EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER

BY CREASSYA
 
 

This takes place after Invisible. Monica has been having a difficult time with her being fat and all. It didn't help matters when Chandler's friends made fun of her and threw paper at her. Chandler stood up for her, but that was over shadowed by the insults she heard coming from Chandler's friends. She sat in her room that day feeling sorry for herself, and hating the person she was. Now we'll take a look at how Chandler views things and himself.
 

Chandler slapped the alarm clock and it fell to the floor. He sat up rubbing his eyes trying to gather himself. For the most part, he liked school, but he didn't feel like going today. He didn't want to face his friends after what happened the day before. At first, he wasn't going to say anything about how his friends were making fun of Monica, but he felt bad for her, and it angered him that his friends could be so insensitive. She was such a sweet girl, who didn't deserve to be picked on. When he saw her sitting at her desk with her hands over her face trying to suppress her tears, he wanted to go over and hug her. It wasn't that he felt sorry for her, but somehow he was feeling her pain. It was obvious that things didn't come easy for her. He stood up and stretched a little. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but all he could see, was poor Monica putting her hands to her face, to hide the embarrassment that she was experiencing, and then hurrying from the room as quickly as possible. He was really angry with his friends for making her feel that way. He didn't mean to yell at them, but his emotions got the better of him. They looked at him as if he had transformed himself into someone else before their very eyes. He went into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

He took off his clothes and let them fall to the floor. He slowly stepped into the shower and welcomed the hot water that was pouring down on his body. He let the hot water hit his face as he closed his eyes. He wished that he could stay there for the rest of the day. Even though he was popular and seemed happy, he wasn't. Popularity didn't mean anything to him. He mainly wanted to play sports and do well in school. The other stuff wasn't important. Once he was done taking a shower, he brushed his teeth and dressed quickly. Joey would be over to pick him up any minute now. He went downstairs and grabbed himself a piece of fruit and headed out the door to wait for Joey. He was glad that he didn't run into his mother this morning. She had her boyfriend over and they had kept him up almost the whole night. His mother was making so much noise, that he had to sleep with his headphones on. He hated all of her boy toys, and she knew it. She wasn't home that often, but when she was, she always had company, and no time for him. As much as he hated his mother's ways, he dated women who were very similar to her. He was beginning to see a pattern and it frightened him. He didn't want to end up with a woman that reminded him of his mother. Thinking about that depressed Chandler. Suddenly Joey pulled up and interrupted the rest of his thoughts. He got into the car and Joey sped off.

As he and Joey walked into the school, he spotted Monica's brother Ross. He didn't know him very well, but he wanted to go over and ask how Monica was. As Chandler was walking towards him, his girlfriend Cynthia came up to him from behind. He turned around and she grabbed his face and kissed him. When she pulled away, she smiled at him.

"So, are you taking me out tonight?"

"Hello to you too."

"Hi. So are you?"

"I'll think about it." He said.

"Chandler, we haven't been out in a week."

"Don't start!" He said angrily.

He stepped back away from her and then walked off leaving Cynthia standing in the middle of the hall with a surprised look on her face. He had never snapped at her like that. She wondered what had gotten into him all of sudden.

During English class, Chandler noticed that Monica was absent. He wondered if she had cut class or if she was absent from school. He was hoping that she was in school. He wanted to see if she was all right. His friends seemed to have forgotten about the other day, but he hadn't. He didn't understand why he was so worried about Monica's feelings. His friends didn't pay much attention to him, which he was glad about. He didn't feel like being bothered. On the way to school, Joey wanted to know what was bothering him. He couldn't give him an answer because he didn't know why he was in a bad mood. He went through the rest of the day not wanting to be bothered. Today was one day that he wished he weren't popular. People acted as if he weren't allowed to have a bad day. He was expected to be funny and charming all the time. It pissed him off.

At the end of the day, Chandler noticed Rachel and Phoebe walking down the hall towards the exit, so he ran down the hall to catch them. When he was close enough behind them, he walked until he was side by side with Rachel.

