Authors notes: Hmmm. Looks like "Resurrection" chapters are going to be shorter than "Do Overs". Let me know if you think this is a problem. Reviews are always welcomed. I hope you find this chapter a bit more exciting then the last one. I seem to be on a roll, so thought I'd pass this chapter on for your perusal.
BTW, I'm curious. How many people didn't catch the "I'm with the band" comment Donny made? One of my readers was apparently slightly incensed about the identity Donny's girlfriend (in a funny-laughing-chokingbackagrrivation kind of way) and I'd like to know how many people didn't expect that particular punchline.
Lastly, which crossover would you find more interesting: Buffy, DC Universe—which hero(es)?—or Ghostbusters? Lemme know. I have thoughts a-brewin', but I'll probably wait until I'm done with "Do Overs" before I start a new fic.
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Thanks to his girlfriend, Donny always got the best seats in the house at her concerts. He also managed to get seats for the rest of Casper High's ruling elite. Beside him sat fellow football stars Denver and Kasey, as well as Paulette and Stacey, two members of Casper High's cheer leading squad. Together, the five of them set the fashions and created the trends of local high school life. They were the A-List, even had a club with membership cards and other perks. Every single other kid in school envied them, wanted to be them.
Donny usually found himself wanting to be anything but one of them.
Not today though. Today, the five of them sat in front row seats at Ember's sold-out concert letting the music wash over them in waves. Pulse-pounding beats slammed into them from every speaker, lifting their spirits, bringing them joy. Sometimes Donny would catch Ember playing directly to him, especially during the love ballads peppered throughout her set, and it would send his emotions into a spiral of ecstasy. His strict, orderly home life, the overbearing football coach, the problems with his schoolwork all became nothing. Here, now, in this moment, his life was perfection itself.
He smiled as Ember riffed, letting her rhythm work its healing magic on him. Her song was "Remember My Name", but the notes from her guitar spoke to him alone, saying "This is how things are meant to be." He closed his eyes and the image of lavender eyes outlined in kohl floated up before him. Defiant, proud and flustered lavender eyes.
But Ember's eyes were blue.
His soul reverberated with an internal snap so loud Donny opened his eyes in shock. His breath came in short gasps as he turned away from stage to search the crowd. The music was forgotten. So was Ember. Whose eyes were those? He had just seen them recently. If only he could place them.
TWWWAAAAANNNGGG!
People winced at the off-key screech echoing across the speakers. Donny ignored it. Where was she, the owner of those purple eyes? Then he found them, Tuck and Mara sitting several rows behind him. No, lavender wasn't the right shade. Mara's eyes were bright, sparkling amethysts and he saw her freeze in shock as his gaze met hers.
Just then, another tune started up. One of Ember's love ballads. The music tugged at him, pulled him back around. He tried to fight and found his muscles responding without his consent. Just as his head turned the final few degrees towards the stage, his eyes fell into the deep, knowing gaze of an elderly man. His eyes were as blue as Donny's, set off by the man's white hair and immaculately pressed black suit. It took only a micro-second for Donny to absorb all that, then the man disappeared from view and Donny's full attention was back on his girlfriend, Ember.
Twisting a knob on her electric guitar, she strummed so hard the strings looked ready to break. Donny rocked in his seat, the force of her song vibrating through his chest as if it had hit him with a physical blow. The glare in her eyes dared him to turn away from her again and then he couldn't remember why he had looked away to begin with. His girlfriend was singing to him. Not at him, not for him. She was singing to him and only him. And suddenly he remembered why he loved her so much.
She was good to him. He could be anything or anyone around her. No other girl could come close to comparing to his Ember.
After that moment, he was so lost in the music she played for him, he completely forgot about Mara, Tuck, the elderly man and everything else that might possible distract him.
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Mara only came to the concert because Tuck begged her to. Before the concert began, she surreptitiously placed her i-Bug in her ear and keyed up her favorite tunes. So while her best friend danced and shouted with the rest of the clueless masses, she sat still in her seat with old-fashioned death metal tunes sounding in her ear.
It was easy to find the popular kids. They were right up front, in the seats Mara could have gotten if she actually wanted to see this concert. Denver was snuggled up with Paulette, Stacey was practically sitting in Kasey's lap and DeFranco...
