stop her, understanding it would only earn them an earfull of enviormental abuse complaints.
Gwen would have helped if she had gloves. After she caught a few pieces, Courtney set a hand on her shoulder. "Didn't you want to look at the surfboards?"
"I - yeah - sorry guys." Bridgette blushed, seemingly ashamed by her tirade. She accepted a towlette from Courtney, who seemed to have inumerous things in her handbag. Gwen was flat out impressed as she also offered some detol.
"Are you Mary Poppins? It'd explain the uptightness..."
Courtney frowned though the others laughed, and they all headed into the mall. They all had their own specific stores to visit, so they broke away with the understanding they'd meet up for lunch and start shopping as a group. Gwen had to visit Dark Lament and the art supplies store, while the others had their own stores. She didn't really know what they were after, but it definitely saved them all peace of mind. With phones, and an agreed meet-up spot, it was only a matter of time before they were properly hanging out.
Dark Lament was a clothing store, dedicated to second-hand clothing and everything of the goth variety. It blared music such as Gothic Mind Explosion, Infinity Clause and Darken End. The usual mindless yet amazing grunge, the thumping bass, the voices that sung of pain and joy... Definitely her kind of store. In particular, she needed to start sourcing a dress she could use for all the dances this coming school year. With Trent around, she finally felt like she could attend them and actually have fun.
As she stepped inside, a contrast of neon lights and shadows spilled over her. The morning was so much more bearable. She glanced between racks, trying to spot where the fancier dresses were set up. It was then she saw an astroturf shark fin sailing across a rack, rounding the corner right towards her.
"Duncan." Gwen's voice was hollow, more surprised than pleased. She wasn't sure if it was the store that surprised her most, or the fact he was up so early on a weekend. Or maybe it was the casual way he sipped at his slushie, even though the store prohibited food and drink. She scoffed, arms crossed. "Aren't you a rebel."
Duncan shrugged, one hand tucked into his jeans pocket. He sipped once more, eyes narrowed at her. "Why're you here?"
"Uh, shopping. Why else would I be here?" Gwen tried not to smile, not sure if he even thought that question through. Wasn't this the exact sort of place she would be found? It wasn't till a few seconds later, she recalled what he'd been like the other day. After he'd stayed over, and caused so much trouble for her with Trent, and her mother. And the rumour about him dating Courtney? A sudden well of annoyance rose in her, her shoulders squared. "Why are you here?"
Duncan shrugged. "Meeting someone later. Needed to kill time. Also, needed new jeans." He looked around before making eye contact with Gwen once more. "Where's your boyfriend?"
Gwen almost snapped back with 'I don't know' but felt that wouldn't have the right impact. "Band practice. They have a gig tonight." The details were so vague to her, though she was glad she had them. She didn't want to seem ignorant of her boyfriend's whereabouts. Especially not with Duncan, who was already about to pounce on her for the smallest things. Not pounce in a literal sense - just make stupid comments. She puffed out a cheek, frowning at his jeans.
"Ooh, a gig. What do they play? Nickleback covers?"
"Take that back!"
"Or are they real edgy, playing ooh, I don't know, Simple Plan?"
Gwen almost growled, her hands tiny fists by her sides. She managed to push down her annoyance, brushing her hair over her ear. "He plays his own music." The tone was unfamiliar to her - pride, but not quite. It felt as though she lorded the information over Duncan, rather than actually feeling proud of her boyfriend. After a moment of glared eye contact, she poked him in the chest. "Can you stop being so mean about him? It's annoying."
"You act normal till we talk about that idiot."
"Then why do you bring him up?"
"'Cause he's your boyfriend."
"And?"
Duncan clenched his jaw, a cool expression replacing what would have been anger. He let out a breath through grit teeth, a smirk slowly forming. "Dunno. I like pissing people off."
"That'd explain why you'd want to date Courtney."
That hadn't been how Gwen wasn't to broach the topic. She hadn't even wanted to touch on it at all, her mind whirlling in hope she could turn back to. Or maybe even step back out of the store and pretend she hadn't seen Duncan at all today. Every time they met, it was an annoying mix of the past trying to start and the future stomping all over it.
