A/N: OMG YOU GUYS! I'm sooooo sorry! I didn't have internet for a week! I moved from Birmingham to Lafayette, LA. And we are renting a house out until I can get back into mine and get it fixed up and stuff. But I've written 2 chapters! So, here is numero ocho!
Chapter 8: Problems and a Helping Hand
Abbie gave a deep sigh as Gordie gently eased his hand into hers. Gordie gave her an innocent smile, and she flashed him one back. Who knew that being Gordie Lachance's girlfriend would bring such good things, even for the first few hours? The two were walking to school on Monday, the day after they first kissed. The only problem was that nobody knew about them being an "item" yet, well, except for the person who had opened and then slammed the door in Gordie's house, but to be honest, who cared? They were together, and everybody would be overjoyed about it. Or so they both thought. The two came up to the steps of the school and stood there, waiting for the rest of the gang. Suddenly, Abbie felt a sharp tug on the collar of her shirt. She turned to see Cammie, glaring at her.
"C'mon," she mumbled, pulling her away from Gordie.
"What's going on?" Abbie asked.
"You and Gordie, that's what's going on!" Cammie burst out angrily.
"How….How do you know?" Abbie asked, panic in her voice. She wanted everybody to find out with her and Gordie telling everyone.
"Let's just say you ignored a certain door opening and slamming," Cammie replied coldly, "But you've always ignored that. Always that one thing. Nobody can believe that you can't see it….it's right in front of you! "
"What? What are you talking about? What's always right in front of me?"
"I'll let you figure it out, since you're so clever!"
Abbie sighed, "Cammie, why do me and Gordie going out bother you?"
"You know why!" Cammie exclaimed with fury, "I like him! But you just had to go and be his girlfriend! I was a good friend, wasn't I? I didn't do anything to you, did I?"
"No!" Abbie yelled hurriedly, "It just happened! You've been a great friend!"
"Then why do I feel so betrayed?" she asked more to herself than to Abbie.
"I didn't betray you, I promise!"
"What have you done together?" Cammie questioned.
"Nothing at all," Abbie answered.
"Liar," Cammie hissed.
"No! I'm not a liar! We did nothing!"
"The door slammer saw you kissing!"
"Who's the door slammer?" Abbie demanded.
"Somebody who would like to be called that when talking about this certain predicament."
"I need to know," Abbie told her.
"Well, I don't care," Cammie stated and then started walking away.
Abbie stared after her. "FINE! DON'T CARE! I DON'T NEED YOU!" Abbie screamed at her back. She sighed and then went back to the steps with Gordie.
"What happened?" he asked.
Abbie shook her head. She decided that their little fight would be kept a secret. The two turned to see Teddy and Shawn walking up the steps, and they both shot glares at them. Chris was following behind them, and he paused where Gordie and Abbie were. He gave her a sympathetic, almost apologetic look, but then continued on into the building. What was going on? Gordie and Abbie looked at each other and then went to their classroom. The classes passed by slower than ever, and Abbie couldn't stop thinking about Cammie, her and Gordie's relationship, and "the door slammer". Soon it was lunch, and she and Gordie sat down at their usual table. They noticed Cammie sitting at a table on the other side of the cafeteria, glaring daggers. Teddy, Emma, and Shawn glowered at them when they passed and sat down with Cammie. Vern didn't seem to know what was going on, but sat down at Cammie's table anyway. The two looked at each other. What was everybody's problem? Finally, Chris walked to the middle of the cafeteria and glanced back and forth between the two tables. After a few minutes of thinking, he gave a sigh and trudged over to Gordie and Abbie.
"Chris, what is everyone's problem?" Abbie asked the minute he sat down.
"I dunno, about what?" Chris questioned casually, sounding like he knew exactly what Abbie was talking about.
"Why is everyone ignoring us? Did we do something wrong?" Gordie asked.
"Well," Chris sighed, "Everyone knows about…you two. And it seems that they aren't happy about it."
"Yeah, we know that Einstein, but why aren't they happy about it? I thought me and Gordie going together would be a big hit with everybody!" Abbie exclaimed.
"And why aren't you angry at us?" Gordie demanded.
"Well….it doesn't really matter to me. You guys can do whatever you want," Chris explained in a pained voice that luckily for him no one detected, "It's your lives, not mine. I respect any decision you guys come to."
"You see, there's a good friend," Abbie muttered.
"Chris has always been a great friend, and he always will," Gordie stated proudly.
"Thanks," Chris said with a small smile, "I'll be here for you guys always."
"That's a nice thing to know," Abbie replied, "And I'll say the same for you. Oh, and by the way, do you know who the door slammer is?"
Chris almost choked on his food.
"What?"
"Do you know who the door slammer is?" Abbie repeated.
"Yeah," Chris sighed after a moment of hesitation, "But the door slammer doesn't want anybody to know who he or she is."
"Damn you," Abbie mock hissed.
"Yes, damn you," Gordie agreed.
"Yes, damn me," Chris teased.
After lunch, they went into their homeroom, which is where they took their history test. It was harder than Abbie thought it would be, but she thought she did well on it. During the test, she glanced over at Cammie, who was scribbling her answers furiously onto the paper. She then looked at Gordie, who was sitting beside her. He chewed his pencil eraser in consideration, looking thoughtful, and stared down at the test. Lastly she peeked over at Chris in the back, and felt crushed. He wasn't looking off into space pondering, and wasn't writing anything. His hands were holding his head, covering his eyes and pushing back his unruly dirty blonde hair. He suddenly raised his hand, and was excused to go to the bathroom. To Abbie, this didn't seem too convincing, so a few minutes later she too raised her hand and asked for a drink of water. She wandered the halls, looking for the boys' bathroom. She finally found it, and slipped in there. It was perfectly silent. Abbie slowly crept over to a stall, and tried to open it, but it was locked. She was just going to have to risk it.
