~*A/N: Okay, I have very little time to say this cause I have a French
project that's due tomorrow that I slacked on, and I have got to hurry up
and finish it. So thus I can't leave any long messages, and promise to do
them for the next chapter, which is already in the process of writing, and
should be up sooner when my French project is finished. Big thanks to all
those who reviewed. You guys really made me feel guilty about not posting.
Thanks again! And this chapter is dedicated to Leigh_143 as always...and the
newcomers behind-blue-eyes, CHIXY, BUBBLEZ(so glad you passed your quiz
thing), ThatJoeyKid, and anyone else I probably forgot.*~
Disclaimer: I still do not own any of the characters, or anything related to SOR except for what was mentioned in earlier chapters, so don't sue me. (I'm broke as it is.)
**Chapter 8**
"I hate life. Life sucks." Arin fumed, not really caring that she was talking to no one but herself and her nonexistent alter ego. "And I've got jam session with Freddy..."
"You're home Arin." Her aunt Ruby looked sad, and ticked off at the same time. "I'm so sorry about Charles."
"Oh, don't worry, I am too." She sighed, slumping into a chair, "This is rock bottom."
"But Arin, we need to talk."
Arin sat, her chin held in her hands as she listened to her aunt lecture. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she glared back at Aunt Ruby, as if daring her to say anything worse. She wasn't sure when it started, but it was probably when Aunt Ruby demanded to know where she had been the other night, which was kind of strange as she had never asked that question before.
"I thought all this time it was someone like Lawrence. I though you were hanging out with Lawrence for crying out loud! But no, I find out it's Freddy Jones!" Aunt Ruby gave her niece a stern look. "I've lived in this world, and in this town a lot longer than you have missy, and I would advise you to stay away from that boy. He's a bad influence."
"He also happens to be very sweet, and he actually listens to me." She retorted.
"I listen to you! But you don't want to talk to me about anything."
"Well right now you aren't doing a very good job of listening, are you? And for your information, I don't talk to you because there isn't anything I need to talk to you about. I've taken care of talking about my parents from talking to Freddy."
"There you go, talking about Freddy again." Aunt Ruby looked close to hysteria. "Why don't you like Lawrence?"
Arin sighed in a frustrated manner. Her aunt was so hard to understand. She was funny and so much fun to be with at one point, and so...bitchy the next. "He's nice, and polite, and I like him a lot, AS A BROTHER. But face it; romantically the boy's a flop. Unless you consider him married to his schoolwork and piano. I'm not saying that he's boring to hang around, cause he's pretty thoughtful, it's just that he lacks the excitement that Freddy has."
"But if you were to marry one of these boys, let us just say, Lawrence would be the one who could support you and give you a good life. Freddy's not going to go anywhere in life, and you had better wake up and smell the coffee." Even now that damn girl defended that badass boy.
"Then I'll take that chance Aunt Ruby. It's not like he doesn't want to accomplish anything in life! He has dreams too, but they aren't what his parents want, and that's a problem. You know what? You wouldn't understand, so I'll just leave."
"Yes, we're through with this all. Why don't we just put it this way and say that you aren't going to be seeing that boy any more. You've been coming home late almost every night, and it's pure torture waking you up in the morning. Especially since the other day you came in reeking of alcohol and smoke. I didn't want to ask you what you had been doing all night, but all I can say is that it's a big problem. And I didn't find out about this until two days ago from Lawrence himself when he came to tell me about what you've been up too."
"Lawrence told you?" Her anger was evident, but she brushed it off for a moment, storing the information in the back of her mind, "But I still get good grades." Arin shot back. Ruby sighed, the girl did have a point about that.
"Tell me Arin, how can you go about knowing that you've only known Freddy for how long? About a little over a month? That's nothing. He's probably not even interested in you."
"It's hard to explain, but I felt a connection with him the first time I saw him." Arin fought back tears that threatened to fall. "You want to keep me from hanging out with him? Fine. Just let me have this night then. I won't see him anymore except for in school. Happy with me being miserable?"
"It's not tha..."
"Yes it is auntie dear, and just because I'm not your precious Debbie doesn't mean that I don't have feelings too." She was blinking furiously now more than ever. "I though we were done with all this melodrama. I'm not going to frickin go and say the few words that I will regret saying for the rest of my life."
"No, you're going to go break whatever you have going between you two off right now."
"What is with you? Well you know what? I can do whatever the hell I want, and you're not going to stop me."
She began to walk out the door, but her Aunt posed herself in the way with a firm 'No'. Arin sighed heavily and pushed her out of the way.
"You're mother wouldn't approve of you hanging out with Freddy. She would want you to go and stop this nonsense." Aunt Ruby said tactfully. It had the desired effect. Arin froze rigidly, like she was a statue, and in any other given situation it might have been funny, but at that time, it wasn't. Steering her niece towards the front door, Ruby gave Arin a look to suggest that she do what was told.
