Hi, Bella. Hiiiiiiiiiiii. IIIIIIIII. Looooooooove. Youuuuuuuu! (That's supposed to be read to the tune of Silly Love Songs. Just so you know.) ^_^ Enjoy!
Also, FFN refuses to let me use the "at" sign thing. So for all the Twitter things, just pretend that it's there. Okay.
PS: You have your own car and you're like 18 or whatever.
Oh my gosh. Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, Bella thought as she opened and closed her eyes over and over, sure that her eyes were playing tricks on her. She whipped out her phone, discreetly taking a picture of what was in front of her. "Does anything about this picture stand out to any of you?" she wrote before attaching the picture and sending it to Twitter. Immediately, her phone burst into song.
So I say, "NOOOOO," to status quoooo.
Who wants to be like the rest and deny the best that I'm meant for?
Bella scrambled to shut her phone up, but it kept blasting music as more and more people replied to her tweet. By the time she was able to turn the volume off, 90% of the coffee shop was staring at her, some with amused looks on their faces. She glanced around anxiously, searching for what she had seen before. She sighed quietly, deciding that it must have been her imagination after all. She looked down at her phone and opened one of the messages from Twitter.
YoungerCaufield: StarblerPotter ! AS;DJFGKFSXCFKE. IS THAT JOEY RICHTER?
Bella frowned. Except that wasn't him. It couldn't have been him. She opened the next message.
clairebearr11: StarblerPotter OHMYGODOHMYGODOHYGOD. JOEYELLA IS SO ON. GET SOME, BELLA.
JeffnaBoots: StarblerPotter :O! GO SAY HI!
AshiaNotAsia: StarblerPotter So once you two get married, can he introduce me to Darren….?
"HI!" a familiar voice startled Bella. She looked up from her phone slowly, her eyes travelling from his faded jeans, to his dark grey button-down shirt, all the way up to the adorable crooked smile beaming down at her. She stared at him with wide eyes, trying to remember how to breathe.
"I. Uh. I," she stammered, still gaping at him.
His smile only grew brighter and more crooked as he sat down in the chair opposite her. "I really like your ringtone."
Bella only blinked at him in response, her mouth opening and closing as she attempted to form words.
When I get you alone!
When I get alone, babe!
When I get you alone!
When I geeeet you alone!
This momentarily woke Bella from her Joey-induced haze as she slammed her hand over her phone. "Thought I turned the volume off," she mumbled to no one in particular. She looked at the screen. "Call from: Claire (CS)" She pressed ignore, then turned her phone off to ensure that it wouldn't start blasting potentially embarrassing music again. She looked up nervously.
"I like that ringtone too." Somehow, his smile had grown even wider. "I like the first one better though," he added with a quick wink. Bella smiled nervously, a quiet giggle escaping from her lips.
There was a brief silence before Joey spoke again. "So you're a StarKid fan, I presume?"
Bella nodded, letting out a short laugh. "How could you tell?" she asked jokingly.
"Just a wild guess," he replied, happy that she seemed to be able to form words now. "Well, I'm Joey Richter. In case you weren't already aware." He held out his hand for her to shake.
She paused for a moment, reminding herself to breathe, before reaching out and shaking his hand. "I'm Bella."
Their hands fit together perfectly, Bella noticed. She waited for him to pull his hand away from hers, but he didn't. "Bella," he said, "That's Spanish for beauty, you know."
"No, I didn't know that," she said, blushing slightly. "Probably should change my name then," she mumbled under her breath, barely even noticing as she said it. She put herself down so often, it was basically a reflex for her to insult herself whenever someone gave her anything resembling a compliment.
"What?" asked Joey, frowning for the first time since he had appeared at her table.
"Hmm?"
"You said something."
"I said, 'I didn't know that'"
"No, no, I mean after that."
Bella thought for a moment, trying to remember what she had said. "Oh, right. I said that I should change my name or something. Nothing important."
Joey furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why would you change your name?"
"False advertising, I guess. Wouldn't wanna get sued."
He looked completely confused now. "Huh?"
"I'm not particularly fond of my face," she said, frowning a bit as she did, "Therefore, I should change my name. Because apparently, Bella means beauty."
