Awakening: Second Stage

Chapter Fourteen

"Interruption"

Sunday

Life is good. Pedratishkovna Katsufrakis arrived at this realization as she sat her suitcase by the door, pleased with herself for being completely packed and ready to depart with time to spare. Once again, her reputation was secure.

Satisfied with how her weekend had turned out, she sighed contentedly. Sure, things hadn't been flawless, bur overall, it had been a positive experience. Best of all, she had managed to keep her crazy in check, something she knew she would be taking the time to squeal over in the privacy of her own room back home. She felt a sense of loss at the thought of returning to Bahia Bay, but she would never be so foolish or naive as to think that the weekend would extend itself for her benefit. After all, if she had such a power over time, she would've used it long ago to prolong her favorite days, and possibly speed up some of the worser moments in her short history. There just aren't enough three-day weekends in the year. Of course, there is the glory of summer vacation, the centerpiece of the pre-adult year, although the holidays also comprised a stiff competition. Tish herself thought that perhaps they should all celebrate Christmas secularly this year around, since vacation from school revolved around it. She hadn't even talked to Tino about it yet, though, not to mention Carver. Still, the holidays were far enough off that she gave them little though heed now.

A brief thought on how few summer vacations remained for them all lodged itself inside of her head and set up camp, determined to distract her. There was no denying that she was getting older, even her body was betraying her! Soon on top of all the physical and hormonal nightmares of puberty, she's find herself applying for jobs, college, scholarships--oh, was she ever prepared for that one! As for employment, she had made a decision to avoid the library at all costs. While she begrudgingly had a keen knack for organization, there was just so much more she wanted to do with her future, her life.

Her dreams of making it as an actress hovered above her. It was what she truly aspired to, making it in the theater. No desire to be a Hollywood star dwelt within her; she knew her goals lay on the stage, not the screen. She had had a brush with glamour once, and after all was said and done, she decided that the theater was without a doubt her calling. Not that the romantic lifestyle of Hollywood held no temptations, but she was not attractive enough to make it there, and the idea of partaking in the culture that glorified sex and violence went against all of her principles. There was so many things that she wanted to say to the world, things she knew she could only achieve more intimately, while on a stage, performing live. Things a set couldn't provide her with. She so desperately wanted to make people feel something inside, and there was no way to know if that was happening unless her audience was right in front of her, providing instant feedback. She wanted to see them laugh, cry, and generally be moved by the stories she would weave, the characters she would play. Like sharing a private moment with her entire audience. Part of this dream most likely stemmed from her own familiarity. She had always been rather close with her parents, and she couldn't deny that she and Tino were a tight pair, there was little that she felt uncomfortable sharing with her significant other. Even her friendships with Carver and Lor felt close to her, like they could all be open, though it certainly wasn't touchy-feely. With Lor involved, that would probably be downright scary.

Hopping backwards onto the bed, Tish stared happily at the ceiling, drinking her own mental toast to her family and friends. Recognizing when you were truly blessed by the forces of the universe was never an unwelcome trait. The thought of her largely happy life was sobering, making her feel very much alive inside, yet a little melancholy because there would always be those in the world less fortunate than herself. Even poor, dear Tino came from a broken home, seeing precious little of his own father. He seemed okay in spite of that, which led Tish to having a lot of respect for Miss Tonitini. No one could ever accuse Tino's mother of being neglectful. But Tish couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like, having only one parent. Her home was too closely knit to allow even speculation for anything else. Perhaps this was why she considered herself to be the caretaker of the group. More than once she had decided to devote her weekend to a cause, usually trying to garner her friend's support. Tish definitely had a soft spot for noble causes, often to the chagrin of the others. She chalked it up to her value system, which admittedly had spiraled out of control once or twice. But so what if she was a little whacked? She always stood by her beliefs with passion. Otherwise, she couldn't be taken seriously.

Tish felt excited, perhaps a tad too much, considering she had no real idea why. Then again, she couldn't pretend she wasn't a little obsessive-compulsive inside. It was a quirk she had worked on in the past to no avail, and she was now resigned to being just a tad bit idiosyncratic. Perhaps more than a tad. But there was no choice other than to be herself. After all, it was a philosophy handed down by The Bard himself, and even recently reiterated by Tino's mother. Be true to yourself, a mantra she intended to follow throughout her life, even as she was still in the process of becoming herself.

