A/N First chapter!
As my Dad and I watch Bombo captain his newly acquired ship, Elena's words from earlier ring in my head.
"What do you know about love? You're insensitive and heartless. I bet Bombo could be more romantic."
Coming from anybody but Elena those words wouldn't have bothered me. The fact that Elena said them, though, does bother me. Why, you ask?
Well, I'm in love with her.
Yeah, that's right. I've been head over heels in love with my best friend for goodness knows how long. I don't want to be because it could ruin our friendship if she ever found out but I can't help it. I mean, just picture her in your mind for a minute.
Long, curly, red hair that she entangles with ribbons to create her signature pigtails. Hazel eyes that sparkle when she's excited. Soft, delicate hands with perfectly filed fingernails that fit in mine perfectly whenever we hold hands because a monster is chasing us.
She's alluring and gorgeous. She's beautiful and stunning. She's cute and adorable.
Elena is so much more than just a pretty face though. She's always by my side, whether we're in school or capturing monsters. She's smart and I'm always laughing when we're together. She's fiery and passionate about the things that she enjoys.
In short, Elena is incredible and amazing and quite frankly, perfect. Who could blame me for falling in love with her?
So, when she said that I'm insensitive and heartless and unromantic it stung. Well, I'll show her. I'm going to prove her wrong.
When Dad and I get home that evening, I stand in my bedroom, trying to form a plan in my head.
Romantic dinner and a movie? Seriously? You can do better than that.
Take her to the beach? Been there, done that.
Trip to the theatre? Okay, first of all, you have no money. Second, you want to sweep her off of her feet by sitting in a dark room for two hours?
Go to the carnival? It's two months away, idiot.
Picnic in the park? You're terrible at cooking. Elena even said it herself.
All out of ideas for tonight, I decide to go to sleep. Maybe something will come to me tomorrow.
A few days later and it's another Monday, another school day. Oh, joy.
"Hey, Elena," I say, waiting for her on the sidewalk.
"Hey, Zick. What's up?" she replies casually as she falls into place by my side.
We begin the walk to school, the normal chit chat of best friends flowing easily between us.
The day flies by like a breeze, the dynamic of the class and people never changing. Patty and Mattie are still maintaining their status as the gossip queens of the school. Ford and Soup are still throwing insults at me that go over my head all too easily. David is still looking at Annie the way I look at Elena when she's concentrating on something else. Just a regular day.
As Elena and I are leaving the school gates, she gets a text from my parents.
"Huh, class at the Ancient Armoury has been cancelled," she says, not looking up from her phone.
"Really? How come?"
"Something about Bombo eating all the desks," she laughs and I laugh with her. I can definitely imagine Bombo doing something like that.
We walk home in a comfortable silence, grateful for not having to attend two schools in one day. It's as we're approaching our houses that I remember my plan. I was originally going to wait until the weekend but since we have a free night, I decide that now is as good a time as any to set my plan in motion.
"Hey, meet me in the park later. Around seven," I say.
"Why?" asks Elena, clearly confused.
"Do you have to question everything I say?"
Elena holds her hands up in mock surrender, rolling her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll see you later."
"Oh, and wear something nice!" I call to her.
"Okay!" she laughs, waving goodbye as she approaches her door.
With that, I watch her go inside her house, a smile on my face.
Time to get to work. The three hours between four and seven are spent hastily preparing my plan. Since it's on such short notice, the only idea I can do is the picnic so I somehow manage to convince Mom to make the picnic whilst I get the flowers. I'm going all out so I even create a playlist of Elena's favourite songs and a few romantic ones too.
This will definitely prove Elena wrong.
I get to the park a few minutes early, waiting at the entrance for Elena, a bouquet of red roses in hand. Since I told Elena to wear something nice, I've replaced my normal clothes with a purple dress shirt and some jeans that Mom said look smarter than my everyday ones. I've even combed my hair and chosen shoes that haven't been in Bombo's mouth. That was a job in itself.
Hey, if I'm going to impress her I've got to look nice. I'm going to be so romantic tonight, Elena will think I've gone crazy. I might even get a kiss from her or if I'm really lucky, she might even start liking me.
