You sat on the couch with your best friend Alfred F. Jones. You were watching the Super Bowl and he jumped up and shouted, "YEAH BABAY! I WIN! CUS I'M THE HERO! Okay _, pay up!" He said enthusiastically. You glared at him, "No." He shrugged with a devious smile, "Okay then." He spun you to him and kissed you deeply. "Debt paid." He grinned cockily. You gasped in mock surprise, "How dare you?" You grabbed a newspaper and playfully whacked him.
"So I see you on Monday right?" He asked.
"Like always." You promised.
It was the first day back from your weekend, and you were ready for anything. This semester you were not going to let anything get you down!
You should've never let your hopes get to high. Idiot, Idiot, IDIOT! Cus' the next thing you know you saw the Bad Touch Trio making their way towards you. Oh...shiza. You thought. They crowded around you, "Hola Chiquita! Have a nice break?" Antonio grinned with his oh so charming smile. "Ja, did you miss us fraulein?" Gilbert said casting her, a wicked mischievous smile. "Oh honhonhon mon ami, how lovely it is see you again, bonjour, bonjour." Francis said taking your hand and kissing it, giving you his usual perverted, horrible, sexy...endearing smile.
Oh no, don't give in to their bad-boy, daredevil charm. "Go away boys, I'm not going to let you three scumbags-of-the-earth detour me from getting to class."
The three grinned knowingly at each other. "Hey-hey what are those looks for!" You growled as your body stiffened. Wishing they would just leave you alone, you tried to make a run for the school building but they grabbed a hold of you and took you to somewhere no one would think of looking for you. You squirmed as you neared it fearing the worst. You paled as you were drug closer.
Not too much later, you were there, at The Haunted Basement.
You gulped in fear, as they opened the hatch and pulled you under.
It had been said that during a big storm a few years back, a girl was pulling off a dare for some bullies during a Halloween party. She went to the basement which was the creepiest place on the entire school campus. She stayed there all night, but the storm had increased and broke through the hatch and a tree had fallen in and she was stuck there for three days but when they finally were able to get to her, they found that she had been killed by the pressure of the tree that had miraculously fallen on the hatch and crushed her. Now her spirit haunted that basement.
"P-Please guys don't do this!" You told them. They didn't know this, but it wasn't the ghost that scared you about the Haunted Basement, you just had this morbid fear of the basements in general, and claustrophobia to boot. They closed the hatch door and carried you down.
"Come on Chiquita. It's not that bad." Antonio grinned, letting you go. Gilbert who had closed the hatch, was now guarding the stairwell.
"We just wanted to have a little fun Fraulein." Gil said.
"Please guys, I'll do your homework for a week, just let me out." You said, trying to keep calm. But the terror of your phobias, were seeping in.
"What do you want?" You asked, trying to stay strong.
"Well for a first," Antonio said, as he pulled you close. He kissed you deeply, which nearly made you forget where you were. Then he pulled away, "that." He then let you go. "Have at her Gil." Antonio said. Gil grinned and Antonio stood guard and Gil held you and nipped at your ear, and you began to shake terribly. "Oooh, she's getting a little hot I think…honhonhon." Francis chuckled.
"Jah, you're turn." Gil told Francis. The French man strode forth and pulled you in and suckled your neck giving you a deep red-purple hickie. Thinking that your shortage of breath was because of that, he let you go.
"There, see? We weren't going to hurt you muchacha." Antonio grinned. You tried to run to the door, and Antonio blocked you. "Whoa, there, we're not totally done with you. We just want to hang out." He winked.
Helplessly you threw yourself at the walls in vain trying to scream and claw at it. "HELP! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" You screamed. They backed off in surprise, as you began to hyperventilate. "I...can't…breathe!" You screamed and huffed.
"Vhoa! Vhat's going on with her?" Gil asked uncomfortably.
Antonio shook his head and shrugged unable to understand it either.
The wheels were turning in his head and then clicked as you sat against the wall rocking and crying in defeat, still hyperventilating.
"Mon ami!" He kneeled beside you and held you close, "Shush, shush, its okay. There's no ghost. We've been here enough to know that…" You continued to shake with new tremors. "That's not what you're afraid of is it?" He asked gently as he stroked your back. You shook your head. "You're claustrophobic." He said. You nodded and then, through your suffocating sobs whimpered, "Basements too."
Francis nodded, "Guys get away from the hatch, she really can't breathe; she's terrified of basements and has claustrophobia!" Shocked they did as they were told, and they let you go. Feeling horrible about what they had done.
The next day you ignored them like the plague, crying when they even came near you. They kept trying to talk to you so they can apologize, but you wouldn't have it. After a few days, you got a letter and a box of chocolates, a rose and a teddy bear, in your locker. You opened the letter and read:
Yo muy silleto,
I feel really bad for keeping you in there against your will. Had we known, we would've never kept you there. We only wanted to have a little fun, and to hang out. The truth is we like teasing you because you're cool. Please forgive us all.
-Antonio, Gilbert and Francis.
P.S. We're having a party this evening, please come to the following address so we can apologize to you formally. Please consider it at least. Thanks.