DeFranco was alone. No girlfriend beside him.
Her heart skipped a beat. He was single?
Don't be stupid, she told herself. How can Casper High's star running back be single? She looked closer, trying not to be obvious about it. Not that Tuck was paying any attention to her. He was busy yelling Ember's name at the top of his lungs.
Jet black hair, tousled and uncombed in a dashing kind of way. A slender frame that was all lean muscle and no fat. DeFranco didn't have the bulk or height of the other football players, but he was fast. So fast, rumor had it the track coach kept trying to poach DeFranco from the football team. Rumor said a lot of things about DeFranco, if only because no one knew much about him. Unlike Denver and Kasey, Donny DeFranco didn't go around bragging about his life. In fact, despite his high status at the school, he was actually kind of quiet and tended to disappear when all the fights started.
Mara chewed her lower lip, trying to understand the mystery of Donny DeFranco when suddenly he sat up straight and started to scan the crowd behind him. The expression on his face was odd, one of urgency. The sound of a dying animal screeched out of the speakers, but Mara barely noticed. DeFranco's gaze locked onto her face, his eyes met hers, and she froze as her heart fell into a deep blue ocean.
She couldn't breath, she couldn't think. Recognition sent fingers of fire down her spine. The stunned expression on his face looked like an exact mirror of how she felt. What was wrong with her? The heck with that. What's wrong with him?
Stunned quickly drained away into vacant, leaving behind an empty look in the jock's eyes as he slowly turned away. Breath came back to her, as did her wits, and Mara found herself actually worried. This can't be good. His movements were puppet-like as he faced the stage again. She saw him sway in his seat as the band played a sappy ballad. Then he was still as a statue, completely engaged by the music. Mara lifted her gaze, gasping as Ember practically stalked across the stage towards DeFranco. The singer's face was a mask of fury despite the gentle notes she sang.
It took Mara several minutes, but as the song finished and changed to a new one, she found herself cursing with realization. "Oh, dammit. He does have a girlfriend."
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The concert ended to thunderous applause, with practically everyone in the stands shrieking Ember's name. Even Donny was on his feet cheering. Ember winked at him after her last encore then left the stage. Apparently, he was forgiven. Now if he could just remember what horrible thing he had done to her so he could properly ask for an apology.
"That was so awesome." Paulette clapped her hands and jumped in place, her long brunette hair bouncing with her.
"Wasn't it just?" Stacey asked, repining her own blond locks with the Ember barrette she had purchased at the band's paraphernalia counter.
"Dude," Denver slapped Donny on the back. "Best seats ever!"
"Yeah," Kasey added. "It almost makes up for earlier."
The girls gave the guys a blank look. "Earlier?"
Donny sighed. Not again. "Look, you can bully those kids any school day of the week. Can't we just have one day off to have fun by ourselves?"
Paulette threaded her arm through Donny's, laughing merrily. "What's the matter, Sweetie. Putting losers in their place is high entertainment."
Frowning, Donny fought the urge to shrug the cheerleader off. "And us paying attention to the losers every day, even if it is just for a beating, gives them a bit of status, doesn't it?"
"Eck! Paulette, he's right." Stacey shuddered with disgust.
Denver looked thoughtful, not a good expression on his broad face. "Dude, you might actually have a point."
"He does," Paulette agreed.
"Man," Kasey complained, "now I'm feeling sick to my stomach."
Denver snorted. "And you haven't even had the super-duper double chili dogs yet."
The argument quickly dissolved into a discussion of food, jet sleds and what event the group was going to next. They waited until most of the crowd left before exiting the stadium themselves. A few groups ahead, Donny saw Mara and Tuck laughing at some shared joke. Jealousy stabbed at him, though he knew no reason for it, so he did his best to ignore the pair.
The rest of the morning was spent watching an extreme jet sled obstacle race. Donny stood to the side, listening to his four friends gossip and joke, while the rest of the surrounding fans cheered or shouted obscenities at the performers. Even in the middle of the crowd, he felt invisible. Especially when people kept jostling into him and stepping on his feet, only noticing him after the fact. Humiliation warmed his cheeks with a flush. No one ever sees me. One of the reasons he joined the football team to begin with was so people would notice him, so he wouldn't keep feeling like he was slowly fading away into non-existence.
