Okay, I ish here now. With a very belated update. >.>;; My brain died. xD Hopefully I can get some semblance of the plot spinning out before the end of the contest. o.o;;
Thanks for the comments, and I'm glad that everyone seems to like Victoria, and find something in her that reminds you of yourself.
Chapter 4: Pebbles on the WindowThe house buzzed with noise. Downstairs, the grandfather clock in the hall chimed six in the evening. There were noises in the kitchen of the mess that had been dinner being cleaned up. The television was on in the living room and the radio in the kitchen was on, both playing loudly. Vaguely, the telephone could be heard as it rang, but it was only a quiet noise amidst the cacophony of other sounds.
With a sigh, Victoria picked up her remote and turned her television up louder and looked back into her book. She rarely ever watched movies anymore; she just listened to them as background noise while she read. And reading was just about the only thing she felt like doing at the moment, but she replayed her week in her head, just because she could.
Tuesday, her father had picked her up from school, looking disgruntled and a little upset. He had given her time to explain, however, what had happened. After her soft explanation that she hadn't cheated and the teacher hadn't believed her when she'd said so, he had seemed to brighten up a bit. But, he'd said, he was still disappointed that she hadn't spoken up for herself and tried to speak to someone other than her English teacher. He hadn't put her through any medical examinations, as there had been no business lately. But that hadn't upset her one bit. Victoria's stomach had been in enough knots without cutting open a corpse. Actually, quite to the contrary, he had taken her out to ice cream for not cheating.
No mention of Bryan inviting her to the party.
Wednesday had been school. Her schedule changed every other day, so she had different classes that day. Surprisingly, she noticed she had more classes with Bryan. He was in her first, fifth, and sixth periods, which were theatre, a free period, and art, respectively. Seeing him in theatre was even more surprising than finding out she had three classes with him in one day. But he was usually with his gang of emo friends, cutting up and making fun of certain roles. They were on the set crew. Sometimes they sneaked into the lighting booth and messed up the light schemes, earning them a detention pass. Victoria had always wondered who would do that. She knew now.
In free period, Bryan didn't have any of his friends to cause havoc with, so he had spent that almost hour (he had been late by fifteen minutes) talking to and passing notes with Victoria. She was beginning to think that he was a pretty harmless guy, despite his appearance and mannerisms when he was around his friends.
Art, he had one of the girls from his band of friends to hang out with, but he had split that hour evenly between them. Victoria had been a little intimidated by the girl, so hadn't said much for fear of being clawed, or however long-nailed emo girls attacked.
At the end of school, Bryan had asked if she was coming to the party. She had said she didn't know and hadn't asked yet. No word to her father about it, either.
Thursday was the day she had to deal with Mrs. Radisson again. The classroom had been very cold, figuratively speaking, despite it being mid-September outside. The teacher had called on Victoria numerous times to answer questions, even though the girl had sat on her hands unless she was taking notes. And whenever Victoria had asked to be excused to the restroom, the teacher had refused to give her a pass, explaining that whatever she had been teaching was important and Victoria couldn't miss it. So she had been late to Advanced Biology since she'd had to run to the bathroom, not only to relieve herself, but to empty her stomach as well. The stress and nervousness she had worked up in the class had upset her insides.
At the end of Advanced Biology, Bryan had once again asked her if she was attending the party. Same answer as the day before, and still no mention to her father about the party.
Friday was much like Wednesday, with only a few miniscule changes that she didn't remember. When her father had picked her up from school, it had been as Bryan had been telling her goodbye and not-so-subtly reminding her about the party. That she had been talking to anyone but Katie, Meg, or Adrian had been a shock to her father. But that it had been a boy she had been talking to had nearly sent him over the edge.
The ride home had been anything but quiet. He had assumed the role as "dad" rather than "friend" and asked her all about Bryan. Granted, her father could have been upset that she had been talking to some strange, goth-looking boy. Instead, he had been thrilled. It became apparent to Victoria that her father knew nothing about modern stereotypes. She wasn't about to enlighten him, either.
Upon reaching home, Victoria had become very aware that it was the night of the party. While helping her father prepare dinner, she had been very tense, and had often zoned out when he had been talking to her. During dinner itself, she had finally worked up the courage to ask about the party. It had been a simple ordeal.
"No." That had been all he had said. Victoria hadn't argued. She had felt relieved, rather than upset, and continued to eat.
And now, she sat on her bed, reading a book and listening to a movie. Victoria was prepared to spend the rest of her Friday night, just like that. She'd bought the book a few weeks ago and hadn't had the time to sit down to read it. Now, she felt, was a very good time. There was no party for her to go to; Katie had told her earlier in the day she had to babysit all night; and to Victoria, Meg and Adrian were only lost causes now. Over the past week, since Tuesday, they had migrated to a different table, leaving Katie and Victoria to themselves in the sea of students.
A sudden tapping noise demanded Victoria's attention away from her book. She flicked her gaze over in the direction of her window. A moment later, she hear the tap again and saw a quick movement at the window. Slowly, the young girl set aside her book and slid off her bed. At the same pace and rather hesitantly, she walked over to her window. What on earth was it?