Lor felt more than a little silly as she followed Carver to his house, refusing to explain why he was taking her there. Her hair still felt matted from two nights of sleeping on the couch. On the plus side, it would probably feel incredibly satisfying when she got around to watching it. Currently it retained the matted feeling, but it also felt stringy when she ran her hand through it, a coating of oil obviously present. She envied Carver and his dreads for a moment, although she usually allowed her own hair to lie flat. She was too lazy most of the time to style it into anything that would require a lot of upkeep. Besides, her athletic lifestyle wouldn't be too kind to some kind of immaculate hairdo. No one in their group was very experimental with their hair, save perhaps that one time Tish had done her hair up in those grotesque pom-poms that only a mother could love, making the resident brain look like more than a geek, but downright deranged. Not for the first time, Lor wondered if Tish would ever grow out of her pastel phase. Pink and purple, purple and pink, purple and purple, pink and powder blue. She was tempted to go through Tish's wardrobe and replace all her outfits with a few Scottish tartans. That would show her! Tish needed a little Scottish warfare. It would be for her own good.

"Dude, are you going to tell me why we're going to your house, or what?" Lor grumbled.

"I told you before, I'll tell you when we get there. It's not something we should talk about out in the open like this."

"Um, this isn't something that will get us into any trouble, is it?"

"With my parents?! Man, even if I was a troublemaker, which I'm not, I'd never do something so stupid as to perpetrate the crime at my own house!"

"Okay, so it's nothing I need to be worried about?"

"Worried? Heck no! But I listened to what you said and decided there was something I should show you. Even though I'll probably live to regret it later."

"Then why show me?"

"I dunno. I think I've been hanging around Tino for too long. He's starting to rub off on me."

"Well, some of that might not be such a bad thing. Just warn me if you're going to start squealing or reading that lame comic book."

"Deal. Hey, thanks for the breakfast. You were right, it was good."

"And you doubted me. Y'know, I think I'm glad you're still wearing a little of it."

"Gee, thanks Lor."

"No prob. What are friends for?"

"Lending money."

"Yeah! That reminds me, can I borrow five bucks?"

"Didn't you clean up enough already this weekend?!" Carver exclaimed.

"Yeah, but it never hurts to have some snack money. Especially when Tino's not around to pay for everything. I miss that. But I think I miss his little noises and paranoia more."

"Hey, T's alright in my book. He's got some issues, but he's the best friend I ever had."

"Gee, thanks Carv."

"Hey, turnabout is fair play, superlady!"

"Alright, I guess I had that one coming. But knock it off with the lady crap!"

"I get a lot of practice on Penny, you know. Most of our communication is through barbs and blackmail."

"Really? My brothers and I usually just punch each other."

"That's not something you see happen at my house. Actually, your house is pretty exciting Lor. I never know what's going to happen when I go there. It's kinda like an adventure."

"I'm still impressed you braved sleeping out in the open twice. That's where the real danger lies. You're easy prey, all out in the open. As you found out the other night."

"Tell me about it! I still have to get those stains out!"

"It could've been worse. They could've left a rugby ball on your chest and tackled you to death."

"Okay, maybe I'd better not set up camp at your house again for awhile."

"Aww, it doesn't hurt so bad. They've done it to me more than once. It's the not breathing part that hurts."

"Not breathing?"

"Yeah. Breathing kinda hurts after having fourteen of my brothers pile on you. And you really have to hope you haven't eaten in awhile."

"In that case, I'm glad we're out of the danger zone." Carver smirked as they turned onto his street. "That is, unless Penny is having one of her singing lessons."

"No! No way!" Lor tensed, protesting the very thought. "Carver, if you put me in range of that kind of horror, I will hurt you."

"Relax, I'm pretty sure she ain't even home today. So as long as we can slip past Todd, we're cool."

"Slip past him?"

"Yeah. Fair warning, he's really been into pulling hair lately. And your hair will probably look extra tuggable to him, because he hasn't seen it in awhile. He was going crazy for my dreads, but I think he's finally gotten tired of them."

"Ah, your little brother is kind of cute, but he's real mischievous. It's like you have to watch him every minute!"

"Tell me about it! And I'm always on duty during the week. I look forward to the weekend twice as much as anyone else I know."

Lor laughed. "That almost sounds like a challenge. I can't believe this one is almost over. School is the pits. Except for maybe gym class, and that one where they let you play computer games the whole period. We really need more subjects like that."

"Don't forget in English when they show us the movie version of whatever book we just finished reading."

"Oh yeah! Those always make up for whatever it is I didn't read. Usually a lot. And when they pass out the popcorn, I totally loved that back in grade school. I wish they still did cool stuff like that. Those days I miss."

The two of them continued to reminisce about the few finer points of school, reminding each other that it wasn't all bad. It was exceedingly difficult to believe that they were in the best years of their lives, considering that they couldn't even drive or see an R-rated movie. Thirteen felt like an age spent in limbo, too old to be considered kids any longer, yet too young to be accepted as adults. Most of the teenage years seemed fraught with this kind of struggle, but it was even more frustrating while the prizes of one's adolescence were still years away.

