“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”
“MY FAULT! PRINCESS, I THINK WE BOTH KNOW WHO TO BLAME HERE.”
“Yes I do Duncan, YOU!”
“WELL WE WOULDN’T BE HERE IF-”
“QUIET!” That was Mr. lens. Our school principle. “I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOUR CONSTANT BICKERING!” he was very upset with two students. The two he seemed to always be upset with.
Duncan and Courtney.
And I as the best peer mediator at Westbrook high school, I was being called into his office. I could see him yelling and pointing fingers at Duncan and Courtney, while they continued to yell at each other. The clerk, Mrs. Guess, looked at the door, then at me. She quietly said, “good luck.” then returned to her computer. Her phone shot on and caught our attention. Mr. Lens yelled, “WHERE IS BETH! I NEED HER NOW-”
“She just walked in sir.” Mrs. Guess motioned to the door. I swallowed a big breath of cold air, then forged closer. As I touched the door handle, it slipped out of my grasp. There stood Mr. Lens. His teeth were clinched together. He had opened the door. The sleeves to his shirt were rolled up, and his tie loosely hung to his neck.
“WHERE IS-” he looked down before finishing. “oh, there you are Beth. Nice to see you today.” he said calmly. I could hear no sound inside of the room as I entered. Courtney and Duncan were sitting in only two of the three chairs across Mr. lens desk. They looked at me dangerously as I sat down in the chair between them. It was smaller and a light shade of blue, while the chairs they were sitting in were bland red. As the principle plopped down into his chair, he introduced me. “Duncan, Courtney this is-”
“-I know who she is, I’m in French club with her-” Courtney interrupted. She smiled at me briefly.
Duncan then cut Courtney off in the middle of her statement, “-Well I don’t, so shut the F-”
“Silence!” Mr. lens called again. “now as I was saying. This is Beth. She will be your peer mediator-”
“PEER WHAT?!” Courtney shouted.
“COURTNEY, THE NEXT TIME YOU INTERRUPT ME, ITS SUSPENTION!” Courtney was instantly silenced, like a dog being scolded. She didn’t argue with him further. “Now Beth is using her whole entire day to talk to you two, and if the issue isn’t handled by this afternoon, you both are Expelled.” he said. Courtney’s eyes shot open in horror, Duncan on the other hand didn’t really seem to care. “now Beth will show you both to her office and you will talk it out. Understood?”
“Yes, Mr. Lens.” Courtney sighed.
Duncan grinned, “Crystal.”
“Good. Beth, take them into the peer mediation room, and into your office. You have the whole day.”
I stood up first and led them both into a small room with my desk, two chairs, and a window. I had to admit that there wasn’t much to see in my office. There were the bland gray walls, and the self control poster I had been given. that’s were the luxuries ended.
I sat at my desk while they sat across from me. Courtney was frowning, Duncan was making himself comfortable. He planted his feet on the top of my desk, crossing his legs at the ankle.
Courtney rolled her eyes distastefully, obviously a reaction to Duncan’s blatant rudeness.
“Feet down.” I ordered.
“Or what?” Duncan asked, amused.
“I tell Mr. lens to put you in detention for the rest of the year.” he brought down his feet immediately, but rolled his eyes. I started the conversation, “I know you two don’t like each other, but can you explain to me what happened…this time?”
Courtney took it upon herself to tell me the story, I got a pencil and paper ready to take notes. “well, it all started this morning…The bell had just rang. I walked into first in my normally chipper mood, and was ready to learn. I went to my seat, and there he was. He was sitting in my seat-”
“Okay, you don’t own that seat. I can sit wherever I want, whenever I want.” Duncan sneered.
“See! That’s What he said to me earlier, and I told him that it didn’t matter. I normally sit there. He didn’t even move, and I asked him nicely to move.”
“Bull shit! You told me to get the hell out of your seat you’d beat me with your textbook.” Duncan corrected.
“I said something like that. I didn’t say ‘hell’. But you made a dirty joke afterwards!”
“Really? Tell Beth what the joke was then.” Courtney’s face turned red. It was becoming apparent to me that we were going to get no where at this rate. I knew they would both lie to get what they wanted,(freedom) so I needed to talk to someone who knew them both personally. Someone who would tell me about Duncan and Courtney’s past with each other. I sighed.
While they went back and forth about he situation, not caring if I was paying attention, I dialed Mrs. Numbers room. I asked if I could borrow two students briefly and she happily agreed. Five minutes later I heard knuckles hitting the door. Thank god.
They both looked at the door, then at me.
“Duncan and Courtney please go wait in the hall for a few minutes.” they both got up in pure curiosity. Courtney opened the door.
Bridgette and Gwen walked in as the troublemakers walked out, Courtney and Gwen quietly growled at each other. Duncan closed the door gently behind them.
Gwen looked at me expectantly, “what?” she asked, annoyed. I knew for a fact that Gwen was Duncan’s girlfriend.
“Hi, I’m Beth. Duncan and Courtney are both in big trouble, and I’m suppose to fix it.”
“what do you mean, fix it.” Bridgette asked politely.
“If Courtney and Duncan don’t stop fighting by the end of the day, then they both get expelled.” Bridgette gasped, while Gwen looked at her feet. “I know they both mean a lot to you, so I need you to help me better understand why they fight all the time.”
