the substitute {todd}

[GABE EVANS]

The “coffee” was so sugared and flavored that it could no longer be considered real coffee, at least according to the moody teenage boy who took her order. “I don’t care,” Gabe had informed “Jonas” (as his nametag read). “I just wanted something to drink. And this is what I like. Whether or not you or anyone else considers it “real coffee” is something I, quite frankly, do not care about. If you have a problem with it being referred to as “coffee”, you might want to talk to them about changing all these signs and the menu and everything. I also highly doubt they appreciate you moaning and complaining to customers. I‘m not paying to hear you rant about coffee, I just want my drink,” she had informed him before skipping off.

So, of course, sitting on the front steps in front of school, her few classmates who had been in the coffee shop at the time walked past her, mumbling about how she could have been nicer. “That wasn’t being a bitch, that was making a point, Gracie Harlow!” Gabe said, glancing over her shoulder at the girl who had referred to her as a bitch. Gracie glanced over her shoulder and scoffed and Gabe offered a sweet smile before rolling her eyes and turning back to the half full cup of fake coffee in her hands. “I don’t know why people are being all anal about me. He shouldn’t be bitching to customers like that. He was being stupid,” she grumbled to Gwyn, who was at her side, standing up and pulling her backpack over her shoulder. “I know, Gabs. But you didn’t have to say anything…” Gwyn said, shrugging.

Gabe cut her a glare and Gwyn sighed, hopping up to the school to head towards the computer lab where she had to print out her English paper. Gabe shook her head and glanced at her watch. A few minutes left. Gabe took a deep breath and bit her lip, staring down at the lid of her cup. She had managed to find Gwyn when she got to school, so it avoided sitting around in boredom with nothing to think about but the ball and the after party Monday night. Now that Gwyn was gone, though, Gabe was alone. Almost everyone was already inside, chattering in the hallways outside of their lockers. Only a few hooligans were hiding on the sides of the building smoking and one girl with big glasses and a lot of zits was sitting higher up on the stairs finishing homework. She hadn’t seen Liz or Zach or anyone yet, and she hadn’t felt like going to look for them and there was no point in searching so close to time…

Monday had been Valentine’s Day and that night had been the Valentine’s Day Ball. That had been bad enough, Gabe feeling utterly pathetic for how desperately she tried to capture Todd’s attention in more than friendly ways. At the after party at Todd’s house, though, Christian Davek had dared them to kiss for five seconds which had led to making out which had led to Gabe losing her virginity to her best friend in the guest room of his house, the rest of the night being spent with people shoving them together and Gabe had a very sneaking suspicion that a good few people had a good idea of what had happened, though Gabe wasn’t about to say anything. What was worse was Todd insinuating they should be friends with benefits…An idea that sent a shiver right through her and her stomach to flip excitedly. Sadly she had turned him down, though even now she longed for it, just imagining what it would be like. After all of the pain, sex had been great and Todd…Well, Todd had been spectacular.

The problem was was that Gabe liked him. She had somehow grown pesky little feelings for her best friend and she knew that pulling a stunt like “friends with benefits” was only going to get her hurt. Gabe needed to focus on their friendship as a non-romantic, non-sexual thing. Things had to go back to normal, Gabe told herself as she stood up, finishing her coffee and tossing the cup into the grass without a care. Of course, pretending was easier said than done when she saw Todd approaching. Part of her wanted to turn and walk away without saying a word. That would be a lot easier than this…Already she could feel so awkward, though that was surprising, considering what had happened. Gabe nervously scratched the side of her head, smiling the best she could as Todd walked up. Normal, sadly, would mean talking to Todd and hanging around him a lot more than she liked…A lot more that would be easy when you were trying to diminish your feelings for someone. “Sobered up yet, Toad?” she teased, feeling far too anxious and on edge to be completely natural. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late. Oh, I heard Mr. Page isn’t going to be here. Hopefully Miss Hedley subs again,” she suggested with a small laugh.

