(A/N: I would've finished this chapter yesterday, but we were pretty busy; We dressed up yesterday instead of today. Enjoy !)


High School Daze

Ch. 8


As days went on, Chuckie kept his promise to Shenzi; All their dates were casual. They would have lunch at either the mall or at fast food joints, and if they ate at the former, they would hang out at the arcade afterwards. It was just how they liked it.

On October 5th, Kimi was trying to get her blue eyeshadow perfect, for a very special day: It was her 16th birthday! She was now caught up with her brother, and future sister-in-laws. The girls were to dress like pop/alternative star Melanie Martinez, whom they all idolized. She said that if they couldn't find matching shoes, then they could improvise. To their surprise, Angelica actually assisted them in getting pieces for their outfits. Roxy came down with a cold, and wasn't able to come to the party. The boys were told to dress how they wanted. She told the girls to wear different outfits, and told them what she had in mind, so they wouldn't copy her by accident. She was wearing a yellow bralette top, a red high-waisted tennis skirt, white socks with organza lace ruffles on the top, sheer luxe-back seam pantyhose, black jelly sandals, pink heart earrings, and silver bow earrings in two extra piercings in her right ear. Her hair was in its usual partial ponytails with two bands.

"You almost ready, Kimi-chan?" Kira asked her from the open doorway, "You look great."

"Thanks Mom," She smiled, "I'm just about done; I'm trying to get my eyeshadow just right."

"Here, I'll help." After around a minute, she was finished. "How's that?"

Kimi looked in her mirror, and smiled at her reflection. "That's perfect! Thanks, Mom."

"My pleasure. Let's go out in the backyard to wait for everyone to come." They, along with Chaz and Chuckie, waited in the yard, which was decorated for the party. Thankfully, the weather was sunny with no chance of rain, so there were no plans of moving the party inside. Chuckie was in a white button-up shirt with long sleeves, brown jeans, broan loafers, and a brown belt with a yellow buckle. His hair was smoothed down for the occasion.

Before long, Frankie and Shenzi (the latter to Chuckie's delight) arrived first. Shenzi was wearing a black cropped tee with thin white horizontal stripes, a black chiffon high-waisted skirt with sall white polka dots, classic Converse high-tops, and black bow earrings. In her hair were black extensions that faded into ivory, and one that was all white. Frankie was in a pink Lazy Oaf Watch Yourself cropped sweater, a light blue vinyl high-waisted skirt, silver and black metallic creepers, a light pink side headbow, a simple ponytail band, a pink kitty-like collar, and white and black rose earrings. They each held a present in their hands.

"Hi, guys!" Kimi greeted them, "Thanks for coming."

"It's our pleasure," Frankie smiled as she set her and Shenzi's presents on the appropriate table.

"Hey, Chuckie!" Shenzi ran over to her boyfriend, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hey, Shen." He kissed her lips for a second, "I'm glad you were able to come."

"I am too," She then turned to the birthday girl. "Congrats on turning 16, Kimi! Now you're caught up with me and Chuckie! Do you feel any different?"

"Thanks, Shenzi," Kimi smiled, "Not so far."

"Oh, okay. Well, it'll come before you know it."

Before long, all the other guests arrived at the party. Lil was in a black and white striped bustier bodysuit, dark denim high-waisted shorts, red Converse x-high-tops, black star earrings, and a yellow extension. She had her ears pierced in her first year of high school. Angelica was wearing a mint bustier cami dress, quilted pink satin platform shoes, providing at least 2 inches of extra height, a light blue floral hair bow, silver hoop earrings, and teal eyeshadow. Susie wore a turquoise and purple polka dot monster faux fur crop top, a lilac high-waisted tennis skirt, mint jelly sandals, blue socks with peach-colored organza lace ruffles, a simple ponytail band, and ziegfeld white pearl earrings. They all were carrying presents, which they set on the table with the ones from the Tuck siblings.

