Someone I Used To Know
Summary:In Stoneybrook for the summer, Dawn embarks on an unlikely fling.
Rating: Teen for mild language and adult situations.
Disclaimer: We don't own the BSC. But we do own you.
Author's Note: Since Blanket Apologist is visiting for the Martin Luther King three-day weekend, we decided it was time to write a collaborative BSC fanfic. This was the sanest of our ideas. (Watson/Sam, anyone?) Our story takes place pre-The Fire At Mary Anne's House. California Diaries and Friends Forever are not included in our personal canon.
August in Stoneybrook.
Not exactly how I envisioned the end of my summer. Honestly, I'd much rather be in California, hanging out at the beach with my real friends. I don't belong in Stoneybrook anymore. The girls I once felt so close to, now I feel I hardly know at all. Especially my stepsister. Last year, I considered her my best friend. I'm not sure we're even friends anymore. It's surprising how much people change in less than a year. Neither of us are the same girls we were when I left Stoneybrook.
I arrived in Stoneybrook five days ago and only yesterday learned that Mary Anne and Logan broke up at the end of June. Real friends are supposed to tell each other that sort of thing. It's not that hard to pick up a phone. But I guess Mary Anne had already found another shoulder to cry on. She replaced me with some girl named Melissa Banks, a loud, pesky, screechy sort of girl, who talks nonstop and takes up all the space in a room. Mary Anne shrinks out of sight in her presence but doesn't seem to mind. When I sit in my room, I hear them down the hall, Melissa's ear piercing shrieks and Mary Anne's laughter in reply. I'm never invited to join them.
It's not like I'm bitter or anything.
I've only been in Stoneybrook for five days, but that's five days too long. I'm spending a lot of time by myself. I've lost touch with my old Stoneybrook friends. And they've lost interest in me. Kristy and Abby are busy coaching Kristy's softball team, Stacey's on vacation with her father, and Claudia's spending a lot of time locked in her room being moody and artistic. And Mallory and Jessi? What are we going to do? Play horses? So, I have no one but myself. Even Jeff has the Pike triplets.
It's Thursday afternoon and I'm browsing through the folk music section at Sound Ideas. I've spent a lot of time here this week. The employees and I are getting to be on a first name basis. I think they pity me. It's depressing.
I'm checking out a Nick Drake tape when the bell above the front door chimes. I'm usually the only customer around this time, so I glance up out of curiosity. At this point, I dread recognizing old friends from SMS and the awkward small talk that follows, so I'm relieved to see it's only Charlie Thomas.
Charlie is Kristy's oldest brother. I know he'll be starting at Penn State in the fall. That's one of the few things Mary Anne has told me. She didn't tell me--or maybe I just never noticed--how cute he's become. Charlie's a nice guy and always helped us out in the BSC and I guess I'm feeling lonelier than I want to admit because I immediately decide to corner him into a conversation.
"Hi Charlie!" I exclaim, sounding a bit desperate.
Charlie looks up from a rack of new Insects tapes and furrows his brow in puzzlement. For a moment, my stomach drops and I feel color creep into my cheeks.
He doesn't remember me. Add that to my long list of humiliations.
Slowly, he smiles, recognition lighting his eyes. "Dawn?" he asks, then smiles wider. "I almost didn't recognize you! You look so different,"
"Is that good or bad?" I ask, feeling the color spread down my neck.
"It's good. Kristy still looks like she should be playing in the sandbox. Come to think of it, I think she still does," Charlie laughs. "I didn't expect any of her friends to look so grown up."
"California living does that to you," I reply with a casual toss of my hair. Then I realize how stupid I sound and blush even deeper. I've talked to Charlie a million times before and ridden countless times in his car, but suddenly I feel very nervous and self-conscious. I wish I'd worn more than just lip gloss and mascara. I wish I'd worn more than just an old t-shirt and a pair of ratty jean shorts.
"Great tan," he says. "I should have applied to school in California, we don't get color like that here."
"Yeah, it's like a different planet here. I feel like I'm living in a house full of Martians."
"Not so good to be back?" he asks.
I toss my hair over my shoulder and shrug. "You know, people change. I'm not the same girl I was in junior high."
Charlie raises his eyebrows. "Yeah... So, have you heard the new Insects album?"
I'm surprised by the change in subject until I realize how I must come across to Charlie. Am I flirting with Kristy Thomas' brother? Does he think I'm flirting with him? I'm just some lame high school kid and an old friend of his sister. He's just being polite and I'm making an ass of myself.
"Nah, they're not my style," I reply, still trying to sound casual, despite my complete and utter humiliation.
"I just came in to buy their new tape," Charlie says, waving the tape in his hand. "Maybe I could give you a ride home and change your mind."
"Sure," I say with hesitation, though inside my chest is tightening. What does this mean? He's just being polite, right?
