Hey guys, this is my fic for the back-to-school exchange! For Hannah with the prompts voodoo magic, toe rings, glee as in the tv show and"big green eyes." Sorry if it's a little choppy and/or weird, I changed it around a lot. Please enjoy!
I walked across the OCD parking lot with my best friend, Josh Hotz, after the first day of sophomore year. Our prestigious all-boys private school had flooded over the summer thanks to a collapsing wave pool, but it wasn't bad sharing a school with girls. We got a lot of attention, and it was the first time I'd really gotten to see my new crush, a certain Massie Block, in her natural environment.
"…four and a half games up," Josh was saying as we made our way onto the Siren's soccer field. True to form, he had his Yankees cap shielding his dark eyes. "So we're pretty much a shoo-in for the playoffs."
"Sweet," I replied, not into baseball like he was but enjoying the Yankees' success nonetheless.
"Dude, what is going on over there?" he broke off,pointing to the far side of the field. The girls' team was standing with their arms crossed while their coach argued with ours. Guys were trickling out of the guest locker room and wandering over to see what was up.
"Let's get changed quick and then we can find out," I suggested, my curiosity about what was going on overpowered by my fear of Coach when he was angry.
We raced across the field to the locker rooms, throwing on our practice jerseys in record time. When we got back outside, the girls were on their half of the field and our team was on the other. We got there just in time to hear Coach's first instructions.
"Boys!" He boomed in his overpowering voice, "We have been given half this field!" He glared at the girls' coach, "We will have to make do! Hurley, goal! Fisher, warm him up! Everyone else! Laps! Ten of them!"
Each time around we passed the girls team working on passing drills. Some of them ogled us each time we passed, but most of them stayed focused on their practicing. I was impressed to see some fancy footwork and powerful, accurate passes. Some of the guys seemed a little put off that we weren't being swarmed by the girls' team, but really, what did they expect? It wasn't like the girls were cheerleaders; they had their own games to win.
"Alright! Shooting time! Box drill! Go!" Coach didn't let us rest a moment once our laps were done. He said everything with such a note of finality, so we just got down and did what he said, focusing on improving our game for the rest of practice.
"Boys! Before you hit the showers, I have an announcement to make! We are sharing the field and facilities with the OCD Sirens! Because we are all part of one school, we are part of one team, and an important part of being a team is getting to know one another!" He paused to let out a long breath. "The ladies have arranged some sort of challenge to help our two teams become better acquainted! In your locker you will find a paper with the name of a Siren and three dares on it! You are to contact your partner and complete the three dares together by Friday, before we board the bus for our first game!"
We let out a collective groan. I thought it would be good to get to know the girls; I happened to know they had a good team. Still, the whole dares thing sounded like a little much.
"I know; I am as frustrated about this as well! The last thing you boys need before the season starts is distraction from girls and dares! But it is important that we form a team with them; their wins and losses will be affecting us now! Besides, I'd like to think this is a team that will rise to any challenge!" I saw some of the guys sit up a little straighter at that; I knew no one here wanted to lose a dare. "Dismissed! I will see you all here tomorrow!" He turned and headed to the faculty parking lot.
We all got up and filed back into the locker room to take showers. I was in the middle of getting re-dressed when Josh tapped me on the shoulder.
"Dude, I got Alicia Rivera!" He said loudly, unable to contain his excitement. I heard someone say "aw, lucky," and another guy let out a whistle. Alicia was by far the hottest girl at OCD, but I couldn't imagine her being a good athlete at all. Then I remembered the rumor about how she'd gotten in trouble at the end of last year and had to join an extra-curricular to make up for it. "Yea, she's the second reserve goalie, or something," Josh continued, knowing what I was thinking, and obviously not caring at all. I hoped to at least get someone who was good at soccer… "Who'd you get?" he asked, knowing me too well once again.
I reached up to the top shelf of my locker and pulled out the square piece of paper. The top said two words in blocky all-caps, "KRISTEN GREGORY".
"Dude, she might be cool," Josh said, reading over my shoulder, "she's the captain at least." I felt bad for not having known that, but I agreed she could be cool. I'd get to know a girl who could talk soccer, and maybe she'd know Massie and help me get her too.