Miss Hedley was a young, gorgeous aspiring teacher who spent her free time substituting school during the day and taking night classes to become a real teacher. The straight guys and lesbians loved her because she was hot and Gabe loved her because she was hilarious and pretty much let them do whatever, much like Mr. Forrester.

For a moment, Gabe wondered what to do. Normally she’d be jumping on his back for an unannounced piggyback ride he’d have no choice but to give, or linking her arm through his, or holding his hand, or even shoving him right into the building, her hands on his back and guiding him forward without being forceful enough to have him falling onto his face. All were normal and Gabe felt her face heat up slightly, knowing which one she’d prefer. Instead, she decided against all of the options and just grabbed her bag and moved her sunglasses from her face to the top of her head as she walked with Todd to class. The hallway was almost deserted the time they entered, so Gabe walked quickly to the math room, the pair entering just seconds before the tardy bell rang. Gabe grinned at the lovely auburn haired woman behind the desk. “Hey, Miss Hedley!” Gabe said happily, hopping to her usual seat in the very back of class.

On the plus side? Math would be a piece of cake today.

On the down side? There would be no hard math problems to keep her distracted from Todd.

tagged;; todd
wordcount;; 1134
outfit;; here
notes;; woot woot awkward!
credit;; GREEN EGGS AND SAM! of caution 2.0
lyrics in text are from Forget Paris!

[TODD FORCE]

To say that things had been crazy for the past few days would be an understatement.

It had all started a few days before Valentine's Day... maybe spring was coming and love was in the air, and that was what had come over Todd. Or maybe he was sixteen and he wanted a girlfriend; that was also a logical explanation. But somehow he knew that neither of these reasons were the real reason why he felt the way he did when he thought of Gabe.

Things were complicated because she was his best friend, and she had been since they were ten years old. Todd and Gabe and Liz had been inseparable for as long as Todd could remember, but things were changing now... He still loved them both just as much as ever, but he was beginning to love Gabe in a different way as well. She was gorgeous, he was starting to notice, but it went beyond that. He was beginning to have actual feelings for her, and it terrified him.
Everything had culminated at the after party at his house on the night of the Valentine's Day Ball... Their teasing had gotten more and more flirtatious in the few days previous, and at the party they had been dared to kiss. Every defense Todd had against Gabe seemed to have crumbled the moment he kissed her. They had ended up in his guest room, and Gabe had given herself to him, and he to her. It should have been perfectly fine, but everything else made it anything but. He was her best friend, the one guy who wasn't supposed to be wanting her or hitting on her and he was falling in love with her.

They had agreed to not kiss or do anything after that, and so far it had held up... barely. The urge was stronger than ever now that Todd knew what he was missing, but he had managed to keep his toes just behind the boundary lines. It only got harder and harder every hour, it seemed.

That was the reason that Todd planned to be late to school this morning, which of course meant that he was actually a bit early. On the surface, he didn't want to see Gabe or be around her any more than he had to. It just made everything harder on him, and he didn't need that. But something deeper inside of him, something that probably wasn't even a part of Todd's conscious self, yearned for her like water or oxygen. That something was the reason that he was a half hour early to school on this day.

He forced himself to just sit in his car and relax. He ate a bag of Lays Sour Cream and Onion chips and a pack of fruit snacks for something to do. Finally it had seemed an acceptable time to arrive, even though Todd still wasn't late, but he didn't want to wait any longer. He hopped out of his car and strode across the schoolyard to where Gabe sat, where he had seen her immediately after exiting his car.

Todd grinned at her teasing and laughed, almost feeling like things were normal... almost. She informed him that their math teacher was gone, which was good news. Todd hated that guy. Well, he hated all teachers besides Mr. Forrester, but he hated Mr. Page just because he taught math. Miss Hedley, though, was a welcome substitute, and the only one that Todd was actually nice to. At Gabe's encouragement, Todd shifted his backpack on his shoulder and headed with her into the school.

