Warnings: Past drug use referenced, panic attacks
AN: This chapter and chapter 1 were at one point one chapter until I divided it and extended this chapter some. It was way too long as singular chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter 2 "Drama Club Dilemmas"
The shrill call of the bell marked the end of yet the end of another dreary school day. Abigail heaved a sigh of relief, joining the stream of students flooding into the hallway. The only highlight of the day had been dodging Barbara and Nancy, thanks to the refuge provided by her soccer teammates, Jennifer, Laura, and Hannah.
Exiting through a side door, Abigail scanned the bike rack for Jonathan's familiar ride. His absence sparked a twinge of concern. Had he left early? Puzzled, she racked her brain. No sign of him in math or history class. Maybe he was sick. Should she check on him? The thought of dealing with a sick friend gave her pause because the winter musical was upon her. A glance at her lighter, engraved with the initials J.H., stirred a craving she pushed aside. Weed would take the edge off, but risking her mom's wrath wasn't worth it.
With a resigned sigh, she pocketed the lighter and reentered the school. "Strange," she muttered to herself. "Jonathan always lets me know if he's not coming."
Taking her seat in the drama classroom, Abigail observed the sparse attendance with a pang of nostalgia for the seniors who had graduated the previous year. Lost in her thoughts, she barely registered the drama teacher's voice as it droned on. Mr. Johnson had less zest for life than a piece of wood.
"On another note, I would like to announce our new Drama Club president Abigail Henderson," announced the teacher.
Abby jumped, her eyes widening. Laura gave her a firm shove to stand up. People clapped as she got up and walked forward.
"Umm, thanks guys…Are you guys sure about this? I mean there are far better people to do this…"
"Abby, shove it. We voted for you!"
"Yeah! It's better not to have a senior anyways!" called another "no offense guys."
"I guess thanks to everyone that voted. I didn't even know I was nominated," Abby rubbed the back of her neck.
The drama teacher cleared her throat. "With that out of the way. I'd also like to announce that our musical this Christmas will be A Christmas Story, The Musical." Only a few scattered claps broke the tepid response from the club.
Abby cleared her throat taking on her newfounded role. "Come on guys, it's better than The Little Match Girl again," encouraged Abby "no offense, but you guys have done that for the last two years." She looked towards the teacher, hoping for a spark of life, but he remained expressionless.
"That's all for today. I'll leave it all up to you now," the teacher concluded, disappearing into his office.
"I really hate him," mumbled Abby under her breath as Jennifer, her teammate and the vice president of the drama club, approached.
But before Abby could dwell on Mr. Johnson, Jennifer announced the next order of business. "For new members, we will do auditions in two weeks. Since we still don't have that many members, I need you guys to start spreading the word. And everyone will need to chip in to make the set. We barely have enough people to put on a play as it, no complaints."
As Jennifer dismissed everyone except Abby and George, a knot formed in Abby's stomach. She took a deep shaky breath that increased to a more shallow rapid one. She pulled on the inside of her sweater trying to pull it down as far as possible. Shit, not now. As her eyes made contact with George's emerald ones she blinked and she was back in a moment she wished she
The booming music from the pool area echoed through the house. A random boy cannonballed into the pool, making a few girls sitting on the side gasp getting completely drenched. Abby had retreated inside, munching on nachos while George wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Babe, I told you the party would be worth it," George shouted over the loud music.
Abby shrugged, unimpressed. "These nachos suck."
Undeterred, George leaned in, a mischievous glint in his eye. "I know something better we could do."
Abby recoiled, her expression turning to one of mock disgust. "No way, Georgie. Not doing it in someone else's house, especially at Jason's."
"Come on, live a little," George urged, pulling out a packet and flashing a blunt.
"This isn't our place," Abby stated firmly, crossing her arms.
As George made a move, he accidentally knocked into Abby's soda cup.
Abby grimaced. "Let's just go."
In the bedroom, George lit the blunt, filling the air with smoke. Abby leaned back taking the hit. She kept glancing over at George before passing the blunt back off.
