Chapter 10
When Life Gives You Lemons...
Just to let y'all know, I was having some severe issues with my laptop, and now it's in for maintenance, so I'm borrowing my mom's desktop computer to write this and it's kind of embarrassing. Anyways, I'm going to begin the chapter now.
Time: 5 January 2004
Steve (the puppy) is sold. Emily really liked Steve, but she couldn't live with him as he had become just a painful reminder of what might have been.
Time: 15 January 2004
After doing an autopsy on Rob Pike, it was discovered that his brain had permanent damage. Looking through his medical files, he had suffered a severe concussion when he was 20 and never fully recovered. Eventually he got hit in the head enough times until the point where he was basically demented when he commit suicide. Looking back, Emily noticed that Rob did act a little bit different after that point.
Time: 24 January 2004
Gwen found the boy she really liked.
His name was Trent Johnston. He was new to the school; he came at the beginning of Grade Six. He was tall, handsome, popular, and it appeared as if he had everything going on. But that was just it; Gwen thought she didn't stand a chance with a boy like this. She said hi to him a lot, and he said hi back, but Gwen assumed he was just being friendly. If he did like her, it certainly wasn't in the way she hoped. Gwen; however, did know that the best way to deal with this situation would be to talk to someone about it; so of course, she went to Lindsay.
"You like Trip? Oh my god, that is so cute." Lindsay said excitedly. "But seriously, that's a really good choice, I heard he likes you."
"He does? And who's Trip?"
"Sorry, I meant Tom. Anyways, I heard that he likes you, you should ask him out."
"I don't know..."
"Fine, your loss, but just remember this conversation when Tom is going out with some other girl."
"I think you mean Trent."
"I don't give a fuck!"
Time: 27 January 2004
In addition to her problem with Trent, Gwen was in a bad situation from what was going on with her life at home. Emily had been suffering from a borderline depression ever since the death of Steve and Rob. And while Gwen expected this at first, it didn't seem like it was going away. She was going to parties every night and staying until really late at night (or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it.) This basically forced Gwen to take care of the 7-year-old Rudy and herself, with little or no help from the drunk and absent Emily.
So Gwen was basically acting as a surrogate mother, which meant she didn't have a lot of time to sleep at night and therefore commonly fell asleep in class at school. This of course, meant that her grades were slipping and she was now getting a lot of detentions, maybe not as many as Duncan Russell, but still a lot.
She knew that Lindsay cared for her, but she also knew that Lindsay was so sick of hearing her problems (although she never actually said that.) So who else could she turn too? Well, there was Cody Anderson, although he was a little bit... weird. She wasn't extraordinarily close with Bridgette Collins, Leshawna Evans came on way too strong, Duncan didn't really care, it would be way too awkward with Trent, and she never really considered anyone else.
So, she contacted Mats Nilsson.
Mats was a Swedish guy who was the same age as Gwen and was going through many of the same problems as she was. His dad left when his mom was pregnant with him, and his mother was a violent alcoholic. He was also a social outcast who hated everyone who was popular. He only had one friend, a guy named Nick, who was unpopular just like Mats.
While technically Mats couldn't actually solve any of her problems anymore than she could solve any of his, talking to him did help as an outlet. Mats spoke perfect English (with the occasional error like everyone who's first language isn't English,) so communication wasn't really a problem.
Time: 29 January 2004
Lindsay decided to skip school to spy on her father and Gwen's mother, to see if anything really was going on; which of course, she found out there was, and snapped a couple of pictures.
"You're not going to upload those on the internet, are you?" Gwen asked when shown the pictures.
"Nah, I just needed to prove to you that your mom's a slut."
"Hey!"
"Sorry, the truth hurts. But my mom is Hitler with porn boobs, so compared to that your mom is awesome."
Time: 30 January 2004
Gwen heard that Trent was now going out with Katie Hawk, a black girl in her grade that Gwen didn't really like because she was kind of a moron who always hung out with her fat-ass best friend Sadie. She tried to be strong when she heard this but when she got home she immediately started crying.
"Hey Gwen, it'll be OK." Lindsay said attempting to comfort her. "But I did tell you this would happen."
"I know." Gwen managed to utter through her tears.
"I'll treat you to a movie if it'll help you feel better?" Lindsay offered.
"OK, sure, whatever."
