Three.
Past.
Courtney walked out of her lesson feeling much more relaxed than when she'd started. There was just something about furiously playing music that calmed her. She waved goodbye to Mrs Anderson and was about to start her walk home when she noticed Duncan leaning against his car, waiting for someone.
"Don't you have anything better to do with your time than wait around in parking lots?" Courtney demanded of him. Duncan shrugged.
"Depends on who it is I'm waiting for," he replied. Courtney rolled her eyes and continued walking, violin under arm. "Where are you going?"
"Home," she said without turning around. "I'm sick of your insults and incessant teasing. Plus my parents won't be happy if I'm late."
"Did I insult you just now?" he asked. Courtney kept walking but didn't answer. "Besides you can't go home, you owe me a date." This caused her to stop and face him finally.
"You were serious about that?" she wondered. "I thought it was another joke to make me feel stupid."
Duncan shook his head. "I could never joke about that kind of thing to a girl. What if she thought I was serious?" he said. Maybe his morals weren't as bad as Courtney originally thought. "But I'm serious now. How 'bout just a bite to eat?"
Courtney bit her lip in thought before shaking her head. "I can't. My parents-"
"Your parents can live without you for one night, I'm sure," Duncan told her. "Come on, you know you want to."
A part of her did really want to see what it would be like to spend some time with Duncan, even though he'd spent the entire time they'd known each other teasing her, and she had certainly thought of him as her worst enemy. But he seemed genuine now, and true he hadn't insulted her at all that afternoon. "Okay I'll come with you," she sighed, giving in. "But only until seven. Or my parents will start to worry."
"Got it," Duncan agreed with a wink. He jumped into his rusty old car and started it while Courtney got into the passenger seat, screwing up her nose as she took in the surroundings.
"It smells like cigarettes," she noted. "And where are the seatbelts?"
Duncan laughed. "Not a fan of the ride?" he asked.
"It's fine, I just... Safety is important, you know," she informed him. He rolled his eyes.
"Okay from now on you don't get to complain about the state of my car or what we do," Duncan decided. "Tonight is all about getting you to loosen up and stop being so uptight all the time. Do you think you can let go and have a bit of fun for once in your life?"
"I have fun! And anyway-" Courtney tried.
"Uh, uh, uh!" Duncan stopped her. "Do you think you can do that?"
Courtney sighed and folded her arms. "Fine," she huffed. Duncan nodded in approval and turned on the radio, blasting some kind of rock music.
"What the hell is this?" Courtney yelled over the music. Duncan raised his eyebrows.
"Is that a complaint I hear coming on?" he asked.
"Not at all," Courtney replied. "I was just... wondering in an aggressive way. You know, unwinding."
Duncan laughed. "It's AC/DC," he told her. "One of the best bands out there. I'll lend you their album you can tell me what you think."
This time it was Courtney's turn to laugh. She knew that if he did lend her the tape he had in the car she would not listen to it. She was more into classical music, like Beethoven and Mozart. She wound the window down to air out the car a bit and found that with the wind in her hair and the radio blasting, she actually was enjoying herself. It wasn't much but just being in the company of someone who didn't expect anything of her, who wasn't demanding that she have good grades and know all the gossip and be a perfect violinist, it was relaxing to say the least.
Duncan pulled up in front of a diner Courtney had never seen before. Come to think of it, she had never even been on this side of town before. The diner's neon sign read "Lazy Joe's" and there was a picture of a man lying on the couch with a bowl on his pot-bellied stomach.
"This is where you're taking me?" Courtney asked in disbelief.
"What did I say about complaining?" Duncan reminded her. Courtney sighed and rolled her eyes as she followed him inside. It was exactly what you'd expect from a diner, with a typical red and white theme and old posters from the 50's hung up around the place. Duncan and Courtney took a seat at one of the red leather booths and a middle-aged man came up to greet them.
"Duncan! So good to see you again," the man said enthusiastically.
"Hey Joe, this is Courtney," Duncan introduced. "Courtney this is my good friend Joe." Joe held out his hand and Courtney shook it politely.
"Pleased to meet you," she said.
