This chapter is a bit awkward because I was planning on including the party scene but then it got a bit too long and I wanted to give you guys something. Second part will be up by the weekend to make up for the pointlessness! Again thanks for all the feedback and follows, keep it coming ;)
Gail's leg was bouncing up and down frantically under the table as she slowly tore the paper insulation off of her take away cup, making a small mess on the otherwise empty table. She'd gotten to the café a bit earlier than intended and felt increasingly awkward as she waited for Holly to show up, Tony now throwing her weird looks every now and then. She didn't think she'd actually come in here as a customer since she started working for Tony and felt on edge being on the other side of the counter. Every time the bell chimed Gail could feel herself tense up, thinking she'd have to serve another customer or whenever she'd overhear an order made at the counter she'd run over in her head the steps she'd take to make it.
She huffed and checked the time. Holly was only a few minutes late but Gail was finding herself increasingly irritated, checking her phone every 10 seconds impatiently. Her frustration wasn't really directed at Holly though; she was doing this as a complete act of kindness and really, she could be as late as she wanted to be. Gail was more bothered by her surroundings and her current unfamiliar position within them as well as the uncomfortable realisation lurking in the back of her mind that Tony had only offered her one shift this week instead of her usual three. Even though he had told her it was just because they were having a slow week and he knew she had a test to study for, she couldn't help but be sceptical and felt she'd probably done something to piss him off.
The bell above the door chimed again and Gail whipped her eyes up to glare at the offensive object, wondering why Tony insisted on inflicting the annoying sound on everyone in the café, it's not like it was particularly easy to miss somebody walking into the small space. She quickly readjust her glare when she noticed the bell was marking Holly's entry, smiling slightly as Holly made her way over to the table while raking her fingers through her windblown hair.
"Hey Gail," she greeted as she sidled up to the table, "having fun with all your friends?" Holly asked as she sat down, gesturing to the large booth Gail had reserved for the two of them that was otherwise empty.
Instead of hitting her back with an equally snarky remark Gail just found herself laughing timidly in response as she leant down to grab her chemistry stuff out of her bag.
"How would you even know what fun looks like?" Gail stirred as she swept her little pile of shredded paper to one side and opened her textbook.
"Trust me Gail," Holly said with a confident grin, leaning in ever so slightly, "I know how to have fun."
Gail held Holly's slightly intense gaze, her eyes glimmering with a playfulness that made Gail wonder what exactly the older girl had been trying to insinuate. Realising she'd been staring blankly at Holly in complete silence she looked down quickly, clearing her throat and suggested they move along to the real reason they were there. Holly smirked at the way Gail stumbled over her words but lay the teasing to rest, switching over to tutor mode as she looked over the work Gail had been doing.
Gail sat in silence watching Holly flick over the textbook pages and scan the worksheet Gail had tried filling out last night. She looked back up, her eyes slowly trailing off to where Gail's now empty coffee cup sat on the table before settling her focus back on Gail's face, flashing the blonde a pleading look.
"Do you think you could do me a huge favour and get me a coffee?" she asked hopefully, perhaps even batting her eyelashes a bit. At the mention of coffee Gail's brain flipped back to her tutoring session with Weston and how he had not so subtly suggested she do the same thing, her eyes narrowing in annoyance at the memory.
Holly bit her bottom lip hesitantly, mistaking Gail's facial expression as being directed at her request, causing her to then try and justify herself.
"I mean only if you want to, I was just going to write out some equations for you to figure out, you know so I can see where it is you're going wrong," she explained, "thought you might just get a bit bored watching me set it up."
Gail found this new, apologetic version of Holly odd; a complete departure from her usual brash and confident self, causing Gail to hurry to placate Holly.
"No, that's fine," she breathed standing up, "a coffee is the least I owe you for coming out and helping me." She tried her best to smile reassuringly at Holly but she was sure it probably came out strained and unconvincing since she was apparently incapable of conducting herself like a normal human being.
Gail fiddled with the machine waiting for it to heat up while she grabbed a cup, assuming Holly would want the same thing she ordered last time, which oddly Gail still remembered. She peered over at where Holly was sitting hunched over a piece of paper, her brow furrowed in concentration as she set up the equations for Gail, her free hand reaching up to readjust her glasses every now and then. Her trance was interrupted as the machine alerted her that the coffee was ready, placing the cup under the open valve which slowly allowed the rich brown liquid to dribble out. She tilted the cup toward her, swirling it steadily as she poured the steamed milk in, the coffee's vibrancy slowly fading out to a creamy off-white colour. Satisfied with her creation she slapped on a lid, smiling to herself knowingly as she double checked it was secure and turned to return to her table only to run into Tony who had been standing behind her.
"Sorry for helping myself," she offered sheepishly, "I'll pay for it."
Tony cracked her a smile and shook his head, "don't worry," he whispered conspiratorially, "I won't tell the boss you snuck in a free coffee for your friend."
She rolled her eyes at his attempt at a joke since you know, he was the boss and thanked him quietly before heading back over to where Holly was sitting, finished with what she'd been doing.
