Words I Might Have Ate, chapter 1
Heather Carlton and Gaby Sunders walked down the Pinole Valley High School hallway. Their hair all done up in ponytails to the side decorated with large colorful scrungies. Heather was the "perfect" girl with the "perfect" family. She had sandy blonde hair, light blue eyes, and the best long slim yet curvaceous figure. Her family was perfect in the sense that she had a home cooked meal every evening, her mother obsessively kept the house clean, and her father had a steady job as the owner of a resturant chain in California. Taking short quick strides beside her, was her friend Gaby.
Gaby was simply walking beside her popular friend trying to keep up as best as she could while juggling 3 textbooks in her arms and slugging her 10 lb. Backpack on her back. Gaby was most easily described as looking the complete opposite from Heather. She was a petite brunette with short hair that framed her face, brown eyes, and a not so thin yet not so chubby figure. Unlike Heather's perfect family, Gaby had a slightly different agenda. Okay, it was an entirely different one. When Gaby was 12, her mother died of breast cancer and was left to live alone with her father in a small home in the suburbs of Rodeo California. She usually spent her time in her room going the extra mile to do a good job on her homework, listening to music, or talking on the phone with Heather when she wasn't out with her boyfriend.
As Heather and Gaby walked down the hallway, Heather saw her group of cheerleader friends at the other end. She ran ahead to talk to them leaving Gaby behind struggling to keep up once again. Not noticing that her shoelace untied, Gaby was focused on weaving through the crowds of people in the hall to keep up with Heather. Stepping on the loose lace, Gaby tripped and fell flat on her face directly at the feet of Heather and her friends. Blushing from the laughter erupting towards her, Gaby stood up and cleaned herself up, slapping the dust off of her pants.
"How can you stand having to drag her around all day?" Heather's friend, Melissa, asked with that oh so stereotypical popular girl's tone.
"I really have no idea how I do it. She just follows me around, I guess. Kind of like a pet, you know?" heather answered in the same tone.
Taking no offense because she was used to it, Gaby simply told Heather she had to go to her 4th period class and that she would see her later on in the lunchroom.
Sitting through her Global History class, Gaby managed to pull through the whole 40 minutes taking notes every second with a break every 5 minutes when the teacher somehow connected ancient Egypt to her 2 kids on the honor roll.
Finally, the 5th period bell rang. Everyone stuffed their notebooks into their bags and shoved their way through the door towards the lunchroom.
In the lunchroom, Gaby headed towards Heather where she was sitting with all of her other popular friends. Sitting on the edge of the table, Gaby took out her lunch and began eating her tuna fish sandwich while eavesdropping on the conversation going on at the table behind her.
"Mike, did you practice for tonight? Or do I have to tell you one more fucking time how to play the damn bass line?"
"uhh... You see Billie, I had this thing to do last night and... I couldn't practice."
"MIKE! WE'RE PLAYING GILMAN TONIGHT AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO FUCKING PLAY?!" Billie yelled at his friend Mike. Turning around, Gaby interrupted the lecture about to be given to Mike.
"I'm sorry, I was listening to part of your conversation. Did you say you're playing at Gilman tonight? As in 924 Gilman in Berkeley?" The brown haired boy's facial expression immediately lit up.
"Yeah we're performing tonight. I play guitar, our friend John plays the drums, and Mike here attempts to play the bass. What's it to you?" Shoving Billie on the shoulder, Mike began to apologize.
"I'm so sorry about him. We're in a band called Sweet Children and we're playing at Gilman tonight. You know about it?" Getting excited that she wasn't the only one to actually know about Gilman in the school, Gaby got extremely excited.
"Omigod, of course I know what Gilman is. It's like the best place ever! Omigod I can't believe someone else in this god forsaken place the call "school" knows about it!" Feeling embarrassed about the sudden outburst she had, Gaby blushed. "Sorry... " Mike opened his mouth to talk but Billie spoke first.
"I didn't know people like you knew about it... " he said, connecting her to the group she was sitting with. Before Gaby could reply to his remark, Claire, one of Heather's friends spoke up.
"What are you doing talking to the losers, Gaby? Oh... I know! GABY HAS A NEW BOYFRIEND! GABY HAS A NEW BOYFRIEND!" Hearing Claire yell, the rest of the girls in the group looked over at Gaby sitting by Mike and Billie.
