*slowly comes out from hiding behind bookcase* Is it safe yet? Will I be brutally murdered?
*shoves out new chapter just in case*
Review Replies:
Jfgh5720 – Neither did I! O.o
IzzyQuagmire0907 – I know right! I did not see it coming…
Ainigma Smudge – You, Ainigma Smudge, are always one step ahead. ;) I'm glad you found the chapter somewhat entertaining! :D Although I really regret putting in that bit about the firecrackers…oh, well, c'est la vie. Sure I'll update! Here you go! Thanks again for your kind words! :)
Nuttierthansquir – Aww! Thanks! I feel so appreciated. :) Also didn't you have an account? What happened to that? Come back to us! Dx
CaffeinatedKitty – Yay, thanks! Glad you liked it! :D
ChocolateWriter – Thanks, I'm honored! Here's an update! :)
Jdhsudnejsoandjd – You're so kind! I wish I could thank you in more ways than just saying 'thank you' but I can't, sadly…so thank you! :)
Guest (1st review) – Wow, that is crazy! Psychic, much? O.o Sure here's an update! Hope you get enough Kladora! :)
Guest (2nd review) – The wait is over! :D
your fellow thesbian – I've read through these reviews and I still forgot that…well, you get three replies, then. X) I'm flattered you like my story so much! Hope you like this chapter as well! :)
numbah435spiritsong – No, you're wonderful! :D I can't believe you thought my story was more important than homework…I'm so flattered. X3 Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)
magicwolf – Are you for real? Wow I feel so honored, and I'm so sorry about the wait! Really, your review made me smile! Sure since you asked very nicely, I'll update for you! X) (And not just cause I like shiny cherries.) Thanks again! Hope you like the chapter! :)
Thank you all SO SO SO MUCH. *virtually squeezes everyone in a massive group hug* Ypu're all so beautiful it's hard to not squeeze you to death! :D
Wait…
Anyway, I'm sure you all want an explanation…and you deserve it for joining me in this 59 (now 60) chapter journey. But the truth is…I don't have one. I really don't have one! Honestly, the best excuse I can give you is that I am incredibly lazy. *glares at Anatomy*
Now, that was a multiple month stage, which I'm climbing out off. Two semesters in a row (the last semester of tenth grade and first semester of eleventh grade), I had the same science teacher. First Chemistry, then Anatomy & Physiology.
I suck at science.
Me + Science + Science teacher that's really scary and loud and mega ultra super strict and scary = a very tired out student after multiple breakdowns (that included throwing my textbook at the wall multiple times), staying up late almost every night to study (when I have to get up at five to catch the grody bus), and just all around stressing out about failing.
Once I was free from that class (and that teacher), I slept and let myself get SUPER LAZY because I didn't have a hard class anymore. (Sleep, school, food, and Merlin was my daily schedule.) Since laziness is a natural trait that I have, it just got worse.
But I'm working off the laziness, and I'm actually getting better. X)
So, there you have it. I made you wait because I'm lazy, and I feel really bad it because you're all beautiful and sweet like…Prince Philip's smile, or the lantern scene in Tangled! I am so grateful that you all even kept coming back to this story for so long!
Sorry for the long author's note, SO IF YOU READ IT ALL, THEN I LOVE YOU.
Thank you so much you wonderful readers, and here's another chapter just for you. :)
The Isadora Diaries:
Weightless:
Sunday, April 15th (about Friday, April 13th)
Sorry about that.
I got a notification from Pinterest in my email, and I made the mistake of clicking on the website.
Once you get on that website, there's no getting off.
Then I just started procrastinating after that and now it's midnight…Happy Sunday!
That was a really bad place to stop, I'm so sorry.
Bad, Isadora. Bad.
Okay, now we're heading back into story mode.
DUN DUNDUNDUN DUNDUNDUN DUNDUNDUNDUN DUN DUNDUNDUN DUNDUNDUN DUNDUN
DOO WEE DOOOOOOOOO DOO WEE DOOOOOOOOOOO—
No?
