So, this isn't my first fanfiction, but it's my first post on here, be kind, please. Also, I don't have anyone to beta it because no one I know has read Fangirl, so bear with me. Expect mistakes in spelling, grammar, maybe even changes in tense (past, present, future). Please enjoy, and any constructive criticism is definitely appreciated!
Oh, and before I forget, I've seen a lot of unfinished stories like these, left off years ago. I'm going to do my best to not do that. I've challenged myself to write every day and post every 2-3 days.
*cracks knuckles* Challenge accepted.
Cath walked down the hall to room 913, carrying a few boxes. She looked up at the door, feeling a wave of nostalgia pass over her. She remembered the first day there, when Levi, who she hadn't known then, was leaning against her door. In the exact same place now was Wren, with her boyfriend Jandro. She had gotten back a week before Cath since Cath had wanted to make sure her dad really was ok staying alone. Their grandmother had passed over the summer, and it wasn't the easiest thing for any of them.
Wren looked away from Jandro, noticing Cath for the first time. She smiled at Cath. "Hey! I've missed you!" Wren ran up to Cath, enveloping her in a huge hug. Cath set down her boxes and hugged her back, smiling.
"It's only been a week, Wren. Stop smothering me," she complained. Secretly, though, Cath had missed her sister when they were fighting last year and loved every moment they spent together. Cath pulled away, picking her boxes up. "So, how has it been here? Is Reagan inside yet?" Cath asked, feeling only a faint urge to pull out her laptop and start writing. Instead, she pulled out her key ring and unlocked the door, letting the twins and Jandro into the dorm.
"I think Reagan is at work. I saw her leave in the Olive Garden outfit. Oh, and she said to give you this," Wren handed Cath a business card. "Turns out the Barnes and Noble down the street is hiring. She thought you might want to get a job there. I told her you got a car this summer," Wren explained.
"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind," Cath said.
"Hey, I have to go, but you guys have fun," Jandro muttered, looking uncomfortable. Cath liked him decently, but she knew from Wren that, like Cath, he didn't enjoy socializing. Fine by her. Cath unpacked quickly, then pulled out her laptop, turning it on, and sitting on her bed.
"Bye Jandro!" Wren said, waving. When she saw what Cath was doing, she pulled the laptop out of her hands. "No writing until you've seen everyone. At least Levi. Come on, Cath, dad gave me permission to go to parties as long as I stayed with you and stayed sober, so you're going to have to get used to socializing more," Wren demanded.
"Definitely not! I'm thinking of writing a second book to Carry On, with them at college. I can't do that AND do school AND go to parties! I'll see Levi, though," Cath conceded. She pulled out her phone, texting Levi:
Hey, just got here. Can you meet up anytime soon?
His response was almost instantaneous, pinging my phone in my hands:
Sure. Your dorm, 5 minutes? Waiting for elevator now
Cath laughed aloud at his response. Only Levi would be already here. Not that she was complaining. She couldn't ask for a better boyfriend. He was perfect. Which just made Cath worried to see him. They had called and texted over the summer, even Skyped. But they hadn't seen each other in person, and she was worried he would be mad about that. Or worse, he could have found someone else. Cath told herself that was illogical, but the girl in the kitchen at his party last year kept coming back to haunt her.
A sharp knock shoved Cath out of her thoughts. Levi poked his head in, then pushed the door open fully. "Hey, sweetheart, it's so great to see you!" Levi gave Cath one of his trademark smiles, and Cath smiled back. She shut her laptop and placed it on her desk, saving it for another time.
"Hey, Levi, good to see you too," she replied.
"I'm gonna go now... oh and really? Sweetheart?" she said to Cath.
Cath made a face. "Shut up. I bet Jandro calls you 'pet'. That's worse," Regardless of her comeback, Cath blushed slightly. She loved it when Levi called her that, but it was slightly embarrassing.