"Chris?"
"Go away," a voice pleaded, "Just leave me alone."
"It's Abbie. C'mon, let me in," Abbie said.
"You shouldn't be in here. You shouldn't see me like this."
"When did that, and when will it, ever stop me?" Abbie asked.
She waited for a few seconds, but then the door flew wide open to reveal Chris sitting on the toilet, his elbows on his knees, which were supporting his head. Small tears dropped from his tan face to the disgusting floor, and he stared up at her.
"What do you want?" he asked rudely.
"Your answer as to what is wrong," Abbie replied, sitting on the tiled floor in front of him.
"I can't do it," Chris answered.
"What can't you do?" Abbie questioned.
"The test. The work. My family. My life," he explained, making him gasp for air, "It's just too much. I knew I couldn't do this, why didn't I listen to what everybody was telling me? I'm such a pussy. Nobody wants me around. I'm just a Chambers' kid, I cause too much trouble. I'm just too damn bad….I'll probably be put in prison one of these days…. I'll never amount to anything. There's no use of me existing, I'm such a problem for everyone in this entire world!"
Abbie stared at him, amazed at the intense pain that Chris had. A teardrop rolled silently down her right cheek.
"Now you're going to cry because of me? Please….please don't cry," Chris pleaded gently, reaching over and wiping the lone tear off of her face with his thumb.
"You…..you've….you've got a lot of burden to carry on your shoulders," Abbie responded shakily, "But you can get passed it all."
"I can't. This……I just can't handle all of this," Chris answered.
"What! You think, that all of this is too much for you to handle? You? Christopher Chambers? You can do anything you want. Do you know what I think?"
Chris shook his head somberly.
"I think that you are the most amazing person I've ever met," Abbie said breathlessly. Chris' head shot up and he stared at her. Her eyes widened in realization. What was she saying?
"Umm…besides my boyfriend of course."
"Yeah, of course….." Chris trailed off.
"But the point Chris is that you can do anything you want. I know you can, and you should believe me. Nobody can stop you from doing anything except yourself. So please, don't give up. Do you know how much it'll hurt me to see you stand off to the side, to waste what good life you have inside of you?" Abbie asked, pleading in her voice.
Chris gazed at her amazed, and unsure of what to say.
"I've got an idea. It'll give you today to study for the test," Abbie told him, "I used to do this during serious tests."
Chris brightened. "Alright. Shoot!"
"Throw up," Abbie said simply.
"Throw up? Throw….throw up?" Chris asked, stunned, "You act like I can do it on command!"
"No, I don't expect that," Abbie laughed, "But you fake it. I'll be your witness."
"Umm….remember though, you're in a boys' bathroom."
"And your point?" Abbie asked.
"Well you'll get in trouble. I don't want you to get in trouble," Chris told her.
"Relax, I've got it all planned out."
"Thanks Abbs," Chris sighed.
Abbie smiled and was about to exit, but then turned around. "Abbs? Only Gordie calls me Abbs….."
"Yeah, well….I wanted to try it out for myself."
Abbie's smile grew wider. "You really are a great kid, Chambers. Now, stay in here."
Abbie left the boys' bathroom and jogged to the classroom. She opened the door quickly but quietly and went over to Simons.
"Mrs. Simons…."
"Ms. Tessio, we are in the middle of a test, and you cannot ask questions," Simons growled.
"No, Mrs. Simons, I had to pass the boys' bathroom to come back to class, and I heard….regurgitating sounds coming from in there. And I think its Chris Chambers," she added rapidly.
Simons stared at her for a moment before replying, "And what do you suppose I'm going to do about it?"
"Mrs.… Mrs. Simons, Chris Chambers was throwing up," Abbie gaped, "He needs to go home! He needs help! He needs to get better!"
"Oh alright…..you finish your test and I'll go," she responded, rolling her eyes.
"But I really think that I should-"
"Ms. Tessio- finish the test," Simons said dangerously and strolled through the door. Abbie gave her backside a cold look but then sat down and began working on the rest of the test. Soon the bell rang, and Abbie had all of her answers completed. Everyone left their tests where they were because Simons wasn't back yet. Abbie and Gordie exited the school together and decided to hang out, since they had no homework. They came up to Gordie's house and sat on the steps.
"So….Chris was puking his guts out, huh? I hope it wasn't because of nerves….he studied really hard for that test yesterday-"
"Gordie, Chris didn't really throw up," Abbie confessed, "He was upset. He…he didn't think he was worth anything and that he wouldn't be able to get anything out of life because everyone thought he was a bad kid. I lied to that old bat so he could have tonight to study."
"But how did you know he was upset?" Gordie questioned.
"The bathroom excusal didn't sound too convincing for me," Abbie answered with a smile, "So I followed him into the boys' bathroom and talked to him."
Gordie put an arm around her shoulder, "You really are a great friend."
"I guess…." Abbie replied, smiling inward at herself for repeating what she and Chris were talking about on Saturday.
"No, you really are," Gordie egged, breaking the chain, "You are fantastic! I'm glad you're my girlfriend."
"I just wish everybody else was as glad as you are," Abbie responded sadly, and was beginning to wonder if this included herself as well.
