It's a Typical Love Story.
Summary: Shannon was not a snob, oh no, she wasn't. But she did have a certain IDEA as to what her 'man' should look like. Handsome, of course. Dark-haired, blue eyed. Tall. Broad shoulders, narrow waist. Sexy arms. In short, everything HE wasn't.
Disclaimer: I have whatsoever no rights on Katharine McPhee's song 'Love Story' on which this story is based. All rights belong to Miss McPhee and the song's producers (I suppose).
Author: Ginnyloveslife
(This is my first time, doing this…)
To:
My mother, who has always supported me and given me confidence (even when she is not willing to tell whether I look fat or not), thanks so much, and remember, the tea I make for you should tell you how much I love you; too much, just like the amount of sugar that is in your tea.
And God, because if He hadn't told me that it's OK to write, and to go ahead, well, then, there wouldn't have been a story, would there? So thank you, for giving me the ability (I hope!) to write so that people DO want to read beyond the first two pages. Thank you.
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Chapter 1: Idealism. Of Man, Thoughts and Things in Life.
Shannon Kilbourne was a hardcore idealist. She believed everybody and everything belonged in their place and when the time was right, everything happened accordingly. At least it should. But in Shannon's well kept world, where everything was maintained perfectly by the owner, little things habitually kept falling out of place. Usually these things were taken out of their place (and not kept back) by the ever spontaneous Anna Stevenson and her sister, Abby and for these, Shannon was never very welcome. They caused changes and derailed her perfectly arranged life, something which Ms. Kilbourne was not very particularly fond of.
However, maybe in the events to come, Shannon just might feel a bit grateful to her best friend and her boisterous sister for causing that particular uproar in her perfectly managed life.
But then again, maybe not.
Like all things is life, Shannon wanted her man to be ideal. Tall, blue-eyed, dark-haired, gallant, intelligent, not too brash, but not too soft either and most certainly kind. And if not blue-eyed/dark-haired, he must be good looking. A bit. Or… a lot. Shannon wasn't about to admit it to anybody but she wasn't about to settle for anybody less. Some say that is why Kilbourne never found anybody.
She was looking for the perfect fairy tale and what she found was a typical love story, giggling mischievously as it slapped her awake from her Cinderella dream…
It surely must have been that summer at Camp Summerlove which Shannon, Anna and Abby were attending after finishing their junior year. It was that sort of camp that had something for everybody. For jocks, artists, cheerleaders and wanna-be scientists. For bookworms converting to writers, for Beethoven-worshippers, for goths and for those who cried watching Gone With the Wind. For those who thought they could dance and for those who knew they were the next Kelly Clarkson. In short, for everybody.
Anna liked it because there was a temple here where she could crawl in and chant 'Beethoven-Mozart'; Abby because they finally didn't differentiate between boys soccer and girls soccer and Shannon, because it was convenient. There were classes for astronomy, Spanish, Office Management, Tennis, French. Everything that she usually did in one single, very cool camp.
So, here we are, watching Shannon Kilbourne stroll to the first class of Astronomy wondering if the astronauts and scientist had finally decided whether Pluto was a planet or not. And what was the deal with the Martians anyway? Everybody knew they were there, so why try hiding behind million-old craters? Might as well come out and let Humans tie smiley-friendship bands around their green arms. Saves everybody's time.
But then again, the scientists/astronauts claimed that there weren't any Martians because there simply wasn't enough oxygen and water on Mars. Well, was there some rule written that said living things had to breathe oxygen and resent toxic gases? What if Martians breathed in, say, monoxide just as well humans did in its bi form? What was toxic to us need not necessarily be bad for Martians, couldn't that be possible?
Really, when Shannon actually thought about it, Humans were very close-minded and unfriendly towards new lifestyle and people. Of course, when she became scientist-astronaut-whatever (perhaps) at the NASA, she'd change that. After all, humans weren't morons; all they needed was a nudge in the right direction and then they can manage.
Feeling extremely pleased with her deep reflections and discoveries, Shannon sauntered in the class and settled down comfortably in the first row.
But if this camp was unique in a good way, it was so in a bad way as well. Like some overgrown second graders, they were assigned partners;right on the very first day of the class, that too! Well, really! Shannon huffed and puffed to herself as she dropped in her name written neatly on a slip of white paper in a big box.
