A/N: Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews, dolls! 90 reviews in only 9 chapters is so incredible! I am seriously still smiling. Want to know why? I finally got a reply from Lulu! I sent her my acrostic poem for CLASSY and she said it was adorable! Okay, I think it's safe to say that this is the best summer ever. How about some replies?
AriZevie4EVER: If I went with Footloose, Justin would've given Stevie drugs. I went with alcohol instead because it'll kind of tie into a drunken accident mentioned in this chapter.
Anonymous: Yeah, I kind of remembered that after I posted the bus race chapter where Grace said Stevie didn't have a license. Um….let's just say when Stevie was driving her car around in the first few chapters, it was illegal 'cause she didn't have a license. Sure, she's rebel enough to do that.
Again, thank you! A little request? If you're posting a review, please put some thought into it! If you like it, please tell me. If you don't, please tell me that, too. I appreciate the "Great chapter! Update!" reviews, but what exactly does 'great chapter' mean? Come on, guys. I'm sure 'Update!' isn't really expressing your thoughts on this story. Also, please check out AriZevie4EVER's story Stevie's True Love! I'm a bit of a critic on stories, but hers is amazing! She hasn't continued it in a while, but I'm sure if enough of us Zevians read her story and show some love in our reviews, she will soon! Oh, I almost forgot. December is offically Zevie month! After the success of Zevie day, some Zevians decided to make a whole month of Zander and Stevie! Just like Zevie day, write one-shots, update your stories, post Zevie picures, and spread the word in any way you can throughout all of December! Alright, hope you enjoy!
I don't own How to Rock, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, You and I by Ingrid Michaelson, or the Footloose plot.
[Zander]
I hop into the abandoned train car and look around at the darkness. I turn back to the open doors and reach my right hand out for Stevie. She rolls her eyes but grabs my hand and steps inside. I chuckle and walk around. When I reach my hand out and feel a table, I slide my fingers across it until I feel a candle. Right beside the candle was a lighter. I pick the lighter up, put a small flame on the candle, and watch as it lights up the room. I put the lighter down and turn to my around. Stevie was sliding her hands across the walls of the train car, analyzing every word and picture on it.
Still looking at the graffiti, she asks, "What is this place?"
I smile at how absorbed she is at this and walk over to the couch at the end of the train car explain, "It's a place where people can just escape all the laws of Brewster. Here, you can write down anything like song lyrics, poems, quotes, and even music notes. They call it Gravity."
Stevie turns her head to me and questions, "Why Gravity?"
I grab a beer out of the cooler in the corner and open it up saying, "In here, everyone can hold it down."
She laughs as I take a sip of my beer. Stevie puts her finger on one of the quotes and reads, "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."
She walks over to me starting, "It's a quote of Charlie's from…."
I finish, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
She raises her eyebrows as she sits down on the chair beside me. I add, "I've read it just about 4 billion times."
Stevie laughs and states, "I didn't think Pretty Boy reads."
I sigh and respond, "Molly doesn't like me reading. She says that it makes me a nerd."
Stevie slightly scrunches her eyebrows together in a cute way before asking, "Why do you even go out with her?"
I take another sip of my beer and explain, "My family and I have been pretty lost and reckless since Bobby died three years ago. When my dad told me that I should date Molly a year ago, I couldn't turn it down."
I look her in the eyes and continue, "I have never seen him happier than when Molly and I are together. I guess he thinks that my brother and her sister's relationship lives on with us."
"So you don't really like her?"
I shake my head and lean back on the couch. "She's hot and all, but she's not really my type. I'm pretty sure everyone that goes to BHS knows that Molly's selfish, conceited, and only wants to be queen bee."
Stevie leans back on her chair questioning, "So you already know that she thinks dating the preacher's son with increase her popularity points?"
I nod. She drops the subject and asks, "What do you guys do for fun around here? Just sit around and watch Little House on the Prairie?"
I laugh and say, "Yeah, and other stuff. You should try living here your whole life. No one wants to see Brewster in their rearview mirror as much as I do."
She puts her hair behind her left ear and questions, "The way you were playing your guitar the diner was pretty good, but do you ever worry that you'll just have to stop for your dad?"
I smugly answer, "Only if I get caught."
"Were we at the same diner a few nights ago? If I'm right, you did."
I look straight forward instead of at her as I state, "My dad doesn't even know the half of what I can do."
I put my beer can on the floor, reach behind the couch, and pull out my ukulele that I hid behind there.
