Thursday
Declan called Fiona to learn how her date went since she didn't call last night. His call woke up Imogen, who answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Fiona, you said you'd call."
"This is Imogen. She's still asleep."
"I guess last night went well. I'll call her after class."
Imogen hung up and went back to sleep. Both ladies missed their first two classes.
Vince tried to get to Bianca before class started, but she hadn't been staying at home. She pretty much moved in with Fitz, and if Fitz couldn't be with her, than Jay was with her.
When she got to class, Owen was waiting for her. "What's going on with you?"
"I already told you, nothing."
"Then why are you scared all the time. Why are you never home?"
"How do you know?"
"I went to visit you after I dropped off Becky last night, and your aunt hadn't seen you in days."
"She doesn't know shit."
Time for class. Bianca couldn't tell Owen about Vince and Anson and Fitz. "Look, I need one friend who isn't involved in my mess."
"Okay." Owen didn't pry any further.
At lunch, Clare gave Drew an oral treat for winning his game yesterday. Eli teased Fiona for missing her first two classes. They had become friends while he was working on casting for his play. It was going to run at the end of the summer and during the fall.
"It was well worth it," Fiona smirked. Imogen looked equally out of it. Were they?
Marisol and Katie were teasing Mo and Jake. They're so cute! Jake joked that maybe he should take Mo on the surprise instead of Katie. She was not amused. "Kidding!" he said as she punched his arm.
Luke and his friends were eating lunch. He was trying to form a plan. They needed to make Owen screw up, get her home late, if she got roughed up. Owen used to get in a lot of fights. Maybe some of these boys wanted payback. Luke had some phone calls to make.
After class, Clare was outside, writing in her notebook. Eli sat in front of her. "Hey Blue Eyes."
"Eli, how's life?"
"I can't complain."
"I'm sure Tanya can."
"Ouch!" He feigned hurt.
"Nah, she likes you."
"Did she say that?"
"Didn't have to."
The two engaged in their banter. Eli got a phone call. "Excuse me for a minute." He answered the phone. "Hello."
"This Eli?"
"Yes and you are."
"Doesn't matter. If you want your chance to payback Owen, then meet in the park, tonight 8PM." The caller hung up. Adam, and some other kids got similar calls. "That was weird," Eli mumbled.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, but I need to find Adam. Catch you later Blue Eyes."
Eli went to the Torres house.
"Hey dude," Adam said as he answered the door. "What's up?"
"Did you get a call about Owen?"
"You too. Isn't it weird?" They went inside to talk about it. Adam used to hate Owen and Fitz, but both of them have left him alone. Owen has surprisingly stayed out of trouble all together.
"I wonder what they're planning."
"It sounds like bad news. Owen is finally nice to me now. I don't want to get on his bad side again."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he invited me to play basketball with him a few weeks ago."
"I think we should go check this out. If something's going down, we should find out what it is."
"I don't want to participate."
"We don't have to go through with the plan. I just want to know what they're planning."
Adam sighed.
At about 7:30, they left Adam's house and headed for the park. When they got there, they saw flashlights and followed them. There was a group of boys and one boy in black speaking in a disguised voice.
"Owen is taking his girlfriend on a date Saturday. What better way to pay back a bully than to beat him up in front of his girl."
The boys started to discuss their plan. Follow them from a distance, find them when they're alone, beat him to a pulp and drive off.
Adam was not amused. Eli was kind of weirded out. Beating up Owen was one thing, but Eli didn't like the idea of a girl involved. She could get hurt.
Adam and Eli "agreed to help," and then they left.
"We should call Owen," Adam told him in the car.
"Agreed. This is messed up. I thought they were just going to egg his car or something."
Owen was in Becky's room. He had entered through her window, and they were kissing. Owen got a phone call. He ignored it.
"Did you tell anyone you were here?" she whispered.
"No. First rule of fight club. Never talk about fight club."
"What?" She didn't get the reference.
"You didn't watch Fight Club."
"I'm not allowed to watch rated R movies."
