Bad Romance
Chapter 1: A Wish upon a Clock
Lost once again in my own vivid imagination of what was currently happening in the book I was reading, I didn't notice the moon rising higher and higher in the starry sky. After what must have been hours, I finally tore my eyes away for a moment to note the time on my bedside clock.
"Oh crap! I can't believe this!" I was shocked for one to realize that I had been reading for nearly six and a half hours, and that it was now 11:11 P.M. on a school night. If I didn't go to sleep now, I was going to be absolutely brain dead for the dreaded final exams before Christmas break began the next day. But there was one thing I wanted to try, even though the logical part of me scorned the mere idea of doing it.
I'd never been one for superstitions but I felt there was no better time than around the holidays to make a wish at 11:11, day or night. I squeezed my eyelids shut and chanted my desperate, and admittedly insane wish in my head like a mantra. I wish Jacob Black was real and apart of my life, I wish Jacob Black was real and apart of my life, I wish Jacob Black was real and apart of my life⦠I did this while simultaneously counting off the seconds until the clock changed to 11:12 P.M.
When I knew that magical minute had slithered away, I slowly blinked open my eyes and found it hard to keep them that way. My vision became hazy and I felt my mind slipping into a fog, and so I succumbed to sleep, falling back onto my soft pillow with my clothes still on and not even under the covers.
Even though I knew it was stupid to feel disappointment that Jacob Black had not materialized in my room throughout the night, that didn't stop me from feeling that way.
I got ready mechanically, on autopilot, and so it surprised me that I was suddenly showered, dressed, and in front of my vanity mirror doing my hair. It surprised me so much, in fact, that I burned three of the fingers on my right hand with my curling iron, which caused me to scream some very colorful choice words, mostly directed at my own obliviousness.
As any girl knows, once you've burned your hand due to cosmetic reasons, you're pretty much in a bad mood the rest of the day and possibly the next too. So naturally, I wasn't as giddy as the rest of my classmates and friends were once we finished our last exam of the day.
All around me in my American History class, people were conversing about what they were doing and where they were going over the break and some were just goofing off while they counted down the minutes until the final bell rang. I closed my eyes and hummed Bad Romance by Lady Gaga softly to myself, which was my own way of passing time.
I knew the end of the day was approaching rapidly because the excited state of the atmosphere thickened into anticipation that even anyone who was only remotely paying attention, like I was, would be able to pick up on.
Just when I thought I'd be able to have gone a whole school day (or half day anyway) without having to talk to anyone, someone put their hand on my shoulder and whispered,
"Ignoring me?" My eyelids flew open and I focused in on my best friend Alex leaning in towards me.
A smirk was dancing on his lips and I pursed my own in annoyance. "Yeah, actually I was. So can you leave me alone?" I closed my eyes again, attempting to shut out the image of him that was wreaking havoc on my heart. Even though he was my best friend, and had been since we were both tiny tots, I felt so much more than just friendship to him and I desperately wanted more too. I never even tried to communicate my feelings for him though, because I had no way of knowing if he would react in the way I wanted him to or if I would be rejected. He was such a gentleman, and so of course he wouldn't shut me down like a jerk but I still wouldn't be able to bear the pain of it all. The other complication of me telling him and him not reciprocating those feelings back was that I feared what would happen to our friendship. Would it crumble into dust from the awkwardness? I didn't want to even imagine the possibility and so I was left in a constant state of longing as a result of my cowardice.
"Aw come on Chels, you're really not gonna talk to me the day before I leave for New York?" I opened my eyes again to examine his expression and almost laughed at what I saw. His lips were pouting and his eyebrows were furrowed in childlike disappointment. The only thing that kept me from bursting out in a fit of giggles was the fact that he always did this, played the guilt card and the little kid face, whenever he wanted something.
I pushed my bangs back then deliberately rolled my eyes, so he could see with certainty that I wasn't in the mood for his normal routine.
