hey everyone, chapter 30. read and review, ok? we finally find out if Lex, Jeff, and friends won their contest.
disclaimer: Ducks belong to Disney. Fred and Cecilia belong to Cimmy. Lex, Jeff, Matt, Anthony, Anna, Chris, and Sammie belong to NYgoldfish54.
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Chapter 30: A Perfect Day?
By NYgoldfish54 and Cimmy
Dwayne's POV
We get off the bus at this big place. I don't know what else to call it, as there are no signs saying what this place is.
"Russ, where are we?" I ask.
"I dunno, Cowboy," Russ answers.
We're all dressed in clean, bordering on nice, clothing.
I happened to be there when Jeff and friends were telling us to dress nicely for this ceremony.
"You guys have to dress up nicely, or at least, put on clean clothes," Jeff had said.
"Why?" Adam had asked.
"Cause we don't want to look like complete slobs," Jeff had said.
"What would we have to wear?" Fulton had asked.
"Nice shirt, nice pants. A tie would be nice, but it's not necessary," Chris had said.
"A tie? Nice clothes? How about not?" Luis had said.
"How about we kill you if you don't?" Matt had said in mock sweetness.
Nobody else objected after that.
So here we are, walking into this big place. Once we get to the inside, I realize that it's the same place that the concert was at. It's different when it's sunny and not all crowded and loud.
Chris and Anna are leading us through the seats to the section reserved for us, and Averman is close behind Anna. Lex and Jeff are walking together, talking quietly. They don't look like they're arguing, as both are smiling. Their explosion on the bus was a little out of character for them. That's more of a Fred and Cecilia type thing to do. Or a Charlie and Adam type thing. Or a Charlie and Cecilia type thing. Has anyone noticed the Charlie/Cecilia pattern? Anyway, it's not really a Lex and Jeff thing, and so when it happened, nobody really knew what to do. Even Matt and Sammie looked a little lost on what to do. Good thing Chris was reasonable enough to get up and go over there.
I like Chris. He's calm. He's reasonable. He sticks up for his friends, but shows more patience then Matt. Matt's kind of scary when he gets mad. Chris is just kind of silently furious. Matt yells a lot and seems to lean towards violence for solving problems. I think his self control is better than that, though, because no matter how badly he's wanted to, Matt hasn't actually hit anyone this week. Anthony has, but I think it's a more of a one time thing.
When we finally get to the seats we're supposed to be in (two rows, one after the other, 12 seats in each) our hosts and hostesses let us go in first. Lex, Jeff, and Chris sit on the end of the row where I'm sitting, and Sammie, Anna, Anthony, and Matt are sitting in the row in front of us.
"Matt, you bastard, you're too tall!" Lex says from directly behind him, "Switch with Anna! I can't see!"
"Yes, Your Worship," Matt grins, and switches with Anna.
"Hey! I can't see now!" says Jeff.
"Ya know what Jeff?" Matt says.
"What?"
"Cope."
Jeff hits Matt in the back of the head. For whatever reason, this causes Anna to start laughing and Sammie to pinch Matt. Chris pulls Matt's short hair, Anthony then punches Matt's arm, and Lex reaches over and pulls on his ear.
"Ouch! Why are you all picking on me?" Matt whines.
"Cause you're the biggest," Anna says, reaching up to pull on Matt's nose. He tries to bite her hand, but without much success.
"Well, their behavior is…odd," says Kenny, looking around. The place is starting to fill up, and the people around us are throwing us dirty looks. Lex, Jeff, and company don't seem to care though.
"Who's going to be here? Is it a full crowd, like last time?" I ask Jeff.
"Nope, it's just supposed to be the people who competed," he answers, before yanking Lex's hand away from Matt's ear and flicking it himself.
"Ouch! Lex! Stop!" Matt yells.
"It wasn't me!" Lex raises her hands in a defensive gesture.
"It was me," Jeff grins, and then ducks as Matt swipes at his head with his hand.
Half hour later, the non-Ducks are still being obnoxious to one another. The place is about as full as it's going to get, because this guy comes out with a microphone onto the stage. The band falls silent rather quickly, and the Ducks follow suit.