"That is so...argh, you're so...cruel! That is so damn unfair!" She shouted. "What gives you the right to tell me what to do anyways? You're not my mother."
"I'm your guardian Arin, and I say you go. That should mean something to you."
"Funny, because it doesn't. Not anymore." She spat over her shoulder. The icy tones weren't hidden from her voice. And the girl vanished from sight. Ruby sighed, praying to God that when Debbie grew up she wouldn't have to go through this whole ordeal all over again. As much as she loved her sister and her children, Arin really was getting out of hand. Charles she could handle, and he was delightful, but his sister was a lot harder to understand. And Ruby didn't appreciate the way Arin could sometimes twist words.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Beating his drumsticks against the surface of the drums, Freddy apprehensively waited for Arin's arrival. It wasn't like her to usually be this late. He glanced up at the clock, running a hand through his blonde hair impatiently. Yep, she was definitely late; it was already 6:30. But it was excusable, especially since her brother was in the hospital, and she had a lot on her mind. He didn't want to say anything, but lately her grades had been slipping slightly, which was some cause for alarm.
The slamming of a door, and the furious stomp of footsteps down the hall punctuated her arrival. Arin burst through the double doors, her face flushed, and her eyes red as if she had cried the whole evening. Immediately Freddy dropped his drumsticks, not even caring where they landed or if he would find them again after, and walked over to her, concern etched into his features. Her entrance was typical of himself, but not of her.
"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing the seething rage she now kept bottled up. Arin sighed, releasing some of the tension.
"Run in with my aunt." She smiled tightly, and from her expression, Freddy could infer that it had not been a pleasant one.
"First time the whole time I've known you." He pointed out, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him strangely, the hurt in her eyes being conveyed to him.
"Don't even get me started about that." Arin turned and picked up the guitar lying in the corner with a rigidity that surprised him. She proceeded to strum out a few chords to fill the silence that enveloped them.
"You sure you want to play?" He asked, and then inspecting the words he had just said, blushed a shade of scarlet before rephrasing. "You still set on jamming?"
"Yes."
Hunting for the drumsticks he knew were there, Freddy smiled half- heartedly. "Aight."
But as they played various songs, it became more and more evident that their hearts just weren't in the music. Arin was too wrapped up in her blind anger, and Freddy was too preoccupied in his worry. After Arin missed another chord, Freddy had to call a halt, knowing that something bad was up.
"Should we take a break?" He offered, seeing her nod and pull the guitar strap over her head. Arin placed the instrument down gently, and joined him next to the drums. Her eyes perused his face, as if she was trying to memorize every little thing about it.
"My aunt doesn't approve of you." The words sounded hollow to her own ears.
"And has that ever stopped you?"
"Freddy, she dished out my mom factor. It's not funny." She looked down at him, refusing to sit.
"I never said it was." He responded after a brief moment of silence. " What the hell did she say to you?"
"Hmm, where to begin? It started when I was talking to myself..."
"You were talking to yourself?" Freddy inquired, but it earned him the dirtiest look humanely possible, and that alone sent him back into silence.
"As I was saying, I was talking to myself, and my aunt overheard me, and then she totally blew up at me, asking where I had been the other night, and proceeded into this Lawrence versus Freddy thing. Then it got into a your mother wouldn't approve thing."
New tears were silently coursing down her face, and she didn't even bother to wipe them. Freddy stood then, and enfolded her into his arms, feeling her warms tears soak through the material of his shirt.
"Nobody has ever approved of me." He told her in a whispered tone, "And I doubt that anyone ever will." He thought about the many times his parents lectured him about image and gaining their approval or he would never make it in life. There were only a few people in the world that accepted him for who he was, Arin included.
"I approve of you." Arin's face held no traces of regret or humor. Her arms tightened around his waist as she dropped her head to his shoulder once more.
"I know you do. But something else has got you really shaken up. Might as well get it off your chest."
Arin looked even more depressed, but she lifted her face to his inspection. Even teary eyed she was so pretty, her blue eyes standing out even more than ever, and the angry flush paling away to a faint rosy pink. She was as beautiful as an angered cobra, for when angered, a cobra opens up its hood, and looks angry, but beautiful.
"I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster." She told him bluntly, "Ever since I got here. I wanted to hate the fact that I wasn't in Toledo, but you and my brother gave me reason not to. Then my brother got into an accident, and so I plummeted."
Freddy could see that she wasn't finished, and wisely waited for her to continue.
"But here comes the best part where I reach the bottom of the big hill of the roller coaster ride. My aunt doesn't want me to see you anymore. I'm sorry." She couldn't bring herself to even look at him. "I can only see you in school. No more jam sessions, no more driving me to the hospital to see my brother. Nothing, cept watching you become a face on the wall."
"What?"