"We're watching it on Saturday."
"Okay," she giggled.
"Time to go." He kissed her again and went out his window.
He just got to his car when he got another call. "What do you want?"
Owen was pissed when he heard the plan. "Who's behind this?"
"We didn't see him, and he spoke with a disguised voice. He sounded really weird."
Owen had an idea of who was behind this, and he knew just how to fix him.
Friday
Dave had Alli on his radio show again. He let her pick the closing song, which was off Arcade Fire's new album.
Katie couldn't wait to find out what Jake had been planning all this time.
Marisol and Mo were going to see Stepbrothers II.
At lunch, all of the pre-weekend chatter was happening. Clare was laughing with Imogen and Fiona. Drew was with Owen, Adam and Eli. He was learning about last night's meeting, and he said he would help them take care of this mess. "This could get ugly," Eli added. "There were like 5-6 guys there."
Drew laughed. "We will take care of them, easy." He had Jordan who would help and Owen knew plenty of boys who loved to fight. After class, Owen called Reese who said his cousin was a maniac and could come too.
After class, Jake brought Clare home and packed his car for his surprise for Katie. She awaited him nervously at her house, wearing a dress like he instructed. She wore black, of course. He arrived in a suit, kissed her, and she climbed in his car. He drove to Lake Ontario where they boarded a ferry. The sun was starting to set. The water looked amazing. "This is beautiful," she told him.
"And it's only the beginning."
When they off the ferry, they went to a bigger boat where a romantic dinner was awaiting them. They ate at a candlelit table away from the other passengers as mood music played. After dinner, of course, came dinner and dancing and some stargazing.
"This was perfect." She smiled as she kissed him.
"You're worth it, Baby." Katie finally realized she was the only girl in his eyes. He made her feel really special. Maybe she should do something special for him too.
Back at Becky's house, Clare brought a bunch of stuff, make up, magazines, CDs and she even smuggled some chicken nuggets (at the suggestion of Owen). Drew dropped her off before he went to meet up with Owen, Reese and the others.
Becky answered the door, "Mom, Clare's here. We're going to my room."
"Okay, Dear."
"Thanks for coming."
"Of course. Hi Mrs. Baker."
"Hi Clare."
They went upstairs. As soon as Becky shut the door, Clare handed her a bag from McDonald's.
"You're the best."
"Owen suggested it."
Even when he wasn't there, he was making her happy. Becky giggled.
"I also brought," she held up the new Arcade Fire album.
"OMG!" She took out the CD and stuck it in her computer. She imported it, into a secret file, so her parent's wouldn't find it and began to play. She duct taped the door to block the noise.
"You really are music deprived," Clare laughed. Even her mother wasn't this bad.
"Look under my bed."
Clare looked but didn't see anything.
"No, crawl under and look up."
Clare did and she saw a ton of cds, all taped to the bottom of her bed.
"Whoa!"
"That's what I have to do in this house."
The girls started talking about school, life and of course boys. They kept their voices down, the music was a bit of a shield, not that her mother could hear it.
"What does it feel like?"
"Sex, well." Clare didn't know how to qualify what it felt liked. "Physically, it's very warm, like both inside and out, I guess. It's like I'm being driven into a new dimension. There's really nothing else like it."
"How does it compare to other stuff?"
"Well... It's different because you're focused on yourself and him at the same time. If you're giving him a blow job, the focus is on him, and if he's going down on you, the focus is on you, but with sex, you're intertwined. It's about both of you at the same time. I guess it makes a feedback loop."
Her explanation made sense but was confusing at the same time. It sounded great, but how did she know if she was ready.
"How do you know?"
"When it's right?" I just felt it. I wanted him. I told him that I wanted him. "For some people, it's spontaneous, but we planned it and I'm glad we did."
"What do you plan?"
"Where, when, contraception, making sure you have plenty of time and aren't rushed, the ambiance. Drew made my first time very special."
Becky blushed.
"Are you thinking about doing it with Owen?"
