Friday came, and everyone was preparing for Saturday. I did as Helena asked me to. I helped the Special Events Committee. Helena said she and the girls will be volunteering as well, but they told me to go straight to the Gymnasium, where the dance would be held.
To my surprise, Luke was there. He's an officer so, he's obviously helping out. I tried to avoid him because it's so difficult being around him at this point. He saw me, but he didn't approach me. Thank God! He just smirked at me, and I looked away. April was there too. She was an officer as well, I almost forgot. She was carrying a bunch of boxes filled with decorations. It seemed really heavy for her to carry. Later on, she accidentally dropped the boxes, and the decorations scattered on the floor. No one offered to help her so, I decided to aproach her and help her but then-
"I can handle it!" she yelled.
"April, c'mon"
"Who asked you to help!?"
"duhh, I volunteered?"
"Stay away from me then!" she carried the boxes.
Well, she's still the same old April who hates everyone and whom everyone hates.
"Joe" Helena said as she and the girls were walking towards me.
"You okay?" Jade asked.
"Yeah, we saw what happened" Cassy said.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Everything's fine" I replied.
The girls then turned to each other.
"What?" I said.
"You know what? We noticed that you've been really nice to April since yesterday" Cassy said.
"It's almost as if you've been possessed or something" Chantel said.
"I don't know" I shrugged "I guess something just triggered me on Halloween".
"Seriously, you've got to stop being nice to people" Lily said.
"Yeah. You're just punishing yourself if they don't want you to be nice to them, and you just try and try to get closer to them" Helena said.
"Okay! Okay! I get it. Look, I've been here ten minutes ago and I still don't know what to do" I said.
"Well, the five of us have been assigned to kitchen duties" Helena said.
"So, we're going to help Dorothy out. Like, right now" Chantel said.
"Sure" I said.
"Do you think you can handle hanging decorations?" Cassy asked.
"Yeah. I'll give it a shot" I said.
"Good. Well, we're heading for the kitchen now so, are you sure you're alright in here?" Jade asked.
"Yeah, sure. Could be a lot of fun" I said.
"Good Luck!" Chantel said.
"Alright then. I'll see you back in the dorm" Helena said, as she and the girls left.
I walked around, undecided what to do. Should I go for Kitchen duties with the girls or what? I don't want to go for Kitchen duties because it's almost like I'm clinging to the girls, something like that if I go for it.
"Johanna," Ms. Hollander called me.
"Yes?" I turned to her.
"Are you here to help?".
"Yes".
"Have you decided what you want to do?"
"Uhh- hanging decorations?" I said, because that's what Cassy asked me to do.
"Great! You'll be working with April then. She's got the boxes"
I turned to April, who was busy opening some boxes. I went to her later on to get a box.
"Excuse me?!" she glared at me.
"What?" I said.
"Put that down!"
"I'm assigned for decorations".
April looked around her, as if she's trying to see if someone's watching us or listening to our conversation. She turned back to me.
"Do you honestly think after seeing me at the cemetery a few days ago, I'm automatically going to like you?!" she asked.
"I'm just trying to be friendly." I said.
"Well? don't!" she said "I do not want to be friends with you!"
Well, okay then.
She grabbed the ladder nearby and gave it to me...whoah! She's really strong.
"Well?! Go!"
***
It's more of like a prom than just a dance, really. Well, a prom is a dance. I guess all I'm saying is that I'm not used to school activities like this because my school back in Manila only holds dances and parties like this for Graduating batches.
Later on, I was hanging decorations on the ceiling. It was quite a challenge because this would be the first time I'm-you know, uhh-standing on a ladder? I feel like the ladder's shaking, because I'm shaking. You know the real reason why I've never climbed a ladder before, something like that? I have fear of climbing up ladders. This is crazy! I couldn't look down because when I do, I get dizzy and I almost fall off.
