AN: Hey guys! Thanks for coming back to read more about Gary and Roxanne's story, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
4 - Daddy
It was a quiet Friday evening, autumn leaves scattered throughout the campus of Bullworth. Two freshman girls wander around the desolate school, approaching the direction of the girls' dorm.
Roxanne Hewitt follows eagerly along side her new friend, Zoe Taylor, who'd promised to get the two a dubbie from a boy named… Jake? No, maybe it was John? Roxanne wasn't sure, though something about interacting with a stranger for the first time she's trying drugs made her feel uneasy. Zoe had told her there was nothing to worry about, then again Zoe didn't know this was Roxanne's first time ever doing this.
"What's this guy's name again? Are you sure he has it?" Nervousness shines through the young black haired girl as she attempts to calm herself down. Roxanne knew it was a bad idea ever telling Zoe she was interested in smoking.
"Roxie, you need to chill out. He's just a guy I know that offered to get us shit." Zoe dismisses Roxanne's worries, patting her on shoulder.
"Okay…" Roxanne mumbles lowly, ignoring her paranoia, "Where did he say to meet him again? We should be careful not to get caught."
"We're already here!" Zoe beams cheerfully as the two arrive in the back alley behind the girl's dorm. Roxanne looks around at their surroundings, adopting a fearful expression as she twiddles her manicured thumbs. Granted, the two are at Bullworth, Roxanne feels rather unsafe being out of sight. "Relax, nothing bad is going to happen. This guy is harmless." Zoe comforts the short girl, noticing her friend's shaken demeanor.
The two girls embrace, a hug that immediately calms Roxanne's nerves. Zoe would never let anything bad happen to them.
Suddenly, footsteps echo through the small walkway as both girls move their eyes to wherever the noise is coming from.
A tall brown haired boy with shaggy hair, clad in a black leather jacket with brown school slacks and a dark blue sweater vest, approaches the girls.
"Hey Johnny!" Zoe waves, pulling the boy in for a hug.
Oh, that's the boy Mandy has a crush on. Roxanne realizes in her mind, immediately feeling at ease since this is someone one of her (somewhat) friends knew.
Johnny smiles at the redhead, eyes filled with excitement and joy as he hands her a small joint. Roxanne is fascinated; Zoe, on the other hand, throws Johnny an annoyed glare.
"Calm down Z, that's for her." The boy speaks, gesturing towards Roxanne, "...there's more for you and me in my dorm." Johnny whispers to Zoe, intriguing the redhead who smiles coyly.
"There better be." Zoe warns playfully as she passes the joint to Roxanne, who stares in awe at the tiny blessing now in her hand.
Changing the subject, Roxanne mumbles a 'thank you' to the tall boy which neither Zoe or Johnny hear; The redhead and the brunette are too busy exchanging flirty glances at one another.
Without warning, Zoe and Johnny close the space between them with a kiss, completely forgetting Roxanne, who is standing behind the two. Eww, Roxanne thinks to herself, disgusted at the redhead's behavior. Though she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a bit envious that Zoe so easily got male attention.
"Zoe, you're looking pretty fine. You should come over." Johnny bites his lip, keeping his eyes locked on the lanky girl. Both teenagers stare at the other, smiling with a hint of challenge in their eyes.
Looking at Zoe's face, Roxanne knows that expression on her dear friend's face all too well; A sexual desire lingering in Zoe's smirk, in the redhead's eyes you could tell she wants to rip Johnny's clothes off. Here we go, Roxanne recoiles, knowing inwardly that Zoe will most likely leave her to go hook up.
Slowly turning her head to face Roxanne, Zoe smiles innocently almost as if to ask for the girl's permission to depart. Roxanne shakes her head in mild annoyance at Zoe's hornyness. The redhead smiles wildly and mouths a desperate "Please." Roxanne only nods in approval at the redhead, not wanting to deal with more of the older girl's flirty behavior.
And just as fast as she received the signal of acceptance...
"Later Rox!" Zoe beams, immediately taking off running hand in hand with Johnny, away from the alleyway, leaving Roxanne alone.
Sighing in frustration, Roxanne looks down grimly at the spliff in her fingertips.
Suddenly, Roxanne remembers her mistake, Fuck! Zoe has the lighter, how is she going to smoke without anything to light the joint?
Feeling pathetic, "Ugh! I fucking hate this shit!" Roxanne yells aloud, not caring who could over hear her tantrum. She can't be mad at Zoe for leaving, after all she should've expected her to if there was a boy involved. As much as the redhead's reproductive instincts annoy Roxanne, she can never be upset with Zoe for too long. The short girl brushes off her anger and slumps down against the wall behind her in defeat.
