InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "giddiness is good"

Abby Manning (abbychase) wrote in genome_project,
@ 2012-01-14 23:46:00

Entry tags:

abby chase, carter manning, january 2012

Who: Abby and Carter
What: Crash landing
Where: Library
When: Monday after school around 5pm
Rating: G

Abby whistled along quietly as she looked through all of the books to the song that was on her headset. "Oh home, let me go home. Home is whenever I'm with you," she sang quietly, almost inaudibly to herself. It wasn't like there was anyone ever this deep in the library at five in the afternoon anyways. Most kids were at some sort of sports practice or were off doing something better with their life like making out behind the bleachers or working at some half rate diner. Abby preferred the comfort of the books though. They weren't mean to you, they didn't try to see if you were small enough to fit in your locker at least once a week, and they certainly didn't talk back. And if they did speak to you, it was in an intelligent, coherent sentence with something thoughtful to say.

This song was a little too slow for her despite it being good. She shook the player and the Imperial March came on. Abby chuckled a little and shook it again until another song came on. With a mountain of books in her hands, Abby started to dance around a little as she made her way back to the table she had covered in her books and papers. As she turned around the corner and the chorus came on, she started singing along quietly and spun around with her books in hand. It was just about her only dance move aside from doing some crazy white girl moves typically seen at a slumber party on someone's bed with a brush in hand posing as the microphone.

But this wasn't a slumber party. It was a library. And even if she didn't like to admit that other students went to this school, they did, and sometimes they too used the library. So it shouldn't have caught Abby as off guard as it did when she crashed into someone else and a few of her books toppled off the top, harshly smashing into the ground. Immediately she bent down to grab the books and pulled out one of her ear buds. She didn't bother to look up at the person but examined the books throroughly to see if they were damaged. To Abby it was as if she had just dropped a baby on it's head. But seeing that her precious books were fine, Abby glanced up at who ever she had just crashed into. "Sorry about that. Didn't see you around the corner, there..."

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manningofsteel
2012-01-15 05:06 am UTC (link)

Carter was still in sort of a daze since finding out about Madison and failing to escape the island. Stupid winter and stupid ferries not running and stupid water freezing. If only he had fire powers he could melt the ice and maybe get a boat and row to the mainland...it would have to be a pretty sturdy boat to be able to carry him...and all his film equipment. He hadn't been home yet, he'd been camping out in the home theater at his old house. It was the one place where he felt truly safe. It was his own sanctuary. Madison and her lies couldn't touch him there. It was just him and his work in his own private movie theater. He hadn't really been sleeping that well or eating much. Everything just seemed sort of a waste of time. Little things like that seemed not to matter. His clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them and his hair was mussed. His complexion was a bit paler than usual and instead of the constant bright expression he usually wore he wore a constant frown with his eyes downcast.
He was sure his Aunt Quinn was freaking out, but she did know him and probably knew where he was and thought if she left him alone for a bit he'd come home eventually. He didn't want to go home...ever. He just wanted to get off this rock, forget everyone and everything. Start fresh blank slate. Maybe his grandma...his real grandma would let her stay with him...if he could find out exactly where she lived...also if he could talk to her...introduce himself. He hadn't really been sleeping that well or eating much. Everything just seemed sort of a waste of time. Little things like that seemed not to matter. His clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them and his hair was mussed. His complexion was a bit paler than usual and instead of the constant bright expression he usually wore he wore a constant frown with his eyes downcast.

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't see the petite girl coming towards him which knocked him backwards and some of her books fell. Carter was a little put off when she seemed more worried about the books than him, sure he was used to it, but it was more likely that he'd be hurt over books...well he would be if he didn't have his special skill. He picked up one of her books and ran a hand through his hair getting it out of his eyes as he handed it back to her as he stood.