Lor trotted up Carver's driveway and jumped onto the front stoop. Her friend followed quickly behind, stepping past her to open the door and admit both of them. As usual, the DesCartes household seemed very clean and welcoming. The living room appeared very unlived, save for the usual path that Todd left behind him, akin to a tornado.

"This place is always so clean." Lor smiled. "How do your parents manage to do it? Don't they work a lot?"

"Yeah, but they try to make the upkeep of the house a high priority. Plus, the housekeeper manages to keep the place from getting to cluttered."

"Whoa! Dude, you have a housekeeper?"

"Yeah, you're looking at him. When I say I have a lot of chores, I'm not kidding."

"Guess not. And I thought cleaning my room was a hassle. I never really thought about what my parents must have to go through to keep our place from becoming a total pig sty."

"Yeah, and just think. Someday we'll both be on the other side, trying to keep our houses clean, running after our kids, going to work, trying to get dinner on the table..." Both Carver and Lor looked at each other, shuddered, and walked briskly into Carver's room. "Wow. Suddenly being only thirteen years old doesn't seem so bad."

"Just try not to scare me like that again, okay?" Lor preened. "Geez, it's like I'm just getting the hang of being a teenager! Don't go throwing all this scary adult stuff at me!"

"Don't worry about that. Anyway, we're here, so now I can show you what I wanted to."

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"The only real danger is to my reputation." Carver opened his closet door and pushed the button to reveal one of his best-kept secrets." This is my shrine to Coolness. And before you go laughing at me, I want to explain to you why I built it, why I keep it here, hidden in my closet."

Lor raised her hand. "Um, besides the obvious reason." Carver added, watching Lor's hand reluctantly drop back down. "Anyway," he continued, "you, Tino, and Tish are my friends. And you know how badly I want to be one of the cool kids. It's one of my lifelong dreams. You guys have even done your part to help me from time to time. I guess I wanted to show you this because of your help, yeah, but it's more than that. You told me about how you weren't sure of where you were going. But once you pick a goal, you need to stay focused on it. That why I put my picture up there between Bree and Colby. Someday I am to be the coolest of the cool ones, and show them that there's more to being cool than wearing shades and leaning against things. Anyway, that's what I keep pushing myself towards. One of the things, anyway. It's how I keep myself centered on the dream." Carver sighed, letting the rest of his breath out. "Okay, you can laugh now."

Lor looked up once more at the bizarre homage to Coolness spread out before her. Two thoughts immediately came into her head. The first, inevitably, was how profoundly lame the thing was. She had to resist the urge not to cackle like a madwoman, instead trying to see past the presentation to what her friend was really trying to say. The second thought was far less coarse in nature. Carver knew how embarrassing this thing was, but he had decided to show her anyway. And the last she checked, she didn't have a reputation for being the kindest individual. That showed he had a lot of respect for her, not to mention faith. He truly considered her his friend. This was a lot more than she had ever given him credit for; she had always pegged Carver as the selfish type, even moreso than herself. And that train of thought processes led her to the core realization—Carver was right. If she ever wanted to work out something serious with Thompson...

"You know what? You're right. Carver, I do need to focus. I'm always pining over Thompson, but I never let him know how I feel. I always just try to make him notice me."

"Right. But you already know he thinks you're cool. Maybe he even likes you in a special way too. But you'll never know if you don't ask. Believe in yourself. Like I said, you're not really a person with a self-confidence issue, but you really do fall apart whenever it comes to Thompson. I think that all you really have to do is take a step back and see Thompson for who he really is. Yeah, he's a great guy, but it's not like he's holding the whole world up on his shoulders. If you build him up into something too much, you'll never get the courage to ask him out."

"Okay, all of a sudden you're way too much of an expert on this subject." Lor accused. "Where'd you get all the 411 on this?"

"Because it took me like the better part of a year to ask Cheri out."

"Yeah, but she said no."

"Of course she said no! That was inevitable! But the point is, I psyched myself up to ask her. Just because she's pretty and a lot of guys want to go out with her, I refuse to be intimidated. So I asked her and got rejected. But at least I don't have to be like all those other guys out there who will never ask her because they're too scared."

"Ouch. Twist the knife a little deeper why don't you. It's okay, I get your point. I'll ask Thompson out."

"When?"

"I don't know. The next time I see him?"

"All right then."

"There's just one thing that's bugging me." Lor pouted.

"What's that?"

"That shrine is so totally lame!"

"Yeah, I know. But what can I do?" Carver raised his arms in resignation.

"Well, for starters, I probably wouldn't ever show this thing to anyone else, except maybe Tino or Tish. They're probably the only people who might not laugh at that. Actually, no, they probably will, but I think they'd also see past the...you know what I mean. Now, if I don't laugh, I think I'm gonna explode!" Lor doubled over on her back in a fit of laughter, kicking her feet into the air. Her jolly demeanor acquired the attention of Carver's ever-curious little brother Todd, who ran into the room quite unannounced, shouting all the way. Carver frantically sealed his shrine back within the closet, while Todd got an eyeful of Lor's tempting hair, staring transfixed. Lor had a unique perspective, her head on the floor, looking at the tyke upside-down, eyes rolling up into the back of her head to meet his gaze. "Dude! He's staring at me!"