"Oh yea, and guess how she found out about us hanging out? Lawrence dropped by before I got home and told her that I had been hanging around with you, and because you don't exactly have the best record in everyone's book, she's commanded me to break off anything between us." She smiled in a pained fashion. "And here goes my happy life crashing down about me."
"Lawrence?" Freddy repeated in disbelief. "I'm going to kill that bastard!"
Arin shook her head. "Nah, let him be. It's not going to matter if you beat him up since I'm not going to be around to cheer you on. Plus I think he already feels guilty for ratting, and I think that self punishment is more just."
"To hell with that!" He bristled angrily. "Arin, you can't let everything get to you. I know your life is going really rough right about now, but that doesn't give you any reason to suddenly start acting like you hate the world. That's my job."
"Oh? I thought your job was just to be the good-looking wiseass."
"That too." He agreed in a serious tone. There was something disturbing in the way Arin said everything. "You're acting strange."
"I think this is just the pressure of everything getting to me." She replied evenly. "I don't think you'd understand Freddy. I'm losing everything that I ever cared about. I lost my parents, I lost my home in Toledo, I lost my friends, I lost my regular life, and all I had left of that was Cha Cha, and I'm this close to losing him too. I'm losing my grades; don't think I don't know about that. And to top it off, I lose the first guy that I truly care about after meeting him in my so called 'new home and new life'."
"You haven't lost me." Freddy stated sharply, confused for a moment. " You're far from losing me."
"Oh but I have." She sounded crazed and not in the right mind. "It's already begun, don't you see? My aunt stops everything between us, Katie picks you up, she's been lying in wait this whole time, and I now know why she hated me when I first came."
"You can sneak around your aunt's back. Since when have you been above doing that? I thought I taught you something."
"What use would that do? She'd just catch me again if I ever got careless, and then I'd be in for it, get another lecture, and be told not to see you again. The cycle goes on and on. So there's no point to that. There are other alternatives that at this moment are more appealing."
He didn't know what to think, to do, or to say. She was crumbling right in front of him, and there was nothing he wanted to do more than keep her there in one piece. He had never been afraid of Arin being morbid, but this was something he couldn't handle. She worried him with her cynical humor that had suddenly gained a sharp and dark edge to it that cut and sting where normally it just tickled.
"I've got to get back home before my aunt rags on me more than she already has." Arin sighed. She began to break away, but then hesitated. He was taller than she was, but not by too much. Arin knew it was an act of desperation, but she also knew it was something she had wanted to do for so long. Arms hooking around his neck, she kissed him. Feather-light at first, but as he matched her desperation and longing, it intensified.
She felt a rush of emotion, sadness, fear, excitement, and...love all in one moment. Freddy was crying and she didn't even know why, but his tears were trailing down his face, a salty tang on her lips. Those tears alone made her feel guilty.
Freddy wanted to stop crying, he honestly did. But he couldn't. It wasn't in his power at the moment to do such a thing. Arin pulled away for a few moments, gently wiping his tears.
"Why are you crying?" She asked quietly.
"Because of you." He told her blankly, moving to kiss her neck. She let him for a moment longer before sighing.
"I love you Freddy." It had never been clearer to her than at that moment. She knew what it would do to him. He froze, lifting his head to gaze upon her face, clear shock written in his eyes. But the one word he uttered completely blew her away.
"Why?" New tears were threatening.
Unfortunately she caught sight of the clock, and shook her head. " Because I just do." With that she extricated herself from his arms, and ran, knowing that she was breaking his heart by running away, and that in knowing so, her own heart was breaking.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is definitely not the first time you've come here over girl problems." Zack solemnly said, plopping himself down on a nearby chair since his friend was sprawled out on the couch, his long frame taking up the whole space. Freddy cast a side-glance at him from his position on the couch lying comfortably on his stomach, a pillow propping his head up.
"I know." The fifth sigh in the last seven minutes. Something was definitely up. Did Arin turn him down or something? He voiced his worry, but saw the dark look that crossed the blonde drummer's face.
"She didn't turn me down man. She's not allowed to see me anymore." An even worse a fate than death. Zack had never seen the normally energetic and charismatic boy this blank and emotionless. Freddy was usually cussing up a mile an hour, about some teacher, most likely Leighton, some place, or some thing.
"Say what?"
"Her aunt doesn't like me. Sounds like a set of parents I know. Mr. And Mrs. Jones of the happy Jones household." A cynical grin broke through, though it was hollow and humorless. The phone rang, shattering the silence they had been sharing. Since Freddy was the closest, he threw an arm forward, taking the phone.
"Hello?" He paused, waiting for the other end. Zack rolled his eyes.
"Oh my god! I love you, and I can't live without you! You mean the world to me! Why did you leave me..."
Dull stare from Freddy as he moved the receiver away from his ear and held it up for Zack to take. "Zack, it's for you."
Tentatively Zack took the phone, wondering who could be calling. "Who is this?"
