16CHAPTER 1
Love sucks. Damn right it does. I'm in love with a brilliant girl and the next thing you know, she grabs a boyfriend. What makes it worse is that she's one of my best friends. This is a love story, but with a twist. I'm a boy not a girl. Yea, the main character is a boy. Screw those heartbroken girls. I'm a heartbroken guy and I'm here to tell my story. This is how it all began.
I'm walking with Alex to our last class of the day. Math. Boring math. My brain's already fried and the worst thing is that it's bloody thirty-five degrees outside on Monday and the damned school is too cheap to buy air-conditioning.
'So, you gonna ask Gracie out yet?'
I grunted.
'If you love a girl, you'll have to get to her first or the pressure will just keep building and soon she'll have a boyfriend and you'll be crying yourself to sleep.'
Typical Alex. He's always so irrational.
Alex flicked his long brown fringe away from his eyes and sighed. 'You have a major-screwed up love life you know?'
Again, I grunted.
Alex fixed me with that piercing green stare of his. A smile was touching his lips. 'You really confuse me sometimes Cedric.'
That reminds me. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Cedric and I'm 16 years old. I go to a school in Queensland or Cairns, called Emperor College. Its name doesn't really match with its look. The uniform is a white shirt with a blue jumper. It might sound nice, but it's terrible. Even I know that it's disgusting and I'm a straight guy who's one hundred percent metro-sexual free. I won't describe the school to you, but take my word, it's shit. Oh yea, and one last detail, I'm in love with Gracie.
'I know. It's because it's so damned hot today.'
'Alright, blame it all on the weather. It's too hot to ask Gracie out.' I hate it when he mocks me. He does a bloody good job.
I punched him on the arm and said, 'Let's grab a seat at the back, loser.'
'Sure thing, stupid,' Alex replied.
As we were taking a seat at the back, our teacher came in. She was hot as usual. I don't mean hot as in sweaty hot, I am the other hot, though my heart will always belong to Gracie. She sat her books on the table and fanned herself with her hand. Her glossy black hair flapped in the artificial breeze.
'Since it's awfully hot today, I think we'll do something easy.' I could feel how relived the class was. I sighed in relief too. It's been a long and hot day. 'How about we do some simple geometry today?'
'Can we just do nothing miss? Geometry is boring,' said a guy whose name I didn't know.
'Actually we can,' she replied with a smile on her face, 'I'm too tired to teach.'
Alex laughed and slammed his text book shut. 'Can we also burn our books?' He asked sarcastically. No-one answered his question.
I snorted. We talked about girls for a while until I noticed something. 'Hey look, Jeanne's coming this way, I wonder what she wants,' I said.
Alex looked, and then frowned in confusion as he saw her.
'Hello boys,' she said.
'Afternoon,' Alex replied.
Jeanne grabbed an empty chair from a nearby table and sat down, crossing her legs. She leaned forward. 'Have you guys heard about Gracie?'
My eyebrows instantly lifted. 'What about her?' I asked.
She looked me straight in the eyes. 'Well, you know that new guy Bradley? She and him are dating.'
My heart broke into two. I took a deep breath and looked down so nobody could meet my eyes. You can always trust Jeanne for the gossip, especially about Gracie. Alex threw me a nervous glance.
'You're lying,' Alex said.
'No, she's not. She is one of Gracie's best friends.' I said.
Alex looked taken aback. 'Do you think it'll last?' He asked after a while.
'Gracie isn't the type to have short-term, meaningless flings.'
There was an awkward silence between us. Jeanne reached for my hand. I was too depressed to avoid it. 'I'm sorry. I know how you feel about her.'
'It's okay," I said, "It's not your fault.'
'Just thought you wanted to know.'
'Thanks. I did, although it's not good for me.'
Jeanne squeezed my fingers gently then let go. 'So you guys free after school?'
'Yea, where do you wanna go?' Alex replied.
'Well just chilling on the beach or something. You coming, Ced?'
I shook my head.
'Come on. It'll get you mind off it.' Alex suggested.
'Look, I'm fine okay,' I said a little too harshly. Alex gave me one of his sympathetic smiles that were reserved for girls. I threw him a poisonous glare back. Alex and Jeanne started to talk between themselves; constantly throwing worried looks at me and their silences. When the bell finally went, I shoved my books into my bag and left the classroom. I think I was the first person through the front gate. My mind was blank as I rushed home. I mentally thanked my parents for living so close to the school. I walked straight through my mum's green lawn and remembered to avoid her precious petunias. My hands were shaking. It took me a while to get the key into the door. Eventually I got it in and I went straight to my room. I threw my bag into a corner, scribbled a note saying "do not disturb", taped it onto my door for my mum to see and jumped onto my bed and fell asleep.
Hey Guys,
So, this is my new story, I hope you like it so far.
I'm sorry about any mistakes or if you think it's too brief etc. The next chapter is longer
For those that didn't know, the song was 'Fix you' by Coldplay. I'm not sure I like that bit, the idea was good but I don't think I wrote it well enough. Any tips would be much appreciated.
I would like to thank my unofficial Beta, without whom I wouldnt have been able to get this up.
Cheerio,
Vinc3nt