Chapter 2 - A Chance of a Lifetime
He was leaning against the wall, looking bored. He was tall, with a strange coloured hair. Red? Brown? Oh, I think it's copper. It was in a disarray, making him look like he just had sex or he just woke up. With only wearing jeans and an Avenged Sevenfold band shirt, he looked utterly gorgeous without even trying. Wow, I describe him like he's a girl. Way to go.
He was bobbing his head up and drumming his fingers on his knee. A musician, maybe?
I felt this weird rush within me. Like all of my blood decided to go straight to my heart and it started pumping so much faster, making me feel light headed. I could already hear my heart because it was pounding way too fast and hard. "Check him out." I whispered to Alice and Rose as I was controlling my heart.
Both of them followed my gaze and saw the guy as my eyes diverted to his the logo in his shirt. I stifled a little gasp that threatened to escape me. He was a fan of Bigfoot Beast! I am a fan of Debussy, Mozart, Christina Grimmie, Skillet, Rascal Flatts and other people from other genres, but Bigfoot Beast is my ultimate love. They have this rock songs that ain't about evil and shit like that, but they create rock songs that tells us about life.
"Bigfoot Beast? The rock singing retards that you like? They're like, you're favourite local band of all time! You should go talk to him!" Alice hissed.
"They're not retards! They sing about-"
"Life and shit like that. Not my fault they express it in an in depth manner which only the people who really listen to them would understand." She said, quoting me from the last time we argued about them.
"Now go!" She persisted with this mischievous and excited sparkle in his eyes. I feel so scared for my life right now. She's getting all revved up in this situation. She might do something that would make me go under the school's cafeteria table and let myself drown from all of those bubblegums under it, or crawl under a rock and meet Patrick. Wait... meet Patrick? Isn't that part supposed to be rot or die. Oh well, Spongebob'll be jealous.
"Why would Spongebob be jealous?" Rose said, with a hint of worry in her voice. Her face was wearing the is-Bella-alright?-Alice-might-have-done-too-much-torture emotion.
"'Cause I'll be Patrick's new best buddy if Alice keeps on doing this." I said nonchalantly, as if I said something that I always say everyday. I looked back to the guy, and I felt my heart beat faster and harder than before. My breath became a little bit laboured from the feeling. Could this be the equivalent for the "sparks" Ali and Rose told me about?
A sharp poke to my arm brought me out of my stupor. "Go on and talk to him! Like, NOW!" She urged in a stage whisper voice. I blushed immediately. I think even those aliens who were dancing to "California Gurls" by Katy Perry would stop dancing and look for the person they should talk to because Alice's voice is just that loud.
Okay, okay, I'm exaggerating, but who wouldn't be? A lot of people turned to look at us when she said that!
Good thing is, the guy was still oblivious of Alice's so called stage whisper. He still looked bored, but in like a more content one, enjoying the company of the beat of music in his head.
I stared at him, wishing that I could have the confidence Alice and Rosalie had, and just go and talk to the guy. Who knows what will happen? I created so many outcomes in my head, but one really stood out.
Bella's Predicted Outcome that stood out.
I walked over to where the guy was. He still seemed oblivious to the world, continuously drumming his fingers on his knee.
"Hey." I'll say. He'll look up, and will be shocked to see that some girl started to talk to him. He'll look over my shoulder, as if he was looking for someone.
"Do I know you?" He would say, with confusion and slight irritation visible on his face.
I'll mumble something about the band and his shirt, and he'll look at me like I was a rumba dancing alien from Mars. He'll look over my shoulder again, and he'll suddenly looked relieved. A girl will stand beside him, hooking her arm around his waist.
"What are you doing here? Do we know you?" She'll say snidely. Then, I'll melt into a puddle on the floor from humiliation.
End of Bella's Predicted Outcome that stood out.
I'll probably be right, since he's very much so gorgeous. Obviously, he has a girlfriend.
