Empty Spaces : Chapter Three

Corey Silvers looked over at the gaggle of girls beside the football field and couldn’t help but feel annoyed. ‘What did they see in those assholes?’ Corey had never held respect for the football players. He didn’t think he ever would either. In his mind, it was never okay to torment others for any reason. The day that Corey saved David Leeber, the school’s biggest flamer, from the football team’s plan of dunking him in the men’s room toilets, Corey decided he was never going to be able to have respect for any of them.

Corey walked into the school and was instantly greeted by several guys and girls, none of which he was friends with. Since the premiere of “Empty Spaces” Corey had found himself turned into a celebrity, quite unwillingly. He loved acting, but he couldn’t stand the fakeness of it. He knew that if it weren’t for the show, most of these people wouldn’t be talking to him, let alone trying to be friends with him. Through the crowd of faces, Corey saw the one person at the school that he genuinely liked.

Lauren Greenwood had been Corey’s best friend since school, when she decided that she was going to have him as her boyfriend whatever the cost. A couple tries later, and with the help of maturity, she realized that three was much too young of an age to have a boyfriend, and was content being just friends. They clicked instantly, and have been friends since.

As Corey fought his way through the crowded hallway towards him, he noticed her laughing. “Okay, this is NOT funny; I can’t even go to the bathroom without having an escort. Seriously, stop laughing.” Lauren grinned, showing her perfect teeth. Having parents who were both dentists gives you that advantage. “Corey, I can’t help it, honestly you’d laugh too if you saw the way these lemmings idolized you!” When Corey didn’t smile, she just said “Fine, I’ll stop, but what’s with you grumpy pants?”

This time Corey did smile. “Grumpy pants? Are you serious right now? You couldn’t think of a better name for me than what you used to call me in pre-school? You’d think that by now your vocabulary might have increased just a tad. But whatever, I’m just annoyed, like I don’t understand the girls that go to our school. Do you swoon when you see a guy on the football team? You’d think they had just been voted the sexiest men alive or something, and even then, I don’t think George Clooney could bring this much contented sighing.” Lauren gave him a look. “Clearly I don’t, I have almost as little respect for them as I do a vocabulary. But what’s this about, are you a little jealous that you’re not getting the attention?” Lauren saw the face Corey made when she said that and added “okay, I was kidding, but seriously, why do you care? Like honestly we have a little bit less than a year left with these people before we’re off to school, you shouldn’t let it bother you so much.”

Corey sighed and nodded his head. Both of them had written their ACT’s in the summer, Corey in California, and had both been granted early acceptance to schools in California. Lauren was off to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, while Corey was going to UCLA both in Los Angeles. Next fall they would both be enjoying the sunshine and snow-free landscape of Cali. Neither of them could wait to get away either. “Listen, I know I shouldn’t let it bother me, but I just can’t get my head around it. Why is it that guys like Travis Keeler and Josh Woodman, both of whom have the equivalent of half a brain cell on a good day, and who both decide it’s fun to dunk people’s heads in the toilets, have this rally of girls around them all day who only want to lose their v-cards to them? Like what is wrong with the world? But what bothers me more than all of that is Seth Johnson. He is the worst of them, he may not join in when they’re picking on the gay guys like David, or the geeks, or the not-so pretty girls, but he stands by and lets it happen. That’s a million times worse. There is no excuse for that. How is it that every girl, well, all of them except for you, wants to sleep with someone who has no backbone? He has no courage to stand up for what’s right, and that’s what pisses me the fuck off. People like Seth Johnson are the worst people in the world. They see Evil being done and they do nothing about it!”

Lauren looked at the expression on Corey’s face and couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, so tell me how you really feel!...Let me guess, you’re going to march on Ottawa and protest and make people sign petitions forcing people to act if they see something that’s morally wrong? Michaela Church’s makeup is morally wrong, should I start putting up posters about the evils of too much cover-up? Seriously, lighten up, you’re starting to get me down, and that is virtually impossible. Come on, the bell just rang, let’s go to class.”

Corey loved foundations of law. He knew that he wanted to be either a lawyer, or have something to do with politics, if ever acting didn’t work out. He and Lauren were both in that class, and they both enjoyed it. Lauren’s step-dad would always help them out if they had any questions. Owning a multi-billion dollar business, he had learned much about the laws that govern the nation, and also had had a Premier as his father, so he knew a lot about politics. It was quite an advantage for them, as they had never had a grade below an A before, the only two in the entire class except for Kristina Faddem, the quietest girl in school. She was in competition with Corey, Lauren, Seth Johnson, and Julie Campbell for Valedictorian of their year. She was a nice girl, but kept mostly to herself. She spent most of her time doing homework and studying for class. She wasn’t as naturally gifted as the others, but she made up for it in hours of working to understand.

At lunch the two sat together in the cafeteria, talking about their morning classes, laughing about how Mr. Montag had fallen asleep today in class while teaching. “I don’t know why he doesn’t just retire;” Lauren said “he’s been teaching here for almost 40 years. He has to have enough money by now, and judging by the way he yells and screams most of us, it’s not because he enjoys it. It’s probably more because he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he retired.” Corey laughed. “Seriously, he is one of the most miserable teachers I’ve ever had. Like, he’s really good, but he’s just unpleasant.” They continued talking for awhile, and when they heard the bell ring signalling class beginning again, they got up and headed for their lockers.

As they were walking down the hallway, Corey remembered something he had meant to tell Lauren earlier. “So, do you remember me telling you that Kyle called? Well, I finally got the courage to call him back to see what he wanted...you’ll never guess what it is!” Kyle Smith was Corey’s ex-boyfriend. They had broken up two years ago, after a really great three year relationship, only because Kyle was moving away. Corey had been really upset about it, but Kyle was moving to Halifax, and maybe long-distance could have worked, but that’s if they were a couple of towns over. Halifax was half-way across the country, there was no way that relationship was going to work. They decided to cut their losses and break up. “Oh my god, yeah, I forgot! What did he say?” Corey opened his locker as he thought of how to put this. “Basically, he said he’s moving back here to stay, and he wants to meet up and talk about everything. I’m a little nervous, it’s been so long!” Lauren looked at her friend. She only wanted him to be happy. She knew that there was something that he wasn’t telling her. She looked into his face “What’s wrong? What aren’t you telling me?” Corey grabbed his books and closed his locker again. He reached down and grabbed his bag again. “Ok, well I’m not really sure exactly what to say. I don’t know anything else. But he told me that he has big news for me, and he wants to tell me in person. I have no idea what it is, and I was too scared to ask him if it was bad. I was shocked that we were talking at all, it’s been so long!”

Lauren understood, it had been a long time. They had only ever talked to each other over the phone for the first few months. After a while, it was just MSN and a letter every now and then. A phone call if something major had happened. In the last couple of months, it hadn’t even been that, it was just MSN, and only every once in a while, and maybe a birthday letter if they remembered. “So, when does he want to meet up?” She was wondering if he would want her to come with him. She wouldn’t really want to. Corey scratched the scruff growing on his chin, wishing he was allowed to shave. For his role on the show, he had to look as scruffy as possible. One haircut every four months or so was all he could do, and even then only a trim. And he could forget about shaving, he was allowed to make sure he didn’t get a full-on beard, but the scruff was there to stay. “Well...he actually said he wanted to meet up soon...like today...”