HEY EVERYONE! I MADE IT ONTO WATTY AWARDS UNDER ROMANCE :) PLEASE VOTE IF YOU THINK I SHOULD WIN OR JUST TO MAKE ME ECSTATIC - THAT'S GOOD TOO! <3
hello again everyone! how are you? i know i just posted a chapter yesterday or two days ago but here's another one - as promised - due to my vacation weeks.
yes, that's right. i have one more week of vacation before i can start posting again. i'm truly sorry but you must all admit that summer wouldn't be as much fun without vacations.
i'll be back in a week though and able to write more and more and more chapters! (don't fret, i have no plans to give up on this story any time soon) :P
please comment, vote, and fan while i'm away! it would mean the world to me to get 1000 votes... you have no idea. that's my next goal by the way. and 150 fans. i'm about 20 away - i think 21 exactly... not sure though.
thanks again to everyone who's still reading! it means a lot to me!!!
yours truly,
hannah-vo
~*~
Chapter 26 - In Search of Mr. Mysterious
Amy crossed her legs over one another subconsciously. She'd been picking at the sides of her bagel for a while, slowing chewing and swallowing the morsels. Amy was too concentrated on the faces of boys who passed by, trying to feel something - some feeling - for them that might link them to her mystery boy to notice what she was really doing. But still, even with all that focus, she felt nothing.
There was a junior with black hair and a leather jacket that Amy thought at first could be him. But his hands were too rough and too big to belong to her mystery man.
Then there was a blonde haired, fair skinned, blue eyed boy but he was too short to fit his length.
If she wasn't so hooked on this boy, she would've given up by now. Any sane person would've. But it was love, wasn't it? And love made normal people do crazy things.
Anyone would've said by now that this was foolish. How could someone that you'd never even seen be 'the One'? Plus, she'd only really been with him for about ten minutes. That shouldn't be love.
But, while all that was true, Amy would argue that most of that didn't matter. When it was love, you just knew. It wasn't infatuation or a surge of hormones that kept her on his trail, and it certainly wasn't lust. To understand what she meant, you'd have to have really experienced it yourself. She gave a delicate smile. The way he held her and kissed her, the immediate fire that ignited her soul, the sense of comfort she felt in his arms even though they'd never met... it was all that and more that made the wonderful emotion that she felt love.
"Amy?" Chris called again. By the exasperated look on his face, he must've been calling her for some time now, "Amy? Earth to Amy? You there?"
"Yeah, sorry. Just day-dreaming again," she smiled sheepishly. Of course she already told Chris about that boy. He'd been the second to know, right about Julie - who'd interrogated her for every detail.
"Do you know who he is?" Chris asked quietly, his head ducking to hide his expression.
Amy looked at her hands too, "No. I wish I did but no one reminds me of him. He was so nice and warm and lovable and wonderful - I don't really know. I just knew he was the one, you know?"
Chris smiled but she could tell his mind was elsewhere. His naturally friendly eyes were distant and clouded.
"Yeah."
Amy frowned at his response but after he didn't elaborate, she turned back to the people walking by. It was like they were walking too quickly, a vision of blurred faces and clothes that seemed to all mix together. She was just waiting for that one guy, the one from last night, to just stand out to her. It was supposed to be obvious; it was supposed to feel like lightening when their eyes met. That's how all the books and movies described it. But Amy didn't feel that with any of them. They were just boys, not THE boy.
"Do you love him?" Chris asked. Amy hadn't thought that he'd said anything until he met her eyes, hope whispering through them.
Amy smiled and nodded. It was just that easy to admit.
"Would you love him no matter what?" he asked, a bit louder so Amy knew that he was speaking for sure.
"What do you mean?" she said, her brows furrowed together in confusion, her sandwich long forgotten.
Chris shrugged as if to make it seem like he meant it lightly, hypothetically, but it meant more to him than that. The way his back was angled towards her and his free hand pushing against the bleacher seat to get his body closer in her direction suggested that this was a most serious matter for him. He might have looked slightly disfigured in that position, but there was no doubt in Amy's mind that he was also interested.
"Like, what if he only had one arm?" he asked with a playful smile.
"But he doesn't," Amy protested.
"Just answer the question," Chris ordered with a chuckle, punching her lightly in the arm.
Amy continued to smile, "Well then I'd always stand beside him on whatever side he had an arm so that we could hold hands," she stated with a tiny blush, "But I'd love him all the same."
Chris rolled his eyes but didn't drop his grin. Amy preferred this side of him to the bashful one he'd just shown her, "Well what if he only had one arm and no hands?" he asked.
"Then we'd just have to lock arms instead," she joked and Chris laughed.
"At least you wouldn't have to worry about him getting 'handsy'," he mocked. Amy pushed him lightly with her shoulder. That had struck a little too close to home with Michael - but it was good to know that all that was done with now.
Ever since the party, everything had been starting to look up for her. Michael had stopped harassing her and staring at her during class and lunch, Silvia had stayed out of her way, and even ?Melissa hadn't tried to rip her apart with her words again. Of course she couldn't be sure that it was all over now but it just felt like a means to an end for her.
And it was all thanks to that boy.
He'd been the one to give her that extra boost of confidence. Just knowing that someone was always going to be there for you, no matter what, made you much surer of yourself. Like being blindfolded and told to walk forward, he was the reassurance of there being land before her. Amy had learned that.
"Ames?" Chris asked with a frown. And just like that, the atmosphere changed. It felt much heavier, more important, more serious.
"What if he lied to you by kissing you and broke a promise that you made?" Chris asked. He was expecting some sort of answer but she just wasn't entirely sure what answer he was looking for.
Trying not to disappoint Chris, Amy opened her mouth to make a joke and lighten the mood. But when she took one look at his face, she closed it again. "I don't really know. I guess I'd be mad but we would work through it."
"Would you still love him?"
Amy bit her lip in thought, "Yeah. I guess I would," she said. Why was he asking her all of this? Did he know something about the boy of her dreams that he wasn't telling her? It was making her nervous.
Chris blinked and stared down at the bleachers below him, trying to work out a problem maybe? She really couldn't tell. Amy waited patiently for his response and turned back to the field, her sense of purpose restored. The bell for the end of lunch was sure to ring soon though.
"Amy, I..." he trailed, "I'm...him."
She shook her head in confusion, "You are who?"
Chris looked down at his jeans and pulled her into his arms, placing her delicately on his lap with a defeated sigh, "I'm the guy who'd going to be your friend no matter what. I'd never try to hurt you, alright?" he demanded as he searched her eyes for comprehension.
Amy nodded, feeling childish sitting on his lap like this with his arms surrounding her. But it was nice and warm, like he would protect her no matter what. And in that moment, she was sure that he could never hurt her and that he never would hurt her either.
"Just promise me that no matter what - even with our bet - you will always be my friend," he said sternly.
"Of course," she pressed. Did Chris not think that they'd be friends? Of course they would. Forever and ever if she had anything to do with it. She nodded into the crook of his neck soothingly.
"I want to hear you say it," Chris ordered and Amy poked her head out from under his embrace.
"I promise - cross my heart," she added, imitating the actions under his strong hold on her, "That no matter what, we will always be friends."