Time: 6 February 2004
It was movie night! Gwen and Lindsay were going to see some crappy comedy film that nobody would remember in five years, and as Lindsay had previously promised, she would pay. However, when they were at the front, getting popcorn and stuff like that, they bumped into some people they would rather not spend too much time with. Those people were Heather, Tyler, Courtney, and Courtney's new boyfriend Justin Kramer. The two girls hoped that they wouldn't notice them, but of course, they did.
"Hi Lindsay!" Heather shouted, "What movie are you going to see?"
"Shitty Movie 2." Lindsay answered flatly.
"So are we; maybe we could form like a super group or something." Tyler said.
Gwen and Lindsay just kind of looked at each other and shrugged.
"Fine, whatever." Lindsay said.
The six decided that they would all sit in one row once they were actually in the theatre, but it ended up that Courtney was on the far left, then Justin, then Heather, then Tyler. Lindsay agreed to sit next to Tyler, as he was less obnoxious than Courtney and he couldn't hit on her anymore now that he was officially dating Heather and she was sitting right there; but he could still abuse Gwen because Heather would either not care (best case scenario,) or join in (worst case scenario.) So Gwen sat to Lindsay's right, as she didn't really want to spend too much time with Courtney either.
The movie began, but it was horrible. Well, maybe not horrible, but certainly nothing either girl would remember six months from now. It was some comedy movie that had some recycled plot that no one really paid attention to anyways. Heather and Tyler were making out as were Courtney and Justin. Gwen and Lindsay were talking quietly, but to clarify, they weren't being quiet because they actually cared about what the movie people were saying, just because they didn't want to look like the jackasses who got thrown out of Theatre 4 for being too loud.
"Dude, everyone's making out." Gwen said with visible annoyance on her face.
"Yeah..." Lindsay replied, before an idea on how to mess with Gwen struck her. She started twirling her hair, put on her most seductive voice possible and quietly said:
"You know, baby, maybe we should make out too if it'll help make things less... awkward for you."
She then proceeded to lick Gwen's cheek with as much saliva as she could get.
"LINDSAY!" Gwen exclaimed "What the fuck are you doing!"
Lindsay burst out in laughter, and Gwen couldn't help herself from laughing too. Unfortunately they were kind of loud, and this was a movie theatre after all, so naturally some old fuck two rows back shushed them.
"Whatever, this movie is boring anyways. Let's go." Lindsay proclaimed.
"To where?" asked Gwen.
"I don't know... I was gonna go roll a J in the back of the theatre, wanna come with?"
"J?"
"Yeah, you know; cannabis."
Gwen stared at her blankly.
"Pot."
"Oh... I don't know."
"C'mon Gwen, it's pretty awesome."
"But what if we get caught?"
"Don't worry, we won't. Now let's go."
"OK."Gwen agreed. She still wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but she thought if Lindsay loved weed so much, there must be a reason. But just as the two girls were about to leave the theatre, Heather briefly stopped making out with Tyler and noticed them leaving.
"Where are you going?" she asked, with a notable disapproving tone to her voice.
Lindsay pulled Heather aside and whispered something in her ear, probably along the lines of 'we're gonna smoke some marijuana.'
"OK, you two have fun."
"Where are they going?" Tyler asked.
Heather told him quietly.
"Cool story bro." Tyler said, before turning to watch the movie.
"Wait... you don't care?" Gwen asked.
"Why would I care, I have much bigger things to worry about. Don't tell Courtney though."
"Why not?"
"Because she's so uptight you couldn't fit a blade of grass up her ass. She'd squeal for sure. C'mon let's go." Lindsay left the theatre and Gwen followed shortly.
Behind the theatre there was a small, hidden area. Very few people knew about it or really spent too much time there, but it was large enough to fit two pre-teens.
Gwen saw Lindsay take the weed and a paper out of her pocket, watched her break the weed into small pieces and then rolled it up inside the paper.
"I got Cush," she said, "It's the best kind."
"What's Cush?"
"The best kind of marijuana, didn't I just say that?"
Lindsay then inhaled the marijuana, took a few breaths in, and then let it all out.
"Lindsay, that doesn't really explain what-"
"Just shut up and smoke it. Remember to inhale several times before you breathe the weed out."
Gwen took the joint from her friend, put it to her lips, inhaled, then pulled it away and kept inhaling. But as she kept taking breaths, she suddenly felt an intense pain in her chest and blew the smoke out with something of a coughing mechanism.
Same day, 2 joints later
"The two girls were lying down on the hard pavement (ouch!) talking about shit that you don't usually think about when you're not high. For example, Gwen said that sometimes she gets paranoid about aliens and Lindsay suggested that we may not be real, or something fucked up like that. So they were just chilling there when Gwen got a text message from an unknown source.
