A Walk to Forget

[TheLeakyFaucet†]

((Debut Of Laverne Falciander))

Her heart felt like it was about to explode. This was nothing new though. A lifetime of obesity had taught Laverne Falciander all the different palpitations and movements of body. Still, that didn't stop her from forcing herself to run through the back alley of the Promenade with all her might. Keep running....don't stop....just keep going...you aren't a loser, girl....

It almost seemed like a joke. After receiving therapy after her suicide attempt, her doctors had also taken a note that she was, "grossly obese", by modern standards. Although she protested all the way, she'd been forced into a weekly jog around St.Paul to help her lose weight and boost her self-confidence. This hadn't worked. She didn't feel any better about herself. She didn't feel like a winner. All she felt was that she was about to throw up...

Laverne dashed through the alley of cardboard boxes and beer bottles. Her jogging pants and face were covered in sweat as she forced her beefy legs onward. On an intellectual level to her, it was all just a competition. Sure, there were a few bumps and bruises along the way to victory, but you had to press onward through the pain if you wanted to make it there.

"Beat them all", she thought. "Beat them all good and show them you're not a fat loser. That's the ticket..."

Her heart was getting worse. The burning sensation surged through her entire chest and he couldn't take it anymore. Her exercise was ended abruptly when she hunched over in the middle of the alley and vomited out her breakfast onto the dirty ground. Gagging and feeling like fire tongs were poking the inside of her throat, she stumbled backwards and slid down the wall of the alleyway like a wet sponge. A normal person would have cried from the pain she was feeling, but to her, it was a minor inconvenience on the path to victory. The fat girl sat against the wall and breathed heavily. Five minutes. Five minutes of rest and she'd be back to her jog...

Side-Note: Uh-oh. I just posted this when I realized there was another topic in the same section with the exact same name. I feel really stupid right now. I guess I just looked over the topics in the section and I remembered the title subconciously and posted this without thinking. I'm really sorry.I'm trying to change the name of the topic but I can't figure out how. Any help?

[MurderWeasel]

((Everett Taylor continued from Just passing the time))

Everett did not like the mall, not one bit. He hated the noise, the crowds, the shops, the food. He only went when he absolutely had to, and even then he put it off as long as possible, using homework and other academic activities as aids in his procrastination.

Unfortunately, shopping time had come around again. His white button-down shirts were starting to look old, and he had managed to spill mustard on his blue tie, ruining it. This meant he had to replace them. Everett believed in formality and respectability; as such, he always wore button-down white shirts and ties to school. He wished Bayview had a dress code; nothing annoyed him more than sloppy teachers dressed like refugees from the 1960s.

Out of school, though, was a different story. Today, Everett was wearing bluejeans and a large, yellow t-shirt. All his shirts were slightly too large for him, even his formal ones, the better to hide his substantial girth.

He was walking through the alley towards where he had parked, carrying a large bag from a department store, which contained six new shirts and two new ties. He had borrowed his mom's car for the day, and didn't trust the denizens of the mall's parking garage with it, so he had parked a couple of blocks away. The alley was the easiest way to get there. Turning the corner, he caught sight of a large girl sitting against the wall, panting.

Uh oh... Is she stoned? Dying? What do I do?

He had taken a class in first aid and CPR, a fact he made mention of on resumes whenever possible, and decided to offer what assistance he could, if she needed it. He wasn't at all sure he was doing things right, though, as he glanced around.

Check the scene for safety... Okay, there aren't any live electrical wires or open gas lines or whatever. Looks safe enough to me. I identify myself and ask if she needs help now, right?

"Hello. My name is Everett Taylor. I'm first aid certified. May I be of assistance?"

As he got closer, he saw that the girl was someone he'd seen around school. Lavender something or other, he thought. He also saw that she didn't seem to be in any serious danger after all, which was something of a relief.

"Er... Are you alright?" he asked, backpedaling, "I wasn't sure, and the alley's pretty abandoned, so I thought I'd ask. I've heard rumors of fights and stuff back here, and I wanted to make sure you hadn't been attacked."

