rodrick's pov
i don't how it happened exactly, but the moment the song ended, i didn't expect seeing the crowd so invested in our performance.
we heard cheering all throughout the gymnasium, it felt absolutely great. i couldn't stop smiling knowing not only was the performance good but to see giselle in the crowd looking directly at me.
god she blew my breath away. i couldn't keep my eyes off her, despite everyone else cheering so loud and moving around.
i jumped off the stage, my heart starting to raise a bit more as i made my way to wear giselle stood. people started moving out of the way, making room for me as i walked past them, knowing exactly where i wanted to go.
giselle grinned, hiding shy next to zara and at this point i didnt care who else was around. she was the only person i wanted to see this entire night.
"hi," i let out, as if it was a word i was dying to say.
she smiled at me, "hey." she chuckled. "i like your song."
"did you now?"
she nodded enthusiastically. "yes, it's ironic you perform it now. i thought you said we aren't friends." she shrugged, teasingly hinting at our falling out at the nursing home.
i lowered my head, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "god." i cringed, as i looked back up at her face. "i was so stupid."
"you are," she agreed.
"i didn't mean it."
"of course you didn't."
"and i'm so sorry—" i felt myself get cut off at the sight of rowley and greg running across the entryway of the gymnasium followed by the actual band hired to perform.
my eyes almost popped out of its sockets, realising what was happening.
"shit!" i exclaimed.
"rodrick! run!" i heard ben yell from behind me. i turn around quickly and saw both ben and jerry running off the stage where security was already prepping to catch them.
my heart was now beating out of my chest.
"fuck! i'm sorry!" i apologised to giselle who looked at me all confused.
i made a run for it, catching a glimpse of one of the security guards that was chasing after me specifically. the rest of the people at the dance looked absolutely taken aback at what was going on, and all i could see was quinn trying to distract the sisters from trying to catch jerry who tripped over some wires.
my ears were ringing as i made my way back to the back side of the gymnasium. i caught ahold of greg by the door and we both made a run for it.
god, the adrenaline was rushing through my veins like crazy and i couldn't help but laugh at the situation i put myself in.
ben ran out from another exit practically begging for air, carrying jerry in his arms bridal style. "open the van! they're coming!" he exclaimed while i fumbled for the keys. soon enough, rowley came running out too also out of breath.
i really am the biggest idiot. i finally had the opportunity to talk to giselle and i get myself chased by her school's security.
i finally got the doors open and i got in the drivers seat.
"drive dickhead!"
giselle pov's
the dance was an absolute mess at this point and i wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. i push past the crowd of people that the sisters were trying to calm down trying to look for zara or quinn.
zara had ran off trying to make sure ben made it out safely and quinn was somewhere playing actress of the year, since she apparently was the reason loaded diper was able to play at our school.
"fuck," i cursed, taking my heels off and running out of the gymnasium and into the hallways, where i saw no familiar face.
where was he?
the moment the security began to chase rodrick down, i was trying to find him, in hopes that wherever he was going he'd take me with him. leave it up to rodrick heffley to come up with one hell of an apology only to get himself into trouble.
i ran out of the school hallways and out into the parking lot where the cold air of the night began to hit me. i shivered considering i didn't have anything to cover myself, since my dress was satin and spaghetti strapped.
but i made my way through the parking lot trying to look for a way out of here. i reached for my phone in my small purse and took out my cellphone, which to my surprise, has already been bombarded with so many texts from rodrick.
i'm sorry.
i'm so fucking sorry.
i grinned. it wasn't his fault that he doesn't think things through and if anything, i was going to make sure everything was right with us by tonight. i'm going to set things straight and tell rodrick everything i've been dying to say.
"gi!" i heard quinn's voice call out my name.
i turned around, noticing her zara and cora walking up to me.
"where have you guys been?" i asked.
"helped the boys escape and got the sisters off my back." quinn explained.
"do any of you have a car by any chance?" i asked hopefully.
cora shrugged lifting up her car keys.
that was all i needed.
rodrick's pov.
"tonight was a bust." i sighed, punching the steering wheel in frustration.
"no it wasn't dude." ben reassured me.
"yeah man," jerry chimed in. "you shoulda seen giselle's face. she was beaming the entire time. chick's so into you bro."
i sighed, burying my hands in my face. we had just dropped off rowley and greg at the jefferson residence. turns out the twerp was given permission to sleepover.
"look, thanks for the ride home," jerry said, patting me on the shoulder. "whatever happens man, you should just tell giselle you wanna be with her."
ben looked like he was about to say something until his phone signalled that he had a text message. he stayed silent for a second before unbuckling his seatbelt. "yeah, i'll stay with jerry tonight." he announced, leaving me confused.
"i can drop you home man," i said.
ben shrugged, getting out of the front seat. "it's cool, my mom's ...running an errand anyway and i don't mind staying over here, right jer?"
jerry looked unsure but nodded his head hesitantly anyway. "yeah..right."
"just go home and rest, rodrick." ben chuckled. "you've had a long night and one way or another. we had a great performance."
"we're definitely getting our street cred man!" jerry exclaimed as they both made their way out of the van and into jerry's house.
i sighed, starting up the engine and making my way home. for some reason, i couldn't get my mind off gigi. i had sent her some messages telling her how sorry i was. i wanted to make things right, i wanted this to be the night where i told her how sorry i was for being a piece of shit.
i should've known what i had when i did and i shouldn't have felt that she was going to hurt me. i don't wanna step my boundaries and get her into shit if i showed up at her house. the last thing i need is to ruin her relationship with her parents, it was bad enough her mom answered the door when i went over.
so instead i just let my thoughts consume me as i drove my way home. the drive wasn't that far, considering jerry didn't leave too far from where we lived. soon enough, i had reached home and tiredly parked the van on the curb. i could care less how shitty my parking looked.
i switched the engine off, took a pause to think to myself before walking out of the van. i kept the keys in my pockets, basically dragging my feet as i walked trying to help myself feel better.
the sound of a car horn made my skin jump in surprise, as i turned towards where the sound came from like a deer in headlights. i could barely make out who was honking at me, considering the car lights were blinding my vision.
all i could see was a figure approaching me in a hurry. "hey captain!" a familiar voice exclaimed and soon enough, i recognised giselle's face.
oh dear god, my heart stopped and i could hardly believe that she was actually here.
she smiled, seeing my reaction. "are we really still in the staring at each other phase?"
i grinned, walking closer to where she stood. there was no denying the huge smiles on both our faces. "i thought you were mad at me."
"and i thought you got arrested." she chuckled.
i shrugged, stopping right in front of her. "well i could've been."
"thank god, you didn't." she laughed. " this would've been much harder to say in jail."
i furrowed my brows at her, "what would be hard to say?"
her entire face lit up in a way i've never really seen before. she took a short pause before speaking up again. " i really like you rodrick heffley."
absolute music to my ears, i thought. this was sparking the best feeling i've felt in a while.
"the feeling's mutual aoki." i said, "and i'm sorry for saying what i did and pushing you away. i got scared and i should've told you what i felt."
"it's okay, i understand." she grinned. "i mean i got scared too and i pushed you away. so i guess we're even."
"yeah i guess we are." i agreed.
an awkward silence came between us as we both stood in front of each other, not far apart and much closer than we've ever been. it was night time now, probably eleven pm and giselle aoki was standing right in front of me. i can see the stars above behind her and she was still standing right in front of me, by my house in my driveway.
she began to speak up, talking on and on about how she was happy to see me and that she was planning on telling me everything she's been wanting to say but all i did was stare at her.
because that's what i liked to do, i loved to admire giselle aoki. she was the most amazing girl ive ever met in my entire life and i could listen to hear talk about anything all my life.
the girl i saw by chance on a lousy sunday night before the new school year started. the girl who i was too afraid to speak to, the girl i never thought would ever look at a guy like me was standing right in front of me.
"well, what i'm trying to say is," she said, moving closer to me that the gap in between us was getting smaller. "i..i wanna be with you."
i remained quiet, trying to take in everything that was happening in this moment. i felt like i couldn't think straight and everything was happening all at once, but this was it. this was my moment.
"god i missed you." i said, placing my palm on her cheek as i stared into her beautiful eyes. they were really pretty up close.
she grinned, latching her arms onto my neck. "i missed you too."
"and i'm sorry." i repeated.
"you said that already." she giggled.
"and i've never felt this way before too, so it's like woah what the fuck you know?" i babbled causing her to laugh even more.