Becky nodded. "Last weekend, we were fooling around in his car and I just keep thinking about having him inside me. I can't believe I said that out loud."
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a natural curiosity."
"I know, but you know how I was raised."
"I do, and there's no easy answers. You just have to do what is right for you."
"I know, but as great as I feel when I'm with him, and as much as I think about him when I'm not, it's hard having to hide so much of myself from my parents. I feel like if they actually knew me, they wouldn't want me as their daughter."
Clare knew that feeling. "I didn't exactly live up to my mother's expectations. She was mad when I stopped wearing my ring and disappointed, to say the least, when I told her I was intimate with Drew, but she understood that I'm growing up and I have to make these choices for myself. I know how your brother is, and my guess is that he learns it from his dad, but you can't base your life on their expectations. You have to live up to your own. That might involve some secrecy until you're older and can have a barrier, but that's life."
Becky sighed.
Clare handed her some Comsos. "What would girls night be without some trashy magazines?"
The girls took their personality quizzes as long as their what kind of lover are you. Becky got romantic. Clare got passionate. Becky also read the article on how to give head. It seemed weird.
The two told stories until it was time for bed. Becky couldn't believe some of the shenanigans that Clare got into. They put away the CDs, unpeeled the duct tape and got ready for bed.
Saturday
Jake and Katie got back in the middle of the night. She slept in his room, so she wouldn't wake up her parents.
When the morning came, he drove her home. She kissed him, seductively and then went upstairs. Maya noticed her late return but stayed quiet. Now, Katie owed her one.
Vince was trying to get a new gun, but he was low on cash since he got robbed and he was having trouble finding someone to advance him the money. He was going to have to move some product before he got a replacement.
Clare was bored. She wasn't meeting Drew until later and she already did her homework for Monday. Her mom was with Glen making arrangements to have their wedding at the park. She wondered out of her room and there was Jake, sitting in the yard, smoking weed. Clare wasn't in the mood. She went downstairs to watch tv. Freaks and Geeks reruns were on. This was Clare's Saturday afternoon.
In the evening, Drew picked her up. They went to get Chinese food and on their way out, they saw Owen and Becky. Drew made sure they left before he and Clare. He called Reese as they walked out. The boys knew what was about to happen. The girls did not. Reese, his cousin, and Jordan were in their car near the restaurant. Eli and Adam were in Morty. Owen started to drive off with Becky. Drew followed at a safe distance.
"Why are we following them?" Clare asked him.
"We're just watching his back."
"Does he need protection because I am not a bodyguard."
Drew didn't want to tell her the plan. "Relax. Don't get out of the car if anything happens."
"That was comforting."
Luke made the call when he saw Owen leave with his sister.
Owen was watching through his rearview mirror. Becky didn't seem to notice anything wrong. She turned on the radio. Behind them was a group of boys he couldn't make out. "Do me a favor Becky. Call Clare and ask her where she and Drew are and put her on speaker."
"Hey, Clare. Where are you and Drew?"
"We're following you for reasons I do not understand. We're right behind the car that's behind you."
"Where's Reese?" Owen yelled at the phone.
"I called him," Drew shouted. "He should be right behind me." Drew looked in his mirror. There was Eli and Adam. "I see Eli and Adam."
Clare's head was spinning in confusion. Something about this is very bizarre.
The car in front of them tried to force Owen off the road. He hit the gas pedal. He purposefully spun out his car when he saw Reese speed ahead. The car behind him stopped, but when they got out, they were surprised to see that they were surrounded. Reese and his cousins came out with golf clubs and charged the car. They started bashing the shit out of it. The owner came out and Owen decked him. It was a full on fight and Owen's side kicked ass. The goons were bloody. Their car was all bashed in, dents, broken mirrors, glass shattered. "That's what you get for trying to jump me on my date. Tell Luke I say hi."
The cars all drove off.
Clare couldn't believe what she just saw. Becky thought it was kind of hot; violence is bad, but why are bad boys so tasty.
"Was that Fight Club?"
Owen laughed. "Maybe I'll just give you the DVD."