You sighed angrily, but then looked at the thoughtful gifts. They may be idiots, but they were considerate ones with big hearts, and good intentions. You told Alfred that you would be going somewhere before going home and not to wait up for you. He looked a little sad about it at first then nodded. You left and he went his own way.
You came up to the house, and hesitated before finally knocking.
The door opened to Francis, who smiled sheepishly and let you in. You walked in and he offered to take your coat but you refused, and he led you upstairs. "Guys! She's here!" He called out. You were greeted warmly with sympathetic smiles. "Senorita, yo muy silleto." Antonio said with a small smile. Gil nodded, "Jah, I'm sorry to." "I too apologize for causing you grief mon ami." Francis said.
"Well…it's alright, you weren't meaning to scare me. And I know since you're guys you wouldn't have thought to just ask me to hang out, and that you had to do it your way."
The Bad Touch Trio looked at each other in surprise.
"Ve figured that you vould've refused to hang out vith us if ve asked." Gil said.
"Girls are a bit different Gilbert. We consider our options before acting out. Or at least we normally do. I on the other hand would've said that as long as you behaved that I wouldn't mind hanging out with you." You said.
"So…would you like to hang out with us mon ami?" Francis asked you.
You grinned, "Sure, I'd like that."
So for the next several weeks, you didn't hang out with Alfred as much, and it was mainly because of France that you're time had been taken up. Slowly, you began to find yourself falling in love with him, though you wouldn't admit to it.
After about a month, Alfred couldn't handle this anymore and he came over to your house and asked your mom if you were home. She said that you were upstairs, eyeing the flowers that he held, questioningly.
Alfred headed upstairs, and when he approached the door he saw through a crack in the door that you and Francis were talking and you were laughing, with him!
Alfred was appalled by this, anger gripped his face and pain and heartbreak clawed at his heart. He threw down the flowers and stormed down the stairs and slamming the front door.
You jumped at the sound and opened your door wider and looked around, and then gasped as you saw a bunch of ruined flowers were lying on the floor. Petals were strewn away from it, sadly as if it were broken glass. You picked up a note and read, "_, I miss you and I want you to hang out with me more often. I don't know what's been taking up all your time and why you keep blowing off the hang out dates. Please talk to me, tell me what I did wrong so we can fix it? Your best friend…Alfred." You finished. Tears welled up in your eyes; you had made Alfred think he had done something wrong. You are so stupid! You shouted at yourself.
"Mon ami?" Francis said lightly, as he stroked your arms. You shook it off, "I-I've done something stupid…Can…can I have some alone time?" You asked, he nodded and left, kissing your hand before departing.
The next day at school you got a cold tense vibe as you approached your and Alfred's locker. "Al?" You said. He didn't look at you as he opened your guys' locker. "What?" He said keeping his voice even, though it didn't betray his emotions. His facial appearance and his body language said otherwise.
"Um…you didn't do anything wrong for me to stop hanging out with you, and I would do anything to make it up to you."
"Anything?" He asked as he looked at you with hope.
You nodded, "Anything."
He then smiled and kneeled down pulling out a black velvet box, and upon prying it open, you gasped at the sight of crystal dangling earrings.
"Go to prom with me." He said.
You nodded, keeping to your promise. Even though you had been expecting someone else to do it first, this was the only thing you could do to make it up to him. You had promised, and there was nothing you could or would do to go back on that promise.
The following night, you were picked up and taken to prom. The whole night you danced with Alfred, your best friend and on the second to last dance, you were so hung up on emotions that flowed through you, that you didn't stop him from gingerly kissing you. After you realized what happened you stopped as you saw Francis looking a little hurt, though you knew he felt deeply hurt by it. "Alfred…is-is this the way you feel about me?" You asked. He nodded, "I've always loved and cared about you _, and nothing you can say or do will change that."
You nodded in understanding, but then said, "Please Alfred, understand that I…I-,"
He stopped you with a single finger that gently pressed against your lips. "Don't say it…I won't be able to handle it if you did. Let me finish for you." He took a deep breath and said, "You care about me, but you're in love with Francis, and you want us to just stay friends." You nodded, your shoulders dropping in the sympathy you felt for your best friend. "It's fine, I understand. I always have when it came to you, _. But let me say one thing, if he ever hurts you, you come straight to me, that way I can beat him up okay? If anything happens, I want you to give us a chance." He said.
You nodded, knowing it would be useless to say otherwise.
"Just…let me have your last dance. This is special to me, and after this, you too can dance all you want, just let me have it." You looked to Francis and he nodded.
"Sure." You said. You danced with Alfred one last time and he kissed your cheek, and then said, "I've got to go to the bathroom. I'll see you soon okay?" He said.
You nodded, seeing through his lie. He never said 'bathroom', and when he did, you knew that he was about to cry.
You turned to the DJ and begged him to give you one last song. Then Francis and you danced.
"I love you Francis."
"As do I mon ami."
"For your sake, don't ever break my heart."
"I promise on my word as a Frenchman that I will never do so."
You nodded, and then leaned up and kissed him; he held the nape of your neck and your waist. Together, you both would make an excellent pair.