"Here!" April dropped a couple of boxes full of decorations beside the ladder. When I looked down, I almost fell off. I held on to the ladder and avoided looking down once again.
"Ohh what's the matter? Afraid of heights? Do you have fear of ladders?" April was taunting me. What the hell is wrong with her anyway? The girls are right! I should stop being completely nice to people who are "not-technically-nice" to me.
When she left, she moved the ladder. Of course, it was shaking, but I tried holding on. I lost my balance later on and fell off. As I was about to hit the floor, I felt someone catching me-
"Oh My-!" I exclaimed, as I fell on the ground, along with the person who caught me.
"You okay?" the guy who caught me said. His voice sounded familiar. When I turned to who it was, it was-
"Callum?"
"What was that!?" he asked
"I don't-"
"Try to be careful next time" we were looking at each other's eyes at that moment. Callum has beautiful eyes. We were both on the floor and he was holding me really tight, and my hands were around his neck, and we stayed in that position, still looking at each other's eyes.
"Joe!" Luke said, approaching us. I pulled away from Callum and tried getting up "Are you okay?" Luke asked, helping me up
"Yeah, I'm-" the next thing I know, Luke pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight
"Thank goodness you're alright!"
"Taylor!" Callum said in an annoyed manner as he got up. Luke released me and went to Callum.
"Next time it would be a nice idea to mention that you are going to volunteer, alright?"
"I am volunteering!"
"No one asked for you to come here and volunteer!" Luke said...uhh ohh. Here we go!
"If I hadn't, Joe would've been in danger!" Callum said. Luke didn't say anything. I'm sure he didn't know what to say next because Callum had a good point. Honestly, if I were Luke, I wouldn't know what to say either because Callum just answered every question that needed to be answered.
"Joe!" Luke took my hand "C'mon!" he started pulling me away
"But-" I said, but I didn't say anything afterwards because there's nothing else to say
"Wait!" Callum took my other hand and tried pulling me away from Luke. O My God! Not now...
"Joe!" Luke tried to pull me away from Callum
"Luke, let go!" Callum said, still trying to pull me away from Luke
"You let go, Callum!" Luke said
"Guys, please, just-"
"What is your problem!?" Callum asked
"I could ask you the same question!" Luke replied
Everyone who volunteered stopped working and turned to the three of us, but these two assholes pulling me didn't seem to care! Please help me!
"You know what!" Luke finally let me go "Stop acting like you know everything!"
Callum let me go afterwards.
"What?! Just because you're the prefect, you think you know everything!? Don't forget, Taylor! I used to be the prefect too!" Callum yelled...what!? he was the prefect!?
"USED TO!" Luke said "You're just jealous of me because Headmaster Lovett decided to replace you with me! He did that because you were doing a horrible job!" He didn't just say that!
"You're a clot, you know that?!"
"No! Your mother's the hooker who almost ruined my family!"
Callum was about to attack him, but then I held him back. I was struggling because he was trying to break-free. Luke was about to attack as well, but thank goodness Isaiah and Cassius came just on time and held him back.
I was still holding Callum, while Isaiah and Cassius were still holding Luke back. Luke and Callum were still exchanging words.
"Callum, enough!" I said to Callum.
"Luke! Luke! Calm down!" Isaiah and Cassius were telling Luke at the same time.
Everyone was surrounding us at that moment.
"Shoot!" I heard Isaiah saying when he looked behind Callum. I turned to the direction where he was looking, and it was his grandfather, Headmaster Lovett.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Headmaster Lovett asked. Everyone calmed down, most especially Callum and Luke "Isaiah!" Headmaster then turned to his grandson.
"I, uhh-" of course, Isaiah himself couldn't answer. He doesn't exactly know what happened between Luke and Callum and he can't side with anybody. He's too nice to take sides. Luke is one of his best friends. At the moment, Callum is almost a stranger to him, but I understand that they used to be close in the past so, he's quite connected to Callum too.
