Status: Thanks to the lovely Louise Belcher for the beautiful layout
That Girl
Still Feeling a Taste of the Lag, This Shift, This Movement, This Version of Instead
“Stella,” Jeannie said, her voice moderate in volume, but sounding like she was holding something back. I jogged around a rack to where she was as she held a dress, turning to press it against my frame. “This is the dress.”
“Jeannie,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I rolled my eyes, “that’s a dress. A very pretty one, but I don’t think that we need to start misusing articles to say that you think that’s what I’ll be wearing to prom.”
She waved me off, “Just let me have my moment, Stella. This is the dress.” She stressed, shoving the dress in my arms.
To be perfectly honest, I was a grateful that it had only taken us about a half hour to find a dress to satisfy Jeannie. She had about half a dozen others on her arm that she wanted me to try on, a few of them probably more for amusement than anything, because we both knew that nobody could pull off lemon-lime shades.
I sighed as I entered the dressing room, trying on all of the dresses I’m pretty sure she knew would be a bust. As I stepped out each time, she had to stifle her giggles with her fist in her mouth. It was good that she was laughing, considering the mood she’d been in back at the house. Finally, I was left with the last one; the dress she had wanted me to try on. It was a black number, which was always a plus. Easy to match with shoes and things, so I wouldn’t be spending an obscene amount of time going to vintage shoe stores and buying the wrong-style shoes that, even after all the effort, would still be the wrong shade.
It was pretty, and I felt decent in it, and like I could wear it to an event other than prom.
Look at me, thrifty Stella.
Anyways, Jeannie didn’t swoon over the dress and say something equally as cliché and irritating. She knew me well enough not to and wasn’t in a bad enough mood to be pulling a page out of some romance film and cheer something from the script.
She just nodded and clapped her hands together, “Good.” She said, “Now let’s get that dress and get the hell out of here.”
There was an inconsistency in all of it.
“What?” One would probably ask.
One that could be noticed if I hadn’t skipped over all of the fine details and surmised a normal day up into a few brief thoughts.
“Kara, she didn’t even try on a couple for herself.”
There was a pause. Kara bit her thumbnail in thought, leaning back into Rian’s arms. Rian was deep in thought, and Alex, well Alex looked confused.
“Wait, but isn’t she, like, Little Miss Let’s-Watse-Time-And-Shop-S’more?” Alex asked, leaning his jaw in his hand as my phone vibrated. I pulled the razor out of my pocket and flipped it open, navigating to text messages faster than you could say peanut butter.
Can’t make it to band practice today. Newspaper is cramming to get the articles submitted.
“Is she even in the school paper?” Rian questioned, leaning over my shoulder as I read the text in a mumble to myself.
“I dunno.” Kara shrugged, “I don’t think so.”
“What is up with them? Jack’s been ditching practice for weeks and he’s all gloom and doom, and Jeannie’s been avoiding us like the plague-.” Flyzik had his hands on his head, running his hands through his cropped hair. “Are they fighting?”
“Can’t be,” Alex shook his head I shot him a questioning look. I couldn’t imagine what else it would be, “When Jack gets in a tiff with anyone, even a girl, he gets really stubborn and on-edge. He’s not doing that, he looks like he’s wondering what he did wrong.”
Lizzie cleared her throat, “Has he asked Jeannie to prom yet?”
There was another pause.
“Fuck.” Alex cursed. “God, no, he hasn’t.”
“Oh my Rowling,. He hasn’t?!” I exclaimed. “Why the hell not?!”
“Well that explains it.” Kara declared, high-fiving Lizzie as Zack snuck his arm around her shoulder, congratulating her on figuring it out quietly while his face turned pink.
“Why is that such a big deal?” Flyzik asked.
“Because it’s prom, you…” I pondered a moderate insult that wouldn’t be offending, “dork.” I finished, frowning slightly at the word choice.
“Still, I don’t get it.”
“Prom is right up there on the list of ‘Girl’s Most Important Days.’” Lizzie elaborated. “Right next to wedding.” She added as an afterthought as Kara finished it off for her, talking with her hands as she went.
“And if there isn’t a prelude to it, some element from their date that this actually means something to them, then it kind of takes a girl’s self-esteem down a good few notches.”
Now Alex looked perplexed, “But, wait. Stella didn’t get all freaky about me-.”
“That’s because we’re not dating, and I’m not really into the whole extravagant popping the question bit.” I shrugged, frowning again at how I’d used engagement terms, “I’ve already graduated from high school, too. And I’ve been to prom three times.”
