Chapter 3 - Fangirls
The morning after my reunion with Luka, I sat quietly eating a croissant at our dining table. Mom moved swiftly around the kitchen, collecting and washing the dishes that had been left on the counter from previous nights. I watched her movements curiously.
After dad had passed almost a year ago, mom had taken to cleaning. I guess she thought of it as a de-stressor, something to take him off her mind. It must have worked because since then, the house had never seen a dirty spot . . . well, except for my room. Unlike mom, after his accident I had become even less organized, leaving clothes and random knick-knacks all over the place. Mom was constantly telling me to put my things away when I was finished with them, but secretly, I don't think she minded, my messiness gave her something to clean up.
I munched thoughtfully on my breakfast, contemplating my adventure the other day. First, I had almost died in a mob of reporters, then I had been mercifully rescued by a good-looking young man of whom I still had to thank and return his ID card. And finally, Luka had returned. I honestly couldn't have been happier. I had missed him so much, and after making up with him, a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I finally felt like I was coming a bit closer to accepting everything that had happened in the past year.
Without thinking, I felt myself smile at my cup of orange juice.
"What's got you so perky this morning?" mom asked as she placed the dishcloth she had been holding on its hook and leaned back against the counter.
I hadn't noticed, but she must've been watching me from the corner of her eye. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, deciding to tell her everything.
"Actually, something amazing happened yesterday," I started.
She waited expectantly; one eyebrow raised. "And? Go on."
"Well, you know how Luka left a while ago? He actually came back. I saw him yesterday."
It took a moment for mom to comprehend what I had said, but when she did, her eyes lit up.
"As in Luka Couffaine, here in Paris?"
"Yeah!"
I giggled at the astonished look on her face. She had probably completely forgotten about him in the last few months. Suddenly hearing he was back must've been a big shocker.
"Have you talked to him yet?" she asked after a moment.
"Yeah, we actually had a really good conversation," I paused, considering whether or not I should tell her.
Before Luka had left, we had gotten into an argument. My dad had just been hospitalized after the car accident and he wasn't able to work anymore. Me and mom had tried to hold up the fort while he was gone, thinking with us two still working we could survive, but it turned out we couldn't. Luka had been there for me during those hard times, but I had known he was ready to leave. He had been talking about moving to America to pursue a career as a musician, and I was happy for him. He was already 18, why shouldn't he go accomplish his desires? But after we got the news that my dad wasn't getting any better, things just escalated. I became selfish, not wanting him to leave. Eventually that led to the argument, and afterword's, he left. Not long after he had gone to America, my dad passed away.
I knew it wasn't his fault, how could he have known? But I had still resented him for it. My mom had known something had happened between us, but didn't say anything. And now that he was finally back, she wanted to know if I was okay.
"We finally made up." I eventually confessed.
Mom's face almost instantly broke out into a huge smile. For the first time in a while, she looked genuinely happy.
"Aww! Sweetie, that's amazing!" She came over to me and wrapped me up in her arms. "I couldn't be happier for you, that must feel great after all this time."
"Yeah," I sighed into her apron. "It does."
"Have you told Alya yet?" she asked after an instant.
I gasped, having completely forgotten about Alya. "Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed, "I completely forgot! Ugh, I'm such a bad friend. I was planning on visiting her since she's sick." I scrambled out of my chair, patting my back pockets looking for my phone.
"Wait, sweetie," mom called after me as I rushed around, looking for my phone. "If she's sick, shouldn't you wait? I don't want you to get sick too." A note of concern trailed her voice.
"I won't go yet, but I still have to call her!" I yelled as I rushed up the stairs to my bedroom.
Mom had a habit of worrying a bit too much, but I guess it made sense after all she'd gone through. When I reached the top of the stairs, I opened the hatch and stepped up into my bedroom. That was probably one of my favorite things about my room beside the balcony. It felt exciting to enter through the floor instead of a regular door.
I closed the hatch behind me and started to search for my phone. I was planning on calling Alya to tell her about Luka and ask if it was alright to come over, but the more I searched my room, the more I realized that I wasn't going to find it here.
"Huh."
I sat down on my small couch to think about where I had seen it last. I remembered having it after I talked with Alya the other day, and I knew it was with me during my walk to the hotel. But what had happened afterward? Had I dropped it when I got swept away by the crowd? That would make sense since I hadn't used it at all since my talk with Luka.
I felt my heart drop in my chest. This was a disaster. It could take hours to find it. Even if I retraced my steps exactly, if my phone had dropped during the mob, it had probably gotten swept away, or even worse, stolen.
I groaned and flopped back onto the couch. I did not at all feel like going out and searching for my stupid phone right now, but I knew I needed to, otherwise I might never find it. I only hoped that it was somewhere near.
I quickly donned a pair of soft-pink jeans and a white, long-sleeved shirt emblemed with a pink flower before I went downstairs. At the door, I grabbed some sneakers and my purse and headed outside. I figured my mom would know where I was going since she was familiar with my tendency to lose things.
I quickly headed down the street from our bakery, waving to a few of our regulars on their way to buy a pastry or some sweets.
After dad had died, the bakery was left for mom and I to run together. At first, sales had been rocky and we didn't have many customers, causing mom to lose hope. But after some work and a lot of care, the Dupain-Cheng Bakery was back in business. I think the reason it had suffered in the beginning was mostly because of the fact that papa wasn't there anymore. His presence always made everyone so much happier, and without him, things would never be the same. That's why it was now my job to bring smiles to people's faces, and I would try my best to live up to him.
I shivered as I turned onto the main street, silently scolding myself for not bringing a jacket. Even though the sun was out, the frigid air from the other day was still present and I didn't think it would leave anytime soon.
After about five minutes of walking, I had made it to the Bourgeois Hotel where I decided to start my search. I retraced my steps from the hotel, following the sidewalks. I couldn't quite remember how I had gotten here the other day considering I had been all cooped up in my thoughts, but I still tried my best to follow the same route.
It wasn't even about ten minutes in before I heard a large commotion. I swiveled around on the sidewalk to where the sound was coming from and noticed a large group of mostly girls my age heading right towards me.
What in the world?
I started to panic, remembering the other day when I had just barely avoided getting crushed. I was definitely not doing that again.
I turned and started to move down the street, away from the girls. As I walked, I constantly looked back at them. And even though I was walking pretty quickly, they seemed to be walking faster. This was crazy! What was even going on? Were they here to see the new celebrity too? I realized that would make sense since they seemed like crazed fangirls, but where were they even going?
I looked back again at the crowd to see they were only a few stores behind me. None of them seemed to even notice I was ahead of them since they were all focusing on each other, but that's why I was afraid. If they didn't notice me, they would run right into me and I would be trampled and pulled into their group.
Before I could move any further, someone's hand shot out from nowhere and pulled me off the sidewalk into a dark alleyway.
My first instinct was to scream, but my actions were cut short when a hand was roughly pressed over my mouth. I was too stunned to fight as I was pulled out of view of the street and pressed up against the wall of a building.
"Shh," the person said as they pressed their body over mine, covering me from view.
I then realized, as they removed their hand from my mouth that they weren't trying to hurt me. I held my breath as the large group of girls hurriedly passed by the alleyway and continued down the street.
"Thanks," I said, closing my eyes and letting out my breath. "That was scary."
I sagged back against the wall, expecting the person to let go of my arm, but they didn't. The girls were no longer here, so why hadn't they released me yet?
I looked up, ready to ask why, but only air escaped my lips when I stared into a pair of familiar soft, blue eyes.
Luka stood over me, one hand on my wrist, the other planted on the wall behind me.
"Luka?" I questioned, wondering what was going on. Though, my wonderings were cut short when he lifted his hand from my wrist and ran his fingers through a strand of my hair. I felt my cheeks becoming warm, and I knew he noticed too.
"Sorry," he said after a moment, backing away and letting me go. "That was embarrassing." But he didn't look the slightest bit embarrassed, his usual soft smirk taking over his lips.
I raised an eyebrow, fighting the growing heat in my cheeks. He shouldn't be able to get this kind of reaction out of me, he shouldn't. His smirk only grew wider as if he could hear the exact thoughts running through my head.
"Ugh," I sighed, knowing he'd won this round of . . . whatever this was.
"Anyways, what was that for?" I gestured to the street where he had just so brazenly kidnapped me. "I was actually kind of scared," I mumbled as I playfully slapped his arm.
"I'm sorry," he said as he chuckled. "I swear to never do that again." He leaned down, taking my hand in his and gently kissing my palm.
I jumped, startled by his actions, but quickly tried to hide my surprise. I looked away, still fighting the warmth invading my face.
"You swear?" I mumbled with false annoyance.
"I swear." He answered softly, smiling mischievously up at me.
"Fine," I said as he intertwined his fingers with mine. "But I don't believe you."
He chuckled again and started to pull me along down the alleyway. "Now that that's settled, let's get out of here."
"Where are we going?" I asked, stumbling as I tried to keep up with his pace. He seemed to notice this and slowed down a bit.
"Anywhere away from those girls." He mumbled under his breath.
"But why?" I asked. "They aren't following us; they're going after some celebrity or something. We don't have to worry."
"Well, maybe you don't, but I do." He scowled as if annoyed by my comment.
"What?" I asked, worried that I had offended him somehow.
I stopped walking and let go of his hand. Why was he suddenly acting so standoffish? Had I done something wrong?
Suddenly, he stopped ahead of me and rubbed his forehead with his hands.
"Luka, are you okay?" I asked hesitantly, worried that I had somehow hurt him. "Look, I'm sorry if I said something wrong, I didn't mean—" I started but was cut off.
"No, it's not you. It's just," Luka turned around to me, his demeanor suddenly turning shy as he scratched the back of his head. "It's not that easy being a celebrity."
I froze in my tracks. What? A celebrity? How could he—No, that made sense. Luka had returned the exact same time a celebrity was rumored to have visited Paris. That's why he was staying at a fancy hotel instead of his mom's house. That's why he was afraid of all those girls, because he was the one they were fangirling over. He had gone to America to become a musician, and he had done it. He had accomplished his dream.
Luka watched me nervously as if waiting for my response, but when he saw a huge smile light up my face, he seemed to sag with relief.
"Luka!" I practically yelled as I jumped into his arms.
"Shh!" He laughed, "If you announce me to the world, everyone will know where we are. I don't think we want that."
I wrapped my arms around his neck, laughing. I actually felt genuinely happy for him. He had been living his whole life for this dream, and he had finally done it. Nothing had been in vain.
After a moment I looked up into his eyes. "But why didn't you tell me sooner? And why were you so nervous?" I asked, curious about his hesitance.
He looked away, his cheeks reddening as if embarrassed.
"Oh, come on, were you really that nervous to tell me?" I giggled.
He sighed and wrapped his arms around my waist. The warmth of his skin seemed to burn through my shirt.
"No," he said as he stared deep into my eyes, opening up his vulnerability just for me to see, his lighthearted tone suddenly turning serious. "But when I had finally grabbed hold of my dream, I felt like I . . . like I didn't deserve it, didn't deserve you. I left you when you needed me most, and knowing that I was living my dream when you were in pain, it just—wasn't right."
I groaned and cupped his face between my hands. "Come on, we're past that okay? You don't need to feel sorry for me anymore, I've already forgiven you." I sighed and my voice barely broke. "Besides, seeing you happy makes me happy, so it's a win-win on both sides . . . okay?"
And it was true, I was ready to move on from the past, because if I didn't, it would just weigh us down. We both needed to accept what had happened to finally be free from that pain.
I watched as his face slowly dissolved into a smile. He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead and I felt my heart melt in my chest. He needed to stop doing that because I was not allowed to react that way.
"Okay," Luka said after he had released me. "We should go before those girls find us; I don't want you to get caught up in my mess."
I laughed as I took his hand and we started down the street again. "I can't believe you have a hoard of fangirls following you around like this, it must be crazy being a celebrity."
"Huh, you have no idea," he laughed. "Someday, one of them is going to catch me. But for now, we just have to stay out of the spotlight."
I felt my heart race in my chest as we made our way down the street to a safer area. For some reason, hearing those words made me feel strange. I didn't know what it was, not anger, not sadness, not joy. But something else. All I knew at that moment, was that I suddenly didn't like those girls very much as I gripped Luka's hand a bit tighter.
A/N: Hello again everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. It's been raining a lot, and with the Corona Virus going around, my family and I have been staying indoors most of the time. I'm really hoping instead of sitting around all day I can look on the bright side of things and start to improve more on my writing! Anyways, stay safe out there you guys, and have a nice rest of your day:)
-LoreneTheBean