Sorry.
Anywho…
I didn't make it two steps toward Klaus before my mother pulled me away by the arm and into a tight embrace.
"Isadora!" she exclaimed. "I heard the explosion and they told me what happened. Are you alive? Is an ambulance coming? Do I need to take you to the hospital? Can you talk? Speak if you can, blink if you can't."
"Mother," I said against her shirt, but it was muffled, so it sounded more like, "Muffer."
I pulled back from her and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, really. Wait, where's Dad?" I frowned when I saw that he wasn't with her. He was feeling sick earlier, I hoped he was all right.
"He's in the car with a paper bag. I was going to drop him off at home and come back for you later, but then I heard that explosion coming from inside the gym, and I had to come see if you and your brothers were all right!"
"Honestly, Mom, if anyone needs a hospital," Duncan said coming up behind her with Quigley, "it's you."
Quigley nodded in agreement. "Seriously, Mom, take it easy." He patted her shoulder. "No one died."
"No, but I almost did!" Our mother said. "Do you realize how worried I was when I heard that explosion? I thought 'Oh, no, they've blown up something else!'"
"Wait, wha-Mother!" I pulled away from her. "Why'd you think we had something to do with it?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me but have you met yourselves?"
"Don't worry, Mom, we had nothing to do with it. They even caught the girl who did it already," Duncan said.
"They already caught her?" I asked. "That was fast."
Duncan nodded. "She's an awful runner. She might want to work on that if she's going to pull more stuff like this in the future."
"Who was it?" I asked them.
Quigley frowned. "Her name is Bethany. She's a seventh grader, and she's been trying to become best friends with Corey since school started this year. I guess he planned this for her as some sort of final initiation."
Of course Corey would be involved somehow. I remembered how Quigley started hanging out with Corey earlier that year, and for the longest time, Quigley was such a jerk to me. Finally, when he saw Corey being mean to me, he left Corey and his gang, and the two of us have been on good terms ever since.
My mother rolled her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do if the three of you did something like that."
"You'd send us to an orphanage," Duncan mumbled under his breath.
"Are the police here?" Mother asked, looking towards the street. I could hear the sound of sirens getting louder and louder until a two police cars pulled up to the gymnasium.
"Come on, Isadora," she pulled me towards the cop cars, "let's go complain and get you compensation!"
By that, my mother meant, "Let's go yell at the policemen in a French accent for thirty minutes about how permanently scarred you are so that they can lock up that delinquent girl for the rest of her life for causing so much trauma to your little brain!"
I'll admit it, I'm afraid of fire, but I wasn't traumatized.
Sheesh.
I just stood there and let my mother complain while my brothers and their dates waited by the car to keep my dad company so he wouldn't feel sick and alone.
While I was watching my mother yell at the cops (along with another hoard of angry mothers that suddenly appeared), Klaus came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey," he smiled.
"Hi," I smiled back.
"Since the dance is canceled now, my mom is making me leave," he said rubbing the back of his neck. "I came to say goodbye."
"We're neighbors, Klaus," I said. "You could have come over later and said 'hello'."
He chuckled. "Well, I didn't think you'd like that with how you've been acting lately."
I tried to laugh lightly, but the memories of hurting him made it difficult. "Right, I'm really sorry about that Klaus." Then I added quickly, "It was nothing that you did! I was…it was…it's a really long story which you don't time for since you have to leave, but…I promise I'll explain later."
He frowned. "Are you sure? Do you promise that you're not going to push me away again?"
I nodded. "Cross my heart."
"Okay," he nodded, giving me a small smile. "I'll see you later, Iz."
"Goodbye, Klaus."
"You're lucky to be alive, Isadora!" Mother said as we pulled into our driveway. We had just dropped off Bea and Violet at their houses. Mark's dad picked him up before we left. I made sure to thank him for his help; he really was a great friend.
I also made it mandatory that he let me help him win over the girl he likes. He said not to worry about it, but we all know that he actually meant, "PLEASE HELP ME YOU TALENTED MATCHMAKER!"
Okay, not really, but I have to repay him in some way.
Anywho…
"I think I'm lucky to be alive, too," Dad mumbled. He wasn't throwing up anymore, but he still looked dreadful.
"Oh, Duncan, I told you not to take your coworkers to that restaurant for lunch," Mother said as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got of the car to help him out of his seat. "It's a knock-off French place; they don't cook the snails right."
As our mother helped our father into the house, my brothers each put an arm around me and said in unison (which is always a scary thing), "So, did the night end with Isadora getting a boyfriend?"
"Was it the hot and hunky Mark?" Quigley tried to flex his bicep.
"Or the sweet and sensitive Klaus?" Duncan gave me the puppy dog face.
I shook my head. "You're making it sound like I've been trying to decide between them!"
"You're right," Duncan nodded suddenly turning serious. "It's easy for anyone to see that there was never a decision to make."
Quigley nodded, also looking serious. "We knew that for you, it was always him."
I gave them both a strange look. "Excuse me?"
Duncan put a hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking. "Isadora, we know you're in love with…" he paused.
Then the two of them yelled, "Klaus Baudelaire!" and jumped on me, making me fall in the grass.
"He's a fictional charac—stop tickling me! No! Stop, please!" I laughed uncontrollably as my brothers on either side of me tickled me yelling things like, "Isadora's in love!", "Isadora wants to kiss a boy!", and "Isadora is going to get cooties!"
"Would you two cut it out already?!" I yelled still laughing.
Much to my surprise they both pulled away.
"We'll stop," Quigley said.
"But you also have to say when you were planning on telling us that you were getting blackmailed," Duncan said, propping himself on his elbow and looking down at me.
I frowned at him in confusion, and then I looked over at Quigley on my other side. He was wearing the same serious expression as Duncan.
"H-how did you find out?" I asked in a small voice.
"Bea told us everything when you pulled Haley off the side," Duncan said.
"She was worried that something would happen, so she explained everything to us so we could back you up," Quigley added.
"Mom made it to you first."
"But you didn't really look like you needed help so I guess it's okay."
"What happened?"
"And why didn't you tell us?"
"Were you ever going to tell us?"
My head was moving back and forth between the two of them as they each spat out a question. I was getting a bit dizzy.
"I-I didn't think you needed to know. It was my problem. I had to deal with it."
Duncan scoffed. "Is that why you told Bea and Mark?"
"And not us?"
I shook my head.
"And why wouldn't we need to know?" Duncan asked.
"We're your brothers," Quigley said, "we always need to know when something is wrong with you."
"What made you think we didn't?"
"Are we bad brothers?"
"No," I shook my head. "No, you're great brothers! But there was nothing you could have done. At the very end, it was just between me and Haley."
"You're wrong," Duncan argued. "We would've thought of something."
"After all this time we've spent together—"
"Getting in and out of trouble—"
"Do you really think we couldn't have thought of anything?"
"Did you forget, Isadora?"
"We're triplets," Quigley said matter-of-factly. "We can kind of do anything."
"Three heads are better than one, after all."
Quigley reached for my hand. "When someone messes with you, they mess with the three of us."
Duncan took my other hand. "Don't you ever think we're not here for you. Not for a second."
I really didn't know what to say. I didn't tell them in the first place because I wasn't going to tell anyone. And when I actually started asking for help, I didn't even think to ask my brothers. I figured they would've gotten upset and wouldn't have been much help anyhow. But now that I think about it, the two of them could have cooked up some wacky scheme that would've worked perfectly. We'd all end up grounded again for some reason, but it'd work.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," I apologized, avoiding each of their gazes. "I was so worried about the video that I wasn't thinking straight."
