Chapter Song: Dysentery Gary By Blink-182
~Track 7 on 'Cool Pop punk Songs I Think You'd Like' (Made by Alex)
Webster
The week flew by for Webster, which was weird because usually it always dragged, mostly due to the fact that she used to spend her time doing nothing.
But this week had been different, especially with Alex popping in and out of the store. He'd intoduced her into a whole new world of music. She'd even made her mam go out and buy her a Nirvana t-shirt because she was so hooked.
But it was Saturday, and the store didn't open on weekends (sadly) so that meant that she still had to go to her speech doctor.
She sighed as she wheeled towards Doctor Benson's office. It was a nice place, with pastel yellow walls and big rectangular windows. The slated roof was kind of nice too.
She wheeled into the office buliding and rang the doorbell.
It was going to be a long hour and a half.
Alex
Saturdays were the worst. The record shop was closed, which meant that he couldn't see Webster, which was shitty because he had made a CD for her with all his favourite songs burned on to it.
He had called Jack to see if he wanted to hang out, but it turned out he was off with some friends, and Alex didn't want to get a pity invite. He didn't even bother calling Lorraine either because he already knew the answer.
So here he was, walking down the street like a sore loser, thinking about a girl in a wheelchair and how his friends had a much better life than his.
Honestly, what was wrong with him though? He was Alex Gaskarth for God's sake! The king of partying and drinking. It was final. He was definitely heading over to Jack's place and seeing if he could get that pity invite.
But just as he was about to turn around, a girl in a wheelchair wheeled out of a building, straight in front of him.
Webster
She nearly ran him over with her wheelchair. He had to jump to the left to avoid getting squashed, but the minute he saw her, his face lit up.
"Webster!" he said as he stared at her, his eyes shining.
Webster blushed. She hadn't even dressed up nice today. Come to think of it, she never dressed up at all, and Alex always caught her in her old tracksuits and oversized t-shirts.
"HI ALEX." said her computer.
He winked at her.
"God I love the sound of your computer voice." he teased and she rolled her eyes at him.
"DON'T EVEN START ALEXANDER."
He laughed and shook his head, his hair still managing to flop back into it's perfect state.
"So what are you doing out here anyway?" he asled curiously.
"SPEECH DOCTOR." she typed, nodding towards the yellow building.
"Speech doctor?"
Webster felt herself cringe. He noticed her uncomfortableness though, and quickly said "Hey! It's alright. Nothing to be ashamed of." But this only made Webster feel more ashamed and embarrassed.
She looked down at her watch.
1:46! She was usually home by now! Her mam was going to flip.
"I'M SORRY ALEX, BUT I HAVE TO GO HOME NOW. MY MAM....SHE GETS NERVOUS WHEN I DON'T COME HOME ON TIME. YOU KNOW, BECAUSE OF MY CONDITION." she typed, the embarrassment nearly too much to handle.
But then, instead of saying okay, he surprised her and said "Let me walk you home."
She was too shocked to even type a reply, so instead she just nodded and then she started to wheel slowly down the road, Alex walking beside her.
As they walked on, wthout warning, Alex slipped his hands on to the wheelchair's handles and started to wheel her. She didn't say anything.
She didn't mind having a cute guy with hella good hair pushing her down the street at all.
Alex
She had let him wheel her down the street, and along the way they made small talk, mostly about music and bands that they both liked. He was delighted to hear that she had gotten into Nirvana.
He didn't want their journey to end, but unfortunately they got to Webster's house in ten minutes and Alex knew he'd have to go.
"So this is your house?" he asked as he eyed the brick two-storey house.
"YEAH. IT'S NOT MUCH THOUGH AND I LIVE WITH MY MAM BECAUSE OF MY CONDITION."
She looked embarrassed but ALex didn't see why she should be.
"It's okay to need help sometimes." he said quietly as he wheeled her to her porch.
She didn't reply and soon enough they were outside her front door.
"THANKS FOR WALKING ME HOME."
"Don't mention it."
She rang the doorbell and he stood awkwardly in the porch, waiting to see if she got in. Then remembering the CD he quickly shoved his hand in to his pocket and pulled out his work of art.
"I uhm....I made a playlist for you." he mumbled as he handed her the CD.
She took it and examined it, a smile on her face.
"You might not like it...but it's just a couple of my favourite songs and....uhm.." he was stumbling over his words. It was really embarrassing.
"I'M SURE THEY'RE GREAT." She typed and then gave him a small smile that made him feel warm.
He heard the footsteps of her mom as she opened the door. He really didn't want to say goodbye.
It was now or never.
"Do you want to hang out today?" he blurted out just as her mom answered the door.
She blinked at him. It was like she couldn't believe what he was saying.
"Webster! There you are thank goodness you're-oh!"
Webster's mom stopped when she saw Alex, and he gave her a polite nod, wanting to make a good impression.
"MAM CAN I HANG OUT WITH ALEX TODAY?"
Alex couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face.
"I...well..if Alex doesn't mind." she said looking at him with curiousity.
"I'll look after her Miss." he said as he ran a hand nervously through his hair.
"Well...alright. Webster call me if you need me."
And then she left and Webster turned to face him.
"SORRY ABOUT MY MAM. SHE ISN'T USED TO ME HAVING FRIENDS." said her computer as she rolled her eyes.
"I'm your friend?" he said, smirking at her.
"MAYBE. I HAVEN'T DECIDED."
