The Long Road of Redemption: By Luna Mrow
Chapter Eleven: Bad Blood
{Quick A/N: this takes place not a second after the previous chapter}
~X~X~X~
"Come on Courtney, stand up, you don't want to be seen on the floor." Izzy grabbed my arm and with amazing strength hoisted me to my feet. My cheeks were still tear stained with mascara. "Listen to me Courtney; Ham is going to blame you for the kidnapping. You need to tell me everything that happened and I'll say I was the one who was with Trent. I'll say I did everything you did."
"What? Izzy I can't lie!" I shrieked. "We'll get arrested for perjury!"
She rolled her eyes. "I swear, after dating a criminal you should've learned the number one rule."
"Not to date a criminal?"
"No! You don't get arrested if you don't get caught." Izzy winked. "Believe it or not, I've been arrested for inappropriate conduct in public a few times before."
"Oh trust me, I believe it." Crazy Girl was right… which is really weird to say. It was better we lied than telling the truth and having to fight the cops.
"Everyone inside probably heard the gun shots. They'll be out here. You need to get away from here."
"But I haven't even told you—"
"I'll compromise! Go Courtney!" Izzy exclaimed. She shoved me off and I wobbled a few steps and ran to the back of the building. I could hear the doors opening and a crowd coming around Izzy, their voices in panic and questioning. Never in my life or in my time of Total Drama did I expect someone like Izzy to have my back? She truly was a good person. Freaking insane, but a good person.
Now I was in my parking lot and safely inside my car. My head was on the steering wheel and the quiet atmosphere was being filled with my sobs. First Justin, now Trent?
"If you're at our next kidnapping, I'll kill you."
That stupid jackass. They threatened my life… but not just that… they were going to strike again. This was going to happen again! I don't care if all of the cast members never liked me, if the entire fan base thinks I'm a bitch, if the whole world hated me! Can I really just do nothing and wait for another one to get kidnapped? More importantly… can I let Izzy take the heat for something I was a part of?
If the cops blame you it's over!
What if Izzy's story doesn't add up? What if there's a critical piece of information she misses?
You can't go back to jail!
You can't let other people deal with your problems! You can't run away!
Smash!
In a fit of frustration I smashed the keychain on my car keys! The point is I can't sit in my car and cry! I'm not weak! And if I am, if I truly am weak, I'm not going to let it show. No one will know I'm weak. Not anymore. My car door slammed and I stomped to the crowd of people. The cops had already arrived and Officer Ham was questioning Izzy. Noah was standing next to her for either support or she stole his wallet I wasn't sure. Izzy was right about one thing; it would be foolish if he saw me. Ham already seemingly hated me and Duncan (to be fair I can understand why any cop would hate Duncan).
I slipped into the crowd of spectators watching the scene. Something caught the corner of my eye. My head turned. Gwen was talking to the cops; of course, her boyfriend was kidnapped just now. But if Trent was her boyfriend… why was she wearing a black jean jacket over her shoulders that had metal buttons and a skull design on the back?
Duncan's jacket.
Was jealousy flooding into me? Was I really jealous? Maybe, but I think pissed off suits me better. I wanted to rip Gwen's head off. We had bad blood whether she liked it or not. It disgusted me how she talked to the cops about Trent and yet hugged Duncan's jacket even closer to her. It wasn't even that cold outside! Fifty-five degrees at least.
…
Okay, yeah, it was cold outside even though it was summer. But that was no excuse! (A/N lol)
"Hey you! Get over here!"
Ham noticed me. DAMN IT! I trudged over to the crime scene and stood next to Izzy and Noah. I had no idea what she said to the cops earlier. "Yes?" I asked, trying to sound innocent. My tone of voice couldn't fool a rock.
"Crazy Girl here says you were at the crime scene at the very last minute," Ham said. "What happened when you arrived?"
Now I understand what Izzy did. She switched our roles. Instead of me being the one who was there with Trent and Izzy being the one who was there at the last minute, she was the one who witnessed the kidnapping. "I… saw Izzy on the ground crying right as the van drove away with Trent."
"Is that all that happened?"
"Yes."
