Saturday, October 8, 2005

   AEGFF Chapter 7!
The majority of this chapter is a flashback from Tera's perspective; maybe it'll give you some clues as to how Roxanne got with Max instead of her.

Chapter 7

Tera went to her next class alone; no one else that she knew was in English Lit. She sighed; it was another orientation, as they did for just about every class at the start of the year. Somehow, she’d been hoping that they would stop after her first year in college, but she was wrong. As it often did, her mind wandered, and she thought back to the last day ion her first year of high school. That last day of 9th grade… the day Max did his “concert”.

***

Tera (or Tommy Gunn as she will be called for the remainder.), was sitting in the auditorium, surrounded by the rest of the guys she hung out with. Most were sporty, and most had tried to pick her up. But every time they did, she turned them down, saying her heart belonged to someone else. Of course, she never told that to anyone, except her best friend.

“How about “science slumber parties?”” Principal Mazur suggested, before the lights went off. Music began to play, and a screen lifted behind their bewildered teacher. Tommy Gunn was awestruck, and laughed quietly when Principal Mazur fell through a trap door in the stage. Powerline’s song “Stand Out” began to play, as one of their fellow students showed up on the screen, lip synching.

‘He looks familiar…’ Tommy Gunn thought to herself, as the boy burst through the screen. Everyone cheered; she even found herself cheering. The boy continued lip synching, approached a red-head named Roxanne. It looked almost as though the whole show was for her. One of the stage hands put a hook under the Powerline look-alike’s belt, and a crane lifted him into the air.

“Who’s that guy?” One of the irritating preppy girls shouted, swooning as the imitation soared above them, putting a basketball through one of the hoops. Then, he approached, Roxanne, his hand outstretched and reaching for hers. Unfortunately for him, the music skipped and stopped, as Principal Mazur stopped the concert. He removed the boy’s sunglasses, revealing an embarrassed looking Max Goof. Tommy Gunn blushed slightly, and left the auditorium with the other students.

“Psst!” Came a whisper from behind her, “come on Tera, follow me!” Tommy Gunn recognized the voice all a once. It was Roxanne, her best friend. Well, it wasn’t known that Tera and Roxanne were friends; they’d kept their friendship very secret since they’d first met in 6th grade. Tommy Gunn followed her friend into the girl’s bathroom, where they began talking about Max’s concert.

“Wow, it looked like he really went the extra mile for you.” Tommy Gunn congratulated her friend, patting her shoulder gently, “I wish he’d pay attention to me like that though.” She’d been harboring her secret feelings for Max almost the entire year; she’d only told Roxanne about them. Roxanne nodded, then pulled a coin out of her pocket.

“Tera… you know that we’ve both had a crush on Max for a long time now…” Roxanne began, Tommy Gunn nodding quietly, “and since he can’t have two girlfriends… let’s flip for it. Heads, I’ll try to go out with him. Tails, you get to try your chances.” Tommy Gunn nodded; she trusted her friend whole-heartedly. Roxanne flipped the coin high in the air, both watching intently as it began to fall.

“Let it hit the floor.” Tommy Gunn said, watching as it landed. Once the coin stopped spinning, it became clear on what it had landed on. Heads. Tommy Gunn sighed; her friend had won Max fair and square. Roxanne bent over and picked up the coin, and for a moment, she though that she’d seen two heads on the coin. She dismissed the thought immediately however; she knew her friend Roxanne would never cheat her.

Well, you’ve won Max fair and square. It’s obvious that he likes you… now go get ‘im, tiger!” Tommy Gunn congratulated her friend, patting her on the shoulder. Roxanne smiled, meeting her gaze for a moment. There was a disappointment in her eyes; as though she’d disappointed herself or her friend. Tommy Gunn ignored it, and watched her friend leave.

As soon as Roxanne was gone, a sad look came over her face. Her hand reached into the front pocket on her black hoodie, pulling out a notepad and a pen. Her notepad had pink, fuzzy bombs on it, and she smiled momentarily. Flipping through the pages until she found a clean one, she began to scribble notes on it. She was a part of the school paper, and was accustomed to writing headlines and taking notes.

“Newsflash,” Tommy Gunn muttered as she wrote, “Tommy Gunn, ace reporter, suffers from a broken heart… more details as the story develops.” She scrawled, sighing and holding back tears. She’d been desperately in love with Max, and now her chance to nab him was gone forever. She’d promised him to Roxanne, and was one to never go back on her word.

***

After about a week, the Powerline concert aired on T.V.. According to Roxanne, Max was going to be on stage with the pop star. She’d been talking about it nonstop and had even invited Tommy Gunn to come watch. She’d come bitterly; she was still a bit bummed that Roxanne and Max could be going on a date as soon as he got back.

Tommy Gunn stood in the corner by the punch bowl, looking at the T.V., watching for Max. Unfortunately, he hadn’t popped up yet, which was lowering the morale; not only in Roxanne, but in herself as well. She was hoping that Max would be appearing; it was basically the only reason she’d come to the party. Minutes trickled past, and Max still hadn’t appeared. She was about to lose hope, until…

“That’s Max!! I know him!!” Bobby shouted as Max landed on stage, between his father, who’d shown up a few seconds previously. Tommy Gunn smiled wider than she meant to, but no one was looking at her, so it didn’t matter. Everyone started dancing, while Tommy Gunn stood at the wall, drinking punch. Her eyes were glued to the screen, watching as Max danced with the biggest pop star of the era.

And she continued to watch; she watched as everyone else had their firsts. First dates, first kisses, pretty much everything. She didn’t do any of that herself; she was still hoping, still dreaming that she might be able to be with Max someday. Everything passed her by in high school, even though she passed all her courses with flying colors. Unfortunately, the remainder her of high school years wouldn’t be very happy either…

***

Tera snapped back into reality, the sounds of footsteps and rustling paper filling the room. The lecture was over-thankfully- and Tera would have a few more minutes… if Max and the others had a break. She still harbored feelings for him, but she knew he wouldn’t return them. After all, he and Roxanne were only on a “break” from their relationship. However, she wouldn’t find out about how wrong she was until much later.

Yeah... that one kept coming, like brain vomit. I like it though. Read and review both stories, please!
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