Not only had word gotten around in Scranton that Cory and Chris were together, but it'd also gotten around pretty much every where else. The reactions were...interesting. A lot of the responses were sympathetic once everyone found out that Cory's little brother had passed recently. However, there of course was some negative feedback.
Some of it was pretty bad. Chris had to confirm multiple times that Cory was indeed 18 years of age and that their relationship was, in fact, legal. Cory herself had to confirm it as well. She'd even taken a picture of her driver's licence and posted it to instagram so that everyone could see her age.
Some of the members of other bands messed with Chris too while on tour, but that was all just friendly teasing. They'd always make jokes about how "one of the losers finally got the homecoming queen". Chris, knowing that the teasing was harmless and all in good fun would respond in ways like "Fuck homecoming queen; my girlfriend works at Hot Topic". The bands were always able to make fun out of the situation.
Things got interesting in Scranton as well. As predicted, business in Mandy and Cory's Hot Topic in particular went up because Chris Motionless' girlfriend worked there.
Some people definitely started fangirling when they saw Cory, which she often found quite humerous. At the time though, it was kind of flattering that people were coming up to her with their purchases from the store and asking for a picture, or once in a while, even an autograph. (A/N: Admit it. If you saw Sabrina Howard, Kylie Devyn, Ryan Malarkey, or even Jessica McCarthy or Allie Berry in public, you'd totally do this...Or I would, at least.)
School still wasn't all that great though. Either people were giving Cory greif and pity over the loss of Cole, or they were calling her a slut and a bitch and a whore for dating a 28 year old; or, of course, the inevitable MIW groupies running up to her and asking what it was like to be with Chris Motionless. When Mandy was doing it, it was fine; but when it was 14 year old freshmen girls, not so much.
Cory thought a lot about how much her life had changed just in the past few weeks. Cole dying, moving in with a 28 year old rock star whom she was also making out with; her parents would be so fucking proud of her. Her birth parents would probably be thrilled too. Note the sarcasm.
Cory's parents probably would have warmed up to the idea eventually; the idea of Cory and Chris being together. They'd known Chris back when they were neighbors once upon a time; they'd know he was at least a good guy. It wouldn't have to have mattered what they thought of Chris though. Their opinions would never change how strongly she felt for him. She probably wouldn't have moved in with Chris so soon, haha; but she certainly would've felt the same for him in that scenario as she did now. Cory was falling for Chris pretty hard; nothing could change that.
x
Back on the bus, Chris lay in his bunk, thinking of the girl that was waiting for him at home. He'd gotten quite a bit of backlash over his and Cory's relationship, though this was to be expected given the situation they were in. No one understood how strongly Chris felt toward Cory, and they likely never would.
Then again, not many people understood Chris in general, so he supposed it was alright. Nothing could change what Chris was feeling with Cory. Sometimes it scared him how strongly he felt about her...but in a good way, if that makes any sense. It was a good scary.
As if on cue, Chris' phone started ringing. He was brought out of his thoughts and reached into his pocket to retrieve the cell. Chris looked at the caller ID and smiled, then answered.
"Hey, baby."
"Hey!" Cory says through the other line, "How is everything?"
"Chaos."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"A little bit of both."
Cory laughs, "Well, if it makes you feel better, the fangirls keep showing up here too. On the bright side though, we're really busy at the store because of it, so I'm making good money."
"Yeah, that sounds awesome. How's being assistant manager?"
"Are you kidding? I get to help Mandy boss people around. It's the best job ever!"
Chris laughs, "Well I'm glad you're happy."
"I am happy. I'm thinking of taking a couple extra work shifts in the day too."
"What about school?"
"Oh. Yeah. About that..."
x
Three days prior.
Cory grabbed her lunch tray and headed to the back of the cafeteria. Because of her sudden "popularity", lunch was really the only time she got to have time to herself at school anymore. She kind of missed being the loner; having solitude. However, she knew what she would be getting herself into when she got together with Chris. He was worth sacrifising her privacy.
Cory sat down and poked her lumpy mashed potatoes with her plastic fork as she looked at her phone. She usually spent her lunch hour browing social media and texting Mandy while eating her food. She'd now gotten caught up with all of her homework she'd fallen behind on - thank GOD - so she no longer had to worry about that.
While Cory browsed the latest scoop on Twitter, a girl walked up to the table that Cory was sitting at, holding her own lunch tray. Cory looked up from her phone and through her glasses, and raised a pierced eyebrown at the girl.
"Can I help you?" Cory asks.
"Sorry, I'm just observing."
"Observing what?"
"You." The girl says, setting her tray down on the table, "Nope. I don't see it.
"See what?"
"What Chris Motionless could possibly see in a girl like you."
Cory rolled her eyes. Here we go again. She set her phone down and looked directly at the girl.
"I'm feeling generous today, so I'm going to kindly ask you to leave." Cory says.