"Well let me turn this report in to my deputy." Ham turned around and walked to the cop car.
"We have to have more than that!" Gwen cried. "He could be hurt!"
"Calm down Gwen, Trent will be fine," Noah tried to sympathize.
"No he won't!" Gwen yelled, "Not until we get some answers! I want to find my boyfriend!"
"Oh, is Trent your boyfriend? It looks like you have another guy's jacket on you," I said with just a hint of challenge. "By the color and the design it looks like it'd belong to some punk like Duncan or something."
Gwen eyed me viciously. "Right now I could care less about a stupid jacket." Her voice had as much poison as mine. "And who are you anyway? Some fan girl of Heather's?"
That was Gwen's version of a low blow. We both knew how much she hated Heather. Noah could sense the building tension and slowly backed away a few steps. "I liked Heather on the show a lot better than I liked you," I sneered.
"Good. I don't need someone like you being a fan of mine. You remind me too much of the old cast mate Courtney."
That did it! That was the last freaking straw! The stupid goth turned around to talk to the cops again. I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around with her mouth open ready to insult me. She never did.
Smack! I decked her straight in the face! She landed on the floor and I glared down at her! "I bet I can hit as hard as Courtney!" I yelled.
"You bitch!" Gwen shrieked. She stood up and tried to shove me, but I already anticipated that and dodged her movement, kneeing her in the stomach! She doubled over on her knees. Another cop ran over to break us up. I found myself being dragged by Ham.
"You don't deserve Trent!" I yelled as he dragged me away. "You don't deserve anybody ever since you helped Duncan cheat on me—uh—Courtney! Courtney! You're the one who deserves to be hated!"
"Enough!" Ham growled. He threw me in the police car. He slammed the door shut and then walked around to the driver's seat and sat in the front. A few minutes of silence passed, except for Ham heaving and breathing like an ogre. "Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to let you off and not arrest you for inappropriate conduct. But if I so much as see you with a threatening look on your face in public then you're done for."
He's not arresting me? Seriously? There has to be a catch. He's Chef's brother for crying out loud!
"Why?" I asked.
"Because Haley… I'm not a Gwen fan either."
Am I on drugs without knowing it? Did Ham actually SAY that?
"What?" I asked again.
"Yeah, that girl was alright in the first season, but it was totally obvious she was trying to steal Duncan in Total Drama Action, and she was a total jerk in World Tour."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Officer Ham… are you by any chance a Courtney fan?"
"Are you kidding? I'm her biggest fan! It breaks my heart to know out of the whole cast she was the one who got lost at sea!" Ham cried. He regained his composure. "If you tell anyone I'm a Courtney fan I will arrest you for no reason."
"Don't worry Officer, I'm sure if Courtney knew she'd be flattered."
"Whatever. Now go on home, Haley. Get out of my sight."
"Yes sir." I opened the car door and started walking to my car. Apparently I was wrong, the whole fan base doesn't think I'm a bitch. I have Sherriff Ham Hatchet on my side. Which is oddly… comforting? No. But it the reason I was smiling.
~X~X~X~
The time was 8:30 when I finally got back to my motel. I stood outside the door, ran the key through the lock and went into my room. Then I paused. There was a lamp light on. I never leave lights on when I leave any place I'm at. Someone was in here.
Right, yeah, because just when I thought my day couldn't get any shittier fate proved me wrong.
The closest thing for me to grab was an umbrella near the door. I clutched it tightly and slipped off my flip flops, carefully tip toeing barefoot farther into my room. I crept farther along and saw the intruder. My arms lifted to the top of my head, preparing to strike. The intruder turned around and—
Smack!
"Ow! Courtney!"
"Duncan?"
"Jeezus Christ you scared the hell outta—"
Smack!
The last whack to the jerk's head I couldn't resist. "Why are you in my motel?" I demanded. "How'd you get in here? How long have you been here? Why are you—mmph!"
Duncan's large hand engulfed my mouth. "Will you shut up and calm down?" he hissed.
Smack!
"Damn you, Courtney!" he yelled, snatching the umbrella out of my hands and throwing it across the room. There goes my only weapon against him.