"Um... someone's texted me but I don't know who."
"Let me see." Lindsay uttered as she snatched the phone from Gwen's hands.
"Oh, that's Heather's number." Lindsay's phone then started to vibrate as well.
"Oh, she texted me too."
Lindsay opened the message. It read:
"Leave fast. Cops are near. Dont tell Courtney or Justin your high. Meet us at the front."
"Fuck, we gotta get out of here."
The two girls left the hidden corner, and went around the theatre and towards the front. They passed one police officer along the way and said nothing to him; and he suspected nothing. They met up with the four at the front and began to walk home.
"Why are there so many cops around here, anyways?" Gwen asked.
"Apparently someone got raped." Courtney replied.
"Wow... that sucks."
"Yeah, kind of puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?"
The movie theatre was no more than a 20 minute walk away from the furthest person's house, which was Justin's, so they decided calling a cab wouldn't be necessary. Slowly the main pack separated as they said their goodbyes, first Courtney, then Tyler, then Justin, and then Heather who lived right next door to Gwen. Lindsay decided that she would stay with Gwen over night, which Gwen was cool with of course, but she did have a few questions to ask her friend.
"Lindsay, I have something I need to ask you?"
"What?"
"Why do you put up with those people? Why don't you just tell them to fuck off like you used to?"
"It's not that simple anymore. People are much more judgemental now, and if you want to be popular you have to kiss the popular kids asses. I haven't gone that far, but I don't think allowing them to chill with us while were watching some shitty movie is so bad honestly."
"But why do you want to be popular so badly?"
"It's just better to be out than in. I mean, you're not exactly in the "in crowd" and those people do some pretty mean things to you."
"Yeah, but I just don't care, because those people you're sucking up too, they're assholes; especially Courtney. And you act dumber than you actually are; I mean why do you care about these people's opinion so much?"
"I don't know, I just do, and I just feel it's something that's important to me, to be liked by a lot of people. I mean, I haven't even told anyone I'm an atheist except you and Duncan, that's how important it is to me, y'know?"
"What makes you so sure that people would reject you if you told them that?"
"This is America. Trust me, they'd care."
Gwen threw up her arms in frustration. She knew she would get back to this topic eventually, but for now she decided to just let it go. If she learned nothing else today, though, she learned that weed was kinda awesome!
Time: 12 February 2004
Courtney asks Gwen where she was during the second half of the movie. Gwen said that she and Lindsay got bored and left. When Courtney asked her where they went, Gwen told her to mind her own damn business.
Time: 29 February 2004
It was a leap day. Also, Duncan and Lindsay secretly made a bet, with Duncan saying that Gwen and Trent would be dating before the end of the school year and Lindsay saying they wouldn't be. The price was $400. Nobody except the two of them knew about the bet at the time. At this point, Trent was still with Katie.
Time: 19 March 2004
Gwen blazed for the second time in her life, this time with Duncan, who she had become good friends with over the course of the year. It was cool, but in her opinion it wasn't quite as awesome as the first time.
Time: 9 April 2004
Courtney Moore. If someone looked up prude and annoying in the dictionary, her picture was probably there. Lately she had begun poking her nose into Gwen's home life. She had her suspicions that Gwen "wasn't getting enough love at home," which were why she was so introverted. Gwen just told her to fuck off, and thankfully the bitch hadn't found out anything yet, but Gwen, and others, were starting to get really annoyed.
Time: 12 June 2004
So...nothing really happened much after the whole movie theatre almost-incident. Until, of course, June 12th. It happened at school, around lunch, when Gwen was in the bathroom washing her hands, and Heather and Courtney happened to arrive. While they didn't plan on bullying Gwen when they went into the washroom, they decided to mess with her now that she happened to be there.
"Sup Emo girl." Heather taunted, not that that really bothered Gwen.
"Y'know I just love the white makeup and over-done eye shadow, it really brings out your inner turmoil. If you need any psychological help, you can talk to me, freak."
The two pre-teen girls started laughing and were about to leave, when Gwen pulled her hand back and full power bitch-slapped Heather.
"Now shut up, you dumb bitch!" Gwen yelled at her.
