Chapter 1
Detention
"When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew." -William Shakespeare
8 years ago
"I felt, I knew something never before was going to happen, had to happen. But... this is so much more." Finn whispered, looking intently into Rey's eyes.
She looked down at her hands, "My hands are cold."
He took them in his own hands, holding them tight.
Rey smiled, "Yours too."
He moved her delicate fingers to his smooth face, never looking away from her eyes.
Her eyes softened, her fingers grazing his lip, "So warm."
She then touched his hands and brought them to her own face, to show him that her face was warm too. Flushed with their close proximity. He looked down at her lips briefly, "So beautiful."
Rey chuckled softly, "Beautiful."
Suddenly Rey pulled away with a big smile. She held out her hands, "What did you think?"
Finn's smile was filled with pride. He stood and put his hands on his hips, "It's brilliant."
"Really?" she asked.
He nodded, "Of course it is! You're going to get that part. And if you don't, I mean, it's only a school play. It's not like any of these people are professional like you."
"I know, I know. I still want to give it my all," she twirled, "West Side Story will be the start, I just know it."
He chuckled, "I can't wait to see you on Broadway."
"And that you will!" She exclaimed, pretending to tap dance.
Her phone ringing is what brought her back to reality. She grabbed it and shut off her alarm. Cursing, she ran towards the door.
"I'm late! Sorry! Thank you for helping me! I'll see you tonight!" she yelled as she ran out of the auditorium doors.
Mr. Rory was not going to take it this time. She could only imagine what he was going to say to her. She would probably get a detention. Her sneakers skidded across the floor but she finally made it. She swung her homeroom door open and the entire class looked over at her.
Her face grew hot and she could only imagine what a deep shade of red she was. Walking in late was her worst nightmare because people noticed her and that attention was very unwelcome.
Mr. Rory peeked from behind his thick glasses and released a deeply irritated sigh.
"Sorry, Mr. Rory, I missed my bus," she lied, trying to regain her breath.
"This is the third time this week," he grumbled, "Detention today."
The class let out an 'Oohhh' noise and Rey sat at her desk in defeat, waiting for Mr. Rory to give her the yellow slip.
When he did, he narrowed his eyes at her, "If this happens again, there is going to be trouble."
She didn't answer. She just took the slip and swallowed her pride.
When the bell rang, she practically ran out of the classroom. Her next class was PE which no one was ever excited about, but she would jump off a cliff to get out of Mr. Rory's class.
There wasn't really a popular crowd in her school, like there usually is on TV. There are kids she hears more about but no Pink Ladies and T Birds.
No one ever really paid her too much attention, much to her satisfaction. She was not one to socialize. Her father sent her to therapists and doctors, and they called it 'social anxiety'. It made sense. Whenever Rey was forced to talk to people, she always tried to cut conversations short. Strangers had a way of making her feel like they were choking her with polite conversation.
Finn was her only friend, and that's mostly because they grew up together. He lived a couple houses down from her and they were in the same kindergarten class. It was the only reason he understood why she was the way she was.
What he didn't understand, is why an introvert with social anxiety wanted to be a Broadway star.
Rey knew she had problems, but she loved music ever since she was a child. It was her escape. Her second favorite thing was musicals. Her parents took her to see 'Phantom of the Opera' when she was ten. It was real-life magic, how they could sing to one another and make people feel the way they felt. Ever since then, her entire life became a musical. She lived, breathed and ate musical scores. She would write her own ones, perform the ones she knew by heart. The most magical part was that when she was singing and performing, she didn't feel awkward anymore. She actually felt confident.
After high school, half of her wants to move to New York City and try to start her career. The other half of her is terrified of even the thought of living in a city with so many people. She had a year to think it all through. Her big challenge was the high school play. Seniors always got first auditions. She was too chicken to audition last year, so this year was her last chance.
When detention rolled around for Rey, she dragged her feet into Mr. Rory's classroom. He was sitting at the desk but looking at his phone.
"At your service, sir," she curtsied.
When the teacher finally looked up at her, he seemed a bit nervous, "Something has come up. You will serve your detention in the library. Mrs. Solo will be watching you. And if you give her way trouble, I will know."
Rey hid her excitement well. She rolled her eyes in fake frustration, nodded and left the classroom. The library was one of her favorite place in the school. Mostly because kids avoided it like the plague and also because anything that helped her escape reality was something that fascinated Rey. So naturally, she loved reading.
When she walked into the library, Mrs. Solo was reading a magazine. Instead of the celebrity trash she was reading a magazine that had the words 'WORLD WAR II HISTORY RETOLD'. She was an older woman, who always had her hair pulled back in braids. Rey had always liked her and thought she was pretty cool.
