Your type
By Ella
I don't own Lemonade Mouth
(^^)
People always say that blue eyes look the most innocent.
What lies!
His eyes were not innocent; they were blue, but not innocent. In fact they were the exact opposite of innocent; they were manipulative, evil and painted with the sneaky workings of non-good things. Yes I realize that non-good isn't really a word, but screw it, I've never been a scholar.
Which is pretty weird by the way, coming from a family of geniuses, but hey what can you do?
Where was I? Oh yeah, I was talking about his eyes.
Yes, his eyes were shimmering with evil. I could see it by the way those eyes of his followed me everywhere.
The first time I saw him, his eyes hit me first. And though I admit that his eyes were kind of pretty, when I noticed what the rest of him looked like, I was disgusted.
He wasn't a troll or anything. And that was the problem.
He looked good.
Not just good, but good.
His tousled golden spikes, his skin kissed by the sun and his eyes as blue as the Pacific. God I hated those eyes.
As soon as I saw him, surrounded by cheerleaders and wearing the school varsity jacket, I immediately knew the kind of person he was, he was the type of person I liked to call a "JJI":
Jock. Jerk. Idiot.
No I'm not being stereotypical. I saw his eyes damn it! Have you ever heard of seeing the soul through the eyes? Well looking at him, I knew he was a genuine JJI and lord knows how I hate those types.
One: They thought the world owed them favors.
Two: They thought they were the shit (more like are shit).
And three: As an art nerd, jocks were my worst enemies. Go figure.
Now you think I'm just being prejudiced right? Well how's about this, as soon as I walked passed him, he practically stopped someone mid-sentence to declare: "Hey new girl!"
Oh the joy, my presence has been acknowledged.
His friends/followers/fellow JJIs snickered.
I didn't bother to look back, only tightened my hold on the straps of my school bag and glared ahead while I mentally chanted: Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.
Luckily Blue Eyes had nothing further to say but that didn't mean he wasn't still bugging me.
Ever had that feeling that someone's watching you? Well I had that feeling almost the entire time I walked into the school building following the incident, knowing very well that it was definitely Blue Eyes watching my every move.
And let's just say he wasn't looking at my back.
(^^)
The second time his eyes were on me was before, during and after assembly. After speaking to Principal-don't-wear-that-shirt, I was told to report to the gym.
Apparently this school doesn't have an auditorium, which would explain all the fundraising posters scattered on the wall.
I took my time walking out of the admin office, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my mom's jacket and reading the many colorful flyers that decorated the dull beige wall.
Things like: SUPPORT THE CAR WASH FOR YOUR SCHOOL'S MUSIC PROGRAM and BROWNIE STAND THIS WEDNESDAY PLEASE SUPPORT FOR NEW LIBRARY BOOKS were probably stapled and nail-gunned to the wall. Not that the janitor cared as he painted over it.
Wow. No wonder he didn't like my shirt.
Question Authority was pretty much a call for anarchy, which by the way is pretty cool, I mean, who doesn't want to be a revolutionary?
I continued to stare at the walls still littered with flyers and posters for fundraising as I walked, completely oblivious to the crowd of students walking towards the gym.
I should have probably paid attention, you know, taken notice and all because I didn't know where the gym even was. Fortunately for me, I was reminded of that fact when I bumped into Blue Eyes.
And how did I know it was Blue Eyes?
"Hey new girl."
Screw you.
Unlike before he wasn't surrounded by Cheerios and JJIs, he stood by himself right in my path.
"What?" I finally snapped.
His brows quirked and his blue eyes twinkled in amusement at my obvious annoyance. "Let me guess, he didn't like your shirt?"
I raised a brow at him as if to say simultaneously: "You think" and "How'd you know?"
Blue Eyes unzipped his varsity jacket to reveal his shirt: Speak the truth. I couldn't stop the smirk from pulling at the edge of my mouth as I unzipped my mom's jacket as well to show off proudly the logo: Question Authority.
He snickered. "Bet he really grilled you on that."
"Yep, my mom had to give me her jacket so I wouldn't start anything with the principal," I answered as I continued to walk, him following me as I walked through the corridor which was filled with students who immediately parted like the sea.