"i get it rodrick."
"but oh my god, i missed you."
she smiled. "i missed you too."
"and I wanna be with you," I whispered, before leaning in any closer.
giselle's eyes never left mine and as I looked at her face, into her deep dark brown eyes, I understood why. This feeling that we had going between us, this energy- oh God, why am I rambling? If she could hear my thoughts, she'd probably be extremely tired of me. Why haven't I kissed her yet, isn't this what I've been fantasizing about for so long? Everything's happening so fast, even though it took so long to get to this exact point. Her lips look so pretty right now, I could just trace them, but I should kiss them. That is what lips are for, right?
"rodrick, " giselle sighed "all i ever wanted was somebody who understood me and the more i get closer to you, the more i realise how much you mean to me."
locking our fingers together with my left hand, I traced her jaw with my right, etching her skin with my index. I wanted giselle to know how much i cared about her too. I let the tracing end at her palm, where I lightly wrap my hand. Nothing else matters right now, only she does.
"wow this is really happening now huh?" i chuckled, trying to not let my awkwardness get the best of me.
we were still so close to one another, one move and the gap holding us apart would be gone.
"Oh, God, are you serious right now? " giselle laughed.
i gave her a funny look and she playfully rolls her eyes at me. "What?"
"rodrick, you've been inching closer to me each second. what else do you think is happening right now? I can't stand it, much less stand up with this waiting game."
"waiting game?! wait, you mean like foreplay? do you even know what that means? I haven't even kissed you yet!" I gasped dramatically, completely ruining the tension between us
she looked taken aback, holding on to her head in shock. "foreplay? oh my god, are you crazy?" she laughed out loud, with the biggest smile on her face. "way to ruin a moment rodrick heffley, if you wanted to kiss me so bad, why don't you just do it?" she said, crossing her arms together giving me her "very serious' look.
I probably would have told her that I was scared, this entire time, if she wasn't looking at me as she was right now- with so much humor and taunting. I know she just wanted me to kiss her, but she said it with so much of a challenge. If that's how Giselle wants to keep me edged, so be it.
I grinned at her, before slowly walking up to her once more. Her face was starting to tense up and I didn't want to lose my confidence any longer. I gave her another sheepish grin as she smiled at me, before i slowly placed my hand back onto her cheek gently. I looked into her eyes and found myself feeling at home, before finally placing my lips onto hers.
this was it. this was my moment.
my ears felt like they were ringing and i couldn't hardly believe this. i was finally kissing giselle aoki. the girl of my dreams.
she wrapped her arms around my neck and i pulled her in closer, as we continued to be trapped in this long awaited kiss. after everything else we'd been through, i never thought we would ever be here in this exact moment.
she ran her fingers through my hair as i held on to her gently, wanting to keep her close in my arms. she was everything i ever wanted.
everything was starting to feel a little too perfect until-
the sound of a car honk startled the both of us that we both broke free from the other's hold in shock. giselle must've been scared shitless since her arm accidentally came in contact with my face, hitting my nose in the process.
"shit!" she cussed, realising the pain i was feeling as i bent over, holding onto my nose that was starting to bleed heavily.
i looked to my side and realised jerry had honked at us inside zara's car where everyone else was watching us. how convenient. my friends, ladies and gentlemen. "sorry!" jerry yelled, as zara began to reverse the car away.
"rodrick oh my god," giselle sighed, trying to lift my head up. "i'm so sorry! i got scared!"
her worry started to subside once she heard the laughter that was pouring out of me. this was hilarious. after months and months of constant teasing about me
breaking her nose.
we were finally even.
"hey aoki?" i questioned.
"yeah?"
"you owe me a new nose." i chuckled.
she laughed, as she whacked my arm and took me to the side to inspect my nose. "you're not getting another kiss after that little joke."
"oh my god! i'm sorry okay!"
our first kiss although not perfect, thanks to jerry, was still everything i ever wanted it to be. god just having giselle next to me. i am more than happy.
••••••••••••
THE END!!!!
thanks for everything guys!
this story meant so so much to me!
and to everyone who stayed and read 'till the end. you all are awesome :))))))
sorry this took forever! i was trying to finish up my university stuff before publishing! but hope you enjoyed this and take care!