TITLE: "Mystery Valentine"
AUTHOR: Dream Catcher
DISCLAIMER: *sigh* why do I even bother writing this.
A.N.: Hi!! I'm back for another chapter. Sorry if I kept you waiting. I'm am surprised at how well this story is coming along. The only thing holding me back is my lack of motivation (I tend to procrastinate), but once I find it, everything flows. I've also been coming up with possible ideas for my next story. I might leave it up to you, the readers, to decide which one I will start posting next. There are two that I'm most likely going to let you guys choose between in a later chapter. Tell me how you like this chappy. ^_^
CHAPTER THREE...
"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Mina commented as I joined her and the rest of the gang by the tree Wednesday morning.
"I didn't wake up," I said with a yawn. "I sort of fell out and sleepwalked through my morning regime."
"Regime?" Mina asked confused.
Too tired to answer, I let Amy answer for me. "It means schedule, routine."
"Oh." Then changing the topic, she asked, "Figure out who your secret admirer is yet?"
"Secret admirer?" Lita asked, ears perked for gossip.
I was suddenly awake and, believe it or not, eager to tell all about my admirer. I was just a little surprised, however, at the fact that Mina hadn't already told them. I wasn't surprised, though, that Raye didn't tell them. She knew about the letter too, but she never could take medaling questions from anyone, let alone Lita.
I told Amy and Lita about everything, the letter, the beautiful sheet music, who I thought it might be, and who I wanted it to be. Everything. They listened, and when I was finished talking, they asked questions and made girly comments.
"You are so lucky! I want a guy to be that romantic," Mina sighed, starry-eyed.
"What about Andrew?" I asked, assuming she had already told the rest of the girls about her new boyfriend. I had been right.
"Oh, he's sweet and all, but I don't think he'll ever be Nora Roberts romantic," she said, referring to one of her favorite romance writers.
"You never know," Raye said knowingly, "he might be the type who may not be romantic every hour of the day, but on a date, he'll take you to some fancy restaurant and pull out your chair."
"Yeah, you're right. I guess I am lucky." She giggled, and I watched as she waved at Andrew, who returned the wave along with an added goofy smile. Mina sighed, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were in love.
Yeah right!
I don't believe someone can fall in love that fast. And love at first sight is totally out of the question. How can anybody fall in love with someone they've never had a conversation with? Laughed with? Cried with? I just don't see how it's possible to know a person is your soul mate without knowing them.
It's odd really, how I can't believe in love at first sight, yet I can believe in the concept of soul mates. Maybe I just want to believe in soul mates so bad that my romantic nature overrides my rationality.
The bell rang, and I rushed to my locker, hoping to find another note. But when I got there, a red envelope wasn't waiting for me. I was sad, and I hated it. I hated the fact that I was pathetic enough to allow a love note to be that important to me. I have a life.at least I think I do.
"Did you get another note?" Raye asked coming up behind me, peering into my locker.
"No," I said disappointedly, tears actually forming. Why did it have to be so important to me?
Raye, who noticed my glumness, tried to be optimistic, which is usually my job. "Cheer up, gal! You didn't get your note Monday until the end of the day. Maybe that's the only time this guy can get to your locker."
I thought about it and realized she was right. Whoever this guy is, he must have time to go by my locker at the end of the day. sometime he's sure a lot of people won't see him. Then it hit me. He must go by my locker during lunch!
But did he have first or second lunch? If he had second, I could stake out my locker and hopefully catch him, but if he had first, I'd never find out who he was unless he told me.
I began to wonder if I should stake out my locker, but thought against it. It was like at Christmas time when all I thought about was what could be in the tightly wrapped gifts. Then once they were opened, the magic was gone to me. The mystery, the climax that lead to the discovery, was the best part. The only thing that could beat it, I think, would be to find out my admirer was Darien.
I smiled, and Raye and I headed to first period, chitchatting along the way. We got to class, found our seats, and waited for Mrs. Day to start yet another boring class, talking about slops, y-intercepts, and inequalities. Lucky me.
First was a bore, and second, surprisingly, was too.
Usually something funny would happen during second because Mrs. Robinson was known to say and do stupid stuff during class. But today she didn't. She didn't say some corny joke that the class laughed at not because it funny but because it was stupid. But today, she was rather boring- more than usual. Maybe she had a cold or an incurable disease.
When class ended, I was very willing to leave. Someone would have to chain me to the wall to keep me there. But seeing there wasn't anyone who would want to put me through that torture, I was free to go to my locker and get my third and fourth period books.
When I arrived at the strings room, I was astonished to find there wasn't anyone waiting outside the classroom. I peered through the glass pain in the door, and was surprised to see students standing around the room. I opened the door and immediately noticed the substitute standing off to the side.
Mr. Ashley was a tall, thin black man in his early forties. In his hands, he held a hat, that reminded me of the ones cab drivers wear in movies; and a briefcase, that the contents have remained a mystery to all the students attending Crossroads High in the past ten years.
I smiled, knowing I wouldn't have to play my violin today. Today would be a day for us to goof off, and a day for me to try and get closer to Darien. The prospect sent my heart fluttering.
What would I say? No idea.
Would I trip, fall, or embarrass myself in any way? Most likely.
Well, I was not about to let this prospect go to waist. I was going to get to know Darien if it was the last thing I did. I just hope I don't embarrass myself in the process. I'd hate to have to transfer to another high school in the middle of my senior year. That would suck.
"Hey, Serena. Do you have that music with you?"
"You mean the music I got from-" What exactly did I call him? My secret admirer? That just sounded too corny, but that was exactly what this guy called himself. The thought of making this guy public embarrassed me because I knew everyone would clamor around me and ask questions. Sure I was excited at the prospect of someone with a crush on me, but I didn't want the whole world knowing it. I kind of liked keeping it to myself.
"Yeah, the one you got from your secret admirer."
To my ears, it had seemed as if Raye had screamed the sentence. Damn you, Raye, I thought as I suddenly became the center of everyone's attention, something I was not- I repeat- not used to unless it was the result of my falling on my face. God, help me.
"What secret admirer?" Rachel asked, stars in her eyes.
"You have a secret admirer?" Alana, head cheerleader and total bitch, asked skeptically.
I can't stand Alana, and to have her ask if I had an admirer so unbelievingly was both ego boosting and saddening. It sent a jolt of pure happiness though my bloodstream to know that, for once, I was the one getting love notes; I was the one being sought after. But the jolt was put out when I realized how farfetched these things happening to me seemed to people like Alana.
But I chose not to allow people like Alana, with the perfect hair and sour attitudes, get to me because after high school, I'll never see them again. I smiled politely and tried to listen to the questions I was being asked. Who is it? When did you get the letter? What did the letter say?
There were so many questions, I couldn't even tell who asked which one. I was left to stand there, in the middle of the group with my mouth flapping open like a fish.
"Play it!" I heard Raye yell over every else.
If she meant that I play the music that had been left in my locker, then she must be nuts. Not only was I absolutely terrified of playing in front of everyone, but I also didn't want to play for more selfish reasons. It was our song, and I didn't wasn't any of them to hear it. By "our" I meant my admirer and me. If I was to play the song, it felt as if I was breaking something sacred.
But then there was this tiny part of me wanting to impress everyone, wanting to show off my abilities and the creation some guy had composed for me of all people.
I heard the classroom door open, and out of human curiosity, I looked over at the doorway. There, standing proud, tall, and arrogant, was Darien Shields, one eyebrow cocked as he stared at the group around me. I gulped.
"Come on, Serena play it for us?" I chose to ignore the question, and opted for trying to escape the small mob. Raye caught me by the arm and drug me aside during my quest for escape.
"Why won't you play it? And don't give me that 'I'm too shy bullshit.' You can play really good. You know it; I know it. So what's you're problem?"
I wanted to tell Raye about how it would feel as though I were breaking some bond if I played the song, but I knew she would think I was being childish and silly. "I just don't want to," I lied through my teeth, and she knew it.
"What's the real reason?" she asked, hands on hips.
I bowed my head, knowing that sooner or later she would have dragged it out of me. "I just feel as though I'd be breaking a promise or something by letting others hear it."
Raye didn't laugh as I had expected her to. Instead she smiled and said, "I can see where you're coming from, but say the guy was in this room, don't you think he'd like to hear you play the song he wrote for you? Don't you think he'd like to watch the emotions playing across your face as you play the song? I bet that if he was in this room right now, he'd encourage you to play."
I smiled at Raye, "Have you been reading my romance novels?"
Perplexed she asked, "Why do you ask that?"
"No reason," I smiled again, bigger this time.
"So are you gonna play?"
"I don't know." I was still reluctant.
"Hey, what's going on?"
I jumped at Darien's sudden participation in our conversation. My hands suddenly got clammy, and all thoughts escaped my mind. Why is it that when I'm at home I can think of a ton of conversations I could have with Darien, but when the opportunity to have those conversations arises, I'm never able to think of those perfectly, well thought out topics? It seems that when Darien is near, all rational thought escapes me.
"Oh, I'm just trying to encourage Serena to play this music that some guy left in her locker. She won't play it because she'd afraid that the guy wouldn't want her to play it."
I can't believe Raye actually told him that! I could kill her! Figuratively, of course. I thought she understood that that was private! Now, I felt like a small child, with stupid childish thoughts, living a stupid childish fantasy. Surely Darien must think I'm a geek by now.
I risked a glance at Darien, but instead of seeing the teasing smirk I had expected, I saw a more thoughtful look in his eyes. To say I was confused was an understatement. Why wasn't he laughing his butt off? More importantly, why was he staring at me like that?
But just as soon as I saw the look, it was gone, replaced by a small smile.
"Come on, Serena. I'd like to hear you play."
Did I just hear that right? Darien Shields wants me to play? Me, also know as Clumsy? I knew my eyes must have lit up I was so excited. I mean, why wouldn't I be excited? The guy I have had a crush on for more that a month actually wants to hear me play! At the moment, I could care less whether or not my admirer wanted me to play the music. Darien wanted me to play, and that was all that mattered.
With my spirits high, I rummaged through my book bag for the folder containing the music. After I found it, I sat down at the piano; and nervously, I began to play, the notes that, once again, began touching my very soul. My fingers drifted across the dusty keys in a rhythmic ballet, leaping with every note I played. In my mind, I tried to form a picture to go with the song, but nothing I could think of seemed to fit the notes escaping from the aging instrument.
My eyes closed as I shockingly realized I had memorized most of the song. I allowed the song to take over, allowed it to fill that missing part of my soul for that brief moment. But then it was over. The song had reached the last note, the room became silent, saddened at the loss of the beautiful sound that had roamed through it.
I looked around the room at the faces of everyone around me. Each face held a different expression, but I didn't have enough courage to look at Darien. Instead, I placed the music back in my folder and moved away from the piano as everyone complemented me on my "performance." I knew I had to be blushing to the very roots of my blond hair.
But my performance was quickly forgotten as we searched the classroom for something to occupy the rest of class with. Avery and Ashton, a sophomore cello player, began searching the movie cabinet, hoping to find a movie we hadn't already watched ten hundred times. Instead, they came across a couple of surgical gloves and began passing them out to anyone who was interested. Raye, Darien, Avery, Megan, Ashton, and I all grabbed a glove and marker. Alana and her group were on the other side of the room, talking about who-knows-what.
We began blowing up the gloves and drawing faces on them. Mine got a hole in it, and I watch dejectedly as it deflated. I watched as Ashton began blowing up his glove as much as he could, only to have the air come rushing back into his mouth, accompanied by the white powder from inside the glove. We all laughed.
Somehow, one of us got the bright idea to play volleyball with one of the larger blown up gloves. Even Alana and her group joined us. So, I was on a group with Darien, Ashton, Avery, and Raye. On the other team, there was Rachael, Sean, Alana, Megan, and Greg.
We moved everything that could get in our way as we were playing and then began the game. The other team served first and it went far behind everyone on our group. I went chasing after it, but because my eyes were on the glove, I failed to notice the chair in my way. I fell but managed to keep the glove in the air (The point was not to allow it to touch the floor).
"Are you okay, Clumsy?" Darien asked teasingly. But had there been a hint of worry too?
"Yeah, I'm fine. I drink lots of milk."
The game resumed, and I managed not to get hurt the rest of the game. Well, there had been the incident where Raye and I both went after the glove, and instead of hitting the glove, Raye had hit me in the face. But that had been her fault, not mine.
When the bell rang for lunch, I was flushed from excitement, being close to Darien, and a little from exertion. As I headed towards the tree where I met my friends, I was suddenly reminded that now would be the time in which my admirer would put something in my locker. I was tempted to do a stakeout, but I liked the anticipation. Finding out who he was now, would only ruin the fun.
"So what did you do in strings?" Lita asked.
I told her about the song, the game of glove-ball, and the incident in which Raye had smacked me in the face.
"She didn't?" Mina asked on the verge of a laughing spell.
"She did! I have the bruise on my nose to prove it!" It was true; I really did have a bruise on my nose.
"Oh, come one, Serena. It isn't that bad," Raye said as she approached our group, pizza in hand.
I pouted, but didn't say anything. My mind just wasn't with me today for some reason. Instead, it wanted to wander, thinking about everything but nothing all at once. Weird, huh? I glanced around, my eyes roaming over the different groups of people scattered around the courtyard.
Chad was with his group of friends, trying to accomplish some skateboarding trick I didn't know the name for. He seemed content, his pants riding low, the chain dangling out of his pocket. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Raye wasn't paying much attention to the girls' conversation either.
Beside a wall not far away, the group many have dubbed The Freaks were smoking cigarettes and not doing a very good job at hiding it either. If they have to smoke on school property, the least they could do was hide it better. I watched as one guy took a drag, lowered the cigarette to below his waist, and started walking back and forth in his imitation of someone being innocent. If it wasn't for the guilty way his eyes looked around and the cloud of smoke rising from his lowered hand, I'd almost believe he was completely innocent.
Then, in a large group hanging around the cafeteria doors, were the popular people, also called The Preps by The Freaks. This group consisted of just about everyone who participated in a sport- cheerleading included. Among them I noticed a few of my friends, like Greg, Ken, Andrew, and of course, Darien. I also saw Alana among the crowd of letterman jackets. It was funny, really, how movies and books make it seem like that would be the desired group to be in, but I felt nothing like that. All I felt was pity because they spend their whole school lives trying to live up to those expectations, but when they get out into the real world, being named prom queen won't matter on their job application.
I gazed around my small group of best friends and pondered how we were able to be such good friends when our personalities are so different.
Amy, the four time state chess champ, was the brain of our group. She was the one that forced us to study for our exit exam until our eyes felt as though they would fall out of our heads. She has never been a wild child and her only moment of being a rebel was when she dyed her normally short brown hair blue. She surprised us all by continuing to dye it that color. I'm even more surprised, however, that she hasn't gotten in trouble at school (unnatural hair color is against the rules).
My eyes landed on Raye next. She is the one with the short temper and killer tongue. There are times when I'm in an argument with her that I'd swear I saw fire in her brown eyes. Her olive skin and coal black hair are the envy of every girl in school; yet, she never enters the pageants. I don't know why, though, because not only does she have the appearance part down, but she has a talent that could blow everyone out of the water. Her singing voice is best there is. But Raye is an introvert, and she rather blend into the background than be the focus of everyone's attention. But she does manage to come out of her cocoon whenever there is a school musical. Of course, she needs a little push from Mina and me.
Then there was Mina, the total opposite of Raye. She's your typical blue-eyed blond, who thinks the most important things in life are cute actors and fashion. Her dream is to become a famous actress and live the life of the stars. I just hope she won't forget about little old me when she reaches her goal.
Lita had to be the backbone of our group. She's always ready for a fight, no matter how bad the odds are. If she gets her ass kicked, it's just another excuse to toughen up. To Lita, life is just a video game in which you have to fight your way to the next level. She's the most independent one of our group, not to mention the most protective. She has the tendency to be really reclusive when she is around people she isn't really good friends with.
And, of course, there is me, the clumsy one of our group. I was a mixture of everyone else. I was smart, just not as smart as Amy. I was reclusive like Raye and Lita, and I was a dreamer like Mina.
I guess our group could be called The Leftovers because, basically, we're left over from everyone else. We don't fit in with every other group, but we don't want to. Different is how we like it.
"Hello, girls."
I averted my attention to the new speaker, and was surprised to find Ken standing near our group. Ken has been Lita's best friend since she was in kindergarten, ever since she tackled him after he stepped on her pile of sand she had claimed was a castle. It wasn't until recently that Lita realized her view of him as a friend changed into something new. Of course, Amy, Raye, Lita, and I already saw it coming. If fact, we had had a pool going for when Lita would finally realize it. Amy won it. Now, there's a pool going for what day Ken will ask Lita to the Valentine's Day dance.
"Can I speak to you, Lita?" Ken asked, while giving us a look that stated he wanted to speak to her alone.
I watched them walk away and stop just out of my hearing range, but that didn't stop me from trying to read their lips. After all, I had twenty bucks riding on that today would be the day he'd ask her to the dance.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" inquired Mina over my shoulder. I shook my head and continued to watch the pair a few feet away. "He's asking her to the dance, isn't he? Well?" She asked impatiently.
"How the hell are we supposed to know?" Raye asked, just as impatient.
"Here they come!" Amy whispered, franticly. "Act normal!"
Lita and Ken walked back to our group where we were pretending to have a nice, normal conversation.
"Nice weather we're having."
Very smooth, Mina, I thought sarcastically. I saw Raye's annoyed look, and I knew that I wasn't the only one thinking about how ditzy Mina was. She had to be a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal, or may be a couple of fries and a chicken nugget short. It really didn't matter what she was missing; it was just important to know she wasn't all there sometimes.
"Yeah, I love it when it's thirty degrees outside," I deadpanned.
"And look at those cloud formations," Amy gushed, adding her part to make the topic of the weather more believable.
Raye just rolled her eyes, thinking the same thing I was: No one would believe that this was an actual conversation. At least, it wouldn't be talked about among a group of teenage girls. Now, a group of old men sitting outside an old convenience store was possible.
"See yah later, Lita," Ken said, leaving Lita alone with us and our inquiring minds.
"So-o?" I asked.
"So-o what?" Lita asked, but I could tell she knew what I was asking. She had that small tilt to the corners of her lips that told me she was dying to tell us, but she wanted to keep us waiting.
"Lita!" Mina whined, curiosity clearly getting the best of her.
"Fine! He asked me to the dance. You happy?"
"You sound upset." Amy said, confused.
"Of course I'm upset! What am I supposed wear?" She exclaimed, and it looked like she was clearly distressed.
"There, there, Lita," Mina cooed, patting Lita gently on the back. "Tomorrow we'll all got to the mall to look for dresses."
"Really?" she asked, pretending to sniffle.
I laughed, as did Amy. Amy and I could tell that both Mina and Lita were acting. It wasn't uncommon for some of our group to play act like this. We often did if for laughs.
We weren't big clothes freaks, but on special occasions, such as the dance, we always have the need to impress our guys. That is, if we had one.
"Aw, shit!"
We all turned to Raye, as she searched through her book bag, clearly distressed.
"What is it, Raye?" Amy asked.
"I forgot to do the rest of my English homework and I left my book at home!"
"What are you going to do? Don't you have English next period?" Lita asked.
Raye turned to me, "Can I borrow your book, so I can go to the library right now and finish it? Please." She begged.
"Sure, but it's in my locker. Do you need my combination?"
"Oh, thank you! Yeah, I need your combination."
I quickly wrote it down and gave it to her. We all watched as she ran in the direction of my locker. The only other person I had ever seen that eager to do their homework was Amy, and to compare Anger Management Raye to timid Amy was just plain freaky.
I yawned and rolled my shoulders, trying to get over the drowsiness from earlier that still wouldn't go away. It wasn't my fault that I hadn't been able to sleep. If you ask me, it was my admirer's fault that I spent half the night thinking about him and humming our song in my head. It was all his fault I couldn't stop thinking about him.
Yeah, keep telling yourself.
But I did find it strange how I was obsessing over this guy, a guy that was a stranger to me. For all I knew, this guy was a complete loser or a stalker of some- wait, what if he was a stalker!
That put a whole new twist on this. I could have some crazy maniac obsessed over me. He could decide he wanted to kill me and bring a gun to school and-I've seen the movie Bodyguard, and I refuse to allow my life to turn into a life like the one Whitney Huston portrayed in that movie. Nuh- uh, there was no way I was going to allow Darien to jump in front of a bullet to save my life, no matter how romantic it sounded.
Then there was Darien, another, slightly larger, problem weighing on my mind. Yes, I had a huge crush on him, but that was all it was, just a crush. I knew a tad more about him as I did about my admirer, and the only reason I knew those small tidbits, was from overheard conversations during strings and what my friends knew. It wasn't much.
How could I like this guy when I knew so little about him? I've never fallen into "like" with someone so quickly as I did with Darien. I began to wonder if something was wrong with me. Was I turning into one of those girls who liked more than one guy at once? I hope not.
It made me mad that I was thinking about what it would be like to be Darien's girlfriend and my admirer at the same time. It seemed like I was cheating on one of them. But on which one, I had know idea.
Then it hit me: I must give up on one of them.
How the hell am I gonna choose? was the next thing that hit me.
I liked Darien. My admirer liked me. Should I just be mean and blow off my admire to go after Darien, or should I just forget about the unattainable Darien? I didn't want to settle for less, but I didn't want to pine after someone that wouldn't give me a chance. In the end, I chose to wait before making a decision.
The bell rung, and I headed to fourth, where we spent the whole class learning about different phobias: the fear of water, the fear of heights, the fear of clothes, and the rest of them.
I usually enjoy fourth period, with Mr. Grant and his entertaining teachings, but today I found it as boring as Mrs. Day's class. Today, it was just another class, delaying me from something more enjoyable: drama club.
Right before Christmas, there was an announcement asking people to sign up for drama club. Naturally, I saw this as a way to get more involved in school, considering I hadn't been that active in my years before. My friends weren't too happy, however, when I decided to drag them into it. Well, Mina had been pretty excited. Somehow, Lita and Amy had been able to weasel their way out, though.
When the final bell of the day rang, I was out of Mr. Grant's classroom. I went to my locker to get any books I'd need for homework and my script for the play. As I was dialing in my combination, I remembered my admirer. I paused before opening my locker, wondering if he had left me anything today.
Sure enough, when I opened my locker, there was something left inside for me. But instead of a letter, there was a rose accompanying the second piece of the music. It wasn't in full bloom yet, but the petals were still soft and as crimson as blood. I sniffed the delicate flower, like any normal girl would do, and I found the scent of it to be sweet.
With a romantic sigh, I got my needed books, shut my locker and then walked to the auditorium in a daze of pleasant thoughts. It wasn't until I walked into the cool auditorium and saw the rest of the actors and actresses that I returned to my normal state.
I walked down the middle aisle, imagining all the wooden seats filled with people watching our play, that was still in the beginning stages. I had a good feeling about the play; I knew it was going to be a hit. It was an alumni version of Bye, Bye Birdie. We have people who graduated as far back as ten years ago agree to have some part in the play. I don't really know a lot of them, and the one's I do know, I more or less recognize by their faces or names.
Raye, Mina, and I are in the play, which is a good thing because when we first started practices, I knew at least two people. It's too bad Lita has to work after school, and Amy claims to have too much studying to do. Oh, well.
I'm proud of Raye. She got one of the lead roles, but it's not that much of a surprise. The part involves a lot of singing, and I don't know of a better singer than Raye. But she's humble, and if it hadn't been for the lecture she'd gotten from Mina about how wonderful a singer she was, Raye would have been prop master. Mina and I also got fairly good parts, but I didn't get the part I wanted.
I hopped on stage with everyone else, and made my way to a group of people I knew. Raye and Mina were busy chatting with Eve, a sophomore who got the part I had originally wanted.
Eve, a girl actually taller than Lita, had layered shoulder length brown hair and the prettiest green and brown eyes. I should be jealous that she got the part in the play I wanted, but I'm not because I know she deserves it. I saw her perform last year in the play The Long Red Herring, and she was great as one of the leading characters. I was surprised she didn't try out for Raye's part, but according to her, she sings like "a cat stuck in a trash compactor."
"Hey, Serena." Mina said as I approached.
I smiled and said hey to everyone before asking, "Did Mrs. Sofa say what time we were getting started?"
Mrs. Sofa was our bipolar drama instructor. She's in her early fifties, short and skinny, but looks can be deceiving. One minute she is talking in her quiet mouse-like voice, then boom, she's the woman from She- Devil.
Mrs. Sofa likes our meetings to be right after school, but a lot of times we don't start until thirty minutes after she had planned us to start. She's a lot like me in some ways, everything must be in order. But when everything is in chaos, she gets panicky, and the she-devil comes out in her.
"We're supposed to start in five minutes," Eve answered my question with a shrug.
"So, really, we're looking at another twenty or more minutes," Raye added.
But, we were surprised. At the scheduled time, we started running through our lines, and by six o'clock, we had completed one run-though of the play and were allowed to leave.
I gathered up my coat and book bag, and was about to leave with Raye, when Eve called my name. When I turned around, she was holding my rose, a questioning look on her face.
"This yours?" she asked.
Hating myself for almost forgetting it, I nodded yes while inwardly smacking myself. How could I be so forgetful to forget my rose?
I took my rose form Eve, pretending not to notice her curiosity. Mina too had seen the rose, and was nearly vibrating with her peeked interest. I really didn't want to answer a whole bunch of questions. What I really wanted to do, was go home, raid the refrigerator, and go to sleep. Somewhere in that list I should have added homework, but I didn't want to do that. Silently, as Raye and I headed to the exit, I promised to tell Mina everything the next day before school.
Raye and I exited the auditorium and into it's lobby, that also served as a lobby for the gym, where the sound of twenty or more bouncing basketballs could be heard. Then, I remembered that basketball conditioning was for the next two weeks. Not all that interested, I headed for the door, but Raye stopped me.
"Hey, Serena, don't you want to look in on the guys? Maybe you could nab one for the dance Friday."
"Get real, Raye," I said, even though I was just a tad curious. I may have a crush on one guy, but it never hurts to window shop. I might find something a little less expensive. But that little voice that kept saying it was like cheating, reared its little head. I immediately felt bad, but I tagged along anyway, knowing any arguing would fall upon deaf ears.
Raye and I peeked into the open gym doors, and swooned on the spot. The room smelled of men and sweat, a dangerous combination, especially when your staring into a room full of guys, half of them with their shirts off. Across the gym, two double doors that lead to the school parking lot stood open, the setting sun showing through them and casting all present in an orange and yellow glow.
The gymnasium was hot, even though it was freezing outside, but the mass of exercising bodies kept the room humid. All the heat was making my mind swim; so, I barely noticed when the basketball rolled into my foot. Barely.
I looked down, and saw the orange ball, blinked, picked it up, and looked around for its owner. My eyes bulged, and I'm surprised my jaw didn't drop to the floor when I saw Darien walking towards me, naked from the waist up. His tight abs gleamed with sweat. I watched the muscles in his legs (visible because of the basket ball shorts he wore) flex as he walked in my direction. My mouth had suddenly gone dry.
When he reached me, he asked politely, "Can I have my ball back?"
I didn't respond at first, but Raye's elbow in my ribs brought me back to reality. I blinked while looking at his handsome face, then looked down at the ball I clutched to my chest and blinked. I handed him the ball and said, "Yeah, sure."
I hated the way my voice came out a tad squeaky, a sure sign I was nervous. Why am I nervous, you ask? Well, I've never been kissed, never been in a serious relationship, and up until now, I've never seen a guy, other than my dad and brother- neither of which are a guy I have a major crush on with rock hard abs- without their shirt on. I think I have the right to be a tad nervous and spacey.
"Thanks, Clumsy."
And just like that, I was back to my normal self, or as normal as one can be when confronted with such a fine specimen of the male species. So, I pretended I wasn't attracted to him, more annoyed, and said, "You're welcome, jerk."
He smiled at me, flashing his perfectly straight white teeth. "I'm glad to see the old meatball head is back. I was worried there for a minute. You just spaced out, but I do have that effect on people."
My tongue stopped before I could get my comeback out. My mind finally registered what he just said. Had Darien noticed me checking him out? Oh dear. Wait a minute, if he had noticed, he would have teased me about it.I think. Oh, well, I can't dwell on it to long, or else I'll space out again.
"Don't flatter yourself. Your ego is big enough as it is. Why would I want to add to it?"
Did his eyes just change? Disappointment? No, it was just my imagination.
Before we could really get into our verbal war, Raye started to complain about how she needed to go home. Glad to leave an awkward situation-for me- I turned towards the exit, calling a goodbye over my shoulder.
"Bye, Clumsy," I heard him say, but I pretended to ignore it, not falling for the bait.
When we exited the school, it was almost dark outside and the lights in the parking lot where coming on. Raye in I drove home in silence. I was too busy thinking about how much of a fool I must have looked like to Darien. Mentally, I kicked myself for being such a loser.
"Raye," I asked timidly, "Did I look as big of a I loser as I felt?"
Raye was silent for a moment, I wondered if she was trying to think of a way to dodge my question, but she answered, "It was kind of obvious to me because I know you like him. But Darien's a guy, and it's a known fact guys are clueless when it come to these sorts of things."
I knew Raye was being honest with me, but I had to wonder if she was right. He had outright told me I was acting strangely. He may not have said he caught me giving him the look over, but he may have known it. I voiced this to Raye.
"Serena, if he knew that you were acting all gaga because you were attracted to him, he would have said something. Besides, he's probably blaming your weird behavior on your period, like most guys do when a girl is acting strange."
"Raye, I'm not having my period now."
"Darien doesn't know that." She smiled, and I smiled with her.
The rest of the ride home, Raye kept my mind off of the incident with Darien by keeping me laughing.
TO BE CONTINUED.
SHOUT-OUTS AND THANKS:
INESERT NAME HERE 55: It's funny that you say this story reminds you of your own life because a lot of the things that are in the story are taken from my own life (minus the secret admirer, of course *pouts*). Heck, I might make a list of the things I've taken from my life and put it with the epilogue just for fun.
ROSE: I'll keep your mean steak in mind while I write. *gulps nervously* ^_^
JOEY: I'm glad you like the idea of the sheet music. It ends up becoming a huge part of the story towards the end (hint, hint)
CUTE SMILE33: I'm glade you like my stories.
Thank you's go out to all my readers, but those above were some that cought my eye the most.
A.N.: Well I hope you liked it. Now I just have to get motivated. And what's the best motivation there is? REVIEWS!! Lol. I love to hear from you. 'Till next time.
AUTHOR: Dream Catcher
DISCLAIMER: *sigh* why do I even bother writing this.
A.N.: Hi!! I'm back for another chapter. Sorry if I kept you waiting. I'm am surprised at how well this story is coming along. The only thing holding me back is my lack of motivation (I tend to procrastinate), but once I find it, everything flows. I've also been coming up with possible ideas for my next story. I might leave it up to you, the readers, to decide which one I will start posting next. There are two that I'm most likely going to let you guys choose between in a later chapter. Tell me how you like this chappy. ^_^
CHAPTER THREE...
"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Mina commented as I joined her and the rest of the gang by the tree Wednesday morning.
"I didn't wake up," I said with a yawn. "I sort of fell out and sleepwalked through my morning regime."
"Regime?" Mina asked confused.
Too tired to answer, I let Amy answer for me. "It means schedule, routine."
"Oh." Then changing the topic, she asked, "Figure out who your secret admirer is yet?"
"Secret admirer?" Lita asked, ears perked for gossip.
I was suddenly awake and, believe it or not, eager to tell all about my admirer. I was just a little surprised, however, at the fact that Mina hadn't already told them. I wasn't surprised, though, that Raye didn't tell them. She knew about the letter too, but she never could take medaling questions from anyone, let alone Lita.
I told Amy and Lita about everything, the letter, the beautiful sheet music, who I thought it might be, and who I wanted it to be. Everything. They listened, and when I was finished talking, they asked questions and made girly comments.
"You are so lucky! I want a guy to be that romantic," Mina sighed, starry-eyed.
"What about Andrew?" I asked, assuming she had already told the rest of the girls about her new boyfriend. I had been right.
"Oh, he's sweet and all, but I don't think he'll ever be Nora Roberts romantic," she said, referring to one of her favorite romance writers.
"You never know," Raye said knowingly, "he might be the type who may not be romantic every hour of the day, but on a date, he'll take you to some fancy restaurant and pull out your chair."
"Yeah, you're right. I guess I am lucky." She giggled, and I watched as she waved at Andrew, who returned the wave along with an added goofy smile. Mina sighed, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were in love.
Yeah right!
I don't believe someone can fall in love that fast. And love at first sight is totally out of the question. How can anybody fall in love with someone they've never had a conversation with? Laughed with? Cried with? I just don't see how it's possible to know a person is your soul mate without knowing them.
It's odd really, how I can't believe in love at first sight, yet I can believe in the concept of soul mates. Maybe I just want to believe in soul mates so bad that my romantic nature overrides my rationality.
The bell rang, and I rushed to my locker, hoping to find another note. But when I got there, a red envelope wasn't waiting for me. I was sad, and I hated it. I hated the fact that I was pathetic enough to allow a love note to be that important to me. I have a life.at least I think I do.
"Did you get another note?" Raye asked coming up behind me, peering into my locker.
"No," I said disappointedly, tears actually forming. Why did it have to be so important to me?
Raye, who noticed my glumness, tried to be optimistic, which is usually my job. "Cheer up, gal! You didn't get your note Monday until the end of the day. Maybe that's the only time this guy can get to your locker."
I thought about it and realized she was right. Whoever this guy is, he must have time to go by my locker at the end of the day. sometime he's sure a lot of people won't see him. Then it hit me. He must go by my locker during lunch!
But did he have first or second lunch? If he had second, I could stake out my locker and hopefully catch him, but if he had first, I'd never find out who he was unless he told me.
I began to wonder if I should stake out my locker, but thought against it. It was like at Christmas time when all I thought about was what could be in the tightly wrapped gifts. Then once they were opened, the magic was gone to me. The mystery, the climax that lead to the discovery, was the best part. The only thing that could beat it, I think, would be to find out my admirer was Darien.
I smiled, and Raye and I headed to first period, chitchatting along the way. We got to class, found our seats, and waited for Mrs. Day to start yet another boring class, talking about slops, y-intercepts, and inequalities. Lucky me.
First was a bore, and second, surprisingly, was too.
Usually something funny would happen during second because Mrs. Robinson was known to say and do stupid stuff during class. But today she didn't. She didn't say some corny joke that the class laughed at not because it funny but because it was stupid. But today, she was rather boring- more than usual. Maybe she had a cold or an incurable disease.
When class ended, I was very willing to leave. Someone would have to chain me to the wall to keep me there. But seeing there wasn't anyone who would want to put me through that torture, I was free to go to my locker and get my third and fourth period books.
When I arrived at the strings room, I was astonished to find there wasn't anyone waiting outside the classroom. I peered through the glass pain in the door, and was surprised to see students standing around the room. I opened the door and immediately noticed the substitute standing off to the side.
Mr. Ashley was a tall, thin black man in his early forties. In his hands, he held a hat, that reminded me of the ones cab drivers wear in movies; and a briefcase, that the contents have remained a mystery to all the students attending Crossroads High in the past ten years.
I smiled, knowing I wouldn't have to play my violin today. Today would be a day for us to goof off, and a day for me to try and get closer to Darien. The prospect sent my heart fluttering.
What would I say? No idea.
Would I trip, fall, or embarrass myself in any way? Most likely.
Well, I was not about to let this prospect go to waist. I was going to get to know Darien if it was the last thing I did. I just hope I don't embarrass myself in the process. I'd hate to have to transfer to another high school in the middle of my senior year. That would suck.
"Hey, Serena. Do you have that music with you?"
"You mean the music I got from-" What exactly did I call him? My secret admirer? That just sounded too corny, but that was exactly what this guy called himself. The thought of making this guy public embarrassed me because I knew everyone would clamor around me and ask questions. Sure I was excited at the prospect of someone with a crush on me, but I didn't want the whole world knowing it. I kind of liked keeping it to myself.
"Yeah, the one you got from your secret admirer."
To my ears, it had seemed as if Raye had screamed the sentence. Damn you, Raye, I thought as I suddenly became the center of everyone's attention, something I was not- I repeat- not used to unless it was the result of my falling on my face. God, help me.
"What secret admirer?" Rachel asked, stars in her eyes.
"You have a secret admirer?" Alana, head cheerleader and total bitch, asked skeptically.
I can't stand Alana, and to have her ask if I had an admirer so unbelievingly was both ego boosting and saddening. It sent a jolt of pure happiness though my bloodstream to know that, for once, I was the one getting love notes; I was the one being sought after. But the jolt was put out when I realized how farfetched these things happening to me seemed to people like Alana.
But I chose not to allow people like Alana, with the perfect hair and sour attitudes, get to me because after high school, I'll never see them again. I smiled politely and tried to listen to the questions I was being asked. Who is it? When did you get the letter? What did the letter say?
There were so many questions, I couldn't even tell who asked which one. I was left to stand there, in the middle of the group with my mouth flapping open like a fish.
"Play it!" I heard Raye yell over every else.
If she meant that I play the music that had been left in my locker, then she must be nuts. Not only was I absolutely terrified of playing in front of everyone, but I also didn't want to play for more selfish reasons. It was our song, and I didn't wasn't any of them to hear it. By "our" I meant my admirer and me. If I was to play the song, it felt as if I was breaking something sacred.
But then there was this tiny part of me wanting to impress everyone, wanting to show off my abilities and the creation some guy had composed for me of all people.
I heard the classroom door open, and out of human curiosity, I looked over at the doorway. There, standing proud, tall, and arrogant, was Darien Shields, one eyebrow cocked as he stared at the group around me. I gulped.
"Come on, Serena play it for us?" I chose to ignore the question, and opted for trying to escape the small mob. Raye caught me by the arm and drug me aside during my quest for escape.
"Why won't you play it? And don't give me that 'I'm too shy bullshit.' You can play really good. You know it; I know it. So what's you're problem?"
I wanted to tell Raye about how it would feel as though I were breaking some bond if I played the song, but I knew she would think I was being childish and silly. "I just don't want to," I lied through my teeth, and she knew it.
"What's the real reason?" she asked, hands on hips.
I bowed my head, knowing that sooner or later she would have dragged it out of me. "I just feel as though I'd be breaking a promise or something by letting others hear it."
Raye didn't laugh as I had expected her to. Instead she smiled and said, "I can see where you're coming from, but say the guy was in this room, don't you think he'd like to hear you play the song he wrote for you? Don't you think he'd like to watch the emotions playing across your face as you play the song? I bet that if he was in this room right now, he'd encourage you to play."
I smiled at Raye, "Have you been reading my romance novels?"
Perplexed she asked, "Why do you ask that?"
"No reason," I smiled again, bigger this time.
"So are you gonna play?"
"I don't know." I was still reluctant.
"Hey, what's going on?"
I jumped at Darien's sudden participation in our conversation. My hands suddenly got clammy, and all thoughts escaped my mind. Why is it that when I'm at home I can think of a ton of conversations I could have with Darien, but when the opportunity to have those conversations arises, I'm never able to think of those perfectly, well thought out topics? It seems that when Darien is near, all rational thought escapes me.
"Oh, I'm just trying to encourage Serena to play this music that some guy left in her locker. She won't play it because she'd afraid that the guy wouldn't want her to play it."
I can't believe Raye actually told him that! I could kill her! Figuratively, of course. I thought she understood that that was private! Now, I felt like a small child, with stupid childish thoughts, living a stupid childish fantasy. Surely Darien must think I'm a geek by now.
I risked a glance at Darien, but instead of seeing the teasing smirk I had expected, I saw a more thoughtful look in his eyes. To say I was confused was an understatement. Why wasn't he laughing his butt off? More importantly, why was he staring at me like that?
But just as soon as I saw the look, it was gone, replaced by a small smile.
"Come on, Serena. I'd like to hear you play."
Did I just hear that right? Darien Shields wants me to play? Me, also know as Clumsy? I knew my eyes must have lit up I was so excited. I mean, why wouldn't I be excited? The guy I have had a crush on for more that a month actually wants to hear me play! At the moment, I could care less whether or not my admirer wanted me to play the music. Darien wanted me to play, and that was all that mattered.
With my spirits high, I rummaged through my book bag for the folder containing the music. After I found it, I sat down at the piano; and nervously, I began to play, the notes that, once again, began touching my very soul. My fingers drifted across the dusty keys in a rhythmic ballet, leaping with every note I played. In my mind, I tried to form a picture to go with the song, but nothing I could think of seemed to fit the notes escaping from the aging instrument.
My eyes closed as I shockingly realized I had memorized most of the song. I allowed the song to take over, allowed it to fill that missing part of my soul for that brief moment. But then it was over. The song had reached the last note, the room became silent, saddened at the loss of the beautiful sound that had roamed through it.
I looked around the room at the faces of everyone around me. Each face held a different expression, but I didn't have enough courage to look at Darien. Instead, I placed the music back in my folder and moved away from the piano as everyone complemented me on my "performance." I knew I had to be blushing to the very roots of my blond hair.
But my performance was quickly forgotten as we searched the classroom for something to occupy the rest of class with. Avery and Ashton, a sophomore cello player, began searching the movie cabinet, hoping to find a movie we hadn't already watched ten hundred times. Instead, they came across a couple of surgical gloves and began passing them out to anyone who was interested. Raye, Darien, Avery, Megan, Ashton, and I all grabbed a glove and marker. Alana and her group were on the other side of the room, talking about who-knows-what.
We began blowing up the gloves and drawing faces on them. Mine got a hole in it, and I watch dejectedly as it deflated. I watched as Ashton began blowing up his glove as much as he could, only to have the air come rushing back into his mouth, accompanied by the white powder from inside the glove. We all laughed.
Somehow, one of us got the bright idea to play volleyball with one of the larger blown up gloves. Even Alana and her group joined us. So, I was on a group with Darien, Ashton, Avery, and Raye. On the other team, there was Rachael, Sean, Alana, Megan, and Greg.
We moved everything that could get in our way as we were playing and then began the game. The other team served first and it went far behind everyone on our group. I went chasing after it, but because my eyes were on the glove, I failed to notice the chair in my way. I fell but managed to keep the glove in the air (The point was not to allow it to touch the floor).
"Are you okay, Clumsy?" Darien asked teasingly. But had there been a hint of worry too?
"Yeah, I'm fine. I drink lots of milk."
The game resumed, and I managed not to get hurt the rest of the game. Well, there had been the incident where Raye and I both went after the glove, and instead of hitting the glove, Raye had hit me in the face. But that had been her fault, not mine.
When the bell rang for lunch, I was flushed from excitement, being close to Darien, and a little from exertion. As I headed towards the tree where I met my friends, I was suddenly reminded that now would be the time in which my admirer would put something in my locker. I was tempted to do a stakeout, but I liked the anticipation. Finding out who he was now, would only ruin the fun.
"So what did you do in strings?" Lita asked.
I told her about the song, the game of glove-ball, and the incident in which Raye had smacked me in the face.
"She didn't?" Mina asked on the verge of a laughing spell.
"She did! I have the bruise on my nose to prove it!" It was true; I really did have a bruise on my nose.
"Oh, come one, Serena. It isn't that bad," Raye said as she approached our group, pizza in hand.
I pouted, but didn't say anything. My mind just wasn't with me today for some reason. Instead, it wanted to wander, thinking about everything but nothing all at once. Weird, huh? I glanced around, my eyes roaming over the different groups of people scattered around the courtyard.
Chad was with his group of friends, trying to accomplish some skateboarding trick I didn't know the name for. He seemed content, his pants riding low, the chain dangling out of his pocket. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Raye wasn't paying much attention to the girls' conversation either.
Beside a wall not far away, the group many have dubbed The Freaks were smoking cigarettes and not doing a very good job at hiding it either. If they have to smoke on school property, the least they could do was hide it better. I watched as one guy took a drag, lowered the cigarette to below his waist, and started walking back and forth in his imitation of someone being innocent. If it wasn't for the guilty way his eyes looked around and the cloud of smoke rising from his lowered hand, I'd almost believe he was completely innocent.
Then, in a large group hanging around the cafeteria doors, were the popular people, also called The Preps by The Freaks. This group consisted of just about everyone who participated in a sport- cheerleading included. Among them I noticed a few of my friends, like Greg, Ken, Andrew, and of course, Darien. I also saw Alana among the crowd of letterman jackets. It was funny, really, how movies and books make it seem like that would be the desired group to be in, but I felt nothing like that. All I felt was pity because they spend their whole school lives trying to live up to those expectations, but when they get out into the real world, being named prom queen won't matter on their job application.
I gazed around my small group of best friends and pondered how we were able to be such good friends when our personalities are so different.
Amy, the four time state chess champ, was the brain of our group. She was the one that forced us to study for our exit exam until our eyes felt as though they would fall out of our heads. She has never been a wild child and her only moment of being a rebel was when she dyed her normally short brown hair blue. She surprised us all by continuing to dye it that color. I'm even more surprised, however, that she hasn't gotten in trouble at school (unnatural hair color is against the rules).
My eyes landed on Raye next. She is the one with the short temper and killer tongue. There are times when I'm in an argument with her that I'd swear I saw fire in her brown eyes. Her olive skin and coal black hair are the envy of every girl in school; yet, she never enters the pageants. I don't know why, though, because not only does she have the appearance part down, but she has a talent that could blow everyone out of the water. Her singing voice is best there is. But Raye is an introvert, and she rather blend into the background than be the focus of everyone's attention. But she does manage to come out of her cocoon whenever there is a school musical. Of course, she needs a little push from Mina and me.
Then there was Mina, the total opposite of Raye. She's your typical blue-eyed blond, who thinks the most important things in life are cute actors and fashion. Her dream is to become a famous actress and live the life of the stars. I just hope she won't forget about little old me when she reaches her goal.
Lita had to be the backbone of our group. She's always ready for a fight, no matter how bad the odds are. If she gets her ass kicked, it's just another excuse to toughen up. To Lita, life is just a video game in which you have to fight your way to the next level. She's the most independent one of our group, not to mention the most protective. She has the tendency to be really reclusive when she is around people she isn't really good friends with.
And, of course, there is me, the clumsy one of our group. I was a mixture of everyone else. I was smart, just not as smart as Amy. I was reclusive like Raye and Lita, and I was a dreamer like Mina.
I guess our group could be called The Leftovers because, basically, we're left over from everyone else. We don't fit in with every other group, but we don't want to. Different is how we like it.
"Hello, girls."
I averted my attention to the new speaker, and was surprised to find Ken standing near our group. Ken has been Lita's best friend since she was in kindergarten, ever since she tackled him after he stepped on her pile of sand she had claimed was a castle. It wasn't until recently that Lita realized her view of him as a friend changed into something new. Of course, Amy, Raye, Lita, and I already saw it coming. If fact, we had had a pool going for when Lita would finally realize it. Amy won it. Now, there's a pool going for what day Ken will ask Lita to the Valentine's Day dance.
"Can I speak to you, Lita?" Ken asked, while giving us a look that stated he wanted to speak to her alone.
I watched them walk away and stop just out of my hearing range, but that didn't stop me from trying to read their lips. After all, I had twenty bucks riding on that today would be the day he'd ask her to the dance.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" inquired Mina over my shoulder. I shook my head and continued to watch the pair a few feet away. "He's asking her to the dance, isn't he? Well?" She asked impatiently.
"How the hell are we supposed to know?" Raye asked, just as impatient.
"Here they come!" Amy whispered, franticly. "Act normal!"
Lita and Ken walked back to our group where we were pretending to have a nice, normal conversation.
"Nice weather we're having."
Very smooth, Mina, I thought sarcastically. I saw Raye's annoyed look, and I knew that I wasn't the only one thinking about how ditzy Mina was. She had to be a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal, or may be a couple of fries and a chicken nugget short. It really didn't matter what she was missing; it was just important to know she wasn't all there sometimes.
"Yeah, I love it when it's thirty degrees outside," I deadpanned.
"And look at those cloud formations," Amy gushed, adding her part to make the topic of the weather more believable.
Raye just rolled her eyes, thinking the same thing I was: No one would believe that this was an actual conversation. At least, it wouldn't be talked about among a group of teenage girls. Now, a group of old men sitting outside an old convenience store was possible.
"See yah later, Lita," Ken said, leaving Lita alone with us and our inquiring minds.
"So-o?" I asked.
"So-o what?" Lita asked, but I could tell she knew what I was asking. She had that small tilt to the corners of her lips that told me she was dying to tell us, but she wanted to keep us waiting.
"Lita!" Mina whined, curiosity clearly getting the best of her.
"Fine! He asked me to the dance. You happy?"
"You sound upset." Amy said, confused.
"Of course I'm upset! What am I supposed wear?" She exclaimed, and it looked like she was clearly distressed.
"There, there, Lita," Mina cooed, patting Lita gently on the back. "Tomorrow we'll all got to the mall to look for dresses."
"Really?" she asked, pretending to sniffle.
I laughed, as did Amy. Amy and I could tell that both Mina and Lita were acting. It wasn't uncommon for some of our group to play act like this. We often did if for laughs.
We weren't big clothes freaks, but on special occasions, such as the dance, we always have the need to impress our guys. That is, if we had one.
"Aw, shit!"
We all turned to Raye, as she searched through her book bag, clearly distressed.
"What is it, Raye?" Amy asked.
"I forgot to do the rest of my English homework and I left my book at home!"
"What are you going to do? Don't you have English next period?" Lita asked.
Raye turned to me, "Can I borrow your book, so I can go to the library right now and finish it? Please." She begged.
"Sure, but it's in my locker. Do you need my combination?"
"Oh, thank you! Yeah, I need your combination."
I quickly wrote it down and gave it to her. We all watched as she ran in the direction of my locker. The only other person I had ever seen that eager to do their homework was Amy, and to compare Anger Management Raye to timid Amy was just plain freaky.
I yawned and rolled my shoulders, trying to get over the drowsiness from earlier that still wouldn't go away. It wasn't my fault that I hadn't been able to sleep. If you ask me, it was my admirer's fault that I spent half the night thinking about him and humming our song in my head. It was all his fault I couldn't stop thinking about him.
Yeah, keep telling yourself.
But I did find it strange how I was obsessing over this guy, a guy that was a stranger to me. For all I knew, this guy was a complete loser or a stalker of some- wait, what if he was a stalker!
That put a whole new twist on this. I could have some crazy maniac obsessed over me. He could decide he wanted to kill me and bring a gun to school and-I've seen the movie Bodyguard, and I refuse to allow my life to turn into a life like the one Whitney Huston portrayed in that movie. Nuh- uh, there was no way I was going to allow Darien to jump in front of a bullet to save my life, no matter how romantic it sounded.
Then there was Darien, another, slightly larger, problem weighing on my mind. Yes, I had a huge crush on him, but that was all it was, just a crush. I knew a tad more about him as I did about my admirer, and the only reason I knew those small tidbits, was from overheard conversations during strings and what my friends knew. It wasn't much.
How could I like this guy when I knew so little about him? I've never fallen into "like" with someone so quickly as I did with Darien. I began to wonder if something was wrong with me. Was I turning into one of those girls who liked more than one guy at once? I hope not.
It made me mad that I was thinking about what it would be like to be Darien's girlfriend and my admirer at the same time. It seemed like I was cheating on one of them. But on which one, I had know idea.
Then it hit me: I must give up on one of them.
How the hell am I gonna choose? was the next thing that hit me.
I liked Darien. My admirer liked me. Should I just be mean and blow off my admire to go after Darien, or should I just forget about the unattainable Darien? I didn't want to settle for less, but I didn't want to pine after someone that wouldn't give me a chance. In the end, I chose to wait before making a decision.
The bell rung, and I headed to fourth, where we spent the whole class learning about different phobias: the fear of water, the fear of heights, the fear of clothes, and the rest of them.
I usually enjoy fourth period, with Mr. Grant and his entertaining teachings, but today I found it as boring as Mrs. Day's class. Today, it was just another class, delaying me from something more enjoyable: drama club.
Right before Christmas, there was an announcement asking people to sign up for drama club. Naturally, I saw this as a way to get more involved in school, considering I hadn't been that active in my years before. My friends weren't too happy, however, when I decided to drag them into it. Well, Mina had been pretty excited. Somehow, Lita and Amy had been able to weasel their way out, though.
When the final bell of the day rang, I was out of Mr. Grant's classroom. I went to my locker to get any books I'd need for homework and my script for the play. As I was dialing in my combination, I remembered my admirer. I paused before opening my locker, wondering if he had left me anything today.
Sure enough, when I opened my locker, there was something left inside for me. But instead of a letter, there was a rose accompanying the second piece of the music. It wasn't in full bloom yet, but the petals were still soft and as crimson as blood. I sniffed the delicate flower, like any normal girl would do, and I found the scent of it to be sweet.
With a romantic sigh, I got my needed books, shut my locker and then walked to the auditorium in a daze of pleasant thoughts. It wasn't until I walked into the cool auditorium and saw the rest of the actors and actresses that I returned to my normal state.
I walked down the middle aisle, imagining all the wooden seats filled with people watching our play, that was still in the beginning stages. I had a good feeling about the play; I knew it was going to be a hit. It was an alumni version of Bye, Bye Birdie. We have people who graduated as far back as ten years ago agree to have some part in the play. I don't really know a lot of them, and the one's I do know, I more or less recognize by their faces or names.
