Discovery

A few days before school started, there was the worst heat wave of the summer, and probably the hottest one in years. Since Gwen didn't really like her sister, who was off of work, she decided to house herself from in the heat at the Heffleys rather than be stuck in her own house with her older sister. She was fanning herself with her hands on Rodrick's bed in the basement. It was unnaturally warm down there. It was like the air conditioning didn't go down there…

"Rodrick?" Gwen asked, turning her head to look at her boyfriend (sparkle and flutter gone and replaced with a slight indifference at the word) who was sitting on the chair in front of the bed and twirling a drum stick in his hand. He raised his hazel eyes from the spinning stick to glance up at her.

"Yeah?"

"Does the air conditioning come into this hell hole?"

"Hah," Rodrick scoffed, rolling his eyes. "No, but I've been trying to get my own and stick it in that window."

He gestured wordlessly with his free hand at the small, narrow window in the wall behind him. Sighing, and coping the rolling of the eyes, Gwen rolled onto her back, her arms hanging off the bed and fingers brushing the hem of Rodrick's sheet. And she felt something else. It felt like paper, like paper that could be used as a fan. Gwen, curious, worried, and dying of heat, rolled back over and off the bed onto her knees in a rather fluid motion. She found it to be a magazine, and Rodrick was suddenly next to her and yanking the magazine away.

"It's just a music magazine, Gwen-"

"Wait-What, the hell is that? That don't look like music." Gwen shouted, ripping the magazine back and pointing accusingly at the woman model sprawled across a sports car wearing pretty much nothing.

Rodrick immediately started sputtering excuses and explanations.

"Rodrick, I don't wanna hear it." Gwen voiced over him. "Weren't you already caught with one when Manny brought it to school?"

"I-uh, um, well. Yeah, but I haven't even looked at that one yet."

"Oh?" disagreed Gwen, flipping through the scandalous pictures. "Then why is this one commented on-?"

"That wasn't me." Rodrick snapped, pulling the magazine away and stuffing it in his garbage can.

He innocently raised his hands.

"There, it's gone. Happy?"

"Will you get another degrading piece of filth?" Gwen demanded as she flopped back on his bed.

"Well…"

She threw one of his pillows at his head before he could finish that statement.