┊ ˚➶ ｡˚ 🍓 CHAPTER ONE !
. . . question...?
( real life )
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it was cold, per usual, my hands buried deep into my pockets and grey boots thrown on my feet. it was mid winter and i prayed for summer. i bet i hated school more than anyone else at my school, kids thought i was weird and the seniors liked to pick on me.
one of the seniors being my lifelong crush, christopher sturniolo. i hate him with every fiber in my body, i just wished i never gathered the confidence to ask him out last year--or maybe none of this would be an issue.
besides my buried past, i walk slowly down the icy sidewalk, watching my step so i don't slip and make a complete fool out of myself. my hands are shaky in my coat pockets--maybe that's because it's so cold or because i'm nervous.
once i'm standing in front of the building with open doors and open windows, i nearly puke. i do this every morning because of the nerves in my body. i calm myself--as always and tell myself to fight back. i never do, of course.
the first thing i see when i enter the building is a prom poster hanging on the bulletin board next to the office. i take a closer look at it, knowing i could never go--since nobody would want to go with me.
my best friend, madi, grabs my shoulders and surprises me. "hey janis, what're you doing?" she backs away from me and looks at the prom poster. "are you thinking about asking chris again?"
i shake my head, "don't remind me." my face flushes at the memory of being laughed at in front of chris' friends.
"sorry janis," madi sighs, "who're you thinking of asking?"
"nobody," i back away from the bulletin board, "are you asking anyone?" i ask her, i watch her eyes look to the right and then back at me. i smirk knowingly at her.
"what?" she asks, a smile crossing her lips.
"who asked you?" i practically shake her, she giggles and shoves me away from her. i've known madi since middle school, she tells me everything and i tell her everything. some would say we're inseparable, i just say that we're best friends.
"don't tell anyone," she shushes me, i blink, knowing that i have no one to tell this about anyways. i wait for her to say something, but she never does because someone interrupts us.
"hello," i turn around and see chris standing there with his best friend, ethan patterson. i look to madi and roll my eyes, she doesn't say anything.
"what do you want?" i snap at chris, who seems taken aback by my outburst. he puts his hands up in defeat and smirks.
"sorry sorry," he speaks casually, but i can see through his disguise that he has something important to tell me. i wait for him to say something, when he never does, i say something instead.
"is there something you need to get out of your system or what?" i say feverishly, my lips tightening in a straight line. ethan nudges chris in the shoulder and chris turns bright red--like a strawberry.
"um, i do have something to ask you," chris scratches the back of his head. i raise my eyebrow, wondering what he could be blushing so eminently. i don't question it and nod for him to continue. "actually, i'd like to say this to you in private." my cheeks feel warm at the thought of being alone with chris sturniolo.
"is it that important?" i demand for a reasonable answer.
"yes, actually." ethan interrupts, his brunette hair bouncing as he shifted on his feet. i nod slowly, looking back to madi who seems confused--maybe even disturbed.
i follow chris to a deserted water fountain, for it doesn't work anymore. i fear that chris is gonna remind me when i tried to ask him out last year, but he doesn't. he pushes the hair from his eyes and scratches the back of his neck.
"i wanted to ask you a question," chris muttered, trying to keep quiet enough so people wouldn't overhear us. i nod along, "i got that part." i say sarcastically. he squints his eyes at me and knits his eyebrows together.
"i know this is going to sound weird and rushed, but," he draws a breath, "would you like to go to prom with me?" he throws the sentence out there like a baseball, my limbs go numb and i feel as if i can't stand any longer.
"you're trying to be funny," i remarked, "stop taunting me for my actions last year." i start to storm off, but he grabs my arm and looks at me with his ocean eyes. i feel like i'm drowning in them, even though i'm standing on tiled floors.
"i'm not trying to poke fun at you, janis." he looks at me, his face full of sincerity. i believed him, his face was so true and gorgeous. i couldn't have possibly said no to him.
"so--you really want to go with me?" i question him, walking back to him. he nods. i smile slightly, "okay, i want to go with you as well."
he smiles down at me, "that makes me so happy." he says calmly, more calm than i have ever seen him before. i've never really had a real conversation with chris, it feels good to get some conversation out of him.
"i thought you hated me?" i query, my eyes travelling up to his. his eyes dart to the left then to the right, then back to me.
"i don't hate you and never did," he signified, "i only liked you and wasn't sure how to tell you that."
my cheeks light up, nobody has ever commented something like that to me before, it makes me feel a different kind of special--like for once i'm wanted by somebody. i want to hug him, but that feels too awkward, so i nod to him with a huge small planted on my face.
when we depart from one another, i feel like a different person walking through the hallway. madi was waiting for me by the bulletin board, her phone in her hands and her fingers tapping away at the screen.
"madi," i practically ran up to her, she looks up quickly and raises an eyebrow. "you won't believe what chris said to me." i'm panting and my legs are shaking, almost as much as my clammy hands.
"what did he say?" she questions, burying her phone into her sweatpant's pocket. i can't wipe the smile from my face and i suppose that's what gave it away, "he asked you to prom?"
"yes!" i squeal, my hair bouncing on my shoulders. she stares at me in disbelief, then the look cascades.