"See that?" grinned Carver. "I think he likes you. Maybe you have that effect on men. They wanna stare at you."

"Oh knock it off!" Lor insisted, blushing slightly. Todd still seemed entranced by Lor, running over to her and grabbing a wad of her hair with a sticky hand. "Ow!" Lor yelled, trying to wrench herself free. "That hurts!"

"Go den air!" Todd shrieked repeatedly, keeping a death grip on Lor's follicles."

"You little creep!" Lor found that she had to struggle to keep herself from hitting the lad, trying to remember that he was only a little guy. "Carver, do something!"

"I tried to warn you." Carver sighed, watching the two of them bemusedly.

"Something useful!" she cried out in pain as Todd pulled on her hair once more.

"Okay, okay! Todd, let go of Lor's hair." The boy looked up to his older brother, still holding tight, much to Lor's chagrin. "Todd, be nice. Nice boys get cookies."

"Cookies, COOKIES!!!!!" Todd began yelling, releasing his pray instantaneously. Her head banged into the floor with a loud thud, adding insult to injury and leaving her with a sizable headache. Carver quickly made his way to the kitchen with Todd in tow, grateful that his mother was on the phone and duly distracted as he ducked into the snack cupboard and grabbed a box of mini choco-chip cookies.

Lor came up behind him, seeing Todd with sugar and instantly growing afraid. Carver dropped a few cookies onto the floor, which Todd went for greedily. He then left the box lying several feet away. "Let's get out of here!" Carver called. "This is totally the last place we wanna be."

"Are you just gonna leave your poor Mom here to face that?" Lor wondered.

"This is clearly an us or her situation. I vote for us! Let's move!" Both teens managed to find their way out the door and halfway down the block without pursuit or consequence (other than feeling winded and needing a drink).

"Carv, that was way harsh. I feel sorry for her. She's your Mom."

"Trust me, it'll be cool. It's Mom. Sugar or not, if anyone can control Todd, it's Mom."

"You really are a piece of work." Lor smirked. "C'mon, let's go to the arcade. I think I can find a few video games to kick your but at."

"You're on!"

The walk continued onward, carrying the other half of a party of four until the main team came back. It was taking some getting used to, but all in all, Lor felt that this change may be turn out to be a positive thing for her after all. Especially when she had such good friends.

Okay, here we are, coming around the home stretch. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to squeak this one out for my fans, but somehow I made it. Kudos to me. I really rode this one right down to the wire. But it's good to be back in the saddle again, banging out an installment for you children of all ages to gobble up.

Currently, I plan to conclude this leg of the journey with the next installment and clear the way for Third Stage, which I think will prove to be far more interesting than these first two Stages have been.

The support I've gotten in more resent chapters has been a big help. I'm planning a special thank you to many people when I finish the next chapter, so I don't want to spoil it now. Suffice to say that I try hard not to forget those that have encouraged me along the way. It isn't always easy to focus on your fanfiction when the real world is always nipping at your heals. Nevertheless, I have found this hobby to be rather therapeutic, and I'm pleased with my progress so far.

One of the most rewarding things about writing this story is the climate which I'm writing in. I'm writing largely about a pairing that the majority of the fandom seems to disapprove of, so with each new chapter, it's like I have to prove myself once more. Every new release is a comeback for me. But I stand up for what I believe in proudly, and I'm not afraid to be different. 

Nevertheless, there are those that would seek to provoke some kind of fight with me. I have freely stated more than once that I have nothing against neither Tino/Lor stories nor the authors that write them, but apparently I'm still considered a source of evil by some. This delights me to no end, because it means I'm doing my job. What I always wanted from the get-go with this project was to make people feel something inside. It seems I've succeeded, though I am sorry that a lot of that emotion is negativity towards myself and my work.

Even so, I'm not going anywhere. In fact, I have a long way to go with this story, so many events to occur, things to turn people's heads. I have big plans for all four characters, and I hope that you'll follow me down the path of their adolescence and evolution, as they continue to grow.

And for those who want to make war with me...bring all the bows and arrows and swords that you wish. My pen is all I need to deflect even the mightiest and cleverest among you, and I intend to keep putting my English degree to use.

It grows late, my friends, and I have thrown off my sleep cycle enough in order to get this chapter released this weekend. Take care of yourselves, and I'll see you soon for the close of one stage, and the beginning of another....

Lord Malachite

9/19/03

1:50 AM, EST

E-mail: ranger_writer@yahoo.com

AIM: Asukaphile26