233Since I'm totally stuck for ideas on "Raine", I decided to write something else. Don't get me wrong…Raine is the major project. I just need to finish that stupid background info first. That's the problem with novels, if you're missing one piece, the whole thing falls apart. So yes, we must wait for that one piece to be finished. Kill my brother…that piece is his job.
This piece is for all my reviewers on "Raine". It's a true story up to what happens at the end. That's what I would like to happen. Names will be changed for privacy. And yes, it is a bit romanticized. So here's to you, my reviewers!
Twilightkiss
L.N.Y. Wun
Lady Riven
Beautifuletdown
Asylum-Confined91
Freakage
Princess Sara
Chirpy Cheerleader
Lil Miss Its Me
Katelyn devaney
Barbwirenroses
Rosie seifuku
Dark sorceress
' + italics are thoughts
All Over A Boy
Chapter 1: My Best Friend's Party
The eighth grader gracefully stepped out of her parent's car, slamming the door with the greatest of ease, and thanked the parental units for the ride with an almost indiscernible flick of her long, brown hair. She would have hugged them and kissed them goodbye if she could, because she loved her parents dearly, but Nicole couldn't show such displays of affection in public. Especially the public location where her parents had just dropped her off: in front of the skating rink. There were hundreds of acquaintances roaming about. She had to worry about her reputation; well, what little reputation she had managed to acquire in her one and a half years at Palmer Middle School.
She had previously attended Mangrove Middle School, if only for one purpose: the fabulous orchestra. When the conductor left, the quality of the orchestra shot down to negative three, if that were even possible. After that, Nicole was bored and annoyed with the school. It was in the middle of nowhere and the kids who weren't in the magnet program were likely to jump people for lunch money if they looked at the "wanna-be gangstas" the wrong way.
So she left. At the end of her seventh grade year, just a month away from finals, she picked up, auditioned for the music magnet at Palmer, got in (of course!), and found herself in a completely new school in the center of a nice neighborhood. The school was amazing for her: the teachers accepted her right away, she made friends easily, and she didn't have to watch her back every second in fear of getting jump by the fourteen year old "hoodlums".
The only truly eventful thing to happen at all that last month of her seventh grade year, besides the move itself, was when Nicole met her best friend. They had a seething hated towards one another at first, or rather, Laura possessed it at first which caused Nicole to fling that hatred right back into Laura's face like three-year-olds chucking mud pies.
Anyway, the first day at her new school, Nicole walked into her orchestra class and was greeted by a tumultuous groan. At first she thought that it was directed towards her and was ready to hurtle towards the bathroom to release the tears that pressured the backs of her chocolate brown eyes. Then she noticed a small woman behind a podium smirking evilly while holding a rather thick manilla folder.
"We are going to learn this Bartok, no matter how much you moan and groan. We can handle this. We can't beat out the high school by playing the Twinkle variations can we?" the small, blond teacher questioned her unwilling students, obviously suppressing a chuckle. (A/N: for you non-musicians...the twinkle variations are what beginner musicians learn…like when your 3.)
Again, the groan was heard, but it was now accompanied by the shy scuffle of feet and the clacking of bows on stands by fidgeting orchestra members.
"Ok, now that you've…" the music teacher began before she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Turning to find the unfortunate student who'd so rudely interrupted her, the petite music teacher, Mrs. Ling spotted a figure in the doorway. It was a girl, about 5'2, with long dark-brown hair, deep chocolate eyes, clear, pale complexion, full lips, and a curvy figure. 'She could loose about ten pounds,' Mrs. Ling thought, 'but she's not bad looking at all.'
"Are you in this class dear?" Mrs. Ling said out loud, her voice becoming much softer than the scolding tone she had previously used on her rowdy class.
Glancing at the paper in her hand, Nicole nodded, rendered mute for the moment by the thirty pairs of eyes trained on her, scrutinizing the new girl.
Mrs. Ling stepped of her podium and walked briskly to the new girl and took the paper out of her hands. After reading her name, Mrs. Ling smiled softly. "Yes," she said looking at the young girl's face. "I thought I recognized you. You're the cellist right?" Again Nicole could only nod.
"Well," Mrs. Ling said, glancing toward her cello section with a frown. "Let's get you settled in." Starting back towards the cello section, Mrs. Ling told the girls at the first stand to make room for the new girl to sit in between them. After she had done so she said:
"Class, this is Nicole Crystal who just transferred from Mangrove Middle. She is a fabulous cellist and I hope you make her welcome."
Nicole just blushed and smiled demurely at the compliment, not wanting all that attention. When the whispering started, she began to shuffle her feet in embarrassment, her combat boots scarping harshly against the linoleum.
Then, Mrs. Ling came and took her hand, guiding her to the cello rack to pick an instrument. After she had picked out the least dilapidated cello she could find, the two girls sitting in the first stand motioned to the chair between them. Nicole smiled broadly at the invitation, which made her eyes shine.
"Hey, I'm Laura and this is Kim," said the young, trim, black-girl in the first chair position while pointing at her blond stand mate.
"Hi. I'm Nicole."