"Shaylyn. Don't you love me? Zack, you're everything to me."
"Um...can I call you back?" He bit his lip as she carried on for a bit before allowing him to hang up.
"And that was about?" Freddy voice was muffled as he buried his head into the supportive pillow.
"Guessing the news about me and Summer has finally broken to about everyone in the school." Zack tossed the phone back to Freddy who was about the replace it when it rang again. Hitting the talk button, Freddy brought it to his ear again before he gingerly moved it farther from his hearing distance because of the loud shouting on the other end.
"I hate you! I hate you so much, I wish you would go to hell! Die! Die! Die! May the devil kill you himself..."
"Yours again."
"Joy." Zack took the phone, but instead of answering it hung up. " Candace I'm guessing."
"Whadda bitch." Freddy smiled grimly.
"Yeah." Another uneasy silence took over in which they could hear the dishwasher in the background, and the ticking of the clock over the mantelpiece.
Freddy ran a hand through his spiked hair. "She loves me you know."
"Huh? Who?" Zack did a double take, turning from the window quickly and almost tripping.
"Arin. She told me she loves me."
"Well did you tell her back?"
"Sad to say, no."
"Could you get any stupider?" Zack commented bluntly. "Now she's probably gonna think that she loves you, but you don't love her back. Unless it's true."
"No. She means a lot to me." Freddy shook his head.
"Yeah, as a friend or as something more?" His friend inquired, "What, she has emotional problems, and you've got commitment issues?"
Freddy shot Zack an evil glance to show he wasn't helping much. "Well she does have emotional problems right now. I mean, her brother's in the hospital."
"Right. Any words on his recovery?"
"Not a clue."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lying on her bed on her stomach, Summer scooted to glance over Katie's shoulder as the girl sat on the floor, notebook in hand.
"What are you doing?" Summer asked, checking her nails to make sure they hadn't been smudged. Nope, they were still perfect even when drying. Being a perfectionist went all the way to her nail polish too.
"Stuff." Katie replied absentmindedly, tapping the pen to her chin before hurriedly jotting down some notes. "If you have to know, it's about Bunny politics in Watership Down. Stupid paper was assigned to us, and I just finished the book."
"I could help you if you want." Her friend offered, but Katie shook her head quickly.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll pass." She replied, checking her watch. As she did so, Summer caught sight of black pen on her arm. Craning her neck forward just a tad, she attempted to read the writing.
"What's that?"
"What's what?"
Summer blew on her nails impatiently, "That on your arm. I didn't see it before 'cause your sleeve was in the way. But what is it?"
Katie blushed and pulled her sleeve up for Summer to read it clearly. There in black in were two letters clearly drawn on skin, the letter F, and the letter J in a little heart. Three guesses to what those letters meant. Summer sighed deeply, fixing a long stare at her friend.
It was Katie's turn to inquire"What?"
"Can't you move on? This crush has gone on long enough. Freddy's moved on, why can't you?" Summer said bluntly. "I hate seeing you looking like a dog that is denied a bone. Just find someone better, please Kat."
"You can't just move on so fast!" Katie argued back, tugging her sleeve to its original position. "Just because you're all happy that you have a boyfriend doesn't mean that I'm all happy with my boyfriend-less state."
"I'm just worried about you Katie. You're really hung up about him, and it's starting to get a little crazy." Summer said softly, checking her nails for the billionth time.
"I know." Her friend's dark eyes turned towards the carpeted floor in a moody turbulence. "It's hard to explain. I'm moving on in a way, but at the same time, some part of me wants to stick around just in case. You know."
"But what if he hurts you? He's bound to do that to you. Freddy isn't known for his...subtle ways of putting things."
Katie rolled her eyes and smiled. "Believe me, I know. I even know the expression that crosses his face when he's annoyed. I find it very cute."
"Yeah, yeah, so the guy's rebellious, charming and cute. He also moved on from you a very long time ago. Don't think I'm trying to discourage you or anything, but I'm just trying to be honest. If I wasn't honest, you would end up in a bigger tangle of emotions that I could even begin to try to fathom. You see what I'm saying." She
"Yeah, I get it. It's nice to know you have friends looking out for you, but Summer, please don't try to force me to like so-and-so, and what's-his- face. If I'm not ready to move on, then I'm not ready to move on. The time will come, eventually I guess." Katie twisted the fringe of the bedspread between her fingers uneasily as her best friend watched her carefully.
"And for your sake, you better hope it doesn't end in heartbreak." Summer muttered darkly, wondering if there was more to this than meets the eye. Nothing was ever easy and uncomplicated. Especially when it came to Freddy. And with the competition at the end of the week, they were already up to their ears in stress and worry.
"Just chill. Everything will be okay." She muttered to herself, trying to keep a level head and not go off worrying about every little person in the entire band. But it was kind of hard. At least there was one individual she could safely worry about, Zack.