Way to be awkward. Hopefully she won't think you're a total freak.

[TheLeakyFaucet†]

Laverne glanced up to see a slightly chubby kid with light brown hair. He was holding a department store bag in his hand and looking at her worriedly; when she really took things into perspective though, she couldn't blame him. He'd walked through the alley and seen a three-hundred pound girl hunched over and gagging like she was about to explode. He probably thinks you're having a heart attack or something....

"I'm fine", Laverne muttered. Clutching her chest, she breathed steadily like her doctor had taught her and forced herself up from the wall. "Just getting a healthy work out. Lose some weight, y'know?" Yeah, and alot of good that's doing you too. Two damn months and you haven't even lost ten pounds. What kind of logic is that? You aren't a weakling. You're strong. You deserve better....

Continuing her breathing excercise, she looked over at the kid. He was still staring at her. A little annoyed that something else had stopped her jogging but feeling obligated to talk to him, she forced a smile on her sweaty face.

"No one attacked me", she explained. "I'm just resting. You have no idea how your gut feels after you run non-stop all morning".

There was a moment of awkward silence where she didn't know what to say next. Surveying the boy up and down, Laverne found herself sizing him up. It was a bad habit, and one that she knew she would have to grow out of, but it was something she liked doing. It was good to figure out if other people were competition. Looking over the boy though, she couldn't really see much. He was pretty average-looking, maybe a little chubby and polished-looking, but nothing really stood out about him to her.

"I'm Laverne", she said finally.

[MurderWeasel]

Everett was relieved to hear that the girl was alright. He wasn't too comfortable with his first aid training, and was glad he wouldn't have to test it on another person.

She then made two quick comments that left Everett at a momentary loss for words: "just getting a healthy work out. Lose some weight, y'know?", and, more tellingly, "You have no idea how your gut feels after you run non-stop all morning."

Ouch. I know I need to work out a little, well, maybe a lot, but do I really look that bad?

I guess it's true, though. I don't have any idea how it feels.

He sighed, and decided to assume that she was trying to be social, and not to make comments about his weight. After all, she was in no position to talk. Everett angsted enough about his weight on his own time, there was no reason to do so in company as well.

She looked him up and down, making him feel a bit like a bug under a microscope, and then finished up by giving her name, Laverne, not Lavender. He was glad he hadn't tried using the wrong name; that would have made both of them feel bad.

"I'm Everett," he said, "I think I've seen you around Bayview, right?"

He was actually positive he'd seen her at school; she wasn't hard to pick out of a crowd. Still, there was no point saying that. Everett knew exactly how bad being overweight felt, and there was no reason to help that along, especially with a girl who was obviously doing a lot to change.

More than you'll ever do...

"So, do you, you know, come jogging here often?" he asked her, gesturing to the ally, "It doesn't seem like the nicest place, but I guess it's at least shady."

[TheLeakyFaucet†]

"Yeah, I go to Bayview", Laverne responded. "I was out most of junior year though. I think I've seen you around in the hallway".

She found herself pausing for a second. It would have been pretty hard for Everett to not have seen her around Bayview. After all, she was the Hurricane. Pretty hard to miss....

"And I'm just cutting through", Laverne responded. "I'm supposed to take a path around town but I took a shortcut through here to get a few minutes of hell off my back. I swear, those doctors with all of their excercise bullshit are going to kill me one day. So what were you doing at the mall?"

When she finished talking, she felt a wave of stupidity cloud over her. She always got worked up when she started talking about her excercise. It was something that she absolutely hated doing, but if she ever wanted to become a winner, it was absolutely vital. There was no other option but to prove them all wrong. There were times when she wished she could spend her days shopping or hanging out at the mall like the other kids, but she just couldn't. It wasn't her. Feeling her heart slowly calming down, she massaged her chest and decided that she could take a few minutes off her schedule to chat.

[MurderWeasel]

Everett was torn between sympathy and mild disdain when Laverne explained what she was doing in the alley. On the one hand, she had to do a lot of hard work. On the other, she was trying to skip out on some of it.