Yeah, don't get your hopes up.
"Uh, Zick. What's with the roses?"
A voice startles me out of my thoughts as if somebody had banged a pair of cymbals together right next to me. I turn around to see Elena looking at me with a very confused expression on her face.
She sure did listen when I told her to get dressed up. She's wearing a pastel pink, short summer dress that's covered in small red flowers along with white sandals. Her hair remains the same, her signature ribbons matching the pink of her dress. It's simple but it somehow makes her look even prettier than she always does.
"Oh, uh, they're for you," I say, thrusting them towards her. The ground suddenly becomes very interesting for some reason.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I know I invited her here and I know I told her to dress up a little but with her looking this stunning it's already hard not to get distracted by her.
What have I gotten myself into?
Elena takes the roses hesitantly, obviously confused as to why her best friend is handing her the flowers that represent love.
"Okay," she says, awkwardly. "Quick question. Why are you giving me roses?"
"Well you said that I'm not romantic so I'm going to prove you wrong," I say, a smirk on my face.
Elena looks at me for a few seconds with a blank expression on her face. I'm about to ask her if there's something wrong but then she does something completely unexpected.
She laughs.
Now when I say laugh, I don't mean that she's giggling a little. No, I mean she's full on laughing, keeled over, holding her stomach, barely able to breathe laughing.
After a few minutes, Elena looks up at me, wiping away a few tears. "Are you serious, Zick? Why would you want to prove to your best friend that you're romantic?"
That question stumps me a little. I can't exactly just burst out with "hey, Elena, I know we're best friends but I'm madly in love with you so I want to show you that I can be romantic" can I?
So, instead, I give her an answer that I know she'll believe. "Because I don't want to give you the satisfaction of being right."
I say it light-heartedly, a teasing grin on my face so that she knows I'm not completely serious.
"Alright then, Mr Romantic, lead the way. Sweep me off of my feet!" laughs Elena. It's from this laugh that I can tell she's going to play along.
Her laughter changes the atmosphere from slightly awkward to happy and comfortable as if she's turning a light switch on. My confidence returns and I know I can do this.
The best part of this little situation is that I'll get to openly flirt with her and be romantic and do all the things I want to every time I see her and she'll think I'm doing it just to prove a point, not because I actually have feelings for her. It's perfect.
I take Elena's hand and guide her over to where I'd laid out the picnic blanket and left my backpack earlier. We sit down and I start unpacking the food.
Mom did a great job with this picnic. We've got sandwiches, some fancy cheese which I can't remember the name of with breadsticks, the classic chocolate-covered strawberries, lemonade and my personal favourite – freshly baked chocolate and raspberry brownies.
"Wow, Zick, you really went all out," says Elena, picking up a sandwich.
"Well, Mom made most of the food. I was just the helper," I laugh, grabbing a sandwich as well.
Elena smiles that oh so perfect smile at me and we eat in a comfortable silence for a little while, just enjoying the food and each other's company.
Soon, most of the food is gone and we lie on our backs, staring up at the sky. The sunset is just beginning and we watch as the sky morphs from crystal blues into warm strawberry pinks and daffodil yellows.
"A picnic in the park at sunset. How's that for romantic?" I say, looking over at Elena and trying to figure out what she's thinking.
"The movies normally do it better," says Elena nonchalantly.
"Well then I guess I'll have to kick it up a notch, won't I?"
I reach into my backpack for the small Walkman that I'd somehow managed to squeeze in along with everything else and pop in the cassette that I'd hastily put together earlier. Hey, what can I say? I'm old school.
I hit play and the music starts. Some of it is fun and upbeat and some of it is slower and calmer. All I know is that Mom said it's romantic and that a lot of these are Elena's favourite songs.
I stand up and before she can protest, I take Elena's hand and pull her up. I twirl her around and bring her in close to me and then push her away, letting the dance decide on its own course. It flows effortlessly and naturally, like Elena and I have choregraphed and practised this dance for months.