Now as much as I'd love to take credit for that, I knew it was because of Blue Eyes.
Another thing about JJIs: Their types always happened to be somewhere at the top of the social ladder. Even though most people don't like JJIs, they still follow the rules of the social order as if it was engraved into their DNA.
It really is depressing to be a teenager in this generation, though it's probably much worst in older ones. Grandma told me once that if I came from her time, I'd be married at fifteen with three kids. Uh. No thanks.
"Any idea where you're going?" Blue Eyes asked as the crowd thinned and the hallway emptied out just as I reached a four way junction of endless corridors.
Oh shit. Which way am I supposed to go?
"Uh…"
"Come on," he nudged me and took the lead, our open jackets flashing our 'inappropriate' shirts as we walked.
Eventually we passed a hallway that was crammed with people trying to get into the gym but instead of joining that vein of entry, Blue Eyes dragged me through another corridor and through a door that immediately got us inside.
I don't know what the point of having another entry point is. I mean he could just do a Moses and the human population would part like the soup in Bruce Almighty.
Oh well.
For bypassing the crowd of teenage bodies and showing me the way to the gym (if only because he was oddly polite for a JJI), I thanked him as graciously as I could.
I wasn't much of a people person and you'd be surprised how hard it was to thank someone who would most likely harass me the rest of my school career.
He didn't seem to notice and simply smirked, his blue eyes flashing.
"No problem new girl."
Blue eyes may not be innocent looking but they were oddly sparkly. And because I have an attention span of a bird, I happened to like sparkly things. Thankfully I managed to pull away from our momentary stare down and joined a line of students climbing up the bleachers.
Still. His eyes were on me.
Don't think I'm paranoid either.
He was sitting right behind me when those Cheerios came around and tried to start something:
"Why don't you get out of our seats?" the blonde one said, leaning against her hip and chewing her gum loudly. Geez do you know how gross that is? It's like watching a cow eat grass and let me remind you, their four stomachs make it incredibly hard to.
"Why don't you make me?" I asked instead.
Most people assume that because I'm an art nerd that I've got no spine. My long lists of detentions and all the teachers at my old school that celebrated when they heard I was leaving; would beg to differ.
Behind me the JJIs 'ooh' -ed idiotically. Well not idiotically. I mean, they were involuntarily cheering for me, so not idiotically.
Gum-eating-blonde made a face at me and I could see from the curve of her lips that she was just about ready to lecture me on how the social spectrum worked.
Me? I was just about ready to prove to her that I really didn't give a flying potato. Call it what you will, but I'm still pissed at Principal-inappropriate-shirt, who better to take it out on than her?
Sadly before I could, Blue Eyes stepped in, "Alright cut it out." Standing, he shooed some freshmen off their seats, "You and you, move. Now."
Gum-eating-blonde and her silent, red head mimic took the seats offered (given up) and scoffed at my head. "What a freak."
Blue Eyes said nothing but his gaze was still firmly on the back of my head.
Joy.
As helpful as he's been, I can't help but feel I'm slowly falling into a trap. Those blue eyes of his are anything but innocent. I'm not an idiot.
Okay maybe I kind of am.
Principal-I-contradict-myself had me agitated within the first two minutes of assembly starting, though to be fair I don't have the best of tempers. In any case, I stood from my seat ripped off my mom's jacket and proclaimed, "I can wear any shirt I want."
This was followed by a mix of responses, some told me to shut up and sit down while some applauded me and my admittedly random speech.
Most of those that told me to sit down were the JJIs mainly because they respected the person that made sure their social futures were stable; however, the walls of meat quieted their attempts to silence me when Blue Eyes simply chuckled.
And oh did that chuckle sound attractive…
I almost stopped speaking just to hear it better. Thankfully he stopped chuckling and chose to applaud me like the rest of the underground of high school society.
It also came to my attention that his blue eyes were still firmly glued to me; first to the back of my head and then going lower.
Sigh.
Nice JJI or not, he was still a boy.
(^^)
The day ended with me getting detention. Was I surprised? Not entirely.