Wren blushed heavily, making Cath realize she had been right about the nickname. "See you later, Cath. And you," she directed her attention to Levi. "Don't hurt my sister."
"I would never!" Levi clutched his heart with mock surprise. Cath and Wren laughed, and Wren walked out, giving Cath a little wave. "So, Cather, I was thinking... maybe we could go out tonight? They're playing Simon Snow and the Seventh Oak at the movies tonight, and tickets are half off for college students. I thought you might want to go," he bit his lip, seeming slightly nervous. Even after so many months of dating, they hadn't gone on a real date, unless take-out that they brought to one of their rooms or ate outside counted.
Cath blushed. "Uh, yeah, sure. I'd love to go. When does it start?" She questioned.
"8 pm. We can grab dinner at Pear's before, if you want," Levi answered, grinning stupidly.
She laughed. "What?" Levi seemed genuinely confused.
"Remember the first day I got here, last year? You welcomed me in, then asked if I wanted to go to Pears for dinner. Apparently, their burgers are bigger than my fist. According to you, at least," Cath laughed again, remembering that day. Had it really been only a year? Cath guessed Levi had been right about Freshmen time. It seemed like way longer. But she was kind of a special case. Cath remembered shoving her protein bars and peanut butter under her bed, thinking she could live off of that alone for the entire year. She hadn't even talked to Reagan for the first month, at least. And she had been fighting with Wren. Wow, had things changed.
"Oh yeah, I kinda forgot I asked you that. Just another drop in the sea of 'no's about going out," Levi said, snapping Cath out of her thoughts. She grinned.
"Yeah, I didn't go out very often back then, did I?" she smiled at him, then laughed at herself.
"Correction: you NEVER went out, and now you still don't go out too much. Unless something changed my fangirl over the summer?" He joked. As though anything could make Cath go out to parties a lot. Well, other than Levi.
"I would never dare," she joked, mocking shock. He laughed, then offered his arm to her.
"Shall we?" he asked.
"Nope. Let me get dressed. If we're going on a real date, I should look nice for you, at least," she shoved him lightly towards the door. "Wait," she demanded, closing the door on his face. So maybe things hadn't changed that much. Still, she was glad Wren had given Cath some of the party clothes. Well, ok. So she didn't really have "party" clothes. But still, she now had some presentable clothes. Cath pulled a flowing knee-length black skirt out, looking for a matching top that wasn't too flashy. She found a white blouse that would definitely show her shoulders, but it wasn't cropped, so she figured it would work. Then Cath pulled them on, stuffing her money into a small black purse (not functional at all).
Cath pulled on knee-length white socks and small black boots with slight heels. She even decided to take down her messy bun and put up a side braid. Looking at herself in the mirror, for the first time, Cath felt like she was really, truly an adult. She looked surprisingly good. Not that she would start wearing these things regularly, but still. She decided to take a picture of herself in the mirror and send it to Wren:
Going out with Levi. Thought you would like the outfit. Be back in a few hours
I didn't check her response, even though my phone buzzed. Instead, I turned, opened the door, and stepped out of the dorms. Levi, who had been leaning against the wall to my right, jumped up when he heard me. "Hey," he grinned. "You look gorgeous. A lot like your sister, actually. My Cath couldn't possibly have those clothes in her closet, could she?" Levi joked.
Cath giggled. "Wren gave me a few of her 'going out' clothes, she figured I would go to one or two parties this year, maybe a date even."
"Well, you should have warned me that I only get one date with you. I would have postponed it til at least winter," Levi grumbled, giving way to a giggle. "Come on, Pear's is only a few blocks away, I thought we could walk."
He held out an arm to her, which Cath accepted, and they briskly walked downstairs and outside. An idea popped into her head, a slightly crazed one at that. "Race you there?" she asked him.
"Oh, but what kind of gentleman would I be if I raced my lady to our destination?"
