[Chapter 6: Brooke's Black Hole Sun]
It was the Wednesday after the tournament had taken place. Seemed like a normal enough day. Everything was surprisingly calm for all of the crazy stand users that we've had to fight lately. Angel and I were about half way through second period, just listening to Mr. Dufrene lecture us. "You think we could have a day off from stands for once?" I asked Angel as I stretched.
"That'd be nice." He yawned. "We need a break. We do too much." Class continued on as normal until my friend from the front of the room looked back at me. I waved out of politeness and she waved back. I wasn't quite sure why she looked back. As the class period continued, I noticed her look back several more times. I whispered to Angel. "Have you noticed Brooke looking back a lot? I'm getting kinda suspicious..." Angel shrugged. "Eh, I haven't noticed." I looked back to the front and sighed. "Yeah, perhaps I am getting a bit paranoid..." When it was finally the part of the day where we started our independent work, Brooke got up and walked back to my desk. "Hey dude, can I ask you a favor? You mind staying after school today? I gotta ask you about something." This was kinda weird to me. I was usually the one that was giving these requests. It was oddly uncharacteristic of Brooke to ask me something like this.
"Sure...uh, wanna meet by the pond or something?" She nodded. "Sounds good. See ya then." Without another world, she went back to her desk. "What was that about?" Angel asked. I shrugged. "Don't ask me. I didn't do anything. I can only help for the best out of this little meeting."
I happened to have had a crush on Brooke in early 8th grade. I usually had liked to think I was over it, but I would keep getting jealous when she talked to other guys. It was kinda like the aftermath of my 8th grade crush. She was also well aware I was into her. However, she had her reasons for not liking me back. I pretty much forget about me being into her most of the time, but every once in awhile, it'll pop back into my head to remind me. But as far as I was concerned, she was just my best female friend. She was the only girl that I'd give the time of day to. The whole meeting thing didn't sit well with me, but I just had to assume she had a good reason for asking.
The school day went by fairly quick, and the meeting loomed in the back of my mind all day. The final bell of the day finally rung, so everyone rushed out of their classes. I headed for the pond hoping that I wasn't just getting pranked or anything. To my surprise, when I made it outside, Brooke actually was there. I walked up to her cautiously and she turned around. "Well, I'm here. What is it that you needed?" My mind was racing at what she could've possibly needed me for. So many possibilities I thought of. She put her hands behind her back.
"Well...Gavin...you see...the thing is..." I focused pretty much everything on her. "I called you here because I wanna..." I was blocked from the outside world at this point. I could pretty much just hear her. My mind flooded with thoughts and I was just caught in my own imagination...for a minute. Suddenly, I was struck with an intense punch, which woke me right up. I flew into one of the steel bars guarding the pond. I kept being pummeled by a fury of punches. "CHECK IT OUT! ISNT THIS THE COOLEST THING?! HA HA HA! I HAD TO SHOW YOU IT! COME ON! HELP ME TEST IT OUT!" I couldn't believe it, but Brooke had a stand. It launched me into another pole as she continued to laugh. I struggled to get up. I was mad, but at the same time, also kinda impressed.
"YOU FUCKING DRAGGED ME OUT HERE SO YOU COULD BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ME?!" I finally got up. Both of my fists were clenched in anger. She winked while still in her fighting position. "You know how I always tell you to fight me? Now I want you to really do it!" I wiped the blood from my mouth and cracked my knuckles. "You wanna fight? Alright then..." I summoned Puddle of Mudd and focused right back to Brooke. "Then let's fucking go." She actually seemed surprised I had a stand as well. "GET HER, PUDDLE!" Puddle of Mudd charged at her as she resummoned her stand. "LETS GO BLACK HOLE SUN!" Her stand was a humanoid figure with a gaping hole in its stomach. It also had a cape and it appeared to be bald. Our stands exchanged punches as we continued fighting. "Ha ha! Not bad, weeb! Too bad my stand's like a MILLION times cooler!" All of a sudden, the hole in her stands stomach created a strong vaccum effect. I stopped my onslaught so I could hold on as much as I could to the ground. To my surprise, it completely uprooted a tree from the ground and picked it up. "Pretty cool, huh? The black hole is super fucking strong! It's awesome! Now take THIS!" She threw the giant tree at me, and even though I had a chance to guard it with Puddle of Mudd, the impact was too great. I went flying into the pond along with my stand. Brooke proudly stood there with her hands at her side. "Psh, I expected a bit more than that. Too bad. I'm sure he'll be fine." She was getting ready to leave before I created a torrent of water to raise myself up from the pond with. She turned around and stared in awe. Puddle of Mudd and I glared, both of our arms crossed.