It was Abby, his educational rival, not really, it was all in fun though. She was one of the few girls who challenged him intellectually. Also she was pretty cool from the few times they had hung out with Gracie. He remembered when he first met her he was horribly jealous of her closeness to his Gracie. But he was young then and Grace was his only friend, he was scared to lose her. But then he met Alfie and Julius and everyone else and he realized that guys needed guy friends and girls needed girl friends. And he wasn't losing Grace, he just had to share her, which in the past he never really had to.

"Hey Abby," he said in a gravely voice.

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abbychase
2012-01-15 06:11 am UTC (link)

When Abby looked up and saw that it was just Carter that she had bumped into, she didn't feel quite as bad. He was usually pretty cool about things. Not today though, apparently. "Jesus Christ, Carter. What's wrong with you?" Abby stood up and stuffed the books back on top of her pile along with the ones that he had picked up for her. "You look like you've seen better days." She motioned to his messy hair and general sour look. Was he still upset about what Grace had told her with the whole kissing mess? Hopefully he wasn't still mulling that over. It was stupid and childish and if he was really that desperate to find someone to practice kissing, maybe he should post something online - it seemed to work for that other girl.

Before Carter could answer though, Abby started to walk back to the table she had all of her books at already. She didn't care if he got a chance to answer just yet - her books were clearly heavy for someone her size and he hadn't offered to help her with them so she rushed to put them down before her arms snapped off. Abby motioned for Carter to come over and grab one of the chairs from an unoccupied table. She was good at listening to people and he looked like he could use a good chat, among other things like a good night's rest and maybe a nice hot meal.

As Abby realized he looked like he needed food, she rummaged through her bag to see what kind of food she had in there. She was rarely home for dinner and usually was either walking somewhere or at the library so she tended to have food with her. When she found a bag of pretzels she tossed it at Carter. Before he could object to taking the food or continue with what he was saying, Abby interrupted him. "Eat it now."

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manningofsteel
2012-01-15 06:23 am UTC (link)

Carter shrugged one shoulder at her comment about his appearance. Unlike when he was in editing mode, he was very apparent about how he must look to everyone. He didn't say much as he followed Abby and obediently sat down across from her and rested his head on his arms. He glanced up when he heard a crinkle of a package and then looked down to said package land next to him. It was a small bag of pretzels. He glanced over at Abby and at her order he opened the bag and popped a few pretzels in his mouth,

"Thanks Abby."

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abbychase
2012-01-15 05:16 pm UTC (link)

Abby started to thumb through the pages of her books looking for something to help her with a science project after she made sure to see that Carter was eating. She was waiting to hear his explanation of what was wrong with him but he wasn't talking about it. The pages stopped flipping and she pushed the book away and stared at Carter sternly. "Carter, speak. What's wrong?"

'It's gotta be worse than asking Grace to kiss him,' Abby thought to herself. That seemed like such an embarrassing situation as it was but if he was really letting something like that get to him, he had issues that Abby couldn't him with. "It's not like I'm going to judge you or anything." That sounded reassuring, right? If it was the kissing fiasco he needed to know that upfront, Abby assumed.

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manningofsteel
2012-01-16 06:34 am UTC (link)

Carter met her eyes when she told him to speak, he wasn't a dog she couldn't just command him to talk. He really didn't want to talk about it, mostly because it was a bad moment and still is a bad moment and he really didn't want to burst in tears in front of her in the middle of the library. He didn't want more people to know than needed to. While the comfort was nice after his grandma's passing he hated the pity in everyone's eyes, he lost another member of his very small family. People knew that all he had left was his Aunt Quinn and while he loved her she was a little bonkers most of the time. He didn't want to see that again, he hated pity.

He fiddled with the bag of pretzels when she said she wouldn't judge him. Should he tell her? While Abby was awesome he wasn't sure if she was the best candidate to be comforting him. She was very analytical at times. He wasn't sure if she was the type to move to hug him and rub his back telling him that everything was going to be okay. But she was there and trying and that was more than he could ask for. He opened his mouth and tried to speak but all that came out was a broken sob and as he tried to speak all that came out were sobs that he tried to muffle with his hand to his mouth. Admitting defeat he covered his face with his hands and tried to quiet the sobs that wouldn't cease.