"That's the point," Cath announced, then took off running down the path. Levi quickly caught up with a sprint, but it seemed to take a lot of his energy. He really did seem to be trying his best. What a shame for him that when she was younger her dad would take her on runs (when he was actually in a good enough space to go on them).
She turned her head to look at him, as he'd fallen behind again, huffing and wheezing. Cath laughed, turning back and slamming straight into someone.
"Whoa! Are you okay?" A familiar voice inquired.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm fine-" Cath stammered, cutting herself off when she looked up at who was there. Nick. That bitch.
Nick saw who she was and gave a startled laugh. "Oh! Hey Cath! It's so good to see you. I was wondering, do you want to get together to write again sometime? Some of both of our best work was together, so I thought-"
"Hey. Nick, right?" Levi interjected. "I'm Levi, I think you remember me from the hallway last year? You never walked Cath home, from what I remember. Even though it was midnight," Levi smiled, but not a normal Levi smile. No, this looked like he hated Nick. I figured no one would be able to tell, though.
"She's an adult. And clearly, she can take care of herself. I mean, she did win that award that my-sorry, our- story couldn't get," Nick objected.
"Well, yeah, she's a better writer than the two of us combined could EVER be, but-" Levi started.
"Maybe better than you-" Nick began, but Levi continued his sentence as though there was no interruption.
"-that's not the same thing as physical strength, or even looks. I mean, she doesn't look that threatening. And you're a senior, too. You know how many older guys are out here at night," Levi finished, grabbing Cath's hand.
Nick began to form an argument to that, but Cath stole the show. "Levi, I can take decent care of myself. Thank you for bringing me home every night that I went out, though. I can't appreciate that enough. And, Nick? No, I don't want to write with you anymore. My best work was Carry On, Simon. Not anything I did with you. So, sorry, but no, I don't want to write with you. Now, I think Levi and I have somewhere to be. See you in Advanced Fiction Writing on Monday?" Cath tried to act politely. She hadn't liked Nick much since he had called their story 'his' last year. She wished Professor Piper taught multiple periods of Advanced Fiction Writing, because then she wouldn't have to put up with Nick.
Nick looked down at what Cath was wearing, as though realizing something. "Oh, you two are together, aren't you? Sorry man, I'm not trying to take her. I'll see you in class, Cath," Nick seethed between his teeth. He turned on his heel and walked off.
"Sorry, Levi, he's a jerk. Don't worry about him," Cath sighed.
"I won't. I just don't like him much. We better get to Pear's quickly, they're packed this time of year," Levi noted.
They walked the rest of the way to Pear's, where Levi flashed the waitress a nice smile, getting them a table. They had a nice dinner, laughing as they walked out of the restaurant.
"You're right, their burgers are way bigger than my fist," Cath smiled.
"Of course they are, sweetheart. Hate to break it to you, but you aren't exactly large in most of your figure," he laughed.
They walked to the theatre, buying snacks and tickets (Levi was right again, the tickets were only $5 each). They sat down in the theatre, trying not to be loud during the movie. Levi kept teasing Cath and asking things like "Was that in the book?" and "Did you write any fanfiction about this scene?" or "This would have been better written by you." It kept making her blush, laugh, and smack him. Consequently, they kept getting dirty looks from the other movie-goers.
As the lights turned back on at the end of the movie. They stayed in their seats until most people were gone, holding hands. As Cath finally turned to stand up, she saw another face that she didn't want to see today. "Jesus, is it 'people who Cath hates messing with her' day? Because this is the second bloody time today," Cath blurted, slipping into what Wren might call Simon speak.
The person in front of Cath smiled. "Hey, Cath. I thought I might find you here. Wren told me how much you love Simon Snow. I looked up some of your fanfiction, it's really good-"
Cath interrupted her. "No. You don't get to know what I do or don't like. You don't get to read my fanfics. I don't want to see you. Go away, Mom."
Hope you enjoyed that! All constructive criticism is appreciated! Also, if anyone has ideas for the next chapter, or any chapter, please put them in the comments! Thanks!