"Musicians, guests, friends, family, welcome," the man starts. "Over the past weeks, we've been listening to young artists from around the country…"
The man drones on and on for who knows how long. I just know it's a long time. I notice Fulton has dozed off, Cecilia and Portman are getting restless, Adam keeps checking his watch, and Connie is about to bounce right off her seat. Lex's head is on Chris's shoulder. Jeff is staring off into space. Matt's arm is wrapped around Sammie on his left, and his other arm is around Anna on his right, and both are resting on him. Anthony's head is propped up on his hand. Even they're bored, and they're the reason we're here! I look around at the people I don't know; other bands and such. They all look bored and drowsy too.
"…And so, that brings us to why we're here," the man on the stage says. Everyone perks up a bit, and the man continues, "But first we have a few awards to give out to outstanding individuals who outshined the others in these individual categories. If your name is called, please come up and say a few words."
And so it began. At first everyone was very attentive, but soon none of the band we gave a damn about was winning anything.
"Let's go," I hear Jeff say, "we're not winning any of these stupid single award things. Don't you think they'd give us one if we were that good?"
"I agree," Sammie says, "I feel stupid and like a loser. Let's get outta here." The others nod in agreement, but I mentally shake my head. Sammie you're not a loser. You're beautiful…
"Hey Charlie," Lex whispers over me, "we're gonna get going. We're not gonna win anything today."
Before Charlie has a chance to say anything though, Goldberg jumps in. "What do you mean we're leaving?"
"I mean, we're getting back on the bus and driving the other way," says Lex. "We're not gonna win anything today."
"What!? We're leaving?"
"Well, yeah, that's the plan," Anthony says.
"We've been sitting here for three hours and you're not going to let us see who wins!?" Portman exclaims just as applause breaks out for 'Outstanding Percussionist'.
"Jeez, I didn't think about that," Jeff says, looking guilty.
"Keep your ass down in that chair, we're going to find out who wins whether it's you guys or not!" Portman orders loudly, and the 'Outstanding Percussionist' stops talking from the stage to look over at us.
Jeff looks shocked, but keeps his ass down in his chair. "Yes, Sergeant Slaughter," I hear him mumble.
The 'Outstanding Percussionist' has reclaimed his seat, throwing our group really dirty looks.
"This is taking forever," Anna says. "I'd rather be dong something remotely interesting."
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for," the man who's been up there for three hours says, "who'll open up for the Rolling Stones next summer?"
"Finally," Lex mutters. "The only way this could be any longer is if they run through the list of nominees like they do at the Academy Awards…"
The man opens his mouth again, "And the nominees are…"
He runs through the thirty six bands competing.
"Great. I wonder if they'll have lost the envelope too?" Lex murmurs.
"And the winner is…wait, it seems I've lost the envelope…"
Lex opens her mouth again, but Jeff claps his hand over it. "Don't say anything," he warns her.
"Oh yes, here it is, I dropped it," the man continues. "And the winner is…"
I can see Lex, Jeff, and friends tense, and even the Ducks sit up in anticipation.
"Oh, ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have a problem," the man announces.
Why am I not surprised? The whole room is silent, everyone focused on the speaker.
"For God's sake, what is it now?" Chris yells loudly. Lex whacks his arm.
"It seems our real winners cannot win," the man says, obviously clueless as too who made Chris's comment, as he's looking the complete opposite direction of where we are.
"Who won then?" some guy with sunglasses yells from the other side of the room.
"Who cares? It's not us," Jeff mumbles.
"Well, our real winners are the Teabags, but not," the man says.
Nobody speaks for a moment. Then Anthony stands up. "What? Repeat that, please?" he yells.
"The Teabags!" the man nearly screams into the microphone. A whole section of people behind us somewhere start screaming and yelling. Anthony turns to look at his friends.
"The Teabags?" Anthony asks over the screams. "We didn't beat out a band called the Teabags?"
"But the Teabags are ineligible to win," the man yells over the crowd, and the noise immediately stopped. "It seems that they bribed their way here."
Just then, another man comes running out on to the stage, handing the first man another envelope.
"Quiet please," the man says to the crowd. I don't know why he's saying that, as the whole place is nearly silent already.
"It says here that The Teabags were the original winners until yesterday when it was revealed they bribed a DJ to let them into the contest. The DJ came forward last night. The Teabags were apparently terrible at their first audition, and were lip-sinking through their performance here, which, of course, had to be live. The officials sent me out with yesterday's envelope. The winning band of the contest is Suspended Motion! Sammie Blackburn, Jeff Delricci, Anna Eukovich, Matt McDougal, Chris Mitchell, Anthony Nicholson, and Lex O'Leary! "
Silence reigned for a few moments, and the band that had been screaming, presumably the Teabags, snuck out the back way. And then, Adam came to his senses, and started to clap. Luis and Charlie joined him, and pretty soon, everyone was clapping, cheering, and jumping up and down.