Things were looking up until I started reading my dares.
1. Pull an all-nighter together
2. Convince a local business to give you and your partner something for free
3. Sing Karaoke at Slice of Heaven together
"Oh, no way," I shook my head and crumpled the piece of paper and stuffing it into my pocket. But it was too late. Josh had seen the last one over my shoulder and was rolling on the floor laughing. It wasn't necessarily that I was a bad singer, but we both knew I did not do well with anything I had to do in front of a group of people. Besides sports. Sports I was ok with, but any kind of performance or presentation, I was screwed.
"Good luck, man," he patted my shoulder, and we walked out to the parking lot.
The rest of the team wasn't far behind us, and about maybe half the girls' team was waiting for rides when we got out there. The guys started asking around, trying to see if their partner was there, but Josh and I didn't have to put in any effort. Alicia came floating up to him and began shamelessly flirting immediately, followed by a pretty, athletically petite blonde with these big, deep green eyes that I noticed right away.
"Hey, I'm guessing you're Kristen?" I offered a hand to shake. "I'm Chris, but everyone calls me Plovert. Nice to meet you." A wide smile spread across her face at my friendly introduction.
"Yup I'm Kristen, captain of the Sirens," she took my extended hand and gave it a firm shake, making direct eye contact with those green irises of hers. "Nice to meet you too! I'm excited to get to know everyone. Can I see our tasks list?"
I hesitated a moment, wishing I could get trade in our list for a different one before anyone saw what we had to do. But Kristen's sweet and genuine disposition made me want to get to know her, and I knowing their probably wasn't any way to switch dares without switching partners, I reached into my pocket and handed the crumpled list over.
Her eyes grew wide as she scanned it quickly, but a slow smile spread over her face. "This is going to be so much fun," her eyes sparkled, "I'm not crazy about singing, but hey, trying something new is definitely a bonding experience," she shrugged and I liked her positive outlook.
My mom honked her horn twice, so I said a quick goodbye with the promise of meeting up for lunch tomorrow to discuss a game plan. After dragging Josh away from a fawning Alicia, we piled into the back of the station wagon and rode home.
"Hey Plovert," a female voice greeted from behind me as a hand landed on my right shoulder. I turned to be shocked once again by her green eyes.
"Hey, Kristen, how's it going?" I moved over to make room. "So what's the plan for today?" I asked, and she placed her forearms on the table and got situated in her chair before answering.
"I was thinking we could go around to stores this afternoon, then sing at Slice of Heaven tonight, and pull the all-nighter afterwards," she suggested.
"Sounds perfect," I agreed, and we fell into easy conversation about soccer and classes and the like.
At one point Massie and her friends Olivia and Layne strolled by, and I knew my eyes were following Massie across the cafeteria. I think Kristen rolled her eyes, but I ignored it.
"What do you know about Massie Block?" I asked, trying to sound casual but apparently failing.
"She's dating Derek Harrington as of now, her flavor of the week," Kristen offered, sounding over it, "and she's as snobby as they come. But she does have a good reputation among the guys here if that's what you're going for," she shrugged, and quickly changed the subject, getting into a Yankees conversation with Josh.
I took another glance at Massie who was looking particularly beautiful today, and saw her giggling with Olivia over something as Layne got up to get their meals. Kristen was right, she didn't seem nice, exactly, but hey, I didn't know her that well yet, so who am I to judge?
I settled back into my chair and listened to Josh's conversation with Kristen, imagining myself having the guts to talk to Massie for the rest of lunch.
I waited at the bottom of the steps as the bell rang that day, having been let out of my last period class early. As I waited for her to exit the building with the sea of students, I found myself looking forward to spending the afternoon with her. I knew Josh was doing something similar; he had to sneak into a graveyard with Alicia at night.
"Hey there!" She greeted me cheerfully, coming down the steps. I waved back, hiking my backpack higher up on my shoulder.
"Ready to go?" I asked, and she nodded. "You should probably lead the way, I'm gonna guess you know more stores in the area than I do," I suggested.
