Link walked down the halls of school, smiling and greeting people as he passed them. He told himself over and over, You are Link Larkin. Link Larkin. Teenage hearthrob. Local TV star. Grounded for the remainder of your teenage years...No, no, concentrate! You are Link Larkin. Link Larkin. Teenage hearthrob. Former local TV star...
He rounded the corner into the hall where Tracy's locker was. She wasn't there. He stopped at his locker and opened, grabbing his first hour textbook and shoving it in his backpack. He looked for a note from Tracy. Nothing. He passed the detention room, their first hour class, her locker, she wasn't anywhere.
Finally, she appeared. "Hi, Link. Sorry I'm late, Penny slept in and I had to wait for her." She smiled at him. He smiled back and led her away from the group he was talking too when arrived.
"Hey, Trace."
Her smile faded away. "You ok?"
He shook his head. How did he tell her? "My Pops caught me last night. I'm grounded until I'm old enough to move out."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she offered an apologetic smile and took his hand. Her skin was so soft.
"Nah, it's not your fault. But... I'm not allowed to be on the show anymore."
Her face fell in disbelief. "What?" She was still beautiful. He had his choice of any girl in school, but he definately had the best one now.
"And he said...he said I'm not allowed to see you again." Link felt a lump in his throat. She started to say something but didn't. Instead, she looked down, taking in the information.
"Oh."
Link jumped in, grabbing her other hand. He spoke quickly. "But, babe, it's not going to stop me. They don't know anything. We can stick it out. He can't control me at school."
She looked at him and smiled weakly. "Uh huh." There was only a week left of school. After that was the long, endless summer. And then senior year.
"And...and I can sneak out again to see you. I'm almost an adult now, he can't control me."
"Yeah."
"We're going to stay together, I promise. And to prove it to you..." He pulled his hands away, slipped off his ring and held it up. "I...I want you to wear my ring."
Tracy's face lit up in happy disbelief. "Oh my God, Link, really?" She put her hands over her mouth. He smiled and pulled one of them down and slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Really." Tracy looked at the ring, eyes shining. It fit perfectly, like it had been fit for her, not him. Amber had complained how big his ring was, how it didn't fit her tiny fingers, only her thumb. All he'd heard was gripe, gripe, gripe. But not this time. The ring slipped on easily.
It was meant to be, that Tracy wear his ring. They were supposed to be together, this proved it. He took her hands and looked down into her amazing brown eyes. "Tracy, I love you. I'm right here. We don't have to do what Penny and Seaweed did. I'm not leaving. You're my girl, right?"
She nodded, eyes glistening. "Right."
"Good." He kissed her, right there, in school, on the lips. He didn't care, it needed to be done. Nuts to the people watching and staring. Tracy was his girl, and he wanted to kiss her. So he did, just that simple. Tracy kissed him back for a moment and then pulled apart.
"Oh, Link, I love you too. Thank you." Fingers intertwined, they walked down the hallway. As usual, some girls looked at Link with gaga eyes and others at Tracy with jealousy. But today, the pair didn't see anyone but each other.
The world was a happy little bubble, that only they lived in. Outside, in reality, it was raining pins and needles that would pop their bubble, but for now, at least, they could be happy.
Short, I know, so I'll try to hurry up with the next chapter. The ideas are flowing fast right now... the end is in sight!