"I didn't wanna fight...but after that...I realize...I don't have to hold back." Her eyes seemed to go blank as I blasted her with the torrent of water I had used. The force of the wave was so powerful it threw her right into one of the concrete pillars. So hard, in fact, that it created a crack where she hit it. I stood back on the bridge of the pond, still soaked. I approached her and she looked up directly at me. "I had a bad feeling about this meeting...can't say I expected a stand battle...good thing I picked a water oriented setting. Looks like I win this time." I held my hand out to her and she took it. I helped her back on her feet and she rubbed her head.
"S-sorry...I was so excited to show you my stand that I got carried away..." I smiled lightly.
"You coulda just said you wanted to fight. It's not my perfect definition of hanging out with you, but at least it's something." She laughed a bit.
"Yeah, I guess I could've been more tame about it. I just got this stand yesterday...though I don't remember how...I feel like it was after Mr. Dufrene helped me with a question on the worksheet we were doing." I sighed.
"This school has been over run by stand users lately...and Mr. Dufrene and Mr. Nugent are the ones who have been giving them out to people...they're onto me and Angel...not to mention some of my other friends too..." I smirked. "But they don't know that we know about them. AND WE HAVE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY." Brooke looked down as she processed everything that I told her. After a minute, she looked up at me.
"Let me help you guys then." I furrowed my brow at her. "You wanna help us defeat Nugent...?" She nodded. "Hell yeah. Sounds fun. I'd love to use this stand thing more." I thought to myself for a minute. "Alright...yeah, you can help...that'll give me a reason to hang out with you anyway." I smiled. She rolled her eyes.
"You're such a dork." I shrugged. "I'm aware."
She picked up all of her stuff. "Anyway, thanks for...putting up with me. I gotta get going. I'll see you tomorrow. Let's fucking take Nugent out." I nodded and gave her a thumbs up.
"Hell yeah. We'll do it." She laughed a bit and then waved, then walked off. I couldn't help but blush a little bit as she left. The fact that I would finally be able to hang out with one of my best friends a lot more frequently honestly got me excited. However, it was short lived as I came to a sudden realization.
"Aw...great. How am I gonna get home?"
It was the Wednesday after the tournament had taken place. Seemed like a normal enough day. Everything was surprisingly calm for all of the crazy stand users that we've had to fight lately. Angel and I were about half way through second period, just listening to Mr. Dufrene lecture us. "You think we could have a day off from stands for once?" I asked Angel as I stretched.
"That'd be nice." He yawned. "We need a break. We do too much." Class continued on as normal until my friend from the front of the room looked back at me. I waved out of politeness and she waved back. I wasn't quite sure why she looked back. As the class period continued, I noticed her look back several more times. I whispered to Angel. "Have you noticed Brooke looking back a lot? I'm getting kinda suspicious..." Angel shrugged. "Eh, I haven't noticed." I looked back to the front and sighed. "Yeah, perhaps I am getting a bit paranoid..." When it was finally the part of the day where we started our independent work, Brooke got up and walked back to my desk. "Hey dude, can I ask you a favor? You mind staying after school today? I gotta ask you about something." This was kinda weird to me. I was usually the one that was giving these requests. It was oddly uncharacteristic of Brooke to ask me something like this.
"Sure...uh, wanna meet by the pond or something?" She nodded. "Sounds good. See ya then." Without another world, she went back to her desk. "What was that about?" Angel asked. I shrugged. "Don't ask me. I didn't do anything. I can only help for the best out of this little meeting."
I happened to have had a crush on Brooke in early 8th grade. I usually had liked to think I was over it, but I would keep getting jealous when she talked to other guys. It was kinda like the aftermath of my 8th grade crush. She was also well aware I was into her. However, she had her reasons for not liking me back. I pretty much forget about me being into her most of the time, but every once in awhile, it'll pop back into my head to remind me. But as far as I was concerned, she was just my best female friend. She was the only girl that I'd give the time of day to. The whole meeting thing didn't sit well with me, but I just had to assume she had a good reason for asking.
The school day went by fairly quick, and the meeting loomed in the back of my mind all day. The final bell of the day finally rung, so everyone rushed out of their classes. I headed for the pond hoping that I wasn't just getting pranked or anything. To my surprise, when I made it outside, Brooke actually was there. I walked up to her cautiously and she turned around. "Well, I'm here. What is it that you needed?" My mind was racing at what she could've possibly needed me for. So many possibilities I thought of. She put her hands behind her back.