Gwen sighed as if she’d been through this a hundred and eight times. “They just don’t like each other okay? Now, can I go?”
Gwen wasn’t going to be of any help, so I quickly excused her. Bridgette was my main target. She sat down in a chair and began to explain Duncan and Courtney’s relationship prior to this morning.
“I know you know they fight all the time, but this morning it was different. They only fight so much because Courtney likes Duncan and has liked him since they were seven.”
“When did they officially meet for the first time?” I asked.
“We were all in the third grade together…Me and Courtney didn’t talk to each other at first. She and Duncan were usually playing with each other. He would push her on the swing, or help make a sandcastle with her in the sand box. In fact, they were so close to each other, that he would fall asleep in her lap at naptime. You know, innocent things. As we got older and into higher grades, everyone started teasing Duncan for being friends with a girl. He didn’t like that.”
“So then what happened?”
Narrators point of view.
“Fifth grade. It was our last year in elementary school. Duncan was so upset with Courtney about accusations of them being together as more then friends. He beat Harold lakes up because he made a joke. Courtney was still sitting on the swing at the time, and tried to calm him down. He just told her to shut up and walked away. From then on…things went down hill. Instead of pushing her on the swing, he’d push her off the swing. Other than playing in the sand box with her, he’d kick sand in her face…you see where I’m going with this?”
“yea…how did Duncan meet Gwen?”
“ When we came into middle school, me Duncan and Courtney were the only ones who came to this middle school out of the whole graduating class. We only knew each other. Me and Courtney quickly became friends. I looked the same, and so did Courtney, but Duncan…Duncan wasn’t the same.”
“what do you mean?”
“As a kid, he had all black hair. Never wore that thingy around his neck or even said a mean thing to Courtney. First day of school two years ago, he had green hair, baggy clothes, and a bad attitude. Courtney had been ignoring him for the whole summer break and the whole rest of grade five, so she tried not to act surprised by his sudden change.”
“Okay, I still don’t see where the conflict of all of seventh grade and this year come in.”
“ I was getting to that. On our first day, I sat with Courtney. Duncan sat next to Gwen. They have been close ever since. Courtney soon was constantly complaining about how annoying or Cliché Gwen was. Then one day…she dropped her notebook.” Bridgette slapped her hand over her head. “Duncan just happened to be there at that exact same moment, and picked it up. He pretended to be handing it to her, but threw it out of the window instead. She was livid. She yelled at him, and he thought it was funny. Which just made her even more angry. So that’s when it pretty much became a routine for him. Gwen and him started dating last week. Courtney confided in me But-”
“what did she say when she confided in you?”
Bridgette looked around the room nervously, as if Courtney had planted cameras in the room. “That she didn’t know why, but she was feeling funny about them dating. I told her she was jealous, and that she was in love with him. She denied it of course. I told her there was no point in lying to me, so she then admitted to missing the ‘real’ Duncan. She’s been ignoring him completely ever since.”
“even when he picked on her?”
“Yea! She told me she was going to stop liking Duncan. Obviously she thought by ignoring him, that would end it.”
“did it?”
“of course not. It only made it worse. Yesterday…she was going to meet me at Starbucks. She was walking to her car and Duncan was standing there waiting for her. She asked him what he wanted then he asked her what was wrong with her. Bad Idea.”
“I’ll say.”
“so she just told him to go away, right?” Bridgette shrugged to show the harmlessness of the request.
“umhum…”
“But Duncan said No, then they started arguing…”
“which followed into this morning?” Had they been arguing about the events that had happened only hours before? Beth knew Duncan well enough to know that he didn’t get worked up easily by women, it took effort. So what had made him burst out on demand like this? It certainly wasn’t a very Duncan like response. But Beth had to remember that Duncan was very unpredictable, Courtney wasn’t…but Duncan was…
“not exactly…Courtney came in this morning in a really foul mood, she was in no place to deal with Duncan’s antics. All it took to throw her over the cliff was Duncan was sitting in her seat-”
“Okay, That’s were Courtney started.” Beth intervened happily. At least she knew what was going on now.
Bridgette seemed to know why Beth had suddenly perked up, “Its were things get interesting. She didn’t see the rose he had hidden behind his back, so she assumed he was going to pick with her. She told him to get the hell out of her seat or she beat him senseless. He made a vulgar joke, Business as usual right? But Courtney must have said something that proved Duncan to actually, and very bluntly yell at her. I mean he actually fought back with her! The teacher ordered them to get out because she had it with them always yelling and disrupting her class. While being pushed out Duncan threw the rose down, so Courtney wouldn’t see it and So now…where here.” Bridgette seemed a little worried, “your not really going to let Lens expel them are you?”
Beth would never let that happen. She didn‘t know them personally, but assumed they couldn‘t be all that bad. Besides, she managed to deal with heather. “ No. I think I should talk to Gwen.”
“Good idea, can I leave?” Bridgette asked still laid back as ever.
“yes, thanks a lot Bridgette.” Beth thanked her kindly. She knew Bridgette of all people would be pleased to have Duncan and Courtney now hurting people side by side at least.
She stood up and walked out the door after saying, “no problem.”
Beth asked Mrs. Numbers for Gwen again, she came into the room. “now what?” she sighed exasperated.