"Hey Rachel, Phoebe."

"Hey." Rachel said with a frown.

"Listen, I wanted to know if Monica was in school today. I didn't see her in class."

Phoebe and Rachel looked at each other in surprise. Chandler noticed this but decided not to pay any more attention to it.

"No, she didn't come to school today." Phoebe answered.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, well, I just wanted to make sure that she was all right. Did she tell you two about what happened in class?"

"Sarah told us."

"Well, is she okay?"

"Well, we're going over to her house, you can find out." Rachel said.

"Okay."

Phoebe and Rachel again looked at each other in surprise. A half hour later, Chandler was sitting in the living room waiting for Monica to come downstairs. A couple minutes later she was coming down the steps looking really nervous. She went over to the couch and sat next to him.

"Hi." She said shyly.

"Hi. I noticed that you weren't in school today. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I just want to apologize for my immature friends. They shouldn't have treated you like that."

"It's okay. I'm used to it."

"No, it's not okay. I'm sorry you had to go through that." He said looking at her with her head down.

"Thanks." She said with tears in her eyes.

When she looked at him, he held her hand noticing her watery eyes.

"I won't let them make fun of you anymore." He said with a slight grin.

"Thanks a lot Chandler." She said smiling.

"You're welcome."

"You're a really nice guy."

"Well, I try to be." He said playfully.

"I'm kinda surprised that you're here."

"I know." He said smiling. Listen, we're having a party this weekend. You should come."

"We?"

"Me and Joey."

"Oh okay."

"So, are you gonna be there?"

"I don't know."

"Well, just think about it."

"Okay."

Chandler stood up to leave. Monica walked him to the door, and thanked him again. When he left, she stood in the living room with a huge smile on her face.

Chandler walked out the house feeling good about himself. He felt much better knowing that Monica was feeling better. It was obvious that Monica had low self esteem. He understood that because he didn't think too highly of himself either. Sure he was popular, played baseball for the school, and always had girls asking him out, but his self esteem was just as low as Monica's. He was able to identify with the way that she felt. He was able to look into her eyes and see that she was lonely and misunderstood. He also noticed the hurt that reflected in her eyes. It was a feeling he knew all too well.

Chandler walked into his house with a smile on his face, but it instantly disappeared when he saw his mother's boyfriend sitting on the couch in his underwear and a T-shirt. It wasn't something he wanted to see as soon as he walked through the door. He glared at him and headed straight to his room. He was glad that he didn't bring his friends or girlfriend over. He would have been really embarrassed. He sat on his bed wishing he were in another place, far away from everybody. Lots of people looked up to him because his mother had money and he was popular. Nobody really took the time to look past all that to see the real Chandler, and it bothered him. He had lots of friends, but they didn't really know him.

He was tired of being on an emotional roller coaster. One minute he was sad, and the next minute he was happy. He went from being happy, to angry, and then experiencing the feeling of loneliness. People would never understand how someone as popular as him, with a girlfriend, could be lonely. For the most part, he kept his unhappiness to himself, and at times, it made him feel worst.

Chandler was talking to Joey and his other friends, when he saw Monica walk in with Phoebe and Rachel. The party was already crowded at 9pm. Chandler broke away from his friends and went over to greet Monica, Phoebe and Rachel. When he made his way over to them, Monica smiled.

"I'm glad you made."

"You have no idea what it took to get her out of the house." Rachel said.

"Rachel!"

"It doesn't matter. I'm just glad you came."

Phoebe and Rachel looked at each other and smiled.

"Well, see you later Mon." Phoebe said as they hurried off into the crowd.

"So, what did they have to go through to get you out of the house?"

"I'd rather not say." Monica said shyly.

"Okay." He said grinning.

After an hour had passed, Chandler finally left Monica's side and went back over to his friends. While he was laughing and talking with them, he noticed that Monica was having a good time. She didn't dance, but he was glad that she was enjoying herself. She stayed pretty close to Phoebe and Rachel, being that she didn't know very many people.

