One.
Six years after graduation from high school.
Two months after getting a degree.
One day after being fired from the opportunity of a lifetime.
Cat Valentine
Finally fell apart.
Six years after seeing all her friends for the last time.
Two months after leaving anyone she even knew.
One day after giving up on her dreams.
For good.
A young, pretty girl, hair as red as a cherry, stumbled through the streets of a winter wonderland New York. Still in costume, a glittery silver dressed hugged her body tightly, providing little warmth. Strappy silver heels in hand, she walked, her bare feet on the ground, deciding the cold wasn't so bad after all.
One shivering, broken irl wandered the avenues.
It was 3 am, and for a city that never sleeps, it was quite quiet. That could be, because she was far away from the hustle and bustle of Times Square and the organized chaos of Rockefeller Center.
She turned yet another corner, only to catch the sweet scent of her favorite scent in the world, vanilla, and cinnamon rolls, and the all too familiar coffee smell of her apartment building.
But this coffee smelled different. It wasn't like her musty, instant coffee from a little packet, but a fresh, French vanilla roast.
Deciding to ber irrational and spend the last of her money on a French vanilla coffee and fresh cinnamon roll, stepped into the little café.
It was dimly lit, with chocolate colored barstools around a caramel counter. A young man was tending to the counter, while a smooth jazz tune flooded the café.
Cat dantily hopped up onto the stool, unnoticed by the young man. Cat smiled politely, waiting to be noticed. He wore an unflattering green cotton button down, and an even more unflattering pair of coffee stained khakis. His hair was long, dark, and shaggy. He turned around, and Cat's eyes met his. They were a once rich chocolate color, dulled to a boring brown color, and chin was covered in rough stubble.
As soon as their eyes met, Beckett Oliver smiled for the first time in years. There was no way he could forget the red velvet haired, bouncy, energetic girl from high school. That was back when he was still persuing his now deemed impossible dreams of becoming an actor, and now, he had instead settled on working in a quaint little café, most popular to college girls who would come in and whisper about him. No longer good whispers, as they had originally been. Now they whispered about how he was once a sexy, hot up-and-coming actor, ruined by the drugs and the alcohol, who was now, this.
September 21, 2003It was Cat's first day of sixth grade. She's walking in the hallway, when a boy with tan skin and long black hair ran into her, spilling fruit punch all over her white camisole. "Oh, sorry," He says, and a group of his friends are looking on, whispering. Cat glances at her friends off to the right, and they're standing giggling and pointing. It was no secret that they thought he was cute, Cat could see why they liked him. As Cat kneeled gathering her things, she could feel the boy keep glancing at her, in an almost nervous fashion. Her hair was dark brown, but she had recently dyed the ends magenta, and was thinking about dying her hair the color, as she loved the attention it brought to her. As she stood, up, so did the boy, who grabbed her shoulders, pulled her into him, and kissed her. He then ran away to his friends, who you could hear high-fiving him and patting him on the back, not believing he had actually done their stupid dare. Cat's hand reached towards her lips, as she stood in awe. Beckett Oliver had stolen her first kiss.
"Cat Valentine! Now what could you be doing here in the Big Apple?"
A small giggle escaped Cat's lips. "Why, Beck Oliver, you haven't changed a bit!"
"So what brings you here to the city that never sleeps?" He asked, untying the dark green apron and setting it on the counter, taking a seat next to Cat.
"Oh, you know, trying to find work,"
"The search going well?"
Cat looked down at the piping hot coffee Beck had brought her.
"Well, not really. I was thinking of moving back to California…"
"California? Why California? You know it was always your dream to be on Broadway!"
"Yeah, but…" She trailed off, staring out the window.
"Cat," Beck looked into her eyes. "Did something happen?"
He didn't even finish when Cat's tears came dripping out. "Woah, Cat! It's okay! Shh… It's okay," He pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her, letting her sob into his chest. They sat there for a while, the only sounds being Ca's muffeled sobs and the cool, jazz tune in the background. "Now Cat," He said after her tears subsided. "What happened?"
Cat sniffed, and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief Beck fished out of his pocket. "Well, what happened to you?"
Beck looked down at himself, as if realizing for the first time what a mess had become.
"Oh, Cat. You know that not all of us can be stars. Somebody has to sit in the audience and clap for them,"
"Exactly,"
"Cat, you're not telling me everything."
"Alright!" She threw up her hands in surrender. "I… I was cast in a Broadway production of Wicked. I was Glinda,"
"Cat, that's amazing!" She nodded. "Wait, was?"