“Can I talk to you about, you and Duncan’s relationship?” Beth didn’t want to seem like she was pressing for anything that wasn’t her business. She knew she was anyway, but still. She had to consider putting Duncan and Courtney’s feud to rest was her business.
Gwen laughed silently to herself, which confused the Beth. Why was she laughing when her friends education was at risk? Then it sourly occurred to Beth that education was the last thing on Duncan’s mind today or any day for that matter. “were not really dating Beth.” Gwen assured. “It was just a ploy to get Courtney jealous so she’d confess to liking Duncan. I mean he’s been after her for the past two years, and she hasn’t given him anything. I told him playing games with her wouldn’t work. He didn’t listen to me, then asked me to help him make her jealous...I owed him." she said almost shamefully. “Were just friends. Yesterday in class I told him to just talk to her, and he apparently tried after school. That didn’t go so great,” she sat down reluctantly in a chair. "apparently she had said something to really piss him off, and she must have got to him too because when Bridgette told me and I asked him, he said it was just to personal.” she seemed hurt almost that Duncan didn’t either trust her enough, or was to tired to tell her what had pushed his button. But she went on anyways. “So this morning, he tried to make up for it with a flower. Happy?” she rushed her ending, Beth realized there was a reason, a detail she was skipping.
“anything else?”
She looked around just as Bridgette did, “I-I just don’t understand what he like about her.” she deflated in the chair by allowing her limps to lay freely, “She’s been nothing but mean to him since the beginning of sixth grade. Sure he‘s no Romeo, but could she not she why he was picking on her? I mean everyone else knew in the whole school. It was like a secret that you didn‘t even need to tell, it didn‘t need to be a rumor, it was so Damn obvious I almost told her myself!”
“When did Duncan tell you?”
“Tell me? I think he told me…In grade seven! That was it! He and I were spiking the punch bowl at a dance and I said something about Trent asking me to that dance. He then said (“Yea, I was Gonna ask this one chick, but she doesn’t seem interested.”) I already knew who, but I played along and guessed Lindsey. I asked him what his damage was and he practically began to drool about how hot this girl was. I finally pestered him enough with my questions to were he sighed her name, and that was enough evidence for me.”
Beth laughed a little, maybe Duncan wasn’t as dangerous as he led on. “Took him that long?”
“Yea…I wonder why?” she didn’t give it much thought, “I need to hit second period, Are you good on background info?” she was very jumpy out of the blue.
“Yea…Thank you.”
“Anything to get him to shut up about her.” she walked out of the room again, this time in a more rushed manor.
Beth’s point of view.
I got up from my seat as well and asked Duncan, who was carving his name on the floor, to come into my office. Courtney was still engaged in her book on…EMBEZZLEMENT?! Why would she be reading a book like that? I ignored it, remembering to mind my own business. I went back to my desk and Duncan sat back were he was before.
I prepared for the bomb that is Duncan. “Duncan, how did you and Courtney meet?” I asked politely.
He seemed uninterested, “I don’t remember.” he said flatly. I noticed whenever he did know something he pretended to be completely and whole heartedly absorbed in anything other than the subject he was avoiding discussion on.
“Duncan, I’m not allowed to tell anyone about what we talk about. You can tell me Duncan. The faster you do, the quicker You can leave.”
He sighed, and rubbed his eyes, “We were like…Two I think. It was on the first day of preschool. There.”
Either Bridgette had lied(which was highly unlikely), or someone had told her the wrong time and place of Duncan and Courtneys first encounter.
“what happened?” I probed.
“she…she fell off the stupid slide and I helped her up. that’s all.”
I quickly asked Courtney to come back into the room. She sat as far away from Duncan as possible.
“Courtney? How did you and Duncan meet?”
“First day of Preschool. I fell off the slide, and he helped me up.” she crossed her arms and legs and kept talking, “I told him thank you, and that was the end of it.”
“Was not.” Duncan argued. I had him. I knew he would speak up if Courtney tried to make things look innocent. Fully knowing he would try to prove her false. “Later that day, she asked me to color with her.” he said satisfied.
“Okay,” Courtney agreed reluctantly. “But you switched lunches with me at lunch, then told me I make yummy cookies!”
Was this getting childish or was it just me?
“So you make great cookies, big deal. You tried to paint a picture of me at art time.”
Is it pathetic that they remember all this?
“Alright, all that may be true, but you slept in my lap at nap time, and don’t you dare deny it.”
Duncan rolled his eyes. “doesn’t matter, you liked me all hugged up you.” he defended.
Courtney gasped, only confirming Duncan’s statement. “Did not! Take it back!”
Duncan grinned playfully, “Don’t lie sweetheart, I know you like having me close to you. You always have, and always will.”
In a odd way, Courtney agreed with him, “Whatever, Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it yourself. You liked having me next to you when you were sleeping,” Duncan frowned showing that he knew were Courtney was going with this, “We wouldn’t want the monsters coming after you now would we?” she smiled menacingly. Courtney looked very dangerous when she twisted her lips the right way. She almost looked like the Grinch. “I don’t know why you were scared, I thought you’d like to meet people who were just like you?. Things that found masculinity in pushing little girls off swings, and kicking dirt in there face.” Courtney was serious, she wasn’t looking at Duncan, who was showing small signs of guilt.