But what caught me off guard was the fact that during the day, no matter which hallway I passed or where I decided to sit, Blue Eyes was there.
He wasn't seated as close as he was at the gym and didn't walk with me down the hallway, but he was definitely looking at me. Was it creepy? Extremely. Was I oddly flattered? I admit nothing. But what I could say was that it made me feel just a bit awkward.
I didn't have much people experience.
My parents moved around so often that I never even got the chance to tell anyone my name. I mean, they'd know my name because of the 'trouble' I caused, but I'd never have the chance to introduce myself and make a friend.
But little did I know; I was going to make a few, all thanks to Blue Eyes.
Before the day ended, I had study hall and being against books for the simple reason that it confused my little pee brain having to read alphabet soup, I was bent over my art book, my pencil flying across the page.
Quite a few people had study hall the same time I did, so I had gotten used to people shuffling past my table. It was easy to ignore them because I had my earphones on and no one really noticed the half-Asian girl sitting by herself at the furthest corner of the school library.
After more than half the period gone, I was almost finished with my sketch when I felt someone brush past my shoulder to get to the shelf behind me. I ignored them.
And when my light was suddenly blocked by a shadow, I ignored it.
And when someone's minty breath was whispering through my hair and the sensitive skin of my neck, I attempted to ignore it again.
But when one of my ear-phones was gently yanked out of my ear and that was when I panicked.
"Study hall means you study not listen to music and draw," Blue Eyes said in that not-too-deep, sexy voice of his. I looked over my shoulder at him, and then tried not to jump when I realized he was literally right beside me. I swear if I turned to look at him faster, I would've kissed him by mistake.
"Shit!" I hissed. "Geez man, what do you think you're doing?"
Blue Eyes smirked as he straightened, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I was checking out your drawing."
"Well next time can you just ask and not give me a heart attack?"
"I didn't think you were scared of anything, especially after your little t-shirt speech. Nice use of emphasis throwing your jacket at him by the way."
I snorted, ignoring the flush against my neck and trying not to sink into my chair.
It wasn't like you were actually listening to me, I mentally sulked; you were too busy staring at my ass.
"Ouch, I'm sorry; I thought I was being subtle."
Oh crap. Did I say that out loud?
"Just a little," he answered with another chuckle.
Oh shit.
"You know if you keep swearing, I'm going to have to punish you."
"Yeah, and what exactly are you going to do?" I challenged, turning in my seat to glare up at him. Geez he's tall.
His blue eyes glittered. Oh shit. That's not a good sign.
Before I knew it, he grabbed my sketch book and booked out faster than I could blink. Oh no he didn't! I shot up from my chair and chased after him, running through the aisles of books and feeling like I was in a maze.
When I caught up to him, he was at a dead end; leaning against the aisle of books with his arms crossed, my book against his chest and a smug smirk on his face, his blue eyes twinkling. The bastard.
"You!"
People hissed a, "Shh!" loudly in our direction to which I cringed slightly, muttered an apology their way and then returned to glaring at Blue Eyes, who was looking amused. The cow.
"Give me back my book."
"Why don't you come and take it?"
And all the good I thought Blue Eyes did evaporated just like that. In that moment he looked more like the assholes who tried bullying me in almost every school I've ever gone to and I hated him for it.
Scowling, I crossed my arms and glared harder at him.
"Give it back."
He pushed himself off the aisle so he could tilt his head down at me and smirk. "Make me."
I would've socked him right there but he was saved from that when I heard the familiar voice of Gum-chewing-blonde in the next aisle, "What are you going to do about it?"
Blinking slightly in confusion at the odd echo, I peeked through the books that lined the shelves and saw her holding a tattered book in her perfectly manicured claws as she smiled meanly at a blonde girl and her Indian friend.
"Cut it out Jules," the Indian girl said, trying to reach for the book.
"Bug off Mo; I'm just having a bit of fun."
Whatever fun she thought she was having ended as I came around the aisle and grabbed the book from Gum-chewing-blonde, delivering a fierce glare.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gum-chewing-blonde demanded.
"I could ask you the same thing," I retorted, "haven't your parents taught you to play nice?"
