COME MY WAY • RODRICK HEFFLEY

fortieth chapter

the sun beamed down perfectly on the town of plainview, making it glow in a yellowish-red flame as it slowly descended down to another world.

giselle took in the view overlooking the town in awe, almost as if she were catching her breath as she watched the sun's slow goodbye in front of her eyes. her camera was propped in position in front of her, as she clicked on the button to capture the canvas right before her.

"pretty sunset huh?" rodrick's voice spoke up, interrupting the serene silence they were having.

giselle turned to him, a sweet grin resting on her face. "ponyboy curtis would be proud." she chuckled, joining rodrick who was leaning on the hood of the loaded diper van.

once again, he had accompanied her to one of her photography shoots, gladly taking on the role as her designated driver.

"isn't that name from a book?" he questioned, his thinking look plastered on his face as he tried to recollect his memory.

giselle chuckled, before giving him the answer. "yes, the outsiders." she replied.

"that's the one," he snapped his fingers at her. "i remember that one. stay gold."

"stay gold, rodrick heffley, stay gold.". she laughed.

rodrick found himself wanting to spend more time with giselle. after not talking to her for a while, it made him realize how much he didn't want it to happen again. she was a little distant but rodrick knew to respect it, she'll come around in her own time.

for now, he was enjoying each moment she filled his head with knowledge and random facts he'd never head about. it was appealing to him and he liked to hear her talk on and on about the small things in life. just like the sunset, to him it was just a regular sun leaving their sight but to her, it was a canvas, a picture or a painting come to life.

and rodrick loved seeing things in her perspective.

"how's the whole talent show thing going?" giselle asked, as she began to pack up some of her camera equipment in her bag.

they'd been at the plainview hilltop for a good two hours, she took a few shots of the sunset and some candids of rodrick that she'd use for her different portfolio books.

"oh it's going great, we've just been trying to get a hold of this guy.." rodrick trailed off, realizing giselle's attention was on something else.

he creased his brows together trying to follow what she was looking at, when he noticed their two friends running up the stairs for the hill hikers. zara and ben looked exhausted as sweat dripped down their foreheads and the clear sound of their heavy breathing pervaded the area.

"what the fuck?" rodrick questioned.

"don't you what the fuck me, bitch." ben retorted, still panting.

"BABE," zara whined, hitting ben on the back of his head.

giselle giggled, glancing at rodrick then back at the couple. "why are you guys here?" she asked.

"basically we got—"

"—WE GOT HOLD OF BILL WALTERS.". ben cut in, earning a glare from zara.

rodrick's eyes lit up as excitement began to course through his body. he pumped his fist together and ran towards his best friend, enveloping him in a big hug.

"dude that's amazing!" he exclaimed. "how? how did this happen?"

"that's so cool!" giselle beamed, for once the two boys were showing affection to one another.

ben let go of rodrick's embrace and had the biggest smile on his face. "you owe me," he grinned.

"you owe us" zara giggled, correcting her boyfriend. "i found bill's details."

"right, you owe her more. she's the brilliant hacker genius." ben gushed, planting a soft kiss on zara's cheek making her blush.

"i found his location and from there, we found a brochure of his upcoming gig. we contacted just this morning and here we are."

"impressive," giselle replied. "so what's your plan now boys?" she asked.

ben and zara's expression fell slightly as they both glanced at one another in a concerned manner. "about that.." zara trailed off.

"what?" rodrick questioned, worry taking over his face.

"you see, that's why we had to look for you. bill's hosting a gig tonight at Buckie's bar and he wants to see us perform first before joining loaded diper." ben explained.

rodrick shrugged, "okay? buckie's isn't that bad."

"the thing is, it's not buckie's plainview...it's the buckie's in wood springs."

giselle's eyes popped out and by the expression on rodrick's face, he was just as flustered by this sudden revelation.

"that's an hour away from here!" he exclaimed, "and he wants us by tonight?"

"hug me brotha?" ben questioned, putting his hands out for another embrace.

but rodrick was no longer in a hugging mood. he was panicking. this was it, this was their final shot to get bill and to rock the talent show.

"what are we gonna do?" he asked.

giselle noticed the sullen look on his face, it showed the boy was really passionate about his music.

"that's why we're here." zara grinned, "we've got snacks."

"and you've got the van," giselle spoke up, getting the gist of what zara was trying to say as she smiled giddily at the boy standing next to her.

rodrick smiled back at giselle and the couple in front of him. "holy shit, so we're doing this."

"we're fucking doing this dude!" ben exclaimed while zara laughed.

rodrick couldn't deny the rush of happiness he had felt in this exact moment. he turned towards giselle, holding onto her shoulders. "i need you to come!"

giselle looked flustered, not exactly knowing what to say. "i would but my parents—-"

"—actually, zar and i took care of that. they think you're at quinn's." ben interrupted, winking cheekily at giselle and rodrick.

"you guys are something," giselle chuckled. "now where's quinn?"

"she's waiting at the bottom, she said she needed to come and there was no way she was running up." zara explained.

rodrick hollered loudly, still feeling excitement and happiness all at once. it was such a sensational feeling, he had never properly experienced before. "LET'S GO!" he exclaimed, ushering everyone into the van.

"one more thing!" ben added.

"what?" everyone replied in unison.

"we gotta pick up jerry."

•••••
i'm excited!!!
also i just finished 2 of my assessments!! i'm quite proud of myself.

how are you guys doing??