"That's silly. I like your face," said Joey, his smile returning, though he still looked the tiniest bit confused as to how anyone could ever not like her face. "It's very unique…" He trailed off, staring at her for a minute or so, before continuing with a serious expression on his face. "You're really very pretty, Bella. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."
Bella blushed again. "Thanks, but-" she began to contradict him.
"Stop," he said, squeezing the hand he still held.
"But I'm-"
"Shh," he said, leaning closer to put his finger on her lips. Bella immediately stopped talking and looked down at his finger, her eyes crossing slightly as she did so. Joey chuckled quietly at how cute she looked. She glanced up at him, then back down at his finger. When her face became slightly flushed due to the fact that she wasn't breathing, he removed his finger, then took her other hand in his.
"Listen," he said, looking down at their hands then up into her eyes, "A lot of the StarKids are getting together for a party this Friday. You should come!"
For what felt like the thousandth time since the conversation had begun, Bella forgot how to breathe properly. She nodded vigorously, unable to form words.
"Super!" he said, beaming. He released her hands for a moment to scribble something down on a napkin and hand it to her. "Here's my number. Text me on Friday and I'll send you the time and location for the party." He stood up and pushed his chair in. "Bye Bella!" He walked away, then turned around halfway to the door to smile at her again and wave. She waved back, staring at his adorable lopsided grin, then watched as he strolled out the door and over to his car. As soon as he pulled out of the parking lot, she grabbed her phone and turned it on, eager to freak out at her friends.
She was careful to turn the volume off immediately, anticipating a flood of messages from her friends. Sure enough, her inbox was attacked with a multitude of Twitter notifications and texts from various Joeyella shippers.
aLovelyDragon: StarblerPotter Bella! Did you talk to him yet?
clairebearr11: StarblerPotter Way to ignore my call ;_; #WHATISHAPPENINGBELLA?
clairebearr11: StarblerPotter BELLAAAA! Are you guys having sex or something? Answer your phone!
YoungerCaufield: clairebearr11 StarblerPotter If they are, I hope Bella has a REALLY obnoxious texting ringtone. xD
_Oscaaar: StarblerPotter What's this I hear about you having sex with Joey Richter? #GetItBella ;3
From: Claire
BELLA. HI. NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THIS TEXT. NONE OF US ARE FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW. K.
AshiaNotAsia: Everyone is freaking out about the possible Joeyella sex and I'm just sitting here wondering when I get to meet Darren. StarblerPotter
She turned a deep shade of pink as she read them, her thoughts turning undapper in no time. She tweeted a smiley face to really send her friends over the edge, then locked her phone and slid it into her pocket. She left the coffee shop and drove herself home, thinking about Joey and his party all the while.
To: Darren
Oh my God. Dude. I just met this amazing girl.
From: Darren
! Are you bringing her to the thing on Friday?
To: Darren
I invited her! I can't wait to introduce her to you guys.
From: Darren
Huzzah! It's like she's meeting the parents! :D
Wednesday around 9PM…
Bella stared at her phone, reading the message over and over, searching for flaws. After checking it repeatedly for about thirty minutes, she finally pressed send.
To: Joey
Hi! I know you said to text you on Friday, but I was just wondering if you had any idea of what time the party would be at?
From: Joey
HI! I think it's going to start around 8 or 9, then go until 11 or 12. It's a sort of short party, but it'll be fun anyway. :)
Friday at 6:30PM
Bella stared inside her closet. She had nothing to wear. Nothing. Here she was about to go to a party with a bunch of StarKids, and she had no idea what to wear. After staring at the same clothes for more than thirty minutes, she closed her eyes, thrust her hand into her closet and pulled out the first thing she touched. It was a tight-fitting sparkly silver and dark gray striped skirt. She smiled at one of her favorite articles of clothing, then flung her hand back inside of her closet. This time she pulled out a slouchy long-sleeved sweatshirt with an owl wearing yellow glasses on it. Right below the owl were the words "Nerdy Owl." Bella frowned slightly. She highly doubted that an owl with glasses would win the heart of Joey Richter, but whatever. It's not like she was getting anywhere by just staring at her closet. She grabbed her polka dotted purple scarf and threw it on along with the rest of her outfit. She grabbed some black knee-high boots from the floor of her closet, then left her house and headed to the address that Joey had texted her earlier that day.