"That's none of your business," she claimed, trying to grab the book out of my hands but I held it with an iron grip and gave her an arched brow which got her nostrils flaring like an enraged bull. "Careful," I said, "I may be against animal abuse but I do believe in disciple when necessary."
Gum-chewing-blonde was about to say something in reply but Blue Eyes cut her off.
"Stop embarrassing yourself Jules, don't you have someone else to annoy?"
She looked between us in confusion and shock before she made an indignant sound and stomped off like a herd of elephants. He gave an eye roll in response and handed me my book, making a subtle motion with his head towards the still silent Indian girl and her blonde friend.
Blue Eyes shoved his hands in his pocket and pivoted away with an off the shoulder comment, "Play nice."
I rolled my eyes. Idiot.
"Whoa…that was…whoa," the Indian girl said, her eyes wide with surprise. "I can't believe that. You, you stood up to Jules and Ray was on your side, wow. I must be dreaming or something."
"Eh it was no big deal," I said handing the book back to the blonde girl, who smiled shyly in reply.
"Thanks for helping me out. I'm Olivia and this is Mo, and you are?"
"Stella, Stella Yamada."
I never took Blue Eyes as the type to help people, but I guess surprises like that are considered the good type.
(^^)
It just so happens that even detention was more fruitful than I thought; I met two more friends that day: Mo's boyfriend, a drummer named Charlie and an orange haired skateboarder named Wen, who happened to be Charlie's best friend.
We spent the afternoon of detention helping prepare the soccer field for junior tryouts.
Everything was going fine at the beginning because the JJIs were still changing and even though the Cheerios were out on the field, it was obvious my victory in the library was well known to them, at least that's what their collective glare said.
Inwardly I snickered and just to piss them off, I smiled cheerfully and waved.
If they were silently wishing that lightening would strike me, their wish did not come true.
Unfortunately my decision to mock them did not play well with Karma because she came back with a vengeance as the JJIs lined up.
The senior soccer team was taking aim at the goal post at the exact time that Olivia and I had to set up the orange cones in the space between them while the wannabe junior JJIs were told to direct the ball through the obstacle of orange cones.
Of course them being scared of their senior team, and them already showing signs of being JJIs, they took it upon themselves to trip us as often as possible.
It didn't help that the soccer balls kept flying and hitting us too.
The guys and Mo were not spared either.
Charlie was enlisted as a goal-keeper, unfortunately that meant that he was the main target for everyone with a ball underneath their foot. He, at least, had it better than his girlfriend. Mo was stuck being water-boy for both the junior and senior team and had to endure water and sweat-filled towels thrown at her. At least she had a raincoat.
Wen's job was by far the easiest though. He was given the task of leveling out the field and was given a pair of safety scissors; basically he was a manual lawnmower. Sadly, his bright colored hair got the attention of a few bugs, namely bees.
It was probably the worst form of detention I've ever received.
It didn't help either that the Cheerios on the sidelines were having a good laugh at the expense of our suffering.
And it just got worse as the whistle was blown by the coach, flanked by Blue Eyes.
At least everyone got off the field for the time being as me and my new friends finished up our detention duty.
We had the option to sit out when practice actually began for the two teams while Charlie and Wen took turns playing goalie; Mo, Olivia and I played cards on the grandstands.
"So how are you liking it here so far?" Mo asked as she dropped a red diamond onto the pile of cards.
"I've gotten the detention from hell, pissed off the cheerleaders and am most likely on our principal's shit list, and all on my first day," I recalled with a snicker. "I think I like it here."
"Hmm that doesn't have anything to do with a certain soccer player does it?" Olivia said with a wiggle of her brow.
Involuntarily, I glanced over my shoulder to glimpse Blue Eyes who was conversing with the coach and pointing out random people that were playing; as he turned he caught my eyes and smirked. The smirk didn't leave as he continued to talk to the coach.
"Hey, I barely know the guy. I met him today after all."
"Yeah but you seem like you know each other pretty well," Olivia noted as Mo nodded in agreement. "I've known Ray since we were in pre-K. He doesn't take to people easily."
I shrugged. "Maybe he's just having a good day?"