He sighed heavily, “You know I-”
“I Know you what Duncan! That your sorry and didn’t mean it! That is was a mistake? don’t give me that Duncan! Do You know how bad you hurt my feelings? I thought you of all people would know how it feels to be judged to by something you can’t change in your life. I guess you weren’t man enough to be friends with someone because they at some point were going to grow boobs.”
“That’s not why Courtney.” he said uneasily.
“Then what was it Duncan!” she argued. “Tell me please because-”
Duncan jumped from his seat, “DAMMIT COURTNEY I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. I leaned back into my chair instinctively. Thanking god this room was sound proof.
Courtney was startled, it was becoming clear she was in mild shock, “what?” was the only word she could manage.
Duncan lowered his head, “Courtney I love you.” he seemed lost, “I always have, and I always will.” he said looking down.
“I-is that why you always picked on me? Because you had a crush on me?” Courtney seemed genuinely astounded. I guess she was realizing how blind she had been for most of her life.
“Courtney, when we were in elementary school, it was damn crush. Now I think I’m in love with you. I can’t handle my feelings sometimes, so I take them out on other people. I pushed you away because I always felt like a big window, and you could see right through me.”
“Oh Duncan…” Courtney stood up and raised Duncan’s head so he had to look her in the eyes. She was about an inch taller than him. “I love you to.”
“you don’t have to say that.” he said flatly.
“No no no, Duncan, I really do. I just thought you thought I was a loser because you didn’t want to hang out with ma anymore. Then in sixth grade when you got all bad boy on me, I thought you were doing it because you were trying to put our past behind you. I thought you liked Gwen.” She then allowed a small indication of confusion spread on her face… “Aren’t you dating Gwen?”
“I was trying to make you jealous.” he admitted un-shamefully. “Did it-”
“It worked, Ask Bridgette.” she smiled in a heartfelt manner, then kissed Duncan on the lips lightly, but that didn’t seem to satisfy him. He pulled her down to his lips again. I realized that they may have forgotten about my existence, then I coughed purposely. Courtney abruptly stopped and blushed uncharacteristically. Duncan grinned wiping the lip-gloss off of his lips.
“Maybe you two should Go back to class. I’ll give Mr. Lens a good report, nothing to worry about.” I promised.
“Thanks Beth for everything.” Courtney said gladly. She looked at Duncan briefly, “Duncan wait for me in the hallway, I’ll be out in a minute.”
Duncan didn’t argue and obeyed Courtney’s demands. He grinned at Beth then left the room. Courtney looked at Beth sympathetically, “I know me and the other kids around here don’t give you much credit Beth but, I want you to know you are better than heather. You don’t have to be stuck with her. You or Lindsay…you just have to want freedom bad enough…I know you think you go about these halls unnoticed, but I know a lot about you Beth. I know you play flute in the marching band, and that you are vice president of the knitting club. I also know you have a crush on Justin fields-”
“SSSSHHHH!” I silenced, shooting spit every where. I apologized quickly for my saliva. “sorry 'bout that.”
“Beth” Courtney started again, “you’re a sweet girl, and you have a under appreciated body. Maybe me and Bridgette could make you look nice for Justin?”
I was so happy that I could scream, “Really! You’d really do that!”
She nodded, “Absolutely, I owe you. So…You in?”
“YES! Of course.”
“Alright then, I’ll need you to get Bridgette, LeShawna, and Lindsay out of class then.”
“I’m on it!”
An hour later…
“What do you think?” Courtney asked me, placing the mirror in front of my eyes.
I sighed in a complete loss for words. They had done the unthinkable, the remotely impossible, then had made me- “Beautiful…” I breathed.
Lindsey seemed more excited than I. “I always knew under all that lameo Beth was a beautiful girl.”
They escorted me out of the office quickly. Duncan was carving a skull out of some wood on a bench outside in the lobby. He must had heard our footsteps and giggling when we arrived because he looked up quickly.
“Finally, I thought you’d-Whoa…” Duncan stopped talking, and had his eyes grazing over me. He seemed impressed. “Nice job ladies, Beth here’s Gonna blind Justin.”
Adding Duncan to the group, we all walked out into the halls of the school. It was busy with life as usual. As I walked in, everyone began to stop, and slow down. I heard guys beginning to whistle and yell things such as “call me” to “Marry me”. it was all so flattering. But they weren’t who I was looking for. I quickly found him though. Justin was leaned against a locker. His back was facing me, until his friends taped his should and told him to turn around. He did so, and grinned as he looked at me. I felt my feet moving forward and my eyes rising up. Was I smiling? Either that or the contacts were giving me trouble. Justin walked up to me almost instinctively. The spider welcoming the poor defenseless fly into his parlor.
“Do I know you, Beautiful?” his white teeth glistened in the florescent lights. “Because if I don’t, Then I can rearrange that.” he kept on grinning.
“I-I-I’m Beth.”
“Well I’m Justin. You play flute in the marching band, Correct?”
I nodded calmly. At least I hoped it was calmly.
“maybe I could take you out sometime? It would be my honor to take such a gorgeous woman like yourself to dinner.”
“Sure! I mean sure, yea, whatever.”
“cool. I’ll call you tonight.” he walked off with his entourage of fellow models following him. For once in my life, I got something I wanted. Someone I wanted.
Finally…things are going my way.
