"Eating today huh?"
"Yeah, I'm getting food for Tracy and Josie too, that way only one of us has to wait in line."
"I see," He said, taking a tray from the stack.
"How do you think you did on the chemistry test?" She asked, taking a tray as well.
"Okay. You?"
"Same. I thought the questions were pretty easy."
"I thought most of them were too," he agreed.
"Ah, the desserts... how they mock me," She said when they neared the register. "Can't you hear them Gerard? They're making fun of me. They're laughing at me Gerard."
"Yes, I can hear them. One of them just called you a fag."
"Was it that piece of chocolate cake?"
"I think so."
"Well, I'll show that cake, I'll buy it and eat it." She put the piece of cake on her tray along with a cupcake.
"Was the cupcake mocking you too?"
"Yes. And it gave me a dirty look."
Gerard paid for his food and got his change and waited for Charlotte to pay for hers.
"Okay, let's go," She said. They walked to the door to the courtyard and Charlotte leaned against it and held it open so they could get out. They walked to the steps where everyone else was and sat down.
"Why'd you get the cake, you know we'll have no choice but to eat it now," Tracy said as Charlotte put their tray down on a step in front of them.
"I couldn't help it, it was mocking me. Wasn't it Gerard?"
"Yes, it was taunting you..."
"See? I have a witness."
Josie picked up her sandwich and Tracy grabbed her salad from the tray and they started eating.
"It's so nice to eat," Josie said,"We should eat lunch more often."
"Mmhm," Charlotte said, taking a bite of her pizza.
"So when are we going bowling?" Mikey said.
"Um, we'll meet in front of the bowling alley at five," Tracy said.
"Yeah, we'll grab some pizza or burgers or something after playing a few games."
"I'll school you all in bowling," Josie said.
"Aren't you on the bowling team?"
"Please, I am the bowling team."
"...Bowling was your idea wasn't it?"
"Yep."
"We'll all have such fun loosing to Josie," Tracy said.
"... uh huh..."
"Who gets what part of the cake?" Josie said.
"Well, it's a good sized piece, so I think that we should each get three bites, and whatever's left is first-come first-serve," Charlotte said.
"Okay." They each picked up a fork.
"Gerard," Charlotte said.
"Please?"
"No."
"C'mon, I don't want to..."
"Just do it."
She opened the door to Mr. Marcus' class and shoved him in before fallowing him and closing the door. It was after school and Mr. Marcus was adding some grades to his computer.
"Hello, can I help you?" Mr. Marcus said.
"I was wondering if I could check on my grade...." Gerard said.
"Your grade?"
"Yeah, did it go up any after the test?"
"Let me see." Mr. Marcus opened his fourth period grade book and scrolled down to the last few names. "You have a C."
"Okay."
"There's still that quiz next Wednesday, and that could drop you back down to a D or raise you to almost a B."
"Okay, thank you."
"Did you need anything Charlotte?"
"No," Charlotte said. They left the classroom and she said,"See? That wasn't hard."
"Whatever," he said, unenthused.
"Be happy Gerard! It's Friday."
"T.G.I.F." He said.
"T.G.I.F." She agreed.
"It's the weekend!" Tracy sang as Gerard and Charlotte walked over to Josie's locker where everyone else was.
"No School, no homework-," Josie started.
"We have chemistry homework," Frank said.
"Oh yeah..."
"We can worry about that tomorrow," Gerard said.
"Right, tonight we worry about not droping a twelve pound bowling ball on our foot," Ray said.
"Hey, then I wouldn't be the only one in a cast," Tracy said thoughtfully.
"Did you see what the people who paid her to jump out the second floor wrote on her cast?" Charlotte said.
"No, what did they write?"
Josie turned her head to the side to read Tracy's cast. "Thanks for testing out our theory. I.O.U. $20."
"They only gave me thirty, they said they'd give me the other twenty after I actually jumped."
"I guess that makes sense, you could have run off with their money and not have jumped."
"You said that if I didn't give you guys a ride you'd take Skippy and perform evil rituals on him."
"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean we can't still say thanks," Bob said.
"You're welcome I guess..."
Mikey rolled the window up and down out of boredom.
"Ray didn't need a ride did he?"
"No, he's coming with Charlotte and all them."
"But her car only seats three people."
"They're taking Josie's car."
"Oh."
They got to the parking lot and got out of the car. Ray and the three girls were waiting outside the bowling alley. Josie and Charlotte sat cross-legged on a short brick fence around some shrubs.
"Hi."
"You showed up," Josie said, picking up her bowling bag.
"Yep."
"She thought you wouldn't come cause you'd be to afraid that she'd beat you," Tracy said.
"I'm more afraid that you'll trip me with your crutches."
"I still don't have a clue how you'll bowl with those."
"I'll use one crutch to stay standing up and I'll use the other arm to bowl."
"Uh...huh..."
"I never said it was genius."
"You said you had almighty ways."
"I never said they were smart almighty Ways."
"Hey!" Gerard and Mikey said.
"I never said you were stupid either."
"Are we going to actually bowl any time soon, or are you going to keep us here with Way puns?"
