Awakening: Third Stage

-

-

-

Chapter Fifteen

-

-

-

"A Fresh Start"

-

-

-

New Year's Eve

"Hey, Tino here. Back in the saddle again. So it's New Year's Eve and I'm standing on Lor's front porch. Of course, you probably already knew that, but I've been in something of a funk for the past month, and I feel the need to explain myself. And narrate my life."

"It's been a whole month since Tish came to my house to say her peace. And we've been avoiding each other ever since. Yeah, I guess you could say that things have been pretty awkward. I miss her even more than I thought I would, but I guess that she doesn't miss me. I hope that we can at least be friends again soon."

"And speaking of friends, there's my new 'best bud,' Carver. He's so desperate to take my mind off of Tish that we haven't hung out with Lor at all either. I haven't even seen her outside of school. Even when I do talk to her. . .she seems different. Sometimes I get so absorbed in my own sorrow that it's easy to forget how Lor has been hurt too. I need to spend more time with her, we understand what the other is going through. And it's about time I started hanging out with Tish again. Even if it will be hard, I have to be stronger if I don't want to lose her as a friend. So, I guess it's kinda obvious that tonight is destined to be one of those awkward moments you keep thinking back on and wincing over. You know what I mean. Okay, here goes." Tino knocked on Lor's front door and was greeted a few moments later by his friend, who instantly lit up upon seeing the boy.

"Tino!" Lor called enthusiastically, all but hugging him. "Where the heck have you been since Homecoming?"

"Hi Lor!" Tino smiled, noting that it felt good to see her again. Better than he had expected. "Um, I guess that it's been awhile. . ."

"Awhile? Dude, you and Carver hardly even say hello to me anymore. The two of you have been like totally invisible!"

"I know, I know. Carver's been trying to be my 'best bud,' and keep me from thinking about Tish. It's nice of him, but. . .I want to hang out with you and Tish again. He thinks I've developed some sort of phobia of girls or something."

"Did you?"

"No, I didn't!" Tino said loudly, proud of himself. Heck, now I can even stare at a picture of Tish without crying. Yup, I'm doing all right for myself. But I definitely want us to hang out again, Lor."

"You'd better! Next time, remember that it was Tish you broke up with, not me, okay?"

"All right. And I'm sorry. I won't let it happen again, Carver or no Carver."

"That's more like it."

"So I guess you've been feeling kind of left out lately, Lor. And I realize now that I'm not the only one who lost someone close to them." Tino sighed.

"I'll give you a pass, this time. I mean, admittedly I wasn't thinking about you a whole lot either. I'm still really upset over this whole Thompson thing."

"Because he left?" Tino asked.

"No, because I was so stupid, I never did anything until it was almost too late. Well I'm never going to make that mistake again! The next time some guy catches my eye, I'm going in guns blazing!" Lor raised her fist into the air.

"Right. And I'll be sure to call for backup." Tino rolled his eyes, then cleared his throat. "You look good, Lor."

"Um, thanks." Lor replied hesitantly. "You look pretty good too, especially after what you went through. I know that Tish meant a lot to you. . ."

"As much as Thompson meant to you?"

"No, I think what you had for Tish is a lot deeper. Especially considering what you said to her."

"It was. It is. I don't know anything anymore, Lor." Tino closed his eyes and cleared his throat again, worried that he might cry in front of her.

"It'll be okay, Tino." Lor patted his shoulder lightly.

Tino chuckled a little. "People only say that when they don't know what else to say."

"Yeah. But I have heard her side of the story. Not that I understand it or anything. But she still cares for you, if it helps."

"It does."

"I care about you too." Lor said hesitantly, turning away after realizing what she just said. "Um, don't expect me to hug you or anything."

"Coming from you? I'd feel sorta scared!" Tino laughed. "But you do seem different lately."

"I'm still adjusting to my Thompsonless life, I guess."

"You weren't even with him that long, Lor."

"Keep it up, wiseass! I'm going to hang upside down by your bedroom window with a giant clown poster!"

"DO NOT!" Tino shouted, pointing at the girl while she laughed at his Achilles heel.

"Dude, Tish is coming up the sidewalk. Do you wanna come inside?"

"No thanks. I can't keep running away from her. Even if our romance is gone, I need her to be my friend. I don't want to lose her."

On queue, Tish began coming up the front walkway, waving at Lor, who returned the gesture. Tino gulped once, then turned around to smile. "Hi Tish."

"Tino." Tish returned the smile, her voice making her sound so alive. "You look well."

"I'm doing okay." Tino ran a hand through his hair, noting how Tish's own hairstyle had changed somewhat, a lone clip holding her hair in the middle, it fell down the sides a bit, cascading. "You look great, Tish. I'm glad that we're here."

"I want us to stay friends." Tish reassured him. "We owe that to the others. And even though it hurts. . .it wasn't as bad as it could've been."

"It still hurts, Tish."