We've been sitting here completely bored for three and a half hours, and let me tell you, it was worth it, to see the looks on the band's faces. There are no words for the complete surprise, and delight on their faces as Lex, Jeff, Chris, Matt, Sammie, Anna, and Anthony made their way up to the stage, in a tight bunch. I notice that Lex is clinging to Jeff, like the bus ride never happened.
After a quick conference, Jeff stepped up to the microphone.
"So, this is what it feels like to win something?" he says. "It's a good feeling. I can't tell you how many hours we put into this band. It's been five years since we started, and well, we've been through a lot. I remember when I could play a C-chord, and that was it. Matt couldn't keep a beat, and every time Chris blew in his saxophone, a squeaky noise came out. Lex, Anna, and Sammie were all off-key, and Anthony was about as good at keyboards as the Teabags," Jeff says. Everyone chuckles here, and Jeff waits a few seconds for it to stop. "We were pretty bad. We fought. Honestly, I can't tell you what has given us the will and determination to stick it out to this point. I think it's because we're such good friends. There's nobody else I'd rather spend my time with than these kids, my best friends in the whole world. The friends and family that we have here-" he looks at us very intently before continuing, "-and at home, supporting us have made the difference too. When you've got people like the people we have in our life, well, you're pretty lucky. Maybe that's it. In fact, I'd say I was positive that our friends made the difference. But what do I know? After all, I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band."
I smile, because I know that's a line to a Moody Blues song. 'I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band.'
The man hands Jeff some papers, and he and his friends get off the stage.
"To all the bands that competed, you were wonderful, congratulations to Suspended Motion, and have a nice day everyone!" the man says.
Everyone's getting up to go. We all make our way back to the bus, congratulating our friends.
On the bus, they all sit close together, talking quickly and excitedly. I'm excited for them, I'm happy for them, and I bet the rest of the Ducks are too.
Because Jeff was wrong. Even if he was joking, he's not just a singer in a rock and roll band. He's a good friend. They're all good friends. And that's a great thing.
***
Lex's POV
The celebratory drinks we're sipping at are beginning to drain out. We're all gathered in the big Jacuzzi down at the spa. There is room for us all, with the exception for Cecilia, who's sitting on the edge with only her feet in the water. She would fit too, but she has some sort of fear about water…and possibly of having a good time.
I feel all wired and crazy, but I'm trying to control it. Very hard. I don't want to drive everyone nuts. I'm just so thrilled we won. Ok, so we were technically beat by the Teabags, but yeah, they cheated. So it was us. Not bad for a bunch of misfits, like my dad called us when we were first practicing and sounded awful. I can't wait to see the look on his face when I tell him I'm leaving for the summer to go on tour and going straight to school afterwards. I think I'll have a phone near by, though, so that way I don't have to move much to dial 911.
Charlie promises to get me a new drink, and the rest suddenly disappear within seconds. The word 'alcoholic beverage' can make anyone go crazy tonight. Fred leaves too, after hastily yanking Cecilia down in the water. She splashes water at him, but doesn't get up.
Now it's just her and I. She has her drink, I bet it's tequila, and I have some of my drink. We avoid each other for a second; the awkward moment makes me wish I'd gone with Charlie to order on my own. But I guess it was just a sneaky plan to get us to interact. Everyone was probably in on it too.
"So, on a scale from one to ten, how much do you actually hate me?" Cecilia asks.
I have to laugh, because she sounds so serious. "I don't hate you at all. Look, we both did some stupid things last week. Let's just forget about it and move on."
"Sure?"
According to me, it's already in the past. I have new things to worry about now. "Of course! You're my friend, and you're Jeff's friend. We can still hang out and stuff."
"Let's not eat cake together for a while," she suggests, taking a sip from her drink. I nod, smiling at the comment. She's is weird, that girl…but in an entertaining sort of way. "Are you really going out with Charlie?"
Actually, I'm not so sure about that. Charlie is sweet, even though he gets crazy from time to time. But he hasn't asked me out yet, he just assumes that we're a couple anyway. Things don't work like that in my opinion. "I don't know." There's also the fact that I'm not convinced that Cecilia is the right person to talk to about this.
"Do you like him?" Cecilia continues, her eyes have a strange glimpse that I can't read. Somehow she makes me feel like we're in elementary school, discussing boys at the playground. Although we're in high school, discussing boys in the Jacuzzi.