The walk to math class was uncharacteristically silent. Todd knew he couldn't expect things to be fine, but at the same time he couldn't stand this. He wished he were still in his car. He should have just stayed there. He pictured a scenario where he pretended to be sick and just went home, but he knew deep down that he wouldn't make it to the car without that overwhelming and almost equally unwelcome feeling of needing to be near Gabe. The Todd in his imagination turned around, grumbling in his indecision, and marched back towards the school. No, that would not work.

Todd was uncharacteristically quiet as well when they walked into the math class. Gabe greeted Miss Hedley cheerily, while Todd only gave her a nod and a small smile. There would be hardly any math work today, which Todd would normally have enjoyed beyond all healthy reason, but today he would have been glad for some distraction. At least he could blame sickness for his strange behavior, even if said "sickness" wasn't bad enough for him to be sent home.

___________________________________________________________________________

_{Word Count 787
Inspiration EMILY MEADE HOTNESS
Tags GABE
Status COMPLETE
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}
[/size][/blockquote][/i][/sub]

[GABE EVANS]

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. Being around Todd was hard. Especially when she could remember everything so clearly. She could still taste the way his lips and tongue had tasted…She could still feel his hands on her naked body. A light tremble rolled through her and she rubbed her thighs together in discomfort. Her eyes rolled back behind her eyelids and she raised her hand to her temple, trying to calm down and get rid of that lightheaded sensation that accompanied arousal. They were in class, for goodness sakes! Gabe swallowed hard and glanced up as classmates pushed their desks together or turned them towards one another or even walked over to sit on the floor around or on top of the desk of others. Miss Hedley chatted merrily with three girls: Emma Carlisle, Mary Kate Franklin, and Bethany Bardot. Three football players and two cheerleaders were at the dry erase board, drawing random pictures and playing hangman and tic tac toe.

It was a substitute day. And in the perfect class for a substitute. Math was by far her most hated subject and Mr. Page was just awful. Not only did he have to teach such a crappy subject, but he had to be one of the strictest teachers here at Xavier High School. He was gone and they should be celebrating, but things between them were so strange and awkward it was hard to enjoy herself. Still, she owed it to herself and to Todd and even to Liz to at least act like things were okay, no matter how hard they were. Clearing her throat she quickly scooted her desk to the side to have it sitting right beside Todd’s and she reached her foot out to hook her ankle through one of the straps and dragged it over to her. Gabe stiffened up slightly, feeling so strange being so close to him. The need to be near him and touch him was worse now. She shivered slightly and bit her lip, blinking furiously and hoping to get rid of the strange dizziness and the way her heart felt like it was about to jump right out of her chest.

“I had the most horrible experience at Brooklyn Brew this morning,” she finally said, voice soft and uncertain, though she laughed quietly. “This new guy Jonas was complaining about how what I had wasn’t real coffee since it was all prettied up. And I’m like, who the crap drinks their coffee black? A lot, actually, but that’s disgusting! And I didn’t even want it scalding hot, so apparently that was a problem, that I didn’t want my tongue burned off. Then Tyler started hitting on me,” she laughed, rolling her eyes. Tyler was a pretty cool guy. He loved anime and video games and spent so much time between work and those two things he was skinny as a toothpick. He also had a fascination with flirting with everybody under the sun. “Then these snotty bitches from…Well, them,” she said, nodding to a small group of cheerleaders and dance line members. “They think I’m a bitch because I told off Jonas and informed Tyler I wasn’t interested. Apparently it’s a problem to tell people how it is,” she laughed, digging Sharpie markers out of her bag. She grabbed Todd’s hand and placed it on her desk, letting her hand linger over his just a moment before uncapping the black one and drawing a grid on the back of his hand before grabbing the magenta marker and drawing an X in the middle and handing him the green marker. “Even Gwyn was all snippy about it. I mean, how long have these people known me? Seriously,” she laughed as she uncapped a red marker to draw a smiley face on the side of his neck while she waited for him to finish his turn.

Tic tac toe and drawing on one another: a perfectly normal day for the two of them.

