AN: I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I updated this, but this have been so crazy busy and I had a slight case of writer's block. And the fact that Netflix is evil! I got so engrossed in one of the shows on there that I didn't feel like doing much of anything. Anyway, sorry for all the rambling, onto the story. PLZ R&R!
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Chapter 8
Chandler jolted awake when his alarm went off loudly one morning. He walked across the room to shut it off as he rubbed his eyes. Today was the first day of school. He hated that summer was over already, but he liked that he only had one semester left before he was finished with high school for good.
Chandler took a quick shower and got dressed before he headed downstairs with his new school bag. He walked into the kitchen and saw Terry at the stove making breakfast.
"Morning," he turned around and smiled as Chandler sat at the counter.
"Morning," he mumbled.
They looked up as there was some noise and saw Joey and Phoebe shuffling in. They both looked half asleep as they set their bags down.
"Coffee?" Terry offered.
"Yes!" Three voices chorused.
Charles came into them as the three teenagers sat at the table with their cups of coffee. He smiled as he realized that this would be an everyday occurrence now. Chandler took out his cell phone as Terry got out some plates and glasses.
"Are you guys ready for school?" Charles asked them.
"Mmm," they all mumbled.
"Well eat up," Terry brought their plates to the table. "Don't expect this every morning. This is just because it's the first day of school."
"What are you looking at?" Joey glanced over Chandler's shoulder at what was on his phone. "You're on Monica's social media page?"
"Stalker much?" Phoebe looked at him.
"I texted her when I got up, but she hasn't texted back. She usually texts right back, it means that she might be arguing with her parents."
"It might also mean that she's still getting ready," Phoebe told him. "It's her senior year. She skipped a whole year and has to get used to graduating with a different class of people."
"I guess you're right." Chandler turned off his phone and started eating breakfast.
"All right, everyone needs to be out the door in ten minutes." Charles announced as they started cleaning up after they were all done eating breakfast. "So go get your bags, do whatever you need to do, and get back down here."
They all left the kitchen and went upstairs to get their things and came back downstairs. Chandler found his keys and Phoebe and Joey followed him through the kitchen to the garage and they piled into the Porsche.
Monica undid her hair and started to fix it again for the tenth time in a row. She wanted her first day of senior year to be perfect; especially since she had a whole grade of kids to get used to for the year. She finished her hair and started on her make up as there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," she sighed.
"Hey," Ross stuck his head in the door. "We need to leave soon."
"I'll be down soon," she told him.
"Hey, did you tell mom and dad that you skipped a grade?"
"Not yet," she sighed. "Who's to say that they'll even be happy?"
"It's something to celebrate."
"They won't think so. They don't even pay attention to me half the time."
"I'll see you downstairs." Ross closed the door again and Monica finished getting ready.
Monica grabbed her bag as she heard her phone ring, indicating an incoming text message. She read the message from Chandler and smiled. She would have sent a text back to him, but they would be seeing each other soon at school.
She walked down to the kitchen and grabbed a small bottle of orange juice and a granola bar. She ran into Ross and her parents as she came out of the kitchen.
"I'm ready," she told her brother.
"Let's go." Ross tried to get her out the door.
"So Ross told us the good news." Judy choked out.
"What are you talking about?"
"You skipped a grade." Jack cut in.
"I told you not to tell them." Monica glared at her brother. "In case you can't tell, this is not them looking happy for me. This is them upset because I'm taking the spotlight away from you."
"Mon-" Ross started.
"We just didn't know that you were planning this." Jack said.
"I've been planning this since Freshman year." Monica informed them.
"Why?" Judy demanded.
"Because the sooner I graduate, the sooner I get to leave here." She informed them. "When I leave for college, I'm done with both of you."
"We're going to be late." Ross told them. "Let's go, Monica."
They walked out of the house and climbed into their cars and started for the high school.
Chandler reached the high school and turned on his phone again as he started into the school with Phoebe and Joey.
"Seriously dude," Joey looked at him. "You need to back off."
"Uh-oh," Chandler mumbled as they reached their lockers.
"What is it?" Phoebe looked over his shoulder.
"She updated her status ten minutes ago. She posted, 'Nothing I do will ever be good enough.'"
"That doesn't sound good."
"She's here," Joey told them and they saw Ross walking towards them with Monica.
"Hey," Chandler greeted them. "Are you ok?"
"My stomach is jumpy," Monica told him. "I'm nervous about how everyone will react to me being in the senior class now."
"No one will care," Ross told her as they found their lockers.
"I meant your status update." Chandler looked at her.
"Oh, that." She sighed. "I told my parents about skipping a grade this morning before we left."
"And they weren't happy for you?" Phoebe asked.
"Not really, especially after I told them that as soon as I graduate that they wouldn't see me again."
"Did you mean that?" Joey looked at her.
"Definitely." She stated.
"So what's your schedule like?" Chandler broke the tension.
"Yeah, let's compare." Joey and Phoebe took theirs out.