"A little. Why do you ask?" I shrug, trying to decipher her intentions. Is she going to try and drown me? It wouldn't surprise me. Although she probably won't attack me again, now when she knows that I'm stronger then her, which by the way, surprises me, since she's a hockey player. But I guess she has other strengths out on the ice then just... strength.
There's a long silence between my question and her answer. "Did you really sleep with him?" she mumbles. I'm not sure if her question is out of curiosity, because she sounds almost sad when she asks.
"Why?" I reply, coming off as a bit grouchy. I can understand why she wants to know, though. Charlie is the captain, and one of her friends. Of course she wants to know if I'm being serious with him or not. But she should really corner Charlie about it instead. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound grumpy. I'm just not sure why you're asking me this."
"I was just curious," she mumbles. "Can I tell you something?"
"I guess. What's up?"
Cecilia moves, seeming uncomfortable. I hope she won't start a fight. I don't have the patience for her yelling today. I've never argued with her before we came here. This trip makes everyone go insane.
"I just need to talk to someone, and you're the only one who..." she starts, but her voice trails off until she becomes quiet. I wait for her to continue, because she's awfully serious about this. I hope nothing's happened. "Was it your first time?"
Now she's getting a bit too personal. "Why do you ask?"
"I know it's none of my business, I just need to talk. I just want to know how it was, because I sort of slept with Fred." She says all this really fast, with her voice low as a whisper.
"I thought he was a virgin," I exclaim, without thinking. Maybe I shouldn't let her know that I know that. And why did I even say that? Fred is not supposed to be on my mind anymore, now when I have Charlie. Something about her statement makes me sad, still. This must be how Fred felt during dinner yesterday. Without the anger, of course.
A new silence settles, while Cecilia swipes her drink in one movement. She's the nervous one; I'm just a bit perplexed. Why would she want to talk to me?
"He was. It's sort of a recent event. And since I know that Connie is sort of a virgin, and Julie is too, you're the only one I know who's done it. Besides from me, of course. Did that make sense?" she rants, talking rapidly. It did make sense, even though I barely heard it.
"So, he's not... You're not..." How do you have a conversation about this when it makes you uncomfortable? "When did this happen?" Fred told me only a few days ago that he hadn't had sex, so it must've been during this week.
"You know that day we fought?" she asks, snorting into the empty glass. I have to finish my own drink too, if I'm going to be able to have this talk with her. I nod, smiling. Like I could forget that! I still have that bump on my neck to prove it! And her face is still covered with bruises, now having the shade of purple instead of black. "It was the morning right after we slept together. That's why I cut my hair, I think. Not solely, but it was one of the reasons. That's why Fred freaked out like that."
Well, that explains that part. When I think about it, I heard her sob something about sleeping with Fred during that fight. I just never paid attention to it, since I was busy trying not to kill her. I wonder if anyone else heard her say that? Or if no one else but I knows this? "And you need to talk about it?" I mumble, stating the obvious.
"Is your brother really going to force you to go to a clinic when you get back home?" she asks, tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah, probably. Why is that such a surprise?" I wonder, looking around for more drinks. One part of me wants the others to come back real soon, but another part wants to listen to what Cecilia has to say.
"You're really supposed to do that?"
"We New Yorkers are cautious about these kind of things, you see. So you don't end up with any diseases or unwanted pregnancies," I explain, shaking my head. Isn't that obvious?
Obviously not to Cecilia, because she still seems disapproving of this fact. Maybe they just don't think like that in her country? "Even if you used protection?" she asks, insecure about what I just told her. Did she sleep during sex education?
"It's just something you should do," I say, smiling to keep her from freaking out. "To be on the safe side, you know, to check that everything is okay."
I can see that she's got more to say, but instead of talking, she gathers some bubbles from the Jacuzzi and plays with them for a while. I smile at her childish behavior. No wonder she's so insecure about sex, when she can't even talk about it. "Did Charlie ask you out?"
"We went to eat dinner, that's all."
"Why did you sleep with him?"
Oh, jeez. "Eh. It was sort of a drunken mistaken. But a good mistake. No regrets. We both wanted to do it, so it wasn't anyone's fault," I tell her.
"It hurt, though, didn't it?" she goes on, biting her lip. This is a statement, not a question. I can imagine what she wants me to answer.
"Just a little. It was pretty nice, actually. Better then I imagined. It felt good."