"Alright, that's probably true," she giggled, and fished around in her messenger bag, pulling out a flip camera and handing it to me. It read "OCD Media Center" across it in black sharpie and I almost flinched. We had to document this?
I turned it on and focused it on her. "So how was your day?" I asked, and she smiled at the camera as she formulated her answer. As we walked into town we talked about our classes and teachers and how sad we were that summer was over. The conversation was lighthearted and laughter came easily.
We arrived at a strip mall and I groaned, hating shopping. Luckily for me, Kristen marched right over to the Olympia Sports and held the door open. We wandered in, and I stopped a moment to check out a pair of Adidas shorts. When I turned though, I saw Kristen talking in low tones with the cashier. He was a young, athletic looking guy and was sort of giving her googley eyes, but she didn't seem to notice at all. Then he leaned in and whispered something in her ear that made her jerk away from him.
"Plovert, we're leaving," she called to me, and I followed her out of the store, looking questioningly at the cashier who just gave me a shrug. "That guy was a creep!" She exclaimed once we were outside again. I raised my eyebrows, but she just huffed, "DON'T ask". I was really curious, but figured if I really wanted to know, I could always watch the footage on the flip, which she'd been holding. Now that I thought about it, I was curious to know what she'd been saying as well.
We wandered into a Barnes & Noble, a Radio Shack, and a Starbucks without luck. I let Kristen do all the talking and just sat back and watched her. She had a different tactic in every store, discussing literature with the bookstore lady, laughing with the older guys in Radio Shack, and ordering us drinks in Starbucks. It was fun to watch her; she was so animated and friendly and had a nice laugh.
"Alright," she said, handing me a mocha frappuccino, "time for you to start pulling some of the weight here. I think I just made a bunch of friends, but none of them were willing to give us anything for free." She shrugged, and I could tell she didn't mind because she'd had fun trying.
"Hmmm that sounds fair," I offered, trying to think of something. "We've been looking in all these chain stores, right? Well didn't the assignment say it had to be a local business?" Her eyes widened, looking so innocent and big and green, and she slipped her backpack off one shoulder and pulled it around to her front. She rummaged around a bit before finding the paper, smoothing it out and re-reading it closely.
"Wow, you're right! Glad you caught that!" She shot me an appreciative smile, and I grinned back automatically.
"So, if we wanna stay here, there are only two local stores," I pointed out, "and this Mystics store is right here; there's also the bead store on the other side of the strip mall."
"In we go then!" She held the door open for me, and I decided I would have to make sure to get the door for hr next time; it would be the gentlemanly thing to do.
"Welcome!" A woman drawled as we entered the dimly lit store. She was dressed in a floor length purple skirt that was covered in tiny mirrors, a flowy white shirt, and had an orange kerchief over her head. "What can I help you find today?"
"Well," Kristen started, looking around trying to choose her next approach, and both our gazes fell on a wall by the cash register that was full of voodoo dolls that were covered in pins.
The shopkeeper followed our eyes, and a creepy grin crossed her face. "Those," she paused for dramatic effect, "those represent people who have come into this shop and taken something without paying. What would you like to buy?"
Kristen looked panicked, so I turned back to the woman with a calm smile on my face. "Just what we were looking for. One voodoo doll, please," I said, and tried to keep a straight face. Kristen pinched the back of my elbow as the lady ducked behind the counter. She reached under it and pulled out a basket overflowing with voodoo dolls.
"How ironic," she cooed, "these are not for sale. I use these on customers, the ones I sell are out of stock. However I will give one of these to you for free if you purchase an item in this store." Her sharp grey eyes glared again, but I figured that counted, so I looked around for something small and cheap to buy.
Kristen tapped my shoulder and pointed to a small woven basket filled with rings. Each one was set with a unique stone within a spiral of metal wire. "I've always wanted one of those," she whispered.
"Ahhhhh, yes," the woman nodded, "these are toe rings. They will bring you much happiness, and if you chose wisely, you may gain more than just happiness," she said cryptically.
Kristen sifted through them, but I immediately spotted one with a shiny green stone that matched those sparkly eyes of hers. Reaching over her and plucking it out of the basket, I took satisfaction in watching her eyes widen in surprise.