"I-I can't. I-I don't know what-what I'll say!" I stuttered. At that moment, a bunch of students poured out of the hallway, blocking my view of Mr. Drop Dead Gorgeous Maybe-Musician. By the time that the crowd cleared, he was no longer there.
I felt relieved and disappointed at the same time. What was that?
"Ugh, I can't believe you chickened out, Bellsie. That was a perfect opportunity!" Alice glared at me in disapproval, pursing in her perfectly glossed pink lips.
"Yeah. Plus, he's so your type! I mean, how many guys appreciate that bizarre band of yours?" Rose pointed out.
"Yeah, good point." I said weakly. "Bigfoot Beast isn't for everyone."
"He was probably your soulmate. And now, you won't know. Why don't you ever listen to me?" Alice said. There was more to what she said, but I just wasn't listening. I knew it all by heart, anyways. My mind was taken up by more important matters like figuring out why had I reacted like that to a random guy that I have never seen in my entire life.
Maybe Alice and Rose were rubbing off on me at last, because I spent the last two hours looking for the guy. In the huge assembly where all of the schools were at one place, every after lecture where we headed back to the lobby, even when I decided to take a bathroom break! I looked for him outside of the washrooms and even in the inside of the females' washroom and the cubicles in there. Believe me, he wasn't there.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked as we stepped in the restaurant, food court style. We had a half hour break from all of the lecture stuff before the last two events of the day which were a lecture and the Planetarium show. All three of us decided to revive ourselves with coffee and some sugar. They would revive themselves from utter boredom, and I would revive myself from exhaustion from searching the guy.
I realized what Rose was asking about. I was doing it again. Scanning the faces of everyone in the restaurant, in search for him.
"Um, I'm just looking for Jessica and Lauren?" I blurted out guiltily. "I figured that if they're here, we could sit with them."
Rose narrowed her eyes at me and stared at my face, probably figuring my actions out. Then, realization dawned on her features.
"No way," she started. "I can't believe it! Alice!" She yelled, and my other best friend came rushing here.
"Can't believe what? That Jessica and Lauren won't come near here since almost all of the food they sell hear are greasy foods?" I joked weakly.
"Ali! She's still thinking about that guy!" She squealed excitedly. They both threw their arms around me.
"Our baby's growing up, Rosie!" Alice yelled. I untangled myself from their tight embrace.
"Psh, no, I'm not. You guys are crazy." I defended myself.
"Believe me, honey, we ARE right. First off, why would you even want to sit with Jessica and Lauren? We hate them, and you know it. Second, even if you had this miraculous change of heart and decided to really sit with them, you'd never be able to follow it through because you said that 'the mere sight of their fake bodies and faces makes me want to puke.'" Alice said, quoting me again.
"Okay, so what if I'm still thinking about him? I just want to ask him where he got his shirt," I gave up. Rose looked delighted.
"See? You already have a perfect opening line!" She said, grabbing my arm and yanking it up and down in excitement, I almost dropped my purse.
"I mean, that's not what we'd say, but this is you we're talking about. You'd probably head far with him." Alice said.
We had to stop our chatter as we placed our food orders, I just got a soda and some fries. Alice and Rosalie both took a garden salad and water.
"Bella, you know sometimes, I really envy your metabolism. Even if you eat greasy and fatty foods, you never get fat unlike Rosie and me, we need to burn off the calories we got from that," Alice complained.
"But, I lack in the beauty department, so shut it and eat."
"But-" Rosalie and Alice said at the same time, trying to object.
"I said shut it. No more." I shushed them and finally, they just ate their foods.
"Hey! Isn't it the ever so beautiful girls, Rosalie and Alice!" I heard someone scream behind us. I shot Ali and Rose a look, saying that my point was proved. They opened their mouths to protest, but saw that the guys who screamed was already with us.
It wasn't Pierre, and I don't know if the other was Leonard, though. There was this one guy that was beefy and tall, with his blonde hair spiked, and had several eyebrow piercings while looking at Rosalie. 'Who is that?' I mouthed to her. 'Jonathan.' she mouthed back.