"A girl eh, Duncan?" Joe asked suggestively. "It's been a long time since I've seen you with one of them." He chuckled and Duncan smiled.
"It's only been a year," Duncan told him. "But Courtney and I aren't dating, we're..." He looked at Courtney for help with finding a word to describe their relationship.
"Worst enemies," Courtney prompted. Duncan shook his head, but he was still smiling.
"Oh but of course," Joe nodded solemnly. "I always go on dates with my worst enemies." He laughed again. "I'll bring you both the usual."
Courtney gave Duncan a worried glance. "But I..." she began, but stopped herself when she realised she was complaining. "I'm sure I'll enjoy it," she said instead, resting her head in her hand on the table.
"Don't worry, this place has great food. I come here all the time," Duncan assured her.
"How did you even find this place?" Courtney wondered. "This side of town is practically deserted."
"My ma works here most nights. We live just around the corner," Duncan told her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay. There are way worse things you could insult me about." Duncan looked out the window as it began to rain softly. "Ma's been working here for about twelve years now so Joe's pretty much like a dad to me."
"What happened to your real dad?" Courtney asked, then immediately regretted it. Was it too personal of a question?
"I'd rather not talk about that right now."
Courtney nodded. "Right."
There was a short silence before Joe came out with their meals on a large tray; a massive hamburger and a side of fries each, with a large strawberry milkshake to share. "Here you go kids, eat up!"
"Thanks, Joe," Duncan thanked him before digging into his fries. Courtney eyed her hamburger warily.
"There's no way I can eat this," she said.
"Come on princess, at least try it!" Duncan requested.
"It's not that I don't think I'll like it!" she snapped defensively. "My mouth can't fit the burger in my mouth. It's way too big."
Duncan laughed. "Give it a go." He picked up his own burger and seemingly unhinged his jaw, taking a bite of the enormous burger. Courtney gave him a look of disgust and he looked at her encouragingly. She sighed and picked up her burger. As she attempted to fit it in her mouth half the contents fell out back onto the plate. Duncan just sat there and laughed as he watched her struggle. She covered her mouth with her hand, still trying to remain classy.
"You don't need to be a princess around me, princess," Duncan assured her. Courtney glared at him but removed her hand from her face as she devoured the rest of her burger. She wiped her mouth, laughing, when she'd finished and took a sip of the milkshake.
"So much easier than trying to be ladylike," she said.
The pair finished the rest of their meals and waved goodbye to Joe as they left the diner.
"Having fun?" Duncan asked as they got back into his car.
"Strangely enough I am," Courtney replied with a smile. "Wait, 'having fun? You say that like there's more?"
"I'm going all out with this date," Duncan said, completely serious. "I want to do everything I can with you in case you don't want to go out with me again." He turned on the car and AC/DC continued to play.
"I really don't have the time, Duncan, I have to get home!" Courtney yelled over the music.
"I just want to show you one thing," he yelled back. Courtney rolled her eyes, knowing none of her protesting would change his mind. He had control of the wheel, and anyway she was sort of curious about what he wanted to show her.
The music was much too loud to continue the conversation but Courtney enjoyed looking at the scenery as the flew past, taking in the part of town that was so unfamiliar to her.
After about fifteen minutes they pulled up in an empty field, well away from the lights of the city. There was a forest of trees surrounding the field and flowers scattered all over it. They got out of the car and Courtney looked at Duncan warily.
"You haven't come here to murder me, have you? she asked worriedly. Duncan laughed.
"Of course not," he assured her. He got two pillows from the trunk of his car and climbed onto the roof. "Come on." He beckoned for Courtney to join him and she cautiously did as she was told, still not completely sure he wasn't going to kill her.
Duncan lay back on his pillow and Courtney followed his lead.
"Wow, you can really see the stars here," Courtney observed. The view was breathtakingly beautiful and she could understand why Duncan had wanted to show her this.
"Yeah, that's why I love it here," he told her. "You don't get this kind of view in town, the lights are too bright. Plus you can't hear the traffic here."
Courtney listened and found that he was right. The only thing she could hear was the gentle breeze and the wildlife going about their business. It would have been romantic, if Courtney didn't hate Duncan and this wasn't just a friendly hang. Although she had enjoyed his company for the past couple of hours and he had called it a date multiple times.