"Well...Gavin...you see...the thing is..." I focused pretty much everything on her. "I called you here because I wanna..." I was blocked from the outside world at this point. I could pretty much just hear her. My mind flooded with thoughts and I was just caught in my own imagination...for a minute. Suddenly, I was struck with an intense punch, which woke me right up. I flew into one of the steel bars guarding the pond. I kept being pummeled by a fury of punches. "CHECK IT OUT! ISNT THIS THE COOLEST THING?! HA HA HA! I HAD TO SHOW YOU IT! COME ON! HELP ME TEST IT OUT!" I couldn't believe it, but Brooke had a stand. It launched me into another pole as she continued to laugh. I struggled to get up. I was mad, but at the same time, also kinda impressed.
"YOU FUCKING DRAGGED ME OUT HERE SO YOU COULD BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ME?!" I finally got up. Both of my fists were clenched in anger. She winked while still in her fighting position. "You know how I always tell you to fight me? Now I want you to really do it!" I wiped the blood from my mouth and cracked my knuckles. "You wanna fight? Alright then..." I summoned Puddle of Mudd and focused right back to Brooke. "Then let's fucking go." She actually seemed surprised I had a stand as well. "GET HER, PUDDLE!" Puddle of Mudd charged at her as she resummoned her stand. "LETS GO BLACK HOLE SUN!" Her stand was a humanoid figure with a gaping hole in its stomach. It also had a cape and it appeared to be bald. Our stands exchanged punches as we continued fighting. "Ha ha! Not bad, weeb! Too bad my stand's like a MILLION times cooler!" All of a sudden, the hole in her stands stomach created a strong vaccum effect. I stopped my onslaught so I could hold on as much as I could to the ground. To my surprise, it completely uprooted a tree from the ground and picked it up. "Pretty cool, huh? The black hole is super fucking strong! It's awesome! Now take THIS!" She threw the giant tree at me, and even though I had a chance to guard it with Puddle of Mudd, the impact was too great. I went flying into the pond along with my stand. Brooke proudly stood there with her hands at her side. "Psh, I expected a bit more than that. Too bad. I'm sure he'll be fine." She was getting ready to leave before I created a torrent of water to raise myself up from the pond with. She turned around and stared in awe. Puddle of Mudd and I glared, both of our arms crossed.
"I didn't wanna fight...but after that...I realize...I don't have to hold back." Her eyes seemed to go blank as I blasted her with the torrent of water I had used. The force of the wave was so powerful it threw her right into one of the concrete pillars. So hard, in fact, that it created a crack where she hit it. I stood back on the bridge of the pond, still soaked. I approached her and she looked up directly at me. "I had a bad feeling about this meeting...can't say I expected a stand battle...good thing I picked a water oriented setting. Looks like I win this time." I held my hand out to her and she took it. I helped her back on her feet and she rubbed her head.
"S-sorry...I was so excited to show you my stand that I got carried away..." I smiled lightly.
"You coulda just said you wanted to fight. It's not my perfect definition of hanging out with you, but at least it's something." She laughed a bit.
"Yeah, I guess I could've been more tame about it. I just got this stand yesterday...though I don't remember how...I feel like it was after Mr. Dufrene helped me with a question on the worksheet we were doing." I sighed.
"This school has been over run by stand users lately...and Mr. Dufrene and Mr. Nugent are the ones who have been giving them out to people...they're onto me and Angel...not to mention some of my other friends too..." I smirked. "But they don't know that we know about them. AND WE HAVE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY." Brooke looked down as she processed everything that I told her. After a minute, she looked up at me.
"Let me help you guys then." I furrowed my brow at her. "You wanna help us defeat Nugent...?" She nodded. "Hell yeah. Sounds fun. I'd love to use this stand thing more." I thought to myself for a minute. "Alright...yeah, you can help...that'll give me a reason to hang out with you anyway." I smiled. She rolled her eyes.
"You're such a dork." I shrugged. "I'm aware."
She picked up all of her stuff. "Anyway, thanks for...putting up with me. I gotta get going. I'll see you tomorrow. Let's fucking take Nugent out." I nodded and gave her a thumbs up.
"Hell yeah. We'll do it." She laughed a bit and then waved, then walked off. I couldn't help but blush a little bit as she left. The fact that I would finally be able to hang out with one of my best friends a lot more frequently honestly got me excited. However, it was short lived as I came to a sudden realization.
"Aw...great. How am I gonna get home?"