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abbychase
2012-01-16 09:06 pm UTC (link)

Abby was about to go back to her book but then Carter was.. sobbing? What the hell? Abby's eyes grew wide for a moment before she realized how she was reacting. What ever was going on in his life, it had to be worse than just being rejected when asking for an educational make out session. Unless Grace wasn't telling her something... Abby blinked a few times as she watched Carter cover his face with his hands.

What was she supposed to do? Abby wasn't the comforting type. She was the one who listened and gave you really bad advice - Mandy was the one who listened and then comforted you. 'What would Mandy do?' She thought as she tried to remember times when she had cried in front of Mandy. Abby drew a blank on what her sister would do and instead referred to what she had seen in movies. She was supposed to touch him, right? And be nice?

Hesitantly, Abby pulled her chair over next to his and sat back down with her feet beneath her, propping herself up. Slowly she reached over rubbed his shoulder a lightly, praying he wouldn't push her away for doing something wrong. She tilted her head a little to look at his face that he had covered and gently pushed his hair out of his face with her free hand. She didn't know what to say but she said, "I'm sorry," as that seemed to be as good of a starting place as any.

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manningofsteel
2012-01-16 09:29 pm UTC (link)

Saying that Carter was stunned when he felt Abby start to rub his shoulders and brushed his hair out of his face. It felt nice, comforting. At her words of 'I'm sorry' he realized what he was doing. He pulled his hands away from his face slightly and violently brushed the tears off of his face and in that same broken tone,

"Geez, Abby I'm sorry, I don't want to dump all this on you, I didn't mean to. I just...I haven't really cried about this yet...I guess it just finally hit me again. She didn't want me...she wanted me to think she was dead...she was in front of me all this time and...she got close to me...she lied to me all this time. My own mother." Now he didn't know for certain if Grace had told Abby about his mother debacle, but he assumed she did...at least most of it. Not the most recent development. He still couldn't say it. Madison...was his mother. He started wheezing and fumbled in his pocket for his inhaler to take a few puffs to regulate his breathing. The tears threatened to start again so he leaned into Abby slightly, seeking whatever comfort she was willing to give.

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abbychase
2012-01-16 09:57 pm UTC (link)

Abby immediately pulled her hand away from his face and slowly pulled the other one off of his shoulder. He was reacting and she was on guard. She didn't know if it was a good reaction yet or a bad one but she was on pins and needles, waiting to see if her way of comforting him had worked.

She listened to him speak and tried to connect the dots. She knew that he had lived with his grandma at one point and thought his real mom was dead. But that she was actually alive. Wait... is that what he was going on about? His real mom 'didn't want him' and 'wanted him to think she was dead?' Abby didn't know what to say to him. How was she supposed to react to a mother lying to her child and not wanting him? Instead of saying anything, Abby just kept her mouth shut. She had already made him cry today and she wasn't about to be the cause of more tears.

She waited for Carter to take a few puffs from his inhaler and she was about to say something but then he was... leaning on her? Abby blinked a few times awkwardly and then put her arms around him. Or she tried to at least, as they didn't quite make it fully around his shoulders. When she realized that they didn't reach all the way, she opted instead to reach up and run her fingers through his hair. That had always seemed to calm her down, especially after a nice hot shower but she wasn't about to tell him to go take a shower in the boys locker room so she made due.

"I'm sorry, Carter," she said softly as she leaned her head on his. She didn't know anything more to say to him. She had no other comforting words - how else was the girl whose mother passed away supposed to comfort the boy whose mother had suddenly 'come back from the dead?'

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manningofsteel
2012-01-16 11:55 pm UTC (link)

Carter knew that he was probably making Abby really uncomfortable. Gracie was usually the one he went to when he wanted comfort. But Abby was there and she wasn't doing a horrible job. He didn't need much, he didn't really want much. All he really wanted was for someone to be there and to tell him that it would all be okay and with her gently pats and words it was working.

