Disclaimer: I own no characters and none of the lyrics in any of these stories..
A/N: This story is told to the Boys Like Girls song, Thunder. Yes it's slushy, but hey? Who says you can't write fluff and mystery? This is the first story in a small series known as "Getting to Know You." Enjoy.
Getting to Know You: Thunder
Today is a winding road
That's taking me to places that I didn't want to go
Today in the blink of an eye
I'm holding on to something and I do not know why I tried...
It was the first Friday of the first week of school. As usual Bayport high had it's annual Fall Formal Dance. Joe Hardy could never figure out formal dances. On the one hand he hated having to wear slacks and a dress shirt to school, even if it wasn't for classes. But on the other hand he got to see Vanessa in an amazing little black strapless dress. Okay so the dance wasn't going to be a total bomb after all, he thought while he gazed at Vanessa as she slid next to him into the back seat of his mother's car, which she had let her sons borrow for the night.
Frank was thinking the same exact thing, when his date, Callie Shaw, hopped into the passenger seat. She was wearing a green, lace, halter dress, a little more modest than Vanessa's, but still stunning. It complimented her emerald eyes perfectly. This years gonna be great, the Junior thought to himself as he pulled his brown eyes away from Callie and headed towards the school.
As the four teens pulled up at the High School they saw their good friend, Biff Hooper, waiting impatiently for them at the entrance. Out of all of Frank and Joe's friends, Biff was the only one they could convince to come to the Fall Formal, and it took a lot of convincing too. Despite Biff's good looks, sense of humor, and athletic abilities he was still too shy to find a date. But he agreed to come along anyways.
When he and Frank were Freshmen, Biff had his first experience with a relationship. However it didn't last for more than a month and he had been depressed and not so willing to date ever since. Apparently there was some sort of romantic happening during the past summer but Biff never revealed anything about it. None of his friends really knew what he was waiting for or looking for, but they left him alone about his social life with the opposite sex.
Callie and Vanessa had told him that there would be lots of single girls at the dance and of course they thought that's why he agreed to go. But the Hardys knew their friend better than that. Biff was only going along to get the girls off his back.
"What took you guys so long? I've been standing out here like an idiot for ten minutes!" Biff complained as they all walked towards the gymnasium together.
"You know you could have gone in without us," Frank told him with a wan smile. Biff just gave him a mocking grin.
"Yeah Biff! You shouldn't have waited for us, you're missing all the single girls in there!" Vanessa added, clearly missing Frank's sarcasm. Joe quickly pulled his girlfriend away as to not embarrass Biff anymore.
After the five walked into the elaborately decorated gym, the guys managed to extricate themselves from the girls and leaned up against the wall at the far end of the court turned dance floor. As soon as Callie and Vanessa were off with their other friends Joe turned to Biff.
"Uh, so I know you don't want to talk about it, but you never did tell us what happened this summer in New York," Joe prodded with his best smile. Everyone knew that Biff had cousins in New York that he stayed with for two weeks in June every summer, but no one knew exactly what had happened this summer. However, Joe Hardy did know that he held a mysterious phone conversation with his best friend and there was definitely a girl with Biff at the time.
Biff stared down at his friend, a little amused by how badly Joe wanted to know, but still annoyed that he had brought it up.
"Another time Joe," Biff replied quietly, his gaze being drawn towards the gym entrance. Both Frank and Joe noticed the sudden, yet almost inaudible gasp that escaped the teen's lips as he kept looking towards the door across the room from them.
Frank gave his brother a quizzical look and Joe just shrugged and then both boys turned their attention to where Biff was staring. The only person they could see standing there was a petite girl. Joe knew her from his Biology class, they were lab partners. Her name was Hope, Hope Peters. She was smart and seemed nice, but apparently she hadn't been in Bayport long.
All he knew about her was from what Vanessa had told him. She had moved from upstate New York. She was 15, the same age as Joe. She had a brother that went to Bapyort Middle School. And that they had recently moved into the old, one of a kind Victorian house downtown.
Joe again exchanged a look with his brother and then glanced at Biff. The older boy was enthralled with the Sophomore. Couldn't take his eyes off of her. That's weird, Joe thought, Biff never looks at girls.
Then Joe cast his gaze back to Hope. She was now standing on the opposite wall, far away from anyone else. The girl was wearing a purple, knee length, deep necked, spaghetti strap dress, that had golden beads embroidered on it. The chiffon like fabric floated away from her body whenever anybody walked past her. Her shoulder length, golden hair was curled and half pinned up, with her unruly bangs hanging by her eyeliner ensconced sapphire eyes. Now that Joe got a closer look at her, he realized that she was really quite beautiful, no wonder Biff's gawking, he laughed to himself.
I tried to read between the lines
I tried to look in your eyes
I want a simple explanation; what I'm feeling inside
I gotta find a way out
Maybe there's a way out...
