Sequel: My Little Raspberry ›
My Little Cheesecake
15 ; -
"... Happy birthday, dear Brendon, happy birthday to you!" Gwen ended her singing and waited patiently for a response from her now 18 year old friend. After a minute or two, she could her mumbling and cussing.
"Gwen, as much as I love you, I do appreciate you calling in the middle of the night, but I really haven't got any sleep any of the previous ones, and since I'm scared shitless of tomorrow, it would be nice to get some this one. I was just dozing off..."
"Oh, well... I'm just gonna-, I have to-, I'll see you at school, or maybe not since you weren't there today. Whatever, good luck tomorrow-."
"Come on, Gwen, don't be like that. I didn't mean to sound like an asshole. We had to get everything ready for tomorrow. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"This just makes me sound like a jealous girlfriend, or something, and I don't want it that way."
"Listen to me, you're not acting like a jealous girlfriend, because I know why you're upset; you're my best friend and we're used to always be around each other, and I would be the biggest jerk in the world if I would ask of you to be all understanding and shit."
"It's just that I know you're gonna leave when your band makes it big, and I'm just gonna have to get used to never having you around."
"I know. Did I miss something totally random today?”
“Well, if you count Gabe making his own drama movie in English class, then yes.”
“What now?”
“Alright, he fell of his chair, by mistake of course, but he didn’t stop there; when Mrs. Williams went to check on him, he acted all scared, like an alien was after him or something. He looked terrified, and went backwards out of the classroom. You could never imagine the tension in there, but it was hilarious. He came back after ten minutes or so, just laughing, with his cute smile.”
“Oh fuck, I missed one of those moments that actually make high school worth something.”
“You’re still graduating, are you?”
“Of course, that’s the least I can do for my parent’s, and then my dad won’t be mad at me for the rest of my life, only for a few years.”
“Awesome. But I wasn’t going to keep you up forever, so I’ll let you go now. I’m not gonna expect you coming to school?”
“I’m sorry; I don’t think I’ll have time.”
“It’s alright; I might have Dani for the whole day tomorrow if Gabe lets me.”
“You talk about her as if she was some sort of possession.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She could hear him laugh at the end of the other line, his dorky laugh that she loved.
“I’m ending this conversation right now, girl,” he said, trying to sound really ‘ganstah’. “Hey, thanks for being the first one to congratulate me.”
“Least thing I could do. I was the first one for Betty too, and I’m gonna continue going for it. Next up is Mary. Give yourself a kick in the butt tomorrow from me, for luck, and break a leg and all that shit.”
“Thanks, thanks; you’re really giving me hope. Alright, I’ll let you know how it went. Bye.”
“Goodnight.”
She let the phone drop to the floor when they’d ended the conversation and stared toward the ceiling from her bed. The only thing that lit her room up was a small lamp on a small table beside her bed. She really had to get sleep too, since she hadn’t slept very much the last week either. She wasn’t sure about the reason. Maybe it was because of all of the schoolwork, or maybe the fact that she still felt empty. Something was still wrong. But now was not the time to think about that. She let the room go dark, and closed her eyes, and hoped that the next thing wouldn’t come that fast.
_
She woke up, feeling… happy. A good night’s sleep maybe. She managed to get out of bed before her mother came and knocked on her door.
“Honey, it’s time to get up. You wanna have time for a shower, don’t you? And if you’re quick enough, you might catch it before Geo-, woah, you’re up already?” Her mother stopped in the doorway and looked at her daughter with a confused face.
“Unbelievable, I know, I just felt so alert, and suddenly I was just out of bed.” She dragged on a pair of surfshorts that most likely belonged to her brother, rather than to her, and pulled a t-shirt over her head. From downstairs she could hear Joy Division playing from the stereo. “At this hour?”
“I have to get George up someway. The stereo is just outside of his room and if I play ‘Warsaw’ long enough, he’ll finally surrender and leap out of the bed before you can wink.”
Gwen laughed at her mother’s bizarre idea. Sure, Ian Curtis sounded like a God in her and her mother’s ears, but for people like George it was pure torture. She went downstairs and faced her two years younger brother on the last step. His eyes could kill someone.
“Morning sunshine,” she said, almost sang, and smiled.
