FicWad

Chapter 11-


BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Spencer rolled over to shut off his alarm. Unfortunately, he rolled over to far and fell off his bed.

“Ow!” he groaned, struggling to untangle himself from his blanket. He got to his knees and turned off the annoying beeping alarm.

He stood up and stretched, his eyes roamed around his room and fell on his calendar. Today’s date was circled and in bright green marker read: Test results today!

“Oh crap.” he said aloud. Today was the day that would determine if his friends and him would get to go to LA. After doing all his usual morning preparations, he ran downstairs.

“Bye Mom!” he shouted as he pulled on his black Converse. His mother came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. “Aren’t you hungry sweetie?” she asked in a concerned tone.

Spencer shook his head, “No thanks. Test results today, I can’t be late.” He quickly kissed his mom goodbye and headed out the door.

Once he was in his car, his cell phone began ringing. “Hello?” he said as he put the keys in the ignition. “I need a ride, pretty please?” Brenda’s voice came out of the receiver. Spencer rolled his eyes, “I’ll be right there.”

“Spencer, you rock!” He smirked, “I know I do.”

“Oh, just come and get me.” Brenda said. She hung up and Spencer put his phone in his pocket. After turning on the radio and inserting his favorite mix CD, he backed out of the driveway.

He hummed along to “There’s No Sympathy For The Dead” as he slowed to a stop in front of Brenda’s house. He honked the horn once and watched as Brenda walked out of her house and closed the door. She opened the car door and greeted him, “What’s up home skillet?”

“Not much, just nervous about those damned grades we’re supposed to get today.” Spencer sighed as he began driving again.

“Oh my god, me too! I know I failed something!” Brenda said in a jittery tone.

“Psh, you are so gonna pass it Bren, don’t worry. You and Jon are like, super-brains.” Spencer said, pausing a bit as the next song started.

“Oh my gosh, turn that sucker up bitch!” Brenda shouted excitedly as Spencer turned the volume knob. ‘Whoa, chill Brenda it’s just My Chemical Romance. No big deal.”

“No big deal to your mother! Dude, don’t you know that-”

“-they are fucking bad ass and Gerard is a sexy beast. Yeah, I’ve heard it before Brenda.” Spencer said, pretending to be annoyed. “Whatever, you know it’s true.” Brenda said, trying to hide her smirk by staring out the window.

“That was out of line Brenda.” Spencer said in a fake offended tone.

“You wouldn’t think it was out of line if Rachel said that about you.” Brenda murmured under her breath.

“Excuse me? What’d you just say?” Spencer asked, his eyes on the road.

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Brenda said, acting innocent. She knew Spencer was a curious guy, so to keep him from asking questions, she started singing along with Gerard’s voice.

“Ugh, god help me.” Spencer muttered as they pulled into the school parking lot.

“…Ah, nobody knows all the trouble I've seen!” Brenda sang loudly until Spencer shut off the car and radio. She looked at him with a shocked face. He simply shrugged and innocently pointed out, “We’re gonna be late for school. My Chemical Romance can wait.”

“Fuck you.” Brenda muttered as she climbed out of the car.

“Watch that attitude young lady.” Spencer warned as he caught up with Brenda, who had stalked off without him. They made their way through the crowded school yard and met Ryan and Lilly by the entrance. Apparently, they were deep in discussion about the grades the senior class was about to receive.

“What if I fail something?” Ryan asked worridly. “I know I fucked up Math big time.”

Lilly patted his shoulder reassuringly. “It’s gonna be fine. Isn’t it Brenda?” Lilly asked, looking meaningfully at Brenda.

“Don’t worry Ryan, I’m sure you’ll pass.” Brenda said encouragingly.

Lilly turned back to Ryan. “See? You’ll be okay.” Ryan bit his lip and nodded, clearly still anxious.

“Too bad Rachel’s not gonna be here today, she won’t be able to share the wonderful joys of getting exam grades with us.” Lilly sighed as the foursome climbed upstairs.

Spencer ears perked up at the mention of Rachel and he asked, “Why won’t she be here today?”

“She messaged me this morning, she has a cold, I guess.”

