Laying down on her sofa munching on potato chips, Faye waited for Teddy to
arrive. She had been tutoring him for almost a month now, and she'd gotten
pretty used to it. Ironically enough, the two had developed this quirky
friendship. Both of them together, Faye being sarcastic and edgy, Teddy
being his usual wacky self, they had fun together. Nothing romantic was
there for them, but they liked hanging out with each other.
Just as she was about to turn on some music, Johnny, the dumb nineteen year old brother she had hated for persuading her to take Spanish as an elective, came waltzing in and plopped his body on Faye's stomach, making her cough and choke on the chips.
"Got off!" she squealed. "Gerrof a me!!" Her face began to turn a sickly shade of green as she didn't budge. Johnny smiled. He was pretty thin for a nineteen year old guy, but his tall six foot frame smothered her own five foot four frame.
Johnny laughed and grabbed a handful of chips, shoving them in his mouth. "Nope. Not until you tell me that I'm the bestest brother ever."
Faye growled and attempted to push him off. "Noooooooo! RAPE!! RAPE!! INCEST, CHILD MOLESTATION!" She began screaming at the top of her lungs, trying to get someone in the house's attention.
Of course, no one came running to her rescue, so Johnny rearranged himself and finally sat on the couch on top of her legs, while Faye panted for breath.
"Jesus Christ Johnny, one of these days you're going to kill me," she mumbled, dusting crumbs off of her skirt.
"Are you gonna eat those chips?" Johnny asked, completely ignoring her obvious annoyance.
"Ugh, no, here have them," she said, shoving them in his lap. "I think I'm going to barf."
Johnny smiled. "Yum."
Faye took one last deep breath and made a face at her brother. "I'm gonna need the living room, so occupy your lonesome self somewhere else."
"Why?" Johnny asked through a mouthful of chips, sputtering all over her.
"Ewww!" she cried, dusting herself off. "Because Teddy's coming over and I need peace and quiet in order to tutor him."
Johnny smirked. "So your little boyfriend is coming over, huh?"
Faye rolled her eyes. "I'm tutoring him, asshole."
Johnny looked skeptically at his baby sister. "Sure. The dude wants in your pants. It's Teddy freaking DuChamp. He's got that man whore reputation."
Faye never knew this.
"Whatever," she said as the doorbell rang. "Listen, that's him, now shoo, off you go!"
Johnny rolled his eyes and gathering his chips, sauntered off to his bedroom.
"Hey Teddy," Faye greeted as she led him inside and they plopped down on her living room floor.
"Hello," he said, putting his bag down.
"So, what are we working on today?"
**
The cold October wind stung Halle's face as she walked downtown. It had been a few weeks since her and her mother's big fight at dinner and it had never really been repaired. She had come home a few days later to find her mother not really talking to her, and that was fine with her.
Except for the empty hole in her chest where her heart used to be.
Halle had never been like this. She used to be happy, full of life, funny. But when she had started getting beating just as bad as Chris and Eyeball had gotten, she changed. She gradually shut out the world, became cold. She stopped trusting guys save for Chris, and instead tried to fill the empty space inside by spending nights with random guys whom she cared nothing for.
But it hurt. Oh God, did it hurt. Halle hated herself so much, it wasn't even funny. She never had a real boyfriend before, only a bunch of one night stands that made her feel like shit. How could she let this happen to her?
Easy really. She was nothing in this world, just another pretty face in the crowd. She was cynical, cold, bitchy, you name it. And Halle was well aware of this. Then why did it feel so hurtful to her?
Halle didn't even realize where she was going when she ran smack dab into someone, sending her sprawling on the sidewalk.
Her heart paused momentarily when she looked up into Gordie's big doeful eyes.
"Hey," he muttered, helping her up. "Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going."
Halle brushed herself off and stood up. "Don't worry about it," she muttered and was about to walk off and continue on her way, when Gordie touched her arm. Chills went up her spine at his distant touch.
She looked expectantly at him and he hesitated. Why had he stopped her? Gordie didn't know, but something about her stormy eyes and entrancing stare made him feel sorry for her. She looked so lost, wrapped in her sweater and her loosely pulled back.
When he spoke, Gordie's voice sounded odd and shaky.
"Want to go for a walk?"
**
"So, if the lateral area of the prism is twenty-five hundred, what is the surface area?"