"Um… you see… After my first performance, the costume designer…" Cat was starting to cry again. "Afer the show, he… he… he tried to kiss me and stuff, so I… so I… I whacked him with a metal pole from the clothes rack." Cat confessed, and Beck looked taken aback. "And then is head… It was all bloody… and, and… Lia, who plays Nessarose… She… She called the cops. And then I got fired and evicted from my apartment!" She finished, crying out the last part. She was weeping again, and Beck was gently rocking her back and forth, whispering in her ear.
"Hang on," He whispered, and carefully stood up. Cat sat up and looked at him, her mascara running down her face. He held up ne finger, to signify one moment, and disappeared in the back room. You could hear scraping and shuffling, and a minute later, he walked out carrying a small white plate with a large red velvet cupcake on it. He brought it over to Cat, who instantly perked up, and clapped.
"Oh, Beck, you didn't have to!" She smiled, taking a large bite out of the cupcake.
"I know," He grinned.
"This is the best cupcake in the whole wide world!" She squealed, her mouth full of cake.
"I know that too," He smirked, and Cat punched him playfully on the arm.
"Hey, do you wanna stay at my place?" Beck asked, looking into her eyes.
"Oh, really?" Cat asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Yeah, I'm sure Jade wouldn't mind. After all, you guys are best friends,"
"J…Jade?" Cat asked.
"Yeah, Jade… You've kept in touch with her, haven't you?'
"No, not really," Cat admitted. This wasn't a lie, but she wasn't about to let Beck know that in fact, the last time she had spoken to Jade was at their high school graduation six years ago.
"Oh, well, we're living together now," For some reason, Cat felt… something. She didn't know what. She just knew that something about Jade and Beck living together made her feel uneasy.
"-But we broke up a while ago," Beck continued, leaving Cat confused. "Almost five years ago, in fact. We're just kind of…" He stopped, trying to find the best way to put it. "Friends with benefits, but not like… Oh, you know what I mean," He said, waving the matter off.
"A… are you sure? I'm sure I can find somewhere else to stay, I don't want to invade-," She started, but Beck cut her off.
"Oh, no really, Cat. It's fine. We've got space, so why not put it to good use?"
"Oh, wow, Beck, I really don't know how to thank you guys!"
"Don't worry about it Cat. What's a favor between friends?"
Cat just smiled.
"So," He started. "Where's all your stuff?"
"It," She looked down at her hands. "It was stolen by a hobo on the subway," She mumbled, and Back gasped.
"You mean to tell me, you're wandering around New York bare foot, in the middle of November, freezing your ass off, because a hobo stole your bags?"
"Yeah," She mumbled again.
"I don't know if I should be pissed off or cracking up right now," Beck admitted and Cat grinned. "Hey, I can close up the café early, and we can head to my place, get you settled." He looked her up and down. "And most importantly, so Jade can take you shopping with her."
"Okay," Cat giggled.
The two walked home together, looking quite odd to the rest of the world.
He, in a stupid button down and coffee stained khakis, and her, with bright red hair, in a silver, sequined dress, and strappy heels. When people looked at them strangely, she'd just lean on them and giggle, "Oh, if only you knew the irony of my life!"
Halfway to Beck and Jade's apartment, it began to lightly rain. "Hurry, Cat, let's go!" Beck said, holding his jacket over his head, and dashing forward, but stopped when he saw Cat not budge.
"Why? It's so beautiful!" She said, throwing her arms up and closing her eyes, twirling around, facing the sky. Beck grinned watching her. She was gorgeous that way. To any passerby, it would look weird, in a spectacular, extraordinary way. A girl with cherry red hair in a sparkly silver dress, dancing around in the rain in the middle of the street on a late November day.
"Cat?" He asked, stepping towards her.
"Yes?"
"You know how you always regretted me stealing your first kiss because you always dreamed of it being in the rain?"
Cat's arms dropped to her sides, and her mouth dropped open. Beck didn't seem to notice how shocked she was, because he was smiling and walking towards her.
"I think we should make up for it," He grinned, and he leaned in and kissed her.
Out of every beautiful, strange occurrence they had created that evening, or rather morning, this was the strangest, most beautiful one of all.
Strange, because, Beck Oliver, who she hadn't spoken a word to for six years, was kissing her in the rain.
Beautiful, because Beck Oliver, who she hadn't seen since high school graduation, was kissing her in the rain.
A/N: Okay, so I always think A/N makes such stories so ugly, so I'm gonna try to make this short. I found this on my laptop, and it's like, four months old. I decided to fix it up and upload it, and then I realized it's really similar to sincerelyyours' café au lait which I love, love LOVE. So check it out, and know that I really didn't copy her!
R&R! Do you think I should make it multi-chap or leave it as it is? (If I do, the rest of the chapters will be completely different from sincerelyyours.)