Duncan stayed quiet, sipping his slushie. After a moment, he met her eye. "It's not like that."
"Bye Duncan." Gwen rolled her eyes, turning on her heel. She had dresses to look at, and her friends to meet up with. Even if Courtney was one of them. Her wrist was caught by Duncan, but she waved him off. He didn't hold on tight, or even try to keep her in place, but she stopped walking. She turned back to raise an eyebrow at him, head tilted. "I'm happy for you."
"Then why don't you act like it?" Duncan narrowed his eyes, lips turned down in a small frown.
"Same reason you don't act like you're happy for Trent and I." Her tone clipped with each word, her mind forming words before she could second-guess them. This felt so familiar, the same fight they'd had when they were younger. It annoyed her more than anything else, some indescribable knot forming in her stomach.
"Cause I'm not happy for you!"
"Neither am I!" Gwen snapped back.
They stared at one another, eyes searching the other's face. It lasted a few seconds, Duncan's hand still outreached towards her wrist. Gwen finally snatched her hand back against her chest, lips pouted out. These moments reminded her they weren't the same kids. There wasn't any innocence to be found, no soft laughs, no easily, clusmily delivered apologies. There wasn't a tree to hide in, not while the music thumped around them and the lights kept flashing. Gwen's attention skipped between Duncan's face and the table of tshirts beside her. Finally, she stepped away.
"Neither are you, what?"
"I'm not happy for you."
"That's not how that sounded." Duncan cocked a brow at her, the same protective, defensive stare that plagued him when they were younger. It always happened at birthdays, or when there was a dance at school. She forgot about those times when they fought; it was only the now, the childish way he played aloof and mysterious. She hated it.
"I'm meeting my friends." Gwen answered again, her hand default to behind her neck. She wouldn't meet his eye, her attention still focused just behind his hip on a bargin bin of chokers and chain bracelets. After he didn't reply, she met his eye. They stared for a moment, at least until Gwen turned away. "I'll see you around."
"Gwen, don't be like that." His voice was almost a plead.
"I really do, though." She growled. "Look, why don't you and Courtney come to Trent's gig tonight. We can hang out then. Trent and Courtney get alone well enough." Gwen smiled hopefully, as if this would bridge the gap. It might fix things between them, ease the differences in their groups. Their groups? Gwen bit her tongue. She wouldn't mind hanging out with Duncan, and her goth friends, and the girls. Whether Duncan would want to hang out with the popular kids was another matter entirely.
Duncan took a moment to reply, dropping his slushie and kicking it under the rack. It was empty, Gwen noted. She rolled her eyes, trying not to scold him. "I'll think about it. See what the missus says."
A chill ran down her back, her eyes narrowed. She brushed the brief annoyance aside, not sure where it had spawned from. "I'd love to see you around more, you know."
"I'll visit more."
Gwen ran a hand down her face, peering between her fingers at him. "I meant hanging out, in public, not you staying over more. Not after you made it so freakin' suspicious on the bus. High-fiving people? What the Hell did you say?" That had been something she needed to talk to him about, but hadn't had the chance. She watched as his expression shifted through a few different stages of avoiding an answer. "Ugh - whatever - I don't even want to know."
Duncan chuckled, running a hand along his chin. The stubble caught at his fingertips, her eyes unconciously watching their path. "I'll tell you when you're older."
"Two months younger than you - shut up!" Gwen laughed, trying to stay mad at him. He made it impossible, with every smile and joke. Though she wouldn't admit it, his return had been the best thing to happen to her in a long while. Excluding Trent, she reminded herself. It was then she remembered she needed to get in contact with him about tonight, to organize when he'd pick her up. Before she knew it, she was enveloped in a hug.
"See you later, Spooky."
Gwen hugged him back, a soft laugh bubbling through her smile. "Stop with the nickname, Astroturf." With that, he headed off and out of sight. She turned her attention back to the dresses on display. She decided it wasn't the time to start picking dresses out for school dances - it was boring. Onto art supplies, she grinned.
...
A/N: Hope you liked this! Review please!