"I know." Tish took his hand in her own and squeezed it gently. "I didn't leave you for anyone else. It wasn't like that at all. I realize that you still don't understand my reasons, but whenever you feel really torn up about it, try to remember that I did this because I'm your friend. I care about what happens to you. And that is something that will never change, girlfriend or no."

"Thanks Tish." The corners of Tino's mouth lifted into the smallest of smiles.

Tish let go of his hand and straightened his collar. "Thank you for coming. You're a good friend. The best."

"What are friends for?" Tino asked, looking into her eyes.

Tish stared back for several moments, unable to blink. "I do miss you." She whispered before lowering her arms and stepping away.

Lor smiled at the two of them. "So does this mean you two aren't going to kill each other?" She asked chidingly.

"Happy new year to you too, Lor." Tish rolled her eyes. "And no, Tino and I are not going to kill each other. Not today anyway."

Lor shrugged and waved at the approaching, fashionably late Carver. "Dude, about time you got here!" Lor called to him.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't decide on the right pair of shoes. I get some really sweet ones for Kwanzaa, but then I kept changing my outfit and. . ."

"Short version please?" Lor interrupted.

"Um, sorry I'm late?" Carver grinned sheepishly.

"Thank you. Now can we please get inside to wear the snacks are? I've been starving myself all day so we can all pig out together!" Lor led the way into her home, her friends following, yet Tino held back a bit.

"There! You see what I mean? When have you ever known Lor to inconvenience herself for someone else, even her friends? The Lor I know would've totally finished all the best snacks by now. I'm getting a little worried about her. Losing Thompson obviously had a more detrimental effect than I had thought. Okay, I'm definitely going to start keeping an eye on her. You can't ever rule out conspiracy, you know. I mean, what are the odds of both Lor and I losing our significant others on the same night? Coincidence? Oh, we'll just have to see about that!"

Lor appeared next to Tino, pulling on his arm. "C'mon, Tino, you're holding up the party!"

"That's more like it!" Tino grinned as Lor pulled him inside the MacQuarrie household.

-

-

Carver sat on one end of the L-shaped sofa, digging into the large bowl of potato chips and a can of cola. Tish was resting just two cushions to the left of Carver, nibbling on a carrot stick she held between her dainty fingers. Tino watched her with one eye from four cushions away, falling in love all over again with the way her hair cascaded down her back, her usual hairstyle not having changed much from when she had first became his girlfriend three years earlier. It had grown a bit longer in the front, now clipped in the middle instead of at each side. Her bangs hung down, cropped close to her eyes but not obscuring her vision. She was staring straight ahead, her right hand resting on her chin while her left held the vegetable. Somehow, Tino began to feel guilty that he didn't have the matching hairclip she had entrusted him with so many weeks ago. Every fiber of his being wanted to be closer to his ex-girlfriend, to hold her once more, but he refused to give into his selfish desires. He would not risk making her uncomfortable, or getting her upset. She had made her decision and acting like a child would not improve his situation with her one iota.

The house was eerily quiet, as the remainder of the MacQuarrie clan had gone down to the beach with a grill, fireworks, and a portable TV to ring in the new year. Lor sat directly to the left of Tino, passing a worrying expression at Tino, noticing the longing look he was passing in Tish's oblivious direction. She reached for a can of soda and said nothing. She couldn't think of anything that would comfort Tino. She couldn't even think of anything that would comfort herself, what could she possibly do for him? This was beginning to seem like one of the worst parties she had ever seen. How embarrassing was it that she was playing the hostess?

"Okay, so this is awkward." Carver spoke what was on everyone's mind.

"Well, it might've helped if you and Tino hadn't been avoiding us for like the past month!" Lor voiced loudly.

"It was a good idea, Lor!" Tish protested. "Things were getting pretty emotional for all of us. Well, except maybe for Carver."

"What!" Carver yelled. "So all three of my friends are hurting and it's not supposed to bother me? What, do you think that just because I'm the only one who hasn't had a steady that nothing upsets me? Because I know the pain, sister! Don't pretend you know my pain!"

"Stop being so melodramatic, Carver, you're giving me a headache!" Lor moaned.

"You're all against me! This is unreal!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Tino shouted, demanding everyone's attention. "Mute! We're all friends here! Can't we all just get along like pseudo adults?"

"I knew this would happen." Lor mumbled.

"Know what, Lor?" Tish asked, her curiosity piqued.

"This all your fault! You had to go and break up with Tino and now our group is all messed up!"

"How can you say that!" Tish roared, a taste of bile rising in her throat. "The whole reason I'm here is to show that friendship always endures!"

"Lor. . ." Tino sighed, "If Tish and I can agree to get along as friends, then how is everything wrecked? I don't hate Tish, I love her." Tino held up a hand to stop any interruption from Tish regarding that comment. "That's a major bone of contention between the two of us. And it's caused us to avoid each other for the past month. The two of us see eye to eye on precious little right now, but we agree that we're friends. But we both showed up here because we're friends. We aren't enemies. We must not be enemies."