The girls just brusquely nodded as Mrs. Ling tapped on her stand with the baton.
"Alright everyone. We are going to sight read this Bartok."
With that, she raised her baton and began. The cellos were having a difficult time with their music and one by one, they dropped out. By the time the middle of the piece came, Nicole was the only one playing, along with some violins and a bass (the bass part wasn't too hard). After it had fallen apart enough, Mrs. Ling cut them off.
"That was wonderful dear," Mrs. Ling said to Nicole before turning back to the orchestra to give general comments.
A chill ran up Nicole's spine. She glanced to her left to see Laura glaring at her with icy dark brown eyes. What had she done?!
For the remainder of that period, Laura continued to bore holes into Nicole with her vicious glare. Needless to say, when the bell rang, Nicole was wholly relieved and nearly knocked Laura over in her hurry to put her decrepit cello away and scamper out the door. Kim caught her arm on the way out and whispered, "Hey, you know how Mrs. Ling stuck you between us?" Nicole nodded, again finding her vocal chords unable to move.
"It's because she didn't want to put you in Laura's spot the first day. That would be a major blow to her pride. But you're so good! I know you should be first chair!" Nicole stared at her wide-eyed and blushing furiously.
"Anyway," Kim continued, "Laura's a sweetie, but she's got this huge jealousy problem. Don't worry about it."
And with that, Kim walked away.
But Nicole was worried.
The next day, Mrs. Ling made no pretenses. She just stuck Nicole in the first chair spot and for the remainder of the period, Nicole couldn't look at Laura without feeling as though she had been physically burned by her intense glowering.
On and on it went for about a week. Then one day, Nicole's usual lunch group didn't show up. She sat at her table all alone, feeling helpless for the first time since she'd come to Palmer. Laura glanced over and saw the dejected look on her face. It was in that moment that she got over her jealousy.
'So, she's better than me. I can hate her for that, but my friends like her and she seems pretty nice,' thought Laura.
A minute later Laura tapped Nicole on the shoulder. Nicole looked up at her with surprise.
After scuffing her feet on the ground for a second, Laura steeled her nerve, grabbed Nicole's lunch and her hand and cried, "Let's go!"
Laura dragged Nicole to her lunch table and Nicole never left.
From that moment on, they were inseparable. They told each other anything and everything. They cried and laughed together.
So standing in front of the skating rink a year and a half later, worrying about her reputation, Nicole waited for her best friend Laura to arrive so they could celebrate her birthday. A minute later, a squeal was heard and Nicole turned around only to find herself being tackled to the ground.
"You came!" cried Laura, as she scrambled to her feet and fixed her light blue tank top that perfectly complimented her caramel skin.
"Of course I came! I could never miss your birthday! Not even for a cello lesson" smirked Nicole, as she brushed off her jeans.
"That's right you came…or I would've had to kick your ass!"
"Please girl, I could kick your ass any day!"
With that, both girls collapsed to the ground once again in a fit of giggles. They didn't even know why, because it really wasn't that funny. They just enjoyed laughing together.
As soon as the ache in her stomach subsided, Nicole stood up and said, "Now that I have a six pack from laughing so much, I really think we should get inside. I think your whole party is here before you."
Despite her eager words and appearance, Nicole was nervous. She'd only been skating a few times before and those were years ago. Glancing at her friend though, Nicole knew she wasn't alone. Laura had NEVER skated before. The only reason that she was even having her party at the rink (it's a rollerblading rink) was because her long-time crush, Jesse, loved to skate. Nicole had never met Jesse before and she was excited to meet him and to make fun of Laura.
The two girls walked toward the entrance and met up with a few people. As they walked inside they were greeted by the loud blare of popular music. Both girls rolled their eyes at one another as they heard it and burst into a fit of giggles although they didn't land on the floor this time. Giggling and gossiping among themselves and with a couple other friends who were invited, they went to get their rental skates.
After getting them laced up, Laura and Nicole, hobbled about the rink once on their skates, looking like idiots. Laura got super self-conscious and refused to skate anymore so Nicole skated with her back to the table. As they sat down, Laura gasped, perfectly playing the role of the self-conscious drama queen.
Without turning around Nicole said while rolling her eyes, "He's here isn't he?"
Some sort of gurgling noise came out of Laura's mouth at that point accompanied by a nod.
"Geez woman, you've got it bad. Let me go get him for you because I don't think you could make it over there on your wobbly knees." Nicole said as she turned to look for the object of her friend's affections.
He wasn't that hard to find. Her friend had good taste. Nicole tried to get to him without falling, because she was still highly ungraceful with her skates on. She stopped about a foot behind a tall guy who was turned around. He looked amazing from the back: tall, broad shouldered, narrow waste, dark hair in a mushroom cut.
"Hey, are you Jesse?" Nicole called above the music, reaching out to tap his shoulder.
At the same moment, some guy came racing by, trying to show off and knocked Nicole off-balance and she went crashing forward. She expected to hit the floor and eat carpet, and braced herself for the impact. Instead she felt herself being caught by two well-muscled arms. Looking up, she gasped as she lost herself into two of the most beautiful dark brown eyes she'd ever seen.