"You're not even that pretty. Though, I suppose you do have a decent body. You must just be good in bed."
Cory stood, "So you're saying I'm a slut." She states.
"Hey, your words, not mine."
Cory locks her jaw, growing angry.
"You know though, you do have cool hair." The girl says, grabbing the small carton of chocolate milk from her own tray, "It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it." She says before pouring it over Cory's head.
Cory's jaw drops and she lets out a loud gasp and chills ran down her spind as the cold liquid ran over her head, face, and chest, then onto the floor. Once the carton was empied, the girl set it back own on the table. Almost the entire cafeteria was staring at Cory. The girl smirked, satisfied.
"Oops." She says, sarcastically.
Cory took off her glasses and set them down on the table, calmly. She nodded at the girl, then Cory looked down at her own tray. She reached over to the small cardboard plate with synthetic, factory-made nachos on it, then smashed it onto the girl's hair before she could get away. The girl gasped loudly as well and even let out a small yell. She then grabbed her mashed potatos, grabbed the front of Cory's shirt and smashed them onto her chest.
Cory growled and then bitch-slapped the girl across the face. That was when all Hell broke lose. The girl launched herself at Cory which resulted in an all out brawl in the middle of the school cafeteria.
x
"Cory!" Chris exclaims.
"Yeah...not my brightest moment."
"Are you hurt?"
"Just a little bruised. That doesn't even compare to the other girl though."
x
Both Cory and the girl were covered in each other's food and were puncing and hitting and kicking each other as hard as they possibly could. The girl kneed Cory in the hip. Cory tried to punch the girl in the stomach, but failed.
The girl suddenly screamed and fell to the ground. Cory was confused. As she looked closer, she could vaugely see the girl's hands were over her stomach. The girl's hands were covered in red.
x
"Since I can't see that well without my glasses on, I just figured her hands were covered in ketchup or something...but it wasn't." Cory says.
"It was blood?!"
"Well see, the girl had this piercing..."
"You ripped out her bellybutton ring?!"
"I didn't mean to! When I tried to punch her in the gut, I must have aimed weird and yanked it out."
"So what happened after that?"
"A teacher came and broke up everything. Enough kids saw the fight to know that she started it. We both got suspended for a month, though."
"An entire month." Chris states.
"Yup."
Chris sighs, "Okay. I am proud of you for holding your own and standing up for yourself, I am. But please don't beat up everyone that gives you a hard time. I don't want you getting hurt."
"Well not everyone that gives me a hard time pours chocolate milk over my head, smuches mashed potatoes down my bra or tries to shove mustard up my nose!"
"Okay, okay, you do have a point there." Chris says, "Just please be careful. Do you know how many people I've wanted to punch just because of things they've said to me? You've gotta let these kinda things roll off your back, babe."
"I know."
"So what are you gonna start doing during the day now for the next month?"
"Well, like I said, I'm gonna try to get Mandy to let me work a couple extra day shifts. I'm also thinking about maybe trying that all day open mic thing at that cute little café down the road from Tink's; see if I can get any extra tips that way." Cory says, "Now that I actually have some free time on my hands, I can take some of the money I have left over from the insurance check to get a new guitar."
"That's a good idea. I'm happy you're doing better now."
"I am doing better. Sometimes it's still hard...Who am I kidding? It's crazy hard; knowing that my little brother is dead, and that I'll never see him again...But at least I can say it out loud without bursting into a fit of tears, so I'm making progress. It's a start."
"I'm proud of you, baby. I miss you."
"I miss you too."
"I can't wait to kiss you again."
"You'll get to before you know it."
"Are you sure you're doing okay?"
"I'll be fine, sweetie. Promise." Cory says.
"Alright." Chris says, "I've gotta get going, but I'll call you later, alright.
"Okay. Be safe. Bye." Cory says before hanging up. Chris smiles. God, he was falling for her so hard...
A/N: Okay, while it may not seem like it, the fact that Cory is not in school right now is going to have a very big impact on this story. You'll see in the up and coming chapters.
There's only one more filler chapter I promise and then Chris will come home and things between him and Cory will go a bit more...forward. I'm excited to see how it turns out because - fun fact about me - unlike I usually do with my writing, I don't plan out sex-scenes in advance. I just sort of wing it and come up with it as I write it so...should be interesting, haha.
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS. I just started hand writing my Alternate Endings story and OH. MY. GOD. I can't give away too much but I've never been so excited to write something. You guys are gonna love it so much once we get to that point. However, there's still this story, another story, and a trilogy before you guys will get to read it haha! That's how much in advance I plan these stories. I have a whoooooole system.
QOTD: Do you know which band member is assigned what name on MIWs driving list? It's probably changed a lot since the 2nd Bryan Stars interview where we learned the names, but send me in your guesses! I know what they are! Or, I know what they were three years ago, haha.
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Stay weird, freaks.
xoxo, Scissorhands.