193To Make a Scene
Chapter One
One Step Forward
Revised: July 20, 2008
All around me, the class was loud and noisy. I tried to block out the noises by scowling at the book in front of me, but to no avail. Finally I just gave up and slammed my book down.
Why did I have to have film class first thing in the morning again? The world may never know.
I frowned. Note to self: Stop watching those Tootsie Roll pop commercials. It's starting to get to my head.
A shadow fell over my desk. I glared at the shadow, but refused to look up at the person in front of me. Seconds stretched into minutes, then five minutes, then…..
"What do you, want, Tyler?" I snapped, finally looking up at Michael.
He laughed, his eyes dancing with mirth. "Glad to see that you've decided to grace such a humble citizen with your presence."
I groaned. "Please, not so early in the morning. It's still too early for my brain to function properly."
Let me introduce to you, Michael Zane Tyler. I've known Michael since we were kids, and he's always been able to piss me off. When we were younger, he was this cold, distant jackass who always kept his nose in the books. And by that I mean that he was a bookworm. He was always pretty scrawny, come to think of it.
Then when we reached puberty, girls suddenly noticed that guys were cute and vice versa. That was when Michael suddenly received all the attention and he grew cockier. He became arrogant around me and ticked me off even more than before. Just what did girls see in him? All right, he's got charm and intellect, I'll give him that. But looks?
I glanced at him, frowning. His shaggy tawny hair, brushed aside so that it didn't cover his eyes, was messy, as if he didn't bother to comb it when he got out of bed. Michael had luminous green eyes that made him stand out, and every now and again I'd see a small twinkle. He had high cheekbones, and a wide mouth that was permanently in a smirk. His shoulders were broad, with an athletic build. He was muscular, but not like those buff guys with six-packs. His skin was pretty tan, as a result of staying out in the sun for a long time.
So he's not totally bad-looking; he could even be considered gorgeous. But are girls attracted to arrogant jerks or something?
Alright, alright, he' not a jerk anymore, I'll give him that. But he's still arrogant.
Now, it's like he's completely changed. Well, I changed completely too, but it's like we switched roles. Before, he was the kid with the 4.0 GPA, the one who everyone thought was going to be the valedictorian (Well, actually, his grades are still pretty high, but still!), and now he's going to be the captain of the boy's soccer team next year. Plus, he used to be scrawny! I can't hold that against him anymore!
"Wake up, Sabers. Class is starting in two minutes." Michael waved a hand in front of my face, and I snapped back to the present.
"I wasn't daydreaming, or thinking about you, for that matter! So quit bugging me!" I protested, glaring at him, since he had decided to sit right beside me.
He raised an eyebrow, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "I never said you were."
My mouth opened and closed, but then I realized I must have looked like a weird fish, so I kept it closed, face red.
The bell rang. Everyone rushed to get a seat before Mrs. Patterson arrived.
Michael had turned to me, and he looked as if he was going to say something, but then the teacher arrived, and he turned around before she could spot him.
Mrs. Patterson called everyone's attention. "Class," she called in her stern voice, "Today we're going to do our own little project. Now, I want you to split up into groups of six and write your own short video. You'll have until the end of the semester to complete this. Once we reach the deadline, I want all of you to play your videos. I will choose the people within your groups."
A short groan erupted throughout the room. Mrs. Patterson said sharply, "This project counts for a third of your grades!"
The room immediately became silent. Mrs. Patterson smiled sweetly and began calling out names.
"Group one will consist of Terra, Harrison…"
I groaned inwardly. I hated group projects. It meant actually having to work with someone else. And that is something I sucked at, with my poor social skills.
"And finally, group five will consist of Cale, Nicole, Taylor, Noelle, and Holly."
My brow scrunched up in confusion. Why did some of those names sound familiar?
"For now I'd like to sort your ideas out and work together. That is how we'll spend the rest of the period."
I glumly joined the rest of the group, who were all already in one corner. I frowned, looking around at the people there. Some of them actually looked familiar, too….
"Hi Holly!" A Japanese girl in the corner chirped. She was petite and small, and thin. Her long, glossy black hair was straight and it ended at her shoulders. Her big brown eyes, set against soft ivory skin, were playful.
