Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. Various rights belong to Stephan King (story: The Body) and whoever did the movie Stand By Me, which is just the movie version of The Body. Heh. So it belongs to Stephan King. Mostly. Except for Claire, who I love, Jovanna, who is my friend's character and who she loves, and Mandy, Andrea, Jane and Allison, who we don't love. But you still can't have them.
Summary: This is the story of Claire LeBeau, the not-so-typical good-girl-gone-bad (whew, that's a lot of hypens) and the change the not-so-new girl has on her life when she wrecks it- for the better. Does that even make sense?
A/N: This is rated for language and a bit of kissing, but nothing descriptive.
Everyone, go read my friend's story. It's by HelplessPyro911 and it's a companion piece to this. It's called Hands Down. She's also the one who got me started writing this. So this story is dedicated to her. My bestest buddy Ever!
From the Eyes of A Skag
Chapter 1: Blast From The Past
By Preppygirl
Life had been goin' pretty good. At the time, Ace and I had been had been a couple again for almost a week and a half. 10 days, to be precise. I was still the undisputed leader of the little group of skags. All that was about to change because of one girl. It's amazing isn't it, that one person can have such an effect on your life- ruin it, improve it, but change it so drastically it leaves your head whirling and your old life in tatters.
I can still remember, to the last detail, when she walked back into my life...
The Cobras and "my" girls were sitting in a booth at the Blue Point Diner, the local teen hangout in Castle Rock. Looking back, everything was pretty good, up to that point. Mostly, we were happy. Sure, we groaned and moaned, but not one of us would have switched places with anyone else we knew. And what kind of teenagers would we have been if we hadn't complained? We were satisfied with the way life was going- our way.
Anyway, the twelve of us were smashed into a corner booth. All four of my girls were currently going out with a Cobra. Pretty good average. So they're all sitting on "their" boy's lap, little skags they are. Allison Look seemed like she would take Charlie Hogan's face right off any second, while Jane Rebelle and Norman Bracowicz, nicknamed "Fuzzy," were the more mild-mannered couple, simply whispering promises of what would happen "later" in each other's ears, making Jane giggle. Mandy Day was making out with Vince Desjanders, and Andrea Kay, the last member of my group, smiled innocently- which was only believable if you ignored Eyeball Chambers' hand up her blouse and his tongue in her ear. Eyeball's real name is Richard, but no one dared call him that except his family. Jack Mudgett, the only single Cobra and the most perverted boy I've ever met, was staring somewhat lewdly at Eyeball and Andrea. Billy Tessio, another Cobra, stared at a blond waitress. We all knew he was thinking about her, his current girl, a goody-two-shoes named Jezebell White, or just Bell, who we tolerated for two reasons: Billy, and the fact that of the goody-goodies, she was the least innocent- she had to be. She was dating a Cobra.
Ace Merril, the last Cobra and the boy who could sometimes, such as then, but considered my boyfriend, and I, Claire LeBeau, the leaders of our respective groups, grinned at each other, rolling our eyes. I knew what he was thinking, and it wasn't, My friends need to get lives. It was more along the lines of I hope Claire and I have SEX tonight. SEXSEXSEXSEXSEX! He was crude, and somewhat spoiled, but I had made him that way, so I wasn't too worried.
"Later tonight?" I muttered in his ear. He nodded, then cleared his throat. Everyone's attention snapped to him like iron to a magnet. Lips came off faces with an almost audible pop, and Eyeball's hand returned to his side with a snap of Andrea's bra. No matter how busy they were, no matter what (or who) they were doing, Ace was the boss of the Cobras. In fact, he was just plain ol' boss. No challenge.
"Eyeball, we're meeting at your house tonight. Seven o'clock," I told Eyeball. He shook his head glumly.
"Sorry. No can do, boss lady. Unless we wanna stay in my room," he said glancing slyly at Andrea, who grinned naughtily. His attention then returned to me and Ace.