"EEEEEEW! Omigod Gaby! How could you even talk to them?! I guess you really aren't our kind of material. Why don't you run along with your new boyfriend, whichever one he is, and get off our table. You surely don't deserve to be one of us if you're going to converse with those two druggies" Heather yelled at Gaby obtaining the attention of everyone in the lunchroom. She knew it would happen some time, but Gaby never expected it to be so public and humiliating. Her eyes began to well up with tears turning glassy and letting out a cry, she ran off out the double doors to the hallway while the whole lunchroom watched. Sitting there in awkward silence for a few seconds, Mike stood up, gave a nasty look to Heather, and headed in the direction Gaby went. Standing up immediately after Mike, Billie threatened Heather with his fist and spat out.
"Cunt!" Taken back at the threat, Heather stumbled backward a bit bumping into a chair which forced her to sit. Glaring at the rest of the lunchroom, the popular girls snapped at the rest of the lunchroom.
"There's nothing else to see! What are you looking at?" Resuming with their conversations, the rest of the lunchroom went on as if nothing happened.
Out in the hall, Gaby burst out of the double doors into the hallway where Mike and Billie shortly followed after her. Sitting on a bench, Gaby put her face into her hands and began to sob uncontrollably. Taking a place next to her, Mike tapped her on the shoulder. Looking up with red teary eyes, Gaby watched as Mike sighed and began to speak.
"Don't mind those fucking bitches, you deserve better than that. If they could say those things to you now, then they were never your friends." speaking through sobs Gaby spoke.
"How... Do... You... Know I deserve... Better?" gasping in-between for air.
"No one deserves that. And so far, from what I've noticed, you seem like a really cool girl." Gaby smiled through her tears.
"Thanks."
"I'll tell you what, how about we get out of this damn shit hole? I want to take you somewhere." He'sitating for a moment, Gaby answered.
"Uh, okay. Where are we going?"
"You'll see." Standing up, Billie, Mike, and Gaby all walked towards the back entrance of the school where there was an unlocked door. Opening it slowly at first, Billie looked around to see if anyone was there.
"Clear." he spoke in a whisper. Going outside, Billie went over to the fence and pulled it to the side revealing a hole in the links. Slipping through the hole, Gaby and Mike followed. "Now where are we going, Mike?"
"Tight Wad Hill." Mike said making a left walking towards a hill just beyond a clearing of grass near the football field. Following Mike, Gaby and Billie walked beside him taking a seat on the cold grass on the hill. Taking out a joint and a lighter, Billie asked Gaby.
"Ya smoke?" replying with a nod of her head, Billie lit the joint and took a long drag. Leaning back to lay on the grass, he passed it to Gaby. Doing the same thing, she laid down next to him passing it to Mike, who also did the same. Passing the joint back and fourth, they watched as the white puffs of smoke swirled to the ground, laughing at random things around them.
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"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP" Waking up to the deafening sound of her Mickey Mouse clock, Gaby crawled out of bed into the bathroom. Jumping into the shower, she began to recall yesterday's events. After laying on the hill smoking with Billie and Mike for about an hour she went out to eat with them then came home. When she arrived, her dad was already home and asking a shit load of questions. She remembered briefly arguing with him and going upstairs to take a nap which she didn't wake up from till now.
Stepping out of the shower and putting on her clothes, Gaby saw her backpack sitting there, untouched. She didn't do any of her homework. It was a first for her because she always came home immediately after school to do her homework. Grabbing her bag and running out the door, she caught the bus just in time. Getting on the bus, she saw some familiar faces. The fist one she saw was Heather. She was sitting there alone and looked up to see Gaby standing there. She motioned her hand for Gaby to come and sit next to her as if nothing had happened yesterday. Beginning to give in, she walked over to sit next to Heather. Right before getting to Heather's seat, Gaby glanced around and saw another familiar face: Billie. Immediately moving her gaze from Heather, Gaby took a seat next to Billie.
"Hi" She initiated the conversation first.
"Hey" he replied "How ya been?"
"Fine, but I have no idea how I'm gonna get through the day. I didn't even do one homework."
"So? I haven't done any this year at all... " Gaby's jaw dropped.
"How are you going to pass? I know very well you don't do anything in class, considering you knew exactly how to get out of school yesterday... "Billie replied with no problem, as if he was used to the reaction.
"I don't really care about school... It's practice for the future. Practice makes perfect but nobody's perfect, so why practice?"
"Well, you could at least try to be perfect... " Gaby replied.
"Why should I waste my time trying to be something I'm not?" Billie stumped Gaby and he smirked when she didn't fight back.
"Well... I guess you're right but I'm just not ready to give up on myself." Gaby changed the subject "how was the show at Gilman?"
"Amazing. Everyone said we kicked ass. We have gigs booked for the next two weeks and we even got offered a deal from Lookout! Records"
"Omigod, that's so cool. I have to see you guys play!" Gaby threw her arms up in the air. Mimicking her, Billie did the same.