A small screech escaped her when another object hit the window. It sounded like...a rock? Very carefully, she lifted the window and looked out. Victoria nearly fell over when she saw the figure standing in her back yard. He looked poised to throw another small rock at the window. What in the name of all that happened to be holy was he doing?
"So? Are you coming?" Bryan asked loudly so she could hear.
Victoria was glad, now, that the volume of just about every electronic entertainment device downstairs was up so loudly. Bryan's voice had perhaps traveled a little more than what made her comfortable. So she leaned out of her window a little more. "My dad said no," she hissed. Now that she thought of it, only a small part of her was upset that she couldn't go. But that part was quickly silenced with a shrug.
There was a short silence, in which Bryan seemed to be thinking. His voice lifted up to her after a moment. "What about your mom? Did you ask her?" he asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
A small sigh escaped. Her mom wasn't in town, and wouldn't be home until the middle of next week. "No," Victoria called down to him. "She's not even in town!" Why would she ask her mom?
Bryan laughed. "Can you call her?" he asked, dropping the stones into the grass.
She cast a hesitant glance. "Yes," she replied slowly. "But how is that going to--"
"Just call her," Bryan said, "and ask her if you can come."
Victoria considered that for a moment. That would be teaming against her father. He had already said no; why should she disrespect his decision and call her mom? That just wasn't right.
But as she continued to think, the annoyance that her father had said no to a party, after happily interrogating her about a boy earlier that day grew until she felt like she
wanted to go to the party. Victoria frowned a little. What a strange feeling. She had never questioned her father in the past, especially about something like this. Usually, when he said no, she accepted it and went on with life, just like she'd planned to do earlier.
"No. My dad already said I couldn't go." She held her frown and directed it at Bryan. Why did he want her to come, anyway? What was so special about her that he had suddenly dubbed her a friend, or at least someone to talk to at school and party with on the weekends? She was an introvert; she wasn't good with people at all. She was beginning to think it was some strange plot some high schoolers had planned against her, at the moment. "I'll see you on Monday, Bryan."
Without waiting for him to reply, Victoria slid the window shut and turned around to go back to her book. She had barely settled on her bed with the book in her hands when she heard the doorbell. It was then that she realized the noise from downstairs had decreased to just the television in the living room. A moment later, she heard her father's footsteps as he walked through the house to open the door.
Victoria prepared herself to slip back into her book once more when she was interrupted yet again. Her father was yelling up the stairs for her. A quizzical look touched her face. What did he need? He had cleaned up the dinner mess already and had seemed to be settling in for the night with the TV and quite possibly notes about any examinations he'd done in the pas few weeks. And here he was, yelling for her up the stairs.
He could have at least walked up for her.
Victoria quickly went down the stairs. She nearly stumbled, though, when she reached the entrance hall. She thought she was just dreaming, so inconspicuously pinched her arm, but lo and behold, there stood Bryan Banning, in all of his goth glory. She choked a little, but recovered what she hoped was gracefully as her long skirt fluttered around her ankles. The bell on her anklet jingled a little as her eyes locked with Bryan's. Her father's deep baritone voice broke the small silence.
"This is the young man that you were talking to at school, right?" he asked, gesturing to Bryan.
Victoria gave him a small glare before looking at her father. "Yes," she said in a small voice. What on earth was he doing
now? First had been the pebbles on her window. Now, it was showing up at her front door! What next? Was he going to abduct her to the party?
The look in Bryan's eyes as he cast her a glance confirmed Victoria's thoughts. She coughed a little and shook her head at him. He seemed to ignore her as he spoke. "I came to see if Victoria was ready to go to the party?" he asked, casting her a sidelong glance, then looking up at her father.
Said father turned his eyes to Victoria questioningly. "Party? Is this the same one that you asked about earlier, and I said no?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at his daughter.
Victoria winced. "Yes, and I thought I told you, Bryan," she began, giving him a pointed look, "that my dad said I couldn't go." Her words her clipped and heavy. It wasn't often that Victoria glared, but boy, if it wouldn't have been so obvious about something to her father, she would have given Bryan a look that would have had him six feet under.
Bryan lifted his eyebrows at her as well, then looked at her father. "I'm sorry, Mr. Addams. I guess I didn't get her message." The truth behind that was enough to make Victoria shut her eyes and begin to count to ten.
During that time that she was counting, she heard her father and Bryan talking, discussing things, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She wanted to speak up, to say she didn't even want to go to the party and that whatever Bryan and his friends were planning to embarrass her, she wanted no part.
But nothing came. Before she knew it, she saw her father smiling a little. He began to speak, and Victoria wanted to scream, to do something. But still, words came forth from her father. "Well, I guess you can go," he was saying, smiling. "Bryan seems like a nice guy." Victoria was about to comment, but her father continued too quickly. "And I trust you'll make good decisions, the right ones, at the party, should the need arise. Call me before you head home."
And that was how her evening had begun to spiral in a downwards corkscrew, not looking like it would stop, or change directions any time soon.
Off to the party, then...