After a few more stops around the city, Crystal had finally gotten done with delivering all of her applications to every pharmacy in Simport; despite that though, her rendezvous wasn't over quite yet. There was still one place she had to go that she needed to go to; and that was none other than Club Candy. Admittedly, Crystal wasn't really planning on actually working there, but since Sapphire was kind enough to make the offer in the first place, it only felt right for her to apply for it anyway; and not to mention, the rebel needed someplace to turn to as a last resort, just in case things don't work out for her at any of the pharmacies.
At the moment, Crystal was just finishing up the application that Sapphire had previously given her a couple hours ago, making sure that everything was just right when Candy looks over it; but as she was focused on looking through what she's got written down, a male voice spoke behind her. "Ah, hello there, Crystal." The man said in a calm, soft tone. "Goth Boy said you were back in town."
Crystal glanced over her shoulder, seeing the person who was standing right behind her; the man has light-brown hair that appeared to be very well-combed, and he was wearing a white buttoned-down dress-shirt with a black jacket over it, as well as matching black dress-pants. This is Ray Frowler; one of the many goths who was apart of Goth Boy's clique, and probably the only one in said clique to also take part in the school's drama-club back in high-school. He was probably one of the goths from the clique that Crystal was the closest with; mostly because of her crush on him, but also because of the fact that he's Goth Boy's best friend.
"Ray, it's a pleasure to see you again." Crystal said as she stood up from the bench, discretely putting her application back into her laptop bag. "It's been awhile, dude."
"Indeed it has." Ray agreed as he nodded his head. "So, how have you been, Crystal?"
"Fine; although, it kinda sucks that I'm back to living with my obnoxious four sisters once again, instead of enjoying life in New York City..." The rebel muttered as she straightened out the handle to her laptop-carrier around her shoulder. "So, what about you, Ray? How have things been with you lately?"
"Personally, I wouldn't say all that much has changed with me ever since you've left years ago, other than that my dad's now been taking monthly trips to Augusta in order to help out around the warehouses that are up there." Ray answered while shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, which was something he would usually do on occasions during conversations; he tends to do this whenever something doesn't seem that much of an issue for him. "It's lonely around the house nowadays; but on the bright side, at least it gives me and Raven enough peace and quiet for us to spend some quality time there without being interrupted at any given moment."
"Looks like you got the better end of the stick than me here." Crystal joked while rolling her eyes, before proceeding to focus their conversation the girl that Ray had just mentioned. "By the way, Yuki told me and you're dating Raven now; is that right?"
"I don't believe it was that much of a secret, don't you think?" Ray asked the rebel as he crossed his arms. "We have been close for quite some time now."
"Well, true...but I thought you two would've just been friends rather than actually going out; hell, I thought you would've wind up with somebody like Stacy Verily instead of her."
"Me and Stacy Verily?"
"Yeah." Crystal answered while nodding her head. "You and her were apart of the 'Romeo and Juliet' play that the drama-club had during our senior year together; and not to mention, you two were pretty close around that time, so..."
"Well, as much as I absolutely adore Stacy, I don't believe she would've said 'yes' if I were to ask her out; despite the fact we were close throughout our last year of high-school together, I'm pretty sure that she had her mind set on some of the other members of club rather than...me." Ray then paused as a slight blush appeared on his face. "Also, I don't think Goth Boy or any of the other goths would've approve of me dating her anyway."
"To be fair, I'm pretty sure that Violet would've been totally fine with you two dating, since she'll probably be reminded of her relationship with Lord Daniel...well, before everything between them fell apart; but as for everyone else, including me...yeah, I don't think so, dude..."
After hearing that last part of the rebel's sentence, Ray's eyes narrowed at her; he hated it whenever the rebel decides to act sarcastic, no matter what the reason was. "Encouraging..." He muttered softly.
"By the way, what's that you've got there?" Crystal asked, now looking down at one of the goth's hand, which was holding what appeared to be a small rectangular piece of paper; in fact, it looked like an envelope.
"This?" Ray asked while holding up said envelope. "Oh, this is an invitation given to me by Liberty Martin a couple minutes ago; she's having some sort of party at her and Travis's house later on this week."
"Really?" Crystal asked, now intrigued. "The Australian dork is inviting you to her and her equally dorky boyfriend's house?"
"It's not just me, Crystal; they're also inviting Raven, Violet, Ian, Amelia, and from what Travis had told me, Katie's invited too."
"So, they invited my best friend, but not me?" After receiving nothing but silence from her crush, the tomboy decided to ask Ray another question. "Do you know where they are right now?"
"They should still be in the electronic store over-"
"Thanks, Ray." Crystal interrupted as she began to make her way over to the store that was literately a few buildings to the left from where they were standing, leaving her crush totally dumbfounded after she went off.
"Uh...I guess I'll see you at the party then..." Ray says before deciding to walk away himself.