~*A/N: Sorry, but I've got to go now! Hit that silver button in the corner and make me extremely gratified! NO FLAMES since those are pointless, but I do appreciate constructive criticism. Thank you! (and since I got a flame, I would like to clarify that Arin is totally not based on me, but rather on a friend of mine.) Bye!~
Disclaimer: I still do not own any of the characters, or anything related to SOR except for what was mentioned in earlier chapters, so don't sue me. (I'm broke as it is.)
**Chapter 8**
"I hate life. Life sucks." Arin fumed, not really caring that she was talking to no one but herself and her nonexistent alter ego. "And I've got jam session with Freddy..."
"You're home Arin." Her aunt Ruby looked sad, and ticked off at the same time. "I'm so sorry about Charles."
"Oh, don't worry, I am too." She sighed, slumping into a chair, "This is rock bottom."
"But Arin, we need to talk."
Arin sat, her chin held in her hands as she listened to her aunt lecture. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she glared back at Aunt Ruby, as if daring her to say anything worse. She wasn't sure when it started, but it was probably when Aunt Ruby demanded to know where she had been the other night, which was kind of strange as she had never asked that question before.
"I thought all this time it was someone like Lawrence. I though you were hanging out with Lawrence for crying out loud! But no, I find out it's Freddy Jones!" Aunt Ruby gave her niece a stern look. "I've lived in this world, and in this town a lot longer than you have missy, and I would advise you to stay away from that boy. He's a bad influence."
"He also happens to be very sweet, and he actually listens to me." She retorted.
"I listen to you! But you don't want to talk to me about anything."
"Well right now you aren't doing a very good job of listening, are you? And for your information, I don't talk to you because there isn't anything I need to talk to you about. I've taken care of talking about my parents from talking to Freddy."
"There you go, talking about Freddy again." Aunt Ruby looked close to hysteria. "Why don't you like Lawrence?"
Arin sighed in a frustrated manner. Her aunt was so hard to understand. She was funny and so much fun to be with at one point, and so...bitchy the next. "He's nice, and polite, and I like him a lot, AS A BROTHER. But face it; romantically the boy's a flop. Unless you consider him married to his schoolwork and piano. I'm not saying that he's boring to hang around, cause he's pretty thoughtful, it's just that he lacks the excitement that Freddy has."
"But if you were to marry one of these boys, let us just say, Lawrence would be the one who could support you and give you a good life. Freddy's not going to go anywhere in life, and you had better wake up and smell the coffee." Even now that damn girl defended that badass boy.
"Then I'll take that chance Aunt Ruby. It's not like he doesn't want to accomplish anything in life! He has dreams too, but they aren't what his parents want, and that's a problem. You know what? You wouldn't understand, so I'll just leave."
"Yes, we're through with this all. Why don't we just put it this way and say that you aren't going to be seeing that boy any more. You've been coming home late almost every night, and it's pure torture waking you up in the morning. Especially since the other day you came in reeking of alcohol and smoke. I didn't want to ask you what you had been doing all night, but all I can say is that it's a big problem. And I didn't find out about this until two days ago from Lawrence himself when he came to tell me about what you've been up too."
"Lawrence told you?" Her anger was evident, but she brushed it off for a moment, storing the information in the back of her mind, "But I still get good grades." Arin shot back. Ruby sighed, the girl did have a point about that.
"Tell me Arin, how can you go about knowing that you've only known Freddy for how long? About a little over a month? That's nothing. He's probably not even interested in you."
"It's hard to explain, but I felt a connection with him the first time I saw him." Arin fought back tears that threatened to fall. "You want to keep me from hanging out with him? Fine. Just let me have this night then. I won't see him anymore except for in school. Happy with me being miserable?"
"It's not tha..."
"Yes it is auntie dear, and just because I'm not your precious Debbie doesn't mean that I don't have feelings too." She was blinking furiously now more than ever. "I though we were done with all this melodrama. I'm not going to frickin go and say the few words that I will regret saying for the rest of my life."
"No, you're going to go break whatever you have going between you two off right now."
"What is with you? Well you know what? I can do whatever the hell I want, and you're not going to stop me."
She began to walk out the door, but her Aunt posed herself in the way with a firm 'No'. Arin sighed heavily and pushed her out of the way.
"You're mother wouldn't approve of you hanging out with Freddy. She would want you to go and stop this nonsense." Aunt Ruby said tactfully. It had the desired effect. Arin froze rigidly, like she was a statue, and in any other given situation it might have been funny, but at that time, it wasn't. Steering her niece towards the front door, Ruby gave Arin a look to suggest that she do what was told.
"That is so...argh, you're so...cruel! That is so damn unfair!" She shouted. "What gives you the right to tell me what to do anyways? You're not my mother."
"I'm your guardian Arin, and I say you go. That should mean something to you."