When Rey stepped in front of her, Mrs. Solo looked up at her.
"Catching up on your reading?" the elder woman asked, smiling fondly.
Rey handed her the yellow slip, "Just serving my time."
Mrs. Solo chuckled, and with one hand motioned to the tabled, "I'm sure you're very frightened of your sentence."
Rey smiled and with a curtsy, she made her way towards the tables. She picked one in the corner and put her bag down. There was only a few in the library. It was a couple regulars, kids who studied for tests and others who ate their lunch in a corner.
She walked toward the fiction aisle and took a deep breath. She took in the smells and the feeling one gets before walking down a book aisle. She took her time, looking at each book with great curiosity. She opened one book and the smell of its dusty pages was like magic to her.
She turned to walk down another aisle but saw a man sitting on the floor. His long legs were sprawled out, his eyes completely focused on his book. He had raven black hair covered the tips of his ears. He had a strong nose and plump, pink lips. But that wasn't what fascinated Rey.
It was the look in the boy's eyes. He was so enthralled with the world inside that book, he didn't notice her we all. She knew what he felt like, and never saw someone in such a state. Surely the world around him didn't exist at all.
She couldn't really see what he was reading from where she was. On the floor was a book called, 'The Great Pianist'. Her eyes still looked at the man's expression. He didn't even realize she was staring; he was so enthralled with his book.
She bit her lip, wanting to take a picture of him. Surely he wouldn't notice. It would be such a grand picture, very poetic.
She took her phone out turned on her camera. Foolishly, she forgot to turn her sound off and her phone shuttered when she took the picture. The boy looked up immediately, dark brown eyes burning into hers.
She was so embarrassed; she wanted to die right then and there. Surely someone breaking every bone in her body would be a walk in the park compared to the way the handsome man looked at her. She gulped and tried to pull herself together, "Sorry. I hope you don't mind. You... you're expression was lovely."
His eyebrows furrowed a bit, "Oh. I see."
His voice was deep. And he seemed to grow awkward and uncomfortable with each interaction. The fact that he seemed more uneasy than she did, shocked her. She was always the one to run away scared. She took advantage of her unusual bravery.
"I'm Rey."
"Ben." He stared at her.
Something was very different about the boy in front of her. As he stated, he seemed to be searching for something. Understanding? A good way to tell her to fuck off?
"What are you reading?" she asked, fighting through the choking feeling she usually felt when talking to strangers. Her curiosity was making it a little easier.
He held the book out to her. She grabbed it and looked at the cover.
She smirked, "'The Devil's Elixirs'? A Gothic novel, I wouldn't have guessed that."
"Really?" he asked, taking the book back from her.
"It makes me sound like a jerk, but I expected a Star Wars book."
He then lifted a book hidden beside him. It was indeed, a Star Wars book.
Rey laughed, "Fantastic."
She then realized she was actually talking to someone who wasn't Finn. The choking feeling returned with a vengeance so she had to stop the conversation, though she didn't want to.
"I'll let you get back to your reading. Or if you want company, I'm at the table in the back."
He nodded. Rey walked away, feeling accomplished for talking to such an interesting person. It was so unlike her that she thought maybe getting ready for West Side Story was helping her social problems.
She wandered down the aisle and found a couple interesting titles. She grabbed one she's read many times, 'Pride Prejudice'. Then she grabbed a couple cool looking sci-fi books. She loved the protagonist in Jane Austen's novel because she was sure she'd be like Elizabeth in that century.
She sat at her table and peeked through some of the new ones. She found herself looking from the black and white often, thinking that Ben would sit across from her. She didn't expect him too, he seemed to not like talking with her. She didn't know what she would say if he even did. She'd probably choke on her own spit or something.
She decided the start reading 'Pride Prejudice' so she could focus on something familiar. She got past Elizabeth's infuriating mother talking about marrying her girls off when her eyes looked across the table.
Midnight colored hair struck her, almost making her smile. He was looking down at his book, sitting awkwardly across from her. What an odd person. But what was she talking about? She was odd too. Maybe that's why it was easy to be forward with him. He seemed just as uncomfortable as she did.
He seemed to hear her thoughts. Dark brown eyes looked into her equally dark ones. His gaze fell down to her book and looked back at her curiously.
She blushed, "I'm a sucker for Jane Austen."
His lips pulled into a half smile, "I expected something else."
"Really?" She raised her eyebrows with curiosity, "What did you expect?"