Headmaster turned to both Callum and Luke.
"Lucas, Callum, come!" Headmaster said. Before Luke and Callum could move, they glared at each other and followed Headmaster Lovett. As everyone went back to work, I felt someone's hand on my right shoulder.
"What happened?" Helena asked.
"I honestly don't know" Of course, I know. It's just that I don't want to talk about it. Anyway, what the hell just happened?!
"I'm going back to work" I said, picking up a box of decorations and hesitantly climbed the ladder, where I fell earlier. When I looked down, Helena, Cassius and Isaiah were there, looking at me with their arms crossed.
"What?" I said.
"It bothers me seeing you up there" Isaiah said.
"Why?" I asked.
"That's it, Joe! Get down from there" Cassius said.
"No!" I protested
"You'll fall...again. We know you're afraid of heights judging by the fact that you shake when you look down" Helena said.
"Well, I'm not shaking right now" well, honestly, I was.
"Joe, get down from there. I'll do that for you" Isaiah said, picking up one of the boxes on the floor.
"Are you sure?" I said, slowly climbing down.
"Yeah" he said, as I got down.
"Thanks"
"Joe" Helena said.
"Yeah?"
"Could you do me a favor?" she asked.
"Yeah, of course, anything".
She brought out a small paper from her pocket and handed it to me.
"Here's the list of deliveries the girls and I calculated. I need you to give this to Headmaster"
"Headmaster? Isn't he like talking to Luke and Callum right now?"
"Yeah. That's why I don't want to give it to him myself" Biatch! Noooo, just joking! I love Helena as a friend!!!
"Don't tease me" I said and started walking to Headmaster's office.
***
So, I arrived at Headmaster's office, but I didn't go inside yet because I could hear Callum and Luke exchanging words inside.
"You know what, this is no longer family issue!" I heard Callum yelling from inside
"Yeah, because you're trying to make it worst!" Luke replied
"Enough! Alright!? Both of you, just calm down!" Headmaster was getting pissed.
I moved a little bit closer to the door so that I could hear their conversation. I didn't want to stick my nose into their business but, when I heard Callum saying that this is "Family Issue", something triggered me because my dad and I are close to Callum's family.
"My mother will hear about this!" Callum said
"Hear about what!? You're just going to say those same, nonsense things over and over again!" Luke said
"She will believe me!"
"Yes! She will believe you, but turns out you've got no evidence! She'll see how foolish you really are, just like her! Like mother, like son!"
"Just like you and your mother!"
"Callum, stop-"
"You're right, Samuels! I honestly think this is more than just our Family Issue right now!" Luke said
"Do not drag Joe into all of this!" Callum yelled, which surprised me...what the hell did I do!? Why am I involved into all of this!? I don't even know why they hate each other so much.
"So you like her then!"
"She's like my sister!"
"Does she know that!?"
"Her father and my mother are friends!"
"You mean your mother who doesn't know anything!"
"Lucas, stop!" Headmaster yelled. There was silence after that. I stepped away from the door and hid nearby once I heard footsteps advancing to the door. It was a frustrated Luke who stepped outside and he was followed by Callum a couple of seconds later. When they were out of sight, I went inside Headmaster Lovett's office.
"Hi" I said to Headmaster, who was sitting down and his hands were on his head "are you having a headache, Headmaster? Should I go get Isaiah?"
"Ohh, no dear!" he got up "it's just that, it's pretty difficult to discipline children nowadays! It's frustrating!"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you arrive just now?" he asked
"uhh, yeah" I lied
"You didn't hear anything, uhh-unusual?"
"No"
"Good! Uhh, what was it you want dear?"
I brought the small paper Helena gave me from my pocket and handed it to Headmaster
"Kitchen Duties" I said
"Ohh, right...Dorothy's deliveries. Thankyou, Joe" he said
"sure" I smiled and went out of the office.