There are a few brief moments in which she's so close that, if I held her for a few seconds longer, I could kiss her. I hold myself back though, it's not the right time. Maybe I'll kiss her later. If I have the guts to of course.
Don't be ridiculous. There's no way you're actually going to kiss her.
"What are you doing?" laughs Elena, following my lead.
"Dancing with you," I say simply.
We dance until the cassette finishes, both of us laughing and smiling. We let ourselves fall back onto the picnic blanket, catching our breaths a little, our hands still locked together without either of us noticing.
"You know, Zick, you're actually not that bad of a dancer." I look over at her and see the teasing grin on her face, her eyes lit up with happiness.
"Oh really?" I ask her, smirking slightly.
"I said not that bad. Don't let it go to your head, idiot."
"Well, it looks like all of my romantic charm is starting to affect you."
Elena snorts at me and I don't have to look to know that she's rolling her eyes. "As if. It's not going to work on me, Zick."
"We'll see about that," I say and before she can get a word out, I flip myself on top of her so that I'm sitting on her waist and tickle her like there's no tomorrow.
"Zick, stop it!" laughs Elena, trying in vain to push me off of her. "Come on, you idiot, get off of me!"
I can hear her protests but I choose not to listen. This is way too much fun.
Suddenly, Elena's fist makes contact with my chest, not too hard, just enough to make me stop tickling her. Her laughter is dying down as she tries to catch her breath.
I move so that I'm sitting by her side and as I watch her, I smile. She's just so amazing.
Man, I am so crazy about her, it's insane.
Eventually, Elena's laughter fades enough for her to sit up and just as she's getting comfortable, I speak. "You really are beautiful, you know that, right?"
"Are you serious?" asks Elena, confused but smiling nonetheless.
"Deadly." I look over at her and we make eye contact. It's not awkward or weird like you'd think it would be. Instead, it's peaceful and happy, calm and content.
Not looking away from her, I place my hand over Elena's and one by one, I lock our fingers together, making sure to memorise how soft her hands feel; hey, I don't exactly get time to do this very often because we're normally fighting monsters when we hold hands.
I scoot a little closer to her and now our shoulders are touching and the contact with her soft, bare skin sends jolts of electricity throughout my body. As I'm admiring her, a smile spreads across my face and then I notice a stray piece of hair so I gently push it away, resting my hand on her cheek.
We're close enough now that I can see our breaths mingling in the cool evening air and my heart is beating so fast that it feels like there's a few hundred soldiers marching around in my chest.
"Hey, Elena?" I whisper.
"Yeah, Zick?" she whispers back.
"I'm going to kiss you now."
"Okay."
And with that, I close the small gap between our lips and everything seems to pause for a few moments. Most of the time, people say that kissing the person you love is like feeling a bunch of fireworks explode inside your head but this kiss is different.
No, this kiss is sweet and gentle, tender and soft, delicate and careful. It's perfect.
Elena kisses me back, placing her hand on the nape of my neck as though as she's trying to pull me in closer and I happily oblige. I close the distance between our bodies and lean into her, moving both of my hands to sit on her waist. Her free hand joins her other one and I can feel her gently running them through the bottom of my hair.
God, this feels amazing.
After a few minutes we separate and I give myself a few moments to just take her in. Even with messy, tousled hair and slightly puffy lips, Elena looks beautiful.
"You're so gorgeous," I say, kissing her briefly.
When she doesn't say anything in response, I pull her onto my lap so that we can continue kissing. This one is different from the first kiss. It's more passionate and energetic, our lips moving slightly quicker than before.
Eventually, Elena releases the kiss and moves off of my lap, looking at me strangely.
"Everything okay, Elena?" I ask softly, putting a hand on her forearm.
"Yeah, it's just really weird, that's all," she replies, moving my hand away.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you said you're doing all this just to prove a point but you're acting as if you love me or something." Elena laughs as she says it, the idea of me actually being in love with her seemingly a ridiculous one.
This feels like an opportunity. Maybe I should tell her.
I take a deep breath before I speak, doing my best to build up my courage. This is harder than you'd think, you know.