Heather gave Gwen that glare that says "How dare you do that to me, now you're gonna fucking die, bitch!" While Courtney proceeded to lock the door (fortunately for her there was no one else in the washroom at the time except the three girls,) and pushed Gwen back onto the floor. Heather than joined in and the two girls shoved Gwen onto the floor and into walls, until they had her cornered in a bathroom stall. Then Heather pulled out a knife which she probably stole from Lindsay and started cutting Gwen's clothes, leaving no marks on her body save one small cut on her right shoulder. Courtney then grabbed her hair and pushed her head into the toilet water, only letting her breathe after about 20 seconds or so. It appeared as if they were going to do more when there was a knock at the door and they heard a voice outside.
"Gwen, are you OK in there, you've been in there for a long time."
"You got fucking saved this time, you little bitch." Heather replied while laughing, she and Courtney walked away, unlocked the door and left.
What's their deal? Lindsay thought.
Then she looked in the bathroom and saw Gwen battered.
"You see what I mean, Lindsay? Those girls are fucking evil."
"Let's go home. You need some rest." Was all that Lindsay could say. And they did pack up and leave school grounds after that (not permanently, of course, just for that day.)
Time: 14 June 2004
Trent and Katie broke up. This made Gwen happy as she now had a chance to ask Trent out... except she chickened out again.
Time: 28 June 2004
The school year ended and Gwen and Trent were not dating. Duncan gave Lindsay $50 and said he would get the rest ASAP.
Time: 4 September 2004
After an uneventful summer, Gwen was ready to start the 7th grade, well, I wouldn't say ready, but she was gonna have to do it whether she was ready or not. Rudy was now in the 3rd grade, but he was still the cute little kid that everyone just adored so fucking much. Personally Gwen got annoyed by him quite a lot.
So, the first thing that happened to Gwen as she walked into math class was... being publically humiliated by Katie when Katie mentioned how the room suddenly got a little bit more Emo. This year's gonna be fucking awesome. Gwen thought sarcastically.
Time: 26 October 2004
The year, up until this point, had been very dull and boring. Gwen was getting the usual loner treatment of people making fun of her, but she hadn't been viciously attacked like she was at the end of last year. Generally she just tried to avoid Heather and Courtney entirely. However, when Halloween was nearing, Gwen began to become a little bit nervous, as she remembered how her Halloween of '03 went and it wasn't fun.
So when Lindsay invited her to a Halloween party with the "gang," Gwen was sceptical at first.
"Don't worry about it," Lindsay said, "We're all going over to Izzy's house, and her parents are never home, so we could all have a fucking party and no one's gonna complain."
"Will Heather and Courtney be there?"
"Heather probably, but don't worry. It's an Izzy party and they're usually massive so you probably won't see her much. As for Courtney, I don't know, she's not really a party person. So, you gonna go to this epic party or are you gonna sit at home and do nothing on Halloween?"
Time: 31 October 2004
Gwen showed up, along with Lindsay, at Izzy's house for the so-called "Crazy-ass motherfucking party." She arrived there about 8:30, and by then, the party had already started. Gwen looked around for people she recognized and saw Duncan, Cody, Bridgette, Leshawna, Geoff, DJ, Owen, Tyler, Trent, Katie, of course Izzy, Heather, and surprisingly Courtney, among others.
"Hey girls, what's up?" Duncan asked as he walked towards the two girls, holding a six pack of beer. "Either of you want a beer?"
They both agreed and Duncan tossed them one can each. As the three went to the basement, they heard blaring unspecified rap music at full volume.
"Rap music, not really my style, but still catchy." Duncan explained.
He then pulled a small tablet out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth.
"You have MDMA! You gotta get me a tablet, man." Lindsay said. Duncan gave her a tablet and she popped it in her mouth.
"What's that shit?" Gwen asked.
"It's MDMA... basically it makes everything seem way more awesome. Want one?"
"Nah, I'm good."
As the party progressed, it seemed that less and less people were dancing in the basement and hook ups started happening. Tyler, who had broken up with Heather over the summer, was now making out with prude-ass Courtney, while Heather herself was in a washroom upstairs giving Cody a blowjob. Gwen was talking with Bridgette about shit, neither of them had anyone to "hook up" with, when Trent showed up.
"Sup girls, mind if I chill with you?"
"Sure, why not?" Bridgette said.
"So, Gwen, you having fun?" Trent asked.
"Meh, it's okay."
"You should come to these parties more often; Izzy's having them all the time. This one's kind of slow, usually they're better."
Bridgette nodded in agreement.
"Wheels, Trent!" a masculine voice shouted. The three of them turned around to see Geoff, who was carrying Izzy in his arms.
"Where are you two going?" Bridgette asked, although she probably already knew the answer.