Tish smiled at that comment. "Abraham Lincoln?"

"Que?" Tino asked, feeling confused and finding that he had lost his momentum.

"You just quoted Abraham Lincoln." Tish reiterated.

Tino still felt befuddled. "Well, I wouldn't put this on the same level as the Civil War, Tish, but I think I get what you're saying."

"We need to stick together as friends." Tish nodded. "We've all been through some bad stuff, but it's up to us to grow stronger from it, or give in to our hardships. I don't want to give in. What about you guys."

"Isn't that easy for you to say, Tish?" Lor spat sarcastically.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Lover boy here has been casting longing glances at you ever since you got here. Things would seem pretty easy for me too if I knew I had my ex-boyfriend wrapped around my pinky finger!"

Tino's face took on a mortified expression while Tish stood up feeling angrier than she had in a very long time. "I don't have to listen to this!"

"That's right, you don't." Lor threatened. "But then, you never listen to anything that you don't want to listen to, do you Tish? Everything always has to be your way!"

"Hey! Knock it off, ladies!" Carver ran over, getting between the girls as Lor stood up. "This isn't helping the situation. You two know you're friends, so apologize and start acting like it!"

"I will if she will." Lor pouted.

"Lor. . ." Tino rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry already!" Lor sighed.

"I'm sorry." Tish said, more sincerely, but still with a noticeable amount of frustration in her voice. "Can we just. . .start over?"

"A fresh start sounds good to me." Tino agreed.

"It would give us an excuse to forget about all this." Carver grinned.

Lor nodded. "Okay. Hi, I'm Lor."

"I didn't mean that fresh." Tish rolled her eyes. "Like this. Happy new year!"

"It's only 7 o'clock." Carver looked at his watch.

"Well, I say we get a jump on the celebration. Who's up for a pizza?" Tish asked.

"Now you're talkin' my language, Miss Katsufrakis."

Tino smiled, helping himself to one of the plentiful cans of soda. Maybe somehow, they would get through this. Maybe somehow, they could agree to be friends first and let the other stuff come second. After all, it was New Year's Eve, a time for burying hatchets and resolutions to make yourself a better person. But little did any of them realize that the dark shadows were looming in January, waiting to strengthen the strain.

-

-

-

Ha ha! I'm back! Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Okay, so actually, I haven't been dead, I was just off writing a very long and complex story for a different fandom, and then I took a vacation. And now. . .I'm not sure, I still sort of feel like I'm on vacation, but it's about time Third Stage so and update, now isn't it?

Having been gone for so long, I'm sure you all expected a bit more out of this update than you got. It's okay, be honest. I'm sorry about that, but circumstances require that I get this chapter out now or risk it falling by the wayside for entirely too long. Rest assured that I'll do better in the future and avoid ridiculous lag times between updates.

The purpose behind this chapter was to immerse myself in this story once more, I need to find its track again, so please forgive me if it's a little bumpy here and there. I'm working on it. One of the biggest adjustments is that the pacing will change a bit as I have a lot to do with these characters, and I have a lot of stories in me, and the all too realistic fact is that my fanfic writing days are numbered. It's not that I don't love writing fanfiction, but I can see that a time is coming when I just won't have the time to devote to the hobby anymore. I don't want that to happen before at least getting through my Fourth Stage of Awakening.

That said, I want to take the time to thank each of you who support me in all that I do. It's because of your love that I have kept Awakening as part of my current projects and not cast it off to chase after other rainbows. I want to do my best to make sure that Awakening is the best Weekenders fanfic you have the problem of reading. Sadly, that's purely a matter of opinion, and one reader's treasure is another's trash, but if you've come along this far, I'm going to hazard that I must be doing something right. So I'm sorry that I've been gone so long, and thanks for bearing with me. If you haven't been keeping tabs and are wondering where I've been, check out "The Sweet Hereafter" under the Hey Arnold category. Or just click on my name to see everything I've written. You don't need to be reading anyone else's fanfiction anyway! (That's a joke, people). Laugh!

I will admit that throughout my hiatus. I found myself missing my girls, Lor and Tish. I felt like Tino was looking for me and I even gave a high five to Carver, who does have something going on later this Stage, believe it or not. I guess Weekenders blood runs through my veins. Or I just need to get back to my roots. But it's good to be here, very good indeed. Now, it's been a long time, and this story really needs a boost. People out there need to know it's not dead. So review the crap out of this thing! Tell the world how wonderful it is. Or at least that you're glad to have it back. Or even sorry to see it back. Whatever fancies your tickle.

And if you can't get enough of me, then send your questions, comments, compliments, complaints, love letters, death threats, marriage proposals, and ransom demands to:

Lord Malachite

02/07/05

5:19AM, EST

E-mail: ranger(underscore)writer(at)yahoo(dot)com

AIM: Asukaphile26