Still, she's doing more than you ever did. When exercise got tough you didn't cut corners, you just quit.

Shut up.

"I was at the mall buying clothes," Everett said, drowning in thoughts under his words, "My old ones were getting a little ratty, and it's important to me to look clean."

He pulled one of the white shirts out of his bag. He had no intention whatsoever of showing Laverne the others; she would probably think he was boring or a freak for buying six identical shirts. He also kept quiet about the other reason he was buying shirts: besides getting a bit threadbare, his old ones were starting to get a bit tight on him. Plenty of denial went with that. His favorite excuse was that they had shrunk a little each time they were washed.

"I don't like the mall parking lot, and I borrowed my mom's car. It'd be really bad if it got stolen or something, so I parked it a ways away. This is the quickest way back."

He paused, a little unsure of what to say. Did he share any common ground with Laverne whatsoever? They both went to Bayview, and they were both here... School seemed a safer bet. They'd exhausted most of the conversation topics about the alley. He took a second and made a snap judgment: she looked like the Language Arts type. Maybe she was even in a class doing the same assignments.

"I'm on my way home to get working on an essay. LA's been giving a lot of them lately. It's on an old Chinese story. I can't wait to get the essay started."

[Sunnybunny]

((Scott McGregor's intro post))

This was a hell of a way to start his weekend off of work.

It had killed him to actually request a day off. He needed to save up for college, an apartment, a car, a real fucking life. But he needed to work on some freshman's summary of Romeo and Juliet, as well as study for some exams of his own. But his parents were off too, and getting any work done with them around was just not happening.

He had been interested in trying a new art medium for a while, but he just hadn't been inspired by anything. He had been hanging around with his friends when one of them mentioned graffiti. It made him think. He had never considered it to be a viable art form but eh, maybe it could shake his funk. He hadn't been able to produce anything of quality lately. It was killing him; he needed to draw as much as he needed to make money. And he needed both of those things at least as much as he needed to breath.

He'd alternated between running and jogging to the mall. If he was going to do this thing, it was going to be in a spot he everyone could see. No point in wasting what talent he had on something no one would ever see. Pulling out his sketchbook, he made his way to the back alley. There were already two people there. Were they about to have a quickie or something? Looking closer, Scott recognized them both from school, but he didn't really know the guy.

Now that would be one hell of a drawing.

He glanced at both of them. After a pause he asked, "Hey, not to be rude or anything, but am I interupting something?" He damn sure hoped not, he did not feel like leaving.

[TheLeakyFaucet†]

Laverne was just about to answer Everett when a new voice startled her.

"Hey, not to be rude or anything, but am I interupting something?"

She turned to her side and saw a kid she knew from school holding one of those sketchbooks. With a quick look at his face, she was able to remember his name. She was pretty sure it was Scott. Scott McGregor. Now, with the two obstacles standing beside her, she couldn´t help but feel pissed. All she´d done was take a break and, almost like she was being punished, she now had no other choice but to strike up a conversation with two people she hardly knew. God damn it.

¨No¨, she said. ¨Ít´s fine. You´re not interupting anything. I´m just out for a jog and I decided to stop¨.

She wanted to scream at both Everett and Scott and tell them to get lost now. After all, they were blocking her from getting on with her daily routine. True, a normal person would have been thrilled to actually socialize with another human being, but it just didn´t seem right to her. They weren´t people. They were just obstacles to her. And all obstacles had to be conquered. Besides, she couldn´t yell at them. Like it or not, she just couldn´t bring herself to be that much of a bitch. Feeling a familiar scent clog her nostrils, Laverne realized the alley was behind the food court. Not just the food court, but McDonalds. Snap out of it. No Big Macs on the road to victory, you fat bitch.

¨I think I have that essay too¨, she said, finally responding to Everett. ¨That old Chinese stuff is tough¨.

[MurderWeasel]

Another guy wandered into the alley, and Everett got a little worried. It was getting a little bit busy for such a secluded place. He really hoped no one thought they were a gang of criminals or something. Granted, they didn't look menacing in the slightest, but still, they were a large group of teenagers in a deserted alley.