The lingering gazes and touches? Not so much.

tagged;; todd
wordcount;; 691
outfit;; here
notes;; woot woot awkward!
credit;; GREEN EGGS AND SAM! of caution 2.0
lyrics in text are from Forget Paris!

[TODD FORCE]

The desire to touch her, hold her, kiss her was overwhelming.

Todd swallowed hard against the moisture in his mouth. She was literally making his mouth water. Before today, Todd wouldn't even have believed that was possible. He inhaled through his nose and held his breath for one count of ten before slowly letting it out, forcing his stomach muscles to unclench and relax. He couldn't resist the urge to glance over at Gabe... she shifted her weight and closed her eyes, fingers pressed to her temple. She was the very picture of discomfort, and Todd concluded that it was because it was so awkward being around him now... The true reason eluded him.

He looked away, staring down at his feet where they were crossed at the ankles beneath his desk. Was this how it was going to be for them now...? Todd knew that nothing lasted forever, and that they would work around it somehow... Gabe had said so, and Todd was just as determined as she was. He knew everything about her, and she about him. They were closer than just about anyone in this whole school. They would get through this, but not in a day, or even a week, or maybe even a month. One night had screwed them over for an indefinitely long period of time.

Todd sighed and slid his backpack off of his shoulder, letting it fall to the ground beside his desk with a dead whump. Gabe cleared her throat and leaned towards him, and Todd whipped his head around to look at her before he realized she was only using her foot to bring her bag closer. Her hair fell in curls around a tantalizing patch of exposed skin on her neck... Todd forced his eyes away, then back as she began to talk.

"Why the hell would he even care how you like your coffee?" Todd laughed uncertainly. He had gotten Gabe's coffee for her before; more than a few times, actually. He had a bit of trouble remembering just how she liked it, but other than that it wasn't a problem. This Jonas guy, however, seemed to be a coffee purist or something. He wasn't as bad as Tyler, though... Todd felt himself stiffen despite himself when Gabe told about him. He grinned, though, when she explained how she had told him off. The guy wasn't entirely off the hook, though. Todd would be looking for the slightest excuse to deck him. He knew why, too, but he didn't want to think about that.

Gabe dug her markers out of her bag and took his hand, and Todd tried his best to ignore the way his heart jumped and his stomach flipped wildly. It felt like she had had this effect on him for forever, but it had really been only a few days... How did that stupid Miley Cyrus song go? "They say that good things take time, but really great things happen in the blink of an eye?" Ugh. He shoved the song away. It was far too happy for him today, far too hopeful.

He swallowed again as Gabe drew her hand away and sketched a tic-tac-toe board on his hand, drawing an X in the middle and handing him a green marker. He managed a chuckle when she told him about Gwyn fussing at her for what she had done this morning, but when she went to draw a smiley face on his neck it was difficult to focus on anything else. Todd was certain she could see his pulse pounding wildly, and the O he had drawn in the upper right corner looked more like a squiggly oval than anything else. Maybe Gabe wouldn't notice.

"Why do you hang out with her, anyway?" Todd asked, referring to Gwyn. He didn't have too much of a problem with the girl, but things would only be worse if he didn't keep the conversation going, and that was the first question to pop into his head.

___________________________________________________________________________

_{Word Count 670
Inspiration EMILY MEADE HOTNESS
Tags GABE
Status COMPLETE
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}
[/size][/blockquote][/i][/sub]

[GABE EVANS]

Gabe laughed at Todd’s response. Why would anyone care how she liked her coffee? What did it matter how many little things she liked put in it for the sake of making it drinkable? “I don’t know, but he felt as passionately about coffee as Pro Life vs. Pro Choice people or homosexuality …You know, more serious and controversial topics. But no, he’s not spouting off about politics or morals or anything. He’s got a vendetta against good coffee,” she laughed. “Speaking of which, I’m going back after school. The coffee’s okay, I just wanna see if Jonas is there again and see if he has anything else to say,” she said with a grin. Oh there was nothing she loved more than causing a scene and pushing people’s buttons. And if something like coffee about set Jonas off, what else could she do to him?