By the time she got there, it was about 8:45, and all of the StarKids had already arrived. She walked in, practically exploding with excitement, before she realized that she didn't actually know anyone at this party. Well, she knew them. They didn't know her. Some of the people that walked past her gave her odd looks, having no idea who she was. She turned around, ready to leave, when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
"You came!" said the happy voice of Joey Richter behind her. His hand slid from her shoulder down to her hand as she turned around. As it had in the coffee shop, his hand felt like it was made specifically to fit her own.
"I wouldn't miss a StarKid party," she replied, smiling and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Come on, I want you to meet some of my friends," he said, pulling her through the crowd of people over to a couch. "Dare!" he yelled, releasing Bella in order to drag Darren from where he sat. He brought him over to Bella, smiling. "Darren, this is Bella. Bella, Darren."
Bella smiled and held her hand out to shake his, but he engulfed her in a hug instead. "Your name is Bella?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Bella means beautiful in Italian! That's so cool, right? I love that word!" She chuckled and began to respond, but was cut off once again as he started to jump up and down. "OH MY GOSH! I just realized that Bella sounds a lot like Belle! Oh man. I really want your name now! Belle is so beautiful and her name is just so organic and wonderful. THERE MUST BE MORE THAN THIS PROVINCIAL LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!"
"SOMEDAY, I SWEAR I WILL MAKE BELLE MY WIIIIIIIFE!" added Joey, but Darren didn't even notice. He just continued to ramble on about Belle, which led to a long speech about how organic Disney is. After about twenty minutes of Darren's babbling, Joey interrupted him. "Yeah okay, Darren. We know Disney is amazing. I'm gonna take Bella to meet some other people now." Darren nodded with his gooberish grin, singing Can You Feel The Love Tonight as he went back over to the couch. Joey glared at him, but Darren just shot him a wink and kept singing.
Bella was completely oblivious to what was going on. When Darren moved, he revealed another flawless human being at the other end of the room.
"Okay so, Bella," began Joey, turning to where Bella had been standing, but she was already walking towards a man with a blondeish brown hair, looking somewhat dazed as she did. "Bella?" he followed her gaze and, when he saw what she was staring at, smiled. Of coooourse she's a Potter fan! he thought to himself, I should introduce her! She'll be so happy. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the man, then tapped on his shoulder. "Hey, Felton!"
Tom spun around and, seeing who it was, beamed. "Richter!" he said as they hugged each other, "How are you?"
"I'm fantastic," he replied with a crooked grin. "I have to introduce you to someone! This is Bella."
Tom held out his hand. "Hello, Bella," he said, his delicious British accent sounding even better in person than it did in the many interviews she had watched. "I'm Tom Felton."
"Hi," she said breathlessly, shaking his hand and marveling at how incredibly soft his skin was. Instead of letting go of her hand, Tom swung it back and forth. Joey, who was still holding Bella's other hand, tightened his grip ever so slightly, watching Bella's face turn a light shade of pink.
"So you're a Harry Potter fan, I take it?" But Bella was not paying attention at all. When Joey tightened his grip, Bella realized for the first time how incredibly firm, but soft his hands were. She tried to keep her thoughts relatively dapper but failed miserably.
"Bella?" Joey looked concerned, while Tom looked confused.
Bella was staring intently at Joey's hands. She was on the verge of attacking him when Tom poked her, waking her from her Joey-induced daze. "Hmm?" Bella murmured, tearing her eyes away from Joey's beautiful skin.
"You like Harry Potter, right?"
"Mmmhmm," she said, her gaze drifting back to Joey as he moved a couple feet away to talk to Brian Holden.
"Want to see my wand?"
Bella's eyes widened as she turned to look at him. "What?"
Tom looked confused. "My wand—Oh, God," he laughed as he facepalmed, "that sounds wrong. I mean Draco's wand – like the one we use on set. I figured I'd bring it, since the StarKids are all Potter fans." He pulled it out of his pocket, handing it to Bella. She took it excitedly, examining it.