"Omigod! You can see us at Gilman tonight at 6:00!" Playfully slapping Billie on the shoulder Gaby agreed while he pretended to cry. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, Gaby blushed making Billie smile. Exiting the bus, they said their goodbyes and headed in separate directions.
Gaby was simply walking beside her popular friend trying to keep up as best as she could while juggling 3 textbooks in her arms and slugging her 10 lb. Backpack on her back. Gaby was most easily described as looking the complete opposite from Heather. She was a petite brunette with short hair that framed her face, brown eyes, and a not so thin yet not so chubby figure. Unlike Heather's perfect family, Gaby had a slightly different agenda. Okay, it was an entirely different one. When Gaby was 12, her mother died of breast cancer and was left to live alone with her father in a small home in the suburbs of Rodeo California. She usually spent her time in her room going the extra mile to do a good job on her homework, listening to music, or talking on the phone with Heather when she wasn't out with her boyfriend.
As Heather and Gaby walked down the hallway, Heather saw her group of cheerleader friends at the other end. She ran ahead to talk to them leaving Gaby behind struggling to keep up once again. Not noticing that her shoelace untied, Gaby was focused on weaving through the crowds of people in the hall to keep up with Heather. Stepping on the loose lace, Gaby tripped and fell flat on her face directly at the feet of Heather and her friends. Blushing from the laughter erupting towards her, Gaby stood up and cleaned herself up, slapping the dust off of her pants.
"How can you stand having to drag her around all day?" Heather's friend, Melissa, asked with that oh so stereotypical popular girl's tone.
"I really have no idea how I do it. She just follows me around, I guess. Kind of like a pet, you know?" heather answered in the same tone.
Taking no offense because she was used to it, Gaby simply told Heather she had to go to her 4th period class and that she would see her later on in the lunchroom.
Sitting through her Global History class, Gaby managed to pull through the whole 40 minutes taking notes every second with a break every 5 minutes when the teacher somehow connected ancient Egypt to her 2 kids on the honor roll.
Finally, the 5th period bell rang. Everyone stuffed their notebooks into their bags and shoved their way through the door towards the lunchroom.
In the lunchroom, Gaby headed towards Heather where she was sitting with all of her other popular friends. Sitting on the edge of the table, Gaby took out her lunch and began eating her tuna fish sandwich while eavesdropping on the conversation going on at the table behind her.
"Mike, did you practice for tonight? Or do I have to tell you one more fucking time how to play the damn bass line?"
"uhh... You see Billie, I had this thing to do last night and... I couldn't practice."
"MIKE! WE'RE PLAYING GILMAN TONIGHT AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO FUCKING PLAY?!" Billie yelled at his friend Mike. Turning around, Gaby interrupted the lecture about to be given to Mike.
"I'm sorry, I was listening to part of your conversation. Did you say you're playing at Gilman tonight? As in 924 Gilman in Berkeley?" The brown haired boy's facial expression immediately lit up.
"Yeah we're performing tonight. I play guitar, our friend John plays the drums, and Mike here attempts to play the bass. What's it to you?" Shoving Billie on the shoulder, Mike began to apologize.
"I'm so sorry about him. We're in a band called Sweet Children and we're playing at Gilman tonight. You know about it?" Getting excited that she wasn't the only one to actually know about Gilman in the school, Gaby got extremely excited.
"Omigod, of course I know what Gilman is. It's like the best place ever! Omigod I can't believe someone else in this god forsaken place the call "school" knows about it!" Feeling embarrassed about the sudden outburst she had, Gaby blushed. "Sorry... " Mike opened his mouth to talk but Billie spoke first.
"I didn't know people like you knew about it... " he said, connecting her to the group she was sitting with. Before Gaby could reply to his remark, Claire, one of Heather's friends spoke up.
"What are you doing talking to the losers, Gaby? Oh... I know! GABY HAS A NEW BOYFRIEND! GABY HAS A NEW BOYFRIEND!" Hearing Claire yell, the rest of the girls in the group looked over at Gaby sitting by Mike and Billie.
"EEEEEEW! Omigod Gaby! How could you even talk to them?! I guess you really aren't our kind of material. Why don't you run along with your new boyfriend, whichever one he is, and get off our table. You surely don't deserve to be one of us if you're going to converse with those two druggies" Heather yelled at Gaby obtaining the attention of everyone in the lunchroom. She knew it would happen some time, but Gaby never expected it to be so public and humiliating. Her eyes began to well up with tears turning glassy and letting out a cry, she ran off out the double doors to the hallway while the whole lunchroom watched. Sitting there in awkward silence for a few seconds, Mike stood up, gave a nasty look to Heather, and headed in the direction Gaby went. Standing up immediately after Mike, Billie threatened Heather with his fist and spat out.