Holly thanked her profusely, sighing with content as she took a long sip from the cup, Gail slightly worried she would burn her insides since she'd just made the beverage but Holly didn't seem too fazed, placing the cup back down and turning her attention to Gail's work.
Forty-five minutes later and Gail's brain was a little worse for wear although at least now she was a bit more confident she knew what she was doing. Either way, the test was tomorrow and there wasn't much she could do anymore. She sighed as she started putting her books back into her bag, looking up to see Holly regarding her with a confused expression.
"What?" Gail queried curiously, tempted to reach up and touch her face in case there was something on it.
"Nothing, it's none of my business," Holly said shaking her head but when Gail prompted her to just say whatever was on her mind, she relented.
"It's just why are you doing chemistry? You don't seem to particularly enjoy it and I don't assume you want to study science after school…" Holly shrugged looking at Gail with pure curiosity rather than judgement.
Gail frowned at this, not sure if she felt completely comfortable sharing her mummy-issues with a stranger. Well, she corrected herself – Holly wasn't really a stranger, she was… well she didn't know what Holly was but she was definitely not a stranger to Gail anymore.
"My mother wanted to me to do 'serious' subjects… whatever that means. She just doesn't see the point in humanities and arts and stuff. They're just not really relevant for what she wants me to do."
"Are they relevant for what you want to do?" Holly asked genuinely, taking Gail by surprise at her interest in Gail's life.
"I don't know." She answered honestly. She didn't really know what she wanted to do because she had never really considered any other options.
Holly felt her heart break a little for the girl in front of her, Gail's uncertainty reminding her of herself at that age; before she stopped trying to please everyone around her and just do what was right for her. Seeing that her little interrogation had caused a troubled expression to cloud Gail's face, Holly decided to change the subject as she stood up and grabbed her bag.
"Hey," she began, "if you're not doing anything tomorrow night you should come to this party my friend from university is throwing."
Gail squirmed uncomfortably at the suggestion, not really sure why Holly wanted to hang out with her outside of their little arrangement.
"I don't know…" Gail warned, though she was quickly cut off by Holly's reassurance.
"It won't be weird if you come. It's just a huge free house sort of thing while his parents are out of town and I don't know… you probably deserve a break after all this studying."
Despite her little speech trying to convince her otherwise, Gail still though it would be weird if she went but Holly looked too hopeful for Gail to reject the offer outright.
"Maybe. I'll see how I feel tomorrow," Gail replied, trying her best to seem convincing.
"Cool," Holly said as she smiled to herself faintly, "I've got to go now, morgue duty calls but, uh, good luck tomorrow. I'm sure you'll do great."
With that Holly made her way to the exit, throwing one last grin at Gail over her shoulder as she opened the door, before beginning to walk in the direction of 15th division.
XXXX
At the sound of the final bell for the day Gail let out a violent sigh and slammed down her pen as their teacher told the class to stop writing. She stretched out her hand which had started cramping during her race to finish the test in its final minutes. As the adrenalin started to wear off and her brain stopped screaming every bit of information she could remember at her, Gail smiled at herself as she was convinced she'd actually done quite well. And if she hadn't, well it's not like she could have tried any harder; although her mother would probably disagree with Gail on this point.
She stretched as she stood up and grabbed her stuff, turning to Dov hoping that he was also in relatively high spirits after the test. She frowned when she saw a distinct look of a disappointment washing over Dov's face as he zipped his backpack up angrily. Gail neutralised her demeanour at this sight, not wanting to make Dov feel any worse.
"Well that was horrible," he muttered as they both navigated their way out of the classroom and toward the school's exit.
"Yeah it was pretty hard," Gail replied vaguely, which was not technically a lie. It had, in an objective sense been hard but after the studying she did that week and Holly's invaluable guidance she hadn't really struggled with the questions. Not that Dov needed to know that.
Just as her thoughts had turned to Holly, Gail felt her phone vibrate in her pocket causing her to pull it out and unlock the screen in confusion. The only person who ever really texted her was walking right beside her, sulking in his post-test stupor.
Holly: How'd it go? You going to come tonight?
Before Gail could react to the first text another one popped up from Holly, though this one was purely a nonsensical stream of emojis. Gail chuckled and rolled her eyes at Holly's reference to Gail's admission a few nights ago.
"… and I just want to go and get really drunk tonight, forget that school even exists" Dov whined, interrupting her thoughts as she realised he was at the tail end of a long rant she had not been listening to.
At this mention of getting completely wasted though, Gail's eyes drifted back to her phone and she weighed up her options. Maybe going to the party wouldn't be too weird if she had a little backup.
"Well if you want, my friend invited me to some dumb uni party tonight," she said non-chalantly, scrunching her face up slightly at the way she stumbled over the word 'friend'.
Dov looked at her like she'd told him something completely ludicrous and Gail had to try her best not to roll her eyes at him. Was it really that hard to believe that Gail was capable of making new friends that enjoyed her company?