"It did? How good?"
"Really good," I say, blushing a bit. Cecilia doesn't seem to notice that, however. She's occupied moving around in the water, looking in all directions but my. "You don't regret sleeping with Fred, do you?"
She shakes her head, finally calming down. "No, I'm just... I just assumed it was the same for everyone. But I guess it's not." There's something about her voice that makes me doubt that she knows exactly what she's been doing. Maybe she had sex with Fred to get him to stay with her? To get him to choose her? Oh, Fred, you jerk. How could you do this to her?
"Well, I guess it's different, but... Did you tell Fred about this?" I ask, giving her a look of concern.
To my surprise, she laughs in my face. "Fred? About what?"
"About how you feel," I say. "Did you tell him about what you're telling me? Did you tell him that you thought it hurt?"
For some reason, tears well up in her eyes, threatening to pour down her face. "I did. I mean, he asked if it hurt, and I said that it did, but then I pretended that it was okay anyway. Maybe I shouldn't have done that..."
"You should tell him the truth," I suggest, moving closer to her. "He probably feels weird too. If I'm the only one you've talked to, imagine how lost he must feel."
"I don't want to tell him that. I don't want him to feel bad about it, because I know that he liked it. I know that he didn't hurt me on purpose. It just hurt when he... You know. I was bleeding too, but he never noticed, so I didn't tell him. That's why I needed to talk about it. I didn't have anyone else but you to ask."
"I totally understand that," I say. Fred probably knows more then she thinks, he's not completely lost. I'm just confused about why he hasn't asked her about this. He's slow, but he's definitely not stupid. "I'm glad you told me. This means we're not enemies anymore."
Cecilia laughs at me. It's amazing how fast she can shake off things like this. Although I'm sure she's just acting, but right now, I just want her to smile. It's her last night here, and I'll be damned before anyone spends this night feeling miserable. Not on my watch! Not when I'm so high on life! We won! WOOT!
"I guess not," she giggles. "I was afraid to talk to you, with the fight and everything. But you were such a good friend to me all year, and I was hoping that you wouldn't be too angry with me. I just thought that you didn't want to talk about this, since it's about Fred, and I know you liked him."
The sudden urge of asking something back hits me. "Can I ask YOU something? Now when we're done with avoiding each other and so on."
"Yeah, sure."
"Do you like Anthony?" The question has been bugging me ever since I talked to him. He likes her, which is obvious. I'm just not so sure about her. She seems to like him, and Matt told me what she had been saying to him after our fight. Jeff also filled me in on what had been going on in his room, the night before I found her in his bed.
"How do you mean?" she asks suspiciously. "I'm with Fred now."
"No, I meant if you like him, just in general," I try to cover up. "Like a friend."
This time she grins. "Yeah, of course. He's so cool. I can't believe that he wants to hang out with me, because he's like way more interesting than I am. And he knows all these things, and he does all of these cool stuff, like surfing and..." She gets quiet when she sees my pointed look. "Uh, I mean, he's like a really cool older brother, who you have to admire. Like you with your brother, who's also very cool."
My God, I've never heard anyone say the word 'cool' so many times without taking a single breath. "Anthony's your older brother?"
"Well, not really, but he's... I don't know. He told me all these things about his family and asked me questions about my life, and he really listened when I talked. I mean, Fred does too, but it's not the same."
Anthony must've really swept her off her feet with his behavior. She speaks even faster now, with a wide smile smacked on her face. Maybe I should remind her about Fred? I'm starting to get some unpleasant vibes about all of this. Why did I have to ask?
"So, you like him as a friendly older brother?" I state, trying to get her to stop ranting about Anthony's good sides.
"Yeah. I have my own older brothers too, but they're not as friendly. They're nice, but not overly nice, like Anthony." If she mentions his name one more time, I'm going to scream. Anthony has a huge crush on her, and that's the difference between his overly nice attitude and her brothers' behavior.
At least she doesn't look sad anymore. More like hyper and cheerful. I've accomplished a lot in three minutes. I try to think of how many different emotions she's been showing since we were left alone, but I loose count.
Charlie comes back, handing me my drink. "So, you look alive and healthy. And no one's bleeding or anything. Good girl," he says, patting Cecilia on the head. She makes a grimace at him, rolling her eyes at me. I just laugh. If anyone's her older brother, it's Charlie.
Fred also shows up a minute later, almost repeating the same thing as Charlie just said. Don't they have any faith in us? The others also arrive, straight from the bar.