Upon arriving at the electronics store, Crystal went through the front-doors and began searching for Travis and Liberty. She knew that the former of the two worked here, but she wasn't too sure if the latter was still here, or if she had left; either way, it was Liberty that the rebellious tomboy was looking for more than the other in this situation. After seeing that neither of them were around the front-area of the store, the tomboy decided to investigate some of the aisles to see if they were standing around in any of them.
It wasn't until Crystal finally arrived at the back of the store, where all of the televisions were aligned on a big shelf playing the exact same thing in unison, that she finally found Liberty; and once she found the young Australian, she went up to her and made her presence known. "Hey, Liberty!" The rebel shouted as she walked up to the former. "We need to talk!"
"What the-" Liberty exclaimed, only to notice the rebel walking her way towards her. "Oh, Crystal; can I help you, mate?"
"As a matter of fact, you can." Crystal then stopped in front of the Australian and began to explain what she wanted from her. "So, I've been recently told that you and your boyfriend were having some sort of party later on in the week; and according to Ray, you invited my best friend, but you didn't invite me. Do you mind telling me what that's all about?"
"Oh, crikey...I knew at least ONE of you was gonna find out about this..." The Australian muttered while holding the side of her own forehead, which the rebel unfortunately heard.
"What the hell does that mean?"
After letting out a distressed sigh, Liberty proceeded with her explanation. "While me and Travis were planning out our get-together, we couldn't help but remember the rivalry that you had with Summer Baxter throughout the majority of high-school; so, unfortunately, it's because of this that we came to the agreement that neither of you gets to be invited."
"Well, that's not fair...Summer's the bigger bitch than me."
"Even though I agree with you on this, that doesn't make what you've done to the cheerleading-squad any better."
"All I've ever done to the cheerleaders of our school was just pull harmless pranks-"
"You call 'ruining their practice by hiding ants in their pom-poms and somehow causing all of them to start vomiting all over the football field' as a 'harmless prank'?"
"Hey, cut me some slack there, dude; I didn't know that last part was gonna happen." After saying this, Crystal couldn't help but chuckle at the sudden thought. "Now that I'm thinking about it, that was totally hilarious..."
"Well, it wasn't very funny to me, Travis, and a few of the other students, mate." Liberty then turned around, prepared to now make her leave...only to be stopped by the rebel, who stepped right in front of her before she could go anywhere. "Oh, now what?"
"Perhaps I can make some arrangements with you in regards to this whole get-together that you're having."
"I beg your pardon, mate?!" Liberty asked, almost getting the attention of some of the nearby customers due to how loud she exclaimed that. "You can't just make arrangements for a party that you're not invited to-"
"True, but I can make arrangements in order for you to be convinced to let me to come." Crystal then wrapped an arm around the Australian as the two slowly began to walk back over to the televisions behind them. "So, let me ask you this, Liberty: did you, or Travis, invite Chaz McFreely to your little party?"
"Well...Travis actually did, but-"
"Do you think that he would want to come to the party if you're going to completely exclude his own girlfriend from it?" Crystal interrupts, which only resulted in the Australian to narrow her eyes at her, clearly not amused one bit. "I know I've made it extremely obvious that I absolutely hate Summer, but if I'm not going, and if she's not going, then that means that Chaz isn't going either."
"You're skills at convincing people has the same affect of my uncle trying to wrestle himself ten dingoes, mate." Liberty said as she shook her head, clearly unconvinced. "Do you think we care if Chaz comes to the party? He's already said that it's unlikely that he's even coming."
"Okay, that's a bit of a downer; but...in that case, are you hoping that Katie's gonna come to the party?"
"Considering that she's our school's valedictorian, I'm definitely hoping that she does-"
"Then she's probably not gonna show up if you're going to sit there and exclude her own best friend, don't you think?" The rebellious tomboy asked, straightening her glasses as if she's made a valid point. "How do you think she's going to actually feel upon hearing this little detail, huh?"
"Crystal-"
"Chaz and Summer are cool and all, but how can two dorks like you and Travis turn down the idea of having two cool girls like me and Katie over at your house to make your little get-together even more special?"
"You know, calling me and Travis 'dorks' is only making me feel justified in not inviting you-"
"Then feel free to inform Katie that I'm not invited, my snake-loving friend from the Down Under; because I doubt that she'll come when she hears I'm not invited."
After about a minute of silence, Liberty rolled her eyes as she let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine...you're invited." She mutters as she slowly shook her head. "I'll make sure to drop off an invite at your house tomorrow so you can know what we're doing and what time you should be there."
"Thank you."
"Is there any other recommendations that you'd like to make for our party?"
"Well, no...maybe except don't think about inviting Derek Oaken, then everything else is just fine."
"Luckily for you, we weren't planning on inviting him at all, knowing that boy has the temper as an untamed koala." Liberty assured the rebel. "Anything else, mate?"
"I believe that we're good now." Crystal answered as she turns around, prepared to leave the store. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to delivering this application somewhere. I'll be seeing you around, Liberty."
Once the rebel left the store, Liberty turned back around and faced the stack of televisions that were behind her, letting out a sigh that seemed to be a mixture of frustration and relief. 'Why do I get the feeling that I'm making some sort of mistake by doing this?" She thought to herself as she silently stared at what was on the television ahead of her.
