Hey'all
This chapter has 2 parts, because....well, you shall see. The songs I used are Valentines Day by Linkin Park, and Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega (DNA Remix)
Warning: So much cheez ahead, I almost feel sorry for the characters *laughs*
Disclaimer: I dont own 6teen
Part 1:
On her first break of the day, Jen made her way to the usual spot at the "Lemon" to find the table barren, except for Jonesy.
"Hey, Jonesy," she said, pulling up a chair beside him (there was no point sitting on the opposite end of the table). "Where's Caitlyn?"
"I dunno. I haven't seen her since I split this morning with Wyatt," Jonesy yawned, stretching out his arms. He had been pondering about what happened that morning with the singing. Looking at Jen, he had an idea and leaned forward, lowering his voice.
"Uh, Jen?"
"Yeah?"
"Anything, uh, weird... happen to you lately?" He raised his eyebrow questioningly.
"Like what, Jonesy?" Jen folded her arms.
Jonesy looked around for any wandering ears, then turned back to Jen and whispered, "Like singing and dancing."
"It happened to you too!" Jen screeched, jumping up and pointing a finger at Jonesy.
"What? No!" He stood up too before realizing something. "Hey, that means you did it!"
"Yeah! With Jude, right here," she slapped the table top. "And Caitlyn was singing on top of the Lemon!"
Jonesy laughed his well-know boisterous laugh, all of a sudden remembering the good old days of the Giant Lime.
So," Jen said, excitedly. "What happened? Who did you sing with?"
"Me? Who said I did any of that?" Jonesy grinned slyly, then ruffled Jen's hair and walked away.
Jen stared at the direction he left in, dumbfounded, before realizing he never actually admitted that he did sing.
"Jerk," Jen muttered to herself, wandering away from the Lemon. After a few minutes of walking and muttering under her breathe, Jen realized she had made her way to the front of the mall. She looked outside through the glass doors and saw the sun shining brightly making the world glow with a sparkly, freshness, so she went outside to enjoy it.
The snow was melting and a few bits of baby grass were popping up from the ground. The naked trees were budding too.
Looks like an early spring this year, Jen thought to herself, smiling. She crossed the parking lot, walking down a path that led around the feild beside the mall (it was mostly used for soccer in the summer) to feel a familiar musical pull. It was not as strong as it had been that morning.
Jen looked at her surroundings. Further up the path there was a very small enclosing of pine trees. The pulling seemed to want her to go there, so she followed. Making her way slowly towards the feeling, Jen started to hear singing and music. The singing was quiet, and the voice sounded so sad and full of grief.
Jen stealthily went towards a large pine tree, and peeked around it, to find Jude laying on the sloshy ground, looking up into the sky. She was overcome with a sense of guilt; Jude was having a private moment and she was interuppting it by spying on him.
But the guilt quickly washed off and was replaced by curiosity. She squinted through the poking needles of the pine tree, studying what she could see of Judes' face. His touque was off and his blonde hair was a damp mess on his forehead. His lips were forming quiet words:
Jude:
So now you're gone
And I was wrong
I never knew what it was like
To be alone
Jude suddenly jumped up, causing Jen to startle. He belted out as loud as he could.
Jude:
On a Valentine's Day
The music suddenly became overpowering. Jen found she was clutching the tree to stop herself from running out in the open.
Jude:
On a Valentine's Day
The needles poked at her arms and face. She grabbed a branch for support, fighting the invisible force, but was quickly being drained of energy. It was too strong.
Jude:
On a Valentine's Day
Come on Jen, try harder. Can't let Jude see you!
Jude:
On a Valentine's Day
A small movement with her foot caused Jen to slip, the branch she was grabbing snapped off, crashing to the slushy ground.
Jude:
On a Valentine's Day
And then she was powerless to the music, raising up and revealing herself to Jude.
Jude:
I used to be my own protection
Jen:
On a Valentine's Day
Jude:
But not now
Jen:
On a Valentine's Day
Jude:
Cause my mind has lost direction
Jen:
On a Valentine's Day
Jude:
Somehow
Jen:
On a Valentine's Day
Jude:
I used to be my own protection
Jen:
On a Valentine's Day
Jude:
But not now
Jen:
On a Valentine's Day
Jude:
Cause my mind has lost direction
Jen:
On a Valentine's Day
Jude:
Somehow
The music ended abruptly, leaving Jen and Jude breathless from the singing.