“Three?!” Lizzie exclaimed, looking at me all wide-eyed.
I nodded, “People knew I was Pete Wentz’s kid.”
Rian was quick to get us back on track, “So what we’re saying here is that Jack and Jeannie are having a miscommunication here? Concerning prom?”
“Probably.”
“Well, that’s better than a lot of things, but it’s tough.”
“How’s that?”
“Jack is really nervous around Jean, you know? He’s really into her, and acts like he’s confident but afterwards he freaks out and asks us what he could’ve done better.” Alex said, “The reason he probably hasn’t asked her to prom yet is because he’s too scared to.”
“And Jean sucks with confrontation,” Lizzie said bluntly, returning Kara’s startled look with a firm one, “What? She really does. Girl bottles things up and acts like nothing’s wrong until it starts slipping through the cracks and someone calls her out on it.”
“So I think we’re going to have to fix this.”
“What a bust.”
*.*.*
“We’re leaving tomorrow morning, Stella.”
“What?!”
“You’d better haul some ass, Stella, or else Brendon’s going to be fuming for weeks.” Spencer told me over the phone. “We don’t even care about knowing whatever skeleton you’ve got in your closet, Brendon’s just ticked that you blew up at him for being curious.”
“Yeah, I know.” I sighed, grabbing the hoodie I’d worn shopping with Jeannie and slipping on Alex’s old Vans again since he wasn’t home and couldn’t call me out on finding his ratty old shoes to be more comfortable than my own shoes. I jacked his car keys, “One second Spence.” I said before drawing the receiver to my neck and yelling up the stairs, “Borrowing the car, ‘Lex!”
“Wait!” Alex exclaimed, leaning around the banister as he pulled on a sock, “I’m going to Jack’s for the night; hold up for a second, yeah?”
I nodded, before resuming my conversation with Spencer, grabbing the house key and jamming it in my jean’s pocket before heading for the car. Knowing Alex would be ticked if I didn’t let him drive, I took my spot in the passenger’s seat, leaning over to jam the key into the ignition.
He came out a couple seconds later, “Not driving?”
I shook my head, “Can you get me to the hotel?”
“Panic!’s Hotel?”
“Yeah.”
I found myself in front of the entrance about seven minutes later. “Call me if you need me to pick you up, yeah?”
It took me a second to realize he was talking to me, then to register and respond to what he’d said, “Yeah, sure, uh, I’ll text you.”
He nodded with this weird smile on his face before rolling up the window and pulling out of the lot.
I let out a heavy exhale. This transition period was really throwing me off.
I walked through the doors and into the homey-looking lobby, jogging towards the stairwell and making my way up the stairs as fast as I could without tripping over the laces of the shoes I’d forgotten to tie.
Oh, yeah, Alex’s shoes. Maybe that’s why he’d acted all funny once he’d seen my in the light of the lamp post.
“Stella?” I looked up from my focus on my feet, seeing Brendon at the top of the staircase, pushing his messy, wet hair out of his eyes, “What’re you doing here?”
I rushed up the steps, jumping him in a hug, “Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.” I repeated, “I’m the worst person in the world, please forgive me for blowing up at you, I’m the worst person in the world-.”
“Okay, Stella, calm down. I’m pretty sure Osama Bin Laden has got you beat on the ‘worst person in the world’ bit. A-plus for effort though.” He chuckled. “What’re you doing here?”
“Came to apologize.”
“That it?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” I said before taking note of his expression and amending, “Or I could be telling you and Spencer about… uh, why I exist?”
“That’d be good, yeah.”
“Jeannie,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I rolled my eyes, “that’s a dress. A very pretty one, but I don’t think that we need to start misusing articles to say that you think that’s what I’ll be wearing to prom.”
She waved me off, “Just let me have my moment, Stella. This is the dress.” She stressed, shoving the dress in my arms.
To be perfectly honest, I was a grateful that it had only taken us about a half hour to find a dress to satisfy Jeannie. She had about half a dozen others on her arm that she wanted me to try on, a few of them probably more for amusement than anything, because we both knew that nobody could pull off lemon-lime shades.
I sighed as I entered the dressing room, trying on all of the dresses I’m pretty sure she knew would be a bust. As I stepped out each time, she had to stifle her giggles with her fist in her mouth. It was good that she was laughing, considering the mood she’d been in back at the house. Finally, I was left with the last one; the dress she had wanted me to try on. It was a black number, which was always a plus. Easy to match with shoes and things, so I wouldn’t be spending an obscene amount of time going to vintage shoe stores and buying the wrong-style shoes that, even after all the effort, would still be the wrong shade.
