Somewhere between the newspaper office and Speedy's
Friday. July 2, 1982
A little after 12:00 PM
Tabby dried her eyes. She couldn't cry anymore. The adrenaline rush she'd been running on finally crashed and reality set in slowly. As she buried her face in her hands again, she felt something tangled in her hair and picked a French fry loose from a matted curl and flicked it across the parking lot.
What the hell was she going to do? Things had gone from worse to unbearable. Tabby was pretty sure that her father was already going to murder her, but this... there were no words to describe it. She was positive she'd managed to get herself fired, kicked off the cheerleading squad, sealed any hope of getting to continue to be in her band... would the Blackwell family even still be in Teal Cove by the end of the summer? Oh, what the hell was the point? Her existence here was over. The whole town would know everything by the end of the afternoon. So much for finally finding a group of friends and happiness. Suddenly, being tied up in a closet by a group of car thieves seemed like the least of her problems.
Tabby stood up. She was pretty sure her face was still red. Her eye began to throb. How bad would the damage be? Tabby rubbed her injury gingerly. It was definitely swollen and it hurt to open it. It was only just now beginning to set in that she'd been keeping it closed. Having realized that Marie's fist had given her a black eye, she looked down to see both of her skinned knees which also burned followed by the fact that her uniform was a mixture of soda, milkshake and condiment stains. Tabby didn't even bother to contemplate if her mascara was running or not.
She had been cowering behind the dumpster in the alleyway behind a business. Tabby wasn't sure where she was exactly, but knew how to get back to Speedy's, but there was no way she could go back there after what happened. The reality began to set in that she was going to have to figure out what to do next. She was too far from home to walk or skate back. Teal Cove didn't have a bus service. Maybe she could find a payphone and call someone? Perhaps Gary?
Shit! Tabby realized that her purse and shoes were back at the restaurant. All she had were her skates and her soiled work uniform. If things weren't bad enough, there was no way she could go in anywhere public. What the hell was she going to do? Tabby took a deep breath and let it out.
It was then she remembered she wasn't far from The Teal Cove Chronicle. Shelley had called in to work so she could focus on the story about that family who had been held hostage. That was the whole reason Tabby had even gone in today. It was supposed to be her day off.
Maybe Shelley was there. It was either find her, or flag down a total stranger. Tabby stayed behind the dumpster trying to calm herself. She wished she had a mirror so she would at least have some idea of how bad her face was. There was going to be no hiding it.
After she was sure it wasn't going to be obvious to anyone she'd been crying, Tabby skated off toward the direction of the office. She was careful to stick to alleyways and stay off the beaten path so she wouldn't run into anyone. The whole time, her mind raced. The events of the morning kept replaying in her head as she contemplated how she'd face Starla, her friends, her parents, Coach North, Riley, the entire town...
It took her much longer than it would have normally to get there, but she finally made it. Several minutes passed before she could muster up the courage to peek around the corner. There was the newspaper building. Tabby didn't see Shelley's Firebird. It took her a moment to remember why. After spending several more minutes to finally get up the nerve, she forced herself to skate toward the door.
Friday. July 2, 1982
A little after 12:00 PM
Tabby dried her eyes. She couldn't cry anymore. The adrenaline rush she'd been running on finally crashed and reality set in slowly. As she buried her face in her hands again, she felt something tangled in her hair and picked a French fry loose from a matted curl and flicked it across the parking lot.
What the hell was she going to do? Things had gone from worse to unbearable. Tabby was pretty sure that her father was already going to murder her, but this... there were no words to describe it. She was positive she'd managed to get herself fired, kicked off the cheerleading squad, sealed any hope of getting to continue to be in her band... would the Blackwell family even still be in Teal Cove by the end of the summer? Oh, what the hell was the point? Her existence here was over. The whole town would know everything by the end of the afternoon. So much for finally finding a group of friends and happiness. Suddenly, being tied up in a closet by a group of car thieves seemed like the least of her problems.
Tabby stood up. She was pretty sure her face was still red. Her eye began to throb. How bad would the damage be? Tabby rubbed her injury gingerly. It was definitely swollen and it hurt to open it. It was only just now beginning to set in that she'd been keeping it closed. Having realized that Marie's fist had given her a black eye, she looked down to see both of her skinned knees which also burned followed by the fact that her uniform was a mixture of soda, milkshake and condiment stains. Tabby didn't even bother to contemplate if her mascara was running or not.
She had been cowering behind the dumpster in the alleyway behind a business. Tabby wasn't sure where she was exactly, but knew how to get back to Speedy's, but there was no way she could go back there after what happened. The reality began to set in that she was going to have to figure out what to do next. She was too far from home to walk or skate back. Teal Cove didn't have a bus service. Maybe she could find a payphone and call someone? Perhaps Gary?
Shit! Tabby realized that her purse and shoes were back at the restaurant. All she had were her skates and her soiled work uniform. If things weren't bad enough, there was no way she could go in anywhere public. What the hell was she going to do? Tabby took a deep breath and let it out.
It was then she remembered she wasn't far from The Teal Cove Chronicle. Shelley had called in to work so she could focus on the story about that family who had been held hostage. That was the whole reason Tabby had even gone in today. It was supposed to be her day off.
Maybe Shelley was there. It was either find her, or flag down a total stranger. Tabby stayed behind the dumpster trying to calm herself. She wished she had a mirror so she would at least have some idea of how bad her face was. There was going to be no hiding it.
After she was sure it wasn't going to be obvious to anyone she'd been crying, Tabby skated off toward the direction of the office. She was careful to stick to alleyways and stay off the beaten path so she wouldn't run into anyone. The whole time, her mind raced. The events of the morning kept replaying in her head as she contemplated how she'd face Starla, her friends, her parents, Coach North, Riley, the entire town...
It took her much longer than it would have normally to get there, but she finally made it. Several minutes passed before she could muster up the courage to peek around the corner. There was the newspaper building. Tabby didn't see Shelley's Firebird. It took her a moment to remember why. After spending several more minutes to finally get up the nerve, she forced herself to skate toward the door.
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