"So who's your favorite character? Malfoy, right?" he asked, watching her as she waved the wand.
"Haha, no," said Bella. When Tom pretended to be hurt, she hastily said, "No, no. I mean, I love Draco. But Ron is probably my favorite."
"Did somebody say Ronald Weasley?" said Joey, grinning as he rejoined the conversation with Brian at his side.
"You're Bella's favorite," replied Tom, smiling at Joey and throwing him a wink.
"Is that so?" he asked, smirking at Bella. She looked up at him and immediately got lost in his eyes. They gazed at each other for about a minute before Brian shot Tom a questioning look. Tom just shrugged back at him.
"Psst!" Tom and Brian looked around. Joey and Bella were too engrossed in each other to notice.
"PSST!" Brian turned to see Darren, who gestured wildly for them to come over. Tom quietly slipped his hand out of Bella's, then walked over to Darren with Brian.
"What?" hissed Brian.
"Oh he's got it bad!" said Darren happily, beaming and jumping up and down.
"What? What has he got?" asked Tom.
"Isn't it obvious, guys? Joey's in love!"
"Joey? In love?" asked Brian incredulously. They looked over at the two, who were still staring into each other's eyes, oblivious to the rest of the world.
"Oh man. Look at them. Their relationship is so beautiful and organic."
"Dare, you realize they're not actually in a relationship yet, right?" said Brian.
"Shh. They're totally in a relationship."
"They look quite nice together," added Tom.
"I want them to be together forever and ever. Their love is so organic."
"Do you think she likes him?" Brian asked Tom, since Darren was busy mumbling about organic love.
"She seems to, judging by the way she's staring at him."
"Hey guys. Do you think Bella uses organic shampoo? Her hair looks really healthy," said Darren. Before either of them could answer, he wandered over to where they stood. By then, Joey and Bella had started talking, instead of just gazing at each other.
"Darren!" said Joey as Darren approached, "Bella is a huge StarKid fan. We should totally perform something!"
"Oooh that would be so much fun!" replied Darren. "Yes, let's do that! What should we sing?"
"We should do Get Back to Hogwarts! Except Bonnie isn't here."
"Oh.. Hm. BELLA! Bella, would you sing Bonnie's part?"
Bella looked taken aback, but she nodded wordlessly.
"EXCELLENT!" said Joey happily.
"Ohmygosh, Bella, your SHIRT!" Darren exclaimed excitedly, gesturing wildly at the owl wearing glasses, "It's so Hermione! Joey, can't you see Hermione wearing that shirt? She definitely would! You're the perfect Hermione! Just like how Joey is the perfect Ron. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD DO? You should act out some Ron/Hermione scenes! Also, Bella, what type of shampoo do you use?"
"Uhh.. Pantene. Why?" said Bella, her face slightly pink due to Darren's Ron/Hermione comment.
"Oh, no reason," he mumbled, looking somewhat disappointed. "Well, we should go do Back to Hogwarts!"
"I'll go get Lauren," said Joey, leaving Bella and Darren alone.
Darren watched him until he was earshot, when he turned back to Bella. "SO!" he said, "How do you like Joey?"
"He's, you know, nice and stuff," she replied carefully.
"Oh, really?" he replied, nudging her with a mischievous smile, "And stuff? What kind of stuff? Hmmm?"
Bella began to splutter out a response, but she was interrupted by the sound of Joey speaking into a microphone.
"Hi, guys!" said Joey to the crowd as Bella turned to face him. Her jaw dropped when she saw that he was wearing his Ron headband. Darren took notice of her reaction, and, smirking, he grabbed her hand and began walking towards Joey as he announced the performance to their audience. By his side stood Lauren Lopez, looking adorable as ever. Darren dropped her off by the side of the small stage with Joey and Lauren, then moved towards the center. AJ blasted the music from his phone, as he had recorded the instrumental version of the song on his own time.
Underneath these stairs, I hear the sneers and feel the glares
Of my cousin, my uncle, and my aunt.