Quigley sighed. "I guess it's all right."
"You're not scarred or anything," Duncan pulled my arm up and looked at it.
"And you're still breathing."
Quigley and Duncan looked at each other for a moment, and then they looked back at me and said in unison, "We'll forgive you this one time."
I smiled and sat up to kiss them both on the cheek.
"Woah," Quigley said, giving me surprised look, "first you dress like a girl, now you're acting like a girl?"
"Oh gods," Duncan went wide-eyed, "don't let her start talking like a girl, or else it'll really be the end of the world!"
I rolled my eyes. "You two are so ridiculous that sometimes I wonder if we really are triplets."
"Of course we are!" Duncan exclaimed putting an arm around me. "Our identical arm freckles prove it!"
I threw my head back and laughed. "Right! Because all the world's mysteries can be solved by presence of arm freckles!"
Quigley put his arm around me too. "Yup! And ours prove that you're stuck with us!"
Then they finished in unison, "For life!"
And, honestly, I'm more than perfectly fine with that.
It was almost eleven o'clock, but after all that happened I was way too restless to get any sleep. Not that I ever go to bed at ten anyway. That's way too early.
I had changed into sweats and a t-shirt so that I could sit in my room and scroll through websites on my laptop in comfort.
My mother was nursing my father in their room, and my brothers were watching a rerun of the match they missed on TV.
We were all pretty much doing our own thing, so when the doorbell rang, I was a little confused.
My brothers are too lazy to do anything that involves getting up (and you're dead wrong if you think they'd get up during a match), and my parents were a little busy, so that left me to answer the door. At first I was worried about it being a robber or something because, honestly, who rings the doorbell at eleven at night?
But then I remembered that robbers don't usually ring the doorbell.
Duh.
I hurried downstairs to the front door and opened it to see Klaus standing outside in his regular clothes.
"Hello, Isadora," he smiled. His expression quickly changed to a worried one. "Am I bothering you? I know it's late, but I-"
I interrupted him and gave him a reassuring smile. "No, you're fine. You just took me by surprise, that's all."
"Okay, well, can you come out?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
I looked down at my sweats and suddenly felt embarrassed about him seeing me in them, but I figured running upstairs to change into some regular clothes wasn't an option.
"Sure," I said, feeling a bit awkward as I stepped outside and closed the door behind me.
We stood there in an awkward silence, and I found myself glancing down at my socks (why didn't I put on shoes before I stepped outside?) more than a few times.
"So…" he began.
"So…" I repeated.
I glanced up at him, and I saw he was looking at me like he was expecting something.
"I owe you that explanation, don't I?"
"Nah," he shook his head. "We can just talk…but if you want to talk about it…I won't stop you."
I nodded. "Well, I—"
"Isadora you had me going crazy this past week!" he blurted out, making me jump. "I know you weren't just mad at me because of the fight we had, Isadora. We used to fight all the time, but we've never ended our friendship over one! And then you started acting really weird, like, more than usual."
"Klaus, I can—"
"You spit on the note I gave you, laughed about it, and still acted like you were mad at me. I don't think I've ever been more confused in my life than that day! I mean, you were about to cry the day before, and the next day you were laughing? But...you still didn't want to be friends with me?"
I covered my face with my hand so he wouldn't see me trying to hold back laughter. I remember just how weird I was acting, and I still thought it was pretty funny, but Klaus was being serious, and I didn't want him to think that I wasn't taking him seriously.
"Then you punched me in the face—"
I couldn't help it. A laugh fought its way out of me.
I tried to disguise it as a cough, but Klaus wasn't buying it.
He looked at me in disbelief. "Are you seriously laughing?"
I was covering my mouth with both hands now, and it was getting harder to keep from laughing now that he'd brought it up!
"I'm not laughing," I tried to say without slipping up as I shook my head.
"I can't believe you're laughing at me."
