This is one of my favorite chapters of the story. I hope you paid attention to what Chuckie wrote on the gym walls last chapter becuase they become very important now.

If I felt like writing a disclaimer, it would go right here.


Chapter 9

Red Flyers

Chuckie's act of vandalism was all over the local papers. Their small town wasn't used to this kind of behavior. Everyone thought it was some punk from the high school, but no one suspected Chuckie, until his family saw him.

Chuckie slept in, he wondered why no one came to wake him up. He quickly found something to wear and headed for the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and shocked himself. There was a vibrant blue streak running through his hair. Then he remembered, Oh yeah, last night. It's all a blur. Well, I wanted everyone to know what I did; now they will. Time to face the family. Chuckie slinked down the stairs; he was trying not to be noticed. Obviously, it didn't work.

It was his Dad who heard him. "Come in here for a second; see what some rotten kid did to your gym. The pride and joy of Lifton High School. Where the Titans practice no less! Doesn't this kid have any school spirit!?"

Chuckie stepped out of the shadows and into the kitchen. "You're rambling."

Mr. Finster turned around to look at his son. A few years ago, he had serious breathing problems due to sinuses. Those had since been cleared up, but when Chaz saw that blue streak in Chuckie's hair, he thought he'd had a relapse. He couldn't breathe, and he started coughing uncontrollably. "No-(cough) don't tell-(gasp) me. This was-(snort) you!? But, why son,-(flailing arms wildly) why?"

Chuckie ran his fingers through his hair. "Relax. I just had to. I'm late for school. See you later, Dad," Chuckie left, leaving his Dad to wheeze, pant, and practically die alone.

Chuckie let his mind wander on his drive to school.


After filming with Tommy, Kimi's mind and body were almost always in two different places. Physically, she was where she was supposed to be, but mentally, she was usually with Tommy Pickles. She still wouldn't admit that she had feelings for him because part of her still believed that she didn't like him. One thing kept bothering her though, that picture of Savannah. Kimi had picked it up on her way out after the interview. Currently, it was in her pocket. She planned to give it back to Tommy; there was no way he was over her. She was sure he would want it back, but Kimi wasn't willing to just walk up and give it to him; that would be far too awkward.


When Chuckie walked into school, he immediately noticed red flyers everywhere. They read, "Attention students! A criminal is among us. If you have any information on the vandal, please stop by my office." It was signed by Mr. McGigger and there was a color picture of the gym underneath the message. As Chuckie walked through the halls, he couldn't help but hear the whispers. "Oh my gosh, it's him!" "What a freak." "Doesn't he play for the Titans? Is trying to make us lose?" "Jerk!" Some people even threw things at Chuckie as he headed for his locker, but he never made it there. Chuckie had been at school for less than 10 minutes before Mr. McGigger came over the intercom. "Would Chuck Finster please report to the main office, immediately."

Chuckie spun around. "News travels fast around here." He made his way to the office in one piece. As soon as he got there, the secretaries stopped gabbing and the temperature dropped at least 20 degrees.

"Mr. McGigger is waiting for you in his office."

Chuckie nodded and knocked on the principal's door.

"Ah, Mr. Finster. Come in. Sit down. Let's chat. First of all, I want to know why you vandalized the gymnasium. Second of all, I want to know why you basically turned yourself in. Third of all, I want to know what you are planning to do to atone for your crime, and I want your answers now."

Chuckie sat down. "I did what I had to do. I was sick of all the unfair treatment the Titans got. I streaked my hair because I didn't want someone else to get blamed, and maybe a part of me wanted everyone to know it was me. And to answer your last question, Mr. McGigger, with all due respect, I'm not going to do anything to make up for my actions."

Mr. McGigger was fuming. "Well Mr. Finster, that is where you are wrong. You are going to clean the gym. You are going to replace the basketball hoop you destroyed, and you are going to publicly apologize to the school for your crime. You will also be suspended for ten days starting tomorrow," Chuckie stood up to leave, "Not so fast Mr. Finster, this was just round one. There is someone else who would like to speak with you; your coach, Mr. Barnes.

Mr. Barnes entered the office. He kept coughing and wringing his hands. Chuckie could tell he was uncomfortable. "Uh, (He cleared his throat) good morning Chuck. How are you?"

Chuckie raised his eyebrows. Why is he making small talk? I just trashed his precious gym. "I'm okay, and it's Chuckie."

"I'm not here to discuss your, uh, nickname Mr. Finster. You committed a serious crime last night. Now, I'm sure you know as well as I do, we have specific rules about this in the athletic department. I'm, uh, very sorry, but I'm going to have to, uh, remove you from the team."

"You can't do that."

"Uh, yes I can, and I just did."

"No, you can't. Didn't you read what I wrote? I said I quit. I've already removed myself from the team."

Mr. McGigger interrupted. "Mr. Finster, did you honestly expect people to read what you wrote? You vandalized the gymnasium! How can anyone take what you say seriously?"