"My two cousins are staying with us 'til my aunt gets her screwed up life back together. Drew's nine. He's not sharing a room with me, luckily, but the little cock-sucker's always following me around," he said grumpily.
"How cute," Ace told him sarcastically. Everyone laughed, and joined in after a minute or two, making everyone laugh harder. Eyeball had the funniest laugh you'll ever hear.
"Yeah, yeah," he continued after everyone calmed down. "Then Jovanna- what a name, she's always saying, 'It's Jovie!'" he mocked in a falsetto. "Anyway, she's 16, and a little goody-two-shoes," he said with a disgusted snort, as if that was the worst thing possible. And I suppose, to us it was.
"Wait- didn't she use to come for summers, three or four years ago?" Mandy asked suddenly. We all stared at her, trying to remember if Mandy had ever said anything so smart. However, all of us were drawing a blank.
"Uhhh... Yeah, she did," Eyeball managed to stutter out.
"Is she foxy?" Jack asked with interest.
"Ehn... so-so," Vince replied, earning him a light slap from Mandy. "Saw her at the train station," he explained to the rest of us. "Eyeball dragged me along to play chauffeur because of my damn car. Ace was busy, wasn't he, Claire?" he asked me, snickering.
"Shut it, Vince. You know very well we were at the Point," I said, somewhat crossly. The Point was a cliff nearby that had a nice view over town, but everyone with active hormones and a car used it for... other reasons.
"Sorry boss lady," he said apologetically. "So, where'll we meet at, if Eyeball's house is outta the question?" Everyone looked hopefully at Billy. His house was the most often used, after Eyeball's. He had only one sibling, unlike the rest of us, and had his own room.
"Sorry, not my place anytime soon. Vern squealed to my dad about everything that happened with that kid's body, and I don't want to make the old man any madder, he'll just give me another hidin'."
"We could just go to the lake?" Allison suggested. Everyone considered it.
"Sounds good. Lake it is," Ace said, okaying the idea. The lake was our second favorite hang out, after the diner. We could sit and talk, smoke and make out in the surrounding woods, with no one to bother us. And we could go skinny-dipping.
"Okay. We'll meet at the gas station at six," Ace decided. Then he glanced at me. "Can you get out tonight, Claire?"
"I don't know..." I trailed off. Everyone chimed in to put in their two cents.
"C'mon Claire."
"It's no fun without you."
"My parents will let me go if you'll be there."
"Yeah, probably," I relented. "I think Adam's working tonight. Ace, swing by at about 5:30, will ya? I'll sneak a call to you if I can't make it."
Plans made, the group dissolved, splitting into different groups, going different directions. Finally, it was just Ace and me left alone in the booth. I cuddled up next to him.
"Alone at last," he sighed, and tilted my head up for a kiss, which soon turned into a full make-out session. Somewhere during this, I heard the bell over the door tinkle as someone came in. Ace and I pulled apart slowly, gasping for air. I surveyed the room as we caught our breath.
The newcomer I recognized instantly. Although we hadn't had contact for four years, I could tell it was Eyeball's cousin. The summers she and her little brother had stayed, we had been inseparable, the best of friends. We had written letters to each other during the school year. The summer before... the accident... had been her last. She was no different now then she had been back then. Her hair had gotten a little darker, and had more red in it, and she was taller, but she was still the same girl I remembered, smiling as she talked to Bell.
She took something from Bell and turned to leave. By this time, Ace was whispering in my ear, something that would make any father in town, my own included, whale on him. However, it made me smile just thinking about it. She saw us, and I knew she recognized me too. Something like disgust crossed her face and she walked out stiffly.
Jovanna Cameron had just walked back into my life.
A/N: Review! Please and thank you! And please check back, because, really, I hate this chapter (but I need it to set the scene) and I'll try to add stuff ASAP and hopefully I'll get around to modifying this. Don't bet on it, tho. J