"Hi?" I answered, even though it came out more like a question.
"Don't you recognize me?" She asked me.
"No, not really," I answered ruefully.
The guy next to her rolled his eyes. "Of course you wouldn't know us. You never were very good at remembering names and faces, Holly." He had blond hair that was cropped short, and startling blue eyes. He was only an inch taller than I was, and he had a lithe form. A runner's body, an athlete. Figures.
The girl smiled again at me cheerfully. "I'm Nicole Suzuki, and this is Josh Garnier. We went to junior high together. Remember?"
I'm still confused. "Okay. Can we just leave it at that?" I looked around at the other three. "I'm Holly. And you guys?"
One girl in the corner had shoulder-length curly brown hair and smoky gray eyes. She was extremely pale, and she was as tall as I was. She looked bored. "Noelle Montgomery."
The girl next to her, like Nicole, had black hair and brown eyes. But her hair was shorter, cropped in a chin-length bob cut. This girl laughed. "Hi, I'm Taylor Lin. Nice to meet you."
I smiled back at her, and turned to the next person. Then my eyes widened and my mouth gaped open. "Cale!" I shrieked.
The said person smiled crookedly and waved one hand. "It's been a long time, Holly." Yep, it was the same Cale Davis, brown hair and brown eyes, tan, tall (not as tall as Michael though) and…wait, has he been working out?
"Oh, so she remembers him," Josh said sardonically. Nicole jabbed him in the side, hard, and she smiled sweetly at me. Whoa. Scary.
"No, it's because….Cale and Michael used to hang out together," I said dazedly. "Back in junior high."
Cale grinned at me, his pearly white teeth showing. "Those were good times, weren't they?"
I rolled my eyes. "You did delete that video you shot in England, right?" I asked him.
There was a silence. "Uhhh….."
My eye twitched. "Cale…."
Cale held up his hands, in typical Michael fashion. "Okay, okay, I'll delete it! Sheesh, you two couldn't even take a joke..."
"So…what exactly are we going to do with this project?" Noelle yawned, changing the subject quickly before I could wring Cale's neck.
"Hmmm…." Nicole twirled a lock of her hair around her finger thoughtfully. "Why don't we do a romantic tragedy?" She asked excitedly.
"Hell. No." Josh answered firmly. "I refuse to participate in something as sappy as a romantic tragedy! The guys would never let me live it down."
"Sappy rhymes with crappy," Nicole sang, and she giggled. "I'm sorry; I've just always wanted to say that."
"How about we just videotape a bunch of stuff and put it together?" Josh suggested. "We could call it, 'Random Stuff', a production."
"No!" All of us yelled, and Josh shrank back a little.
"Sheesh, they really can't take a joke," he muttered under his breath.
"We'll just…think of something eventually." I said firmly. "For now let's just go with the flow."
We all nodded at that. I guess we spent the majority of that period talking about nothing in particular. The weirdest thing about it though, was that I actually enjoyed it. I know, weird right? 6 kids who are practically nothing alike and we're actually having a civil conversation. Then again, weird things do happen everyday.
"So who will be cameraman?" Noelle asked, actually sounding interested for the first time.
Nicole put up one hand excitedly. "I nominate Cale!" She exclaimed.
"Wait, WHAT?!" Cale spluttered.
"I second that nomination," Josh piped up. "All in favor?"
"Aye!" Everyone except Cale chimed.
"Come on guys…." Cale groaned. "Why me?"
"Isn't your dad a famous director or something?" Taylor asked. "Besides, you love filming!"
"And," I glared at him, "you always filmed things that we didn't want you to film and you blackmailed us with it. Remember? I'm sure you still have some of your old talent."
"Still can't let it go, huh…" Cale muttered.
Cale was the son of a famous director, Christopher David. So, he always had a camera with him when we were younger and ended up catching fun moment, and, umm, inappropriate moments on tape. Guess which one he used to blackmail Michael and me.
"Well, we're counting on you, Cale!" Nicole said cheerfully. "We'll try to help out whenever we can."