"We have our first three classes together," Monica looked at Chandler.
"And one after lunch." Chandler added.
"I have two with each of you guys." Ross told them.
"I have Spanish with you," Phoebe told them.
"And I have Theatre with Monica." Joey added.
"There's the warning bell," Ross told them. "We'd better get to class."
Monica followed Chandler and Ross down the hall and into their Writing Composition class. There were several people that looked at her strangely, but she ignored them and sat by Chandler in the middle of the rows of desks. He smiled over at her as the teacher came in and started the roll call and handed out the class outline.
By lunchtime, they were all relieved to see each other and sat at a big table with Ross and Carol. Joey and Phoebe both looked drained as Monica and Chandler joined the table and sat across from them.
"How's your day going?" Chandler asked them.
"I am so far behind." Joey mumbled. "I guess I skipped school more than I thought back in Queens."
"I'm way behind too," Phoebe sighed. "I'm glad your dads suggested a tutor for us just in case."
"Do you start that today?" Chandler asked them.
"Not until next week,"
"You're not eating much." Chandler noticed Monica pushing the food around on her tray, only taking a few bites.
"My stomach is still jumpy." She told him.
"Are the other kids giving you a hard time?"
"A little, but it doesn't bother me that much." She told him. "I've just been queasy all day."
Phoebe and Carol exchanged a knowing look as the guys were oblivious. All throughout lunch, they watched Monica as she barely ate any of her lunch. When lunch was over, Monica and Chandler went off to their Advanced Trigonometry class and everyone else went in other directions to their own classes.
After school, Chandler went to soccer practice and Monica took Joey and Phoebe home so they wouldn't be stuck at school for two hours while Chandler was at practice.
Monica arrived home behind Ross and they spotted another car parked by the curb in front of the house. They walked inside and could hear raised voices coming from the kitchen. They crept closer and tried to open the door a crack.
"Who is here?" Monica asked as Ross closed the door again.
"It's Mrs. Shull, the head of the board at the Country Club."
"Why is she here?"
"Maybe Chandler's dads finally followed through with their plans?"
"I can't believe you're doing this to us," Judy stated as the three of them came out of the kitchen and spotted Monica and Ross there. "Hey kids, how was school?"
"What's going on?" Monica asked.
"Just a little misunderstanding." Jack told them.
"It's not a misunderstanding," Mrs. Shull told them. "Your parents have been banned from the country club indefinitely, but not to worry because you two are still welcome there."
"Thank you," Ross told her as she left the house.
"I can't believe that they banned us," Judy spat.
"Yeah," Ross spoke up. "What could you have possibly done for them to do that to you?"
"Maybe you made up lies about another family that goes to the club thinking that family would get banned instead of you." Monica stated.
"What are you talking about?" Jack looked at them.
"We know what you did." Ross stated as he crossed his arms across his chest. "How could you do that? Chandler is my very best friend. How could you do that to his family?"
"What are you two going on about?" Judy asked them.
"We know all about you trying to badmouth Chandler's dads to try to discredit them." Monica told them. "And to think that I actually believed you when you told me that you were willing to be more lenient on me and Chandler."
"I meant that," Jack told her.
"No you didn't," Ross spoke up. "I heard you guys talking. You said that you had to pretend to be nice to Chandler so they wouldn't see it coming when you guys made your move."
"When did you hear this?"
"The day that I made amends with Chandler. When I told his dads, they informed us that this wasn't the first time you tried to pull something like this."
"They were lying," Judy stated.
"Were Carol's parents lying?" Ross demanded. "Because they told me the same thing."
"I knew you never liked us being around Chandler or his family, but to pull this?" Monica started yelling. "Do you know what would've happened if anyone at all believed you? They have two more people living with them. Phoebe would be in foster care."
"They don't care." Ross looked at his sister. "They just care about their standing in the community. Well guess what, you don't have any standing in the community now. Chandler's dads are friends with EVERYONE. So your little plan backfired."
"And you wonder why I'm so anxious to graduate early and get as far away from this house as I possibly can." Monica stated.
"You were serious about that?" Jack asked.
"Of course I was." Monica stated firmly. "Why would I want to spend a minute longer in this house than I have to? A house where I'm always pushed to the side. Where no one cares about me and my accomplishments. A house that I would be glad to leave this second if it was at all possible."
"I'll be at Carol's," Ross walked out the door again.
"And I'll be hanging out with Phoebe." Monica walked outside as she took out her cell phone and sent a text to Chandler before getting back into her car and driving back over to Chandler's house.
AN: So what'd you all think? I hope you liked this. I'm going to try to work on the next chapter this week. Thank you to all those who voted on the poll for this story. So far 57% want Monica and Chandler to become teen parents, 28% think the teen parent thing is over done, and 14% wants everything to stay the same. I'm sort of leaning towards the 57%, but if anyone wants to vote before I post the next chapter, go to my profile page and vote! Again, sorry for rambling. PLZ R&R!