Rachel not here? Spencer frowned and groaned. “Aww, man!” Suddenly realizing he had said that out loud, he saw his friends giving him weird looks.

“Whoa, I didn’t think you’d whine Spence. It’s not her fault she has a cold.” Ryan reasoned. Spencer’s cheeks flashed red and he didn’t say anything.

“So, when do you think we’ll get our results?” Brenda asked. Her question was soon answered when Brendon and Jon came running toward them.

“Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys!” Brendon shouted, coming to a halt in front of them. He caught his breath, then said, “They just posted the grades! Come quick!”

Lilly’s eyes widened. “Already? School hasn’t even started yet!”

“I know, I was shocked too!” Jon agreed. “Let’s go!” They group went over to where about twenty-five other kids were huddled around pieces of paper that were tacked onto the wall next to their English teacher’s doorway.

“We’ll never get through,” Brenda sighed as she tried to stand on her tip-toes to see. She jumped up and down, straining her vision and looking for her name on the list.

“Move aside people!” Lilly shouted after a few seconds of trying to get through the growing mob of senior students.

A red-haired girl that was standing in front of her turned around and replied, “Just shut up and wait like the rest of us, princess!”

“Do us both a favor and turn around, please!” Lilly retorted with a hint of frustration. The girl rolled her eyes and turned around.

Jon managed to get into the middle in the crowd, but he was harshly shoved out and onto the floor by a buff football player, whom said, “Get in line, punk!”

“Hey, watch who you’re talking to moron!” Ryan fired at the bulky jock. The guy looked at Ryan with a deadly face and Ryan suddenly regretted saying anything.

Spencer tried to hold back his laughter as he helped Jon stand up. Jon frowned, looking desperately at the grades sheet. “Thanks Spencer.” he said without looking at him.

Brendon’s technique turned out to be the most efficient. He stood behind a pretty brown-haired girl and tapped her shoulder. Once she had turned around, he gave her a crooked smile and asked, “Excuse me miss, do you mind if I switch you spots. I can’t see the list.”

The girl became flustered and her cheeks grew red. “Oh, um yeah sure!”

Brendon winked. “Thanks, I owe you.” The girl kept a stupid grin as Brendon moved in front of her. Ryan crossed his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes as Brendon ran his index finger down the list of names and grades. Just then, Lilly got a text message. It read:

Math: A+ English: B Chemistry: A History: B- Spanish: B+

“Oh crap!” she screamed. One by one, each of her friends received a text from Brendon with their listed grades.

“Ah! I passed!” Brenda exclaimed as she read the list of straight A’s that Brendon had sent her.

“I got an A minus in Spanish! Woo-hoo!” Ryan cheered.

“No way!” Jon gushed, “I got all A’s!” Brenda and he exchanged high fives. Spencer stared at the screen of his phone with a shocked, but pleased face. “I fuckin’ passed everything!” he shouted excitedly.

“Great job Spence!” Lilly congratulated him.. She gave him a hug as Brendon can shuffling out of the crowd. He brushed off his shirt and said, “That is how Brendon Urie works. No need to thank me.”

“Good, because we weren’t going to.” Lilly retorted sarcastically. Brendon’s eyes widened and she added, “Oh, I’m kidding dude! Thanks!”

“What did you get?” Ryan asked. Brendon’s impish grin faded.

“That weren’t that bad, were they?” Jon demanded.

Brendon struggled to find words to respond, and his face automatically gave his friends the impression that he hadn’t done well.

“Please tell me that you didn’t fail!” Brenda pleaded. “I want to go to LA!”

“C’mon Bren, what happened?”

Brendon stared at them for a few more difficult seconds, then burst out laughing. “You guys are so gullible!”

“Well don’t torture us boy!” Lilly said desperately. “What’d you get?”

“I passed everything.” Brendon stated simply. “Two B’s in Math and English, an A in History and Spanish, and I got a B- in Chemistry.”

“Oh my god! No mother fucking way!” Spencer cried.

Lilly jumped up and down with a huge smile. “I knew you could do it!” She wrapped his arms around him in a huge hug.