Not only did she dislike partners (especially in a subject like Astronomy where she tended to get a bit philosophic); with her luck, she was bound and sealed to get a complete nerd who would talk about everything boring and confuse her. Ideally, a good girl like her should get a good partner. Sadly, the keyword was should.
But, Shannon thought to herself as she slowly walked back to her seat, the keyword could be could. Who knows, maybe she could. Brightening, she sat down and waited in desperate anticipation for the announcements. Not a life altering decision, but most certainly a camp-altering. She crossed her fingers (and for good measure) her toe fingers as well. Here it comes…
"Shannon Kilbourne; Trevor Melbourne. You both are'bourne' together." Mr Nelson guffawed at his own horrible pun.
Shannon immediately started to hunt for Trevor Melbourne, a guy she knew only by name. So in a way, her fears had still not been dispelled; she still didn't know what kind of partner he'd be.
She soon found out.
Trevor Melbourne was the geek straight out of the 'Beauty and the Geek'. He was wearing big brown canvas shoes, brown polyester pants and checked yellow shirt with dark blue glasses that gave his eyes an owlish look. He had dark black hair slicked back with too much gel, accompanying his white large-toothed smile that he now flashed at her. And just to air brush the picture, he carried a big thick book underneath his arms that his thick bespectacled eyes had probably read ten times already.
Picture perfect.
Smile and say 'cheese'.
Shannon felt the ground slip beneath her.
There was no 'could', only 'should'. At least for her.
"Hello, Shannon." Trevor Melbourne greeted her politely.
"Hey," she smiled back half heartedly, furiously working away on her gum that now seemed a million times more interesting that her partner. Her Astronomy partner.
"Shall we…sit then?" he gestured towards the table awkwardly.
Sliding into a chair, Shannon took a quick peek into the title of his book: Fairy Tales: Truth or Legend?
Doomed. She. Was.
"He's such a nerd, Anna. Honest!"
"Did you talk to him?" Anna Stevenson asked pointedly.
"OK, so we didn't talk much, true, but still, do you know what the title of his 10,000-pages book read? Fairy Tales: Truth or Legend?! What the heck in that!?"
"Nobody's asking you to date him; you're his Astronomy partner. So long as he knows his stuff, you should be OK!" Abby, Anna's sister, reasoned.
"But I was hoping for a fun partner!"
Abby rolled her eyes and Anna gave her a patient smile.
"Hon, first of, you are not in Vegas that you need a fun partner. Second, how do you know he's not fun?" Abby grumped.
"Because guys like him are not what you'd call 'fun'!"
"Give him a chance, at least, Shan!" Anna cried.
Shannon sullenly looked out to the Lake Magnificent.
Nobody, including God, ever listened to her.
"Hello, Shannon. Maybe you are aware, but we are required to work on a project together. So I thought, why not become friends with Shannon. Thus, here we are, with my hand outstretched, ready to clasp you smaller, prettier, lady-like fingers in a gesture of friendship. Do you concur?" he smiled gently as Shannon shook his hands a bit shortly.
Friends. When Johnny Depp started looking uncool.
Now, before you start taking this wrongly, Shannon usually didn't have anything against the Trevors of the world. Frankly, she never noticed them, not in school, not in streets, nor in her life. They held no place in her Neatly Arranged Chic Life. None of her friends were like that, with the possible exception of Mallory Pike, but Mal was a very funny person; nothing like a boring nerd.
….Nothing like Trevor.
For some reason unknown to all the students of the world, that old habit of teachers to hand out projects didn't desert them in the Casual World of Camp either. And because Teachers (of any kind, anywhere) did not particularly find change invigorating, they had also assigned partners to work together on them.
And because teachers usually sat down in that ominous Staff Room and conspired together on how to make students' life even more miserable, Trevor and Shannon were brought together (unwilling, on her part; indifferently, on his) that sunny afternoon, when Trevor had asked Shannon to be his friend.
But to Shannon's despair, they had to meet many such afternoons like that; they had to finish their project soon and were required to work together.