Raye, Mina, and I are in the play, which is a good thing because when we first started practices, I knew at least two people. It's too bad Lita has to work after school, and Amy claims to have too much studying to do. Oh, well.
I'm proud of Raye. She got one of the lead roles, but it's not that much of a surprise. The part involves a lot of singing, and I don't know of a better singer than Raye. But she's humble, and if it hadn't been for the lecture she'd gotten from Mina about how wonderful a singer she was, Raye would have been prop master. Mina and I also got fairly good parts, but I didn't get the part I wanted.
I hopped on stage with everyone else, and made my way to a group of people I knew. Raye and Mina were busy chatting with Eve, a sophomore who got the part I had originally wanted.
Eve, a girl actually taller than Lita, had layered shoulder length brown hair and the prettiest green and brown eyes. I should be jealous that she got the part in the play I wanted, but I'm not because I know she deserves it. I saw her perform last year in the play The Long Red Herring, and she was great as one of the leading characters. I was surprised she didn't try out for Raye's part, but according to her, she sings like "a cat stuck in a trash compactor."
"Hey, Serena." Mina said as I approached.
I smiled and said hey to everyone before asking, "Did Mrs. Sofa say what time we were getting started?"
Mrs. Sofa was our bipolar drama instructor. She's in her early fifties, short and skinny, but looks can be deceiving. One minute she is talking in her quiet mouse-like voice, then boom, she's the woman from She- Devil.
Mrs. Sofa likes our meetings to be right after school, but a lot of times we don't start until thirty minutes after she had planned us to start. She's a lot like me in some ways, everything must be in order. But when everything is in chaos, she gets panicky, and the she-devil comes out in her.
"We're supposed to start in five minutes," Eve answered my question with a shrug.
"So, really, we're looking at another twenty or more minutes," Raye added.
But, we were surprised. At the scheduled time, we started running through our lines, and by six o'clock, we had completed one run-though of the play and were allowed to leave.
I gathered up my coat and book bag, and was about to leave with Raye, when Eve called my name. When I turned around, she was holding my rose, a questioning look on her face.
"This yours?" she asked.
Hating myself for almost forgetting it, I nodded yes while inwardly smacking myself. How could I be so forgetful to forget my rose?
I took my rose form Eve, pretending not to notice her curiosity. Mina too had seen the rose, and was nearly vibrating with her peeked interest. I really didn't want to answer a whole bunch of questions. What I really wanted to do, was go home, raid the refrigerator, and go to sleep. Somewhere in that list I should have added homework, but I didn't want to do that. Silently, as Raye and I headed to the exit, I promised to tell Mina everything the next day before school.
Raye and I exited the auditorium and into it's lobby, that also served as a lobby for the gym, where the sound of twenty or more bouncing basketballs could be heard. Then, I remembered that basketball conditioning was for the next two weeks. Not all that interested, I headed for the door, but Raye stopped me.
"Hey, Serena, don't you want to look in on the guys? Maybe you could nab one for the dance Friday."
"Get real, Raye," I said, even though I was just a tad curious. I may have a crush on one guy, but it never hurts to window shop. I might find something a little less expensive. But that little voice that kept saying it was like cheating, reared its little head. I immediately felt bad, but I tagged along anyway, knowing any arguing would fall upon deaf ears.
Raye and I peeked into the open gym doors, and swooned on the spot. The room smelled of men and sweat, a dangerous combination, especially when your staring into a room full of guys, half of them with their shirts off. Across the gym, two double doors that lead to the school parking lot stood open, the setting sun showing through them and casting all present in an orange and yellow glow.
The gymnasium was hot, even though it was freezing outside, but the mass of exercising bodies kept the room humid. All the heat was making my mind swim; so, I barely noticed when the basketball rolled into my foot. Barely.
I looked down, and saw the orange ball, blinked, picked it up, and looked around for its owner. My eyes bulged, and I'm surprised my jaw didn't drop to the floor when I saw Darien walking towards me, naked from the waist up. His tight abs gleamed with sweat. I watched the muscles in his legs (visible because of the basket ball shorts he wore) flex as he walked in my direction. My mouth had suddenly gone dry.
When he reached me, he asked politely, "Can I have my ball back?"
I didn't respond at first, but Raye's elbow in my ribs brought me back to reality. I blinked while looking at his handsome face, then looked down at the ball I clutched to my chest and blinked. I handed him the ball and said, "Yeah, sure."
I hated the way my voice came out a tad squeaky, a sure sign I was nervous. Why am I nervous, you ask? Well, I've never been kissed, never been in a serious relationship, and up until now, I've never seen a guy, other than my dad and brother- neither of which are a guy I have a major crush on with rock hard abs- without their shirt on. I think I have the right to be a tad nervous and spacey.
"Thanks, Clumsy."
And just like that, I was back to my normal self, or as normal as one can be when confronted with such a fine specimen of the male species. So, I pretended I wasn't attracted to him, more annoyed, and said, "You're welcome, jerk."
He smiled at me, flashing his perfectly straight white teeth. "I'm glad to see the old meatball head is back. I was worried there for a minute. You just spaced out, but I do have that effect on people."
My tongue stopped before I could get my comeback out. My mind finally registered what he just said. Had Darien noticed me checking him out? Oh dear. Wait a minute, if he had noticed, he would have teased me about it.I think. Oh, well, I can't dwell on it to long, or else I'll space out again.
"Don't flatter yourself. Your ego is big enough as it is. Why would I want to add to it?"
Did his eyes just change? Disappointment? No, it was just my imagination.
Before we could really get into our verbal war, Raye started to complain about how she needed to go home. Glad to leave an awkward situation-for me- I turned towards the exit, calling a goodbye over my shoulder.
"Bye, Clumsy," I heard him say, but I pretended to ignore it, not falling for the bait.
When we exited the school, it was almost dark outside and the lights in the parking lot where coming on. Raye in I drove home in silence. I was too busy thinking about how much of a fool I must have looked like to Darien. Mentally, I kicked myself for being such a loser.
"Raye," I asked timidly, "Did I look as big of a I loser as I felt?"
Raye was silent for a moment, I wondered if she was trying to think of a way to dodge my question, but she answered, "It was kind of obvious to me because I know you like him. But Darien's a guy, and it's a known fact guys are clueless when it come to these sorts of things."
I knew Raye was being honest with me, but I had to wonder if she was right. He had outright told me I was acting strangely. He may not have said he caught me giving him the look over, but he may have known it. I voiced this to Raye.
"Serena, if he knew that you were acting all gaga because you were attracted to him, he would have said something. Besides, he's probably blaming your weird behavior on your period, like most guys do when a girl is acting strange."
"Raye, I'm not having my period now."
"Darien doesn't know that." She smiled, and I smiled with her.
The rest of the ride home, Raye kept my mind off of the incident with Darien by keeping me laughing.
TO BE CONTINUED.
SHOUT-OUTS AND THANKS:
INESERT NAME HERE 55: It's funny that you say this story reminds you of your own life because a lot of the things that are in the story are taken from my own life (minus the secret admirer, of course *pouts*). Heck, I might make a list of the things I've taken from my life and put it with the epilogue just for fun.
ROSE: I'll keep your mean steak in mind while I write. *gulps nervously* ^_^
JOEY: I'm glad you like the idea of the sheet music. It ends up becoming a huge part of the story towards the end (hint, hint)
CUTE SMILE33: I'm glade you like my stories.
Thank you's go out to all my readers, but those above were some that cought my eye the most.
A.N.: Well I hope you liked it. Now I just have to get motivated. And what's the best motivation there is? REVIEWS!! Lol. I love to hear from you. 'Till next time.