Sorry about the wait, and as always thanks to all the readers and reviewers! This is such a laaaaame chapter, so hopefully next chapter will be something amazing...we'll see! :)
Gary had been awake for ages, in fact, he hadn't slept at all. He lied there, flat on his back with Evelyn lazily draped over him, for what seemed like years. He didn't dare open his eyes, because he didn't want to see her and be reminded of the night before. He didn't dare move, so that he would not wake her and have to hear her voice.
A part of him regretted not taking advantage of an almost undressed, lustful, sexually frustrated girl in his bed. He had never slept with anyone, not because it wasn't an option, but because he knew that sex makes people stupid. Though he was a normal teenager, and sometimes he desperately wanted it. He wanted to feel another body against his, someone to rub his hands all over and someone to please him. And though he'd never admit it to anyone, he sometimes imagined lying in bed with a beautiful girl, for once feeling like someone loved him.
However, Gary knew he had made the right choice in not sleeping with Evelyn. She was a fragile girl, and he didn't want to be another guy that took advantage of her.
When Evelyn woke up, Gary was at his desk, hunched over a notebook. He was writing, almost frantically.
"Morning," she said.
Gary muttered back a quick response.
"Gary?"
He hadn't stopped writing, and he didn't reply. He remained facing away from her.
"Should we talk about it?" Evelyn asked.
Gary sighed, finally turning to look at her. "What's there to talk about, Evelyn?"
"Well, you know… last night."
"Let's not make it anymore awkward than it is right now."
He was fidgety, constantly wiggling his legs and writing, and erasing, vigorously. "Are you alright, Gary?"
"I'm fine."
"You're being all…weird," she said. "You are taking your medication, right?"
Gary's head snapped to the side and he glared at her. "Yes! Damn it, Evey, I have to get this done!"
He had stopped taking his medication a few days ago, but he could never let her know that.
Evelyn sighed. "Fine," she said, throwing her hands up. "I'm going to my room."
"Okay, bye," Gary snapped, rolling his eyes.
Evelyn ran into Peter Kowalski as she made her way out of the dorm. He gave her a strange look, no doubt wondering what she had been up to in the opposite sex's dorm, and probably assuming the worst.
Evelyn smiled at him and waved awkwardly.
Pete returned her smile and wave.
"Hey, Petey…I know you and Gary have a rough past, and you probably hate him…"
Pete narrowed his eyes at her, cocking his head to the side. "Okay…and?"
"Well, I'm worried about him. He seems a bit…off…lately. Do you think you could check on him or something?"
Petey sighed. He thought hard about the past couple years, how nice it was not having Gary around to constantly pick on him. However, he had to admit that he did miss the friendship sometimes. Jimmy was too busy being Mr. Popular those days, leaving poor Petey alone and mostly friendless. Peter knew how both Gary and Evelyn felt, being losers and outcasts. He smiled at Evelyn. "Sure, Evelyn. No problem."
The girl smiled and gave the small boy a hug before running off.
Gary watched Evelyn walk to the girls' dorms from his window. He dropped his pencil, leaning back in his chair. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with him lately. Being with Evelyn seemed to make him a different person. She made him happy, depressed, and confused all at the same time, and he hated it.
His thoughts were racing, his heart beating.
He stood up and started to pace, but stopped when he saw a familiar redheaded student poke his head in.
"Uh, hey there, Gary."
Gary grinned. "Well, well, what's this? Could it be? Femme-boy!"
Pete jumped slightly as Gary pulled him close, an arm around his neck.
"What brings you around, Femme-boy?"
"Uh…" Pete searched his head for an answer. "Just wanted to see how my old friend was doing."
"Friend?" Gary said. He laughed dramatically. "So we're friends again, huh?"
Pete smiled weakly. "Well, yeah, of course. Aren't we?"
Gary sat on the edge of bed. "Of course!"
"Well, I talked to Evelyn outside and she thought maybe we should talk."
He stared up at Pete. "Evelyn said that?"
Pete nodded. "Unless you don't want to, I guess."
Gary smirked. "No, no. Talk away."
"Well, I was hoping you'd do more of the talking," Pete admitted. "Tell me how you're doing, you know?"
Gary sighed, his smug expression disappearing. "So, you want to know how I'm doing."
Pete nodded. He watched as Gary got up and started to pace back and forward again. When he started mumbling to himself, Pete got worried.
"Gary…?"
"Evelyn put you up to this, huh?"
Pete didn't know what to say. Before he could even think of something, Gary started talking again.
"Of course she did. It's always her."
"What do you mean?"
"Evelyn! Everything is always about her. She makes me sick to my stomach."
"I thought you guys were friends," Pete said, confused. "I mean, you guys seem to actually like each other."
Gary stopped pacing and stared at the small boy. "That's the thing, Petey. I do like her. She's nice; she's funny; She's the only person who doesn't see me as some sort of psycho. She's sort of smart sometimes, too. And she smells good, Petey. Her hair smells like strawberries and it makes me want to vomit!"
"So… you have feelings for her?"
"What?" Gary asked in shock. "No, that's not what I meant."
"Well, then why are you so upset?"
"She's making everything weird…she's throwing my entire world off kilter."
"How so?"