When the gate opened again, they were surprised to see Z entering the yard. "Oh, hi Z," Kimi greeted him, "Thanks for coming."

"N-no problem," He smiled nervously.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, "You seem a little distracted."

"I.. I just... I need to talk to Shenzi."

The said girl walked up to him with Chuckie. "Hi, Z. What's up?"

"Hi, Shen. I uh, I'm really glad that you're safe."

"Thanks," She shrugged timidly.

"And... I feel like it's my fault you were kidnapped."

"What? No, it wasn't!" She insisted, "It was all Pangborn."

"But if I hadn't asked you to get my phone from my motorcycle, then..."

"Then he still would've snatched me off the street," She cut him off, "Worst of all, he would've hurt you if you tried to defend me. This will sound weird, but I'm glad it went the way it did, where no one was hurt."

"Well, I still feel responsible, since I could've gone with you, but I'm glad you're safe now." He and Shenzi shared a short, friendly embrace.

"Thanks; I am too." They pulled away after a second, and she settled back in her boyfriend's arms. "And please, don't feel bad for it. It happened, and it's over. The past is the past."

She felt Chuckie's embrace tighten a bit, from being reminded of those horrible weeks when she was trapped in Pangborn's house. One factor that really got to him was the fact that she wasn't allowed to eat anything! She explained that Pangborn wanted her figure to "stay perfect." All it did was make Chuckie sick. He couldn't believe that she was forced into what is practically undernourishment over something so disgusting. Thankfully, just before Kimi's party, she was back to normal with help from her family, and Chuckie. He had asked her if Pangborn ever tried to kiss her, but thankfully, she said no. She wasn't quite caught up in school yet, but she was getting there. Her boyfriend stayed with her for whenever she would feel discouraged about the subject she would be working on at the time. She and her loved ones (her friends are in that category) only hoped that the capture wouldn't effect her for the rest of her life. "Well, I'm so glad it's over," He remarked quietly.

"Me too," She laid on his chest.

"So, you guys are dating again?" Z asked them, and they both nodded, "That's good. You two really work with each other."

"I think they're adorable!" Kimi gushed, "Now, let's get this party started!"

The party was in full swing after a short amount of time passed. There was cake, ice cream, good presents for the birthday girl, music, and dancing to the said music from a boombox borrowed from Stu. Since Kimi acquired a new love for anime, she received presents involving it, such as seasons of Black Butler and Sailor Moon on DVD, a Black Butler cardigan, a set of Sailor Moon Luna apparel, with a cropped t-shirt, a high-waisted skirt, and silhouette tights, a Black Butler Ciel bikini, and others. She was very happy with everything her loved ones had to offer. Shenzi and Chuckie stayed close to each other the whole day, except when either one of them had to use the bathroom.

When the teens were dancing, the couple got tired after a while, so they sat in the grass together. They held hands as Shenzi laid on Chuckie's shoulder, and he leaned his head on hers. "I-I love you so much, Shen." He kissed her soft hair, and gently rubbed his thumb on her hand.

"I love you too, Chuck," She turned herself a bit, and snuggled in his chest. Their hands were now on her lap over her skirt as her legs were laying across his.

"I'm really glad that you're over... you know," He remarked, with his cheek on her forehead.

"Me too," She agreed. A few days ago, Chuckie made the mistake of playfully tickling his girlfriend while on one of their dates. Why was it a mistake? Because she hadn't fully healed from her kidnapping at the time. It took him a second to realize that as she looked extremely uncomfortable. He hugged her tightly, although she struggled, as he apologized profusely for what he did. He felt like such an idiot that day, even though she assured him that it was okay; Her voice was a bit shaky, so he was unconvinced, but he didn't question it. A couple days later, she felt like she was over what happened. Or as over it as she could get without it completely leaving her mind. Because something like that was very hard to forget.