"Hm.... both would be mildly entertaining..."
"C'mon," Josie said, opening the door to the alley.
"Yeah, me too," Tracy agreed.
"Maybe you should buy your own like I did," Josie said.
"We don't bowl every week."
"Whatever," She said, taking out her bowling ball. It was green with black sparkles.
"She named her bowling ball," Charlotte said.
"What did you name it?" Frank asked.
"G.D."
"For?"
"Green Day."
"Ah."
Bob started typing their names into the monitor at their table by their lanes.
"Okay, so after Josie completely kills us at this, what are we going to do?" Ray said.
"Run down and get some pizza."
"Unless there's too many people a the pizza place, then we'll go get a burger."
"Unless there's too many people a the burger place, then we'll go raid Charlotte's pantry."
"... Why my pantry?"
"Because you've got all the good stuff."
"My family needs to eat too you know."
"So you'd better hope that the pizza and burger place aren't too crowded."
"Okay. I go first," Bob said as his name was highlighted on the monitor on the table and above the lane.
"Go Bob," Tracy and Josie said dully.
"Whoooo....." Charlotte said.
Bob knocked down seven then rolled again and got a gutter ball.
"Seven is still good," Charlotte said.
"It's about six more then I'll get," Gerard said.
Josie's name was highlighted and she carried G.D. over to the lane. Once she'd let G.D. go, she turned her back to the lane and looked at her watch. "Three, two, one."
There was a clattering sound as all ten pins fell.
"You suck," Tracy scoffed.
"Tell that to the scores," Josie said with a smirk.
Charlotte's name was highlighted. "This should be interesting," She said.
"Yeah, the first time she ever got a strike she went on Tracy's turn so It didn't count for her," Josie said
"Yeah, it didn't foreshadow anything good," Charlotte said as she rolled an orange bowling ball she'd chosen. She hit three pins and then another two.
"Five," Tracy said.
"Five," Charlotte nodded.
"I saw Ms. Provence and Mr. Marcus coming out of the janitor's closet today," Mikey said as he took his turn.
"Oh, geez," Ray said.
"What did they do when they saw you there?" Gerard said.
"Well, we all kinda just stared at each other for a while, then Mr. Marcus gave me fifty dollars and told me that Gerard's getting ten points extra credit on the next test and that I didn't see anything," Mikey said.
"Seriously?"
"Yep."
"So you have fifty dollars for being scarred and in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I have thirty dollars for jumping out the fucking second floor.... something is quite wrong here," Tracy said as Mikey sat back down and Ray stood up and waited for his name to be highlighted before picking a bowling ball.
"I'll say. Mikey's tied for first," Josie said.
"Haha, someone's challenging you Josie," Charlotte said.
"Wait, do you have the fifty dollars on you?" Frank said.
"Yeah, why?"
"Dinner's on Mikey."
"Right... and if it's more then fifty dollars?"
"Don't worry, we're cheap," Josie said.
"Yeah, okay."
"And don't forget, we may go and raid Charlotte's pantry," Bob said.
"I don't think your dad likes me," Gerard said to Charlotte.
"Of course not, he doesn't like any of you," She said to the five boys.
"Why not?"
"He thinks your all a bunch of no good gothic hoodlums. Well, he likes Ray okay actually. And he's pretty good friends with your dad Gerard, doesn't mean he likes <i>you</i> any better."
"That and Charlotte's the first born and he's and over-protective phyco," Ray said.
"Yeah..."
"Did Simon ever call you?" Josie said,"And if he did, did your dad answer the phone?"
"Yes, and no, I answered the phone."
"What did he say?"
"Are you guys going to gossip now? Cause we didn't come to listen to you giggle," Frank said.
"Just give us five minutes to gossip."
"It won't even take five minutes. He wanted to go out tonight, but I said I was bowling with you guys and I couldn't."
"Damn, if I were you I would have blown us off," Tracy said as she slowly approached the lane to bowl.
"I don't even like him that much."
"C'mon, he's nice! And he's cute."
"I don't want to be anything more then friends with him. I think I already like someone else anyway."
"Ooooh," Josie said,"Who?"
Charlotte glanced at Gerard, Frank, Ray, Bob, and Mikey then back at Josie and Tracy.
"I'll tell you later."
"Okay."
"... That was one of the shortest gossip sessions I've ever had to sit through," Frank said, looking at his watch.
"Well I'm sure if we just think about it we can come up with something else to gossip about," Tracy said, sitting down after getting gutter balls.
"Oh, no, that's okay."
"Six!" Gerard said, sitting back down as a six appeared by his name on the monitor.
"That was fast."
"Yes I know."
They continued bowling, Josie and Mikey still tied after a few rounds. At the end Mikey beat Josie by two points.
"I can't believe you beat me!" Josie said, as she put G.D. back in her bag.
"Believe it."
"That's what you get for acting so conceited Josie," Tracy said.
"Yes, it's called karma," Bob said.
"I was pretty bad huh?" she said.
"Just a little."
"Yeah, kinda like Brad's a little over protective."
"Okay, If I ever get like that again, hit me with my bowling ball."
"Okay, just remember you told us to."
"Trust Me"