"Mmhmm," Mo hummed unconvincingly, exchanging a look with Olivia who tried not to laugh.
Before I could say anything, there was a pop sound from where the Cheerios stood and suddenly there was water everywhere.
Dripping wet, we spluttered in surprise.
"What the hell?"
The Cheerios laughed loudly while the rest of the field of JJIs blinked in confusion.
So that was my first day at school. Detention. Shit list. And my mom's ruined jacket. Call me crazy but this was probably the most eventful day I've had in a while, and I got kicked out of boot camp in eighth grade.
(^^)
My mom was going to kill me for getting her jacket wet.
At least she wasn't picking me up from school, no, I had to walk home; looking like a drenched cat.
Fan-freaking-tastic.
"Don't worry Stell, Wen can drop you off," Charlie claimed, already jacket-less due to his attempt to keep his girlfriend from getting cold.
"He can barely see," Olivia interjected as she steadied the orange haired skateboarder on his other side while we walked to the school parking lot.
"Well she can't walk home like that," Mo said, "she'll get sick!"
"Nah don't worry about me guys, home isn't all that far away. Besides, I think getting Wen to the hospital is more important, I can't believe he's allergic to bee stings."
"Yeah, luckily he didn't have a serious reaction."
"Luckily, what's that supposed to mean?" Wen asked, his face swollen and his voice scratchy.
"She means you should be happy that your throat didn't close up or else you wouldn't be able to breathe," Mo answered, "Don't worry though; I'll drive us to the hospital so you can get your shot."
"Shot? As in, needle shot?"
"Yeah what's –ack!" Thankfully Olivia and I had a pretty strong grip on the swollen faced ginger and managed to keep him from hitting the floor. "Oh crap!" That didn't mean however, that we could still carry him. The dude's pretty heavy.
I didn't realize how much until Olivia's hold on him slipped and the unconscious teenage boy was practically on top of me on the tarmac of the parking lot.
Yay.
"Oh shoot, Stella are you okay?" Mo asked as all three of them tried to lift Wen off me.
"What do they feed this guy?"
The weight was happily lifted a few seconds later and a hand was offered to pick me up off the floor. Of course Blue Eyes just had to be the one to save me from being crushed by an unconscious ginger. Not that I'm really complaining.
"You get yourself in the weirdest of situations you know."
"Eh, it makes for an interesting life," I said with a shrug, dusting myself off and looking down to see the water imprint I left on the ground. Whoa. It was like a wet spot version of those police outlines.
Glancing around, I noticed that two JJIs lifted Wen into his car with Olivia supporting him in the backseat while Mo and Charlie were arguing over who was going to drive.
"You going with them?" Blue Eyes asked, following my gaze.
"They need to go to the hospital to get Wen's shot," I answered absentmindedly. "And I need to get home; I've still got boxes to unpack."
"You're going to walk home?"
"No, I was thinking of flying. But yes, the plan is to walk."
"Well the plan's just changed," he informed me, throwing his varsity jacket over my shoulders before I could protest. "Come on."
Blue Eyes was the type to give orders and have it followed, and though I've always made it a habit of doing exactly the opposite of what people are used to, I wasn't going to turn down a free ride home.
Being a lazy ass does have its moments.
(^^)
For the next few days, weeks and eventually months, a routine had built itself into my life: Piss the Cheerios off, get on Principal-gum-on-bleachers-is-offensive's shit list, get detention and then grab a lift with Blue Eyes.
My friends liked to speculate on what my relationship was with Blue Eyes, also known as Ray Beech, Mesa High's apparent tyrannical tyrant.
But we were nothing more than friends, which is pretty weird considering jocks don't usually make it a habit to play nice with art nerds.
Mo liked to think that Blue Eyes and I were secretly a couple.
"Please, I'm not Ray's type."
"He has a type?" Wen asked in surprise.
"Of course he does," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Everyone has a type, like you for example: you like bookish, shy, goofy, blonde types."
Immediately everyone in our table looked at Olivia who was in the middle of eating her BLT sub. Probably because she was too busy eating, she hadn't realized what we were talking about and asked with big sheepish eyes and a mouth filled with pre-chewed lettuce, "What?"