Of course, there were more important matters to tend to, such as tic tac toe. She tapped the end of her marker against her mouth as she eyed his circle. There was only so much strategy one could do with a three by three grid, but that never stopped them from having fun with it. Finally, she drew a large X opposite his O on the upper left corner. Tic tac toe was child’s play. They usually ended up with more cats than winners, but there was the strange occasion when someone fucked up or someone was smart enough to trap the other person. Already she could see three completed games on the dry erase board, all with a large C drawn over them. The hangman players and tic tac toe players were struggling for board space as Melody Hopkins guessed a very correct, and very profane answer to the hangman. Shaking her head, she turned back to Todd at his question about Gwyn. “Hmm? Oh…Well she does my homework,” Gabe said with a shrug. “And she always has the best gum,” she said, reaching for her pocket before realizing her shorts didn’t have any and reaching into her bag to pull out two sticks. “Strawberry Shortcake flavor! Want one?” she asked.

Homework and gum were perfectly acceptable reasons for hanging out with a person. Gwyn wasn’t so bad, and she was mildly entertaining whenever no one else was around. Of course, no one compared to the company of Todd Force or Liz Stark. Gwyn didn’t understand or appreciate the art of drawing on other people. She didn’t understand hugging and kissing all of your friends or being so comfortable around someone you weren’t dating or related to. She didn’t understand a lot of things about Gabe Evans and her relationships. In fact, it was a wonder why the two girls were friends at all. They disagreed on almost everything. Gabe’s Pro Choice to Gwyn’s Pro Life or Gwyn’s distaste for homosexuality versus Gabe’s fine appreciation for the gays and lesbians. There was Gwyn believing in no sex before marriage and Gabe thinking if people wanted to spread their legs for anyone and everyone, that was perfectly fine. A good advocate for the sluts of the world. There was the way Gabe told everyone what was on her mind whereas Gwyn was nicer…A nice little liar. The two argued a great deal. Gwyn claimed to hate arguing, but Gabe enjoyed it, yet another reason she didn’t mind hanging around the girl.

Why Gwyn felt the same, Gabe wasn’t sure.

“Of course, why I hang around you, I’ll never know,” she teased, grabbing a blue marker and creating a single dot on the tip of his nose. Thinking of Gwyn had done a good job of distracting her, but the moment she focused on Todd again she glanced away and swallowed hard, that strange feeling coming back. How did people do that whole friends with benefits thing, anyway? Sleeping with Todd once had made things horribly weird. Of course, that mainly must have been the mere fact that it was more than just sex for her. Those feelings needed to be forced away as soon as possible…It wasn’t like she was in love or anything. She had just acknowledged her feelings a few days ago, so it couldn’t be horrible. The best she could do was ignore it, though that was easier said than done. Gabe was wondering how on earth she was expected to pretend things were okay and that she didn’t feel what she did feel. Acting like things were normal wasn’t taking anything off of her mind.

“Psst! Todd!” whispered a nearby girl, Skylar Jameson. “I heard you had sex with a girl!” she said, eyes wide in surprise, though sharp and eying him as if searching for the truth.

For a moment, Gabe froze. Under normal circumstances it might have been hilarious, but not right now. Not when sex was the last thing she needed to be thinking about, especially that night. It also meant that certain party goers were blabbing about things they had heard and/or seen and it was already spreading around school. A few moments too late, Gabe laughed, knowing that was what she was supposed to do. It was supposed to be hilarious. A lot of people thought Todd was gay, so that should have been the most amusing thing ever. As she forced herself to seem amused, though, she felt anything but. She felt tense and strange and under a microscope, as if anything she did or said or thought would be immediately known for what it was and the truth would be out.

The continued belief that Todd was gay: hilarious.