Was he actually interested in her romantically? And if so, what had caused him to change his mind? He'd seemingly hated her for so long, and she hadn't shown any interest in him to make him rethink his feelings towards her. She was about to ask him about it when he broke the silence himself.
"My dad left when I was twelve," Duncan said, answering the question she'd asked before in the diner. "He told me and ma he was going on a business trip. He failed to mention that the business was his secretary and the trip wasn't going to end."
Courtney moved her head to look at him and put her hand over his. "I'm sorry." It was the only thing she could think to say to that. Duncan shrugged but didn't pull his hand away.
"It's okay, it's better this way," he told her. "I never really liked the guy. And even though we struggle a bit with money it's better for all of us without him."
"All of us?" Courtney asked.
"I have two younger brothers," Duncan explained. He sighed and turned to face Courtney. "What about your parents? Are they..."
"They're still together," Courtney replied, turning her attention back to the sky. "My father's a lawyer, so we don't have any money problems, but sometimes I feel like... I don't know. They push me to work hard, and it's not that I mind because I like working hard. But I feel like I'm going to spend my whole life trying to please them and they'll be disappointed no matter what I do."
"You're worried they won't love you if you don't get good grades?" Duncan questioned, raising his eyebrows. Courtney sighed.
"You don't understand. It's going to keep happening even after I leave school," she said. "I'm going to become a lawyer like my father, just like they want me to, I'll marry someone suitable to their standards, have children when they want grandchildren, and it still isn't going to be good enough."
"Do you even want to be a lawyer?" Duncan asked. Courtney furrowed her brow in thought.
"I think so," she replied. "It's been brander into my brain since I was born, I can't imagine doing anything else."
"What do you enjoy?"
"Music. I like playing the violin," Courtney said. "But I can't pursue that as a career. It isn't stable and there's no money in it." It sounded like she was quoting something.
"Okay, but if it's never going to be good enough why do you even bother? Why does your parent's opinion matter to you so much?" Duncan wondered. Courtney sat up, clearly not impressed with where the conversation was going.
"I think it's time for me to go home," she said. Duncan sighed and sat up to join her.
"Fine, I'll take you."
They were silent all the way to Courtney's house, Courtney questioning everything she was raised to do and Duncan wondering if he had completely screwed everything up. He didn't even play his music, worried that it might piss Courtney off even more.
"Thanks for the date," Courtney said politely as she got out of the car.
"Yeah," Duncan replied. He wanted to ask if he could see her again, but given the way the date had ended he seemed it unlikely. "See you around." He drove off as Courtney reached her front door.
"Where the hell have you been?" Courtney's father demanded as soon as she stepped foot inside.
"Out," she snapped.
"Don't you be smart with me young lady!" he said sternly. "I called Bridgette and she told me you'd gone off with some lowlife boy."
"If you knew where I was then why did you ask?" Courtney asked. She didn't normally argue with her parents, but Duncan had made her so angry and she couldn't help it.
"Don't use that tone with me!" her father snapped. Courtney rolled her eyes and started walking upstairs to her room. "It's almost ten thirty, what have you been doing?" he yelled after her. "You are grounded young lady!"
Courtney turned back to face him. "Wow, really?" she asked, mock surprise. "It wouldn't make much of a difference, you never let me go anywhere anyway!" she yelled. With that she ran up to her room and slammed the door before falling back on her bed.
She knew this is exactly what she would get when she got home, and still she let Duncan talk her into that stupid date. This was all his fault. Everything would still be fine if he hadn't shown an interest in her.
Then again, she had had a lot of fun for the first time in a long time. And he had a point. Why did she let her parents control everything she did, when it was clear they didn't care anyway? She didn't even know what she wanted because her parents had told her what to want from the moment she was born. Her father had called Duncan a lowlife, but at least he knew that what he wanted was because he wanted it, and not because someone else had told him to.
She regretted ending their date on a bad note, but she promised herself that she'd make it up to him tomorrow somehow. Provided he wasn't a jerk to her again.