Charlie and I walk up to the register. He whips out his wallet, pulls out a crisp ten dollar bill and slides it across the counter. I fumble around with a display of buttons, pretending that my stomach's not doing back flips. Even though he looks so cool, I wonder if he is nervous too. Or maybe I'm just so bored and lonely that I'm reading between lines that aren't there.
Charlie holds the door open for me as we leave Sound Ideas. I look around for the Junk Bucket as Charlie leads me into the parking lot. I still haven't found it when Charlie stops next to a silver Volvo.
"Where's the Junk Bucket?" I ask.
"Watson finally caved in and bought me a new car, the cheap bastard," Charlie says as he unlocks my door.
"Things not so good at home?"
Charlie smiles. "Martians, you know."
It's a short drive to my house, but Charlie drives slow. We make small talk the entire way but it isn't awkward like with other people I used to know. I'm sorry when he pulls into our driveway because it's been the best half hour since I returned to Stoneybrook.
"How long are you in town for?" Charlie asks as I open the car door.
I wonder if he plans to make Kristy call me. I don't need him strong-arming Kristy into being my friend. But maybe that's not what he's thinking.
"I leave the first of September."
"I guess I'll see you around, then," he says and gives a small wave.
I shut the car door and offer a wave as he backs down the drive. Then I turn around quickly in case he's not interested like I want him to be. I'm barely up the steps when my stepfather, Richard, throws open the front door.
"What are you doing home from work so early?" I ask in surprise.
Richard ignores my question and demands, "Was that Charlie Thomas?"
"Yeah," I reply, even though I know Richard hates the word "yeah."
"What were you doing with him?"
I can see where this is going. He isn't my father. I hate when he tries acting like he is. He can't control me like he does Mary Anne.
"Getting a ride home," I reply irritably.
"He's too old for you."
I step past him into the foyer. I'm ready for this conversation to be over. "It was just a ride home," I tell him.
"You are only fourteen years old, Dawn. He is eighteen. You aren't even in high school yet and he's already going off to college."
"Well then, I better return the engagement ring," I say dryly, heading for the front stairs.
"Excuse me, young lady, I don't know how you speak to your parents in California, but that kind of disrespect will not be tolerated in my house," he barks, tugging authoritatively on his brown cardigan.
"Do you not tolerate a sense of humor either?" I ask rolling my eyes.
Richard's jaw drops, as if no one has ever challenged him before. No surprise, with perfect Mary Anne for a daughter. He takes off his glasses and wipes the lenses. "I hope you can retain that charming sense of humor while you're grounded this weekend," he says coolly.
"It's not like I wouldn't be sitting around the house anyway."
"I'm glad you're pleased with this arrangement then," Richard replies, then turns and walks into the kitchen.
I stomp up the stairs. "I can't wait to get back to California," I mutter under my breath. When I reach the top of the stairs I hear Mary Anne and Melissa giggling like idiots in Mary Anne's bedroom. I pound on the door as I pass and shout, "Shut the hell up, you morons!"
I get to my room and slam the door shut. Then I slam it again for effect. I bury my face in my hands and collapse on my bed. Three and a half more weeks of this.
There's a soft knock on the door. "What's wrong?" Mary Anne calls.
"You should know!" I shout back.
Mary Anne doesn't reply, but I hear her breathing on the other side of the door, shifting from one foot to the other. Finally she gives up and walks down the hall. Her bedroom door shuts behind her.
I don't hesitate on my next move. I pick up the phone and dial the Thomas-Brewer phone number. Richard can yell at me, Mary Anne can exclude me, but no one can tell me who I can't date. I'm sick of wasting what's left of my summer. I might be stuck in Stoneybrook, but I don't have to be stuck alone.
"Hello, is Charlie home yet?" I ask when Karen answers the phone.
"Hold on, I think he just walked in the door," she replies in her most grown up voice. She sets the phone down and screams, "Charlie! It's one of your goony-boony girlfriends!"
"Hello?" Charlie says smoothly when he comes on the line.
"Hi, Charlie. This is Dawn. Dawn Schafer," I say, surprised at how calm I feel. My nerves aren't rattling around like I expected.
"Oh, hi Dawn, long time no see," Charlie says with a chuckle. "Did you leave something in my car?"
"No, no. I was just wondering, do you have plans tonight?"
"Tonight? No..." he replies, sounding a bit confused.
"I need to escape the Martians. How about you?"
Charlie is silent on the other end. Suddenly my heart begins to pound as I fully realize what I've just done. I asked Kristy's brother out on a date. I'm only fourteen. Charlie couldn't possibly be interested in me. He's practically an adult. Have I overstepped some kind of boundary? And do I really care?
"Where do you want to escape to?" he finally answers.
"Washington Mall. Is six good for you?"
Four years is nothing. I am from California, after all.