As Darren continued singing, Bella got distracted by how sexy Joey looked with his Ron headband on. He was wearing it around his head as he did in the musicals, and he had styled his hair the way he did in Starship. She was suddenly filled with the urge to stroke his hair, but just as she lifted her hand, he yelled, "Yeah, 'cause together we're totally awesome!" and ran over to Darren.
As they continued the performance, Lauren moved closer to Bella. "You know the words, right?" she whispered. Bella nodded silently, then moved forward slightly, rehearsing her lines in her head.
This year, we'll take everybody by storm
Stay up all night, sneak out of our dorms
She walked over to the two of them quickly, singing.
But let's not forget that we need to perform well in class
If we want to pass our OWLs!
"Ugh, Hermione, why do you have to be such a buzzkill?" yelled Joey as Bella turned to face the audience for the first time. Her eyes flew her to Tom, who gave her a smile and a thumbs up. She crossed her arms in an attempt to stop shaking as she turned back to Joey and Darren.
"B-Because, guys, school's not all about fun and games," Bella frowned nervously, but continued speaking, "We have to study hard if we want to be good wizards and witches!" She paused, too terrified to sing. She glanced at the audience again, this time seeing Joe Walker and Dylan Saunders. She forced herself to look away, and Joey smiled at her encouragingly then mouthed "I may be frumpy," to her. She took a deep breath, then began singing.
I may be frumpy, but I'm super smart.
Check out my grades, they're A's for a start.
What I lack in looks, well I make up in heart
And well guys, yeah that's totally awesome.
She looked over at Joey, whose crooked jaw had dropped in shock. She frowned in confusion, but continued to sing.
This year, I plan to study a lot.
She waited for Joey to respond, but he just stared at her with wide eyes. After about five seconds of silence, Darren elbowed him in the ribs. Joey blinked rapidly and began to splutter out lyrics.
Uhh jasdmasc sdakccasc aksdasa kdwfdcn hot
Darren smiled and rolled his eyes at Joey's reaction.
Hey, Ron, come on. We're the only friends that she's got.
And that's cool
And that's totally awesome!
Bella moved a couple steps closer to them as they sang together.
We're sick of summer and this waiting around
It's like we're sitting in the lost and found
Don't take no sorcery
For anyone to see hooooow
Darren shoved Joey toward Bella, causing him to lose his balance, as he was already sort of dazed. He grabbed Bella's shoulder in order to remain upright. She gave him a half-smile, but was still concerned about his reaction to her singing earlier. Am I really that bad? she thought to herself, her smile vanishing as a look of panic replaced it. Once Joey was able to pull himself together, he smiled at her. "Your voice is amazing." he mumbled in her ear, then pulled back and removed his hand from her shoulder.
We gotta get back to Hogwarts
We gotta get back to school
We gotta get back to Hogwarts
Where everything is magic-cooooool
Back to wizards and witches, and magical beasts
To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts
It's all that I love, and it's all that I need at
Hogwarts, Hogwarts
I think we're going back...
"So, due to our lack of Tyler and Devin, we're going to skip right to Draco's part," said Darren.
"DID SOMEONE SAY DRACO MALFOY?" yelled Lauren and she strutted over to the three of them and shoved them to the side of the stage.
This year you bet I'm gonna get outta here.
The reign of Malfoy is drawing near.
I'll have the greatest wizard career,
And it's gonna be totally awesome.
As she sang, Bella surveyed the audience once again. This time, she noticed Joe Moses, who was standing next to Matt and Nick Lang. At the sight of Moses, she wondered if Jamie was in attendance, but, after a quick scan of the crowd, she saw that she wasn't. Her eyes fell on Tom again, and Bella wondered why Jade wasn't with him. He caught her gaze and flashed her a smile. "Your voice is fantastic!" he mouthed at her. Fighting the urge to mouth back that it was actually really terrible, she returned a half-hearted smile.
"YEAH, YOU'LL BE THE ONE WHO IS TOTALLY AWESOME!" yelled Jim Povolo, bringing Bella's attention back to the performance. She sang with Darren and Joey as they made their way back to the middle of the stage.
Who knows how fast this year's gonna go?
Hand me a glass, let the butterbeer flow
"Maybe at last, I'll talk to Cho!" said Darren.
"Oh no, that'd be way too awesome!"