Teddy concentrated hard on the problem. He wanted to answer the question right, he *had* to. He was finally beginning to get second honors, and it wanted to maintain it. This was his only chance of not becoming another low- life in Castle Rock. Graduating from high school was the first step and if it meant tutoring laboriously with Faye for as many hours as it took, it was all worth it.
"Seventy-five thousand?" Teddy asked, somewhat uncertainly.
Faye grinned from ear to ear. "Yes!" She ran her hand through her hair. "Oh I'm so glad that's over. Good job Teddy, you're really improving."
She smiled at him and he smirked back.
"'Course I am," he replied, taking a sip from his pop. "But it's pretty late, and my mom's probably worried." (bullshit, he thought.) "Thanks Faye."
"No problem. See ya next Wednesday," she said, shutting the door behind him and smiling. Helping Teddy out really made her feel good.
But she really needed some fresh air. Grabbing her coat, she headed out the patio door and down-town to God knows where.
**
Breathing in the crisp October air, Chris pulled his jacket on walking down the street. He wasn't really sure where he was going, but he was bored that night and needed to get out. His mother was about to guilty him in to baby sitting and he decided to take a walk before he had to do the dirty deed. Last time he baby sat, Chris' fingers were sore for a month.
Walking around the court square, he grinned when he saw Faye sitting on a bench, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the cracks of the wood she sat on. She looked so innocent and pure and Chris couldn't help but go and talk to her.
"Hey Faye," he said, sitting down beside her. She looked up and smiled happily.
"Hello."
"It's nice tonight, huh?" Chris said randomly.
"Yeah," Faye breathed. "It's nice. What brings you here?"
Chris sighed. "Agh, gotta baby sit tonight, so thought I'd get some fresh air and enjoy my fingers before I sacrifice them tonight."
Faye scrunched her face up. "Ewww, Chris that's disgusting. It's your *baby* sister!!"
Chris' face shown of pure disgust. "Aw come on, Faye. That's sick." Despite that, he laughed and Faye smirked.
"It can't be that bad," she said. "Babies are cute!"
"She's not a baby!" Chris shrilled, horrified. "She's a four year old monster out to rid the world of fingers!!"
Faye rolled her eyes. "I bet you don't know the first thing about kiddies."
Chris scoffed. "Like you do, missy? Huh? You have four older brothers!"
Faye smirked. "Exactly. How do you think I turned out so good? I trained myself."
"Right...maybe that's why you turned out so . . weird."
Faye swatted him gently on the shoulder. "Yeah, whatever punk."
Chris laughed. "If you're so smart, why don't you come and help me then, huh?"
Faye pondered this then shrugged. "Fine. I'm a loser and have nothing else to do tonight."
Chris grinned, standing up. "Excellent!"
Faye shook her head. "Lead the way."
**
"Awwww, how could you ever be resentful towards this little cutie?"
Chris grimaced at Faye's cooeing to his baby sister who was playing with her dolls on the living room floor.
"She's not a *baby* Faye, she's four and a toddler," Chris said irritably. "Stop talking to her like she's an infant."
"Grrr, sorry," Faye said, patting Danni on the head. "I get confused sometimes. Okay so how do you talk to a toddler?"
Chris placed Faye and his coats on a chair in the kitchen then came back in and sat on the floor. His mother had gone to work for the late shift and God knows where Halle was. Geri was up in her room for a change, doing who knows.
"I dunno! You're the expert."
Faye stroked her chin. "Hmmm. Um, Dani?"
Dani looked up at Faye and her blue eyes sparkled. Dani's soft, blonde curls were pulled into pig-tails and her rosy cheeks made her look like a porcelain doll.
"What?" She squeaked, her baby voice making Faye smile.
"You're a very pretty girl, you know that?" Faye said, picking up one of her dolls and braiding its hair.
Dani began to play with her dolls hair too, as if imitating Faye.
"I know. My mommy calls me a princess," she said again, her adorable munchkin voice making Faye giggle. "But Chrissy calls me a monster!"
Faye now all out laughed at 'Chrissy.' Chris, on the other hand, wasn't humored. He blushed lightly and tickled Dani.
"That's 'cause you are, you little munchkin," he teased, tickling her. Dani began to squeal and laugh, giggling and flailing her arms. Chris then placed her in his lap and kissed her on the head.
Faye found this so sweet and her stomach held butterflies.
