Well, I'm upset that no-one reviewed Chapter 2! I mean, my story isn't THAT bad is it? Oh well, more Chuckie/Angelica this time around with a cameo role from Kimi.

For the Disclaimer, there is a character you will meet early on and I DO own her as I created her!

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Chapter 3: The Cold Hard Truth I've Been Told

It was finally over! The first day of College and Chuckie was still alive. He had never thought that he would have to cope by himself, but he did and he was alive to tell his friends the tale. His thoughts wandered off as he slowly walked along the hallway to exit the building.

'I wish I knew why she just treated me like an inferior. Like she was royalty and I'm just a peasant.' Of course, Chuckie was thinking of his blonde "friend" Angelica.

Not a moment had gone by when he hadn't thought about her this afternoon. In the morning he couldn't think at all, but since lunch Angelica was on his mind all the time. He had relived many memories, both bad and good, and he could not find an answer as to why she had reverted back to her old self. During the last few grades of Junior High School he had actually begun to notice Angelica more. Not through her pranks, jokes or crappy personality, but through her beauty...her looks to be precise. He did not deny to himself that he did think she was a very beautiful young woman, he found her very attractive but her evil ways did more to keep him at a few arms lengths away from her as much as possible.

The only person who knew of his affection for Angelica was his sister Kimi. Normally, he would confide in Tommy, but he just couldn't bring himself to talk to him about Angelica, maybe because Tommy is Angelica's cousin. Maybe because Tommy would tell him that she is not worth the effort of liking. Chuckie was not sure. It might be something else or a combination of the two, but there was some reason as to why he couldn't tell his best friend.

Chuckie opened the doors and walked out into the parking lot. He stopped and looked around for any sign of Angelica or her car. She was lucky enough to own a Lotus Esprit Sport 300 and her parents had paid a lot of money for it as so few of the cars were made, 65 to be precise. It had been a present for her as a result of her passing her driving test with flying colours. No majors and no minors...a perfect drive. Angelica had driven perfectly on her test and everyone was proud of her. It was her greatest achievement to date.

After a few seconds he saw the black car and started to walk towards it when we saw two girls walking in the general direction of Angelica's car. Remembering the "little hints and tips" Angelica had given him at the start of the day, he decided to stop and look like he was busy. Not that you could look busy in a parking lot surrounded by cars and not have people think that you just might be trying to break into and steal one.

As Angelica talked to her friend, she glanced over and saw Chuckie.

'What an idiot. Anyone who sees him will think he's gonna try and steal a car.' She thought to herself.

"Is there something bothering you Angelica?" Her friend asked.

"Hmm? Oh no. Just lost in...thought." Angelica gave a nervous smile.

Her friend turned around and saw Chuckie. Before she could do anything, Angelica grabbed her arm and whispered to her; "He is not a car thief. Trust me."

She turned to look at Angelica. "How do you know? Do you know him Angie?"

"Er, well, er...not really. I, uh, have, uh, seen him...around...during summer." Angelica said as she stumbled to think of something convincing.

The other girl sighed. "Well, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Besides, if he does nick a car, we'll be witnesses. Anyway, I better be off. I'll see you at practice after school tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye." Angelica called. Once her friend had gone, she turned to look at Chuckie. He looked at her and she beckoned him over.

"Uh, that was a close call huh?" Chuckie said nervously.

"Just get in Finster." Angelica snapped impatiently.

Chuckie ran to the passenger door and got in.

"Who was that anyway?" Chuckie asked as he fastened his seatbelt.

"Her? Oh, just the Captain of the Cheerleading Squad. By the way Finster, don't look around the parking lot, someone might call the police and you will end up being arrested." Angelica's tone had become more reasonable and patient.

"Uh...I couldn't think of something to do."

"Oh never mind. I was able to convince her that you were not looking to steal a car." Angelica's voice had turned unemotional as she drove.

Chuckie did not know what to think of his companion. She was almost back to her old self...not quite but nearly. He wanted to know why she had turned back on her nice ways.

"Uh, Angelica? Can I ask you a question?" Chuckie asked nervously.

"What?"

"I, uh, just wanted to know...er...what happened."

"What do you mean 'what happened'?" Angelica asked.

"To you. I mean, a few days ago we were close friends..." Chuckie began.

"Close? We were not close, Chuckie. Maybe you felt close to me, but I didn't feel close to you." Angelica cut him off.

'We were not close? Now that is a lie. She was the one who came round to see me all the time. She was the one who always sat next to me...and rather close to me as well. She was the one who initiated the hug whenever we parted our ways at the end of the day.' Chuckie thought.

"Well, anyway, why are you back to your old self Angelica? Why? I miss the new you, the one who would stand up for me, the one who showed compassion for me, the one who...was nice to me. The Angelica who got my respect and who I cared for. What happened?" Chuckie asked. He really wanted to know.

