What If #justwriteit #fanfic

Chapter Five: Brooke

I felt like squealing but instead, I pinched myself. All the grossness from the party immediately wore off. I was having a hard time catching my breath, I was in absolute shock and disbelief as I read and reread that simple text. What should I say in response? I wasn't ready to share with my friends yet so I couldn't ask them. Or should I?

Pretty certain excitement would steal my voice, I cleared my throat, "Um, you guys?" I handed Melanie my phone, "Read this."

I stared at her face as she scanned the text, looking confused, "Who is that? Knox? I can't believe he has the nerve to text you, that asshole!"

I grabbed her shoulder and she turned in her seat to face me, "Jesse, Melanie. That text is from Jesse." The thrill of saying it out loud caused shivers to travel my spine.

Melanie's jaw dropped comically, "How do you know? I mean, how..."

Keeping her eyes on the road, Jill started squirming in her seat, "How do you know for sure? What's the number?"

I scooted to the center seat and rested my elbows on the console, "Different area code. And, it's not anyone from my contacts because the name didn't pop up. I left my number on the table, he must have found it!" My heart was about to pop out of my throat, "How do I respond, you guys? I don't want to sound like an immature fangirl."

"Hmm.." Jill drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, "Why don't you ask who it is first, before exploding?"

"You're right. Yeah, you're right." I took my phone out of Melanie's hand, "I'm just going to find out if it's even worth getting excited over. It could be just a random person who got hold of my number tonight."

I quickly texted back, asking who it was. And then proceeded to shake with anticipation as I waited for a response. We rolled up my driveway and I couldn't move to open the door, not until my suspicions were confirmed and I had my friends as witnesses.

Five minutes later, a response in the form of a picture. It was Jesse, smiling broadly on top of his bed. Looking hot, of course. His brown hair all messy and his ginormous blue eyes staring straight at me. I started screaming that excited girl scream I hated. Which, in turn, caused Melanie and Jill to start screaming too. Three screaming idiots, one louder and more shrill than the next. 

"Give me that phone. Right now!" Melanie's hands were in front of my nose, "NOW!"

With one last gape of the screen, so I could burn the image into my brain, I passed it to her so she could have proof. "I think I might die. I do. I think I'm going to die, right here, right now."

Jill was looking at the phone which was still in Melanie's grabby paws, "Stay with us, Brookie. He's expecting a response!" Her voice was high-pitched with excitement, "Are you going to send back a picture?"

"What do I do?" I couldn't believe I was making this into a group effort. I'm a twenty-one year old woman, I should be able to handle this type of male-female interaction on my own. But, in my defense, this particular male still decorated the walls of my bedroom.

Handing me back my phone for the second time, Melanie sighed, "Picture. Send a picture. Fluff your hair up a bit." She stared at me, inspecting the goods, "On second thought, your hair is fluffy enough. Just take the freaking pic. And smile big."

Three poses later, a passable picture was sent back to Jesse, "I feel like a stupid teenager right now. I'm ridiculous. This is impossible and improbable. Nothing is ever going to happen, he's Jesse Martins, super bass god and mega superstar. And, I'm Brooke Tolbert, a nothing and a nobody in the scheme of things. Yeah, I'm really good at the self-confidence and self love.