Stevie raises her eyebrows and asks, "You play the uke?"
I nod, put my fingers over some of the chords, and strum to one of my favorite songs. Stevie nods then walks over behind the couch. I keep my eyes fixated on the neck of my ukulele until I feel two soft and small hands cover mine. I look down at the hands and see the left one is helping me finger the chords while the right is helping me strum. I turn my head to my left and see Stevie concentrating on her fingers. Surprisingly, she plays along to the exact same song, You and I. When we finish the chorus, our hands stop simultaneously.
I look back over to her and question, "You play the uke and listen to Ingrid Michaelson?"
She laughs at my shock and walks back over to the chair saying, "I'm not just Stevie the rock-n-roll bass girl."
When she sits back down, I chuckle and ask, "Want a beer?"
She shakes her head and answers, "I don't drink."
"Why? Scared of what happened to my brother?"
She props her feet onto the table and states, "I know how you feel."
After I furrow my eyebrows, Stevie explains, "My mom had leukemia. (Deeply sorry to anyone who has it or knows someone who does!) When my dad found out, he decided that he couldn't handle it and ran out with my three brothers. The idiots thought it was okay to let a drunk man drive them from New York to Canada on half a tank of gas. He crashed into a light pole that later fell onto the car, killing all of them."
I slightly widen my eyes before questioning, "Do you miss him?"
Stevie turns to me and responds, "Do I miss the bastard that left his already broken family for hell?"
Seeing my expression, she shakes her head and answers, "No, I don't, but I miss my brothers every day."
When she turns to me, I'm surprised to see that tears aren't even in her eyes. Stevie continues, "You're dad might be smothering, but you're the preacher's kid. You have him, Grace, and this whole town looking out for you. Me? I have a mechanic and two nieces that can't even tie their shoes yet. Don't take anything for granted."
I nod, slowly sinking the words in. I turn to the candle still on the other side of the room. When I look back at Stevie, I see she's staring at me. Well, more specifically my lips.
I smirk and tease, "You want to kiss me?"
She rolls her eyes, looks back at mine, and replies, "I think you've been kissed a lot."
I chuckle and mutter, "You think right."
Once I hear the horn of a train, I immediately remember why I ditched school to take Stevie here. I stand up, grab her hand, and drag her out of the train car. After helping her hop out, I continue dragging her.
Stevie whines, "Where are we going?"
I laugh and stop once we reached the train tracks. I straddle the tracks so my feet are on both sides and explain, "It's a game called chicken. You stand on the tracks then jump out when the train gets close enough to you."
The conductor of the train coming towards me blew the horn again, signaling for me to get off.
Stevie punches my arm and says, "If this is some way to prove that you're a bad-ass, then you did. Get off the tracks."
I stay put at the horn gets louder and the light in front of the train gets brighter. Even though I should jump off the tracks right now since the train is only a little bit away, I stay standing. Something about the light is just drawing me in.
"Pretty boy, get off the tracks!"
The conductor blows the horn again for me to get off. "Zander!"
Right as the train is only a few feet away, Stevie tackles me off the tracks. We land on the ground just as the train passes by, her on top of me and both of us panting.
After staring into her worried hazel eyes for a long time, I joke, "So, I'm a bad-ass?"
I shut the front door of my house and climb up the stairs quietly. Just as I step on the eight step, I look up and see my dad looking over the railing.
I sigh as he asks, "Where have you been?"
I simply answer, "I was walking a friend home." Yeah, that's not a lie.
"What friend?"
I stay silent. He repeats, "Zander Robbins, you skipped school for this person. What friend?"
I look down at my shoes and run my hand through my hair. Dad questions, "Was it Stevie Baskara?"
I look up at him and nod. He shakes his head and states, "I don't want you hanging out with that girl."
I furrow my eyebrows and ask, "Why?"
"Because I heard she's trouble."
I scoff, "Trouble?"
I climb up the stairs and over to my room saying, "You know that sweet little girl I used to play on the playground with? Ariel Moore? Yeah, well, she's 16 and pregnant. Ren McCormack, the guy who used to be on my little league team? He knocked her up."
I open the door to my room, step in, and turn back around to my dad with my hand on the door knob.
Before shutting the door, I tell him, "Trust me, dad. Stevie Baskara I the least of your worries."
I actually like this chapter! Throughout the whole thing, I literally did not get stuck. I just kept on typing and typing. I think this is my favorite chapter to write for this story! Okay, this is a massive Zevie chapter. Be sure to tell me your thoughts in your reviews!(:
