The second auditions came. I was sad that I was not there to watch my two friends perform. My mom and I went to my father's office to celebrate a little indoor party. It was a boring night of long gowns, expensive perfumes and strong wine I was not even allowed to drink. But above all those, I was glad I had Marvin's arm beside me with his coat and necktie.
"How was the audition?" I asked them. My name was written in the first lists, but I skipped the second audition. It was not for me seriously.
"Fine, but we still had wanted to see you there." Aly folded her arms and avoided my look. Liam was not looking at me either. They were mad that I skipped my chance to be there in the play.
The school garden was packed because the air condition system inside the school broke down. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry. I think I am not for that really. It's not for me."
Aly finally turned at my direction. "But you passed the first audition! You might pass the second one."
"I had to go to my Dad's party." I reasoned, although I could skip that and choose to go to the audition instead. "Besides, I'm fine with the one-time experience to sing on-stage."
Liam twitched his lips. "We hate you for now, Ella Gomez."
"Okay, guys, I -" I sighed and stood from the rock bench. "Just talk to me when it's over."
I went in the school and sat in the cafeteria to eat alone. I thought Liam would follow me but he did not. "Is this seat taken?" Marvin held the edge of the table and waited for my permission.
I smiled at him, drank my juice, and pointed to the seat in front of me. "That is actually reserved for my beloved boyfriend."
His plain white shirt and black pants seemed to glow. It was how you see someone you love, right? They would glow still everytime your eyes landed on them. He sat down. "Well, that lucky guy just arrived."
"Hi," I said.
"Why are you alone?"
I shook my head. "My friends were mad that I didn't go to the second audition."
"You should have," he said.
"I think it isn't for me. If ever I got the role, I still think I didn't deserve it."
He placed his hands on the table and leaned to get my hands. He pulled it and we stayed like that. "God has a way to make us realize we deserve everything we have." He squeezed my hand.
A senior passed by table and looked at my hand on the table. Instead of removing my hold, which Marvin was about to do, I tightened my grip.
"Hey," I said and smiled at her. She smiled back and simply walked off.
He brushed the side of my hands using his thumbs. "How's our story?"
"Exam's over so... I can create few more chapters."
"I want to know the ending." His eyes twinkled.
The ending? I enjoyed writing it. I enjoyed being with him in every chapters, in every events. Thinking about the ending seemed impossible. I wanted to make it infinite... but all things had endings. I wanted to believe in forever. Everyone seemed to be so into finding the answer to that question: Do you believe in forever?
"Divine Providence, Ella." I knitted my brows at the mention of a term in my Values class. Marvin smiled, showing his dimples. "All things have endings, but not all leads to destruction."
Someone covered my eyes. "Hey!" I protested.
"Hi, Ella." A girl's voice trying to sound low.
"Who are you?" I struggled to remove the hands in my face.
Finally, my view cleared and I heard giggles. Nica sat beside me. "El, why didn't you join the second audition?"
"We had to go somewhere else." I frowned.
"Aww, but guess you can try next year." She smiled.
I laughed. "No, I'm not really into those."
"Have you seen my sister?" Nica asked.
"She is with Liam," I shrugged. "They hated me for not going to that audition."
Nica hugged me. "Aly just acts like a brat if she failed to get what she wanted. Don't worry, I'll find her and talk to them." She winked and left. Was that how having a big sister felt like?
Marvin was still in front of me, holding my hand that still was extended on the table.
"El," Beth said. Whenever she approached me like this, I felt it was about Liam.
"Yeah?" I smiled so that she would feel at ease talking to me. I liked her. I actually also liked her for my bestfriend.
"Well, Liam's birthday is coming. I - am thinking of a gift he would like."
A gift. "Well, just like what I said to you before, he'll like anything, really."
"Just no green?" she smiled. Wow, glad she remembered that he hated green.
I nodded. "Lunch is almost over, want to go up?"
"Sure. I have no company also." We went up to our classroom and waited for the bell to ring. There were some students who remained here during breaks. Liam was with his guy friends again but he saw us coming in. Beth blushed at the sight of him. I patted her shoulder. I rolled my eyes at Liam. If he wouldn't talk to me, I wouldn't talk to him. He simply looked away and minded his friends. So, he really was mad at me.
Until dismissal, we did not talk to each other. I went home with Marvin. Once I reached home, I knocked and Dad answered the door. They were home early today. "Ella," my father hugged me.
"You're home early." I entered and placed my bag on the sofa.
"Mom's in the dining. We have to go somewhere," he placed an arm around my neck and guided me to the kitchen where Mom was sitting beside Michael and Marissa. I smelled pasta.
"Hi, Ella." Mom brougt her phone down. I walked towards her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "We'll eat light supper then we'll go to the plaza square for the fireworks display."
"Fireworks display?" I never heard about it.
"We opened a new building, honey." Dad proudly announced. "Tonight's the opening. I know how you and Michael love fireworks."
"I do!" I said. The problems earlier seemed to evaporate.
"Yays!" Michael giggled. "Boom!"
Mom messed Michael's hair and smiled at him. "Get ready, then go back here to eat supper."
"Okay," I poked Michael's cheek gently and waved at my parents before getting my bag and went in my room.
"Another extraordinary night, Elz?" Marvin sat on my bed as I chose the appropriate clothes.
"I guess," I said without enthusiasm. "But I don't like talking to people I don't know, especially of they ask the same questions." I had a bad experience going to my parent's work parties. Yes, I enjoyed meeting people but two parties in a week?
"They like you, that's why they're interested in you."
"Because my mother is my mom and my father is my dad. That makes sense."
Marvin sat and hugged me from behind. "Cheer up! There's gonna be fireworks. And I will be there."
I remembered when my dad and I would go to malls and top of the buildings just to watch a firework display every new year. I was lucky he had access in rooftops since he engineered the buildings himself. "If you wanna know what the future holds, after a hurricane comes a rainbow...*" I sang the lines from Katie Perry's Fireworks.
"I really doubt how you think you don't deserve the role in the play."
I smirked. "Come on, get over it."
"If you say so," he leaned his chin on my shoulder. "By the way, I have a surprise for you."
"Surprise?" What was it this time? I could noy get enough of his surprises.
"Did you check our story?" Marvin tucked my lose hair in my ears.
I got my phone in my pocket and checked our story. More than a week ago since I opened it because of the exams.
"How is it?" Marvin asked.
I opened and checked the Reads, Votes and Comments page. "Oh my fudge!" I said to my surprise. After seeing ten thousand reads in my story, I almost leaped for joy. It felt like crying and shouting for joy. "Ten thousand, Marvin! Ten thousand!" I hugged him and kissed his cheeks one by one. "I can't believe it."
His eyes were deeper green. The most wonderful thing I would like to spend my whole life looking at.
"This ecstasy is killing me, sorry." I laughed.
"It's fine," he hugged my waist as I scrolled through the comments per chapters. "Have you read the comments?"
"There are hundreds!" I opened them and laughed at the recent comments.
@Angelatin02: Hooked to this. :)
@Greysketh: Fiction is better. >_<
@Missgoodtrip: I'm like Ella Gomez. Seriously.
@thistaydream: Thank you @Gracella for making Marvin Shace real. Really.
"Many loves you!" I told him. "Luckily, I am the one who have you."
"I am that famous after all." Marvin chuckled. Gosh! I loved that sound, made me drown in that rhythmic echo. "And handsome."
I cupped his face and giggled. "Shut up, Marvin. They might take it back."
"Okay, I'll be humble."
"Good." I said and kissed him.
"Actually they love you more than me, Ella." Marvin hugged me tighter. "Because without you, I won't be here."
"Without you, this won't happen. It's sort of predicate. 'You' and 'Me' can be predicate nouns most of the time."
"Indeed."
We stayed like that for minutes - me reading some more comments, and him reacting and telling me what to reply. I hoped these comments were real, not comments for granted. Of course there were comments that had negative views, but I took them as a fuel for my improvement. Mistakes were often the reason for improvement if fixed. "Look at this one:
@shrwlvnda: I love you, Marvin Shace! I hope you're real. Please be real.
"What do you want me to comment back?" But both of us knew what to type so I did. Those words lingered in my life as I expected them to linger to my readers as I tapped the button for comment. "He is real." I repeated.
Marvin moved closer to me and captured me in a tight embrace. His body felt warm against mine that's why I didn't need anything more to believe to what he said. "I am real."
~
The weather was boiling. It was almost seven but it was still hot like noon. We went to the square at six. Now, I spent an hour watching over my brother with his baby-sitter who was busy texting her boyfriend. Mom and Dad were inside talking to some clients. They said we should watch the fireworks here in the bench area where the view would be the best.
"I wanted to go home and simply write about us." I whispered in my phone so that no one would see me talking on my own, not that I cared, all people here seemed busy with their lives and the lives of the people they were with.
"I thought you want to see the fireworks?" Marvin asked, standing beside my bench.
"I do, but I don't want to wait another hour."
He took my hand and kissed it. "The Ella I know doesn't care if she'll wait a century just to get what she wants."
Well, I could wait a decade or more just to fulfill my lifetime wish to become a great author of my time. "Okay, I will wait. Just like waiting for more of your surprises."
He squeezed my hand. "Waiting is fun. Remember what you said before? There will never be boring hours if no one will be submissives into the dullness."
"Where's Marvin?" Michael asked with his little voice after losing another game in his iPad. Marissa looked up to check on us, smiled at me and went back to texting. "Beside me," I whispered and let my brother sit on my lap. "Are you excited for the fireworks?"
"Yes!" He shouted.
"I am too."
People scattered everywhere, dating, chatting, everything. Dad walked to us, he was pretty exhausted and busy, but he smiled when he saw us. "El, and El," it was weird they gave us same nick names El for Ella and El for Micha-el. He said we had to wait until Michael had the will to choose a nickname for himself. "The fireworks will start in fifteen minutes. Are you fine?"
"Yes, dad." I answered. Marissa hid her phone, suddenly attentive. Dad and Mom knew she was a little text-addict since her boyfriend and family were in a long distance.
"You want anything?"
I was about to say no but I remembered the best view when it came to fireworks. "Dad, can we go up the building?"
Dad was confused. "What, sweetheart? You already saw the interior."
"No, I mean, I want to watch the fireworks from the building."
"You won't see - " he cut himself probably realizing what I wanted. He looked from Michael to me. "You really want to?"
I nodded. "Yes, please. Michael still haven't experience it. I want to show him."
Dad carried Michael from my lap. "Come fast, it's about to begin."
I immediately followed him, with Marvin beside me and Marissa trailing after us. "Where are we going?" Marvin whispered.
"It's my time to surprise you, Marv." My excitement was over flowing.
Dad went in the massive glass doors. The lobby was huge with a vertical line of grand chandeliers in the middle, lighting up the red carpet. My red Sunday dress and black flats were out of place in this fancy building. I did not know what that building was for, I just knew my father sort of made it. Not all by himself, but a huge part. It was enough to make me proud.
"Klar," my father called my mother by her name. "The kids want to watch the fireworks by the rooftop."
My mom's silver gown shimmered in the lights. "Aww, I want to come with you guys, but I have to talk to the media. The news is coming. Take a picture for me. We'll watch from down here."
"Okay, mom." I said and we followed my father to the elevator. He punched up arrow beside the closed doors.
"Engineer Gomez, the investors wanted to meet you." A guy with tux and ID clipped on his collar talked to Dad. Dad sighed in exasperation. "Marissa, please take care of the kids." He passed Michael to her. He looked at me and said, "Ella, 19-8-1-9. Tap the numbers in the elevator. It will take you to the rooftop."
"19-8-1-9," I confirmed. "Got it."
"I'll follow you guys up later."
He followed the guy and we entered the elevator. I almost forgot the numbers if it wasn't for Marvin who reminded me.
"Ella, where are we going?" Marissa asked.
"Upstairs," I grinned.
"The elevator makes me nauseatic."
"Keep it, you'll enjoy what's next." I grinned.
"Up! Up! Up!" Michael chanted.
The elevator doors opened and we were welcomed by the first set of exploding fireworks.
"Let the sparks begin!" Marvin pulled me near the edge of the walls and pulled me closer to him. "This is amazing."
"I know. Extraordinary." I breathed because the sight was very very breath-taking. Marissa miraculously forgot about her phone and Michael threw his hands up, like trying to catch the beautiful fire.
I took a selfie of us three. The fireworks behind us served as a wonderful background. Although I knew that Marvin would not be in the picture once I checked it in my gallery, I still believed that the empty space in the photo was him. That he was there. Like in my heart. There's always an empty space just for him to fit in.
The cheers of the crowd below and booms of the fireworks above became a beautiful noise in my ears, clear even though hundreds of meters away. Distance was never really a serious problem.
"This is for how long? Ten minutes?"
"Infinite." I answered the first word that came my mind.
I knew it would eventually come to an end because everything had its alpha and omega - the beginning and ending. But it would infinitely be stored in my mind.
And not all end leads to destruction...
Some endings lead to happiness.
~~~
Footnote:
*Katie Perry, Fireworks.
Author's Note:
Happy ten thousand reads!
I dedicate this chapter to all of my beloved readers who supported me.
I can't exactly remember the day I wrote the first word of this story. I didn't expect it would really come this far. I know it's not as much as those with millions, but we will take it one step at a time. :)
A Real Love Story will be displayed infront of the bookstore near you! Dreams do come true, right? Let's keep pushing that dream to reality.
#10kAndStillCounting #ARLS #MarvinShace #EllaGrace :)
Keep shimmering!
~S.
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