I had to take this story down so I could make a vital change to it. The beginning of the first chapter stated that it was now 2005 in the story, but it's really 2001. For a hot minute, I forgot that I was writing in the distant past…a whole four years ago! Anyway, on with the story!
"Matt!" Wesley shouted. "If you don't stop right now…"
He was interrupted by a knock on the door. He let out a sigh of relief as he opened the door. Stephanie was standing there with her arms folded. He winked at Matthew, stuck his tongue out, and then left with his girlfriend.
"Sorry I'm late," he said. "Matt was being annoying."
"It's okay," she said. "Did you get the job yet?"
"What job?" Wesley asked, puzzled.
"Don't you remember?" Stephanie reminded him. "You applied for that work-study job in the bookstore right before the break. Don't tell me you forgot!"
"Okay," Wesley said nervously, "but I did. I was busy with other things over the break. All kinds of junk, and then Matt was sick, and then there was another de…saster, disaster in the house. It was just crazy."
"Well," Stephanie said, "you better check up on that as soon as you can."
"Let's go now," Wesley said. "Come with me."
Together, they walked across the Quad to the Student Center, where the bookstore was located. It wasn't a very large bookstore by any means (there were only six hundred students, after all), but a job was a job. If anything, Wesley figured that a smaller bookstore meant easier work, which was all he cared about anyway. Stephanie went to check her mail while Wesley walked into the bookstore.
"May I help you?" one of the cashiers asked.
"Yeah," Wesley explained. "I applied for a job here and was just wondering if there was any word on it."
"You can go in the back where the managers' offices are. I'll call and let them know," the cashier said as Wesley walked to the back.
Stephanie waited and waited for Wesley to come out of the bookstore. Almost twenty minutes had passed, so she decided to walk around the bookstore. She was holding up an Oxford sweatshirt to her body and looking in a mirror when she was surprised by another student who had bumped into her. She turned around and exhaled sharply when she saw that it was Lina.
"Lina!" she said, "you scared me to death!"
"Oh!" Lina responded, feigning emotion. "I'm so sorry, Stephanie. I'm just so…upset!"
"Why?" Stephanie asked, noticing a tear fall from Lina's eye. "What's going on?"
"Well," Lina said, acting distraught, "I don't know how you'll take this, but it's about Wesley."
"Wesley?" Stephanie repeated to make sure she was on the same track. "What about him?"
"He," Lina began before whining some more, "he's been saying things about me, hurtful things."
"He what?" Stephanie asked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Lina said between sobs. "Jimmy told me about it. He's spreading untrue rumors about me, Stephanie! Can you believe it?"
"No!" Stephanie said defiantly. "He's not that kind of person to do something like that. I think that if he had a problem with you, he'd tell you straight up, but spreading rumors is…"
Her words were abruptly cut off. Before she could let out another word, Lina's eyes had begun to glow an eerie green color. She stared intensely at Stephanie, whose eyes had also started glowing. Stephanie was lost in thought; one moment she was talking, but now she had no idea about what she had said earlier. Lina never took her eyes off of Stephanie; she only spoke to her in a strange tone.
"Stephanie," she spoke, "you believe every word I'm telling you. Wesley is out to get me and he will stop at nothing to do so. Spreading rumors is only the beginning. You will hear what you want to hear from him. Don't defend him, Stephanie. He doesn't deserve it."
"No, he doesn't," Stephanie repeated in a monotone voice.
Just as quickly, both Lina's and Stephanie's eyes returned to normal. Lina kept telling her about how Wesley hated her with a passion. Stephanie was believing every word and becoming angrier with every passing second.
"I can't believe he would do that!" she roared loudly, catching the attention of the cashier in the bookstore. "That's so…so…so…"
"Hateful?" Lina asked.
"Yes!" Stephanie responded before calming down. "You know what, girl? Don't trip about this. I'll deal with him and get to the bottom of things. You just feel better, okay?"
"I'll try," Lina said, covering her mouth. "I hate to be the one who told you this."
"Oh no," Stephanie said. "Better you than me hearing it from somebody else. I have to go now. I'll see you around. Take care."
"Thanks," Lina said. "You, too."
Lina turned and walked out of the bookstore, grinning from ear to ear. When she saw that no one was looking at her, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, having done what she needed to do.
Stephanie waited in front of the bookstore, furious with Wesley for what he had seemingly done. Fifteen minutes later, he finally walked out of the store, smiling. He walked up to Stephanie and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. She decided to take a more subtle course of action, so she returned the smile and took his hand as they left the Student Center.
"You must have good news," she said.
"I got a job," he announced. "It took some talking, but I knew that if I hung around Matt long enough, I'd get some of his manipulative talking skills. Now, I know that it wasn't that big of a deal, working at a campus bookstore, you know. But I like to think that it's all about the principle. She said that she was trying to decide between me and this other chick named Tina, but I told her that I was much more of an asset. She finally caved in."
"Lina?" Stephanie asked.
"No," Wesley said, "Tina. I ain't thinkin' about that girl Lina."
"Why?" Stephanie asked. "Did she do something to you?"
"It's a long story," Wesley explained. "It's complicated."
"I'm sure it is," Stephanie said. "Listen, I need to go get something to eat. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yeah," Wesley said. "See you later, then."
"Bye," she said, walking away.
Wesley sensed something different about Stephanie, but he couldn't quite put his fingers on what it was. For a minute, he even thought that she was angry with him for something, but he hadn't done anything wrong that he could think of, so he quickly dismissed the notion and returned back to his dorm room.
Lina, I hate you, you crazy bi-atch! Get off the stage, you bum! Anyway, coming up: Wesley saves his teachers' brain, but James is worried…