Charlie and Mo snickered while Wen muttered incoherent things that sounded like a very weak sounding denial. Ah love.
"And what exactly would Ray's type be?"
"The popular type," I answered with a dismissive wave of my hand. "You know the type that's always dressed pretty and is surrounded by adoring fans."
"And you aren't?"
"Pfth, like I have adoring fans?"
"Considering all those clubs you signed up for and the auditorium you managed to get sponsored, I say you have a few fans," Mo reminded.
I don't join clubs often. In fact, in most of my schools I barely interacted with anyone. But because of my new friends and new found confidence in the human population, I decided to give it a try and I found, to my eternal surprise: I'm really good at getting money out of people.
The auditorium scheme took less than three months to sort out thanks to my chance discovery of a lemonade machine in the basement.
I admit to starting a few coupes over my six months since my arrival to Mesa, the most popular being the school's Lemonade Mouth campaign, a campaign designed to help fundraise the school's very lacking art program. Yes. I named it after the lemonade. Don't judge me.
"And you are pretty," Olivia added, finally catching up with the conversation.
Raising a brow, I took a small sip of my lemonade and asked, "How do you figure that?"
"You'd have to be with how often Ray stares at you."
I didn't stiffen, didn't twitch and didn't even blink. In fact, I acted like it was entirely normal. Because it was; Blue Eyes still had the habit of looking at me and never stopping. Was it still creepy? Not as much, after six months you kind of get used to it.
At least if he's always looking at me I'll always have a witness to how awesome I am.
"And what makes you think I'm his type?"
"You're pretty."
"You have fans."
"You're strong willed."
"You're confident."
"Funny."
"Crazy."
"And definitely his type," they finished all at once.
At that, I blinked. "Is that what you think?"
"No, it's pretty much a fact," Charlie answered with a casual shrug of his shoulders.
"For it to be a fact, it would have to be true," I argued.
"So all that stuff about you isn't true?" Olivia chose to ask before going back to eating her BLT sub.
Wha?
"Well…"
"Exactly," Mo said with a satisfied grin. "I mean come on; everyone at school pretty much knows it. You two are going to get together eventually and when you do, you'll be like Mesa High's power couple!"
Power couple?
"Uh huh, you know: the school's most popular guy with the school's most popular girl?"
I'm popular? Since when?
"Six months ago."
Oh geez, I really have to stop thinking out loud. But how did I get popular?
Mo shrugged in answer. "You're just naturally good with people."
That's a kick in the pants. I wonder what Principal-that-shirt's-offensive will say to that.
"Oi Yamada." I looked over my shoulder at the voice, though I already knew who it was. I swear if I was deaf I could probably still recognize it. "What's up Blue Eyes?"
He had his sports bag slung over his shoulder, his Live Loud shirt proudly displayed on his chest without his varsity jacket to obscure it.
"Come on, let's go home already."
It was a little after five thirty, again I managed to score detention and had to help out at the school's soccer game. Not that it made a difference. I would've still had to wait for Ray to finish; he was my unofficial ride to everywhere, I didn't do walking anymore.
"Yeah, yeah," I replied, standing from the bench and grabbing the varsity jacket of his that I kept when he played. "I'll see you guys later."
"Sure, wouldn't want to keep him huh?" Mo gave me a suggestive wink while Wen and Charlie made odd noises that I suppose were meant to sound sexual, funny because the only thing that came to mind was a dying manatee…
(^^)
I don't know why I do it.
I hated doing it.
Even after doing it for more than fifty times, I still couldn't stand it. But I continued to do it anyway.
The things I do for Blue Eyes. Seriously, I should be getting paid.
"Stop whining, you know you like the view," he said teasingly as he offered me a hand to help me up. I ignored it and continued to struggle until I was safely on my perch beside him on top of the roof of his house.
Why were we up there you may be wondering?
Well the tradition started after my first month at Mesa. Some drama had gone down at school with Blue Eyes at the eye of the storm. Upset as he was, he practically disappeared off the face of the earth for two hours.
As a friend, I worried.
