Willow's POV
After my little nap, which was thankfully dream free, I spent the rest of my time getting ready to head out for the night. No matter how much my last few dreams bothered me, I pushed them aside willing myself to enjoy the night. It was the first time we were able to hang out as a group outside of school and I was in for some much needed down time. I showered and set my hair in messy waves that would make my helmet head look intentional.
As much as I wanted to dress well and impress the others, well one of them in particular, I decided to side with the part of me that begged for comfort. I threw on a light tank top and knit cotton vest over a pair of dark jeans. Normally when a girl tries to impress a boy, skirts and dresses are involved, however I was taking my bike to Nikki's so that wasn't really an option. Unfortunately, I had yet to perfect the art of slipping in and out of my leathers with grace so anything short of pants was unacceptable.
Once I was ready, I grabbed my bag, helmet, gloves and leather jacket before heading down to the parking lot to meet Reid and Tyler.
Tyler's POV
Reid and I were standing by Willow's Harley waiting for her to come down from her room so we could head over to Nikki's. I turned to Reid and noticed the odd look on his face.
"Hey man, are you okay?" I asked breaking the silence.
"Huh?," he said, confused. "Uh, yeah I'm fine. Why?"
"I dunno, you just seem a little out of it. You haven't really been yourself since lunch. What is going on in that sick and twisted mind of yours?"
He laughed and shook his head, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
This was not the Reid I knew, the one who usually blurted out his every stupid thought the second it popped into his head. I can't lie, I was a little concerned. "Dude, seriously, what's up?"
Reid looked away, pulling at his gloves trying to stall. "I don't know, I just can't shake this feeling that something's going on with Willow."
"What do you mean?" I didn't understand, if there was something wrong she would have told us. We never kept anything important from each other, it was our unspoken rule.
"I feel like she's hiding something from us, she hasn't been herself all day. And I can't help but think that Pogue is in on it too. I know it sounds stupid but I can't shake it." He tore his beanie off and stretched it before pulling it back on. "Ugh, listen to me, I sound like a pansy. This is stupid right? Like what am I thinking?"
I waited a second before responding. "If you were a normal guy, I'd say that you were overreacting, but…," I paused. He looked up, willing me to finish. "You were always the intuitive one, you know? All those 'weird feelings' you had when we were kids always proved right. And now that you've ascended, your intuition's gotten stronger.
"I'm not saying that you're right. But I'm also not saying that you're wrong. I just think you need to give it some time before you jump to any conclusions."
Reid only nodded, processing what I had just said.
Before the conversation could continue, I noticed Willow walking towards us with a smile on her face. She threw her stuff into one of the saddle bags before hoping on her bike.
Reid grinned, his mood instantly lightened. I have never seen a girl have this kind of affect on him, usually it was the other way around. But ever since Willow got back, small things about him have changed. He wasn't as rude and crude about things as he used to be and he was starting to do things like open doors and carry her books around. I shook my head at the thought of Reid being a gentleman.
That boy is so screwed.
Willow turned to us before putting on her helmet, "So boys, a night of fun and mischief is calling. What are we waiting for?" And with that we headed to Nikki's.
Willow's POV
We walked into Nikki's and I couldn't shake the wave of familiarity that had hit me. I pulled my eyebrows together, as if trying to figure out a jigsaw puzzle when Tyler spoke.
"Hey Willow, are you alright?," he said looking at me with concern.
"Yeah I'm fine, just trying to find everyone else," I lied. I looked around and located Pogue, Kate, Sara and Caleb sitting at a cluster of tables. "Over there," I pointed as I dragged Tyler and Reid towards the corner by the pool tables.
As we sat down I took a second to survey the surroundings. For the most part it was your typical bar, complete with pool and foosball tables. The bar extended from the back wall into the middle room. That's when I saw it, a flash of strawberry blonde. Right then I knew it, this was the girl from my dreams. The only clue I had to go off was the color of her hair, but after one look I just knew.
I tore my eyes away from her and forced my self to take a closer look at my surroundings. I looked to the dance floor and saw what I hadn't before...the jukebox. Right now it was playing some random generic 90s rock song, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I heard the song from my dream. All the pieces were falling into place, I knew that everything that I had seen or heard during the last week was tied to tonight. I smiled at the thought that the mystery was finally solved and turned back to where the strawberry blonde was standing at the bar. Now all I needed to find out was why she was important.
Suddenly Pogue's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "Hey Tyler, isn't that the girl of your dreams?" he joked.
I turned to look at Tyler, whose eyes were trained on the table, then to Pogue who was pointing towards the bar. I followed his gaze and my eyes settled once again on her.
"It certainly is," Reid teased as he was trying to get Tyler to look up.
"Wait, what?," I begged for clarification.
Tyler glanced up at me for a split second before returning his eyes to the tabletop. "That's her, Melanie…The girl I told you about."