"So, are you going to go?" Dov demanded, stopping in his tracks when Gail just shrugged at him.
"Gail. You are going to that party and you are bringing me with you. And we're going to get really drunk," he explained, almost like a mantra.
"Alright, calm down," she told him, not overly impressed with his dramatics, "I'll find out the address but meet at my house at eight and we can go together?"
Upon receiving his confirmation she jerked her head in the direction of home as a way of explaining they were parting ways, throwing him a half-hearted wave as she ventured off.
Once she got home Gail pulled out her phone as for some reason she hadn't felt able to respond to Holly's text until she was alone in her room. She shot off a reply quickly, trying not to sound too eager but still accepting of Holly's invitation.
Gail: Where's the house?
Holly: The Crescent, near Rosedale station. Is that your way of saying yes?
Gail: Why didn't you tell me earlier this was a rich kid party? And yes nerd, I'll come. Can I bring somebody?
Holly: Sure. See you tonight.
Gail wasn't quite sure why but Holly's last reply frustrated her to no end. She had no idea what Holly meant by those words. They seemed abrupt, maybe even a bit hostile and every time Gail tried to picture Holly saying those words they felt so out of place. She figured she was probably reading into it all a bit much and in an attempt to calm down and waste some time until she had go she decided to run herself a bath, preparing to spend the next three hours languidly getting ready.
XXXX
She tugged down at the bottom of her top as a sort of self-consciously while she waited with Dov for the bus that would take them close to the party. She combed her finger through her hair lightly, working out any small tangle that may have occurred on her short walk to the stop. She'd spent almost an hour deliberating over her outfit, eventually settling on a pair of tight, black high-waisted jeans and her usual black combat boots which she had by now convinced herself went with every outfit. She had then paired those with a slightly cropped, thin black sweater with white stripes running horizontally across her abdomen. She was glad she'd grabbed a windbreaker on her way out of the door though, as the temperature had plummeted rapidly after what had been a mild, enjoyable day.
The bus was only a few minutes away so the two of them hastened to finish off their respective bottle of beer, slowly draining the six-pack that Dov had picked up on the way to get things started. Gail was quite aware she was breaking more than a couple of laws right now but she was also quite confident that any cop they could possibly run into in this area would be somebody Gail would know and she very much doubted any of them would have the nerve to do something about it. As the bus rounded the corner she grabbed Dov's empty bottles along with her own, throwing them in a bin with a loud clatter that attracted a few unimpressed looks from surrounding patrons. She grinned sheepishly, giggling with Dov as they got on and made their way to the very back so that they could finish the last two away from prying eyes.
"So this girl, Holly was it?" Dov asked, squinting slightly, "why exactly did she invite us again?"
"She invited me, Dov. Not us," she corrected him, which earned her an elbow to the rib, "and I dunno… I served her in café one day and then just kept bumping into her and she helped me with chemistry. I saw her on Thursday and I think she just thought I could use a break."
Gail shrugged and fiddled with the map on her phone, making sure she was keeping a track of where they were. She felt reluctant to tell Dov about Holly, she'd kind of liked that nobody knew about Holly until now, not that she was really understood why.
She finished her last bottle, humming in contentment as she began to feel warm, the bus's interior slightly blurry as she bent down quickly to place her now empty bottle underneath the seat. An action she soon regretted as they turned a corner causing the bottle to clatter to the ground and noisily roll to the other side of the bus, several heads glancing in her general direction in annoyance.
"Woops," she muttered to herself, checking her phone again.
She jumped in alarm as she realised they were about to miss the stop, yanking down on the overhead chain to signal their desire to get off. A few seconds later the bus pulled over, Gail lurching a bit as she made her way down the aisle, thanking the bus driver as she dismounted albeit with guilt lacing her tone as the driver gave her a knowing look.
They ambled down the street for a few more minutes until Gail s spotted the number on the mailbox she'd been looking for. She hushed Dov mid-teasing her for not being able to disembark the bus gracefully, the steady buzz coursing through her veins stopping her from hitting him for added emphasis.
"We're here loser," Gail remarked quietly, all of a sudden grateful for her pre-emptive drinking as she began to feel anxious about her upcoming foray into socialising with no doubt plenty of meaningless small talk.
Dov let out an impressed, drawn out whistle as he appraised the large stately home before them.
"Rich kid better be supplying drinks," Dov whispered to her sceptically as they finished making their way up the path and reached the front door, the generic thump of some song Gail would probably recognise if she listened to the radio pulsing through the walls of the house.
"Oh and by the way," he added as he reached up to ring the doorbell, "no leaving me all on my lonesome because some guy wants to take you home."
Gail blushed at his obvious mention of the time she had gone home with Nick without telling Dov and he'd been grumpy with her for a week.
He needn't worry she thought as they realised the door was unlocked and just headed inside, she had absolutely no plans on going home with somebody tonight; the last thing she wanted or needed in her life was more drama.
Filler just doing some filling, stay tuned!