He stumbled into Denver when a little girl's sno-cone dropped on his shoe.
"Dude," Denver cried out, pounding Donny on the back. "Where you been? Visiting the ole ball-n-chain?"
"Um, Den, I've been right here the whole time."
Kasey and the girls laughed. "Sure you have." Denver winked at the girls as he drawled out his response. "Dude, you missed Steve Storis's killer moves! That's okay. Crash Martin is up next. Have you seen the her skinsuit?"
"Or what little of a skinsuit she's actually wearing," Kasey chimed in. Then yiped when Stacey whacked him. "Ow! That hurt!"
"Excuse me, who exactly are you taking to spring formal?" Stacey demanded, eyes flashing.
Donny carefully backed away from the line of fire, hoping Paulette and Stacey wouldn't pull him into the argument. Ice tingled a warning down his spine. He shivered and tripped over someone behind him. Fortunately, the rally grounds were well covered in straw. The man reached down, lifting Donny back to his feet with a well-manicured hand.
"Um, thanks." Donny got to his feet, dusting off his jacket with his free hand.
"Are you all right, Little Badger?"
Donny started in surprise, forgetting about his letter jacket. Impeccably dressed in a designer black business suit, the man had blue eyes, a white goatee, longish white hair pulled back in a ponytail and seemed familiar. Yet how could he know someone he'd never seen before, never met. Confused, Donny said the only intelligent thing that came to mind.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you are all right."
"Yeah. Fine."
The man smiled, his eyes glinting with an odd light. "Good. I'm glad. Have a fun day, Son."
Donny recoiled. I hate it when people say that to me! "You're not my dad," he muttered resentfully.
Now the man laughed, an almost evil sounding cackle. "No, I'm not. Sorry about that. Won't happen again, I promise. By the by, Young Man, you really should pay better attention to what's going on around you."
"Meaning?"
"It's such a wonderfully warm spring day. Why are you so cold?" The man pointed in the air.
Donny shuddered, his breath catching in his chest when he realized he could see it hanging like mist in front of him. The temperature in his immediate vicinity had definitely dropped, a sure sign his girlfriend was around. When Donny glanced around, however, he didn't see Ember and the man had vanished into the crowd.
Donny's confusion only mounted when he noticed a little green bulldog pup trotting across the jet sled obstacle course, ignoring such thing as the flaming-circles-o-death and the crunching-mandibles-o-fury. Donny couldn't decide which was more absurd; the idea someone would dye a their pup green or the fact that said puppy didn't even flinch when Crash Martin came within inches of flattening it.
Crash dived her jet sled under and around a field of laser lattice, not even noticing the animal. The audience oohed and aahed in appreciation of her maneuvers, oblivious to brightly colored canine. Donny frowned as the puppy made its way off the course, trotted happily between Kasey's feet and off into the crowd.
And during it all, Donny shivered and his breath misted in the air. What's wrong with me? He ran his fingers through his bangs, feeling chilly sweat on his forehead. His friends had turned their attention back to the exhibition and were chatting amongst themselves as if they didn't even see him. Donny swallowed, then made his decision. He slipped through the crowd without a word, heading for the nearest restroom.
And there was the pooch, heading for the pita stand.
Another shiver hit him, violently. Donny closed his eyes, feeling them burn behind his lids, and swayed a bit off balance. Two hands grabbed his arms, one on either side. When Donny opened his eyes, Friar Tuck and Mara were holding him upright.
"Dude, are you okay?" Tuck asked.
Mara frowned up at him. "What's wrong with your eyes?"
Donny blinked, felt the burning dissolve as he did. "Nothing," he shrugged the pair off. "I…I'm fine."
"Well excuse us for being worried!" Tuck groused.
"DeFranco, you look really ill. Maybe you should go to the doctor."
Mara's concern shocked him. A freak goth worried about a brainless football jock? No way. I must be imagining things.
A second later, he was glad to be imagining things because the green puppy walked out of the pita stand with gyro meat in its mouth. And it didn't come out via the door or over the window.
"Oh. My. God," Tuck whispered.