"Alright fine, don't talk then. I'm still gonna walk out the front doors with you when the bell rings. Especially since I think you'll really like the surprise I have for you." His light, amber-flecked green eyes gauged my reaction to his words and before I could hold myself back, I blurted out,
"Really, you have a surprise for me?" Once the words were out of my mouth, Alex's mouth turned up into a huge grin.
"I knew you couldn't resist saying something once I mentioned that. You love surprises." Which was true, to an extent. I loved good surprises. And just like that, he had me grinning back at him.
I stood up abruptly then, having just glanced at the clock which said it was one minute to noon. He straightened up too and walked around to put his arm around my shoulders carelessly. Even the most casual of his touches sent my heart off into a tizzy and so it took much of my willpower to keep my face carefully composed.
The bell rang then, and without any warning, Alex ripped his arm off me then swung it down to grab my hand so that he could drag me behind him as we ran out the classroom door. I chuckled at his impatience. He was always so eager to surprise me.
He slowed down considerably when we reached one set of the glass double doors at the entrance to the school. By irritated sighs and grunts coming from behind us, people wished we would start sprinting again. I was about to question my best friend, but before I had time to open my mouth, he was cradling my face in his hands.
Not only was I in utter shock, but my body was frozen to the spot and I couldn't have moved even if my life depended on it. His thumbs rubbed gentle circles on my cheeks and I felt my eyelids fluttering. Alex laughed quietly then leaned in to me and stopped just millimeters from my lips. He was purposely waiting, increasing the anticipation of the moment, which I've heard makes the kiss even more perfect and so I just watched him and shivered a little as his breath tickled my face and neck. Then just like that, he closed the distance between our lips and mine melted into his in warm, unfamiliar ways.
The kiss seemed to last forever, but in reality, it lasted about six seconds. When both of our eyes opened, I could feel a wondering expression on my face and he smiled at me then looked up. I was pondering whether this was all real or not, but then I decided I didn't care and followed his gaze upwards. I felt my eyes widen and I laughed a startled laugh.
"A mistletoe? How did that get there?" I had to ask because there was no way any of the school's staff would have purposely put up something that would make the students even hornier and handsy than they already were.
"After tennis practice ended last night, I noticed that one of the janitors had been washing the windows and he left his ladder out. He probably had just gone to the bathroom or something so I hurried over and climbed up it. I took the mistletoe I stole from my house out of my backpack and quickly hung it on top of the door frame."
His answer left me momentarily speechless, and I was still seemingly paralyzed. He sighed softly, took my hand, then led me outside, down the steps and stopped on the sidewalk once we were out of everybody's way.
I found my voice and I stared into his eyes as I spoke. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that."
Alex just smiled, pulled me into a tender embrace and held me. I don't know the amount of time we stood there like that, but apparently too long because he made a gasping sound and pulled away like lightning.
A flash of hurt must have crossed my face because he reassured me that it had nothing to do with me. "I've got to finish packing like, ASAP. We're leaving really early tomorrow and I've been procrastinating so I'm kinda screwed if I don't go now."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and just nodded, still not speaking. He pecked me on the cheek, with promises of calling me tomorrow and then raced back to his house.
Without really being aware of what I was doing, I started walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction Alex had gone. My feet led me to the park about a block away from my house and I paused for a moment. It looked the same as it had when I was a small child, the towering willow trees surrounding it all, the rusting monkey bars, the squeaking swings that swayed with the lightest of breezes, and the rest of the playground equipment that was painted in so many different colors it seemed like it belonged in some crazy 80's music video.
A feeling of elation spread over me as I realized that this day had turned out to be just about perfect. I skipped over to the swings, not caring who was watching, and wiggled into the seat that was almost too small for me now. As I pushed off the ground and began swinging, I let my eyes travel around the park, not really lingering on any area long enough to be focused. But when I gazed towards one of the willow trees next to the picnic area, I did a double take. There, his russet skin gleaming in the little sunlight that pierced through the shade of the leaves, his head hanging, bare back leaning against the trunk and his legs splayed out in front of him, was Jacob Black.