The newcomer was also from Bayview, Scott was his name, Everett thought. He was carrying some sort of notepad or sketchbook, and he asked if he was interrupting anything.

Laverne answered, and Everett chimed in, "You aren't interrupting anything. I was just headed back to the car when I bumped into Larverne."

He looked Scott over, wondering what the boy was doing here. Hopefully not a drug deal or some sort of crime. That would be really, really bad. Everett got nervous about people breaking rules, whether they were laws or simply social taboos.

He nodded along with Laverne's statement about the essays, and then said to Scott, "So, what brings you to this... interesting area today?"

[Sunnybunny]

Laverne and . . . Everett, yeah that was his name, actually weren't here together. Well, so much for his art. Everett asked him what he was doing here. Spray painting wasn't exactly murder, but it was still a crime. Fortunately, he hadn't brought anything with him that looked suspious. "I was writing an essay and lost focus, so I came here.", he said, then pulled his baseball cap over his eyes. "Nothing like a good run to help you think, huh?"

Well, in that hit you miss: she'll not be hit
With Cupid's arrow; she hath Dian's wit;
And, in strong proof of chastity well arm'd,
From love's weak childish bow she lives unharm'd.
She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes,
Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold:
O, she is rich in beauty, only poor,
That when she dies with beauty dies her store

This is ridiculous, now I'm hearing Romeo's voice in my head? I am never reading anything from that nutjob Shakespeare again. Romeo was pathetic anyway, at least Hamlet killed people while HE was whining.

Was that McDonald's he smelled? He figured his store was going through a rush right now. That was generally what he looked foward to day-to-day. School was just a waste . . . except when it was another source of income. Lazy kids from all grades came to him for his services, and he delivered - for a price. Who said you don't get paid to go to school?

Since it didn't seem like either of them were leaving, he guessed he would try to be social. If they didn't respond, then at least he could say he tried for once. "So, are either of you going to prom?"

[TheLeakyFaucet†]

"So, are either of you going to prom?"

The words hit Laverne hard. Eye contact with either of the boys suddenly stopped as she stared down at the ground of that disgusting alley. It was an impossiblity. That was the best word for it. It was a complete impossiblity for a boy to ask out some poor old fat bitch who'd never been out on a dance floor before. That wasn't saying she wouldn't go to bed with thoughts ping-ponging in her head about prom, but she knew there was no way anyone would ask her. True, she could always go single, but that really wasn't her style. It was the sure-fire way to make everyone in school see you were a complete loser. You're not going hell or high water....

There definitley wasn't a shortage of cute boys in St.Paul though. And she could only dream about one of them actually walking up to her and say those magic words. Want to go to prom with me? But whenever she brought up a good-looking guy in her mind, all she could see was them turning her down. Sometimes they would even laugh at her. Hell, even Scott and Everett didn't seem like they would say yes to her....

"Yeah", Laverne lied quickly. "I got my date all figured out. It's going to be one hell of a night".

[MurderWeasel]

Scott chatted a little, asking if either of them were going to Prom, and Laverne quickly said that she was, and already had her date planned.

Everett was nowhere near that prepared. Actually, he hadn't given Prom much thought at all. He supposed he would go, it was one of the biggest events at the end of Senior year, after all, but he wasn't particularly excited. He didn't have a date, didn't think he would get one, and didn't particularly care. He didn't dance, and he most certainly had no interest in the wild After-Prom parties he had heard about. Drugs, alcohol, casual sex... what was the appeal?

No, he would just go to the dance, hang around a while awkwardly, maybe chat with some of his friends, and head home to study. If he was really lucky, he'd get to go to a semi-nice restaurant beforehand. He was far more interested in the Senior Trip, which would at least take him away for a little, give him an actual breather and some time to just chill out.

"I think I'll probably go to Prom," he said, "but, you know, maybe not. I don't have a date, and I'm not much into dances, so..."

Trailing off, he took a deep breath. Something smelled really strongly of burger. Were they behind McDonalds? Yum.