“Well, what did Rachel get? We can’t forget her.” Jon pointed out.

Brendon thought for a bit, then he recited her grades. “Two B, two A’s, and an A minus. I already sent her the scores.”

(Rachel’s point of view)

“Oh my gosh! No way!” she croaked as she read the scores Brendon had just sent her. A B in Math and History, A’s in Chemistry and English, and an A minus in Spanish. It was unbelievable. She had passed everything.

In Rachel’s rush to tell her mom, she got up to fast and fell onto the floor dizzily. The cold had caught up with her so quickly; chills, a headache, and a runny nose kept her from attending school. But she didn’t care.

Groaning, she got back on her feet and walked to her doorway and proceeded downstairs. “Mom, guess what? I passed everything!“ Rachel exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

“Really?” her mom asked, dropping the dish rag she had been using and turning to face Rachel.

She nodded, “Brendon just sent them to me. I got two B’s, two A’s and an A minus!”

Her mother smiled and reached out to give her daughter a hug. “Oh honey, that’s great! I’m so proud of you!”

“I wonder what everyone else got.” Rachel wondered out loud. She sneezed and her mother stepped away from her.

“You can talk to your friends after school. Right now, I need you to go upstairs and into bed. You’re a mess, young lady!”

Rachel sniffled and nodded groggily. She went back upstairs and slipped under her blue bed sheets. On her nightstand, a picture of her and Spencer at a lake when they were ten stood in a silver frame. Brenda’s thumb had interfered and was visible on the bottom right corner. In the background, a lanky Brendon was chasing a furry-haired Jon on the water‘s edge while Lilly and Ryan watched in the shallow end. Spencer had a toothless grin after losing it in a skateboard accident. Luckily, it had grown back in. Rachel had bright blue ribbons braided into her pigtails, and her cheeks and face were sweaty from the hot sun.

Rachel stared at the photo, remembering that day as though it had happened yesterday.

((Flashback))

“We’re going to the lake! We’re going to the lake!” Brendon, Spencer, Ryan, Jon, Lilly, Rachel, and Brenda sang.

Mr. Walker was behind the wheel of the kid-carrying van with Mrs. Walker at his side. The other adults were driving directly behind them in their own cars. A few days before the trip, the ten year olds complained that they wanted to take the five hour drive together, so a van was rented so they could travel together.

“Don’t forget to put on sunscreen!” Mrs. Walker warned as they neared the lake’s shore. “You guys do not want to get a sunburn.”

They passed around the bottle of lotion and rubbed it onto their arms and faces.

“This stuff smells like coconuts.” Ryan noticed as he smeared the white substance on his cheeks.

“I bet you it won’t taste like coconuts!” Spencer laughed.

“Well duh Spence, I’m not a retard.” Ryan retorted with an obvious face.

“What do you guys wanna do when we get there?” Brendon asked, plastering his face against the window.

“I dunno, let’s go swimming!” Rachel suggested. “My mom made me put my bathing suit on under my clothes, see?” She lifted her shirt and showed her friends the blue one piece suit under her t-shirt.

“I’m already wearing mine too!” Jon exclaimed, pointing at his Hawaiian print swim trunks.

“Kids, we’re here!” Mr. Walker announced. The rest of his words were drowned out by the shouts of excitement that came out of the amigos’ mouths. They practically stampeded out of the van and they ran out to the shore.

“Oh my gosh, this is so cool!” Brenda shouted ecstatically. The crystal clear blue lake was surrounded by towering pine trees and extremely light brown sand. Assorted cabins stood only a few yards from where they stood, waiting for their occupants.

The rest of the adults had already parked their cars and were busy unpacking the suitcases from the trunks. “Mom, can we go in now, please?” Spencer begged.

“Please mom?” Rachel pleaded her parents.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait for much longer. Their parents handed them their towels and soon, the pack was running down to the lake.

“Let’s set down out towels, guys!” Brenda suggested. They spread out their towels and took off their sandals. They revealed their swimsuits and rushed toward the lake.

“It’s cold!” Brendon whined after he had sprinted full speed into the lake.