Class had been let out long ago, most people were already off campus having fun and without Zoe, Roxanne has NO ONE to hang out with. Roxanne brings her legs up to her chest and crosses her arms over her knees.
Why does she want to cry again? She's always alone anyway, it's not like she really has people who want to be around her. Roxanne doesn't need anyone else around to feel like she matters...right?
The raven haired girl cannot help feeling a pang of emptiness inside her, an understanding in her mind that she is simply unworthy. It was moments like this she missed her mother. Roxanne buries her face in the space between her legs and chest, almost as if to hide her sorrow, in case someone happened to catch her proving Mandy right about her being 'overly sensitive'.
Roxanne allowed the spliff to fall from her hand and onto the ground beneath her thighs. She did not care for ants crawling on it, or it becoming dirty from the germs of the earth. Now was not the time to dwell on smoking, she didn't even have a lighter anyway. Maybe it wasn't about smoking weed for the first time that Roxanne wanted the experience. Maybe Roxanne just wanted to smoke with Zoe, someone she could call a friend. Someone who cared for her…
Suddenly, Roxanne is pulled away from her memories as a hand reached for the joint beneath her thighs; The wind from the swift motion, just brushing through her long hair.
"You know, you really shouldn't smoke those things."
Searching for the familiar voice in her head, Roxanne blinks away her tears and looks up to face the 'thief' of her joint.
The girl's blue eyes were immediately met with intense brown lasers that belonged to none other than her 'stalker', Gary Smith.
Roxanne looked back down at the ground beneath her, ready to just ignore the teenage boy before her, who no doubt came just to torture her.
Gary scoffed at her silence and speaks again, "What are you doing all alone huh? Your little friend left you for another guy? Sorry I don't think she's gonna come around to your carpet munching fest anytime soon."
Roxanne almost feels herself vomit at the boy's snide comment and throws him a sickened grimace. Gary chuckles to himself and takes a seat next to her on the ground, scooting as close to the girl as possible in an effort to make her uncomfortable.
The boy's attempt works, causing Roxanne to shift uneasily and move her body a few inches away from him. "Why are you smoking anyway?" Gary ridiculed, sounding as if he was offended by Roxanne's decision. "You're a silly girl. And that's putting it mildly." He taunted as he examined the joint in his hand.
"Of course you have nothing better to do on a Friday than bother me", Roxanne, finally caving in her silence, scowls at the tall boy. Looking into the girl's eyes, searching for a hint of weakness, Gary smirks at her and raises his eyebrows.
Roxanne flinches under the boys deadpan stare, causing him to laugh before speaking again,"Where did you get this anyway?".
"Zoe."
"Ah, so I correct in my predictions."
"Yes you were. Are you pleased with yourself?" Roxanne sighed, furrowing her brows at the sociopath who tested her patience with his annoying wit.
"Why yes I am...Ms. Hewitt." Gary teased, catching a fallen strand of hair in Roxanne's face and tucking it behind her left ear.
THERE IT WAS AGAIN? How on earth did he ever find out her last name? She hardly knew his less than a week ago. Jesus this dude was creepy.
Shrugging off her paranoia, "What do you want Gary?" Roxanne spoke again, eager to just get the boy to leave her alone.
"Nothing, I swear," Gary blinked innocently before continuing, "Just for you to tell me why you're making careless decisions like smoking and befriending the ginger who'd open her legs for a trucker if he had a cigarette."
HE DID NOT JUST- OH MY GOD! Roxanne's anger quickly arose and she could feel herself getting red. Gary began to laugh, he knew that remark about Zoe would totally set Roxanne all, it seemed the two were very close, and Zoe was the only person he'd ever seen speak to Roxanne. Now, the raven haired girl was seething in rage, looking as if she was going to choke him out any second. Just the way he liked her.
Roxanne felt her body shake, how come one little comment about her best friend upset her so much? This is exactly what Gary wanted, she shouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her this mad. Contain yourself Roxanne...calm down. She remembered the words her grandmother would always say whenever Roxanne would throw a tantrum. Breathe. Don't punch him, you'll probably lose anyway.
The girl felt herself cool down, as she breathed multiple times. Gary only watched, slightly disappointed that the 'show' had to end within seconds of it beginning. "Gary...why do you care so much about what I do with my life?" She asked in genuine curiosity, with a mixture of exhaustion at the boy who just couldn't seem to leave her alone.