Between Shannon fretting about how much her friends would be laughing at her (or her bad luck, really)behind her back and trying to juggle in that extra time that she now had to give Trevor (when she would rather be doing anything), life at Camp Summerlove was very busy. So much so that the chance of a 'summer love' was negative…
It was true. Trevor did know his stuff. In fact, he knew so much about the subject of their project that they easily had about half of the matter of the project already. The rest of the matter, they had to, of course, look up, but if Shannon were to admit it (when she'd rather die than) she enjoyed doing it. Especially with Trevor. But, shh! Keep this a secret, it's one she would carry to her grave.
But she did! And it was because Trevor adored Astronomy. And since he loved it, he made others be a little bit interested in it (what is so crazy about it, you think, as you inch towards something he's pointing at, all the while jumping like Tiger). So, Shannon, who was already very much keen on the stars and their study, found herself matching his enthusiasm step by step. Right-forward, Left-back. And HOP!
She sometime wondered whether the people around them thought they were speaking Latin (and whether she had converted to Geekism with him… Uh oh) But when they started, it was hard to stop. They talked of nothing but Astronomy and the subject of their project. In fact, the only other thing said were pleasantries being exchanged.
They were, truly and honestly, Astronomy partners; not friends. Shannon wouldn't let them be anything but. She was afraid what anything else could become.
Trevor Melbourne may have been nothing more than a brainy geek to Shannon but, to his parents, he was a certainly a cause of pride and worry. Pride, because of his achieving success in everything that he did and worry, because though he attended an awful lot of extra-circular activities, he had no friends. He didn't 'hang out' with guys, didn't do what normal teenagers did (though they were certainly very thankful that he didn't seem to be inclined to drink or take drugs, like the kids these days.)
Of the many clubs that Trevor had joined, one was music. Trevor was an avid music lover and particularly good at the guitar; of any kind, it didn't matter. You name it, he can play it. And like Astronomy, he was such an enthusiast that Anna Stevenson simply had to stop examining the violin after which she'd been lusting after (the prize of the music competition to be held at the end of Camp) and walk over to him where he was playing diligently. She listened to him, mesmerized, appreciating, probably for the first time in her life, the guitar. She told him so.
"Why is that so?" he asked quizzically.
She laughed embarrassedly. "well, because, guitar's really evolved from the violin and violin is so much more pleasant to the ear whereas guitar, especially electric guitar, is just noise. Yet, people are more interested in the guitar than in the violin" she exclaimed matter-of-factly.
Trevor frowned and stopped playing.
"Guitar has not evolved from the violin. They are string instruments, of course, but…they are not the same. And I wouldn't say people are more interested in the guitar than in violin. Everybody's got a different taste, so is it fair, would you say, to make your judgment so hastily?" He concluded.
"But violin is considered boring; guitar's not." Anna pointed out.
Someone sure didn't mince her words, Trevor thought, amazed.
"Actually, that's because guitar's been brought main stream whereas violin is still concentrated to the classical. I mean to say, you practice Beethoven, I practice anything, it could even be Britney Spears."
Anna had to admit what he said held some truth and so asked him if there were any way people's perception could be changed. After all, the violin was anything but boring.
"Well, all violinists have to do is to play more mainstream. After all, it's not necessary that an art would become mutated just because people of mass, and not just class, like it. Guitar has not been mutated; it's evolved and gotten better." Trevor pointed out.
"True, I suppose. Maybe someday it could happen."
"Maybe you could be the one to bring about that change." Trevor smiled.
Anna smiled coyly, "Have I introduced myself? Anna Stevenson. And you'd be?"
"Trevor Melbourne, please to make your acquaintance." He shook her hand. "Have you ever tried to play the violin in sync with the guitar?" Anna shook her head.
"Let's try, then."
And that day, two people met and played the most beautiful language, that of love: Music. They played with passion that comes out of doing something you love. And if the world had more people feeling that passion more, perhaps this world could have been a better place…
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Author's Note: Well that is it for now, folks. How did you like it? I cannot be sure how many chapters this story has, but I know this: I will finish all the chapters and then post them. I don't want to repeat my past mistakes :[ Anyway, how did you find it? PLEASE tell me? Thanks, and if there's anything that you think needs to be improved, don't hesitate in telling me. Ok?
Love,
Ginny.
Based on Love Story by Katharine McPhee.