He cleared his throat, "I don't know I guess, I... or I don't know, something like Ulysses or Finnegan's Wake or some other James Joyce shit that only certain people understand."
She was flattered and didn't feel like she was choking yet, "I have read Finnegan's Wake. And I have no idea what it is about."
He chuckled, dark and deep, "Well... um, why Pride and Prejudice?"
Rey took a deep breath and looked down at her book, "I guess it's because... well Jane Austen speaks like a strong willed person in a time when women had little to no rights. It reflects in her characters. Elizabeth has no interest in marriage and tries to avoid it. In that time, though, that was all a woman had. I think she would have been perfectly content an old maid. If she was going to marry, she was going to do it for love. I just... I dont know, I really admire her."
He was looking at Rey intently as she spoke about a book she so adored. When Rey noticed, she blushed slightly. She could still breathe, even with all the attention from him but it did make her heart beat rapidly.
"Sorry," she let out a nervous laugh, "I didn't mean to ramble."
"No," He replied, still examining her closely, "its... refreshing."
"What is your favorite book?"
He looked down at his book, thinking, "It's a difficult question to answer."
She watched him, his body language appearing to apologize for something she didn't understand. His length? He was pretty tall and looked a little uncomfortable in the small library chair. It was like he wore his body like clothes that were too big and he was trying to make up for it by making himself appear smaller and not so large. His inability to answer made her think he had never been asked such a personal question.
"I guess, if I had to choose, it would be Frankenstein by-"
"Mary Shelley," Rey finished, smiling. She knew the story well, "I've read that a couple times. Why is it your favorite?"
He answered with his eyes firmly on the library's wooden table, "I guess, because Shelley shows that maybe with some technological advances, a man losses his freedom and becomes a slave to them. Victor lost himself when he became so obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. And because of that, science took away his humanity. The author showed that there are things men are not meant to discover."
Rey watched at the awkward kid stuttered his way into a confident one. The more he spoke, the more comfortable he looked. When he finished his statement, he quickly coiled back into his discomfort. She understood it was because of the attention he drew to himself, "That was beautiful. Thank you."
He looked at her, confused.
She shrugged her shoulders, "I really enjoy when people talk about their passions, or their interests. It shows a bit of their soul, I guess. You're pretty smart, huh?"
His face and ears turned red. He shrugged his thanks and quickly went back to his book. Rey was satisfied with their talk. She couldn't remember having such an enriching conversation. And the fact that she finished such an enriching conversation without wanting to die made her think Ben was special.
She wanted to be his friend.
She hadn't felt such a strong feeling in a long time. She didn't think for a moment that maybe he wasn't interested in being friends. Perhaps he'd be content never speaking to her again. But she never met someone she was comfortable speaking to. She thought she would be stupid to let the opportunity go.
"Do you want to be friends?" she asked, making herself blush. She wished she worded it better, perhaps in a more laid-back way.
He looked up from his book, eyes wide and cheeks red again. He was utterly shocked.
"I don't mean to be so tactless and strange but-"
"No," he blurted out. His cheeks grew a deeper red. His outburst embarrassed him but delighted her, "Um, I mean... I don't mind. If you want to, um, I guess."
She smiled, "Really? That's great."
He went back to reading his book as if his life depended on it. She caught secret glances at him and after a while, he once again disappeared from the real world. His eyes moved quickly, his breathing became rhythmic and even. He wasn't uncomfortable in his own body anymore, because he was no longer himself, but the character in his book.
She looked at the book about a Pianist on the table in front of him. She was about to ask him about it when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She took it out and saw that it was a message from Finn.
Idiot! What r u doing? I've been waiting for 25 minutes! Let's gooooooooo!
She couldn't believe her detention was over already. To Rey, they had only been sitting there for minutes. She picked up her bags and stood, Ben remaining in his exact same position. He didn't even notice she was standing. She smiled and didn't want to disturb him. So she opened her bag and took out a notebook. With a pen, she quickly wrote down a note and left the notebook there. She was nervous that ripping out the page would break the beauty of what she was doing. It was very poetic, she thought.
She snuck out of the library, Mrs. Solo saluting her on her way out.
She couldn't stop smiling. She thanked the universe for helping her make another friend, something that was difficult for her. She took it as a sign. It meant she would get the part in West Side Story and finally grow into a person she wanted to be.
This chapter was very long. Most will not be so lengthy.
Also, I myself am an introvert, but don't have such severe social anxieties as our dear Rey. I want to make sure I am writing that correctly. So if I offended someone or should change something, PLEASE tell me.
Comments are greatly appreciated!
-O