"No I'm not!" I grabbed his shoulders and said, "Yes, I'm laughing! Ha, ha, ha, ha! Laughter! But I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at myself because of how stupid I was acting trying to get you to hate, when I really don't want you to! I'm laughing because I'm so happy that I don't have to pretend anymore and that I can still be your friend and not have to worry about what might happen if I do or don't do what Haley says or did say because I'm finally free!"
I let go if his shoulders and took a step a back. I couldn't tell if he was staring at me in fear form my outburst, or confusion, or what.
"So, no, Klaus," I said in a softer tone. "I'm not laughing at you—never at you. I'm sorry I made you feel like that I didn't want to be your friend anymore when I really do. I don't actually hate you. You didn't do anything wrong."
I glanced down at my socks as I said that and waited for a response. When I didn't get one I looked back up at him and saw him frowning. He definitely looked confused.
"Can I get that explanation now?" he asked.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and averted my gaze to the side. "It's kind of long story…you sure you want to hear it?"
He nodded. "Oh, yes."
Out of everyone, Klaus deserved to be told what happened the most. So we sat down on the front steps and I told him everything, starting with the visit to Uncle Craig's house. That's where everything started.
I told him about how I drove Uncle Craig's car, and my mom got mad, so she made me and my brothers volunteer at a zoo, which lasted about a day because we rode around the zoo on an elephant (he will not believe that part for the life of me). I told him about how my mom had to pay one thousand dollars for the damage we caused, and we had to pay her back, so we spent all of our spring break doing odd jobs, hosting a movie party, tutoring Bea, making sandwiches that ended up in Bea and Duncan officially going to the dance together, all to pay back the money.
Then I told him about Grayson's birthday party, and how we were getting paid to dress up and perform as the MM&M characters.
"That's why you were dressed as a multiplication sign?" he asked.
I nodded, cringing at the memory. "Do you remember when all those little kids attacked me and their parents had to pry their kids off and help me up?"
Klaus started laughed before I even finished talking. "I'm sorry! It's not funny! It's not—I just—" he coughed and straightened up. "It's not. Funny, I mean. It's not…funny."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Uh-huh…anywho…"
I continued to tell him about the incident where I set the monkey on fire…and everything that happened before and after.
"Haley said that if I stayed friends with you, she would post the embarrassing videos of me and my brothers online, and…I couldn't let that happen."
"So you mean to tell me," he said, "that Haley was blackmailing you, and you didn't tell anyone? Why didn't you tell someone? Your mom, your brothers? You could've told me, I would've helped you!"
"Yeah, but you would've wanted to 'do the right thing' whatever that's supposed to mean, and that's really just the harder way to go about things, no offense."
"And that's a bad thing?" he asked, looking a little offended, even though I clearly said "no offense".
I shook my head. "No. At first I thought that I had no choice but to follow through with Haley's orders, so I did."
"'At first'?"
I nodded. "Then I got the idea to steal Haley's phone and just delete the videos myself. So I got Bea and Mark to help me steal her phone—you know how you had to play that dumb dating game? Yeah, that was our doing. We set that up."
"Wait, what?"
"We made you play the dating game, what's so hard to understand?"
He was giving me an incredulous look. "How you managed to do that…"
I made a face. "I guess it does sound a bit weird hearing it, huh?"
He nodded. "Little bit…"
"Anywho," I continued, "Mark managed to grab a phone, but he grabbed the wrong one. The twins confronted me about it when they realized that I had the phone, and that's when I pulled Haley to the side to basically beg for my freedom."
"So that's what you two were fighting about?" he asked.
I nodded. "We talked—loudly, I might add, but in the end…Haley deleted the videos herself…the end."
"'The end'?"
"Yeah."
"Really? That's it?"
"Uh-huh."
"Okay, uh, question one: why did you go to Mark and not me? Don't say it's because I would've wanted to do the right thing, which isn't that bad, you know. If you tried it every now and then, you would know."