"Now you're just showing off," George remarked as Abby blew a huge cloud of smoke up.
He reached over, pulling her onto his lap. She swatted at his chest playfull pulling away, slipping back over to her spot.
"Come on, please," George pleaded.
"No, it's too weird," Abby muttered, retreating further.
George offered the blunt again, but Abby shook her head. She took a sip of her beer, only to find it repulsive.
"This beer is awful," she remarked, feeling queasy "it's terribly bitter."
"It's just beer," George replied dismissively.
Abby's head spun, her vision blurring. "You did something," she accused, her voice trembling.
"Don't be ridiculous," George snapped back, moving closer.
Abby pushed past him, making a beeline for the door. But George blocked her path. He put a hand on the door and another wrapped around her waist.
"Let me go!" she demanded fumbling with the lock.
"Can't we just have a little fun?" George pleaded, his grip tightening.
Abby tried yanking on the door but refused to budge with him holding it shut. She brought her thigh up as if she was going to kick a soccer ball and collided with his crouch. He groaned and stumbled back. She bolted into the hallway, colliding with another girl.
"Abby, are you okay?" the girl asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Chrissy, can you take me home?" Abby pleaded, her words slurred.
Chrissy paused for a second before George burst into the hallway shooting daggers at anyone daring to look at him. "Yeah, you know what, sure. I think you should go home."
"Wait," said Abby as Crissy pulled her towards the front door.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Jason coming out of the kitchen holding another six pack.
"Abby isn't feeling well. I'm just going to take her home," said Chrissy, gripping Abby's wrist tightly.
"She can just crash here," said Jason.
"Not that kind of sick," paused Chrissy lowering her voice "girl stuff."
Jason grimaced backing up. "Not another word." He hightailed it towards the pool.
Jennifer's voice snapped Abby from the trance she had found herself engulfed into. She looked around for a few seconds before her breathing returned to a natural rate. "For new members we will do auditions in two weeks. Since we still don't have that many members, I need you guys to start spreading the word. And everyone will need to chip into making the set. We barely have enough people to put on a play as it, no complaints." Jennifer announced. "Everyone besides Abby and George, out."
People eventually filed out leaving Abby, George and Jennifer. Abby and George stood a healthy distance away neither making eye contact looking at Jennifer. Abby crossed her arms even stepping a few steps further back. Jennifer looked back between the two before letting out a long sigh.
"Look, I've heard some shit and frankly I don't give a rat's ass about rumors, I don't even want to know if there's any truth. But us seniors are betting on you two doing your jobs. Don't make us regret making you guys president and treasurer," said Jennifer seriously. "This is our last musical."
"Right," said George.
"I'll behave if he behaves," replied Abby.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. "I'll get Mr. Jonhson to give us the script. Then I'll leave copies to you George. Let's meet again tomorrow to discuss the issue of the lack of members."
Abby and George stand awkwardly looking anywhere but at each other until Jennifer clears her throat looking at the two.
"I…"
"No, I should apologize," said George "I really fucked up. What I did was serious fucked up. Like I should be in jail right now."
Abby rolled her eyes "You're right, you should be. If we were anywhere else other than Hawkings, I would have let my mom call the cops. But I didn't want to spend the next three years having to deal with all the gossip which apparently is still happening anyways!" She took a deep breath, her nose flaring slightly.
George rubbed his neck. "I won't ask for forgiveness. I don't really deserve it."
Abby crossed her arms scowling at George. "I don't want to talk to you, be within two feet of you or breathe the same air you do. But for some goddamn reason fate seems to want to torment me." She paused for a moment. "So, I have a few rules.
"Whatever you say," said George, his shoulder deflating.
"I don't want you anywhere near me outside of the drama club. Don't even speak my name. If we are in drama only talk about drama club. I'm certainly not your friend," said Abby firmly, pressing her tongue against her teeth.
"Okay…okay, I get it. Stay away," grumbled George.
Abby rolled her eyes "Don't give me shit Wolff. This is YOUR fault not mine. And one more thing, next time you decide it's okay to hide in the bushes in our backyard I'm going to let my brother get his old hockey gear out to practice some hitting."
