CHAPTER 1: Gordvit
“Aughhhh mom, can you get out of my room?” Steve said, pulling over his blanket.
“You should go to school Steve one more late day and they could suspend my license!”
Steve put a pillow on his head and flipped on his side he felt a pit in his stomach.
“Ugh, if I ever run into that Skylar girl I just might lose it”
He sat up on the bed and put on his beanie, his mom walked in with an angry look on her face.
“Hurry up!”
Steve eventually got to school and dragged his feet down the hall. Some people walked up to him, high-fived him, then went on about their ways. Then! It was that girl; he bumped right into her.
“Watch it, freshie!” she said while swiping up her papers and quickly shoving them in her binder.
“Excuse me! I am not a freshie! We’re in the same grade,” Steve said.
Then slap! Steve rubbed the side of his face; it sting.
“You’re going to regret that! You little shit!”
Steve tackled Skylar on the floor and pulled her hair. She had both feet on Steve’s stomach, ready to push him off. A teacher came running out to the hall.
“What the heck is going on?!”
“This dip shit just tackled me!” Skylar said it loudly.
“Steve! Come here!” the teacher said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He signaled to come here again.
“Fuckin’ fine,” Steve said, grumbling under his breath and pulling his hoodie strings.
The whispers started as Skylar stood up and dusted her pants off.
“Stupid, edgy kid” she grumbled, then stormed through the crowd heading to class.
Back in Steve’s world, he’s getting a lecture on not fighting people and how your future is important. He sinks down in his chair and huffs.
“Steve, are you even listening?”
“UGH!” he said, rolling his eyes. “This is pointless,” he says as he throws his arms behind him.
Steve stands up and heads for the door. Mr. Vandal stops him.
“Steve! Stop; you need serious help.”
Steve quickly turned around, and his eyes widened.
“Help? “Well, I don’t need help; this whole thing is pointless, and my life stinks!” he says, crossing his arms.
Mr. Vandal breathes in and out slowly.
“Steve, you missed about twenty-seven days of school therapy.”
“UGH! My dad doesn’t even want me going.” He huffs, “I’m out!”
He says as he is storming out of the room and slamming the door.
“Therapy therapy?! What a joke! I’d rather stick to my cigarettes,” he grumbles.
Steve heads back to class, storming through the hallways. He kept his eyes straight forward and his head low. He could hear chatter behind him, and he eventually heard his name.
“Ew, isn’t it that guy that attacked Skylar? total freak! He smells like beer and cigarettes every day!” The one girl chuckled, and then the other one followed around with her.
Steve turned around.
“Yeah, I do, bitch! So what?”
“Alright, alright, chill!” the one girl said with her shoulders tensing up.
Steve turned around and re-adjusted his book bag, and that’s when he saw Skylar again.
That girl, he said in his head. Steve felt crazed at the idea of her; she made him feel deranged.
It’s something about you that I hate, and I’m going to figure it out!
Skylar slowly turned to him, squinting her eyes.
“Steve!” She said it with rapid eyes.
Then Steve froze in place, and his fingers stiffened out.
“What the fuck is it?! Shouldn’t you be going to the bathroom?” said Steve, looking at the bathroom pass dangling in her hand.
“How was that lecture? Aww, little deranged Steve has to get school therapy,” she said mindlessly.
“Shut it!” Steve said.
Then a kid down the hall comes rushing up to them. It was Steve’s friend, Ron.
“Ron! Tell this foolish girl to shut up.”
“Woah, woah,” Ron said, putting his hands up in front of him. “No need to fight; we can all be chill.”
“No!” Steve and Skylar said it all at once.
“Tell pea for brains to stop bothering me!” Skylar said, pointing at Steve.
Steve puts his hand on his chest.
“Me bothering you? Are you…you…MAD?” he gasped. “How fucking dare you?!”
He says as he is throwing his book bag to the floor.
At this moment, Steve felt numb. He was tired of people accusing him of stuff he didn’t do.
Skylar took a few steps back, then glanced at Steve’s fist, then back at him.
“Alright, alright, boney hands, let’s drop this,” says Skylar, letting out a faint laugh.
“NO!”
Then she gets tackled again by Steve on the dirty floor.
Ron grabs Steve by the shoulders but struggles to pull him away. Steve was pretty tall, so it was hard to get him to budge even a little.
“Goddammit!” Ron barks.
Skylar throws a punch.
This causes Steve to roll over on the floor in agony as he curls up. “Fuckin wow!” He says.
“That’s what you get for pulling my hair, dipshit!” says Skylar, slowly getting up.
Ron stumbles over to Skylar.
“You alright?”
“What do you think?!” She says while panting.
“A 5’8 skeleton just tackled me shithead!”
Then suddenly a principal comes bolting down the hallway towards Steve and takes him away.
“Steve! Again? Come with me, young man.”
“Ughh,” he says, hesitating to get up. “That little bitch started it!”
Ron watches the principal take Steve away, then turns to Skylar and sees her making mockery faces. Ron quickly jabs her shoulder.
“Stop acting immature!”
“Owww, that hurt,” she says, holding her shoulder.
A few hours later, after school, Steve was at home getting a lecture from his mom.
“Steve! What is with you?! I am disappointed; it’s only been nine weeks of school, and you’ve already been sent to your counselor twice and the principal!”
His mom (Jan) rambled on for a long time.
Steve sunk into the couch more and had his hoodie on over his face.
“Ughhh,” he grumbled. “Can this woman leave me in hell alone?”
Steve tries to tune out his mom’s voice, but it’s too annoying to tune out.
“STEVE! Are you even listening to me?”
“Yeah yeah mhm, mhm, totally.”
