When the morning comes, Chase and Ripper will both be laughingstocks, so let's go hunt some jocks! Thanks for reviewing, PrincessCrystalgem.
Despite Gwen knowing how easy things would probably be in the morning, she woke up nervous, and she only felt more and more nervous as she showered, dressed and put her makeup on. It was so important that she got everything right. And if she didn't…well, the boys would have a juicy piece of gossip about her that was true. "Gwen told us to strip and then tried to shoot us!" That was almost worse than the oral swordfight that never happened that they were already talking about.
When Gwen finally left the house and found Trent waiting for her on his motorbike, he immediately saw how nervous she looked. "It'll all be over soon," he whispered reassuringly to her. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you. If either of them get too close, I'll make sure they're knocked out before they get a chance to touch so much as your hand."
"What if you get me instead?" Gwen said anxiously. "You said they last twelve hours. If you shot me, I wouldn't be awake until the evening, right?"
Trent had to concentrate on the roads instead of looking at her, but he answered. "I'm a good shot, so I don't think it'll happen. But if it did, then I'd take you back to your house and wait there until you wake up." No need to tell her that there was no way he'd risk hitting her. He hated having to lie, but after the way she reacted last time, he wasn't going to let her try to talk him out of it. Giving Heather what she deserved felt so good. Doing it again to boys who were almost as terrible would be even better.
As it was, Gwen did have the time to snap a few photos before they got into position.
Trent waited half-hidden behind a tree, trusting the shadows to keep himself concealed until it was too late. Out of view, he took a rabbit's foot out of his pocket and tapped his head with it nine times for his lucky number, muttering to himself inaudibly "One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine," just for luck.
Gwen, however, was out in the open, purposely positioning herself with shadows only behind her, not in front, although she kept the gun hidden behind her back. That way, when she saw the two figures approaching, they saw her immediately.
"Hi, Gwen," Chase greeted her. He looked almost as nervous as she felt, but excited, too.
"So, how do you wanna do this?" Ripper asked her bluntly. "Do we just get it out, or what?"
Gwen tried to make her voice sound as sultry as possible. "Don't you want it to last, Ripper? We've got hours before school starts. There's a few things I'd like to try, and I don't want it to end too soon."
Ripper blushed, looking down and muttering "I thought foreplay was only for sissies."
Chase gave him a shove and whispered loudly "No, when girls ask for it, they're just being girls. It's only sissy when we ask for it. Say yes – it's fun getting them hot and begging before you move on."
Gwen resisted the urge to gag. What had Emma seen in this guy, even before he almost killed her? But she managed to smile and say "How about you both strip for me first? I'd like to see what equipment I have to work with."
The boys looked even more excited, pulling off their jackets and jeans eagerly. They were down to their underwear when Chase finally noticed that Gwen was still fully dressed. "Um, what about you?"
Gwen grinned slyly. "Well, once you're finished stripping, you get to rip my clothes right off me. I'd rather you do it for me. What about that?"
Ripper answered for both of them. "Sure, we can do that." The boys hurriedly finished stripping until they stood there, totally nude.
"On the count of three, then?" Gwen proposed. "One…two…"
"Three," Trent muttered, shooting. Gwen whipped out her gun too, and shot.
"HOLY CRAP!"
Ripper dropped like a stone, but Chase was running. Gwen's inexperience had caused her to miss.
Trent looked at Gwen in disbelief, but just said quickly "Stay there, I'll get him. Chase, get back here!"
They could hear Chase screaming. "You killed my best friend! What's happening here? Is this a joke? Are there cameras? I was kidding about what your girlfriend did! Nothing happened, I swear! I'll tell everyone the truth if you want!"
Gwen didn't hear much else. She heard Trent shouting something, and Chase answering, fear in every syllable, but she stopped registering any of it. She'd noticed something was wrong with Ripper. He was too still. Blood trickled from the area he was shot. She knew, even before she checked his pulse, that this was no harmless tranquilizer.
It was too late to save Chase. Within seconds of finding that Ripper was dead, she heard another gunshot, and Chase stopped screaming. And the suicide note had already been written. Gwen couldn't do any more than place it on Ripper's chest, leave her gun there in Chase's hand and run back to the motorbike, hand in hand with Trent.
Gwen didn't talk to Trent when they got to the Seven-Eleven. She let him buy her breakfast, but even then, she picked at the pastry in silence.
"What's wrong?" Trent asked her in a gentle voice. "I can tell you're mad at me, but I don't understand what there is to be mad about."
"Tranquilizer balls, you said," Gwen said in a low voice. "You lied to me."
Trent paused before answering. "I think you know why I did that. I think, deep down, you believed me because you wanted to believe me. Those two were irredeemable. Scaring them would never be enough to shut them up. This was the only way. Once you saw it happen and it made everything better, I thought you'd understand."
Gwen shook her head in disbelief. "Heather I got. That was a total accident. But you just killed two people, and I helped you. I didn't want them dead. They were assholes, but they didn't deserve to die."
"Okay, okay," Trent said soothingly, "I realize you don't think that was right. And you're allowed to be mad at me for it. But trust me, good will come out of this. And meanwhile, you'll be off the gossip hook. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole truth. Forgive me?"
Gwen looked into his eyes. Usually, that dispelled all of her doubts. But this time, it didn't work. At least, not entirely. She looked away. "Maybe in time," she admitted. "But give me some space for the next few days. I need to think about this."
"Sure!" Trent agreed quickly. "That's fair enough."
If he had to stay away from Gwen for a little while, that was a small price to pay for keeping her close. The truth was, there was no way he was going to let Gwen break up with him. He'd never felt so close to someone since he lost his mom. Now he'd found happiness again, and he was going to make sure he kept it.
By any means necessary.
Even in TDA, Trent seemed to be intensely afraid of losing Gwen. In this case, he's still afraid of that, but it's just a little – or a lot – more extreme. The first act of the musical is through. The fallout is on its way.
Also, the "foreplay is for sissies" comment from Ripper was actually inspired by the 1999 movie But I'm A Cheerleader, where the main antagonist insists that "real" men don't bother with foreplay. It's a comedy about a girl sent to conversion therapy camp…which is counter-productive considering it's where she finds her first girlfriend. I think Ripper echoing this sentiment proves how messed up conversion therapy is. Why can't you love who you love?