And then he took the handles of her wheelchair and they started walking out of the driveway.
"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"
"To my place. I want to show you something."
Webster
She couldn't believe it. Alex wanted to hang out with her for the whole day. Plus, he seemed pretty genuine about it. He even brought her to his place to show her something. She was definitely glad she took the record store shop job now.
He had placed her beside the couch and was rummaging in a drawer for something.
"I keep my collection in a box....it should be hear somehwhere...aha!" he pulled out a big box full that was overflowing with CD's.
"This, my friend, is the best CD collection you will ever come across in your entire life." he said as he sat down on the floor in front of her, plonking the CD box on her lap.
"Look through these while I go get a CD player." he said as he handed her a couple and scampered off.
She stared at the covers of albums.
Foo Fighters, Blink-182, New Found Glory....they all sounded like heavy bands that she wouldn't listen to in a million years.
"Sorry, I couldn't find it for a sec...Jack tends to hide all my stuff...he thinks it's funny." he sat down beside her and smiled at her.
"So, which album do you want to listen to first?"
She held up the Blink-182 one. It looked interesting, mostly because of the nurse and her rubber gloves smiling up at her from the cover.
"Good choice." said Alex. He took it from her and slipped it into the CD player. The first song started to play and Webster hoped that her ears would still work after listening to this for a whole hour.
************************************
Webster
"Wait, so you're telling me that you have never even heard of Blink-182?!"
"YES ALEX. IT'S NOT A CRIME."
"On the contrary Miss-I-Don't-Listen-To-Pop-Punk-Music, you were singing along to All The Small Things."
"BUT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT SONG."
"Wait! Whoa, whoa whoa! So you listened to that song without even knowing the artist? Webster Walker, have you no shame?"
She laughed as he pretended to faint on the ground. They were still sitting on the floor, bonding over skittles, popcorn and the type of music they listened to in high school. They were arguing over how Webster's music taste sucked and how Alex's music taste wasn't much better.
"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH LIKING CLASSICAL MUSIC AND CHART MUSIC." she typed as she raised an eyebrow at him.
He rolled his eyes.
"How is it possible for you to like Nirvana and Mozart? Face it sweetie, your music taste is fucking weird." he teased.
"YOU DID NOT JUST CALL ME SWEETIE."
"You did not just say you liked classical music and chart music."
"I DON'T SEE THE PROBLEM."
She sat back in her wheelchair, her arms folded, a smirk on her face.
Then without warning, he scooped up the bowl of skittle and dumped them over her head.
"ALEXANDER WILLIAM GASKARTH YOU SON OF A BI-" she never got to finish typing, because he dumped the popcorn over her too.
He was laughing, and then she was too, her stomach filling with butterflies and a feeling she couldn't quite explain. Then suddenly, the doorbell rang and Alex snapped his head up curiously.
"I should probably answer that shouldn't I?" he mumbled a she stood up, brushing off his jeans. Webster nodded slowly, her anxiety starting to build.
He looked at her worridely.
"Hey, it's alright. It's probably just-"
"ALEEEEEX! IT'S YOUR LOVELY WIFE WITH COMPANY!" yelled a voice from the hall.
Webster nearly choked on a skittle she was eating, and Alex shot her a nervous look.
"He's not really my wife." he said awkwardly, and she laughed.
She was about an answer, but then a lanky, skunk-haired, middle-aged man walked into the room, followed by a girl with curly red hair and pretty eyes.
"Lorraine?" Alex squeaked as he stared, wide-eyed at the girl. She winked at him and then Alex was sprinting over to her, tacklimg her with kisses, The whole scene made Webster wish that she was invisible, or better, not even there.
"Well that's awkward." sighed the lanky man as he looked over at Webster.
"You must be the famous 'Webster in a wheelchair' Alex won't shut up about." he said as he walked over to her. She felt her palms get sweaty and her heart beat pick up.
"I'm Jack, by the way, partier by day, stripper by night."
She didn't know if he was joking or being serious. He sounded dead serious to her.
She couldn't even type a reply to Jack because she was too preoccupied with the fact that Alex had a girlfriend and was currently having a make-out session against the wall. She couldn't help but feel a stabbing pain in her heart.
Of course he'd have a girlfiend. How stupid had she been to even imagine having a chance with Alex? Why would he go out with someone that couldn't even get up the stairs withoit help? It made sense that he had a girlfriend because of how painfully attractive he was.
"I heard you don't talk much, but that's alright."
She jumped as Jack's voice brought her out of her daze. She typed a quick reply.
"I HAVE SPEECH PROBLEMS, SO I USE THIS COMPUTER THINGY THAT BRIANNA SET UP FOR ME."
To her surprise, he nodded understandingly.
"It's cool. Alex said you were awesome anyway."
She blushed.
"So, you can still hook up with me right?"
She scrunched up her nose and was about to type a reply, but then she heard Alex and Lorraine pull apart (which resembled the sound of a plunger being pulled out of a toilet) and then Alex yelled "No flirting with Webster, Jack!"
Jack pouted at him.
"Well if you're getting it on tonight, why shouldn't I?"
"She's out of bounds Bassam." said Alex sternly and then he went back to kissing Lorraine.
Jack rolled his eyes and gave Webster a crooked smile.
"He's such a little fucker sometimes, isn't he?"
She laughed and nodded, which made him laugh too, and it was then that Webster knew that she and Jack were going to be good friends, even if he did have the mind of a dirty twelve year old.