The gears in my head were turning as I took yet another look at the group of girls, "Which one is she? The one with reddish-blonde hair?," I asked. I needed verbal confirmation that she and the object of Tyler's affection were one in the same.
Tyler sighed, "Yeah." I could tell he was flustered, which was weird since my guys never got flustered. Ever.
That was it, I knew it. Tonight was the night that I brought Tyler back…now I just needed to figure out how. Before I could do anything, I needed to get more information.
"Who are the other two?," I turned to Reid, giving Tyler a break.
"The brunette's Angeline Sanchez and the bleach blonde is Caitlin Daniels," he replied, gesturing to each. "Angeline is Melanie's roommate and Caitlin is her cousin. All Juniors."
I simply nodded in acknowledgement of the details. If I had any hope of things turning out the way I wanted them to, I knew I needed to talk to Melanie. There was no way I was going to be able to get Tyler to step up and make the first move. It also helped that I noticed that Melanie was shooting Tyler looks since she and her friends had moved to the bar.
I looked around the table and noticed that the chatter had moved on to other topics. I took this as my opportunity to put my plan into action. Unfortunately I couldn't do it alone so I leaned over to Pogue and recruited him for my little scheme. I gave him a quick rundown of my plan and his participation was solidified with a slight nod. I smiled and slipped him the twenty dollar bill he would need.
"Hey guys," I said loud enough to get everyone's attention. "I'm gonna get a soda. Anyone want?" My question was met with a full round of affirmatives and drink orders.
I got up and made my way over to the bar and situated myself right next to Melanie and Friends. The second that my hands touched the counter-top, I was met with a smile from one of the bartenders. "What can I get you?"
"I need seven cokes, five regulars and two diets," I answered.
"You got it," he responded, getting to work on filling my order. Then I heard the whispers…
"Melanie, I don't understand why you don't just go over there and ask him to dance," the brunette, Angeline, said exasperated.
"Yeah Mel, you've got nothing to lose. You've been drooling over him for the past three months. Get off your ass and do something about it," Caitlin pressed.
Please be talking about who I think you're talking about.
"You swear like it's the easiest thing in the world. He doesn't even know I exist. Plus I could never just walk over to him," Melanie responded, her voice an angry whisper.
"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that he's headed this way," Caitlin countered.
I looked up to see Tyler walking over to me with a nervous look in his eyes. I was happy to know that they were in fact talking about Tyler, this made my life easier. That and it helped that the boy had perfect timing…the bartender had just placed the last of the sodas on the tray in front of me. "What's up Ty?"
Tyler cleared his throat before speaking. "Umm…Pogue wanted fries, but he was too damn lazy to walk over here himself."
I chuckled, "Yeah that's Pogue for you, always getting someone to do his dirty work for him. Did he at least give you cash?"
"Uh yeah," he showed me the bill I had handed my cousin earlier.
"Cool. Hey listen, I'll order the fries if you lug this tray of drinks back to the others."
"Sure," he responded quickly, obviously eager to put distance between himself and Melanie. He was shaking and the tray of sodas looked like they were about to fall, so to save him from humiliation I rested my elbow on the bar and placed my hand over my eyebrows to hide the flash of black in my eyes. I willed the tray and the drinks to stay perfectly balanced until he safely reached the table. I couldn't help but shake my head and smile slightly.
Man that boy had it bad.
Then I turned back to the bartender and order a few baskets of fries and turned so I could lean back against the counter, waiting for the perfect moment. Luckily, Melanie seemed to have a pretty nosey cousin so I didn't have to wait long.
Caitlin shot a conspiratorial look at Angeline before stepping up to me. "Hi, you don't by chance go to Spenser do you?"
I smiled at her attempted icebreaker, "Actually I do, I'm a Senior transfer. My name's Willow."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Caitlin and this is Angeline and Melanie," she said gesturing to the other two. "We're all Juniors at Spenser."
"Yeah I think I might have seen you around campus."
"So...was that Tyler Simms?" she asked, not wanting to waste any more time.
I nodded, "It was. Why do you ask?"
"Oh it's nothing, it's just he doesn't usually talk to anyone outside his circle of friends. I was just surprised is all," she blurted out. She tensed and looked at me, obviously worried that she may have offended me with her words. "I'm sorry that was rude."
"Don't worry about it. I totally get what you're saying. No harm done." I smiled, causing her to relax.
Angeline stepped in as it was clear that Caitlin was not going to be able to finish this conversation. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how'd you do it? Getting in with the four most popular guys in Spenser, I mean. Are you like dating Tyler or something?" She was ignoring the death glare that Melanie was shooting her.
I couldn't help but laugh, "Um, yeah no. We've been friends for years. I actually grew up with them, but I moved to France for a few years, before ending up at Spenser."