"Funny, because it doesn't. Not anymore." She spat over her shoulder. The icy tones weren't hidden from her voice. And the girl vanished from sight. Ruby sighed, praying to God that when Debbie grew up she wouldn't have to go through this whole ordeal all over again. As much as she loved her sister and her children, Arin really was getting out of hand. Charles she could handle, and he was delightful, but his sister was a lot harder to understand. And Ruby didn't appreciate the way Arin could sometimes twist words.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Beating his drumsticks against the surface of the drums, Freddy apprehensively waited for Arin's arrival. It wasn't like her to usually be this late. He glanced up at the clock, running a hand through his blonde hair impatiently. Yep, she was definitely late; it was already 6:30. But it was excusable, especially since her brother was in the hospital, and she had a lot on her mind. He didn't want to say anything, but lately her grades had been slipping slightly, which was some cause for alarm.
The slamming of a door, and the furious stomp of footsteps down the hall punctuated her arrival. Arin burst through the double doors, her face flushed, and her eyes red as if she had cried the whole evening. Immediately Freddy dropped his drumsticks, not even caring where they landed or if he would find them again after, and walked over to her, concern etched into his features. Her entrance was typical of himself, but not of her.
"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing the seething rage she now kept bottled up. Arin sighed, releasing some of the tension.
"Run in with my aunt." She smiled tightly, and from her expression, Freddy could infer that it had not been a pleasant one.
"First time the whole time I've known you." He pointed out, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him strangely, the hurt in her eyes being conveyed to him.
"Don't even get me started about that." Arin turned and picked up the guitar lying in the corner with a rigidity that surprised him. She proceeded to strum out a few chords to fill the silence that enveloped them.
"You sure you want to play?" He asked, and then inspecting the words he had just said, blushed a shade of scarlet before rephrasing. "You still set on jamming?"
"Yes."
Hunting for the drumsticks he knew were there, Freddy smiled half- heartedly. "Aight."
But as they played various songs, it became more and more evident that their hearts just weren't in the music. Arin was too wrapped up in her blind anger, and Freddy was too preoccupied in his worry. After Arin missed another chord, Freddy had to call a halt, knowing that something bad was up.
"Should we take a break?" He offered, seeing her nod and pull the guitar strap over her head. Arin placed the instrument down gently, and joined him next to the drums. Her eyes perused his face, as if she was trying to memorize every little thing about it.
"My aunt doesn't approve of you." The words sounded hollow to her own ears.
"And has that ever stopped you?"
"Freddy, she dished out my mom factor. It's not funny." She looked down at him, refusing to sit.
"I never said it was." He responded after a brief moment of silence. " What the hell did she say to you?"
"Hmm, where to begin? It started when I was talking to myself..."
"You were talking to yourself?" Freddy inquired, but it earned him the dirtiest look humanely possible, and that alone sent him back into silence.
"As I was saying, I was talking to myself, and my aunt overheard me, and then she totally blew up at me, asking where I had been the other night, and proceeded into this Lawrence versus Freddy thing. Then it got into a your mother wouldn't approve thing."
New tears were silently coursing down her face, and she didn't even bother to wipe them. Freddy stood then, and enfolded her into his arms, feeling her warms tears soak through the material of his shirt.
"Nobody has ever approved of me." He told her in a whispered tone, "And I doubt that anyone ever will." He thought about the many times his parents lectured him about image and gaining their approval or he would never make it in life. There were only a few people in the world that accepted him for who he was, Arin included.
"I approve of you." Arin's face held no traces of regret or humor. Her arms tightened around his waist as she dropped her head to his shoulder once more.
"I know you do. But something else has got you really shaken up. Might as well get it off your chest."
Arin looked even more depressed, but she lifted her face to his inspection. Even teary eyed she was so pretty, her blue eyes standing out even more than ever, and the angry flush paling away to a faint rosy pink. She was as beautiful as an angered cobra, for when angered, a cobra opens up its hood, and looks angry, but beautiful.
"I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster." She told him bluntly, "Ever since I got here. I wanted to hate the fact that I wasn't in Toledo, but you and my brother gave me reason not to. Then my brother got into an accident, and so I plummeted."
Freddy could see that she wasn't finished, and wisely waited for her to continue.
"But here comes the best part where I reach the bottom of the big hill of the roller coaster ride. My aunt doesn't want me to see you anymore. I'm sorry." She couldn't bring herself to even look at him. "I can only see you in school. No more jam sessions, no more driving me to the hospital to see my brother. Nothing, cept watching you become a face on the wall."
"What?"
"Oh yea, and guess how she found out about us hanging out? Lawrence dropped by before I got home and told her that I had been hanging around with you, and because you don't exactly have the best record in everyone's book, she's commanded me to break off anything between us." She smiled in a pained fashion. "And here goes my happy life crashing down about me."
"Lawrence?" Freddy repeated in disbelief. "I'm going to kill that bastard!"