Then, the other guy, from what I had gathered from Alice just a couple of hours ago, was Pierre. He was good looking, but not as gorgeous as the guy. Shit! I'm comparing Pierre with the guy that I don't even know the name! Erase, erase!
Both of the guys sat down beside the girl who captured their attention.
"Hey, what's up? Betty, right?" Jonathan asked me. Rosalie shot him a 'what-the-hell?' look and he shrugged. If you live in a world where your two best friends are super gorgeous, you tend to just be a super minute minor detail. I was about to correct him, when someone beat me to it.
"It's Bella," I heard Pierre say smoothly. He had a sexy voice, but not enough to make have a crush on him. Pity. Well, at least someone had paid attention. I gave him a grateful smile, and he returned it.
"Soooo, did ya miss me?" Jonathan asked Rosalie. Rose giggled and shot him her signature flirtatious smile. Jonathan seemed smug after that. He started to tell Rose stories that were supposed to impress her. I turned to Pierre and Alice and saw that they were also having a conversation.
To avoid awkwardness if I join their conversations, I just focused on my soda and also did my best at searching a certain guy in a specific shirt. Not that I care that much. Pffft. I was just curious to see whether the whole heart pounding thing would happen again. Call it scientific curiosity.
I hadn't spotted him by the time the announcement came in on the restaurant saying that all Hornbill High and East Elm High students were to go back to the lobby for assembly.
"No! Don't go!" Jonathan wailed, grabbing Rose's arm pulling her onto his lap. "Why don't you just ditch it? Stay here with me."
"Can't. Bella likes that shit. Don't you, babe?" Rose asked me. I nodded and Alice bade goodbye to Pierre, but before we were off, Jonathan yelled something to us.
"But tell me you'd go to that party next weekend." Rose shrugged. Pierre asked Alice the same thing. I felt so left out. Neither of the boys had even the decency to ask me if I wanted to come. HELLO! I'M STILL HERE, YOU KNOW!
"I'll text you," Rose said and turned to the direction of the lobby.
"Or send you a message on Facebook. Don't forget to friend me!" Alice said and we all rushed to the lobby. We found a crowd surrounding a gray haired female who was speaking professionally. We pushed our way near her and started to listen to her.
She said that we will be sitting in a practice cockpit and learn all about the doodads there. She didn't want to tell us the names so she called it doodads. She then instructed us to go with our assigned partner/s. That's the way I like it! The way she said it, she treats us as 17 or 18 year old people! HECK YEAH! :D
"Okay, girls with long hair, tie your hair up. I have hair ties with me, so if you don't have one, just get one from me." She said and showed us a basket of hair ties. I picked one up, as did Rose. Alice was lucky that she had short hair. I tied it up into a bun, that if you looked at me in the front, I'd look like I had Alice's hairstyle.
"What about the guys with long hair?" A guy shouted a few rows behind us. A snigger went around the stream of students.
"Well tie it up then. Common sense, please." She said and a chorus of 'burns', 'oohs' and 'snaps' went around the crowd. I saw the left side of the lady's lips turn up, but disappeared almost as fast as it appeared.
All three of us took our place in line. We found ourselves standing behind some couple we didn't know who that started making out a few seconds after we arrived behind them. It was pretty disgusting, actually. You could hear slurping noises from both of them, like the other was drinking the other's saliva, or sucking the tongue. Either way, it sounds disgusting. Behind us, I could hear a pair speaking in Pig Latin. Well, I don't know, so I just assumed it's Pig Latin. It kinda sounds like German, though.
"So, what do you think of Jonathan? You think we should hit it up that party this weekend?" Rose asked me once we had ignored the slurping sounds in front of us.
"Well, he seems too dumb for you, Rose. He couldn't even remember my name! Lucky that Pierre actually knows my name." I said and Alice beamed at me.
"I know," Rose started, "Isn't he just cool? If we could track that dream man of yours—"
"You mean that guy with the band shirt? I wouldn't really call him my dream man, you know, I just thought that it was cool that he also likes Bigfoot Beast. Like I said, BB ain't for all people."
"Well, whatever. If we could find him, maybe we could invite him to the party, no? The band shirt thing, that would be a great opening line!" Alice said, clapping her hands.
"For you, maybe," I said. "But can you picture me doing that? I'll probably end up stuttering and blushing like mad, or maybe he wasn't even from any of the schools here! What if he was just a tourist wanting to use the bathroom?"
Alice looked alarmed. "Let's hope not," she said. "You said you never get sparks! But you totally did with him—admit it, sister!"
"I just thought he was gorgeous, Al. Since when did that become a confession of true love? Let alone the mythical love at first sight! Let's be realistic here—"
"Oh please, Bella." Rose rolled her eyes at me. "That's so like you. You keep on being a realist to keep yourself from believing what really is real. You just won't admit that Al and I are right."
"For a girl who likes dumb jocks, that's deep. You read it from a fortune cookie or something?"
"Ugh, Bells. You know I don't like talking to those weird Chinese people offering me those. I could barely understand them!" Rose huffed, swinging her purse to hit me in the arm. "But seriously, stop changing the subject. We want to know that if we actually do see that mystery guy of yours, would you do anything about it?"
I stopped and processed her question. As soon as I pictured him in my head, I felt that weird rushing feeling again. Uh oh.
"Let's worry about that if it really happens," I said firmly. "But listen, back to the party..."
Our cockpit experience was finishing up when we got an announcement about the Planetarium show. We were to go to the Planetarium for the big finale show. The day was almost over, finally.
All the schools were coming together for this show, so the place was jam packed. We three piled in and looked around the place for seats. We saw a few of our friends goofing around in the back. We were about to go there when a horde of students hurriedly took all the remaining seats in their row.
"Come on Bells, Rose. I saw some seats there at the back! They're better than nothing, so let's go!" Alice said and dragged us both to the back. We all but ran there when we saw a couple of students making their way there. We snagged the last three seats in the last row and stopped the urge to stick my tongue out to those people that were headed towards here hoping to get the seats we got.
Very few people who didn't find seats just leaned on the walls. I decided to look if any of my friends were leaning on the walls. I froze. I didn't see anyone I knew, but I recognized someone else.
"It's him!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Alice had been digging through her purse for her beloved BBB to check out if she had new messages while Rose was fixing her make up and hair, but at my words, they immediately sat up straight and spun around like some boy-seeking missile.
"Who? You mean him him?" Alice asked eagerly. Following my gaze and they spotted him too and let out a gasp.
"OMG! It is him! You've got to go Bella!" Rose said and pushed me from my seat. I closed my eyes. My ass didn't leave the seat, but my upper half did. I held on my seat and my face hit something. I opened my eyes and saw a zipper. Please don't tell me that I landed on some guy's...
"What are you doing, your face on my crotch?" The guy exclaimed. I immediately sat up and all the blood that was passing through my heart when I saw him, went up to my face.
"I-uh, I'm sorry! M-m-my friend pu-pushed me and I-uh, out of control.." I mumbled, not looking at him in the eye. The guy let out a face of disgust and dismissed me. I heard Ali and Rose giggling behind me. I spun around and glared at them fiercely.
They looked at me, sheepish. Alice quickly went out of her sheepish mode and started screeching at me. "Bella! Go get him! The show's about to start!"
I hesitated. Once again, I found myself wishing to have the confidence both of my best friends had. Maybe then I'd be able to go walk up to him and strike a conversation.
Beside me Alice was practically bouncing from impatience. "Are you going to do it or Rose and I will have to play matchmaker for you?" She demanded. 'Cause you know we'd really do that for you." She brightened. "You know, that's not a bad idea, after all. I mean, you are new to this type of thing. What would I say, though? Should we go walk up to him and say, 'Hey, our best friend really has the hots for you, but she's too shy to tell you.'" She had this deep thought look on her face, like she was considering it. That only lasted for a split second, and then shook her head.
Rose suddenly interjected, "Oh, I know! What if I invite him here, then let him sit next to you 'cause it looks like he doesn't have a seat, then casually mention that you're single—"
"No, thank you!" I stopped her even before she finished her sentence. "If I want to be totally humiliated, I'm pretty sure that I could do it myself."
"So do it then," Alice commanded, giving me a small push. "Hurry! This could be your last chance!"
I shot the guy another look. He was still standing there. Looking cool and gorgeous. Too cool and gorgeous for me?
For about a second, I was all ready to back out again. I mean, what are the chances of me tripping over my words and word vomit? Or do something that might not only embarrass me, but him too. Maybe that the shirt he wore was just borrowed from a friend because he spilled something or soiled his real shirt. What if we actually had nothing in common...?
I was ready to let it go, give up, but when I looked at him, I felt the weird rushing to my heart again. The equivalent to sparks?
"Go on," Ali urged. "Take a chance, for once."
That was all it was, I reminded myself. Taking a chance. Giving this weird sensation a try. If it didn't work out and be embarrassed? I guess it's alright, I mean, I won't see him again. Britt was right. If it did work out, what will happen? I guess I'd just have to figure it out.
"Okay," I said, before I could overthink this situation and back out. "I guess I will go over and say hi."
I stood up, ignoring Alice and Rose's shocked but ecstatic expression and my own rising panic. Now, all I had to do was go over there and say hi. We were near the end of the row, which wasn't exactly hard to get out of. I started to scoot out towards the left, even though the guy was off to the right.
I climbed over Alice, then the blonde sitting next to her which wasn't Rose. Blondie shot me an annoyed look as I accidentally stepped on her foot. "Excuse me," I mumbled. I kept my gaze situated to the redhead next to her, hoping to get past without maiming her too. "Sorry, I just need to get—"
At that moment, the lights turned off, making everywhere around me pitch black. Hoots, hollers, cat calls, wolf whistles and giggles could be heard all around the planetarium. I could only imagine the pinching and groping that could go on under the sudden darkness.
I froze as the announcement that the show was going to start. The birth of the universe according to the Big Bang Theory. Now what was I supposed to do?
It was tempting to just go back to my seat and just give up. But when a girl shoved me to the left muttering some swear words under her breath, I cleared myself from that thought. Too late now.
I kept going, pushing past the students. How many more seats do I have to pass through? One? Two? Ninety-nine? I couldn't quite remember. Being in the dark is so disorienting, sort of like swimming through a pool full of boogers. Urgh..bad comparison.
"Excuse me," I whispered, feeling around for the next seat. Instead, I felt an arm. A thick, hairy arm.
"Hey honey," a deep male voice said. "Need a seat? I have one perfect for you right here." He said and pointed to his lap. Eww! I squirmed and let out a little squeak before scurrying to get past him.
Grabbing for the next seat, I almost did a nosedive in the empty air. PHEW! I was away from that gorilla now! A sick, perverted gorilla.
Now, all I had to do was find for that guy. There were tiny lights marking the aisles, but they weren't much of a help. They'd only light maybe an inch around the lights. So, I just walked blindly to the last direction where I saw Mr. Drop Dead Gorgeous Maybe-Musician. I still wasn't sure on what I'm going to do when I reach him. Maybe cling to the wall until the last second and talk to him.
I walked on as carefully as I could, still hoping that I was going to the right direction. One foot in front of the other...
A sudden explosion from above me which caused to light up huge lights and loud explosion sounds. That caught me by surprise. I gasped and leaped forward. Unfortunately, I tripped on one of the cords on the floor.
"Oof!"
I felt myself hit something. Or rather, someone. A pair of strong arms held me, preventing me from meeting and kissing Mr. Wall, but ended up being both of us pushed to the wall.
"Sorry!" I gasped, as I looked upward where another burst of light came off.
My eyes widened like saucers. Standing there, face just inches from mine was Mr. Drop Dead Gorgeous Maybe Musician!
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