"Hey, guys?" They looked up, and saw Kimi in front of them with her presents in her arms, along with a plate carrying a slice of cake and a plastic fork. "Mom says that since it's getting a bit cloudy out, we're going to move the party inside." So she, Chuckie, and the guests helped Chaz and Kira in taking down the decorations and taking the cake and ice cream inside the living room, where they all gathered. The ice cream was kept in a portable freezer for it to keep cold.

Phil sat on the freezer, and was on his phone like he had been almost all day; He started dating Lil's soccer teammate, Wally Ramone, at the start of the current school year, and they had been texting each other when not together ever since. That wasn't the only romance that blossomed once the school year began; To Chuckie's chagrin, Tommy and Kimi started going out just before summer break ended. But Chuckie decided to tease them as revenge for Kimi teasing him and Shenzi. Angelica finally convinced Sean to go out with her, and surprisingly, it went good, while Susie and Darryl had a thing going on as well. They were all official after a short time. To Shenzi's surprise, Frankie started going out with Bobby before the incident with Pangborn. She just never noticed, but she then learned that Frankie was a bit shy about her new relationship with the twin orange-haired boy, but Shenzi and their parents immediately accepted it. Lil and Harold recently became official, and according to Lil, they even had their first kiss. Fridge and Nicole became an official couple as well.

As Kimi, the adults, and the guests mingled, Shenzi and Chuckie sat on the floor, leaning on the couch and on each other. "Hey Shen?" She looked up at him.

"Yeah?"

"I think it's great that you joined our school's basketball team," He remarked. At the start of the year, before she was captured, Shenzi decided to follow in her brother figure's footsteps, and join a sports team. Or at least, try to. The day after she tried out for it, she received a call, saying that she made it. Earlier in the summer, she won a card suits basketball at the town fair after she told her plans to her parents and sister.

"Thanks Chuck," She smiled timidly, "I thought that something involving exercise other than gym would be good for me. I want to keep my figure the way it is, while still eating at the same time."

"Good call," Chuckie nodded, "I can't believe that monster forced you into starvation over something so selfish."

"Me neither," She agreed, "But... it's over, and my undernourishment is gone."

"Thank God," Chuckie kissed her forehead, "To be honest, after noticing it, it was frightening to see you so skinny. You were like a walking skeleton."

"It didn't feel very great," She shrugged, "I'm just glad that it's over. I never thought I'd love food so much until after being away from it for weeks against my will. In fact..." She stood up, and cut out a slice of cake, her third one that day, with a fork. "I need some right now." Chuckie laughed in amusement as she ate a delicious, frosting-filled bite. He playfully scooped some frosting off the cake with his finger, and licked it off. "Hey!" She giggled after swallowing, "Get your own piece, Finster."

Chuckie's hand laid over his heart. "You're not sharing with your boyfriend?" He feigned hurt feelings, "Aww." He pouted as he looked away, while trying not to laugh.

"I'm just kidding; I'll share with you." She held the piece closer to him in an offering.

"Nah Shen, I was kidding too," He finally let out his laughter, "I'm a bit full anyway."

"Oh, okay."

"Hey, Shenzi?" Kimi walked up to the couple, "I decided to have a girls night to end my birthday with. You want to come? Frankie's already going."

"Sure, I'll go," She agreed, "Can Chuckie come too?"

Kimi looked hesitant at the question. "Ummm, I uh, well Shen, it's kind of... girls only." Shenzi looked sad at that. "Oh! How about this?: When we go to bed, you can sleep in Chuckie's room, if he'd allow that."

"'Course I do," He smiled at his girlfriend, "That goes without saying. You can have fun with the girls tonight, if you want to."

"Thanks Chuck," She smiled back at her boyfriend, before turning to Kimi, "I'm in."

"Awesome," The birthday girl showed excitement, "This is going to be great!"