It was pretty, and I felt decent in it, and like I could wear it to an event other than prom.
Look at me, thrifty Stella.
Anyways, Jeannie didn’t swoon over the dress and say something equally as cliché and irritating. She knew me well enough not to and wasn’t in a bad enough mood to be pulling a page out of some romance film and cheer something from the script.
She just nodded and clapped her hands together, “Good.” She said, “Now let’s get that dress and get the hell out of here.”
There was an inconsistency in all of it.
“What?” One would probably ask.
One that could be noticed if I hadn’t skipped over all of the fine details and surmised a normal day up into a few brief thoughts.
“Kara, she didn’t even try on a couple for herself.”
There was a pause. Kara bit her thumbnail in thought, leaning back into Rian’s arms. Rian was deep in thought, and Alex, well Alex looked confused.
“Wait, but isn’t she, like, Little Miss Let’s-Watse-Time-And-Shop-S’more?” Alex asked, leaning his jaw in his hand as my phone vibrated. I pulled the razor out of my pocket and flipped it open, navigating to text messages faster than you could say peanut butter.
Can’t make it to band practice today. Newspaper is cramming to get the articles submitted.
“Is she even in the school paper?” Rian questioned, leaning over my shoulder as I read the text in a mumble to myself.
“I dunno.” Kara shrugged, “I don’t think so.”
“What is up with them? Jack’s been ditching practice for weeks and he’s all gloom and doom, and Jeannie’s been avoiding us like the plague-.” Flyzik had his hands on his head, running his hands through his cropped hair. “Are they fighting?”
“Can’t be,” Alex shook his head I shot him a questioning look. I couldn’t imagine what else it would be, “When Jack gets in a tiff with anyone, even a girl, he gets really stubborn and on-edge. He’s not doing that, he looks like he’s wondering what he did wrong.”
Lizzie cleared her throat, “Has he asked Jeannie to prom yet?”
There was another pause.
“Fuck.” Alex cursed. “God, no, he hasn’t.”
“Oh my Rowling,. He hasn’t?!” I exclaimed. “Why the hell not?!”
“Well that explains it.” Kara declared, high-fiving Lizzie as Zack snuck his arm around her shoulder, congratulating her on figuring it out quietly while his face turned pink.
“Why is that such a big deal?” Flyzik asked.
“Because it’s prom, you…” I pondered a moderate insult that wouldn’t be offending, “dork.” I finished, frowning slightly at the word choice.
“Still, I don’t get it.”
“Prom is right up there on the list of ‘Girl’s Most Important Days.’” Lizzie elaborated. “Right next to wedding.” She added as an afterthought as Kara finished it off for her, talking with her hands as she went.
“And if there isn’t a prelude to it, some element from their date that this actually means something to them, then it kind of takes a girl’s self-esteem down a good few notches.”
Now Alex looked perplexed, “But, wait. Stella didn’t get all freaky about me-.”
“That’s because we’re not dating, and I’m not really into the whole extravagant popping the question bit.” I shrugged, frowning again at how I’d used engagement terms, “I’ve already graduated from high school, too. And I’ve been to prom three times.”
“Three?!” Lizzie exclaimed, looking at me all wide-eyed.
I nodded, “People knew I was Pete Wentz’s kid.”
Rian was quick to get us back on track, “So what we’re saying here is that Jack and Jeannie are having a miscommunication here? Concerning prom?”
“Probably.”
“Well, that’s better than a lot of things, but it’s tough.”
“How’s that?”
“Jack is really nervous around Jean, you know? He’s really into her, and acts like he’s confident but afterwards he freaks out and asks us what he could’ve done better.” Alex said, “The reason he probably hasn’t asked her to prom yet is because he’s too scared to.”
“And Jean sucks with confrontation,” Lizzie said bluntly, returning Kara’s startled look with a firm one, “What? She really does. Girl bottles things up and acts like nothing’s wrong until it starts slipping through the cracks and someone calls her out on it.”
“So I think we’re going to have to fix this.”
“What a bust.”
*.*.*
“We’re leaving tomorrow morning, Stella.”
“What?!”
“You’d better haul some ass, Stella, or else Brendon’s going to be fuming for weeks.” Spencer told me over the phone. “We don’t even care about knowing whatever skeleton you’ve got in your closet, Brendon’s just ticked that you blew up at him for being curious.”
