"I thought we were going to the beach side, Cindy, not your bedroom shore," I complained impatiently, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"I'm just looking for--aha!" Cindy raised her hand, holding out a brush.
A brush? Seriously? That was the thing that came between me and riding my bike?
In her defence, finding something in her room was a challenge of epic proportions. Sure, it was average sized, but...it was big on clutter. I quickly glanced at the floor; there was an array of clothing, rumpled pieces of paper, and a handful of shoes. Cindy Fellows was one of the messiest human beings I knew. Pretty sure the only thing the girl could keep neat and tidy were her grades. She'd been perfectly atop the cohort rankings since elementary school. No one could even come close to her. It was like trying to beat a boulder with a twig.
Rolling my eyes at said brainiac, I tugged on her wrist and basically dragged her out of the room. But that was beside the point, she brought it upon herself. Bottom line: I just really wanted to go biking. I didn't want to stay inside for another minute, it was such a nice day for cycling. Just as we were about to head out, Cindy's mother blocked our exit.
So close, I thought to myself.
"Hey, Mrs F," I said with a sheepish smile. "We were just about to go, you know, biking."
"Exactly," she replied, giving us this look and pointing at the living room. Obviously, Cindy and I obliged. No need to cause unnecessary problems.
So much for fun in the sun...
I quickly released Cindy's wrist, so as to not look pushy. Because I wasn't. Well, I didn't think I was anyway.
Cindy and I went to sit down next to each other on the sofa, while Mrs Fellows seated herself across from us. I stared at the little wooden coffee table in front of me, losing myself in thought yet again. In truth, I was only half listening to the conversation.
"Charlie, could you please put those headphones away?" I heard Mrs Fellows ask. Her voice was soft with a hint of authority; a subtle command.
I didn't even realise that Charlie was in the same room. When I looked up, I wasn't expecting to see him there, sitting so casually on the armrest. My observation skills were just so efficient.
Imagine if the thing breaks? Man, his face would look priceless if he plants it smack on the floor!
I burst out in a fit of laughter at the silliness of my thoughts. Suddenly, everyone was staring at me as if I was a deranged hobo. In some cases, okay, maybe I was, but right now I needed to do some damage control.
"I-I remembered something from yesterday, you see. It was very funny," I mumbled trying to reassure them that I was 97% sane. Evidently, it was a sad attempt and I sounded more like I was trying to convince myself, but I tried. It was pathetic, but I tried. Cindy made it even worse when she gave me a pat on the shoulder. Even the patting felt like it held some sort of pity. Trust my best friend to make the already unpleasant situation even more unpleasant. Charlie made a show of rolling his eyes at me as I slowly lost my dignity. Mrs Fellows, on the other hand, fought to contain her laughter. She was losing that battle, but I couldn't blame her--I was just such a comedian.
Once things have settled, Mrs Fellows returned to her authoritative demeanour. "Moving on, shall we?" The question didn't even sound like a question, it was a statement in disguise.
The three of us nodded in unison, of course. Nobody was about to extend this oh-so-lovely sermon-inquisition.
"Charlie, you're coming with them," their mother simply commanded. Immediately after the words flew from her lips, all eyes landed on her.
No! That would destroy the privacy Cindy and I needed. What about the gossip?!
"Why?" Charlie croaked, his brows pulling together.
Well, at least I wasn't the only one opposed to his mother's brainchild.
"Because I caught your sister while she was...in the middle of something," Mrs Fellows retorted, eyeing my best friend with narrowed, grey eyes.
I looked over at Cindy. I didn't know what her mother was going on about, and I wasn't okay with that. And Cindy knew that.
"Ethan," she murmured, head hanging low, cheeks tinted pink.
"As in, Ethan Davey?" I clarified, but I already knew that I was right. She nodded, and my face contorted with confusion.
Ethan Davey was one of those typical clichés. He was, for a lack of a better description, a hunk without a brain. The thing was, Cindy felt like those types of people were located at the bottom of the social food chain. I remembered her saying something about faces and that people needed 'substance'. Cindy believed that looks wouldn't get you very far in life. I guess in some instances that was probably true. Because, I mean, some people were getting paid simply for the fact that they exist and they are living--face value, if you may. On the other hand, Cindy had a point too. Have a look at brain surgeons; none of them are stupid, I'll give you that. What threw me, though, was that despite all of her lectures about dating good looking stereotypes, her predicament tells me that she betrayed her own beliefs.
Anyway, Cindy and I went on to try and reason with her mother. We even tried whining for a little while, but that did nothing either, so we ended up resorting to begging. Yes, we were actually begging, like on our knees begging, but Mrs. Fellows didn't want to hear it.
"It's final," she said, sighing at the way we were acting. "Now run along, children. While you still have daylight."