"What are you doing here, bra?" Jude broke the silence. He slipped his wet toque onto his head.
"I was just taking a walk, and then I was led here, sort of. Well, I wasn't led by anyone in particular. But then I heard singing and music and..." Jen hesitated and looked away in embaressment. "I'm sorry, Jude, for spying on you."
"It's cool," Jude said, sitting down again. "I was just thinking about Starr."
There was a silence as Jen considered Jude. He was mindlessly compressing slush in his hands, lost in thought about Starr. She sighed. Jude and Starr had been a cute couple, they had so much in common, but the truth was that Jen was almost relieved when they had broken up. She didn't really understand her feelings, why she resented Starr when Starr and Jude were dating. She remembered making herself believe she was just worried about Jude, one of her closest friends.
"Aw Jude," Jen tucked her skirt in and sat down beside him. Despite her efforts, the slush sunk in through her skirt and numbed her legs and butt instantly. Ignoring it she said, "You broke up with her months ago."
"Yah, I know. Just, today being Valentines Day, and all." He fiddled with his skateboard, turning a wheel with his finger. "Plus, all my stickers fell off allready."
Jen smiled weakly. "Well, I got penalized for half an hour for wearing the uniform Caitlyn got me."
"Bummer," Jude laughed, and at almost directly the same moment, it started raining. Jen groaned, but didn't even bother putting up her hood. The water was going to soak through and get her hair wet anyways.
"I guess that's our cue to leave," Jude said, standing up. He pulled Jen to her feet with one hand, board in the other.
"Ow," Jen winced.
"What is it, bra?"
"I fell back there," she pointed at the pine tree, "and I think I bruised my leg."
"Thats two reasons to head back then, right?" Jude threw his thumb over his shoulder, pointing towards the direction of the mall.
"Yeah, let's go."
The two of them headed out of the small cirle of pine trees onto the shoveled path. They walked in silence, not needing to fill up every space of time with words, and listening to the sound of rain hitting the pavement, and showering the already bathed field.
After following the path out of the soccer feild, they started crossing the road towards the mall.
After a moments hesitation, Jude spoke. "Jen?"
"Yes, Jude?" For some odd reason, her heart skipped a beat.
"I was thinking..." Then he abruptly stopped walking. Jen turned to face him, questioningly.
He had a hand cupped to his ear. "Do you hear that?"
Jen stopped walking too, and listened carefully. It sounded like...
"Singing," Jen said, raising her eyebrow.
"Sweet! I thought it was only us who did it," Jude grinned.
Jen shrugged, not bothering to mention the conversation she had with Jonesy earlier, when Jude said, "Let's follow it," and took off in the direction of the singing.
"What? Jude!" He was already to far off to hear her. Jen rolled her eyes before following him.
She shadowed Jude past the mall to a line of small conveniance stores, coffee shops and small owned businesses. The singing had gotten louder, but was always the same line of "Do do do do, do do do do." Jude had stopped in front of a diner, pressing his face up against the window, looking inside.
"See anything?" Jen asked, positioning herself beside him, and looking in the window herself.
Inside the small diner, there weren't many people. Most of them sat at tables eating, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. The waitor passed by filling their coffee cups. Every person was singing the said line, but were continuing with thier businesses, as if nothing was happening out of the ordinary. Sitting at a booth, with his back turned to them, was a man dressed in a white uniform suit and thick belt. He had greying hair, and was hunched over.
"Jude! It's Ron the Rent-A-Cop!" Jen exclaimed.
"Oh shit!" Jude quickly ducked out of sight, covering his head.
Jen backed away from the window and rolled her eyes at Jude. "We're not at the mall right now, so he can't do anything to us."
"Can't be to careful bra, that dude's evil." He continued to cower under the window sill, holding his hat over his eyes.
Jen turned back to the window, wondering why she and Jude weren't affected by the "Do do do's," when she spotted her reflection in the window. Smiling at herself, she struck a few poses. Then she thought about her bruised leg, and twisted around, hitching up her skirt a bit, to get a look at it.
"Ouch" she grimaced. "That's definately going to blacken."
"Woah, that's sick," Jude said, peeking from under his hat.