Mara stepped away from Donny, looking at the puppy the two boys were staring at and completely misunderstanding the situation. "No! That is so cruel! Who is horrible enough to paint their pet's fur that way?"
Tuck shook his head. "Uh, Mara, I think I just saw that dog walk through a wall."
The goth girl sputtered, choking on a laugh. "Tuck, you've had too many chili-cheese fries today. Dogs can't walk through solid objects."
Donny stood silent, ignored once more. The puppy approached him, chewing on its prize. The closer it got, the colder the chills up his spine were. Donny panted, on the verge of hyperventilating. The space in front of him clouded blue with moisture and the puppy scampered past.
It must belong to someone, Donny thought. It has a collar.
The teen jock turned automatically and started to jog after the animal. He wasn't quite sure why, except for a strong gut feeling telling him the dog was somehow connected to his girlfriend. The puppy glanced back over its shoulder, "woofed" pleasantly, and picked up its pace. Donny followed after, trying to chase the animal down.
"Hey, wait up!" Mara's voice called.
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Tuck growled as he tried desperately to keep up with his best friend. This was not how he planned to spend his day, chasing down someone's lost pet and a jock with muscle spasm issues. Still, the guy did help him out earlier in the morning. So Tuck bit back his own impatience and followed the two other kids to the "backstage" area of the fairgrounds. The barns, cattle stalls and ancient dirt horse track were deserted.
The trio of teens ran around permanent light towers, jumped a chain link fence and threaded scaffolding trying to keep up with their target. When the mutt ran into one of the older structures, Tuck groaned aloud. The doors were chained shut and big "Keep Out" signs were posted all around. Despite this, the jock didn't give up. Like a fiend possessed, Donny DeFranco rattled the doors, trying to get entry to the decrepit wooden building.
"Dude," Tuck called out, "give it up. It's just a dog."
"A dog that can walk through walls," Mara breathed in shock.
Vindicated, Tuck puffed out his chest. "Told ya."
Donny slammed his flat palm against the barn doors in frustration. "Open up!" he shouted at the wood.
The guy has issues, Tuck decided. Serious mental ones.
It didn't surprise him. Most athletes traded smarts for brawn and Mara had been right with her earlier crack about football players getting hit in the head too often. Experiences like that could scramble whatever common sense a person had. Apparently DeFranco just had a different reaction to voluntary physical abuse than his friends did.
Tuck dialed up the fairground plans on his wrist comp, displaying them on a 3D heads up projection while the jock prowled around the outskirts of the building looking for entry. "That's the only way in, Dude. Unless you can go through solid objects too."
Donny shot glare in Tuck's direction and for a brief nano-second, the techno-geek thought the jock's eyes had turned green. But when Tuck checked again, he saw only blue as Donny turned away.
Mara stepped closer to Tuck, whispering, "Is it just me, or did his eyes just glow?"
"You saw it too?"
"Second time," she confirmed softly. "And I don't think he knows it."
By this time, DeFranco was at the back corner of the building, prying at the wallboards with a piece of pipe he picked off the ground. Tuck watched in fascination as the scrawny football player vandalized public property. "Okay, weird and obsessive. Why are the popular kids called 'quirky' when they get that way but we're called freaks?"
"Some questions have no answers, Tuck."
A crack reverberated loudly as DeFranco peeled away the first piece of wood. He tossed it back, preparing to go for the second piece, when the dog shot out of the building. The stupid mutt skidded to a stop beside the board, barking loudly.
The jock dropped the pipe. "Here, Pooch."
Hating himself, but knowing he was going to help DeFranco anyway, Tuck killed his HUD and scooched towards the canine's other side. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mara doing the same. How surrounding the dog on three sides could help, the techno-geek didn't know. Still, if they could capture the mutt… I wonder how much the zoo would pay for it?
The dog panted playfully, woofing once again. The three teens surrounded it, getting closer and closer. Just as they lunged, the dog snapped the board up in its tiny little jaws—the wood was at least three times as long as the mutt—spun around and ran for the scaffolding.
Donny, Mara and Tuck slammed into each other, bouncing and slamming into the ground.
"I'm gonna choke that beast!" Tuck snarled.
Mara glared laser scalpels at him.
Donny jumped to his feet, shaking his head as if to clear it, and yelled, "Catch that dog!"