"do you not remember how he treated you like--yesterday?!" she asks me, i couldn't believe that she wasn't more supportive of what happened, wasn't she my best friend?
"are you not happy for me?" i ask, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. madi looks at me with an annoyed look on her face.
"how could he be in love with you if he was breaking your heart everyday since last year?" she says calmly, but i can see the impatience in her eyes, even if she doesn't let it show.
"maybe he did it because he couldn't show love to me any other way." i argue back, the bell ringing just as i finish my statement.
"look--i don't want to argue with you, jane, but i really need to get to class." madi sighs, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder. i watch her walk away from me, the anger subsiding and the sadness building up inside of me. i'm so stupid, of course chris lied to you.
i grabbed my bookbag and slipped my phone into the front pocket, realizing that madi never got to tell me who it was that asked her to prom. i shrugged it off and rushed to class, considering i was already late as is and couldn't afford to run late again.
CHRIS' POV
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when i first walked into the school building, i noticed two things right off the bat. one of those being my best friend smirking at me and janis westwood looking at the prom slip of paper on the bulletin board.
i walked slowly over to ethan, considering i couldn't trust what it was that he wanted to tell me, preparing myself, i smiled at him and said, "hey ethan." he seemed to want to get straight to the point, so i let him.
"i have a dare for you, my friend." he chuckled madly, scaring the shit out of me. when ethan was like this--you couldn't trust what he would say next, so it was best to stay away from him in these moments.
realizing it was impossible to make a great escape, i nodded slowly to him, "what's that?" he smirked, his eyes darkening and my fear escalating. whatever was about to escape from his lips wasn't going to be good--or safe.
"janis westwood," was all ethan said at first. i looked behind me and noticed madi filipowicz starting towards her, slowly creeping up at her to scare her.
"what about her?" i asked dreadfully as i watched madi scare janis. when i turned back to face ethan, he handed me a prom pamphlet. i read the slip of paper and cocked an eybrow, "so?"
"so... you're gonna ask janis to be your date to prom." he wiggled his eyebrows, i wanted to laugh at him, but nothing came out of my throat. the thought of going to prom with janis westwood was terrifying--embarrassing at that.
"no way dude," i crossed my arms to my chest, "she hates me and i hate her."
"you seem to look at her a lot," ethan mutters under his breath.
"no i don't!" i disagree, my cheeks turning a bright red.
"i'll pay you," ethan says slyly, "eight hundred bucks."
"eight hundred?" i gasp, "man, you really are desperate to make a fool out of janis."
"what can i say," ethan shrugs, "it's entertaining."
"i can't do that, man." i refuse, handing the paper back to him. ethan nodded slowly.
"fine then," he said, "i guess i'll just tell everybody myself that you love janis but you're too much of a pussy to say anything."
i grit my teeth together, the anger bubbling inside of me, this isn't fair, why am i even friends with this loser anyways? i ask myself for the thousandth time now. oh right, he bribed me.
"fine, i'll play your stupid game." i reply angrily to him, a smile is planted on his face and then anger inside me calms a bit.
"that's what i like to hear, now follow me." he drags me along with him to janis and madi, who seem to also be talking about prom.
"hello," i say, my stomach churning in disgust with myself. janis looks at me with disgust written all over he face. i try to ignore the terrible feeling inside of me and play along with the 'act' i'm putting on. janis looks behind her to madi and they exchange a look. i want to die right then and there, but i ignore the thought and play pretend.
"what do you want?" she snaps at me, taking me aback. i don't know what else to do except raise my hands in defeat and smirk. pretending like this is funny, when it's humiliating for the both of us.
"sorry sorry," i responded to her outburst, i think of hundreds of other things to say back to her, but none of it is relevant enough. i stand there awkwardly, waiting for the words to come at me like a bullet, but they never do.
"is there something you need to get out of your system or what?" she says angrily, my nerves snapping in half. i feel ethan nudge my shoulder and i side-eye him, my face lighting up.
"um," i start my--awkward--sentence, "i do have something to ask you." i say finally, i scratch the back of my head and wait for her to respond back, she doesn't say anything except nods. i reckon she thinks i'm going to say it in front of the two others, which makes my anxiety worse.
"actually--i'd like to say this to you in private." i watch her cheeks turn rosy red and listen to her soft voice reply back, "is it that important?" although the sentence isn't soft whatsoever, her voice has never felt rough like scales--it's always been sweet like candy and strawberries.
what was i thinking? i don't love janis, i can't stand her one bit. i should be talking about her rough voice and how she embarrassed herself in front of me last year.
ethan answered for me, since he reckoned i wasn't going to say anything. "yes, actually." he shifted on his feet and janis turned to look at madi, who seemed disgusted and confused. i wouldn't blame her if she was, i felt sick with myself and what game i was playing.
when i talked with janis, she seemed to believe me in the end, but i knew what this game was and how she shouldn't believe me one bit. i hated myself for tricking her and i hated myself for noticing everything about her.
i walked to class with my head low and my heart racing.
MOLLY SPEAKS
hey guys!
i don't know if i really like this chapter or nah, let me know what you think so i can't try and improve my works! i appreciate everyone who reads this sm! have a great day ilyily!
ps, please vote and comment! it inspires me to continue writing and improve, or don't, that's fine as well!
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