*
When I went back to the dorm that night after fiishing my duties, I found the girls in there, dressing up, just like what they did a few days ago.
"Again?" I said
"What?" Cassy asked
"You guys are here again"
"Ohh, yes. Dressing up!!! I can't believe tomorrow's the dance!!!" Jade said
"No! Not those shoes, Cassandra!" Helena went out of the bathroom with a pair of pink pumps "I am going to wear those!" I turned to Cassy, who was now wearing a sky-blue dress with a pink accent and her shoes? No wonder why Helena's a bit frustrated...Cassy was wearing brown flats, which obviously didn't go with the dress she's wearing. Honestly, Cassy has no sense of fashion; and she's kind off "babyish".
"Cassandra, there you go again. It's perfectly horrid!" Chantel said
"Well, just the shoes. I suggest you wear those pink pumps Helena is holding" Lily said
"Alright! Alright!" Cassy took the flats off and put the pink pumps on
"That's better!" Jade said. The girls turned to me afterwards
"Your turn, Joe" Chantel said
I simply went to my side of the room and sat down on my bed
"I made my decision, I'm not going" I said. I turned to the girls, who's facial expressions were identical to each other "Stop doing that. It's creeping me out"
"You're serious?" Helena asked
"I've always been, haven't I?"
"Wait! We still don't know who asked you out" Jade said, as she and the girls surrounded the bed
I let out a deep breath before I could say anything...
"Lucas Taylor"
The girls froze.
"Luke?!" Chantel said
"See? I told you all Luke's been crushing on Joe for months now" Cassy said
"Well? Why not go with him?" Lily asked
"I don't know" I grabbed my heart-shaped pillow nearby and hugged it "I guess it's the fact that -" Wait! What was I saying?! I don't even know anymore! I was about to tell them about the kiss, but I can't.
"What?" Jade asked, waiting for an answer, along with the four other girls.
"Look! The only reason why I don't want to go is because I've got loads of things to do. My schedule's closed for the whole weekend because I'm gonna do all of our assignments in advance because I wanna pull my grades up" I said. The girls seemed to understand anyways. They didn't question me after that.
"Well, alright" Jade said, as she and the girls got up and picked their clothes up
"We're heading for our rooms now. Would you like to join us?" Chantel asked
"No thanks" I said
"Well," Lily turned to the girls and they shrugged their shoulders "Joe, we're just trying to make your life here happier"
"Because we don't want to lose you" Jade said
"Yeah. We know the five of us have been friends for years now and you only came two months ago but, a day with you felt like a whole year" Chantel said, and I smiled
"We're not forcing you to go to the dance tomorrow night but, I'll be honest. It's just that, it'll be no fun without you there" Cassy said
"Anyways, see you around" Chantel said, as she and the girls left.
Helena stood up and went to her side of the room.
"Helena?" I said
"Yeah?" she turned to me with a smirk
"Are you guys mad at me?" I could be paranoid all the time
"NO!" she went to me and gave me a hug "Why would you think that!?"
"Because I'm being K.J."
"K what?" she asked
"Killjoy...someone who spoils the pleasure of others"
"Ohh" she let go of me "Honestly, you are"
"What!?"
"But, do you really think we mind!?"
"Seems like it"
"Well," she placed her hand on my shoulder "Guess what, we're not like that at all"
"Really?"
"We understand you anyways, even though you are being "K.J.""
I gave a small giggle
"Thanks. If I were one of you guys, I don't think I would understand"
***
I went to the Courtyard because I was wondering if I could get a bit of fresh air. I couldn't think of anything, but how right the girls are about me. It's my first time experiencing school-related activities like this because this doesn't really happen in the Philippines. I always wanted something like this. And now, I got it, but all I wanna do with it is throw it away. I'm having second thoughts of not going. I found myself pulling Luke's corsage out of my pocket. If I go with Luke, what about the mystery guy who gave me the other corsage that Luke tore into pieces?