My eyes narrowed into slits. "What do you want?"
"Well I certainly don't want to get hit in the head with an umbrella!"
"Well I don't want to come back to my only fortress of solitude and see you!"
"Well that's too bad, isn't it?"
Duncan shoved me backwards and I fell onto the couch. He glared down at me. "I heard what happened."
"How?" I spat. "Gwen has your phone!"
His eyes widened. "Oh ho, so what, now you're jealous?"
"No! I just want to know why that ex boyfriend stealing bitch has your cell phone!"
He smirked smugly. "I gave that to her when we were still dating. Now I have a new phone Princess." He took it out of his jean pocket to show me. "Do you want to borrow it to call a therapist?"
"Oh shut up!"
"Why? Because you know you're way out of line and you don't want to take responsibility for once in your life?" he challenged.
"Oh, you're one to talk! You've never taken responsibility for anything!"
"But this isn't about me, is it?"
Damn it, damn it, damn it. I tried to get up from the couch but he shoved me back down. "Let me go!" I exclaimed. I tried to get up again but he shoved me twice and this time straddled me, putting his knees on the couch between me and his hands leaned over on my shoulders, pinning me down. His teal eyes were holding my onyx ones prisoner.
"You're not leaving until you admit what you did wrong," Duncan growled in a low voice.
I wanted to kill him. I wanted to smash his face in. I wanted to rip every piercing on his face right out. Anything but to admit that I was… wrong.
But… I am wrong. We both knew it. Was I a big enough person to own up to it? I never did that in our relationship when we were together, did I? I never admitted I was wrong… never to Duncan.
Eventually my breathing slowed. Carefully, I moved my head up and rested it on his shoulder. He flinched, but made no movement. "I… I was wrong," I murmured softly. "I let myself jump to conclusions, got unnecessarily angry, and whacked you with an umbrella. I'm… sorry."
His shoulders moved from chuckling. Duncan wrapped his arms around my lower back and flipped us, so I was sitting on top of him while he sat on the couch. "Was that so hard?" he teased.
"Yes, that was very hard," I smiled.
"Now you can ask me questions since you've apologized."
"Why was Gwen wearing your jacket from earlier?"
"I left it at the show when I left, she must have worn it without me knowing."
"Why would she randomly wear your jacket? Does she have feelings for you?"
"Maybe… but it could also be that it was fifty degrees outside and she forgot her own."
"Okay, first of all, it was fifty-five degrees and forgetting her own jacket is no excuse."
Duncan chuckled against me. "Whatever Princess. Now I can ask you questions."
"That was never part of the deal."
"It never had to be. Why didn't you come get for me when the kidnappers showed up with you and Trent?"
"How did you know about that?"
"Ah-ah this is Duncan-interrogate-Courtney time, not Courtney-interrogate-Duncan time. Why didn't you come get me?"
"It all happened so fast I didn't have time to think!"
"Don't get defensive Princess."
There was a knock at the door. I tried to get up to answer it but Duncan held his grip with his arms around my waist. "Let me go," I said lightly.
"Hurry up," he ordered, reluctantly letting me go.
I stood up and opened the door. My eyes widened and gasp went through the air!
"Hi, I'm Chris McLean, host of Total Drama."
Before he said anymore I exchanged a quick worried look with Duncan. Whatever reason Chris and Chef were at my door, it couldn't be good.
Author's Note:
Drama! XD This was a pretty good length chapter. I'm pretty happy with it. For those of you who are kind of like 'wtf' with the Gwen- Courtney thing, I understand. Courtney may not be the bitch she was in the show, but she's not a saint either. We all have baggage. And seeing Gwen in Duncan's jacket was what made her snap.
But think about it, the last she saw Gwen was on top of the Hawaii Mountain in World Tour, and then Gwen makes the low blow saying she looks like Courtney, who everyone is presuming dead. Don't get me wrong, I like Gwen, but for this story she's a total jerk. But hey, Courtney's not perfect either. She had to learn that the hard way.
Reviews are loved! Thanks for reading and just as a random fact about me, the show Psych is pretty much amazing. Just saying.
~Luna