Being reminded that she knew he wasn‘t: not so much.

tagged;; todd
wordcount;; 976
outfit;; here
notes;; woot woot awkward!
credit;; GREEN EGGS AND SAM! of caution 2.0
lyrics in text are from Forget Paris!

[TODD FORCE]

It was hard not to laugh as Gabe described the way Jonas had reacted to her coffee order, how strongly and passionately he had felt about the whole thing. Perhaps coffee really was as big of a deal to him as abortion and homosexuality were to some other people. Who knew, there were definitely some weirdos out there. At least Jonas was passionate about his job.

"At least it sounds like he's in the right line of work," Todd joked, laughing when Gabe announced that she would be going back after school to torment the guy. He would be making sure to tag along to see that, no matter how different things were between them now. Well, "awkward" was a better word than "different." Nothing had changed between them... not really. Nothing could change between them. Gabe was his very best friend... she would always be his very best friend. And even if they could never be any more than that, Todd couldn't bear to lose what they already had.

The feel of a marker on his skin brought Todd's eyes back down to the game they were playing on his hand. He could already tell that this would be a cat's game. Her X in the upper left gave her two in a row, so of course he drew a green O in the lower right to block her. She'd put an X in the middle right between his two O's, and then he would put an O in the middle left to block her two X's across the middle, and so on until neither of them won. Todd sighed and hoped that not everything was so hopeless as this game, but he certainly seemed otherwise at the moment.

He glanced to the side at Gabe while she explained why she hung out with Gwyn - for homework help and for gum. That made Todd smirk with amusement, licking his lips when she turned away to grab a few pieces out of her bag. He allowed himself a moment to just look at her, blue-green eyes filled with longing. He remembered everything... how her touches felt, the taste of her lips, the way she had looked up at him with those dark, beautiful eyes when he moaned her name. Todd wanted to take her hand... more than anything he wanted just to reach over and to take her hand. But things weren't that simple anymore.

"Sure," Todd said as brightly as possible when Gabe offered him a stick of strawberry shortcake gum, unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully for a few minutes before grinning and glancing to her with sparkling eyes. "Okay, so now I get it," he laughed, sitting back in his chair. The gum was extraordinary. He'd never had strawberry shortcake flavor before, but it was immediately one of his favorites. It was such a unique flavor, too... he wondered what other odd but delicious flavors Gwyn would have. Maybe he would have to start hanging out with the girl, too. She was a bit conservative for Todd's liking, not because he cared so much about politics, but because conservative people tended to be much more stuck up than others. At least in Todd's experience. But if she was smart and could lend out homework answers as well as awesome gum, he might have to give it a shot.

Todd chuckled when Gabe continued on to say that she wasn't sure why she hung out with him, rolling his eyes and pretending to look hurt. "I hook you up with booze, remember? Hell, I hook up half of this school with booze," he laughed. Everyone knew that Todd kept bottles of beer and other liquor in his locker, with fake labels to keep the teachers from realizing what was really inside the bottles. There probably wasn't a student who didn't know, though, and what was even better was that no one told. At least part of the reason was that they all knew where to go if they needed alcohol for any reason.

A girl named Skylar leaned over and whispered that she had heard a rumor that Todd had had sex with a girl. He felt Gabe tense beside him, and it was hard not to tense himself. People that had been at the party were spreading rumors about them... he wanted to blame Christian, what with the way the guy had been acting all night, pushing Todd and Gabe together at the beginning and making sure that no one let up on them since. But really, it could have been anyone. Everyone at that party must have known, because they were always shoving the two of them together ever since they had returned from Todd's guest room. Todd had wanted desperately to believe that he and Gabe, while they weren't a real couple, had simply been the couple of choice for that night; that he would wake up the next morning with a terrible hangover and everything would be normal. That was obviously not the case.

"It was Valentine's Day, Skye," Todd defended easily, feeling as though his voice would quiver or crack any minute. It didn't, though, and he was surprised to hear that he actually sounded somewhat natural. Thank the gods. "C'mon, where's your holiday spirit," he teased her with a chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest as he tipped his chair back on two legs.