When she started running her fingers through his hair he let out a little pleased sigh. That felt really nice. And she said she was sorry again and leaned her head on his. He got a whiff of her hair and skin...she smelled nice. Wait a minute...snap out of it Carter! Now was not the time to be noticing things like that. He was upset and not thinking clearly. She did smell nice and the fingers in his hair felt nice but...just no...not now...maybe later...NO...it's just a fluke. After calming down from his mini freak out he whispered,

"It's Madison, Madison is my mother."

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abbychase
2012-01-17 12:22 am UTC (link)

Abby waited for Carter to say something. She didn't know what else to do. Was she supposed to do something else physically? Or spit out some more nuggets of comfort? Cause she didn't know if she had much more left in her arsenal, if anything at all. So she waited for him to talk.

"...Madison?" There was a hint of disbelief and shock in Abby's tone of voice. Wasn't she the lady who helped him with his production? She did a lot of the technical computer stuff for him according to Grace. And he was always raving about her. Then again, it did sort of make sense that he would be her kid. They seemed a little similar in some of their ways, but why would she do that to him? Why would she tell him she was dead and then get so close to him and help him with something so important and precious to him?

"That's kind of messed up. No offense to your... Madison." Saying that she was Carter's mom just didn't sound right to Abby so she would be his Madison instead.

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manningofsteel
2012-01-17 12:36 am UTC (link)

When she repeated Madison's name Carter nodded against her shoulder. He could hear the shock in her tone, he couldn't blame her he was in the same boat when he first found out. Sure there were a lot more tears and anger and he did end up shouting out some very colorful language that he didn't wish to repeat. He didn't like cursing but he had been just so mad and hurt and...why didn't she want him? Didn't she like him? She seemed that she did. If she didn't why did she help him with his movie?

An actual smile quirked on to Carter's face at Abby's next words, "Heh, yeah it is isn't it. No it's okay...offend her all you like. I don't feel like I owe her anything, she lied to me all this time. I cried to her about my mother and that stupid...witch...lied to me. She comforted me stroked my hair and actually said that my mother was stupid for giving me up. I just...I don't even know what to think. Part of me hates her, but part of me loves her, she's my mother...she lied to me but honestly...if I could pick one person to be my mom...it would have been Madison. I'm sorry I mean, I know that you probably don't know the answer and I'm not asking you for an answer I just...I'm tired of being lied to but I want a relationship with my mother. I'm just so confused about what to do."

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abbychase
2012-01-17 12:56 am UTC (link)

Abby leaned back as Carter started to talk to her more about what was bothering him. She stayed where she was sitting though since his head was still resting on her. His comments about Madison were tempting to laugh at but Abby refrained. She knew better than to gossip or say mean things about others - she'd probably only regret saying it in the end because frankly, Madison seemed pretty cool up until this moment.

Abby paused for a moment and turned to face Carter. "Carter. Do you hear yourself talking? You said it yourself: 'She said that my mother was stupid for giving me up.'" She paused for a moment and tried to get him to connect the dots. Before she could let him say anything else she interrupted. "She regrets what she did, Carter. Go have a relationship with your.. Madison. While she's still here."

She hoped that he didn't read too much into that last comment. Abby didn't know if he knew about what happened to her mother but she kind of wished that she was in Carter's situation. Maybe then she could meet her mother and have a relationship with her like he was getting the opportunity to do. But alas, she wasn't in his shoes so all she could do was encourage him to give Madison a shot at explaining what happened and why she faked her death.