*******
By junniebear49 on Fanfiction.net
“MY FAULT! PRINCESS, I THINK WE BOTH KNOW WHO TO BLAME HERE.”
“Yes I do Duncan, YOU!”
“WELL WE WOULDN’T BE HERE IF-”
“QUIET!” That was Mr. lens. Our school principle. “I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOUR CONSTANT BICKERING!” he was very upset with two students. The two he seemed to always be upset with.
Duncan and Courtney.
And I as the best peer mediator at Westbrook high school, I was being called into his office. I could see him yelling and pointing fingers at Duncan and Courtney, while they continued to yell at each other. The clerk, Mrs. Guess, looked at the door, then at me. She quietly said, “good luck.” then returned to her computer. Her phone shot on and caught our attention. Mr. Lens yelled, “WHERE IS BETH! I NEED HER NOW-”
“She just walked in sir.” Mrs. Guess motioned to the door. I swallowed a big breath of cold air, then forged closer. As I touched the door handle, it slipped out of my grasp. There stood Mr. Lens. His teeth were clinched together. He had opened the door. The sleeves to his shirt were rolled up, and his tie loosely hung to his neck.
“WHERE IS-” he looked down before finishing. “oh, there you are Beth. Nice to see you today.” he said calmly. I could hear no sound inside of the room as I entered. Courtney and Duncan were sitting in only two of the three chairs across Mr. lens desk. They looked at me dangerously as I sat down in the chair between them. It was smaller and a light shade of blue, while the chairs they were sitting in were bland red. As the principle plopped down into his chair, he introduced me. “Duncan, Courtney this is-”
“-I know who she is, I’m in French club with her-” Courtney interrupted. She smiled at me briefly.
Duncan then cut Courtney off in the middle of her statement, “-Well I don’t, so shut the F-”
“Silence!” Mr. lens called again. “now as I was saying. This is Beth. She will be your peer mediator-”
“PEER WHAT?!” Courtney shouted.
“COURTNEY, THE NEXT TIME YOU INTERRUPT ME, ITS SUSPENTION!” Courtney was instantly silenced, like a dog being scolded. She didn’t argue with him further. “Now Beth is using her whole entire day to talk to you two, and if the issue isn’t handled by this afternoon, you both are Expelled.” he said. Courtney’s eyes shot open in horror, Duncan on the other hand didn’t really seem to care. “now Beth will show you both to her office and you will talk it out. Understood?”
“Yes, Mr. Lens.” Courtney sighed.
Duncan grinned, “Crystal.”
“Good. Beth, take them into the peer mediation room, and into your office. You have the whole day.”
I stood up first and led them both into a small room with my desk, two chairs, and a window. I had to admit that there wasn’t much to see in my office. There were the bland gray walls, and the self control poster I had been given. that’s were the luxuries ended.
I sat at my desk while they sat across from me. Courtney was frowning, Duncan was making himself comfortable. He planted his feet on the top of my desk, crossing his legs at the ankle.
Courtney rolled her eyes distastefully, obviously a reaction to Duncan’s blatant rudeness.
“Feet down.” I ordered.
“Or what?” Duncan asked, amused.
“I tell Mr. lens to put you in detention for the rest of the year.” he brought down his feet immediately, but rolled his eyes. I started the conversation, “I know you two don’t like each other, but can you explain to me what happened…this time?”
Courtney took it upon herself to tell me the story, I got a pencil and paper ready to take notes. “well, it all started this morning…The bell had just rang. I walked into first in my normally chipper mood, and was ready to learn. I went to my seat, and there he was. He was sitting in my seat-”
“Okay, you don’t own that seat. I can sit wherever I want, whenever I want.” Duncan sneered.
“See! That’s What he said to me earlier, and I told him that it didn’t matter. I normally sit there. He didn’t even move, and I asked him nicely to move.”
“Bull shit! You told me to get the hell out of your seat you’d beat me with your textbook.” Duncan corrected.
“I said something like that. I didn’t say ‘hell’. But you made a dirty joke afterwards!”
“Really? Tell Beth what the joke was then.” Courtney’s face turned red. It was becoming apparent to me that we were going to get no where at this rate. I knew they would both lie to get what they wanted,(freedom) so I needed to talk to someone who knew them both personally. Someone who would tell me about Duncan and Courtney’s past with each other. I sighed.
While they went back and forth about he situation, not caring if I was paying attention, I dialed Mrs. Numbers room. I asked if I could borrow two students briefly and she happily agreed. Five minutes later I heard knuckles hitting the door. Thank god.
They both looked at the door, then at me.
“Duncan and Courtney please go wait in the hall for a few minutes.” they both got up in pure curiosity. Courtney opened the door.
Bridgette and Gwen walked in as the troublemakers walked out, Courtney and Gwen quietly growled at each other. Duncan closed the door gently behind them.
Gwen looked at me expectantly, “what?” she asked, annoyed. I knew for a fact that Gwen was Duncan’s girlfriend.
“Hi, I’m Beth. Duncan and Courtney are both in big trouble, and I’m suppose to fix it.”
“what do you mean, fix it.” Bridgette asked politely.
“If Courtney and Duncan don’t stop fighting by the end of the day, then they both get expelled.” Bridgette gasped, while Gwen looked at her feet. “I know they both mean a lot to you, so I need you to help me better understand why they fight all the time.”
