𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ─── 𝘮. 𝘮𝘤𝘧𝘭𝘺

O5. twin pines mall

cw: contains brief mentions of underage smoking and drinking (not excessively). i am in no way promoting these. also, please don't sneak out of your house in the middle of the night because kidnappers and covid ykyk

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“i can’t believe you. what the hell was that about earlier!?” gwendolyn hisses as she tosses her bag under the glove compartment. she ties her hair back in a low ponytail to keep her hair from getting messed up by the wind before turning to look at the boy driving. “well!?”

“what are you talking about?” andrew asks, keeping one hand on the steering wheel and the other arm resting on top of the car door. “don’t play dumb with me, bennett. if you were any other boy, you’d be on your way to the hospital by now.” she really didn’t understand why he had gotten so protective earlier. the kiss was something new and she didn’t like it. “oh, come on, gwen, it wasn’t that bad,” andrew defends.

“i didn’t give you permission to do that,” gwen snaps. “it didn’t help that you were doing it infront of people.”

“people meaning mcfly, you mean.” andrew sighs and stops at a red light. turning to face the girl, he continues. “i don’t get why you’re defending him. you practically hate him. why were you even watching his audition in the first place?” gwendolyn rolls her eyes and leans back in the leather seat of the car. “i’m not defending him. i’m just saying it was weird for both of us. he even asked me if we were together.” this caught his attention. “oh? what did you say?”

she looks at him with a weirded out look mixed with a little disgust. “no, of course. as if i’d date one of my friends.” she chuckles under her breath and shakes her head. “even if i would date one of my friends, you and i have been friends for far too long; it’d be weird if we got together.” andrew sits back, defeated. looks like he definitely did have to step up his game if he wanted her to change her mind. “look, andy, just please don’t do that again. especially in front of-”

“marty. i know.” the senior rolls his eyes at the mention of gwen’s ex-friend. “what is your problem with him?” the girl demands. “at least i have a reason. you’ve hated him since i was a freshman.” andrew shakes his head and steps on the gas pedal when the light turns green. “gwen, chill. i won’t do it again unless i have your permission, okay?”

satisfied enough, she nods. “thank you.” the boy gives her a small smile before turning on the car radio. a rock song comes on and he quickly changes channels, the guitar solo sounding too much like the one marty was playing in the gym earlier. gwen scoffs and looks away from him as the car makes a turn, not having the energy to argue with him on this.

minutes later, andrew stops the car in front of the harlow residence in cherryoak acres but keeps the engine running. “i’ll pick you up for school on monday,” he offers as gwendolyn grabs her bag and steps out of the car. “no need,” she responds, still annoyed. “i’ll ask stace if she can drive me.” she slams the door shut and walks around the front of the car.

“oh, come on, gwen.” before he can continue, the blonde opens her front door and slams it shut behind her after entering. she hears andrew drive away and sighs in relief before making a beeline for the stairs.

“oh, april, you’re home!” she pauses halfway up the staircase and turns around to see her mother at the bottom of the steps. “mom,” she whines, leaning against the banister. it takes her mother a few seconds to remember. “sorry. gwen. your dad called from work. he said you passed marty on the way to school but didn’t want him to join you.”