That night, Kimi waited in the living room for her girl friends to come, already wearing her pajamas. Soon, Shenzi and Frankie arrived in their pjs with duffle bags. Frankie had black and white Hello Kitty pajamas with shorts and a cropped tank top, black, white, and red Hello Kitty slipper boots, and red barbells. Her hair was full down. Shenzi was wearing white, black, and dark red boxer shorts, black and white argyle fuzzy ankle socks, and black barbells, and symbolizing that she was over her capture, a black cropped tank top. "Hi Kimi," Frankie greeted the birthday girl.

"Nice pjs," Shenzi smirked playfully. Kimi was wearing Cookie Monster printed cropped sleep pants, a blue cropped tank top, realistic cookie-printed ankle socks, black barbells, and blue ones in her extra piercings.

"Thanks," She smiled back, "Lil, Angelica, and Susie are on their way. Let's wait for them in here."

"Hey girls," Chuckie peeked in the living room.

"Hi, Chuckie!" Shenzi brightened up at her boyfriend's presence; She stood up on the floor, ran to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hi Shen," He gently rubbed his nose on hers, so she giggled and reciprocated. "Who all is coming?"

"Well, there's me, Frankie, and Kimi so far," She began explaining, "And Lil, Angelca, and Susie are on their way."

"Okay," He nodded, "If Angelica says anything mean to you, don't let it get to you. No matter what she says, you are a sweet, beautiful, perfect girl."

Shenzi blushed and averted her gaze timidly. "I'm not perfect."

Chuckie's hands laid on her neck and cheeks, making her look at him. "You're perfect for me." He kissed her lips for a few seconds, her hands gently holding his wrists, before they separated. "I hope you have fun with..." He was cut off by the doorbell ringing. "... the girls."

Kimi answered the door, and saw Lil outside, with Susie and Angelica. "Hey, guys! Come on in!" She stepped out of the doorway to let them enter the house. "Nice pjs, Lil."

"Thanks; You too." She was wearing Donald Duck pajamas with a white crop top and striped shorts, themed socks, and red barbells. Angelica was in a light blue camisole and boyshorts, with butterflies and a kitten, pink flannel slippers, and ziegfeld white pearl earrings. Susie had beach ball printed boyshorts, a blue cropped tank top, light pink cable knit knee-high socks, and silver barbells. Her hair was down.

"Come on, guys; Let's go to my room to kick off this girls night!" Kimi led the girls upstairs, while Shenzi lingered.

"I'll see you when I go to bed," She pecked Chuckie's lips.

"And I'll see you," He caressed her hair for a second, "Have fun."

"I will," She nodded, then ran upstairs to catch up with the girls, who were already in Kimi's room. "Sorry I took so long; I was saying goodbye to Chuckie."

"It's okay," Kimi assured her.

"Why would you do that?" Angelica wondered aloud, "He's just down the hall."

"Well, this is girls night only, so I won't be seeing him until we go to bed," Shenzi explained.

"Oh yeah, 'cause a few hours is so long," Angelica rolled her eyes.

"Knock it off," Susie glared at her, "When she was kidnapped, they were away from each other for weeks. It's perfectly natural for them to want to be together every minute."

"Plus, we'll be having dinner later," Kimi pointed out, "So Shenzi, you can sit with Chuckie then. I don't mind."

"Thanks, Kimi."

The girls talked about fashion, what Shenzi missed during her time away, and their relationships. In the middle of their conversations, dinner was ready, so they all went to eat; Shenzi sat next to Chuckie as they did.

"So Shenzi, are you going to sing in our school's talent show?" Kimi asked the emo girl.

"Probably, I dunno," She shrugged.

"I'm going to," Lil chimed in.

"Me too," Susie added.

"So am I," Frankie said after swallowing a bite of tomato soup, "So is Roxy. I think you'll be great." Chuckie nodded in agreement.

"Well, um... I'll think about it," Shenzi decided.

After they ate, the girls gave each other makeovers with Kimi's new makeup kit, they ate fun snacks, and they watched scary movies. Without thinking, Angelica picked the first one, which involved kidnapping and a girl held hostage. After noticing that Shenzi looked extremely nervous, Lil snatched the remote out of Angelica's hand, and turned off the movie. "Angelica, why'd you pick that movie?!" She exclaimed angrily.