"Dude, I still can't believe you invited Monica, she's like, nobody, and Phoebe is totally weird." Jeff said.

"If you don't like it, you can leave." Chandler said angrily.

"Why are you getting so mad?" Jeff asked.

"Because, you're pissing me off, that's why. Why do you always have to put people down?"

"Chandler, what's going on with you?"

"You wouldn't understand." He said walking off.

Chandler didn't know why he invited him. The more he hung around Jeff, the more he was beginning to dislike him. At that moment, he wanted to send everybody home. He didn't feel like being bothered. He went outside for a little quiet, and shortly after, Monica came up behind him.

"Chandler?"

"What?" He asked angrily without turning around to see who was calling him.

"I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone." Monica said.

He turned around and noticed that it was Monica, and gently grabbed her arm.

"I didn't know it was you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Are you okay?"

"I will be."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just realizing that I can't stand some of my friends." Chandler said angrily.

"Did you wanna stay out here by yourself?"

"I don't mind the company."

"So, what's bothering you?"

"I just told you."

"I know I don't know you that well, but I can tell that something else is bothering you."

"You can? How?"

"It's written all over your face."

"Didn't know that." He joked.

"It's not that hard to tell."

"You don't wanna hear my problems."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. I guess I just don't like to talk about myself."

"I don't mind."

"Okay....well, I hate my mother's boyfriends. I mean, she goes through about 6 guys a year. I came home one day and found boyfriend number nine hundred and ninety-nine sitting on the couch in his underwear."

"Ewwww." Monica said.

"I know, I'm just glad I didn't bring company home."

"So, where's your girlfriend?"

"What girlfriend?"

"Cynthia."

"She's my ex-girlfriend now."

"Oh. How come? If you don't mind me asking."

"I just started realizing that I go out with girl who are like my mother, and then I end up resenting them."

"I see. Makes sense."

"Thanks." He said grinning.

They stood outside for hours talking while the party was still going on. It felt good having someone to talk to about how he was feeling. Nobody else seemed to care. He told her everything, and she listened. He wondered why he never saw how sweet she was until recently. The school year was almost over and he had never spoken to her almost the entire year. He didn't understand how anyone could treat her so bad. He knew that from that night on, he had a friend in Monica Geller.

When the party was over, he sat and talked to Joey.

"You didn't see anything wrong with me inviting Monica right?"

"Of course not. Why should I?

"I don't know."

"Look, I'm not Jeff or your other so called friends. I have a heart." Joey said.

"I'm glad."

"Well, I have a busy night ahead of me. I got five phone numbers." Joey said grinning.

"And you have a heart right?" Chandler said sarcastically.

"Of course!"

Chandler went up to his room when Joey left. He was glad to have everybody gone. He needed some peace and quiet. He laid on his bed and put his hands behind his head. He didn't worry about what his friends might say to him on Monday. Instead, he relaxed. He figured that Monica would make a better friend than Jeff would any day. She was the sweetest person he had met in a long time. Despite her being overweight, she had a really pretty face, which is something he didn't realize until she ran into him in the hall. He thought that she had the prettiest blue eyes he'd ever seen. He was a little surprised that she came outside to see if he was all right. He didn't want to tell her that he was pissed off at Jeff for insulting her again. He remembered how sad she looked when he was helping her pick up her things off the floor. She looked as if she was about to cry. He knew that if he told her what Jeff had said about her, he would have seen that same expression on her face. He didn't invite her to the party for that. He wanted her to have a good time. He felt that she deserved it. Minutes later, he heard his mother's voice. He closed his eyes knowing that she would come into his room. Seconds later, she opened the door, and seeing that he was asleep, she closed it back. He waited until she was down the hall before he opened his eyes again. He didn't want to bothered with her. He laid on the bed for the remainder of the night thinking about things, and soon fell fast asleep.
 

THE NEXT ONE'S CALLED.......

THE NEW MONICA