Stevie's heart dropped… NO, plummeted! It hit the ground and died on impact.
Zander shut his eyes and cursed at himself. 'Kacie? Of all people he said Kacie'
"Uhm" Stevie mumbled. She lifted her eyes from the floor just enough to see his face. Calm and cool. Her heart couldn't take it. One more minute and the pieces would put themselves back together, just to explode at the sight of him. "I. uh. I have to go."
Stevie stood up, grabbed her bag off the couch, and all but ran out of the band room. She kept her head down; fighting the tears that threatened at the thresholds of her eyes. She flung open the door and scurried down the hallway.
If Stevie thought she could make a clean getaway, she was dead wrong.
She was not even five feet away from the exit door at the back of the school when she heard Kacie's peppy voice.
"Hey!" Kacie nearly shouted "I have everything ready, all we have to do is clue in Kevin and Nelson, then… "She continued, as her high heeled shoes clanked down the hallway and she came to an abrupt halt in front of Stevie. "Hey. Hey, what's wrong?" She said noticing Stevie's expression "I already told you, we don't have to tell Kevin and Nelson if you don't want to. It might put a damper on things, but we can find other people."
"It's not about that. Well it is, kind of. Ugh! I don't want to talk about it." Stevie explained throwing her hands around in extravagant hand gestures. "I'll call you later and tell you what I think. Right now I just need to get out of here." With that she whipped her head around to glance at the band room, then maneuvered around Kacie and rushed out of the school.
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Confused, Kacie walked into the band room where she found Zander sitting on the couch with his shoulders slouched and his face in his hand.
"Zander, what just happened? Stevie looked awful when she left, and you don't look much better yourself." Kacie pointed out as she messed with his hair to stress her point.
Zander knocked her hand out of his hair and shot her a nasty look. "Well, you know that song I've been writing?"
"You mean the one..." Kacie started nonchalantly only to be interrupted by Zander.
Man, talking this out with someone was going to be harder than he thought. "Yes, the one I wrote for Stevie." He let out a deep breath, rubbed his eyes, and continued. "She read it."
"Oh Zander you let her read it! That's so sweet!" Kacie said giddily.
"Not Exactly." Zander mumbled rubbing his hand on the back of his neck lightly.
"You mean you didn't let her read it?" Kacie, now intrigued, stepped closer to Zander. She was trying to read his expression, but his eyes were glued to the floor.
"I mean…" He snapped "She got the book and read it. She loved the song, and everything was fine, until she asked who it was for."
"Zander, please tell me you told her" Kacie asked dramatically putting her hands in a begging position.
Zander let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh I wish! I was nervous and flustered. I never get flustered! I lost my cool and said I wrote it for you."
Kacie snapped her head around. "You!" She yelled, shoving her finger through the air at him. "Do you know what you just did? No of course you don't! Ugh… Here I go fixing everyone's problems…"
Kacie snatched Zanders hand from his pocket and yanked him across the band room to the door.
"Know you go tell her how you really feel!" Kacie demanded. She turned, grabbed a magazine from the table, and plopped down on the couch.
Zander left shutting the door behind him.
"Oh the things I do for love." Kacie sighed flipping through the pages of the magazine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stevie walked into her house, slammed the door, and kicked her sneakers off. She looked around the house making sure no one was around to see her cry. The house was empty. Her brothers were at practice for various sports and both her parents worked evening shifts.
"Ugh! Why am I crying?!" She reprimanded herself as she furiously wiped the tears off of her face. She let out a deep sigh and tossed her bag on the floor. She threw herself onto the couch, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes.
The knock at the door jolted Stevie from the light sleep she had fallen into.
"Yeah?" Stevie said lightly, still in a daze from sleep.
The knock came again, harder this time.
Stevie's eyes fluttered open when she realized that there was really someone at the door. She pulled herself off the couch and swayed as she struggled to find her balance. The doorbell rang throughout the house.
"I'm coming." Stevie grumbled, rubbing her eyes as she walked toward the door. The doorbell rang again.
"Look I said I was coming!" Stevie yelled, marching to the door. She bumped the phone table against the wall. A vase fell and shattered on the dull hardwood floor. Before Stevie could register what happened, she stomps straight onto a large piece of glass.
"OW!" Stevie shrieked. She stumbled to the other side of the room, blood dripping from her foot. She sat down on the floor holding her foot. Blood was gushing around the glass lodged in her foot, seeping through her fingers. "Shit." she cursed under her breath.
The door opened and she heard someone come in.
"Hello?" Stevie asked peeking around the corner of the wall.
"Stevie?" She recognized Zanders voice immediately.
"Zander?" She asked. 'What is he doing here? He probably decided to come rub his relationship with Kacie in my face. Ugh! Calm down.'
"Stevie, what happened? It looks like a murder scene in here." Zander questioned as he looked around the room at the mess, before spotting her. He made his way toward her, steering clear of the broken glass. Noticing the blood coming from her food he continued. "God, Stevie are you alright?!"
"Yeah I'll be fine" Stevie confirmed as she placed a hand on the piece of glass and attempted to pull it out.
"OH, JESUS CHRIST!" Stevie screamed, wincing in pain.
Zander flinched and looked away, not being able to handle looking at her in pain.
"Where is the first aid kit?" Zander asked holding back the urge to scoop her up in his arms and take her pain away.
Stevie let took a deep breath and spoke. "In the bathroom... Down the hall… To the left."
Zander walked down the hall and returned with the first aid kit in his right hand and a bottle of water and a rag in his left hand.
"Ok, now let me see it." Zander demanded at Stevie, sitting the content of his hands on the floor.
Stevie stayed silent and slowly slid her right foot over the hardwood floor in his direction.
"I'm going to have to pull the glass out of your foot before I can bandage it up." Zander said softly.
Stevie nodded and Zander handed her the rag.
"Now put this between your teeth." When he saw your puzzled look he explained. "It's so you won't scream."
"How do you know all this?" Stevie questioned, bringing the rag closer to her mouth but hesitating.
"My mom's a nurse, remember." Zander said shooting Stevie crooked grin.
"Oh…Yeah…" Stevie said trying to calm her rapid heartbeat. "So why are you here?" Stevie said sternly.
"I'm obviously here to save your life." Zander lightly touched her foot and she hit his arm.
"You know what I mean!" Stevie shrieked.
"Well…" Zander rubbed the back of his neck and brought his eyes to hers. "I have to tell you something."
Thank you for reading! Please, please, please, please comment! You can comment or PM me about your ideas for future chapters. Who knows, you may be the inspiration I need!:D