"Yes I am," Jesse chuckled as he helped Nicole to stand up and regain her precarious footing.
"What?" Nicole replied…completely lost to anything but those eyes.
"You were looking for me?" he asked, gazing into her chocolate brown eyes.
'She's really beautiful,' he thought. 'I wonder if she goes to my school?'
"Um,..oh ya!" Nicole said, quickly collecting herself.
'He is not up for grabs you idiot! He's Laura's,' she mentally chided herself.
"Yes! You're here for Laura's party right?"
"Ya."
'She knows Laura? Sweet, maybe I can get her number from her.' he thought
"This way then," Nicole said as she began to skate back to Laura's table. But, as unsteady as ever, she trips and almost falls down, only to be steadied by the strong arms of Jesse.
"Thanks again," Nicole says, smiling, "You're my hero."
That comment earns her a heart-melting smile from Jesse as they continue to skate and to chat all the way to Laura's table.
Before she got there, Nicole knew something was wrong. She could feel the cold glare of Laura's gaze before she came within ten feet of her.
'Uh-oh. Shit, what am I doing? Nothing, right? Nothing. I'm not flirting. He just helped me when I almost killed myself on these crazy shoes with wheels that some psychos enjoy for recreation!' Nicole thought frantically.
Forcing a smile on her face, which Laura obviously noticed was fake, Nicole said "Look who I found all by his lonesome."
Nicole looked at him and for that moment her smile turned genuine and took his breath away.
"Ya," he said.
'Brilliant, man. Just brilliant. One smile and you can't breathe. How can a girl make you say such stupid things? Get it together.' Jesse thought.
Summing up what dignity he had left, he smiled at Laura. "Ya, I was looking for your table when Ms. Klutz over here decided to do a nose dive into the floor. She's lucky I was there to save her." He grinned suavely at the two girls who both felt their knees go weak. This was bad for Nicole who was still standing.
"Um, I have to go, I promised, I'd, uh, skate with a friend." Nicole stammered, not wanting to fall for her best friends crush anymore.
"Whoa, wait," Jesse said grabbing her arm. "I don't even know your name, unless you prefer to be called 'Ms. Klutz.'"
Blushing furiously, she looked at him with a smile touching the corners of her lips, "It's Nicole, now if you'll kindly remove your hand from my arm, I can be going."
He dropped her arm in shock, as she clumsily skated away, her poor skating skills made even worse by the fact she was laughing hysterically at the look on his face.
Laura stared after Nicole, hurt and bewildered.
'She wouldn't do that to me, would she? No, that's why she ran away so quickly, because she knew what was happening. Why does she always get all the cuties after her? Why is she so pretty? It's not fair. Well, at least she didn't do it on purpose…but she still did it dammit! Besides…I'm thinner than her…she could do to lose some weight. Don't guys like skinny girls? Or maybe they only like slightly chubby girls with beautiful faces and a large chest like her...it's not fair!'
Laura's ranting was interrupted by Jesse's voice.
"Hey babe, does the birthday girl want to skate?" he inquired.
He could feel the tension between the girls, but he was totally oblivious to the reason, or to the stardust in both their eyes as they gazed at his handsome face and masculine physique.
"Sure," she said, although she really didn't want to. "But, I'm worse than Nicole at skating."
"I don't think anyone could be worse than her, its ok." He said, smiling at the mention of Nicole's name.
Fifteen minutes later Laura and Jesse collapsed at the table panting.
"I told you I was terrible. Can you believe that kid almost ran me over like that?! People can't just do that? People as skinny as me break in two when shit like that happens!" she said while giggling. She'd had so much fun skating with Jesse. He was so sweet, and sooooo hot!
"No, you're not that terrible, considering its your first time skating. And I already smacked that kid upside the head for you. Don't worry, you may be skinny, but you're tough stuff. Don't worry about breaking." Jesse said, responding to her ludicrous comments with a dazzling smile.
Laura found it hard to breathe. Then they heard a yelp that was unmistakably Nicole's.
"I swear that girl!" Laura said as she began to laugh. While Nicole was walking, she was as graceful as ever, but she was the biggest klutz every other time.
Gazing out into the rink, they spied her small form struggling to get back up. A tall boy offered to help her up and his bright white smile was visible from where they were sitting.
Jesse felt himself seethe with jealousy.
'Whoa! Where did that come from? I've only known her for about a half an hour and I'm already, what?...Jealous. No way! I just don't want that creep to take advantage of her. I know him. I better get over there.'
"Hey, Laura, I'm going to go save Ms. Klutz over there from that creep. Don't move, k?" he said smiling, once again rendering her breathless.
"Ok," she replied in a small voice, jealousy welling within her. It wasn't angry jealousy, just hopeless jealousy. She watched him go, knowing that he would never be hers.
Thanks for reading! I just wrote this! It took an hour! Please R/R. Thanks so much you guys! I'll have the next chapter up soon. I already know exactly what to write for this. I don't think the next chapter's going to be too long. It's just the continuation of this one. Ok, well enjoy!