“Fucki-, I had-, good morning my ass-, sleeping in-, sunshine up yo-,” and so the mumbling continued up the stairs, and last thing she saw of George that morning was him locking himself in in the bathroom.
"Gwen, as much as I love you, I do appreciate you calling in the middle of the night, but I really haven't got any sleep any of the previous ones, and since I'm scared shitless of tomorrow, it would be nice to get some this one. I was just dozing off..."
"Oh, well... I'm just gonna-, I have to-, I'll see you at school, or maybe not since you weren't there today. Whatever, good luck tomorrow-."
"Come on, Gwen, don't be like that. I didn't mean to sound like an asshole. We had to get everything ready for tomorrow. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"This just makes me sound like a jealous girlfriend, or something, and I don't want it that way."
"Listen to me, you're not acting like a jealous girlfriend, because I know why you're upset; you're my best friend and we're used to always be around each other, and I would be the biggest jerk in the world if I would ask of you to be all understanding and shit."
"It's just that I know you're gonna leave when your band makes it big, and I'm just gonna have to get used to never having you around."
"I know. Did I miss something totally random today?”
“Well, if you count Gabe making his own drama movie in English class, then yes.”
“What now?”
“Alright, he fell of his chair, by mistake of course, but he didn’t stop there; when Mrs. Williams went to check on him, he acted all scared, like an alien was after him or something. He looked terrified, and went backwards out of the classroom. You could never imagine the tension in there, but it was hilarious. He came back after ten minutes or so, just laughing, with his cute smile.”
“Oh fuck, I missed one of those moments that actually make high school worth something.”
“You’re still graduating, are you?”
“Of course, that’s the least I can do for my parent’s, and then my dad won’t be mad at me for the rest of my life, only for a few years.”
“Awesome. But I wasn’t going to keep you up forever, so I’ll let you go now. I’m not gonna expect you coming to school?”
“I’m sorry; I don’t think I’ll have time.”
“It’s alright; I might have Dani for the whole day tomorrow if Gabe lets me.”
“You talk about her as if she was some sort of possession.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She could hear him laugh at the end of the other line, his dorky laugh that she loved.
“I’m ending this conversation right now, girl,” he said, trying to sound really ‘ganstah’. “Hey, thanks for being the first one to congratulate me.”
“Least thing I could do. I was the first one for Betty too, and I’m gonna continue going for it. Next up is Mary. Give yourself a kick in the butt tomorrow from me, for luck, and break a leg and all that shit.”
“Thanks, thanks; you’re really giving me hope. Alright, I’ll let you know how it went. Bye.”
“Goodnight.”
She let the phone drop to the floor when they’d ended the conversation and stared toward the ceiling from her bed. The only thing that lit her room up was a small lamp on a small table beside her bed. She really had to get sleep too, since she hadn’t slept very much the last week either. She wasn’t sure about the reason. Maybe it was because of all of the schoolwork, or maybe the fact that she still felt empty. Something was still wrong. But now was not the time to think about that. She let the room go dark, and closed her eyes, and hoped that the next thing wouldn’t come that fast.
_
She woke up, feeling… happy. A good night’s sleep maybe. She managed to get out of bed before her mother came and knocked on her door.
“Honey, it’s time to get up. You wanna have time for a shower, don’t you? And if you’re quick enough, you might catch it before Geo-, woah, you’re up already?” Her mother stopped in the doorway and looked at her daughter with a confused face.
“Unbelievable, I know, I just felt so alert, and suddenly I was just out of bed.” She dragged on a pair of surfshorts that most likely belonged to her brother, rather than to her, and pulled a t-shirt over her head. From downstairs she could hear Joy Division playing from the stereo. “At this hour?”
“I have to get George up someway. The stereo is just outside of his room and if I play ‘Warsaw’ long enough, he’ll finally surrender and leap out of the bed before you can wink.”
Gwen laughed at her mother’s bizarre idea. Sure, Ian Curtis sounded like a God in her and her mother’s ears, but for people like George it was pure torture. She went downstairs and faced her two years younger brother on the last step. His eyes could kill someone.
“Morning sunshine,” she said, almost sang, and smiled.
“Fucki-, I had-, good morning my ass-, sleeping in-, sunshine up yo-,” and so the mumbling continued up the stairs, and last thing she saw of George that morning was him locking himself in in the bathroom.