AN: This is Chapter 7 of No Fear. I couldn't help myself in waiting to write this. I got really excited when thinking about this Chapter because this was going to be the conversation between Joe and Dawn in the café. I hope that you all enjoy. Lastly, I do not own Total Drama or the characters depicted in this.
Chapter 7: The Conversation
"Well where do I begin?" Joe asked me.
"Well, why don't you begin with where you're from?" I said to him as I took a small sip of the tea.
"Wow, well I was born in America, more specifically in Hawaii. You might've been able to tell from the way I look that I was born there, but anyways, my mother died when I was two so I don't remember her much. I saw pictures of her that her friend had collected over the years. She was a very beautiful woman. After my mother died, my dad was the only one who was there to raise me." He said. I noticed that as he said the word dad his fingers twitched a little. I could tell from the way he was acting that he and his dad were not close at all.
"He wasn't what a father should've been to a son was he?" I said to him.
"Yeah, he abused me a lot. He would beat me if I did the slightest thing wrong…he'd neglect me for days so he could go pick up women and get drunk all the time. He starved me a lot so he could have all the food for himself. Basically put, my dad was the biggest asshole in my life, even more than the three that go to our school. Well eventually, after 7 years of this, I finally had the nerve to call the police and they arrested him on abuse. I was taken in by one of my mother's close friends who lived in Canada, so that's why I moved up here. I was 9 then, now I'm 17." He said to me. He took a quick sip of his coffee. I put a hand over his after he set down his cup.
"I'm really sorry to hear that Joe. I know sorry doesn't do much, but if it's worth anything, I really am sorry." I said to him.
"It's alright. You weren't there when he was beating me, honestly after that I've lived a pretty normal life. As you've noticed, I do have a problem of controlling my emotions at times and that's why I smile every time something happens. As you know, I work at this café and I also work at the Foot Locker not too far from here on the weekends. I really hate the Foot Locker though." He said. As I read his bodily expressions when he said that, I could guess why he hated it.
"Lightning goes there pretty often doesn't he?" I asked him.
"You have yet to stop amazing me at how well you can guess these things. Yeah, he goes there every single day. He always goes there for the same stupid thing. New shoes. It makes me so angry to hear that he gets all the money to get these new shoes from his dad. I'm here having to work two jobs just to be able to make a decent living while he's off being spoiled and being a jerk to everybody." Said Joe. I noticed that he was getting a bit angry and started smiling after that.
"I know it makes you angry. You should calm down a little though. I think you're scaring some of the other people here." I said to him. He then looked around to see that everyone was staring at him.
"Oh sorry people, go back to your coffee." He said nervously. They reluctantly went back to drinking their coffee.
"But to continue anyway, I do not like Lightning. Nor do I like Jo or Scott much either. When I first started going to school here when I was 10, they bullied me. And they didn't just do this because I was new. I wasn't very big then; they liked to make fun of me for anything they could find about me that they deemed a flaw. This continued for years, up until the first year of High School. By then, I had taken a lot of boxing and martial arts classes, so one day when they decided to pick on me again, I threw Scott into one of the trash cans." He said. I couldn't help but laugh at hearing that because I thought that was a bit silly to imagine and hear.
"Yeah it was pretty funny. Principal McLean and his little lapdog Topher didn't think too much of it though, and they gave me a detention for it." He said.
"Who is Topher?" I asked.
"Oh, he's basically the miniature version of Principal McLean. He is head of Student Discipline and reports everything to McLean. It's best if you avoided Topher." Said Joe. I said that I'd take his advice into account.
"So Dawn, what about you? What's your story?" He asked me.
"Well, for the most part, I lived in Ontario. I am an only child, who at that time lived happily with my mother and father. I'm not exactly the most interesting person on the Earth. I really enjoy being surrounded by nature and being friends with the animals. I read auras and tea leaves very often. People bullied me a lot back in Ontario and my mother and I had to move because it was getting really bad." I said to him.