"How about you? Are you going to Prom?" he asked Scott, figuring he probably was, since he had brought up the topic.

[Sunnybunny]

So Laverne had a date to the prom. He was surprised, but happy for her. Even though they weren't friends or even associates, Scott had a lot of respect for the girl. At one point, people had considered talking shit about her a competivite sport, but she still managed to do her thing and turn it around. She was on the student council, right? She was doing a hell of a lot better than him socially.

Everett wasn't planning on going, which made him feel a little better. It would suck if he had to sit here and listen to them both gush about their plans for the night. The fact was, although he wouldn't mind going to prom and seeing all those hot girls dressed up, he couldn't think of anyone he liked enough to go with. It was a little pathetic, but why should he spend his hard-earned money on someone who didn't really care. On people who didn't really know him. It was his own fault of course, but still . . .

He grinned wildly at the two other other students. "I don't think I'll waste my money on prom. I might swing by the after-party, though. To be honest, I'm saving my money so I don't have to be so tight-fisted at the senior trip." He was a little shocked when the words came out. He generally didn't share his probelms with his friends, let alone random classmates in an alley at the mall. His friends were going nowhere in life, to be honest. They were pretty much his family, but all they cared about was the next party, the next high. He needed more than that.

Maybe this conversation could be of some use to him.

[TheLeakyFaucet†]

Laverne had considered going on the senior trip. She hadn't really gotten much of the high school experience, and the trip really did seem fun. On the other hand, the thought of spending what was supposed to be a good time with the same people that had tormented her for four years was almost laughable. Still, it's the senior trip. Everyone goes. What's the worst that could happen?...

Her thoughts trailed away from the senior trip to the thoughts of her tormenters. Even in the most trivial parts of the day, they always found a way to slip into her mind and spit out insults at her. Hey fat bitch, the farm wants you back with the rest of the litter. The Hurricane's so fat she was baptized at Sea World. Laverne's so fat that they needed to get an arial shot to squeeze her in for the yearbook. She'd heard it all. She'd heard it all a lot...

But even with all of her tormenters, she'd still won the election. It was a small victory, but at least it was something to feel proud over. Class treasurer. It wasn't really much when you thought about it, but at least it gave you a role in the school. You gave a good speech. Even if some of those kids just voted for you as a joke, you still got what you wanted.

"The senior trip's going to be good", Laverne said. "And after that, college is right around the corner. Only a couple months and I'm out of this shithole town for good. We're growing up fast, huh?"

[MurderWeasel]

Scott wasn't going to Prom, which Everett completely understood. He was glad to see that he wasn't the only one who wasn't bursting with excitement over it. Scott then actually mentioned the senior trip, and Everett gave a tiny start. It was so weird when people seemed almost to channel his thoughts. Creepy, in a way. It happened to him a good deal, too. He couldn't really think of any way to reply, though; money was not something he wanted to discuss with someone he had never had a real conversation with, not while carrying a bag of shirts that, while not obscenely expensive, certainly weren't cheap.

Laverne then chimed in, mentioning college. That was a subject Everett could talk about at length, though he definitely didn't want to. For the past two and a half years, he had lived for college. He had done everything he could to pad out his resume: community service, tutoring, academic clubs. He had taken mountains of AP classes, spent every free minute desperately trying to keep his GPA up. His college applications had not gone as well as he'd hoped, though.

Sure, he'd gotten acceptance letters from schools some of his classmates would have loved to hear from. That didn't matter, though. He hadn't gotten into the best. He hadn't made it quite to the top, and that meant he'd failed, at least for now.

Mom said she was proud, but she was so encouraging when I said I thought I'd try to transfer up next year. She knows I can do better. She knows I could have done better. I can't screw up again...

Everett planned to ace his first year of college, and then transfer to a better school, and actually show he was worthwhile. Assuming he was, of course. Sometimes it sure didn't feel like it.

"...yeah. Really fast," he said, "I don't know that I'm quite ready for what's next yet, though. There's so much more I wish I'd done."

Like being class president, or valedictorian, or something...

"I guess I'm too young to say that already, though," he said with a forced laugh.