"Cunt!" Taken back at the threat, Heather stumbled backward a bit bumping into a chair which forced her to sit. Glaring at the rest of the lunchroom, the popular girls snapped at the rest of the lunchroom.
"There's nothing else to see! What are you looking at?" Resuming with their conversations, the rest of the lunchroom went on as if nothing happened.
Out in the hall, Gaby burst out of the double doors into the hallway where Mike and Billie shortly followed after her. Sitting on a bench, Gaby put her face into her hands and began to sob uncontrollably. Taking a place next to her, Mike tapped her on the shoulder. Looking up with red teary eyes, Gaby watched as Mike sighed and began to speak.
"Don't mind those fucking bitches, you deserve better than that. If they could say those things to you now, then they were never your friends." speaking through sobs Gaby spoke.
"How... Do... You... Know I deserve... Better?" gasping in-between for air.
"No one deserves that. And so far, from what I've noticed, you seem like a really cool girl." Gaby smiled through her tears.
"Thanks."
"I'll tell you what, how about we get out of this damn shit hole? I want to take you somewhere." He'sitating for a moment, Gaby answered.
"Uh, okay. Where are we going?"
"You'll see." Standing up, Billie, Mike, and Gaby all walked towards the back entrance of the school where there was an unlocked door. Opening it slowly at first, Billie looked around to see if anyone was there.
"Clear." he spoke in a whisper. Going outside, Billie went over to the fence and pulled it to the side revealing a hole in the links. Slipping through the hole, Gaby and Mike followed. "Now where are we going, Mike?"
"Tight Wad Hill." Mike said making a left walking towards a hill just beyond a clearing of grass near the football field. Following Mike, Gaby and Billie walked beside him taking a seat on the cold grass on the hill. Taking out a joint and a lighter, Billie asked Gaby.
"Ya smoke?" replying with a nod of her head, Billie lit the joint and took a long drag. Leaning back to lay on the grass, he passed it to Gaby. Doing the same thing, she laid down next to him passing it to Mike, who also did the same. Passing the joint back and fourth, they watched as the white puffs of smoke swirled to the ground, laughing at random things around them.
******************************************************************
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP" Waking up to the deafening sound of her Mickey Mouse clock, Gaby crawled out of bed into the bathroom. Jumping into the shower, she began to recall yesterday's events. After laying on the hill smoking with Billie and Mike for about an hour she went out to eat with them then came home. When she arrived, her dad was already home and asking a shit load of questions. She remembered briefly arguing with him and going upstairs to take a nap which she didn't wake up from till now.
Stepping out of the shower and putting on her clothes, Gaby saw her backpack sitting there, untouched. She didn't do any of her homework. It was a first for her because she always came home immediately after school to do her homework. Grabbing her bag and running out the door, she caught the bus just in time. Getting on the bus, she saw some familiar faces. The fist one she saw was Heather. She was sitting there alone and looked up to see Gaby standing there. She motioned her hand for Gaby to come and sit next to her as if nothing had happened yesterday. Beginning to give in, she walked over to sit next to Heather. Right before getting to Heather's seat, Gaby glanced around and saw another familiar face: Billie. Immediately moving her gaze from Heather, Gaby took a seat next to Billie.
"Hi" She initiated the conversation first.
"Hey" he replied "How ya been?"
"Fine, but I have no idea how I'm gonna get through the day. I didn't even do one homework."
"So? I haven't done any this year at all... " Gaby's jaw dropped.
"How are you going to pass? I know very well you don't do anything in class, considering you knew exactly how to get out of school yesterday... "Billie replied with no problem, as if he was used to the reaction.
"I don't really care about school... It's practice for the future. Practice makes perfect but nobody's perfect, so why practice?"
"Well, you could at least try to be perfect... " Gaby replied.
"Why should I waste my time trying to be something I'm not?" Billie stumped Gaby and he smirked when she didn't fight back.
"Well... I guess you're right but I'm just not ready to give up on myself." Gaby changed the subject "how was the show at Gilman?"
"Amazing. Everyone said we kicked ass. We have gigs booked for the next two weeks and we even got offered a deal from Lookout! Records"
"Omigod, that's so cool. I have to see you guys play!" Gaby threw her arms up in the air. Mimicking her, Billie did the same.
"Omigod! You can see us at Gilman tonight at 6:00!" Playfully slapping Billie on the shoulder Gaby agreed while he pretended to cry. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, Gaby blushed making Billie smile. Exiting the bus, they said their goodbyes and headed in separate directions.
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