Chris, finally deciding it was late enough, laid on he couch with Dani on his stomach and turned on the Beatles record softly singing to 'Yesterday.'
Faye smiled and sat on the floor, looking at the two of them.
"This is the only way she falls asleep," Chris said, singing the song softly under his breath to his sister. Before the second chorus even came, Dani snored softly and her baby breath tickled Chris' neck.
"So, where's your mom, Chris?" Faye asked, playing with the hem of her skirt. Chris noticed this and grinned.
"Working," he muttered. "Like always."
Faye found hidden angst behind those words and it made her anxious.
"Like always?"
Chris sighed. "She's *always* working. I'm always stuck watching Dani, and frankly, it pisses me off."
"Really?"
"Well, it's not like I don't love Dani," Chris said. "'Cause I do. It's just...do you think I want to spend my days watching my four year old sister?"
Faye nodded. "You're right. You should talk to your mom about it."
Chris shook his head. "I can't. She works so hard to put food on the table, I couldn't do that to her."
Faye listened intently and nodded. "She seems like a good mother."
Chris looked up in alarm. "Don't say that," he muttered. "You shouldn't talk about things you don't know."
Faye was taken aback by the sudden snap. "Sorry," she muttered.
"No-don't be," Chris apologized, regretting it. "I-it's just...Faye you've got such a different life than me, you know. My mom, she's okay, but God, Halle and her have like this fucking war all the time. And Geri's never home, and Dani doesn't even know her own mom. It's me, just me, and I get so lonely, Faye, you don't even know."
Chris didn't know why he was telling her all of this, but it felt right. The way she actually listened, it made him want to take care of her and hold her.
And as Chris talked about this so delicately, it sparked something in Faye's heart and made her want to comfort him and hold him and tell him it was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay.
"I can't say I know how you feel," Faye muttered. "But I know what it's like to not have somebody there. You know, I never really tell anybody this, but, my brother died in the same car crash that Denny Lachance died in."
Chris sat up, alarmed, cradling Dani.
"That was your brother?"
Faye nodded. "Yep, Dan. I loved him, you know."
Chris never knew. He wasn't sure how to take the news. He always knew it was Dan Berry, but honestly, how many Berry's are there? Why hadn't he known it before? Gordie never said anything about it.
"Oh God, Faye, I'm so sorry."
Faye grinned a bit, making Chris become concerned.
"Me too."
**
Just as she was about to turn on some music, Johnny, the dumb nineteen year old brother she had hated for persuading her to take Spanish as an elective, came waltzing in and plopped his body on Faye's stomach, making her cough and choke on the chips.
"Got off!" she squealed. "Gerrof a me!!" Her face began to turn a sickly shade of green as she didn't budge. Johnny smiled. He was pretty thin for a nineteen year old guy, but his tall six foot frame smothered her own five foot four frame.
Johnny laughed and grabbed a handful of chips, shoving them in his mouth. "Nope. Not until you tell me that I'm the bestest brother ever."
Faye growled and attempted to push him off. "Noooooooo! RAPE!! RAPE!! INCEST, CHILD MOLESTATION!" She began screaming at the top of her lungs, trying to get someone in the house's attention.
Of course, no one came running to her rescue, so Johnny rearranged himself and finally sat on the couch on top of her legs, while Faye panted for breath.
"Jesus Christ Johnny, one of these days you're going to kill me," she mumbled, dusting crumbs off of her skirt.
"Are you gonna eat those chips?" Johnny asked, completely ignoring her obvious annoyance.
"Ugh, no, here have them," she said, shoving them in his lap. "I think I'm going to barf."
Johnny smiled. "Yum."
Faye took one last deep breath and made a face at her brother. "I'm gonna need the living room, so occupy your lonesome self somewhere else."
"Why?" Johnny asked through a mouthful of chips, sputtering all over her.
"Ewww!" she cried, dusting herself off. "Because Teddy's coming over and I need peace and quiet in order to tutor him."
Johnny smirked. "So your little boyfriend is coming over, huh?"
Faye rolled her eyes. "I'm tutoring him, asshole."
Johnny looked skeptically at his baby sister. "Sure. The dude wants in your pants. It's Teddy freaking DuChamp. He's got that man whore reputation."
Faye never knew this.
"Whatever," she said as the doorbell rang. "Listen, that's him, now shoo, off you go!"