We're back to learn everything that we can
It's great to come back to where we began
And here we are, and alakazam!
Here we go, this is totally awesome!
Come on and teach us everything you know
The summer's over and we're itchin' to go
"I THINK WE'RE READY FOR... ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!" yelled Joe Walker from the back of the audience.
" ALL OF YOU TO HOGWARTS," sang Dylan as he emerged from the crowd onto the stage. Bella's jaw dropped in amazement as Dylan continued singing. She had heard him before, of course, but hearing his voice live was a completely different experience. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he sang, which made his performance that much more incredible.
"My name is Dylan Dumbledore and I am headmaster of Hogwarts," he said, walking around the stage, "You can all call me Dumbledore. I also suppose you can also call me Dylan if you want a detention." He turned and began to walk off the stage before adding, "No, I'm only kidding. I'll expel you If you call me Dylan!" He exited the stage and Lauren, Bella, Darren, and Joey returned to the center.
Back to witches and wizards, and magical beasts
To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts
It's all that I love, and all that I need.
At Hogwarts, Hogwarts.
Back to spells and enchantments, potions and friends
To Gryffindors! Hufflepuffs! Ravenclaws! Slytherins!
Back to the place where our story begins
It's Hogwarts, Hogwarts
"I'M SORRY, WHAT'D YOU SAY?" yelled Dylan.
Hogwarts, Hogwarts
"I COULDN'T HEAR YOU KIDS!"
Hogwarts, Hogwarts
"Man, I'm glad I'm back!" said Darren, beaming as the audience clapped and cheered. Joey grabbed one of Bella's hands, and Lauren grabbed the other as well as Darren's. The four of them bowed together, then exited the stage.
Once they were off the stage, Joey turned to Bella. "Your voice is so beautiful!" he said.
Bella frowned and replied, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! IT'S NOISY HERE!" Joey took Bella's hand and pulled her through the crowd to the very back of the room, where it was much quieter. He leaned against the wall, and Bella stood in front of him.
"So! As I was saying before, your voice is incredibly beautiful."
"Ha," replied Bella, smiling politely but shaking her head, "No, it really isn't."
Joey frowned. "But it is though. I love your voice. How could you possibly not like it?" He waited for her to reply, but she just shook her head and stared at the ground. He took each of her hands in his and pulled her closer, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Bella, I honestly love your voice. I wouldn't say that to you if I didn't mean it. Okay?" Bella nodded once, unable to form words. Her face was only a foot away from Joey Michael Richter's face. His beautiful, chocolate-colored eyes were staring into hers, and his deliciously pink lips were informing her that he, Joey Richter, loved her voice.
"JOEY!" yelled a voice from behind Bella. When Bella turned around, she saw Dylan Saunders, beaming at the both of them. "Oh hi, Hermione!" he exclaimed when he saw Bella's face. "Your voice is amazing by the way. Have you ever performed onstage before?"
"No, I don't really like my- Um," she hesitated when she saw Joey out of the corner of her eye. "I don't really like performing in public. I have horrible stage fright."
"Oh, well you should perform more! Your voice is fantastic." He turned to Joey. "It's midnight and I need to head home. So I just came over to say bye. I'll see you soon! Bye Bella!" He turned and exited the building.
"Is it really midnight already? I need to leave soon," said Bella, frowning.
As more people began to leave, Darren ran over to Joey and Bella. "Joey! Could you do me a favor?"
"Depends on the favor."
"Well, I came here with Dylan. And he left," said Darren. When Joey didn't reply, he continued, "So, basically I'm stranded here unless someone gives me a ride home." He smiled at him as sweetly as he could.
"Well, Darren, I'd be happy to give you a ride home!" said Joey happily. "EXCEPT, I took the bus here. And I was planning to ask you for a ride home. So."
"Oh man. We appear to be in quite a predicament here."
"I could drive you both home," said Bella, "if you don't mind."
After attacking her with hugs and yelling thank you, Darren and Joey went off to say goodbye to their friends.
YAY HI! So this is part 1. Part 2 will be coming soon and stuff. I apologize for the general horrible-ness of the entire thing. Yep. Love you, Bella! Happy New Year!