"Good question. I don't. It just amuses me to make fun of how stupid you are."
"Yeah...riiiight." Roxanne chuckles sarcastically, causing Gary to roll his eyes at her.
"And cut the attitude. Before I throw this little 'hippie stick' of yours away."
Scoffing at the boy, "You don't own me, Gary. You can't tell me what to do." Roxanne replied, throwing in as much attitude as she could as to assert dominance over the sociopath.
Gary stood up, joint still in his palm. He kept his eyes fixated on Roxanne, but slowly moved his body towards the trash can right next to him.
The boy opened the lid to the trash can, raising his eyebrows at the girl seated on the ground. It suddenly occurred to Roxanne that Gary was about to throw away her beloved dubbie that she, well Zoe, worked hard to obtain. Jumping up from her comfortable sitting position on the ground, Roxanne ran to the taller boy and tried to snatch the joint from him.
Laughing at the girl's short stature, Gary raised the joint higher and higher from her grasp, as Roxanne desperately tried to steal it from her. "C'mere girl!" "Come and get it!" "Oh you're almost there-" Gary teased repeatedly as if the girl were a dog trying to get its treat, with each jump Roxanne made, her failed attempts just made him all the more eager to keep taunting her.
Roxanne made the mistake of stopping for a breath, right when she did Gary decided to throw the joint in the trash can. "Oops I guess it's gone."
HE DID NOT JUST-
"UGH I HATE YOU!" Roxanne yelled in frustration, grabbing at her hair.
"HEY YOU SHOULD BE THANKING ME! Now there's less of a chance of you becoming a failure at just 14."
"You are not my father, Gary!" Roxanne pushed the boy back, causing him to hit the wall behind him.
"Do you even know your father?!" The sociopath questioned, grabbing Roxanne by her arms and shaking her.
"Do you?!"
Silence took over the alleyway, stumping the two in their place. They stare into each others eyes, both realizing that both may have more in common than initially thought. Roxanne opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out of her mouth and she finds herself eager to know what the boy is going to say.
The quietness becomes comfortable and the tension from the outburst is removed as Gary slowly breaks the gaze to answer her question.
"...Sometimes I wish I didn't have to."
Roxanne looks up to face Gary. His expression is changed. For a moment, he is dark, solemn looking, resembling a storm in his eyes. He looks as if he is going to tear up, but his eyes, or something behind his demeanor could never let him.
She doesn't know why. But for a moment, just a moment, she feels a pang of guilt. Gary barely said anything. And yet she feels as if he just told her the pain of the world. Roxanne can't help, but feel...sympathy?
But Gary's expression was now a quizzical looking glare. As if he knew she saw it, that tiny bit of sorrow he showed was gone as soon as he'd shown it. Roxanne gulped and shook her head, "Sometimes I wish I did."
"Well, point proven." Gary shrugged and grabbed Roxanne's hand, lightly running his thumb over her index finger.
Staring down at the contact between Gary's hand and hers. Woah this is weird, Roxanne thought to herself. She began feeling rather awkward and decided she'd leave the boy alone to himself.
It felt almost like their relationship changed in just one interaction...about their dads. Strangely, Roxanne almost felt closer to the boy. As if he were less of just a creepy guy in her classes. Still though, holding hands was very new to Roxanne. She hardly knew this guy, what are his real intentions? Sure, they were close as children, but its been years and Gary's always been weird.
Weird…
Gary could sense the awkward tension and quickly let go of Roxanne's hand. Clearing his throat, "Well I should be going now, I have better things to do." He began stalking off in the direction of the boy's dorm, getting an easy few feet away from Roxanne.
"Like go jack off alone in your room because you have no friends?" Roxanne mumbled to herself, giggling maliciously.
"What did I say about the attitude Roxanne?!" Gary joked, looking back at the raven haired girl, "And don't act like you're not one to talk." He continued, throwing a playful wink at Roxanne, who giggled in response.
So maybe Gary wasn't so bad after all. Annoying yes. But something about that look in his eyes when he spoke about his father, how foreign it was to his usual self, intrigued Roxanne. Maybe she could get used to having this strange boy in her life again. What's the worst that could happen?
AN: Oof it's been awhile. To those of you who stayed, ily you're the greatest. I'm sorry it's been awhile, I haven't made any time, as usual, to update. But it's summer now, so hopefully I can finish this or at least get some more chapters in. Anyway, love you guys good night, or morning for some of you, or afternoon. See you next time ~ A 3