He had to keep up the facade. It had meant nothing. He and Gabe were best friends, and nothing more.

Todd hated the way his heart sank down to his shoes.

___________________________________________________________________________

_{Word Count 940
Inspiration EMILY MEADE HOTNESS
Tags GABE
Status COMPLETE
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}
[/size][/blockquote][/i][/sub]

[GABE EVANS]

“I guess so,” Gabe laughed, shaking her head. She wasn’t entirely sure why someone would hire someone else that opinionated about coffee. How was one supposed to get any customers with some jackass declaring that plain old scalding hot plain black coffee was the only thing anyone should ever drink. “This time I’ll ask him to put everything in there. Whipped cream, ice cream, sprinkles, caramel, chocolate, sugar, candy, anything and everything they offer,” she laughed. “He’ll probably die from shock! Or call the Coffee Police on me.” It was really sort of ridiculous how Jonas had been, but it was also amusing at the same time.

Gabe laughed when the mere act of chewing a new flavor of gum would help Todd understand her friendship with Gwyn. “I told you! Plus she’s pretty desperate for friends, so she’s my charity case,” she added with a small laugh. Gwyn was one of the most uptight people ever, something Gabe constantly reminded her of. She was conservative in the extreme and because of it she had little to no friends. It made her extremely loyal to the people who actually put up with her, and on several occasions Gwyn did defend Gabe to people talking about her behind her back. It gave Gabe a small soft spot for the girl, though they were hardly very close at all. Though she supposed to Gwyn, Gabe must have been her best and only friend. “I figure with how horrible I am, I must do something to atone for being such a horrible bitch,” she laughed.

She was loud and proud with her beliefs. One day in English, the teacher had been discussing staying away from such overdone topics such as abortion for their paper, which had led to a Gabe versus the majority of the class argument over Pro Choice against Pro Life, Gabe being the strong advocate for Choice. Then there was the day a small mob of overzealous Christians began preaching to a gay couple, Tom Hudgens and Bradley Hopkins. Gabe had interfered then, too, which led to the entire hallway arguing against one another, for or against gay marriage. She was notorious for telling the truth, especially when it went against what everyone else thought or when it was negative. Things like that tended to get everyone talking and it always made Gabe excited to start a good scandal among the student body. People learned to be careful with what they said and how they worded things around Gabe, though that still didn’t always help matters. She was far too observant and smart for her own good.

The tic tac toe game wasn’t going well. Each time one put one thing down, the other would quickly block them from winning. Gabe sighed, though she had expected it. Every part of the grid was filled now and she picked up her black marker and drew a large C over the board. “Stupid cat,” she mumbled, picking up a brown marker and drawing a cat face on Todd’s arm, then picking up her magenta marker and drawing two Xs for eyes and a green O for his mouth. She didn’t even like cats anyway. Or dogs. The only okay pets were things like fish and her lizard, Byrd. But all things fuzzy and “cute” were not on her good list. Especially when cats popped up in tic tac toe games. “Poor kitty,” she giggled, glancing at her other markers.

Todd’s excuse for their friendship was his booze supply and Gabe rolled her eyes, abandoning her search for a marker in favor of laughing at him. “Oh whatever. I don’t drink that much. And I could steal your booze if I wanted to,” she teased, deciding on a blue marker to write “GABE ♥’s TODD & LIZ” above the cat head. “I have talent, remember?” she laughed, winking at him. She did have a knack for stealing things, which was one of several reasons that she believed Hermes was her father, even though she was unclaimed. Gabe had several of the same talents as his claimed children, and her special gift of robbery and such matters made it all the more obvious she had to be the daughter of the god of thieves.

