A/N: Hey guys! I've decided to give you an update! Although, I've been noticing that I'm starting to loose some reviewers I think. It makes me saaaaaad, because I really do have a great story to tell! Some people say they want angst, some people say I want the fluff. Well, I'm going to tell you that I've worked both into the story, except angst will have to wait for awhile to let everything get rolling (it's a long story by the way). So I just want everyone to hang in with me for angsty parts and for fun fluff stuff!
Chapter 9: Standing up and Advice
"I hope my test came out ok," Chris said casually, but Abbie, Gordie, and Emma could sense the nerves. It was Friday, four days after they had taken the test, and Chris had managed to gain two nights of studying with the throw-up gag.
"Hey Chambers, I'm sure you did fine!" Emma exclaimed, slapping him on the back. Emma was now hanging out with Abbie and Gordie again. She said that she didn't know what she was thinking and was being very, very immature. Something she didn't say often.
"Man, I can't believe that trick worked on the old hag. Amazing," Gordie said.
"Give all the credit to your girlfriend, Lachance. Without her, I'd have a huge, red F written all over the page," Chris responded.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you very much!" Abbie yelled dramatically.
"Jesus, when are you going to stop with that Elvis impersonation?" Gordie asked.
"Never baby, never," Abbie replied, giving him a short kiss on the lips. She was feeling good and hopeful today.
"Yeah, well everyone knows I can do it the best, watch!" Emma claimed, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" she screamed and then fell into the grass in the schoolyard.
"Yep, I give, you win," Abbie said with a smile, "Oh, and I cannot believe that you are considering dumping Teddy!"
"I need more out of life than him," Emma stated, tossing her hand into the air, "And I didn't say that I was going to break up with him. I'm just saying that I might have to when the time is right."
Emma separated from them and went to her classroom. She did take the college courses, but was in a different class. The other three went to their homeroom and sat down anxiously, waiting for Simons to hand back their tests. Gordie and Chris sat next to each other in the back and Abbie sat alone at the table in front of them. She wrung her hands together. She was worried if Chris' test would be a step up on the "Chris' Confidence" scale, or if it would make him lose faith in everything. Simons gave them all an evil smile, not a good sign, and started passing back their tests. The minute the paper landed on her desk, she scooped it up and looked at the top. A+. She let out a small sigh of relief and looked behind her. Chris was staring down at his test, his eyes and his expression blank. Gordie had his hand on his shoulder. Abbie turned all the way around in her chair, snatched the paper away and searched for the grade. It felt like her heart almost stopped. A D-? She began to read the answers that Chris put…………..it didn't make any sense. She grabbed her own test and compared the answers. It felt like her insides were on fire and her eyes were burning, she was so furious. She stood up, took both tests in her hand and marched over to Old Lady Simons' desk. Simons raised an eyebrow.
"You have a question about your test? You did very well, surprisingly," Simons questioned.
"No. But I do have a few questions on how great your teaching and grading skills are," Abbie hissed.
Simons stood up and the whole class had their eyes on the two of them.
"I gave you an A!" Simons exclaimed, "Now sit back down, and if you're not happy with your grade, I'll make it an F!"
"No. You do not grade fairly. Just because he comes from a "bad" family and has a "bad" reputation doesn't mean that you can give him an awful grade that he didn't deserve! And you know who I'm talking about," Abbie challenged.
"Ms. Tessio, you have Saturday detention! If you don't stop now, I'll give you another one!" Simons shouted, "You have no right to speak!"
"That's the best you can say to me? Chris and I have the same, not exact of course because he did not copy, but the same answers to the test. And I get an A+ and he gets a D-? Not possible," Abbie slammed down Chris's test on her desk, "The grade you gave him needs tweaking. Oh, and by the way, I do have the right to speak. I have the right to speak my full opinion on any subject that I can come up with. Oh, and what do you know? That was on the test!" Abbie defied in a scornful tone, causing the class to giggle nervously for fear of Abbie's fate.
Simons stared hard at Abbie, her eyes like a vulture swooping down on her prey.
"That's it. Two Saturday detentions," Simons whispered dangerously, "And, Ms. Tessio, just because you have an undeniable crush on Mr. Chambers doesn't give you any right to correct my grading skills on his performance in school!"
The whole class went silent. And so did Abbie. She felt her face grow warm and she closed her eyes. She turned right around and sat back down in her seat and buried her face in her hands. That did it. Simons won. She tried, but she lost. And now, people are going to think she liked Chris. Of course she didn't…….did she? No, no she couldn't possibly have feelings for she? Abbie was so absorbed in her thoughts about Chris that she ignored all of her classes and was only brought to attention when Emma grabbed her arm and pulled her around the building after school let out.
"I heard about what happened to you today in History," Emma said.
"Yeah……"
"And you know, you are fantastic. Nobody has ever stood up to the old bat like that before! I'm so proud of you!" Emma exclaimed, pretending to cry.
Abbie gave a small laugh.
"But you know, as much as I hate her…..she's right."
"WHAT?" Abbie demanded, staring at Emma with wide eyes.
"What she said. You do have a huge crush on Chris," Emma said and then saw Abbie's gape, "Hey, you might as well not deny it. I honestly think that you should break up with Gordie and go with Chris. He'd take you any day."
"You….You're giving me advice?"
"Advice that you will cherish for the rest of your fucking life!" Emma claimed.
"But you……hang on, how will this help me?" Abbie asked.
"Well, everybody won't be mad at you, so you'll get your friends back. And god, you'll be so much happier…." Emma trailed off, "Oh, and you didn't deny in class that you have a crush on Chris."
"I……I….." Abbie paused, and then it hit her. She didn't like Gordie in that way. Her friends didn't want them together. Her friends wanted her and Chris together. Because they knew that she had a crush on Chris. And she did. Her heart rate quickening when she saw him, her first impression on him, letting Ace and Eyeball take her to let Chris be safe, grabbing his hand when Ace was about to find them, almost kissing him at The Blue Point, helping him gain confidence, giving him the throw-up suggestion, standing up to Simons about his test grade just today……why did it taken her this long to figure it out? She really did have feelings for Chris. A lot of feelings. She suddenly pictured what it would be like, the two of them together. It sent pleasurable tingles through her body and made her want to scream with joy. How could she not have noticed her own feelings before? She liked Chris Chambers….and now was set on making him hers.
"Alright. I won't deny it. Chris Chambers is the one I'm now after," Abbie stated.
"Well, you won't be after him long," Emma remarked, "He would love to have you!"
"How do you know that?" Abbie demanded suspiciously.
"It was just a wild guess," Emma said with a shrug, "But it's also based on his personality."
"Oh my god….how am I going to break up with Gordie?" Abbie asked, guilt consuming her.
"Pssh, how am I supposed to know? With your heart, it should be easy," Emma taunted.
"Haha, very funny. You're the one who hid her true feelings behind negative ones!"
"And you're the one who is too stupid with relationships and feelings to know what she wants! And I might not even like Teddy, but I'm just going out with him," she retorted, "Now go break up with Gordie, and get with Chris!"
"Alright," Abbie sighed, "Where's Gordie?"
"My guess is that he's at his house….hopefully he's not anywhere with Chris."
"Ok. Then I'm off to see if your advice is worth taking!" Abbie exclaimed and then turned around and jogged down the sidewalk to break someone's heart and to cure another.
