A/N: Hello people!
I've been working on this new story for weeks and I finally decided to publish it. I made two of my friends read the first chapters of this and they liked them so I thought why not share it with fanfiction readers?
So there it is.
I appreaciated so much the support for my stories Back off, sis and Bad Reviews & Best Rescuers. Like, seriously, I love you all. And if you liked this story as well, that'd mean the world to me :)
So, um... here's the prologue, enjoy!
"I like you, but you're… not my type."
New girl, same old story.
Austin's frustration was at the peak and he was about to throw in the towel. However, he decided to let the girl off and hope the next one would be less haughty. It's not like he got involved so easily with girls anyway, or maybe he just barely got the time to. They always ran away before he could.
The blame is not on his looks because, c'mon, who doesn't like his golden locks, hazel eyes and adorable, dazzling smile? No girl could ever wish for a more attractive guy to date.
And man, he was one heck of a singer. His voice was magic, a lullaby to help you sleep, a perfect harmony made for his perfect appearance.
For some unknown reason, though, girls seemed to run away from him like scared gazelles from a very hungry lion, instead of chasing him around like teenagers did with famous popstars. Okay, the reason was pretty much obvious, but he didn't want to admit it. To admit that he had this insignificant, unpleasing flaw that brought misery in his life.
And to think the last girl was a brunette, his favorite type of girl, which he rarely got since all the girls he had (briefly) dated were blondes. Correction, dyed blondes.
In high school apparently girls liked him more, being the most "popular" guy in school and also the "basketball's star"… but now, in college? It looked like the star had fallen… right on his head.
He was a freshman and majoring in economy, thanks to his beloved father - sarcasm alert -, and he had to deal with suckish things about management, suckish things with numbers, suckish everyfuckingthing.
And, as aforementioned, his love life was just as his major… You got the hint.
It was almost 7 in the morning and his class would start at 8. If there was a thing worse than classes, it was classes in early morning.
He got out of the bathroom in a rush, almost tripping over Dez, his red-head bestfriend and roommate.
"Hey, dude, calm down. I'm still sleeping even though I look awake," Dez said, yawning. He was struggling to keep his eyelids at least half open.
"Sorry, I have class early today and I can't miss it, unfortunately," he muttered the last part, wishing to go back in his bed, sandwiched between warm sheets.
"You kind of look mad today, apart from the being not able to sleep in. What happened?"
Another thing about his best friend? He totally could read his mind and his expressions due of years of experience started in kindergarten. Well, they had one long-lasting friendship.
"You know Rebecca?"
"The brunette that you started dating two days ago? Amazing body, too much perfume, annoying voice?"
"That one," he sighed, considering the fact that put in that way it wasn't such a loss, after all.
"What about her?"
"She broke up with me, yesterday. I'm not her type, I'm too rude and my snarky comments are too mean for her liking. In conclusion, I'm not the perfect gentleman she wanted me to be," I scoffed, "Well, too bad."
"This is not the first time a girl has told you something like that. Austin, you should change your attitude, you should try to be more… well-mannered, unless you want to be a bachelor for the rest of your life. Girls want to be wooed, to be treated like princesses."
The blonde raised his eyebrow, "And you would know that because…?"
"Because," Dez whispered, getting closer to his friend as if he was about to spill a big secret, "I'm the love whisperer, remember?"
Old friend, same old story.
"And what's your advice, love whisperer?" His tone of voice was dripping with sarcasm, but Dez seemed clueless.
"Austin, you're like the beast, from 'Beauty and the Beast'. You have to find someone that truly loves you and then this person will be able to make you turn into a good guy. But, keep in mind that finding her won't be easy, you have to choose wisely, you gotta find a girl really, really patient. After all, who would ever love a beast?" He quoted the last sentence directly from the movie, his voice dramatically deep as if he was acting in a theater.
That speech was too complicated to formulate for someone who had just woken up.
"Quoting Disney now? Dez, really? I'm supposed to find my… Belle?"
Dez grinned triumphantly, "Now you get it."
Everything in his long speech was a big bullshit and Austin was sure Disney movies weren't the right solution for his problems, but fighting back seemed pointless and he decided against it. So, letting out a sigh, he made his way towards his room to get dressed. "That may be hard," he shouted as he walked away, "you said it: who could ever love a beast?"
After Rebecca, there was a Katherine. A blonde, really tall, really dumb Katherine. He tried to lower his standards again, but the girl had dumped him even more quickly than Rebecca had. On the next day, he found her making out with a random dude in the boys dorm. He just rolled his eyes and went straight into his room, choosing to cross a different corridor. He had no intention to walk past them and observe the disgusting scene at a short distance.
The thought made him gag.
Too much PDA, even for his accustomed eyes.
On Saturday, at the end of that failure of a week, Jace - one of his best friends, after Dez - invited him and his red-head friend over in his room. Room that he shared with Gavin, a jackass, stuck up guy he hated with all his being; he was majoring in medicine and if he one day would ever become a doctor, Austin swore that he'd never put himself in his hands.
Even if he was the last doctor on Earth, he'd rather die.
Back on Jace, he insisted they had to come over because he had recently got a girlfriend - a very feisty one, as he claimed - and finally he would let his friends meet her. Oh, and said girl would bring her best friend, too.
Austin was about to tell Jace that maybe having him meeting those pretty ladies would ruin everything, his new relationship included, since he had developed this superpower of scaring girls away.
But he forced the thought away, trying to be more optimistic and focusing instead on what he would wear. He settled on going with a plain black v-neck, washed out jeans with chains hanging on his left pocket and his over-used black converse. Dress to impress wasn't in his to-do-list that night; fancy dressing was the last of his problems. Somehow, he had to fix his whole persona… or fix whatever wrong it was with women in general.