"Upstairs." Geoff answered plainly, and he proceeded to walk up the nearby staircase taking Izzy with him.
"So... what's up with Lindsay and Duncan?" Trent asked.
"What do you mean?" asked Gwen.
Trent pointed towards the couch in the corner of the room. Gwen and Bridgette looked over there, and sure enough, Duncan and Lindsay were making out half naked on the couch.
"Well... that's just awesome isn't it?"
At about 11 pm, Lindsay and Duncan were now sitting on the couch smoking weed, when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it." Lindsay offered as she walked towards the front door, opened it, and there stood a man with a nametag that red J. Smiley. He wore a blue uniform, and a badge of "honour" above his shirt, yes, he was in fact a police officer. He looked older, probably in his mid-late forties, based on his grey hair, wrinkles, and seasoned appearance, but he was still in good physical shape.
"Um... we have a noise complaint from across the street and we just came to make sure that everything is okay, and that you-"
Officer Smiley stopped talking when he noticed what was in Lindsay's left hand.
"That's marijuana, isn't it?"
Officer Smiley's partner, a man who looked about in his early thirties, with dark skin and a turban, handcuffed Lindsay and pushed her inside the back of the cop car. Turban-guy, whose nametag, read J. Fahim, watched the car while Smiley went inside Izzy's house.
"Alright kids, party's over, now get out!" the buzz kill shouted.
The people at the party, including Gwen, left through the front door and began to walk home, except for Duncan, who was handcuffed and thrown into the back of the car alongside Lindsay.
"Why'd you get thrown in here?"
"They caught me smoking weed. You?"
"Same."
"Where are your parents?" Smiley asked Izzy, who he had figured out was the permanent resident at the house.
"They're around... somewhere."
"Hmm... well okay, I'm going to have to meet with them later about this type of thing. Until then, have a good night."
Officers Smiley and Fahim got in the car, with Smiley in the driver's seat, and began to drive away.
"Hey," Smiley said, "You're the sheriff's kid aren't you. Yeah, you, boy?"
"Yes." Duncan said.
"And you, you're Cunningham's girl, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am. What's your point?"
"Don't sass me you dumb bitch, I'll be the one sassing you." Smiley said before turning to his apparently non-talkative partner, "We just arrested the two most powerful 12-year-olds in the city."
"Actually, I'm still eleven." Lindsay said.
"Shut up, bitch!" Fahim yelled.
"Do you think there's a way we could get out of this?" Lindsay asked Duncan, in a whispering voice.
"How about you seduce them, and then we get out."
"That won't work; these are police officers, not Catholic priests. That does remind me of a creepy story though, as the last couple times my parents dragged me to church, I swear I saw Father Fletcher ogling my ass."
"TMI, Lindsay."
"Shut up both of you!" Smiley yelled.
They were taken to the station, and thankfully, both were bailed out by their parents (or in Lindsay's case, by her father, as Leanne was probably doing the happy dance now that her daughter had fucked up,) but you could probably guess that both of them got grounded. Lindsay's parents suggested that they needed to go to church more, which of course Lindsay absolutely hated the idea of for a number of reasons.
Time: 1 November 2004
Emily never really did find out about the whole cops showing up at the party thing. So from that respect, Gwen was fine, and she wasn't the one in trouble with the law anyways.
Time: 4 December 2004
Duncan and Lindsay officially start going out.
Time: 16 November 2004
Emily passed out completely drunk on the floor, and Gwen called the ambulance. However, Emily turned out to be okay.
Time: 7 December 2004
Lindsay hears her father and another woman who sounded nothing like Leanne having sex, and Lindsay became determined to find out who this woman was. Was she going to tell her to fuck off? No, because she liked it when Leanne was getting screwed, but she still wanted to find out.
Time: 5 January 2005
It all happened so fast. Gwen never saw it coming, but one day after school she was just chilling out with Lindsay and Duncan, who were in the middle of a serious make out session. Gwen was getting bored and she was about to go home, when Trent showed up.
"Hey Gwen."
"Hi Trent."
"Look Gwen, there's something I gotta talk to you about."
Talk, she thought, well that's probably good.
"What is it Trent?"
"Well, you see, the thing is... um... I really kinda like you... and I was, um... wondering if... if... um..."
"Yes, Trent, I do want to go out with you."
A/N: Now, you're probably wondering at this point whether this will end up a Gwen/Trent story or a Gwen/Duncan story. And while I will say that both couples appear one or more times in the story, who she eventually ends up with... well, that's my little secret that I'm not going to tell anyone yet.