I ran through the woods, blinded by my tears and oblivious to my surroundings. I tripped over twigs and rocks many times, but that didn't stop me. I wanted to be away. Far away. Far away from Butch.
As I entered the end of the rambling trees, I spotted an aquamarine-tinted stream of water. I dashed towards the edge and threw myself down in a huddle, my knees pulled up to my face in a fetal position, my head buried in my knees, my arms wrapped around my legs. I sat and cried in the tranquil silence. The tears and occasional mournful whimpers escaped my throat—and I allowed them to.
This was the place I would always come to as a child to just let all of my emotions out. The only place where I could laugh and cry without restraint, without fear of being judged. The place I escaped to when all was wrong in my life. Where I could thoroughly contemplate things of significance. Where I wasn't 'tough-BC-that-everyone-fears.' But I was simply Buttercup.
I looked up from my damp knees and gazed at the stream as the sunlight made the water glisten and glimmer, turning the clear, shining liquid to a beautiful turquoise. I wiped the fallen strands of moist hair from my face and reached my hands towards the surface of the water. I washed my face with the refreshing fluid as it cooled my hot face despite the warm, humid air.
I set back against a boulder and closed my eyes. Then, I heard a noise. Footsteps? Just a squirrel? It sounded like a slight rustle in the leaves. There it was again. I tilted my head to the side, towards the woods. More rustling. Louder. The sound of leaves cracking. Then, I saw him.
"Buttercup?"
I closed my eyes and turned my head towards the stream.
"Leave me alone, Butch."
I heard his footsteps grow louder and louder until I felt his presence directly behind me, felt his steady breathing caress my earlobe, felt his strong arms wrap around my torso. He nestled his head on my shoulder as I lay there dumbfounded, struggling to maintain my poker face.
"I didn't mean it."
His voice was faint and muffled by my skin, but every word dripped with remorse and essence.
"I-I'm sorry."
I gazed at the stream in sheer disorientation. All of this cuddling wasn't necessary. And here he was, fondling me as if I was his…
What was that? I glanced at Butch. Obviously he had felt it, too, for he was staring up at the now gray sky. Another drop of cool moisture fell upon the tip of my nose. I closed my eyes in slight irritation as a depressing thought formed in my mind. It was about to rain. I'm outside. With Butch. Great.
Butch grabbed me by my wrist and lifted me from the ground.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my face formed into a solemn expression.
He ignored my question and lifted me into my arms as he began walking through the woods. The scent of his damp leather jacket and the sound of the rhythmic rain droplets falling from the dark clouds soothed me. I closed my eyes and welcomed the still serenity.
"Buttercup?"
I opened my eyes slowly, reluctantly, and gazed up at Butch. I looked around at our surroundings. We were in front of my house, in the driveway. The rain pounded softly against my skin as I wiped my eyes with my fists.
"I have to tell you something, Buttercup. I-I love…" his voice trailed off the farther away I ran from him. I had leapt out of his arms as soon as I became familiar with the building. I left him sitting in the rain like the fool he was. I turned the doorknob and stepped into the living room, never looking back. Yet, I still wondered what it was that he had attempted to tell me.
Butch's Point of View (Monday at School)—
I deserved it. I deserved every bit of frigid resentment she gave me. I deserved every ice-cold glare, every vicious snarl, every shameless threat. But did I deserve this?
"Dude, I would be pissed off too if you did that," Melvin said as we walked down the hallway towards our math class.
I had told him of the whole predicament that had happened Saturday. And now, no matter how hard I tried, Buttercup ignored me. She ignored my text messages. She ignored my emails. She ignored my calls. And it was tearing me apart.
"But I told her I didn't mean it," I replied, clutching my books in my left hand.
"BC's not the kind of girl to just forgive and forget, bro."
I nodded and sat down at a desk in the far back, taking what Melvin said into serious consideration. As the teacher walked into the room, I grabbed my forest green iPod out of my binder and plugged in the ear buds, turning the volume up to block out today's lesson. I groaned in aggravation as the song 'Half of My Heart' came on, but I listened to the lyrics nonetheless.
[… Half of My Heart by John Mayer…]
I was born in the arms of imaginary friends
Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I've been
Then you come on crashing in
Like the realest thing
Trying my best to understand
All that your love can bring
Oh, half of my heart's got a grip on the situation
Half of my heart takes time
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you that
I can't keep loving you, can't keep loving you
Oh, with half of my heart
I was made to believe I'd never love somebody else
Made a plan, stay the man who can only love himself
Lonely was the song I sang
Till the day you came
Showing me another way
And all that my love can bring
Oh, half of my heart's got a grip on the situation
Half of my heart takes time
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you that
I can't keep loving you, can't keep loving you
Oh, with half of my heart
With half of my heart
Your faith is strong, but I can only fall short for so long
Down the road, later on
You will hate that I never gave more to you
Than half of my heart
But I can't stop loving you [x4]
"Dude, wake up."
I slowly lifted my head from my desk, a long line of saliva connecting my lower lip to the surface.
"I fell asleep?" I asked, slightly confused. The last thing I remembered was listening to my iPod…
"Um, yeah."
I shook my head of drowsiness and stretched my arms taut as I gathered my books and followed Melvin out of the classroom.
Blossom's Point of View (Tuesday at school)—
I walked into the auditorium and sat in the seat next to my friends Alice and Kimberly. Today, drama tryouts were being held.
"Are you nervous, Bloss?" Alice asked, staring at the stage where the drama coach, Mrs. Waltzenson, was standing.
"Kinda."
"You know, that hot guy is trying out?" Kimberly chimed in. I turned my head towards her and furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
"What hot guy?"
"Brick Jojo! Every girl likes Brick!" Alice exclaimed.
"Psh. I don't."
Alice and Kimberly gasped in unison.
"Why not? He's sexy! Just look at him!"
We all turned to get a glimpse of him in the front row, chewing his gum.
"That is not sexy," I replied, unconvinced.
"Well, what is sexy to you?" Kimberly asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well, for one thing, it's-"
"Good evening, all! I'm so incredibly happy that all of you are interested in the performing arts! As you know, Winchester Senior High is well known for our fabulous plays and musicals! If you make the cut, you will become apart of this extravaganza! We will be assigning pairs consisting of a female and a male. They will play as a couple. The wife is trying to convince her husband that he is overly competitive, but the husband is in denial! Boring, boring, I know—but play your part to your best ability and you will get the chance to perform in even bigger plays!"
Everyone gave Mrs. Waltzenson a round of applause.
"Now, come up to the stage and get a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever has your matching number is your partner. For girls, get a pink paper. For guys, get a blue paper."
Everyone filed onto the stage and picked out a folded sheet of paper.
When Alice, Kimberly, and I returned to our seats, we all unfolded our papers.
"What number didja get?" Kimberly asked as she glanced up at us.
"Fourteen," Alice replied.
"I got twelve," Kimberly said.
"I got six."
"I will now call out the numbers and the person with that number will come to the stage. Number one?" Mrs. Waltzenson called out over the microphone.
When she got to number six, I stood up and walked towards the stage just as Brick did. 'This must be a mistake,' I thought to myself.
"Ahh, Brick Jojo and Blossom Utonium! Here are your scripts," Mrs. Waltzenson said as we walked towards her, handing a sheet of paper to us. Brick winked at me as I gathered the paper from the drama coach.
As I scrambled down the steps to my seat, Alice and Kimberly whistled.
"What are your problems?" I asked, laughing softly.
"Aww! You and Brick!"
"Whatever."
I nearly fell asleep in my chair when my number was called. I bolted up from the seat and dashed onto the stage, where Brick was waiting.
"Begin!"
[A/N: Family Guy inspired this! Made up except for two lines!]
I cleared my throat and said:
"Oh, William, you are so competitive! You always believe that everything is a sport!"
Brick: Oh calm down, Vanessa! You're too sensitive! I was just having a little fun was all.
Blossom: Oh, really William?
Brick: Really, Vanessa! It was just a friendly game of poker with the guys. I feel that you make things too complicated!
Blossom: Well, William, can you feel this?
I slapped Brick on the side of his cheek, light enough as to not hurt him.
Brick: What was that for?
Brick rubbed the side of his cheek to portray his discomfort as it instructed to do so on the script.
Blossom: Face it, William. You're competitive about everything.
Brick: I am so not competitive! As a matter of fact, I am the least non-competitive. So I win.
Mrs. Waltzenson smiled and clapped her hands.
"Bravo, bravo! Very good teamwork, you two! I am very impressed!"
She handed Brick and I two envelopes as we walked off of the stage.
I dashed towards my locker and fiddled with the combination just as I felt someone behind me.
"Well, Blossy, I think you did good."
I turned around to face Brick.
"You didn't do so bad yourself."
He smirked at me, and then looked down at his shoes bashfully. Wait a minute! Brick? Bashful? I shook the thoughts from my head and tried to walk to my next class, but Brick stopped me.
"What do you want?" I snarled, snatching my arm out of his grip.
He leaned down towards my neck and smirked, his warm breath tickling the skin.
"I can't wait to work with you. In drama, that is."
And with that, he turned down the halls, leaving me slightly stunned.
"We'll see about that."
I chuckled to myself before sauntering into my science class.
Author's Note: You may have noticed that I include a lot of song lyrics in my stories. They all have some sort of significance to the story line, so pay attention to them! (With the exception of Mitch's provocatively disturbing dance scene…the 'Sexy Back' dance was not important-just entertainment!)
Also, the song 'Half of My Heart' had some significance to the story to a certain extent. I did not get the name from that song. But when I looked up the lyrics and listened to it, I found that it played out really well with the plot to come—but with a twist, so don't expect anything exact! You can only expect the unexpected from me! :P
And I apologize for the boring Blossom POV! I just had to get the tryouts out of the way! :D
Rate and review! :3