Arin shook her head. "Nah, let him be. It's not going to matter if you beat him up since I'm not going to be around to cheer you on. Plus I think he already feels guilty for ratting, and I think that self punishment is more just."
"To hell with that!" He bristled angrily. "Arin, you can't let everything get to you. I know your life is going really rough right about now, but that doesn't give you any reason to suddenly start acting like you hate the world. That's my job."
"Oh? I thought your job was just to be the good-looking wiseass."
"That too." He agreed in a serious tone. There was something disturbing in the way Arin said everything. "You're acting strange."
"I think this is just the pressure of everything getting to me." She replied evenly. "I don't think you'd understand Freddy. I'm losing everything that I ever cared about. I lost my parents, I lost my home in Toledo, I lost my friends, I lost my regular life, and all I had left of that was Cha Cha, and I'm this close to losing him too. I'm losing my grades; don't think I don't know about that. And to top it off, I lose the first guy that I truly care about after meeting him in my so called 'new home and new life'."
"You haven't lost me." Freddy stated sharply, confused for a moment. " You're far from losing me."
"Oh but I have." She sounded crazed and not in the right mind. "It's already begun, don't you see? My aunt stops everything between us, Katie picks you up, she's been lying in wait this whole time, and I now know why she hated me when I first came."
"You can sneak around your aunt's back. Since when have you been above doing that? I thought I taught you something."
"What use would that do? She'd just catch me again if I ever got careless, and then I'd be in for it, get another lecture, and be told not to see you again. The cycle goes on and on. So there's no point to that. There are other alternatives that at this moment are more appealing."
He didn't know what to think, to do, or to say. She was crumbling right in front of him, and there was nothing he wanted to do more than keep her there in one piece. He had never been afraid of Arin being morbid, but this was something he couldn't handle. She worried him with her cynical humor that had suddenly gained a sharp and dark edge to it that cut and sting where normally it just tickled.
"I've got to get back home before my aunt rags on me more than she already has." Arin sighed. She began to break away, but then hesitated. He was taller than she was, but not by too much. Arin knew it was an act of desperation, but she also knew it was something she had wanted to do for so long. Arms hooking around his neck, she kissed him. Feather-light at first, but as he matched her desperation and longing, it intensified.
She felt a rush of emotion, sadness, fear, excitement, and...love all in one moment. Freddy was crying and she didn't even know why, but his tears were trailing down his face, a salty tang on her lips. Those tears alone made her feel guilty.
Freddy wanted to stop crying, he honestly did. But he couldn't. It wasn't in his power at the moment to do such a thing. Arin pulled away for a few moments, gently wiping his tears.
"Why are you crying?" She asked quietly.
"Because of you." He told her blankly, moving to kiss her neck. She let him for a moment longer before sighing.
"I love you Freddy." It had never been clearer to her than at that moment. She knew what it would do to him. He froze, lifting his head to gaze upon her face, clear shock written in his eyes. But the one word he uttered completely blew her away.
"Why?" New tears were threatening.
Unfortunately she caught sight of the clock, and shook her head. " Because I just do." With that she extricated herself from his arms, and ran, knowing that she was breaking his heart by running away, and that in knowing so, her own heart was breaking.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is definitely not the first time you've come here over girl problems." Zack solemnly said, plopping himself down on a nearby chair since his friend was sprawled out on the couch, his long frame taking up the whole space. Freddy cast a side-glance at him from his position on the couch lying comfortably on his stomach, a pillow propping his head up.
"I know." The fifth sigh in the last seven minutes. Something was definitely up. Did Arin turn him down or something? He voiced his worry, but saw the dark look that crossed the blonde drummer's face.
"She didn't turn me down man. She's not allowed to see me anymore." An even worse a fate than death. Zack had never seen the normally energetic and charismatic boy this blank and emotionless. Freddy was usually cussing up a mile an hour, about some teacher, most likely Leighton, some place, or some thing.
"Say what?"
"Her aunt doesn't like me. Sounds like a set of parents I know. Mr. And Mrs. Jones of the happy Jones household." A cynical grin broke through, though it was hollow and humorless. The phone rang, shattering the silence they had been sharing. Since Freddy was the closest, he threw an arm forward, taking the phone.
"Hello?" He paused, waiting for the other end. Zack rolled his eyes.
"Oh my god! I love you, and I can't live without you! You mean the world to me! Why did you leave me..."
Dull stare from Freddy as he moved the receiver away from his ear and held it up for Zack to take. "Zack, it's for you."
Tentatively Zack took the phone, wondering who could be calling. "Who is this?"
"Shaylyn. Don't you love me? Zack, you're everything to me."
"Um...can I call you back?" He bit his lip as she carried on for a bit before allowing him to hang up.
"And that was about?" Freddy voice was muffled as he buried his head into the supportive pillow.