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manningofsteel
2012-01-17 01:35 am UTC (link)

Carter met Abby's eyes and lifted his head since her face was a little to close from his head resting on her shoulder. He thought over her words and...it made sense...it made perfect sense. His eyes widened,

"You're right Abby...you're absolutely right. I need to talk to her...apologize for being such a little prick. But I still had a right to be angry, right?" Then he thought over her last statement 'while she's still here.' Realization dawned on him and his eyes widened as he looked over at Abby again,

"Oh geez Abby I'm such an inconsiderate jerk. Here I am whining about finding out my mom is alive and your mom isn't. I'm sorry." Carter then reached forward and drew her small frame into his arms. She was so much smaller than him and holding her felt kind of nice, like he could protect her from everything. And he would...cause she was his friend...and he would do the same for Grace.

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abbychase
2012-01-17 02:26 am UTC (link)

Abby refrained from smiling and saying that of course she was right. It didn't seem like the appropriate time to gloat after Carter's life altering epiphany. She nodded. "You had a right to be angry. I wouldn't apologize for getting angry with her. How did she expect you to react? By throwing your arms around her and being glad that you finally found out about her?" Abby smirked at the thought of Carter actually doing that.

She blinked a few times as she was being pulled into a hug. "Uh... thanks?" Abby didn't really know how to react but she awkwardly put her arms around him in a hug. Why was he hugging her? It wasn't like she was sad over her mom passing away. Essentially she was, but in a very different way than most people assumed. Abby wasn't old enough to know her mother when she passed away, so she was more sad about not getting to know her mother than Bianca's actual passing. But it wasn't like any one really knew that. Everyone just assumed she was upset about her mom passing.

"Um... so.. you should go talk to your.. mom." Abby tried to pry herself out of Carter's arms and quirked a lopsided grin.

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manningofsteel
2012-01-17 03:32 am UTC (link)

Carter smiled and nodded in agreement, I mean if Madison thought him being mad was irrational then...she was...wrong. He laughed, "Yeah me throwing my arms around her will have to wait. I'm gonna need time to fully forgive her. I think talking is a good first step though."

Carter was oblivious to Abby's awkwardness to his hug, he was just a huggy person...he loved giving hugs. And he enjoyed hugging her because he could breath in that sweet smell of her hair, he'd have to ask her later what it was. It smelled really good. It finally hit him that she was uncomfortable when she practically pried his arms off her,

"Oh, yeah, oops, sorry," he blushed and ran a hand through his constant bedhead hair, "I think I'm gonna wait until later, I need to think about how I'm going to go about it...I need to think about how to talk to her without screaming at her or bursting into tears. But yeah I'll leave you to...whatever it was you were doing. I'm gonna grab my stuff from my house and head back to my Aunt Quinn's so she stops freaking out. Although having one more night in my old place might be cool. Stop by if you want, you can be one of the first to see TFT in it's entirety...well except for the credits and opening titles that is." He stood up and threw his backpack over his shoulder. Then without thinking about it he leaned down and gave Abby another big hug and a quick peck on the cheek, "Thanks again Abby, you're the best."

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abbychase
2012-01-17 03:46 am UTC (link)

Abby laughed a little when she saw that Carter was red in the face. She didn't meant to make him blush or get embarrassed. She just wasn't a very affectionate person, as demonstrated by her telling Carter to 'speak' as if he was an animal. It wasn't something she was about to hold against him though; it was just something she'd have to get used to if she was going to be hanging out with him a lot more often.

"Breathing helps." She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "But you're totally allowed to cry or scream if you want. She might not like it but .. you're allowed to cause I say so." Abby grinned and playfully ruffled his already messy hair. She didn't give him an answer about coming over. While she did want to see TFT and all of her friends acting in it, she wasn't about to spend any more time alone with Carter than she had to. Plus, her science project was calling her lovingly.

As he got up to start heading up, Abby got up too to move her chair back. And then he was hugging her yet again. And... kissing her on the cheek? She was about to just pat him on the back and be on their separate ways but she literally froze in her spot. What just happened??? "Uh.. seeya," she murmured as he started walking away. Abby shook her head a few times to snap out of it. Hopefully that was just another thing that he was keen on doing all of the time, not that it was something she could get used to doing each time she saw him either.

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