It wasn't long enough when I heard someone playing the guitar nearby. I put the corsage back inside my pocket and started listening to whoever it is playing the guitar. He started singing afterwards...
Some people call me crazy
But I don't think I'm crazy
To believe that you and me could be something
To believe that you and me could be something
Wait! I know that song! "You Might Be the One" by Greyson Chance. Greyson Chance is my very first celebrity crush, no kidding! And this song? When I was 12, this became my favorite song. I wonder who's singing it. I couldn't help myself! I followed the voice...
Some people say you're no good
But they don't know what's good for me
If it isn't you then I don't need nothing
If it isn't you then I don't need nothing
When the lighting strikes
And the rain comes down
I'll be all right
I'll dance in your storm
When the thunder roars
In the darkest night
I see your light
You bring me back home
I feel a fire burning my soul
That's how I know
That's how I know
It's like desire pulling me in
When I shouldn't go
That's how I know
That I am sold...
That you might be the one
Yeah, you might be the one
When I saw the guy singing, I hid and continued listening because I didn't want to interrupt him. I wanted him to keep on singing. I couldn't see his face though, and I couldn't identify him. I'll just wait until he stops singing. He was sitting on one of the benches, and I hid behind the tree close to the bench...
Some people think it's stupid
But I don't think it's stupid
To be young and put yourself over me
Don't need directions
This is where I wanna be
When the lighting strikes
And the rain comes down
I'll be all right
I'll dance in your storm
When the thunder roars
In the darkest night
I see your light
You bring me back home
I feel a fire burning my soul
That's how I know
That's how I know
It's like desire pulling me in
When I shouldn't go
That's how I know
That I am sold...
That you might be the one
That you might be the one
(You might be the one)
That you might be the one
The one...
I feel a fire burning my soul
That's how I know
That's how I know
It's like desire pulling me in
When I shouldn't go
That's how I know
That I am sold...
That you might be the one
By the time he was finished. I decided to come out...
"That was nice!" I jumped out of the tree
"Ohh. Thankyou" he turned around and, O My God-
"Luke!?" I shrieked
"What?" he said, placing his guitar back inside his case
"I- I take it back! It wasn't nice AT ALL!"
He laughed
"You liked it, didn't you?" he asked, closing his guitar case
"The original song and the one who actually sang it! Greyson Chance, yeah! He's my one-true-love"
"Are you having problems right now?" he asked me. What kind of a stupid question is that!?
"Yeah! I mean, I totally hate you right now"
"Why? Because of what happened earlier today?"
"The thing with Callum?" I asked, he nodded.
"No, it's not about earlier today. Well, count that as second gesture but-"
"What's the first one then?" he asked, without even letting me finish...
"I wasn't finished, dufus!"
"Okay? Then, what is the first one?"
"Yesterday! You stole something that wasn't even yours!"
"What? Is that about the corsage from the mystery boy? I tore it pieces, I didn't steal it. Well, I did, but-"
"Forget the corsage! It's not even about that!"
"What did I steal then?"
"The kiss you planted on me!" I yelled, which shut him up
"How is that a steal?" he spoke up
"It doesn't even belong to you!"
"What!?" he laughed
"Keep laughing, it's not funny"
"I'll never understand women and their lame excuses"
"It's not a lame excuse!"
"What is it then!?"
I don't know what the hell I just did, but the next thing I know is that I went to him, cupped his face and kissed him. He went with it though, he kissed me back. Just when I realized that I was kissing him, I suddenly pulled away...
"Now, it belongs to you" I had nothing else to say. I started walking away from him, then I felt him pulling me back to him
"Joe, wait" he said. I shrugged
"What?" I asked
"You know the song I just sang?" he asked
"You Might Be the One by Greyson Chance" I said
"Yeah. You know, the lyrics of the song?"
"Yeah?"
"I actually meant it all for you" I froze stiff
"You're not serious-"
"I am"