"Guessing the news about me and Summer has finally broken to about everyone in the school." Zack tossed the phone back to Freddy who was about the replace it when it rang again. Hitting the talk button, Freddy brought it to his ear again before he gingerly moved it farther from his hearing distance because of the loud shouting on the other end.
"I hate you! I hate you so much, I wish you would go to hell! Die! Die! Die! May the devil kill you himself..."
"Yours again."
"Joy." Zack took the phone, but instead of answering it hung up. " Candace I'm guessing."
"Whadda bitch." Freddy smiled grimly.
"Yeah." Another uneasy silence took over in which they could hear the dishwasher in the background, and the ticking of the clock over the mantelpiece.
Freddy ran a hand through his spiked hair. "She loves me you know."
"Huh? Who?" Zack did a double take, turning from the window quickly and almost tripping.
"Arin. She told me she loves me."
"Well did you tell her back?"
"Sad to say, no."
"Could you get any stupider?" Zack commented bluntly. "Now she's probably gonna think that she loves you, but you don't love her back. Unless it's true."
"No. She means a lot to me." Freddy shook his head.
"Yeah, as a friend or as something more?" His friend inquired, "What, she has emotional problems, and you've got commitment issues?"
Freddy shot Zack an evil glance to show he wasn't helping much. "Well she does have emotional problems right now. I mean, her brother's in the hospital."
"Right. Any words on his recovery?"
"Not a clue."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lying on her bed on her stomach, Summer scooted to glance over Katie's shoulder as the girl sat on the floor, notebook in hand.
"What are you doing?" Summer asked, checking her nails to make sure they hadn't been smudged. Nope, they were still perfect even when drying. Being a perfectionist went all the way to her nail polish too.
"Stuff." Katie replied absentmindedly, tapping the pen to her chin before hurriedly jotting down some notes. "If you have to know, it's about Bunny politics in Watership Down. Stupid paper was assigned to us, and I just finished the book."
"I could help you if you want." Her friend offered, but Katie shook her head quickly.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll pass." She replied, checking her watch. As she did so, Summer caught sight of black pen on her arm. Craning her neck forward just a tad, she attempted to read the writing.
"What's that?"
"What's what?"
Summer blew on her nails impatiently, "That on your arm. I didn't see it before 'cause your sleeve was in the way. But what is it?"
Katie blushed and pulled her sleeve up for Summer to read it clearly. There in black in were two letters clearly drawn on skin, the letter F, and the letter J in a little heart. Three guesses to what those letters meant. Summer sighed deeply, fixing a long stare at her friend.
It was Katie's turn to inquire"What?"
"Can't you move on? This crush has gone on long enough. Freddy's moved on, why can't you?" Summer said bluntly. "I hate seeing you looking like a dog that is denied a bone. Just find someone better, please Kat."
"You can't just move on so fast!" Katie argued back, tugging her sleeve to its original position. "Just because you're all happy that you have a boyfriend doesn't mean that I'm all happy with my boyfriend-less state."
"I'm just worried about you Katie. You're really hung up about him, and it's starting to get a little crazy." Summer said softly, checking her nails for the billionth time.
"I know." Her friend's dark eyes turned towards the carpeted floor in a moody turbulence. "It's hard to explain. I'm moving on in a way, but at the same time, some part of me wants to stick around just in case. You know."
"But what if he hurts you? He's bound to do that to you. Freddy isn't known for his...subtle ways of putting things."
Katie rolled her eyes and smiled. "Believe me, I know. I even know the expression that crosses his face when he's annoyed. I find it very cute."
"Yeah, yeah, so the guy's rebellious, charming and cute. He also moved on from you a very long time ago. Don't think I'm trying to discourage you or anything, but I'm just trying to be honest. If I wasn't honest, you would end up in a bigger tangle of emotions that I could even begin to try to fathom. You see what I'm saying." She
"Yeah, I get it. It's nice to know you have friends looking out for you, but Summer, please don't try to force me to like so-and-so, and what's-his- face. If I'm not ready to move on, then I'm not ready to move on. The time will come, eventually I guess." Katie twisted the fringe of the bedspread between her fingers uneasily as her best friend watched her carefully.
"And for your sake, you better hope it doesn't end in heartbreak." Summer muttered darkly, wondering if there was more to this than meets the eye. Nothing was ever easy and uncomplicated. Especially when it came to Freddy. And with the competition at the end of the week, they were already up to their ears in stress and worry.
"Just chill. Everything will be okay." She muttered to herself, trying to keep a level head and not go off worrying about every little person in the entire band. But it was kind of hard. At least there was one individual she could safely worry about, Zack.
~*A/N: Sorry, but I've got to go now! Hit that silver button in the corner and make me extremely gratified! NO FLAMES since those are pointless, but I do appreciate constructive criticism. Thank you! (and since I got a flame, I would like to clarify that Arin is totally not based on me, but rather on a friend of mine.) Bye!~