"Wait, you only said your mother and you. What happened to your father?" Joe asked.
"He was killed in a car crash two years ago." I said.
"Oh…I'm really sorry, I didn't know." He said.
"Joe, it's alright, you said it yourself, you didn't know. And I never felt like he left. I feel like, every time I go into the woods, he's always with me, giving me advice on what I should do next or I'll tell him how I'm doing." I said. I took another sip of my tea and we were both silent for a few minutes.
"Dawn, can I tell you something a little personal?" He asked.
"Well, I think we've been having a fairly personal conversation this whole time, so yes, feel free to tell me something personal." I said to him.
"You're the first girl I've ever been able to have a long conversation with." He said as he nervously took a sip of his coffee.
"Is it because of the emotions?" I asked him.
"Yeah, and the fact that girls are slightly intimidated by the way I dress." He said back to me.
"Well, I can understand that. I do not mean to strike offense to your wardrobe, but it is a rather bit depressing to see you dress in all black. You have a very positive aura for the most part, and wearing all black is contradicting with your aura." I said.
"Well I can see that, I just really like the color black. You must understand." He said.
"I do. But most girls don't though. They don't give you a chance to show them that you aren't scary or mean in any way. Just misunderstood, that's all." I said.
"You're a very understanding girl, I will say that." He said to me.
"Well, I try to be understanding to everybody. Now it's time for me to say something slightly personal to you. I wanted to thank you for this. I was having a hard time at school lately, with those bullies and also with my friends not really doing anything to help…this helped me take my mind off of everything." I said to him.
"Well Dawn, you are absolutely welcome. To be honest, I really enjoyed this a lot. It's nice to be able to spend time with someone." He said. He smiled at me after he finished saying that. I smiled at him back. Something was strange with his smile though. Normally friend's smiles are something I can pick up on, but this smile was different.
"Joe, are you looking for something more than a friendship from me?" I asked him. He nearly choked on his coffee after I asked him that.
"What? No…I mean maybe…I mean oh gosh…I mean…" he said to me in haste. That answered the question for me.
"Joe…if you're going to ask me out, all you have to do is ask. I will tell you, if you do, I will have to think it over tonight. I'll give you a response tomorrow if you'd like?" I said. I could tell that he was in shock at how I was able to piece that all out from this whole conversation.
"Isn't this the whole reason that you asked me to have coffee with you?" I asked.
"Well yes,...I mean NO, I asked you if you wanted coffee to make you feel better about today. I mean sure, I would've like to ask you out, but I mean that was nothing compared to just wanting to get to know you better and make you feel better about today." He said nervously. I heard a buzzing coming from my phone.
"Oh Joe, I have to go. I want to thank you again for the tea. I'll give you an answer tomorrow." I said to him. I began to walk to the door and when I looked back I could see that Joe was happy to hear that I would think about it. He didn't even have to ask either which I could tell amazed him. As I stepped into the car,
"Well did you have fun?" my mother asked.
"I did." I said. On that car ride home, I began to think about everything that we had told each other at that café. I wondered about if I should go out with Joe. He was a very sweet guy, and he went through the same thing that I was going through now. I began to think that maybe if I was with Joe, the bullies would leave me alone, and that my friends wouldn't have to worry about me all the time and not do anything about them.
School
September 2nd, 2012
8:35 A.M.
I immediately went to go find Joe. I noticed that he was outside the classroom for Pre-Calc. I reached over and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oh Dawn, hi!" he said.
"The answer is yes." I said as I gave him a smile.
"Are you being serious!?" he asked in excitement. I nodded a yes.
AN: I apologize if this was a bit anti-climatic and short for all of you guys. Well now you have it. OC x Dawn. How will Joe and Dawn's relationship fair? Feel free to leave any comments about the chapter via review. I want to personally thank all of you who have read this so far. Your reviews and views are why I continue to write! Thanks to all of you who have done so! Enjoy!
Defan777