Thanks for the reviews, christianrockstar and gamble7, you guys are great! Great job on your fics, as well! I was so excited when I got here and saw that there were TWO new Doogie fics that day! So keep up the great work, you two, I'm excited to read more of your stories, and more of Sophie9's story too! Thanks for reading, everyone!
Chapter 2: No Sunshine on a Cloudy Day
The next morning, Doogie offered to drop Lex off at the high school on his way to work. At first, she refused, saying that it was too much trouble, but after a little prodding from Doogie, her aunt, and her uncle, she agreed. That was how she and Doogie ended up outside the school in his station wagon.
"Do you want me to go in with you?" Doogie asked as Lex sat, unmoving, in the passenger seat.
Lex shook her head.
"Are you sure, Lex? It's no problem."
Lex inhaled, then let the breath out in a sigh. "No, it's all right. You'll be late for work. But thanks, though." Still, she didn't make a move to get out of the car.
Doogie looked questioningly over at Lex, then opened the car door and got out. He walked to Lex's side and opened her door for her.
Still, Lex made no move to get out. "Rain," she said, glancing out the windshield to the overcast sky that was threatening to open up. "I hate rain." It matches my mood, she thought bitterly to herself.
Doogie bent down and looked into the interior of his wagon. He took in the look on Lex's face and could almost see what she was thinking. "Come on, Lex. It won't be so bad. Just give it a chance."
Lex put her fingertips to her temples for a few seconds. "Okay. Okay." She turned her body so that her legs were outside the car, then stood up. She moved out of the way, and Doogie shut the door behind her. She stood on the curb, staring at the school rising up in front of her. Reminding her of the last time she stared up at a large building. The last time that she and Gavin had played with The Atomic Nachos. The day that she found her mother, dead in her bedroom. Lex shook her head, clearing her thoughts.
"I'll walk you inside, Lex," Doogie told his cousin. "Okay?"
Lex nodded slowly as Doogie began walking towards the front entrance. She reluctantly followed, trying to forget her problems.
Inside the crowded lobby, Doogie spotted his girlfriend's smiling face. "Wanda!" he called.
Wanda heard her name and looked up quickly. Seeing Doogie, she excused herself from her group of chattering friends. "Hi, Doogie!" she said, kissing him on the cheek.
"Hey, Wanda," Doogie said, a little embarrassed, yet proud, to be seen being kissed by Wanda Plenn in the middle of the high school.
"You must be Lex," Wanda said warmly, pulling back from her boyfriend and smiling broadly at Doogie's cousin.
Lex nodded. "Yeah."
"Wanda, this is my cousin, Lex. Lex, this is my girlfriend, Wanda," Doogie introduced the girls.
"Hi, Lex, nice to meet you," said Wanda.
"You too," Lex said softly.
Doogie had not yet said anything to Wanda about the proposition his mother had posed to him the night before, but Wanda didn't need it. She took charge of the situation right away. "So Lex, we ought to go get your class schedule," Wanda said. "We'll look at it before the first bell and figure out where you need to go, and then maybe we'll have time for a quick tour. Does that sound okay?" Wanda asked Lex.
"Sure," Lex said, staring at the ground.
"Great!" said Wanda. "We'll go to the office and you can meet the principal."
Doogie was about ready to say good-bye to the two girls standing with him so that he could get to work when he noticed that Lex was still staring at the ground, still not looking comfortable with the whole situation. He glanced at his watch and saw that he was due to be at work in ten minutes, then looked back at Lex, and decided that he could be late just this once. "Come on, Lex, I'll walk with you."
Lex nodded, finally looking up. "No, Doogie, I know you've got to get to work."
"No, don't worry about it. Let's go. I want to make sure you know what you're doing before I leave." Doogie made a move to go after Wanda, and Lex had no choice but to follow.
Upon reaching the office, the trio entered. Wanda grabbed Lex's wrist and sauntered up to the desk in the center of the office while Doogie hung back by the door. Right inside, several chairs were lined up facing the large desk. Doogie laughed to himself when he saw Vinnie sitting in one of the chairs. "Vinnie, what are you doing here?" he asked. "The day hasn't even started, and you're in trouble already?"
Vinnie stood up from his chair and came to Doogie. "As a matter of fact, no, I am not. I just figured, um, well, uh…" Vinnie was staring, and Doogie followed his line of vision to Lex, who was talking to the secretary at the desk.
Doogie looked up at the ceiling and shook his head, remembering the night before when Vinnie had first met Lex.
"Doog, Doog, I know you told me to let her alone… but she's so…"
"God, Vinnie, she's my cousin, I don't want to hear it!" Doogie said, holding up a hand.
"Okay, okay," said Vinnie.
Doogie grabbed Vinnie's shoulder. "Vinnie, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
Vinnie looked up, his interest spiked. "Depends on what it is."
"Now, I know this is going to be very hard for you to do, but I was wondering if you could, well, be sort of like a host for Lex. Between you and Wanda, I was wondering if you could show her around the school and help her meet people. I--"
"You don't need to say it twice! I'm there for you, man," said Vinnie, grinning like an idiot.
