Call Me Maybe
I threw a wish in the well,
Don't ask me, I'll never tell
I looked to you as it fell,
And now you're in my way
Loud music floated in the background as couples danced at the rooftop party as Nina Martin stood by the guardrail. Her forearms rested against the rail itself, leaving her hands dangling out into the empty air. The night was lovely, filled with stars and little wisps of cloud that occasionally flitted past the moon, momentarily blotting out its light. In her left hand was a dull, faded looking penny that she'd been holding onto for years. It had been given to her by her mother before she passed away. At the time, she was supposed to throw it into a fountain and make a wish, but she hadn't. Ever since, she'd promised herself that she would find the perfect fountain by her nineteenth birthday.
Two months too late, she stood looking out at New York City, wondering what she could do about the penny. She sighed, biting her lip as she looked down at the sickening drop below them as cars rushed by. I guess, New York is kind of like a fountain. The people are all fish so theoretically….
Before she could talk herself out of it, she let her muscles go lax so the penny could slip from her fingers and tumble towards the street below, shining in the moonlight one last time. It felt as though her stomach dropped with it, the last thing of her mother's she had falling away with the penny. Finally, her promise to herself is complete. Now she can keep going without feeling bad about holding onto this for so bad.
"What'd you throw?" An unfamiliar masculine voice questioned from behind her. Startled, Nina jumped, accidentally moving forward and winding up flinging herself into the railing. Not giving her a chance to further tempt fate, strong hands took hold of her waist, pulling her back against a warm body.
"A penny," Nina told him as she pulled away from him and spun so she was facing him. She started to walk away from this strange boy, but he moved in the same direction she did, accidentally on purpose blocking her. "Just making a wish and tossing it down at the city."
She'd been lying about the wish part, she didn't have anything she wanted to wish for at the moment.
I trade my soul for a wish,
Pennies and dimes for a kiss
I wasn't looking for this,
But now you're in my way
They continued to talk as they moved away from the railing since he worried that she was going to slip or almost fall off the roof again. After several minutes of talking, they finally remembered that they should probably tell each other their names. Nina introduced herself as "Nina Martin" and the boy introduced himself as "Fabian Rutter." Both of them continued to talk for a good deal of time, enjoying the conversation as they wove their way through the party. Nina decided to sit down after her feet were stepped on twice by a girl in a flamingo pink minidress that hardly covered anything and once by a boy with radish colored streaks in his hair.
"What's your major?" Fabian asked as he and Nina took a seat on two beach chairs that someone had dragged onto the roof. By now they'd both grabbed drinks, which technically they shouldn't be having since they were underage. Considering half of the partygoers were underage they didn't see it as a problem.
"Archaeology," Nina replied. "History has just always been fascinating to me and I've always felt a connection to all of these things. And I never get bored with learning of these things. I'm simply dying to go on my first dig in Egypt. Out of all of them, Egypt is my favorite to study and it's just fascinating to me. Even when I was little, these things were so interesting to me. Plus my parents loved history and my mother worked as a curator in a history museum."
"That's a really great reason," Fabian said. "Seriously, that is ridiculously sweet. Most people don't want anything to do with their parents once they go off to college. I know I don't."
Sadness flickered across Nina's face and she took a quick sip of her drink, "well, most people want more to do with their parents if their parents are dead. They passed away when I was seven when their car was pretty much destroyed by a semi."
"I had no idea, I'm so sorry," Fabian said, quickly he reached out and hugged her. Much to the surprise of both of them, Nina hugged him back.
Your stare was holdin',
Ripped jeans, skin was showin'
Hot night, wind was blowin'
Where you think you're going, baby?
Time continued to pass as they sat on the sofa, watching the stars and talking over everything from classes to weird little facts such as what pets they had growing up. It all flowed off their tongues as smoothly as honey, added slightly by the alcohol. The majority of it was no more than gibberish, but some of it was serious topics. While it took a little time, they finally reached the topic of favorites.
"So, which books do you like best?" Fabian finally asked as they got up off the sofa and wandered through the party again, weaving between the members of the party crowd. They made their way back to the guardrail.
"I really like classic horror like Dracula or Frankenstein," Nina replied.
"Cool, I just like all kinds of literature. The classics and even newer books, but because I want to go to med school I have to read all these books where they talk about different parts of the body like the hippocampus or the posterior deltoid." Fabian explained sheepishly.
"That's cool," Nina said, nodding as she pushed several strands of her wavy light brown hair back behind her ear. The hot breeze of early fall still carried a faint air of summer on it and although classes had resumed, there lingered the vague promise of warm days. Today, was one of those fleeting warm days.
It's hard to look right,
At you baby,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe?
Hey, I just met you,
And this is crazy,
But here's my number,
So call me, maybe?
As the hours ticked by it seemed as though the two of them grew increasingly nervous. Eye contact diminished, they blushed more and Nina even giggled like she was still a little school girl. Both picked at their clothes, occasionally nervously glancing up at the other then looking away after their eyes locked. Nearly identical crimson flushes appeared on their cheeks and they awkwardly laughed.
"Look," They both started in unison, smiling and blushing like they were nerdy high-schoolers who were trying to talk to a crush. It was the kind of thing that is just adorable and a few girls nearby tittered.
"You go first," Nina and Fabian both told the other, again at the exact same time. More giggling, blushing, and nervous smiling was the result.
"Really, go first," Fabian blurted out before there could be another strange and uncomfortable speaking at the same time coincidence. Nina sighed, glad that they sorted out the whole situation and she looked down at her hands, which were toying with the hem of her skirt.
"So, here's my number," Nina prattled, digging a pen out of her bag and taking Fabian's hand quickly. She scribbled out her number on his hand before he even had time to slightly object or argue. Fabian's hands shook. Nina's hands shook. The numbers were hard to read and wound up sloppy. "Look, I know that it's completely crazy for me to do this because we just met and all that. We really have seemed to click and I've never really met someone who I've clicked with. If it's too weird you don't have to call."
With that she got up and walked off, getting lost in the crowd.
You took your time with the call,
I took no time with the fall
You gave me nothing at all,
But still, you're in my way
The next day, at around 10:37AM, Fabian sat on his bed dressed in flannel pajama pants and a loose fitting white shirt. In his trembling hands was clutched the piece of paper where he'd re-written Nina's number so that it didn't fade overnight. This was the last thing that he ever wanted to lose.
"Should I call her?" He wondered aloud.
"Who?" His roommate, Eddison Sweet—who preferred to be referred to as "Eddie"—asked as he walked into the room toweling off his blonde hair. The two boys weren't exactly the best of friends but they got along decently well. For the short while they'd been sharing a room they hardly told each other personal information. "A girl? How hot are we talking; like supermodel or what?"
"Like she could be in movies or on television hot and, yes, a girl," Fabian admitted with a sigh. Eddie grinned and walked over to his dresser before he dug a gray t-shirt and loose basketball shorts.
"Sweet, you should call her," Eddie replied. "And call her soon. If she's as hot as you say then some other guys are bound to be after her."
"You're right," Fabian agreed before quickly dialing Nina's number.
She picked up on the first ring.
"Hey, is this Fabian Rutter?"
So, call me maybe?
A/N: This was written for siriusblackrox123's songfic contest. Hope you liked it. The song belongs to Carley Rae Jespen and House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon.