Of course Chelsea couldn't let her imagination get away with her. Yes, Denny had kissed her and told her he loved her, but he was just really excited to find Popper, right? Anyone would be prone to spontaneous outbursts of affection in the same situation. It had to be friendly love, anyway. Yeah. That was it. Except… something in her didn't want it to be friendly love.
She had felt something shift when Denny kissed her. It wasn't a new feeling, more like an unearthed longing that had always been there. It was calm but powerful, deep and clear, vast and eternal; it was an ocean, much like the one Denny spent all his time in. And to Chelsea's surprise she wanted desperately to dive in.
Even so, there was something holding Chelsea back from accepting Denny. Or rather, there was someone holding her back- Vaughn. However nonchalant Vaughn may have been when he kissed her, Chelsea had felt a rush so strong she had thought her heart would burst. If Denny was the ocean, then Vaughn was wildfire: intense, immediate, elusive, potentially scalding, and heart-achingly mesmerizing.
Chelsea thunked her forehead into the table, berating herself. She didn't have a right to be thinking of either Denny or Vaughn that way. They both had kissed her but it hadn't meant anything. At least, she was pretty sure it hadn't…
"Chelfshea?" Lanna asked in concern through a mouthful of cake. She was sitting peaceably across the table at Nick's Diner. It had taken a lot of begging, pleading, flattery and some bribery (the cake) to get Lanna to forgive Chelsea the terrible transgression of disagreeing with her. Chelsea was beginning to think the pop-star's friendship wasn't worth the trouble.
"You're giving me a migraine," Chelsea moaned into the wood grain. Lanna laughed, pausing in her food-shoveling just long enough to give Chelsea a knowing glance.
Lanna argued through another mouthful, "Nuh-uh. Thaf was a boy delemfa head thumk." She swallowed. "Spill."
Chelsea pulled her head up to glance around. The coast was clear. Chelsea leaned across the table, only a tad reluctant. Guys go out and kill things; girls talk them to death instead. "Alright…" she consented in a hushed tone, "Just don't tell anyone, okay?"
Somewhere between the beginning and end of her story Chelsea's audience grew from one former idol to the entire female population of the islands. Honestly, they didn't have cell service. How on Earth did they all know? Was she unwittingly sending out homing beacon for gossip?
The door opened for the umpteenth time just as Chelsea finished, "…and then Denny spun me around and kissed me!" A silver head wavered frozen in the doorway, behind the squealing girls. His face hardened, and he brought a fist to the wood. Without so much as a word, he spun around. The door slammed shut behind him.
"Vaughn!" Chelsea gasped, knocking her chair over as she jumped to her feet. The girls stumbled over themselves to let her through. She yanked the door open and sprinted to catch up to him. "Vaughn, wait!" she called frantically. He slowed to a stop, but didn't turn around. "Wait," she murmured, pulling up to his side. He wasn't looking at her, but she knew he was listening.
"I…" Chelsea started. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to feel.
"You don't like me," he stated stiffly. Chelsea felt a lump rise in her throat. She shook her head vehemently.
"No, Vaughn! I like you! I lo... I mean, I might…" Chelsea tried, but she couldn't finish. She looked down at her shoes in misery, tugging forlornly on her ear.
Vaughn looked her over intently. "You… might…?" he asked hopefully. Chelsea pressed her lips together. It was a good thing she didn't have laser vision. She'd have a hole in her shoe.
"But! What about you!" Chelsea burst out angrily, her face suddenly snapping up. Vaughn's eyes widened and he took a step back. "You acted like, I don't know, like you didn't care! You were all 'Haha, why'd I do that?'!" she accused.
Vaughn's eyes narrowed. "So what, you went off and kissed Denny?" he huffed, crossing his arms.
"Yes!" Chelsea yelled, waving her arms. "No wait, no!" she interjected, "Denny kissed me."
"Oh, so it's all okay then," Vaughn snorted sarcastically.
Chelsea shot him a death glare. "No you don't understand!" she cried. Vaughn stared down furiously at her. "You know what? Fine!" she exclaimed, flabbergasted.
"Fine!" Vaughn shot back.
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm more fine than you!" Chelsea contested spitefully.
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
"FIN-umph." Chelsea was cut off by Vaughn's mouth over hers. Their faces had gradually come closer and closer during their argument and now… suddenly Chelsea couldn't remember what she was angry about.
Heat flushed through her veins. He wasn't close enough.
Just as she was going to wrap an arm around Vaughn's neck a voice broke through the haze. "Chel-sea?" it cracked. Her eyes flew wide open and she pushed Vaughn away.
I bet you all know who the mysterious voice is... kerokerokero ;3
I apologize for not updating in what... a week? Three days? *no sense of time* Despite the obvious reason that I was playing in the ocean, I choose to instead blame my procrastination on the fact that the last chapter was Chapter 13. It's an unlucky number omigosh!
And I had writers block. That was a big contributor.