"Yah, um, shouldn't we get out of the rain?" Jen asked blushing, and quickly smoothing her skirt back down.
"Yeah." He crawled on his skateboard until they passed the diner, so not to be seen by Ron the Rent-A-Cop, and they made their way back to the mall.
Part 2:
(A/N: Forgive me, I don't know if I captured Ron's...essence. I tried.)
1:32 p.m.
Ron noted his watch. It was time to sweep the Northern section of the mall again, and to grab his afternoon coffee. He made his way leiserly on his cop car, eyeing menacingly at any teenager that passed by him. They were all suspencts; you could't trust any one of them. Especially at this time of year. Valentine's Day. He knew how their minds worked. They'd be sneaking off into back rooms that were only meant for staff, into movies they didn't pay for, into public bathrooms, and especially in the picture booth, just to release thier raging hormones.
"Punks," Ron growled. "All of them."
He parked his cart outside of 'Grind Me' and went inside. There wasn't a line. In fact, the whole store seemed empty. Ron looked around suspiciously, then at his watch again. 1:34; record time. He went to the counter.
"One coffee. Large. Black." He told a girl of African skin.
"I'm sorry sir, the coffee machine is out," the girl told him. "We could have used you here earlier; a couple of idiots were chasing each other and got into a fight busting our coffee machine."
Ron's eyes grew serious and he pulled out his notepad. "I'm going to need a description of both suspects. Detailed."
The African girl raised her eyebrow at Ron before saying, "It was Wyatt Williams and Darth's Uncle, Paul." Then she turned and left.
Ron thought from the scene he saw earlier. The punks he had seen earlier. Maverick and Coffee Pot, and Muscles. He left 'Grind Me' thinking over his new case, and got back onto his cart. He still needed a coffee, and the only other place that brewed them good was outside the mall, in a diner.
1:40, Ron thought. I can make it back in good time, before I catch these punks.
He rode on his cart out the entrance of the mall and took a left. Beside the mall, aways down the street were a strip of conveniance stores. At the very corner was the diner Ron was looking for. He parked his cart and walked inside.
Freshly brewed coffee, he thought, smelling the air, and took a seat on a stool and the counter.
"Coffee, black," he told a waitor, who scurried away to get one.
Ron turned his head, eyeing the people in the diner. There weren't many. They were just taking a lunch break from work. He scanned the counter, found a newspaper someone had left behind, and pulled it toward him in interest. But before he could get to reading the paper, he felt a tingling in his body.
Ron was about to stand up, when he heard singing behind him.
All:
Do do do do, do do do do,
do do do do do do do,
do do do do, do do do do,
do do do do do do do
He didn't turn around to see who it was, but relaxed on his stool, being overtaken by the music.
Ron:
I am sitting In the morning
At the diner On the corner
I am waiting At the counter
For the man To pour the coffee
And he fills it Only halfway
And before I even argue
He is looking Out the window
At somebody Coming in
All:
Do do do do, do do do do,
do do do do do do do,
do do do do, do do do do,
do do do do do do do
Ron:
I open Up the paper
There's a story Of an actor
Who had died While he was drinking
He was no one I had heard of
And I'm turning To the horoscope
And looking For the funnies
When I'm feeling Someone watching me
And so I raise my head
All:
Do do do do, do do do do,
do do do do do do do,
do do do do, do do do do,
do do do do do do do
Ron:
There's a woman On the outside
Looking inside Does she see me?
No she does not Really see me
Cause she sees Her own reflection
And I'm trying Not to notice
That she's hitching Up her skirt
And while she's Straightening her stockings
Her hair Is getting wet
The music faded away, along with the "Do do's" and everyone in the diner continued their business, not even realizing that they had just been singing. Ron turned away from the window and the costumers. He looked at his coffee suspiciously.
Hallucination chemicals, he thought, then eyed the waitor, who was cleaning a cup.
"What do you put in your coffee, son?" Ron asked suspiciously, pointing at his cup.
"I don't think I..I'm not allowed...I can't tell you, sir," the waitor stuttered, his voice cracking.
"I'm going to be back here later, and I'm warning you, I can shut this place down." Ron squinted at the waitor before departed the premises.
I hope you guys understand what I was getting at...
Anyways, I really love that song, the Tom's Diner one, so i had to use it :)