Gwen sighed as if she’d been through this a hundred and eight times. “They just don’t like each other okay? Now, can I go?”
Gwen wasn’t going to be of any help, so I quickly excused her. Bridgette was my main target. She sat down in a chair and began to explain Duncan and Courtney’s relationship prior to this morning.
“I know you know they fight all the time, but this morning it was different. They only fight so much because Courtney likes Duncan and has liked him since they were seven.”
“When did they officially meet for the first time?” I asked.
“We were all in the third grade together…Me and Courtney didn’t talk to each other at first. She and Duncan were usually playing with each other. He would push her on the swing, or help make a sandcastle with her in the sand box. In fact, they were so close to each other, that he would fall asleep in her lap at naptime. You know, innocent things. As we got older and into higher grades, everyone started teasing Duncan for being friends with a girl. He didn’t like that.”
“So then what happened?”
Narrators point of view.
“Fifth grade. It was our last year in elementary school. Duncan was so upset with Courtney about accusations of them being together as more then friends. He beat Harold lakes up because he made a joke. Courtney was still sitting on the swing at the time, and tried to calm him down. He just told her to shut up and walked away. From then on…things went down hill. Instead of pushing her on the swing, he’d push her off the swing. Other than playing in the sand box with her, he’d kick sand in her face…you see where I’m going with this?”
“yea…how did Duncan meet Gwen?”
“ When we came into middle school, me Duncan and Courtney were the only ones who came to this middle school out of the whole graduating class. We only knew each other. Me and Courtney quickly became friends. I looked the same, and so did Courtney, but Duncan…Duncan wasn’t the same.”
“what do you mean?”
“As a kid, he had all black hair. Never wore that thingy around his neck or even said a mean thing to Courtney. First day of school two years ago, he had green hair, baggy clothes, and a bad attitude. Courtney had been ignoring him for the whole summer break and the whole rest of grade five, so she tried not to act surprised by his sudden change.”
“Okay, I still don’t see where the conflict of all of seventh grade and this year come in.”
“ I was getting to that. On our first day, I sat with Courtney. Duncan sat next to Gwen. They have been close ever since. Courtney soon was constantly complaining about how annoying or Cliché Gwen was. Then one day…she dropped her notebook.” Bridgette slapped her hand over her head. “Duncan just happened to be there at that exact same moment, and picked it up. He pretended to be handing it to her, but threw it out of the window instead. She was livid. She yelled at him, and he thought it was funny. Which just made her even more angry. So that’s when it pretty much became a routine for him. Gwen and him started dating last week. Courtney confided in me But-”
“what did she say when she confided in you?”
Bridgette looked around the room nervously, as if Courtney had planted cameras in the room. “That she didn’t know why, but she was feeling funny about them dating. I told her she was jealous, and that she was in love with him. She denied it of course. I told her there was no point in lying to me, so she then admitted to missing the ‘real’ Duncan. She’s been ignoring him completely ever since.”
“even when he picked on her?”
“Yea! She told me she was going to stop liking Duncan. Obviously she thought by ignoring him, that would end it.”
“did it?”
“of course not. It only made it worse. Yesterday…she was going to meet me at Starbucks. She was walking to her car and Duncan was standing there waiting for her. She asked him what he wanted then he asked her what was wrong with her. Bad Idea.”
“I’ll say.”
“so she just told him to go away, right?” Bridgette shrugged to show the harmlessness of the request.
“umhum…”
“But Duncan said No, then they started arguing…”
“which followed into this morning?” Had they been arguing about the events that had happened only hours before? Beth knew Duncan well enough to know that he didn’t get worked up easily by women, it took effort. So what had made him burst out on demand like this? It certainly wasn’t a very Duncan like response. But Beth had to remember that Duncan was very unpredictable, Courtney wasn’t…but Duncan was…
“not exactly…Courtney came in this morning in a really foul mood, she was in no place to deal with Duncan’s antics. All it took to throw her over the cliff was Duncan was sitting in her seat-”
“Okay, That’s were Courtney started.” Beth intervened happily. At least she knew what was going on now.
Bridgette seemed to know why Beth had suddenly perked up, “Its were things get interesting. She didn’t see the rose he had hidden behind his back, so she assumed he was going to pick with her. She told him to get the hell out of her seat or she beat him senseless. He made a vulgar joke, Business as usual right? But Courtney must have said something that proved Duncan to actually, and very bluntly yell at her. I mean he actually fought back with her! The teacher ordered them to get out because she had it with them always yelling and disrupting her class. While being pushed out Duncan threw the rose down, so Courtney wouldn’t see it and So now…where here.” Bridgette seemed a little worried, “your not really going to let Lens expel them are you?”
Beth would never let that happen. She didn‘t know them personally, but assumed they couldn‘t be all that bad. Besides, she managed to deal with heather. “ No. I think I should talk to Gwen.”
“Good idea, can I leave?” Bridgette asked still laid back as ever.
“yes, thanks a lot Bridgette.” Beth thanked her kindly. She knew Bridgette of all people would be pleased to have Duncan and Courtney now hurting people side by side at least.
She stood up and walked out the door after saying, “no problem.”
Beth asked Mrs. Numbers for Gwen again, she came into the room. “now what?” she sighed exasperated.