While Cecilia is busy fighting with Ken over a green umbrella, I scoot over to Fred so I can talk to him. He gives me an amused look. "What's up, Lexie?"
"Unless you want me to call you Freddie, drop the 'ie' after my name. Only Jeff's allowed to call me that," I joke, smiling at Charlie, who's busy trying to drown a babbling Connie.
"Fine," Fred replies, also smiling.
So, how do I bring this subject up? "When are you leaving?" I start.
"Tomorrow at 8:00, or 8:30. If I can get Cecilia to wake up at that hour," Fred says, then he laughs a little. I'm not seeing the fun in what he just said, but maybe I'm not supposed to.
"Where are you going?" I continue.
Fred shrugs. "I haven't made up my mind about that yet. I figure I can just choose any departure I want when I finally get to the airport. I've never been to Japan."
He's obviously kidding, but I giggle anyway. I think it's the alcohol. "Have you talked to Cecilia about it?" I go on, finally getting somewhere. Fred shakes his head, throwing an eye at his girlfriend.
"Nah, I get to decide this. If I ask her, she'll make us end up at some weird place, like in the jungle." Yep, it sounds like something she would do. Of course, I wasn't talking about the location of their trip.
We sit in silence for a while. Well, our conversation is silent, we aren't. I talk to Jeff, who's busy hugging Julie. Fred is speaking to Adam, disregarding Portman, who's yelling 'Bonnie' all over the place.
Suddenly a few of the people decide to get going. There's a disco up in the club, which we were planning to go to later, and some of them wants to be there early. Jeff leaves me when Julie drags him along. So I'm just forced to take up my conversation with Fred. "Cecilia told me that you slept together," I explain, the words slipping out without a warning.
At first he just stares at me. Maybe he'll get angry because she told me? It doesn't sound like him, but who knows? But I know that it's cool, the minute he blushes. "She did?"
"Yeah," I mumble. There are still a few of our friends left in the Jacuzzi, so I can't be too loud about this. "But I'm the only one who knows."
"Oh. Well, maybe you're right. Why did she tell you?" Fred asks, looking nervous and embarrassed.
I have to swipe another drink before I reply. "She asked me about Charlie..." Fred gets even more uncomfortable when I mention Charlie, but I keep going anyway. "Then she told me about the two of you. Why didn't you tell me?"
Of course, I never expected him to share that sort of information with me. We are after all not that close friends. Especially not since we've both had some sort of weird crush on each other. Or whatever the hell it was. "I didn't think you'd want to know," he announces quietly. Bingo, my thought exactly.
"Well, if you don't want to talk about it..." I shrug, hoping that he won't tell me, because I'm not sure I want to know everything about that strange relationship he's got going on with Psycho. Sorry, Cecilia.
"What did she say?" he interrupts.
"Just that you had sex. She asked me about a few things, nothing major. You have talked to her about it, I guess?"
"Sort of."
"Talk some more," I suggest. "I really think you should." I'm probably giving him an annoyed stare, because he becomes even more nervous.
"What exactly did she tell you?" he murmurs, gazing at me with his serious, brown eyes. Oh, jeez, O'Leary, get a fucking grip. "Could you please tell me? It'd mean a lot to me."
Sure, I'm here to solve your crisis. That's my job. God, he irritates me sometimes, to the point of me wanting to rip his head off. This is just how it felt every time he spilled something over our lab-report. At least he apologized about that. He even bribed some guy behind us to do the report for us, so we could pass the assignment. That's his way of solving problems. I don't even do that!
This time, his money can't help him. I assume. "Has she told you how she's feeling about this?"
"Yeah, a little. But..." he does the same thing as Cecilia, letting his voice trail off until he becomes silent. It's an annoying thing to do. At least it doesn't take forever until he proceeds. "I know there's stuff she's refusing to tell me. I've asked, but she just tells me everything is fine. Did she tell you anything?" Just like Cecilia, he also overuses words, but instead of 'cool', it's the word 'tell'.
"Talk to her," I urge him. "Seriously, Fred. Don't let her shrug you off like that. She really needs to talk. You're right, there are things she's not telling you. You desperately need to talk. Not tonight, though. You have all month to sort this out. Let her be happy for now. You owe her that much."
Fred rolls his eyes. "I owe a lot of people a lot of things. I'm sorry I asked you, I shouldn't have done that," he sighs. "Forgive me?"
"Always," I smile. "Always, Fred."