On the contrary, Dez showed up at the door of Austin's (messy) room in their mini shared apartment, looking like the rainbow had thrown up on him. His pants resembled a chessboard with yellow and red little squares and his T-shirt was yellow as well, with a green disturbing cat printed on it. It said 'Meow'.
How original.
"Ready to go?"
Austin took his phone and slipped it in his back pocket. "Yep."
It didn't take long to get to Jace and the other idiot's room; they had to just cross the hallway. Unfortunately Gavin opened the door and Austin was obliged to fist bump him, much to his dismay. Dez and Jace (especially Dez) had insisted on getting along with him since they should be all friends and blah blah blah.
"Hey, dudes. The girls are already here, we are hanging out in Jace's room." Austin nodded and just walked casually towards the room, but Dez sprinted past him and barged into it first.
The moment Austin entered, he was greeted by the view of Jace snuggling up on his bed with his girlfriend (a Latina, he noticed) and of a pretty, petite brunette sitting on the edge of the bed.
Jace disentangled himself from the girl and smiled widely, "Dez, Austin, these are Trish, my girlfriend and Ally, her bestfriend. Ally, Trish, those two are my best friends."
Dez wrapped the two girls in bear hugs, leaving Trish disgusted and Ally with an awkward smile playing on her lips. After the little show he put on, Austin decided to wave at them, not bothering to approach them and shook their hands (who did this anyway?). Trish waved back, bored out of hell but Ally, on the other hand, waved at him cheerily. Too cheerily. "Hello to you, Austin," her voice was as cheery as her expression was.
Ugh, he hated cheerfulness. Too bad she was undeniably pretty…
Soon, they all got in a conversation about random topics: you know, college, people they knew, upcoming parties and parties they attended. To be honest, Austin was eager to go back in his room and sleep until the next day, planning on waking up on late morning (or early afternoon).
Gotta enjoy Sundays.
On top of that, he really wasn't in the mood for socializing after all that dumping, courtesy of his lovely dates.
So, he decided to go take a drink from the two roommates' fridge, claiming to be thirsty, but actually looking for something better to do.
A soda was the only thing appetizing the fridge contained and he opened the can, sipping slowly from it. He wasn't thirsty for real, but that bubbly beverage was quite refreshing anyway. Three sips later, a girly voice interrupted his peaceful drinking, drawing his attention on herself. "Is there something else I can drink?"
He didn't know why but he almost smiled at her sheepish request. Almost. "There's water, if you want, but you can finish the rest of this soda, I don't think I can drink the whole can,"
She nodded, "Yes, thank you."
He handed her the can and she took it timidly, starting to sip on the content only a few seconds later, after inspecting the can. For some strange reason the way her plump, pink lips pressed on that metallic thing attracted him more than a simple gesture like this should; he was close to drool. Her innocent appearance was alluring and he couldn't understand why he all of a sudden was into this type of girl; he liked girls that looked older, more mature and just a little shorter than him. But Ally was like, a head shorter.
But still, she was a brunette.
Yeah, that was it.
(Or maybe was it her nice body - emphasized by a croptop and high-waisted shorts - that had some influence on his judgment?)
Whatever it was, he had to snap out of it, pronto, before getting himself in a… awkward position. She was the one who cut the silence, but only after drinking the soda dry and throwing it in a trashcan nearby. "If I'm not being indiscreet, can I ask you why you look mad and a bit out of it?"
He sighed, in frustration. "Yes, you're being indiscreet and no, I'm not mad or out of it." His defensive side immediately kicked in.
"But it seems to me like you are," she singsonged. God, she was annoying.
"Fine, I am mad. I don't understand though why it does concern you,"
"I just want to help, that's all. I'm good at listening, you know." Oh right, the psychology thing. He had forgotten that she had told them she was majoring in psychology and her dream was to fix the problems of the whole world by giving useless advices like all the psychologists were paid to.
"I don't need a shrink, I want to stay alone."
She shook her head. "No, you don't. You know what's the first thing to do to resolve problems? Talking about it! And doing it with a stranger is an additional bonus. That is what psychologists are for."
"Oh, wait, is that what they were invented for? I thought Freud was just messing around."
Ally looked unfazed, not what he expected after his snotty comeback. "Girls problems?" She guessed.
"You're not giving up, are you?" She shook her head, still gazing at the blonde with determination in her doe eyes. He sighed. "Yes, girls problems, I've been dumped like… three times in the past week. And you know what's funny? They all gave me the same reasons. I'm too rude and not a gentleman as they wished! I'm not fucking Prince Charming, I'm a normal person and this thing is frustrating because if this story keeps repeating, I'm destined to be a bachelor forever. Forever! And I don't want to age alone with forty cats!" He didn't realize that he had raised his voice so much at some point. He was even panting now.
Ally's face lit up and her lips curved upwards, forming a giant toothy grin. An expression like that could only mean one thing: crazy idea. "Austin, I'm happy to inform you that you just found the solution to all the problems in your miserable life."
"And what is it?"
"Me! As your personal guide in the Good Manners World."
Not only that idea was crazy, but the girl appeared to be out of her mind.
"Why would I accept that? And why are you willingly to do it? We just met."
"Because A, you need to get yourself a girlfriend and I can help you with that and B, I need to look after someone to improve my connection with people. I help you with your love life, you help me with my career. It sounds fair to me. What do you say? Deal?" She explained and outstretched her hand.
Crazy. It was totally, utterly crazy.
Nonetheless, - he didn't know if it was his desperation that took the best of him - he grasped her hand and shook it firmly.
"Deal."
It's just the prologue, but let me know what you think anyway!
The review button is down here. Woot-woot.