“Can I talk to you about, you and Duncan’s relationship?” Beth didn’t want to seem like she was pressing for anything that wasn’t her business. She knew she was anyway, but still. She had to consider putting Duncan and Courtney’s feud to rest was her business.
Gwen laughed silently to herself, which confused the Beth. Why was she laughing when her friends education was at risk? Then it sourly occurred to Beth that education was the last thing on Duncan’s mind today or any day for that matter. “were not really dating Beth.” Gwen assured. “It was just a ploy to get Courtney jealous so she’d confess to liking Duncan. I mean he’s been after her for the past two years, and she hasn’t given him anything. I told him playing games with her wouldn’t work. He didn’t listen to me, then asked me to help him make her jealous...I owed him." she said almost shamefully. “Were just friends. Yesterday in class I told him to just talk to her, and he apparently tried after school. That didn’t go so great,” she sat down reluctantly in a chair. "apparently she had said something to really piss him off, and she must have got to him too because when Bridgette told me and I asked him, he said it was just to personal.” she seemed hurt almost that Duncan didn’t either trust her enough, or was to tired to tell her what had pushed his button. But she went on anyways. “So this morning, he tried to make up for it with a flower. Happy?” she rushed her ending, Beth realized there was a reason, a detail she was skipping.
“anything else?”
She looked around just as Bridgette did, “I-I just don’t understand what he like about her.” she deflated in the chair by allowing her limps to lay freely, “She’s been nothing but mean to him since the beginning of sixth grade. Sure he‘s no Romeo, but could she not she why he was picking on her? I mean everyone else knew in the whole school. It was like a secret that you didn‘t even need to tell, it didn‘t need to be a rumor, it was so Damn obvious I almost told her myself!”
“When did Duncan tell you?”
“Tell me? I think he told me…In grade seven! That was it! He and I were spiking the punch bowl at a dance and I said something about Trent asking me to that dance. He then said (“Yea, I was Gonna ask this one chick, but she doesn’t seem interested.”) I already knew who, but I played along and guessed Lindsey. I asked him what his damage was and he practically began to drool about how hot this girl was. I finally pestered him enough with my questions to were he sighed her name, and that was enough evidence for me.”
Beth laughed a little, maybe Duncan wasn’t as dangerous as he led on. “Took him that long?”
“Yea…I wonder why?” she didn’t give it much thought, “I need to hit second period, Are you good on background info?” she was very jumpy out of the blue.
“Yea…Thank you.”
“Anything to get him to shut up about her.” she walked out of the room again, this time in a more rushed manor.
Beth’s point of view.
I got up from my seat as well and asked Duncan, who was carving his name on the floor, to come into my office. Courtney was still engaged in her book on…EMBEZZLEMENT?! Why would she be reading a book like that? I ignored it, remembering to mind my own business. I went back to my desk and Duncan sat back were he was before.
I prepared for the bomb that is Duncan. “Duncan, how did you and Courtney meet?” I asked politely.
He seemed uninterested, “I don’t remember.” he said flatly. I noticed whenever he did know something he pretended to be completely and whole heartedly absorbed in anything other than the subject he was avoiding discussion on.
“Duncan, I’m not allowed to tell anyone about what we talk about. You can tell me Duncan. The faster you do, the quicker You can leave.”
He sighed, and rubbed his eyes, “We were like…Two I think. It was on the first day of preschool. There.”
Either Bridgette had lied(which was highly unlikely), or someone had told her the wrong time and place of Duncan and Courtneys first encounter.
“what happened?” I probed.
“she…she fell off the stupid slide and I helped her up. that’s all.”
I quickly asked Courtney to come back into the room. She sat as far away from Duncan as possible.
“Courtney? How did you and Duncan meet?”
“First day of Preschool. I fell off the slide, and he helped me up.” she crossed her arms and legs and kept talking, “I told him thank you, and that was the end of it.”
“Was not.” Duncan argued. I had him. I knew he would speak up if Courtney tried to make things look innocent. Fully knowing he would try to prove her false. “Later that day, she asked me to color with her.” he said satisfied.
“Okay,” Courtney agreed reluctantly. “But you switched lunches with me at lunch, then told me I make yummy cookies!”
Was this getting childish or was it just me?
“So you make great cookies, big deal. You tried to paint a picture of me at art time.”
Is it pathetic that they remember all this?
“Alright, all that may be true, but you slept in my lap at nap time, and don’t you dare deny it.”
Duncan rolled his eyes. “doesn’t matter, you liked me all hugged up you.” he defended.
Courtney gasped, only confirming Duncan’s statement. “Did not! Take it back!”
Duncan grinned playfully, “Don’t lie sweetheart, I know you like having me close to you. You always have, and always will.”
In a odd way, Courtney agreed with him, “Whatever, Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it yourself. You liked having me next to you when you were sleeping,” Duncan frowned showing that he knew were Courtney was going with this, “We wouldn’t want the monsters coming after you now would we?” she smiled menacingly. Courtney looked very dangerous when she twisted her lips the right way. She almost looked like the Grinch. “I don’t know why you were scared, I thought you’d like to meet people who were just like you?. Things that found masculinity in pushing little girls off swings, and kicking dirt in there face.” Courtney was serious, she wasn’t looking at Duncan, who was showing small signs of guilt.