“Yeah, I know.” I sighed, grabbing the hoodie I’d worn shopping with Jeannie and slipping on Alex’s old Vans again since he wasn’t home and couldn’t call me out on finding his ratty old shoes to be more comfortable than my own shoes. I jacked his car keys, “One second Spence.” I said before drawing the receiver to my neck and yelling up the stairs, “Borrowing the car, ‘Lex!”
“Wait!” Alex exclaimed, leaning around the banister as he pulled on a sock, “I’m going to Jack’s for the night; hold up for a second, yeah?”
I nodded, before resuming my conversation with Spencer, grabbing the house key and jamming it in my jean’s pocket before heading for the car. Knowing Alex would be ticked if I didn’t let him drive, I took my spot in the passenger’s seat, leaning over to jam the key into the ignition.
He came out a couple seconds later, “Not driving?”
I shook my head, “Can you get me to the hotel?”
“Panic!’s Hotel?”
“Yeah.”
I found myself in front of the entrance about seven minutes later. “Call me if you need me to pick you up, yeah?”
It took me a second to realize he was talking to me, then to register and respond to what he’d said, “Yeah, sure, uh, I’ll text you.”
He nodded with this weird smile on his face before rolling up the window and pulling out of the lot.
I let out a heavy exhale. This transition period was really throwing me off.
I walked through the doors and into the homey-looking lobby, jogging towards the stairwell and making my way up the stairs as fast as I could without tripping over the laces of the shoes I’d forgotten to tie.
Oh, yeah, Alex’s shoes. Maybe that’s why he’d acted all funny once he’d seen my in the light of the lamp post.
“Stella?” I looked up from my focus on my feet, seeing Brendon at the top of the staircase, pushing his messy, wet hair out of his eyes, “What’re you doing here?”
I rushed up the steps, jumping him in a hug, “Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.” I repeated, “I’m the worst person in the world, please forgive me for blowing up at you, I’m the worst person in the world-.”
“Okay, Stella, calm down. I’m pretty sure Osama Bin Laden has got you beat on the ‘worst person in the world’ bit. A-plus for effort though.” He chuckled. “What’re you doing here?”
“Came to apologize.”
“That it?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” I said before taking note of his expression and amending, “Or I could be telling you and Spencer about… uh, why I exist?”
“That’d be good, yeah.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Right, so Becca's on a roll, which is good.Just wanted to fangirl over my commenters:
Haley'sfreakingout: You pull me out of a lot of ruts, even if you don't know that. So some extra love there. You rock. Rock on!
HeyyJeannie: Who I'm supposing spontaneously disappeared off of the face of Mibba, because I haven't heard from her in a while, but you kick so much ass for catching all of my Panic! references. Seriously.
xkristen_kismetx: For being the first, because it's always awesome to get that notification on my homepage that my first multi-chapter story on Mibba has a comment.
TheDoctor'sCompanion: Because for one, you're the first Whovian I know of on here, and that is just awesome, as well as giving a serious compliment that had me grinning for days.
mrsshysinger: For picking apart my writing and analyzing it and making me feel like I actually have the ability to write something of moderate quality.
sofia.loves.PINK: You dragged me off me ass and gave it to me straight when I was being lazy. That was just what I needed, and making me go back and laugh at a piece of the chapter that I hadn't really noticed was comical.
Hello Love Goodbye: You know, like, everything. How this ends up, even if you aren't aware of it yet, because Put That Pen to Paper is a bit of the future that this universe has. And you know how that's going to go down because you're there and you're going to be letting me bounce ideas off of you.
minasmusic: Because she gave it a chance and gave me feedback, which is lovely.
and finally:
thisxchicksxnotxokay: I keep rereading that last comment you gave me, and it's really given me a new inspiration and aspect of looking at this story. Because it had an impact, no matter how small, on you. And that's so much more than what I ever expected from this story, and because of that, this thing will be finished and I'll probably be steering Put That Pen to Paper in the sort of direction where advice like what Pete gives will be more common. You, my dear, are inspiring, and I'm sure you've definitely got a set of kick-ass vocal chords on you.
ON ANOTHER NOTE:
If you're attending Warped Tour '12 in Irvine this year, drop me a message, because I'd love to meet you and go out for pizza. Or something.
Chapter twenty will be out soon.
Love!
Monster
P.S. Probably the rest of this story is going to be with Fever's Edge lyrics, because to be perfectly honest, the majority of songs I write are based off of thoughts I've had for this story or lyrics inspired by the writing itself.