A Collection of Duncney

The New Girl Pt 2

(This is a continuation of my earlier chapter 'the new girl' and takes place 1 month later

Courtney sighed as she scrolled her emails, many of them written to her to congratulate her for being accepted into some of the biggest ivy league schools the world had to offer.

Brown

Harvard

Princeton

She scrolled on and sighed when she saw one school in particular hadn't responded to her application letter she had sent out in the middle of the year. Her dream school. The only school she ever saw herself being a part of.

Yale University had Courtney Taints name written all over it.

Besides, she had always looked better in Yale blue anyways.

She sighed and gently closed her laptop. She had applied for early admissions, so she wasn't too worried she hadn't heard back yet. She was top of her class, she had no doubt she would get in. Especially because both of her older brothers were both Yale Alumni. 

Courtney slowly laid back and grabbed her phone and started scrolling through Facebook.

Only to freeze when a post caught her eye.

I'm so excited to announce I have been accepted to study abroad this coming year in Africa to build houses for unfortunate families who have been affected by the earthquakes! I leave at the beginning of this semester after Christmas break and I cannot wait. Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this, especially my amazing boyfriend Duncan! So much love, Gwen!

Attached to the post was a bunch of pictures of her and Duncan together, her with her mom, and a picture of her acceptance letter. 

Good for her... I wonder how Duncan feel about her being so far away for so long?

Courtney rolled her eyes and snapped out of it. Why should she care anyways? He ditched her for Gwen months ago. 

But still. The ache to know he was okay was still a weight on her chest she couldn't quite escape from. 

No! Don't you dare text him! He's happy with her and gave up a chance for a great friendship. 

Courtney sighed and grabbed her phone anyways. Duncan had been her lifeline since childhood. And in return, she had always been his. That meant she had to say something? Right?

Hey, just saw Gwen's post. Happy for her. I can only guess you're just as excited as she is that she got the internship she wanted -Court

Pressing send, she blew out a long breath. That was the first time she had texted Duncan since the beginning of the school year when their friendship fell apart. It was odd. 

Turning her phone off, not expecting a response-like normal- she laid down and turned her lights off. Courtney rolled over and shut her eyes. Sleep washing over her like waves pulling you into the dark sea.

The sound of her alarm blasting in her ear made Courtney groan and flick the thing off. She reached over excitedly and opened her phone-

Only to see she had gotten no new messages. But he had read her text. 

Feeling drained and the day had barely even started, she got up and went in to take a shower. Getting ready for yet another long day of senior year. 

Walking down the hallway towards her locker alone was something she had grown to getting used to. Seems how Duncan would much rather walk with his goth queen now. As she rounded the hallway, she heard a few people yelling up ahead. As she got closer though, she realized it was Duncan and Gwen. Shouting at each other in the middle of the hallway. 

"How could you not tell me you were doing an internship in fucking Africa?" Duncan's voice boomed down the halls. Courtney pushed her way through the crowd to stand in front to watch the showdown

"I didn't think it mattered!" Gwen yelled back. 

"Really? You didn't think telling me that 2 months before graduation you were going to leave and go to Africa!? What the hell Gwen! I thought we were gonna walk the stage together! We made a promise!" Duncan said. 

Courtney felt her heart ping. Duncan and Courtney had shared that very same promise months ago...

"So you'll walk without me. Big deal." Gwen rolled her eyes, only making things worse

"It might not be that big of a deal to you, but it was to me. I thought we were supposed to go to college together. Take a leap year, look for apartments. Not just have you ditch me like I was trash!" he said. Courtney swallowed hard at the genuine hurt behind the guys eyes. It made her heart break for him. 

"Oh please. You'll forget about me as quickly as I got here. Then you can go running off back to Courtney. The girl we all know you really belong with. Stop being such a sap," Gwen snapped and walked away. Leaving Duncan and Courtney both stunned beyond words. 

The crowd looked back and forth between the two teenagers, one of them cleared their throats 

"Awkward," someone said. 

Courtney looked up at Duncan, teary eyed. 

"Court, wait-"

Courtney ignored Duncan's plea and raced away down the hall to the women's locker room. She slammed and locked the door to a stall and breathed hard. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head

Then you can go running back off to Courtney. The girl we all know you really belong with

Gwen's words rang through her mind. Over and over again. 

"No, no no... This isn't happening. Duncan doesn't like me. We were always just friends. He doesn't like me like that. He. Doesn't." she rambled to herself "Otherwise we wouldn't be where we are now. Both....in wrong relationships...." she sighed as she realize the last bit of her sentence.

Opening the stall door, Courtney went to the mirror and washed off her mascara and reapplied it. She took out a tube of chapstick and put a shallow coat across her chapped lips. Taking a few deep breathes, she opened the bathroom door.

Only to come face to face with a wall of flesh.

"Damn there you are, I've been looking for you everywhere!" Scott chuckled. Courtney sighed and smiled tiredly 

"Sorry. I must have eaten a bad lunch." she said. They walked down the hall, Courtney felt him slip an arm around her shaky shoulders and lead her towards her next class

"I bet it was the mystery meat Chef made for lunch. The stuff is wickedly rank," he chuckled. 

Courtney sighed as her shoulders slumped.

Gwen couldn't have possibly had meant what she said earlier, right? About me being the girl Duncan really wants?

No... She couldn't have been telling the truth or else he would have made the move years ago.

Or...else... He had always been to afraid to ruin the friendship they had by adding in all these complicated feelings...

"Ugh," Courtney groaned at her thoughts. She looked over at Scott sleeping soundly on her bed next to her. His phone by his side. It was late, but she still needed to study for this upcoming chem final. 

Courtney heard her phone go off and she grabbed it. Flicking through Facebook, she gasped.

Gwen Myers is no longer in a relationship with Duncan Evans

"Wow..I guess their fight really did a number on their relationship... Hey, Scott look at this-"

Just as she was about to wake him to show him, she saw he too had received a notification. But this time it was a text. 

Courtney raised an eyebrow wondering who would be texting her boyfriend at such a late time. 

She carefully grabbed his phone and slid It unlocked. He had received a text message. 

Courtney's heart stopped as she read the message

Hey baby.. last night was so fun. I can't wait to do it again soon! -Dawn