"This one, please," I placed it on the counter. "You choose the doll," I suggested to Kristen. She daintily pulled out a small, coarsely woven doll with little button eyes. It was almost… cute. Why would you want to poke needles in that thing?
"Ahhhhhh, a wise choice," the shopkeeper said, her eyes fixed on me. Then her gaze turned abruptly on Kristen. "You have yourself a fine man here. A fine man, yesssssssss," she closed her eyes and made an "ohmmmmm" noise while I placed the exact change on the counter.
"Thank you so much, miss," I interrupted and we hurried out the door. Once we were safely outside, I couldn't stop laughing. "Wow! Just wow," I said, not able to stop laughing.
"Yea! We got the item for free," she made the doll wave at me.
I grinned down at her, still not exactly sure what had just happened but thinking it was hilarious all the same.
A shy smile spread across her face as she looked up at me. "And thanks for my toe ring," she said softly. Once again those big green eyes...
I snapped out of it to shrug. "Not a problem. I'm a 'fine man' remember?" I airquoted, eliciting a laugh, "I gotta earn my title here."
"Hey, it's time to head over to SOH," she noted, "one down, two to go."
All thoughts of Kristen and her eyes fled as I remembered we were going to have to sing karaoke together at Slice of Heaven. Crap. She must've noticed the change, because she gripped my hand and started literally pulling me down the street. I resisted without even meaning to.
"It'll be fine," she encouraged placing the flip in her back pocket so she could use two hands to drag me, "Just have fun with it. What's the worst thing that could happen?"
I grumbled the whole way there, hating life. But of course Kristen had to read my mind and step in with all her do-gooder knowledge.
"It won't be that bad," she said in an exasperated voice. "A little embarrassment never hurt anybody. If this is the worst thing you've ever had to do, I'd say life's been treating you pretty well. Now would you loosen up and just have fun with this?" I let out a long sigh. "Plovert. Just… just trust me, ok?"
That caught me by surprise because I realized that while I really didn't want to do this, I had come to trust her. So I rolled my shoulders back and took a deep breath, making sure to hold the door open for her as we entered the pizzeria.
"You're right, piece of cake. Let's go knock 'em dead." She let out a laugh at my cheesy lines so I chuckled right along with her. It really was easier to loosen up around her.
She marched over to the stage and put our names down on the sign up list, insisting she knew exactly what to sing. So I decided to just trust her like she said, and went to grab a table for us. I placed the flip she'd handed me right in the middle to see the stage, knowing this could be mortifying but hilarious to watch back.
"We're up after two other people," she leaned in close to whisper in my ear as she sat down. The sudden and unexpected proximity was definitely welcome, and I caught myself being disappointed when she settled back into her seat. Which was weird, it wasn't like I… liked Kristen. I started wondering what Massie was up to, but my thoughts were interrupted as the MC announced the next performer.
We cracked up through a drunk guy singing Welcome to the Jungle, and "awwwed" while two little boys sung I Just Can't Wait to be King.
"Next, Christopher Plovert and Kristen Gregory singing Animal!" I looked at her, eyes wide, my first thought being you chose us a KE$HA song? And wanting to take back every nice thought I'd had about her over the past two days. My second thought was why do I know that Animal is the name of a Ke$ha song? But she just grinned slyly and dragged me up to the stage. A loud cheer had started up and I noticed that pretty much the whole soccer team had come out to watch us. Just great.
My hands started to sweat. I knew I had a decent singing voice, but something was bound to go wrong… I had to perform a Ke$ha song in front of the soccer team!
As the first few beats of the song played out through the speakers, though, with the clapping and the loud drum beat, I was relieved. This was no Ke$ha song, in fact it was a favorite of mine. My respect for Kristen grew instantly.
"You first," she mouthed to me, and I froze. Why was I doing this again? I looked out at the crowd and spotted Massie and her friends. That sealed the deal—I decided I'd have to try my best to impress as the words came up on the screen in a green font.
"Here we are agaaaain," I started tentatively, "I kinda wanna be more than frieeends," I turned to Kristen and raised my eyebrows at her, and she blushed. As I continued the first verse my foot began to tap, my voice grew more sure, my head began to bob, and I saw a smile spread across Kristen's face.
