The young man ran down the hallway, unable to escape any other way. His heart pounded hard in his chest as . . . as . . .
Damn. I deleted the sentence and a half with an irritated sigh. For a couple years now, I had been creating my own special stories for fan fiction, each one unique and different in its own way. However, lately I had found myself in a fix where nothing was working out right. I wanted a new story, but I wasn't sure how to start it or what to write about.
I completely cleared my mind as I tried to think about the movie I was writing fan fiction about. I had just watched Little Nicky for the tenth time, trying to imagine what it would be like if a friend of mine happened to be the love interest of the eldest brother, Adrian. My friend, another fan fiction author by the name of Michelle Earls, was completely infatuated with the character and tried to use me in one of her fan fiction stories based on the same movie, only hers had a different twist and beat mine by a couple days. Three days to be exact.
She already has a fan fiction story called Animatown, one which has received major popularity since the beginning, making me want to create one of my own, but I had no brand new ideas which did not include alternate universes. I had to beat her to the punch at something. We had just watched Hannibal Rising the night before and I wanted to beat her to the punch with a new fan fiction based on the movie. I knew how I wanted certain things to happen and how I wanted certain characters' future to unfold, that was not a problem. The problem I was having was creating a good beginning to introduce a new character, Micheline. Micheline was to be based on Michelle with a little added spice. After Michelle came across some new-found self respect three chapters into the story, you could have completely see the similarity between the two.
After several rough drafts, I came across a beginning statement which sparked the creativity in me to life. Where there's a will, there's a way, right? Not always. At least, not in my opinion, it's not. I saw the comment as the character's way expressing her pain, anger, and confusion all in three small sentences. I typed that down and soon I was a flurry of fingers on the keypad of my laptop, becoming so enthralled in the story and the first three chapters that I did not go to bed that night until five o' clock am. When I woke up at one in the afternoon the next day, I chuckled to myself as I thought about how this had started out as a competition of speed and I ended up absorbed in the story unraveling in my mind and onto the computer screen.
I had just logged into fan fiction and began typing the introduction for chapter four when the telephone rang. That's odd, I thought as I glanced over at the annoying disturbance. I'm not expecting anyone to call me until later tonight. Slowly, I picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Is this the home of Angelique Domine?" The voice on the other end chilled me to the bone.
I swallowed. "Yes . . . Who is this?" The man sounded oddly familiar.
He was silent for a moment and I feared he may not answer when he replied, "My name is Adrian . . . Is there somewhere I can meet with you?"
My heart skipped a beat and I thought about calling the cops. "Only if it's in public, Adrian." Something about this just wasn't right or natural.
"I don't care where we meet, Angelique. I just . . ." I could hear him take a calming breath. "I really, really need to meet with you . . . today."
I was quiet for a moment. If he was willing to meet me out in public, then there was no harm in trying. "Alright, Adrian. Can you meet me here on the campus?"
"Of course."
"Meet me at Skipjack's in ten minutes. I'll buy lunch and we can talk. Does that work for you, Adrian?"
"I'll buy and I won't take no for an answer on that one."
I sighed. "Fine. You can pay for the meal. See you in ten minutes?"
"I'll see you there, Angelique." He hung up.
I immediately hung up, waited three seconds, then picked up the receiver again and dialed my best friend's cell phone. "Angel?"
"Angelique? What are you doing up before five?" Angel joked into the phone.
"Angel, this is serious. Some guy calling himself Adrian called me a few moments ago, asking me to meet with me. All he said was he really needed to meet with me."
"I don't know anyone by the name Adrian; do you?"
"I know only two men who have the name Adrian. One is the lead actor for the TV series Highlander; the other is a character from the movie Little Nicky. Doesn't help much, does it?"
"Not unless we're playing some sort of Movie Trivial Pursuit." She laughed into the phone.
"Angel, this is serious. Some guy named Adrian has just called my dorm phone and has said he has to meet with me . . . He even demanded to pay for lunch. What in the world am I supposed to do?"
"Go have lunch with him."
I stared at the phone in surprise. "Have lunch with a total stranger?"
"Yep. I'll walk down with you from your dorm room and I'll eat at a table from a distance, okay?"
"Okay, but . . . "
"See you in two. Bye!" She hung up the damn phone, making me feel even more anxious. Having lunch with a total stranger? Is she that crazy? Or does she believe me to be that desperate? She shook her head at that idea. Ever since my last boyfriend cheated on me, Angel had been doing everything in her power to get me back into a relationship. This may have seemed like the perfect opportunity for Angel to hook me up, but I saw this as a dangerous plan which could end up in hell for all we knew.
I brushed my hair extremely quick, making sure the punkish look it was styled with was perfect before I put on my make up. Just as I had finished putting on the finishing touches with my fake eyelashes, a knock on the door announced Angel's arrival. "It's open!" I called out so she could hear as I put away the eyelash glue.
She opened the door and gave a sigh of irritation as she realized I had made myyself up. "Do you want the guy to immediately assume you're that desperate for a relationship?"
"No! I just needed something to do until you got down here," I defended myself. "Besides, the more make up I wear now, the less chance he'll have recognizing me without."
"You make it sound like we're dealing with an armed enemy or something."
I laughed in spte of myself. "For all we know, this guy could be our enemy."
Angel merely shook her head as we left my room. I locked the door behind me before we walked down to Skipjack's and immediately saw the man I was supposed to meet. "Oh, my!"
~End Chapter~