Gary sighed, sitting down on his bed. "One minute, she says something so funny or nice or whatever, and I feel so incredibly happy. I've never felt incredibly happy, Petey. But the next minute, she is annoying and she doesn't seem to like me, and I just start to feel so angry. Then, of course, she has this new interest in that fucking greaser. She's all about him these days, and it pisses me off."
"You mean Ricky?"
"Yeah," Gary answered, rolling his eyes. "Ricky. He's going to end up hurting her, I just know it."
Pete simply smiled. "Gary, I really think you have feelings for her."
"I don't have feelings for anyone, Pete. Especially not her."
"Gary, you said her hair smells like strawberries."
"It does!"
"How would you even care to know that if you didn't like her?"
Gary glared at Peter. "Shut the hell up, femme-boy. I told you the smell makes me nauseous."
"Alright, Gary. If you don't like her, maybe you're just spending too much time with her."
Gary thought about it. "She is being forced to follow me around, make sure I stay out of trouble. Two more days and we're done with that. I guess you're right about that, Petey. Maybe I need a break from her."
Pete sighed before getting up to leave the room, shaking his head at the very stubborn Gary.
Evelyn went back to her dorm room, showered, and changed her clothes. She stared at herself in the mirror, hiking up her skirt and unbuttoning her top just a bit. She blow-dried her hair, letting her bangs fall over her face and put on makeup, something she hardly ever did.
She smiled, feeling confident, and left the dorms.
Evelyn tried hard to remain calm, but couldn't, at least in her mind. She prayed that her nerves weren't showing on the outside.
She saw everyone staring at her. It made her feel uneasy, going from being invisible to having everyone's eyes on her. She started to panic.
Great, she thought, I probably look ridiculous.
Just when she thought of going back to her dorm to wipe off the makeup and put up her hair, she ran into Peanut. The greaser looked her up and down, eyeing her cleavage a lot longer than she would've preferred.
"Evelyn," he said with a smirk, "hey there."
"Oh, hey, Peanut," she replied awkwardly. "I was just going to the shop to talk to Ricky."
"Yeah, he's there." He stared down her shirt again.
She smiled politely. "Thanks."
Evelyn quickly ran past Peanut and toward the auto-shop. A few of the greasers were standing outside, smoking. She walked over to them and smiled at Ricky.
Their conversation stopped.
"Well, hello, Evelyn," Norton said, "looking good."
"Thanks," Evelyn said shyly. She looked to Ricky. "Can I talk to you?"
"Yeah, of course," Ricky said, grabbing her hand and leading her away from the group. He rolled his eyes as the other greasers teased him. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to say sorry about leaving you last night."
Ricky smiled. "It's okay, Evelyn. I understand. We'll take it slow."
Evelyn returned his smile and gave him a hug. Ricky squeezed her gently.
"But…I'm still gonna do this," Ricky said and kissed her softly.
"No objection here," Evelyn replied.
Gary sat outside the girls' dormitory, waiting for Evelyn. He felt somewhat bad for yelling at her that morning, so he planned to take her out for pizza. Not to mention, he was fucking starving.
He saw Lola walk out and called after her.
"Ugh, what do you want?"
"Have you seen Evelyn?"
Lola rolled her eyes. "Isn't she supposed to be babysitting you?"
Gary shook his head. "Don't be a bitch. I asked a simple question."
"No, I haven't seen her."
Gary flipped her off as she walked off.
An hour later, Gary saw Evelyn walk by on the arm of Ricky Pucino. They stopped in front of the dorm and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Gary heard Ricky mutter something to Evelyn before leaving a trail of small kisses up her neck and cheek and finally reaching her lips. Gary sighed as he watched the two kiss.
Two more days, he thought.
Only two days until he was free from her.
Evelyn walked away from Ricky, giggling as he slapped her ass when she walked off.
This is going to be the longest two days of my life.
"Gary!" Evelyn said, shocked.
Gary tried to smile. "Hey, Evey."
He looked at her outfit. Cleavage. Legs. Makeup. She's trying to kill me.
He shook the thoughts away.
"How long have you been waiting here?"
He shrugged. "An hour and a half, I guess."
"What's wrong?" Evelyn asked, her face showing concern.
"I'm fucking starving, and you didn't tell me you'd be out with your new boyfriend."
"Why do I have to tell you anything?"
Gary sighed. "Because, Evelyn, I can't go anywhere or do anything without you, so if you're going to be gone at least let me know."
"Sorry," she said, sitting next to him and laying her head on his shoulder. "Only two more days until you're free though."
He nodded, smirking at her words, the exact same that had been circling his mind all day.
"I guess we'll have to celebrate tomorrow. We made it through without killing each other."
"Only because I'm on my meds."
She grinned and playfully hit his arm.
"How about we go for pizza? My treat." Gary said, putting on his best smile.
"Pizza sounds great."
Later that night, Gary lie in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was thinking about the past few months with Evelyn and how they had grown to be friends. He thought about her and Ricky, and how he hoped that she'd realize that Ricky was no good for her.
He closed his eyes, trying to block her out of his thoughts, but no matter what, there she was: Evelyn Chase, and the smell of strawberry shampoo.
"I'm like a cat in a cage, locked up and battered and bruised
I am the prodigal son, a shameful prodigy too
I am the love of your life, battering ram and confused
I turn each day into night; I stand there waiting for you."
-Blink 182