I honestly didn't agree. I've always thought that doing the right thing was boring, but I said grudgingly, "You're right, and I'm sorry. I still should've told you something about what was going on instead of hurting your feelings and being rude to you."
Although I wasn't sure how him knowing would have worked in my master plan to steal Haley's phone, but whatev—OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
Man, ugh, I could've used him to find out her passcode and delete the videos. Insider work! Duh!
It would have taken some persuasion because, you know, he's Mr. Do-The-Right-Thing, but it would've worked!
Oh, well, it's over now, and I'm perfectly okay with how things turned out.
Even if it was a little stressful.
I think it gave me gray hairs.
Anywho…
Klaus gave me that smile I always liked to see and said, "I guess it's all right now. Okay, question two: why did Haley want you to stay away from me?"
I gave him a look that said, "Are you freaking kidding me?"
"Do I need to spell it out for you, Klaus?" I deadpanned. "She liked you. Probably still does actually. She saw me as a threat because we're so close, though I don't know why she would think you would, um," I coughed to hide the next couple of words I was going to say, "like me." Then I added quickly, "That doesn't matter, though, because she just did."
At this point, I was blushing, so I was thanking the universe that it was dark outside except for the streetlamp all the way at the other end of the yard.
"Klaus," I said, "after all that time you spent hanging out together…didn't you ever think that she might have feeling for you?"
Klaus ripped some grass from the ground and began tearing it into smaller pieces. "Yeah, I kind of figured. I think that's why I hung out with her so much."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Didn't you like her too?"
"Well," he furrowed his brow, "I always thought she was kind of all right, but I never really liked her like that."
I shook my head in confusion. "Then why were you hanging out with her so much?"
Klaus still wouldn't look at me. He just kept ripping grass. "Well, we weren't talking, and I felt really bad about how I acted, but I didn't think you'd hear me out, and Haley was asking to hang out with me sometime. I just sort of figured that if I started to hang out with Haley, then I would forget how I felt about not talking to you anymore." He paused before continuing. "I thought that maybe I really would start to like her."
"Did you…?" my voice trailed off.
He shook his head. "No, I couldn't."
He finally turned his head to look at me. "I couldn't bring myself to like her because I couldn't stop thinking about you."
I think my heart stopped beating in that moment. My entire body just froze, and my mind was wiped clean of any human response. I literally just sat there staring at him open-mouthed.
(Congratulations, Isadora, you managed to make yourself look like a brainless dolt. Bravo!)
When Klaus realized that I wasn't going to say anything (because my brain had literally melted), he quickly looked back down at his hands, which were still fiddling with pieces of grass. "Sorry, that sounded really weird. I'm sorry—"
"No!" I interrupted, finally coming to my senses enough to speak somewhat coherently. "No, i-it's fine—completely fine, actually, because, honestly…" I paused and really thought about what I was going to say and whether I should say it or not.
Under any normal circumstance, my brain would've screamed, "NOPE! UH-UH, YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH, GIRL."
But saying it to him at that moment felt perfectly right. Absolutely nerve-wrecking, of course, but it still felt perfectly right.
"Honestly," I said finally, "I couldn't stop thinking about you either."
Then he gave me that brilliant smile, and that's when I knew I'd said the right thing.
Klaus scooted closer to me so that our bodies were almost touching. "While we we're confessing things…there's something that I want to tell you."
My heart beat sped up until I was sure I was about to have a heart attack.
"What's that?" I asked, my throat suddenly feeling dry.
He hesitated before speaking. "I was kind of hoping that at the dance…I'd get a chance to dance with you?"
He was wearing the most serious expression on his face, but I was having trouble believing him. I liked the sound of that way too much.
"Really?" I asked.
He nodded, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "Yeah…would you if I asked? Dance, I mean."
My eyes searched him for any sign that he might be joking or playing a prank or something.
Nothing.