"No need for that," said George, his eyes widened. "Your cat nearly murdered me last and your mother would if she ever sees me again."
Abby smirked. "Oh, she definitely would. If I was you, I wouldn't go to Dr. Lewis. My mom happens to be a nurse for him."
Abby turned slightly on her heels. "Now that we have an understanding. I have things to do." Abby bolted out the door. She took a deep shaky breath as pressed her back against the wall in the hallway. Her hand shook slightly as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Abigail, right?" a girl with short wavy light brown hair asked.
"Yeah." Abigail forced a smile.
"I'm Robin Buckley. I'm also a sophomore, you sat by in English today and we have history together. I'm in the marching band so I think I might be able to get a few others from the marching band to join the drama club if rehearsals don't conflict with the games."
"We can work with it. Most members don't need to attend every meeting as long as you aren't in a leading role. Most of us are part of multiple after school activities so I totally get it."
"Great! I'll get back to you soon."
"Right, thanks…Robin," said Abigail. This time flashing her real smile that showed her teeth slightly and her dimples.
"See you next week then!" called Robin cheerfully. As she walked away, she looked back at Abigail chewing on the inside of her lip.
Abigail briskly weaved down the hallways as she got closer to her locker, she saw Eddie standing there, again. She closed her eyes and sighed as she approached.
"Munson, I've had a shit day. My daily quota of bullshit has gone beyond capacity," stated Abigail making a gesture for him to move off her locker.
Eddie furrowed his eyebrows slightly pressing his lips together. But swiftly took a few steps away from the lockers when Abigail slammed her locker open.
"I wanted to invite you to watch my band play on Saturday night. Almost everyone in Hellfire is in the band," Eddie said, looking at the opposite wall as if it had become the most fascinating wall in the world.
"Let me think about it. I usually have a movie night with my brother on Saturdays after I pry him away from his friends," sighed Abigail.
"You have a brother?"
"Hmm, yeah, a younger one. He's in middle school," replied Abby curtly.
"Look Eddie, I don't have time to talk. I promised my mom I'd be home for dinner," she continued as she finished packing her bag and closing her locker.
Eddie backed away a bit and played with his rings for a few seconds. "Henderson."
"Hmm." Abby turned around.
"Shit, I'm bad at this emotional stuff," he said with a pause "I know I've been a bit of an ass. I was just trying to protect the Hellfire Club. I didn't mean to push you so hard. What I'm saying is I totally get if you don't want to come anymore. But we do really like you coming. I invited you to the gig to try to apologize but clearly that message didn't work," rambled Eddie rubbing the back of his neck looking at the floor.
"I never took it personally. It was getting annoying. But I get it Eddie. They are like your family. You want me to trust you, but you don't trust me. That's not how friendships work. And I'm not going anywhere. You can't scare me off that easily Munson," smirked Abby.
Eddie rubbed his neck again. "You're right. This is my fault really. If I could take it back, I would. I just can't help feeling like you have a lot of secrets and that makes me nervous."
"If that's your way of trying to tell you my secrets, that was a terrible attempt. Keep trying Munson. I don't give away my secrets that easily," Abby gave him a smirk.
"Bye, Munson. See you tomorrow for our daily interrogation," Abby waved to him as she walked towards the office before the receptionist stepped out making her jump.
"There you are. I've been calling Mr. Johnson for the last fifteen minutes!" said the receptionist slightly out of breath "Your mother called. Said you needed to go home right away."
Abby stared at her a bit like a deer in headlights. She closed her eyes for a moment suddenly feeling herself being yanked back to a much older memory.
Abigail is sitting in history class watching a documentary on the TV that kept going fuzzy, making the teacher go over a bang on it to make the picture appear again. The phone rang and he went over to answer it.
"Hmm. I see. I'll send her right now."
Somewhat hidden by the darkness of the room the teacher came up and leaned over Abby. "Get your stuff. Your mom is here to pick you up."
"But…" Abby started.