"And what if I did, you know, love you?" I say awkwardly, keeping my eyes on anything but her.
"Then I'd want you to tell me, stupid," she laughs again, the answer seemingly obvious.
This is it. Do not ruin this now. You will never get another chance. Just man up and tell her.
"Okay, then. I love you, Elena." That came out a lot easier than I thought it would have. It just feels natural and right to say it to Elena because she's so amazing.
"I'm sorry, what?" Elena deadpans. "Did you just say you love me, Zick?"
Okay, this was clearly a mistake. There's no going back now though. I've already ruined our friendship so I may as well as go out with a bang.
"Uh, yeah. I've been in love with you for ages but I was too scared to tell you." I avoid her eyes as I speak, focusing instead on all of the patterns on the picnic blanket.
"Do you really mean that?" asks Elena carefully, unsure of whether or not I'm being serious.
"Of course, I do, Elena. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," I say quietly.
"But why would you be in love with me? There's nothing amazing or special about me."
That makes me look up at her and I laugh a little at how silly she's being.
"Hey, why are you laughing?" she says, clearly annoyed.
"Because that is by far the stupidest thing I've ever heard," I say. "The reason I'm in love with you is because you're beautiful and sweet and kind and funny. I'd tell you more but we'd be here all night." I take hold of the bottom of one her pigtails in my hand, wondering how she manages to keep her hair so soft.
"You really think all of that about me?" asks Elena, confusion and happiness evident on her face.
"Yeah, I do," I reply sincerely.
Elena leans in and kisses me. It doesn't last for longer than a few seconds but it's more than enough to make my head spin a little, just like all the others.
"I love you too, Zick."
"Really? I never thought you'd actually feel that way about me. That's why I didn't tell you until now."
"Really. I'm so glad that I met you. Not only did you introduce me to the monster world, but you let me in and made me feel like somebody outside of my family actually cared about me. Nobody ever took an interest in me or wanted to be my friend before I moved here and met you." Elena lights up as she speaks.
I must really mean a lot to her. Oh man, I can't believe that she actually loves me too.
"Well, all of those people missed out big time. You're the most amazing person I've ever met."
Elena smiles that oh so perfect smile and it's so contagious that I can't help but to smile too. Then, I kiss her, just enjoying how soft her lips feel and the crazy somersaults my stomach is doing.
Eventually, we separate and stand up. I shove everything into my backpack and take Elena's hand in mine as we begin to walk home. It's past ten o'clock now so it's dark but the streetlights bathe the street in a soft, warm glow so it's easy enough to see. The road is empty, cars parked neatly on each side and, seeing an opportunity, I grab my Walkman, pull Elena into the middle of the road and twirl her around as the music starts.
"Zick, we can't dance in the middle of the road," protests Elena but she's laughing and not making too big of an effort to return to the sidewalk.
"Sure, we can," I say. "The road's empty and it doesn't look like there's going to be any traffic."
We continue to dance for the last leg of the journey, laughing the entire time. Each time she's close enough, I quickly kiss her before resuming our dance home. When we reach our street, I turn off the cassette and walk Elena to her door.
"So, how did I do?" I say with a confident smirk. "Did I sweep you off of your feet? Charm you with my good looks and witty humour?"
Elena rolls her eyes but there's a smile on her face. "Yeah, I guess so. Just don't get too far ahead of yourself."
She giggles as she finishes talking and I pick her up, spinning her around in my arms for a few seconds before setting her down and kissing her for the final time that night.
"I love you, Elena," I say as we pull apart, resting my forehead against hers.
"I love you too, Zick," she replies, heading towards her door.
As she opens it, I call to her quietly. "Hey, do you want to go on a date after school tomorrow? You know, go to the movies or something?"
Elena smiles brightly at me, nodding her head. "Sure, Zick. I'd really like that."
I quickly kiss her one last time, smiling at her as she closes the door.
I head home with a goofy smile on my face, feeling on top of the world. The girl I love feels the same way and we're going on a date tomorrow.
Yeah, my life is pretty much perfect now.
A/N Hope you liked it. Read and review!