Angelica sighed deeply.

'Can I tell him? Can I really say how I feel about this whole thing? Maybe, in time. Not right now. I can't reveal it to him.' Angelica thought.

"Uh, that's none of your business Chuckie. Until such time, you will not know and I doubt you will ever know." Her voice sounded a little hurt and regretful. She knew she had to brush him away...it was her only option whether she liked it or not.

Chuckie was still in the dark. He had very little information to work on with his question. Maybe, at a later date he might be able to extract more information from Angelica. Good or bad information, he did not care at the moment. All he wanted was answers and all the answers he got just led to more questions.

....

A few hours had passed. Chuckie lay on his bed with his hands behind his head as he thought of Angelica. He still couldn't work anything out.

'I need help with this.' He thought as he reached over and took a framed picture off his bedside table and looked at it. He could not help but smile.

A knock came at his door and it opened to reveal his sister, Kimi.

"Chuckie? Are you alright?" She asked as she walked over and sat on his bed. She took the picture out of his hand and laughed lightly.

"I...I don't know." He sighed in response.

"I remember this. Oh! It was so cute to see you two like that! I just HAD to take the picture." Kimi commented.

The picture showed two people sleeping on the couch downstairs. A boy and a girl. The boy, resting his head on the girl's shoulder and the girl resting her head on his.

"Heh. I remember that day. I'm glad you got the camera Kimi." Chuckie said as he took the picture back.

"You and Angelica must have had a wild day to be that wiped out. What did you two do? Make out like there was no tomorrow?" She teased her brother.

"Unfortunately, your bro here did not make out with her. No-one did. Would have been nice. Then she wouldn't have turned on me today." Chuckie replied as his voice got more hurt the more he spoke.

"What do you mean 'turned on you'?" Kimi asked. "Yesterday, you two were nearly all over each other!"

"We were not! Look Kimi, we were kind of close, but we were not in a relationship!" Chuckie shouted angrily.

"Chill Chuckie! Don't get all stressed. I didn't mean to upset you." Kimi said holding her hands out defensively.

Chuckie sighed. "I know. I'm sorry Kimi. It's just...well Angelica has reverted back. She's now the Angelica I fear instead of the Angelica I cared about. I asked her why she has turned back and she just said it was none of my business. I mean, what happened to her Kimi? If you talked to her, you might be able to extract more information than I can."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea Chuckie. I mean, this is Angelica. If what you say is true, then she would lie to me or try and turn me into a pile of blood, flesh and bones." Kimi pointed out.

"Yeah...I guess your right Kimi." Chuckie sighed. He was depressed now. There was very little that he could do at the moment. He wanted answers, answers that wouldn't warrant more questions coming as a result of the answers he received.

'There must be a way to pry the truth out of her. There just has to be.' He thought to himself.

....

Angelica lay on her bed. She was tired and rather cranky. She had been trying to sleep for a few hours without success, something that had made her cranky and thereby kept her from sleeping. A combination that she was unhappy of encountering, a vicious circle. She sighed, closed her eyes and started to calm herself.

'Getting stressed isn't going to help. Take deep breaths and think of things that make you happy.' She thought to herself...and it happened.

Memories started flowing through her mind. Memories of her recent past and her new friendship with Chuckie Finster. She smiled as she thought about some of the things they had done over the summer. She started to feel guilty.

'Gee, we had a great time and now I've turned on him. I really hurt him today. Am I really turning back into the monster that I once was? Am I really as evil and uncaring as I seem to be? Am I horrible and cruel to someone as...sweet...as Chuckie? He...he is so nice and caring yet I treat him like he's nothing more than a...a...a piece of crap. I...I should apologize to him.' Angelica thought. Her guilt had increased and she decided to try to set things right.

....

The phone rang.

"Hello? Oh hi Angelica. Yes he's in. Chuckie! Phone!" Chas shouted to his son.

Chuckie ran downstairs from his room and took it from his father.

"Hello?"

"Uh, Chuckie?"

"Angelica?"

"Uh, hi. I, erm...wanna just say that...well..." She trailed off.

"Say what?" Chuckie asked.

"I...I...I'm..." Angelica said.

"You're what?" Chuckie asked.

Angelica put the phone down. Chuckie heard nothing but a dialling tone. He put the phone down and frowned.

'What was she trying to say?' He thought to himself.

To Be Continued...

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Well, there we have it. Chapter 3 is now complete.

Looks like the summer thing has made some changes to Angelica that will take a lot to be broken, if she wants to fully revert back to the old Angelica that is. Chuckie doesn't know what to think of her and now is left with rather a lot of questions with no answers. Kimi obviously thinks this is one battle that Chuckie must fight for himself but will lend him a helping hand every now and then.

Now, Chapter 4 will revert to Tommy and the rest for you Tommy/Lil and Phil/Kimi fans.

TK-421