"I'm perfectly aware of what I did. I'll get my assignments from my teachers today. I'll start coming after school hours to clean to gym. Can I go now?"

Mr. McGigger seemed a little taken back by Chuckie's rebellious nature. "Y-yes. We are through here."

"See you in ten days." Chuckie let the door slam behind him on the way out.


Lillian was in love, but she didn't know with whom. She couldn't believe someone trashed the gym, but it was about time. All she wanted to do was find whoever it was and thank them. She had wanted to do something like that for a long time, but never had the courage. She couldn't imagine who the culprit was; she was about the only person in the whole school who hadn't heard. Fortunately, she had Kimi to fill her in. Lillian caught up with her before first period started. She look pale and weak in the knees. "Woah. Are you okay?"

Kimi hadn't noticed Lillian standing there. She gasped when she heard her voice. Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"Can you believe it about the gym?"

"I know. Things are going to be rough at my house for awhile."

Lillian gave Kimi a puzzled look. "Why?"

"Because Chuckie's the vandal, where have you been?"

Lillian was shocked. "What!? It was Chuckie? Since when?"

Now it was Kimi who gave Lillian a confused look. "You're probably the only person who hasn't heard yet. Chuckie's the one who trashed the gym. He quit the team and now he's suspended for ten days."

Lillian sighed wistfully. "Wow, Chuckie did that..."

"He did it for you."

Lillian almost choked on her own spit. "Wh-f-for me? What are you talking about?"

"Chuckie sprayed all these messages on the walls. One was talking about giving back what they stole. Right next to that he wrote '$412.'"

"That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me. I should go find him. See ya later." Lillian sped off in the distance.

Kimi smiled to herself. "Oh yeah. I hope my first love robs a bank for me. That would be so nice. Now to deal with this stupid picture..." Kimi took off in search of Tommy's locker.


Chuckie left school shortly after his meeting in the office. He decided to start his suspension a little early. Besides, he wasn't ready to face the student body, especially the Titans. Mr. McGigger had called an impromptu assembly about abiding the law. Chuckie didn't want to hear it, what's more, no one would notice his absence, or so he thought.


It took Kimi long enough, but she finally found Tommy's locker. It was in the athletic wing, as she suspected. Kimi pulled the picture out of her pocket, and found tape in a nearby classroom. There were no teachers around because everyone was at the assembly, where she should have been. Using the tape, Kimi fastened Savannah's picture to Tommy's locker. With it, she wrote him a note. "I thought you might want this back." She decided against signing her name. Kimi sighed, looked at the picture, and walked away.


Lillian hadn't seen Chuckie at all since the day he was suspended. She never even found him during that stupid assembly; she'd been looking the whole time. But talking to Kimi one day, Lillian did discover that Chuckie had to come in on Saturdays to clean the school. So she went to school one weekend too. When Lillian got there, she didn't see Chuckie in the gym or outside anywhere either, she figured he'd be there since that's what he destroyed. So she assumed he was inside somewhere. Lillian kept knocking on bathroom doors praying Chuckie would be inside taking a break and not a teacher. She'd been looking for about 10 minutes when she finally knocked on the right door. "Chuckie? It's Lillian. Are you there?"

Chuckie shot up. Lillian, great. Does she know about what I did, more importantly, what I wrote? Of course she does, everyone knows. And now she probably thinks I'm some kind of freak. How did she find me here? Well, let's get this over with. Chuckie slowly opened the door. "Hey."

Lillian looked nervous. "I have to talk to you. It's just that no one's ever trashed a gym for me before, but I'm sure you didn't do it for me. But there was that message you wrote, actually, that probably had nothing to do with me either. You know what? I'm just gonna leave now. I can only act like an idiot for so long. Bye," Lillian started walking away.

Chuckie called after her. "Lillian! Everything you just said...that thing I wrote...it was for you...all of it...for you."

Lillian gave Chuckie a very serious stare for a moment. Then her eyes softened and she couldn't help but smile. She threw her arms around Chuckie, but immediately pulled back. "Sorry, that was weird. I'm not good at this stuff."

Chuckie hugged Lillian back. "No, it wasn't. Now, breaking the law for someone, that strikes me as a little strange," Chuckie smiled at Lillian.

Lillian whispered, she thought it fit the mood more. "Thanks."

Chuckie had a quick response. "I could say the same thing to you." Then something happened that changed Chuckie once again. He put his hands on Lillian's waist, looked into her eyes, and kissed her, right there in the hallway of Lifton High School. And, here's the best part, Lillian kissed him back.


At school on Monday, Kimi stopped at her locker. She instantly noticed something taped to the outside of it; it was a note. "Thanks, but I don't want it anymore." Below the note was a torn photo of Savannah. Only one half of the picture was on Kimi's locker. The other portion was nestled in a corner of the school, covered in footprints, dirt, and dust...already forgotten.


How sweet. One pairing down, one to go. Things may be smooth sailing more this new couple, but how it affects the people around them might be a different story. You'll just have to read to find out...