Meanwhile...
Back with Katie, she and her two other friends have finally made it to the restaurant that Chaz was preferring to back at the skatepark: Gino's Pizzeria. In all honesty, Katie felt like she shouldn't have been all that surprised by this choice, since this place was usually a popular go-to place for almost everyone in this town; and truthfully, she was feeling like having some pizza right now anyway. The only issue that the tomboy had with this choice was that, since her father's dentist was literately across the street from this place, she was worried that her father was going to notice her hanging out with their new neighbors, especially considering the fact that he wasn't aware of the conversation she had with Chaz last night; but this issue wasn't too big in Katie's eyes, since her father tends to sit in his office for a majority of his shift, and it's usually some other worker who comes out to collect a patient for him.
Once they were parked, the trio stopped in front of the restaurant's entrance, where Chaz decided to say something to the other two. "I'm gonna go see if there's any free tables for us to sit at in there." He told them. "Do you guys mind waiting out here while I chat with that new blue-haired dude in there?"
"I'm sure we'll be fine." Katie answered as she causally shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think we'll mind the heat out here that much."
"Alright then." Chaz replied back. "I'll come back out here as soon as I get a table ready for us." After that second sentence was said, the biker entered the pizzeria, leaving his two other friends outside by their lonesome.
Now that they were alone, Katie decided to start a conversation with the biker's best friend. "Hey, do you mind if I ask you a question, Tim?" The studious girl asked, crossing her arms in a serious manner.
"Uh...sure, I-I guess." Tim answered somewhat sheepishly. "W-What is it?"
"You've been silent throughout almost a majority of our time out together, including our time at the skatepark; as short as it was." The tomboy explained to him; from the tone of her voice, one would say that she was calm, yet she appeared to be somewhat concerned for the blue-haired boy. "Is something bothering you, dude?"
"No, of course not...it's just that-" Tim immediately paused as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, before proceeding to answer his new friend's question. "Are you...mad at me right now?"
Katie blinked twice in confusion, before answering his question. "I'm...not mad at you at all." She told him honestly, yet still baffled by what was asked. "Why would you assume that I was?"
"Well, because of what I asked you back in the car an hour ago, about your..." Tim slowed down, believing that what he's saying was enough for the girl to know what he was talking about; and from the look on the skater's face, it seems like she does.
"Oh...that." Katie says both slow and awkwardly, yet also a hint of guilt in there too. "I...didn't know it was on your mind..."
"I just...didn't know asking such a question would've caused you to get so...agitated, you know?"
"I'm sorry; it was...complicated for me to be asked such a question, knowing what I'm going through right now."
Tim then shook his head, before holding up both of her hands in front of himself. "You shouldn't be the one apologizing for this, Kate; if anyone, it should be me." He insisted. "Knowing that I've only ever saw your dad leaving your house, I should've known something happened before Chaz and I showed up. I'm sorry; and I'm sorry for...whatever happened to your mother."
"I-It's okay, Tim; I forgive you." Katie says as she was wiping her eyes in order to keep herself from tearing up. "If you...still want to know about what happened to my mother, then...if you want, I'll tell you."
"I think it's for the best that you don't." The blue-haired boy insisted, holding up a hand as if to signal the girl to stop. "After seeing how you reacted back there when I asked the first time, I can tell that you're still hurting; so, for now, I think it's only fair that we save this conversation until you feel ready; okay?"
"Okay; and...thank you, Tim." Katie answered while nodding her head.
"Don't mention it."
It was around this time, Chaz came back out to retrieve his two friends. "Alright, guys; I finally got us a table-" He tells them, only to notice the solemn expressions on both of their faces. "Did I miss anything out here?"
"It's fine, Chaz; we were just talking about...life, and what not." Katie assured the biker, before faking a smile and rubbing her hands together. "Well, let's get inside and eat, shall we?" After that was said, the three made their way into the building.
Note: So, it looks like two (slightly) major things happened in this chapter: Crystal figured out about the get-together, and Katie and Tim took the time to talk about their conversation on the way to the skatepark. Also, we're introduced to Ray, whom obviously won't be dating Crystal in this story whatsoever, despite being one of her crushes; obviously, he'll be involved in James's subplot, where he'll most likely be reuniting with Stacy and forming a friendship with her geeky emo stepbrother.
Now, it's time to look at those reviews...
TheBigBunnyBoy: I know Stacy's not one of the nicest characters in this story, but she'll probably get better as the story goes on.
lordgemini: Well, you're slightly correct; the lunch didn't start just yet. Believe it or not, I did have one idea in mind when I was making this chapter where they were already inside of a restaurant (which was a diner instead of Gino's), but I changed my mind and decided to put 'Katie confronting Chaz about his trick' and 'Katie and Tim talking things out about what happened during the car-ride' in two separate chapters, instead of letting them be within the same one; not to mention, it felt cluttered when I wrote said first draft.
Anyway, that should be it for now. I will see you all in the next chapter.