Hope shifted in her gold heels. She didn't really know why she was at this dumb dance to begin with. The first week of school at Bayport High was a disaster. On the first day of school she got lost and had to be escorted to her class by the office secretary. Then in her English class, her teacher, Mr. Geis, had made her stand up at the front and introduce herself to the class. Didn't he realize that she just wanted to sit in the back and try to be as invisible as possible? So far she had met absolutely no friends, and had to lie to her parents about meeting tons of new kids.
The nicest people she had met so far was a girl named Vanessa Bender, in her History class and a boy named Joe Hardy, who was her lab partner in Biology. But regardless she still sat on a hallway bench by her fourth period class at lunch time and stayed in the far corner of the library during the break between first and second period.
But true to form she was already excelling in all of her classes and had set a goal for herself to try out for the spring play in March. That's a long way off, she thought, maybe by then I will have met some friends. However at this particular moment in time she was really wishing she had spent her Friday night at home with a good book. But then she saw someone across the gym, someone she recognized. He was dressed in navy slacks and a blue shirt that brought out his baby blues, and that's when both of their eyes locked.
I gotta find a way out
Maybe there's a way out...
Biff stared at the girl from across the room. Amazed at her beauty, but also amazed that she was here. Here in Bayport that is. The last time he had seen her, well, it had been about a month and a half ago. He missed her so much, but had lost contact with her once he was back home. He was mentally kicking himself for just standing and staring but he was too shocked to move, or too scared, he thought.
But once he realized that she had met his gaze, there was no turning back now. Without even thinking he started to walk over to her, leaving a confused Frank and Joe behind him. His pace quickened as he realized that now, the once self conscious girl wasn't leaning on the wall anymore, but was waiting for him.
"Hi," Biff said under his breath, as he reached Hope. He had to muster up a lot of confidence to just say that one word and he didn't know if he'd be able to hold a conversation with the beautiful girl in front of him. Then before he realized exactly what was happening Hope jumped up on her tip toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. After the initial shock of having her so close to him yet again, Biff sighed, returned her hug and kissed the top of her golden head.
Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer
Do you know you're unlike any other?
You'll always be my thunder, and I said
Your eyes are the brightest of all the colors
I don't wanna ever love another
You'll always be my thunder
So bring on the rain
And bring on the thunder...
Both Frank and Joe were standing on the other side of the gym in shock. They just saw their best friend, shy, confined, Biff Hooper have a total stranger jump into his arms. But then it hit them.
"Joe!" Frank gasped in realization, "That's..."
"Biff's secret girlfriend from New York!" Joe filled in his brother's thought. Then the boys both smiled at each other. By now Callie and Vanessa had found their way back to their boyfriends, and were just as much interested in Biff and Hope as the guys.
"Is that Biff and the new girl, Hope, over there?" Callie exclaimed.
"Look at 'em holding each other like that! It's like they're in love or something!" Vanessa added excitedly. Frank and Joe both came up behind the girls and wrapped their arms around them.
"They are," Joe said as he caressed Vanessa's cheek with his own. The two couples stood there admiring Biff and Hope from afar.
Today is a winding road
Tell me where to start and tell me something I don't know
Today I'm on my own
I cant move a muscle and I cant pick up the phone, I don't know...
"So you're the new girl everyone keeps talking about," Biff finally said to Hope, his confidence now boosted. She nodded, still a bit standoffish but happy to see him.
"How are you Biff?" Hope asked still standing close enough to him to whisper.
"Good," Biff whispered in her ear, "especially now that you're here."
Hope felt her face go warm and knew that she was blushing. But right now she didn't care, any other time she would have been angry with herself, but right now her cheeks could have turned blue and she wouldn't care. All she cared about was that Biff was back, her Biff.
And now I'm itching for the tall grass
And longing for the breeze
I need to step outside, just to see if I can breathe
I gotta find a way out
Maybe there's a way out...
The rest of the night consisted of introductions and explanations, dancing and embracing, and kissing in the rain at midnight...
"Can I give you a lift home?" Biff asked as he escorted Hope out to the parking lot after the Hardys took the other girls home.
"Yeah. Yeah that would be nice," Hope said her aqua eyes shimmering in the midnight moonlight. Clouds had built overhead and there was a sound of thunder booming in the distance. Biff smiled down at her. Then wrapped her up in his arms again.
"You know I missed you Hope," Biff sighed. She looked up at him and stood on her tip toes again to reach him. Even with her two inch heels he was still a good five inches taller than her. She stroked Biff's spikey, blond hair.
"I missed you too," She said before inching her face closer and closer to him until finally their lips locked and the rain started to poor. The drops instantly soaking them. But the couple didn't care. All they could think about was each other. There was a bright flash of lightening followed by the rumble of thunder and a swirling gust of rain filled wind, and if you listened closely you could here the soft sound of their two hearts pumping at the same beat.
Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer
Do you know you're unlike any other?
You'll always be my thunder, and I said
Your eyes are the brightest of all the colors
I don't wanna ever love another
You'll always be my thunder
So bring on the rain
And bring on the thunder
So bring on the rain
And listen to the thunder.