I was right. He knows about those things Cecilia mentioned. I bet he knows a lot more as well, he can read her in a way most people can't. So, I've been playing his guardian angel for a while now. I think it's time to forget about his problems and go do something else.
Charlie slips over to me, while Fred disappears over to save Cecilia from Portman. "What was all that about?"
"Are you jealous?" I raise my eyebrows, but I have to smile.
"Not at all. Fred's nothing compared to me," Charlie states, placing his arms around me. Now he's being that overprotective Charlie. I'm glad Robbie's not here to see this. Charlie's teeth would be back in Minnesota before he is.
Anthony seems to realize this, and nods at me. "Be careful, Lex."
"Hey, I know what I'm doing," I point out.
"Yeah, sure," he snorts, splashing some water at me.
"I do. Do you?" I challenge. Anthony gives me a tired look. "You know, Anthony, to convince me otherwise, you have to say something."
He laughs. "I know. I'm just not going to fight about this, since you're obviously wrong."
"This coming from you, who spent all day with Cecilia?" I shoot back. "Haven't you had enough alone time with her?"
"Two days, Lex. What's your point?" he mutters. I decide to be nice, so I leave Charlie's arms and crawl over to Anthony.
When I finally get him to look at me, I put my hand on his shoulder. "You know, they're pretty serious."
"I know."
"Very serious. They slept together." It pains me to have to tell him, but he's a good guy. He deserves to know the truth, so he won't get his hopes up about something so impossible.
But I'm the surprised one. "I know," he mumbles. How could he possibly know that? Cecilia couldn't have told him. Well, she could, but in that case she lied to me earlier when she said that I'm the only one she'd talked to. And Anthony couldn't have figured it out on his own. He's not that clever.
"How did you know that?" I ask, noticing that Charlie has overheard our entire conversation. He doesn't seem too approving of this, even though he shouldn't talk. He's just as bad himself…and I've got the used condoms to prove it. Haha, I'm sick…well, I didn't keep them, they're just in the garbage upstairs.
"She told us, the night she came to our apartment. She was fighting with Matt, and I don't think she meant to say it because she had been drinking a bit, so it just slipped out. Jeff cut them off before they started fighting for real, but I assumed she was telling the truth. So I know."
Did I miss something important? Why didn't Jeff tell me? He told me everything else! I'm obviously the last one to know, at least when it comes to our little group. I wonder if Sammie and Anna know it too? It wouldn't surprise me one bit. All the guys know, and no one cares to fill me in on this?
"Why didn't you tell me?" I hiss.
"We figured it would make you sad, and you really didn't need that before the performance, and then we just forgot about it. They did, I still remember it, but..."
Charlie taps me on the shoulder. "Lex?"
"If you're going to be mad, could you be mad someplace else?" I beg. "I'm busy talking to Anthony."
"Why didn't anyone tell ME?" Charlie exclaims. "They're my players!"
"Because it would make you freak out, over-exaggerate, and yell?" Anthony suggests. I shake my head at him to just leave it. I take Charlie's hand and push him back to the other side of the Jacuzzi.
Portman almost smashes my arm when he gets up to leave. I quickly remove it, while he's grinning at me. "Sorry, didn't see you there," he excuses. "You're too small. You should gain some weight. For hockey tryouts, I mean."
I wave him along, waiting for Fulton to get up too, until I put my arm back. I need all my body-parts if I'm going to have a chance in the hockey tryouts. I snort at the thought. Me? Play hockey? Ha! I can't even skate! Maybe I'll get Charlie or Adam or Portman or someone to teach me someday…
Anthony leaves as well, grabbing Sammie so he can have some company. He's probably tired of watching his crush giggle at Fred's stupid comments. Charlie doesn't seem to want to leave. Maybe he's still sulking because no one told him about the latest news? "Hey, you wanna go dance?" I ask. "We can order some more drinks."
Charlie looks a bit suspicious, but agrees to this. Still, he won't move. What does he want? I won't carry him there! "Come one then," I say, pulling his arm.
While Charlie is being quiet and moody, I look over at the happy couple. Well, no, that would be Guy and Connie, but they've already left, so Cee and Fred have to jump in as the replacement couple. Fred is watching her while she talks about something. I can only understand every other word.
"Maybe you shouldn't drink anymore," Fred laughs, his arms around her. Yuck. Cecilia shakes her head, almost knocking over the glass that is placed on the edge. "Yes, I think so."