Johnny rolled his eyes and gathering his chips, sauntered off to his bedroom.
"Hey Teddy," Faye greeted as she led him inside and they plopped down on her living room floor.
"Hello," he said, putting his bag down.
"So, what are we working on today?"
**
The cold October wind stung Halle's face as she walked downtown. It had been a few weeks since her and her mother's big fight at dinner and it had never really been repaired. She had come home a few days later to find her mother not really talking to her, and that was fine with her.
Except for the empty hole in her chest where her heart used to be.
Halle had never been like this. She used to be happy, full of life, funny. But when she had started getting beating just as bad as Chris and Eyeball had gotten, she changed. She gradually shut out the world, became cold. She stopped trusting guys save for Chris, and instead tried to fill the empty space inside by spending nights with random guys whom she cared nothing for.
But it hurt. Oh God, did it hurt. Halle hated herself so much, it wasn't even funny. She never had a real boyfriend before, only a bunch of one night stands that made her feel like shit. How could she let this happen to her?
Easy really. She was nothing in this world, just another pretty face in the crowd. She was cynical, cold, bitchy, you name it. And Halle was well aware of this. Then why did it feel so hurtful to her?
Halle didn't even realize where she was going when she ran smack dab into someone, sending her sprawling on the sidewalk.
Her heart paused momentarily when she looked up into Gordie's big doeful eyes.
"Hey," he muttered, helping her up. "Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going."
Halle brushed herself off and stood up. "Don't worry about it," she muttered and was about to walk off and continue on her way, when Gordie touched her arm. Chills went up her spine at his distant touch.
She looked expectantly at him and he hesitated. Why had he stopped her? Gordie didn't know, but something about her stormy eyes and entrancing stare made him feel sorry for her. She looked so lost, wrapped in her sweater and her loosely pulled back.
When he spoke, Gordie's voice sounded odd and shaky.
"Want to go for a walk?"
**
"So, if the lateral area of the prism is twenty-five hundred, what is the surface area?"
Teddy concentrated hard on the problem. He wanted to answer the question right, he *had* to. He was finally beginning to get second honors, and it wanted to maintain it. This was his only chance of not becoming another low- life in Castle Rock. Graduating from high school was the first step and if it meant tutoring laboriously with Faye for as many hours as it took, it was all worth it.
"Seventy-five thousand?" Teddy asked, somewhat uncertainly.
Faye grinned from ear to ear. "Yes!" She ran her hand through her hair. "Oh I'm so glad that's over. Good job Teddy, you're really improving."
She smiled at him and he smirked back.
"'Course I am," he replied, taking a sip from his pop. "But it's pretty late, and my mom's probably worried." (bullshit, he thought.) "Thanks Faye."
"No problem. See ya next Wednesday," she said, shutting the door behind him and smiling. Helping Teddy out really made her feel good.
But she really needed some fresh air. Grabbing her coat, she headed out the patio door and down-town to God knows where.
**
Breathing in the crisp October air, Chris pulled his jacket on walking down the street. He wasn't really sure where he was going, but he was bored that night and needed to get out. His mother was about to guilty him in to baby sitting and he decided to take a walk before he had to do the dirty deed. Last time he baby sat, Chris' fingers were sore for a month.
Walking around the court square, he grinned when he saw Faye sitting on a bench, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the cracks of the wood she sat on. She looked so innocent and pure and Chris couldn't help but go and talk to her.
"Hey Faye," he said, sitting down beside her. She looked up and smiled happily.
"Hello."
"It's nice tonight, huh?" Chris said randomly.
"Yeah," Faye breathed. "It's nice. What brings you here?"
Chris sighed. "Agh, gotta baby sit tonight, so thought I'd get some fresh air and enjoy my fingers before I sacrifice them tonight."
Faye scrunched her face up. "Ewww, Chris that's disgusting. It's your *baby* sister!!"
Chris' face shown of pure disgust. "Aw come on, Faye. That's sick." Despite that, he laughed and Faye smirked.
"It can't be that bad," she said. "Babies are cute!"
"She's not a baby!" Chris shrilled, horrified. "She's a four year old monster out to rid the world of fingers!!"
Faye rolled her eyes. "I bet you don't know the first thing about kiddies."
Chris scoffed. "Like you do, missy? Huh? You have four older brothers!"
Faye smirked. "Exactly. How do you think I turned out so good? I trained myself."
