Author's Note: Writer's block is sneaking up on me. I can almost feel it breathing down my neck, if you're a tactile learner. Man, I hope I don't end up deserting this story ... In any case, here is chapter five! FINALLY, I know, but I've been thinking about this for about a week and I'm still not sure what's going to happen. Should be interesting, eh?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Adrienne, Spot's family, Race's family, Bambi, and anybody you don't recognize. Oh WOE IS ME!! (Haha, my grammar check tried to change it to "Oh WOE IS I!" Is that the greatest thing ever or what?)
Dedication: TO SCOUT BECAUSE I FORGOT HER SHOUTOUT LAST CHAPTER!! (All the daughters from Pirates of Penzance: NO SHOUTOUT! HORRORS!) Yeah, it's been three weeks since the school play ended and I am still desperately quoting that blessed musical.
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Chapter Five – First Impressions
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Dear God. I was about to meet Spot. I was about to meet Spot.
I was hyperventilating.
To an extreme degree.
I didn't think this was going to be so scary, but for some reason I was scared outta my pants!
I glanced at my watch. Three fifteen. Shit. I was gonna be fifteen minutes late and Spot was going to be waiting there all alone at Tibby's and then he'd think that I was standing him up and that I had never really meant to meet him and then he'd block me on IM and we'd never speak again and I'd be completely miserable for the rest of my life because I had missed such an opportunity to meet this guy and I'd fail at everything because I'd be so distracted and then Itey would tell me to---
"HEY TONY, WAIT UP!" someone yelled behind me. I turned --- and my jaw dropped.
Gabe was sprinting towards me, holding a light brown Indy fedora to his head and grinning. He stopped just short of me, completely out of breath. I stood nonplussed, staring at his hat. Whoa. Déjà vu.
When his breathing finally returned to an almost normal pace, he held out his hand to me, a smile tugging up the corner of his mouth. "Well I've been waiting my whole life to meet a guy who has yet to blow up a cookie in the microwave," he said. "It's a pleasure, Racetrack, a real pleasure."
Racetrack.
What?
Racetrack??
How did he know? Why was he wearing a fedora? Why had he brought up blowing up a cookie? It sounded like something Spot would say, come to think of it...
Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhhh.
I looked him over again. Wow. Spot. Gabe. Wow. He was nothing like the way I had imagined him, yet at the same time exactly how I had anticipated him to be. He was confident and smiling, his hands in his pockets, his head tilted to the side as he looked me over. Definitely not bad-looking, something I had never really noticed before; light brown hair, clear blue eyes, a rather cocky half-smile, and if you looked close he had a really nice ass---
Heh heh ... Not that I was looking at his ass, or anything.
He smiled and, with one simple gesture, put a finger under my chin and closed my open mouth. That was when I started to laugh. Classic. "God, I can't believe ... Well the pleasure's all mine, Spot Conlon."
His smile broadened and he held out his arm. "Well if I heard you right, you have a date that was supposedly happening fifteen minutes ago. Mind if I accompany you?"
"Oh not at all," I said and the pair of us walked down the crowded sidewalk together, still amazed at what had just happened.
*
"ANTHONY! ANTHONY HIGGINS!"
I swear my stomach dropped to my knees and my face turned the color of Spot's light gray sweatshirt. No. She couldn't --- they couldn't ---
"ANTHONY!"
I rested my elbows against the table and carefully stared at my Coke. Spot was smiling, looking at someone across my shoulder. He looked like he was trying not to laugh. "Ya gonna answer her, Anthony?" he said softly.
"I don't think I really have a choice," I muttered, and gathered up all my courage and turned around.
Mama was standing across the restaurant in her bright red flowered dress, holding Angelo's hand and waving frantically. Her black hair was thick, wavy, and out-of-control, and her smile was wide --- as per usual. Gino and Lia were looking around the café with interest, obviously just coming back from Gino's basketball practice. I groaned inwardly and slumped down even further over the table.
"Anthony, dere you are!" Mama cried through her clear Italian accent, coming up to me and planting a kiss on each cheek. "I was a-worried sick 'bout you when Angelo told me you was a-going meet someone you met off de interneter. It's dangerous, Tony, you tell Mama when you go places!"
"So you're the famous Spot Conlon, eh?" said Gino. He smiled broadly and held out a hand to Spot. "I'm Gino and this is Lia, it's nice to meet you."
Spot shook their hands, and I was pleased to see that his eyes didn't linger on Lia like most of the other guys' did. Honestly, every guy who has ever met her has fallen head over heels at first sight. I have to admit that she is pretty (she has long, glossy black hair and a figure I guess you could label as "willowy") but she's my SISTER! That's just gross, man, older sisters are off-limits.
"So dis is your friend, here?" said Mama, smiling at Spot.
"Uh yeah, Gabriel Conlon," said Spot.
"Ah, I haf a-heard lot 'bout you, Gabriel!" she said, nodding knowingly. The way she said his name made it sound like "Gabrielle" or something. I slouched so low in my seat that only my hair was showing. "You play guitar, no?"
"Well ... sort of. I mean, I don't take lessons or anything---"
"But my Anthony tells me you is very good," she continued. "My hussband Este used to a-play when we lived in Italy. We a-used to sing de Italian opera all de time. You 'member, Gino?"
"What, like that Andrea Bochelli guy, ma?" said Gino.
"Ah, dat is his name." She smiled and grabbed my shoulders, swaying me back and fourth as she sang. "CON TE PARTRI"! PAESI CHE NON HO MAI ... VEDUTO E VISSUTO CON TE, ADESSO SÌ LI VIVR"!"
"Mama!" I groaned. "Not now! Why did you guys have to come?"
Spot wasn't listening. "Hey, my mom listens to that guy sometimes. She has this thing for opera..."
"Does she?" Mama said happily. "I like dis boy," she said to me. "He is very good, very good face."
Spot absentmindedly touched his face, trying not to smile. Just then the door opened and three people bounced in --- I recognized the girl: Adrienne, Spot's friend. The other two boys were unfamiliar to me.
"Dear Lord," Spot moaned. "Hide me!"
Unfortunately, his attempts at hiding behind Lia were unsuccessful (which was not particularly surprising considering Spot is not exactly willowy) and the three located his table and headed over to us.
"Anthony Higgins, I had no idea it was you!" Adrienne gasped, grabbing my hand in a handshake. "Spot's been talking about you for ages and ages, it's not even funny---"
"I wanna meet Spot's idol!" the blonde boy cried, pushing her out of the way. "I'm Dutchy Dudynsky, nice to meet you. And this is Specs David. He likes to sit quiet like a fish."
"Shut up, Dutchy!" Specs yelled, elbowing him.
Spot was banging his head repeatedly against the table.
"You three is de friends of Spot, no?" said Mama. "It is very good to a-meet you, I is Anthony's mother."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Higgins," said Specs politely, shaking her hand.
"Mama, who are all these people?" Angelo yelled from his three-foot viewpoint.
"And you is Spot's ... how you say ... girlfriend?" said Mama to Adrienne.
Adrienne stared to laugh, as though the idea were absolutely hysterical. "Oh god no, we're just friends."
"I see. Dat is very nice --- you are all very nice, I like you much," said Mama.
"Mama, who are all these people?" Angelo demanded again.
"Hey Spot, guess what?" said Dutchy excitedly. "We wrote a song about you guys! Ya wanna hear?"
"No," said Spot, his voice rather muffled because his head was hidden in the tablecloth.
"RACE!" someone yelled.
"WHAT?" I yelled back without moving. I decided the safest thing to do was stay with my hands over my eyes so that whoever it was couldn't see me. Hey, it worked in preschool!
"Ah hello dere, you is Barbie, no?" said Mama.
"Bambi, actually," said a voice behind me.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I looked between my fingers at Spot, who was staring over my shoulder with a mixture of horror and amusement on his face. He looked really funny, to tell you the truth. Man, I love that kid.
Slowly, carefully, I turned and looked up at Bambi. She was smiling happily at me. "Who's your friend, Race?" she asked, looking at Spot --- or rather, Spot's amazing body.
Spot's face changed from a mixture of horror and amusement to an expression of plain horror. I could just see what he was thinking. Oh my god, why is she looking at my ass like that? NO! STOP! That's MY ass, don't look at it! AAAH!
"Race?" she said, not taking her eyes of Spot.
"Hmm?"
"His name?"
"Oh --- Gabriel," I answered quickly. He smiled thankfully at me. I don't think he wanted her to get hold of his nickname just yet.
"Gabriel," she repeated.
"He's a very nice boy," said Mama proudly. "He and Anthony is talking on de interneter wid each other and dey is good friends, no?"
"Actually, they just met today," said Gino.
"But Spot's been talking about it all day," said Dutchy.
"So has Race," said Lia.
"But they've been communicating by Internet for over two months now," said Specs.
"Oh how sweet!" Bambi giggled. "Why didn't you tell me, Racey-baby!"
"For good reasons," I muttered.
"Racey-baby?" Gino repeated, nudging Lia in the ribs and grinning.
"Well I haf to meet your mother sometime, Gabriel," said Mama.
"Oh you don't want to, believe me," said Spot.
"But of course I do!" she insisted.
"MAMA!" Angelo yelled. "WHAT'S GOING ON, MAMA??"
By now I'm sure you can guess that most of Tibby's was quite alarmed by what was going on around our table. So was I, to tell you the truth. I was still stunned that my mother had shown up to my meeting with Spot to check on me! And she brought my sweaty older brother directly from basketball practice, my supposedly gorgeous older sister, and my sleepy six-year-old brother ... Sometimes I worry about her sanity.
After a few more minutes of this insanity, Spot looked at me from under the brim of his fedora. "Ya wanna get outta here?" he mouthed.
"Definitely," I mouthed back. "I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!" I yelled over the noise, and slipped between Gino and Adrienne, who were deep in discussion about hockey. Spot followed me and soon the pair of us were out of the café and onto the sidewalk.
"Whew," said Spot.
"Yeah."
"Talk about first impressions."
"Yeah."
Honestly, I don't think I have ever experienced a bigger first impression in my life.
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October 14, 2004
Well I met RedSuspendahs99. Spot. Gabriel. Whatever the hell I'm supposed to call him.
Once Mama showed up and started commenting on Spot's "good face", I frankly thought it couldn't get much worse. Then Angelo started burping the national anthem, Adrienne and Dutchy joined him, they made up a little interpretative dance routine to go with it, and one of the waiters dropped a tray of dishes because he was staring so much. That was when Spot and I decided to leave the restaurant. Best decision I have ever made in my life, if you ask me.
He's different in real life than he is on IM. More polite, more cautious. I don't know why.
Believe it or not, he asked me if I wanted to come with him to Times Square subway station. Laughed and said it was the setting for his favorite book.
The Cricket in Times Square. I've never read it. He said he'd lend it to me sometime.
You'd think it would be awkward, meeting him in real life for the first time but not for the first time. It wasn't though, that's the weird part. We were perfectly comfortable with each other from the start.
And I promise you, there is nothing more entertaining than taking random subways all over New York City on a Saturday afternoon. We ended up getting lost in Chinatown for a couple of hours. It was rather scary, but I learned how to say "Happy Birthday" in Chinese! Now all I have to do is wait for Skittery's birthday ... October 27th. It's coming, baby, oh it's coming...
Six o'clock and Spot said he had to go. "Don't want my mom to worry," he said.
"Your mom would get worried if you stayed out after six?" I asked, incredulous.
He smiled dimly. "Yeah. I guess you could call her paranoid..."
Unwritten law of the universe: never agree with someone when they are dissing their mom. "Oh no!" I said automatically. "We're talkin' NYC, here, it's completely dangerous!"
His smile broadened and he patted me on the back. "It was nice meeting you, Racey-baby," he joked. "See you 'round?"
"Yeah, see ya."
And as he walked off, I couldn't help but watch that great ass. MAN!
-Racetrack
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Shoutouts!!!
Ashley: Aaah, thank you so much!!! It's reviewers like you that I love the most, honestly. I'm really glad you like it, thanks for the review!
PsYcHoJo: Whoa. I converted somebody to slash. I converted somebody to slash??? SHWEET! Oh yeah, man, rock so hard! I'm glad you've come to your senses and realized that slash is fun! (lol jk) Welcome to the jungle, baby! Thanks for reviewing, I love ya!
Shadowlands: HAHAHA! Ok no joke, you get the prize for most amusing reviews. Who the hell writes part of their review in a robot voice? Anyway, your name makes me think of that song from the Lion King Broadway show called "Shadowlands" :D and it's Nala and she's leaving to go and find Simba! DUN DUN DUNNNNN! It's a great song, so even if you didn't intend your name to be that, feel blessed that you picked such a good song. Thanks for the review(s)!
rumor: Aaah, thank you! Funny review, funny review ... I agree, Sean and Harrison are extremely sexy but Harry-my-love is rather old and gray now. (Not to say that Sean isn't ... just that the old and gray look is good for Sean, but it's rather upsetting on Harrison.) Thanks for the review, I love ya!
Liams Kittens: HAHAHA god you're funny! Personally I have a Specs fetish, so our two fetishes are mutually exclusive and they cancel out and everyone's happy! And about the "like a fish" line, it's actually from "Chicken Run". Awesome movie. Have you seen it? It's in the part when the two adorable little British rats are describing how they stole something and they're like: "So we crept in there all quiet-like---" "Like a fish" "Yeah, and---like a what?" It's hysterical. Aaaaanyway, thank you SO MUCH for the review!!! MWAH!
GLimmer Conlon O'Leary: AAAAAH THANK YOU!!! *is tackled and glomped*
kattabean: You, my dear, are quite scary. But that's why I love you. Yesh, the Ramones rock and I LOVE 'EM! I have just recently discovered Green Day and the Offspring. Ever listened to either of them? They're awesome, I haven't listened to anything but the pair of 'em for the past week or two. And yes, the Yankees suck beyond comprehension. I don't live in New York so I'm allowed to say that YEE-HAW! Thanks for the review!
Splashey: Haha, I love how you signed it "The Splash". I swear that once I read that, the little voice inside my mind went "DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!" JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK INTO THE WATER --- THE SPLASH STRIKES AGAIN! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
I'm ok. No really!!! Anyway thank you SO MUCH for the review, I love ya! I don't have any hot teachers either, the only male teacher I have is about thirty five and he reminds me of a platypus ... heh heh, I love that guy. He rocks. Math teacher all the way, baby. :D
nani: Yeah, I pretend I'm all informed on New York but I'm really not. I live in this teeeeeeny tiiiiiiny town in Massachusetts kinda near Boston, and I am isolated from the world. Thus I write fanfics and act like I am all worldly and sophisticated. Anyway don't feel bad, I can't tell time either. It's pretty pathetic ... Thanks for the review, I love you!!!
Repeat: Haha, Bambi came ... and it's all your fault! :D No problem about the five reviews for Family Ties, I love that story beyond belief! HOORAY! God I can't wait to find out what bizarre things you guys will have my character doing ... *thinks for a little while* *shudders* Better not think about that now! Thanks for the review, I love ya! MWAH!
studentnumber24601: Aha, it's my only constructive criticizer! You know, you're the only reviewer I have ever had who actually points out things I need to FIX. Everyone else either loves it or hates it. Thank you! I shall make you muffins.
Yeah, I hate the Yankees. Quite a lot. :D And I know exactly what you mean about the Boston baseball fanatics, I happen to live pretty close to Boston and have learned that firsthand. ;-) Anyway, thanks for the review, I love you!
Sapphy: YAY! I'm not sure whether I should make Specs and Dutchy gay in the end ... what do you think? It's always a cute pairing, but I'm just not sure I made their personalities exactly compatible ... Whatever. Anyway thank you SO MUCH for the review, I love ya! MWAH!
SpotLover421: Aaah, thank you thank you thank you!!! You like me, you really like me! (lol) I'm glad you like Adrienne and Shrek and the Cookie Jar song and the end of the last chapter and 42nd Street (which is my favorite Broadway show EVER)!! You rock my socks, baby! (And update Race's Journal sometime, will ya? I love that story more than you could ever imagine, it's wonderful!!!) Thanks for the review!!! :D
KyrielF: Aaah thank you!! My friends and I have conversations like the one in the last chapter all the time --- it's like how we communicate. And yes, Keanu Reeves is god. *sighs and stares off into the distance as a vacant expression comes over face* Thanks for the review, I love ya!!
Scout73: "It's not a threat, it's a promise." Hmm ... Sounds familiar to me too, but I can't put my finger on it. It might just be one of those lines that's used over and over and OVER in like a million different movies or something. Anyway, thank you so much for the review!!! I'm SORRY I FORGOT YOUR SHOUTOUT AAAH but I dedicated this chapter to you, right? Hold on, lemme check...
Yep. There, my conscience is SLIGHTLY cleared. :D
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Author's Note: And my parents wanted me to go to bed at 10:30. HA! Not my best chapter but still leave a review, I'll love you forever!
-Saturday