"I'm fine," she promises, although she sounds a bit slurry. "I'm not drunk. Just a bit tipsy."
"Yeah, because if you were drunk, you'd be sleeping by now," Fred smiles. Then he turns to us. "You wanna go upstairs to join the others?" Both Charlie and I nod, while convincing Adam, Ken and Russ to come with us. We're the last ones. Cecilia is not the only one being a bit tipsy, though. I'm not totally sober myself, thanks to those drinks I had to order to be able to talk to Fred.
Well, it's better being tipsy then drunk, as Fred pointed out. Cecilia is actually not as drunk as I first thought she was. When she's really hammered, she can't talk and make sense at all, and she can barely walk without falling. Now she's just being upbeat, skipping and talking really fast. Charlie is clearly annoyed with her, but I don't mind. It's better then when she's hostile.
Cecilia and I go to change into our clothes, while the guys go to the other changing-room. For once, she's not wearing her trademark outfit; jeans and black, so I decide to comment about it. "I like your sweater," I say, feeling a bit dumb. Cecilia shrugs, but smiles. She usually never handles compliments very well, and since she never wears anything new, she rarely gets them.
Maybe she's not answering this time, because she's not actually wearing a sweater. She's trying to get some clothes on, and I'm pretty much complimenting her ribs. "Thanks, I guess." Cecilia quickly gets dressed, while I'm lingering behind, shaking my head at my own stupidity.
I'm actually amazed when she's finally dressed. I don't think I've ever seen her wear anything but jeans before, with the occasional hockey gear thrown on sometimes. I just never thought of her as someone who wears makeup or skirts, despite the fact that she's a girl. "Where did you get those clothes?" I ask, sounding suspicious, but it's unintentionally.
Cecilia beams, trying to keep her balance when she puts on her shoes. "You think I borrowed this from Connie, don't you?" she giggles, throwing her hands out to the sides, spinning around. Wow, she's never done that either. "I had to buy some new jeans the other day, and Anthony suggested..."
Ah, the never ending rant about lovely Anthony. His family should adopt her, so she can have her precious big brother for life. I wait for her to stop explaining what Anthony 'suggested' to open my own mouth again. "He told you to buy that?"
"No, he said I should buy something nice for tonight. He even lent me the money. But I'm going to pay him back, of course!" Cecilia waves her arms around.
She so has a crush on him. Or she's just very tipsy. "You look good in that. You should dress like that more often," I point out, just to be nice. Well, not just to be nice, but I have nothing else to say.
"You're much more beautiful then I am. Even Fred thinks so," she snorts, but is still smiling. Ouch, that comment sort of hurt for some reason and I feel uncomfortable. I have no reply. 'Hey, my boyfriend thinks you're more beautiful than me,' will make for a nice, awkward silence. But surprisingly, Cecilia just continues, and there is no silence. "And I can't wear a skirt. And I can't walk in these shoes."
"You look fine," I continue. "Did Anthony tell you that?" Help me, my curiosity is taking over again.
"I don't know. Maybe. But he was just being nice," Cecilia states. I watch as she's brushing her hair. It's still quite long. I don't think I'd have the guts to cut my own hair off just like that.
One thing I know about Cecilia's latest outfit is that it's going to make Anthony's head spin. Quite possibly even Fred's. Maybe not so much because of the clothes, but because of her appearance. She's this bubbly, upbeat, adorable little creature. Like a Connie-clone. She's annoying, but in a new, very strange way. I've never seen her so perky before. She usually gets bummed out when she drinks, but now she's bouncier then ever.
About half an hour later, we're all gathered up in the club. I leave Charlie to bug someone else, while I look for anyone sane to hang out with. Instead I find my friends. They are all having a great time, dancing, drinking, talking and just enjoying themselves. I'm glad, because I don't want any more people to fight. Maybe this night will turn out perfect, for everyone? I truly hope so.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
the line Jeff uses during his speech "I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band" comes from the song I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band) by the Moody Blues.
Yes. Lex, Jeff & Co. won their contest. I worked something in so they didn't win flat out, but I had to let them win. Another reason these couple chapters took so long. I couldn't decide if they should win or not. Finally, after many days deliberation I decided they should, cause I couldn't bare to break their hearts…oiy, they're not real, but I couldn't do it! I couldn't! It'd be cruel! It's a little unrealistic, but oh well. It's mine and Cimmy's story, Lex and Company are my characters, and it's fiction, so screw it.
Chapter 31 up soon, review for us!