I mean, being in constant contact with him for an entire month can do that to a person and so I searched everywhere for him. I even went to his house where I didn't find him until I was at least in the middle of the street on my way home, when I spotted his silhouette atop the roof.
Stupid me. I thought he was going to jump.
The fire department was not happy with me.
Oddly enough, Ray found it pretty funny.
The next time he disappeared, I knew where to look and instead of calling the fire department like I did the first time, I shouted at him to get down before he fell and broke his neck.
He, of course, challenged me to come up there and make me come down.
And me, being the stubborn idiot that I was, climbed up a two storey building just to remember that I was afraid of heights.
Was I terrified shitless? Oh yes indeed.
And did Ray pity me at all? No he did not.
In fact I'm pretty sure we sit on his roof every Friday afternoon just because he's a sadist bastard and I'm a masochist.
"Urgh, remind me again why I come up here with you?"
"Because you're my best friend."
I snorted. "Shut up and pass the Mountain Dew."
Blue Eyes snickered and handed me the can. I popped it open and took a drink, offering it to him so he could have some as well as we watched the sky slowly fade into twilight.
And that was our tradition. Sit on the roof of his house, share a can of Mountain Dew and watch the sun set.
"So apparently I have a type," he began after he offered the can back.
"So you not only stare at me but you eavesdrop on my conversations too?"
"Hey, I'm not the one who talks about other people behind their backs," Ray defended with a snicker, his blue orbs watching me from the corner of my eye as I took a sip.
"So what, was I wrong?"
"About my type?"
"Yeah, I mean, I've known you for six months, I like to think I at least know your type of girl."
"Well that's easy: Girl."
Boys. I thought, rolling my eyes. "What, you aren't picky?" I asked, handing him the can and watching as he drained it, crushed the metal in his hand and let it slide down the slanted roof.
"Do I look like the picky type to you?"
Okay he had me there. He was pretty relaxed and laid back as far as JJIs go. But he had to have a specific liking didn't he? I mean come on, anything!
"So you're telling me the head honcho of Mesa High doesn't have a type?"
"Is it really that much of a shock?" he asked, his tone bored, though I knew it was because he was relaxed out here in the open air under the slowly winking lights of the stars and not because he didn't want to talk about it.
"Yeah I mean, you'd think with all the Cheerios around, you'd at least know what you liked in a girl."
"Oh so you're talking about what I like in a girl now?"
I made an indignant sound at the back of my throat. "That's what type means, stupid!"
"Someone's touchy tonight; I think someone wants a happy meal."
"With Mac-nuggets and a Mac-Flurry to go," I added to which he chuckled. "So let me get this clear, you want to know what I like in a girl?"
"Yes please, because I'm dying without knowing the answer to the world's greatest mystery."
Ray only laughed at my dramatics and began to answer, "I like a girl who can stand up for herself, you know, has the guts and moxie. I like a girl who can be confident and carefree, who can laugh at herself but still believe in herself. I like a girl who has no problem having some guy stare at them nonstop for six months and then sitting on the roof with them for hours even though they're afraid of heights."
I laughed. "Wow, sounds a lot like me. Who else have you been staring at Blue Eyes?"
"No one else," he answered, and I knew he was looking at me again through the darkness that surrounded us.
"So what exactly is she, a Cheerio, a nerd, a bookworm, a dancer, an athlete, what?"
"She's Stella. She's my type of girl."
Funny. I knew that answer already, but that didn't stop the butterflies in my stomach from bursting as if they drained an entire crate of Monster.
And when I looked him in the eye, his face lit by the ghostly glow of the waxing moon, I couldn't help but see those blue eyes and realize: no they aren't innocent but they aren't ones to lie.
"Huh, so I'm my own type now?'" I couldn't help but ask as ever so slowly the distance between us shortened until our lips were almost, almost touching. I could practically feel the gentle rumble of his chuckle as it left his lips.
"What can I say; you're a special type of girl."
FINIS
So that's my thirtieth story ladies and gents! Hope you guys enjoyed! Thanks to these amazing reviewers of my last story Labeled:
xxLoveLifexx
Fantasy500
Midnightstar-and-Echosong
Camroon
Thanks for reading!
Ella