"I didn't know she'd get scared," The oldest girl replied.

"It's about a girl getting kidnapped, and being held hostage! Of course it was going to get to her!" Frankie exclaimed, before turning to her nervous-looking sister. "Sorry, Shen. Angelica is too."

When the older blonde stayed quiet, Frankie quickly nudged her. "Uh, y-yeah, sorry."

"It's okay," Shenzi said quietly.

"Um, if you want, you can just go to Chuckie's room," Kimi offered, "It's almost time for us to hit the sack anyway."

"A-alright." After gathering her stuff, she walked out in the hall. All the lights were turned off, since Chaz and Kira were the living room with the light dimmed, so she was feeling a bit edgy, despite Chuckie's room being very close. When she heard a creak, from the house settling, she froze in her tracks. Her heart leapt in her throat when she heard something fall and make a loud bang, from the bathroom; She jumped almost all the way off the floor, dashed in Chuckie's room, effectively surprising him, and quickly closed the door.

"Shenzi, what's wrong?" He asked her, standing on the floor as she panted.

"I... I heard a loud noise," She said through her panting.

"I actually heard it too; Something fell in the bathroom. Happens all the time." He kissed her cheek and hugged her in comfort. "You're safe. So, how'd it go with the girls?"

"G-good," She stammered, with her head on his chest, "But then, it got... uncomfortable."

Chuckie sighed in annoyance; Not at her, just at the thought of someone making her uneasy. And he had a strong feeling who it was. "What'd Angelica do now?"

"She... she picked this scary movie about someone getting kidnapped, and held hostage," She quietly explained.

He rolled his eyes and facepalmed in exasperation. Didn't Angelica think of anyone but herself? "Why would she do that?"

"I dunno," She shrugged, "Maybe she just wasn't thinking. But... I'm fine. I was just a bit jumpy before I came in here."

"Ah."

"Hey, Chuckie?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you know it was Angelica?"

"I had a feeling," He shrugged, "I mean, Frankie, Kimi, Susie, and Lil don't do stuff like that."

"True. So, Kimi said that since it's almost bedtime anyway, I can come in here."

"That's good," He smiled at her, "Let's just chill for now until then."

"Okay." As they heard the girls having fun, along with Susie berating Angelica, they sat on his bed, side by side. Shenzi laid on Chuckie's shoulder and chest, so he held her closer, with his head on hers. He just didn't understand how Angelica could be so oblivious; Was a friend getting kidnapped that hard to forget? Seriously? It just baffled, not to mention angered, him. "Is that a sewing machine?" His girlfriend's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh um, yeah."

"I didn't know I was dating a seamstress," She playfully teased him.

"Tailor," He smirked at her.

"I know, I was joking," She giggled, "Why haven't you told me that you can sew?"

"I dunno," He shrugged, "I was just worried that you would think I'm feminine, since sewing is kind of girly."

"There are male sewers out there, Chuck," She pointed out, "It's not girly. If anything, it's unisex."

"Uni-what?"

"It means that it's for both genders."

"Ah." He smiled when her mouth opened wide, letting a yawn out. "You tired, Shen?"

"Yeah," She nodded, "I've already brushed my teeth, so if you haven't yet, you can do that before we hit the hay." She started moving to stand on the floor.

"What're you doing?" Chuckie stopped her.

"I'm going to lay in my sleeping bag," She shortly explained.

"Not on my watch; You sleep in my bed with me. You'll feel safer, I know it."

"Well, okay. But can I at least put my bag in my duffle bag?"

"Sure," He stood on the floor, "I'll go ahead and brush my teeth. You can look around if you'd like to; Snoop all you want. I don't mind."