"Oh-oh, I want some mo-ore, oh-oh , what are you waaiting fooor, take a bite of my heart tonight," she took over on the chorus as the words on the screen turned purple. I looked over in surprise; for such a petite person, she had a powerful, soulful voice.
We joined together and sang the different parts dictated to us on the screen, sometimes harmonizing and sometimes just trading off.
When we got to the part that went, "woah I won't sleep tonighhhhhhhht", I couldn't stop grinning. Kristen threw her arms above her head and jumped in a circle until the words came back in, and we laughed our way through the rest of the song. Not once did I look out into the audience and see all the people watching us and feel nervous.
"Take a bite of my heart tonighttttt," we finished with a bow, and ran off the stage laughing to a thunderous applause.
"Woah, that was… surreal," I managed once I'd caught my breath. I was relieved to have survived the performance, but even more than that, I'd had so much fun!
"Incredible," she agreed, still between giggles. "Well, I must say I'm impressed," she complimented once she composed herself. "I mean, you're no Darren Criss, but you've got a great voice. I can't believe you've never done something like that before!"
"Woah ok, first of all, you were pretty awesome yourself, Kris, and who is this Daring Chris and how is he better than me?" I responded playfully.
"Darren Criss," she was laughing all over again, "not daring Chris. You're telling me you've never watched Glee?"
"Yup, pretty much. But if the guy is a singer on a T.V. show, I guess I don't mind being compared to him," I joined the laughter.
We sat through the rest of the performances, and it was really fun to be in the audience after having been on stage. But I heard snide comments and rude criticism being whispered throughout, which I eventually realized belonged to Massie and her friends.
As we got up to leave, we were intercepted by the three of them.
"Hey Chris," Massie looked up and batted her lashes. I found myself thinking that her eyes weren't anything special. "You are a really good singer! I was thinking maybe you and I could meet up here sometime though and have a real date," she gave Kristen a cold glance before turning an innocent smile on me.
My first reaction was to be psyched at her offer. One of the hottest girls at OCD wanted a date with me! But I glanced at Kristen's blank expression, and that made me think. What did I really want, a date with a hot girl who would be over me by the end of the week, or to be able to hang out with a pretty girl I had grown to truly admire and would be willing to take the time to explore if there was a real relationship potential there? Massie started tapping her foot impatiently, and I had my answer.
"Thanks, Massie, that's a nice offer," I began and a smug smile appeared on her face, "but I'm going to have to turn it down. I do appreciate the thought," I shrugged, and speed walked out of there, hearing her huff behind me.
Kristen came out a second later, a smile wide across her face.
"Now all we have to do is not go to sleep!" She pointed out, "My parents are away for an art show, and we could go watch glee at my house if you want," she suggested, eyes excited. Just a day ago that wouldn't have been my idea of fun, but I realized I wouldn't mind spending time with Kristen doing something she was excited about.
We watched a bunch of episodes cuddled together on her couch, and while I thought the premise of the show was a little much, I did enjoy the music. And it was certainly a compliment to be compared to Darren Criss, especially seeing how much Kristen fawned over him.
When we were bored of watching TV, we took a blanket up to the roof of her apartment building and watched the sky. I pointed out all the constellations I'd learned from Ranger Alfie at boyscout camp, and we both wished on multiple shooting stars.
"Hey Plovert?" Kristen asked just as the sky started to lighten, "why did you turn Massie down? I know you liked her."
I took a deep breath, not sure whether to tell the truth, but when I looked over and sawher earnest green eyes, I knew I had to.
"Well, yea, I did like Massie. But recently I've realized that there's a lot more to liking someone than thinking they're hot. And I think that in those terms, there's someone I like more."
She was looking at me just like I'd hoped she would, so I leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around my neck, and we laid on the roof as the sun rose, kissing and talking and knowing this could be the start of a great, real relationship.
Ok so know it was a bit rushed and all and I apologize for that, but I hope it was worth reading anyway. And I hope everyone is having a really great start to the school year! To anyone who reads my multichap, I promise I still haven't abandoned it.
Smile!
Hugs, Sky