"And why does it sound like I'm doing all the work?" Cale sighed.
"You won't," I replied. "We'll do the editing, and stuff like that. Plus, you'll get tons of credit. Unless you don't like filming anymore….."
"No," Cale answered quickly. "It's not that. I'll do it."
I nodded, satisfied.
"All right," Josh said. "We've got….half an hour to kill."
We all sighed.
"Well, if we're that bored," Cale said, taking out something that looked suspiciously like a DVD, "we could always watch this video I've had for a long time…"
My eyes narrowed. "You said you were going to delete it."
"I never said when I was going to delete it…"
My eyes were, by now, slits. "You wouldn't dare…"
His smile was challenging. "Try me."
"Michael's going to kill you…."
"Don't you mean, you and Michael are going to kill me? I'm not afraid of you."
I slowly got up. "You should be. And I won't, not if you give me the tape…"
"No."
I started running after him. "CALEB JEREMY DAVIS, YOU GIVE ME THAT TAPE!"
"NO!"
Well, let's just say that when I finally did catch up to him, he spent the rest of the day with an icepack attached to his head.
I walked down the hall absentmindedly, not really paying attention to where I was going, until I bumped right into…..a chest.
"Oomph!" I felt arms encircle around me protectively, making sure I didn't fall.
"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking-"I was cut off when I looked up into….luminous green eyes.
"Tyler?!" I choked.
Michael smirked down at me. "Well, isn't this awkward? I never knew you cared this much, Sabers."
I blushed, realizing his arms were still around me. So I stepped back quickly, into….the wall. My head banged painfully against the bulletin board.
"Oww!" I cried out. Ugh. Me and my accidents. Seriously, what did I ever do to offend fate?
The corners of his lips twitched with amusement. "Are you alright?"
"What does it look like?" I snapped, rubbing the back of my head.
Michael frowned. "It looks like…you need to go to the nurse's office," he answered, examining the bump that suddenly appeared.
"No!" I exclaimed. "Look, I'm fine-"
"Come here," Michael said, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the nurse's small office.
I frowned. Even here I could notice our difference in height. When we were little we were about the same height, but sometime around junior high Michael reached his growth spurt, and now he's about 6 foot 2. That is way taller than my 5 foot 6. And to think my height is supposed to be average…..
The nurse was Mrs. Calhoun, a nice woman who wasn't that bad at her job. She gave me an ice pack to hold against my head and told me to lie down for a little. Seriously people, it's just a small (Okay, maybe it's a little bit big) bump!
Michael sighed. "For someone so cold, you tend to get hurt a lot, Sabers."
"Well sor-ry for making you worry, Tyler." I shot back. "It's just a bump though, not a freaking concussion!"
"Well, what if it was?!" He snapped, his voice level rising just a bit. "Jeez, Holly, why do you always end up making me worry?"
I was silent for a while. "You were worried about me?" I finally asked quietly.
I swear, I saw a tinge of red in his cheeks. "Well, yeah." He stammered. "Why wouldn't I be?"
I cocked my head to the side. "I don't know." Awww! Michael's actually….embarrassed?! "Well, thanks anyways, Michael." I smiled brightly at him.
His smile was warm. "No problem," He answered softly.
I could feel my face heat up. What is wrong with me? All he did was smile and suddenly my heart is pounding at the speed of 90 miles an hour?! Get a grip, Holly!
He was grinning at me. "So I heard that Cale still has that tape."
I made a face. "I can't believe he still kept that thing!" I rambled on. I can't help it! Once I'm started, I can't stop! "I mean, it's not like I meant it! I just wanted to see how you'd react!" When I finished, I peered at Michael. He looked nervous. He was obviously remembering that day In England.
I grinned at him. "You know, you always were the only one to catch my soccer balls. Cale actually broke his leg when I accidentally kicked it at him."
He snorted. "Yeah, accidentally. Right."
"He could have moved away!" I protested. "I thought he was going to duck!"
Michael patted my head, grinning when it brought a flush to my cheeks. "You just keep on thinking that, Holly."
Mrs. Calhoun said that I should be fine, and she let me and Michael out with hall passes. Yes, I missed most of fourth period!