"Right...maybe that's why you turned out so . . weird."
Faye swatted him gently on the shoulder. "Yeah, whatever punk."
Chris laughed. "If you're so smart, why don't you come and help me then, huh?"
Faye pondered this then shrugged. "Fine. I'm a loser and have nothing else to do tonight."
Chris grinned, standing up. "Excellent!"
Faye shook her head. "Lead the way."
**
"Awwww, how could you ever be resentful towards this little cutie?"
Chris grimaced at Faye's cooeing to his baby sister who was playing with her dolls on the living room floor.
"She's not a *baby* Faye, she's four and a toddler," Chris said irritably. "Stop talking to her like she's an infant."
"Grrr, sorry," Faye said, patting Danni on the head. "I get confused sometimes. Okay so how do you talk to a toddler?"
Chris placed Faye and his coats on a chair in the kitchen then came back in and sat on the floor. His mother had gone to work for the late shift and God knows where Halle was. Geri was up in her room for a change, doing who knows.
"I dunno! You're the expert."
Faye stroked her chin. "Hmmm. Um, Dani?"
Dani looked up at Faye and her blue eyes sparkled. Dani's soft, blonde curls were pulled into pig-tails and her rosy cheeks made her look like a porcelain doll.
"What?" She squeaked, her baby voice making Faye smile.
"You're a very pretty girl, you know that?" Faye said, picking up one of her dolls and braiding its hair.
Dani began to play with her dolls hair too, as if imitating Faye.
"I know. My mommy calls me a princess," she said again, her adorable munchkin voice making Faye giggle. "But Chrissy calls me a monster!"
Faye now all out laughed at 'Chrissy.' Chris, on the other hand, wasn't humored. He blushed lightly and tickled Dani.
"That's 'cause you are, you little munchkin," he teased, tickling her. Dani began to squeal and laugh, giggling and flailing her arms. Chris then placed her in his lap and kissed her on the head.
Faye found this so sweet and her stomach held butterflies.
Chris, finally deciding it was late enough, laid on he couch with Dani on his stomach and turned on the Beatles record softly singing to 'Yesterday.'
Faye smiled and sat on the floor, looking at the two of them.
"This is the only way she falls asleep," Chris said, singing the song softly under his breath to his sister. Before the second chorus even came, Dani snored softly and her baby breath tickled Chris' neck.
"So, where's your mom, Chris?" Faye asked, playing with the hem of her skirt. Chris noticed this and grinned.
"Working," he muttered. "Like always."
Faye found hidden angst behind those words and it made her anxious.
"Like always?"
Chris sighed. "She's *always* working. I'm always stuck watching Dani, and frankly, it pisses me off."
"Really?"
"Well, it's not like I don't love Dani," Chris said. "'Cause I do. It's just...do you think I want to spend my days watching my four year old sister?"
Faye nodded. "You're right. You should talk to your mom about it."
Chris shook his head. "I can't. She works so hard to put food on the table, I couldn't do that to her."
Faye listened intently and nodded. "She seems like a good mother."
Chris looked up in alarm. "Don't say that," he muttered. "You shouldn't talk about things you don't know."
Faye was taken aback by the sudden snap. "Sorry," she muttered.
"No-don't be," Chris apologized, regretting it. "I-it's just...Faye you've got such a different life than me, you know. My mom, she's okay, but God, Halle and her have like this fucking war all the time. And Geri's never home, and Dani doesn't even know her own mom. It's me, just me, and I get so lonely, Faye, you don't even know."
Chris didn't know why he was telling her all of this, but it felt right. The way she actually listened, it made him want to take care of her and hold her.
And as Chris talked about this so delicately, it sparked something in Faye's heart and made her want to comfort him and hold him and tell him it was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay.
"I can't say I know how you feel," Faye muttered. "But I know what it's like to not have somebody there. You know, I never really tell anybody this, but, my brother died in the same car crash that Denny Lachance died in."
Chris sat up, alarmed, cradling Dani.
"That was your brother?"
Faye nodded. "Yep, Dan. I loved him, you know."
Chris never knew. He wasn't sure how to take the news. He always knew it was Dan Berry, but honestly, how many Berry's are there? Why hadn't he known it before? Gordie never said anything about it.
"Oh God, Faye, I'm so sorry."
Faye grinned a bit, making Chris become concerned.
"Me too."
**