Jan pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Steve you know what? I’m getting your father in this since my words can’t get to you”
Steve eyes went intense
“Wait, why?! That man will ground me for…forever!”
Jan ignores him and calls Steve’s dad (Tod)
beep beep beep
“Hello? Jan what is it, WAIT! don’t tell me…ugh…is it Steve?”
“YES! I’m sorry hun but my words aren’t getting to him I’m afraid.”
Steve grabbed his hoodie strings tight and tugged.
“Alright hand it to Steve”
Steve’s hands started to shake and he took a big gulp and took the phone from his mom.
“STEVE! you’re causing your mama stressful days. It’s been everyday for how long I can remember!”
“Sor-”
“SORRY ain’t gonna cut it! Steve maybe when you were a wee skeleton lad, I could’ve easily forgave you but…GOD your so fucking annoying now and hard headed!”
All Steve could do was listen to his dad’s rambling. He zoned out on all of his words and he became numb again.
But what he said next pulled him back into focus.
“Imma have a talk with Skylar’s parents too, GREAT, now I’m angry and expected to be grounded!”
Then Tod instantly hung up. Steve fell to his side and curled up into a ball.
“Here mom” he says in a low tone and hands the phone back to his mom.
“Steve I hope you learned something dear after all these punishments,” Jan says storming upstairs to go lay down or presumably take her own timeout.
“I’m never getting out of this shitty house and life” he mumbled to himself.
He couldn’t cry anymore; he had learned to cope in an unhealthy way. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes
and went outside to smoke some.
“Alright when he gets here just tune him out and lock the door” he said to himself.
Meanwhile at Skylar’s house:
“Skylar!” Her uncle Patrick bellowed. “Get down here, I need your help in the garage.” Skylar rushed downstairs like she was in an action movie, hoping for a plot twist that involved less grease.
“Ugh, what now, Patrick?” she groaned. “You’ve been working on this vehicle for—” she paused to count on her fingers, “—five days!”
“Sweet pea, it’s just that I need to get this car into tip-top shape,” Patrick replied, sounding like he was about to audition for a commercial about classic cars.
“Why are you still so fixated on this car?” Skylar asked, trying to keep her patience intact.
Patrick took a dramatic pause and sighed. “Look, I feel like this is the only way I can connect with your dad.”
Skylar had to admit, the car did hold a special place in her heart—mostly because it seemed like a time machine that brought her back to the days before the car had more rust than paint.
“Do you ever just sit and stare at it, remembering the good old times with him?” Skylar asked.
“Oh, all the time, sweet pea. You have nooo idea,” Patrick chuckled, sounding like he was reminiscing about a lost love.
Skylar gave him a solemn look. She felt a pang of guilt. She knew he was struggling, but she was too, just in her own way.
“I remember when we were teenagers,” Patrick continued with a nostalgic sigh. “Every day was a reckless adventure. We used to mess with those cashiers so much. I mean, we were a real pain in the ass to deal with,” he chuckled, shaking his head as if he were reliving the antics of a mischievous youth.
Skylar realized how much memories that car actually holds.
“Yeah, it sounds like y’all had fun no matter what the day was or how it was going”
Patrick cleared his throat. “so! Um, how about that girl you were telling me about at school? she seems nice”
Skylar weighed her head down and blushed. “ Yeah she seems special to me” she put her hands together. “I love everything about that girl and I believe she loves everything about me.”
Skylar sighed. “ But Recently, this guy has been bugging me, in class he’s like a huge distraction” she scoffs and crosses her arms.
“Oh, what is he doing exactly?” Patrick said, having an ounce of concern in his voice.
“He keeps throwing paper balls at me and giving me this angry look, like I killed his grandmother or whatever.”
“I think you should try to talk to him, he might just want to talk to you.” Patrick said serenely.
“Ugh, I don’t know if he’s even up for talking.”
Suddenly a few moments later Skylar sees Steve riding his bike along the sidewalk.
“Hey!” Skylar shouted, bursting out of the garage like she was on a mission.
Steve skidded to a stop on his bike, looking surprised. “What?! Oh… it’s you,” he said, rolling his eyes as if he were caught off guard.
“Why do you keep throwing paper balls at me and staring me down?” Skylar asked, trying to keep her voice steady but failing to hide her curiosity.
“Oh… I thought you’d have read them by now. You keep ignoring me, which is super annoying,” Steve admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Read them?” Skylar echoed, puzzled.
“Yeah! I’ve been trying to get your attention for days!” Steve said, his tone a mix of frustration and embarrassment.
Skylar’s face lit up with realization as she remembered. She had accidentally saved one of Steve’s paper balls. It had been crumpled up and forgotten in her pocket.
“Oh! I actually saved one of them. I just… forgot to throw it away,” she said, pulling the paper out and smoothing it awkwardly.
“Yeah, just open it, dipshit!” Steve said, his face reddening slightly as he tried to sound nonchalant.
Skylar slowly unfolded the crumpled paper, revealing the question written inside: Will you be friends with me?
She looked up. “Oh… is this what all the paper balls were about?”
Steve shifted uncomfortably on his bike, nodding quickly. “Yeah, I guess so. I, um, thought it might be more… interesting way to ask.”
Skylar smiled, a little awkwardly, but genuinely. “Well, it’s definitely unique. And yeah, I’ll be friends with you.”
Steve’s face brightened, though he still looked a bit unsure. “Cool. So… no more paper balls, right?”
Skylar chuckled. “Only if you promise to keep it to normal conversation from now on.”
They both stood there for a moment, each unsure of what to do next, but the air was lighter now. They’d taken the first, slightly awkward step towards a new friendship.