“You’ll get used to it.” Lilly reasoned as she kneeled into the small, gentle waves. Spencer and Rachel were splashing each other with handfuls of water only a few feet away from her.

“Ah, Spencer!” Rachel screamed after Spencer had pushed her into the water. She filled her cheeks with water and spit them out at him. Spencer shielded himself with his arms and kicked water at her in an attempt to get her to stop.

“You’re a loser, you know that!” Rachel screamed at him. He simply stuck his tongue out at her and she returned the gesture.

“Brendon, get in the water!” Brenda suggested. Brendon was standing up where the water was up to his knees.

He looked at her in shock and replied, “It’s too cold!”

“You’re such a baby!” Jon taunted him. “Shut up!” Brendon retorted.

Jon and Ryan had swam over to a deeper end of the lake. The water was only to their waists, but it was deep enough. Jon. readied himself, then sunk himself down under the water until he was no longer visible. “Jon, get up!” Ryan cried, wading over to the place where Jon had disappeared. He didn’t appear.

“Brendon, I think he’s drowning.” Ryan cried. Brendon’s expression was indecisive. But, indeed, Jon had not yet arisen from the water. “Come on Brendon!” Ryan called, slightly more desperate than before.

Reluctantly, Brendon made his way, still not getting more than his waist wet, over to where Ryan’s was standing and looking at the water. “Where is he?” Brendon asked anxiously. Just then, Jon sprang up from the water’s depths with a loud, “Argh!”

Brendon yelped in surprise and fell backward into the lake. He struggled for a minute, but managed to get to a standing position, his hair was matted to his face and every inch of him was now damp.

“Ryan! Can you take a picture of us?” Rachel requested. Ryan nodded, glad to have a reason to get out of the war that as about to ensue.

“Coming!” and without another word, Ryan ran out to shore, where Rachel was waiting with a bright blue camera in her hand.

Brendon stared at Jon with an angry face. Jon stepped back, and Brendon took another step toward him. “I’m sorry?” Jon tried to apologize. But then, Brendon was running at him full speed.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Joe shouted over and over while he tried to avoid Brendon.

“Get back here you idiot!” Brendon yelled at him as he followed Jon to the shallow end.

Over on shore, Ryan held up the camera to his eye and said, “Say cheese!”

Spencer and Rachel, arm in arm, smiled widely and said, “Cheese!” Ryan snapped the picture and lowered the camera.

“Dang, Jon and Brendon got in the way.” Rachel shrugged, “It doesn’t matter.”

“Kids, come in and have lunch!” Mrs. Brooks called, waving a hand at them to follow her. They hadn’t realize that two hours had gone by, and the seven soaking wet friends wrapped their towels around their bodies and followed.

((End Flashback))

A catchy tune ripped her out of her thoughts. Rachel reached for her phone and smiled as she read the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Hey Rachel, you feelin’ okay?” Spencer’s concerned voice asked.

“I’m fine, just the usual runny nose and whatnot.” Rachel assured him. “No big deal.”

“Did you get your scores? Brendon said he sent them to you.”

Rachel’s mood lifted and she exclaimed, “Yeah I did! I passed everything!”

“Congratulations! Everyone else here passed too.” Spencer told her.

“Nuh-uh?” The excitement was too much for her, it was clearly noticeable in her voice, even though her sore throat kept her from screaming. “Really?”

“Oh yeah, we’re going to LA!” Rachel began jumping up and down in bed and squealed loudly.

Spencer laughed, “That was exactly the same reaction the peeps here had.”

Rachel calmed down, but ended up having a fit of sneezes. “Whoa, you ok there little buddy?” Spencer asked playfully.

She sniffed, “Haha, very funny.”

“Well, I’ll give you rest time. I’ll call you later, alright?” As much as she didn’t want to stop talking to him, a wave of drowsiness swept over her.

“Okay, bye.” They hung up and Rachel buried her face in her pillow. She longed to be in his arms, to feel his soft lips on hers, but sadly, sometimes wishes couldn’t be fulfilled. He eyes closed and she fell into a dream involving Spencer and her; he constantly repeated the words ‘I Love You’ into her ear, and she knew she was grinning while she slept.