"Great. And could you also give her a ride home from school this afternoon? I heard it's supposed to rain, and I don't want her--"
"Consider it done, Doog!" Then Vinnie strode away, over to Lex, leaving Doogie with his mouth wide open, not able to finish what he was saying.
Doogie shut his mouth and watched his friend as he reached Lex's side.
Vinnie put his hand on Lex's shoulder, and Lex spun around to face him. "Lex, do you, uh, remember me?"
Lex looked hard at Vinnie, and Doogie was surprised when she actually began to smile. "You're Dinnie, right? No, wait, it's Pinnie, isn't it?"
Doogie laughed to himself. That was the Lex he knew.
Vinnie swallowed hard, then said, "Uh, no, it's Vinnie. It's short for Vincent."
Lex smiled again; it was the most Doogie had seen her smile in the eighteen hours since she'd arrived. Then suddenly, her face changed. Doogie saw the smile be wiped off her face and be replaced with one of concern. "Vinnie, are you all right?"
Vinnie whirled around and shot passed Doogie, out of the office, his face pale. Lex watched him go, her eyebrows knitted together, and Wanda and the secretary turned around.
"Uh, he's all right, Lex," said Doogie, walking quickly to his cousin. "When he gets nervous, his stomach gets a little upset. Um, I'm going to go check on him; will you be all right today?"
Lex nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine."
"I'll make sure she finds all her classes," Wanda said.
Doogie nodded and leaned down to Wanda to give her a quick peck. Then he hugged Lex. "Okay. See you at home, Lex?"
Lex nodded and watched Doogie shoot out the door after Vinnie. Then she turned to Wanda. "What is he nervous about?" she asked.
Wanda, who knew exactly how Vinnie's mind worked, just shook her head. Knowing that Lex was already uncomfortable as it was, being in a new school and having gone through a recent tragedy, she said, "Don't worry about him. I'm sure he's fine. Here's your schedule." She handed Lex a piece of paper. "It looks like first period, you have American history."
Lex took the paper and began reading it. Suddenly, all thoughts of Vinnie vanished from her mind as she saw her schedule. She was excited; she was signed up for a course in music theory, as well as the marching band and the concert choir. However, what she saw listed after that made her stomach knot up. "Oh, God," she muttered. "Gym class?"
"What?" asked Wanda, who hadn't heard what Lex had muttered.
"Uh, nothing," said Lex. She remembered the horrible experiences she had had at her old school in gym class, and she knew that it wouldn't be much better here, either. Lex was not an athlete, and that usually made her the butt of everyone's jokes.
Suddenly, a bell sounded.
"That's the first bell. We've got five minutes until first period starts," said Wanda. "Why don't I show you to your first class?"
Lex nodded, and she allowed Wanda to drag her out of the office. This is going to be interesting, she thought. And it's going to suck majorly.
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"So she's hot, I take it?" Dr. Jack McGuire said, stuffing his face with a doughnut.
"She's only fifteen!" said Doogie, glaring at Jack.
"Oh. Well, maybe I like them a little young," he said with a chuckle.
Doogie gave Dr. McGuire a horrible look, and Nurse Curly Spaulding whacked Dr. McGuire on the arm. "Jack, that's child abuse!" she scolded.
"And so wrong for you to be telling me," Doogie said. "She's my cousin!"
"Well, if you lived in West Virginia, you could marry her," Dr. McGuire argued, leaning against the counter.
"Yeah, and so could you. But I don't think your mother would look too favorably upon you bringing home a fifteen year old girl," Curly said as she slipped an arm around Jack and picked a doughnut out of the box.
"Hey, who cares about my mother? If she's hot, I'm a happy camper."
"That is so shallow, and so chauvinistic," Curly said, rolling her eyes and stepping away from the admitting desk.
"And just—just so wrong," Doogie told Dr. McGuire, and he followed Curly.
Jack straightened. "What? Now, come on, I was just kidding, Doogie! Curly? Guys, don't hold this against me, it was just a joke! Come on!" Jack called, picking up his clipboard and starting after his friends. "I was kidding, guys! Come on!"
"Bad joke, McGuire," called Curly.
Doogie and Curly found themselves outside the staff lounge now. Doogie's half-eaten doughnut was still in his hands as the two entered, sitting down at the table.
There was silence for a few seconds while Doogie thought about what he should say to Curly. He had started to ask both her and Dr. McGuire for advice on the Lex situation, but then Dr. McGuire had started the whole "is she hot" thing and he had never finished. That was typical of McGuire the womanizer, so he should have expected not to get the answers he was looking for from Jack. However, he knew that Curly probably could, and would, help. "Uh, Curly, you're a girl, right?" Doogie blurted out.
Curly, who was using a straw to stir her coffee, chuckled and looked at Doogie strangely. "I think I am. I mean, that's what it says on my birth certificate and driver's license."