He sounded honest, but it was like what he was saying was almost too good to be true. He hadn't come out and said he liked me (and I still had my doubts that he would), but I felt like anything close to it wasn't real.
Yet it was.
So I nodded and said, "Yes."
"Good," his grin grew and I felt him put his hand on top of mine, making my heart race even faster than before.
Without warning, he stood up and pulled me with him, placing his other hand on my waist. "So you'll dance with me then?"
I looked up at him, confused at his sudden action and request. "Right now? We can hardly see. And there's not even any music!"
"Okay, come on, then!" he dragged me across the yard and to the spot underneath the streetlamp where we could see each other clearly under the yellow glow.
"We can dance to the sound of life!" he said in a grand voice, moving his arm in a wide arc in front of us.
I paused. "The sound of life sounds like crickets."
Klaus smirked. "Yeah, you're always one to be picky."
He pulled his iPhone out of his back pocket and said, "Technology is a wonderful thing."
I gasped. "You remembered!"
He gave me a quizzical look. "What? How technology works?"
I shook my head. "No, that you have a phone."
"Oh," he chuckled. "Only when I need it."
He tapped the screen a few times and said, "Okay, since I'm nice, I'll even let you pick the song."
My mind went blank. Even though the two of us were close friends, our tastes in music were very different. I didn't know what we wanted to hear!
I shrugged. "I don't know. You pick."
He shook his head. "No, you have to. I asked you to dance so you pick the song."
"Okay, uh…I don't know, Good Time?" I asked, naming a song that was played at the dance.
"A song we can actually dance to, Isadora."
"We Are Young?" Another song that was played at the dance.
"You can do better than that."
I really tried thinking of a good song, but all I could think of were pop songs that apparently couldn't be danced to in Klaus's eyes. Then I remembered a song that was a favorite of my mother's, and I told him the name.
"What now?"
I told him again.
He chuckled. "That's not English."
"It doesn't have to be English to be good!" I protested.
"Well, I can't spell it!"
"Just give it here!" I took his phone and searched for the song. "There." I handed it back to him.
He played the slow song and set it down on the sidewalk. As the piano began to play, he bowed and held out his hand. "May I have this dance?" I couldn't help letting out a small laugh. "You may." And I took his hand.
Klaus placed his hand on the small of my back and pulled me closer to him, and I placed my hand on his shoulder. He smiled down at me as he moved his forehead closer to mine.
"I really missed you, Isadora," he whispered, gently pressing his forehead against mine.
I lowered my gaze so I wouldn't have to look him in the eye. So many emotions were stirring inside of me. My stomach was in knots, I could feel my palms getting sweaty from my anxiety of just being so close to him like that and not knowing what would happen.
Most of all, I was feeling ecstatic. Just hearing those words made my nerves go in frenzy. All this time I was thinking about him, but I never thought he would actually be thinking of me too. My entire being grew warm at the realization and I whispered back to him, "I missed you, too."
He lowered his head so that his forehead was laying on mine, and the tips of our noses were touching. I bit my lip, but that couldn't stop me from smiling.
He brought our interlocked hands and pressed them to his chest. His thumb rubbed circles on the back of my hand, sending chills down my spine.
I don't remember the music playing.
I don't even remember moving in the slightest way.
But I can perfectly recall is him resting the side of his face on mine, and the way he held me close.
I could've stayed like that for an eternity.
But that would've been too good of a dream come true.
"The music's stopped," he muttered.
"What music?" I said so quietly that I'm not sure he heard me.
He took a small step back, but he didn't let go of me just yet. His blue eyes looked into my brown ones.
"Isadora?"
"Yes?"
He took a deep breath and…stepped back, letting go of me completely.
"Thank you," he said, avoiding my gaze. "For the dance, I mean."
"Yeah," I responded, not sure if I was able to say more than one more at a time.
A wave of nerves washed over me, and I suddenly felt too awkward to say anything else, and I kept my eyes down at my feet.
He grabbed his phone and pointed to his house and took a few steps towards it. "It's getting late. I should probably…"
I nodded, still trying to avoid looking at him. "Yeah, yeah. Me too."
"All right, goodnight, Isadora."
I took a few backward steps toward my house. "Goodnight, Klaus."
I managed to fully look at him one more time after he turned around before I actually started for my house.
Although dancing with him was almost like a dream, and I was so excited that something like that had even happened, I couldn't but feel a little disappointed.
I thought that maybe…I hoped that maybe…
Suddenly, I was grabbed by my wrist and jerked right into Klaus's chest. I was about to complain about his abrupt actions, but he interrupted me by pressing his warm lips against mine, engulfing me with his strong warmth and scent of his cologne. At first, my eyes were wide open in surprise, but I soon melted into the kiss as his lips moved gently across mine.
All too soon, he pulled away from me entirely.
I stood there, completely frozen.
My best friend had just given me my first kiss.
"Sorry," he muttered, sounding embarrassed and looking down at his feet. "Sorry, I just…I had to…" his voice trailed off. He looked at me, and I noticed that he almost looked…scared.
I had no idea how to respond. Can you believe it? Here was my first (and possibly last) chance to tell Klaus how I felt, and my brain wasn't working enough to even think of one word to say!
"Just forget I did that," he said, stepping backwards towards his house.
I thought of saying, "No," but instead, I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into another kiss.
It was hardly longer than a peck, but when I pulled away, he had the biggest smile on his face.
And I did too.
"So you…" he didn't have to finish his question.
I nodded, laughing a little. As if he actually had to ask after that. "Yes."
"And you and Mark aren't…?"
I shook my head. "No."
His smile grew. "Good."
He reached for my hands and interlocked our fingers. "So would it be too much if I asked you to be my girlfriend?"
Let's go back and read the other fifty-eight entries in this diary and see if it would be 'too much'.
My heart skipped a beat. I had to hold myself back from screaming an excited reply in his face. That would've (not) been attractive.
I took a deep breath and said as calmly as I could manage, "No, not at all."
We stood there awkwardly for a moment, just smiling.
Klaus abruptly pulled his hands away and took out his phone. "Isadora, would you dance with me again? This time as my girlfriend?"
I nodded. "It'd be my pleasure."
He played a fast song that I recognized to be really popular and put it on the ground next to us. He bowed the same way he did the first time he asked me to dance. "Your hand, milady?"
"We can't dance to this song, Klaus," I deadpanned.
Klaus smirked. "You're so picky, Isadora. It's unbelievable."
I rolled my eyes. He stood up straight and grabbed my hands, pulling me into a silly dance where he twirled me around and dipped me.
Klaus and I have had a lot of fun together in the time that we've known each other, but that's my best memory with him so far. We danced and goofed around for over an hour before both of us were called into our separate houses (quite loudly, might I add).
Once I was in my room, I tried to scroll through the usual pages on my laptop but I was too giddy to concentrate. I also tried to start typing my diary entry, but it took forever because I kept stopping and reliving what happened earlier. I was still experiencing the butterflies, the racing heart, and the ecstasy. When I was with Klaus, I felt, and still feel, absolutely weightless.
OMG THERE IT IS.
I never spent so long on a chapter (over a week O.o)…or got frustrated so much on one…or got Writer's Block so many times on one…I think this chapter killed me.
But I'm happy it's finally done! :D
With the songs they danced to, you can imagine any one that you want.
Thanks to my sister for reading over it and making any correction that she made since she knows I'm too lazy for that.
"I will never stop trying
I will never stop watching as you leave
I will never stop losing my breath
Every time I see you looking back at me
I will never stop holding your hand
I will never stop opening your door
I will never stop choosing you, babe
I will never get used to you…"
~ "Never Stop" (Wedding Version) by Safetysuit
See you in the epilogue.
;)