All of the fun ended when Skylar piped in, bringing up a certain rumor that was too true. Todd teased back, acting perfectly normal, and as her laughing died out, she just sat at her desk and stared down at her hands, both clenched together hard. No one was paying her much attention, thank gods, but it was still so foolish. She hated herself for feeling like this. She hated the need to do something…To say something about it, to flirt with him, to touch him, all of those silly things girls did when it came to the guys she liked. Gabe swallowed hard, clenching her jaw hard and ignoring the stinging of her eyes. It hurt a lot, knowing that things would never change. It was the only thing she could do, keep reminding herself that she and Todd would never, ever be anything more than they were now. Gabe didn’t need false hope, but the truth wasn’t doing her much good, either.

Picking up her black Sharpie marker, she uncapped it and held her hand under her desk, the hand that had the word LOVE tattooed across her wrist. No one really needed to see this. With the marker, she scratched out the word drawn in blue, green, pink, and yellow. Easy enough colors to hide with black. She drew a nice little rectangle around the word and colored it in, bending her head over enough so that her long hair covered her face and hid the one tear that managed to escape. When the word was invisible to her, she put the lid back on the marker and quickly wiped away the tear and cleared her throat, sitting up straight and lining up all of her markers on her desk, unsure of what to do or say now. Gabe felt as if she needed to do something, but nothing was coming to mind.

Silence between best friends: comfortable.

Silence when you’ve fucked and have feelings for your best friend: awkward.

tagged;; todd
wordcount;; 1057
outfit;; here
notes;; woot woot awkward!
credit;; GREEN EGGS AND SAM! of caution 2.0
lyrics in text are from Forget Paris!

[TODD FORCE]

Todd laughed when Gabe explained what all she would be ordering in her coffee later, imagining not only the look on this kid Jonas's face, but how that coffee would taste. Of course, Todd would drink it if Gabe didn't. Nothing drinkable or edible went to waste while Todd was around, ever. And not because he was an advocate for finishing everything on your plate because people were starving in China or whatever. He was just that hungry.

He laughed even more when Gabe said that Gwyn was her charity case, and she hung out with her basically for good karma. Todd supposed that was a good enough idea. Gabe could be pretty nasty, even if honesty was the best policy. Todd only loved her more for it, though. It was not only entertaining, but a unique quality that just made Gabe Gabe. He could remember countless occasions when Gabe's mouth had gotten her into trouble with either teachers or students alike, but Gabe didn't care. She always gave her opinion, her entire opinion, loudly. You could expect no less from Gabe, and it made her a very interesting person to be around. It was just one thing that Todd loved about his friend.

Todd grinned when Gabe muttered about stupid cats, and drew a dead tic-tac-toe cat on his skin. "Make it a zombie cat," he encouraged with a chuckle. Gabe rolled her eyes and assured him that she could steal his booze if she wanted to, and that she didn't need him for that. Todd laughed, a sparkle in his sea-blue eyes, feeling a bit more normal.

"I guess you just love me, then," he teased with a shrug, glancing away when he realized what he had just said, and how much he wished it were true. He knew Gabe loved him, at least as a friend, but that wasn't enough for him anymore... He wanted to spend more and more time with her, wanted any excuse to hold her hand, or to touch her at all. Todd wanted to hug her, to hold her, kiss her anywhere he could... He had definitely developed feelings for her, and that wasn't good at all. It made everything so weird between him and Gabe right now, it was even more unbearable than knowing he could never do anything about the way he felt.

Silence had fallen over them, a terribly awkward silence that Todd couldn't remember ever feeling with Gabe before. His tapping foot was a sure sign of his anxiety, and Todd forced himself to hold still. Then his leg started bouncing, and he fought the urge to sigh. He glanced at Gabe, who was bent over doing something underneath the desk.

"I'mma go to the bathroom. I'll be back," he mumbled, unable to take it anymore. He got up and left the room, taking a few steps down the hall before turning and letting his back fall against the lockers, tilting his head back with a loud bang against the metal. Todd hissed in pain and closed his eyes, digging his fingers into the locker behind him.

He couldn't do this.

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_{Word Count 523
Inspiration EMILY MEADE HOTNESS
Tags GABE
Status COMPLETE
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}
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