So, it was free period. The girl's basketball team was practicing outside. Curious, I wandered out to watch them. Lisa, one of Bri's new friends shot a basketball into the hoop, and it made it in. Umm, yay?
Then it was Taylor's turn. And I was expecting her to wow the rest of the team by making an incredible shot, but….no.
Instead of having her turn, Lisa skipped her and gave it to someone else. Someone who sucked at basketball. Bri.
I thought it was just a simple mistake. But, nooo. It happened again, and again, and again. Finally I just lost patience. How could Taylor just take this? And where the hell was the coach?
"Hey!" I shouted, stepping out from the bleachers. "Why are you guys shunning Taylor?"
Lisa turned around, and rolled her eyes at me. Then she looked at Taylor. "Because. I don't like her."
I bristled. "She's on the team."
Lisa raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "So?"
"So if you're not going to include her, then there's no team. At least, there's no good team that'll win anything. You wouldn't want to break our school's winning streak, would you?"
Taylor looked at me. "It's okay, Holly. Don't worry about me. I can handle it."
"No, it's not okay, Taylor." I looked at her. She was near tears, and she was barely able to hold them back. "It's not nice to shun someone."
"Look, just because you're really good at basketball, doesn't mean you can tell us what to do." Lisa snarled. "It's my team, and you can't do a thing about it."
"Oh can't I?" I mimicked nastily. Then I looked around. "Where's the coach?"
"Out for something." Lisa examined her nails boredly. "How about this, hmm? When you try out for the team next year, you can do anything you want with the team. But for now, it's my time. And that means I can be mean to whoever I want to. What do you think?"
What do I think? I think she's crazy if she thinks I'll just take this. I looked around. Then an idea formed in my head, and I smirked. It was crazy, but it just might work. "What do I think?" I called out, stalking over to the cooler and bringing a water bottle out. "I think it's about time that you cool down, just a bit." Then I proceeded to pour the water over her head.
She shrieked, absolutely livid. I stepped back, my eyes wide. What was I thinking? I wasn't thinking at all, to do something as stupid as this! Well, actually, I was thinking if I poured water over her, she could melt, just like that witch in the Wizard of Oz….
What did I just do? This was Lisa Lively we're talking about, the one who has the power to turn everyone against me! Oh no, oh no, oh no….
So much for blending in this school year. I think it's about time I changed my appearance again. Maybe move to Mexico or something.
"You're going to pay for this, Sabers," she snarled. "You're going to pay…"
Taylor sighed, shaking her head. "No you're not." She said firmly. "You can mess with me, but you're definitely not going to mess with Holly." She placed her hands over my shoulders protectively.
Well, this was surprising. This day's just turned out to be more interesting than I originally thought.
I clutched my tray in my hands. It was lunch time, and I felt completely awkward. Lisa had done as I thought she would do, and turned a ton of people against me. Not that I was thinking of sitting with anyone right now…
"Let's go, Holly!" Nicole chirped, grabbing my arm and steering me outside, toward a spot under a giant oak tree.
"What?" I asked incredulously, following her with my eyes wide.
Josh, Taylor, Cale, and Noelle were already there. I just stood there, dumbfounded, as I gaped at everyone. "What is this for?"
Taylor smiled sheepishly. "It's a thank you. For helping me out back there. But, Holly, I wish you'd depend on us a little more, just like I depend on you."
Josh snorted. "You're going to need it, if you've just pissed off one of the scariest girls in the history of Riverdale High. That was a dumb move, by the way." He paused, and then his eyes softened. "But it wasn't totally uncalled for."
Nicole smiled, and looked at me, straight in the eye. "From now on, if you need anything, just ask us. Your friends."
Friends. Under any other circumstances I would've scoffed, saying that people don't just become friends after just one project. But it just so happens that I've had a rough day, and I'd be willing to do anything right now.
My mind couldn't completely register what was happening. So I just answered weakly.
"Okay."
A/N: Erm, yeah…Chapter two should be posted soon. I just want to edit it a bit before uploading it. Then, once that happens, I'll stop rewriting and continue posting like before.
-xXKirariXx