"So you're not dating Tyler," Melanie asked, finally finding her voice.
"No, definitely not. Tyler's single, actually. Personally, I'm quite partial to the blonde one, have been since we were younger. I'm just waiting for him to make his move. And besides even if I did want Tyler, that wouldn't happen in a million years."
"What do you mean?"
"He sees me like a sister, a romantic entanglement is definitely out of the question," I answered.
"So Tyler's single?" Angeline repeated.
"Most definitely, but…" I stopped mid-sentence. I was trying to figure out how much to spill. I didn't want to betray Tyler's trust but these two were too damn shy for their own good.
"But…," Melanie pressed.
Just then, I decided to throw caution to the wind. I looked her straight in the eye, "But if maybe you were to ask him to dance then he won't be for much longer." Melanie looked at me wide-eyed and in shock at this revelation.
Just then the bartender caught my attention and handed me a few baskets of fries as I forked over the cash to pay him. I turned back to Melanie and whispered quietly, "Listen, I heard you guys talking earlier. I promise, if you go for it then it will pay off." Then I turned my attention to her friends, "It was nice meeting you guys, I'll see you around."
When I got back to the table, I barely had time to set the food down and sit back in my chair before I was barraged with questions.
"What was that about?" Tyler demanded.
"What do you mean?" I feigned ignorance.
"Don't play coy with me. We all saw you talking to Melanie."
"Oh relax, nothing happened. We introduced ourselves, we talked for a bit and I came back to the table bearing sustenance. End of story."
"Damn," Pogue interjected. "I was hoping that you would be able to make headway on that bet of yours. It would have made for an entertaining night."
"I never said I didn't," I mumbled.
"Explain."
"Let's just say that I've got twenty bucks on Tyler dancing with his dream girl tonight." I unfolded another bill and threw it on the counter.
"Not happening. There is no way you could have accomplished that in one five minute conversation." Tyler shook his head in disbelief.
"I'm with Ty on this one," Reid said slipping a twenty on top of mine.
"Me too," Caleb said adding to the pot. "You may be good Willow but there is no way you're that good."
Pogue looked at me and I smirked shooting him a knowing look. "My money's on Willow. She definitely has something up her sleeve." I watched as he extended his hand over the pile of bills. That's when I made the connection. Three hands over a pile of pale green.
Finally, things are starting to make sense.
I shot a quick glance to Melanie, to make sure that my plan had worked.
"Oh, Tyler," I said reaching over the table to pat his head, "I hope you have your wallet because this is going to be a very expensive night for you."
He grimaced and swatted my hand away. "Why do you say that?"
"Because the object of your affection is headed this way and I do believe you'll owe me $50 but the end of the night." Tyler paled for a moment, before sitting up a little straighter in his chair.
"Hey Tyler," Melanie spoke softly.
"Uh, hi Melanie," He answered, a look of shock on his face from when she said his name.
"I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to dance with me? I mean its okay if you don't, I just thought I would ask…"
Tyler jumped up and cut off her rambling, "No, I'll dance with you!" They shared a smile before Tyler took her hand. Melanie led the way to the dance area and Tyler turned quickly to me to mouth a 'thank you' before returning his attention to his crush.
Caleb looked between me and Tyler a few times before clapping. Kate and Sara joined in soon after.
"Damn," Reid sighed. "You had fourteen days and you only needed five. Looks like you really are that good."
I nodded as I picked up the pile of cash, handing half to Pogue, "Yes I am and don't you forget it."
_______________________________________________________________________
Warning: Mega-important A/N coming up
A/N:I'm so sorry that you guys had to wait so long for this chapter. I've had a lot of things going on in the last two weeks, but i seriously thought that I would be able to get this out quicker. Anyway, thanks tons for reading, it's nice to know that I'm not wasting my time on this.
So I wanted to be up front with you guys. I have less than a month before I have to sit for my first MCAT in early September so I don't think I will be able to do much writing until afterwards. I promise though, once that is over with I will finish this story as fast as humanly possible. Hopefully, you all don't mind too much and stick with me over the next few weeks. I might be able to squeeze in some writing time between now and the dreaded test so there should be at least one or two updates before the month is through.
That being said, I do have a question. How are you guys liking the story? It seems the reviews have stopped and while I don't require them before chapters are posted I would still like to know what you all are thinking. That way I can alter some stuff to keep you guys happy. (Please though, my low self esteem and non-existent ego can't take the trauma that comes with super critical reviews...nice yet constructive words please.) Oh, also is there anything you would like to see happen? If they don't mess with my plot line I wouldn't have any problem incorporating any suggestions in future chapters (Don't worry though, credit will be given where credit is due.)
Alrighty, that's about it. Thanks again for being awesome
Disclaimer: I don't own the original story or characters...but I think you all know that already.