The woman pushed us all out the door, shutting it once we were standing on the porch.
"Did she just call--"
I was quickly cut off by two hands grasping my shoulders, before I could even finish my sentence. This person, whose hands were big and manly, was suddenly pushing me towards my bike.
Let's take a wild guess, shall we? This isn't Cindy.
Sarcastic Voice In My Head: Well, duh? Isn't 'manly' a good enough adjective for you?
"Oh, would you just shut up!" I scolded. Out loud. Why do I keep doing that?
"Who the hell are you talking to?" Charlie asked, looking at me in annoyance. "It's like you have another person in there," he added, tapping my temple as he spoke.
Of course, I do, Charlie. Who do you think made me laugh back in the living room?
I shook my head at my own quirkiness. I believe I have a bit too much of it, weirdness I mean. It was as if I caught all the bizarre behaviours when they fell from the sky.
Not another word from you, Sarcastic Voice In My Head.
The three of us agreed that after a couple hours of biking, lunch, and another bike-a-thon, we would buy ice cream. So we did.
"Rainbow for me," I squealed. I absolutely loved that flavour.
"Triple Chocolate!" said Cindy, who was also donning a Cheshire cat smile.
"And I suppose I'm the one who pays," Charlie mumbled, none too pleased with the way things were playing out. He went on to pay for our frozen desserts anyway, plus a plain Vanilla ice cream for himself.
Eventually, the three of us decided to sit down near the sidewalk, facing the beach and indulging ourselves. After a few minutes, I turned around to check on our bikes, which we left at the bike racks not too far off from where we were sitting. Little did I know, there was a surprise for me. It was a terrible surprise.
Where the heck is my bike?!
Alarmed, I stood up. I almost dropped my ice cream on the concrete because of the suddenness of it all.
Crap.
"What's the matter?" Cindy inquired, joining my standing position and following my gaze.
"Oh, look, El's bike is missing," Charlie remarked. Very casually, I might add.
"My bike is friggin' missing, Charlie! How are you being so casual about it?" I yelled in frustration before storming off to the bicycle racks and searching for my bike. I felt like a maniac on crack as I made a mad dash.
I couldn't even fined the bike lock. I was devastated. That was my favorite bike, and part of me couldn't accept that it was gone.
I started to get mad as I stared at all the other bicycles that were still there. And the longer I looked for it, the more I began to fume. I was concerned that steam might come out of my ears soon, but I didn't actually give a foodoodle at that moment.
"Elouise, I know you're pissed, but just please c--"
"Don't say it," I hissed, unintentionally crushing the my waffle cone in my hand.
Too late. I'm already fuming, Cinderella.
"Calm down," Charlie finished for his sister, despite my not-so-polite request.
And then it dawned on me: we were three miles from my house.
Another thing: no bike meant all walk for me.
Now, that was easy, if I was someone who lived an active lifestyle. But I didn't, so three miles were a problem.
"How am I gonna get home before midnight?" I asked no one in particular, throwing away the remnants of my delicious ice cream in the trash.
"We can take turns in riding my bike?" Cindy suggested cautiously. She knew I could blow up again if she makes a wrong move.
"I can take this," I replied, wiping the last bit of rainbow ice cream off my fingers.
"She can ride with me."
The two of us turned to Charlie, unsure if he was kidding or not. In truth, his suggestion wasn't bad. I mean, his bike had a banana seat, so it would work.
After a moment of silence, partly for thinking and partly for my loss, I finally said, "Okay."
I mean, his retro beach cruiser looks sturdy. It can hold us both, it can work.
With much struggle on my part, we collected eventually ourselves and hopped on our bikes. It was kinda weird that I didn't know how to ride the back part. Trust me, it was embarrassing for someone who liked riding bikes. But hey, at least I learned something.
Then, Cindy went ahead. Leaving me and her brother behind. The thing is, we weren't moving. Like at all.
Are we just gonna pretend to be statues?
"Don't you wanna go home?" I asked, sarcasm lacing my voice.
"Do you intend on falling?" Charlie replied, equally as sarcastic. He glanced down at my hands, raising his brow at them. They were resting on my hips, and my guess was that he didn't approve.
"I can do this. Trust me," I confidently reassured him.
After a beat, Charlie shrugged and the bike jerked forward. My eyes widened as it moved and I nearly lost my balance. Quickly, I grabbed hold of Charlie's waist. I felt his body shake from silent laughter.
"Yeah, trust you," he teased.
I stuck my tongue at him, feeling immature but not caring at he same time. He can't see me anyway.
Now, all was good until I saw how far ahead Cindy was. "Hurry up a little. Your sister is totally leaving us behind," I muttered. I admit, it was rude of me to say that, but it wasn't my fault I was cranky. Someone stole my bicycle, enough said.
"Well, if you weren't so damn heavy it would've been easier. I happen to know where we're going so we won't get lost, little red," Charlie grumbled, chuckling when he says the last bit.
I bit my lower lip, to keep myself from saying something harsh. You know, like a few choice insults. I could feel my cheeks heating up, probably turning into a tomato red. I looked down at the space between us, trying to hide my face. The blush eventually went away, thank goodness. It was then that I decided to take notice of his tousled hair. It was a dark shade of maple. Out of boredom, I messed it up with one of my hands to annoy him.
Sarcastic Voice In My Head: More like to calm your hormones.
What the hell? Dude, I don't need another argument with you! I mentally screamed the words as loud as I could.
"Hey, what was that for?" Charlie complained.
"Because you're a big, bad wolf," I retorted, feeling proud of my decent comeback. I rarely had good comebacks, so I cherished moments like these.
The rest of the journey continued in silence, until the three of us reached my house, of course.
"Bye. I'll see you tomorrow." I hugged Cindy before they went.
"Alright, see yah!" Cindy answered, waving goodbye.
Charlie gave me a dorky salute before they both carried on. I waited until Cindy's shock of sandy hair disappeared, Charlie's dark locks too, before stepping into my oddly quiet home. There was no talking, no TV, no nothing. Panic slowly rose inside me, so I scrambled to scan all the rooms downstairs. They were all empty. I crept up the stairs, and finally, I heard something human--my father's snoring.
Huh. They're asleep, and it's only seven. That's a first.
I rolled my eyes, relieved that my family wasn't abducted by aliens. After a long shower, which included at least fifteen minutes of crying that was caused by the disappearance of my bike, I headed back to my room and fell unconscious as soon as I hit the mattress.
* * *
The next morning, my alarm goes off early. By alarm, I meant my mother. Off with the covers, here comes the sunshine. "What time is it?" I slur my words like I'm drunk. I felt so groggy, like who knew hitchhiking was so tiring! I didn't even touch the pedals and I was this sluggish.
"Time for you to get up."
I gave her a no-look thumbs up, and she got what I meant by it, eventually.
After a while, I finally pushed myself off my warm, inviting bed. I dragged my sleepy butt to the bathroom and proceeded to do my morning routine. Then, I changed into navy denim shorts and a frilly top. I slipped my feet into a pair of brown boots and I tied my hair in a simple fishtail. I didn't put on any makeup. It wasn't something that was high on my to-do list. Maybe on others', like my sister's, but not mine. I was more of an au naturel kind of girl, most likely due to the allergic reaction I get from wearing makeup.
The parentals were usually gone by the time I finish getting ready. Dad would always leave after drinking his morning coffee, whereas Mom leaves after waking me up. Once I got downstairs, I found my oh-so-British sister eating her nutri bar whilst texting.
Man, she needs a break from that little source of technology of hers, I thought to myself as I watched her tap away on her phone. Honestly, that phone was practically taking over her life.
I reached for an apple and headed for the door. But then, I stopped rather abruptly. A little voice in my head made me turn around and wait for my sister to catch up. I hated my conscience sometimes, but it was right most of the time so I let it boss me around.
"Are you coming? The bus is almost at the stop. Three minutes tops," I called, 99% reluctant.
She walked her posh self in front of me and smiled. "No need, Elouise. Ryan Keith is picking me up. We're official!"
I rolled my eyes, disinterested. Gone was the witch, here came the lovesick tween. "Well, then, goodbye," I said, grimacing at her overtly enthused mood.
I shut the door and walked to the bus stop. Once I was close enough, I spotted both Cindy and Charlie standing close to a big, old tree near the stop. I waved when I caught their attentions.
"Ready to be a junior?" Cindy chirped, looking at me with twinkling grey eyes.
"It's just school, Cindy." I teased.
"Who isn't?" replied Charlie at the same time.
Like Cindy and I, Charlie was in eleventh grade. He may be seventeen, but he was a late schooler--if that was even a word. His late schooling was the reason why we were all at the same year level. Apparently, Young Charlie wanted to start school the same time Young Cindy did. It was cute at the time, but I think he's regretting that now.
Charlie sent me a cocky grin before hopping inside the bus with his buddies. Cindy and I both sat in the middle part of the bus. Bus seating arrangements were already made. You know that, right? The good ones at the front. Normal people in the middle. And, who can forget, the insanely naughty stay at the back. It was kind of like one of the sacred, unspoken rules of the world. Or is it just nonsense? Nah, let's go with sacred.
* * *
By the time we got to school, I had a massive headache. I don't know, maybe hitting your head hard on the window is a possible reason. I blamed the stupid bump on the road for being there.
"It's the road's fault," I grumbled to Cindy, who only laughed at my misfortune.
"Oh don't worry, it doesn't hurt that much."
I pulled my head back a notch. "Let's try it on you and we'll see how you feel," I deadpanned, only half kidding. We both laughed and that was the end of it.
We had AP English Lit for first period. So, we got rid of our other stuff, shoved them in our lockers, grabbed what we needed, and walked to homeroom. Thankfully, we were in the same one. As we travelled along the familiar hallways, we passed by people who were either hugging, screaming, or doing both of those. In homeroom, we sat pretty close to the back of the room,beside the window, and then, we chatted for a while. Once the teacher arrived, we all shuffled along and straightened up in our seats. It was time to put on our we-are-sweet-kids faces.
It was in that exact moment, while I was adjusting my candid smile, that I saw him. He looked absolutely breathtaking. Well, I mean, it was just his back, but his back said it all. I waited in anticipation for him to turn around. I couldn't wait for him to finish speaking to our teacher. I almost lost myself in a little daydream where he sees me and he'll feel the same way; the same hypnotic, gravitational pull.
It can happen, I told myself. Though, I had a lot of doubts.
I mean, who am I kidding? Have I learnt nothing from my past crushes? Because let's face it, fairytale scenarios didn't happen in real life. At least, not in my life. Romantic movie scenes weren't coming my way, I was sure of it, but I guess, suddenly, God showed me that He loved me because said hottie was talking to me.
Wait, what?
My senses came back to me and I realise that he really was addressing me. Granted, he was only asking me to move so that he can pass, but still.
"Uh, can you move a little?" he asked politely. I sensed a hint of shyness and a dash of annoyance. Interesting.
My eyes glued to his and I felt like the planets had brought down some kind of alien species. A very cute alien. After a beat, I moved a little and he passed me by. I couldn't say hi or sorry. Or anything that involved my vocal cords, for that matter. Though, I still gave a silent hallelujah to the heavens. For some reason, I felt thankful towards Mrs Parody, whose name I only just found out through the whiteboard at the front of the classroom.
I could tell that Mrs Parody was new, I'd never seen her at the school before. I mean, why else would she write her name on the board? Along with a bunch of other stuff that we weren't necessarily paying attention to.
* * *
Lit didn't stay in my brain too much. Along with the rest of the subjects that followed after that. My mind couldn't stop buzzing from my short-lived encounter with Sir Hottie McTottie. I just wanted to know more about him. All I could actually think about was him, it was so bad. His swirly black hair alone could reduce me to an inept human, or something akin to a lost puppy who would follow him around everywhere. Not that I would actually do that, because that's just degrading.
At lunch, I noticed that he was sitting with a bunch of other guys near the basketball courts. "I dibs thee," I swiftly told Cindy. Part of me just felt a little possessive of him.
"Who?" Cindy blurted, eyeing me.
I did the only thing I could think of. Stupidly, I pointed my finger at him. "That guy!" I said, dropping my hand as soon as Cindy found him.
I was too late, though. Someone caught me red-handed, and that someone just so happened to be my best friend's brother.
Damn it! That kid has eyes like a hawk!
The two of us watched as he tapped the cutie's shoulder. Charlie must've said something to him, because after a moment he turned around. Cindy and I were quick to pretend that we were conversing, though.
"Don't look," I warned her.
"I guess Charlie has a new friend." she replied, trying to discretely watch her brother and the new guy.
My grin widened almost instant. "Oh my gosh, I have an idea!" I whisper yelled.
"What?" she asked, intrigued by my sudden burst of giddiness.
"I'll get Charlie to set us up."
Cindy looked at me funny, and then she started to crack up laughing. I tried to laugh along with her, but I stopped once I realised how awkward it sounded. "It's not impossible," I reasoned, glancing at her and then at the new guy.
"You're going to make a deal with the devil, Elouise," Cindy retorted, giving me a look that says this-is-never-gonna-work.
And then, I decided. I was going to prove her wrong. That boy will be mine and Charlie was helping.
I had wasted so many years thinking that fate and destiny were going to aid me. This time, I was gonna have to make it happen on my own. Write my own story, be my own writer--that sort of stuff.
Okay, so maybe not all by myself. I'm gonna need a little help from Cindy's brother, of course. And yeah, maybe it's a risky thing to do, bargaining with Charlie, whom I didn't really know. But there was just something about today that made me brave enough to want to take that risk.
I just hope it's worth it, because if not, I'm pretty sure I'll just end up looking like a damn stalker.
/ / / / /
The song that made me want to write this is on the side! Quirky Cindy is there as well.
So yeah, what's up you guys? ;)
First of all, thanks again to everyone who's reading and voting and commenting and fanning. I do appreciate it.
Secondly, more chapters to come! Let's go keep the reads coming!
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Fourthly, I love you guys. In a totally platonic kind of way.
Byeeeeee! For now.
J~