He sighed heavily, “You know I-”
“I Know you what Duncan! That your sorry and didn’t mean it! That is was a mistake? don’t give me that Duncan! Do You know how bad you hurt my feelings? I thought you of all people would know how it feels to be judged to by something you can’t change in your life. I guess you weren’t man enough to be friends with someone because they at some point were going to grow boobs.”
“That’s not why Courtney.” he said uneasily.
“Then what was it Duncan!” she argued. “Tell me please because-”
Duncan jumped from his seat, “DAMMIT COURTNEY I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. I leaned back into my chair instinctively. Thanking god this room was sound proof.
Courtney was startled, it was becoming clear she was in mild shock, “what?” was the only word she could manage.
Duncan lowered his head, “Courtney I love you.” he seemed lost, “I always have, and I always will.” he said looking down.
“I-is that why you always picked on me? Because you had a crush on me?” Courtney seemed genuinely astounded. I guess she was realizing how blind she had been for most of her life.
“Courtney, when we were in elementary school, it was damn crush. Now I think I’m in love with you. I can’t handle my feelings sometimes, so I take them out on other people. I pushed you away because I always felt like a big window, and you could see right through me.”
“Oh Duncan…” Courtney stood up and raised Duncan’s head so he had to look her in the eyes. She was about an inch taller than him. “I love you to.”
“you don’t have to say that.” he said flatly.
“No no no, Duncan, I really do. I just thought you thought I was a loser because you didn’t want to hang out with ma anymore. Then in sixth grade when you got all bad boy on me, I thought you were doing it because you were trying to put our past behind you. I thought you liked Gwen.” She then allowed a small indication of confusion spread on her face… “Aren’t you dating Gwen?”
“I was trying to make you jealous.” he admitted un-shamefully. “Did it-”
“It worked, Ask Bridgette.” she smiled in a heartfelt manner, then kissed Duncan on the lips lightly, but that didn’t seem to satisfy him. He pulled her down to his lips again. I realized that they may have forgotten about my existence, then I coughed purposely. Courtney abruptly stopped and blushed uncharacteristically. Duncan grinned wiping the lip-gloss off of his lips.
“Maybe you two should Go back to class. I’ll give Mr. Lens a good report, nothing to worry about.” I promised.
“Thanks Beth for everything.” Courtney said gladly. She looked at Duncan briefly, “Duncan wait for me in the hallway, I’ll be out in a minute.”
Duncan didn’t argue and obeyed Courtney’s demands. He grinned at Beth then left the room. Courtney looked at Beth sympathetically, “I know me and the other kids around here don’t give you much credit Beth but, I want you to know you are better than heather. You don’t have to be stuck with her. You or Lindsay…you just have to want freedom bad enough…I know you think you go about these halls unnoticed, but I know a lot about you Beth. I know you play flute in the marching band, and that you are vice president of the knitting club. I also know you have a crush on Justin fields-”
“SSSSHHHH!” I silenced, shooting spit every where. I apologized quickly for my saliva. “sorry 'bout that.”
“Beth” Courtney started again, “you’re a sweet girl, and you have a under appreciated body. Maybe me and Bridgette could make you look nice for Justin?”
I was so happy that I could scream, “Really! You’d really do that!”
She nodded, “Absolutely, I owe you. So…You in?”
“YES! Of course.”
“Alright then, I’ll need you to get Bridgette, LeShawna, and Lindsay out of class then.”
“I’m on it!”
An hour later…
“What do you think?” Courtney asked me, placing the mirror in front of my eyes.
I sighed in a complete loss for words. They had done the unthinkable, the remotely impossible, then had made me- “Beautiful…” I breathed.
Lindsey seemed more excited than I. “I always knew under all that lameo Beth was a beautiful girl.”
They escorted me out of the office quickly. Duncan was carving a skull out of some wood on a bench outside in the lobby. He must had heard our footsteps and giggling when we arrived because he looked up quickly.
“Finally, I thought you’d-Whoa…” Duncan stopped talking, and had his eyes grazing over me. He seemed impressed. “Nice job ladies, Beth here’s Gonna blind Justin.”
Adding Duncan to the group, we all walked out into the halls of the school. It was busy with life as usual. As I walked in, everyone began to stop, and slow down. I heard guys beginning to whistle and yell things such as “call me” to “Marry me”. it was all so flattering. But they weren’t who I was looking for. I quickly found him though. Justin was leaned against a locker. His back was facing me, until his friends taped his should and told him to turn around. He did so, and grinned as he looked at me. I felt my feet moving forward and my eyes rising up. Was I smiling? Either that or the contacts were giving me trouble. Justin walked up to me almost instinctively. The spider welcoming the poor defenseless fly into his parlor.
“Do I know you, Beautiful?” his white teeth glistened in the florescent lights. “Because if I don’t, Then I can rearrange that.” he kept on grinning.
“I-I-I’m Beth.”
“Well I’m Justin. You play flute in the marching band, Correct?”
I nodded calmly. At least I hoped it was calmly.
“maybe I could take you out sometime? It would be my honor to take such a gorgeous woman like yourself to dinner.”
“Sure! I mean sure, yea, whatever.”
“cool. I’ll call you tonight.” he walked off with his entourage of fellow models following him. For once in my life, I got something I wanted. Someone I wanted.
Finally…things are going my way.
*******
By junniebear49 on Fanfiction.net
Tamara and Bree