"Thanks," She giggled. While he was gone, she rolled up her sleeping bag, and stashed it in her Misfits logo duffle bag. After sitting on the edge of his bed, she looked around the room in curiosity. She smiled at the purple Ferris Wheel figure at the wall to the left; She recognized it from Armadillo Dave comic books. When she saw a trash can on the floor, she noticed that it was overflowing with tissues soaked in what she assumed was tears. On the bedside table was two empty tissue boxes. Her heart broke at both of those factors; They weren't there a few weeks ago. She could never imagine her boyfriend crying that much, especially over her. Was she really worth his tears?

Why was she having so many doubts about their relationship? Obviously, if Chuckie wasn't into her, then he would've dumped her a long time ago, right? And he never has, so all those times she doubted his feelings for her were wrong? Definitely. "You okay, Shen?" Her head snapped up in surprise, before she saw Chuckie at the doorway. "You seemed to be kind of distracted."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," She assured him, "But I decided to do something for you."

"Oh, thanks Shenzi, but you don't have to..."

"This is important," She cut him off, "I... I promise to never doubt our relationship, or our feelings for each other ever again."

Chuckie smiled warmly at her as he sat next to her. "That's great, Shen." He kissed her cheek. "What made you decide that?"

"Well..." She hesitated, "I figured that if you really weren't into me, you would've shown it a long time ago, but you never did."

"That's right, because I am into you," He laid on her shoulder, making her smile at him, "I have been ever since we met again 5 years ago. I was just too afraid to tell you, because I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

"Same here," She admitted, as she laid her head on his, "You're the greatest friend I've ever had, and I didn't want our friendship to come to a pre-mature end." "But then again, we had that break when we were having problems, and look at us now."

"True," She shrugged, unintentionally moving his head up. "S-sorry."

"It's okay," He chuckled, as he sat up. "Let's hit the sack."

"Finally said it right, huh?" She playfully teased him.

"Yep; Yay me," He played along with her joke. "Be right back." He walked out in the hall, down the stairs, and in the living room. "Hey, Mom, Dad. We're going to bed early tonight; G'night."

"G'night," They said simultaneously.

Chuckie walked back into his room, where his beautiful girlfriend was waiting patiently. "Okay, let's hit it."

"Good idea," She yawned while taking off her glasses. "G'night Chuck," She mumbled sleepily after he laid in front of her.

"'G'night, Tuck." He pulled her into an embrace as her eyes slowly shut with her head and hand on his chest. But after a few minutes, she wasn't breathing evenly. In fact, she almost sounded distressed. "Shen, you okay?"

"I, I can't sleep."

"Because of that movie?"

"Yeah," He felt her nod her head, "We were watching it, before it just got to me."

Chuckie sighed. "Tomorrow, I'm giving Angelica a piece of my mind."

"You don't have to do that," She insisted, "I think the other girls gave her enough mind pieces to get the point across." She smiled when he chuckled.

"I hope so," He added, "But you're safe here, I promise. They'll have to get through me before any creeps can even look at you."

Shenzi cuddled in his neck a bit, making him blush. "Thanks, Chuck."

"No problem." Keeping his hands over fabric, he started scratching her back carefully. His hands froze when she let out a little moan. "S-sorry. Um, should I stop?"

"No," He felt her head shake, "Please. It... it's relaxing."

"Oh," He mumbled, feeling like an idiot, "O-okay then." He then continued from where he stopped, and he felt her relax in his arms. After a minute or two, he felt her breathing pace even out. He was thankful for that, because it meant she was asleep. As his left hand slowly scratched her back over her shirt, his right hand rested on her head, in her soft hair. Even when she had a bedhead, he still wanted to run his fingers through her flowing, ebony locks. He felt she made a bedhead look beautiful, while on him, it looked ridiculous. She would even make a homeless look fabulous. "I love you so much, Shen," He kissed her head, "Please never leave me again." With his face on her shoulder, he drifted off to sleep.


(A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! You know the disclaimer. Happy Halloween, witches and warlocks! Most of the bedroom scene with Shenzi and Chuckie was written while I listened to "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" by S Club 7.)