Doogie chuckled. "Yeah, I know that. I just—I mean… well, you know I was talking about my cousin, Lex."
Curly nodded, looking at her co-worker with concern. "Yes, you started to, until Jack butted in."
"Yeah. Well, the reason she's staying with us is because her mother—my aunt—just died."
"Oh, how awful!" Curly said, her eyebrows raising and her lips frowning in worry.
Doogie nodded. "She has no idea where her father is. He left her and her mother when she was just two years old, so she has nobody. We've taken her in, at least for the time being, until her father can be located and made aware of the situation. The thing is… Curly, she's not acting like herself. I mean, granted, I haven't spent a lot of time with her in the last year, but… I don't know. She's just not the Lex I know."
Curly nodded in understanding, impressed with how the young boy was concerned for his cousin. She reached across the table and put her hand on Doogie's, which was still holding the half-eaten doughnut. "That's normal, Doogie. I think with all that she's been through, it's normal for her to change the way she acts. I mean, she's now an orphan, or at least as close to an orphan as she can get; if I were in her shoes, I think I'd be so sick with grief that I wouldn't be my self at all."
"But that's just it. I don't think she's grieving," Doogie told Curly. "She has not cried once since it happened."
"How long has it been since her mother passed on?" Curly asked.
"A week," Doogie answered.
"Well, I think that's normal too. We all grieve in our ways; maybe this is just her way."
Doogie was about to answer when the door to the lounge opened. "Guys," said Jack, "we've got a multiple MVA coming in; we're going to need your help."
Doogie and Curly nodded their heads as Dr. McGuire left as quickly as he had come.
"Don't worry, Doogie, she'll be fine. Just give her time," Curly said, standing up. She patted Doogie's hand again. "It'll just take a little adjustment for her, that's all." She headed towards the door, then turned. "You coming?"
Doogie stood up and nodded. "Yeah. In a minute."
"Okay." Curly smiled at him and walked out of the lounge, leaving Doogie standing alone, his half-doughnut still in his hands.
"I hope you're right, Curly," he said. "I really hope so." With that, he tossed his doughnut in the waste can by the vending machine and headed toward the ER.
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Lex was ready to meet her maker. She didn't care how it happened, whether she was murdered or whether she committed suicide, she just wanted it to be over.
Who the heck plays football when it's pouring down rain? she asked herself. Though California Octobers were never downright cold, cooler air in the lower fifties had moved in with the rain, and Lex shivered, the chilly precipitation soaking through the battered T-shirt and shorts she was wearing. Is this guy, like, an insane psychopath? Any teacher who is in their right mind wouldn't take their students outside in the pouring rain!
She looked up just in time to see the football sailing at her. Though usually she avoided any ball in any sport, there was no way she could move this time. The pass was beautiful, having been sent by the star quarter back of the high school's football team, who happened to be in her gym class.The ball was headed straight for her stomach, and in an attempt to protect herself, she put her arms in front of her body. The ball landed neatly in her hands. God, this is cruelty to animals, she thought, thinking of the pigskin material in her hands.
She was in the middle of the football field now, the ball, and the game, in her control. And yet, she did nothing but stand there, completely confused and completely not wanting to be there. And co-ed gym? What does that accomplish? And how the hell did every guy on the football team end up in my class? Is the world so against me that my life isn't horrible enough already and they've got to torture me-- oh, God, here's the end, she added to her inner monologue. She saw a large varsity football player from the other team careening at her. And who the heck lets boys tackle girls?
"Holy shit!" she shrieked, and she turned around and began to run towards the end zone in an attempt to preserve her life.
"Hey, you freak!" yelled one of the girls on Lex's team who was guarding the end zone. "You're going the wrong way! Turn around! Hellooo!"
Lex ignored her. She hated gym class. She hated sports. She hated football. She hated large senior boys who careened after little five foot, two inch tall, one hundred and ten pound Lex. She hated pretty little cheerleaders who stood in the end zone yelling at her.
"Hellooo! What are you doing!" the cheerleader shrieked as Lex came at her. "Take the ball down there!" She pointed to the other end of the field.
"Why don't you!" Lex shouted, tossing the ball at the girl as she reached the end zone.
The cheerleader, who wasn't much of a football player herself, squealed as the ball careened towards her head. "My nose!" she shrieked, sounding eerily like Marcia Brady from The Brady Bunch.
That's exactly what I aimed for, Lex thought to herself. She continued running full force through the end zone, across the harrowed dirt track surrounding the field, through the open gate of the fence around the track, and across the one hundred and fifty yards of grass beyond until she reached a lone tree in the middle of the field. She stopped, hunched over, pain shooting through her abdomen from running so hard. Then she dropped to the ground at the base of the tree and wrapped her arms around it, hugging it with all of her strength as the rain poured down over her.
"Please let this be a nightmare, please let this be a nightmare," she chanted over and over, squinting her eyes shut. "Please. Please."
And still, no tears fell from Lex Aidan's eyes.