"Just get your stuff."
Abby sighed, opening up her desk, grabbing her books as quietly as she could and going out into the hallway putting her homework in her backpack and putting on her puffy neon blue jacket while waddling down to the office.
The second Abby entered the office Claudia's puffy bloodshot eyes and the principal speaking softly to her. She just knew something terrible had happened.
Abby took a sharp inhale of air forcing herself to snap back to the present. "Did she say why?" asked Abby cautiously. Her hands tightened into fists, her nails digging into her palm.
"She just said it was important."
"Thank you for the message, Mrs. Thorn," Abby forced a smile "If she calls back tell her I'm on my way."
As soon as the receptionist left Abby closed her eyes. She rubbed her ears as they throbbed as her raced in her chest. She started to walk towards the entrance just to realize she had walked the opposite direction then turning herself back around.
"Henderson! Henderson!" Eddie called out to her. Abby kept on spinning around the main convergence of hallways. He reached out grabbing her wrist. Abby finally made eye contact with Eddie. Abby jerked in his grip suddenly freezing in place.
"Woah, okay. I didn't mean to scare you," Eddie said softly. "What's going on?"
Abby stared at his hand on her wrist. "Please, let go." Her voice cracked slightly sounding much younger than she was. Eddie instantly let go, staring confounded.
Abby paused for a while. "Nothing is going on." Her voice was a bit distant and her eyes were still bouncing around the room as if uncertain of where she was. "I appreciate the concern of Munson. But seriously, I don't like being touched."
"Note taken." Eddie looked intently at her. He wanted to say more, but her panicked expression told him to back off. "I'm not going to pry. You look kinda freaked out. I really don't think you should drive."
Abby shook her head. "I'll be fine once I get outside." She started to walk towards the actual entrance this time. "Robin, I know you're there. I'm not sure why you followed me. But you don't need to hide."
Robin turned bright right as she stepped out from the door she was hiding behind. "Sorry. I saw you with a senior. I was just worried…"
"I appreciate the concern. But Eddie here is a…friend. I'm fine. I'll see you next week."
Robin looked between Abby and Eddie. "Can we at least walk out together? Because you can't say you're fine if you just spent two minutes walking in a circle."
Abby paused for a minute. "I really don't have a comeback for that. So, fine. I'll walk out with you. Eddie, seriously, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Are you sure?" Eddie paused for a second looking at the unfamiliar girl.
"I promise I'll be fine once I get outside," Abby said, giving Eddie a smile. One that made her dimples show a real smile.
Eddie relented. "Only because you seem to know her. We'll talk tomorrow." Eddie walked towards a side exit leaving the two girls.
"That was umm intense," said Robin. "It's hard to see you as friends with someone like Munson."
"He's not a bad guy. He can actually be really sweet, believe it or not. I'm full of surprises Robin. If you stick around the drama club long enough, you'll learn," Abby said with a smirk as they walked out.
The brisk autumn air hit Abby in the face. She looked around taking in leaves blowing in the wind, distant storm clouds, even faint birds chirping. The tension in her shoulders dropped and she slung her backpack off her shoulder loosely.
"That dude had a point. Are you okay to drive?" Robin looked over at Abby.
"Thanks for the concern. But I'll be fine," replied Abby with reassurance.
"Can we at least follow you home?" asked Robin as her mother honked the car horn.
"I'm pretty sure Eddie's already going to follow me. I appreciate the sentiment, but I literally just met you. Well not really, but we've never talked before today," said Abby firmly pulling her keys out from her front pocket. She frowned, twirling her keys between her fingers.
"See you soon Robin." She waved to the girl before walking to her own car.
This better not be planning another damn funeral. I can't do this again. That singular thought raced through her head as she drove home. As she expected Eddie's van followed her until she turned onto her street as she predicted. She slowly approached her front door and opened it. Dustin flew out the door clinging to Abby for dear life. She carefully shuffled inside her insides twisting even more, making some bile burn in her throat.
"What's going on bud?" Abby questioned softly.
"Will's missing."
Fuck.